[IC] Defiance

[Seraphin]

@Hokum

Et onske om Herren
Av kjer od nyd satn
Vi boyar in ikke
Pa grun syner oike

Ren nodded with a toothy grin before taking the slice of bread and biting down on the soft pastry. He peered down at Devlin, wondering what kind of bubbling emotion he felt stabbing at his core whenever he laid eyes on her. Not to mention, that damned smile curving her lips at the most unexpected of times which caused a constricting feeling down his chest. Ren could not help but laugh silently at her expense when she bungled in attempting to buy bread from a fruit stand. There was something refreshing from the break she provided from all the absurd routines of Nadska. At this time, Ren would have been sitting down on one of the rugs back at the temple, chanting the reshud with the monks. He almost forgot that he, as a person, was allowed to just be happy and uncaring of the world around him, even for just a brief respite. With the cool air blowing around them and the sun's first rays climbing on the horizon, Ren had never felt lighter than he did now. Memories of Alayan disappearing behind two sliding doors in the arms of a horrid client or reminders of how his guardian swung from the gallows amidst a brutal downpour all vanished as he reached up to sweep a lone strand of hair out of Devlin's face.

It was strange, really, how one woman's helping hand make someone like him believe that there was still good in the world.

Then, for a split-second, the visage of Devlin was replaced by that of Alayan's which caused Ren's breathing to hitch for the briefest of eternities. His throat ran dry as the bread scraped against the roof of his mouth. How long has it been since he made that promise to her, and for that same vow to be broken like glass against stone? As the ghost of a girl long gone slowly faded away, the lad's fingers danced over Devlin's cheek in a futile attempt to revive the warmth he already lost. Tears trickled from his eyes before sliding down in warm rivulets which the musician was able to quickly wipe away as soon as he was able to rein in his thoughts.

Ah, yeah, poor Queno got his sides cut. Yeah, probably at the same time when Tavas got killed as well.

Ren's eyes turned to the two merchants nonchalantly conversing about Queno's demise. While the man was undoubtedly using Ren for his own benefits, the lad felt that he still owed something to the former barkeep. When Ren had arrived in Nadska, it was Queno who opened his doors to the drifter with nowhere to rest his head. It only took a few hours before Queno realized Ren's profession, and soon after,they had already struck a deal. If it wasn't for Queno, he would have been forced to find another village where the undead could have struck. It was a weird sense of gratitude, but for someone whose only memory of kindness was when he was a child rolling upon the snow of Aryali, it was like a drop of water in an unforgiving Akropolian desert.

A slight numbing sensation crept around Ren's heart, his lips trembling in misplaced gratitude. Ren despised death; the thought of someone ending a unique human life was unbearable, because who knew what good things could have happened if that life was left to grow. But, oddly enough, at the darkest recesses of his heart, he felt a grin trying to claw its way up at a monster's end.

Perhaps, with the death of one, more would live.

He wondered about the identity of the slayer, and as his mind formulated possible identities, his eyes drew towards Devlin and the heroic act she performed that night. However, before he could put two and two together, a crash of shattered stone walls made Ren's neck snap in the direction of the noise like a prey sensing a predator. His eyes picked up fragments of rocks hurtling through the air just in time for a chorus of terrified screams to fill the air.

Et reid os afras sraf
Fra bran os dod voldaf

The reshud echoing from the church stopped, only to be replaced by the frantic knells of the large bronze bell housed inside the tower. From the distance of the town center overlooking the lower areas of Nadska, Ren's worst fears came into existence in the form of writhing ghouls and festering cadavers rampaging through the village. The force of the undead tore to bits a good number of guards and militias who nobly threw themselves in the path of the damned. However, what made Ren's blood run cold was the horrific sight of the temple in line for destruction as the scourge advanced towards the stone structure. Since the reshud had already been prayed, it meant that the orphaned children had already entered the temple for their morning meals, and to imagine the dismembered and mauled remains of the children he had come to love brought a snarl on Ren's lips.

His mouth parted in a voiceless scream. No, not again.

But, Ren knew he could not do it alone. A dying spark of hope forced Ren to turn to his friend, trembling and cold hands gripping at hers as he signed in jumbled, desperate gestures.

'The children! We need to help the children at the church!'

The danger of the situation fell on Ren's deaf ears as he bowed his head until it came to rest on Devlin's hands. Warm rivulets of tears stained her hand before Ren looked up on her, teeth grinding against each other in desperation. He wanted to say a thousand things, a thousand reasons why he needed to get a few worthless children out of there, but among the million things that stormed his mind, the only thing he was able to express was a clasp of his hands before putting his right fist over his heart, followed by an open-palmed gesture towards Devlin.

'Please.'

[Candy]

....

Only a few short moments after the invading horde was heard to breach the East wall of Nadska, two rogue skeletons from said horde managed defy every damn law of physics and arrived outside the tavern on the West of town. Less surprisingly, the equivocate Elf and that handsome Jack managed to make short work of these skeletons with incredible ease.

Fauve avoided dealing with the likes of monsters where at all possible. That didn’t mean she was a coward at all, she just didn’t see the point in putting her life in danger without good reason. Turns out, the current situation was good a reason as any. There was the option of following the path of the bookworm runner out the West Gate to probable safety, and she considered that prospect with a thoughtful scratch of her exposed butt cheek, but the problem with fleeing would be the resulting remorse. As much as she would never admit it to any other bastard around, she had a little thing called a conscience. The sum of people in this town were too weak and pathetic to protect themselves against this sort of thing.

