2017-04-28: Come Hellion or High Water

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<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

Port Timney. By far one of the most important parts of the Kingdom of Addlehyde, this bustling port town has served as a center of commerce and trade across the continent for the region for many years now. Its prosperity shows, industrial and progressive and abandoning the simple, countryside aesthetic that the rest of the kingdom prides itself for, reeking of the importance of its role in the kingdom.

It is the sign of a city that has known peace for unabated years of progress and development. The sign of a city the least touched by the slow, desertifying decay of the world just otside their borders. Tranquil. Serene.

But these things never last.

Of late, alarm has been raised in the city of Port Timney; rumors and reports of increased accounts of aggressive attacks by local wildlife that have only increased day to day. Stories of animals that looked mad with anger, that destroy entire caravans in their mindless wrath, disrupting trade flow and brutally attacking any who get in their way, whether they be guardsmen, Drifters or even simple civilians. Efforts have been made; guard posts and patrols have redoubled, citizens have been encouraged towards other, (hopefully) safer routes, and the Adventurer's Guild has put out a call for any who would listen to hunt down and otherwise investigate these recent outcroppings of attacks.

Officials have done an excellent job in assuring citizenry that this is just a passing anomaly. That it is being handled by Adlehyde's knights. That the danger is being dealt with, even as they speak. So assured in their peaceful lives, many are content to believe that. That this is a blip. That this is getting better.

But it is not. And soon, they will have no choice but to confront that truth for themselves.

Evening is encroaching upon Port Timney today. The sun has sunk below the horizon save for a sliver, the sky above painted in the purple-blue spectrums of twilight as night begins its slow but inevitable approach. Aside from the lingering feeling of tension in the air, everything feels at peace. Traffic has waned in the city, many people have headed to their homes sooner rather than later, but everything is serene. Too much so. Discomfortingly so. Like being in the eye of the storm.

They can be felt, before they can be seen.

To those who have the gift of it, to those who have experienced and have grown accustomed to the touch of the spiritual, it is a chilling sensation that runs through the senses. Like having the hot blood in one's veins touched with ice water. Like having one's soul slicked in foul grease. The ill feeling of dirt and filth clinging to the senses, like bile in the back of the throat. Repugnant. There are some who know this sensation well. This budding, malevolent sensation.

It's the cusp of the storm, that off-feeling that only animals can usually feel before everything goes wrong. A blip of a sick, twisting feeling... before the appear. On the horizon. A whole host of animals of countless varieties, from wolves to wild boards to even seemingly harmless wildlife like squirrels and the fluffiest of bunnies, a divergent and bizarre variety of animals assembled like a tidal wave that just -crashes- into Port Timney with unnatural, unified purpose.

Soldiers try to fight them. But the soldiers do not know -what- they are fighting. Can't see the truth of them. The repulsive corruption that rolls off them like a sickening plague, that empowers them to tear through the patrolling guards as they start to pound against the gates of the city.

CRACK.

CRACK.

CRACK!

CRACK!

The soldiers stand no chance, and the bodies flung helplessly aside as the beasts break through the first of the gates and start trickling into the city proper is testament to this fact. Lanterns are knocked aside. Flames catch at crates. People start to run in terror as their peaceful lives are overrun by a chaotic inevitability. There is nothing natural to this. And while the soldiers cannot see, those with the sense to can perceive it all too clearly:

These animals are no longer animals. They are monsters, twisted to spiritual sight, black and violet vapors pulsating off them like waves of heat as their bodies twist and bend into horrific forms of rage and misery. If these were once peaceful creatures, now they are nothing but perversions.

They are Hellions.

And they have come to make their mark on Filgaia.

MISSION OBJECTIVES: Repel the Hellion swarm!


BONUS OBJECTIVES: Keep Lunata from being eaten by adorable, man-eating bunnies!

Hellion Horde has arrived.

DC: Hellion Horde switches forms to Hellion Horde!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise got a heads-up from her more scientifically-minded friend about this business with the animals. Hardly much for learning herself - though she's trying - she took the facts under advisement and made a point of wearing long pants along with her boots, breastplate and heavy seafarer's coat.

She'd set herself up at a tavern, doing her best to look casual while wearing a breastplate and carrying a large sword strapped over her back. It helped that she'd picked up a tall mug of mead and chatted up folks around the place while drinking. Drinking less than she normally does. After all, she was here to be alert, not to fall off the wagon.

And then, from outside, the screaming starts.

As patrons begin to flee towards upper floors, Talise goes the opposite way - pushing open the tavern door, she draws Rastaban and glances about, getting her bearings and listening to the sound of the screams not far away. The tall Beastwoman breaks into a sprint and breathes out a heavy, intent breath through her teeth.

She doesn't have to go far.

Blind to spiritual madness save for the subtle chord within her of Althena's blessing - which in itself wants to recoil a little, lending a sick feeling to the pit of her stomach - Talise can only take at face value what these things are. Mad animals of some kind. But ones Ida says may be... twisted, in some way.

She'd believe it. "Damn it, they didn't say it was this bad," she growls as she takes a step back, holding her weapon defensively as she reminds herself not to just jump in swinging.

She waits for just a few seconds more. Waits for some of the animals to come to her.

And then, with a growl, she steps forward, pivots, and swings Rastaban with both hands, attempting to cut some kind of insane deer off at the neck. Sorry, Bambi.

GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Hellion Horde with Ten Thousand Relentless Streams!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata is here, despite the warnings, despite the danger, for one simple reason.

A certain blonde lady sat at the Saloon and whispered, "I want mabo curry," to her.

That word has simply overtaken her in the last couple of days. She pored through tomes of culinary lore with Aunt Hilda in search of it. 'Mabo'. Just what on Filgaia is it? The word eludes the mind. It was not the Ellurian curries that have been brought over the decades by Baskar pilgrims that Aunt Hilda is used to. No, there was a different ingredient in it, an elusive one. And inquiring around, it rather seems like there's not anyone in all of Adlehyde who's heard of the word. But Timney, now, there's a different story...

Lunata is dressed in her travelling gear, consisting of a cute black cloak with a hood, speaking to a hunched-over woman sitting on a barrel on the side of Timney's pub establishments.

"Mabo... now there's a word I haven't heard of in a long time..."

"Y-you know of it, miss?!" Lunata gasps. "Please, tell me!"

There's a dangerous glint in her eyes. "One does not simply say, 'tell me', young girl. Within mabo, there is a dangerous union of culinary excellence that Filgaia has forgotten." She spits. "Look at them, content with their... fatback and their tepid Drifter foods! No, the fine art of mabo has truly been lost to Filgaia."

"W-where can I find it, then?"

"Seek the Lords of Cuisine, young Lunata," whispers the old woman. "They have fled from their thrones, seeking ever greater culinary heights..."

"W-wait, how do you know my--" she looks around, but suddenly the woman is gone. In her place is her signature, speaking faintly of deep legends: a single bay leaf.

"Was that... the Lady of the Bay?" Lunata gasps, holding the leaf up. But then, there is another problem.

What-- what is this sickening feeling? What's this... Lunata starts to hold onto her head and collapses to her knees. If there's one noteworthy detail about Lunata, it's that she has a rather high sensitivity to the spirits. And in turn, malevolence strikes her rather harshly. Ahh-- it's like my head is being... this pressure!

She trembles, staring towards the town gates and her eyes widen as she sees the incoming swarm. "W-wah... what-- what's going on?" she whimpers, staring towards the violent, enraged monsters. She can see their tendrils, so filled with hate and misery.

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

The rumors of animals behaving strangely had struck a chord with Sorey. He had heard of similar things before, and in his concern had decided to travel to the Port Timney area to see if there was anything he could do... or if his fears were well founded. Certainly there were a number of reasons why animals could be acting strangely that had nothing to do with Lunar, that was true.

But there was this nagging feeling...

And so Sorey had arrived and found an inn room, planning to stay in the area for a few days to figure out what was going on. He hadn't done a lot of research beforehand - recovering from the rather difficult run of the Berry Cave earlier in the week had laid him out for a bit - but he was fully intending to make himself more familiar with the situation as soon as they had settled in...

...except it seems that settling in is something that he's not going to have a lot of time for.

Sorey turns from where he is standing on the street, listening as the gate suddenly breaks into pieces under the onslaught of what appears to the naked eye to be a horde of various beasts. He stops for a moment... and his eyes widen.

"Are you two... seeing what I am seeing!?!" Sorey asks, his voice sounding somewhat choked.

"I don't know about Alisha - but I am. Hellions. All of those animals have been possessed by malevolence!" Mikleo states, pulling his staff out and leveling it at the oncoming horde.

Sorey pulls his own sword out, the wooden blade bursting into blue flame, and shouts, "Everyone, those are no ordinary animals! They've been possessed by a dark force! Be careful, they're far stronger they might appear - they're more like a pack of rabid wolves than what they look like!"

And with that Sorey hurls himself into the fray. His sword cuts an arc through the air, a billowing sheet of blue flame washing out towards several of the nearest animals. He has to focus - but if he can purify them, they should go back to normal and stop attacking people!

GS: Sorey has attacked Hellion Horde with Striking Fang!
GS: Sorey has completed his action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Ten Thousand Relentless Streams for 91 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Sorey's Striking Fang for 98 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

A FEW DAYS AGO

"I'm doing pretty good keeping it from having anything to do with me so far. I'd rather keep it that way. With any luck the Shepherd won't drag any of these folks into his uphill fight." Dezel says, lying on his back as he chats with Ragnell. No, really, he'd rather Rose not keep frequenting someone who might bend her away from her current ideals.

EARLIER TODAY

"Alright! We're off to Port Timney!" Rose declares to a slew of hired adventurers from the Adventurer's Guild, while a few nondescript Sparrowfeathers like her prepare the caravan for the trip. The trip is boring and uneventful, and before long they've picked up the several crates of mystery ingredients Jay needs for her potions. Dezel stays behind because Port Timney is not that far, what could go wrong.

SLIGHTLY LESS EARLIER

The caravan and its guards depart Port Timney again. Timing could not have been worse. Animals come in from every side, animals that Rose and her merchant peers can't discern from regular ones at all. Oh, they look hostile alright, but they're just animals to them. Angry animals who are taking out city guards. Oh no.

"Well! That's... not good. Take the caravan back into town!" she instructs the Sparrowfeathers, as the horses are making a lot of unfriendly noises indicating panic and a decreasing likelihood of cooperation. The caravan turns around, and Rose hops off, unsheathing both of her knives to hold as many of them as she can from pursuing her shipment. The sight of someone trembling even moves her. Rose dives to stand alongside Lunata, seeing a bit of herself years ago in the whimpering.

"Hey, don't stay out here! Or stick to some of us, I don't think those things are going to discriminate when they reach us!"

Sorey's there, at least. Rose is glad for that. Her knives shine, and she slashes in front of herself, sending twin fangs of energy along the ground into the animal horde.

GS: Rose has attacked Hellion Horde with Double Demon Fang!
GS: Rose has completed its action.
GS: Hellion Horde guards a hit from Rose's Double Demon Fang for 54 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Rosaline Calice may have a lot of things on her plate right now, but when the Adventurer's Guild put out a call for help, she answered it, and dragged a friend along too. Once again, everything happens for a reason.

Rosaline's ears perk up. Her tail tenses with the rest of her. She sniffs the air. She feels uneasy and it's only growing worse. Is it because of some spiritual attunement, or rather her bestial nature? Does it matter?

She runs for the city gates, which sensible people are fleeing and people like her are heading towards. Chaos. Someone she doesn't know is shouting about a malevolent force. Someone is just standing there.

"P-Please get to safety!" she says in Lunata's direction, placing herself between the woman and the animal horde. She draws her submachinegun ARMs and begins firing wildly, her eyes closed, screaming and crying a little the whole time.

GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Hellion Horde with Esdras and Judith!
GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Rumors traveled quickly. Trouble was on the rise. Jacqueline caught wind of this, heard the call to provide aid. She came with her wagon full of supplies, which was currently secured further into town.

She had also been in the tavern at the time, when the warning bells started to ring. At the same time, she feels a faint...prickling, at the back of her neck. A warning of danger soon to come.

It wasn't something she had experienced before, and was a weaker sensation than those who knew exactly what they were feeling might experience - but it was there.

She takes a deep breath and stands from her chair, checking her pouch of Crests and her bag of potions to make sure she was fully equipped for battle.

It wasn't her specialty, but she certainly wasn't going to sit around and let this town get attack.

She leaves the tavern, and sees-

"Lunata!?" Jacqueline says, confused. "What in the world are you doing here!?" She wasn't angry, but she was concerned and afraid for her safety...but there was no time for that right now!

She draws forth a Crest and invokes it. Chunks of rock are ripped from the ground and hover for a moment before being sent flying into the horde of animals.

Animals with...faint, barely-visible mutations. Huh.

She blinks and they vanish, but she focuses and there they are again, visible.

It was a good thing she'd been informed of the existence of invisible things...or maybe it wasn't. Time would tell!

GS: Hellion Horde takes a glancing hit from Rosaline Calice's Esdras and Judith for 35 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Hellion Horde with Rubble-Rouser!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde guards a hit from Jacqueline Barber's Rubble-Rouser for 56 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Ragnell rolled into Port Timney a couple of hours ago, having hitched a ride on a boat. Having no particular need to get back to Adlehyde in a hurry, she'd opted to stroll around the place, watch the humans, smell the ocean breeze, see if anyone she knows pokes up their head--or if anyone otherwise interesting makes an appearance. And, perched on top of the roof of one of the taller buildings in the area so she has a sufficiently excellent view, she relaxes.

Well away from the city limits where the flood of Hellions pours in, Ragnell's first clue that something is amiss is that sense of the malevolent. Being a Seraph, it's something that immediately rakes against her senses like claws on a chalkboard. She sits up, head snapping towards the clash between soldiers and wildlife, and sees those fluffy bunnies (and squirrels, and boars, and wolves, and so on) for what they are: monsters.

With a low noise deep in her throat, Ragnell hops up to her feet, twin pistols in hand, and runs along the roof towards where the swell of beasts crashes into the city. She hears Sorey yell a warning and sees him leap into the fray with Mikleo not far behind, then twirls one of her guns in thought. Then she opts to cast a Seraphic arte into the crowd of monsters, a bolt of lightning to tear down towards one of the hellions not far from the Shepherd. She doesn't leap down into the streets, but she also doesn't hide herself from anyone who might be able to see her.

Ragnell also spots, among the various combatants stepping up to repel the horde, the Sparrowfeathers caravan on her way--but doesn't see Dezel with it. She snorts, shaking her head. She *knew* things would turn out this way, even if it was just a coincidence. But it looks like it might be fine; Rose, it turns out, has a bit of edge to her... literally.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida is in Port Timney through the simple expedient of trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Since mail takes time, she figured the best way to determine what was going on was to come here herself, despite the risks. Talise and Jay have been helpful at mitigating them--Jay's an apothecary, after all, and Talise is a warrior. Presumably once they figure out what the aforementioned hell is going on, they can pool their talents and put a stop to it.

Ida is in the library, looking over an enormous treatise on animal diseases, when the screaming starts. Her head snaps up, and while she lacks the spiritual skill to sense anything off, a chill runs down her spine. A minute later, she's bolting out the door, a pistol already in her hand. Her eyes widen a little as she sees the tide of flesh and fur pouring into the street. That's really what it feels like--a flood, a force of nature. Are these things rabid, or is--?

Sorey! Ida looks at the young man, who apparently sees something in them beyond the obvious. "The work of Valmar?" Ida says. The word is practically an oath, though Sorey probably has no idea what it means. "This is--" If this is the work of Valmar, of wickedness, then she must stop it. That's what her mother risked her life to do. There is no time to meditate on the point further; Ida snaps into focus, raising her revolver and taking careful aim at a wolf that looks like it's aiming to take a chunk out of Talise.

BANG

One shot, one kill. Hopefully. Ida's not sure she can manage better efficiency than that.

GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Hellion Horde with Bolt!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

The plan, such that it was, had been relatively simple: head over to Port Timney and take a look at what was going on, see if it was worth poking into for the potential payment on the line, and then decide accordingly. Sure, it meant Josie would delay her expedition plans a bit, but that was perfectly fine if it meant some potential easy money coming in.

The city's not far now. "So, let's check in with the Adventurer's Guild first, and then we can make a plan, okay?"

Penelope feels it first, the pigeon clearly agitated where she perches on her shoulder. Feathers fluffing out in perhaps some sort of threat display, it's about here that Josie pauses, glancing over at the bird. "Hey, what're you--..." She shudders, one eye squinted halfway shut, and grimaces. "...Felt like someone just walked over my--"

Now that, that thing that slams right into the gates, not far ahead -- she's never seen anything like that before. Stock still, even Josie has to stop and stare.

Before breaking into a run. "C'mon!" she calls to Lily, drawing her rifle from its holster as she charges towards the back of the maddened horde. There has to be some cover somewhere, just so she can stop and-- There. It's not great, but the waymark will have to do. Using the stone as cover, she takes aim and fires.

GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Hellion Horde with Gawain XR57 Mod!
GS: Josephine Lovelace has completed her action.
DC: MISS! Hellion Horde completely evades Bolt from Seraph Ragnell!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Josephine Lovelace's Gawain XR57 Mod for 95 hit points!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Hellion Horde with Revolver Shot!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde guards a hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Revolver Shot for 57 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

A simple plan is often a good plan, as far as Lily is concerned. She remembered what Josie called this little expedition... And shakes her head as she does, walking along in black with her dark hair blowing in a breeze behind her. Money is important enough in any line of work, but especially when living on the run.

But she hasn't been back to Port Timney since a certain someone drove her out.

"Right," the ex-soldier agrees with Josie, turning her way. It might seem that she would say more, but she doesn't; she can save those words for the coming planning. Except...

Lily looks at Penelope, too, and lifts an eyebrow. "is something..." A pause. Lily glances around. "What...?" But she can't identify what the feeling is, can't even call it awful.

"On it!" Lily answers, and starts pumping her legs and arms to join Josie. She gets her own cover around the waymark. "Damn, I wish I had my rifle..." She mutters to herself and closes her eyes. She has a lot of questions. ...A lot of questions. But she darts out from behind cover and her hand ignites in a circle of strange red energy that accompanies a burst of fire at the horde.

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Hellion Horde with Hearthblaze!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Rosaline's friend happens to be Xantia. Naturally, she is eager to take on jobs that involve punching things, it's not the first time she goes on a mission like this. This is her strong suit, the way she can most easily make money!

She wasn't expecting the problem to come to them, however. She just... well, she has to stare a bit. Needing to deal with rabid animals, sure, but this... this is a bit much. She can't actually perceive anything out of the ordinary at first glance, though she does have an odd feeling about this that she can't place.

That's when she hears a familiar voice shouting about possession by a dark force. It's been some time since she heard that voice, and it hasn't come up since, but Xantia's done with forgetting things - she remembers what Sorey talked about perfectly. Her head swings around to look in his direction, wondering aloud, "So you mean... these are Hellions?"

That actually makes things more difficult. She remembers, about Hellions being possessed, unable to help what they're doing, but able to be turned back to normal somehow. Is it right to go all-out in that case? On the other hand, they're hurting innocent people. She can't waver. She vows to make sure that they didn't die for nothing.

By already making plans to eat them afterwards. Of course.

All doubts are already gone by the time Xantia charges in, striking any and all animals in reach with the flat of her palm, with enough force to send them right back in the opposite direction. And not looking like she ever had any doubts about this at all, she appears to be enjoying herself just fine.

GS: Xantia has attacked Hellion Horde with Palm Strike Barrage!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

"Whoah, whoah there." Gwen is, of course, at Port Timney. Deliveries still needed to be made, even with the threat of animals plaguing caravans, tradesmen, and Drifters alike. But what's a few monsters or whatever to someone with an ARM? Gwen can handle it.

Except, when she gets into the safe confines of Port Timney with her trusty horse Gulliver, her cart trailing behind, the horse does something unexpected- it begins to nod his head nervously, flaring his nostrils and, when Gwen tries to direct him to a space, begins to rear. That's not a good sign. That's the sign of a distressed horse, The last time he ever did that, there was a massive duststorm on the way. If Gwen had gone forward from the town, she would have likely gotten lost in the storm. Possibly died, even, as the Badlands was not a place to be reckless when it came to weather. Now he's doing it again, but the skies show no hint of any sort of storm larger than a sprinkle of rain. A hurricane, maybe?

Getting off her horse, Gwen's attention is brought to the collapsing Lunata. "Hey, you alright over there? What's up?"

That's when she sees them. Looking up at the horde of animals, Gwen balks. "What... what the heck is going on with those?!" She rubs her eyes. "That's... what... This ain't real!" Dark... tendrils. Mist. Why's it coming off them? What even is this?! THANKS FOR NOTHING, RAGNELL.

"W-wait, maybe it's magic, or something... Rosaline!" The courier calls at the cat nun as she comes in with cover fire. "My cart's over there! I'm gonna get this girl back there and get Gulliver behind it! Cover me!"

<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.

Alisha came with Sorey, of course. The Shepherd's journey is her journey -- at least until they find a way back to Lunar, after which point, it turns more complicated -- but this would have made her come regardless. She stops a little behind him, and her eyes widen as she sees a horde of animals that...

...looks like a horde of animals.

She feels it in her bones. The unearthly chill; the cloying, too-sweet smell of sickness. Like the eerie cold of the grave and the rot of a stinking battlefield, all rolled into one. "No," she answers Sorey, "I don't see it. But... I know what it is, all the same!"

