3323/TGR: Hostage Rescue

TGR: Hostage Rescue
Date of Scene:	03 November 2015
Location:	Ylisse
Synopsis:	The culprits were caught in the act and identified! There was also a lot of purple.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, Sarracenia, 627, 673, 691, Sanary Rondel, 878, 904
Tinyplot:	The Grimsangue's Rise

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Sanary Rondel has posed:
     After a long week of monitoring villages along the border of Plegia and Ylisse with naught to show for it but frightened or undead villagers, things are finally looking up today! For the Elites and the Grimleal accompanying them, that is. It's not such a great situation for the village in question today, however, what with the miasma hovering over it and zombies roaming around it. There's fresh corpses strewn about the village, although there isn't much movement aside from the shuffling of the undead. Several fresh patches of disturbed dirt litter the village itself, quite similar to those that had been used to bury people alive weeks ago.

     "This is the place." A scout pipes up as she scurries back into position with the rest of the small force of Grimleal following the Elites today. "Some of our brothers and sisters were sent in to recruit more followers today." She looks towards the village again, narrowing her eyes for a moment before turning back to the gathered Elites. "That's... Likely why they haven't come back yet."

     Further in the back of the group, Sanary's checking her equipment over to make sure everything's in place. It's easier to avoid looking directly at the Grimleal when she's busy with her hands, after all. "So we're sweeping the place, then. Alright... Anyone got a plan, or do we just go in and destroy everything that moves?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory's been handling scouting of her own. It's rare that she turns into a watchdog but with so many to handle and no infrastructure to work with, just wireless drones with limited range... she hasn't seen anything much in detail.

    So hearing a village fell prey to the undead curse has her extremely upset. Not that it shows as she beams down from overhead with a few insect-legged drones following suit. They're covered in weapons and sensors..

    "And hunt for survivors. There may be a few and they may be able to tell us what happened."

    As always she hurls a Saucer drone into the air. Its thermal scanners might help with JUST THAT.

Vergil (878) has posed:
     "Don't expect much in the way of survivors" comes a relatively stoic yet decidedly nonchalant voice in response to Rory White's words. "None of the others apparently had any, so there's no reason to assume otherwise here."

    Garbed in his heavy cloak as he was the prior time he'd visited this land, Vergil looks out with curiosity at the landscape before him, seeming interested but not at all perturbed by the sights of the roving undead. If anything he seems largely apathetic to it.

    Not like the dead can feel sympathy, so there's hardly a point in feeling any.

    Glancing at Sanary, the half-demon gives her an observatory, appraising glance, wondering how she will actually react out there. "You're the one that knows this land and culture best, though I've been studying on the books I gained to try and catch up" Vergil replies offhandedly. "Though I'm curious as to why you apparently don't have a plan ready yourself? Do you not trust yourself enough to do so? If that's the case, you'd best steel yourself soon if you ever want to exact your revenge. "

    Looking back at the roving bands of undead, Vergil seems a bit more contemplative as he watches them shamble, the undead showing signs of intellect in the form of their vase instincts. "From what I recall of the little I could translate, these things resemble what are normally called 'Risen' - undead souls chained to their corpses as servants. It's not definitive, but it's the closest terminology I could find on short notice."

    He rests a hand on the pommel of Yamato, the handle poking out from beneath the flaps of his cloak. "If at all possible, capturing one and seeing if the Grimleal can tell us who's animating them might go a long way in tracking down the source... though we'd only need one intact. The others..." a thin smile forms on his face at this. "Well, I guess cleaning house would be the most prudent course of action."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa was not alone Koone had been working with her as best she could do she's already making ready to launch her own recon drones so they can at least be warned about possible pockets of zomnbies or even better? Find people tht could still be saved.

"Hopefully we'll arrive in time to get some answers from someone."

She looks to Vergil and sadly nods to him.

"There's a chance but I get what your saying Vergil."

Don't let your hopes get up too high given the situation.

"Drones are airborn and moving ahead of us."

the small units fly away heading towards the villiage they can't fight they'd be easy to down but for now they would give Rory and Kotone pretty good video feeds.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's coming back with the scout, not at all trusting the Grimleal yet. Rather than contradict, she simply nods at the report. At least it's an accurate one.

Then, she's over to Sanary.

"It's a good plan, capture witnesses and survivors, leverage our allies, and otherwise cleanse the remaining undead." Adds Yari.

Princess Peach (904) has posed:
Princess Peach is joining the group for the first time, and looking a little uneasy with all the talk of undead, but still, she does her best to remain calm as the group gathers and plans, taking note of the other elites that are here. She nods in agreement with Yari.

     A good plan indeed. If there are any survivors, or anyone gets injured, I can help tend to them. Though I must admit, I've never fought the undead before, well, not like this anyway, but I'm ready to go."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Right. Can't forget about that." Would there be survivors? Sanary's not looking all that confident about that, but it's worth a shot. And as Rory's and Kotone's drones takes to the air, they would actually start picking up several signatures aside from the zombies wandering about!

     Notably, several of those signatures are in those mounds of disturbed dirt, and there's even some in the buildings with multiple floors. There's also several distinctly non-zombie signatures in the village as well, draped in cloaks and bodysuits not unlike those of the Grimleal, yet not quite.

     It won't all be smooth sailing for the drones, though, as blasts of dark magical energy start rocketing towards them from the ground further inside the village!

     "I'm.. Uh. Not really the strategist type. I just like hitting things." Sanary laughs lightly at Vergil's query, her gaze settling back on the horde of undead seeking out any potential survivors within the town. "Plus.. Uh. The last time I tried a rescue, it was only for one person." Yari gets a brief nod at that. "And the time before that, I.. Uh. Got thrown on a helicopter. On top of it, even."

     She'd rather not think about that little incident too much. "Capturing one sounds like a good plan, though." The Grimleal accompanying the Elites nod in agreement, and her gaze goes to Peach next. "That'll be helpful. If we find any, then it'll take some work to make sure they don't die and end up coming after us. Or just... Doing something crazy."

     They couldn't stay up there forever, though. "Alright. Let's clear 'em out!" Sanary brought her shield and gunaxe out before heading towards the village, firing flaming shells at the mass of undead long before even reaching them. Some of those blasts even hit their marks, sending gouts of flame into the air as the zombies start to move in the direction of the noise.

-= BATTLE START =-

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari snaps a sharp salute, and tries not to wince at the memory of Sanary with a leg nearly shaved off! With the plan in place, she draws her umbrella's sword with her tail, and leaps towards a pack of undead! As she falls from her leap, she makes several handseals, before blowing out a trio of fireballs!

"Katon!" Then she's right in the mix, helping Sanary clear out the undead with quick decapitating strikes, occasionally fireball'ing an offending undead!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa pause at the info she's getting back.

