1822/A Knife in the Dark

A Knife in the Dark
Date of Scene:	16 March 2015
Location:	Terra Majora
Synopsis:	Charity makes her move to resolve the issue with the man who framed her and left her for dead.
Cast of Characters:	12, 92, 188, 202, 253, 292, 299, 589, Lezard Valeth
Tinyplot:	New Blood

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Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    With the army being drawn off to fight Elliana's creations, the city is /relatively/ undefended. A small militia is all that's left, fairly nervous and obviously ill-trained. The city does sport some pretty thick walls though... numerous ones, three rings of them. The first ring is the middle and lower classes, and the markets, while the second holds the nobility and upper class, the rich. The final ring holds the higher nobles, including the Baron himself. Baron Shining Soul, the target of this assault, is somewhere in that deepest ring.

    The bulk of the army is busy with Fairchild's minions, and she is there to 'coordinate' the assault. This mostly consists of sitting on a high bluff under an umbrella in her swimsuit, enjoying the unseasonable warmth, while she watches the battle with a pair of sunglasses on, sipping a Mai Tai. Hard at work with her part of the plan.

    The city is thus sparsely-populated, as the nearby battle has gotten most of the civilian population to shutter themselves in the houses and basements. This doesn't mean the place is undefended, though! Aside from the militia, Elliana has firmly informed those in the operation that this city has quite a few Blooded in it.

Mordred (12) has posed:
    Door. An interesting word. An entryway, a passageway, an area through which one typically enters, possibly closable, fortified, or otherwise as sturdy as the wall. Given a choice, it is always the best way into any given area, short of having supernatural means of bypassing physical obstacles. A Servant, for example, does not have to care about walls or doors, wielding the ability to turn incorporeal at the drop of a hat.

    Therefore, what are city walls to a Servant?

    "AWW YEAH!"

    In a blind fit of absolute excitement, Mordred suddenly bursts through the first layer of fortifications surrounding the city, covered in full armor, treating the solid stone as if it were just layers of paper, sending large chunks of broken wall every which way.

    She would look to the side, spotting the city gate. The guards haven't had time to secure them yet, they're just loosely closed. "GOD DAMNIT."

    With a huff, the armored Saber moves for the gate. She will ignore the guards to give the door a sturdy kick. It's not so much to open it so much as splinter it in two. She is unarmed, you see. Half of a gate should make a suitable weapon until she gets bored.

Lute (188) has posed:
     With the signal given, Lute is ready. He was positioned in this area outside of the town, Miko there with him. And, as the distraction from Elliana comes out, he sets Despite being wildly out of place with this world in so many ways. But, with the army drawn away, he feels a need to flex his muscle a bit. Show off a bit to his allies. And so, he is going to be starting off big, especially since Stealth isn't a concern.

     He holds a black Pokeball. Opening it, Giratina appears. The large ghostly dragon Pokemon towers above, and Lute climbs onto its back. He offers Miko a hand as well, to help her onto its back. And, with but a command, it takes into the air, flying into the city.

     "...Miko. Be careful, alright? I'll stay near you to help make sure you can complete your mission, and make sure the Rules are not broken."

     And with that, he continues to fly in on Giratina's back. Probably one of the most notable and obvious targets here, by far. Hey, one of his big talents is basically just being a meatshield for his allies after all, a major distraction.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    A figure in a hooded cloak moves quickly through the city, but also sticks to relatively obscure pathways so as to remain unseen. This means his path will be longer as he avoids checkpoints, guards, or anyone he might have to identify himself to in the city. The longer he can avoid having to officially mark his presence, the later he can say he arrived. Which will be important for Reasons.

    Hooded cloak aside, the figure is dressed pretty basically. Slacks, tunic, sword at his hip, guns kept out of sight. Boots tap across the ground with forceful steps. He's not interacting with many people, and he DOES have a slight advantage over most Confederates (save possibly Charity): He knows where the Baron lives. He's been to his house before, so he can remember where it is and heads in that direction fairly persistently.

Purity Hopesong (292) has posed:
    Purity had agreed to this particular mission out of a very slight sense of loyalty to Charity, and a vague desire for future employment. Also, of course, she was hoping for a chance to get to cut down some of her foes, and other thoughts that the scarred woman would try to surpress, at least publicly. She has enough issues as it stands without letting that get out.

    As she makes her presence known, not all of her is present. Her right hand has been replaced with a hook for the moment, and an eyepatch covers her left eye.

    "Well. Let's see." She'll say to herself, keeping back a little ways. She's very slightly handicapped at the moment, after all, at least here.

    Elsewhere on the battlefield, of course, a hand wielding a sword is flitting around corners. There's an eye strapped to its top in a very carefully designed glove. This is how she's presently scouting.

Charity Whiteheart (299) has posed:
    This is more support than Charity expected. Not that she minds the lack of stealth. She could have tried sneaking in and downing the Baron by herself, if she really wanted... send a message that hiding doesn't keep anyone safe from revenge and justice. This... works just as well. Utterly smashing the resistance is a valid tactic, and sends a message: you can't stand against us if we really want to crush you.

    It's a message Charity is fine with.

    It also provides quite a distraction for her to abuse. The thief is fast-moving, darting and zig-zagging in to approach one of the solid walls. She doesn't 'bust' through, just uses her normal locomotion: phasing right through the wall and to the other side. She's traded her daggers for two longer blades, still only about two feet long, but with an edge. Despite being pretty careless about anyone who gets in her way, she's avoiding any guards or Blooded, moving at high speed through the alleys... up and inward, toward the center of the city.

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Adelyn promised an 'assistant,' which could mean any of a number of individuals. Considering that Mordred largely does what Vrenyn does, but better, that Adelyn won't require a dedicated defender, and that Azon's mobility and stealth are limited--

    As far as most should be able to tell, there's no one there. Those with senses tuned to the ethereal will instead see a clear presence--long, black hair and dress, red eyes and sash, and twin straight blades of unusual length. This is Lialyn Earthdance, and her current, unmanifested state makes it difficult to make our her expression, even for someone that is able to see her.

