Alicia Le'roux, East Watchtower

As she had predicted, Alicia was able to watch the stealth attacks of Dread Fang and Zayn, as well as Kasim’s…bold arrow attack were quickly rendered obsolete. Adverse to what she had expected, the orc had not lifted a finger. The targets for her fellow Queen’s bladesmen, or bladesbug in the case of the chattering Dread Fang, were mere illusions. The entire group had been had.

The arrival of two more orcs had Alicia worried though. Two sneaks and an archer did not make good company in a close quarters fight. She fancied herself with a chance against any one of these orcs, or half-orcs, as the smaller ones seemed to be, but all three? That would prove catastrophic indeed. She had no real hope of holding off both these lumbering former-ravens, as well as Dirge.

Still, seeing the trio of orcs bow was an amusement in its own right. One couldn’t fault them for their standards or their honour, at the very least. If only she had better company for the fight: this would have been a glorious dance indeed. As it stood, she would have to take a page from the books of the sneaky ones. Trickery would be required in order to win this day.

Hearing Dirge’s bellow for war, Alicia knew that the time of reckoning was upon them. Both the smaller half-orcs, Daren and Oran, charged at Kasim and herself, and Alicia made sure to take a few steps away from the archer and leave a distance of a few feet. In theory, the two orcs should split up: an orc for her and an orc for the archer. She held little care for his fate at the moment: He was meant to be a member of this elite group: if he couldn’t keep one blasted foot soldier at bay, he wasn’t worth saving: at least not in her mind: Acceptable losses, and all that.

She waited for the two orcs to start splitting before she actually moved forward. If she engaged too early, they would collapse in upon her. If she waited too long, then the element of surprise would be lost.

She was back in Liveria, a much younger woman who held her sword slightly askew. The middle-aged woman was barking instructions from across the hall about form and poise, and invited Alicia to begin the sparring duel. Alicia cleared her throat as she entered the polite stance, expected at the start of the duel: only to feel her feet swept out from under her and the dull combat blade at her throat. “You let your guard down, most foolish indeed, young Alicia. You expected me to wait for you to complete the proper etiquette? Do you expect me to allow you to pretty up war? Would that have been fair? Fair is for fairy tales; stand up and try again.”

Alicia gave the Orc that charged her two steps before she moved: the hulking figure was bigger than her: Probably stronger as well, even with her vampire heritage. It didn’t matter. Alicia never banked on being the stronger fighter. She preferred being the faster one.

Alicia threw the parasol forward and into the air. It would prove an adequate distraction for the Half-orc as she lunged forward with the Rapier at the ready. She didn’t go straight for a strike: instead she charged forward and aimed to move to his side: so that she might thrust the rapier into his weapon-side armpit. Armour was always weak where movement was needed the most: and even the strongest plate didn’t defend under the armpit.

The feel of the sunlight tickling her skin was agony, and she longed for the parasol, yet her attention was set upon the Half-orc. She would kill him first, then retrieve her shade.

She only just realised she had never given orders to Jacque. Was he standing outside the village with that silly little donkey? The thought had her smiling, even in the middle of the carnage.

Aslo - Raven's Inn

Initially shocked by the sight of a militia member throwing themself in front of the spear meant for James, Aslo nodded, understanding just what was about to happen. The options presented were to enter the fair, or forfeit all the lives at stake. Aslo was not accustomed to being put in a situation like this, and he did not enjoy the path he was about to be put on. However he put on that same smiling face he had been wearing since first joining the group, and continued forward.

He placed a hand upon the warrior monk's shoulder "Of course you are correct, life is never a game. However in the case of an illusionist the truth is whatever he wills it." It annoyed him to give such credit to a coward like James, but in a case like this it wouldn't do to antagonize him any further. "I suggest we enter this carnival, and see if we might best him in this game of his."

He began to approach the entrance of the inn, holding his hands close to his weapons and ready for any tricks that he might accidentally spring. Before long he was squared to the entrance of the inn and he looked at James. "I for one will accept your ticket of admission, meet your so-called Guardian and enter the inn."

Aslo bowed slightly to thabk James for permission and entered inside, from there he saw a road made out of stone and brick, twisting and curving its way up to a tower about half a kilometre away. Inside the tower, on the top floor visible through a window, he could see the chest... Circling the tower, he could see the guardian. A giant sabre tooth cat, almost twice his size, which could easily outpace even the centaur. It growled, but didn't attack. It was likely there to deter people, not to actually attack unless they approached. James' voice rings throughout the area: "I met one of these on my journies! I call her Freya. Kill her, and everyone dies, because I tied their lives to that of the cat!"

Well he most certainly has seen some interesting things Aslo thought to himself. He liked this challenge more. Without the option of killing the beast there were still several ways to go about it, however without the rest of his group he didn't want to commit. Instead he kept his eyes on the beast, making sure it didn't get any closer, and he would wait for the rest of the group.

East Watch Tower - Kasim

---

Kasim couldn't help but laugh at seeing the worker revealed as a construct rather than a real person. He'd hoped the big orc would try to block the shot and get himself off balance, which would have allowed one of his companions to attack from a position of strength, but that clearly hadn't worked out. As the ravens transformed, Kasim sighed and cursed his misfortune. What had looked like an easy fight was now a legitimately dangerous situation, and some of them were likely to die in the fray. However, he knew that with death and danger came opportunities for heroic rescues and bravery worthy of tale and song, so it wasn't all bad. As the biggest orc called for war, Kasim hurried to nock and draw another arrow.

