Beneath the Shadows Chapter One: Ancient Fears

[Shin]

Literally seconds after Linn's pondering, Aeson came staggering through, preparing his magic.

"We haven't really seen something like this before, perhaps we can think a little if we pull through.

Aeson heals Linn for 5HP!

Linn 6/15 -> 11/15

DAT 3 POINTS.

Edited September 18, 2013 by Shin

[Bluedoom]

Rimsky watched how the battled had unfolded- Raelyn had been keeping her cool and taking out the creatures with ease compared to the other mercenaries; and Jacob had just been revived by Sayina. Rimsky himself as at his top game now, trying to not fall to the likes of these vile... things.

He watched on as a traveller started joining them in battle and taking out the creatures- he weakened one, and then Malachi tried to finish it off. He watched as Zeff finished the creature off- but then he watched in horror as a mysterious Shaman summoned dark tendrils that engulfed Zeff in darkness. What was left was his body with poison dripping from it.

As he watched, one of the creatures stabbed him in the thigh, giving a cry of pain. Gritting his teeth, he growled, "I AIN'T GOIN' DOWN YET!" He directed his horse away from the creature, noticing that Raelyn was closing in on the kill, and aimed carefully at a hound that had been trying to attack the group. Then with as much power as he could use, he shot the hound through its stomach, leaving it alive, but barely. He then watched as Ernce and Linn teamed up on the thing and destroyed it.

[Xinnidy]

Seems the number of enemies thinned immensely, but one of the remaining was powerful and ready to put up a fight, if the wreckage he caused to Zeff was any indication. The poor swordsman.

To be on the safe side, he kept his guard up, and stood in Linn's way should they wish to wreck havoc among their less sturdy.

Alfonso defends Linn!

Edited September 18, 2013 by Xinnidy

[Vestige]

The ecstasy from his kill was overwhelming. Every bone in his body ached to continue killing more demons. But that aching would soon become a physical pain rather than metaphorical. Darkness masked darkness, and Zeff was blind to the incoming attack. He found himself enveloped in a cloud of suffocation, and his body seared with pain. His mind flashed with an image of a girl, before blacking out completely.

It seemed the reaper was out for Zeff...

[Psych]

Leon noticed Sayina rushing around the battlefield mending wounds. He was doing it much more efficiently than Leon, but he had still taken some damage in the fight. "Sayina be careful, my healing isn't as good as yours, so we must have you around."

Leon heals Sayina +3 HP

Sayina 11/18 HP

Leon earns 3 points, 12 points total

[scorri]

Enemy Phase!

The shaman howled in anger as more of his troops went down. Cursing the group, he pointed at the mage knight who'd proven so useful and slammed magic tendrils down at him. However, the half-elf quickly sidestepped them and the tendrils slammed uselessly into the ground.

[spoiler=Combat]

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4223162/

needs autohit to hit, lolmiss

The final demon charged the elf mage who had been causing so much trouble, but her friend stepped in front of her, preventing the nightshade from reaching Linn. However, he still managed to leave the man with a medium wound in his side.

[spoiler=combat]

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4223184/

autohits

5+4-3=6 damage

Alfonso: 15/21 HP, +3 points

NPC Phase

As Sayina was healed, he shook his head in anger. "No. This ends now. I am the senior member here. I will not let you all keep risking your lives. No more." Aiming at the nightshade, Sayina created a giant ball of light magic. Sending it rushing at the demon, the ball grew larger and larger until it simply swallowed up the nightshade and then dissipated.

[spoiler=combat]

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4223214/

autohits

11+2(WTA)+5-3=15

ded nightshade

Rayil gulped as Sayina recklessly attacked the nightshade. Standing in front of the troubadour, he took up a defensive stance. "Don't worry. Just stay calm."

Rayil defends Sayina

"You poor soul," Hale muttered to himself, after easily sidestepping the shaman's amateurish tendrils. Not even the shadows could bring this man the power to prevail, for one reason or another. And at a cost too great. Right, well time to put him out of his misery. The traveler called upon his magic, and a ray of light fell from the heavens, engulfing the demon."Rest in peace," he said, as he lowered his head and pulled his hood up. The light faded after a moment, and all that was left was the dark tome.

[spoiler=combat]

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4223168/

autohits

(9+3+5-5)*2=24 damage

ded shaman

Battle Over!

Team 1 and 2 gain 63 points, Team 3 gains 60 points.

Edited September 18, 2013 by scorri

[Nanami Touko]

Linn was standing tall after Aeson's lovely magic, but she still screamed when the nightshade charged at her. Luckily for her, Alfonso was still as strong as he seemed, as he took the blow for her. Before she could even utter a thank you, the battle had finished! She poked her head out from behind the man, and stared at one of the remaining corpses. Do I even dare? Her thirst for knowledge started to fight with her fear of what had almost killed her. The thirst barely won out, as she slowly walked over to one of them, shaking as she attempted to reach a hand out at it. "I-I... What even are these things? So deadly...yet so fascinating..."

