[IC] The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

[Crimson Paladin]

Just as everything was going smoothly, it happened. Fomorians- many of them- emerged from the shadows with malicious intent. They looked similar to the ones that the knights had killed previously, probably their kin. The townspeople fled at the sight of the horrid creatures within the walls. It was actually happening, Redwater Point was under attack.

According to the standards of chivalry set by Sorcha the old king she was supposedly reincarnated from, it was his duty to protect the townspeople and strike down the attackers. However, Redwater Point also had a special significance to him- long ago, it was under his family's protection. With his family gone, that weighty responsibility was now his.

Just as he drew his weapon and prepared to fight, a hooded stranger leapt from the rooftops and slew several of the Fomorians in quick succession with phantom weapons. When the new arrival's hood fell back, Ethelred recognized the youthful features of an elf upon him. The man challenged Ethelred to show what he could do. Normally he would've assumed this to be a challenge to a fight, but in light of the current situation, the context was no doubt to assist him in putting down the Fomorians.

Ethelred nodded, and took up a position between the Fomorians and the fleeing civilians- he was not going to give any of the a chance to run off after the locals. He let loose a whistle to call his horse. It had been a challenge to learn how to do it without being able to hold anything to his mouth, but it should suffice at this distance.

I hope that branch I tied it too wasn't too strong.

Ethelred stomped his foot down, channeling his ice powers to freeze the ground in front of him. All around him frost formed on the ground, plants, and stone.

"I am Etheling Ethelred Edmundson, last of my line, and Redwater Point is under my family's protection!" he bellowed to the Fomorians in front of him. "If you seek to lay a hand on the good people of this town, you will first have to go through me!" Normally he would have used his more modern title- Sir Ethelred the Frozen Knight of Airedale- but Redwater Point held a very special significance to him.

Four of the Fomorians charged. Ethelred bashed the first one aside with his shield, causing it to lose footing on the icy ground and fall on its back. The second found itself impaled on Ethelred's lance, thrust with such force that it pushed through and shallowly stabbed a Fomorian behind, causing it to to slip and fall on the ice. The fourth, a many-headed quadruped, leapt at the knight and sunk all three of its heads' teeth into Ethelred's weapon arm.

The Frozen Knight maintained his footing as if the ice was not even there, and once again evoked his powers of freezing. Frost formed on the unyielding beast's heads as they froze solid, causing the body to go limp as the heads expired. The impaled Fomorian suffered a similar effect, frost creeping out from the plugged hole in its chest as its torso froze solid. At this point the fourth of the attackers was still struggling to its feet due to the gaping chest wound, but the first had managed to get back on its feet and attacked Ethelred, charging right into his raised shield with its dagger held high, intent on reaching over the crystalline bulwark to stab the knight behind it.

The dagger deflected off of Ethelred's crystalline gorget, and as the beast tried to reach another strike, it realized with horror that its chest had frozen to the shield which it had foolishly pressed itself against. It ceased its attacks and desperately tried to pull itself loose in vain before going limp as its torso froze completely.

With the three of them killed, Ethelred approached the fourth, which was now finally getting back on its feet despite its wound. Almost effortlessly he slid the dead Fomorians off of his weapons and armor, the ice that had fervently gripped them moments ago now yielding. Just as the Fomorian gave out a defiant cry and raised its weapon, Ethelred's horse, having heard his call and broken free of its post, came from behind and headbutted it with its horns, sending the creature flying right onto his lance.

Ethelred freed the enemy from his lance and climbed atop the horse, only then acknowledging the elf.

"I'm going to make sure the people are safe. Thanks for your help, stranger," With that, he galloped in the direction where the people had fled, determined to protect them.

@Cu Chulainn

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location:
Redwater Point
Mid-Morning

---

@Cu Chulainn@Guy0fV4lor@Crimson Paladin

---

The guard, could barely process what was happening. One moment, he had been making fun of this knight. The next, his fellow guardsman had been brutally murdered! And then this knight somehow, had managed to slay the next five within mere seconds of another! The guard could only watch in stunned silence as the monstrosities known as Fomorians were dealt with like they were nothing.

Realizing that being out here in the open like this, the guard would flee into the manor, likely to inform the mayor of what was happening.

Thankfully for Elias, they were well and truly dead. Each had been dispatched swiftly and brutally - and as the shouts and howls from the fomorians led him away from the manor and towards the village market, it seemed him and Ethelred had made short work of the Fomorians. The one he had punted would sail right through the air, about as graceful as any fomorian would fly, and would likely every fly - and slammed right into Marduk

With the five that had attacked him, the four that had attacked Ethelred…and the four that another stranger had dealt with, it seemed most of the creatures had been dealt with, but something wasn’t right. Murdock could feel it, sensing it before he could see it. Something big was nearby…being in the same direction as a majority of the people had fled.

It was a man. At least, it looked something like a man - but it was far too large to be a normal human. Standing nearly ten feet tall, it towered above the humans. A single eye was positioned in the middle of its forehead, wearing what seemed to be tough armor made of steel across its legs and chest, and in its hands was a massive spiked club - and promptly slammed it into a woman who had been attempting to escape down a nearby alleyway.

