Dreams of the Blinded

[Lonna]

Lily Deliack

"Wait! Wait!"
He slowed as he got closer, stopping abruptly to rest on his word and catch his breath.
"Blessed Majesty and fellow nobles," he said, bowing to the group, "I have been separated from my group in this chaos, and it seems that you've been separated from most of your guard as well. Perhaps I can be of some assistance?"

Lily's head jerked up from the girl as a battered looking noble, probably a diplomat, emerged from the chaos. She frowned at his flowery language. Clearly he understood neither the significance of her special dress nor, more importantly, of the situation in general.

I guess the gods really do protect children and idiots.

"There's no time for elaborate courtesies," she snapped at the newcomer. "Or hadn't you noticed the guards have gone mad? You can come with us, but stay out of the way if it comes to fighting." She pointed one of her blades at his useless dress sword meaningfully, then turned back to the curiously calm girl-child in her strange clothes. "Are you going to help us or just tag along? I don't care either way but we need to get moving fast.

I may catch trouble for this later, but what can Mistress do when I'm to be given away anyway?

[Inspectre]

Galen is confused at first. He could have expected a group of assassins dressed in the garb of the city guard to attack him. But the objective of the nearby guards was clearly not him alone - indeed, they were simply slaughtering anyone unlucky enough to get close to them. And, in fact, it seemed like all of the city guard had gone mad, not just the quartet of guards now approaching him.

As they drew close, Galen could look into their faces, and see not the grim faces of professional killers, but instead the terrified grimaces of those whose will was no longer their own. Magic. That had to be it, the source of this sudden killing spree.

For all of his thankfulness to the arcane researchers who had produced his armor, Galen commonly looked upon Magic as a blight upon humanity. It was frequently the source of their problems and would likely be the powerful weapon that would lead to its self-destruction: just like Fawrerdo. Magic was also something that Galen himself had no real skill with, although he knew about some of its potential after he had consulted with a few mages about security magics shortly after his near-assassination.

He had stopped at a small bazaar stand, complete with overawning tarp along a side street, attracted by the collection of weapons that were on display. Although still not generally a paranoid man, Galen did take his personal security seriously. Galen assumed it was much the same with the prince and princess, considering they likely had far more attempts on their lives than he ever had. A small easily concealable weapon might also be apropos coming from a man who had nearly been killed after relying solely on others for his own protection, Galen decided.

He was just turning over a small stilleto that could be concealed in a golden armband when the trouble had started. Dropping the armband and weapon back onto the display table, Galen turned to face the oncoming trouble as he drew his own sword and looked around uncertainly.

There didn't seem to be any nearby alleyways he could duck down, already being on a side street. He was used to one-on-one duels as well, not fighting four dangerous men at once. Fortunately, their posture and clumsy movements suggested he had some advantage over them, but not enough to favor four-to-one odds.

As the guards grew near indeed and began to raise their weapons, Galen smiled as an idea came to him. Taking a step towards the guards, Galen carefully toed the thick wooden pole holding up the awning. It began to slide, and with a bit more effort slipped out of place, now hanging limply at an angle and causing the awning above to sag dangerously.

Before the guards could attack, Galen withdrew to the other side of the small shop's awning, waiting there as they numbly moved under the awning to pursue him.

"My apologies to you gentlemen, as you seem to be doing this against your will. Allow me to assure you that this is likewise nothing personal."

Once the guards are all under the awning and dangerously within range of him again, Galen steps out from underneath the awning and gives the other supporting pole a hard kick. Without the other pole, the awning collapses down on the guards completely, and the thick tarp rustles angrily as four large shapes struggle to escape.

Galen is merciless, walking out on top of the now fallen awning and wading into the midst of the shapes. He stabs with his sword and clubs with his other closed armored fist, aiming primarily for the tops of the moving shapes where the guards' heads presumably would be. His attacks are not precise given the awning's obfuscation of his targets, but they are brutal and effective.

From underneath the tarp, Galen can dimly hear screams as the guards are wounded - a miracle considering their quivering locked jaws and bulging eyes as they approached him intially. Screaming is good - it tells him to keep stabbing as there's something still alive.

Finally, the screams fall silent and the tarp underneath his armored feet is still. Galen cuts a clean section of the tarp off, using it to wipe his blade clean before sheathing it. The bloodsplatters on his armor quickly fade away without action on Galen's part, thanks to the cleaning magics imbued into the armor, which treated blood as any other dirt.

Time was a bit of the essence here, and Galen quickly ripped the punctured tarp open to reveal the mangled bodies of the guards. Hoping he had not damaged all of their helmets too badly, Galen began to pry one of them off of a guard's head.

Galen had been quick to notice that although the guards were possessed, they weren't attacking each other. Presumably this meant that there was something about this enchanment the guards were under that distinguished between others suffering the same compulsion. And given that it was only the guards under the spell, that also presumably meant that it was something common to all the guards - their weapons, armor, or communication crystals.

Galen was not a mage, so he really had no idea how such a spell would work or what the most likely place to put such an enchantment would be. But considering how many guards there still were in the distance, butchering as they went, Galen would likely have ample opportunity to experiment.

As such, he began with the object most easily carriable - one of the guard's helmets. For good measure, he also took one of their swords, sheathing it back into its scabbard before unbuckling the entire weapon belt to loop awkwardly around his own waist and the sword already held there.

He was now ready to depart, and took a step away from the stand before pausing to turn back. Rumaging around in the wreckage, it takes Galen only a minute to relocate the intricate arm bracelet and dagger combination. He snaps it around his own wrist, and then drops a handful of coins into the wreckage: his payment for the gift.

Galen then hurries down the street, hoping to avoid confrontation with more guards, and hoping his theory about their madness - and a possible solution to avoid being attacked - were correct. His destination was first out of the Market district entirely, in the vain hope that this assault was limited only to there. After that, he would head to the church by the most direct route possible - hopefully the prince and princess would still be there and he could convince them to evacuate him along with themselves and any other important personages nearby.

[tgva8889]

Marissa Carthwright

Marissa had been having a fun time traveling, and now that they were at the city gates, she was overjoyed. She had talked with her brothers the entire way about what the city was like, but their descriptions had failed to do it justice. After awing at the city's gates for much longer than she thought she would, Marissa followed her family forwards towards the city.

The first thing she noticed was the yellow-clad men standing outside checking bags and persons for illicit material. Marissa knew from her father's information that the men were the city guard, always vigilant. He had always told her brothers and her about his days in their ranks, standing at the gates during the day and taking up duty within the city at night. Despite what he thought, Marissa knew he spent most of his time there drinking and spending time with friends, but her brothers were eager to be working such duties. As far as Marissa knew, they were still waiting for assignment.

As her father approached the guard, Marissa felt a small chill in the air, as if something spectral had just passed through the crowd. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and for a moment Marissa was shaken. Fortunately, she recovered quick enough to be paying attention when her father charged the guard, fighting with him for what seemed like a sword. Slightly panicky, Marissa heard the familiar voice speaking to her.

I am sorry. Get ready to run. Wait, what? What's going on?

Her brother's scream cleared her mind of thoughts. Moving back out of fear, Marissa threw a spear to her unwounded sibling. Trying to figure out what to do, she dropped the two larger ones and held the one sized more for her position. She knew her stance was off, but at the moment that was the least of her worries. As her father approached her, bloodied sword in hand, Marissa was trying to steel her emotions.

”A madness has infected the guards, you must flee. Now!”

Marissa nodded in response, the conflict in his face apparent. "We'll get out of trouble, father, don't worry about us." Spinning on her feet, Marissa began to run. She held the spear close, swerving around the horrified crowd as the guards began to advance. A mixture of fear and determination prevented her from looking back, and concentration prevented her from pestering the Avatar. Unfortunately, the Avatar did not have the same thoughts.

I am truly sorry. You're sorry? How did you know this was going to happen? What's even happening? Why are the guards doing this?

The silence in response unnerved Marissa for a moment, but a moment was all it took for her to lose her footing for a second. Fortunately, she kept her spear point down, not harming any of the fleeing crowd. Unfortunately, she now had no sense of direction. Turning into where the crowd appeared to be running, Marissa sneaked through, her small size allowing her to weave through moderately unhindered. As the crowd began to thin, she realized suddenly that she was in the city, not outside of it.

Great, how did this happen? I am divine, not omnipresent. What makes you think I was asking you for help? You do not think often. You should more so I know when to interfere and when not to. Well, you could interfere by telling me what just happened back there.

Once again, the Avatar paused. Marissa sighed physically, simply moving with the crowd, trying not to get harmed.

