Unsteady Ground [IC]

[Icaelus]

Viv nearly murdered the silver wolf with a Moonburst beam as it burst out at her, then rolling around in the dirt. Her frantically beating heart slowly calmed, and a smile slowly formed on her face.
"You aren't exactly a dog..but you're kinda friendly, aren't you?"
She lifted a slobbered foot and glanced at it after the wolf was done licking her feet. Ew.
Vivienne knelt down, her smile slowly widening as she patted the wolf's head, giving it a belly rub at the same time.
The wolf's bright eyes seemed weird, though. The color was a bit out of place..they were..red? And it's fur wasn't as silver as she had originally thought..there was some red and black in it. Weird.
Viv abandoned other thoughts soon after, her attention solely focused on the playful wolf, continuing to pat it.

[napsii]

Garian + Claire -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The merchant Garian had questioned only adjusted the brim of his flamboyant, feathered hat nervously, shaking his head and pointing to two masses of flying and ground-based troops marching towards the village at a rapid pace, as if they were racing.

"Trouble." he said, turning about and running back to his wagon.

Soon, the camp was aflame with activity as the revelers snapped out of their drunken reveries and began deploying emergency measures to ward off attack. Their efforts were pathetic, as there were only a few half-competent swordsmen, pikemen, archers and mages among the largely peaceful group, but as the attackers drew closer it became apparent they were racing. Atop black horses and flying a wicked banner of a demonic cult, armored warriors clambered towards the camp. A hundred yards to their left, a more nobly-dressed group flying a noble white and gold banner was tearing up the ground aiming to stop their nemeses.

The two might see that a demon and an angel were in fact in their midsts, flying above the ground using shadow magic and angelic wings respectively.

The demons seemed more likely to reach the camp first, despite the pro-Angel warriors' speed.

Flim + Flam -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You make quick pace as the horse seemed to have been augmented with magic for enhanced stamina. Probably the shadowy man's doing.

The dirt road cutting through the plains are surprisingly peaceful. It is eerily silent when you are not singing and only the wind across the tall grass can be heard as the sky turns gold, signalling it has passed midday. Occasionally, you can see a lone cow or horse milling about the flat fields by its lonesome: animals that were abandoned to keep them from enemy hands or escaped their owners' farms being razed.

You come across the first spot of excitement in your adventure. A small camp has been established on the road, with wooden barricades all around and piles of crates being used for lookout towers. A blue banner with an unknown sigil flies from within its thin walls. It looks like a checkpoint set up by a group to hamper their opponents' use of the roads.

Seeing you coming, a young, black haired girl signals loudly to her male companions inside the camp, who promptly rush out from their tents on either side of the road, inside the walls to block the road way. They're all wearing some basic looking leather armor, and carry short swords. The girl on the crates also has a bow and arrow. Overall, there's about nine of them.

"Halt! What manner of goods do you carry?" an energetic looking man demands of you both.

"They're just damn traders. Let's let 'em go..." the girl on the crates suggests, lowering her bow and sounding exasperated.

"No. Supplies can kill as well as any sword." the man reasons.

"Fine, whatever..." the girl concedes, rolling her eyes. The question is still posed to you.

Clife -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The construction efforts and the amount of boots stamping down on it has killed all the grass inside the fort's walls. It's just chalky, hardpacked dirt.

Anyway, the shortsword-wielding man quickly catches up to you and taps you on the shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" he questions seriously in a low voice, lowering his sword. The determined and professional look on his face suggests he's much more intelligent than his friends.

Salyndra -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Those sons of bitches! Well, you're a fairly strong person, so the drug's effect doesn't KO you immediately, but you're losing your grip on consciousness really quickly. If you want to avoid gods-know-what, you're going to need to think quickly. It's doubtful these drunk ass idiots will look too hard for you... seems most of them avoid the area of the chief's hut, actually.

