Tagged; @ElitestPotato @The Fated Fallen @notdeadyet @Strafe @ArenaSnow

As the whole situation was beginning tensing up, swords were locked and the various people all started to worry and nervously stop this debacle. The shopkeeper had suddenly gained confidence to the point where she challenged the steel blade resting on her neck, something Cassius was astounded by. Could she have handled this herself? The Gnome also jumped in the fray, basically exasperating to let Maria go as she has just healed Xusin.

Finally Edict conceded and mentioned Maria being careful, as Cassius notices that he doesn't perceive her as a threat and then states that he, as he so delicately put it, fix his fucking arm.

"I don't think I would be able to, with a blade to her neck and all that." he replied in jest,

Sheathing his weapon back to its home, Xusin had burst out of the room shoving out of her way before clambering out of the room with a frightened and ghastly look on her face. After glancing at her, with a curious expression he goes up to the counter. Placing his hand over the counter, he slowly began to unwrap the festering and bleeding wound. With a slight wince, he finally opened the wound up and showed it to the shopkeeper, Maria.

The mage grumbled to himself. A damsel in distress, and all courtesy goes out the window, sure. He looked back down to his left hand and curled it into a painful fist before he slowly unfurled it, and ran his right thumb over the cauterized slash. His hand twitched. At least it would add some variety to his collection of, mostly, self-inflicted scars...There's a bright-side, right?

No. He grumbled again and trudged towards the door they'd all disappeared into. He halted back as a woman came careening out, and then slowly poked his head inside. An omen, surely. If anyone can run out of a healer's house, it must surely be because the healer was so gifted that they have to tell their friends and family right away...or the healer tried to kill them with their shoddy attempt at recreating the divinity of magic using turnips from their backyard. Always a toss-up between the two.

What he wasn't expecting was the distinct click of a sword meeting its scabbard. Sure, this could be mistaken for a lot of things, but the armored man with a peculiar shield and wielding a sword sure gave him a push in the right direction. He'd thought he'd heard some kind of shout moments ago, but even a paranoid mage didn't find that suspicious when they originated from inside a healer's. In fact, it would have been stranger if they hadn't shouted anything.

Still, as a paranoid mage, he tucked his hand into his right pocket to grip the wood and metal handle of his flintlock before he ducked inside of the room and stepped to the side to wait his turn, and pretended not to notice the dirt he tracked in from outside.

((@Elitestpotato@The Fated Fallen@Strafe@Inertia))

Aezophyl sniffed even as he began to leave darker and darker steaming footprints behind him. His disguise flashed a few times; it was becoming obvious that the spell was less than completely compatable. And it has only been 10 minutes...

He would have to 'burn off steam' so to speak. The right way.

Walking past a slightly loud and punk-like pedestrian, he clasped his hand on the man's shoulder as he walked past, causing the man to look back and yell vulgarities. He failed to notice a flame rising on his shoulder... until someone pointed and screamed.

"What are ye yellin at!" he shouted to the one who screamed.

A voice behind him told him exactly why.

"You're on fire!"

Looking at his shoulder, his face turned into a gaze of horror as the flames spread, consuming his entire body in the course of twenty seconds. Screaming, he ran into the wall of the healer's shop then tripped over a bench before he had nothing left but charred bones.

But he wasn't dead.

Rising back up, the charred, still burning skeleton rose back up and started stumbling, causing everyone on the street to flee and in a matter of minutes, bells of alarm to sound. It clumsily scratched at the shop's door even as it set the said door on fire.

Looking back at the chaos, Aezophyl smiled... then walked into the bar that was his destination.

In the blink of an eye the skeleton had been stopped, a blade through the head had that effect. Having stumbled back at the surprise skeleton Tirarrian was still on her arse when Edict shouted over "Gnome! Get out here! And give me your name. You've been attempting to be helpful and none of us even know your name."

Standing back up she dusted down her jacket and straightened her hat. "I, am Tirarrian." She started, "Adventurer and Alchemist extraordinaire!" her voice raising proudly at the end as she puffed her chest out triumphantly, standing to her full height (3 foot 2). "And you'll have to give me the recipe for that powder, the ability to extinguish fire seems very useful for someone who carries a lot of bombs." She made a point of shaking her satchel

He had been minding his own business, wandering about the town when his attention was drawn to the apothecary and the woman who came bolting out of it in a mad dash. Curiosity taking control, Wynn moved closer, until he stopped in his advanced when a burning skeleton zoomed past. And when it was struck and fell, he just stared, wide-eyed. Wynn quickly hurried over, and gave the skeleton a light nudge, booting it aside. He peered in before entering after a moments of hesitation. He wasn’t going to ask questions about what happened even though now he wanted to know. Must have been something with those mages deities he believed in. Wynn always pinned these bizarre, supernatural occurrences on them.

