[IC] Dark Souls - Journey to the Bleeding Throne

[Dark Eternity]

Intro

In the Age of Ancients,
The world was unformed, shrouded by fog
A land of grey crags, archtrees, and everlasting dragons

But then there was Fire
And with Fire came Disparity. Heat and cold, life and death, and of course.. Light and Dark.

Then, from the Dark, They came
And found the Souls of Lords within the flame.

Nito, the first of the dead
The Witch of Izalith, and her daughters of chaos
Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, and his faithful knights
And the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten

With the Strength of Lords, they challenged the dragons.

Gwyn's mighty bolts peeled apart their stone scales
The witches weaved great firestorms
Nito unleashed a miasma of death and disease

And Seath the Scaleless betrayed his own, and the dragons were no more
Thus began the Age of Fire

But soon, the flames will fade, and only Dark will remain

Even now, there are only embers, and man sees not light, but only endless nights
And amongst the living are seen, carriers of the accursed Darksign.

---

It is the farthest edge of the known world.
Some may call it the land of heretics.

Sorcerers of each land have traveled here to study and share the arcane knowledge.
What they found was nothing the world should have unveiled.
A throne made out of clearest glass, forged into the rocks of the mountain Qaszad.
The Bleeding Throne.

For the throne was of strongest magic, the righteous and self claimed King of the Valkyrie,
he himself was bleeding on this throne to nourish the lands and bring hope to the people.

But the Dark has not fallen.
It grasps for the powers that reside inside the throne and it's touch corrupts the men of battle.

Without the embers of a strong willed firekeeper, this land will soon crumble under it's own power...

---

It has been a week, since the group left the Land of Lords, Lordran. Forests, plains, meadows, mountains. The endless stream of green nature passed the group. Emilia, a woman of well stature, stood on top of the cliff, gazing across the horizon. It was an admirable view. She still could not believe that they had not met any hostile beings. They saw a pack of wolves the other day, but they were cautious. A group such as this was emitting strength just by looking at them.

They were standing on the border known as the Foul Springs. The last trees they would see for a while. The lush and livid stream of plants, slowly decaying into a desert. The ground was already dried up where Emilia stood. Sand was carried between the trees, leaving scars on the plants like cut marks on a person. This place was not foul, but blighted. Blighted by the breath of the world.

"The Lords have left this place for good", the woman mumbled, as she slowly guided her steps down a narrow path of the cliff that lead downward. As the trail continued, it grew wider, patches of grass and some tiny flowers grew on the edges. Cave ins were scattered on the cliff side, heavy dents in the rocky wall that were filled to the brim with skulls. Not only human ones. Demons. Dragons. The horrors of Lordran, neatly stashed in between the skulls of humans.

Emilia looked at these burrows and kept walking. She had seen bloodshed, but this was just grotesque to her. "The souls of those that tainted this place should be swallowed by the Abyss." Her eyes narrowed. She was going to a place far away to become a Firekeeper. She knew what was going on. Her Lord sent her to stop what was going on. Not only had the Valkyries called war to Lordran, but the reports of Demons crossing the border were increasing. Whatever trickery was at hand, this would stop once this journey was over. The Lords of Lordran decided so. "We need to get going", Emilia called to the group.

Then a sound. It was a snarl, or a hiss. A sound that came from the skulls. It came so sudden and from close by, that Emilia jumped, her feet getting too close to the edge. The rocks crumbled under her heels. With a banging sound, stones fell down the cliff, hitting rocks and continuing their way downward. The strange hiss now echoed from all sides. The burrows burst open, skulls flying around. Skeletons rose from the ground. And in the midst of this, Emilia was struggling with her balance, her arms swaying in every direction in hopes of gaining some footing again.

[Pyro V]

The metal clad giant stood at the top of the cliff side, overlooking the sandy expanse before her. A small grunt came from it. She suspected her old master would like this place. It reeked of death. Nothing survived here, it seemed. The head of the steel giant slowly turned downward, overlooking the skulls of long dead monsters. Demons, dragons, humans. The three greatest horrors of the world. A small sound, possibly a scoff or a cough, escaped it, the only sound other than the steady breathing beneath. These things were some of the worse things that had happened to the world, the former two for obvious reasons. Humans, though, they were in their own category for what they had done, and what they could do. But those were thoughts for another time.

