Ettamri Belarence

---

The walk up towards the spring was relatively uneventful so far, if a bit dour in atmosphere. She had thought about two other routes they could take, the main road, and an old road where a dilapidated remains of several houses remained.

The main road would have taken them towards their destination quickly, but it was devoid of shelter. However, they would only have to endure one night of that, then they would reach their destination by the next. A fast route, but one that she surmised would have more raiders on. It was a choice she herself would have made had she been one of the thieves and bandits. The severity of the weather and the hostility of the land would encourage any caravan with any significant amount of goods to seek out the shortest route, to spend less time travelling in the cold.

The old road would be lesser traveled, and route she had taken before. It had several buildings she and the army she was a part of made good use of. It wasn't a route that she would have shirked, for it was a safer bet than the main road, but its location meant they would not make great progress towards the fort. Perhaps the ranger could replenish their supplies, but no one here was one she would really trust should the wagon be damaged enough to impair their travel.

The last, then, was about the same as the second, if not for the spring on it. Ettamri had heard about the spring there, and how miraculous it was. Perhaps she and the group as well, could use some of the water from it. If there was any chance her curse could be healed, she would take it gladly. And after all, it wasn't like she was deviating from their quest now, was it?

The smell of blood in the air alerted her immediately.

"Stay back. Someone guard the wagon." She spoke to the group. "Support me if and when they attack."

"Ah, aren't you glad?" The red skinned child danced around in the snow, the cold never seeming to bother her. "Now you can eat them instead. Honestly, you should just go back and gather the goblins under your command before expanding. With your training and strength, think of what you can achieve, all the things you could just take, the revenge you can get on those people back home."

Ettamri shook her head as the child laughed merrily. A figment of her own imagination, but yet still dangerous. Even now, the words pull at her heart. She yet denied the words, but can feel some of the truth behind the red skinned child's word. All the while during the trip, the red child spoke sweetly in her ears, trying to make her do... unspeakable things. Eating the party and massed torture of abducted men and women was the least of them.

Stepping forwards, Ettamri hefted her iron club on her shoulders, wrapping her arms around it nonchalantly. Inhaling, she shouted, her voice like a thunderclap, disturbing the very air and snow as her powerful lungs projected her voice. Her eyes was already darting around, trying to find where the source of the smell was.

"I CAN SMELL YOU, YOU FLEA RIDDEN CUR! SHOW YOURSELF COWARD!"

A challenge to the hidden observer, a distraction from the reason she stepped forth first.

With the small boot of Katya waking up Renauld, he quickly stood up and looked around. No sign of danger. Oh, they must have been preparing to leave. A brief moment of sleep had filled the tired man with a newfound sense of vigor. Well, as much vigor as someone who had just woke up after having spent a night sleeping in the snow could muster. Well, no point falling asleep again. It was time to haul on out and push on.

And now they had found themselves trying to move up a hill. The loose snow fought back against them. Were it not for Renauld catching himself with his staff, he would have found himself falling either face or ass first. He managed, though. The mood was foul, though. The group meshed about as well as a brick and an egg. Everyone had their personality quirks. Were it not for the occasional outburst of good energy coming from their healer, Renauld would have seriously considered there to be literal blood on the snow no less than a day.

Well, at least it was safe. Cold, miserable and tiring, but safe nonetheless.

Then Renauld sensed something. Not anything around them, no. He could only read the mood of the party. Ettamri sensed something. Argen sensed something. Muu sensed something. Even Siwon could sense something. Renauld could only go by the fact that Ettamri was already barking out orders like protecting the cart and supporting her.

Wait, she was pulling out her club? Well, at least she was lazily holding it. Then Ettamri yelled. Oh lord, Renauld had thought. If Ettamri had been a bit less... bold, they could have prepared and launched a counterattack if they were ambushed. Ambush the ambushers, one would think. Instead, now everything in a large radius was able to find their direction. Renauld took a deep breath. What's done is done. Instead, he'd stay by the cart and support the group. If they needed cover, he would give his all to make it. He just needed to not catch a sudden arrow in the neck.

Man, he missed his old team though. Even if they were mostly unlikable characters.