Vivienne -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The wolf continues to snort and its leg begins to kick like it would for any normal dog as you treat it with a nice tummy rub. It licks your face in appreciation and then goes back to prancing around you, as if expecting you to take it for a walk around the park. There's something really odd about it, but you can't put your finger on what exactly. But it's not killing you, so that's good. Anyway, it looks like it's trying to lead you somewhere now. It sits down and barks on top of an irregular looking mat of bushes and sticks, before circling around and using its nose to flip what is revealed to be a trap door open, revealing a small hole leading into a narrow underground tunnel held up a skeleton of wood beams and lighted by a lantern on the ceiling beams every 30 feet or so towards the fort. Smart animal. Anyway, it immediately jumps in and barks after you.

Jered -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You head towards the fight at a hurried pace, the battle seeing no clear victor as you near. The situation becomes more understandable when you reach the edge of the clearing: a band of pro-Demon cultists (identified by their darker colored armor and red, white, blue and black face paint designs) is attempting to ransack this hastily fortified hamlet. Why? Well, the little chapel with an Angelic Cross on top is probably the answer.

More notable than the mortal humans, elves and even a few dwarves fighting are the Angel and Demon who are dueling about thirty yards away from the main brawl, where the mass of attackers is trying to clamber over the ten foot high wooden walls ringing the village. Men and dwarves with axes and spears beat them back, and a few archers shoot from the roofs of houses.

It makes you nervous to realize it, but the demonic attackers seem to be winning. The flimsy walls are beginning to collapse, and the female Angel fighting the male Demon is obviously not on equal grounds.

She looks exceptionally young, with shoulder-length blonde hair and two braided locks falling over each of her temples, ocean blue eyes and dressed in a plain but narrow long-sleeved white robe, an Angelic shortsword in one hand and the other engulfed in Angelic fire. Despite her power, she seems to be sort of a spaz, as she occasionally trips or backs away from the fight to avoid getting hit by her rival.

The male Demon is far more confident looking. He looks like a tall, white-skinned and very physically fit human, though is quite obviously a demon from his red eyes. His short black hair, streaked with lines of white, is slicked back over his head and a well kept suit of black Demonic chainmail covers his body, along with a regal purple cape. In his hand, a vicious looking black claymore he swings around as if it were as light as air.

The Demon points his weapon at the Angel, who heals a scratch on her arm with a spell. They stand about twenty feet apart, staring at each other.

"Give it up, Skylia. You should be smart enough to know you can't hold off an entire army and me." he says, eyes narrowed. He's fairly handsome by human standards with his chiseled facial features, suggesting he's dabbled in being an incubus.

"No way! I'll never surrender to a demon! Your army is weak." the Angel, Skylia, retorted, readying herself for battle again. She was sort of right... the battle was really in limbo until either of them won. Skylia catches you out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey, you there! Help me vanquish this demon!" she calls, apparently thinking you're quite a fighter from one look.

"An independent man does not lay his life down for mere words. Hold on and I'll talk to you in a moment." the Demon interposed. You can't deny his argument. He does look pretty god damn strong, and not too interested in fighting you if you let him be.

So what do you do?

[jayjaycaps]

Flam stops the horse. The two jump off of the wagon, and lean on the horse, both identically on opposite sides of the horse. Flim twirls his hat on a finger with his free hand, Flam twists his mustache.

After getting into position, Flim speaks up. responding to the question. "Well my friends, what my brother and I are transporting depends on a question of our own! Where are we, m'lady? Is this Marche? Just outside the ward?" Flim mostly aims his question at the girl who wanted to let them through. If they were to make it through unscratched, they'd probably have the best chance with her.

[MiscChaos]

'Shit, shit, shit and God damn it to hell!' Clife thinks as she realizes there's no surface plants to use. Unwilling to give up though, she tries feeling under the dirt to see if there's still seeds left that she could use. In the meantime, she's got this guy to deal with. A 'getting lost' story won't be believable with a spear and a Bo on her back and she blew the idea of being a fellow merc as soon as she started backing away. What a time not to be wearing her nun habit! At the very least, she's got her crucifix, so we can work with that. She grabs it and looks to be in prayer. "I-I-I'm but a simple t-t-traveling nun, dressed to defend herself in this dark world of ours." she says, still playing the 'scared shitless' card.

