Outside 40: It's all downhill from here

[Arkhosia]

[Fields of Mock Battle]

Yuki smiles at her and lies down, staring up at the stars above. "I hope they're all doing well..."

"...wait, what's a shifter?"

Sophia blushes as she realized she forgot to explain that.
They're human beings who have the ability to transform into titans, and have regenerative capabilities. Eren is one, and was able to seal the gap using his titan form, and another one that opposed us, [Name I will not put here cuz SPOILERS], was recently captured.
I am one myself, in fact.
Sophia explains, before grabbing two dark green sleeping bags from her bag for each of them.

[Recaiden]

Peacefield Skull

The flames are short-lived; it's a blast of flames rather than a spurt of them.

Thormoses will fire another shell as the ghost-girl approaches, fairly sure the crocodile is no longer a threat. This is his last shot; he has to reload before firing again.

The crocodile is indeed harmless at this point, and the blast of flames passes over it with no disturbance. The ghostly girl realizes as the flames are starting to hit that they are a bit to blasty to be easily deflected by the staff, and drops low, solidifying, to hopefully protect herself from the worst of it. The smell of burning skin and hair accompanies a shriek of pain. But she forces her shaking self to get up. Being burnt is no worse than a number of things she endured at home, and this hurts a lot less than the last fire. She survived that, so this can't be worse, right?
She tries not to think about how excruciating that was, how long she was laid out recovering, how helpless it left her. Now, something witty, that the golden child would say.
"Is that all you have, Thormoses?"
Lame, she decides after, but that's okay. Better than nothing. The girl pulls herself up with her staff, pats out a burning patch of her jacket, and grimaces.

[The Silver Keep]


There's a visible relief in the guards as she tucks the weapon away, grips slackening around the trigger and a few lowering their crossbows entirely. But 'a few' still leaves too many arrows aimed her way.

"Ah ah." The soldier gives a nod of his head towards the lightning gun, holding out a hand. Just throwing the safety isn't going to fly here. In fact, being a medieval knight and all, the guard doesn't actually have a damn clue what she just did.
"We're no bandits, and you're a guest yet. You'll see every hospitality due. But you'll be an unarmed guest."

The traveler hesitates a moment, and then nods and holds out the weapon, sideways, to the knight. She is being encouraged that they can defeat everyone here except maybe the dragon if need be. "Of course. So long as it is returned when I need to leave." The Raptor tells her she doesn't need it to have range, but she has yet to get the trick.
"I appreciate the hospitality."

[Morcleon]

Sophia blushes as she realized she forgot to explain that.
They're human beings who have the ability to transform into titans, and have regenerative capabilities. Eren is one, and was able to seal the gap using his titan form, and another one that opposed us, [Name I will not put here cuz SPOILERS], was recently captured.
I am one myself, in fact.
Sophia explains, before grabbing two dark green sleeping bags from her bag for each of them.

[Field of Mock Battle]

Yuki takes the sleeping bag and sets it up, staring curiously at her. "You can... transform? But aren't titans quite a bit larger than humans? How does it work...?"

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

Yuki takes the sleeping bag and sets it up, staring curiously at her. "You can... transform? But aren't titans quite a bit larger than humans? How does it work...?"

Sophia nods.
We don't know. It's one of the many, many things about titans we do not know.
She replies as she sets up her sleeping bag.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

"No." The lich-lord's lips curl upwards into a deathlike grimace as one bony claw reaches into his voluminous robes and remove an orb of black marble with glowing green veins coursing across its surface. Both hands grip the sphere, one on top and one on the bottom, before twisting the hemispheres apart and throwing it towards the ghost-girl. It's a magic grenade, and when it goes off it'll disrupt all magic around it. Not enough to kill anything, but enough to hurt something as magical as, for example, a ghost or a lich.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

Now, does it go off on contact or with a timer? Well, she'll find out one way or another.
The formerly ghostly girl whirls about, spinning off to her right and swinging the staff so that it should, hopefully, knock the grenade back at the lich. And if it goes off early, at least it's a bit further away from her.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

It's on a timer, not contact.

When it goes off, Thormoses writhes in pain, his supporting magics disrupted enough to seriously hurt and hamper his effectiveness temporarily.

