The Infamous stepped out of the shadow and into the sunlight, enjoying the feeling of it on his skin. It had been a long time since he felt the sun, even a fake one. There was no sun in Malevora, obviously, and every time he stepped through a portal into another world, it was always night time. And before, when he was a conquering warlord, he was too busy relishing the slaughter of his foes to enjoy the suns of other realms. But there was no enemy to slay here, so he simply stood there, a half smile on his face as he half-paid attention to the mage speak.

When Max was finished, The Infamous finally turned to him, a deadpan countenance crossing his face as he was unimpressed. "Ye do not fear me, because ye know that of my 88 powers, all stolen from slaves and denizens of my empire, I retain but less than half a dozen o' them. And most o' them nay very useful in combat. I do fathom ye're way o' thinkin'. I know types like ye love to bargain, love knowledge and power and things as much as the next basterd. So I'll offer ye somethin' an' in return I ask only for the ability to traverse dimensions at will. I offer ye the only thing I can: meself. Yet don't go thinkin' a bloke like me ain't worth somethin' to a Mad God like Lowkey. For not only will he retain me allegiance, but also that o' the fallen angel on me shoulder."

With that, one of the first - and most evil - fallen angel's took form to the right of The Infamous, however, she did not appear corporeal. Samyazaii's image was that of her original body, a teenage girl, though this appearance also included blood covering her from head to toe.

Most had never known that the chief fallen angel of all Chaotic Demons had been the one influencing him all these years, and so The Infamous elaborated on that point, "When I was 16 years old, she began manipulating me thoughts and emotions, though I knew it not. Years later, when she revealed herself to me, she also told me that she could not take corporeal form, as part of some curse. We are inseparable, and in the universe I'm from, she commands all Chaotic Demons. Surely that could be of some use to ye and the Mad Git."

The Infamous crossed his bare arms over his leather-clad chest as he smirked with pride.

The Mad Jester couldn't contain his composure, he started laughing, not the maniacal cackle of earlier but it was loud enough and chilling enough to hear, and enough where he could not keep a strait decorum. Would that his back were not turned to the Infamous, the the look in the mad jesters eyes would reveal the absolute insanity which lies behind his handsome face.

"Oh, ha ha ha, he he he, HAH HAH HAH HAH Haaah! You just don't get it warlord, do you? I cannot have you join my ranks until you see... until you understand. Your base and boorish quest for power is meaningless, there is no substance to it, it is empty. Power for power's sake is wasted effort. Do you not understand what the Mad God's goals are, what my goal is? Don't you understand... the world is a lie, madness masquerading as order wars, famines, plagues, pain suffering, heartbreak, and death and for what purpose does it exist? What is the point of all this pain and suffering? Nothing, the things that people impose upon or world to try to make sense of it are folly. The only thing that makes sense in a pointless world is madness! I don't seek to gain power for the sake of power, I seek to spread the Mad God's message across the whole of creation! I seek to drive everything that breathes absolutely mad. I seek to give the Mad God, the personification of the one god's madness, complete domination over the creators personality. I seek to drive God INSANE!" the Mad Jester ranted and raved.

"Oh but how do I get you to see dear warlord? How do I show you the light? How do show someone who's main obsession in this world is power the true meaning of life? How do I bless you with the gift insanity?" he continued before bowing his hands in prayer, "oh Mad God, are you thinking what I'm thinking, are our thoughts one?"

A voice spoke like the voice of many churning oceans but... distorted, wrong somehow. "Our minds are one my dearest Maximilian," the voice spoke before the Mad Hell went insane and shifted into a scene of utter chaos, utter wrongness, utter insanity which cannot be described except that no man could behold this for long without being driven mad. The voice could be heard beneath the insane bombardment of the senses that the eldritch realm was no doubt inflicting upon the infamous, "I rob you oh power obsessed one of all of your power. May you be naked and castrated without it. May your mind leave you, and may you see the light of true madness."

The Infamous was stripped of all of his powers and cast out of the cave to place far from it (to be specified by Infamous Empath).

Upon correctly interpreting the madman's expressions and body language and laugh, The Infamous' normally jovial and arrogant demeanor soured and slouched. Even as Maximilian spoke the words that would take his few cherished abilities, the mortal could not move to stop him. It wasn't even that he was being restrained by some unseen force; he simply...did not have the will to try. For the first time in years, the Irishman was afraid.

His knees wobbled as he felt the power start to drain from him. It felt as though starvation was slowly creeping into his gut, into his heart. The craving for powers only grew though. When it was too late to do anything about it, The Infamous tried to teleport out, but that power was gone; he then attempted to phase through a tree to get away, but his phasing ability was the last to go. As he ran, half out of phase, his leg got caught in the tree, and agonizing pain racked his body, beginning with his trapped foot.

Samyazaii too was affected, since her fate was linked to his. Though her natural angel's talents were not stripped from her, she could not use them to help the man once known as The Infamous. All she could do was speak to him, which no one else would be able to hear.

The former warlord twisted around awkwardly as his foot was caught in the tree behind him, and glowered at Maximilian; in an otherworldly growl, he snarled, "You will pay for this!" His thick accent was suddenly not so thick anymore. Like most things about The Infamous, his Irishness had been exaggerated slightly.

However, he barely got the words out by the time Max cast him out of the cave and into a swamp not too far from the tavern...naked.

Gators and other carnivorous animals caught wind of their next meal and slowly began meandering his way.

"D'ren! D'ren! If you die, I go back to the Abyss!"