[Zender_Solarheart]

(Damn, there goes my cover...) Jered thinks to himself, then takes a brief moment to weigh his options. While he can't deny the bit of fear he feels, it's mostly due to self-preservation instinct. Moreover, the chapel and architecture of the area indicate that the Demon's forces are the aggressors here, as one doesn't just prop a place like this onto wheels and cart it on a conquest trek. Between his own distaste for fanatic violence, thoughts of what Demons and their servants do in worship, and a habitual desire to help those in need, his decision is clear.

"An independent man I may be, but I also hate the terror of war. Both Angels and Demons have dragged Autum into their struggles, that much is true...but if the Demons win, then chaos and death will be all that remains on this world. Thus, if fighting alongside Angels is the price we must pay, in order to bring about peace..." (Jered draws his sword during this pause) "Then so be it."

Truth be told, Jered is feeling just a little scared by the Demon's imposing presence...however, the difference between courage and cowardice is not the fear, but what you do with it. Running his right hand along the blade, Jered imbues his sword with lightning magic, and holds it with both hands on his left side, parallel to his face. (in other words, something like this, but not quite so high up)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[MelissaB]

Salyandra heads towards the chief's hut stumbling as the drunk is taking it's toll. If they're avoiding just being around it. Maybe inside will be somewhat safer than standing outside waiting for them to grab her. So with some determination she heads inside after knocking... Well she stumbles inside making a loud thud on the door sound on her as she stumblers through the door way to signal her presence."We need to talk." was all she said as she entered.

[Icaelus]

Vivienne laughed as the wolf licked her face, pushing it's muzzle away lightly. This wolf was really friendly!
It seemed to want to lead her to somewhere, though..
"Did you want to go somewhere or something?"
She raised an eyebrow as it pranced around her before pouncing away at a fast pace.
Viv watched it sit down on a weird-looking patch of grass and sticks. It looked almost man-made..
And man-made it was, as the wolf flipped the entire patch up with its nose, revealing it to be a trapdoor.
"Whoa? A trapdoor? You sure about this, wolfie?
She was a bit nervous about going underground..down below where her Moonburst couldn't reach. All she would have was her shortsword..
To the hell with it, then.
Encouraged by the wolf's barking, Vivienne jumped in right after it, making sure to prop a stout stick against the trapdoor, though.
She would need a way out..

[That_One_Guy]

Garian watched this in a look of horror, he had tried to escape the war only for it to seemingly follow him here. He looked over at Claire and yelled to her so that she can hear him over the uproar, "Try and get as many as you could away from here and towards the Angel's line, I'll see if I can help in slowing them down." He told her and ran towards the human line of defense, preparing his fire spells, mainly a defensive fire wall.

[TheDaughterOfHades14]

Claire scoffs. "I'll be fine." she said as she walked over and stood next to Garian. She drew her sword and held it in both hands. She hid her throwing knives in her sleeves. She sighs and takes a fighting stance.

[napsii]

Garian + Claire -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The variety of humans elves and gnomes who populated the caravan were hardly a fighting force. Most of them had clearly only practiced weapon mastery as a time to time hobby or as a side effect of rehearsing for a role in a play with their weapons mostly just being decorations for their cart, so most were content to hide behind the strong wood and metal barricades that quickly folded out on the perimeter of the camp to fend off the attackers. Most of them seemed to be putting their faith in either side winning so they wouldn't have to fight.

The ramshackle defensive line was shattered when a full-blooded demon - a tall, red skinned being with horns curling over the side of his head, burning red eyes and ragged black hair wearing a flowing black robe - rushes forward with a blast of deadly shadow magic like a rocket, sending people and debris flying everywhere as he grinds his charge to a stop in the center of the camp, the grass around him lit with a black flame. Shadow magic.

He grips his long, gnarled staff and turns to face the Angel pursuing after him: a mature looking female Angel with stern blue eyes and long golden blonde hair wearing an elaborate suit of gold and white Angelic platemail, a long black cape with white trim (signifying that she was an extremely accomplished Demonslayer) and wielding a decorated tower shield and a radiant blade. Knight in shining armor if Garian or Claire ever saw one.

