Shadowhaunt: The Black Crusade (Part III)

[Hanako]

Hello! This thread replaces the previous thread for this battle, which can be found at http://administorum.com/index.php?topic=349.0

Here is the last post from the previous thread:

As the group finds their way down the sides of the hill, they realize sheer height of the wall. From above it seemed much shorter, as the lower angle and the height of the hill made the walls seem reasonably defensive. But from the ground, gazing up, the walls extend for a good fifty feet or more into the air. Not the easiest to climb by any means. Father Rau takes a look up the sheer height of the wall and taps it with his staff, noting that it would be quite the fortress to assail in traditional warfare.

"That's why we're not attacking it traditionally." Grakul notes, drawing two of his strange weapons and moving along the length of the blackened wall.

Following behind the two Orcs spearheading the advance, the group can hear the sounds of the dragon's aerial assault above. The roar of flame, the blasts of explosive spells, and the loosing of many arrows into the sky. So far, the distraction appears to be working well.

"We'll likely be able to find some form of entrance around the back, something we can use to sneak in." Orgarash said aloud, drawing his greataxe from his back and carrying it ready at his side.

"There." Rau says, pointing his staff up as they reach a corner in the sprawling shape of the fortress's walls. One of the corners, rising up into the sky, seemed to open up into a window to the inside. Standing on the edge was a rather agitated looking sentry, a wight who seemed to be concerned with the events going on in the main courtyard but not wanting to abandon his post for fear of retribution.  As such he was looking away from the open balcony he stood upon, looking towards the front of the fortress as he idly tapped the heavy crossbow he held in his hands, his glowing gaze focused towards the commotion outside.

Enjoy!

[Veldanya Venalla]

The Dulluhan follows the Orcs, sliding his shield onto his left arm and grasping the hilt of his blade in his right hand, sliding the weapon from its scabbard.  He can hear that the distraction seems to be working so far, though who knows how much longer it would last.  They reach a corner of the wall and stop as Rau points upward.  A balcony is visible with a distracted wight standing upon it.  Vildayvins head floats off his shoulders and moves closer to the wall as if it is inspecting the masonry, its gaze flitting between the wall and the balcony above, speaking after a few moments.

"That is all well and good but how shall we dispatch the creature.....and more importantly....how shall we get up there?"

[Daccio]

As they stopped themselves on the corner of the fortress wall, Mizuki tilts her head back, looking up at the height.

“Hmmmmm” she seems to think to herself, silently calculating the distance. She glanced the the Dulluhan and back up to where the wight was. She tilted her head as Vildayvin spoke.

"That is all well and good but how shall we dispatch the creature.....and more importantly....how shall we get up there?"

She thought for a moment more before speaking quietly.

“Vildayvin, I am going to need you to throw me. I can jump high, but not THAT high.  It is time this dragon took flight” She turned to look at him, an idea clearly having been formed in her head.

She stretches a little, and steps back. It would be best to move quick, so as to not allow the wight the chance to raise the alarm.

“Get ready” She said to the dullahan. Mizuki pulled her spear straight up and down, readying it for flight as she waiting for the dullahan to prep to throw her. She watched as he cupped his hands into a stirrup for her foot. Nodding, she took a few steps forward.

“Watch your heads, in just a moment” she said before she jumped into the hands of the dulluhan, her boot settling in and her knees bending. She could feel the power that vildayvin had at his disposal as she suddely lurched upward. As Vil reached the top of the throw, She gritted her teeth and pushed off, with her [Jump] ability. Vil would feel incredible force being pressed back down into his arms as she rocketed off, her jump supplimented by his throw.

The wind whistled past as she shot upward, and she took her spear in two hands. As she shot up to where the wight was, her spear slashed out, slicing at its neck in an attempt for a kill with no noise. As she landed on the balcony next to him, her spear spun and was expertly placed in where the vitals would be in the chest, before she gave a yank. If everything went according to plan, she would silence the wight and throw it off the balcony before it knew what was going on.

(OOC)

[Kitharsis]

Wu reaches the bottom of the slope and falls in line behind the others.  He is stock silent as they approach the open window.

Mizuki rockets into the air with the assistance of Vildayvin.  Wu leans away ever so slightly to not get clipped by her rising form.

She executes her attack with precision, yet Wu shifts his stance in preparation for retribution from the sneak attack.

