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Fire Emblem: Curse of the Goddess [IC/PG-16/Not Accepting]


Sethera

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While Catriona was dismissing Gunther to go stand guard, her sister decided to share one of the inane theories she had read. The elder of the two snorted softly. Trust a scholar to show their robes. Aside from the academics, nobody bothered discussing the creation of the world, and indeed, were often discouraged from it. At least in Galtea. There wasn't much known about the time before Augustus, and it was after his reign that the world finally fell back into a semblance of peace, so why spend time dwelling on the dark ages?

 

"That is indeed an interesting idea. I personally, always subscribed to the Secondborn theory, that the goddess created the Proteans first. There were originally seven Proteans called the Fathers of the Proteans, but they had to be laid to rest till the arrival of Men, who She intended to reign over Mysia."

 

And now Licorice was chiming in? Catriona shook her head, glancing at the black fox out of the corner of her eye. She had thought her a creature of sense, but perhaps she was wrong. She was a strange one.

 

The fox was currently staring at Sienna, though she had acknowledged Penelope and Tsetseg's impassioned replies with an approving smile. "Sometimes it is necessary to show a baser side to oneself," she explained. "When the times get rough, that is when one must call upon every weapon in their arsenal, as the humans would say." At receiving the hug, she looked shocked, but quickly recovered, hugging back. "I...am glad to be of service." Her tail flicked nervously. "Sometimes...it feels like the tribe forgets that I am a fox just as they are. Well...you might understand that." After all, Sienna's white fur was a cause for stir within the tribe, just like her black fur.

 

As the Protean listened to Edrick's tale, her expression stiffened, and she seemed to be holding herself back from saying something. Instead, she looked at the others to observe their reactions.

 

"You already know what happened next," Edrick finally said after a long silence where he began to fry up the travel cakes. "And how it set the stage for the wars between the Faithful and the Faithless for so long after." His attention turned squarely to Catriona now. "I hope that...explains why I feel the way I feel."

 

"So you believe that it is right? Inera's way? To turn back death itself?" That had always been seen as profane back in Galtea, and it was not something she could make herself believe in now. "And the Great Dragon...cooperating with Inera in creation." Her country had never seen them as a creator, but a warrior, and after the war was done, an advisor. So to hear of them spoken of as having taken part in creation as well, that...disturbed her. It put them on the same plane as the goddess, and part of her could not help but wonder if in seeking their help, they would just be replacing one problem with another.

 

No, I cannot think that way, she shook her head. Their power is vast, but they only ever used it for goodness, not like the goddess. "While I cannot believe this myself, I can guess that from this you hope for...reconciliation?" That was a strange word with regards to worshipers and non-worshipers. The two had been at odds since Inera's perversion.

 

Conversation eventually dwindled, the travel cakes were finished, and everybody made preparations to sleep. While that was happening, Link approached Catriona, reminding her about the night shifts. She brought up Gunther's suggestion of double watches, which was accepted, and then the two set to figuring out just who would be on watch. Due to having two people on watch, it was decided that there would be two shifts of three hours each, and then a final shift of two hours. The first two pairs Link suggested were accepted without argument. Gunther and Alois had been shown to be trustworthy and reliable, and the two were already standing outside as is. The next, Link and Catriona, went without saying. The two were the most experienced at such things, and she knew that Link wanted to talk to her about an issue as it was.

 

The third shift, however, was a matter of some debate.

 

"I do not believe that Edrick and Tsetseg would be an optimal pairing," Catriona said. "Edrick is young yet, and Tsetseg is younger still. I do not think that either of them are quite ready for night's watch, especially with each other." The only worse pairing in her opinion would be Penelope and Tsetseg. Though truthfully, there was another reason she did not want Edrick at watch.

 

The ceremony had awakened certain fears she had thought buried, and if Edrick were to decide to stay true to his Pontic roots and complete the ceremony to revive Inera through her, then... Except, she could not quite believe the boy capable of such underhanded malice, and yet, what if...

 

Honestly, her thoughts were all a'tumble concerning the lancer. She trusted him, yet she didn't. He brought her a perspective she didn't believe she was quite ready to think about, nor would ever be. She was not used to an ally disagreeing with her on such a fundamental matter as the goddess, as those people were usually met at the other end of her sword. She had thought herself at last reconciled with the dichotomy, but this evening had shown her differently. Because of this, she had spent most of the evening dwelling in singular thought on the boy, but no answers to her dilemma had come to mind.

 

Link remained impassive. "It's hardly night watch, Your Majesty. It's a partial shift near the break of dawn. If it would ease your mind, I'll stay up to oversee it."

 

"No," Catriona immediately replied. "We cannot have you staying up for such a length of time and expect you to work at full strength the next day. We need every sword arm we can get." Especially with his wounds from the day before, which she was ashamed to admit had slipped her mind in all the chaos.

 

Link stiffened almost imperceptibly. "Of course, Your Majesty. My apologies." Of course. He had nearly forgotten his place; he was just another sword arm to her. "In that case, who would you suggest?"

 

The princess blinked, not expecting him to give in that easily. And then immediately berated herself for her surprise. It was only right that he do so. She had become far too used to giving commands to people who would question them, or do the opposite, without a thought. But that was her failing as a leader, and perhaps Link was just too well-trained to question orders he disagreed with.

 

It was troubling to be constantly second-guessing oneself, but she had been doing quite a bit of that in the past few days.

 

"I would suggest Shiro and Adelaide. The two of them seem as if they would handle the task with more care." Already, Shiro had proven himself capable, and Adelaide had experience working under the Patrol, more-so than Tsetseg.

 

"I don't think that would be very wise, Your Majesty," Link was quick to object. "They're both too new to be trusted." Not to mention the fact that Adelaide put him on edge. She was hiding something from them, he was sure.

 

"Yet the bow thief is just as new," Catriona argued. She had barely seen anything out of the girl, just enough to know that she was young, childish, and a good hunter.

 

"Which is why she would be with Edrick. He's not any more experienced, but he's been around long enough to trust his intentions," the mercenary countered. He wasn't eager to give them any crucial responsibilities, but recruits had to get experience somehow.

 

At that, the woman went silent. Was she being paranoid? Link trusted Edrick, as did the rest of the group. It was only her and Gunther who didn't, and the knight had his own reasons. She sighed. "You make worthy points." If there was a person in this group whose judgment she trusted, it would be Link's. "Very well, we shall go with those two." While she still held reservations, it wasn't as if the boy would be able to do any sort of ceremony in complete silence. She, or somebody else, would awaken before anything happened, though it was difficult to think rationally when she remembered those eyes, and that laughter.

 

No. She would see this as a chance for Edrick to prove his loyalties, or rather goodwill in this case, as he had made the former quite clear on a number of occasions.

 

Link scrutinized Catriona silently. She was always hard to read, but he had learned some of her cues over the years, mainly her eyes. They dilated slightly whenever Edrick was brought into the conversation. Usually, that meant fear, but it could be other things. "Is something wrong, You--... Are you alright, Catriona?"

 

The white-haired woman blinked. "Of course. Is there a reason you ask?" Had she given reason for him to ask such a thing? She thought back to their earlier conversation, and no, nothing struck her as out of the ordinary.

 

"No, of course not." He was slipping and seeing weakness where there was none. Link pressed his fist to his heart in salute. "Have a good night, Your Majesty."

 

Catriona nodded back. "Goodnight." No, there had to be something, some reason he had asked. But what?

 

It was a thought that followed her while searching for each of the prospective watch candidates, though it was chased away once she found Edrick, and her earlier fears resurfaced, along with the reminder of the tentative trust she was placing in him. "You will be on watch tonight," she informed the lancer. "With Tsetseg, for the dawn shift." She stood there a moment more and then left, unsure what to think of everything that had changed in the past few days. Her own opinion on the Pontic was still in disarray, and most likely would be so for the rest of the night.

 

--

 

As the first shift started, Gunther and Alois would find it to be rather peaceful. Even the feeling of being watched had lessened some, and as the stars winked into existence overhead, the only discomfort they would feel was the wind, made colder by the fall of night.