He slithered his way over to Marek, gaze darting about. He took note of the unsheathed sword and immediately he fell at unease. Perhaps he had made a wrong decision in entering, but he cursed his curiosity for that. His left hand fell to the flintlock that was kept in the leather holster at his waist, though he made no move to pull it out. He wasn’t stupid, but he most certainly was going to defend himself if someone made a move on him.

"Ahh. What's going on?" He asked, mostly directed to Marek since he was the closet.

@Green_Hood ((And whoever's still there still >.<))

~Maria~

Things got a little better, then much, much, much, much MUCH worse, and in what seemed like a blink of the eye, Maria found herself yelling and screaming down the streets of Waeldeshore, leaving the shop completely unattended as she scurried after the scarred man, foreign lady, and a bizarre moving, burning skeleton. She didn't ever drink, but if and when things settled down, she would need something quite strong to calm her nerves. To know why the usually calm and temperate gentle-lady was hurling down the cobblestone in a monstrous and unseemly fury, a short recollection of events is in order:

We start with Maria, staring down the blade of a sword after healing the odd foreign lady who just bled all over her pristine counter. Already in a foul mood from the boisterous riff raff, Maria was having none of it. Thankfully, the gnome saved her from also bleeding all over the countertop, but as soon as the man lowered his sword, the foreign girl jumped up and ran out of the store, and the scarred man with him. The gnome followed. Maria blinked, confused for a second, then her eyes grew wide, and her face flushed with bitter rage.

Damn bastards barging in, making a mess, getting healed, threatening to kill her (And there was nothing she hated more than when men tried to use their power to threaten her), lecturing her, then running off without paying!!

Understandably, Maria was a little bit upset, so she completely ignored the man with the bleeding arm who made his way towards her. She also ignored the hand with the burnt hand. She marched towards the door and she angrily called out for payment.

And then suddenly the door to her store was on fire.

And then it was out, but still. THE DOOR TO HER FUCKING STORE WAS BURNT NOW!?

She looked a bit more like an anthropomorphic wild boar, hurdling after the group in a ball of rage, screaming at the top of her lungs, "GET BACK HERE AND PAY ME FOR EVERYTHING YOU--" the rest of her tirade is not fit for the printed word.

They had stopped, the man ran skeleton through till it lay extinguished and motionless, and if Maria was in a somewhat thoughtful mood, she would have stopped and been rather perturbed. But not this time. She threw herself at the tall scarred man from behind, attempting to strangle him, but instead hanging rather limply as her thin arms wrapped weakly around his broad shoulders. She continued yelling curses and profane epithets.

@Elitestpotato @notdeadyet @ArenaSnow @GreenHood @Inertia (Sorry Cassius :() @Finnish

~Jason~

Around the corner, he saw his mother running, screaming, yelling down the street in a furious fit. He shrugged. This happened every now and then, or at least somewhat often. He turned back to the cloaked lady, still holding the ball of lint.

@IcePezz

Aezophyl walked into the bar, barely noticing everyone’s rather panicked looks out the window at the skeleton. Sitting down at a table, he had a perfect view of what was going outside.

That does look like fun. The skeleton was stumbling around, people were panicking, and a little while later someone gave it a good stab in the head. That’s one.

The waitress came over, looking like the only calm person in the place. Aezophyl pointed at the fireplace behind him. “That’s a very nice fireplace you have there.”

“Well, thank ye, but do ye know what all… that was out there?” She pointed out the window.

Aezophyl chuckled. “Just a warmup… just a warmup. This whole place is made of wood?”

“Mostly?...”

“Ah, good.”

With that in mind, the fireplace began to grow a little bigger… but didn’t stop growing. Instead, it burst out of the fireplace, sending flames in almost every direction. As everyone started panicking, Aezophyl walked over to the bar and picked up a drink. “Sorry friends, just how it has to be. Well, not sorry, but you know…” He took a drink as small, flaming demon creatures resembling mini skeletons started crawling out of the fireplace, sending flames up in all directions of the bar and attacking people in it at random. Finishing the drink, he did remember one little detail.

“Sorry Zargon. Can’t wait that long.”

He overrode the spell, rising in his true form (which was about a foot taller than the average person), raising an uncloaked demon-forged sword. He turned around and kicked out the flaming door as the bar began to fully rise in flames at a greater rate than fire should possibly go.