[The_Snark]

Ula

They wanted to go to that house? That was foolish. It was right next to the battle, and the yellow soldiers could get in easily. She would have thought they would want to get out of the city, but she didn't pretend to understand city people. Maybe they just didn't want to leave their home. She doesn't argue that now, though, in case they argued back; she simply nods and takes off into the alley at a jog, glancing back to make sure they were keeping up.

The houses here were large and close together, with few streets, which meant that the thin alleyways could run for quite a while without intersecting anything. Ula takes the first turn that presents itself and that won't lead right back to a street, simply to get them out of sight of the soldiers, and pauses a little ways into that turn to make sure the others weren't going to miss the place where she'd turned. They shouldn't—the alleyways seemed to eat the noise from the rest of the city, and so there was little sound but their own footsteps—but she wanted to be sure. The armored ones were probably falling behind a little bit, and the women's clothing looked hard to run in.

She takes the opportunity of a moment's peace to half-close her eyes, imagining a place so shrouded in darkness she couldn't even see the floor, or anything but herself, somehow perfectly visible despite the lack of light. Or maybe it was a real place she was somehow seeing. Either way, it was where Raven spoke to her. Where should I take them? she asks her guardian. They want to go to their embassy.

[TheOutlander]

Mirrassi

Watching the doorframe for movement, Mirrassi gripped the hilt of his brother's Siaphe, each finger closed around the hilt like a tender lover, already familiar with the soft leather bound around the now-warm iron. His right hand, however, felt unsupported as he saw the shadow of the figure as the yellow boot stepped through the door.
Time slowed, Mirrassi pulled on his blade, but the stubborn hilt held it tighter than his right arm could draw, and so, with a small screeching noise, the blade slowly emerged from its leather prison, taunting Mirrassi with it's lethargy. As he brought the blade down on the guard's neck, the guard instincively retracted, letting the thirsty blade sink into the oaken frame, stilling the wind-swift strike.

Hubricht! Mirrassi inwardly cursed, placing his boot on the wall and trying to pull free his brother's blade.

If the yellow-clad man would strike, now would be the time.

[Pwenet]

Prologue

• Location: Embassy Lane – A Dark and Crowded Alley
  • Ambon - Arjun Takei
    
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    Fleeing from the three city guards who are aiming to prematurely end your life you race away. However they cut you off and you are forced to use your ceremonial weapon to defend yourself. Showed to the side painfully you manage to parry the worst of the blows but not without suffering some minor cuts and scrapes that are more damaging to your clothing than to you. Kicking off against one of the guard you push past them and sprint away towards the alley.
    
    Not wearing armor like they are nor holding weapons that are heavy you have an advantage and quickly pull away from them while they start chasing you. Yet when you turn around you see that they have shifted their targets towards an older couple who are now closer to them than they are to you. Before you could react they turn upon the older couple and savagely attack them. It is almost as if they are attacking those that are closet to them.
    
    Reaching the alley you see that there are two soldiers pushing the city guard back despite being outnumbered. Before your eyes one of them is run through by two different swords, yet the remaining one continues his defense and is drawing them away from the alley. Knowing that you would be unable to help out with your poor excuse for a weapon you slip into the alley and see that there is yet another newcomer, a small young girl with a strange look to her eyes. Yet it seems that the rest of the nobles are trusting her for she takes off deeper into the alley between the various buildings.
    
    Within seconds your small group is building in the maze of tiny spaces that exist between buildings. Despite still being on Embassy Lane there is refuse on the ground and the buildings look worn and dirty where they are out of sight from the common person. The one person who looks like a queen looks around in disgust yet she continues to follow for it is seemingly safe and there are no signs of pursuit from the city guard.
    
    Then the girl stops in her tracks and looks around. Your small group has reached an intersection with three different paths. She looks around at the three with an odd look to her face.
  • Lonna - Lily Deliack
    
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    Snapping at the little girl she takes off down into the alley, and the rest of you follow. Entering the alley the sounds of battle and the screams of the dying fade away and the only footsteps you can hear are those of your small party. Yet every few seconds a bloodcurdling scream would echo strangely through the alleyways, the source of which you have no idea.
    
    Going deeper into the alleys you can’t but help noticing that the walls are getting dirtier, that the ground is not cobblestone but is actually dirt and garbage in many places and small critters run around. A quick glance to the Queen reveals an expression of disgust over having to wander though such grime yet she continues on.
    
    Keeping an eye up at the top of the alley as well you do not see any archers, nor does anyone scream out that word yet you remain at the ready to act at a moment’s notice to protect the Queen when the girl comes to a stop. In front of your party is a 4 way intersection with the alley. Noises of fighting and death start to come back, but from which direction you can’t tell. It almost looks like the girl is waiting to hear from something or is trying to figure out where she is and where she should go. Whatever is going on at this point you are lost, and a quick look at the sole surviving guard he shrugs as well indicating that he is lost in the maze of buildings.
  • The_Snark - Ula
    
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    Taking off down the alleys that you have been playing in for the past few days you take a moment to talk with Raven . At first he does not reply so you continue down the alleyways heedless of the lack of direction, trusting that he will tell you what to do when needed.
    
    These dark alleys are more like the forest, with strange things on the ground which attracted food that you could hunt, however those in the party, especially the woman in the really strange dress and the look of one that has to do nothing looks down in disgust, yet she continues to follow.
    
    There is an intersection up ahead. Take Lily Deliack and Arjun Takei on the right path, tell them there are guards that need to be taken care of there before they can continue on their destinies that we will join them on. Tell the Queen and her last bodyguard to go north and wait at the end of the alley until the fighting is over and you will go with them.
    
    The sudden orders come right as you round a corner and arrive at the intersection. Yet there is something odd, for you could swear that going straight would lead to the Embassy and that heading right would lead to something else, a large street with a strange disc object in the middle of it with lots of the yellow armored men that liked to chase and play tag with you. But you have been running a lot and could be thinking of another dark alley, and Raven is always right, right?
• Location: The Golden Feast Hall
  • Dorizzit - Ark Tamayus
    
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    As your charge vanishes from view part of you hopes that no one noticed what has happened. Teleportation spells are rare these days, and many would love to get their hands on what you just used. Moving past that you attack the closest guards, four of them in total. All too quickly they fall before you, they best they are able to get on you is are a few feeble blows that you are able to parry.
    
    Moving out into the rest of the building you notice that many of those that were not guards were fellow mercenaries. Many of them are wounded with many of their charges dead. Yet what you see is enough to know that the sudden madness is not nearly a assassination attempt on your charge, but it seems that every member of the city guard have gone insane and are attacking anyone who is not them.
    
    Scanning through the crowds it appears that the city guard are starting to win the various battles due to numbers and surprise, which all too often is enough to win a battle.
    
    Finding yourself near a window you take a quick look outside and see that this madness is not limited to the building that you are in. On the streets the city guards stand over the corpses of the innocents as their weapons drip with blood. From your view you can see the gate where there are pockets of resistance, and part of you realizes that all too soon the princess is suppose to travel through the gate into the city, which is currently an area where many of the guards are.
• Location: Drunken Sailor Inn
  • mf11 - Ghelach Dhuulkhaar
    
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    Snapping free from your vision you are sadly not quick enough to catch the man before he exits, at which point his arm sprays blood as a crossbow bolt tears into it and out the other side, sending the man falling to the ground. Luckily for him by this point you are able to reach him and pull him back into the Inn leaving a trail of blood.
    
    For the moment the yellow-armored city guard leaves you be as a “hero” attacks him. The “hero” is dressed stupidly for battle, all flowing clothing with a cape and a weapon that looks like a twig that is ready to snap under the slightest pressure. That is what happens when the guard turns and splits the rapier in half, and rips open the fools throat, but his sacrifice bought you enough time to finish dragging the man into the Inn proper.
    
    Speaking words to you he pulls out a well-worn weapon when another guard enters, followed by several others. The various patrons of the establishment look up at the sudden chaos and see the yellowed-armored men with weapons dripping with blood.
    
    The first guard attacks the man while you ready your spear, and despite the crossbow bolt in his shoulder he manages to pull free his weapon and force the guard back several steps yet his weapon gets caught in the doorframe. Kicking off he manages to free the weapon and gain some distance before the guard reacts when reality shifts once again.
    
    Looking up you see the gates of the ancients, surrounded by the dead and dying. The man you just saved is breathing his last from his own weapon stabbed through his chest. Other figure that you never seen before move like shadows, their features vanishing and shifting like sand on a beach.
    
    Yet the clearest vision is of a woman clad in a white elaborate gown, looking straight at you with sorrowful eyes. Her lips move silently as blood starts to drip from the arrow in her chest. Yet she raises a hand towards you and your mind burns as something is forced into it, something unnatural, something that should not be….
    