Jack was already on rout to the heart of the action with flail and tavern door in hands when Fauve made up her mind. She gave Gabriel a pat on the shoulder in passing, though she didn’t say a word, taking the road that led to the north of town where the panicked cries of many Nadska residents could be heard.

The treed crowd of screamers at the North Gate came into view at the same time that a dispatch of five undead broke away from the horde, their sights set on Fauve. Thing about the undead, is they give no mind to clever tactics. Running at full charge, an anticipated arrow was the first to be released from one of the five and easily blocked by Fauve. Gnarling with discomfort, she had extended one arm well beyond the reach of human ability, seizing the leading skeleton by the neck and using its body as a shield. The hand gripping the skeletons neck then became a scissor-like tool that clamped shut to remove its head before the creature had time to raise its sword against her. While the archer stopped to prepare a second arrow, the other three melee wielding undead continued their futile advance. The two on the outside of the three had no time to prepare for the instant it took for Fauve to extend the bones of her arms like swords, and lop off their heads with an inwards swing. Not having enough momentum in that action to sever the head of the one in the middle, the two blades of her assault quickly turned to hands - one latching to the handle of its mace, the other grabbing its shoulder to keep it at bay - while the fabric of Fauve’s shirt tore open and her boob speared out through its eye. Its skull then busted open as her spear-shaped boob expanded like tongs. No longer than a second after the first arrow was released, she then pivoted on one foot while her other leg took the form of a club and spun about in a circular kick to smash the skull of the archer.

With first a laugh and a dust of her hands, Fauve continued in direction of the crowd at the gate and yelled at the top of her lungs.

“Run, you stupid bunch of imbeciles! The West Gate is clear!”

....

[Polaris North]

Interacting with:
Mentions:

---

Gabriel was rather surprised when he heard the bells tolling and screaming. However, as Jack mauled one of the skeletons that had somehow gotten to them despite the breach being almost opposite of where they are, Gabriel already had his hands on his bow and was already preparing to defend hismelf - and others if need be. Gabriel caught the map deftly and looked back at Jack, who now had a club and a makeshift shield using the door of the tavern, and then made his way to the chaos. He tucked the map safely in his bag, which he really didn't mind carrying while in combat, and then looked at Fauve.

Now, Fauve had another idea. Gabriel only caught a glimpse of what she can do, and he was obviously interested in it as he caught himself staring for half a second, and she ran off to the mass of people who were pushing - in futility - the North Gate. That's odd. Did none of the guards alert the people that the North Gate was stuck?

As he was stuck in his thoughts, a skeleton raised its rusty sword against him and Gabriel jumped back. When the skeleton stumbled forward, he charged forward and sliced its head clean off with a swipe of his sword. For good measure, he crushed the skull. It was brittle, so it was easy. Gabriel headed over to follow Jack, and had an arrow prepared as he moved up. He released arrow after arrow at the ground forces while hiding behind whatever cover he could find.

He spotted the rotting boar monster with archers on top of his head and Gabriel wondered how they would take that down. Ah, but they seemed to be the type to be able to do that. Now he regretted not enchanting his arrows with fire. Fire liked flesh, after all. But forget that now. Gabriel turned to support the other fighters - shooting off extra skeletons who were trying to sucker punch them with a sword - or a mace - or an axe... or well whatever they were holding.

[Hokum]

@Seraphin

---

Play Time

---

Ren’s caress of her food filled cheek didn’t help the battle of infatuation she was feeling for the man. A tingled sensation rushed her body while she tried desperately to keep a calm façade. She was outwardly unaffected by his touch. The task of restraint, however, was quickly surmounted by the empathy she felt at the sight of his tears. Apparent by his weeping, Ren had not only overheard the discussion of Queno’s death, but was deeply hurt by the news as well. At least he wasn’t angry. Still, by the quizzical solemnity of his eyes, it was possible he hadn’t quite fingered Devlin as the culprit - and although she felt the urge to console the musician by clarifying just how much of a despicable human Queno actually was - the sounding alarm of the church bell and invading army of undead soon stole her attention.

She forced herself with great effort to let Ren finish his ensuing and desperate plea to save the children from the church, before she then responding with the suppressed need to retrieve the bow from her back.

Nodding with a note of impatience, Devlin answered ‘yes-yes-yes’ as she nocked a bodkin point arrow and turned to make haste for the church. She sprinted at breakneck speed, each step propelled with a burst of electricity at the balls of her feet. With a quick draw, release, reload, then another release, she broke the lumbar curve of two undead attempting the block her path, and while the two skeletons had not yet finished crumbling to the ground, she leaped over them and cleared the rickety stone fence of the courtyard too. She didn’t even stop to consider that maybe Ren hadn't the means to keep up with her pace until, while cutting across the courtyard, the very last leaf fell almost gracefully from the tree and dashed against her shoulder in passing. The knock against her shoulder was light, but still just enough to make her stop; sliding to a halt as she turned to check if her friend was behind her.

She took this opportunity to returned the bow to her back and draw Mada's gift to her - the antiquated broadsword - from her back instead. A more practical weapon to use inside the church they were about to enter. When Ren had caught up, Devlin was off again, though at a slightly lessened pace, bursting through the doors of the church and down the corridor to the hall where she found numerous children huddled in panic.

