Carnival of Rust

[Mark3000]

Taking the stingers, Lilith grins. With theses and the potion, at least she go something for her trouble. Returning to the city gate, she doesn't respond to the guard's snickering. Partially because she deserved it for doing something as stupid as wondering into the wilderness at night. But it had more to do with how beat-up she was.

When he mentions the inn though, Lilith gives him a nod in return and leaves to find it. Arriving at the Yellow Spider Inn, the young nomad is surprised by how nice it was. With the way the guard spoke about the place, she expected it to be some run down hobble. Entering the front door, she looked for the innkeeper's desk. When she found them, she would ask if they had any rooms available ... and some bandages to deal with her wounds.

First thing tomorrow she'd start searching for her mother. Lilith also had to find some proper clothing as well. This dress she was wearing was one of the few things she could grab before leaving the Nomad camp. It was more for ceremony and ease of access then travelling or fighting.

[lilbooth]

Everything was going splendidly. The undead threat was swiftly being defeated by the well trained Barton knights. Then the ground exploded. A few weary moments latter what Cee Cee assumed to be the skeleton King erupted from the hole"Well fuck!" in the earth. Shouted Cee Cee as she watched the towering skeleton wreak havoc. She considered just running. Her and Magni could likely get away without any issue. But she thought better of practically deserting the Barton's, considering how quick they were welcome here into the fortress. Cee Cee took a deep breath and turned to the Barton knights "LISTEN UP BOYS! We've got to hit that fucker and hit him hard! ON ME!" Shouted Cee Cee accompanied by a loud whistle. She charged forward toward the giant and slid off of Magni as they come close enough. She gripped her sword firmly and let her wolf take over. She would attack whatever was near the ground, a hand or an arm or whatever she could reach with her sword, swiping twice at the dense bone. She signaled for Magni to attack as well, slamming against the giant with all his might.

Despite their bests efforts nearly all of their attacks did little or nothing to weaken the Skeleton King’s resolve. The Skeleton King in response, opened its gaping maw and looks directly at CeeCee before letting out a loud roar and ejecting a jet of disgusting green goo all over her body. The goo is about the consistency of wet clay, with the stickiness of slug slime. The disgusting goo sticks to her and makes it difficult for her to move. Cee Cee, Magni, and the knights all issued back a volley of attacks. The Skeleton King once again opens its gaping skeletal maw, however, this time a green gas pours out of it and engulfs CeeCee and her companions. Inhaling the gas makes one feel as though their lungs have been set on fire, causes their eyes to water uncontrollably, and reddens the skin as it causes their entire body to fill a horrible searing pain. Seeing that her weapon was no use against the giant mass of bones she ran towards Magni and issued a sharp whistle, gesturing towards the sky with a cock of her head. Magni launcher her into the air above the skeleton where Cee Cee landed gracefully and baited the Skeleton King to swing his mighty club towards his own skull. Unfortunately She was not quick enough to get out of the way before the club came crashing down. After crushing Cee Cee against his own skull the Skeleton King targeted the Barton Knights and swatted them away like flies. Magni however, enraged by the injury of his master, gained strength to match the bone goliath. Cee Cee used the last of her strength to bolster Magni further. Just when the owlbear had begun to make a difference in the fight, Cee Cee was wrenched off the Skeleton by a mass of purple roots. She was pulled down to the ground hard and knocked the wind out of her. The last thing she saw before her vision was swallowed up by the many purple roots was Magni matching the Skeleton King’s every blow.

The purple roots, possessed or driven by whatever dark magic fueled the undead horde, wasted no time getting acquainted with Cee Cee. They quickly stripped off her Braton Armor, expelling it from the pile of writhing roots, clearly not interested in the metal carapace. Cee Cee’s sword and shield where already strew on the battlefield and the only thing that remained on her otherwise naked body was the cragg heart, that seemed too cold for even the necrotic roots to touch. Her flesh, though perpetually cold was still soft and supple under the rough constricting touch of the roots. They pressed and pulled her firmly into the ground, spreading apart her legs and pinning her arms and head down. Cee Cee fought against the roots for sometime, but with her strength already spent she did not last long. Once Cee Cee had ceased her thrashing and struggling the roots reared back all together and shoved forward in unison. Thanks to her recent rump with an oversized owlbear, her vagina, and throat was well-stretched. Her tight ass however, untouched by any invaders for some time, was unprepared for the assault. Unable to move or fight in any way Cee Cee just focused on breathing, something that was particularly challenging with a massive purple root jutting down her throat. Her breath was limited to intensely short gasps. The roots that violated her below the waist were equally as viscous as the one locked in her throat. The amulet helped to shield her from some of the roots roughness, and her years of beast tamming also came in handy. That was not to say that the constant choking and chaffing that the roots that where ramming her holes provided was at all pleasurable. It was terribly painful in fact, but not enough to cause her to lose consciousness.
Her short breaths, full throat, and compressed chest led very quickly to oxygen deprivation. Cee Cee began to feel light headed and fatigued. Her vision blurred and she began to feel numb all over. The roots continued their onslaught for nearly an hour, continuously scratching and ramming Cee Cee’s raw holes the entire time. As the Skeleton King marched away, evident by the roar and ground-shaking stomps, the purple root lifted Cee Cee from the ground and tossed her spent body aside before receding into the earth.

[Nobudi]

To her relief, the Church still stood amongst the chaos of the city. By the time they reached the foot of the steps, a small team, whom among them was the High Priest himself, darted out and swept the two of them in through the solid doors. Things did not look good as they were debriefed and while Lucia was being patched up. "I was investigating the creature shooting me earlier, and discovered that there are more of them. Quitea few more. I believe they've hijacked the controls to the city, though for why, I cannot say," Lucia said, wincing as the patchwork made it to her bruised ribs, before taking a sip of the tea. "As for my injuries, I went to the barracks to get additional help. I only found that one, and managed to fend it off."

Once they made it into the next room, her heart sank. So many wounded. And for every wounded, more were out in the street, or dead. She turned to the High Priest and asked, "Where is the control center for the city? I've never been there exactly, but we need to reclaim the controls."

[KnightVanilla]

It had been a two months since she had set up shop, with business rather fluid as she was beginning to cement herself as the local alchemist within town. Caelic had hoped to make a home for herself in Monstropolis... the strange name of the place reminded her of where the world viewed her kind. Strangely enough the many visitors and customers she had spoke of a different look on her as an individual. Intrigue, curiosity, and a need for her services had brought many to her door step. So long as they had the money she was more than ready to provide her services.

Today was quite particularly uninteresting.... the usual question on what it was like to be a dragon sort of were beast and just where exactly she learned her craft. It was simple questions with simple answer. Such as needing a teacher and taking time to learn on what they could on their own. In truth when many others that knew little of were-beast asked her what made her stand out in any particular fashion. Obviously curious about some sense of physical or mental enhancement, Caelic would only point to her horns. "That's all really no special attributes and what not... no night vision, no enhanced strength, just a beautiful lass and her knack for drinkable wares." There Dragon girl took her time to sit at her table waiting for any particular orders or transactions to be processed... Until a very peculiar amount of customers were gathering towards the window. With her own curiousity now piqued she began walking over to investigate the commotion. "Alright, alright, What's going on here?!" She brushed past the small crowd within her shop to see soldiers fighting the undead...

Now that's not a sight you see every day, but the multitude of undead was brought to the forefront of her attention once she found the threat closing in on the town. "Okay then, Ladies and Gentle Creatures... I will have to request that you either leave for your homes or stay behind within mine. Anyone that can fight is welcome to come with me so we can secure our homes. Now do I have any takers or is a wee lass like myself gonna have to fight off an army?" She asked this as she began grabbing as many of her in store supplies for her use outside. While she was no fighter should could build and aid those that would be willing to fight with her.

