VIGIL 4: Swordfights!!! on Air

[Shadowcaller]

Riverside Briefing

"Sure, sure, but I don't usually need weapons. I already have these after all." She wiggles her wrists. "May not look like much, but I've killed more demons than I can count with my bear hands." And he won't even realize just how awful this pun actually is.
"So just point me to the demons, and I'll punch 'em."

[Felandria]

Riverside Briefing

Felandria will wave a finger in a circular direction at her side, and a hole opens up.

She reaches inside and grabs all her weapons, her sword, her wands and her AK-47 that shoots lightning that may look familiar to Reinholdt.

She starts sorting through her wands, putting some back in the hole.

Alright, the wand of Up is cool, but I don't think I'll need it.

Invisiblity, check, read thoughts, check, magic missile, magic animals, healing, triple check.

Anything I can hook you up with, Reinholdt?

[Morty]

[Riverside Briefing]

Wenomir claps his hands.

"Alright, everyone, let's move out. We take the shuttles to Riverside and see if we can land there. If not, we land as near as we can and get there on foot."

((I'll organize everyone into groups and post them in OoC as soon as I can.))

[Reinholdt]

[Riverside Briefing]

Reynard should be a common name for a fox. Because it's also a common term for a fox. He's definitely playing up his innocence for a fox. The tip of Reinholdt's tail swishes slowly as he watches Reynard's antics. Oh you may have everyone else here fooled fox, but not this cat.

Though Felandria proves distracting for a moment and Rein eyes the AK. After a second he just shrugs. "I like surprises. I'll take whatever you give me."

[Felandria]

[Riverside Briefing]

Reynard should be a common name for a fox. Because it's also a common term for a fox. He's definitely playing up his innocence for a fox. The tip of Reinholdt's tail swishes slowly as he watches Reynard's antics. Oh you may have everyone else here fooled fox, but not this cat.

Though Felandria proves distracting for a moment and Rein eyes the AK. After a second he just shrugs. "I like surprises. I'll take whatever you give me."

Fel reaches back into the hole and roots around, pulling out a duffel bag with the words "Werewoof Stuff" written in glitter.

Ah!

This might be helpful.

Pretty sure there's a buncha silver bullets in here, and I would imagine a gun or two as well.

And it is entirely likely there is a sniper rifle in the bag, since one doesn't shoot a werewoof up close, after all.

[Reinholdt]

[Riverside Briefing]

Depends on how fast the werewolf is.

"Well I certainly can't say no to silver bullets," Ammo is always valuable and the less Rein has to spend at Erin's, the better. "Thanks," Reinholdt says, taking the Werewoof bag and pocketing it in his hammerspace.

After which he hops down from Felandria's shoulder and stretches, arching his back and really getting out there. "Well good luck. I'll keep the fort safe while you're gone."

[5a Violista]

[Riverside Briefing]
((I'll organize everyone into groups and post them in OoC as soon as I can.))

[Riverside Briefing]

((For all those who aren't following the OoC thread, here's a link directly to that OoC post: here))

Awen stops organizing the potions and such so that she can properly hear the instructions.
She nods, thinking that Wenomir's plan is sound.

"Okay," she says. She heads towards and into the shuttle.
The fox tails her.

[Ashen Lilies]

VIGIL Skybase

Iamar blinks as the machine talks. She'd never heard robots of that size talking at all, much less with any kind of real vocabulary. But it was hardly the strangest thing she had heard was able to talk.

She nods at the mention of a test. Vigil certainly wasn't an army of conscripts after all. "I will perform whatever tasks are required of me."

[VIGIL Skybase]

"I am a warrior as well, though my talents can be either in ranged or melee engagements, as needs arise. Otherwise, I am good at moving large, heavy objects, if you have need of some help that way," Quin volunteers helpfully. He's obviously a little too odd and a little too earnest to be helpful diplomatically, at least, right now. "I am not sure what you would like to see, but I am ready to take any test you might need."

[VIGIL Skybase]

"Very well. Commander Wenomir holds the title of blademaster here, as far as I know. He is busy at the moment, but I think I know of someone else who can help."

"A demonstration of strength could be enlightening..." she comments towards Quin, hesitantly. There's certainly value in raw force, but having a new member demonstrate their abilities just by lifting things seems kind of... improper. What kind of a test is that? "Perhaps the man I have in mind will be able to test you as well," she finishes, evading having to make a decision on that front. "I'll be back."

