"Well, if you're going as well. Would you like to join me? Just to sleep though! Don't get the wrong idea..." Sanguine spoke as they walked out. Once again she couldn't help but turn a little red. Both from just asking, and from thinking he might get 'other' idea's. After all, a girl inviting a guy to her bed could have far more intimate implications. That would be moving a bit too fast for her though. They hadn't even gotten used to this new life they were apparently now supposed to live, let alone to their new bodies and each other. The woman quickly headed the other hallway that housed all the bedrooms, opening the door and leaving it open for Oliver.

"I'm glad I insisted on a normal bed rather than a coffin design when these rooms were designed. I don't think I would be able to sleep comfortably in a bed shaped like a coffin." Sanguine mused as she walked towards her walk-in closet. Getting in the same bed as Oliver while almost completely naked felt way too embarrassing. So she decided to find a shirt to wear in her rather extensive selection of clothes. It had been a way for her to spend her ingame money. As she didn't need it for anything else any more during the last half year of the game. "I'll be right back...just finding something to wear in bed." She spoke, closing the doors behind her for a bit of privacy.

Inside, the woman quickly found out that she had plenty of nightwear to choose from. The only problem was that none of them were simple 'shirts'. She browsed through them for a minute, feeling like all of them were too revealing. Then finally Sanguine just picked a random one, deciding that it was too late to back out now. Luckiy the dress was a lot easier to take off on her own than putting it on. So finally she returned to the bedroom, now wearing a silken, deep blue nightgown.

(( Bedroom without the windows: purebrilliance.co/images/victorian-bed.. ))
(( Nightgown: i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/2019087622.. ))

Oliver raised an eyebrow as Sanguine invited him to her room. Apparently he could have gotten away with such a thing, though he decided it was probably better than she had invited him. "I wouldn't mind..." he agreed, a grin slowly splitting his face as he accompanied the vampire to her room. He'd been in it before, but not like this. Once inside, he quickly closed and locked the door behind them. He didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea, but he also didn't want anyone barging in on them. On top of that, he'd been seen making out with the Guild Master in front of just about everyone. He was pretty sure they were going to think what they wanted, regardless of his actions, at this point.

"Yeah, I don't think I would, either." the Paladin agreed with a chuckle. They would have to share his room if she'd done that, there was no way he was sleeping in a coffin. Then his companion ran off to get changed for bed, and he realized he didn't have any pyjamas of his own. "So, like, can I just wear underwear to bed, or should I go get changed?" he asked, shrugging out of his shirt as he wondered. He wasn't sure if Sanguine had heard him though, as he got no response until she returned in a very fetching nightgown.

Waiting patiently, the warrior was flexing as he wandered around the room when his hostess returned. He stopped dead when he saw her, and had to fight the urge to lick his lips. Remembering what she said, he wondered if that was meant for the benefit of anyone that might have been listening, considering how dressed up she'd just gotten for going to sleep. "So, am I supposed to get all fancied up for bed, too? I don't have any really nice p-js..." he offered, slowly meandering toward the vampire, "Do you mind if I just sleep in my underwear?" he figured it was worth a shot to ask. Regardless of her response, if she let him get close enough the warrior planned on ambushing the Guild Master with another of his kisses that seemed to weaken her knees so well...

"N-not funny!" Sanguine replied, crossing her arms in front of her to cover her chest. "I didn't want to wear something this...fancy. But I didn't have much else to choose from." It was her own fault, of course. She had been the one to buy all those clothes during the game. Though she couldn't have known she's actually be wearing them later. She was secretly pleased that he didn't have any pyjamas to wear, as the sight of Oliver's bare chest was quite pleasing. "Just sleep however you want. I mean-- Mmmh~" The woman was suddenly cut off, her sentence turning into a soft moan as Oliver had reached her, and decided to shut her up by kissing her once again.

Still a bit dazed, Sanguine smiled shyly at him for a moment once he pulled back. "Let's...get to bed." She finally spoke, letting one of her hands linger on his chest just a little bit as she walked towards the bed. She got in on the left side, waiting for Oliver to join. Whom unsurprisingly got into the bed about just as quickly as she did.

The vampiress quickly snuck closer, putting one of her arms around him once he was settled. Her whole body felt like it was heating up, though in a good way. Was this how the women in those romantic novels supposedly felt? Either way, Sanguine quite liked it. "You smell nice..." Escaped her lips before she realized it. It was weird to her to even be saying something like that. The warmth of the bed and Oliver's body made her feel drowsy now though, so she would no doubt be falling asleep quite quickly.