[RandomRoninKitten]

KnightVanilla/Caelic Nemian

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

It had been a two months since she had set up shop, with business rather fluid as she was beginning to cement herself as the local alchemist within town. Caelic had hoped to make a home for herself in Monstropolis... the strange name of the place reminded her of where the world viewed her kind. Strangely enough the many visitors and customers she had spoke of a different look on her as an individual. Intrigue, curiosity, and a need for her services had brought many to her door step. So long as they had the money she was more than ready to provide her services.

Today was quite particularly uninteresting.... the usual question on what it was like to be a dragon sort of were beast and just where exactly she learned her craft. It was simple questions with simple answer. Such as needing a teacher and taking time to learn on what they could on their own. In truth when many others that knew little of were-beast asked her what made her stand out in any particular fashion. Obviously curious about some sense of physical or mental enhancement, Caelic would only point to her horns. "That's all really no special attributes and what not... no night vision, no enhanced strength, just a beautiful lass and her knack for drinkable wares." There Dragon girl took her time to sit at her table waiting for any particular orders or transactions to be processed... Until a very peculiar amount of customers were gathering towards the window. With her own curiousity now piqued she began walking over to investigate the commotion. "Alright, alright, What's going on here?!" She brushed past the small crowd within her shop to see soldiers fighting the undead...

Now that's not a sight you see every day, but the multitude of undead was brought to the forefront of her attention once she found the threat closing in on the town. "Okay then, Ladies and Gentle Creatures... I will have to request that you either leave for your homes or stay behind within mine. Anyone that can fight is welcome to come with me so we can secure our homes. Now do I have any takers or is a wee lass like myself gonna have to fight off an army?" She asked this as she began grabbing as many of her in store supplies for her use outside. While she was no fighter should could build and aid those that would be willing to fight with her.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

As expected, since this city is mostly retired individuals, the entire room cleared out immediately and she was left standing by the window alone.

After the room had cleared out, Caelic decided that she would pick up some of her store supplies which could help her in her endeavor, however, as she approached the nearby shelf, her window was suddenly shattered, and a ragdolling body smashed into the shelf, breaking all of the contents therein, leaving her with nothing of consequence to bring with her, aside from her Rusted Breaking Crossbow, and arrows to use with it.

The body was wearing broken armor, mostly shattered from what appeared to be an extremely powerful bow, and had no shield or sword. Blood was oozing from inside the helmet, and from beyond the visor, his eyes could be soon, and they were rolled back. This man was undoubtably dead.

MrBlah/Amun Khufu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

So he had fewer options than he thought... Amun sighed in a defeated manner. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. "I'll try to deal with the boss, then. Would I be receiving help in a timely manner? I'm certain a prolonged fight wouldn't be what my doctor would recommend." If even one of the knights should show up to his aid quickly, he'd feel he would have some amount of a survival chance. And if there's one thing Amun wants most; it's to survive... Actually, could he win some points with the two female knights if he did this? Women liked brave men. Maybe they'd even give him a reward if he managed his part well? He entertained himself with thoughts of his possible gains after surviving the encounter, using them to distract himself from the very high possibility of death, and also to motivate himself in the first place. Even if he knew he had to do it, the necessity of his action didn't stop his body from trembling.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Prairie nodded in understanding and spoke softly "Don't worry, we'll come to your aid as soon as we can spare the reinforcements. We will not let any other Cielo residents come to harm if at all possible." she then gave Amun a reassuring pat on the shoulder, then called out to her fellow knights "KNIGHTS OF CIELO, SHOW THESE MONSTERS THAT THEY'VE MESSED WITH THE WRONG CITY!" she and her knights then charged in behind a shield and engaged the enemy, with Captain Prairie immediately cutting down three in a single whirling slash over her ducking comrades, before they spread out, attempting to split up the remaining forces, while also covering each other.

Dexterity Check: Pass

Amun does his best to sneak past the chaos and does so successfully by crawling across the ground, near the walls of the crumbling structures. Upon making it to the door, Amun opens it silently and sneaks inside.

Upon entering the Control Center, Amun was met with a hallway, with green walls and a grey carpet, with a series of three doors on both sides, each with a golden knob and no signs, however, there were luckily no creatures guarding the hallway as of yet.

Nobudi/LuLu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

To her relief, the Church still stood amongst the chaos of the city. By the time they reached the foot of the steps, a small team, whom among them was the High Priest himself, darted out and swept the two of them in through the solid doors. Things did not look good as they were debriefed and while Lucia was being patched up. "I was investigating the creature shooting me earlier, and discovered that there are more of them. Quitea few more. I believe they've hijacked the controls to the city, though for why, I cannot say," Lucia said, wincing as the patchwork made it to her bruised ribs, before taking a sip of the tea. "As for my injuries, I went to the barracks to get additional help. I only found that one, and managed to fend it off."

Once they made it into the next room, her heart sank. So many wounded. And for every wounded, more were out in the street, or dead. She turned to the High Priest and asked, "Where is the control center for the city? I've never been there exactly, but we need to reclaim the controls."

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The High Priest nodded and pointed to the south side of the city, explaining "It's to the south, near the dead center... be careful, there's no doubt that it's heavily guarded, but there are also likely Cielo Knights fighting for it who can use your assistance." he explained resting his hand on her right shoulder "We believe in you." the high priest finished, nodding his head in reassurance.

When the High Priest finished speaking, the Fox-Girl moves up to LuLu and pushes a pair of metallic objects into her hand, quietly, looking up at her with hope in her eyes. Upon closer inspection, the objects are a pair of modular gold-plated receivers, built to fit LuLu's personal Steam Guns, both highly advanced and detailed. The little girl nodded as LuLu looked back at her.

Soon after the Fox-Girl left the room, the girl in the blue dress handed LuLu a red potion out of her dress pocket and smiled "Do your best, we know we can count on you."

LuLu would find the journey to the center of Cielo long and dangerous, with the creatures roaming every corner of the streets in search of victims, however, she manages to make it to the control center without incident.

Upon reaching the control center, LuLu would find four Knights outside the structure, fighting a massive army of the creatures she had fought before. While they were holding their own, the four of them, total, were outnumbered by a wide margin, with at LEAST 25 of the enemy present. Out of the four knights, LuLu immediately recognized Captain Prairie and Lyanna, however, the other two knights were unrecognizable, as they were covered head to toe in the standard Cielo Knight armor.

Lilbooth/CeeCee

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Everything was going splendidly. The undead threat was swiftly being defeated by the well trained Barton knights. Then the ground exploded. A few weary moments latter what Cee Cee assumed to be the skeleton King erupted from the hole"Well fuck!" in the earth. Shouted Cee Cee as she watched the towering skeleton wreak havoc. She considered just running. Her and Magni could likely get away without any issue. But she thought better of practically deserting the Barton's, considering how quick they were welcome here into the fortress. Cee Cee took a deep breath and turned to the Barton knights "LISTEN UP BOYS! We've got to hit that fucker and hit him hard! ON ME!" Shouted Cee Cee accompanied by a loud whistle. She charged forward toward the giant and slid off of Magni as they come close enough. She gripped her sword firmly and let her wolf take over. She would attack whatever was near the ground, a hand or an arm or whatever she could reach with her sword, swiping twice at the dense bone. She signaled for Magni to attack as well, slamming against the giant with all his might. OOC

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

A group of the remaining soldiers took the opportunity, after the "Skeleton King" had fled, to quickly grab CeeCee and bring her to one of their large, treaded vehicles, where one of them took a potion out of a medkit, while the others dressed her back up in a jumpsuit and a new set of army, and strapped her missing weapons to her.

Soon, the commander boarded with another group of knights and spoke to them, "The massive skeleton and the vast majority of their army are heading to Monsteropolis, we and our incoming reinforcements have been ordered to cut them off and defend the city. Everyone should rest while they can, as this battle will be more difficult than the last!"

As he finished speaking, the vehicles were put in motion and began traveling towards Monsteropolis at high speed, and occasionally CeeCee could feel a slight 'thunk' as the vehicle ran down a zombie.

