1389/The Ascent

The Ascent
Date of Scene:	21 January 2015
Location:	The Frigid Reaches
Synopsis:	Helgen is overrun by an undead army preparing to assault Skyrim. Heroes answer the call, and come face to face with the Lich King's greatest creation: Sindragosa, Queen of the Frostbrood.
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, 20, 371, 518, Lezard Valeth, 623, 653, 654, 665, 679

---

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    Helgen is overrun.

    The town hadn't truly recovered since Alduin's assault left it mostly razed to the ground, of course; however, its location between Falkreath and Riverwood makes it a prime staging point for an assault. Of course, neither the Stormcloaks nor the Imperials had as yet taken advantage of Helgen in their war, though why they hadn't becomes easy to understand whenever one begins to consider the broader picture. Maintaining supply trains to Helgen would be a nightmare, in light of the poor roads, the town's remoteness, and the overwhelming bandit populations thriving in Skyrim's forests -- can you imagine overcoming this problem, /and/ fighting a war?

    Fortunately, the issue becomes rather irrelevant whenever your army is comprised of the undead.

    Gargoyles perch along the walls. Chainbound ghouls hunch in the town's open areas and within the shattered, soot-stained buildings. Ghasts gallavant among the throng, leaping with endless energy from one place to the next, as if too restless and hungry to be controlled. Skeletons draped in armor and bearing weapons round out the mass. At the very center of their midst, a stone platform, and there, two liches in their purple robes with their arms raised. Their bony fingers work sick-looking energies into some kind of spiraling spell. The churning mass of magic hovers between two pillars fabricated from the former mead hall's charred rafters.

    Their number had gathered for three days. Coming in pairs or groups by night and day through the warp gate over Bleak Falls Barrow, they prowled through the forests and the mountains without any secrecy, and word of their coming spread fearfully throughout the land.

    One and all, their lifeless eyes burn with the same blue flickers of fiery light, the same cruelty, the same /hunger/.

    Casting its shadow across Helgen, the nearby mountain, the Ancient's Ascent, hides yet another aspect of this terrible invasion. Lurking atop its peaks -- unseen from the roadways, yet able to watch Helgen's work -- two immense bony creatures lie beside one another like cats preparing to pounce. Jagged horns sweep back from their skull-like heads. Their wings, formed by tattered flesh and ivory bone, lie folded back against their hunched spines and revealed rib cages. They emanate a cold more terrible than the wintry air could ever create.

    Rimefang. Spinestalker. The agents of the Frostbrood.

    The weapons of the Lich King.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Helgen is suffering.

But since suffering is magic, that's perfectly fine with Lezard Valeth. He stands near the pair of terrifyingly powerful Frosbrood and looks down over Helgen, the frigid air od Skyrip snapping his cloak dramatically. The stage is set, the sky bears a chill deeper than that of the frigid Nordic lands.

He finds it quite satisfying. As he looks down upon Helgen, he adjusts his glasses, smiling as he waits for the inevitable response.

It is the fate of the Hero to answer these calls. And Lezard is quite experienced in dealing with... Heroes.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     Skyrim is, honestly, quite a bit out of Kaiba's way. And, really, he has next to no reason to visit the area. So what, exactly, has brought him here today? Well, it's quite simple. At this point, the full extent of his... attitude isn't fully known. He seeks to make sure he at least has /somewhat/ of a good reputation throughout the Multiverse. Earning favors here and there. And so, he has been looking into various causes throughout the Multiverse. His men, going through various news and bringing more interesting bits to his attention.

     And so, when one of his workers delivers him a report on zombies attacking a world with dragons, his interest piques a bit. Dragons are a particular favorite thing of his. And what is more, undead. While Kaiba is not going out of his way to invest into undead research, he is curious how, exactly, they might work. So. He can help a good cause, investigate dragons, get a good reputation in a world where his tech would make him seem akin to a God... Basically, there is minimal downsides to coming today.

     He flies in himself, piloting the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Jet. This is most definitely out of place in Skyrim. Making a pass over Whiterun, then Riverwood, he's probably drawing a /bit/ of attention. Finally though, as he approaches Helgen, he pulls his jet to a landing in front of the city.

     He steps out, dramatically. He pulls at his trenchcoat a bit, straightening it out. His Duel Disk is on his arm, as usual. His deck, slotted in immediately. Five cards are drawn. And he smirks.

     He plays a card. A floating hologram of a card appears in the air in front of him. He smiles. Yeah, horde of undead. This will at least prove /interesting/.

     Of course he's likely to be a /little/ bit annoyed when everyone else shows up. But not too much.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Evil undead in large numbers? That sounds like trouble! It doesn't matter where it is, not when allies are calling for help.

    Still, why did it have to be so far away? At least this place doesn't seem too bad to move around in.

    The blind earthbender arrives through the warpgate, feeling the chill a bit as her clothes aren't the best for the climate usually found around Skyrim. But if there's going to be fighting, then she will most likely be warm in not too long. Ducking behind a rock she places a hand on the ground as she kneels. Immediately her surroundings become clearer to her, her seismic sense bringing her info about the nearby town. So many walking dead... It's weird to 'see' something like that move. But it's better to wait for the other Union forces to arrive, it's stupid to go against those kinds of numbers alone, no matter who you might be.

Paarthurnax (371) has posed:
Paarthurnax is not a Hero. He was once, however, a General, and finds himself one again regardless of any personal desire to curl up quietly on a mountaintop and watch the world go by without his interference. And this is after all his home world. One whose troubles ought to have been settled by now, since the Dovahkiin's defeat of Alduin. The old dragon ponders on the strange karma of the Multiverse as he soars through a skyward warpgate on pale, tattered wings. At least, if Skyrim is to be host to another scourge -- or Scourge, he makes a mental note, recalling what Ivraala called this undead menace -- there are allies without that he can call on for aid.

He certainly doesn't feel up to the task of fending off an entire undead army by /himself/.

The dragon's shadows sweeps over the town, high and thin through wisps of cloud, as he maintains an altitude hopefully out of range of any spells. He is taken aback, somewhat, by the sight of a mechanical dragon setting down before the Helgen gates, and circles again before deciding that the strange mage doesn't have the stink of undeath about him, and is therefore likely here to help not hinder. He spirals downward to perch on a convenient nearby outcropping of rock.

"Drem," he greets simply, tersely, his old eyes turning toward the infested city. His wings remain half-unfurled, ready to take him aloft again. "Others will be here soon." He tilts his head and acknowledges gravely, "Ensign Toph," as if she were expected. Which she was.

Hata no Kokoro (654) has posed:
    Far, far away, one might see flecks of an eerie, phantasmal blue dotting the horizon. Slowly they approach as though they were the souls following the ferry upon the river Styx, their movements far too gradual to hint at any hope, nor life, they may contain. Surely this is just another wave of the scourge come to make Helgen's destruction total, surely just another whisp of ill omen come to cut the thin thread by which this settlement clings to its foundries. Though of course, the narrative voice would not be calling such attention to this collection of flames if it were not something of a deviation. That azure glow is familiar, yes, but the closer it comes the more different it seems from those hollow beams that scorch the eyes of the undead. And by the time these shapes are large enough for one to resolve them as what they truly are, already its speed has proven its liveliness, its will, and its stark contrast with the undertow of evil.

    These lights are the masks, and the beacon at their center is their warden. Hata no Kokoro has kept her watchful eye upon this world ever since she was last here, so it was only natural that, when trouble arose, she would be not moments away! With all the vigor she can muster she would crash down boldly in front of the walls of Helgen, staring down the gargoyles with the seething determination sealed within the Fox mask, and that kindles itself within the chambers of her heart. A small seismic wave would cut through the skies about her small form as her legs meet the ground, stirring the snow and clearing the way for just the silence the girl needs to make her introduction. So, without further adieu:

    "YOU!" The girl's finger would launch forward dramatically. Her legs would readjust into a pose that points her right foot heroically in front of her left. Her cheeks would glimmer with the phenomenal rosaries of complete Apathy. And her voice would pierce the heavens with its blustery monotone. "Kokoro remembers you! I remember all of the bad feelings you brought before! I remember the dead people you made serve you!" With a flourish of sparks, her naginata would appear in her hands, lending itself to a swift, bizarrely elegant spin that ends with its likewise pointed toward her foes. "I never forget bad things like that! And I will never rest until I make all of them go away!" Her cheeks would puff up, her lips quivering as though some severe expression were fighting eagerly to come to the fore. Alas, though, it does not.

    "This is round two! Come on!"

    With that, she's off. She would swerve into the sky and draw as much attention to herself as she possibly can whilst also, with some degree of deceptive canniness, scanning the area for any survivors still remaining in the city. Despite her typically loud proclamation, she would not strike first, instead trying to draw her foes out first so that she can prepare for them.

    Game on, may-or-may-not-be malevolent/hungry Youkai!

Ivraala (679) has posed:
    It's not long before Ivraala arrives, riding up to Helgen on the Acherus Deathcharger that serves as her mount. Far faster than she could possibly travel on foot herself, the undead horse covered in armor matching its rider and decorated with dangling skulls charges up the road to Helgen, its blue-flamed hooves of bone drumming against the stone in a ceaseless rhythm. As if Ivraala weren't the antithesis of heroism in appearance herself, that undead mount only makes her seem even less so, carrying her swiftly up to Helgen with as much speed as it can muster.

    The draenei's glowing eyes narrow even further from beneath her hood when she approaches the town. There's no subtlety in the Scourge's presence here today, but what they lack in the covertness of their operations, they no doubt make up for in the intimidation they cause. Even those who would notice the overrun town would be too terrified to face it, perhaps even too terrified to name what they saw.

    Ivraala tugs on the reins of her mount, bringing it to a skidding halt near Toph and Paarthurnax. Considering how things went last time, she's not too keen on diving in there herself just yet. A silent nod is given to Paarthurnax, and a glance to Toph - so young, should she really be here? - before she looks toward the town again. Kaiba's arrival is strange, too, and...there's Kokoro again, as feisty as ever against the hordes of undead.

    Ivraala lets a tense breath hiss through her teeth as she draws her greataxe, its blade wreathed in a cold even more biting and sharp than that of Skyrim's air. "We should not waste much time. I can't tell what they're doing from here yet, but whatever it is, they're making progress."

Tomoe has posed:
The Scourge scare her, she knows there's far more dead in the multiverse than there are those who are alive if one were to think about it. So the Salamander Alf or is that Alf Salamander? She didn't think about it much she was a 7 foot tall fairy that would be considered a threat by her world's militaries back home. Still she pauses at the Scourge undead deals with souls as well as corpses right? She doesn't think herself immune to what they might throw. The Town was over run and she had to wonder but for now there are undead to deal with and here she comes and id there's anyone left alive in this mess? They need to do something about it, so there she is high in the skies flying on her semi transulent red feathery wings and now decents towrds her allies to join them, as she lands her blade is drawn and the mourning wall is made ready. Names scroll across the shield every so often strange names like Sword Guy are along side japanese names or even phrases it's kinda strange...

