873 replies to this topic

[Tyrant Sage]

"What? Ok, some of them may be assholes, but let them learn how to control their actions. Or something," Alferis said, recalling Esphyr's explanation at how she lost control because of the sword and Damian going berserk.

"Hell, what are you going to do us? For all you know, some of them might be children or innocent! Some of them probably didn't do anything. There has to be another way!"

"Stop it," Reika said harshly, pushing past Alf and stared down Athena.

"Lady, I know you're stupid, belonging to the church and all, but you're an idiot if you actually truly believe what you're saying. What, your religion preaches forgiveness and mercy and yet you go around trying to kill people for something they have? Hypocrites like you are what make this world hard to live in."

"Reika....stop..." Alf said, trying to pull her back, though secretly, he was agreeing with her a little. Would they seriously kill people like Chase? Arrin? They were just children! And Arrin was innocent.

And Esphyr, he couldn't let anything happen to her.

[Snike]

Surrounded?
"I... Am...?" Elle said, surprised. No wonder they called her that. But, this Eric person sounded familiar... The sage began to ask about him, but then the group was partially surrounded by cavaliers. It was rather odd, however, as they outnumbered the outsiders. Uncertain of what to do, she remained on the horse, and waited.

Parley
Althea was attempting to reason with the group, but Henry could tell, that it was not going to work. Based on what he could read from their thoughts, the bow-woman would die for most of the Wielders, and in turn, they would fight for others. It was pointless to talk, and so, the swordsman drew his blade, and dismounted from one of the cavaliers, approaching alongside Althea.
"They will not listen, Commander," he said. "I can tell, talking is pointless."

[Script]

Luc Altair

Captain or Count? Neither was likely to have a changing effect on reformist templars, but pleasantries would help. "Count Luc Altair of Directus," he said choosing to go with his title and city. Perhaps he could force Directus authority to clear this mess. "While your points are valid, enough misfortune has also befallen us for reasons other than those of holding the Crimsons." Luc placed his burned hand to his chin. "In fact, if you know of demon attacks than should not your cause of hunting them down be of a higher priority? Indeed, that's where we are traveling to now."

Of course, the others certainly weren't making it easy for Luc to try and talk his way out of this. Neither was that swordsmen who stepped down and accused them of not listening.


A Fargo

"Ah, jeez, probably should get ready since everyone hates us for no good reason," Fargo said to his passengers.


EDIT: Added reaction to Henry.

Edited by Script, 04 December 2010 - 09:44 PM.

[Mercakete]

"I'll keep an eye out while you do that," Tas agreed, watching what was going on and having namid hover near Irina.

Niket was a little confused but it looked like people were trying to take something from them. He'd defend their terriroty! ...If the Irina let him go. ... Oh. The fun-to-bite human. Niket wondered what sound referred to him.

~~~~~~~~~

Joe held steady, calming his nerves and sending up annother prayer.

~~~~~~~~~

Raemond couldn't help but sigh. (The battle will procede, it looks like. May the demonic weapons be put down quickly...)

[Tyrant Sage]

"What the-?! No! Stop! What are you doing!" Alferis said panicking at Henry. "You all nuts or something?! What is the matter with you people? You haven't thought of looking for another solution?"

[Snowy_One]

Esphyr's sword was out in a flash as she dropped back into a defensive position. What on earth were these guys here for? Couldn't they see the bodies of the bandits who attacked them literally littering the ground only a short ways off? Her eyes glanced back and forth across the mounted soldiers, trying to keep all those in front of her in her vision. This was a clear flanking maneuver, and that made the intent of the people clear enough to Esphyr. They were here for something and were not above resorting to violence to get it. Still, even as a mercenary, there was no reason to provoke a fight beyond anything necessary. With a wary eye, she started to kneel down, lowering her steel blade to the earth slowly and carefully, expecting the soldiers to charge forth at any moment.

"I'm laying my blade down as you commanded." she said. Yet, as she stood back up and backed away, she kept her hand curved and her stance in the ready position; just incase she needed to pull her 'backup'. Yet, even as she did so, she could feel the hairs on her arms and legs standing on end. Something was going to happen... and less than a moment later, her fear was confirmed.

"Unfortunately, violence is the only answer here. The Crimson Weapons are an affront to the Goddess and will bring great calamity upon the world. Have you all not suffered due to their influence? Demons attacking, inns burning down, unnatural earthquakes...it is my duty to end such things. And the only way to do so is to destroy the crimson weapons, which means killing their wielders. Please do not make this more difficult than necessary."

"Crap." muttered Esphyr under her breath at hearing that. Even if she, Morgan, and every other wielder here tried to deceive to slip by without a fight, Esphyr felt sure Reika would not. A fight was about to happen.

---

"I don't know. I haven't seen any weapon that could remotely cause wounds like those. Magic mayhapes? No burns or clear cuts; I doubt it is fire or wind. Lightning maybe? It matters little. These bodies are near the path where the group would have traveled, and they are fresh. We need to hurry! They may still be in trouble! On Adam! On Gluebag! Tis our honor to stop such ruffians!"

