Group 28

[Darkdoom]

Malus pulled the trigger just as he saw the other shade being attacked by one of the mutated beasts. Moving more by impulse than by actual conscious thought he stepped towards the creature and let lose the ancient war cry of the forest. He did not care that he had no sword or that he could be ripped in half; all he saw was his enemy and a fellow shade in trouble.
His conscious mind finding itself in a tricky position urged him to use his stars instead of using his bare hand, to which his instincts pushed him. His logical mind won. Stepping between the monster and Khalea he used his stars to at least distract the beast. His aim was not to kill but to immobilize and slow down.

He saw that the leader was still standing, but there was nothing he could do
about this now.

Malus plan is first of all to give Khalea time to get off the floor and join the fight. Hopefully team work can kill this monstrum. He is trying to decrease the fighting ability of his enemy and to slow him down too.

[Lot1loe]

IC: Dareth's gambit at first proved quite successful. In a bull rush he tackled the doc to the ground, and as his grasping fingers found his throat, he began to squeeze. Pure ecstasy filled him as he felt his victim sqirm futilly in an attempt escape, the life slowly slipping away. Chocking was far from his favorite way to kill. Not messy enough. But at that moment, as he heard the wet gasps for air and sensed the docs life slowly be crushed along with his windpipe and felt what should have been his tormentors last heartbeats pumping that sweet, crimson blood through his veins, he didn't care...

Sunddenly a sharp pain, quite unlike he had ever experienced before hit him in the chest as he was picked up and thrown bodily off of the other elf. He hit the ground hard flat on his back, dazing him and shoving the wind right out of his lungs. Stars played at the edge of his vision, fighting with the red haze of rage for a place in Dareth's vision. As he sat up, he saw the doc staggering back in an attempt to escape, giving Dareth a small amount of satisfaction from the way he rubbed his neck. The former corsair rose to again begin to stalk his prey. HIs rage hadn't cleared, but the painful shock he had recieved had changed it into something more wary. Though only a hair's breadth from completely losing control again the fury that currently gripped him was less mad dog, and more wounded wolf. Along with this he regained enough concious thought to again look to see if a fallen weapon was within reach, although he won't go out of his way for one lest the doc escape. He took off after his prey, somewhat unsteadily at first, in an attempt to finish what he started. If he is still unarmed he will attempt to wear down or disable his target with punches and blows, relying on what he remembered of dock-side brawls so many years ago, brfore finishing him off. If he was successful in gaining a weapon, he will be bolder in attempting to go for the kill. Either way, he will also attempt to disarm the doc, robbing him ao that hateful brass instrument. Simple, direct, and likely to be continued even if he once again completely loses control. Just how Dareth liked it. You won't escape you bastard, this is the day you die

Whether Dareth is successful in finding any sort of weapon or not, he will take off after the doc and attempt to engage him again, although in a slightly more wary fasion.

[Messiahofdeath]

With his rage clouded head lowered Sinfulblade dashed across the chaos ridden room towards the avian monstrosity that was flexing his new appendages getting ready for his first flight. With bolts flying, screams echoing and vials being tossed about Sinful used all his acrobatic training to dodge out of the way of any obstacle as he picked up momentum for the inevitable clash.

On normal thinking grounds the teal elf would have thought twice before attacking something as large and alien as his target, but the red mist did not discriminate targets, be it something as lowly as a goblin or something as impressive as this newborn mutant.

Silent huffs escaped his lungs as he came closer and closer, his long legs changing their pistoning work from a running stance into long leaps as the last few meters were about to be closed up. The beast rearing up and charging as well time slowed down. FOUR the sounds around him started to fade, THREE vision blurred leaving only his target in sight, TWO breathing in a long gasp Sinful felt his entire body pump up with adrenaline, NOW the teal elf let out a roar and leaped forward, his arms stretching out and his blades eagerly awaiting the hit.

With a loud crash everything around him faded out, for a split second Sinful thought he had lost it as his elegant body crashed on the ground, the large heap of muscle and feathers landing on top of him, but the will power caged in kheinate frenzy kept him going as he was presented with the glorious sight of the creature screeching in pain.

Roaring up the avian horror cried in agony as the druchii steel embedded in his form caressed the nervous system with painful jolts, yet it had not given in so quickly and although severely wounded it saw premise when one might see disaster. In their current position Sinful was nigh powerless against the beast as it sent the ungodly beak crashing against the stone floor mere inches away from where Sinful’s head had just been.

Trying to tug his body to the sides and from under the painful pressure of the beast the teal khainate felt his Bastard sword still stuck in the body of the creature. Gripping the handle firmly Sinful tried to jerk it around hoping to cause as much agony as possible and keep the beast focused on the pain and not shattering his head, which he tried to pull as close to his chest as possible hoping that the neck of his assailant won’t bend that much making it’s ability to attack with it’s beak a lot more limited. Doing so Sinful abandoned his short sword sticking out of the creature and opted to try and somehow reach his dagger still fixed on the belt.

Sinfulblade will try to roll his head closer to his chest trying to limit the arc by which the creature can crash his beak down whilst at the same time tugging his bastard sword to the sides causing as much discomfort as possible and trying to locate his dagger, which if found he will try to pull free and possibly slash at the neck, shoulders or head of the beast. All in all Sinful will now try to hinder and torture the beast keeping himself alive than rather try to kill it outright, yet risk his head in the process by opening up too much

[Syjahel]

It had all begun to dissolve from the clarity of combat into the chaos of individual fighting. A moment's pause gave Syjahel time to take in the full horror of her newfound opponents: mindful of the situation in which she found herself and the need for control the noblewoman didn't allow herself to flinch. She'd been making good use of her new shield, and the investment had proved its worth one time more when she fended off the unwounded one only to see him fall to Malus' signature black bolts. With a snarl of defiance she pushed the other one back and the gaping maw in the ground found its prey to its liking.

Within seconds of the wounded Druchii's grisly demise, the unholy thing lashed out again, seeking to draw her in to a fatal embrace. With swift strikes the furious noble's daughter parried and thrust aside most of the ravenous tentacles, but one latched onto her boot and she fell, striking the hard floor.

The jolt galvanised her and she put all her effort into severing the grasping appendage, knowing that if she got within reach of the mouth then she would have only a slave's chance of survival.