 

It was a couple hours into their shift, at midnight--or matins as the Pontics would call it, though some still called it vigils or nocturns--that things changed.

 

BGM

 

For a few seconds, as if the night fell away to dawn, the sky lit up bright red, the moon and stars blending into what looked at first glance to be a field of blood. At the same time, a pale white dome shone over the shrine. Time seemed to suspend before the sky pulsed once and the dome shattered like glass.

 

And to the north, a dark mass--though the two would swear it hadn't been there before--was surging straight for the shrine. At the rate it was moving, it looked as if it would reach their location in the next five minutes.

 

However, before either of the two could make out any details, the sky blinked back to black, as if the past moment had never been. Still, not much time would pass before the two would hear the steady thump of moving feet, along with the familiar clank of metal bouncing off metal. Gradually, as their eyes readjusted to the darkness, they would discern what looked like dozens of glowing dots to the north, where the mass had been. And just like the sky had shone previously, they burned a bright, bloody red.

 

OOC: Feel free to write your character doing this or that before bed. Though I will say I'd like Cow and/or Skaia to post before anybody else, as their characters are the only two likely to be awake at that time (or rather, the only two who should be awake at that time). Though if you want to have your character doing evening activities in one post and the night reactions as another then go for it. Also, a note that Nai is taking a hiatus from the RP for an undetermined amount of time.

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Penelope hesitated as Gunther, once again, left. Thankfully Alois chose to go follow him. "Did he understand my concerns after all?"
It came as a relief, either way, and Penelope was able to honestly smile at Tsetseg's comment. "Why, yes, I bet if I planted you into the ground you'd sprout branches in no time!" This girl was far too fun to have around...
 
The princess almost giggled at Licorice's response. The fox was getting more into it than she even probably realized. "Well, I suppose the main thing to discover is if Proteans came first. It seems many theories hinge on what people were the first."
 
She listened intently to Edrick's story and, indeed, it sounded familiar. Though there were some differences from the version she heard, which Penelope found odd. Shouldn't something so important to their faith be more certain? "Isn't that odd?" Penelope said. "That there would be multiple versions of the same story? How can someone be so certain of a religion that doesn't even know how it started for sure?"
 
Things went on relatively peacefully until it was finally time to go to sleep. Penelope made sure to playfully scold Gunther and Alois about the proper way to stand guard, and proper form, before she waved to them and went off to bed.


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Gunther gave the frog Protean a brief nod as he noticed where the man had chosen to set up. Though, given the somewhat interested expression he had about what Edrick was doing, Gunther hesitantly suggested he go closer inside to hear it better. After all, Gunther had come here in order to not overhear the story.
 
It wasn't long until Alois joined him and the knight gave him an awkward greeting. He wasn't sure how it must have looked for him to walk out like that but he hoped that Alois wasn't here to look after him.
 
The night dragged on slowly for the young Knight, and he felt a chill as it got even darker, so he wasn't standing at attention when Penelope came to talk with them.
 
Flustered he did his best to return to proper position as the young Tactician left. It seemed they would be the first to stand guard. Which was fine by Gunther. He was relieved to know Catriona had taken his suggestion of double guard duty seriously.
---
It had been some time with the both of them standing guard, occasionally making brief patrols, but winding up in generally the same area in between said patrols. It was during one of the meet ups that Gunther, feeling uncomfortable in the graveyard and wondering if Alois was as well, coughed and mentioned. "So, uh...guard duty, hey?"
 
...That was rather stupid wasn't it. Gunther ran a hand through his hair and turned away from the Fighter.
 
"Yeah. Guard duty. Hi. Gotta make sure none of these flies or bugs get inside."

Gunther gave a half-chuckle, unsure if the young man was joking or not. "I suppose you must find it silly, needing two guards in a place like this. It's not as though the graves are filled with assassins."

Alois shrugged, joking, "well, we're at a dark, ominous and old place so, I take it weird things are bound to happen still. They always do. And who better to keep watch at a place for that then us?"

"Mm, I suppose that's true. Though Shiro and Link likely would evoke more confidence than me....Especially given what happened last time we were on our own."

"Those two?" Alois raised an eyebrow, before saying, "I'd rather have someone on watch I can hear if things go wrong." Chuckling he joked, "I suppose that'd make Ciela the best person to have on watch."

Gunther finally cracked a smile. "Yes, I suppose if we needed an alarm she'd be the best to go to." He glanced back, as if worried he'd be overheard, "Not that...there's nothing wrong with...So, uh, anyway. I've been wondering. When you left dinner earlier..." He left the question of why hanging.

"Well, had to get some fresh air after being in that building for so long. And I wasn't too keen on having a story time right then. And you?"

Gunther frowned. Right to it then...With a sigh he began his fumbling reply. "I don't need to hear Pontic lies. The 'faithful' of the Goddess...whatever they say created this world is just their excuse for the vile crimes they commit." Once he got started Gunther found he couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"That so?" Alois's usual smirk seemed to level out to a more neutral expression as he could hear the tone shift in Gunther's voice. "Well, that's probably true." Alois seemed to think to himself for a moment, before saying, "can't really say I get it anyway. If someone's so into not letting people die then why go out of your way to kill others, right?"

Gunther winced. "Yes...there's...too much needless killing where Pontics are concerned." Gunther said, his voice a low rumble.

"Well, if Eddy's a prime example of your classic Pontic, they're at the least way too loud about it," Alois joked.

"That's what worries me..."

Alois let out a long sigh before saying, "well, take it from me. Worries and getting annoyed will only do you harm if you keep 'em to yourself. That's why you gotta do what I do, and be direct about it to the source." Looking to the side he said, "or just make fun of it enough that they get the message."

Gunther merely grunted and gave a nod. Alois wouldn't understand fully...not unless Gunther explained what happened to his father. Then again...perhaps he'd say he was holding a grudge needlessly. At times it certainly felt...off to feel this way. But, no, he couldn't say it. Not out loud. Not now.
---
They had fallen mostly silent for the rest of their watch. Gunther and Alois switched off on patrolling around the building and it seemed that nothing was going to happen...but, as the two met for another switch-off, it changed.

Gunther's eyes widened. Though he felt fear grip at him he had just enough courage to try and joke, "Looks like all the strange things happen to us doesn't it?"

Nonetheless the weirdness ended as fast as it had began...but what came next was worse. Rather than a disturbing weirdness now before them was a very clear threat. Many figures, seemingly unnatural, approaching and fast. "Alois..." Gunther choked out, gripping his lance and moving into position in front of the entrance. "Warn the others, battle is about to be upon us."

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Tsetseg seemed in awe as her white haired friend said she would plant her, genuinely curious as to what the results would be. However, she seemed to calm down and listen intently as the pontic went about telling his story. Though she seemed curious as to what he was saying, this curiosity bore way to confusion the longer and longer he spoke about it. Once he had finished his tale, the girl seemed to be a bit lost in thought, and then heard what both Licorice had to say on the matter, interjecting herself saying, "but Hati and Beir weren't children of the Pontic goddess, they were children of...some other creators, and they were like the first of us...." The young girl thought on the matter some more, though, the metaphorical gears in her head seemed to be grinding to a halt in trying to make sense of this. Though she wasn't able to come to any conclusions herself, the girl merely went about her night until finally it came time for rest. 

 

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Though Alois wasn't quite sure where his watch partner's head was at, as he had been more or less silent after their initial talk, Alois wasn't keen on pressing it any further and just let it be. And so, keeping to his own thoughts, the boy merely walked around, taking turns on watching the perimeter of the old abandoned building. While the night had been silent and rather uneventful this was, of course, not to last very long. As the two met up for one more switch off, Alois looked to the sky to see the moon, and the sky and stars around it had shifted to a blood red color. Breathless by the sight of everything that happened within that short span of time, Alois stood still and silent as he watched it all happen. 