    Snapping out of the vision you see that maybe a second has passed. Everything seems to be moving in slow motion as your body races from the aftereffects of the vision, or maybe not for you see a ghostly image of a man who looks similar to the one that you saved standing in front of him, gesturing and pointing towards the location of the gate of the ancients. The figure then vanishes with a look of horror as the battle starts making its way towards where you two are.
  • The_Outlander - Mirrassi
    
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    As you kick off against the wall, your blade comes free not a moment too soon as the guards blow that would have split your skull open misses completely. By this point the rest of the patrons in the Inn have noticed what is going on, and several of them charge the guards entering the establishment and start a bloody dance.
    
    Checking your savior you see that his eyes are unfocused, as if he is seeing something far away. Yet that look vanishes quickly as he returns from wherever he went to. By this point you see that the yellow-armored advance has been stopped and you realize that there were none of the men in this establishment when they went insane, making it far easier to rally.
    
    Looking down at your shoulder you can see the piece of wood and metal and that it is still bleeding, but very slowly. Yet trying to move it sends waves of agony through your arm, however it is getting easier to push the pain aside for the time being.
    
    Maybe that is because you are dead for you see your brother in front of you.
    
    Blinking in shock you realize that you can see through him, and as proven when a random person goes flying through him he is not really there. However he gestures at you to get up, and points urgently out the door, towards a destination that you can’t see. His mouth moves as if screaming however no sounds come from it, however he then turns and with a look of horror vanishes. By this point you realize that the battle is starting to approach where you and the goblin that saved you have taken shelter.
• Location: The Great Gate
  • Inspectre - Galen Sar-Terechou
    
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    Knocking the tarp over the heads of the guards seems to have done the trick, for as they try to remove themselves from it you move in like an angle of death. All too quickly the white and yellow tarp takes on a red and pink hue as your sword stabs through it, with each stab being rewarded with a piercing scream and your fist rings with blows that shatter bone.
    
    Far too quickly the screams fade and there is no more movement. Ripping off the tarp you find one helmet that is still relatively intact and after several tugs, one of which rips the head of the guard off his body you remove the helmet. In addition you take one of their swords, and a quick look at it reveals t to apparently be a mundane weapon, worn with bits of rust on it but still sharp judging by the specks of blood on the blade. Sheathing it and placing it around you waist you take the bracelet and dagger and leave some change on the counter, for the owner has long since ran away screaming.
    
    Taking off your hopes that simply holding the helmet would hide you from the guards fails. Several of them turns towards you holding the bloodied helmet and while their eyes scream terror and regret over their actions their legs and arms tell another story as they start approaching you. The good news is that they are now focusing on you instead of innocent civilians, those that are able to start dragging themselves away to safety
    
    A quick look reveals that about nine guards are chasing after you as you tear through the market heading for the church. However you come to a stop when at an upcoming intersection you see another three guards finishing hacking away at what used to be several civilians, and what looks to be another guard as well though his helmet is mysteriously missing. Crawling along the ground is a woman holding what appears to be her inners within her stomach, though judging by her dress she is suppose to be an armed guard for one of the nations here. Despite the gaping wound she has a short sword in hand as one of the city guard approaches her.
    
    Yet this was not enough to save her until you thudded into the scene in your heavy armor and the three guards turn to look at you, ignoring the girl for the moment. Behind you there are nine guards, some of them winded as if they are exhausted from the run and in front of you three.
    
    Off up ahead you can see the gate, which means down the road it should be a straight shot to the church once you can get clear of these guards.
  • Silverkiss - Julius "Dragonblood" Renfield
    
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    Holding your fury at bay you attack the first of the city guard. Your blow catches him across the jaw, making it so that he will be eating gruel for a while until his jaw heals but it sends him flying to the ground unconscious. Kicking out at another city guard you take a second to look around. All around you the city guard have gone insane it seems as they are attacking anyone not clad in the uniform of the city guard. Here and there those that have the look seeing combat before are holding their own and the streets are starting to run red with the blood of those dying this day.
    
    You see where your sister has dragged herself away and notice that at least four of the city guard are attacking those near her and are heading towards her. One of them get’s too close, and despite her grievous injuries she pulls herself up and slashes at him with her sword, sending his helmet flying. Before your eyes the other three city guard members turn as one and savagely fall upon him, hacking him to pieces. Your sister tries to take advantage of this to pull herself further away but they notice and start approaching her.
    
    Then a……. figure in a large suit of armor runs near her, and you can see no less than nine of the city guard chasing him. Taking a frantic look around you see that the suddenness of the attack has killed most of the innocents around you already, and that the pockets of resistance are holding their own at the moment and in some cases are starting to win against the city guards. At this time the person that could use the most help would be your sister.
    
    Taking one final second you listen to the air, and can hear the sounds of combat echoing throughout the entire city, as if the entire city was now under attack by those that had sworn to defend it.
• Location: Entrance to the City
  • tgva8889 - Marissa Carthwright
    
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    Realizing you are within the city itself you wait for the Avatar to speak while you duck down an alley and watch everyone. The civilians are running all over the place, screaming and crying and begging the gods for aid. Several people with the look of those that have been the horrors of combat run by with weapons drawn and engage the members of the city guard, causing even more chaos that only aids in hiding you. Yet it seems they are leaving you alone for now, yet however you are unable to see any of your family, whom are lost in the chaos.
    
    The guards are under a spell, corrupting them through their helmets that I can barely sense. They are innocents here; the puppet master is here, controlling them while he works a dark purpose that I can not determine; only that he needs to be stopped.
    
    Pausing as if thinking about something you notice that the fighting seems to be going badly for those that are not wearing the yellow armor and that it is only a matter of time before they will notice you.
    
    So many voices screaming out in terror. That is all they can do, scream out in their heads. Yet there is a purpose, they are being guided….. we must get to the gate! But we will be too late no matter what happens….
    
    Fading away for the time you recall your father describing to you the basic layout of the city. In the center of the city was the gate, an ancient object that could be used to instantly travel to other locations all over this world. Near it were the major points of trade, the main church and other key locations. With all the wars that took place the gates were shut down, the network fragmented but with the Great Peace about to take effect the entire network was brought back online, and that at the start of the ceremony the Princess would walk through the gate from the city that her mother was born in, a symbol of the united world.
    
    Looking up at the sun you quickly realize that you need to travel north to get to the city. Granted this would take you further and further away from your family, however there is a gentle pushing sensation from the Avatar, guiding you towards the Gate, towards whatever is about to happen.
• Location: VIP Entrance to the Church
  • Warpfire777 - Cosad Obutar
    
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    As the slaughter of the other guests begins your hands move by instinct. They are filled with the worn and comfortable sensation of the two pistols and they move, tracking two of the city guards. One of them is charging towards you while another is making his way towards a kneeling priest who is apparently trying to help a wounded guest. Your fingers tighten and both pistols scream thunder and kick up to point at the sky and time seems to stretch out as the adrenaline hits your system and details crystallize.
    
    The guard that is approaching the priest stops and stumbles backwards as his throat explodes in a red mist of blood and flesh. Clutching the ruins of his throat he falls onto his back, trying to gasp out in pain, trying to breath blood spurts from the wound, with each beat of his heart sending a spurt of blood that rises lower and lower, until death claims him and the blood simply dribbles from the wound.
    
    As for the other guard, the one that was charging towards you is spared from deaths embrace at this time as his upper leg explodes as the bullet enters, and a more massive explosion as it emerges from the back of his leg sends him falling to the ground, clutching the gaping wound as he screams in pain. His helmet falls of his head as he strikes the ground and he curls up into a ball whimpering as he tries to clutch the wound.
    
    Noticing that the other person who is fighting the guards seems to be trying to keep them alive you holster your pistols and pull out your scimitar. Already out of the six guards four are on the ground the other two are focused on the one-eyed man. Approaching one of them you raise the pommel of your scimitar and strike with a savage blow, sending the man flying to the ground. The other barely manages to turn before the one-eyed man sends his helmet flying off his head.
    
    Striking the ground the man gasps out as if awakening from a nightmare. Raising his hands up to his face, covered in well-worn leather gloves that have the added decoration of the blood of innocents he starts screaming.
    
    ”OhgodsohgodsIdidn’twanttoIcouldn’thelpmyselfIsawm yselfkillingthembutIcoulden’tstopohpleasekillmetel lmethisisadreampleaseKILLME!!!”
    
