[15:46:39] <@havocfett> It's 7 in the night, and after eating a basically solitary meal with her child, Guide shows up.
[15:47:39] <@havocfett> The small warforged is basically unarmored, and obviously female, she doesn't actually seem particularly powerful to Claire, who still doesn't know why she is in the inner circle.
[15:48:08] <@havocfett> "Claire, are you done with, um, 'dinner'? We're raiding in five, Watcher is watching your child."
[15:48:44] <@havocfett> "We need to get you to the teleportation circle."
[15:48:53] Claire looks up. "Oh. Hello Guide. Yes, I'm done." She stands up, patting the half-drow child on the head. "Lead the way."
[15:50:05] <@havocfett> Guide turns around, keeping an easy pace as she leads Claire towards the enormous, steel and mithral antechamber that serves as a teleportation circle. "You remember the plan, right? We engage, and kill off any of the Dusters that survive the battle."
[15:50:54] Claire flexes her hands, claws extending and retracting with the exercise. "Just point me at whatever you need killed."
[15:53:12] <@havocfett> "Good to know, Beacon has the specifics on the plan," says Guide as the two approach Shephard, Envoy and the truly gargantuan Beacon already in the circle.
[15:54:42] Claire would look phenomenally out-of-place without Guide, 5'7 and not exactly imposing. To rectify the latter, she donned a black cloak as she entered the circle.
[15:57:04] <Claire> "So what's the plan?"
[15:58:06] <@havocfett> "Excellent, now we just have to wait for the Lorddamned Preacher," muttered Beacon, "The bloody tigers teleport in, we teleport in after they've slaughtered the door guards, we kill everything that moves, and kill the cats once we're done. Then we leave. Anyone in particular you want to kill personally?"
[15:59:36] Claire smiles. It's a smile that really has no place on her features, and it's probably for the best that the red-tinted lenses hide her eyes. "My father. I'd prefer if you left him for me."
[16:00:18] <@havocfett> "Right, all the squishies look alike to me, no offense intended Claire, mind pointing him out when we're in?"
[16:00:39] <Claire> "None taken. I'll gladly point him out."
[16:03:20] <@havocfett> A last warforged, roughly Claire's height and bedecked in grisly trophies of monster hides, magical blades and humanoid skulls approaches, chanting a catechism to the Lord of Blades.
[16:03:33] <@havocfett> He is completely unarmed, though bedecked in relatively small adamantine armor.
[16:03:56] <@havocfett> "Companions! Fellow Blades! We are all gathered here, for this most momentous show of force?"
[16:05:07] <@havocfett> "Yes Preacher, the /rest/ of us decided to show up on /time/ you bloody maniac," replies Beacon, "Now, can Shephard teleport us already?"
[16:05:27] Claire raises an eyebrow at Preacher's getup. "Nice. Very intimidating."
[16:05:54] <@havocfett> "....this is what I normally wear, Honored Claire."
[16:06:20] <Claire> "Hm. Never noticed before."
[16:06:30] <Claire> "Oh, I'm 'honoured'? Nice."
[16:07:50] <@havocfett> "Of course you are! This is the day you have Righteous Vengeance, Sanctioned by the Lord Himself, upon the traitorous meatbags who betrayed you so viciously!" says Preacher, "Today shall be a momentous occasion, and it is only correct that you are Honore-" Shephard, annoyed with the constant conversation, activates teh circle, cutting off Preacher's speech in
[16:07:56] <@havocfett> A flash of light and sound
[16:08:36] <@havocfett> Suddenly, the group is outside of an enormous compound, House Orien headquarters. The gates are ruined, the corpses of a single Rakshasa and dozens of guards littering the courtyard.
[16:08:45] <@havocfett> Preacher looks decidedly put out that his speech was interrupted.
[16:09:13] <Claire> "I liked your speech," Claire says an aside as she dons her Hat of Disguise, shaped to appear like a birdlike mask.
[16:09:31] Claire appears to grow about four inches in height and take on a more androgynous build
[16:10:52] <@havocfett> "That, dear sister, is because you have /no/ taste in speeches," says Guide as mechanized creatures, mockeries of angels and devils, rip themselves out of the air around her. Preacher grows to the size of a giant, a wreath of ghostly gears surrounds hip as grey light emanates from his body.
