Outside 41: Inside Outside, outside Inside

[Aric Kale]

Coppercreek

The Dread Lieutenant leaps up, sprinting up the wall of undead with a speed and grace unparalleled by the simple undead that also served under Snowfall.

Vynris, or the Blizzard as he is now referred to by the Lich, was a human male before he was turned. Tall, strong, and lithe of body, he was also a madman, challenging Snowfall to single combat.

Now he was stronger than ever, capable of turning the living into more frozen undead, and healing himself by substituting lost flesh for ice. Speaking of which, a large portion of his jaw and torso had been blown away at one point, leaving only ice.

He swings both of his arms in an "x" blocking a large portion of the second fireball with his beskar iron shield and mighty sword. This should keep at least a few of the relatively useless undead from being incinerated, saving Snowfall from having to create even more of them.

While his own blade pales in comparison to the giant lich's cleaver, Vynris has a weapon reminiscent of an Italian cinquedea, except it is four feet long with a proportional handle and blade width at the base. Snowfall's own frosty magic flows through all of his Lieutenant's weapons, including two futuristic looking pistols at the man's side.

Taking the town would not be challenging.

[Rebonack]

[Kinderleigh]

"You said you weren't going to be coming alone today?" Mary asks. "But I see that you're alone, beautiful bird."

"My Mistress' student is here in town, but I warned her sternly not to make a scene," Corvus reassures his living wife.

Meanwhile!

Random woman walking up to you with an evil looking smile on her face?

Yeah, the portly rabble rouser isn't about to let her get close. "Witch!" he hisses, pointing straight at Pheobe. "She tried to strike me with her evil-eye, but the gods protected me!"

He's full of crap, but as he sees it? This is an easy target. Some random waif of a woman shows up in the village in the middle of a witch hunt? Clearly she must have come to help her fellow witches. Mister extra chins probably figures an extra witch to feed the flames will tighten his grip over the town even more so.

The crowd begins moving to encircle Pheobe, menacing at her with farm tools.

Someone from the mob hurls a rock at her head.

[Ionbound]

[Kinderleigh]

Pheobe laughs and says, as she deftly steps out of the way of the thrown rock, "Evil eye? You really think I deal in superstition? No. What I am is the fact of magic. And that magic, and truth, will shatter your insulated world." A glowing green bone flies out of the hand that was rummaging for it during the speech, and attempts to fly into triple-chin's eye, which, if successful, will begin burrowing into his brain. And then the real fun starts...

[Hattish Thing]

[Coppercreek]

More zombies are created as bolts of uttercold steal the heat from their blood. There's a mad panic now to reach the mines; no defenders remain. Not since they've seen that their weapons are useless against the shambling army. Another fireball is loosed from on high, followed by several rays of searing flame. They'll probably be just as ineffectual as the previous ones, but it's still worth a try.

Whoever is slinging spells seems to have the common sense to lob attacks from cover.[/QUOTE]

Snowfall completely ignores the flame, walking through the incredibly hot lobs of pure fire easily. The intense temperature doesn't even blacken his armor for more than a second, before another thin layer of frost simply covers the marking. The dark figure continues to move forward, appreciating the fact that his lieutenant was shielding his pawns. The frostbeast seems a tad angered that this fire-slinging individual remains hidden. It had little patience for enemies like this. Hostiles who hide greatly bother the beast, who's entire existence centers around battle. However, Snowfall had all the time in the world. Eventually, he finds his way to the stone tower, slicing and damaging any peasants close to him, making quick work of the citizens with his powerful blade. Those struck with the blade of pure ice are also infected with the magical affliction. As he gazes up at the stone tower, he'll press a cold, gauntleted hand against the stone of the tower. Then, from where he touches the stone, the material will quickly begin to transform into ice. The ice will spread up the tower, and very soon the dark knight will have completely frozen the tower, but not those inside.

[Rebonack]

[Coppercreek]

Reaching the tower will take time. And time is something that Serena doesn't feel inclined to give the undead abominations. Certainly not when it comes to reaching her. The sorceress has already burned most of her magic into the scouring flames she had flung to no effect, but she had saved one more spell just in case it turned out that things were as hopeless as they looked.

A missiles clad in a fur cloak goes rocketing out of the tower's upper window at... well... a little under thirty miles an hour. But a little under thirty miles an hour is still a decent pace! Serena's Fly spell won't last her very long, but hopefully it'll put enough distance between herself and the town to get word to someone else that an undead army is on the march.

And?

