POOHEAD189

The Legend of Zelda: Valorbrand Chronicles [Interest]

Looks interesting

Tricksters and Theives: A Warhammer RP

"We will," was all Neil gave her, hefting the rifle as arrows sizzled by. One struck the crate behind Neil, Emmaline squeaking and ducking behind the stone wall. Four beastmen shoulder rushed the large doorway below, slamming their stout bodies into it and bouncing off, the door holding strong at the moment. Neil had locked it and shoved crates and a desk against it, and there was no other entrance on the lowest floor. It was Imperial law that the lowest floors of every establishment not behind two stone walls would have no windows or else suffer a tax, because of just such an occasion as an attack by beastmen. Of course, they did not expect such a thing in the midst of Nuln, but for once Neil thought a law made by meaningless bureaucracy served him well.

She chucked the case at Neil, and with a grimace he caught it and without pausing, dumped it out of the window and onto the beastmen, who in their wisdom discovered that their axes might be used for more than carving up flesh. They started hacking at the door with wild abandon, before the crate clunked into a horned head and sent the beast to the ground. The others stopped stupidly, and after considering the situation, decided to laugh at their comrade as the cheap booze spilled out over the stones. Neil ducked under another arrow, and had to spend his bullet on one of the archers. The bullet carved through the ungor's throat satisfyingly, but it left Neil needing to reload in order to ignite the flames below. Emmaline thrust herself forward and incanted quickly, a small spark falling from her wriggling hands like a fiery snowflake and landing on the running alcohol. Flames raced across the floor and ran up the legs of the beastman below them, engulfing the one who still had the crate stuck to its head.

"Ok, now we just wait until the flames are out and then we go?" Emmaline asked, even as Neil yanked her out of the way of another arrow. She smiled and fluttered her lashes at him guiltily, and he grinned.

"Yeah, just gotta wait for that." He reassured her, mounting his hochland rifle on the window and dispatching the last of the archers. Reloading one final time, Neil told Emmaline to grab the bags. She did so, and when she returned she saw Neil triple knotting a rope around the pillar foundation of the second floor. He wrapped the rope around his arm and held his free hand out for Emmaline to take. She took it, and he pulled her close.

"Treat this like a regular job. Be inconspicuous, try not to get caught, and when in doubt, run."

As Emmaline was lifted up to the window as Neil placed a foot upon it, she clung to him. "Do we know where we're going?" She asked, trepidation in her voice. Below, three beastmen were dead and one burnt one had plunged himself into the water around the island and was trying to pull itself back up onto shore.

"Yes. No.... vaguely." He said, and let the fall keep her from responding. He leaped out with her and she screamed for a moment before the rope went taut and Neil let it slide through his hand until they touched upon the ground. Only a few flames were left on the spot. Neil held his nose, the scent of burnt beastman and crisp hair permeating them.

"Smells like your cooking," Neil said with a smile. Emmaline smacked him on the back of the head, but she shared a grin from the jest.

Over the bridge, they only needed to make it another street before they would find a gutter grating. Then they just had to get in it, and they would be relatively home free.

Dark Streets - Urban Shadows

Ǫlni The Forgemaster

---

When Ǫlni lifted his head from his labors, he blinked in amazement and worry. Whoever had made this bullet... No, no he would tell Valkyrie Cykali first. He stomped out of the smithy and entered the warehouse, where Harald was explaining to the Valkyrie exactly who he was.

"What is a... 'residency?'" The Valkyrie asked, but Ǫlni interrupted them by shoving between them.

"Harald, thanks for yer help. Ye may go now." The Dwarf said dismissively.

"Go? What? You drove me here!" Harald exclaimed. Ǫlni looked at him quizzically.

"It's just a few miles..." The Dwarf explained, but when he saw Harald wasn't going anywhere, he shook his bearded head. He wondered how man had become so soft in the centuries of his slumber, and decided to blame the country. "Americans!"

"I'm norwegian!"

Ǫlni ignored him, holding the bullet up in front of the Valkyrie's face. "Whoever made this thing knew fae magic. They enchanted it to see ye and penetrate yer armor and flesh, and I'll bet they're still looking for ye. One doesn't go through that much trouble to not finish the job. Do ye have any mortal enemies or mortals that might be in league with any foes?"