Oliver wasn't sure how that wasn't funny. Then again, he hadn't meant it entirely as a joke. Apparently Sanguine had been hoping for something more casual, but hadn't bought anything like that in game before they were sucked in, so now she was stuck being the fancy, well-dressed leader of the Guild. That meant he got to be her decidedly less fancy second in command, and he was very okay with that. The Paladin was liking the way his companion reacted to his question, though, suggesting that he could sleep however he wanted. She was just in time for him to kiss her, too, and that made it even better.

Grinning and licking his lips as he let her go, the warrior nodded at his partner's suggestion that they go to bed. Of course, she had to linger longer than was necessary first, though he didn't argue. How could he shut down a woman in the middle of pawing at him? Once she let him go, he stripped down to nothing but his incredibly comfortable silk boxers, before hopping into the giant, incredibly soft bed beside his Guild Leader. She didn't even pretend to hold back when she snuggled up to him, and he happily looped an arm around her as she got comfortable against him. Then she said something he thought was a little strange. Biting back a joke about his smell, Oliver turned and kissed Sanguine again, still just as merciless as every other time, though he was more gentle this time. As he kissed her, the warrior looped his other arm around the woman, and held her close. Even when he pulled away from the kiss, he didn't let her go. Instead he wiggled a bit and appeared to be getting ready to go to sleep. If Sanguine had anything to say about this, she was going to have to speak up quickly, or be stuck in his tender, unshakeable embrace...

Sanguine smiled again after the kiss. Though it didn't come as a surprise this time. She repositioned a little bit to get comfortable before closing her eyes. As expected it only took her a minute or two to fall asleep. A rather short time for her, but a welcome one as well.

The next morning Sanguine was up relatively early. There was no real way to tell time any more, but the sun had only just risen above the horizon, so it couldn't be later than 7 am at least. She opened her eyes to see Oliver's bare chest right against her cheek. She blushed a little bit, but decided to remain like that for a while longer. Plus, she wasn't sure if he was still asleep or not, and didn't want to wake him if he still was. However after another 10 minutes she really felt like moving. So the vampiress looked up, checking to see if Oliver was awake. Whether he was or not, Sanguine would still try to move his arms to get out of bed.

Oliver wasn't far behind Sanguine in the falling asleep department, and soon passed out happily, with the vampire snug in his grip. But where she beat him in falling asleep, the Paladin claimed victory in the race to wake up in the morning. Of course, he couldn't tell it was morning, since there was a distinct lack of windows in the room, but he felt rested enough to get up, and that was close enough for the warrior. There was enough light coming in under the door for his dark vision to reveal the quietly slumbering form of his companion, still nestled in his arms. He smiled at that, and didn't move, figuring he might as well let her rest.

When she finally did start moving, Oliver grinned, "Good morning." he offered as she looked up at him. Then she tried to get away. "Running away on me so soon?" he teased, tightening his grip only long enough for a good morning kiss. Once he'd gotten his fill of the vampire's luscious lips, he released her, and joined her in getting up. For the sake of convenience, he hopped into the clothes he'd discarded the previous evening, knowing he'd have to change again soon enough.

"Shall we go prepare to liberate that village from their greenskin oppressors?" he asked, excited at the prospect. "Such a crusade shall surely never be forgotten." that was assuming the Guild Master even cared. Sometimes she seemed to come up with strange priorities...

"Good morning to you too." A slight tint on her cheeks both from the kiss and realizing that he had been awake for a bit already. "I don't see what's there to liberate." Sanguine answered to his question. "The village looked peaceful, so the monsters seem to be sticking to hiding places like forests and probably caves as well. Though I do plan to go there at least. There is no faster way to gain information than to get it from the locals after all. I'll meet you in the dining room in a bit. I want to tidy up first." Her hair was a complete mess now, standing in pretty much all directions except straight upwards. Clothing would be easy for now. She would be wearing her necromancer robes except for the cape, as she planned to leave for the village as soon as possible. They didn't know how much time it would take to finish their business there after all.

