Overview & Main Roleplay

[Dalamus Ulom]

 Before either Aizen or Lanister could get any closer to the Bakeneko, five blood red creatures would exit a nearby building.





 Covered in horns and spikes and claws, with cloven hooves for feet and mouths that leeked the blood of their victims as their disgustingly long tongues would slitheringly slide out from between their fangs, fully exposed for all to see by their lipless mouths. They all wielded wickedly gruesome, partly serrated blades that would seem to also eschew blood, from it's fuller, and released flames that formed into screaming faces from the blades edges. Bloodletters of The Bloody Saint, Khorne.


 The lead demon would point a clawed finger at master and apprentice, turning it's head to jabber at the other four in a disturbing, grating language. After a few moments, they would begin towards the prince and the assassins.

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​

 Yoren laughed at Lance's comment. "These vermin are better for target practice than wasting your energy slashing them to pieces." he said, shooting a ball through another imp's head, which would pass through another two imps before lodging itself into a third's skull.


 As he began collecting his pistols from the ground, he heard Edwin shout something about a cat... Eyes widening with realization, he would whirl around, and begin shooting at what was clearly a Bakeneko, but the little cat demon was to fast. He knew that turning the princess into a gods damned mouse was a horrible idea. Before he could leave to give chase, he would hear the king of North Yunakai's statements.


 Suddenly, a musket ball would fly by the mans ear, so close that it popped the kings eardrum. Yoren had, quite clearly, had enough of this man. "That girl is not only the princess of your fellow nation, but is also one of your closest allies. If she were to die, not only would you have the fools to your south, but also the rage of all the Rose Kingdom, and mayhaps that of Bathelon as well upon you for allowing her to die by the hands of highly intelligent summoned demon, who without a doubt captured her for a purpose, more than likely for it's master to use in a ceremony. And we will stop it before it comes to her being harmed."


 "Now, please remove your gods forsaken ass from where you've planted it and aid us in the princesses rescue from these demons. If you refuse to do so, then you can always take that pretty sword of yours and shove it through your own gut, for you will die no matter what if you do not aid us. Better to kill yourself now before your own people decide to rip you apart with their bare hands even while yoi still breath, for that is the fate of tyrants such as yourself." 


"And you, you will come with me. Now," Yoren commanded the knight, seemingly growing even taller, and casting a looming shadow over Edwin. After a moment, Yoren would walk away, towards the town. He did not look back to see if the knight listened.


° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °


 As the bakeneko would rach the cave, a large, tree like demon would exit the cave.





 It would be leaking embers from it's face and the hundreds of holes covering it in a patchwork manner, as if it was filled with a roaring flame. When the werewolf got close enough, the demon would attempt to spray it with flames from it's mouth that would launch towards the beasrly prince.


@Enuky @Trombone Geek @Inheritance @DemetrioMachete @Andraus


* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


 The two adventurers would nodat Natha's statement. "We're not exactly sure, ma'am. More than likely, they've been corrupted by Quezor already. But if we're lucky, they're still fighting each other. That'd make our job far easier,"  The knight would tell Maeve, before he and his daughter would pick up their packs, and begin heading towards the docks. "It is faster for us to take a ship across the bay than to go around it. We've already chartered a mud-skipper to get us as close as possible to Traghad without any automatons activating. The trip by boat should only take about a half hour, perhaps longer if the weather turns bad."


 The term Mud-skipper was mostly used in refference to proffessional swamp navigators, normally using galley's or some other light craft to easily navigate the shallow water. The area coastal area around Traghad had slowly begun to devolve into a massive marshland, filled with insects, frogs, and alligators.


 Louise would blush lightly upon Natha's compliment of her skills. "Thank you, sir. My mother taught me everything I know about archery. She was always good with her eyes," She would tell the prince. She would be rather surprised by the prince handing her his bow. "Oh, don't worry about me, sir. I've gone up against demons before. My bow itself isn't magical, but I don't need it to be. That's what the arrows are for. They've all been concecrated by a priest of St. Damocles, you see. One of these between a demons eyes, and it turns into a pile of gore and black blood. For the little ones, anyway," The young huntress explained to him.


 St. Damocles was a well regarded deity, and known as the Patron Saint of Adventurers and Monster-Hunters. He was an Alethean that had aided in his county's defense against the raid demons, and after the raising of that paradise, would go on to become one of the first truly famous adventurer, and thus would cement himself into the common folks hearts and minds. 


 After a minute, they would reach the villages docks. There, a rather large dinghy sat at rest, with a rather uniquely dressed man. Covered in several tattoos, his clothes were died at least a dozen colors, checkered and striped. He was quite clearly a Balsearph, a people who lived in caravans near the lands near the country of Bathelon, ruled by a mad clown king calling himself The Momus.





 Only a few generations ago, they had been regularly kidnapped by slavers to be sold in the black markets of Bathelon, before that nation had cracked down on such trade. This left many people knowing almost nothing in the ways of their culture or language without somewhere to go. These 'freed-men' often became butlers and cleaners in Bathelon, or fled with caravans, and even more took jobs on ships, as cabin boys or galley men or anything else they could get. To this day, many of homes of Bathelon's richest are cleaned by Balsearph hands.


 "Traghad, friend. And as fast as possible, if you could," Edward would say, handing the man a small sack of gold. Opening it, the Balsearph would pull out a gold coin a bite down. Satisfied with the payment, he would ready himself to leave as Edward and Louise would climb aboard.


@Andraus @Trombone Geek


° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °


 The demon was, saddly, not smart enough to fully comprehend Ferris' statements, but would still seem to take offense to them, before it would trumpet in pain at the blade pierceing it's flesh. After a moment, the blade would seemingly push itself out of the demon's arm, as it would appear to laugh at Ferris. . . until the slight towards Arawn. Roaring with furry, it would charge at her, extending it's blade like arms to the side and extending it's neck out in order to capture it's prey.


@Trombone Geek


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Falamar was a bit suprised when the man whom he thought was the help turned out to be the king. "Well then, this is rather uncomfortable. But it is certainly a nice suprise." Falamar chuckled lightly. "I offer neither your kin, nor your people any harm,"


 Falamar would do a far lighter bow than earlier, before stepping inside, followed by one of his men, a woman, in fact, while the other two would wait outside. "And I would hope that you do not offer my own kin or people any harm in return," he would state, as was required of him in that exchange. "Guthar? The name sounds familiar, but I can't place it," Falamar stated, scratching his head slightly. As he did, he noticed the woman scuttle around them, and cling to the king. The royal consort, it would seem. Or mayhaps the queen, for all he knew. Bloodlines and kingships were weird. For all he knew, she was just a very touchy-feely servent.


 The female crewman would hang out near the back of the group, until she noticed the oddly dressed doctor waiting. "Greetings." She would say, walking up to him nonchalantly.





She was a smallish woman, about 5'4, thin, and not to hard on the eyes. Body toned and muscled, and armored in some sort of chitinous material and boiled leather, with a gladius styled sword on her waist. "Panlupan," she introduced herself bluntley. Obviously, she wasn't much of a diplomat, appearing to be better at ease at sea than here in this beautiful manor on the shore.


