2018-02-18: Lost Fortnight

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DC: Ida Everstead-Rey switches forms to Pugilist Ida!

<Pose Tracker> Royal Guard has posed.

Consequences. For every action, there is a reaction. Sometimes, most of the time, these outcomes are fairly benign. Hardly noticed simply because there is no noticeable effect on one's daily life. Sometimes, these outcomes are subtle, or experienced perhaps internally.

This is not any of those kinds of outcomes.

It started the day Layna Manydays and her companions raided one of the checkpoints dotting Krosse's borders. They were not the only ones to leave the base that day; their retreat from the checkpoint had been seen, the direction they headed in remembered. People were questions. Scouts were sent out. And eventually... inevitably...

"PIRATES! SURRENDER YOURSELVES!"

The raid comes at with the coverage that night time's lack of light can bring. The moon hangs heavy, the stars dotting the clear skies in beautiful arrays that suggest a calm and serenity in the air that simply is not there tonight.

The watchtowers may be able to spot them beforehand. But the Royal Guard of Krosse know what they're doing, and this kingdom is their backyard; their approach comes from multiple angles and well-hidden pathways through the forests of Arlia, approaching the pirate's cove of the Manyday Pirates from enough angles to completely box the coastal town in. Soldiers approach in defensive formation, the armor of the Royal Guard glinting faintly in the starlight... and in the torches struck one after the other as they breach the fringes of the Fortnight Cove.

By the time the first cry comes out from the vanguard of Krosse's forces, the town is in the process of being securely surrounded. Soldiers are supported in their back ranks by an assemblage of military symbologists and archers. Flames hiss through the air as the lead Guardsmen steps forward, brandishing his torch like an accusation.

"Manydays Pirates! You are wanted for questioning in relation to crimes against the Crown! Surrender yourselves immediately, or face the consequences!"

Perhaps, in any other situation, diplomacy might be an option. Talking, an option. At least to buy time. But the presence of thick, vaporous tendrils of black and purple that curdle around these men suggest otherwise. Malevolence. Some of them have already been twisted into horrific creatures, unseen by their fellow soldiers without the spiritual sense to see it.

At the back, bowstrings are drawn taut. Ready.

Prepared for the inevitability of violence.

O b j e c t i v e
Paranoic Pushback!!
Fight back the Guard for 4 rounds!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna knew it would come eventually. She knew it was only a matter of time before her hold on this place would be challenged - it was one of the risks Dahlia had warned her of when they first settled here. Layna had chosen this place regardless of that, and now it was time to face it.

With the situation as it was, she had been preparing for the possibility for some time, but as it was they manage to catch her off-guard.

She was just having a chat, discussing some plans in the meeting hall when one of her crew barges in.

"Captain! They're here! They're all around us!" He warns. This is followed soon by that call.

'Pirates! Surrender yourselves!'

Layna gives off a sigh and stands from her chair. Following suit is a short, stern-faced woman with a boarding axe, and a taller one with her hair pulled back and a spear.

The Quartermaster, Dahlia, and the Lead Artillerist, Victoria, respectively.

For a moment, Layna isn't sure how to react...but Dahlia sends her a look, and she nods.

"Aye. I'm gonna go see if I can't delay them. Dahlia, rally groups one and two. Get them armed and ready - I want crossbows ready to fire on my signal. Victoria, get the Sorcery Unit together. Prioritize white magic - we need defenses, immediately." With that said, Layna heads for the door.

"Rest of you, follow me or stay here. Oh and, try not to kill any of 'em, aye? The last thing we need to do is give the legitimacy." With that said, she marches out the door and soon she's within the light of the Royal Guard's torches.

"...I heard you the first time. Quit shouting." Layna says, with a nonchalant shrug. "If you want to question me, question away, right here, aye? But if you think I'm just going to surrender...well, you've got another thing coming."

She watches them cautiously...but doesn't attack just yet. No, she wants them to throw the first swing. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

There are a lot of nights when Talise stays up late drinking.

Tonight, not so much, if only because Tethelle isn't here to enjoy it with. And drinking alone is never fun, even if the option of doing it with Layna's on the table more often than not. Sometimes, her liver just needs a break.

Hence, the fact that from an open window somewhere within the little pirate settlement, lutestrings can be faintly heard. It's the sound of someone tuning a familiar and well-loved instrument. The sound comes to an abrupt halt, though, at the sound of a shouting voice.

Several seconds tick by before the door to the house crashes open ahead of Talise, who's busily pulling down her mailshirt and slugging her coat on. "Damn it, damn it, shit," she hisses as she reaches back for her weapons, coming up with her shotgun first and foremost. It sounds like there are a lot of them. Not even Talise is stupid enough to bum-rush an entire army, even with help.

Even with an entire crew's worth of help. She glances at Layna, setting her jaw and beginning to feed shells into her Everstead-Rey Model 492, then giving it a brisk pump to load one up.

That tension only grows as Talise realizes just what's out there. "Layna, there are Hellions," she hisses, momentarily gobsmacked that the pirate captain either can't see them or seriously thinks she can negotiate with an army full of Malevolence-soaked monstrosities.

But she does, at least, respect Layna's efforts enough to move off to one side rather than forward. Dropping down behind a crate in the hopes of getting some cover, she levels her shotgun but holds her fire for the moment.

"I sure hope you know what you're doing, Layna," she mutters, half to herself. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia Lampbright. Famous explorer's daughter. Sometime apprentice pirate, first aid nurse, explorer in her own right, and loyal companion of Lord Chauncey of Foxington.

Girl who turned in early tonight.