[Shin]

Aeson, still catching his breath, approached Linn, putting his hand on her shoulder. It had been hard, the priest had always used his magic in a peaceful setting, so running around the battlefield avoiding monsters wasn't exactly his cup of tea.

"I didn't know you could fight like that." Aeson chuckled, breathing heavily. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

[Nanami Touko]

Linn jumped slightly, but hearing Aeson's voice, she calmed down quite quickly. "It was my life or theirs. You have to dig deep sometimes. Even I didn't know I could dig that deep, not that I'd want to on a consistent basis." She brought herself to finally poke the corpse, feeling how decayed and dead the flesh was. Her fingers almost broke in. She stopped herself before she pierced it, and stood back up. "I doubt you'll get on my bad side, Aeson. After all, this entire trip is mostly because of you. Despite nearly dying, it's been worthwhile! So thank you."

[Shin]

"I'm happy to help, it's always better to travel with a friend than alone, no?" Aeson replied. "I'm no expert on these things, but they seem rather dead... although I would hope they stay that way."

The corpses were rather grotesque, and, after Linn's touch, apparently very fragile. It was hard to believe that these were attacking them only minutes ago.

[Xinnidy]

"Oof. At least you're both alright now." Alfonso spoke, shrugging off the pain from the shadowy foe's attack to the best of his ability. "I didn't actually get to teach any of these vile beasts a lesson, heh. I suppose everybody else could do the job better." The aged man scratched the back of his head, and took a good look around. "Say, weren't there more? I remember some of our own catching their attention and taking the fight elsewhere. I wonder if they're faring well..."

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, Alfonso!" Linn said, giving the large man a large hug, "you were so amazingly helpful in that fight! I swear I would've died without you~!" She let him go, her spirits obviously back up. She was as giddy as before, and ready to hug anyone that came near. "So...what did happen to this village? Those monsters had to have done something to the villagers. Maybe we should look around?"

[Shin]

"I agree, without you, they would have got us." Aeson added. "Perhaps we should check for people, I pray that those monsters missed at least some of them."

The monsters were fierce, Aeson wasn't entirely sure if they would leave survivors. Still, if he had faith, those he did find would pull through.

[Xinnidy]

"Bahahaha! Oh, don't worry Linn, if there's anything these old bones can do right, it's scaring rookies and taking a beating!" The knight replied, puffing up his chest as the elf girl let him go. "Maybe we should, maybe we should see if the others are doing fine." He noted, and then realized some amongst them were still in poor condition. "... Or, we could wait and have Aeson, among others, heal those in need before we meet more of the beasts."

[Psych]

Leon noticed the others investigating some of the bodies, and overheard their conversation. "I can start taking care of wounds, but I'm not sure I have many bandages. I think it would be a good idea to just get a quick note of who's worst off and work from there. If you all want to go help some people onto their feet that may work, but I'd also like to try and look around the town and in some of those houses. There might be something in them we can use." Leon looked around, and headed off to help Sayina and those that were still on the ground. The battle was still just as nerve racking as the last time, but he felt more in control and focused. He felt faster, like he knew just where to be at the right time. When they set up camp, Leon was going to practice some more of his acrobatics.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Psych

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh!" Linn spoke up, as Leon addressed them, "I can look at the houses! Ernce, Zeff, come along with me! We'll make it an adventure!" Linn was fine, again. So fine that she'd completely ignored the condition of one of the men she'd hailed. She hopped along to one of the empty looking houses, and slowly creaked open the door. She could barely see anything inside, the moon light casting nowhere near enough to fill up the room through either the front door or the window. She tip toed her way into the entrance, and stood there, trying to survey the room for any signs of life or anything they could use. Perhaps I should've waited for Ernce and Zeff before running into this. I've no idea what we really need.

Edited September 19, 2013 by I have opinions

[Bluedoom]

Rimsky smirked as their allies took care of the last few creatures. Remembering that he had to go look at Chandra's condition, he rode over to Jacob and Raelyn. " We better check on Chandra, I hope she's not hurt real bad. You sure yer ok, Jacob? That was a nasty blow you took back then!"

[Shin]

Before heading out, Aeson made sure to check that his allies were actually able to move. Unfortunately, Zeff seemed to have been lying in a pool of his own blood. The priest dashed over, inspecting the damage.

"Can you hear me?" Aeson asked, tapping the man on the shoulder. "Well, I suppose a spot of healing wouldn't go amiss regardless."

By the powers invested in him, Aeson began healing Zeff. His injuries were nasty, but he was at the very least sort of alive.