Sanguine headed for the dining room about five minutes later. As expected, Oliver was already there. For some reason guys were always faster at times like this, even when she tried to be quick. The servants had already started preparing the room again. Though this time it was less fancy of course. No live music this time, for one. Still, it felt a lot more fancy than how she used to eat breakfast. Which usually consisted of a simple sandwich while checking up on her e-mails and such. Though she wondered if there was any kind of breakfast for her prepared as well. She didn't exactly feel hungry yet at least.

Oliver wasn't sure he liked Sanguine's reply. She said she didn't see anything to liberate. Just because there weren't monsters running rampant didn't mean they weren't a problem. He supposed they might as well go ask around first, though. That did make sense. He nodded when she suggested they meet in the dining room, and the warrior departed, still deep in thought about her words. He decided to go straight to the dining room, since it wasn't like there was anything else to do. He couldn't imagine the vampire really taking all that long, it was just breakfast after all. He wasn't even sure than she ate breakfast.

The servants were busy again when he walked in, but this time the Paladin didn't let that stop him. The Guild Master had made a good point, he was practically in charge here. So he plunked himself down in the same chair he'd taken the night before and ignored them while they did their thing. His companion showed up not long after and he noted that she was already in her usual robes, and surprisingly put together considering how long she'd had to actually get herself together. He didn't mention that, though, and instead directed his attention to the breakfast that was approaching.

They only have food for one, and Oliver raised an eyebrow at the woman who set his food down. He didn't get a chance to say anything though, before someone else piped up. "Are you going to require breakfast today mistress?" that lowered the warrior's eyebrow, and he started eating. He still had to go change before they went anywhere, so he supposed he should probably finish up quickly. Unless Sanguine decided she wanted breakfast, in which case he might have the opportunity to take his time. This meal wasn't nearly as fancy as the last one had been, though, so he didn't think it would bother anyone terribly if he rushed it a bit...

"Just a glass of-- A glass of blood will be fine." Sanguine replied, not exactly feeling comfortable about asking for blood to drink. It would probably take quite a while to get used to that. Jeeves bowed and left to get his mistress' drink, leaving the two alone in the room for a bit. She sighed and leaned on the table in the few moments they had without servants in the room. "Putting up an act for all the npc's is tiring." She mused, looking up at Oliver for a moment. "I feel like something will go wrong if I just acted like myself. At least for now." As loyal as all the npc's seemed, it might change at any moment for all they knew, for whatever reason. And who knew what was out there. So many things were still so uncertain. "Well, enough of that. I'm sure we'll get more clarity once we get to that village." The woman straightened up again a few moments before the door opened. It was Jeeves again, this time carrying a glass of blood on a plate.

After breakfast it was time to get ready to depart. So Sanguine started with the obvious. "Jeeves, prepare the carriage, and tell Daniëlle we'll be leaving for the nearby village in half an hour." The butler bowed with a 'Right away my lady' before quickly leaving to make arrangement. The vampiress wanted to take at least one of the npc's with them, in case something happened that they couldn't easily handle on their own. It seemed unlikely, but they didn't have enough information on this world yet to be certain of anything. In the mean time she wanted to check out the village through the scrying mirror one more time to see if anything had changed. "I'll be in the portal room while you get ready as well." She spoke to Oliver. "It's probably a good idea to wear your armour, even if the village seemed peaceful. I'd rather be on the safe side for now."

"You can be yourself around me. I won't tell." Oliver offered when Sanguine admitted that she was already exhausted from putting on an act for their underlings. She got over it pretty quickly though, almost like she was trying out his own technique of not worrying about things. Not long after that, Jeeves returned with the Guild Master's order, and breakfast got started in earnest. It didn't last very long, of course, and almost the instant the Paladin's fork hit the plate for the last time, his companion was barking orders. Then, just as quickly, the vampire declared that she was running off to the portal room while he got ready.

"I'm not going to run around in my pjs." he assured the woman, "But how are we going to take a carriage if we're using the portal?" Oliver wasn't convinced that a carriage could be manoeuvred into the portal room, let alone get through the portal. Then again, he supposed that Sanguine was probably just going to scout their destination and their path one last time before they departed. He decided not to hurt himself by thinking too hard, and headed for his quarters to get properly dressed.

