4680/Building A Better Deathtrap

Building A Better Deathtrap
Date of Scene:	15 October 2016
Location:	Lumiere
Synopsis:	Attempts to build a community for the civilian Lanterns in Lumiere run face first into an obstacle known as the Stone Devils.
Cast of Characters:	974, Kushiko, Tomoe, Count Kord, Inga, 984, Priscilla, Staren, 1014

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Carna (974) has posed:
    The idea was set forth several weeks ago, following the saving of many civilian Lanterns that had been trapped in a cycle of endless suffering and death, fleeing from one hell to another at the bidding of an Unlit Concept, the embodiment of a conceptual force gutted of what it once was and reanimated as something hungry and malicious, that they make the part of Barrowville near the Church of Bleak Mercy a safer place for the refugees. Simply transplanting them to another world had... Serious security risks attached, as well as potentially being harmful to the Lanterns themselves to just suddenly be thrown into an entirely different environment after so long. What little remains of their sanity might snap. So instead, materials have been brought in, locally available building materials salvaged, and a combination of housing and barrier are being built around the Church grounds.

    The number of refugee Lanterns is significantly larger than the last time people witnessed the crowd. Not only would they no longer fit into the Church yard, they barely fit into the previously abandoned streets surrounding such. Three or four city blocks centered around the Church have been cleared of Unlit threats in preparation for this, and Carna has actually bartered an agreement with local Lanterns who are less awful than some others, perhaps more like her in that they are interested in serving themselves, but do not object to companionship or cooperation as long a such is useful to those involved.

    She followed the advice she was given on the radio, to state clearly the terms of the agreement rather than to plan to betray those she does not consider worthy of trust. Only those who accepted were allowed to help stand guard duty. The plan is rather simple: A congregation of Lanterns, not to mention any Living here to help, would draw the attention of lingering Unlit from all of their little hidey-holes. They'd be able to smell the Light within those massed in such a concentration, as they are around the City Limits... Though that latter is affiliated with the same Order that tries to sabotage anything that even looks like it would improve Lumiere, so they have been kept out of the planning as much as possible to help avoid tipping off the Stone Devils. And yet, within the cloister within the Church, one of those same Stone Devils crouches, blade at rest, prepared to answer questions about her motives and the Order she is part of, as well as what threats they should be preparing for.

    Thus, the present activity amounts to two things: 1. Building a safe zone that can be defended without the aid of a swarm of Elites for every Unlit threat. 2. Gaining intelligence to deal with an Elite-level threat by a group of enormously experienced combatants who spend their days going up against everything from other Lanterns to Unlit monsters to keeping an Anti-Lantern weapon known as a Marble Guardian bound underground.

    Kord knows some of the information. But it seems a whole lot more is going to be divulged once people come in to question Lasyra. For now, Peacemaker Longita furtively attends to the chapel, brushing away the dust and dry ash that tends to accumulate on everything in a never-ending struggle to keep clean this place of death.

Kushiko has posed:
The most normalish-looking Warframe of Kushiko's was the one who would arrive here at the perimeter, as quiet as could be--no, that wasn't /quite/ accurate. She gave no presence, except when directly looked at. The figure seemed to not be armored in the same way Nova or Valkyr was, looking closer to a clothed figure, but there were certain hallmarks of Mesa being a Warframe (though Carna has seen it before as have a few others). Namely, the lack of nominal eyes, in the wrap of synthetic fabric around her head like a mummy obscuring all notion of her seeing normally. And frankly, given the defensive posture they were taking, Mesa was doing just that.

If there were any more than Mesa, the Tenno gave no indication otherwise as Mesa passed by Carna with a slight nod and she took up a position of defense herself. She bore a single sidearm and another weapon on her shoulder, but apparently the twinned machine pistol-looking things were all she felt she needed.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe had been long not been around, whatever the reasons she's not said but today she's returning to help where she can on today the Iron Lily did intend to help with trying toi make things safer for the laternns and such a set up they'd not need to call in the Elites for help here. She had some ideas maybe they were not hte bestbut putitng her head together with everyone else? They should be able to come up with things that should be able to help.

Given her inventory and how strong she is as her avatar? Tomoe's been helping with the grunt work of hauling materisla and general grunt labour.

She didn'tmind it while she could fight she felt she might be of use here. So just who was she doing the grunt work for? Karal, that's whom she's hauling materisla and other gear around for at the moment.

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord enjoys the flow of industry.

    The man normally dressed in what could be described as an excessive combat attire, with a cape and edgy colorations that were all just styled to emphasize his religious leanings, is just dressed in a completely ordinary attire at the moment. While his weapon can clearly be seen holstered in the belt he is always wearing, the folding scythe seen behind his back, he was dressed in black slacks and boots, a white button-up shirt, brown leather gloves and he had his long red hair tied back with a leather strap. His long weird red and black tail was easiest to see like this, though he seemed to be good at keeping it out of the way. His face seemed much more youthful that some of his statements may have implied, hardly appearing older than his mid-twenties, with something of a mild stubble to his face. Somehow, the slight bags under his eyes didn't detract from this. It's with his face revealed that the strange black branching tattoos can be seen crawling up even from his collarbone, suggesting his body could be covered in them.

    He seemed pretty occupied, moving to help builders set up walls, pointing to direct weaker Lanterns, and pausing to check on those whose frailty was more obvious to see if he could provide some kind of pragmatic support to them. He had no interest in being the political leader hiding behind his desk while one of his ideas was put into motion, the leader of Dragoni demonstrating why he is still in power even after he has gained the reputation that he did. Even with the aura of death and dark around him that feels like that of a Lantern, he showed little aggression even with those that presented a hunger toward him.

    He had some of his more experienced soldiers and at least on Attendant of Yveltel here with him, all of them having a dark or ghost Pokemon to help them. He issued orders and made sure his people were kept safe with a hawk-like attentiveness whenever he could, though he trusted most of them to handle threats if they could.

    Kord had woven leather neckless dangling around his neck with a red-painted metal symbol of Yveltal on it, vaguely in the shape of a 'Y' just so he could wear something to show his devotion to his deity at all times.

Inga has posed:
Inga has come and she's brought a bag of bones. Literally. There's also a collection, a good sized pile that those in the area had helped to collect. She has everything she needs now to construct a bone fence.

There she stands in all her witchy glory, in a long red dress in the old norse style, hung with talismans of iron, bone, amber and shell. Her long white hair is braided, a few bleached bones woven in. More charms. She's prepared for trouble, even if they don't expect any. "Now you must bind the femurs together like this...watch how I tie the knot," she instructs one of the Laterns helping her, demonstrating tieing one of the bones to another as they continue to construct the fence. "... and I will power the wards," she says, carving runes into the bones as she goes before powering them with anima-infused blood.

It's a large pile of bones, and a good sized area she is trying to create. Looks as though Inga could use more volunteers.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Something pretty damnd amazing's happening out at the front lines of the defense construction efforts. When Karal Rei Lin was last seen, it was walking into a two-story ramshackle house on the front they expected to deal with the most Unlit resistance.

    That was fifteen minutes ago. The house's been covered in a hellish dust cloud of activity ever since. Hammering sounds, cracking wood and screeching metal. Over time the dust cloud stretched out to engulf the house behind it too, rapidly disassembled in blurry movements.

    The two houses have been quickly cannibalized and converted into a two-story crude wall with an inner walkway and stairs leading to battlements. It's a ramshackle mess of corrugated metal, gypsum board, and wooden beams, among other materials. Sturdy enough to block zombies and animals. Tall enough that scaling it whilst manned would be difficult. A battering ram might be a problem though...

    But eh. You work with what you've got and what you know how to work with.

    And Karal Rei Lin has no idea how to work with half of the building materials here. She has even less experience creating STRUCTURES with them. If an actual combat engineer were to grade this work, it's not scoring very high for quality or looks. It's certainly not up to any kind of specs besides structural soundness either. Watch your footing on those steps and don't trip! Etc.

    They'd have no complaints about the speed though, or resourcefulness of this construction. It's hard to keep track of where Karal Rei Lin is in the midst of the blitz of her dashing about and hammering materials into place - at other times, seeming to impossibly mold things together with her hands, superheating metal sheet joints and spot-welding them with exhaled golden flames.

    It'll probably take her just twenty minutes to turn the outer expanse of two blocks into a serviceable first wall that can be manned by ranged defenders.

    Freakishly, the quality seems to be slightly increasing as the wall extends further and further. Smoother joints and smarter placement of differing materials...

    ... Solars.

Priscilla has posed:
    Seeing Lin as a blur of entirely productive motion, fully occupied with work that falls squarely into her purview, and chugging away at it relentlessly without issue, is a nice change in Priscilla's opinion; that is, feeling like she can take her eyes off the young Solar and feel okay about it. Inga seems to be putting her talents to good use as well, though the crossbreed had rarely ever seen them, and honestly wonders if the bones here will suffice, or else might even be an improvement. Even Kord seems to have dressed down for the occasion, and Tomoe is hard at work. Despite the stale, musty dark of the Urban Decay, Priscilla feels pretty relaxed right now.

    So, she woman wearing the Hollowing Stone decides to sit down and tackle the potentially more complicated task. She has absolutely no experience whatsoever actually performing civil projects with her hands, and no abilities that she can put towards things to just leave behind without her. Instead, she sits down across from the Stone Devil the group had accidentally rescued a short while ago, bringing over the cleanest chair she can find and brushing down her skirt, resting Svala against the back of it. "I believeth it at least polite to exchange the usual first. Regardless of whether thou knowest such already, I am Priscilla current Queen of Anor Londo and Archlord of Lordran."

Staren has posed:
    Staren arrives in his armor as usual, but accompanying him is a squad of constructs -- a couple of large rocky humanoids with kanabos, two little metal unicorn statues, and a humanoid robot wearing body armor reminiscent of SWAT gear. The golems have missile racks on their backs, while the robot seems to have a rifle of some sort. Staren also throws several frisbee-like objects into the air, which fan out outside the perimeter as the constructs do the same. He's taking a page out of Rory's book today: Anyone can stand with the defenders and shoot some zombies with direct-fire weapons. Staren can, perhaps uniquely, bring to the table the power of reconnaisance UAVs, situational awareness, and attack drones with indirect-fire weapons.

    Staren himself then heads into the church. While he plays the battlefield like an RTS, he can try to spare a little attention in free moments to process... whatever this Stone Devil business is.

    "And I am Staren of the Free City of Lazlo, a researcher for the Union."

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Svala is here, and once again in both her bodies. The spear, necessarily, must be equipped to Priscilla. This being done, the girl is free to walk about the area, though she is largely remaining close at hand. While there is a great deal of activity going on, it is not anything she need watch for danger, and her magic is rather limited without her wielder's will to back it.
    She does not, for whatever reason, introduce herself, even as she stands by to listen to introductions, staring with curious intensity at the Stone Devil.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe was still amazing even though she knows what Karal is able to do, she wasn't expecting something like this. She has to take a step back as she just passes materials, tools and otehr thing to Karal as she works. She just kinda stares when things are done, and she knows Inga's here to work on the warding which should help a heck of a lot given the Norse Wisewoman's reptuation for such magics. It was still odd tobe thinking about magic in actual terms really. Priscilla had arrived too and would be helping in some fashion though she wasn't sure what she'd do but Priscilla wasn't one to lounge about.

She just ends up a bit distracted by Karal ad she stares at her.

"I'm never going to get used to seeing you do things like that, what's next?"

Carna (974) has posed:
    Progress continues to be made. Occasionaly Unlit shamble forth along the streets, the more emaciated or incomplete ones more like staggering zombies, though even among those there are some gruesomely malformed ones that move with surprisingly wire, tenacious, bestial agility as they run and leap, mindlessly but intuitively seeking prey, using their environment for the task even if the end result causes harm to themselves. The more complete-bodied Unlit may wear clothing, even armor, and some wield weapons, though they tend not to be very proficient with them. Dusty blackpowder weapons occasionally are carried but Staren's drones do a good job of taking their wielders out before gunshot fire can send a clarion call echoing through the vastness the Urban Decay.

    The civilian Lanterns, civilian only because they have died so much that most of their predatory instincts have been reduced to a shadow of what they once were as a preservation mechanism, their own bodies responding to being withered not by encouraging them to kill and consume like the Unlit, but to wait and bide their time, and hope for a better opportunity. It's interesting how their entire dynamic changes as they have less and less of their stolen 'selves' available to them. As they become closer to shells like the Unlit in form and awareness, their behavior becomes ever less similar to those same creatures and more like normal humans in unfortunate circumstances.

    There is much that is yet unknown about Lumiere and its denizens, but the 'life cycle' of the Lanterns, while some seem to have a fairly good idea of the transitionary phase from Unlit to Lantern, continues to be one of the biggest mysteries. What is their end result? What are they progressing towards? What are their true origins, and those of the Unlit?

    There is certainly no shortage of the things they come from, as has been verified. But these ones, given purpose, take direction well. They strive as best they can not to disobey, to show signs of resistance, becoming subservient and prey-like in their efforts to keep the dregs of their sanity until a better time comes when they can become predators once again.

    Carna watched them briefly, wondering if she would become like them if she dies too much. Then Kushiko drifted past and the Lantern nodded back to Mesa before directing her gaze outwards, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other Lanterns, most of them unknown to her. There is some quiet chatter. A few icy arguments kept to low tones, with the sound of woodwork and crafting providing more than enough noise to alert everything nearby. They don't want to draw Unlit from even further off. Occasionaly, Carna's crossbow bolts find their mark in an Unlit, over and over, until it stops struggling towards her. Same for the others. Very few seem to wield Murmurs like Enark, and Carna ponders again asking the Dead man to teach her.