---

@Pyromania99@VitaVitaAR@FrogRFlowR
Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Late afternoon

---

The knight's retaliation was swift. Leo and Gabriel could only look on in mild awe at what they were witnessing. Luna, charging in head first to route the bandits and taking the pressure off them. The beams of light struck the individual bandits hard enough to disorient, giving her brothers enough room to finish them off as she approached. Swords rained from above, impaling the bandits from behind as Fio cast her spell, the phantom blades mowing down the bandits without care. From behind them, Niall’s speed and lance would ambush the bandits…

And the Queen, leaping from her steed, would brandish her blade as she landed on a nearby bandit, the large blade sinking deep into the bandits back as he’d crumple to the ground. Swiftly as a flash of lightning, Sorcha would engage a second, the Queens blade tearing through a second bandits torso before grabbing him by the armor, dragging and tossing him into a small group of others.

She’d raise her blade, lightning arcing across its surface.

“ENOUGH!” A crackle of thunder followed, a flash of lightning. From the heavens, a bolt of thunder would fall upon the group of bandits in front of her. Shouts of pain, smell of burned flesh as it was quickly followed by another bolt, then another, and a fourth final bolt of lightning as the queen would lower her blade. By now, no doubt she had their attention. “Any who wish to stay here, will be slaughtered mercilessly,” She’d raise her sword just slightly, her voice loud and commanding. “Any who wish to flee…will live. Make your choice.”

The bandits that remained would immediately disengage, pulling away from the knights and the conflict. A quiet silence, and a lull would fall over the battlefield.

“They’re the ones the boss told us about, aren’t they!?”

“Damn it! Retreat! He told us not to fight them! We’re not winning this!” The majority would indeed heed the queen's word and immediately start fleeing, deeming their lives not worth this. Even with their numbers, it seemed like their boss had told them not to engage - only a few would be left behind to cover their retreat, blocking the knights from following the majority of their force as they’d begin to scatter.

“...so that’s the Queen, huh?” Leo watched, lightning bolts falling from the sky, bringing judgment upon the bandits.

“She’s…sure is something.” Gabriel would whistle as the bandits would start scattering.

“Mind out of the gutter, brother. I Doubt a queen would take kindly to that kind of talk.”

“Says you….wait! Leo!”

“Luna!”

Leo swiftly positioned himself between Luna and the rest of the bandits. Something clanged against his blade - another blade clanging against the ground in front of him, it barely having been deflected from a distance.

“Retreat? Heh, that was the order he gave to us if the Queen of Airedale showed up. I was skeptical, but it seems his fears were founded.” Among the group of bandits, was a tall, lanky looking man covered in a large brown cloak that obscured most of his features. As he’d approach the group, the cloak would shift aside just slightly on the right - revealing not one, or two…but three arms, lithe but with visible muscle and a blade in two while sparks of fire danced between the fingers of the third. He would slowly remove his hood, revealing blackened skin with white, long, frazzled hair.

“...the heck is this guy?”

“On guard, Gabriel.”

“Gabriel, Leo, stay out of this.” Sorcha narrowed her eyes at the man. “Why is a fomorian helping bandits?”

“A fair question, that I have no intention of answering.” He’d brandish the large blade in the hand, a wave of air rushing passing by the gathered knights. “But that’s neither here nor there, O noble Queen. I won’t be allowing you to pursue my comrades…as well…I’m curious as to the strength of these knights of yours. Perhaps, indulge me for a moment and I won’t simply cut my way through this outpost of yours.”

“...Niall, I know this isn’t what we discussed, but I think he means you, too!” Sorcha commanded the knight that had joined the field. “Fio, Luna, prepare yourselves! This might get dangerous! Gabriel, Leo! Go capture one of those bandits before they escape!”

[Guy0fV4lor]

---

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin@Cu Chulainn

As Reinhardt hurriedly rushed into the main area of the town, he took quick assessment of the surrounding area. Amongst the various corpses and wreckage the Kight counted the bodies of at least eight more Fomorians, which with his added five made twelve in total...

Another scream, the sound of a body crushed to sickly pulp.

Reinhardt's head snapped toward the source; his gaze falling upon a cyclops wreaking havoc in the market. The Knight's jaw clenched tightly as his gaze narrowed-- not only were Cyclopes uncommon to encounter outside of a wasteland or otherwise remote locations, but were also fairly unintelligent... So how did it get here? And perhaps far more concerning... How did it get its hands on well-fitted steel armor?

Such inquiry would have to wait. So long as the creature lived, the people of Redwater would remain in grave danger; as evidenced by the dozen or so corpses at the Cyclops' feet.

Sucking a deep breath, the glow of Reinhardt's chest surged; his blood like fire in his veins for the barest of moments. With a mighty stomp, he launched himself forward at the Cyclops; leaving the cobble road broken in his wake! "I'll grab it's attention! Use the opening!" he bellowed to Ethelred and the Elven stranger as he hurled a fistful of rocks at the creature's singular eye!

[Cu Chulainn]

The Swordwind Cometh

---

Marduk was surprised that such a cursed man was a knight of all things, and had also been fighting the Fomorians. It was a good thing that this knight was not leading the Fomorians as he had initially surmised, but has been instead sent here to stave them off. To Marduk, it meant there were weirdos just like him in this world, weirdos who have also answered the call to battle. He smiled just a bit as this 'Ethelred' rode away.

This smile would quickly shift into concern and worry as Marduk would notice the sun setting far too soon, before getting slammed into the ground by a sudden goblinoid from the sky. His sword would disappear at an instant as he was struck by the thing, his shimmering cloak covered with the dirt, grime, and cursed blood that stained the ground beneath him. Of course, such a slight had made Marduk reasonably pissed. It was a good thing that he didn't see the source of who threw this goblin, else these knights would all find themselves another dangerous adversary.