    Having been deployed to assist Charity, it's right on her position that the spirit follows. And then Charity goes right through the wall--and she still follows.

    "Charity Whiteheart, I am here." The voice manages to come at a conversational tone despite the circumstances, and with relatively little risk of being overheard. This might be confusing if they've never met, or if not like this. "I will only be able to safely materialize once, with what mana I have. Signal me if necessary."

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    The pink-haired magical girl, Princess Paladin, rides into the battle zone atop Giratina. She nods to Lute, but can not spare him much more attention than that. She is prepared to follow the Rule that she transformed for. And that purpose is to ensure that Charity Whiteheart reaches the baron. To that end, she keeps an eye on the progress of Charity through the city from above as best as she is able, and directs her Sacred Scepter at those below. While she avoids civilians, or blowing up random buildings, she still launches holy lasers down upon the defenders if she spots them with her transformation-enhanced eye sight. The 'Penance Beams' are weaker versions of the ones she uses when she calls out the name of the attack, but are still capable of drilling through most things in their way.

    For now she is just acting as a distraction and aerial bombardment. But if she needs to get down there and get in the middle of it, she can jump from all the way up here and land somewhat safely. And if she doesn't, she can heal.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
City walls are of no use against the Necromancer of Midgard. A teleportation circle draws itself atop the innermost ring of wall, and Lezard appears atop one of the guard towers, his cloak rippling in the wind. "With one hand we giveth. With the other, we taketh away." He says simply, as he produces his ruby-tipped scepter. He reaches out, his voice echoing oddly as he begins an incantation.

"I am he who hath entrusted his soul to the eternal vortex of time. Ye know me! And if ye do not, ye shall be made to know me. It shall be engraved on thy very soul, Lezard Valeth! If ye shall accept the brand of Hel upon thee, thy sanctions shall in turn be lowered. I shall grant thee the deliverance of thy soul, and ye shall come now before me!"

As the call finishes, purple holes begin to open throughout the area, disgorging spirits and minor undead. Under mental directions from their master, the undead surge forward, ignoring civilians present while assaulting local guards. It looks like such control requires concentration from Lezard, however, who continues to hold his hands out his expression a mask of concentration to make sure the requested goals are met.

After all, it's /inefficient/ to go smash one's way through an army personally. The Blooded might be another story, but that what the others are for.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Mordred knocks hard, and her response certainly does seem to be the sort that shouts 'attention given!' A few arrows uselessly plink on her armor, if she doesn't bother to dodge them, and then... they halt. Busting through the wall like that, it is pretty clear the militia can do squat against her... so they don't try, and instead lay down a peppering of arrows around the Servant, arrows that are bursting into flame and ringing her in a circle of flame. This seems pretty pointless... until the flames roar to life and spin in a circle around her. Looks like there's a Sorcerer somewhere nearby, and the militia have just provided them with some flame to be manipulated. The flames start to blast arrows of fire toward Mordred.

    Speaking of arrows of fire, a few arrows don't quite reach Lute and Miko, falling short of their arc. The archers are now scattering for cover, diving under eaves and the like. There are a curious abundance of those. They leave it to two other soldiers. One of them manifests as a streak of light, an intensely fast pulse shooting upward, lance-first, trying to impale the Giratina upon it. The user can't fly, though, so they end up plummeting down lance-first toward the pair atop the back. Looks like an armored lance-user, helm down. The other Blooded that attacks them does so from the ground, blasting with bolts of bluish light fired from a bow, though the rain of arrows briefly stops when one of Miko's shots drags a furrow along their thigh, forcing them to stagger aside.

    Meanwhile, the militia that is regrouping ends up... tangling with undead. There are screams and shouts, and for the moment it looks like Lezard is easily handling them. They're rallying, but only in small pockets. He could probably crush them if need be, but either way they're occupied.

    As for Purity, she's scouting, and her eye and hand are quickly ducking away from any threats. She does manage to find the sorcerer, in one of the guard towers, looking out the window at Mordred and making his gestures. She also notes the presence of at least two others in fine armor, which are most likely Blooded, who have yet to join the battle.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Psyber reaches the house a few moments ahead of Charity. The guards snap their spears down toward him. "HALT!" The speartips are both quivering a little, as they've seen the firepower sent their way. They're nervously holding the spears, but there's also a definite bustle of activity in the house. Psyber might be able to just force his way past... or even just reveal his identity, if he wants.

    If he doesn't, then he'll be there when Charity and Lialyn arrive, though Charity is much less likely to worry about mere mortal guards and their lives. Or maybe she's feeling...

    Charitable.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is stopped by the guards. The half-angel looks at them and then takes a long pause. He isn't sure how best to address this, because he doesn't want to kill these guys, but if he just leaves them here, he is pretty sure they'll die.

    So keeping his head low, the half-angel says pretty directly, "You stand at a crossroads in your life. Your loyalty is commendable and I respect it, but there is a storm coming and you will be dashed upon the rocks when it arrives. This means that, at the fork you are at, you have two options: Live as men or die as heroes. The second may sound valiant, but please think of the people that care about you."

    "You will not stop the people coming, you will only add to their death total. They are like none you have ever seen and you should flee now. Please do not waste your lifes." He says as he pulls back his hood and stares down the guards with shining red eyes.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Spirits, lesser vampires, ghouls, and harpies wreak havoc across the city, working to keep the militia hemmed in when possible. The Harpies pluck at soft targets with their greater manuverability while the spirits slip through to try to interrupt bowmen. They're moving with coordination due to Lezard's direct influence over them...

But that doesn't make them any more durable. These undead are weak enough that while a threat, they can be killed by mortal men. Several fall, pierced with spears or lances, and Harpies make excelent archer bait. The dead creatures dissolve in stinking purple flame, sometimes leaving behind small glittering gemstones in their wake.

Lezard himself remains focused on controlling his undead, so he can do little against the opposing spellcasters at this time. Of course, should something result in him releasing his control, well. That would hardly be HIS fault, would it?