She swings her spear off her shoulder, then points it out. She sucks in a deep breath, then looks to where the Sparrowfeathers' wagon is. Her eyes widen, then she calls out. "Rose!" she yells. "These--these aren't ordinary animals! You should get your people behind us!"

And then the princess leaps. She jumps into the air, spear spinning in her hands, and comes down for one of the affected boars -- and slams her spear down to pierce into it from above as she lands.

GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Hellion Horde with Rending Strike!
GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Hearthblaze for 46 hit points!
GS: Lily Keil takes Cover! She gains 50 temporary hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde guards a hit from Xantia's Palm Strike Barrage for 55 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde critically Guards a hit from Alisha Diphda's Rending Strike for 19 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


Port Timney wasn't exactly the friendliest place for Hiro. He'd heard the rumors of course, even wanted to lend a hand, but the last time he was here the Church of Althena set them up in a glorious disaster that led to them almost being run out of town on a rail. Still. They had to come through from the port from time to time, to take advantage of some of the shipping lanes to Centour.

That's why he's here today at least, in the port. Though he'd intended to give the town proper a wide berth. A fact one being is quick to point out to him-

"Listen to sense Hiro! We, are, not, welcome, there!"

Which is why his face was currently squished between pink pawsies from the eye level flying cat who is maybe a Red Dragon in the middle of an alleyway.

Hiro stared her in the eyes for a while, before slowly allowing- "I understand that Ruby but there's just- something's not right. It's like when you get this sense that a bad storm is coming? Only it isn't a storm."

Ruby slowly removed her paws from his cheeks, glowering for a moment before, "Alright- alright fine. But at least disguise yourself alright?"

Hiro gets this little grin before agreeing, "Sure Ruby."

~Now~

"I really think Zed is wearing off on you a little too much." "What gives you that impression?" Maybe it's the fact that he looks exactly the same, save that his long orange scarf had been unwrapped- then moved up to tie around his face and neck like a bandana. It even still had the tear Alisha had put in it. That was the entirety of his disguise. "No rea- hey what's that noise- whoa!"

That's when the two of them catch sight of Shepherd in the middle of the street, sword alit with blue flame, alongside the Princess Knight, and others. And for a moment the pair are stunned at the sight of them, charging into the chittering, ravenous horde with black mist and tendrils. Ruby starts to look Hiro's way, and says quickly, "You're not going out t-"

There's a dotted outline where Hiro once stood. "Eh!? You idiot!"

Because he's standing just a little further out in the street. He juts out a hand, whispering a chant before, "Ferocious winds!" The winds pick up into a cutting funnel of slashing gale force winds, descending to slam into the hellion animal ranks.


GS: Hiro has attacked Hellion Horde with Vortex!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
GS: Hellion Horde guards a hit from Hiro's Vortex for 58 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.

The dire portents and eerie signs of something amiss near the bustling city of Port Timney are reasons for most reasonable people to stay well away as a throbbing undercurrent of threat and menace oozes in the air. The smart batten down the hatches and have already made their way out of the city. The unfortunate are the ones caught in the tidal force of malevolence that crashes upon the city in a gnashing, roiling, screeching wave of fangs and talons and fwippy little bunny ears.

So what category do you fit into if the seething threat of violence and the overwhelming danger is what drew you here in the first place?

I suggest: idiot. Maya Schrodinger is an idiot. She's also immediately kicking open a window from a second-story building that she's been holed up all day in, and hurls a lit stick of dynamite into the midst of a throng of monsters that oestensibly might be threatening someone.

  • PARTY TIME*

The blonde drifter also pulls a bloody ridiculously-sized revolver from her shoulder holster and hollers at the few familiar faces in the street she can see. "Hiro! Gwen! What the hell's goin' on out here? I can barely hear myself think!"

The dynamite, almost an afterthought, explodes. A goofy punctuation mark to her sentence in the form of a rumbling blast and sharp crack, a plume of dust and flame because your action scene needed an explosion to bring the ratings. Maya S, y'all.

GS: Maya Schrodinger has attacked Hellion Horde with Heroine Fool SHOTTO!!
GS: Maya Schrodinger has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde critically Guards a hit from Maya Schrodinger's Heroine Fool SHOTTO! for 16 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde has posed.

They are mindless. And they are relentless. With a single-minded madness, the Hellions tear through the gates in splintering would and broken bodies, trampling even over their own kind without hesitation as others flag behind. They do not notice, nor care. They seem to have but one goal in mind, if it can even be called as such:

Absolute, and utter bedlam.

Port Timney is not prepared for this kind of incursion -- and certainly not of a variety like this, a variety they can scarcely understand. People panic, and soon they are fleeing through the streets just as madly as their pursuers. Flames from blown over lamps billow outwards, consuming everything in their path -- and the fear and panic and confusion and chaos that grip the citizens just seem to feed the beasts, make them more wild and more ravenous...

... and making that ill, bloated feeling that rolls off them like a plague swell all the more substantially.

It is Talise who makes the first move of those assembling to try to stem the wild tide of monstrosities pouring through the front gates. The Rastaban sings, and that deer, twisted into a horned abomination to the spiritual sight, cleanly has its devilishly horned head cleaved straight from its long, craning neck in a spray of noxious blood. But it's far from alone; where one falls, two more take its place, wild-eyed hawks descending from above with impossibly sharp and devilish talons intending to gauge their Beastwoman prey within their relentless, swooping assault.

Is is those blue flames that roar outward in a billowing sheet, though, that make the strangest of impacts. Flames roll through those creatures -- and to those who can see, seems to just -burn- that toxic mutation straight from the Hellions' hides. Those inflicted with those tongues of flame seem to revert to normal, confused and adrift and attempting to bolt as soon as possible -- but there are many more who swarm in all the same, including a massive, horned boar that looks to just -impale- its malevolence-wreathed tusks, furious gaze glowing a violent red.

The rest are attack whoever and whatever they can find, goring and mauling -- and Lunata, well... as much as she can see them, those Hellions can see her. Spiritual presence goes both ways, and the mutated abominations of creatures turn their ravenous gaze upon her. One, looking like some sort of a warped peacock, lunges at her -- only to have that rock pierce through it from Jay, subsequent gunfire from Rosaline tearing through it until it falls, lifelessly steaming malevolence, to the ground. It has barely hit earth before a furious pack of wolves, literally -on fire- to the resonant senses, barrel through -- attempting to maul both Jay and Rosaline with blazingly insidious claws for daring to interrupt their meal.

Such irritated wrath isn't just reserved for them, though; the beasts lash out at everything to get their scornful attention. Lighting scorches through the air near the Shepherd, and the beasts leap back and away from it before it can strike -- hopefully, providing an opening for others to capitalize on in the form of Ida's gunfire, felling one of the retreating monstrosities. From the horde, a massive gorilla-like creature, tendrils of darkness flailing behind it, bounds towards Ragnell, leaping high through the air in an attempt to just -mash- its fists into her from overhead.

<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde has posed.

But for as mindless as these creatures seem, they do not all resort to such simplistic, brutal tactics. Behind them, those seemingly innocent, seemingly adorably fluffy squirrels, all hang toward the back... spiritually-wrought horns crackling with malevolence as they begin to use the very corrupt energies that run through their veins now to weave magic. Malevolence crackles through the air in tongs of mind-bending, sickening violet light, spherical orbs of curse-laden power blasting from those adorable critters for Ida and Josie beyond as the latter peaks out from her cover, shooting down one of those casting squirrels -- and the former burns a dangerous swath of magical wrath through the front lines of the hordes, incinerating several even as many more barrel through their burning carcasses without a second thought.

Xantia, at least, seems dedicated towards making sure the beasts suffer as briefly a possible, those powerful martial blows sending many of them flying like ragdolls as many more drop down upon her, aiming to attempt to tear into her relentlessly. It's probably for the best she doesn't voice aloud that intent to eat the malevolent critters. Or hopefully, doesn't get the chance to try. Barbecued Hellion is probably the least healthy thing in the world.

Probably tastes delicious, though. Malevolent BBQ.

Meanwhile, Alisha's spear comes down hard -- but the hide of that boar is surprising thick, threaded with layer after layer of condensed malevolence that now makes up its flesh, its muscle, its bone and sinew. Blood sprays from the wound; it likely won't last much longer. But the beast still retaliates, aiming those horrifying malevolent tusks for her to gore her with a wild and rabid lack of mercy if she doesn't respond quickly enough. Just as that swing of its tusk finishes, Rose's energy fangs cleave into it, carving it viciously and sending it tumbling in a bloodied, lifeless mess... before what looks like a wild, vile skunk leaps past it, with every intention of pouncing upon Rose with a violent and single-minded purpose to tear into her with those angry claws and slavering jaws.

None have more dramatic an entrance than Maya, though. Truly amazing, those explosions rip through and consume the Hellions in an explosive, rippling blast of heat and force and TNT that makes for a dramatic backdrop for the woman that would surely be remarkable --

-- if not for the burning baboon that bursts boisterously from the flames not moments later, set alight and looking to tackle into Maya just seconds after her yelled questions fill the air with every intention of just trying to brain her. Unpleasant. Truly, truly unpleasant.

Where many more bound, looking to tear through the fleeing civilians, the MYSTERIOUS VIGILANTE X is on the case; vortexing winds sweep up several of those beasts within their slashing funnel, crashing through them and sending them flying through the air... air which is soon filled with the sights of glowering, glowing-eyed pigeons, looking armored in the most chilling of ice to the spiritual eye and all of them descending upon Hiro in a flock of flaying talons and biting beaks. They are tiny, and endlessly horrendous.

None so tiny and adorable, however, as the little rabbit that lands right in front of Lunata and Gwen as the other woman tries to help her. To even the spiritual sense, it looks like a perfectly normal, albino bunny. Adorable, white-flurred, cuddly. Until its lips peel back, and row after row of lamprey-like teeth reveal themselves. And wings sprout from its back. And--

-and oh god the terrible, adorable thing is lunging -right- for Lunata and Gwen with flailing clawed bunny paws and all-consuming teeth frothing with countless nameless horrors as its mouth opens as if it were unhinging its jaws. That is probably not good.

And through it all, atop the gates, something watches. Quietly, without interfering with the affairs of others, far enough to barely be a blip upon the stone walls of the port's gates, a knight in white watches, faceless mask full of nothing less than neutral judgment for the people that struggle below. They do not try to help. They do not try to hinder.

They just observe. Cold, and thoughtful.

GS: Hellion Horde enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Talise Gianfair with Death From Above!
GS: Hellion Horde enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Sorey with Corruptive Claw!
GS: Hellion Horde enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Corruptive Claw!
GS: Hellion Horde enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Rosaline Calice with Corruptive Claw!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Hellion Rush!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Maya Schrodinger with Hellion Rush!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Lunata Croze with Hellion Rush!
GS: Rosaline Calice takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Corruptive Claw for 74 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Rosaline Calice!
GS: CRITICAL! Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Death From Above for 64 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Talise Gianfair!
DC: MISS! Maya Schrodinger completely evades Hellion Rush from Hellion Horde!
GS: Sorey critically Guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Corruptive Claw for 26 hit points!
GS: Jacqueline Barber takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Corruptive Claw for 68 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Jacqueline Barber!
GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Hellion Rush for 30 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Death From Above!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Mindflayer!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Lily Keil with Decay!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Alisha Diphda with Corruptive Claw!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Rose with Corruptive Claw!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Xantia with Corruptive Claw!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Death From Above for 99 hit points!
GS: Lunata Croze takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Hellion Rush for 30 hit points!
DC: MISS! Josephine Lovelace completely evades Mindflayer from Hellion Horde!
GS: Lily Keil critically Guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Decay for 15 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Death From Above!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Hiro with Death From Above!
GS: Hellion Horde has completed its action.
GS: Rose takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Corruptive Claw for 74 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Rose!
GS: Hiro critically Guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Death From Above for 18 hit points!
GS: Xantia takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Corruptive Claw for 147 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Xantia!
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

The violence starts to fly around her -- Talise sweeps up and just about chops a deer in half with her swordplay, and a lady she doesn't recognise sweeps next to her to blast a number of the critters away with energy. Unfortunately, each and every blow -- each and every cry just seems to cause more pain in her head. It's like she can feel it, intuitively -- their death cries, their last yelp of surprise as they collapse and their souls... fade.

"I--I know...!" Lunata answers desperately, understanding that she needs to take cover, but she can even barely walk right now. It was as if this negative energy -- this malevolence -- was taking a grip over her, clawing away at her very being with its oppressive nature. She hears Jay, slightly in tears as Rosaline takes hold and brings suppressing fire, taking down the peacock that was heading her way. She gasps and whimpers, another tear rolling down her eye. It hurts -- it hurts...

"I'm sorry, I wanted to get ingredients--" she hics again, cupping her mouth. She sounds rather physically ill all of a sudden, sick to her stomach. The battle continues to rage in front of her, now with magic being folded into the mix. "There's something strange about those animals, I can see it..."

Sorey and Mikleo -- who she doesn't even recognise is a Seraph -- shout their warning, which prompts her to ask, "Malevolence? Is that what it is? This strange, dark mist hovering over them, like a shroud... I can hear it-- I can hear their misery. It's like they're being tormented... but by who?"

Trembling still, Lunata closes her eyes, clutching her hands together to her chest. She takes deep breaths and starts to focus. While still standing in the midst of danger. The thick, intoxicating presence of malevolence was overwhelming her, she's trapped in the animals' own gaze back towards her. The bunny rushes at her, but she's poised, deep in her spiritual focus.

Lunata is untrained, and has barely idea what she's doing, but a lot of this is... intuitive in nature, isn't it? She tries to reach out, beyond the physical veil, just a little... she's closed her eyes, but tried to open her mind's eye. Could she try to see if there's some source behind bunny's anger? Reach out to one of them. Try to empathise what it's feeling. Gaze into its soul, just a little...

...and then the bunny grazes her, and she flails and whimpers as she gets a cut on her arm. "A-aaah, oww, that hurts, Mister Bunny!"

Lunata: More puff than tuff.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Death From Above for 51 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey isn't going to say what he is thinking at this point - that this world, which has so long been free of malevolence, has suddenly seen an onset of Hellions like this because the Lord of Calamity is here.

But he is definitely THINKING it. He is thinking it so very hard.

"I don't know anything about this Valmar, but these look like Hellions - monsters that appeared back on Lunar," Sorey calls to Ida. He levels his sword, the blue flame still covering its blade as he fends off one of the many beasts rushing towards him. One lashes out, but Sorey whirls his sword and knocks it away in a single motion. "They're possessed by malevolence - it's a dark curse that twists people and creatures into unnatural mockeries of themselves... but its normally not visible to the naked eye, much like Seraphim!"

Even in the middle of a fight, Sorey is trying to explain. At the top of his lungs, so people can hopefully gain some appreciation for what he at least thinks he is seeing.

But they can't actually BE Hellions? Hellions didn't exist here, because there was no malevolence. And yet... and yet...

He hears Lunata call to him, and Sorey looks in her direction. He sees Rose, and others - people he knows, and people he doesn't. So many standing against this threat. It does lift his heart to see people banding together - even if this many people fighting means the animals are going to die rather than be purified.

It means he just needs to try harder. Be stronger.

"I don't know the specifics, Lunata, but I think..." And Sorey brings his sword down, another wash of flame erupting out of it and blasting into the corrupted animals. He focuses his being, his soul, into the strike - to save as many as he can...!

And then through the horde he spots someone, joining in the fight. And Sorey's eyes widen... and narrow.

Hiro. ...was it just a coincidence that one of the Lord of Calamity's companions was here...? "Alisha, that's..." he starts, and then remembers her coming back a few weeks ago, battered after a fight with someone. "...good!" Sorey finishes. "We need to keep them as contained as we can!"

GS: Sorey has attacked Hellion Horde with Blue Flame Blade!
GS: Sorey has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

"It looks like it!" Rosaline answers back to Gwen. She isn't seeing the tendrils, not precisely, but she's definitely sensing that there's something horribly wrong with those poor creatures. She hates having to shoot them, but it seems they really have no choice. "A-All right! Thank you!" Lunata is talking about Malevolence and Xantia is shouting about something called Hellions, too, which sounds like something she'll want to ask about later... if she doesn't become bunny feed right now.

There is a dynamite explosion. Rosaline shrieks at the sound, covers her eyes with her arms at the sight. A moment later, she's jumped upon by a pack of wolves, tearing at her habit and her flesh. She screams, pulling both triggers on her ARMs at once...

And a moment later, she's slipped out of their grasp, and bounds off straight for the back row. With Lunata out of harm's way (she thinks? she hopes!), she can focus on helping other people out.

She's wounded, feeling ill for reasons she doesn't quite understand, but spies, in the distance, someone who bit more than the could chew, and looks far worse off.

"TALISE!" she lets out, rushing for her friend, holstering her ARMs to clutch at the crest-bearing cross slung around her neck. "O innocent one, may thy sins be cleansed," she incants, bathing the half-beastwoman in holy light and, hopefully, getting her back up to her feet, at least.

GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Talise Gianfair with Thy Sins be Cleansed!
GS: Rosaline Calice takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action.
GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Rosaline Calice's Thy Sins be Cleansed for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Rosaline Calice clears debuffs from Talise Gianfair!
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

There's no room to cover Lunata. Rose is happy to see everyone dive in to cover the seemingly helpless, whimpering person, but there's too many animals! She's struggling to even acknowledge Alisha's comment, and distracted as she is by Lunata suddenly acknowledging Malevolence and saying she can see it (while Sorey all but confirms the facts), Rose ends up with a demonic skunk in her face. Well, she can't tell it's demonic, but she can guess at this point.

She's fast on her feat, the only saving grace that keeps her from getting torn to shreds. The skunk's claws dig in barely, leaving a triple streak of red across one of Rose's cheeks as she manages to sidestep in such a way that, at least, it isn't Lunata ending up with the skunk on her.

Now she's crying. Rose is in serious mode! "Don't apologize! Hey, I'm here to get ingredients for someone too, nobody could've predicted this!" If there was more breathing room Rose'd be more than happy to help cheer Lunata up, but there's that skunk still glaring at her and ready to pounce again.

Rose speeds up, like the wind is carrying her. She can't notice that Lunata seems to be reacting to the damage caused to the animals, not in this chaos. Not ignorant as she is to what Malevolence even is. Her knives twirl in her hands, and for a moment she starts slicing so quickly she's almost producing afterimages.

She's going to carve that skunk up from every direction, and then turn her wrath towards the rabbit that hit Luana if she can spare it. It's good this is enough of a mess she can't notice things like Ragnell's lightning, that would be a terrible distraction.

GS: Rose has attacked Hellion Horde with Thousand Swords!
GS: Rose takes 10 damage from Poison!
GS: Rose has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Sorey's Blue Flame Blade for 83 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Rose's Thousand Swords for 163 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

Got one. That means they only have... quite a few of the animals left, actually. "No idea what this is," Josie comments off-hand, eyes on the horde at the gates as she prepares to take another shot. "...Lost your rifle, huh? Too bad, could be handy now... We'll want to get in close, into the city if possible. Out here--"

Josie leans backwards suddenly, swinging hard back behind her makeshift cover. A crackling orb smashes into the waymark stone, taking a huge bite out of the rock. Shards dance through the air as Josie surges forward, away from what remains of the stone. "--There's no cover!"

Penelope chooses this moment to burrow as deeply as she can under into the bit of Josie's scarf at the back of her neck. "Kiddo, use that magic of yours and make a path!" Josie shouts back at Lily.

This is without a doubt, one of the most foolish damned things she's done in her life.

Which is why it's fine. Right now, they're damned either way, so they might as well make the most of it.

She's going to break right through at the gates if they can. And to facilitate it, her free hand, her right, traces through the familiar pattern of a spell.

It really is the most basic of spells, the one that they often inscribe on novices as one of their first spells. It's certainly one of the most utilitarian.

It's also one of the most versatile, especially when it's cast right in something (or multiple somethings) eyes. Josie doesn't look back to check that Lily's following. She just runs as before, right for the gate.

GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Hellion Horde with Light!
GS: Josephine Lovelace has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Fortunately, she isn't the only one looking after Lunata. Jacqueline sends a nod of thanks to everyone, but she doesn't have much time to think of what to say to them.

The horde is upon them now, and a pack of wolves seem intent on making them suffer for interrupting their meal.

Not just any wolves, apparently. Wolves that appear to be bristling with flame one moment and then ordinary the next when her focus wanes somewhat.

One of them comes right for her, and she tries to dodge, remembering what Ida had mentioned to her.

She manages to avoid most of the attack, but she winces as she feels claws dig into her side.

She takes a couple of steps back, and draws a bottle from her pouch.

"Alright...there's a lot of 'em, so I'll need winds of about..." She mutters, placing her first Crest back into her pouch and drawing forth another.

She does some calculations before hurling the bottle into the thickest crowd of beasts - Hellions, though she doesn't quite know that name yet - and invoking the Crest to stir up some winds and apply it to as many of them as possible, as if the entire mass was somehow just taking up a single slot in a battle.

She didn't know if these rabid creatures would be weakened by her potion, but it was worth a shot.

"Lunata...I'm sorry, but we can't worry about that right now! They'll kill you! Please, you've got to get to safety!" She says, and just up and tries to punt the bunny away from her so that there's a reason for the attack to do actual damage...

Er, I mean...to save her best friend...?

GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Josephine Lovelace's Light for 0 hit points!
GS: Slow! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Hellion Horde with Weakening Wash!
GS: Jacqueline Barber takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Jacqueline Barber's Weakening Wash for 24 hit points!
GS: Weaken! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
GS: Hellion Horde enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

The deer goes down; it's bloody. Talise's stomach churns but she bears it.

And then she gets flipped the bird. Two of them, actually. As the hawks suddenly dive on her, Talise sweeps her sword up to try and whack one aside in a defensive move, mostly succeeding in the other one raking its claws across her forehead and leaving a line of three bloody cuts behind. With a pained hiss, she whirls away; blood drips down into her left eye, and she has to take a moment to dab at it with her coat, her sword held in a defensive one-handed posture as she pivots back and drops to one knee.

Talise can't fully see Seraphs; she can hear them, though, after Sorey formed a bit of a conduit for her some time back. Things still come through fuzzily. The closer she gets, the more she seems to feel something deeply unsettling - something more than the typical heartbeat-quickening thud and anxiety-driven blur of battle. it sickens her; as Ida fires away not far from her, the tall woman glances over to her and lets out a hiss of breath, nodding briskly through the blood running down her face.

It doesn't help that someone truly vulnerable is here. Talise's heart skips a beat. "Lunata?!" she gasps. "Lunata, run!"

Rosaline helps. The breath of magic filters across her; the cuts on her face linger, but the blood flow stops. She can see again, at least. Shoulders bunching, she comes back to her feet and clenches her teeth. "Thanks a lot, Ros'," she offers up, moving roughly into formation with the catgirl nun. Better to stick with her. Lifting her eyes, she scans the skies for signs of those two hawks -

And then spots something else.

A glint of white.

A chill races through Talise. She knows who that is.

"Ros'," she says grimly. "Ida. That knight up there... they've got something to do with this. I know it."

The memory of her encounter with K.K. in farm country nags at her. She's doubtful of her ability to defeat the Trial Knight even when the knight does NOT have an army of rabid, bizarrely pressuring animals ravening across a city and threatening her friends. Nevertheless Talise steels herself, draws her sword into a ready stance, mentally plots the distance between herself and the gate -

And she lunges forward. Rastaban's blade practically sings as she sweeps it out to her right, then lunges off the ground in a single, long leap, aiming to line up a couple of those hawks.

In midair, she swings in a hard, rising arc, with a shout. "HOOOOOOOOOOAHT!!!"

She touches down in a crouch, Rastaban held out to her side. Things hang there.

It should take a couple of seconds for anything she sliced to begin sliding apart. Horizontally.

GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Hellion Horde with Tidal Blow!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Tidal Blow for 113 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"It's not anything I'm used to." Lily narrows her eyes. "It could be very handy."

But then, there's no cover. Lily recognizes immediately the sort of magic being hurled at her as she looks out from behind her cover, though she's never seen this before. It speaks to something inside her, and the sorceress answers; the crackling purple ball is met by a shield of unlight that hurts to look at, her hands glowing with violet circles and her teeth grinding. It hits through, but most of its power is sapped with a cracking noise.

"On it!" Lily answers as she gets to her feet, setting her stance wide and putting both hands out, palms-forward, gloves and all. She spots Josie casting, and pretends it's not totally unfamiliar; she's not following immediately when Josie moves forward. That's bcause in blue, she throws out a woman-sized spear of ice to crash though the line ahead of them and clear the path Josie asked for.

Then she runs ahead.

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Hellion Horde with Iceflash!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Iceflash for 78 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

That cold, horrible feeling is intensifying. It's settled into a lump in the pit of Ida's stomach, one that's refusing to go away, even as she sinks into the battle-focus characteristic of Five Precepts Chained Demon Style. If anything, the focus seems to be making it worse.

Ida's eyes widen a little as Talise gets attacked from above, but a keening, horrible cry sounds out, and something falls down at her. It lands in her shoulder like an arrow, and that's what Ida thinks it is until it moves, fluttering wings as it tries to bury its beak deeper. It's a songbird--or was. Ida raises the butt of her pistol and brings it down on the corrupted creature, sending it flying off like an errant, feathered handball. Its beak is covered in her blood.

"You recognize this," Ida says to Sorey, deceptively calm for someone who is in the middle of utter pandemonium. "I'll keep them off you." Sorey seems to be doing... something to the maddened creatures; the ones hit by his flame seem to be snapping out of it. "Jay, Talise, Sister Calice, get Lunata to safety." Dynamite explodes. Ida calmly processes this, and calmly processes the arrival of the gunslinger girl who shot up the Black Ties.

Talise points out the knight on the wall, whom Ida would've missed otherwise. This, too, is noted.

Ida sucks in a breath, lets it out, feels the chi flow through her. She raises her gun again, and fires at another of the monsters in close proximity to Lunata and the people around her. Her other hand works the hammer with expert speed, following up the first shot with a rapid pop-pop-pop-pop-pop of every round left in the weapon.

"Reloading!" Ida says, to Sorey, and... well, everyone else.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Hellion Horde with Fan the Hammer!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Alisha Diphda takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Corruptive Claw for 178 hit points!
GS: Poison, Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Alisha Diphda!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

YOU'RE WELCOME FOR NOTHING, GWEN.

As the horde presses into the city, more and more people appear to press back against it. There's even a blast of dynamite somewhere in the crowd, for pete's sake. Ragnell can't keep an eye on all of them, but one does stand out to her: a young man with a scarf over his face joins the fray. She peers at him. That's... that's Hiro. That's obviously Hiro, just with his scarf moved slightly. Is there anyone who would actually not realize that that's Hiro? Even if there was some confusion at first, the fact that he has a fluffy pink Red Dragon with him would give it away. Did he really think he was going to fool anyone? No, no, maybe he just wants to keep dust and such out of his face and eyes. Surely nobody would think that that would function as a disguise.

...

Ragnell's going to pretend she didn't see him.

Instead, she's going to jump down from the rooftop to close in on Sorey and Alisha--or that was the plan, anyway, before a giant gorilla-like creature, trailing darkness, leaps at her fist-first. Ragnell turns around in time for it to impact her, and then she doesn't so much *bound* down as is *smashed* down into the ground, cracking the street beneath her and skidding several feet. She coughs wetly, hacking as if about to raise up a lung or some other internal organ, and staggers up to her feet.

"Hey," she groans for the benefit of those who can hear her. "This already sucks, huh?" Creatures roar nearby her; out of sheer reaction, she turns her guns on them and opens fire in a rapid, snapshot one-two volley. Then, as if the violence cleared her head, Ragnell shakes her head, then focuses in on those around her--including Ida, who Ragnell recognizes from the recent Berry Cave expedition, and Rose, who's making a far better showing here than she did back in the aforementioned cave.

GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Hellion Horde with Twin Bullet!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia was having a pretty good time, being able to let loose like that, for as long as she was able to take on the animals one at a time. This unfortunately doesn't last long. She failed to take into account that in pressing forward, she would be more easily overwhelmed by the swarm, now all around her instead of just in front. By the time she does realize this, there is nowhere left to go. Two hands is no longer enough to punch every woodland critter bearing down on her.

The red-haired girl vanishes from sight completely, literally buried beneath rabbits, squirrels, dive-bombing birds -- pretty much every small woodland animal she's ever eaten seems to be out for revenge. For a moment, things look exceptionally dire.

Until a mass of critters suddenly explodes outward, blown clear by the shockwave caused by one of Xantia's more forceful punches. She's back on her feet in a flash, but she looks like a mess, completely covered in cuts, scratches and bruises. None of the wounds she took was particularly serious, but there's a lot of them. Retreating quickly, she superfluously points out to one one in particular, "This isn't working! Does anyone have a better plan?"

GS: Xantia has attacked Hellion Horde with Massive Shockwave!
GS: Xantia takes 10 damage from Poison!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
    • FOOM**

That's a dynamite noise for you. Less in my capacity and willingness is the ability to paint a picture of the aural mess that follows as tortured creatures misguided by magic blow apart in the wake of Maya Schrodinger's arrival on the scene. Suffice to say, Old Man Rivers is gonna be picking tendons off of his property for the next day or two. So that's a win.

What's less of a win is the wall of meat and bone that soars out of the flames to meet Maya in her window-perch, a malevolent counterpunch of murderous instinct wielding a 400-pound frame of peak primate performance. And one more thing to pour fuel on the fire, already dire thanks to the the demon ape trying to Psycho Crusher into the drifter perched upon her hostel, is the fanged grin that Maya sports at the sensation of being challenged. Threatened. It isn't a sporting smile, no, it's a glassy-eyed glee of one who reviles in DEATH that is UNBECOMING of such a LADY--

Anyhow: Magilla Gorilla EX crashes into the building where Maya was, a few seconds ago. The sprightly drifter, though, has already leapt from the window. She falls in a billowing and dramatic rush of orange skirts and hair the colour of sunshine, and is looking at the possessed beast through the iron-sight of her revolver as she falls headfirst towards the ground. She somehow has the time to dab at her cheek and look at the blood where flying fragments of brick and stone have sliced.

Seems like a fair and justifiable reason for Maya to pull the trigger on the beautiful beast, and she does. Her weapon barks with a deafening report, and the blonde somehow lands in a somersaulting Ghost In The Shell-lookin' pose in the middle of Sorey and Ida. Gun smoking, blood dripping, hair over her eyes.

"Hey, you lot, nice to meetcha. Team?" Maya that question is a lot nicer to ask when you aren't licking the blood from your cheek Maya PLEASE

GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Fan the Hammer for 110 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Seraph Ragnell's Twin Bullet for 103 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Xantia's Massive Shockwave for 78 hit points!
GS: Maya Schrodinger has attacked Hellion Horde with Vantage Rage MM!
GS: Maya Schrodinger has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


Up above is a familiar drifter voice, holed up in a nearby building. The roar of an explosion takes his ears and- "That's what I'd like to know Maya! It doesn't matter though, we'll sort it out later!" But then a baboon on fire leaps through the air towards Maya and- "Maya watch out! Sweet Althena it's like someone lit Ronfar on fire!"

Hiro on the other hand has enough problems of his own, from the malevolent eye shine of a murder of pigeons swooping down at him. Pigeons aren't actually called a murder in these numbers unlike crows, but in this case it's an exception. A length of iron sweeps out of its sheath and his other hand reaches for-

A shield that still doesn't exist.

"Oh. Right." What happens next is a bit embarrassing, as Hiro rapidly flails his sword from side to side in the air, "Shoo! Shoo!" And catches nothing but air, the deft fowl simply parting and pecking him as he rapidly sweeps his arm out, "Ow-agh-ah-ah-ah!" Talons ripping at his blue tunic and catching chain links beneath as he rushes across the street. He disappears for a moment in the opposite alleyway that's choked with monsters, before realizing that's not a great way to go and he runs back in the opposite direction, still getting pecked and covering his head.

"First chickens and now pigeons!? How do you keep letting birds get the best of you? I mean look at Tal over there! She's handling this way better than you are! I can't just watch this anymore- make way!"

The little flying cat-dragon swoops down at the murder of pigeons, inhaling deep before she gets in range and starts unleashing gouts of flame, like a tiny pink flamethrower that's intent on making a fricassee of the bird vermin.

Hiro stumbles out of pigeon murder, before tripping and falling near Gwen's feet- just as he catches Lily running up. The bemasked boy gives a tiny wave with his hand as he pulls himself up, "Hey Gwen, Lily uh- this is kind of a mess isn't it?"

Flying out of the pigeon murder, Ruby briefly locks eyes with Ragnell. Her eyes then flit over to the Shepherd's group. Then back at Ragnell as she hovers in mid-air. After a moment, she winks at her. And then goes back to trying to fry birds pretending she didn't see her either.


GS: Hiro has attacked Hellion Horde with Rubyvention!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Maya Schrodinger's Vantage Rage MM for 126 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Hiro's Rubyvention for 50 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.

Wood splinters and explodes, and Port Timney is under siege. Alisha's trained eyes can see they aren't ready -- they have few walls, no guards, no defense save the Drifters, the Shepherd, and her. She gasps, softly, as she feels the wave of Malevolence more than she ever sees it. She draws in a sharp gasp, and then she stumbles back from the board that she didn't pierce.

And the tusks slam into her side and there is an ugly flash of red where they rip into her -- and then a splash on the ground. She stumbles, before she looks up. She hears Ida's gun firing; sees Talise fighting; sees all too familiar winds ripping through the Hellions' ranks. She feels disoriented, for a moment. Then, she realizes what that must be:

The blood loss.

"Nnh..." She lifts her spear, holding it perpendicular across her body. Her pained green eyes meet Rose's, then look at Lunata. "O holy Althena!" she cries. "Grant us your blessing and salve our wounds! Calm Litany!"

Light flares out in an arc -- washing through Alisha, her wound binding, and then infuses into Lunata and Rose both, with a bright glow. Then, her head snaps to the side, to where Ragnell is. She stares just past her, instead of at her. "Yes, I should say so!"

GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Alisha Diphda with Calm Litany!
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Rose with Calm Litany!
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Lunata Croze with Calm Litany!
GS: Alisha Diphda takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action.
GS: Alisha Diphda heals Alisha Diphda! She gains 100 temporary hit points!
GS: Alisha Diphda heals Lunata Croze! She gains 100 temporary hit points!
GS: Alisha Diphda heals Rose! She gains 100 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

"Miss Schrodinger!" A mixture of relief and alarm floods Gwen's expression, resulting from Maya's appearance and... the dynamic entrance. Maya mentions Hiro, who Gwen now notices. It's a shame she didn't notice him before, but his ~masterful disguise~ must have worked a bit too well. Plus, bunnies. Deadly bunnies.

All this adds to lots of confusion, lots of people, lots of open, public spaces, lots of weird infested dark mist-oozing monsters. Gwen doesn't feel too keen on revealing her ARM just yet. Not when she's trying to get people to safety, which requires them to not see her as some sort of demon herself. Kneeling down to try to help the waitress up, Gwen says, "They must've been disguisin' themselves as animals this entire time. With magic." That's the only way. Lunata's words leave a disturbed look on Gwen's face. Misery? Torment? "I don't like hurtin' animals either, but..." Wait, maybe there is something she can do?

Sorey's yelled explanation makes a bit more sense. "How d'you get the Malevolence stuff to go away? Will the animals go back to normal if it's not on them?" Then, thinking quickly, she asks, "What if the animals are knocked unconscious? Like, with a shock of lig-"

That's when the cute, adorable, white bunny opens its lamprey mouth and attacks. Gwen, out of instinct, dodges, but that leaves Lunata fully open. Gwen rushes back in and stands beside her protectively. "Hey, trust me on this miss- this is a prosthesis! So don't be scared! I'll do my best to protect you!" Down flops Gwen's glove and up goes that sleeve as the courier's ARM- er, 'prosthesis' is revealed. Motes of electricity form around it. "If I can knock them unconscious, at least, maybe the Malevolence'll not be able to do anything with em'! It'll hurt them for a second, but it's better than dyin'!" Jagged arcs of lightning begin to spark up and down Gwen's arm, scorching whatever clothing of hers they manage to touch.

But how much electricity could any of these small bodies take? Would the Malevolence have some protection against that? "So keep close to me. I'm gonna try this!" Gwen's hair floats from the static as she changes.

That's when Hiro lands by her feet. "Uh, HIro, UH, pleasedon'tscreamit'saprothesisiswear! Keep right next to me ohgodthisisgonnanotworkisitgoingtowoooorrrkk!"

And so, without even a month passing since her last 'experiment', Gwen lets out a pulse of yellow electrical energy into the immediate area around her, which thankfully arcs past any companions. Any hellions, however, will feel the energy's wrath.

GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Hellion Horde with St. Elmo's Fire!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's St. Elmo's Fire for 103 hit points!
GS: Jam! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Now it's a showtime.

The ultimate situation.

Who do you call?

A twin-tailed scarf billows majestically over the hills of Port Timney. Connected to it, a green-haired face splits into a winning grin. "Well! This. This... Appears to be adventure!" Indeed. The ravening horde of hungry, bloodstarved beasts is... Adventure. By some definitions, he is even correct. By others, uh.

Well.

He might be called crazy.

He might also be called something else.

"Looks like I am late to the party!" The mysterious man concludes, crossing his arms over his chest as an ill wind blows through his hair. "Yes. Fashionably late... Indeed. But that's just the right kind of stage for the hero to swing in, just in time! Wouldn't you agree? You hear it too, right? CALLING ME!"

That's right.

YOU CALL ZED

"IT'S A CYBER SOLDIER FIGHTING TONIGHT!" Zed cackles as he LEAPS DOWN INTO THE FREY. Right... Into the horde of superbeasts. Doombringer whips and slashes like a dancing dervish. He's a living tornado of swords and violence! "JUST SMACKING DOWN MY FOES WITH BURNING LIGHTNIIING."

No lightning is burning.

Not yet, anyway.

GS: Zed has attacked Hellion Horde with Dark Horse - Supreme Tornado!
GS: Zed has completed his action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Zed's Dark Horse - Supreme Tornado for 91 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde has posed.

It's almost as if there's no end to them. Surely there must be, but the volume is still staggering -- as if they had all been gathered under one will and one purpose, for one thing alone. And that thing is all too clear from the flames and damage that are already being wreaked upon poor Port Timney and its panicking civilians.

But it could be so much worse, if it weren't for the assistance of the brave drifters and otherwise adventurous sorts (plus also Lunata) who come to try their best to stem the tide. But with this many pouring through, even the Shepherd's flames on their own can only do so much. They purge, they ripple through, flames washing through the Hellion ranks and burning away their malevolent affliction like heat boiling away water. Freed birds fly panicked through the air away from the city, a deer bolts away (perhaps the -poor Bambi-like child of the one Talise slew??- dun dun dunnn), and many more helpless critters bolt. But there are so many more to join their ranks, as scorpions clinging to the walls of the gates and the buildings here charge violet, corrupt electricity between their pincers. Malevolence builds up between them all... and then -bursts- in an explosive array of thunderbolts that -blitz- through the streets in crackling power. Cobblestone and brick are churned into so much rubble as it cleaves a corruptively electric path straight for Sorey, Alisha and Rose, even as she finishes brutally eviscerating that skunk and then some. Seriously. There's just... nothing left. The rabbit, too, is is cleaved.

One could swear its shrill, blood-curdling cry is a promise of vengeance as the wound makes it drop its guard just long enough for Jay to punt it away, gone yet not forgotten. Maybe it's best not to think about it too much.

Potions fly, and through the supplements of the winds it sprays like an evening shower across the creatures, weakening them and sending them into delirious, raging confusion. What looks like some manner of large cat swathed in inky, tendrilling shadow, flings itself at Jay, attempting to maul her with the vicious lashing of its sharp, malice-lined claws, teeth going straight for the jugular if she's not careful. The hawks, meanwhile, cry shrill annoyance into the air as they fly past Talise, one of them knocked aside violently as the other ascends back into the skies... but not fast enough. Talise rises. The swing of her large sword is blindingly fast as she cleaves through the flock. And for several moments? They still fly, defiantly--

--until several just bisect, cleanly, into hideous hisses of vaporous malevolence escaping into the night sky.

It is, perhaps, no time to celebrate however -- for as soon as she lands, Talise and Ida both will find themselves -swarmed- by a violent mass of the beasts just as Ida blasts through several more with the ceaseless firepower of her fanning ARM, ripping and puncturing birds and wolves in her path before so many more spring upon her -- so many types, all bristling, furious, rabid and bloodthirsty, horrifying large centipedal beasts and arachnids falling down to bite and cleave and carve through her without relent and without cessation in a blinding flurry of motion...

...a fact Rosaline may not have the time to respond to, either, when bursts of malevolent magic sing their discordant song through the air, lacing the sky to strike her with their soul-twisting sorcery in bursts of violet-black power.

Lily and Josephine, meanwhile, make their play. Light and ice freeze and blaze through the Hellions, impaling some and eliminating others in blinding flashes of combined magic that cleaves through the hordes to create just the path their need to their mark at the gates. But they are not quite clear-sailing: not as hordes of what looks like warped -rocks- start to roll towards them, fused together by swinging limbs of pure malevolence as they blow through. Not just animals -- now the debris itself seems to be coming to life, the inanimated growing animate through the sheer strength of strife.

Ragnell's firepower blitzes through more of the monstrosities, some of them so afflicted with malevolence they simply seem to -wither away- when the last vestiges of life leave them. From above, though, more of those birds fly -- spewing decaying wrath upon her spherical bursts of light as if they were just trying to carpet bomb her with their malevolent, weakening energies.

<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde has posed.

Xantia, meanwhile, quite violently and defiantly bursts through the massive swarms of Hellions, the shockwaves sending them flying like ragdolls. That uncanny and unnatural display of strength would intimidate anyone, even instinctual animals -- but these creatures are not frightened, they are not feeling -anything- but their wrath and fury, a fact that Xantia will learn as two boars start barreling towards her, even with bones clearly broken and tusks shattered, foaming and ravenous in their attempt to just bowl her clean over.

Poor MAGILLA GORILLA EX, though -- it crashes into that building with a crack of stone and a horrifyingly annoyed howl that would no doubt be a pun of some kind if it possessed the cunning self-awareness of the true Magilla, and not just mindless, ravenous hunger. It turns its angry eyes towards her -- just in time to be introduced to the barrel of her gun. One shot is all it takes, the ARM blowing the beast away until it topples over, bloodied and lifeless, against the cobblestone ground beneath them... only for several blindingly fast snakes to lunge from the depths of the horde moments later, attempting to sink their terrible, venomous fangs into the bold drifter -- and inject her with venomous, toxically concentrated malevolence to sink right into her soul.

