Fantasy Banners & Blood (Closed)

[Wackadoodle0987]

"Absolutely not." Amelie raised her dress, removing her shoes and rolling the bottom of her dress up to her upper thigh. She removed a couple hair clips, her once perfect hairstyle sagging slightly, and used them to pin her dress up. The vampire's bare legs were slender, definitely the kind to draw one's attention under less... grotesque circumstances. "After you." She offered a 'generous' hand gesture and allowed Anna ahead of her.

The smell was by far the worst part of the massacre, now caught in an enclosed space where the foulness lingered and worsened with each drawn breath. The sisters both noticed the wounds, bite marks, torn flesh and yet... most seemed to have been picked at after death - which meant perhaps whatever fed on these corpses did not necessarily kill all those present. Amelie was uncertain, it reminded her of a crow pecking at a doe's corpse - a scavenger bird that had no place nor power to be killing the deer by itself.

The sounds of ripping caught their attention long before they noticed the movement of the creature as they passed into the church's main hall. The thrall, human in nature, but something entirely different now - it's mind was not its own, a victim of this evil that had perhaps suffered a far greater doom than the dead. He would be very useful in understanding this... presence.

Despite the blood and gore, Amelie could faintly make out the colours and intricacies of church robes. A wide smile cracked over the vampire's face as she watched the creature feast on the flesh of another human, her laughter is what finally drew it's attention, "That is hilariously ironic," She chuckled, drawing an irate scowl from her sibling, "Disgusting, but ironic. How well the church has served its people."

Anna drew her blade slowly, the shing of metal drawing the monster's yellowed gaze. She wondered how much it could really see anymore, how much of its previous host remained in there... she did not, however, care to bother saving him.

"Despite his... poor table etiquette," Amelie began, steadily advancing on the man, "Do try to keep him alive. I want to test some things." The elder vampire sighed, but relented, relaxing her grip on the blade somewhat. Amelie wasn't entirely out of line, this could be their best opportunity to understand more about what was going on here. "Just hold him off me."

The vampire's eyes glazed over, shining a pure and bright silver, as her body went stiff. Whatever being this was, it would put up a fierce defence, and she would need to give her all to break it. Anna stepped between the creature and her sister, poised to bring it down at any moment, with eyes and ears paying acute attention to her surroundings, lest more show up. Amelie, now with all her will focused, eviscerated the darkness in her mind. It was akin to setting vines ablaze, burning and withering as her pure force of will drove the evil from her head - and she did not stop. She pressed on, coursing violently through the darkness, spears of white piercing through the creature's mind as she searched - for a feeling, a memory, for some kind of inclination of what this thing was, or where it was sourced.

The creature was immediately enraged by the sudden invasion, the flesh dropping from its mouth as it launched itself towards the pair. Within its mind Amelie battled against the evil as its defence strengthened. It was aware of her efforts, and it worked against them - it was defending something.

Anna could feel the strain on her mind weaken, as both powers struggled against each other within that... creature. The beast swung for the vampire, but her speed was unnatural. She back pedalled, bringing her sword swiftly upon the creature's leg, gashing it widely, though it seemed almost unperturbed. It seemed pain did not bother it, thus its sense of self-preservation was perhaps... dead. As it advanced further, Anna raised her foot, and kicked the scrambling creature hard. There was a resounding snap as its leg was left broken at a gruesome angle.

It made to stand, but even if it ignored the pain, it could not ignore the lack of a useable leg. The monster could not gain balance, and as it thrashed at Anna it would tumble frequently. Amelie had her time.

 

[Epiphany]

For the elf, there's no question what the right thing to do is.

The chant makes Cassie's skin itch. She ignores it and focuses instead on the girl beneath the compulsion. For it's clearly compulsion laid upon her. The battle for the girl's body and soul shows across the blood-streaked skin, across her twitching and shaking. And it's a battle she won't have to fight alone.

A spell would take too long to invoke. So Cassie covers the distance between them in a hurried rush and snatches the girl's arm, forcing it back. A Wizard's life is rarely an athletic life but long decades roaming the Deep Woods and the forests and hidden vales around her teacher's tower give the elf a certain physicality that study alone would never grant. If she can twist the weapon from the girl's hand, she will. If not, at least she can add her strength to the real person inside and give her a fighting chance.

"You're more important than some monster's maw, that some creature's lust. You matter," she says fiercely to the struggling girl. "Your soul matters. Your mind matters. And if someone's trying to take those from you, someone's trying to help save you too. My name's Cassie and you're not alone. Now, put down the knife and look at me, listen to me. Not it, not to whatever it's saying to you, listen to me. You're safe! You're safe now. We'll help you. You're important and help is here. Now, put that aside and let us help you."

 

[Ronan]

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[/div]She's slower to reach the girl. The rain from the previous evening had turned the fields wet and sticky with mud that easily swallowed all feet that trespassed, making the short distance between the caravan and the girl with a knife to her a breast a longer journey. The corsair walks across the lighter patches of earth until she catches up with the elf and kneels down next to her.

The woman was delirious. Spittle was flying from her mouth and her hair was matted with dirt and her dress soaked with blood and water. She brandished the knife around her body as if deciding where to stab, where's the place for the quickest death. The elf beat her to it by jerking the arm back and Ash is surprised at the level of compassion the elf offers for a near stranger. The corsair is, as Herla called it, "selectively compassionate." Ash was when she willed it, and other times, wasn't when it was needed.

Here was no different. She ignored the elf's consolation for the girl and looked at the knife and the bloodied gown instead. They were both peculiar, the knife was clean and well-made. The cross-guard curved into a spiral shape and the hilt had an empty socket big enough for a jewel. The gown was bloody but the blood sat on the surface, as if someone had splashed it onto her. Peculiar indeed. Ash's gaze travelled to the woman's face, dark-skinned and unblemished. This was a well-kept woman, possibly a servant or maid before razing of the city.

She purses her lips and turns to the elf in time to hear her name: Cassie. It's not very elvish Ash surmises. It's very human. Cassie's words are interrupted with another round of a fierce mantra recital from the bloodied woman: to he who loves none and curses all.

The words are a blind man's faith to the unseen. Prayers to the empty, and the corsair finds it irksome.

It was the wrong faith.

Ash has seen many sects of doctrines and schools of thought throughout her life and admired them from a theological standpoint. She would sit with the villagers in their place of worship and ask them questions pertaining to their gospels: what do you believe? Who is your god? Where is mankind is destined to go?—and was often given vague answers. She would leave it at that, but over the years Ash divined the exact beliefs that she had no patience for: the kind that made good men bad.

The woman's words were exactly that. Mad with irrational piety. She felt like picking up the knife and pushing it into the woman's breast herself. But the elf's words and conviction made the corsair think otherwise. So she ignored it and let Cassie do her work and she did hers. 'Pardon me,' Ash asserted, shuffling closer to the dark-skinned girl. She peeled back the gown to expose her chest. It was the one time she was thankful that the men were with the caravan and not out with them. The corsair's hunch was right, there were no marks across her body. It was clean, meaning the blood came from somewhere else. Ash pulled the dress back over her shoulders and turned to Cassie. 'It's not her blood.'