Unlike the day before, the mood on the second one seemed a lot worse. Barely anyone talked. It was one thing if oneself was more of the silent type, but totally different if the entire group was progressing through the winter wonderland in the very same mood.

Nonetheless, they continued. And both Muu and Ettamri managed to not kill each other yet. In fact, whatever blood-thirst they may have carried would maybe soon be directed at a common enemy. Something was there. Drawing her weapon, the blade-dancers senses heightened even more as she scanned her surroundings, drawing closer to the wagon to have at least one side be covered.

---

---

Argen stood on edge as his blood felt as if it ran cold. He felt the signs of what has happened before. A deathly air filled his throat as his body tensed in anticipation. He gripped his spear tightly as he took in a breath and prepared his body for the ordeal that awaits. His eyes begins to scour the area in search of any semblance of any sign of creatures around them. He begins to search to the left, right, and above: in search of anything that could be there to attack. Argen's eyes have now dilated and his senses has been out looking for anything, anything at all that could be out of place.

He has been on edge since they traveled through the swamp and hasn't shaken the feeling of dread that fell over him when he spotted blood in the river. He begins to look behind them and around as to make sure nothing any has been sneaking up on him as he can't let them get close and take out their weaker people. They couldn't and wouldn't stand much of a chance in a sneak attack and Argen knew that.

He took off his bag and shoved it into the cart as fast as he could so he could have the best movement he could in this soft snow and unknown terrain underneath. His hands slightly shaking his grips down on his shield and spear and now prepared for a full scale assault. He wasn't gonna go through another party wipe, he couldn't see himself get out of this even if he found an opening for as they could be found in another Goblin ambush. He took in a deep breath and took up his weapons in preparedness as he took one side of the cart in preparation that something comes from his side to attack. He takes a deep breath in and breaths out as he prepares for an attack from the side.

Ettamri’s roar did not echo, the sound muted against the snowy hills that rose all around them. It was a blessing for the party to have been on flat ground when they all sensed the incoming danger, but they didn’t have the high ground either, unable to see what, if anything, was behind the hills surrounding them. The horses began to neigh now as well and Katya, realizing that something crazy was about to happen, hopped off the tarps too, brandishing her staff as she stood beside Renauld. Small as she was, priests were trained in quarterstaff combat, and their duty, in lieu of a supportive Thief or Ranger, was to smack away people who approached a casting Mage. Her robes, thankfully, were long enough to hide her shaking legs.

“UOLOLOLOLOOO!”

A roar resounded behind the hills, followed by the beating of many drums. All around, that undulating warcry resounded; without the element of surprise, intimidation was used instead. In unison, five shadows broke out from the encircling hills, each of them of irregular size. Fists, attached to bulging, elongated arms, slammed against barreled chests, as a maw full of oversized incisors opened outwards to bite at the sky. Two beady eyes, wholly black, looked down upon the mismatched adventurers while white breath blew out of a flat nose. The creatures, black-skinned with white fur covering their chests, head, forearms, and calves, were eerily humanoid, yet many times more savage than goblins and orcs. A bushy, muscled tail, as thick as their leg, whipped around behind them, and after a pause, relishing the ability to look down upon the furless midgets below, they rushed in at once, bearing primitive arms.

The fastest of them practically bodyslammed Argen, a flurry of unarmed blows raining down against the Phalanx’s shield. Animal ferocity seemed to be the calling of the beast, and even with Argen’s height, the monster towered above him, a whole two meters tall. It was also the smallest of the creatures present.

Indeed, the largest were the ones that fell upon Ettamri, two three-meter hulks rising to the challenge of the armored warrior. With impressive brawn and small trees as clubs of their own, they continually swatted at her, hoots and howls communicating and coordinating attacks. They danced and flanked, the reach of their weapons greater than Ettamri’s own.

Muu too found herself pressed, put to the test against a creature that smashed at her with axe and snow, its bushy tail constantly blowing up waves of white in her direction, obscuring her vision before cutting down with a two-handed swing that could very well snap her sword in half if she was forced to block it head on.

And as for the fifth? That one had a rock. A big rock. A rock that it raised over its head, a rock that triggered all of Siwon’s fight-or-flight instincts at once.