"WHAT IS ALL THE RACKET?!" comes a holler from a window nearby to Talise's, and Sephy--in a cute fox-pattern nightrobe--emerges, rubbing one eye with her free hand, the other dangling Chauncey. "I'm trying to get some sleep, you jerks!" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Getting in and out of Krosse is difficult these days, to put it mildly. The only reason Ida got across the border at all is because she got Layna's people to pick her up in a little skiff and bring her to the cove proper. As it so happens, she needs a little assistance fixing her Gear--and she wanted to see how everyone was enduring Krosse's paranoia.

As it so happens: not very well.

'Pirates! Surrender yourselves!'

Ida's eyes snap open. She all but drops the shotglass she was pouring scotch into--her hand jumps, and scotch sloshes into the floor. She looks up, across the room, to the table where Layna and some others are sitting. Part of her expected this. The rest...

Ida sets both shotglass and liquor down on the table, and then edges over to the window, careful not to show more than a sliver of her face. She's already reaching into her pocket for a handkerchief, preparing to tie it around her face.

She doesn't need to look to see the Malevolence. She could smell it already.

Something twists and sinks in her gut. There is no way this will end well. 

<Pose Tracker> Royal Guard has posed.

Layna Manydays arrives in a proud, dauntless march out the doors of the cove. She makes her claim. She does not aggress.

She wants them to attack first. Thankfully...

They seem to have no qualms going on the offensive.

Asking for surrender is a mere formality, like it was part of protocol -- there is hatred and fear in the eyes of those Guardsmen gathered, like the face of Layna Manydays was the face of everything that was bringing threat and the potential of ruin to Krosse. Those Hellions mixed in with the Guardsmen are kept back only by an irrational sense of duty, reptilian jaws snapping, lupine eyes glaring. They feed and breed the Malevolence amongst the Guard, even as that lead Guardsmen, a normal man, though one seething the fumes of Malevolence just as the others steps forward, heavy, booted heels crushing the encroaching sand beneath them with that single step.

But if you think I'm just going to surrender...well, you've got another thing coming.

The Captain's eyes narrow. A frown settles slowly across his lips. His hand lifts, gauntleted fingers gleaming in the firelight.

"... Fine," comes the roughened grunt of his voice, taciturn and unpleasant -- one that might have at one time been a voice of reason, now warped by suspicion and wreathed with reservation. "You made your choice. Layna Manydays, you and your people have been found in violation of the King's law, and have engaged in sedition and open terrorism against the Crown that will not be tolerated within the borders of Krosse. If you will NOT surrender--"

Fingers twitch. And behind the man, the first volley begins, as the symbologists of the Royal Guard move into action, tattoos gleaming in the clear night sky as they weave their sorcerous arts.

"-- you will be brought in by force."

And all through the air surrounding Layna, Sephilia, Ida, Talise -- anyone who gets too close, who has left the comforts of the town buildings for the outside -- the cool air crackles, and seems to -twist-, as raw magic lashes through the air and soaks the space surrounding the pirate's den to saturate anyone who lingers in that growing, glowing haze with spiritual and physical fatigue.

To weaken them. To distract them. An opening volley to drop their defenses and put them in a worse off position for--

"CHARGE! TAKE THEM ALIVE, BURN DOWN THE COVE! FOR KING KRONO!!"

--... for when the Guard's front lines come rushing in, eyes wild with panic and fervor. 

GS: Royal Guard has attacked Layna Manydays with Neurasthenia!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Talise Gianfair with Neurasthenia!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Neurasthenia!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Sephilia Lampbright with Neurasthenia!
GS: Royal Guard has completed their action.
GS: Sephilia Lampbright guards a hit from Royal Guard's Neurasthenia for 52 hit points!
GS: Disease! Statuses applied to Sephilia Lampbright!
GS: CRITICAL! Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Royal Guard's Neurasthenia for 66 hit points!
GS: Poison and Disease! Statuses applied to Talise Gianfair!
GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Royal Guard's Neurasthenia for 98 hit points!
GS: Disease! Statuses applied to Layna Manydays!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Royal Guard's Neurasthenia for 46 hit points!
GS: Disease! Statuses applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

"Back in the building, lass." Layna says, directed toward Sephilia. She doesn't take her eyes off the men in front of her, instead watching them carefully.

"Hah! Like there was ever really a choice." She says, rolling her neck. "What happened to all those travelers you abducted - ah, sorry, 'brought in'? Bet you gave 'em a real good choice, aye?"

Layna already knows, of course, but she prefers to let them think she doesn't.

As she had wanted, it's the Royal Guard that gets the first move, invoking Sorceries against them. Layna recoils from the effects of it, still being unused to facing Symbological assaults. It affects her crew as well - but soon, there's a reaction.

Victoria has rallied the mages and they counter it with spells of their own - curative magic to undo and dispel the fatigue before it can set in too deeply. It washes over them, reaching even Talise and Layna herself.

"Right, me buckoes, you heard the man - let 'em have it!" Layna calls out and backpedals. A volley of crossbow shots is fired out from the surroundings, aimed toward the feet of the approaching knights in an attempt to delay their charge. 

GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Layna Manydays with On Your Feet Me Hearties!!
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Talise Gianfair with On Your Feet Me Hearties!!
GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's On Your Feet Me Hearties! for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Layna Manydays clears debuffs from Layna Manydays!
GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's On Your Feet Me Hearties! for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Layna Manydays clears debuffs from Talise Gianfair!

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy feels the fatigue kicking in quickly. Poor thing, she's tiny! Perhaps fortunately, Chauncey isn't impacted so much by this, save where Sephy's will is involved...but then, that's really the trick, isn't it? Sephy is a willful young woman, and Layna's admonishment to get back to safety seems to rankle her a little bit.

"Nuh-uh! I'm not leaving you all! We can fight too!"

Chauncey is made big, and Sephy, yawning again from inside his backpack, provides him with his marching orders. "Chauncey! Sw...*yawn*...Swift Fox Clothesline!" Chauncey charges forwards after the crossbow volley, aiming to make some pain for the enemy, one arm extended out to clobber. 

