Prelude 1: The Mysterious Mist

Prelude 1: The Mysterious Mist
Date of Scene:	04 July 2013
Location:	Traverse Area - Bodhum - Beach
Synopsis:	Fireworks are shooting. People are celebrating. However something comes from the depths, green sickly mist starts to rise from the ocean. People start to run to shore screaming, as few become infected by the mist and crash into the water. What rises from the ocean depths, is nothing good...
Cast of Characters:	Deidra, Rapunzel, Riku-Bot, Shadow, Izolde Danefield, Firion, Horned King

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Horned King has posed:

Its time of celebration for some and for others its a good excuse to have a great time, along with a party. Fireworks explode out over the beautiful ocean waters. Caribbean like music plays in the air as people dance about on the sand. Children play as the run across the sand chasing one another and sometimes their own balls which they toss to one another.

Though this area remains in a constant state of Twilight and people seem to have come to live with this, as this party is proof of such. Yet something lurks from the depths of the waters. Something that has been summoned to this location unseen by the many who party and have fun.

What it is, has yet to be seen, but yet to the tell tell signs that something isn't right start to happen. A woman suddenly rushes back to the shore, people start to quickly move out of the water as parts of the water start to bubble and a mist starts to rise form the water. Fish that have sudden became decease start to rise to the surface of the water. One by one, each of them with a sickly dark mist that rises from their body.

Soon turtles and sea creatures that can escape to shore also start to come out in troves running from something that was within the very water....

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield is enjoying her day at the beach..or rather..twilight. She's dressed in her usual attire and using her staff as some kind of sensor, it being flipped upside down with the crystal near the sand. The gem that made up the staff's tip is glowing with a pulsing purple. It was also vibrating slightly. As she continued walking, the staff would light up brighter shades of purple until the Nu mou follows the trail. Finally, when the purple light had turned to an almost white she stoops down in the sand and starts to dig bringing up...a bottle cap. She sighs and pockets it, dusting the sand from her knees and standing again.

"Another bottle cap. How much soda water do these humes drink?"

She turns towards the source of the disturbance, perking her ears. If anyone was familiar with Nu Mou biology knows just how much effort it takes for them to move their heavy ears against gravity.

Firion has posed:
Firion had known it was only a matter of time. Palamecia was making it's move to begin it's conquest of the World of Ruin at large. He'd watched the news of the battle on the Mist Plains. He decided it was time to halt his training once again.

He'd made plans over the past year. So many plans, scouted out the country. Decided the best routes by which he could enter the Empire. The problem wasn't entering so much as it was /leaving/. And so he bided his time, he trained.. he was an optimistic person, and knew that all it would require was patience.

Now Emperor Mateus was starting to extend his forces out. This was something he could actually attend to, do something about. So what was this patient warrior doing right now?

Having a good time of course.

One last celebration for the road, before he went out there and began the rebellion once more. Even if it was just a rebellion of one now. The loss of Altair, of Salamand, when the world fell... saw to that. But he didn't dwell on that. Didn't fall into despair. He was a remarkably cheerful person and didn't care about his odds and chances of felling an Empire on his own.

Most of the townsfolk in Traverse thought he was an oddity, given that he was a veritable human arsenal. Why did someone need to carry so many weapons on them at once? And all of different kinds. But he just playfully answered that he never could decide on just one. He'd barely finished his first pint, when the screaming started. And wiping away some of the foam from his mouth, he handed it back to the tavern keeper. "Hold this for me. I'll be back."

Girded in azure armor and a white cloak, his head covered only by a jeweled bandana, he made his way down towards the dark mist by the waters.. while most people were fleeing from it. While he carried a ridiculous number of weapons, of all types, he hadn't drawn a single one yet, just patiently assessing the situation as he watched even the sea animals escaping. Yeah this was certainly trouble.

Riku-Bot has posed:
What Riku wanted was some time to think and figure things out. Sadly, whenever he turns on the introspection the universe has to get in the way of that.

He chews on a hotdog thoughtfully as he sits on the beach looking out at the water. He watches the children play and then with a growing sense of unease notices the people backing away from the water.

The teenager groans very faintly and sits there resolutely eating his hotdog as the sickly mist rises from the dead fish. "Oh.. come on." he mutters as a turtle slowly pulls itself along the beach past him and Riku takes another bite of the hotdog.

Chew. Chew. Swallow. Sigh.

He flops backwards in the sand onto the towel he'd been sitting on, an arm over his face.

Shadow has posed:
It is nice to relax once in a while. What relaxes some may not apply to everyone-- but for Shadow it is a quiet moment to remember the past. For all the things that happen-- there are always good moments. There are always moments in the future that may also be as good as those.

Admittedly, Shadow is not well suited for the beach. Even out here, his entire body is wrapped in that black cloth. He stands mysteriously at the beach-- arms crossed over his shoulder as he watches the light display in the air become mirrored against the water. Interceptor, however, is all about having fun. He barks and runs around the sand-- periodically picking up something and bringing it to the ninja to throw far, far away.

Horned King has posed:

Soon the water starts to bubble closure to the shore line. Before the very sickly green mist moves across the beach itself. Then slowly from the waters something, several somethings, start to rise up. Their armor like that of vikings and knights as they starts to appear from the waters. Their movements almost fluid as any humans and to make things worse; they were animated skeletons of the undead.

As they walked upon the beach, the sand under their feet started to turn black, the dark mist most heavy around them and almost trailing off their forms. They hold weapons of swords, axes, and some even with shields.

People start to run away, some take steps back, pulling out their cameras and taking shots of the strange event. Yet the undead horde continues to march out from the water. At least thirty if someone was to take a gander. As one of the undead walks by a turtle that tries to escape, its shell starts to decay and so dead the poor turtle within.

A tourist taking pictures suddenly trips backwards and one of the undead raises up their sword to strike down, but the man quickly scatters back, throwing his camera at the undead skeleton who slices the camera in half.

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield jovial expression falls as the threat makes itself inherently evident to anyone with any combat experience. She spins up her staff to a more battle ready posture and makes her way towards the marching army. She comes to rest a good distance in front of the army, looking around for anyone nearby that might be able to help. The gem on her forehead lights up in tandem with her staff.