Lute (188) has posed:
     As the lance user comes in, Lute is fairly surprised. Giratina sees it coming, and he tries to move out of the way. But, quite simply, he doesn't react fast enough. The bright white lance scrapes along Giratina's side, and as the user comes down to try and bring the lance down on Giratina's back, it hits. Lute frowns at the guy. And at the incoming magical arrows.

     "Hey, knight dude. We're just trying to, you know. Come in and visit the place. We're just tourists. ...That's believable, right?" Lute knows full well it isn't, though, but he's just trying to buy time as he looks back at the knight further down on Giratina's back. As he says this, something pops out from under his shirt. A large number of Unown, the Pokemon that resemble glyphs. He had them merged onto his body, flattened out. About twenty of them. They fly towards the knight, trying to batter him.

     "Princess Paladin, take care of that archer so they don't end up going towards Charity and stopping her path. ...Also the knight might be trying to get in the way too, so." He knows a bit of Miko's magic. She can only use the transformation for the purpose she transformed for. But, at a guess, as long as everything can be tangentially related to the vague purpose of 'Make sure Charity gets to the Baron', things should work out, right?

     Either way, though, he mutters orders to Giratina, to try and fly towards Charity's location. Closer Princess Paladin is, the more directly she is helping. Giratina is trying to fly smoothly while remaining rather high, to make sure that the non-magic archers can keep missing.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    The rain of arrows coming down at them from some kind of super-leaping archer can not be completely avoided even with the enhanced speed provided by Paladin's transformation. She takes a few hits, some glancing off armor, some slicing flesh, and one going into her abdomen before it disappears - after doing its damage. She responds to the attack by leaping up to meet the enemy, without seemingly even noticing her injuries and before Lute has even spoken. In mid-air, she attempts to clobber the archer with a two-handed, spinning swing of the Sacred Scepter, the Artifact of Holiness and Law able to do plenty of damage normally, but even more so with superhuman strength behind it.

    Whether the attack lands or not, Paladin only takes the time needed to touch down on Giratina before firing a full strength magical attack at the enemy. "PENANCE BEAM!" she calls out, before unleashing a spiralling beam of pink energy that attempts to drill through the target.

    She is fulfilling her Rule by keeping these enemies busy. She doesn't necessarily need to be right there, fighting alongside Charity, especially when Charity is seemingly doing just fine sneaking in and avoiding trouble. So entrusting that to others is fine for now.

    But that doesn't mean these two who have come up to fight Lute and Paladin in the sky are off the hook. She leaves the Lancer to Lute for now, but if Lute gets injured, Paladin can at least provide healing for the two of them once the is a break in the fighting.

Mordred (12) has posed:
    It is true that Mordred's armor is pretty sturdy. Well, less the armor and more the concept of her existence as a whole-- endurance is an odd stat when it comes from your Prana Burst, but that's going into unnecessary detail.

    It's with an annoyed growl that the Saber picks up a large section of the broken gate, as flames attempt to burn her. A dome of blue-ish light seems to make it difficult for the magic to reach her, but not impossible in the slightest. The steel burns, and the Servant is made uncomfortable in her full armor. Might as well be cooking right now.

    But she does not move, and instead turns to glare at the guards who put their weapons down. It's easy to tell she's glaring at them, even though she's wearing that helmet. Call it imminent bloodlust and violence creating an almost physical effect.

    "You fuckers listen, we're here to kill the Baron. If EVERYONE just stays the fuck out of our way, we're in, we're out, and you guys can go on. If you DON'T, I'm shoving this gate down one of your throats and then using the resulting combined weapon to bludgeon the others. TICK TOCK, YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO PICK!"

Purity Hopesong (292) has posed:
    Purity will continue along, rather behind the rest of the group, sticking to the shadows as best she can. She'd likely be recognized, and many Blooded would give her quite the hard time if she was pressed, especially when her attention and limbs were split in the manner they currently were.

    She will make a request on radio, though, one Mordred may realize applies to him at present. "Can I try to kill the sorcerer?" At confirmation that she can, even with the two extra blooded in the room, Purity's loose hand will drive forward, trying to drive its blade into the back of the sorcerer, aiming straight for a kidney, totally spoiling the effectiveness of Mordred's proposed truce.

    The hand is going to be skittering away full-speed, of course, trying to not get caught by the remaining Blooded she'd spotted. She wants to have it gone before they can destroy it; regeneration's a bitch.

Charity Whiteheart (299) has posed:
    "Thanks," Charity says mildly to the mysterious voice. She has learned to just accept that sort of thing. "Just keep an eye out for now. If we do run into the twins, I might need your help. I don't think I could take on both of them and the Baron at the same time." So at first she just passes through walls with the summoned spirit-being, and makes her way to the Baron's residence.

    She arrives in time to hear the tail end of Psyber's statement. Emerging from the nearby wall, she just starts walking toward the manor. In plain sight. "He's right. I'll kill you if I have to, but if you turn away now you won't be harmed. You aren't in the right class for this, and there's no shame in letting someone more qualified fight me." As demonstration, one of her blades licks out, slicing the nearby tree in half at a diagonal, without even touching it. "The Baron. Is he in there, or not?" Psyber gets a quick look, assessing as if deciding if he's friend or foe.

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Lialyn doesn't say anything more. She just keeps the pace, and keeps her eyes ahead. The world looks differently from her perspective; it's not a full shift to another plane, but the spectral is clear, and the physical is fogged. She expects that Charity will spot any specific obstacles of the latter category well enough, so she focuses on the former. In particular, the residence--once they arrive, if there's nothing in the way, she'll try flitting through the wall and back to see if any wards had bypassed her senses.

    This is after giving Psyber a look of recognition. Yes, they've met. Probably not like this. Can he see her in this state? She's a little curious about that, but spares only the one look toward the angel before moving.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    LEzard is certainly taking care of the militia. One of them dies messily, nearby, but two more take down the harpy right after. They're... learning. Surprisingly fast for militia. Taking some casualties, but they're learning and starting to organize. It's not enough, of course, but then again all Lezard has to do is keep them busy long enough. He doesn't have to win right now, and unless some of the Blooded can help the militia won't survive a prolonged fight. Does Lezard want to end it more quickly, or just do a holding action?