He wasn't expecting her to do that, either.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

It's still not like it's very far away; the blast of the grenade causes the girl to wince, and warps the magic that was letting her and her staff be solid.
She takes advantage of his pain and greater injury from the grenade to try to summon something again, while he doesn't have a flame-blast round to stop her with. This one is a great ape, a lumbering silhouette of muscled arms and sloped head.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

Thormoses the Resplendent pulls a small pistol from inside his robes, aims it at the gorilla and waits until it's corporeal before firing. It's a tiny pistol; a single-shot pincap pistol that is designed to evade most physical searches. The lich-lord is aiming at the gorilla's head, but the pistol's small enough that if it hits it might not penetrate the gorilla's skull.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

Not the best weapon to be wielding in such circumstances. The bullet strikes the gorilla with a crack, and then, with a roar of anger and pain, it charges the lich, aiming to rip him apart. The girl circles around him, waiting to recover fully from the magic disruption.

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods.
We don't know. It's one of the many, many things about titans we do not know.
She replies as she sets up her sleeping bag.

[Fields of Mock Battle]

Yuki hums softly. "Maybe capture one? Then study it?"

[Arkhosia]

[Fields of Mock Battle]

Yuki hums softly. "Maybe capture one? Then study it?"

[COLOR=Goldenrod"]We do on occasion, but sadly it is very difficult to discover their secrets.[/COLOR]
Sophia replies, tending to the fire.

[Morcleon]

We do on occasion, but sadly it is very difficult to discover their secrets.
Sophia replies, tending to the fire.

[Field of Mock Battle]

"Mm... I could help. I am a doctor after all." Yuki smiles at her, warming his hands and wings by the fire.

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

"Mm... I could help. I am a doctor after all." Yuki smiles at her, warming his hands and wings by the fire.

The issue is that they regenerate, and when they die, their bodies quickly disappear. One of my parents, in fact, devoted her life to studying Titans, and despite all the things she's done, we haven't learned much.

[Morcleon]

The issue is that they regenerate, and when they die, their bodies quickly disappear. One of my parents, in fact, devoted her life to studying Titans, and despite all the things she's done, we haven't learned much.

[Fields of Mock Battle]

"Well, you said that you can turn into a titan, right?" Yuki smiles at her, chuckling sheepishly. "And since titans regenerate, wouldn't it work to just give you some anesthesia and just, um, study you...?"

[Ionbound]

[The Monster Marsh]




The undead that surround the she-wolf aren't startled by much of anything postmortem, but are still rather slow to react regardless. A good seven shuffling carcasses home in around the woman.

Hawthorn is now enjoying a bony dogpile, with the lights and explosions closing in just a few yards away now. The Hoplite might be able to make out the figure of a hooded humanoid in the distance lit up by the explosions just ahead of Hawthorn. Depending on how well he can see, he might be able to tell that the figure is swinging an object at the undead before each explosion. A faint, raspy voice can be heard from the direction of said figure.

"...Who goes there? Sentients?"

The werewolf swipes at the undead around her with her claws, trying to shatter or destroy as many as she can with one strike, before charging forwards at the light, using her bulk to blast through any remaining zombies in her way.

[ImpSyndrome]

Stage 1

Sophia shifts to avoid the bullets, and Sasha may find a grappling hook fire past herself and hit a nearby tree from Sophia's 3DMG, and Sophia quickly leaping off of Clyde and speedily soaring towards Sasha, aiming to backhand Sasha in the face and disorient her with the strong blow! Except by backhand, I mean "Hit her in the face with the bottom of her fist".

Wow, quite a daring first strike! Sasha's unnerved by the sudden launching of that grappling hook, so she's slow to react when Sophia attacks. The blow connects and causes the yokai girl to retreat a short distance, discouraging pursuit with a small cluster of bullets aimed in her opponent's general direction. The shots are grouped loosely together, so if Sophia wants to press the attack, she'll need to use small, precise movements to find suitable gaps...

[Meanwhile...]

Hiizumi giggles at Sanji's formality, and says as she swoops towards the canopy, "You know, I actually have been worrying. If the incident solvers all died in Other-Gensokyo, us yokai could be in serious trouble...With nobody to reassure when we have a little fun, then they could get...Restless. And you and I both know why that would be bad."

"Yeah," replies Sanji bitterly. "At some point, it'd escalate to all-out war. As much as I hate to admit it, the humans have us outnumbered, and they'd probably get lots of help from outsiders too...Looks like we'll have to get some help from the Nexus until that slacker shows up..."

Sanji touches down just outside the glade and strolls in, keeping his wits about him in case someone or something aggressive has beaten them there. It doesn't look like there's much of anything in there aside from plants and trees, but something he can't quite explain has got him on edge...

