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The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

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Polina merely gave a shrug at Katherine’s complaint, but as the awful creature bulled through their sustained fire and the rest of their defenses, including her own best efforts, she began to grow more concerned. She had been very dearly hoping that they could stop it before reaching them entirely, but even with the volume of bullets and sharps they poured on it, all they did was to slow it down. Then, it finally reached close quarters with Polina. She immediately rolled and jumped away, barely in the nick of time as she felt the heat almost singe her hair as she disengaged, silencing a yelp from the close encounter. Really, if it hadn’t been for all the sparring she did with her sister, then she would have been a cooked and pulped Polina right now.

Willing her blades to move again, she yanked on them with her magic until they came free, ready for her to try at a second attempt when she heard… laughter?

Had one of her comrades gone mad with combat already? No… Polina watched as something cute danced into the opening. It was very cute. It also didn’t take a genius to realize it was also very dangerous. “Well, this is less than ideal,” she muttered, quickly replacing her rifle with a flare gun. Her superiors needed to know. Still keeping an eye on the other threat nearby, making sure to keep its distance, she shot two color-coded flares into the air consecutively: red, for high demons, and blue, for ‘shit has hit the fan.’

With two bangs, the two fireworks bloomed into the air near their airship. Distress call sent, she pocketed the little gun, and unsheathed her sword, assessing the situation once more.

Personally, she would have tried diplomacy here. Despite the gruesome introduction, the cute high demon had not attacked them yet. That, however, didn’t stop Kat or Lucrecia, making the decision moot. Unwilling to engage too closely, she summoned up yet more sharps from within the folds of her dress, sending a small barrage of blades at the high demon. She focused hard on their paths and trajectory, trying to exploit any openings not covered by any of her fellow maids’ attacks.

Things were looking dire, now. But with luck, maybe they could make it out…

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

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Giselle hadn’t counted on the paladin seizing the blade of her scythe entirely, nor did she expect the metallic construction of her weapon to corrode. She allowed herself a small grimace before she reacted. If her constructs, even once converted from blood could still be tainted by holy light, then she was weak indeed. Even if so, that didn’t matter now, when her compatriots helped her take the paladin to task around her.

She took care to pull back, ripping the blade of her scythe from its hands with a twist, doing nasty things to the paladin’s hands with its cutting edge, as Aleksiya’s spears and Dragan’s war hammer did equally devastating damage to the undead beings. Yet they still lived. The white-haired vampire reengaged the paladin as he lunged towards her, just as Illena’s nightmarish shadows began to wrap around him, restraining him and giving Giselle the perfect opening to deal a crippling blow to the undead paladin.

She would thank her later. For now, she would simply crash down upon its exposed head and chest with a downwards slash of her scythe. If she were given the opportunity, she would twist the weapon immediately upwards for a combo, before kicking herself away to reassess the situation. Giselle had noted Dragan’s temporary distress, but she knew enough of the vampire lord to be confident in his recovery.

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Lissa

“Mhm. Certainly not,” Lissa agreed with Eirhild, nodding at the shorter girl. “I’ve been to some pretty standoffish villages, but not someplace that’s overtly hostile to merchants, even if its an excuse. Usually places are just happy to see goods or news from outside, or if not, just seeking to take advantage.” She shrugged, listening in to what the Yaga girl had to say. It was an interesting explanation, but something sounded off… unless the Kyrsa really had fallen on a terrible excuse for a scapegoat.

“So let me get this straight… their incompetent guardsmen failed at finding the true perp of whatever crime their was, so they blame a random merchant that happens to use their village as a part of her route. Then, as a result of blaming a merchant, they blame all merchants? That’s… a really unique logical leap, if that’s what is really going on,” she mused, a frown on her face. “As I was thinking earlier, that’s a really good way to never receive visitors ever again, because words from merchants spread.”

She returned the favor when the girl introduced herself. “I’m Lissa. I got the impression that was entirely an excuse, but successor’s daughter and all, I’m surprised you two stook your necks out for us. We appreciate it, though." Pausing for a moment, she continued on. “Considering what happened, though, is there anything going on here that we should know about…? Even if you don’t know much about the problem with the merchant, maybe you know somebody who does? It sounds concerning.”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

The rounds had their intended effect. Polina had hopes that three well-placed shots from a high-power rifle would be enough to put it down. They didn’t seem to do much, at least from what she could tell from this distance, though it certainly did not like it. If a couple of good shots could end the beast, though, the local constabulary would have had long since ended the demon threat.

It didn’t take long to show itself after she landed and brought her fellow maids up to speed. It was a nasty ‘little’ bugger of a Greater beast, and it didn’t even have the good graces to be cute like some demons tended to be. This one was disgusting, feasted on humans, and needed to be permanently ended if Polina had anything to say about it.

