Carnival of Rust

[lilbooth]

Cee Cee pulled herself closer to Magni as they exited the second forest. The elemental was still on their tail and she was barely still holding as the winds wiped past them. She saw the castle ahead and the banner of house Barton. With the other options being running for who knows how long she quickly decided the castle was a better bet. She prayed that they may let her inside once she reached the gates but she really had no idea what to expect from them. She had little to offer in exchange for safety from the storm but whatever they demanded would likely be worth her life. She steered Magni towards the castle and gave him a little kick. "Not much further now boy. Not much further..."

[RandomRoninKitten]

MrBlah/Amun Khufu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Amun screamed as he was sent flying through the air, spinning over the wall and looking down at the absurdly far ground below. His thoughts of how to get down without dying were interrupted, however, by the sight of what he saw.

Cielo, his home, was in a state of chaos. Burning houses, fleeing families, those damned monsters terrorizing people in the streets, and they were even at the command center. The sheer daunting size of the task given to him to put an end to this invasion suddenly hit home. There were 15 of those things at the command center. He had to get to the command center to lower Cielo back down to get backup. How was he supposed to fight 15 of those enemies when even 1 of them managed to beat Sir Cole?

As he began to drop down into one of the burning homes, Amun's eyes widened as he thought of how to save his skin there. He'd die from the fall, no doubt, and if he didn't he'd be unable to move and the fire would get him. It was a lose/lose situation with no hope for recovery - so it's a good thing he was suddenly sent careening to another building. The force that hit him felt like a harsh gust of wind, and the accompanying music confused him, but before he could give it much thought, he landed safely into a bed. Breaking it as it broke his fall and grunting from the harsh landing.

"I never wanna do that again..." He grumbled to himself. Getting up and off the bed, Amun had a brief look around the house, wondering about where he was or how he ended up in there exactly - but his mind booted up again and focused on what was more important. He had a high up vantage point, and he used it as he looked outside to spot the control center. A mile away. If he wanted to head there immediately, he'd have to go through a mile of the chaos... "If only I paid more attention in combat class..." Amun once again grumbled. Guess his only option is to stealth past it all and find someone.

If he were a knight, where would he be? Maybe the control center trying to fight the invaders? Burning homes trying to save people? Amun continued to have a look at the city below, hoping to spot anything that might help his new mission. He needed people, he needed opportunities, and he needed a boatload of luck. Maybe he'd have to fight one of those things and dress up as it to get into the command center...

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Through the city, from Amun's vantage point, he could see various people laying on the ground, wounded and dying, others running away from the chaos, yet towards more chaos, as nowhere was safe.

Amun decided to get down on ground level, since he couldn't spot any Cielo Knights from his current vantage point, and sneak around while seeking other knights.

Stealth Check: Passed

Amun snuck around the area and searched high and low, trying to stay out of sight of any of the invaders, and trying to stay as far from the barricade of creatures guarding the control center. After what seemed like a solid thirty minutes of looking, finally Amun spotted four knights, side by side, hiding behind a half-destroyed wall. The first and closest, Amun could recognize as Lyann, a female knight with the standard Cielo emerald armor, with blond hair, a golden-hilted two-hander sword on her back, and blue eyes, who was bandaging a leg wound sustained by a male knight, Sir Kutt, who had his helmet off, his blond hair in full view, wearing the standard emerald Cielo armor, and second female knight, which Amun could recognize as Captain Prairie, a woman with platinum hair, lilac eyes, and pale green armor with flowers on it, and her loin cloth with a flower design. She was watching over the other side of the wall, with a second male knight directly behind her, who Amun immediately recognized as Sir Kummstanshole, as he had his helmet off, his short black hair hanging over his forehead, reaching far enough down his face to obscure his eyes. They seemed to be waiting for Lyann to finish bandaging the knight's wound, before attempting anything.

LittleManKitten/Anastasia Ursa

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Anastasia kept quiet when Idalia accused Amalie and the redhead, but was thoroughly confused by what Idalia meant. Did she know something that Anastasia didn't? It wouldn't surprise her considering that she seemed to know a lot more than Anastasia and could also do more. She decided it would be to not underestimate this girl. When Idalia turned her attention to Anastasia however, Anastasia just nodded at Idalia's words. "A rematch with that girl sounds like it'd be fun." She winced as she was brought up and still had a slight limp as she walked, but otherwise felt better than ever. Anastasia kept mostly quiet during their walk, and when she did talk it was mostly profanities aimed at either the orcs or the fact it was slowly turning nighttime. If she thought that girl was a tough fight, what came out at night would make her seem like a sick rat. By the time the sun was setting the outline of the buildings that made up Ferraille were finally coming into view... a brief glimmer of hope in this godforsaken place of a planet. By the time twilight came, Anastasia looked over to Idalia and spoke.


"So... What's up with you?" Anastasia didn't explain what she meant, assuming the girl knew exactly what she was talking about. Whether or not she answered by the time they made it to the trashheap of a town didn't really matter to much, if they didn't get there soon they'd just be a snack for whatever lurked in the darkness. When they made it to the city and were introduced to the young guard named Gruck, Anastasia couldn't help but chuckle a little. Not just at the name but at his armor and weaponry. Sure it might be good enough against mostly unarmed humans or any other non-spectross race. Against even day-time monsters however, he'd be less threatening than a spider. Maybe if the monsters attacked at night the 'guards' would be enough of a distraction so her and Idalia could escape. "A place to hang around for the night would be nice. Also do you have anything to help with this?" Anastasia points to the giant gash that ran from her shoulder to her hip. It wasn't bleeding anymore and didn't feel to bad thanks to Idalia's... powers, but she doubted some weird blood would of fixed such a wound completely.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Idalia's expression changed ever so slightly as she responded to Anastasia's question, softly, just loud enough for her to hear, she whispered "They're still following us... it wasn't a detour that they ended up in the Orc Camp, they're following us, specifically... well, that or they're after your target." she said, before adding "Likely both...". All of this, of course, seemed to be an intentional attempt to dodge Anastasia's actual question.

Gruck nodded, and unlike every other city, he didn't pull out a clipboard, and by extension, did not sign the pair in as they entered. Four more guards in scrap armor, with scrap shields and weapons, all crudely shaped and mismatched, lead the pair to a pile of scrap on the right side of the settlement, which looked like every OTHER pile of scrap in the area. One of them, which sounded like a 25 year old male, spoke as he motioned for them to enter "Now, ladies, once our good doctor gets you patched up, I'd like to direct your attention to this here structure on your left" he said, now motioning with his other hand "There will be a room ready for you in there, and it would make us happy if you made yourself at home."

When they entered the scrap pile, the interior had only a desk, made from a sheet of scrap metal and two mostly broken crates. It made for a wobbly surface, but matched the two chairs, which were just broken and rotting crates, with sheet metal patching the missing sections. Sitting behind the scrap desk, was an individual in an oversized white coat, no older than a teenager, with a rugged chunk of wood in front of him, and a tiny piece of metal that he was using to carve crude letters into the wood with. He looked up as they entered and spoke clearly "Hello! Welcome! I'm Doctor Brunk. Please, please have a seat, and tell me what ails you."

Idalia's expression flickered with amusement before she replied "Yes, please, tell him what's wrong with you, it's not as though it's readily apparent, and the good doctor is not psychic." she said, leaning on the side of the scrap heap, with her arms crossed, a crooked half smile on her face.

Mark3000/Lilith

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lilith entered the city with a mix of shame and regret. She had let herself become so absorbed in the Nomad Camp's rituals that she had lost track of her mother. Her mind was foggy from withdrawal having going a few days without their Narcotics. More over, her clothes were tattered and her large horn was on full display.