[Ionbound]

"Yeah," replies Sanji bitterly. "At some point, it'd escalate to all-out war. As much as I hate to admit it, the humans have us outnumbered, and they'd probably get lots of help from outsiders too...Looks like we'll have to get some help from the Nexus until that slacker shows up..."

Sanji touches down just outside the glade and strolls in, keeping his wits about him in case someone or something aggressive has beaten them there. It doesn't look like there's much of anything in there aside from plants and trees, but something he can't quite explain has got him on edge...

Hiizumi nods and says, "Mmhmm...Well, there's not much we can do about that, sadly. We let it get out of control, and they took over. Ah well, at least we're still here," as she touches down beside Sanji and, seeing his apprehension, also keeps a careful eye out for anything...dangerous.

[Arkhosia]

Wow, quite a daring first strike! Sasha's unnerved by the sudden launching of that grappling hook, so she's slow to react when Sophia attacks. The blow connects and causes the yokai girl to retreat a short distance, discouraging pursuit with a small cluster of bullets aimed in her opponent's general direction. The shots are grouped loosely together, so if Sophia wants to press the attack, she'll need to use small, precise movements to find suitable gaps...



"Yeah," replies Sanji bitterly. "At some point, it'd escalate to all-out war. As much as I hate to admit it, the humans have us outnumbered, and they'd probably get lots of help from outsiders too...Looks like we'll have to get some help from the Nexus until that slacker shows up..."

Sanji touches down just outside the glade and strolls in, keeping his wits about him in case someone or something aggressive has beaten them there. It doesn't look like there's much of anything in there aside from plants and trees, but something he can't quite explain has got him on edge...

Sophia grins. Skillfully dodging the shots as she uses small jets of gas to do so, continuing flying towards Sasha and then firing a grappling hook at a tree to the left up ahead, using her gas jets to swing around the tree as she retracts the cord, aiming to slam into Sasha from behind and grab her, restraining her arms.

[Fields of Mock Battle]

"Well, you said that you can turn into a titan, right?" Yuki smiles at her, chuckling sheepishly. "And since titans regenerate, wouldn't it work to just give you some anesthesia and just, um, study you...?"

I'm not sure anesthesia would work. Titans don't have digestive organs, you see. But if it does, sure. Two things though: I cannot talk in my titan form, and do not cut through the nape of the neck, specifically a diamond-shaped location on it a meter long and ten centimeters wide. That's where I am in my titan form.
Sophia replies.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

As the gorilla rips and tears at Thormoses' torso, he tries to grip the conjured creature's head with his hands and drain it of life and energy. Of course, if the gorilla doesn't weaken quickly, Thormoses will only just be able to keep this body going with the amount of damage such a creature can do in close combat. If the gorilla evades the lich-lord's grasp, his consciousness won't take long to flee to his soul in its phylactery, wherever that may be.

[Shadowcaller]

[Lost Temple]

Oh, now that's just no fair. Luckily for our demonic bosses, Ithuriel will be able to detect three major hotspots of evil, one of which blinks out as the Holy Hand Grenade detonates behind the throne...But the other two are right next to the entrance, and are revealed to be Elereshur and Thariel. Elereshur fires a bolt of the same red energy she fired at Violet at Ithuriel, though it's much bigger and looks to cause some serious damage to the angel is she's hit, while Thariel creates a wall of fire behind where she can sense Ithuriel's Aura of good.

Well, that's that. Time to focus on the fighting. Ithuriel can hardly focus quite so intently on the presence of good and evil auras. Which unfortunately means she probably won't pick up on any potential reinforcements arriving 'til they're within hearing range of the fight anyway.

Though she can keep focus enough that any invisibility shenanigans are unlikely to prove successful.

But Elereshur and Thariel appear to be rather...less subtle right now. The fire behind her is ignored as Ithuriel swiftly wraps her wings around herself, like a golden shield in front of her that absorbs the bolt of energy, emitting a bright burst of golden light in the process.

Ithuriel swiftly tucks her wings back in behind her and turns side-on to Elereshur, keeping the point of one sword focused on her foe, muscles tensed to respond to any sudden movement. "There's two of us and two of you. I suppose it would be too much to ask for us to engage in a pair of honourable one-on-one duels?" She asks, with a somewhat crooked grin.

It's been far too long since she last saw combat. Already she can feel the red mist eating away at the edge of her vision...

[Lost Temple]

And here Dena hoped Ithuriel would have warned her if they weren't there as stated by my post.

