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[Rainbow Dash]

 “The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr.”
 - Anonymous, The Quran

Chapter 1 – Blood Triumvirate

The use of the number three as a divine glyph has been prevalent throughout various cultures in various timelines. In Buddhism, there are three ways to understand the end of birth known as the Triple Bodhi – the understanding of the true nature of all things. The most notable gods in Hinduism, Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer are known as the Trimurti. A religious tenet held by certain Pagan religions is known as the Rule of Three, which states that all energy a person puts out into the world, whether positive or negative, will be returned to that person three times. And in Christianity, God is divided into a holy trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Christian theologian Thomas Aquinas would claim the importance of trichotomies in the potency of intelligence: concept, judgment, and reasoning; of beauty: wholeness, harmony, and radiance; and of transcendence: unity, truth, and goodness.

The end of the world, brought forth at the end of the Crimson Century was actually the second time a disaster of that scale had occurred. It was over half a millennia before during the first Crusades when the war between the three races would bring unleash the wrath of the divine upon the earth. Two wars, two calamities. But as the saying goes, ‘the third time’s the charm,’


Though old One-Eye had warned them not to go, Dill and Jill the Grey Tribe joined the others gathered around the large oak tree as they did every week. Initially it was only once a month when the band of ragtag lycans formed together and raided the human villages on the outskirts of Memorium. As months passed, their raids would become more frequent and their membership would grow ever larger. Today, nearly a thousand lycans had come. They were not a band of outlaws, they were an army.

“Listen to me, Brothers!” Roared out the lycan at the center of the group standing at the oak tree’s base. For lycan warriors, names were earned on the battlefield. Some, like “One-Eye” were self explanatory, though some were less so. No one really knew how their raid leader had come to take the name Dazzle.

“For too long have we had to limp by, living off scraps!” Dazzle shouted, and the rest howled in agreement. “For too long have our brothers in the city been treated as slaves and animals!” Another round of howling agreement. “For too long have those weak humans and vampires prospered at our expense!”

“For a year now we have been raiding the human towns outside the city. We set fire to their buildings and rip out their throats…and do you know what the city dwellers did?” Dazzle continued his patriotic speech. “Nothing! They sat behind their walls and let us do as we please. And why? It’s because they are weak and we are strong!”

The howls of the lycan army were deafening this time, their cries echoed through the air and even reached the ears of those living several miles away in Memorium. They were cries filled with anger and hatred and sorrow. They were the cries of the outsiders. Dill and Jill let out their own howls in accompaniment.

“It’s been too long brothers! We are done with these cowardly raids. We are ready. Today, we march towards Memorium!” Dazzle proclaimed, and the lycan army followed him.

---
Location – Blood Alchemist Guild Research Center
Factions – Lycans vs. Blood Alchemists

“Will someone turn off that goddamn thing off,” Tully complained, covering his ears. How was he supposed to conduct his research in peace with all that racket going on.

“B-but Mr. Tully, that’s the warning alarm! They say the lycans have breached the city walls…they have a massive army! The Crusaders have called us to aid the battle…” replied Tully’s apprentice Pip.

“Bah, who cares about some dumb mutts. Pass that vile vial over there to me…no not that one! The one with the pink stuff inside!” Tully continued to tinker at hi work despite his pupil’s distress.

“We should really leave Mr. Tully! They could be here any minute…they say that lycans have the strength of ten men and are a hundred times fiercer than any wild dog!” Pip grew increasingly worried.

“Feh, don’t exaggerate. That muscle-brained bastard LeCroix only dares to ask for our help when the Master is out of town. Why, if she were here we needn’t lift a finger. Pip, did you know that-“ but Tully would never knew if Pip knew, because a spear flew through the air and impaled Pip through the chest.

“Ugh. Another apprentice bites the dust…really I have the worst luck. Months of teaching down the drain…” Tully sighed as more lycans began to enter the building. “Filthy animals should know their place,” he said as he pulled out a glass orb filled with red liquid. He smashed it against the floor yet the blood inside retained it’s ovular shape as it slowly rose into the air “With Pip gone, I guess I’ll teach you guys a lesson instead.”

---
Location – Outer Wall
Factions – Crusaders vs. Lycans

Most of the citizens living near the breach had been evacuated to the inner areas of the city. Those that weren’t dead at least. The lycans had managed to shatter a hole in the ten foot thick stone wall using brute force alone. Though there had been reports of increasing lycan activity over the past few months, Lt. Gerard didn’t think that they would actually attack the city. Though their numbers were high, it seemed that the army was comprised of mostly younger lycans and they had very few true warriors.

Gerard brought his axe down on the nearest wolf, cutting him straight through the middle from muzzle to groin in a flash of light. The two halfs sizzled where the axe had met flesh. Was there really any purpose to this poorly conceived assault? They did more damage than Gerard thought, but surely even they realized it was a futile attempt. Near the back line of incoming lycans Gerard could make out what looked to be their leader.

He turned to his fellow soldiers. “Alright men, do you see that white wolf at the back? I’ll see to it that anyone who brings me his head gets a promotion and sacred weapon from the vault. Onward!” He rallied the crusaders, hoping to break through to the lycan backline.

---
Location – Notre Dame, Conference Room
Factions – Vampires vs. Lycans

Katarina Alexandria, third in line to the Red Court throne, strode into Notre Dame with her entourage. Katarina had been the acting ambassador for the Red Court for nearly two decades now, and this was to be just another boring council meeting like they did every month.

“Ah, Lady Katarina. As always, it is a pleasure to see you again. Your beauty has already brightened up this gloomy place,” Bishop Gomst greeted her at the Cathedral entrance. In truth, Katarina abhorred the man. The fat lecherous clergyman always acted far too familiar with her, despite her station. His dark beady eyes and long face made him look like an oversized rat. She would spend the meeting imagining him being chased around by an oversized cat.

“Bishop Gomst,” she nodded back to him politely, “Allow me to introduce my sister, Anastasia. She will be joining us for today’s meeting…and she’s not quite used to interacting with humans so please be gentle.”

“Ohoho! The rumors were true! Lady Anna, you are as beautiful as your sister and it would be my honor to be your host today,” Gomst kissed her hand as way of greeting. Katarina ignored the urge to wipe her hand.

“Come in, come in!” Gomt gestured for the vampire party to enter the building.

The two vampire princesses sat on one side of the stone table, while the human delegation sat on the opposite side. Behind each delegation stood their guards, though for reasons unknown Katarina had decided to bring some new faces along instead of her usual honor guard. The meeting proceeded for over an hour, as they slowly went over all of the city’s issue from taxes to maintaining water supply. Everything was going smoothly, even if the whole affair was dull as usual. But as they were about to wrap up, the glass windows of the Cathedral were shattered and the delegation was surrounded on all sides by over a dozen lycans.