Artyom W. Valodjn (665) has posed:
    Artyom has heard of the threat of the Scourge. He has seen what they do to the world around them, felt it in his bones. Their corruption is a blight upon his perception of the world, and any news of their advance is something that he has come to take very seriously. And so he comes here today.

It helps that he's been hanging around Skyrim lately to fill out his fast travel locations/explore, so it wasn't actually that much of a chore to get to Helgen once he heard of its plight.

    A ripple of earth propagates up the hillside near the ruined town- and seems to be approaching with great speed. Atop the cresting waves is... a horizontal boulder, and a man on top of that. Several farmers and travellers need to look twice to make sure that, yes, that is in fact a thing that is happening. Clearly, Landsurfing hasn't quite caught on in Skyrim- nor anywhere outside of Titan, really. But it's the fastest way he has to get around.

    Dragons of all kinds soar overhead. One is mechanical and sort of odd, but the other he recognizes. Artyom diverts, switching course to surmount a nearby hill as Paarthurnax makes landfall. The Titan leaps from his vehicle, kicking its back-end into the ground to bring it to an abrupt halt. "Hm. Seems like I've arrived in time," he grunts, glancing at the others. "Toph," Artyom inclines his head at the earthbender- then the death knight, "And Ivraala. Well met."

"...We probably should not dally, hm?" he says, squinting over the town, "Especially considering that someone already seems to be engaging the horde."

Yuuki Kuran (518) has posed:
    You know what's seasonal in Helgen? SUDDEN FLOCKS OF BUTTERFLIES. Colorful little butterflies, which are mostly white, or pink, seem to settle on buildings as other people arrive in defense of the dragon-threatened village.

    While Butterflies themselves tend to be spring or summer fare, these seem unaffected by the heinous amounts of nonsense going on, the eternal briskness of Skyrim, the dragons, dudes riding on dragons, dudes landsurfing, people falling out of the sky...

    Who'd notice a pile of mysterious butterflies all over everything???

    Nobody, that's who.

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    Seto Kaiba's given a warm welcome.

    One of the larger creatures among the gathered undead -- sporting a horned helm and a scraggly beard -- stoops to heft a hollow horn to his rotted lips. Whether or not he possesses lungs in truth, he remains capable of coaxing the instrument to life: a loud bellowing BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO echoes across the region. The undead troops begin to stir at the fanfare's first note.

    The sound repeats thrice more at Paarthurnax's arrival, and at Kokoro's, and then at Ivraala's. Though neither of the three had the audacity to show up in anything as noisy as a jet, they hadn't gone to any trouble to hide themselves, either.

    Anyone who gathers outside Helgen's gates may feel an extra chill in the air at knowing the enemy is being mustered against them.

    What discipline and skill these soldiers possessed in their lost lives is not all lost now that they've been raised from the dead. Many of those skeletons in armor gather themselves like living beings, adjusting their armor and filing into ranks in whatever way is expected of them. The lesser undead and the ghasts are of course more chaotic by nature, driven by far more cruel and hungry impulses than the soldier types, but the sheer number of them all but eradicates any disadvantages their lack of discipline imparts.

    The gargoyles, meanwhile, snap out from their stony forms. Their wings stretch and beat at the air, and their shrieking, bat-like voices soon create a chilling cacophony. Soon, their forms circle around the skies above the town itself, their erratic flight difficult to follow.

    Several of those gargoyles make curious, passing snaps at the butterflies, but by and large, these go ignored. One ghoul reaches out to grab a butterfly; his head is cocked in dog-like wonder.

    The liches continue their spells.

    High stop the Ascent, Rimefang lifts his head. Spinestalker follows his Frostwyrm brother. "The time has come," Spinestalker growls. His shoulders evoke a predatory bunch, like he is gathering his nonexistent muscles. "I see no need to remind you of our bargain, wizard."

    Rimefang extends his huge foreclaw toward Lezard in invitation to mount. Soon after, both Frostwyrms take to the skies, beating their pale wings against the cloud-strewn heavens in a laborious attempt at flight.

Paarthurnax (371) has posed:
Paarthurnax nods his heavy head. "Nelom," he agrees. "We must make haste. The Scourge has had too long to fester here already." His wings rise, and make a cupping motion as if he's beckoning his allies closer. "Listen to me, hear my Thu'um, and take it with you into battle." The words stop, but a strange thrumming rumble starts in the back of his throat, as of several voices joining together in a rolling tide of chanting, the same three syllables over and over, each repetition seeming to resonate deeper within the ears of the listener. "Mid Vur Shaan... Mid Vur Shaan... Mid Vur Shaan!"

And the spirit of battle seems to flow through the limbs of his allies, lightening the weight of weapons, slowing the internal perception of time so that each moves just that little bit faster, more surely and certainly.

And then, as the horns blow, the gargoyles stir and the dracoliches rise from their mountainous roost, Paarthurnax turns toward the front gate of Helgen proper and makes the first move of the battle for them. His chest inflates, his head draws back and then his maw drops open as a massive burst of irresistable FORCE roars from between his jaws.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The gate splinters asunder into broken shards and whirling motes of dust!

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    For now Toph doesn't worry too much about Kaiba. But the arrival of the Union general does cause her to listen intently, her eyes going wide. But once he settles on the outcropping and addresses them, she seems to relax. She has more than enough things to follow closely through the ground, so it's good that somebody else can keep an eye on the skies.

    Raising her hand she even offers a brief salute to the old dragon. "Reporting for duty, General. I can't count all of those things. It seems like there are two of them standing on a platform or something in the middle of the town..." she informs him with a frown crossing her face. It sounds like the undead are aware of them arriving.

    When Kata no Kokoro drops into the town she blinks, going silent. What is going on there?

    But there are other things to think about when another arrives, and Toph raises her head a bit when Ivraala arrives, wondering if it's another of those things gathering in the town, but immediately when the undead draenei speaks, a look of recognition crosses her face, and she smiles. "Heya Ivraala!" It's the first time she meets her after all, and Toph rises to her full height again, though she's still small compared to the others gathered. Yet she seems to grin when the earth shakes a bit and the titan arrives. "You're here too?" she asks and walks over to the much taller geomancer, reaching out to punch him in the leg. It's not like she can reach up to his shoulder. "There are way too many of them to count, I tried. There are two of them on a stone platform that seem a bit suspicious if you ask me. What's the plan, General?" Parthuurnax is the commanding officer here, after all. And this is his world, isn't it? Then again, Ivraala also seems to know these undead horrors. "We better get ready, because they are."

    When the dragon begins speaking she blinks, and when the spell fills them with strength and speed, she can't help but blink. Now that is a bit weird. But also awesome. But when he pulls off his next move and she /feels/ the effects, her eyes go wide where she stands next to Artyom. And she blinks slowly.

    "...okay, THAT was cool!"

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    The gates are blasted from their hinges. The wood, already weakened by Alduin's fire, shatters into fragments and splinters. The way into Helgen stands open; the undead throng is laid bare.

    The ground rumbles as the undead lunge forward in a frothing charge. Several fireballs come streaking over their heads, and arrows rain down from the surviving watchtowers at Helgen's corners. The gate may be gone, but they are prepared to be sieged, and these few heroes seem very small against their number.

    The air grows bitter cold with their hollow warcries.

    Outside Helgen's gates -- to the left and right -- something stirs underground. Toph feels it first. Two things large and spiderlike are digging up from their burrows.

    Behind and above the heroes, the air is split by a sudden bestial shriek. Two ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOARS leave the heavens trembling, and soon, wingbeats can be heard. These sounds are not so unusual for Skyrim. Paarthurnax may even think, for a moment, that his brethren have come in unexpected aid of their oldest kin.

    One glimpse at the undead horrors streaking toward Helgen will dash any hope of that.

    Spinestalker comes down hard and fast from above. He sweeps the ground with his tail, claws, and a buffeting blast of air, attempting to stun or dash aside anyone in his path. His objective? To taunt Paarthurnax into the air.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     Kaiba draws his next card, just casually waiting as the gates are blown down. Honestly, if Paarthurnax hadn't done it, he would of himself. Casually, he flips the card on his duel disk over. And so, the trading card floating in midair flips over, revealing a woman. She stands tall, with long platinum hair, and eyes of blue.

     Kaiba isn't ordering her to attack. What he's trying to do? Put it right in the path of the destruction that the Spinestalker is trying to cause.

     "And... As the Maiden with Eyes of Blue is attacked, now, I can summon forth a powerful creature from my deck... THE BLUE-EYES WHITE DARGON!"

     The Blue-Eyes White Dragon forms. It, really, is unlike any other dragon Paarthurnax has likely seen. It stands tall in front of the hordes of undead, though it has yet to attack yet.

     With a bit of a smirk, though? He plays his next card.

     "I play the spell card, Photon Sanctuary. This will create two Photon tokens, which will allow me to summon..."

     A pause, as two balls of light much akin to Will-o-wisps appear, and suddenly burst apart as they are used for fuel for a summon.

     "MY SECOND BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!"

     The Blue-Eyes White Dragon forms, very much like the last one. And, with there being /two/ Blue-Eyes on the battlefield, Kaiba gives his order.

     "BURST STREAM ATTACK ON THE SKELETAL DRAGON!"

     The two Blue-Eyes open their mouth, firing out /massive/ breath attacks at the Spinestalker.

     Kaiba looks at the others. Including Paarthurnax. Yeah, he knows who the dragon is, but still.

     "The lot of you better not get in my way. I could handle this on my own, and I don't want all of you to end up getting caught in a bad spot and used against me."

Ivraala (679) has posed:
    Ivraala gives Artyom a brief nod of welcome and gratitude when he arrives as well. She trusted he would appear at the next sign of the Scourge's presence, and so he has. Good to know that can be trusted.

    Paarthurnax's Voice echoes through her suddenly. It's a magic she's not entirely unfamiliar with, but the effects of it are certainly new to her. Regardless, she's not going to question it, nor is she going to question the fact that Paarthurnax abruptly shatters the doors of Helgen. It's effective, and that's all that matters.

    "Destroy them as quickly as possible," Ivraala calls to her allies, pointing her greataxe at the liches within the town. "The lesser minions will only slow us down. Whatever /they/ are doing must be stopped, immediately! The others will try to consume us with frost and disease, so keep out of line of any clouds they cast at you! And the frostwyrms-"

    The draenei abruptly winces, bracing against the buffeting winds of Spinestalker and the raking claws and tail that come all too close to her. "-nnh! Move, they're coming!" she shouts over the cacophony raising around her, her only further instruction for her allies before she charges toward Helgen to meet the undead charge.