@Andraus @Enuky @DemetrioMachete

 

[Inheritance]

Oromis Silverspire


He just kept getting more and more amused as Edwin lost himself, but his amusement sparked into rage as soon as Yoren opened his word hole. He felt the bullet, very close, but didn't flinch at all. Instead he stood up, stared past the worthless knight, right at Yoren. "I've had about enough of you-thinking you're better then everyone else, trying to stand up to royalty like YOU matter. It isn't my fault you have a princess who's protector is even dumber then she.  YOU continue to blame me for things that are clearly not my fault, I don't need to take shit for things that your stupid knight caused." He cloaked his hand in ice, and proceeded to backhand Edwin. The ice was for his sword, in case he tried to slash, he hoped the ice would block it and he could continue with his actual hand to smack him, as he was confident in his own strength. He then stepped past him and stormed towards Yoren. "So who do YOU think you are to speak to me as such? I came here to help your princess, because I valued our alliance, BUT NOW you insult me like you don't care! Do you really want to do this?" Magical energy swirled around him, mainly as shielding for those guns, but also for an intimidation factor. "Take a shot at me and see what happens. Go ahead." He stood, tall, and prepared for an attack from both of them. @Enuky @Andraus @Dalamus Ulom

 

[Andraus]

(aannnddd......*PUNCHES RIGHT IN THE FEELS*)


(also, time to put my super secret plans in motion!)


Lanister, before he could make a attempt at speeding after Lance and the Princess, was confronted by the large demon and it's minions. Lanister saw that it was also aiming towards Aizen. His instincts finally won out, and he would do something that would cost him dearly: He dropped his weapon, and pushed Aizen out of the way. "AIZEN! LOOK OUT- AGH!" Lanister had pushed Aizen out of the way...but was hit full brunt with an attack by the demon, getting knocked into the wall. He was breathing, but he wasn't moving...


Before Yoren could react to what happened to Lanister, A blunt force would hit him square in the chest, aiming to knock him to the ground, and the air out of him. Standing there now was.....Lexus. Yoren would likely recognize the clan markings on him, the Mazoku Clan. They were a powerful clan of mage-demons, having conquered the outer reaches to Yunakai itself during the raids, and they were devotedly loyal to the Infernal King. Had they not been stopped, they would've conquered the Rose Kingdom too, and focused their attention on Bathelon...Lexus was widely known as the Lance of the Mazoku, the leader of all their front-line attacks, and that never bode well.


Because if there was one thing widely known about the Twin Serpents of the Mazoku clan, is that they were never far apart.


"My my my, how....delightful. The Leader of Northern Yunakai, right at the doorstep of his enemy....I should have expected you'd lead a small strike force to hit the heart of the rebellion, before your main armies moved in....you are far more clever than I gave you credit for. " Came the darkly sweet voice of Chalondra, the temptress herself. She was standing atop a ruined house, merely smiling....amusedly down at Oromis and Edwin. "Ah...and a forsworn knight of the Rose Kingdom, if I heard right?....My my, how the might have fallen." She said, gracefully jumping down.


Chalondra once collapsed Gallica pass, nearly defeating the Rose Kingdom during the raids once before. Her being here, with her brother in tow, meant this was no accident- They had come here with purpose.


"I believe I know someone, Oromis, that would very much like to speak with you..." Chalondra said, knowing that if she could convince him to talk to Yaro, it would show her as an Ally to Yaro's people, making him far easier to manipulate.....and then, she would turn towards Edwin. "Poor, Poor child.....forsworn by your people, a fugitive in your own homeland......I think I know what can make it all better...." She said, her voice kind and soothing, before she would hold out her hand.


Inside her palm....was a ring, not dissimilar to the same ring she offered Prudence, though the differences would be obvious. "How do you feel about....second chances?" She asked the male, her broken glass green eyes staring into his. "What if I could offer you one....right now?"


Natha would nod, before, hearing Louise speak of deities. Maeve, Edward, Kalamitat, and Louise would likely be surprised....by the look of disgust on his face. "Deities and saints....as if ever cared about us to begin with. They are nothing more than exaggerated overlords, using our people and the world-bound races as toys in their pathetic game, their pathetic war of light and dark....They are nothing, but monsters. "He said. For someone to call a divinity a monster....it was sacrilegious, condemning. But they'd be able to see, in Natha's eyes, the light of a burning fury.


Whatever vendetta he had against them, it was buried deeply into him.


Yaro would nod. "His full name was Guther Long-trail. Man could follow any track or set path before him, and track down anything without so much as a misstep. He said he used to be a hunter and fisher, that it was in his blood. Very skilled with a bow, and he had one hell of an axe swing. " He said, before looking towards Prudence. He would then lean down, and kiss her. "It is okay, my love. I will protect you and Alfio, I promise. " Yaro said to her, giving her a warm smile. 


This smile only grew when he was the good doctor. Yaro would look towards Falamar "I'd like to introduce you to D-....Lord Klaus, Royal Physician and my most trusted adviser. If there is something in this world that you need to know, you can expect this man to know it. " Yaro said, before an idea would pop into his head. "Excuse me, Captain Falamar.....I know this is a bit early, and presumptuous of me, but would you like to make a bit of coin?" Yaro asked him, believing the enticement of reward would catch his interest. 


"Lord Klaus, my Fiancee, and I need a proper boat and people we can trust, for where we have in mind to go...if you could take us there, and return us back here, I can promise you will be generously rewarded for the trouble. " Yaro said. He knew he owed Klaus this, for helping Prudence, so he had no trouble paying for anything.


@Trombone Geek @Inheritance @DemetrioMachete @Dalamus Ulom

 

[DemetrioMachete]

"Klaus." the doctor greeted her as such, taking comfort in that his scars were well hidden behind a rag.


"I see, madam, that you've met with my two associates; Yaro and Pru. They've got a lot going on, these days." he smiled, got off the wall he was leaning on and proceeded to bow in return. "It's been quite a crazy set of days for them. Child birth, dying from said childbirth, then being brought back to life by me, Klaus.. and now if Im not mistaken, we got a few enemies rallying to invade.. as well as an upcoming expedition for a legendary sword. But they and I have been so bogged down in political folly.. just about everything seems delayed to an impatient soul such as myself." he looked past the woman briefly, curious about what brought them here. More allies? This was going to be a big battle, Klaus thought. Think of all the injuries.. all the blood, the groans of dying men... and all of those wounds, perhaps in the span of a minute, he could close them up and bring his allies back to fighting condition. Wonderful... he thought it.


@Andraus


@Dalamus Ulom


@Enuky


. . .


No, Aizen thought. We simply do not have time for this. It then dawned on him, before he arrived on this mission, a superior in the Wilting Rose had given him spell scrolls. These spells were far beyond his calibur to cast on his own, but being embedded in a scroll, there might have been a chance. He tossed one of the scrolls, one containing an Earth Tremor spell, and opened up his own. A spell of Spirit Guardians was contained within it. This wouldn't drop their pursuer's chase.. but it might come in handy later on.


"Cast tha-" he fell silent, as he saw Lanister get dropped by the demons. Something welled up in him. Something anti-shinobi in every way..


It was emotion. Passion and anger swirling and dancing around his heart, making it pound the beating drum ever so furiously. Lanister's story would not end here. Not ever! 