Syjahel will put her full effort into not ending up in the tentacled maw. She will try to sever the tentacles that have hold of her with her sword, all the while making it as hard as possible for it to drag her in by wriggling, kicking, bracing with her shield against the floor or anything else handy - basically anything she can think of the keep from ending up as a snack.

If she manages this, she will be back to trying to aid her companions; whoever seems to be the most in trpuble, but with a preference for Khalea as she knows the Shade is only lightly armoured and you don't want to be anywhere near a frenzying Khainite.

[Mythic77]

It was not the best plan Khalea had ever had, and that was proven as she felt the blow on the back of her torso, launching the tiny elf off the ground and sending her flying through the air. As she hurtled through the air the scratches the beast had left became the least of her worries are the flagstones on the ground grew bigger. She attempted to control her landing by rolling as she hit the ground. Try being the key word of that sentence, as she hit the ground at an awkward angle. Fortunately she didn’t think she had any broken bones, and while the scratches on her back bled they weren’t hindering her movement yet.

Khalea rolled over to get up, forcing a groan from the prone shade as her body let her know that it did not like the abuse it was being put through. However, she could not stop, as while she was sure she was dead she figured that she might as well go down fighting. However, luck was on her side as Malus stepped forward to cover her. He was using throwing stars, she saw, and as she stood up she hoped that he could distract the monster until she could get in.

Khalea drew her longsword, though she still didn’t think of it as hers as she had only had it for less than an hour. She stepped forward, hoping that her and Malus could take the monstrosity in front of them down.

Thanks she said to her fellow shade and she prepared for the fight.

Khalea will step forward and fight the monster with Malus. Her next step if she can get breathing room is finding her crossbow and using it to support Syjahel and Sinful, as well as taking down the doctor if she gets a good shot

[Drainial]

With the success of his first venture into the fight Malus was feeling relatively confident, given that overall his situation was far from ideal. No matter how bad things might get in the future however Malus could plainly see that his fellow shade was faring considerably worse.

As he had in the tunnels bellow Sultra's mansion Malus once again found that stubborn noble streak so at odds with his usual demeanour, stepping forwards over the prone form of Khalea and letting his crossbow fall back on its strap Malus threw his stars. The target was close, moreover it was huge; the first of the stars struck the beast into the chest, it showed no signs of noticing. Instantly Malus cast again, the shriken embedded itself in the shoulder of the beast. It was closer now, it was not fast but nor did it have far to come, the third star buried itself in the knee of the shaggy creature, finally it reacted, as the fourth followed the third onto that joint its rage only increased. Though the stars had further incised the beast they had also wounded it, bellowing the monster continued to advance on the duo but it was unable to charge, nor leap, nor run; with the shriken in its leg the mountain of fur could only limp onwards.

This blessed reprieve gave Khalea time to shake of her fall and get to her feet, unsheathing her scavenged long sword. Though the creature had been slowed it had not been enfeebled, reaching out with its long grasping arms it lunged for Malus. Instincts hammered home by a hundred hunts chasing monsters scarier than this allowed Malus to throw himself back just in time to prevent his ribcage being shattered. Stepping forwards Khalea swung, somewhat inexpertly but still with precision, at the outstretched arm. The steel bit deep, proving that for all its impressive size and supernatural appearance this was a creature of flesh and blood. Roaring as blue fur became matted with crimson blood the beast swiped sideways at its attacker, ducking desperately Khalea slashed out again, but missed her target, slicing away only a handful of hair. This fight was far from over and if the monster landed but one solid blow it could well end in tears for the mercenaries.

On the other side of the hall Dareth recovered quickly from the unexpected effects of the doc's device. The pain had blasted a brief moment of lucidity in the veil of his blood rage and in that gap he was able to form a (admittedly basic) plan. He was also able to look around a little as he had not truly been able to before, on the floor he spied the club dropped by the assailant Sinful had sent scarpering. Picking up the cudgel Dareth gave himself back to the maelstrom of anger that sat at the very core of his being and hurled himself at the doc who had intended to use him so terribly.

Lunging out the doc attempted to send another powerful jolt through the Corsair's form, but with a weapon in hand it was a feeble move and a crash of Dareth's crude weapon not only sent the device arcing across the room but fractured the white robed elf's arm. Even had Dareth wanted to stop there he couldn't have, and he had no reason to want to. With the doc once more unarmed and now with a weapon in hand Dareth brought the cudgel down onto his shoulder, driving the elf to his knees. The next strike was to the head, and the next, and the next; until the screams stopped and the once noble features resembled nothing more than a side of meat. Only when there was nothing left to beat did Dareth turn around to survey the rest of the battle.

The news was less good for Sinfulblade, though he had impaled the winged fury he had managed to trap himself in the process. With little room for manuver he resorted to the one thing that every Druchii was raised on, straight from the teat. Pain. Grasping the blood slicked grip of his bastard sword Sinful twisted and jerked the blade causing the bird fiend to writhe and shriek in a voice that was not elven, but not quite that of a hawk either. Reaching down to his belt Sinful was able to draw his dagger, stabbing it into the side of the creature he added this fresh torment, heaping agony upon agony.

The creature could not endure this for long, heaving with all its might the thing managed to roll of Sinful, howling as it did so. The creature rose, the bastard sword tearing away from its chest in Sinful's hand and unveiling the true horror of the massive wound he had left there, gaping and gushing a mix of blood and other, less easily definable liquids, with the short sword still lodged between its ribs.

Things were no better for Syjahel, as she felt herself being dragged towards the tentacled monster she did the only thing she could do and lashed out wildly with her sword aiming to sever the greasy appendage. Flat on her back it was imprecise work, but two feet short of the waiting maw she felt her trusty blade slice through the thick tentacle and her foot thump down onto the floor. Wasting no time she scrambled to her feet. Not willing to be cheated so lightly new tentacles began to fly at her, both blade and shield proved their worth many times over fending off their attacks as she slowly backed out of their reach, now wary of underhand strikes it was with some relief that the noble's daughter took the step that reduced the immobile monster, born of stone, to writhing impotently. Gazing around her Syjahel now had to decide what to do next.

Right, sorry to be late but with Easter I have been somewhat on the move, more on that later. The doc is now dead, Syjahel is free of and out of range of the floor monster (a terrifying sobriquet if I ever heard one), the bird monster has rolled off Sinful and has risen to its feet sorely wounded, Malus is on the floor but unhurt (apart from the odd bruise) while Khalea is on her feet and fighting but somewhat outgunned by the nine foot monster, though said beast is limping and wounded on the right arm.