    But the bone fence that Inga works, combined with the high-speed construction that Karal engages in, and the direction provided by Kord, are making serious progress. The fence seems adequate to make Unlit who come within sight of it slow and even pause. Perhaps unsure of why they are even hesitating. And that makes them easy targets for those on rooftops, or in alleyways between houses, or atop partially-constructed ramparts.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Tomoe's physical strength yields great dividends, contrasted with the tireless but generally weak civilians. Carna has demonstrated the strength to easily lift and throw another person as tall or taller than she is, without noticeable strain. So it is possible Dead Light concentration is a factor in strength. Thus, Tomoe is probably quite a bit stronger than all of the Lanterns around her, were they to suddenly go mad and come after her. Odd, then, that the Unlit seem to possess such ferocious strength despite being even emptier. More mysteries.

    Peacemaker Longita bows in the manner that she does to Staren as he enters and joins Priscilla in the cloister, but does not otherwise become involved. This is all far outside her realm of experience. In nine billion years, she has never seen this many people in one place. And she is one of the youngest among the Peacemakers. Though, like Enark, she may have gone crazy multiple times over the eons due to the sheer weight of the passage of time. But always, Lord Urizen, God of Reason, brought her back. Still, it throws some of her memories into suspicion. For instance, she feels very strongly she knows someone who has come here many times over the uncounted spans of lightless ages.

    Someone the others, let alone the High Patron, would be unhappy knowing she is... ...'Consorting' with. But she can not place a finger on any memory of HOW she knows him. He just... Is there. She knows him. That is the feeling. And now, one of his comrades is here, to speak of rebellion against him.

    And given the status of the Stone Devils in the eyes of the High Matron, that is something she should be glad of. And yet is not.

    She sighs, and resumes cleaning, wiping down the same altar and the same benches with the same worn cloth as she has been for she doesn't know how long. And within the cloister, an important conversation is happening.

Carna (974) has posed:
    "That's nice," Lasyra replies as Priscilla and then the newly-arrived Staren introduce themselves. She feels herself itching because of how long she's gone without killing. It's an addiction, and she is feeling the pangs when faced with such strong-looking opponents. But deeper than that, burying this murder addiction beneath an avalanche of More Important Concerns, is the worry of what is becoming of her Order. And the possibility that she may have been used for a very long time by a traitor. That this very addiction she has isn't really hers.

    As her mind clears, she remembers a thing called manners, and lowers her head briefly as she remains crouched in the center of the room, her bulky armored form and large wings taking up too much space to be seated. "Sorry. I don't socialize much outside my group. It's nice to meet you. Gargoyle Knight Lasyra, of the Stone Devils. I'll answer your questions first, but I want to stress there is a bit of a time limit before the rest of my Order takes action. So once you know all that I can tell you, a decision will need to be reached."

    Meanwhile, within the construction site, one of the Lantern workers hears something... Whispering to him. Like a voice in his ear. Or in his head. He turns slowly to look at Kord. Then he leaves his work behind and starts staggeringly advancing towards him, construction tool in hand. It is not long before others seem to show the same reaction and do the same.

    And it is not just Kord these handful are turning towards. Something in the shadows continues to whisper. And the Lanterns continue to leave their projects to respond to direction other than what they are being given, heading for Inga and Tomoe and Karal and Svala as well.

    And then suddenly, the crowds closing in on them fall to their knees and begin muttering and praying, seemingly praising someone or something, clamouring our mumbling thanks and desperate pleas to the Elites, even to Kord's minions he has brought, even to their pokemon. What's... Going on here?

Staren has posed:
    Given the situation, Staren holds back on the missiles for now. The unicorn golems hold close to the perimeter, providing more eyes in spots where defenders aren't at the moment. They aren't good fighters, although their horns appear to have been filed down into shivs. The robot is actually armoed with a crossbow -- that rifle was an animation error, clearly <_< It's a bit mechanical and clunky with its aiming, but perhaps that's enough to shoot zombies. The big stone constructs are the strongest attackers, without missiles anyway, but have to lope up and bash them in melee. Staren will have to work on better quiet ranged weapons... At least with eyes in so many places, he can alert defenders to any nearby undead behind buildings or something, before they can surprise someone.

    "It's fine." Staren dismisses the rudeness. He nods. "Yes, well... start telling. Everything you know about this Luc, and why he opposes us... and what resources he has to oppose us with."

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord directs some soldiers to help out Inga, speeding along that side of the project. He pauses to help lift some materials, demonstrating great physical strength that is more like a highly trained monster than that of a man, contrasting the weaker beings around him. He does not spend any time thinking about this, simply leveraging what strength he can to observe, to act, to command, making sure the Lanterns know what to do even when they can't do much. The weakest of them get pointed to tasks of cleaning areas for others to act more quickly, and so on.

    But then a hiccup spreads across this busy industry. Construction workers, Lanterns that Kord would have spoken to moments before, pause as if possessed. He is instantly put on guard when he notices this happen... he understands the process of a Lantern losing their marbles as a more gradual process, and so their behavior struck him as immediately unusual. He also has the benefit of knowing such strange behavior shifts can be influenced by supernatural powers...

    So he doesn't attack, and they fall to their knees before him and prey. The look that blooms on his face is that of barely-restrained fury. He clearly does not appreciate such a gesture, especially when directed toward him, and it created a certain motivation to not be right next to these Lanterns should they start behaving more violently. He picked a place to hop up to with a few well placed jumps from point to point like he was nearly weightless so he could stand and scout. A gem he pulls from his pockets manifests, with a red light, his Murkrow... the dark bird flaps her wings and flies high up into the air, scouting the dark nooks and crannies, looking for the source of this disturbance. Her eyes could spot a coin at the bottom of a murky river from a hundred feet up, a trait trained into her so that she could be an effective scout. If she spots anything, she has trained cries to announce to Kord that she's found something.

    And Kord pulls his unusual folding scythe from its holster, the weapon unfolding with a metallic 'thunk' and a couple of sparks. He really looks like some kind of battle farmer in his current outfit, especially with that weapon.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"No idea, but it would've been way better if I'd tried building walls before now. Say, pass me some more of that glue--" Lin begins to say to Tomoe as she takes a momentary break to study the wall she's built so far, momentarily ruminating on its design and how she might improve the next section to be even better. This is quite a learning experience, although one might probably have wished she had practiced elsewhere first.

    But footsteps draw her attention. She turns, gaze sweeping past Tomoe and onwards to...

    By the gods, what in the shaped world is happening?!

    "U-Uh." Lin's voice cracks. She's not of a mind to be worshipped exactly, but neither is she sure of how exactly to address this development. Being the subject of praise and worship is certainly a thing that she expected might happen... but...

    "I-I know that the speed's godlike, but it's not the time to thank me!" She protests.

Tomoe has posed:
There's a lot for Tomoe to do, a whole lot honestly. She's able to help with hauling the things that the civilians are unable to do. She keeps working and is fairly tireless herself. She ponders the differences between the lit and the unit while she works, it's a mystery and she's not sure she wants to know the truth of it. She keeps working though helping Karal work on things. With the Unlit inbound? She may be ready to work but then comes the worship? Wait what's going on here? Tomoe just freezes like a deer in headlights, a look of shock upon her face.

Why is she bring prayed to? Why is she bring worshiped? What in the blue blazes is going on here and she looks with a pleading look to Karal for a moment. If there are more unlit coming though they are going to need to fight them off, this worship has rattled the Iron Lily pretty bad.

"I'm ... not a god! I'm pretty much nothing!"

Inga has posed:
The bone fence is going to take time, but once she's trained her helpers on how to physically construct the fence they begin to make progress. It will help keep the Unlit away for now, but once it is complete and fully powered? A ward that doesn't need to be worried about. That's the hope, anyway. That's how it has worked in Kingsmouth, which is about as foul a place as this one.

The soldiers leant to the efforts by Kord are put to good use, Inga instructing them on how to put the bones together while she does the more specialized work of carving runes and infusing them with her magic. Naturally, this is done with blood.

Inga looks out toward where the Unlit are shambling toward them, her brow drawn together thoughtfully. She does wish to test how an unlit or even a Lantern might respond to her magic if she used it to heal them. Perhaps she would get the chance to test that soon enough.

All work haults suddenly as those around fall to their knees, seeming to pray and prostrate themselves... Inga looks puzzled, glancing around herself in question. Was it to her they prayed?

That causes Inga discomfort for quite a few reasons, but she keeps her cool, looking around to observe what is happening elsewhere. It is not just to her, and the reaction was too sudden... "Hmm," she says, questing out with her magical senses, searching for anything or anyone who might be responsible for triggering this. Can't a witch build a bone fence in peace!?

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla briefly considers trying to laugh. Someone apologizing for their lack of outside socialization to her seems worth one, but the joke seems like it would be lost on Lasyra. Of all the people present, Priscilla is by far the most used to eccentric warriors in gigantic piles of absurdly heavy armour in esoteric styles, and so she seems to think nothing of the 'transgression'.

    "Very well. In all truth, I am not particularly inclined towards unnecessarily lengthy consideration. The immediate questions art obvious regardless. How many number thine Covenant, how many amongst them its leaders and in what capacity, where they maketh their home, where their aim lies, and how thou believeth that purpose hast been distorted. I supposeth also, if there art any others such as thineself, and any others such as us as they wouldst wish to move against."

    Having Lanterns gather around Svala is an unwelcome interruption though. Priscilla doesn't need to visibly do it, and feels best urging the weapon's projection to come closer to her by thought instead. The mysteries of how Heaven's Armoury actually works are still pretty thick, but just her instincts don't like leaving a 'young girl' she's supposed to be taking care of in a mob of those people.

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Whether Svala has ever had any prior experience with being mistakenly worshipped, she isn't saying, but her lack of reaction may be notable in contrast. She's turned to look, but doesn't take a step until that particular moment that has significance to only her and her wielder. The seemingly-young girl then steps over toward Priscilla at a measured pace.
    The questions are rather covered, though there is a piece of information that had not been quite explained to her satisfaction. "Another question, please. What differences drive one of this Order out of step with the others?"

Kushiko has posed:
Well. This could get problematic, couldn't it? Not the current Unlit, no. Mesa was having next to no issues with that, weeding through the bigger threats because she wanted to pace herself besides. Every so often, however, she focuses, putting away her nominal sidearms in the twinned machine pistols, and the twin barrels lodged along her arms flip into position, fingertips clicked into the 'barrel' notches as her freakin /hands/ become guns and she becomes a transcendent blur, instantaneously shifting between firing positions and unloading on Unlit as they come.

Hearing what the others are talking about causes the unseen lips of the Tenno child to purse just a bit. "... worshipping? Seriously?... why do I have a bad idea about this." She moves a little bit to not display as /much/ of that otherworldly skill as a gunslinger, lest some of those near /her/ get the wrong idea anytime soon. And the second thought occurred by the Lotus that maybe it was time to send other agents here to investigate things without drawing attention.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Kord's murkrow sees something. A shadowy... Thing. Not unlike Crow, but deeper in its blackness. More substantial. And unlike Crow, it has no face. It is simple a blob of black that is already slipping away through the omnipresent murk, its task apparently finished. Is this the work of Shadows then, rather than Stone Devils?

    Carna and the guard Lanterns seem to be realizing the clamour behind them, and directing their attention, if not their gaze. Some have such combat experience they can pick out the individual movements of each civilian within the forming crowds without having to turn their heads, simply by 'feeling' the presences. Yet none of them detected that Shadow... But then, Crow was rather undetectable too, wasn't it? Except when it was talking. Some among the warriors, however, turn fully, annoyed by the noise or what it might cause, or simply wary of this development. Getting a group of Lanterns together like this for a self-enlightened 'good' purpose was a task Carna did not think she could manage. She had to buy the aid of many of them with the Dead Lights she has accumulated while fighting alongside the other Elites. If this becomes more trouble than it's worth to them, getting such a gathering together again might be very difficult.

    That would be another level of damage caused by this, without the enemy having to raise a single blade against them. A much more LASTING level of damage, because it would harm their likelihood of cooperation. The more she thinks about it, the more Carna realizes how much they're being outplayed here. The sheer difference in manipulation and experience at sabotage. And she doesn't like that. She would much rather a horrible thing she can stab than being forced into action by circumstances beyond her control. Oh, and the combatant Lanterns aside, how will the civilians ever trust them again if their protectors turn against them? They could completely and utterly alienate the entire population who might otherwise support them. And yet Carna is still willing to do that if it's the only option available and do damage control afterwards.

Carna (974) has posed:
    The reactions to the unexpected worship vary based on each of those present, from aggressive removal from the area to total lack of reaction. The prayer doesn't seem to stop either way. What are they saying anyway? Maybe the nature of the prayers and praises might reveal some insight into what they are doing...

    "...The Ash Bone Gate will be opened by Thunder and Hammer..." "...The Light that Shines Upon Her will Carve the Path to Betrayal..." "...The Builder will Make Right the Manufactory; Hence shall be Restored the Makers of Hollows..." "...The Spear Of Destiny Will Lay In the Hand of the Queen of Two Nations, and Also Her Killer..." "The Champion of Worlds within Worlds shall End the Final Game..." Cryptic phrases all overlapping and melding together, fragments of prophecy. Some seem to be calling out to Los, others Urizen, and still others calling the Elites by strange titles.