She's hoping that her retreat will be ignored.

Why would it be ignored?

Probably because of that copper dragon leaping from a cave further up the slopes of the mountain and descending toward the undead masses full of righteous indignation. He might not know all the townspeople personally, but they share their precious metals and even more precious jokes and songs with him and he isn't ABOUT to let them be slaughtered without recompense!

The dragon opens his mouth and spews a blinding sheet of absurdly caustic acid over the encroaching undead hoards.

[Kinderleigh]

You know what a terrible sound is?

The sound of someone screaming as a bone burrows into their brain.

Some of the townspeople panic and flee while others rush toward Pheobe from all sides at once to stab and bludgeon her until she stops doing witchery.

At about this time a rather greasy looking fellow comes running toward the town square yelling, "I saw that widow Mary Bowyer speaking with her familiar spirit! And the demon bird spoke back! She's a witch, just like that filthy witch Margret said!"

He's somewhat surprised that no one seems to be listening to him. Wonder why? And why is the butcher screaming his lungs out?

[Aric Kale]

Coppercreek

At a mental command from Snowfall, Vynris sheathes his blade and draws one of his pistols. As he pulls the trigger, out fires beams of the same bloodchilling ice used by the Lich. That could slow down the sorceress, for she was most certainly his intended target.

Of course, that means he only has his shield to defend himself from the dragon, so he's staying behind a mound of melting undead. At least they served a purpose...of sorts.

[Ionbound]

[Kinderleigh]

Well, the man who's brain was burrowed into reanimates shortly as a groaning, shuffling zombie, which, when he hears the word witch, attacks the man shouting, trying to sink it's teeth into his yummy, yummy flesh. Meanwhile, Pheobe ducks and morphs her thighbone into a dense semi-dome over her head, trying to deflect the worst of the attacks, though a few might penetrate the barrier.

[Hattish Thing]

Battle of CopperCreek

With a terrible screech, Snowfall detaches his gauntlet from the tower, causing the spread of ice to stop. However, most of the tower remains frozen in dark ice. The tower of ice and dark magic lurches away from the tower to gaze at the great beast flying overhead, spraying a terrible green liquid over his children. Snowfall was somewhat upset by the melting of many of his new recruits. Of course, most of the undead would simply retain a half-melted quality. Not particularly effective in combat anymore, but still there. A few do end up melted completely to the ground though, an example of the strength this particular draconic individual possesses. Snowfall will begin to move close back to the wall, and charge up a quick ball of dark energy to hurl at the large dragon.

[Rebonack]

[Kinderleigh]

The greasy haired guy, at the sight of the zombie, screams and flees for his life!

Run awaaaaay!

The peasants, meanwhile, continue to flail their improvised weapons at Pheobe! Most of them haven't even noticed the zombie yet. Though one guy with a pruning hook has! He uses the keen edge of the tool to try hacking the zombie apart! Take that zombie!

Hmm... Maybe Pheobe didn't quite think this all the way through...

[Coppercreek]

The sorceress?

She gets nailed by the beam. Luckily for her, her life force is a little more robust than your average peasant's. Though she certainly didn't look like she enjoyed being blasted, her flight path just dips a bit before she makes a wobbly recovery. And then she's out of range.

The dragon, however, tips a wing to one side to allow the bolt of uttercold to go whizzing past harmlessly. With a roared phrase in draconic the stone under the icy abomination's feet turns into thick, sticky mud that seems uncannily oblivious to the effects of cold that should be freezing it solid. The creature may find itself sinking up to its neck in the mire as the whole section of the wall implodes on itself.

[Aric Kale]

Coppercreek

Bölvar, íbúanna er norninni slapp.

Nú hótar þetta Demon eðla til drepa bræður mína...

The Lieutenant mutters, holstering his blaster and taking out his sword once more. He holds the hefty sword in one hand like a toy, his physical might enhanced by Snowfall.

Fearlessly, or madly, the Blizzard charges forward, layers upon layers of the impossibly freezing ice forming upon his sword and shield. Still, he was not nearly as well-defended as the Lich. His abilities were more in the area of "kill the other guy quickly or die!"

[Ionbound]

[Kinderleigh]

Not quite, no. And Pheobe, while in favor of turning an idiot wannabe witchhunter into a zombie which attacks the man hacking at it while held together with telekinetic string, is not in favor of mass murder. Which, to be fair, is probably a good thing. Instead, she opts to unleash a fistful of bonedust in a circle around her, charged with magic to try to turn plant matter and metal to dust.

