4344/Blood Moon Waning

Blood Moon Waning
Date of Scene:	21 July 2016
Location:	Creation-4
Synopsis:	When a squad of Dragon-Bloods discover something ancient that was lost among the sands of the desert, and brag about it in the city of Chiaroscuro, something equally ancient and lost rises to hunt them down and keep secret the treasures of the sands.
Cast of Characters:	342, 436, 481, 513, 991, 1020, 1021, 1022

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Shadowed Scales (1021) has posed:
    Chiaroscuro. The City of Glass.
    Renowned as the largest port in the South, it is a well known center and hub for trade, commerce, and shipping. Further south is the vast expanse of the Glitter-Flame Desert, a vast and arid expanse of sands, and home of nomad desert tribes, Anklok Dragon Kings, and treacherous hazards that make it inhospitable to the unprepared.
    Chiaroscuro itself however... Well there is a reason the city was named the City of Glass; every building is constructed of brightly colored, Essence-forged glass. At one time it was called the Jewel of the South.
    The streets are glittering vermillion, the breakwaters are brilliant azure, and the towering buildings are all the colors of the rainbow.
    Only four towers stand higher than the rest, each a glittering golden color.
    That... Is how it USED to be anyway.
    Now it is not so splendrous. Much of the city is in terrible disarray, the forged glass cracked and shattered, many of the towers have fallen and glass rubble lays strewn embedded in the streets. Though it is by no means a wholly shattered city; claimed by merchant princes and nobility, three great crimson roads lead into and out of the city and keep trade running.
    Tonight the stars are out in abundance and the moon is high, a dark shadow cast across her face into a waning crescent...
    But the city of 'broken' glass is quite lively right now. Rumors abounded- spread far and wide even beyond the borders of Creation, that five Dragonblooded heroes of the Realm made a grand discovery; an ancient city lost in the desert. Though the nameless ruins lay supposedly deserted, a vault containing wonders of the grand First Age undoubtedly lays below... And that means...
    The swaggering 'rulers' of Creation have taken this opportunity to organize a grand and amazing celebration; in spite of the slum-like living conditions, in order to inform the world of the amazing discovery they will soon be embarking to raid and tear apart for all manners of wondrous old artifacts. For one night. For just tonight? Chiaroscuro and her people gleam almost as brightly as they did ages ago. The streets are rife with revelry and delight.

Isa Reichert (1022) has posed:
High above, a shadow passes over the moon.

At first blush, it might seem like an especially large bat, but the wings aren't beating nearly fast enough, and the creature makes not a sound as it glides over the City of Broken Glass. It's an eagle, a freakishly large eagle, and the vast spread of its wings blots out the light of the moon every time it wheels in front of it.

Even from a distance, the creature is obviously enormous; even from such a height, its beak and talons gleam when the moon catches it just so. For now, though, it merely watches the upper echelon of Creation for their grand celebration. This place is not familiar, no matter how distantly familiar it may seem from above; and intelligence suggested these degenerate lowlives had found something that might actually be significant.

And so the eagle wheels, gradually dropping lower and lower in the sky -- low enough that the light of torches gleams off its beak and talons, and casts light against tawny feathers, pale scarring, and...

...was that a glint of quicksilver 'neath that standing torch...?

Kirika (481) has posed:
    The fox of Kasun has arrived, and she's certainly not affected by the heat much.

    Removing a head wrap from her face, Kirika wanders through the streets, her ears twitching side to side while she takes in the scenery. "Feels like the Eastern Country, alright." She muses grimly for a moment, deftly avoiding some rather rude citygoers bowling her over with a simple step to the side.

    For now, she looks for Finna and Nozomi, her crimson eyes alert as she inspects the crowd.

Cirno (436) has posed:
    "It's so hoooot..." Cirno complains, floating along wearing her power armor. It's a distinctive look that is probably getting stares... but less so from that maybe, as from the cooling breeze that she carries with her. The tiny girl had been looking hard for a lead, and drumming up a disturbance the entire time. This might be because her chosen method of doing so was to grab random people and say, "I'm looking for five elemental jerks, have you seen them?"

    IDIOT, the little floating AI beside her, chimes in, "I did try to warn you."