The sound of chaos was clearly heard all about in the streets outside, but as of yet none of the undead had entered the church. Nevertheless, they would soon be breaking down the doors - that, and the repetitious tremors of the church foundation made it more than clear that something even bigger was headed quickly in their direction.

“Follow Ren!” She ordered the kids as sparks spat from her mouth, and then turned her attention to Ren as he entered the hall; “Find them a place to hide, or lead them back out the way we came in - And run! Head west if you're leaving the church! Away from the horde – I’ll cover you!”

[Jensoman]

@tex @Candy

Corc continued his advance towards the North Gate, swatting his mace at some skeletons who had broken free from the main horde of undead and were chasing after people left and right. Some of the people who were saved by the Orc's quick actions sighed in relief and thanked the orc, while others simply continued running for their lives without even stopping for a second. Corc spotted a Myti running ahead of him, seemingly into the same direction that he was headed for. Was he trying to escape through the North Gate too? That's when Corc saw a woman duke it out with several skeletons, taking them down in an instant. She used some strange powers, where she turned her limbs onto weapons to fight. He could respect her fighting spirit, despite her odd way of fighting. That's when he heard her mention the West Gate being safe. Corc himself came from there, so he knew it was true.

Corc realised what the source of the many screams was, noticing that the North Gate was stuck and that people were all packed up in one large group, unable to escape. The orc continued his advance immediately, about to reach the North Gate. He stopped next to Fauve. "Corc respect woman's strength...but is dangerous for you here! Must leave now!" He stated, heading over towards the group of people. Corc noticed some undead that charged at the civilians, who screamed in terror in response. He swatted his mace at the few skeletons with blades who were looking to slash into the crowd, smashing their bones to pieces before they could.

The giant stepped in front of the people immediately, his back facing them while he glared at the main force of undead further ahead. "Humans, listen to her! Escape through West Gate...is safe! Corc hold off undead, escape now!" He shouted, taking a defensive stance as two skeleton archers fired at the crowd. Corc stepped sideways to the left to move himself in the path of the arrows before they reached their targets, causing them to bounce off his skin harmlessly. The orc swatted his mace into a nearby rock, sending it flying into the undead archers which shattered their bones to pieces. Corc looked over at the boar briefly. He wanted to fight it, but the people's safety came first. He smiled slightly though, as he noticed that a part of the group of people actually listened and began to head west thanks to his and Fauve's advice.

[Dartbored Fairy]

The bell tolling startles Lui, who freezes in places. It wasn't time for a bell to be tolling, and the noises combined with Aelih's statement weren't making things much better for Lui.

Then came the skeleton, Lui lets out a startled screech, but Aelih quickly deals with it. Lui however isn't really put at ease with the thorough destruction of the skeleton Aelih caused, and decides to cast a spell to set it on fire as well, just in case.

As Aelih suggests leaving, Lui nods. "That sounds like a brilliant plan." She says, following Aelih. "Should we go look for Dani?"

---

As the skeletons keep pouring into the town through the East Gate and Wall, more and more people are forced to flee. While the fastest of the horde easily get picked off by the few who are brave enough to defend the town, the main horde is slowly but surely advancing deeper into the town, accompanied by the massive beast. Soon they are within sight of the church as the beast prepares to attack the church, which will likely level it in the process.

The skeletons themselves meanwhile stay out of the way of the beast, not directly approaching the church but instead moving to attempt to encircle it. Simultaneously, the main horde makes it to the Library and begins it's approach to the North Gate.

At the North Gate itself though, people are starting to realise that the North Gate isn't going to open, and start to turn away to flee to the West Gate instead when their attention is caught by a loud noise. Moments later, something heavy seems to collide with the door as it is forced open. However, the impact seemed to be too much for the door, as it's hinges shatter and the doors collapse, crushing some unfortunate civilians. The North Gate has also been breached, as undead have used some sort of siege weapon to force open the gate. This time accompanied by what appear to be a group of people capable of casting spells, the undead now also begin their assault from the North, charing straight into the mass of defenseless civilians that haven't yet managed to escape.

Near the port, things aren't looking much better, as hideous, bipedal frog-like creatures emerge from the river, boarding ships to prevent people from fleeing via the river. They seize any defensive weapons the ships could potentially have and use them to attack the town, firing ballistae at any civilians they can spot. Until they run out of bolts that is, at which point they torch the ships and head into the town itself.

[Valkon]

It didn't take long before Jack had made his way to the horde of skeletons assaulting the town of Nadaska, meeting their front as they reached the library and had begun heading north. Fighting his way into it, volleys of arrows absorbed by the thick wood of the tavern door secured to his left arm while he carved a path of shattered bone and torn cartilidge with the flail in his right hand. More skeletons moved to fill in the gaps, but despite their numbers he steadily made his way through the chaos towards what had become his primary target: the armored boar-like monstrosity.

From the path the beast was taking, Jack surmised that it was most likely making its way towards the church. For what purpose it had targeted the holy building was neither something that was clear to Jack nor something he cared about. All that mattered to Jack was that it was a monster that had to be put down. The skeletons had left the path in front of it open, creating a clearing that Jack had managed to fight his way into. Standing between the beast and the church, he takes a second to position himself before sprinting towards the beast's front right leg, twisting as he reaches it to slam the spiked head of the flail into it with as much speed and force as he can muster.