Darting her eyes back and forth, Lilith takes the clipboard and wrote her name. As for a purpose, she decided to keep it simple and just write 'Business'. Handing the clipboard back, the young Nomad paused for a moment and turned towards the entrance of the gate. That spire just outside the city walls caught Lilith's curiosity. Maybe she could investigate it tomorrow morning. But for now what caught Lilith's eye were the guards watching a floating city lift off. She believed it was called Cielo. With her sign-in complete, Lilith moved to where the guards were to get a better look at the floating city.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

From her new vantage point, Lilith could see that the floating city was indeed Cielo, and the guards, in the typical black armor of Fero guards, covered from head to toe, were shouting and growling angrily. One was mentioning how the city had been hijacked by invaders, and others were trying to come up with a solution. One suggested following the boy who had launched himself over the walls and into the city from a catapult, and another called him a moron for suggesting something that was clearly suicide. What one could presume was the commanding officer spoke up; "You two!" she said, pointing at two guards of similar height and build, "Get to the watchtower and track it with your eyes, let me know for certain where it's heading, the rest of us will get a transport ready and send some guards to travel ahead of them in the morning. If they're using it as a fortress for an invasion or holding the citizens hostage, we'll need to be ready to assist." The two guards then headed for the city watch tower while the others ran to the barracks.

The City-State of Cielo was now floating over and across Fero and began traveling south-east, away from Fero and the ocean behind it. While the guards had left to try to do something about the issue, a large crowd of people had gathered and were moving as close to the opposite wall as possible, without losing their view, to watch the city leave Fero behind.

Nobudi/LuLu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lucia couldn't simply do nothing, not as long as she could still hear the screams and could still do something. Shielding her face from the heat and smoke with the crook of her elbow, she dived into the flaming wreck she once called home. The acrid smoke of her family's history stung her eyes, but she forced her aching body through the mess. The creaking above her was the only thing that warned her to get out of the way before one of the supports almost fell on her. Despite the situation, she could distinctly remember that particular support. There was a bullet hole near the base on that one. It was an accident, honestly. She had only received the pair of steam pistols and she wanted to see how they felt in her hand. When the gun actually discharged, she was profusely apologizing to her parents in tears. Her father only boomed in laughing approval while her mother was checking to make sure the bullet didn't ricochet into her. How long ago those days seemed.

In her stupor, she found one of the servants buried under debris in the kitchen. He was stuck precariously under the pile, so she had to finesse the man to get him out. "Stay still," she gritted out as she tried to shift some of the looser debris off him.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The servant cried as he tried to help Lucia get the debris off of him, using his arms and destroyed lower body to push against the ground, with all the strength he had left.

Strength Check: Passed

LuLu successfully lifted the Debris off of the Servant and managed to shove it to the side and into the burning wall, revealing his legs were basically masses of crushed bone and torn flesh, bleeding all over the floor. LuLu then began dragging the servant by the arms, towards the opening in the house, and outside. Once LuLu was outside, Yoko ran up to her and helped her pull the man out onto the lawn, where he coughed from smoke inhalation and reached up towards LuLu with what little strength he had "M-Miss L-Lucia... those creatures" he coughed mid sentence. His bloody stumps twitched, where his legs had been destroyed by the debris falling on him, and spewing blood out onto the lawn profusely. "T-they have your p-parents..." he sputtered, tears running down his face. Another explosion erupted from the house, behind LuLu, shooting debris in every direction, pieces landing on the lawn and road, as the remnants of the house was thoroughly obliterated. When LuLu turned back to the Servant, his eyes were staring blankly, and he had grown still as his life drained from. Beside LuLu, Yoko gasped and pressed her face to Lucia's shoulder, crying into it bitterly.

Lilbooth/CeeCee

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Cee Cee pulled herself closer to Magni as they exited the second forest. The elemental was still on their tail and she was barely still holding as the winds wiped past them. She saw the castle ahead and the banner of house Barton. With the other options being running for who knows how long she quickly decided the castle was a better bet. She prayed that they may let her inside once she reached the gates but she really had no idea what to expect from them. She had little to offer in exchange for safety from the storm but whatever they demanded would likely be worth her life. She steered Magni towards the castle and gave him a little kick. "Not much further now boy. Not much further..."

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Before CeeCee and Magni even got to the Castle, the gate swung open, allowing them inside, and then quickly and immediately slammed shut. Outside, CeeCee could here the rushing wind and thunder moving around the castle, apparently in circles. Within the castle, CeeCee was met by a force of guards, four of them, and an old man. The guards were wearing masterfully crafted, grey, steel armor, with red plumes on the helmets, red capes, and red loin clothes. They each had grey shields with the House Barton insignia on it, and long swords sheathed on the inside of their shields. The old man was wearing a long, flowing red robe, with silver lining. The robe looked incredibly expensive, and matched the beanie that the old man was wearing, with his grey hair flowing out of it, down to halfway down his back.

Behind the old man was a massive force of knights in armor matching the four guards, who were slowly pooling into the great hall of the castle, which was decorated with tapestries, silver bordered portraits, and tables with vases, filled with lilac flowers in them. On the floor of the, across all visible rooms, was a red rug.

The old man approached CeeCee and spoke up "Hello, young one, what brings you to our humble abode? Besides the raging Storm Elemental, of course." he said, punctuating the statement with a chuckle. He then continued, in his old, trembling voice and motioned behind him to the massive force of knights behind him, all standing at attention, fully armored and armed "Welcome to Castle Barton, you'll have to excuse the standing army. Before you arrived, we were preparing to wage war against the undead threat gathering around those black spires, you see off in the distance. This is, of course, before the Storm Spirit arrived, now we'll have to wait for it to go away. Yes, indeed, we'd have to be completely insane to walk out there with such an advantage in their favor..." he said, continuing to ramble, as he moved over to a seat against the wall and plopped down in it, relaxing "All of that said, young lady, did you have business with us?" he finished.

MiscChaos/Ophelia

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

After Ophelia had finished her morning routine and headed downstairs, she found on the kitchen table, a note. The note instructed Ophelia to either intercept a target on his way to the "Colosseum of Fools", and that her job was to kill him before his debt collectors could get to him.

This job was strange, of course, because most people denied the existence of the Colosseum of Fools, yet this note specified that it was in the dead center of the continent. The note did, however, neglect to mention why this middle-aged, low profile, middle class man needed to die before the debt collectors found him, however, it did mention that if they got to him first, he'd be brought to Monsteropolis.

When Ophelia was done suiting and arming up, she traveled to the Azraq gates, a massive structure, built to keep out the various horrors lurking beyond, with a building on either side of the locked exit. Ophelia wrote her name down on the guard's clipboard, and he unlocked the door for her, after which she crawled into the snug opening. The space was small, of course, in case something tried to enter the city from outside, it either wouldn't fit, or would be at the mercy of the guards when it crawled out.

After crawling for what seemed like an eternity, she came to the second set of locks, an excessive amount that took a solid 10 minutes to undo, and which would re-lock after the door was shut back.

Ophelia then stepped outside the city, and into the great plains outside, covered in overgrown weeds and grass. The plains seemed to stretch on as far as her eyes could see, and the overgrowth reached up to her hips. There, of course, were creatures that liked to hide in the weeds, and attack humanoids that seemed vulnerable.

As Ophelia stood outside the walls, she could recount that according to the instructions, to get to the Colosseum of fools, she'd need to travel through the city of Ferraille, or Ras-Terre.

[mrblah]

Seeing the lack of knights discouraged him, but Amun still remained optimistic in his chances. Cielo had some of the finest warriors serving to protect it. Just because he didn't see any of them didn't mean they were all defeated. Just that they weren't nearby... he'd have to move.

Mustering up the courage to get down to the ground wasn't as easy as deciding to do so, but he managed. Amun kept to the shadows and the side of the street, never walking into the open and never staying in one place for too long. He didn't know if he'd find one of his enemies bearing down on him as he turned corners, or the help he was hoping to find, so it was good to be extra careful. He wasn't sure a fight with one of those things would turn out with him on top. Fighting was never his forte...

