Abyssal Game of Manses

[Serafina]

This is a side-thread for A Game of Manses (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261068), since the PCs won't always operate as a coherent group.

__________________________________________________ ___________

The Marukan Alliance. A bunch of small settlements, living of horses and grass.
Teleshen is one such settlement. And one of the larger ones at that - at least for now. If everything goes your way, tomorrow it will be a burning ruin.

Your ghosts have already scouted the settlement. About two thousand souls, maybe three hundred soldiers to defend it.
Unfortunatley, their outriders have spotted your approach, which was hardly subtle. Dragging wagons full of corpses across the plains is hardly subtle after all.

All is ready. Now you just have to wait for Dusk to fall.

[Selinia]

Lily - more properly, Ashen Lily Atop a Sea of Gore, though she was no more inclined to use her full title than anyone else - yawns.

Today? Today had been a boring day. Full of stupid traveling in a convoy with a bunch of smelly corpses and arguably even smellier zombies. Lily hated logistics, but is was something that needed to be done, one way or another. But now... now, the sun was setting. Which meant things were about to get interesting. She stands, giving her zombies the order to halt - a simple enough command even for them. She'd need them later; useless as the shambling husks were in combat compared to her more valuable troops, they were the only way to keep living prisoners in line. And hopefully by sunrise, these wagons would be full of sweet, warm-blooded food.

The thought makes Lily salivate. Just a little.

But for now... she went to war.

From the blood of eight sacrifices, the daughter of ash calls forth the wretched Gore Titan that would carry her into battle. Her ghosts knew what to do - most with her, a handful scattered in the area surrounding the town, ready to pick off any individuals who attempted to escape. But not a one of them went before her. For the first bloody footfall of the invasion was - as always - hers.

Lily smiles as she raises her blade, dripping with viscera. As she felt the tendons and ligaments of her warstrider tug forcefully at her body.

This was going to be fun.

Actions:
Rattle the Bones of War, sacrificing 8 commoner chumps to lower the cost by 8m. 17m final cost.

And DECLARING WAR on the unfortunate settlement.
[roll0]

[Serafina]

Your assembled hordes march upon the town, only to be greeted by a rain of blazing arrows. A few of your ghosts go down, but a remarkable amount of the arrows seem to be aimed precisely at you. None get through the thick layer of bone and gore that surrounds you though.

As you continue to advance, you can see that the entrance to the town is blocked by a thick wall of earth, presumably with soldiers hinding behind it.

Take 1 level of damage, 6 remaining until you lose magnitude.
Current tick: 4

[Selinia]

Lily raises her blood-soaked blade, swatting arrows out of the air contemptuously. She continues the advance.

[Serafina]

The second rain of arrows goes down upon the zombies that march alongside you. Their flesh immolates where it is struck, and about half the unit goes down in flames. Fortunately, that does not impede their advance and you are now in range to strike a charge at the enemies fortification.

Zombies take 9 levels of damage, which knocks them down to Magnitude 1.
Current tick: 7

[Selinia]

Closing the last of of the distance, Lily swings her warstrider's massive in great, cleaving arcs, letting out a shout of terrifying ecstasy as she falls on enemy forces.

One lone defender, halberd raised, charges up the earthworks in an attempt to stop her. A brave soul, then - enough to give the ash-skinned warrior a toothy smile before granting him his just reward. Snatching the puny mortal in a mailed fist, she hurled him back among the ranks of her ghosts. He had well earned the right to stand as the first of the dead. Lily feels the pricks of more arrows. The occasional thrown spear. No other bothered to stand forth and challenge her... and so she brought the battle to them, slaughtering them in an impersonal frenzy befitting of such cowards.

It is... butchery, plain and simple, and Lily revels in every moment. She pants with breathless eagerness as she cleaves countless men and women in twain, often several with a single sweeping blow. She gives a booming, terrible war-cry as she watches her beloved war ghosts as they cut through the comparatively inexperienced garrison with frightful ease. She laughs madly as the bodies pile in droves around her armored feet, raising a blood-soaked blade to the starless heavens.

