1442/Those Sacrificed by the Sealer

Those Sacrificed by the Sealer
Date of Scene:	29 January 2015
Location:	Great Painting of Ariamis <PoA>
Synopsis:	Priscilla's group ventures down into the ruins of New Londo, both learning and confronting the reason it was sealed long ago.
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, Staren, Priscilla, 168, 183, 560, Lezard Valeth

---

Priscilla has posed:
    For a change, the summoning circle has returned from the dangerous and far flung corners of the world and been set down at somewhere much closer to home. Near to the beginning of their journey, today's heroes are summoned only a half hour's walk from Firelink Shrine, though the walk would be entirely vertical, up one of the many sets of spiralling stairs cut into the inside of the cliff the shrine rests on. That little fact will be all the reassurance anyone gets however, because the destination is nothing like the peaceful, sunlit vista above. A city appears to have been built in a hollow near the base of the cliff, though whatever it overlooked is anyone's guess, as the face that should open out into the daylight has been sealed with an utterly gargantuan, man-made door; using more metal than most cities will mine in a year. The result is that the place feels like a cave, albeit an extremely roomy one; cast into a deep, sullen blackness that is only just barely illuminated by a few weak sunrays filtering in through holes in the encircling cliff up above, from which ancient rivers used to run in the process of carving out the hollow.

    There is only just enough light to facilitate walking without tripping, but the scene is pretty clear, and the sights are already familiar to those who had met the dragon. The spires and steeples of a sizeable reinnaissance city rise out from what can only be described as a lake, submerging everything from the entryway down save for the highest floors of the tallest buildings, and the upper third of the grand door. The water is pitch black, but fully reflects the tiny amount of light, making it easy to tell where it is by the glistening ripples that occasionally shoot across its surface. It's unclear where so much water came from, but it's obvious that the door was sealed deliberately to keep it in; burying the city under a tiny ocean. The depth is enough that diving wouldn't be safe even with modern equipment, since the pressure would simply turn oxygen toxic.

    Priscilla seems to be a little bit stumped by this. She's sitting at the edge of what was once a roof, but is now little more than a balcony; scythe over her lap and feet just above the water as she stares out over where the horizon should be. Oscar is standing beside her, scribbling out a makeshift map on a blank scroll; occasionally stopping to measure something in the distance by the length of his writing quill. Attentive people will notice shapes moving in the distance, though they appear to be little more than moving lights, drifting in and out of view amidst the pillars and arches.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard Valeth has had a keen interest in Lordran for some time. While Priscilla, Oscar, and Nathan Hall may have misgivings over the unstable alchemist-necromancer, he seems to have restrained himself for the time being. He has been a common sight in the Duke's Archives, relentlessly devouring information involving the former owner's research and the nature of his sorcery when not apparently causing trouble elsewhere.

And yet he is here, still gleaming with deep crimson as he stands with arms crossed on the edge of the sunken lake, looking out over the water himself in contemplation. He does not see fit to disturb the ruminations of Priscilla and Oscar as of yet. His attention is on something else.

Perhaps the lights in the distance? With a deliberate motion, he reaches beneath his phantasmal cloak, the motion reaching into some tiny rift there to produce the book he carries with him which bears no title. It flips in his hand as he looks down at it, the pages turning of their own volition as he apparently begins looking something up.

Staren has posed:
    "Priscilla. Good to see you again." Staren nods as he approaches, looking around for a moment, then looking out over the water. "/Where/ exactly is the last Lordsoul? And how deep is this, anyway?" Staren asks. He was summoned in his armor, as usual. Also as usual, everyone else gets friendly nods of greeting too, except for Lezard, who gets a neutral expression like Staren's just trying not to glare so he can't be bothered to fake something friendly as well.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would descend seemingly from nowhere, alighting atop the tiles of the same roof Priscilla and Oscar have found themselves. Her expression is bleak, to say the least, and all she can seem to do from the moment she arrives is to stare at the crossbreed with a truly miserable, forlorn look. Should this glance be reciprocated, Mizuki would look away in utter silence, quickly diverting her gaze to some building, or pile of bones, or arbitrary point in the miniature sea. It's unclear why she's being so fidgety, but it's painfully obvious that she is both distracted and distressed. So much so that it might hinder her efforts to be helpful this eve, but nevertheless she has elected to come. Judging by the almost guilty looks she's giving Priscilla, this may be part of some misguided effort to pay her recompense for some great transgression.

    Eventually, she might muster the courage to give Priscilla a quick nod of greeting, and Oscar as well, but after this she would fold her arms uncomfortable and fix her gaze finally on the sky. It's dark -- hazy. It's almost like they're in a swamp with all the moisture, which is quite a funny thing considering the airy ridge just beyond the gate, but fits Mizuki's current feelings all too well. Whatever 'artistic critiques she has of the atmosphere are firmly kept to herself today, though, and her thoughts are again as nebulous as they were when none in the Multiverse knew her name.

    She would probably be a sitting duck for a Darkwraith right now. Or anything else for that matter.

Tomoe has posed:
So here is she is on4ee more Tomoe seems to be a bit less on edge as so far as sh knows they are not looking for a fight today but here. She walk seemingly not bothered by too much. She blows a strand of purple hait out of her face and spoiles at Priscilla.

"Good to see you."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    As usual, Shirou manifests as a gold phantom of justice! And the moment after he appears yhe youth exhales, opens his eyes and... blinks a few times.

    Then rubs at them. "It's dark..."

    Captain Obvious is occasionally Shirou's alter-ego, isn't he?

    Tentatively he steps forward, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom and the dreary surroundings. Soon shapes begin to appear and he manages to get a feel for what he's looking at... and where people are. Of course, the pstumped and brooding Priscilla's noticed first! But so is Lezard. Like the Necromancer, Shirou's spotted the distant lights...

    "Trace... ON!"

    And he's got his own ideas about seeing what's up over there.

    No doubt Lezard might be able to detect trace amounts of magic filtering through Shirou's eyes, settling into the organs and reinforcing them. Of course, his range is not that good...

    But it's like looking through cheap binoculaurs, which might be enough. Just what's out there?

    For that matter..

    "What in the world happened to this place?"

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan Hall is here! Summoning right out of the ground, as a shimmering white phantom, as per the norm. He takes a look around and seems just as stumped as the rest. Nathan has a lot of command over water magic, but... No, this is way beyond the scope of his powers. "Goodness." He says, simply, as he takes his seat here. "Whatever it is, here, that holds the remains of the relevant soul, must still be alive, otherwise Nito would have provided it for us as well, but this is a troubling obstacle. Perhaps I am remembering incorrectly, but there was more... City, and less water here, correct?"

    There's greetings to Staren as well, of course. Mizuki gets a curious look, but Nathan isn't observant enough to be able to do anything more than vaguely be aware something's wrong, not be consciously cognizant of the absence of art critique being the issue here. His blank, stoic expression, though, remains firmly in place. Shirou, for his part, gets a pause and a sort of flat look.

    "It was flooded, Shirou."

    And then he's back on his feet. "Oscar, it is good to have your help again." He peers a bit at the map. "Preliminary explorations? Do you have any leads we could assist you in following up on?"

Priscilla has posed:
    Oscar looks to Lezard with another impenetrably helmeted gaze, but it doesn't seem especially suspicious or unkind, as opposed to the others around him. He has barely any idea of a multiversal war, never mind any stake in it, and whoever is a Unionite or a Confederate matters little to him. Lezard had helped them before, and shown a surprising amount of tact during the last opportunity he had to betray them, so it might be that the knight actually likes him. Priscilla on the other hand, barely notices him. She seems even more sullen than usual, for reasons only Mizuki would be privy to. "Lady Tomoe. Sir Staren." she says in half-hearted greeting. "Somewhere beneath this. Once this city was named New Londo, built by humans long before the burg above, but lost to some catastrophe." Oscar picks up after her. "These cities aren't built all on one flat level. From where we are now to the front doors of the nearest buildings, it'd be perhaps a hundred spans, but to the very bottom of the city, it would be impossible to hold one's breath long enough to swim all the way down and back up, even aside the issues of being unable to see and the crushing weight." Priscilla looks sideways to Mizuki, accidentally meets her gaze, and then turns back.

    "Well met, Sir Hall." Oscar brightens up slightly at seeing Nathan. He motions him over to come stand where the light is a little better, where he can more easily see the map-in-progress. "We know that the four kings of New Londo each inherited a tiny piece of the Great Lord Gwyn's soul as a badge of divine providence. Supposedly, they remained within the city when it was sealed, in the way a captain goes down with their ship. I have no idea how we'll go about searching it for wherever the Lordsoul shards might have been enshrined by them, but I have a general idea of the layout. The rear of the cave here is where the ground is at its highest, and the city progresses in several 'steps' downwards. There are stairs and towers that lead to this outer ridge here that eventually connects back to Firelink Shrine, so that you could get to it from any level, so that gives us a way to at least approach from any angle on the city's outskirts." While Oscar is busy talking to Nathan, Shirou will pick up on the moving lights more easily. Most of them are still too distant and blurry to make out, but one of them appears to have drifted very close to Mizuki in her distraction, resolving into a faint, fluttering, vaguely humanoid shape, like a person wearing overlong robes. Further off in the distance however, he catches a splotch of bright crimson against the dark greys and blues, set atop the highest tower of what appears to be a church.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The obvious ill will from Staren goes unanswered, though he does seem to smile faintly for some inexplicable reason.

The familiar trigger phrase (by now) draws a glance from Lezard, pulling his attention from the book. He pushes up his glasses, possibly about to make a comment, when he pauses for a moment. "Interesting. You have discovered a new method of using your magic, magus. Perhaps you have hope yet."

The book closes, and he tucks it under his arm as he nods. "Indeed. As you can see in the distance, there is a mighty gate holding the water in like a dam. The question becomes: Why? A gate such at that could not be erected without the notice of the people within, and therefore either the people flooded the land themselves..."

And then he smiles darkly. "... Or they were in no position to resist." He lets that settle for a moment, before he turns away from the shore, gesturing over his shoulder. "A clue to the nature of the truth lies beyond these dark waters."

He pauses as he considers the words of Priscilla, and nods. "And so we must win our way within the walls and solve the mystery before us. A worthy challenge foe the assembled, no?"

He glances towards Mizuki, apparently watching something in silence. Perhaps he sees the spirit approaching... but he says nothing to alert the sullen author.

Staren has posed:
    Oscar gets a nod too. "So, the soul is in the underwater city... somewhere." He turns to look at the water. "...This armor has hours of spare air, and I have other tanks I could connect to it. But even so... it sounds like it could take far longer to search for the soul. Isn't there any way to narrow down its location?"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe looks to Scar and the otehrs curious for what they got to say she does seem happy to see them. She listens as Oscar rtelays what he's dound.