GS: Sephilia Lampbright has attacked Royal Guard with Swift Fox Clothesline!!
GS: Sephilia Lampbright has completed her action.
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Sephilia Lampbright's Swift Fox Clothesline! for 98 hit points!
GS: Cripple! Statuses applied to Royal Guard!

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Whatever Layna's reasoning, Talise will have to trust that the older sea dog is up to something good.

Of course, that's about when the Guard pulls something Talise isn't expecting. Raw magic twists and roils through the air, seeming to grip the pirates' den itself. Her eyes widen with surprise. "What the vile hell," she starts, before that roiling spell saturates the air around her.

All Talise wants to do is vomit. She chokes back a gag as her stomach gurgles and her muscles strain, fingers momentarily going slack around her shotgun before tightening again.

Which is about when the charge takes place. Talise is back far enough that she doesn't immediately wind up with a sword to her face, but a few fireballs do come arcing at her. They slam into the box she's hiding behind and smash it into burning cinders. Chunks of flaming debris pelt the swordswoman. With an angry curse, she throws her arm up to try and keep any of it from getting into her eyes. The debris hits her anyway but at least none of it scorches her face off. She tumbles backwards, rolling to a knee with a wince, smacking her arm with a fold of her coat a couple of times to bat down a stubborn fire.

And in so doing, loses her opportunity to shoot them down. The Guard's front lines are already charging. Talise clenches her teeth and realizes this is about to get gory.

The swordswoman shoulders her shotgun and draws her blade, breathing out with relief as the restorative magic washes over her. With little fanfare, she charges forward, tense and doing her best to stomach a horrible sensation. This has become the closest thing she has to a home.

And now another royal guard is about to try and take everything from her. She sweeps forward and lets Rastaban go, parrying a couple of strikes sent her way before whirling and slashing out, aiming to carve through any Guard who comes near her.

There's ice in her expression - no hint of joviality, nor any restraint in her swordsplay. Any Guard who challenges her, she's going to attempt to kill, period. 

GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Royal Guard with Tidal Blow!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Tidal Blow for 123 hit points!

DC: 1 turn has elapsed in the battle against Royal Guard! 4 turns remain!
DC: 2 turns have elapsed in the battle against Royal Guard! 3 turns remain!

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

You knew this was going to happen.

Ida is still rooted to the spot inside the building. She saw the Guard's plans with her own eyes. She saw the orders--they came from the top, or close to it. They've been kidnapping people and doing God-knows-what to them, and Ida still doesn't want to fight them. Mercy? Or do you simply not wish to be associated with pirates and other known felons? Magic washes across the field. Ida can't sense it, but she can feel its effects immediately. Her stomach lurches. Her vision starts to swim. Her head feels like it's been stuffed full of cotton balls. Ida takes a deep breath, trying to shake it off--

'TAKE THEM ALIVE'

That part, more than any other threat, cuts through the malaise. Ida knows what the Guard has been doing to people--or rather, she doesn't know any more than the barest details, but even those are terrifying.

Her jawline tightens behind her bandana.

Moments later, a lit flare grenade comes sailing through the window, shattering glass. It lands at the feet of the charging guards, and barely a second later, it explodes with a flash of light and a deafening report. 

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Royal Guard with Flare Grenade!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Flare Grenade for 0 hit points!
GS: Slow! Statuses applied to Royal Guard!

<Pose Tracker> Royal Guard has posed.

Crossbolts fly through the air; spellfire counters the activities of the Symbologists. Shields raise to ward off the initial rain of long-distance fire, slowing the soldiers' approach as those bolts ricochet off some shields and lodge through the platings of some of the Guards' armor in swift succession. But there are many here today... and many more push past that initial assault, violence nipping at their heels.

The movements of these men are uniform and yet highly unpredictable in the same turn -- like their discipline was intermixing with some kind of mass hysteria, the front line falls into their strategic positioning, and yet the blitz of their weapons and attacks are all wholly unpredictable and fueled almost entirely by paranoic rage. Men and women let out battle cries, werewolf Hellions howl into the night.

Like it was straddling that fine line between a raid and a mob.

Sparks rain with each successive blow of sword against sword as Talise Gianfair parries and knocks opponents aside. The sharpened edge of the Rastaban cleaves through armor in a whirling dervish of violent. Blood soaks the sand beneath her in red and ichorous patterns both; and just as a soldier begins to swing at Talise, there is the flashbang of light that BURSTS from a tossed grenade, and blinded, his weapon goes wide -- and he earns a tremendous cleave from the Rastaban for his failing as the other Guardsmen starts to retreat backwards -- but not out of caution. One would even wonder if they could even feel such right now...

... but such wonderings might be best left for another time, as the Krosian Symbologists let their magic churn in the space that those soldiers once occupied, volleys of ice lances chilling the open air as they shoot for Talise en masse. She is a danger. She needs to be dealt with, swiftly.

Sephilia, too, for all her tired stumbling and seemingly young age, swiftly establishes herself as a high threat. The strange doll that accompanies her SMASHES after the Guard, -blowing- several of them through the air with an impact that almost assuredly breaks bones in the trying. Men hit ground limply, struggling back onto their feet -- but several more plow into Chauncey, attempting to drive the doll into the ground with body blows and the sweep of sword and bash of shields.

"Secure it! And get the girl controlling it, swiftly!" cries out one of the soldiers, as the Guard turns their attention towards Sephilia.

"Dissidents and foreign elements found as a danger to Krosse are kept securely under lock and key! Everything done to them, they did to themselves!" insists the Captain of the guard through that hail of arrowfire -- but the time for talk is past. The man swings his sword forward. Yells out a command.

... And one by one, soldiers bearing torches light the arrows of the archers on fire before they are shot through the air in a rain of orange dots of light that rain the skies...