Slowly, carefully, the woman lifted a foot and placed it down on what looked like steady ground. The stones creaked and groaned beneath her weight, but held firm. She placed her left hand on the wall of stones and bones to steady herself, the other hand holding a very large hammer, resting it on her shoulder. The bright steel covered her entire body, the metal plates thick in every spot. The pauldrons were nearly as thick as her chest, and the tassets were extremely, looking like a ridiculously large metal skirt over the thick legs. The helmet covered her face entirely, the only way to see a series of holes over the front, pointed top half of the helm, the smooth skull of it holding her head snugly.

She stopped dead in her tracks as the hissing began. A grumble escaped her as it did so, and she looked over to make sure the other woman was doing fine. Seeing that all was not entirely well, she allowed herself to slid down, her hand gripping the slope side once more to slow herself. Once that was accomplished, she reached out and grabbed the back of the girl's neck, pulling her back to steady herself. The giant remained silent as she did so, and then glanced over to the nearby skeletons. They would be upon them soon. Her grip tightened on the hammer as she glanced from side to side. It would not be a fun fight.

[Argetlam350]

The temple knight followed near the rear of the group, to watch the backside for any enemies that may try to sneak a surprise attack. Though another reason for his chose of being in back was the fact that he was undead, a cursed man from lands far across the sea. Before even taking his leave from his homeland after becoming undead, he had never heard of the strange places in this vastly different land mass. He was an outcast, cast out of his home lands for what he had become and seek only retribution, some form of deed that may show that being undead did not mark the end of humanity in a soul. Yet to the others in the group, they knew little of where he came from and of his past.

The death in this land was quite horrifying but as a knight he had learned to feel numb to death and destruction, all he could do was hope those that had past here, had made it to whatever lies beyond life and that they were at peace. He carried few tokens to mark those that may needed them, a few medals with a blazing sun on them, along with a few pieces of what was called humanity. They served no use without a bonfire though, and he hoped they would find one soon. If only to rest for he was human not and had not been killed, at least not for quite some time.

He was lost in thought when he heard the hissing, he quickly took the shield off his back and grabbed his halberd and moved forward, shield raised and halberd extended outward to ward off the enemies. Of course it had to be skeletons, a form of necromancer or dark magic that brought them back. Though perhaps they would be lucky and these would go down with a few blows and not reanimate again or else they would have to seek out the necromancer before they could truly slay these abominations.

[Strangelander]

It had been a week since they'd left Lordran, a week full of trudging through mountains and woodlands with no excitement. No battles, no undead (save the one who was traveling with them), nothing. It was a nice change from Lordran, but it was... unsettling. Something was off about it. Idan shook his head. It was nothing. He came to the top of the cliff and looked over the desert ahead of them then back to the trees behind them. No trees means nowhere to hide, he thought to himself, though the same was true for the enemy.

"The Lords have left this place for good," the soon-to-be-Firekeeper, Emilia, said as she began down the cliff. Idan simply nodded in agreement and followed behind the others, glancing back every few steps. Down the steep edge of the cliff piles of skulls were left to be picked clean by whatever scavengers bothered to come here, though the skulls of demons and dragons worried him more than he would care to admit. He drew a card bearing the symbol of a jester from his belt and stared at it for a moment before replacing it. They continued downwards, but a sound stopped him in his tracks. He reached for the crossbow hanging on his back and looked the skull piles. They had begun shifting and he grimaced. Guess they did find somewhere to hide. The skull piles burst outwards and skeletons emerged from the grounds, staggering Emilia, though the giantess Ana steadied her. He nodded to her approvingly before he pulled a bolt from the box at his hip to reload the crossbow and brought it to his shoulder, ready to fire.