"What is it about you dead ones that makes you appear everywhere and at the most inopportune of times!"

Rapunzel has posed:
"Woooow!"

Bursting from the edge of the city, a young girl gasps happily as she dashes out from among the neon lights and paved streets of Traverse's main districts onto the broad expanse of the lively beach. With her gaze turned upwards at the festive explosions lighting up the skies the teen only barely manages to keep from crashing head-first into the other people that litter the broad crescent of sand, bouncing and weaving back and forth through the crowd, shouting energetic apologies as she attempts to get to a better position to appreciate the fireworks.

Rapunzel smiles giddily as she finally skids to a halt in the cool sand. She glances down at her bare feet, wiggling her toes in the sand for a few moments. "Isn't this great Pascal? It's a beach! It's just like I read about!"

A small green shape clambers out of her dress, the wide-eyed chameleon coming to rest on her shoulder. Rather expression for a lizard, the creature gazes up at the sky as the girl's attention drifts back to the bright bursts of color and seems almost as impressed as she. Almost.

"Hmm. I don't think these are the lights we're looking for though. But they're really pretty!"

A sudden tug on her hair causes the girl to glance backwards where several people are struggling not to trip over the excess of golden locks that trail behind her. "Whoops! Sorry!" She quickly starts to scoop her unusual burden up into her arms, turning away just as the strange bubbling water and fetid mist gives rise to the dark undead from the depths.

A scream pierces the night as the fireworks die out suddenly. Rapunzel stands bolt upright, spinning around in alarm, and suddenly wielding, of all things, a frying pan. She holds it away from her body with both arms, pointing it in random directions as she tries to locate the source of the noise. It's Pascal who notices the horrid creatures first.

Tapping insistently on her arm with his tail, the small lizard uses the flexible appendage to point towards the skeletal warriors before huddling down against her dress, blending it with it's light purples in a flash.

"W-what are those?!"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra has a book, has a swimsuit that she manged to get fitted for her and has been enjoying the beach trying to clear her head after the horrors of Castle Oblivion and the Revelations about Isaac's world and the horror connected to Chaos within. She'd been having a pretty grand old time today so far. Then there are zombies? Undead? Again?

She sighs as she sets down her book and goes for a tablet in her various beach things looking a bit miffed as she gets up to see just what's going on with the undead.

"I was getting my first time off in weeks!"

IF it not been part of the network in trouble it had been gummi blocks, undead or Will trying to eat gummi blocks and now it's undead again!

Firion has posed:
Well, Undead. This will make for a nice change of pace. And other than that tourist's camera.. Noone had suffered here yet.

Time to have some fun.

Firion started to advance towards the Undead horde with an eerie cheerfulness. Then all of a sudden... weapons began to rise out of their scabbards, floating in the air, circling around him. Where there was a bow slung over his shoulder moments before, it was now in his hands. A three pronged lance and a hand and a half sword flew in a circle around him. The air around him heated up, and suddenly those weapons ignited into ghastly white flames. He whistled in an impressed manner, as he got a good look at the axe and sword wielding skeletal horde. "Oh boy, there are a /lot/ of you. I really might have bitten off more than I could chew."

Without even pulling arrows from the quiver in his back, they were already in his hand. And the tips of those arrows began to ignite with the same flames. Firing three arrows at once, he aimed to put each one into the skulls of the leading skeletons. Which then exploded with the same flames out of every crevasse, the heat of the blazing explosions spreading across to the horde. And without any discernible motions, there was no longer a bow in his hand, but a runed axe in one and a mythril mace mace in the other, which just moments ago were on leather hooks upon his belt. As he barreled into the vanguard of the horde blithely he chopped with an axe towards the weapon hand of one skeleton, before following through with the mace clattering and sparking upon the helm of another with a buffet. Cleaving through one of them gracefully he spun and continued his footwork to take him further into their ranks. The lance and sword around him were in a whirlwind of motion, defending his flanks and his back of their own accord, dancing as if phantasmal hands held them. Skewering and chopping, parrying and thrusting.

Riku-Bot has posed:
'Do not Want' is the expression on the face of the teenager as he listens to the clattering, clanking advance of the armored things that emerge from the sea. He eats the last remains of the hotdog and then his hand moves to grasp the sword that is laying on the towel next to him.

His fingers dig into the leather sheath while the other arm is still flung over his face.

He snaps up onto his feet, springing upwards at the same time one hand grips and hand.. the other grips the sheath and abruptly there is a silver haired teenager with a sword in hand and a /very/ displeased expression. "I know, right?" he calls to Izolde, voice crackling with annoyed amusement.

"It's down right embarrassing." There is an aura of tension around him that shimmers off him like a heat mirage, a pressure as he drops the sheath to the sands and pushes himself forwards, the silvered metal flashing as he levels it at one of the approaching knights, interposing himself between the now camera-less man and the undead and locking blades with them.

"Whoever you are behind this? This is going to go bad for you." he says to the undead. "Just saying."

Shadow has posed:
Undead. Enemies. They seem to be anywhere-- but this scene in particular seems to be made out of one of Shadow's own nightmares. A peaceful scene disturbed by enemies that come out of nowhere. This doesn't surprise the dark clad man-- taking a deep breath and exhaling as Interceptor starts barking at a skeleton. Chew toy? CHEW TOY! Yes, Interceptor has a weird sense of excitement for this battle.

Shadow cants his head to the side to the blonde and her lizard. "Enemies," he offers Rapunzel in mysteriously mysterious mysteriousness. Well, more so obvious obviousness. "You intend to fend them off with... a frying pan?" he asks. Horde of undead? That doeskin surprise him. Girl with a frying pan of doom? Surprise.

The ninja makes no effort to engage with the forces yet-- though its just a matter of time before Interceptor bites off more than he can chew. Literally.

Horned King has posed:

Firion's arrow finds one of the skeletons and blasts the skull almost in half, with the helm flying off. A few of the undead actually step aside of the flying helm. The skeleton hit by the fire almost staggers back. Something about these flames causing it, what seems to be, a great deal of pain?