[Shadow Chorus]

The dragon lady's blade enters the enemy monster with a quiet SHINK, cutting off any words it might attempt to form and tumbling it from the balcony without a sound. Its impact with the ground made a dull thump, but one would suspect the noise was not loud enough to be heard from up the large walls of the fortress.

Before Yukimura are a pair of stone walkways proceeding to the left and right, forming a corner overlooking the interior of the fortress. With no railings or walls on the inside, the noble has a clear view of what appears to be one of the fortress's barracks. A large open room with various forms of lodging scattered about to accommodate the regular staff of the fortress. That said, with the distraction granted by the warlock and the dragon, the room itself was mostly empty. A handful of wights, no more than four, and a single lesser abomination, looking more like a shock trooper, similar to some of the ones in the crusade, rather than a massive hulk, like the one that had assisted in battling darkraven.

Down below, the rest of the group gathered and awaited Yukimura's signal, Orgarash pulling a rope and grappling hook from his shoulder as he looked somewhat impatiently towards the balcony Yukimura had just disappeared over.

[Daccio]

She freezes as the wight tumbles soundlessly from her blade to the ground below, listening intently for any signs of alarm. The only thing she heard was a quiet thump of the body hitting the ground from so far up. She did not think that the sound would carry any further in, so she was satisfied with the results. She began to study the troops left behind. Not much, and she could likely take them out without much trouble herself, but this was a focused mission. All of their troops must play their role.

She crouched to minimize her profile should any of the guards happen to look in her direction and waved down below for them to throw a grapple up and begin the ascent.

[Veldanya Venalla]

Vildayvin watches as the agile warrior flies up through the air and effortlessly cuts down the wight.  After a few moments, Yuki looks back over the edge and gestures to follow her up.  Orgarash launched a grappling hook skyward, the end latching onto the balcony.  The Duluhan sheathes his blade and slides his shield onto his back and grabs the rope in his hands, starting to pull himself up.  Even though he is a veritable wall of steel, the undead creature doesn't seem hindered at all as he deftly goes hand over hand up the rope, his dislocated head eventually zipping up next to Yuri as it gazes at her and then down the hallway in front of them, it's eyes flitting about chaoticly as always.  Eventually an ebony gauntlet appears over the edge and Vildayvin hauls himself up to his feet, immediately drawing his blade and shield once more and moves forward a few steps to ensure the others will be able to ascend without incident.

[Kitharsis]

Wu wastes no time in climbing up after Vildayvin.  He practically swims up the rope, climbing with such ease.

Upon reaching the balcony he swings over the rail and lands in a crouch.  A quick scan reveals the cut down guard was not the only enemy stationed here.  Fortunately the have not been alerted to their presence yet, but that will change soon.  Wu gathers his Chi, in preparation for the skirmish that is about to unfold.

[Shadow Chorus]

The rest of the small squad climb the walls after the group, taking up position in the now suddenly very crowded overlook. Spreading themselves out, Grakul and Orgarash begin to make their way along the walkway around the outside of this barracks. Looking around, they seem to be inspecting the area and surveying their potential opposition. Judging it to be a simple enough endeavor, Orgarash waves a hand toward the group, indicating toward the monsters in the center of the bunker in a signal that they should take care of them while the two of them proceed to move further around to the other side of the barracks, inspecting the area around them as they walk.

[Veldanya Venalla]

Following behind Grakul and Orgarash, the Dulluhan's disembodied head nods at the gesture to deal with the wights and abomination below.  Leaping down to the ground, icy air flows from within him and encases his armor, strengthening him against blows that will be incoming soon. Vildayvin's blade glints in the light as his eyes twitch between the creatures in front of him.

[Daccio]

Four wights and a single lesser abomination. This should be nothing to worry about, she thought to herself as they moved forward into the complex. They stopped just outside the barracks, and finally Orgarash waves a hand to signal them to take the enemies out.

She leaped down with Vildayvin, but instead of casting any of her defensive magic, she immediately went on the offensive. No sooner was her foot on the ground, than she pushed off again, directly at the four wights, figuring the less chance something has to give alarm, the less they would have to deal with.

   Like silent death she fell among them, the strip of Akavashi script fluttering on her armor, marking her as royalty, her blade spinning a blur, crucible steel cutting armor and flesh alike. She would throw herself at the enemies, allowing her natural grace and speed and training keep the enemies weapons from her, and hopefully give her the edge of surprise. She fully expected the others to back her up, as she had done for them before, so she committed fully.