On his way, the Paladin stopped the first servant he came across. "Go find Jan, tell him to prepare the colours and rally around the carriage Jeeves is preparing." he didn't wait for confirmation, and just carried on his journey, before a second thought had him stopping the next servant he ran across. Lucky for him, they seemed to be everywhere. "Find Garreth, tell him that the Guild Master and I are going out, and that he is in charge of the defence while we are gone." again he didn't wait for confirmation, he just slipped into his rooms and began getting ready.

In his typical fashion, the only real armour he wore was a short gambeson and a brigandine. Some questioned his choices, but when they saw how fast he could move in the surprisingly light armour, they stopped pretty quickly. And since he wasn't really focused on using his massive sword, speed was the most important aspect of his fighting style. Once he was ready, he strapped on the giant weapon that channelled his magic, and headed for the portal room, wondering what Sanguine had cooked up...

Sanguine didn't plan on using the portal because that would draw too much attention. Several people suddenly appearing in the middle of a small town, or a wealthy person and her entourage passing through. It was quite easy to see which had less possibility to cause problems later on. She just wanted to use the mirror to spy on the place ahead of time. Being prepared could make the difference between winning or losing, in any dangerous situation. Not that she expected danger, but it was good to be prepared nonetheless.

However her worries proved to be correct the moment the village came into view. It didn't at all look peaceful any more. People in armour, some on horseback, were running through the village while people without armour were running for their lives. The woman's eyes widened, not even hesitating on whether they should do anything or not. Of course they had to do something...if possible at least. They hadn't exactly been able to test their abilities against the locals yet after all. But now was not the time for such thoughts. She quickly stepped out of the room again, wanting to find Oliver as quickly as possible. Luckily the man had been quick to put on his armour, as she met him just as she exited the room.

"Oliver! Good! The village is under attack for some reason. I planned to go by carriage, but I think we should go there immediately to see if we can do anything. I guess we're getting a chance to test our power in this world sooner than I expected." The portal was only usable once a day, but this felt like the right time to use it. It wouldn't sit well with her if they went there normally only to find that everyone was killed, considering they could likely do save the village right now if they used a portal.

Oliver was surprised to find Sanguine rushing out of the portal room at him. He was pretty sure he hadn't taken that long to get ready, so he supposed there must be something serious going on. She claimed the village was under attack, and wanted to use the portal to get there now instead of travelling like normal individuals. Of course, there would be no time to tell anyone about their plans if the place really was being assaulted. Having no idea what the situation was, the warrior had little choice but to follow the vampire's lead.

"Let's go then." he said, moving forward whether the Guild Master turned around or not. They were going to need to leave immediately if they wanted to do anything meaningful. An instinctive double-check to ensure that his weapon of choice was sitting where he needed it later, and the Paladin was ready for anything. He began very quietly humming his favourite litany of faith as he waited for his companion to work the portal. Going in blind was a terrible idea, but he trusted Sanguine's judgement. He just hoped it would be obvious whose side they were on when they appeared...

Sanguine smiled, quickly turning back to the room and heading back inside. "I'll set the teleport to just outside the village. That should at least give us a bit of breathing room to scope out the situation. Let's just hope the npc's realize what happened and send a carriage to the village anyway. Otherwise it might be a long walk back." Once the coordinates were set, the portal sprung open in a flash of light. It was like a window in the wall, the other side near the village being visible through it already. At that moment, though, two people also came into view. Two children, no less. A girl, about 16 years of age, with another girl looking about 10. They were running towards the portal in a panic. And a moment later a man in armour came into view as well, running after them with his sword drawn.

"Oh great..." Sanguine grumbled, having hoped that they could get there unnoticed. "Well, the portal is already open so let's go." Oliver was already at the portal, so she followed him through a moment later. The two girls quickly came to a halt as two expensively clad and quite frankly scary people suddenly stepped out of thin air in front of them. Luckily, the soldier did the same thing as he saw it all happening. "The hell?!" The man shouted, his attention quickly moving from the girls to Sanguine and Oliver. "Who the hell are you people?! You wanna die too?" Clearly this soldier was quite confident in his skills, as unfounded as that might be.

Oliver tilted his head back and rolled it back and forth, cracking his neck before he stepped through the portal that appeared in front of him. There were children running in their general direction, and he got the feeling that the armoured man behind them was the reason for that. Everyone stopped dead when a Paladin appeared. He lacked a surcoat, and bore no indication of his allegiance beyond the icon in the hilt of his greatsword. That didn't seem to phase the soldier behind the girls, though. He immediately started shouting about killing them.