“Princess Katarina, Princess Anastasia, we must leave now!” said one of the vampires. Unfortunately it seemed that Katarina, along with all the humans, had disappeared without a trace. But before they could get ahold of the situation, the lycans attacked.



OOC

Spoiler

The lycans have attacked Memorium. This is going to have severe consequences. 
 
Each area has a boss (listed below). The two human areas also have a score of autokillable enemies. Just because they are autokillable does not mean you can just mow down hundreds of enemies. End of mission rewards will be given based on quality of posts, not how many enemies you defeat. Fighting and defeating an area boss will yield a far greater amount of rewards. Please note the council room is off limits for lycan players sorry
 
If you don't want to get caught in a massive brawl, you can ask me for some other options. A smaller fight might not have the same rewards as an area boss but it might be easier for loners or new players.
 
Questions queries comments, feel free to PM me.

 

Bosses

Spoiler

Blood Alchemy Guild
 
Tully: An alchemist of experience. Middle-aged but still full of vigor.
Blood Alchemy: ???
 
Fletcher: A dark-furred wolf who uses a mace. Doesn't speak much
Shapeshifting: Wolf
Overdrive: ???
 
Outer Wall

Gerard: A lieutenant with the Crusaders. Has an axe
Holy Arts: Searing Light - When Gerard strikes something with his axe it erupts in a brief white flame
 
Dazzle: a charismatic wolf-type lycan. He has white fur and is leading the lycan warriors
Shapeshifting: Wolf
Overdrive: ???
 
Conference Room
 
Fiona the Den Mother: A wolf-type lycan very near eldery. Her fur is streaked with grey. She is more dangerous than she looks.
Shapeshifting: Wolf
Overdrive: ???

Edited by Katia Managan, 20 November 2014 - 11:18 PM.

[Chizzy]

Apollo Price

Location - Outside of the Memorium City Gates
Faction - Crusader

Memorium: It wasn't surprising to see the city appeared to be the exact same city that was painted in Apollo's memories. Looking back it had been quite a few years since he left on his journey; yet nothing about the place seems to have changed since he returned. It was the exact same Memorium he remembered leaving years ago.

Taking in a deep breath, Apollo slowly stretched out his arms as he let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Finally back home, Toto. This is the place where I grew up."

The silver-haired boy took a moment to pet the tiny rabbit in-between the ears before crossing the great gates of Memorium.

"Wow... so this is Memorium! Do you think Rena and Sera are here?" Toto asked as he propped himself up and hopped atop Apollo's head.

"Uh... shouldn't you be the one telling me this Toto? I'm pretty sure Master Luni left you with me because of your tracking ability."

"Apollo... how many times do I have to tell you?" an annoyed Toto used his tiny paws to grab some of Apollo's hair. "I only have the ability to sense people. I can't pinpoint an exact location and magically find them for you." the little bunny started flailing its tiny arms around in a very animated fashion. "Plus, your descriptions are sooooo vague! Pink hair? Big eyes? Elegant? Beautiful? How am I supposed to find anyone with info like that?! Do you not realize how many girls fit this description?!"

"Yeah, yeah whatever." Apollo brushed the little rabbit aside, causing the poor thing to fly off towards his shoulder. "Let's just hope your 'instincts' are right and we find them here."

Barely hanging on for dear life on his partner's shoulder, Toto lashed out in frustration. "If you keep treating me like this I'm going to end up leaving you Apollo!" the poor bunny was still struggling, hanging on for dear life before managing to find balance and hopping onto the crusader's shoulder.

Apollo flashed a sly grin, "I wouldn't mind. Besides, I heard bunnies make tasty snacks for lycans... haha."

The little rabbit was not amused.

---------

Location - Outer Wall
Faction - Crusader

This was bad: Bodies were flying, people were dying, and Apollo was somehow caught up in all of this craziness; frantically running for his life. What the hell were these lycans doing here and why the hell were they attacking Memorium city? Sadly, Apollo didn't have the luxury to stop and ponder these thoughts, as a pack of wolves were tenaciously hot on his trail. The young crusader continued to sprint across the field with the wolf pack chasing closely behind him; hastily closing the gap between them.

Great.

He needed to take care of these nuisances before making his way toward the white alpha wolf that was hanging around the back lines.

Edited by TG arteezy, 20 February 2015 - 01:30 AM.

[Johnny Paradise]

Isaac Bramhill

Blood Alchemist Research Center

 

Isaac's leisure time was a precious commodity. He had very little of it to begin with, and what he had was often taken from him; the alchemists were consistently understaffed for the sorts of grandiose projects they undertook. He was in the middle of enjoying what was, then, a brief and exceptionally rare reprieve from his usual work when the alarm began to sound. He exhaled sharply and placed the book he was reading on his desk, his knuckles white.

 

Nothing's wrong he thought, boring holes into the oaken desk in front of him. He rocked back and forth on his chair, rapped his knuckles on his desk, paced circles around his room, swore loudly. With a vigor born from anger, he grabbed his weapon and exited the alchemists' living quarters to survey the situation. Whatever had caused this alarm, Isaac assured himself, would not be alive for very much longer.

 

Outside, the compound was being raided by dozens of Lycans. Already, there was blood everywhere, but that didn't imply a tragedy here of all places. Blood seeped from the sword hilt he carried, turning a lustrous silver and hardening into a blade, and Isaac joined his fellow alchemists in repelling the Lycan assault. Brandishing his sword at the first enemy he encountered, a young grey wolf that leaped at him, fangs bared, Isaac cleaved through the beast's shoulder. Lodged in his body, the blade suddenly began to grow, piercing through the Lycan's body until it reached his heart; the wolf slumped over dead. Isaac pulled the sword from the corpse, a dour expression on his face.

 

"What the hell is going on here..." he asked, directed at either himself or the dead Lycan; he wasn't sure which. Neither would have an answer anyway.

 

A large concentration of Lycans were breaking into the Research Facility, where Tully and Pip should have been. Isaac walked to the facility with purpose, hoping the root of the problem would lie there, where the Lycans seemed to congregate. If nothing else, perhaps Tully knew what was going on.

[I-Am-X]

Nóra

 

Location: On Route To Memorium

Faction: Lycans

 

It was strange, this something she never expected. It was something she never thought she'd be apart of. She dreamed of a chance almost like this but, for it to actually appear before her? It left her speechless at first, given how sudden it was and the weight behind it and all. But, she quickly found herself excited.  It was something that was steadily building for awhile now. Even before she left her tribe in that small village. She yearned for it, she yearned for excitement....to fight. Though, it took her sometime for her to decide and fully commit to her path.