Mordremoth (1020) has posed:
    A new land to explore!
    The Pact was pressuring Mordremoth, and even with its ego they were becoming a thorn(haha) in its side. The disruption caused by unification of its land could be a further problem... or it could be a means to crush the opposition and continue on as it really desires. The only question is how, because its knowledge of the intricacies of its world did not seem to apply to the places beyond the new "gate" that had appeared in the Tangled Depths. Probing tendrils had difficulty reaching through without help, leaving only one option. Scouts.
    The Mordrem Guard were still the most populous of Mordremoth's troops. It is those that it sends through, a squad of fifteen. Twelve infantry, mostly scouts, with two snipers for support, and two of the bulkier hammer-wielding of the plant-men(and women, it doesn't discriminate), alongside three bestial plants in the shape of large lizardlike or dinosaurish creatures. Two of these were cavalrymen, the animated plantbeasts they ride holding thickened bark and bone on the heads for charging. The final was a fire-breather, and astride it was the leader, a purplish-blue one almost seven feet tall, with a rough-hewn axe at his side.
    It had been luck that had brought the squad to this land of abundant magic. What a find! It had been further luck that they'd heard of some discovery. If that meant what it meant in Mordremoth's world, this means an artifact of great power. It would be interesting if this new land could be used to fuel Mordremoth's power. That was what the scouting party had decided to determine, with the fragment of free will that their master had allowed them. Some autonomy in these situations was useful.
    What the group did not expect was the lack of revulsion and hate that the Mordrem carried in their own world. Concern and distrust might be present, but their distinctive plantlike appearance did not give them the instant attack on sight that they'd grown accustomed to as servants of the Elder Dragon. Certainly they needed to leave their beasts behind at the entrance, but their own selves were allowed to walk into the city, where the entire group was clustered together, looking a little peaked and dry because they are plant-creatures.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Once again, Nozomi Houken finds herself moving in on a situation she knows little ab out. But from what Finna said, she can grasp the raw basics. The Realm have moved in and set up shop in this city because they found something they want, and thrown a feast in their own honor. Apparently they're the kind of people to just march in and push everyone around? Nozomi's not sure, but that's what it sounded like. So she's come astride Taiga, dressed in something other than her school uniform for once - a pair of denim shorts and a babydoll tee, something not too restraining or hot. One look at the crowds, and she glances down to her 'mount'. "...Taiga, maybe... maybe the rooftops."

    So that's where they go, right up to the rooftops, where Kirika will find her if she looks. Hopefully there's no guard presence on the city roofs.

Stygian Mirror (991) has posed:
    No one could say why she was here, but a few dozen guesses exist. Chief among them curiosity, at other Creations, at ones that were 'in the past'. Curiosity at how the Terrestrials operate, since she was still young when their dynasty crumbled. Maybe she just wanted to see Chiaroscuro before it was destroyed. Tough luck on that one, that place is about as doomed as Gem.

    In an absolutely not subtle black cloak, clapsed with a Soulsteel broach, Mirror hangs back, at the very edge of the festivities. The disguise might work to make her look like a random edgelord mortal if not for the fact all three of her Lunar Tells-- the eyes, cat and ears-- draw attention to themselves, incapable of succeeding their mental attack against others to be unseen. It's the opposite of stealthy and subtle.

    Still, with the Dragon-Blooded too busy celebrating, she figures she won't catch their attention any more than Shadyass McBackalleyDrugVendor over there. For that matter, they are probably already acquainted anyway, with how Dragon-Blooded are.

    The heat doesn't bother her because she has iced tea.

Finna (513) has posed:
And just where is Finna? Finna has chosen to hide in plain sight! There's a black-haired girl with a youthfully round face cavorting amongst the revelers. She's dressed in a one-piece crimson outfit with loose-and-baggy pant legs and no sleeves. her skin's fairly tanned, her eyes green as emeralds, and one cheek sports a yellow star tattoo. Probably in her late teens and just dancing about the place.

    The Union does not know about this disguise, but her name is Clara, and she's a headache for most people who meet her.

    The Dynasts have no chance of knowing that a Lunar walks amongst them, because extra care has been taken to suppress the fox ears and tail that a few might have managed to spot. The effort this takes though means Finna's had to take a few breaks through the day.

    Clara doesn't speak the local tongue, only the trade tongues.

    At one point though, 'Clara' looks skyward... and blinks peculiarly at the shape passing overhead. Hmmm. "Giant eagles are northern..." What's THAT doing in the skies?

Shadowed Scales (1021) has posed:
    The festivities are in high gear, and that means... The local guard is somewhat slackening. There ARE rooftop guards, but when Taiga and Nozomi take to the roofs, the man they meet is seated propped up against a wall, singing along with whatever song it is the people below are, and at least four cups deep into something potent and alcoholic. He stares at the girl and her mechanical companion owlishly, before looking to his jug, as if trying to decide whether to keep drinking or stop. He chooses to resume chugging.
    The Mordrem are, amazingly, not stopped on their way into the city. Yes they do need to leave their beasts, but the sulky guards that have to deal with them instead of getting to enjoy the fun stare. Hard. Whispers filter between the men, trying to figure out just what they're seeing. A squad of Earth Aspected? Mercenaries?
    Kirika makes the mistake of not hiding her vulpine features in the least. Though the revelry is in full gear, heads turn, people go silent, and stare. A child takes a swing at kicking her shin. Stygian Mirror on the other hand gets a more fearful reaction, people attempting to back away quietly and hope SHE does not notice them. With how the city is right now, no one even THINKS to look up at the immensely out of place sight of the massive eagle touching down. But Cirno...
    The reactions she gets are wide and varied. While some people do try to surrepeticiously draw nearer for the cool bubble of air, her questions are regarded either with grumblings, feigning ignorance, or vaguely gesturing. It is the small, dark-skinned, hand of a girl that actually sets on the fairy's shoulder. Ratty tattered clothes, sun-darkened skin, and the general look of disarray about her says she's a beggar or orphan, but she wordlessly points a finger in the direction to go, all while staring silently.
    It seems that the revelry is at the loudest there, and everyone can find it easily. Three men and two women in jade armor are there, and of course some of the more important and noble looking members of society, while the rabble and dregs of society try to edge in closer. It sounds like an announcement is about to be made. Especially when one of the men, in red armor, stands and sets hands on his hips. Though his armored colleagues all roll their eyes and sigh heavily as he makes sure he's seen by standing himself atop their table for it.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Oh god. She's been spotted. Um. "Ah... er..." Crap, crap, think, Nozomi, think. "...I-I'm... I'm not good with crowds," she mumbles to the drunk soldier. "...I promise I won't bother anyone up here." Hopefully, that will satisfy him. Please be satisfied?