    It's all very surreal. Someone must have told them that these people helping them are the prophecied figures from the Book of Los. But who would have thought they'd respond like this?

    One of the combatant lanterns is lowering a large halberd and seemingly preparing to use it.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Within the Church, Lasyra, unaware of what goes on outside of the enclosed Cloister, but looking wary as Svala suddenly joins them, answers what she can. "Luc is a Gargoyle Knight, like myself. The highest combatant rank in our Order. But he also holds another title, that of 'Speaker'. Our Order is one that thrives on chaos. We are held together loosely, but definitely, by those who can handle the reins of our madness. The Chamber. But we are not permitted to speak with or interact with them. They are an absolute authority that must not be compromised by outside interference or politics. That is what made them work. Only Luc has been trusted enough to serve as the go-between for the rest of us and the Chamber. But he made a call on... Well, the hunt I had organized to kill all of you on your way back from defeating the Wall of Cruel Customs. He interfered, on his own authority."

    She says it off-handedly, but just admitted to having a group of Stone Devils ready to ambush them after a major battle. And she doesn't seem to care if that bothers them. It's business as usual for her. "So I went down to the Chamber's council room myself to speak to Luc, or if not him, then the Chamber. It was against our rules, but he overstepped his bounds. And that was when I found the door to the council room open, and the Chamber dead to the last. Decapitated and left to molder at their table. When I tried to report this to the others, that Luc had killed them, he had already told them I had been the culprit and used disabled golems to provide an incomplete illusion of me going inside and then coming back out. He pinned his crime on me, and now is essentially the ultimate authority within the Order. I know that he is strong, and clever, and old. But he joined after I did, and was elevated to his position very quickly. I do not know if he is the strongest Stone Devil, but he is the one with the broadest influence."

    Lasyra then looks towards Priscilla and says, "However, that influence was based upon the authority of the Chamber. Resaran is a hunting companion of mine. He has been for a very long time. Unlike Luc, he is admired and trusted on his own merit. Despite the work we do, he is honorable without being weakened by such. We have been driven to more widespread, direct interference in the affairs of others since Luc became Speaker. And despite that, while I was with the Order, I did not feel anything wrong with what we did. The ambushes, the sabotage, the desire to keep Lumiere broken and even to plunge it into a greater darkness. The longer I am away from them, the clearer my mind becomes. And the more I begin to suspect Luc has been tampering with us on a level beyond creative reinterpretation of the Chamber's will. He turned us into this. And while I can not promise we will become lovey dovey with you if you help put a stop to him, I can say that we will have the chance to re-examine our methods and our priorities."

Carna (974) has posed:
    Lasyra tilts her head and says, "I understand you are not incline towards unnecesarily long conversations and I have just delivered a great deal of information. So I will keep the answers to the rest succinct. Our 'Covenant' numbers 128. Not all of us are here in Barrowville. I believe there are some separated in other locations or who left around the time that Luc became Speaker. Perhaps they had more insight than I did. Resaran is the most respected leader, but Luc has official authority, for as long as that holds. He likely maintains it more through whatever sorcery he is wielding than a true feeling of subservience. There are other veterans who might make good lieutenants. Our headquarters is in City Limits. Anyone can point you there. The entrance is inside of a warehouse down some stairs, just past the market square. The entrance will be guarded but we've never needed doors or barriers beyond our blades."

    "Our previous objective was to consolidate power and control over Barrowville, in the absence of any other authority beyond the Church of Bleak Mercy. We would rather make a home here than strive for the surface. That purpose has been twisted towards one of stagnation and further destruction. That somehow we can make this our home by using Los's forge to create new flame and instill it into all the Unlit, substituting a divine spark for Dead Lights, and making our enemies into the new population of a world of eternal death. Somehow, by killing others and destroying their own efforts, we are 'doing Los's will' and working towards finding his Forge. I know not how, but that is likely Luc's rhetoric alone. Who knows for how long he has been lying to us?"

    "We have been at odds with the Church, due to their desire to spread Light and restore the Link between Lumiere and the World of Ashes, and our desire to drown evrything in Darkness to more easily find the embers worth saving. I think I see why now. But Longita, for some reason, allows some of us to visit occasionaly, or at least Luc. I do not know what deal they have, but I do not believe she is supposed to be accomodating us in such a fashion." She eyes the door out into the chapel and the priestess beyond.

    "My reasons for stepping away from the Order and seeking aid, I have already explained, I hope. They are not what they should be, under Luc's leadership. Nor was I, when I followed him."

Staren has posed:
    "What the..." Staren can see the crowds on his eye-in-the-sky cameras, and moves the unicorn statues to investigate. Listening to the prayers over their microphones. "Chaos under an absolute authority? Sounds like you're not very invested in this 'chaos' thing... or the Chamber just uses you to their own ends while calling it chaos." Staren says, staring out into space as he checks video feeds far away.

    One of the lanterns is about to attack civilians.

    A tiny missile launches into the sky from one of the statues, arcing. This one is effectively a guided bullet with an explosive tip meant to weaken the target's armor. It comes down on the halberd-wielding lantern...but doesn't explode. The force of impact may or may not seriously hurt the lantern. One of the frisbee drones flies down to him. <"DROP YOUR WEAPON!"> Staren commands. Carna tips him off to more, Staren looks for and marks targets.

    He's holding his hand out to Lasyra in a 'hold on.' gesture while he focuses on this.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe takes no act to harm the praying Lit, she's not sure what's going on, she's not sure what to make of what's being said till the mention of the The Champion of Worlds within Worlds shall End the Final Game. Was that about her? She's snapped out of her abject confusion and shock. This is good this is very good,. She pauses for a moment as the lantersn are getting ready to attack she's not sure why but she's readying a spell runes dances about her as she makes ready to deploy a rooting spell and a blinding one if it's needed they are wide effect. She's also summoong the mouning wall for defence but she's not going to try to kill or is it redead? Allies?

"What's going on? What do you know about this?! If you know something work with us! Tell us!"

Count Kord has posed:
    Aas lets out a noise, a strange bird-like call that can be heard briefly over the chaos beginning to spread now that the civilian Lanterns... the sound she says indicates something specific to Kord.

    'A strong shadow.'

    Kord works his jaw for a moment, turning his gaze in that direction. His wings form on his back, seeming to fade to translucency as they reach his shoulders. Truly just a manifestation of the power gifted to him. He then bolts up into the air, rapidly taking off in a direct path toward where the shadow was spotted. As he dives down between buildings in order to pursue, he does something strange. The very darkness around him seems to part like water around an incredible force, as he tries to reveal the being responsible... or pin down a living shadow under the force of his ability to control darkness, if necessary. His scythe is held at the ready in both hands.

    His face is coldly furious. It's clear that this tactic being used against him is something he has grown to hate. He has never been a creature of subterfuge, despite living among those creatures that use it naturally as their way to survive and thrive. Though, dark Pokemon are also known for their incredible, malicious fury...

    Up above, his Murkrow calmly searches for the shadow to help her master pursue, creating a duo of hunter and tracker that very few physical beings would be able to avoid.

Inga has posed:
Inga doesn't know about killing them. It doesn't seem a wise course of action to the seer, but this isn't her world...still, she would advise against it. Something must be triggering this. Are the gods of this place still at work?

Inga leans down toward one of the lanterns near her, listening to the prayers she utters. Her eyes widen. If anyone knows what a crytic prophecy sounds like, it's Inga. She's given enough of them, been the conduit through which goddesses and bees have spoken. "...by Thunder and Hammer..." she repeats, reaching up to touch the hammer pendant she wears, confused. She repeats all that she hears, putting it down to memory...

What does it mean?

Inga sighs heavily, then opens wide her Sight...if there is prophecy on the wind, perhaps she can pick it up in more detail.

It seems however that some of the more combative laterns on being put on edge and there is the concern they will attack the civilians to stop them from attracting Unlit. Inga is not alright with this plan.

The wisewoman brings her knife to her arm and slices into it, blood welling and rising into the air in droplets that quickly flow together. Inga motions with her knife, the blood flowing to form a circle around herself and the lanterns around her on their knees, protecting them with the anima-infused circle. Nothing gets in--or out, until she dismisses it.

Kushiko has posed:
Privately, Kushiko is very glad she went to the perimter. She doesn't like the possibility of this worship thing. All the same though, what's happening /is/ extremely troubling and she can't quite divert her attention completely from keeping general Unlit at bay.

Which is why she moves off of the the Perimeter line and more inwards for the time being. She pivots, launching herself in a spiral skyward--at the apex of that twenty-odd foot jump to 'roll' midair, and glide towards a certain point between the civilians and the combatant Lanterns.

Once she lands, those same guns--the Regulators on Mesa's arms swing forward and lock into place. Trails of coruscating lilac energy swirl about her--fading in and out of extistence as she half-has her attention on what Kord is attempting to pursue, and keeping an eye on the threat that looms.

<"There is a line here."> the synthesized voice of the Tenno begins, lights pulsing near her neck. <"Please do not cross it."> It's not the usual kind of warning either. The line that should not be crossed is one of personal action as much as it might be a point of no return. And well, moving towards the civvies but that was probably implied.

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla sits silently for the story of political intrigue. She hadn't even heard of the Stone Devils until the other day, and had only briefly glimpsed one before; by Lasyra's description of their habits, possibly Luc. Despite indicating no desire for lengthy conversation, Priscilla soldiers on with admirable patience and attention to detail, as any given sentence the Gargoyle Knight utters sounds as if it could easily be relevant in a life or death situation later, if this order really is supposed to come after them.

    Finally, she responds after Lasyra is completely done. "Mine apologies, but I cannot say that I particularly care for whether or not thine Covenant wouldst transform itself into something less pointlessly detrimental to Lumiere. Of course, I wouldst be pleased were such to occur, but it is not within our long term aims to rush about this realm correcting its small wrongs wherever we find them. Mine priorities lieth with removing this upheavel as an obstacle to our more important goals."

    Speaking with a lot less altruism than the others, she continues. "One hundred and twenty eight warriors is beyond the number I wouldst tolerate hunting and exterminating. If there art existing fissures within the collective, so much the better. In further truthfulness, mine opinion of this Lord Los' ultimate aims is neither clear nor one of high esteem. I am full well willing to entertain a usurpation of this disruptive element's authority, provided it not require of us a full campaign of arms, and provided thou understandeth the retribution that shalt befall thee were thou and thine own to turn on us."

    That all said, there is a situation outside. She can hear it all over the radio, and she can hear it with Staren's missile fire. She excuses herself with a single, curt line, and turns to step outside, already recognizing snatches of Los' prose. Rather than attempting to enforce one way or the other as the tension in the air escalates towards a boiling point, what she does is step forth, throw her arms up, and raise her voice to the loudest level anyone has heard since her coronation.

    "Loyal servants of Los! Open thine eyes and unbow thine heads! There is work to be done yet, in the Painter's name! Shirk thine tasks at thine own peril, for those who remain bent in the dirt, muttering his instructions rather than following them, shalt be forsaken and left behind!"

    Her decision seems to be to own it, 100. Bullshit from what she read out of that book of Los' prophecies. Make the situation appear normal and semi-intentional. Speak to their weird, pseudo-religious fervor rather than trying to police.

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    To some extent, Svala's question was motivated by a simpler, unspoken one: 'What danger do YOU represent?' Betrayal is not within her book of allowed tactics. Determining the cause of this Stone Devil's turning against her fellows was high on her priority list, regarding this particular conversation. The tale that follows does provide an answer, though how much of this she accepts at face value, her own, impassive face does not tell.
    The particulars of the prayers are heard, and the connection not lost upon her. It should not be obvious to those without power that there is anything particularly special about the spear that Priscilla carries, though it would be very obvious to anyone with an ability that detects magic or artifacts. Even then, it would take a fair bit more finesse to determine that her bodies are linked. This suggests more than a passing glance was used in concocting the snatches of prophecy that have been whispered to the worshippers' ears.
    Contrary to an earlier suggestion, the Luc so described does seem the sort to use subtle tactics of influence and manipulation. Thus, quietly, "This is an attack." From whom, she'll not guess out loud, even in whispers. There is little she would unhesitatingly speak, just now.
    What Svala can do, and does, is use that drop of magical power necessary to so manipulate her thematic element, gravity, and provide the posing Priscilla with an excellent simulation of a dramatic updraft, sans wind.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"Uhhhhhhhh." Even with several people telling her this is the result of manipulation, Lin has no real idea WHAT she ought to be looking for. Her interest in sorcery and similar things has only begun to bloom... but now with this, she might have to rethink her priorities!

    All she can do is etch this prophecy into her mind... and look around at the surroundings.

    But the fringes of her vision start to waver as hints of the flows of power through Lumiere flit in. Just brief bits. If she can only figure out how to refine her sight...!

    Well that won't be happening from one effort, but it's getting better.

Carna (974) has posed:
    The Lantern was definitely making motions to act, but Staren's attack gains the armored man's attention. He does not respond favorably to being ordered what to do, and snarls back, "Then get them under control, fool! Else we will be facing worse than my blade soon enough!"

    Tomoe's pleas for information fall upon unhearing ears. A withered female civilian Lantern, who might either be someone's grandma or just someone who has died so much she looks worse than a concentration camp victim, just shakes her head in confusion at Tomoe when she is questioned and keeps reciting that Tomoe will end the 'Final Game'.

