4965/Leve: A Fishy Smell In Ul'dah

Leve: A Fishy Smell In Ul'dah
Date of Scene:	01 January 2017
Location:	Hydaelyn Reborn <ARR>
Synopsis:	FOR EVERY POSE A PIRATE OR FISHMAN WILL DIE
Cast of Characters:	N'raha Tia, 985, 691, Athela Valemore, Wo, 942, Lyria Mason, William Pauwel

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N'raha Tia has posed:
    OFF THE COAST OF VESPER BAY

    It is a very tense night on Raha's ship, the No-Name. The usual complement of Yellow Jackets and Maelstrom forces are absent. At least in full uniform. A quiet few who know about this particular operation have come along. The rest of tonight's NPC crew are local merchant marines who've taken up the flag of the Light Warrior for the time being.
    The point being, none of the actual military operations from either Ul'dah or Limsa Lominsa /really/ want to commit to this, in case things go pear-shaped. It's just easier that way to 'hire adventurers' and be done with it. No loss if the mission fails, right?

    Wrong. And that wrongness is evident in the eyes of N'raha, as the Cat-tain rests uneasily against the wheelhouse of the No-Name, watching the crew get to business in the rigging and the cannonades. The Elites for this evening's assault are all invited to the deck, as N'raha murmurs their plans.
    "So. We're going to be facing up against the Serpent Reavers. They've been hitting merchant ships along the coast here for several weeks, and we recently learned that the fools are basing out of an island port." He nods over the prow of the ship at an approaching island. "The Reavers serve the primal Leviathan, who claims the seas of Hydaelyn for his own, and does not like mere mortals running about. ...I say served, but these men and women have been Drowned. That is to say, Leviathan has claimed them utterly for himself. They are already lost to us, to their past, to anything other than a devotion to Leviathan. Do not expect mercy, and do not offer it in return."
    Raha adjusts his captain's hat, and nods his head to an island growing ever closer as the No-Name cuts through the water swiftly. "We're making this a blitz operation. We know they're operating out of a harbor on that island, and I intend to first ruin any of their fleet, and then head ashore to lay waste to the rest... and make off with the booty." The word 'Booty' gets a rousing noise out of the otherwise somber crew. Most of them are pirates or former pirates, and that gets everyone's blood racing.

    "...Any questions?"

Nina Windia (985) has posed:
Nina Windia has no idea how to operate a ship.

That's why she's mostly stayed out of everybody else's way on it. She's perched (pun not intended by her) on the rails a few times when she thought this would stop her from taking up valuable deck space but has otherwise just been around.

Right now she's on deck with the rest of the group. Nina looks slightly nervous, but then again that's not unusual. "Is it /that/ bad?" she asks N'raha, when he describes what the Drowned Reavers have been up to. If it is, she would have thought someone would have been sent earlier. Then again, that might be that whole 'red tape' thing...

She volunteers, "I'm probably fairly good at damaging ships." Nina's never tried before, but let's be honest: fireballs and lightning bolts tend to be pretty good at wrecking things made of wood, and she doesn't feel any remorse at all about damaging or destroying pirate ships. "Would it help if I helped you ruin the fleet...?"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Amidst all these adventurers and pirates, there's a single very suspicious 'adventurer'. There's a long red coat and hat pulled over her features. Horns are easily seen, and black hair is set into a long ponytail. Scales are dark as well, but to those who've seen her before, a certain glint in her eye might just make who she is noticable.

At least she's twirling a combat knife rather than a kunai. Trying to get it's weight. Maybe she should've gone for ninja disguise after all.

"How many vessels and men should we be expecting? Just pirates, or are there casters as well?" The ninja's gaze mostly peeks over to the Elites, searching for those she knows.

Athela Valemore has posed:
It was a different world and a different sea, yet Athela felt at home here all the same. Maybe it was just being aboard a more 'traditional' sailing ship, or being poised against a type of threat that was not unfamiliar to her, but regardless it was the first in a considerable time that she felt comfortable in another land. Or upon another ocean as the case may be.

The sea breezes blew through locks of a deep red, and after one last deep breath of the salty air Athela pushed herself up from the railing and walked back to where the Captain was explaining the mission. A scowl and a snort follows as the nature of their foes is explained. "So in that regard they are not unlike the Hollowed." One hand gripped tightly to the hilt of the sword sheathed at her side. "The only Justice is to end their cursed existance for once and all time, and make these waves safe for those seeking their passage."

Wo has posed:
Maritime operations, especially against those disrupting purely commercial traffic, are something that a certain former-still-kind-of Abyssal is both familiar with and that takes a great interest in. As word had spread through various channels, the humanoid aircraft carrier, Wo, is present, resting her gloved hands upon a weathered shank of metal formed loosely like a staff, as she listens to the briefing. Some of the terms thrown about are vaguely familiar to her, if not from this world, then a particular one very similar to it. The Leviathan is something her own old allegiance had faced, but it was quite some time ago. Claiming the hearts and minds of others is furthermore a concept she doesn't care for, and that disclosure brings a slight frown to her otherwise calm and unbothered face.

    "I have little interest in the booty," she remarks, one for out of context theater if ever there was. Though, she understands this kind of crew well enough to recognize it as a rallying point, and doesn't get uppity about it. "But I'll gladly help free the seas from these ruffians' and their master's grip." She's on a mission, you might say, having heard all of that, and beneath the shadow produced by her bulbous, toothily-grinning hat, her subtly glowing eyes turn to be focused on the goal ahead. If she senses Yari's identity, additionally, she doesn't seem to impress that fact, at least not yet. (And it'd really be a glass house situation, regardless.)

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Kazuko's actually looking a little disappointed on the deck of the No-Name, naginata slung over her shoulder and yellow track jacket being the only thing protecting her from the elements. She had heard this was a joint mission, so there was no need to put on any disguises, but...

     She had a cool mask and identity picked out and everything! Alas, maybe another time. At least there's still an opportunity to look at more interesting places and beat up bad guys with cool names alongside other Elites with also cool names to maybe learn techniques from, so there's that.

     "So they're... Brainwashed? That just means we gotta knock them all out and fix it, right?" Kazuko clearly doesn't understand what it truly means to be Drowned even with Raha's explanation, although she seems to be chomping at the bit more and more as zero hour draws closer. The idea of getting some treasure on the side and impressing her fellow definitely-not-Watch-members certainly helps, but...

     In due time. No sense diving off the ship and getting soaked! "I'm good at fighting people, but breaking stuff... Oh! Maybe they'll have something on board I can swing around..."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason had helped N'raha in the past here and so 2hen she heard about ther ebeing pending problems she was mroe than gld to come help, maybe hiding her idenity wasn't the best acton but for now she wanted to try to protect her family from poltical fallout form her actions. So here was Serpent as she was known to the watch agaion clad in her fom fitting suit and masking helmet listenin to what informationt hey had, the abomation of this worlds Levithan was not lost on Lyria at all as she listned to the detials onw hat they had to do.

"Primals are no joke Miss Nia."

She notices Wo has arrived and she smitks beihnd her faceplace it would be interesting to see Wo in action and not have to worry about fighting her and was more than willing to give her a chance given the chance she had been given.

"I'm ready, let's get this grim work overwith."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Not-Yari first. "At least 4 vessels, including one blockade runner they like to use to ram other ships. Expect conjurors and rogues among the lot. Scouts didn't spot any arcanists, but it's a possibility." The typical cadre of La Noscea ne'er-do-wells, then.

    N'raha turns to Wo and Nina, then. "That's likely going to be the case, Nina. Light them on fire and move on. Wreck the sails and the vital bits, and hit them below the waterline. You both know how to ruin a ship."
    Athela and Kazuko get fangy, cold smiles. "Well, that's the other part. Once we make sure the fleet's scuttled, we need to ensure they haven't got an Aetheryte on the island to get them too and fro besides. We want them entirely cut off. Sever this dark limb at its root before the Reavers get a foothold in Thanalan.

    "AHOY, CAPTAIN!" From overhead, a lady Miq carrying far too many daggers for her own good cries. "I gots two tryin' to make a break for it, captain, someone spotted us!" And indeed, two of the larger ships seem to be trying to maneuver their way out of port, but they're of the size where that's not something you do lightly.
    N'raha grins a bit, hefts his axe, and clambers past the Elites to the prow. The Warrior is already starting to radiate energy. "ALL SAILS! AHEAD FULL! GET ME THE BLOCKADE RUNNER! TOP PRIORITY! ALL HANDS TO STATIONS!"

    Looks like it's time to fight!

William Pauwel has posed:
    "Do we... Do we /really/ have to kill them?" Will asks with a bashfully raised hand at the back of the gathering. He's looking just a little bit (read: a lot) uncomfortable at the prospect of needing to actually blast a guy in the face until he's dead. "I mean, can't we just... Knock them out and haul them in?" Oh Will, you adorable little sugarplum. No idea about how vicious the world truly is.

    At the very least, he's come prepared. He's NOT in powered armor today, even though he could totally just deploy his patented floatation devices and make it through just fine. Probably. Instead he's in his usual travelling gear, with his ever-handy energy weapon at the ready. "Wooden vessels? How primitive. I recommend incendiary mode." The gun beeps. Will shushes it, "Hush, you. That'd kill /everyone/ onboard! There might be folks on there who we /shouldn't/ kill!"