Hiro is no more fortunate; when the roving gang of bloodied birds attack, Ruby is there to save the day -- her breath crackling and billowing across them, roasting them in ways that initially make them smell delicious, and then just horrifyingly burnt, the corruptive sensation of malevolence swelling sickeningly from their burnt bodies as they fall from the skies. The pigeons that had magically 'bombed' Ragnell, however, swoop past soon after -- and more of those malice-filled magical orbs drop through the skies with their mindflaying sense of illness, intent to catch both Ruby and Hiro in their wrath if neither of them are careful to introduce them to what malevolence feels like first-hand.

Electricity fries through advancing ranks of abominations, all of them seemingly eager to feast on Lunata -- perhaps for that strong spiritual sense about her, perhaps because they simply identify her as weak. It's hard to say. The pulses of Gwen's ARM (arm) rip through them, electrocuting many to a violent end as static laces through the courier's frame. But if she concentrates too hard, she might not notice -- as that electrical energy subsides, and more hellions blow backward... wolves -immediately- pounce upon her, ready to attack at a perceived moment of weakness, leaving Lunata dangerously open...

... as she reaches out...

... and senses the bunny.

And what she receives?

Hatred. Doubt. Fear. Regret. Despair. Envy. Lust. Rage. Violence. Conflict. Madness. Pride. HATRED DOUBT FEAR REGRET DESPAIR ENVY LUST RAGE VIOLENCE CONFLICT MADNESS PRIDE HATRED DOUBT FEAR REGRET DESPAIR ENVY LUST RAGE VIOLENCE CONFLICT MADNESS PRIDE

Contradictory, awful, poisonous, deletirious impulses and nothing short of ravenous madness will grip Lunata's senses, just as that terrible bunny makes its appearance again. Cut up, battered, but still alive. Barely. Clinging to the wall. Mouth opening wide--

--and if no one gets in the way to save her, Lunata will be introduced to a churning vortex of draining, blistering Malevolence. First hand.

From a terrifyingly adorable harbinger.

It's a terrible sight someone lessened as the cavalry comes calling. Zed drops down, DRAMATICALLY, the Doombringer whirling like a twisted to draw up and eviscerate many more Hellions in its path. It's dramatic. Heroic. Bold.

Which is why more Hellions, a roving gang of angry squirrels, immediately dogpile him to wrap him up in their cuddly, clawing hatred.

And from beyond, on that gate? The White Knight watches. Its faceless mask focusing, for a moment, on Sorey. On Rose. On Hiro, Talise... Gwen, off in the distance, and Lunata, further away. A moment passes.

"... This is not nearly enough," the knight murmurs, voice tinny and oppressively neutral before it turns imperiously away, indifferent to the plight of those below.

A tongue of flame is all it takes to obscure their presence before K.K. disappears, as simply as if they had never been.

GS: Hellion Horde has activated a Force Action!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Sorey with Malevolent Tide!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Rosaline Calice with Mindflayer!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Rose with Malevolent Tide!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Hellion Rush!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Lily Keil with Hellion Rush!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Hellion Rush!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Zed with Hellion Rush!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Talise Gianfair with Malevolent Swarm!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Decay!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Malevolent Swarm!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Xantia with Hellion Rush!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Hiro with Mindflayer!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Hellion Rush!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Alisha Diphda with Hellion Rush!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Maya Schrodinger with Corruptive Claw!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Lunata Croze with Malevolent Tide!
GS: Hellion Horde has completed its action.
GS: Hiro guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Mindflayer for 33 hit points!
GS: Disease and Weaken! Statuses applied to Hiro!
GS: Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Swarm for 111 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Sorey takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Tide for 166 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Sorey!
GS: Hellion Horde drains Sorey! Hellion Horde gains 166 temporary hit points!
GS: Hiro has activated a Force Action!
GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Hellion Rush for 43 hit points!
GS: Rosaline Calice guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Mindflayer for 33 hit points!
GS: Disease and Weaken! Statuses applied to Rosaline Calice!
GS: Josephine Lovelace takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Hellion Rush for 29 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Zed takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Hellion Rush for 33 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Zed!
GS: Xantia takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Hellion Rush for 57 hit points!
GS: Lily Keil guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Hellion Rush for 44 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Rose takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Tide for 103 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Rose!
GS: Hellion Horde drains Rose! Hellion Horde gains 185 temporary hit points!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Decay for 81 hit points!
GS: Shieldbreak and Weaken! Statuses applied to Seraph Ragnell!
GS: CRITICAL! Alisha Diphda guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Hellion Rush for 48 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Alisha Diphda!
GS: Hiro has activated a Force Action!
DC: MISS! Ida Everstead-Rey completely evades Malevolent Swarm from Hellion Horde!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action!
GS: Jacqueline Barber takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Hellion Rush for 65 hit points!
GS: Lunata Croze takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Tide for 155 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde drains Lunata Croze! Hellion Horde gains 288 temporary hit points!
GS: Maya Schrodinger has activated a Force Action!
GS: Maya Schrodinger takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Corruptive Claw for 73 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Maya Schrodinger!
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

The Hellions continue their advance, and they swarm over Sorey in their rush, battering him from all sides. It takes him a moment to pull himself out of the way of the swarm, and it's clear that the Shepherd has gotten battered some in the course of his escape. But he still has his sword... and he's still not giving up. Even if he was buried under what looked like cute animals. But the malevolence - that alone was enough to make him feel somewhat ill from the exposure.

However, it was good to hear that people are asking how to actually save the animals. Sorey listens as Gwen shouts out to him, and he replies, "The only thing I know that will remove malevolence is the flame of purification! But if you can knock them out, I should be able to purify them later - just keep them from hurting people if you can!" He knows its harder to actually incapacitate a Hellion than a normal specimen of its kind, but he's glad that people are willing to try.

"Alisha!" he then shouts as one of the animals lays a heavy hit into the princess. Part of him wants to help - but the Hellions are just swarming around, attacking everyone. And when she stands up, Sorey nods once as he watches Alisha unleash a healing spell. He just has to trust her to pull back if this got to be too much.

As Ida speaks, Sorey nods once. "Yes, this is something that appears back on Lunar. I've never seen this many at once, but these things are what I fight against as the Shepherd. The power of purification I received from the Lady of the Lake will burn it away, but..."

There's just so MANY Hellions that are bursting through the gates. Sorey isn't sure who put them here or where they are coming from, but he does know that there are a lot of people who are in danger because of them. And these animals didn't ask to be cursed by malevolence - the ones that were being hurt and killed to stop their attack were victims, just like the people they were attacking were.

He could reach a modest distance with his sword, true enough. But he needed a greater reach. And that meant calling on a greater power. Sorey pauses, bringing his sword down to his side for a moment. "We're not going to be able to purify enough of them to make a difference if we don't use our full power," he states to the white haired Seraph standing behind him. Sorey looks at Mikleo, and smiles.

"Yeah - I agree." Mikleo nods once, and holds out his fist.

Sorey returns the fist bump, and then turns towards the Hellions. "Luzrov Rulay!"

Hiro will recognize it, from the one time the Shepherd and Lord of Calamity had faced off. For a moment Sorey vanishes from sight, vanishing into a white light. When the light fades, he has changed - his normal outfit having transformed into a white full body suit, with golden trim on the shoulders, wrists, waist, and feet.

A half cape flares out from Sorey's waist, and gold trimmed hood falls down over his shoulders. His hair has become an extremely pale gold as well, with a tail that whirls out behind him that falls almost to the Shepherd's feet, tied back by a broad blue ribbon. The feathers Sorey wears on his ears have become blue and white, and in his hand he carries an immense white bow, trimmed in gold and trailing ribbons of energy that looks like flowing waves.

Reaching out, Sorey pulls a pair of shining blue arrows out of thin air, laying them across the shimmering crystal bow string of his weapon. He draws them back, his pale blue eyes narrowing. "We're just going to have to try and purify as many as possible!" he declares, leveling his arrow towards the horde. "May the blessings of the endless ocean engulf you! Saint's Arrow!"

And Sorey releases his shot, the arrow leaving behind a sparkling trail of condensation as it races into the Hellion horde and explodes into an expanding ball of water. A ball which, instead of burning away the malevolence, washes it away like the tide.

DC: You switch forms to Armatus Luzrov Rulay!
DC: Sorey switches forms to Armatus Luzrov Rulay!
GS: Sorey has attacked Hellion Horde with Saint's Arrow!
GS: Sorey has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Right... gotta keep Lunata safe," Talise murmurs to herself as she descends, eyes hard. She can't take them off the white-armoured figure on the wall.

And then what seems like an entire army of savage, rabid beasts converge on her all at once. Breathing in slowly, Talise takes a step back and prepares herself, privately kicking herself for letting the goddamned Trial Knight distract her.

Planting a heel, she whacks aside one horrible centipede, then another - but there are far too many around her, and she soon vanishes into a horde of them, only the clang and hiss of her sword sweeping through the air and the occasional slam of body on body evidence that she's there. Finally, after what seems like a small eternity, the half-Beastwoman hurls herself out of the throng, hits the ground and rolls forward. She's bleeding from one shoulder and from a few scrapes and scratches across her cheek, while a bloodstain runs down the outside of her right leg.

It hurts. Talise clenches her teeth and bears it. However much it hurts, it doesn't matter because other people are in more trouble than she is. Coming to her feet, she begins to run out of the thick of the horde. "Damn it, damn it," she hisses as blood spatters on the cobblestones behind her. Some of it is hers.

She looks ahead - and her eyes settle on Lunata. They go wide as she spots something else.

A cute bunny rabbit.

And something bizarre distorting in the air.

Talise can only see the faintest ghosts of Malevolence. She can only hear the simplest elements of what is happening. But whatever it is, she can tell it's Not Good. Changing the angle she's moving, she breaks into a dead sprint, wobbling a little as her leg struggles to keep up. Pain roars up her limb but she fights through it as she charges -

And attempts to kick the goddamned evil rabbit as hard as she can with the hopes of kicking that lop-eared motherfucker into the air like she were going for the field goal.

  • P U N T *
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Hellion Horde with Das Boot!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Sorey's Saint's Arrow for 151 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Das Boot for 92 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Rosaline smiles weakly at Talise's word of thanks. She then looks up to see the armored figure being pointed out, one she hadn't noticed yet amidst the utter chaos. "Of course, there had to be someone behind all this..." But then, they can't DO much about it, can they? Not when they're busy protecting people from all those creatures.

They come charging back, emitting twisted sorceries that baffle Rosaline in the moment, but at least she has no shortage of wards and shields to conjure up. "Deliver us from evil!" she calls out, warding off the worst, but not all, of the violet tendrils of Every Bad Thing.

She clutches her chest, hurt. But she can't complain. Other people are having it worse than her. Ida instructs to get Lunata to safety. Maya appears and is aggressively Maya, confusing Rosaline further. Alisha, who her friends seem to know(?), gets a very nasty wound but has healing magic of her own, invoking the might of... Althena?

Who the HECK is Althena?

Well, whatever obscure Guardian that young woman appears to be worshipping, Rosaline isn't here to judge. "Please let me help! By the grace of God," she incants, probably putting emphasis on that last word on purpose. She pulls a Heal Berry out of her satchel and presents it, but not to eat. It disappears into glowing motes, which home in towards the young woman, their healing power far more potent than a simple berry or minor spell could manage alone.

If only Xantia knew they could be used for that, maybe she wouldn't have eaten them all!!

In any case, Rosaline isn't done yet. She clutches her crucifix and turns back towards the animal swarm, conjuring up a cloud of ice rain, which should hopefully slow down the onslaught enough to both take pressure off her friends and let Lunata escape.

GS: Rosaline Calice used Mystic on Alisha Diphda! 100 Temporary HP gained! All statuses cleared!
GS: Rosaline Calice has activated a Force Action!
GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Hellion Horde with Icy Rain!
GS: Rosaline Calice takes 9 damage from Poison!
GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Rosaline Calice's Icy Rain for 89 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia lets out a tiny yelp as she gets headbutted in the back of the legs by a pair of boars, causing her to fall forward. Looking straight in Gwen's direction, just as she unleashes a blast of electricity! Instinctually, she lowers her head and covers it with her hands as if it would protect her from anything that could possibly happen. But the blast sails over her harmlessly, while ridding her of her boar issues.

Quickly raising her head back up after the danger is past, Xantia's expression is more puzzled than anything else. Gwen's metal arm, she's seen before, in passing. But that... ...is cause for a smile, and calling out, "Wow, it can do that too? I wish my arm could shoot lightning!" Wait no, that actually sounds terrifying. And something that's just begging for irony. Before she can take it back however, someone else starts shouting about burning lightning, so instead she shouts, "I think that was enough lightning for today though, thanks!"

In all of that, she almost forgot they're in the middle of a battle, which would be talented even for an amnesiac. She quickly picks herself back up, turning to face the horde once more. Rather than charge back in however, she takes a moment to calm herself and regain her focus, reminding herself of this battle's seriousness. She can't treat this like any other fight. She needs to pay closer attention. Considering she's best able to make the most of her raw physical strength when concentrated into a single blow, she decides that the best idea is to pick off single targets of opportunity with quick, powerful strikes, rather than wade back into the crowd.

Her new approach decided, she switches her attention to bigger animals, like those boars, and wolves. Delivering single pin-point strikes to whatever area she perceives as a weak point, her aim is never need more than one punch to take them out of the picture, just like she did with the smaller animals.

GS: Xantia has attacked Hellion Horde with Focus Punch!
GS: Xantia takes 7 damage from Poison!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

Rose might not know who the mysterious observer is, but she's been if nothing else trained to know when eyes are on her. She also has absolutely no time to dedicate to said observer. Something to ponder later, when she isn't getting the bejesus electrocuted out of her. This punishment pretty much undoes all of the good Alisha had done moments earlier with her healing power. The shrapnel from the ground isn't exactly comfortable either, but it's small fries compared to the lightning.

Falling to her knees, Rose pants, suddenly realizing that maybe Sorey is on to something. That maybe all this Shepherd nonsense ISN'T nonsense. Yeah who could have thought? It'll take more than that to open her eyes, unfortunately. She's stubborn, and still not sure she believes everything. How could she? It's been said before, she can't deal with the idea there's this evil force that's outside of normal people's power to stop. For everything she believes in to hold, a dedicated woman with a knife has to be able to help things along, one death at a time. The Malevolence model doesn't work like that.

When in doubt, kill your problem dead.

She grips her knives, flips them around in her hand into a reverse grip. Starts running towards the scorpions, blissfully unaware Sorey did anything or transformed. She can't even see that. It's probably for the best, she's tease him about the hair color if she could see it. Her feet and hands burst into flames, and she takes all that confusion out on a couple of the pincer-bearing Hellions she can get to. Rapid slashes and a series of airborne kicks, enhanced by fire, to knock them off the walls, slice them up, and slam back into them foot-first on her way down. By most definitions this ends with a pretty legitimate Rider Kick.

Rangetsu Style is weird, alright?

"SOREY! Are we actually making progress here?!"

GS: Rose has attacked Hellion Horde with Rising Phoenix!
GS: Rose takes 4 damage from Poison!
GS: Rose has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Xantia's Focus Punch for 126 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Rose's Rising Phoenix for 130 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed does not get malevolence.

That is not to say that he is immune to malevolence. Only that, as a member of a species as far removed from Filgaia's concept of 'alive' as a fire from an ocean's concept of 'wet,' he has no understanding of what malevolence is. He cannot perceive it. He cannot feel it. It surges through his body, slows his limbs and dulls his mind, but he does not feel as if it is anathema.

He processes it not as a human being, or even as a living Filgaian, but as a Hyadean.

His body. His blood. His very spirit-- or what passes for a spirit for a Hyadean-- wages war against it. It fights. It boils and roars with vigor unprecedented. It sees the Malevolence not as a corruptive influence, but another aspect of Filgaia that seeks to kill him. His essence and it are diametrically opposed. It is no question of good or evil, it is evil, it is malevolent and he...

He is...

Metal Demon.

"Heh. Heheheheh. So that's how it is...!" Zed grins through his coat of teethy squirrels. His eyes twitch with the lust of battle. "Come on friend. Let us show this world- these beasts- who is truly not just at the top of the food chain... But beside it! LET US GO BEYOND!"

Zed lifts his sword.

The Malevolence... Swirls. A circle of alien meaning etches itself into the ground beneath him, gathering the evil inwards. Into... Into Doombringer?? The blade is devouring it. Hungrily. As if starved, it eats this evil energy, gathering it into a fine corona about the flat of the blade. Zed's will pours up and into it, his essence as an enemy of this world...! Can he wield it today... To save all these people?

Or will he wield it for no other reason than to prove that he can take on an entire ecosystem and win?

"PLUS--!" Zed roars, swinging into the horde, "ULTRAAAAAAAA!" A wave of Zedderly energy sweeps outward, right into the thickest stretch of beasts and monsters. It is no purifying power. It is anathema to Purity and Malevolence alike. This is... One aspect of what it means to be Z.E.D.!

GS: Zed has attacked Hellion Horde with Sealed Blade - Demon Breaker!
GS: Zed has completed his action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Zed's Sealed Blade - Demon Breaker for 117 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Ah, Gwen. Good timing. Jacqueline sends a smile towards her, then to Lunata.

"Don't worry, you can trust her!" She says...and then some sort of mad feline jumps at Jacqueline. She lets out a small cry as claws tears into her and knock her back with the force of the attack. With what might be a growl of effort, a knife is drawn from her pouch while her free hand goes out to grab its jaws to keep them from her vulnerable throat.

"Sorry, kitty..." Jacqueline mutters, and attempts to drive the silver knife into the side of its head.

There was really no time for fancy Crest or potionwork - or even calling over to that Sorey for whatever strange power he was wielding. Right now, the only thing standing before her and a gruesome fate was her own arm-strength, and everyone who had been on an expedition with Jacqueline knew what that amounted to. She had to finish this quickly.

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Hellion Horde with Harvester!
GS: Jacqueline Barber takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Jacqueline Barber's Harvester for 87 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.

"Look out!" Alisha cries, as she sees the powerful blast of energy flying at her. She can't see the malevolence threaded through it, but she can see the lightning, and she throws her hands up. The sorcerous shield doesn't come in time. It punches through, and sends the princess knight flying back, away from Rose and Sorey both, in time for her to smash into a wall and leave a few cracks.

She grits her teeth, and then looks up. She can't see Sorey has Armatized. For her, it simply looks like huge bolts of blue light rip out and fire into the Hellions' ranks. She stares, though.

She knows the power of the Shepherd. It never ceases to amaze her.

"Please, don't worry about me!" Alisha calls back to Ida. She hesitates, though, and looks back at Rosaline; she blinks, as she feels some of those wounds binding again. She smiles at the nun, then she nods fiercely. "I am in your debt! Thank you!"

She spins her spear -- and then she leaps, jumping over Xantia's head, and comes down next to Rose. She stabs down with a spear, trying to skewer through one scorpion, before whipping the blunt end into a second. "He can purify them, but... there are so many!"

She doesn't see Hiro, mercifully. Her eyes glance around. "And... no Lord of Calamity, either...!"

GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Hellion Horde with Skewering Spear!
GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

For a moment, Ragnell locks eyes with Ruby. Her expression remains stony, and when the dragon winks and returns to breathing fire on Hellions, the Seraph only returns her attention to the battle at hand. Alisha's gotten herself knocked on her ass, and her response is to utilize healing magic on herself and a couple of others. Gwen asks Sorey how you get rid of Malevolence, and Ragnell snorts at the age-old question.

"The hell're they all coming from, though?" Ragnell asks aloud, ostensibly to Sorey or Alisha but really to anyone willing to give an answer. "I heard there was trouble brewin' with the local wildlife, but this is beyond the pale!" It's a good question--what *is* the source of this strange attack? Though now might not be the time to ponder the answers to it, it may serve as a seed for later, when people are licking their wounds and thinking back on the chaos.

Assuming, of course, they survive.

And then of course Zed happens, leaping directly into the horde with a whirlwind of blades and electricity, then taking on the Malevolence and answering it with an even greater level of violence. Ragnell grins and roars with laughter despite the severity of the situation. Hey, what's the point of life if you can't laugh in the face of death, right?

Of which there's plenty incoming. While several Hellions unleash a massive blast of energy towards Sorey, Alisha, and Rose, several more drop magic blasts at her from above. Ragnell is ostensibly here to support the Shepherd, but she's got her hands full enough just defending herself. After all, she tends towards speed and thus avoiding attacks, but when she's getting carpet bombed, it's kind of hard to evade!

"...heh," she utters, seeing the Shepherd Armatize and unleash greater power than he could separately from Mikleo. She watches that for a second, then turns her attention to Alisha.

"Y'all right there, Princess?" she adds in a drawl. It's unclear if she's sincere or sarcastic. Maybe a little of both? Either way, Ragnell charges up a shot on one of her pistols, then fires into the air. A bolt of lightning sears upwards--then breaks apart and rains back down in a hail of needle-like, electric rain.

GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Alisha Diphda's Skewering Spear for 136 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

They just need to clear the gate and get inside. After that...

Josie will think of something. It's better than being out in the open.

But first, there's a wee bit of an obstacle, and by 'wee bit' the term 'big problem' might be more accurate. There's no room to stare or shout. Josie, moving on impulse as always, leaps forward, twisting her body out of the way as the strangely animate debris.