    Kord attempts to expose and pin down the Shadow that is responsible, but though he draws the pevasive darkness endemic to this low-light environment away enough to reveal that blob of silent blackness, the writhing, tentacled mound of shade, like a hill that crawls, simply pauses -- apparently realizing it has been noticed -- and without any visible indicator of features of form, its attention is turned on the scythe-bearing Kord and the frame that Kushiko is present within as she aims her weapons. Eyes boil into existence across its surface, not unlike the Wall of Cruel Customs. But in this case, the eyes are more like cracked holes... Dry, dessicated sockets with Nothing looking out of them. A hungry void similar to the horrors some here faced what may seem like ages ago when they first opened the gate leading to Escher. But unlike those Non-Things, there is clear intelligence here. A will and awareness. All those empty sockets take Kord in, and then the hill of Shadow collapses in on itself, and is gone.

    Inga's circles provides a barrier to protect the civilian Lanterns, whether from combatants or the Unlit that are starting to encroach more and more as simple prayer and mumbling voices resound over the near-silence of the Urban Decay the way the cheers of a crowd might from a stadium in more noisy environs.

    Carna orients on the growing crowds, firing flaming crossbow bolts into their midst. She normally avoids fire because it draws too much attention, but burning out their bodies from the inside will save her time and bolts at this point. She even took a page from Staren's book and developed a dissolving chemical that she applies to the tips of her bolts to try melting them away as well. Even making their legs slough off like running wax can buy time for others to dispose of them when their mobility is impaired.

    No Lanterns seem willing to fight those who have hired them to help here. At least right now. But some will no doubt remember being threatened, assuming they write it down afterwards. So Kushiko's line remains uncrossed for the time being.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Priscilla's declarations to Lasyra are met with a growl. "That is your choice, then? It will be one with cost. My aid in terms of information and combat ability will only be shared to the extent it benefits me then. And you can do only what suits your own ends in turn." The Gargoyle Knight then stands up and prepares to leave the chapel as Priscilla departs, and feeds into the worship, augmented by Svala's dramatics. Though Staren is still there with her and indicating she wait for now, so she simply stands and impatiently grinds her blade into the stone floor.

    Meanwhile, Priscilla's claims to 'servants of Los' and so forth play havoc with what the civilians are saying, seemingly dividing them between those who believe in Urizen or Tharmas instead. It also drives them to even greater volume, just as Priscilla's voice carries across their surroundings. So much for ending this before it drew too much attention.

    Karal's efforts to see across the vast distances around them, to pierce through the gloom of the semi-abandoned cityscape, to find anything out of place, any sign of those behind all this, eventually bears bitter fruit. Lined up like an execution squad along the roof of a distant building are figures in bulky, monstrous armor, all bearing wings. One of them is kneeling.

    ******

    Resaran looks down at the Stone Devil next to him, noticing Luc's immobility, like it was when he entered the Granite Cistern earlier. He doesn't know what's going on with the Speaker, but he doesn't like it. Around the time that hill of Shadow vanished, Luc suddenly seemed to 'come back to himself', standing up with such suddenness that Resaran had to fight the urge to reflexively attacking the source of his surprise.

    "Ah. So much for that then," Luc says dismissively. "We shall have to go with Plan B."

    Resaran feels himself being looked at and gazes in turn back on an unseen presence, not knowing it is the distant Solar. "We could not instigate them without revealing ourselves?"

    Luc says, "Aye." Then he pulls his sword off of his shoulder and crouches down. "This will work just as well though. I'll head for the target. You know what to do with the others."

    Resaran speaks up, even as he and those around him move into similar positions. "And we're certain it was Lasyra who killed the Chamber? That there is no salvaging her?"

    The icy silence from Luc was enough of an answer. Then, as three-dozen of the most well-trained, most-experienced fighters in Lostrata stood below, filling the streets, and a dozen elite among them stood poised on the roof above, Luc said simply, "No Light from the Fires."

    The roof shattered with the force of the Gargoyle Knights leaping.

    ******

    Karal and any others scanning the area with magic and senses with adequate range to pick up the incoming threat, would be the ones to warn the others first. Then stone-armored warriors come crashing down in their midst like living battering rams, smashing through the walls under construction, tearing through Lanterns atop them or behind them, and otherwise coming down blade-first on anyone in their way.

Inga has posed:
At least the circle will protect the lanterns within it, as long as they have the sense to stay put anyway. One could muck it up if they really wanted to, its a protection circle after all, not a binding circle.

Inga sighs. What is going on? She looks around, looking for any of the others she came with, unsure of what to do next. The air grows more tense with every moment, a bow string pulling back ready to release...

There it is. Trouble. Stone men with huge weapons...fantastic.

She turns to the civilians. "Stay within the circle and you will be safe!" she tells them, then grabs her walking stick and ambles toward the others.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"There!" Lin is already blooming with a small aura of sunlight. Now, as she spots the distant figures... she knows.

    They're not supposed to be there.

    "Huuuap!" One leap is apparently ENOUGH to send her sailing up and onto the roof of a nearby hovel, her outfit whipping in the wind. She bursts into a swift stride of dashing and leaping from rooftop to rooftop at considerable speed, the sunlight aura burning brighter and larger as she goes. It reaches a bonfire-like roaring rush when she executes her final leap up up towards that building.

    "Identify yourselves NOW!" The instant she lands she drops into a sword-drawing stance, radiating murderous intent. Even allies looking her way might feel the terror that comes of just THINKING of provoking her...

    One should not poke a tiger when it's up in your face, after all.

Kushiko has posed:
The Lotus--monitoring through Kushiko's Mesa Warframe of the area surrounding them would make a small frown if it were something perceptible by the others here. Nonetheless, she doesn't get much time to consider and evaluate what's happening with those being stirred into religious fervor because of incoming.

<<"Heads up, Tenno, Elites. You've got hostiles inbound.">> Such a voice is accompanied for those who have the A/V inputs by a profile shot of the Lotus speaking in a backdrop of glowing, bands--some kind of command and control room? It doesn't linger there very long, however. Kushiko's voice follows once the Lotus speaks--because while she's transmitting to those here... it doesn't go out to the Lanterns.

"Heads up! We've got trouble!" Maybe too little too late, but she suddenly breaks into a sprint and launches herself into a spiral upwards before opening up and unloading a torrential storm of firepower from her twinned machine-pistols--Tenno tech as she somersaults towards the wall itself.

"Someone get to the chapel! I'll take the wall!" Whether or not she will be the only one doing so, the Gunslinger has found her place to take a stand--energy washing over her preemptively as she lands, ejecting the magazines from the twin guns. Bigger picture to be dealt with as she employed focused precision first--had to see what she could do with the corrosive, high heat rounds out of her guns.

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord is actually momentarily stunned by the appearance of the eldritch thing. Not because it was hard to judge whether if it could even see him, but because it seemed to watch him coming and then just vanished when he approached. He came abruptly to a halt, the vacuous visage of the strange being still burned into his mind for a second while he tries to process what he had just seen. Clearly it hadn't been a Shadow at all, at least as near as he could tell... it was something empty.

    It spoke to something in him. He needed to kill it. Even as a creature brought up by the eternal march of destruction, he saw no fruitful outcome in allowing it to continue to exist. So he scowled at the spot it was at... at least until something loud happened back near the Church. His head snapped in that direction, and he took flight immediately to track down the source of it. He took to the air as high as he could go and made his way for the location as quickly as he could. He could move very, very fast when he needed to, enjoying the benefits of the seemingly magical flying abilities he has been granted.

    His soldiers, as it turns out, were already there. When the Stone Devils crashed down on their constructions, the weaker of the Stone Devils were met with a man in leather armor holding a pitchfork, who seemed more than ready to fight the powerful foe with the help of his partner Pokemon... a Haunter, by the looks of it, the creature getting right into the vicious knight's face, while another directed his Houndour to blast fire. And the Attendant? She began to assist Inga, but there wasn't much she could really do to help these frightened dead things.

    Kord sought out Luc. He knew who was responsible for this, and he paid the other Gargoyle Knights very little attention until he could track down the leader of this. He stuck to the higher altitude while his Murkrow gave incomprehensible noises to him to describe where the threats were. Kord spoke over the radio in distraction to rattle off general positions while he searched for the leader of his opponents. "You better give me a good fight, Luc," he mutters to himself while he searches, "Or at least make a very pretty statue when I'm done draining you of your power..." Kord wants to kill Luc now, and not even because of what Lasyra was telling the others, his face cold with bloodthirsty fury.

Staren has posed:
    It was a split-second decision, and perhaps not the best. But it could have been worse. <"Give us some time to find out what's causing it, at least. None of us want to start a war between the civilians and the lanterns."> Staren's drone replies.

    Staren's focus returns inside. "What? Ugh, lemme catch up. ...It seems reasonable to me. We'll help, but exterminating them simply isn't practical, especially here where people keep coming back. I don't see what more you want us to do..."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe's pleas fall on deaf ears but ther's nothing she can do. She doesn't know what the hell is going on she makes no hostile action to the old looking latern but as they talk about her ending the Final Game? There's terror here in the back of her mind a world saw her comming before her's even knew the multiverse existed? That makes her question some things about her self and she's not even sure what to do here but for now? She will rise up and moves to try and aid in the protecting of those who are in need of it. Even if they are worshiping her aand it's freaking out? All those here have /suffered/ so much she couldn't even being to understand the depths of it, she just wishes for them to stop suffering andf so she rises. With the others confronting the one behind it she's going to have to tyr to make to them.

It seems they have all been played and the Stone Devils make themselves known.

"Shit."

IT's time to spring into action as she has her weapons and shield out now.

"Halt! You heard her! What is your intent?!"

Priscilla has posed:
    Not five minutes after Priscilla had finished telling Lasyra that she'll only bother with Luc as far as convenience allows her to topple his palanquin of made up garbage -- without diverting unacceptable time, resources, and effort away from the core goal of following the few leads they have -- than the man himself decides to take the stage. Of course, she can only even tell because Kord can apparently pick him out amongst the variegated stone masks on display, but this gift horse doesn't need looking in the mouth. It's safe to assume they're here for the defector.

    From the church doors, Priscilla strides through the rubble blown out from what remains of the south wall, briefly disappearing into the inevitable roiling cloud of dust that is disturbed from the bleached and stagnant sprawl of the Urban Decay. It isn't a trick of invisibility though. The bone white grit blows away from her on a spontaneous, icy breeze, clearing a view of her at the forefront of the grovelling, bickering, and most likely panicking crowd. Svala has been hidden for the time being, and been temporarily shelved for something Priscilla hasn't shown off here: the Lifehunt Scythe.

    Three dozen Stone Gargoyles is more than she particularly cares to test. Even with the other Elites present, the situation is far from what she would call ideal; however, the entire point of this operation falls to pieces if she loses face by retreating. If they are to maintain credibility, as much as possible, they have to stand here between the Gargoyles, their quarry, and the gathered Lanterns, and that stand has to be dramatic. Their best bet, the crossbreed thinks to herself as her eyes drift from one stone helmet to the other, is to give the attackers a good reason to scramble and regroup, rather than try to bloodily fight them to the last.

    "Is that so, Sir Staren?" Priscilla then blithely remarks out loud, intending to be heard. "Keep coming back? Art thou as deluded as they to believeth their tenuous immortality shalt protect them forever? I am most certain that it is easy to forget, dwelling so long in this darkened world of bone and ash, but the simple truth is eternity doth not exist." Staren should know what she means. The idea is to intimidate Luc's followers when they find out.

    Priscilla preempts any return dialogue, going for the jugular for any real banter or monologuing can start, and shoots straight for the furthest Gargoyle she can find to the fringe rather than taking on the most immediately combat effective. The scythe twists in her hands so that its point drags shallowly across the ground, producing a trail of flashing white sparks that abruptly terminates at her target's feet, as the head sweeps upward into his back with sufficient force to launch even the Havel-esque warrior into the air. She twists the grip of the scythe again, brings the inner edge of the scythe against him, and then swings it viciously back down to earth, using the flagstones as a chopping block for the unusual choice of weapon.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Inga ambles out of the circle and towards the others. A figure in stone armor that looks like something a tortured prisoner might wear, bolted to their body without sign of openings or removal mechanisms, strikes down into the ground within feet of her, shattering the cobblestone street, and sending a shockwave radiating outwards. That might actually save her, by carrying her away and out of range of the black pole covered in hooked blades that slashes at her head. Or she might have some means of defense to stop the weapon from tearing through her. But the force behind it is superhuman, and not the kind of blow one wants to make the habit of blocking without equal prowess or supernatural reinforcement of one's own.

    Thor was pretty strong wasn't he? Maybe he'll attempt to intervene in this place where other gods hold sway and risk much, in order to help one of his loyal devotees. Or maybe Inga is on her own in this place of death and darkness closer to Hel's domain than Thor's. But it may be safest right now to retreat back into the circle after an encounter like that. It does not appear the Stone Devil is interested in testing the defensive magic.

    Karal's leaps carry her up onto the roofs, and rushes to clash with the enemies who are on their way towards the others. One of them manages to actually 'brake' in mid-air, turning and using his big stone wings to stall his movement, CURVE around, and lands on the roof behind the Solar. He draws his huge stone sword from his shoulder and holds it out towards Karal in both hands. "You know who we are." is all he says in response. Whether she actually realizes or not, he seems convinced that she does. The murderous intent that radiates from Karal, instead of chasing him away, seems to have incited his own blood lust to an even higher level.