"So like a cake that got crushed kinda? I think I get it, so sounds like we'd need deep diving gear from the sounds of it if we were to go down there."

She thinks for a long moment as they menion the shrines.

"Humm we got a way to drain the water like a enough bags of holding or something akin to that?"

It was just a thought on her part but well it's better than nothing she looks to what lays ahead. She also peers at Priscilla wondering what mighh ahead for this.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Fortunately, she's not quite so far gone that Lezard and Shirou need to call attention to the encroaching phantasm.

    Quite the contrary, actually -- she's far more jumpy than usual. A deep, chilling sensation would overtake her shoulder, at which she would summon her sword and spin about in a fervor. Her eyes would be stricken with an obvious taint of horror, but she would not lash out. Rather, that same aural frigidity would lock every facet of her body into place save for her trunk, which would move chaotically up and down with her labored, short breaths. Far away is her usual confidence, and it shows in her every motion; every step she takes away from that unseen presence is as uncertain as the quivering of her hand against the metal of her blade. Notably, her left leg is shaking as would any tree teetering on a precipice rent in the Earth by seismic wakes.

    Only after a deep breath and a tightening of the grip at the hilt of her sword would she be able to shift her look from its position of fear to one of forced malice. She would keep the point of her blade leveled at where she supposes the neck of the 'thing' would be, as though position would matter in strikes at a spirit. She would glance nervously to the other members of the group as if to simultaneously ask 'Do you see this?' and 'What should I do?' all at once. Some keen eyes may make the observation that she looks quite a lot like a child who has taken a sword into her hands for the first time. Too much like one, in fact; so much that it may almost seem irritating or cumbersome to the more evidently seasoned sorts present.

    She would maintain this pose for some time, fervently looking back and forth between Nathan, Lezard, Shirou, Tomoe, and the specter. She would still be doing her utmost to leave Priscilla be.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou gives Lezard a disbelieving look. 'Are you serious?' His amber eyes seem to suggest. Though he's teeth clenching a bit throughout the whole matter. "No need to rub it in. Chances are no matter how hard I work, your level of skill's in a different world completely."

    Yup, apparently he took that comment as more of a sarcastic insult. But his response is more sulky and practical than aggravated.

    He rapidly shakes his head to clear it, then... "Mizuki! Look out!" Spotting how spooked Mizuki is... in fact... Shirou ditches all attention on everything else.

    He breaks into a full dash her way, Kanshou and Bakuya appearing in his grasp. He's still not sure if the spirit's HOSTILE, but almost everything in Lordran's proven itself immensely so.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Hmmm. If they stayed here, intending to go down with the ship as you say, perhaps we could most easily find some insight into their current location at a probable seat of government." Nathan says, giving a quickj nod to Staren. "We can use the most basic processes of elimination, at least. Such locations tend to be at the top of any terrain, to secure height advantage as much as possible for defenders, so, our ideal approach when we can should be to move from the outskirts at the rear..."

    His thinking is interrupted! There's an incident with some kind of spirit. He watches very closely after they call out in stress about this, and tries to observe the potential threats as much as possible. They might need to move soon... He's already thinking about the best ways to explore the area Oscar mapped out, trying to figure out the best possible routes to go anywhere. Or thinking about the viability of making rough ice on the surface of the water below to make for an easier trip...

Priscilla has posed:
    Oscar shrugs at Staren, turning back to his map with a couple of fingerpoints at key locations. "I am glad to hear that you have some manner of circumventing the problem in mind, but we have very little to work with. The likely places would be the church, keep, or pilgrim's passage, but there's no guarantee they will be at any of those places, and if they aren't, then we can only attempt to search by order of importance, and hope that they weren't hidden somewhere secret. As for draining the water . . ." Priscilla speaks up. "I hath doubts that the gate was built from start to finish in a time of crisis. It was likely designed to be both opened and closed upon whim. I cannot say if the mechanism to do so remaineth intact, whether destroyed deliberately or by age. I also cannot say whether doing so wouldst be wise."

    She looks up as all the shouting starts, staring upwards at Mizuki, and then more pointedly at the faintly glowing shape approaching her. Said shape seems to grow more distinct the closer it gets to the Author, turning from a vague, misty kind of shape into what very much appears to be the translucent silhouette of some incredibly thin creature clad in the tattered remnants of a hooded cloak. The visible lower half of its face appears to be nothing but teeth filling an impossibly stretched jaw, and the arms that unfold from under its robes look as if they belong to some sort of multi-jointed insect rather than a person. Slowly drifting through the point and along the length of Mizuki's sword, it slows to a crawl as it approaches within inches of touching her, and then abruptly lets off a hissing, gurgling, completely inhuman screech. Suddenly clutched within both of its hands is a short blade so pointlessly jagged that it looks broken, the hilt of which is wrapped around several times by fingers with far too many knuckles.

    That's about as far as it gets before the sleek, silvery blade belonging to Priscilla goes flying through the air and plants itself into the ghost's head, hitting it like an extensively solid target, and spraying gouts of transparent, ectoplasmic blood that simply phase through Mizuki in the way. There is an ear splitting screech, and then the creature keels over in mid-air, dead for a second time. No other of the distant shapes appear to have been attracted by the sound because we're not dealing with that tonight. The little blob of crimson however, seems to have moved positions. In fact, it appears to be in the process of scaling a ladder.

Staren has posed:
    Oh hey spirit! Staren's so focused on other stuff he doesn't notice until others call attention to it. He stares as Mizuki raises her sword and it impales itself, unconcerned... at the scream, he raises his arm reflexively, aiming the beam cannons -- But Priscilla throws a ghost-touch dagger and it... dies? "What the hell was /that/?!" He turns to Priscilla for explanation, arm still raised to aim at the 'dead' spirit.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard simply watches Mizuki, and gestures as the clearly emotionally disturbed author seeks guidance. The gesture? One of impatience, as if he was asking what she was waiting for.

Meanwhile, Lezard smiles at the offer from Staren. "If you wish to plunge into the depths, by all means, be our guest. I would be delighted to see what happens, and if armor is enough to survive the perils here." The Necromancer chuckles, giving a meaningful stare towards the water.

He turns with a flourish of his cloak to look at Shirou. "It is, isn't it?" He chuckles, adjusting his glasses. "But there are still things to learn yet. What does not grow, falls into decay." He doesn't add to Shirou's call out, simply moving on.

The comment from Hall causes him to nod. "Agreed. We will have to survey this dead city in some manner." The resultant destruction of the spirit goes uncommented upon, but he squints faintly into the distance once more. "There is only one way to find out if the mechanism of the gate still functions." Staren's exclamation about what happened causes Lezard to shrug nonchalantly. "Is it not obvious? The whispers of the damned lie heavy upon these shores. The shades of those long past haunt this area still. How does one consider this information in light of the sea of darkness before us?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren's not so sure his armor is ghost-proof. He looks at Lezard. "Look, that's new." He turns to Priscilla. "Since when do the dead turn into spirits like this? I thought they just became zombies or something."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe takes good note of Nathan's words as it's generally wise to at least hear him out. She listens making note of his thoughts and nods in agreement.

"Better than anything I could come up with."

Tomoe now moves ot press foward with the rest making to have her self be on point.

"Humm so a gate with a trick right?"

Then the shouting starts she looks about trying to spot whaever is going then Priscilla and mizuki get to it and now she behold the spirit and she now just stares.

"... what the!"

she's already moving but she's not sure what to do here.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    As the... thing... continues its approach, Mizuki would continue to back away until there was an uncomfortable distance between her feet and the edge of the rooftop. Then she would stop, brandishing her blade in the most threatening way, and finally thrusting it forward when it arrives before its tip. Only, this has no effect. At all. Mizuki would freeze in place again, only to be met with the charming visage of a metallic slab far too corrugated to be properly referred to as a 'sword'. Her own blade would freeze in place, her eyes glazing over somewhat before the lifehunt scythe lashes out, 'rending' the thing's head from its 'body' and sending ectoplasmic remnants seething through Mizuki's body.

    She would give a quick but quite genuine shriek; likely the first any in her current company have heard from her, and likely the last they will for some time. She would drop her blade to the ground and turn her gaze to the ground as if resigned to a most grisly fate, before... her gaze would rise. She would glance about, looking for the malevolent entity before realizing that it haunts them no longer, and that she is safe. So that scythe wasn't a symbol of death, but deliverance? ... well, considering it's source, she should have known. She would look to Priscilla with glistening eyes and incline her head downward, muttering an almost human "Thank you," in passing. The blade on the ground would soon disappear, reappearing in her hand as her right palm dusts off the skirt of her dress.

    Her eyes would close briefly. When Priscilla's scythe had come at her... what had she thought? Had she thought it to be a vengeful gesture? No... no, she's not so paranoid that she would doubt the actions of that particular woman for any circumstances in the world, but... still. She's finally made cognisant of her present vulnerability, and she takes a long, deep breath to collect herself. There's no point in moping about like this, is there? It's certainly not going to curry favor with Priscilla -- she never has been one to coddle others, after all. So she'll try the other approach: she'll try to be brave again. Brave in the face of the mortality that she's only now beginning to comprehend her possession of.

    Her eyes reopen. "... quite a greeting that was. But I'd expect no less, I suppose." She exhales. "I am quite done wallowing in my own thoughts now, though. It is hard to remain locked in one's head with such dark visitors to serve as rapt alarms." She would finally summon a smile, looking to Priscilla. It's still a shy gesture, but not forced. It's honest as can be, in keeping with those words that follow.

    "I shoud like to be helpful, and draining the water sounds quite a sound plan. But we must first find the mechanism that would allow us to do so, yes? How might that appear? Is it a crank, a mill, a lever? Something I might find through observation from the sky?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would pause a moment after collecting herself to look to Shirou and offer another bow of her head, wherever he may land after his charge. "Thank you, Mister Shirou. Though we've not been well-acquainted, it is ever a reassuring thing to know what dependable, stalwart allies I have to defend me." It would seem this opportunity to speak would restore yet more of her usual energy, culminating in a small curtsy of appreciation.

    ... leeettt's just hope some other ghosts don't come up and shank her while she's not paying attention.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan observes the event. "Thank you, Priscilla." He asides to his ally here, outwardly not reacting at all to the terror that just tried to eviscerate Mizuki, and inwardly completely terrified by it. Then he stares at the distant shapes, but can find little observation to make about them or action to take towards them. Okay, time to focus on what's right now: First, choking down the nausea about watching a ghost's dismemberment. Second, figuring out the course of action.