"Is this all you have?! Is this the fire and fury of the living world? Come now! At the very least, die with a little courage, that I might savor its taste as I dine upon your hearts!"


Actions:
Attack! First melee excellency used for 5 motes.
Accuracy Roll:
[roll0]

+ 4 Successes for superior magnitude

[Serafina]

The mortals before you manage to banish a few of your ghosts before they rout, most of them getting overrun as they try to flee.

The moment you bellow a victory-cry over your slain foes, you feel something slam into your back. Burning pain shoots from your spine, and you almost topple over. The terrible screams of banished ghosts fills your ears, and as you manage to turn around you see your unit bathed in flames.
You are attacked from behind, but you can not spot your attackers! Only flames erupting from nowhere...no, wait, you see shimmers in the air behind you, and with some effort you can spot six armored figures.

You try to hold your unit together, but some of your War Ghosts dematerialize to get away from the onslaught.

Take three levels of damage, this costs you about half your units current magnitude. The rest of said magnitude also flees, so you are now down to Magnitude 2.

[Selinia]

The Lily spills her red nectar to join with that of her victims upon her armor. Such pain! The deathknight eyes the shimmering squadron with a hungry glare. These were mortals worth the blood and pain of battle! But there was still the irksome matter of those archers... sword still raised, Lily spends a precious second giving her foes a mocking salute with the weapon.

"Ahhhhh!" She lets out the sound - half sigh, half scream - with the kind of passion most would reserve for a lover. "So there's someone here with a bit of burning to their blood after all! Forgive me if I beg your leave for just a handful of moments..."

Swinging her weapon around in an arc, Lily buries the battleblade point-first in the largest of the corpse piles surrounding her. Ebon lightning crackles around the bade, leaping from body to body... and then, dancing with the mad laughter of the daughter of ash, they rise.

Wounds still fresh, the corpses of defenders all across the battlefield lurch to their feet. A few fall upon their horrified former friends at once, but the bulk surge past Lily, crawling towards the magitech-equipped assailants like a rising tide of flesh and hungering hatred. Though the zombies were still rising - the necromantic pulse by now having reached the wagons she had hauled for just this purpose - Lily yanks her blade free without consequence. It was begun, and only fire and iron could stop the march of the dead now.

"But for now, my loves, I must attend to elsewhere! Until then, I trust you to make yourself comfortable in the company of our mutual friends. We shall meet again momentarily, I assure you!"

Lily is aware that, between the bony shell, the great distance, and the roar of life-against-death battle, her words were unlikely to be heard. But she said them anyway. Personal touches were important in warfare. They gave it class.

[Serafina]

While the Zombies shamble towards the Gunzosha, a shower of large boulders makes the earth under you shudder. You barely manage to keep your balance - until you are hit square in the shoulder, and your Bonestrider goes to it's knees, squashing a few of your ghosts under you.
The Archers use this moment, and a shower of arrows slays even more ghosts while they are unable to use their shields.

The Gunzosha do not manage to take advantage of your moment of weakness, but further essence fire ignites even more ghosts. At least the weapon that pierced your armor misses you this time.

And last but not least, more common soldiers storm from nearby buildings and intercept a large number of your freshly-raised zombies.

Take 6 levels of damage, almost a whole magnitude.
Zombie Unit A is bound in combat with a Guard scale, Zombie Unit B is still free to engage the Gunzosha.

[Selinia]

These soldiers are finally showing a bit of courage, which gives Lily a sort of warm, tingly feeling all down her spine. It just goes to show that sooner or later, even rats will fight against a tigress. Of course, this didn't mean the rats will fight well, or long, but they would fight, and this particular tigress had to give them their due respect for that. Even so, she doesn't have the time to toy with these minions to the extent she'd like - more powerful and exciting prey awaits. Breaking them swiftly will have to suffice.