Her madness, too. Everything was taken from somewhere and explainable. 'It's familiar,' Ash said. 'There was a town two years ago—the Longcopse—it's people went mad, but it wasn't them. It was the baron who controlled them. Like a bees' hive. But after Elias killed him the town was "freed",' air-quote. 'Freedom didn't erase the psychological trauma that came of it. Their minds were violated, and before we knew it, they burned Longcopse to the ground and themselves with it because death was fairer.'

Her green-eyed gaze moved back to the girl from Glewick City and Ash touched her wrist, turning it over in her hand. What alternative was there? She had no qualms ending the girl's life, but Cassie's presence said otherwise. She would have to come up with an alternative. 'We can put her to sleep. Finch can brew a sleeping draught, but there's no telling what happens after.'

Spoiler: tags.

Epiphany

 

[WlfSamurai]

Amelie and Annalisa, the monstrous priest thrashes, unable to gain footing with its broken leg. It snarls and snaps at your like a rabid dog. You can see the blood in its eyes. Patches of its hair are missing from where it pulled while changing from human to this.

In its mind, as you delve for memories and secrets, you can feel the presence of this city reaching for you. It’s the same feeling you’ve felt as soon as you stepped into the city limits. The weight is almost unbearable and you can feel it thrusting to penetrate your minds through this creature. The monster before you gives this presence a direct channel to attack your own consciousnesses and souls.

Wackadoodle0987

—————————————————————————————————

Cassie, you stop the girl from stabbing herself. You’re able to pull her arm away. But, as you and Ash touch her, you both feel something begin to slither from insider her mind into your own through the connection. You can feel the cold touch in your mind of something…else. Whispers begin to speak over whispers creating a maddening cacophony of language. It begins to swell, growing louder and more assertive. Yet, it still feels distant.

The girl’s eyes are wide as saucers and she’s completely still. She’s being used as a channel for this cold presence.

Everyone else can see that Cassie and Ash have made it to the young girl and have stopped her.

Teh Frixz , Ronan , PJ-Flash , @ArisenMoon, Aimless Vagabond , Epiphany , ShadTheWerepire , frakncheese

 

[frakncheese]

Cal pauses out of surprise to see an elf dash over to the girl, taking a far more proactive stance than he. Another woman soon joins her. Where had they come from? He glances at the road, mystified, then notices the caravan, shrouded with a battered, subdued aura. Cal picks up his pace and nudges his feline companion. "Look, Lady Puss. Adventurers! They must have fallen from the sky like arrowed birds for me not to see them sooner! Do you suppose they'd take me with them? Oh, I'd toil and tave if only they'd whisk me! It is on the clock I see the world some more, yes, Lady Puss."

His lighthearted chatter dies out as he draws close enough to hear the conversation at hand, replaced by a grim expression. Madness, yes, he was familiar with, but never of the doggedly thematic or violent varieties. He stops several paces short of the two women and their charge, watching curiously, and he continues to pet his new friend, vaguely wondering now if the girl didn't look familiar under all that blood. Perhaps a client of Lloyd's - or perhaps a goddess on the astral plane. He can't place it, which may well have been a sign that his thoughts have fluttered away from him.

When the two women reach a lull in their conversation, he offers his own information. "She passed me from Glewick, and thusly is she out of right. There's little right left in Glewick..."

Ronan Epiphany ShadTheWerepire WlfSamurai

 

[Wackadoodle0987]

The creature thrashed violently, bloodied fingers reaching, it's mouth biting and gnashing, spewing reddened spittle as it writhed and flailed trying to tear at Anna's flesh. Its animalistic movements were hard to predict, but this ghastly beast was by no means a match, and Anna had little trouble keeping the monster at bay. She sent yet another kick towards the beast chest, cracking some of the ribs and sending it reeling backwards.

She could feel the presence in her mind grow stronger, it drove it's way sharply in, using her distraction as a means to slip through the cracks. Anna strained against it, her heart racing as she clawed and ripped at this thing in her mind, treating it with no mercy, granting it no reprieve. She would not abandon her wits so easily.

Amelie could feel it battling against her, he two struggling against the other in an attempt to break through. The creature's wailing and screeching did not distract her, even as the darkness in its mind had it clamber its way at the younger vampire, she was all but oblivious. Anna gripped the fiend by the back of its neck, holding it high above with with inhuman strength. Nails kicked and clawed, but her grip only tightened, unfazed. Amelie pressed, and for a moment she felt the darkness give way and slipped in.

Anna felt her eyes cloud, the unexpected increase in pressure caught her off balance and she wavered. Her head was pounding as the presence drove deeper, she slowed it, but it was so close now, she could feel it in her mind, in her muscles. Amelie searched desperately, a thought, a feeling, but only looming shadow revealed itself. Darkness, endless grey, stone walls and-

Anna roared with pure fury, the pain in her head overwhelming the vampire as her hand tightened, crushing the creature's spine and severing Amelie's connection. The elder sister couldn't bear the strain for much longer, not while her focus was split. She released the corpse, letting the sack of flesh and bone drop heavily to the ground, her eyesight returning to normal as she glanced over at her sibling.

"Anything?" She questioned, but the look in Amelie's eyes told her enough.

"I was close." But no, she found naught of use. With the creature dead, the presence had dimmed somewhat, now more akin to an ebbing feeling. It was weaker than before... perhaps Amelie had tired it, or perhaps it was focused on something else. "You're still all yourself?" She questioned warily.

Anna's bitter scowl was answer enough. This steel wall would not crumble to some creature's parlour tricks. "We should move on. Keep on your guard."

That was a given. The pair moved further into the church, Amelie's bare toes softly pattering through the thickening blood with a somewhat bemused ardour, toes occasionally wiggling if she stepped on an especially squishy piece of stray flesh. She had half a mind to go about splashing in puddles, but their argument and the seeming urgency of their situation had her in a mood - and having fun wasn't her priority right now.

The pair halted their movements. Both had heard the commotion. A chorus of bangs and scratches, the cackling and snarling that same creature they had just killed made, only sevenfold. The noise was below, likely the undercroft, and it was audibly violent - not the calmness of a feasting thrall, these beasts were after something. Both gave no hesitation as they made for the stairs, and descended down into the bowels of the chancel.

 

[Epiphany]

Ash's revelation is both welcome (thankfully someone here had experience with this!) and concerning. Glancing at the human, the elf speaks in a whisper. "We give her the best chance we have, that's what we do. And we do it by giving her hope, not undermining it with what happened to other people far from here. For her sake, she has to believe she has a chance!"