 

What exactly is this all about you may ask? War, of course. And how did we get here? Well, the story for her started years ago but it didn't all come together until a few months ago. It could've been like 3 or 4 but seriously, who really cares? Before we get into that, a brief recollection is probably needed here. Ever since that scene with her tribe, and her leaving the village, she spent the next five years wandering around the continent, going from village to village, coming across various communities.

 

Human, Lycan, Vampires...all of them. Frankly, unlike the majority of her kind, she didn't share the hatred the other wolves felt regarding humans and especially Vampires, her kinds mortal enemy. That said, she doesn't really like them either, it's more like she tolerates them. While she doesn't really hate nor like them, she fights them regardless. Why? Simply, she loves to fight and occasionally, to survive, it requires fighting and killing. If the situation calls for it, she'd go against even her own kind. And this is where the recollection ends and leads to what really matters in the story. Anyways, 2-3 or so months ago, Nora came across a certain village. She was running dangerously low on money and she completely ran our of food and water. Luckily, she managed to locate the village before her situation got worse.

 

Arriving into the town, Nora feigned being weak and powerless, which wasn't hurt considered she was fucking hungry, not to mention thirsty. Mutts needs their grub and liquids, after all. Collapsing she managed to trick a nearby local, a human, who felt sorry for her and decided her back to his place. An attractive woman down on her luck and needing help? The man, of course, couldn't say no and miss the chance to collect on her 'gratitude', obviously thinking he'd get lucky. Hearing a loud howling in the distant, Nora ignored it and continued eating. As she finished, she glanced over only to see that the man was giving her strange, looks before getting close enough to where he reached for his pants. The pathetic fool was dead before he managed to take off his pants. "Dammit.." she cursed under her breath.

 

She didn't mean to kill him, just render him unconscious but it seemed like she got carried away and him in the back of the head to hard. With a sigh, she simply concluded that it couldn't be helped. It was troublesome, she couldn't hold herself back and killed a human. While normally it wouldn't matter to her but the simple fact was that this was a human village and she was seen coming in here with him. While her face was covered in her cloak, they seen what she was wearing. As soon as they found the body, she'd be suspected and her appearance relayed from one village to another. She has no problem killing, she had the common sense to know how dangerous such an event could be. While strong, she was only one and she'd eventually be tracked and killed by a swarm of people. She had to find a way out of this situation.

 

A long story short, but still a bit long, the fuckers attacking the village were Lycans. The same hairy and foul smelling bunch lead by that dizzle dazzle guy. Her and a few of his men, given how weak they were, definitely new grunts, got into a scuffle when they came across her looting the place of food and whatever valuables she could find. Nora can't really remember what she said, but it more than likely pissed them off and they fought. Tripping them like a chain of dominos, she took off with what she could and headed out of the village. They managed to catch up to her and she managed to beat some of them down before they sent some of their real soldiers and out numbered her. Care to guess what happened? She lost, yeah.

 

To skip the story around some more, after a heated fight and exchange of words, they all came to an understanding that this was a misunderstanding. Apparently they were the ones attacking the human villages /towns all these months. Nora heard of rumors of an army of Lycans attacking places near the capital but never paid much attention to it because, well, she didn't care. Anywho, she came across them. Like any typical story that has something like this happen involving one of the key characters, Nora went all 'why the hell not?' and decided to join the dudes march. While the treatment of her kind under the humans and vampires, disgusts her, it wasn't her reason for joining. Her reason was obvious, she wanted to fight. She didn't care who it was against she wanted to fight and kill. It was an easy choice.

 

As Dazzle made his speech, Nora listened in. He sure had a way of words. She thought as she glanced around, looking at the reactions of the mass of wolves as he made his speech. She didn't really know the guy all that well, despite spending a few months in his army (not only because of her being unsociable but also being a grunt) but could easily see that everyone was behind him. As he wrapped it up, she could only grin. Taking on the capital? War? It was exciting, all the fighting she could ask for. As the others joined together in a deafening howl, Nora joined in with her own howl of excitement.

 

Bring on Memorium.

 

 

 

Location: Blood Alchemy Guild Research Center

Faction: Lycans

 

Upon arriving in the capital they split up and went to different locations. The location that she was sent to was the home of those alchemists that used their own blood for their alchemy. Interesting... With her spear in hand, she entered the building with a few other Lycans. Though, a group of them went ahead before them. So it's likely they'll get most of the good fights. Well, no matter. I'm sure I'll get some good ones for myself. Having dropped her guard as he got lost in thought, an alchemist, taking advantage of it, almost succeeded in taking her head off.

 

Thankfully she just managed to block that attack with her spear before he followed through. As the alchemist was right in her face and since she was using her spear to block his weapon made of blood, she made a swipe at his legs. While he managed to avoid it, it freed her weapon from his and she unleashed a flurry of thrusts at his chest. He managed to avoid the first 2 thrusts at his gut but wasn't in time to block the third one and the spear went right through his chest as he crumpled to the ground.  Pulling the spear from his chest, she stood over him and jammed the spear through his heart.

"Ahh, that felt good. Now, where to next...hmm." As she looked around, she spotted another wolf who headed off past her.

 

"Maybe he could lead me to somewhere good."

[Juro]

Kovu

Outer Wall

 

Within the army of lycans that surged through the collapsed city walls, was Kovu. Although not the type to participate in raids – as he found them to be a waste of time – he decided to make this one time an exception. This was far from a typical raid across the outskirts; this was a city-wide siege. An event such as this didn’t come around that often; it would have been a waste if Kovu refused to take part in it.

Unlike his vicious brethren who rushed forward towards the confines of Memorium, Kovu moved at his own pace and took his time. Not long after he was left behind, the large-scale skirmish had immediately erupted, filling the area with the sounds of war. As he passed the breached walls, before him were already several lifeless bodies, both human and lycan. However, what caught his attention more was the claymore-wielding crusader that was advancing towards him. With a smug expression, Kovu merely snickered and drew his shotel in response to his would be opponent.

A two-handed overhead slash came crashing down unto Kovu; with this one swing, he could tell that this crusader was quite skilled. Unfortunately for him, Kovu was apparently better. With both hands on his blade's hilt, he received the attack and deflected it sideward before driving the claymore down to the ground. With his weapon wedged hard into the soil beneath them, it was obvious that this match was Kovu’s. He could have ended it here, but Kovu was a cautious one and did not like the idea of leaving around loose ends. Turning to the crusader, he flashed him a smile and probably the last words he would ever here.