    There's no grace or elegance in her attack. Her free hand thrusts out in front of her to blast a chill wind through the air, a howling gust to strike the undead close to the front lines and chill them to their animated bones. Those she hits are infected with the all-consuming cold of Frost Fever: an infection to devour them from within with a biting chill before her speeding Deathcharger simply plows into their number, focused more on getting through to the liches than dealing with the rabble in front.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is now ready to go into the mouht of hell as it were and here she goes as she moves in as the order is given more or less she starts chanting in norse again even as she feels the power of Paarthrunax's voice she she's ready to go . She move sin after the last shout is done and the light rays start arching out towards the enemy as she's closing in now blade and shield redy intending to try and meet the undead head on.

"Let me take the brunt of it that's what I exist for! NOW COME YOU FLITH BACK TO YOUR GRAVES!"

Artyom W. Valodjn (665) has posed:
    "It's good to see you too," Artyom chuckles, resisting the urge to pat the diminuitive Earthbender's head in reply. He can't exactly punch her back, after all, but patting is just rude! "Hmmn. No matter how great their numbers may be, we could always simply drop one of the mountains upon them. I believe that may be rather... counterproductive if we seek to save the town, however."

He goes silent, then. He goes silent because there is a dragon speaking.

    There are dragons in Galianda, but they are reclusive. They live in the forbidden Plate of the Sky, Bahamut, where no mortal treads save for the chosen Dragoons. For any to show itself in any capacity is a tremendously auspicious event. Artyom is more than a little awed as the ancient creature speaks- but it's not simply because this here is a Dragon. The Thu'um resonates through his body, filling his limbs and heart with strength and life. He feels the magic in the words as they resonate through him, and it's difficult for him not to grin.

And then things go wrong.

    The horns blow. Other dragons- dragons profaned by the dread touch of undeath, their forms and energies twisted and perverted- scream in the skies. Artyom's lips pull back into a snarl as their corruptive essence assaults his senses. But they're not just overhead, there's something else-- within the earth itself, creeping about underfoot. Large, skittering things.

    Artyom's eyes narrow. More dragons are summoned, Ivraala begins the assault on the front line. He has other things to worry about. "Toph, two dragons overhead, stay in cover. Two targets below, advancing quickly--" Artyom drops to a knee, not out of fatigue, but to place a hand against flush against the earth. "Too bad. Got them right where I want them."

"Tremor."

    The land trembles briefly. Arcs of gold-white energy leap across the ground, then dig down deep. They focus on those foreign, blighting sources underground and seize around them, seeking to crush them within the very earth they defile!

...Or at least, force them to the surface where they can be more easily dealt with.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard nods to Rimefang, and without another comment nimbly sweeps up and sits upon the back of Rimefang. There is a good chance he is /familiar/ with doing this.

One hand withdraws a book with no title from a spatial warp. The book opens in his hand and flips pages, while the other removes an ornate sceptre topped with ruby. "Let us begin." He says, and the dragon rises aloft.

There is a rush of frigid air as a shadow descends upon the incoming heroes, and there is a cry, "FRIGID DAMSEL!"

A spirit of frost manifests, an icy spectre holding a frozen sword, beautiful and pure.

She then slashes outwards at the Hata no Kokoro, striking three times in quick succesion. They are not so difficult to stop.

The frigid dragonbreath that follows immediately after might be harder. The breath comes from a strafing dragon, with Lezard Valeth standing proudly upon the dragon's back. He seems to care nothing for the apparent difficulty of standing, simply rotating with the dragon as it sweeps through the air. "This place has been claimed by the Scourge, fools! I did not think you were so eager to join them!"

Unfortunately for the Geomancers, Lezard seems to be completely against landing upon the ground dramatically. Jerk.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    When there is that movement underground Toph can't help but blink, her eyes widening as she points in the direction. "Something is heading up through the ground over there. Something LARGE!" she warns the others. And then there is the sound of something coming from the skies, and Toph can't help but feel a bit uncomfortable. "... something tells me that isn't your family, General."

    But Ivraala has the experience with these things, and when she says to destroy them, Toph has no reason to doubt it. When instructed to move the blind earthbender kicks off, following after Ivraala. The warning from Artyom is appreciated. "Thanks!" As she runs she kicks into the ground, raising earthen plates to block her from sight and to offer some protection from above. Since Artyom is handling the spiders, that means she can focus on clearing some room ahead for the others.

    The teenager skids to a halt and throws her arms forward several times in succession, building up power as she finally unleashes a myriad of earthen spikes from the ground over a large area, seeking to impale as many of the undead as she can. It might not kill them, after all they are already dead, but that also means she can hold back without worrying. These things are dangerous and deserve no mercy, and holding back in this situation can cost them their lives.

Paarthurnax (371) has posed:
Taunted? No, Paarthurnax is too old to be baited in such an uncouth manner. Common sense, however, and instinct tell him -- as his talons dig furrows into the rock face and his wings flatten out under the buffeting force of Spinestalker's blast -- that the most effective way to counter an airborne dragon is to gain the height advantage. "I will occupy this valdrek," he rumbles, and several heavy wingbeats lift his ungainly body aloft, where it attains a certain grace impossible on land. A quickly grunted, "Yol!" sends a cloud of flame in Spinestalker's general direction, not a full-on assault but a distraction tactic to counteract the frostwyrm's seething aura of cold, and to give the old Dovah room to ascend.

Hata no Kokoro (654) has posed:
    When the two dragons come to the sky, Kokoro is there to meet them. Or at least, one of them. She has to admit, she doesn't really have any Youkai to really compare these things to -- I mean, gigantic bone dragons? That seems very much like a 'Western' thing. Consequently, she's not entirely on the up and up regarding their strengths and weaknesses, making it all too easy for her to charge right in after Rimefang with perhaps less caution than the situation might warrant. Luckily, though, she doesn't go in for any direct slashes, but rather a flurry of danmaku bullets. She would hurriedly switch her naginata for her fans, rhythmically and deliberately weaving them through the air to call forth a massive cube of pulsing magical spheres. This cube would, provided that Rimefang doesn't bail immediately or brush them off outright, begin to close in on them, potentially dealing some damage should they move through the veil of energy too hastily.

    Her masks, in the meanwhile, would give it their all individually as well. Hannya, her horned mask of anger, would lash out at any gargoyles in Kokoro's vicinity, attempting to knock them back with some combination of raw force and fire. They're not exactly world-class minions and they probably won't be able to defeat any mobs on their own, but Paarthurnax's boon probably reached them through their master! So that's a point or two in their favor.

    Though she quickly starts to grasp that calling quite so much attention to herself right away might not have been the best plan she's ever dreamed up. Another familiar voice calls from beyond, and this time she can -definitely- recall where she heard it before. She doesn't know his name, but she certainly knows Valeth, and the only thing stopping her from another spirited linguistic romp is...

    ... a horrific spirit of ice.

    Yuki Onna? No, Yuki Onna don't tote swords. Usually.

    Kokoro is mercifully not so distracted that she can't react to the first strike, but the second strike comes too swiftly, as does the third. Each slash would cut a deep gash, the first along her arm and the second on her right side. She would soar backward instinctively, at the pain, wrists crossed in the shape of an 'X' and her eyes closed tight. They would reopen just in time for her to see yet -ANOTHER- dragon careening toward her person! Her eyes go wide, but her expression remains as unemotive as ever even as bitter winds rush by her on all sides. She has just enough time to put up a guard for herself, but this shield is frail and would only manage to keep her from freezing solid. A great many shards of the frigid North would certainly find their way to an unfortunate Kokoro's abdomen.

    And at its climax, she would plummet into a clump of snow. But the clump rustles with her enduring zeal and energy, and it's only a matter of time before the girl would reemerge, her fans beating tossing away snow as though she herself had become some sort of cyclone.

    And -now- she can speak! "I won't be joining anyone! And no one else will, either! Even though the world around her is cold, Kokoro will light it up with the fires of her heart! Go, go," She would twirl and pump her fist with each utterance of the word 'go', but with the final "GO!", she would launch herself at Lezard and his dragon cloaked in the same astral fire as her masks. Her naginata would point toward Velath, attempting to swipe his side as she passes by.

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    Double Blue-Eyes White Dragon?! What impossible skill!

    Spinestalker blasts past the platinum-haired manifestation, striking at her with his tail, and carries on his charge; the appearance of an unfamiliar dragon forces him to alter his trajectory, however, and sends him banking to the side in order to avoid a potential collision. Kaiba's efforts likely save anyone beyond Paarthurnax and his closest allies from receiving more than a glancing blow from Spinestalker.

    As if in reaction to Spinestalker's changed course, a second dragon manifests from thin air. Its arrival provokes a snarling, irritated roar from Spinestalker, who's forced to quit his attack run before it puts him into a dangerous position. He needs to taste the power of these strange white dragons, not be overcome by it.

    Dual breath attacks stripes his sides as he goes strafing past. The white of his bone blisters and cracks, but does not break. As his momentum begins to wane, Spinestalker beats his wings hard and fast, and shoots back toward the sky just as Paarthurnax takes off. He twists mid-air and comes around to harry Paarthurnax again, claws extended to rake the elder dragon's flank -- whichever side faces Paarth's allies.

    Spinestalker is a cumbersome creature, but once he gets going, he's quite effective.

    Ivraala's charge decimates the front lines. Frost Fever spreads throughout the nearest undead, slowing their bodies and numbing their rotted flesh. Unable to move, writhing in pain, the first few ranks are easily slashed apart by Ivraala, whose main opposition doesn't appear until a vrykul skeleton swings its huge club into her path. The ground behind her churns, too, as the first cryptfiend claws break the surface.

    Fortunately, Ivraala is closely followed by Tomoe. She, too, finds the ghouls and ghasts to fall easily to her sword, but where one falls, two quickly take its place. Speed is on her side, as are those lancing rays of light, but she's going to have to act fast to get ahead in this fight! Swinging chains and claws and spouting gibbering nonsense, a pack of ghouls attempts to overwhelm her and drive her to the ground. She'll also be the one to catch the first whiff of something acrid and poisonous as a murky green cloud floods the space once occupied by the gates.

    Artyom's efforts pay off. As the two cryptfiends come bursting onto the scene from below, their chitin is already cracked by injury, and one is missing a leg. Despite this, both are eager to take revenge against the one who hurt them, and to weaken the strength of their opposition. Silk doesn't fly from their spinnerets: instead, the cryptfiends summon swarms of biting insects from within their own bodies. The swarms fly toward Artyom, carrying poisonous stings and a number great enough to both distract and confuse him.

    Then, Toph's earthen weaponry enters the fray! Surging pillars and spikes of rock and soil explode through the undead massed outside the gate. Bodies fly in all directions. Ghasts and ghouls are crushed and impaled. Only the cryptfiends are nimble enough to leap aside or on top of the oncoming challenges, proving they're as spider-like as they seem.

    Gargoyles come shrieking through the air toward Toph.

    Rimefang's frosty breath also streaks the crowded heroes.

    Looks a bit dire, doesn't it?