[ArkmageddonCat]

Rounding a corner as he walked through the streets of Nadska, Foeldar nearly trampled a group of fleeing villagers who were running in the direction from which he came. After narrowly avoiding them Foeldar lowered slightly to offer an apology, though the people he had nearly collided with were in such a panic that they didn't stay long enough for him to even begin. Then, as Foeldar looked to where they had ran, flaming arrows followed suit from where the humans had come - one of which was deflected by a chunk of stone in Foeldar's side, while another embedded itself in the back of his left shoulder. Too slow. The fire was quickly snuffed out by the water that splashed out of his wound like blood, though the soft hiss hinted at the stinging pain Foeldar felt as a result. Fight back.

Turning to see two skeletons drawing back more arrows, their tips lit with dancing flames, Foeldar found himself hesitating. Fight or die. What could he do? He was half useless against these undead! His spores only worked on creatures that could ingest them, and the hornet swarms only worked against fleshy targets that were susceptible to being stung. There was a slight whistling, then a sharp pain chased quickly by a distinctively stinging sensation. YOU'VE FORGOTTEN. Foeldar felt the surface of his neck buckling in before popping back outwards as water forcefully sprayed from of his new wound, pushing the arrow back out of his neck and sending it twirling some unknown distance through the air to the ground below. There was another arrow embedded in his hip, the fire starting to take hold as it spread ever so slowly. FIGHT OR DIE.

Foeldar swatted at the fire on his hip, crushing the arrow into pieces in the process with a very audible snap. Wiping along his form in a panic he stumbled, unintentionally dodging one of another pair of incoming arrows as the other found it's home in his left forearm. Waving his left arm around frantically, noticed a little blonde girl trying to fight the skeletons that were attacking him. She wasn't winning. SAVE HER. Regaining his composure, Foeldar released another roar. One of the skeletons looked in the direction of the roar to find the mass of tree and rock charging dead at them, drawing another arrow. Before it could fire, however, it found itself half-crushed under the tree-beings foot, it's legs disintegrated into dust with a short symphony of cracks. The second skeleton fired into Foeldar's shoulder, taking him by surprise as he had assumed it to be distracted with the girl... but the girl was gone. You fool. There was no sign of her anywhere. Where could she have gone? Finish the task at hand.

Foeldar reached over to grab the other skeleton, crushing its ribcage in his hand and tossing aside the remains before returning his attention to stomping out the last vestige of life in the undead under his foot with a gratifying crunch. In the distance, down the street, the colossus spotted more fleeing villagers and more undead invaders. PROTECT THEM. He angrily huffed and puffed, taking a few steps forward and wiggling a few bone fragments loose from his foot before continuing. He moved his legs faster and faster, the cobblestone in the roads below starting to shift and crack more and more with every consequent crashing thud. As Foeldar reach a full running speed the thumping sounds of his feet against stone were as loud as ever, drowning out many of the screams that he himself had begun to hear.

The street he was on curved off towards a bell-tower looking building which appeared to be under siege from... a giant boar? Distracted by where he was looking, and unable to turn fast enough, Foeldar collided full speed with a building and was sent tumbling through the debris. Left in a daze, Foeldar stumbled around on his hands and knees, struggling to recover after the fall he had just had. After some time he finally could stand on his own two feet, shaking his head clear before opting to walk the rest of the way towards the towering building that was under attack.

[Candy]

@Jensoman

....

The group of people at the North Gate had clearly heard Fauve yelling at them to flee to the West gate, because a few of them actually listened and started running in a westerly direction. It came as no surprise that the majority of them were too dense to move their asses out of there.

In her peripheral vision, Fauve noticed a large singular body approaching her from the right. She knew what it was, since prior to her little bout with the five undead, she’d caught sight of an Orc swatting his way through a number of pesky undead of his own not far from her own position. He was kinda hard to miss, but she doubted he was a threat to her. As he continued to approach Fauve now, she pretended not to notice until he stepped right up alongside her and announced his testament to her strength, with an added concern for her safety.

Fauve looked to meet with the Orc. Her face was a tad contorted to express her irritation for the stupid people at the North Gate. She looked the Orc’s mass of muscle up and down while maintaining the irritated expression, and yet she still found a second to stare at his groin area before replying.

“Whatever you say, Big Boy.”

The Orc moved on to the gate, and it was good to know he had some smarts about him, proven by the fact that he was backing her up on the call to head for the West gate. She kinda had to laugh, though, since watching the big bastard commence to battling the undead was sort of like watching some mean kid beating small animals around with a bat in his backyard. He sure was enjoying himself, and she instantly took a liking toward him for that. Always good to make the best of a bad situation.

Lo and behold, the party crashers came to ruin the entertainment. While the main front of undead from the East were now closing in on the Orc and the group of people he was sheltering, a heavy blunt force caused the North gate to burst from its seams and came crashing down on some of the civilians there.

And that’s what happens when you don’t listen to reason

Not surprising in the least, the new opening to town gave way to another flood of undead in the company of numerous magic wielding individuals who instantly starting throwing their weight around.

Seems the fun was only just getting started.

Now the remaining civilians had themselves the kick they needed to start running, and that’s exactly what they did. Though many were quickly killed by the onslaught of the arriving horde, the others screamed and finally started running in direction of the West Gate.

Fauve didn’t take the Orc’s advice. There was no backing down now. Besides, she couldn’t let him have all the fun.