    The archers have given up on Lute, now... well, all but the Blooded one. The lancer is plummeting past, and then flicks his lance up to streak into the air again, plunging /through/ the Unown! This... only works while moving though, and a moment later he's pummelled and send tumbling through the air. This isn't as crippling as one would think, because he's jabbing and whirling the lance at the Unown even as he's falling through the air. And he's /fast/ about it. He would be faster, but it looks like he's favoring one shoulder from the earlier impact.

    The archer below is... mostly dodging, now. He fires a bolt at Miko again, then leaps to the side... to keep from getting pulverized. Instead he's 'merely' wounded, and stumbles down atop a different rooftop to slide against a wall, briefly cutting off the shots raining the air.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Purity's blade comes for the sorcerer... and he sees it at the last second. "Wha...?" The flying sword impales him, but not fatally. It's still enough to break his concentration and leave him staggering into the tower, clutching a bad wound on his chest. He'll be out of commission for at least a few minutes, possibly the rest of the fight. One of the Blooded sees the blade, and launches toward it with her lance, the ribbon on the end fluttering. She's too slow, but it's going to be a close call.

    This means Mordred's circle of flame dies down abruptly. The guards all look at one another... then their weapons come up. Not into a guard position, but a 'not pointing at Mordred' position as they rapidly skitter out of the way. This isn't a bad idea, because an instant later two Blooded appear. One of them, the female, bears a lance... and looks exactly the same as the one who attacked Purity's hand. The other is using a sword and shield, and while the lance-bearing one circles around, warily looking for an opening, the sword-wielder leaps forward and makes a slash toward Mordred's head!

    Or does he? Parrying it will feel the jar of the blade, super strength behind it. Dodging it will feel the close brush of the wind whistling past. Yet an instant later, the blade is slashing along the horizontal, toward Mordred's side, as if the first attack never happened and the Blooded's balance was all toward this strike.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
There are always more souls in Niflheim. These creatures are utterly expendable to Lezard. He could probably mount a sizable siege on the city if he wanted to commit some actual resources to this, but that isn't necessary.

Therefore, Lezard amuses himself by attempting to harry and delay the militia pockets as much as possible. He starts making a game out of pulling his forces into alternate positions, strikign from unexpected quadrants and having them use tactics to make it as annoying as possible to kill each one.

He is losing basically nothing in the exchange, but the act is, perhaps, all the more cruel for how hard the militia must battle to remain alive. After all....

There's always more undead. And unless the Blooded or Sorcerors present have some way to keep him from calling them up, he can do this functionally forever. Were the major players not locked down by the other Elites present, it would be far more interesting challenge.

But he smiles as he controls his minions. The forces of Fairchild have swelled dramatically in recent times, and even being here is more than enough. There is no need to expose his true ability. This is not a war.

This is a demonstration.

Lute (188) has posed:
     As the Unown are stabbed, jabbed, smacked, and hit with the spear, a few of them simply fall to the ground. Lute has a lot of them, and they're a bit odd as far as Pokemon more. They think in a hive mind, so they're a bit used to losing a few of them. Still, though, it doesn't make quite happy for it to happen. And so, he gives Giratina a quick order.

     "Turn around, fire a Shadow Ball, and then keep going towards our goal."

     The Giratina turns rapidly. Lute's confident he and Miko can stay aboard. And, the ghost-dragon Pokemon launches a ball of shadow towards the knight, before turning back towards where Charity is. Once it's above the Baron's house, though, it'll simply circle the area in the sky above the house.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Lialyn will see three powerful presences in the house... but two of them are moving away rapidly, leaving via the roof and heading toward Lezard. It's the twins, for anyone curious, using their enhanced physical capabilities to head out and try to take down the necromancer.

    The guards look at one another, uncertain if they should go this far or not. It's true that they'd certainly lose, but... they do have a job to do. The question is solved when the door opens, and the third presence steps out. Carrying a spear of bone, and bone armor, the Baron himself just walks out, glowering at those present. "Move aside. She is out of your class... something beyond even a Twisted. She needs to be put down, but neither of you have the skill."

    The Baron looks toward Psyber. "Hmm... do I know you?" He blinks, then lifts an eyebrow. A slight hint of relief might be visible when he realizes who it is.

Mordred (12) has posed:
    Either these two knights are very courageous, or they're Blooded. There's a flash in Mordred's mind, as the swordsman lunges forward with a feint-- Mordred parries with the broken gate, and then the sword lodges itself into the side of her helmet painfully. There's not even a second before that brief insight and the actual sword swing comes, and rather than try to parry it, the Servant does what she does best.

    Mostly, that means Be A Berserker.

    He broken gate is tossed to the side like worthless trash and one empty gauntlet reaches up to catch the sword. It would cut, without a doubt, and draw blood, but now it's all about whose strength is highest, and Mordred has the slightest hint of confidence she has a firmer grip on that sword now than the knight does.

    But she's certainly not going to leave it at that.

    The rest of her body surges forward, trying to slam shoulder-first into the swordsman, a burst of red magic flaring out of her feet for a sudden supersonic acceleration. It's going to be a hell of a tackle-- that shield might not survive, if it's mundane. More at risk is whatever wall has to tank the impact, if the swordsman can't hold his position.

    Ignoring the lancer is probably a bad idea, but one step at a time.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Charity wonders if Psyber is Friend or Foe.

    The half-angel looks to her and smiles, "Miss Whiteheart. As always, I barely recognize you without your ass on top of me." He seems cordial enough, even if she's on a mission. He knows she gets more professional, but he tends to at least like to break the ice.

    "Baron," Psyber says tersely, "There are between six and eight Elites in the city to kill you. Even with my immense combat capability, I could not defeat them all. I could kill four. Maybe five. I would eventually succumb to my injuries. Therefore, I must opt to the option that saves the most lives," Psyber says.

    For the record, he actually does feel pretty bad. The guy was a dick, but he's facing the consequences of his own actions. Psyber still hates leaving a guy to die. Still.