The big one's telepathic message came as a surprise to Kasim. He'd never met someone else with the gift, but he had assumed there must be others since some of the heroic stories mentioned people who could communicate without words. Kasim had neither the time nor the interest to consider the offer of fleeing to safety, so he drew back on his bowstring with all his might and sought a target. The parasol lady rushed forward toward one of the oncoming half-orcs, so he took aim at the other, which happened to be nearer to him anyway. Kasim took a moment to make sure his aim was fine, then let the arrow loose, headed for the target's torso and the leather armor that would do next to nothing to stop an arrow from a greatbow. He then moved back a bit, slinging his bow over his left shoulder and drawing his shortsword with his right hand in case the half-orc remained on his feet and closed into melee distance.

Ravens. Of all the creatures in Renalta, it had to be the Ravens. Carrionbirds were something Child despised. They were carriers of death, disease bearing, death defiling pests. They used to flock the Arena back in Free Holds, swoop down onto the buffé of fallen warriors. So when she saw them circle in the sky she knew it was going to be a bad experience waiting for them up ahead.

When the the people split up into groups. She opted to take the opportunity to follow the Scarab around. Quite a interesting creature, child had interest in seeing him fight. She had never met one of her ilk before so she was curius as to what he could do with those massive claws of his. She was not a great admirer of the Duelist however, all rules and cordial behavior. Not attributes you wanted if you wished to survive mercenary work from her experience.

As they reached the tower, their friendly neighborhood archer decided to open fire immedietly. Child simply took her attack stance without a word, she was not going to hesitate in the least either. Her pulse as stead as someone simply doing dishes, the scarred and less then pleasant being that was Child grabbed her first set blades slowly from behind her back. The leather clicked and released the the curved cleavers that would do a lot of damage to someone like the orc. The blades were made to force trough mail, if she could hit a single joint on him the battle would be over. But he had backup, and he likewise, could fell her on a single swing. So when they split, she grinned behind her mask. It was a foolish move. The two running at Kasim and Alicia were at even ods, Dirge was going in one vs two. Clearly he had confidence in his skills.

And yet, Dirge was the only true warrior in that battle, His opponents were a empathic manswhore and… And One was a bug that usually were more apt in stealth and ambushes. So Child moved quickly and as quietly as she possibly could, not aiming to get in the giant warriors way but instead she engaged from his flank, putting as much of her herself in his blind spot as possible and darted forward, always mind the giant hammer, its arch and his long arms. She pulled one arm back, ready to throw the curved blade at him, a little trick she picked up in the arena. A moving opponent always found dodging more difficult if the you threw it straight at him, one wi

The moment he had decided to split from formation he had made a fundamental error. In combat, numbers are always a advantage in a open field. To split up only put their targets in a worse position, one that child was thankful for. Child pushed her foot in to the ground, shifted her body forward and tossed the blade with unnerving strength and precision (Heavy strike). If anything, Dirge would have to dodge or parry it, leaving him open for the giant ball of chitin death to strike at him.

Aëyr, selkie. Western Watch Tower.
Slippery, Stealthy, Endurance Training; running and aquatic conditions.

---

Seeing the woman clutch her arm in pain, Aëyr snatched her swinging sling out of the air and returned it to its previous location around her waist. They are intelligent, she mused. They were probably humanoids themselves, and by their perceived height, she made note to aim a little higher than their illusory forms gave away, should it come to a fight.

Of all her companions, she who intrigued Aëyr the most was the sprite, who took to singing for no apparent reason. Cute, she pondered, but a little out of place.

Nevertheless, it seemed to have drawn forth the attention of a young girl. A girl who, for whatever reason, seemed to be working on the side of the lunatics taking control of the town.

The game she proposed was familiar to Aëyr; chess, a challenge of wits and foresight. She herself had learned some of the rules of the game, but she fully expected that were it to come to a duel, she would be at a significant disadvantage.

Luckily, the sprite seemed to betaking some control of the situation. Better she than I.

Still, she might as well make some use of herself. "What rules, if I may ask, shall there be to this game? Are there—" Aëyr stumbled over her words for a second. "Special rules? Or conditions, we must follow?"

Town Square

Laenaia gave a nod to each of the guard as they calmed down and introduced themselves. With the people calmed, it should be simpler for them to gain help to search and disarm the bomb in the Square. That was what the vampiress thought before Jeremy's interruption and reveal of spider minions. She flinched in distaste upon the sight of the insects skittering to guard the revealed bomb.Her face turned to an amused one upon realizing that the ghosts were but an illusion and that the vampire called Jeremy was the most likely source. She looked back at him just before he vanished out of sight and Laenaia tried to find him with no result. Something that their new ally, and the sole militia to still be moving, shared just as he asked the Blades on what their next plan was.

Plan, what can they do now? Laenaia's eyes flitted to her companions, from the fellow cloaked woman, Zin, to the zealot, Reyvan or something, to the mage drow, and lastly to the beastless beast trainer, Thallen. She blinked once, then twice as she looked around for the second drow that she was sure walked with them to the Square. Meanwhile, her mind thought on what they could do. After a moment of thought, Laenaia turned towards Zin and spoke, "Zin, could you try to snap the militia from their trance? More hands here would be nice."

Laenaia turned to the rest of the Blades and Wayne, looking at each of them briefly, before whispering "I will....try to, um, distract Jeremy."
Without waiting further, Laenaia started to spoke loudly. "Jeremy! Can you tell me what did....James persuaded you with that you decide to side with him in committing this....heinous plan? Why would you help him with doing this when you could've helped us in preparing for the invasion?"

Town Square

Ceann had a lightning arrow cocked and at the ready, all she had to do was draw, aim and let loose. So many vampires gathered together but one, possibly two, were a threat to herself and the priestess. She glanced at the spiders and almost scoffed, there was no time for that however as she studied the ground where the vampire had vanished from, her eyes darting over it see any sign of a disturbance. He might be invisible but that didn't mean he would not show signs of his passage.

