"Dread knight, guard him. Keep him alive." Sanguine ordered her minion. The undead didn't reply, but he did grab the soldier and pushed him against the wall of a nearby building. Oliver did his paladin thing, though she thought it a little premature. There were no threats at the moment, and for all they knew it could still take hours before the other enemies arrived. She didn't say anything though, as it was still possible that they could arrive within a few minutes. "I'll turn the others into undead after we've talked to the villagers. I'd rather not frighten them with a large group of undead standing in their village right now." The woman mused, adjusting her umbrella a little before turning towards the town square.

Villagers were starting to come out of hiding now, noticing that the fighting had stopped. The one closest to the two of them noticed something Sanguine had hoped wouldn't be noticed though. "Red eyes...those ears. You...you're..." A frightened look appeared in his eyes as he turned around, wanting to run once again. "V-vampire!" The vampiress was quick to react, however. She raised her hand, the blue glow of her ice magic appearing and just like with the children, ice shards appearing and lodging themselves in the ground. "There's no need to run." The woman spoke calmly, deciding to walk closer. "I don't know your experience with vampires, but I can assure you I have no intend to harm the villagers." The man didn't seem to believe her. As he tried to break through the ice, and when that didn't work, he cowered on the ground. Sanguine sighed, shaking her head a little and turning to Oliver. "This is annoying...I think you should try to convince them to talk to us. You know, since you're human and a paladin..." She wanted to do the talking, asking questions, but they first had to gain enough trust. Which was difficult when people only tried to run away from you. In the mean time Sanguine decided to look through her bag of holding to see if she had any gear on her that could cover her face a little.

Oliver chuckled when Sanguine was immediately outed as vampire. Eventually she figured out that he needed to be the one doing the talking. A proud warrior carrying a giant sword was the obvious choice for an ambassador. "Why don't you go over there and play with dead things or something for a bit? I'll work my charms on the town." he suggested. The Paladin wasn't going to order his Guild Master around, but if she wanted results, she was going to have to not be around for a bit.

Once the ice cage disappeared, the Cleric moved to block the villager's way. "Sanguine's a bit of an... Acquired taste, you could say. But I'm a Cleric of Pelor. And a Paladin. So..." he gave the man a moment to let that sink in and draw a conclusion.

"Who's Pelor?" was the first question out of his mouth, and this gave Oliver a pause.

"Pelor's the Sun God where I come from. He embodies light, and life, and good things. He blesses His followers with fire to light their way, warm their homes, and protect them. I assure you, we're here to help." he hoped that would be convincing enough, but was prepared to pull out more stops if necessary.

"Why's... Why's she here, then?" the vampire was obviously the main point of concern, now.

"She's my boss. She's undead, and she eats people, but she means well. And she only eats bad people, if that makes you feel any better." he was basically lying at this point. The Paladin couldn't say for sure who she ate, or if she even meant well. He assumed she did, since they were rescuing this village, but it was basically their guild versus the world at this point, which made it harder to define good and bad with regard to their actions on the world around them.

"I'll... I'll go see who else is around. We aren't talking to the vampire, though." the man offered, and Oliver moved to let him go. "I'll wait here. Let me know when you've gotten everyone together." he figured that would have to do. Now he just hoped that Jan had the sense to bring multiple squadrons of hussars with him when he showed up. It couldn't be too long now, even if they needed to get everyone ready first...

Sanguine muttered something unintelligible under her breath as she let Oliver do the talking. She couldn't find any gear that covered her eyes or ears. But luckily she remembered something else that worked even better. She had taken the alter self spell in her early levels for roleplay purposes. Which now came in handy for the same reason it came in handy during roleplay. "I should have thought of that sooner..." She whispered to herself before waving her hands in front of her face. A dull white light moved from her hands to her eyes and ears, making her eyes a hazel brown and her ears look like a normal human's. One person already knew of her identity, so no doubt the whole village would soon enough. But at least she might appear less threatening now. And anyone else in the world would see her like a normal human. Just as long as she remembered to re-cast the spell every 6 hours at least...

It wasn't long until the villager returned, together with two other people. A slightly more wealthy looking man and woman. The man of the two walked up to Oliver and bowed before speaking. "Paladin, you have our village's gratitude! I'm the Sherriff and this is my wife. I assume you're a mercenary and wish to discuss payment, though...we're...weary of your servant..." The man gave a quick nod towards Sanguine. She, however, had been listening in on the conversation from a small distance. And she wasn't at all happy with how she was being treated. Not only because it was rude, but because it would make her look weak. And the one thing she wanted to avoid the most in this world was looking weak.

"I will not tolerate this insolence!" The woman exclaimed, walking closer. The couple in turn, immediately cowered behind Oliver a little. "I'm the leader, not him." Sanguine continued, not caring about how scared they were of her. She didn't want to consider herself above Oliver, but for outward appearances it felt needed all the same. "We just saved your village, and this is how you treat us? In particular, me? Oliver was speaking the truth when he said we mean no harm, but that might very well change if I keep on being treated like a mere monster!" The man was properly sweating, and his wife was visibly shaking at this point. "P-P-Please f-forg-give me l-lady vamp-pire!" The man stammered, looking like he was about to drop down on his knees and beg for mercy. "I-I will d-do as you a-ask!" "Good." Sanguine replied, giving a slight satisfied smile. "Then take us inside somewhere so we can discuss our reward. Rest assured, I won't ask for any lives or blood. What we require is information."