Of course, that was not something that was, in most cases, difficult. Few mortals could hold their dinners, much less a battle line, which faced with the moaning hordes of those that they once called friend. Fewer still could stand fast when the booted feet of her warstrider ground their front into a fine red paste. Battleblade swinging like some macabre scythe, Lily marches on the defending guardsmen, letting loose peals of dreadful laughter as the carnage continues all around her.

[Serafina]

The exposure to your sheer cackling menace breaks the guards morale and the back of their charge. Without their momentum, the first few soldiers are overwhelmed by the zombies, and the rest runs for their lives.

However, the now uncloaked Gunzoshas charge into your shambling horde, their leader surrounded by a bright bonfire of essence. It charrs most of the zombies it touches to burning pieces, and with two short daiklaves he hacks away every undead that manages to withstand him. Your troops advance into him, but nothing can stop him and all that manage to get past him are pierced by the fiery lances of his soldiers.
The other unit of zombies advances, but it is clear that it will not far much better than the first.

You are hit again by a rain of boulders and arrows, but this time the coordination was off and you manage to parry an impressive amount of attacks with your Daiklave.

Guard unit is routed completely.

Take two levels of damage.
Zombie unit 1 is utterly obliterared to the last shambling corpse.

[Selinia]

Lily notes that her buffer of shambling dead is being depleted uncomfortably fast - she needs to close the remaining fronts of this conflict, so she can give her full attention to those stubbornly potent Gunzoshas. Hefting her weapon, the butcher rallies the nearest of her ghosts into a spear formation with herself as the tip.

Like the flower whose name she bears, the stature granted by her warstrider lets her drift through the enemy ranks with a sort of sanguine grace, driving a wedge deep into the enemy formation with her warrior spirits at her side. Nearly half the enemy formation is brought to ruin, forming a macabre garden of blood and bone - and nearly half of that total lay in her personal handiwork, her grand daiklaive hewing flesh far more often than empty air.

But Lily, much as she is enjoying this, is not stupid. She isn't inflicting nearly as much damage as she should be to mortals like this... something is helping them fight much better than she'd expect of a mundane commander, and the deathknight keeps a wary eye on the battlefield. If the cretin showed himself, Lily would have to pay him some... special respects.

[Serafina]

Your rampage is stopped as an armor-clad figure with a huge warhammer steps before you.
"This ends now, Anathema! Prepar to meet your dark masters."

[Selinia]

Lily smirks as she whips her weapon around with contemptuous ease, letting the essence build within her like a volcano ready to blow.

"Really, love, you must learn to differentiate! Anathema this, anathema that..."

The deathknight releases her power in a long, low breath. In the span of a heartbeat, her warstrider seems to... explode, shifting shadows lancing through the air around the terrestrial warrior. The defender can hardly tell the shadows from the night, let alone the real strider from the copies - and is punished for her failure with a fearsome diagonal blow across the back. Any mortal would simply have been cut in twain, and even the mighty earth caste feels her armor scream and shatter and her bones shudder and snap. The permanent, blood-drenched grin of her strider's skull-mask glares down at Lily's opponent as the daughter of ash flows seamlessly back into a defensive stance, mirroring its occupant's scornful gaze.

"...why, if you'd learned the differences, it might even have saved your life! I rather doubt it, yes, but stranger things have happened!"

The entire battlefield seems to slip a few shades into darkness as tendrils of sickly lavender bloom from Lily's form and a wretched gray fog rises at her feet. Her footfalls send waves of ebon lightning racing among onlookers, even the staunchest of whom must surely feel a gnawing twinge of fear. For who would not, when faced with an avatar of Death itself?

[Serafina]

The Dragonblood staggers back, but you can still feel how her Anima burns through your armor, battering your skin.
She catches herself, whirls out of her stagger and slams her warhammer into your right leg. The armor catches most of the damage, but she still hits a joint, spraying blood and gore everyhwere.