Amun finally got lucky after some time spent searching, his tension lowering as he finally saw his targets. Women! ... Wait, no, he meant knights. Amun hit his head. Get out of the gutter and focus on what's important. He recognized the pale green one as Captain Prairie. He remembered his father would speak highly of her, enough that he and his sister would often joke about him cheating on their mother with the captain on the side... his mind flashed to concern as he thought of where they'd be and if they're fine, but he had to focus - that was for later. Odds are his dad wouldn't be outdone by a bunch of weird creatures. Hell, the man was probably fighting them to protect orphans alongside some knights or something. Yeah.

Amun adjusted his collar and begin walking towards the group of knights, getting a look at the other ones and remembering their names. If a Khufu didn't know at least a majority of Cielo's knights, that Khufu wouldn't be a Khufu. "Hail, captain!" When he was close enough, he greeted the superior officer with a hand raise and a smile. "I'm glad to see that Cielo's finest are still alive and fighting. When I got back in the city, I was worried when I saw how much chaos and destruction seemed to be everywhere... I went searching for help as soon as I could. Might I ask if we have a plan to get into the command center?"

[Littlemankitten]

Anastasia frowned a little when Idalia told her that they were still being followed, not just because they were still being followed but also cause her question was avoided, and she didn't really appreciate people dodging her questions. She couldn't really say anything about it though, they had to deal with the townsfolk now. Anastasia was more than amused at the 'guards' and their apparel. She was pretty sure that she and her small companion could easily take them all on if they tried anything. She only nodded at their words, attempting to contain some snide comments on their armor and shabby buildings. This entire town looked like it was about to topple over at any moment, she had no idea how there was still a town here to begin with. Anything without a couple feet of stone and metal to protect it was just asking to be trampled on by who knows what.


When Anastasia entered the room and looked at the state of the medical facility she immediately grimaced and just stood there for a moment, not sure whether to laugh or get mad or what. How did any of these people survive out here? She was already cautious about this all but now she just wants to get out of this damn town already. Unfortunately she couldn't, cause night time was upon them. At the doctor's words, she just flatly said. "I'm not about to let a child who couldn't tell a wound from his dick get anywhere near me." Anastasia then turned to Idalia and sighed. "Lets get to our rooms and sleep so we can get out of this trash heap as soon as possible... I don't know why I even bothered asking if they could do anything even remotely useful." With that she turned around and walked out of the room towards the area the guards pointed her towards.

[Mark3000]

"What kind of idiot would catapult themselves into a flying city?" Lilith though to herself as she listened in on the Fero guards. Once she heard word of the transport heading to the city, she figured it best to just leave what ever was happening to the professionals. Lilith hadn't come to Fero to get embroiled into someone else's battle.

But Lilith couldn't shake the odd spire from her mind. If it had attracted so many humanoids, her mother might be among them. Under the cover of darkness, the young nomad decided it was better to investigate the Spire outside the city.

[MiscChaos]

Ophelia awakes in darkness once more in her room in the basement of the manor. This is normal and the darkness doesn't bother her kind anyway. She understands her Lady must keep her out of sight as owning a Nomad would cause her to lose face. And that's without taking into account wanting her existence a complete secret because of her job for her Lady. Having it known an assassin is living in the Techra Estate would likely cause a small witch hunt for her Lady, which is unacceptable. Her Lady supplies her with the jobs needed to feel alive. She cannot be allowed to die for that reason. But her thoughts are getting away from her. She must not have gotten enough sleep for her to be so scattered. She will remedy this another day.

She raises from her bed, the one luxury in an otherwise spartan room, nude because her Lady has mandated that she will sleep in the buff. Her Lady says that it is healthier to do so and that she will live to serve her Lady longer if she does, but the explanation is unnecessary. Her Lady's commands are absolute after all. Not flinching as her feet connect with the cold stone floors, she makes her way to the connected bathroom and takes care of the essentials. She's not sure why since she doesn't talk to anyone beyond her Lady or the two servants privileged with the knowledge of her existence, but her Lady mandated it so it will be done. By the time she's done and is dressed in her new regulation tank top and boyshorts, both tight on her body as if to show it off, she notices her morning meal has been delivered to her table. As she takes the top off to reveal what's likely another serving of toast, omelet, and a meat product of some kind, she also notices a note. This confuses her because her Lady usually delivers her assignments to her personally if only to make sure no misunderstandings occur. Has she done something to displease her Lady perhaps? Or maybe her Lady is entertaining guests and cannot be spared to orally give the job as is normal? It's not her place to question, she simply reads over the note as she eats.

While it's not her place to question her Lady's will, she privately must wonder just why she's being sent after what seems to be a deadbeat loser of a man who will likely die even without her interference. And the man is nowhere near Lady Techra's estate, so the likelihood he's wronged her in some manner is slim unless his very existence is an affront to her Lady's sensibilities. She doubts her Lady loaned such a commoner money, her Lady usually keeps to sources that will actually make her money. This man seems more like a money drain than anything. And then the idiot is traveling to the Colosseum of Fools? Is he hoping to use it to recoup his losses or something? He's much more likely to lose it and his life, but she supposes she can't understand the stupid. That's probably why the colosseum is named as such.

Since she has a job to do, she begins binding her breasts so that when she puts on her uniform it is more difficult to identify her gender. Her assassin's uniform already hides her face, every inch of skin, and body type from view, but the gods were not kind when deciding how much she should grow. If they were, she would have stopped at a low B-cup to allow her to skip this step as her uniform does the rest. But she supposes complaining about such a thing is rather useless. Her chest wrapped, she dons her uniform, her mask last of all. She puts her hand up to an eye to make sure it glows white, hiding her eye color from view as well. As she moves to arm herself, she finds herself annoyed with herself. She did not put in a request to have her throwing knives replaced. All she has is her hidden blade attached to her right arm. She mentally notes to have her Lady punish her for this oversight at another time. Such a thing cannot be permitted to gain a foothold in her routine.

Ready to go, she moves to a bookshelf holding tomes that her Lady would rather keep out of the public eye and pulls the book, "Studying a Nomad: The Differences Between Them and You." This causes the bookshelf to swing open and reveal a hidden passageway that will take her far outside of the Techra estate before depositing her on the surface. It ends in a rather grimy, abandoned alley in the poorer part of town so not many find it. Those few that do... well, Ophelia herself rests on the other side of it. Viewing her within the Techra estate is a death sentence. When she is not in, the entrance is protected by another of her Lady's guardians to continue to protect her Lady's secrets. Her Lady has gotten wind of no rumors involving Ophelia, so she is confident not a single soul who has found the hidden entrance has made it out alive. To continue this, she is very careful about raising out of the secret entrance, making sure there is no one else in the immediate area before quickly coming out and closing it. After covering it up with some spare bits of trash, she makes her way to the gates. It's moments like that she can appreciate the laziness and apathy of the guards. They don't even require her to remove her mask while she signs a fake name on the clipboard. Then again, she supposes it doesn't matter. Even if he remembered her, she'd be just another one of the faceless masses off to die on the other side of the wall to the guard.

The instant she's outside the wall, annoyingly long it may be, she tilts her mask to the side to take a breath of fresh air as she normally does when she is deployed. It's a frivolous action, but she does enjoy the smell of the outdoors. With that personal action out of the way, she replaces the mask and gets down to business. She has to be careful because she doesn't want to be attacked by one of the foolish monsters hiding in the high grass. They weren't as satisfying to kill as a human was. She'll still feel a little something, but killing a monster requires none of the finesse that killing a human and getting away with it does so she prefers to do it as little as possible. She decides to go through the city of Ferraille to reach her target, though she decides to spend as little time within it as possible. She has no targets in that city so it's a waste of her time to stick around.

