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Thread: Exalted: Fall of Creation - IC

  1. #11
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    Axley often lost track of time when she truly absorbed herself into her music, and she was several songs in by the time she opened her eyes again to take stock of the evening. Her first glance, as always, was to her hat, sitting in front of her as a makeshift dish for particularly inspired listeners to leave a sign of appreciation of her craft. There were...a couple coins in there. Nothing eye-opening, but it was enough for the night, at least. Axley sighed to herself, giving a small wave to the couple listeners perched around the stage who had migrated with drink to get a better earful of what she had to offer. She then plucked the change she had earned from her cap and flipped it back onto her head. "I'll be back after a quick break," she offered to those who cared to listen, before making her way to the bar.

    'Quick break' entailed her dinner and a drink or two. Not enough to get smashed like she wanted, but enough to keep her mind buoyant and her mood light. She flagged down the bartender with a soft smile on her face. She'd earned enough for something a little special this evening, she supposed. "Get me a Bloated Roach, Garras, if you would please. And some whiskey." The bartender was quick to put in the order, and Axley appreciated his service. She and Garras weren't exactly friends, but she had populated the Roach enough, both on business and for pleasure, that they were on a first name basis. He knew her favorite drink (rum with a dash of cherry), and she knew his marriage troubles (his wife had been caught in bed with another man last month). She kept to herself at the bar, not interacting with the patrons unless spoken to. Axley wasn't in much of a mood to interact unless she had to; she was sure that'd change once she'd had a few drinks, but for the moment she let the somber mood linger a while longer.

    Her order was brought out to her-a pork chop cut to be shaped like a fat cockroach's body, with legs and antennae made out of jerky, the whole thing drizzled in a light honey glaze. She slid her payment across the table and took a large swig of her whiskey before digging into her meal. The glaze did its best to hide the fact that the meat was a little dry, but Axley found she didn't much care. It was still good meat, and that was what mattered most over how it was prepared. Perhaps back in her old life she would have cared a little bit more, but in the Imperial Ruins, most people simply took what they could get. She glanced around her, checking out the patrons for the night...most of them didn't really catch her eye, but the uniform of a guardsman briefly netted her attention. He seemed to have a bit of company around him...nothing unusual. Everyone wanted to pick their brains or simply pester them with one thing or another. Not her, though; she was content to eat her meal in peace before she'd strut back onstage for another rousing round of entertainment in the hopes of making a little more coin before night fully fell.
    Karma is the best.

  2. #12
    Antivan Crow
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    It seemed like David was going to be left alone. That pleased him, as he was here specifically to relax and have a bite to eat. Speaking of eating, the server brought him the "wyvern wings" he had ordered. As usual, they were quite spicy... just how David liked. With the drink, food, music, and now peace... the Imperial Guardsman was now quite happy. It seemed like tonight was going to be a great night after all.




    The time was now. Word reached Cackling Harlot's Retribution that the Juggernaut had reached the shore and would arrive in the ruins within the day. Thus she and her vanguard of undead warriors and hungry ghosts were to sack the city in preparation for Mask of Winters' arrival. Unleashing a battle cry, she charged ahead of the horde and immediately began her assault on the city's northern district.

    Following her rush was a barrage of ballista fire, meant to sow mayhem and destruction... as well as to bring down hardened targets such as larger buildings. The army may have been undead, but they were far from mindless. As such, they knew the value of collapsing buildings on unsuspecting enemies. It trapped potential foes, caused those not trapped to fear for those trapped, and demoralized the enemy as a whole to see building being destroyed.




    The ensuing battle found the folks in the Bloated Roach in a most sudden and terrible way. A large ballista bolt tore through the second story wall, smashed through the balcony railing that overlooked the dining area, and slammed directly into the side of the woman with the strangely colored hair... pinning her to the floor. She gasped and struggled in vain against the heavy wooden projectile that impaled her, but the fatality of the wound was obvious to her and to everyone present. Shortly thereafter, the sounds of screams, cracking stone, clashing steel, and splintering wood began to fill the air. War had come to the Imperial Ruins.