Her eyes caught it, a series of small disturbances in the dirt around the fountain, heading directly towards the vampire who had spoken up, that one might try to do a selfless thing, trying to convince this illusionist vampire, this Jeremy to 'see the good in himself'? It wouldn't work, the Drow had learned that a long time ago, there was no time for apology or repentance, only what you do next matters. Was what she thought as she did her best to aim for the area where the vampire was moving and loosed her arrow, opting no to warn the vampire for it would also alert their invisible adversary that she had spotted him.

Andrea meanwhile was staring at the spiders and smiled, walking slowly towards them with her hands spread, harmlessly. Did this blood-drinker really thought his command of her language and his ability to command spiders would impress or frighten her? She made a soft cooing sound of delight at the spiders, almost as if they were her children, talking to them softly in Drow. <"Such beauties on the surface, I was afraid I would see none of your kind in these sun scorched lands. Do you know what I am my pretties, who I serve? Would you really harm one such as myself, who admires your beauty, your grace... and most especially your deadly nature."> She just purred, <"Now you just stay there, while I will find and kill the insolent vampire who does not admire you like one such as I would..."> With that she grinned, how well do vampires burn?

Eastern Watch Tower

Dread Fang balked initially when the bomb-tinkerer turned out to be an illusion, his claws sinking into nothing but cloth and wood. What sorcery was this? He retracted his bladed arms and stepped back, his thorax low to the ground, arms tucked close -- a defensive posture. He assessed the situation again, his head moving this way and that. The two crows were... half-orcs? As the illusion fell away, Dread Fang could sense their minds, like a veil being torn off. Very strange. But nevermind them; the big orc declared war and turned to face Zayne and the scarab. A much more immediate threat.

Fortunately, Child came to their aid, the strange warrior throwing one of her weapons at the orc. Dread Fang seized the opportunity and pounced forward, his six legs propelling him forward. The orc was in a precarious position now, with a blade being tossed at him from one direction, and a predatory scarab lunging for him from another. Dread Fang wasn't sure whether his scything arms would be capable of punching through the orc's steel plate, but he had learned about armor during his time above ground. He aimed between the plates, hoping to sink his blades into the orc's chest where the cuirass met the pauldrons.

Ravens Inn

Gryff frowned at the idiot who might just have compromised a chance at having just a bit more .... information, with which to work. It was always annoying working without good intelligence, it meant you had to make shit up as you go and in the end that got more people killed than a shitty plan does. "C'mon Murd, and watch your head, these villagers never make their doors a decent size."

Murderok looked around carefully as if not interested in anything in case the magician, which seemed a few fruit loops short of a breakfast had neglected to black out the windows but they too were concealed. "Fine, less go see what this fruity fellow has in store for us." Murderok followed Gryff through and almost groaned as he crossed the threshold. Bloody drama queen. I'm surprised it's not a princess wailing about how she was kidnapped by some dark caped figure in the night from her bed. He thought to himself unwilling to vocalise it and give the loon any further ideas.

Gryff was more appraising, he knew that he'd be unlikely to outrun the creature, at least not for long. But he wore heavy enough armour that he wasn't too concerned about the Cat unless it went for his less protected belly, or its teeth. And his companions were a source of concern, the crazy dwarf might be useful if they tore it apart and offered the Cat bits of it as a peace offering. "Maybe we could offer it that Ballista you call a Crossbow as a scratching post Murd."

"Stuff off Gryff, you'll hurt Manbreaker's feelings." Murderok chuckled in response. "Anyone think to bring some catnip?"

Gryff continued to examine the creature. It stood just over a metre tall and looked like it was packed with muscle. The problem was how to stop it without killing it. He had no doubt that he and Murderok could probably snap it like a twig if they had the freedom to act against it. The trick was either to trick it somehow, or subdue it. "Well Murd, we have a conundrum. We have to somehow stop Freya there from snacking on our well stacked haunches without killing her. You got any ideas?"

"Catnip." Murd replied.

"Well that's one more idea than I have at the moment." Gryff admitted. "I mean if we could hold it down and sit on it without crushing it that might work, but do we want to take that chance?"

"Dunno." Murd answered. "You guys got any ideas?" He turned to the rest of the Blades that had joined them.

Town Square - Zin

---

Panic gripped her heart. Everything had been fine, even though one of the militia had to knock out his crazed friend, everything was still fine then. That changed rather quickly. The traitor and the spiders and the spirits all contributed to Zin's racing heart. Another person might have been exhilarated by the thought of battle, but she could only think of the death it would bring, for the militia, for the other Queen's Blades, but most importantly for herself. She was just on the brink of fleeing when Laenaia, the other cloaked woman who Zin thought must be a vampire like herself, asked her to talk to the militia and try to snap them out of their fear.

She grasped the thought desperately, like a drowning man reaching for anything nearby to keep his head above water. Thinking about their terror made Zin's own fear fade a bit, taking a spot of secondary priority. Those men looked near scared to death by the apparitions, and she could sympathize with them. She hurried over to the militia, making sure to keep her cloak closed to protect herself from the sun, and as she passed Wayne she recalled hearing him ask what the plan was. "D-deal with Jeremy, if you can." Zin heard the fear in her own voice and tried as hard as she could to suppress it before addressing the other men of the militia.

"There's no need to fear the spirits. They're just illusions!" Zin held up her left hand and focused on conjuring an illusory flame, one of the simple spells she had recently mastered, and managed to fight through her own distracting fear to make it work. She then passed her right hand through the flame, showing the men that it was harmless. "See? I know illusions. Don't fear them." In truth she was not completely sure the spirits were illusions, but it was the best approach she could think of to perhaps snap the militia out of their trance of terror. "You should be afraid of that bomb in the fountain, the bomb that will kill countless people if we don't stop it. We need your help now, we need to deal with Jeremy and stop the bomb before it's too late, and we can only do that if you help us. Now come on, let's do our jobs and protect everyone." She pointed to the fountain for emphasis, and could only wait and hope she'd gotten through to them.