    He waits only long enough for the Solar to face him and be prepared to fight, quite honorably for a marauding murderer who kills civilians and warriors alike just for the crime of wanting to make this world less hellish. Then he engages in combat, moving with surprising speed for someone in heavy stone with a heavy sword. The roof breaks beneath his feet as he runs, air turbulence around his body becomes nearly visible as dust is sucked into his wake and spirals about him, and then his sword is cleaving the space before him.

    If Karal is still in his path, she may feel herself being drawn towards the sharpened slab of stone like a vortex has gripped her. Or like he has literally cut space open and the surrounding space is pouring into this wound in causality to fill it.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Carna remains alongside Kushiko, shooting at Unlit, or anyone else who is causing trouble. The appearance of the Stone Devils appears to have galvanized the mercenary Lanterns hired to protect this place. They are old enemies of the Stone Devils. No one messes with them if they can avoid it, but too often the Lanterns have found themselves on the blades of these same monsters that now attack one of the locations that had been deemed 'off-limits' even to the marauders.

    It is not just Elites who fight now, though some of the Lanterns here might be Elites in their own right, if they were given the chance to prove it. Right now, however, 'special' or merely those who signed up to kill Unlit and gain their payment from their work, they have no choice but to fight. Fleeing into the growing crowds of shambling hollow dead isn't an option. They have to put an end to the commotion first.

    Still, even as Carna expends the last of her bolts on the Unlit, she sees that as defenders are having to break from defending to engage the Stone Devils, or are simply abandoning their posts to get revenge, or whatever other motivations they may have, the new holes made in the still-being-built walls are allowing Unlit to scramble within. The faster ones, harder to catch before they get there. Some of them are armed. The frame Kushiko is using is mowing them down as fast as she can, and it seems the Unlit can not pass within Inga's circle, but having to deal with assaults from this many directions at once is bad. And probably exactly what was planned by the Stone Devil leaders.

    This is not their first time doing something like this nor even their millionth. Thankfully, Kushiko continues to provide the sheer volume of firepower needed to put off being overrun.

    Carna draws her short swords and leaps down from the wall, performing an attack from above upon a sword-wielding Unlit, and cleaving its skull open. Then she sets herself at this one particular breach, and tries to keep any more of getting through, even knowing this is but one crack among many in their barrier.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Kord's soldiers engage the experienced but non-Gargoyle Knight enemies. Whether they simply lack the aptitude to be the best amongst the Stone Devils, or there is some other reason, they do not have their wings. The Attendant may yet have a purpose in all this, acting as something to focus upon other than the chaos and destruction. A focus keeps them within their protective circle, instead of trying to flee to the perceived safety of the Church. And pitchfork-wielding soldier and his companions manage to pin down several of the three-dozen land-bound Stone Devils. An impressive feat, given that in other places on the battlefield, it is taking two to three Lanterns just to occupy a single Stone Devil, and they are faring far less well than the Houndour, Haunter, and their trainer.

    Kord himself flies upon the darkness, seeking out Luc, and finding him. Within the chapel.

    Luc is all the way back near the altar when Kord enters. Peacemaker Longita stands before the huge warrior, the blind-folded woman looking up at him without eyes to see with. It's unclear what they were doing, though Lasyra accused her of having been allowing Luc to be here against the orders of High Matron Sepulchre, implying some sort of complicity...

    But with Lasyra in the back room, behind the altar, with Staren, Luc's actions when Kord arrives might throw a more skeptical light upon that claim. Though they had been standing in relatively peaceful, if close, proximity to each other before the Count arrived, Luc smoothly moves into a position behind her with his stone blade pressed to the priestess's throat, as easily as though he'd planned to take a hostage the whole time.

    While Longita is quiet, it does not appear SHE was aware of any such plan from the way she tries to tilt her head back and away from the edge, even though that just makes it press closer to the comparatively flimsy-looking gold chains linking her blindfold to her collar, across her mouth and neck.

    "Oh, I see. It is just you. The ally of the Stone Devils, who helped us in our work of slaughtering the fools who seek to undo the grand plan. Kord, how good of you to join us. You've been scarcely seen about the Granite Cistern... Are you here to help bring the traitor in? Or maybe you want to dispose of her yourself?" Luc asks, tilting his gargoyle-helmed head this way and that as he speaks. "She is just in the back room there... You can have that honor, if you think you can defeat her."

Carna (974) has posed:
    Lasyra did not have the chance to respond to Staren before everything out in the front of the chapel started happening, but now the both of them are privy to the conversation ongoing. Lasyra is radiating an eletric feeling of animosity mixed with fear. A desire to tear her way out of here and go after Luc and also to flee rather than face that monster among monsters. For now, she keeps her silence, but she is a short-tempered and impulsive sort. And the blade she slowly raises from where she was grinding it into the floor, further defacing already-worn pigments of what may have once been beautiful artwork upon the tiles, and holds it in her hands, indicates that she is likely to do something aggressive soon.

    Does Luc know that Staren is in there with her too? If the scientist stays quiet, might he be caught by surprise? Or could Staren take action to ambush Luc before he can hurt the priestess or anyone else? Does Staren really WANT to test his recovery methods from fatal injuries in a place like this, with people who eat spirits?

    He may need to decide. Because while his drone kept the Lanterns from going after the civilians, the chaos outside is not stopping. And the defenders are starting to drop as they face opponents who have had much longer to hone their skills without the accompanying loss of power that comes with dying over and over.

    Infact, it might be that the only reason anyone other than Elites are still even in action is because the Stone Devils are enjoying actually having to exert themselves for once. And they apparently need three or four opponents a piece to get that. Tomoe charges forth, weapons and shield ready, and demands an explanation from the Stone Devils who rush towards the Church. She becomes the center of attention for two land-bound Stone Devils. A whip covered in knives lashes out at her, seemingly changing directly and curling around to try to strike at the back of her neck, while one of the Stone Devils tries to drive her back into the sharp whip's tip with a deliberately blockable strike with a segmented sword as a distraction.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Priscilla surging at the furthest Stone Devil, one with a vulture-like helmet and a collection of too-small human skulls strung like decorations across his shoulders and chest, definitely catches her opponent off-guard to a degree. Their reaction time is nothing to scoff at, nor their battle experience that lends a certain intuitive preservation response. Rather than trying to dodge or block, useless actions in the face of that much force and speed, he kneels down and thrusts both arms out, causing a pair of spikes dripping with some sizzling ichor from his wrists, apparently intending for the Crossbreed to impale herself upon them, and likely suffer some form of no-doubt-unpleasant poisoning.

    Instead the blade catches him in the upper back, his size is enough that even kneeling the scythe reaches his torso instead of his head, and finds himself, with potentially much effort on Priscilla's part, lifting and hurling him into the air. He twists like a cat at the apex, the scythe still in contact, but a boot that looks like a fanged mouth being aimed at Priscilla's face in retaliation. But then the blade turns, dragging him back down to earth, and carving into his armor and the ground beneath. Blood or something like it boils out of the injury. Oddly, unlike when Carna and other Lanterns have been injured in the past, it doesn't start congealing immediately. It's not pre-coagulated right out of the wound. And he doesn't start vanishing into wisps of vapor. Meaning he's either not finished or... Or what? There's many things that have been taken at face value, even by long-time native inhabitants, that seem to not match up under an outsider's scrutiny. That all dead people bleed the same seems to be one of the more minor ones, but probably no more than a footnote amongst everything else going on right now.

    Three Stone Devils move into position quietly, calmly, to encircle Priscilla. But at staggered distances. She's not only a scythe wielder but very fast. And they're accounting for that, even though it looks like one of their own has just died without vanishing into vapor to return another time. They either do not understand what that means either, understand perfectly well and aren't bothered by it, or whether they understand or not doesn't matter because Priscilla is a threat and they need to take her down.

    But then one of them holds up a hand, and the other two, as well as some of those around her, take notice. Some subtle movements of wrist and fingers seem to be adequate signal, because they all start backing up. Whether because of her display or for some other reason is unclear. The benefit of silent communication methods.

    The signaling Stone Devil waits until the others are out of range before drawing a sword that appears to have no blade. Just a handle. Then the blood from the fallen Stone Devil flows through the air as though being suctioned, filling the empty space atop the crossrbar, and becoming the blade. A blood sword. One that the Stone Devil seems intent upon using to duel Priscilla one-on-one.

    She does not wait for Priscilla to be ready long before beginning to circle in a fencing-like stance, looking for a chance to strike, without saying a single word.

Kushiko has posed:
If you want voluminous firepower from a near stationary point, Mesa is very literally your woman (?)--or maybe Warframe. One of the two. The problem was as she emptied another set of magazines--in turn ejecting them and quickly reloading after--was that using only those guns was untenable. Not with the multiple angles there were--especially not with the way the Lanterns were moving to deal with the Stone Devils.

Kushiko's voice projects with annoyance, <"Of course they're going to go that way. That's just what they planned. Carna, please fall back. Leave the Unlit to us and do what you can to help with the Wall itself."> Hopefully she could and hopefully they could cover them. Actually, they had a plan for that. Instead of simply renewing their initial onslaught, the Warframe gestured--sweeping her arms wide and spinning her guns like twin turntables as the same light misted and coalesced into her forearms.

Ribbons of concentric energy flowed up her forearms but more importantly another band of energy not unlike a circling in (and out) lasso /bounced/ over to Carna. It would enhance her damage, but more importantly, if someone drew too close it would lash out to jam either guns or simply try to /stun/ someone that didn't have a gun. Such was the power of the Void as channeled through Mesa. One more gesture, and along with activating Shooting Gallery, the body of Mesa was enveloped in a mirror-like sheen, light pink mist venting from the three canisters at each elbow of hers.

All of this preparation was alarmingly quick as she somersaulted backward--somersaulted because right then and there she needed a better angle on the wall: she needed to see. Ironic given the utterly blind implication given by the blindfolded Gunslinger, but she put away her twin machine pistols, and energy surged through her--the tonfa-like braces along her arms suddenly flipped and slid forward into her hands--or more importantly, into her fingers--the index fingers sliding into the notched points on what was now very clearly a pair of long guns that were /part/ of her hands, even the thumbs resembling the hammer.

The handles unfoldled and motes of light began to swirl in a vortex around her as she leveled the Regulator sidearms at the horde of Unlit and even the Stone Devils that the Lanterns had gone after. In her view, a ring opened up and all foes within her sight, within her range became targets and she started firing.

At least... in theory. The sheer /speed/ from which she is firing the these guns is time-defying, her body shifting in positions so rapidly, changing angles so fast that she simply leaves after images--it's movement that's impossible to truly track as she becomes a blur of intense focus and firepower. If they wanted volume, they had it, sure--but while Mesa's own Peacemaker is active, her reaction time becomes practically /ZERO/.

... It's also pretty impressive that any of the Lanterns that would be potentially /blocking/ her shots simply don't. Her aim while channeling this ability seems to be the absolute epitome of the Gunslinger's natural ability--and with the swirling energy of Shooting Gallery and the reflective Shatter Shield, she's also prepared for some of the Unlit--fast and otherwise--to try and take her out.

<"COME ON!">

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
What the heck?! Lin was ready for an attack, but even her beyond-sharp instincts weren't prepared for what happens. SOMETHING gets her lurching unexpectedly forward and throws off her balance. She ends up slipping and losing her surefootedness, her grounding. With an overextended posture the blade she's faced with cleaves a horrific wound across her gut and takes chunks of flesh from an arm. Blood splatters the rooftop and the space-shredding weapon, but Lin is only going to make THAT mistake once.

    Ignoring the pain with a burst of will she slips in low! ... Instead of drawing her sword as some might expect, she curls her fingertips down and halfway tucks in her thumb for both hands. They resemble... claws?

    Some might recognize it as the 'tiger claw' technique iconic to one form of Kung Fu, but this is not... -quite- that style.

    Because most practitioners of that style would not be crazy enough to transition from 'bleeding like a stuck pig' to moving with godspeed in a blur. For Lin moves like a tornado and strikes with those 'claws' with the strength to shatter and claw nasty gouges into stone. Her aim is to simply sweep the creature's sword arm away and then tear into him with a barrage of stone-sundering fists! She aims for joints, trying to crush and snap what she's hopingg are weak points in the thing's anatomy!

    "Then you can go leap back into the abyss you crawled from!"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is on edge here, very much on edge, the Stone Devils are now in thier faces and she's demanding their intent she gets no real answer and they are breaking into fight? Then so be it, she will do so. She knows Lin is here so she's far from alone. She sees the Stone Devils make their moves she acts without thinking, she makes a mistake as she moves to block, a very possible fatal mistake. The block happens thenthe knife whip catches her avbout her neck and the pain? It's unbearable at this point the blades dig into her avatar's neck. In reality she's ending up injured there as well there are cuts and if she doesn't get lose she's going to start ending up bleeding or /worse/ bleeding on out.

She struggles now trying to get lose of the blade whip. She gurles and her HP bar is rapidly dropping along with her neck just ending up a mass of red wireframes. The good news is? It hasn't killed her, but she may need help. She attemps to pull bck with her blade to try and cut the whip before it can dig in deeper. THere's nothing else she can do for the moment, but it does have them focused all on her, right?

Inga has posed:
Apparently, Inga should have stay in the circle with the others. Leaving was a terrible idea. The wisewoman doesn't get far before a stone devil attacks her, sending her flying backward as the concrete shatters beneath her feet, the shockwave carrying her away from the hooked blades that otherwise would have decapitated her. Time slows as her mind quickly wonders; what would happen if she died that way? She'd never lost a limb before, nevermind her head. If she brought her spirit back to her body, would her head reattach? Would it regrow? Or would her body dissolve, reforming whole elsewhere?