    Psyber turns, eyes briefly falling on where Lialyn would be. He can't see her outright, likely, but he can sense something where she'd be thanks to his unique eyesight. He takes a slow breath and then says to Charity, "I would ask you to make it quick and painless, but that hardly seems your style."

    And then he crouches a bit and takes off into a jump, aiming to leap onto and across rooftops after the direction of the twins that he was pointed in.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    The enemy archer continues to shoot blazing energy arrows from below, and Paladin does her best to deflect those she can by racing around striking at them with the Sacred Scepter, so it's not entirely based upon Giratina's dodging ability. But she needs to deal with that enemy to keep them from taking down Lute's pokemon.

    "I'll leave the skies and the lancer to you," Paladin offers to Lute, as she runs swiftly across Giratina's back, and then propels herself off the pokemon's side, so hard and fast she leaves a shockwave in her wake. She plumets through the air towards the enemy below, at around a hundred miles per hour, ready to strike with Artifact or fists depending on what's needed. The archer will shortly have pink-haired death descending on him at high-speed, heedless of what impact this will have on her physically.

    Paladin has pretty high-tier healing magic. Broken legs and skull fractures are no biggie as long as she can apply that healing before going back to normal form. But since she's magically tougher anyway, the damage shouldn't be THAT bad, right? Right.

    Would be more damaging if she got one of those arrows in the forehead, and her own well-being is not a concern. Preserving her health is not part of the Rules.

Purity Hopesong (292) has posed:
    The hand will be still carrying the sword, and will head for the window. Purity's going to lead the Blooded straight back to her, through many of the rest of the Confederate forces if the Twin cooperates, because she's well aware of her relative weakness compared to many of the others who'd come along.

    What she lacks in strength, though, she tries to make up in being a complete jerk, the flying blade, hand, and eye passing not too far from Mordred on the way in on its own way out to meet with Purity.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    For Lezard, it is kind of a game. The militia are... well, they obviously aren't experienced troops, but they're learning pretty darn quick. The change in tactics from the undead briefly throws them off, resulting in two entire units getting slaughtered by the mobile corpses.

    He also has twin girls with swords bounding toward him, but Psyber quickly catches up with them. They skid to a halt, swords going up in defense. Both of them may recognize him, but it takes a moment before one calls out, "What are you doing here?"

Charity Whiteheart (299) has posed:
    When Psyber takes off, Charity stares... then blushes as she realizes what he said. "HEY!" Shaking her fist after him, she huffs and glowers, then turns her eyes toward the Baron. Under her breath, to Lialyn, she murmurs, "Make sure he doesn't have any nasty surprises inside, then help the others if you need to. This one is mine alone."

    She readies her blades... then charges directly toward the Baron, aiming to just phase through him, then rebound off the wall and aim a slash, with wind-cutting power behind it, toward his neck from behind. "I won't promise painless, but if you want it quick, that's up to you!"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber springs up and then drops down in front of them, putting himself between them and Lezard. He reaches under his cloak and draws a sword. It's nothing too fancy and, in dungeon terms, would be a +2 Magic Longsword. Against Psyber's better judgment, he left home all three of his more powerful swords: Adjudicator, Einherjar, and Sovereign (aka 'Excalibortion').

    The half-angel squares off with the two of them, "I will be your opponent, because I wish to speak to you about your employment." The two may be weaker than him, but if he's fighting non-lethally and against two opponents, it might be a halfway even match.

    "Under what terms does your employment to the Baron end?"

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    The lance knight is changing direction again, lancing toward the large pokemon with intent to kill. At least, that's the idea. The Shadow Ball slams into him, and the lance of light vanishes for an instant... before busting through. It looks like it had no effect!

    Or did it? The trajectory is now off, and though it may clip the legendary on the way past, that knight isn't turning back. He slams into the upper wall instead, making a deep gash within the stone before coming to rest, dazed and clearly injured by more than the impact.

    Miko, meanwhile, shatters the wall between herself and the archer upon landing. He is panicking now, but he doesn't have actual arrows, so one lances out toward Miko. It's weaker than the others, but might get her shoulder or leg pretty bad...

    Before he's sorta reduced to paste. These Blooded are much more dangerous than the soldiers, but they're still overpowered a bit. Most of them.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
If Lezard notices the incoming threats, he doesn't seem to show it. He's too busy micromanaging his troops. This is not his usual style and it shows in how much of his attention it requires for him to do this.

It's when Psyber springs up out of nowhere to defend him that he glances to one side. His efficiency drops in his undead manipulation, because this is something he absolutely wants to pay attention to.

If nothing else, the Twins are disrupting him with their presence.

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Lialyn delivers her report, watching the way the twins--if that's who those were--are headed. Her eyes shift back to Psyber, then, noticing the returned attention and filing it away in case it should ever be useful later. One might hope that it won't be.

    She's sure she doesn't know what thing he said to Charity was about.

    Apart from the Confederate bands, she remains silent, so as to avoid any chance of the baron overhearing it. Charity may miss the nod she gives in nonverbal response, and will certainly miss any subtle looks of 'are you really sure about that?' And yet, she obeys, for the moment. Still in spirit-form, she heads inside the house, looking for anything at all that might seem dangerous. She's holding herself in reserve, and if the baron likewise has more cards to play, it's against that that she'll set herself.

    Once she's done looking, and while standing well out of sight of the two outside, the swordswoman materializes. Changing to physical form is somewhat slow for a quick strike in combat, so she's better off getting it out of the way before anything happens.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    The gate is pretty trashed after that strike, but- wait, huh? No, it's perfectly intact! Well, not perfectly, but pretty intact. Moreso than it was when Mordred parried... did Mordred parry? It doesn't make a lot of sense! Either way, Mordred smashes forward and-

impacts against the knight's shield hits the shield at an angle,
with a sickening crunch, sending him wrenching it free from the man's arm
flying back. The Servant will feel painfully. A twisting snap can be
the bones crack and give way despite heard as the arm breaks, but he
superhuman toughness, and the Blooded survives mostly intact, just in great
slams into the far wall to cough out pain. Staggering back, a clumsy jab
a disturbing spray of blood- is aimed toward Mordred while he
tries to recover.