West Watch Tower -- Abida Qisaf

The appearance of the young girl was unexpected, and Abida wondered if she herself was magicked to appear as something she wasn't. Why this game of chess? She wondered. Was the grand illusionist setting a trap, or simple enjoyed putting such stakes on mundane challenges? There was no way to tell how skilled the girl was at the game, but Abida was willing to believe that they'd face no child's incompetence.

The short sprite stepped forward and accepted the challenge with lute and song. The childlike appearance and demeanor of the other queen's blade did nothing to lessen Abida's apprehension of the situation.

As the selkie began stammering, she leaned down and grabbed the sprite's arm. "I hope you are skilled at this game, singing child," Abida hissed.

Draza was rather surprised by the grip of the woman who grabbed her, and while it did hurt her frame initially, she did her best to not let it show, "I've had many matches in my days. Politicians love games, of thought, skill, or chance, and children enjoy them too," she gestured to the one who had challenged them, "Although children oft change or bend the rules to their whims."

"Then have the rules be changed in your favour. I do not plan on dying from the failings of others." She tightened her grip momentarily before stepping back. She had never liked the subtle trickery of mind games. The master had trained her to navigate it's webs, but she had never grown comfortable with it. The true and simple was what she desired, when everything was clear and everyone had their place. Not the false visions and hidden threats that plagued this town.

---

Town Square -- Thailen Vicarris

"Eldrick," Thailen said sharply, "Eldrick." The big man had been calm a moment before, now he was as terrified as the other militia. Thailen herself found her hands shaking as she swung her gaze from spiders to vampires to drow and back. All around were monsters, and the threat of the bomb suffocating it all. The others were right to be afraid.

She had been afraid before. Years before, with two dozen men-at-arms huddled close against the rain. After weeks of futile searching, they had found the tiefling raiders that had been plaguing the Vicarris lands. They had outnumbered her force two to one as she crouched atop the hill above them, waiting to give the signal to attack. Yes, there had been fear then, but there had also been the reassurance of being surrounded by those she had grown up with.

Now she found herself alongside strangers. Most of whom were frozen in fear, the others largely unarmed or monsters themselves. However, she had given the call to attack all those years ago. She would do so again. Uncurling her devil-tail whip, she snapped it high in the air. "To me!" she cried, and charged the spiders.

Maher & Nadira Adonai
Ravens Inn

Maher froze when his staff struck the militiaman, the feeling of shock that overtook him was sudden and strong. In his minds eye he replayed the moment the militiaman had stepped, no been pulled, in front of his ice tipped staff. Maher was still in this state when Aslo put his hand on Mahers shoulder and spoke. This brought Maher out of his shock as anger flooded him again and he pulled his staff back, dissolving the ice at the end by rote rather than intent. He was ready to strike out again when James spoke up once more but he stopped himself upon realising that was exactly what James wanted and had wanted since the first. Instead he started to control his breathing in an effort to calm himself as the large cat was revealed inside the Inn. They were going to need cool heads more than weapons for this after all since killing the cat was now out of the question.

Nadira placed a hand on her brothers shoulder. <Stay calm brother>. She looked at James and smiled. Leading her brother toward the door James had opened for them. <let's just get this done>

Maher let his sister guide him as he recovered himself, he knew better than to lash out as he had, he had been trained better than that. He sent a feeling of reassurance along the link he shared with Nadira as the two of them crossed the threshold of the doorway and stepped out onto the stone and brick road. When Murd spoke up Maher was unsure of how to answer, rather he sent Nadira a mental nudge that she should answer while he began to study the vista of the illusion James had created.

Nadira shrugged as she looked at the Minotaur "I'm more of a go with the flow kind of girl, we really have nothing to go on other than this guardian sounds like someone we should probably try not piss off"

Maher cracked a small smile at that 'go with the flow' was something their father used to say while he had taught them magic. In light of what had happened earlier though he couldn't see any other way to approach the situation just now. “I don't think we need worry about that unless we try for the chest, of course that is the whole point of us being here.” Maher said as much to himself as the others. “The illusionist seems quite fond of games however, so all we need to do is figure out how this one is played, no matter how much the idea disgusts us.” Though given the mercenary duo's apparently callous attitudes and the dwarfs 'brags' he suspected he and Nadira were the only ones that truly felt for those they were to save.

"We don't really have a choice do we" Nadira smiled at her brother, she could feel through their bond how he felt toward the mercs, she wholeheartedly agreed. "I do suggest we stay together, the illusionist is clearly a twisted man, we will have a need of all our skills before we are finished here I suspect"

Schizo Dwarf, Raven’s Inn

Algrimm, while upset at the dismissal of his “art” by the Illusionist, still decided to go through with the man’s games. Heading past the threshold muttering to himself about philistines or barbarians of some sort, he heard the Illusionist’s warning about the guardian, a large feral cat of some sort. Wonderful, not only did they have to deal with the man’s tricks, they also had to deal with his pet. A pet which they could not kill, because human lives were so valuable. The thinking of these inferior beings confused him often, what with their concepts of “Morality” and “Ethics”. Any good Dwarf could clearly tell you that “The ends always justify the means, no matter how extreme”, because it was just a simple fact of life.

The...lesser beings, for that was what they were, lesser beings, of mixed blood and lineages. It was sickening that he would have to work with such creatures, but alas, some things can’t be helped. As for helping the others with the Illusionist’s pet, he was just as dumbfounded as the others. ”Well, I’m not a vet. So I’ve got no ideas other than kill the damn thing. Not like it’d be a huge loss. Just saying.”

“Hark, wary watchmen, so your worry fades. Hither good omen, forsooth the Queen’s Blades.” -Draza, Page 1.