---

Zargon was annoyed when he saw Aezophyl in effect lose control and give in to his chaotic side. I don’t want to have to dig your ass out of the abyss… He considered joining in, then realized that the ultimate power he had was secrecy. Demons and angels would know him on the spot - he was a ‘popular’ figure in Hell - but none knew that he was involved. Some may make an assumed connection that couldn’t be backed up.

Sighing, which in his chamber would sound more like a small windstorm, he turned his attention to a spell he was working on. It was a portal to the Forbidden Realms; a big one, covering the entire wall, which was completely inscribed in elaborate runes that he had to blank out a few times due to slight errors. It was a spell where success depended on complete accuracy and perfection; the place the spell would link to entirely depended on it. A small flaw could set him aside… he guessed at least five dimensions. It had to be one way, output, lest he be pulled in and spat out. Although he had great respect for the magic he was created through, he had no wish to join it anytime soon.

It was time for a test run.

Powering the primary rune with a physical manifestation of a hand, he started up the portal. It filled his chamber with noise, noise of all sorts that he had heard and never heard. It spewed out a mixture of lab equipment, rocks, and a single human cannonballing into the other side of the chamber, which Zargon’s essence barely vacated in time.

No, not a human… If anything, it was… demonic. However, he didn’t detect something that was integral to all beings… a soul. I brought in a demon without a soul?

An experimental being?

Tentatively, Zagon combined his essence into a human form; the friendliest that he could come up with, although it would probably still be off putting to humans.

The new… entity got up and looked around. The chamber was a bit of a mess; it was one of the few times Zargon didn’t fill it up with his spiritual mass. The portal had shut down, and half the runes were burnt out. The walls, floor, and the ceiling had a few missing blocks, being a bit unstable after the type of energy that had filled the sub-dimension. The place in the world that it was located, a mountain covered in snow, had a large circular spot of no snow whatsoever; just burnt rock.

The newcomer chuckled. “I suppose the portal did bring me somewhere after all…”

Zargon looked at him. “Indeed. It did. I have many questions for you, and I am sure you have many for me. I have some time…”

Behind his back he sent a mental signal to shut down his scrying orb.

Tagged; @ElitestPotato @The Fated Fallen @notdeadyet @Strafe @ArenaSnow

Holding his arm out while the woman was was supposed to heal him ran out in a flurry of rage and misplaced anger. He stood there, and then just yawned in annoyance and surrender. Whatever, little cut can wait. he thinks to himself with another long sigh.

Rushing outside, he noticed that Edict ran his sword through a burning skeleton? Squinting his eyes to confirm that he wasn't hallucinating or anything. It was still there,the soft crackle of the burning skull were overridden by the shower of curses and profanities by the healer/innkeeper "What was that?" he Edict outloud.

Suddenly the inn burst on fire, and before he knew it, Cassius unconsciously whispered "Stutter Step" and began taking lengthy strides towards the burning inn. Cassius figured that there would be some civilians in the swirl of orange and red. Finally reaching the entrance, his body quivered as something kicked the door open. His instincts and body were all screaming at him to get back- to run.

This figure had a dark sense of foreboding and intimidation that Cassius had never felt on anything, human or not. He whispered, "Final Hour." his last effort technique in a do or die situation, he activated this because he knows that he WILL need it. Charging forward, longsword in hand he swipes horizontally towards the dark being.

The laughter that had been building up had finally seeped out, uncontrollably. It really wasn't 'that' funny, but then again, contrary to what Piper was saying, she was anything but normal. A grin tugged at the corner of her lips as she eyed the brass knuckles, and slipped a hand to rest on the dagger that hung from her belt.

"As I said, it would be unwise to fight. While I am sure you are both capable, I'm quite fast in the heat of the moment, I assure you that those would never be able to touch me" there was a hint of arrogance in her voice. Maybe it was a bluff, or just an attempt to get them to back down.

"Normalcy is for cowards, though I do apologize for startling you." Her features softened somewhat and there was a hint of sincerity in her voice. "As I said, I was curious. At first I couldn't tell if you had intentions of harming the boy or conning him. But it was my curiosity of him that I followed. And as I see it, you're neither his mother nor guardian. So you have as much business with him as I do." She said matter-of-factly, her voice growing colder once more.

