A lance of darkness spears toward Soul Reaver from one of the Siege Golem's eyes.  Unfortunately, Blooddrinker is currently caught half-way through a hulking Shaiton warrior, and Soul Reaver is unable to wrench the weapon out in time to deflect it.  He raises the palm of his gauntleted left hand instead and the beam strikes it full-on.

The Black Steel Gauntlets spark as the beam blazes into a dark corona from the point of impact.  Soul Reaver grits his teeth: even within the enchanted metal he can feel the skin on his hand blistering.  But he only needed that moment - Blooddrinker is pulled free with a wet sucking sound and the flat of the blade intersperses itself between Soul Reaver and the beam, its enchantments more than capable of withstanding the blast.

Over the screaming sound of the impact and the blazing darkness, Soul Reaver manages to see the green gases creeping toward him and hear Jharm's warning.  Even as Vee turns her attentions to the Golem attacking him, Soul Reaver closes his eyes and chants the words to a powerful Druidic spell.

The skies above fill with rolling black cloud... and a wall of air surges from behind Soul Reaver, whipping up debris and pebbles, carrying with it scattered drops of icy rain.  A magical storm blasts forward, whipping Soul Reaver's cape and hair in front of him, and, hopefully, driving the gas away from the Seraphim forces.

Then, there is a blinding flash and deafening boom as a bolt of lightning bridges earth and sky, spearing down onto one of the golem's outstretched hands!

Beneath his feet, the ground begins to tremble...

The wall of Shaiton defenses collapses under the barrage of sand and daemon, others being launched about by Phaerys' gravitational assault.  The siege golems are another thing though.  The two large figures lock their "gaze" on the Companions as they release something akin to a wailing screech.  The one focuses on Gulgrim before it is assailed by a veritable wall of various projectiles, its body shuddering as it endures the assault but not faltering.  Its eye gems pulse a briliant purple before thick purple beams blast out towards the Warboss, while at the same time the fingers of its hands spread out and plumes of thick green gas start to seemingly flow out of the green gems embedded in its palms.  The other golem turns towards Kitharsis and Soul Reaver.  One eye gem beam blasts out at Kitharsis while the other eye gem targets Soul Reaver as its palm gems also seep out the green gas.  The Shaiton around the golems seem unphased by the gas, but the few advancing Seraphs that it washes over clearly are not.  The angelic warriors scream out in pain as the toxic miasma seems to begin to burn their skin.  They drop their weapons, grasping at their throats and, those that arent immediately cut down by the Shaiton, collapsing to the ground spasming before going still.

The Seraphim growls at seeing this.  He extends a hand, a shield of light manifesting a few feet in front of him.  The gas flows against the shield, unable to pass through the shimmering surface, giving the Seraphs behind the shield time to retreat backwards.

"Seraphs, fall back!  Leave them to us!  My friends, do not let the toxin touch you!"

Vee meanwhile grimaces at the sight and shakes her head slightly.

"Gas warfare...I know the terror of it all too well."

Some text seems to briefly flash across her eyes before suddenly metal plates start to extend out from her chest armor, sliding upwards and over her head and downwards, under her boots, leaving her now fully encased in the suit, two dark blue glowing eye plates being the only discernible feature.  Her voice sounds altered, as if speaking through a mask or something.

"I suppose my lessons at home shall prove beneficial here."

She slips her hand cannons from their holsters as she seems to step backwards, vanishing into the shadows.  Appearing a moment later above the siege golem going after Kitharsis and Soul Reaver she lands on its head, both gun barrels pointing downwards as she unloads a barrage of rounds targetting its head and those eye gems.

Phaerys gave Jharm's suggestion due consideration. He gave a nod in response to the Seraphim, protectively cradling the seismic bomb in one arm and awaiting the signal to deploy.

"Understood. I shall do what I can."

When the klaxon sounded, Phaerys was hot on the heels of Kitharsis and Soul Reaver as they exited the Aisgeim. The siege golems' poison gas might not have concerned him, but the rays of darkness and their sheer bulk were still enough of a threat. He resolved to give them a wide berth if possible en route to the walls.

With a substantial breach already made in the Shaiton shield wall, Phaerys rushed in and lent his own aid to the assault. In ones and twos, several Shaiton soldiers parted company with the ground before being slammed back down to crush their fellows with amplified gravitic force. Phaerys carefully coordinated these impacts to help clear a path towards the fort itself.

The Ataran advanced along this path, mindful not to stray too far from his allies lest he get cut off from them. Any Shaiton who would have been near enough to lash out at his metallic form would find themselves also being used as improvised ammunition to break the blockade.

We've got agreement from everyone that the Battle Host's hiatus can be extended by another 2 months - it'll end on 26 February 2024.

Hello everyone,

I've spoken with Veldanya about their current situation and while it has improved, they would still appreciate if, as previously discussed, they could request to extend their 'hiatus' period by another 2 months - if you need a refresher on this, please see the previous poll and associated links: http://administorum.com/index.php?topic=643.0.

In short, this would mean Veldanya will continue to see a relaxation of the Inactive Battle Rules (see http://administorum.com/index.php?topic=501) and instead can post as little as they like for the set 'hiatus period'.

I will still remind them to post if their normal posting deadline (as per the Inactive Battle Rules) is coming up, but neither I nor anyone else will take any steps to move the story forward on their behalf if they do not post within the usual allowed timeframe.

We already agreed to a 2 month hiatus period in the previous poll, but that period has now expired.
This poll is to determine if we have majority agreement to extend it for another 2 months.
Everyone please vote so your voice can be heard.

If Veldanya later requires an extension to this period, it will be put up for another vote.