Rather than continue to pursue the cat alone, he stopped, opened his scroll, and read it aloud.


"Spirita Guardaka!" the spell was a bit passive in its casting. A distinct blue aura surrounded Aizen. He broke off into a sprint back towards Lanister, maneuvering past the Bloodletters easily, until he was back at his side. Any Bloodletters within the Spirit Guardian's aura would find themselves being struck by swords forming from the aura, which itself produced a slowing effect.


"Not yet, Lanister. You cannot die on me yet! I must make you proud!" he was clearly frustrated, desperate. He knew he had a healing potion on his person. Desperately he reached around for it, uncorked it with trembling hands, forced Lanister's mask open, and shoved the vial into his mouth. Work, work! The hobbit thought in desperation!


@Trombone Geek


. . .


"Don't remind me." Lenelia replied with disgust, continuing to spit and dip his gloved hands into his mouth, scraping away any dirt he might have missed. All of this topped off with a swish and spit of water from his canteen. 


This fellow was asking as to where they were going. His first thought was "bandit", but then he remembered Dreadnought had the strength to bisect an Owlbear, and his worries about getting mugged vanished, as his confidence swelled.


"We were following the Yunakai war band, for various reasons." Lenelia replied as he re-did the band keeping his hair in a ponytail. "My metal friend here wants to fly back to his forest in Alethea, whilst I would like to watch the battle unfurl, so I may sing of its gruesome details later. Which reminds me. I am Lenelia Vaterian, a half-elven bard, and this is Big Steel- I.. *cough* I mean.. Dreadnought. He's an ancient mechanism with the strength to decapitate a Dragon in a single blow." all of this, he delivered with a confident grin, as he gave a glance towards the new face. "And you would be?"


@Inheritance


@transcendantviewer

 

[transcendantviewer]

Dreadnought rolls his shoulders, scratching his head at the introduction with a modicum of humility. "Well, maybe not a single swing. They've got thick necks and tough scales. At the very least, it'd take a few swings to behead one. But that's the besides the point."

 

[Inheritance]

Oromis Silverspire


He turned to the one who just spoke. He wasn't sure who that was really...but who cares. "Who wishes to speak to me? Who cares I'm done here." He stepped towards her, lowering the magic but not his guard. "Yoren you've killed your kingdom. Remember that, because you will die, and with your last breathes you'll curse my name. Perhaps I'll be standing over you, perhaps I'll be the one who sent people to kill you.  However,  it will be certain that you'll be dead,  face down in a pool of your own blood, and you'll realise then,  if not sooner,  your mistake of crossing Oromis Silverspire." He turned to the girl. "Let's move." @Dalamus Ulom @Andraus @Enuky


Alamar Majere


"War Band? My, that sounds interesting! You have somethin against the king?" He hopped down toward them. If any of them could sense or detect magic, they'd find magical barriers protecting him from physical attacks (of course this was only to avoid a first strike, after that they were useless). "Not that I care. I just travel to find purpose." He took a step closer,  eying the mechanical one. "Alamar Majere, at your service. I come from the Rose Kingdom but really have no home." His facial appearance gave no implication that he was lying. He was good at this, he had trained. How else do you hide who you are for so many years? He heard yelling going on. "Oh something interesting is going on! Shall we?" He leaned on his staff,  hood still up. "Maybe you can demonstrate that power of a dragon! Fascinating creatures really." @Andraus @DemetrioMachete

 

[Trombone Geek]

The werewolf snarled loudly, enraged that his hunt was interrupted, and barely managed to scramble out of the way of the demon's fire. What the hell?! Where did this thing come from all of a sudden? Probably whoever summoned up that damned cat. Lance took in his surroundings and decided the best path would be up and through one of the skull's eyes. Snapping threateningly as he neared one of the tree-demon's feet, the king took a sudden turn and was off, away from the demon and closer to his entrance. There was a slight rise, but Lance would have to do a bit of climbing to get through. He managed well enough, took one look back at the demon who'd nearly burnt him to a crisp, and turned back to scan the inside of the skull for the cat--there! 

An overwhelming need to continue the hunt crashed down on Lance's mind, and before he was aware what was happening he was jumping off of his perch and sprinting towards where the bakeneko had begun scaling the wall. The king used a nearby boulder as a sort of springboard, and with a powerful leap swiped the cat right off of the wall, with no concern for what might happen to Cecile when she hit the ground, or if the cat would cushion her fall--or vice versa.

With a clearly triumphant posture, the werewolf walked towards Cecile and the bakeneko on his hind legs, entirely focused on this moment and not sparing a glance towards the tree-demon that could have easily entered the skull by now.

///

Ferris rose an eyebrow, smirking. "Ohohoho, getting serious now are we? Okay, I'll bite," she said, and reached into her coat, pulling out a chain. She whipped it towards the hideous failure of a demon and let it wrap around it's neck; as the opposite end swung back, the caught it. With the chains in one hand and her sword in the other, Ferris yanked the demon towards her and thrust her blade towards its neck as it got close enough.

///


Maeve nodded at the knight's answer, and followed the group. She cast a surprised look towards the Balsearph--all the way in Yunakai? So far from home.--but didn't remark on it. She nodded politely to the man and followed Louise and Edward onto the boat. She cast a curious and slightly surprised glance at Natha--was there anything he didn't condemn?--when he began ranting at gods, and then her eyes narrowed. She jerked her head towards the Balsearph in warning. Not much was known about their culture, and there was no telling if they were fiercely loyal to a deity or not.

 

[Enuky]

South Yunakai--



Edwin reacted instantly to Oromis's iced slap. At first it appeared he would strike the king's hand, but instead dodged the attack. He sprang back, creating distance between himself and the king and continued holding his sword out threateningly. He was frustrated that he hesitated to attack the king, realizing his own fear was the result of his oppression. Indeed, after years of serving as a lowly knight Edwin was too afraid to strike a royal.


He flinched at Yoren's sudden commands, which were directed at them both. Now Edwin was becoming more anxious. He refused to lower his guard or follow after Master Yoren. The knight was slipping deeper into his state of paranoia, and saw Yoren as a new enemy.


"I'm not going anywhere with you!" he sputtered, alternating the direction of his blade between Oromis and Yoren's backside, but the master simply continued onward. "You only want me to cooperate so that you may apprehend me! Well, I've got news for you, I'm not going to spend the rest of my life in prison!" He turned to Oromis and snapped, "stay back!"


Sweat was building on Edwin as Yoren kept walking, it made his skin crawl. His heart was racing and he couldn't figure out what Yoren's plan was. He had to resist the urge to run, and likely would have bolted in another moment had the situation not taken such a surprising turn. 


A demonness entered the scene. She leaped downward from a nearby rooftop with an eery grace before landing on her feet. What she said next left him speechless. A second chance? For the first time in his days of serving he Rose Kingdom he found himself considering it. He was disgusted by the monarchies. He glared at Oromis and accepted the ring, slipping it onto his finger and holding his hand out for all to see.


"Without Cecile, there is no good left in you filthy royals. Oromis. From this day forward my only service is in seeing your demise."