... before they all fall across the limits of the town, setting fire to anything in their way. Including that building that Ida occupies.

As all the while, members of the Guard begin to encircle the perimeter of the Cove -- starting to infiltrate their way into the town proper as the onslaught continues, relentless. 

GS: Royal Guard has attacked Royal Guard with Embolden!
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Royal Guard's Embolden for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Royal Guard!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Layna Manydays with Incendiary Rain!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Incendiary Rain!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Sephilia Lampbright with Coordinated Crackdown!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Talise Gianfair with Circumspect Sorcery!
GS: Royal Guard has completed their action.
GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Royal Guard's Circumspect Sorcery for 119 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Sephilia Lampbright guards a hit from Royal Guard's Coordinated Crackdown for 96 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Sephilia Lampbright!

DC: 3 turns have elapsed in the battle against Royal Guard! 2 turns remain!

GS: Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from Royal Guard's Incendiary Rain for 49 hit points!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Royal Guard's Incendiary Rain for 47 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise saw the notes they found at the border outpost, just like everyone else. More than that, she saw the empty jail.

Sure, she plans to go to Krosse anyway. It's more that she'd prefer to go there under her own power.

Ida fires off the flare grenade, and Talise whirls away and shields her eyes with her arm the second she sees it. The blinding light booms around her but she's able to keep her eyes momentarily buried in a sleeve until the searing shine has passed.

And then she looks up to find that half the symbologists in Krosse seem to have decided that she needs to go. The split-second she took to not get blinded was enough for a fusillade of ice lances to come sailing her way like a thousand bloodthirsty daggers.

"Althena damn it," Talise growls as she attempts to smash one aside - to no avail. Several ice daggers drive into her, knocking her leg out from under her. A couple more hit her in the chest, shattering against the mail beneath but with a few shards driving through those little openings. The largest one rips across her side in a bloody spray that sends a few mail links dancing away, torn and shredded. Choking back the impulse to cry out, Talise lurches backwards and drops to one knee, sweeping her sword out instinctively to clear a space around herself in which to recover.

She can hear the guards talking about securing Sephilia and Chauncey. The pain racing through Talise is quickly overridden by something hotter, angrier. Her teeth grind together, lips pulling back to reveal the fanglike canines that her mother's heritage gifted to her. Her eyes blaze even as those flaming arrows fall from the sky.

Don't let your anger rule you, the wise old voice of Uncle Piet echoes in her thoughts.

Talise takes a steadying breath through her nose. Lets it out. Forces herself to harness that anger. To pour it, mould it, shape it. To temper it with wisdom and patience.

Thinking she can save everyone won't help her save the people she can. She's not omnipresent, nor capable of stopping an army. Fortnight Cove is probably doomed, even if it's simply relocated or at least subjected to a full rebuild, whether or not all of them manage to beat back the assault.

But they sure as hell can make it costly for the Royal Guard.

Talise waits a few seconds more for some of the guardsmen to close on her, before she suddenly whips Rastaban out and around her in a rising crescent. She surges out of that crouch and attempts to cut through. The blow is a powerful one, aimed to cleave several men bloodily in half all at once, her prodigious strength harnessed into killing force. 

GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Royal Guard with Infinitely Rippling Stream!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephy is a little scared now. There's fire in the mix--which is never good for Chauncey--and the town is on fire. That means her room is on fire! The room with most of her stuff (not her satchel, she has that with her Dad's journal and her own, plus her sewing supplies), but her day clothes and the small library she's accumulated) and the special star ceiling that she asked for and received. The ceiling that reminds her that her family looks up and sees the same stars; that reminds her of home.

Tears fill the girl's eyes. "Chauncey, just--just fight 'em off! That's all we gotta do is fight 'em off so that everyone can stop this from happening, right?"

"Right?"

Chauncey doesn't answer. Chauncey just pounds. 

GS: Sephilia Lampbright has attacked Royal Guard with Foxington Pound!
GS: Sephilia Lampbright has been weakened by Disease! They take 0 hit points of damage, and burn off their temporary hit points!
GS: Sephilia Lampbright takes 7 damage from Poison!
GS: Sephilia Lampbright has completed her action.
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Infinitely Rippling Stream for 147 hit points!
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Sephilia Lampbright's Foxington Pound for 102 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

A rain of flaming arrows falls all around them. Layna backpedals, quickly equipping her shielded gauntlets and raising them to defend herself. Arrows are largely deflected away from her, but some still manage to find purchase. Layna doesn't seem to care, even as flames lick at her.

She digs in, reciting an incantation...but doesn't let it go just yet.

"Did it to themselves, did they? Guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I bet." She says, shaking her head. "Cowards, all of you! You're afraid - afraid of the world around you! And maybe you ought to be. Take a good, long look at yourself! If the world's turned against you, it's because of what you've done."

Layna releases her spell - blades of wind go soaring outward to slice at the other Captain. She isn't aiming to kill, merely to wound and emphasize her point.

"How're you holding up, everyone? Hang in there!" Layna shouts to her allies, still without looking in their direction.

Around them, the battle rages onward. Victoria looks out at the flames that are starting to burn around them.

"Damn it! Water Mages, focus on putting those fires out! We can't lose the Cove! Get some barriers up, quickly!" She shouts, slamming the butt of her spear into the ground. The Sorcery Unit reacts quickly, focusing their efforts into a rain that pours down from above, seeking to put out the flames before they can spread to far...and possibly limit the lights of the Guard, as well.

And somewhere near the back Dahlia stands, boarding axe resting against her shoulder and pointing out targets for the crossbowmen to fire upon.

Everyone else...some seek to fight back against the invaders, while others seek to move injured comrades out of harm's way, and to where their healer waits. 

GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Royal Guard with Cutlass Gale!
GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Cutlass Gale for 158 hit points!
GS: Poison, Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Royal Guard!

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

A flaming arrow hits the side of the window, next to Ida, with an audible thunk. Flame races up the wood, and licks at the back of Ida's hand. She bites back a yelp of pain, steps away from the window, and throws herself to the floor. More arrows strike home, burying themselves deep into the wood. Who uses arrows in this day and age, for Granas' sake? Ida thinks. Her thoughts are edged with mania and disbelief and fear. The lingering fog of magic in her head isn't helping. Fall back, Ida wants to say. She's not Layna. She can't give orders to this crew. But she knows they're outnumbered, and that sticking around means they might end up like those corpses Ida and Rosaline found in the Hollow, months ago.

Ida doesn't do anything so bold--or foolish--as to run out the front door while the building is being put full of flaming arrows. That's where the fire is, and also where the army detachment is.

Are you running? Why are you running? Go help them! 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

A flaming arrow hits the side of the window, next to Ida, with an audible thunk. Flame races up the wood, and licks at the back of Ida's hand. She bites back a yelp of pain, steps away from the window, and throws herself to the floor. More arrows strike home, burying themselves deep into the wood. Who uses arrows in this day and age, for Granas' sake? Ida thinks. Her thoughts are edged with mania and disbelief and fear. The lingering fog of magic in her head isn't helping. Fall back, Ida wants to say. She's not Layna. She can't give orders to this crew. But she knows they're outnumbered, and that sticking around means they might end up like those corpses Ida and Rosaline found in the Hollow, months ago.

Ida doesn't do anything so bold--or foolish--as to run out the front door while the building is being put full of flaming arrows. That's where the fire is, and also where the army detachment is. Instead, she makes for the back door, hoping to duck around and try and grab Sephilia or Talise or anyone who is in danger of being overrun and get out of here.

Are you running? Why are you running? Go help them! 

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Basic Move Action!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has been weakened by Disease! They take 0 hit points of damage, and burn off their temporary hit points!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Basic Move Action for 0 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Royal Guard has posed.

Many Guardsmen fall. To the lash of the Rastaban. To the pounding fury of Chauncey. To the efforts of the pirates of Fortnight Cove.

But where one Guardsmen falls, it seems another is there to take their place. Their numbers are not endless. But to the efforts of those trying to defend their home away from home, it could very well seem like that... and perception is a truly powerful thing.

It doesn't help, of course, that those Hellionized ranks are capable of taking -that- much more punishment than their fellows from a combination of their supernatural, spiritually-reinforced armored hides to the simple lack of anything approaching survival instinct or the sense to feel pain. The Hellions are not the majority of the Guard... but there are several of them. And they are swiftly on the approach.

Guardsmen start to circle Talise; they -charge- forward in an attempt to pincer her. And they reap their reward in the form of a brilliant upwards stroke of the Beastwoman's sword, cleaving through several of the Guard like their armor was little more than hot butter waiting to be sliced clean through. Bodies fall -- not necessarily in one piece --

--before a shadow casts over Talise.

The swordswoman bard has all of a handful of seconds to react before she finds herself entangled in netting throwing by the Guard in an attempt to capture -- or at the very least slow the deadly woman down -- trying to help along that process of 'forceful capture' as a lupine Hellion lunges upon her with one hand drawn back to -strike-, violently.

It is the same with Sephilia, as she commands her doll to move forward. Chauncey's powerful blows crush armor and plow guards underfoot in their vain attempts to hold the doll down. But several more tackle into the magical fox -- even as several others round upon Sephilia, whipping a bolo through the air in an attempt to cord the girl up a the ankles and bring her down as the rest struggle with her mighty construct.

Winds howl through the crackling, building heat of the night sky in a sudden hurricane gust of fury. Blades forged of sculpted, pressurized air -surges- forward, billowing past and snuffing out several fires in their wake as they blitz through the approach of Guardsmen attempting to charge. Armor is sundered, plates of metal flinging through the air as several of the Guard are tossed aside like ragdolls before they can even reach Layna in the distance. They hit round in a tumbling roll, some hitting rocky outcroppings, some just spiraling across the earth in a spray of sand as they groan in pain. A direct approach won't work, it seems.

And so the Captain of the Guard falls back, and simply shouts "NOW!"

... as a squid-like Hellion bearing the robes of a Krosian symbologist slithers its way forward, tendrils oozing viscous fluids across the sands as their tentacle-laced hands lift. They chant, their voice a seething burble. Symbols glow a sickly pall across their skin. But it is not symbology that churns the air, opening up a gaping wound of inky black discordance that rips through the skies next to Layna -- and threatens to engulf Ida just as she flees the cove in search of Talise and Sephilia.

It is Malevolence. Pure, and spiteful, and sinking into the very depths of the soul.

---

It is as Ida runs that several members of the Guard drop down into the town of Fortnight Cove. Buildings burn, but they ignore those, breaching the defenses concentrated in the front as they wind their way towards the back. Lupine soldiers crawl across the ground. Reptilian Hellions snort the air. Shambling knights of armor crunch stone and burning wood beneath their heels.

"THERE! GET THEM! TAKE OUT THEIR DEFENSES!"

And it is the hiss of a Hellion's cry that is the first thing to greet Dahlia as a horde of Malevolent Guardsmen lunge upon her and her crossbowmen in a sudden, ferocious blitz.

Bringing dissonant violence in their wake. 

GS: Royal Guard has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Malevolent Maelstrom!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Layna Manydays with Malevolent Maelstrom!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Talise Gianfair with Capture Them!!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Sephilia Lampbright with Capture Them!!
GS: Talise Gianfair critically Guards a hit from Royal Guard's Capture Them! for 15 hit points!
GS: Royal Guard takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Royal Guard has completed their action.