    David immediately sprang to his feet, mouth still full of spicy chicken, put his helmet on, and brandished his spear. Not so much out of fear as out of habit. As a soldier during the Scarlet War and a guardsman since settling in the Ruins, his standard response to danger was to arm himself. Seconds after the knee-jerk reaction, the severity of the immediate situation hit David like a sack of bricks. A civilian had just beem violently impaled to death by a stray ballista bolt. Wait... ballista? Those were siege weapons. That could only mean one thing, reasoned David... and that one thing was an enemy army.

    "Shit. Shit shit shit. Everyone, this is bad. If the people who did this have a fucking ballista, they mean business. I've seen enough war to know that civilians like yourselves need to get to safety. I'll do what I can to get you there, but we need to get moving." he moved toward the door as he spoke, opening it and allowing the sounds of battle outside to be heard all the more clearly by everyone present. "NOW!"

    Dammit... this day was going so well. Now it seemed like the ruins would be made into ACTUAL ruins, rather than just called that by the nobles in Lord's Crossing.
    Last edited by Salroka; 04-10-2019 at 09:35 PM.
    Spoiler: Neat Stuff Within 

  3. #13
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    Everything had calmed down in The Bloated Roach. With the bard now here playing her sweet tunes and overall raising the atmosphere of the establishment in a number of way…please seemed to be relaxing. Everyone seemed to have things on their mind so the area just had soft music and the occasional grumblings. As he sat and listened to the music he felt a need to play music himself. He scoffed at the idea at first but as he listened…he wanted to pour his own soul out. The last time he touch an instrument was before the war…well over twenty years now for him. He had maybe…three solid years? It would feel foreign to his fingers now he doubted they would naturally remember something like that. Maybe he should take on her profession…maybe she would allow him to travel with her. He chuckled to himself finishing his drink…no that would be quite silly. He was a jack of all trades master of none after all…only the truly gifted bards can make a living at it.

    Choas…the suddenly destruction caused him to fall to the floor to protect himself. The large sound and destruction of some nearby structure cause him to wait until things in the immediate area settled. Removing his hands from his head he got up quickly. The one guardsman grabbed his spear and put on his helmet. Mr. Taylor reacted just as quickly grabbing his pack and tools. He did not have anything that would be considered weaponry but he did have a dull hatchet for cutting wood. It was a bashing weapon more than anything else but he was certain it would be effective. His heart had not pounded like this since back in the war…as he looked to the large impaling instrument he fear pulled over his eyes…”Another…” was all he could say.

    It was the speaking of the guardsman that brought him back to reality. Sounds of fire and screaming…clashing steel. It was like all the trauma came back to him and tears started to come from his face…”Masters…” he whispered to himself. Eventually the guardsman stopped speaking and he found his wits again, now was the not the time for grief. As he wiped his tears he spoke in a clam and commanding tone. “LISTEN TO HIM. Go now!”

    He moved about the bar making sure to help those that needed assistance. After he was certain he was the last one he glanced back to the lady who had been impaled. He made a symbol of the house crest and bowed to her. “I am…sorry…” He then made his way out…only having missed the serenity of the bar by a few moments…now a town fully in ruin. As he made his way outside he could not believe the devastation. Where these enemies come from…why had were they doing this. Things only to ponder if you survived.