Mark3000/Lilith

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Taking the stingers, Lilith grins. With theses and the potion, at least she go something for her trouble. Returning to the city gate, she doesn't respond to the guard's snickering. Partially because she deserved it for doing something as stupid as wondering into the wilderness at night. But it had more to do with how beat-up she was.

When he mentions the inn though, Lilith gives him a nod in return and leaves to find it. Arriving at the Yellow Spider Inn, the young nomad is surprised by how nice it was. With the way the guard spoke about the place, she expected it to be some run down hobble. Entering the front door, she looked for the innkeeper's desk. When she found them, she would ask if they had any rooms available ... and some bandages to deal with her wounds.

First thing tomorrow she'd start searching for her mother. Lilith also had to find some proper clothing as well. This dress she was wearing was one of the few things she could grab before leaving the Nomad camp. It was more for ceremony and ease of access then travelling or fighting.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The interior of the building was entirely black with yellow vertical line, with even the furniture matching the color scheme. The furniture was actually VERY nice, with the couches in the waiting rooms being made of leather, and the end-tables having black marble tops, and every part of the room being completely spotless.

Up at the black marble front counter, Lilith could see why the place accepted Wanderers, as the owner was the individual at the front, and she was a Wanderer herself.

She was a short girl with large black horns, pale white and black hair, split down the middle, with pale white skin with red runes, wearing a black dress. She looked up as Lilith approached and immediately rang a bell on the countertop, which brought two more Wanderers, both with black skin and black horns, wearing the same black dresses as the owner. The owner handed them a first aid kit, which they opened and used to start treating her wounds. While they were dressing her wounds, the owner finally spoke up "Hello, and welcome to the Yellow Spider Inn, what else can we do for you?" she asked, in an emotionless tone.

Over on the left side off the counter, not immediately noticeable, but certainly not hidden, Lilith could see a sheet detailing how doing mercenary work for the owner of the Inn would allow one to stay for free between jobs.

MiscChaos/Ophelia

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

While Ophelia is used to sneaking through areas, they're generally less busy than this. When she strikes, it tends to be when a complex is going to sleep or is otherwise not on alert. This encampment seems to be anything but. She's not sure if they recently saw activity or if this is standard operations, but the orcs don't seem to stop patrolling here. While she's not necessarily scared of them, she IS definitely concerned about what seems to be the leader. While his name is fucking stupid, his presence is anything but. She makes sure to give him a wide berth. While she enjoys a challenge, she's neither stupid nor suicidal. Given his stature and his aura, attempting to assassinate him would allow her to feel alive, but she wouldn't STAY that way for very long. She must survive in mostly one piece if she wishes to continue serving her Lady.

Now that she's halfway through the encampment, she'll have to be more careful. More orcs running around means higher chances of being caught even if she aborts mission right now and tries to turn around. Which she's not going to do. Turning around now would be wasting more time than if she had never entered the encampment and went to Ras-Terre instead. So she decides to continue trying to make her way to the other side of the camp. If she's spotted, she'll immediately attempt to fade into the background and continue on her way. She's not sure if it's a result of her training or this gift is why her Lady wanted her in the first place, but no one seems to remember the details about her once she's left their sight. She's banking on that lack making anyone who sees her to make them think they were seeing things so that they don't continue pursuit.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ophelia successfully manages to navigate through the rest of the camp without incident, and continues on her way to the city of Ferraille.

After traveling for miles upon miles without incident, she sees Ferraille off in the distance, however, the sun is now setting and it's starting to get dark. Upon approaching the gates... or rickety fence of Ferraille, she sees not far beyond a conspicuous black-haired girl in a purple frock and a Spectross in a black one-piece dress carrying a massive rusting hammer, walking into one of the nearby scrap-heap-like structures. While she does not recognize them as anyone of note, they do not match the general feel of the encampment, as the guards were all wearing armor which appeared to be made from bent scrap metal, misatched and rusted, and wielding sharpened sheets of dented and rusted metal, heavily implying to her that the Spectross and Dark-Haired girl were travelers who are only passing through this location.

However, this thought process was immediately interrupted as she felt a presence nearby. Through the darkness, Ophelia could see a Giant Scarab nearby, approaching her location. While it hadn't noticed her yet, due to the falling darkness and the fact that she's sneaking around, if it drew any closer, it would be able to possibly detect her presence.

LittleManKitten/Anastasia Ursa

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Anastasia cringed a little as Idalia cut herself again, and was a little surprised when she started to fill a entire bottle with her blood. Doing her to look away from what was happening in front of her, she waited till Idalia was done before looking again. "Thanks." She grumbled and took the bottle, taking a quick single gulp. She gagged at the metallic taste and coughed a little, then sighed in relief as she could feel her wounds start to disappear. She still didn't like it but figured it was a good way to heal up and would just have to get used to it. Closing the lid to the bottle, she put it in her pack.

When Idalia started undressing Anastasia started paying a little more attention to her and tried to subtly check her body out, and probably failed. When Idalia got into the tub Anastasia would attempt to catch a few more peeks of Idalia's body as she prepared her side of the bed, but didn't make that big of an effort of it. Though her concealed cock would start to stiffen a little during that time. By the time Idalia got out Anastasia would still be trying clean her side of the bed of random small pieces of refuse. When Idalia feel asleep, Anastasia reluctantly got into the opposite end of the bed with her and closed her eyes, falling asleep much sooner than she thought she would.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

After Idalia and Anastasia had been sleeping for a very short time, Anastasia was awakened by a noise outside, which sounded like a large creature stomping around outside the Ferraille walls(Which were more like a rickety fence than an actual wall). This, however, would not be cause for alarm in most other cities, however, this one was guarded by troops wielding chunks of metal and wearing rusty scrap, however, there were no sounds to indicate that the Ferraille troops had mobilized, as they were likely waiting for the creature to show interest in breaching the fence.

Whilst this was occurring to her, she also became acutely aware of the fact that she had somehow ended up on Idalia's side of the bed and had her arms around her, clutching her half-naked body(As she was only wearing her bra and panties) to her own body tightly. She, however, did not seem to notice, as she was still breathing softly, with her eyes closed, her body facing away from Anastasia's.

Glancing around the room would indicate that nothing had been moved or changed, and that everything is as it should be, aside from the creature stomping around outside the city, and Anastasia would be fully capable of going back to sleep if she so desired.

[Littlemankitten]

Anastasia grumbled a little as she was awakened and hugged the soft, surprisingly warm pillow a bit harder, trying to go back to sleep. However, as the noise persisted, she slowly became more and more conscious. Anastasia let out an annoyed sigh and opened her eyes. Wait a minute, that wasn't a pillow. Realizing that she had somehow gotten into a position to spoon Idalia in her sleep, she froze for a moment. Anastasia hadn't had any real physical contact that didn't involve punching someone's lights out for quite a long time, and while she thought she had no interest in doing anything physical with Idalia, she found herself struggling to let go. Idalia felt so... Nice. Anastasia felt her hands softly stroke Idalia skin on their own accord, and then felt a erection begin to grow. At that she quickly let go of Idalia and scooted away from her, shaking her head and putting her hand to her eyes, trying to think of something else.

Remembering the noise that was still happening, she got out of the bed and looked out a window, seeing the large scarab like creature making the racket. Anastasia felt she wouldn't really be able to sleep while that thing was still alive, and it seemed the guards weren't doing jack shit about it. She headed over to Idalia's side and shook her awake. "Come help me fight this big monster that is causing fucking racket." Giving her a light slap on the leg, she then goes and grabs her hammer, and then heads down the stairs of the building to go outside. To tired and annoyed to really think this could be a bad idea, she walked outside and, cursing the entire way, began heading towards the creature.

[Mark3000]

Lilith was breathless as she took in the inn's interior. The black marble had a rich texture and the yellow accents only highlighted the building's beauty. She could probably appreciate it more if she wasn't bleeding all over their floor.

Lilith was surprised to see another Wanderer like herself behind the counter, all be it so young. It wasn't until she called the other Wanderers to assist her that Lilith realized the short girl was the owner. Lilith sat in the nearest couch as she let them tend to her.