“No hard feelings, okay?”

With one swift swing, the decapitated crusader had fallen.

Blood was splattered across his clothes and trickled down his blade, but Kovu remained relatively pleased with what was happening. His gaze was then drawn towards another. A crusader who had effortlessly sliced a lycan into two with an axe clad in white flames. No remorse was felt for the slain, but the need to prove his strength was obviously there. Snickering and armed with his weapon, Kovu moved and made his way towards his target along with several other lycans that had pushed through the first line of defense. It seemed like they all wanted the same thing; to take out those that led the opposing side. Midway during his charge, his speed had increased as his physique transformed, growing larger and more beast-like in appearance. Using the momentum from his run and the weight from his true form, Kovu leaped forward and delivered a two-handed strike from the side. What he was aiming for wasn't the crusader himself, but the axe he was wielding. With enough force packed into one single blow, Kovu planned to disarm his opponent before killing him where he stood.
 

Edited by Scio, 22 November 2014 - 08:01 AM.

[Vafhudr]

Helen Huxley 

 

Helen, for a change, was a her desk, writing, when the alarm began to ring. She was copying down a passage from a rather decrepit looking book she had borrowed from the Guild Library. The Guild really needed a team of dedicated scribes to transcribe and copy their collection. The older pieces were already in tatters and nigh unreadable at this point. This knowledge, she feared, would be forever lost if allowed to simply rot away on cold, damp, and dark shelves. The alarm only intensified her scribling and she struggled not to hasten into a scrawl as she tried to sneak in a few more lines – until she broke the quill in her excitement.

 

Note to self – contrived a better writing utensil.

 

This done, she threw a bunch of sand on the vellum, shaked it off and blew on the sheet, and then piled on a much bigger pile of documents that she hurriedly dragged to a massive metal safe. Widening the opening with her shoulder, she stuffed the pile of documents within – and took out her weapons to gear up for what she presumed was an attack. No – she deduced that there was an attack. The alarm was on and she could hear screams and the din of war beyond her lab's door. She donned her harness, which held her vials and the two holsters for her two guns, donned her girdle flanked with her cutlass, and finally she donned her battle boots and gauntlets. She she then clad herself in her whitest labcoat – hiding her loadout confortably and – satisfied – she quickly checked her gun for ammo. Pleased, she left her room – peeking a glimpse outside first. Two Acolytes quickly ran in front of her and – locking the door as she left, followed the two of them toward one of the major common laboratory.

 

“Oh. So we are meeting up with Tully, I guess.” she thought to herself. Made sense. He was one of the people in charge with the Lady gone. As they got closer, she noticed that there was a lot more blood and bodies – of alchemists and lycans. So the lycans had come to pick a fight with them? Why for? How could they possibly be this dumb. They are lucky the Lady wasn't here. Or perhaps that was part of the plan?

 

Ahead of her was Isaac, walking manfully and purposefully. That is, free from the slouch the usual students of the ancient arts develop from peering over books all day and the anemia common to their kind. She broke into a small jog to catch up to him. He looked pissed. She shouted over the alarm, greeting with an energetic “Good day!”, her excitement and trepidation barely contained. It clashed rather starkly with the sour face he was making

 

They both exited the living quarters and emerged into the Guild proper. The Grand Hall, which dominated the center of the guild, was connected a series of hallways and corridors. It was flanked on each side by great common rooms for meetings, group labs, and eating. The corridors then plunged deeper into the edifice, leading to the few auditoriums, and deeper still to the living quarters, which occcupied most of the building itself. The Lycanthropes, it seems, had elected to go for a frontal assault, invading from the front door and taking over the main hall. Small scale incursions were probably occuring all over the building, but the main bulk of the force, massed at the front, would engage in a fight in the open areas first, using their large numbers while they still had the element of surprise to overwhelm anyone who might have been hanging out there, and then move on deeper where sheer numbers became less and less an advantage and their personal strength would shine. Unfortunately for them, they met resistance almost immediately and a counter-attack was in the work from Common Lab #3, under the supervision of Maester Tully. Such was the word being spread amongst acolytes milling back and forth in the facility. Helen and Isaac had by then merged with a group of 10 or so acolytes and apprentices, some of them of middling experience, and arrived at Common Lab #3. There they found some more dead bodies – including Pip: alas we hardly knew ye.

 

“Maester Tully. Alchemist Helen Huxley reporting.” she said as she pulled out her guns.

[Rainbow Dash]

Reborn the Monster

 

The Lycan kicked pitifully at the incinerators doors, becoming more frantic as the heat rose. Neither of the vampire guards took much notice. They'd been doing this job for years. It was the tradition of this particular house. If a slave was too aggressive or dangerous to be of use it would be burned alive. The other dogs would be put to work just close enough to hear the screams. Even worse was the disgusting smell of charred fur and flesh which would waft through the entire area. The sensitive noses most of the beasts had just made it worse.

 

This particular slave had special treatment. It had taken a whole squad of guards to bring him down and even then they'd suffered losses. Never had they seen a Lycan with the same ferocity. They had sealed him away immediately and left him to starve until he was too weak to fight back. Dehydrated and wasting away they dragged him past the other slaves and placed him on the tray.

 

 

 

Bernard pulled the tray out and held a cloth over his nose. The body hadn't been reduced to ash; sometimes the Lycan's just became carbonized chunks in the vague shape of a human. "I never get used to the smell", he muttered. Jules, his current companion, smirked at him. Bernard knew that Jules was thinking of some sort of terrible attempt at a wisecrack and proceeded to shut him up with a glare. The man was insufferable at times. In fact, it was about high time Bernard called him out on it. That sort of attitu- did that head just move? Bernard looked closer at the blackened charcoal

 

Jules chortled at him. "What's the matter? Remind you of your wife or something?" he joked. Bernard needed to lighten up. This job was morbid enough as it is without his permanent sour mood bringing things down. To that end, Jules decided to tell him the story about the Crusader, the Alchemist and the Vampire who went to a bar.

 

He'd only gotten a few words in when the dead man's arms suddenly reached out and grabbed him by the throat. The human hands crushed his windpipe and cut out his scream. Loose bits of soot and charred flesh fell away to reveal pink but whole arms underneath. The Lycan shook his head and the blackened covering cracked open. The last thing Jules saw was a desperate and hateful amber eye staring at him.

 

 

 

Lazarus looked out at the open night sky. He could hear the screams, the fires. The city was under attack. Who else could it have been but his brothers. He doubted the attack was a rescue for him but he was glad enough for the chaos. Escape was needed. He felt weak. Weaker than he should have been. Death, he supposed, took it's toll.