Or, well, nearly. One of them clips her arm -- her right, earning a gasp -- and Josie lands a little less gracefully than she would have liked. Briefly cradling her arm against her body, she glances back, just once.

She really shouldn't have, but curiosity, the cat, and the rest; the point is that this is the place where the twisted animals (and earth) are attempting to batter down, and thus it's a bad place to stand, even briefly. Josephine understandably books it through the gate.

She's not looking where she's going, particularly when she skids to a stop, drawing her rifle up as she twists to face the hoard beating down the gate. Rosaline might have a bad time of it in particular if she's not light on her feet.

Josie doesn't aim this time. She just opens fire on the first thing she sees that's got four legs.

GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Hellion Horde with Kick the Bucket!
GS: Josephine Lovelace has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Josephine Lovelace's Kick the Bucket for 92 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Hellion Horde with Charge Rain!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Seraph Ragnell's Charge Rain for 79 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


And there's Gwen, with a metal arm, sparking with electricity. For a moment he stares at her with wide eyes and it's very easy to interpret it as him being a little shocked or frightened by the sight of her- but then electricity pulses out into the Hellion ranks. He catches sight of the results and whistles. Now he has no idea what a prosthesis is, and given how quickly she rambled that warning it's hard for him to make it out but- "Dang Gwen! Thanks for the save!"

And that's his only reaction for the moment. Questions about the AWESOME ELECTRIFIED ARMOR she wears over her arm will be saved for later.

And there's Zed. Thank goodness there's Zed with his fancy swordwork tearing into their ranks. Something to admire really. "Better late than never Zed!"

But out of the corner of his vision he catches a sickening sight falling from the sky, "Ruby! Watch out!" The tiny red dragon gets the worst of it, her spiritual resonance being higher. An orb strikes her and her senses swim with the maelstrom of negative emotions. There's this little agonal gasp before she shrieks and dips into her flight, only catching herself before she hits the ground.

Hiro on the other hand- whips his blade towards the one falling directly overhead. He's not exactly certain what it is, but instinctively he tries to cleave it in twain with a quick swipe of his sword. Except that only causes it to splatter on him as it bursts apart. The youth's expression clench's in pain, as he touches a hand to his temple, falling to his knees, wisps of malicious smoke arising from each part where it struck, dark tendrils playing upon his skin where ach did.

It's a mental sepsis that tries to get into one's system, and not let go, as he snarls trying to fight the negative influx of feelings that are an anathema to how he usually thinks.

It's perhaps fortunate that it's near that moment when Sorey calls upon Mikleo. While it can't purify what's going on, it does ground his thoughts back into reality. with the flux of energy from Armatization. What's important. There's a bunny advancing upon a girl over there. There's no weapons in her hands, there's no blue fire that she can call down from the skies to save her.

And while it's just a little bunny, the swirl of malevolence that's passing between the two is something he feels as a sort of sickness more than sees. In a stumbling gait, he gets up, and heads her way as the menacing little bun advances. Interposing himself in the way there's the metallic grate of his sword point upon the stone work, before he whips it up to attempt to cleave through the demonic bunny alongside Gwen.

He then turns around to put a hand upon Lunata's shoulder lightly to try to keep her steady. The feelings running through his head right now aren't ones he particularly likes- but- "You okay, Miss?" The look on his expression looks a bit strained as he swallows then offers gently in this moment of vulnerability, "I sure don't feel like I am."

It's that moment that he heards the Lord of Calamity being stated by Alisha, and flinches, the hand moving away from her shoulder, looking suddenly abstracted, "Good thing the Shepherd is here right? Means everything's going to be alright."


GS: Hiro has attacked Hellion Horde with Poe Sword!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

"But you need help," Ida says to Sorey. Even as the fear, the doubt, the sense of wrong, wrong, WRONG boil up inside her, the battle-focus forms an iron wall around her heart. Ever since she choked back during the fight with the Black Ties, she's been training it. It helps that these are animals--maddened, ensorcelled animals, but they are animals nevertheless. Though they may be granted fell power, Ida knows how these things hunt and kill, and how they defend against aggression.

Sorey--

Almost inadvertently knocks Ida right out of her trance. She turns to stare at him with a penetrating gaze, fluttering feelings of curiosity and wonder and awe very nearly doing what the rage and fear could not. "Nonlethals," she says. She glances over at Maya, having stuffed the gunslinger's dramatic appearance in the 'to emotionally process later' pile. "I can do that." She hears the crackle of lightning, and glances over at Maya. "I suggest you do the same, if you can handle it without injury."

And then injury almost happens. The roiling tide of aggressive fauna sweeps towards her. Ida twists on a heel, springing back, a centipede's poison pincers closing on the spot her foot was resting on a second ago. Spiders jump for her face, but she's already whipping back, and following through with a combat-time tuck-and-roll. Claws and fangs come racing at her as she recovers, but in the few brief heartbeats she has, Ida draws her off-hand revolver, twists both guns around, and grips the barrels. One hand bats away the deadly claw-strike of what was probably a feral cat, while the other glances off the muzzle of a wolf. Cats and dogs, fighting together. Will this madness never end?

Ida's breathing heavily at the end of it, and a dull ache is knotting in her shoulder. The other shoulder, of course, is still bleeding--but she's in a lot better shape than some people here. "Zed," Ida says. Zed has never, ever seen her this focused on any single thing, except perhaps groundbreaking finds. Certainly not combat. "Please exercise discretion. Many of these have an important role to play." The naturalist wades back into the fray, practicing what can best be described as a kata composed largely of pistol-whips; the larger creatures meet with swift, disabling strikes to the snout, ears, or other vulnerable but hopefully nonlethal places.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Hellion Horde with Unladylike Roughhousing!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Hiro's Poe Sword for 121 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Unladylike Roughhousing for 129 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

If nothing else, getting inside should get them a more defensible position. Being behind the horde isn't exactly safe in Lily's mind. But the lieutenant of the Black Wolves runs along after Josie, even as the stone crashes before her and she's left with little recourse but to step into it and throw her arms out before herself defensively. It knocks her backwards, but she keeps her feet.

Josie glances back and Lily is there, and in short order she's rushing or the gate, too, having still not gotten through... and the crowd separates away from her. She loses track of Josie as easily as anything, even as she ends up not so far from Hiro and Sorey. Oh right, from Biro and Sorey.

"...Damn," Lily comments, and turns back around to face the Hellions she still doesn't particularly believe in. She brushes her hair back from her face and stares forward; brilliant red marks the power she gathers that is totally Symbology, and not something else, before a huge burst of flame wide enough to scorch through a wall erupts from just ahead of her palms towards the rampaging animals around.

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Hellion Horde with Conflagration!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Conflagration for 137 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

No. No. No. It failed. The tide of electricity, even diluted into the spanning circle around her, was too strong for the woodland creatures to withstand, even with the Malevolence running in their veins. Gwen sobs in anguish. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry!" If only she had stayed in the belief that they were monsters wearing animal forms. The words of Jay, Xantia, and Hiro make her feel slightly better, but not by much.

And that's the exact moment the wolves attack. Gwen grunts as she's shoved down by the weight of the monsters, holding her right arm out as a barrier between her and the gnashing teeth of the attacking Hellions. "Nghh!" She briefly sees the struggling Hiro and the reaching Lunata, upsidedown, as her head is thrown down. Her gloved left hand and legs fight for purchase. No, she needs to protect that girl, she'd promised she would!

The Mockingbird ESR reacts. It responds. The arm clenches into a fist, the courier taking a risky moment to reel it back and thrust it into the underside of one wolf's throat, then, in the space of a second, shoving it into the head of another. When she's free, she scrambles back and onto her feet, panting, and looking towards Lunata. And the struggling, but stubborn Hiro. She joins him, trying to push Lunata away from the vicious rabbit and pivoting her gaze to look towards Hiro. "... You... don't look so good..."

wait, who's the glowy guy over there, and- 'Ragnell! Glad you showed up!" Gwen you are talking to thin air

GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Hellion Horde with Return to Sender!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

ELSEWHERE

Riese finally pulls her head up from the large stack of paperwork and requisitions to clear with R&D and Materials, back at the Photosphere, bleary-eyed. "Odjn?" she stretches. "Odjn, are you here .... .... ...."

Silence.

Being Riese is lonely...... :(a

HERE, ATOP ZED'S HEAD

Odjn is seated squarely on Zed's head, clinging onto his tuft of green hair to whine, "This wasn't what I had in mind when you said we were going panty shopping! I wanna go home to Rieeese!" she whimpers. A pause, as she peers and perks up. "Oh, hey, hey, it's Ruby! Ruby, heeeeeey! Fancy seein' you in battle!" She winces as Ruby gets hit -- unlike her, Odjn's resonance is appropriately... well, rock-like. Maybe. Either way, she's not responding much to it.

AND THEN, LUNATA

Lunata didn't want to cry -- she doesn't think of herself as a giant crybaby, really, but the sensation that she's feeling all around her is overwhelming. It's happened before. A few times, when Aunt Hilda's stamped a rat she chased around in her kitchen, she felt it; she felt the rat's cry, and its subsequent death-echo... or at least, that's what she thought she felt.

She watches Rose as she covers her, watching as she moves so quickly that she's almost blinded by her speed. Mind's eye, perhaps, but Lunata's physical eyes are kinda terrible. She needs glasses for a reason. Many people are yelling at her to get out of dodge, and they're right. Just because she can see something kooky doesn't mean that she's safe from attack, and she tries to get more fully to her feet. Alisha's wash of healing power is exactly what she needs -- both to mend her cut, and to also grant her a moment of reprieve from the thick wave of malevolence that's just about all been controlling her. "Thank you, Miss Alisha..."

Gwen comes by her side to protect her, and she nods -- her eyes widen just a bit as she reveals that her arm is actually... an ARM! The tweeeeest! The shock! ... literally.

"Miss Gwen, okay!" she exclaims, as she begins to scamper backward, trying to at least make it past the defensive line as fast as her feet can take her. ... which is about as fast as she goes on lunch rush, when she's got eight plates, four on each arm, so not very fast, really.

As Gwen lets out the charge of electrified energy, she could feel her fine hairs stand on end, gasping as she watches -- she doesn't want to scream, but Gwen has a truly phenomenal power she didn't know she had! "W-wah...!" she holds her hand again as another spiritual echo races through her mind, just for a moment.

She stops to a halt as she comes face to face with the rabbit again, however. She cups at her mouth and can feel it. She can Feel it, capital F Feels it. For a moment, the shot of her face gets one of those really psychedelic washes like they do in old Gundam shows where the pink of her skin gets replaced by an acid wash straight out of a prog rock album. You know the one.

This despair...

This outrage...

This envy-- this conflict-- this madness...

I-- why? What could've created such a thing? I refuse to believe... I can scarce believe there can be such a thing in Filgaia...

... I've never felt like this before... I'm afraid...

Then, there is the light of hope. Sorey transforms, and she can equally sense the emanation that he and Mikleo project as much as she can Malevolence. She 'reaches' out to the Shepherd's presence as an anchor, and it's enough for her to spiritually hold onto, enough to pull her out of the deep mire of endless despair that she's been trapped in.

That Talise kicks the bunny away does help, given that as she's finding out, physical proximity does have an effect with how much the Malevolence can influence her.

She looks incredibly wan by this point, paler than she already is. But it's fortunate that Hiro and Gwen are both there to protect her, because she looks like she's about at the end of her rope. "... no..." she admits to Hiro and his question, "I feel awful. And I can't do anything ... to ease their pain," she mumbles, regretfully. She looks up to where the Seraphs and Sorey are fighting, and the valiant efforts of all the other Drifters, working in tandem to disable the animals. She's got to place her hopes in all of them...!

<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.

Now halt for a moment, if you will, for the artful framing shot where the tall and glamorous Maya Schrodinger turns and glowers towards the camera. Right before it pans way, way out, to reveal that empty space where the mysterious knight clad in raiments the color of snow once stood.

That Newtype Nonsense moment of feeling something out there is probably why things take a turn for the worse for Maya. She didn't even get the pleasure of watching that .30-06 round (yes, from a pistol. anime.) put down the possessed ape before she discovered a horrendous, sleek, and monstrous snake hanging from her leg.

Maya, whose spiritual might far outstrips her knowledge and ability to wield it, can probably perceive the dread purple force of Maloovylence by now, especially as venom rich with it flows into her bloodstream. Not that she knows what that could mean.

"That... hurts~!" the words are hissed, not so much as shouted, and the Schrodinger girl cruelly smashes the snake's head with a gloved hand. Shouldn't have immobilized yourself biting her leg.

Port Timney is alight with explosions, with fires divine and magical, seething with animosity and suffering and pain. So, the fact that Maya summons a twin-barreled shotgun to hand from literally nowhere as she clambers backwards atop an abandoned cart to flee the roiling mass of serpents might go unnoticed. This is great, especially since the weapon doesn't just blink into existence, it forms from what looks like a billion glowing grains of luminous sand.

Uh--

"I don't know what Hell all of you crawled from..." the blonde seethes as her veins scream with agony, and her soul burns as Sorey and Mikleo's radiance washes away what infection had begun to take hold. "But I'll send you back there myself! You haven't seen anything yet--!"

I don't know how well a shotgun actually works for the purpose of clearing out dozens of venomous monster-snakes from an elevated position of A Few Inches Away but, then, I also don't own a shotgun that fires explosive pellets, so we'll find out together.

GS: Maya Schrodinger has attacked Hellion Horde with -HS-07- Chevallier!
GS: Maya Schrodinger takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Maya Schrodinger has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Return to Sender for 151 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Maya Schrodinger's -HS-07- Chevallier for 131 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline Barber pats Ragnell's shoulder. "It's okay. We'll get through these dark times."

<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde has posed.

They scrabble. They cry. They roar. They are in pain, and not just from the abuses that are heaped upon them by Port Timney's defenders. Flames blaze through shipping crates, lick up the side of buildings, as Hellions leap onto roofs, howl blood-curdling cries, and lunge upon anything and everything they can find. Human, building, crate, it doesn't matter; they tear and shred everything they can get their hands on, as if not even having the wherewithall to sense just what is living and what is simply obstacles. It's delirious. It would almost be hilarious in its absurdity... if not for the dreadful levels of lunacy it represents.

If not for the fact that, amidst the hordes of animals, one can start to see more clearly...

... the rare, stray human bounding with animalistic savagery in their midst.

For those who can see, the sight is clear. These humans are Hellions now, some twisted into lycan-like monstrosities, some into piggish orcs, other goblins -- they are rare, peppered amidst the ranks. But for everyone else? They are just humans, bounding through, some on all fources, moving faster than any normal human being should be able to, plowing through crates and -punching through walls-, barely even noticing as their fists smash with sickening crunches of bone against stone.

It is perhaps disconcerting, disturbing, for those who can't see the truth of them -- to see human beings acting as wildly and savagely as the animals amongst them. This isn't right. None of this is right.

But with a blinding light, the Sorey looks to even the odds. Seraph and Shepherd merge in a true spectacle of power for those who can bear witness; several of those human Hellions lurch back, as if having enough awareness to flinch away from the watery torrent that comes upon them. The arrow is released -- and condensation explodes into a spherical mass of water, drowning the Hellions in its magical depths. Malevolence is washed away like mud in the rain, and several of those humans collapse, unconscious but safe -- for now, if others can keep the Hellions from them.

Their numbers, however, have begun to dwindle with everyone's efforts, between Sorey's armatization and the others' assaults both incapacitating or just flat-out eliminating them. Which may or may not protect Sorey as one of those werewolves drop from the rooftop of a building near him, howling dangerously and tongue flapping madly as it looks to sink its stone-rendingly sharp teeth into his shoulder and rake malevolence-slicked claws across his back.

The bunny, meanwhile, looks well-sated. Malevolence clings and ripples from it in sickening waves. Its mouth, somehow, grows wider, as if it is about to simply -consume- Lunata--

--and then Talise and Hiro both casually eliminate the creature. A cleave through its tiny, fluffy midsection making it spew tendrils of ichorous dark from the wound in what would surely induce nightmares later...

... if not for Talise punting it away moments later.

The surprised and dismayed squeak it makes as it soars through the air is nothing short of disarmingly adorable.

BONUS OBJECTIVE COMPLETE!

No time for victory dancing, though, considering that poor, flying bunny spews one last curse-riddled belch of magic at Talise before it disappears to become a twinkle in the sky, to wrack her with the the sickening ichor that has laced its soul.

Their numbers dwindle evermore. Rosaline's ice peppers through them, freezing many of them in plae to be sitting ducks for Sorey's deluge; many of them just freeze completely solid in the torrential downpour. Xantia's blows make many of the beasts go flying through the air like they were being launched by catapults, plastering against walls or just straight up -collapsing- into corrupted piles at her feet. The Rangetsu style of Rose's daggers do their work, in the meantime, cleaving through those arachnid Hellions with trailing contrails of flames and kicks that just batter and slice and dice them into so many well-churned, well-mutilated piles of Hellion corpse -- one that just about explodes when she descending kicks that last one into the earth with a tumultuous CRACK of impact.... only to have one of those piggish orcs rush at her from behind, a rake in hand -- perhaps a simple farmer from the ranchlands, to her eyes he'd look nothing short of deliriously human as he swings that rake down with such disturbing fource that the tips will impale her straight through with poisonous corruption if she is not careful.

<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde has posed.

It is a violent sight on Rose's part, though, an offensive that is all but redoubled as Zed gathers that Malevolence -into- the Doombringer to use it as fuel for the fire. Is he a savior? A dark hero? An anti-hero?! A cool marauder and all around excellent dude who the Grim Reaper is proud to write back to frequently?! Well, whatever he is -- he tears through hellions with that wave of Zedforce, cleaving many in twain and launching many more aside in bursts of true, Zeddish might.

It's a nice if not chilling juxtaposition to the simplistic but ruthlessly efficient way Jay apologetically ends the life of that large feline. The blade jammed into its skull with a wet, slick chunk of impact, it scrabbles uselessly for several seconds before it slumps against Jay, easily rolled to the side to free up her movement.

And as Rose and Xantia make their brutal work of those Hellions, Alisha joins the fray, her spear -skewering- that scorpion before bashing several more aside in a cascade of tumbling, scrambling Hellions, not quite dead -- but in prime positions to be cleansed -- especially as Ragnell's weapon fire lances those electrical arcs straight through them, pinning them to the ground and paralyzing them withing those spasming jolts, unable to flee or press their assault.

Flame and bullets join forces between Josephine and Lilly, filling several of those Hellions with holes before the wall of conflagrating flames purge the corrupted beasts in a very different way from Sorey's method -- the much more permanant variety. It's a contrast to Ida's efforts to neutralize but not kill, those beasts howling and clinging to her with impotent rage as they are pistol-whipped into the ground, many of them collapsing and others just staggering with just enough open window of defenselessness to be taken down by the Armatized Shepherd's efforts, the wolves that Gwen bashes aside colliding with several of those Ida has unsettled to send them toppling head over heels in preparation for more punishment. Many of them are well-taken care of.

... but not all.

Not the werewolves, not those humans, the rare few that -spring- with blinding speed, looking to maul, to devastate, to horde upon Rosaline, upon Jay, upon Ragnell, Jiro and Lilly, lunging and pinning and attempting to just claw and rake as if trying to tear them limb from limb with their bare hands.

Not from the casters in the distance, goblins with wide beady eyes and long noses -- younger humans who, to the mortal eye, just sway listlessly back and forth as magic churns around them and then UNLEASHES in blinding tidal waves of malevolent force, churning in a maelstrom of hate that seeks to sweep up Zed, Xantia, Alisha, Josie, and Maya within relentless and brutal electrical arks and swirling magical might that saps the strength from them to feed the Hellions around them, like a force of corrupt nature unleashed upon them with ravenous and uncomprehending, uncompromising power.

The Hellions are dwindling. It might not take much more. But can they handle it...?

GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Sorey with Death From Above!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Rose with Corruptive Claw!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Talise Gianfair with Mindflayer!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Decay!
GS: Hellion Horde has activated a Force Action!
GS: Hellion Horde has activated a Force Action!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Rosaline Calice with Malevolent Swarm!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Malevolent Swarm!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Malevolent Swarm!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Lily Keil with Malevolent Swarm!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Hiro with Malevolent Swarm!
DC: MISS! Seraph Ragnell completely evades Malevolent Swarm from Hellion Horde!
GS: Sorey takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Death From Above for 84 hit points!
GS: Hiro guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Swarm for 109 hit points!
GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Mindflayer for 54 hit points!
GS: Disease and Weaken! Statuses applied to Talise Gianfair!
DC: MISS! Rosaline Calice completely evades Malevolent Swarm from Hellion Horde!
GS: Jacqueline Barber takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Swarm for 94 hit points!
GS: Rose critically Guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Corruptive Claw for 26 hit points!
GS: Lily Keil guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Swarm for 111 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

It's not just the animals.

Lunata looks around her and realises that she's not safe, even from the townsfolk -- she gasps a little as she steps away from one of them, as he begins to transform, in her eyes, into a werewolf-like being. "S-sir, what are you...?" she gasps again, hiding a little bit more neatly into the carriage beside Gwen's valiant horse. She strokes at the horse's mane for a moment, going, "Shh... it'll be okay..."

She swallows, and then closes her eyes. There's only one way she knows how to contribute to this.

She's got to give her power to those who needs it -- right now, it's the Shepherd and his Seraph. She concentrates, calling upon a power that she only faintly knows she can reach... and then -- she gurgles just a little bit, cupping her mouth as...