“Welcome to the party!” She called out in a battle cry tone that ended with a laugh. Demon horns grew from her head for added effect as she charged in to aid the Orc in battle. Her inhuman agility and speed was, for now, keeping her free from the path of spells being cast, while she tore her own path through the advancing horde in a frenzy of slashing, weapon-shaped limbs.

....

[Polaris North]

Interacting with:
Mentions:

---

Gabriel ducked down as a skeleton swung its sword at him and then he bashed it down with his bow - which held together even after the impact. It did send the skeleton's head flying though, which he was thankful for. He took an arrow out of his quiver and shoved it into another skeleton's head, and then pulled it out once more. He then nocked it back and shot down another skeleton. Gods, no matter how many he puts down, more just keep on popping up.

He heard two more rumbles - and now he saw three giants. The undead boar, an orc and a... a living tree? What were they called again? Golems... ah, Forest Golems! The latter two were friendlies though, as they helped plow down the undead that were attacking. Well, that was certainly helpful. However, he saw the Forest Golem barrel straight into a building and destroy it - leaving the being dazed.

Gabriel heard another set of screaming. He grabbed one of his arrows from one of the dead skeletons and then jabbed it inside one of the skeletons again. It was good that they weren't as good as bandits or something. He then looked over to where the North Gate is - or was, at that point, as it was brought down by the undead. Back at the harbor, it seemed rather chaotic as well. The undead really is invading. Necromancers, probably. Ugh, necromancers.

He spotted Jack making his way to the Church - the holy grounds that they seemed to be intent on going to. The merchant started making his way towards the area as well, avoiding most of the giants. Jack was intent on stopping the boar creature, and Gabriel figured that the man would have a better chance in taking down the beast than he would be with his bow and arrow. However, he decided to play support. He took aim at one of the archers on top of the boar and released arrow after arrow in hopes to at least put down their numbers so the other wouldn't be rained on with arrows.

[tex]

Dannisus scurried across the town's paths quickly, looking over his shoulder once every few seconds to check the distance between him and the hulking green creature that followed. He was making headway, but there wasn't any way to be sure that he'd stay that far ahead. The Myti made a sharp right turn before getting anywhere near the north gate, heading off the beaten path and between several buildings. The walls were perfect, sporting numerous gaps and holes as a result of wear and tear, no doubt. He jumped from one brick to the next, deftly speeding up the narrow path with a series of well-placed wall kicks until he reached the rooftops with a soundless landing. He didn't stop. The gaps between buildings were easy to clear with a few short hops, and in no time at all, he was completely out of sight, and impossible to pursue any further. At least, that's what he thought.

From the top of the buildings, it was much harder to see anything aside from the church's bell tower, and the outer northern gate. He stopped for a moment, slowing his sprint to a crawl as he took it all in. The sound of skeletons stampeding through the streets was at an all-time high. Not only were they flooding the paths behind the church, but Dannisus spotted the top of the northern gate falling to the ground, moments before it crashed into the ground. From the north now, as well? He turned westward momentarily, but couldn't see anything. "curse it all," he hissed under his breath. What was he to do now? Dannisus's mind was a well-oiled machine, but he was terrible under pressure. Synapses fired chaotically in his head, but he grabbed his hair and tugged viciously downwards with a little 'mya', reorienting himself almost immediately. The church! It was close, and it was fortified. Well, at least, much more than the rest of these civilian buildings. But approaching the venue became more hazardous with each passing moment.

That's where the rumbling originated from.

He peered over the edge of his perch, at the streets below. The skeleton swarm was much thicker than it was further west. If he jumped down there unprepared, he wouldn't be able to react using his usual style of combat. Dannisus was much better suited to confined bouts and duels, not as a soldier on the front line of a disastrous battlefield. His eyes fell upon the church once more. It was too late to turn around now.

The north gate, Dannisus thought as the rumbling grew louder and stronger. He couldn't smell anyone, or anything thing over the overpowered scent of fetid flesh and crushed bones. Tracking Lui and Aelih down in the midst of these skeletons was impossible. The only way he'd find anyone would be through tracking their Mana. But through the thickness of the horde, only large scale spells would tickle his nose. He decided, if only after a brief delay, to make his way north. Dannisus peered over the roof's edge one more time. They horde's thickness had doubled while he thought to himself. That was just great. He took no more time to think, and quickly made his way across whatever rooftops he could, towards the northern gate. There was no safety to be found in the church if that rumbling was to be given any measure of caution. It was a lost cause.

[Jensoman]

@Candy

Corc spun around 180 degrees immediately when the loud thumping occured, and the North Gate was smashed down. He swiped his mace at it to shatter some pieces to prevent it from collapsing on him and the civilians in the immediate vicinity near him. Unfortunately, he could not protect all of the people as many were crushed or slaughtered by the approaching undead horde. The orc grit his teeth for a moment. This was going to take more effort than he anticipated, but he was up to the challenge. To his surprise, the woman he'd spoken too didn't retreat but joined him in combat. He appreciated the aid."Corc not have this much exercise in weeks!" He blurted out in a pleased tone. 'But still hungry...' He thought.