 

As Gunther broke the silence, Alois nodded saying, "just one thing after another." As the two looked towards the field of blood red eyes moving on their position, the Histian boy nodded and began to rush into the building. Shouting out, "hey everybody, time to wake up! Get your weapons ready because.." pausing for a moment he said, "well I think it's better you see it in person!" 

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“Sleepless nights come with the territory,” Darius had warned him, ghosts dancing behind his molten eyes, but he hadn’t understood what the older soldier meant at the time. He had been fighting with them for two and a half years already; he was sure he had seen the worst the border had to offer.

 

He was a fool.

 

Link huffed and rolled over in his bedroll for the umpteenth time. Despite being bundled up in two blankets (one of which was made of heavy wool), he was freezing. Shooting pains chaotically stabbed throughout his muscles and he shuddered every time there was a gust of wind.

 

It was time to face the music: he was sick. Denying it had been possible throughout the day, but everything had intensified once the sun went down.

 

He pulled the blanket up over his chin when the wind picked up again. He made his bed beside the entrance to the shrine, beneath the edge of a crumbling wall on the Northern end, and the wind was blowing up from the South, meaning he had next to no cover from it. It was uncomfortable, but he had chosen the spot for a good reason. If anyone were to try and attack them, the doorway was the most obvious way in, and his spot put him in a position to surprise them.

 

He had it all figured out. His sword was leaning against the wall, his chain was neatly folded beside him, and he was still wearing his boots. The only thing left to do was squeeze in a few hours of sleep before he had to get up to cover the next shift, which was proving impossible. Everytime he started to get comfortable another round of aches would wrack across him and he would be wide awake again, drenched in sweat and struggling to catch his breath. It was an incredibly frustrating cycle. Eventually, to distract himself, Link decided to focus on the sounds of the night.

 

It was unusually quiet. He hadn’t noticed it at first, distracted by the feeling of being watched that permeated the premises, but it had been that way since their arrival at the shrine.  Link groaned and flopped over on his back, not eager to follow that trail of thoughts so late at night.

 

Unintentionally, after tossing and turning for a few more minutes, the restless soldier found himself staring up at the night sky. The stars had always fascinated him. Something about the permanence of them called to the part of him that craved stability and structure; some may flicker, shift, or fall, but for the most part they never changed. Even now—halfway across the world—he could make out the same constellations he had marveled at with Ilia in the pastures as a kid.

 

The most notable was Draco Magnus, a dragon with his head bowed in thought. That had been Ilia’s favorite. He personally thought it was boring. He preferred the Augustus constellation; only visible during the fleeting tennights of August, it depicted Galtea’s founder King Augustus with his fabled blade Caliburnus. In those far off pastures, staring up at the legendary crusader, he had dreamed of a life of heroism and grandeur.

 

A sense of calm washed over Link, and finally, he drifted off to sleep.

 

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Something was very, very wrong. That was Link’s first thought after being jolted from his sleep by the sound of pounding footsteps approaching. A moment later, Alois burst into the shrine yelling. "Hey everybody, time to wake up! Get your weapons ready because… well I think it's better you see it in person!"

 

Link had his boots on before the boy could finish his (admittedly needlessly drawn out) warning. To aid in the process of waking everyone up, he grabbed the pans they had used to cook dinner and banged them together a few times.

 

“Boots on the ground. We’re under attack!” He discarded the pans and grabbed his sword as he sprinted past the door, making a beeline for Gunther. His energy petered out once he was close enough to make out their enemy, and he stopped just short of the Knight. “Spirits..." 

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"Sometimes it is necessary to show a baser side to oneself," she explained. "When the times get rough, that is when one must call upon every weapon in their arsenal, as the humans would say." At receiving the hug, she looked shocked, but quickly recovered, hugging back. "I...am glad to be of service." Her tail flicked nervously. "Sometimes...it feels like the tribe forgets that I am a fox just as they are. Well...you might understand that."

 

After letting go of the hug, sienna gave a small smile. "You're as much of a fox as all of us... Don't let anything make you think otherwise..." she said before blushing nervously. She got up and walked away in a quick fashion, she couldn't explain the sudden movement, but she just had a nervous feeling in her gut.

 

Shaking the thought from her head, she found a spot to lay down for the night and laid her bedroll out. She set her pack down beside it and laid down on her back. She sat awake for a moment before finally closing her eyes. Finally, a peaceful night.


"Hey everybody, time to wake up! Get your weapons ready because… well I think it's better you see it in person!"

 

“Boots on the ground. We’re under attack!”

 

Sienna scrambled out of bed and jumped onto her feet. "WHO, WHAT, WHERE!?" she grabbed her pack and ran out to where everyone was. "What the heck..." All she saw was a wave of red eyes moving towards the shrine. "W-what are those things!?" she said as she pulled out her fire beaststone and transformed.

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Shiro sat by the entrance, watching the horizon as Gunther and Alois patrolled the area. He was determined to stay awake, to keep watch, like a responsible frog... but the stress of the past few days and the lack of sleep he got last night made him lose the battle to stay awake. Try as he might, his eyes closed, and he soon fell asleep. 

 


 

"hey everybody, time to wake up!" Shiro jolted awake, the first feeling filling him was shame. He fell asleep on the job... "Get your weapons ready because.." pausing for a moment he said, "well I think it's better you see it in person!" Shiro was unsure of the panic of his human companion's voice, but looking into the distance, he soon understood why. 

"By the gods...," He muttered. "What the hell is going on?"

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Ciela was surprisingly silent when she watched over Edrick's rites, and even when dinner time came, she was more busy with her own world. It was the first time she felt that she had the time to tend to the ancient book again, and so she excused herself and became busy with her continued effort to translate the old book into the common language. She hoped that Edrick's rites might've given context to some of its parts, but well, so far she seemed to still be stuck. Disappointing, but not the end of the world. Cat and Edrick was talking at length about Inera in the meantime. It seemed to be an interesting discussion, but at the same time Ciela felt that she could barely concentrate at what they were saying at this point.

She ultimately was the one to go to sleep first.

 


 

"hey everybody, time to wake up! Get your weapons ready because.."

 

"Hm?"

 

Adel woke up from her nap as Alois came and warned them, followed by Link's passionate attempt to make sure everyone did wake up. Not surprising, but they seemed to be under attack now. Adel was not on her armor at this time, which made her sigh as she grabbed her lance and said a quick thank you to both Alois and Link. Just one day, and she felt like she was getting too sloppy. Was she just lulled with how casual this group felt...no, that made no sense. The Patrol was even more casual.

 

But well, an ambush really was not a bad thing. Adel mounted Tyltalis with a grin on her face. As long as the deaths were not on her side, an ambush really was a good thing.

 


 

"...Eh?"

 

The clanging pans made for a rough awakening for Ciela. Hearing the words "We're under attack!", she jolted out from her sleep, and groggily reached out for her staff before she crawled towards Remy amidst the chaos. It might take her a while to do so. An ambush really was a crappy thing to happen at this point in time.

 


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The reactions to his telling of the tale were...mixed, but seemingly receptive for the time being. Once it had ended he noticed a...curious look on their Black Protean's face. He had heard her "secondborn theory" when she stated it before he had spoke, but the way she was looking, seemingly at him, had his interest piqued.
 
"Isn't that odd? That there would be multiple versions of the same story? How can someone be so certain of a religion that doesn't even know how it started for sure?" Penelope of course had the academic response. Not that there was anything surprising about that. Well, as she asked he had an answer.
 
"The important pieces are all the same." He said, looking directly at the younger princess. "The way my dad explained it was that there are lots of smaller orders that all hold to slight variations on the faith, most of them older than Pontus itself. The differences in what they say and believe are just the result of how long ago the beginning was. The literal start of this world. It's only natural that some things would be remembered differently by some people, but we all agree on the really important things." At least that was how he thought about it. Truth be told, Penelope had the easiest question to answer.

"But Hati and Beir weren't children of the Pontic goddess, they were children of...some other creators, and they were like the first of us...." Tsegtseg went and reminded them all that she was from Locris, and truth be told he was not sure how to answer her. The stories he had heard in his short time with the Locrisian Tribesmen did not seem to align with Pontic doctrine. There was sure to be a way to resolve that, some truth to be found in their ways. But that was not the hardest question to answer.