    Shaking and crying his eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls to the ground, unconscious. Taking a look around you see that you, the one-eyed man and the priest are the only ones who are still conscious and uninjured, with the rest of the people either dead or unconscious. In the sudden stillness you can hear the sounds of combat, as if the entire city was gripped in insanity.
  • WhiteKnight - Wulf One-Eye
    
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    As the chaos begins the shortsword in your hands moves through the air with a grace unmatched by the weapons of the guard in front of you. Smashing his face with the butt of your sword, warm blood covers your hands as the sound of breaking bone echoes in your ears. Moving through the guards you continue to strike them, and slowly they start dropping to the ground out of the fight.
    
    As you perform your dance two cracks of thunder rip through the orchestra piece. Your eye moves and spies another man holding a pair of smoking pistols as he puts them away. In front of him are two of the city guard, one of which his holding the bleeding ruin of his throat, with a priest in front of him. Each beat of his heart sends spurts of blood into the air, yet each spurt goes lower and lower until there no more blood emerges. The other victim of the pistols lies on the ground screaming in pain as he clutches a vicious looking exit wound that looks like the back of his leg simply exploded. Already there is a priest kneeling on the ground tending to him.
    
    Yet it seems that he decides to follow your lead as he pulls free a scimitar and starts attacking the remaining city guard with non-lethal blows as the flow of battle resumes. Between you and the other man it is a simple matter render the rest of the city guard unconscious except for one man who twists suddenly when you strike him, and instead of a solid blow to the back of his head and merely knocks his helmet off and sends it spinning around.
    
    He falls to the ground among the dead and the unconscious and looks down at his hands. They are covered in well-worn leather gloves and are covered with the blood of innocents. Shaking he starts screaming in terror and tears emerge from his eyes.
    
    ”OhgodsohgodsIdidn’twanttoIcouldn’thelpmyselfIsawm yselfkillingthembutIcoulden’tstopohpleasekillmetel lmethisisadreampleaseKILLME!!!”
    
    In hysterics the city guard eyes roll into the back of his head and he collapses, apparently unconscious. Looking around you see in the few minutes of chaos that are battle that only you, the man with the pistols and scimitar and the priest are conscious and uninjured. Everyone else is either dead or unconscious, with far too many of the dead being the other guests.
    
    Remembering your goal of protecting the bride and groom, you remember overhearing that the bride was gating in from another city as a symbol of the new peace, yet the groom was already in the city, most likely in the city. Looking over at the priest that person would most likely know where the prince was located if you desired to go protect him.
  • wxdruid - Dom Kyriell
    
    Spoiler

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    Emerging out the entrance a scene of chaos greets you. Lying on the ground are bodies, some withering in agony, others having already passed into whatever lies beyond. Look around you see that the city guards, identifiable in their yellow armor are the ones that are causing this slaughter and are attacking those that they swore to protect. There are only a couple of people with the presence of mind and instincts to start defending themselves against the sudden attack.
    
    Seeing on civilian lying on the ground you kneel next to the man as he screams while trying to hold his intestines within his chest. Laying your hands on him your white robes are quickly soaked with blood but slowly the wound starts to heal as you gently make sure everything is in place. So focused are you that the sound of approaching footsteps does not reach your brain until you turn and see a member of the city guard approaching, sword raised and starting to come down towards your neck.
    
    Then with a roar of thunder his throat explodes, covering you with even more blood as the city guard member grabs his throat and stumbles back, trying to hold the mangled remains of his throat together as he falls to the ground. Your current patient however is at a critical moment of his recovery and you finish healing him, dimly aware of two figures knocking out the remaining guards.
    
    Looking down at the man you see fresh pink tissue over what was once a ugly wound. The man has fainted which is probably for the best as the hysterical screams emerge from one of the city guard. Turning you see him looking at his blood soaked hands before he faints.
    
    As you stand there the screams of others throughout the city reach your ears. It appears that the events that just took place are not isolated to this quiet corner. Looking down at the city guard you realize that many of them were within the church, not to many but if they suffered from the same sickness enough to turn this day of love into a true red wedding.

[Dorizzit]

Ark Tamayus
Location: Golden Feast Hall-Streets-City Gate
Condition: 100%, unwounded

Ark sighs. Wonderful. I haven't seen anything this bad since the Parethedran Slaughter! Alright, let's see...this was probably orchestrated by a person or group. How would they get all the guards to go crazy like this? I doubt it's loyalty, that would be too risky. Ark runs from his location, noticing guards closing in, but continues his thoughts. It almost certainly wasn't individual magic, since that would be insanely expensive. So what could it...the communications crystals! Ark dashes towards a lone guard. He steels himself, preparing to execute a tricky maneuver. Just before he gets within sword range, Ark leaps with all of his strength, jumping over the guard, breaking his helmet's jawstrap, and snatching the helmet from his head. The move is so difficult and so unexpected that the guard offers no resistance.

Branching Narrative:

Success, the guard is freed from influence

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Ark lands heavily on his back, sliding a bit with the helmet clenched to his chest. Looking up, he sees the guard shaking his head in confusion. Ark stands and walks over to him. "Are you all better now? Good. What happened?" Ark listens to the guard's response. "Alright. We need to get helmets off as many guards as possible. You start spreading the word. I have other business I have to take care of. Farewell." Ark dashes off.

Failure, the guard remains crazy

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Ark lands heavily on his back, sliding a bit with the helmet clenched to his chest. He barely recovers his wits before he sees the now helmetless guard standing over him, preparing to impale Ark. Ark catches the stab in the helmet, which punches through and nearly hits him. Ark twists the sword from the guard's hand and rips it from the helmet before incapacitating his opponent with a lightning fast uppercut. Cursing inwardly, Ark dashes off.

Ark runs towards a nearby guard (or a pair if successful in restoring clarity), knocking him (or them) unconscious and taking his (their) sword(s). He takes a few seconds to test the heft of his two blades, and then Ark flees from the building. He heads for the Gate, cutting a swathe through the riotous streets, leaving a trail of insensate and disarmed guards behind him. Several times, he delays to help out a pocket of resistance, breaking the back of the guard's assault on each group before moving on. Finally, though, Ark's circuitous route lands him at the Gate. He looks around, his eyes quickly settling on a man in a heavy suit of armor, who appears to be running from a large group of guards. Deciding to help out, Ark runs forward. "Ietey Akatanou Selgioth!" Ark crashes into the guards, knocking one out with a lightning swift kick. Ark then disarms two more, and slams a foot into the gut of a fourth, bashing him into unconsciousness with a pommel to the back of the head when he bends over. Ark ties up the three remaining swords, twisting them out of the grip of their owners. Dropping his own, Ark makes short work of the remaining guards. He stoops to pick up two of the fallen blades, twirling them around to get a sense of their heft.

[wxdruid]

Kyriell feels the rain of blood and he tiredly pushes back a strand of brown hair, now dripping red, from his eyes. He stares down at the man he healed, he looks up, his vision blurs as he takes in the scene. He’s surprised to still be alive, he expected to die, almost wanted to. He pushes these thoughts aside, no time now. There is another wounded man to assist, no matter what he wears. He ungracefully scrambles to his feet and almost lurches over to the man with the horrific leg wound. His bloody habit drags against his legs. He lifts it with one bloody hand and stumbles to his knees by the wounded man. He reaches out with his hands, bows his head and shuts everything else out, his training taking over. A green aura faintly manifests around his head as he concentrates on healing.

Bone and flesh knit beneath his fingertips as he slowly withdraws them from the wound. He bows his head and briefly touches the man’s forehead with one finger and whispers [color=blue]Sleep…[/blue] In his already weakened state, he shouldn’t be able to resist.

Kyriell looks up with world weary eyes, the pain evident in the lines of his face. He brushes one hand across his forehead to banish his fatigue as he looks for the next victim he can assist. His look passes over the two people standing nearby and he gets to his feet and heads towards the next wounded person.

[The_Snark]

Ula

She turns to look questioningly at the four people following her. "Lily. Arjun?" While she doesn't know who's who, saying their names will probably tell her that much. "Follow me. We'll be heading that way for a bit." She nods to the right.

She then looks at the two who didn't respond to the names: the Queen and her bodyguard, she supposed. So that was what a queen looked like; the clothes did look fancy, like she remembered hearing about. Funny that she was here instead of living in a palace, though. "You're to go that way," she tells them, pointing in the direction they had been running in, "and wait up there a ways until we get back." She waits for them to acknowledge this before turning to go.