Take 1 level of damage from anima flux and two from the attack.

[Selinia]

A peacebringer does not fear pain, and Ashen Lily was no exception to the tenets of the twisted caste mark even now bathing her face in gentle pulses of blood. She did not fear pain - but that did not mean that she would allow a foe to walk unscathed after subjecting her to such an exquisite flavor of the sensation. Favors must be returned, after all.

Lily hides her recovery in another howling maelstorm of shadows, anima tendrils clawing at the night sky as her gore titan becomes one with the blood-soaked night. As before the sluggish terrestrial is powerless to react as the daiklaive whips out... this time cleanly severing her right arm at the shoulder.

Lily is clearly visible now, but her crippled foe can do nothing against the following assault. The great hammer was never intended to be wielded with one hand, even by the halest of warrior. Weak from blood loss, essence rapidly draining away into the soulsteel maw of the deathknight's weapon, the earth-blooded warrior is borne to the ground. Her armored body pinned beneath a boot of blood and bone, all the Terrestrial exalt can do is squirm futilily as Lily's gauntlet clamps tight around her skull.

The daughter of ash smiles. Takes a low breath. Savors the moment - just briefly - before acting.

"Look at me, mortals! Look! Look here!" Lily gives a casual tug, amplified tenfold by her titan's bulk. With a series of nauseating snaps and final spurt of blood, the deathknight drags opponent's skull from the comfortable moorings of the neck... spinal cord and all. Triumphant, she hoists the dreadful trophy high above the fray, where it might be seen across the field of battle.

"You see? I've caught a dragon!" The crimson 'serpent' makes no argument to the contrary, vertebrae clacking in the wind as it twists in mockery of the iconic beast. The sight sends Lily into further peals of mad laughter.

"Ahahaha... haha! Why don't you bow and worship it? Anyone care to give it a shine? It's a messy job, but don't worry - I hear that Dragon blood is supposed to protect towns like this! Ehe...haha...hahahHAHAHAHA!"

[Serafina]

The remaining horde of zombies does not fare much better than the first. Fire and blades destroy most of them before they can even attack, and even though sheer mass allows them to land a few hits the Gunzoshas are well-protected by their armor. It's a massacre, and not one of the good kinds, such as the one you just engaged in.

[Selinia]

Still chuckling, Lily just shakes her head in bemusement at the pyrotechnical antics of the magitech soldiers. She'd be with them in just a moment - heart still pounding like a war drum from her 'duel' with the dragon-blood, she could hardly wait for a chance to really push her limits again. But leaving anything half-finished was simply too sloppy to excuse, and Lily refused to think of herself in such distasteful terms.

Dismissively tossing the desecrated remains of their champion into the crowd of terrified mortals, Lily wades into the formation, her ghosts flowing around her to cut off and consume any who might try to escape. Like a cruel noose, they tightened and tightened, offering only the most agonizing, choking demise. The daughter of ash was dreadfully bored by the passivity of the mortal troops, and so made up the lack of sport with butchery horrific even by her usual standards.

Mortals would lose their legs screaming to a sweep of her blade, only to be crushed underfoot like worms in their final moments of twitching agony. Others she rent limb from limb, or left open upon the dirt so that their innards might feed her loyal phantom vanguard. More than a few drove their arrows into their own skulls, desperate to simply escape the nightmare of blood and smoke.

But Lily was, in the end, a peacebringer. The gift of oblivion was granted without fail. And she liked to think that in their final hours, each and every one of them was a loyal convert.

From the way they screamed for death, it certainly seemed that way.

[Serafina]

You turn around to face the Gunzosha that just slaughted your zombies, but all you can spot is a flaring fire that rushes towards the east, leavig scorched earth behind.
It appears that, for now, the Gunzosha have fled.

