Timgame 5

[17:36] <Koumugi_Takagi> Bluebell town has been a bustle of activity the past two days.  Refugees from the outlying farms have flocked in to safety, people who initially thought from the rumors that satyr bandits were here to raid their lands now understand that the satyrs are, somehow, here to help.  Dozens of them have come out from the farms to fight, and here and there you see horns instead of blue-domed helms...
[17:36] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...among the impromptu Bluebell militia.  The satyrs are actually impatient for a fight, while the Bluebell elves are mostly worried about their farms.  Bronze-headed spears and bows are common, but many of the satyrs carry shortswords that resemble elongated butcher's knives.  Sir Gannaed has, thus far, been safely kept away from Sariel.  He seems to enjoy riding out over the farms.
[17:36] <Koumugi_Takagi> The sun is setting, and the stars are coming out in a magnificent display of argent, pale blue, and the faintest flickerings of green or red, while the sky is a lush velvet purple around the western horizon and the east is midnight black.  A cool wind rattles the fronds of the town.
[17:36] <Koumugi_Takagi> A satyr steps up and salutes the Councilors, mostly Lestari, "No sign of intruders, maaaaah'aam."
03[17:37] * Read is now known as Sariel
[17:46] <Koumugi_Takagi> There's a flutter and a muffled 'ow!' as something bonks into the side of one of the trees, circling dazedly before Marinya climbs up and shakes herself off, "I warned everyone I could see!  I even told the nice old elf who lives in that farm all surrounded by thorn bushes!  He gave me three oatmeal cookies, three!  I saved one-and-a-half." Marinya fishes the cookies out of a pocket and...
[17:46] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...gives them to Sariel.
[17:46] <Sariel> "Am thanking!" nibble nibble nibble nibble.  She's fluttering a little.  She's as much of a sugar fiend as the other sylph.
06[17:51] * Nienna_Carnes`ir nods her head in response, looking over to the other councilors. "Kokoltum, what do you think? Could they have gone in a different direction?"
[17:52] <Koumugi_Takagi> Kokoltum blinks, before whispering to the others, "Is it a good idea to let them have sweets?  Lady Sariel is rather small, I am afraid they might make her bounce around again..."
06[17:52] * Idir_Haida shrugs. "Are /you/ going to take the cookies from them?"
[17:52] <Sariel> She flutters a bit more, trying to sit down but she keeps on rising up.  A hyperactive little thing.
[17:54] <Koumugi_Takagi> "...I would not risk getting my fingers nibbled off, no.  You raise an excellent point.  As for, ah, the husks...I don't know.  They shamble along, rather, I'd have expected them to be here by NOW...but if they were pursuing me, they might not come here first." The mer pulls his hood up when the cold wind hits his gills.
06[17:54] * Idir_Haida raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
[17:55] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...and puts a hand on Sariel's head, gently, to stop her rising out of listening distance, "What I mean is, they were likely following me upstream.  She wants the Tome, remember?"
06[17:55] * Idir_Haida frowns. "And the Tome is here, I'm afraid I'm not following."
[17:56] <Koumugi_Takagi> "But she can't follow it.  Even the most magical artifact doesn't give off any sort of magic feedback...that is, something that can be detected, unless it's in use."
01[17:57] <Idir_Haida> "So you're saying that if we want to draw her out, we have to use it." He looks to Lestari. "Looks like you might get your strike after all."
[17:57] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Her trackers will be following my trail of blood up the stream, to the road.  That would throw any sort of husks off...and she does have ones who can track...but not anything smarter leading them.  They'll likely deduce I came to the nearest town after that."
[17:58] <Koumugi_Takagi> "If, again, anything smarter is leading them."
06[17:59] * Nienna_Carnes`ir nods. "And if there's something not... they'd probably eventually come here *anyway*, but it may take some time yet."
[18:01] <Koumugi_Takagi> "I wish I could tell you more...say, where is that knight of yours?"
[18:03] <Sariel> "Am hoping not here.  If so, run away, yes?"
06[18:03] * Nienna_Carnes`ir frowns. "He's been riding out the farms to keep an eye on things, I believe."
[18:05] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Riding a horse doesn't agree with me, personally." He flexes his bare, webbed feet, "Most stirrups weren't designed with mer in mind."
[18:05] <Koumugi_Takagi> Marinya jumps in, "You mean the blue knight?"
[18:06] <Nienna_Carnes`ir> "Yes, did you see him while you were flying today?"
[18:07] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Just now~!"
[18:09] <Koumugi_Takagi> Her wings flutter with excitement.