[lilbooth]

"Well met sir, and sirs. Unfortunately no, I have no business with House Barton. I am here seeking shelter from the elemental. I am a hunter and beast tamer from Calt. I don't think I've ever been this far south? I'm honestly not sure how far I've traveled. I've tangled with those dead though, in a forest not far from Calt. They don't hit too hard but they've got a nasty sting. Poison or toxin or something." She Said as she slid down off of Magni.
"I'm not sure how long the elemental will be blocking us from exiting. But I'm no freeloader, I will earn my keep however you deem." She said gesturing to the old man that addressed her.

[Nobudi]

Lucia was crying. She didn't quite know if It was the smoke that was everywhere or the overwhelming sense of loss. Though, it was probably both. She couldn't choke back the sob that escaped her. She was tired, and hurting. Her family taken, her home razed. Her world was slowly ending, and she could do nothing about it.

'... Never doubt. Time fer tears is never now. If yer 'ive and breathin', then suck it up, and do somethin'. … Wha'? Ye askin' me wha'? Blast if I know, but is better than nuthin', rite?' The memory of one of her teachers, a former solder that her family had hired to teach her had came back, bidden by the emotions. Slowly, her lips hardened, and she hugged her last remaining servant fiercely. "W- we need to get out of here," she sputtered, the last of her emotions flowing out messily over her face. "Where can we go find safety?"

[RandomRoninKitten]

MrBlah/Amun Khufu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Seeing the lack of knights discouraged him, but Amun still remained optimistic in his chances. Cielo had some of the finest warriors serving to protect it. Just because he didn't see any of them didn't mean they were all defeated. Just that they weren't nearby... he'd have to move.

Mustering up the courage to get down to the ground wasn't as easy as deciding to do so, but he managed. Amun kept to the shadows and the side of the street, never walking into the open and never staying in one place for too long. He didn't know if he'd find one of his enemies bearing down on him as he turned corners, or the help he was hoping to find, so it was good to be extra careful. He wasn't sure a fight with one of those things would turn out with him on top. Fighting was never his forte...

Amun finally got lucky after some time spent searching, his tension lowering as he finally saw his targets. Women! ... Wait, no, he meant knights. Amun hit his head. Get out of the gutter and focus on what's important. He recognized the pale green one as Captain Prairie. He remembered his father would speak highly of her, enough that he and his sister would often joke about him cheating on their mother with the captain on the side... his mind flashed to concern as he thought of where they'd be and if they're fine, but he had to focus - that was for later. Odds are his dad wouldn't be outdone by a bunch of weird creatures. Hell, the man was probably fighting them to protect orphans alongside some knights or something. Yeah.

Amun adjusted his collar and begin walking towards the group of knights, getting a look at the other ones and remembering their names. If a Kurth didn't know at least a majority of Cielo's knights, that Kurth wouldn't be a Kurth. "Hail, captain!" When he was close enough, he greeted the superior officer with a hand raise and a smile. "I'm glad to see that Cielo's finest are still alive and fighting. When I got back in the city, I was worried when I saw how much chaos and destruction seemed to be everywhere... I went searching for help as soon as I could. Might I ask if we have a plan to get into the command center?"

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Captain Prairie perked up and turned in Amun's direction before he even called out to her, and likely knew he was coming before he even saw her. Her voice was soft and smooth as she replied to his question "Cielo's finest may be fighting, but this situation is not looking good. The majority of the enemy forces are attacking civilians to distract us from the control center, and our communications are down, so we can't gather our scattered forces. I don't think the four... now five... of us are enough to take on all of their guards... I've been considering our options while Lyann patched us up, and I've come up with three." she said, pausing and looking over her companions before she continued "We can make a frontal assault, lining up behind the two shields we have available, and ensure one of us makes it inside to face their leader and retake control of the city... but doing so would likely only be a temporary solution, and only delay their plans, possibly not even long enough for our forces to regroup. The second option is to head to the armory and return with the Enigma, which should be able to thin their numbers with the only shot it's capable of, but we risk destroying the control center, which could be just as bad, assuming we don't take too long. Our last option, now that you're here, is to use the four of us as distractions while you sneak in and hold off the leader... while it may not be the best plan, we have to act immediately, as I believe that creature is intending to destroy the city." she concluded, lowering her head, thoughtfully. The other knights looked determined, with Sir Kutt adding "If we don't make it, it would be a small price to pay for the safety of the city." the other knights nodded, and Captain Prairie rested her hand on Amun's shoulder "I know this is sudden, but we need all the help we can get, and this little skirmish could save this entire city." her lilac eyes stared into Amun's pleadingly.

LittleManKitten/Anastasia Ursa

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Anastasia frowned a little when Idalia told her that they were still being followed, not just because they were still being followed but also cause her question was avoided, and she didn't really appreciate people dodging her questions. She couldn't really say anything about it though, they had to deal with the townsfolk now. Anastasia was more than amused at the 'guards' and their apparel. She was pretty sure that she and her small companion could easily take them all on if they tried anything. She only nodded at their words, attempting to contain some snide comments on their armor and shabby buildings. This entire town looked like it was about to topple over at any moment, she had no idea how there was still a town here to begin with. Anything without a couple feet of stone and metal to protect it was just asking to be trampled on by who knows what.


When Anastasia entered the room and looked at the state of the medical facility she immediately grimaced and just stood there for a moment, not sure whether to laugh or get mad or what. How did any of these people survive out here? She was already cautious about this all but now she just wants to get out of this damn town already. Unfortunately she couldn't, cause night time was upon them. At the doctor's words, she just flatly said. "I'm not about to let a child who couldn't tell a wound from his dick get anywhere near me." Anastasia then turned to Idalia and sighed. "Lets get to our rooms and sleep so we can get out of this trash heap as soon as possible... I don't know why I even bothered asking if they could do anything even remotely useful." With that she turned around and walked out of the room towards the area the guards pointed her towards.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The Doctor only blinked in response, a blank expression on his face, as he likely didn't know how to respond to that. Idalia nodded and waved at the Doctor as they left, giving him an innocent smile.

The Guards didn't question it, they only led them to their room, which they shared. their room was on the sixth floor, a rather large room, with one large bed, big enough to fit three people, which consisted of a sheet of metal, sitting on the floor, with a burlap sack, filled with some soft gel-like material, on top, and some blankets, made from a silky substance, slick to the touch, but not sticky. Also within the room was a cabinet, made from rotting wood, and a spherical container with a gel-like substance coating the inside, which was cold to the touch and kept the inside of the container cold enough to generate thin layers of ice. The room's floor was rotting wood and metal, patched together with MORE rotting wood and metal, matching the walls and ceiling. On the opposite end of the room was a rusted metal tub with a burlap curtain hanging around it, and a faucet

Idalia was putting her belongings in one corner and turned to survey the room, then stopped short "Uhhh... Anastasia, there's one bed." she said, pointing out the obvious, while holding herself in mid step. At this time, Anastasia becomes somewhat aware of a very light clawing, internally, a very weak desire to ingest more of Idalia's blood.

Mark3000/Lilith

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

"What kind of idiot would catapult themselves into a flying city?" Lilith though to herself as she listened in on the Fero guards. Once she heard word of the transport heading to the city, she figured it best to just leave what ever was happening to the professionals. Lilith hadn't come to Fero to get embroiled into someone else's battle.

But Lilith couldn't shake the odd spire from her mind. If it had attracted so many humanoids, her mother might be among them. Under the cover of darkness, the young nomad decided it was better to investigate the Spire outside the city.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lilith chose to go investigate the Spire. She went to the main gate, meeting the guard stationed there, who took her name a second time, before she crawled through the tiny space and out of the city. As she left, she could hear him mutter under his breath "Your funeral."

She managed to walk ten steps outside the walls, before a buzzing sound above her head alerted her to the presence of another entity, prompting her to look up.