Oliver didn't get a chance to even accept the sheriff's gratitude before Sanguine was jumping down the throats of the newcomers. Apparently she would not tolerate even slight misunderstandings when it came to things like her rank. The Paladin shifted his weight slightly, to shield the townsfolk from any immediate manifestations of her wrath, but did nothing to actually stop the vampire. If she moved to harm them, he would shut her down, but that was it. He didn't approve of her terror tactics, but didn't say anything. They did require a united front in order to deal with these people.

So when the sheriff led the way toward the nearest intact building for a powwow the Cleric stopped his companion from following by stepping right into your path. "We'll be right with you." he declared, barring the vampire's way until the humans disappeared. Then the warrior, having checked to insure no one was watching, grabbing the Guild Master in another disabling kiss. When he relinquished her lips, he left his arms around her, holding the woman close. "Babe, you're at about a thirteen, right now. We're here to help these people, not make them shit themselves to death. Let's dial it back to about an eight, okay? They don't understand that you're the new boss yet, but they will. Don't freak out if they get it wrong, just poke me, and I'll correct them, okay? The 'good cop, pants-shittingly terrifying cop' routine will only work for so long. If we can be civil and talk through this, they will understand that we are better than whatever asshat tried to have this place trashed." he gave the vampire a moment to process everything, to make sure she wasn't going to lost her mind on him or something, and then leaned in to offer her another, gentler kiss before they headed inside.

Sanguine was surprised when Oliver stopped her. And it seemed quite a pleasant surprise at first when he kissed her just as passionately as he had done every time before. She breathed in deeply as their lips locked, briefly forgetting that they were still standing almost in the middle of a village. Luckily he kept a good hold of her, as he always managed to do it in such a way that her legs weakened. However what came next was a less pleasant surprise. She frowned after he was done, pushing him away rather than accepting his second kiss. Something was wrong with his way of thinking, in her opinion. "I thought you knew me better than that. I just put my roleplay experience into practice, you know. It was an act. A proper powerful person would be insulted by being called a servant, wouldn't they?" Oliver's way of thinking worried her. Like this was a world where modern day civility applied. Instead it seemed to be quite the opposite.

"You seem to have a rather rose-coloured view of this world. But if it's anything like our medieval times, and so far that seems to be the case, then striking some fear into the local is exactly what needs to be done. I don't plan to unnecessarily harm anyone, but if we want to make it in this world we need to appear as powerful as possible while keeping as many tricks up our sleeve as possible." She sighed, shaking her head a little. "This isn't really the time or place to have this discussion. Let's wait until we're on our way back to the tomb." Oliver's words had confused her, to say the least. A little bit angry as well. Though at the same time it made her think about various things as well. As she said though, those were matters for when they weren't in range of so many potential onlookers or eavesdroppers.

Sanguine moved to the side and started walking again. It would look weird if they kept the Sherriff waiting, and she really didn't want to continue the conversation at the moment either. So she thought it best to continue with what they had come for in the first place for now.

Oliver was a little disappointed by Sanguine's reaction to his attempt at reasonableness. He was offended when she wouldn't kiss him after, though. She pushed him away, and went off about how people needed fear struck into them in order to maintain the status quo. He didn't see why they needed a status quo, especially the one already established, but he supposed if that was what she wanted, he couldn't very well go around undermining her in front of others. For the moment, he would put up with it, he supposed. "I still support you." he said it just loud enough for her to hear as she walked away, but now the Paladin lagged behind, his disappointment clearly slowing him down. By the time his boss reached the door to the house the sheriff had disappeared into, he was several paces behind her.

Inside was the sheriff and the woman who'd accompanied him, they were sitting at a table with the finest bottle of wine they could find on such short notice, though they weren't sure if vampires drank wine. They were pretty sure that wasn't the case, but hoped maybe the offer would at least be acknowledged as a point in their favour. After the woman's rage had been unleashed verbally the people were certainly cowed, and clearly hoping this would be over soon. Oliver darkened the door way long enough after the Guild Master that if she'd wanted to get started without him, she could have, and she certainly had enough time to slaughter the both of them if she'd so desired. Unsure what to do with himself while the negotiations went on, he took a seat and produced a rag and his knife, to begin the process of thoroughly cleaning it and inspected it for damage...