[Trafalgar Bob]

Valdur walked at the centre of the group with his head down, his raven black hair draping past his shoulders. He was tired, something fell had befallen him, but what. The past few nights he had no sleep, only an itching at his rib cage, though no marks or abnormalities could be seen on the surface. Was it exhaustion, fear or eagerness? He tried to reassure himself that it was just nerves or getting used to the clean air, a contrast to the crowded cities of Catarina. Valdur had do admit however that he enjoyed the green and open skies, not to mention the random incidents of deer and boar seen in the forest, a couple he had slew to serve as food for the group.

Valdur's appreciation of greenery was short lived however as they came to the desert. It was cold and barren, the cliff side painted a picture of past conflict and untold horrors that had occurred here. Massacres' executions or even rituals? Each skull of a human had its own story, each dragons and epic tale and each demons a secret Valdur did not wish to hear whispered. As they walked further along the cliff his abdomen started to itch once more, his hair swayed on the gentle breeze sending a shiver to his core. The winds were neither cold nor hot and hit with little force. Valdur gripped his spear and shield tightly and continued following the group. "The Lords have left this place for good." Valdur pierced a gaze at the future fire-keeper, he snickered and muttered to himself analyzing the mounds of skulls. "They never were with us..." They continued in a descent down the cliff clinging to the edge for dear life, Valdur was right at home, as a boy he would climb the battlements in his city as if leaping among the clouds. A sudden hissing sound threw them all off their concentration. With a flash Valdur took a low stance facing the burrows, his shield held firmly in front of him and his spear tightly at his side. Emilia had lost her balance, but the giant woman had caught her with her bearing arms. Valdur was impatient, his itchy chest was on fire with passion and his bared teeth turned to a grin. The bone creatures burst from the mounds sending dust and fragments into the air around Valdur, with pure instinct he waited for a second or two and thrust into the smokescreen of bone. The remains of a skeleton shattered and fell at him disassembled, he sun around and struck a second one with the shaft, flinging it towards the others.

"Surround Emilia! Let none touch her!"

[Dark Eternity]

The crowd of risen bones began to gather. They were numerous, about a dozen on each side and even more approaching from the path. It was not a problem to take down a skeleton. They were pretty harmless, if you concentrated on the target. In most cases, you were outnumbered to the point that they were getting out of sight and therefore grew into a danger. By a group such as this, and on a path that lead down a cliffside, it was easy to keep each other covered.

Emilia gratefully nodded at the Giantess that followed them. Her Katana slowly came out of the sheath, despite the it's effectiveness against these beasts. They would scatter their bones with a good blow anyway. A blade was just unnecessary use.

"Keep calm, my fellows. These spawn of the Dark have nothing against us." There was some calmness in her voice. Reassured by the powers of this group, the Firekeeper glanced at the beasts approaching. Those were all human skeletons. The demon and dragon skulls were scattered and smashed in their surroundings. Whatever had done this trickery had not the power to lift the bones of powerful beings.

But there was a grumble in the ground that startled the woman once more. A simple shiver of the cliff that was even more unnatural than the little band of walking dead. "Smash these beasts. Make way to the bottom. We need to get going." She began advancing down the path, kicking the leg off of a skeleton and bashing the head down the cliff. The slow swipes of bone blades and stone clubs were nothing for her. She easily stepped between the blows and countered just as easily. The group should have no problem facing these abominations.

[Pyro V]

The woman nodded to the Firekeeper, and followed close behind. Many of the skeletons ran to her, drawn by her bulk, and began smacking away at her with their dull swords and primitive clubs. The weapons bounced off, causing little more than scratches in the armor. Her free hand wrapped around the hilt of the mighty hammer just below her right hand, and with a heave she lifted it off of her shoulder and arced it down, crushing the bones of the skeleton in front of her, and several of the bones below. The others continued to beat away at her, but she felt nothing more than the slight shake in her form. The hammer was lifted up, and then swung in a wide arc, slamming down and shattering a row of skeletons before her.

Hammer in hand, she slowly kept behind the Firekeeper, the hammer making short work of any skeleton foolish enough to get too close. It was too easy, this job. She had expected combat, expected to have to go through hell and back to get this Firekeeper to wherever the hell it was that they were going. But, instead, she was simply being wailed on by a dozen skeletons while she cracked their skulls. At the order of the Firekeeper, the giant remained quiet. It was obvious that they would need to get down from the cliff. It was dangerous enough without the skeletons, but with them it was just downright murderous.