He didn't know if the group was safe or not, or if there was any need for his assistance, but he was sure of one thing. He had been a coward; and if he was ever to become like the knights in the stories, he would have to start working towards that goal! Kicking Gluebag in the side to spurr him on once Adam was secured, he took off into the underbrush; his head lowered as he used the armor to ensure a clear path for him through the trees!

[Snike]

No Third option
"... The fact is, we must destroy the Weapons, in order to save the land. And in order to do that, their wielders have to be sacrificed. It is unfortunate, but the only way. I can already tell that you and others refuse to stand aside, so, the only option is to defeat them and you by force," Henry retorted, opening his eyes as if he could see through them. "Prepare yourselves."

Zombiez
The man had finally arrived in Altenau, only to find a horde of zombies, breaking down a house door. Without deep thought, the man drew his bow and began firing upon them, in an attempt to draw attention to him.

[Tyrant Sage]

"Please...there has to be some other way to solve this..." Alferis said, nearly begging to have them not fight.

"Are you sure it's them that's the cause? Why can't you find a different way to solve this? Why do you have to resort to violence? We already have more than enough here."

[Script]

Luc Altair

The man had just inadvertently offered Luc an exploit, but--memories of the consequences of the severing flashed through Luc's mind. Would destroying the severed weapons work? Would it save the wielders? It might be worthwhile to attempt in the future--Esphyr would probably jump at that chance possibly--but for now it was too risky. If they could even do it.

[-Cynthia-]

"The demons are drawn to the Crimson Weapons. If the weapons are eliminated, that will make removing the demonic presence from the lands easier." Althea said.

"Some of the wielders...are children." she said, giving a sad look at Arrin. "By eliminating your teacher I had hoped to spare your life...but you were apparently the true wielder after all. I regret that to save others your lives must be sacrificed, but such is the way of the Goddess..." her voice trailed off Henry may be right, they're not backing down...

[Tyrant Sage]

Upon hearing the words Athena spoke to Arrin, Alferis shook, his eyes narrowing, realizing now words would not solve this.

"You...killed this kid's teacher? And now...you plan on murdering a child?" he spoke, his voice shaking with rage. "And you call yourself servants of the Goddess? You're not servants of the goddess, you're monsters. You murderers."

[Script]

Luc Altair

"Drawn? Yes, we have seen that," Luc responded. "And what can be drawn can be baited and trapped. The destruction of the weapons now would only serve to scatter the demons, to drive them and their mockery of human form into hiding. As of now we force them into confrontation, to combat." Luc kept himself quiet afterwords as Alferis response to the woman's words of having killed Arrin's old teacher.

[Snowy_One]

"How do you even know we have these red weapon thingies?" asked Esphyr, keeping a wary eye on the soldiers in front of her as she asked her question. "I mean, do you have some sort of spell or something to detect them? Or are you just stopping groups at random and killing any children that look at you funny and claiming that they may have had one? I don't know much about the way of the staff, but I'm pretty sure that both Reform and Lunarism and whatever else frowns on their paladins doing that sort of thing. We're just mercs and bodyguards. Our weapons are steel grey, not red."

It was a faux defense. Esphyr didn't have the faintest hope that it would work. What she wanted to find out, however, was how they knew that THIS group had the weapons or if there was some way for them to find out which of them had them. That would be worth knowing indeed.

[Phoenix]

Party

Irina quickly handed Niket to Lev who kept the hatchling in his lower lap rather than upper mid section so he wouldn't be able to pester him. Irina quickly managed to get on some of her armor but left the shoulder plates in the saddlebags fearing she wouldn't have the time to don them before the sour negotiations became a battle.

Irina: (You know we wouldn't seem so death worthy if the hostile people never said a word.)

Altenau

The door quickly gave way and a few of the undead came into the room, one of them crawling across the floor, the other two trampling him to reach Joe. Behind them were even more starting to come in.

Outside, the man with the bow had not gone unnoticed. Out from the alleyways on both sides of the streets, several more dogs appeared. Some were former house pets. Others were hunting dogs. All of them were fast on their feet though and began charging at the man from both sides!

As Sadie ran several dozen crystalized spikes shot up out of the ground completely blocking her path. Back at the gates a lone cavalier emerged with a javelin and came speeding toward her ready to finish her off. He soon stopped however and lowered his weapon grunting a bit. A moment later the spikes disappeared back into the ground leaving her an escape route out. The cavalier thoughtlessly turned around and rode back into town leaving her alone on the road.

[kdanger]

"Like hell you're going to kill them," Kelas snarled. Got to get them out of here... they don't know Arrin's in the carriage, so he can't escape without breaking cover... the others are all sitting ducks... they won't attack me, or the others, but they'll probably attack me if I help anyone escape... if I go near the carriage, I'll give Arrin away... Well, she could solve one problem immediately: she leaned over and grabbed Francis' reins. "Sorry-- just hold on--" she hissed to Isotov, then slapped Francis on the hindquarters. The gelding bolted before anyone could protest. She didn't have time to watch if he got away safely, though... As she turned around, ready to face whoever was first to attack her, she realized that the leader was addressing Arrin now. She recognizes him?!