    She's going to assume he's satisfied with that and move on.

    To be fair, she wasn't lying. She's trying not to bother people up there, and other than his natural weight making thuds as he hops from one rooftop to the next, Taiga is trying not to cause a ruckus either. And as long as he lands on the edge of the building where there's the most support, it shouldn't cause much noise for anyone inside. So it's a quiet, bother-less trip to the square where the Dynasts can be found. And she can wait and watch from nearby for whatever they're about to say!

Kirika (481) has posed:
    Kirika was not well prepared for this, no. Even if she went for a god-born cover, she doesn't exactly get much of a warm reception despite her surroundings. "Definitely like the east." She muses to herself.

    Yeah, this place is so not gonna get a warm review on the travel website for foxy travelers.

    The child gets a crimson eyed glare, one cold and menacing as Kirika stares into the brat's soul, 'sod off' unsaid but still evident in her unpleased expression.

    Her eyes stare upward, looking at the eagle-shape curiously for a moment. "Hnnn." Could it just be the birds here are /huge/ or is there something else about this that seems off?

Stygian Mirror (991) has posed:
    If people avoid her, all the better.

    She'll stand over here, at the edge of the party, waiting for the big announcement. Mirror doesn't mind; silence is her eternal companion and solitude darkness death blaaaaaah. Sip. Iced tea, that's better, and much less dreary.

    It's possible her eyes catch the presence of other notables, but she isn't going out of her way to say or do anything. Of course this kind of announcement would draw a crowd. Maybe not for the same reasons she came, that was just curiosity for once, not work, but there being other Exalted present, Lunars especially, isn't surprising. By all accounts she looks like one, herself, at least to people who don't already know she isn't one.

    Yeah, how terribly interactive. Maybe she should go talk with someone, after all. Those plant people look odd, for one, and she's never seen wood elementals quite like that before. Or she can keep waiting for the announcement, sipping a refreshing beverage and not getting the attention of five people who'd probably love to go all Wyld Hunt on her right now. They'd probably regret it, but it would cancel the announcement she came to hear and all. Kind of inconvenient.

    If they don't get on with it she'll go chat some plant people.

Mordremoth (1020) has posed:
    If nobody is bothering them, then the Mordrem will be leaving others alone. Normally they are more aggressive. Here, they do not control anything nor have support. Everything is new. They can't notice anyone unusual because for them, everything is unusual right now, but the large bird in the sky is noted by the scouts. Dismissed for now.
    Not all of them wander over to listen to the announcement, only the leader and a couple others. The other Mordrem haltingly attempt to engage in conversation. Socialization is not a thing that they are used to doing, and Mordremoth itself is not paying close attention yet, so cannot guide them that way. They ask simple questions, like children. And they narrowly avoid problems, at times.
    "Are you following me?" asks a citizen.
    "Yes."
    "Why?"
    "If I did not then I would lose sight when you moved away."

Finna (513) has posed:
After seeing the eagle, Clara has taken the opportunity of quieting festivities and people readying to hear out the Fire Aspect (that pompous loudmouth to be sure!) to make some scratches in the side of a building she's sure the circling eagle will see. A number of swirling marks and simple scratches that, to the untrained eye, might seem as little more than crude graffiti in an urban environment... and in the wilderness, marks left by animals to mark territory and the like.

    Unfortunately, it probably means nothing to the eagle, its intended recipient. Thankfully it's also unlikely to mean anything to anyone else. Otherwise, questions would be asked.

    Roughly translated, her name and the message 'I bring no quarrel.'

    In case she's intruding in another's territory.

Cirno (436) has posed:
    "Oh thanks!" Cirno chirps to the little girl. In keeping with her friendly(ish) nature with poor boundaries of things like morals, she helpfully provides a reward. "Here you go!" She hands the girl a hand phaser.

    Floating over toward the group, Cirno extends the sensors on her suit for now, so she doesn't bother trying to squeeze into the crowd and can just listen with a directional microphone. A lot of weirdos here though. She doesn't look for trouble and she hasn't been active recently, so none of the Union sorts attract her attention even if she could recognize them.

Isa Reichert (1022) has posed:
Wings tilting, the eagle leans into a banking turn, soaring in wide, lazy circles over the central square, wings spread wide, fingers splayed like fingers against the night air. There's enough heat rising here to keep the eagle aloft in spite of the night wind, so finding thermals isn't as critical a concern as it might otherwise be. Cities are great for warm air.

Despite the constant motion from the bird's body, the head is almost motionless, looking down tot he gatherings below. Every so often the head swivels on to some other group, as though looking for someone or something...

Then, 'Clara' climbs up on a wall, inscribing marks and scratches into the wall, but apparently they garner no attention from the lord of the sky. The bird, nonchalant, tilts a wing down and turns, banking away from the wall without a hint of acknowledgement. As it banks by, though, it turns its head to fix her with an unsettlingly direct look. One eye is bright gold, so unlike a day-hunter, and the other...