Well that didn't work out as planned, time for her back-up plan. Another round object appears in her hand which she flings into the room. But instead of exploding it simply rolls until it's top part faces upwards and opens with a buzz... and then keeps buzzing as a cloud of metallic bees are released into the room. These aren't your standard bees though, these are magic bees which makes them 300 % bee'ier (yes, that's totally a word).
As the swarm starts to fly around Dena stays to see what the demons next move is.

[Ionbound]

[Lost Temple]

And here Dena hoped Ithuriel would have warned her if they weren't there as stated by my post.

Well that didn't work out as planned, time for her back-up plan. Another round object appears in her hand which she flings into the room. But instead of exploding it simply rolls until it's top part faces upwards and opens with a buzz... and then keeps buzzing as a cloud of metallic bees are released into the room. These aren't your standard bees though, these are magic bees which makes them 300 % bee'ier (yes, that's totally a word).
As the swarm starts to fly around Dena stays to see what the demons next move is.

Ah! BEES!

Elereshur backs off at the bee grenade's detonation, because, you know, bees. Meanwhile, seeing her mistress retreat, Thariel grins and unleashes a sheet of fire, trying to burn the mech-bees out before they spread, and possibly catching Dena in the cone of fire as well.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

The gorilla is caught, but Thormoses will be able to tell that the creature isn't actually alive, and it weakens only slowly in his grasp, its crushing blows and tearing grasps continuing unabated as it loses trace amounts of its energy to his touch. While actual gorillas have (relatively) low levels of energy, this unnatural variation is somewhat harder to tire.

The ghostly girl heads over towards the sarcophagus, examining it and trying to sense any magic or traps on it.

[Morcleon]

I'm not sure anesthesia would work. Titans don't have digestive organs, you see. But if it does, sure. Two things though: I cannot talk in my titan form, and do not cut through the nape of the neck, specifically a diamond-shaped location on it a meter long and ten centimeters wide. That's where I am in my titan form.
Sophia replies.

[Field of Mock Battle]

"Anesthesia doesn't affect the digestive organs. It works by suppressing voluntary movement and sensations of the nervous system." Yuki shakes his head, getting into his lecture mode.

"Are you still conscious in titan form? I'm sure we can find some way for you to communicate? And I'll be sure to avoid that spot on you."

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

Thormoses the Resplendent has been defeated, his mind cast from the broken wreck that his corpse has been reduced to as it slowly crumbles into ash and sand. His robes and other equipment remain intact, however.

As for the sarcophagus, it is enchanted to preserve a body lying inside and keep it from rotting and decomposition. It has no other spells upon it, and there's no visible traps. There are several magical items within, but the enchanted sarcophagus may obscure their magical signatures with its thickness and own magical nature.

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

"Anesthesia doesn't affect the digestive organs. It works by suppressing voluntary movement and sensations of the nervous system." Yuki shakes his head, getting into his lecture mode.

"Are you still conscious in titan form? I'm sure we can find some way for you to communicate? And I'll be sure to avoid that spot on you."

Sophia nods.
I know sign language, if that helps.
She replies, yawning.
Heh, I think the talk of anesthesia made me tired.
She jokes.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

Believing herself to have some time, the ghost girl collects herself, solidifies, and goes over to the gorilla. It seems to have calmed when the lich stopped fighting back. Laying a hand on its head, she spends a while rebuilding the damage caused by the bullet and the drain; a bit longer than the initially summon-construction took.

After that, she gives the lich's equipment a cursory glance, and then goes to open the sarcophagus and - no. She stops, and instructs the gorilla on how to remove the lid, standing back at a distance while it attempts to do so.

[Aric Kale]

The werewolf swipes at the undead around her with her claws, trying to shatter or destroy as many as she can with one strike, before charging forwards at the light, using her bulk to blast through any remaining zombies in her way.

Hawthorn is entirely immobilized; he can only go so long before the skeletons start weakening his wooden body...luckily, his master, the Hoplite will be there by next round. On the other hand, the undead may turn to face Zander, for the man calls out in a surprisingly deep voice. It is I, The Mourning Hoplite, and I am a foe to the Undead, and a friend to those who seek their timely demise! The Athenian continues to use his weapons to deadly effect, but his more skeletal enemies are proving more challenging, what with their greater dexterity.

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods.
I know sign language, if that helps.
She replies, yawning.
Heh, I think the talk of anesthesia made me tired.
She jokes.

[Field of Mock Battle]

"That'll be fine, I think." Yuki chuckles at her and grins. "Then perhaps we should go to sleep then?"

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

"That'll be fine, I think." Yuki chuckles at her and grins. "Then perhaps we should go to sleep then?"

Sophia nods, and goes to sleep!