"Thank you. My name is Lilith. I'm looking for a place to stay for the moment" Lilith said as she could see the sheet off to the counter's side. She then turned to face the owner. "I'd be will to work to earn my stay." She says motioning towards the sheet on the counter. "It may not seem like it, but I have a talent for this kind of work" Lilith told the owner. In truth, she'd never done mercenary work before. But it couldn't be harder then surviving in the Wilderness.

Once her wounds were treated and she'd gotten an answer from the owner, Lilith asked one more question of the owner. "One more thing, has a Wanderer by the name of Lamia stopped by here?" Lilith didn't reveal their relationship, but it was obvious in the tone of her voice how important Lamia was to her. "She has white hair and a single horn like me in the middle of her head with two white bands near the tip. We're about the same height and possess similar runes."

[MiscChaos]

Ophelia allows herself to feel a bit proud of herself for successfully navigating an entire camp of active orcs. Normally when she utilized stealth, it's in areas a lot less busy than the one she just passed through. Her Lady's training shines through once more! She continues using her Lady's training the rest of the way to Ferraille, dodging all manner of trouble as none of it is necessary to her mission.

Her view of the city leaves her less than impressed as always. Compared to the opulent manor of her Lady, the picket gate makes this place look like a podunk piece of shit. She only notices the two ladies because they don't seem like they belong in such a place of squalor. Of course, they don't look like they belong anywhere near her Lady's Estate, but they don't seem low class enough to live in this "town". For one, they look like they have more than two coins to rub together when you compare them to the pathetic specimens they call guards. One would think that of all the things to spend money on, the people who nominally protect the "town" from monsters would be at the top of the list. But then, she hasn't proven that they're neither stupid beyond all salvation or poor. Probably both because if they're poor, then there should be less buildings and more armor that can be called armor rather than re-purposed scrap metal.

But then she has other things to worry about rather than a critique of the collection of trash they call a town. Like the scarab larger than she is tall. That seems extremely worrying. Regular bugs have a thick exoskeleton for protection, so she can't imagine a giant version would be any less armored. That is a problem. Her blade was made to pierce flesh, not exoskeleton. Such a fight would put her at a disadvantage. She decides it's or the best to make her way closer to the "town" as quickly and quietly as possible. That way she can throw the "guards" at it to wear it down while she find a weak spot on it.

[mrblah]

Amun nodded at the captain's words, feeling a weight come off his shoulders as she confirmed his backup. Odds were they couldn't spare a sizable unit, but any amount of assistance was better than no amount of assistance. "Thank you, captain." He was ready enough when she called the rest of the knights together, and as they charged, Amun charged in behind them. The trepidation and quick beating of his heart sounded like war drums as he got his first look at a real battle.

Three of their enemies were cut down by the captain, and her soldiers were quick to break apart and take on their own opponents. The ringing of metal clashing against swords and grunts of exertion made him feel uneasy... but he focused. Even despite his dangerous situation, those brave men and women were providing an opportunity for him. They placed their trust in him, and were laying down their lives for the mission at hand. While Amun would never say he was the honorable and courageous type, he felt this was the time to at least pretend to be it for their sake, and the sake of the city.

He ducked down to sneak past everyone, keeping away from the chaotic combat and trying to stay out of sight. Fear marked his every shaky step and his eyes were wide and paranoid, but as the door grew closer and closer... he felt like he had a chance. That was proven true when he reached it, and he wasted no time in ducking into the building, only stopping to give a momentary glance to the soldiers and a thankful nod. He hoped they'd make it out okay.

Finally, he was inside. He had never been in the command center before, but it was a governmental building, so odds were everything would be clearly and properly labeled for convenience's... sake... "Okay. Six doors, no signs. How's anyone new to working here supposed to get around?" Amun asked rhetorically. He sighed. "What I wouldn't give for a beautiful tour guide right now..." At the very least, he was alone and no one was in sight. He had to be quick before that changed. "So..." Odds were, the furthest doors would lead to where he needed to be, so the first couple of doors were out. But for the sake of being careful, the second row might be worth checking?

Amun nodded. Hopefully, luck would smile upon him in his and his city's time of need. He slowly and carefully began to move over to the second row of doors, tension making his heart beat faster at the thought of the room possibly being booby trapped or something... it's what he'd do if he were taking over the command center and left no guards around.

[KnightVanilla]

Watching everyone leave made it easier to decide just who she had to concern herself with. Just herself and herself alone, which made things far easier if she had to run away. Moving over to her shelves to collect her things she wonders if she had enough tools and potions to make a real difference. Maybe just running away would do just fine, but she wanted to retain her new home and shop. Such struggles had to occur now of all times. Then to hear a crash through the window to see a dying knight and to look out to see a losing battle. If the knight wasn't so fatally wounded there might have been a possibility to save him. However fate seemed to wish for his demise.

Once she had gathered everything she needed she decided what was best for her now. As a pointless fight that could get her killed was something she wasn't interested in and for now she would just have to leave the knights to their duty and die for the people. Gathering as many of her things as she could Caelic thought it would be best to run away and hide till all this stupid nonsense blew over. Once she collected her things she tried to find the best place to hide.

[lilbooth]

After an indeterminable amount of time, Cee Cee finally awoke onboard one of the Barton's war machines. Everything hurt, inside and out. It strained her to lift herself upright from her lying position. Magni eventually noticed her struggle and nudged her to her feet. Once standing Cee Cee could see that they were right on the tail of the undead horde heading towards Monsteropolis. She could also see that the Skeleton King had survived the battle as well and was leading the charge. Cee Cee frantically looked around the vehicle to see who was in charge and approached either the driver or the highest ranking officer. She pushed her way through the other night and got right up next to them. She tried to speak but her throat was still painfully swollen. She motioned for them to lean down and whispered to them. "You have to get us into the city or out of here altogether. We can't hurt that thing with these weapons. We need something bigger, much bigger." She said while motioning to her sword.

[Nobudi]

Lucia had only taken a moment to replace her gun's receivers. Then, with a sharp nod to those sending her off, she took off, towards the Command Center. The journey was long, since she stuck to the shadows, and the beings were swarming in the streets. It was only silent now, with only the occasional scream and gunfire in the distance. She clenched her jaw as she moved through back alleys and vacant hallways. The air was thick with the scent of smoke, tinged with the metallic smell of blood.

Eventually, she made it to the control center. And things were not looking too good. Only a small squad of Knights were left defending the doors to the center itself. Hopefully, there was a team inside attempting to reclaim the controls from whatever had hijacked it. But the team inside would most likely fail if the reinforcements at the doors made it through. With that, her mind had been made up. She pulled her guns out, and waited for the right opening. Once there was a sufficient gap, she let out a roar and charged to the door. Well, it was supposed to be a roar. It came out as more of a scream. Maybe it would work to distract the enemies? Sliding up to the team of knights, she said, loading in a fresh round of ammunition, "Captain. Knights. For the sake of the City, let us defend the command center!" Hopefully, her words would allow her to rally with the knights.

[RandomRoninKitten]

Anastasia and Ophelia(Battle against the Scarab)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Anastasia grumbled a little as she was awakened and hugged the soft, surprisingly warm pillow a bit harder, trying to go back to sleep. However, as the noise persisted, she slowly became more and more conscious. Anastasia let out an annoyed sigh and opened her eyes. Wait a minute, that wasn't a pillow. Realizing that she had somehow gotten into a position to spoon Idalia in her sleep, she froze for a moment. Anastasia hadn't had any real physical contact that didn't involve punching someone's lights out for quite a long time, and while she thought she had no interest in doing anything physical with Idalia, she found herself struggling to let go. Idalia felt so... Nice. Anastasia felt her hands softly stroke Idalia skin on their own accord, and then felt a erection begin to grow. At that she quickly let go of Idalia and scooted away from her, shaking her head and putting her hand to her eyes, trying to think of something else.