"I know that, Samy!" D'ren shouted obtusely, swinging his hands around at where he thought the hushed voice was coming from. "The bugger took me kit!"

"D'ren, get your fucking shit together and get outta the damn swamp before you get us eaten!"

D'ren struggled to pull himself from the mud. When he finally reached solid land, the gators and other beasts gave up. They weren't that hungry. D'ren rolled over onto his back, covered head to toe in mud. In his mind, he saw Samy there beside him, covered in both mud and blood.

"I'm gonna kill him," D'ren said.

Samy replied, "He'll see you coming a mile away. We need to find help. And powers."

D'ren fought to sit up, swiping huge helpings of mud from his torso. "No. I don't need powers or people to do anything!"

Samyazaii's translucent black wings spasmed behind her as she sat up as well. She rolled her yellow eyes and shook her head. "I'm sure if Maximilian knew you were already insane, he wouldn't have bothered..."

(OOC: This is just a little character development of the mad Jester showing that he is in fact insane and isn't just nihilistic. I tried to write him as crazy as I could while revealing some of his backstory.)

The Mad Jester paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth the dementia affecting his mind and boiling over in his soul. He
was muttering to himself, talking to himself having a conversation with… no one really. “The puny, peeeetty warlord broke my concentration, BROKE MY CONCENTRATION! Why can’t they see it, why don’t they understand, why don’t they see it? Why do people hold on to such falsehoods? Such trifles,” he raved speaking the last word with pure unadulterated venom, “Power, power, POWER, it’s as meaningless as love, only useful in the fact that it corrupts and causes men to… do things. Oh, God of Madness how you set me free from such trifles, how you have freed my soul from the pointlessness of the struggle! I too once sought the things of this world, those things that are meaningless. I had it all once Mad God, oh yes, how I had it all. Power, money, immortality, a loving family, maybe no friends, but I had EVERYTHING. Oh, but how I wanted more, how I wanted the forbidden fruit.”

An image flashed in his mind of a beautiful dark skinned elf, so beautiful that she would take any man’s breath away. He then starting convulsing shaking violently trying to purge the beautiful elven maiden’s image from his mind, “No, no, NOOOO, they all called me insane back then… a freak, and they were right weren’t they. But… they're not here anymore, the age of elves has ended and those that are left have all crawled back into their little hole. I’m still here though aren’t I… I'M STILL HERE! And I no longer desire the things I desired in my youth. I am free. I have found the light, I have been born again, saved by the Mad God’s whispers in the dark. But it is not enough that I be saved, no the gospel must be spread to others. It must be spread to the Barbarian who hangs on to his honor, it must be spread to the warlord who hangs on to power, it must be spread far, and wide and disciples must be made to all men, and I will not stop until everyone is as batshit as I am, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA…. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA… HA HA HA HA….” The Mad Jester continued like this for a few hours laughing and shaking almost as if the man that once existed there was no more and some demented demon had taken his place

---

@Assallya

A young man with black hair was strolling around the back of the 'Shit Faced' Tavern. He was no older than 20 maybe and wore a grey cloth around his lower face to hide his identity anyway. He hummed along, twirling a dagger in his hand and bouncing a pouch of pocketed coins in the other. Behind his mask, he was quite satisfied, having been able to pilfer the money from a drunk aristocrat who clearly didn't mind parting with the coins, seeing how he had made no effort to hide the bloody gold and silver pieces in the first place.

A ruckus occurred in the pub, and Raven was immediately intrigued. The thief put away the pouch in his chest pocket and leaned against the wooden back door, pressing his ear against it to try and gather the details. However, it was at this point that the noise grew, which turned into panicked screaming at one point. He backed away, hearing footsteps running to the door. The door flung open, with people running out. Someone even barreled through the window, smashing the glass pane into tiny fragments.

Raven quickly sheathed his dagger and pulled down his mask, trying to get a peek through the crowd.

(OOC: Since the Mad Jester is my now defacto second character, I'll post as him as if he's a main character.)

The Mad Hell had left this plane of existence for moment leaving the Mad Jester alone in silence, his manic laughing fit now over, his existence now cloaked in silence. He was left alone feeling empty, but that was point, wasn’t it? Was God insane when he created the universe? Creating beings who can never find fulfillment in anything? Yes, was the answer, the Mad God, the one true God was insane, and he was glorious. It didn’t make the Jester feel any better about it though, the loneliness, the sense of unfulfillment, the rage, the seeing things that weren’t there, the voices telling him he’s useless. Oh, how he longed for the day when the Mad Hell consumed all of existence and his senses were rendered senseless. When all sanity and consciousness would be drowned in pure salvation bringing chaos. It would be like he never existed, like his youth never happened… like she never existed.

Then, a voice spoke from the shadows, the voice of a woman, “brooding after one of your laughing fits again Jester? For a man wearing the garment of a funnyman you sure are a downer sometimes… Of course, Maxie, I could help you ease your pain.”

“Hello Tara, or is it Cynthia, who am I talking to at the moment, the nymphomaniac or the sexual sadist?” the Jester remarked upon hearing his beautiful raven haired minion walk through the door.

“Why don’t you come and find out?” responded the woman, “you seem like you might like it either way.”

At that the Jester began shaking before bursting out laughing, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA….” The Jester calmed himself, “I might just take you up on that offer my sadistic Tara. Why are you here my dear? It must be urgent to take you from your chambers torturing… Who was it Helga?”