"So you believe that it is right? Inera's Way? To turn back death itself? And the Great Dragon...cooperating with Inera in Creation?" At first he was ecstatic that Catriona had said as such. That she understood what he was trying to say, and he was about to excitedly respond to her when she had more to say. "While I cannot believe this myself, I guess that from this you can hope for...Reconciliation?" That just about dashed his hopes in the moment, but her question still required an answer. With the wind well and truly taken out of his sails, all that he really felt the inclination to do was to nod. Yes. Reconciliation. A mending of the relationship between those who had been wronged by each other.
 
Some hours later, when they were preparing for bed, Edrick's mood was somewhat improved by Catriona's telling him that he would be on watch for the Dawn shift. At the very least she trusted him still, and so he drifted off to a rest that was not as peaceful as he had hoped the rite performed would grant him...
 
“Boots on the ground. We’re under attack! Link's shouting roused him from his sleep, and had him stumbling to stand upright out from under his blanket. In a start, he didn't so much as think to find his boots or, indeed, much of anything else aside from his spear. Dazed from his interrupted rest and the sudden rush of adrenaline, he ran barefoot and bare-chested to the entrance of the shrine with the newest of his spears in hand.

"Wazzat?" He slurred, looking this way and that at the others. "Whasgoingon?"

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BGM

 

"Tie her up nice and tight," the man in front whispered. "We don't want her squirming during the ceremony, or he would have words to say."

 

The man beside him shuddered. "Goddess, no. I don't want him nowhere near me. You saw what he did to the last bloke that displeased him."

 

"Aye," the other nodded. "I did indeed. Nothing left but bones, and e'en that was eaten up. His magic's always hungry, it is."

 

"Yes, it is," a new voice right beside her spoke, hoarse and raspy. "And if you don't hurry up, you'll see exactly how hungry." 

 

"Sir!" the two quickly turned around and fell to one knee, heads bowed.

 

"Get up! Didn't I just say to hurry?"

 

Catriona craned her neck, curious to see just who was talking, but she could make out nothing of his features save for his robes--oh. No. That, and his eyes, which glowed an acid green in the dark. She froze, unable to think of anything in that moment. It was as if she had locked gazes with a viper.

 

"Like what you see?" he chuckled. "Enjoy it while it lasts. Not too long now and your eyes will be closed...forever." He swept past, and the moment was broken, the woman taking in deep gulps of air, only then realizing that she had been holding her breath.

 

"Goddess, I almost sheet my pants there," one of the men muttered as soon as he had left.

 

"Look, even the princess is scared stiff. Don't blame you," the other turned to address her, shaking his head. "You're in for a world of pain soon."

 

"Don't go feeling sorry for her. She's from that country, ya know."

 

"I know. We'd best get on with it."

 

Catriona woke up with a gasp, heart pounding wildly. She lay there, stiff and unmoving, until her heart finally settled down. Sighing, the woman turned over, hoping to get some sleep that wouldn't be plagued by nightmares. Though that was less a nightmare, and more a...memory. Of a living nightmare.

 

It felt as if she had blinked before she sat upright, sleep disturbed yet again, this time by her own party members. It didn't take long for the lord to gather her equipment and join the others at the northern edge of the shrine. "By the dragon," she whispered, seeing just what had prompted the early awakening.

 

By now, the enemy had come close enough that the lord could make out exactly what it looked like. Or rather, "they." For it was a horde of what could only be called monsters. At first glance they looked like normal human beings in armor, though they walked stiffly, as if unused to it. But their skin ranged from pale as chalk to a dark bruise-colored purple, and their eyes glowed blood red.

 

"The Awakened. I did not think I would see them in my lifetime," Licorice spoke from beside her. The Protean had woken up as well in the chaos.

 

"Awakened?" The word sounded...familiar, though Catriona wasn't sure where she had heard it.

 

"Yes. In the past, it is what the people of Mysia called those that the goddess revived to carry out Her will, as she has "woken" them from the eternal slumber of death. The revival is usually temporary, and for good reason, for they are stronger in undeath than they were in life. It is said that blows that would kill a man grown will only stymie an Awakened, but give it enough force and they'll die again, same as any man."

 

The princess nodded seriously. "Many thanks for your advice. If ever there was a time and place for such knowledge, it would be here and now."

 

"You're welcome," Licorice smiled thinly, before stepping back and transforming into her bestial form. "Though I have more to offer than knowledge alone. Their blades may be sharp, but my claws and teeth are sharper yet."

 

"Of course." Catriona resumed her watch northward, one hand resting over the handle of her sword. The horde approached, and it was unlikely they would survive this unscathed, if they survived at all. There were far too many enemies, too many to count. But their party had the high ground and the desperation of the living on their side. But...what about the other side? Did the dead even feel pain? She didn't have the leisure to dwell on that, for in the next second, she heard the clanking of weapons and armor...from the south side.

 

Whipping around, the lord cried out, "Behind us!" But it was too late. While they had been distracted at the north end, more foes had taken the opportunity to come in from the south. Charging forward, she whipped out her blade, ready to attack the mounted lance-wielder in front. However, before she could do so, the enemy stepped forward and...held its hands out?

 

The woman came to a halt, staring at the monster before her in puzzlement. It was then that she noticed that, rather than blood-red, its eyes were white, shining like stars. "You mean no harm?" she asked.

 

The man nodded, and gestured toward Edrick before speaking in a raspy, halting voice, as if it were unused to using its vocal chords. "Believer...brought rest...will help...return the others to sleep." The ones behind him nodded.

 

"So you were the spirits appeased in the ceremony..." Catriona realized, sheathing her sword. It was odd, but she knew immediately that they were telling the truth. They gave off the same feeling the shrine did--sadness, but also peace. Their bodies did not release the stench of rot, but the sweet scent of flowers, the same kind she had smelled earlier after the ceremony. "Thank you for your aid. We shall have need of it within the hour." She glanced at her sister. "Our tactician is over there. She will give you direction."

 

The group nodded, and approached Penelope. The lord followed, still not quite sure what to make of these strange happenings, but ready to act if necessary. As she walked, she observed the group. There were five overall--the lance cavalier in front, a barbarian, an archer, a knife thief, and a priest. The cavalier's horse looked just like a normal horse, save for its dark purple-colored coat and white eyes like its owner. An interesting group, and not those who would usually band together. There was a story here, but there was no time to ask. 

 

"These...people...are allies," it was a difficult concept for the lord to grasp, but she could not afford to be picky. "They are here to fight against the..." what was that word that Licorice had used? "The Awakened." The white-haired woman lingered nearby, unsure if she wanted to leave these strange men alone with her sister. Though it appeared as if the archer and thief were female, regardless, she didn't quite trust them around Penelope.

 

Meanwhile, the horde drew ever closer. By now, those in front would be able to identify their class and pick up on their odor--that of dirt and decay.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Guess what, it's the chapter battle! Fun timez await us all. Also will post the initial map here in a second but all subsequent maps will be through Discord. I want to try out a new method of fighting for this RP, where we will decide what happens ahead of time through Discord and then post the results here.

 

And yes, it's midnight, and dark, so that will affect your accuracy. Might be a good time to grab torches.

 

Map - Tower Lower Level

Map - Tower Upper Level

 

Note: Rumors of Nai's temporary absence have been greatly exaggerated.

 

 

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Who in the world was banging pots together? Was that...Link's voice? Why would Link be hitting together pots. Was he hungry?

 

These were the first thoughts of the young Tactician as she groggily woke from her slumber and looked around. Everyone was moving about, getting ready for...what?

 

...Ah, that was unfortunate.

 

The realization they were under attack motivated Penelope to get to her feet and grab up her sword. The last remnants of tiredness faded as she heard Licorice say the name of their attackers.

A combination of fascination and dread hit her as she recalled the fiends from legend. This would be the hardest battle yet. Not only for their numbers but their strength and endurance. And yet...that they walked the land was something incredible on its own.