Remembering the noise that was still happening, she got out of the bed and looked out a window, seeing the large scarab like creature making the racket. Anastasia felt she wouldn't really be able to sleep while that thing was still alive, and it seemed the guards weren't doing jack shit about it. She headed over to Idalia's side and shook her awake. "Come help me fight this big monster that is causing fucking racket." Giving her a light slap on the leg, she then goes and grabs her hammer, and then heads down the stairs of the building to go outside. To tired and annoyed to really think this could be a bad idea, she walked outside and, cursing the entire way, began heading towards the creature.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ophelia allows herself to feel a bit proud of herself for successfully navigating an entire camp of active orcs. Normally when she utilized stealth, it's in areas a lot less busy than the one she just passed through. Her Lady's training shines through once more! She continues using her Lady's training the rest of the way to Ferraille, dodging all manner of trouble as none of it is necessary to her mission.

Her view of the city leaves her less than impressed as always. Compared to the opulent manor of her Lady, the picket gate makes this place look like a podunk piece of shit. She only notices the two ladies because they don't seem like they belong in such a place of squalor. Of course, they don't look like they belong anywhere near her Lady's Estate, but they don't seem low class enough to live in this "town". For one, they look like they have more than two coins to rub together when you compare them to the pathetic specimens they call guards. One would think that of all the things to spend money on, the people who nominally protect the "town" from monsters would be at the top of the list. But then, she hasn't proven that they're neither stupid beyond all salvation or poor. Probably both because if they're poor, then there should be less buildings and more armor that can be called armor rather than re-purposed scrap metal.

But then she has other things to worry about rather than a critique of the collection of trash they call a town. Like the scarab larger than she is tall. That seems extremely worrying. Regular bugs have a thick exoskeleton for protection, so she can't imagine a giant version would be any less armored. That is a problem. Her blade was made to pierce flesh, not exoskeleton. Such a fight would put her at a disadvantage. She decides it's or the best to make her way closer to the "town" as quickly and quietly as possible. That way she can throw the "guards" at it to wear it down while she find a weak spot on it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Idalia followed Anastasia outside, however, as soon as they walk through the doorway, with an incredible burst of speed, she becomes a blur of purple and black, before suddenly appearing before the bug. Something which shined in the moonlight, but was so thin that it could barely be seen, slipped from her sleeve. She used this new, barely visible, object to cut her wrists, then swung them, soaked in blood, at the giant bug, creating several large gashes across its carapace in an instant.

Ophelia paused but a moment when she saw the two women she had seen enter the town before exit the structure. When one of them throws... she thinks those are wires since they're all she can think would be that thin yet still do damage. Either way, seeing one of them use it, she knows they mean to defeat the insect as well. She originally was going to just duck into town and let the guards take care of things, but with the arrival of reinforcements she likes her chances better.

Unseen and unheard, she creeps to the back of the scarab and takes careful aim while she's not being target. Then she strikes, dashing forward and slashing at it's back right leg. She acknowledges the burst of gore that results before once more making herself unseen. No need to allow the thing to strike back at her after all.

It turns out that the attempt to go back into the shadows is useless. The thing figures out her location in an instant and makes a screech at her. She figures this is more than enough to let the other two ladies know where she is as well. While she's busy cursing her luck, it attempts to ram into her. She's not sure what it plans to do once it makes contact with her, but she decides not to let it happen and dodges to the side.

Anastasia is quite amazed at the speed in which Idalia reached the bug when they exited the building. She could already tell it was going to take a while for her to reach this damn bug. Regardless, she tiredly started to move towards the bug with her hammer in hand. "Hey! Wait up for me, you can't have all the fun without me! Also who the hell is it attacking?"

Idalia's eyes widen and she coughs up blood as soon as she moves closer to the bug "H-huh?" the look of confusion leaves her face almost immediately after and she shouts over her shoulder "It's a Wanderer, be careful when you get close, I'm already taking damage." She doesn't seem too worried, she just swings her hands lightly from point to point at blinding speed, suddenly causing the bug's leg to leave its body, causing the bloody stump to unleash a torrent of red, she then slammed the leg back into the bug's head with a dull thud, causing it to let loose a roar of pain.

Ophelia allows herself a brief widening of the eyes when she sees what the wire woman has done to the bug. In one move, the thing lost a good chunk of its mobility along with its leg. She mentally ups her chances of surviving the encounter to a near certainty. She ignores it when the other woman figures out her race though. Everyone does once her defense comes into effect. What happens after depends on the person. She's mostly figured out those who attack her afterwards are what her Lady categorizes as "bad people" and should be killed or avoided when possible.

Moving out of her thoughts, she moves and then cloaks herself in shadow once more. Armed with blade and cloak, she swings for another leg. Only, the thing is still writhing in pain from the loss of the previous leg. It moves at an inopportune time and not only does she miss her strike, but she loses her footing briefly. Just what is going on with her luck? She recovers herself before anyone thinks to take advantage.

She allows herself a brief bound of annoyance when she sees the thing begin to grow it's leg back, partially undoing the damage the wire woman inflicted. Still, she's not worried. If the woman did it once, she can do it again.

Anastasia let out a loud groan of annoyance when she was told that there was a wanderer in their midst. "Of course there would a member of the plague of the planet here. Lets take care of them after this before they do any harm to anyone or anything, specifically us." Anastasia said this with clear hostility towards the Wanderer. Not long after she said that her skin started to feel like it was burning and small scratches started to form on her. Fantastic. However, she was finally in range of the bug, and could finally start to attack.

Idalia coughs up a bit more blood, and scratches begin forming across her skin, however she begins to smile psychotically as she bleeds. This time, the wires retract into her sleeves and two solid black katars emerge. She disappears from her position and appears on the other side of the scarab, however no additional damage appears to have been done to it. "Regardless of what we decide to do with her, she'll be giving me my blood back." she says, licking her lips. As Idalia receives more damage from the Wanderer Aura, Anastasia feels her new wounds closing.

Ophelia allows a small sigh to escape her as she hears both of the women dedicate themselves to harming her after the bug is dead. Bad people it is then. It'd be in her best interest then not to spend herself fully against the scarab then. She has absolutely no intention of fighting the two of them, so she'll need the energy to escape once the bug is dealt with. She briefly contemplates escaping here and now, but her Lady always told her not to leave things half done. Unless it'd result in her death is the caveat there, but she doubts this is at that level of fatality.

She takes another swipe at the bug, but it tilts to the side in an attempt to see where the wire woman has gone after her little disappearing trick. Her attack once again meets nothing but air. At least she kept her dignity this time around.

She contemplates her last thought as she sees the scarab very quickly expel a great amount of fecal matter. Enough to very thoroughly out mass Ophelia herself. She begins to become worried when she sees the insect turn around, shape, and pick up the newly created mount of dung. She moves very quickly to try to escape it when the bug decides to throw the newly created shit bomb at her. She does not move fast enough. The dung makes solid, painful contact with her, knocking her over and disorienting her enough that she gasps in pain. This is a terrible idea, as she learns moments later as the sheer reek of the turd attack poisons her system. And she's covered in the smell! There's no escaping the harmful aroma! She very quickly finds herself tilting her mask to allow herself to throw up. Falling was so much more dignified than what just happened to her, she can't help but think.

Anastasia feels a strange tingle on her skin, almost like a tickle from someone breathing on it. Quickly looking at her arms she finds that the scratches are slowly healing and new ones are forming at the same time. What the hell is happening with that? Then the insect begins to take a sudden and unexpected massive shit, forms it into a ball, and flings it at the Wanderer, hitting her directly. Anastasia laughs loudly when she sees the wanderer get hit with the giant pile of dung. "Look on the bright side plaugebearer, it seems the insect knows what you like the most. It quite suits your race even." After taunting the Wanderer, Anastasia takes a heavy swing at the insect, slamming her hammer upon its carapace. A loud crack resonates from the bug and its exoskeleton visibly cracks, though it doesn't seem to bothered by the fact. Compared to what her companion has done, it was quite little damage.