He didn't wait for a response before breaking into a sprint. Aided by the energy of the demonic ring Edwin could reach inhuman speeds. He didn't look back. He continued the opposite way, seeming to be heading around the other side of the Wyrm's head. In moments he was gone, perhaps to be seen again one day. For now, Edwin needed some time to himself to think about how his decision would affect the remainder of his life. Soon he would rejoin his new allies.

. . .
​

 
​

The bakeneko let out a cat like screech when it was suddenly swept  from the wall and tossed effortlessly across the cave. The cat demon had been attempting to reach the outer top of the skull, but was prevented from doing so. He hit directly into an opposite wall of the cave, causing some dust and shards of bone to fall from above as he then fell forward where at last he managed to regain his balance. The bakeneko landed nicely on his feet. In all of the excitement and speed of the cat Cecile had been clinging onto him, but the force of the final fall to his feet was too much for her mouse frame. She lost her hold and fell onto the ground next to where the cat was standing tall. Now the pudgey mouse scrambled to an upright position just in time to see Lance approaching him. He was fully transfomed into his werewolf state, and the sight of him made the mouse freeze in terror.


She was already shaken from being snatched by a cat, but realizing that Lance was responsible for slinging them into the wall left her even more terrified. She couldn't speak or call out to him, and at this point couldn't tell which was more dangerous: the cat or the werewolf? From her small perspective they were both scary. 


Scattered about the floor of the cave were more dead corpses and the demonic odor of burnt cherries was heavy. It was apparent that along with the tree demon there were likely others here, and a short distance away there were a couple of other tunnels leading deeper through the skull.


Unlike Cecile the bakeneko wasn't too frightened to fight. He stood defensively before the werewolf and as Lance drew nearer a ghostly purple flame appeared at the end of his tail. Suddenly noise ruptured in the dome like space. It was the sound of disoriented moaning and cries. Lance would see the figures in the floor begin to stir, and from the floor the hands of dead bodies would begin to grab at his feet.


Some of the zombie like people were rising to their feet and lurching towards Lance. The bakeneko giggled, for the first time revealing its demonic voice to the werewolf, "the poor thing is too scared to even move", he said about the rodent glued to the ground. "Stupid dog", he added with more evil laughter as he watched his zombies attack.


Poor Cecile was too scared to even move. Unfortunately, not only was her body subjected to the physical limitations of a mouse but her cognitive capabilities were limited as well. Cecile found she couldn't focus long enough on the situation at hand to fully comprehend it. Struggling against her sporadic and pea sized new attention span, the princess could only tremble in a state of shock. Her little heart was beating so rapidly it brought pain to her chest. Indeed, the body type of such rodents was quite delicate as well.


"I wanted to wait for fresh girl, but you really leave me no choice", said the cat, leaning in to swallow Cecile whole.

. . .
​

 
​

Prudence continued to hold her silence until Yaro turned to her with a quick kiss and more reassurance as to her and baby's safety. This caused the woman's pale cheeks to redden slightly and she glanced back to Falamar with a look of uncertainty. 


Then it appeared King Yaro was seeking to negotiate with the captain. Prudence decided then to take a moment to more closely observe Captain Falamar. She stared suspiciously at him from below. He was nearly two feet taller than the mother. His hair was brown and tousled with the wind, and she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at his faint odor. The captain smelled of salt, and it made Prudence wonder if he was clean. 


The witch queen reached for Yaro's hand to hold, but never broke her curious stare upon Falamar as she awaited his response. She was wondering if this man could be trusted with their care.


@Inheritance @Andraus @DemetrioMachete @Trombone Geek @transcendantviewer @Dalamus Ulom

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

 "If your predecessor was as incompetent as you are about everything involving rulership, than it's no wonder why your nation is currently split down the middle from civil war. You have no understanding of the wider picture, nor as to how others think." The Master Assassin would state bluntly.


 When the childish king would begin his histrionics, Yoren would draw a small potion out of his sleeve and down it in a single motion. The man's magic was quite impressive. . . if you happened to be an amatuer. But to someone with Yoren's extensive career, it was nothing a magic resistance potion couldn't do.


 Faster than either Edwin or Oromis could see, Yoren would draw his sword from it's scabbard. "Come and test yourself upon my blade, then, child. Though you will not come out of this unharmed," The old master said. He was prepared to end the Yunakain King's life. . . until the Twin Serpents crashed the party.


 Hit in the chest, Yoren would roll with the blow, using the energy from the attack to propel himself back by a dozen feet, before landing perfectly in a crouched position. Standing up, he would draw a larger, multi-barreled pistol. "Dance with me then, demon," Yoren would exclaim, turning his body to the side so as to provide a smaller target to the demon. Then, he would strike.


 His movements were faster than almost anything Edwin or Oromis would have ever seen in their lives, as he were lightning incarnate. But to the Mazoku twins, it was clear that he was more than a normal man, but a master of the Wilting Rose.


° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °


 "What do you think you're doing, Chalondra?" a voice would speak directly into the demoness's. Within it, it contained all the horrors and evils of the world, every ill intent and festering corpse, all rolled into this voice. "I am using this place, Chalondra. And all the mortals present. Including these one's you are now tampering with." The voice would be familiar to the demoness, for only one being had such as this. Chaxozar.


° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °


 Before the bakeneko could eat the young princess, the exact same voice as the one in Chalondra's head would speak to the little demon. "Stop. I want the girl alive. Bring her to the fool. He knows what to do." The voice would state.


 "The dark ent has come. Escape now!" And with that, the tree demon, or rather a dark ent, would begin to wrap it's arms around the werewolf, the limbs growing around the canine prince and fusing together to form a single, solid piece of wood. Hopefully, this would distract the prince long enough for the bakeneko to escape.


° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °


 The bloodletters would attempt to draw closer to the two assassins, but would be held off by the Spirit Guardian spell. The largest one of them would get within a few feet of the two, but no closer, as it would be quickly driven back by the spiritual blades.


@Andraus @Enuky @Inheritance @Trombone Geek @DemetrioMachete


(I'm gonna do Wyrm's Head first, then post the rest of my replies later)

 

[Andraus]

Chalondra would press a finger to her temple, as she felt the familiar dark presence of a Demon Lord- Chaxoazar. She remembered he was one of the most ruthless demons she ever knew, and his banishment into Alethea was a severe blow to the remaining forces. Chalondra wanted to know what he was doing here, but she herself was on a predetermined schedule, and she couldn't afford any missteps. "Apologizes, Lord Chaxoazar....But I was left with no alternative. " She said mentally, as she scanned the vicinity. 


"We should go, Lord Oromis."


Chalondra would reach her hand out, and a small portal would open in front of them. It would lead directly to Amberjack. Stepping in, with Oromis behind her, she'd close it. She knew her brother could handle himself, and she had to butter up to Oromis. While many centuries older than the man, Chalondra maintained the flawless beauty of her noble birth. She used this to her advantage more often than not, and was not ashamed too. Leaning into Oromis, acting like a high-class Courtesan, she would speak. "I've heard many interesting things about you, Lord Oromis.....Your pacification of the village of dragon slayers, and their subjugation, was the stuff of legend. While we head to the Fortress, could you regale me with a couple of tales to pass the time?" She asked.


Lanister would cough as the potion refilled him. He was still weak, but it saved him from instant death. Lanister would move himself upright. "Agh.....Go, help Master Yoren....Leave me here, I'll deal with these beasts. " Lanister said, standing. He would then draw his sword, prepared to fight, injured or not.