So innocent.

    "H-hey N'raha! I can probably uh. Get down under deck, and deal with stuff down there if y'all want. You know, make sure there's... Nobody on those boats, before we sink them," Will offers. It'll probably get shot down because who WILLINGLY goes into a Reaver ship!? Apparently, THIS GUY.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Though at the questioning from Kazuko and Will, one of the Roegadyn sailors growls at the group of Off-Worlders. "The Reavers be already dead inside, like proper dead. All they know now is the Lord of the Whorl, and they fight until the Sea Swallows all. There ain't be anything to save."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
A deep sigh. A glance to Kazuko. "Once an...a Primal steals a person's soul, they're done for. No method has been found that loosens their grip. They'll be mindless slaves for the rest of their lives."

There's one presence though that gets Yari's attention. It's Wo. Her eye wanders, and there's this profound sense of relief. Swiftly followed by slight annoyance.

She tries to play the pirate by downing some of a hip flask. Just fitting in. Cough. Hack. It helps her avoid saluting the light warrior.

As it stands, the miq gets a nod, before she takes stock of the situation. She'd best save her magic for the land battle, and so she takes up a position on the side of the ship. Kneeling down, she pulls out a rifle she'd stowed on the ship just in case. Putting on the scope, she brings it up, and adjusts it as she takes aim. She's no crack shot per se, but the ninja can do in a pinch.

She'll scan for signs of conjurors hats first, and then anything looking like an officer's badge or captain's hat. She can't sink a ship at this range, but she can at least cause some chaos.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Serpent's helemted covered face looks to Nia, and while the voice is warped by some magic or technology it's clear there's a level of sympathy there. "Their minds are gone, their wills shackled, there's naught we can do save free them from the Primal's vile control."

She looks to Reiji for a moment nodding.

"I have some exploives that could help with that. Sent them right to the locker."

She'll fall in with everyone else as well it seems to be time to start fighting and she goes to pull a pistol from a holster and then to draw a cutlass of some sort off her back.

"Time to deal with these Primal thralls."

Nina Windia (985) has posed:
"All right," Nina agrees. She looks from N'raha to the other men and women here, most of whom she doesn't know very well if at all, and gives a slight nod. She can work with people here. "I'm Nina, if you need to get my attention. It's nice to meet you... though it would be better under better circumstances." The plan makes sense to her. It might be risky but it needs to be done.

The call to alarm still catches her by surprise, though. She supposes that's good - it means they got close! Nina looks up toward the Miqo'te above, then squints across the water toward the other ships. It's dark, but not so dark she can't make them out. "They'll have a chance," she tells Will as she looks, though she still looks worried. Then again, she can't sink an entire ship all at once. But... "Oh, like demons...? I heard there are people like that..." It's sad, but it's something she understands. "Excuse me a moment."

Once she's placed the ones that are moving, Nina takes off. She jumps off the deck, her wings spreading and beating once, twice - and then she's rising, though with the small downside of catching everybody nearby in a minor downdraft and probably messing up people's hair.

Nina has an advantage now; she's dark-feathered, wearing dark clothes, and it's dusk. Even with her blonde hair she's hard to see as she moves away from the No-Name, picking up speed as she flies as low as she can without actually risking a watery landing.

A few moments later, and the closest Reaver ship is suddenly illuminated - from beneath. A fireball appears in the air, floating, before bursting and turning into a stream of flame! It arcs downwards, sinking so low it nearly touches the water before angling back upwards, striking the ship technically above the waterline but very close to it in a constant stream of fire.

Nina herself is hovering, which is the most she can do while casting. Little blue lights dance around her arm as she reaches it out toward the original fireball, focusing the spell.

Athela Valemore has posed:
Burn the decks, slit the sails and ropes as well as throats. This is sound tactics to one whome grew up amongst the sea and sailors. "Cut out the infection before it can spread farther. Purge these sailing waters of their retched bilge." There was probably more analogies to come but the moment is cut short by the shouting of sighting ships trying to run.

Athela sprints back towards the edge of the deck, putting one foot on the railing to brace herself as she squints towards one of the ships. "Mizzen." Her Timburr looks up at his name. "Give the cannoneers a hand."

Oh this mission just got better in the pokemon's opinion. Mizzen grabs a cannonball, lifting it up like it was nothing thanks to his phenomenal strength, the Fighting type packing plenty in that short and stout frame. Muscles flex as he lefts the heavy metal sphere palmed in one hand, takes a step and whips halfway around for a little extra oomph in hurtling the cannonball at one of the ships!

Wo has posed:
From what little Wo had gathered of these things her old (and current!?) associates called Eikons, there isn't going to be much hope for those Reavers. As much as she doesn't want to discourage those that would want to save them, she nonetheless gives her cold assessment of the situation, by way of an open question to the good captain: "If they aren't killed, they'll likely end up imprisoned for the rest of their lives. Is that correct?" They're all but enslaved now, from her understanding, so whether the prison's bars are bodily or mental, it makes little difference.

    Nonetheless, the time for pondering such things will soon be an exercise for the aftermath, it seems, as they have two enemy vessels sighted, and trying to make a break for it. "Do what you will, but for now we'd best contain them." With this in mind, she gestures forward with that staff, picking it up to beckon. With this, the wide maw that's on her hat displays well that it's more than mere decoration, throaty turbine growls beginning to ring from inside it. Shortly after, dark, aerodynamic shapes begin to emerge from it, taking to the air and then forming up into a vague V-shape, five in total. They make good speed, untethered as they are, but they remain relatively low to the sea's surface, to try and conceal themselves as they approach. A flight of torpedo bombers, if the missile-like projection beneath their airframes is to be believed. They also give Nina a wide berth, to avoid drawing fire. If allowed to approah close enough, they would drop those torpedoes in the water, white froth trailing behind them as they streak toward the Reavers' ships.

    She's not foolish enough to know that no rival air power could exist in this world. She simply doesn't expect it from the Reavers. Though she's focused on her aircraft in flight, there are nonetheless some small attentions paid to those around her. Vaguely aware that at least a couple seem familiar from prior association, she nonetheless keeps it under her hat, as it were. That can be addressed later.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Although the idea of having to kill brainwashed people doesn't quite sit well with Kazuko, she eventually nods and tightens her hold on the naginata. "Okay. That's how fights should be, anyway, so if it's us or them...." She nods slowly at Raha and not-Yari, a more somber frown crossing her face. As some introductions go around, however, she straightens up and bows more formally to her allies after Nina introduces herself. "Oh yeah! My name's Kazuko Kawakami, former student of the Ka-"

     Before she can finish, however, there's the shout from overhead, and it's time for the fight to begin! Alas, with the ships still so far off and trying to get away, she's not quite in the position to hit anyone with her bladed stick just yet. Instead, the martial artists dashes for...

     ... The cannons! Aiming and firing them is another issue entirely, but even she can follow context clues and load the heavy explosives for someone with more technical knowhow to handle the rest after that!

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will pales a little bit at all these people saying... That these people can't be saved? What the heck are these Primals, even, to be able to turn people into little more than shambling puppets!? But... "Dangit," Will mutters, "These ain't the first people folk've told me were lost to an Abyss." After all, there was a girl, once--

But they need hands now. At the very least, he can go around and adjust the cannons. He may not be a sailor, himself, but he IS an engineer and a gunner. If he can't adjust cannons for accuracy and efficacy, he'd be a pretty poor one!

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Nina and Wo are going to be getting the first shots in, to be honest, as those bombers take off, and as the Wing Clan princess flies up into the air, approaches a ship... and lights the mainsail on fire. If you wanted a proper reaction out of the pirates, this is it, as the crews start to scramble. This one isn't even going to make it properly out of the Harbor. The torpedo bombers are going to make swift work of the other one, once they get there.

    The sudden presence of the Timburr gets some startled noises from the crew, but also giggles from the redheaded Miq scout. "I /told/ Jacke this would be better'n skulkin' for the Jackets. Oy, you lot! Port side, port side! That one ain't sunk yet!" The Timburr's shot, along with those fired up by the cannons being assisted by Kazuko and Will are getting shots out on target now on a third vessel as the No-Name moves to swoop past the port for a full broadside into the harbor.

    From the shore and the other ships through, it's not a full rout. Several heated blasts of Aether boosted Rocks come flying at Nina, looking to swat her out of the sky as a pair of conjurors make it onto the deck of the burning ship. The other one seems to be trying to whistle up a breeze to douse the sails.
    And as the No-Name comes past, N'raha cries out with a burst of raw energy, as he leaps to the deck of one of the pirate ships, just as Wo's torpedos strike a decisive set of holes in the waterline. "AVAST YE MONGELS! SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF HYDAELYN, AND /FALL/." The skeleton crew on the ship barely has time to make it to the docks, or even try to, before N'raha brings the axe around, and /sunders/ the wheelhouse, and most of the bits of the ship underneath with a mighty axe-strike.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Ahh, there they are! Even if her initial shots missed, the ninja is finally close enough to really get into the action. N'raha makes a good swing with his axe, but Yari's fought enough conjurors to not underestimate them. Abandoning her gun, she makes a speedy leap and jump as she all but dissappears into the night before landing on the burning deck. Two knifes flash as she tries to cut out the two conjuror's throats, before leaping and flipping around the deck acrobatically.