There was no time to dawdle, however. A dread aura had entered Marduk's sights, one that was far greater than any threat he had faced thus far. Sitting up, he'd look straight at the armored monstrosity. The mere appearance of such a beast had caused the blood in Marduk's veins to fire up, offended by this beast's mere existence. Standing himself up and preparing to pounce at the one-eyed giant, Marduk's bubbling rage had made itself apparent as he roared a primal roar towards the monster.

Before he was fully blinded by his rage, however, Marduk would see another stranger enter the fray. It was a man in armor, with strength that could rival his own, leaping into the throes of the Cyclops and drawing its attention. Marduk's anger faded only slightly, just enough for him to see the reason in this knight's action. He would not let such an ample opportunity go to waste.

First off, Marduk would snap the neck of the goblin that had crashed into him, turning its head a complete 180 degrees. He would then quickly unbuckle his cloak, quickly throwing the hood onto the Fomorian as he would drag the rest of its body by its arm. He would then make his way towards the cyclops, running towards this enemy with his staff in one hand and the mangled corpse of a Fomorian in the other.

The Elven weapon-masters had taught Marduk many things revolving the arts of warfare. One such lesson was the usage of uniforms, identifying marks that would allow one to tell friend from foe in the heat of battle. It was these familiar things that ensured soldiers would not turn on their allies when emboldened by the fury of combat, and for these soldiers to work more properly as an organized unit. Of course, if told to wear a uniform by his a superior, Marduk would tell them to suck his unit instead. He disliked the usage of uniforms as it also meant that the enemy would more easily identify him, and that the element of surprise would be robbed from the engagement.

It was through this logic that Marduk's gambit had come to fruition. The Elves, who saw the Fomorians as cursed hounds who are better off being put down than to let their illness fester, hated the Fomorians with a passion more personal than any of the other denizens of Albion could possibly carry. As such, the few skirmishes they would carry among their cursed kin would be particularly bloody. The Fomorians, in contrast, hated the Elves in return, directed by the hatred of their cursed towards the uncorrupted. Their primitive intelligence had lead them towards all life, indiscriminately slaughtering them to meet the the desires of their Unseelie masters.

This Cyclops seemed to have some form of advanced thought compared to its lesser kin. After all, it was wearing armor, cowardly as it may be. Still, even if it carried the faintest fragments of intelligence that separated it from the rest, it was still a raving mad beast in the end, lead by simple instinct. It also helped that the foe was occupied, its vision potentially obscured by the knight who had chosen to enter combat with the beast. Surely, if it were to see a figure garbed in a Cloak of Elvenkind, it wouldn't think twice but to smash it.

"Eye over here, ugly!" Marduk yelled towards the Cyclops, directing his voice to the direction opposite of the giant foe's club before throwing the cloaked Fomorian towards that same direction. Once that was completed, Marduk quickly grabbed his staff with his opposite hand, placing one of its flat ends to the ground in front of him and utilizing the momentum of his charge to vault upwards. Much like the knight before him, Marduk soared into the sky, his Elven agility being made apparent as he had left little indentation on the ground in contrast. Somersaulting into the air and towards the Cyclops, Marduk's spectral greatsword would shimmer into existence once more as he began his descent towards his foe.

Marduk had hoped his own distraction would work, especially when compounded with the other knight's. Ideally, the Cyclops would slam its spiked club into his makeshift decoy, leaving its unprotected arms open long enough for Marduk to cut one of them clean off. Even if that wasn't the case, so long as he was able to lay a clean strike on the unarmored portions of the beast, his blessed blade would burn away at the cursed rot that permeated the thing.

[Pyromania99]

As the bandits dispersed, Luna gave a small sigh. This wasn't the first nor the last time this happened, though... In these numbers? Not so. She dismounted her horse and was about to disagree with Leo about the queen not liking that comment when she heard her name being yelled and Leo jumping in front of her, blocking something. A thrown blade hit the ground and Luna looked at where it had come from. An odd looking Fomorian came from the crowd that was retreating. He had a menacing look with multiple arms that all looked rather inhuman. "Not your typical fomorian running the wastes I gather..." Luna said as she readied some of her magic, coating her sword and shield with a magical light. She looked to Leo and smiled, "Regardless, whenever I'm around you guys I let my guard down and need you two to protect me like that, don't I? Guess it's Gabe's turn next." She looked back to her other brother with a teasing smile, "Take my horse Leo. I have a feeling that he won't be too helpful against this guy."

Luna turned back to the Fomorian in front of them and gave him a hard, studying gaze after he brandished the large blade and a gust of wind blast past them all. If even her queen was worried about him, than perhaps this was a fight she was going to have trouble with. How fun. "Very well, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get." She was mostly sure her sword and shield would have zero problems with taking hits from this monster so she wanted to make sure he didn't go after Fio. "Niall was it? I'm counting on you, even if we've not met. Our Queen has pretty good decision making so if she trusts you well." With that, she charged at the monster, shield up with a defensive posture, testing the waters so to speak. As she closed in, she'd give a swing of her sword towards the Fomorian and what looked like a blade of light shot towards it. Behind it, Luna followed, swinging to connect with the Fomorian with her shield at the ready in case he countered with an attack with his weapon.

[VitaVitaAR]

The only logical outcome was what followed. The bandit rabble, now cut down in number, turned tail and fled immediately while fearing for their lives.