[18:09] <Sariel> "D-Don't tell him! Am not..."
[18:11] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Nonononono!  I know, I know, I didn't tell him you were here!  I tried to tell him you weren't here, but he was too busy playing with some weird dogs!  Did you know you had weird dogs here?!  They looked really sick and didn't smell good, though!  Does that make them wolves?  What's the difference inna dog and a wolf, huh?" Marinya pouts.
[18:11] <Sariel> "...A-Ah! Maybe! D-Did they look rotty?"
[18:12] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Anyway he was riding really fast and they were chasing him so I guess it was fetch or something but when he went to throw his sword for one of them he accidentally chopped it and this horrible brown gunk flew everywhere and some of it got on my wings and I was so worried it would stick but it didn't!" She finishes proudly.
06[18:12] * Idir_Haida stares flatly. "Well, that sounds like forward scouts to me."
06[18:13] * Nienna_Carnes`ir blinks. "Quite so."
01[18:13] <Idir_Haida> "Which direction was he riding?"
[18:13] <Koumugi_Takagi> Kokoltum shudders, "...I told you she had trackers."
[18:17] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Um..." Marinya looks at the dying sun, then tries to measure off that, "I think it was...sort of an easterly...hmmm.  This isn't promising, I'm not much good navigating by stars...umm...he was on the road!"
[18:18] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Yeah, on that side of town, coming this way!" She points west along the road leading to the Blue Serpent, rather than in the direction leading north and east to Redmoor.
01[18:18] <Idir_Haida> "Do you think he needs help?" He's looking at Lestari now
[18:20] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...Unfortunately, the satyr has taken Lestari off to inspect the perimeter defenses.
06[18:20] * Idir_Haida blinks. "Oh, right. Um...anyone else have an opinion?"
06[18:21] * Nienna_Carnes`ir lets out a breath. "I believe we should go help him, yes."
01[18:22] <Idir_Haida> "Let's go get some horses saddled then. And Sariel...I guess stay here for now. Unless you want to help and think you won't get noticed."
[18:22] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Just the two of you?" Kokoltum frowns, crossing his arms, "That's insane."
01[18:23] <Idir_Haida> "It is. But we lack our swordself and can't risk our sylph."
[18:25] <Nienna_Carnes`ir> "I'm not a poor fighter, by any means." She pauses for a moment and coughs. "Though I did manage to not have time to commission any sort of armor, which in hindsight was poor planning on my part. We can pull a few guards to come with us, I think--whether Sariel does or does not is up to her."
[18:26] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Here he comes!" Marinya bobs into the air, "Look, look!" She points off down the road, fluttering agitatedly at a small figure growing visibly closer and closer, his blue-grey horse blending in with the evening sky.
01[18:27] <Idir_Haida> "Damn it. Let's get down there now."
06[18:28] * Nienna_Carnes`ir peers after. She nods. "Indeed." The short elf starts up and heads out to get a horse and go.
06[18:28] * Idir_Haida navigates the stairs down to the ground level as fast as he can while being safe.
[18:29] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Sariel, do you want to borrow my cloak or something?" Kokoltum asks the sylph, "It's very enveloping."
[18:29] <Koumugi_Takagi> "It might be easier than hiding."
[18:32] <Koumugi_Takagi> Horses are already saddled, fresh mounts for the scouts.  The stablemaster blinks at two of the Councilors requisitioning horses, then again as Idir's guards follow him down the ladder, demanding horses of their own and loudly refusing to let their young master go anywhere dangerous on his own.  Ereth especially, repeatedly citing a vow taken "...before the boy's father's deathbed" to...
[18:32] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...protect the scion of the Haida line.
01[18:36] <Idir_Haida> "Your help is appreciated. Let's go."
[18:40] <Blaxploitation> Lestari rides at a steady pace, her mask lying over her chest as she heads towards the stables, glad to be back to Bluebell after spending an afternoon trying to get a workable idea in order with the Satyrs, the whole ordeal a bit annoying.
03[18:40] * Blaxploitation is now known as Lestari
[18:41] <Koumugi_Takagi> She probably bumps into her friends right at the stable door.  It's actually quite defensible, the door is short, thick, and impossible to reach beneath all the twisting foliage with any sort of ram, and the approach is in a spot where it's easy to drop things on a besieger's head.
06[18:42] * Idir_Haida nods to the swordself. "Lestari, it seems our knight-errant bumped into some of Redmoor's forward scouts, and is heading here. Looks like we need to bail him out."
06[18:44] * Lestari instantly begins to grin, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. "Aha! Finally something that doesn't make me want to hit my head against a wall!"