"I'm getting contacts which are non zombie contat from what I can tell, and we're wait lost the drone. Someone's shot magic at it. We got live ones left might be behind it or might be something else. I can't say more my drone's gone however."

She seems to be making ready now with her SMG getting unholster and an strange large bulky device of some sort. She knows they need live one so there's the ark thrower.

<<Rory I need to hit up you and your Argonaut friends for less and non lethal weaponry>>

Sarracenia has posed:
     Princess Sarracenia has also come along, though she looks much less uneasy than Peach. Perhaps it is the giant hammer that gives her confidence! She is staying close to Sanary, both for Sanary's comfort and to protect her from whatever might be in this village.

     She is a bit surprised that the prim and proper Princess Peach has come along, and can be caught watching her every now and then. She looks away quickly if it seem she might be caught, but she isn't always in time. So, when Sanary rushes in, Sarracenia is right beside her! "Just try not to get kidnapped yourself, Princess Peach!" she calls out as she runs, her hammer held low in preparation of smacking undead upside their heads. But, as Sanary fires flaming rounds, Sarracenia gets an idea. She pulls out a fireflower, then in a poof she is fiery-colored. Her fireballs start bouncing down the terrain toward the undead. Bowling for Brain-eaters! The fireballs that hit an undead explode and probably leave the victim burning.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
It's about this time that a lighting bolt snaps across the field, chaining across a group of undead. "Thunder-2." The solemn, businesslike tone resonates in the air as Souji Murasame arrives from another direction, walking calmly towards the zombie-infested town as if it bears to threat to him whatsoever. Or maybe he just trusts in everyone else's competence to keep him from getting swamred under. Surely that's it.

The Murasame Blade has not been drawn, the sheathed weapon simply held in his hand as he looks over the ruins, frowning. "This entire situation is absurd." Souji pronounces, before stepping forward and casually striking the head of a nearby zombie with his sheathed blade. These creatures were not worthy of the edge.

Vergil (878) has posed:
     Tilting his head in curiosity towards Sanary's explanation - though perhaps more in an 'is that so?' form of bemused acknowledgment - Vergil seems to regard her inquiringly. "You don't really know how to approach this, do you? Not that I don't understand the premise - I suppose it can be hard to know what to do when you're not even sure who your enemies are."

    It's... a somewhat surprising gesture of acknowledgment. Perhaps as much of a hint one could expect from Vergil regarding his own past being one characterized by loss of his homestead.

     "Don't place too much hope" Vergil cautions to Kotone and Rory, tugging at his cloak slightly. "In all likelihood, anyone alive in all this may very well be the ones responsible for this."

     As he steps forward for the throng of corpses, he glances idly at the form of Souji Murasame, interest piqued more noticeably then before... if only because of the blade he's carrying. Their walk is also the same - as though the area poses no threat to him... though Vergil knows for sure it's because he truly feels the local opposition is no threat to him. "It hardly matters whether they are worthy of your blade's edge" Vergil cautions over to Souji, noting the latter's seeming persistence in considering his enemies beneath drawing a sword against. "If you hold yourself back so completely, your skills will dull. You needn't keep your blade - or your power - hidden that extensively."

    Finally, Vergil tugs his cloak free-

     And a split-second latter, dashes forward, looking like a streak of blue lightning to strike down six of the undead, smashing their skulls of two with Yamato's pommel and scabbard, not drawing the blade until the other four all approach - and are sliced into six pieces each with what looks like a single swipe of Yamato's blade as it is ripped free from the sheath and replaced just as quickly.

     It seems Vergil prefers to use his combat to sharpen his techniques, seeing the weaker opponents as worthwhile only in the fact that he can practice on them like training dummies.

Princess Peach (904) has posed:
     Peach quickly follows after Sanary and Sarracenia, though she does hang back a bit. She groans a bit at the hammer-wielding princess' remark about kidnapping before voicing a retort. "You know, I doubt the undead are really into the whole kidnapping thing, and I'd rather not think too hard about what they'd be likely to do to me instead..."

     As she follows the others, she holds out her gloved right hand for a moment and focuses, as if grasping for something, and in a small flash of pink hearts, her trusty parasol appears in her hand. Certainly an unconventional weapon, but that was nothing new for this princess, and she would rather have something other than just her hands to smack the zombies with if they get too close.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Dark magic bolts strike Rory's Saucer. They penetrate one side and fry circuitry. The delicate Ionic drive sputters and half-dies. It tumbles lopsidedly through the air, sensors sputtering out. Not much of a falling hazard, though don't get hit on the head!

    But Rory's tacnet adapts. Murasame and Kotone both see the village map now rendered under fog of war save where Rory and Kotone's vision is providing analyzable details, including Rory's insect drones. While Rory goes to dive behind a house and avoid some of the bolts, her drones all scatter at high speed. They're CREEPY, walking like spiders and beetles... but damn they are FAST and slim. Dark magic clips one or two, taking off a leg... but they also take cover behind houses and begin surgical manuevers against zombies, striking from the gaps between houses by launching thin slices of metal at supersonic velocities with machine precision towards zombie necks. While Rory's telling them where to go and marking enemies, AI handles the targeting and firing logic and avoidance routines.

    Whenever there's a gap, Rory herself moves cover to the next hut or shack, headed for the apparent victims who might've been buried alive!

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "I know enough about 'em. They destroyed my home, so I'm going to destroy them." Not a completely inaccurate assessment, but... Close enough. If not for the cultists causing all of this nonsense, Sanary's home wouldn't have been eradicated like it was. She gives Vergil a short nod afterwards to return that acknowledgment, refocusing her gaze on the undead as she resumes firing flame blasts into their ranks.

     Fire definitely seems to be working quite well against the undead, their rotten flesh burning to a crisp almost on contact with those flying flames. Yari's magic, Sarracenia's flower, and even Sanary's axe based flames make short work of the zombies, and Souji's lightning ricocheting from target to target leave the smell of leathery burnt bacon in the air! The zombies are much too mindless to deal with those drones effectively, meanwhile, falling quickly as the metal rips right through them.

     The strikes from Souji's and Vergil's hilt bashes work as intended, leaving little more than smears behind where the mindless minions' heads would be. The ones Sarracenia faces aren't so lucky, practically exploding on impact with that massive hammer of hers. Even Peach's parasol, if she chose to use it as a bludgeoning weapon, would... Well, it probably wouldn't remain pink, but it'd certainly work! Yari's and Vergil's blades similarly make short work of the Risen, cleaving through both flesh and bone as if they were made of paper.

T If not for the fact that these were Elites the zombies were up against, they might have had more of a chance!