She's working to finish off anyone that would look like trouble. Arcanists, Thaumaturges, and the like seem to be her primary prey. Before long however, she'll take another backwards leap back to the side of the No-Name. Several handseals, and she sucks in a breath.

"Katon!" A massive fireball is spat for the mast of the ship and hopefully some remaining crew. The ninja likes to be thorough when it comes to any operation with a Primal's underlings.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
And there's the signal. After loading another set of cannonballs into the No-Name's cannons, Kazuko sprints back onto the deck, then takes a running leap off of it onto the ship N'raha's leapt onto. She doesn't stop there, however, as she bounds off that ship and onto the shore proper to finally find herself on solid ground once more along with all the other pirates.

     This is just where Kazuko wants to be. She takes note of the pirates' positions, and her naginata begins to glow with a faint yellow ki as she spins it rapidly, channeling her ki into the weapon.

     "Kawakami Style: Daisharin!" With a loud shout, the naginata-wielder starts charging straight at whoever she can catch up to with her blazing speed and a flurry of spinning naginata blows and slices, fully trying to cause as much chaos as she can on the shore to keep the pirates from regrouping effectively.

Nina Windia (985) has posed:
Nina Windia sprays another burst of flame before doing anything else. She aims this one lower, but it's still likely to be a rather... surprising event.

And it's not just her shooting. There are others doing the same thing. Being in the air seems like an increasingly bad idea. Nina drops lower, and lower again, until her boots are only a couple feet above the water - and with the way she bobs up and down when she hovers, she really doesn't want to drop any further.

This does not stop them from shooting at her. Shooting rocks, as it turns out. Nina accelerates, abandoning her spellcasting for a moment in an attempt to evade. When she's flying flat-out, she's actually pretty fast; she lifts up again, wings beating harder, then drops in an evasive maneuver, making her harder to catch with a launched stone.

Only when it starts to die down does she cast again, light forming along her arm and hand: lightning, this time. A narrow bolt arcs from the sky toward the mast of the ship - then another and another, machine-gun fast. It's /loud/, a constant barrage of thunderclaps, and while none of them are particularly booming there's quite a lot of them. Nina goes back to flying once the bolts start to fall, and the lightning trails her, drawing a scorched line across the deck.

Lyria Mason has posed:
It's time to get the fight under way, Serpent sets her m-tek pistol to fire element. It's time to get to work right? With Wo and Nina taking to the skies with air support in various forms?They are up to a good start with fighting the other ship. As they near and N'raha leaps aboard the enemy ship? Serpent is quick to leap over and start shooting as she does she'll make use N'raha's attack to get pot shots taken on some of the pirates and she'll also put her cutlass to work too the moment osmethintg gets close and she won't be showing any mercy.

Wo has posed:
After the torpedoes are released, the bombers rapidly pull up to begin climbing. Besides some complementary autocannons they possess, they've got no more to give, but sinking the hopes of one of the ships of making a clean getaway is a pretty decent opener for them. They begin returning to their home carrier, one that as the No-Name pulls around for its broadsides and clearing the way for a landing, is on the move, herself. Hopefully no one gets concerned when she calmly jumps overboard, landing on the surface of the water and apparently being supported by it, as she begins gliding toward and around the Reavers' anchorage under her own power. A single human-sized figure might be easily missed, amidst the flashes of fire and exchanges of blades, though she remains vigilant for incoming fire, since incidental strikes still hurt the same.

    After recovering her bombers, she hesitates to launch another just yet, instead opting to pull alongside the Reaver's anchored ships, and blasts them with glowing red shells from the guns mounted on her hat. They are technically defensive batteries, and a smaller caliber than even many cruisers of her world use, but she's mostly aiming to keep up the harassment as she takes her own path to shore. "I know the pain you must feel," she says, to none of the Reavers in particular. "But I won't let you have your way any longer." It'd been normal for her, as an aircraft carrier, to try to remain far away from the action in the past. Now she's diving right in to the front lines.

Athela Valemore has posed:
The ships that tried to flee the harbor are damaged in the blitz, surely the bombers and the cannons can finish dealing with the crippled ships. They need to keep this mission moving while the suddenity of their strike is still in favor. As the No-Name braizenly broadsides through the enemy craft, Athela braces herself and then leaps off the edge of the deck.

But there is no splash, or even a dive for that matter.

Why becomes apparently quickly though as Athela can be seen -running on the water- towards the docks. One of the benefits of being the Chosen of Keldeo and weilder of his relic weapon is it granting her the same ability to gallop across the waves. Which she is using to quickly blitz the docks while the enemy is busily distracted by their ships getting blown out of the waters.

At the end of the dock Athela leaps up to land on it, a surge of water following in her wake that the Tide Caller sends sloshing over the planks in a rather blantant display. Zealots tend to get very aggrivated when someone else shows up doing things only their false god claims to be capable of, which is what Athela is counting on.

"Your plague upon these waves end here, so sayeth the Sword of the Tides!" Resolute Blade shimmers from the moister as she makes a dramatic motion of drawing and holding the weapon readon. "Stand down, or be struck down by the crushing whitecaps of Justice capsized your corrupt keels!"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Deck guns and torpedoes and lightning and cannonballs and axes and NINJA MAGIC oooooooo and EVERYTHING is being laid out in this blitz, and by the Twelve, the Reavers are running scared. This has gone from bad to worse for them. This wasn't a full formed outpost or port, after all. This was a foothold, a start for a campaign for the shores of Thanalan. Now the 'fleet' is in tatters, and already there's combat on the shore.

    As Kazuko makes her way up, that Naginata out and flashing, there's axemen and archers all trying to keep their distance, former Rogues now drowned trying to get in closer. N'Raha and Lyria also make their moves, as the pair saddle up onto shore. Athela's... flashy entrance also temporarily cows the pirates, who indeed do NOT like to see this stuff out of /offworlders/.
    The Reavers are... well, parts of them want to run at this point. These are heavily armed, heavily trained Adventurers, and this shit was not what they... Well, actually, they didn't sign up for it, now did they? And that other part is shoving them back forward, urging them on to fight and die and throw themselves at these outsiders, these offworlders. And as such, they move in. A group of marauders and lancers warily approach Raha and Kazuko and Lyria, backed by archers and a conjuror in the back. Several lancers also shuffle warily towards Athela, watching for breaks in the approach. No one seems all that interested in making the first move here.

    Nina and the rest that are still on the ship will get a chance to make their move as the No-Name 'throws the breaks', the crew trimming the sails to slow their motion, giving people the chance to assault the beach. V'kebbe cheers from the crows nest. "We're takin' her back out of range of this mess! Signal when yer done and we'll scoop you and the booty up!"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The group does admirably. A proper shock-and-awe attack, and the enemy is both outgunned and even cowed. The ninja, as they pull to shore, takes a moment to get another look at all those gathered. Many she knows, but many she doesn't. Dangerous potential opponents all.

From the looks of things though, Athela might have the most potential issues. Thus, rather than just simply get off the boat, she'll run to the back and silently leap off. She lands with hardly a plunk, throws off her cloak to show a wetsuit. A deep breath, and she actually swims.

A bit more effort than just ninjutsu, but it gets her close and hopefully undetected for when she leaps from the water at one of those lancers near the Waterdin. One combat knife is aimed for the spine. Then, she'll offer a shadow clone just behind to distract another! It won't hold to a good hit, but it should give others a good opportunity to strike.

Wo has posed:
Just before landing, Wo gives a glance back to V'kebbe announcing their temporary retreat. Even if it isn't seen from this distance, she gives a consenting nod, before moving on. When her boots set down on solid ground, she finds an uneasy standoff, and makes particular note of the hesistance of the Reavers to engage. Yet, when that ultimate and dominating impulse kicks in, giving them the courage of those that literally cannot refuse to fight, she also recognizes that look, as well. It's regretful, but as someone on the local comms had confirmed, there had been no way of undoing this sort of thing that had ever been found, and if the two former superfactions couldn't find a way...what hope do they have now?

    Backlit by burning wreckage, Wo steps up behind the rest of the advance guard. Noting the presence of apparently ranged opponents, she'll move to focus on them as something of a counterpart. With a flourish of her staff, the jet turbine sounds start up again; this time there are no projectiles of any sort attached to the belly of the strangely toothed craft that emerge. Instead, they have what looks like a fully dedicated minigun. While they're far from immune to any arrows or conjury spells flung their way, they move in on the archers, attempting to harass, if not outright injure, them with surprisingly full power autocannons. The tracers have that same strange, malevolently glowing red appearance to them. Their one weakness is that as quarters grow closer, there's less room to maneuver; they're still airplanes, on a fundamental level.

Athela Valemore has posed:
The drowned souls approach her warily with their weapons of reach rather than charge blindlessly into battle despite her great presence. Do they still have some awareness of tactics, or only being cautious because she has shown some otherworldly ability? The truth is likely to never be fully known. Does she intend to fight them alone?