Even more unsettling, there /is/ no other eye; just a slightly caved-in socket, shadowed and dark. The skin around it is clearly burnt, where no feathers grow, the side of its head similarly flame-scarred.

Creepy.

Indeed, its attention wanders away, toward where the armoured leaders of the city are congregating, and where they're ramping up to start speechifying. The bird circles above the torches, just out of eyeshot, and then folds its wings tight to its sides.

And it /drops/, like a /stone/, hurtling through torch smoke and tobacco smoke and gods-knows-what-else. Without a sound, it flips in midair, flashes its talons to the jade-armoured nobles, before lashing out and snatching one of their helmets; wings thrashing, it's gone as quickly as it'd come, making off with its seeming prize.

Is it gone...?

Nope.

Before anybody has a chance to track it, the helmet comes plummeting back down, aimed squarely for the head of the man it had been stolen from. The eagle's nowhere in sight, flown back up to where the darkness can hide it.

Clever bird... but definitely not just a bird. Too big, too foreign, too /deliberate/.

Shadowed Scales (1021) has posed:
    Though the child makes a break for it, someone does toss a stone, Kirika's way. It's not a good throw, and if it even does hit, it wouldn't do much harm anyway. It is, however, a good enough reason to downvote Chiaroscuro on Yelp.
    The people are now thoroughly weirded out by the Mordrem, but they have not caused any undue alarm yet and so no alarms have been sounded, but guards are now beginning to perk up a bit and pay a little more attention to the 'elementals', and by extension anyone that looks out of place. This means...
    Certian treasure hunters scrawling on walls, floating blue-haired fae, and fox-eared women... Both of them. One guard DOES make a hustle for the square and whispers something to one of the Dragonbloods, but for the most part, Nozomi gets lucky. Her guard is more than satisfied, he slurs something incoherenet and falls into a stupored drunken sleep.Meanwhile, the girl stares at Cirno, brow knotting with bewilderment as she's handed a phaser and quietly slips off into an alley.
    If Finna were to look back at her scribble... Something has raked claws over it in passing, five deep gouges defacing the clawspeak scrawling and rendering it illegible.
    Still, the Fire Aspected Dragonblood clears his throat. He begins to speak.
    "Citizens of Chiaroscuro! I-"
    "We." One of the seated Dragonblooded corrects him. He sighs.
    "Yes, we, --but of course led by I, Karuyo Cais, have made the discovery of our age. A city lost to time, buried under the desert sand. Rife with glories of the past. In weeks time we will claim it! But... In the meantime I think a display of power is necessary! I hear tell we have Anathema skulking about. They would take our glory, take our discovery and see it ruined and destroyed! So I-"
    "WE."
    "WE, led by me- shall-"
    He doesn't get to finish that thought when his helmet is YANKED off his head. "WHAT?"
    Then plummets back down and with a resounding THUMP lands back on his head. Caught flat footed and surprised, he drops to a knee, scowling and holding his head. "Sod it, anyone that looks out of place dies now."
    Funny how fast the crows break apart from 'Clara', Cirno, all the Mordrem, Kirika, and Stygian Mirror VERY FAST. Because the four seated Dragonblooded rise, grasping their weapons, a daiklave of green jade, a staff of blue, a chain of red jade, twin red jade sai, and Cais hoists his own daiklave.
    The guards swarm in, the people start to REALLY make their way out. Except for that girl. She seems to have misplaced her phaser- and is in the path of one of the charging Dragnblooded; a massive hulk of green jade armor showing clear lack of care that she's in the way as he bears down on 'Clara', the rest picking targets among the gathered elites, while guards come to back them up.

Kirika (481) has posed:
    Kirika seems to be utterly indifferent to the child after it takes a hike, but the stone is taking things too far. The kitsune draws her sword in a split-second, and the stone will be cut right in half by Kinugiri. It does more than slice silk, after all!

    As she remains armed, sword in hand, the kitsune is well prepared by the arrival of Dragonblooded warriors. "And now you are /definitely/ not getting a return visitor on vacation!" She calls out angrily, her brow furrowed as she prepares for battle.

    TThe guards find themselves assailed directly as Kirika bowls through a pack of them, her sword slicing bits of armor open and chopping weapons of inferior construction in pieces while she tries to get to the Dragonblooded. This might be a while, though.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    You know what's pretty great? Having a head start.

    Like, say, being on the rooftops.

    "Nozomi. Hold on." By now it's practiced habit, the girl hunkering down on the robot's back. Taiga turns himself around to leave, but before he's taken a step- "Taiga, wait, no!" It's so urgent he freezes in his tracks; that's not a tone she uses often. "That... the one in the armor, he's going to... he's gonna run that girl over...!" She wants to intervene. She wants to stop it, to protect the girl. He can't really say no, even if it's more dangerous.

    A short barrage of yellow energy balls slams into the street between the charging Dragonblooded in green jade, a blatant 'hey look this way' with enough power to pockmark the street with fist-sized holes and scorchmarks. A half-second after that, said ground is torn up by the talons of a heavy robotic tiger, landing in a skid that puts him right between the girl and the Dynast. "Hello. If you wish to continue the charge towards your chosen foe, by all means do so. It is of no concern to me. However, I would advise you to choose a different route. It's impolite to run people over." Both cannons are pointed at the Terrestrial, but not firing.