The ostensibly serious maid –she was serious now, though!—left the lesser demons to her compatriots, briefly watching as Eleanor, Astreya, and Lucrecia mowed down the hounds with their myriad weapons of choice. Senya, meanwhile, indiscriminately mowed them down, which was about expected for a maid with such a ridiculously outsized murder weapon. By the time she had the gatling weapon focused in on the greater demon, Polina had removed her optic once again, and worked her rifle’s bolt seven more times, with a speed nearly matching Senya’s autogun. Seven high powered rounds smacked into the beast in rapid succession before the maid reloaded with two stripper clips—but she didn’t continue to fire.

It had now penetrated past her long-range radius of defense, and was now in her medium range, where she had… local control. A quartet of blades appeared from within the folds of her dress, even as she held onto her rifle. With the quickest flick of a gesture –for flair, of course, even now—the bayonets shot at the demon, aiming to cut deep into it. With enough focused firepower, Polina was sure they could all weaken it enough that it could be sealed or ended permanently.

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

A skeletal horde, a skeletal beast, and an undead being that appeared to be a paladin, but on closer inspection, lacked its signature sword. Curiouser and curiouser, but it mattered not. Even if it as a diversion, what mattered at the end of the day was that it was all still in between them and their goal.

Giselle hadn’t expected much of the small caliber, pedestrian weapon, but it had its intended effect. In this case, it appeared –whichever was the one that was controlling the other—didn’t like being shot at. The white-haired vampire was prepared for the retaliation, however, and she holstered her pistol as she leapt away from the path of the beast’s bone arm. Seeing Dragan move to her support, she gave him a nod as he took advantage of the opening. Even if the smaller paladin –or paladin lookalike—was controlling the larger skeleton, it was hard to stop that amount of inertia.

Indeed, the time for gauging the battle behind the safety of the ramparts was over. She made her landing in a sea of lesser undead, which she reaped with a whirl of her enhanced scythe, batting aside the rest as she turned her attention back to the paladin. Starting towards it, she called out to two of her companions. “Dragan, Aleksiya, with me. Let us see if we can end this by striking at the supposed source.” In another motion, she sliced out with her polearm at the armored figure, engaging it in melee combat.

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Lissa

A ’regional difference’? Well, the rat was certainly cheeky, at least. Lissa could almost respect that, if she wasn’t outraged on behalf of all merchants as well as being put in an exceptionally difficult spot. “And you’ll find that our true purpose here… was always to gather information for the road and to sell or trade our inventory.” She gave him a baleful stare, not helping the tense moment. She was about to turn and leave with Eirhild and Nylah, taking advantage of his ‘offer’ –still better than the previous guards, really—when she was suddenly hugged by a random Yaga girl.

“Abwah!?” She was taken aback by the sudden, unexpected affection, followed by what was a very amusing contrast of emotions as the second girl –was that the girl from before?—snapped at the general.

Lissa was quick to pick up on the out, though, and it took a snap second to decide to play along. “Well,” she began awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head, “it’s true. I’m not much for ostentatiousness either,” she explained, spreading out her arms and opening her palms wide in gesture. From there on, she just nodded along in approval at the girl’s antics, even if she privately questioned the duo’s motives.

“Well, we still do have real goods with us, so if you fancy some trinkets and jewelry, then you know where to find us.” Parting from the general with a half-cheeky offer of her own, with a glance at her companions, she followed after the Yaga, at least until the guards were out of earshot. The comment about being 'hollow' from the other girl, though... that was interesting, even if she didn't outwardly react to it. Well, if she knew... it wasn't the biggest secret.

“Eh, well, lacking better options, sure. Do you… mind explaining what that was all about, though? We appreciate that bit of help, though. Thanks.”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

They had their marching orders, even if the briefing they received was a little less than satisfactory. If anything, it was very unorthodox, and even Polina gave a bit of a start when the catgirl maid was unceremoniously heaved over the side of the airship. All things considered, it was a very audacious move, coming on the heels of disparaging the demons for lacking ‘decency or human morals,’ but who was Polina to judge?

No, screw that, she was going to judge.

Not that it was the right time to. She already considered it a win that Myrilla hadn’t noticed her new gift, yet. She simply gave a nod at the woman after receiving her parachute and additional supplies before launching herself over the side alongside the rest of her squad. In the air, feeling the wind buffet against her and her billowing maid uniform, she let herself freefall until she was halfway to the ground. Deploying her parachute ahead of many of the others, she trailed almost leisurely behind in the air, giving her time to unsling her battle rifle from her shoulder, affix its scope, and to make sure her weapon was loaded, finishing her little checklist with satisfying rack of the bolt once she was sure that its ten-round magazine was in place.