     From further inside the village, those necromancers have started to move beyond just conjuring blasts of dark magic at the drones. Noticing the commotion coming from the outside of the village, they've begun lobbing their own blasts towards the Elites and the Grimleal soldiers accompanying them! The Grimleal mages fire off their own blasts of similarly purple magic back into the village while the soldiers take up defensive positions to keep their more fragile compatriots safe from the oncoming horde of zombies.

     With all that dark purple energy flying around in the air, though, it might just be a little confusing to see who's firing what in which direction.

     As the roar of battle continues, some of those patches of dirt start to stir. Hands emerge from those makeshift graves, bloodied and bruised, and some are quite vigorous as they claw their way out. They appear to be stuck, yet others emerge with the rest of the bodies attached to them to join the ranks of the other zombies. There's also some panicked screaming coming from inside the houses as those hands emerge! Unlike the previous battle, however, there don't seem to be as many undead rising from the ground here nor coming from outside the village.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji glances to the side as Vergil advises him to stop holding back so much, and a faint smile curls his face. "You make an excellent point. Though I-Ggh!" He is interrupted as a blast of Dark Magic scorches him, searing across the midnight blue suit and casuing an angry wound against his flesh. The corporate heir looks up towards where it came from, compares it to his information from Rory's last update on the tacnet, and scowls.

"Murasame. It is time to feed." He states, holding the blade out. As he speaks, the crimson ribbon holding it bound int othe scabbard unties, and he withdraws the black, rune-etched blade, shining crimson with hunger and desire. Some might call it an ill omen, but Souji seems to care nothing about it as he moves in a sudden blur, streaking towards the waves of energy, darting from one side to the other as he nevigates in three dimensions, flipping and running sideways along walls and rooftops as he vaults through the air.

A necromancer might look up to see Souji descending upon him, a shadow growing. "It is too late." Souji states. moments before a black streak rips up one side and down the other, and the Samurai backsteps. With any luck, the necromancer will find that he has been... disarmed.

They don't, after all, need their hands to talk.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia grins as they dive into battle. She even wore a special dress today! Instead of silks and other showy materials, this one is made of reinforced ballistic plastics and kevlar. So, it won't be nearly as big a deal if it gets muck on it. Which it surely is as Sarra hammers her way through the zombie horde.

     "These poor guys did not stand a chance!" the Sundew princess exclaims delightedly as she and the other elites battle their way forward. Until bolts of dark energy start flying at them. She yelps in surprise as one lands near her, then again as one strikes her in the torso.

     The fiery colors of her clothing disappear, leaving her in the usual red color she wears. "Hey! I was using that!" she exclaims at the mages, then digs in her purse and pulls out...a POW block!

     Sarra blinks at it. "This is not what I wanted, but..." She shrugs, then tosses it up into the air, where it sticks about 10 feet off the ground. Then, she winds up, leaps, and whacks it with her hammer. "Everyone jump!" she warns as she swings. Once hit, the block sends out a shockwave that will likely flip anything that is standing on the ground over onto its head. The shockwave goes for a decent distance before it dies out, and once the zombies are upside down Sarracenia starts batting them into each other like one might a koopa shell.

Vergil (878) has posed:
    As the cultists proceed to start increasing their efforts against them, Vergil glances at them with something akin to the kind of focus a serpent might give it's prey before striking.

    A single kick-off - enforced on the back of Sarracenia's warning to 'jump' - serves as the movement of his lunge up and forward, slicing down any undead thrown into the air in his path for the sake of expedience, and to lower the numbers of the undead as efficiently as possible.

    His objective is to take one of the mages. Anything else is secondary to him; after all, they would be the best and most direct path to follow in ascertaining what exactly has happened... and what their objective is.

However, he does pause to glance with noted interest as Souji's blade is drawn, a glimmer of fascination - and a desire of his own - for the blade appearing in his eyes.

    Like Souji - perhaps even working to mirror him deliberately - he travels after the cultists, chasing for those that have run in the opposite direction of Souji, though he does offer a smirk back to the other - an expression of respect. Between the two of them, there should be a fair chance of neutralizing them and taking at least one alive.

    If he gets close enough to the ones he is chasing, Vergil will swing his blade with the intent to slice off the legs of the first cultist he nears to try and intimidate the rest into submitting... and keep the downed one from running without costing him his ability to cast magic. That way, if they needed him to cast any magic in the future - opening a barrier only one of these cultists could open, perhaps - they would have at least one person in captivity they could use for such a purpose.

    Besides, having one lose their arms and another lose their legs ought to convince the rest to start falling in line. They wouldn't have sent corpses to do their fighting if they were willing to die or even be injured themselves, now would they?

Rory White (673) has posed:
    One of Rory's six insect-drones takes a pelting from dark magic after it emerges to shred a few zombies. A whole set of legs is melted and blown apart and the thing's left a smoldering heap. Barely mobile. It lopes out into the streets. If any zombies get near...?

    KABOOM. Gravekeeper 2 goes up in a blaze of glory, a blindingly bright explosion vaporizing interlopers and blowing out windows from the shockwave. Also possibly the eardrums of anyone too near.

    Gravekeeper 3 is close to the house where screams are arising... and Rory wastes no time. She's not terribly coordinated, physically! But she still hauls ass across the ground. Ignoring the zombies, ignoring the dark magic bolts even as one tears into her exposed arm and leaves it sparking limply... she orders her mechanical legs to LEAP for all they're worth. UP she goes, aiming to vault through a window and tumble into the rooms with what she hopes are survivors!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is coming under fire and then just seems to fade into thin air, her optical cloak, she's got the map thanks to Rory and she's making for the graveyard where there's still thermal signatures she's going for the houses she's making to move as quick as she can, her plan is simple bust in and do what she can to protect them from whatever is comming after them. She's making for the nearest house with screaming people in it. She'll leap using her cyborg body's aglity to make the leap and hopefully get through a window to where there's still living people as well.

Princess Peach (904) has posed:
     Indeed, after using her parasol to bludgeon the skulls of a few zombies, her pink and white parasol has taken on a more blackened color, yuck. Fortunately, much like her dress, she owns several. Seeing Rory go rushing off toward one of the buildings, she quickly gives chase, trying to keep up while also dodging this way and that as she does her best to avoid the raining bolts of energy. After watching Rory vault through the window, she takes a slightly different approach, leaping to a first floor windowsill, only to push off from it for a second leap and gently float back through the window on the second floor after Rory. She lands softly with barely a sound and continues to follow Rory.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's learned to not ignore sudden requests from Princess' and when Sarracenia calls out, the ninja jumps! She's forced to duck and dodge mid-air to avoid some energy blasts from both sides, but it's far better than being slammed by that POW block.