"You couldn't kill me if I let you." the warrior replied with a sneer. That got the reaction that he wanted, and the man who'd been chasing children around picked someone closer to his weight class. Unfortunately for the poor bastard, he was now punching upward at a significant angle. Oliver swayed out of the way of his first cut, letting his massive sword swing him out of the way of the blow, while simultaneously reaching for his knife.

The soldier was quick, he deserved props for that, but he wasn't nearly quick enough to get the drop on his opponent. The Paladin had a firm grip on his kukri by the time his enemy had made the mental adjustments necessary to try and get a hit in on the warrior he faced, and when the sword arced toward him this time, the Cleric didn't move out of the way. His left hand shot out and latched onto the soldier's wrist. Then his right hand appeared out of nowhere, whipping around and bringing his knife down on the man's arm. He didn't swing with full force, though, and very deliberately got the blade lodged halfway through his enemy's arm. While the would-be child-killer screamed and dropped his weapon, Oliver reversed his grip on the knife, and wrenched it free, elbowing the man in the throat at the same time. A rapid follow-up buried the blade in his opponent's throat, and the man collapsed once the Paladin relinquished his grip.

Oliver wanted to know more about what was going on, but was pretty sure it made more sense to go and save the villagers before he started asking questions. He figured they could explain what was going on once they had been saved from their attackers. Unless Sanguine had some very good points in the next second or two he was going to start running toward the sounds of one-sided battle.

Before Sanguine could fully grasp what was going on, the soldier was already charging at Oliver. Worry flashed in her eyes as she looked at his back, wondering how well he'd do against a soldier of this world. Lukcily her worries had been unnecessary, as the paladin got rid of the threat with ease. She wanted to celebrate, realizing that their strength in the game was still just as powerful in this world as well. And that a single soldier proved very easy to deal with. As this meant Oliver at least could take on several of them and still be fine. But acting out of character with onlookers might be a bad idea, so she instead tried to smile a little smugly. As if she was expecting the result.

The woman nonchalantly took out her umbrella, remembering that it was day time and that her new body didn't handle the sun very well. She then stepped closer, whispering in Oliver's ear as she didn't want the two children to hear her. "You probably want to go to the village, right? I want to leave a certain impression on the villagers, so could you act like you're there following my orders? That, and please keep one alive so we can question him later." Sanguine wanted to be careful with how they presented themselves to this world. So at least for now, she wanted to portray the two of them as a powerful mage with a very strong bodyguard. As it would probably get a lot less attention than two very powerful people, one of which a necromancer, with an equally powerful army at their command. "I'll follow you in a minute. I just want to deal with these kids first and possibly try a spell or two on the dead guy." In the game, you could only summon undead from corpses. Though once you had one summoned it didn't disappear until it was killed or you logged out, with a maximum of 10 summons. So it probably worked in a similar way in this world, based on what she knew so far.

"That's the idea." Oliver replied, doing his best not to snap at the Guild Master while she wasted time whispering. He nodded at her request, hoped she didn't eat the children or sic a zombie on them, and sprinted off to end the invasion single-handedly. The first thing he came across in the village was a half-dozen soldiers cornering a group of villagers. The villagers were holding their assailants at bay by doing their best to imitate a hedge made of sharp farming equipment, but they lacked shields, and the soldiers were obviously lacking patience. When he saw one of them start fumbling with a crossbow, the Paladin didn't hesitate.

He didn't even slow down, instead the warrior dropped his shoulder, and bowled over three of the raiders, barely retaining his own feet by lodging his knife in the back of a forth soldier's neck. He wrenched it free unceremoniously, and whirled on the two soldiers he had only surprised. They had their swords out and now their attention was fully on the newcomer. A horrific mistake for them, considering how close they were still standing to the pitchfork-brandishing townsfolk. One of them took a farming implement to the throat, and he collapsed as the terrified villagers descended on the other fallen soldiers. Oliver advanced aggressively and gutted the last standing opponent without mercy.