She opened her mouth, and was about to continue, when suddenly there were screams from across the street. Her eyes darted past the three and to just beyond them in front of the healers shop. With all the ruckus, she couldn't make much out, but she thought she saw fire. People started to gather quickly and within moments, there were so many that she could barely see what was going on. Someone exited the shop yelling and cursing and carrying on. The boy turned to face it all, seemingly used to the chaos then turned back to present her with the ball of lint once more. What the feck did I step into?! This place is worse than home was

She turned her attention back to Piper, an eyebrow twitched with worry. "I don't suppose that is normal?" she gestured to the scene behind them then pulled her hood back over her head "So you can trust that I mean you no harm and we can find ourselves into a better situation, perhaps a safer environment, or at the very least, see what all the bloody commotion is about. Either way, it is obvious that right now is neither the time nor place to conduct business, whether by bloodshed or any other means.". She spoke quickly and her words struck fiercely, clearly her mood for games and niceties had dissipated. Her gaze flicked back to the crowd then up to sky as she noticed the thick black clouds that drenched the air above them. She tugged her hood from her face just enough to peek out and get a whiff of the smoke. Fire!

She made sure to make no move, towards them or to the scene itself. She presented herself to them, at least as much as she thought was necessary. It was their turn now. Either way, she was ready ... for whatever this would bring. I am Isabeau Falkenrath, and I am not afraid. She glanced at the boy with a smile and nodded, mentally accepting his gift, but still made no move towards them. Fixing her crystal eyes on Piper, her face was cold and hard, void of any expression, just as she was trained.

@Plecy @Ryciera @Strafe

Their boat had eventually docked, the boarding planks connected the ship to the dock for passengers to safety get off & rigging had been set-up for hoisting cargo onto the pier from the ship, which both Tobias & Katia where helping the crew load the cargo into the rigging nets. Katia passed Tobias for the twentieth time sneered at him as she spoke "I cant believe you stopped me from going to visit the town & getting off this boat!, you know how long I've been wanting off this ship Tobias!" Katia stops just as she loudly drops several crates onto the netting before walking past Tobias to get more. Tobias just sighed walking past carrying several large crates that would normally take two men to lift one of, "Look we got a place on-board for free, and they got us here the least we could do is spend a little more time helping out, we'll be living on land from here out anyway so you'll get off the boat soon enough so stop moaning...".

Tobias delicately placed the crates down on the rigging net and when he stood back upright he heard shouting coming from the direction of the town, His attention abruptly interrupted by another load thud as Katia unceremoniously dropped another crate down onto the others but she noticed the shouting from the town as-well as she enthusiastically spoke up "Sounds like a lively place at least...".

As they stood looking towards the town other members of the ships crew joined them as the shouting & yelling got louder as all began wondering what was going on. Then a building in the distance burst into flames Katia after tilting her head & placing her hands on her hips as she jested "A very lively place if that's anything to go by huh?!" She turned to face Tobias with a comical grin which faded as she saw his serious expression. it wasn't long before people came running along the docks yelling "monsters!, at the tavern!, run!" for all to hear. Several families that had gotten off worryingly scurried back on-board the ship as the captain hearing the cries walked over to Tobias horror-stricken as he spoke "How we sailed so far from the north to get away from even the early signs of the horrors they should be months behind us if not a couple of years how..." he trailed off as Tobias spoke up "Evidently the demons don't use conventional travel like the rest of us do" in an almost sarcastic tone of voice. Tobias turned tapping Katia on her shoulder "come on, grab some gear and we will go take a look", and with that the both of them went below deck to the crew quarters to get some of their gear & weapons so they could investigate what was going on in this foreign town.

"Are you alright? What were you referring to when you ran out here? I'm pretty sure whoever you sensed did this."

Xusin never had to answer. It wasnt long before a bar had caught fire and a demon ha stepped out, explaining everything whenhis flesh burnt off and his presence was revealed. Within moments, the man with the injurred arm had attacked full front. Fear still poked at Xusin, more powerfull than ever. She turned to edict in a blind flash and poured words from her mouth at him.

"That is Aezophyl. He is a terrible and powerfull individual who reigns chaos in his path. Likely he is here to flatten the entire town. We will need everybodies help simply to stay alive."

Xusin turned to face maria. "Ma'am I owe you for your kindness. We are very bad customers. I have no money to repay you, I am sorry. I can only ever try my best to help you adequately until you deem my debt cleared."

She wanted to say more, or to at least smile some, but fear was pressing her and thw bar fire got worse by the second. She was just so startled and confused. She wasnt ready for this all. Silently she prayed this was all a vivid nightmare beought on by head trauma when she fell off the boat. But she knew it wasnt, for the fear was all too real.

---

@ArenaSnow@Inertia@The Fated Fallen@Elitestpotato

Emergency whistles blew, guards marched in from every direction. Orders were shouted "Get back in your houses, everyone get back to safety!" Panic ensued, people swarmed the streets as black smoke choked the skies.