    "Lezard is correct. The gate must be our next objective, to drain the water. While the water itself may be part of the sealing of this area, we have little choice in the matter, unless other options for moving forward present themselves. Act with caution, but act, nonetheless. It stands to reason that the mechanisms of the gate or some hint at their location could be found near the gate itself. Let us move in that direction, if we can, to investigate the surroundings on either side of the relevant hinges."

    If the group is not harried by additional ghosts in need of busting, Nathan will try to determine a path from their current position to either side of the vast gate, judge some probable location for the mechanism based on the details of the gate's visible appearances, or similar, and then immediately set off for it. Due to possessing highly compatible magical powers, he might even be able to form a path of ice over the water here, if necessary!

Lezard Valeth has posed:
OH BOY, UNSEALING ANCIENT EVILS. Lezard isn't jumping in anticipation, but he's certainly not dawdling either. He gives Hall a short bow at his acknowledgement, and he turns to nod to Staren. "What does an undead do when its will is great enough to remain, yet its body is no more?" He simply asks the scientist. "The body is but a vessel."

He moves to join the others, looking to Mizuki, and rubbing his chin. "I would have to defer to Lady Priscilla and Sir Oscar. I am not yet familiar enough with this land to posit the likely mechanism."

That and he's been spending all his time on research of sorcery and hilariously unethical experimentation, not architecture. "Do be cautious, however. Spirits need no wings to fly." He looks to Nathan, Oscar, and Priscilla. "For the rest of us, do we have a path prepared to pass into what portions of the city are still available to us?"

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    With Priscilla taking downt he Wraith.. Shirou grinds to a halt... and banishes his two weapons with a faint flash of light. "Tch.. so they're hostile after all?!" Drat. Well, he expected it... the redhead nods Mizuki's way, sprouts a slightly reassuring smile... and states, "I'm not about to leave a girl in trouble!" As if that were a matter of course...

    "...Hm. I saw something strange on top of the Church. A color that didn't belong. Lots of red. Could that be important?"

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla recalls her weapon back to her hand in the traditional way, making it appear as if it has simply been invisible there to begin with. The ghost's 'corpse' begins to disintegrate as almost every non-mortal creature in Lordran does upon death, becoming little more than motes of white light on an intangible breeze. "Sir Valeth hast the right of it. It is unlikely the kings wouldst hath stayed if all of their citizens hadst evacuated before them. New Londo is very old, and the darksign is more recent. None of those who were sacrificed in the sealing wouldst hath been Undead." She stares at Mizuki for several, long, tense moments, in the kind of way that seems as if she could be getting ready to say just about anything, before finally returning a somewhat defeated looking smile. "Likely something of such a mechanical nature, though it wouldst not be unusual for it to hath been accompanied with magic."

    Oscar seems to have been a little late to the party; fixated on his map enough that he only just notices as the brief fiasco concludes. He points well across to the opposite side of the cavern, towards a pair of massive towers that appear to be partially embedded in the rock, so tall that they double the height of anything else in the city. "I'd imagine the mechanism would be in one or both of the watch towers, but if it hasn't been deliberately broken, it might have been sealed with sorcery instead. I doubt the people who flooded the city to begin with would have left it so easy to simply swim across and turn a crank."

    Having seen Oscar's map already, it would be relatively easy for Nathan to figure out a way along the outermost ridge to either guard tower, though it might be easier to simply skip all the narrow walkways and sharp turns and skate across on the ice. The water is regular water from an underground table. As far as he can tell, it hasn't been blessed or enchanted in any way. It merely serves as a startlingly pragmatic way of stopping anything from going to or coming from the bottom. The knight seems to be paying more attention to Shirou now however, turning his head towards the church steeple, and then reaching for a pair of actual binoculars from one of his many belt pouches; holding it to the visor of his helmet in a way that looks a little funny, but must be effective if the noise he makes after seeing something is of any indication. "Someone has arrived here ahead of us. I don't recognize them." he says.

Staren has posed:
    Priscilla lists all the reasons that opening the gate will be difficult if not impossible. Staren offers an alternative solution: "Well, we could always /destroy/ the gate. What's on the other side? Where will the water go, anyway?"

    As they travel, he looks to Oscar. "They have? What do you see, exactly?"

Tomoe has posed:
Okay they have a goal before them and so she's happy about that it's something she can focus upon. She looks to Lezard for a moment nodding.

"It makes sense to me and my world doesn't have magic."

The body being a vessel is something she gets all to well given her own existance. She however looks with some concern at Mizuki but she seems to be getting it togehher now.

She ponder for a moment

"So we need to drain the water then move deeper."

She looks to STaren

"That might have some pretty nasty side effect if we do that..."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would nod to Priscilla. "Then we must fathom a way to break the enchantment, if indeed such a thing exists. Unfortunately, I've no real experience with magic that applies 'binding' or other effects to objects, so I likely wouldn't be much help there, but... hmm." Then, a glance to Oscar. "Ah, the towers. I could reach those easily enough. Perhaps I and one other present could go to one, and the rest could go to the other? That way, at least, we could quickly identify the crank's location. If nothing else." Once she's done speaking, she would exhale. She hadn't known what to expect in response from Priscilla, so without belaboring things any longer, she is quite relieved at the reply she receives. They... might talk about this later. More likely, she might address -all- of those who were caught up in yesterday's affairs and be certain that no one holds any lingering resentment over it.

    But ah, that's all for later. Later! For now, she would turn to Shirou. The lady's rich coyness returned in full, she would veil a forming grin with her sleeve. "Oh my, how dashing. But ah, I suppose every princess does need her knights~." With those parting syllables, though, Mizuki would summon her wings, just about to bid the others a temporary farewell before Oscar's final words catch her interest. "Hmm?" She would tilt her head. "Someone else?" She would turn to peer in the direction the knight is facing, squinting her eyes to get a better look.

    She might want to wait a moment or two after all, but in the meanwhile Lezard would get something of a curious look. As if to occupy time, she would idly say, "Mister Valeth, wasn't it? I've been hearing -- and reading -- quite a lot about you lately. At the very least, though, I'm glad that we are not yet at eachother's throats." She's actually quite fond of meeting Confederates who aren't outright hostile. It's always a learning experience.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
"While destroying the gates may be possible in theory... One would wager that you may prefer them intact. One does not lightly perform an action such as this." Lezard replies. "Additionally, one does not perish quickly from flooding. One would wager that those within, were they not willing to perish with the city, would have attempted just that. The steel of a seemingly simple gate is likely some of the finest metalcraft in Lordran to hold back water... And potential escape attempts... of this magnitude."

He chuckles, then. "However, if you wish to try, please, don't let me be the one to stop you."

Lezard looks to Priscilla. "Ahhhhh. The Darksign is more recent, I was remiss. One wonders if these are Undead of the same type... Or if they may be shades of a more common bent. Their tortured screams surely line up with it."

Mizuki then addresses Lezard directly, and once again he gives a short bow. "It seems my fame is spreading. You have nothing to fear from me at this point. Our goals are united in the fate of Lordran, even if our envisioned futures may differ in... Details."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Knight, huh. Shirou makes an awkard look back. A slight blush, but more modesty than anything else. He's not a knight, nor is he dashing, he's just doing the right thing... right?

    "destroying it could be bad. This place was flooded for some reason. Why would they just up and leave it? Also... what was up with that ghost? It was different from all the other undead we've run into." He peers now at Priscilla while following along with the group...

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks at Shirou. "It sounds like they didn't /leave/..."

    Beat.

    "And, we're talking about opening the gate anyway. How is destroying it any different? The water will still be let out."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "One does not make two giant metal doors without having things such as sorcery mechanisms and suchlike therein. It is best to try the more straightforward way first." Nathan says, as he continues to form the ice under him. The others will need to walk along his bridge, but he gets to just sort of stand there with his hands behind his back, apparently skating. He makes it rough, though, it's not slippery at all.

    Oscar catches his attention. He glances back to him. "Or they never left." He says, simply. "Be on guard, all of you. Traps, assassination attempts, conflicting agendas, whatever the case may be, take caution. Our flying or more mobile members may do well to investigate with intent to retreat in the event of a battle, but I will leave that to their discretion, if they wish to scout. For now, I must focus." Those who remain with Nathan will find him raising the ice platform under him with the floodwaters, trying to ascend toi an entryway to the watchtower, if he can reach it, and enter it. Probably somewhere higher up, just in case there's traps, ambushes, or local ghosts around the proper entrances. He intends to immediately breach and investigate the probable location of the mechanisms, in any case!

Priscilla has posed:
    Oscar gestures vaguely towards the gates while still staring through the binoculars. "A steep valley that divides the burg from Firelink Shrine. Supposedly it is the breeding ground of the drakes that live in the area, but none of us have travelled there yet. As for what I see . . . a man in a red robe, wearing a peculiar mask. A catalyst as well. Is he some manner of sorceror? Perhaps a fellow pilgrim, though I do not recognize what school he hails from, if any at all." Priscilla speaks to Shirou, hesitating slightly as Mizuki goes in the opposite direction, before choosing to follow her rather than Nathan, feeling that everyone tagging along with the Librarian will be more than enough to keep him safe. "There are many forms in which humans may live some sort of half-life beyond death, but there is only one form of true Undeath. I am uncertain as to what couldst hath given rise to . . . these. Ghosts of the kind that exist in most worlds art not normally possible within Lordran. All I can hazard is the work of some powerful curse. I can sense that they still possess souls, if only just barely."

    The figure is easily recognizeable as Mizuki turns her attention to it; a man wearing a set of robes that were obviously once much brighter red than they are now, covered in strings of teeth and beads, and affixed with a mask vaguely reminescent of a plague doctor's under its hood. He appears to be carrying a staff made entirely of metal, but he makes no hostile moves towards her. He seems to be preoccupied with simply watching the main party.

    Nathan meanwhile reaches the guard toward without much incident. The open water seems to be somewhat safer than the winding walls, balconies and rooftops that surround it, since the ghosts seem to want to stick to places that someone could conceivably walk. There aren't any doors or windows level with the water, but simply generating a bigger platform is enough to let someone jump one at a time to the next level. The interior has predictably been flooded for what must be over a hundred meters straight down through the various arrow slits in the stone walls, and the upper levels have been barred off with iron doors. A platform just over the water is an extremely obvious suspect, with an utterly gigantic crank wheel set into it in a conspicuous position flanking the gate, though there aren't any chains to be seen.

    More importantly, there is a good chance that someone might catch sight of the bottom of the tower if they take a second to look over the edge. Despite the fact that the water is already deep enough to look black regardless, anyone can see a circle of much, much darker hue deep far down below. It could be mistaken for a simple hole in the floor to a lower cavern with an even more distant bottom, but the dark spot is so black that somehow seems unnatural. Against the mundane darkness of the deep water, it looks like a dead pixel in the middle of a screen displaying all black.