She had to hand it to whoever summoned these, they had balls. They thought that they were strong enough to fight them all. Or, more accurately, weak enough to summon others to do it for him. But the fact that he did it was commendable, no matter his reasoning. She would have to remember that when she crushed his skull in her hands. It brought a smile to her face as she swung the hammer around and knocked a skull right off of a skeleton's shoulders, and then subsequently slamming the butt into its torso to crush its ribs and spine. This might turn out to be fun after all.

[Argetlam350]

Swinging his halberd, Thalesin took out few of the accursed skeletons that lay before them, avoiding the few pathetic strikes they tried to land on him with his shield. When he had signed up on this journey he had suspected that they would come across trouble, though skeletons were an odd enemy to face unless someone wanted to stop them from their quest. Whoever might of summoned these skeletons though appeared to not be around and didn't think upon how large the group was. Shield raised he kept moving forward, deciding now to switch from halberd to crescent axe, seeing that the skeletons he had to worry about were scattered more then in a group and the axe allowed for faster strikes though it meant he had to get into closer range.
In some of his attacks though he got careless a near hit there or here, due to the fact he was undead. What did he have to fear from death? He would come back, though quite some distance behind the group, he would return undead and in need to regain humanity with an effigy of some form. Death was just a nuisance that tried to keep him from his path now, the only thing he would have to worry about would be going hollow, losing whatever sanity or hope he had left in his form and become a mindless husk, ready to kill anyone who may try to venture by him. Strangely in this realm the things he called human effigies were called humanities a difference he found curious when he got the chance to look in on how different this realm was from his own realm across the sea.

[Strangelander]

Idan let loose his bolt and it slammed into the skull of a skeleton, sending it's head tumbling down, down, down. Here was too slow to be much use to the fight, and he had the same chances of hitting an ally of he did his foes, so he drew his dagger from his belt and his buckler from his back and charged into the fray. He stabbed towards the first skeleton he met and met it's sternum before following up with a kick off the ledge. He proceeded into the battle, slashing and stabbing while avoiding and blocking blows with his buckler. He was not as much of a fan of fighting up close, but it was necessary sometimes. He glanced to the undead who fought alongside him, a bit worried. Undead were... They could be good fighters, if a bit careless considering their... Curse? Blessing? He couldn't really decide which one the Darksign was, but eventually going insane did not seem particularly fun. Hopefully Thalesin had plenty of time before that happe- THUD! Idan staggered back as a skeleton bashed him with it's shield. He had been distracted and he swore at himself under his breath before lashing out at his opponent. He looked down at his feet for a moment and paled. He was standing right at the edge of the cliff, and a single blow could send him tumbling to his death. First he had to deal with this skeleton though...

[Dark Eternity]

The group was doing great. The skeletons risen from their rest were no problem. There were the usual problems through outnumbered battling. The path grew wider, the further down the group moved downward the cliffside. The grumbling ground increased throughout the fighting, driving Emilia into more agitation. Her blade swiped through bones, leaving nothing but split bones and skeletons falling apart. At a sudden jolt of quietness through the battle, Emilia looked around. Right behind the Firekeeper, there was Ana, swinging her powerful hammer across the fields of bones. With the Giantess, Emilia could easily mow down what was in front of them. They could keep each other's backs free and skeletons were no big trouble.

But then there was the shaking ground. It had gained such magnitude, that the bones on the ground began to shiver and bounce. Just a little behind the group, the wall of the cliffside burst open. The howling screech of another undead pierced the air. Something large, though. A mass of bones clawed against the rocks, dragging forth what was the blight of rotten flesh, covered in an armor of bones. The horrid figure was similar to a bird, despite it's wings not existing, large arms prancing claws like a set of swords. Instead of simple eyes, the massive figure had a mass of skulls in it's sockets, each leaking a green liquid from the open eyes. The beak was painted in blood and dirt and it was perhaps the only part of the body that was not garnished by bones. The torso, though halfway burrowed inside the cliff, already revealed a set of ribcages that hung over the dark tinted flesh. With another air-shaking shriek, the mass began pulling itself further out of the tunnel.