Lexus would look towards Yoren, placing the spear on the ground next to him. "So you are a Master among the Wilting Rose.....Time was, we used to fear the name, forced to hide in the shadows as you sat in your own throne, silently protecting the Rose Kingdom....But you have grown weak and complacent, while we have grown stronger......and now, Yoren....Now the time has come..."


"Time was once your ally, Wilting Rose, but now it has abandoned you.....The Demon Clans have returned." He said. Lexus would then began trying to strike at Yoren, using his speed to ensure that Yoren would have a hard time lining up a shot. He was rushing him, trying to overwhelm and over power the Wilting rose master.


Yaro would look down towards Prudence. She seemed scared, likely worrying for Alfo and herself. Taking the initiative, Yaro would lean down, and kiss her, to reassure her. "It will be okay, Love. Relax, be calm. " Yaro said. He would die before he let anything happen to her.


Mizuki was in her private workshop in the city, having set herself up in an old warehouse. She was currently over a large contraption, pouring herself over notes, and rubbing her eyes. Finally Mizuki would try, for the seventeenth time, to get the proper reaction from the Elemental Bomb she was working on, but again failing. This was beginning to become frustrating. She had managed to harness the elements into a glass vial, she had managed to build a casing for the grenade, but She could not ignite the damn thing! She was about to snap-


Suddenly, like that, it came to her- A snap!


Taking the casing, she modified the top piece of it, placing a bit of flint and a small segment of steel, to act as an igniting agent. Now, finally taking it into her hand, she twisted the lid where the casing was, and stood in awe as she saw the grenade ignite....before flinging it at the wall. The wall was frozen to the core, and when Mizuki put her hand on it, it crumbled like thin ice.


She had finally done it! She had a working formula! 


Oh Ferris would love this....

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Wyrm's Head
​

 Yoren slashed and hacked, keeping silent during the demons rant. He was not going to be distracted during battle. With a flourish and a slash, he would release a flurry of shots at Lexus before leaping back and releasing a gigantic cloud of smoke into the air around them that would seem to cling to the ground around them.


 The Wilting Rose master knew that the demon would doubtlessly avoid the shots, but that was only to serve as a distraction. Pulling a few multi-colored vials from his sleeves, Yoren would begin to down some and toss others towards the demon.


 Some exploded, others released noxious gas, and still others would create even stranger effects as the Yoren would attempt to disorient Lexus. Clearly, Yoren made up for his lack of magical skills by producing potions of the highest calibur.


 Every few moments, the master would seem to materialize from the shadows to deliver a slash or a strike with the flat from all around Lexus, before disappearing again into the fog.

° ° ° ° °
​

 The bloodletters would all seem to chitter in excitement and pleasure upon Lanister's words, with a few going so far as to cut their own tongue's off. Before anymore could do so, the leader would take one by the face, the first to remove it's tongue, and crush it's head, before dropping it's still twitching corpse into a heap upon the cobbles.


 Moments later, the other bloodletters would mercilessly hack the rest of the tongueless ones to death, leaving all but the leader distracted for a few moments.

° ° ° ° °
​

"Fine. I will let you know now, this place has been claimed by me to be my new seat of power in this world to bring chaos in the name of our Lord, so perhaps you may come visit me and my throne of skulls upon my full escape from this cursed place, the Umbra Carcerem. I am within mere hours of success, with the final ingredient being brought to me now." the demon leader would inform Chalondra.


 Chaxozar had always been a competent leader, but seemed to suffer from being so prideful as to be blinded of any possible defeat. However, that usually did not matter, due to nearly every battle he has participated in being extreme successes in the name of the Demon Lord

Ω Ω Ω
​

 
​

Natha and Company
​

 "Don't worry, madam. The Balsearphs are misotheists as well. The only dieties in their pantheon are Demons, Death, and the Momus, their god-king who isn't much better than the demons, at least as I've been told." Edward would inform Maeve. The Balsearph would simply shrug slightly, before pushing them away from the docks, poling them away quickly towards the Ruins of Traghad, and the evil within...

° ° ° ° °
​

 As Ferris's blade would pierce the demons thick hide, it would buck back, attempting to throw them off before throwing itself at the wall of the corridor, with it's arm smashing through the wall, revealing what would seem to be a secret passage, pitch black.

Ω Ω Ω
​

 
​

Amberjack
​

 Falamar nodded at Yaro's statement. "Aye, the man does sound like a ture Lanun," the Pirate captain would affirm. "Though, that surname of his seems to me like those of the eastern raiders," Falamar would say.


Eastern raiders was the name given to about a dozen warrior peoples from the far east, including the Vins, the Geats, and the Hroths. Similar languages, similar religions, and similar looks. But they were all warriors and men searching for honor, believing in nothing but Wyrd, or fate, and that a man could live forever through his fame.


 "Perhaps he was a Lanan-Raider mutt. I've heard of it before. I must say, it'd be very interesting to meet this man," Falamar would tell the king.


 When the king made his offer to Falamar, the pirate would think about it for a minute, weighing the options in his mind. After a moment, he would notice the queens rather aggressive analyzation of him, before noting her nose wrinkling. I guess some people don't like the scent of the sea Falamar thought to himself.


 After a moment, he would give her a slightly amused smile, before finally responding to Yaro. "Me and men can do it. We can certainly get you there faster than any flying lizard," Falamar would say, flashing an award winning smile at the king.


 "All I need is half the payment before the job, and the rest afterwards, or else it's no dice," the captai would explain. Clearly, he had a system, and he planned to keep it. "I also need to know exactly how dangerous this will be. My men are willing to follow me into almost any situation, but I'd like to know how much we need to prepare. We'll also need a day or two to resupply, of course," Falamar would finish.


@Enuky @Andraus @DemetrioMachete @Trombone Geek

 

[DemetrioMachete]

"Ho-ho, no.. Yaro flatters me. True I know plenty about history, language, anatomy and medicine.. but it is quite literally impossible to acquire all knowledge." Klaus replied to the woman as Yaro spoke up about him. As the pirates spoke up about payment, he started to dig around in his pouch..


"Name your price. I shall pay in gold." of course, those last two months away from Prudence and Yaro allowed Klaus to ascend to a massive level of wealth. He'd pay for this voyage to keep Yaro's royal treasury intact if he need'st be.


@Enuky


@Andraus


@Dalamus Ulom


. . .


Aizen felt a wave of relief as Lanister rose to his feet. He immediately protested as he insisted fighting by himself, though. But.. there were more important matters at hand, like assisting Master Yoren. With a nod, Aizen dashed away, leaving that Scroll of Earth Tremors at Lanister's feet. Hopefully it would help, some.


Past the quarreling Bloodletters Aizen dashed, and back out of the cave he ran. If he was to assist Yoren, so be it. Aizen was certain Lance was able to locate Princess Cecile, by now; tearing that bakeneko to shreds in the process. As Yoren entered his line of sight, Aizen readied another spell, calmly uttering words of power as green bubble of acid began to form around his free hand...


@Dalamus Ulom


@Andraus


@Enuky


@Trombone Geek


@Inheritance


. . .