She scurries off, leaving the two alone together for a little while. When she comes back, she's accompanied by a tall, obscenely good-looking red-haired tiefling man with broad shoulders. He's dressed in plain, flattering clothing - a pair of slim trousers and a skintight sleeveless black top showing off his athletic physique to fine advantage. He's wearing a moderate amount of plain jewelry, in contrast to Kalya's much more elaborate adornments, with a few simple gold bands around the base of his larger set of horns, some finger rings, and flat gold piercings through the end of his tail. The only unusual piece would be his earring, which is made of iron rather than gold, a bold and heavy counterweight to an otherwise urbane facade.

"This is Kal, one of our newer members. He has agreed to help with the tests."

"Hi."

[Riverside Briefing]

"Infernals. That's not good. We'll need some serious firepower to crack those," Wenomir says. His weapons might as well be toothpicks against those. Then he turns to the assembled Vigil members.

"Listen, everyone. Riverside is being invaded by demons and they've come in great force. But if they think they'll have an easy time of it, they've got another thing coming." The warrior looks over everyone, his voice cracking with barely-restrained fury and his eyes darkening. "Once we get there, we'll split up into teams that will tackle different targets. But our priority is to destroy whatever they're using to block communications, unless someone else does it. As it is, we're flying blind. So be prepared for everything and ready for improvise. Those things won't show you mercy or pity, so kill any of them that you can. But their footsoldiers are more or less inexhaustible, so we need to focus on leaders and infrastructure." He pauses, then continues. "We'll also likely need to help fleeing civilians. The demons will try to kill or corrupt them. Our non-combatant staff can handle it, but someone will have to assist and protect them."

[Riverside Briefing]

Wenomir considers it, letting Awen bring Xavouir up to speed.

"Stay with the refugees, Spako. Cleansing corruption is in a shorter supply than killing demons," he finally says. "Kalya will coordinate aiding and protecting refugees, you'll heal and protect them. The demons will want to catch and kill or capture those who escape." He looks to Gary. He's never seen him before, but he saw the report about his recruitment. "You'll go with the rest of us and join a team once we're there. We know too little to make specific plans now. But we need to hit them hard and fast, in several places simultaneously."

[Riverside Briefing]

Kalya nods in acquiescence to Wenomir's orders. Coordinating an exodus is definitely something she can do. And she's much more confident in her ability to protect an escape than hold the front line, with what limited combat ability she has. She accepts Alice's silver ward gratefully.

"I will speak to Administrator Virlomi. We'll have the flight crews prepared, both for our response and the evacuation."

It'd be easier if they could move the entire island there, of course. Alas.

In contrast to Kalya's nervousness, Kal listens to the entire briefing with a somewhat indolent air, casually thumbing the heavy iron earring in his right ear. He's already armed with silver himself, having been forewarned by the briefing and the benefit of fighting the demons before. Right now of course he's only got a simple dagger, since they're just standing around talking, but he'd taken the opportunity to have some silvered weapons commissioned, at the same time as his new set of armor. As Wenomir concludes the briefing, he pulls his hand away from his ear with a faint grimace as he straightens up, slipping his earring into a pocket.
"I'll fight at your side, if you'd have me there," he says. He's sure that Wenomir will probably put himself wherever he expects the fighting to be thickest. He's also expecting the half-dragon to be fighting there too. And watching other warriors fight is just fun.

((Incidentally having these two characters together in two separate scenes makes me really hate that I made their names so similar by accident. WHYYYYYYYYY))

Edit: I didn't notice you'd already assigned the groups.

[8BitNinja]

[Riverside Briefing]

Wenomir claps his hands.

"Alright, everyone, let's move out. We take the shuttles to Riverside and see if we can land there. If not, we land as near as we can and get there on foot."

((I'll organize everyone into groups and post them in OoC as soon as I can.))

Gary heads out with the group.

[Celticbear]

Riverside Briefing

Sweet, last time I was Fel there was excessive violence! And I got shot! Like a bunch... wait, why am I excited? Xavouir asks himself whilst chanting "We're number Two! We're number Two!" over and over in his head. Then he heads out with his group.