    “Guardsman! I’ll take the rear…please guide us. You have all that I can offer.” He knew how to take orders and follow them. His servant background helped him with becoming a quick minute man. Plus with what military training he did have…he at least did not panic or become overwhelmed. With that, he glanced around making sure no raider nor did enemy come to their small band. His hatchet in one hand and a dagger in the other.
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  4. #14
    I Forgot My Title....
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    The bard, still on break for the night, had been enjoying her roach pork in satisfied silence, letting the lack of her music fill the air with the now unusual quiet. Another one of her bard's tactics; when she returned to the stage, her music sounding anew would invigorate the patrons who stayed, encouraging more ears...and more importantly, more donations. Plus she played a lot better when she was in a good mood anyways...what better way to do so than with a hearty meal? The pork was a little dry tonight, but still succulent in the center, more than enough to whet the girl's hunger and buoy her emotions for another rousing round of expertly crafted music. Sometimes, it was just the little things you needed to get back into your humdrum life. It was the road she'd chosen, and it was the road she'd walk until-

    Her thoughts were interrupted by a ballista bolt crashing through the wall, missing her by a foot and a half and finding its resting place in the sternum of the girl behind her. Though she tried futilely to escape her fate, almost immediately her struggles were fading and her eyes growing heavy with the oncoming final journey to what laid beyond. It only took moments more to hear the sounds of destruction outside drown out any other noises in the vicinity. Though she'd not been in war or battle before, she knew the sounds outside...buildings were falling. People were dying. The young bard dropped her fork, pork chop tumbling with it to the floor as she put her hands to her head, slender fingers clawing through her hair as a silent scream played out across Axley's face before she turned away from the yelling guardsman. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as her mind raced, flashing back to that horrible night not too long ago. The flames licking at her sides as she screamed down to her family, hearing nothing but coughs and cries of pain in response...

    Her world was being torn from her. Again. Every single person out there, every scream of another lost life, every building slowly crashing to the ground...that was her family in the Imperial Ruins. And once again, some unknown power, some hateful entity was forcing it away from her. She wanted to hope, wanted to believe that the Ruins would survive an onslaught...but she knew better. She'd seen better. She didn't want to go outside and face reality again. Couldn't force herself to see firsthand just how much she'd lose. And yet, the commanding voices of the men around her eventually broke her wall of fear. If she didn't move, she would die, just as she would have had she refused to leave her burning, crumbling home. The damage to the wall would eventually bring the inn down, especially if more wayward bolts struck the structure. Against her will and better judgment, Axley's sheer will to survive forced her from her stool, grabbing her lute as she had many years ago, stringing it on her back and removing the ceremonial sword that hung from her hip from its leather scabbard. She turned to face the rest of the fleeing convoy, shaking legs taking step by step towards the exit. This couldn't be where her story ended. Tragedy or not...this wasn't the final chapter. She refused.
    Karma is the best.

  5. #15
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    Yonah was just taking a sip of water when the bolt flew through the wall. She droped the glass and slowly turned to face the woman speared into the wall. At the spray of red viscera haphazardly thrown across the wall. She knew the poor girl... Yonah had taught her how to hunt a few months before...

    The huntress wanted to look out the window, but if they had bastilla leveled at the place, she figured showing her face was a poor idea. Options cycled through her head and were shot down one by one by her own logic. Could she run? No, not like this. She could barely stand up for the fear that held her boots to the ground. Could she fight them? Not a chance. She killed rabbits and squirrels, not people! She looked to the Guardsman, blood slowly trickling down her chin from how hard she was biting her lip, her hold on her bow white-knuckled.

    "What do we do, guardsmen? You have an idea, right?" She didn't like the idea of following someone in a uniform, but he knew war. A soldier, she thought he had said. A veteran of bloody, horrible war... the war she was fortunate enough to dodge by virtue of birth. She would be exposed to it's horrors for the first time... it was a surreal thought. One that wasn't quite registering with her, quite yet...
    Last edited by Dawscombine; 04-18-2019 at 01:19 AM.

  6. #16
    Antivan Crow
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    The group made their way to the streets and headed to the west. It was, in David's opinion, the safest route out of the Imperial Ruins. The ballista shots were coming from the north, the south was more city streets for several miles and would be chaotic, and the east led straight to the sea. None of those options were optimal for escaping this situation, so the west was really the ONLY choice.

    More ballista shots rained down from above, now accompanied with fire arrows that seemed to be aimed specifically for buildings. Fires began to burn throughout the northern section of the city, adding yet more panic to the lives of the inhabitants. But worse... enemy warriors had arrived at the front line and were starting the battle proper.