With the knife successfully controlled, Cassie looks relieved. That sensation vanishes immediately when something else reaches into her. Her master had taught her many forms of wizardry but little to resist mental invasion. Perhaps because he'd planned on his own kind of invasion, as it turned out. Either way, Cassie grimaces at the sound of the whispers before looking the girl in the eyes. She even shakes the girl by the shoulders. "Don't listen to that, if you can hear that," she hisses. "Listen to me, listen to my voice. Maybe you can hear it but you can see me, feel me. Together, we're stronger than it is. Come back to us. Turn your back on that noise and come with us. Come on."

And Cassie slips an arm around the girl's shoulders, urging her back to the caravan. If continued physical contact worsens the whispers, the elf just doubles down on her conviction that this is the right thing to do. That evil can't win over good. Not when good is focused, aware of itself, not when good does what it does best.

So consumed is Cassie by her conviction, by her concentration on shutting out the whispers in her head, that Cal's approach surprises her entirely. A man? A man with some elven blood, petting a cat? That was nearly as suspicious as the chanting girl with a knife! But his message at least made more sense and she nodded approvingly. "You came from Glewick then?" she asks. "How was it? What did you see there? What destroyed it?"

 

[WlfSamurai]

Amelie and Anna, off the side of the Chapel you find stairs that descend into darkness. You both can hear the sounds below; clawing, snarling, snapping. It sounds like a pack of wild wolves circling caged prey.

“I wouldn’t go down there, if I were you,” a voice says behind you. A tattooed young woman kneels over the corpse of the dead priest you both dispatched. There’s not much to her plain leather armor and shortsword at her hip. She’s searching the corpse’s pockets and robes. It’s clear to you this woman had been hiding in the Chapel somewhere while you fought the priest. “It’s just more of this.” She nods to the holy man. “I doubt anyone’s left alive down there. Or sane, more importantly.” She stands and wipes her hands on her leathers.

“Either way,” she salutes you with a wave of two fingers, “thanks for showing up and killing him.” She motions to the priest. “Where are you headed?”

Wackadoodle0987

 

[Wackadoodle0987]

There was a flicker of movement as Annalise turned on the stranger, blade once more poised as she readied to attack. The elder vampire might have advanced, already pressed her sword tight against the woman's throat with a swift flash of silver, but such a move would be obviously inhuman, and then killing her would no longer be an option, but a necessity.

With the commotion in the undercroft, and their prior 'battle', it wasn't shocking that someone had managed to go unnoticed by the sisters, but that fact didn't diminish Anna's irritation.

"Stand up and keep your hands in sight else I'll rend your head from your neck." She spoke firmly, a deathly serious look in her eyes. Anna's knuckles whitened as her grip firmed, her eyes trained unnervingly on the figure before them. Her armour was light, her neck and underarms would be easily severable, and the leather weak enough to puncture with Anna's strength.

"Well, it's a good thing you're not us then, is it not?" Amelie spoke up, stepping beside her sibling confidently. Amelie took her precautions, but she was less aggressive than her dear sister was so adamant at being. "I like your tattoo; however, you're mistaken. We're not looking for people, least not sane ones - they're all rather dull."

The vampire smiled, eyes glinting with an unrecognisable look. They didn't know how much she witnessed, whether she knew Amelie was a Mage, or whether she had realised that confronting them was a dangerous risk, but regardless... she seemed all too confident and all too relaxed. For the vampires it was explicable... they were old, experienced and very little bothered them - but for her, well... let's call it a mystery. Amelie enjoyed mysteries.

"Looting a priest of the Holy Chantry?" Amelie chuckled amusedly, "I'm guessing the darling Father's sermons never quite touched your soul as it did the rest of his..." She opened her arms, gesturing around to the carnage, "Blessed flock."

The young woman showed no obvious struggle with whatever ailed these peoples' minds, which was cause for concern... or at least very mild apprehension. "We're not headed anywhere, just having a nosey around the place. Scouting the neighbourhood, we heard Glewick was quiet this time of year, and we appreciate the peace. It's far more pleasant than I was expecting thou-"

"Enough." Anna snapped, her irritation having exceeded reasonable boundaries, "I'm going to kill you now," She glared at the young woman, "Unless you can explain why you seem unaffected by whatever shadow creeps this city, and what you're doing here if so incapable of dealing with the situation yourself."

 

[ShadTheWerepire]

Shae clung to her companion. So many people, such scary talk, that girl still reeks of death. The cat mused to herself.

Cal's nudge brought back her focus but was a little aggressive, hitting her bony rib cage. That was not a pet. If these people meant improper pets like that she would be eternally displeased with these new adventurers. But, they were handling the death girl, so crazy didn't have to. Shae also heard the chirping of a name, "Finch", a bird, her favorite bird, a delicious yet entertaining bird. She craved that form for a moment, but the environment was so poor for such a small edible bird. She would remain a cat, no one needed to be concerned with a sudden transformation for now, though the number of elves was growing, perhaps they wouldn't bat an eye.

As cats tend to do, she decided at a moment's notice to wriggle uncomfortably out of Cal's arms. His grip was not tight so she had no problem reaching the ground. She began to circle his ankles again observing the newcomers. The blonde was pretty, but the silver haired woman was prettier. She had a strange weapon, what good would a needle of a sword do to protect her? Surely it would break the second it collided with a real sword. Maybe it was an iron wand?

"Mrow" Shae vocalized acknowledging her approval of Cal's words. She settled in a position behind his right leg watching them from safety, he could make the decision to approach.

frakncheese Ronan WlfSamurai Epiphany

 

[Ronan]

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[/div]'I am undermining?' is the offended answer. 'If knowledge is "undermining", then by all means- the girl will be dead tomorrow and you will have only yourself to blame.' It was blunt, but Ash was right- knowledge is everything. The Longcopse could've had a different ending if the psychological aftermath was predicted. Instead, they burned themselves to death. It's not that the corsair regretted it- no, that was two years ago- but the years gave her time to plot out an alternate ending were she to come across a similar crisis again. Experience makes for wisdom and here it was; she could avert the suicide by putting the girl to sleep. 'If you have another idea that doesn't require us to watch her day and night, then let's hear it. If not- respectfully, you will do as you're told.'

With that, the silver-haired woman makes to stand. She picks up the dropped knife and inspects it by pressing her thumb into the empty jewel socket. Odd. Ash wouldn't say the knife or the girl in particular were "odd"- she has seen many "odd" things in her long life, but like all out-of-place things, they belonged somewhere. It was like putting a few pieces of the puzzle together and Ash suspected the rest of the pieces lay in the ruins of Glewick City and the church. So for now, she tucks the knife into her belt and moves to rejoin the rest of the caravan.

As she does, she's greeted by another traveller: a minstrel and cat. They made for a curious pairing, and so far from fairer kingdoms where such vocations and creatures were often seen.

The corsair was about to inquire if they'd come from Glewick City, but Cassie beats her to it, so for now, Ash surrenders the conversation and continues back to the caravan.