They largely ignored everyone else as the Angel gently set foot on the ground, the shadow flames extinguishing as she touched down about ten yards from the Demon. They looked tensely at each other, but didn't attack just yet...

Meanwhile, a total melee had broken out as the pro-demon warriors attempted to break through the hole left by the Demon's charge, only to be stopped as the Angelic group fanned out on the edge of the camp to hold them back, of which they were fairly successful on account of what seemed to be low-level force fields made out of Light magic that stopped most melee attacks and arrows.

Garian immediately finds himself besieged by a tall man in chainmail armor with a full face iron helmet hastily painted black, wielding a massive spear. He charges with a yell directly at the man with thundering steps, aiming to impale him.

Claire, on the other hand, is assaulted by about three imps - ugly, lanky three foot tall black skinned creatures with small horns, long noses, bug eyes and sharp claws wearing rags for clothing and all wielding crappy daggers - who leap off barrels and crates to attack her with lunges from the right, left and dead ahead. They look quick, but she could probably cut them in half them with a single two-handed swing.

Garian - 300/300 HP
Claire - 200/200 HP

Flim + Flam -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The girl speaks up before her male friend can reply, fortunately for you:

"Yeah, the camps on the edge of the ward... about ten kilometres past where you stand." she says. Her response irks the man from before.

"We have no business telling you anything more until we know who you are." he takes command of the conversation, "What manner of goods do you carry? And who do you owe your allegiances to?" he interrogates. It's sort of hard to tell whether they're pro-Demon or pro-Angel, so watch out...

"Yeah, clever question! They could lie. Did you ever think of that?"the girl on the crates rolls her eyes at her friend's choice of words. A breeze of wind plays around with the short leather skirt of her leather armor for a few seconds.

Clife -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

That wasn't the best thing you could have said, since the only nuns here are in cages. The man points this out to you:

"The only nuns around here are in cages. You didn't just wander in." he says matter of factly, seeming to care little for your religious act. But he also doesn't really seem to care much to call his friends, still.

"What are you actually doing here? I do not see the chief's guard on the tower." he questions. God damn, this guy is clearly not your average bandit! You didn't catch a lucky break with this one... or did you? Well, you'll have to see!

Salyndra -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You manage to wander like a drunk up to the loose front door of the chief's hut, pushing it open (strangely, it's not locked) to find a small, well-lit room with the floor covered by an elaborate rug and several chairs and tables around with maps and food. Of course, most noticeably is the padded "throne" at the far end of the room upon sits the uh... chief?

You admit you never actually met the chief and talked to him only through Panner, but you expected a grizzled, villainous warlord. Not what looks like an... eight year old girl. Neck-length black hair, hardly able to rest in her seat and a youthful energy in her vibrant green eyes... yeah, this isn't a gnome.

"Of all da bloody places to stumble inta, ya picked here!" she immediately exclaims with her feet dangling off the seat, making the two well-dressed individuals - a portly bald man in garish blue, yellow and gold attire you recognize as an ex-trader and a fairly old looking woman with white hair wearing a plain but well tailored blue dress - blink again, as they had when you stumbled in.

It's hard to do so through your intoxication, but you still manage to be a bit incredulous.

"Oh, wait, yea... whateva. You're dat Saltine girl. Drug antidote's on dat stool to ya left hand." she suddenly says with brief surprise as she looks you over, highlighting the tiny flask of green liquid that is indeed on the stool to your left. What the fuck is going on here?

"Salyndra." the portly man corrects the... chief with a musical tone.

"Whateva. Drink up so you don't get clobbernockered then." the thickly-accented girl suggests precociously.

"And take a seat, too." the old woman suggests politely.

Vivienne -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The wolf wags its tail in anticipation, obviously wanting to lead you somewhere. But for what reason? The tunnel is understandably small and even you have to duck to avoid whacking your head off the supports, but you still manage to make progress through it, a blurry orange light from a lantern lit up at the very end. It's somewhat damp and cold, and occasionally a drop of freezing moisture falls down onto the nap of your neck. Gross.

The wolf runs ahead to the end of the tunnel, still wagging its tail as it sits down, waiting for you to catch up.