Not quite.

Lacking her phenomenal ability on water he has to wait for the No-Name to pass close to the docks, but as it does Mizzen leaps off the deck to join his trainer. Doing so while whipping the vines unwound from his arms, aiming to snare one of the lancers and sling him off his feet into the group.

Capitalizing on the ambush and Yuri's Ninja-ing Athela charges in, swinging her weapon to catch a lance in the hooked backside of the sword to twist his lance towards the ground. Followed by shoving forward to thrust her armored shoulder into his midsection.

No, but she is going to cause enough of a ruckus to give her allies time to get to shore as well.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Well the battle is in full swing at the moment as the Full Party brings it's fury to bear against the minions of the Primal of the Deep. Lyria keep up with N'Raha as best she can while she attemps to tears into the Reavers.

"Your master will be fish bait."

Part of her hopes the Gods the saner races of this world worship will show mercy at least of the acts communited while under the control of the Primal after all they haven't been calling the shots since they were tempered. She shifts she fighs and lashes out almost seeming to be dancing as she ends uyp a flury of sword strikes, the odd kick and pistol shots.

Nina Windia (985) has posed:
Nina rakes the lightning across the deck as she sweeps low, just skimming it, then back up before anyone hits her (hopefully). The spell runs out as she rises, and no more lightning bolts fall from the sky, but by this point she's already made as much chaos as she can; the sails are burning, she's crisped the deck.

She banks to the side to head toward the beach where the others are, the docks that Athela is attacking. Nina is not sturdy, and she knows it, but there are other people there who are. All she has to do is give them backup, right? That's how that works.

The net effect is that Athela gets some backup as Nina flies over to the dock, hovering just off it. The spell comes to her without a problem. It's only natural; they call her the destroyer, after all, and train her in elemental magic.

Nina's hand pulses with energy again as she casts, a more complicated spell than before. The air itself starts to move at her command, rippling and churning into a tornado; Nina pushes it forward, striking at the cluster of Reavers, threatening to throw them up and toss them around. The wind is sharp, too - it carves into the deck, leaving visible rents behind, neater-cut than most tornadoes that would just rip things up.

She does feel bad, a little, but it needs to be done. What also gives her a problem is how /easy/ it is. She hasn't really let loose in a long time. It feels... surprisingly honest.

William Pauwel has posed:
Well, that's a ship driven off. Will's guiltiness gauge is still well and truly at maximum because PIRATES ARE PEOPLE TOO. Also, Tellurians from his neck of the woods have a very strange idea about how souls work. That is, they don't... really have one? Not that there aren't religions or superstitions, just... 'Magically bound spirit' is not the kind of thing he can really understand.

What he can understand, however, is when it's time to take to the beaches.

    Before they sailed out all this way, Will had a certain something winched up to the No-Name's starboard end-- and now, it's finally time to make use of it! A jet-black hull makes splashdown on the far-end of the boat from the beach. It's... Another boat!? Specifically, an old, WW2-era PT boat that looks like it's been turned into some kind of sci-fi assault vessel. There's a /laser autocannon/ mounted to the front end. "Alright y'all! I've got plenty of room down here!" He calls up to the deck, "WHoever wants to come, just hop on!"

"I've got the gun, and the wheel," he says with a grin, and-- once everyone's aboard-- guns the motor. The Chorus' twin engines throw a great blast of seafoam in its wake as the PT-boat surges towards the beach. Arrows ping down on its armor. One nicks Will's shoulder! But that's fine, because he's STRAFING THE SHORE WITH LASER FIRE.

He's not TECHNICALLY firing on any pirate in specific. If they can dodge, they PROBABLY SHOULD.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Kazuko remains unfettered as her naginata continues to whirl about in front of her, looking not unlike helicopter blades spinning sideways while coated in yellow paint. The light from her weapon grows brighter as the martial artist keeps charging her ki, letting the marauders and lancers surge forward while she waits for an opportune moment to strike. Alas, with none of the Reavers making the first move...

     It's time for the allied Elites to do it themselves! Knives, shadows, strange gun-creatures, hooked swords, a freaking tornado, and LASERS all go flying, and Kazuko's charging right in to add to the chaos with her own yellow color-coded assault. She's not quite as strategic as her allies might be, going for the marauders instead of the squishier lancers or archers and conjurers in the back.

     In other circumstances, using a spear against axes might even be disadvantageous. For KAzuko, however, it's just another way to test herself as she finally lashes low with that ki-infused naginata, sweeping it in one massive attack towards the marauders to try and literally take their legs out from under them!

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Yari and Wo seem to have a pretty good idea of how these things are supposed to work, after all. Take out the DPS and let the tanks get up in the face of the heavy weapons folks. Like Raha and Athela. Though as the Reavers crews start to move in for their assaults, the Adventurers make the move first.
    Knives and swords and tornados and vines all lash out at the first band of Reavers, the lancers staggering from the continuing blitz. Athela has the right of it though: These men are still off center, and the rapidness of the assault is putting them on the back foot. Two lancers make a surge though, one leaping forward into range to jab at the knight with their lances... before the tornado of the Wing Clan sweeps through, barrelling most of the remaining fools on their backsides. There's a cry from the shadows though, as three knife-wielding pirates charge out, lashing for the group of warriors in a kamikaze attack.

    Over on the other side of the docks, Lyria, Kazuko, Wo and Raha seem to be having a less hectic time of it. There's something more deliberate here, as Raha steps in, lashes out with his conals to disrupt the forces arrayed against them, giving Wanko the chance to lash in and dispatch them. That's backed up by Lyria's COUNTER PIRACY, and then Wo's sudden deployment of MINIATURE A-10s THEY'RE ADORABLE. Sadly, one or two get swatted out of the sky by the Conjurer in the back with Aero Spells...
    But that's before William lights up the crowd with TOTALLY 80'S LAZER BEAMZ. Scream now, as the lasers ripple through the pirate lines, crippling those caught unawares.

    Deeper within the camp, something stirs. A deep, watery noise, as of a massive wave crashing against the shore, and a watery, gurgling voice cries out. "AVAST, SAHAGIN! POWER THE DEVICE! THE SERVANT OF THE WHORL COMMANDS." Oh dear. The Boss is arriving.

William Pauwel has posed:
                          HE'LL FIGHT FOR FREEDOM                          
                          WHEREVER THERE'S TROUBLE                          
                          G.I... Will is... there?                          

    Will is neither a G.I. nor a Real American or Hero, he does however have a really cool boat. With the beaches clear, the Chorus putters up onto shore. Will drops anchor a few meters into the surf, then gets out and drags his boat up the rest of the way onto the beach. Another anchor, just to be sure, gets chucked blade-end down into the dunes. "Alright y'all," Will calls, hopping out with his gun all aglow and at the ready, "Let's get this stuff over with."

He reaches up and flips a glowing visor down onto his eyes. The Maestro cycles through its many sensor settings, finally settling down on what can only be described as Targeting Mode. It might at least give him a decent idea of how many they still need to deal with.

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela Valemore takes a step back and brings up her sword to intercept, shielding herself from the lancer's lunging strike. Knees flex and armored boots dig into the wet planks of the deck for some traction as she's pressed down under the strike... At least until the winds come wailing through and blow the men off their feet.

Divine insight sees the brief opening as her attacker has to struggle against the wind instead, and Athela shifts her stance to push forward again, pulling her sword from under his lance and flipping it in her hand to smack him across the face with the pummel instead, disorienting the drowned soul long enough for him to get swept away in the winds.

One of the knife-weilders rushes her but Mizzen steps to her aid and grabs the attack. Quite literally so, grabbing the knife in itself and the blade digging into the pokemon's palm. Though it feels more like cutting into the bark and pulp of a tough tree rather than soft squishy flesh. But being up close is all Mizzen needs to clench the other hand to the pirate's neck, pick him up, and slam him back down with bonebreaking force.

For a moment there's a brief calm, but it's quickly shattered by the thunderous bellowing from deeper into the camp. "Sounds as if the real fight is only about to begin." Athela flips her sword back around to a proper grip, this time tightly in both hands as she readies herself. "Stand fast mine cohorts, the final breaker has not yet reached the shore..."

Lyria Mason has posed:
The crew fighting the Reavers is quite formbitable Kyria is making sure she's darn well ready for more of a fight she keeps at it and clearly is used to fighting like this but she halts for hal a second as well? There's something coming. 5R
"The Whorl? I don't think they are fit for such a name."

She nearly got more crass but it would be a poor idea to taunt the enemy too hard but it seems the boss is on it's way.

"Seems the captain of this lot be on their way get ready."

WIth that she'll reload her pistol amd make ready dropping into a ready stance.

Wo has posed:
The fighters' jet turbines groan a little more ponderously as the wind whips up from Nina's spell, even from this distance. At least, it doesn't cause them to start falling out of the sky. Turbulence is also a part of airplane life. What's less able to be ignored is when that same kind of disturbance in the air is directed staight at them, which is right up an enemy Conjurer's alley. The planes do not sustain much direct damage, but it's a little difficult to stay airborne when the physics of lift are essentially suspended, and they instead fall right out of the air, one skidding along the island rock with a metallic scraping, while the other isn't so lucky, crumpling before exploding from its avgas tank. They're luckily able to maneuver just enough to keep from doing so on top of anyone's head.