Idalia suddenly disappears and reappears on the other side of the Scrab, this time holding one of the Scarab's legs, now hacked off and bleeding profusely, she then stabs it into one of the Scarab's eyes, embedding it down to the halfway mark. Her scratches are getting so severe now that her clothes are mostly drenched and some of the cuts across her skin are more than mere flesh wounds.

So that's what the disappearing trick does. Quite a fearsome attack if she says so. Ophelia makes a note to, if at all possible, not be hit with that while she's trying to make her escape. Still, with two of the scarab's legs gone and the bug itself being a bloody mess, it'd be foolish not to go for the kill. She slips over to the insect's other eye and embeds her dagger as deep as it can go into the thing's brain. It releases one final screech, then falls silent forever more.

Still, it's far too early to relax. Not after both of the other combatants made it clear they'd love nothing more than to take her head. Once the bug goes down for good, she once more fades into shadow. It's time to get going while the going is good.

Anastasia adds Idalia's brutality against the scarab on the ever-growing list of why she shouldn't get on her bad side. For someone so weak-looking, she's scary in a battle, and that's saying a lot coming from Anastasia. Good thing Idalia is on her side. However it wasn't Idalia that managed to get the final blow on the insect, it was the Wanderer, who stuck her dagger into its eye, making it fall silent. The Wanderer then probably realizes she needs to get out of here before they reach her. Anastasia wasn't going to have any of that though. Scanning the area where the Wanderer disappeared, she attempted to find the Wanderer to no avail. Anastasia then realized something however. She could smell shit. Grinning Anastasia speaks. "You can run, filth of the earth, but you cant hide." Following the putrid smell, she surprisingly quickly finds the hidden Wanderer. "Hello you piece of shit!" Anastasia yells, flashing a wicked grin before slamming her hammer on the ground right next to the Wanderer, a large puff of dirt and dust getting kicked into the air.

While Anastasia finds and misses the Wanderer, Idalia does not. She releases her blood-soaked wires from her sleeves and swings them at Ophelia, careful not to hurt her too much, then seems to disregard all semblance of gentleness, with a mighty yank, she swings her into the air, and pulls her over to her, slamming her down on the ground. Keeping her bound, she kicks off Ophelia's mask with a mighty punt, then uses one hand to shove her down by her shoulder, followed by biting down on her neck, drawing blood, then proceeds to start drinking it thirstily.

Ophelia has a brief moment of hope when the barbarian hammer swinger of the duo misses her. She thinks that maybe she can make her escape anyway. Then the wire woman snags her and all thoughts stop as she crashes into the ground with bone jarring intensity. She thought she knew what pain was at this point, but that is nothing compared to the shot to the face she takes and the fangs that find her throat. It takes everything in her not to cry out in her pain. She doesn't want to give her tormentors the satisfaction.

"Mighty warriors, the both of you, ganging up on one Wanderer. Hope you're proud." She spits, an acidic tongue the only thing she can fight with. She's far too weak to fight any longer.

Anastasia lets out a small chuckle and looks down at the defeated Wanderer. "I'm feeling very nice today, as I just want to go to sleep at this point. So I'll let you go. However for your sake I sure hope we don't meet again, filth." Anastasia picks up her hammer and 'accidentally' drops it onto the wanderer's stomach, before picking it up again and heading to the insect, picking up an old ring and potion that came out of the bugs insides. Shrugging, she put the ring on her finger and put the potion in one of her pockets. "Come on Idalia, lets go get some sleep. Hopefully, anyway." Anastasia then started heading back to the building they were staying at.

Idalia finishes drinking from Ophelia's neck, then stands back up, wiping her mouth "Fortunately for you, I just wanted back what you took, and I'm not nearly hungry enough to eat decaying flesh." she said, punting Ophelia in the face once more, before walking over to the insect and fishing it's leg out of its eye. She then follows Anastasia as she takes a bite out of the bug's leg and begins to chew it slowly, her wire seemingly untangling Ophelia by itself.

Being defeated, Ophelia could have borne. No one seems to like her once they know her race so that kind of thing is common. It's the humiliation afterwards that infuriates her. It's the pain in her back and face throbbing through her that causes her to glare at their retreating forms. Before, she didn't want to fight them. Now she's going to kill them. As slowly, painfully, and dignity-destroying as she can. She'll have to be smart: attacking the two of them together would be suicidal. But she can figure out a way to make sure they don't do this to any other person and regret doing it to her.

But that's later. First she has to pick herself back up and get back into a fighting shape. Taking a leaf from the bitches' book, she plunges an arm deep into its cracked carapace and pulls out when she finds something solid. She's not sure who it killed and ate to digest such a thing, but she now holds in her hands a Platinum Dagger. A fine quality one too if she's any judge. She puts her old weapon away and equips the newer one immediately. The first step in her revenge. She's also, unfortunately, still covered in shit. That's how the barbarian found her in the first place. She scoops as much of it off as possible and holds a large pile of the stuff in her hands. Her first thought is to throw it away as it's a sign of her failure. But she remembers what the stuff did to her. She wonders if she could make it do something similar to someone else. She keeps it so she may find out.

She thinks about going into the forest and finding a tree to sleep in for the night, but in her state if something found her she'd be screwed. She has no choice but to wait for them to go deep enough into town and then follow them in. She can find somewhere safe in town to sleep off her wounds and restart her Lady's assignment and her own personal one in the morning.

LittleManKitten/Anastasia Ursa

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Anastasia and Idalia return to their room, where Idalia was just finishing eating the Scarab's leg, and discards the remaining carapace into an empty garbage bin and wiped her mouth on her bloodstained sleeve. As she did so, Anastasia could see that she no longer had any wounds on her arm, despite her entire frock being stained with blood.

She quickly stripped off her blood-stained frock and threw herself onto their bed, on her side, with her face in her pillow, her purple bra and panties visible. "I really don't mind that our sleep was interrupted, I was hungry anyway. I hate Scarab, though, you can't eat their carapace... for obvious reasons." she said, her voice muffled by the pillow. A few seconds after she spoke, her breathing became soft and rhythmic as it became clear she had suddenly fallen asleep.

MiscChaos/Ophelia

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

By the time they had begun to leave, Ophelia could see that all of the "Wire girl's" wounds had disappeared from her pale skin. This oddity was in addition to the fact that she had been cutting herself on her wires intentionally, and was now eating a scarab's leg.

Her and the Spectross, went back into the city and into the structure they had been in before.

Luckily for Ophelia, she wouldn't have to wait long to enter the encampment and receive treatment, if the place had it, since there were multiple other scrap piles for her to stay in.

Over at the entrance to the city, one of the guards, who was wearing armor made of rusted scraps of sheet metal, leather straps, and cardboard, waved at her "Hello, weary traveler, do you seek shelter for the night?" he asked, seemingly undeterred by Ophelia's obviously-Wanderer appearance due to not having placed her helmet/mask/hood back on. Despite wearing a helmet of rusted scrap, his voice made him sound all smiles and cheer.

Mark3000/Lilith

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lilith was breathless as she took in the inn's interior. The black marble had a rich texture and the yellow accents only highlighted the building's beauty. She could probably appreciate it more if she wasn't bleeding all over their floor.

Lilith was surprised to see another Wanderer like herself behind the counter, all be it so young. It wasn't until she called the other Wanderers to assist her that Lilith realized the short girl was the owner. Lilith sat in the nearest couch as she let them tend to her.

"Thank you. My name is Lilith. I'm looking for a place to stay for the moment" Lilith said as she could see the sheet off to the counter's side. She then turned to face the owner. "I'd be will to work to earn my stay." She says motioning towards the sheet on the counter. "It may not seem like it, but I have a talent for this kind of work" Lilith told the owner. In truth, she'd never done mercenary work before. But it couldn't be harder then surviving in the Wilderness.

Once her wounds were treated and she'd gotten an answer from the owner, Lilith asked one more question of the owner. "One more thing, has a Wanderer by the name of Lamia stopped by here?" Lilith didn't reveal their relationship, but it was obvious in the tone of her voice how important Lamia was to her. "She has white hair and a single horn like me in the middle of her head with two white bands near the tip. We're about the same height and possess similar runes."