[ForzaFiori]

Ghelach Dhuulkhaar

Seeing the odd apparition, Ghelach realizes that they have little time. He starts moving to the door, conjuring a ball of fire into his hand has me moves, and calling to his new acquaintance. Come, we must hurry! We must reach the Gates of the Ancients! he calls backwards, before using his fire to launch streams of fire at the yellow clad guards, thin lines of flames streak from his hand, erupting around and on the guards when they hit. As they reach the door, he sends a final blast out of it, in a large fireball, before rushing out, then down the street that moves closest to the direction his vision pointed him. He conjures flames onto the tip of his spear, and the blade of the strange man's sword, then stops briefly to catch his breath. Tell me stranger, so I know just how insane I am. Was that man in there one of my visions, or was he for everyone to see? He looked rather like you, maybe a relative? He pointed towards the Gate of the Ancients, an area I saw in my vision before the man entered the inn. I have a feeling we need to go there, though I doubt it will all end perfectly either way.

[WhiteKnight777]

Wulf One-Eye

Wulf grunted a little, indifferent to the guards - they seemed incompetent, but whether that was because they were being ordered against their will or because they were simply ill trained, he was unsure. Moving through the crowd, Wulf approached the priest, fixing the man with his one good eye, taking a moment to give a nod to the scimitar-wielding fellow who'd been helping out. Adressing the priest, he spoke in a low undertone, his face only inches away from the holy man's

Where's the Bridegroom? Need to get him to safety - I fear that these unwelcome guests are here for him.

[wxdruid]

Dom Kyriell

Kyriell comes to a sudden halt as a one-eyed man stops in front of him. He looks up at him, uncomprehending for a moment. He backs up a step and looks at him, The bridegroom? He should be inside the church. I warned them before I came out here to help the wounded. He glances toward the church, so majestic in the sunlight, a direct contrast to the bloody mess on the streets. I told them to lock the doors, keep the guard out. There may be some of them in there, I’m not sure. He dreads going back into the church, afraid of what he’ll find, his memories more than fill in the blanks.

[Lonna]

Lily Deliack

Lily ignored the filth, her mind on far more important things. No signs of pursuit or ambush, but she had completely lost all sense of direction in this narrow twisting alleyway. And now the child she had instinctively trusted to guide them was stopped, as if she too had lost her way.

And then the child spoke Lily's name, which she could not have known, and proceeded to give orders as calmly as if this were a drill and she the training master. Lily stared, so taken aback by this strange turn of events that she very nearly missed the rest of the instructions.

"Now hold on just a minute. We're all going to the embassy, why do you want us to split up? I can't protect the Queen if I'm not with her!"

Not that I'm entirely happy with protecting my owner in the first place, but I don't know what would happen to me if she died now. Back home I'd be executed as a rebellious slave and accessory to regicide if I failed to keep her alive. The laws may be different here but even if they are I don't know if they would apply to me. I don't dare take that risk.

[TheOutlander]

Mirrassi

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Location: Outside the Drunken Sailor inn
Condition: 84%, shot in left shoulder, less use of the left arm, mobile, but in pain.

Dislodging the blade from the wall, Mirrassi enjoyed the narrow miss that would have left his brains along the inside of his cheek, ducking under the blow, Mirrassi began to charge, but stopped suddenly when the bolt lodged in his shoulder caught the wall, and the slight tug caused him to stop, curling his chest in pain, as the patrons did masterfully what he was trying for.

Looking at the goblin, Mirrassi saw his glazed expression as he turned to look at his brother. His brother had been dead for almost twenty years, so how was it that he was here, now? Mirrassi reached for his hand, but as he touched Davinius's fingertips, a man flew through him, tumbling from the giant fracas that had erupted.

As he knelt down, he drew his knife from his boot, unlocking it, and with a breath, cut the wood bolt half a centemeter from his furs, breathing out as the knife split the bolt in two.

Now being able to move around, he followed his brother's silent instructions as he recreated the moment of his death.

"Come, we must hurry! We must reach the Gates of the Ancients!" his green friend called back to him, conjuring great streams of flame and hurling them at the yellow-clad oppressors.

Mirrassi stood up, and again unsheathed the siaphe, nearing the greenskin mage, and watched as he threw an immense fireball into a nearing mass of the city guard. He then watched as his diminuative savior lit both his spear and the siaphe into bursts of flames. However, as soon as he lit the saiphe, the fire went out, which gave him time to pause and ask
"Tell me stranger, so I know just how insane I am. Was that man in there one of my visions, or was he for everyone to see? He looked rather like you, maybe a relative? He pointed towards the Gate of the Ancients, an area I saw in my vision before the man entered the inn. I have a feeling we need to go there, though I doubt it will all end perfectly either way."
He saw? how could he have seen, it happened so long ago, his spirit trapped with me, how could this outlander see what I could?
Mirrassi was not only suprised, but he was saddened and almost angry that someone so different could speak of his twin brother.

Regaining his composure, Mirrassi looked at the goblin straight in the face.
Grabbing the goblin's shoulder, he said:
"Your tongue seeks answers your ears will not hear, but now is not the time, lead on, warlock, let your fire be our guide."

Strapping the messenger bag tighter to his chest and waist, he swiftly exited the inn, lending the blade of his siaphe to whoever was unfortunate enough to give him reason, all the while listening to the disembodied vocals of his mother, singing his brother's requiem.

The powers angered a titan.

They would have to deal with its rage.

[Silverkiss]

Julius Dragonblood
Location: The Gate
Condition: 100%

Julius quickly looks around; everyone still alive seems able to hold for themselves. With no second thoughts, he starts running full speed towards the place where his sister is. He can see a man taking care of a great number of guards, but there are still the three from before running towards his sister. No time to lose. Sorry, father. Unsheating his katana, Julius jumps; he beheads one of the guards in mid-air, turning around and slashing open another one's chest; with a quick thrust the last remaining guard has his heart pierced.

Cleaning and sheating his katana, Julius turns to his sister. "Are you alright, Anya ? Can you handle your wounds ? We need to treat them as soon as possible."

"Ugh, I'm fine. The wound's deep, but I think it didn't reach any vital spots. I can handle until we find somewhere safe to get them treated."

"Marvelous." - Julius looks to the two man, who indirectly helped save his sister, with a look of gratitude in his eyes.

[ForzaFiori]

Ghelach Dhuulkhaar
Location: Outside the Drunken Sailor inn
Status: 100%

I will find the answers I feel, whether my ears will hear them or not. Come, we must be quick. Ghelach answers. I'm afraid the fire will have to wait though, It takes much energy to conjure and control the flames. Your shoogal tuur, why did it go out? It is the first time I've seen my flames do that He adds, as he moves forward. He stops suddenly though. Your wound, I fear that we need to do something about it, so it doesn't become sickly. I am not a doctor, but I can keep the wound from festering, though it will hurt. Do you wish me to, or would you like to wait for a doctor?

[tgva8889]

Marissa Carthwright
Condition: 100%

The chaos was even more evident than it had been before. Turning back towards the fighting, Marissa saw soldiers fighting civilians, striking as many as they could without the mercy they would normally have shown. People ran in terror as the advancing yellow-clad barbarians methodically killed each foe they fought. Watching it made Marissa almost sick. But she realized that standing and watching would not help at all. She had already accepted that the Avatar was not going to assist her in her understanding of what was going on, but nonetheless she pestered it again.

I ask again, what the heck is going on? There was a long moment of silence in her mind, then she heard an unexpected voice. The guards are under a spell, corrupting them through their helmets that I can barely sense. They are innocents here; the puppet master is here, controlling them while he works a dark purpose that I can not determine; only that he needs to be stopped.

The words fill Marissa with thought. So what do we do? Can we find this "puppet master"? How would we even begin to do anything about him when we did? Her focus turned back to the soldiers, and Marissa realized that they were beginning to kill all the civilians who had weapons training. Without anyone to defend them, the common folk would be slain easily. We have to do something! The Avatar's response seemed distant, almost completely unreal. So many voices screaming out in terror. That is all they can do, scream out in their heads. Yet there is a purpose, they are being guided…we must get to the gate! But we will be too late no matter what happens…

Marissa remembered clearly when her father had been teaching her about the city. The gate, at the center, would be the place from which the princess would arrive. It was the wedding day. Marissa knew that if the princess arrived in the chaos of the city, terrible things could occur. Though she felt the tugging of the Avatar towards the gate, Marissa knew herself that she would have to be at that gate when the princess arrived as well. Something had set these events in motion, and Marissa knew that Salaria wanted her here for some reason.

Am I still in control of my own destiny anymore? Avatar, tell me, what am I supposed to do? Marissa felt the mental tug again and she knew what the Avatar wanted. I have to find my own destiny. Stop forcing me to find it before I want to. Her feet moved of her own accord, and soon she was moving as quickly as she could, her legs never trembling, never faltering a step as she concentrated her full strength on racing towards the gate. I can't just let events occur the way they are set to now. We have to do something, Avatar, and you know it. When the time comes, I will need you. That should not be a problem. Salaria does want you here, and we will together figure out that reason. Usually I know her motives, but now I do not know what fate has brought us here to do.