It was an Insectoid scout, and he was rushing towards Lilith at high speed. The worst part being that since this was a scout, there would likely be more responding and heading this direction, as Insectoids were capable of sending signals to each other from long distances.

MiscChaos/Ophelia

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ophelia awakes in darkness once more in her room in the basement of the manor. This is normal and the darkness doesn't bother her kind anyway. She understands her Lady must keep her out of sight as owning a Nomad would cause her to lose face. And that's without taking into account wanting her existence a complete secret because of her job for her Lady. Having it known an assassin is living in the Techra Estate would likely cause a small witch hunt for her Lady, which is unacceptable. Her Lady supplies her with the jobs needed to feel alive. She cannot be allowed to die for that reason. But her thoughts are getting away from her. She must not have gotten enough sleep for her to be so scattered. She will remedy this another day.

She raises from her bed, the one luxury in an otherwise spartan room, nude because her Lady has mandated that she will sleep in the buff. Her Lady says that it is healthier to do so and that she will live to serve her Lady longer if she does, but the explanation is unnecessary. Her Lady's commands are absolute after all. Not flinching as her feet connect with the cold stone floors, she makes her way to the connected bathroom and takes care of the essentials. She's not sure why since she doesn't talk to anyone beyond her Lady or the two servants privileged with the knowledge of her existence, but her Lady mandated it so it will be done. By the time she's done and is dressed in her new regulation tank top and boyshorts, both tight on her body as if to show it off, she notices her morning meal has been delivered to her table. As she takes the top off to reveal what's likely another serving of toast, omelet, and a meat product of some kind, she also notices a note. This confuses her because her Lady usually delivers her assignments to her personally if only to make sure no misunderstandings occur. Has she done something to displease her Lady perhaps? Or maybe her Lady is entertaining guests and cannot be spared to orally give the job as is normal? It's not her place to question, she simply reads over the note as she eats.

While it's not her place to question her Lady's will, she privately must wonder just why she's being sent after what seems to be a deadbeat loser of a man who will likely die even without her interference. And the man is nowhere near Lady Techra's estate, so the likelihood he's wronged her in some manner is slim unless his very existence is an affront to her Lady's sensibilities. She doubts her Lady loaned such a commoner money, her Lady usually keeps to sources that will actually make her money. This man seems more like a money drain than anything. And then the idiot is traveling to the Colosseum of Fools? Is he hoping to use it to recoup his losses or something? He's much more likely to lose it and his life, but she supposes she can't understand the stupid. That's probably why the colosseum is named as such.

Since she has a job to do, she begins binding her breasts so that when she puts on her uniform it is more difficult to identify her gender. Her assassin's uniform already hides her face, every inch of skin, and body type from view, but the gods were not kind when deciding how much she should grow. If they were, she would have stopped at a low B-cup to allow her to skip this step as her uniform does the rest. But she supposes complaining about such a thing is rather useless. Her chest wrapped, she dons her uniform, her mask last of all. She puts her hand up to an eye to make sure it glows white, hiding her eye color from view as well. As she moves to arm herself, she finds herself annoyed with herself. She did not put in a request to have her throwing knives replaced. All she has is her hidden blade attached to her right arm. She mentally notes to have her Lady punish her for this oversight at another time. Such a thing cannot be permitted to gain a foothold in her routine.

Ready to go, she moves to a bookshelf holding tomes that her Lady would rather keep out of the public eye and pulls the book, "Studying a Nomad: The Differences Between Them and You." This causes the bookshelf to swing open and reveal a hidden passageway that will take her far outside of the Techra estate before depositing her on the surface. It ends in a rather grimy, abandoned alley in the poorer part of town so not many find it. Those few that do... well, Ophelia herself rests on the other side of it. Viewing her within the Techra estate is a death sentence. When she is not in, the entrance is protected by another of her Lady's guardians to continue to protect her Lady's secrets. Her Lady has gotten wind of no rumors involving Ophelia, so she is confident not a single soul who has found the hidden entrance has made it out alive. To continue this, she is very careful about raising out of the secret entrance, making sure there is no one else in the immediate area before quickly coming out and closing it. After covering it up with some spare bits of trash, she makes her way to the gates. It's moments like that she can appreciate the laziness and apathy of the guards. They don't even require her to remove her mask while she signs a fake name on the clipboard. Then again, she supposes it doesn't matter. Even if he remembered her, she'd be just another one of the faceless masses off to die on the other side of the wall to the guard.

The instant she's outside the wall, annoyingly long it may be, she tilts her mask to the side to take a breath of fresh air as she normally does when she is deployed. It's a frivolous action, but she does enjoy the smell of the outdoors. With that personal action out of the way, she replaces the mask and gets down to business. She has to be careful because she doesn't want to be attacked by one of the foolish monsters hiding in the high grass. They weren't as satisfying to kill as a human was. She'll still feel a little something, but killing a monster requires none of the finesse that killing a human and getting away with it does so she prefers to do it as little as possible. She decides to go through the city of Ferraille to reach her target, though she decides to spend as little time within it as possible. She has no targets in that city so it's a waste of her time to stick around.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ophelia chose to travel to Ferraille.

While following the path through the plains to Ferraille, Ophelia came upon an Orc camp, blocking her way. The camp was large and scattered, with Orcs patrolling the area. The tents looked as though they had been patched together with rags. The orcs were all wearing crude scrap metal armor with spikes all over them, and were holding various crude weapons made from wood and rocks, or just holding spiked clubs. From this distance, Ophelia was outside of their patrol range, however, she would need to travel through the camp to continue to Ferraille.

Lilbooth/CeeCee

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

"Well met sir, and sirs. Unfortunately no, I have no business with House Barton. I am here seeking shelter from the elemental. I am a hunter and beast tamer from Calt. I don't think I've ever been this far south? I'm honestly not sure how far I've traveled. I've tangled with those dead though, in a forest not far from Calt. They don't hit too hard but they've got a nasty sting. Poison or toxin or something." She Said as she slid down off of Magni.
"I'm not sure how long the elemental will be blocking us from exiting. But I'm no freeloader, I will earn my keep however you deem." She said gesturing to the old man that addressed her.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Old man Barton shifted in his seat and looked thoughtful, stroking his hairless chin for a moment before responding "Well, madame, I haven't had a woman to warm my bed chamber for many years... however, at the moment, we have more immediate concerns. In exchange for helping us purge the undead threat, and sharing my bed when you stay here, you may return her anytime you like, for whatever you like." he said, as he motioned with one hand, prompting one of the many knights, all with the exact same build, to lift one of the steel sheets blocking one of the openings, sot hat Old Man Barton could watch outside. "As of right now, the Storm Elemental is still circling our castle, however the moment it's gone, we'll need to move. The undead will be heading to Monsteropolis, and we're the only people who are in range to intercept." as Old Man Barton continued speaking, a knight brought a trey over to CeeCee, with plain white cup of steaming purple tea on it, bowing as he held it out to her.

Nobudi/Lulu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lucia was crying. She didn't quite know if It was the smoke that was everywhere or the overwhelming sense of loss. Though, it was probably both. She couldn't choke back the sob that escaped her. She was tired, and hurting. Her family taken, her home razed. Her world was slowly ending, and she could do nothing about it.

'... Never doubt. Time fer tears is never now. If yer 'ive and breathin', then suck it up, and do somethin'. … Wha'? Ye askin' me wha'? Blast if I know, but is better than nuthin', rite?' The memory of one of her teachers, a former solder that her family had hired to teach her had came back, bidden by the emotions. Slowly, her lips hardened, and she hugged her last remaining servant fiercely. "W- we need to get out of here," she sputtered, the last of her emotions flowing out messily over her face. "Where can we go find safety?"