Fio had never really had any doubt in the result of becoming involved in this fight. However, what followed was something far more unexpected.

A Fomorian.

Surprised, the Sword Witch paused for a moment at the sight of the lanky three-armed swordsman, his ashen-toned skin and scraggly white hair. She had never encountered such an opponent before, and wasn't certain what to expect immediately.

Then again, why was that any reason to hesitate?

Just because the enemy was strange did not mean anything changed. She was a peerless user of magic, excelling in her craft. Therefore, her enemies were the ones who needed to be cautious.

Fio Fan Fallise's pride was unshaken.

"Create five phantom daggers in line formation," she began, stepped back onto a more distant platform of light as she spoke, the barrier forming in the air beneath her feet. With a sweep of her blade, the daggers appeared much like the swords did, emerging from rippling portals in the air and formed from interlacing lines of blue light.

"Five phantom swords," Fio continued, the blades emerging from the air in a layered formation, just behind and between the daggers, "Five more phantom daggers!"

The final layer of blades materialized just between the line of swords, furthest in back.

"Release, release, release and kill!"

With the petite witch's declaration, each line of ghost blades fired in succession, hurtling towards the Fomorian. The daggers flew somewhat more quickly then the swords, with Fio's aim being to make the differently-flying projectiles more difficult to counter.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99@FrogRFlowR

[Crimson Paladin]

Ethelred

Ethelred looked in horror as a cyclops emerged, right from the direction which most of the locals had fled. The broken bodies of its victims lay all around, and Ethelred turned his head just in time to see it strike a fleeing woman with its club. The one-eyed monster was surprisingly well-armored for a Fomorian, especially for one that was too big to wear looted armor. He wasn't an expert on cyclops intelligence, but it seemed quite possible to him that this massive foe was the leader of this attack.

Given the Fomorians' penchant for their murderous cruelty, it was quite possible that its successful ambush of the fleeing townsfolk was pre-planned, and the smaller Fomorians had intended to herd those fleeing right into the cyclops' path. Or perhaps it was just very bad luck on the part of the townspeople that they happened to flee right into the direction of danger. Regardless, the sight caused the Frozen Knight's blood to boil at the sight of these innocent people being cut down. While an ordinary person might grow warmer with rage, Ethelred's body did the opposite and grew even colder, creating a noticeable fog around him.

These people were no threat. They did nothing to you. But I am a threat, and I will make sure you don't leave this town alive!

Enraged as he may have been, Ethelred wasn't a fool- if he charged in recklessly, he'd just end up being struck by the giant's massive cudgel. Fortunately, Reinhardt and the elf stranger had already begun to draw its attention with their own taunts and attacks. Reinhardt had attempted to distract it by throwing rocks. Given the man's strength, it was quite possible that those rocks could cause real injury to the cyclops. Meanwhile, the elf had thrown what looked like one of the dead Fomorians at their foe and was now employing considerable acrobatics in his attack. Seeing the cyclops distracted, Ethelred couched his lance and charged at the distracted giant, his weapon aimed at the beast's head. It could be a challenge to penetrate the giant's metal armor, but its head was unprotected and its eye presented a particularly large and soft target for his lance...

[FrogRFlowR]

Niall could finish off only a few more bandits before the main threat revealed itself. Some bandits were still in his kill range, but he decided to let them go and instead had his eyes fixed on the new threat, his posture unwavering; a Fomorian. As the Queen addressed him, he only gave her a quick nod in affirmation. Of course, he always was gonna help them orders or not.

"Niall was it? I'm counting on you, even if we've not met. Our Queen has pretty good decision making so if she trusts you well."

Even if he wanted to answer that, the young knight was already engaging the foe the moment she finished talking. Observing the scene, Niall took a step back. A quick look around the coming battlefield allowed him to see what course of action the magic user was taking. With Luna charging the enemy head on, Niall's inability to use The Eye of Night because of his allies and their Queen having taken no action as of yet, it left him with one obvious thing to attempt. Niall was well aware of Fomorians strength and this one seemed tall, strongly built and very able. Not knowing his exact reach, the Own Knight decided to play it safe.

Summoning Gwdihw's air magic, Niall used enhanced speed to dash in a direction, giving their enemies a wide berth. Having judged from what side Fio's sword would hit and knowing Luna was up front, Niall plan was to use his speed and accuracy to flank the Fomorian and strike at the very same time as the flying swords of the magic user would. He certainly had the speed and skills to do it - the only thing he was unsure of was their foes ability to counter.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location:
Redwater Point
Mid-Morning

---

@Cu Chulainn@Guy0fV4lor@Crimson Paladin

---

Reinhardt surged towards the creature, a rock hurtling through the air and slamming right into the creature's soft, fleshy eye.

“GRAAAAAH!?”

A pained, guttural bellow as the creature stumbled backwards from the sudden impact. The knights surprise attack had worked, for the moment! It would shook its head, using a hand to cover its sensitive eye as Reinhardt would land behind it. Instead of turning to face the source however, it gripped its weighty club in a single hand and started to flail the club wildly, slamming into the fomorian that Marduk had thrown and knocking it clear across the city.

Marduk, however, had not gone unnoticed. The club would graze by his head, a hairs width away from knocking him clean across the city as the creature flailed wildly. He sailed over the beast, momentarily lock eyes with it, the singular eye red and swollen - but still fully functional as Marduk summoned his sword, falling downwards and slicing into the arm the large humanoid was using to wield its club.