They had their orders! Keep the peace and somehow find a way to get rid of the threat. "Gods help us" Davik muttered as his guards fell into line.

"It took out the Ugly Mug, Captain - but it looks like there's a group of civilians trying to fight it" someone reported. "Take a group and secure the docks, we don't want enemy reinforcements of any kind. Rockfort, I want you and your men to help the wounded and get everyone out of that area and to safety. Everyone else, you're with me. We're going to lend these guys some help and drive whatever this is straight back to hell!" Davik shouted. "Yes Sir!" everyone chimed in.

They were only a handful, maybe 8 or 10 men that had accompanied Davik Mitchell, the Captain of the Guard. But he hoped it would be enough. He had lost a few of his soldiers over the last month with these random attacks, so their numbers were already ragged. "No more! No more innocent deaths because of you!" he growled under his breath as he and his men entered the scene.

Flames hungrily licked the building and everything in it. Devouring those who couldn’t get out in time, along with the charming tables and chairs, bar stools, anything that stood in its way. Chandeliers came crashing down, only adding to the fuel. The place was a mess and people were charging out from every opening they could.

Charlie, the bar owner scrambled through the mess, attempting to gather his personals, but stopping at almost everything he came across, nearly ready to take it all if he could. He wept as he glanced around the chaos that was once his home. It wasn’t the coziest of pubs, or even the friendliest. But it was his that he had built up from nothing but a whole in the wall. He put his sweat and tears into this place, every floorboard, the fine carvings in the wall boards, the stained glass that settled so nicely behind the bar. The time and money spent in gathering the finest quality ales and spirits … gone, all gone. “Damn feckin arse of a demon whore!” he shouted as he sifted through the ash and broken glass. He grumbled a slew of many other nasty words as he fumbled around, his language growing with his mood, which only grew darker as the condition of the tavern worsened.

It was becoming hard to breath, hard to see, even hard to hear over the roaring fire - but he heard them, the ones outside getting ready to charge the overbearing demon that had set the tavern aflame.

Davik paused for a moment as he saw a large scarred man attacking the demon's right side, trying to figure the best course of actions. Just then, flaming skeletons began pouring out from the tavern and attacking anyone near. Unleashing the broad sword from its scabbard, he shouted a gallant war cry and charged at the skeletons, motioning for his men to follow suit.

Aezophyl almost laughed when a man with a noticable injury charged at him with a long, cumbersome sword head-on. He smacked to deflect it whith both hands on his own sword, hopefully deflecting him into the wall, and had to move his head to the side to narrowly avoid a thrown dagger that had come spiralling towards him. Having dealt with the longsword man, he stared at the one who he suspected had thrown the dagger.

You.

With that in mind, the skeletons that had appeared coming out of the inn, still blazing, half came after him even as the other half dispersed around the street, engaging guards and attempting to take out civilians. Also appearing were small flaming creatures, jumping out the windows. While not too dangerous themselves, they would spread fire as they sprinted at an almost impossible speed and be hard to kill by non-magical means.

They would unfortunately not arrive to the man yet; he was charging towards him at a quick rate and had slashed at Aezophyl's knee. It left a slight gash in the armor which, while it would normally have bounced off, left a noticable gash which bled a combination of a red mist and slightly pouring lava coming out. Enchanted...

He swung upwards as the attacker flipped back. The slight retreat he took as an opportunity to back into the inn.

Let him follow into my domain...
(@notdeadyet, @Inertia, @Elitestpotato, @The Fated Fallen)

---

"A strange world you hail from indeed, but not too different from our own. And what came of this demon queen?"

The newcomer leaned back in a recliner that had appeared at the beginning of the talks. "I saw her spawn fall; I knew that the queen would have come close behind in death. She was not nearly powerful enough and went against my advice."

"Well, now, you are here. And do you assume me to be a worthy leader?"

The guest made a motion of scratching at his non-existant beard. "By your accounts, and assets, and goals... you do seem to be of a more reasonable sort. I assume you will want me to help with your... situation?"

"Ah, yes. But first... I do not even know your name."

"Oh yes, forgive me. I was known as Artholath.

"Well Artholath, welcome to the group. There is a matter which I would like you to assist with, and that would be helping to deal with another matter. This matter is the leadership of the town that Aezophyl has prematurely caused chaos in."

"I want you to take advantage of the guard advancing on him and kill the leader of the town. It is not important the means with which you do it, just make it certain that it was a demon who had done it. Show off, look like a high level lord to anyone who witnesses..."