Staren has posed:
    "I /meant/ as a backup plan if finding the gate controls becomes untenable." Staren sighs.

    Staren flies off after Nathan -- Scouting is indeed a good idea. "So, when did you learn these tricks with ice, anyway?"

    OBVIOUS CRANK WHEEL. "Hmmm." Staren peers around the room, looking for anything it might be connected to... or traps set to go off if anyone comes close. If he doesn't find any, he moves in closer to the wheel, looking for /some/ connection to any machinery or anything. "Do you think we could possibly be lucky enough that this goes to the gate?"

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Indeed, with so many people already with Nathan, Shirou decides to stick with Priscilla and the somewhat rattled Mizuki.

    "Ghosts don't exist elsewhere?! ... I thought it was strange we didn't see any, so seeing them here..." Well well, he might be a little more alert than he seems. Sometimes.

    "Then I wouldn't doubt the ghosts and the flooding's connected somehow. Maybe the ghosts scared everyone off, they ran and left the doors shut and seasonal floods just kept building up?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would flash Lezard a curious smile. "Oh? Well, I'll look forward to these 'details', then. They strike me as the sorts of things that will make the final few hours of this sojourn quite interesting indeed. But, myself? I'm still undecided on what to make of it all. I'm really here more for the atmosphere than anything else, and perhaps to help Priscilla... though I'll admit I'm unsure some days how it might aid her." She would shrug. "Not that any of that is of any real consequence, hmm? I would ask what your specific goals and motives are, but that would be too forward for me. I would prefer that you continue to hint at it through your manner and word as you have been so that I may happen upon the answer to that mystery myself." She gives him a lingering look and a smile for a spell that are, rather surprisingly, not tinged with any considerable hints of presumption or even a desire to forestall his endeavors. This seems like genuine curiosity -- not the coy sort.

    On her way to the other tower, Mizuki would stall for just a moment to wander over to the other sky-clad observer present. That is, the one with the mask hauntingly reminiscent of those she might've seen in a town back home what feels like a lifetime ago. She would alight beside them in a calm, almost too nonchalant manner, giving them a nod of greeting. "You'll pardon my intrusion," She would begin, "but I really could not ignore the one lucid presence that endures among this dim necropolis. Have you some reason for taking an interest in us beyond my same reason of dissonance? Or did we just happen to catch your eye?" She would tilt her head, arms wandering behind her back. "Really, if you have some motive, I would like to hear it. Perhaps we can help eachother. Otherwise I will simply promise that our boisterousness will not tarry here longer than you should be able to tolerate."

    For now she would wait on a reply, but she'll probably seek to take her leave of them once she gets an impression of their character. This is just a check to make sure he isn't out to make things difficult for them, really.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is keeping on alert given the previous attack and so while listening she's clearly keeping a look out for trouble. Oscar notes more information on the rgion and those things that may still linger here. She does wonder what could have caused it but will have to find out later. For now they need to press on as she moves head towards the Guard Tower that Nathan is pushing for there's no real chance with the lack of light strong enough to let her fly. She really should have rolled an Imp she thinks sometimes. Well that's not something she'll change now as she looks at the whole set up.

"This feels like a trap...Nathan."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan gets to his objective here. "I have a seasonal job." He asides to Staren, answering his query. Or failing to answer. "As for whether or not this is a trap, or even functional, there is honestly only one way to find out. Caution is a very good idea, but we cannot slow ourselves too much."

    Leaping from the ice to the tower is clumsy and involves a lot of stumbling, but he rights himself properly shortly. And then, the platform within! If there's a path from the entrance Nathan's found to the crankwheel platform, Nathan will take it, but otherwise another leap! Assuming, of course, that the interior structure is even convenient for that. And, as Nathan said, there's really no reason to stay cautious too long about it. "Be prepared to defend me in the event of this being a trap or a similar danger. Now... Let us hope this is working, and what we expect."

    Limbering up briefly, he braces himself against the crank wheel and tries turning it. Hopefully someone else noticed that CONSPICUOUSLY UNUSUAL WATER, as Nathan didn't, and it seems likely to be relevant soon.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard allows the others to proceed as they will, though his lips purse for a moment at the sight of Nathan Hall deploying ice powers and moving towards the massive wheel.

The book with no title flips pages as Lezard stares into the middle distance, as if looking for something... But then his gaze moves past the distant glipse of crimson and the spirit-haunted ruins, and he casts his expression downwards into the deep. A low shudder run through Lezard's body for a moment, as if something terrible and cold ran over his flesh unexpectedly.

"And no one knows of the reason why this land was drowned, sealed under the depths of water." Lezard asks, curiousity edging his voice. "Be cautious, Sir Hall..." He withdraws the ruby-tipped scepter from under his cloak. It seems he is expecting trouble.

Priscilla has posed:
    Staren's close examination of the crank will find very little of significance, even if he uses his advanced sensors, he'll find no obvious traps, which means they're either /extremely/ well hidden, that someone before them had already tripped them, or that nobody set any up before leaving. The chains appear to have been built discretely into channels in the stone of the cave and then the tower built over them, possibly to prevent damage or rust to them since they must obviously be enormous. Nathan is in for a bit of a scramble due to the fact that the door to the platform is, again, locked and made of iron bars (unless someone deigns to break it down). Attempting to turn the wheel however, meets with absolutely zero success. It's possible that he simply isn't strong enough to do it alone, but also equally likely that it may be enchanted to prevent turning it without first breaking the seal. The longer Lezard looks at the pit, the worse of a feeling he'll get about it. It doesn't give off the same sensation as something unholy or evil, or even having to do with the dead. It seems entirely different.

    Mizuki gets to the man in red a little bit before Priscilla and Shirou, who have to cut their way through a handful of ghosts on the way through on land, across the roofs of many buildings. Thankfully, the both of them are equipped to do so, and so the angry spirits are fairly trivial rather than nearly immune to damage. The masked man turns toward her first, looking her over from head to toe. When he speaks, he sounds much older than anyone the party has run into so far, though not so much as to be imagined as decrepit. "Oh I've been here for a very long time. I'm simply surprised; I don't get many visitors, except for ghosts. I'm little more than an old man, but I wouldn't mind a chat." At this point, Priscilla and Shirou arrive within earshot. "My name is Ingward, Guardian of the Seal. My motive is very simple really. I watch over the Four Kings, masters of the Darkwraiths. There were once two others, but sadly, I am the only one left."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan manages to navigate through this without too much trouble; since /horrible monsters/ aren't trying to tear him limb from limb, he can use some of his abilities more destructively, first tearing the iron barred door out of the wall by pressing a palm against it and executing a spell, and then leaping to the platform.

    Unfortunately, his nerdy noodlearms aren't the thing to blame for the crank being uncooperative. "Well, the point is moot now, I cannot unseal. I need someone to determine the location of sources of magical inflouence over this crank, as I believe the seal to be the source of difficulties. Tomoe, you try the crank, I believe your avatar possesses greater strength than I do." He examines the crank and the crank area with technological sensors, magical senses, and his fancy White Phantom Eyes, using the sonic spanner and various magical systems he possesses to check for flow of energy to the mechanism of the crank or systems affected by the crank, as well as any information that may be here from long ago. Since 'sealed' apparently definitely means 'has a MAGICAL seal', Nathan figures they just need to find it!

Staren has posed:
    Staren watches Nathan try the crank, ready to shoot the monsters that will inevitably swarm out of the woodwork the moment--

    Oh, it's stuck. "Well, I may as well try it..." Staren gives it a go, along with Tomoe -- the armor gives him strongman-level strength, though, not 'throw cars' level, so it may well not be enough. If that /still/ doesn't work, he scans the area for any magic readings, and then, what the hey, tries using the psychometry gloves on the crank to see if any impressions about how it was sealed were left on it.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Indeed, Shirou's properly equipped to deal with the spirits. When Thanatos eventually shatters he replaces it with Priscilla's scythe and employs echoes of the Lifehunt to strike down the ghosts. But this leaves him winded and woozy by the time he reaches the man in red. that might be stupid by some people's reckoning...

    But he honestly didn't detect any hostility from the guy on approach and so, probably didn't worry about that. He's that simple sometime.

    Approaching during the tail end of the conversation and letting the scythe evaporate into constituent prana, he slips both hands into his pockets because it's a little chilly around here!

    "Emiya Shirou. You might as well call me a local adventurer or something like that. Our group here's out to fix the undead problem. For that we need the Lordsouls. What are Darkwraiths? Is that the ghosts we're running into?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would smile. /Phew/, they aren't going to try and gut her. Maybe this trip won't be so bad after all. "Sir Ingward it is, then, if you'll pardon my addition of an honorific. I tend to establish these when I am unfamiliar with others. I don't suppose you would mind terribly if I rested my wings here?" She would pause a moment so that he may give a response and, assuming it's an affirmative one, she would alight upon the roof. Her arms would fold behind her back and she would offer him a small bow of acknowledgment, as if in silent thanks. No use belaboring these pleasantries, though -- she's got far too much to ask and far too little time.

    "Ah, though you'll pardon me if I expedite this conversation to a point of more purpose, yes? For as you might expect from any wayfarers possessed of the wherewithal that would keep their sanity intact in a world like this, there is an express purpose in my -- in our -- being here. And given your introduction, I daresay your discourse will be key to the success of that task." She pauses another moment to let him process what that, but she doesn't leave anything to the imagination for long. He was straight with her, so she will be straight with him in kind. "I very much hope that my words have somehow impressed you thus far, Sir Ingward, for our goal is precisely what I believe you expect it is. We seek the lordsoul collectively held by the Four Kings, and as such we will need to find a method of breaking that seal, or otherwise reaching their locale. Alternatively, we could bring them to us, but I believe that would be antithetical to your purpose, so I will not bear forth the audacity such a request would hint of."

    "Still," She would go on, "if you can help us in any way, shape, or form - even if it is only to provide some small bit of advice - I would be grateful to you. Ah, and if you've any reservations about our purpose in acquiring the lordsoul...? Well. We stand with the Chosen Undead. I will say no more than that, and trust my meaning is understood in full." Her gaze would lock on to his and remain there until she receives some form of reply. There is a great possibility she's lain too much faith in this stranger, but even so, she feels a distinct aura of sincerity from him. Such a thing is scarce in a world the like of this one, so she is compelled to trust her intuition, and here we shall hope very dearly that it is correct.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe looks to Nathan for a moment and nods after a moment.

"Understood sir."

Tomoe ready as she's ever going to be she doesn't have her weapons out a she very well does need her hands free for the moment. She hears Nathan's call and she gets to work going for the crank working it as hard as she can to work the thing with Nathan.

"Come on lets it be brute force for once!"