“Helgi, my lord, the Barbarians’ wife, I skinned her alive, strip by strip except for her pretty little head. What erotic noises she made as she screamed. Such a beautiful wallflower, not really enough woman for such a big man. I hope to show him how a real woman conducts herself,” Tara responded visibly turned on by the memories of her torture victim.

“I wonder how the noble beast will react to the many surprises we have for him. He’s such a famous warrior of such great renown, a slayer of dragons, frost giants, vampire, orcish clans, and every type of villain man or beast, for a price of course. I wonder how he’ll take the bad news that everything he values is a lie? But enough my Tara why have you come?” the Jester spoke with a demented smile on his face?

“The minions are awaiting your command oh mad one, it’s about time you speak to them and set in motion your plan,” the olive-skinned beauty responded with her seductive voice.

“Oh yes,” said the Jester, “YES!” The Mad Jester got up and motioned for Tara to join him. They walked for a while down winding hallways and many chambers before standing on a platform overlooking a sea of creatures which stood in the very spacious caverns of hell like Ghost Deep Cave.

They were of every race and gender, and their gibbering voices and screams could be heard everywhere like a horrifying chorus. There were gnolls, and humans, orcs, goblins, trolls, elves both dark and light, dwarves, oni, ogres, lizardmen, minotaurs, banshees, ettins, giants, bogies, bogarts, alps, cruels, hags, mad ghosts and demons. When they saw the Jester they all howled in a horrible unison, “hail the god of Madness, hail insanity, hail high priest Maximilian!”

A large glowing orb was hanging from the roof of the gigantic cavern and was used so that when Maximillian speaks all of his minions everywhere hear his voice as a schizophrenic hears their own voices.

Maximillian spoke, “my brothers and sisters in the light of Loki, as you know the time has come. We of the religion of the Mad God have now amassed an army strong enough to conquer a nation! Our army comes from you, the faithful and from the demons of the 666 Hells in which the Mad God has been given access to from the God of Evil himself, as well as the mad demons from the Mad Hell. We have waited and watched from time immemorial as this world has descended into madness and we have spread our message and amassed our numbers until we finally have reached this moment. No longer do we just destroy nations, now we will own one of our own! From that point on the map we will descend upon the great continent and give the denizens of this world two choices. Convert to the religion of the Mad God or die in an unspeakable fashion and be condemned to the Mad Hell for all eternity. One way or another we will dominate the minds of the people, and whoever dominates the minds of the people also dominates the mind of the creator! So, to my minions here, and my minions abroad poised for conquest, I say LET IT BEGIN!”

The Jester began to cackle uncontrollably but it was drowned out by the horrifying roar of the crowd. The warriors abroad ready to march on their targeted nation began their attack.

The holographic device fell from the seat and the illusion flickered and vanished, followed soon after by the self-destructed bobble as it crashed onto the floor, unheard in the commotion.

One Week Ago...

"You have to get outta here, D'ren!" said his last loyal slave.

Sora Lynn protected her master with her Spartan Kopis, slashing furiously at the charging reptilian Skaar Demons, led by the non-reptilian dark angel and goddess Pyrsefoni. She was one of The Infamous Consorts, a High Mistress and noblewoman, but despite her admiration for her lord, she still held him in contempt for having her husband Hades assassinated, just so she could be his woman. D'ren didn't even have the common decency to betray and murder his fellow hell-god himself.

D'ren was cowering in a corner of his mansion's fifth story dining room. He quivered with adrenaline coursing through him as he eyed the two women sword-fighting in the doorway. The Infamous tried to hurl a fireball at the oncoming demons, but the flame died almost as quickly as it spawned in his palm. Enraged by his own impotence, he punched a wall beside him, his fingerless gloved fist smashing through a chunk of it.

Glad to still have some super-strength, he clotheslined an oncoming Skaar and side-kicked another onto the huge dining room table, causing much of the lavish feast to skitter and slide onto the floor. But he knew he couldn't go on like this. He could already feel the strength draining from him as he eyed Pyrsefoni bitterly.

"I will take your heart!" he screamed at her, batting aside another demon.

He swept back his trench coat and drew a six-shooter, knowing it would only stun and hurt the demons, not kill them. As he took aim, the goddess retorted, "You already had it!"

Sora Lynn glanced over her shoulder at D'ren. "Get outta here!"

D'ren shot another couple demons before pulling a small black pill from his leather pants pocket and crushed it in his fingertips. Dropping it on the floor, the fluid opened a dimensional portal to where he assumed he would find more powers, the Demonic Badlands of Heramus. The Badlands was a place where the essence and powers of demons and gods were sent once vanquished.

He turned back, just in time to see Pysefoni tear one of Sora Lynn's wings and run her through with her Greek short sword.

"No!" cried D'ren in anguish.

"Go!" she screamed, falling slowly to her knees.

Pyrsefoni moved past her, raising her sword. She leaped onto the table. D'ren looked around at the remaining half a dozen demons who were rushing toward him.

"I will be back!" D'ren said, throwing his empty pistol at the nearest demon, and then hauling ass through the portal.

The last thing he heard before leaving Malevora was Pyrsefoni shouting, "And we'll be waiting!"

In the Badlands, D'ren pushed himself up to a kneeling position and wiped the dust and sand from his face and tunic. The portal had closed behind him, but he only had one pill. Standing up, D'ren coughed from the quantity of dust and humidity in the atmosphere. Then as he made his way toward a cave for shelter from the howling wind, his hand brushed something in his trench coat pocket.