She's really regretting not getting one of those from Peach now.

Still, when she lands, she too is concentrating on the mages. She'll occasionally slice a zombie, but her first move is to toss several kunai and shuriken at an unfortunate mage!

The poisons on them aren't her usual. Instead, they'll introduce a boiling fire in the veins of living people, pure agony indeed. She's not being nice to those that hurt Sanary's village so greatly.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Blasts of dark magic explode in the air around Souji, each blast coming close (yet not close enough) as they fly through the air. By the time some of those dark mages even realize he's descended upon one of them, it's already too late to stop him.

     At least someone's finding humor in that pun. Not the one without the arms. No, he's busy screaming his lungs off. He's a ranged combatant, after all, and even his allies are backing up while firing blasts at the suited Samurai.

     "Jump? Wait wha-" The POW block works as intended, upending several zombies and actually knocking limbs off already-damaged ones. Sanary's reflexes aren't quite up to snuff, and she ends up flipped over herself! Thankfully, several of the Grimleal soldiers are also caught off guard, but at least they won't have to worry about any zombies coming after them in the meantime. Knocking the zombies into each other gets mixed results, primarily from few of the zombies actually being armored or sturdy enough to withstand that initial whack.

     It really isn't turning out to be a good day for the cultists, though, between the two men working on disarming them and taking their legs out from under them. They knew what they were signing up for when they started, though, and the de-legged cultist proceeds to scream in the same tone as the other cultist not too far away. Yet another mage starts screaming when Yari's poison works its way into her system, and she thrashes about as if trying to put out in invisible flame surrounding her. Still, the remaining members aren't keen on letting any of the Elites get closer, and they start to fall back while continuing to fire blasts of dark magic in their retreat...

     ... Just in time to take them into the path of the exploding Gravekeeper. The lucky ones are vaporized immediately, while the unlucky cultists are a little more deaf than they'd like to be, bleeding profusely from their ears. The house Rory, Kotone, and Peach leap into is surprisingly sturdy considering the location, and they make it inside just in time for Rory to collide with the source of that noise: A portly old man with both a face and a voice suited for radio. "Y-you... You're here to help us, right..? We're saved..! Praise Grima..! " More voices chime in from further back in that room, several villagers huddled in a corner.

     The zombies' numbers, meanwhile, appear to be thinning! Even with the undead emerging from the ground, they're being eliminated faster than they can be replinished without the necromancers focusing on trying to maintain their numbers. The Grimleal soldiers are pulling their own weight as well, blasting apart zombies and piercing through their heads without getting torn up too much themselves. Victory is in sight!

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's quick to slap a pair of manacles around the poor cultist's arms and legs, leaving them in the dirt as they writhe. If they survive or don't go insane from the suffering, they'll make a nice interrogation subject.

The delay does get Yari smacked in the bad shoulder by a bolt of dark magic. She huffs, curses, and then shrugs it off as she pulls out a pistol and tries to simply blow the mage's head off. Not subtle, but this battle lost all subtlety a while ago.

"Take them down! Don't let these traitors escape!" Calls out Yari in her best Centurion voice to the Grimleal soldiers, urging them into further action as victory draws near!

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia ends up more covered in grossness than she anticipated. Why are zombies so squishy and splattery?! She sighs as she looks herself over, then blinks as she notices Sanary. She smashes a few more zombies before heading over to her. "Hey...did you not hear me say jump?" she asks as she helps her friend up, a teasing smirk on her face.

     Then...she is back to zombie smashing! It is probably very much like that show where someone whacks watermelons with a sledge as Sarra whacks zombies with her DK hammer. And, she is courteous enough to protect the soldiers until they are back on their feet. Wouldn't do to have Grimleal soldier zombies! "I think they are losing strength! Those murdering jerks will all be punished soon!" she calls out to Sanary and the soldiers.

Vergil (878) has posed:
    Taking only the briefest of moments to ensure the legless cultist can no longer fight back - largely by ensuring he's passed out from the pain and shock of losing his legs - Vergil turns to address the cultists trying to flee as they are smothered by the exploding Gravekeeper, giving a half-bemused smirk. "I suppose that's one way to handle a pest-control problem." Glancing to Yari, he inclines his head toward the legless cultist behind him and the armless one left by Souji - "Tell some of them not to let these ones bleed out, will you? They can't tell us anything if they're dead, though they should certainly give less trouble in their current states."

    As the remaining zombies approach, Vergil doesn't even bother closing the distance or letting the undead do so themselves, dropping into a combat stance as he grips Yamato's hilt-

    -and slices the air before him, a swift rush of air-pressure cutting through the targets directly in front of him to strike them down at range.

    Any creatures that are successfully killed by this attack spit in half in time with the soft 'ca-chunk' of Yamato being returned it it's sheath, it's owner already glancing about to see what else is left to do in 'cleaning up.'

    Vergil doesn't bother denying Sarracenia's statement that the cultists will be 'punished'. However, depending on how many of the cultists and zombies have been taken care of by this point, he will start walking back to the one who's legs he severed, seeming intent on questioning one alone - apparently more interested in information then punishment or justice.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory's perhaps lucky that blue hair isn't unusual in this world. And that her robotic body isn't TERRIBLY heavier than it looks thanks to the advanced polymers involved in its construction under the layers of synthflesh. She quickly rolls off the man and wobbles to her feet. "Correct! How glad I am to say that we made before EVERYONE was lost... but I'm still sorry we could not come sooner. Can you please tell us what's happening? We WILL get you out of here, but I think at the moment it's still safer in this building than outside?"

    Outside, most of the 'Gravekeeper' drones are still engaged against zombies, but one of them waits in ambush as a cultist is retreating past. it VAULTS out with all six arms at just the right time, aiming to wrap them around it like a hunter pouncing prey. The mechanical strength of those limbs is considerable and likely to exceed a simple mage. They're rarely the most herculean types!

    "What is happening with the buried people? Are any left to save?"

    One of her Gravekeeper units, 6, is beelining for the locale to investigate further with its sensors, but it's not equipped for digging!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa impact whens he lands would show she weighs a lot more than she looks like someone maybe three times her size should be. She looks to see there's some people still alive.

"We are."

She's being honest here she tags teh remaining villiagers mentally. She looks to Rory for a moment and then to Peace.

"I'll head with her drone."

She cloaks again vanishing from view and will charge out after Rory's unit. She's not fully geared to dig herself but she's got hands he she's far stronger than someone made of flesh form her would would be.