Black, inky blood poured from the wound as the humanoid responded with a pained howl, the entire arm going limp as the smell of rotten, burned flesh would meet Marduk’s nostrils - and also something gripping him, his entire body suddenly yanked from the creature like an insect from a human as the cyclopes hand crushed his entire chest, likely cracking a few ribs as it flung him overhead, aiming to slam him into the ground -

But the ground never met Marduk.

Ethelred’s lance would be his savior, the large humanoid howling in rage as it would pivot slightly to avoid its eye being injured again, the lance grazing the fomorians neck as it spun, falling onto its hands and knees as it lost balance and its grip on Marduk, sending him flying some distance away as ice began to grow on the creatures neck.

Its single, red, swollen eye glared at Reinhardt as it swiftly returned to its feet, the club being shifted to its good, right arm.

They had lost the element of surprise - no doubt any further assault was going to be more difficult. The creature roared, instead of focusing on Reinhardt it would spin back towards Ethelred, its club dragging along the ground and aiming to slam into the ice knight. Each step it took caused the earth to shake, the club flinging up earth and rocks as it raked the ground under it.

---

@Pyromania99@VitaVitaAR@FrogRFlowR
Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Late afternoon

---

Leo frowned, but didn’t argue. He’d grab the reins, immediately mounting the steed and galloping off after the rest of the bandits. Thankfully for him, the Fomorian in front of them seemed far more interested in the knights than Leo.

And so the battle would commence.

“You are undeterred. Then allow me to see if these ambitions of yours mark you as the heirs…”

Luna was the first to move, shield forward, a blade of light hurtling towards the Fomorian in front of her. Lanky, muscular legs quickly sidestepped the projectile, soon followed by the sound of a blade clashing against a blade as his Katana met Luna’s sword completely deflecting her attack with, a purposeful and deliberate, powerful swing of his own blade.

“...Or as mere pretenders.”

Fios blades would follow next. A rain of daggers fell, and the Fomorian reacted just as quickly, quickly stepping backwards just as the first wave of daggers would fall near, causing the majority of them to sink into the ground, with two embedding themselves into the fomorians cloak, sinking into the flesh of his shoulder and back, though he seemed completely unfazed by the blades as Niall’s lunge would clang against the Fomorians own sword-spear and katana as he’d catch the lance on them. He responded by giving Niall a shove, driving the Owl Knights spear upwards and away just as the rain of blades would reach him - a fire would light themselves under his feet, a small explosion propelling him backwards at a high speed as the blades would embed themselves harmlessly into the ground.

“Hm…not bad…” A smile would form on the fomorians thin lips. “But first...this annoyance.” Almost faster than one could see, his free hand reached into his cloak, the dexterous appendage launching two throwing daggers towards Fio! At the same time, his feet would once more light themselves with fire as he would propel himself forwards, lunging towards Niall, swinging his heavy swordspear in a downwards motion. His Katana was at the ready to either defend or lash out at Luna if she came close.

The queen had yet to make a move, watching the battle unfolding in front of her with a measure of hesitation.

[VitaVitaAR]

While two of her daggers hit true, fading into blue light moments after, the rest were unable to reach their target in spite of Fio's layered offensive spellcasting. More worrying then that, however, was the manner in which the Fomorian shrugged off the injuries so swiftly and responded with two daggers of his own.

The petite witch had no choice but to construct a barrier as quickly as possible, without even being able to verbally cast. The resulting circle of light was thin, fragile, conjured as swiftly as she could manage. As such, it shattered almost instantly upon the dagger's impact, sending them hurtling off in different directions but also transferring their impact to the small girl's body. The air whipped past her as Fio was thrown backwards, holding her hat and by extension Mieka on her head as she fell from her floating barrier.

It was only just barely that was was able to form another barrier before she hit the ground, catching herself in mid-air. Had she fallen all the way, it was quite likely she would have been injured.

The Fomorian was quite capable of enduring pain, that much was obvious.

Fio scowled as she regained her footing, thrusting her gleaming sword into the sky. She was going to catch him with a direct hit this time, she had to!

"Create five phantom swords, from above!"

At the absolute edge of the range of her ability to manifest swords, she materialized the first phantom blade in the air. Each subsequent blade formed somewhat closer, a line forming above the Formorian and pointing downwards. Certainly, from this distance the would be more unstable, but it meant at the very least the moment they dropped he would be forced to disengage to the side. He would be struck if he didn't move, and if he tried to evade by moving backwards the other blades would catch him.

If Fio could start controlling his movements, she'd be able to lock him down!

@Rune_Alchemist@FrogRFlowR@Pyromania99

[Crimson Paladin]

Ethelred

Ethelred kept his gaze trained at his foe as he struck it. His attack only managed to graze the surprisingly nimble Fomorian's neck, but it had been enough to bring it to its knees and release the elf warrior from its grip. He did not stick around to wait for it to recover and retaliate- Ethelred continued his current course, galloping around and away from his foe, out of the reach of its attempted counter-blow.

He's weakened, but only somewhat, Ethelred assessed. The knight's blow to the creature's neck looked to be only superficial, but the elf's strikes had severely injured one of its arms. Still, even with one good arm, it remained a very dangerous foe.

On the other hand, they no longer had the element of surprise, and the creature was now clearly quite aware of the threat it was facing. The Frozen Knight wasn't sure if the elf had sustained any injuries in his valorous assault, but Reinhardt was still unscathed (not that this was a surprise, considering how supernaturally tough the man was).