Unfortunately (from an RPG perspective if nothing else) I am required to visit my grandmother, who as you can imagine believes the internet to be some sort of newfangled railway network. So for the next four days I will definitely not been able to post, just to let you know.

Accordingly the next deadline is 12 midnight April 9th.

-Drainial

[Messiahofdeath]

Finally the only partially bearable weight of the large mutant lifted itself from the crushed figure of Sinful. The beast was wounded severely, but it was more than capable to do damage and a lot of it for as long as it stood. Knowing this well Sinfulblade did not grant himself rest as the teal elf jumped to his feet, his once matic black cloak was now glimmering with dark blood covering it from the hood to the tips at either ends.

Taking a quick moment to survey the damage he had already heaped upon the creature the arrogant elf breathed heavily, his eyes danced in joy as they slid from the fresh wound in the side of the creature, to the grievous large rip caused by the deadly bastard sword to the symbolic sight at the side of the creature where the short sword still rested snuggly.

Though the collision earlier and the aforementioned crushing the gaunt elf suffered did shake the crimson veil of Khaine, the sight of fresh blood urged the frenzy to return and the heavily breathing trainee had no objection to Khaine granting him strength once more.

Taunting the creature at first Sinful threw two throwing knives at the legs of the wounded beast, taking the opportunity to use the small distance he now gained between the avian horror and himself. However, clever planning can only go that far when frenzy lingers in the air and as soon as the blades left his hands Sinfulblade broke out in a powerful war cry.


Sinful will catch his breath for a few valuable moments and stall the fight by throwing is throwing knives aiming at the thighs of the creature, once the blades hit/miss the target however, Sinfulblade will repeat his previous charge, only this time he will try to circle the creature using his speed and the wounds already troubling the beast to his advantage. In an ideal situation he will once again “torpedo” the mutant from behind or at least the side where the bastard sword had been. If the beast manages to keep up by turning to where Sinful tries to aim, then the teal elf will just loose himself and attack not by leaping, but merely charging head-on and using his bastard sword and dagger to the best of his mad-hatter capabilities

[Syjahel]

Khaine be praised, she'd survived the ignominious fate in store for her from the ravening tentacles; well, now it was clearly time to turn praise into holy action and the Lord's daughter knew just how to bring glory to the Knight of Swords. Screaming her defiance she charged at the shaggy monstrosity looming over the two Autarii. Neither were tall or as well-defended as the city Druchii, though Syjahel knew just how effective they could be. She hoped that by distracting the beast, she'd be able to call its attention to herself and the two lithe Shades could act in the ways they knew best - by stealth and guile. Hatred bubbled up within her, and memories of things she could not possibly remember - falling cities and rushing seas, the clash of armies upon a stony plain, the cold shroud of waves. Lost in the dream of past destruction she leapt at the beast with her shield raised, cloaking the aim of her sword which she hoped to run through the creature's soft underside.

"For Nagarythe!"

With her mind on the fight now the doctor and his hideous experiments were temporarily forgotten; she concentrated on the attack and tried to use her shield to ward off the beast's blows as they came, sidestepping the huge arms whenever she could. Syjahel was not blessed with the frenzy of the Lord of Murder, but she had the advantage of a cooler head and as it cleared, she tried to bring her training as a warrior into play. If they could bring down this creature, she had faith in the violence of the teal berserker to handle his side of the fight and the newcomer too would, she was sure, be happy to exact bloody vengeance.



Syjahel will attack the shaggy beast as it looms over the Shades, coming in from the side she wants to distract it and while it's busy with her, hopes that they'll be able to use this to their advantage. At any rate she wants to hurt something, lying on the stone flags being pulled towards the floor monster was altogether too much like helpless victimhood for our arrogant highborn lady. First, screaming warcries, violence and pain; then, more settled attack and parry/dodge; always, vengeance.

[Lot1loe]

IC: This time, his frenzy subdued long enough to really look for the first time, Dareth struck paydirt with one of the thugs fallen cudgels. He grasped it in his hand and charged the doc, his entire being focused on the kill. As he charged the doc tried again to defend himself with that strange implement, but it was a futile gesture. He was not suited to fighting, Dareth had a weapon now, and he had lost the one great advantage of the first attack, surprise. It was a clumsy, ham-handed thrust, and Dareth easily knocked the arm aside with his cudgel, hitting so hard on the unprotected limb that not only was the brass tool sent flying, but the arm snapped with an audable snap, a point of bone thrusting itself out of the skin.

If Dareth maintained any level of sanity, the sweet sight of blood, oozing like crimson gold from around that shard of bone, stole it from him. He swung the cudgel around with a blow to the shoulder the shattered the collar bone and drove his opponent (or, at this point, victim) to the ground.

One blow to the face, one of the doc's cheekbones cracked and he cried in pain.

Two, his nose was smashed in, and he wimpered and sobed ans mucus and blood gushed out.

Three, his face caved in, and he was silent.

Four, the sking split open and blood and brain matter and other things spattered Dareth's face.

And so it continued, over and over until the docs face, and infact much of his head, was little more than a bloody pulp. Dareth thrust his hands into the ruined mess and smeared his face in the blood and licked his hands, shaking with the exstacy of the coppering taste. He even tore off a scrap of meat, chewing it and sucing out the fluids before spitting it out onto the ground, his bloodlust (meant here in the literal sense, for the shear craving for blood and the pleasure he took from it can only be called lust) momentarily sated, he thought he heard in the back of his mind the deep, rough laughter of some bestial thing*, though he paid it no mind and soon forgot it.

He turned back to look at the rest of the fight. Part of him saw that there wasn't much he could do. The bird thing was being handled fairly well by a what looked like a khainite (and besides, if his own bouts of rage had taught him anything, it is don't get in the way of a frenzied elf), the hairy one was already being triple teamed by two shades and some snobby looking little warrior girl. I sure would like to mess her up a bit, pretty little thing he thought, but there was time for introductions later. THe thing on the floor, although he hadn't seen it in action, it was fairly obvious what it would do and he didn't fancy getting near it. No, better sit back and observe these others, since he might end up spending some time with them, killing them, or both.

Of course, this was only one part: the other part, the one still lost in the heady, almost drunkeness of the blood, found the whole situation terribly amusing, causing the elf to sit down and bust out laughing.