...a fragment of light starts to fly out of her. Some pure emanation of what might look like resonance simply tears away from Lunata's being, and flies towards the Shepherd, entering and energising him. It's spiritual resonance, no doubt... but for her to simply tear a part of her life away and give it to him?

She drops to her knees afterwards, simply out of breath, out of mind, out of energy. She's been spent to her limits, but at least... she's in a safe place at the moment.

She'll place her faith not just in Sorey and Mikleo, but in everyone!

GS: Lunata Croze has attacked Sorey with Soul Sacrifice!
GS: Lunata Croze has completed her action.
GS: Sorey takes a solid hit from Lunata Croze's Soul Sacrifice for 0 hit points!
GS: Reload! Sorey gains 15 extra FP from Lunata Croze!
GS: Lunata Croze used Mystic on Talise Gianfair! 0 Temporary HP gained! All statuses cleared!
GS: Lunata Croze has activated a Force Action!
GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Decay for 43 hit points!
GS: Shieldbreak, Weaken, Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Zed with Malevolent Tide!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Xantia with Malevolent Tide!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Alisha Diphda with Malevolent Tide!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Malevolent Tide!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Maya Schrodinger with Malevolent Tide!
GS: Hellion Horde has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Malevolent Tide!
GS: Alisha Diphda takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Tide for 166 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde drains Alisha Diphda! Hellion Horde gains 166 temporary hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Maya Schrodinger takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Tide for 100 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Maya Schrodinger!
GS: Hellion Horde drains Maya Schrodinger! Hellion Horde gains 183 temporary hit points!
DC: MISS! Zed completely evades Malevolent Tide from Hellion Horde!
GS: CRITICAL! Xantia takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Tide for 88 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Xantia!
GS: Hellion Horde drains Xantia! Hellion Horde gains 221 temporary hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Josephine Lovelace takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Tide for 100 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Josephine Lovelace!
GS: Hellion Horde drains Josephine Lovelace! Hellion Horde gains 277 temporary hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Hellion Horde's Malevolent Tide for 125 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Gwen Whitlock!
GS: Hellion Horde drains Gwen Whitlock! Hellion Horde gains 351 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Somewhere over the din, Talise catches a snippet of someone yelling about the Lord of Calamity. Then she realizes Hiro is here. So is Alisha. So is Sorey.

"Althena fucking damn it," she growls in mid-punt. A wave of frustration and doubt washes over her. Lunata's being taken care of by others. Ida's relying on Sorey to fix everything. And seeing Hiro and Alisha here just reminds her of how ineffectual her attempt to find some common ground between them was - how she had to just give up on it.

It guts Talise. Humiliates her completely. A feeling of complete uselessness burns itself into the pit of her stomach. In a battle where most of the people around her are people of high title, magicians, healers, gun experts, here's Talise Gianfair, a common swordsperson who can never be what she wants to be and who can never live up to the people she's looked up to all her life.

And Lunata Croze is in dire condition, no matter how hard Talise kicks the rabbit.

(i have to do something. she would do something about it. she would have a solution. she wouldn't just stand by helplessly and let someone else do it.)

Talise's hands tighten around Rastaban's hilt, and she locks eyes on Lunata. In real time it lasts a second and a half.

The hurtling rabbit casts a last blast of magic towards her. Talise scowls and tosses her head, rolling her shoulders and bracing against it. The dark magic slams into her and sends her skidding back several feet; she squares herself and holds ground as best she can, clenching her teeth. Anger begins to bubble to the fore, mingling with the sick, lingering magic that seems to want to make her vomit. Closing her eyes, she grapples for a moment with a dizzy, disoriented feeling.

Then her eyes fly open - and flare. She plants one heel apart from the other, and pivots to place herself between Lunata and the rest of the animals. Though she's pale, she steadies herself with a breath and a thought. Do not let your anger control you.

"Lunata, stay behind me," she says as she stands ground and lets the Hellions come. The girl may be helping Sorey, but the girl's believing in her too. Talise holds that thought in her heart as the Hellions descend.

lady chloe wouldn't let lunata croze go into the dark.

The thought burns away her doubt. It burns like a candle flame. And then they come.

What follows is not one single move. It is a storm of them - and yet, though Talise moves quickly in real time, she makes every move seem deliberate, measured, even slow. The Hellions descend, and she parries away one creature - whips her sword through another, pivots to dispatch the first one. Her bootheel hits the ground. Blade ascending, she aims to slice through one more monstrous being. Power pulses through her gauntlets, but she doesn't add more strength to her blows - only more elegance. Rastaban is weightless in her hands as she dips for a moment - slicing for the legs of something, arcing up to rip something else, the woman light on her boots as she steps back, regroups, parries, slices for another -

It is no brutal assault. It is an exquisite dance of defensive swordsplay and elegant ripostes. The defensive moves are an almost picture-perfect copy of the Waning Crescent style - but the counterblows are something else entirely.

Talise's expression is one of utter, steady calm.

GS: Hellion Horde has completed its action.
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Hellion Horde with Savior's Storm!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
GS: Talise Gianfair has activated a Force Action!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Savior's Storm for 177 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.

"Those people--"

Alisha gasps it, softly, as she sees a human loping. A shiver runs down her spine -- and her eyes, wide, turn to where she heard Ragnell's voice just a moment before. She shakes her head, once. "We have to help them! They--they have become Hellions, have they not?" she asks the Seraph, with a note of fear entering her voice.

And then she spots the younger people, swaying eerily. She can't see them as goblins, but she can see the terrible spells swirling about them. The princess's eyes widen sharply, before she yells. "Don't kill them!" she cries out. "The Shepherd can purify them! Try to incapacitate them, if you can!"

And then she swings her spear backward. Beads and motes of light form, pinpricks in the storm of darkness for those who can see malevolence. They gather about the point of her spear, before Alisha goes sprinting forward. She runs, then she leaps -- and not at one of the goblins, but one of the remaining boars. She cries out, as she lands at it.

"Take this!"

Her spear stabs once, twice, a third time -- again and again. Each blow is punctuated with a burst of light, before Alisha steps back, and stabs it forward one more time. Light explodes off the bladed end of her spear, and not only does it strike at the boar... it hopefully sends it flying.

Right for the goblins.

"LIGHT BLAST!"

GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Hellion Horde with Light Blast!
GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

CLANG!

Rose's twin knives catch the delirious peasant's rake in a weaponlock. Rose stares the taller, insane man down. He looks human. He looks like anyone else here, but his groans and his movements, they're so...

This isn't some corrupt noble who knows exactly what he's doing. This is some random peasant, for all she can tell, and he's a VICTIM in all this. If she believes Sorey, this man isn't in control of his actions. Malevolence, huh...?

If only she could discern what's real and what's crazy holy legends only the Shepherd can see. To Sorey's credit, Alisha had convinced the assassin in Rose that if nothing else, the princess was telling the truth.

So she can't just... slice him apart. Can she?

Brad's knives aren't for killing innocents.

"Damnit, Sorey, everything was nice and simple before!" she mutters, mostly under her breath. Rose digs her heels into the ground, reverses her knives in her hands back to the right angle, and pushes into the peasant.

"Rangetsu--"

She blurs! It's actually kind of baffling, if she's the merchant she says she is, that she's moving so quickly all of a sudden. Her knives aim for the peasant's rake, to slice it apart and disarm him. Then from each side she cuts a dozen times, light grazes, never deep enough to cut so far it can't be healed.

"-- Kingfisher!"

Normally this is where she'd pass through and cut something in half, but she's still struggling with that idea maybe he's really innocent. So she doesn't. Rose does still pass through the peasant in a dramatic double slice, but she's gripped her knives by the blades to deliver two blunt strikes to both side of ribs. Once behind, she twirls to spinkick the poor guy straight towards Sorey.

"Heads up, mister Shepherd, this one's for you!"

GS: Rose has attacked Hellion Horde with Rangetsu Kingfisher!
GS: Rose takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Rose has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

"I think that we are!" Sorey calls back to Rose's question. "There are quite a few less animals than there were before - but we're not out of the woods yet! Don't let your guard down!"

There was just a whole lot of them to deal with still. Sorey tries to keep track of things, but there's just so much swirling around him right now that it's hard. He has to trust that the other Drifters around him are trying to help people - trying to make sure that no one is hurt in the tremendous rush of Hellions that are raging into the city. He's just going to have to focus, and hope this would be enough...

With this many beasts swirling around, it's inevitable that a few throw themselves at Sorey. But as he's concentrating his power, he isn't able to try and fend this one off. All he can do this point is raise is bow and put it in the way as the wolf lunges at him. It looks like a dog to the eyes of someone without a trace of resonance, but Sorey can see it for what it truly is. Shifting tendrils of darkness, jet black spikes, and all manner of unnatural growths that make it into the monster that it is.

"I know that this isn't what you really want - so forgive me!" Sorey shouts, and for those who can hear his companions, it's evident that Mikleo's voice is perfectly overlaid with the Shepherd's. With a twist of his bow, Sorey tosses the wolf aside, and leaps backwards.

There is just a bit of encouragement that comes flowing from Lunata, and Sorey smiles. "Yeah. I got it!" he states. "We're not going to let whomever did this get away with this! And we're going to try and keep the casualties to a minimum!" And Sorey leaps away, landing on top of one of Rose's wagons. He raises is bow, and shouts, "Anyone who is fighting a Hellion - try and knock it into the air!"

And Sorey pulls back on his bow, numerous shimmering blue patterns of energy appearing around the arrow - looking almost like he was charging up some strange energy cannon. The Shepherd levels his weapon, and incants:

"My bow is the touch of the heavens! Let the vortex swallow you - and be purified!"

The arrow set into his bow flares to brilliant incandescence, and Sorey unleashes the strongest technique of this Armatus.

"AQUA LIMIT!"

It's not a single arrow that erupts from his bow. It's a shower of rays of energy that spiral outwards in all directions. The farmer Rose has kicked probably gets hit quite a few times. Sorey concentrates, and the beams twist and bend, looping around people to strike at Hellions in all directions. This is an incredibly difficult technique, especially on this scale. As the arrows of blue light continue to swirl around, the Shepherd collapses to one knee, trying to keep himself upright as he continues to guide the attack...

GS: Sorey has attacked Hellion Horde with Aqua Limit!
GS: Sorey has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Rosaline smiles back to Alisha, albeit weakly. She doesn't have a moment to lose before she has to decide where to direct her Triage Nun attention next. THIS IS A STRESSFUL JOB.

And to make things even worse, a tall archaologist nearly runs her over. Luckily, the catwoman has reflexes to match her ears and tail. "NYOOOOOOOW," she lets out, in a panic, springout out of the woman's way at the last second. "P-Please, please watch where you're going," she says, trailing off towards the end.

The beasts, too, should definitely watch where they're going. Rosaline has to bound away again, sprinting out of the way and leaping with all the strength her beastwoman legs contain. She clambers on top of a pile of crates, losing her globes somewhere along the way, leaps down and finally finds a safe spot, away from the animal tide. She might appear sprawled out face-first on the floor, but her positioning is deliberate, her teeth bared, her claws drawn and her tail swishing as her every muscle is tensed up, ready for her to pounce, to join the fray of rabid beasts, to tear into them and fight BACK--

No. No, she can't let herself be that way. She's different from the animals. Breathing heavily, she pulls herself back up onto her feet. She doesn't have the mindset to comprehend what exactly Sorey is doing in the distance, but she knows it's working to great effect. They can push back the tide. They can do this. They can definitely do this! The nun delves into her spiritual reserves, sees who she can entrust her dwindling power to in order to seal the deal--

Xantia. The teenaged, phenomenally powerful girl may be an enigma and a simple soul, but she's also a good person, one Rosaline knows can be counted on. She runs over to her side, clutching her crucifix. "Xantia! We really need to beat them back while we still have the chance. Can you do that?"

And, as what might seem a total nonsequitur to the younger girl: "Please entrust to her your heavenly might!" And with a column of light bathing her momentarily, Xantia finds herself... SUPERCHARGED!

GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Xantia with Heavenly Might!
GS: Rosaline Calice has been weakened by Disease! They take 0 hit points of damage, and burn off their temporary hit points!
GS: Rosaline Calice takes 9 damage from Poison!
GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Xantia takes a solid hit from Rosaline Calice's Heavenly Might for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Xantia!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jay takes a deep breath and wrenches her knife from the head of the feline and pushes it aside. She stands there for a moment, taking deep breaths. That was close. She was...afraid. She shuts her eyes, but is forced to open them again as...something...charges at her.

It seems to shift from a human into something...else, as it approaches her. She dodges instinctively, though not before faintly visible claws tear into her side.

She was probably going to have to buy a new dress after this. This one was getting ruined with blood and claw marks.

She winces and backs up, and draws a bottle from her bag. She's about to drink it, when she sees a familiar face and thinks better of it.

"Miss Keil! Catch!" Jacqueline calls out. It probably wasn't the best idea to shout the name of someone with a bounty on her head around so many ears, but it was the only way she knew to get her attention.

She then tosses the bottle to her, hoping it makes its flight safely.

GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Lily Keil with Boosting Brew!
GS: Jacqueline Barber takes 10 damage from Poison!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


Ruby for a while isn't doing all that hot. Malevolence is like a searing knife of negativity to her very soul. Her flight is little listing circles in the air for a time, until she hears a familiar voice call out, "Huh? Odjn? That you- I don't feel so-"

Suddenly what she said before settles in, and Ruby grows very still, wings flapping up and down as she hovers in place. Then she's a tiny pink blur as she flies over to Zed as she settles on his head, indignantly kicking with her hindlegs into his hair to rake his scalp rather impotently. "-ZED! What business would you have shopping for a lady's unmentionables huh!? And dragging poor Odjn along, putting her in danger! Some dark hero you are!"

Meanwhile where Hiro is, Tal punts the evil bunny and he watches it fly off into the distance. "Nice save Tal." Before Gwen asks, and he has to shake his swimming head "I'll deal." He gives Gwen this smile where he still looks a bit nauseous. "You okay yourself? You sounded... well..." He's really not sure what to make of Gwen sobbing apologetically to the animal hordes while wildly electrocuting them. He seems like kind of at a loss for how to describe it, or even ask her about it right now.

He puts a hand to his forehead briefly to steady himself for just a moment before nodding sympathetically to Lunata, "Feeling helpless in times like these is the worst kind of feeling, isn't it?" He still remembers when Lucia was fighting a battle on a scale that he cannot even comprehend, against an equally incomprehensible force of darkness. One that he could only feel, but couldn't even see. All he could do is stand and watch as she was overwhelmed, and turned into a sickly invalid.

"We get out of this in one piece, I still owe you that trip to a bakery Gwen."

He tries to straighten up, just in time to see a hellion werewolf pouncing on him in a blur of fangs and fur and flesh. For lack of a better option, he swiftly grabs his boomerang out of its sheath, crossing it with the flat of his blade just in time for the snarling creature to crash into him and knock him into a street, the crossed weapons being perhaps all that saves his life from the thing ripping his throat out. Off-"

Still, the defense costs him, as he takes numerous tiny scratches and lacerations, as he struggles to get his legs up from under it. "-get off me!" Then with one titanic heave of effort his legs shove the thing over his head. His first glance is towards where Lunata is, fortunately- "Tal- keep her safe alright?" He shouts her way, readying his sword for a killing blow.

Which is when he hears Alisha's shout of 'Don't kill them!' and he hesitates with his sword arm. Instead he flicks his opposite wrist, and sending the boomerang flying, breaking into a run as he does so behind the pursuit of the quickly recovering Werellion.

His now free hand is pointed in that direction as he holds up his sword warily, speaking a cantrip. The subtle crosswind strikes the boomerang mid-flight, catching it breaking it apart from the mechanism that binds it from within. It splits into two boomerangs which arc around in seperate trajectories, before attempting to simultaneously slam into the creature pursuing him from behind in a powerful one two blow to it's noggin. A double coup-contrecoup that builds upon itself and tries to drop them to the ground from the concussive blow.

He stops running eventually by Lily, gasping for air, "So... Port Timney... not the most welcoming place huh?" He gives her this weak smile before, "Got any spells that can incapacitate them?"


GS: Hiro has attacked Hellion Horde with Cross Boomerang!
GS: Hiro has been weakened by Disease! They take 0 hit points of damage, and burn off their temporary hit points!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
GS: Lily Keil takes a solid hit from Jacqueline Barber's Boosting Brew for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Lily Keil!
GS: Reload! Lily Keil gains 15 extra FP from Jacqueline Barber!
GS: Rosaline Calice used Mystic on Xantia! 100 Temporary HP gained! All statuses cleared!
GS: Rosaline Calice has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia is more used to figuratively pounding monsters into paste. The literal variety is a little more disturbing. It doesn't actually stop her, though. Just have to stay focused on protecting the humans. Which becomes more difficult when actual humans start to show up amidst the Hellions. That gives her pause, causing her to back off with a shocked expression. She definitely doesn't want to accidentally hurt any of them!

Though she wasn't paying too much active attention to how the battle at large is proceeding, she's vaguely aware of something happening that's turning the animals -- and humans! -- back to normal at a rapid rate. That's great! Then all she needs to do is buy time. She can do that. She'll just create another shockwave to blow some animals aside for a bit, that's easy, all it takes is punching the air with enough force.

Except then she's struck by lightning. Or something a lot like it. She didn't even see the goblin mages. She barely manages, "I... said that was enough lighting..." before sinking through her knees. Why does she feel so weak all of a sudden? She can barely move...

That is, until Rosaline... does something. Xantia isn't sure what, but whatever it is makes her feel a lot better. In fact, she feels amazing, filled with energy like never before. And confident enough to confirm, "...beat them back? I can do that. I can definitely do that!"

Leaping back to her feet, she immediately charges forward towards the Hellion ranks, right arm drawn back. She bets she'll be able to make this punch extra good, now!

And that's when it happens. It's unclear why -- was it Rosaline's magic, the attack she just got hit with, or entirely because of the irony she invoked earlier? -- but that punch doesn't quite end up the way she expected. Rather than causing a shockwave like she planned, there's a loud *CRACKLE* as a huge, wide blast of electricity is sent out towards the creatures instead.

It didn't hurt Xantia, but one could be forgiven for thinking so, given the loud scream that she lets out directly afterwards. She jumps back instinctively, loses her balance and falls onto her behind, holding her right arm by the wrist. And just sort of... staring at her hand, silent for a moment, before she's capable of vocalizing her dismay.

"Why...? Why can my arm actually shoot lightning?! I didn't mean it! I didn't really want that! I take it back!" None of this makes sense, her arm isn't even made out of metal!

GS: Xantia has attacked Hellion Horde with Thunderstruck!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily narrows her eyes as she sees the enemy rushing forward, these looking human rather than animal, and then she has the grace to be surprised. There is no hint of fur or claw to her when looking at these people; there's no suggestion that they are unnatural beyond their speed. There's something strange, but she doesn't have time to analyze it.

She has time to throw up a wall of ice before herself that shatters as the 'werewolf' before her charges through it, slamming her backwards against a wall and raking a hard, red set of lines down her shoulder and arm, and more in the process as Lily grips powerful wrists. It's a bit late for her to be concerned with casualties; she hangs on and kicks as hard as she can, just to get the man off of her, heedless of where else he goes for the moment. After all...

'Miss Keil, catch!'

Lily doesn't even blink as she turns and lifts her hands to catch and cradle whatever it is in her hands. She thinks about how she's had Jay's medicine before, and shrugs lightly--pausing only to see Hiro again. "Not particularly, no," she agrees, and lifts up the bottle as she takes out its stopper. "I'm afraid my only solutions are permanent."

Lily chugs the bottle in one go, still bleeding but abrubtly stronger, sharper, and her golden eyes pick up almost a glow. "...Which is just what we need now. If you're injured, stay behind me."

Lily squares her stance, spreading her feet as she looks towards the horde again, aiming for its biggest cluster. She draws in a breath--and her eyes turn solid black. Her hands draw violet circles around them, strange magical shapes in each, as she holds her hands up higher.

Some sorceresses might prefer to offer some explanation or at least wordplay...

Lily just conjures a tiny ball of blackness edged in purple at her target, and throws her hands out. It shrinks--and then explodes in a crackling field of darkness.

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Hellion Horde with Gloomhammer!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
GS: Jacqueline Barber used Mystic on Ida Everstead-Rey! 100 Temporary HP gained! All statuses cleared!
GS: Jacqueline Barber has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed's dread eye scans over towards... Ida? He frowns, watching her move. That's... Not bad? Hm. "Well. If you have a better idea about how to end them all without killing them, then please let me know! BUT UNTIL THEN!" Zed lifts his sword again!!

Coruscating lightning pours down from the sky. Pure malevolence given terrible physical form. Zed... Is holding his sword up like some kind of idiot holds up a lightning rod. It's almost a guarantee that he's about to eat it in the most terrible way possible. What happens when a Metal Demon is exposed to that much Malevolence given a direct line to his soul...?

We'll never find out, because Ruby attacks Zed's head.

Which makes Zed squawk in surprise, and lets the terrible sword slip out of his hands to bury itself in the ground a half meter away. JUST IN TIME, because right then and there, a tremendous column of lightning arcs down and into the black blade, smiting the earth below instead of...

Zed.

Huh.

Letting go of that sword was a pretty lucky break...!

But that's only part of his problem! Odjn! And Ruby! "Ruby! It is you! My good friend cat-- uh. What I do with my spare time is my own concern! Odjn was only trying to show me something. Do not worry yourself about that. We have business! Dire business."