DC: 4 turns have elapsed in the battle against Royal Guard! 1 turns remain!

GS: Sephilia Lampbright guards a hit from Royal Guard's Capture Them! for 41 hit points!
GS: Entangle! Statuses applied to Sephilia Lampbright!
GS: Layna Manydays has activated a Force Action!
GS: Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from Royal Guard's Malevolent Maelstrom for 82 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Royal Guard's Malevolent Maelstrom for 198 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Blood sprays as Rastaban shears through armour, flesh, muscle and bone as though they weren't there. The blade comes out as sharp as it ever was. Red splashes across Talise's tunic and coat.

Some of them were Hellions, Talise realizes bitterly. This wasn't their doing. And I killed them. If only I could've--

She brings herself up short with a more stark thought. There is a real danger here, to her friends. To their lives. And she cannot, no matter how much she tries, prevent every bad thing, or account for every contingency.

Like the contingency that these guys might have a net. A huge shadow looms over her. She looks up --

And sweeps her sword through the air in a high arc, twisting expertly. The net descents around her.

With a large hole cut through it, falling around Talise. It's almost perfectly round. A few disconnected cords of rope drift through the air before landing.

With no net to encumber her, Talise can square herself to the assault of that lupine Hellion. She whips her blade around and catches those talons against the polished and patterned steel. Talons screech against the metal without actually scarring or denting it, the impact still forcing Talise to take a step back, fighting for balance as the powerful creature attempts to bring her under. Another swing, and she moves to parry deftly, then again, slowly losing ground but at least managing to not die. Her breathing quickens, eyes darting occasionally to make sure the guards aren't trying to flank her or come around behind, before she finally makes a move.

She drives her right knee upwards at the lupine Hellion, aiming to smash it into Althena's secret spot.

"That's for Uncle Piet's lute," she growls, by now aware that her nominal house is on fire and probbly taking her precious instrument into the flames with it. That bothers her as much as her worry for Sephy, Ida and the rest of the crew. But for now, she's got to buy them time, and every Guardsman attacking her is one not setting the village aflame.

Again she moves forward, powering up one of her gloves with a surge of Ogre's strength. She gives the lupine Hellion a shove to attempt to plow them back towards more of those Guardsmen, like a bowling ball. Rastaban swinging, Talise barrels after the Hellion, striking with a blur of rapid strokes, slashing and slicing and aiming to remove heads and limbs as she tries to get to one of those guard commanders.

Between strokes, she manages to shout: "LAYNA! There are too many of them!" 

GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Royal Guard with Savior's Storm!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Savior's Storm for 182 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Sephilia is used to riding around on Chauncey's back, so the fact that she's being attacked directly here is a novel experience for her--novel and terrifying. "Chauncey," she cries, but then the bola strikes her and knocks her down--and the girl lands hard, head striking the ground and stunning her.

Chauncey pauses for a moment, as though waiting for Sephilia to finish her command. Then he seems to realize that she's in danger--and, despite her momentary incapacitation, turns to rush to her side, pounding at the nearby soldiers with a good old Foxington Press to keep them away from his best friend. Those soldiers that had tackled him seem not even to slow his progress.

...is it just a trick of the light? Or is he...bigger? 

GS: Sephilia Lampbright has attacked Royal Guard with Foxington Press!!
GS: Sephilia Lampbright takes 5 damage from Poison!
GS: Sephilia Lampbright has completed her action.
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Sephilia Lampbright's Foxington Press! for 142 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Royal Guard!

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Ida rounds the corner of the burning building. It used to be Layna's headquarters, and now it is very much aflame--a towering bonfire. She feels a sudden surge in the Malevolence in the air, something spiteful and angry and fearful. She catches sight of the squid-thing wearing human clothes, and her stomach does a flip. She skids to the side, throws an arm in front of her bandana-clad face, and tumbles behind tumble-down wooden wreckage that was a pile of crates a few moments before.

Malevolence washes through. Ida thinks back to the chapel, and braces herself. It's not enough. She can feel it digging its awful claws into her mind, tearing her thoughts apart, tormenting her with every horrible memory and what-if anxiety it can find. She doesn't scream, but that's only because she's breathing so hard she feels like she could faint at any moment--like her body was thrown into overdrive. Malevolence never did this to her before.

Ida rises, gasping for breath. The front lines are almost upon her, now, and she can see Talise battling them, covered in blood. She thinks this place is worth killing for. The thought is mocking, as if emboldened by the Malevolence. Do you?

Ida surges forwards. That horrible squid-thing Hellion is right there, and Ida lunges for them, lashing out in a wild haymaker. She wastes no time. She saw Sephy go down, and fishes for the young woman's hand, trying to grab her and drag her to safety. If there is any safety. 

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Royal Guard with Body Blow!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes 5 damage from Poison!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Body Blow for 111 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

'Now'? Layna looks on as a squid-like Hellion emerges, bearing the robes of a symbologist. Their dark sorcery rips through the air, opening a wound that spews out something she is rather familiar with by this point:

Malevolence.

It seems to consume her...but she weathers the storm, a sudden strong gust of wind dispersing it away from her. The wind clings to her, accompanied by a subtle green glow.

She'd been through worse bouts of it before.

Internally, she has to wonder what that man saw this as - did he know Malevolence when he saw it? Did he realize what his comrades had become?

As she's wondering, she hears a shout from Talise.

There were too many of them.

"...Aye. Get to the hangar! I'll clear a path." Layna replies, reciting an incantation. The wind picks up, beginning to howl. The heavy rain, conjured by Victoria's unit of sorcerers to combat the flames, continues to fall...and is swept up as Layna releases another barrage of wind at the soldiers.

"Scatter, you blaggards! Scatter while you still have your pathetic lives!" Layna roars.