    The remaining fighters take the hint, knowing better than to ignore a spell caster without an obvious ranged weapon now, as they buzz and chatter among themselves annoyedly, adding them to their hit list. They're cut a bit short, though, as lasers from off shore begin to add their own mix to the party, and from deeper within, something STIRS. It's almost a nostalgic kind of feeling for anything Abyssal, right down to the strange tone of the voice echoing from inside. "...device," she openly wonders to anyone with an ear to hear it? The rest of the question needn't really be spoken; just what can they expect to be facing inside there? Whatever it is, though, there's little doubt that it's not good for them, so she continues pacing forward as the front line advances, stopping only to scoop up the still salvageable fighter and place it back into her hat's mouth. That one can be fixed; the other is a total loss.

    If any of the enemy's front line approach her, the red glow at the ends of the gun barrels on her hat suggest they're still primed; though she'll hold her own fire, for the moment, just in case.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Slashing through another marauder with only minimal cuts and gashes on herself and her clothes, Kazuko, lets out a relieved sigh as it appears that the battle on the dock is winding down. "Haah... Okay! Looks like we did it! But..." She glances around slowly at the bodies surrounding herself, Lyria, Wo, and N'raha, then at the straglers that might still be around and need some quick blows to the head with the back of her weapon to keep under control. "That can't be all of them, can it?"

     No, that'd be too easy. She can't quite tell what's still got her on edge, but her ears perk up a bit when she hears... Something. She can't quite tell what it is, but there's definitely something going on that isn't quite right that isn't just that gurgling voice screaming at them. "No... No, there's still something coming!" Kazuko calls out in warning, even growling a bit as she tightens her hold on the naginata again and starts glancing about to try and figure out where that noise is coming from.

     "I dunno what that is, but... Get ready for whatever it is!"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Knives! Too bad they cried out during their charge! The ninja looks digusted at their lack of stealth!

There /are/ a few of them, and Athela's friend manages to bodyslam one! Yari follows up helpfully, as she makes a handseal or two! There's a poof, and she flings a large shuriken seemingly from nowhere at one of the charging pirates! There's little mercy, even if her eyes show pity.

Threats hopefully dealt with, she takes a deep breath, and downs an ether. It's chucked away, before she pulls out a pair of new knives. Flipping them, testing their weight, she nods. Then she touches her linkshell.

Nina Windia (985) has posed:
After her blast of wind, Nina touches down behind Athela on the end of the dock, her wings folding. She can fly well enough, but it's an effort to do it while she's casting and fighting, at least if she wants to move any faster than a hovering walk.

Rather than cast another spell immediately, Nina gathers her power, using willpower alone to draw additional magic toward her. Her ring shimmers and her hands flicker with energy as she focuses. Athela can keep her safe for a few moments, right?

Well, the answer is 'yes', judging by the assault she and her allies are making and the brief calm afterwards. "Thank you," she says, as she stretches her hands. She's ready for the boss... and she hears something coming. She turns her head to count allies' heads and make sure everybody made it okay.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Preparations out of the way? Everyone ready for the pull? TOO LATE CAUSE THE BOSS IS HERE. There's a rumbling of water, a rushing of waves, and a sudden CRACK of lightning as a nearby cliff face SMASHES open, spilling out several things.
    1: a whole lot of seawater, bubbled up from somewhere.
    2: A sudden howling mad mass of Sahagin, carrying tridents and chanting up magic in the language of the fishmen...

    And 3: A Twelve Foot Tall... uh. Thing. It looks like it /was/ a Roegadyn at some point, but since that point it's... changed. Twisted by Leviathan, the creature shuffles on feet and tentacles, one half of its face chewed up and replaced by a mass of gills and fins and fish eyes. In its hands, it carries a long rod, covered in corrupted water and lightning crystals, which crackles and sparks and throws of water bursts of energy.

    SWARANKA THE DEFILER
    "THROW BACK THE TIDES, MY CHILDREN! SHOW THESE FOOLS WHAT DREAMS LIE IN THE DEEP."
    It /Specifically/ points the rod at N'Raha, and lets loose a blast of energy, striking the Warrior in the chest and driving him back with a skid of boots on dirt. "THEY BRING A CHOSEN OF THE CRYSTAL! FOOLS! NONE SHALL SURVIVE NOW. NONE SHALL BE DROWNED! TILL THE SEA SWALLOWS ALL!"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    And what was a nice neat orderly MURDER FIGHT on a bunch of outmatched pirates turns into an all out brawl as Sahagin charge the 'heroes', mobbing them as best they can, and looking to choke them down in numbers.
    That's because every time The Defiler raises that staff, a whirlpool is summoned under a group of Adventurers, which quickly thereafter erupts into a cloud of electified vapor.

Wo has posed:
Well, even by Abyssal standards, point number 3 is fairly horrifying. The fish guys are about standard, but that -- surface dwellers definitely aren't supposed to look that twisted. Perhaps sensing the sea change this revelation has prompted, the surviving fighters make their return to Wo's flight deck, that is, her hat, as she takes this sight in front of her in. It's a few more moments before she shakes her mind free enough to order up a fresh wave, this time of dive bombers. At this rate, it's really no wonder the Garleans didn't care for beastfolk and what they called their Eikons. "I suppose this should erase any doubts about what we're doing here," she asides to any that still had issue with mowing through the pirates. These were more than simple raiders and looters; their taskmasters represent a real threat to the surface.

    And then the adds, err, Sahuagin get the show started, rushing the lines and trying to disrupt them. Wo has just enough time to actually get the dive bombers airborne before she's got a fellow deep dweller practically in her grill, having flanked around to come at her. Trident is met with metallic sparks as she moves to block with her staff, though the tines still dig in past her bodysuit and into that side's arm. No blood is drawn, instead only viscous, black fluid, like oil. Though it's precarious to do so from as close quarters as these, she fires her defensive batteries at the offending fishman, if nothing else than to buy her some distance, as well as hopefully room to backstep the even more hazardous area effects. One of the bombers gets caught up in the torrent, its engines sputtering from the unwelcome ingress of sea spray, and then its internal systems disrupted by electricity. The rest try to get clear of the area as best they can.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Whirlpools of seawater, a Massive Mutated Roe, and lots of sahuagin casters. Seems N'raha has the big guy...or rather he has him. She glances to the others, and notices the Sahuagin pressing Wo! A scaley brow twitches, and then she's rushing over to the carrier.

Reaching behind herself, she pulls two good handfuls of knives. Probably best to not to think to hard on where she got them from. Leaping high into the air, she turns into a spin, and then starts lashes out with dozens upon dozens of knives as she tries to pepper the things with sharp pointy objects.

They're also all heavily poisoned! Not just paralysis this time, an active, eating poison that tries to pure fire in the nerves and slowly constrict throats. A very nasty, slow death should the fish-men not be immune!

Nina Windia (985) has posed:
What the heck are those?

What the heck is /that/?

Nina doesn't know what a sahagin is, but at least they look normal. Like some sort of mutant Manilo, which is fine; Nina is used to a lot of near-human beings. Like herself, for one. But the thing with the tentacles and gills and fish eyes... That creeps her out, instinctively.

Nina lets out a startled shout. She flicks her fingers through a series of magical gestures, letting loose the power she just built up, and this time there /is/ a dull rumble of thunder. Things flicker and flash, though there's no bolt, immediately -

And then a gigantic bolt as thick as a person descends from the sky! It impacts the ground, melting sand; smaller bolts arc out and away from it, though the main mass is aimed at the mutated... thing. Some of the stray bolts might catch some of the sahagin, but let's be honest: Nina panicked and just went after the big one.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
More enemies! Fish people, even. "Whoa! Careful everyone!" Kazuko calls out as the first of the fishy giant's minions arrive, twirling her naginata overhead before rushing forward to meet them in combat. She's deftly avoiding most of the bursts of water and lightning, although an errant burst does knock her back several yards.

     "Gyah! So this is what they were hiding... Fine, then!" Spinning the naginata once again, Kazuko doesn't have quite as much time to charge up her weapon before starting to just take rapid slashes at some of the approaching Sahagin. She might not have the power or range of some of her allies here, but the martial artist does have speed!

     And speed. And also speed. That's... Pretty much it, actually. Moving over to cover N'raha, she's stabbing and slicing with that like a long tiny blender. Kazuko's chopping at limbs and weapons while trying to take advantage of her weapon's long reach or, at the very least, mitigate the Sahagin's longer weapons. She's deftly avoiding some strikes while grimacing and biting back pain at other, but she's determined to try taking some pressure off the axecatman!

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason looks at deep sea horror and supresses a shiver of fear down her spine. She thinks of Chaos Spawn of her world and a memory of the wolf lord surges back for a moment.

"A chosen of the crystals? I come to purge a cancer from the see and free your souls from the Primal's hold."

Even if it is by death. She gets the information from N'raha about why the tempered hate him. Well then it's up to the party to make sure the catman does not end up /dead/.