Dareth will sit be the side lines, part of him trying to observe the others, part of him content to merely cackle like a madman.

OOC: *Since this isn't always clear, mainly for the mod if you see references like this, his unatural rage actually has three sources. One, he is totally bat sh*t crazy having suffered a traumatic incident, which is obvious. The second, the kind of agressive alcoholism that really should of killed him and has turned his brains inhibition center to swiss cheese, also fairly obvious. The third and less obvious one, that the aforementioned insident included an encounter with chaos raiders, and the over exposure of his scared, impressionable mind the the angry Khorne energies that coagulated around them has left a residual taint on his subconcious. Nothing he or most anyone else would be aware of, but it is there. Just laying that out so comments like the above make a bit more sense.

[Mythic77]

Khalea grinned impishly as she managed to cut the beasts arm, drawing blood from the unnatural monster. Unfortunately her joy at the wound was short-lived, as she barely managed to avoid the creatures counterattack. Now Malus was down on the ground and Khalea was the one standing, a role reversal of their normal situation. She now found herself doing something she never figured she would, stepping forward to cover for Malus as he got back up. Her instincts told her to run, to leave him as bait and use the time he would buy in order to reset, and hopefully get her crossbow, but she prepared herself to fight the creature to buy him time. She crossed her blood-stained blade in front of her, ready to protect either herself or Malus until the shade got up. The crimson liquid coating the blade gave it the illusion of being red in the torchlight of the cave.

“Get up “ Khalea said tersely to the fallen shade. She consciously knew that the words wouldn’t get Malus up any faster, though she said it anyways so she could feel like she was doing something as she eyed the beast warily. Malus’ attack had fortunately wounded the beast’s leg, and its advance was slowed to a limp as it moved toward them. However its arms were perfectly mobile, and still posed a major threat to her unarmored form. “You know… I say we never again go underground. Never. Again. “

Fortunately for the diminutive shade she heard a war cry of "For Nagarythe!" emanate from behind the beast she was fighting. She was not one for warcrys, preferring to shoot something before it became aware of her. The best kill was one where the victim never knew they were dead. However, despite her preferences, Khalea realized that they were a little beyond the point of stealth at this point, and the screaming dark elf might distract the beast, opening it to a mortal strike. Khalea had to stop herself from mockingly screaming “FOR PONY” in reply to the warriors cry, and instead imitated the druchii noble’s shout, thus not antagonizing her current ally.

For Nagarythe

Khalea will guard Malus until he gets back onto his feet. Then she will take the offensive, staying out of the creatures reach until it’s focus is elsewhere, then attacking it and disengaging if it tries to turn back on her.

(OOC: I have been trying to change Khalea up a bit from what she started as, since it was boring to post while saying nothing and just staying back and observing. If this is not o.k. with you I can go back to how she was. )

[Darkdoom]

OCC: Well adventures like this are made for changing/forming the character(s), right?

IC: Malus was pretty happy with the result of his attack, slowed the beast saved the shade and no additional injuries sounded pretty decent to him.
When he landed on the floor however he prepared for the worst, any logical thinking being would leave him as a bat. He was surprised however to see his companion standing protectively over him, giving him the time to get up.

"For Nagarythe!"

Hearing this war cry he became aware of the other sane member of his party charging in as well. His mind told him to be happy to be able to gang up on the beast while Sinfulblade would most certainly suffer additional injuries in his fight with the bird mutant. His pride, as always his problem, however was hurt: did they really think that he wasn’t capable of fighting this beast? He had came there to rescue (getting the thanks and looking like a hero so that the others would support him and nor sinful in their vendetta) and now they made it look like he had to be rescued by two women?!? Could he sink any deeper than that?

He’d show them to respect him.

Dodging behind Khalea so the beast wouldn’t notice him he prepared for a sprint and got out his dagger, having thrown away his sword.

He’ll attempt to sprint towards the distracted beast, jump and cut the throat with one clean cut, if everything works he’ll land behind the monster on his feet and one hand his cloak slowly falling on his back (that last part is just for the style).

[Drainial]

The great mutant bird staggered backwards a step, mewling little half screeches as it tried to back away from the small fleshy thing it had briefly regarded as dinner. Whether or not the creature would have been content to slink off and die would never be known, it was not in Sinful's nature to forgive, or to wait and see.

The hammer blow of the four hundred pound monster pinning him to the ground had done two things, bruise the elf from head to toe, and put a dent in his blood lust. Sinfulblade decided to put this moment of lucidity to good use. Pulling back his arm Sinful hurled the knife he had drawn at the creature aiming for its leg. The Blade went home with a wet slap, eliciting a louder cry from the green thing as its uninjured leg lost that particular title.

As Sinful groped for yet another blade however it became clear that although sorely wounded the unnatural mutant was not yet to be written off. With a strength and ferocity born of pain and desperation it lunged forwards with its beak, large enough to rip of a head whole.

The agile Khainite was able to dodge back, but as he did it became apparent that the attack had merely been a ploy to gain the bird a little space. With a screech of utter agony the bird forced its ruined legs to bunch and push, propelling it into the air where its pinions whipped outwards flapping franticly. It hardly seemed possible that a beast this size could take off with so little room and so little effort, but that was often the way with unnatural creations.

Gaining all the altitude it could in the high ceilinged hall the bird doubled back, picking up speed it swooped down, and talons extended dived straight towards Sinfulblade. The talons sought to grab the elf, luckily for Sinful he was able to duck in time to avoid that fate, but he was not quick enough to escape entirely unscathed and he hissed as three great bloody stripes were ripped into his back.

Landing just beyond the bird did not pause but launched itself into the air again, no doubt to fight as its master had intended it while he experimented with his magic chemistry set, though how long it could last with entrails trailing from the gaping hole in its stomach was more than any present could know.

Dareth meanwhile was enjoying himself for the first time in as long as he could remember (though to be fair it was entirely possible that he had enjoyed himself so much he simply didn’t remember the night prior to his capture). With the doc dead the corsair set to mutilating his corpse. No great looker to begin with after three days without so much as a wet cloth, two of which he had spent cramped in a cave, the former corsair took on a truly terrifying aspect as he bathed his face in the blood of his victim. With that done he decided to indulge in a little cannibalism, they didn't call it blood lust for nothing after all. Sitting down next to the ravaged corpse he laughed, displaying his madness to the world as he watched the struggles of his rescuers.