    While the knight is recovering, the woman with the lance is still circling... and chasing Purity's hand at the same time. With a frustrated grunt, the one chasing gives up and whips around, trying to lunge in at superhuman speed at Mordred's side with the spear. The other /exactly identical/ figure scoots in from the other side, aiming a less powerful but still swift jab toward one leg.

Lute (188) has posed:
     With the Unown floating around still, Lute gets a good view of what the Knight is up to, and the predictament he has ended up in. They've spread out a bit, so he keeps rapidly flipping through the various Unown's vision, to see for himself where the Knight is. And, with Miko definitely able to handle the archer on her own? Well. Lute smiles at the knight.

     It's time to enjoy being a big overpowered against a relatively minor opponent. By completely obliterating the knight.

     "Giratina. Hyper Beam."

     And, Giratina opens its mouth. The incredibly powerful beam of destruction bursts out, flying towards the knight. Trying to engulf him completely. Trying to destroy him utterly. Giratina is, of course, careful to make sure no others are caught in the massively powerful blast, of course.

     And, as the attack hits, Lute pauses a bit. ...He really should've at least asked the knight for his name. But, oh well. His next of kin will figure it out eventually anyways, won't they? No need for him to make sure they're informed of his death. Assuming he actually does in fact die.

     Lute laughs a bit, "No one can possibly survive a Hyper Beam from Giratina."

     Hopefully Lute didn't just jinx it by saying it out loud.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    There's some hairline fractures from breaking through the wall, but nothing life-threatening. More of a concern for Paladin is the arrow that is fired right before she pulps the enemy. Despite being covered in blood and gore, the magic of her transformation makes her look impressive somehow. Like a heroic warrior who has battled through hell for the sake of others. And that same magic, which makes her appear mature and graceful, also conceals that the girl inside of the magical girl can feel the pain of the arrow shot through her leg all too keenly. Her leg protection extends from her feet up to her knees, and then stops. That final magical arrow went right through her leg just above her armor.

    But because of Law Magic, she is not allowed to express discomfort from her injury. She's not allowed to stop and attend to it if it doesn't directly interfere with her mission. And right now, her mission still involves making sure Charity Whiteheart reaches Baron Fuzzywuzzy or whatever his name was. She should check if that part of the objective has been met yet, but after taking a moment to look up at Giratina in the sky and see how it and Lute are doing, she starts heading in the direction the others went. She might be a bit too late to catch up with them, but given she's still clocking in a several dozen mph with a hole in her leg and another hole in her abdomen, maybe she'll arrive in time to accomplish something regardless.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    So now we come to Charity. Charity, who passes right through the slightly startled Baron to cleave at his neck. Yet the Baron has fought Charity before, and he wasn't entirely surprised by that move... it's just hard to counter. A bone spur erupts from his shoulder, the mystically-enhanced bone getting sheared off but saving his neck, delaying the strike just enough to keep him from decapitation.

    He whips around, blood flung from the shallow cut along his cheek. The swift stabbing thrust he does toward Charity isn't strong, but it is fast, trying to catch her before she dematerializes again. "No, sorry. Your twisted ideal is not going to come to pass. Stolen powers are nothing against one BORN to them." He does have a point. He's had his powers for decades, while Charity is relatively new to hers.

    Lialyn, meanwhile, will slip through the building of the manor and materialize... and the clearer sight that material form grants will show her that it isn't all clear like initially seen. The fuse is pretty long, but he's set up numerous barrels of what are probably explosives in the house. The idea is pretty clear... if he wins, he just yanks the fuse out. If he loses, the whole place goes... unless Charity wins in time and is aware of the threat.

Purity Hopesong (292) has posed:
    Purity sighs as the pursuit of her hand is broken off. She'll pull the eyepatch off, revealing the nothingness underneath it, right up until she jams her eye back into place, a moment's concentration sealing it there. Then, naturally, her freefloating hand cuts off the left hand in a quick and surprisingly relatively bloodless motion.

    That hand floats up as well, pulling a second hook from under her cloak to quickly attach it to Purity's other hand, then ripping a sword free. Purity is now quadruple wielding, two-uping many the minmaxer, and the mercenary will rush towards where Mordred is, leading with her hands, striking out in a pair of blows with the two flying swords. The hooks are really more to defend herself, but with her full body in the same place she has more absolute control over the hands, and her experience in this odd style of fighting will immediately be clear.

Mordred (12) has posed:
    Evidently Mordred gave the knight too little credit. Getting rid of his shield was good enough-- certainly not the impact the Saber wanted, but still good. It's becoming obvious these two might just be enough to push her back. The thought should certainly make any normal knight worry... but Mordred is just grinning wide instead.

    The Servant's unwounded hand suddenly gathers red energy, which forms into the large shape of her blade, Clarent, the silver and red sword with fairy engravings upon it gleaming a radiant silver. It's used to attempt to knock aside the clumsy jab, hard enough to break an arm if the swordsman were to insist, but he seems to have the same supernatural insincts as she does, so it won't be hard to tell that might be a bad idea. On the other hand, she may be underestimating the swordsman's strength.

    Then come the two lancers-- two? Ugh. There was just one a moment ago! Three on one, this is hardly fair. But let it not be said Mordred dislikes a challenge. She will absolutely be pissed if she loses, but it's the sort of anger that drives a fighter to improvement and further fights, not to hatred.

    If these were normal people, she could easily parry both of them with one wide arc-- but their speed makes that impossible. Instead, she turns to face the first lancer fully, gathering large amounts of blood red magic in her feet and arms. She swings Clarent to meet the spear, releasing a burst of red, blood-like, searing magic along with the blade, while her feet crater the ground and send a plume of it backwards, trying to block the second lancer.

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Lialyn would be in quite a lot of trouble here, as her ability with explosives is very limited. She can hit them, or carry them, but disarming anything complicated is well beyond her ability. She could dematerialize to escape, but she'd have almost no mana left to actually fight. That would be her exit from the field.

    After conferring quickly via her link to her summoner, she puts what knowledge she does have to use. Her blades flick out with surety, and she cuts the fuse.