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West Watch Tower

---

The girl grinned quite happily at Aëyr and Draza, though especially the latter with her entertaining singing voice. She clears her throat and dangles her feet over the edge of the watch tower, swinging them back and forth energetically as she replied. "Oooh, well! Rules, rules rules rules." It quickly became apparent from the way she was scratching her head that she likely had no clue how to play chess, or that she was making it all up on the fly. "Ahh! Yes. Well." She snaps her fingers and the ground beneath their feet morphs into a black and white checkered pattern, that of a chess board. "Lets seee... Ahhh..." She pulls out a small book from the watch tower's floor and flips through a few pages quickly. "Ah! Aha~ Sloth's rules." The girl said with satisfaction in the tone of her voice as she closes the book.

Before the party of six, five of the crows lined up on the opposite side of the "board" upon which all of them stood, which was roughly one hundred and two feet squared, and each became demons, though lesser forms of each it seemed. Two were succubi with whips, two were skeletal with bow and arrow that looked fragile enough in melee but might be hard to approach, and one was a large, ten foot tall megalith with hooved feet wielding a two handed warhammer that looked mean enough to cleave through stone if it wanted. Presumable, the knights, bishops, and queen piece, each respectively, arranged on the right places on the board they would start.

The girl then drops down from the side of the watch tower, hands stretched out to each side as her descent somehow slowed, though the magic-oriented members of the group would recognize it as arcane magic. Quietly landing on the middle of the board, she smiled childishly. "Sloth said this game is fun for mortals! I'm a mortal, so I think I will have fun!" A sixth person appears beside her in a puff of smoke, this one was distinctly human and covered head to toe in black leather armour. At his waist was a pair of daggers, and a hood covered his face in shadow. "Meryl, this may be unwise." Meryl shakes her head. "No! It'll be fun, who cares about wisdom, psshhh, wisdom is boooring."

Meryl then turns towards the group of six, who would find themselves trapped on the board behind a magical barrier, which Naream would sense is being projected by the book, which was now on the girl's back. "Okay! Rules! If you catch me, the game ends, and I give this button," She pulls out a mechanist detonator, likely the one that was meant for the bomb. ", to whoever catches me! Hoowweever, if all of you are down... The game ends!" The man in dark leather vanishes, likely either protecting Meryl or taking his place on the board, or perhaps darker tasks. Looking at the group of six, she then adds one last thing. "Oh, and when you start moving towards me, or use any magic, the game starts! Okay? Okay!"

---

East Watch Tower

---

Alicia's engagement against the half-orc was something to see, the artistry of someone made and armed for dueling was impressive enough, even as Darek stopped moving forward upon the parasol being thrown. He was no fool, and hadn't been charging, though he had no silver helmet to protect him. He holds his guard as Alicia surges forth to mock a blow, in an attack style that was likely foreign to the orc as he managed to narrowly block it with his steel shield. The shield was slowing him down even though he was wearing leather armour and not plate mail, like Dirge was.

He responds viciously however as he spots her moving to his side, suddenly charging forth as she moved and slamming into her with his elbow and shoulder, knocking her to the ground. He then readied a second strike, yelling viciously something unintelligible.

The other orc, Oran, burst into a charge at the sight of the great bow being drawn. He started to raise his shield in the same motion as the arrow was loosed for the torso, though the arrow slipped past the shield and above its mark, instead hitting his silver helmet and knocking it straight off with sufficient violence as to cause him to start bleeding from his forehead. With a furious growl his charge continued and as Kasim finished pulling out his short sword he would barely manage to evade receiving an axe to the chest. Instead the arm not holding his blade would be cut, badly enough to bleed in a concerning manner and make bending it quite painful. Oran spits on the ground as the black blood starts to approach his eyes, seemingly without his own knowing. "Glorious." He remarks as adrenaline coursed through him.

Meanwhile, Dirge faced several potential threats at once. He knew this and stopped moving as whatever bizarre plan the group had seemingly mustered came into action. He heard the weapon being thrown behind him but paid it no heed as it landed a couple feet away from him, Child's attack being nowhere near sufficient to even be worth blocking anyway as the weapon was not suited for piercing plate mail. Before him the scarab charged, and was a much more significant threat to deal with in the next five seconds. Dread Fang attempted to attack him and instead would feel the wrath of a warhammer slam into his side, sending him skittering and sliding a couple feet to the orc's right side. Dirge turned to face the threat once more, as Dread Fang survived the blow, though his chitinous exoskeleton was badly damaged and he was bleeding down his left side, and both the orc and Zayne would hear the inevitable whine of pain. Upon this happening, Dirge hesitated. Dread Fang would recognize it sharply: Dirge had no killing intent in his moves. Why swing for the side when swinging from above would have undoubtedly been a killing blow?

There was a chance that words could get through to him, or at least slow him down enough to allow a combination of Child and Dread Fang's attacks simultaneously to kill him. "Retreat," Dirge repeated, now to all three of them telepathically. "And I won't have to kill you."

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Town Square

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Jeremy did not respond to Laenaia's attempt to communicate with him. Ceann's attempted attack against him, however, was somewhat successful. The lightning arrow lodges itself into his left shoulder, though the actual lightning itself didn't appear to do any real damage to him save pissing him off and wrecking his illusory spell as little bits of lightning here and there continued to "spark" from the arrow, disrupting his illusion completely, though the ghosts remained. His response was swift as he leaped backward from the group. "(Drow) Damn you, black skinned menace..." Blood stained his robes and his left arm was rendered useless, though a large amount of magical energy began to channel around his right hand. Still this did not affect the ghosts.

Andrea's attempt to sway the spiders to her side worked with one. It seemed to relax a little, its black eyes staring at her unwaveringly and curiously. The other one, however, was not so impressed, and before Andrea could work harder on it, a small flurry of throwing knives comes her way from Jeremy's position, two strike her, one in the thigh and one in her right side, both wounds would require medical attention of some sort soon lest she run out of green blood to bleed. It seemed that the last of his comrades, or minions, appeared from an illusory spell. A woman with a golden blonde ponytail tied back and a pair of golden coloured eyes stared at the group: An Aasimar, armed with a pair of throwing knives that could feasible be used as impromptu daggers. "Are you alright honey?" She asked with some distress in her voice. "I'm fine, keep these deluded fools away so I can finish this spell and even the odds!" Jeremy replied with equal concern for the woman. "Of course!" She replies with a certain cockiness in the tone of her voice. This was not her first fight.