Stygian Mirror (991) has posed:
    Ah, the announcement, finally. What she came to hear! Sadly someone else had to go and interrupt it, and now they'll never know the fancy and juicy details of the treasure hunt. Mirror frowns, pulling the mask over her mouth and nose down and the hood of her cloak with it. There's no point hiding anymore; actually there probably wasn't one to begin with.

    She sighs, and steps forward.

    "If but one undeserving person suffers from your want to start a fight here, so help me, when you die I'm going to the Underworld, I'm hunting your ghosts down, and you're going to regret it for a very long time," she says, and immediatly she flares with black Essence.

    Her Caste Mark, not quite full iconic, appears on her forehead, a black circle with eight sunrays bleeding down on her face. But-- the black glow isn't coming from her. She pulls her sword out from under her cloak, and the weapon is pitch black, reflecting no light. In fact it's actively eating the light of the area. There's no sword in her hand, just a fragment of Oblivion itself, a hole in reality that's actively darkening the area. Her Anima's glow is coming from the weapon, not herself.

    The sword is swung, top half launching like a sword-whip towards the Terrestrial holding the staff. The blade no longer inflicts slashing damage; it's unmaking whatever it touches, and it is very unpleasant.

Finna (513) has posed:
WHAT IN THE WORLD?! Why are peopel separating from Clara? Fear in her eyes, she scowls. "Oh come on, is it the tattoo? Am I too cute for all of you?!" When speaking the trade tongue of Riverspeak, Finna's grammar seems far, FAR better than Haslanti dialect of Skytongue, oddly enough.

    Funny thing... this isn't really Finna's first time in the Jewel of the South. She did not come here looking for trouble, but to maybe stir up the old memories that lead her here and gain some answers... and found this instead.

    But there's something uncannily familiar about this situation. Having weapons drawn on her in these streets... it sends a pang through her heart and gut, and fills her with a pulsing, unbearable, pounding RAGE.

    While Finna would definitely leap to the aid of a kid in the way of an angry Dragon-Blooded without hesitation - ONE Dragon-Blooded, anyways - something MORE fuels her move to counter the charging Wood Aspect Swordsman!

    "Thought the Dragon-Blooded had more sense, more dignity, more smarts, than--"

    CLAAAAAANG! She's right up and in Daiklave-Guy's way, forcing the blade aside with... claws? Fingernails? whatever the case, she's managed to turn the blade aside with a swipe of her hand and duck inside his guard. The hand that just battered away the blade moves to grab onto his inner arm and prevent him from bringing the weapon about usefully, meanwhile she zips in closer and swings her weight around... aiming to FLIP the dynast off his feet and slam him down onto his back.

    "--Picking fights with people they know nothing about! Lethal mistake. Ready to lose your life over it? Lives of your allies?!"

Cirno (436) has posed:
    Oh hey, a discovery! Oh hey, an attack! Cirno is recording from a crowd, and then there's no crowd! Just a little girl in strange armor, with a floating fairy-robot beside her. "Hey!"

    Well now she has to fight! The targeting computer pops up, and the fairy pouts. "Nnnn... I really don't like fighting in this heat!" Supercooling the Nine Ball, space warps to place her above, floating higher up and sending a sharp spray of icy projectiles down toward the attackers. She isn't really concerned about the crowd though.

Mordremoth (1020) has posed:
    This isn't a good impression. The Mordrem here are just trying to find information, and they got that. For once they were going to just be on their way! Why couldn't they just do that? Now they have to do something else. In tandem, all fourteen of the scattered plant elementals look toward their leader.
    "Kill anyone who nears and bear their bodies back to the Blighting Tree," says the leader. It's a simple solution! With the civilians scattering they are not attacked, the creatures having just enough tactical sense to assault the ones directly a threat to them.
    The fire-aspect is charging, with chain whips coming toward the nearest Mordrem. The leader unlimbers his axe to meet the charge, but he does not expect he'll need to. The two cavalry draw back since they have no mounts, but the other infantry charge forward, and halt just shy of the leader.
    The snipers shoot first. And they don't want to cross the line of fire, because the magic-empowered bows that shoot the Dragon-Blooded leave searing lines of heat, the ground turning molten for a few seconds before the unnatural magic fades enough to cool again naturally. These lines crisscross in front of the leader, who meets any forward assault with a heaving axe swing. The Dragonblooded is probably going to be tougher than the Mordrem expect.

Isa Reichert (1022) has posed:
It seems that the bird is nowhere to be found now that it's had its fun. People looking up might not take note of the shadow of wings any more, so maybe it's moved on. There's nothing suspicious up there.

That's because the bird is dropping again. Silent and deadly earnest, wind whistles past the creature's outstretched talons, riffling through feather as it plummets into the crowd. The revelers nearest it scream and scatter, pushing to get away from the monster-sized bird of prey.

They aren't its target. The Dragonblooded wielding a chain of red jade is. With a wingspan over fifteen feet and weight to match, it's a huge bird; if that Dragonblooded doesn't get out of the way, they're going to be in for a world of hurt. Those talons are like steel, and the danger lies not in their impressive sharpness, but their crushing, bone-cracking grip. The eagle isn't idle once it's come to ground. Enormous wings thrash with battering force, and its head darts forward in an effort to snap at the hapless warrior.