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Yoko lifted her head and looked into LuLu's eyes, softly responding through her tears "W-we may be able to go t-to the church..." she started, before adding "With those monsters in the control center... there may not be a safe place... I guess we have to fight, or take cover at the church..." she hid her face in LuLu's chest and resumed crying, while also wrapping her arms around Lucia's head and hugging it against her.

[lilbooth]

"Yes of course Mr. Barton. If that is what you require of me." She said with a simple nod. She was surprised that he offered that she could come back whenever she wanted to. And apparently for any reason. Either they really needed help in the upcoming battle or Old Man Barton quite fancied her, maybe a bit of both. "Thank you." She said as she was offered the tea. She leaned against Magni as she sipped the tea and eventually sat down. She wasn't thrilled about having to out and fight against the undead again, but it certainly beat being flung or torn apart by the storm elemental. She took whatever time she could to rest and enjoy the tea before the battle began.

[Littlemankitten]

Anastasia said nothing to the guards as they escorted them to their rooms, content with having nothing more to do with the inhabitants of this place. Once they entered their room Anastasia let out a soft sigh and tried to think about how she was going to make this work without getting a bunch of random diseases. In fact she was so caught up over how filthy the place was she didn't notice the single bed until Idalia said something about it. Thinking about it for a moment, she noted how big the bed was and shrugged. "Its big enough for the both of us, as long as we both stay on opposite ends it'll be like two single beds. Just don't touch me and everything will be fine." Anastasia gave Idalia a wry smirk and set her stuff down on her side of the bed.

Sitting on the bed she prepared herself to rest at such a horrid place before suddenly realizing that she had a very small urge to drink more of the magic healing blood that Idalia had. Easily dismissing it in her mind as just a need to get her wound fully healed as the doctors here were probably better undertakers she looked back towards Idalia. "Hey, since the 'doctor' here probably spent more time sucking patients dicks than actually healing people, mind if I have some more uh.... Healing? So I don't possibly die in my sleep or something." Anastasia still had visible discomfort towards the whole idea, and if Idalia refused she wouldn't really mind and in fact still probably look a little relieved. Either way it would be time to sleep, with or without some magic blood.

[MiscChaos]

Ophelia curses her luck in the confines of her own mind. Of course she would choose the path that is beset by an entire Orc encampment. She in confident in her ability to kill, but an unknown amount of orcs in a very small area... even trying that would be a very stupid idea. The only intelligent choices would be to turn around and try to go through Ras-Terre, though that would open her up to increased chances of running into monsters, attempting to sneak through this encampment, but with no idea how large it is and the vigilance of the orc within that can end very poorly, or attempt negotiations with the orcs. She quickly strikes the last option as her skills in diplomacy is... lacking. At best. She would more than likely say something wrong and offend the orcs, which would put her in a worst position as at that point attempting to hide would likely end poorly.

That leaves stealth or backtracking as the more intelligent options. Her Lady didn't give her a hard deadline, but her Lady did specify that she wanted the man dead before any debt collectors catch him. Depending on the competence of the debt collectors she can have a lot of time to work with, but it's best to assume that they are just as good as she. It may not be a correct assumption, but making it will cause her to move faster rather than allowing herself to fall to arrogant time wasting. With this assumption, backtracking would be inadvisable as that would give the debt collectors more time to catch their mark. The only choice left is attempting stealth. It is not a good idea, but it is the best she has given her time constraints. She decides to swing a wide circle, keeping to the edge of any patrols for as long as possible and hopefully get an idea for the size of the encampment while keeping out of sight.

[mrblah]

Even if she gave him that look... "Well... all of those options sound quite, dangerous... no?" His smile strained, feeling a bit guilty when she seemingly put so much faith in him. Of course, Amun knew he was going to accept. He may be many things, but so selfish as to abandon his home in its time of need when he might be one of the few capable of helping it, is something he's not. But he couldn't say putting his life on the line sounded so fun either.

Going for the Enigma seemed to be the safest choice. But the Captain was right that it may take too long, though he has no idea what this 'Enigma' is or how it's capable of possibly destroying the entire command center. "While I'm willing to help to the best of my abilities, Captain, I'm not so sure I'm quite skilled enough to do any fighting, so I don't believe I could do much more than obtain a swift end from their leader if I were to try to hold him off." That was almost a certainty. If the leader is who he thinks it is, Amun stood no chance against him. He still remembers the battle it had against Sir Cole.

He thought long and hard for any alternatives to Captain Prairie's ideas that he could give, but he only came up with blanks. "What of you, Captain? Surely you'd be strong enough to face it? The four of us could be the distractions and give you time to get in." It was basically her last idea with their roles switched, but he was grasping for anything that might not get him killed.

[Mark3000]

It seems as though Lilith had let her curiosity carry her into a bad situation. The young nomad had no intention of getting into a drag out fight with an insectoid army. Lilith had to make quick work of this scout and conceal herself before the rest arrive. Turning to face her assailant, Lilith drew her knife ready to sidestep the first attack and stay close trying to cut the flying insectoid. With a focused expression, Lilith's eyes began to give off a light red hue.

[Nobudi]

She was so tired right now, but she had to keep going. Standing up, she used her right arm to wipe the last remnants of tears before grabbing Yoko's hand. "Right now, we need a place to dig in and get rested. I am very tired and hurt right now, so we need to make it to the church, quickly." Lucia tugged the arm of her last remaining servant and dragged her away from the wreck, the sounds of the dying coming to a terrible stop. High Priest Sidon and the church would be a good location to fortify themselves at before trying to tackle the rest of the things invading... if that was even possible.

[Mark3000]

Lilith's steps into the bushes as she lies in wait for her chance to attack. It was not her best decision as it merely allows more of these insectoids to come towards her. Worst still, they had spotted her hiding place and had claimed first blood.. This was the exact situation she had been trained to avoid.

With a sigh, she prepared herself for a tough battle. Her body still shaking from withdrawal. She manages to bury her hidden blade into the insectoid's abdomen. It survived the hit but it soon feel to a strange force. Though it wasn't something new to Lilith. She had been taught from a young age the power and danger her eyes possessed. They continued to glow red as Lilith continued to try and strike the flying creature. But they seemed to evade her at every turn. All the while, the pair of Insectoids chipped a her. They slashed her back, kicked her in the jaw and even stab her in the abdomen. But Lilith could sense it, her curse was slowly eating away at them.

Finally, her hidden blade managed to pierce one of the insectoid's throat. But soon enough his partner returned the favor as it's Stinger sank into her thigh. Lilith screams as she feels her consciousness begin to fade. In a moment of desperation, she turns to stare down the insectoid. Their eyes meet as Lilith watched the last of the monster's life fades away.

Having somehow survived, the red glow in Lilith's eyes faded. She falls to the ground bloody and trying to catch her breath. Looking over the bodies, she does find something that might have made this all worth it. It was a potion, and a rather rare one by the looks of it, she'd have to hold onto it. Examining the three dead insectoid bodies. She had been warned about wondering the wilderness at night, but she never seemed to listen. But this time she didn't have her mother or the other Nomads to bail her out. She was in no condition to continue to the spire. She would have to return to the city and find some place to rest. But before returning to the city, Lilith attempted to remove the Insectoid's stingers with her hidden blade. These things gave Lilith a beating. It was only fair she took these stingers in return. There were always people looking for unique items like these. If she couldn't sell it, she'd find some use for them.

[RandomRoninKitten]

Lilbooth/CeeCee

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

"Yes of course Mr. Barton. If that is what you require of me." She said with a simple nod. She was surprised that he offered that she could come back whenever she wanted to. And apparently for any reason. Either they really needed help in the upcoming battle or Old Man Barton quite fancied her, maybe a bit of both. "Thank you." She said as she was offered the tea. She leaned against Magni as she sipped the tea and eventually sat down. She wasn't thrilled about having to out and fight against the undead again, but it certainly beat being flung or torn apart by the storm elemental. She took whatever time she could to rest and enjoy the tea before the battle began.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

CeeCee agrees to help the Barton family wage war against the Zombie threat.