Then a trio of horse-riding soldiers came rushing around a corner. They looked like they were probably officers. Two of them had lances, and the third had a rather nasty-looking, long-handled axe. He didn't have time to play games, and shifted his stance, extending his free hand toward the newcomers. "Burn!" he roared, and they all errupted into flames. This panicked their horses, and the poor beasts stampeded through another group of soldiers, who had clearly intended to sneak up on and gank the interloper. Oliver felt the need to keep moving, to ensure that no other innocents were getting killed, but he had to put down this group first. Only one of them was still alive, though, so that made his job easier. Three had been trampled by the horses, and a fourth had caught fire when he touched the magical flames. Not in the mood for a fair fight, he cocked his arm back, and whipped his kukri into the man's chest. It tumbled through the air, rotating fully before ripping right through his armour, and his breastbone, leaving a mortal wound that the Paladin only worsened by cruelly freeing his knife with a good deal of twisting and wrenching while bracing his foot against the dying man's chest.

Then he was off. Oliver was not going to stand idly by while there were more enemies to put down. Indeed, if Sanguine spent too long messing about with the dead, he'd have the whole place liberated before she even showed up...

Sanguine sighed, deciding to just let Oliver do his thing. She herself wasn't too bothered about saving as many lives as possible for the sake of saving lives. Her reasons involved wanting a good image among the ordinary people. People having a good image of you always worked out better than them thinking you were bad in some way. The woman turned to the two children, whom at that moment remembered that they could still run. The older one got up, trying to pull the younger one with her. However the vampiress wouldn't allow that. She lifted her hand, a blueish-white glow starting to emanate from it. Instantly several very large icicles appeared just above the ground in front of the two girls, whom then flew towards it and dug deep into the soil to create a makeshift barrier.

"There's no need to run. I merely want to know what's going on in your village." The woman spoke. "I-I don't k-know. S-s-soldiers suddenly j-just...please at least let my sister go!" The older one spoke. They both looked terrified of the woman clad in black. Though considering the circumstances that wasn't too much of a surprise. First soldier attacked, and now a strange woman able to use magic suddenly appeared before them as well. Sanguine kept a slightly uninterested stare in her eyes, though. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just don't waste my time." The woman spoke, holding out both hands this time. After a second or so a magical shield formed around the two girls. "This will protect you. It stops anything but magic coming from the outside. You can step outside of it if you want though. It'll last for 10 minutes. Come back to the village at that time." Both girls looked confused, and a bit scared of the glowing shell that had formed around them. But they seemed to understand enough at least. "W-what are y-you g-going to do...?" The oldest asked. "Save the village of course. My companion has gone ahead to do just that." Sanguine replied.

Now it was time to test her most important magic. Creating undead. "Rise my minion." She spoke, holding out her hand to the corpse that Oliver had left behind. What happened next looked a bit disgusting, as purple and black slime started to cover the soldier's body completely. A few seconds later, and there stood a skeletal dead knight. Not her most powerful undead spell, but plenty for the situation they were in at the moment. "You're free to go if you want, but I would take my advice." The woman finally suggested before turning towards the village. "Dread knight, follow me." She commanded, the undead turning to follow after it's creator.

By the time Sanguine finally arrived at the village, the main square already had several dozen dead soldiers on the ground. No doubt Oliver's work. Even so, there were still another dozen or two running about. Or, most likely, running away at this point. If Oliver had indeed killed that many of them already it stood to reason the alive ones had become scared. Her suspicions were confirmed when two soldiers came running in her direction. "Run! That guy's a monster!" One yelled to any of his allies that might be able to hear. At which Sanguine grinned amusedly. "There's a monster over here as well." She called out to them, stretching her index finger out to one of the two. "Time to die~" A bolt of greenish energy shot out from her fingertip, hitting one of them right in the chest. Immediately the man started to slow down, quickly followed by collapsing on the ground, his skin having turned pale in a matter of seconds as the vampiress had used her life drain spell on him. The other one had turned to the right to try and escape between two houses though. So it was time for her new minion to do some work. "Dead knight, kill that man." It was only after both the soldier and the undead had disappeared from view behind a building that she could hear a loud scream. And a bit later the dread knight returned, his sword now bloody. "This is going quite easy..." She thought, wondering if these soldiers were really a good indication of this world's average dangers. Probably not...