She looks to WO force then she too opens up firing of her pistols as she dares to try and get close to the deep see horror, she'll sheath her blade and pull a second pistol out setting it to Lightning and so fire and lighting shots will rain down at the Captian of the Reavers as she closes in.

"YOU ARE NO LONGER A MAN OF THE SEA!"

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will has seen monsters swallowed up by the deep before. Two different varieties, in fact. The Abyssals are close enough to Being Human that being around them isn't inherently unnerving. Coral monsters, though, are something else entirely. The Sahagin and the horrible /thing/ they've dragged out of the cliff face definitely hews closer to the latter than the former. Will stares agape at the thing that USED to be a very large man and is now... Now some kind of... fish... man.

Well.

At least he won't feel bad about doing this now.

    He does feel bad when pirates and fish men get RIGHT UP IN HIS FACE with their swords and spears. Will is a gunner, not a tank. Blades rip through his flesh, causing crimson blossoms to against his clothes. Those wounds are only aggravated by the blast of seawater. The Chaser screams as he's blasted back down the beach-- but his body's still in one piece. He can still stand.

He can still fight.

He can still... Run away?

Will's going for his boat. What the blazes is he doing back there? Is he really running away!?

Athela Valemore has posed:
Water AND Lightning? A combination that, while not unheard of, is definately a peculiar contrast in Athela's eyes. This monster, there is nothing else to call it, is certainly formidable. But the displays of power, be if shattering cliffs and deluges of amphibeous foes, are not to be backed down from.

If anything Athela does entirely the opposite, standing to her full (abiet hardly impressive) height and giving her cloak a dramatic sweep behind her with one arm as she holds out her sword with the other. "THE ONLY THING THE SEA SHALL SWALLOW TONIGHT IS RETURNING YOUR CURSED CARCASS BACK TO THE UNHOLY DEPTHS THAT SPAWNED THY BLATHEMOUS IMAGE! THIS SQUALL OF CORRUPTION SHALL BE NAUGHT TO THE HURRICANE BOUT TO CRASH UPON IT!"

Leave it to a paladin to not mince words to just out and tell the fiend he's a sick and twisted jerk.

But first they need to get through his hordes of fishman mobs to start beating Justice in his fishfreaked face.

Fortunately, his alternate typing of both Fighting and Grass gives Mizzen little to worry about water or electricity, so the staticy vapor is mainly a nusiance to prevent him from advancing quickly. Instead he pulls the large log off his back, wincing a little from his sliced palm but gripping it tightly in both hands all the same, wails a nonenglish warcry that could make an berzerker proud and rushes the advancing line of Sahuagin. For all the world it looks like he's going to charge them head-on.

But that changes when Athela makes a downward gesture with her sword. "NOW! BULLDOZE!" Mizzen leaps in the air briefly at the command, the true tactic revealed as he lunges into the attacking horde only to slam the log down into the ground like a hammer, sending powerful shockwaves heaving through the shore from the impact, enough seismic force to throw enemies violently off their feet and disrupt their charge.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The Sahagin might be aiming to take out Raha specifically, but that doesn't mean they're ignoring the other sea based people out here. Wo... Wo gets a /look/ from the Defiler as well, and there's a sudden glimpse of return recognition that she gave the creature. A fangy, tentacled half grin from the beast, as it lumbers to face the party, and the Creature indeed swats that bomber out of the air with a blast of energy, before swinging the staff to lay down a few more puddles of shit to stand in.

    Yari and Kazuko seem to have the same idea as well: spread the damage! They start hosing down the hordes of fishmen, some falling with ugly, garish wounds from a Naginata, others gurgling and falling still as poison burns them alive. But it does all provide some cover for N'raha and Wo as they try to bring damage to bear on the boss.

    That's backed up by Athela, as the Timburr howls and challenges the Sagahin, knocking a row of them over and into the path of damage.

    Lyria opens up on The Defiler, bullets smacking into armored plating, and so does N'raha. The armored Miq charges in now, his axe dragging across the dirt and sands and rocks as he bellows a lion's roar of a challenge. Wordless and fel, the noise rumbles as red, angry Aether rolls off the Warrior's form. He's raising up his Wrath, letting the darkness touch and kiss at his soul, but not power it. The axe raises and as Nina's lightning bolts strike the creature, N'raha's axe swings around in time with that Thunder, aiming to jar something loose.

    It... doesn't go well. Swaranka swings that staff around again, literally sticking N'raha in the chest and discharging it, sending him sprawling into one of the Red Zones, which thunders around him again. The Defiler howls in victory as the first strike, seething forward in a sudden rush of speed, tentacles wrapping around Raha's throat and chest, constricting the catman. "Ssssssssssseeeee the futility of your quest, CHO-SSSSEN. Let your TAINT of /light/ fuel the Lifestream, and PERISH."
    N'raha chokes, his tail puffing out and his legs kicking as he's rapidly losing consciousness.

    The sudden strike by the Boss empowers the Sahagin, who throw themselves at Athela and Kazuko specifically, others looking to harass Yari and Wo to get them off balance and stop that damage from coming in. They seem to have a hard time trying to figure out how to get to Nina though, and some of the fishmen start chanting water spells up at her, and throwing spears.

Wo has posed:
A poison knived assist from a *mysterious, scaled ninja*, this must truly be Wo's turn of fortune. She gives a glance of acknowledgement to Yari, but there's little time for anything more significant, as the Defiler has taken stock of the situation and is already on the move. That includes more of those puddles which will presumably become more electrical discharges, if not worse. The sahuagin front line isn't backing down, either, probably trying to pen her into them, which makes her relatively human maneuvering speed on land even more of a liability. She spares enough concentration to try and keep on target, though.

    Specifically, the bombers that didn't get immediately blasted out of the sky approaching the gargantuan frame of the corrupted Roegadyn, before nosing over into a steep dive. They weave a little, expecting more return blasts, then release the bombs from their undercarriage once they get their speed to do so, before abruptly trying to pull up. To their perspective, it must look like how it did to the airplanes that, cinematically, came after the giant gorilla in that one old movie.

    N'raha's predicament is troubling, in all of this, but with how target rich things are on both sides, and with the chaos of the battlefield, there's little that she can do to reach him at the moment. It's really all she can do to keep batting away these fish jerks' tridents and keep her aircraft on task. An electrical blast goes off uncomfortably close, as well, blackening one side of her with surface scorching. What parts that aren't already black, anyway.

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Things seem to be working well, and Kazuko actually gives not-Yari a confident grin as they fight alongside each other. There's something strangely familiar about the ninja, but there's no time to figure out why. Not while there's Sahagin to chop up!

     Also, things stop working well after a while. N'raha gets taken captive, and there's even more Sahagin coming her and Athela's way! Kazuko's a stubborn one, though, and she's more than willing to take on an impromptu role as the dodge off-tank.

     Focusing more on defensive weapon deflection and outright evasion, Kazuko's continuing to whirl around and be an ever-present threat to the Sahagin even without the ability to go all-out, although the wear and tear from the battle is starting to show. The cuts are getting worse, her jacket is in tatters, and just trying to free N'raha is turning out to be nigh-impossible in itself!

     Not completely impossible, though. With the Sahagin turned her way, Kazuko opts for a different gambit: Moving /away/ from the strangling catman.

     "Is that all you've got? Geh... Come on, I've fought tougher freshmen back homethan you!" It's the best she can manage in this state, at least, shouting and trying to slowly draw the Sahagin away from where Swaranka and N'raha are long enough to help her allies regroup or even focus on taking down the big leader themselves.

Athela Valemore has posed:
There are many Sahaugin trying to run them down in numbers. They cannot dispatch them all, not with having the gouts of electrified spray to also be wary of. The wide sweeping swings of that log at least give Mizzen some leverage in smacking attackers away though. Even if every hammering blow digs splinters into his gouged palm, that is unimportant right now.

Athela uses her sword to strike the few that manage to lunge past her pokemon's hefty swings. But her attention is not on getting burdened in one fight, but trying to keep awareness of the entire battle as a tactical fighter should. It makes her painfully aware of the plight N'raha has gotten himself into trying to charge the Boss headlong. Her brow furrows both in disguist at the monster's ruthless words, and at recalling what they had done before to another monster that had tried to keep them out of reach. "Mizzen, catapult!"

Despite the term used it is not actually an attack of some sort. Mizzen jukes back from his attackers for a moment, hefting his log over his head and behind him for a different reason, that becomes more apparently when Athela jumps onto it. Which is followed by a mighty heave to sling the young knight into the air, over the hordes and towards Swaranka.

Resolute's Blade sheens as divine energy charges through the ancient weapon of Justice as Athela comes down towards the monster like a holy meteor. "TASTE THE BITE OF MINE SACRED SWORD FIEND!"

The holy blade smites down hard as she descends, aimed to tear into those tentacles and break the Catain free of the hold.

So they can get the hell out of the way of whatever Will is cooking up to deal with this monster.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
There's just way too many, especially when they've been empowered! Yari does her level best to keep the heat off of Wo and Nina with her knives, up until the point she actually manages to run out. She didn't come expecting such numbers! So, the ninja has to resort to her fists and feet.