Ethelred turned back towards the creature, readying his lance as if to prepare for another charge. He needed to keep its one eye focused on him so that the others could have a chance to blindside it.

"Not so tough when you're up against someone who can fight back, are you," he shouted to the cyclops, in an attempt to maintain its attention. He readied his lance in case the creature took the bait and charged. He would not risk a wounding blow, but would instead attempt to evade, parry, or otherwise deflect the creature's club. With only one good arm, and probably a non-dominant one at that, the Fomorian ought to have trouble defending against all three of them at once.

[Guy0fV4lor]

---

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin@Cu Chulainn

Reinhardt swiftly disengaged with a quick back step to the right of the Cyclopean Fomorian as Ethelred dealt a heavy blow to the creature-- ensuring he wasn't about to be trampled underfoot by any of the involved parties. Thus far the engagement had gone favorably; save for the elven stranger getting hurled off to the side.

It wasn't clear if the stranger was out of the fight just yet-- but they'd already done a number on the Fomorian's favored arm, which didn't seem to be regenerating.

Did the creature lack regeneration? Or was it something to do with those strange phantasmal weapons that the stranger had wielded?

Whatever the case; it was an advantage Reinhardt had no intention on passing up.

As the Cyclops moved to engage the foe it seemed to deem most threatening (Ethelred in this case), Reinhart followed behind it in tight pursuit; making ready to place a decisive strike at the monster's hamstring-- until the Cyclops; in it's infantile rampage, threw about the strewn wreckage of the market.

A metallic glint caught Reinhardt's attention; his hand deftly snatching it from the air.

It was a weathered, yet sturdy harpoon-- with a rope still attached.

"How fortunate--" the knight mused as he ceased his pursuit; planting his feet firmly as he readied to hurl his newly acquired tool into the Cyclops' remaining good arm the moment it would raise it's weapon to strike at his fellow knight.

[Pyromania99]

He parried her attack so powerfully. Luna had to wonder if he was making a show of force or if it didn't really control it's strength, not to mention the sword he was using. "What an odd blade." The Knightess commented as she quickly sheathed her sword and held her arm out to the side, quickly forming two small daggers of light in her hand. If he was going to throw small blades at her, it was only right she returned the favor. She took some small steps back to toss the two blades towards the Fomorian's face. Her hope was that he would either take the hits or deflect them with his sword. "I don't allow myself to be deterred when so rudely challenged."

As her heel hit the ground on her final step back, she dug in and roughly pushed off back towards the creature. In her hand, there was a now a spear of light, aimed towards the Fomorian. It looked like Fio had some sort of plan on how to subdue the beast, so Luna took her best guess as she was tried to aim his movements in a direction, or at least one that looked like the giant blades overhead would bear down upon him. As her feet moved forward, she aimed her spear up towards the Fomorian's abdomen. She hoped that, between her onslaught and what Niall might do, it would drive him into the corner that Fio was planning.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location:
Redwater Point
Mid-Morning

---

@Cu Chulainn@Guy0fV4lor@Crimson Paladin

---

The Cyclopean fomorian narrowed his eye towards Ethelred…before letting out a bellowing, deep laugh, earthy and rocky debris from the club slamming into nearby houses, leaving a deep trench behind it as he’d finish the motion.

“Gahaha! Knight ambush me! Funny!” He would flex his injured arm, showing that while injured he could still move it well enough to fight with. “Dumb elf gave me a burn. You cold. Maybe I’ll use your bones to cool down! Now get off that dumb animal!” He however, did not seem to take Ethelreds bait. Instead he’d raise his foot, slamming it into the ground with enough force to cause the entire earth beneath him to shudder, a shockwave of dirt, air, and rocks slamming into Ethelred and his horse.

The next instant he’d raise the club, hoping to swat the knight out of whatever evasive maneuver he used to avoid it - thankfully for him, though, Reinhardt was already maneuvering. Hefting the harpoon, in the instant the fomorian made to attack Ethelred, the Harpoon would hurtle towards the fomorian’s good arm, embedding itself right in the creatures flesh.

“Graaah?! Dumb human I ain’t no fish!” He’d growl, the attack he was making on Ethelred stopped as he’d turn his attention towards Reinhardt...he'd grab the rope with his free hand, and pull on it, attempting to pull Reinhardt towards him...even with his arm injured, Reinhardt would likely need to brace himself or put all his strength into it just not to be pulled towards the fomorian.

---

@Pyromania99@VitaVitaAR@FrogRFlowR
Location:
Southern Giants Rest
Late afternoon

---

The fomorians spear slammed into Niall, the hefty blade slamming against the Owl Knights lance as he would deflect it, the impact straining his muscles from the sheer weight of it. No doubt, this fomorian may have been lithe, but his strength likely rivaled either that of Reinhardts or was even greater, Luna’s blades of light being deflected by swift motions from the Katana. Thankfully for Niall, however, before he could bring it down for another strike and break the Owl Knights guard entirely Luna’s javelin hurtled towards its abdomen.

The fomorian immediately pivoted on his feet, towards the javelin of light. His empty hand lit up with a fiery grip…a grunt of pain as the tip of the javelin just barely pierced his stomach, inky black blood spilling from the wound as he caught the spear of light. Growling with annoyance, the fomorian would then leap to the side, the light javelin still in hand as he’d narrowly avoid the first blade, the rest starting to descend quickly into the ground from above.