Sanguine paused for a brief moment at his words. She didn't think he would abandon her either way, but it was still a relief to hear it from himself. The woman quickly resumed her pace though, as people were still waiting for them. Plus she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

As soon as the vampiress stepped inside the building she let out a soft sighed of relief. The sun didn't bother her too much with the umbrella, but now that she was inside again she could definitely feel the difference. Almost like moving from a searing hot summer day into an airconditioned building. Inside the Sherriff was waiting with two glasses and a bottle of wine. She didn't want to drink wine though. Not before knowing if she could actually drink it. It would look rather bad if she took a sip now and ended up throwing up or something. "The wine is appreciated, Sherriff, but you should save it for another time." The woman spoke, moving to sit down across from the couple. "I'd like to finish our business here as soon as possible, so we can let everyone recover from their losses." Quite a few lives had been lost during the attack, not to mention the damage to the buildings. So she was sure they wanted to deal with that as soon as possible.

"Er...o-okay." The man spoke, leaving the wine on the table to put away afterwards. "S-so...you mentioned...i-information? W-what kind?" Sanguine wanted to answer the question right away, but immediately realized her questions would be weird. Who wouldn't know about such basic things as the kingdoms and ongoing wars and such, right? "To put it simply, we're unfamiliar with the world as it is. I've been...asleep for a long time. And my friend has secluded himself for religious purposes for many years. So we're a bit out of touch. I want to know about the current countries, any wars that are going on, the currency being used these days, and if anything changed in the hierarchy."

Both of them seemed to be a bit relieved. Maybe they had thought that she'd ask about far more sensitive information. Sanguine wasn't sure, but didn't feel the need to ask either. The Sherriff started explaining to the best of his knowledge. The land was divided into three kingdoms. The Re-estize kingdom, a kingdom ruled by an elf where all peaceful races were welcome. It was bordered by mountains to the north and the sea to the south. To the north-west was the kingdom of Baharuth, a kingdom ruled by humans, with other races being considered second-class. And finally the Slane Theocracy to the north-east. A kingdom ruled by the church, and where anything but human was considered bad. Re-estize and Baharuth were on neutral terms, though the non-aggression treaty between them was shaky at best. Re-estize and the Slane theocracy were at war, though through some reason unknown by the sherriff a war was only fought once a year. Both countries would offer an equal piece of their land, and the winner would get the other's part. Sanguine figured that was at least better than random battles going on wherever.

Next up was the Re-estize hierarchy. As already known, the kingdom had an elven king, guarded by 10 royal warriors. Below him was the council made up of some nobles and powerful mages. Below that came the nobility and the kingdom's greatest warriors. The warriors were actually part of a country-wide adventurer's guild. An organization working surprisingly similar to what you'd expect from a fantasy story. People could sign up to become adventurers, learn skills for a price, and get assignments to complete for money. It was basically a place to get quests. Anyone able to use magic was automatically almost regarded as a minor noble, as magic took a lot of study and skill to use.

Sanguine showed some of her gold, but the sherriff didn't recognize it. It couldn't be used as currency, but the gold itself had worth. So they could simply smelt the coins into gold bars and sell that for this world's currency. Finally the woman asked about the capital of the kingdom. The man couldn't tell how many people lived there exactly, though he estimated a few thousand. It was called E-rantel, and was about 4 hours of travelling by carriage to the west of the village.

It took quite a while for everything to be explained, and luckily the village stayed peaceful during that time. Though just as Sanguine wanted to ask a little more about the other two countries, they were interrupted by a commotion outside. In particular, what sounded like a few dozen horses. "It's one of the royal warriors! Sir Bartholmew Burghersh has come!" Sanguine wasted no time to start on damage control. "Sherriff, do not mention what I am. In fact, it must remain a secret from as many people as possible. Considering how people react to vampires here, it would only cause problems. And I think we'd all prefer things to remain peaceful." She tried to keep Oliver's words in mind. To not make the sherriff or the village too terrified of her. But her eyes had a glare in them that suggested she would 'not be happy' if her identity got out. The man quickly nodded, having an idea about what that glare might mean. "Of course, lady--er..." "Sanguine." She quickly answered, realizing she hadn't given her name yet. "Lady Sanguine, I won't tell anyone." The woman then stood, turning towards Oliver. "How about we go greet this royal warrior? I wonder what kind of man he is."

Oliver sat quietly, and listened as he worked. His knife was in surprisingly good shape considering that he'd just killed a good deal of armoured soldiers with it, and he didn't feel the need to actually sharpen it. Once it was clean and he was satisfied, the blade disappeared again. Of course, the conversation they were having was incredibly boring. Something about countries and maps. There was a reason he wasn't very good at geography. It was boring. It sounded to him, though, like this elf kingdom would be a good place to start for allies. Maybe they could show the knife-ears how to wage proper war, and overthrow the theocratic crazies before they went full jihad on anyone. With two kingdoms under their belt, surely the last would give in at that point.

The Paladin was lost in his idealistic thoughts when they were interrupted by the arrival of horses. He was disappointed to hear it wasn't Jan, but supposed that making new friends was always a good thing. Then again, if Sanguine did things her way, they would be intimidating this "royal warrior" into doing whatever they wanted, too. Of course, that only led to even more surprise on the Paladin's part when his Guild Master was remarkably civil with the sheriff and his companion. He suppressed a smile at the idea that she'd listened to him.