01[18:44] <Idir_Haida> "Well, that didn't take much convincing. They'll be here soon, let's get out and get the door shut."
06[18:45] * Lestari pulls down her mask and gets her horse turned around, eager to get going.
[18:45] <Koumugi_Takagi> "...She really does only love fighting, doesn't she?" One of the guards whispers to another, who shushes him.  Sir Gannaed Turlew is still running, his head down over his horse's neck, jukeing to one side as if dodging something.  Low, dark shapes run at his horse's heels, several lagging behind and one awkwardly hopping on three legs.
06[18:46] * Idir_Haida gets his horse moving and out of the stable so it can be shut.
[18:47] <Sariel> ((Back!
06[18:47] * Nienna_Carnes`ir readies her pick, taking a deep breath.
06[18:48] * Idir_Haida draws his obsidian blade
[18:54] <Koumugi_Takagi> Gannaed spins in the saddle, an...arrow...tugging his cape out behind him as his horse rears, stabbing downward and spearing one of the pursuing dogs over the head.  The one immediately behind trips over it as he spurs his steed, "Lady Nienna!?  What are you doing here?"
[18:55] <Nienna_Carnes`ir> "Ensuring your safe return, Sir Gannaed," she replies, swooning slightly in the saddle.
[18:56] <Koumugi_Takagi> Two more arrows zip through the air, "It's dangerous!  Look out!" An arrow hits Nienna's horse in the eye, causing it to rear wildly, the animal screaming.
01[18:56] <Idir_Haida> "Try to not fall out of the saddle."
06[18:59] * Idir_Haida looks over to see the horse catch the arrow. "...Oh."
[19:02] <Koumugi_Takagi> It kicks and bucks and whirls around, half-crazed with pain.
[19:02] <Koumugi_Takagi> A third arrow wobbles out of the night and catches in Lestari's maille-clad chest, feeling like a sharp poke and no more.
[19:03] <Koumugi_Takagi> The arrows have shiny, black feathers and dark shafts, difficult to see in the darkness, but with white-painted nocks, probably to make them easier to spot for retrieval.
06[19:04] * Lestari glares through her mask as she quickly recovers from the non-penetrating blow, one of her trademark 'intimidating' battle cries rising from her throat: "THE RAVEN CANNOT HOPE TO HARM THE SHARK!" she shouts, drawing her blade and holding it above her head.
06[19:12] * Nienna_Carnes`ir hodls on desperately, praying she doesn't fall off.
[19:13] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Ravenssss?" You hear giggling and tittering from the hedge, as the dogs swarm towards you.  Twenty three dogs, several being somewhat battered, all different species and sizes, all lumbering, rotting, and undead.
[19:20] <Koumugi_Takagi> Three rather diminutive elves swathed in dark green, with helms that seem to have antler-like projections on them, climb onto the hedge, and over, "Kehe~  Do you like our new pack, northern knight?  Do you like our dogs, new friends?  Come, come, be friendly!  Bite them all up, pets!" The middle figure waves its arms, a longbow still held in one.
[19:21] <Koumugi_Takagi> Nienna's horse is still going a little nuts, and trying to shake her off, but it looks like the arrow just creased its cheek, it didn't quite ruin its eye, striking just a few inches too high to blind it.
06[19:28] * Lestari notices as the elves leave their cover. Without hesitating, she reaches back and pulls her War-Boomerang from her back, and quickly whips it towards the one waving at them, her years of practice evident.
[19:37] <Koumugi_Takagi> He shrieks as the boomerang crushes his fingers, dancing around, too distracted by pain to take a shot while his friends launch another pair of arrows.
[19:44] <Koumugi_Takagi> A dog sinks its fangs into Idir's arm.  Two guards go down, not dead, but unable to continue the fight, one trapped under his horse and the other apparently twisting an ankle in his fall as the horses kick them off.
06[19:47] * Lestari jumps off her horse as the combat starts. She was always better at fighting on foot, since she only started to learn to ride once she arrived on the mainland. She swings her blade modestly, ready to pull it back and dodge when she needs to, recognising the large crowd of dogs might swarm her if she's not careful. Her choice is justified when she narrowly dodges an arrow, and then
06[19:47] * Lestari quickly follows it up by swinging harshly, her sword's teeth cutting through the dead flesh of a dog like butter.
06[19:48] * Idir_Haida manages to have the dog only catch his sleeve, and a quick thinking guard raps it over the head, causing it to release its grip
06[19:48] * Nienna_Carnes`ir slides off her horse and lays in--or tries to, anyway, being forced quite early onto the defensively.