[Rebonack]

[Kinderleigh]

Peter Wilhelm, the poor guy with the pruning hook, gives one last desperate scream of terror as he gets overwhelmed and ripped apart messily by the zombie. Originally he hadn't really been sure what to make of all this witch business, but when the zombie stood up he was sure he would have to defend his family or die trying.

Looks like he died trying.

The rest of the peasants get their tools obliterated along with their plant fiber clothing for those who weren't wearing leathers or wool. There are quite a few screams as they begin scrambling away in search of cover.

Margret the 'witch' is just watching the whole scene with a look of wide-eyed horror.

Especially since she just watched the Glenn Butcher rip her neighbor apart limb from limb.

With all this emotional trauma Margret does the only ration thing. She vomits all over the ground and the faints dead away.

[Ionbound]

[Kinderleigh]

Poor fella. Pheobe will be sad about that. Perhaps she'll drag him back to be reanimated. Ah well. The Glenn Zombie shambles towards the jealous man as Pheobe begins walking through the crowd towards the way out of the town as she shouts, "I can return at any moment! And if you accuse another woman of witchery, then I shall!"

[Rebonack]

[Kinderleigh]

No on responds to Pheobe.

They all ran for their lives already. The greasy haired guy is already long gone since poor Peter's pruning hook attack gave him time to escape.

So...

At this point Pheobe is left in a deserted town square with a zombie, a corpse, and an unconscious 'witch'.

[Ionbound]

[Kinderleigh]

Pheobe sighs, gestures a hand, causing the bone animating the zombie to return to her hand, de-animating it. She then grabs the dead man's billhook and cuts the 'witch' off of the stake, then mutters as she walks towards Corvus's wife's house, "I hate it what they don't actually listen to the point."

[Rebonack]

[Kinderleigh]

Pheobe won't make it to her destination.

Mostly because Corvus will intercept her on the way there, alighting atop a fence post and glowering at her.

"Now. If memory serves I asked you in no uncertain terms to avoid making a scene while you were in the village," he caws. "Would you mind explaining to me how two dead villages, a zombie, and a whole terrified village doesn't count as a scene?"

The bird sounds irritated.

[Ionbound]

[Kinderleigh]

Pheobe sighs and says, "There was a woman about to be burned at the stake. I wasn't going to let them do that...And I deanimated the zombie. It's one of the two corpses."

[Rebonack]

[Kinderleigh]

"So," the bird croaks. "What you're telling me is that instead of one burned corpse killed by ignorant peasants there are instead two mangled corpses killed by magic. Magic which could, potentially, be linked to Lady Evercraft? Her work is far too important to be interrupted by bands of adventurers knocking at our door hoping to slay an evil necromancer as part of their deluded impression of what a good deed is."

Yep.

Bird is angry.

"And if you thought to suggest it, no. Simply wiping out the village won't help, either. An atrocity would be even more likely to attract trouble of the murder hobo variety. I am very disappointed in you, Pheobe. There are times for compassion, empathy, and listening to your emotions. But this wasn't one of them. Maybe, maybe this would be forgivable if you had subdued them without killing any of the rabble, but you did and now there's nothing to fix it."

Aside from resurrection spells.

But those are notoriously resource intensive.

[Ionbound]

[Kinderleigh]

Pheobe shakes her head and says, "I've been standing there, waiting for someone to light a match and die horribly...I only just managed to escape a horrible death. And I can't just stand by and allow that to happen to someone else. Besides, there's no real evidence of undead involvement. If adventurers do come, all they're going to get is two corpses an some babbling about a 'real witch'. Nothing that could be traced back to Lady Elestra unless someone happened to both know who I am, and that I'm working for her now, which is highly, highly unlikely."

[Rebonack]

[Kinderleigh]

"An excuse is still just an excuse," Corvus replies. "But there's nothing to be done about it now. In the future, however, I expect you to obey my orders. Are we understood?"

Certainly not a happy bird.

"Now then, we had best be going. The less time we spend here after this debacle the better."

Back to Elestra's tower!

[Ionbound]

[Kinderleigh]

Pheobe sighs and says, "You can see it that way, I suppose. Whatever." And off to Elestra's tower they go!

[Arkhosia]

[Darkwater Mine]

"What the- I don't take orders from you," Wenomir tells Sophia sharply. He then glares at Seraphina. "Yes, just write it. I'll make sure it gets to the right people myself."

Sophia glares, but says nothing.

[Hattish Thing]

[Coppercreek]

The sorceress?