Somedays she just wants to not deal with ten tons of puzzels.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard forces his gaze away from that all-consuming darkness with a grunt of effort, and adjusts his stance slightly. There is a ring of light that forms around him as he directs his gaze into the distance...

And he appears beside Staren and Nathan, looking over the room intently. "The mechanism could not be so simple, else sheer chance would have had a much greater hand in attempting to undo what has been done. As this was intentional, I believe we are contending with a security measure of some kind, whether magical or mechanical."

He adjusts his glasses. "Lady Mizuki had mentioned she had encountered a man who might have the solution we seek. Perhaps she may impress the man of the gravity of our task and enlighten us."

Priscilla has posed:
    Nathan is correct on at least half count. The wheel really is too big for him alone to turn. It should actually take a few people working in tandem to open the door, and there's the question of whether the tower on the opposite side is required to work as well, or if each one simply works a specific one of the double doors. Staren and Tomoe should likely be sufficient for this one due to their high levels of strength. Peculiarly, he can only find one orange soapstone message left here, and it is very, very old. It simply says "Don't you dare!" on the floor right next to the crank. He and Staren find that there doesn't actually seem to be a real flow of energy going on, or any kind of power source. Rather, a static enhancement seems to have been applied to the wheel. It seems vaguely like some sort of time magic, but fairly different. It's obviously been placed here of all places as the more modern ages of Lordran lack the heights of magic needed to seal a whole city, necessitating its flooding. Sufficiently powerful or specialized magic could likely break it, though with great difficulty as it appears to have been placed by multiple sorcerors working together and concentrating their power into a small area. Oscar can be seen waving from the far end of the cavern, using some manner of handsign to likely question if they've found anything.

    Ingward shakes his head at Shirou. "These unfortunate souls are the angry remains of those drowned before they could escape the city. The Darkwraiths are different. Humans who swore allegiance to the Four Kings after their fall, they are the enemy of all living things that possess a soul. They were born in New Londo, and that is where they perished; the entire city was sacrificed to contain them. For that is how great a threat they were . . ." He looks to Mizuki next. "Forgive me, but I already know exactly what your intentions are. The Lordvessel has already been recovered; it was inevitable that the chosen would eventually arrive at this place." Priscilla finally catches up, looking a little out of breath. She gestures towards Oscar down below, stating simply: "Lady Mizuki hast the right of it. We art here on the behalf of another. Think greatly of him, if not us, as three of the four hath already been reclaimed, Guardian Ingward." He chuckles faintly, tapping his staff thoughtfully against the floor. "Such a manner of strange beings and sorceries have been invented while I was here. I will place my faith in your capabilities, as I doubt this land has enough life left to gather a fellowship of your stature ever again."

    Reaching into his cloak, he produces a thick key of green bronze, affixed with a celtic cross, dangling from the end of a chain. He offers it to Priscilla rather than Mizuki or Shirou, perhaps due to having recognized her as a native, with whatever senses for the souls of another the sorcerors of Lordran possess. "Take this to the Chosen. Use it to break the seal and open the floodgates. The Four Kings slumber in the deepest chamber of the ruins. They and their Darkwraiths reside in a dark void called the Abyss. It is no place for mortals. Not even those born of the gods dared tread there, save for the Abysswalker Artorias long ago. I warn you; not even the Chosen will survive even a moment within the Abyss. Before you make your final venture inward, make very sure you have a method of isolating yourselves from its influence. I have no knowledge of what could possibly suffice, as I was not even alive before Artorias was eventually taken. Take care."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "The spell is local, I believe. It seems we will need both the artifact meant to unlock the spell, and the Chosen who will hold it. Or so I expect." Nathan says, getting back on his feet after fussing with the magical senses and pen-like device on his hands. Up he goes, and right back onto the balcony, where he'll be waving to get Oscar's attention. He communicates, now, in broad, easily-seen gestures visible through Oscar's sight. A big cranking motion, then pointing at Oscar, back to the tower, and a hand-clasped firm requesting gesture. "We found a way to open the gate. You should come here, you're needed." The silent gestures say. Nathan then descends using a combination of translucent yelllow summoned Hastur constructs and ice, making a fresh ice path to get to Oscar, intending to bring him back with minimum inconvenience.

    Chosen Undead probably have bad memories about getting picked up by flying entities, honestly.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is turning the crank to get things open and for once something seems to go right for a moment. Even as she hears the threat. She keeps going they need to finish this and she darn well knows they have to press on, right? She hopes they can get things done sooner rather than later. She has a geeling things are going to get nuts really. She has no idea about what lays in wait ahead of them but wonders if she should press on too hard? EIther way the warning is however heeded. She stops now her work us turn turning and her long ears twitch slightly, and she's not even aware of this.

Tomoe is going to attempt to use Nathan's path as well? She can't fly here...

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would incline her head once more to Ingward as the key is handed to Priscilla. "Thank you, Sir Ingward." That's... all she can really manage to say, and that makes her frown slightly. Here stands a man who has held this vigil for countless years. He has been waiting for them -- perhaps not specifically for /them/, but at the least for a group like theirs. And that is enough, she supposes, to merit some reward; some respect that he will never receive. So instead of leaving there, she extrapolates somewhat: "... thank you, for having the will to last until the day when we would come to receive this token from you. Thank you for keeping watch over this city and doing whatever you could to protect this world, even as it began to fall to pieces. For what little it may be worth, or what little it may even matter to you, I can swear your sacrifice and dedication will never be forgotten." The features of her face would harden ever so subtly, as if in expression of her own form of resolution. "Keep your eyes cast East, Ingward. Keep your gaze upon that horizon as long as you can, that you might one day see the most brilliant sunrise you have in your lifetime. And when its rays shine down upon you, know that your long task is at its end."

    ... she almost feels embarrassed, becoming so sanctimonious with someone she's only just met. Yet, somehow, it makes her feel that much closer to the archetypal 'Ghost of Christmas' or 'Grim Reaper' she so aspires to imitate. So, verily, all must be well.

    So with not another word to him, her wings would dust from the rooftop, her own eyes looking to Priscilla. "We've our way of things, now, so there is no reason we should tarry." From any other mouth it could've sounded impatient, or snippy, or even pretentious, but there's something distinctly warm about the way in which she addresses the sentence. It might seem a bit bold after all that had transpired in the book, but alas, her spirit has enraptured her now. She cannot see far enough past its brilliance to recall a time when she might've felt awkward around Priscilla -- only one in which they are friends, and where she has this opportunity to be of help to her. And that, for reasons she would not care to fully comprehend, makes her radiant enough to pierce through the frozen airs of Lordran as she breaks through the sky on her way to Nathan and Lezard.

    Now we'll see how long this mood holds before something else makes it turn sour.

Staren has posed:
    "Who wrote that?" Staren wonders at the soapstone message.

    Staren grunts as they try to turn the wheel, and replies to Lezard, "Yeah, HRNGH, probably, but we'd feel pretty silly if it wasn't and all we had to do was try it!"

    When it still won't budge, Staren steps back and scans it, walking around the crank. "...Yup. There's some kind of powerful magic on this crank. No idea what though." He just shrugs when the check for psychic impressions comes back blank. "Nothing... Maybe that person the others are talking to knows something? Perhaps we should go ask them... Orrr maybe they've already got the key." He shrugs and waits for the group to assemble.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Now THAT is not good news. Shirou frowns intensely at the explanation of the Abyss. And... the Darkwraiths. "Not one bit of Lordran went untouched by the fall and curse... so, Ingward? What can you tell us about the Abyss and what influence it even exerts? We know a lot of people with some sorceries too, maybe somone will get an idea."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard comes to the same conclusion as the others. He apparently sees no need to expend effort on unravelling the complicated seal upon the mechanism, as he steps out beside Nathan on the Balcony, watching the walls intently.

When Mizuki approaches, he steps out of the way and allows her to join them. "I am glad that we are getting things accomplished so efficiently." He doesn't even sound sarcastic this time. "Were Sir Oscar alone, he would have quite the journey through this damned place."

Staren's response draws that smirk from him again. "Are you often in the business of pulling levers before understanding their function?" He asks casually. "You must have a charmed life indeed."

Priscilla has posed:
    Ingward replies to Shirou. "The world as we know it was created by the First Flame. The gods and all their children were given life by the benevolence of Fire. However, the creation of fire brings about an equal measure of Dark. This Dark once stayed well on the other side of the world, below the Archtrees, but some decades ago, it bubbled up to the surface. The Abyss is the other world, born in Dark rather than Flame. Like the land and the ocean, the inhabitant of one may not survive in the other. The Abyss utterly consumes anything that lives, though whether it is the nature of the realm or the responsibility of something that dwells within, I cannot say. It erodes magic, and corrupts anything within its proximity. The Four Kings were irrevocably warped when a serpent dangled an art of the Abyss before them. They would not survive its embrace otherwise."

    Though Mizuki can't see through the mask (a strange commonality in Lordran), Mizuki can get the impression that the old man is finally smiling. "I have no regrets. Soon my purpose will be exhausted. I have not seen the sun in a very long time. Perhaps I could do with a change." Priscilla however, seem extremely put-off by the mention of the Abyss. It's clear from her face that she knows something, but she isn't being especially forthcoming with it. For safekeeping, she keeps the chain around her neck, but the journey back is relatively uneventful. With a decent portion of the ghosts cleared out, Shirou won't have to exhaust himself further with tracing more weapons when he decides to come back. Upon reaching Oscar, she hands the key over to him, pressing it into his hand and stating: "Someone hast placed a great deal of their trust in thee. We will not see the Four Kings on this day however. So I am told, they yet live, but in some strange shape within the accursed Abyss. Some manner of power hast been presented before them, and they hath taken it. We will likely be needed to deal with the Darkwraiths in time." Oscar apparently knows all of the relevant local lore, because the stern nod he gives is unmistakable as anything other than comprehension. He takes to the platforms left by Nathan, looking a little unsure of them simply because he knows he can't swim in his armour, but ultimately braving them with little trouble.

    When Oscar joins everyone else, he searches the crank for some manner of keyhole before eventually finding one hidden in the middle of a series of ornate engravings. Turning the key inside, something very loud clicks, and a palpable wave of magic is released into the surrounding area, though it is understated enough to be completely invisible. Oscar places the key safely into a pouch, before putting both hands on the handle of the crank, looking over his shoulder to those gathered. "Well then. Let us be done with it."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's not the msot educated of magi, but he does pay attention when it counts. His eyes widen after digesting this story. "So... the Abyss bubbled up after being out of everyone's hair for a long time. And the Abyss doesn't get along with life. Could the Abyss itself have something to do with the Undead and the Darksign?" he's now scratching the side of his head uncertainly...

    "This sounds like the kind of thing Lezard might be able to deal with..."