When you do, you find that the tunnel was dug directly into a... wine cellar? It looks like the basement of an old building, but you know you're right underneath the fortress. Perhaps it was built atop it? Anyway, many casks of unknown booze line the walls, along with various cleaning supplies, spare tankards, cabinets filled with miscellaneous crap and a table with about 35 loose gold pieces and a still warm plate of mashed potatoes, mutton and ale.

The wolf barks again, almost scaring you out of your skin as you think it will alert someone, but nobody comes through the closed door on the far side of the room that presumably leads upstairs, wherever that is. In any case the wolf just seems to be lying down near a cask of ale by the food and gold laden table.

Jered -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Skylia nods in relief at your answer, seeming revitalized by the knowledge that there are mortals who uphold the Holy Virtues the Angels had meant as a guide for the mortal races to exist in peace... in any case, the moment of harmony doesn't last more than a second as she hasn't forgotten she's in a battle. Plus, you've just chosen your side.

The Demon doesn't seem to take affront to your reply. Instead, he just nods your head and looks at you from head to toe as if judging your strength from just a single look.

"Very well, then. The time comes to end this battle." he proclaimed like a duelist would, and took up a fighting stance. Despite the size of his sword, he wields it like it were as light as a reed. Your combat experience tells you a blade like that swung by a wielder such as this would probably remove a limb in a single strike easily, so watch out.

"Then be vanquished!" Skylia shouted, and charged forward propelled by magic. The unnamed Demon just held his stance as if expecting a frontal attack, but just before Skylia would have hit him, she disappeared in a blur off and reappeared the blink of an eye later on his left flank, cutting at his upper arm.

The Demon, however, clearly has some extraordinary reflexes and he leans back to avoid the sword slash, leaving Skylia with a look of disappoint on her face as she skids to a stop about ten yards behind him.

"Fantastic. Your turn, traveler." is all he says as he looks to face you, shaking his head. He even lowers his sword, obviously trying to get under Skylia's skin, but you can't deny that was a fairly impressive dodge. Skylia looks at you sidelong, as if waiting to see what you'll do...

Jered - 450/450 HP
Skylia - 591/700 HP (slightly wounded from battle)
Demon - ???/??? HP (doesn't seem fatigued or visibly injured)

[MiscChaos]

Annoyed by the lack of progress she's making, Clife decides that this entire damn assignment isn't worth being put in a cage over. "Fuck this shit. If they want those priests so bad, the angels can rescue him their damn selves." she snaps, heading back to the wooded area she came from, not forgetting about the traps and keeping an eye out for them. She doubts the man's stupid enough to follow her based on what she's seen, but this rescue attempt is a failure otherwise for now. She'll have to wait til either she can get some damn backup or the base dies down a little.

[Zender_Solarheart]

Jered observes the Demon's impressive evasion with a sense of surprise, but not really too intimidated. He's already chosen his side, so it's too late to back out now. Considering those reflexes, and the armament his opponent is carrying, it's safe to say that a straight-forward assault would be suicide. Even with his proficient magic, Jered would only be inviting the Demon to cleave him in two.

Instead, he starts running forward at roughly a 35-degree angle, and hurls a series of three lightning bolts towards his foe: one aimed for the eyes, the second for his right arm, and a third near the left hip. The eye-shot is meant primarily to distract his opponent's vision, while the other two are meant to reduce his safe dodging angles.

That's quite important, as he immediately follows the shots up with a personal magic technique: one that he's dubbed the "Storm Wing." It's a crescent-shaped "blade" of electrical energy, cast forth by his enchanted sword, which can burn straight through a human's body as if it were cutting him with pure heat, if it connects point-blank. Naturally, its power wanes over longer distances, but at the range he's casting it from, the Demon will still feel a decent jolt. He's also cast it in line with the enemy's heart, and angled so that it will "cut" at his right leg and his left shoulder. Combined with the three preliminary bolts, this allows him to strike each limb on the foe's body within a very short amount of time, with enough room to evade the counter-attack (since he ran forward at an angle).

(Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee...)

[That_One_Guy]

Garian smiled as he watched the man charge him and spun around the man, bringing his blade around to slice at the same time. He didn't use both his hands as he was preparing a good spell to use in case he retaliates.