It was a rock that flew, tumbling through the air with force that would kill and break anything in its path.

A rock that flew right towards Renauld and Katya.

Ettamri Belarence

---

"Oh? Two just for me?" The club resting on her shoulders swung around quickly in a short arc, as she stepped to the side, crashing her weapon towards one of their wooden tree clubs, while moving to put the other one between the second monster. They seemed well coordinated, as the clubs crashed on her again and again, whilst she met those blows with her own every time. Considering how large they were, the size of their weapons, as well as how they were using them, while she met with a continuous flurry of blows, they could not both attack at once without risking hitting each other. "HOW GRACIOUS!"

Her blood was boiling, her heart like drums in her ears. In the midst of it all...



"Now listen close, yeah?" The old scarred man in plain chainmai and a dusty tabard spat onto the ground. "You can be strong as you like, but when it comes to fighting superior numbers, you gotta know how to cut and run. Honors no good if you're dead. Course, that means you can gang up on a strong enemy and beat them down that way, but that's not what I'm gonna teach ya today."

Two of her house guards stepped forwards, hefting their wooden training swords.

"Today, I'm gonna teach you what you can do when theres a load of people out for your guts, and you aren't, for any reason, able to skeddadle."



Ettamri gripped both hands on her weapon, smashing a blow against one of the monster's own again. In that brief opening, she inhaled as she stepped forth, bringing forth all her strength into a wide sweeping blow towards its side.

Apes. It had to be apes. There was no time to think. No time to talk. No time to plan. After Ettamri made it known that the group was aware of their presence, Muu had already been dodging an axe. Alongside Ettamri, it felt strangely nostalgic. It was obviously not the first time she fought an enemy who fought dirty. Goblins did it. Animals did it. She did, sometimes, too.

But, with the continuous assault, there wasn't really much attention Muu could pay to the others. She couldn't help Katya nor the wagon. The girl was, ultimately, not a tank. Not a support. She was someone who killed with grace.

With the advice given. Just as she practiced. The opponent wasn't armored. A Blade dancers forte were light attacks from unexpected places. Cruelly crippling the opposition before going for a finishing blow. A step to the side, a twist of her body, a back-flip into safety. Slicing and stabbing, with each hit connecting, the follow ups only easier and easier.

Was that a massive rock flying his way? Without any time to think, they had been ambushed by a horde of apes. Ettamri's battlecry sure didn't do anything to help them. Taking a deep breath, he was ready to take charge. The rock was already flying when he had seen it. There was no time to chant. Hell, his chant may not have even been enough. Instead, he chose the safest option for both him and his healer. With all of the strength and speed he could possibly muster, he ran out of the boulder's path. He took Katya with him, wrapping his free arm around her torso to make sure she was pulled out of the line of site. Then, magic began to form around at the end of his staff. Magical energy began to collect as a sigil formed pointed at the rock-throwing ape. Then, formless became form as a spear made out of ice slowly emerged from the spear, growing in size as the winter winds blew snow onto it.

Then, without any hesitation, he fired it at the rock-throwing ape. A mild discouragement, would it not be? Even if it was a glancing blow, the freezing effect of his icicle spear could slow down any action.

---

Like a blur, Siwon sprung forward, acting on both his body's own quick response as well as from the premonitions his demon had given him moments ago. Perhaps it was right to state that failing to perform this morning's ritual lead to such an ambush. In the end, it didn't matter. What mattered now was to act, and act quickly.

Leaping away at speeds fast enough to leave an afterimage, Siwon seemingly absconded from the group and rejecting the fate of death. He was no hero, and would likely stumble or hesitate in fear if he tried to save the mage or the priestess, adding yet another untimely demise to the brazen boulder. If anything, should he decide to flee, it's likely he'd find his way back to civilization once again, likely without a guilty conscience due to his calloused behavior. As a matter of fact, every bone in his body screamed at the Fiend Knight to cut his losses and run.