[19:48] <Koumugi_Takagi> Actually, what happens is that Ereth jams his sword between the dog's jaws as it attacks his master, stabbing it through the back of the skull and bearing it to the ground.  Two other dogs fall, one spitted by a lucky stab from a guard, the other slain by Lestari's sword.
[19:49] <Koumugi_Takagi> Another arrow catches in Lestari's maille, while yet another strikes Sir Gannaed's leg as he rides past, slashing across the leather-clad torso of the closest archer, who shrieks in pain.
06[19:52] * Nienna_Carnes`ir skillfully parries both a dog and an arrow, the haft of her pick pushing the dog away even as the crystalline head has an arrow shatter upon it.
[19:53] <Koumugi_Takagi> Gannaed laughs, "Thank you, milady!" He salutes with his sword.
[19:56] <Koumugi_Takagi> Idir's guards focus on protecting each other and attacking where they see an opening.
06[20:23] * Nienna_Carnes`ir fights with a mind for defense now, keeping hte dogs away from her--but doesn't force herself to it now. She sees an opening and takes it, swinging her pick from him to low, bringing it down through the middle of a dog, cracking it's spine and making a sickly slucking noise as she pulls the crystal head out.
06[20:24] * Lestari takes her blade in both hands and hacks it down at a dog preparing to jump at her, ignoring the sickening noise it makes as it is cut in twain as she looks up to prepare for the next attack.
06[20:24] * Idir_Haida struggles to bat away the leaping dogs, failing as their teeth find purchase through his clothes.
[20:24] <Koumugi_Takagi> Gannaed stoops low to strike at a dog, but his shield-arm gets hit in the elbow with an arrow, throwing him off balance.  Two of the guards, however, strike true, sandworm-tooth swords pinning the mutts back to the earth, just not fast enough to protect Idir.
[20:25] <Koumugi_Takagi> Ereth and another guard throw their round shields up, intercepting an arrow aimed at Lestari's head, and another stopping a dog leaping for Idir's throat.
[20:26] <Koumugi_Takagi> Seven dogs lie in pieces, sixteen remain.
[20:26] <Koumugi_Takagi> It's eerie, they don't whine or snarl or bark like true dogs, just sort of make these groaning, sickly, grunting noises.
[20:29] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Stupid dogs, kehe!" The unwounded archer shrieks as he misses his shot.
06[20:31] * Sariel tries to put her cloak on! Smiling a bit as she flutters a little, moving to the wall to start shooting at the dogs! SHE CAN DO THIS! Grrr!
[20:46] <Koumugi_Takagi> Sariel is now warm and snuggly, and apparently it helps her shooting!
06[20:57] * Idir_Haida glares with rage after having violence done to his person, flashing his black black obsidian blade to deter dogs from striking at him or his allies
[20:58] <Koumugi_Takagi> Guards step between the archers and Gannaed and Lestari, raising their round shields to catch the arrows.  The archer that takes aim at Nienna finds his shot ruined as Sariel splinters his thin, copper helm.
[20:58] <Koumugi_Takagi> Gannaed slices the throat of a dog.
06[21:00] * Nienna_Carnes`ir twirls her pick with practiced ease, deflecting attacking dogs left and right.
06[21:00] * Lestari swings her blade in a wide horizontal arc, catching two dogs and ending their unnatural lives.
[21:00] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Cheat!  Cheat cheat cheater!" The archer with the damaged helmet spits with rage, "We won't run!  Kill them kill them kill them all!"
06[21:36] * Lestari charges forward, weaving her way past a few dogs, before swinging her blade down on one of the archers, slicing the elf's hand badly as it tries to block her swing, before she brings her blade down low and slams it upward into the elf's chest.
06[21:37] * Nienna_Carnes`ir tries to block a dog--and fails, the beast's teeth savaging her arm. She grits her teeth and refuses to allow it more than a grunt of pain.
[21:38] <Koumugi_Takagi> A dog sinks its fangs into Nienna's arm, but the archers are stymied, their shots going wide or being blocked.  One of them staggers as Sariel's arrow hits it high in the chest, then Sariel runs up and brutalizes it.  It staggers back, blood dripping from its wounds, "No, no!"  Up close, you can see that he has a pallid mouth full of teeth filed to sharp points.  He's wearing sturdy, dark...
[21:38] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...leathers and a copper cap-helm with deer horns riveted onto it, the same as the other two.
06[21:54] * Lestari takes a step back and pulls up her sword, before stabbing it forward, the toothed blade piercing through the archer's chest.