[Felandria]

Riverside Briefing

Felandria gives Reinholdt a nod.

Thanks, Reinholdt.

You're a good friend, use the bullets wisely.

Time to go to work.

And Felandria joins her teammates Anika and Xaviour on the shuttle to the battle.

[Devixer]

VIGIL Skybase

Iamar spares a glimpse or two Quin's way, but she makes no attempt at conversation. Not that she'd be good at socializing anyway.

When Kalya returns alongside Kal, Iamar bows towards the latter. "Peace be upon you, Kal. What manner of test shall you be assisting in?"

[Nova_Eclipse]

VIGIL Skybase

Quin simply stands, unsure of what to say to Iamar, and decides to look around while he waits. When Kayla returns, he nods, and waves at the man.

"Greetings. What do you need me to do?"

[Reinholdt]

[Airship Gantry -> Island Interior]

Reinholdt's tail swishes and curls slowly. A good friend huh? Well... That remains to be seen. The high regard the occassional person holds him to continues to completely baffle him. The cat patiently waits and sees off the shuttle before turning around after everyone's gone.

What an opportunity! For mischief of course. Most if not everyone in VIGIL is gone fighting in the endless cycle of good and evil. There's bound to be some trouble he can get into here. Though he'll have to keep it minor, what with the ongoing negotiations and such. Theoretically he shouldn't be getting into any trouble at all, but where's the excitement in that? Like any tense situation, negotiations are more thrilling when made on unstable footing. At the very least he should find Wenomir's clean clothes and sleep on them.

Keeping a low profile just in case there were stragglers, Reinholdt sneaks back the way he and Felandria came. Right now it's purely an exploration expedition of the island's interior as he slowly works his way back to the surface.

[Morty]

[Lesson]

At a different time than the invasion, Wenomir is waiting for one of his students on a chilly morning. He's seated comfortably on a bench in front of his house, resting the Answer against the ground.

[Deathkeeper]

[Lesson]

Koshal arrives, wearing his training armor and carrying his weapons.
"Hi Master Wenomir! Am I on time?" he asks excitedly, clopping up to him at a near sprint. His hooves skid on the ground as he stops.

[Morty]

[Lesson]

"As ever, Koshal," Wenomir says, getting up. The Answer is looking different today, for some reason. It has a longer pommel and wider cross-guard, and a serrated edge on the back of the blade. "You've been progressing nicely, so I think it's time for me to teach you my own style, rather than the core technique of longsword fighting. I call it the Winding Path. What you do with it is up to you, but I'll teach you what it means."

[Deathkeeper]

[Lesson]

Koshal very nearly drops the bundle he's holding, and manages to instead hold onto his scabbard and only stare wide-eyed at Wenomir.
"Y-yes, Master Wenomir, Sir. I'll make you proud!" he insists, and yet he's practically hopping as he stands there excitedly.

[Morty]

[Lesson]

Wenomir stands up, lift the Answer off the ground and makes a short flourish with it.

"Let me tell you where the name comes from, first. Part of it is the Riddle, of course. We each walk our own winding path to it. But in battle, we force an enemy to walk a winding path, too. If you walk down such a path, you might be tempted to rush straight ahead, but if you do, you might trip and fall. We need to present such a path to our enemies, too. They must never know what direction we'll strike from, or where they should direct their own attacks. When they think they see a straight path to our throat, we'll instead give them a sharp turn and a tumbling fall."

[Deathkeeper]

[Lesson]

Koshal blinks.
"Okay. That makes sense. " he says. He's fairly sure he's interpreting that metaphor correctly. But metaphors can get kind of confusing, and despite Leah's lessons on making him a cultured young man he is absolutely atrocious at poetry.

[Morty]

[Lesson]

"So what do you think it means, under all that metaphor and embellishment?" Wenomir asks. "There's a reason I explain it this way, aside from my flair for the dramatic... though there is that too." He smiles slightly.

[Deathkeeper]

[Lesson]

Koshal nods.
"You want us to stay in control of a fight. But also make the other person think they're in control. So in the end, it's all about wits and control and movement instead of force." is the teenager's interpretation.

[Morty]

[Lesson]

Wenomir nods with satisfaction.