There was a great deal to keep the manic elf entertained for besides the antics of Sinful and his flying friend all hell had broken loose on the other side of the room as all hands pitched in.

Screaming her rage and anger, caught up in tales for another age half remembered, half lived, Syjahel charged the huge creature. It was as tall as a bear and if it was any weaker it would have been a great surprise judging by the massive musculature that could be seen to bulge under the thick blue fur when it exerted its self.

None of this seemed to matter to Syjahel as she closed on the creature, with all the noise she was making it would have been hard for the monster to miss her, but then that was her intent. Aiming one last half hearted cuff towards Khalea, which the lithe shade ducked under with ease, it lumbered round to face the oncoming warrior.

Syjahel may have had the momentum, but the creature had the reach and Syjahel was forced to raise her shield as the long arm of the maw sought to rip of her pretty little head. The paw thudded into her shield with terrific force and while the shield itself held up admirably the arm beneath was numbed to the elbow. Never one to let such a minor thing hold her up, at least not in front of anyone, Syjahel gritted her teeth and carried on, taking the last few strides that finally brought the monster within reach.

Slashing downwards Syjahel whipped her blade across its chest leaving a textbook slice that instantly began to weep blood. The creature raised both of its arms in the air, seemingly about to bring them crashing down on this new attacker when from behind there came a reminder that they were not alone. Repeating the cry of the noble with a bitter note of irony Khalea was quick to take advantage of the distraction caused by Syjahel to drive her own long sword into its lower back eliciting a roar of pain.

Whirling clumsily towards this newest source of pain the monster nearly ripped the blade from Khalea's hands, though she managed to keep hold of it, the beast tried to swipe at her. Unfortunately for the mutant she was too close in and instead of catching her with crushing talons she was buffeted by what appeared to her to be very similar to a cylindrical piece of shag pile.

Lucky or not the beast was strong enough to knock Khalea back a few steps. Taking advantage of the creature's lack of coordination the shade stepped further back, dancing out of reach, waiting for an opportunity.

If Malus had anything to do with it she would not have to wait long, though as he drew a long dagger from his belt Malus reflected that it would be far better so far as party politics was concerned if no one had to take any more risks where this creature was concerned.

With that goal in mind he embarked open an ambitious plan; gathering himself he watched as Syjahel and Khalea worried the beast, waiting for the opportune moment. As the blue creature turned to face Khalea only to find that the trixy elf was not playing fair he leaped. It was a beautiful jump and he landed on the broad back of his target. Acting instantly the shade rammed his dagger down, seeking the throat of the beast. The blade sunk deep into unnatural flesh and then crunched into the trachea, proving that for all its alterations there was still a basic elven anatomy at the core. The creature tried to howl, yet only a gurgle escaped blood flecked lips.

The wound was doubtless mortal, but though the throat was punctured it was not truly cut and creatures of this nature often took a great deal of persuading before admitting the fact that they were dead. Such proved the case here as with a terrific shake the beast bucked, throwing the shade from side to side until finally he lost his hold on the knife and, leaving the blade embedded in its neck, he flew up in the air to land heavily on something soft and wobbly. Looking down he discovered it was the limp, lifeless body of one of the thugs.

The towering creature was now swaying from side to side, but as it gasped for every breath and bled its strength onto the floor it followed the most basic instinct it possessed and attacked.

Lunging for Khalea the beast, never agile and made clumsy with pain, found only air. Eyes bulging its head whipped round as a yard of steel ripped yet another hole in its back, a grinning warrior the cause. Even as it reached for her another line of fire stung along the back of its leg and Khalea neatly hamstrung the distracted beast. A third pain announced the return of Malus, recovered short sword in hand as he lent his weight to the fight.

Bleeding from a dozen wounds, and crippled beyond hope of reaching its tormentors the shaggoth gave one gasping moan and thudded to the floor leaving three very tired, very bruised but triumphant elves.

Right then, The bird monster has taken another wound on its leg from Sinful's thrown knife, but is now airborne and has dealt Sinful a rather nasty set of scratches down its back (and hasn't done much for his clothes either).

The blue shaggoth (I use it as a general term, dragon ogres do not have a monopoly on shaggoth status) is now dead thanks to the joint efforts of Syjahel, Khalea and Malus who are now all standing over the body having been mobbing it to good effect.

The next deadline with be 12 midnight April 17th

-Drainial

[Syjahel]

Returning to the present cold reality, the tall noblewoman gave a cry of triumph as the creature fell to their teamwork. Panting a little, Syjahel made a last spiteful backslash across the fallen beast's head, nursing her numbed shield-arm, and looked up at her companions. To Khalea she gave a businesslike nod, the lithe Autarii had understood exactly the purpose of her distraction. Eyes flicking to Malus, she gave the prodigal Shade a brief, appraising look.

"Timely." was all the highborn said, before turning back to the rest of the room - no time now for chatter. She took in the pulped remains of the Doc and sitting beside him, the giggling newcomer now smearing brains on himself and ... eating? She fought down the acidic comment that rose to mind - the beat of wings from above told her that there were far more pressing worries than yet another madman. Khaine only knew why she found herself in the company of two men liable to sit laughing to themselves and muttering, but at least the teal Elf had proved his sense of humour. Syjahel had nothing against bloodshed, she'd once wanted to be a maibd as a little girl, but there was a time and a place for such fun as far as she was concerned.

There were urgent matters to attend to - the aforementioned Druchii'd been viciously raked by the talons of the now flying monster, and it looked poised to strike again. Syjahel couldn't be sure that it would stick to hunting the teal berserker, and she was disinclined to let any of her comrades in arms be fodder for some unholy experiment that was doubtless the product of forbidden sorcery. Quickly, she sheathed her sword, unslung her crossbow and sighted up on the last remaining moving creature, hoping that the short distance would make the shot count.



Syjahel will try to shoot the flying beast as it attacks Sinful. She wants to aim for the body, nothing fancy as she still isn't versed in the crossbow. But hopefully the fact that it is both large and close will help. If it turns its attentions to her, she'd better dodge if she can as she can't hold the repeater and her shield ... keeping away from the maw in the floor, of course.