Marissa smiled. "Fate? We'll see whether it's fate or not that we're here."

[The_Snark]

Ula

Of course, they would want to know why. It was a waste of time, but it didn't look like the woman, at least, was willing to go unless she explained, so she did. "There are some people in that direction who need to be killed," she said matter-of-factly, the same way she would have spoken relating directions to them. "The others will be safer waiting for us until you're finished doing it."

[TheOutlander]

Mirrassi

Mirrassi looked at the inquisitive goblin, kneeling down to eye level, and said
"If you beleive you can help, grab the thing sticking out of my back, and pull, I've some salt in my bag, can help ease the healing process, or so i've been told."
As he reached into his bag, he paused. "As to your other question. I'm unnaffected by the weapons and salves of the spirit world, but that is also a story for another time."
He braced himself for the pain that would take place, the wooden shaft probably already expanding because of the moisture it absorbed.
As he held onto the goblin, he thought of home. and not the procedure that was about to occur.

[ForzaFiori]

Ghelach Dhuulkhaar

Ghelach grabs the arrow in his back and pulls sharply on it, bracing his hand against his companion's back. With a bit of effort, the stub pops out with a slight squelch sound. He reaches into the bag his friend mentioned, and pulled some salt from it, placing it on both wounds. He then summoned a bit of his own power, running a very light and tiny flame along the wound to kill any bad tissue that had formed. Finally, he tore a long strip from his shirt, binding the wound to keep pressure on it. I have been injured much to many times. That is becoming almost a reflex for me He thought as he finished the quick job. I just realized, I still do not know your name good sir. I myself am Ghelach Dhuulkhaar.

[TheOutlander]

Mirrassi

"I am called Mirrassi." he said, replacing his furs.
"Now, if I'm not mistaken, we're to head to the gate. I suggest we do that."

[Lonna]

Lily Deliack

Lily hesitated, looking down the two paths the strange girl had indicated. No way of telling where the sounds of fighting were coming from, so she'd have to trust the child for that much at least. If I go straight with the Queen, we may be caught up and overwhelmed from behind. If I go to the side, it may buy them some time, or they may be ambushed ahead. She glanced at their guide. In for a copper, in for a gold I suppose. If I'm going to trust her for part I may as well trust her for the whole.

"Your Majesty, we had better go along with this. Continue on toward the embassy - I'll make sure the guards down this way don't catch you from behind. You-" she pointed at the bodyguard, "stay with the Queen. You-" she pointed at the ragged looking diplomat who had attached himself to the group, "do whatever you want.

[ForzaFiori]

Ghelach Dhuulkhaar

yes, Mirrassi, you are correct. We must get to the Gate of the Ancients...whatever that is. Come, its this way! He calls, setting off down the street at a jog

[Ambon]

Arjun Takei

Arjun cursed in his head. Wasn't the entire point of traveling in a group a matter of defense? Of superior numbers? Now this urchin, who seemed inhuman in her calm, who knew his name and seemed to be sometimes lost and sometimes guided, wanted to split them up. More than that, but to leave the killing to this lady, Lily, and himself rather than the guard.
But she seemed so sure, and there was no other option.
As he deliberated, indecisive, he watched Lily command her Queen and point at him.
This woman who seemed so much like a noble of a court, like a flower, did not act like one; she was more like a power, a survivor who had insulted and impressed him. He decided. He would throw his lot in with her.
"Then I will follow you."
If they were expecting violence then he must be prepared. Without his armour or a true weapon, all he had to fall back on was his training. And these foreigners were ignorant of it, could not distinguish between a legal and a forbidden technique so long as he was discrete. In preparation he picked a minor spell and let it build up within him. He felt the static charge of its power bloom behind his eyes and in the heat of his breath and stilled it with the force of his will before its full unfurling.

[Lonna]

Lily Deliack

Lily simply nodded at the Arjun's statement, not allowing herself the luxury of surprise. 'Surprise is delay; delay is death.' No time to worry about whether I made the right choice. Now that I've made a decision it's time to get serious. Shoving one of her long knives back into its hidden sheath, she used her now free hand to quickly undo two of the ornamental bows that decorated the dress. Then, reaching for the seam between the skirt and bodice of the dress, she tugged.

The skirt came off - not with a rough tearing of cloth, but with the gentle whisper of silken cords coming loose - to reveal a matching pair of breeches, complete with silver cuffs, into which was tucked the blouse that had formed the bodice of the dress. Rather than a lady's slippers, she wore soft leather boots, dyed lilac to match the rest. Strapped to her left leg was a short sword, its plain, practical black sheath stark against the pastel cloth. Tossing the skirt onto a nearby barrel (the cleanest thing she had seen at a glance), Lily offered the sword to Arjun hilt first. "You'll need this. I'll want it back afterwards, so don't lose it." (If Arjun doesn't take it she'll shrug and put it back where it was.)

Re-drawing her second knife, Lily faced the direction their guide had indicated she should go. "This way right? Then let's go."

[The_Snark]

Ula

Arjun's agreement cut off what Ula was about to say, which was that no, he would not do whatever he wanted, he had to come with them. Raven hadn't said why, but he had named Arjun, and Raven almost always had reasons, even if he didn't want to explain them.

Which was probably for the same reason she found it a little irritating to wait for the others. She'd never had to explain much to people before, not when it was important, and now she could see a little of why Raven just told her where to go in times like these. Ula waited with as much patience as she could muster, though it made her feet itch with her desire to be moving again. At least they had stopped wasting time asking why and started getting ready to fight.

Lily said they were ready, and Ula wasted no more time, taking off into the alley at a light run and trusting them to keep up.

[Pwenet]

Prologue

• Location: Embassy Lane – A Dark and Crowded Alley
  • Ambon - Arjun Takei
    
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    Building up the magic within you Lily hands you a sword. Taking it for it is much better than the wooden ceremonial sword that you started this morning off with you are confident that you are ready to defend yourself when needed. Listening to Lily is seems that she is going along with what the strange girl is saying, and you nod along with them despite thinking that safety in numbers would be a better solution.
    
    Except for the Queen who disagrees with the plan.
    
    ”Now listen here. I trust you to keep me alive, so I am staying with you. We will stay behind you while you deal with the guards this…. Urchin says are up ahead. Guard, you will cover our back.”
    
    The tone of voice is one you have heard many times in your life, the tone of one who has already come to their own conclusion as to what to do and they can’t be talked out of no matter what. It seems looking at Lily expression that she recognizes the tone as well and nods. The girl stares intently and whispers something under her breath that you can’t make out before your small party moves out.
    
    Making your way through the alleys you come across the opening. The girl hides behind some barrels and starts stringing up a small hunting bow as you all look upon a scene of horror. Five guards stand around a group of fallen civilians, while two of them with swords hack apart the bodies of what looks to be a family, men, women, and children. Two others are firing off crossbow bolts at fleeing civilians and one with a fighting pike is standing there.
    
    Biting your tongue you manage to keep your silence, especially with the spell racing within you. Lily too manages to keep silent along with the little girl.
    
    The Queen gasps out in shock.
    
    The guards spin around like one. The two crossbow wielding ones just finished reloading and fire. The bolts waver in the air but strike their target, the Queen who falls to the ground, clutching a bolt that is stabbed deep into the side of her throat.
    
    As the two with crossbows start to reload their weapons the two armed with swords approach you, eyes filled with panic and horror but in bodies that are moving with a deadly grace. The pikeman is approaching Lily and the guard apparently is having issues with the rear, leaving with at the mercy of the two guards approaching you.
  • Lonna - Lily Deliack
    
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    As you speak to your Queen as you agree with the little girl she looks at you with a expression of scorn and scoffs at you.
    
    ”Now listen here. I trust you to keep me alive, so I am staying with you. We will stay behind you while you deal with the guards this…. Urchin says are up ahead. Guard, you will cover our back.”
    
    Suppressing a groan you quickly recognize the “I am the Queen I am in charge do not disagree” tone of voice. To argue against it will be futile, no matter the objects, and in fact it would waste time that none of you had.
    
    The diplomat takes your offered sword and he holds it with the look of one who has used such weapons before which moves him up from “completely useless” to “possibly useless” category. The little girl has a hunting bow with a quiver of arrows and what appears to be a wooden hunting spear. The guard takes his rear-guard position dutifully and cracks his neck as your small party moves forward.
    
    ”She is going to die.”
    
    Your ears pick up the barely audible whisper from the girl, but before you can react you all reached the mouth of the alley. Visible up ahead are five guards, three of which are currently hacking at various bodies, several of which you notice belong to children while the other two are shooting crossbow bolts at various people running away.
    