"Lead the way." Oliver agreed when his boss got up and suggested they go greet the newcomer. His spirits had been suitably raised by the lack of terrorizing, and the Cleric was prepared for everthing. Or at least he thought he was. He had to admit, it was hard to prepare for anything given their circumstances, but he supposed it was nothing a fireball or some kind words couldn't fix. And if it was, he supposed he could also try turning undead, or laying on hands. Beyond those solutions, he started to wonder what exactly was going on. Once he realized his thoughts were getting ahead of himself, the warrior took a deep breath and pushed such hectic ideas aside. Now he needed to focus. He could wonder idly and wildly later...

Once outside, the two of them were very quickly met with about a dozen drawn swords, with weary faces pointed their way. "Ser, unfamiliar people coming from the sherriff's office!" Though before either of them had to do anything the sherriff quickly rushed out. "Wait! It's okay! They're the ones that saved us." Immediately the swords were lowered again. Sanguine was relieved as she felt she had dealt with enough of this problem for one day. One man was still on his horse, though now stepped off, waving for the soldiers to make way so he could approach the two. The man looked quite burly and strong, on top of wearing heavy chain mail and plate on his arms and legs. Not to mention his apparent weird fighting style, as both a sword and an axe were strapped to his horse's saddle.

"Who are you two?" He spoke, a slightly stern look in his eyes. Sanguine was actually a bit intimidated by him. But she hid it on the outside as best as she could. "You must be one of the royal head warriors I've heard about. A pleasure to meet you, sir Bartholmew Burghersh. I am lady Sanguine Ithil. This is my...companion, Oliver de Katze. I'm a mage and he's a paladin. We're travelling adventurers of sort." The man's eyes softened when he heard that they were adventurers. Which meant Sanguine had been right to guess that adventurers held a bit of a reputation. It seemed to clear them of any remaining suspicion at least.

The large man bowed. "Thank you, adventurers." One of the soldiers, probably Bartholmew's right hand, spoke up. "Sir, you shouldn't bow to people like-" The man quickly interrupted him. "Silence! These two just saved this village for us. It shames me to say that we would have been too late ourselves. We owe them, if anything." Sanguine sighed, shaking her head slightly. "While such considerate actions are welcomed, sir, there are more pressing matters. We captured one of the soldiers. And he told of a second attack." The man's eyes hardened again as he quickly turned to his soldiers. "Men! Check the surrounding land for any movement! We have more enemies incoming!" He turned to the two of them again, the look in his eyes already betraying what he was thinking. "Lady Sanguine, sir Oliver. I want to ask for your assistance if need be. We will engage any enemy coming this way, however that means we can't protect the villagers themselves. I'll pay you handsomely for your assistance. Sanguine looked to Oliver, though she already had a pretty good idea about what he would say. "I'd like a moment to discuss some things with my companion. But we will help, right Oliver?"

(( Bartholmew: pre10.deviantart.net/0bea/th/pre/i/201.. ))

Oliver, even knowing that the people confronting them were friendly, didn't hesitate to let his right hand rest on the hilt of his kukri, his hand hidden from view behind his back. The sheriff resolved the issues swiftly, and the Paladin let his arm fall to his side. He didn't move as the still-mounted warrior got off his horse to talk with them like a normal human being. He did note that the man left his weapons on his horse, and wondered how good a horseman he really was, and why he wasn't leading a squadron of cavalry instead of all these footsoldiers. They weren't in a position to start asking questions like that, though.

Instead, they got what sounded like the start of the third degree, until Sanguine saved them from such a fate by using the little knowledge they had to manipulate the situation into her favour. She was surprisingly good at that, and the Paladin suppressed a smile as the warrior confronting them went from stern to bowing. He did chuckle at the scene when one of Burghersh's men commented on his behavior, though.

All humour went out the window when the Guild Master shared their knowledge of an impending assault, and suddenly they were planning a defence. Bartholmew barked orders and asked them for assistance in the same breath, and the Cleric supposed it couldn't hurt to lend more of a hand. "Of course we'll help." he agreed, before offering a shrug to the warrior, and stepping aside with his companion to see what needed to be discussed.

"What even needs discussing?" he asked, "We're pretty well unbeatable, especially if you rez all those scrubs and make our enemies fight their own dead. The village and its people will be totally safe. We got this." Oliver was feeling more confident by the minute about defending the good people of this hamlet, and he wasn't sure what Sanguine could have to say about such things...

Once they were out of range Oliver immediately asked about what they had to discuss, and added some reassurance. She wasn't at all concerned though. Considering how easy it had been to dispatch of the first wave of enemies, a second one couldn't be that much harder. "I know what you want to do. You want to be there on the front lines killing as much of those enemies as possible. But I think this is a good opportunity to gather more information. I want to let the royal warrior and his soldiers fight first while we 'protect' the villagers. See their tactics, how they fight, what skills they have. Especially that royal warrior himself. As it will give a good indication of what we can expect in the future. If things go bad, we can step in at any time. But I don't want to let such an early opportunity go to waste."