She's glad Malus arrived and joined in the fight, but should they survive she will be on her guard in case violence erupts between him and Sinful. Bruised Druchii pride is a terrible thing and she can't be sure who will react in which way. They still need to find a way to the estate, though she's not wanting to get too ahead of herself here. Survival first.

... either way she'll keep her distance from the madman on the floor, she understands the need for revenge, but she also quite prefers sane people to gibbering loons, even if they are covered in blood.

[Mythic77]

Khalea grunted as she just missed being hit by the shaggoth in front of her, having to dodge toward it to avoid its clawed hand. The proceeding collision was not to the tiny shades advantage, but fortunately she managed to stumble backward out of the creatures reach before it could try to attack her again. Malus jumped on the creature, using his dagger of all weapons, though he seemed to deal the creature a mortal wound. It did not stop though, and instead rushed toward Khalea and clumsy attempted to strike her. She dodged to the side, and the beast turned to face Syjahel, giving Khalea a perfect opportunity to attack and she took it, hamstringing the beast with a quick slash across its leg.

The beat finally fell down, and Syjahel made sure it was dead. Now the only enemy left seemed to be the one fighting Sinful, and possibly the freed prisoner, though he seemed to be caught up in his own world…like Sinful normally was. Speaking of the trainee of Khaine, he was down with a line of cuts down his back from the last bird-creature. Kahlea didn’t know whether to hope he was alive so that he could help with the mission, or that he was dead and she wouldn’t have to worry about him always giving away their position.

The bird was wounded though still flying, and Khalea retrieved her crossbow to help deal with the flying monstrosity. Khalea noticed that Syjahel had also unlimbered her crossbow; lack of experience didn’t stop her from handling the ranged weapon well.

“Lead the creature” Khalea advised, her face displaying the focus she put into her next shot as she aimed her own crossbow at the monster circling Sinful “Aim for the center of it. Make your first shot count.” .

Khalea herself was planning on trying for the creatures throat if she got a good shot at it, or would otherwise just take a shot at the center of mass. She will take her time aiming and only fire one shot, keeping the rest ready in case the monster survived and charged. She hoped Syjahel would control her fire as well and hoped that between three of them they could bring the wounded monster down before it manages to hit any of the druchii band.

Khalea will shoot the creature with the abovementioned plan, maneuvering to take a better shot while making sure to stay far away from the surviving monster on the floor. She will take her time, making the one shot count and standing and shooting until the last second if the beast survives and charges her. She will also stay out of any argument between Sinful and Malus if they happen to start up their fight again. Of course, being the pragmatic the first goal Khalea will have once the enemies are all taken down is looting the dead

OOC: on a side note you can give Dareth my short sword and a dagger, since I won’t be using them and it doesn’t seem very practical for a shade to carry a small armory into battle.

[Messiahofdeath]

Grinning wickedly Sinfulblade took in the pleasant sound of his blade parting the unholy skin of the mutated avian once again even as he reached for the second missile to hurl. In his partially cleared mind he already saw the second blade hit home, causing the creature to stumble and finally the possibility to add a very special head to his decapitation history. However, it was not to be for as soon as the teal khainate glanced back at his target he was greeted with the sight of it lunging forwards. Reflexes were his saviors once more as Sinful rolled to the side avoiding certain death yet again.

Why won’t you perish for Khaine’s sake?

The elf hissed before the sight of the mammoth with wings taking off silenced him. Shaking his head and gripping onto the patch of clarity in the cloak of frenzy Sinfulblade straightened himself as he saw the creature descend upon him. Waiting for the perfect moment the teal elf rolled to the side although not without being viciously raked by the diamond sharp talons. Prone on the ground the trainee forced himself back up and shook his head shrugging away the niggling pain on his back as he got ready for the second dive of the creature.

In reality he saw little possibility of taking down the mammoth without resorting to continued pilling on of pressure on the already ravaged body of the diabolical monstrosity. As Sinful got ready for the second fly-by he was quickly going through the possibility of throwing a few more knives at the beast, yet such thoughts were too close to planning as far as frenzy goes and his particular frenzy had a sick sense of humor, one that centered around revealing itself as soon as planning was involved.

Roaring defiantly Sinfulblade crashed his bastard sword against his dagger as if portraying the idea that “he was ready” to the beast. His eyes although swollen with madness keenly picked up the hanging entrails of the beast that trailed behind him as he flew; these same entrails now became the acquired target.

Once again going down under the waves of red Sinful will try to dodge out of the initial lunge of the creature and grip onto the entrails following suit. Ideally he will manage to do just that and as the creature continues the flight simply gut him using his own momentum. In a slightly less perfect scenario, he will grip onto the entrails and be simply dragged off by the beast, however at least taking away the distance advantage the beast has. If he manages to miss the entrails altogether, Sinful will then get ready for the third pass and so on.

[Darkdoom]

His plan had worked out pretty well, though he had hoped for the beast dying more quickly. The adrenalin of the fight and the euphoria of their victory still rushed through his body washing away his pains and his usual carefulness. One dead one to go!

Going back to the door he loaded his repeater. While loading his old friend a dilemma came to his mind, seeing sinful in his fight he realised he had the perfect opportunity to kill his enemy for good and most probably without even getting hurt. The problem however was: what would happen if he killed him, he of cause did not doubt his skill to shoot the crazy elf nor did he feel guild or honour bound not to shoot someone in the back or in combat. Coming to think of it he could not remember his comrades ever showing the least bit of sympathy to the maniac. And his usefulness was over with the appearance of another crazy bastard. Seeing it like that there was no dilemma.


Aiming carefully at his former comrade Malus was actually very happy and had a hard time not to laugh out in joy and madness.

Waiting for the perfect opportunity, when the bird is coming down at Sinfulblade and he it completely focused at the mutant (when it is about 3m away from him), he will shoot thrice at the back.
OCC: It was a hard decision to do that, I thought about it quite a bit and only found out what he’ll do in this post. Sry MessiahOfDeath. Let the slaughter begin.

[Drainial]

The great green hawk circled around, seemingly fixated on Sinfulblade as the source of its pain. As it neared him though there were others willing to take Sinful's part. Unlimbering her hand bow Syjahel let loose with a stream of bolts; the first flew past the beast to strike the far wall, but with the second she found her mark and ploughed three small quarrels in a neat line across its torso. Even as Syjahel sprayed the unnatural raptor with black fletched bolts Khalea took more careful aim, tracking the creature's path she carefully adjusted for its movement and speed before loosing a single long shafted quarrel. The bolt flew true, striking the raptor in the throat in as sweet a shot as the shade had made.