    At least one of the folks in the Bloated Roach not only answered David's call to flee, but even offered their sword arm (so to speak) to help everyone escape. That was a huge relief to the guardsman, who knew that the more folks who could help fight... the better their chances were to escape the war zone. That said, David himself had every intention of returning to the city once he escorted these people to safety. He was a guardsman, after all. If he didn't, then he couldn't call himself a real guard. But that was beside the point right now. Right now he needed to focus. Especially since he was now staring down a trio of enemies.

    Three undead warriors of the Mask of Winters stood in the way of the group, each armed with a short sword and small shield. Being a seasoned veteran, David figured he could take one of them easily enough and MAYBE two if he got lucky... but three on one was not good odds for a lightly-armored man trying to escort civilians to safety.





    Not far from the survivors from the Bloated Roach, Cackling Harlot's Retribution and a yet unknown ally were systematically destroying anyone and anything in their paths. Men, women, children, animals, buildings, and so on... nothing seemed safe. Cackling Harlot used her mastery of fire to cause even more mayhem by committing arson after arson. Her ally was destroying more lives than property, and had just beheaded one of the town guards with a swipe of his massive gauntlet. "Relax, Maw. Seriously. This is a walk in the park, man. No need for going all out like that." said Cackling Harlot to her ally. The response she got was merely a grunt of confirmation.

    Her casual attitude did not last much longer, however. A blazingly bright arrow sank itself deeply into her muscular accomplice's back. He howled in agony as his flesh sizzled and boiled around the glowing arrow, and Cackling Harlot turned in the direction of the attack. Sure enough, a man with a bow stood a short way down the debris-littered road. But he was not alone. Charging in from beside the man was a massive humanoid tiger creature, and it was heading straight for the hulking brute with the glowing arrow in his back.

    Blood reaching a boiling point, Cackling Harlot screamed out in anger and sent a massive gout of flames at the rushing tiger. The attack hit its mark, and a deafening explosion rocked the area.





    Just as David clashed with one of the undead soldiers, a shockwave tore through the air and nearly knocked him on his feet. Over the burning rooftop of a building to his left, he saw what almost looked like a tornado of flames shooting into the air. The undead warriors seemed a bit surprised as well, as they were not simply mindless zombies. Sensing his chance, David swiped the elongated blade of his spear downward, cutting the shield arm off of the warrior he was enganging. That would make the fight easier, but he still had to keep the others in mind. At least one of them seemed capable... but the guardsman was not entirely sure about the others.
    Last edited by Salroka; 04-23-2019 at 05:03 PM.
    Spoiler: Neat Stuff Within 

  7. #17
    I Forgot My Title....
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    Axley indeed had a blade and enough experience to know how to swing it, but seasoned veteran she was not. Seeing the streets awash with death and carnage was not the most encouraging sight for a young woman unused to combat; she found herself having to force her just-consumed dinner back down and not violently heave it to the streets at the sight of her fellow townsfolk dying. This was little more than a bloodbath she was desperately trying to escape from. As she ran in the center of the group, trying not to be noticed or needed, she caught glimpses of undead warriors ripping defenseless citizens' entrails from their bodies, reveling in the easy victories abound around them and celebrating the destruction of the Imperial Ruins as though it were their birthdays. It was a scene straight out of a horror story.

    Unfortunately, their luck in avoiding conflict did not last long, as three undead stood in their way of escape now in search of their own victims to eviscerate. Surely the man who took the lead could handle one, but the one on the left was eyeing Axley with a leering gaze and a chilling grin. She would have to fight her way out of this herself. Her adrenaline-filled body reacted at every slightest movement of her foe, simple attacks met with wild swings of her ceremonial blade and loud clangs of steel on steel as she fought desperately for her life, her unskilled but frantic attacks just enough to keep the monster at bay for the moment, but unable to break its guard and find any opening to strike decisively. Axley's determination and fearful energy was unwavering, but the skill of her foe was exploiting her wild, careless attacks, forcing her to backpedal further and further until her back was against the wall of a burning building. The undead warrior cackled, a dry, rasping sound that made Axley want to scream with terror. She was outmatched.