[22:02] <Koumugi_Takagi> "DEFEND MEEEE!" He shrieks, a dog turning and hurling itself at Lestari's torso from behind, its feculent fangs scrabbling for purchase even as its master's corrupt soul goes to be reborn in the earth.  The first archer, the one whose hand was thwocked by Lestari's boomerang, snarls vengefully...and a young caravan guard's scimitar comes down on his shoulder, leaving his arm dangling...
[22:02] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...uselessly.  Sariel makes a dog die.
06[22:02] * Sariel using her cloak as cover, draws an arrow and spears a dog throught he skull!
[22:04] <Koumugi_Takagi> "No!  No!  Die!  In the name of the King, DIE!" The wounded archer awkwardly draws a sword wrong-handed and throws himself at Lestari, "Your flesh will feed us, you fat island cow!" This one is female, it looks like.
[22:04] <Koumugi_Takagi> *throws herself
[22:06] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Kehe!  You bitch!  You really killed him!  I'll wear your skin for a CLOAK!" The third archer screeches with laughter, aiming an arrow at Lestari's back.  The dogs...try to bite everyone they can.
06[22:20] * Lestari lets out a loud growl as the arrow hits her in the back, and quickly spins around and jumps forward, a wild swing digging the enchanted shark-teeth into the archer's hand painfullt.
06[22:21] * Idir_Haida flails his sword uselessly, unable to actually find a dog to hit nearby.
[22:21] <Koumugi_Takagi> The guards continue to parry now that they've found their rhythm, Ereth stabs a dog through the throat and fastidiously kicks it off his boot.
[22:22] <Koumugi_Takagi> The dogs are more erratic now, it seems to be difficult to hit them, but they're not managing to bite anyone, with more than half their pack gone.
06[22:22] * Nienna_Carnes`ir tries to finish off some more dogs, but finds tthey're to fast for her massive weapon. "Bones of Earth, dead things should not move this quickly!"
03[22:41] * Joins: Read (Read@sux-7EAF14BE.nc.res.rr.com)
02[22:42] * Quits: Sariel (Read@sux-7EAF14BE.nc.res.rr.com) (Quit: Sariel)
03[22:44] * Read is now known as Sariel
[22:44] <Koumugi_Takagi> Gannaed steps smoothly between the dangling-arm female archer, catching her shortsword on the forte of his xiphos and knocking it aside with a swift beat, turning to slap a small, large-toothed rotting dog away from Nienna with his shield.
06[22:46] * Nienna_Carnes`ir uses her natural strenght to twirl her pick in a circle, battering away a pair of arrows flying towards her. "Many thanks for that, Sir Gannaed," she says to the knight.
[22:50] <Koumugi_Takagi> He gives her a quick smile, and a hurried bow
06[22:50] * Lestari grips her blade in both hands, her teeth gritted and her breathes heavy, her vision focused. Each one of her heavy, chopping swings is accented with a small, inarticulate shout, the blade of her Spirit Blade slamming into the archer's leg under the knee. As the Archer stumbles, Lestari hefts her sword above her head and smashes it down against the archer's shoulder. "NO ELF OF
06[22:50] * Lestari BLUEBELL WILL FALL TO YOUR PATHETIC PLANS AND SCHEMES!"
06[22:50] * Idir_Haida hacks at the dogs, managing to fell two of them with his obsidian sword.
[22:51] <Koumugi_Takagi> The guards cheer their young master with ululating warcries and charge, encouraged.  Sandworm-tooth swords pound flat three dogs in seconds.
06[22:53] * Sariel launches a pair of arrows right at the archerelves
[22:54] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Curse you!  Curse you WOOD ELF and your WOOD ELF town!" The archer uses the most vulgar way of pronouncing the Long-Ear term for Short-Ears, "Our king...our king will flense you and make a hat from your skin!  He will feed you to this ambitious girl in the swamps and let her carve maggots into your flesh!  He will let her raise you from death to kill all that you love!" Arrows protrude from...
[22:54] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...the limbs of both archers, their leathers in tatters and blood looking black by the light of the stars and moon.
[22:57] <Lestari> "I will kill your Ill-fated King and you and your unfit kin will see all they fight for brought to nothing! I will fall to no one!" Lestari shouts in response!
[22:58] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Hold her!  This pretty male must be her boyfriend, I'll slit his gullet right in front of-" Her eyes beneath the shadow of her crumpled bronze cap glittering madly, the female archer awkwardly swings her crude ironwood blade at Idir, but her ankle turns under her and she falls on her face.