Oliver worked tirelessly to defend the people of the village. After his first foray into the slaughter, the soldiers were mostly kind enough to gather up and try to kill him all at once. It meant almost all of them weren't terrorizing anyone else, so he wasn't going to argue. The only reason he didn't just light them all on fire immediately was because he didn't want the people of the village to have to put up with such an awful smell. He waded through the first dozen before he realized there were cavalry still riding around making asses of themselves. At that point he let out a horrifying roar and the remaining soldiers, who'd gathered up spears and looked like they had wanted to try and rush him all at once and turn the Paladin in to a pincushion, burned up from the inside until flames shot from their eyes, noses, and mouths. As they collapsed, he vaulted over them, grabbing up a pair of loose spears and hurling them simultaneously into the backs of two cavalrymen who had no idea what was going on. That got the attention of their compatriots, and the rest of the squadron wheeled in a surprisingly disciplined fashion.

"I wonder how many people I can set on fire?" he mumbled to himself. He had plenty of hate stored up for the sorts of people that preyed on the weak, so he let some more out at the invaders, and the whole formation suddenly charged directly into a wall of fire. All that came out the other side was ash. And still, there were more soldiers. It was like a whole army had invaded the tiny hamlet. He was about to start considering drawing his sword to kill people faster when he heard screaming about a monster. He spun a couple of times before he realized they were talking about him. He laughed as he spotted Sanguine, and jogged over to the Guild Master. On the way he remembered her request that he keep one of the invaders alive, and was luckily given the opportunity to clothesline a fleeing soldier. By the time the man's back hit the ground, he was on top of him. The Paladin was careful to not do any permanent damage as he smacked the poor bastard into submission. Then he dragged him, by his collar, back to his feet, so they could go talk to Sanguine.

"They're routed. I don't think we need to murder all of them..." he offered. Probably a strange sentiment coming from a man who'd just roasted a large number of people alive. But he'd been doing it for a good cause. The vampire looked like she was doing it on a whim. "Hopefully this one can tell us who to talk to about accepting a surrender." he added, viciously shaking the man when he felt like he might try to escape...

It wasn't long until Sanguine spotted Oliver, whom was dragging one of the soldier along with him. "They're properly scared by now I think. Though I doubt this guy is in a position to offer a surrender..." She replied, wondering what to do with the guy. "Though I'm sure we can still get information out of him. For instance..." She glared angrily at the man, whom was cowering in fear at this point. "Why you attacked this village." "I-I don't know! I was just following orders!" The man exclaimed, proving that he indeed was just some random soldier. They would have to find someone higher-up to get more, most likely. Though they could have their interrogators at the guild get more out of this guy as well. "Where's your leader?" The woman followed up. "Heh, you're all so dead...he'll come soon enough and then you'll all die." Sanguine sighed, shaking her head. "This is pointless right now. We came here to get information from the villagers, so we can deal with him later." She mused, looking at Oliver again. "How about we have my friend here-" Her thumb briefly pointed at the skeletal dread knight walking towards them. "-guard this guy so we can go talk to the villagers?" The remaining soldiers had dispersed, so the fighting was over for now. Though if their prisoner was telling the truth there would likely be more trouble later in the day. So she wanted to get their first plan out of the way as soon as possible, before shit hit the fan.

(Meh, wanted to post more but you know...your character should have a chance to say or do something as well. :P)

Sanguine doubted Oliver's confidence that their opponent would surrender. The Paladin supposed he would just have to prove it to her. For now he let her do the interrogating, as the last thing they needed was a divided front with a hostile audience. Of course, they didn't get much, and quickly enough the soldier fell back on the belief that the pair of interlopers would soon be dead. He couldn't have been further from the truth. At the vampire's suggestion, Oliver shoved the captive toward the approaching undead, following that up with a boot to the man's ass so he was sent sprawling in front of the monstrosity.

"Let's go talk to some villagers." he agreed. "You might want to raise some more of the dead if you can, though. If he's right, and someone more important is going to show up, it wouldn't hurt to have some scrubs around to soak up some attention. Plus there's plenty of dead people with armour and weapons already. No sense letting it all go to waste." Of course he wanted to know what was going on so he could do something about it. But if they were about to encounter a boss-quality enemy he didn't want to be going in unprepared. Whether she did or not, Oliver had a signal of his own to send. He extended his arms upward at forty-five degree angles and let his head tilt back as he stood up on his toes. He held the pose for a brief moment, and then a beam of golden light speared down from the heavens, illuminating the Paladin. He felt the warm glow of Pelor's light wash over him, and after a long pause, he lowered himself slowly from his toes, the light fading by the time he was back on flat feet. His arms dropped to his side, and the warrior took a deep breath. "Shall we?" he figured he would let the woman in charge lead the way...