The orc swatted his mace in wide horizontal swings at the approaching undead before him, glaring at the siege weapon before him. Despite his reckless way of fighting, he made sure not to strike any civilians or Fauve. He smashed many undead down without hesitation, while their arrows continued to bounce off of him. "CORC..." The Orc suddenly hopped into the air with a mighty jump towards his foes, and swung his mace downwards with great force behind it. "...SMASH!!!" The blow slammed powerfully into the ground, creating a small crater as the ground shook violently. Cracks began to form and rip through the ground towards the advancing siege weapon and his enemies while rocks popped out of the ground. The move was intended to destabilize the weapon in order for it's wheels to sink deep within crevices to slow it's approach or to stop it's advance for good, while making it harder for the legion of undead to proceed through the uneven, ruined terrain.

Many undead ended up with shattered bones or fell over from the sheer impact of the blow, but the mages responded immediately and hopped further back before Corc had even landed. They weren't as simple minded as the undead were, after all. Corc took this chance, and spun around in circles rapidly, swatting his mace around to smash through many of the undead before they could recover from the quake. "CORC WHIRLWIND!!!" The mages began to launch spells at the orc, however. The orc stopped his spin when he noticed, but a lightning bolt already zipped through the air towards his face. The orc let go of his mace with one of his hands and rose his hand at the very last moment to use his arm to shield his face. The electricity crashed violently into his arm, leaving a hefty burn mark behind. It may not have been enough to do severe damage, but it certainly hurt Corc more than anything else had so far. The orc hopped further back immediately to widen the distance between the incoming spells and himself, and put the mace he'd been wielding on his back. He began to dodge the bolts, occasionally using his spiked gauntlets to straight up punch through those that he was too slow to dodge. It was clear that he wasn't good at countering magic.

[Candy]

@Jensoman

....

Fauve had a saying: “Don’t try drinking an ocean of water.”

It was plain damn obvious at this point that she and the Orc could have kept on fighting till the cows came strolling home, but they weren’t about to win this battle. They were outnumbered, simple as that. Winning the battle was never Fauve’s intention to begin with anyway. Hell, it had been a bit of fun to fight the undead, but the real reason for doing so had already expired: All the civilians within the immediate vicinity had fled, either to the west gate or somewhere else in town. There was no one left here to save and she wasn’t about to diddle about in harm’s way for no good reason.

Fauve realized her work in this area was done at the same time one of the Orc’s ground slams set her off balance and subsequently almost got her struck by a stray flaming arrow. First regained her footing, she then made her next move: Jumping high and moving fast, she using the heads of the nearby undead as stepping stones to get closer to the Orc, and when close enough, she took a hard leap and landed right on top of him. She straddled to the orc like a little girl might take a ride on her daddy’s shoulders, and raised her voice above the sound of the battle.

“Now you listen to me, you big, bad bastard! In case you haven’t noticed we are already outnumbered and they just keep coming. We won’t be winning this battle today. Look around, Orc, there’s no people here left to save! So go! Go now!”

While Fauve was yelling, she swiveled to turn at the waist. Her torso was now facing backwards, while her legs were still facing forward and straddled to Corc’s shoulders. Her left forearms also opened up to an expansion of dense bone that took the form of a shield, while the bone of her right arm extended like a three meter sword from the flesh of her hand.

“And don’t worry about a damn thing! I’ve got your back - you take care of the front! Now giddy up! Get us the hell out of here!!”

....

[Jensoman]

Corc was still bashing the spells that came his way with his fists, until he felt something or someone land on top of him. "CORC?!" He shrieked, somewhat surprised that the woman landed on him. His first instinct was to shake off whatever had just reached him, but then he recognised the woman's voice. "CORC NOT HORSEY!!" He whined loudly. Despite his complaint, the orc began to head westwards as Fauve suggested. He and Fauve had stalled the troops at the North Gate long enough, allowing most of the surviving citizens to escape. He appreciated Fauve's support as her shield stopped the magic spells. "Corc is grateful." He admitted.

"Corc is Corc. Corc the orc. What is woman's name?" He asked Fauve, sprinting towards the West gate as fast as he could. Part of him wanted to duke it out with the boar, but Fauve was right and he knew it. If he stayed, it would only be a matter of time until he would have gotten overwhelmed. The orc focused on escaping the town now, he'd done all he could. Still, the fact that he wouldn't get a proper place to stay or a good, well made meal wasn't a very good thought for him. "Will be a while before Corc can eat.." He muttered.

[Zyngard]

Aelih vaguely hears the sounds of something coming from the north gate and gives a sigh “Of course. Wait, wasn’t that gate stuck? ...that doesn’t bode well.” Aelih gives a quick look around for any more skeletons, not seeing any, but seeing off a ways away... an orc? With... someone riding it? The hell?

Aelih looks over to Lui, remembering that the lantern she’s carrying was previously a quarterstaff, and slings the spear away Waste of energy to enchant it... “In advance, sorry about this, but...” Aelih reaches over and picks up Lui with a grunt, lifting her over the shoulder not with the spearpoint sticking out “Time to go, and no offense but I’m going to assume I’m faster than you are.” With that, Aelih starts running off using the nearest clear path towards the west gates, avoiding the few skeletons out this far. “If anything gets too close, would you mind handling it? You seem a magey type, and I’m a bit busy to try and use my spear right now”

[Candy]

@Jensoman

....

Fauve was wanted throughout the land for a good number of crimes, which is why she had already lied about her name to Gabriel and Jack. She didn't really see a big problem by sharing her true identity with this orc, but it was still better to be safe than sorry, for now anyway.