It was then that more shouting was heard. "Sir, incoming! Though...it's just a carriage!" That immediately got Sanguine's attention. As they were still expecting someone themselves. "Wait, that might be ours!" She called, turning to see if she recognized the vehicle. She didn't, but the flag on the side was definitely tier guild's. "It's my maid of honour, of sort." Sanguine spoke, being glad that she had remembered a few things about medieval titles. The soldiers saw that as enough reason to let the carriage enter. It wasn't like the enemy would send a force small enough to fit into one anyway. The vampiress turned to Oliver again. "So you okay with holding back for a bit?"

Oliver nodded when Sanguine very accurately predicted his plan. "I see what you're saying." he started, then he thought better of whatever else he was going to say. He opened and closed his mouth, and then found different words. "At least support them with as many zombies as you can." he insisted. Maybe if they managed this defence with no more casualties, they could get some extra brownie points. He didn't have a chance to mention any of that, though. Instead he was interrupted by the arrival of a carriage. Hopefully it had Daniëlle in it, and not a bunch of elite glory-hounds looking to ambush the village's defenders.

"You're the boss." he agreed. The Paladin didn't like not helping when he was perfectly capable of it. He wanted to protect these people, to show them that he could be trusted, relied on, even. But he couldn't very well go against his Guild Master if he wanted to get back into her bed again. And she had said they could jump in if necessary. He supposed he just might have to skew his perception of necessary. Depending on the force they were going up against, he might even justify jumping in immediately. It wasn't like they were going to turn on their allies or anything.

Sanguine smiled, glad that they didn't have to get into another argument. The main difference between her and him seemed to be that he saw these people as potential allies. She saw them as potential enemies. And though she didn't fully realize it yet, in the back of her mind she considered the possibility of taking over. Of possibly becoming the sole ruler of all three kingdoms, if they were powerful enough. What better way to ensure a good life than being all the way at the top, right? That had been true for all of history, so it would likely work the same in this world. It meant keeping as good an image as possible, but it also meant that they would have to take over by force.

"I don't think it's wise to send a bunch of undead with them. You saw how the villager and cherriff reacted to me. I doubt they'll see undead as anything but a bad thing, even coming from allies. I didn't have my minion bring over the soldier for the same reason. But most likely Daniëlle is here too now, so if anything goes wrong..." She sighed, shaking her head. "I shouldn't worry about that." She smiled before walking towards the carriage that had just entered the village at quite a quick pace. If it was Daniëlle, she would have to hide her being a vampire too. Luckily she arrived before any of the soldiers came to check what was going on.

She opened the carriage wanting to warn the other vampire, but saw that it was mostly unneeded for now. The woman was wearing her full gear. Full plate armour combined with a long spear. So her face was fully covered. "Daniëlle, we're hiding that we're vampires for now." The woman spoke softly. "Don't take off your helmet, and don't be hostile towards the villagers. I have plans for this place at a later time." Sanguine didn't really have plans yet. But she figured it would silence any questions for the time being.

The holy warrior decided to come and see what was going on as well. He arrived just as Daniëlle stepped out of the wagon. "Lady Sanguine, whom is female knight?" "You dare speak--" Daniëlle wanted to start, though Sanguine quickly smacked her against the back of her helmet. "Forgive my servant, she knows little of your status. This is Daniëlle, the maid of honour I spoke of. Though as I said that isn't entirely correct. She is my servant, but also fights by my side at times. In this case, she will help protect the villagers. She's not as strong as me or Oliver, but still a highly skilled warrior." The man smiled, nodding slightly. "Very well, I welcome any assistance I can get at the moment."

Oliver nodded when Sanguine pointed out that the undead didn't make the best support for skittish fighters. She was right, so he didn't push the issue. He did have a mind to march over there and explain the situation and let the zombies stand in front and soak up the initial punishment. He didn't go through with it, though, as that would mean first arguing with the Guild Master. As much as he liked a good argument, pissing off the vampire right before a battle probably wasn't the best idea.

The Paladin said nothing as Sanguine did a remarkable job managing the situation to her favour. It was almost like she did this for a living. That was quickly forgotten, however, when another cry went up. This one bore word of the enemy arriving. Numbers were vague, but the warrior caught the words "three score" and wished they had cavalry. A single banner would do much to shatter the resolve of foot-borne soldiers. Bartholmew looked like he was having similar thoughts as he rushed off to lead his own troop. This inspired sudden defiance in the Cleric, and couldn't hold his tongue any longer. "There are only a dozen men there, Sanguine. They've got six times that number against them. They need my help." he growled. He'd wasted too much time already. Oliver didn't even want to wait for his boss' reply, but he did, out of grudging respect for her mastery of the situation so far. "Raise the dead, and I can lead them on a flanking manoeuvre. We'll destroy them completely." his back-up plan was to simply sprint to the aid of the few men determined to actually fight, and start tossing fireballs like they were going out of style. He wasn't going to let a potential ally fall into ruin because of some incomprehensible scheme...