Staren has posed:
    Staren shrugs, then nods and gets in position beside the crank again. "Alright. Yeah, let's get this over with."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe keeps working the crnakl and listening to the information at hand, she keeps at her dump listening to the information. It's quite useful and well she's for once glad Lezard is here, as there's a very high chance? He'll know how to deal with this sort of thing but away she goes cranking.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard takes up an observational position. His strength is not his virtue, so his presence at the crank itself is not needed. Instead, he watches from the balcony, listening to the tales of the Abyss and the nature of the catastrophy that befell this land. He shifts at the mention of the Dark, considering the words of the sorceror, the legends that are being told.

"This will be a most fascinating study indeed." Lezard says, his hand tightening on his sceptre. If there is to be an assault, it will likely be soon.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan has brought Oscar back, and guides him to the crank. "Indeed, let us be done with it. While I am... unsure of how we will address what we will shortly unseal, we need to know before we can defend ourselves. Those of you, assisting or otherwise, please be prepared, in case of dangerous elements emerging."

    Nathan stands off to the side, of course; if some help is absolutely necessary, though, he'll likely do a quick summon to bring out a heavy lifting Servitor golem to help turn the crank.

Priscilla has posed:
    The crank turns with great difficulty, though it doesn't seem to have rusted at all in all these years. A layer of dust sifts off of it as it begins to move, piling up on the stones at its base. The clanking of chains is more like a dull, steady rumble, like that of a small earthquake happening beneath everyone's feet. The water ripples around the edges of the closest door as the stone adjoining it shudders. Just a crack, the massive contraption of steel laced with titanite begins to move. The sound of rushing water immediately fills the air as the pressure causes it to burst out through the tiny crack in a miniature waterfall. Bit by bit, the door opens wider, and torrential outpouring increases in volume. Soon the dim light of the sun can be seen filtering into the cavern; a slice of light that gradually broadens across the shadowy depths of the submerged city, tinging the reflective surface of the water a pale yellow, and immediately casting the distantly visible ghostly lights into nothing, banishing them from the land of the living. The process of opening the door is so slow that by the time it is finally fully open, a good fifty meters of water has drained out, meaning that opening the other of the set of double doors with the opposite crank is likely completely unnecessary since it would be simpler just to wait for the rest to drain out.

    Once it does however, the party is greeted with a less than pretty sight. The water had been still and stagnant for a very long time, so the towering buildings it unveils, reminescent of reinnaissance Europe, have barely been eroded at all, though a thick layer of glistening slime clings to every surface from built up decades of deposits. The streets, however, are piled high with corpses. Though wasted and dessicated, somehow the bodies have completely failed to rot in all this time, simply clinging to each other in sodden piles. They've been stacked high in corners and squares, as if shovelled out of the way after a great plague or killing had taken place, in preparation to be burned. The number of dead visible from the balcony must be in the thousands.

    In the new, dim light, a puff of black smoke issues from thin air, followed by another, and another, and soon almost a dozen more. Where each cloud bursts forth, it resolves into the dark silhouette of a human. For the sharp eyed, each and every one of them is dressed in black clothes and hoods under corroded silvery grey armour, shaped like a set of human bones wherever possible; their faces affixed with masks of grimacing skulls and completely empty eyesockets. All of them clutch identical ornate, midnight black swords as they go meandering through the ruins, searching for something in particular. Most disconcertingly, a couple of the corpse piles begin to move, shifting as a congealed, almost liquid whole, which oozes into the parts of the city that remain dark, letting off echoing, rasping gasps.

    Oscar stares downward as if suddenly regretting what he has done. Priscilla however, looks all too familiar with the sight. "There they are." she all but whispers. "Kill them. Now." She urges. Her scythe appears in her hand the moment Oscar draws his sword, the both of them taking to the stairs in lieu of having the ability to jump so far.

Staren has posed:
    Staren watches the water drain curiously. First he watches the waterfall, then he turns to look at the city below. He frowns as the bodies come into view... and then mysterious smoke people appear. Staren wonders what they want... and then Priscilla gives the kill order. He trusts his ally, so...

    Up to six wide-area fireball missiles dive towards the groups of smoke people below.

    Wait, does burning plasma work on smoke monsters? Ah well, Staren will find out!

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard looks out over the draining area with muted fascination. The preserved city, the mounds of corpses, the horrors... Nothing seems to actually disturb him in this case.

Of greater note are the manifestations. With a low 'ah' sound, Lezard looks upon them intently. "Now this is a point of interest. No weak spectres, these. Would these be the Darkwraiths spoken of?" Lezard asks, raising his sceptre. "PRISMATIC MISSILE!" He calls out, a multicolored blaze of lights circling around his magical focus before raining down upon the distant foes. While they may survive the attacks, the lights impart deleterious effects on those struck as well.

Additionally, purple gates open near him, disgorging horrid, smelly bird-like abominations that screech loudly, the harpies diving through the open air of the abandoned city. Should they come upon a disabled Darkwrath, they will pick it up and carry it high into the air, attempting to immobilize them.

Lezard's glasses gleam. "Fetch." He pronounces with a dark anticipation.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan sees slime, piles of corpses, and generalized disgusting things revealed by the previously rather normal-looking water. There's a brief shudder through his body that gives the only indication there is of the fact that he just suppressed a fit of disgusted vomiting at what's in the streets here as he looks down from the balcony. He makes a worried noise, as is his habit.

    "Troubling." He follows them down the stairs, careful of the slick surface because stairs are extremely dangerous. He's gonna run down and begin assisting via his tactical awareness. "We are to assume that these entities are affected by the 'Abyss', correct? Samples of those affected by this Abyss should give us a start on how to defend against it. While Lezard attempts to procure a proper sample, make an attempt to sever limbs or similar articles. I will attempt to gather."

    While he's busy trying to call out groups, formations, or other tactical data about the horrible abyss creatures, Nathan sets to work on two things: First, using his SCAN ability to scan the entities here to determine their failings on a magical or spiritual level, and second, to summon a Hastur magic construct -- rows of biological sample containment constructs -- to scoop some of the slime onto. Likely related to the abyss? Hopefully. He'll also be trying to get blood or flesh samples from the Abyss'd creatures felled by the group.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would, at the sight of the wraiths, attempt to conjure a stasis field ahead of Lezard's magic missiles to increase their velocity and, hopefully, their damage output. She would also attempt to apply the same quickening spells as normal to the others with particular focus on Nathan, who could use it to avoid conflict, and Shirou, who could use it to defend the former and otherwise keep himself in the fray. She doesn't contribute very many strikes of her own just yet, preferring to allow her enemies to come close so that she may surprise them with her sword. Probably not the best idea in this case, but then again she has no idea what their signature attacks are. Beyond this, she would simply observe, perhaps trying to get an impression of where, if anywhere, these things may be coming from, and how they may use the environment to their advantage. She probably won't come up with much in either regard, but it's still worth a shot.

Tomoe has posed:
The Crnak is a bit of a pain however she keeps turning it she has to wonder how it didn't rust out here, still she should be thankful it did not rust out. If it had they would have t be dealing with other things right now much to her dismay most likely. Still they manage to get it to move, and she keeps at it for as much iis needd soon she sees that wonderful light of day, the liht means she might be able to fly again and this is welcome. She leeps at it with more vigor, she watches the horrible stagant water's effect and worse the unrotton corpses she ahs to wonder about this and there's a look of horror on her face over it all..

"What is that?
% She does however see the smoke and is quick to start chanting, glowing alien runrs swirl about her in time with her badly accented norse chanting and then comes the blasts of light which she hopes will work upon the monster.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    It is a scene straight out of the worst hell.

    Emiya Shirou has seen hell. It was a hell of fire, however, not water. But hell nonetheless.

    He's calm despite the swell of bodies in corners. Calm-seeming at least, but angry inside.

    This is the doing of the Darkwraiths, huh?

    "Trace...ON!" Sizzling power flows through his circuits, forming into KANSHOU AND BAKUYA, which thankfully have an Anti-Monster attribute. Darkwraiths are pretty monstrous, aren't they?

    "Sei-yah!"

    And he HURLS the first pair towards the nearest abomination to check their efficacy, even while another pair's appearing in his hands.

    "We'll have to take them out before we do anything else, or they'll start roaming!"

Priscilla has posed:
    The initial volley from Staren, Tomoe and Lezard catches the Darkwraiths nearly completely by surprise. They look up in time to see the barrage, but not fast enough to react to it, engulfing them in the tempest of fireballs through which the blast of light and prismatic missiles streak to hit their targets. The smoke clears quickly, showing all nine of them on the ground, flames licking at their armour, but slowly, they begin to pick themselves up one after the other, collecting their swords again just in time for the harpies to make their dive. The result is a butchery. As the harpies dive for the wraiths still in the process of getting to their feet, those of them who have already collecting themselves intervene, swinging their oversized swords into their paths with incredible brute force, hacking straight through the summoned creatures from neck to tail in showers of blood as easily as splitting wood with an axe. Three of the Darkwraiths disappear into smoke, reappearing with a muffled thump near Tomoe, Staren and Lezard, where they immediately set upon them. Their movements are those of experienced warriors, but blatantly superhuman, smashing stone and metal alike wherever their broadswords so much as graze the tower. They attack with relentless flurries of blows, attempting to simply pummel through any kind of barriers the three can erect.

    Two wraiths are struck in alternation by Kanshou and Bakuya, and so immediately direct their aggression towards Shirou, appearing to either side of him in a flanking maeuver. One of them goes for a horizontal sweep while the other aims for a vertical chop, making the combination exceptionally difficult to dodge. Priscilla and Oscar burst out of the tower's ground floor just in time for the Darkwraiths to gather their attack force, two of them breaking off to charge directly for them instead, churning up the stone in their footsteps. One slams directly into Oscar's raised shield with a shoulder check, and then sends him flying with an enormously strong kick, advancing on the fallen knight to plunge his sword into his prone form, only for Oscar to roll out of the way and hack at the wraith's legs while leaping nimbly to his feet, drawing a spurt of black ichor from between the plates of his armour. Priscilla's Darkwraith makes a lunging leap at her, pulverizing the cubblestones as she turns invisible to dodge out of the way. The wraith swings wildly around himself to try and hit her, but has no success. He stumbles as something strikes him from behind, oozing black blood from behind his mask. Mizuki doesn't have to wait long for one to come after her either, deflecting the few strikes she aims to give out, before assaulting her with his own, attempting to overpowered her with his superior strength and drive her into a corner.