Lenelia, confidently brushing his hair back, marched forward towards Wyrm's Head. 


"Me? I've got nothing against these fine aristocrats. I just wanna watch them fight some insurgents! War always makes for good music." he replied to Alamar, pausing as he saw the likenesses of a tall elder battling with a presence reeking of evil. Lenelia had never felt this dark presence in person, but he had heard that chaotic Demons and sadistic Devils carried such a dreadful aura. 


Deciding the evil presence was the one worth attacking, he took a deep breath, lacing his throat with the magic necessary for his Vicious Mockery on Lexus.Taking offense was not unlike experiencing a psionic attack.


"Oi! I smell the piss stains all the way from here! Mummy needs to change that tiny baby demon diaper of yours!" 


@transcendantviewer


@Inheritance


@Dalamus Ulom


@Andraus

 

[Trombone Geek]

Lance snarled viciously and tried to yank himself free from the grasping limbs, failing until a burst of rage towards the bakeneko had him tearing free, trying to reach Cecile before she was eaten--until a pair of wooden arms wrapped around him and formed a restraint of sorts. He couldn't reach Cecile now! The werewolf's thrashing only increased, desperation pushing Lance's control further and further back. After a few moments, the werewolf went limp, having given up its struggle. Now it only stared at the damned cat and Cecile.

The wolf shuddered as it switched back to a human form. Despite Lance's incredible weariness from shifting and using so much energy, one advantage was gained from this; Lance was much smaller than his beastial counterpart. He slipped right through the ent's grip, but didn't hit the ground at the best angle. It hurt, but the king tried his best to push on anyways, lunging forwards in an attempt to shove the cat away and grab Cecile before she was taken away. There was no guarantee it would work, but he refused to let himself give up.

///



Ferris didn't quite expect the demon to lose its marbles and fling itself at a wall, and she crashed into some stone as its arm burst through into a hidden passage. Covered in grey dust and sporting a few minor gashes--minor being a term relative to her endurance for pain, as most humans would faint from blood loss--Ferris was forced to let go of her sword and leap up from the demon's shoulder, grasping onto an ancient banner and pulling herself up to the rod. Hm.. Which humiliating method can I use to take this thing out or at least incapacitate it?

Oh. Yes, that was perfect. With an excited grin, Ferris pulled a hammer out of nowhere and banged the edge of the banner's inner support rod (thing I don't know what it's called) until it was sure to be sharp enough to pierce, or at least cause severe head trauma. A few violent swings and minor gravity manipulation and she was falling, cackling hysterically at the mental image of this giant being impaled on what was effectively a fancy curtain.

///


Maeve nodded, visibly relieved. "Good to know," she murmured, although she was made a bit nervous again when she realized Natha might not take well to the whole demon-worshiping thing. Hopefully he kept his mouth shut if it did; the last thing she wanted was to have to swim to Traghad. ((I will edit this to include a reaction to anything Natha says/does since I need to post but don't quite have enough on Maeve's POV to get anywhere with. @Andraus))

 

[Inheritance]

Oromis Silverspire


He was glad to be gone, already plotting ways to destroy the Rose, he thought about who this was. Obviously someone with power, opening portals here abs there at will was probably hard (not that he really knew). She also seemed to tell him he did something...pacification of Dragon Slayers? Did he do that? He hated Dragons why the hell would he stop dragon slayers? Well she wanted stories, so he'd give them. Though he noted her beauty, he had learned a long time ago to control his lust, and though being fairly young he controlled himself well. "Stories? Well there's..." he wanted to know more about her, and where they were going. There was a time for story telling, and he loved that,  but now was not it. "Before I get into that.." he growled "where are we going? And who wishes to speak to me?" He wasn't in the mood to waste time. Should this be a waste of time he needed to get back to the capital fast...


@Andraus


Alamar Majere


"You want to sing songs.... that's stupid." He still followed and beheld the same sight. He knew Demons well, summoning quite a few himself, and knew pissing them off was only a good idea if you had strong spells over them, were way more powerful, or dealing with a dumb one. If they were intelligent, powerful,  and reported to higher Demons, this was an awful idea.  " Sedavus Ruthiar " he hissed,  and a vail would surrpund him, making him undetectable by magic, and hard to see (not quite invisible). He then slid away from the foolish Bard,  but still so he could watch the fight. He then leaned on his staff and enjoyed the fight. If that demon went for the Bard...he'd root for the demon. However...he sensed a portal in the area...or one that was there. He didn't feel like tracing it, but took note that Oromis wasn't there...


@Enuky @DemetrioMachete @Dalamus Ulom 

 

[Enuky]

South Yunakai--






Lance would find that the dead bodies animated by the bakeneko were weak obstacles. The werewolf's thrashing was enough to tear their limbs off and destroy their bodies... These easy targets were a nuisance, although they continued to make strange noises and pull at Lance. 


As Lance finally broke free of all the zombies, the tree demon caught up to him. Its long branches wrapped around the king's midsection, squeezing him in a tight bind. 


The bakeneno chuckled and sat calmly watching Lance, confident that Lance could not escape the tree demon. He was readying to eat Cecile when the harsh tone of his master, Chaxozar, entered his mind. The cat froze for a moment; he was still debating whether or not he should eat her now. Finally, he decided not to cross his master and instead snatched Cecile back up in his mouth where he watched Lance in amusement.


The cat began walking away, Cecile dangling from his mouth like a prize he'd just won. He made a big mistake in his confidence, not even noticing the werewolf slump back into his human form until it was too late. 


The bakeneno suddenly noticed the human smell of Lance and twisted around just in time to see the figure of a man collide into them, slamming them all into the ground.


There was a burst of blinding light that exploded outward upon contact, and as the lights faded Cecile reemerged. Edwin's spell had finally faded, a sign that he was gone. 


The three of them were in an awkward pile on the ground. Cecile was at the very bottom, the bakeneno was sandwiched between them, and Lance was at the top.


Cecile groaned in pain from Lance and the bakeneno's weight on her body. She tried to shift but was too weak to move them. The bakeneko wasn't moving. Finally, she turned her head and could see the tree demon charging straight for them. 


"Uh, Lance?!" Cecile said about it, but it appeared Lance was weakened from the transformation. Cecile wriggled to reach her wand, stretching her arm down her side where she caught onto it. From low on the ground she flung her arm outwards, directing her wand to the top of the massive tree demon. "Ignitus!" She screamed, causing the tree demon's leaves to burst into flames. The tree demon began running amuck in pain as it desperately tried to shake the fire off... But the fire was quickly spreading around its top, bringing great pain to the creature as its leaves became crisps. 


@Trombone Geek

. . . 
​

 
​

Prudence continued to eye Falamar suspiciously. Inwardly, she was slightly embarrassed by Yaro's affection of her while negotiating. She would never be taken seriously by these pirates now, she assumed. She made no remarks at Yaro's kiss, and tried to maintain a stern look as the pirate leader spoke more of his demands. 


"A day or two?" She asked, "we want to leave today! It shouldn't be that dangerous... we are only visiting an old tomb", she concluded. Surely, there would be no danger there, right? Truthfully, Prudence wanted to get this mission over with. 