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    As Spinestalker comes after Paarthurnax to rake by his side, he's challenged by a sudden burst of heat. Fire sears and crackles along Spinestalker's extended wing, shoulder, and neck, and the dracolich bellows in pain! It's not enough to repel his assault, but it's proof of one thing -- these monsters do not appreciate flame.

    Rimefang, under Lezard's command, continues to circle the air above Helgen, making him a prime target for Kokoro's counterattack. Though weaker than what faces Lezard, these attacks do draw his attentions. Rimefang considers Kokoro from afar, his glare intense, and full of spite. Glowing blue runes suddenly appear around her feet in a circle.

    Two other, similar circles spring up near Toph and Kaiba.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Man, these things are weaker than she thought! Though those damn spiders are freaking annoying, aren't they? Once Toph feels her attack is effective she notices another threat near Ivraala and Tomoe, and she turns her attention there to the pack of ghouls that is threatening Tomoe. A kick to the ground sends vibrations to the ground underneath the undead, and Toph twists her foot in attempt to launch them up into the air. And the cryptfiends that begin to break through might also get a surprise as she quickly gestures with her hands to give them the same treatment that Artyom gave the others.

    But while Toph can notice everything that goes on around her on the ground, the gargoyles in the air is a different matter. She hears something, but she isn't aware of the incoming threat.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     There are far too many dragons here. With so many of them, it's not going to be easy for Kaiba to prove how superior /his/ dragons are to all of the other dragons. It's not much of a 'proof of how strong the Blue-Eyes are' if everyone is arleady ganging up on the dragons.

     And so, since Spinestalker is flying into the air and Paarthurnax is its main focus? Well. He'll turn his focus to something else.

     He draws a card, and plays it. Shouting out the name of the card as he does so.

     "HITOTSU-ME GIANT!"

     A large cyclops appears, about the size of one of Skyrim's giants. It stumbles around a bit, not attacking, quite yet. So, currently, Kaiba has four Monsters on the field: Maiden with Eyes of Blue, the two Blue-Eyes, and the Hitotsu-me Giant. And now, it's time to put all of them to use.

     "My two Blue-Eyes White Dragons! Fly over the city... And then, I play... BURST STREAM OF DESTRUCTION!"

     He plays the spell card to his Duel Disk it is, more or less, an incredibly simple spell, with an incredibly simple effect: Destroy all of your opponent's monsters. Of course, things are /never/ that clean cut in the Multiverse, especially considering that they /aren't/ playing a card game.

     But either way, as the Blue-Eyes fly into the air, they start unleashing burst after burst of plasma blasts at the city. They can't destroy the whole city in a single blast, but the two of them together can probably take out a city block or so. They're making a /token/ effort to avoid hitting the other Elites, but they aren't trying /too/ hard at this.

     And then the Hitotsu-me Giant runs in, trying to simply claw and punch at the undead like giants are known to do.

Yuuki Kuran (518) has posed:
    The butterflies waver as the attack comes, before most of them seemingly disappear. Perhaps, much like small pretty forest creatures, they all disappeared into a better, nicer place, possibly on commission to a landscape photography shoot or something.

    But, when the butterflies are dispersed by rimefire, and undead, and all sorts of UNSAVORY ELEMENTS.

    Seriously, unsavory, even aged meat needs trimming before it's serveable, and these are marinated in EVIL NECROMANCY, not, like, herbs and spices. Disgusting.

    From behind a building, or perhaps the alleyway created between a house and a wall, Yuuki Kuran (in her black school uniform) hops out, swinging a large (and slightly unweildy) metallorganic-looking scythe into a crowd of zambambinos. The Scourge are legion and powerful, but their footsoldiers and shocktroops are largely disposable skeletons and ghouls, and Yuuki's scythe Artemis is quite nearly specialized in making things that are belligerently un-dead, /quite/ dead. But, as she acrobatically swoops in to sweep away the trash from the streets of Helgen, there's something in the back of her mind. Some distant pull that tries to sink its claws into her psyche, broadcast from those two great dragons and piggybacking on every ghoul, geist, zombie, and skeleton. A presence beyond that of the physical forces arrayed against the defenders, or the magical and necromantic energies at play. Something darker... and stronger.

    Something regal. Something equal, even to her inner-self.

    And then Seto Kaiba decides to 'kill it with dragonfire' and, being close, disappears in a cloud of CHILDREN'S CARD GAME BOARD WIPE DESTRUCTION. She doesn't even have time to scream!

    Oh wait, no, she's totally okay. Anime-smoking lightly, and looking flustered, Yuuki is Just Fine. She totally didn't get annihilated on the spot. She totally dodged it.

    Totally.

Ivraala (679) has posed:
    It was a daring tactic to be sure, but it seems Ivraala's straightforward charge on her undead mount is effective at breaking into the front lines. It's a temporary effort, though, and she knows it: even now, she's preparing for a hasty dismount...and a good thing she is, too. The club that goes flying toward her could easily break every bone in her body, if its blunt force can crash through her saronite armor first. Ivraala's not willing to find out.

    As the skeletal vrykul's club swings for her, Ivraala leaps off her mount, at the same time forcing the Deathcharger to vanish in a sudden whirlwind of cold and shadow. It's enough of a leap to nearly clear the giant club's swing, but only nearly. The heavy weight cracks against her lower legs, clanging against her dark armor and painfully jarring her limbs with the impact. Her flight is made significantly less impressive by the impact, as well: she's sent tumbling in midair, only landing in an ungainly crouch near the giant skeleton thanks to the benefit of good fortune more than anything else. It's a good thing pain is a sensation that's been mostly purged from her, or else she's probably be crippled by it after that hit.

    Fortunately, no such agonizing ache assails her as she shoves herself up to a stand again and swirls around to face the vrykul. In the same motion, she hefts her axe and brings it in a powerful /slam/ against the giant undead's lower leg. Her own remarkable strength is enhanced by the ice and shadow gathering around the blade's edge, ready to smash the giant's bones with a concentrated blast of runic power on impact.

    At least she misses the swathes of destruction caused by Kaiba's interference. If that keeps up, though, proceeding toward the liches is going to be even /more/ difficult. As if the hordes of undead weren't bad enough.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
"Do you give these speeches just so keep warm?" Lezard laughs, but his laugh is cut short as Hata slashes past with her burning naginata. The burning strike impacts Rimefang, and leaves a burning trail in its side as they whip past. Lezard leans to the side, the slash ripping through where his face was a moment before. He adjusts his glasses in irritation, and leaps from the back of the dragon, striding through the air as if it was ground and forcing Hata to split her attention. "You will find that your flames are not as useful as you might think here! PRISMATIC MISSILE!" He calls, a series of colored lasers streaming out in a spiralling pattern, seeking towards Hata and bombarding her with pain and possibly a variety of status effects. Each color gives a different one!

As the battle rages, Lezard also turns and thrusts out a hand towards the outer ring of Helgen. There, inscribed deeply into one of the towers, a rune alights, beginning to hum ominously.

Uh oh, what's he up to?

Moments later, Kaiba's rain of doom hammers down into the city, along with his own monsters. Lezard grimaces. "Okay, I believe I have had quite enough of that." There is a surge of power, and a circle begins to form around Lezard as raw Power begins to build around him...

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is hot on the heels of the Death Knight she's moving in and is just getting into the battle hacking down Ghouls but gets tey keep rising or are being replaced one has to destroy the remains to keep them from being reanited right? Rither way she seems to have no issue fighting along side the death Knight and the help from Toph is very much welcome by the Salamander as she drives her blade into the groun nd starts chanting again, it's not light that comes from the gold runes but a shockwave of /fire/.

Paarthurnax (371) has posed:
The frostwyrm's distaste of his fiery breath does not go unnoticed by Paarthurnax. "Yol!" he roars, this time just the word, without the power of the Thu'um behind it. "The creatures dislike fire! Use it, if you can!"

With that the old Dovah flaps his great wings and banks, talons slashing air to discourage Spinestalker from closing with him again as he gains altitude. He sweeps around in a broad arc, setting himself up for a clear strafing run over the town so that he might unleash the full power of his fiery breath in as wide a swathe as possible. This is more complicated than simply swooping over and belching flame; he needs to get a good view of the battle so as to plan his attack run and not engulf his own allies in dragonfire.

Artyom W. Valodjn (665) has posed:
    Artyom smirks as the two Crypt Fiends emerge from the ground. Their armor is cracked, at least one limb injured. Unfortunately, it seems that crushing them under tons of dirt and rock is a pretty good way to piss them off. Artyom spits a curse under his breath as he's suddenly beset by /SO MANY INSECTS./ The swarm bites and stings at his exposed flesh, painful red sores bubbling out of his skin to weep blood into his travelling leathers. They swarm over his face, forcing him to squint his eyes to keep them safe.

And then he decides that /two/ can play at this whole 'burrowing' game.

    Artyom grabs hold of his sword and slams a foot onto the ground. It bubbles, broils, then swallows him up, spitting leaving a cloud of bugs buzzing furiously in place over the shifting earth. A moment later, and he'd emerge right next to a pitfiend- but not in a quiet, earth-bubbling mud-pot kind of way, no. Instead, the ground rumbles, rocks explode in all directions as an angry Titan blasts out of the earth. His sword-club-boulder swings in a wide, crushing arc into the unfortunate Cryptfiend's spindly legs.

    His foot slams into the ground in front of him as he brings the weapon back around and overhead. Stone and earth blast outward as Artyom smashes the Rock at the chitinous beast and the ground underneath it. Waves of concussive force ripple through the land, sending shards of splintered stone into the air like bits of buckshot!

    Fortunately, everyone knows that zombies are weak to shotguns. Unfortunately, the bugs distracted him from the swarm of gargoyles descending from on high. He hasn't had the opportunity to warn Toph! Oh no!

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    The right-most cryptfiend is half-crushed in a vise Toph creates. Too busy dodging and skipping along the stones the World's Greatest Earthbender had launched in her initial assault, neither cryptfiend is prepared for the tactics to suddenly shift. It's almost as if possessing extra eyeballs confers no added advantage against surprises, in defiance of all traditional tabletop gameplay mechanics!

    As the cryptfiend dies, its own insect swarm returns to its body to feast on its remains, reducing the swarm assaulting Artyom by half.

    A similar reduction is dealt to the numbers of ghouls assaulting Tomoe! Toph, ever resourceful, finishes off her trifecta in such a way she's deserving of some boasting.

    At least until the gargoyles descend in a mass to try and pluck her from the ground in their clawed feet. If lifted, other gargoyles will swoop in to tear at her arms and legs. Some may nip at her, or buffet her with their wings. Even if she manages to squirm free of their grasp, the gargoyles come down on her in punishing waves, innately recognizing her blindness as a weakness like a pack of lions picking out the sick gazelle among the herd. Granted, they're getting something way fiercer than a sick gazelle, but the metaphor stands.