At the caravan, she's accosted by sudden whispers, tendrils of something forcing it's way into her mind. Ash squeezes her eyes shut and turns her head to the side, as if turning away from something. Another piece of knowledge she's obtained: humanoid races were the easiest to mentally pervert, even if she wasn't exactly "human"; she still fell into that category. But like that piece of knowledge, she's learned how to mitigate such invasions of the mind: blood. Blood flows to every organ; every part of your body, including the mind and pain receptors of such mental invasions. Using her gift, she would slow the blood to her mind- not enough for it to be a cure-all, but enough that the invader would give up and it would go away.

Ash does exactly that. She slows the blood enough that the voices dissipate. She wins. She closed off her mind and drove away the invader- but who? Beryl-green eyes turn towards the burnt city where the church looms closer and clearer than ever. There was something there- people; another possessed baron; an Eldritch horror? She doesn’t know, but as it was, the group needed to be ready. So looked for Elias.

She found him hanging by the supply wagon. 'Elias,' she said, garnering his attention. Ash also needed to get supplies for the sleeping draught, so she multi-tasked by moving the conversation. She jumped into the back of the supply wagon and started opening crates and picking through vials of plants, ointments, and other miscellaneous things an ornithologist might need. 'It's like Longcopse,' she continued. 'Someone tried to invade my mind. The voices, the people- everything. Different city, different time, but no less of a similar circumstance.' There were eleven bottles of something in her arms now. Ash was well-read, but even she couldn't decipher what each vial did or how one would go about brewing the perfect sleeping draught. She slides out of the wagon with her arms full and excuses herself from Elias to find Finch.

He's found near Gillie. 'Finch,' Ash moves quickly, dropping medicinal materials into his arms. She hopes she got the right ones. 'You helped me,' or- the elf did, but Ash still recognised the effort Finch put into helping her wounded leg. 'Now I need your help again. Will you make a sleeping draught? A powerful one. Make more than a bottle, too. There may be more girls like the one we saw. When you're done, give them to Cassie- she's the elf.' The corsair points to the elf walking with a blood-stained girl wrapped around her shoulders and minstrel in tow. 'Can you do that?'

She doesn't let Finch respond before she leaves for the supply wagon again. She knows Finch can do regardless if he objected or not. The bird-keeper was capable of many things, even if he didn't trust himself, but the girl and the sleeping draught was the least of Ash's concerns right now. The biggest was Glewick City and the church. If "danger" had a definition, it was that. Ash climbs back into the supply wagon and sits across Elias on one of the crates. It was quiet, the perfect environment for a critical conversation. 'As I was saying, it's like the Longcopse. And,' the silver-haired woman pauses to consider her next words. They demanded to be said right. 'The group- they're not fighters. Iiolete, maybe. But I suspect that she would cause more harm than good.'

There it was. The culmination of Ash's observations as the undeniable truth. As it was, there were only two fighters: Elias and herself. Possibly Iiolete, but her usefulness was to be debated. She trusted Elias with this information. He was one of her oldest friends and she knew he was good in battle; he had proven it to her, but the rest of the group? There were six of them and a cat. Everything from this point on was a gamble. 'We can divide the group. If there's more people in the city like the girl we found, we can have the others help them. In the meantime, you, me, and-' Ash inhales sharply and pinches the bridge of her nose, unbelieving of the words coming. She felt like a heretic. 'Iiolete. Just- we'll take her, she fights, but we- I don't know. She can cause a lot of damage,' Ash said, gesturing to her now healed leg. 'But, even I cannot ignore that she has potential. Dangerous? Definitely, but if we create a "blast zone" for her, then possibly.'

The corsair wasn't sure. Was she being objective or was it a personal vendetta from the forest incident? Was she right to be unsure? Maybe it was best to have Iiolete work with Cassie and Finch- but also, she is a force. Iiolete is the wheel of fortune; some spokes benefitted the spinner, and others, instant death. Was it worth taking the risk to spin the wheel and see what the powdered witch could do or was safer to keep her under lock-and-key?

A gamble. A party of six and a cat and no Workshop or Forty Elephants crew. Six against what? Maybe Ash was being too careful and there really was nothing in the city, but her gut said there was something. The mental invasion was proof of another existence outside the group. She rubbed her face harshly, going back and forth weighing the pros and cons until she finally asks Elias, 'What do you think?'

Spoiler: tags.

Epiphany / frakncheese / Aimless Vagabond / ShadTheWerepire / PJ-Flash

 

[Aimless Vagabond]

Elias had remained near the wagons since the party had stopped, cleaning his saw and brooding, though he did stick his head out once to get a look at the bloodied girl and those that had followed her. He had suspected it for awhile, but her appearance only confirmed his fears about Glewick's fate. The city was probably a ghost town at this point, devoid of life except for a few unfortunate souls that lasted long enough to end up like that girl. It was enough to give even him pause.

He continued to clean and fiddle with his saw even when Ash sat across from him to voice her concerns. He stayed silent for a minute after she finished, then let out a small sigh and gave one of the circular blades on his saw a spin. "You're right, the similarities this has with the Longcopse are striking. Whatever did this has to be a creature similar to the Baron, though I feel he was little more than a hatchling fresh from its egg compared to the thing that did this.'

'I concur that we should have the others scour the city for survivors. I'd prefer to have them avoid the church, as I have no doubt that the thing that tried to invade your mind originated from somewhere in there. I say we leave Iiolete with them, though. A Powder Hunter such as her would be wasted indoors, and it wouldn't do to leave the lot defenseless should they encounter the less fortunate victims. Plus, I don't think you and I would be alone there."

Elias slipped his saw back into the harness on his back, turning his gaze towards Ash. "Do you recall those two odd merchants we encountered some nights ago? They said they were headed to Glewick, despite it clearly burning in the distance. Whoever they are, I'm willing to be they're more than just merchants and that they've seen their share of conflict." There was more the concerned him regarding those two, of course, but that could wait. "I don't doubt that we'll encounter them in the city, if not at the church itself.'

'Whatever it is we all decide to do," Elias continued, standing up and stretching his arms over his head, "I say first priority should be stopping whoever or whatever is trying to invade your mind. If that girl is still under its grip this far from the city proper, there's no telling how much farther it could spread and how much damage it could do. We can decide on everything else afterwards." If experience had taught him anything, it was having a set goal to accomplish helped to prevent such invasions of the mind. Elias trusted Ash a great deal, and knew she was a fierce and experienced fighter, but no one could stave off the creeping insanity forever. He had already lost one friend to it and he didn't know if his own mind could handle watching a second suffer the same fate.

Spoiler: tags

Ronan

 

[Ronan]

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[/div]'A hatchling ...' she muses. It was an original observation. One she hadn't thought of before, and Elias was right. The baron, although terrifying in every way, was no more than a hatchling who treated the Longcopse as an experiment to buoy it's growth as a monster. But likewise, it was incorrect to say that Glewick City was a perfect parallel to the Longcopse. There were differences- the burning, the church, and how far the voices reached.