The inhabitants of the castle decide to sit down and eat while they wait for the Elemental to leave. While it is still there after they have finished dining within the massive castle, at that point it had begun moving away from the area, and is fading into the distance. However, to be safe, the group also chooses to wait for the rough weather to go away, which takes roughly an hour.

After the coast seems clear, CeeCee is given a suit of silver Barton Family[Obtained Barton Long Sword, Barton Shield, and Barton Armor] armor to wear, complete with a red cape and a red loin cloth draped down the front and back of the hips, then she and a large squad of House Barton knights are led to the back of the castle, which has a rather large, empty room, housing several Steam-Powered, steel carriers with treads. They filled three of them with troops, placing CeeCee in one with nine other Knights, before opening the gates and driving the carriers out.

The ride was bumpy, and the carrier had no windows, so the driver, yet another knight who looked exactly like all of the others, announced when they were within range of the spire, and the troops all came streaming out of the carriers to meet the foes.

Across the ground were pulsating purple roots, and the sky had darkened once again, as a natural storm rolled in. Up ahead, rushing towards the company of Barton Knights were uncountable numbers of undead horrors, illuminated by the lightning every few seconds. As the zombie legion drew near, the rain began to pour down on the Barton army. One of the knights at the front called out in a thundering voice "HERE THEY COME, HOLD THE LINE AND PUSH FORWARD, WE NEED TO CLEAR THE WAY SO WE CAN DESTROY THE SPIRE!"



The Barton army forced the zombie charge to a dead stop with their line of shields and began pushing them back, by blocking the strikes with their shields as a single unit and counter-attacking the zombies beneath their shields. With CeeCee positioned in the second line, with Magni right beside her, she could watch every gory detail as the zombie horde was systematically slaughtered by the trained Barton forces, and for the moment, it looked as though the countless zombies stood no chance.

As the Barton Army pushed forward, the Spire drew ever closer with each step, however, when the Spire was only about a mile ahead, the ground began to tremble, and suddenly exploded, scattering the Barton Forces in every direction. From the crater rose a giant skeleton creature, roaring loud enough to rattle CeeCee's armor, and slamming its fists against the ground, shaking the earth beneath her feet.



The barton forces were now split, and were attempting to fight off the undead horde, however, the undead monster had its empty eye-sockets trained on CeeCee, Magni, and the two Barton Knights who were near enough to assist her. Off in the distance, the designated captain was barking orders, however, the regrouping Barton forces weren't close enough for her to hear the orders, and the giant's body was blocking her path.

LittleManKitten/Anastasia Ursa

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Anastasia said nothing to the guards as they escorted them to their rooms, content with having nothing more to do with the inhabitants of this place. Once they entered their room Anastasia let out a soft sigh and tried to think about how she was going to make this work without getting a bunch of random diseases. In fact she was so caught up over how filthy the place was she didn't notice the single bed until Idalia said something about it. Thinking about it for a moment, she noted how big the bed was and shrugged. "Its big enough for the both of us, as long as we both stay on opposite ends it'll be like two single beds. Just don't touch me and everything will be fine." Anastasia gave Idalia a wry smirk and set her stuff down on her side of the bed.

Sitting on the bed she prepared herself to rest at such a horrid place before suddenly realizing that she had a very small urge to drink more of the magic healing blood that Idalia had. Easily dismissing it in her mind as just a need to get her wound fully healed as the doctors here were probably better undertakers she looked back towards Idalia. "Hey, since the 'doctor' here probably spent more time sucking patients dicks than actually healing people, mind if I have some more uh.... Healing? So I don't possibly die in my sleep or something." Anastasia still had visible discomfort towards the whole idea, and if Idalia refused she wouldn't really mind and in fact still probably look a little relieved. Either way it would be time to sleep, with or without some magic blood.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Idalia paused for a second, showing no emotion on her face and responds slowly "Well, I suppose I didn't give you enought o fully heal you the first time, and it really doesn't look like you can rely on the doctors here." she said, pulling her Ninjaken out of its sheath and slid her hand across the blade, creating a large gash across it, exposing the bone. She then slid her weapon back into the sheath and took a metal bottle out of her bag, and squeezed her fingers into the deep gash, holding them there until the bottle was filled with her blood. After she had placed the cap back on the bottle, she handed it to Anastasia, stating "Don't drink more than you need." after which, she walked over to the empty tub with the curtain around it and opened the pipe, causing it to begin slowly filling with water.

While the tub filled, she pulled off her frock, leaving her in a pair of leggings and a purple bra, with a black bow on it. She slipped off her leggings, showing her panties to match her bra, then moved behind one of the curtains, hanging her undergarments on top of the curtains, before closing them completely. Anastasia could still see her silhouette as she lowered herself into the tub and washed up.

After she had finished, she put on what looked like copies of her undergarments that she was wearing before, and laid out a pair of clean clothes, again copies of what she was wearing before, and slipped under the covers of their shared bed, and seemed to have fallen asleep immediately, breathing softly.

MiscChaos/Ophelia

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ophelia curses her luck in the confines of her own mind. Of course she would choose the path that is beset by an entire Orc encampment. She in confident in her ability to kill, but an unknown amount of orcs in a very small area... even trying that would be a very stupid idea. The only intelligent choices would be to turn around and try to go through Ras-Terre, though that would open her up to increased chances of running into monsters, attempting to sneak through this encampment, but with no idea how large it is and the vigilance of the orc within that can end very poorly, or attempt negotiations with the orcs. She quickly strikes the last option as her skills in diplomacy is... lacking. At best. She would more than likely say something wrong and offend the orcs, which would put her in a worst position as at that point attempting to hide would likely end poorly.

That leaves stealth or backtracking as the more intelligent options. Her Lady didn't give her a hard deadline, but her Lady did specify that she wanted the man dead before any debt collectors catch him. Depending on the competence of the debt collectors she can have a lot of time to work with, but it's best to assume that they are just as good as she. It may not be a correct assumption, but making it will cause her to move faster rather than allowing herself to fall to arrogant time wasting. With this assumption, backtracking would be inadvisable as that would give the debt collectors more time to catch their mark. The only choice left is attempting stealth. It is not a good idea, but it is the best she has given her time constraints. She decides to swing a wide circle, keeping to the edge of any patrols for as long as possible and hopefully get an idea for the size of the encampment while keeping out of sight.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ophelia chooses to sneak through the edge of the encampment.

While Ophelia was sneaking around the encampment, she could see that the camp itself was absolutely massive, and managed to catch a glimpse of what can only be assumed is the leader. An unbelievably massive orc, wearing a skin-tight red suit, with flames on the arms and legs, and a matching helmet, showing off his colossal muscles, muscles so large that they could have even had their own muscles on top of them. The orc itself was likely the tallest humanoid Ophelia had ever seen. Over his head was a crudely painted wooden sign that read "DICKFUCK, THE DONGSMASHER". While the orc seemed to be resting, Ophelia couldn't shake the feeling that if she got any closer to him, he would know of her presence immediately, if he didn't know already.

Stealth Check: Pass

After several close calls, Ophelia managed to make it halfway through the encampment, and was now hiding behind a tent, within which she could hear movement, and guards were now patrolling around the area frequently, due to having to pass through the area when moving back and forth. Regardless of which direction she went, she would have to pass uncomfortably close to some of the orc guards.

MrBlah/Amun Khufu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Even if she gave him that look... "Well... all of those options sound quite, dangerous... no?" His smile strained, feeling a bit guilty when she seemingly put so much faith in him. Of course, Amun knew he was going to accept. He may be many things, but so selfish as to abandon his home in its time of need when he might be one of the few capable of helping it, is something he's not. But he couldn't say putting his life on the line sounded so fun either.