Either way, she's happy she won't find that out just this moment.

She lands hard, letting out a cry of pain as she feels one of her legs break. The pain is almost blinding in its intensity. For a moment she is left gasping, waiting to heal. It will take too long, he'll finish her off before then.

Maybe it is the favor of Thor, even here in this far off, dead world. Maybe it's just instinct, or skill. Still gasping, Inga shouts and aims her staff in the direction of the stone devil and thunder shakes the ground, a crack so close it coul deafen those unfortunate enough to be nearby, not the mention the bright flash of light that burns itself into the retina. Its the force of the strike that will do the true damage though. She hopes.

Staren has posed:
    Staren's barely managed to address the rogue gargoyle when her former allies assault the defenses. "Argh!" he grunts in frustration as he checks his drones and starts issuing commands. The squad of constructs make their way to the gargoyles. The unicorn statues charge for gore attacks, but aside from being made of magically animated solid metal, and the weight and toughness that gives them, they don't really have any special tricks. The large stone men with kanabos are like that, but more so. The robot in SWAT gear readies a futuristic rifle and tries to get into position for a clear shot. The weapon doesn't eject casings, and the bullets are nanotech that hardens against armor and spreads out against flesh for optimum damage.

    Staren will marvel at his drones' recording of Priscilla kicking ass later. It's kind of a weird reminder that she can fight like that, the times he's seen her, she's usually talking or expositing or invisible or using the eye's power or something. And that time in the library he gave her a rocket launcher.
    As Staren's issuing commands, he hears the conversation in the next room. So, an enemy is here. Staren considers going to attack him... then decides it's not as good as hiding and ambushing would be. He tries to duck behind some cover, and pulls the RAISER rifle from his bag while having Dawn calculate the maximum amount of energy he can discharge without, like, blowing out walls or killing people BESIDES the target in the same room, aims at the door with rifle and missiles ready, and waits.

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord flies in and comes to a landing in the chapel. His inhuman eyes focus on the strange meeting of two seemingly opposing figures. Luc, and Longita. Behind him, among the other chaotic noises of battle, his soldiers fight for their lives and try to regain the fragile peace that had been gained from their efforts. It is not a new kind of battle for them. Kord doesn't need to tell them what to do. They know they need to destroy, restrain and distract the Stone Devils. The Attendant focuses on their magic. The Pokemon strike their targets with the ferocity only monsters know how to show, somehow discerning the enemy from the decayed Lanterns they are tasked to protect.

    Kord's expression was stoic. The scythe was still in his hand. That tail and the wings trailed behind him, curiously pokemon-like manifestations that served as the physical proof of his status in his world. He walked forward at a slow pace, despite Longita's plight, and spoke as he did.

    "Luc."

    "I wonder what you could have done to have caused your own to betray you," Kord speaks in a sarcastic monotone, knowing fully well that Luc understands what that means. The aura of death follows him, and the shadows deepen at his feet subtly, but not as aggressively as when he attacks. It's merely the neutral affect he gives. His features, handsome, younger than he claims to be when he refers to himself, don't seem terribly concerned, despite his earlier fury.

    "This is familiar." He sounds wistful, as if the memory flashing through his head was a sad one. "So many clergymen, both inhuman monsters and ordinary men, died. Tools of the gods, tools of the powerful. Soldiers. Villagers. Artisans. The strong, the weak, the young, the old. Wasted in the pursuit of culling a threat to the world."

    "You and I are similar beings, in how we act, in how we treat others. You use her as a tool to preserve yourself... the ambitious leverage anything in their reach to gain an advantage. But you made a fatal error. You assumed I will stop."

    Kord makes a gambit. He ultimately doesn't care about losing Longita. He has burned down much more than a single holywoman.

    He winds back as if he's going to attack. He anticipates Luc trying to hurt Longita... and prepares for his own attack, regardless of her presence in his arms. Shadow billows up behind him like tendrils of smoke, and his body coils in preparation of an attack... An attack that is waiting for Luc to act aggressively. Kord is going to use a favorite of his: Sucker Punch.

    Whether Luc truly tries to behead Longita or if he discards her, or even if he uses her as a shield, Kord attacks. His Dark energy launches him forward, his wings beating, and his weapon collecting the black and red glow as it prepares to hit his target. And Kord's mouth pulls into a great big terrible grin.

    "MAKE YOUR MOVE, FOOL!!" he bellows, as if eager to see what abomination of an action Luc makes to respond to the swipe of his empowered scythe! Luc might find if he attacks in any way, Kord will just move much faster, as if the ambient evil of such an action drives Kord forward faster.

    Kord loves when his prey take hostages. It makes them easier to bisect.

Priscilla has posed:
    The tremendous stat boosts Priscilla received not all that long ago apply across the board. By the same token her prowess allows her to handle her chosen opponent like that, in the frenzy of motion, she picks out three individual points where the Stone Devil warrior had, and took advantage of, the opportunity to attack back.

    She had been faster than him, but the majority of fighters would be simply be tossed around and cut in half like a confused and disoriented doll, not reorienting themselves for counterattack multiple times. She was already aware of their strength, but right now, Priscilla is becoming more aware of their experience.

    Regardless, she wrenches the Lifehunt Scythe out of the split, stone armour with another gush of blood, visibly excessive even for a normal, living human. From the same wound, she does that thing that coincidentally bridges common practice in Lordran and Lumiere, and absorbs the escaping Dead Lights, briefly charging her with a ghastly aura.

    The gesture is wordless, but once the scythe is immersed in blood, the message is almost unconscious. Here in the deep nothingness of Lumiere that seems to excite it, a dull, distant kind of ringing almost vibrates from the blade, getting inside one's head, and drawing focus to the edge, as if it is directly speaking to them in some barely intelligible way. Whatever it says provokes the most primitive thoughts of the fearful unknown; reminders of a distant, living past, when the accepted reality was that a lifeless corpse waited at the very end of everyone's journey, and the existence of an afterlife was a wishful denial of oblivion.

    Any idea that it might be sentient is, however, a delusion; an artifact of the little piece of Priscilla's soul imbued into it. Under usual circumstances, it wouldn't be so blatant, but when Priscilla moves to face her new, disturbingly confident foe, the faintest movements of the weapon subconsciously register as uncanny, human sighs, the the air that whips in its wake mentally reads as bursting out into eerie song.

    The disconcerting effect isn't a factor Priscilla has particularly banked on. Instead, she presses the offensive before her opponent can get enough of a read on her to attack first. Whatever concerns she has about the weird blood sword, accepting and defeating the direct challenge is the quickest step to demoralizing them.

    Her use of the scythe is far from typical, even for such an esoteric kind of weapon. The swings that come at the Devil's head and neck keep a delicate balance usually reserved for swordplay, despite the naturally terrible weighting of a scythe, by maintaining a single, continuous followthrough. Rather than stopping, reversing, withdrawing, or shifting the weapon to another stance, Priscilla keeps the thing going in a way somewhat comparable to eastern staff fighting, pivoting the haft around her fingers, wrists, and shoulders, such that the momentum takes it wherever she aims. A sequence of these oddly graceful slashes at the vitals, all potentially fatal, fluidly leads to a sweep of the legs, which overshoots, stops dead halfway through, and then unpredictably yanks backward a full meter into a dismembering guillotine at the back of the ankles.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Thanks to the prior efforts to curtail the flow of Unlit into Barrowville, combined with the volume of firepower Kushiko is providing, the expected hordes of Unlit that could have been quite unmanageable and overwhelming by now are still being kept under control. If anything, it seems that the river of bodies is being replenished more slowly as time goes on. Could it be that they've actually killed so many Unlit and removed so many of their access points that this is all that's left? At least for now? They WILL eventually replenish themselves until Unlit stop being able to crawl up the worlds' length of distance between here and that writhing dark below. Or until Unlit stop existing completely.

    But this is a lucky break for now. It means their efforts really are paying off. If they hadn't killed the Wall of Cruel Customs and cut off the constant influx of millions of Unlit, they'd probably be looking out over an ocean of hungry corpses right now. Simulations of dead things that make even zombies look more like real people due to having once lived.

    Kushiko mows them down, clearing the surrounding streets, shooting through broken ruins of homes and businesses, sending wood and glass and mortar raining down on the dead below, and keeping the already embattled Lanterns and Elites from having to deal with being swarmed and eaten. It's a vital contribution, and one that the Stone Devils probably weren't counting on. When they start getting shot up too, they start moving as best they can to defend themselves, trying to put allied Lanterns between themselves and their attacker, or upturning construction equipment to use as improvised shields. But even those who make it that far have already suffered injuries and the shots pierce through the object or manage to strike them while using human shields.

    With their experience and skill they must have had back-up plans of some kind, right? Just incase the defenders proved stronger than they appeared? But as yet there just isn't any sign of them--

    The sound of wing beats in the darkness becomes louder and louder. And then a flock of huge abominations with emaciated humanoid torsos, faces like burnt flesh folded over itself and crisped about the edges, and great black feathered wings where should be arms, suddenly start assaulting Kushiko. Drawn by the lights and the scent of prey, Unlit of a different kind have appeared. They screech hideously, or make grotesque gurgling noises as they try surround her. Necks long and stretched twist to bend gnashing maws upon the frame, and upon anyone standing out in the open who looks to be a tasty morsel. They seem to be ignoring any Stone Devil who isn't so wounded as to be immobilized, and instead aim for civilians and Lanterns. Few of the former are out in the open, and thus most are spared.

    But now it seems that, in addition to having to defend herself, Mesa may have to be tasked with keeping monsters from diving down upon the defenders and eating them 'alive' as some here witnessed Lanterns who gave into despair allowing to happen to them in the past.

    Whether this was part of the plan or merely coincidence, it's an unfortunate series of events.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Karal's blows tear into the Stone Devil's armor when they land, and most of them land. Armor fragments fly, blood sprays, and things... Squirm? While he does simply take the attacks willingly, making the effort to dodge and avoid, proving highly mobile as he leaps up into the air and uses his wings to glide around the roof top rather than stay within punching range, he does take injuries. And some of those injuries appear to have produced things that continue to move independently of him. Writhing lengths of muscular tissue or... Worms or something. Tendrils with an unholy life of their own. What the hell? Carna has never 'bled' those things when injured.

    And her blood was cold and slow and thick. This is red and dark and liquid as it splatters on the rooftop. When the Stone Devil finally finishes gliding and begins to descend, even with one leg and one arm broken, from the joints being torn apart, he seems unfazed by the pain he is definitely feeling. Or all the warm blood he's leaking that is steaming in the cold of Lumiere as much as Karal's. The very precise second the tip of his intact foot touches the roof top he is launching himself at her with as much speed as the Solar has ever shown, his huge stone blade braced against his intact shoulder to make up for not having two functional hands to wield it with, and tries to simply impale her upon the weapon and carry her right over the edge of the roof and down towards the howling husks in the street below, and the fires produced by the weapons that have torn through the Unlit ranks.

    "Idiot. The Abyss is what we're trying to stop." he says whether his charging attack works or not, though if the former, he's going down with her.

Carna (974) has posed:
    The whip is sliced through, but the segmented-sword-wielding Sword Devil strikes down at Tomoe again, possibly before she can even finish digging the remaining portion of the knife-covered whip out of her neck. The sword bends like a living thing seeking nourishment trying to find an opening in her armor to work itself into and start digging out organs. Tomoe has made of some very tough stuff. She has endured a lot and come out the other side alive. And, according to prophecy, she will apparently end the 'Final Game' whatever that is.

    She can't die here, you know? But the situation isn't looking good. Even disarmed, the Stone Devil that snared her with his whip is backing off, instead trying to rush up and just kick her in the side of the head with a hundred pound boot. This double-teaming is a serious problem. But she has already proven their weapons at least are not immune to her weapons. It stands to reason that neither is their armor. And if they can hurt her...

    She can hurt them. If they're relying on team work, then taking down one of them at least might get her the room to make the fight more fair. But that neck wound will need to get treated or magically healed or something. There's way too many things in the neck that are bad to get cut or crushed. As a digital avatar, she likely has leeway there. Still best not to test. There are too many people who still need her.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Inga's attack blinds and deafens the Stone Devil, and sending yet another echoing boom over the vastness of Barrowville, amplifying the loud noise with all the quiet (apart from the screams and shrieks and gunfire and crashing and clashing and so forth). The sheer force of it at such close proximity shatters much of the Stone Devil's armor. The bolted-on equipment cracks in hundreds of places, torn flesh and ruptured organs sending blood pouring out like a bucket of water with holes in it.

    He falls to his hands and knees, rough, rattling breaths that a dead man doesn't need echoing in his closed-helm, as he seems to be feeling around, unable to see or hear his prey after being so accustomed to such low-light environments and exposed to such noise.

    But then he raised his bladed pole and draws it along an invisible line, as though tracing the horizon, until it lands upon where Inga is. Even his state, injured, deafened, blinded, unable to even stand, he's calculating his opponent's location and the distance to her, intent on finishing the job. He begins to crawl towards the priestess with her broken leg, apparently trying to reach her before she manages to drag herself away. There's no guarantee how long the loss of his senses will remain, but his injuries don't seem like they'll be regenerating or anything.