At Elias' suggestion about Iiolete, the corsair found herself agreeing. It would be a mistake to leave the group defenceless and an even greater mistake to let her loose indoors. She could imagine it: Iiolete setting off a bomb and the church roof collapsing on them. Elias was an excellent person to bounce ideas and suggestions off of, and in this particular instance about the powder hunter, Ash was grateful. It was smart. However, his next comment was unforeseen. 'Merchants?' she questions with a raised eyebrow. 'I can't say I do.'

She wracks her brain for anything from that evening, but all that comes to mind is endless arguing and a light.

So much has happened over the course of a week that Ash hasn't had the time to sit down and sort through all the information. They started in Oakheart with ten party members; lost two to Eldritch wolves, another two that disappeared, and Tanner was missing. In addition to the losses they've gained an elf- Ash still isn't sure where she came from; only that she woke up and there she was, as if she materialised into existence overnight- and a minstrel and cat. Was it pure stupidity that the singer managed to wander all the way out to the Deadlands? Or was he here for something else? Regardless, they were big question marks in Ash's book and she was not willing to trust either of them in combat.

'If you say there are two merchants in the city, then I'll take your word for it.'

With that, the conversation reached a natural stopping point. Elias was spot-on with his observations and once again, Ash was grateful for his invaluable input. She only hoped that the conjecture about the traders being more than their vocation was accurate.

As the Workshop hunter stood up, she followed. The corsair slides out of the wagon, grateful to be off the awkward crates with splinters that stabbed the back of her thighs, and dusts herself off. Next, she readjusts the rapier and gladius on her hips and uses a found burlap string to tie her hair back up into a loose ponytail.

'Let's go,' she orders, tugging on the closest horse's reins and urging the wagons forward, finally into Glewick City.

Spoiler: tags.

Aimless Vagabond and @ literally everyone else. Onwards!

 

[Epiphany]

At Ash's bristling, Cassie offers a brief (if strained) smile and shakes her head, causing her hair to sweep back behind her long tapery ears. "I meant no offense to you or your experience. But my studies have taught me that the mind has a powerful effect on health. If the mind lacks hope, the body falters. So we must have hope to encourage hope in her, to give her the best chance she has. That said..." The elf winces slightly as the voices murmur louder in her mind. "A sleeping potion is a wonderful idea, if you have the means to make one."

As Ash confers with Elias, Cassie helps the blood-stained girl up into the wagon and sets her down before bundling her up in a blanket. If anyone's able to make a sleeping draught and pass it her way, she gratefully accepts it before administering it to the stunned, vacant girl so recently wracked by evil.

Once she spots the Corsair and the Hunter readying to enter Glewick City itself, the elf turns to Raes and Gillie and offers brief, urgent instructions. "Keep her calm. Keep her away from anything sharp. Try not to touch her. Keep her asleep if you can. Restrain her if you must. Hopefully we can deal with the evil that has befallen this city and free her...as well as anyone else afflicted. Be careful," she adds, particularly for Gillie's sake.

And then Cassie snatches up her bow and quiver, drops off the wagon and hurries up to the other two. "I don't know where you think you're going," she says in a low, fierce voice "But you're not doing it alone. You both look to be warriors of courage but this is something supernatural. And for that, you'll need a Wizard." A flicker of fire coils and curls between her fingers, an implicit power to send against the threat crouching in Glewick's remains.

Aimless Vagabond Ronan

 

[Ronan]

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[/div]This group- they exhausted Ash. It was like corralling impossible sheep; some sheep went happily to their enclosures, others required more force- such were Iiolete and Cassie. And in response to the new task, the corsair exhaled and her shoulders fell from the expelled tensity. As she waited for Cassie to catch up, she scrutinised the church and how the city tossed shadows across light-filled structures and how they longed for untouched places. If anything, exhaustion made for shadows.

When the elf caught up, Ash gave Elias' shoulder a quick touch before turning to face Cassie. At first, the corsair didn't say anything and only listened with her hands folded behind her back as a captain would. She could see the elf's intensity was palpable, if not commendable in Ash's book. She had respect for women who stood up for themselves in this world, but in this instance, Ash found that respect to be contestable. The elf had done the unthinkable: defied her. Offered her help when it was not needed and worst of all- questioned her. If Ash was on the Forty Elephants right now the crew members would be fleeing for their lives. 'I don't know where you think you're going,' she matches with a fierce voice of her own.

Ash takes a single, perfect step forward and her shoulders broaden. 'I will share with you the same thing I share with my crew, and that is- I do not let anyone I don't trust onboard.' Another step where she stands tall. The picture perfect captain who commands a great vessel. 'And you are a liability,' She stops in front Cassie, their boots touching and Ash's poisonous green eyes boring into the elf’s own, and she can see that she's a few inches taller. 'Thereby expendable.'

It was harsh and spoken as a verdict. To Ash, it was a fact. And to further rattle the situation, the corsair leans into the elf's face, noses almost touching and the air thickening with tension. Her crew would've fainted from terror, but she knows to expect better from Cassie. 'If you are a "wizard", then your duty is to the girl and the rest of the caravan,' she grabs the wizard’s wrist and lifts it, hinting at the weapon tightly gripped in her hand: the bow, and how it could be used protect those left behind. 'I did not attempt to "sneak away" with Elias because I thought you were weak.' The last vowel echoes. Weak. Ash drops the wrist and moves her hand away, and as if to be paradoxical, the next words are spoken gently. 'You are not expendable with the caravan.'

In truth, she had many questions for the elf, like how did she heal the leg? But in the short time she's known her, she's proven that she capable of many things, some beyond human measure. Perhaps that was her power- empathy. Empathy that transcended humanity. It was wasted fighting monsters. Physical power was one thing and easy to obtain, but powers of the heart were far stronger, thereby making Cassie the most formidable of the group. 'You are needed there,' she answers honestly. 'Be a wizard where you are needed and Elias and I will go where we are needed.'

Spoiler: tags.

Epiphany / Aimless Vagabond .

 

[Epiphany]

The fatigue on the face of the silver-haired woman is almost as striking as her looks. Despite herself, despite Ash's evident anger at being thwarted, Cassie couldn't deny that something of the other woman moved her. Perhaps it was the human's passion. Perhaps it was the sense that somewhere underneath the surprising hostility was something vulnerable, uncomfortably vulnerable judging by the defensiveness. Cassie had never felt herself to have much of the healer's calling but she felt a wistful ache in her wish to remove whatever pain brought about such a reaction.

"You sound like a woman used to having her way," Cassie said, in answer to the fiery woman's speech. "You have or had a crew, a command, a chain of command with you on top. This situation must be frustrating, with none of us in that chain, none of us with familiar skills or familiar reactions. So I'll do my best to follow your lead where possible, especially as you seem to have experience with another place where something like this happened."