Huh.

Firion gracefully moves through them, slashing and dashing. However luck eventually runs out as one of the undead has enough of this and uses the hook of the lance to trip the youth up. Then suddenly amongst the undead. They start to slam their weapons down for him. That and the green mist itself; there is something very vile about it. Something almost poisonous if one isn't careful.

Several of the undead continue their advancement. They never seem to run however, they just wal. But when they get in closer, they suddenly do move faster. A few go right for Riku who seems to threaten them, then several more for the others.

Some are saved from the undead horde; at least for now.

Firion has posed:
The Undead horde close in from all sides, at his flanks and at his back, and Firion starts to feel sorely pressed.

Time for some breathing room. Turning suddenly, the lance lowers itself behind himself, flattening itself horizontally.

He takes a step onto it like it were a springboard, then flips backwards over the Undead which were behind him. As he's flipping over them, a dagger appears in his hands, which he tosses by the blade towards the eye socket of a skeleton which was aiming to skewer him from below as he flipped up. The Lance and sword disappear from their current positions in the horde. One reappears within the scabbard on his back. The lance appears within his hands. And now it was the axe and mace that were floating around him, maintaining circular warding patterns, flying around as if wielded by unseen hands. "Guess I'm going to have to go all out...there really are too many of you for me to take on alone." He gives Riku and the Nu Mou a cheerful look. "...glad that I'm not. Good to see that you're both on board."

His armor starts to sizzle, with wisps of smoke trailing off of it and his cloak, moments before his body is limned in a white aura, flames trailing down the haft to the tip of his spear. The floating axe and mace are similarily covered.

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield spins her staff around to coat herself in an aura of magical energy that seems to have made her a bit more resilient as her form shimmers a bit. This was just in time for a group of sparkle-hating undead to take some swings at her, to which she blocks the brunt of the attacks with her staff, sending her backwards a bit. She spins up her staff after that and calls down some energy to throw back at the horde of undead, noting the few that were present and attacking with her. From behind her streams of energy form, one of them looking like a lightning bolt that arcs over her shoulder, followed by a frosted snowball, and lastly a gout of dazzling fire, all aimed into the group of antagonists before her.

Riku-Bot has posed:
Riku is not in and of himself very menacing at all. A somewhat gangly youth with mirror shades and a sword more impressive than he is. There is a smell of ozone like the air just after a lightning strike and the foreboding pressure of an onrushing storm as he pushes the undead back a step before attempting to cleave straight through the neck bones of the opponent in question.

As he does so, a ragged axe clips him on the side as several MORE join the festivities. Riku hisses in pain, drawing in a sharp breath and lashing out instinctively. A flash of light trickles along the edge of the sword as it passes backhanded along the course the axe came from.

Riku fades back to take in the new opponent and then steps forwards again. In calm, efficient slashes he slams down at joints. Knee joints. Shoulder and elbow joints. Neck joints.

As he slides backwards he smirks at Firion. He looks distracted for just an instant as he looks towards them then waves off the statement. "That's a neat trick." he says to Firion with his floating weapons. "But all out? Nah." he snorts. "..for these thugs?" he spins the sword around once before leveling it again at them. "They're not worth it."

Shadow has posed:
And there comes the trouble. Shadow may be standing on the outskirts of the undeapocolypse, but several reach to where he is standing. Candid commentary to Rupunzel aside, there is a matter of creatures wishing to remove his head from his neck. The ninja places a hand on his sword grip-- slashing out in small, quick strokes at an incoming skeleton. It rips at the joints by the neck-- causing the head to plop off spectacularly. It doesn't keep the creature from coming, though. A second strike at the hip helps with that-- though by then he has to sidestep and riposte another enemy-- this one Interceptor is gnawing on the creature's femur with a bark of 'Mine mine mine!'

The ninja isn't helping so much as defending himself. Though he could leave, but doesn't. Maybe he is secretly a zombie spy. Zombie ninja.

Rapunzel has posed:
The frightened teen's frying pan isn't any more infused with doom than your run of the mill cast-iron skillet, it just happens to be the first thing she grabbed when the rogue Flynn Rider slunk into her tower unannounced. Turns out it makes for a decent way to knock someone silly. Who knew, right?

Rapunzel gives a start and whirls to face the source of the voice. She wasn't actually expecting an answer. Her deadly 'weapon' is turned upon Shadow as well before she realizes he's normal. Sort of.

"Oooookay, guy dressed all in black, that's totally normal, right?" She glances down at Pascal out of the corner of her eye while maintaining a fake smile but the lizard just shrugs at her. "Right."

She takes a couple steps back, instinctively picking up her feet to avoid tripping over her own prodigious length of hair as she considers what to do. Her gaze drifts back to the beach. As the skeletal vikings draw their rusty blades and move to strike at the fleeing citizens her resolve instantly hardens. Rapunzel frowns, putting her game face on.

"We can't let them hurt anyone!"

But even as she announces this, she hesitates. Those swords and axes look pretty sharp. She can't risk letting them accidentally hit her hair. She ponders for a moment springs into action, rushing down the beach where people are still attempting to get clear of the monstrous attackers.

Sliding a foot under her hair, she kicks it up into her hands and quickly throws it out like a rope towards one of the hapless victims. Amazingly, the massive length of gold entwines around the young man's wrist and she yanks him backwards, pulling the dazed youth out of the path of a swinging axe.

"Hurry up and run!"

Turning her attention to the two men engaged in fighting the bulk of the enemy formation, Rapunzel bites her lip before deciding to do something foolish. Her hair-lasso is reeled in and sent flying once more; this time, however, she aims at the skeletons surrounding Riku and Firion.

The prehensile hair comes in low, attempting to wrap around their feet and trip them up, but she quickly pulls it clear to keep them from trying to hack it apart. She may not be much good at fighting but she can still help out!

Deidra has posed:
Deidra was enjoying herself on a beach for the first time since she engaged the fair folk. This has been ruined people are in danger, due undead that have just come out of nowhere. She's also fresh out of Phoenix downs so she's going to have to do it the hard way Firion is an unknown but he's here to help as she moves in and no weapons are used by her. Not even her clearly nasty looking talons, No she starts moving to frees and attempt to shatter some of the undead.