Sanguine wanted to protest, convince him to not go. But the moment she looked into his eyes it it was obvious. That determined look in his eyes told her that he was going to do what he wanted to do no matter what she said. The woman sighed, shaking her head a little. She wanted to know how these people fought, but if this was going to happen she'd rather not fight Oliver over it. "You're hopeless at times you know that? Fine, fine. We'll go out there. But we're doing it my way." She quickly started running towards Bartholmew. Her umbrella was starting to get annoying at this point, though luckily this new body of hers was nimble and swift enough to not be bothered too much by it. Once she arrived she immediately started speaking. Time was of the essence as the enemy force would be there within a minute at this point.

"Sir Bartholmew, I have a suggestion. Instead of you attacking and us staying behind, let us fight them." The man looked confused, not knowing whether she wanted to be heroic, was just stupid, or really was as strong as she was suggesting. "Just the two of you? With all of us we're already outnumbered about five to one. How--" Sanguine quickly cut him off, not wanting to spend time arguing. "Sir! Firstly there's three of us. Secondly, there were about 20 soldiers here before. Oliver took care of almost all of them, by himself, with ease. I'm as strong as he he. We can do this. However we can't be everywhere at once and will have a harder time protecting so many villagers. It may be difficult, but we can fight them." The man really didn't know what to think. If the three of them were that strong, it was odd that he didn't know their names before today. As anyone of that power would be quite famous. "...All right...but I'm staying close-by to help if needed." The man quickly turned towards his soldiers, giving out new orders.

In the mean time Sanguine walked towards Oliver again, meeting in the middle. "We're going out there with just us three. If I can't see the people of this land fight, I want to at least properly test how much of our power from the g-- from Yggdrasil remains." She quickly corrected herself, having almost forgotten that Daiëlle saw the game as real as well. "Daniëlle, that means you're only coming as backup. You're to only engage if we are in danger." "But mistress, these soldiers are mere insects compared to supreme beings such as you..." "That's an order! This experiment might determine a large part of our plans for the future, so I need to know how we measure up to the people of this land. Even if they're mere insects, me and Oliver must test it for ourselves." Daniëlle reluctantly bowed. She felt this enemy wasn't worthy of her masters, but an order was an order.

"Well then, how about we go out and greet them then?" Sanguine finally spoke, smiling a little nervously at Oliver. She was excited to see what they could do, but at the same time it was a little intimidating. Around 60 enemies against just the three of them. In the normal world she would have been afraid and hidden herself.

Oliver was glad when Sanguine didn't fight him on his desire to fight. He knew it wasn't supposed to be the plan, but he couldn't let an unknown quantity fight six times their number in good conscience. He knew he could beat this group. It was going to hurt, but he could beat them, he was sure. Even if he had to fight them all the vampire's way, that was better than nothing. He jogged along behind the Guild Master as she led them to the leader of their allies, to explain the new plan.

The Paladin nodded when his companion said that they were going to test the limits of their strength. She argued briefly with Daniëlle about the plan, and then suggested they go and meet their enemy. "Once more, unto the breach, dear friend. Once more." he agreed, licking his lips in anticipation as he drew his knife from its sheath on the small of his back. He was excited, that much was obviously, and the Cleric strode forward with purpose, half expecting a volley of arrows to start things off. Instead he was met with a closing of ranks as he neared charging distance. Shields clattered together, spears poking from the wall like spines on a porcupine. He caught glimpses of greatswords in amongst them as well, and he was certain that the front rank would be armed with vicious stabbing implements. They were remarkably disciplined, but not at all prepared for what came next.

"You want them?" he asked, spreading his arms to either side as Sanguine and Daniëlle passed him. "Come and claim them." he invited sarcastically, sweeping his arms upward and summoning up pillars of fire to bar the way forward for the assailants. If they didn't rush forward soon, they were going to find Oliver far too prepared for their liking. Hell, even if they did charge, the warrior wasn't exactly off balance at the moment. And with a powerful vampire necromancer on his side, he didn't think they stood a chance to begin with. That being said, it was always better to accept a surrender than to have to murder all of them. He was sure everyone could be shown a better way to deal with the new sheriffs that had just appeared in town...

The three of them appearing before the enemy ranks drew their attention quite quickly. Though they weren't attacking right away, which surprised Sanguine a little. Though this might become a great opportunity. They had walked far enough away from the village now that the people there wouldn't hear them. And Bartholmew was still ordering his men around too. So they could have a little bit of private time with these enemy troops. Oliver was immediately raring to go though, already starting with his flames. The vampiress put a hand on his shoulder, smiling a little as a short extra plan was forming in her head. This could be a great opportunity for some rumours to start spreading around. "Not so fast, Oliver. I get that you're all excited and ready to go, but let's have a little fun first. I think this situation can benefit from a little theatrical performance first."