[Radobe]

Moving with the rest of the party Rau watches as the Dulluhan and lady Yukimura engage the enemies. While the four wights don't seem formidable the abomination more then makes up for that. The priest has a hard time choosing which enemies to face, but he must act quickly and follow up on his team. He moves in the space created by Vildayvin's approach, holy energy gathering in his hands as he approaches. (Holy light(beam)) A golden energy ball takes shape in his hand and sparks begin to arc between it and the priest's skin. If any of the wights move to attack the winged dragon in their party or tried to flee, the creature's actions will be met with a blast of holy energy. Rau is counting on the Dulluhan's ability to hold back the abomination, but if that is not the case he will be ready to support him as well.

[Shadow Chorus]

The noble's blade sliced cleanly through the head of a wight, dropping it swiftly as she launched herself into the fray. Startled for a moment, the remaining creatures took a moment of surprise before drawing weapons and advancing, thoughts of raising the alarm apparently not on their minds. One Wight began marching toward Lady Yukimura, but noticed the priest drawing energy, and barely managed to shove himself aside as a blast of power surged past him, singing his flesh and burning away some of his armor beneath its power. Drawing a dagger from its belt, it hissed angrily and hurled the weapon at the priest before gripping its longsword in two hands and marching on the noble lady, its intended target.

Similarly, the other two remaining wights drew vicious looking longswords, one reaching for a shield while the other chose to draw a mace from a nearby rack for its other hand. Weapons in hand, they advanced upon Lady Yukimura, leaving the Abomination to handle the Dullahan.

While the stitched monstrosity was roughly only two feet taller than the average human, it had no shortage of raw muscle and flesh, and the creature's wordless grunts did not belie its intelligence. Simply reaching for one of the weapon racks and hoisting it above its head, it hurled the mass of steel and wood at the armored death rider before charging forward, heavy limbs swinging to attempt to strike down the smaller target.

The fight was joined, and meanwhile the two orcs continued to scout ahead while the party dealt with this obstacle.

[Daccio]

The wight’s head split open, blade slicing cleanly through as just for a moment, one could look upon the halves and see between it, so fast and clean the cut, before it all collapsed upon itself. She took great satisfaction of the look of surprise on the faces of the enemies. The Script fell flat against her armor, clearly marking who as she was, as if to taunt to the wights further. A grin crept along her face. She trusted her companions, so even as the wight hurled a dagger at her companion, she knew that they had all been chosen for this job, and should be able to defend themselves.

As the wights advanced, she let out a little chuckle, and threw herself into the fray. Her natural skill, her training, her instincts and the dragons aided her this day as she slid among the wights. Drawing her spear up, it flashed out in a spinning whirlwind of death. Sliding beside the wight with the longsword in two hands, she brought the spear up in an attempt to sever both its hands at the the wrist. The shaft of the spear swing around her and came around back under her arm in a nasty thrust at the wight with two weapons, before she jerked it back, attempting to impale the hopefully handless wight in the neck with the buttcap of her spear.

[Veldanya Venalla]

The Dulluhan moves to dodge the incoming projectile, his disembodied head floating down behind his back (otherwise he likely would have lost it).  A moment later the abomination crashes into Vil's raised shield.  The strength of the abomination succeeds in pushing the armored warrior backwards a few steps but then he regains his footing and pushes back against the larger creature putting the two into a veritable deadlock.  Vil's head floats up once more and after "re-seating" above his neck, opens its maw once more and blasts forth a gust of piercing icy wind at the abomination while at the same time he brings his sword arm down as he hacks and slashes at the brutish creature.

[Radobe]

Lady Yukimura's spear slices through the air and before the unlucky victim towards whom it is aimed makes a move, the blow connects and the party's enemies are diminished by one. Rau noted the masterful use of the spear, the young Akavashi clearly had plenty of training and experience in the use of the weapon. Unfortunetly, the Priests attempt to dispatch another foe were not very successful and he only manages to stop an advancing wight. To his surprise the singed creature manages a grunt, reaches for a dagger and tosses it his way. The ample motion the undead has put into the throw gives the holy man plenty of time to deftly dodge the projectile.