"Your are not alone, Mister! Also ... umm hi Riku."

Deidra continues chanting now in Latin and here comes the ice spells!

Horned King has posed:

Firion escapes from the Undead horde and sinks his daggers into a few of them. However all they do is stagger back but continue to advance on, like the mindless lost they are. Riku's own counter attack also knocks a few of them back, however they seem just as eager to press on.

Then the rain of magic comes down for the Undead horde, yet something from outside; or perhaps the mist itself; seems to cast aside the magic. The lightning strikes an odd barrier above them, the ice forms around them being chewed away by the green mist into an inky black substance, and the fire gets blast across the front and around them.

When Riku then lashes out at the group after him, his strikes meet some of their joints, cracking the bone, slamming some of the armor that protects them and his final strikes being blocked by one of the undead before it staggers back from the impact.

The Ninja attempts to come in and suddenly the very undead with blades turn right around and meet his quick strikes to block them as they come in. Each impact was made with a spark of metal on metal. As for Interceptor trying to get himself a femur. A few undead hop away from the dog. Bad puppy. You don't know where they been! Also that dark mist starts to move around the poor ninja dog. He may want to avoid that soon.

Then the hair comes in to attempt to trip up the undead. They see it coming in and several of them jump back just in time, before they look directly at the young woman herself. How dare she-- wait did she actually throw her hair at them? This actually caused them to tilt their heads to the side.

Deidra starts to chant her Latin and a faint dark whisper may be heard by her and her alone. A counter chant perhaps? Either way as her ice spell slams into something much like the other mages spells did. The ice forming around the skeletons but only melting to a sick black mess by the green mist.

However now the whole group falls under attack. Swords swing out. Axes slash and cleave downward. No one is safe now that defends the beach. For the Undead suddenly charge now. The dark mist following them and attempting to effect those whom they attack.

Firion has posed:
The man is sorely beset, and after a moment is driven down to his knees as the Skeletal horde presses on him with swords and axes. His floating axe and mace cross with his lance in front of him to ward off the worst of it. But despite his injuries, he still seems preternaturally cheerful.

"It's a very neat trick. Makes for some great tavern games." Firion actually laughs at Riku in a boisterous manner, flinging the same dagger he'd thrown earlier with his offhand, back into the horde, catching another skeleton in the eye. "I was being /kind/. After all. The Undead have no passion in their soul. That makes for poor, unskilled opponents who have an advantage only in numbers." He spins his lance and grins. "After all..." He puts one foot backwards, running a hand along the haft of the lance, as the axe and the mace suddenly break from their guard position in front of him. "....given how quickly we're about to end this..."

He barrels into them, this time, his lance is white hot, and not only skewers, but melts through bone everywhere he strikes. The axe and mace acting of their own accord, glowing in a similar manner as they too strike repeatedly, igniting the bone marrow of every skeleton that they batter or cleave into. "...I'd be a terrible sport not to compliment them in /some/ way." He spins his lance one more time, before planting the butt into the ground, allowing one skeleton to run into it, bringing doom upon itself. He then picks it up while the flaming mass of what's left of it is skewered pathetically on the lance and flings it back into the horde, where it creates a flaming pyre that explodes outwards, spreading throughout their ranks.

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield isn't terribly good at defending herself at such close quarters combat with several attacks coming in at many angles. She spins her staff around to try to block the damage from the blades and axes but a few clip through her defenses, including a slash to the side. She staggers back with a loud growl, focusing on her staff again. Her robes start to billow with magical energy as she summons three sparkling fireballs around herself, flinging them all out from her to perhaps clear some space for her next attack of some sort. It was getting hard to see with the mist rolling in; this needed to end quicker than later.

"Tougher than I'm used to."

Riku-Bot has posed:
Riku laughs at this although his expression is muddled with something else as the sword slams into the bones and he staggers back a step when the blows are deflected. The sluggish green mist grabs at him as a poorly timed strike puts him in the direct line of fire for a sword that just /barely/ misses skewering him.

He flies backwards onto the sand and begins to cough as the mist washes over him. Riku rolls back onto his feet, staggering and coughing as he tries to shake his head to clear it. "Yeah." he manages with a wheeze. "It just wouldn't be sporting at all. " He chuckles. "But then.. neither is this."

He plants the sword in the sand and kicks one of the advancing warriors backwards into another one. There is a pulse that runs underneath the sand before black thorns erupt from the sand. The thorns attempt to entwine as many of the undead warriors as possible and smash them together if close enough and simply attempt to suck them into the sand and keep them nice and pinned for the guy with the flaming and floating arsenal

Rapunzel has posed:
Mistake.

That's the thought that immediately runs through Rapunzel's mind as the undead turn their attention to her as well after her bungled attempt to play hero. Her large eyes slowly widen as the realization that she's made herself a target dawns on the girl and she mutters a frightened, "Uh oh."

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal resounds across the beach as she instinctively brings up her frying pan to deflect the first swing. Miraculously, the weapon rebounds off the flat surface of the heavy cooking implement but the impact sends reverberations down her arms that cause her bones to rattle. Even poor Pascal vibrates on her shoulder, his googly eyes rattling around. It's not a pleasant sensation.

Rapunzel seems as amazed as everyone else probably is that her make-shift weapon actually saved her. She looks at it bewildered. "Huh... can't believe that actually, eek!"

There's no time to be impressed. Another natsy looking blade comes in from the side and she only barely manages to push it back, earning another painful clash that sets her teeth chattering. The green mist begins to waft up from the water as well, slowly reaching thin wispy tendrils that putrefy the air around her but all it does is cause her nose to wrinkle up in disgust. Enough of that!