Princess Peach (904) has posed:
     Peach smiles warmly to the old man and nods. "Yes, we are here to help you. Is anyone injured or sick?" She asks calmly with a tone of concern, looking to Rory for a moment and then back at the survivors as she mentions the buried people. "I suppose the best way to assess their condition is to go and check." She says while also giving Kotone a nod.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Blood that flies in the area of Souji gets drawn towards the blade he wields, collecting and being absorbed into the weapon. As it does so, the wound along his body begins to vanish as well, healing rapidly. Yari has the troops well in hand. The Princesses and the techies are handling survivors.

This leaves Vergil and himself to deal with the cultists. "You fools. You know nothing of what you are trifling with. Is your desire so weak?" He states, as black blasts rain down around him. With a flick of his blade, he occasionally parries one when it gets near him. "Enough of this."

    MYSTIC KNIGHT
    SPELLBLADE
    > SLEEP BLADE

A haze begins seething over Murasame blade, one that creates languor just to look at it. For those he cuts, the effect is far more potent. And cut he does, slashing lightly towards, trying to leave light cuts on each of the remaining cultists and using the embedded Sleep spell to drive them unconscious. "This is just as efficient." Souji replies to Vergil. "One would have hoped the examples made would have been enough, but foolishness abounds tonight."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     -= INSIDE =-

     "We... There were so many... They said they were GRimleal, but..!" The old man, hyperventilating as much as he is, points out the gathered villagers in the back before fainting on the spot. The gathering hurries over to check on him, and yet more circle around Peach to show them various nicks and bite marks. Some appear to have been gained from fleeing, yet others appear to be infected. None of the villagers appear to be sick, at least.

     "Those people you fight off... They called themselves the Grimsangue." A younger woman does actually answer the questions of their rescuers. "It was... Th-they rounded everyone up, and they started making us bury each other. The acolytes tried to stop them, but..." She trails off and turns away, wracked with sobs and unable to say much else on that matter.

-= OUTSIDE =- The cuffed mage continues to scream and thrash even in her bindings, eventually passing out from the pain. She's still very alive, though, compared to the one whose head is little more than a gurgling mess. Yari's and Sarracenia's rallying cries doesn't go unheeded, and the Grimleal soldiers finally charge into the fray directly! Not that they're particularly fast on their feet, but their dark mages do manage to take down a few of the fleeing cultists with even more blasts of purple magic. There really is too much purple flying about today.

     "I-I heard! It's just hard to jump in armor." The cleric grumbled lightly as she dusted the back of her coat off, a slight grin on her face as she looked Sarracenia over. "At least I'm not covered in guts." Alas, she does follow the princess back into the fray, finally getting her own coat covered in blood and viscera as she assists in mopping up the rest of those zombies.

     Sanary's not off bisecting zombies for long, though, as Vergil's call to keep those limb-challenged cultists alive is heard. With a little effort to get the magic energy flowing, she soon starts channelling it into those cultists to keep them from bleeding out as directed! The wounds heal over into raw stumps of flesh, and the screaming even dies down a bit. Only a little, of course, since they /did/ just lose several limbs at once. And in case three rogue cultists aren't enough, a fourth is subdued by Rory's drone, and three more are put to sleep by Souji's potent slashes!

     Most of those graves have been emptied already, zombies having popped out of the graves and being dispatched quickly afterwards. Between the Elites mowing them down and the efforts of Grimleal cultists, there's naught but a few stragglers still roaming about, waiting to have their heads smashed in or set ablaze.

     However, the ones that haven't been dug up do react when Kotone starts digging! Eventually, she even manages to pull a live villager out... Or at least live in the most technical sense, the person barely able to even manage a word in response. Following her lead, the Grimleal cultists rely on the drone to identify which graves still contain the living, and several more people are unearthed! One of them is even clad in the cloak and suit of the Grimleal, a younger man with a similarly terrified look on his face even with his brethren surrounding him.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
As Sanary moves to help the injured, Yari continues her work. By now, she's judged there's more than enough to properly interrogate. Stopping all pretenses of non-lethality, she's firing off headshots or chucking kunai at vulnerable parts of fleeing cultists, or decapitating a zombie that gets in her way.

Otherwise, more encouraging words for the troops to make sure they don't stuff it up.

"Don't let any of them escape!"

Vergil (878) has posed:
     While everyone else busies themselves with the rescue, Vergil stops at the legless cultist, taking a knee and tilting his head inquisitively. "I didn't have to have them heal your legs that gently, you know. In fact I daresay that I didn't even need to pick you out of any of the other cultists." He speaks offhandedly, as if talking about the weather. "I'd like to think that means you owe me something for choosing you out of everyone else to keep alive."

    After waiting briefly for a response - or lack thereof, depending - Vergil tilts his head to look over the cultist for any signs of identifying marks; talismans, scrolls, pocket-journals, concealed spellbooks, ritualistic daggers or the like. As he does, he continues speaking in his chillingly-nonchalant tone of voice. "Of course, I could guarantee more then you living to see tomorrow... or being outright turned over to people less negotiable then me" - he glances to Sanary, a victim of the cultist's machinations. "You'd just have to cooperate."

    At this, he leans in a bit, eyes seeming almost like carved ice. "All I want are three simple questions answered. First - who are you? An offshoot of the Grimleal? Renegades practicing some derivative of their culture? Second - What exactly is it you people are doing here? What's your goal attacking these villages? And finally" - here, his gaze becomes noticeably sharper, as if this is the only question he really cares about getting answered - "where exactly did you get the means to do all of this? What is the source of your power over the dead?"

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia lets out a little 'meep!' as she realizes...she IS covered in guts! Rotten guts at that! She sighs, but continues swinging her hammer. She backs up the Grimleal guys until the zombies are all dealt with, then looks around. "I hope they have a good maintenance department in this town." she says, shaking her head.

     Once the village is secure, Princess Sarracenia heads to join the others inside the home with the survivors. "Is everyone alright in here?" she asks before looking down at herself. "Um...perhaps I will wait outside." she says, then steps back out to try and remove the majority of the vicera from her battle dress. And how does she do that? She starts spinning in place, using her hammer to increase her momentum and sling the zombie goo all over the place. She certainly isn't going to touch that stuff!

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji looks over the results as the battle enters its final stages, and he turns away, sheathing his blade. It looks like Murasame will have to be content with what it has taken for now. He pauses, looking over the cultist captives, and quietly tags them for Rory to track and process. He has no need to interrogate them immediately. In fact, it would be beneficial to stagger it out to ensure that what Vergil gets is corroborated by others independantly.

So he waits patiently, allowing the others to complete the cleanup work as he watches for any remaining critical issues to deal with.

Vergil's interrogation proves to be the most interesting part of this timeframe.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is going to do what she can for the young man whose bene pulled out of the dirt. Soon the local Temple's forces get to work too and they rescue several others including one of their own. She calls for a medic and is just going to do wht she cna with the medicla supplies she has on them. She'll also lend her strength to getting people out of the gorund with the temple's forces as well were she can.