Having released the majority of the gathered energies earlier, the priest cautiously takes a few steps back and prepares for his next spell. Being behind the Dulluhan, however, he is almost hit by the flying weapons rack. A few drops of cold sweat appear on the priest forehead, as he glances at the Dulluhan. He shrugs and continues with the task at hand.

As soon as the wights are dispatched, the group will be able to have their full attention on the abomination and there is no better way for that to happen then to assist  their spear wielding comrade.

(Extreme conditioning) With very slight motion, Rau stretches himself, exhales and pulls off the hood of his leather armor. A quiet and soft chant began as he focused and drew the surrounding energies into himself. Light began to slowly seep out of the holy man until it engulfed him in a thin veil of light. Moments later the light shots out and latches on to the winged dragon. The effects can be felt instantaneously, the muscle's power and flexibility rises, making the already agile warrior even more so and with an added boost to her strength. Her mind clears completely and her focus rises even further. The light vanishes within her and the eyes of the Akavashi begin to shine slightly.

[Kitharsis]

Sun Wu waits and calculates the best approach to this situation.  Lady Yukimura leads the charge, spear striking with quickness and precision.  For a moment, Wu almost wishes he had learned the art of weaponry.  The current washes it away as soon as it rested upon his mind's shore.

With a grin Wu springs from the ground with Chi propelled steps.  Before reaching melee range, Wu plants his leading foot on the ground and rotates.  His other leg extends in a quick roundhouse kick.  He utilizes the molded Chi technique and extends the kick toward the dual wielding wight.  Once the arc of the kick completes he plants the kicking foot on the ground in front of him and launches in the the air.  Upon his descent he swings his opposite leg downwards in a powerful axe kick aimed for the wight's head.  The extended roundhouse kick should have knocked the wight off balance, making it a prime target for the full frontal attack.

[Shadow Chorus]

as the wight bearing shield and sword watches his allies fall before the combined assault of the Southern warriors, one's hands severed and head pierced, another tripped and crushed under the weight of crushing waves of Ki and strength, it begins to back away. There's a slight hiss in its throat as it turns and begins to make its way toward the door to the barracks, likely seeking to alert the rest of the keep.

Meanwhile, the Abomination batters at Vildayvin's shield. As the Dullahan's head breathes a cone of frost over him, the creature rears back, ice crystals forming across its form before being shattered under the assault of the black knight's sword. The creature however refuses to die at this moment, renewing its assault by bringing both fists down toward the knight. Unheeding of whether its attack connects, the abomination continues its motion and reaches down to the stone beneath it, ripping up the floor of the barracks and literally attempting to flip the ground out from underneath Vildayvin, hurling a chunk of the room itself at the knight and the Priest standing behind him.

The fight seemed to be drawing to a close, but the Abomination was not about to go down without a fight.

[Daccio]

The wights fall one by one to their combined strength. Mizuki feels twinges of the thrill of battle, though this is no real challenge. She appreciated veritable routes as much as the next warrior, but there was something so satisfying about meeting a worthy opponent bladestrike for bladestrike.

She spun, even as she yanked the buttcap of the spear out of the wights head. The dullahan was fighting the abomination and holding his own, and she could not let this last one get away to alert the rest of the keep. It might be fun to fight a horde of enemies, but she was not here for personal glory.

She spun the blade in a slow circle and took it in two hands, lifting it high over her head. With a small grunt of effort, she brings it down in a vicious two handed chop. At first it looks like she was striking at nothing, but as the blade slammed into the ground, runed crucible steel throwing up chunks of stone and ancient writing in a language forgotten spiraling her arms and spear, a ripple of energy exploded out from where her blade struck and hurled itself at full speed at the fleeing wight [Force Dragon]

[Kitharsis]

Sun Wu's axe kick connects, crushing the wight's head.  The monk lands on light feet and quickly turns his attention to the one attempting to flee.  He moves to strike, but Mizuki was already executing an attack.

The tide of the battle is pushing toward the Abomination.  It rips up the floor and hurls it at Vil and Rau.  Wu intends to take advantage of the Abomination's frenzied attack to strike.  Mizuki's attack was inspring.  He crouches low and builds chi all around him.  In an instant he dashes forward, a massive wall of chi rumbling behind him [Flash Flood].  With a yell he plants his feet and punches forcefully into the air.  The wave of chi rushes forward and crashes into the Abomination with a large amount of force.