He pulled out a holographic device he'd once taken from a futuristic world he'd conquered last year. Swallowing his pain, both physical and emotion, D'ren mused, "Sora...Sora Lynn must've...put this in my pocket."

Searching for other things that she may have stashed on his person, the warlord found an ornate Egyptian dagger, a pendant, and a flask he hoped was filled with whiskey. It wasn't. It was water.

"Damn her," he groaned. "Always lookin' out for me best interest. I don't deserve that bint."

Alice ignored the Barbarian as he recounted his past experience with Vampires, a bunch of wistful nonsense really. She only reacted when he thanked her for bringing up the memories, a scoff making its way past her lips as the sound of panic rising around her grew in a delightful crescendo of crashing and screams as people ran from the room or simply hid behind a fallen table. A single sound caught her attention as the barbarian took out a potion which he began drinking quickly- a tinkling of metal and the musical chiming of bells from somewhere nearby.

The woman of shadows simply stood there as the Barbarian charged her, his sword passing through her still not-quite-solid form while she turned her head toward the source of the noise. A woman dressed sparsely in strange dress caught her eye, the light from torches in the room glinting off of the coins and bells sewn into the fabric of her outfit as she ran, trying to flee the tavern. Alice smiled and her form dissipated for a split second, reappearing in front of this woman as she would get to the door. Alice reached out to grab her by the shoulders, smiling sweetly as her eyes began to glow a slightly darker shade of yellow, fangs glinting wickedly in the light as she did. "Well aren't you interesting. Bit of advice though- it's only more fun for me when you all run."

Alice was about to bite the woman, her hands gripping the other's shoulders as tightly as they could, her nails pinching hard enough to draw blood almost- but a call from someone on the other side of the room caught her attention. "Push her outside! It's too dangerous in here!" She let the woman go after a second, pushing her to the side as she realized she might actually have to deal with this barbarian and his friends before she could really have any fun here tonight. Her eyes were drawn to the source of the shout, a drunk Argonian who didn't look like he could even walk straight, let alone fight. He stumbled out of his way to pick up a child, and the vampiress watched as another came to his aid before he started making his way out the other door of the tavern.

The new woman turned to face Alice, as if she were going to join the fight too. Her hair seemed to set itself ablaze as her eyes began to shine just as bright as the strange fire. "What are you waiting for lizard man?" Alice heard her growl at the Argonian. "Get out of here now!" The woman's body was soon consumed by flames, and the vampire looked at her curiously as she drew her swords and took a defensive stance. Strange magic... I've never seen someone set themselves on fire to fight before! She grinned at the thought as she produced a dagger from within her cloak, taking her hood off as she decided to take this fight seriously.

Her hair was light brown in color, and her skin pale as the moonlight outside- obvious proof of her vampirism. Her eyes still glowed, even though they were no longer overshadowed by the hood of her cloak, the bright yellow slowly darkening to red as a familiar bloodlust began to pulse through her veins. "Defending the weak are we? How noble! How... pointless." Alice tended to try not to laugh at her foes, though as she said the words she couldn't stop the scathing chuckle that slipped past her lips. Unlike the high priest Maximilian, whose madness showed through fits of Dementia, Alice was a Maniac- she took joy in fighting and causing fear. She held her dagger loosely as she rushed at the Barbarian, aiming to slice his throat in one simple swipe of the blade before she'd try to figure out what to do about the burning woman next.

@Jd524@aspie3000@Assallya

The diminutive dancing girl writhed as the vampire held her aloft with ease. It shouldn't have been possible but the vampire was anything but natural. The helplessness, the terror washed through the dancer as her toes struggled to reach the floor. She was helpless, like a babe held aloft and she could not do a thing to save herself. She was going to die. This was it, a victim of an almost negligent killer.

The dancing girl grunted as she was thrown casually aside like a boring toy in the hands of a toddler that had just been distracted by something brighter and shinier. She took one clumsy step as she worked to regain her balance but she was a dancer, trained as such from a very young age. She recovered near instantly and just before she hit the wall. Still, she struck it anyways, sliding down the wall and crumpling into a small ball.

From there she peered out carefully behind a screen of ebony tresses. When the vampire turned her attention to the others she sprinted once more for the doorway. Her thoughts were a whirl. She had been marked. She understood that and she understood killers far better than most. She had to do something. She slipped through, finding herself in an empty kitchen, the hearth blazing. Food was burning on the grill, the cauldron boiling, but no one was attending to them. They'd fled through the open doorways, either out towards the stables or into the field behind. She needed to get to her vardo wagon.

Between the crowd and constantly being pushed back, there was no way Raven could even get a peek of what was happening, let alone go through that doorway. The thief growled in frustration before spying the kitchen window, only half opened. The young man finally managed to get out of the panicked cluster of people before quickly rushing up to the window. Raven lifted the window the rest of the way and sat on the windowsill, swinging his legs over one at a time before nimbly pushing himself off and over the counter, landing on the floor.

A women also seemed to have fled into the unattended kitchen. She looked a bit older than him, and even though her clothing was very sparkly, it didn't leave much to the imagination. She looked dazed, maybe confused or frightened. Raven dashed over to the woman, and attempted to calm her down, or at least get an answer.

"Hey! Lady! What's going on in there?" The black haired thief asked, calmly as he could despite the impatience of finding out what the conflict was about.

@Assallya

D'ren stumbled and slipped - both from exhausted carelessness and the fact he was still half covered in mud - up to the vardo wagon and collapsed to one knee, gripping the wheel closest to the tavern for support. He looked down, thankful that he still had a lot of mud covering his otherwise nude lower half. But he found it difficult to lift his head back up, or even care about the carnage going on inside, as memories of the last couple of weeks began to take their toil on him.