 

She feared that not all of them would make it through this alive. It was a terrible feeling. The more she thought about it the more she realized that, especially with such limited means to heal, they were at a major disadvantage with their current numbers.

 

And then her sister brought her reinforcements of the most unusual kind.

 

Penelope thought she'd be startled but she found she was instead...relieved. Penelope gave Catriona a nod. "Understood. They should help quite a lot, actually."

 

She turned to the soldiers. A rather...unusual lot, for sure. Before she began her strategy, though, there was one thing she had to know. "Are you able to...die? I do not want to send anyone to their demise even if you are not one of us."

 

The Cavalier, apparently the leader of the group, gave a response to the effect that they were already dead and dying would be like going back to sleep.

 

Armed with this knowledge Penelope grew more confident. She pointed at them in turn, the cavalier, the priest, the barbarian, the archer, and the thief. "Unil, Dua, Trim, Quatro, Penvo." She wasn't sure where the names came from but they felt...right.

 

She then called out to the group. "It seems this is the Goddess's response to our presence. Pretty rude welcome if you ask me. It will be tough but we can outlast them. It's time to show the Goddess we aren't so easily deterred! Everyone take a look to me, these five are our allies. I know it's hard to believe but both I and Catriona trust them. We need to prepare and fast so I ask that you work together."

 

She once more scanned the field that she could see. There were many foes but they were mostly gathered in the front. They may not even know of the side entrances so for now...the focus had to be there.

 

 

The tower would seem like a good place to hold up at first but, from her exploration of it, she knew it would be a tight fit for them all. And that it wasn't strong enough to hold everyone, lest of all the mounts, so it would only be used to protect the critically wounded.

 

However she had noticed arrow slits in the walls of the tower, so she turned to their ally Archer. "Quatro, I need you in the tower, keep close to the openings and fire on any foe who comes within reach. If you can, sound off if they start to swarm the area."

 

"Dua, Trim, I want you with Edrick protecting one of the openings." She indicated the Pontic, though she felt they may already know, given that it was likely he who brought them here somehow. "He's tough but he'll need to be kept healed. Dua, take a torch with you. Trim, if Edrick is overwhelmed take his place."

 

"Penvo, go with Shiro, the Frog Protean there, and cover him from another of the openings."

 

She looked then to the Cavalier. "Unil and I shall go to the opening on the side and prepare to provide backup wherever needed."

 

The Tactician then told her plans, and the names she had given their new allies, to the rest of her group, including giving tasks for each of them. She knew that in the heat of the moment they may choose a different option but she knew that she only would have these scant moments to give some advice.

"Adel, you are at a disadvantage in these quarters due to your mount. Take another torch and provide assistance where needed, I ask you stay near me if possible."

"Sienna, Alois, provide Gunther and Link backup. Tsetseg, I want you with Shiro and Penvo. But be prepared to join Quatro in the tower if they begin to swarm that side."

"Licorice, keep your eye on their movement, and go where you feel is in most danger. Be prepared to be the first to fall back to cover the unguarded entrances."

As she passed Ciela she made sure to keep her voice low. "Link is skilled but I don't think he can take too many blows. Keep an eye on everyone but try and focus on him if possible."

 

She knew there were far too many gaps in the strategy. She felt perhaps she shouldn't send Quatro to the tower until later. Or send Tsetseg instead. Did they have enough torches? And there were many openings in their defense...but she wasn't sure what else she could do. The number of troops they had only barely made her comfortable with the defenses they had set up.

 

She turned to Catriona. "Try and stay back a bit. Look for any weakness in the defenses and go to them."

 

Penelope took a deep breath then smiled. "We're not losing anyone tonight. Not even you five." She looked towards Unil before gesturing to him to follow her to the entrance on her left. "Try not to sleep too early, I'd very much like to learn more about you." Their very existence threw some rather unusual questions her way. Questions, she hated to admit, the books she had read didn't have the answer to.

 

She pulled Katarina from her sheath. These fiends...were not people. She should feel no qualms about cutting them down.


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Gunther was doing his best not to shake. There were so many of them. The only thing that kept him from leaving his position, shamed as he was to think it, was the knowledge that there was nowhere he could go they couldn't follow. He could only trust that the others, that Penelope, would lead them out of this.

 

So he gripped his lance tighter as he heard the others prepare. When Penelope told him of their new allies, and the role they'd fill, he stared at her in disbelief. But something about her expression, the absolute confidence, relaxed the Knight.

 

"Sure, undead buddies, why not." He muttered with a dry laugh. "Perhaps next we'll be allied with an angel who will smite down these...things." He shook his head, referencing an old tale that Penelope had once told him of beings of good that came to warriors in their time of need. It was a ridiculous story but as a young man it had given him a sense of wonder.

 

He really wished he could have that feeling back about now.

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Link was shaken by the sight of the monsters in a way that he hadn’t been since he was a boy. His dinner sloshed painfully in his stomach when the smell hit his nose, and a chill that had nothing to do with his cold ran down his spine. Was this the power of Inera? The Mistress of Undeath, they called her, and Link could think of nothing that more aptly described the creatures in front of him. Undead. The way they all hobbled forward in their antiquated armors, some still wrapped in the tattered shrouds they had been laid to rest in—it was unnatural and unholy.

 

He felt like he was staring down the boogeymen his grandpa had sworn would come get him if he acted up as a boy. Something terrible had disturbed the dead, and they weren’t happy about it.

 

Licorice’s explanation only confirmed his suspicions. They were most definitely unholy.

 

“Edrick,” Link said, managing to push through the overwhelming feeling of dread. “Go get your armor. And put a damn shirt on!” His voice was no longer the whisper everyone had become accustomed to. It was full of steel and fire, and had shifted in pitch from a faint tenor to a solid baritone that smacked of rural Galtea.

 

He was terrified, but Gunther and Edrick needed someone to reassure them, and he was the most senior of their little frontline squad.

 

Penelope’s voice rang out from behind them. "It seems this is the Goddess's response to our presence. Pretty rude welcome if you ask me. It will be tough but we can outlast them. It's time to show the Goddess we aren't so easily deterred!” Link moved to stand beside Gunther. With his lean form and the Knight’s huge bulk, it was enough to cover the largest entrance to the shrine. The young princess carried on. “Everyone take a look to me, these five are our allies. I know it's hard to believe but both I and Catriona trust them. We need to prepare and fast so I ask that you work together."

 

Link spared a look behind him. The aforementioned allies were… more undead. Had they taken leave of their senses? No, they surely had a good reason. He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. When he had first joined the Galtean military, he had never thought he would end up fighting with and against the same beasts the Legendary Crusaders had faced centuries before him.

 

"Sure, undead buddies, why not." Gunther muttered with a dry laugh. "Perhaps next we'll be allied with an angel who will smite down these...things."

 

Link brushed his shoulder against the knight’s. “Stick close to me. I don’t have your armor, so I’ll be counting on you to keep them back.” He raised his sword as the horde drew closer. “Get ready.”

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As everyone began to file out Alois himself looked to the distance to see the army of rotting husks make their way towards the group. As Licorice began to explain just what exactly they were, the feeling of dread that the creatures were exerting was only worsened, as he had no idea how they were going to fight creatures like that. With sweat forming on his palms, the boy took a small gulp as the slowly and steadily made their way over to them. Trying to steady himself to get ready to fight against these strange foes, Alois's attention was then brought to their backs, seeing a whole separate set of Awakened. While the boy was about to just blindly charge at them, unsure of what else to do here, he stopped as they seemed far more diplomatic then rest. This very fact, caused a clear expression of good confusion to cross the boy's face. So there were good dead people, and bad dead people. Ones that wanted to kill all of them, and others that wanted to help them not die. 

 

Of course there were. 

 

Letting out a sigh, Alois's nerves seemed to calm at this very revelation and got ready to brawl with their newly found enemies. Listening to what Penelope had to say, the boy first dropped one of his axes, taking up a torch in its stead and made his way over to both the green garbed man and the flower knight. Hearing the latters remark saying, "now you're getting into the spirit of things. But we probably won't need an angel to come help us out. After all," twirling his axe around with a cocky smirk on his face he said, "if they take twice as much to bring down then the average person, then I'll just have to swing twice as hard." 