[Selinia]

Lily gives a scream of incoherent rage at the sight. They fled? Fled? Whether they are running or hiding or turning tail to suckle aid from some greater force like piglets screaming to a sow, the fact remained that she could not fight what was not there! For a few long heartbeats, the deathknight wished nothing more than to flay her forces alive for their incompetence. But she calmed herself. This was not the fault of her ghosts. Merely the bald face of cowardice. Raising her blade to the sky, Lily addresses her troops.

"The dragon wishes to flee? Fine! I will let him! My ghosts, the town is ours! Fly every pennant, and ring every bell! Let not a single mortal draw breath who does not know of our victory!" A ghastly cheering broiled up from the ranks of the dead, some already swarming through the buildings to carry out their master's will. This was what they fought for.

"Those who have useful skills, let them forswear the dragons who abandoned them, that they and their families might be spared for a purer and more noble calling! But for all others... feast! Drink to bursting of their blood and spirit, and rejoice in your victory! And if the dragons still watch from the shadows, let them see the price of their cowardice!"

[Serafina]

Your ghosts rummage through the town and round up most of the inhabitants. A few are lucky enough to flee, but most who attempt to are swiftly slaughtred.
Only five dozen elderly men and women appear to have any notable skills - most of the actual craftsmen served in the town militia. Still, the other prisoners allow for a great feast for you and your ghosts. You can watch the will of the captured craftsmen break as their friends and families are butchered by your army.

You move north, towards the Mourning Fields - a distance of one hundred miles.
A time durning which you might run into all sorts of patrols, either from the Marukan Alliance, or even from Lookshy.

[Selinia]

Lily travels without incident... or tries to, at least. The thrill of the assault was over, but its memories kept her warm for some time - as did the gluttonous feast she'd permitted herself. Even days later, she felt wonderfully bloated and vital and alive from the essence and flesh upon which she had gorged.

The deathknight occasionally took a chance to spook the captured townsfolk, but there was no sense or gain to be had in harassing them overmuch - best to just let them plod along with their fear and shame. The overseers back at the Fields always complained without end when she 'damaged the goods'. And if she had to listen to one more rant about production efficiency and blah, blah, blah, Lily swore she'd rip someone's throat out with her freaking teeth.

And then that would get her more lectures, and gah.

Not worth it.

She kept her scouts alert though, expecting (and half-hoping) for some sort of ambush along the way. Anything to break up the tedium of caravan travel.

[Serafina]

After two days, your wish is fulfilled. Over the horizon, two figures are moving in swiftly.
An hour later, one of your advanced scouts reports. Airships! Closing in fast, and the only cover is a small patch of forest to the South-East. Unless you want to get incinerated from the air, your only option is to hide.

You rush towards the forest. Some of the prisoners collapse exhausted, but you have no time to whip them back into shape. The airships have clearly spotted you and are drawing closer. You have less than two miles left!
One of the airships flies over a wagon you have left behind, and two cones of fire erupt from its curved wings, scorching the ground as it flies over it. One more mile!
Arrows begin to impact around you, but you have reached the edge of the forest. But with those fire lances on the airships, even the trees will only provide more fuel for your pyre.
You run deeper into the forest, hearing the screams of some of your troops and prisoners as they are burned from the sky. Just a hundred meters before you, you spot a small pond.

[Selinia]

Lily, with her unnatural agility, manages to reach the pool well before any of her cohorts or prisoners. Standing inches from the clear, reflective surface, she turns to give succinct address to those still catching up.

"Attention, mortals!" The deathknight draws forth her weapon, letting the point rest a few inches above the water's surface. "I'm about to open a door to safety. Once I do, you've fifteen seconds - fifteen - to jump in! Alternately, you can stay here and let your beloved dragons turn you into pincushions! I honestly do not care, but I advise you make up your minds fast!" Lily turns her attention specifically to a nearby ghost - her current second-in-command.