Elsewhere, that unit of sorcerers is still hard at work. Victoria lashes out with spear and sorcerous flame both as knights of the Guard try to interrupt them...but it is not them who suffer the brunt of their wrath.

Reptilian Guardsmen assault Dahlia, having pushed into the defensive position from where she was directing the crossbowmen. Pirates drop their weapons to draw sabers, but they get nary a swig out before they're dropped, themselves.

In the end, it's Dahlia herself that's left standing, boarding axe flashing out dangerously and a grim expression on her face.

If it were mere humans she were fighting, the situation might be different. But she's been around Layna enough to know the truth. Escaping was unlikely.

It will be a quick but brutal struggle. Though overwhelmed, she would not make it easy for them. 

GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Royal Guard with Cutlass Gale!
GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
GS: Royal Guard takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Cutlass Gale for 139 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Royal Guard has posed.

Their numbers are dwindling, slowly but surely, either taken out of commission entirely or left to a worse, bloodier fate. But with this place discovered, even if they fall back to regroup, it's likely only a matter of time before they return, better prepared. More ready to claim what has already been damaged.

But for all their dwindling ranks, there are still so many more, all of them stoked into a zealous rage by the contradiction of their fears and their moral compass. It creates that ever-growing morass that seems to sink in and pollute the land, the telltale signs of spreading Malevolence that many from Lunar with the sight to see it would be familiar with. It has set root, here.

And wherever this paranoia truly comes from, it has made it imperative for them to not cede one inch of ground to these outsiders and their settlement.

But still, the pirates and their companions fight back. The werewolf upon Talise snaps its jaws, saliva slathering wildly and eyes wide in a frenzy as claws scrabble at her blade with the shriek of sharpened points on patterned steel. It forces its way forward, growling fiercely --

--and that growl becomes a pathetic little yelp when Talise introduces her knee sharply towards that one very sensitive spot. Its eyes widen. The thrashing stops.

And the poor Hellion just topples backwards, whimpering like a puppy.

But it is not the only Hellion here; as the werewolf is launched at the other Guardsmen, as they are knocked aside and disoriented just long enough to be - literally - disarmed and worse, there comes a rumbling tremor across the ground. Blood and armor flies as another shadow casts over Talise.

And the woman with the Ogre's strength faces an actual Ogre as the green-skinned, horned Hellion lets out a howl, massive body -rushing- forward and mighty waraxe no normal man could ever hold being brandished as he drives it towards Talise in a single brutal stroke, making up for a lack of finesse with a wellspring of power.

Bound up, the Guard approaches Sephilia with a single-minded determination. One grips her by the shoulders, intent to lift her up and carry her off. But just as they begin to heft -- Lord Chauncey files his formal complaint, -slamming- into the man with force enough to knock him -brutally- aside until he smashes into a nearby wall, unconscious. The embiggened bruiser -collides- with the other soldiers, brushing those who attempt to grapple with them aside, clearing a path for Ida as she bowls through--

--and introduces her fist to the face of that be-tentacled Hellion with a furious blow. Their is a squishy sound of wet flesh and cracking bone as the Hellion -lurches- to the right, mid-casting a spell. It collapses...

... but the spell completes as it does, a wild, raw bolt of Malevolent energy going wide, completely avoiding Ida -- and screaming an angry path for the bigger (?) Chauncey off in the distance.

Wind continues to howl, wide and raw as Layna Manydays roars above it. Her command issues forth as those soldiers helpfully scattered, assisted along the way by a billowing barrage of wind that -knocks- them aside like ragdolls. Another volley of flaming arrows sound off, screaming heat through the skies. Sorcery trades blows, symbologists countered and knocked out by flame and spearwork even as they fire their ice and lightning and other elemental abuse from across the air.

And as they do... the Hellions come charging, wolfman, lizardmen, and chattering goblins alike, pouncing upon Layna and Ida, brandishing claws and fists and weapons in an attempt to drag them down into the earth and -beat- them into submission. The bulk of their focus on Layna, if they can get through this last rush the pirate and her crew might find their opening amidst the thinning of the Royal Guard's ranks to the North --

--but they will have to work their way through the violence arrayed against them now, if they have any hope of getting out of here not clasped in chains.

---

Dahlia, however, is not so lucky.

Her men fallen, her position stalwart and uncompromising, she fights bravely. She fights well, and brutally, and she makes her assailants suffer for their attempt to overwhelm her. One of those Hellions falls, even, temporarily incapacitated.

But she is one. And eventually, those supernatural soldiers do overwhelm her, however much they suffer for it. 

GS: Royal Guard has attacked Sephilia Lampbright with Malevolent Maelstrom!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Talise Gianfair with Fearful Frenzy!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Layna Manydays with Fearful Frenzy!
GS: Royal Guard has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Fearful Frenzy!
GS: Royal Guard takes 7 damage from Poison!
GS: Royal Guard has completed their action.

DC: 5 turns have elapsed in the battle against Royal Guard! No turns remain! Time has expired! The battle is over!

GS: Talise Gianfair has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Guard!
GS: Talise Gianfair critically Guards a hit from Royal Guard's Fearful Frenzy for 31 hit points!
GS: Sephilia Lampbright guards a hit from Royal Guard's Malevolent Maelstrom for 88 hit points!

DC: MISS! Layna Manydays completely evades Fearful Frenzy from Royal Guard!

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Royal Guard's Fearful Frenzy for 77 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

That green glow around Layna doesn't fade. The wind continues howling around her as she moves. Hellions close in on her from all sides, striking at her with claw and fist and blade alike...but she wades right on through them, fury in her eyes, even as they cut and tear at her.

"...Alright. It's time, me hearties - let's move! Don't let anyone get left behind!" Layna shouts, and begins to run toward that break in their ranks. She keeps an eye, ready to extend a hand to anyone who might need the help.