 

He was crossing a courtyard when he froze. A little girl, to the right. She'd seen him. A little vampire girl, judging by her scent. Old enough to give witness, to raise an alarm. Lazarus took a deep breath and felt his hand clench. He'd done worse things for survival.

 

OOC

Spoiler

You've met Lazarus. He is desperate and violent. Have fun

 

 

Lazarus: a Lycan. For now only seen in human form.

Shapeshifting: Wolf - ???

Overdrive - ???

[???]

[Darkoda]

Lune laid on a bench in one of her more favoured courtyards, mainly due to sheer whimsy; it was really the same when you got down to it, the same fountains, the same flowers, the buildings weren’t all that different either. She just liked this place for some reason, likely out of sheer boredom.

 

She was the seventeenth heir to the Red Court, the littlest princess who was never expected to have any real claim with so many siblings before her. She didn’t mind this; in fact she adored the freedom of movement it gave her, the slackened etiquette lessons, less time spent in that stifling court where everyone tried to slay others with words and gestures and deceit. It didn’t suit her all that much, and she didn’t know how her elder siblings could stand being stuck indoors so often.

 

Still, while she had more freedom, she lacked anyone to spend it with; she was still a noble and most other nobles’ ideas of fun were decidedly not. Was it really any wonder that she had to go make her own fun? It wasn’t even intentional at first; some human tried to kidnap her, and she killed him. But the actual fight, the dance of steel and shadow and blood, that was the most alive she’d ever felt. She’d slowly started wandering into more dangerous areas, meeting more dangerous people, eventually actively seeking out those she could clash with, people to give her some meaning for those few moments and carving her own niche; she still got a bit giddy when people used her semi-official title.

 

And that was her current problem; even at her age she did realise that solving all your problems by stabbing people wasn’t all that healthy so she tried to keep it down to one or two every few weeks at most, but now there was clearly something going on, with all the fires at the walls and from mainly the human side of things. Something that she certainly wasn’t going to be allowed to go near – being near that many antsy humans was asking to be killed by an itchy trigger finger. It wasn’t fair! At this point she might have been better off wheedling her way to tagging along with her two big sisters to that boring council meeting.

 

As if someone heard her mental pleas for something more accessible to her, a naked guy, skin completely pink like someone sunburned walked into the courtyard. He froze, she stared blankly. They stood at a standstill for a few moments, the man taking a breath and Lune hopping to her feet at the sight of the clenching muscles; she’d been in enough fights to see the warning signs.

 

“….Are you some kind of really direct rapist? Or just a very unsubtle flasher?” Okay before the whole fight thing, she really needed to know because while she wanted something interesting to do, this was just downright weird. And she knew it was too, despite her silly brethren’s beliefs, even lycans had a tendency to wear clothing. She would know too. 

[Rainbow Dash]

The Ballad of Sir Galalot

 

The Lycan brute was stronger than courageous Sir Galalot had expected. So strong in fact that the beast had thrown him - armour, sword and all - well into the air. The bold, brave knight landed with a thud on a building two stories up. Luckily he'd landed at the apex of his ascent so the fall had not caused any major issues. Disoriented and bruised the wondrous Sir Galalot climbed to his feet and hefted up his blade. The holy weapon was gigantic, nearly as tall as a full grown man and wider than a hand-span. The incredible Sir Galalot was considering a way down and back to the action when he realized he was not alone on this roof.

 

Sitting across from him was a man unlike any other he'd met before. Large and smoking some strange tobacco. He seemed interested in the knight but not dangerously so. The courteous Sir Galalot to was content to ignore the man until he felt it. That same raw, wild energy that seemed to just leak out of Lycans. It wasn't always noticeable but the experienced Sir Galalot was well versed in combat, despite his airborne tendencies may indicate.

 

Lycans were attacking the city; this man was a Lycan. The calculating Sir Galalot realized the truth in a moment. This man was an assassin attempting to lure the vigilant Sir Galalot into a false sense of security before stabbing him in the back with was that a giant rock attached to a stick? Impressive.

 

The opportunistic Sir Galalot never gave him the chance. With a mighty warcry which may have been just a warbled bellow he charged forward and swung his sword in a downward arc

 

 

 

 

Pest Removal

 

Most of the vampires saw it as an affront. An abomination. A Lycan with land - a title! 

 

They believed themselves to be the ultimate life form. Others beings lived to feed them, to work for them. Arrogance incarnate, vampires. It was the same arrogance that let him know the assassins were tailing him.

 

And of course they were assassins. Logan knew a hired knife when he smelled one. He'd faced enough of them before. Vampire assassins were alternately the best and worst. Either too arrogant to know their job properly or too skilled to catch out easily.

 

These fell into the first category. One was in front of him, moving just loudly enough to hear. One was upwind behind him; easy for him to smell. Another moved somewhere to the side. The last one was a bit tricky and he wouldn't have caught them if the other two hadn't alerted him. Bothersome.

 

Unfortunately for the unskilled vampires he'd casually walked into one of the vampire enclave's courtyards. Statues and monuments aplenty provided good cover from whatever cowardly tactics they would employ.

 

 

 

The first one came from the front. Two medium sized swords. A little curved. The vampire himself had some sort of obsidian growth on his arms. No subtlety. A distraction

 

The second one - a female by the smell - came from behind. Probably knives. She was at his back but not within range yet. Probably thought he didn't know she was there. Unprofessional.

 

Logan frowned. The third one wasn't coming out. Still somewhere to the west. He felt nothing out of place, nothing on his mind. An archer? He'd have to take precautions.

Edited by Katia Managan, 26 November 2014 - 10:15 PM.

[Wandering Rogue]

Luka Montel

Location – Notre Dame, Conference Room

 

 

What have I done to deserve this?  Probably a lot the voice in the back of his head answered.  Luka conceded the point but it still felt awfully unfair.  Here he had planned a day of doing nothing in particular and just running about the city and maybe dropping in on some people.  As was his right as a superior existence as a noble.  Which was why he felt incredibly slighted by the fact he was being forced into the ambassador guard.  Why would they even want him? Felt weird but his parents just said he just was making up excuses to get out of it.  Which was absolutely true but hardly grounds to ignore his perfectly logical and reasonable complaints.  Which is why he was here in Notre Dame wearing this ridiculous guard outfit listening to priests be disgusting.

 

There was also the lycans and broken glass.