    If nothing explodes, it will then be time for her to look out and get a visual update on Charity's condition.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    The militia are starting to rally... but they have taken losses. Their idea now is a delaying tactic, to cluster together and find a fortified position so as to remain safe until support can arrive. The twins must have been that support. At least they are indirectly doing just what they intended, right? They're also providing quite a show for Lezard!

    Both twins stare at Psyber. "Until he releases us-" "Or a more valued person earns our loyalty," the other finishes. They ready their blades and don't elaborate on the last bit at all. Instead, one of them darts to the side, slashing the air to send a spray of ice crystals at Psyber.

    The other's weapon darts out, not aimed at the half-angel, but instead at the ice crystals, working in perfect tandem with her sister to send a spray of /water/ toward Psyber instead, cold liquid water just like a large slash.

    And the moment it hits, the other sister uses her power again, flash-freezing the water in an attempt to freeze the limbs solid.

Charity Whiteheart (299) has posed:
    The bone lance comes about and does a shallow but effective jab. "GAH!" Charity was caught by surprise, and though she was half-phased, it wasn't enough. The tip slides through her shoulder, drawing some blood and pain, but more importantly she's now pinned against the wall, and her sword in that arm clatters to the ground. She hisses in pain, the other sword dropped as well to clutch the bone lance. "Nnf... explosives. In case you lost, huh?"

    She grits her teeth and glares at the Baron. "Yeah... you were born with it. That's all that matters with you Blooded. The right of birth... not worthiness. It's all about your dynasties and heirs, isn't it?" She draws a pained breath. "I'm not going to kill you... but I'll end your line."

    Her knee comes up, aiming toward the man's armored crotch. The instant before impact, a wind-shearing bone spur erupts, all her air-powered piercing magic going into it to try to stab through the armor at a shallow angle.

    She's not trying to kill him. She's trying to permanently cripple in a very, very specific way.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "I see. I can commend your loyalty to him, but I will not let you die for him. So I will be your opponent over the others," Psyber says, flourishing the sword in his hand. He takes a slow breath. He knows he's being watched and judged for the fight that's about to happen.

    And, according to the Twins, not just by Lezard but by them too.

    He switches his grip on the sword, holding it in a reverse grasp and adjusting his stance, "I hold you no animosity, this is purely to save your lives."

    He ducks and weaves around the water, trying to avoid it as best he can. But it still hits him in his left arm, followed by a coldsnap to freeze the limb solid. The arm hangs at Psyber's side, stiff and icy, blue in color from frostbite and cold damage.

    But he powers in right towards the two of them. The first and most obvious fact: Their powers and better abilities will rely on their coordination. Psyber, then, decides to attempt to disrupt their rhythm.

    Since he only has one arm, he tries to swipe his sword at one sister and send her into a retreat before he pivots during the swing and uses it to rotate his entire body, throwing his weight into a crushingly-powerful heel kick aimed at the other one.

    He's having to get creative due to lacking one functional arm at the moment.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    The hyper beam lances out from the pokemon, and the knight's eyes widen. The masonry around him crumbles and explodes with energy, and a moment later as the light fades, he's nowhere to be seen. Just a smoking crater and crumbling stonework, which rumbles and collapses a moment later. Surely he's been killed and vaporized, right? Or, possibly, used the last of his strength to drill down into the stone and find cover, and is thus merely badly wounded and covered in rubble. Maybe we'll find out some day.

    The archer, though, is definitely dead. Neck snapped, ribs crushed, he's slumped over. With the undead issues, all the militia are trying to deal with Lezard's troops. This gives Miko some time to pull out and find somewhere to recover.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Lialyn disables the explosives by cutting them. This was... fairly simple, once she decided to do this. She'll be able to slip out just in time to see Charity's attempt, which is forthcoming shortly.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Mordred's sword is stronger than even the super strength of the Blooded, so it's a strike that - - shatters the blade and slams his arm into the ground - - forces him to roll with it and stumble away. He's on the defensive now, and barely turns in time to start parrying the blades Purity is lashing toward him. Two on one, and his shield gone, he has to rely on his uncanny 'instinct' and his super speed. It's odd, because it seems like Purity is landing some clean hits on him, when he tries to advance, but he never gets any closer and never seems to bleed. His 'overwritten' reality doesn't actually erase the memories that it happens, which is probably disorienting. The fact remains that he's off-balance, though, and Purity is good enough to keep him on his toes if she presses the advantage like that.

    The lancer attacking Mordred's side gets slammed by the prana burst... and disintegrates into red mist. Literal red mist. The other is knocked backward, staggering back against the wall behind her, and the red mist swirls and combines with her as she takes a breath, shuddering in apparent pain. "Mmf."

    She leaps to the side a moment later. That red mist returns, swirling out from her and reforming into an identical body, which /lunges/ forward with a lance of her own. Seeing them in action, it's easy to see which one is the copy... the one being more reckless.

Lute (188) has posed:
     With the lance-knight assumedly dead and not secretly escaped, Lute turns Giratina towards the Baron's house. He has the Giratina continue to circle around the Baron's house, watching down over the edge of Giratina at what is going on below. He's being very relaxed overall. A bit overconfident this is going to go okay.

     His Unown, though? Although some of them were killed, the others are beginning to spread out across the city, exploring and searching. Making sure everything is in order, and relaying information to Lute about what is going on. And, sending him flashes of visions if he sees anything unusual.

     Plus, he's really curious what is going on between Charity and the Baron.

     He's probably going to be a little bit terrified and sympathetic.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    So what does Lialyn see? What does Lute find? They'll arrive in time to see Charity pinned by the lance against the wall, and the Baron smiling. "Hmm? You had an interesting power... powers, it seems. But you're still new to them. Pity. If you were actually Blooded, I imagine you could have gone f-"

    *SCHLRK!*

    "-aarrrrrr-*" The Baron's eyes bug out and his voice raises two octaves when the knee comes up. Blood erupts from the back as the bone is penetrated by the spur, the wind-sheath giving it the power to pierce the enchanted armor. His grip tightens on the spear, unintentionall twisting it a little... before he collapses backward, gurgling incoherently.