She's no monk, but she /is/ good at killing in general. A trident comes lashing past, scores her cheek, only for a kick to get aimed to the face! A flip off of one Sahuagin to another. Arms wrap about and she'll twist mid-air only to be met with two more jabs through the side!

She's a spinning, kicking, whirling dancer of death, but one that's scored through on a dozen sides as she tries to punch anything she can get her hands on!

There's a brief tails-up in this whole exchange towards Wo. Followed by a bit of a worried sound that gets choked down, between N'Raha getting extremely stabbed, and Wanko trying to drive away the mass of fish!

Too many old enemies and old allies are in danger right now, and these filthy, digusting, Eikon-worshiping beastmen are hurting them. Her gaze grows cold and she takes a leap back.

And starts a very, very long set of handseals. For once, the lizard isn't trying for subtlety as her icey gaze sweeps the beastmen with pure acidic hatred.

William Pauwel has posed:
Will is... Left alone. The rest of the party is not. N'raha is being strangled alive by a corrupted, drowned giant. Will has scrambled back to his boat, vanished behind the railing. Is it cowardice? Is it a survival instinct? Has Will simply been traumatized by fighting awful sea creatures!?

No.

No. That LIGHT.

    Will emerges, standing tall on his ship's prow. The weapon in his right hand is aglow with a truly ferocious light, with a thick cable jabbed into its back end. Looking at the weapon is like staring into a red giant, albeit one that's been compressed and reduced to a bare fraction of its size. The light is blinding, hot, like the first rays of dawn or the final fleeting glow of twilight. "Hey, big feller!" Will roars over the din and the carnage. He levels the Solano's barrel at the biggest target on the beach.

                      "Containment Fields Stabilized"                      
                       "Caloric Output - Maximized."                        
                    "Charge Complete - Fire When Ready."                    

    Will grins and reaches up, tipping back the rim of his hat. "Let's TURN UP THE HEAT." He pulls the trigger. The Solano's barrel briefly flashes, then ERUPTS. A wave of scalding heat pours out of the gun-- but that's a only a harbinger of the power to come. What follows is a great blast of roiling plasma that ripples like a molten star within the confines of a thick confinement field. Where it passes, sand has turned to glass. If it hits, it doesn't just explode. It /sticks/ like some kind of napalm of liquid sunlight.

Hopefully the others can keep N'raha safe from the shot, because that thing's probably going to burn.

Nina Windia (985) has posed:
Flying is indeed cheating. Nina isn't up very high, but she is up high enough that she doesn't have to worry about stepping in something - and it gives her more room to avoid some of the more dangerous minions. Like sahagin!

But these sahagin have magic and spears. Nina avoids a trio of blobs of water arcing at her, but runs out of room to evade; a spear strikes her hip hard enough that she spins from the momentum, and she nearly falls out of the air, yelping in pain.

She's not the only one in trouble, though. Nina tries to pass off the sahagin onto some of the others by half-landing, half-crashing near Athela. Will doesn't have a bad idea, though...

Nina can't call up another tornado so soon after her last and the gigantic thunderbolt. Instead she uses smaller but more efficient blasts of wind; cutting lines that blast in from the side and flank, trying to slash into the Defiler and force him to drop N'raha so that Athela can scoop him up!

She pauses, a moment later, as Will's blast crosses the sky. She didn't even feel the magic from that! (For a good reason.) She stops being distracted afterwards, limping further back so that the sahagin (hopefully) stay away from her.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason dares not use her Geomancy as that would out her faster than more things like common weapons form her world. For now though if it comes to it? The Defiler has to go and she keeps shooting and now she's going to try to aim for one of the thing's legs to hopefully wound it there and slow it down. Hopefully making it easier prey for the rest of the party.

"That's what you got to say about ..."

She will hope the aimed shot will maybe give N'raha a chance to escape it's hold she's not a healer and wishes to Bismark that...Carby was here they need a healer bad.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    WELL. THAT HAPPENED. A serious, and pitched battle is taking place, that's for sure, with endless waves of Sagahin looking to swamp the heroes in their corpses. But the sudden plight of N'raha seems to be spurring direct assaults on The Defiler. Which is likely the correct course of action. Bombs and swords seem to be doing the job pretty well, Swaranka howling his displeasure at being disturbed from murdering the Bearer of the Echo. Athela's attack in particular slashes out and disconnects a batch of the tentacles, forcing the Creature to lose his hold on Raha...
    Just in time for that NAPALM FIRE ATTACK. THE FLAMES OF IFRIT, BROUGHT TO BEAR ON- wait no, that's a different boss fight. That said, The Defiler is not a fan. There's a distinct smell of cooked fish and cooked dead rotten fish that lifts into the bay, a howling mad raging behind the smoke and flames and mess that's cast up.

    But it's quickly clear that the Howling Mad Rage is /not/ Swaranka. Because it's staggering out of its little fortified position in the rocks and rubble, towards the line of heroes. The shell is smoldering, the tentacles are smoking and singed and looking sort of limp. And there's also a Cat Man with an Axe that's suddenly larger than it ought to be, wailing on the Defiler. Someone has flipped the switch on Raha, and anyone who knows this world and those like it will recognize the Berzerker in the Warrior. Unintelligible, howling mad lion noises interspersed with the crashing of Aether-formed Axe on Fish. He's full Limit Break, folks.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Will returns with a Stupidly Powerful Gun that pretty much blasts napalm and light into things. Yari thankfully had the presence of mind to close her eyes. Even so, when she opens them, there's lights dancing. This might make her accuracy a bit suspect as it all clears up. N'raha however, is also a worry as she hears that howling berserker charge of a warrior!

A quick warning over the radio, and then the ninja gets her priorities straight. She can't attack the Boss what with N'raha charging in. So she instead finishes her handseals and turns to the remaining fishmen.

"Raiton!" A massive burst of electricity flies out for the fishes, as she tries to give them her own version of shock therapy that will scorch through the air and probably light up a few pools of water along the way! Hopefully with fish in them, not her allies.

Nina Windia (985) has posed:
That's a hell of a blast. Nina is impressed by Will's charged shot, especially as it wasn't magic; she expected to be the one putting out the majority of the elemental power here!

She is, if nothing else, consistent about it. Having used a small spell, she's ready for a larger one again, and she's winding up for it when N'raha goes yelling mad.

"N'raha!" Nina calls to him, trying to break him out of it. She takes back up into the air; her hip is still bleeding from the spear impact, but since she's not /walking/ that doesn't actually slow her down very much. It hurts a lot, but she starts to move toward him... though staying out of his reach, ascending about ten feet into the air.

It makes her a prime target for any sahagin who's still on the ground, alive, and has a spear to throw. Nina covers her approach by summoning a quintet of green-yellow spheres that split into a square-based pyramid, forming a solid wall of flame and forcing them to split into two groups. (The smaller group is towards her.)

"N'raha, calm down! You can keep fighting, just - know what you're working with!" Nina has never dealt with a berserker before, but - since she can get relatively close without getting within his reach - she might be the best person to talk at him. She doesn't think she can cast at the Defiler while N'raha's so close to him and refusing to back off, either.

Athela Valemore has posed:
Her rescue made, Athela wisely backs out of the way of the Lion being loosed from the Cat Man. At least to the point that she's not going to get caught up in his brutal axe swings by accident. Bezerkers do tend to forget to pay attention to their surroundings and nuances like ally positioning. Or new foes emerging into the fight.

Instead she turns her attention to the other form staggering out of the mess stewn by Will's impressive cannon blast. How many of these monsters are there in this hideous hellhole? With a gritted snarl she plants her heels and readies herself. "Whatever thy be, stay back! Lest you want more of what he is getting," she gives a nod in the direction of Axecat trying to fillet the fishfreak still.

She's feeling a bit wore down from all the fighting thus far, but she's not about to let that slow her down until this battle is truely over. Her sword is gripped tightly and ready to strike should a hostile intent become apparent. No knight backs down just from exhaustion.

Wo has posed:
The humanoid carrier had been around her share of unpleasant smells over the years, but this is probably high on the list. It could almost be a area attack, in itself. She manages to keep her even expression, though, save for a slight wrinkling at the bridge of her nose. Something else she recognizes is pure hatred and angered channeled into action, and when the figurative and literal dust settles over the sight of the Defiler, it leaves what, she at least thinks, was once N'raha in its wake, now wailing away with seemingly little regard to personal safety. And probably friend or foe, if her own taste with that kind of raw emotion is any indication.

    Accordingly, when the sage advice to just stand clear of it is given, Wo obliges. Not that she can get too close just yet, in any case, with the interference of the Sahuagin being what it is, but better that they be the targets than her. Accordingly, as the dive bombers clear, they stay in a holding pattern above both the giant and his axe blender counterpart; they have no more bombs to drop at the moment, but they seem to be monitoring the situation from a better vantage point. Wo, herself, slowly retreats to give that particular battlefield a wide berth, even if the fishpeople and any straggling Reavers do come along with her. Joining them in the air, as soon as she gets a little bit of time and physical space, another wing of dive bombers, freshly loaded, and angling toward the suddenly beset upon beast of a former-man. They don't move into attack position just yet, since N'raha would also be in the crosshairs, but at this point he might not actually care.