[Icaelus]

"Hey, hold on, hold on!"
Vivienne muttered as the wolf ran on ahead, its wagging tail seeming like a cat tease to her.
She gave the tunnel a quick examination. It was too cramped even for her small frame to stand straight, forcing her to duck occasionally under support beams if she didn't want a concussion.
Viv tried not to shiver without much success as a drop of god-knows-what landed on her neck, quickly resisting the urge to wipe it away and instead quickly continuing on after the wolf.
The tunnel eventually opened up into a wine cellar.
Viv blinked in surprise. A wine cellar? She was probably under the fortress, then. Her misty gray eyes ran over the gold pieces and food on the table..
Now, the former she didn't care too much about now, since she wouldn't know the value of gold. Food however, was an necessity and no one ever told her not to take stuff, did they?
Still, she took just enough food to be unnoticed, a small scoop of mashed potatoes from the plate and a skewer of mutton.
She had all but nearly bit down on the mutton when the wolf barked, jumping in fright.
Her hand instantly moved to her sword and she drew, looking almost comical with a skewer of mutton in one hand and a shortsword in the other. Was someone going to come through the door?
A full, tense thirty seconds passed by and nothing happen, save for the wolf going to lay by a cask of ale near the table of food.
Vivienne lowered her sword and took a bite of the mutton, shaking her head with a relieved sigh.
She glanced towards the wolf.
"Sooo...what did you bring me here for?
Viv shot the wolf a questioning look.

[TheDaughterOfHades14]

Claire eases her grip on the sword and takes a few steps back. She sighs and watches the imps. "Nastly little things..." she muttered.
(Hopefully all of the imps collide with each other )

[jayjaycaps]

Flim and Flam speak to themselves this time, but aloud enough for everyone to hear.

"Well lookie what we got here brother of mine, it's the same in every town. People with thirsty throats, dry tounges and not a drop of ale to be found. Maybe their not aware that there's really no need for this teary disspair?" "That the key that they need to solve this sad ale shortage you and I will share!" "So take this opportunity, in this here-y community!" "He's Flim!" "He's Flam!" "We're the world famous Flimflam brothers! Travelling sales men, nonpareil!"

[MelissaB]

Salyandra's mind goes blank at the strange sight before being helpfully told what to do and where to do that stuff is. "I-Right antidote, small girl and seat taking. Got it." She stumbles over to the antidote and chugs the whole vial after drinking the whole thing a odd and worrying thought stumbles through her brain. "This is actually the antidote and not more poison right?" She takes a seat regardless waiting for the thing to take some effect staring at the three in confusion. "So you lead- but you're a child."

[napsii]

Garian + Claire -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The dark-armored, spear-wielding maniac continues his headlong charge despite your obvious decision to prepare a counterattack. You agilely spin around him and he continues to run forward, burying the tip of his spear through a flimsy wooden billboard. He looks over his shoulder and tries to pull out his spear, but your blade slices straight through his left upper arm and sprays blood everywhere. He lets out a loud scream, heavily wounded, but still apparently fighting as he uses his right hip and uninjured right arm to spin back around and stab at your neck with an upward stab. His body is almost entirely undefended now.

As for Claire, her move was made quite well. The bumbling imps, who from the wispy trails of red energy trailing from their glowing, bug eyes are obviously weak creatures summoned by a Shadow magician attempt to leap at her simultaneously and all three collide in mid air, the sharp dagger of the leftmost ending up in the spine of the middlemost and the rightmost somehow cutting the neck of the leftmost, which leaves only one mildly dazed imp left to deal with. Seeing his two friends dead he hesitates for a moment and then leaps wildly at Claire's neck swinging his dagger as if he has a death wish.

Meanwhile, the dueling Angelic Knight and Demonic Sorceror have started to do more than just lock eyes. The female Angel dashes forward, hovering about the ground and swings her blade (which shimmers with a transparent coat of magic) aiming to cleave the Demon from shoulder to hip. The attack seems to fail momentarily despite the Demon's lack of moving to block the attack with his staff, a previously unseen shield of purple shadow magic catching the blade and sending a look of determination cutting through the Angel's face as she presses the sword down. By will of her sword's strange enchantment, she cleaves through the energy shield and slices the demon as she had intended, cutting open his robe and leaving a smoking wound in its wake.