[Rothene]

With healing going around, Caslan found himself in much better shade than some. His wounds, mostly of magical nature, were taken cared off by his innate magical resistance as an elf, and training as an apprentice.

Glaring at Joey briefly, big help you were towards the end of the battle, the elven mage heard Linn call out to Ernce and Zeff, the latter who was in rather poor shape. An amused though crossed Caslan's mind and he went to the fallen mercenary's side to help him to his feet.

"I see you patched him up well healer," the mage addressed Aeson, "Thanks for that and I can handle him from here."

Edited September 19, 2013 by Rothene

[Vestige]

Voices echoed through his head as he slowly regained his consciousness. He awoke to see one of the newer members and Caslan leaning over him. The poison that had been working it's way through his body was still in effect, and slowed down both his body and his mind. Unaware of the frighteningly uncharacteristic rampaging he had done in the battle, he innocently asked Caslan what exactly had happened to him.

"I-I don't remember...what happened?

[Toogee]

Though healed enough to make a full recovery, the shock of blood loss had left Chandra unconscious for the time being. Her mind however was fully active, reminiscing in the past.

[spoiler=Flashback, Part 1]Chandra woke up feeling the nip of the cold mountain air. It wasn’t that bad within her tent, especially within the arms of her husband Sebastian. She took a moment to admire his face. He had a fairly broad build for a shaman, enough to be able to wrestle someone to the ground with his bare hands. His facial hair of interest: Chandra recalled trimming runic symbols within his beard in an effort to improve his magic. There didn’t seem to be any effect, but it did manage to look pretty hideous. They were counting the days until they reached town to buy a razor to shave the whole thing off.

“You’re staring at it again,” Sebastian said, not even bothering to open his eyes to confirm it.

“I think if I just trim a little here and there, we can pass them off as happy faces-”

“No. I’d rather remain as ‘Homeless Guy with Mange’.”

Chandra laughed as she buried her face into his chest. She didn’t feel like getting up to greet the day. Morning could wait a few more hours. That was until a gruff voice called out for them.

“Hey love birds, I think we’ve found what we’re looking for.”

Chandra and Sebastian looked at each other and proceeded to ready themselves for the day. Both emerged from the tent, taking in the sunrise reflecting off the mountains around them. The Feaole Mountains were quite a sight at this time of day. Their attention soon turned to the valley below them. A trio of figures traveled with haste, appearing to be armed. Their armor seemed to be far too big for their bodies, with no muscle to support the weight. They weren’t skin and bones, just bones. Skeleton warriors, the group called them. This was their first confirmed sighting after weeks of chasing rumors.

“Finally, some action,” Frita said. She, like the others, was a trained shaman, though the bubblegum pink hair put in a pair of pigtails lightened her appearance. Despite being just a teen, she was more than capable of casting. She was, however, glad that their wild goose chase actually produced results.

“Indeed,” the gruff voice of Morris replied. The tall blue blue haired elf continued to stare at the three as he contemplated their horrible deaths (redo deaths really) “Can’t wait to see if sticks and stones really will break bones.”

“Just three though?” Chandra commented. “Hardly enough for the five of us.”

“Yeah well, let’s see where they’re headed first.” Sebastion commanded. “There could be more at their camp. Morris, get Chester up. The Nightstalkers are moving out!”

[Parrhesia]

Malachi produced a dagger and began systematically going through the corrupted corpses, breathing a quick prayer and slashing open their throats.

[eclipse]

"Looks like she's out, but she'll live," Raelyn yelled to Rimsky, as she ran towards the unconscious shaman. Her robes were a mess, but the flesh underneath looked whole. "How's Jacob doing?"

[Rothene]

"Oh, erm...WE WON!" Caslan exclaimed loudly, not wanting to explain how badly the mercenary looked moments ago. And probably still do. "But what's important is Linn, you know that elf mage girl, needs help with checking the houses and called for you by name," and Ernce as well but I shall leave it at that.

Not too fond of how heavy Zeff was, not really due to actual weight but more the mage's low arm strength, Caslan added as he half dragged half supported his fellow mercenary slowly towards the house Linn was investigating, "So better get your strength back human for appearance's sake, and don't keep the girl waiting."

[Oersted]

The battle was finally over and Ernce was tired, but it was a good tired; he had proven himself useful and felt stronger for it despite being exhausted at the moment. He sat down so he could get a quick rest before they had to march again but no sooner than he had Linn requested Zeff and himself to help her look around the houses. With a grunt he stood and looked for the excitable elf mage. He saw her go into one of the deserted houses and made his way over to the house that Linn had decided to investigate.

"So what exactly are you looking for?" he asked. "I mean I know you said you liked to discover things but why look through these houses?"

Edited September 19, 2013 by Oersted