[16:11:28] Claire glances around. Her expression is practically visible through the mask. "Well, I feel inadequate."
[16:12:37] <@havocfett> Envoy simply whirls her scythe without a care in the world, as Beacon brings a pair of swords to bear. Shephard merely shrugs, "You get used to it."
[16:14:24] Claire flicks out her armblades with a flourish. "Oh well. I'll make do."
[16:15:33] <@havocfett> "Show off," jokes Preacher, "Now go on, it's /your/ big day, go make an entrance. The rakshasa are probably dead by now, bar the smart ones."
[16:16:40] Claire smiles. "Oh good." She retracts her armblades and makes her entrance. If one were to listen closely, they might hear her... humming? Not to mention there was an inappropriately sunny spring in her step.
[16:19:51] <@havocfett> The main hall is wrecked, the forms of dead Rakshasas, men and women sprawled over the enormous entryway. A man, one of Claire's illegitimate brothers, and a pair of women, two of her sisters, one illegitimate, and one the heir of the house, are gathering survivors, they don't seem to have noticed Claire yet.
[16:21:40] Claire approaches and stops in the middle of the hall. She observes the three silently, smiling under her mask. "Hello."
[16:23:51] <@havocfett> They all turn. "The Masked Ball is off, if you could remove the mask, it would help with casualty sorting," says the Eldest sister, Telemere, Claire believed, "Miss.....?"
[16:25:18] Claire walks towards Telemere, unhurriedly. "It's a very nice mask. Is there any idea how many we lost?" Idle conversation, a distraction to let her approach.
[16:26:44] <@havocfett> "Fifteen to thirty, mostly low level members of branch houses," says Telemere, "Now, I understand that it's a nice mask, but could I /please/ get a name and get you to remove it? We're trying to figure out if there are any survivors we're issing.
[16:26:50] <@havocfett> *missing."
[16:27:27] Claire continues to approach. "Surely you don't need to see my face to recognize me? Dear sister?"
[16:29:33] <@havocfett> "...Claire? Where the /fuck/ have you been?" yells Telemere as she dashes towards you, "I was worried /sick/, Indra was furious at Father, you disappeared, and no-one's telling me anything." She leaps on you in a....hug? "What, are you wearing /armor/ under that cloak? What on Shavarath have you been up to?"
[16:30:37] Claire holds her hand behind her back, ready to deploy her armblade and strike. But she halts at the mention of Indra. "Yes, armour. I need to protect myself. What's this about Indra?"
[16:32:26] <@havocfett> "He's been at a row with Father all week, they haven't been talking, won't even be on the same half of the bloody manor. And /neither/ of them will tell me /anything/ about what happened. And now these fucking /tigers/ attacked us, and I have no idea what's going on. No-one has any idea where father or Indra are, I think they were targetted, personally."
[16:32:48] <@havocfett> The two adopted siblings are approaching, staring at....Telemere?
[16:33:19] <@havocfett> They both seem to be preparing for something, and the crowd is being a bit /too/ inconscpicious.
[16:34:01] Claire looks around, unsettled. "Telemere, what's going on?" She tenses.
[16:35:51] <@havocfett> "What? Nothing's going on?" says Telemere, looking around, "The hell are you two doing-" The siblings, twins, if you remember correctly, level crossbows, heavily enchanted, at the pair of you. "Father's Orders," says one.
[16:37:12] Claire 's expression hardens beneath the mask. "Telemere, stay down." And with that, she roughly shoves her half-sister to the floor and lets her lenses retract. Staring at the twins, she thinks strongly and clearly, 'fire'.
[16:38:14] <@havocfett> Telemere hits the floor and stays there, a pair of crossbow bolts fly over where she was, one glancing off of Claire's armored skin. Then the twins begin screaming, engulfed in an enormous conflagration of flame.
[16:38:49] <@havocfett> Most of the crowd panics, running, but several of them whip out their own weapons and spells, preparing to retaliate.
[16:39:27] <Claire> There's a soft 'fwick' as the lenses redeploy. "Thank you, Preacher," Claire murmurs to herself. "GO AHEAD! GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT!" She roars at the others.