Up close and in the torchlight, the battered old bird's moonsilver tattoos are laid bare for all to see, suffused with energy and now blazing into life and light. The struggle is also dislodging a few oversized feathers -- anyone who has a use for them would be free to snatch some. Curiously, those feathers that fall out lose their silver light, fading once they've drifted to the ground.

The bird is curiously careful to avoid the Mordrem, though; and neatly flips in midair to avoid the snipers' shot. It's also quite careful to avoid being cleaved in twain by that monstrous axe, because that looks like it would probably ruin the giant bird's day.

Shadowed Scales (1021) has posed:
    It's bedlam and chaos very fast. The five Dragonbloods and a score of armed guards break into squads very fast and set themselves on the course of their battles. But, perhaps, it does not go as planned.
    Arrogance is one of the Realm's and their Dynast's flaws.
    For the 'rulers' of Creation, this does not go well at all.
    Though to a degree, Finna is correct about the Dragon-Blooded, when a group of them are led by a hot-head such as Cais, this is perhaps not the case; let us begin this tale, with just how terribly this goes...
    Perhaps, Jabaras Joli had never thought her precious staff of blue jade would ever be broken. Perhaps she had never thought she would see the day in which the artifact weapon and armor passed down generations along her family line would be cleaved apart, cut neatly by the chill touch of something dark, terrible, and iconic, given blade form and launched at her, the whip-like 'blade' not somuch cutting as it is, rendering jade, and armor, and flesh, cleaved as though that were its very natural state of being. To see the air aspect go down in wordless silence sets the guards with her in cowed silence, even the other Dragonbloods pause to watch the first of their grand adventuring party fall, stricken down. It would seem, that the guards might be trying to count themselves amongst the undeserving, the squad facing Stygian Mirror breaks fast after that, but the wielder of the red chain presses forward. It ends terribly for him.
    Though he aims to assault the Mordrem, their tactics trump the sundry city guard at his back, even as they try to form a shield wall- they break apart when the ground before them turns molten, though some do drop from the impact of the bolts. This leaves the chain-wielder lashing his weapon like a whip, flurried motions in a controlled dance of death against the axe-wielding leader of the Mordrem, but his dance is soundly interrupted by the massive eagle interjecting into the mix. "--Anathem-" Makisara Yanow tries to shout at the sight of the moonsilver tattoos, before he's SLAMMED out of his assault by the gigantic raptor impacting with truck-stopping force, leaving him terribly injured and wholly at the mercy of Mordrem and Lunar alike...
    Cirno's hail fire of frozen projectiles really makes matters worse, the remaining Dragon-Blooded are peppered, their jade armor soaking frigid fire and making their defenses shift upwards, along with the guardsmen, putting this assault on the back foot and abusively undefended against Kirika's fanciful swordplay but...
    The massive Earth-Aspect does not seem like he wants to stop. His momentum is only FINALLY bled off, when Finna and Taiga together set in his path, leaving him growling and snorting like a bull as Taiga's fire makes him alter course, only to have his blade batted aside by the Lunar's claws. He raises his Daiklave again. "Do not stand in my way, then!" Bellowed as he readies to try and clave down through Finna, Nozomi, Taiga, AND the girl in a brutal and arrogantly ill-thought out move.
    Kilin led a difficult life, thus far. Abandoned and left on the streets to die by her mother, unable to support another mouth to feed. The girl was a survivor though; too determined and tenacious, refusing to simply die. She turned to a life of thievery to get by, stealing what she needed to survive, trading with the other orphans and beggars of Chiaroscuro's worst slums for small comforts, living day to day.
    Kilin lays bleeding in an alley, alive, but unconscious and stable, clutching the phaser Cirno handed her. She will wake up with no memories of what assaulted her, and no idea of what happened in the least, and her wound, though bad now, will heal in time.
    "You..." The girl hiding behing Finna, Taiga, and Nozomi whispers, voice clear and soft turning to a quiet but guttural rasp.

Shadowed Scales (1021) has posed:
    "Are in my way."
    That small, lithe, little arm raises, and inhuman eyes seem to stare clean through Nozomi Houken. Before that ARM goes clean through her chest. It passes through Nozomi... Harmlessly, but still passes through her nonetheless, a chill sensation of 'touch' reaching through her before a much more powerful arm, dark, scaled, and covered in glittering silvery tattoos bursts through her other side-- and into the massive Earth-Aspect Dragon-Blooded's chest, ignoring his armor and ripping through it as though it were paper, to punch through flesh, bone, and pircing heart in a vicious and fatal display.

Kirika (481) has posed:
    The soldiers tend to go down quickly, it seems. Kirika doesn't even touch them with her blade, merely disabling their weapons and armor with strikes from her feet, fists, tail, and scabbard that knock the guys on their asses.

    The Dragon-Blooded are then met by the kitsune, Kirika seemingly bored by the lack of any challenge from the foot soldiers. She was stupid to think they would provide any fun for her, and she knows it.

    "Let's see if you provide any more challenge than your flunkies!" she says, her blade slashing at Cais directly. "You, I dislike greatest out of all five of you." THe kitsune comments idly, before her sword meets his own weapon in single-combat.