If nothing else, Fio had managed to make him move as she had wished but he wasn’t going to make it easy for her to take advantage of that. The Javelin of light would fade as he’d toss it to the side, the flames in his free hand would burst to life, three daggers being swiftly retrieved from his cloak. He’d leap, spinning in the air as three daggers would leave his free hand, a trail of fire behind them, hurtling again towards Fio. There was some enchantment on them, she could tell. A bundle of magical energy that seemed ready to combust upon impact. As he’d land, his swordspear would thrust forwards, aiming for Luna’s abdomen while his Katana would make a wide, slashing motion just a bit higher, aiming to take her neck.

Throughout the battle, the Queen merely watched. Arms folded against her chest, eyes observing every action in the battle.

“Heh, you know…when Luna told me about serving a Queen, I didn’t imagine she’d be quite so…beautifully commanding.”

“...are you hitting on me in the middle of a battlefield?”

“Is something wrong taking the time to enjoy the most beautiful sight in the middle of a battle-torn field?”

“...pfft, ahahah.” Sorcha laughed. “Luna was right about you. I admire your straightforwardness.” She would then raise her hand, and promptly smack the boy in the back of the head. “But there’s a time and place for everything. Hit on me all you want once we’re done with this and maybe I'll return the favor.”

“Yes ma’am.”

[FrogRFlowR]

Not unexpectedly, their assault did not have the desired impact on the Fomorian. Thankfully however, Niall had suspected it and remained on guard which was what may have saved his life.

The Knight had intended to follow up on Fio's next attacks, as he did previously, but the Fomorian acted even faster than Niall expected. The Knight's next assault was cut short as he was forced to defend himself with his spear instead, being forced to take a step back from the sheer force of their enemy's attack. Back into the fight, Niall anticipated where the enemy would be led from Fio's swords and lunched himself forward.

Once close enough and hoping to relive some pressure from Luna, Niall used his spear's length vertically hit the Fomorian's own spear, attempting to make the thrust miss Luna by going downwards instead. Niall would then follow up with a slash to the Fomorian's abdomen, trusting in Luna's abilities to block the sword swing and follow in the counter attack.

[Cu Chulainn]

The Swordwind Fleweth

---

Having crashed into the ground after being thrown, Marduk had taken a bit of a breather recovering from the Fomorian's grasp. He coughed up a bit of bloodied spittle, his insides having been crushed. As he sat up, he punched the ground in anger, enraged that he allowed himself to be grasped by the beast. To allow himself to be taken out of the battle by such a loathsome foe... Naught else could be more dishonorable than such a thing.

Marduk's Elven blood boiled within his veins, the anger of his progenitor burning him from within. The bodies that surrounded him, the cursed monstrosities that infest the town... such transgressions had awakened the remnants of his forebears before him. The very notion that this one-eyed foe continued to draw breath only enraged Marduk even further. He could feel the impatience of his ancestor, who desired the beast's head to be separated from its body at this instant. Marduk could feel it within, the urging of his ancestor to take action with their own hands.

Indeed, Marduk's ancestor wished to join the fight in earnest to bring justice to the fallen, and to bring this beast's foul existence to an end.

The warrior took a few deep breaths, recalling the meditation techniques taught to him by his Elven caretakers. He was well aware that while fully allowing himself to be overtaken by his Leargas was something that would quickly end this fight, he also knew that he would lose himself in the process, being replaced by his ever-wrathful ancestor. Being locked into your own body, having it moved by another being without your own volition. To Marduk, such a thing was a fate worse than death, moreso with his current understanding of what would replace him.

So instead, he took a moment to calm down, to gather the situation before him better. The shambling town, while a depressing sight, also bore its own fruit. Multiple avenues to enter the fight were available, especially those that allowed Marduk to disappear from his foe's one-eyed sight for a time. It helped that Marduk has miraculously landed near the Fomorian that bore his cloak. With a plan finally set and his angery somewhat quelled, Marduk spat out the rest of the blood that gathered in his throat as he made his first moves.

Marduk quickly recloaked himself, staying low and allowing himself to disappear with the smoke and rubble that permeated the ruined market. His cloak helped in that regard, blending in with the wood and stone of the marketplace easily. He then ran opposite from the direction of the battle far enough to where he would seemingly disappear from the combat entirely before leaping upward atop the market stalls. Marduk quickly leapt between each stall as he slowly built an elevation advantage before reaching one of the nearby buildings.

It was then that Marduk would start making his way back to the battle, using the heightened elevation to stay out of the Fomorian's sight. His footfalls were eerily silent, his steps all but muffled with his Elven boots. Maneuvering to where he was relatively behind the Cyclops and away from its line of site, Marduk watched and waited for the right opportunity to interject.

However, the opportunity seemed to have already made itself apparent upon Marduk's arrival.

As the Fomorian spoke its rudimentary Common, Marduk noticed it was currently embroiled in a contest of muscle against the knight blessed with immense strength. Marduk would also notice that the Fomorian's weight was also focused in one particular direction. Knowing this, and postulating the upper limits of the knight's strength, the Elf-blooded warrior would move quickly to set his plan into motion.

The golden light of his Leargas once again shone and shimmered in his hands, except this time it took the shape of a mighty spear, its head in the shape of a short blade. He had it pointed right at the Fomorian's head, braced to pierce its skull. He made sure to make eye contact with Reinhardt as he set his attack into motion, ensuring that he got the message.

Marduk simply wished to play baseball, and he had hoped that Reinhardt would be up to the bat.