Zed looks over his smoldering sword, distantly, at the tilting... children? Children? Zed's lips draw into a tight line. He glances up as... A massive onslaught of blue light cascades down across the Hellions. Light he recognizes. Light he was once subject to, not long ago.

...

......

"SOREY!" Zed's voice carries across the din. "DO YOU SEE THEM!? OVER THERE! THE CHILDREN! YOUR PURIFICATION, BRING IT UPON THEM!" Zed grins at the dragonlings dancing around his head. "Now, girls! Hold on tight! Because now, for Zed...!"

He grabs hold of his scarf, whirling it over his head. It seizes around... A tortoise? A tortoise. It was a scarf. Now it's some kind of... Turtle... scarf... flail. Zed smashes Malevolent monster against Malevolent monster! "It's fighting time. This is what they call turning an enemy's strength into your strength! Let's kick some shell! Ahahahahaha!"

GS: Zed has attacked Hellion Horde with Eastern Art - Binding Cloth!
GS: Zed has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

Josie almost ran over someone there, didn't she. Glancing back over her shoulder as she lowers her rifle, she's admittedly a little surprised to see a nun, and a beastperson nun at that. "My bad!" she calls out, offering a lopsided smile before lifting the firearm again, returning her attention to the chaos before her to take aim and...

There are... people? Mixed in with the creatures, moving like creatures. They're twisted, just like the animals. Her finger eases over the trigger regardless, even if she frowns. No second thoughts.

Josie feels it first, before she even pulls the trigger. Her gaze tilts towards the sky -- she can see what's coming. And she knows, even when she makes a bolt for it that the distance is too far to go in such a short period of time, and something like this has a long, terrible grasp.

It feels to rip right through her. Eyes gone wide, Josie stares up towards the heavens as the force tears at her very lifeforce.

The only coherent thought that slides across Josephine's mind as she convulses is approximately, 'Penelope, be okay--'

She sags to her knees as the force abates, head drooping forward and her ARM half-slid from a temporarily nerveless grasp. Josie feels something move at the back of her neck, thought. And when the beak nips at the nape of her neck, she knows things are fine.

She's sluggish getting back up, but she does stand, rifle in hand. "Not bad, haha... I didn't even have a chance, there." Eyeing a what had probably been a deer leading what's left of the vanguard of twisted animals, she brings the rifle up, squinting one eye closed. "Still, it's not over yet--!" This time, she pulls the trigger.

GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Hellion Horde with Have a Blast!
GS: Josephine Lovelace has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.

Always playing at being the hero.

I'm not playing at anything.

Always hiding behind your mask.

I'm not hiding from anything.

Just kill, and kill, until they revere you.

Sweat beads on Maya Schrodinger's forehead and cheeks. It mixes thinly with her blood, her head beginning to pound. She lurches unsteadily in the cart she hides in, shotgun clattering uselessly to the ground from her hands. The fantasy feels harder to maintain than usual, and it boils away into another billion motes of glowing sand, its wielder no longer concentrating on it.

I'm not a monster. You're a freak. People love me. People love the character. People rely on me! Because they're fools. Shut up. The truth scares you.

Maya holds both hands to her head and cowers inside the cart for a moment as her grip on boundaries slips. Self is overlapping too far with #568load_data_002 and something still poisons her mind from earlier. Or rather--was it always there? A barrage of crackling, sparking arcs of arcane might from afar shatters the cart she hides in, and hurls the blonde girl through the wall of a burning building as if it were made of paper.

shut up listen to me shut up! turn that gun on yourself, and save everyone the trouble shut the fuck up! heh heh heh heh...!

Dust and bricks tumble aside, sloughing off of Maya's form like rainwater as she stands up. Her eyes are very empty, but her hands are filled with something terrible. A six-barreled cannon that the Black Ties know intimately by now, an ancient machine summoned from the depths of fantasy that has spilled the blood of dozens of on the dry sands. "What is it about you..." she breathes the words hatefully, still twitching from the onslaught of magical lightning as she raises the weapon at the distant group of Goblins. Or children. It doesn't really matter to her, the noble girl is completely lost at sea amidst the gunsmoke fantasy she's wielding. "... that makes you so wretched..." the barrels begin to spin, "... and so god-damned irritating!?"

A buzzsaw roar of automatic gunfire churns through the din of Port Timney with terrifying pitch and timbre, as a stream of luminous tracer shells carves a path towards--and potentially through--the distant goblins in a plume of dirt, smoke, and gore.

Everything is fine.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

"Hey to you too, Gwen," Ragnell calls back to Gwen, tone casual. "Word to the wise: don't spend too much time cryin' over somethin' that's in the middle of tryin' to kill you." Case in point: although the Hellions' numbers have dwindled, what remain of them come on as fiercely and relentlessly as they have from the beginning; letting down one's guard now could prove fatal. As the Hellions close in on her, attempting to rake claw and slice her open, she *dances* like the wind, deadly focused, sweeping in between several, then kicking off against an incoming arm and twirling in midair above them before landing a safer distance away.

"They sure have," Ragnell tells Alisha, a certain grimness in her tone. She may not like humans, and she may be an irreverent scoundrel of a Seraph, but it looks like she's taking this seriously. Her eyes, too, are on the goblin Hellions, and while they appear as monsters to her, she's lived long enough to know what they are underneath the Malevolence. "You goin' for 'em, right? ...I'll back you up."

Of course, whether Alisha had Ragnell's support or not, no doubt the Princess would fight her hardest to knock out the possessed children--the fact that she does so by sending a boar flying at them is just the icing on the cake, really. But Ragnell does have her limits regardless, and whatever antipathy lies between her and Alisha, she has no problem with helping her out now. Crossing her arms, the Lightning Seraph calls upon her magic, light coursing up and brushing along her poncho. "Pierce through! Thunder Spear!!" she calls a moment later, and a magical spear of pure electricity shoots through the battlefield to aim for whatever goblins Alisha misses--or rather, the ground underneath them, attempting to explode it and them upwards so that Sorey's purifying attack can sear the Malevolence possessing them away.

She also notes Rose's movements and Zed's bellowed speech, and half-smiles at them both. But that's a matter for later.

GS: Maya Schrodinger has attacked Hellion Horde with -AW-RSTN87- Heavy Cannon!
GS: Maya Schrodinger takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Maya Schrodinger has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Hellion Horde with Thunder Spear!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida does not see monsters, not at first. She sees people.

The effect is immediate, and jarring--her eyes widen, and she stops in mid-swing to cross her arms across her face. She peers out from behind them, her breath hitching, and her focus wavering. The iron wall around her focus crumples. "Are those--" she says. Talise...

Ida is simultaneously awed, and gripped by a sort of desperate, fearful tension she can't explain. People. These things are corrupted people. The rumors were true. Ida's hands start to tremble; the battle-focus winks out, and then--

Ida literally doesn't see what hits her. She suddenly lights up like a pyre of Malevolence, but to those who can't see it, including Ida herself, it feels like something is trying to suck the life out of her. Her hands feel numb. A cold sort of pain creeps through her right shoulder, then ignites, as though the Shamber was back, and still clawing at her. "Ghk," she says, eloquently. She starts shaking. She wants to cry, or scream, or throw up, or just go hide in somewhere until this is all over, and she doesn't have to think about hurting people--

No.

Ida starts shoving back. Pulling free of it is like unsticking herself from tar made from her fear, her despair, her anger. Everyone else is fighting. Talise is being an artist. Sorey is doing his solemn duty. Jay is here, even though she would probably rather be back behind the counter. "Get thee behind me, Valmar," Ida says. The focus returns, and everything else boils off like dew. Sorey announces his intent; Ida nods once, holsters her weapons, and then realizes--

He wasn't wearing that a moment ago. Or was he? Ida swears she saw something, but...

Thoughts for another time. Now is for action. Ida reaches around her back, unholstering Devil's Due. The weapon's demonbone barrel gleams ominously in the light--what is she doing, is she suddenly going to shoot someone?--and leaps up the side of a crumbling building in a few short hops. She takes aim at something in the melee, something in the very center of the mostly-people. "Move, she commands, of everyone in the area. Chi is building up within her in plumes and clouds. She can almost sense something viscerally wrong about the people she's aiming at, the people twisted by this Malevolence--and she will use her Demon ARM to cleanse this evil. She will use a Demon's weapons--a Demon's bones--to fight.

--BOOM--

A single slug races from Devil's Due, trailed by the scent of superheated Demon flesh. It misses. It slams into the ground between a Hellion's feet, and does nothing.

rumble

The energy--the spirit, you could say--built up inside the bullet erupts. The ground around the gunshot hole explodes upwards in a shockwave of tremendous force, shaking flagstones loose and sending Hellions flying into the air--right into Sorey's line of fire.

"Pigeon launched!" Ida says, just like they do in Guild Galad when they're testing gunsmoke weapons on moving targets. Sorey's weapons are much less lethal.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Hellion Horde with Devil's Draw!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

Lunata's words about helplessness aren't lost on Gwen, either. "Do what you can, miss. Keep yourself safe and well. The town'll need people to rebuild." Gwen winces at Hiro's own question, then, decidedly, parrots his own words. "I'll deal." It seems like the best she really could say, especially seeing as Hiro is dealing with his own pain. "Right. We'll go to a bakery and pig out." Her voice seems more hushed and sober, sounding odd, even to her. She does, however, find a chance to smile. "Maybe we can take some treats and see your friend, if she's up for that." Lucia, that is. But she's not about to say 'girlfriend'- it's hard to find the energy to even think about teasing right now. She's just trying to blot out the fact that some of those 'animals' look suspiciously like people...

Gulliver seems just as apt to try to comfort the hiding Lunata, brushing his soft dark nose against the waitress's hand whenever it draws near. The rapid pace of his breath against her skin and the nervous flicking of his eyes and ears suggest he is still nervous, but he's holding true to his calm nature. Just as long as he can hear and see Gwen, it seems, he seems to feel somewhat able to keep a grip on his nervousness.

Gwen, meanwhile, nods to Talise. "Gulliver's over there with her. If you need to, use him to get her outta here." She may have only met Talise a few times, but in times like this, bonds often are built on the strength of how others regard one another. People seem to regard Talise well. Gwen'll do the same.

'Word to the wise: don't spend too much time cryin' over somethin' that's in the middle of tryin' to kill you.' Ragnell's words ring in her head as Gwen is about to react to Hiro being attacked, only to be ambushed by a werewolf aimed at her. She cries out as the beast digs into her left shoulder, managing to separate from the beast's grasp with a sluggish fist to the side of its head. Don't kill them, someone says.

They're monsters. They can't be helped. Gwen shakes as she sees the same tendrils of darkness sprout from the wound on her left shoulder. Shakily, Gwen snakes out a cartridge from her belt with her right hand, using what little use remains in her left to load it into a opening space in the top of her right shoulder. SHe shakily aims at the rebounding werewolf, her breath hitching through chattering teeth.

She's a monster too, isn't she? When will they wise up to that? She made the choice to have this ARM. It wasn't forced on her. She knew the risks. Just blow them up. Just give in. Why pretend? This was the price. You were once helpless, defenseless, weak. Deformed. Close to death. Now you're none of those things. There had to be a downside.

When will they finally turn on you, Gwen?

Gwen straights her arm, but instead of firing directly at the werewolves, she fires the cartridges downwards, attempting to create a blast to launch them in the air. "I'm really scared..." she murmurs, under her breath,

GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Hellion Horde with Coil Cannon EX!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Sorey's Aqua Limit for 436 hit points!
GS: Disease! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Alisha Diphda's Light Blast for 155 hit points!
GS: Alisha Diphda takes Cover! She gains 50 temporary hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Rose's Rangetsu Kingfisher for 176 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Xantia's Thunderstruck for 155 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Hiro's Cross Boomerang for 138 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Josephine Lovelace's Have a Blast for 139 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: Hellion Horde enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Zed's Eastern Art - Binding Cloth for 99 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Gloomhammer for 180 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Maya Schrodinger's -AW-RSTN87- Heavy Cannon for 162 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: CRITICAL! Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Seraph Ragnell's Thunder Spear for 138 hit points!
GS: Cripple! Statuses applied to Hellion Horde!
GS: Hellion Horde has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Devil's Draw for 161 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: CRITICAL! Hellion Horde takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Coil Cannon EX for 219 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde has posed.

There numbers are dwindling but plentiful, but more than that -- they show no signs of stopping, no signs of even hesitating. No fear. No care. No concern. They will fight to the very last drop of their blood and they will keep fighting as the vestiges of life bleed from them and that Malevolence will -continue to burn- as long as it has hold of their rotting, mangled corpses.

Sometimes, even death can be a mercy.

But that is not today. Not entirely. Many animals die. But those humans are another matter entirely. Bounding and leaping and twisting and howling in chillingly unnatural and yet oh-so-human voices, there's no denying what they are. They lunge and leap, but thanks to the efforts of Alisha, Sorey and the others to warn those who, perhaps, cannot see -- they can be contained. They could be contained.

The defensive swordplay of Talise rips through Hellions, cleaving and launching many of them skywards in bloodying blows; but the humans that bound towards her with their unnatural strength and speed find themselves dealt nonlethal, bludgeoning blows, knocked towards the air or simply knocked -out- to prime them for what Sorey is planning next. Alisha, too, does her part, the light that ripples dangerously from the pointed end of her spear stabbing through that board again and again with explosions of light gifted by Althen'a Blessing, searing and burning and rippling off of in an -explosive- burst for those goblins. It flies, it lands, and with a boom, those small Hellions are kicked upward into the air--

--at least, most of them--

--just as Maya's artillery whirls with ominous, mechanical certainty.

Tracer rounds light up the night sky; the Hellions in their path don't stand a chance. Animals are torn apart in explosions of gore and bone and smoke and the smell of -violence- in the air. Those bullets would tear through those goblins like tissue paper... were it not for the explosion of lightning that erupts at their feet moments later courtesy of Ragnell, the concussive force of the explosion rocketing them straight up. And just as the Goblins launch skywards...

... bullets fly underneath them, several large high-power shells piercing through legs and shoulders with explosive impacts that would doubtlessly have chewed through them fatally were they not laced with the dense overlay of Malevolent flesh. Blood splatters. But the Goblins fly, for the most part -- injured, but still, possibly, clinging tenaciously to that all too finite life.

Soon enough, Rose's target joins the fray, that violent, raving farmer snarling with rage, -still- trying to swipe at her futiley as she attacks, as she handily destroys that rake, fists coming down instead as if just -desperate- to hurt her--

--until she acts, hitting ribs hard enough that she can hear the crack of bones just before she kicks the man into Sorey's trajectory. Brutalized, but alive.

Same, too, for the werewolf pursuing Hiro; it doesn't even see, or perhaps can't comprehend, what those boomerangs are until it's too late. They crack across the creature's skull in a blunt-force blow that, combined with its momentum, sends it tripping over itself; momentarily airborne, it stumbles past Hiro... right into Sorey's path.

So too, that tortoise Zed flings mightily as it groans in weary (but still -furious- protest. Look at that tortoise fly! It looks awfully spikey. Probably for the best it's never learned just what those spikes can do. The werewolves Gwen launches with the violent shockwave of her arm, too, join the fray alongside the protesting tortoise, and soon enough, in a similar move, the ground erupts beneath Ida's targets -violently-, sending the Hellions skyward just like they were in a shooting range for the Armatized Shepherd...

... just in time for those spiraling plumes of bright azure to pierces through them all like the winding spin of a spider's web. The patterns in the air are luminescent and beautiful for those who can see it, winding almost endlessly as they pierce through Hellion after Hellion perilously suspended in mid-air. Each one struck? The Malevolence all but melts away, slicked off within the shuddering grace of that light, purified one after the other, after the other, until much of them have been cleansed.

But not all, sadly, are so fortunate to partake in the spectacle. That deer, caught by Josie's bullet, collapses from the shot fired; it is, at least, a quick death as it topples over. Lily's darkness, that tiny, seemingly nothing of a ball of shadow -pulses- outward in a churning mass of dark magics, catching the Hellion unfortunate enough to be in its way with its fury, swiftly unmaking any and all caught within its fervent depths. And Xantia...

... Xantia, despite what she may have planned, unleashes the fury of a storm upon the Hellions around her. Lancing through, shocking and electrocuting until they smoke within a blinding flash of light and the smell of ionized air. Hellions around her collapse, some fortunate enough to be caught by Sorey's threading arrow in time -- others... not so much, striking ground within the smoldering wreckage that has become of the front gates of Port Timney, twitching and smoking as Xantia shouts in dismay.

But for the rest, there is salvation of a different kind. Animals once Hellions fall to the ground alongside those comparative handful of humans. Many bloodied and bruised and injured in many different ways... but all of them undoubtedly alive. The goblins, now purified, slump to the ground, some bloodied and in need of swift medical attention -- but all of them still, graciously, very much alive.

And yet... there are still Hellions there. A handful of stragglers, corrupted animals, that snort and bellow... and hesitate. Hesitate for a few, brief moments...

... before they start to flee the wreckage they have wrought of Port Timney. They scramble like the terrified animals they likely are, but as disparate as that fauna all is? What is perhaps most curious of all...

... is they are all fleeing in the same direction. Towards the west, towards the coast. One could probably try to catch up to them, if they wanted -- but they all look as if they have a clear destination in mind.

But for now? For now, peace, of a relative sense, settles into Port Timney. People sobbing, so many poor civilians injured or worse, buildings burning as soldiers try to stem the damage and rescue who they can. The city, once so peaceful, once so complacent, is no more. Now, it is scarred.

Now, it knows. They are not safe.

Nothing is.

And for as much as this can be counted as a victory... it doesn't make that notion any more disquieting.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

The last of the malevolence just seems to boil away, and Lunata can no longer feel that oppressive, choking feeling. The sum of all negativity... is that what Malevolence is? Or is it something that ferrets out such negativity? The truth will not be known to her today. She only knows that she's extremely sensitive to it, and that if this is going to be a regular occurrence, that it will be a problem...

Finally, being freed of all the spiritual influences upon her soul is weighing in on her all at once, and it hits her like a proverbial sack of bricks. Lunata's chest starts to ache rather badly, and she clutches at it as she gasps. She doesn't know what she just did... such power and control is beyond her grasp... but she -- felt intensely, at one moment in time, and it brought forth a kind of... empowering presence. She could only hope it helped tidy the situation up. This world was huge, and scary, and no matter how much she just wanted to be standing outside of the immense power struggle happening in it, an invisible force keeps trying to ensnare her into it...

The city has received a powerful blow, no matter how much they attempted to defend it. It could've been so much worse, but the scar caused by something that's touched the soul and turned it pitch-black is more difficult to heal than a simple graze and injury. Lunata's head bobs about, seeing one building on fire, another in tatters...

She knows she isn't safe.

As her vision starts to blur and fade, she swears she can see the faint outline of some kind of figure staring back at her, without eyes, its hands bony as it reaches out to her and speaks...

In exchange for the power that thou hast requested,

Thine due is the sum of 13 hours and 29 minutes.

I hath received the defrayal of thine soul's sacrifice...

... and then she's out like a light, at least somewhat comfortably, beside Gwen's twisty steed, Gulliver.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

With a rush of breath, Talise steps back and nods to Gwen simply. "Right."

Sorey turns the lights on and most of the Hellions de-Hellion in a flash. As the last of the creatures flee for the coast, Talise slowly lowers Rastaban, letting it hang from her right hand as she steps back, no longer on guard, just letting her aching muscles rest. Pursuing them would be a foolish move - she could probably catch them if she tried, but right now it's more important to keep an eye on the townsfolk, and on her friends.

Looking back over her shoulder, the tall woman, bloodied here and there and sweating from the exertion but otherwise still moving, pulls a cloth out of her coat and begins to wipe blood from Rastaban's blade. The weapon doesn't seem to have dulled in the slightest.

"Lunata," she says first, but the girl's already down.

With a clatter of armour and a hiss of steel as she sheathes her sword in haste, Talise moves to kneel by Lunata, slipping out of her gauntlets and reaching for the weakened girl. One hand cradles behind Lunata's head to prop her up a little, the other moving to her cheek, giving her a little pat as if to try and check if she's dead or just sleeping.

A faint smile crosses her face, equal parts sad and relieved.

(What would I have told her father if I'd let her die...? She's a sweet girl and she didn't deserve to go through something like this.)

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey watches as his attack slashes outwards - purifying many of the Hellions. But he can't get all of them - not with the numbers that are out there. But he CAN purify some... and he focuses on ensuring that he can strike as many of the humans who have been touched by malevolence as possible. It is difficult... and the effort is ultimately more than Sorey can actually withstand.

There is a shimmering wash of energy as the white outfit he is wearing dissolves into light... and then that light jumps away, landing on the ground at the bottom of the wagon Sorey had leapt upon and resuming its usual white haired form. Mikleo looks up, as Sorey wavers for a moment... and then slumps back against the side of the wagon, his eyes closed as he breathes heavily.

"So many... more than I would have expected..." he gasps after a moment. "And I couldn't purify them all."

That in itself is a difficult problem. He needs to get stronger as the Shepherd. To be able to purify more malevolence without becoming exhausted like this. Because it's probably going to be a little bit before Sorey is fit to move anywhere.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline takes another deep breath. Everything was...quiet, for the most part. Was it over? As if in response to that thought, her legs nearly give out from underneath her. The adrenaline was fading, and now her wounds were starting to take their toll.

She fumbles for something or someone to hold onto, to keep her steady. Things weren't over yet. There were people who still needed tending to. She couldn't go collapsing now.