    The girl suddenly PUNCHING A HOLE in someone's chest is noted, but Kirika can't divert focus just yet.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Taiga is prepared to buckle down in defense of the girl as his user asked; Nozomi is, for once, willing to face down someone much bigger and stronger than her for the simple fact that he's willing to run over anyone smaller than him to get his way, or even purely out of spite. It's a rare moment of hard resolve from the quiet one - a perfect willingness to protect someone that lasts right up until the rasping voice speaks up behind her. Nozomi turns-

    -in time for an arm to pass right into her chest.

    The mouse of a girl goes dead-silent and perfectly still.

    Her eyes trail down to the arm pushed through her - causing no pain or injury, but nevertheless /through/ her, and flooding her with chilly sensation.

    Her head slowly turns, coming around to look at the final target of the lunge. With a beastly arm straight through his chest.

    "...A... ah..."

    For a few seconds more, Nozomi remains utterly still.

    And then she screams.

Finna (513) has posed:
That raspy, cold voice from the -least- expected of places sends a shiver down Finna's spine. And she has not survived this long by questioning everything that spooks her to a nubbin...

    SO SHE FLIPS. Quite literally, she does a spectacular sideways flip away from the tussle at lightning speeds, quick enough to kick up dust from the streets in her wake! Just in time to see Nozomi's state...... THAT ARM....

    .... and, as she skids to a halt near a building she frequented earlier and sees her claw speech all scratched out, 'Clara' clenches her teeth.

    She didn't expect to encounter a Lunar here. Let alone possibly TWO of them.

Mordremoth (1020) has posed:
    This is not expected. Blademaster Cadogg did not expect any outside help, anything like an ally. A raptor interfering like this was odd but he isn't going to leave that to waste. The chains are tearing into his soldiers, and his resources as a scouting party are limited.
    A heaving swing of the axe tries to cleave through his opponent, while two of the soldiers flank and join in. The archers send out another pair of searing lines, keeping the mortal guards away.
    It is only after the battle is pitched and going on between the small group that the others begin to pay more attention. Their reaction is to stare silently at the display of powers. They have just enough individuality to call Mordremoth's attention to this, letting it speak through them. "What manner of magic brings this about?" EVERYONE is being watched, but Scales and Stygian Mirror most of all. Why the latter? Her powers.

Stygian Mirror (991) has posed:
    With one slain, Mirror doesn't actually pursue the others. Instead, the white-haired woman, her weapon radiating inverted sunlight that slowly threatens to engulf the area in its black light-- well, black light is a misnomer, but it gets the idea across-- walks towards the body of the Dragon-Blooded she felled, and kneels down in front of it as if to inspect it.

    With the tiniest expense of Essence, she opens hers mouth, each of her teeth suddenly turning razor sharp and gaining an inch of length. Her wide open maw reaches for the fallen's neck, and she bites. There's no elegance, certainly not the typical clean look associated with vampire bites. There's blood flying everywhere, it's terribly wasteful, and past a point she may look like she's just trying to eat the neck, not drink blood out of it.

    But she really only drinks blood.

    Creation's Essence is awful to her, and this person obviously won't need hers anymore. Waste not, want not. She's too distracted to tell she's being watched, as well, but her own interest will bring her to meet Mordremoth's champions sooner or later anyway. She did kind of mean to poke the plant people and say hi before things went south.

Isa Reichert (1022) has posed:
Fortunately, the eagle is able to pounce on its target before the squawking Dragon-Blooded gets a chance to yell anything really troublesome. That savage beak snaps and snaps again, trying to get a good grip on that weapon hand. It isn't the cleanest shot, though, and that target is annoyingly mobile.

In fact, the bird is about to draw back for another stabbing strike at the Dragon-Blooded's face, when a shrill scream cuts through the air. There's a lot of screaming going on right now from the panicked crowd, but /that/ scream -- Nozomi's scream -- seems like a special kind of urgent and terrified.

The eagle's head whips up and around, single eye facing Nozomi even as the bird uses the Dragon-Blooded to launch itself airborne again. It's big, so taking off is a little clumsy; it half-flies, half-flops over to where Nozomi is, beak half-open in a clear warning to bite to anybody around the girl, wings half-mantled in clear threat posture, moonsilver tattoos radiant.

But there's nobody else there except that creepy girl with a hand straight through Nozomi's torso. Right into the Earth-aspected Dragon-Blooded warrior's chest, which is currently in the process of exploding.

The eagle's head swivels back to Nozomi, and somehow, the animal manages to convey being /very confused/ in the same instant, as if to say, 'The hell is going on, here?' But it doesn't seem to know quite what to /do/, beak still half-open, this time in a gesture of obvious puzzlement.

Cirno (436) has posed:
    Ice rain always makes people stop for a bit! Cirno is pleased that is the same even in this heat... but it's making puddles. And her ice starts to run low in the arid environment. It's annoying.

    But then something gets even more bloody! Cirno claps her hands and yells, "IDIOT!" Huh? "Go take care of the guards!" The little AI fairy buzzes down, pewing lasers at the mortal guards to keep them at bay while Cirno... sets her lasers on automatic, blue light zipping across the battlefield to target the Dragon-Blooded carelessly. Mostly so she can scan the various parties in battle. She isn't paying much attention to the girl she gave a phaser to. Phaser should be fine for self defense, right?