    At least if she gets pulled off the ground, she won't be standing in those circles anymore.

    The aerial bombardment lights up Helgen within and without. Smoke, debris, flame, and body parts fill the air as explosion after explosion rocks the town's interior. One of the standing watchtowers collapses in a spectacular conflagration shot through by fragmenting bone. Several of the blasts send shrapnel and other broken objects over the town's walls like the smoldering-hot sparks of a fireworks display. And Kaiba's dragons aren't the only things responsible for the wreckage!

    Though no expert warrior, Yuuki Kuran, ex-butterfly, has the advantage of an incredible weapon. The scythe slices through anything in its path with ease. Big bony vrykul brute? Falls over after it loses a leg. Ghouls? Gibbed. Ghasts? De-organed. Arrows, claws, fiery spells, icy spells, and other such nonsense try to make her life a living torment, but until the bombardment slows her down, she doesn't seem to have much more to worry about than that looming PRESENCE with a capital 'P'.

    Very soon, she stands before the stone platform, the shattered pillars, and the two liches responsible for whatever gnarly green magic is still hovering in the air. Both liches are staring at Yuuki.

    One of them tries to turn her into a sheep.

    Ivraala's acrobatics, meanwhile, carry her clear of the vrykul's immediate attack range. Far more nimble than her slow-moving opponent, she'll find it far too easy to cleave through his aged bones. Crunched into splinters by the edge of her greataxe, the vrykul skeleton crumbles -- and that's when the diseased cloud washes over her, blasted closer by the explosions generated by Kaiba's attack.

    About THEN, those three circles light up with HUGE shards of ice. The shards explode outward in all directions, and though their initial reach does not exceed the limits of the runic circles which summoned them into existence, their icy fog definitely does. Toph, Kokoro, and Kaiba, as the targets of those circles, are most likely to be affected by a bone-chilling numbness, if they aren't slashed apart by the ice.

    Rimefang roars in satisfaction; then, without Lezard on his back, he whips around to unleash an immense blast of frostbreath after one of the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons. He chases it, bony wings lashing the air.

Hata no Kokoro (654) has posed:
    Hata would gently grind to a halt in the air after her sweep past Lezard, granting herself a moment of respite before Lezard does a SUICIDE LEAP off of Rimefang's back! Only, it can't really be a suicide leap if he's obviously got the whole 'soaring' thing under control. /So/ under control, in fact, that he's still able to conjure lazers as he's falling! After sending a number of her masks Rimefang's way to keep them at bay for a brief few moments, she would draw her fans again, twirling in a gentle circle that quickly grows in speed and strength. Before she gets too fast, though, Hannya would again find its way to her face, imbuing her every motion and conjuration with the raw energy of righteous anger!

    This would certainly be reflected in the danmaku bullets that begin to appear. For each of Lezard's lasers, Kokoro returns with one of her own! Each travels with a constant clockwise pattern, allowing many of them to intercept the lazers barreling at Kokoro, causing massive explosions of energy that send glittering waves down to the surface. With any luck these flecks might still retain the 'status effects' attached to them at their inception as they shower the marauding undead below.

    Still, this fire-with-fire strategy leaves a lot to be desired in the way of defense. At least four of Lezard's lasers graze Kokoro, burning her arms and legs and compounding with the slash wounds from before. She would grit her teeth in agony just before yet -another- lazer comes -- a purple one! This one almost hits her directly, the brunt of its power being focused just slightly Southwest of her center of mass. This would throw her spiraling back in the air yet again with magic and smoke trailing behind her the whole way, but unlike before she refuses to go down! Her masks gather around her again, the flames of each flickering now and then as a reflection of Kokoro's exhaustion, and from the carousel she retrieves one. A very specific one: Uba, the mask of empathy.

    "Grrrrr! If you won't listen to Kokoro and stop, I will show you how much you're hurting everyone! All the Union people, all the dead people... I'll show you!" And with that, she would rocket toward him, just like before. Only this time she's trying to tackle him! If she's successful, she would place the mask in her hand on Lezard's face, forcing him to briefly -- but quite intensely -- feel the pain of all the beings around him as his own.

    Kokoro is likely too caught up in this to realize a curious blue circle gathering by her feet...

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    Meanwhile, Kaiba's GIANT has charged through the surviving outside ranks. He busts right through the disease cloud, and emerges into Helgen's town square, only to find himself surrounded by...a great deal of wreckage. The throng that amassed here has largely been pulverized by Kaiba's and Yuuki's concerted efforts, but there is still plenty for him to smash. No doubt, he gets to smashing.

    Artyom, meanwhile, reintroduces himself to the surviving cryptfiend. His maneuver enables him to escape the creature's insect swarm, if not eradicate it, but the cryptfiend must have some sort of tremor sense, because just as Artyom emerges, the cryptfiend is rearing backwards to bring its to giant foreclaws smashing downward at his head and shoulders! The claws could deliver a fatal piercing strike, or bludgeon him senseless, but even if he should be stunned or wounded, he gets his success. His weapons, and their concussive force, peel back the cryptfiend's chitin, then blast apart the flesh beneath.

    Tomoe's fire lances across the ground to further roast the corpses heaped outside Helgen's gates. What the fire also does is burn away the diseased fog creeping over Ivraala, leaving the way clear to Helgen's interior.

    As for Paarthurnax...well. Spinestalker is coming right for him, but something more important is transpiring...

Hata no Kokoro (654) has posed:
    ... but she would the moment Lezard has either deflected the mask or had it stuck upon his face! The blue circle beneath her would erupt into frigid spikes that tear through her already wounded flesh, leaving tiny cuts all along her arms, legs, hands, and stomach. More spikes find ways to lodge themselves in place, weighing the menreiki down almost as much as the ensuing sensation of icy numbness that sets in afterward. If she's lucky, some of these spikes might misfire and hit Valeth since they're so close together, but regardless this only adds to Kokoro's already immense physical fatigue.

    By now, the flames holding her masks aloft have begun to wane more and more often. Still, mustering what energy they can, they would gather in a close circle around Kokoro to help resist that horrible chill. Whatever comes, she would do her utmost to hold her ground against Lezard and his dragon. Though there's only so much she can take, after all...

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    More of them are down, good! If she keeps this up, then they should be able to clear out this whole mess in not too long. But perhaps Toph is too optimistic...

    With all the noise on the battleground even Toph's sensitive ears can't pick up the sound of incoming wings, and as the gargoyles descend and take her by surprise the blind earthbender has problems reacting quick enough.

    The precious earth disappears under her feet and her ability to see goes along with it, and then there's shrieking and sharp pain as claws and teeth tear at her. While she is taken by surprise and shock, it doesn't mean that she is going to take it. The young girl shrieks and struggles, kicking and punching, all while she does her best to shoot some rocks and spikes up from the ground in attempt to hit the winged terrors. Blind she might be, but since when has Toph let her disability stop her from fighting?

    When the shards of ice explode she might be lucky in that there are gargoyles around her, and they will hopefully hurt more than she does, though Toph does wince as the ice adds into the things that cut into her along with the gargoyles' vicious attacks.

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    A dark silhouette appears in the gray skies above Paarthurnax.

    Terrible, discordant, a great, shrieking roar tears the clouds apart into wispy fragments. Those, too, are blasted into nothingness by the colossal figure plunging down upon Paarthurnax from on high.

    She is far larger than Spinestalker and Rimefang. Her bones are so ancient and powerful as to be coated in a thin blackened tarnish. Her wings, so wide they seem to stretch from horizon to horizon, are held together by tattered scraps of once-living flesh. Huge horns sweep back from her nearly-bare skull, where only fragments of her former existence still cling to her undead body. Her tail is a long spiked whip for flaying her enemies. Her claws are iron swords, and her fangs are cruel and savage.

    Hatred for the living boils inside the pits of her eyes as a constant roiling blue flame. The same flame burns between her rib bones where her emaciated hide is stretched too thin, lines the exposed bones of her spine and her tail, and trails from the tips of her wings. It is snorted from her nostrils, and simmers in her voice.

    Her voice, yes. There is no mistaking its feminine quality whenever she descends with both claws and condemnations prepared.

    "PITIFUL WYRM -- YOOOOOOU WILL KNOW SSSSSSSSSSUFFERING!"

Lezard Valeth has posed:
"Hmph, not so chatty now, are we? Excellent, now DIE AND BE SILENT!" The explosions are beautiful, in a way, but Hata proves to be effective enough in preventing herself from getting crushed by an array of magical beams.

When Hata comes in close, though, hse expects to get shoved, not to get a new piece of headgear. He leans back, trying to push the mask away. "What? What are you doing? NO!" Hata, however, is more powerful than he is, and the mask sticks to his face, covering it.

A moment later, he begins screaming. Everything around him is being shredded and torn apart, and he feels every moment. He writhes in intense agony, hanging in the air as the pure agony prevents him from taking any action other than sweeping through the air, howling in incoherent rage and pain.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     As the burst of ice comes in, the Blue-Eyes attempts to dodge it, somewhat. But, despite its raw power, it is a bit of a bulky beast. It simply isn't fast enough to dodge the frostbreath from Rimefang. It will just be moments before Rimefang manages to catch up to him, which isn't good.

     Worse, though? The circle of runes near Kaiba. He is /not/ a super powered human. Though Elite, he is still a mostly normal human. Thankfully, his reflexes are good enough to get him out of the worst of the ice. But, the numbness still covers his body, slowing him a bit. He will /definately/ need medical attention once this is over.

     As for the Hitotsu-me Giant, as it manages to get through the undead and closer to the destruction, it looks ready to attack, once again.

     Except it's not going to get a chance to.

     Kaiba pulls his next card, his movements, slow. But, he doesn't even have to think as he sees what the card is. It doesn't even reach his hand. He just plays it directly to the field.

     "Pot of Greed!"

     A holographic pot appearson the field, and from it, holograms of two cards pop out. This, unlike the other cards, is basically just special effects. Kaiba draws the two cards... And, well. Once again, his next move takes absolutely no thought at all. He announces his move, once again. His speech is slower because of his numbness, so he cuts out words as needed.

     "Sword of Revealing Light... Tribute Hitotsu-me and Maiden to summon..."

     And, he forces himself to shout, despite the numbness, "BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON."

     If things go right, a number of swords of light would surround Rimefang, trying to limit its movements. And then, soon after, the third Blue-Eyes appears on the battlefield.

     "Attack that dragon!"

     The three Blue-Eyes turn to face Rimefang. They circle it, working in tandem. One after another, launching plasma blasts straight at the skeletal dragon. Their attacks? Relentless. Constant.

     Kaiba, meanwhile? With more of the undead out of the way, he starts walking forward towards Helgen itself, to get a better view of the city.

     "...Hrm. Perhaps this /might/ serve as a good site for a Kaiba Land."

     He says this under his breath so that no one is likely to hear him. Yeah, just talking to himself.