Sanguine's free hand lifted up, engulfing the three of them in a dark blue light. A telltale sign of her giving some buffs. In particular; ice shield, protection from arrows, and spell resistance. Plus, just to be sure, an ani-scrying spell on herself, which covered an area of about 300 feet. She wanted to send a message to the country of these enemies, yet still give as little information as possible. As she casted, the soldiers opposing them got visibly nervous. Not only did a man in armour cast what was to them high level magic, but the woman beside him started preparing spells as well. What she did next caught them all a little off guard though.

The woman stepped forwards, towards the large group until she was in hearing range without having to shout. "Who's your leader?" She asked calmly. "If you're here to beg for your lives, it won't happen." The most expensively clad man in the back spoke, the soldiers making way for him to have a clear line of sight. "Oh, on the contrary." Sanguine replied, smiling evilly. "I'm here to give you an opportunity to beg for your life." The man laughed, a confident and smug smile on his lips. "Just the three of you? I have 60 men with me." Sanguine chuckled a little herself. "Indeed. Hardly a fair fight. You'd need several times as many if you want to take us on. This is your only chance, sir. Surrender, and we'll let you live." The man obviously thought she was bluffing, as she quickly turned to one of the archers standing beside him. "Shoot her." Two arrows flew Sanguine's way, though neither even connected. They simply bounced off the air around her, thanks to her arrow protection buff. She sighed, shaking her head a little. "Don't say I didn't warn you." She then turned around again, heading back to the other two.

"Oliver, I'd say you take on the soldiers and archers. You're better equipped against physical attacks. And since I have far higher magic resistance, I'll deal with the mages and that cleric looking guy." A "kill them!" was ordered behind her, the leader speaking once again. At which point Sanguine turned around, swiping her arm through the air as two tennis ball-sized balls of ice appeared in front of her in the air. Until now she had used only her level 2 spell. Simple ice shards of varying sizes. Now, she was going to use a level 4 spell with an area of effect. Two balls flew towards the two lines of mages in the back, and one flew right at the leader. The two exploded, immediately perforating 3 mages in total with tiny shards of ice. The leader apparently had some kind of nullifying buff though, as the ball aimed towards him disappeared right before it reached him. Still, Sanguine was glad her threats could be backed up by her magic. These mages couldn't be that strong if three of them already died this quickly.

Oliver didn't like being shut down so quickly, but he didn't argue when Sanguine said she had more in store for their enemies before they got vanquished. He let her do her thing, and the Guild Master quickly made an impression on their opponents. She used some of her buffing spells on them, and then taunted their enemies until things started to get out of control. They shot arrows at the vampire, and that very quickly ended any chance of negotiation. These were not exactly scared fighters who wanted to go home. They were determined. They would need to be shown the error of their ways.

After the woman let the Paladin do as he wished with his two score of the force attacking them, he grinned. An entire volley of arrows bounced harmlessly off the warrior as the order to execute the trio was given. Every single projectile would have struck its mark, if not for Sanguine. And now it was his turn. The Cleric decided to try and be a little more subtle this time, though. Instead of just fireballing his way through everyone, he focused the flames inward instead. Anything that touched him would burn ferociously. Then he rushed headlong for the enemy lines. The phalanx had no idea what was about to hit it when Oliver lunged directly at the wall of shields. He kicked the heavy slab of wood and steel directly in front of him so hard that its bearer was thrown backward, knocking down the man behind him as well. Spears were thrust in his direction, but he brushed them aside, weaving through the pointed sticks, and burning many of them to ash in the process. And as he slipped in amongst the enemy, he began to work. His knife was tireless, its edge forever keen, and blood flowed freely where flames did not consume his enemies.

Even wearing such light armour, his foes failed to do any damage. He'd trained so hard to weave through such formations, they stood no chance. Too close for longer weapons, and too fast for shorter ones, Oliver quickly shattered the formation into much smaller groups who stood even less chance against him. He was dyed red by the time he found a moment to catch his breath. Having moved so swiftly, he had torn huge chunks out of the force that had once stood against him, and while it had taken its toll, he was still ready to go a few more rounds, should he have to. That went out the window when most of his remaining opponents turned to flee, though. Instead, he put that energy into toasting them all into unrecognisable crispy critters. That left only one poor bastard, wallowing in the mud formed of blood, dirt, and ashes. He was obviously trying hard not to break down into tears of terror.

"Tell your masters... Sanguine Ithil, sends her regards..." he ordered, delivering a swift, pointed kick to the man's ribs. "Start running." he suggested, adding another kick to the man's ribs. "Run, Forrest! Run!" he shouted when the man finally managed to start sprinting away. He had no weapons, and no hope of escape if Sanguine or Daniëlle didn't want him to. But the Paladin was thinking it would be best that whoever was in charge had some idea what they were up against. Of course, no one would believe the mad, starving survivor. They would assume numbers had gotten jumbled, and they would likely send a larger force to die on their steel. And that would just be the beginning. Oliver was confident that after the third or fourth routing, they could properly conquer this uncooperative state, and from there, hopefully convince everyone else to come quietly...