[16:40:38] <@havocfett> They fire, over half a dozen bolts of light, and of the more mundane sort soaring towards her, all too slowly from her perception.
[16:42:55] Claire practically vanishes, tumbling beneath the bolts at a terrifying speed. She ends her maneuver right by the nearest bowman's feet. Her left armblade rams through his thigh, protruding from the other side. Ripping it out, she sheathes it and deploys her right. Dragging the tip across the floor with a sinister 'scrape', she rises and cleaves the man's face in half with a backhand chop
[16:44:40] <@havocfett> The men and women begin to panic, most firing more frantically, and with poorer aim, but some draw blades in an attempt to meet Claire in melee combat.
[16:46:24] Claire sways aside from the next volley almost contemptuously. The first that tries to meet her finds his sword-arm trapped in a painful arm-lock. An armblade deploys, this time from her elbow, and turns the man's throat into a bloody ruin as Claire wrenches her arm aside. The second blade meant for her is simply caught in her armoured hand. Wrenching it aside, her left arm-blade punches through the
[16:46:31] <Claire> *man's throat so hard his head comes off
[16:48:34] <@havocfett> The House Members changed tactics, some teleporting to the chandeliers via their dragonmarks, and the others spreading out as they attempted to pick off Claire. Someone screamed as those brave enough to go into melee were slaughtered.
[16:51:27] Claire simply laughed, the genuine laugh of someone having the time of their lives. Raising a fist, her knuckle spikes launched, embedding in the ornate stone ceiling. She rose, too quick for the trailing crossbow bolts, and snagged one of the chandelier crossbowmen by the throat as she passed. "Enjoying the party?" she asked, before letting him drop. She reached the ceiling and sprang, landing on
[16:51:41] <Claire> *yet another assailant. His body, both armblades deeply embedded in it, softened her fall.
[16:52:32] <@havocfett> More screams, the surviving assassins give up on meaningful resistance and run, screaming.
[16:53:11] <@havocfett> The warforged now enter. "So, how was your entrance?" asks Envoy, "Enjoyably bloodthirsty, I hope?"
[16:53:46] Claire rises and flourishes her cloak. "Oh, it was fun! You should have seen their faces when I used my eyes. They screamed so loud- oh wait, that reminds me. Telemere?"
[16:54:44] <@havocfett> Telemere stands, "What the /fuck/ is going on here, sister?"
[16:56:09] <Claire> "I'm here with the Lord of Blades' inner circle to kill Father. And the only reason you're still alive is because I'm holding out hope you'll be useful. With me so far?"
[16:57:26] <@havocfett> "....Is there /anyone/ in this house who hasn't decided to backstab the other members today?" asks Telemere. "Erm, we're supposed to kill /everyone/ here, you know," says Beacon, "We went over this, despite Shephard's protests."
[16:58:46] Claire shrugs. "Shame." She steps past Telemere, sweeping her elbow past her half-sister's throat. The armblade makes it a quick death. "The answer is 'no', by the way." She turns. "Right. What now?"
[17:00:03] <@havocfett> "We burn the place down and slaughter people until we find your father, then we /slowly/ slaughter him, then we get back to slaughtering everyone else?"
[17:00:27] <@havocfett> "Oh, and then we burn the paperwork allowing House Orien to manage all their infrastructure. Complete breakdown we're aiming for here."
[17:00:33] <Claire> "I like that plan!"
[17:02:21] <@havocfett> "Excellent! Boys," says Guide, motioning towards the mechanical abominations now tailing her, "/sic/." The mechs fly forwards, striking down the fleeing civilians. "Lead the way Claire."
[17:03:38] Claire leads the way quite happily. She practically skips over the corpses, striking out blindly with her armblades at any organic that comes too close. She appears to have started humming again.
[17:04:27] <@havocfett> "...what is that song?" mutters Shephard to Envoy. "I'm not sure, but I rather like it."
[17:07:29] <Claire> "Tick-tock, goes the clock, we laughed at fate and mourned them..." Claire sings to herself.
[17:07:41] <Claire> "Tick-tock, goes the clock, even for d'Orien~"