@Dalamus UlomUlo @Andraus @DemetrioMachete


@Inheritance @transcendantviewer

 
​

 

[Andraus]

Chalondra would look, before smiling. "A mutual ally, whom you should know well.....Yaro Azar, Ruler of Southern Yunakai. " She said, moving away, as she would turn to face them. "We have an enemy we all share....The Rose Kingdom, and the weeds that have grown in our land. Our people chaff under their constant rule. The people who share magical blood, who idolize Yunakai as a safe haven, have begun hiding because of the civil war.....and who do we have to blame? That traitorous whore of a ruler, and the male who was allowed to manipulate our people....But where as others would want you executed, Yaro did not- He respects you, Oromis. He told me you are the one person that is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure stability. Tell me- did you get any of the messengers asking for peace?" She said, knowing full well he wouldn't have- Chalondra had demons, wearing Roseland colors, execute the messengers before they could get to Oromis's land. 


"They didn't, did they? They wanted this war, Oromis. They played us for fools, because who benefits in this war? They do. Even if either you or Yaro win this war, Yunakai will be weakened......perfect for a Rose Army to attempt to conquer it." Chalondra said, weaving the tale almost like a master. She knew he'd buy the words, as the Rose Kingdom hadn't made a positive image of itself. "The Question is Oromis, are you going to allow yourself to be used as a tool.....or are you going to free yourself from the weeds grasp, and remind the Rose Kingdom why you don't mess with the Kingdom of Dragons, Yunakai?" She said. "Though obviously, I am not without benefit....If I aid Yunakai, my family will be pardoned. " Chalondra said. Her eyes were glowing. "Therefor, I aim to fight for the one reason everyone should- Survival." 


Natha would towards Maeve, pressing his hands together. His eyes held a luminescent glow to them, as he was thinking. This man had survived the war in Alethea, had likely seen the rise of the Wilting Rose, and fought numerous battles. Yet, despite this, he wasn't a violent person. He had fought sure, and likely had a few issues of his own, but Natha was not an evil or a violent person. He likely pushed himself to fight, simply because he didn't have a choice. Reaching into his pocket, he'd pull out an interesting artifact-


The Ring of the Beast.


It was a demon artifact. It enhanced demonic strength when in their true form. Natha turned the ring around in his finger. Likely, it was stolen. "Just another bit of history, and another thing to protect this world from. I'd hate to see what would happen if they got their hands on it." Natha said, flipping the ring in his grip. "Honestly though...Did I make the right decision? Hiding away Alethea.....was what I did the best decision, or did it just pave the way for our current problems...." He said, before placing his face in his hands.


"Did I condemn my own people....for nothing?"


Yaro would nod to Klaus, before looking towards Falamar. "Here is a better option- i supply you with everything you need, and we leave tonight. Do that, and I'll add four times the normal payment. " He said, before pulling out a coin. "Yeah, he always looked to prove he was a good person. Always loved a good fight, but always gave his opponents a chance to arm themselves first and foremost. " Yaro said, crossing his arms to him. "I fight in his memory- He saved my life, and I always remember my debts."


Lexus would just narrow his eyes, before holding up his hand, as six bolts of lighting would shoot out. As they sped towards Lenelia and Yoren, Lexus would be running after them, using the lightning to shield his attack. He would then stab his spear into the ground, before launching himself, slashing at Yoren specifically to cut him down.

 

[DemetrioMachete]

Klaus could only clap at such a proposal. A lot of money, surely, but the sooner they could leave, the better. Behind his black rag the doctor, sorry, lord, was grinning widely.


@Andraus


@Enuky


@Dalamus Ulom


. . .


So he wasn't noticed yet.. good.


Once Aizen was in range, he saw the lightning bolts being discharged. His eyes narrowed, for this was a brilliant opportunity to dish out some pain. He flicked his finger, hurling the now human heart sized bubble of acid at Lexus. Launching himself on that spear, he was airborne, and in much less of a position to evade the acid, Aizen thought.


@Dalamus Ulom


@transcendantviewer


@Andraus


. . .


Lenelia reacted with swiftness. As the lightning bolts came at him, he dove forward, managing to arc under them, though he felt the shock in his feet. Not enough to keep him grounded. 


"Time to kill, Dread!" Lenelia called back, to his metal companion. Surely.. he could feel the evil presence of Lexus, too? 


He readied his shield and rapier, only to notice the bubble of acid lurching towards Lexus, now. This poor, poor Demon. So hopelessly outnumbered at the moment. Lenelia, this elderly man striking with swiftness, an unseen attacker and potentially Dreadnought. He forgot about Alamar.. for what ever reason he didn't think the man would participate.

 

[transcendantviewer]

@Andraus @DemetrioMachete


Dreadnought merely trudges forward, his size and weight carrying his heavy footfalls into strides, and then into a full sprint with reckless abandon towards the hostile threat that was releasing arcane lightning upon them. "I hope you know what has to be done!" Dreadnought hollers out loud for Lenelia to hear as the hulking mass of iron and steel barreled down on Lexus, trademark ax in hand.

 

[Trombone Geek]

Lance rolled off of the pile gracelessly, reaching out to drag the cat-demon off as well and fling it away in one last feat of strength before collapsing on the ground. Dante's difficult training had really helped the king's endurance, although he'd gone slightly rusty. While he was nowhere near the level of most of the experienced fighters in the group, he could hold his own. 

He sat up in a slouch and watch the stumbling tree-demon wail some ungodly noise as it burned. He considered smashing it away with a barrier, but he would probably black out if he did and Cecile wouldn't have any strength to carry him. Lance sat there instead, watching the bakeneko warily, limping over on his possibly sprained ankle to grip the cursed cat tightly by its scruff, just in case.


//


Maeve watched as Natha's original defenses crumbled around him in a spontaneous moment of vulnerability. It was strange, watching this happen to a man who had acted so strong before, and even stranger that such a person would let others see this.. It was sobering, too, to know that not everyone walked around with innocent hearts, despite doing nothing but their best. "Natha, if Alethea hadn't been sealed, the demons would've been able to move on to Bathelon and then probably take a final siege on the Wilting Rose and then we'd have nothing. One kingdom, sacrificed for the world. Sometimes it's the only thing you can do. If you beat yourself up over it, that kind of invalidates the whole deal." She sighed heavily; she'd never been the best at comforting others, and wasn't really comfortable doing it either. "Nobody was able to look this far into the future, at the time Alethea was sealed, because the problems right then made it just about impossible. You and anyone else who sealed the kingdom took the best possible option at the time."

Wait, just how old was Natha? Did he seal his people away? Jeez.. Maeve shifted awkwardly in her seat. Well, he was a host for a demon as well, or something, so it would explain that.. But he claimed he was responsible for hiding Alethea. Maeve had thought, from what few stories she heard, that it was some long-gone group aligned with the Rose Kingdom.. Maeve decided not to dwell on this too much, because she didn't know the exact events.

 

[Enuky]

South Yunakai--



Cecile stumbled to her feet once she was free of Lance's weight against herself. Her attention was still on the tree demon, which was continuing to screech and run. She drew her wand back to send another blast of flame at the creature, focusing as hard as she could to produce intense flames. The second attack missed it, but it was enough to make it flee. Cecile chased after the thing to send several more fire blasts in its direction before stopping a few yards away. Almost all of her attacks missed, but it was effective in keeping the tree demon away, which didn't even look back as it disappeared over the opposite edge of the Wyrm skull. 