"Call me Fran. Good to meet ya there, Corcy! Gotta say," She laughed, "Even for me, this isn't the most conventional way to be meeting someone."

The crowd of undead and necromancers had cleared a great deal on their journey towards the West gate, though there were a few stragglers around, which she and Corc were quick to eliminate. Aside from that, Fauve was enjoying the ride.

"Well, Corc the Orc," She suggested, swiveling at the waist to face forward again, "if you really need to eat, shouldn't be too big a deal." She gave him a slap on his massive deltoid and leaned past his head so he could see where she was pointing. "You see that Tavern over there on our right? Rumor has it the owner of that establishment is a little on the indisposed side of things. So I'm guessing we could stop by and grab ourselves some free grub before heading out of this shithole of a town. What do ya say?"

She jumps from Corc’s shoulder now and runs alongside him in direction of the tavern, which is when she spots a person heading up the path to the West gate. From what she could make out at that distance, this person was carrying another individual over their shoulder. Seems to be she wasn’t the only one hitching a ride to safety that morning.

More than just food was on Fauve's mind though. She was in need of a change of attire and was currently quite the sight for sore eyes. Prior the battle, her right butt cheek was already exposed from a tear in the rear of her trousers. Now she had a boob hanging out from the rip in her shirt as well. Her trouser legs were also shredded from the many times she had transformed her limbs to sharp weapons, and her shoes, well, they had long since gone and perished during the battle. This is one reason why Fauve generally dressed in nothing more than ragged clothing. Not much point in spoiling the finer variety of attire.

“I can probably find something to wear in one of the rooms while you’re getting a bite from the kitchen.”

....

[Seraphin]

Major Interactions: @Hokum@Polaris North

The sight of the undead boar barreling towards them froze Ren in his tracks as he ushered the children to safety. The relentless hail of arrows falling all around them only added to the spilling anxiety while the children screamed in their dire efforts to flee to the western gates. Some of the surviving monks accompanied the children as they charged beneath the barrage, causing a few of his brethren to fall in a noble attempt to save the children. Frantic steps crushed against the grass as they made their way out of the church grounds. For a brief moment, Ren spotted the last leaf laying on the ground, crushed and destroyed under the heels of panic. As a sudden good soul faced the boar, Ren took one last look behind him to check for Devlin and any other stragglers.

Kiya, one of the orphans, released a shout as her feet failed her as the young girl tumbled to the ground with a thud. The cohort of skeletal marksmen accompanying the boar locked their sights on the child as their boney recurves lifted into the air before they nocked fatal arrows of blight and shadow which soon shot into the air with deadly accuracy. The arrows rained all around Kiya as Ren rushed towards her. He scooped her into his arms before turning her away from the wave of arrows. Sharp, hellish pains wracked through Ren as two arrows pierced his body, but the lad shook it off in favor of trudging to his feet and carrying the girl to safety behind a row of houses. Soon, the pain became too much to bear as Ren sank to his knees and helped Kiya to her feet. Brother Adenard, one of the surviving monks, sprinted to Ren's side as he left Kiya to his care. The two sped towards the western gate, leaving Ren alone with his wounds as he took cover behind one of the sundered walls, awaiting Devlin's arrival to his side.

With the arrows embedded into his system, probably cutting a vein or two, Ren breathed hard as a silent prayer escaped his lips. It was like moving a muscle, something already memorized from years of experience. A part in his brain twitched before a legion of cells flooded into his body. Trembling hands reached upon the arrows, excruciatingly pulling them out of his flesh. Ren threw his head back, blood pouring from the wounds as he forcibly extracted the wooden projectiles from his body before throwing them to the ground. His hands fell to the floor in exhaustion, his head drooping as the nasty incisions on his chest and side began to sew together as if an invisible suture threaded them shut. A healthy shade of pink returned to Ren's face as his muscles bulged from the excess cells developing his body to inhuman levels.

He rose to his feet, knees wobbling in the process. His eyes soon caught the sight of a golem and two men battling with the boar. They were sure to lose with a growing number of undead looming over the horizon. The church stood like a solemn lighthouse of hope among the tidal waves of destruction circling around it like wolves with prey. For decades, the church had remained standing even through the earthquakes and the calamities which struck Nadska. It was a sanctuary for the lost, but as the undead began to scale its stone parapets, Ren saw visions of a Nadska overrun with no chance of fighting back.

They had to save as much fighting force as possible. There was no point in wasting a precious life to a never-ending spawn of hell. Noticing Devlin, he raised his hands to her. How he wanted to express his gratitude to her, and for a moment, he felt the urge to wrap his arms around her, but these feelings could wait. What was more important was to save the lives that could still be wrenched from the jaws of magics beyond men.

'We need to escape with them. No point to fight without chance of win.' He gestured to the three entities clashing with the army sieging the church. 'Worry not about me. I cannot be killed easy. Worry for them. We help them escape.'

Ren dashed towards one of the men loosing arrows upon the skeletons. The mute lad flailed his arms to catch his attention, hoping to Heren that this guy could understand him. He began to sign, communicating with them to start retreating as all the kids had already fled from the church. No glory could be wrought from salvaging a hollow temple whose only denizens were stone-cold gods and flickering candles. They could not win today, but there was still hope tomorrow.

All they could do was to gather their strength together and rage against the dying of the light.