"You killed--" Arrin began, face blank with shock. "You--" He wasn't sure what he was doing, he was getting out of the carriage, he had Daranau in his hand. Sparks crackled up and down the spine of the book, the usual static amplified by Arrin's inner turmoil. "Why would you--" he choked, blinking, trying to keep his vision clear of tears. He hadn't thought of revenge when he'd been searching before, but now it just seemed to make so much sense-- he started to stride forward--

--and was scooped up by Kelas, who had kneed Amari forward and leaned over to catch him. She pulled him up into the saddle in front of her (it would be easier to shield him that way, she hoped) and turned, ready to flee. "You can't take all of them like this, are you crazy?" she hissed.

"Sure I can!" Arrin shot back, shoving himself down from the saddle and landing in a heap before Kelas could get Amari away. He picked himself up, not bothering to check for injuries, and started toward Althea again, limping slightly on a twisted ankle. "Why would you?" he demanded. "She was just a-- a researcher! She was trying to fix some of this mess! She didn't even have a weapon! Why did you kill her?!"

Stunned, Kelas turned around and drew up behind Arrin. As Arrin had fallen, she'd noticed that there was something just slightly... wrong about his eyes. She wasn't sure what would happen if she tried to pick him up again-- for all she knew, he might shock her-- but she could at least provide cover in case one of the cavaliers attacked.

[Tyrant Sage]

"What?" Sadie said, as the spikes disappeared and the skeleton cavalier suddenly ignored her.

"Joe....I'll come back for you. I'll get aid for this town. I promise. Just please stay alive and escape," she said softly to herself, running through the gates and through the road, her wind tome at the ready still.

[-Cynthia-]

"Monster? Perhaps I am, by some definitions. But it is far more monstrous to let catastrophes occur. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Althea answered the bandit man.

"The Goddess gives me the ability to sense demonic energies, and Kamilla described you all regardless." she said to Esphyr. "Poor girl...I'll end your suffering quickly."

The boy appeared distraught at the mention of his former teacher. "I thought she had held the tome...I made an error in judgment. Still, such is the nature of the cursed weapons. Poor, misguided soul. I pray that at least she found her way to the Goddess, as I hope all the wielders will. But there is no reason for those who do not have the cursed weapons to die here. Please surrender." Althea repeated.

[Tyrant Sage]

"You don't even know if this is going to cause a catastrophe! And you killed innocent people!" Alf yelled at the woman, entering a fighting stance, Arrin's anguish assaulting his ears. The poor boy was beside himself with anger and sorrow. And Alf could not blame her at all.

"You know what? Screw it! You deserve to die! You're going to kill us all anyway! I don't even care about violence anymore!" Alferis said angrily, his head throbbing as the voice in his head came again.

KILL THEM! THEY'RE YOUR ENEMIES! KILL THEM!

...Ok....

Edited by Red Magister, 04 December 2010 - 10:34 PM.

[Mercakete]

For a moment, Joe froze. However, he managed to swing the hammer widely, smashing the heads of two of the undead and quickly swining it up for a downward strike. (I won't last too long... Not as slow and untrained as I am. But I won't go down while there might be hope.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(This looks bad. Why is the church after us? What are these crimson weapons?) As he listened, Tas couldn't believe his ears. (This is crazy! I knew this group was crazy! Baiting demons?! That sounds far too dangerous. What sort of group has Lev dragged the chicks into? Ohh not good not good... I...I can't just leave though. Blast it, Lev! Ohh I'm going to regret this... Wait. Maybe we don't have to fight them.) "Hey, Irina. I know this sounds insensitive of me, but do we really have to fight them? It might be a good idea to just hand over the wielders of those crimson weapons things. They can't be good if they're demonic, right?" he quietly asked. It was clear he was a little panicked what with how the color had left his face a little and he kept looking at the church militants.

Nicket meanwhile tried to figure out how he could attack the human. It was fun and there had to be vital things easily acessable in the lower as well as the upper regions. Curiously, the chick tilted his head, wondering if the spot between the rider's leggs would be a good place to bite.

[Script]

Luc Altair

Ignored. Luc clenched his teeth as te expected anger from Arrin came about. It seemed combat would be inevitable at this rate. "So be it," Luc closed his eyes. "But do you really think the force arrayed against you is within reason? Or will you throw your lives into--perhaps as you would say--the hands of evil? Is there anyway to convince you--thee words of a King, or a veteran of the war perhaps--that we do not mean harm?"


The Fargo

"Ahhhh, why do we always fight? I hate being forced into this soldier crap," Fargo whined.


A Paul

Get to the fighting already. Paul had snuck a look outside and seen that one girl he was supposed to find earlier. Once these church goons were a bloody mess he would have free reign to do what he should hae done before. Even if it was rather ineffective.