And so the Fiend Knight ran, speeding towards the eastern hillside until he reached an incline low enough to sprint upward, close to the boulder-chucking beast. Trusting in the strength of his legs, conditioned by his training, the Fiend Knight swiftly scaled the hills in an attempt to flank the monster before it could throw another rock, his spear pointed towards where its ribs should be. Siwon knew he had to draw its attention away from the rest of the party so they wouldn't face the threat of a ranged adversary any longer, and he could only hope that its initial targets would find their way out of harm's reach.

---

---

Argen's met his eyes to a large ape like creature that slammed its arms and body into his shield. He has felt this pain before, just not all at once. He is feeling the force coursing through his body. His bodies joints are moving the force of the blows through his body to the earth. His breath feels heavy and his arms feel like they are being turned to rubber, but they must stay. The size of this creature allows it to smash into his shield that much harder, but Argen will stand his ground as he positions his spear and finds his timing. To punch in a single stab right to this beasts heart. Aiming to kill it with a swiftness so he can move onto a more important threat. He just feels if he wasn't trained to take this kind of abuse he might have just been hit with a tidal wave of force this beast carried.

---

The sounds of snow being crushed underfoot and the flapping of cloth in the wind broke the still silence of the snow covered hills. No longer was Oscar going at a relaxed and aloof pace, the ranger was dashing over hills and slopes like a bat out of hell. In a short span of time, he had covered nearly half of the distance he was away from the main party. His mind was racing with numerous thoughts. Thoughts regarding the remains of a previous group of adventures. Thoughts of their bloodied and broken forms laying still in the snow stained pink by blood or wine. Thoughts if he made the right call and ran back to his party to alert them of the incident further ahead. But most of all, Oscar thought about if he was going to be fast enough to relay the information and save whoever was still alive from the previous party.

It wouldn't be long now; a few more seconds and he would be where the cart and his compatriots would be.

The Fastest Ape in the area

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@Th3King0fChaos

A scream of anger as the ape flailed its arms about, showering the steadfast warrior with blow upon blow, frustrated at the small thing's resilience.

Unable to get past the warrior's defense, it jumped at the warrior as he too struck, lodging the spear much lower in the ape's torso. With renewed zeal, the ape instantly pulled closer, the spear coming out the back. It was not a fruitless effort by the primate however, for it was now close enough to grab the shield with one hand, while its other arm moved to hammer down a crushing blow on the warrior's head. With the shield grabbed by the much stronger foe, and the spear lodged inside the beast, Argen would be hard pressed to use both those armaments against the ape without first extricating them from it.

---

@GreenGoat
As the swing parried the blow of the first ape creature, she was sure that her swing would hit its mark and send the iron rod crashing to the side of the giant ape. And it would have, if not for the fact that these twin apes have been fighting in coordination as if they were one well oiled machine made for combat.

"OWO!" The first ape called out.

Just as the Knightess had prepared to loose the full swing, the second ape swung upwards. Missing her weapon by scant inches, but instead, caused a transient wall of snowflakes to inhibit her line of sight for a brief moment. The feint swing was intentional. In that moment the second called out to it's other twin.

"WOLOLO!"

Ettamri then felt her full force swing hit nothing but open air. With such force hitting nothing, it caused the Knightess to lose her footing and poise for just a second; but a second was all the apes needed. In the corner of her eye, she could see that the first ape had leaped into the air to dodge her strike, while the second was only moments away from drop kicking the Knightess.

_{Axe Ape}

---

@Skyswimsky
Before the first strike of Muu's flurry of feints and brief slashes could connect, the axe-wielding ape responded to her attack. By instinct, it quickly pivoted backwards on its open fist. Deftly dodging the first blow without so much as staring at Muu, it spun around her first strike. The ape, even though it was so large, spun in a circle. On the way back, its foot dragged on the ground and launched a large pile into the air to obscure both Muu and the ape's own vision.

But rather than chop down with the axe like before, the ape stayed back behind the cloud of white. Instead, a dark brown ball had been launched through the smoke, directly at where Muu's face would have been.