Mustering her resolve, Rapunzel lunges in to counter attack, swinging her blunt instrument around in retaliation. The skillet traces wide uncontrolled arcs through the air, smashing into whatever she can manage to hit while she continues to prove her unusual sense of coordination, ducking and rolling about while managing not to get tangled in her seventy feet of hair. Pascal is hanging on for dear life.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra freezes up she feels something, something it wrong here there is a darkness here, necromancy of the worst sort it's almost demonic really. It bring up her heckles especially after the things she encountered with the TDA earlier. There's a sense of dread are more terrors coming out of the darkness now. Have they sensed something what is coming for them she doesn?t know but she's caught under the hordes attack and she's lucky she's a gargoyle. Had she been human she might not be getting up right now. R%R She continues trying to chant this time focusing on an combination of wind to knock some of the undead off their feet and blow them into the water, following that up with freezing them. She takes stock of all the others here and wonders who Firion is she's never seen that man before.

Shadow has posed:
Without taking a step towards the undead, he finds himself involved in the struggle regardless. The blonde makes a good point-- a man in black clothes at the beach is probably stranger than going gung-ho with a frying pan. Mist. Mist generally isn't a good thing when coming around creatures of the undead.
%TThe ninja whistles sharply-- reverberating nearby to catch the attention of his dog. Poor pooch. Interceptor drops the femur he is trying to acquire with a bark that says 'Ill be back for you later, good sir.' Then the two move. Notably Shadow and Interceptor make their way towards Izo-- cutting a quick swath of the creatures as he looks for bastion in the combat. Something evil this way comes, no doubt, and he doesn't want to be overrun in the process. Slash slash slash-- he does the whole ninja rush with great slashery to make it to the pocket.

Horned King has posed:

Firion's attack ignites a good deal of the undead. Their bodies are flashes with holy fire and they suddenly crumble to the ground into nothing but black ash itself, swept up by the very winds of the attacks, but consumed however by the sickly green mist.

The Fireballs from Izolde slam down around the undead that were here. A few of them knocked back by the explosion and a few of them having to raise their shields and step back a bit before they were made crispy bones for Shadow's faithful dog.

The darkness suddenly lashes out at the undead, but something like with the magic, interrupts the darkness with a sudden dark spell that is only whispers on the wind, almost heard clearly thanks to the sickly green mist being around Riku. Words spoke of both magic and something else. The Darkness impacts suddenly a massive sand wall that rises upward before crashing back down into the ground.

Though several of the undead from their hidden assistance get almost knocked over, others leap right over the wall and go to knock Riku down on the ground for a moment. They then start to move upon him again.

Sadly for the long haired damsel, her wide swings are missing the Undead as their rear back to avoid the swings. Then one in slight frustration due to her aggressive gesture, decides to swing out his sword in retaliation for her arm.

Shadow then attempts to run by and get to a pocket of safety with the others, or to some pocket at least. However the Undead raise up their shields to block his attack, then the last one he passes suddenly swings out his axe at the right moment to catch the passing Ninja.

This time however, Deidra's magic is able to break through. They are knocked up into the air and then impacted with water, but this doesn't bode very well though as the water attempts to hold them into the air, freezing them where they are. Yet it is then suddenly the Dark Mist explodes outward. Blanket everything with a very thick cloud of its sickening quality.

Everything becomes hard to see outward and around. Without warning suddenly the Undead all leap outwards from where they are, breaking free from their frozen restraint and lashing out at the heroes present. Trying to bite onto them and drain them of their very life essence.

Firion has posed:
The Undead bite, and lash at him. His weapons suddenly pick up the pace and try to defend him, and he puts up a valiant effort, but suddenly he's on his knees, as his stolen life force flows right into the Undead Horde. He looked up, and surveyed the battlefield.

There was a young girl who was aiding them while wielding.. a Frying Pan. And she looked sorely beset. Firion had.. a weakness for that. He seemed genuinely touched that the girl was aiding them with her humble weapon. But he didn't want to see her hurt. He saw a little bit of one of his childhood friend's ferocity within her. Time to stop playing around. Time to return the favor for his stolen life force.

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Submenu >>Fast EquiBlood Sword</span>

Firion's cheerful expression faded all of a sudden as a blood red blade, with a single ruby at it's pommel disappeared out of it's scabbard and reappeared into his hand. He didn't like this sword at all. But against the Undead.. he didn't really have to feel bad. He'd worked out the problem of it actually reversing the flow of energy against the Undead years ago. Just add /flames/ and suddenly he's feeding on the Undead's animating force again with style.

As he swept the blade into their ranks, it trailed behind an afterimage of what looked like sanguine droplets of blood, being flung from it. Each time he touched one of the Undead with it, they crumbled to dust as the mockery of life force was leeched out of them... and he was invigorated, just a little bit with each strike.

He decided that it was time to end this.. Suddenly, he lost his grip on his sword. All of his weapons in fact, began to float as one around him. The Wild Rose Sword, The Blood Sword, The Lance of Longinus, The Rune Axe, A Mythril Mace, Yoichi's Bow, the Dancing Dagger. It was an impressive arsenal, all told. A treasure trove he collected.. after his world fell.

The Bow went into his hands, and the lance.. it lowered itself down for him to jump onto it. Balancing himself upon the haft of the lance, the other weapons floated in a wheel around him as he rose into the air. He telekinetically weaved them around him in a chaotic wheel so fast that they didn't look like weapons anymore, but the spokes of a wheel. A wheel of white flame. He drew back his bow, and five arrows, their tips already ablaze appeared, nocked. As one, the wheel surged forth into the ranks, and Firion leapt backwards, firing the bow, as five flaming arrows surged downwards, seeking their targets. The weapons all moved as their own accord, slashing a swath through the Undead ranks, before..

Literally teleporting back to him. He landed right back upon the haft of the lance from his backflip, before the wheel moves again in another direction, another volley of arrows is fired, and this time he rides his fiery wheel of death right into the Undead ranks, carrying him through the horde, and outside of the Undead ranks, leaving ashes and embers in his wake if it struck head on.

And then as one, all of his weapons thunked right back into their sheathes, his lance upon his back, his bow slung over his shoulder. The man looks tired from the display.. as if it took all of his mental fortitude to do that.