 

Which meant Luka had to get out of this ridiculous outfit.  His parents hated his loose clothing but they just didn't understand.  How could he climb if his skin was trapped in layers of fabric?  He couldn't obviously which is why he was tearing off his sleeves and slipping out of his shoes.  Soon as he was safely and sufficiently exposed, Luca began to work his way up the walls to a suitable perch to rain down death on the lycans.  He found it a fair ways up and proceeded to pepper several lycans with shots he couldn't be sure would be lethal.  What with it being rather difficult lining up a shot with all the friendlies in the fray and the dogmen jumping around so annoyingly.  Luca prioritized his shots to keep them off his remaining ambassador.  Out of necessity you understand, he already looked bad enough with one of them missing who knows would happen if he lost both of them.

[Diabolical Rhapsody]

Bajrang Markandey

Location - A certain rooftop in Memorium

 

The city was as impressive as he had imagined and though his kind neither held many privileges nor offices it won't be right to call it a three way truce. More like the Vampires had been far more successful here than in his homeland. But still the city was lulled in a false sense of security with each of the militant factions keeping themselves reined in at the moment. The atmosphere in here was electric. Throughout his journey he had seen how the world had now become. Each of the races had established areas of influence. While his kind had gone to the old gypsy ways the humans and vampires had busied themselves in building massive strongholds.

 

It was as if the fight was already snuffed out of all the Lycan races, so thorough had been the wipe out drive. Even though they had numbers somewhere in between the other two, they were still seen nothing more as enhanced beasts of burden. Many of the subraces had gone extinct, some on their last legs. He was perhaps the last of his kind and yet he felt comfortable.

 

He had been lucky, while on his way he was offered a ride to the city from a Human merchant whose simple reasoning had been to protect his family from a particular Lycan ambush he could use some help. Even though Bajrang was rather big and built and carried a big rock the unassuming human hadn't considered him to be a Lycan. He was offered a place to live in and pay for being a helper on his shop. The choice was fairly easy, his fight for his basic necessities was over before they even started. As they journeyed, he got to know the little girl better. Clarisse, was a soft and gentle thing, unassuming and innocent and filled with energy like all children are.

 

Once in Memorium he was shown his residence, the attic over the Merchant's house. He declined the place and instead requested the kind man to allow him to sleep on the roof. He was used to sleeping in the open, it just gave him a sense of freedom.

 

----

 

There was a lot of ruckus, he had come to the roof top to have a little relaxing puff when this all started. He could hear the blood curling shrieks and loud unmistakable howls of the Lycans. The city was under siege, having grown bored from being treated like pawns for so long, the Lycans were retaliating. Bajrang though, was uninterested. What was he to gain from all this. He hardly knew the leaders around here and he didn't want to get involved in someone else's fight. He had been treated kindly and that was that. He went back to his chillum as he took a deep drag, the smoke filling his insides with a light sensation of weightlessness. He looked at the horizon and kept to his business.

 

The cries and growls were getting closer, mixed between them were chants of fervor and holy sermons. The battle was being dragged out in the streets and suddenly a hint of worry flooded his mind. With a chillum in hand he went at the edge of the roof an looked down, expectedly the Merchant had shut shop and the street was still untouched by the impending menace.

 

He went back to his activity, taking another drag. As he puffed out a rather large cloud, a thud announced that he had company. What looked like to be a human knight with an impressive body length sword had flown up rather clumsily. He quickly dusted himself off and took in his surroundings, then his eyes met Bajrang who just gave him a smile and he took another drag.

 

His eyes held a shocked expression for a moment before he decided that he can cleave his way out of the situation. Bajrang wondered why humans were so jumpy, here he was keeping to himself not bothering anyone and the man in shining armor in front of him had decided to cut him in two. As he gripped his sword, Bajrang held onto his gada He waited for his adversary to begin his downswing before he placed the giant rock mace in its trajectory.

 

Stones break scissors don't they?

 

A loud shriek though announced that he had more company. Clarisse had bolted out of the roof door crying out his name.

 

"Marky!! they got mum and dad." said the little one running at the big man not accepting the situation that was in front of him.

 

"Hide under my bed!!" roared the mighty wereape, he hoped that the knight had some honor and wouldn't threaten a child to gain an advantage over him.  

[SliceAndDice]

Marshall Septimus Volgas

Location: Notre Dame Cathedral

 

It was nerve wracking. Nothing short of absolutely nerve wracking. Being selected to be part of the personal guard for one of the Vampire Princesses, let alone two of them at once, was the kind of thing subcentennials wished and dreamed and pined for. Newly born vampires would often take turns playing the guard and the Crusader, as if it were all some kind of game. But actually living it? Empty night, what a terrifying experience. It was easy to fantasize about valiantly throwing oneself in between one of the gorgeous princesses and some sort of menace charging in broad daylight for all to see. But once the job began, it was swiftly made apparent that the zealots declaring their intent and attacking in the open were the least of all concerns. No, the true dangers lay in the shadows, hidden from sight and waiting for the moment to strike, the very moment when a guard let his defenses fall even slightly to expose an opening. And that, more than anything else, was something that very deftly stripped away any sort of glory or gallantry in the job.

 

Still, Marshall mused quietly to himself, it was not without its perks, however minor. How many Vampires were ever allowed to be in such proximity to two of arguably the six most beautiful beings in all of Memorium, as he was now? Still, it was best not to dwell on such things. Their beauty was great, it was true, but that served to make it all the more distracting. Besides which, there wasn't a chance in hell he would ever get to personally know any of them; their birth was of the highest order, and while his was nothing to scoff at, it was all too likely he'd be married off to some frozen bat that his mother selected and shuffled off to god knows where to rule some plot of mostly useless land in the north. Which was part of the reason he'd been looking for methods to wriggle his way into some higher-placed position down here; the only way he was ever going to get out from under the maternal thumb was to earn some favor of the royal family. Even his mother would have to bow to that. And the best way to start earning that favor was to make sure he didn't drop the ball when guarding two of the family's number, even if the only threat at the moment seemed to come from a fat priest who was toeing the line on acceptable diplomatic behavior far too closely for anybody's liking.

 

Perhaps that was why Marshall was so quick to react when the stained glass shattered and the filthy dogs came in. It seemed not everybody had quite shed the notions of their youth, however; one of the guards had tried to, Marshall could only assume, make himself stand out to Princess Katarina by yelling for her... only to hang his mouth open when he couldn't see her. A roll of the eyes and a slap to the back of the head seemed in order, so Marshall delivered both to the poor, stupid sap.

 

"Have you never seen a veil before?" he quietly hissed at the fool, "Stop gaping and do your job!"