    If she can get far enough away from him quickly enough, he might not be able to chase her down. The issue, of course, is that dead people who have been fighting for longer than planet Earth has existed are far more accustomed to pain and even fatal injuries. And the Stone Devils are more determined than most to accomplish their fanatical goals. And those goals appear to include killing Inga.

    So he crawls, blade-covered pole in hand, stone grinding on stone, metal clattering and creaking, strained breaths wheezing, determined like only a machine or a dead person can be, to hunt down and eliminate his target.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Staren has a potential shot at Luc's back it seems, though a shot too powerful might endanger Longita as well, and those big stone wings are an obstruction as well. Missiles will definitely hurt her severely. The reason there's so few native Dead left is that, while it's very, very, very hard to kill a soul, they don't come back when one does. And the Unlit are practically designed to consume and absorb spirits, bypassing the need to kill the owner of them. It's ironic that the ones who die with relative ease are the far more powerful Lanterns, but the ones who take more effort to slay unless one is a mindless Unlit are the ones who will linger on in full awareness despite whatever tortures they are put through.

    In that sense, if Staren is willing to subject Longita to whatever arsenal he has, she might at least 'survive'. Even if scarred forever. But there's also the chance that he has the potential to kill the Lit as easily as an Unlit. And the Lit don't come back. Thankfully, he has weapons other than missiles at his disposal, and the proficiency to shoot with precision.

    Lasyra appears to be waiting for Staren's decision or action, since she hasn't rushed past him or endangered what is obviously an ambush upon the manipulative leader of the Stone Devils. Good. Last thing he probably needs right now is another body in the way. But as Kord strides forward, engaging Luc in dialogue, and then attacking SEEMINGLY without caring about the Peacemaker, the situation changes a bit.

Carna (974) has posed:
    If Luc attacks, or uses Longita as a shield, or casts her aside, Kord's plan will still succeed. It's a well-thought out method of dealing with someone who takes hostages, born of experience and familiarity, paired with intelligence, skill, and power. It is not wonder that Kord was targeted for enlistment among the Stone Devils. As Kord himself noted, he is very similar to Luc. He is Stone Devil material, so to speak. And yet... And yet...

    Of the many things that Luc could do here, the one he chooses is the one that wasn't within the range of possibilities expected. The one action that was the 'correct response' to this situation, unaccounted for because no one before Luc has likely had the means, the mental prowess, or the experience to enact it, among all the various other hostage takers that Kord has dealt handily with.

    He does not counter-attack. He does not sacrifice Longita. And he does not try to abandon his hostage.

    He defends himself and his hostage both.

    Stone wings curl around to block what no doubt looked from Luc's position to be an attack with a scythe that would get him even if he kept Longita in the way. The scythe skates across stone wings, sending sparks flying in a spectacular line of blazing red and yellow. Stone fragments scatter and a deep gouge lies in the wings. A crack that Kord can see through.

    Just above the head of the frightened Longita, Luc's eerie helmeted face looks back at him. And from within the depths of those sockets, something empty, hungry, and so very intelligent looks back at him for the second time since the attack began.

    Kord may have a moment to feel something is wrong. The imminent danger approaching... He'll have a moment to take action of his own, to try to provide the 'correct response' the way Luc did.

    Then that huge stone sword that is no longer at Longita's throat, that was moved down and away when the wings closed befoe him, comes swinging up from underneath the bottom edge of the wings, trying to do to Kord what he just tried to do to Luc.

    In response to the question of what he did to make one of his own turn traitor, Luc just hisses out in a voice like one would hear from the bottom of a lake of boiling blood, "I granted her deepest desire."

    Despite this turn of events, there is an opportunity now.

    Luc's wings are no longer protecting his back as he faces away from where Staren is hidden.

Carna (974) has posed:
    The scythe's effect is definitely unsettling. But though they shift, or even shudder with half-remembered echoes of a past where things were different, and there were things to fear beyond losing one's Dead Lights, when death was more terrible than the death of one's memories, they do not retreat. Priscilla's attack upon the one who wished to duel her before the enemy could take her measure is a good decision. Especially based on the Stone Devil's reaction to the attacks that come her way.

    The attacks all seem to work as intended. They appear to connect where they should, to move under Priscilla's direction even in ways that a scythe should not if it were a normal scythe. The psychological impact of the whispering weapon as well, no doubt is a factor. But whispering horrors are not exactly strange to the Dead around here. And 'not getting slain' is of a more pressing priority, especially with the reminder of what it is to fear death.

    There are red flashes with eat strike upon the enemy. Each time, the damage that should be there is reduced, even though wounds remain. Does the queen catch it? The liquid sword breaking its form as a blade in order to reach out hungrily, engulfing the very scythe that comes for its wielder? The liquid trying to redirect the attacks so that, even if they can not be stopped, their impact can be lessened? There are bleeding gouges in the armor, one half of the helmet is soaked in red, the eye on that side split in two.

    But even with all that bleeding, the body is still mobile. Or at least mobile enough to attempt a defense against attacks that the Stone Devil herself is not fast enough to avoid when matched against someone as amazingly quick as Priscilla. Her mental control over her weapon, not unlike Priscilla's own over the scythe, is keeping her on her feet, even if in atrocious condition.

    When the scythe comes back at the Stone Devils ankles she actually tries to swing herself up and over, using the blood sword to coil around the haft and drive both feet towards Priscilla's arms in an upside-down position. Aiming to crush the wrists and stop the scythe from being wielded.

    But again, it doesn't quite work out.

    The blood sword breaks apart, dumping the Stone Devil to the ground. Ordinarily, she would roll away to prevent another attack coming down upon her skull while she lies there, but the injuries incurred limit her mobility too much without the use of her sword. What made it fall apart though?

    The blood seems to be dissolving into Dead Lights vapor and passing to Priscilla. The owner of the blood has finally started to dissolve, after a prolonged period of time. She can no longer even get up to try to continue the battle. There are many more Stone Devils circled around and watching in the midst of all this chaos. Spectating the potentially final death of one of their allies.

    Either because they fear the same fate or because they were told not to interfere. Or both.

Inga has posed:
That would be enough to kill a normal man. It should have stopped the stone devil. Inga didn't expect it to be over so quickly, however. She knows these stone devils had to be tough. Things are not as they once were. She is not how she once was. She has more where that came from, and the longer it takes him to reach her, the better. Her leg was healing, and she can speed it up further with a spell. But even with her leg healed, she couldn't run. Running is something Inga is unable to do. There is no flee, only fight.

She draws her knife from her belt and digs it into her flesh without hesitation, blood rising. Quickly, she casts her spell and the liquid surrounds her in a cloud, protecting her from incoming attack while also bolstering her already excelerated healing abilities. Blood continues to flow as she presses the knife in deeper, rising into the air, pooling, a long spear forming, hardening into a weapon. Through gritted teeth she hisses her spell, gesturing toward the stone devil to direct--and the spear launches, sailing toward the stone devil with great force--and hopefully, accuracy.

Inga looks around herself in whatever moment she can spare, hoping the others are doing alright. If she's able, she'll scramble back to the protection circle for now, and flood it with more anima to keep it going strong.

Staren has posed:
    Staren frowns slightly as he gets eyes on Luc, and sees him holding the priestess. The RAISER rifle's /best/ settings are... explosive... so instead, he shifts his arm and fires the armor-mounted twin particle beams at Luc's back.

    <<Staren, flying creatures are attacking outside.>> The AI alerts him. <<Use missiles.>> He replies. 'Don't blow up civilians' doesn't need to be said. <<Retarget the drones.>>

    The unicorn golems attempt to dive in the way of attacks, possibly body-checking innocents out of the way. Missiles launch from the stone golems' backs, exploding in balls of fire to burn creatures still in the air. The lone robot turns its aim and bullets skyward. It can more easily shoot these targets than pick out gargoyles in the crowd.

Count Kord has posed:
    Luc defends Longita and himself with those wings, and Kord couldn't be more startled when the dark energy hits Luc and doesn't knock the man clear over. That, alone, kept the Count on the defensive. His eyes focused through the dust of pulverized stone, his weapon and the dark energy behind it having gouged a window so that his opponent could glare at him. The defensive gesture made the Count grin further... because he did see Staren back there.

    It pays to keep an eye on one's surroundings.

    He responds quickly. While the sword would not shatter him like the many Lanterns that Luc has crushed before, Kord knows that even a glancing blow would mean several days of pain. So he brings the scythe up and he steps in such a way that he can deflect the brunt of the upswing, creating a shower of sparks as it bounces of the haft of the scythe and fights the enchantments that keep the weapon intact. The deadly Count feels the impact in his arms, bruising his hands and shocking his muscles. It still hurt. It hurt a lot. But he didn't get cleaved.

    This, oddly, led to his scythe getting knocked away from him, flying across the room and embedding in a pew behind him. Kord beat his wings just once, and proceeded to act aggressively even then. He would force Luc to defend himself even now.

    "Then you're a wastrel," Kord replies as one claw gauntlet snaps out to try to grab at the wings, his other hand reaching back as if he was going to shove his hand in the gap in the wings, "A fool who knows nothing of the heart!" Because the temptation also reached for Kord, and now Kord is trying to kill him.

    The scythe that got knocked away suddenly flies across the room back to its owner, showering the area around it with wood chips. The momentum is carried with it as the combat-experienced Count catches the weapon and tries to use the momentum to drive a burst of black energy right through the gap in the wings and into Luc's face, with Luc witnessing the crazed joy of the predator in front of him. Even without the Dark spike driven by the weapon, the scythe's blunt end is durable enough that it might smash his helmet if he doesn't stop it. "SHIELD YOURSELF AGAIN, LUC!" he verbally jabs, taking apparent joy in the contradiction of Luc protecting his hostage.

Tomoe has posed:
Everyone is still fighting, somewhere Tomoe can feel the actual blood on her neck, this is bad, this is the same level of feedback that had gravky hurt Kirito. She looks very, focused now as she moves to try and get free she knows kushiko is fighting uot there. Priscillia, Carna, Lin and Inga but she has to focus on not losing her head here. She lets out a cry as she finally /rip/ her self free. She has no idea about prophecy, she turly does not. What she does know is? She damn well wants to /live/, she's known pain like this before, pinned to a tree by a sword, being force fed potions, to make sure she didn't die, so she could watch what the Laughing Coffin would do. This is just too close for comfort and with an enrage cry she breaks free.

Tomoe is hit again but it doesn't get too good of a purchse with her, while it does more damage? Clearly visable due to glowing red rents in her body she's sitll in the fight and she's going right at them.

"I will not die here not like this."

She launches into an attack using a comnination of sword and shield strikes even as her allies keep fighting. She can make out Lin as she herself keeps fighting herself. iung's fighting hard, Staren's Golems are still doing thier thing as well. As for Kord Pris and Carna? Tomoe prays she never has to fight any of them in anything more than a spar.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
It takes a moment indeed. Through all the carnage she's inflicting on the Stone Devil, blood is shed. Blood and... other things. But it's warm. Not cold and.. "You're... not dead?!" Astonishment flickers across the Solar's eyes, and that one instant of hesitation's enough for her discipline to falter and guard to be pierced!

    ... But not perfectly. At the last moment One of Lin's hands sweeps down and bats at the offending weapon moments before it pierces flesh. The sword's thrust glancingly through the side of her gut. A flesh wound. Most certainly fatal for humans... mortals... but for Lin?

    For Lin, it just HURTS LIKE THE DICKENS. "AAAAAUGH---!"

    And that's enough to get the two of them tumbling.

    "What... explain that!" She gasps out, blood gurgling up her throat and leaking from her lips the whole while.

    The falling Solar manages to gather her strength mid-fall. SOMEHOW this translates into spinning around in midair as if kicking off the empty air itself. The blade is forcefully torn free of her flesh and plenty of blood splatters every hich way once it's out of the way. She largely ignores the pain though, staggering only slightly as she enters a somersault and tumble-rolls upon hitting the ground... and rising into a far more solid stance. Her Tiger Form is exquisite even when wounded, hands stylized like claws and whole body coiled low, ready to pounce and mauland batter away defense.

    The are hordes everywhere, hordes of Unlit, and she isn't suitable for fighting them en masse... but others here are. Lin spins about in place, delivering jabs and sweeping blows and the occasional firce kick that sends Unlit flying or crumbling into light!

Kushiko has posed:
That would be the kind of thing that needed to happen, wouldn't it? Amidst the terrible defensive onslaught Kushiko provides through her Mesa--intermittently refreshing it from time to time by simply disengaging her Regulators long enough to shift and move, mostly to take up new angles--especially when the Stone Devils tried to use the Lantern's own positions against her.

"Tenno, you have incoming!" Really, that's about the best warning the Lotus can give, having no access to anything here other than her operative's own sensors--and sometimes being a second set of eyes is what's needed. One of those grotesque monstrosities manages to breach her shields with one of it's swipes, though her body is already in motion, the Warframe twisting away, only to have to pivot and roll out due to the rapidly surrounding winged monsters. Mercifully, one of the cycling ribbons of energy from her Shooting Gallery seems to instinctively /*ping*/ towards one of the many abominations to attempt to stun it, a lariat of light momentarily appearing around her.

The carrion birds that these happen to resemble evoke some old thought, some old memory, but one she can't necessarily put to thought now. The spurt of blood from her Warframe's side might send along the Transference, but it's not enough to even slow the feminine figure down. But she does recognize what she's seeing here, and calls out over radio to everyone: <"Scavengers of some kind! They're after civilians and anyone they seem to think is easy pickings like the wounded and immobile Stone Devils!"> That's at least what she can suspect given their ignoring of the Stone Devils that aren't immobilized by their wounds.