"Very good. That's not quite how I'd put it, but it's true and it's important for you to have your own answer. What I understand through it is that we have to use misdirection, evasion and counters to use our enemy's force against them. Especially here, where there's so many people and creatures stronger than us. So we never get into a position where they can overpower us. We evade, parry, redirect or cover them in a flurry of attacks so they can't get their bearings."

[Deathkeeper]

[Lesson]

Koshal nods.
"Mhm. It might be harder for me, though. In four years I'll be bigger than you." he says with a proud grin. Though realistically it'll be a lot less time than that. He's already as tall as an adult human, and is really only waiting for his big teenage growth spurt to start really looking like his uncle. That and being old enough to do real muscle-building, which kids aren't supposed to do.
"But I'll still always be ready, Mister Wenomir." he insists.

[Morty]

[Lesson]

Wenomir spreads his arms and nods.

"I know it's going to be tough when you're bigger than I am. That's why I'll teach you what I can and let you use it as suits you best. Besides, many people won't expect a minotaur to use such a style. They might be surprised for just long enough to leave themselves open. And it's so satisfying to defeat an opponent who has underestimated you."

[Ashen Lilies]

VIGIL Skybase

Iamar spares a glimpse or two Quin's way, but she makes no attempt at conversation. Not that she'd be good at socializing anyway.

When Kalya returns alongside Kal, Iamar bows towards the latter. "Peace be upon you, Kal. What manner of test shall you be assisting in?"

VIGIL Skybase

Quin simply stands, unsure of what to say to Iamar, and decides to look around while he waits. When Kayla returns, he nods, and waves at the man.

"Greetings. What do you need me to do?"

((Blub. Sorry for taking 3 billion years to reply to this.))

Kal returns the bow, and directs Iamar to the weapon racks, where he'll pick among the weapons until he finds something similar enough to Iamar's own.

"We'll start simple, eh? Show me your moves."

Meanwhile, Kalya (who now has shiny art!) pulls up a few target dummies, a fair distance away from Quin.

"Perhaps a weapons demonstration would give me a better idea of your capabilities? You may destroy these targets however you wish."

[Devixer]

VIGIL Skybase

((No worries, not like I have any room to talk.))

Iamar draws her shamshir, and makes a couple of practice swings before taking her stance. She holds her blade above her head, pointed at Kal, with her free arm raised in a defensive position. She holds the sword in a curious way, with a couple of fingers placed over the crossguard, rather than only holding the grip.

She looks at Kal, expression unreadable. Seems she's waiting for him to make a move. She's light on her feet, making tiny steps back and forth.

[Deathkeeper]

[Lesson]

Koshal nods. He's not an incredibly spiteful person...but he is a teenager.
"Alright, Mister Wenomir. I understand. I'm ready whenever you are." he says resolutely. The squire seems determined to exceed Wenomir's expectations.

[Reinholdt]

[Outside CIC]

Whoa! Reinholdt's surprised. They have an entire Command Center here? Well, that's what the door says at any rate. Fancy. But the question on his mind is why aren't they using it? Shouldn't Wenomir be here commanding and coordinating the troops on the ground? Then again, that doesn't really seem his style. And something about the way he was acting made it seem like this Riverside was really personal for him.

Or alternatively, there was someone already in here. Handling and processing and dispensing information. Sounds like a fun job. Only one way to find out! Reinholdt checks the door to see if it is locked.

[Nova_Eclipse]

VIGIL Skybase

Quin nods, and raises a hand, turning to face the targets. A yellow-white beam of destructive energy lances from his open palm at the first target. The beam's similar to any number of other energy beam effects, and most likely drills a hole through the target. He lowers his hand, and turns his torso slightly, before a pair of larger, blue beams fire from the orifices on his chestplate, almost converging as they reach the second target. These are large enough to cut a man-sized object in half. Finally, he turns his head towards a third target, and the odd structure on his back flips up, as several tiny weapons deploy, floating around him for a moment, before opening fire. The blasts they emit are tiny, though they each pack roughly the power of a small caliber pistol. It's probably hard to tell if they damage the target, a question made moot when the gem in the middle of the v-shaped crest on Quin's helmet glows blood-red for an instant and unleashes a massive crimson beam as tall as he is, at it. When the beam fades, he looks to Kayla as the tiny weapons all stream back into the structure on his back and it flips down into its resting position once more.

"Was that adequate? I do have some defensive and melee capabilities as well."