Fortunately, Lily was there to catch her before she could become acquainted too violently with the ground.

"Th-thanks..." She mutters with a nod. Jacqueline's fingers fumble a bit as she reaches into one of her bags for a bottle of pale-blue liquid. The cork is removed with some difficulty and she pours the liquid into her mouth.

It helps, a little bit.

"I've got...I've got supplies in my wagon. Grab what you can, give 'em to the wounded. The pale-blue potions are healing, and...I've got other stuff in there too." She says, sounding clearly out of breath.

There were a lot of wounded. This was really going to bite into profits.

No...she couldn't think like that. She winces and shakes her head, as if to drive the thought away.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Rosaline watches as Xantia winds up to work her magic... Her punch magic! Which seems like a funny metaphor until she shoots lightning out of her hands.

The catwoman's eyes widen, her pupils shrinking.

"Xantia!" This would probably be fine if it weren't for the girl's reaction. She rushes over to her side, ready to heal in case she just hurt herself, or at least support her emotionally.

"Are you all right?" She asks, surveying the scene, as the dust begins to clear. Good. Good, the battle has been won. But there's still so much left to be done, especially for a healer like her.

She gives Xantia a moment of her time while she picks herself up, but just a moment.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida sags forward, stumbling, but refusing to fall. That last shot took a lot out of her--literally, she had to bundle so much of her reserves into it--but she's just grateful it worked. She takes a moment to catch her breath, and then looks herself over. Aside from the wound in her shoulder, and the insistent pain in her bad shoulder, her primary injuries are the aching remnants of that soul-deep chill, and the odd, inexplicable burns it left on the back of her primary hand. She didn't notice those until just now. They're right where she was gripping Devil's Due, but the weapon itself didn't cause them--the timing wasn't right, and she knows her ARM wouldn't burn her like that.

How odd, she thinks, trying not to think about how deeply disconcerting this is.

Sorey all but collapses. Ida looks momentarily concerned, but he just looks winded, as opposed to many more people who are in much worse condition, whom Sorey would undoubtedly want to help. Wincing, Ida snaps open the ejection port, and blows metallic ash out of it. She looks up at the fleeing Hellions as she does so. They're headed somewhere--out of the town, towards the coast. Ida's face pales a little.

"Gather the wounded," Ida says, as she clambers off the rubble. She remembers what Riesenlied did in the aftermath of Tumblus, and if nothing else, the older Beastwoman provides a good role model to follow in this situation. "Who has injuries?" She glances over at Zed, and nods to him. Did he see what she just saw?

She doesn't linger on it long, though, because Jay's wagon is full of supplies, and people need those.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

After her initial protests to freaking lightning coming out of her hand, Xantia grows quiet. She never even looked at the results. She just sits there, looking at her hand. Trying to process what just happened. Did she notice the battle winding down? Either way, it seems like a good thing it did, she looks particularly lost right now.

Rosaline calling her name only vaguely registers. Her gaze only moves very slowly, first proceeding down her arm, and...

...of course! That's it! That's the explanation! Suddenly it all makes sense. She's able to manage a smile again before turning her head fully to Rosaline.

"I'm alright! It's alright, 'cause..." She raises her right arm, presenting the bracer she wears. "I have an ARM, see? ARMs can do that, right?" She can't even pretend to know for sure whether that had anything to do with it or not. It's never done anything before. But it seems like the most logical explanation. And an assumption that will allow her to deal with this more easily.

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

There's a lot of water for sure. Whatever power Sorey brings to bear, even to the spiritually uninitiated, is spectacular. It lends a lot of credibility to all the Shepherd nonsense. It's too bad Rose is really stubborn and kind of repressing the obvious truth as much as she can!

Knives return to their sheaths. Rose is torn between checking up on Lunata and Sorey, but when she sees Talise has already run to the former, she makes for the latter, which is especially convenient since he's at the Sparrowfeathers' caravan to begin with, so she can check on her people too.

"Sorey!" She can't see Mikleo, naturally, so she's only concerned for the one person she can actually interact with! "You look beat. Hang on!" Rose goes around the caravan, into the back of it. She returns with a potion, which is better than nothing! "Here, drink this. A healing potion'll work on you the same as anyone, right?" She did not think before speaking. She'd slap her head but decides to just roll with it. "Not that you're a ghost! Or anything like that! I mean, I don't know how using your powers exhausts you so maybe - just - take the stupid potion already!" She hasn't been able to stop thinking about that.

And Sorey was talking to himself.

It's okay Rose, just don't think about it. There might be some invisible person literally half inside you or in touching range right now I SAID DON'T THINK ABOUT IT AAAAGH.

Rose edges away from Sorey. Several times. She seems to be trying to figure out where she should stand. It isn't working out.

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

Zed did indeed see what she saw. A herd of rabid beasts, in one direction. That kind of thing doesn't just... Happen. Zed huffs and reclaims his sword. With a quick flourish, he snaps the lingering corruption from its edge and gingerly slides it right back into its sheath. "Wow. That was a thing! I go for a walk and end up in the middle of... Someting weird? Zombies? Riese is gonna be so jealous she missed this--"

Uh.

Speaking of... Where did... Odjn go...???

Hopefully she's still clinging to Zed somewhere, or rolling around with Ruby, otherwise this might be a problem!

<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.

Empty links and spent brass pool at Maya's feet. Sweat, blood, and tears mingle together on her lips; a salty copper tincture that serves only to make the girl more dizzy, more thirsty, when it graces her tongue. The machine-cannon's barrels spin slowly to a stop, glowing cherry red in dire contrast to the gore and ichor and earth the terrible machine has rent.

Maya Schrodinger, ace drifter, scion of the family and clearly a normal girl, makes a curious heaving noise and drops the rotary cannon, hands over her face as she staggers out of the shattered building she just scythed through the ravenous wildlife hordes from. She sags onto Jacqueline's wagon, a sodden and uninspiring figure, but ultimately a recognisable one (who else wears that shade of orange and a giant anime hair ribbon, honestly). "It's wrong." she sounds delerious. "It wasn't--this isn't how it's supposed to... I'm the hero..."

Somewhere in that building's shell nearby, the chaingun makes a noise like escaping pyreflies and begins boiling away into, yes, a bazillion specks of light and disappears. We're just giving shit away at this point.

Maya turns her head shakily to look at Jay, eyes unfocused and glassy. The snakebite venom is, let's be real, only to blame for a small fraction of this. Especially the part where her form is now intermittently losing focus and blurring, like someone put a gaussian blur filter on her dress. "I can--help. I can help."

<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.

"I won't say no!" the princess answers Ragnell.

She watches the boar fly -- and then the wave of purification, which does so much and yet doesn't manage enough. She feels her heart in her throat, to look around and see the damage to this place.

Alisha's footsteps slow, at the end. She looks back at where Ragnell was. Strange, she thinks, that they worked together. And yet, it wasn't enough. So many Hellions died -- and they saved Timney, but not easily. She looks over her shoulder, peering back at Lunata, too, as she slumps down.

She frowns, looking down at her feet. "It's... even spread here," she says. "But... what caused it?"

An answer isn't forthcoming.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


"It is my concern Zed! If you think for one second I'm going to let you drag Odjn on some perverted quest of yours you've got another thing coming!" She misses entirely that Odjn was the one who was showing Zed something in her indignation, before she has to hold on tight because Zed took her for a wild ride.

The satisfying crack against the back of that werewolf's skull as he causes it to trip into the path of Sorey's purification is comfort, but it's sort of cold comfort in the end. Hiro stands up straight for a few moments, long enough to catch both boomerangs on the return path and afix them back together, and jut them and his sword back into his sheathe.

It's an automatic act, one he doesn't need to concentrate on, his senses more focused on the carnage around him. This isn't something he'd ever witnessed, having grown up on Gwyn's little place, so far removed from conflict and war. The sounds of human suffering are like white noise in his ears, and the visions are like some macabre painter forcing him to look at a subject uncomfortable for him.

A hand rubs up against his eyes as if he wanted to remove it, rub it away like turpentine, and surprised as he draws it away and sees a little saline wetness in his palm. And then a little embarrassed. He hadn't suffered half as much as everyone around him. He gives the Shepherd this long look after, against the side of the wagon, a stare with his face half-shrouded by orange.

There's a lot he wants to say.

But would he even listen?

He turns his eyes away, and instead- gives Tal this concerned look as he sees Lunata slumped her arms. Ida is talking about the wounded though and. "Right here. We have a healer right over here!" He gestures to Lily, "Bring the wounded to her quickly, she'll take care of them!"

Best to focus his efforts where they matter.


<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Mikleo gives Sorey a look as Rose babbles for a little bit, and he just sighs. "I'll leave you to deal with this one. I'm going to try and follow those Hellions and see where they end up. Let you know what I find!" the water Seraph declares. And with that he sets off on foot, although he's probably going to need to find a horse soon.

"It's OK, I appreciate the thought Rose," Sorey replies, reaching up and taking the potion from the merchant and taking the cap off. He doesn't drink it right away. "And don't worry, Mikleo took off to follow those Hellions. The rest seem to be working on cleaning things up." And they certainly needed to after the mess today.

And then Sorey slams his hand against the side of the wagon for a moment, looking angry. "Why? Why are there Hellions here? There was barely any malevolence here when we arrived, and now..."

...and now the Lord of Calamity was here.

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"W-what!? Perverted!??!" Zed gawps at the adorable flying feline. "What! Odjn!" Zed calls into the air. "EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT RUBY MEANS! And I am not dragging anyone anywhere! Riesen was busy, so I took Odjn out, and she wanted to show me something!" Zed pleads! HE PLEADS! HE IS WEAK TO THE PINK PAWSIES! "Honestly! It's the truth!"

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Rosaline nods uneasily at Xantia, who finds an explanation for what happened just now. The Ethos nun isn't so sure, just taking a look at the ARM. What an odd thing. "I should take a look at it later, if you don't mind." She's better-versed in gunsmoke ARMs than anything else, but it couldn't hurt...

Even though she's not sure that thing could possibly emit lightning. Hm.

"Do you mind waiting for me a bit? I need to look after the wounded, and there's things I want to chat about besides. Hopefully it won't be too long."

And with this, she joins the others looking after the wounded, ready to dispense whatever magic she can still manage, and quietly, desperately looking for her gloves.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Never let it be said that Odjn does not have a streak of betrayal in her, because she just smugly says, "Oh, I just wanted to spend time with Riese, but Zed was like, 'We must go and find pantyhose!' and off we went to find a tailor... and then he led me here!" She folds her arms. "The nerve!"

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Lunata's passed out," Talise calls up to Ida - well, she doesn't call, but she does mention it as the other woman passes close to her. "I don't think she was seriously hurt but this has taken a lot out of her."

As Alisha steps over into the area, Talise frowns deeply and looks up at the princess, her brows furrowing slightly. "Y'all are gonna have to explain that to me. Is this something from Glenwood or am I just at a loss for which legend this one is for some reason?"

Hiro's next; she nods up to the young man, eyes darting between he and Alisha. Another surge of disappointment rises in the back of her throat. (I couldn't get those two on the same page. What the hell good am I?)

Reaching down, she curls her arms under Lunata, moving to pick her up and cradle in her arms. "Let's all get the hurt over to the healers," she says, ignoring the fact that she's bleeding in a couple places in her own right. "That's all that's important right now."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily doesn't so much as blink as she sees her magic take effect; she could tell that there was another solution being applied... But has little to know of what it is, or why. It seems to have worked. In the moments that the remaining Hellions take to decide whether to flee, Lily has her hand up and ready to continue.

That is, until she spots Jay swaying, and closes the distance quickly, taking a knee to catch her favorite apothecary and looking her over immediately. For her own part, Lily is still obviously injured but just as obviously unperturbed by it; the blood on her form is dirtier than she would like, though.

And of course, her eyes are still a solid, unnatural black with no irises or whites.

"Don't mention it," Lily replies to Jay's thanks, nodding back and waiting. Jay speaks up about supplies... "That's fine," she murmurs back. "Don't try to talk too much yet." Lily carries rather than dragging Jay the rest of the way over to a nearby wall, out of the walkway, where she sets her down rather more gently than she tends to act. "I--"

'A healer right over here!'

"...Looks like I'm not going to be getting your supplies myself." Lily stands up, glances around, black eyes taking in the nearby area. "I'll set up a triage over here. Anyone else who knows what they're doing, do it your own way or mine, whatever."

Lily stops a beat, and looks at Josie. "This has turned out an exciting night, hasn't it?" she says, her voice low. ...She's probably not kidding. "Most fun I've had in a while."

Lily opens up her satchel and roots around her her medical supplies, "I hope someone needs stitches..."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

ODJN NO WHY

WHY YOU DO THIS

"T-that is misleading!" Zed flails, "No! She was begging me to take her because Riese was, AND I QUOTE, being such a bore chore!"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

And all of a sudden, it's over. As a majority of the Hellions are purified and the scraggling few finally break rank to run towards some certain destination, Ragnell watches them go with steely eyes, side-eyes Maya for a moment, then holsters her guns.

"Good question," Ragnell says to Alisha, strolling with her over to Sorey. She gives a curt nod to Mikleo as the Water Seraph opts to leave and follow the Hellions to see where they go; then she looks over at Rose with consideration, then down at Sorey.

He couldn't purify all of them. "Sure couldn't," Ragnell agrees, because she's not one to coddle people from the truth. She pauses a beat, then adds, "Still think you could take out the Lord of Calamity as you are?"

She doesn't assist with the gathering and healing of the wounded, but that's for practical reasons. After all the supernatural scary stuff that just went down, more of the same, even if it's to help the injured, proooobably would not go over well.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata definitely looks like she'll pull through, Talise notes. She's not harmed that seriously, and with Alisha's magic washing over her, she's in no immediate physical danger. But there's no denying the kind of reaction she had to those strange, almost inscrutable waves that she seemed to have a sensitivity to. She's off to the triage point, but it seems that all she'll need is a blanket and warmth and to be kept out of harm's way, rather than the immediate medical attention some of the other victims needed...

<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.

Oh, so there's... no Seraphim around.

Rose calms down significantly.

"Hey, chin up! We beat them back. You're just one guy, Shepherd or not. You gotta accept your limits! Besides, maybe it's nothing as dangerous as you think. If we got sucked up here maybe a bunch of those Hellions did too and it spread from them, right? Not everything has to be some big world-ending plot by someone!"

She's not sure these are the right words to cheer Sorey up, but she hopes she can infect him with her smile and energy at least. Nevermind her injuries! Getting the Shepherd back on his feet come first.

She does pause for a moment to poke her head inside the caravan, though. "Psssst. Battlefield full of injured people. Grab the potions and bandages we have here and pass them around!" The nameless Sparrowfeathers nod and begin doing so.

A NEW SHOP HAS OPENED: SPARROWFEATHERS' FIRST AID KITS, 25% OFF!

Rose returns her attention to Sorey. "If you're that worried about it why don't we go check out where they ran off to? There was also that weird guy in full armor watching us, but I didn't get a great look with all the fighting. NOT NOW, though. Right now you're drinking that potion and resting."

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia is all too happy for any possible avenues of learning more about her ARM, since it might lead to learning more about herself. Thus her response to Rosaline is an enthusiastic, "Please do!"

She then nods, agreeing, "Sure, I can wait. I'm a little tired... I'll just sit here until you come back, okay?" Rosaline's earlier boost helped to take care of the lion's share of her injuries, but the hyper energy magic has worn off by now, leaving her feeling pretty drained after everything that happened.

She briefly looks at her hand again after Rosaline leaves. If only she could actually be as convinced about her claim as she made it sound just now...

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

Josie is perhaps only barely aware of the deer dropping dead, lowering her rifle and turning as that gnawing sense of oppression that had thrummed in the background finally weakens, and finally fades out completely.

She'd just seen it, at least a bit of it, she thinks. What had happened. Unusually for her, she's still staring at the purified forms of animals and humans alike lying about the wreckage of Port Timney's streets by the time others are calling for healers and support. Not much she can do, there.

So whatever had happened... could be undone.

Josie exhales a long sigh, and slides her rifle into its holster.

"Damn..." she utters, smiling wearily as she pushes a few stray locks out of her face, "I could use a drink right now."

Briefly she catches Lily's eye. "Oh, good. You're not looking too badly." She raises a white eyebrow, though, tilting her head to the right as she regards the younger girl. "...You know, kiddo...? You're really starting to worry me."

<Pose Tracker> Sorey has posed.

Sorey nods - he's a bit too tired to contribute much more to the conversation. He does drink the potion though, and sits back, looking out at the city. He needs to muster up the energy to help out. Soon. Just... as soon as he can his legs under him.

This may take a little bit.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


For the longest moment Ruby just glares at Zed, but then she looks towards Odjn for confirmation and- "I KNEW IT! ZEDDDDDDD!"

Suddenly there's a flurry of claw marks, blurring faster than the eye can see, countless slashes that hang in the air long after they've landed upon his handsome visage. "QUIT MAKING ODJN PART OF YOUR PERVERTED FANTASIES!"

GS: Ruby enters CONDITION PINK!!
GS: Ruby has attacked Zed with Pink Pawsie Devastation!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

For a moment, Gwen felt like she was trapped in a dark well. She'd never felt that depressed, or so willing to engage in violence. Wasn't it just a few days ago that she was afraid that she'd injure a bandit?

Then, it lifted, like a passing rain cloud. Now she's looking at Sorey as he slams his fist into the wagon. Was that... him? The guy who built that book fort one day in Adlehyde. Gwen looks at him in confusion, then over at Mikleo. Who is obviously his friend. Unlike Rose, she's seeing Mikleo. That, and she also seems dumb enough to not understand that she wasn't going to see him. Gripping her left shoulder as it bleeds, she walks over to him. "Hey... uh..."

"Thank you."

Looking to Ragnell as she's there to comment, Gwen half-smiles. "Hey, he did well here, didn't he-" Lord of Calamity. Wait, is this Althena's Guard? Hiro's here, isn't he? "Thanks for your help too, Ragnell," she says, switching subjects to keep from revealing anything immediately. She moves quickly to her cart, looking over Lunata as she's carried away. Taking out a medical kit, she begins to patch herself out.

"H-hey, as anyone seen a glove around here?"

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida returns, at a jog, carrying a decently-sized crate. Several civilians follow her, carrying more crates. "Those were Hellions, Zed," she says, sounding a little out of breath, but really, can you blame her? "People and animals twisted by something that's... not supposed to be here." Sorey punches the side of the wagon, and Ida frowns. She nods to Talise--clearly concerned, but 'passed out' is preferable to dead--sets the crate down, and pops it open. The first-aid workers (really, people Ida pointed at and commanded to help) start doing their thing, opening the crates and distributing supplies as needed. Jay may wish to supervise.

Ida, meanwhile, unstoppers a vial of alcohol, soaks a little cotton pad in it, and very delicately pulls her shirt and jacket away so she can tend to her injury. She turns her back to everyone else, but keeps talking. The alcohol stings. It stings like hell, but it is necessary. "It's just like the Texts," Ida says, with a little shake of her head. Some of the focus leaves her at the pain, revealing tension. "A force of wickedness corrupting the innocent." Ida swallows hard. She wants to do more, but... "Zed," she says, "Ruby, Odjn. Gather up those children."

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

"WAIT NO, I TELL YOU, IT'S NOT LIKE THAT--" Zed squawks as the kitty cat flies into the ULTIMATE FELINE FURY. Also feline flurry. Feline furry? No. Not that. His eyes go wide. Those claws... Those claws could tear his skin apart! And then... AND THEN HE MIGHT BLEED...!

AND THAT WOULD MAKE LIFE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT...!

Zed must act quickly. He must move like lightning! He tugs on his scarf at the last moment, interposing it between himself and those claws. And... There, tucked in the folds of that scarf...

...A turtle's shell.

CAT SCRATCH MEET NATURE'S SHIELD.

But--

Hold on, Ida has a job for them.

"Uh," Zed blinks from behind his reptilian barrier. "...Yeah, okay. RUBY DO YOU WANT TO MAKE KIDS FEEL LESS SCARED?!"

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline doesn't object to being carried. Instead, once she is sat down, she leans back against the wall. Unfortunately, right now she's too exhausted to do any supervising. The potion was taking effect, but not quickly enough.

Instead, she simply gives Ida a weak smile and a nod of approval. She knows she can trust Ida to do what needs to be done. For now...she's going to rest, though she doesn't lose consciousness just yet.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

Sorey seems a bit too exhausted to answer Ragnell's question. That in and of itself might be answer enough. The Lightning Seraph looks up when Gwen approaches, thanking him and then remarking to her that he did well, didn't he?, before thanking her as well. The side of her mouth quirking up (Rose is going to flip her shit when she realizes Gwen is talking to someone she can't see), she replies, "And you for yours, Gwen."

Her smirk fades as Gwen hurries off to her cart to patch herself up. Ragnell watches her for a moment, then moves her attention over to Zed, Ida, and Ruby as they all work together to get the kids healed up. It looks like there's not much for her to do.

That's a good thing.

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


Ruby's red clawmarks fade from the air, as she looks proudly on her handiwork and- "A TURTLE'S- HOW?"

But then Ida mentions a job for them and, it's perhaps then that Ruby surveys the destruction herself and swallows. That may be the sound of her swallowing her pride, because she is- "I'm not good with children." She mutters- but- "Alright."

The true miracle of the day turns out to be that no matter how many children call her a cat, no matter how many want to pet her or cuddle with her for comfort. Today she endures it.

However she may try to set Zed on fire a time or three to vent her frustrations.