She gets nailed by the beam. Luckily for her, her life force is a little more robust than your average peasant's. Though she certainly didn't look like she enjoyed being blasted, her flight path just dips a bit before she makes a wobbly recovery. And then she's out of range.

The dragon, however, tips a wing to one side to allow the bolt of uttercold to go whizzing past harmlessly. With a roared phrase in draconic the stone under the icy abomination's feet turns into thick, sticky mud that seems uncannily oblivious to the effects of cold that should be freezing it solid. The creature may find itself sinking up to its neck in the mire as the whole section of the wall implodes on itself.

Snowfall continues his movement forward, contemplating what he could do to bring the mighty beast down. Dragons were a force to be reckoned with, but all he needed was to bring the thing down to the ground. After that, he'd make quick work of the winged reptile for sure. As he's walking, he begins to raise his free hand, twirling it about him slowly and deliberately, the armor screeching as he does so. It seemed the warlord was preparing some sort of spell. The knight finishes quickly, the spell fast and sure. This time, it's a bolt of what seems to be ice, blasting out of his gauntlet. The bolt seems to function like a stream, constantly firing towards the dragon. He'll follow the dragon's path through the air with the beam of ice magic, trying to freeze the thing solid. However, before he can, the mud appears. It distracts the warrior, causing his beam to flare wildly, just past the body of the dragon. Might still hit the wing, however.

[Rebonack]

[Coppercreek]

Whoop.

Looks like the dragon just got winged.

He locks himself into a controlled glide as his limb freezes over to prevent a catastrophic landing and retaliates with a second spell as the deathknight vanishes into the mire.

Earth to Lava.

The mud the wall had been transformed into suddenly blazes to life with stifling heat as it transforms into a veritable lake of molten rock, expanding significantly due to the greatly increased temperature. Even if the the deathknight isn't harmed by the searing liquid stone he may end up freezing himself inside a prison of obsidian.

And it's notoriously hard to move around much when entombed in solid rock.

[Aric Kale]

Coppercreek

Good, it seems that Vynris has been ignored so far, even though he is not at all trying for stealth here.

As he nears the falling dragon, he slashes at the mighty beast's stomach. His blade will have the same effect as Snowfall's spells, but at a much subdued rate. This copper dragon sure is turning out to be tough to kill...

Ég mun frysta hjarta þitt, væng-ormur! The mad soldier taunts, his voice deep and threatening.

[Hattish Thing]

Coppercreek

Sure enough, just as the Death Knight attempts to climb out of the mud path, the liquid begins to heat up. In a matter of seconds, the mud is a molten slag of terrible temperature. The bitter and supernatural cold the Knight gives off keeps the magma from harming the warrior, but the rock cools and hardens fast, gradually and steadily solidifying around the towering shape. The knight manages to crawl out of the pit before the magma dripping off of him finishes it's process, but he can only present his gauntlet forward before the clever prison seals him shut. It's unclear how long the simple but effective trap will hold the thing, however.

[Rebonack]

[Coppercreek]

Oh no!

The dragon is coming in for a crash landing out in the snowy fields beyond the edge of town! He's going too fast! There's no way a creature that large would be able to survive such an impact!

*POOF!*

He just turned into a snowshoe hare and vanished into a snowbank with a soft *fwumph*.

Well.

That's pretty tricky.

Might make finding him a little harder.

[Aric Kale]

Coppercreek

The Dread Lieutenant looks back to his Master, waiting but a moment for a signal. If summoned, the former commando will use all of his skills to free the Lich. However, should Vynris be sent to hunt down the bunny dragon, he will do so.

Now, the man has some skill in tracking, but that was when his mind was fully his...that and the soldier had never been required to track a rabbit.

This would be tough.

[Shadowcaller]

[Darkwater Mine]

"What the- I don't take orders from you," Wenomir tells Sophia sharply. He then glares at Seraphina. "Yes, just write it. I'll make sure it gets to the right people myself."

Sophia glares, but says nothing.

[Darkwater Mine]

"Yes, yes, whatever." Seraphina writes a check and once she's done she looks at the ethereal who after a press of a button causes the check to disappear and then appear in the hand of Wenomir. "We done now? Since I'm not giving you anything else."

[Morty]

[Darkwater Mine]

"That depends on you, friend," Wenomir says, performing an unnecessary little flourish with his longsword. "If you stay away from this mine and its workers in the future, we'll never meet again. If you try to meddle, I'll find you, and we'll have some serious matters to discuss."