[Crimson Paladin]

Ethelred was a bit surprised that the Fomorian replied to his taunts. It wasn't exactly fluent in its speech but it was at least smart enough to recognize the knight's unique powers and think of a mundane utility out of it. Ethelred wasn't fazed by its threats, although he was a bit peeved that he didn't have any breathing room to fire back with a retort.

As the Fomorian moved to strike at Ethelred, something struck its arm from behind, restraining it. It took just a moment for the ice knight to see exactly what had happened- Reinhardt had taken advantage of the distraction to toss a harpoon into the cyclops' arm. This gave Ethelred an opportune moment to strike, but he would still have to heed its other arm- injured as it was, their massive opponent had demonstrated that the limb was still quite functional.

As Ethelred assessed where to strike, there was a flash of light from behind the cyclops. Looking up, he saw the elf stranger from before atop a market stall and preparing a radiant spear. Evidently the elf was no worse for wear from the rough manhandling that the Fomorian had subjected it to, and he was ready to strike what Ethelred suspected was intended to be a death blow.

With the Fomorian's attention focused on the two knights, the elf may very well be able to pull it off, but only if the blow landed. Committing to make it happen, and to take some pressure off of Reinhardt, Ethelred spurred his horse forward, seeking to drive his lance into the orc's free arm. Assuming it struck flesh, the knight would channel his freezing powers through the polearm to freeze it firmly to the wound it had made. His goal was to restrain the monster's other arm, to help hold it in place alongside Reinhardt for the elf's attack. He wasn't sure how long he'd be able to hold it, but if the elf's aim was true, they only needed a moment.

[Pyromania99]

As Luna saw the bladespear aiming for her, she quickly reached for her sword to parry the blow. Luckily, Niall helped cover for her in that respect so she focus more of her energy elsewhere. Particularly? Preventing her head from being lopped off in a single blow. She raised her shield to quickly block the slash of the thin blade heading for her neck, moving it along with the slash to make sure she wasn't knocked back from the creature's monstrous strength. She twisted her side closest to the spear so her body would be perpendicular to where the spear was redirected from Niall to give a wider berth from her abdomen and reduce area for her to be hit.

The knightess slid her front foot forward a half step and the hand on her blade's hilt pulled the weapon free from it's sheath and up towards the Fomorian's hand wielding the spear. The blade of her weapon shined a golden light as she instilled an amount of magic in it, hoping to take the Fomorian's upper arm with the swing. One less appendage was something to be thankful for when this monster had many of them. Worst case, it would help deflect the Fomorian's weapon even more.

[Guy0fV4lor]

---

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin@Cu Chulainn

Just as he'd hoped, Reinhardt's harpoon struck true-- it's barbed tip embedding itself deep in the flesh of the creature's Forearm!

The knight's blade clattered to the ground beside him as he dedicated both hands to the frantic match of tug-o'-war; crouching low as he stomped his heels into the cobblestone street to secure his footing. It was a battle of endurance now. The Cyclops; large and strong as it was, had both inferior footing and stance... And although Reinhardt could've certainly attempted to use his superior footing and stance to 'win' the standoff, it was far more tactically advantageous to maintain the stalemate and keep the cyclops occupied.

A golden shimmer caught the knight's eye.

It seemed the elven stranger was still in the fight after all-- and was positioned to strike the monocular Fomorian, but seemed to be waiting on something...

Reinhardt gave the rope a sharp yank as Ethelred prepared to make another strike on the creature. "Dumb one-eye!" he exclaimed; mimicking the Fomorian's own broken speech, "Stink like fish! Weak like fish! Ugly like fish! Must be fish!"

With any luck, the goading would prompt the Fomorian to redouble it's efforts... When Reinhart's unyielding resistance-- would abruptly cease. Hurdling forward toward the creature-- Reinhardt's foot would slam against the ground once during his journey, launching into an uppercut aimed to send the Cyclops straight into the awaiting spear!

[VitaVitaAR]

So he didn't have any other options when it came to maneuvering, and even with his extra appendages he could only react to so many things at once. While Fio had failed to strike him directly, she was able to obtain the information she wanted. She could force him to move in order to avoid her attacks, and thus control his movements at least to some extent.

With that in mind, she had a much clearer path forward.

But he had still been able to retaliate, sending another blade of his own hurtling towards her. This time, rather ten constructing a barrier intended to block it, the diminutive witch instead created a platform to her right and immediately leaped to it, holding her hat on as the dagger sailed past her.

It was far easier to create a barrier that could support her weight almost instantly then it was to create one that could take an explosive impact, and she'd only barely managed to block the less potent daggers without taking damage.

Still holding her hat on, the Sword Witch swung her blade up as her hair billowed in the wind.

"Create three great phantom blades at the front and sides, and smite the wicked!" she commanded.

The magical energy ignited, blazing across the sword's surface. This time, a single large blade emerged first from behind the Fomorian, the air shimmering around it. It was a thick sword, the interwoven threads of light composing its structure glowing brightly. It was followed by two identical weapons.

Dodging them wasn't impossible. There was space. And the blade that materialized behind their opponent was more fragile and less sturdy then the others due to the range, even if it was still just as dangerous if it struck true.

But dodging them and responding to her allies attacks at the same time, without either being forced into one the knights' swords or one of her phantom ones...

That was a far more difficult task.

It was time to see if this Fomorian was up to the challenge!

@Rune_Alchemist@FrogRFlowR@Pyromania99