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The owner didn't blink as Lilith spoke, and her eyes never left her face. "You don't need experience to take on my work, any number of people may accept a job, and whoever returns with proof that they've finished the job receives payment." she explained in a completely monotone voice as she slid a list over in front of Lilith:
_________________________________________________
Mercenary Work List:

Rough up Ralph Kipling in the Colosseum of Fools, then take him to "Richard Johnson" in Monsteropolis.

Go to the Orc Camp south of Fero and kill Chieftan "Nawrled-Knux the Bonechewer".

Find the Red Cap between Fero and the Black Forest of Impending Suffering and kill it.

Go to the Waterway south of Fero and catch a Depth Lurker, bring back to me, dead or alive.

Travel to Bacon and investigate the citizens there.

Travel to Lakeville and bring back a priestess.

Travel to Azraq and investigate the report on Lena Ansel going missing there.

Go to Baskerville and investigate, report what you see there.

Travel to the Igneous Spire near Fero and investigate, report your findings.
___________________________________________

For a brief moment, after Lilith had asked her about her mother, an expression of concern flickered across her face, however, her face immediately returned to its usual emotionless state. "We have seen no such person, however, as this is a missing persons case, you may post it on our board as soon as you have completed any of the tasks listed on that sheet. This is one of the perks earned for being a mercenary of the Yellow Spider Inn. You may post your own jobs, you may stay for free, and we'll serve you free food and drink, all on the house, in exchange for being a Yellow Spider Mercenary." she explained. "If you're intending to take a job, you may stay the night, and start on it in the morning." she explained, holding up a solid black key with a yellow stripe, to the room "13".

MrBlah/Amun Khufu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Amun nodded at the captain's words, feeling a weight come off his shoulders as she confirmed his backup. Odds were they couldn't spare a sizable unit, but any amount of assistance was better than no amount of assistance. "Thank you, captain." He was ready enough when she called the rest of the knights together, and as they charged, Amun charged in behind them. The trepidation and quick beating of his heart sounded like war drums as he got his first look at a real battle.

Three of their enemies were cut down by the captain, and her soldiers were quick to break apart and take on their own opponents. The ringing of metal clashing against swords and grunts of exertion made him feel uneasy... but he focused. Even despite his dangerous situation, those brave men and women were providing an opportunity for him. They placed their trust in him, and were laying down their lives for the mission at hand. While Amun would never say he was the honorable and courageous type, he felt this was the time to at least pretend to be it for their sake, and the sake of the city.

He ducked down to sneak past everyone, keeping away from the chaotic combat and trying to stay out of sight. Fear marked his every shaky step and his eyes were wide and paranoid, but as the door grew closer and closer... he felt like he had a chance. That was proven true when he reached it, and he wasted no time in ducking into the building, only stopping to give a momentary glance to the soldiers and a thankful nod. He hoped they'd make it out okay.

Finally, he was inside. He had never been in the command center before, but it was a governmental building, so odds were everything would be clearly and properly labeled for convenience's... sake... "Okay. Six doors, no signs. How's anyone new to working here supposed to get around?" Amun asked rhetorically. He sighed. "What I wouldn't give for a beautiful tour guide right now..." At the very least, he was alone and no one was in sight. He had to be quick before that changed. "So..." Odds were, the furthest doors would lead to where he needed to be, so the first couple of doors were out. But for the sake of being careful, the second row might be worth checking?

Amun nodded. Hopefully, luck would smile upon him in his and his city's time of need. He slowly and carefully began to move over to the second row of doors, tension making his heart beat faster at the thought of the room possibly being booby trapped or something... it's what he'd do if he were taking over the command center and left no guards around.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

As Amun opened the door, as he peered inside, he saw that it was a broom closet... inside were paint cans, ALL of the signs that had previously been on the doors, telling where they led to, some brooms, some mops, some buckets... and a Fox-Girl in a black dress, hiding there. She immediately cried out and shrunk back from the door "Ah! Don't hurt me, please!" she said, holding her arms up defensively and closing her eyes. She has white hair, pale skin, and was wearing a black dress with black stockings. Her eyes were red, and she had two black bows in her hair, and a black choker around her neck.

She began whimpering as she seemingly waited for Amun to hurt her, apparently not yet realizing that he was not one of the many creatures outside, currently fighting the knights of Cielo.

Slowpoke/LuLu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lucia had only taken a moment to replace her gun's receivers. Then, with a sharp nod to those sending her off, she took off, towards the Command Center. The journey was long, since she stuck to the shadows, and the beings were swarming in the streets. It was only silent now, with only the occasional scream and gunfire in the distance. She clenched her jaw as she moved through back alleys and vacant hallways. The air was thick with the scent of smoke, tinged with the metallic smell of blood.

Eventually, she made it to the control center. And things were not looking too good. Only a small squad of Knights were left defending the doors to the center itself. Hopefully, there was a team inside attempting to reclaim the controls from whatever had hijacked it. But the team inside would most likely fail if the reinforcements at the doors made it through. With that, her mind had been made up. She pulled her guns out, and waited for the right opening. Once there was a sufficient gap, she let out a roar and charged to the door. Well, it was supposed to be a roar. It came out as more of a scream. Maybe it would work to distract the enemies? Sliding up to the team of knights, she said, loading in a fresh round of ammunition, "Captain. Knights. For the sake of the City, let us defend the command center!" Hopefully, her words would allow her to rally with the knights.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The knights seemed to recognize her immediately, with Prairie shouting to the other knights "Quick, fall back to Miss Lucia's position, we can take them down more easily with her support fire!" the knights, four in total, all fell back to her position, making a circle around her and holding up their shields to block incoming damage, so that LuLu could shoot over them for support fire. Once they had all gathered, the enemy began forming a circle around them and drawing closer, preparing to attack them all at once. It looked as though there were 20 in total, assuming more don't arrive when they realize their control over the center is being threatened. "Be careful, Miss Lucia, we aren't sure more aren't on the way, nor whether or not they can get passed us. Prioritize your safety over ours, please." Prairie said as they prepared for the enemy.

KnightVanilla/Caelic

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Watching everyone leave made it easier to decide just who she had to concern herself with. Just herself and herself alone, which made things far easier if she had to run away. Moving over to her shelves to collect her things she wonders if she had enough tools and potions to make a real difference. Maybe just running away would do just fine, but she wanted to retain her new home and shop. Such struggles had to occur now of all times. Then to hear a crash through the window to see a dying knight and to look out to see a losing battle. If the knight wasn't so fatally wounded there might have been a possibility to save him. However fate seemed to wish for his demise.

Once she had gathered everything she needed she decided what was best for her now. As a pointless fight that could get her killed was something she wasn't interested in and for now she would just have to leave the knights to their duty and die for the people. Gathering as many of her things as she could Caelic thought it would be best to run away and hide till all this stupid nonsense blew over. Once she collected her things she tried to find the best place to hide.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

As Caelic began looking for a place to hide, she heard a loud crash from outside he structure, and upon peering through the window, she saw giant undead creature had broken down the city wall, which was generally viewed as a worst case scenario.



Even worse, Skeletons were jumping off the creature's back and arms, then invading the city. Down below, the Knights of Monsteropolis were meeting them head on, and holding them off pretty easily, however, they were backing up slowly as the giant undead moved further into the city, as they seemed to be buying time for reinforcements to arrive.

This is when a sword was stabbed through her door and inhuman groaning and shrieking could be heard on the other side. As this was happening, the giant undead outside swung its arm at the knights, who managed to pull back without taking any casualties, however its arm, seemingly by accident, also made contact with the building Caelic was in, breaking a chunk off and making the top floor unstable, causing it to rock from side to side.