The bishop watched on in shock as his soldiers were slaughtered by a single man before his eyes. The mages beside him couldn't believe it either. Their determination started to waver quite quickly now. Though the bishop snapped them back to the mission at hand. "What are you doing?! Summon the angels! Now!" That confused Sanguine, as she had thought they were all mages, not clerics. Though technically mages could summon celestials as well. However, those thoughts went out the window when the angels were summoned. These weren't just any summons...these were summons from Yggdrasil. The angels came from a 3rd level spell. Large winged creatures with longswords, and not looking entirely human. "Hold on, those are summons from Yggdrasil! Where did you get those." Sanguine called to their leader. "Yggdrasil? I don't know what that is, but this will be your end!" He motioned for the mages to direct their angels to attack. Though this time it was the vampiress to take action. It would be easy enough to deal with such low level summons.

She held her free hands out, waving it from one side to the other. As she did, a large wall of ice appeared between Oliver and the angels, making them unable to attack directly. She then took that opportunity to close in on the enemy, dashing with a seemingly unnatural swiftness that only Oliver and Daniëlle could compete with. Within two seconds she stood only 10 feet away from the enemy mages, with the angels at her back as they were still trying to attack Oliver. This time, though it would hurt for a little bit because of the sun, she raised both her hands in the air. It was time to use one of her favourite spells. A 4th degree wide area AoE spell that did comparatively weak damage, but also gave a blinding debuff. In this case, the blind wouldn't even be needed considering how fast the first three mages had died. "Elements of the land, heed my command!" She spoke, not because it was needed but to make things a bit more dramatic. Within a second, suddenly an ice storm engulfed the area. She had made sure Oliver and Daniëlle had high enough spell resistance with her buffs, but the angels weren't as lucky. Almost immediately they all started to freeze, until one by one they fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Some mages were caught in the spell as well, receiving the same fate as the angels. That only left about 8 mages and the bishop to deal with.

"Impossible!" The leader exclaimed, taking a step back at the terrifying sight before him. "All those angels, in a single spell!" Sanguine chuckled evilly, looking straight at the man. "I warned you, didn't I. Surrender and you might live. Now, however..." "N-no! We're not finished yet! Consider yourself honoured, strangers. The plan was to use this for the holy warrior, but I guess I have no choice! Mages, keep her busy!" The man took out a large crystal, holding it up in the air. Sanguine immediately recognized it as a spell container. Basically a scroll, but without the need to be able to read scrolls. This made vampiress a little weary. Obviously this thing was their trump card. But what could be inside? The remaining mages started casting all kinds of spells. Thorns, flames, electricity, all manner of spells started flying her way. Though they were all of 2nd degree or lower, so luckily they didn't even warrant her to pay attention to them for now.

That's when the crystal glowed brightly. And two seconds later, the bright light moved up into the air. "Dominion Authority, come forth!" The man exclaimed. At which point the light took the shape of a 10f foot tall, powerful looking angel floating in the air. This one wielded a huge mace in one hand, and a book in the other. "Behold and despair! The most powerful angel at our command, one so powerful that no mortal could hope to defeat it!" However Sanguine wasn't scared at all. She recognized the angel as a 6th level summon. If it was lucky, it could maybe scratch her a little bit. "This is stupid..." She muttered, shaking her head. "What?! How can you say that?!" The bishop exclaimed. "Here I was starting to get worried. Yet even your most powerful trump card is mere child's play." "Impossible! Only the gods themselves could fight something like this!" The bishop retorted, motioning for the angel to attack. The angel came at her with the large mace, swinging it with all his might. Yet she only stood there, and held out one of her hands to block it. Right now she was quite happy with the strength bonus the vampire race gave her. As, though it was difficult, she just managed to stop the weapon with her single hand while making it look like it took no effort. "Is it my turn then?" Sanguine asked, grinning amusedly.

Oliver took a moment to breathe, having put in a good deal of work slaughtering so many people. He figured he deserved a couple of deep breaths. Unfortunately, by the time he realized he might be needed in the fray, his companion was dealing with everything. The Paladin couldn't even help after she placed a wall of ice between him and everything else. He was nice and safe, of course, but that didn't mean much, considering the power level these scrubs seemed to be playing at.

He supposed that it was only fair that his companion get to show off her skills, but wondered if it wouldn't be better for him to have helped. The more she held in reserve, the more surprised their enemies would be later. Of course, this way, they found out exactly what they were dealing with. Maybe that would induce a more amiable surrender. The last thing the warrior wanted was an extended, bloody campaign. The faster they won, the less death was necessary.

Of course, when a giant glowing angel-thing with an equally giant mace appeared, Oliver decided it was probably a good time to actually lend a hand. Holy fire engulfed the ice-wall, dissolving it in a wave of irresistible warmth. The magic ice disappeared in the face of the flames, and the warrior wondered if he should step in, as he moved to stand with his Guild Master. She seemed to have things under control, though. They didn't even have anything powerful enough to warrant him pulling out the sword he carried almost entirely as a formality. Prepared to help out, but not convinced the vampire needed it, he silently mocked the few surviving mages with his presence, wishing they'd give him a reason to spring into action...