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute looks down just in time to see what Charity did.

     He feels vomit coming into his mouth a bit, but swallows itdown. He closes his eyes, and mutters to Giratina.

     "...Just... just land near the door, block the unconcious guy from my sight, and let me walk into the house without seeing that again."

     And, Giratina will land, and Lute is going to move into it. Checking for valuables, stealing the explosives, and basically rooting through the person's stuff as quickly as he possibly can before they leave.

     He also finally vomits into a potted plant.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Psyber goes on the offense! He does a valid tactic, even crippled as he is. The twins are used to working with one another though... and a lesser man wouldn't have managed to succeed in such a tactic. They're used to people trying to disrupt their abilities.

    Even working together, though, the twins are only moderately above most Elites. Psyber's strike is caught by one twin's sword, and it knocks the blade clean out of her hands. She's startled by the sheer force of it, and it sends her more off-balance than she expected. A jet of flame lances out, but it's aimed too high... it'll do little more than restrict Psyber's movement.

    Which doesn't matter much, because the ice sister gets a full-on hit with the heel of the foot. "AHH!" She wheezes out, slammed hard enough to hit the wall behind her. She stumbles, clutching her stomach before slumping to the ground. It should have shattered bone, but the Blooded are made of sterner stuff than most. Either way, one is disarmed but for her native abilities, and the other is stunned. They have to know they're outclassed.

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Lialyn's brow raises at the sight. "Effective." For the given goal of humiliating him, at least. It's not her place to question why this is necessary, and so she doesn't. If the objective was fulfilled, all this means is that it's time to leave. Since Lute is doing the opposite of leaving, he gets a sidelong glance, but she'll neither assist nor distract him. Instead, she leaves.

    Charity gets a nod, while the baron is given as much attention and sympathy as a sack of flour. When the former is ready to leave, Lialyn will go with her.

    Lialyn will incidentally wreck the baron's garden in passing, pulling up the earth up under her like a wave to carry her down the street, which should last just long enough to get her up to speed before she has to vault a wall.

Charity Whiteheart (299) has posed:
    As the Baron falls bleeding on the ground, Charity yanks the spear out of her shoulder rather than phase through it. She tosses it aside, then gathers her swords up, sheathing them at her side. To the fallen noble she shakes her head. "You brought this on yourself, playing games with people who didn't have the luck to be born with noble blood. Things are going to be changing soon. You should feel fortunate. You're going to see the end of an era, and the beginning of the new."

    She walks past the pokemon, not really caring if Lute grabs all the explosives. Then she leaps up and heads for the far wall.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber easily skids to a stop right after, "You two are strong. Do you want to die here? The Baron's bloodline is ended. His new role is to fade into obscurity from this generation on."

    Psyber sheathes his sword and then flexes his arm. The ice covering it cracks and falls off, and though the arm is still deeply frostburned and damaged in places, and still a blue-purple shade, with black splotches, Psyber flexes it and looks to them.

    "Work for me, if I've earned your loyalty today. Flee the city if I haven't, but I won't see you die for a man who dug his own grave," Psyber narrows his eyes at them, "I already have your first mission in mind."

Mordred (12) has posed:
    The weird overwritten reality effect is definitely unique-- she'd withdraw her thought about comparing it to her own Instinct skill, if she weren't busy actually taking these two seriously. Mordred would have to admit, that mist trick is cool. Annoying to fight against, but cool. Seems these two are near the top of the food chain.

    "You two're damn good. Be a shame if you died here for some dumb baron. Listen, from what I'm hearing, shit's over. We're pulling the fuck out 'cuz we're done here, but if you're REALLY sure you want to keep picking that fight--"

    There's a click and a metallic noise coming from Mordred's sword, as the inner designs near the guard suddenly deploy out like spikes, just about half a foot of gleaming silver steel at both sides of the blade. Red lightning arcs around the sword, giving it a gloomy red aura, with swirls of liquid magic spiralling around like blood.

    She swings the blade forward, carving a crimson arc forward with the lightning and raw magic. It's not aimed so as to directly impact the incoming lancer, but rather to split the ground open between the two knights (i.e. Mordred and her). Of course, if she doesn't stop in time, she might get caught in the edge of the blast, but it shouldn't be too bad.

    It's obviously an attempt to discourage pursuit.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard has been informed that the objective is complete. He turns to look at the Twins and how they handle Psyber's response, even as he releases his grip on the undead.

The undead, freed of the close control, go feral, striking suicidally for blood with hatred and fury. With the fortified militia, they will die in droves, but they may take another couple with them.

It's not his problem anymore.

He smiles to the twins, and raises his hands, a magical circle forming around him. They might not know what he is doing, no attack comes.

When the circle complete, Lezard fades out, his voice resonating in the air with a low chuckle.

Purity Hopesong (292) has posed:
    Purity does rather hate fighting Blooded, mostly because of that constant feeling that they have advantages to match hers without all those pesky downsides of corruption and having to hack off their own bits and all. The feeling of having landed a variety of clean hits that don't actually seem to have happened will add to her frustration, but given that Mordred seems inclined to pull back, the mercenary will start with a defensive plan.

    That is to say, her body will turn and run, with her hands hanging back for a few seconds to discourage the knight from coming after her. Once she has a suitable lead, they'll fly off after her faster than Purity can actually run. Hands are kind of overpowered.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    The twins cough and rise up, knowing they're outmatched. They'd probably still fight, but since Psyber isn't actively going against the Baron now... it's kind of pointless. They look at one another, then one murmurs, "We'll think about the offer."

    Meanwhile, the reality-copying man is starting to press the attack when that chasm opens. "GAH!" He leaps back - twice - and scrambles against the wall before steadying himself. That lets Purity take off, all right.

    The copy-lancer's lance gets sliced in half, but even the copy manages to stop before the split. Maybe they share pain or something? She stares at Mordred, then the copy dissolves and she nods. "It's not certain if we could beat you. It would probably result in some heavy injuries even if we won." Hey, she can probably word this as driving the enemy to retreat, if she really wanted.