[tex]

Nadska's rooftops served to be of far more use than Dannisus imagined at first. The compact little district he'd traversed was a godsend. Spotting Lui and Aelih only a few minutes into his northern venture was yet another blessing. Perhaps fate could only be so cruel after all.

Unfortunately, he met a stopgap in his travel. The distance between him and the tavern was split by a main road, and a few grass knolls beyond that. He couldn't possibly jump that far, even with the trees that were peppered throughout town. But Lui and Aelih were within shouting distance now, and he'd made considerable headway on the bulk of the horde. It wouldn't be long before they caught up, so without delay-

"A-"

His tongue turned to cotton when he spotted the massive orc giving chase. Dannisus caught himself and stared blankly at the monstrous creature, before noticing a familiar, rude face following closely by his side. He cringed in part amazement, and part confusion. Most of his doubts about the orc were quickly vanishing. But why were they following so closely behind Lui and Aelih?

"To help?" He mouthed, "Astounding!" His face contorted into an unsure grin, and he peered over the edge of his foothold at the ground below. There were only a few skeletons, and none of them were packed tightly enough to cease his advance. Dannisus took a few steps back, drew his long sword and breathed deeply before charging off of the roof. He landed with a gentle thud against the edge of a patch of grass that lay safely at the foot of an old maple tree, and rolled to his feet before taking off into a sprint.

"ѻٱ!" He howled. The influx of his accent carried farther than one might have expected from a little Myti, but it also served to attract some unwanted attention. Fortunately for Dannisus, there was no way any of those skeletons were going to catch up to him before he got within the protective circle of Corc's smashing range.

He just hoped that the giant green monster didn't harbor a profound dislike for Myti.

[Hokum]

@Seraphin@Polaris North@ArkmageddonCat@Valkon

---

Diminishing Returns

---

There was only so much Devlin could do in covering Ren in his attempt to usher the children from the church. A rain of electric-charged arrows did well in to begin with, but soon the ever increasing horde of monsters became overbearing. She became distracted, soon resorting to her sword to keep off a front of undead that chose to concentrate their efforts on her. By the time she had laid them to rest, Ren could be seen on his own, sheltered momentarily between two houses across the street and gesturing at her.

The children were gone, hopefully in the way of safety.

In the brief moment of peace - standing before the front line of undead that encompassed the church - she gave Ren a nod to let him know she understood, but her attention was diverted yet again, this time by the Forest Golem that was walking in her general direction. Devlin regarded the Golem with a twisted grin of both cunning and admiration. It had been years since she’d laid eyes on a beautiful creature like that, and she knew what he was capable of.

“Hechin!” She yelled out at Foeldar. She pointed toward Jack and Gabriel battling the giant boar, and then shifter her finger to point at Ren as he made a break from the houses towards those two men. In this way she was indicating the only people left in the area who were in need of assistance. The civilians in the area had already fled or perished. “We need to head west to safety. Help us!”

Oddly enough, and inadvertently so, she smiled commendably at the Golem before turning away and rushing to Ren’s aid once more.

The musician was busy trying to relay a message to Gabriel who was fighting beside Jack, in what would mostly likely be a fruitless effort in bringing down the giant boar. Before Gabriel could reply one way or another to Ren, Devlin had arrived within earshot of the three, and proceeded to repeat the words Ren was attempting to relay with sign language, yelling loud enough for both Jack and Gabriel to hear:

“The children are out of the church and on their way to safety! No glory can be wrought from defending a hollow temple. We all need to leave!”

Despite the truth behind the words, Devlin was torn inside. Yes, there was no point in battling a battle that couldn’t be won, at least not today, and she honestly had no desire to try and take down an army from hell. After all, they were merely just puppets in her eyes. Nevertheless, she still had the nagging feeling that the source of the monsters was at hand - somewhere in the town of Nadska - and she wanted so desperately to hunt it down. Unfortunately, there would be no time to seek out her nemesis now. She would have to wait or, perhaps, return once the others were at a safe distance from the hordes.

[Jensoman]

@tex @Candy @Zyngard @Dartbored Fairy

Corc noticed a male elf carrying a little boy...or was it a girl?...further ahead. Regardless, the green giant turned towards Fauve as she suggested paying a quick visit to the tavern. The orc smiled and nodded. "Sounds like good idea to Corc!" He sung, pleased that he would still be able to enjoy a meal. "Corc not enjoy stealing, but Corc thinks owner already fled or died, and tavern won't last long." He added, referring to the fact that the monsters probably didn't intend to leave much of the town whole.

That's when he heard a sharp, strange howl to his right. The orc turned towards the noise, noticing a Myti that sprinted over to him. "Cat man..?" He spoke, confused. His muscles tensed up however, when he noticed that some skeletons were giving chase. The Orc turned 90 degrees, stomping and stopping hard on his left foot as he slid to a halt. He took a step forward to move himself in between the Myti and the skeletons, and aimed a mighty left hook at the creatures.

He straight up smashed through the skull of one of them which caused it's body to go limp, as the second skeleton aimed to flank and slash horizontally at his right side with it's blade. The orc rose his right foot and stomped hard onto the blade, slamming it into the ground and shattering it into pieces. Before the skeleton could do anything else while trying to regain it's balance, the orc slammed his right knee into it's rib cage, shattering it into pieces.

The orc turned towards Dannisus and nodded. "Are you okay, cat man?" Corc asked.