Tears welled up in his eyes as Samy screamed slurs and insults at him. She told him he was worthless and couldn't even save the woman he loved, Sora Lynn...

One Week Ago...

Where were the powers? The Badlands always had powers! The Leviathan needed the energy to live! He looked over to see the Leviathan dead, scorched and torn asunder. Someone had gotten to the powers before him. And there was no way to know who, since time here didn't really work normally.

D'ren scoured the desert as fierce lightning crackled overhead, as furious winds tore at his flesh and trench coat. He'd been there nearly six hours and most of the water in his flask was gone. D'ren was a glutton; warlords rarely thought on sparsity.

Just when he'd thought all was lost, and was ready to go find shelter again, he spotted bluish-green particles dancing a couple inches off the ground, several dozen meters away. He ran toward them, hoping that another Leviathan didn't pop up to devour them before he fell upon them. But that was his luck, wasn't it?

D'ren scoffed. There was no luck, not even luck of the Irish. There was only will, and his will to survive had always been strong...

Present

D'ren saw someone through a window at the back of the tavern, in the kitchen. But he barely cared. Instead, he struggled to stand, gripping a curtain on the wagon. But his knees weakened and he fell, tearing the multi-colored curtain. On his side, facing away from the tavern, D'ren started to tie the piece of fabric into a makeshift skirt.

"Now I'm fuckin' Scottish..."

But as Samy continued berating him, D'ren's weakness and fatigue got the better of him, plus he was hungry. His hands and arms drooped to the ground as he stared through listless, half-closed eyes at the trees on the other side of the wagon, prepared for death to take him.

@Animera
"Well I suppose it's time I did something." A woman who Caligate didn't notice before stood up from a table. She seemed insignificant before, just another face in the crowd to Caligate. But her calm demeanor to this possible major threat suggested she was far more than just another face. She swiftly made her way towards Caligate, removing her cloak and giving it to the little girl he had picked up.

"Take this child to safety, I will cover you." The woman said. Her voice was soft, but still had a sharp tone to it. However her voice changed, and she spoke softly to the girl. "Don't lose it, it is very special."

She turned around and her eyes locked with Caligate's for a moment. Her hair began to flicker with flames and her eyes began to glow.

"What are you waiting for lizard man? Get out of here now!" Her voice was no longer soft, but was coarse, as if she was growling out her commands.

Apparently, no one knows how to say the word Argonian... Caligate turned and made it to the door. Before he left the tavern, he took one quick glance back to the shadow girl and the fight that was about to ensue. The woman's body was now swirling with flames and had her swords drawn. He did not recognize her abilities as magic at all. It was something completely foreign to him. His natural curiosity forced him to stop for just a moment to observe this new power.

His concentration was broken by the barbarian's war cry as he slashed right into the shadow girl, delivering a fatal blow! Or so he thought. The sword passed through the girl as she cracked a sly grin. She began to cackle. "Defending the weak are we? How noble! How... pointless." She rushed the barbarian with her dagger in hand, and Caligate quickly made his way out of the tavern.

As he reached the outside, there was still people running amok, desperately trying to get to safety. He placed the child down."Stay here, girl." He told her, hoping to reassure her safety. "Keep this cloak nice a tight and you'll be safe."

He turned back towards the tavern. "Shit..." He exhaled. "Hopefully this tavern won't come crashing down..." Caligate's hands began to drip with darkness.

"Alright... One giant ice demon, coming up..." Caligate began to concentrate, putting all of his mental energy into this spell. Usually, Caligate could do this quickly, but of course the alcohol was affecting his performance.

"Hey! Lady! What's going on in there?"

The dancing girl struggled to regain control of her emotions. Her fear had taken over. She was a strategic planner, always with several plans. She was controlling by nature. Being caught off guard, having no plan was almost more terrifying than the danger. Her mind had frozen and she had ran in a panic. She berated herself, berated herself for the stupidity of simply running for the nearest exit.

"A vampire," she said as she straightened and listened to the fight behind her, "killing everyone she can- and myself after that."

She looked at the man who had simply climbed through a window. It reminded her of many men she'd encountered over the decades: thieves, brigands and assassins. It wasn't just that he had climbed through a window but how he did so, with fluidity and grace. Now that she was out of immediate danger she was capable of thinking. Perhaps the Vardo wasn't the best opportunity. Maybe she could use this man? No, she didn't know him. Thieves weren't known for altruism. She didn't have time to barter for his services. Yes, her mind was working again.

"I need my wagon," she said suddenly and dismissively, waving her slender bejeweled hand dismissively as a princess or queen would do, "Those battling inside will not prevail without my help."

The dancing girl was no more, something else moved in her place. Her form had not changed. She was still the young ebon haired woman covered in copper and brass bangles but her poise, her demeanor had transformed as she shed her previous identity. She moved, differently, still with grace but with a more determined efficient stride that implied a modicum of haste and unwasted energy.

"You may accompany me if you wish or venture inside and perish in battle."

This was untrue. While he might certainly be of aid inside the room, she coldly had decided she needed a protector in case the battle shifted towards the vardo wagon. He could do well as a stumbling stone, a minor delay that could be of aid and preserve her life at the cost of his own and that was quite fine with her.