Hissing, the demon leaps back and fires a shotgun blast of fire magic and small stones ripped from the earth, sending the Angel sliding backwards on her feet a good 8 yards when she raised her shield to block the assault, though the force of the attack still sending her reeling back.

Garian - 300/300 HP
Claire - 200/200 HP

Flim + Flam -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The entire group of would-be warriors watches you two sing your little tune with weirded out looks on their faces. The archer girl seems to be the least concerned, though, seeing you as just a bunch of harmless merchants. While your attempting to profiteer of the chaos is morally disagreeable, they seem to all come to the conclusion of you being fairly harmless.

" Ya see? What in the Underworld are they gonna do with an attitude like that? They're not carrying swords." the archer girl reasons after a brief look at your wagon. Seems she has a pretty sharp eye to see your goods from underneath that tarp.

"Yes, but what are they carrying?" the man questioned. As he says this, you notice out of the corner of your eye another man walking around the back to peek under the tarp. He spies the casks of Zugong's Zip and spends a long minute trying to read the label. Illiterate, apparently.

"Yeah, what is this?" he finally just asks you two, tossing a bottle of it to the suspicious man who seems just as quizzical. They pass it around, expecting an answer from you.

Clife -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Only the gods know how you think intruding into a bandit fortress and then trying to just walk out the front door is a good idea, or even how it'd work. Before you can even get three feet, Panner seizes your shoulder and holds his sword up to your back before whirling you around.

"What are you talking about?" he says, seeming quite exasperated at your strange behavior. "I'm not going to kill you.... what Angels?" he asks lowering his sword a bit and seeming quite honest compared to the rest of his friends.

Salyndra -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You chug down the green liquid, which tastes sort of like apples, and begin to feel the haze of intoxication subside immediately, answering your question just as you ask it.

"Yeah, for me pops... out sick and the like." the miniature chief says, elbow propped up on the oversized arm of the chair and fist buried into her cheek to hold up her head.

"Myself and Tinelle are close friends of her father. This isn't a completely disorganized operation." the fat man says with a nod in reference to himself and the old-looking woman who wears a small smile on her face despite the situation.

"Yeah, haw haw. All you've done is spend time with my girls and count ya coins, Jegen." the chief rebuts to the portly "Jegen", rolling her eyes. Jegen nodded in admission and looked away.

"Well anyway whatcha doin' here? Was about to have a sandwich that I was but you busted up my twice-damned door. Ya drunk off your chair?" she questions.

"Reila, language." Tinelle admonished. "Reila" as was apparently her name only rolled her eyes again.

Vivienne -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The mutton is still warm and seems like it hasn't even been touched, much to your benefit. It tastes really good! Must have a really skilled chef around here.

The wolf seemed unperturbed by your sudden turn to being tense. It must have barked out of excitement than anything. It rolled on its back and snorted a bit as if trying to give itself a backrub as any normal dog would, but then sat up when you questioned it. The red-tinted dog skipped over to a high cabinet and began nuzzling it. You notice what seems to be a large, shallow beige dish of some sort of stew up top. A strange place to put it, but chances are it was to get it away from the animal. Anyway, it continues to scratch at the cabinet doors as if wanting it. You could probably reach it if you set down a crate and stood atop it.

Jered -

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

As you might have expected, the demon doesn't make too much of a move to block your attacks, but instead raises his sword to intercept the four-fold assault, swiping the massive blade across the air where the magic would travel. As the first two aimed at his eyes and arm collide with his weapon, they sizzle and dissipate, making you realize immediately that he has some sort of anti-magic enchantment visible as a shimmering coat of transparent energy around the length of the blade. The third, however, does indeed impact his left hip and send a jolt through him. He doesn't seem visibly shaken, but his armor smokes and sizzles with electricity where he had been hit. (??? damage)

Your last and final attack is the moneymaker. He doesn't seem to move to block it, and it collides directly where you had intended, eliciting an audible grunt from him and sending him staggering back, his armor noticeably damaged. Where he had been hit releases a black smoke. (??? damage)