Lilbooth/CeeCee

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

After an indeterminable amount of time, Cee Cee finally awoke onboard one of the Barton's war machines. Everything hurt, inside and out. It strained her to lift herself upright from her lying position. Magni eventually noticed her struggle and nudged her to her feet. Once standing Cee Cee could see that they were right on the tail of the undead horde heading towards Monsteropolis. She could also see that the Skeleton King had survived the battle as well and was leading the charge. Cee Cee frantically looked around the vehicle to see who was in charge and approached either the driver or the highest ranking officer. She pushed her way through the other night and got right up next to them. She tried to speak but her throat was still painfully swollen. She motioned for them to lean down and whispered to them. "You have to get us into the city or out of here altogether. We can't hurt that thing with these weapons. We need something bigger, much bigger." She said while motioning to her sword.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The commander spoke, his voice sounding just like that of any of the other knights "The knights of Monsteropolis have ballistas, which they use for defending against larger threats. We believe that if we use them against the Skeleton King, we may be able to remove its head, and that may permanently stop it." he said, sounding confident in this course of action.

Through the front windshield, CeeCee could see another giant undead erupt from the groundand begin striking at the wall of Monsteropolis, slowing wearing it down. As it did this, hordes of Skeletons began traveling down its limbs and jumping onto the wall, and invading the city.

With one more mighty blow, the wall was broken down, and the undead began rushing into the city. However, meeting them head on, the Knights of Monsteropolis seemed to be holding them off almost as well as the Bartons had been, though backing up as the giant approached, seemingly waiting for reinforcements.

While this was happening, the giant Skeleton swung at the knights, missing all of them, but destabilizing a large building with its strike, destroying a small chunk, and causing the top to rock side to side, not quite falling yet.

[mrblah]

Contrary to popular belief; Amun's first thoughts when he opened the closet's door wasn't in regards to the beautiful fox girl alone in the room, but the signs he had been desiring for all neatly stacked on a shelf in the closet. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me! ... Ah." But she was the topic of his second thoughts. His eyes were quick to trace her form. Pale skin. Dress. Bows in hair. Tearful, fearful expression. This all pointed to a maiden in distress... Amun knew exactly what to do. He cleared his throat, turned his charms up to maximum, and began. "My humblest apologies for scaring you, my lady." The young Khufu crouched down with a patient and friendly smile, trying to disarm the fox girl and get her to feel more comfortable.

"My name is Amun Khufu, of the Khufu family. I have come to do my part in defeating the monsters that have taken our great city hostage - and help any whom they've taken from their homes. As this includes you, I will do my part to aid you to the best of my abilities." As smooth as always. For full effect, Amun tilted his head slightly to the side in a questioning manner. They always fall for the head tilt. "Could I have your name, miss?"

[Littlemankitten]

At this point Anastasia was already becoming jaded to Idalia's strange powers. This girl, whatever she was, Was either a great practitioner in the rumored art of magic, or a strange beast taking the form of a human. Either way, Anastasia didn't really want to get rid of her. She mostly worked solo and having the company of a cute but supremely dangerous girl was quite nice. Though her willingness to eat a bug was quite repulsive to Anastasia. "I don't care how hungry I am, I'm not going to eat some strange bug. I'd have rather actively gone out of my way to search for a more appetizing meal. I'm also surprised the blood of that Filth didn't sate you, considering blood seems to do everything else for you." As she said this Anastasia got onto the other side of the bed once again and closed her eyes. Hoping to get plenty of rest this time around.

[Mark3000]

As Lilith reviewed the job list, she was a little saddened to hear no news of her mother. Once she was finished her first job she would immediately make a request of her own. As for her first assignment...

"I'll take this one." Lilith pointed her clawed finger towards the request for the Depth Lurker. She would have to learn a bit more about the beast before leaving, but it had been a while since she's gone on an actual hunt. When she and her mother first joined the Nomad camp, they would help gather food. But soon enough, their role slowly shifted to that of concubines for the camp's resident shaman. And if her fight with the Insectoids was any indication, Lilith needed to get back into fighting form.

Taking the black key, Lilith gives the owner a solemn nod. "Thanks you. Thought don't think I've gotten your name" she stated. She needed a proper name for the young Wanderer. Lilith couldn't just call her 'The Owner'. After asking for directions to her room, Lilith would say her farewells and go explore the inn. Hopefully she could find a dinning hall and a place to clean herself off. It seemed like the Yellow Spider Inn would serve as her new home for now.

[lilbooth]

Cee Cee shook her head frantically as the commander insisted on pressing on. She looked to Magni, a quick flash of blue light glazed his eyes before he stood up. The two of them both rushed the exit of the strange war machine and lept out onto the ground. Cee Cee drew her newly aqquired sword as she and Magni proceeded towards the city. She didn't care to rush in behind the major threat. Instead, as she drew closer she circled around the undead horde and tried to gain entry into the city. The balista was their only hope for taking down the monsters and Cee Cee deperatly searched desperately to find one. If she happened to pass a Monsteropolis guard on her way in she would ask for help in finding it.

[Nobudi]

As the Knights created a barricade between Lucia and the swarms of enemies about to engage them, she noticed that they were split into teams. So waves of enemies instead of one constant barrage. Not great, but much improved from what she feared. Aiming between the gaps of their entrenched formation, she shot out at the first thing she saw. It was clean misses, and she was forced to grit her teeth in preparation for the inevitable collision. Shockingly, the Captain herself was overwhelmingly strong, to the point where when she clashed against her opponent, she cleaved through half of its limbs in a single strike. Two of their enemies followed suit, ganging up on one of the Knights. Lucia finished the first one dying on the ground, execution style before launching another bullet at one of the things attacking the knights.

The fight was staggeringly quick, thanks to Captain Prairie's overwhelming strength. Almost every swing left the enemy close to death, and Lucia would follow up by executing the enemies left dying in the wake of such ferocious attacks. A part of her felt guilty killing. But immediately, her training kicked in and she shoved her feelings aside. Never doubt in a fight. There would be time to sort herself out later. When the first wave had finally departed, she noticed that one of the Knights had fallen. She grit her teeth, but couldn't let her feeling take control. More were on the way. Quickly, she sorted the bodies, taking a look at things of note. Mostly junk potions, but there were things of use. She put on the necklace and put the maul off to the side. Potions could be examined later, but her healing potion was staying within reach. Everything else went into the bag.

As she reloaded, she barked, "Ready yourselves once more, Proud Knights of Cielo! The enemy is once more upon us!"

[KnightVanilla]

As she had gathered more and more of her belongings before finally settling on the idea of leaving home for some sense of safety. To see the multitude of undead as well as a rather absurdly large skeletons. This was a definitely a place she would not want to be in at the moment. to her fortune the knights seemed to be doing just exactly what was needed to buy her time to escape. That was until a blade came through the door. With no potions and very little time to think she yelped out "The fuck!" Quickly building a trap incorporating her crossbow to repeatedly fire.

Until finally the giant undead had struck at her house causing everything around her to shake and shudder as she could only yell out "The Fuck!" Before preparing to fire her crossbow. With no potions found and absolutely no useful things to make out of potions around her for some strange reason. She decided that within the moment it was far to costly to lose her home.

[MiscChaos]

Ophelia merely notes the wire bitch's ability to heal using what's probably Ophelia's blood based on what the wire bitch said before taking another shot at her face. Her face that is open to the guard's scrutiny. It's not a long term problem as he won't remember it anyway, but her face hurts too much to wear her mask right now so it would have happened no matter what. Still, after the treatment she just received from the wire whore and the culture-less barbarian she more expected a more extreme reaction. She'll keep her guard up regardless since it'd be just like another race to lure a Nomad into a trap.

"Indeed. I require a place to rest and a place to clean off. There is a scarab nearby that should be torn apart for material nearby." She doesn't directly take credit for the kill, but she supposes there's nothing wrong with allowing the guard to think so. She should be out of town by the next morning anyway so that shouldn't be enough time for any sort of reputation to follow after her. A reputation would reduce her usefulness to her Lady after all. Anything that causes that cannot be allowed. She also doesn't mention that the majority of her damage was caused by other people. That usually invites questions as to why she was attacked and people usually assume the worst.