Artholath thought about it, but only for a few seconds. "When can I begin?"

"Now would be the opportunity to strike, as chaos has struck and feeding the flame may cause what I fear will be a suicide to become a worthy sacrifice. Do be careful; there is at least one demon on their side who will no doubt be able to detect you, even though your concealing powers are much more developed than Aezophyl's."

The Lord Marshal was in a meeting when he heard the whistles and alarms go off. He didn't need a report to tell him what was going on, he already knew it was an attack.

He flashed a fierce look at one of his guards. "Gather all the men you can, we're going to the docks"

He had no intel, no shred of information on what was going on. "Why hasn't anyone reported from the docks yet?" His only thought, his fear rather, was that there was no one else alive down there.

They rushed through the town side, one solid formation of about 30 men, including the Lord Marshall himself, prepared in his finest armor. When they finally got there, it wasn't what he feared, but it was close enough. The streets soaked red, embers flying every where, people screaming, and bodies, oh the countless bodies that laid in the wake of destruction.

He noticed the civilian group, then noticed his captain. "Secure the town!" he shouted to his guards before running to the captain's side.

When will this end? When will we find peace? Attaining that which they all longed for, that is what kept him alive all these years in the front lines. And that is what drove him as he sliced the flaming skeletons to bits.

Artholath walked along the back roads, hoping that nobody would notice him, as that could complicate things. Although he could be seen by people who were behind the main chaos, the only thing giving him away was a suspicious air and a face that looked determined to do… something.

That something, of course, was killing the Lord Marshal. He suspected the ‘Lord” would be directly behind the fighting, in which case Artholath could quickly send a bolt of ice into his back and be done with it. With these thoughts in mind, he walked along, until reaching a guard who stopped him when he was almost out of site of most people.

“You look fit, sir, we need all the help- glagh!” The guard clutched his throught when Artholath sent a spike of ice into it, leaving the guard to fall on his knees and bleed through his fingers. Artholath kicked him out of the way and continued walking. “You need help, alright… more than you know.”

((If anyone wants to see it, feel free; if not, he will continue on course next IC post))

---

Zargon watched for a minute as Artholath walked along backroads to find the Lord Marshall. The newcomer had plenty of information to get the job done, and undoubtedly had more control than Aezophyl, at any rate. Aezophyl was a good friend but had no business in assassination.

Leaving them to their own devices, he summoned a portal into Hell and walked in to a large room with blood red stone and pits at various points along the walkway, seeing a lone demon preparing for a summoning spell.

“Grhesus, what’s the standing of our assets?”

Grhesus turned around in surprise at his newly arrived boss.

“Ah… well… we have some blood knights, a succubus has joined, and a few extra souls have come in as well. Still have Craxis and the Hidden that he commands, Rolgnark, and that mage that you wanted in.”

“Is that all? I would like nothing less than to send that mage to the depths right over here,” He gestured to a nearby hole. “But we do need grunts to keep him happy for now, as his resources are useful in finding what we seek.”

Grhesus frowned. “Hell has always been chaotic in leadership, as you well know, but there’s a new group rising up. Two very powerful demons have made an alliance and are using multi-dimensional powers to expand their energies. You know, the two opposite guys?...”

“Yes, I know them, and as of now they cannot topple me. Nor can they find me. Just do what you are doing and ensure that all goes smoothly. We are at a point where the town may become permanently incapable of disturbing our efforts. All we need now is to hoodwink the angels again, not difficult, and take down dragons and search the caves.”

Grhesus nodded and returned to his summoning spell as Zargon went back into his chamber through the portal.

---

Kaephael walked through the back end of town, on the opposite side of the city, when he heard the noise and fire in the distance. He could distinctly, even though he had drunk literal gallons of ale just a few minutes ago, detect the scent of a demon. He didn’t care, though; they were becoming more common and he couldn’t be arsed to do anything about it. He was retired.

A guard almost ran by when he stopped near Kaephael, noticing his sword tucked under the large gray coat. “We need every man that can walk on the other side of the city!” he yelled. Kaephael found the voice annoyingly loud.

“I’m sure you’ll hav enough fun withaut me…” Even with his true nature bing what it was, the extreme amounts of consumed ale affected his speech slightly.

“You don’t get it! The town is-”

Kaephael shoved his arm in the man’s chest, sending him into a wall and cracking the bricks behind him. As the guard wheezed for breath, Kaephael growled, “No, what you don’t understand is that I have no good reason to protect worms like you. If you can’t deal with the distant bastard child of a rogue archangel, then burn like you deserve, you faithless wretch.”