Light flashes behind her as she pulls out that most time honored weapon when it comes to fighting the undead hordes: a shotgun, and in this case it happens to be the quad-barreled Vaykor Hek shotgun and it's cacophonic sound begins to thunder as she cradles it under one arm, firing /that/ weapon with one hand. There's a reason she can't quite use it with both hands--the surrounding of the abominations forces her to be on the move, something that she complements with a wicked-looking /gun/blade--blades curving outward and within it, the twinbarrel of the Redeemer's shotgun.

Thusly, it was a dance, twin strips of her syandana flourishing behind her as she spun the blade upwards towards one abomination, spinning and flipping and intermixing the hooked blades of Redeemer with carefully controlled blasts of that powerful shotgun. Of course, the real reason for why she brought the Vaykor becomes quickly clear--as she fires the tightly spread bursts of pellets--pellets that are inherently treated with viral modification--specifically the mixture of cold and toxin elements that can /might/ be able to do more damage by way of reducing their ability to sustain the onslaught.

In theory, at least. She has to keep moving--but being swarmed is nothing new to the Tenno, Mesa's legs suddenly surging with energy to send her upwards in a spiral leap hopefully to sink her Redeemer into one of those flying bastards to effectively swing herself onto one and use it as a flying platform to launch herself at the other fliers--presuming of course the one she launches herself at doesn't keep her from doing as such.

Priscilla has posed:
    It isn't clear to Priscilla why this particular Devil felt the need to warn away her comrades and fight one to one. From the larger battle unfolding around her, the crossbreed feels like the bloody sword is one macabre, unpredictable trick amongst several. There is no doubt it works, as multiple seemingly fatal strikes are absorbed and deflected one after the other, much to Priscilla's ire, but it does cause her to wonder, in the part of her mind that isn't preoccupied by the fine balance and momentum of her scythe, why they haven't attacked her all at once.

    The question seemingly becomes irrelevant. At this point, Priscilla is not going to slow down or take a cautious approach. Showing concern for the audience is admitting that they concern her. She presses and presses the duelist until she falls to project the image that she couldn't fear an ambush any less, almost as much as out of pragmatism. Still, that little bit of contemplation almost leaves it too late when the Stone Devil finally responds in that disarmingly unorthodox fashion. As badly as she has wounded the blood-wielder, taking those heavy boots to the wrist is an unfavourable outcome, to say the least.

    It wouldn't be quite accurate to call the result pure luck, since the direct reason the sword falls apart at the last second is entirely Priscilla's doing, but it sure feels like it; even to her. Still, the performance requires that she play this off as incredible predictive prowess, and not a favourable coincidence, and so she hesitates not for a single moment, tossing her scythe from one hand to the other so that she can seamlessly bring it up over her head, and swing it down through the fallen Devil's head like an ice pick.

    One look around tells the rest. The others have already taken care of a number of the lesser fighters, and even whittled down a couple of the Gargoyle Knights, but there are significant injuries all around. The Lantern soldiers have done a remarkably good job of keeping the rest occupied, but a battle of attrition seems dicey at best. Even with two down and plenty of tricks up her sleeve, Priscilla is weighing the possibility that she'll tire out before she gets through so many heavily armoured foes, or else before the flocking Unlit can be dealt with afterwards.

    So, wordlessly, Priscilla steps over another corpse, and all things permitting, walks right pass the Stone Devils encircling her. It's hardly without its risks, but she intends to brush right on out of their circle as if they don't even concern her. She's already set herself up as some kind of preachy leader figure here, so she can't back down off that air of authority.

    "Pray, do not die as of yet." she calls out, smoothly suppressing genuine worry as she goes for the church. She knows Longita is in there, and likely still doesn't fully trust Kord not to do something they'll all collectively regret; not on the subject of Luc. Unless another Stone Devil thinks it wise to try and get the jump on her, she strolls on in like she owns the place, stopping only to retrieve a handful of those weird little skulls she brought a long time ago, and pitch them back into the crowd of swarming Unlit, hoping to turn them away from the wall and draw them into a big blob that can be nuked all at once. After that, she slams the doors closed, just to draw attention to the fact she's here, then turns invisible, to immediately inject a whole lot of uncertainty into the room. "And pray, leave Lady Longita in one piece. If the task of destroying Luc without endangering her is beyond thee, then step back." Priscilla asserts, maybe not actually bluffing just to get Luc out of the building.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Carna has been busy keeping the Unlit from getting through as much as she can. She would have been overrun long ago, being more of an assassin build than a warrior, if not for the efforts of Kushiko. But when those bird beast things start dive bombing people, gobbling up the Lanterns who can no longer fight back, or attacking in packs for those who are simply injured, and then literally tearing them apart by mobbing the wounded, it seems the situation has taken an even further turn for the worse.

    Thankfully, due to both Kushiko's continued perserverence and the alluring skulls thrown by Priscilla that gathers the fiends into easy-to-wipe-out clusters, Carna is able to break away from the wall and try to help some of the more injured among her allies.

    Inga's blood spear flies for the Stone Devil crawling implacably towards her, unaware of the fact she healed herself enough to move. But some instinct, some ability to sense the danger to him, causes him to lash out with his bladed staff, striking at the blood spear in mid-air despite being blind and deaf and body shredded. The spear snaps in half, but the pointed half is the half that punches through his helmet and skull with so much force that it knocks him off his knees and onto his back. He does not fight again. But he takes awhile before he starts to dissolve, bleeding from his wounds the whole time.

    Staren's golems provide crucial support in dealing with all the Unlit, both on the ground and in the air. Backing up Kushiko keeps her frame from being torn apart like Lantern defenders around the area have already gruesomely suffered. Though whether they'd find the Frame as yummy as flesh is a mystery that will hopefully never be solved.

    The particle beams slam into Luc's back, burning through his armor and probably spelling the end for most living beings. Even as Kord is hurled back by blocking the sword blow from the Gargoyle Knight, Luc is swinging his sword at Staren without looking, despite the distance between them. The air pressure from the strike is like an invisible wall just rammed into the doorway that Staren is shooting from. Beautiful, if morbid, stained glass windows explode from the change in pressure, and turn into a whirlwind of deadly fragments spinning around, carries on the current that flows into the back room with Staren and Lasyra.

    Thankfully, Lasyra moves in the way, not knowing what Staren can do to defend himself, but knowing that her armor is better suited to taking the attack that a body of living flesh. The twin holes cored through Luc's torso show that Staren definitely made a mark on him. And then it is Kord's turn.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Luc does not try to guard himself with his wings again this time. He once again does something unexpected. As that spike of dark energy stabs towards his face, he parts his wings, unleashing a shockwave that blasts outwards at Kord, dropping Longita, stepping over her, and then dashes INTO the attack, by 'taking flight' on the ground.

    It's a seemingly suicidal maneuver. The spike punctures Luc's head, and goes right out the back, much like happened outdoors and unseen by those within, moments prior, at Inga's hands. Unlike that Stone Devil, when Kord's weapon smashes into the helmet, and the spike stabs through it, no blood pours forth. He has stabbed through Luc's head with his scythe, and Luc is not only not bleeding, he's still coming. His free hand, because the 8'2" tall monster only needs one to wield his absurdly large sword, swings up and towards Kord's ribs, trying to smash him in the solar plexus hard enough to hurl him back towards the church entrance, while the scythe is 'trapped' through his head. Of course, given Kord's demonstrated ability to recover his weapon, his own wings, resilience, and quick thinking, it's doubtful it would be the crippling blow to the Count that it might be to another, even if it lands.

    But the fact Luc is willing to be stabbed through the head just to try to knock the wind out of Kord demonstrates... Something. Insanity? Determination? Is there a difference between the two when one gets down to it?

    "Do you know how many beings in Lumiere can kill me?" Luc asks, with the hole still in his head, so clean that one can see through it to the altar behind him. "Only nine. You are not one of them. But you can become one. You don't need to trust my word or accept my help. Just do what you've been doing. Find your own path. Face me again when you've seen the truth about Lumiere. Until then, I can not kill you either." Shadows flicker across his face, turning an immobile gargoyle maw into a smile through emphasis. "But you've already come a long way from when I first met you just outside. I'm certain THAT will help you take the next step when you're ready. I look forward to when we have more time to try to kill each other."

Carna (974) has posed:
    Then Priscilla bursts into the church after having made quite the impression on both the civilians and the Stone Devils on her way here (and prior, in combat). It doesn't look like she's here to stop a wedding. She was permitted to pass through, the death of the second Stone Devil taking longer to 'finish' than normal, just like for the first. For whatever reason, they 'linger' upon being killed. Even if it's a permanent death, the way it manifests is odd. The Stone Devils surrounding her let her pass, one of them seemingly listening to something through a skull held up next to his head. Then the Stone Devils start withdrawing. Fleeing, despite the casualties they have wrought among the Lanterns. Half the defenders are fallen. Counting the ones killed by the Elites, and those consumed by the bird-beasts, fourteen Stone Devils have fallen. None of them were Gargoyle Knights.

    Now, as Priscilla scolds Kord, regardless of what condition he's in, Lasyra suddenly charges out into the front of the chapel and leaps up out through one of the smashed out windows. Luc turns promptly, sword over his shoulder, pausing only to give a look at Staren, and then Priscilla, and then Kord, and then, unknowingly echoing Priscilla's words to the Stone Devils, he says, "Do not die just yet. You still have roles to play in what's to come." Then, unless prevented, he leaps up and out of the chapel as well, still sporting a very neat hole in his head, and a five foot long 'tear' in his stone wings, as well as two near-molten holes through his abdomen.

    Longita has been trying to lie still and not draw attention, but as soon as she gets the chance she scrambles towards Kord and begins chanting prayers to Urizen, trying to use the power of Law to reorder any injuries the Count has suffered by asserting what his condition SHOULD be is different from what it IS and making reality respond appropriately. It's basically healing by changing the rules regarding what constitutes wounds as it pertains to Kord. "Can someone please check on Sir Staren? And any other wounded. I will do all I can to treat them. All the injured should be brought within the church grounds. I can restore everyone at once as long as they stand within the gaze of mighty Urizen, but it will take some time to finish the ritual. Emergency treatment for those who need it until then."

    Maybe Kord doesn't even need any treatment. Maybe Staren is perfectly okay. But it's a good bet that others aren't.

Carna (974) has posed:
    Speaking of which, as the order to retreat is apparently given, the two Stone Devils attacking Tomoe reluctantly try to depart. But the shield bashes one of them in the back of the head while he's distracted with the orders, and the sword goes snicker-snack through his spine immediately after. Carna then runs up and wedges her swords into his ribcage, slipping them between the cracks in his armor and wiggling them to cut as much inside the Dead man as possible as he slouches limply, unable to move without a functioning spinal cord.

    The one remaining, with the broken whip, seems surprised, but immediately leaps backwards to get some distance, before turning and leaving. Apparently staying to fight someone with Tomoe's resilience and strength isn't on the menu. Not even for the sake of a downed ally. In a one-on-one fight, she probably has adequate raw power to take the head off one of them with a direct hit, and without his whip, that one is down to his fists, more or less.

    The Gargoyle Knight that Karal was fighting is pretty messed up, and spends more time tearing apart Unlit in the streets with her than fighting her after their fall. He occasionally breaks away when there's a pause in the ever-dwindling masses to try to take a few swings at her, and likely she in turn for him, but as the distraction of the Unlit becomes lesser, Karal doing as good a job as her enemy of destroying anything that gets within arm's reach, the Gargoyle Knight decides to heed the message he's been hearing and leaps up the walls of the two nearest buildings until he is high enough to take flight and try to get out of here. But he pauses on the edge of the rooftop to look down at her. His entire right side is torn apart by the Solar's attacks, and he has fist-sized chunks of his armor and flesh torn out of him.

    The snake-like helmet he wears betrays none of his feelings, but he calls down an answer of sorts. "A disparity of light and darkness, where darkness is the greater power, is still preferable to oblivion. I am not alive." He holds up a hand dripping with blood that has begun to turn into vapor. "But if I keep fighting, one day I will be. And I will crush anyone who would stop me from achieving that." He closes his hand into a fist, and then bounds and glides away, leaving Karal Rei Lin to clean up the remaining Unlit among all the thousands that have been slain.

    The squirming things that fell from within his armor have finally stopped moving.

Carna (974) has posed:
    The civilians are too frightened, too in shock, to do much. But when the fighting winds down, and it seems the Stone Devils, the Unlit, and even the bird-beast Unlit, are all fleeing or fallen, some of them erupt into cheers that threaten to draw the attention of any more monsters in the area. Others simply fall into deeper despair upon seeing the wreckage that remains of their work.

    But with the renewed religious devotion that has been inspired, and the whispers of prophecy they have taken to heart, their support will not be wavering any time soon.

Staren has posed:
    Staren is shifting his grip to fire the rifle when the air pressure slams into him and sends him skidding on his back through the room. He grunts, and when he sees Lasyra trying to protect him from the shards of glass, says "You don't have to do that..." He's wearing armor himself, and it's just glass rather than some crazy magical material... he hopes, anyway, as he stands up again, using the armor's strength to kip up like a much stronger martial artist might.

    He watches in surprise as Lasyra runs off, and... does Luc have a scythe in his head? And he gives a 'Hmph.' as Luc mentions a part to play. At Longita's concern, he says "That is WHY I wear armor." And then strides out of the church to help with emergency first aid.