Ivraala (679) has posed:
    As good as Ivraala might be about paying attention to her surroundings, it's inevitable that she'll get tunnel vision now and then. Death Knights are not usually meant to be wise tacticians or agile warriors. Their skills are meant for quick and brutal destruction of anything before them, as well as enough reinforcement to take the punishment they dish out. Unfortunately, Ivraala happens to fall under that effect herself.

    The vrykul skeleton crumbles under her strike, and without a moment's further hesitation, she whirls around...just in time to come face-to-face with the acrid cloud of disease that blasts over her. Just as effective against the dead as it is the living, the Scourge's plague crashes into her and seeps into her body with an agonizing debilitation that seems to override almost all her resistence to pain. Ivraala cries out in shock and pain as the cloud of disease consumes her from outside and inside, abruptly forcing her into a stumble, then a kneel on the ground, more from the shock than anything else. How long has it been since she last felt the pain of her own diseases for herself?

    Fortunately, Tomoe's efforts burn away the worst of the cloud before Ivraala is too incapacitated. She can already feel the diseases beginning to fade, though she doesn't really have much time to wait for them to fade. Her teeth clench, baring sharpened canines; she shoves herself to her feet, grasping her greataxe in both hands and turning to survey the landscape. Right now, people seem to be handling their situations, and the liches are being confronted...but Toph is clearly having some trouble.

    The Death Knight charges, heedless of the remnants of pain eating at her. Rocks and spires are flying at the gargoyles, but that doesn't mean Ivraala can't offer some aid to an ally. Her efforts are focused and precise: when she comes close, she crouches, then bounds up into the air toward the gargoyles. Her whole body is put behind the swing that follows, hurling her heavy, rime-coated greataxe into a powerful cleave to slice right through the gargoyles keeping Toph held in the air. The earthbender's landing wouldn't be very soft, but at least she would be free from their clutches.

    And as soon as Ivraala lands, she hears it. That frigid howl, bellowing with rage and pride. A chill passes through her body as she whirls around...just in time to see the gigantic frostwyrm bearing down on Paarthurnax. And not just any frostwyrm, either, but the greatest of all the Lich King has risen under his control.

    Ivraala can no longer feel fear or despair; such emotions are too weak for a Death Knight. But she can feel rage still, and that fury is apparent in the snarling howl that bursts out of her at the sight of the colossal frostwyrm. "SINDRAGOSAAAA!"

Artyom W. Valodjn (665) has posed:
Turns out that giant spiders that can crawl through the earth at will actually have some kind of tremorsense themselves. Who knew?

    The cryptfiend's hammer-blow smashes down just below the Titan's shoulder- it's only because he managed to deflect it off his blade that it doesn't crush his skull. Still, there's an uncomfortable crunch as a pair of ribs fracture upon impact. Artyom yells as his vision goes white with pain. It's only because he's approximately eight feet tall and invested with the might of the earth that he doesn't go down then and there.

    Even when the Cryptfiend finally goes down, the situation only seems to worsen. The undead horde might be thinning, but the arrival of a third, significantly more massive frostwyrm more than makes up for their losses.

    Toph's screams drive the blinding pain from his eyes. Artyom turns his gaze to the sky, his blade gripped in one hand. Somehow, he manages to move it, lurching forward and allowing his bodyweight to drag the weapon's cutting edge out of the earth. Wincing, he rolls it overhead and brings it, tip-down, into the ground below.

It rumbles ominously.

    Spikes of stone burrow out of the ground around him. Dozens and dozens of vaguely drill-shaped stones jutt from the earth in all directions. As they emerge, the shale coating their tips come away, revealing spikes of rough but razor-sharp quartz. He grunts, focusing his energy into the land.

And then they all go /flying./

    Driven on snaking contrails of surging stone, the gemstone missiles twist up through several zombies and then into the air, striking at as many gargoyles as he can manage to reach. Though he's particularly focused on the ones assaulting his fellow geomancer, directing the legion of quartz lances to shred wings and smash through screeching mouths!

Paarthurnax (371) has posed:
Pitiful wyrm? Paarthurnax?

Look, lady, he may be ancient but /pitiful/ is not a word you apply to the Grandmaster of the Way of the Voice. Paarthurnax is taken by surprise, to be sure. But that's ALL that reflects from his silvered eyes as his heavy head whips around on it serpentine neck to take in the sudden threat from above. Surprise, wonder as he tries to make sense of this /thing/ descending upon him, but not fear. The old Dovah's blood is up now, and anger comes to him more readily.

He roars in defiance even as he twists to try to slide himself out of the way of Sindragosa's plunging attack. He is not /entirely/ successful, and there's a thudding clash of undead flesh on living as the draconic bodies become entangled midair, claws thrashing, wings fouling against one another.

"Yol!" Paarthurnax belts out again even as he tries to free his wings to forestall a meteoric crash, another wash of flame spewing from his gullet at grappling range!

Hata no Kokoro (654) has posed:
    Weathered by weights of ice, numbness, and absolutely no small amount of pain, Kokoro is struggling just to keep herself airborne at this point. So, she doesn't try any longer. Backing herself up just slightly to build momentum, she charges after the struggling Lezard one more time to grab him, and tackle him to the Earth. She would go as fast as possible, here, intending to slam his body down with so much force that it may knock him unconscious, or at least knock the wind out of him long enough for her to beat a hasty retreat. Again their impact would likely cause the appearance of a seismic wave, causing large waves of snow to crash out as though a bomb were making impact in the ocean, and scattering some lesser mobs still in their vicinity.

    Once on the ground, Kokoro would gradually, painfully peel herself away from Lezard. She would look at him a moment before saying simply, in a tone still void but somehow more resolute than usual, "This is the pain of all those people that you hurt with the things you do. I hope this taught you a lesson." And with that, she would... remove the mask from his face, assuming he hadn't already taken it off himself. But then, before she can make another move, a voice cracks like lightning, or perhaps more aptly, like a massive glacier falling and crashing against stone. /Another/ dragon. Even Kokoro, with her infinite zeal, knows full well the she just doesn't have enough left in her to stand up to an enemy like /that/. So once she's got her bearings, she would levitate again, cloaking herself in spectral fire in feeble attempt to guard her from another projectiles that may come her way.

    Of course, Lezard could take advantage of this to get a winning blow in at her, if he's able to get over the shock of the mask-inspired trauma and the Earth impact fast enough. Though if she's allowed to retreat, she would regroup behind Paarthurnax, constructing a spell circle ready to release danmaku. Even if she probably lacks the strength to withstand another spell - the use of one of -her- spells, that is, not an enemy's - she'll still do her best. If he's paying attention, she would give the aged dovah a resolute nod, as if to say 'I'm here'.

    At this point she's probably just emotional support, but when you really stop to think about it, that's been her job description from the very beginning anyway. So she may surprise you!

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe fire has more than effect than she thought as she burns away the fod and clears the way to get into the city she moves to press on along side Ivraala.

"You all right?"

She asks but she gets an answer as she gets back up and back into the fight she moves to press the attack she sees the massive frostwyrm and stares.

"...that things' bigger than the skull reaper!"

She launhes her self into the air for a flying assault trying to get in close to one of the Lich king's chief servants.

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    Toph is in trouble. The gargoyles are fast, voracious, and vicious. Several are struck to the ground by the Earthbender's desperate attempts to protect herself, and several more are lacerated by the icy pillars erupting from the runic circles, but there isn't much hope whenever Toph can't direct her attacks.

    Fortunately, Toph has recently befriended a very angry spacegoat who leaps to her rescue the second it's needed.

    Toph hits the ground. An instant later, gargoyle blood hits her like warm, gooey raindrops, and tattered fleshy scraps soon follow. Ivraala's greataxe trails gore, and above her, the gargoyle flock is scattered.

    As Ivraala lands in a heavy crouch to shriek her rage at Sindragosa, sharp crystalline projectiles spew from the earth to impale, bludgeon, or rip through the remaining gargoyles. The crystals outnumber the flock, and their dense number guarantees a successfuly strike. Some even bounce off Spinestalker's bones as he goes roaring past to aid Rimefang.

    Rimefang, trapped by an encircling prison of blades, has no hope of evading the tripled assault launched against him. Together, the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons lance his body with devastating flame and plasma, burning great holes into his wings and burning one of his forelegs off at the shoulder. Rimefang screeches in torment, but he has nowhere to go! Much longer, and he'll be destroyed!

    "HRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAUW!" Spinestalker flies into the midst of the three dragons. An accomplished fighter, his strength exceeds Rimefang's. His tail sweeps through the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in an attempt to send them all reeling. His claws cleave the air in front of him in huge sweeping strikes. Then, he pounces one of the dragons down, bites into the back of its neck, and delivers a savage, final, bone-snapping yank.

    CRUNCH.

    Sindragosa's body becomes entwined with Paarthurnax's. As the two fall toward the ground, she snaps at him, claws at him, and tries to daze him with strikes from her wings. Hers is a very, very cold body to embrace, painfully so, but Paarthurnax -- accustomed to Skyrim's intense seasons and cold mountaintops -- will likely find it not a bother. The fire washes over her neck and chest; in places, it licks into the insides of her bones. This prompts a shriek of agony, but, stubborn, she does not release him until she hears Rimefang's torment from afar.

    A few dozen feet from the ground, Sindragosa finally breaks off, and tries to fly to Rimefang's rescue.

    Tomoe gets in her way.

    "INSECT! To raise your weapon against me is to seek your tomb! Very well -- let me introduce you!"

    Sindragosa's flames surge in brightness, and ice manifests around Tomoe with sudden crushing force. If struck, Tomoe may very well be frozen solid!

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard is helpless to resist Hata as she collides with him and drives him to the ground. There is a loud crunch and snap to go with the the impact. Lezard himself lies there, his neck at an odd angle as Hata reaches down to remove the mask. Gleaming points of light rise from it as she checks...

There is no pulse. He is dead.

She turns away, holding her mask as the sky fills with lights... But then there is a voice.

"No." The tone is full of deep malice, a shaking, endless well of venom tinged with hatred and mania. "NO, I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS." There is a low roar as the air shakes, the thousands of points of light swirling and gathering in a roar. "You would show me pain, child? YOU DARE TO HARM ME? YOU DARE TO PRESUME YOUR HOLLOW WORDS AND FEEBLE ACTIONS ARE AS ANYTHING BEFORE ME? NO!"

There is a low detonation, and a sizzling aura roils there, Lezard standing above his own corpse, the wind around him seething with magical energy. His body is translucent, but an exact replication of the body lying beside him.

A spirit?

The tome rises before him, burning with light in one hand while his other rises with the scepter in his fist. A crimson circle flares around him, etching with complex and terrible patterns as it extends, growing throughout the area as massive magical force is drawn towards him. A howling tornado of mana flares.

"AND NOW YOU WILL SEE A FRAGMENT OF MY WRATH, CHILD! YOU WILL BOW DOWN AND SHRIEK FOR FORGIVENESS AS I REND THE SOUL FROM YOUR BODY, AND FOREVER YOU WILL REMEMBER MY NAME!"