 

Even as he spoke, his hands had reached for the saber at his waist. With both in hand, he strode grimly toward the first snarling furball he saw, even as it barreled toward him. It was a towering mass of muscle, but not altogether quick. Such was its downfall when Marshall deftly slipped under its reached claws and snapping fangs, opened its chest from waist to shoulder with his sword, and then plunged it through the back of its neck and into the top of its spine. When he came out from under it, however, Marshall had changed. His skin had gone from somewhat fair, if a little pale, to an icy blue, his pupils had elongated to resemble the slits of a snake, his fangs had extended in his mouth, and ice had formed on the back of his hands, his knees, shoulders, and his upper back. The next Lycan to try and approach found his head frozen solid with a touch and then smashed to pieces with the pommel of the saber, and the third he simply eviscerated with a frozen scythe blade that extended from his wrist. Arrows began to lodge themselves in more targets around him as Luka the spider opened fire from his ceiling vantage point, and with the added covering fire Marshall found himself quite capable of standing his ground. All the same, he was sure to keep one eye on the elderly lycan in the room; the streaks of grey fur that she sported were not easily acquired, and he had little doubt that she'd be all too willing to show them all why she'd survived long enough to wear them...

Edited by Slice, 23 November 2014 - 11:22 AM.

[Jod]

DR. VEGA STEAMFUNK

 

The atmosphere within the lab was filled with an intense tension. Within the pin drop silence, and white washed walls, stood Dr.Vega. He was crouched over a rather elaborate contraption. The contraption covered most of his workspace, and looked like some kind of otherworldly torture deivce with, tubes, sprockets, fumes and chimneys. To add to the ambience, it let out hisses, and bursts of rainbow steam at odd intervals.

 

Beads of sweat coalesced and slid down the doctors cheek, as he carefully measured out a minute amount of a oily blue substance, and then with excruciating care began to pour it into a input funnel of the device. At the same time he carefully adjusted a battery of  dials and sliders, on the basis of readings from another battery of gauges. Because both his hands were occupied, he had to do all the calculations in his head. 

 

The contraption itself was his baby, if it worked,the thing would be able to freeze light itself. Or so he hoped. He wasn't sure why freezing light would be usefull, but if was unable to freeze, he'd be able to prove that the upstart De Morgan's liquid light theory wrong. He was 85% sure that De Morgan was the bastard that kept on stealing his pudding. That was all the reason the doctor needed for over a year of hard work. That he felt was the basis of all science.

 

It was however a rather sassy thing, ready to blow its top at the the drop of a microjoule. He had nearly blown his clothes off at least eleven times in the past few days. But victory was close at hand, just a few bit more and he'd be done. The girl just needed a little push in the right direction...

 

BLAAAM! Two lycans blasted right through the door. Based on pure reflex, the doctor reacted. Even before what he knew he was doing he was already dive rolling away. After years of close shaves from a colorful assortment of chemical disasters, Dr.Vega's body had in way perfected its 'GTFO' response to danger. His body rarely referred to his brain at these situations, it didn't really trust anything above the neck to do something logical in these cases.

 

In the same time momentum caused the two unruly fellows to crash into his beloved contraption. One second later two thirds of his lab was flash frozen air, lycan and all into one solid ice cube.

 

Dr.Vega sprawled on the floor, gaped at the remnants of his work and lab. He knew very well what had happened, he wasn't that slow. He was gaping because his mind didn't have the correct words to express his rage, there probably wasn't a word for it in the dictionary. 

 

He got up, straight to his feet. Then he raised his fist to the sky, and then bellowed in rage. "WHAT. THE. FUCK!" he said, and the world trembled. On second thought it was probably some explosion in another area of the guild. There was a reckoning at hand for the one responsible. The Dr.Vega strode towards his coat stand and flung his trench coat over his shoulders, for a moment a vast armory of tiny glass vials glinted in the artificial light. He with small jerk of his leg he flung his cross bow into his hand. 

 

He walked out of his lab and kicked down the door to the hallway. He found himself staring at two lycans. "Purrfect.." he said, flinging himself backwards. A vial already hurtled from his crossbow. Then an explosion. The top halves of the lycans lay splattered all over the walls of the hall. Sodium was already rather explosive, but with a dab blood it became quite another thing.

 

He walked past the two torso's, sniffing disdainfully at them. He made his way through the building, heading for the place with the most noise. He dispatched the lycans on the way with great justice. By the time he reached the place, his white trench coat had become a modern art canvas of red splatters. He had his goggles placed firmly over his head, glinting ominously in the light. 

 

"HOLD UP. TELL ME WHO' RESPONSIBLE! OR I'M BLOWING THIS PLACE SKY HIGH! IF ITS YOU DE MORGAN. YOU BETTER HOPE YOU'RE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!!!" 

Edited by Jodgod, 23 November 2014 - 07:36 PM.

[Officer Judy Hopps]

[quote name="Feisty-Pants" post="1409271" timestamp="1416767792"]

Laika - On the Hunt

Indistinguishable from the Gargoyles that decorated the walls of the courtyard, she sat crouched in wait. As still as the night air, she took in the scents and sounds of madness distant. Of the howls and scent of smoke as flames dimly lit the skyline in the midst of the night. Honestly, she often doubted the intelligence of her kind. Though she bore no kinship to them, she certainly pitied them. Who would attack at night when in the earliest hours of the morning, a subtle hand was twice as profitable?

In the earliest crack of dawn, where at least most of the humans would be at their groggiest. The perfect environment where a throat would easily be slit in gargled silence and blood would pool into the streets at the pulse of frantic and unaware heartbeats.

Their plight mattered little to her. What only mattered was that Lycans would soon be targeted without relent after this, especially when they were l driven back. Two factions against one never fared well for the one, as the wars of the past had previously taught. Even when one faction towered over two, as the Vampires had done in a different age, the two smaller would for an alliance to bring them to their knees and back into a bloody but still stable peace. The same would occur here, she assumed, but only after the blood of her bretheren had been so grossly shed that they would have to beg for mercy.

What did matter was the little heiress she protected on her overwatch.

She could smell them first, and then she could hear them. With her black, pointed ears catching the scattering of even the stealthiest of rats. These rats were a bit larger than the norm however, as they traveled upwind of the Lycan, their scent told a tale and a story. Mixed in the human and vampiric blood that must have mattered their fur was a male and female Wolven Lycan. The female was pregnant, yet she cared little as they then attempted their best to be subtle, quietly opening and closing the door as their shadows danced in the torchlight.

Watching them both from her nest was Laika, with one amber eye staring at them as they made their way with twitching noses into the courtyard. It would not take long for them to find the scent of the heiress.