 

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Tsetseg, meanwhile, was very unsure as to what exactly was going on. Being both groggy from the sudden wake up and the situation itself being entirely alien to her, it took her a bit to understand that they were fighting actual dead people with the help of other dead people. Once this simple fact set in, however, the girl seemed far more  alert and on edge, clutching onto her bow tightly. Though her white haired friend had tried to tell them that the ones with them were all alright, and she figured if anyone knew that it'd be her white haired friend, Tsetseg still couldn't help but feel on edge. She seemed even more so when she was told to go help and assist one of them. She knew the importance of formation in battle against bandits, both from her tribe and her time in the patrol. Yet still, she was reluctant to stand with one as her white haired friend told her to, but didn't disagree all the same.Grabbing onto a torch herself, the girl made her way over to where she was ordered to, though stood closer to Shiro then she did the awoken. 

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Sienna looked on at the approaching horde of creatures. Was it even possible to fight something like this? No... No, she can't be thinking anything negative right now, she needed to do what she could to help everyone out.

 

"Sienna, Alois, provide Gunther and Link backup. Tsetseg, I want you with Shiro and Penvo. But be prepared to join Quatro in the tower if they begin to swarm that side."

 

Sienna gave a nod. "Got it!" she rushed over to her allies and stood at the ready, if what Licorice said was true, than her fire will be extremely useful in the coming fight. She looked to each one of her comrades and took a deep breath. "My fire should give us an advantage, try to stay out of my way, I don't want to burn any of you." she said before looking back towards the oncoming horde. She silently prayed for everyone to be safe.

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Edrick was, overall, not reacting well to the situation they had found themselves in. At his first sight of the Awakened, he had been ecstatic. Now there could be no question of Inera's power, nor her intention to turn death back on itself! His enthusiasm, however, had died fairly quickly and was replaced by confusion. The stiffness of their walk, the state of disrepair of their weapons and armor, and the eventual stink of rotting flesh that washed over them. This was not right. These were not the honored ancestors returned to the world to rejoin those they had left behind. These were, in a word, nightmares made manifest. Things were not supposed to be this way. The day the ancestors returned to the living was supposed to be a happy day, when all the pains of the past were left behind and all people stepped forward into Inera's benevolent light.
 
"Nu..." he whispered to himself, hardly sure if this was a dream or reality. It felt like a dream. A nightmare inspired by the stories he'd heard about the last siege of Pharaon. It was not easy to scare Edrick, after all he had less reason to be afraid of dying than most, but seeing this? Between the mix of confusion over the apparent perversion of what was supposed to be the holiest of possible experiences for any of Inera's believers and the raw, primal terror of someone seeing something that should not be he was shaking in place. Hardly aware of anything else around him he stood there, transfixed by the approaching horde, eyes wide and unblinking. He hardly dared to breath at all, and in that terrified moment his thoughts began turning to his purpose. Was this a result of Inera's disapproval? Was his entire reason for being with this group wrong? What else that he believed so strongly was he wrong about? Around him he heard vague sounds that seemed like his companion's voices, but they were distant. Like his ears were filled with Cotton.
 
“Edrick,” a voice finally reached him, and for a moment the strength behind it had him convinced he was hearing his father. Of course when he turned to face the source of it, he found himself looking Link in the face. "Go get your armor. And put a damn shirt on!" He was shirtless? A quick look down, and sure enough he was shirtless. At least he'd remembered to get his pants on, for all the good it was worth. Without another word he ran back to where he had set up his tent, where he pulled on his socks, boots, and his Gambeson. He could not find his shirt in the dark and he was not about to waste any time. Though in the process he did tip his pack over, sending a certain glass bottle filled with water rolling out. He took it into his hand for a moment, looking over the imagery of Inera's aspect as the Lady of Light. So too did his attention pass to the emblem hung from around his neck, the black iron crow's skull of the Mistress of Undeath. For a moment he wondered if he should even bother with them. The very Goddess they called to was apparently aligned against them. For several moments he did not want to do anything else except crawl back into his bedroll, curl up, and hope everything passed them by. But then he remembered the princesses, how Penelope's insistence that he wear the armor he had taken from Bazba had saved his life, how Catriona trusted him even after he said who his father was. How Link had insisted on training him in spite of having been a Galtean Soldier, and how the rest of them had taken him in. He could not just abandon them.

"Penelope!" He called out as he made his way back, icon on display around his neck and the bottle of Holy Water in one hand, spear in the other. "I got somethin' for ya. It'll keep anyone you annoi-" he hesitated, "pour it over safe from magic. And well, this looks like some magic." He said as he handed it off to her, trusting that she'd know how to make better use of it than he would before he ran off towards the front entrances. He noticed that they had some help, five others with old armor and weapons by the look of it. Had some of the Pelinna Patrol come after to help them? Well whatever, they needed all the help they could get.

 

"Perhaps next we'll be allied with an angel who will smite down these...things." Edrick caught Gunther saying as he took up his position, plugging one of the other holes in the wall closest to where the Awakened were approaching from. He found himself laughing, in spite of the fear.

"Tell you what, Gunther," he managed to say as he braced himself, "I'll keep an eye on the sky. See if I see an angel swoopin' down to us. Send her your way if I do." They could certainly use an angel right now.

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This was the weirdest day Shiro ever had.

Nowhere near the worst, but by sure the weirdest for sure. The dead has risen from the ground, walking to them, trying to make the group dead as well. However, they had the good dead come up to, and they wanted to help them against the bad dead. He supposed that was good. He heard the voice of the littlest princess calling out, giving instructions. 

 

"Penvo, go with Shiro, the Frog Protean there, and cover him from another of the openings."
 
That was logical enough he supposed. He took a deep breath and let his body change, his human skin turning blue as he shifted into his frog form. He prepared to move to the last open spot on the far right before he heard Gunther and Edrick talking.

 
"Sure, undead buddies, why not." He muttered with a dry laugh. "Perhaps next we'll be allied with an angel who will smite down these...things." 

 

"Tell you what, Gunther, I'll keep an eye on the sky. See if I see an angel swoopin' down to us. Send her your way if I do."

 

"With our luck, we'd get demons from the flames of hell," Shiro commented as he jumped, landing by the spot he decided to cover. It was closer to the foxes to, so he could keep an eye on them.

Just in case.

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Link is skilled but I don't think he can take too many blows. Keep an eye on everyone but try and focus on him if possible."

 

"You say that as if I'll let anyone die."

 

With great effort, Ciela had successfully mounted Remy and after commenting to Penelope's remark, she examined the situation a little to calm herself. It was dark. Everyone was in chaos, and there were the living dead, both helping them and against them. They had the location advantage. The able-bodied fighters were now plugging the holes of the wall.

 

Right. Ciela went forward, skipping the torches. She figured that holding anything else would make things awkward for her. She's already holding her staff and her other hand needed to keep Remy steady so she could continue mounting him. Ah. The sight of the enemies on the distance worried her, but Remy's warmth helped her to stay focused. She caressed the white stallion as she stood behind Edrick and Gunther.

 


 

"I'll keep an eye on the situation from above, if necessary."

 

Adel picked up a few torches and held it on her hand as she returned to Tyltalis. Her Iote's hadn't been worn yet, which could be an issue. Either way, after saying that to Penelope, Adel excused herself and went outside from the side door. Outside, she rode on Tyltalis, and decided to scout for the situation. At least, getting a more proper glimpse of her enemies would eb nice, and she was perhaps the most in position to do recon at this time.

 

"Come, let's go forward a bit, alright Tyl?"

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Catriona listened with alarm as Penelope directed everybody to various positions. She will be alone with one of them? she thought. Is she mad? For someone as important as her to stand alone and unguarded with one of them. They may be our allies now, but killing a princess of Galtea may be a temptation too much to bear. Or whatever is causing them to ally with us might get swept away by Inera's power.