He would open his mouth to give another taunt, but before he can Skylia takes up the opportunity you opened and rushes forward, cloaking her blade in Light magic and in a mighty stab running him through his back, spurting up Demonic blood and making him yell in what's hard to decide is pain or anger (??? damage). She kicks him away, pulling her blade from his body and dashes back to a safe distance. The Demon fell to one knee and breathed heavily. At that moment, you notice what seem to be wounds of various sizes opening up all over his visible body, releasing wispy black smoke from his arms, legs, and his face, which now seems much more haggard and ruthless.

"I knew it! You can't hide your injuries." Skylia shouted triumphantly. It seemed the Demon was using a minor spell to disguise his injuries for the sake of intimidation, but now you are immediately aware how fatigued and injured he was from the battle.

He laughs defiantly, and returns to his feet ramming his sword into the dirt.

"A convincing lie but it is no setback." he remarks, seeming eerily calm. He looks at you with an unsettling gaze before dropping into a... fist-fighting stance?

"Indeed, Skylia has been weak, only chipping away at me after all this time. You, on the other hand... might be worth it. Let's see!" he yells, and charges directly at you with a superhuman speed. Your acute senses allow you to discern he is aiming a potentially skull-busting punch with his right arm directly at your face, however. He's still quite agile apparently, so it's not recommended you let him inside the guard provided by your blade.

Jered - 450/450 HP (going to lose most of it if he doesn't act fast!)
Skylia - 591/700 HP (pursuing after the Demon as fast as she can to help you out)
Demon - 655/1500 HP (health now visible; sword impaled in the dirt about 20 yards away)

[jayjaycaps]

Flim and Flam smile at each other knowingly, knowing they at least have the men interested in the product. Now for the build up!

Flim climbs back on the cart, standing up. He's shouting at the half assembled crowd, using a loud a commanding voice reserved for sales pitches. He even weaves some mind control magic into his words, trying to get the group as interested in this drink as he can. The small speech is impomtu, as Flim always likes to show off his charisma and verbal prowess. "That my friends, is a bottle of Zugong's Zip, the finest energy renewing ale on this side of the continent! Why, we risked our very lives trying to transport this much over here! One drop, and your taste bud's won't be able to get enough! Invented by The Great Zugong himself, this single bottle is all it takes to get you off regular old ale for good! Nothing can compare to the tastes found in this bottle, gentlemen!"

While everyone's focused on Flim, Flam sneaks over to whomever is holding the bottle. He snatches it from behind, seeming to appear out of thin air behind the holder. "Ah, ah, ah, Wouldn't want anyone stealing this, now would we?"

[Zender_Solarheart]

Jered's eyes widen just a little when the Demon's true injuries are revealed. It's a brief reaction of surprise, both at how much damage he had taken, and how well he had endured it all. Well, his secret is out now, but it's too early to celebrate...

...especially considering the hellish being that now charges right at him, fist reaching forward to pulverize Jered's face. From the looks of it, that fist would also smash through his sword if he were to attempt meeting it head-on. Skylia is further back, rushing forward to provide assistance, but that doesn't mean that he can just leave it all to her. Given that it's already sent forward, the main force of the Demon's attack is concentrated in his right arm, which means that the rest of his body isn't quite as forceful. Knowing the enemy's agility, however, simply dodging the blow alone will likely not be enough; this calls for an "evade and counter" maneuver.

Since the wounds on the Demon's body are now visible, they provide a decent weak point to strike at, as the blade that cut them had to cut the armor, as well. Therefore, Jered ducks down and weaves to his right (i.e., the Demon's left), while hurling another bolt of lightning at the largest visible wound on the foe's left side. That bolt is aimed primarily to distract, however, as Jered is also readying his hastily-enchanted sword for an upward strike, angled in such a way to cut at the most readily available wound on his enemy's chest.

With any luck, the Demon's own momentum will keep him from reacting too quickly, and Jered's attack will cut deep enough to end this for good. If not, then at least Skylia will have enough time to launch her own counter-attack.