Princess Peach (904) has posed:
     Peach wraps her arms around the injured villagers, which is made easier as they've already huddled around her. She then closes her eyes and blocks out the world as she goes into a deep focus. Soon she and the villagers begin to emit a soft pink glow. After a moment the aura begins to cleanse their disease and close up their wounds. It takes a few moments for the healing to complete, and when it's done, Peach stands, but she staggers a bit and looks noticeably more pale. "Phew, you should all be fine now."

     She says with a pleased smile before heading outside to the graves, blinking in shock as they have pulled living people out of the ground. After regaining her composure enough to speak, she looks to Kotone. "If any need more attention than general first aid, send them my way, I'll see how much healing I have left in me before I pass out." Then there is a slightly nervous laugh.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     ( OOC: )

     With the last of the cultists detained or killed (mostly killed), the ones being interrogated don't have much to fall back on as far as escape plans go. The necromancers' garbs are largely similar to that of the Grimleal's higher ranking sorcerors: Ornate billowing cloaks with open-chests, form-fitting bodysuits, and plenty of dark colors. Instead of the Mark of Grima emblazoned on their clothes, however, their own mark is missing the four of the six eyes at the top with only one eye placed at the very bottom.

     The cultist being questioned by Vergil is still in a state of constant pain, but the healing has aided in his ability to stop screaming the whole time. even in such a state, however, he still manages to glare the white-haired man defiantly. "You think your... Your /mercy/ here will save you? You flaming idiots!" He cackles and cringes a moment later, the pain in his missing legs still... Well, painful. Oddly enough, there's another laugh from further off that dies down a moment later.

     "Wh-what? We were setting them on fire." Sanary coughs lightly as she turns back to her healing efforts, joining with the others to tend to the wounded and mentally scarred. Thankfully, she's not close enough to get splattered by too many of the guts from Sarracenia's spinning! The wounded with Peach, meanwhile, embrace her gratefully before booking it out of that house, just in time to join the rest of the mentally scarred at seeing the remains of their village up close

     "We.. We are the Grimsangue. The true servants of Grima! The great dragon's very bloodline! Don't even compare us to those Grimleal impostors... Thinking they'll even come close to bringing our Lord Grima back just by waiting." Some of the Grimleal appear to take offense to the captive cultist's laughter, circling back towards the captives with their weapons drawn already. "Yes, that's it.. Your anger. Their despair. Their fear! That.. That will bring about the true return of our Lord!"

     At that third question, however, a different voice speaks up. It's the scout from earlier! She sounds about as disinterested in the whole thing as she did the first time around, too. "It's not particularly difficult for our more powerful necromancers." She glances back at some of those dark mages, one of them eventually speaking up finally. "We thought it'd be confusing. Um. T-to have Risen on both sides."

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "Don't worry. If you pass out, I'll carry you somewhere to rest!" Speaks Gravekeeper 1 from behind Peach. The drone is the size of a large dog and walking on six gleaming insect legs. Though it's clearly a robot and not a bug, so that may be easier to deal with than squicky bugs. And the voice is Rory's, from a speaker hidden somewhere in all of that synthetic material. The weapons have been retracted and powered down.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
With Vergil already interrogating one mage, Yari goes to work making sure those with potentially spell-capable limbs being tied down and rendered harmless. She walks the line of the defeated, listening to her radio and offering strategy in turn.

She still has that gun out, and it's very threateningly pointed at the cultists. Occasionally, she pulls back on the slide with a click-click ominously close to one or two cultist's heads, or otherwise stomp one of the few remaining limbs into pure agony. A show of ruthlessness for the true Grimleal.

"Who's your leader, and where is your headquarters?" Finally Yari asks of one cultist.

Vergil (878) has posed:
    Vergil tilts his head in curiosity from what the man says. "I'm standing, you aren't. That seems to say a lot... especially since I don't think you'll be any more capable of bringing Grima back if you're dead. Take a look around - we powered through what you threw at us rather easily, all things considered... and that was with just about half a dozen of us." He seems to lean in a bit closer... and if one didn't know any better, they might swear something was /glowing/ in the back of his eyes, a strange, eerie shimmer crossing them for a moment. "If I were you, I would be thinking about whether or not any of you will even be able to see Grima rise before we're done with you... unless you give me a reason to think otherwise."

    At this point, Vergil is prodding the Cultist's devotion and fanaticism, trying to see if he can goad the man into defending into an informative ranting about /why/ they won't be 'saved'... and in turn learn just what these cultists think they have that gives them an ace in the hole.

     "What makes you the 'true servants?' How exactly do you think this will bring about Grima's 'true return?'" Vergil questions, once again seeing if he can prod the man's devotion to his cause into making him start raving about why his way is correct. Many cultists are so assured of their path that they can't help but lord what they think is the truth over others - something Vergil is trying to use to his advantage. "How are you part of his 'bloodline'? Are you trying to say you're directly descended from him? I'm pretty sure most of the people here will take that as blaspheme if you don't have any solid proof of it to show." He gives a half-smirk at this part - "I mean, if you're truly his true servants, surely having a way to prove it should be easy for you to do, right?"

    When the scout speaks up, Vergil takes interest rather quickly, gaze narrowing in contemplation. "Is that so...? And you couldn't have warned us of that at least?" Letting out a sigh, he shrugs and puts it aside. "Well... perhaps you can then explain it a bit? Does it require some form of specific incantation? Moreover... is it directly connected to Grima and the religions of the Grimleal - and if so... how are these people" - he gestures to the cultists - "able to use it if it is exclusive to the Grimleal? What does it mean that they can summon the Risen as well?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa nods to Peach as she comes to help.

"Yes get to the Cleric he's in very bad shape here all of them could use a look over I think."

She'll leave the questioning to the rest for the moment. She's got people to focus on saving they will get the information she may not like how but well they are dealing with people who are fanatic after all and VErgil has proven to be a man that she never wants to cross.

<<It just wonder if we'll ever get a break, you know I want to find an nice spot on your world at some point and go for a vaction to get to see more than Meiter Station, you know?>>

Princess Peach (904) has posed:
     Peach blinks and looks a bit weirded out by the fact that the giant bug shaped robot is speaking to her, in Rory's voice. "Um, thanks, that's a relief" She then looks from Kotone to the Sanary and walks over toward him, looking him over briefly as she approaches. "I'm going to heal you, just relax." If he doesn't object, she will reach out to place her hands on his chest, they start to glow pink even before they make contact. The healing aura flows to envelop his body and begin to close his wounds over the next several seconds. Finally she pulls her hands back and looks up at him. "Better?"