Not waiting to see if he would follow she strode towards the wagon, pulling out a key as large as her small hand for the lock and promptly ignored the man dying man clinging to both life and the wooden spokes of her wagon wheel. Her own life was more important. She needed to get things from her wagon and fight this vampire. Maybe the young thief would attend him in his dying moments. She cared not but such would be so much the better. It would keep him outside and provide more distraction should the battle spill out.

Hrothgar’s sword passed straight through the shadowy woman. It was a test blow, to measure the woman’s strengths and weaknesses. This shadow magic would be something to contend with, and hard to overcome. Hrothgar hated such trickery, and magic in general as did most of his people, the Norns. Hrothgar never had to use magic in battle, just potions with power coming straight from the earth. Magic to Hrothgar was for the weak, those who were not strong enough or quick enough to face their enemy in a test of might, and thus must draw upon strange forces from other dimensions to compensate for their weakness. Hrothgar had fought many mages and bested many magic users with just his potions, his wits, and his sword and axe. The Jester however... was a different story, too powerful in his trickery to take on alone. So, powerful in fact that he had to take on a dishonorable magic using… lizard as a companion. His wife Helgi practically begged him to take a magic user along for this job. Such a worry wart his beautiful Helgi was.

As he ran through the shadow woman with his back turned, he quickly spun around only to find that the night fiend was already attacking some other woman. The fact that the vampire had turned her attention to someone else mid battle enraged him, and the fact that she was picking on some defenseless patron that couldn’t fight back enraged him even further. But the shadow girl was solid now and had been stupid enough to turn her back to him. He put his hand to his dagger and stood ready to slit her throat. It wouldn’t kill her seeing as she was a vampire and beheading, staking to the heart, symbols of the god of life, garlic, and other such precautions were needed for her death, but it would shock her, and cripple here long enough to take his great sword and separate her head from her body.

Then the Lizard spoke up drawing her attention yelling, “push her outside! It’s too dangerous in here!” The vampire pushed the dancing girl aside and turned her attention to the lizard man and the little girl and shot a glance his way.

Well… I suppose it’s better this way. There’s no sport in slashing her throat from behind. Such trickery was best to be avoided if one could avoid it. The lizard had a point as well; there were still patrons in this Tavern and civilian death probably should be minimized.

Then a new woman appeared and reprimanded the lizard before turning to the vampire and bursting into flames to fight the vampire! Well… that was new. Hrothgar had never seen a human use magic to engulf themselves in flames in preparation for a fight, at least not a true blooded human and certainly not fighting on his side. This could be a problem however. The Tavern was made of wood and assuming the magic user was as she seemed and her powers were fire based she could burn the whole damn Tavern to the ground and everybody in it. Hrothgar had to get the vampire outside.

Suddenly the vampire rushed at Hrothgar with breakneck speed to slash his throat in one swoop. Hrothgar just let it happen and the dagger broke as it hit his skin. Hrothgar then grabbed the vampire and hugged her to himself, “that potion I took before charging you. It was a potion of diamond flesh! It does exactly what the name says. I always take one before fighting blood sucking fiends lest they sink their fangs into me and I become a subhuman bottom feeder like you. Now! Outside with you, you dead ****!” (OOC: C word)

Hrothgar turned around and pushed her through the two saloon like doors charging as hard as he could out into the open night. He held onto her as long as he could but she no doubt forced her way out of his grip. The Barbarian then pulled out his claymore ready for battle.

@Assallya@Infamous Empath

Vampire? Holy shit. That's a Mad Jester gig. Raven couldn't help but grumble to himself when the woman said that it was a vampire. The fuck you got yourself into now, you curious dumbass? Raven scolded himself in his mind before listening to the woman's next words, who was now in a real hurry to get to any place but here. She certainly wasn't some helpless wench, that was for sure. Raven couldn't help but put his hand on the grip of one of his daggers, in case the vampire decided to come back for a meal, specially served in the kitchen of all places.

"I need my wagon," she said suddenly and dismissively, waving her slender bejeweled hand dismissively as a princess or queen would do, "Those battling inside will not prevail without my help."

Stakes that high? It seemed by simply entering the building, the thief got more involved than he ever wanted to be in the first place. "Shit... alright, but you better have something damn good in that wagon, lady." Raven replied when she laid out the options. He didn't have to try very hard to keep up with her. It seemed like they were both proficient in quick movement. However, his eyes were caught as an injured man was practically slumped against the wagon. Looks like this conflict hadn't just affected the ones in there. Raven knew what it was like to be in need, and wasted no time in sprinting over. "Hey! You there man?" He asked, trying to see if the man's mind was still present to this world. He saw the lady ignore the man and go straight into the wagon. Without hesitating, Raven picked up the man and supported him, slinging the man's arm over his shoulders and propping him up, taking him up to the wagon's door.

"There's something in here that can help this guy, right?"

Sey snorted as she watched the barbarian's sword pass straight through the shadowy woman, she disliked such trickery. The tavern was in complete shambles. People were screaming and rushing to exit anyway they could. The coins on the dancers costume caught her eye as she exited through the kitchen. She could also here screams and shouts from outside the tavern. The people fleeing had caused something of a panic and people were quickly evacuating the surrounding area as well.

The vampiress suddenly attacked the barbarian, aiming a dagger at his throat as she moved swiftly towards him. 'CHINK!' the dagger broke against the barbarians throat, “That potion I took before charging you. It was a potion of diamond flesh! It does exactly what the name says. I always take one before fighting blood sucking fiends lest they sink their fangs into me and I become a subhuman bottom feeder like you. Now! Outside with you, you dead ****!” At this point the barbarian grabbed the shadowy woman and rushed the both of them outside.