Hello from Singapore!

@chongjasmine Lovely to meet you!

Pax Astra

"ETA?" Tiber asked as bullets punched through the aluminum lining in the walls. A ricochet pinged off the interior's southern wall and cut his leg, but he didn't move. Sabatine ducked in and out of the crates, providing just enough of a buffer past the wall to halt the straight shot of incoming projectiles.

"Two paces!" She called, shouldering her Vesta and firing two rounds. Someone outside screamed in a pained panic. Her third round ended it abruptly and she ducked as a mass of returned fire punctured the wall by her position. One lucky bullet found a soft spot in the crate but Ceres watched over Sabatine. The shard flew just passed her head as she reloaded, paying as little attention to it as Tiber had.

Sabatine rolled to a different position and tried something risky, eschewing the safety of the crates and peeking through a bullet hole to give a more accurate reading of the enemy position. Almost immediately she cried "Now!" and vaulted over the closest crates as Tiber hit the button.

A concussive shockwave shoved against the building, followed by a wave of heat and a roaring as three remote detonated mines with layers of 12-ounce, C-3 explosive's launched flame and an array of 6mm steel cubes flying in all directions. As Tiber dove into cover next to Sabatine, holes rang through the wall like fletchlets in an immense shotgun blast. Four seconds rolled by as the two soldiers collected themselves, wringing out the ringing in their ears and getting to their feet. It was all the time they had before bullets rang on the walls and punched through the floorboards of the second story floor.

Tiber and Sabatine rolled in opposite directions, catching a glimpse of two men who had the relatively intelligent decision to flank the building and enter through the gaping hole in his baygate. Unfortunately, they didn't count on Legionnaire discipline. Tiber and Sabatine moved in unison, halting their rolls in a prone position and sending two clean shots. Sabatine's bullet hit the man right on the nose, literally, severing the spinal cord and sending shrapnel of bone into his brain. Tiber's bullet cut through the left thug's chest cavity and hit perfectly into his heart. Both men stumbled and dropped without a sound.

Gold & Glory: AU thread

"Bastard! He stole my idea!" Sketti roared, shaking his fist as the scorch mark that was once Morek. Markus wasn't extremely knowledgeable in the subtleties of dwarf culture, but he imagined a non-slayer going out in a blaze of glory in front of one who had taken the death-oath was much like a cat panting and wagging its tail. Either way, his death was what they needed to make it out so Markus wouldn't begrudge the departed dwarf. The Hammer lazily floated out of the maw of the great cavern and into the cloudy weather of the night. Rain still pelted the deck, but the maelstrom had died down to a mere tantrum of a storm.

Markus looked up and saw the silhouette of the sorceress eclipse the small glimpse of the moon, riding upon her flying steed and raising a staff. Markus felt the hairs on his skin raise, and he felt a heat radiate on him. He had the briefest moment to consider the implications before he leaped, and a pillar of light pierced his position on the ship just the next second. Wood splintered with the flash of lightning, but luckily it didn't cut through the entirety of the caravel.

Out of the gloom a spasm of dark mystic missiles streaked through the air and hit poor Holdman. As the druchii magic entered his form, he had a single second to give a look of depair before he began to wrack with something inside his body. He convulsed with such violence that when he hit the ground he bounced as he clawed his very eyes out, blood seeping out of every orifice. Brod tried to get a hold of him but Holdman's boot hit him in the chest, sending him sprawling as Holdman let out a final gurgle and died. Had the pirates been a more charitable bunch he might have hurt many more in his death throes. No doubt the sorceress had counted on humans to be less selfish than dark elves, but everyone aboard was too pragmatic or afraid to vainly help Holdman. The man began drowning in his own blood, and Markus did him the favor of severing his neck so he might not have to die from suffocation.

"Why isn't she attacking the ship?" Sketti asked after firing a pistol at the witch, who was far enough away to nimbly dodge it.

"They want our ship." Markus explained, drawing his blade, bledwydyr, out of Holdman's corpse. "Likely with some plot to dupe an imperial trading port in some scheme. I can appreciate that, but not with my bloody ship!"