    By now, she's a bit scorched, stabbed, bleeding more of that not-blood, but still on her feet. That counts for something.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Hoo boy, Will knows the smell of a fish fry, and that's definitely that. "Dang," he whistles, the Solano still smoldering in his hands. "I could get used to that kind of oomph." There's a beep. "Critical heat threshold reached. We will need to cool down before firing again." What!? Heat failure!? But they just got that new heat sink, and there are /so many fishmen/ still up and at'em and rushing at all his friends!

And.

Uh.

And N'raha's apparently gone crazy.

    Dangit, the way he is, he might just chop through anything that gets close!" But that means they can't /help him/ either. Will clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and dives back behind his ship's controls. He might not be able to fire the Solano again for a bit, but...

Well.

    That autocannon at the front and of his ship is spooling up again. Its barrels are glowing, giving off a harsh, red light. Light that gives way to spectacularly 80s pulses of laser fire. "Keep 'em from dogpilin' on him! Give 'im the time he needs to calm down!" Because Will certainly doesn't have any idea about what's going on inside that cat's head.

...

"ANYONE HAVE ANY CATNIP!?"

Yep. Ideas man, right here.

William Pauwel has posed:
Wait.

Wait. Will... Will has an /idea./

It's just like back home. If N'raha's in the kind of mindset Will thinks he is, then this JUST MIGHT WORK. "Alright buddy," the cowpoke licks his lips and adjusts his autocannon's aim, tracking it to... very near N'raha. At the ground, in fact.

And if-- if by SOME MIRACLE-- N'raha actually... follows it. Then.

Well.

At the very least, they might have a way to lead him to mobs to axe!?

Lyria Mason has posed:
Limit BReak? This just got serious the warning is given and she heeds the warning very deeply as she will get the heck out of the way of N'raha as she was wrned to and the sounds coming out of his mouth? Are not things she'd espect out of such a hume like race of people or humes in general. She stared for a moment but brings up her weapon and she gets the idea of what that might be as similar things do EXIST on her world and she lines up a shot or two to fire into the lesser servants of the lord of the deep.

Lighting shots rian and then comes? A grenade or two KA BOOM.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE"

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
N'raha's freed from Swaranka's hold! Good.Her allies are handling the Sahagin and calming the catman down while also focusing their larger area attacks on the Sahagin. Also good! That just leaves KAzuko to... To...

     ... Try and not bleed out after having all those Sahagin coming after her. There's still much more of them left than she'd like there to be, and the stench.. Dear god, the STENCH. Luckily, all that blood is helping it not hit the martial artist's nose as much as it could, but that's of little consolation considering how much of it is her own. Still, she's not going to go down without a fight, and the (relatively) diminutive girl bellows a roar to the heavens!

     And then she takes off again. Instead of trying to fall back and draw the Sahagin away, however, she's charging right at the larger group that Nina's trying to break off, and then that naginata starts getting swung about widly again. Her weapon ends up breaking in the middle of it with the blade snapping off, but that doesn't stop her in the least. She swings that pole around, eventually swapping it for one of the fallen lancer's weapons once it does.

     It's almost like she's trying to mimic N'raha own berserker rage, albeit with a much different weapon and not nearly with the same intensity, but running purely off adrenaline. Alas, it doesn't last all that long before it wears off, and the martial artist just falls over face down, unable to keep fighting on with those injuries!

N'raha Tia has posed:
    And as the Heroes turn their attentions to the remainder of the now dwindling fishmen, it's apparent that without a real chance to use that staff of his, the Defiler is looking a bit more haggard and threadbare. Also, the cat trying to carve his way into its ribcage.

    In fact, without the rallying cry of Swaranka, the Sahagin too are growing worried and restless and sloppy and dead.

    Swaranka's eyes grow panicked, though as it feels The End coming. Though the beasts and men of the Whorl may be devoted to Leviathan... it doesn't mean they relish that fact, now does it? Its mouth opens, and it snarls defiantly, words shaking with the force of the cat's blows. "YOU cannot DefEAT usssssaaalllll, m-mortal... HYDAElyn will NOT have he-her prize. This WORLD IS ouuuuRRRRSSSSS!" The eyes, all of them, look frantically to the lost souls that lie battered and broken on the beach, to the ships smouldering and slowly succumbing to the waves, and to Wo, out of all of the others.
    The Defiler's eyes... hold a look of understanding, of pleading. You /know/, old one. You /know/ what is going to happen to me.

    And then it's past. The look anyways. Because N'raha bellows at the top of his lungs. "GO BACK TO YOUR MASTER AND GROVEL. And tell ALL OF THE PRIMALS... their DAY IS DONE." That Aether-boosted axe lifts. And then it falls. And then the head of the Defiler rolls away from the rest of him.

    N'raha's head lifts as he looks to the group, something feral there in his cat-like face... before the energy all boils off him in a rush, and he simply... sits on the corpse, panting. Thankfully this is not a Load Bearing Boss, and the Island does not start to sink.

        DUTY COMPLETE

Wo has posed:
She did understand, ultimately. Only recently, and through much effort and personal strength, and that of others around her, did Wo finally break a spell long held over her. Her eyes are similarly understanding, though ultimately not holding much pity. Because she had been there, many times before. Then, as others fall around her and she feels things drawing to an end, she closes her own eyes. "...it'd be nice if you can find peace." But it will only be through sustained work that it will be possible.

    Also, please someone give N'raha a stress toy or something.

Nina Windia (985) has posed:
Nina thumps down not too far from N'raha. She wobbles on her injured leg but manages to stay upright, wings staying spread as she looks at...

Everything.

"Are you all right?" she asks. It's an open question. "I guess this is what you mean by the Primals acting..." She looks across the, uh, the event. She doesn't cheer.

After a few moments she does offer N'raha a hand up, though. It's mostly symbolic. She couldn't lift him and his armour if she tried.

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela Valemore turns from guarding the Axecat's backside from adds at the final choking words from Swaranka, her eyes narrowing a bit. "No." It's a pointless gesture as the charged axe tears into the fiend, but she holds gaze all the same. "This World is of those whom protect it from the filth your kind choke it in."

And then N'raha takes off his head.

"The storm is over. Let the seas calm and takes us homeward." She kicks a dead fishman out of the way of walking back to the docks. "The odorous fester they leave in their wake verily stings my nostrils, and I grew up around fishers of the seas."

Kazuko Kawakami (942) has posed:
Kazuko seems rather content on the ground rather than trying to get back up at this moment, fatigued and bleeding quite a bit even as she rolls over to spy her allies' handiwork. The battle is done, the big bad is slain, and...

     She still doesn't feel all that pleased about the whole thing. So many brainwashed people that had to get killed, and with no idea whether or not the problem's even been solved in the long run... Is this what it feels like to understand things more? It feels a little empty.

     That, or maybe it's just the blood loss. Kazuko going to need some help getting back home tonight.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Welp, looks like N'raha didn't need leading around after all! He was exactly in the place that he was supposed to be, MAULING A MONSTER. Will sighs as the autocannon finally spools down, heat rippling softly from the weapon into the night. "Well, that was... A thing," the cowpoke sighs, leaning forward over his controls. He's /probably/ not going to have any seafood for at least a few months now.

"...So!" He calls, poking his head up from his boat, "Weeee should probably track down that thing what let the giant fish man get into that cave in the first place, shouldn't we?"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari lets out a long held breath as N'raha finally seems to let the rage go. She looks around to the others. It looks like no one's dead, that's certainly a relief. She pulls out a few bandages, tying some of the worst of her wounds to staunch the bleeding.

"Filthy beastmen...you'll learn how foolish you are, relying on those /things/." She spits at one of the corpses, before wobbling over to a very shakey Kazuko. "Come on. Let's get you someplace safe. With a conjuror. And booze. Lots of it." Fishmen leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The cat man... shuffles a bit in the corpse of the faller Defiler, before grabbing something. "...Yari." Well shit, N'raha, just blab it to the whole world.

    But there's a smile on the lips of the Miqo'te, gross fish blood probably getting in his mouth, but he lifts up the item... which somehow is not coated in vicsera.

    A gleaming blue crystal, untouched by the corruption of this place, of this awful spectacle.

    Its Light Shines.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason uis fairlu inharmed the seas are calmed and the minions of Primal are handled we,, these ones for now. She seems to be relaxing a bit though it's hard to tell.

"Job's done right? Well for now and remind me to never get our friend ... angry here." Do not taunt the happy fun Brezerker just don't and she knows that much.

"Do not presume all of them do, fantics are the dangerous to any school of thoughts. I wonder though how many were desperate fools who didn't know what they were letting slip upon the world?"

She clens her wapons off now that she has a chance and will get ready to head out.

"I'll leave that crystal to you N'Raha."

Athela Valemore has posed:
"By Cobalion's horns," Athela murmurs at the crystal's glow, untouched by the filth that permutated this cavern. Even not being of this world she can sense there is something... significant about this. "Perhaps there was more destigned upon thy day that disposing of some abominations."

Okay, time for revelating later. Let's get the hell out of this fishhole. She trots over to collect her pokemon, she can bandage up his hand on the way back home.