"You - get our troops to dematerialize as soon as the door closes. We rendezvous at the Mourning Fields. I trust you can make it there without me holding your hands, no?" Noting the spirit's brisk nod of affirmation, Lily raises her blade slightly.

"Right then! Everyone get ready to move, because the timer starts now!" On the last word, Lily brought her battleblade down in a short sweep, slashing into the surface of the pond and sending dark ripples across its surface.

The moment the water is clear enough to display the darkened skies on the far side, the daughter of ash takes the dive...

[Serafina]

...and emerges on the bottom of a clear lake. Feint light shines from the surface, and the water tastes clear - as only water devoid of any life does.
You reach the surface and find yourself amongst a forest of dead trees. No foliage impedes your view of the pale sun that hangs in the sky, nor do any fallen leaves impede your steps over the dusty ground.

You gather your prisoners and drive them out of the forest, onto a plain that sways with pale, feintly-glowing grass. You can smell the fear and discomfort radiating off the mortals, but you drive them onwards. Down here, nothing should impede your voyage towards the Mourning Fields.

You arrive after uneventful five days. Some prisoners tried to escape, but the dead essence flowing through this world makes you easily capable of stopping any such attempts. The Mourning Fields lie before you, filled with the crushed and despairing souls of imperial soldiers whose life was snuffed out by the terrifying might of a Soulbreaker Orb. Only Oblivion could grant them piece, and you have to beat a few of them back a their ravaged minds do not prevent your superior status as a Messenger of Peace.

[Selinia]

Comfortable, and even beautiful, as the Underworld is, Lily didn't much enjoy fending off hungry ghosts. There was no sport in it, they didn't bleed, and technically speaking they were on her side to begin with. It was less fighting than it was a chore. Like sweeping, or delivering some speech to some inane family looking to buy-

The deathknight spits, derailing that train of thought before the Neverborn decided to dose her with something nasty. Even hate-filled memories are bad news if you want to keep in the clear, and nobody enjoyed the resonance pile-ups that happened if you didn't. Well, almost nobody.

Regardless, the Fields were a welcome sight. Her staging area wouldn't be far ahead, and that was the closest thing a peacebringer in the field would have to a home. Smiling, she turns towards the prisoners, clapping merrily and continuing to pace backwards with barely a break in stride.

"Well then, everyone, we're nearly there! Put on your best faces and stand up straight, because you're all about to meet your new bosses, and contrary to what you might have heard, nobody likes a frowny-downer, even in the Underworld! I'm sure you'll settle in wonderfully here, given some time, and it's been positively lovely traveling with you call. Yes, even you, in the back - I know that broken leg hurts now, but there are so many better things they can put in its place!" Hair whipping as she turns again, Lily goes so far as to risk humming a little tune for the span of those final stretch.

[Serafina]

You arrive at the Manse in the center of the Shadowland - where your Master has commanded you to go and meet with a certain person.

You shove the slaves around for a little while and explore the dark corridors of your new residence. Suddenly, you are pounced from behind and tackled to the ground!
Instincts kick in and you roll around, ready to strike at your assailant - only to meet the face of Areana.
"Hey there - looks like i can still sneak up on you! You really have to work on that" she greety you with a feral smile. She continues to pin you down as she goes on: "Glad you made it on time. Well, you're a bit late, so i had to play messenger, but with you thats alright. See, we have a party to crash! Well, technically you were ordered to, but i'm totally not going to let you go on your own!"
She goes on to explain that said party will be held in a Manse near Lookshy in slightly more than a months time, and that your orders are simply to disrupt it as violently as possible by any means you chose.

[Selinia]

"Oh, a Party, you say? Must have made someone happy. You know how I love parties. So many soft targets. Maybe even a few competent guards, if we're lucky." Lily makes a nominal effort to get up, but gives up after a little wriggling. There were, frankly, worse places to be than pinned beneath her mate. The Abyssal hadn't really felt attraction of the physical sort to anything since her exaltation, and the lunar was no exception... but somehow, even the lightest touch from Areana gave her a sort of warm, comfortable feeling.