"But understand this; I go where I'm needed. Evil has infested this city. Evil that uses magic. Unless someone else is here is concealing what they can do, I'm the only magic you have on your side." Even as Ash glowered at her, Cassie bent like a tree leaning against a strong wind, letting the sharp words and sharper sentiments flow past her. She didn't resist when the silver-haired woman grabbed her wrist. But her words grew firmer, straightening against the storm. "Your compassion for the caravan is admirable and does you credit. But short of fleeing this place, nowhere is safe, not in the city and not back by the caravan. The best way I can protect these people and any survivors in this city is to deal with the cause, deal with it as directly as you would. I'm not especially apt with a sword but I suspect neither is the source. Its power, and its undoing, may not respond to any blade. You're a commander. Would you send people into a situation without the tools or weapons they need to deal with that situation?"

She looked then at Elias, appraising him for a moment before glancing back at Cal. "You need me. And you likely need the only person to have come out of Glewick so far who isn't a danger to himself or others. Let's be sure of success, both of you. Let's bring the right people and deal with this now before anyone else gets ensnared and doomed."

Aimless Vagabond Ronan ShadTheWerepire frakncheese

 

[Aimless Vagabond]

Elias watched the elf and corsair argue, keeping a mild smile on his face but not daring to interfere. Though the time they had spent working together was short, relatively speaking, Elias knew better than to try and stop Ash when she felt someone was challenging her authority. Cassie's fortitude did catch him by surprise, however; Ash's intimidating visage when she was in a foul mood was enough to make even the fiercest of warriors shrivel.

Once Ash had rejoined him and Cassie had finished speaking, he turned to face her fully and gave a slight bow. "I mean no offense, Miss Cassie, but if I needed the assistance of a Wizard every time I ran into something otherworldly I'd be a failure of a Workshop Hunter. Such is my life's work, after all, and in all my years on the Hunt I've not yet met a foe that could not be killed or destroyed with a good, solid blow from my saw!" He chuckled a bit at the end, trying to lighten the mood a tad.

"That said," Elias continued, turning to look at the city, his voice hesitating ever so slightly, as if loathe to finish his next sentence, "you do bring up one good point that I did not even consider.'

'From what we can see here, the Church looks to be the center of the city's destruction, but for all we know it could be the only place left untouched because our quarry couldn't touch it, perhaps due to some holy magics. It could very well be wandering the ruined city at this very moment, looking for more victims to ensnare." Elias's gut told him that wasn't the case, and he didn't doubt that at least Ash and Cassie felt the same way, but he figured he might as well bring the possibility up.

"Though it pains me to say, it might be better to just keep the entire caravan near to us, even if that means risking their minds being invaded. The last time we split up we lost a few people, after all. And besides, once we stop the source of the invasions, having them near would make wrapping this whole business up easier than if we had to scour the city for them." Elias threw Ash a knowing, apologetic look, before glancing towards the rest of the troop. "What do you say, Ash?"

Spoiler: tags

Ronan Epiphany

 

[frakncheese]

Cal's eyes make note of Cassie's pointed ears as the kitty drops from his arms to wind around his feet. In answer to her question, he shudders, turning away to look across the gentle slopes of the field, at Glewick with its halo - the remains of its crumbled, ember-glowing city wall.

"It started in the morning, I think," he says after a moment. "Nothing to have happened, really, but something was not right. The baker did not thank his patrons for their purchases. The doctor and his daughter had a fight. I was meant to go with the doctor to see a man of faith..." Cal pauses here, affectionately recalling the church and its hymns, all this tinged with the pain of their loss. "To help him balance the humours. The man had illness snatch him, and I..." Cal flexes his fingers. "I have healing hands. But I was without sense - as always, but muchly then, so much I could not follow, and mustly was left home. I wandered to the fields for flower-picking and..."

Cal struggles to continue, not sure how to describe the glimpses of shadowy masses creeping along rooftops, glimpses he wasn't wholly sure (s)he saw. She'd seen little else, hidden as it was behind the walls. If she paid more attention, she may have seen smoke clawing into the air, but she was with the bees, and not until the west gate fell from its burning hinges with a clang that pealed out across the field did she realize Glewick was ablaze. She had briefly considered the merits of adding a filter to her esophagus but decided against the drawn-out, meticulous work, instead rushing in without protection. Everything she had seen only existed in her peripherals, dark, except for glinting red or curving ivory. It almost seemed formless. She was curious about the new phenomenon - and eager to find the good doctor and fix him if he was broken.

Now, Cal shakes his head and offers only, "I was too late for the main event and being any help."

The group is busy, and before long the caravan is moving again. Cal stands off the path of sparse grass, watching as the women from before walk ahead of the group with another warrior, bickering softly. He perks up when elf gestures his way. "I was no native to the city, but I have written mostwise of the streets into the pages of my memory. I can tread and point the way if I might walk among you fierce falcons, and knit your feathers back together if they bruise."

 

[Ronan]

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[/div]'Fine,' she concedes at last, crossing her arms behind her back and mirroring Elias' bow with her own.

"Concedes" was a bitter word. Concede, conceding, conceded- verbs equated with failure and defeat, the exact opposite of what she was going for. Ash prided herself on precision and truth, but Cassie's conviction proved her wrong- logos triumphed by pathos. The goal was to break her, but to discover that she was capable of pushing back in the face of a storm was unanticipated. Unexpected. She couldn't dent the elf's argument and Elias seemed to recognise that, too, if his awkward laugh was anything to go off of. So for now, Ash lets.

She doesn't contribute to the conversation for awhile. They were right- a diverse arsenal of magic and swords was required if they were going to successfully combat the scourge of the city. But the minstrel's statement about "knitted feathers" begged attention. 'You are a healer?' she asks, gaze upon him. That certainly answered Cassie's question of someone hiding their abilities, but Ash suspected everyone of hiding something. She may have lost the argument, but even the elf must recognise that such basis was not unfounded. There was a liability to be found within the group. Everyone was a danger to each other- so many unknowns and not enough answers. Elias fought with a saw; Cassie was a healer with a bow, and the minstrel was a healer with a cat. Ash was the "pirate with swords".

Four of them and a cat against Glewick City.

She didn't even know half their names. The elf was still "the elf" to her because she overheard Cassie on the hill, and the minstrel was "the minstrel" and Elias was Elias and people were their surface characters. No matter how Ash examined it- it was dangerous, but a danger with no choice. 'Let's move the wagons. The minstrel- whatever your name is- you can tell us about your magic and the man of faith. And "Cassie"—' she still wasn't sure of her name. She could've heard wrong. 'You are welcomed, along with everyone, but make no mistake- if Elias or I suspect something, you are gone. We have four people. There is no reason why you or the minstrel should die.'

Spoiler: tags.