At the same time, Zin's attempt to get through to the militia mostly failed. She would quickly realize that they were all so absorbed by their fear that they likely couldn't hear her, leave alone pay attention to her... All save Eldrick, who snapped out of his fear and nodded to Zin. "R-Right... Right... This happens... In Liveria... I should know this, grahh!" Thailen's call to arms then followed suit, and she charged the spider to the left of the fountain, which was naturally closer. Eldrick nodded and moved with his homeland comrade, though the spider hissed. It spat some kind of vicious poison at Thailen and while she evaded most of it she would find it burning its way through her right leather shoulderpad. She could continue her charge, and help Eldrick kill the spider, but run the risk of the acidic venom burning into her skin and likely poisoning her... Or she could stop and tear the pad off, though it could slow her down enough to stop her from being able to help Eldrick.

Eldrick's attack came from the spider's side, and with a single mighty swing with his arming sword he cut off a portion of one of its forward legs, causing it to stumble and once again hiss, though this time in pain as it stumbled back from the fountain, seemingly readying another vicious spit attack. It seemed these bigger spiders, contrary to popular belief, were not as agile as their much smaller cousins, who thanks to certain mathematical laws of nature, were simply far lighter to be performing instantaneous responses.

Wayne responded to all of this by hesitating and staring in awe. It seemed his upbringing had left him dry of any real conflict like this, so without further hesitation he immediately charged the woman armed only with his arming sword and chain mail. Chain mail which did not stop one of the knives being thrown like a dagger into Wayne's throat. Wayne however was not stopped by this, being a vampire, such a wound would not kill him, though he gurgled in pain. He swung his arming sword and got locked in a duel as the woman tried to hold back his blade and superior strength with just her dagger. Still, despite being wounded, Wayne was slowly pushing her back, with help he might even be able to kill her.

Clarify: Jeremy and his protector stood a few feet away from the group on the right side of the fountain, whilst the terrified militia were all huddled right up at and around the fountain. The spider on the right side of the fountain became friendly to Andrea while the one on the left did not, and was injured by Eldrick. The protector is locked in a duel with Wayne, trying to hold him back.

---

Raven's Inn

---

As the group entered and stared dumbfounded at the large cat doing absolutely nothing whatsoever, and not coming up with a plan, the cat licked its chops looking at them. The sabretooth, Freya, likely hadn't been fed for a while. Just as it seemed the best plan would be to chop up the crazy dwarf and serve him on a platter, Mikan bursts in through the shroud, dark hair and all, and looks at the beast. "Ohhh... So that's what James meant." Quickly she seemed to ponder her options as she looked at the tower, an all too familiar glint in her eyes as she thought about how to infiltrate and steal what was inside. "Well... It's a cat." She looks at it. "A big cat." Mikan then looks around at the group. "And there are... A half a dozen of us. Versus the big cat." Pulling out a dagger she twirls it around her fingers dexterously. "Aaand... We can't kill the cat. Sooo..." She tosses the dagger into the air and catches it with her other hand. "...We play cat and mouse. I mean... There are seven of us. Four or five of us can distract the cat and cover each other when we need to escape by tackling the cat or getting the cat's attention or other such things, while two people run inside or sneak inside and get to the chest, then get the key. Then the people inside tell us they have the key, and we uhh... Go find that chest we need to unlock."

A big, childish grin crosses her face as she sheathes her dagger and looks at her compatriots. She was a little on the taller side, and would be equally useful for either task, though seemed intent on trying to encourage some leadership and initiative out of these Queen's Blades. After all, they were supposed to be the pinnacle defenders and servants of the Queens. If they can't somehow figure out a way around a wild animal to get a key, how were they supposed to defeat the demon invasion?

---

Greed's Revelry

---

"Ahhh! It has been too long since You last came to My domain, Lust!"
"Quite, Greed. Where is Envy, wasn't She supposed to be here?"
"Yes, yes, well, I made sure She would be busy, mmheheheyes, yes. Promised Her the next ones would be Hers, you know how She gets, so jealous, so..."
"Greedy, I know."
"Ohh, but You seem ssssoooooo disappointed! Mmhmmhmm, hehehehe..."
"These are the first Queen's Blades We will be getting that were hand picked by the Queens of that little upstart kingdom. Envy will more likely break them than get real information, so, yes, I am quite irate... However, You wished to see Me, so go ahead."
"Hmm hmm, mm, well, I saw this little opportunity... You see... That little agent of Mine, James, he sprung himself a little surprise... You know Sloth's misery lately, the missing child of His? James took it."
"Ahh... So We need to retrieve it to win Sloth's confidence back?"
"Well, yes, b-but, that isn't enough! The child is a ticket! If it lives We can use it! Use it to get closer to their riches, their information, their--"
"--Royalty... And their spymaster."
"Yess, if You want such... Boring targets. I guess. Mm mm. Oh well. Mhm, well, yes, here, here are the plans, I have, You see, all laid out, just for Usss."
"Good, good... Oh, and Greed."
"Mmm?"
"In Your next life, choose something with organs next time, and I promise, I will give You a good time if this lead goes anywhere."
"Eh hehehehe... No."

West Watch Tower
Draza

---

Draza, rubbing her arm hoping that it didn’t have a bruise now, blinked at the sudden changes in their venue, but remained resolute after she was released her grip on herself for the pack she had slung on her back. “My oh my,” she said, sweetly, “Sloth’s chess? We may be here awhile at the sloth’s pace. Lucky me, I’ve brought snacks, hope you don’t mind if I stuff my face.” She reached into the pack and pulled out a sweet biscuit, stuffed with a candied apple and cinnamon, and while the most of the aroma had long left the snack itself, her backpack did still smell of it when it was opened.