    Nathan's SCAN finds that the Darkwraiths are extremely physically resilient, to almost all forms of attack but fire. The only thing they appear to be weak to is something sort of like a holy element. More accurately, a weapon or attack of divine alignment. It's unclear whether or not generic 'holy' would work if the latter can't be procured, but it's probably worth trying. One of the Darkwraiths chase him directly, keeping up with his movement speeded by Mizuki, but not really pulling ahead enough to gain on him.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The Dark Wraith's fist would likely make contact with her shoulder blade, knocking her stumbling to the right where it would be fairly easy for the demonic presence to literally kick her into a corner. Her sword would likely go flying in the process, and she would be left pressed against a crumbled, slime-coated wall, one eye closed in a wince. Her position is a vulnerable one to say the least, and if that Wraith were to come with anything - even one of its soul snatching techniques - she would be utterly defenseless. Or so she would make it seem, anyway. She would wait until she is given such an opening if indeed she is, and once their hand has just about reached her, she would attempt to invoke her chronomancy to slip behind the brute.

    She would then attempt to unload a full revolver magazine at the area's she would presume to call its chest and head, working on the assumption that, even if it is entirely inhuman, aiming for the regions where vitals would exist in a normal person will still give her attacks some form of boon. And if that doesn't work, she would follow up with a flurry of sword slashes, most aimed at its side but several straight at its back, which would be bolstered by a haste field applied to Mizuki's own being. It's unlikely that such an involved martial maneuver would leave her with any room left over to step away, but if indeed she can, she would backstep, getting into position for another exchange. She might not win in the department of raw power, no, but she could always attempt time-aided sidesteps or the like to give her the edge. At least, if the darkwraith's next moves provide her an opportunity to plan this out.

    She would make her every attempt to keep an eye out for other wraiths that may approach, but her primary concern is the one in front of her right now, so even if she was able to catch sight of them she's likely be quite vulnerable were she to be doubleteamed. As for Nathan? She leaves his protection to Shirou, or Lezard, though she might divert some of the speed she's contributing to the former to the aforementioned general in the interest of his continued safety -- the bladesmith seems like he can handle himself well enough.

Staren has posed:
    Everyone attacks the darkwraiths!

    And yet somehow, the darkwraiths survive to attack right back! Staren's forcefield is up, flickering, cracking, and starting to break under the assault as Staren fires his beam cannons. "Oh COME ON!"

    And then Nathan tells him how to kill them. Divine artifacts? That he can do! He reaches into his bag and draws forth what appears to be an oversized Colt Peacemaker with a triple-M monogram engraved on it. Staren can't help but grin as he points at the darkwraith point-blank and fires a pair of bullets, one behind the other with a single trigger pull.

    If the darkwraith reacts negatively, he continues firing until its down, and then tries to chase down and shoot the one after Nathan Hall. "Get away from him!"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe hoped to catch the things off guard, and then they vanish after a moment she's not sure about this but then she'll find they are right up against them. She sees their movments they know what they are doing and they are still comming. Tomoe summons not her sword today but Mooncutter her Naginatta and she going to go to town against them as she dances aout them trying to strike where she can or parry their attacks. It seems she's trying to dodge tank today.

"Come on uglies you want some of the fairy?! Come get it!"

She so doesn't really tlak like a fairy a lot of the time does she? Then again less double speak is a good thing right? Thankfully she can keep them distracted, right while the people with actual magic can hopefully do something?

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard emits a 'tch' of annoyance as they cleave through the harpies. The quick and easy snag didn't work. Now he has to actually get dirty.

Maybe one day he'll find Seath's hidden 'How to stick someone in a crystal in five easy steps' treatise in the Archives, but for now he's got a problem.

A fairly big problem, as Lezard is a mage and tends to have Mage Problems when a powerful physical combatant closes to melee. He throws himself to one side, but he is too slow, the blade catching the Necromancer in the side and launching him clear off of the balcony, where he lands amidst the corpses with a dull thud.

"... Corpses do wonders to break a fall, it seems." He hisses in pain, rolling to one knee and clutching the bloody wound along one side as he looks up at the Darkwraith. "If you wish to play for keeps, then it is time to show you the depths of your folly." He raises the sceptre once more, and calls out, "MYSTIC CROSS!"

There is an explosion of white light as tiny stars rain out through the area, spreading and assaulting the Darkwraiths en masse. Upon striking, they explode in a bright flash of holy power.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    The only good thing Shirou has going for him is that he has two weapons. He barely has the composure to handle an attack from two sides at once, but... he doesn't need it. Kanshou and Bakuya know how to fight, and his limbs obey their ideas of what to do. He's already analyzed the kind of fighting style they should be used with and his subconscious knows this even if his conscious doesn't.

    So the weapons flicker and flash through the air, clanging and sparking repeatedly to repel the Darkwraiths attacks. But repel is all he can manage with his level of strength and projection quality.

    Shirou's forced back, skidding several meters, and his hurriedly-traced weapons shatter.

    He doesn't have enough time to project another Noble Phantasm! So instead...

    He'll use something less, yet still mighty.

    His Circuits spark to life again, and an incredible crescent shape of metal forms from a flare of prana. It takes only a few seconds for him to go from tracing efforts to raising an eastern blade much longer than most katana - it is 1.5 meters. A nodachi known as 'Monohoshi Zao,' or 'the laundry-drying pole.'

    And Shirou turns his side to the Darkwraiths with the weapon in both hands until it's held horizontally behind his head!

    "yeah... just try that again!" He taunts.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan is pursued. Right in the middle of trying to pull out some of that slimem before suddenly a darkwraith is upon him! He'll be barely dodging away from it, even as Mizuki's movements speed him up. Just one of these things is impossible for him to take in one-on-one combat, and he's barely able to quickroll himself away from vicious swings. Mizuki's amping up his speed, though, and he can get away enough to give Staren enough room to engage with that revolver safely.

    He winds up sliding down under the darkwraith Priscilla just hit, darting into the pulverized cobblestone to snag a few drips of blood. "Please pardon me." He says. "I require samples, apologies." Before it can react, he's going to try to dash his way to the Darkwraith that Oscar just injured the legs on! That sample looks a bit different too. Nathan tries to use the thick coating of water that still covers some of the cobblestone from the flood to create a lyaer of ice faster than the darkwrath can react underfoot, hopefully tripping it long enough to grab some of the more otherworldly sample. If he can manage to pull that off, he's going to dash over to try to help Lezard back onto his feet, since they can't afford prone combatants at the moment! And also because he'll probably need more cover FAST.

Priscilla has posed:
    Mizuki's feigned vulnerability is exactly the right move. As she crumples into the corner, the advancing Darkwraith clutches his free hand into a clawed shape, causing it to suddenly erupt into bloody red light. He reaches down to grasp her with that hand, aiming for her throat, but not forcefully enough to seem as if he is going to try and strangle her or snap her neck. Instead he is left to grasp empty air, and receives a sextuple burst of revolver rounds straight to his back at point blank, sending out little spatters of blood with each bullet hole. He swings around on her nigh instantly, aiming to simply take her head off with his heavy sword, but shortly after the apex of his swing, the flurry of strikes manages to riddle him with enough ventilation for him to keel over, completely disabled and bleeding out on his hands and knees.

    The wraith assaulting staren tanks the beam cannon shots by interposing his wide sword, the titanite etching spreading a glowing red pattern across the steel as it absorbs the heat. Heedless of the scientists return attacks, he hammers away at the forcefield until it breaks, and then goes to ram his sword straight through the power armour and into Staren's abdomen. The revolver designed by Morg punches straight through his breastplate and out the other side, venting more oily liquid into the air and causing him to stagger instantly, but still pressing the attack. Only after several more shots strike him does he die, still clutching his sword. The Darkwraiths assaulting Shirou meanwhile, have reason to pause, halting their charge against him as he skids back midway, and looking to the long sword. The two of them begin to circle around again, slowly drawing a half circle around him, and going through the effort to grip their swords in two hands. They strike simultaneously again, skillfully avoiding hitting each other's blades as they attempt to destroy him from both sides.

    Lezard's mystic cross draws the attention of all the Darkwraiths at once, responding much more quickly now that they know he can cast magic. Each one of the remaining Darkwraiths stops in their tracks and suddenly holds out their left hands, revealing why they wield their swords with only one. The air in front of each offered palm ripples outwards like a stone dropped into a pond, tinging everything behind it with a bloody hue and flickering shadows. The ripples are apparently some sort of barrier, because they block the falling stars with only partial damage to the user behind them. The exceptions are the ones currently dedicating both hands to killing Shirou, who are both smote by the attack and sent reeling. A holy element attack appears to have more effect than a regular one, judging by the black smoke issuing from them, but isn't /quite/ enough to kill them ine one hit. At the same time however, Shirou now has a huge opening to try and finish them off.

    Also important is the fact that the one chasing Nathan has to break off his pursuit to block, letting the librarian escape into the general fray and giving him time to work his magic. For such a menacing opponent, it looks a little strange to see it slip on the ice, but it is back on its feet in short order, though now much behind its prey. Tomoe is still under vigorous assault. Though her dodge tanking tactics certainly keep her from being killed, they don't provide her much in the way of openings to counterattack, and the Darkwraith doesn't seem to be about to get tired any time soon. Perhaps not ever.

Priscilla has posed:
    Oscar however, has come this far purely from learning to avoid harm while attacking in return, and skillfully exploits every opening given to him. His reinforced shield allows him to take blows that would shatter a normal one, sending him into the air or skidding backwards, but ultimately keeping him unharmed. He ducks and rolls under blows, and manages to score several hits in quick succession, his blade flashing with pulses of bright light as the enchantment upon it reacts strongly with the Dark. Though long ago, the knight of Astora's sword was once blessed by Lordran's equivalent to the pope; a direct servant under Lord Gwyn. After having been passed down for generations, it now finds its use in banishing the Dark, sending out splatters of black blood even where the blows fail to pierce armour. The Darkwraith collapses after only a handful of blows, which lets Oscar shield tackle the one currently lashing about trying to find Priscilla. It catches his blow with a forcefield of its own, sending him realing backwards with a pulse of baleful energy, but this gives Priscilla all the opening she needs to approach and land a second hit with her scythe, triggering the Lifehunt and causing the unfortunate wraith to gush forth great quantities of blood from every seam in its armour and the eyes of its mask, falling into a pool of its own blood.

Staren has posed:
    Staren is stabbed! Again! It is becoming a DISTURBINGLY FAMILIAR SENSATION. His medical nanites numb the pain and pump his phantom body full of drugs, but he grits his teeth and grunts in pain before those kick in. Still, the nanites and knowing that he's a phantom and won't really die help him power through it and focus long enough to empty the cylinder into the darkwraith, killing it.

    So much for helping Nathan! Fortunately, Lezard's taken care of that!