 

The lord grabbed a torch and walked over till she stood behind her sister. "With most of our combatants gathered to the north, there must needs be more people to the south, in case they launch a sneak attack from behind." The sudden appearance of their allies to the south had informed her of yet more holes in their defenses, holes she would cover by herself if she had to. It was a fortuitous coincidence that such positioning would put her right next to Penelope, where she could keep an eye on both her and the strange cavalier.

 

Meanwhile, their undead allies moved into position as well, silent and obedient, though they did pause slightly at the sight of the Proteans, especially Licorice, who stared them down fearlessly.

 

"Do not fret," the fox reassured Tsetseg, seeing the girl's wariness. "Unlike the other Awakened, these people have not fallen under the goddess's spell. You can tell the difference by looking into their eyes." While she heard Penelope's orders, the Protean chose to stay near the bow thief for now.

 

The fox watched the enemy Awakened draw ever closer. They move slowly, she thought. And there's no organization. They keep tripping over each other, and they do not even have the wits to concentrate on the entrances. Her lip curled into a sneer. But there are many of them, each of them stronger than an ordinary man. Perhaps they do not need strategy then. They will roll over us like a storm if we let them.

 

It was then that the enemy knights reached the wall. They stabbed uselessly at the stone before giving up, turning to stare blankly at the entrances, where the other knights had started to attack the party.

 

The one attacking Gunther had managed to score a hit, even with its slow movements, dealing a hefty amount of damage. The one beside it, however, was slow enough that the attack was easily avoided by the experienced green-garbed mercenary. As for Edrick, his recent training paid off as he avoided the enemy's jab as well. Shiro, however, was not as lucky. While a member of the agile frog race, he personally leaned more toward tanking than avoiding, and he took about as much damage as Gunther had.

 

"The knights are powerful, but they are also slow," Catriona observed. "With luck on our side, we shall avoid most of their blows." She glanced up toward Adelaide. "And they don't seem to have noticed Adelaide yet." That was a relief, at least. The pegasus knight was vulnerable in her position outside the wall.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

The battle has started! Again, I will be posting the updated map and enemy actions on the Discord chat's combat log. Also note that torches have five uses, but everybody with a torch has used up one use already, and they light up a circle/diamond-shaped radius of four squares that gets a square smaller with every turn.

 

For reference, all of the lancers, knights, and pegasus knights are equipped with iron lances, the barbarians with iron axes, the fighters with iron axes and hand axes, the mercenaries and myrmidons with iron swords, the archers with iron bows, and the mages with fire tomes.

 

As for our allies...

 

Unil the Cavalier

-Steel Lance

-Javelin

 

Dua the Priest

-Heal Staff

-Mend Staff

-Torch

 

Trim the Barbarian

-Iron Axe

-Hand Axe

 

Quatro the Archer

-Iron Bow

 

Penvo the Thief

-Iron Dagger

-Bullion (M)

 

 

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“Knights,” Link called as soon as the first row of Awakened broke free from the shadows. He was in full on battle-mode now, all his conflicting thoughts and emotions locked and compartmentalized, to be dealt with after the fighting was done.  “They’ve got too much armor to take them out on your own, so work together to open them up. Sienna, on me. Alois, help Gunther.” It was infuriating, trying to cram years and years of knowledge and experience down their throats in the span of a few seconds, but it was all that he had time to tell them before the monsters were upon them.

 

BGM

 

Seize the day.

Seize the night.

Enjoy the victory.

 

The 31st’s motto echoed in his memory as the first Knight reached him. It was an ugly, towering creature, with an overwhelming stench of rot that caused his eyes to water. It reeled back and stabbed at him with its Iron Lance as soon as it could reach him. Link swatted it away with his sword, and the momentum sent the overcommitted zombie tumbling forward.

 

The soldier didn’t miss his opening. He stepped forward and swung his blade up into the monster’s neck; it bounced harmlessly off a rotting pauldron. Before the monster could fully recover Link hit him again, but his second attack only managed to put a put a dent into the Knight’s breastplate.

 

He backpedaled, raising his sword to go on the defense, but he wasn’t fast enough. The Knight managed to pull his lance back and bury it into Link’s stomach. The attack hit with an inhuman amount of force, jabbing straight through his chain and burying the head of the lance into his stomach.

 

Link bit back a cry of pain. When the Knight tried to pull his lance back, he stubbornly grabbed the haft of the weapon. “Now Sienna!” 

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As the knights charged and slammed into both the literal wall of the wall, and the figurative one of Link and Gunther, Alois drew out his hand axe, ready to strike at the opponent's before him. As Link called out to him, the young Histian boy joked back, "really? I thought I was just supposed to stand here." With that, the boy pulled and got ready to toss his hand axe forward, though this was a bit awkward as there was a large, fully armored man in front of him, and he couldn't just toss it haphazardly towards the awakened knight. So, tossing it in an arc over the flower faced knight, the hand axe sailed forward and landed awkwardly on the awakened's armor, bouncing harmlessly off. As the axe took the same path back and returned to his hand, the fighter muttered, "alright...maybe I am just standing here."

 

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Even though Licorice was attempting to reassure Tsetseg, and the girl was able to discern friend from foe through said reassurance, it did little to calm her in their presence. Though they might've been helping them, the fact that the dead were fighting at all, was still far too wrong for the girl to feel anything but unnerved by them. All the same, with the enemy before them, the girl drew her bow out and began to take aim as the knight and Shiro exchanged blows between each other. With her hands shaking a bit, though, as the girl let loose the arrow, it flew and merely bounced off the armor of the Awakened. 

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Gunther felt his body clench as Link told him he was counting on him. He couldn't decide if he wished the veteran soldier hadn't said that or not. Gunther didn't believe he could perform to the young man's expectation but...he just had to do it. He didn't have time to retreat and, even had he wanted to, Alois was in the way.

 

The approach of the armored foes was like a wave of metal and rotting flesh. There were so many, too many, and Gunther was stunned.

 

So stunned that he only reacted after the Knight thrust his lance and caught him in the chest, denting his thick armor and forcing Gunther to take a step back.

 

Through sheer instinct Gunther retaliated, thrusting into the foe's side and piercing the tip of his lance through the fiend's armor.

 

A brief moment of pride, having not expected to hit, was shattered as the Knight, without flinching, got a second thrust in. The blow was strong and, he felt, had the Awakened struck the same place as the first attack, it would have punctured the armor.

 

He wanted to run. He wanted to run so badly. Another attack and Gunther didn't know if he would be able to hold on anymore. Even if he felled this opponent there was more and more to take its place.

What could he possibly do against this wave?


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Penelope's eyes, usually inquisitive and full of mischief, were detached, and analytical, as Catriona made her remark about her strategy. "It's true we are putting much in our front line but look, those aren't trained soldiers, they crash against the wall with no wit or plan. Truth be told I'd rather have more up front if we could but we had to make due. Though perhaps we could get Licorice closer to us just in case." She held a hand out towards Catriona. "I need a torch, Unil can make good use of it."

 

And, as she handed the Cavalier the torch, she spoke to him. "Time to see how your friends fight."

Unil gave a brief nod in response and Penelope was startled to feel a sense of...confidence coming from him. Confidence in the abilities of his allies. She wondered once more how this group came to be. And if she could somehow learn some of that confidence...even with how ridiculous that sounded to her.

 

As it turns out the confidence was not unfounded. Trim, with a mighty throw, clearly putting his full force into it, sent his weapon flying into the wounded Knight in front of Edrick. The axe hit with such power that it cleaved a gaping wound in both the undead's armor and flesh.

 

Dua, moving with focused purpose, moved into the space between warriors to come to Edrick's aid as well, lifting his staff to bathe the young Pontic in a holy light. In the light Edrick would feel, though not see, the undead Priest smiling reassuringly at him.

 

Over by Shiro, the thief, Penvo, watched carefully as the Protean missed his attack. She waited patiently, almost too patiently as the Knight managed to wound Shiro, before making her move.. Then she flung a pair of knives in quick succession. Both attacks didn't do much more than graze the Knight, but they struck directly at two separate weak points in the heavily protected fiend's armor. The Awakened second attack went wide, as the light wounds managed to throw off its aim.