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield couldn't possibly mount a defense against so many undead mouths and fingers, all swiping or biting at her. She does manage to prevent more severe damage with proper staff placement, none of them being able to hang on to her long enough to deal extensive damage, but even so, she's getting cut and bruised up pretty badly. She jumps back out of the barrage of attacks, her magic still surrounding her in a mild aura that only intensifies the more damage she takes. The Nu mou is also generating a small amount of wind, likely tied to the light blue aura she's given off. She takes this time to tap the ground three times with her staff to radiate a pulse of green beneath herself, attempting to heal back some of the damage done.

"Just a little bit more..."

Shadow has posed:
Making the advance to Izo, Shadow takes a few cuts. It is like running through a forest of bone-barbed bushes-- and his slashes ineffectually land on shields and steel. At least his initial assumption is correct-- that something evil this way comes. An undead blood frenzy is never good with these kinds of numbers. The ninja draws up his blade to parry a wild slash-- kicking the undead in the face and uses his shoulder to backflip away from another attack. It leaves a pile of three angry skeletons lusting after his ninja blood. Then there is the one behind him-- stabbing with a rusty spear that would have skewered him if not for Interceptor jumping in and taking the shaft by the teeth. Groowll. Woof.

"A little more until you join them," Shadow asks Izo in standard monotone-- the ninja being arms length from the Nu Mou by the time the strikes take pause. It would be considered cold and impartial-- but it may be the ninja's own weird way of expressing concern. He takes out a paper talisman from his pouch-- focusing for a moment as he draws his back to Izo's-- releasing the shrouded magic in a way that gives both their bodies a haze-- and their spirit a cool breeze. Interceptor barks-- wagging his tail while things generally go to an undead sort of hell. 'Can I bite one, pleeeeaaassseeee?'

Rapunzel has posed:
The clash of blades and cooking implements continues apace as the battle rages on the beach. Rapunzel, to her credit, manages to fend off her fair share of the undead warriors. Though considering she's a slip of a girl with little more than a hunk of metal and a lot of spirit, her fair share is pretty small.

Swinging her weapon around like a maniac doesn't end up doing her a lot of good. Whatever skills they had in life, the skeletons seem quite capable of turning aside her blows and soon enough she is forced back onto the defensive. An angry thrust manages to catch her across the forearm, just enough to nick the surface of her skin, but the pain is intense enough that she almost loses her grip on the pan.

Letting out a soft yelp, she throws herself to the side, rolling through the sand as a pair of axes clash together over her head. Rapunzel staggers as she rises back to her feet, clutching her wounded arm gently for a moment. Pascal stares at the small cut with a worried expression but she offers him a reassuring smile.

"It... it's not so bad. I'll fix it up later."

The girl turns a fierce look back at the warriors on the beach, taking note of the impressive display that Firion unleashes upon the hordes with wide-eyed amazement. But the battle isn't won just yet and she's still got some fight in her.

Snatching up her hair, Rapunzel tosses it up towards a beam protruding from one of the nearby buildings and it wraps around the thick metal with ease. She takes a few steps back to get a running start then leaps into the air and swings across the beach, waving her pan around like a club at each of the skeletons she passes in the hopes that atleast a few of them will get clobbered.

She aims her path towards the center of the group, figuring that sticking closer to the people who seem to actually know how to fight is better than going it alone. "Watch out, coming through!"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra darkness vs darkness doesn?t work so well but Riku's okay she figures he's going to catch on as he's very damn smart. However they are still out number by the walking dead. What's going on? Oh hell there's a whole bunch of them coming for her. She spreads her wings and is airborne shortly after just evading the things before they can bleed her dry like IRS agents on someone whose taxes are past due.

She remains in the air, she's so not coming down into that mess and the ice spells continue to rain down follow by a big old bolt of arcane energy she's not messing about this time.

"We can't kill what's already dead but we can break them into such small pieces they can't do a thing anymore!"

Riku-Bot has posed:
Riku's eyes widen and then narrow as his attack is so casually shrugged aside. With a wordless yell he charges the undead as they clamber over the wall of sand and trample the remnants of his spell.

He cleaves one in half, the back snapping as he swings the sword and then brutally kicks at it's pelvis as the warrior raises it's axe. He blocks another blow with a sword and smashes the hilt into a head, turning it all the way around with a snap.

He doesn't have the time to look at the other defenders for help as he gets overwhelmed, although he would have been suitably impressed by a woman wielding a frying pan. He might have vaguely seen something like that once before.

The undead relentlessly pile over him as the dark presence he senses looks on. Something about that begins to seriously crack the last remnants of his temper as that dark presence weighs on his mind. The sluggish life stealing fog is all he can see or smell or taste as he's knocked down hard by the undead. Their blades rise and fall and rise and fall and each time, he's a little slower to dodge. The blade in his hands a little more heavy as sparks ring across the surface. The blows are just barely deflected and there is nothing in his lungs but suffocating darkness.

Riku reaches for the strength to continue and fails. His hand goes slack on the sword and darkness takes the world away as he passes out. A flash of energy shields Riku from the next and fatal blow. The axe wielded by the undead shatters, the haft blowing away in their hand like so much ashes as Riku slowly pulls himself to his feet. He staggers and sways before straightening up, frowning at the undead. He kicks the feet out from under one of the remaining swarm, a hand lashing out to grip their skull, streamers of energy peeling off his hand as he attempts to draw the lifeforce out of the skeleton and turn it to ash.

Streamers of bluish black fog seep down the length of the blade, joining the faint glimmering reflection of light. "Begone." he says quietly and simply, a flare of energy cutting in several arcs like lapping waves across the beach as the sword cuts through the air.

Horned King has posed:

Firion's mighty attacks washes over the Undead, they start to fall one by one, turning to dust upon the impact of power that was being unleashed. Each of their particles of dust returning to the sickly green mist that was starting to clear up. The more skeleton that went missing, the more the sickly green mist started to fade away.

Shadow intercepts some of the attacks along with his faithful canine. The Undead are knocked back, which leads them to getting smashed around by Rapunzel as she comes racing through, knocking their heads together and clobbering them aside.

Diedra's Ice Magic comes slamming down and freezes the Undead right in their place. They slowly attempt to break out of their hold however that Frying Pan still swinging smashes them apart before they can break free.