Aimless Vagabond / Epiphany / ShadTheWerepire / frakncheese this was such Uglie writing jshdjsa i'm sorry. let's just get into the city now. :' (

 

[WlfSamurai]

Amelie and Anna, the young woman puts her hands up and stands, keeping her movements slow and steady.

“Woah,” she says. “Let’s not get hasty.” She pulls her hair back revealing the tattoo on her face and head more. It runs “These tattoos. From the monastery. They were meant to lock my brain up like a vault. The monks use them to keep mind altering effects out. Keeps me from learning magic, though, which I hadn’t considered important at the time.” She looks down and sighs.

“I grew up with the Thaelen Monks in the far north. There’s a long story behind why I didn’t and left. So, do you—“ The woman stops mid-sentence, her eyes are wide as saucers.

The pounding downstairs has stopped. Behind you both, several more “insane” humans crowd the top of the stairs. They eye you with feral looks. From the look of their clothes, these were once townsfolk.

“Shit,” says the tattooed woman. She loosens her short-sword in its scabbard.

Two of the lunatics take off at a sprint and lunge at her. Two more leap up onto the pews and then at you both.

Tagging: Wackadoodle0987

—————————————————————————————————

You all push into Glewick with the wagons. Each step feels heavier and presses on your mind. Something is scratching at the back of your thoughts trying to get in. As soon as you pass the first set of houses, the mental and emotional noise increases. A maddening cacophony of whispers and voices and screams fills your mind. You feel it probing deeper, slipping shadowed fingers between thoughts.

Your caravan enters the city proper and the devastation is worse than could be imagined. Burnt buildings and houses line charred streets. Blackened corpses lay motionless amid rubble. There are still some glowing embers here and there

Cassie, you’re elven mind is naturally capable of resisting such mind assaults. But you can still feel it. Always there. Pressing.

Everyone else, here in the city, the effect is amplified. The presence thrusts into your mind perverting memories, feelings, and thoughts.

Spoiler: OOC

Everyone but Cassie, tell us what this looks like. Show us a memory and how it gets assaulted and twisted and turned against you.

Tagging: Teh Frixz , Ronan ., @ArisenMoon, Aimless Vagabond , Epiphany , ShadTheWerepire , frakncheese

 

[Wackadoodle0987]

Their was a faint smile adorning Amelie's rosy lips as she spoke, "Ah, so a monk whom steals from the dead." She tapped a well-manicured finger against her nose, "I won't tell." The younger vampire turned away from the woman as she continued to speak, gracing them with her tale; as did Anna along side her. Their acute hearing had already attributed the silence below to the approaching padding of footsteps on the marble stairs.

"Shit."

Amelie chuckled at the woman's rather apt statement, offering her a quick glance and a wink. "Keep your head on your shoulders my dear." There was a flash of light as the creatures leapt, jagged and torn nails outstretched, ready to claw and maim their prey, and Amelie was gone. Annalise raised her already drawn blade, taking a step back and merely allowing the hurtling creature to clumsily impale itself on her sword. It thrashed its bloody arms, flailing and biting at the vampire as she, with incredible strength, twisted her sword and threw the crazed human backwards, withdrawing her silver blade as she did so.

The beast landed heavily on its back, the large gaping wound bleeding profusely, but seemingly having done little to slow it's furious advance as it clambered back upon its bare feet - though bloodied and grotesque from the gore, Anna noticed the three toes missing from his left foot, old wounds as they had long since scarred over. The creature gave a grating roar, it was... monstrous, but Anna could not say it was wholly inhuman.

"Sever the spine." Anna spoke to the young woman, her gaze not faltering as she eyed the two creatures before her, "They die as any human, they're merely too stupid to realise it's happening." The vampire snarled, raising her blade with a rush of air as she charged the thralls, eyes thin and trained. They lacked the fury she showed against Havard, here, now, this was calculating. With a swift and precise arc her sword was brought down upon the first; a spray of blood splattering the floor as she severed the head in one blow, and without a moment's pause was upon the second, sword thrust forward with great speed through the heart. She held it there, eyes staring into the dying woman's own - there was no pity offered from this vampire, not for humans. Anna could hear her slowing pulse as the blood flowed from the wound, and the woman's eyes dimmed - and for but a moment, there was a glint of terror... and confusion, until the last glimmer died from her gaze and the corpse fell limp.

There was a faint look of satisfaction on Anna's face as she turned to the young woman's aid. She cared not for the lives of these humans, but she shared no pleasure in knowing they suffered such a fate - that they were freed in death was welcome knowledge.

Amelie had withdrawn to the outskirts of the room, watching the young woman battle with the creatures, that same faint smile resting on her face. The vampire wanted to see if she'd survive, and to understand a little bit more about her... to observe her. She remained out of sight, unable to be seen, nor heard, nor smelled. This vampire had an uncanny knack for ceasing to exist when she so desired, and for the moment, it is as she so desires. Anna was aware of her continued presence, only because she had developed some kind of sixth sense that recognises the aura of overbearing arrogance exuded by her sibling... and her experience with these situations, but for the stranger, Amelie had all but disappeared.

"Quickly!" Anna bellowed, more had approached and drawn her attention, the monk would have to fend for herself. "Amelie," She whispered, inaudible to the human, "Don't just fucking stand there." The last words were spat as she once more rushed towards the attacking creatures, blade raised to fell yet another.

WlfSamurai

 

[WlfSamurai]

Amelie and Anna:

The girl goes down hard, her sword still in its scabbard. They had been too fast. The first lunatic had landed on her chest. The second had missed and rolled across the floor. Using her wrist, the girl pushes with all her might against the neck of a man driven insane, holding him at bay while fingering the hilt of her blade. He snaps again and again, looking for a taste of her cheek. Finally getting her sword free, she drives it deep into the lunatic’s temple.

No sooner has she rolled the lunatic off than the second is on her. The woman is crazed and rips a chunk out of the girl's neck. The girl screams and hacks at the woman with her blade over and over again. Blood trails the girl’s rising and falling sword until the woman goes limp on top of her.

“No!” cires the girl when she hears more on the stairs. “No! No! No!” She rolls out from under the corpse and attempts to stand. Instead, she falls against a pew, blood flowing down her leathers.

The next group is on her before she has time to compose herself. She manages to slit the throat of the first crazed man, dropping him, but the second and third take turns clawing her after knocking her to the ground. The girl screams.

Wackadoodle0987

 

[frakncheese]

Cal pads ahead of the group, bringing them deeper into the city. He sucked a hissing breath through barred teeth as they passed through a charred gateway, walking over the fallen, blackened wood doors to the city. It was stronger now than it had been. It had bloomed in the still-burning city like disease in deep, stagnant water. As he leads the shrunken party, he tries to focus on the surroundings and not the fingers deftly shuffling his thoughts, but fending off madness was never one of his strengths. The fingers fan out his memories, pull one from the deck like plucking a feather.

Yes. This one.