    Staren drops the gun, holding the spent weapon in his TK (best magic item ever) as he pulls the sword free and draws his staff and cover himself with a barrier spell. If he's unmolested for long enough, he'll put away the Annihilator and draw the Rattler, firing shot rounds at the nearest darkwraith. What else is there to do? He may 'die' here, but the mission is to make sure /someone/ who knows what they're doing gets to that Lordsoul!

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is gettinng france and otherwise hit still she's just not been hit direcly yet even with her endureance she's not sure how many hits she thinks she could take. he does however keeop moving and will make attacks when she can but Tomoe's got inhuman stamina she can basically go untill something makes her crumple from Damage or she's mentally just done. Hopefully she cna buy her friends enough time.

She keeps fighting and launching the quick and odd low levle fire spell as she goes. She leaps more wso than one in as much armour as she has, should be able to as well.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    When the Darkwraiths get SLAMMED by Lezard's magic and go tottering wildly... Shirou realizes he's got his moment. His body moves on Auto-pilot as he simply LEAPS in low, rocketing forth a good several meters-- "Hidden Sword: Tsubame Gaeshi!"

    ---FWOOOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOOOOOOOSHHH--

    In the gloom, Monohoshi Zao flickers like moonlight three times in quick sequence.

    A technique originally dedicated to striking down swallows in flight, the signature skill of SASAKI KOJIRO is in fact much greater than this pale imitation.

    Anyone who'd seen Fake Avenger performing it would know Shirou's movements were a horrible mockery ar from the enigmatic grace of that nameless swordsman, and the series of slashes a far cry from the dimensional refraction phenomenon the true skill manages.

    What Shirou did looked pretty good to the untrained eye. But it sorely pales next to the real thing.

    The Darkwraths who've been diced through three times apiece are unlikely to care about these details!

    Or how the ordinary (if oversized) weapon just SHATTERS in the process from poor handling...

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    When Mizuki jumps back, she's doing it to get away from the tumbling corpse of a darkwraith she successfully felled. This is good, but this is clearly not a conclusion of any sort. Fortunately for her, though, no others come charging thanks to Lezard's casting. She realizes the reason behind this as well, and would quickly capitalize. Lezard might notice an inscrutable sepia tone coursing across his arms and legs, but it would do nothing harmful... to him. Rather, when enough Darkwraiths come within a certain proximity of him, Mizuki would release the temporal energy she had gathered around his form, creating a stasis field that might be large enough to contain two, possibly three of the Darkwraiths whilst dramatically slowing their movements, or to slow several more with a less dramatic impact. This would be intended to give him and Shirou the time they need to clean up shop.

    Whether this works or not, though, Mizuki would take the initiative, making her form translucent. This would not only make her harder to see, but also to hear; a condition which she would exploit to get behind an individual wraith preoccupied with Valeth and attempt a repeat of the flurry that downed the one she was occupied with previously. The toll on her energy is getting quite monumental, though, so whether or not she's successful in this attack she would attempt a quick retreat, likely accompanied by gunshots if this new foe would follow her trail. At the conclusion of it all she would make a beeline for Nathan so that she may protect him if necessary, but also to give her some much needed space from the souldraining acolytes. She'll need this space if she's to maintain that stasis field for any length of time.

    Then she would just remain as stationary as circumstance would permit her too. She would watch the goings-on in the fray, looking for any situations that might be dire enough to necessitate her help.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The bad news: The Darkwraiths begin deflecting his magics. The good news: You can't tank and stab someone at the same time, which means they leave themselves open when having to defend themselves from the spell attack. While Lezard might personally prefer to vaporize them, he is more than happy to accept the strategic opportunities held therein.

Nathan gives him a hand up. which he accepts gratefully, and he takes a moment to adjust his glasses as he watches the aftermath of the attack. "We have little time. We have to move decisively if we are to disable the Darkwraiths before we take unacceptable casualties."

A circle of light forms under Lezard as he teleports himself, approaching Darkwraiths likely triggering Mizuki's trap card as he relocates himelf onto a small platform overlooking the battle.

This time, he will be more prepared. In the meantime, he extends his hands and begins forming a teleportation circle under the bleeding and disabled Darkwraith. Should it not escape... It will be going on a little trip.

Lezard likes living research subjects, after all.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "I swear," Nathan says, in his unbroken monotone when he notices how they're now focusing on Lezard, who he has by now hopefully helped to his feet. "If Duke Seath was conspiring with the abyss and this is the /same/ motivation as the last time, I am going to become extremely frustrated." Nathan can do very little right now when Lezard teleports away, besides try to keep out of the eyes of the Darkwraiths, who have hopefully followed Lezard and not focused on Nathan!

    More dashing this time, in the opposite direction of Lezard. Either he'll get aggro away from him, or he'll draw aggro for Lezard to take advantage of and the others to strike down, but he continues to not strike, as always!

Priscilla has posed:
    The closest target to Staren, is in fact, the one attacking Tomoe. Intermittently taking the odd fire spell to the face, the wraith presses its attack relentlessly, scoring countless glancing blows that steadily drain her HP bar from their raw power. The Morg-made shotgun hits it right in the chest, sending it staggering back towards the edge, presenting an excellent target for Priscilla. In the time since downing her own Darkwraith, she has drawn Moonlight, and flourishes the blade towards the enemy above to send a coruscating wave of raw soulmass that explodes violently against its back, killing the wounded enemy instantly. Those facing Shirou are in much more trouble. The first is taken out by all three swings, his armour rending under the edge of the katana. The second one actually manages to react fast enough to block two of the strikes, mostly by virtue of his sword's size rather than dexterity, but the third catches him across the throat, sending him crumpling to the floor and bleeding to death in seconds.

    The one pursuing Lezard leaps down from the balcony, crunching the bones of the pile of corpses it lands in. It takes two menacing steps towards him, brandishes its sword over its head, and is subsequently hit with the full strength of Mizuki's time manipulation, causing it to slow to a crawl and allow the mage to teleport away. Similarly almost helpless to defend itself, it is quickly overwhelmed by Mizuki's furious strikes and withering gunfire, though it costs almost the entirety of her remaining strength to put it down for good. The one still chasing Nathan is caught up in the spell as well, though to a lesser extent. That partial slow however, is all Oscar needs to leap into its back, kick it to the ground, and drive his sword repeatedly through its chest, stabbing it a multitude of times just to be safe; and instinct well learned in the lands of Lordran.

    Thankfully, no more Darkwraiths appear to be forthcoming. Priscilla regains visibility again, kicking the nearest corpse with a noise of disgust. "It is unlikely they shalt dare send another party so soon after their last was annihilated, on the chance that there art actually more of them." Oscar however, appears to be a little preoccupied with thoughts of his two remaining, unaccounted for friends. "I suppose if neither of them are here, their ventures must have lead them somewhere else. I'm sure they will soon realize they are headed in the wrong direction, and return to Firelink.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is doing her job she's tanking some of the agro and she's not died yet. She keeps dancing about the imporant thing is not dropping them but keeping them away from the people who can drop them. So the batlte goes on and things are getting to be very bad she attemps to do somthing stupid but finally the things go adown and she stops moving.

"...Understood, Priscilla."

She lowers her weapon now and makes sure everyone else is all right.

"This just never ends does it?"

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Yay, Nathan's pursuer is dead. FINALLY! Dude's been chasing him this whole time. The corpse frightens him, but he's here to grab samples before the bodies get away, so he's wandering, now, over to the friendly bloodstained Oscar. "Thank you." He says, leaning down and offering a hand to pull him back up onto his feet too. "Your assistance is appreciated." He also leans down and collects more samples.

    In short order, he heads over to Lezard. "Salutations, Here." He offers a collection of spirit-tight and air-tight sample containers attached together. The containers themselves are Hastur magic constructs, translucent and yellow. "Please take these. I believe they will provide insight concerning the effects of the Abyss on living beings. Please use the samples to craft some means of defense against the Abyss. I can render some measure of assistance, but I am unable to craft such artifacts independently." A quick, respectful nod.

    If Lezard will take it, he'll then head to Priscilla. "We will meet our allies at Firelink and plan a proper excursion to the Abyss and to the chamber of the Four Kings. If these foes are anything to reckon by, we will need planning, and a full loadout of divine or holy artifacts where possible. For now, let us make a tactical withdrawl."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Ghhh..." Shirou seems to have done something to his shoulder from that swing, given how he starts wringing it out and rubbing it. "Don't fail on me now, body.." Mutter, mutter. What kind of technique IS that move?

    He grunts.. but relaxes noticeably with the Darkwraiths dealt with. "Thank heavens, they're not a threat anymore..." Monsters are monsters whether humanoid or not. He dashes Priscilla's way quickly but he's breathing a bit windedly.

    "Sometimes I wonder what we're trying to save all the way out here, Priscilla. I look around and wonder how life could ever return here..."

Staren has posed:
    Ding, dong, the darkwraiths are dead!

    It's over relatively quickly, but... geeze. These things are dangerous. He's a bit disappointed to hear they won't be finding the lordsoul today, but can't argue that they need to be better prepared to face the foes that await them. He nods to Nathan and reloads his weapons anyway, just in case of a sudden ambush. "Why are they so strong..."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The assault of the Darkwraiths seems to be broken. Lezard teleports once more, appearing on the ground so Nathan can reach him without shenanigans. He accepts the containers, looking them over curiously. "Fascinating." He says. "I will exanine these samples intensively, to be sure. It would not do to send our allies into the Abyss with no protection." Lezard gestures, smiling pleasantly.

"We have much to do. I will proceed to begin the research forthwith." Besides, he can't be sure that the Darkwraith he kidnapped isn't in the process of breaking free of his typical containment. That would be /highly irritating/.

Perhaps some might consider what is to come... karmic justice, in a way.

Priscilla has posed:
    Oscar takes Nathan's hand gratefully, wrenching his sword free from the Darkwraith's corpse. "The appreciation is mutual. As ever, I owe my success equally to your group." Priscilla makes a strangely forlorn face towards Shirou, clearly upset by his question. "Please believeth me whence I say that it was not always this way. Things hath simply become so from the waning of the world itself, and the abandonment of this country. Rekindling the First Flame will bring the Lords back to this land, so that it may have guidance and order once more. Once back under divine rulership, it is only a matter of time until evil is stamped out. Besides . . ." she gestures towards Oscar. "He is to succeed Lord Gwyn. Dost thou truly believeth that he wouldst stand for any of this?" she then gestures towards the Darkwraiths. She frowns ever so faintly at Staren, though more in contemplation than anything. "The Four Kings wouldst hath not traded away their kingdom and their humanity for nothing. Whatever lost art was promised to them, it hast made formiddable foes over their followers. I cannot imagine what powers that a possessor of a fragment of a Lordsoul wouldst gain, never mind four of them." Who knows what awaits Lezard when he gets back. It promises to be entertaining, at the very least.