[22:58] <Koumugi_Takagi> In a heap
06[22:59] * Idir_Haida just stares flatly at the woman as she collapses
[23:00] <Koumugi_Takagi> "...Too muscular!  She probably likes girls, like this one!" The other Archer tries to grab Nienna's hair, but his left arm barely twitches.  Cursing, he swings his ironwood machete down at her.
[23:04] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...and Lestari's tone sinks in.  The female stares at her, dropping her machete, "You...you are not an elf.  I see.  I see now.  You...you are a monster yourself!"
[23:05] <Koumugi_Takagi> "A monster!" She scrambles to her hands and knees, her horned helm nearly falling off as she hobbles down the road, shrieking wordlessly to the dogs, which attack the nearest people, as they always seem to.
[23:06] <Koumugi_Takagi> The male archer laughs.  He laughs and laughs, his split lip leaving a trail of blood down his chin, "You...you are not...so frightening as..."
[23:06] <Koumugi_Takagi> "But...so closssseee, keheheheheheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
[23:09] <Koumugi_Takagi> "It isn't a mask!  It was never a mask!  YOU ARE DEATH!  I KNOW YOU!  YOU ARE DEEEEEAAAAATH!" He points his sword at Lestari, babbling insanely and quite forgetting Nienna
[23:11] <Lestari> "AND UNLESS YOU WISH TO MEET ME EARLY, SCUM, GO AND TELL YOUR KING I AM COMING FOR HIM!" she shouts, willing to let the clearly unsound man run if he so chooses.
01[23:12] <Idir_Haida> "Can we /not/ declare war on the Horned King until we have all of the information?" Idir sighs, swinging his blade at nearby wolves
[23:14] <Lestari> "Just because he thinks someone is coming to him doesn't mean we have to come for him! Besides, don't you think sending 30 undead dogs is a declaration of war enough?" Lestari says in a quieter tone back at Idir.
01[23:14] <Idir_Haida> "I'd just rather be sure, is all. It certainly seems like a declaration, but given that he /just/ sent the Beetle Knight as an emissary not even a week ago, it's suspect whether this was his intention or not."
[23:15] <Lestari> "He sent 3 warriors bearing horned helmets to attack!"
01[23:16] <Idir_Haida> "I'm not going to explain to you the finer points of political structures right now. Let's just finish this for now."
[23:17] <Lestari> "I doubt any further clarification is going to come, and if blatantly attacking us isn't war, I don't know what is!" Lestari shouts as she baseball-swings a dog.
[23:17] <Koumugi_Takagi> Idir's obsidian sword cuts rotten cutlets off of the undead menaces.  One latches on to Sir Gannaed's leg, and with a sigh of disgust he runs it through with his sword.  The guards murder another dog, and then finish off any still-twitching ones after the others clean up the last attack.  The dogs don't stop trying to bite until they're chopped to pieces.
[23:17] <Nienna_Carnes`ir> "Seems they'v ethrown in with our enemies, Idir," Nienna says, crushing another dog with her pick, the massive weapon's weight as damaging as the sharp, never-dulling point, leaving little more than a broken, splattered body.
[23:18] <Nienna_Carnes`ir> "But hopefully it's a misunderstanding. Still, I'd prepare for otherwise."
[23:18] <Koumugi_Takagi> The stricken archer stares, drool and blood dripping down his lip, "Death...dddeath...you fools, you little fools.  This is only...only the beginning." He raises his sword, an insane gleam in his eye, "I'll kill death itself!"
[23:19] <Koumugi_Takagi> "KEHEHEHEHE!" He throws himself at Lestari's back while they're talking, his filed, sharpened teeth bared in a hideous grin.
06[23:23] * Lestari hears the man shouting insanities, of course, and quickly spins around on one heel, ducking a bit and pulling her sword upward, a long, clean vertical slash removing the man's arm with a spray of blood. "I gave you a chance, and you didn't take it!" she belts out, her voice a bit bitter.
06[23:24] * Idir_Haida surveys the hobbling, crippled elf stumbling off into the night. "Did you actually want her to carry a message, or should we ride her down?"
[23:25] <Lestari> "I'd say...let her go. I don't think she'll give us any info." Lestari says, as she watches the man's arm fall to the ground, slowly catching her breath.
01[23:26] <Idir_Haida> "Her giving us info was not my concern, but that's fine."
[23:26] <Koumugi_Takagi> "Very chivalrous of you." Sir Gannaed notes approvingly.
[23:26] <Lestari> "I don't want to kill anyone who can't fight back, and...i'm not even sure she'll make it back."