    Your training kicks in and you manage to stifle a gasp of horror, and while the diplomat looks disgusted he does not make any noise. The little girls looks over a barrel emotionlessly at the dead bodies as she starts stringing up her hunting bow. The guard luckily does not see any of this facing the other way.
    
    The Queen gasps out in shock.
    
    Like one the five guards whirl and adrenaline hits your system and time stretches out. The two with crossbows raise their weapons and let loose. Your hand flashes out, and the air starts to solidify but too slowly, far too slowly.
    
    The first bolt veers off course and catches the Queen high in the chest, sending her spinning around. As she spins the second one partially slowed down merely stabs into the side of the Queen’s neck lodging itself there as she falls to the ground, clawing at the shaft as blood swells around the wound. The guard turns and sees what has happened with a look of horror and screams out:
    
    ”MY QUEEN!!”
    The two crossbow wielding guards start working on reloading their weapons while the other three rush forward, two with swords and one with a pike, all the weapons covered with blood. The guard then screams out a curse as a pair of guards, apparently attracted to his screams come from the north. He leaps up and attacks them as the pike wielding guard rushes towards you while the pair of sword wielding guards charge at the diplomat.
  • The_Snark - Ula
    
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    As Lily takes charge you are pleased that they are listening to you. They will live now for they are following Raven ’s instructions.
    
    Then the Queen has to interrupt and decide that she knew best. What did she know about survival? Did she have Raven . You think about speaking up but looking over the face of Lily you see her expression freeze, like one who has given up fighting and instead takes off towards the directions you gave.
    
    ”She is going to die.”
    
    The tiny whisper manages to work its way through you brain and into actual speech for the Queen is being stupid and not listening to you. You don’t think the others heard you, but Lily looks at your strangely before Raven speaks to you.
    
    Kill the men with crossbows. If Lily tries to heal the Queen, kill the Queen. Healing the Queen will kill Lily, and she is needed to save the world. The Queen made her choice and choose poorly.
    
    Approaching the end of the alley you hide behind a barrel while the others sneak up as pull out your hunting bow and string it up and pick out an arrow to use. Up ahead are five of the yellow armored men who are butchering people, including children. You hold your tongue, knowing that a quiet hunter is the one that will be fed that night, and everyone else does as well.
    
    Except for the Queen. The stupid Queen who would not listen to you. And now she has a crossbow bolt sticking out of her throat and chest and the guard starts screaming, ruining the hunt.
    
    It looks like out of the five guards, one is armed with a sharp spear weapon, two with swords and two with crossbows. The two with swords are going to Arjun, the one with the spear is going towards Lily and the ones with crossbows are starting to reload their crossbows. The bows are slow to reload and you should have time enough to fire at them.
• Location: Drunken Sailor Inn
  • tgva8889 - Marissa Carthwright
    
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    Racing through the unknown city, you find yourself somehow knowing where to go. What alleys to duck into, what streets are safe to sprint madly through, where the guards are and how to avoid them. Not outright speaking to you can sense the gentle tugs of the Avatar guiding you towards the gate, towards the center of town.
    
    Already the buildings are starting to grow taller, more decorated with gargoyles, drains, plant life and statues. In addition the bodies are now starting to grow more numerous.
    
    You had seen the dead before. Yet these dead were not soldiers, were not raiders, and were not even adults. Bits of little children lie on the streets along with their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. The guards did not discriminate based on gender or age, anything that was not them apparently was fair game as far as they were concerned in their mad slaughter of the civilian population within the city.
    
    Already more and more guards were starting to populate the area, and it was starting to get harder to hide from them. Emerging from a alley you see chaos surrounding what appears to be a inn. Through the windows you can see people fighting, mostly mercenaries based. Then two people emerge from the inn, a goblin of all creatures and a man wearing furs, which was very strange for this time of the year. The man had a bandage around his left shoulder which was already stained with blood, along with their weapons. Already more guards are starting to rush towards them.
    
    ”Fate plays a complicated symphony, the goblin is already mixed in with it along with….. an emptiness next to him. They might be able to help.”
    
    A heavy footstep behind you gives you enough warning to jump forward as with a whistle in the air a sword flashes where your head used to be. Rolling you can see a guard, his weapon badly in need of replacement and a cleaning of the blood and other objects you force yourself not to think about. Missing he does not curse, scream and even grunt. Instead with eyes full of panic and fear he approaches you and the rest of his body moves with the deadly grace of one who knows what to do and how to do it.
  • mf11 - Ghelach Dhuulkhaar
    
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    After pulling out the rest of the arrow from the man you will know as Mirrassi arm, you can’t but wonder for a minute what could cause one to be immune to magic. Never have you heard of one being unaffected. Pushing those thoughs aside you look at the wound and form a tiny shaft of flame. Shooting it through the wound you do not compensate enough and the flame goes out the second it touches the man. Focusing deeper you form an even smaller shaft of flame, this one that goes completely through the wound. Watching you see that the heat is doing its work, blackening the flesh and halting the bleeding. Yet focusing on such a tiny shaft of flame is harder than one would think, and after several long seconds you stop, but it seems that you managed to clean the wound enough for the time being. Binding it with a strip of cloth from your shirt you take a moment to look around.
    
    The inn that you had been able to find that would let you stay the night (at a cost you suspected with much high than others had to pay) was not in a good section of the city, but with the high mercenary population within it, it was actually safe and you had no issues. However you were not fully sure where the gate was, perhaps your new companion knew.
    
    Heavy footsteps then catch the attention of your ears and you see a small group of city guards approaching, their weapons dripping with blood. Out of the corner of your eye you catch glimpse of a young human female, hiding who looks at you with a look of confusion before she leaps forward as a guard attacks her from behind. Yet your attention was shifted back towards the guards that were far to rapidly approaching you.
  • The_Outlander - Mirrassi
    
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    As the arrow is removed the pain is intensifies but starts to dim away. Looking down at the goblin you see that he is looking at the wound, and then he moves his around close to it. Flame emerges, but the second it touches your flesh it vanishes. He seems to focus and this time a very tiny yet focused shaft of flame appears and the smell of burning flesh assaults your nose. It is not the flames striking your wound but the heat from them that is burning the flesh, cleansing it. The flames go out and the goblin continues to work on bandaging the wound while you look around.
    
    Having been around the city wandering since you arrived you had a idea where to go. In fact you were fairly close to the gate, for while this section of the city did not seem to be doing too well, there were several main roads that led to the gate for traffic.
    
    As you replace your furs you hear the furious sounds of footsteps approaching from the opposite direction and see multiple guards approaching the two of you. The path to the gate looked clear at the moment however, yet then your eye caught the sight of a young human female, who looked to have been hiding in a alley who suddenly leaps forward and out of the path of a weapon swing that would have sent her head flying as a guard attacks her from behind.
    
    By this point the other guards are nearly upon the two of you.
• Location: The Great Gate
  • Dorizzit - Ark Tamayus
    
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    Leaping up and over the guard you manage to break the jawstrap to the guard helmet and are able to grab it off the guard head. The difference is light night and day. The guard collapses, clutching his head and groaning in pain. Approaching the guard in question you being your interrogation as he starts shaking and tears start to swell around his eyes.
    
    ”Are you all better now? Good. What happened?”
    
    ”I don’t know, everything was going fine, then there was a noise over the crystals, a noise that drove deep into my brain. It was as if then it was a nightmear, everything was covered in a fog, oh gods, did I kill those people!”
    
    ” Alright. We need to get helmets off as many guards as possible. You start spreading the word. I have other business I have to take care of. Farewell.”
    
    Dashing off you attack two more guards, and are able to steal their swords and flee from the building. As you flee you notice that the guard you happened to have saved is starting to attack his brethren, removing their helmets as well, and snapping them back into reality.
    
    As time passes you work your way towards the center of the city where the great Gate is located. By this point your borrowed swords and dented and chipped from the near-constant combat and your left arm sends waves of pain through you thanks to a lucky slash one guard managed to get in before you were able to remove his helmet. Luckily for you the wound is not deep and barely touched the muscle but it was still annoying.
    
    Reaching the great Gate itself you see a Man in a Heavy Suit of Armor who looks to be being chased by several of the possessed guards. Making the decision to help him out despite the odds you run forward and manage to knock one guard out. Two more then approach and their swords slash at you. Disarming them a fourth one manages to sneak up on you and slash out as you kick him, so instead of taking off the top of your head your forehead instead splits open and blood starts dripping into your eyes. Knocking him out you wipe away the blood before it starts making its way into your eyes however the wound is still leaking the vital fluid.
    