The view of that creature froze Emilia's blood. Her body stopped moving on the spot, allowing the approaching undead to get some hits on the Firekeeper. She felt a blade cut a line across her back, which was the wake up call for her to keep moving. The other problem that was staying was a group member, Idan, was being pushed towards the edge. Pushing an approaching skeleton towards it's comrades, Emilia screamed "Keep moving! Do not let the beast catch us here." Her feet carried her closer to the group, making a dash for Idan. She would not loose a comrade of arms so early in their journey.

In the meantime, the undead creature slowly moved out of the hole, it's claws digging into the cliff. The head of the beast sized little larger than the Giantess of the group. The torso slowly grew, as the creature inhaled deeply. A set of thin crow legs crawled out of the hole and dug into the rock, while a tail slithered across the cliff, swiping stones and throwing them around. These rocks flew across the area, smashing whatever was not prepared or covered. In this case, the mass of skeletons was quickly decimated to smaller numbers. The drawback was that Emilia, who tried to get to Idan to help him and get him a steadier footing, was hit by a rock square on her armor. It knocked her off her feet, pushing air out of her lungs and flinging her on the ground.

[Argetlam350]

Thalesin turned towards the hideous abomination that was crawling towards them. They needed time to get out of there but time was against him."Those not cursed with the dark sign, move quickly get out of here. As for those with the dark sign choose to stay or flee with the others, this thing must be distracted," he said towards the others as he smashed a skeleton to bits. He once more turned towards the creature and walked forward, shield drawn up and with axe at the ready. There was no means of defeating it, not without taking forever but he could at least distract it from the others. At least the dark sign provided one good thing, the inability to die made him accepting of the fact that he might be striked down now but at least he could give the others a means of escape, those who were blessed enough to not be cursed. As for the others that were cursed in the group, it was there choice to fight or flight, Thalesin though was ready to fight and would do so until the end of his undead days if he never found a cure for the curse.

[Strangelander]

Idan stabbed forwards with his dagger, catching the skeleton between the ribs and stepped to the side, trying to drag the skeleton into his previous location just at the edge of the cliff. Rocks and dirt tumbled to the ground, and Idan was dangerously close to falling, but the maneuver worked out and now both he and his opponent were to close to the edge. The ground had begun to shake, and both Idan and the skeleton stumbled, luckily towards the edge but away from each other. Idan recovered first and kicked out at the skeleton, his foot connecting with the pelvis. The skeleton fell back and it's sword arm slammed against the edge of the cliff and it fell down to the ground, leaving the skeleton weaponless. He turned, catching a glimpse of the thing that was pulling itself from the cliffside. He shuddered. Was this the work of some sorcerer? Or was something else at work here? No mortal should be able to call up a monstrosity like that.

Emilia had been coming to assist him, but had now found herself on the ground, winded. He cursed. Things were suddenly looking much worse than they had when it was just skeletons they were fighting.

"Those not cursed with the dark sign, move quickly, get out of here," the undead began. Idan listened as he made his way towards the future fire-keeper, keeping the remaining skeletons at bay with his blade. It was true that the undead would carry on if he were slain... But if he was not mistaken, did death not take a toll on the undead's sanity? Every death was a step closer to becoming Hollow. Though... There weren't many options left. He knelt down and helped Emilia up to her feet.

"It is your choice, fire-keeper. Do we flee?"

[Ermine]

Nita walked near Shirley toward the cliff. She could see evidence of something far more interesting than just the everyday fight with skeletons she was used to in the distance. They could both see it when it happened, even; it was particularly hard to miss such a giant creature coming from the ground. As with anything, a challenge was preferable to the same thing every day, and she had to study the event as closely as possible...by charging headlong into the fray. She ran, not just with her feet, but using the points of her claws as a second set of legs, careful not to bury them in the ground. She screamed a battle cry as she did so.