06[23:27] * Nienna_Carnes`ir takes a breath and leans on her pick, wincing as the pain in her arm catches up to her. "Well, that was certainly exciting, I think."
[23:27] <Koumugi_Takagi> Meanwhile, Sariel ...Kokoltum's eyes narrow as he stares out into the night.  He learned how to see in the blackness long ago, all part and parcel of his trade.  He extends his arm, palm out, as if bidding someone to stop.  Magical energy starts to build, "Lady Sariel, shall I dispose of the survivor?"
06[23:28] * Idir_Haida daubs at his chest, sighing. "Damn, I had just bought this."
[23:28] <Sariel> "Ah….am thinking yes.  Is evil.  Scary.  NOt liking."
[23:29] <Koumugi_Takagi> "DIE!" Even armless, he lurches to his feet, and throws himself at Lestari again, jaws cranked open and needle teeth catching the light.  Kokoltum's eyes blaze, and the shadows in the fields flow like water, unnaturally puddling and melding, drawn like iron filings after a magnet towards the fleeing woman.
[23:31] <Koumugi_Takagi> "As you wish." The Mer's webbed hand slowly clenches into a fist.
[23:42] <Koumugi_Takagi> The shadows lurch forward, horrible twisted limbs emerging as...things...hideous, amorphous, croaking, hissing things boil from beneath every stone and out of the field, a few dozen of them, maybe, impossible to count since they seem to melt into and mold horrifically with each other, breaking apart to form new and stranger things.  A stinger-laden, eye-tipped tentacle wraps itself around...
[23:42] <Koumugi_Takagi> ...the fleeing archer's throat, something like a frog with a flower-like head of many blooms whose petals are the mouths of a venus flytrap sinks its manifold teeth into her back, hideous, squamous things grasp her limbs and start to rip as she shrieks and hacks out clumsily, wildly with her shortsword.
[23:43] <Nienna_Carnes`ir> "... OH my."
06[23:43] * Idir_Haida blinks. "Oh. Well then. Problem solved."
[23:43] <Sariel> "U-um…K-Kokoltum…t-that is s-scary too! N-not like my magic."
[23:44] <Koumugi_Takagi> "...Please cover your eyes, Sariel.  It would pain me for you to see this further."  The shadows wrap around the woman in a hideous, writhing mass.  There's a thin, shrill, mindless scream, like the sound of a dying rabbit, rising in pitch for several seconds before it abruptly stops.
[23:44] <Sariel> The sylph nods, covering her eyes and her ears too, shivering.
[23:44] <Nienna_Carnes`ir> "... Oh my."
[23:45] <Koumugi_Takagi> "If it is scary, people will not try to hurt you.  But it still isn't pleasant."
06[23:45] * Lestari growls as she watches. "Why!? She was fleeing! How many more steps until we're as bad as people like them, if we kill opponents who have given up, in a way like that?!" Lestari shouts, angry and disgusted.
[23:49] <Koumugi_Takagi> The last archer, both his arms dangling limply, staggers to his knees, and then stumbles to his feet, seemingly sobered up by the noise.  His thin, pinched face is visible behind his cracked, off-kilter copper cap, the only thing in it is fear, "Death?  Kehe...am I next?"
06[23:54] * Lestari turns to look up at Kokultum. She points her sword, gesturing at the man next to her. "SO?! What of it, Kokultum?! Will you kill this man, too? How differant is he from you, to be from a land tyranted over by an unsound horror? You paint yourself as a victim, but if it weren't for your hand in that disgusting plan to unnaturally use corpses as help, would Redmoor be the fortress
06[23:54] * Lestari of death it is now? Would your friend be as tainted as you have said she is?"
06[23:54] * Lestari sighs and puts her sword back in her sheathe. "I may be the only one, but if this is how you use your magic, i'd very much like you to get out of the town I defend once this conflict is over."
[23:55] <Sariel> "A-Ah…no.  I-I asked him to" Sariel trying her hardest to not be accented.  Words coming out very slowly.  Craaaap.
06[23:56] * Nienna_Carnes`ir sighs. "There's nothing to do about it now. Come, calm down everyone. We have wounded and we knwo the enemy is nearby."
06[23:57] * Idir_Haida doesn't seem that concerned by Kokoltum and Lestari at the moment. He turns to his job. "Well done men, you've made your ancestors proud this day. I count myself lucky to know that my goods are in your capable hands in transit. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get yelled at by a doctor. And buy a new shirt."