The great bird was descending on Sinful, who stood snarling and ready for the fight, but though it's body was capable of taking a truly tremendous amount of punishment the this last barrage seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back and with a gurgling moan more elven than birdlike it began to fall from the sky.

Trusting to his companions to deal with the bird monster Malus had a different prey in mind. It seemed as though Vikrah, or at least this group, was not big enough for both Sinful and himself, which to the callus shade presented a rather obvious solution.

Shouldering his crossbow once more after moving as far away from the madman as possible and putting himself next to the exit Malus opened fire. Fortunately for Sinfulblade this move had cost Malus precious seconds, even as he opened fire the relentless hammering that the mutant had taken finally brought it down to earth. Spiralling to the side the heavy corpse knocked Sinful to the ground, even as the Khainite fell three black bolts hammered into the corpse that now lay where Sinful had once stood. With any luck it may even be that no one noticed that the mutant had not been the intended target.

All of this was great fun for the laughing madman in the corner, Dareth watched on with a smile on his face, absently chewing a severed finger.

Right then, all of the enemies are dead apart from the floor monster who is immobile in any case. Malus is near the door, Syjahel and Khalea are exactly where they were and Sinful is on the floor just next to the corpse of the raptor (why do I only come up with half decent names on the turn they die? Oh well.)

The next deadline is April 24th.

-Drainail

[Syjahel]

With a silent prayer to the Bloody-Handed God Syjahel let loose a volley of shots, and Khaine be praised some of them hit true. Khalea followed up with a single, precise bolt to the monstrous creature's neck, and just as the diminutive Shade felled the beast from the sky, not to be outdone Malus sent three more of his distinctive dark bolts into the plummeting corpse. It seemed that (save for the rift on the floor) the Doc's creations were done with.

Never one to throw caution to the wind, the noblewoman cast a quick paranoid glance around, taking in the giggling madman on the floor (a safe distance away) and the floor monster (ditto), before striding over to help lift the giant bird-thing off the wounded Trainee.

"Good shot." was all her laconic response to Khalea, she knew the Shade wasn't much for talking when there was work to be done. She knelt down to examine just how wounded the Khainite was - if of course he would allow her to look at the injuries. It wasn't sentimentality, but her practical nature that demanded that they needed every sword they could get for the night ahead. After all, they still had Sultra's mission, if they still cared to pursue it.


Syjahel will look at Sinful's injuries and try to bandage them if she's allowed - only so much blood loss improves the complexion, after all - and she figures he can't dress the ones on his back himself. If not / when she is done, she'll look to see if anyone else needs that kind of assistance. She hasn't gone to Khalea first as she knows Autarii can be very independent about this kind of thing.

She's keeping away from the madman on the floor and the floor monster for roughly equal reasons. Both might suddenly attack her. And so far, they both look more interested in spilling blood than making conversation. But she'll keep half an eye on the moving one just in case ...

[Messiahofdeath]

Roaring at the high soaring monstrosity Sinfulblade stood his ground with rigorous defiance, the red mist allowing little room for fear or hesitation even in such delicate matters as avoiding palm sized talons from ripping one’s ribcage open.

The beast allowed it’s own ravaged body some time circling the teal elf before the next strike, this, however, proved to be a deadly decision as the other part of the group had already lay to waste the blue behemoth and now were free to unload a barrage of bolts upon the green raptor.

Repeater crossbows sang true and dark missiles plunged themselves into the wounded creature, finally overcoming it’s fragile grip on life and sending the lifeless carcass down upon Sinful who stood waiting with arms outstretched to the sides and face decorated with the maddest grin he had mustered in quite some time. The space between the two closed up rapidly and mere seconds later a loud crash could be heard as the mutant hit the ground hard, one of its wings sending Sinful to the ground as well.

Laying on the ground next to the downed avian and feeling the resituating rage beckon back the general feeling over his body the tall trainee mused whether he had suffered any long-lasting injuries. Sure, the feelings of numbness and fresh wounds did quickly engulf him, but judging from the intensity he was pretty sure that not one of those scratches and bruises was of any real threat to his abilities. With this in mind he couldn’t stop but find the gentle embrace of the wing now covering him humorous and slowly but surely he started to laugh, although uncontrollably, but in a sincere kind of way, all madness aside, he was just pleased by how it all ended.

Even as the noble woman approached and tried to look at his wounds Sinful kept laughing, the uncharacteristic jolliness residing ever so painfully slowly.

I never let a doubt cross my fractured mind that you felt the utmost feeling of caring for me all along, noblewoman

Sinful will cooperate and let Syjahel tend to his wounds, letting the woman work her magic before he would muster the willpower to stand up and leave the loving embrace of the dead raptor

[Lot1loe]

IC: Dareth watched, highly amused, as the rest of the group managed to dispatch the two remaining monsters that seemed to pose a threat. As the dust settled, he suddenly tossed aside his severed digit chew toy (although he does not usually partake of canibalism, and in faact had not "eaten" the doc per say, he liked the feel and taste of the blood in the meat, and after watching the doc feed prisoners to numerous aberrations such as those who had just been dispatched, in his twited mind it made perfect sense). He suddenly stood up and, having thought at least passingly about what he might do next, adressed the group, especially the warrior who, from there actions and noble's bearing, seemed the leader. When, he spoke, he oozed mockingly false charm.

Well, well, well, I suppose if I'm to be graced by the presense of a noble, I should clean myself up a bit. At this, he reached up a hand and wiped some of the blood from his face. Some thinking needs doing now. Way I see it, you have a couple options. One, you can wlk away and ignore me, but whose to say I don't just attack once you've turned your backs. You could kill me, but from the looks of the patching up most of you already need, don't think you'll all come out of it. Besides, a group such as yourselves must be mercenaries, and that means there's coin some where. I rather fancy coin you see. And from the looks of things, getting hauled here, you're magnets for all sorts of fun. As such, looks like you don't have much to say about it after all.