She hadn't felt anything like it before, not since those days when a quiet little girl curled up next to the fireplace in the servants' quarters with a history book half her weight. It hadn't been the most well-furnished reading location in the mansion, and she constantly had to wipe the steam from her glasses, but it was...

IRRELEVANT.

Lily mentally chastises herself at that, instead propping herself up on her elbows and smirking at her counterpart.

"So... a month, then. That's what I call a date." The peacebringer flashes a grin. "Lots to do in the meantime though. Work, but... fun work, I think. I now there's a couple games we can play to spice this little project up a bit, and I can't think of anyone better suited..."

[Serafina]

Areana let's go of you and even helps you to get up.
"Oh, games? You really have to tell me!" And so you do, and her resulting giggles sound delectably evil

The two of you settle into a routine a few days later, after making sure that the mortal slavers are properly encouraged to work with the manses workforce of ghosts and creatures. The day starts with heavy combat sparring - it's a good thing she can heal from any wound you inflict on her within seconds - and after she has exhausted her essence, the two of you move your plans along. Every few days Aerana flies to Lookshy to deliver a few messages for you, and the time to reap the reward of your plans draws closer.

[Selinia]

Deathknights have a certain affinity for sombre hues. Their castles, black. Their manses, obsidian. Their armor, ebony and silver, and their weapons a fearsome gray. Others might call the monochrome obsession mad, or simply silly - but as Lily's Moonshadow peers liked to mention, all the world wrote in black.

Though it was a far cry from the wrath and chaos of battle, the daughter of ash enjoyed writing, particularly when that writing was fortunate enough to serve a greater purpose. Not because of permenance, or legacy, or whatever nonsense mortal authors liked to go on about: Lily knew full well that all things would fall into oblivion with time, regardless of who or what they were. No, she simply enjoyed the activity. The mental thrusts, the carefully planned parries, the elegant traps of logic... a letter like the ones she wrote now was akin to planning an entire duel from the moment of drawing one's blade. Lily was good at it. It was really that simple.

But good as she was, Areana was indispensable. She could be anywhere, be anyone, and nobody seemed the wiser. Lily had dozens of spies, but her mate was worth all of them combined and more. And with the lunar's help, the plan slowly came together over the following weeks. Like her namesake, Areana spun a gossamer web over the members of Lookshy's security community tasked with the gathering of intelligence. A letter here, a note there, a carefully whispered phrase in just the right ear... it amounted to a single thing.

Fear.

Lily wanted to make sure that they knew she was coming... in a way. But the spies were not given the whole truth. Merely rumors and fragments, all adding up to a single ominous conclusion: that somewhere in Lookshy's very heart, powerful plots were being hatched. Plots with Anathema, to stage a coup that would ruin the great city for the sake of petty ambition. Who was plotting? No-one knew for sure. And that was the most insidious move of all, for who could now be trusted, when any might be a foe?

Of course, Lily had more than one target for her plots. Her superiors informed her that there was a family of... particular interest to the plans of the Deathlords. A family containing one of the Unconquered Sun's simpering children, and busy meddling in all manner of important businesses. The daughter of ash had less information than she would have liked on that front, but sent her letters winging their way all the same. With luck, they would inject an insidious taint into the organization, clearing way for her spies to infiltrate the group more deeply.

And always, there was training. It was the duty of peacebringers to carry the world into oblivion on the edge of their blades, and to cease growing stronger would be heresy even for the mightiest of them. Lily was fast. She could grow faster. She was strong. She could become stronger. And as Areana liked to tease her, Lily truly needed to work on a defense that did not rely on the bony plating of her Warstrider.

Moments of idleness or rest were, to say the least, rare. The month passed quickly.

[Serafina]

(During the party, posting will occur here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14395697#post14395697))