He walked on, leaving the guard to slowly get up and walk in the direction of his captain, towards the ports.

Several civilians fled along one of the side streets trying to outrun a group of skeletons chasing after them, they only slowed slightly as they brought down some poor innocent not fast enough or caught off guard while coming to investigate the noise. In the panic, screams, & chaos the fleeing innocents had no idea where they where heading barely noticing the young woman that flew past them with astounding agility the fear stricken civilians only became aware when they heard the encouraged laughter & yelling now behind them along with the sounds of fighting. Stunned as they where not realizing they had stopped moving to watch what was going on, as they witnessed the young girl fly into the group of skeletons flailing, slashing, & twirling a spear around her in constant flowing movements while sending bits of bone & skeletal limbs flying in all directions.

"WoooooHooo! YEA! COME AN GET IT!" Katia ran into her opponents screaming like a madwoman at the top of her voice as she carved into them wildly swinging her spear in broad strokes slicing through two to four skeletons with each swing and promptly closing the distance every-time a gap between her & the monsters occurred in an attempt to limit their reactions. The stunned locals watched with mixed fear & awe as a heavily armored man walked past them while fiddling with one of his armor straps he grinned "Don't mind her she's been stuck on a boat for a while..." Tobias finished with the strap on his armor as he continued to speak to the onlookers. "Head down to the pier there will be some armed guards that served as security for the cargo ships and the local guards will surely be there shortly as well" Tobias nodded to the terrified rabble of locals as he walked off towards Katia who was still running wild up the small street one of the civilians shouted a thanks towards Tobias before they started moving again following his advice.

One of the skeletons which was now legless was dragging itself along the ground in an attempt to go after the young girl who'd hacked its legs off oblivious to the heavily armored boot from behind that abruptly shattered its skull into the ground as Tobias continued on. Tobias Eventually caught up to Katia just at the end of the street where it joined into the main street near the majority of the fighting and the burning pub. Katia quickly dispatched two more skeletons one with a broad upper-right swing sending it's skull flying into a nearby wall as its body dropped and the second that came charging towards her which she literally sliced it in half after a powerful downward swing from over head her spear ringing loudly as it smacked into the ground as the skeleton burst into pieces on the spot, not wasting a second she twirled the spear in the air before bringing it to rest at her side with the blade now pointing towards the ground and the hilt behind her left shoulder.

Katia stood there watching the fighting as more warriors came running into assist and noticing a walking suit of armor walking into the burning building after forcing someone to dodge its attack, "Wow, its a total battle here..." Tobias overhearing as he appeared at her side "Battle?, this is little more than a small skirmish compared to whats back up north" He wasn't too pleased after traveling so far to avoid it, the chaos was already spreading here as-well although still seemed to be in it's early stages if his past experience & memories where anything to go by... Tobias pausing for a moment considering their options, when Katia interrupted him "Oh come-on!, ya don't have to dampen the mood grandpa!" roguishly sneering as she finished, her expression was promptly removed from her face after a light bump on the back of her head as Tobias in a dark tone after hitting her for the comment "It'll be the last battle you see if i hear you call me grandpa again lass" his intimidating threat was betrayed by the warm smile on his face as he returned his attention to the ensuing chaos.

Katia with a huge grin spoke up as she watched the fighting "Man these things are weak..." Tobias cut her off before she could finish her train of thought "Least they're not wielding weapons & gear, but just watch it as weak as they may be in numbers they're dangerous" Tobias glanced at Katia and her spear remembering she charged alone through the side street they arrived from. "Well for NORMAL people like me at least" He jested as he took off drawing his blade to assist the town guards, he hadn't cut down several skeletons before a handful of the local guards rallied at the side of this intimidating armored giant of a man as he slowly worked his way into the center of the fighting assisting or helping save any of the fighters who where struggling.

Katia Stood there grinning and nodding for a moment as Tobias headed off drawing his sword from its scabbard before his words eventually hit her, her mood instantly switching into anger and annoyance as she took off after Tobias slicing through any straggling skeletons in her path "Hey!, just what do you mean by NORMAL people?!!!" Getting slightly drawn off course by surviving skeletons that survived the steady advance before Katia promptly dispatched them while still trying to get over to Tobias as she did so "Tobias get back here!, you saying I'm weird?... I know u can hear me!, Hey!..." Eventually she gave up letting the issue drop for now, returning her attention to the fight as another group of guards who recently arrived in support engaged the skeletons, "guess I'll go help them.." Katia took off towards the second group but instead of moving towards the guards and help she charged into another group of skeletons which were moving in behind the ones the guards were already fighting, Katia carved into several of them with a single swing of her spear and drawing the skeletons attention away from the other fighters & guards, her cheerful & overly excited mood returning as she fought on dodging, weaving, & attacking mercilessly against the undead monsters.