However the remaining who are frozen almost escape, but Riku proves whom is the stronger force to be reckoned with. The Massive energy of light and dark streamed together goes cutting across the beach, laying waste to any undead horde that remains.

With their crumbling bodies the sickly green mist starts to fade and soon not a presence remains of the undead that were just here. Yet eyes continue to watch for a moment, before slowly even that presence seems to fade away from the field of conflict.

Firion has posed:
The Warrior in Azure armor remains on his knees, he seems.. diminished from the effort. He quietly watches as the others dispatch the Undead horde. He watches the girl with the frying pan clobber more than her fair share. He watches the talented teenager dispatch the skeletons with streamers of darkness. The Ninja and the Nu Mou add in their efforts. He hoped that it'd all be enough. And it was, as the Sickly Green Mist retreats from the battlefield.

And then he gets up, walks over to the others, clasping a hand on Riku's shoulder, speaking in a cheerful manner. "Hey, that was really something. You're going to have to show me how you did that, sometime." He seems actually sincere, not condescending in the least. Nor does he mind that he called upon what was almost assuredly the Darkness.

He glances sidelong to Rapunzel, suddenly looking.. abashed, so instead of addressing her, he does so to the group, "I figure, now that we've all shed blood together we should probably introduce ourselves over a meal. Drinks and Dinner on me!"

And then he's walking off the beach towards town, as he figures that at least some of the group will likely follow...

Riku-Bot has posed:
Riku stands there with chest heaving and slowly the sword drops an inch at a time until the point touches the sand. It hangs slack in his grip as he slowly collapses onto his knees with a faint 'chuff' of sand.

The expression of annoyed contempt leaves his face as the sickly green mist does and he coughs raggedly, rubbing his face and looking around tiredly.

He slowly gets out a healing potion and downs it, wincing and wrapping an arm around his side as he waits for the healing fluid to kick in. "Hey." he says wearily to Rapunzel as he sees her a little further down the beach.

"Nice frying pan." he chuckles, sucking in a painful breath as he staggers to his feet and resheathes the sword. "Hey. That sounds like a great plan. I'm always up for food." he then pauses and replays that in his head. He sounded like a certain food maniac he knew. He facepalms and then laughs tiredly. "Yeah. Maybe we can swap." he says cheerfully to Firion, actually not taking offense (except for the shoulder, which still stings)

"We've got the tricks. Now all we need is the party."

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield had just about finished charging up something truly devestating but the young teenager beat her to the punch. She winces as she witnesses the untold destruction in the last few attacks and just like that they'd retreated. She sinks to her knees after that, clenching her sides with a deep sigh. The aid of the Ninja had come just a little too late, but at least he was there. She rests her staff in the sand next to her while the Nu mou regains her composure. She looks down to her side where heavy cut is and starts trying to force herself to stand, grabbing her staff and propping herself on it.

"Just as well. Now I'm going to have to find a tailor to get my favorite outfit repaired. Such a shame. It was turning out to be quite the day at the beach."

Rapunzel has posed:
Rapunzel lets out an ecstatic laugh as her pan smashes into the first of the undead, whacking it upside the head with a dull thunk that shatters the frozen warrior's skull into tiny fragments.

"See, Pascal! I can do it to-whoop!"

The chameleon flutters in the wind, clinging to the cloth of her dress as she quickly tucks her feet upwards to avoid getting clipped by Riku's aggressive last stand. Wide-eyed at the display of dark power, the girl drops lightly onto the beach behind the two men and whirls around to bring her pan up defensively.

Only to find that the last of the undead have been dealt with. She hesitantly lowers the hunk of iron, peering around to be sure that none of them are left, before giving a confident smirk.

"Haha! They're gone!"

Then she notices how bad off Riku is and a look of concern overtakes her. She dashes over to his side, returning his greeting with a faint smile. "Ummm... hi. You don't look so good. Are you... oh he's leaving..."

She watches both Firion and the dismissive youth head towards town then shares a look with Pascal, both of them shrugging in tandem. "I guess they're okay...?"

Shadow has posed:
Shadow slowly stands up from his crouching position. He doesn't trust that this was the end of it-- but the last onslaught against the horde was impressive. Its possible it really is a break in the chaos. The ninja holds the sword in hand as Interceptor finally claims that femur-- looking to Shadow as if to ask 'Can I keep it?' The shrouded one sighs and nods. Spoils of war.

"It was, wasn't it," replies Shadow as he walks away. All the same, there is no reason to stay around here.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra just kinda gapes as Riku puts on a very impressive display of marital prowess as he manages to just do a heck of a lot of damage She does all right all things considered and everyone else is just laying things not the horde. Still those things took do many people with a fair bit of power to bring down. She lands on the the sangs taking a deep breath, then sighs.

"I can't catch a break this week."

She frowns then waves to several new faces.

"Hello I'm Deidra..."

Also that one lady has more hair than she's ever seen!

Rapunzel has posed:
Turning away from the strange warriors who seem to have gotten over their injuries rather quickly, Rapunzel looks to the others who lent their aid in the fight. The masked man in black likewise makes a swift exit and she starts to wonder if that's how people are supposed to behave when something like this happens. Just wander off and pretend like it was nothing? Seems rather silly to her.

Fortunately, the women around here seem more sensible. The golden-haired girl wanders over to where Izolde and Deidra have gathered nearby, idly swinging her frying pan around by the small hole on the end of it's handle. She tilts her head to the side, peering at the both of them for several moments.

"Huh. My books never mentioned anything like this." Pascal seems equally perplexed by the gargoyle and the Nou Mu's appearances. Trying not to be rude, Rapunzel clears her throat and waves experimentally at the two.

"Um... hello! My name is Rapunzel. It's nice to meet you, thoughthecircumstancescouldcertainlyhavebeenbetter," she mutters to the side. "But, um, yeah! It's my first time here. Do... things like this happen a lot?"

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield holds a hand to her side to mend the damage that had been done there and thankfully, it was nothing too terribly serious. Eventually she's able to stand on her own without the aid of her staff, though the ripped fabric from the battle still remained. She looks towards the two women that came a little closer towards her with a smile, knowing a few of them had been present and helping with the undead. She bows her head out of respect.