He's still walking, now, but far from here, where the air smells like water, or the things around it - clay and trees and winter. Cal still feels the heat the flames of the city left behind, but he is aware too of the bite in the air, the ice creeping from the edges of the river but not yet reaching across the brook.

Fisssshhhh frozzzen in their pond in a few weeksss tttime. Death awaittsss.

That was not his thought, he thinks. He knows this scene, but this echoing voice with such sharp consonants wasn't in it. But his thoughts spring from somewhere else, and is there anything in his sureness he can trust? His thoughts? Ha! He thinks not. He knows this scene, and the voice is in it now if it was not before. He knows this scene; he looks to his mother to confirm.

She meets his gaze from the tree with a smile, saying, "Catch!"

He snatches the two blue circles from the air easily - eggs.

"For breakfast on the morrow," his mother says, leaping from the tree.

Doesss sshe wantt tto, even now? Isss sshe imagining itt? Her handsss att my throattt?

Her smile seems more threatening, now. Cal looks down at himself. Herself? More feminine than he feels right now, but can memory be helped? He frowns, trying to shift into something that suits him better, but claws grow from his fingers, and he gasps, stumbling. His mother takes no note. She strides with him, for now, not yet bored of their mortal pace or the flat terrain. She is tall, bright, angelic in his eyes. She isn't in her armor now, but she always seems to wear it - a sense of readiness and strength, like the tree trunks that are scattered closely for miles around. He could never be this bold, graceful sort of woman.

Ahead, his father sinks onto a large, smooth river stone and sighs. "I'll take a rest here," he says, stretching his legs out. His hair was once the raven's black, so black it was almost blue, but now it has faded to more mundane things, like salt and pepper. "Your father's getting old, Callie," he said with a grin. A cockroach emerged from the depths of his cheek and skittered across that smile, which didn't waver.

"Not so old," said his mother around fangs that weren't there a moment ago. "The farm punishes your body." She glanced at Cal with her sharp teeth, something portentous that he wishes he had noticed sooner.

"No more than any other man's," dismissed Cal's father as lesions began opening on his face along the lines his wrinkles made.

Thisss isss your ddoing .

"Stop," Cal mouths, but the words don't come out. Nothing really changes, but he has the impression of someone - something - laughing, and the cuts continue to grow. He rushes toward his father, drops the eggs on the gravel of the river banks. One breaks open, spilling brown yolk and marrow and a flower onto the pebbles. The other just erupts into a storm of black feathers, so black they're almost blue, vaulting viciously through the air so Cal can scarcely see anything. He shuts his eyes and touches his father, trying to will the wounds to shut. They're forming on the rest of his body, now, oozing a clear, yellow-ish liquid that eats away his clothes. The leaking wounds won't respond to Cal, who stumbles backward. The cloud of feathers parts - Cal watches his smiling father shrivel, black skin turning ashy, as he continues on oblivious to his own decomposition, "And it punished me less when I was young. The best of my years are behind me."

"Stop!" Cal tries again, but still no sound.

Something bright and white flits around in Cal's peripherals, obscured by the feathers swarming him. "I'll do my best to prove you wrong," it says, and as his father slumps to the ground, too wasted away to hold his own body, it launches itself at Cal. His mother in full armor, angelic white wings sprouting from her back, looking like a vigilante of God but for the distortion of rage on her face.

"You've killed him!" she shrieks, hands tightening around his throat.

"Mama," he mouths silently, crying.

She answers only by pressing her thumbs down so he cannot draw any breath, her pupils like bloodspattered windows, and every instinct in him directs itself into his flailing arms, and a screaming, shuddering, "Stop!"

The memory is gone. Cal is crouching at the base of a statue in the middle of a square, rocking and holding his head in his hands. His skin is rapidly shifting shapes, misshapen and grotesque but too agitated and unfocused to form anything pronounced. To the outsider, he had stumbled twitchily for a few moments, grabbed one of the party members, healed any scrapes or bruises they might have had, then fallen to the ground and scrambled away, screaming.

 

[Wackadoodle0987]

Amelie watched as the woman was grounded. As her neck was torn and the blood began to flow freely, as her strength ebbed and her movements slowed. Die. The thought skated through her mind, swift and quietly. The vampire had drawn closer, the beasts falling upon the girl; as spiders would scramble to eat a trapped fly.

Let her die. Again, like a shadow of a thought they clawed their way to the surface. Were they her own? She could not deny it. These thoughts came from deep within, from that burning hatred that surfaced so rarely. They burned them alive within their own home; humans deserved worse, to have the flesh ripped from their bones by their own brothers and sisters, to have their hearts caved from their chests and their heads-

The woman's eyes were wide, staring directly up at the vampire as she looked down upon her over the creatures. The spell was gone. Amelie watched in full view of the dying woman, her trembling lips bending, forming a crooked smile - it was not kind, and not reassuring. The vampire placed a soft hand upon the head of the creature, caressing as one might a pet, or a young child. Her expression darkened, eyes glinting that same bright silver; its old beauty now replaced by a most frightening gaze.

The creature fell limp, bolts of lightning crackled through its body, blood pooling from its eyes as the thunderous bolts arced towards the second creature, sending it cascading against the far wall, vicious burns scorching most of its body.

"You're trembling." The vampire knelt down beside the woman, taking her hand in Amelie's own, "Fret not." The wound in her neck was grave, and Amelie had no means of repairing it... nor the desire to. "Death is merely an escape from all worldly woes. Know you shall never feel such pain again." Amelie's grip was firm, "You are not the first, and you will not be the last." Something flickered within Amelie's eyes, it was such a flurry of emotion that one couldn't work out what it was. Excitement? Rage? Pity?

Anna came beside her sister, specks of blood littering her armour, "Would you like me to end your suffering?" She looked down upon the woman coldly, bloodied sword held loosely above the monk. She was offering a kindness... as heartless as it seemed.

The younger vampire stood, "This is a snake eat snake world my dear." She spoke softly, turning away from the dying woman, "There's no mercy for the weak of heart," Her voice grew louder as she walked further, "The world cares not for the weaker beings."

She was a monk. Her beloved afterlife awaited. Amelie grinned, turning to face her sibling, "Lions and lambs." Anna pressed her sword against the woman's chest, one shove and her life would wisp away; she merely awaited the nod of a head.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Amelie and Anna:

Tears well in then girl’s eyes. She had escaped the monastery, eschewing a life of servitude. “Slavery,” she had called it as she looked for her freedom. But the monks had it right after all. It is easier to see with monsters tearing her flesh and demons standing over her smiling. Nothing of this world matters. And nothing can be taken with her. Only perfection of the mind and spirit would count for anything.

Her mind races, unfocused, panicked. Her spirit is pooling on the floor beneath her. This is the freedom she sought so greedily? Fear and despair flash through the tattooed girl’s eyes. Lip quivering and tears streaming, she manages a nod.

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