    By this point the remaining guards attack, and it is not a pretty sight. Managing to tie up the remaining swords they still are able to open deep gashes into your arms before you twist them out of the grips of their owners. Knocking them out, leaving them bruised and bloodied (with more of your blood than theirs by this point) you look to see that the man in the plated armor is methodically executing the unconscious guards, and that there is another newcomer who is pulling his sword out of the body of another group of guards before he approaches a badly wounded woman on the ground.
    
    Taking two swords you start checking them out and see that while they are simple weapons, and somewhat weaker than you would like they should be useful for the time being.
  • Inspectre - Galen Sar-Terechou
    
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    Fleeing from the guards that are chasing you thoughts of attacking them comes to mind. Yet before you can react a man throws himself upon the guards, and despite taking multiple wounds over his body he manages to subdue them. In addition there is another person who rushes towards the badly wounded girl, and permanently takes care of those guards in question. Looking at the unconscious guards you pull out the dagger and start methodically slicing open the throats for the unconscious guards, making sure that when they awaken that they do not cause any more trouble.
    
  • Silverkiss - Julius "Dragonblood" Renfield
    
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    Your sudden attack upon the two guards takes them by surprise, and all too quickly your lethal attacks strike home, sending the three poor souls to whatever afterlife awaits them. Turning to your sister you two exchange words yet you notice the pale look to her face, the strain around her eyes and the deep opening in her abdomen where you can see organs that should not be visible to the naked eye. Yet she is a grown woman, and is able to take care of herself but you can’t help to wonder if she is trying not to let you worry about her.
    
    Turning to the two saviors you take your first good look at them. The man in the heavy suit of armor is methodically moving about the unconscious guards, and is opening up their throats with a dagger, as if to make sure that they will be unable to cause any more trouble. The other man is bleeding from what looks to be multiple wounds, especially around his lower arms and forehead yet he is twirling a pair of swords around and checking them out.
    
    Groaning out your sister reaches out and grabs your arm.
    
    ”The princess *cough* she is coming *cough* soon! They won’t know *ARGH!* what is happening here, you must *cough* clear the gate.”
    
    Speaking seems to drain her and she starts to cough up blood during the sentence, yet there is truth to her words. Look up towards one of the tall clock-towers that decorates the city you see that the hour of the arrival has nearly come.
• Location: VIP Entrance to the Church
  • Warpfire777 - Cosad Obutar
    
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    Standing around looking at the bodies around you, you hear the sounds of approaching people. Your hands start moving trying to reload your pistols when several guards round a corner, several of them armed with crossbow bolts. Time stretches and slows as you see them, see their fingers tighten against the triggers, the bolts fly through the air, and the sudden pressure as several of them drive themselves into your chest.
    
    Falling backwards you expected that there would be more pain but there is only a strange numbness working its way through your body. You feel like you are being moved and you look up at the sun. Hovering in front of it is a shadowed figure, with two large wings beating in the air, robes swishing in the air as a thin hand reaches down. You feel as if you should know who this is, what they are but your mind feels slow and sluggish as your own arm starts to respond, yet you feel that if you take the hand, you would be committed to a path you would not be able to back down from.
  • WhiteKnight - Wulf One-Eye
    
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    Exchanging words with the priest who is healing those wounded around you, the sounds of armored footsteps catches your ears. Turning you see several more guards approaching. Your eye flickers among them, taking in details. Dented armor stained with blood and other fluids. Weapons chipped and cracked also covered in blood. Crossbows loaded and firing towards you.
    
    Twisting around you manage to dodge the few bolts sent towards you, though a few manage to cut into your clothes. You manage to catch a glimpse of the priest and see that he is safe as well, however the man with the two pistols is not as a trio of crossbow bolts drive themselves into his chest and he falls back into the priest. Looking over at the guards, you notice that the crossbow men are working much more effectively, firing in salvos, leaving little chance to approaching them to melee range. Those not armed with crossbows are approaching as well.
    
    Out of the corner of your eye you can spy the priest starting to move back, dragging his wounded savior with him towards what appears to be the door, being held slightly open by one of the acolytes within the church. Near impossible odds facing you, possible salvation behind you, and it seems that the priest has already made a choce.
  • wxdruid - Dom Kyriell
    
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    Your efforts to heal the man with the open leg wound succeed and the flesh and bone knits itself back together under the effects of your healing spells. Touching his forehead you whisper a single word to him, and he obeys the command to sleep, falling unconscious. The one-eyed man approaches and the two of your exchange words when the rumble of footsteps catches your attention. Coming down the path are several more of the guards, far too many to fight. The nearby door then creeks open and you can see one of the acolytes within. With panic in his eyes he gestures towards you to come back into the church. Turning to see the mass of enemies at one end and possible safety within the church, the guards then take action.
    
    Several of them are armed with crossbows, and they let them go flying. None of them come towards you, and the one-eyed manage manages to twist out of the way of them. However the one who saved you, who until this moment has been silent gasps out in pain as three bolts strike him in the chest and he falls back onto you. Hefting his weight you can hear his frantic breathing, gasps for air already growing bubbly. You know that you can save him, but not here, not under attack, but within a safe spot he might have a chance at life.
    
    Your body then takes over and starts moving backwards while you drag your savior with you towards the open door. The acolyte ducks as a stray bolt flies towards him but keeps the door open a crack, apparently ready to open it fully at a moments notice once you get there.

[Dorizzit]

Ark walks over to Julius, as he doesn't have any other pressing concerns at the moment, having reached a lull in the combat. Coming to a halt next to Julius, he hears Julius' sister's dire proclamation. Ark sticks one of his swords forcefully into the ground, and then taps Julius on the shoulder. "Hello. My name is Ark. We seem to have similar goals. I am going to try to clear the area around the gate. Care to join me?"

[Lonna]

Lily Deliack

If time had slowed when the guards fired, it nearly stopped when the arrows hit their target. Lily found her mind racing as she looked between the Queen who owned her and the charging guards.

It... happened... I didn't save her. That's a fatal wound - she'll die within minutes if I don't heal her. But if I heal her, even if I recover from the wound it will be a minute before I'm well enough to fight, and that pikeman will be on us too quickly. She'll only get hurt again. Which means I'll get hurt again. But if I fight the guard she will probably die before I can kill- wait! The guard, earlier he said the city guard's channel had a strange sound, an unnatural sound. If I can get the helmet off the guard's head it might return him to normal, and that would mean I might be able to save the Queen. It's a long shot, but it's my only chance to get out of this without being executed for regicide and rebellion.

Decision made, she charged at the pikeman, shouting to her allies as she ran. "Get the helmets off!" Ducking away from her opponent's downward strike, she deflected it to one side with her left knife, continuing forward to let her right knife skim past the guard's cheek, slicing his helmet strap and part of his ear before she slammed into him. He fell backward, unable to compensate for both the weight of the deflected pike and the sudden impact, his helmet flying off as he struck the ground. Lily landed on her forearms as she had been taught, letting her extra momentum carry her off the guard and into a roll that allowed her to regain her feet. Instantly she pivoted to face her opponent, but he was simply lying there, eyes wide, muttering frantically about death and nightmares.

Realizing he was no longer a threat, Lily glanced around to see who was in most need of assistance.

If someone is getting overwhelmed she'll take out one of their opponents, from behind if possible, and only kill if she can't get their helmets off without putting herself in undue danger. If everyone seems to be handling things, she'll run toward the Queen, check if she's still alive, and try to heal her if she is.

[TheOutlander]

Mirrassi


Mirrassi had not survived as long as he had on sheer heroics, and facing the five men charging him could be considered heroism, or suicide.
Knowing that his goblin companion could manipulate fire was definately a plus, though, he hadn't met a shaman with his control, and definately not his curiousity.

Having the men swinging at the woman struck Mirrassi as odd, Mirrassi knew that they were crazy, but to strike at the ones who gave life, that was a crime punishable by death in his seehk. Mirrassi gazed almost too long at the spot where the woman was almost killed, and luckily dodged a powerful blow from an incoming soldier's mace. Noting the soldiers' heavy armour, a lightning fast decision from mirrassi had him sheathe his beloved Siaphe and run backwards towards the outer wall. noting the pursuit of at least some of the guards. Hitting the wall with one of his feet, he let the momentum push his mass towards the wall, and found his other foot on the wall. As his momentum subsided, his knees bent and pushed him out at belt level, muscles rapidly expanding to send him barrelling shoulder first(right shoulder) into the soldiers, knocking several over.

"Green one, strike while they're your height!" Mirrassi commanded/joked towards Galruch, as he swiftly stood and unsheathed his siaphe, unhindered by the horrified looks on the men's faces.

Today was a bloody day, one that could only end in tears.
Mirrassi could only hope that he could see the next sunrise.