"I used to be quite adept at battle before, but it seems I'm a little out of practice. Then again, I'm also not much of a frontline fighter either so there's that."

She passes a glance towards the human with the exceptionally long hair and tilts her head.

"And I thought my ears were a liabilty. My name's Izolde Danefield but most just call me Izzy or something like that."

Rapunzel has posed:
Rapunzel glances to the side and chuckles, running her hands through her hair somewhat bashfully.

"Heh heh, well yeah, I guess it does cause a bit of trouble sometimes. But it's really useful too!"

There's a tug on her sleeve and she brightens up as if remembering something.

"Oh, right!" The frying pan is held up to her shoulder and the small chameleon scuttling onto the iron surface, taking a seat in the center as she swings it around to show Izolde. "This is Pascal! He's been my friend since I was little."

Pascal gives a smug grin at the Nu Mou that reaches from one ear to the other as if being introduced as the girl's friend were something to be incredibly proud of. He lifts a single arm up towards her, giving his approximation of a wave in greeting.

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield leans over a little bit to let the little odd lizard creature near an outstretched finger, should he choose to do anything with it.

"What sort of creature is this? I don't think I've seen a little lizard-type like this one before. Bigger ones sure, but none this small."

She looks up towards the hume with the excessive hair and stretches her back a little bit, her tail arcing back behind her.

"Well, There is some merit to carrying around that much hair. Just how long does it take you to wash it all?"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra is still making herself a bit more on the comfortable side she nods to Rapunzel and grins trying to not look too threatening as well she's totally not human after all. Sometimes people just don't take it well and she's come to accept it but given the Nu Mou is not causing any major reaction either? She should be fine, right?

She gives Pascal a look and seems pretty amused. "Pretty smart Lizard from the looks of him."

the mention of washing Rapunzel's hair makes her pale slightly. The cost on soap alone would be staggering.

Rapunzel has posed:
Pascal tilts his head at the finger before climbing over the edge of the pan onto the outstretched digit. His sticky feet allow him to cling to it easily and his skin quickly shifts to a light grey to match her fur, blending in so perfectly it's hard to tell he's not a part of her hand save for the two beady eyes staring up at her.

"He's a chameleon," Rapunzel says cheerily. "And he's quite smart. He can change his skin color to match his surroundings. Sort of a defense mechanism against predators. And he uses it to cheat at hide and seek."

The lizard turns and sticks his tongue out at the girl which makes her grin but the conversation shifts back to her hair, as it inevitably had to. The teen rubs the back of her head, trying to figure out how best to explain the merits of having so much hair without giving away her secret.

"Well... quite a while, to be honest. Brushing it is even worse. It takes /all/ morning."

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield looks down in mild surprise when it shifts to her fur color. The unusual sensation of sticky-suction cup feet was a surprise too. She runs her other hand very gently over the top of it's head to pet it for a moment.

"Is that so? I can't say I've seen a similar ability in the creatures I'd known. Quite unique. I like it." She looks back up towards Rapunzel and shrugs towards her. "I'd honestly consider just not brushing it at that point, because mornings are made for breakfasts but I get the feeling that it is rather unruly if left to it's own for too long. Are all humes like that where you are or are you an exception to the rule? Your attire is somewhat similar to some stories I'd heard about Hume Royalty, so it's a fair question. For all I know, those of high class may all have hair as long as yours."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra says "He is very smart I not actually seen a Chameleon this smart before. I'm honestly impressed."

Prehaps there's magic mixed up in this or it's just in Rapunzel's world they are much smarter than the ones from earth.

"That does sound like a lot of work honestly. Also I bet the bet head is terrible."

Izolde gets a look for a moment and thinks for a moment.

"You seem to be a scholar of some sort or am I mistaken?"

Rapunzel has posed:
"You have /no/ idea," she sighs. Brushing her hair is a chore that she's grown used to as it grew and grew over the years but that makes it no less tiring. "But, that's okay, as long as I get it over with quickly there's usually still time for a quick meal."

Pascal accepts the petting with good grace but hops back onto the frying pan after a moment and scuttles back up her arm. The lizard vanishes from sight for a few moments then reemerges at the back of her head, plowing through her hair like a mouse shuffling under leaves. He takes a seat on the top of her golden tresses, still looking quite pleased, and she pays him no mind.

Rapunzel pauses at the word 'hume', looking confused. "Hume? I've never heard that word before. Do you mean human? That's what we call ourselves."

She shakes her head. "As for my hair, I'm pretty sure it's kind of unique. (Veryuniqueactually.) But I'm not royalty or anything like that," she laughs. "Nope just an average girl."

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield blinks at that and eventually shrugs at the lizard when it makes it's way back to it's owner. She looks over towards Deidra and nods slowly.

"That wouldn't be too far from the truth. I used to have a very nice laboratory actually. Full of all sorts of magical oddities...but it was outside the city that got transported here. It is now no more. I seek to rebuild it when I can..and make some use out of the things I find around here."

She turns back towards Rapunzel and snickers a little bit. "Oh...well yes. That's what they are called back where I used to live. Though I am finding that your kind are very popular everywhere, not just Ivalice."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra says "Humans are the dominate species on my world as all, there's so few Gargyoles we're thought of as a myth most of the time."

She smirks a bit one fang showing for a second.

"I don't feel like I'm a myth, I'm pretty sure I'm here. Still it does seem to be humans are prehaps the most common race I have encounted. Though on many worlds they seem to be far better dealing with non humans."

Rapunzel has posed:
Rapunzel smiles at the two girls as they speak among each other, clasping her hands behind her back as she does so. However, this sends a shock of pain lancing through her arm and she suddenly remembers the injury she sustained earlier. She can deal with it but she'll need some privacy. Strange creatures or no, she doubts her particular gift is anything but unique and she fully intends to keep it secret for the time being.

"Well... it was nice meeting you both! But I really need to get going. Things to do, hair to brush, you know how it goes."

The girl gives a bright smile and a wave before turning to head back towards the city, her lustrous hair in tow.