She tossed it up into the air and caught it again, closing her pack and hefting it back behind her as she took a step forward. Arriving at her new spot, she took a hearty bite out of the dessert in her hands, and a smile spread across her lips. With a bit of chewing, she let out a small giggle that ended in a cute childish eep of a hiccough. Her smile slipped at the eep and she pressed her finger to her lips, a knuckle pressed down on her lips as she took a deep breath to make sure she didn’t hiccough again. Once assured of that, she smiled again around her finger before moving it away and licking the few crumbs that have stuck to the rim of her mouth from the first bite, “I’m glad it wasn’t stale, else that would’ve been a teeeeeerribble bite.”

Bouncing the good between her two hands with her grin beaming she turned to her friends, rather, acquaintances that she considered her friends, “If any of you want some, I’ve more in my pack. I’m not savvy on the rule of passing sweets, but I’d like to think it doesn’t count as a turn.”

Town Square
Andrea & Ceann

---

Andrea all but purred when she saw that one of the spiders seemed willing to listen to her words and relax, when she turned to the other she saw horror unfolding, they dared to attack and even wound it!? She resisted the urges of her homeland to flay them alive where they stood for such desecration and instead hissed, all but shouting at them in that vile, barbaric tongue of theirs. "Do not dare to touch this other spider or I will burn you all alive, do you hear m-" Her rant was cut short with a scream of pain as two throwing daggers embedded themselves in her body, the sharp pain of metal slicing through her flesh making her aware of the new threat and she hissed. She gritted her teeth, fighting the pain as she started moving forwards, her hands busy weaving in the air in front of her. Lesson learned, do not stand still.

It was a quick spell, nothing with finesse or grace, just raw emotion, raw anger, given form as she formed a orb of searing flame between her hands and then hurled it at the vampire, Jeremy. He had made a giant mistake, well several. First he had taunted her in her own language about his command over the spiders, second he had his pet aasimar bitch throw knives at her, and third and most importantly, you never, ever spoke out loud during a battle worlds like 'keep these deluded fools away so I can finish this spell and even the odds!'. Because that not only alerted your foes but also drew a giant target on your back. She was not seen making this same mistake as she did not call out any challenge as she finished her quick attack spell, ignoring her injuries for now. Flames were brought into being, burning bright orange but then she molded her other magic in it and the flames slowly started to flicker bright white as she combined her fire magic with her holy magic, sweat appearing on her brow and with a hiss she let go of the spell.

The ball of holy magic infused flames flew forth, speeding towards James, hoping to see if he would burn.

Meanwhile Ceann was satisfied with her previous shot and now drew out six arrows and stabbed all of them, save one, in the ground in front of her. She had no time to consider her surroundings, or the new threat of the knife thrower. The vampire was revealed now and she was determined to continue what she started. She drew the arrow she kept a hold off back, aimed and let loose, quickly grabbing one of the other arrows stabbed in the ground right in front of her, aimed and let loose. Continue to rapid fire as she did with as many arrows as she could in the time given to her.

Zayn - East Watch Tower

---

Zayn brought a hand to the stinging side of his face as he recoiled from Dirge’s blow. Things had become a full brawl, and frankly it didn’t seem to being going their way. Zayn rose to his feet and stumbled back away from the combatants, hoping to make it towards the base of the tower and the explosive. Why was the orc holding his blows? Was it honor? Mercy? Pity?

We can no more abandon our Duty than you can, Dirge. Zayn shot at the silver-plated orc’s mind. You understand then where that puts us. You are clearly an honorable and just fighter. Zayn continued. He wasn't lying - the orc chose to parlay before the blades chose to charge in with their swords drawn, and had held back his strength, urging them to retreat instead of killing them. The orc had certainly been more virtuous fighter despite his questionable loyalties. It seems strange that one like yourself would serve a man who fights with shadows and lies. If nothing else, attempting to entertain a philosophical conversation would pull the orc's attention in yet another direction.

Zayn moves behind the explosive, and kneels before it, looking for some way to tamper with it to make it useless. He might as well try to do something useful while everyone else was busy getting the tar beat out of them. And the bomb, after all, was the reason they were here! Why does one of honor fight for James Moriarty?

Mars
Town Square

The Toad, the second largest Inn in Arian village, only behind the Raven Inn. An innkeeper was seated behind a bar with his forehead resting lazily on his propped up arm, the man yawned with boredom. A small, dying fire cackled in the hearth and the main room of the Inn was filled with empty chairs and barren tables save for a single table where three men were playing a game of Liar's Dice.

"Three six's," Mars said.

The other two men lifted their cups gently and peered at their own die. They gave each other sly smiles as one called out Mar's bluff. One by one they each lifted their cups. The first cup left the table: No sixes. Then the second cup was lifted, and again not a single six. Finally, Mars lifted his own cup to reveal three die, all sixes. The faces of the other men quickly turned from smug looks of satisfaction to contorted faces of anger and disbelief.

"Bullshit!" a man yelled as he slammed his fist on the table. The die on the table jumped into the air and landed back on the table. Mar's own die landed with the sixes facing skyward. The men saw this and gave a skeptical look before turning their angry eyes on Mars with murderous intent. Mars looked at his die for a moment before meeting their eyes with a shrug.

"I win again."

"You bloody-" one of the men yelled as he drew a dagger. Mars quickly jumped back from his seat, knocking his chair over as he raised his hands palms forward. "Now, now. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."

By the luck of the gods a woman entered the tavern, out of breath and panicked. Another group of people flowed in behind her, suddenly the barren hearth had a few more bodies. The innkeeper blinked wildly at the panicked guests flooding his inn.