That done, she took in the situation before her from her slowly descending vantage point. The northern quarters of the city had been just about destroyed, as described. Yet Polina knew enough about human resilience and determination that there were likely still survivors in that zone, and the faster they intervened, the more could be helped. She began to look through her scope down towards the north, and then towards the defensive line to evaluate its strength, but then the reverberating sound of demonic roaring took her attention to the east. Just as she neared rooftop level, she spotted it—a strange, large lumbering black mass.

Hesitating for a few moments, she squared the butt of her rifle on her shoulder, and three carefully aimed shots rang out in sequence, aimed center-mass at the creature in the distance. With luck, it would do some damage, or at least she could gauge its reaction. Either way, she would likely get its attention.

A moment later, she sank below the rooftops and into the landing zone. Quickly cutting herself free of her chute with one of her many bladed weapons, she took stock of the situation around her, spotting the rest of her team nearby. Without any obvious assigned leader, she decided to take charge, having the larger share of experience among a decent number of them… and also the fact that they needed to know about the colossal amount of trouble she had intentionally dumped atop them.

“It may not be too late to save some civilians. The problem is big, black, lumbering, and coming to us, I made sure of that. Girls, let’s get into defensive positions. That thing is probably the biggest threat all around, and I want to see what it can do before we commit to assaulting it.”

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

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Considering her experience with her previous encounters with the mindless undead of Alavaris, Giselle was not too surprised to see that despite hitting her marks, they were not as fatally debilitating as she wished the projectiles to be. In the past, she would pour more energy into the bullets if she so wished for a far more devastating effect, but that was then and not now. Still, it was enough to make a difference for the others to finish them off, even if she wasn’t the one to personally deal the blow herself.

It seemed the fracas had done what was expected and drew the skeletal monster back out into the open. Giselle hasn’t seen the creature previously, but from its size, appearance, and armor she had no issue believing that was their mark… until she and the others realized the distinctive lack of silver sword. She frowned from her vantage point. Had the cleric been wrong again? It would not be the first time.
Additional intelligence from the mad cleric gave her some more pause. The two ‘Society’ humans were still in the vicinity, together with what sounded like a second creature, and with the sword to boot? Giselle’s encounter with Rikard didn’t give her the impression that he was a necromancer aside from his vials of blood, or that he was manipulating the skeleton beasts, but the presence was a concern. Perhaps they would take the sword for themselves? She supposed it would be a valuable relic in this lost age.

The sword itself mattered little to her. Unlike others who took unsilvered weapons for granted, she was a vampire that preferred to treat any weapon as potentially lethal out of an abundance of caution.

Not that she ever had to be concerned of being attacked overmuch until the end days.

“Let us deal with this swiftly, then. Damaging the structure would be unfortunate, but even a relic such as it is less important than our lives at this juncture.” They were, after all, resurrected by Ichor for this mission. A mere building paled in the face of that.

She reloaded her weapon, taking a few moments to place each bullet into the cylinder of her new revolver one-by-one. As Luna worked her song, Giselle held her fire, waiting to see what control the songstress could wrest. She would save her shot for when the skeletal creatures would come into range. Once it did, she would fire at its head and gauge a reaction— or otherwise find its weakness. She sorely wanted to engage it more meaningfully rather than plinking away with a sidearm, but she knew better.

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Lissa

Lissa gave Nylah a stare and a glare as she started to babble on at the rat guardsmen. Oh, she was sure that the girl was being well-intentioned in an attempt to navigate the situation safely. Right now, she didn’t care. With the aggressive disposition of the guards, she couldn’t predict very many good things happening from being detained by them. Entering a potentially hostile place by yourself was one thing, being arrested in a definitely hostile place was another, the original plan be damned.

The ratman said they weren’t being arrested, but Lissa knew a hot steaming pile of bull when she saw one. The deal with ‘her majesty’ was intriguing, though, but that was something to ponder when she was not being harassed by short little men. She loved talking and interacting with people, but not like this. His words were hardly conciliatory, either. “A vagrant!? Well, I never!”

Lissa was about to leave, dragging Eirhild and Nylah with her and fighting through the guards when another Krysa man joined the ‘conversation.’ He wore quite a peculiar hat, and if anything, he seemed to be a bit more amicable. Their little observer, however, didn’t seem to like the man, which was a bit of a contrast to his friendly tone…

“Perhaps, but I see no reason to detain every traveler that passes by your settlement just for the virtues of a witchhunt.” Her side was jabbed by Nylah, telling her to be careful no doubt, but she continued on, hedging on his friendlier tone. “If you’d like to have a discussion, please forgive me for asking that we have it here out in the open, rather than someplace enclosed. You would not insist otherwise were our positions swapped, I’m sure.”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina's handgun is also a semi-auto. Looks close to a 1903 pocket hammerless, but more... steampunky for reference.