Now Cecile and Lance were alone, caught in a brief moment of uneasy peace as they awaited their next surprise. Cecile jogged over to Lance's side; he was holding the cat by the scrap of its neck, but the thick black cat was hanging limp. 


"You're hurting it. It's just an old cat", protested Cecile as she reached for it, pulling it from his grip and bringing it more gently into her own arms. The cat was almost too big for her to hold, "he didn't know any better; he thought I was a mouse thanks to you!" she reprimanded, facing Lance.


One of the bakeneno's eyes opened into a narrow slit and it thrashed, hissing as it sent a long scratch down Cecile's arm. It leaped from her arms and started limping away as quickly as it could, injured by Lance's body slam. Of course, the cat wouldn't utter any human words now.


"Oww", whined the girl. Blood was draining from the long scratches accompanied by a purple ooze. 


@Trombone Geek

 

[Trombone Geek]

Lance tried to push Cecile's hands away, about to protest that the 'cat' was actually a demon and was way too interested in who she was. Before he could snatch the big animal out of the princess's hands, however, it woke up and scratched a gash into Cecile's arm before leaving. Snarling deep in his throat, he picked up the nearest rock and lobbed it at the cursed thing, but otherwise let it be.

"Maybe be more careful next time, idiot," he muttered, voice rough from his exhaustion and transformation. He tore at some of his clothing--a shame, really, since he'd taken precautions to keep it from tearing in the first place--and was about to clean and wrap Cecile's wound until he noticed the ooze. "What the hell." It was more of an exasperated statement than anything. Lance honestly had no idea what it was. Poison? Hopefully not.

"Um. Cecile, know any detox spells you could go about using right now while I wipe this stuff out? I don't want you dying on me." While he waited for the response, he examined the wound to see if the ooze was actually causing any visible effect to the injury--skin discoloration or anything like that, and began cleaning it out, knowing that even if there wasn't anything to be done about it Cecile needed to stop bleeding before she got lightheaded. 

"Thanks for earlier," he mumbled while he worked, referring to how Cecile drove the dark ent off. "You might've been a bit clumsy with the cat, but you did very well with the tree demon."

@Enuky 

 

[Andraus]

@Inheritance (You know, I posted a response for Oromis. You can respond.)


@Trombone Geek


"I know you're trying to help Maeve, but it doesn't change the fact that I should've known better....Goddammit, there were woman and children there, and I condemned them to a fate worse than death. " Natha said. He was literally torn up in agony over what he had to do. Just because it was the right thing to do at the time, didn't change the fact that Natha believed he should've been capable of fighting harder. "But no. Instead, like a coward, I hide the city away.....and I fucking ran. I've been running my entire life, and people needed me....I am not a freaking leader, I am damn Blacksmith! " He said. "My brothers and sisters were leaders, They would've known what could've been done..But I couldn't save them. i couldn't save anyone....I was useless then, what's different now?"


"The three kingdoms are practically at war with eachother, demons are running rampant, and There isn't a  Roseacae Inquisition like last time to save us at the last minute....Gods, I wish they were still here. I really need their help."


Roseacae Inquisition? Wasn't that the order that founded the Wilting Rose? What did they have to do with this?

 

[DemetrioMachete]

Lenelia gave a confident nod, strumming the lute once, watching as orange streaks of light flew from his instrument and surrounded Dreadnought. Now he had his Inspiration. Remembering the insane level of bloodshed that followed.. Lenelia figured he needed to make himself scarce. With another strum of the lute, he became surrounded by smoke, and as the smoke dispersed.. he was gone; having produced an illusion of grass on himself. Trained eyes like Alamar and Lexus may have seen through it, but a mindless berserker like an enraged Dreadnought? Surely not!


@transcendantviewer


@Dalamus Ulom


@Andraus


@Inheritance

 

[Enuky]

Cecile gazed guiltily at the cat when Lance chucked a stone at it. The creature fell easily to the ground while releasing a pained screech, and Cecile appeared sympathetic towards the thing. She then blushed slightly and turned back towards Lance, who spoke harshly to her in response to her complaints.  Lance was examining the scratch down her arm, paying her little attention. 


She jumped slightly in alarm at Lance's frustrated outburst. Now the princess leaned in to see the cuts more closely. Indeed, there was a strange ooze, but otherwise she felt fine for the time being. Cecile could see that Lance was agitated, and didn't wish to irritate him further with her problem.


"I think it's just something that was on the cat...", she muttered, pulling her hand away and holding it closer to herself. Cecile looked down her arm again and drew her wand with her free hand. She knew of a few healing spells, although she hadn't had much practice with the magic. 


"Haloband", she whispered. A translucent blue light wrapped around Cecile's arm, covering the wound with a lingering blue sheen. The spell created a magic band that would protect the scars while bringing a cool feeling of relief to it. It was only a protectant spell, however; and could do nothing to prevent the cat's venom from spreading within her. Soon, Cecile would come down with a hives and a fever...


She looked to Lance then as he commented on her ability. She felt a small sense of pride for herself and decided then she would conceal any symptoms if she could, eager not to disappoint the king. 


"Thanks but that tree probably isn't our only concern. We need to find what's responsible for all of these demon attacks. We could be discovered", she warned. It would be a disaster if the resistance spotted them before their arrival in Amberjack.


Cecile glanced around at their surroundings. There weren't any other demons visible outside the Wyrm skull. There were large patches of moss and tiny flowers growing into the surface of the skull. Butterflies fluttered about, and the land appeared quite peaceful. A short distance away the bakeneko was slowly dragging itself towards the entrance to Wyrm skull again. Perhaps the thing could provide answers.


@Trombone Geek 

 

[Inheritance]

Oromis Silverspire


He stopped in his tracks. Magic flared about him, magical shields meant to block a first strike by magic or projectile. He tensed. "You want me to go to South Yunakai and meet with that dog? I may be a fool but I am not that stupid-he will just kill me then!" He took a step back, clenching and clenching his fists. You haven't given me one reason to even trust you. I left quickly because I would love to kill Yoren, but I simply can't believe that Yaro would drop everything to just help me or make some deal. What else aren't you telling me?!" He was certainly wary of this one, as he saw she was very skilled with portals, and he figured that she could be a dangerous opponent. Still, he trusted in his own strength to dominate any on the battlefield, so he continued to keep a more offensive stance in case she attacked. "Give me one good reason I should trust this insane proposal?" @Andraus


Alamar Majere


Easy spell. Nice job singer. Whatever. He was magically protected himself, but he figured it was probably a good idea to follow that lead and run. He muttered a spell, making him more agile and able to run faster, then jogged in such a manor that he would hopefully not be seen very easily, but mainly trying to get near the skull he saw somewhat in the distance. If he had to run and hide, that place seemed to be a good cover or at least a good place to escape if this iron thing tried to attack him. They were all foolish though as he saw...why are they all fighting anyway? He couldn't see why so much conflict was needed...for barbarians...only intelligent people could limit conflict to the smallest of insults, and yet be able to topple empires. @DemetrioMachete @Enuky @Dalamus Ulom @transcendantviewer