    Just when all hope was lost, a powerful shockwave rocked the area, causing Axley to fight to regain her footing and right herself. Her opponent seemed unprepared for the sudden shake as well, and his attention was diverted just long enough for Axley to find a moment of weakness. She swung her sword in with a fierce cry of desperation...only for the blade to clang futilely against his shield, her reckless swing too wild to aim properly. A painful vibration ran up the bard's arm as the blade struck metal and the weak, ceremonial sword cried out its last, a large fissure tearing the poorly-cast blade in two, leaving Axley holding nothing but a very strangely-shaped chunk of metal as the other half clattered to the ground. The warrior glanced down to the fallen piece of blade and laughed mercilessly at his victim's failure. Never had he seen such a pathetic farce of a foe...and never would he again, as his moment of victory was snatched away as Axley lunged for his throat, slitting it with the sharp piece of jagged steel that was once a sword. Clutching at the gaping wound, the undead collapsed to the ground and writhed a moment before bloodloss took his undead life once more and Axley breathed a tremendous sigh, immediate danger having passed at the mere cost of her only weapon. She only prayed the other two were dispatched easily enough...
    Karma is the best.

  8. #18
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    The explosion that allowed David to disarm one of their foes also served to disorient the group he had fled the Bloated Roach with. When he came to his senses, only the singer girl remained within his line of sight. Worse yet, she was having a bad time of it, breaking her short sword against the armor of an enemy soldier. Thankfully she seemed to have a backup knife, and dispatched the undead opponent by nearly decapitating him. Impressive for someone who likely had no formal training. But then, adrenaline was a powerful thing.

    David's attention returned to his own enemy right in the nick of time, and he barely evaded what would have been a fatal strike. Rather than taking a diagonal swipe that would have cleaved deeply into his shoulder and chest, a thunderous clanging sound rang out as the undead's sword deflected off of the guardsman's helmet. His ears felt like they were on fire and his head ached from the impact, but he would live to fight on. A thrust of his spear met with a reflexive turn to block... but the revived soldier no longer had a shield arm and was impaled through the head. Unfortunately both David and the singer woman seemed to forget... there was a third foe.

    What reminded David of this foe was when he took a thrown dagger to the side. The thick fabric of his uniform stopped the worst of it, but the blade still bit deeply into his body. Not fatal, but very painful and definitely enough to slow him down a bit. He winced as he yanked the blade free and turned to hurl it in the direction it had come from, but the throw was nowhere near hitting the mark. David had hoped he could dispatch the last undead without direct engagement, but to no avail. But then...




    The four Exalts that were fighting nearby were going all-out. The tiger beast was fighting the muscled man, and the gentleman with the bow was holding off Cackling Harlot. The tiger suddenly hurled the towering Abyssal through a wall with all its might, sending him careening through an already crumbling building and into the undead that the Roach survivors were about to fight. The impact actually crushed the zombie warrior... but now they stared down a massive hulk of an opponent. David had faced down some scary stuff during the Scarlet War, but this guy was something else entirely.

    Thankfully, the monstrous man seemed entirely uninterested in the guardsman and his charge. Why, you ask? Simple. The tiger creature burst onto the scene and began to maul him. A death sentence to most, the brute grabbed the beast by the throat and slammed it to the ground before kicking it in the stomach repeatedly. David took the chance and grabbed the singer girl. "Let's go! Now!" Yanking her arm with all his strength, he made haste for the outskirts of the city. For any hope of survival, they needed to get out of the Imperial Ruins. But the flight was suddenly cut short as another huge explosion rocked the area, knocking the guardsman and the singer off their feet.

    Was this to be their end?
    Spoiler: Neat Stuff Within 

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