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji simply stands at this point, keeping guard and watching. His glasses gleam a moment as he listens to the Grimsangue's ranting. "Hmph." He emits, simply. However, Yari and Vergil once again prove that they know how to handle an interrogation.

He makes a mental note on this. Opportunities always knock for those who know how to listen.

"Is everything handled?" He asides to Rory White. He knows she doesn't need to be standing next to him to hear him speak. Those drones are kind of fantastic.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Luckily, none of the other remaining Grimsangue appear to be in any condition to cast any further spells. They're either missing limbs, unconcious, or otherwise immobilized! The few that are still awake, of course, do get to experience all of that stomping and interrogating first-hand. The one stomped by Yari coughs out a pained laugh, tears streaming down his face despite that deranged amusement evident on his face.

     "This... This feeling. All of this... It's just what Grima wanted!" Clenching his teeth, he struggles to raise a bound arm at Yari, that cackling continuing even as the Grimleal grow restless.

     The Grimsangue beneath Vergil, meanwhile, only seems to be getting invigorated by the other cultist's laughter, and he keeps leveling that defiant glare at Vergil. "Really.. You think we'd really give up that sort of information so easily? Even this will help bring about Grima's return! Torture us, kill us, it'll all go to the same goal in the end! Despair, hatred, anger... You can't stop anyone from feeling that, can you?" Arching his head upwards, he snorts slowly before spitting at Vergil, then dropping his head back on the ground. It's almost as if he's trying to goad him into doing something rash.

     "We don't need to prove anything. We know. We act. The Grimleal just wait. Such complacent children..." Even if that earlier gesture doesn't anger Vergil into acting, the Grimleal are certainly getting quite riled up. As expected, there's shouts of heresy and blasphemy coming from the more energetic soldiers.

     The scout, meanwhile, just shrugs lightly. "We were not going to use them this time, anyway." She gestures at the tomes carried by the dark mages. "Those with the power to use them do it through those. Those without the power..." She points at the soldiers armed with more conventional swords and armor. "... They can still serve us well enough. We only control the instruments themselves."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's not bothering with cultist BS today. As the bound man cackles and spouts utter religious nonsense, she peers back to note the Grimleal. This isn't good.

With a sigh, feeling their well-laid interrogations falling about their ears, Yari points her gun at the man's gut. After a moment over the radio, she pulls the trigger. It'll be a slow, painful death, but there's no hesitation.

She then walks up to another conscious cultist, kicks them in the ribs, and points her gun distinctly lower.

"I'm not patient right now. Cough up names and locations before I start getting creative, please. I like this kimono, don't make me get it covered in blood any more than it already is." Comes Yari with a growl to her voice.

A shrug.

"Think about it. If you tell us who leads you, and we torture such a pure servant of Grimleal, surely their pain and suffering would only accelerate the great dragon's return, right? What better agony and sacrifice could there be?" A low, cheap shot, but she can try to convince them.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary blinks as Peach approaches, flicking a chunk of brain off her shoulder to keep some semblance of dignity. Not that she's got much left after getting knocked flat on her ass by that POW block from earlier, but still. "Mm? You're a healer, too? Always good to have more of us around." She grins a bit at that, taking a deep breath to channel some of her own magic at Peach with a green light. Instead of rapid mending, however, her magic acts more as a boost to natural recovery and regeneration!

Vergil (878) has posed:
     Vergil, still more curious then irritated, raises one brow up questioningly. "Again, you're making a lot of claims but giving us no reason to believe it. If this is really what Grima 'wants', why are you so unwilling to share it? I would have figured a 'loyal' servant of Grima would try to spread his word, not withhold it as though it was something to hide." He casts another wry smile at the immobilized cultist. "That tends to imply fear that it could be subverted or stopped, now couldn't it? Something that a person who truly believed in Grima's will would never think possible - if it's his will, it would happen no matter what... yet you're acting like telling us will change that. It implies a lack of faith not just in yourselves but in Grima himself and the infallibility of his will. That tells me that perhaps your interpretation might not be quite so definitive."

     At this point, Vergil is prodding not just the man's beliefs but the way he believes them, suggesting that withholding the information is the same as admitting that it would destroy Grima's designs if he spoke - that Grima would fail when, according to the core beliefs of the Grimleal, his will is supposed to be absolute if it dictates something.

    It could almost be considered reverse psychology - saying that because they won't share it, it means they doubt Grima's will is absolute. Even if the cultist becomes angry and blurts something out, it will help them... and by challenging his beliefs in front of the other Grimleal - by encouraging them to believe his way is misinterperted - it makes it seem like his beliefs are on lesser grounds then theirs.

    And thus it might hopefully make the Grimleal wait - make them want to see the 'heretic' snap and break as Vergil tries to deconstruct his argument. Something he compounds with his next sentence - "You say that... yet acting out like that could almost be seen as impatience. As a /lack/ of faith in Grima's will - that mere mortals must do it because he cannot. Is that what you dare to suggest? That Grima's will is so weak that mere humans like yourselves must force his return?"

    Again, the hope is that the Grimleal will be more interested in seeing Vergil try to verbally lynch the man's 'heresy' before letting the man himself be killed. Of course, it's a gamble in and of itself as it runs the risk that they will get so wrapped into it that they will just want him dead far too quickly for Vergil to get the man to break or slip anything up in time.

    In the meantime, he contemplates what the scout has told him about the tomes, wondering if the books react purely on magical or occult aptitude... and making a note to himself to pick one of the tomes up for himself where the cultists let them fall, if he gets the chance.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     A cheer erupts from the Grimleal as Yari puts a bullet into one of the Grimsangue, their bloodlust sated for the time being as they watch the heretic drain out. The one that's kicked, meanwhile, just lets out an agonized scream and hunches over on the ground, watching the Au Ra's gun with a wary eye.

     "Heh... Y-you'd make a... You'd make a wonderful acolyte! But you're mistaken." She gestures at the Grimleal with her head, struggling with her bindings uselessly before slumping back down. "Ours is only worth so much. But getting it from the lost sheep.. Or better yet, an Elite? That'd be absolutely perfect!"

     The one under Vergil, meanwhile, raises an eyebrow slowly at the swordsman before chuckling to himself. "Are you... You're trying to trick me, aren't you? No. No, that's not how this is going to work!" He doesn't even wait until Vergil's finished talking to say that, a mildly confused look crossing with that wide grin on his face. "I know your type. You're just like us... We have our faithful, and you... If things were different, you could have been one of the greatest of the Grimsangue!"

     Sanary eventually finds her way back to the cultists, reaching over to grab one of the unattended Grimsangue by the face. "I'm taking this one." She measures up her hand with his head, then slams a fist into his mouth, drawing quite a bit of blood and embedding a few teeth shards into her hand. The pain goes ignored, however, as she scoops that cultist over her shoulder and starts walking.