He raises the sceptre to the sky, and a piercing bolt of energy shears into the heavens, a column of power that surges upwards. "NO MERCY FOR THE DAMNED!" He intones, his voice resonating.

The sky hazes over, clouds gathering as far, far away, the sky alights with the sight of dozen tiny sparkles.

And then the sky splits, burning meteorites falling down to slam into Helgen, showering the ntire area with burning rock and metal, the impact spreading flame and destruction.

"THUS THOU HAST NO ESCAPE FROM THE GRIP OF CATASTROPHE!"

And then the haze parts, a massive rock breaching the atmosphere, even larger than the dragons that fight through the sky and along the ground, begins to descend. The air seethes, the very sky around it becoming a hellish inferno from the heat of reentry.

"METEOR SWARM!"

And then the massive energy is expended as the huge rock is guided down into the center of Helgen itself.

You might not want to be near it when it hits.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     This is something Kaiba has not ever seen happen before. Even with all of his battles in the Multiverse, so far? Nothing has managed to take out a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. /Nothing/. They are supposed to be completely unstoppable.

     His shock leads to a quiet rage. He draws his next card. He's quite lucky: He almost forgot to. But, it doesn't matter that much. It's just Soul Exchange. It'd allow him to tribute an enemy monster to summon one of his own, but... This isn't useful in the current situation.

     What is more, meteors are now falling down. This is having one benefit: It's saving Kaiba the trouble of finishing off Helgen. But it also poses a threat to Kaiba's two Blue-Eyes.

     Normally, he would immediately have his two Blue-Eyes move in to attack, to get revenge on Spinestalker. But instead, he flips them into Defense mode. He moves underneath them, to use them as a shield to protect himself from the meteors.

     He will get /revenge/ for being forced to use his Blue-Eyes for /defense/.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Luckily the others are there to watch her back as well, and Toph yelps when she feels Ivraala leap by and slash her greataxe into the attacking gargoyles. Likewise there is no way she doesn't notice Artyom's gemstone missiles as they are directed towards the flying beasts.

    And while the fall to the ground might hurt, it is far better than being torn apart by angry gargoyles! Toph winces, making a face of disgust as she is covered by blood, and she reaches a hand up to wipe away the most of it from her face. "Thanks...!" she gasps, quickly getting back on her feet despite her injuries.

    Hearing Sindragosa yell out is not a good sign, but Artyom's comment as well as what is happening inside Helgen is not good either. What the crud is that huge rock doing up in the sky? It is faint, but there is no way she can't feel such a large quantity of earth gathered together. The blind girl turns her face skyward, unseeing eyes pale. And then she assumes a wide stance, digging her heels into the ground and with a look of firm determination on her face as Artyom calls her. "Help me!" she yells back. It is a lot of earth, but with two people who can manipulate earth they should be able to do it. So Toph reaches up, her fingers clenching as if gripping into the very air as she focuses on the huge rock and works on breaking it apart into several smaller pieces, anything to decrease the force of it when it eventually lands. Dust and pebbles start falling down the ground, and Toph grits her teeth together as she bends to her full extent, visibly strained as she grunts and sweat mixes with the blood she's covered with, both her own and the gargoyles'. "Break it apart, big guy...!" They have to hurry. Hopefully some of the rocks that start breaking off will hit the undead forces in the area and not their allies!

Hata no Kokoro (654) has posed:
    But before Hata can retreat, Velath's ghost? Corpse? Phantasm? Would grow angry. It's a sort of anger that could split the menreiki's head easily enough without the phenomenal comet that soon comes blazing out of the sky. Kokoro can't think and can barely feel, so she does the last thing she can: she flies. She flies as far as her magic will take her, tiny beads of moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes out of the pain, and the horrible weight of Lezard's rage. She flies past the gates of Helgen, past the undead masses, past Sindragosa and Paarthurnax, all in a desperate bid to see herself to safety. No sooner has she breached the limits of the perilous village, though, than have the flames of her masks finally fizzled into nonexistence. She would pick up Ko-Omote, Hannya, Uba, Fox, Fuku no Kami, and Raiden, running as far as her legs will carry her. Then she collapses in the shade of a tree that is likely not long for this world, or any other.

    She would land on her back, glossy eyes trained on what might as well be the only thing in sight: that comet. It's going to fall. It's going to kill all of those undead. It's going to destroy the city. All she can do right now, really, is hope. At the very least, that is an emotion she has earned the right to feel of her own accord, so she does so: she hopes for the people in the town she saw just over the mountains. She hopes that this won't hurt them. She hopes that Lezard won't be angry anymore. She hopes that all of the people who had been fighting with her get out of there okay. It's impossible to count all of the things that she wishes for, but most of all, she just wishes for the chance to apologize. She already knows how much this meteor is going to hurt, and she knows that Lezard never would have done this had she not pushed him to the limit.

    She closes her eyes. She doesn't really have any sort of plan for when that meteor hits. Maybe she'll withstand it, maybe she won't. She isn't really worried about that right now. She can't be worried about much of anything with how quickly her consciousness is slipping away from her.

    Still, she can't help but keep her eyes open to see when it does fall. Even if it will -sting-, she has an obligation to know what this move is going to do.

Paarthurnax (371) has posed:
A few dozen feet is not enough time for a beast the size of Paarthurnax to right himself and recover. His body chilled and flesh numbed from extended contact with the icy flesh of Sindragosa, he manages only to twist and spread his wings, catching a canopy of air like a parachute that slows, but does not arrest his fall. He smashes into the ground with a grunt and a thunderous crash of several tons of dragonflesh only barely slowed to non-fatal velocity, and then pushes himself up a bit groggily on his wing-elbows, working his jaw to be sure it's not broken as he cranes his head upward to see what's happening.

He sees the meteor, sees Toph tearing at it as he gets his hind legs underneath him. Then he sees Tomoe at the height of her leap, and the deadly ice prison coalescing around her. "Tiid Klo Ul!" he has the presence of mind to Shout... and for him, Time slows to a crawl. To everyone else, Paarthurnax seems to move with sudden, lightning speed, throwing himself aloft in an ungraceful leap of pure brute force, as he interposes himself between Tomoe and the closing grip of the icy tomb.

Ivraala (679) has posed:
    The draenei are normally a patient, peaceful race. They are powerful creatures, yes, but their power is tempered how slow they may be to anger under most circumstances. Ivraala has had that patience nearly stripped from her.

    The knowledge of the Scourge's presence is enough to cast the frost of spite over her. Seeing one of the greatest leaders of the Scourge in front of her inspires a deep-seated wrath more violent than any blizzard. Her lips curl in a fanged snarl; her hands clench so tight around her weapon that her knuckles pale. Toph is free, and so the last thing Ivraala is concerned for is taken care of. Without another word, the Death Knight charges forward in a relentless rush straight for Sindragosa. Straight for the prime target for all her wrath and desire for vengeance, no matter what lies in her path.

    ...well. Almost.

    Lezard's wrath summons a meteor of incredible size and power. Kokoro, who fought side-by-side with Ivraala not so long ago, is cast aside to lie prone against the ground. The sight brings Ivraala skidding to a halt at that moment, her gaze shifting between Sindragosa flying above and Kokoro still lying under the shade of a soon-to-be obliterated tree. Her teeth clench; her body trembles in conflict. Her teeth grind together, muffling a furious snarl...and she moves.

    The next place Ivraala stands is right in front of Kokoro, crouched down low with her body over the youkai and her axe shoved into the ground beside her. A crimson aura suddenly flares around her, shifting her nature from the biting cold of frost to the powerful will of blood that strengthens every muscle and fiber in her body. There she kneels, bracing herself as a physical shield between Kokoro and the oncoming meteor. It's going to hurt her no matter what, but with her even more durable form acting as a shield between the small girl and the oncoming destruction, Kokoro should make it out of this alive.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe says "Heh, I been called worse by better."

She's been doing very well through a number of polaqce and times however Tomoe does not luck out this time. Nope she's not going to be able to dodge that one the ice is starting to form and it's going to be a heck of a time for her untill a certain dragon comes to her aid the shout Time slows and she finds that Paarthurnax is protecting her. In a way she reminded of what happened the day she protected Klien from the Skull Reaper. She shudders at the memory but presses on trying to make use of her comrade's action and going right for the Frostwyem behind this.

"NOW YOU MADE ME MAD!"

Artyom W. Valodjn (665) has posed:
    Gargoyle blood falls from the sky like rain. Artyom thanks his maker that his injuries are almost entirely internal- heaven only knows what might happen if he gets Scourge Blood in a large enough wound. Still, he covers his skin with his travelling cloak to keep the stuff out of his mud-caked sores.

    Even from under there, it's impossible for him to miss what's falling out of the sky. Artyom turns his gaze skyward as the last of the gargoyle corpses drop, and what he sees make his eyes go wide. Highly experienced Time Mages back home can cast a similar spell: Meteo. But this? This is something on a whole new level. It could level the mountain, destroying everything- everyONE if it's not stopped.

    "Toph," Artyom roars over the battlefield, he jabs a finger at the mass of falling Earth, "You think you can Earthbend /that?/" He pauses to give a weak smile as she moves into a ready stance. He can feel her will reach into the earth itself. "I will do my best," he replies, pulling his sword back up out of the ground. Artyom winces as he reaches his injured arm to the weapon's hilt. They'll only get one shot at this. If they want to survive, /he/ needs to break that massive thing apart.

He only has one thing in his arsenal that could even begin to accomplish something like that.

    "Earthfather, Stonemaker, Architect of the First Gods," Artyom intones- more of a prayer than anything else. His words reverberate through the earth, taking root deep within the world. He draws on the power there, pulling it inward, upward, drawing the full might of the land into the bulk of his blade. It trembles, seeming to shake apart in his hands, "By your will, the mountain rises. By your law, it does not fall. By your mercy, your children endure."

"Please, let me endure."

"Limit Break," His eyes flare, words fall from his lips. "AWAKENING EARTH."

    A roar. A dull, tremendous, all-consuming roar blasts out from the great blade. Stone scatters like shrapnel in a grenade, riding a wave of blinding light as clods of dirt fall away. In Artyom's hands is no mere stone weapon, but a massive, gleaming mass of golden-amber crystal. Lines of light flow across its length like inlaid copper upon a circuitboard. The entire thing blazes like a beacon in the dark.

    Artyom pivots, holding the weapon at one side. His back leg kicks into the earth below.

    A wave of earth and stone surge up from underneath him, blasting the Titan skywards. He rides the tsunami of soil up to meet the massive, falling rock. The heat radiating from its surface slams into him like a hammer, burning his flesh and searing at the weeping sores on his skin. But still, he endures. He powers through- until at last he is upon it.