The initial shock left Joseph as the woman explained herself. A sentence in and Joseph had already made a gut call. He didn't like how she spoke so casually of fighting them. As she took interest in the child, he gladly shifted back, batting at Piper to hopefully move her just the same. More talk of fighting from the woman, and again, he soured. His expression darkened considerably. "You're terrifyin', really." His tone dripped sarcasm. "Quit runnin' your mouth! We're not thugs, enough goading." He brushed her comments off, folding his arms. Frustration grew briefly, he was as hotheaded as ever. He never liked fighting, not like this.

"Have the kid." He concluded. "He's--" And then, screams and cries from the street out beyond the alley. The man bristled and turned about, his feet shifting to sit a little further apart. He was used to the town's frequent commotions by now, but something about this struck him differently. The strange woman asked if it was normal, and he wasn't sure how to answer. ...Could he smell burning? His nose twitched, before he came to his senses and pivoted around yet again. He still wasn't comfortable with the skulk getting near Piper. She was every bit as hardy as him, but such a long-time friendship had left him protective, and he shifted to stand just a little more boldly as the woman tried to address her. He still didn't trust her, but she seemed to have the right idea. He wanted to see what the fuss was about.

"No. Bloodshed." He addressed that first. Hells, this woman was violent. He glanced upwards idly, then down, then back up again. He saw the bellows of black smoke shrouding out the sky. A large fire, to be certain. Now his interest was piqued. With a palpable pause, and a glance down to the mysterious woman, he eventually shot her a curt nod, reluctantly agreeing. "Enough talkin'. If--If I hear one more threat, we're done. We got no time for thugs." He warned. "But... We need to see this. We gotta' go." And just like that, with a glance back to Piper and a jerk of his head, he uneasily lead the move forward. He brushed past Isabeau, but thought to give her a flatly muttered "C'mon." That was tricky for him, she hadn't made the best first impression... But more people never hurt, right? As Joseph and any and all who followed neared the light at the alley's end, the screaming grew louder, smoke grew thicker, and the telltale sound of steel biting against steel filled the air. Fighting. The man's jaw tensed as they stepped into the light.

@Ryciera@Strafe@IcePezz

~Maria~

She calmed down a bit when the woman thanked her, then calmed down a lot when the man threw a bag of coins at her, but as soon as she took a look around, she was filled with horror. Unspeakable chaos had set the tavern ablaze, ignited fighting in the street, and struck fear into the town square. Her heart pounded, and her breath grew short.

Where was Jason?

With the bag of coins, Maria ignored the man’s commands and rushed about the panicked square, looking for her son. She searched high and low, in between the crowds, the alleys, the windows. She could not bear the thought that Jason was in the tavern.

Then finally, she found him in the alley way behind the store. Wordlessly, and without even acknowledging the people he was with, she grabbed his hand, and ran back into the shop. Jason followed reluctantly, peering back at the man as he was dragged along by the arm.

Jason was found, but not safe. She needed to help the people outside. Maria hastily shoved the bag of coins behind the counter, and retrieved her spell book. She doubted that there would be any survivors from the inn, but she needed to do what she could, not just for Jason and herself, but for the town of Waeldeshore, which she had grown to love.

Maria held Jason by the shoulders and peered into his eyes. “Stay here, and don’t move. I’ll be back soon. I promise.” She kissed his forehead, then darted outside.

Quickly, she hid behind one of the abandoned merchant stands, hoping that no one would see her. Opening her grimoire, she muttered an incantation over the figures she recognized in the carnage. She was too far away to heal the man with the wounded arm or the man with the split open hand, but the least she could do was send a spell that helped cleared the combatants’ minds and heightened their senses.

She would be dead if she was discovered by the guards or the skeletons.

@Elitestpotato @notdeadyet @ArenaSnow @Inertia

~Jason~

Jason was definitely not staying inside when there was a chance to witness Joffridus saving the day. Sneakily, he climbed up on one of the high shelves behind the counter, rummaged around, and pulled out a beautifully crafted dagger. Apparently, it was his grandfather’s handiwork.

He rushed outside to rejoin Joffridus and the ladies, ready to fight with them. He had spent many long hours swinging sticks in the air and pretending to defeat imaginary goblins, so he was definitely ready for perilously dangerous mortal combat. The dagger felt kind of heavy, though.

@IcePezz @Ryciera @Plecy