Sey quickly followed the two not wanting to catch the tavern on fire, there were still too many civilians inside. As the redhead exited the building she felt another presence building up not too far away down the street. "Alright... One giant ice demon, coming up..." Caligate seemed to be struggling to summon a creature with his magic. There were not many passersby in the street, only a few stragglers who were unlucky enough to be in front of the tavern when they exited. The sight of it must have been something extraordinary, to suddenly see such a large man tackle a woman shadowed in such evil. Only to be followed by a woman consumed in flames, while an inebriated Argonian was summoning a beast nearby.

The shadowy woman forced her way out of the barbarians grip. Sey silently made her way to the side of the barbarian, "Let's make quick work of this. It would be a shame if there was anymore damage or injuries." Her voice was cold and sharp, not relating to any of the emotions the meaning of her words held. She shifted into an offensive stance. Her weapons were raised and legs slightly bent, ready to move at any moment.

@aspie3000
@Infamous Empath
@GingerBoi123

The universe shuddered and groaned. The air, like a lense, focused for a moment, and in the blink of an eye, a silver sphere appeared on the earth. It sparkled like a million shooting stars until fading into nothingness, leaving behind...a woman. Her silver hair flew in her face under the stiff wind, and she pushed it back into her hood. Then she opened her eyes.

Shit Faced Tavern

She knitted her brows. "What kind of a name is that?" she said to herself. Freyja fished out a strip of paper with coordinates on it. "This is the place..." She shoved it back in her pocket and moved toward it. The closer she got, the more chaos she saw. Outside, people were running and tripping over themselves to get away. A man slumped to the ground. The shadows of a brawl danced in the windows. I suppose introductions are in order. She shoved open the doors to find an overgrown crocodile, a barbarian, and a shadow person duking it out between the tables.

"Nope."

Freyja shut the doors and went back out. A dark-skinned man had picked up the slumped-over man and put him on a wagon. Might as well get a bit of information from them. Should I pretend to be a concerned citizen, or just be casual about it? After a moment's pondering, she wandered over to the wagon and approached the dark-skinned man. "Hey, what's going on over there?" she asked, jutting a thumb at the inn.

The vampire's eyes widened in surprise as her blade shattered on contact with the barbarian's skin, and she dropped the useless handle on the ground as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her, trapping her. She tried to bite his arms, hands, something, as she struggled to get away, hissing at the man like a snake or a cat would. He dragged her outside before she came back to her senses enough to turn to shadow and phase through his grip.

She went away from him, only partially re-forming her body as she stood in the middle of the street. The chaos around was wonderful, an almost musical cacophony of screams ringing out as people saw that she was outside now, no longer contained by the thin wooden walls of the tavern. She smiled at one man as he stood frozen in fear, laughing at him as he finally snapped out of it and ran, tripping over his own feet as he and many others disappeared around street corners in the distance. Normally, she would have tried to chase a few of them down as they ran -for fun if nothing else- but as she looked back to the Barbarian and the flaming woman, and now the Argonian preparing to join the fight as well, she knew she couldn't just leave without killing them all first.

"Well, I would say using potions like that is cheating, but considering who you're up against I don't blame you." Alice smirked at him as she spoke, tilting her head to the side slightly like a child or a dog did. "Though I must say I quite dislike your choice of words. Can we not be civil as I tear you all to shreds?" It was obvious she was being sarcastic, only the dead wouldn't have been able to detect the edge to her words. She let her expression go neutral as her glowing eyes got ever darker, now more red than yellow. She didn't have another weapon with her, the dagger this Barbarian had just broken was the only blade she'd ever kept. So, now instead of rushing blindly at the fool -she already knew her fangs wouldn't work- she would keep her distance.

Her body solidified as she took control of the shadows around her, beginning to swirl them around herself in a vortex of sharp edges and smoke. She watched her enemies for a moment, the flaming woman and the Argonian beginning to take more of her interest as they began to help the claymore-wielding Barbarian standing before her. It seemed they were both mages, like her, and so they could actually be more of a problem than this brute in the long run. She began to walk around the edge of their little battlefield, slowly as if simply stalking her prey. She decided then to rush in at the Argonian -as he seemed to be the most out of it at the moment while he tried to summon a creature of some sort. She got behind him, skirting around the flaming woman and the barbarian so they wouldn't be able to land a hit on her just yet as she did. "Impressive move Argonian. Allow me to counter." She spoke with her real voice as she addressed the mage, quietly enough that probably only he heard her. She bared her fangs as she reached out to grab him.

@Jd524@aspie3000@jeroukoo

@Vesuvius00
"Almost... there..." Caligate's concentration was at it's utmost highest. The alcohol was really affect his performance, which also irritated him. He had been doing spells like these for years, there was no reason he should be struggling. But alas, alcohol had been his most difficult enemy this entire night and it seemed to not change.

His barbarian friend burst through the tavern doors, tackling the shadow girl to the ground. She still managed to slip out of his grip with ease, probably due to her incorporeal form. The girl on fire followed him out quickly, assuming a more prepared battle stance than before. He sighed with relief, glad that this fight was a three versus one. Well, more or less two, as Caligate himself was practically useless on his own at this point. The darkness in his hands quickly turned from a liquid to a plasma in his hands, further relieving Caligate.

Now it will be more of an even three to this fight. He smiled and was about to summon the demon, but as he looked up to find the shadow girl, he could not find her.