She launched herself onto the side of the creature, using her claws whenever possible to hold herself on, and move further up its back. The climb was surprisingly less work than she had hoped, and she wished silently that this...thing, whatever it was, would be harder to kill than it was to climb. From its back, she held on with her feet and one claw between its ribs, and worked with her other to try to separate the bones - any bones she could. It was far more of a challenge, much to her delight.

[Ezmeralda]

Shirley tried to catch Nita with an outstretched arm before she rushed off, but she wasn't quick enough. She did want to help those other people, but rushing in was rarely ever effective. She sighed and chased after her, although she arrived at the scene a little bit later. She was fairly newly cursed. Her fair skin now looked ashen and was starting to peel to what would become the average undead skin. This change saddened her. She was often called pretty, and she did like how she looked. Well, she used to, that is. Nowadays, she just wore the hood of her red dress up, covering her face in shadow.

She grabbed the talisman clipped at her belt and brought to her side, holding it with both hands. She brought her hands up, twisting them around the ball of light that was emerging from her talisman and pushed it forth towards the giant's leg, or at least what looked like it's leg. "Emit Force!" She really didn't have any idea what this...thing was. Her goal, however. Was simply to knock it off balance. It didn't seem like something that could move quickly, and if they could knock it down, perhaps they could buy some time to formulate a plan or find a weakpoint to defeat it.

[Dark Eternity]

For a moment, Emilia only felt the hard ground that pushed against her backplating. This was the end, she thought. She would feel a cold sting and then nothing. But then she opened her eyes. It was not as she suspected. The skeletons were driven back. No overwhelming force had worn down her comrades at arms. They were fighting and winning. There was this hideous creature, though, that had begun it's emergence from the cliff. Thalesin immediately called those cursed into an undead life to charge forth. Emilia was not sure about this. They could easily move down the path and away from the creature. It would have no time to catch up.

Before Emilia was able to call back Thalesin and order a retreat, someone else appeared. A stranger, easily maneuvering towards the creature, which had settled on the cliffside to observe the meals laid into display. The woman that lunged forth was digging into the body, making the creature scream in pain. Dark, tainted blood spew from the wounds. The ribcages that protected the body were easily crushed with force, which the claws displayed as they dug deeper and deeper. There was a problem quickly arising, though. A second stranger, a Mage without a doubt, spoke Miracles towards the joints. The creature was still hanging from the cliff, supported by it's claws digging into the rock.

They slowly let go from the brute force pushed onto them, squeezing and crushing the muscles within. With a desperate attempt to lunge the tail into the rock, the creature slowed down it's painful descent. It roared, as the legs were limp and the arms took over the assignment to hold the beast at the cliff. The distance to the ground was too high for the creature to withstand a larger fall.

"We fight", Emilia spoke, though hesitation drove her hands back to her blade. She gave Idan a serious look, before she gazed down the cliff. "If that beast is falling, it won't survive."

[Argetlam350]

"Fine if we all fight, I suggest at least those branded by the dark sign try to take most of it's gaze, to distract it from the others. We will at least come back from death with sanity, if not well at least we died an honorable death in some respect," Thalesin said, moving forward toward the beast, halberd out, and shield raised. He dodged a swipe from one of its vicious claws. He countered attack with his halberd landing a blow on its backhand. Though despite leaving a decent wound it only enraged the beast it seemed rather then hurt it much.
"The only way to get rid of it is by prying its wretched claws out of the rocks," Thalesin said when he heard Emilia ",Either be it by magic or someone is going to have to get closer then it would be wise to be." He would gladly volunteer to go ahead and be the one to do it but he let the choice linger in the air to see what other plans may come from the others.

[Strangelander]

Idan expected Emilia to call for a retreat, but her gaze was lying past him. He turned, fearing the worst but the sight he saw suprised him. Another woman was bounding towards the thing like a feral beast and leaped at it, tearing at it with claws on her hands. Another woman stood on the cliff above with a talisman in her hand. Whatever she was saying, it made the creature's legs go weak and it fell. It held onto the cliff with it's arms.