Tricksters and Theives: A Warhammer RP

"Looks like we'll need an extension of clearing out," Neil said as he made it to the window. Smoke began to rise into the air between the vast buildings of the city. Fortunately, their tower was relatively isolated from the main body of the city, but he saw a handful of beastmen loping across the bridge toward them, while two of the chaos mutants, one with a goats head and the other with a wolfish countenance, brayed at their brethren and waved axes.

Emmaline watched the monsters streaming forth with worry. Across the water, citizens were hacked down in the streets or shoved bleeding into the riek. Even now a sqaud of swordsmen with shields locked met a murder of beastmen at the edge of the quay, slamming against one another, steel flashing and blood spurting. It was worrying, but the small horde cresting the bridge towards them was a more immediate danger. Emmaline bit her lip and drew back, but squeaked when an ornate longbarrel slid past her nose to rest on the window sill. Neil cocked the Hochland rifle like he was born to the task. In his mouth, he sported a lit cigar.

"Where were you keeping that gun?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it," The thief responded, hovering his eye a scant inch from the scope. Like a short fuse, Neil waited a small breath before the gun cracked. A beastman with the antlered head of a deer lost half of its skull, bloody shrapnel of red gray matter splattering across the other members of its party. Calmly, in fact he was whistling, Neil began to load the musket by the muzzle end, black powder followed by a lead ball falling into place before grabbing the ramrod. He had wanted to use the gun in a more indirect fight, the weapon having far greater range than a normal handgun, thanks to a spiralling groove on the inside of the barrel. It had a complex arrangement of lenses and sights that allowed the marksmen to pick out targets that would normally be too small to be shot a with any degree of accuracy. He could probably help out the swordsman halfway across the river breadth if they didn't have more pressing problems.

"Baby, do me a favor." Neil said, hefting the gun again and aiming.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Get the cheapest booze we got. Some of that stored shit we didn't want to touch." His words were punctuated by the discharge of the long rifle. A large ram-headed gor felt with a gaping hole in its chest. "Bring it up here, will you? As soon as they try to break the door down we'll lit 'em up."

Tricksters and Theives: A Warhammer RP

Neil was lost in a maelstrom of darkness. He had fallen asleep almost thinking he was on a rocking boat, as if the mattress itself was swaying upon light waves, and that feeling hadn't left him until Emmaline slid out of his arms. He felt a slight chill and stirred, trying to will himself to go back to sleep without even realizing it was his intent. The delectable smell that wafted into his nostrils was bittersweet, since he still felt entirely heavy. Should he appreciate sleep or that sweet smell? Where did it even come from?

"Rise and shine," Neil heard near the light of the glass. He murmured and redirected his position, flipping his head like a pancake and opening one eye. Even bleary, the silhouette of Emmaline popped the other eye open, and he pushed his body up and wrested the sleep from him. He felt like his head was made of wool, but his girlfriend could clear his senses like a slap in the face. Standing there and smiling in front of him, he wondered how he could get so lucky. He would gladly be in a city besieged by malevolent forces beyond comprehension if it meant seeing her every morning.

Good thing he could have one and not the other if they played it smart.

"Wow, that got me up," he laughed tiredly. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "You didn't have to cook. I coulda... could have helped." The last word was lost in a yawn as he stretched, broadening his chest as his arms went wide. Emmaline plopped down at the edge of the bed and set the tray between them, taking a bite of a crispy piece of bacon.

"I could do some things for you sometimes," she said, and they shared a smile. The two ne'er-do-wells began to eat, and gave small quips with half filled mouths and sent one another giggling more than once. When they were finished, Emmaline ended up getting her shoulders massaged by Neil's insistence. She let out a soft moan, moving her red waves out of his way.

"This for breakfast?" She wondered softly.

"That, and it's going to be a long ass day, babe." He said, his fingers dexterous and strong. He rubbed out every knot and point he could find, admittedly enjoying her enjoying herself. He also wanted to lay out what they were going to do while she felt good, so it sounded plausible. All he knew was they couldn't stay here forever. "Around noon we need to get dressed and pack everything we want to take with us. We're getting out of this city and going as far away as possible. Trust me, sewers'll stink worse than Gorbad Ironclaw's taint but we'll make it." Her face twisted in disgust at his turn of phrase, but it shifted back to a pleased smile at his massage. She was going to inquire where the sewers would lead them, but a shiver ran up her as he found the sweet spot on her back. He figured her question, regardless. The thieves had a way of talking without talking, sometimes. "We'll end up near Rohrhausen. It's a mining town. It will be abandoned, so we can hold up there the next night before heading into Riekland."