02[23:57] * Quits: Koumugi_Takagi (chatzilla@238A28C4.43C298AB.2F84C4C.IP) (Ping timeout)
Session Time: Thu Oct 31 00:00:03 2013
03[00:00] * Joins: Tim (chatzilla@238A28C4.43C298AB.2F84C4C.IP)
[00:08] <Sariel> A slight flutter flutter.  Kokoltum finds himself hugged as fiercely as a strength 1 sylph can hug!
[00:09] <Tim> The guards cheer Idir, tired but enthusiastic, covered in rotten blood and with a few bruises to show for it.  Kokoltum stands, still as a statue, his black eyes expressionless.  Very slowly, he nods to Lestari, speaking quietly, "It is...as you say, Councilor.  Everything is my fault." He dips his head to the others, and immediately turns on his heel, withdrawing for the house at the...
[00:09] <Tim> ...highest point of town, where Sariel usually lives, leaving his cloak on the sylph's shoulders.
06[00:09] * Nienna_Carnes`ir lets out a breath. "I'm going to need to talk to him, I think."
[00:09] <Sariel> "….I…I asked him.  Fault is being mine, not his" glaring right at Lestari, as hard as she can.
[00:10] <Tim> "...Uff!" He's taken offguard by the hug, and his muscles stiffen.  Then he relaxes, sighs, and hugs her wordlessly for a while.
06[00:10] * Lestari angrily says something about "Maybe if he hadn't ripped someone to shreds infront of me, I wouldn't have yelled at him.", before walking around to make sure all of the dogs are re-dead.
01[00:10] <Idir_Haida> "How about instead of assigning blame we figure out how we're going to fight off the undead horde of Redmoor /and/ the Horned King. Also go to the doctor."
[00:11] <Nienna_Carnes`ir> "As Idir says, yes. Wounded to the doctor, then we need to meet and tlak and make sure *everything* is in order."
[00:12] <Lestari> "I /APOLOGIZE/ For not being totally emotionless like a Councillor apparently should, /Councillor Haida!" Lestari shouts again, stabbing one of the dogs that is twitching a bit too much.
06[00:12] * Idir_Haida 's eye twitches, but he says nothing, turning around and going inside the town.
06[00:13] * Sariel is fluttering back with Kokoltum, hugging him tight all the while.
06[00:13] * Nienna_Carnes`ir grits her teeth. "It is not about being emotionless, it is about crisis management, Lestari. You don't lay blame for a cavern collapse until you have rescued as many as you can. Something happened. You disagree. Save it for when the crisis has passed and we will know we have breath to argue with."
06[00:14] * Nienna_Carnes`ir works her wounded arm a bit and lets out a rather abnormal grunt for her. "I'm going to get my arm seen about." She turns to head back into the village, towards the doctor's.
06[00:14] * Lestari silently continues to kick dog parts and doesn't reply to Nienna's scolding.
[00:15] <Tim> Kokoltum meekly tows the Sylph along until he's safely inside.
06[00:15] * Lestari looks up to see the guy missing an arm. "...If you've got any blood left in you, feel free to use it to try to get back home. I don't quite feel like killing you. Unless you feel like swinging a sword at me again."
[00:16] <Tim> "...You...you want me to tell the King what I have seen?  That Death is challenging him?"
[00:16] <Lestari> "Yes. Fine, do that. Just get out of here before someone decides not to let you."
[00:17] <Tim> "Wise you were to kill that unworthy before I could.  She fled without witnessing your greatness, O Death!"
[00:18] <Tim> "She was weak, and the weak are meat for the strong to eat!"
[00:18] <Lestari> "Just...Stop talking and go!"
[00:19] <Tim> "Yes, Death!  I obey, kehehe!" He lurches to his feet, jogging away down the road with a mad, ghastly grin, his arms swaying limply.
[00:23] <Tim> "...What abominable elves." Sir Gannaed is fastidiously cleaning his sword, "They are all like this?"
[00:25] <Tim> "It matters not.  Lean on me, miss Nienna, I'll get you to that unpleasant needle-loving doctor with the faint Greenwood accent."
06[00:27] * Nienna_Carnes`ir nods. "Thank you, Sir Gannaed. I do apologize if that was unseemly of me, but a woman who will not defend her home is scarcely one I would like to be."
02[00:30] * Quits: Nienna_Carnes`ir (thermophil@B03896CF.3EFACDD4.60FFE3FF.IP) (Quit: )
[00:30] <Tim> "Nonsense, a woman of practicality is a charm and a delight.  Why, my ancestor Laeluni was a warrior maiden herself, and one of Avalon's finest generals..." He tells Nienna all about it on the way to get her some medical attention.