As she moves, she casts a spell...but it's not an attack. No, a column of wind shoots upward, acting like a beacon - a signal to retreat.

There was little point in continuing to fight here. They've done everything they could.

In the distance, Victoria sees it. She sighs, almost bored...and recites an incantation of her own.

An explosion rocks her part of the town, and when the smoke clears...they'll have vanished, as well. 

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Down goes Sephilia. Talise can just see the girl fall through the melee she's caught in the midst of. A momentary surge of horror grips her heart - until Chauncey takes care of it. ...Can Chauncey do that?

But there's no time to dwell on it - only time to try and do something. Right now, that means spilling more blood. Robbing more men of their lives and more children of their fathers. They chose this path, she reminds herself bitterly. But it doesn't feel good.

And then comes the actual ogre, a monstrous war axe coming to bear on her. Not even Talise could hoist an axe that size in battle - not without opening herself up to defensive lapses the Ogre simply can't. In comes that massive stroke, and Talise hisses and jumps backwards, swatting at the axe blade to divert the blow away from her completely - and it nicks perilously close. Close enough to tear a few rings from her mailshirt. Strips of split steel glint in the air, then hit the ground with a few pings.

There's an opening in the storm of men and magic and monsters. Talise doesn't engage the Ogre; she backpedals and counts on its huge lumbering mass to slow it down. A snapped look towards Sephilia -- Ida's got her, she realizes with a surge of relief that momentarily releases the tightening clench in her gut. She steps back, whips out her shotgun and begins to lay down covering fire, unloading a spray of buckshot into the guards closest to her to try and give Ida another few seconds to clear Sephy from the fighting.

And then she's off after Layna, still doing her best to keep close to her friends - but the truth of the situation is clear enough to Talise.

Fortnight Cove is a lost cause, and it's time to put their lives first.

Back in town, in Talise's room, the flames have consumed just about everything, including her lute. 

<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.

Chauncey, ever the steadfast guardian, is just standing there--it makes him a good target. The magical energy slams into him, and he shrinks back down to doll-size, landing by Sephilia--who snatches him groggily with her free hand. "Ch-chauncey..." she moans, then her eyes snap back into focus. "I-Ida! Help me get untangled! I can't run like this and you can't get away dragging me..."

She doesn't look back. She doesn't want to see Fortnight Cove in flames. It wasn't home, not really...but it was someplace that she could feel at home. The constellations on her ceiling are gone now, burned away. She sets her jaw, instead, and tries not to cry. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

Brackish ichor splatters Ida's face as the Hellion goes down. It's not dead--just wounded--but there are plenty more in fighting shape. A werewolf hellion grabs for her, and she jerks her forearm away; claws trace bloody lines down her flesh. Ida responds with a low punch, and sucks in a breath. Life-energy flows through her, saturates her, deadens her sense of pain to the blows raining down upon her. She shelters the fallen Sephilia with her body, and wrenches the nets free from her. And at the same time, she can't help but think--

Does she even understand what's happening?

The net's gone. Ida grabs Sephilia's hand, and drags her free of the melee, shielding her. By the time the two of them catch up with Layna, Ida is covered in cuts and bruises once again.

They're alive. Ida can't help but wonder, though, when the other shoe is going to drop. 

<Pose Tracker> Royal Guard has posed.

In an instant, the conditions of the battlefield change.

All it takes is one mighty updraft of wind. All it takes is one conjuration of magic. The ogre lumbering after Talise rears its axe back once more, eyes wild and gripped with rage. The archers ready their arrows, torches catching the flames. The symbologists begin to conjure up their desperate counterspells.

And the Hellions bound for Layna, for Ida and Sephilia and all of the Manyday pirates, dissonant zealotry fueling their every bounding step.

And in the deafening BOOM of an explosion, it all changes.

Smoke and dirt gushes across the Fortnight Cove just as the Hellions ready the pounce. Force whooshes past them, screaming at their ears as several wheel backwards; some leap into the blinded, smoke-choked air, only to hit nothing but ground in meaty -thuds- of impact.

"FALL BACK!" cries the Guard Captain, pointing his sword into the air. "Defensive positions! Ready for the counter--"

But no counter comes. Nothing comes. There is nothing but air when that smoke clears. The pirates gone.

The Captain looks on for a moment with a scowl. As soldiers and Hellions alike scramble in confusion, the man just shakes his head, muttering a soft, "Dammit," to himself. He looks upset, not frustrated -- as if terrified of just what might happen with that foreign element still free within their kingdom.

Visions of long-past nightmares, of a kingdom burning, flit through his mind, and he shakes it away with gritted teeth.

"... Fall back. And bring the prisoners back with us! Make sure they're bound -- these people are enough trouble as it is without giving them a free hand to make more with."

And so, the Guard will fall back from the burning sight of Fortnight Cove. Their targets, escaped...

... though not all of them.

O b j e c t i v e
Complete?
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

A while later...

With some effort, the escapees of Fortnight Cove reconvene. People talk, trying to ease themselves after what happened. No one can really sleep, not easily. The crew's healers see to the injured or unconscious. The crew's Chaplain, Lysander, sees instead to their emotional states.

Layna stands at the highest point, her telescope out and watching the horizon intently, a rare look of concern on her face. Victoria stands nearby, looking around uneasily.

There's silence for a moment, before Layna breaks it.

"...Has anyone seen any sign of Dahlia or her unit?" Layna asks.

"...No. Uh...her side of town went silent after a while..." Victoria replies. She doesn't voice the obvious conclusion. She doesn't need to.

Layna breathes in deep and shuts her eyes. The hand holding the telescope falls away and she turns, heading back to the others.

"...As soon as our spies get back, we're heading to Krosse. If I don't find her in one piece..." She mutters, stowing the telescope away.

She leaves the rest of the threat unsaid, but her intention is clear.

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