"We fight," Emilia said. Idan nodded and rose back to his feet. For now, the two new combatants were on their side and he hoped they continued to be after this battle. The beast was now hanging on to the ledge, and their undead companion was closing in. If he could get in a shot though, He unslung his crossbow and pulled a bolt for the quiver on his hip to reload, then took aim, then stopped. The clawed woman was still hanging onto the creature, and considering how close Thalesin was getting to it, he could just as easily hit him. He instead turned and fired at one of the remaining skeletons, narrowly missing.

"Stranger! Get to solid ground before one of us sends it down!" He called out, taking a second bolt from his quiver and reloading. He knelt down and took aim at the skeleton and sent a bolt into pelvis, cracking it and causing it to fall to the ground and scatter.

[Ermine]

At least these ones didn't run in fear. And her adversary seemed worth her time for now. Not like the other creatures in the area. Nita also liked her own progress with it. It didn't seem to be as much of a threat as she hoped, but still not bad. It would probably be more fun for her if it was just her and her partner. But these people were welcome company.

She heard someone call out, "Stranger! Get to solid ground before one of us sends it down!" She hadn't even noticed it was falling yet, to be honest. It truly was a worthy challenge. Looking around for a nice landing place, if there indeed was one, Nita pulled her claws from the creature, holding onto it only with her knees just long enough to lightly grab it with her hands behind her and flip to the open spot on the ground she had noticed only a second earlier. After a nod and awkward salute in the general direction of the voice she heard, she turned back to the monster.

Unfortunately for her (in her mind, anyway), there were still a couple skeletons around where she landed, and as much as she'd prefer to have done the same to the giant creature, she instead kicked one of the skeletons in the chest to give herself some space. If her timing had been better, she wouldn't have half-launched herself into the edge of the other's spear. It only grazed her arm, but it was enough to sting if she still had all her nerves. It was definitely something to appreciate about being cursed. Which really says a lot, given how long she'd had to deal with this already. She turned using what little momentum she had from the previous kick and pushed the other skeleton a little farther away. She hadn't "killed" them, yet, but they wouldn't last much longer with such a crowd. She yelled to all the others, before pointing to the bigger creature, "Anyone feeling heroic? Or...attention starved?"

[Ezmeralda]

Shirley tried to size everyone up for injuries, but she was a little too far to make out much. Plus, she had her own skeletons to fend off by now considering she was all alone, what with her partner off by the giant. (I'm not sure how many there were to start with xD) She stashed away her talisman at her waist and twirled her staff in one hand, using it as a blunt weapon. She would prefer to use a spell or miracle, but there were too many and too close for her to cast anything, so this would have to do for the moment.

She gripped it with both hands, and using momentum from twirl, swung the staff in a wide arc in front of her. Whacking about three skeletons in the temple. She spun on her heel, her red dress swirling, to quickly whack another two skeletons on the side of the head, with a good amount of force. Such attacks probably wouldn't put them down, but at the very least it would knock them off back. Perhaps even enough to cast a spell. She hopped back a ways, weaving her way past a stumbling skeleton, and began to channel up a Greater Soul Arrow to fire off at a skeleton.

[Dark Eternity]

The group was succeeding in drawing the skeletons back, with most of them defeated or forced into fleeing. Those closer by, just a handful barely outnumbering the group, had lost their furor at the appearance of the monster, quickly becoming nothing more than a confused mass of bones that blindly slashed what appeared in front of them. Emilia was surprised to see the strangers cooperating with them, the woman that was moments ago on the beast leaping off with the simple call of Idan.

Though the beast was not waiting. With a massive roar, it lunged from it's spot, clawing it's massive pranks on the rock once it reached the height to face Shirley. This left parts of it's lower body leaning against the part of the cliff the rest of the group was and the tail swooping against it like a massive whip. The oozing eye sockets were focused on the woman in red. The stench of rot rushed against her. With another deep breath, the beast roared, the skulls in the eye sockets shaking and dripping the ooze at the ridge. The grass immediately lost it's natural shade.

This was an opportunity for the group. Emilia, having pushed the last skeleton aiming for her off the cliff, watched the beast's body moving and grinding against the ledge they were standing on. "Thalesin, now!", she screamed, charging in with the Undead towards the creature. Her katana was risen for a quick and damaging blow. The tail whipped once more against the rock, giving a tiny shock to the ground near the impact.