"We're under attack!" the woman cried out in an odd hushed scream. People glanced at each other with bewildered eyes before someone inquired what the crazed woman was talking about. A bomb she exclaimed! A mad magician threatened to ruin the entire village in a fiery explosion. The other villagers who had followed the woman in now crowded at the windows, and their own panic and murmurs backed her story. The man who had drawn the dagger shook his head in disbelief as he murmured a curse and stepped outside the inn.

Everyone was now looking out the window towards the fountain where a group of militia were confronting some armed foreigners. Mars quickly slapped his die off the table with a swift backhand, sending two of the dice into the hearth. One of the men glanced back for a moment, looking at Mar's with fearful eyes, before returning his attention to the window. Mars then quietly slid the gold coins on the table into a cloth pouch which he promptly tied off and tucked under his sash.

Suddenly the women in the room squealed and the men gasped. Mars turned his own eyes to the window and saw two behemoth spiders standing by the fountain. The man with the dagger promptly yelped and ran back into the tavern, slamming the door behind him. Most of the people by the window turned and sought refuge in the inn to hide in. Mars himself stepped to the window to view the ordeal. At the sight of the giant spiders Mar's skin grew pale.

"Aren't you going to do something? You're with the Queen's Blades aren't you?" one of the men Mar's had been gambling with inquired.

"Never heard of them, and there is nothing to be done," Mars replied. Spirits began to pour from the village houses, "Everything looks normal."

"You bloody coward!"

Mars let loose a heavy sigh and turned his attention back into the room. Most of the people had fled upstairs, with the handful who had remained cluttered around the windows, mostly men who would rather satiate their curiosity than seek refuge. Mar's walked to the bar and began to walk one of the larger kegs from under the shelf. The thing was only knee high, but was heavy as hell, and by the time he had it just outside the door the people in the town square were now engaged in a full on fight. Mars returned to the inn and grabbed an unlit torch from the wall, walked to the hearth and lit the torch before returning to the inn's entrance and drawing his rapier. He stood in the entrance and turned back towards the innkeeper, who had been quietly protesting Mar's seizure of the alcohol.

"Queen Kouri will reimburse your loses. If she makes an inquiry..." what were the names of the other Blades? "Tell her I, Murderok, owe you this barrel," the named sounded familiar, "Shut the door behind me if you would be so kind."

Of the two spider's, Mar's focused his attention on the one that looked more pissed. There appeared to be a safe distance between the beast and the contraption at the foot of the fountain which Mar's presumed to be the bomb. He imagined he'd feel guilty if his plan ignited the bomb instead... either feel guilty or feel dead. Mars then punctured the barrel thrice with his rapier before kicking it to its side. Quickly Mar's spun the barrel and sent it rolling along the downgrade with a swift boot. He watched the barrel roll towards the spider engaging the militiaman. Unfortunately the barrel veered left and would roll behind the spider, but with any luck the fiery explosion would at least be enough to disorient the spider to offer the man a chance for a fatal strike, maybe even scorch the ugly thing if he timed it just right.

Mars lit the trail of alcohol the barrel left behind, and watched as a line of fire raced towards the rolling barrel.

"Mind the fire!"

Laenaia hissed at being ignored. Although it didn't matter in the end as Jeremy's position was revealed to them due to an arrow. Still, that it wasn't from her contribution stung her a bit. Assessing the situation once more, Laenaia moved to help Wayne against the holy-blooded woman. The vampiress may not be a direct combatant, but with Wayne pushing against Jeremy's protector, she could provide help by distracting Wayne's opponent. Reaching for her magic, Laenaia started distracting the protector by trying to shift her attention away from Wayne and his weapon, namely by making something else seemed a bit more important than it should be. It took all of her focus in keeping up with the combatant that she ignored the warning shout and a rolling barrel behind one of the spider with a trail of fire catching up to it. The resulting explosion would catch her attention however.

Western Watchtower, a game of Sloth Chess

Naream blinked and then frowned, he knew this board, it was from that surface game... Chess... or was it Checkers... possibly both, either case it was no matter, both games were loosely based on supposedly 'simulating' combat, warfare. By making the players think of various ways to beat their opponent and stay one or multiple steps ahead of their opponent, well he knew of a other way that could influence combat. He pulled up his spell tome and leaved through it, gritting his teeth when one of them made a move, starting the game, without making a strategy... and then she blathered about food? This was one of the Queens Blades? He frowned, silencing his thoughts to concentrate, after all perhaps that one had abilities he had not yet witnessed.

While leafing through his spell tome he spoke up, almost casually mentioning it. "There is a barrier preventing us from escaping this board... also, the girls book, it is the source of the barrier and potentially the entire magic that made this game board appear." He then let out a delighted sound, finding the right page, cutting his thumb and placing it on the bloodied mark on the page. The thing was with wars and strategies... one can have all the cunning strategies he or she wants, but sometimes...

He let out a shout, speaking in a mixture of Drow and arcane words and then let loose with the magic and opened a rift between this world and the pocket-plane his amulet was linked to and from it marched three wight warriors, armed with shields and swords, moving protectively in front of Naream.

He grinned and closed his spell tome, sweeping off a bead of sweat from his forehead, sometimes, it was not about the strategies, but about the reinforcements one can bring to the field...

"No fairrr!" The twelve year old pouted. "Stop being such a meanie!"

"I will stop being a, as you say, 'meanie' when this game of Sloth Chess has been won, with me preferably still standing, thank you very much. Now be a good young... human... girl? And hand over that book, or my pawns will have to get it for me." Upon those words two of the wight moved together in formations, shields in front and started marching in unison, they would head for the closes enemy pawn, that was not a skeletal archer. Naream had other plans for those as he instructed the third wight to stand guard over him while he tried to wrest control over those skeletal archers to his own control.