Going for the Enigma seemed to be the safest choice. But the Captain was right that it may take too long, though he has no idea what this 'Enigma' is or how it's capable of possibly destroying the entire command center. "While I'm willing to help to the best of my abilities, Captain, I'm not so sure I'm quite skilled enough to do any fighting, so I don't believe I could do much more than obtain a swift end from their leader if I were to try to hold him off." That was almost a certainty. If the leader is who he thinks it is, Amun stood no chance against him. He still remembers the battle it had against Sir Cole.

He thought long and hard for any alternatives to Captain Prairie's ideas that he could give, but he only came up with blanks. "What of you, Captain? Surely you'd be strong enough to face it? The four of us could be the distractions and give you time to get in." It was basically her last idea with their roles switched, but he was grasping for anything that might not get him killed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Prairie nodded in understanding, then responded softly and carefully "Well, if you can take on four or five of the creatures on your own, so that they don't clean up out here and go to back up the boss in there, then that wouldn't be a bad plan. If you can't, then it would likely be safer to either hold off the boss by preventing him from focusing entirely on the controls, or sneak in and take control without him noticing." she finished, nodding her head. Beside her, Lyanna chimed in "Basically, we need to know what position you think you'd be best off holding, if you want to help the city." Over on the other side of Prairie, the remaining two knights were preparing to begin their charge, raising their shields and drawing their swords.

Mark3000/Lilith

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

It seems as though Lilith had let her curiosity carry her into a bad situation. The young nomad had no intention of getting into a drag out fight with an insectoid army. Lilith had to make quick work of this scout and conceal herself before the rest arrive. Turning to face her assailant, Lilith drew her knife ready to sidestep the first attack and stay close trying to cut the flying insectoid. With a focused expression, Lilith's eyes began to give off a light red hue.

Lilith's steps into the bushes as she lies in wait for her chance to attack. It was not her best decision as it merely allows more of these insectoids to come towards her. Worst still, they had spotted her hiding place and had claimed first blood.. This was the exact situation she had been trained to avoid.

With a sigh, she prepared herself for a tough battle. Her body still shaking from withdrawal. She manages to bury her hidden blade into the insectoid's abdomen. It survived the hit but it soon feel to a strange force. Though it wasn't something new to Lilith. She had been taught from a young age the power and danger her eyes possessed. They continued to glow red as Lilith continued to try and strike the flying creature. But they seemed to evade her at every turn. All the while, the pair of Insectoids chipped a her. They slashed her back, kicked her in the jaw and even stab her in the abdomen. But Lilith could sense it, her curse was slowly eating away at them.

Finally, her hidden blade managed to pierce one of the insectoid's throat. But soon enough his partner returned the favor as it's Stinger sank into her thigh. Lilith screams as she feels her consciousness begin to fade. In a moment of desperation, she turns to stare down the insectoid. Their eyes meet as Lilith watched the last of the monster's life fades away.

Having somehow survived, the red glow in Lilith's eyes faded. She falls to the ground bloody and trying to catch her breath. Looking over the bodies, she does find something that might have made this all worth it. It was a potion, and a rather rare one by the looks of it, she'd have to hold onto it. Examining the three dead insectoid bodies. She had been warned about wondering the wilderness at night, but she never seemed to listen. But this time she didn't have her mother or the other Nomads to bail her out. She was in no condition to continue to the spire. She would have to return to the city and find some place to rest. But before returning to the city, Lilith attempted to remove the Insectoid's stingers with her hidden blade. These things gave Lilith a beating. It was only fair she took these stingers in return. There were always people looking for unique items like these. If she couldn't sell it, she'd find some use for them.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Lilith decides to remove the enemy stingers, and succeeds, adding them to her inventory.

After Lilith managed to take the stingers, she realizes her mistake of going outside the walls, then decides to re-enter the city and return to the spire in the daylight instead.

After re-entering the city, she could hear the guard beside her snickering when he saw her, then he spoke up "I see you changed your mind rather quickly" he said, motioning to the pooling blood at Lilith's feet and running down her body, staining her clothes, before continuing "There's an Inn not far from here, which accepts YOUR kind, just walk towards the walls to the left of the gate and you'll see it, it stands out." he finished, nodding as if confirming what he just said.

Over in the direction the guard had mentioned, Lilith could see that the houses looked exactly the same as every other house in Ferro, however, towering above them between two standard houses, not too far away, was a several story tall black-painted structure with a sign which read "Yellow Spider Inn", and had several platforms circling the building, one for each floor, and seemed to be made entirely from a strange black marble, aside from the windows. It certainly looked like a nice place to stay the night.

Nobudi/LuLu

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

She was so tired right now, but she had to keep going. Standing up, she used her right arm to wipe the last remnants of tears before grabbing Yoko's hand. "Right now, we need a place to dig in and get rested. I am very tired and hurt right now, so we need to make it to the church, quickly." Lucia tugged the arm of her last remaining servant and dragged her away from the wreck, the sounds of the dying coming to a terrible stop. High Priest Sidon and the church would be a good location to fortify themselves at before trying to tackle the rest of the things invading... if that was even possible.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

LuLu chooses to head to the church.

LuLu and Yoko manage to make it to the church without encountering any enemies. Before she even reaches the church steps, three little girls rush out to meet her, along with an old woman, and High Priest Sidrick. One little girl, the Cat-Girl, grabbed her right arm so that she could lean on her, and Yoko continued holding the other, and they all moved inside the building, and barricaded the door. Nobody said a word until Yoko and the Cat-Girl let LuLu down into a seat at a table in the dining room, at which point Sidrick spoke up "Oh dear, I'm so glad you're alive. It's absolute chaos out there, I can't even find a clear coast to find more survivors to bring into the church. What happened to you? Are you alright?" while Sidrick was speaking, the girl from before, in the blue dress, served LuLu tea, and the Cat-Girl began using a case of medical supplies to treat LuLu's wounds. Meanwhile, a girl with very large ears began rubbing LuLu's back and shoulders to loosen her up, while the old lady set a plate of food in front of each LuLu and Yoko.

While this was all going on, several more little girls and some other old people entered the room to see what was going on, and as they were stepping through the door, LuLu could see that the other room was filled to the brim with wounded people, and a lot of those entering the dining room where LuLu was sitting were bandaged, lightly to heavily, in blood-soaked bandages.

KnightVanilla/Caelic Nemian

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Caelic's shop in Monsteropolis was at the top of a very tall stone structure, with a single window facing towards the cliff face on the west side of the city, and was relatively bus, despite, or possibly because of, all the strange looks she got. Not because she was a Were-beast, of course, but because she wasn't a common type of Were-beast. Dragon Were-Beasts were about as rare as the Niphilim, however not nearly as sought after, as Dragon Were-Beasts weren't so much good at everything as decent at everything, jacks of all trades and masters at none.

This particular day was slow for her, however, that changed when through her window, she spotted an army leaving the Barton Stronghold and heading towards that strange spire that had popped up out of nowhere, not long before. This was not inherently strange, the Bartons seemed to throw troops at every threat to any city, but this did confirm that the strange spire was indeed a threat.

This attracted a bit of attention, drawing customers to the window to watch the Barton Knights slaughter the unknown creatures in mass, however, suddenly a massive Skeleton creature erupted from the ground, scattering the troops, and creating chaos on the battlefield. By this point, there were no less than 9 people standing at her shop window, watching the battle.

This would have simply made it interesting if it wasn't for the fact that while the Barton forces were fighting against the unknown creatures and massive skeleton, MANY other skeletons on the other side of the Spire began heading towards Monsteropolis in large numbers. No doubt, the Bartons didn't realize that they weren't even fighting half of the enemy forces, and Monsteropolis was now possibly in danger.

[Littlemankitten]

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.

[mrblah]

So he had less 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.

[MiscChaos]

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.