"Sounds fun," she replied, and Neil doubted even if she knew she was being facetious or not.

"The funnest. I didn't even get to the good part." He said, and he let her give a 'hmmm' firstly, before adding. "There's a noble mansion in Rohrausen that could simply not have taken everything when they ran out, which means when we get there we'll nab a few trinkets for the road. No point in getting to another poor, right?"

Pax Astra

"My place is closer," He added, the wind sending his dark hair flying behind him.

"It's a wreck!" She reminded him.

"It's got guns." He added, and that seemed to be the deciding factor. Sabatine tapped his shoulder in agreement and Tiber suddenly skirted the next bend and went south. He was loathe to have his place riddled with bullet holes, but it already needed work done. If it saved their lives it was worth it. Plus, he had a home field advantage.

To Sabatine's delight, the lights still approached them from behind even after the change of course. Tiber felt her sigh as she held him. He couldn't blame her not wanting her home destroyed. Wouldn't be fair for both of them to be out on the street. Seems their orders were to kill, this time. Another two kilometers passed beneath them before the ATV landed at the front of his workshop. The two soldiers vaulted the transport and Tiber led her inside through the massive hole in the bay gate. Papers and debris littered the ground while tools had been tossed like someone had thrown a tantrum. Forward was the area where he kept any vehicles he happened to work on, and to the right next to his office was a wide stairwell that led up into an open second floor where he kept much of his junk and undesirables. To the immediate right was his 'junker' mech, still chained up.

"Tell me that thing works." Sabatine said as Tiber hurried approached it and began to ascend the metallic giant, gripping its steel plates like he was born to it.

"No, but it can fall." He told her without elaborating, unhooking the chains and climbing into the cockpit to grab a small device. Once in hand, he climbed down and hopped the last eight feet, and ushered Sabatine up the stairs to what was essentially a storage basement, open with a rail one could stand beside and see most of the lower floor below. It was the only place with any elevation. Sabatine hopped over a few boxes to peer out of the lone window at the top, and light flashed on her face as the light trucks pulled into the last drag before they were on them.

"Here," Tiber said, and when Sabatine turned she almost didn't catch the Vetas Arma. An old, very outdated military slug thrower. It possessed a simple fire selector allowing the user to fire single shots, three round bursts, or fully automatic streams, with a fifteen round magazine. It had less finesse than the plasma guns and was less useful against high powered armor, but it could take a hell of a beating and it had impressive stopping power. He tossed her four magazines and loaded his own Vetas Arma.

"Know how to shoot this thing?" He asked her, slinging the weapon over his shoulder and vaulting another crate before he made it to the edge of the second floor, just at the north wall beside the railing. He opened up a small compartment, where a red button lay.

"Where the hell did you get these?" She asked.

"Souvenir from the campaign on Agripinaa," He said, referring to one of the more famous and recent rebellions in the empire. A rogue state had risen up in the system, breaking off and reforging itself into a 'supposed' republic. Tiber and his team had been sent in on spec ops. "Just tell me when they've made it to the flowers out front." He told her.

He didn't have a lot of time to explain his hand hovered over a remote detonator.

Dark Streets - Urban Shadows

Ǫlni The Forgemaster

---

'They' must have been waiting for her? Ǫlni was unsure of who would attack a Valkyrie, particularly in this day and age. Perhaps a demon, though such beasts wouldn't use bullets. He felt dread rise in his stomach when he theorized it was the Jotuns, who would enjoy nothing more than the bash the brains out of any servant of Odin. But they were not known for their firearms either. A mortal could do it, but how would they be able to see Valkyrie Cykali, much less use weaponry that could harm her?

"Keep the lass company," Ǫlni said flippantly to Harald, who seemed at a loss for words. The dwarf was too busy gazing at the slug that had pierced her body, the scrap now between two tongs. He hustled away and went into his forge so he may better utilize his metallurgical skill by letting it out. He would cleanse the bullet, and then see if he could recognize or deduce what type of projectile and metal this was.

Roll

I roll a 10

@Penny