    At the last possible moment, he brings his great crystal blade across his chest and into the death-rock. When he does, he speaks one last word, yelled as powerfully as his bruised lungs can manage:

QUAKE

And then, the sky explodes with light.

Hata no Kokoro (654) has posed:
    Kokoro would gingerly open her eyes and turn to see the face of the person who's come to protect her. Blue skin. Glowing eyes. Wasn't she the one that she fought with on the mountain before? So, a good guy. Her emotional sense may be muddled on account of her current condition, but she can at least tell that much: she's trying to do something good. Being around her makes her a little sad so there's probably a bit more to it than that, but that's something she'll ask her about when...

    ... when she wakes back up, if she remmebers. She's fading fast, but she would still manage to lift Ko-Omote, her mask for happiness, from the small pile near her side and hold it against her face. "Thank you," She mutters.

    And then she finally rests her eyes, meteor or no.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The massive meteor descends with intense, overwhelming force. It seems unstoppable, a massive hunk of destruction that rains from the heavens to bring nothing but obliteration to those who stand against the Sorceror of Midgard. The heavens scream and the skies roil with flame and smoke as the smaller rocks continue to rain down.

Silhouetted against it, Lezard Valeth stands, his cloak billowing in the heatwind and his glasses reflecting the incoming crimson light of the flaming doom.

He is smiling.

But there are two who are not content to stand and face destruction. Toph prepares herself, reaching into the Earth... But how does she get her Bending powers to the meteor in time?

Artyom casts off the rough stone coating his ancestral weapon and reveals his true power. There is a roar as he calls upon the Earth itself and surges up on a spire of rock and dirt, using it to propel himself into the corona of the meteor. It burns him, scorching his flesh as Heaven and Earth connect, and he drives the blad e forth.

The impact of the blade cracks the surface, and he feels the molten heart of the stone preparing to be loosed. He focuses all of his power, and the Quake roils out. The air splits as the massive meteor shatters, a huge crack rending across the granite sphere with gleaming magma... And it shears in half.

But what now? It is still descending upon Helgen!

But Artyom is a conduit for the forces of Earth, and Toph's can now exercise her mastery. She reaches up through the spire of earth, using the conduit before her to rend at the massive meteor, pushing them to the side, altering theor flight path with precise breakage. Pieces shatter in a rain, the rocks falling in smaller, less devastating pieces to rain down upon undead. She uses all of her training, all of her ability in thie moment....

And the massive metor pieces diverge, landing to either side of Helgen with a colossal crash. The beleagured Nordic city remains... kind of intact. for now.

The same cannot be said of the landscape around it, which shakes from the colossal impacts of the meteor pieces. But the important thing was preserved.

Lezard's smile has become a scowl. "If you believe that is the extent of my power... You are sorely wrong." He says. He points the ruby, tipped scepter... And the ruby shatters with a tinkling noise.

Lezard's scowl deepens. "This has been a fateful day." He hisses. "I will not forget you, fools." He lifts a hand, and a circle forms around him (and his corpse), wherein they both begin to fade out. A teleportation spell?

Sindragosa (653) has posed:
    Sindragosa's head pulls back in shock. The swiftness of his movements! How did Paarthurnax manage it? Suddenly, she laughs, and what's left of her eyelids narrows to reduce her fiery gaze to two amused, smoldering slits. "There is yet VIGOR in your old bones! You will make a fine addition to the FROSTBROOD!"

    As the ice coalesces from thin air to smash into Paarthurnax, however, Sindragosa does not remain to capitalize on his weakness. Leaving him to the icy effects of her magic, she beats her wings once, and twists to the side, at once embarking on a course leading to Rimefang and Spinestalker. It looks as if she means to ignore Tomoe. Of course, doing so is nearly a terrible mistake: the swordswoman's weapon bounces off Sindragosa's spiked cheekbones, and takes with it a rough fragment. Sindragosa flinches, and shakes her head to dispose of the lingering sting, leaving Tomoe to fall safely away without any punishment for her actions.

    Spinestalker, satisfied by the death of one Blue-Eyes White Dragon, starts to claw and beat the swords imprisoning Rimefang; however, his attempts to weaken the stunning card magic aren't very effective. It takes Sindragosa's mighty claws to rip the spell asunder. She does this with an almost pompous air, as if the act is beneath her. Spinestalker supports Rimefang in a limping flight from the area.

    Sindragosa remains to witness the effects of Lezard Valeth's meteor -- and how neatly the gathered heroes manage to counter its devastation. Proof enough of Lezard's claims regarding the sheer power of the Union; proof enough that the Multiverse may be far more than the Lich King himself has envisioned.

    His whispers guide her toward the inevitable conclusion.

    "WIZARD!" Sindragosa's voice thunders through the air to hammer at Lezard Valeth's senses. "The bargain is struck -- so we are united!"

    As the last, ominous syllables ring out over Helgen like the tolling of bells, Sindragosa soars away, riding a chill winter wind to new skies.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     With things resolved, Kaiba just frowns at the rest of the group.

     Annoyed.

     "...I could of handled this better without the lot of you involved. And next time a meteor swarm is summoned, just protect yourselves. Don't add me into that protection."

     Isn't he so endearing?

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The rock has been weakened, and Toph focuses as Artyom prepares for his part. Up he goes, and Toph does her best to create weaknesses in the massive thing, so perhaps the titan can shatter the whole thing. "Come on, big guy...!" she hisses under her breath. Please let this work!

    Fortunately it seems that it is successful, and Toph moves her hands as she feels Artyom shatter the large rock. Time to finish this! With a forceful cry Toph throws her arms aside, widening her stance even further as her right foot skids to the side...

    And the meteor pieces are spread out, crashing into the grounds around the town and shattering the landscape, crushing trees. Toph heaves for breath, sweat and blood running down her face and arms as she tries to collect herself after that massive burst of energy and power. The nasty dragon seems to be taking off and leaving if her ears aren't mistaken, the damn wizard is leaving... and people are still alive. When Kaiba mouths off though Toph lets out a tired groan and allows herself to fall down on her butt, exhausted. "You are welcome, dunderhead..." Oh man, she feels like just sleeping now. That took a lot out of her, though it might be the blood loss speaking too.

Paarthurnax (371) has posed:
Frost crackles and rimes over the thick hide of the old Dovah, and Paarthurnax clenches his eyes shut and curls into a defensive ball as he falls again, this time unable to spread his wings to catch himself. It's a fall from a much lesser height, though, and though his body impacts with a ground-shaking THUD, he doesn't break every bone in his body. He does, however, lie there still but for violent tremors as his body processes the bone-chilling cold and gasps for breath. Fortunately, the tomb was meant for a much smaller creature than he, or he might have been frozen solid himself.

As it is, it will be some minutes before he can rise again.

Artyom W. Valodjn (665) has posed:
    Ancient power surges triumphantly through Artyom's veins as the meteor is split in two. But in dividing the colossal stone, he neglected to take into account its tremendous heat- and the magma stored within. The liquefied earth burns through his travelling cloak- flecks of the stuff catch on his cheek and ignite the flesh underneath. Sections of his clothes catch fire outright as the divided meteor passes by.

    But, he's done his part. Toph is able to push the two deadly hemispheres away, breaking them apart and scattering the landscape around Helgen with cosmic debris. Artyom falls- he plummets from that great height, the magma coating his ancestral weapon smothering its light and driving it to slumber once again. Its wielder is conscious- but barely so, exhausted from exertion. He can do little more than gather a mound of soft ground to fall into. Artyom's bulk smashes into a wooden awning, then falls with a puff of loose soil into a mound of loam.

He's... Almost completely still, and partially still on fire. Someone might want to send a white mage.

Ivraala (679) has posed:
    Ivraala's expression as she looms over Kokoro is not a peaceful one. Every ounce of her training as a Death Knight tells her that this is the wrong thing to do. Every part of her /screams/ that she should turn around and chase Sindragosa to wherever she's fled to, that she should watch for wherever the Queen of the Frostbrood retreats, to at least plan to find /something/ to get revenge that is so close to her grasp. But she is stubborn, and so she remains, until the rippling remnants of the meteor's relatively harmless impact wash over her.

    She doesn't even see Sindragosa's and Lezard's retreats. She hears the echos of their victory, and by the time she's risen to her feet, they're gone.

    The draenei is silent as she moves over to yank her greataxe from the ground and place it against her back. Once she's certain the Scourge is gone from this area, she decides she's done here. There's nothing more someone like her can do here for now...and not with the ice still grating in her chest.

    Wordlessly, she strides out of what is left of Helgen, taking only a moment more to summon her Deathcharger in a flurry of chaotic energies and rise onto its saddle. And off the Death Knight goes, to vanish into the frigid hills of Skyrim.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     With his little insult launched at the group, Kaiba walks over to his jet. He doesn't look at everyone as he walks away, but he does speak.

     "...Well. Whatever. I have business to attend to."

     And he gets into the jet. He flies straight to Whiterun. Why? Well, if he wants to get fame and fortune, he might as well go to Whiterun and tell the local authorities how things got resolved. And how he was the primary one who resolved things.

     Of course, the fact that he lands in the middle of the market plaza, has to toss out bag of golds to bribe the guards to ignore his jet, give money to the people of the stands he knocked over, and overall cause some havoc kind of makes him... stick out a bit.

     After that mess, though, he'll go to the Jarl and let him know what occured, that Helgen is basically no more even less than it already was, and that Kaiba basically earned some quest rewards of some kind. Or at least some fame/reputation.

     Such a hero.

Tomoe has posed:
When all is said and done she'll sheath her blade and banish the mourning wall to her. She did get a good hit upon Sindragosa but it was not enough however she makes a note she will see that dragon fall someday, for now she however backs off to do what she can to help with the mess should there be anyone else needs help. She does her best to ignore Kaiba...

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    There is no opportunity to rest just yet, it seems. When Toph feels Artyom hit the ground she blinks, and she forces herself up on shaky hands and gasps. Then she hurries over as quickly as she can despite the pain and fatigue that threatens to overcome her, and she kicks the ground, reaching out with her hands to guide the sand that she bends from it over onto Arty to put out the fire. "Roll over!" she calls out to him. "There's a river nearby too...!" Don't fall asleep yet, big guy!

Artyom W. Valodjn (665) has posed:
    The bulk of slowly barbecuing meat that is Artyom produces an uncomfortable-sounding groan as Toph begins smothering the flames burning up his travelling clothes. Fortunately, sand is rather excellent at putting out small fires, but there are still patches that are clearly more stubborn than others. He makes another pained sound as he slowly, achingly flips himself over. There's a splotch of discolored skin that becomes visible on his cheek when he does. And a bit of caked, once-molten earth seared on top of it.

At least he's not dead, and less on fire! Yay!

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Sure, she can't see it, but Toph does hear his breathing and heart beat. He is going to be okay. Even if it hurts a lot. It is prudent to get some help for him though... So Toph pulls out her radio and sets it to the proper channel, sitting next to Arty.