 

In the meantime, Quatro, in the dark tower, watched the enemy lines warily. Her bow was ready. She was ready. It was funny. In life many would imagine she wouldn't be able to stand so still. But she had a mission. And she would see it through.

 

"Everyone stay calm!" Penelope called out, noticing the attacks from her allies that went wide, realizing it may be due to the unnaturalness of their opponent. "They are nothing more than another foe. We can win the day if we just continue to weather this storm."

 

[spoiler=OOC]I know I said to put Trim and Dua's stuff into your post Keto but I felt I should write out a bit for them at least given I posted before you. Tried to keep some of the timing vague so you could take care of it as you pleased.

 

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Terrified though he was, perhaps the nervous energy was giving Edrick an edge up over the seemingly largely mindless Awakened before him. A thrust from the knight's spear came, and it almost seemed slow to him as he ducked under it just as Link had during their training in the Pelinna Patrol's camp. It almost seemed easy, and it should not have been. The Awakened were supposed to be Inera's promise to turn death back on itself made manifest, the return of the honored ancestors to life as they had been before they died. To see them all moving so slowly, rigidly, and smelling of decay was an abomination beyond reckoning. Was this what the undead were? He shook himself to try and focus, and he struck out against the knight before him.

 

He struck once before the Awakened had even withdrawn its spear, catching it in the unarmored gap beneath its arm. A good hit, which would have sent a living opponent sprawling to the ground where they would likely die. This rotted mockery of who the knight had been in life, however, barely seemed to notice save for what seemed to be an irritated grunt. Even so, it moved slowly enough that Edrick withdrew his spear and thrust it forth again, aiming for the knight's chest and plunging his iron lance cleanly through a rusted portion of its breastplate. Yet the monster did not cease to move, and now it was the farmboy who could not move fast enough. The rusted, dirty tip of his foe's lance caught him in the chest, punching a hole in his gambeson and only stopping as the spear's head caught on his ribs. As he managed to pull his weapon back, and felt his flesh tearing and his bone being cut, every fiber of his being was screaming at him to run. But there was nowhere to run, and what had minutes ago seemed a fine defensive position was now little more than a trap he had put himself in. He was going to die here, and arrayed before him was the fate awaiting him.

 

Yet just as his mind was turning to panic, an axe came sweeping down from his right and caught the still slowly retreating knight in the head. Its helmet was split, the skull beneath it as well, and the corpse fell to the ground in a rotting heap. His gaze whipped around to see who it was, where he finally got a look at one of their reinforcements. A barbarian, clad in armor and wielding an axe no less old than those opposing them, but even so different. They smelled of flowers, in fact the very same flowers that had seemingly answered his ritual to appease the spirits. In place of eyes glowing red like the mouth of hell, theirs were white like the stars. Another moment and a familiar warmth washed over him. Unmistakably healing magic, and looking to his left he saw another flower-scented, white-eyed Awakened clutching a staff and clad in the vestments of a cleric. Questions buzzed in his mind, and his thoughts were put back to the task at hand as another rusty spear shot just past his face, his attention turned to the front, where his foe had been replaced. Gritting his teeth and planting his feet, the young Pontic made ready to continue the fight as confusion steadily boiled away into anger and grim resolve.
 

"Nu aici. Nu acum."
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The longer he stayed with this group, the longer he was sure he was losing his mind. The dead rose to kill them, the dead rose to help them, and they had to fight for their lives. Shiro had no clue how it was only the first day and he already had to question his sanity, but here he was. He saw the knight approaching him, but he wasn't ready for it to swipe at him. 

Apparently the dead could hit pretty hard. 

Shiro backed up a bit from the knight after it attacked, gritting his nonexistent teeth. All he had to do was hit it just as hard back, and there was only one way to do it. The ancient art of battle passed down from generations of frogs, and the ultimate move contained within. Now was the time, he would have to defeat this knight!

 

And so he launched his mighty Froggy Kick at the knight, missing it completely. That was okay though, since the knight also missed on the counterattack, probably due to the thief interfering. Should he thank her? But she was dead, it wasn't like he'd be seeing her again, and he doubted her feelings would be hurt. They were in the middle of battle after all. Shiro shook his head as he watched the arrows from the archer bounce off the knight harmlessly. This was going to be a long night.

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"Ah. There really are too many."

 

It was the first time Adel saw these lumbering creatures. Revenants that were brought back by foul magic. They surely would be quite a nice adversary to have. However, she was here as a scout, not as a frontline combatant. The existence of fliers between their ranks also was concerning for the rest of the group, and there would perhaps be archers too among them. Even with her torch, vision was still too terrible to make out much. But what she saw was enough. As the enemy advanced, she and Tyltalis went back towards the side entrance of their fort.

 

Once she was there, she dismounted and held her lance with her, while pushing Tyl to come inside and huddle around the bonfire. Riding on a pegasus on a defensive battle like this would be bad. Adel nodded at herself, and stood at the door, waiting for any enemies that might come to attack.

 


 

The battle had raged on. Their first adversary seemed to be these unliving knights, and Ciela saw with her own eyes how the group struggled heavily against them. The revenants that came to assist the group did their best under Penelope's precise commands, and for a bit Ciela was thrown off on what she would do in this situation. It was chaotic, and she admittedly was still not fully conscious yet after the rough awakening earlier.

 

It was then that she noticed Link however, and she galloped to his side, staff in hand. The enemy knight did a number on him. She admittedly was too busy watching over Edrick earlier, but before she was able to act, one of the revenants had healed him. The light of her staff shone as she recited the spell to heal the wounded green mercenary.

 

"Just how many are outside, anyway?"

 


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The enemies were unfazed by the party's attacks. Even the re-death of one of their own was not enough to make them pause. No, what they seemed most concentrated on was reaching the warm, living bodies within the shrine. They did stop momentarily when Dua and Ciela lifted their staves to perform healing magic, but redoubled their efforts soon afterward. The knight in front of Link paused when the man shouted, but when nothing else happened, roared back at the mercenary.

 

While Adelheid's actions seemed to have gone unnoticed for the most part, one cavalier had noticed the movement and approached, letting out a low moan as it held its rusty iron lance forward to stab through the dismounted pegasus knight. Fortunately for Adelheid, it missed, but it looked ready to attack again at any time.

 

Catriona watched the oncoming hoard nervously. Her hand kept drawing to the handle of her sword, and then releasing, fighting the urge to charge forward and fight the nearest foe, if only so that they went away. She struggled to take deep, calming breaths, eyeing the allied cavalier, Unil, with increasingly paranoid eyes. Would he take advantage of Adelaide's distraction to stab her in the back? No, he was an ally, yes, an ally. But an undead ally.

 

Licorice, on the other hand, stood calmly on all fours, gazing at the Awakened as if they were nothing more than rocks. "Calm," she reassured Tsetseg once more at seeing her fumble. "You are not alone."

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Sienna watched as the Awakened continued their advance, curious and afraid of what they would do first when they got close enough. Her curiosity was sated when a couple of rotted knights took up the front line and charged at the group. Her fire should easily be able to pierce through their armor, but she had to worry about friendly fire as the knights were more focused on her allies. One got a good shot at Link and was winding up for another attack before the mercenary grabbed the lance and held the knight still. “Now Sienna!”

 

Sienna took the opportunity and launched a fireball straight at the knight, piercing through it's armor and setting the rotten creature ablaze. It staggered back, shrieking in horror before crumbling to the ground in a burnt, foul smelling mess. Sienna smiled, if these creatures were so afraid of fire, then there might just be hope in the fight after all. She looked back over at Link, who was already being healed by both Ciela and the friendly, undead cleric.

 

Seeing the risk here, Sienna rushed forward in front of them. Even if they were harmless in a fight, healers were still a target on the battlefield. This much she knew, and so Sienna made her job to keep anything from getting to Ciela and the cleric.

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