At this point he made a point of dropping his cudgel and holding up his unarmed hands. Thus indicating his lack of intention to harm, he approached Syjahel, the madman's glint in his eyes starting to return. Well, now that that is settled, lets lay down some ground rules. First, stay out of my way. Secondly, don't piss me off. And finally, He paused at this point as he finally reached the female warrior. As he did, without warning, he lashed out at her with a backhand to the jaw, throwing his full weight behind it and snarled I don't take orders from tarted up little b*tches like you. And that goes for the rest of you lot as well. Then, suddenly reasuming the mannerism's of when he first addressed them, he held out his hand to the other elf. What say you milady, do you find my terms of service agreeable?

Looking around at the others, his eyes fell on Sinful and he started as if noticing him for the first time. How'd you get all blue like that. It's funny looking. I'm not entirely sure I like funny looking things. However, rather than again taking up a menacing positon, he started to laugh. Might try and put out my eyes for it, cept I don't have a blade He gentured up at his scar. Besides, someone already tried it on one of them, and it was a rather nasty experience, and I don't think I fancy going through it again. At this point he was hooting with glee, as if this was the funniest thing anyone has ever said.

[Syjahel]

Syjahel still had her crossbow to hand; she watched the approach of the madman with interest. He gave a little rant about the intentions he might have, or what he thought they should do - nothing she hadn't heard before. But then, and with no provocation, he decided it would be a good introduction to hit her barehanded.

Unfortunately for Dareth, in the Land of Chill, there are no scared little weaklings in the noble houses. Syjahel shook her head, her skull ringing a bit, and immediately took advantage of the newcomer's close proximity to shoot a bolt through the unarmed Druchii's guts. Taking her chances that the shot would hit, she then threw aside the bow, drew her sword and bashed her shield hard against his face, aiming to bring him down to the ground. She could feel her rage becoming cold, distant; her thoughts focussed as they had done on the battlefields. He was a madman, but an unarmed one, and he was probably weakened by his stay in the cage for goodness knows how long. She fully intended to kill him, slit his throat and pull his graceless tongue out through his neck. Kicking at his legs to knock him over, she commenced her attack, aiming a blow for his unarmoured midsection. Perhaps the others would join in, perhaps they would not; in any case, she knew she would only be satisfied with his death.


Syjahel will give everything she can to kill this madman, but she's not a berserker, so she wants to make sure he doesn't get to his dropped weapons. She'll keep him moving, or knock him down. She wants to strike hard, aiming for the body and limbs to disable him, or the throat and head if she gets a chance. She simply intends to kill him. There is no sense, as he himself said, in allowing him to stay alive behind the party. For alll she knows, he is a plant working with the Doc - he wouldn't be the first slave who turned on his master. In any case, one doesn't rise to power by allowing scum like this to go unchallenged.



[OOC: Sorry Drainial, I always try to make my characters conducive to group work, but in this case she can't do anything else

LOT1LOE: Funny way for him to introduce himself to a party he wants to join ... Well if one of us dies I guess we knew the risks.]

[Messiahofdeath]

OOC: *reading through Syjahel's post* Oh...shiz just hit the fan

[Darkdoom]

That lucky BASTARD! His aim had been perfect; he couldn’t have predicted when or where the mad man was jumping!
Well, at least nobody seemed to have noticed where he had been really aiming. Still, even though Sinfulblade was ignoring him, this was not a comfortable place to be in. Already have out of the door he heard the new mad man, hopefully soon the only one, making his demands. He wondered how a creature like that had been able to survive that long, especially in druchii society. It was no wonder that the noble was attacking him; however for Malus that animal still had a value, which he didn’t want to be destroyed. With him around the death of Sinfulblade would be easier.

So he couldn’t just eat and watch the show, what a pity.

Stop this act of stupidity. Let’s not wast valuable resources. If he should make trouble at any time just ask me or Khalea to kill him with a shoot in the head. By the way that would also be way less messy than this, and more efficient.

If ,as he expects, she will keep attacking he will try to get both of them of their feet with a kick against their legs and then for his own safety he’ll step 3 steps back.

[Messiahofdeath]

OOC: For clarity purposes you have to pick one of the following: 1. Either stay back as previously stated and thus away from Sinfulblade’s charge arc (as indicated by you being near the door) OR 2. You have to approach to be able to pull off the Syjahel/Dareth leg kicking stunt.
You can’t have best of both worlds at the same time

[Lot1loe]

OOC: Looks like my job is complete. Nothing gets a druchii rpg going like serious inter character hostilities .

IC: Dareth saw a motion out of the corner of his eye that snapped him out of his reverie. With the female warrior attempting to shoot him, he will try and dodge the shaft. Whenther he succeeds or not, he will attempt to grab the other combatent by the wrists, both if possible but giving preference to her sword arm, in an attempt to hamper her ability to attack and initiate a contest of strength where his greater physical presence and fighting experience would serve him well.

If he is successful in grabbing on to Syjahel: Dareth looks down at her. That hurt (said if bolt, shield bash, or any other attack connects). NOw you've gone and made me angry. I have half a mind to snap your little arm and stab you with the protruding bone spike. He accompanied the words with a painful twist of the arm, while sqeezing the wrist to try and make her drop the sword. The next part he said wit han amount of relish that would make even druchii blood run cold: Can you imagine it, the bone breaking out of the skin with a well of scarlet blood, as the sun paints the sky crimson as it peaks over the horizon, you screams of pain like the music of morning birds. However, if you show a little restraint, I will offer you the honor of being one of the few for whom I do the same. At least for now... Suddenly, the rage left his eyes and he adopted his friendlier demenor once again. I really would appreciate it if you took me up on my offer. Never was a fan of sunrises myself.

If he fails to grab her: Dareth will attempt to dodge her attacks, striking once again wit hhis fists if there is a clear opening, while working his way back toward hi fallen cudgel. If he gets it, he will attempt to disarm and disable her as a combatant, but using every once of his rather scant willpower to avoid killing or causing permenant harm to any of them. Not that he really cared for any of them, but he had meant what he said. Mercenaries like this only group together if they have a job, and if he joined them he felt fairly certain he could convince their employer to grant him some much needed coin. Besides, after just escaping he didn't much fancy the thought of dieing, and he was fairly sure that any attempt to pacify them would prove pointless if he killed one of them, and he couldn't take them all in his current state.

When Malus chime in, Dareth will add Yeah, listen to that one. He seems like he's got some brains in his skull. However, he will not cease any of his aforementioned actions until Syjahel stands down.

Dareth will attempt to prevent Syjahel from killing him without causing her TOO much harm, while still trying to convince the group to let him in.