---

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@Rondo of Blood
@OwO

The ape is startled as the spear bearer runs up with a quickness. The beast makes it's way to turn towards the Siwon as it uses its greater reach to try and beat the spear holder. As it's back gets slashed by the ice spear launched by the mage it was trying to crush it yells out in pain as it's arm slings too soon and gets stabbed. The ape in anger and pain begins to use its wider frame to bring a large crash of its arm down onto the spear beared head in hopes of smashing it clean. And if not get the small one to run off so he could hop down and crush the magic caster for shooting it in the back.

As the rock crashes into the ground it grinds to a halt as it misses its targets and slams into the cart rocking it a bit as the horses begin to become slightly startled.

Ettamri Belarence

---

Without a doubt, the action caught her off guard, and had it been anyone else, they would have been sent flying from the sheer force of the attack.

But this was not 'anyone else', she was Ettamri Belarence, boasting of might beyond human, one who had forced open the portculis of the fortress. Almost as soon as she could react, she locked down her joints, taking the brunt of the kick squarely upon her body, yielding not one inch of ground to the blow. Her hands dropped from the iron club, and with surprising speed, grabbed instead the leg of the ape before it could recover.

"__________!!"

With a meaningless roar, she swung the ape at its partner, wild, powerful swings meant as much as to disorient the ape as it was to destroy the other. The air was growing electric around her as she focused her fury on the beast.

The brute of the party, Ettamri, had been doing her own thing. Muu had been dueling an ape on the other side of the wagon and Argen fighting another. The beast that Renauld had fired his 'spear' at, however, charged at Siwon. Renauld and Katya were directly beside him. That meant they were in the crossfire of the rock ape. Having faith that Ettamri could keep the two Aboms on her, Renauld went to help their fiend knight. Quickly, he began to chant:

"Endless tranquility of the Zeroth Circle, bestow thine presence upon this plane! Trespassers, halt thine callow movements within the white expanse! Furosutooooo Shyakuruusu!"

His pronunciation was hard this time around. Quickly, sheets of ice had pierced the snow. The cruel ape slinger's feed had been engulfed by the ice, sticking it in place. Was it a great offensive option? No. But it gave them time. Considering how Ettamri had been a complete brute and was using an ape as a weapon, he believed that as long as he prevented Siwon's threat from moving, he could do whatever a fiend knight did. If they could quickly kill this ape, then they could sweep up the rest with the advantage of their numbers.

---

The noise caused by the raging battle told the ranger that the party was currently engaged in combat. Running up to the peak of the hill before the caravan proper, he saw that they were currently engaged against gigantic ape like monsters that wielded crude but seemingly effective weapons. Everyone was fighting, but it seemed that Ettamri was the only one fighting against two. He did not doubt the capabilities of the Knightess but she was still at a disadvantage. It was time for him to balance out the odds of the fight. Notching a broad head arrow, Oscar takes aim at the ape that just recently landed. Still completely unaware of his arrival. This ensured that his attack would hit its mark without issue nor delay.

---

---

With being put into a pinch and his shield is caught by the beast and his spear inside of it Argen needed to find a way out. He couldn't get both so he decided the best tool for this job needs to get free. So he slips his hand out of the shield handle and slips away as the beast slams down. As the ape tries to reset Argen will try to put all of his weight behind a boot kick to try and shoot the spear through the ape as he uses the momentum to try and feint a tackle as he will try and roll to get around the ape and reacquire his spear.

---

Siwon grunted in annoyance as the ape blocked his spear blow, jerking it back at once. The Fiend Knight then quickly pulled away from the ape's crushing blow, leaping diagonally backward and to the side of its attacking arm, leaping away from its range. If the ape was attempting to crush him, then it would have likely put much of its weight bringing its arm down, leaving an opening Siwon would be able to take advantage of...

... And with the mage freezing the ape in place, it gave Siwon more than enough of an advantage to capitalize on.

Sliding his hands down his spear's haft, the Fiend Knight stepped forward and lunged his spear towards the side of the ape's head. While the ape's arms were indeed long and lanky, Siwon had the benefit of a long-reaching weapon. And with his now superior mobility, Siwon was able to make up the difference in range. While the Fiend Knight's original intention was to distract the ape so that his allies wouldn't need to deal with a ranged threat any longer, Siwon knew he had to take advantage of an opening this large if it ever presented itself...

An offering to the Jaws of Death.