     "You do whatever you want with the rest of 'em. But.. Uh. Don't take long." The Grimleal certainly don't seem to be willing to wait much longer, and some are even trying to take matters into their own hands with stabs from their spears and swords!

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari looks back to Sanary as she just scoops up one of the cultists. It seems they won't be getting much of anywhere tonight. The ninja seems to be done listening, and finally, she just shrugs. Putting away the gun, she turns as if to walk away from the cultist.

Cue another kunai to the leg, and that agonizing poison would spread.

Yari smiles all too well to the Grimleal.

"We have our prize. They're all useless. Go wild."

The ninja bows to her allies, and then she's off to do what she can for the survivors, a sack of bandages and other ointments in hand.

Princess Peach (904) has posed:
     Peach nods and smiles at Sanary as she asks about her healing. "I sure am! Just finished healing all the survivors we found in the building. They were pretty banged up after all that they've been through, and some of their wounds were starting to get infected, but they should all be just fine now. I think I'm going to need a big meal and a nap after all this though." She suddenly seems distracted for a moment, then frowns. "I'm afraid I'm needed back home, but it looks like things are pretty well in hand now...." She says with a wince as Sanary punches one of the cultists, so hard she cuts her hand on their teeth.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is just trying to not look at Rory's current morph it's kinda creepy to her. She looks to Peace and lets her stand back to do what she can to heal. She's about out of her depth at this point. Though Peach is making a very good impression on her.

Vergil (878) has posed:
    When the cultist speaks... perhaps disconcertingly, Vergil's smile widens, as if the cultist said exactly the kind of thing he expected him to. "If you're truly a devout servant of Grima... why would you even have to /ask/ if I was trying to trick you or not? To even ask suggests /doubt/ - that you cannot tell if I am or am not speaking falsehood." He kneels in closer, right up to the cultist's face... and something in his eyes almost seems to reflect the demonic nature within him. Something that might make even the cultist doubt whether or not he's speaking to a simple human as opposed to a devil-spawn... and they wouldn't be wrong. "To even ask if I'm trying to trick you... is to admit your faith has weakened."

    He speaks loud enough for anyone else to hear - loud enough for any nearby cultists to hear the claim, so as, if the man cracks, they will hear it and have their own will start to erode. As well as encourage the Grimleal that the 'heretic's' faith has a fault in it.

     At this... he turns back to the crowd, deciding to test his theory on what a proper punishment would be.

    "If these people seek destruction and death... that would bring them into Grima's presence. Tell me... does the Fel Dragon deserve to endure these heretics in his presence?" He glances at the crowd, pausing for a touch of dramatic effect - provided it would work on them at least - before continuing.

     "Wouldn't a better punishment... be to trap them /between/ life and death? If suffering is their method of prayer, wouldn't stripping them of their senses not be a more fitting punishment so that they can no longer transmit such feelings? Do such misguided heretics deserve to see the prophesied end and join Grima in destruction like the faithful will?"

     Reaching into his pocket... Vergil pulls out a small, blue gemstone - a Blue Orb. The crystalized life-force of a demon.

    Proof that life-force could be contained if the body was extinguished.

     "If I were to make a request... I would ask that they be excised from their bodies, stripped of the ability to feel any senses and forever forced to exist in limbo between life and death. That they be forever barred from joining Grima in destruction as all Grimleal will. Let that instead be a reward for the devout, not the heretics."

     if this works... Vergil could move to have the soul of at least one of them excised to interrogate... and do so in a way that would never be more torturous to these cultists then the act itself being committed. Something that, if he was correct in his hypothesis, would frighten the cultists as it would rob them of the destruction and suffering they wanted by consigning their spirits to numb eternity in limbo.

    Provided the Grimleal took to the suggestion at all, that was.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Are the Grimsangue being taken by Sanary and Yari the lucky or unlucky ones? On one hand, they'll definitely live longer than their compatriots on the ground. On the other hand, they'll probably wish for death soon enough.

     Those that aren't taken away by the Elites find them faced by a rather large crowd of angry Grimleal, being held in place only by Vergil's promises of exacting justice upon the perceived heretics. Even some of the villagers (that aren't just being shepherded away from the ruins) join them with their own pitchforks and chunks of broken wood, staring at the coated man with varying levels of comprehension.

     "You speak so much, but you fail to understand that all of this.. /All/ of this! It's useless. Do what you will, but you will never break our resolve!" He didn't get any of that at all, did he? The other cultists appear to be a little more shaken, but the one underfoot has lost it already. He begins cackling madly again, and it isn't quite clear why.

     The crowd, meanwhile, remains silent for a long while, before a sigle voice rings out. "... Let's just stab 'em!" It's a villager. That's just enough of a push to rile up the crowd again, though, and they set upon the other Grimsangue with their assorted weaponry, taking delight in tearing those cultists apart.

     All but the one next to Vergil, anyway. They seem more than willing to let him deal with that particular cultist. The scout steps over towards him, however, peering at that cultist before nodding. "... I liked that plan, at least. A fitting end, even if it is only for one of these fools."

Vergil (878) has posed:
    While hints of disappointment seem to flicker in his eyes at the sight of the other Grimleal tearing into the rest of the cultists. While they did leave the one cultist alive, the others seemed more willing to break then this one.

    ... though perhaps that might not be the case if he could take one of them back.

    Fishing through his pocket, Vergil pulls out another orb - this one a light green color.

     After glancing at the orb for a moment, he glances back down at the cultist beneath his foot, seeming to smirk darkly. "Odd you say that... seeing as you didn't /deny/ what I said. Normally, people who have unbroken wills would have said I was wrong about claiming doubt. Even if they were lying about not having a doubt... anyone with a shred of such will would still at least be able to try." He straightens back up, gaze still focused on the man's eyes - "And yet... all you could do was make an ambiguous claim. You couldn't even claim it was the truth anymore. The only thing you could bring yourself to say was we would 'never' break your resolve." His smile becomes one of bemusement, picking up the man by his bindings.

    Limbo wasn't the same as death or torture for the soul in question... or at least, not to anyone else but those with mindsets like the cultists. And perhaps simply planting the idea in their heads as a punishment would be enough of a start.

    And if the rest of them took some of these cultists prisoner... perhaps showing them his own after the fact would convince them to be more cooperative. After all... anything was possible.

     Thus, grabbing his discarded cloak off the sands, Vergil's final act before departing with his new source of information was to pick up one of the cultist's books. It had been so very long since he'd added anything to the collection back home... and something told him that, if all went well, he would be doing a /lot/ of researching in the near future.