Shadowed Scales (1021) has posed:
    Kirika focusing on Karuyo Cais, and Finna disengaging as fast as she can leaves poor Nozomi in something of a terrible situation. But before that is delved into, what of the others...?
    The guards are thusly forced to fall back, breaking completely and choosing to abandon their Dragon-Blood leaders when IDIOT unleashes a barrage of lasers everywhere, the rest horrified by the ghastly display of Mirror feasting upon the Air-Aspect's blood as she does.
    Cais is a bit more on the ball than his associates though, Daiklave flashing out, meeting Kinugiri in a flash of sparks, he puts up his defense admirably. But it's not perfect. Kirika draws blood, earning a snarl of pain and rage, as he disengages, the last of the Dragon-Blooded joining him, when the Mordrem ward off the guardsmen and Cadogg fells the Fire-Aspect, leaving the eagle to savage the fallen chain-wielder and ensure death.
    "This will not go unforgotten! Anathema! Devils! You will face our armies for this travesty!" He bellows while the two retreat into the night.
    The celbration is done. The revelry is over. The square is a charnel ground of dead guards and Dynasts, and that leaves Nozomi, and the 'girl'.
    A small, dark-skinned hand sets on Nozomi's shoulder as the 'girl's inhuman red and wild animal eyes stare dead on into hers, frigid and with feral intelligence. The hand is to brace, see, as she starts to extract the arm through the Japanese girl's chest, once again with that chill sensation as it draws back- still holding the Dynast's heart in blood fingers, the fact that it's still beating might draw attention to this little detail. All while eyes lock in stone silence. It's THEN, she looks to the giant eagle, the raptor's sudden protective nature earning a silent, questioning cant of the false orphan's head. From the new angle, there's no missing the faint silvery shimmer of Caste Mark, a crescent moon... Except... Mirrored? No. In reverse from what Finna and Isa would recognize.
    The girl answers no one. She says nothing. If not stopped, she too will slink into the night, backing into the nearest alley, hissing at the gathered on her way out.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    The first thing that Taiga does under his user is let out a furious, ferocious roar. If there were any doubt that his behavior patters were based on actual cats and not affected for amusement value, therein lies the moment that banishes them. There is nothing the robotic tiger can do otherwise, however; his cannons wheel around and point at the girl with her hand through Nozomi's chest, but he dares not fire, and he dares not move. Too many things that might get his user hurt. But the low, rumbling noise from the TIGER unit makes it very clear. He's upset. Very, very upset.

    The arrival of the protective bird of prey earns first a warning growl... but when Taiga realizes the Exalt's posture and body language, it subsides. Or, at least, is no longer directed at her.

    Nozomi herself? She's gone absolutely rigid with fear, aside from an utterly horrified tremble. All she can do is look into the eyes of the 'girl' with an arm through her chest. It's an utterly pitiful look that the Anathema has no doubt seen more than once in her life before.

    Then the arm comes out and brings a heart with it.

    There's a second scream, quieter than the first - but only in relative terms. She practically falls off Taiga's back, and the robotic tiger immediately whirls around and faces the girl with a livid noise more beast than machine. He doesn't take his eyes off her until she's gone. The only reason he doesn't pursue is the whimpering girl behind him, curled up into a ball.

Isa Reichert (1022) has posed:
The giant raptor is almost as big as a man, on the ground. It's a threat to the Dragon-Blooded, or at least that's what the guy on the ground would say if he could still talk. He might be alive. He might not. The eagle doesn't seem to care, occupied as it is with Nozomi's defense. It mantles its wings and opens its beak, hissing at the strange not-a-girl. It smells wrong, it looks wrong, it feels wrong--

Did it just pull a still-beating heart /through/ Nozomi? That beak snaps shut and the head tilts, looking for all the world like a very human gesture; single eye wide.

What?

It simply stares for a moment, before swivelling its attention back to the vanishing girl, and the robotic mechatiger. The robotic mechatiger whirls, then, ignoring the bird; that's fine by the eagle. Cats and birds never did get along.

Well, looks like Taiga's got all this in hand. Time to get gone before it decides to give chase. Gathering itself, the eagle gives a mighty leap, wings thrashing as it heaves itself airborne -- leaving behind a few more giant feathers for its trouble, the silver fading from them as they fall, and buffeting both Taiga and Nozomi with the backwash of wind.

Soon enough the giant creature is airborne, turning its head and glaring at the Dragon-Blooded.

They might hear a sound more like the raucous, harsh rattle of a crow -- almost a taunting laugh -- before the wings beat once, twice thrice; and it's gone above the torchlight.

This time, it doesn't come back down, or drop any helmets on unfortunate Dragon-Blooded warriors.

Mordremoth (1020) has posed:
    Battle is no stranger to the Mordrem, but a battle of this sort, with strange powers and beasts, has Mordremoth's attention. A little tendril of its mind reaches out to everyone, with a wordless question of 'what are you?' to all of them. But it is easy to miss in the heat of battle. Mordremoth's presence here is weak, and it can't make its voice known offworld so easily yet.
    Cadogg steps away, but the Mordrem around him pounce for the nearest body, dragging it off if they can. This needs to be studied.