"Impressive move Argonian. Allow me to counter." Caligate turned around, already knowing the source of the voice. The shadow girl had her fangs bared, and he was definitely within arms reach of her. She pounce forward, lunging for what Caligate assumed to be his neck. The Argonian would most certainly meet his doom.

If, of course, it wasn't for his frost demon.

Right before the shadow girl was at his neck, Caligate threw the plasma in his hands on the ground and a frozen fist p[unched upwards from the ninth circle of hell, upper cutting the vampire right in the jaw and away from Caligate. Caligate jumped backwards, landing on his back. An icy thrall climbed from the portal that Caligate just created, it's posture ready for battle. It needed not to look around for the shadow girl, as it's vision was not limited by biology, but magic. It pounded the ground with it's blunt fist, sending a line of icicles jutting upwards and in a line towards the shadow girl.

"That's what you should be impressed by, girl." Caligate called out to her. "I haven't really done much anything except run around drunkenly yet."

The dancing girl, after opening the door to the vardo wagon, raised one long slender leg and grasped a bronze railing which allowed her to clamor up without setting up the stairs. Inside was a small bed, an elaborate vanity and a chest that double as a bench. Herbs hung from the ceiling, twisting and drying amidst a number of crystals that drew in mystic energies. She quickly moved through the small wheeled building and gathered up several items, one of which was a small jar. She wasn't going to waste a valuable healing potion on someone she didn't know but she had lesser means of aid.

"Here," the dancing girl said as she returned to the door and tossed the jar to the thief she'd just met, "A poultice and bandages. Tend to the man. I'm going to aid those fighting the vampire."

Oh! There was a new arrival present, a woman. The dancing girl's gaze washed over the woman and quickly determined that she wasn't an immediate threat and then went back to thinking about the attacker inside the inn.

"Maybe she knows more about healing than either of us."

Setting down a silver tray on the edge of the vardo's wagon she crossed her legs and lit a trio of candles. Thence began the chanting. She then drew forth a leather skin and gestured towards it with several twisting fingers before pouring it into the tray. Slowly an image formed of the ensuing battle, the twisting figures dashing towards one another, slicing and retreating.

"No coordination," the girl commented as she watched, "definitely not working as a team. Time to show them how it's done."

Chanting again, the dancing girl wove another spell, this time one of significantly more interest to those involved in the combat. A second Caligate stepped out of the lizard man's body, and then a third. Then two more Hrothgars stepped out from inside Hrothgar followed by two identical women stepping out of the redheaded. Until finally nine combatants stood to face the vampire woman. Certainly, six of the nine were illusory but that left the vampire a good chance of attacking nothing but air.

@jeroukoo @vesuvius00 @thinslayer @gingerboi123 @aspie3000 @Infamous Empath @Jd524

Hrothgar let out a grunt as the night fiend phased through his body sending an uncomfortable chill down his spine and causing him to curse under his breath, “blasted shadow magic. Give me one good hit on this repulsive demon and I’ll cleave her… it in two.” He turned toward the undead abomination now starting to materialize and solidify himself fuming with a deep and heartfelt rage ready to make good on his promise; he had killed many vampires before and this one was no different than the others save for her little magic tricks. They only delayed the inevitable conclusion to this contest and only bought her some time, but they all fell to Hrothgar in the end.

The woman who was on fire had come out of the Tavern to join the fight against the vampire all alight with flame. The Argonian was there too, insanely drunk and trying his hardest to summon something. The vampire then looked at the Barbarian tilting her head to the side like the dog it was saying, “Well, I would say using potions like that is cheating but considering who you’re up against I don’t blame you,” before remarking immediately afterword sarcastically, “Though I must say I quite dislike your choice of words. Can we not be civil as I tear you to shreds?”

“Cheating!” the Barbarian roared, “hah, that’s rich coming from you! I’ll stop using potions when you step out of the shadows and face me warrior to warrior. But what know a fiend like you of honor, you who subsist by feeding on the helpless like a wolf tearing apart a defenseless rabbit! And no I will not be civil as I send you to the 666 Hells, civility is for men not… monsters. Now beast, make your move and fight! I grow tired of seeing your hideous visage and smelling your disgusting stench!”

The vampire started pacing back and forth like a predator ready to pounce upon its prey. Hrothgar readied his claymore for to strike. The fiery woman was on fire so she was ready for battle as well. If the demon pounced on one of those two it would probably lose this fight, so of course it went straight for the drunk Argonaian trying to summon a monster.

“Impressive move Argonian,” the vampire said with her usual creepiness, “allow me to counter.” The vampire lunged at the throat of the Argonian… and then got more than she bargained for as an ice demon came from the 66th circle of Hell and uppercutted her into the air. Well… didn’t see that coming, the Barbarian thought, can’t say I’m too keen on someone summoning demons from Hell to do their bidding but if I’m honest this is one of the funniest things I’ve seen today so the lizard gets a pass. “That’s what you should be impressed by, girl,” the Argonian spoke defiantly, “I haven’t done much anything except run around drunkenly yet.”

As the Argonian spoke something strange happened as illusory versions of the three fighters facing the vampire stepped out of their bodies. As this was happening the ice demon pounded the ground and sent a row of icicles jutting up towards the vampire. Hrothgar was extremely confused about what was going on but his eyes were always on the ball and so he finally took his opportunity to finally cleave the vampire in two. Hrothgar roared and charged the vampire and swung his claymore with all of his fury aiming straight for her midriff…

@Vesuvius00 @Assallya @jeroukoo