Smoothly, the barbed arrow notched easily onto the string and she drew it back until the fetching's feathers lightly kissed her cheek. Narrowed eyes focused upon the two as the sneaked their way into the depths of the courtyard, with their noses still twitching ever fervently. Finally, they spotted their new meal, and with the howl of the hunt, they broke into a ravenous sprint towards the smaller vampire.

With the faintest sing-song twang, she loosed the arrow from the prison of her grasp and watched as it arced through the air with murder as its intention. With a dull, but satisfying thud, the barbed head broke into the spinal column just below the neck of the female, who fell limp as a rag immediately after in a shocked and painful yelp. A cry of pain which quickly fell silent into whimpers of agony as her arms and legs fell useless and she fell skidding face first across the cobblestone.

This did nothing to deter the male however, as he continued in his single minded and over zealous assault. The moment he was about to reach the little vampiress however, his direction of movement suddenly changed. Plucked from the heavens itself, an arrow had dug into the back of his skull just a few feet from Lune. Her overwatch had sprung down from her perch, sprinted towards the attacking male only to draw a second arrow and rapidly fire it with remarkable precision. Just inches from her feet, the dead Lycan came to a skidding halt and then, Laika made no attempt to hide her footsteps.

Standing several feet high in her bipedal transformed state, she dug her heel into the base of the male's neck and deftly yanked her arrow from the back of his skull, bringing a small handful of blended gray matter with it as she flicked the blood off of it. Turning then, she sauntered forward towards the whimpering female who sat in her state of paralysis. Drawing a dagger as the mewling wolf cowered beneath her, Laika spoke quietly to the one she had been protecting.

"What of the naked one?" She called out casually, as if she were simply on another day at the park while the dagger came down and broke through the female's temple. Bringing her whimpers into a deadened silence. Striding smoothly as she licked the blood off the weapon to clean it, she came to a nonchalant stand beside Lune with her second retrieved arrow twirling nimbly in her fingertips akin to the way her charge might play with a knife.

"Is he an enemy? A prisoner? Or another stray for.you to adopt like me?"

Edited by Feisty-Pants, 13 December 2014 - 04:31 AM.

[Mors]

Seliesen Ibn Shaytan

 

Seliesen had been staying in Memorium for nearly two months now. Though the Red Court had been more than accommodating, he found nearly everything about the city to be hideous. The architecture was dark, empty, and for the most part ruined from years of war. The food was too bland and too heavy, ingredients preserved for years in salt to prevent rot. Most of all he hated the cold bleak weather that seemed to slowly siphon his soul away with each passing day. Seliesen did have to admit though, that the women were not so bad. Each of the vampire princesses were as lovely as the last, though when he first met Princess Ana it was love at first sight. She was a bright ray of sun in what was an otherwise miserable journey.

 

It was to the shock of many that Seliesen had offered to join part of the princesses's guard on their diplomatic trip with the humans. After all, the desert prince had done nothing but laze about and complain since he first arrived. Of course, for a him it was but a chance to get closer to Ana, but if the others thought him more noble for it then he saw no reason to disillusion them.

 

Aggravating was the best word to describe the whole affair. Not only did he utterly despise several other members of the vampire guards, but the entire thing was incredibly boring and seeing that loathsome pig of a human try to get friendly with his Ana brought his blood to a boil.

 

When the lycans breached the cathedral entrance Seliesen reacted quickly and leaped into the fray, heading straight towards Princess Anastasia. He pulled out his curved khanda Jann, an oddity of a weapon in the west, and cut down one of the wolves heading towards the princess from the right.

 

"Are you alright Princess Ana?" Seliesen asked her. God I am so smooth. Seliesen thought in his head. Hoping to impress her further, and excited at the chance of breaking loose after several months of confinement, Seliesen brought his blade around to parry the blow of another lycan fighter. Seliesen learned never to underestimate the strength of the stupid beastmen and put his entire force into defending the attack, knocking the lycan back.

 

"How dare you lay your hands on me? You face Prince Seliesen Ibn Shaytan, heir to the Marid clan. Prepare to die mongrel."

Edited by Mors, 24 November 2014 - 03:50 AM.

[Ilyse]

Beatrix and Rhys Gruffud

Outer Wall

 

The bitterness of puberty is what you would call the end result when two children finally became adults: Beatrix stood at nearly two heads taller than her younger brother, a surprisingly slim giant who stands at 78 inches tall, versus the rather small Rhys, who was around 63 inches tall, in comparison. Of course, this didn’t bother Beatrix much – a lot of girls would comment on how tall she was, how gigantic and unladylike her appearance was, and the term “brute” was often associated with her. However, Beatrix cared little for the social norms, and instead enjoyed her life as she should.

 

Rhys, on the other hand, did have something of a complex of being so short. He didn’t actually mind being shorter than Beatrix; it was the fact that he was around fifteen inches shorter that bothered him. Indeed, the size difference was just baffling, but even if their physical size is one thing, the size of the inner child was also one where Rhys happened to be incredibly small compared to his sister: she was just a child trapped in an adult’s body, and even if Rhys was the same age, he considered himself to be the adult trapped in a child’s body.

 

But that was just an introduction! Indeed, if we were to talk about where these two fine children happened to be right now, it was in the middle of a battle between their side and the enemy – a battle of epic proportions, one in which Beatrix could not help but laugh gleefully. After all, here she was, in battle, against the very opponents she was trained to fight, swinging her sword around as the bits of her skin that was visible began to be splattered in blood.. But, again with the comparisons; Rhys was incredibly scared, as she began firing off bullet after bullet, all the while avoiding being trampled as Beatrix loomed over him, blood flying everywhere.

 

Feeling drops of blood fall on his face, Rhys began to realize just what kind of situation he was in: chances are, one wrong step, and that would be the end. Lights out, except he would never wake up again. He shuddered at the thought of leaving Beatrix alone when she didn’t have anyone else who could look after her childish actions, and it caused Rhys to only fire more and more.

 

Aim at the head. Aim at the heart. Two bullets to kill the enemy is realistic, but one bullet for the kill is preferable.

 

And it was within the fires of battle that Rhys noticed a lycan with white fur, seemingly the leader of the enemy warriors marching towards them. Knocking on the plated guards of his sister’s shin, Beatrix looked forward to see the white-furred lycan, and grabbing Rhys and lifting him up, the gigantic girl began running at a surprising speed towards the lycan, and Rhys held on to his sister’s armor as she leaped into the air, looking to pin down the white-furred lycan with her weight, possibly cut him in with her sword. Rhys used his free hand to load up a single bullet in his rifle, just so he could do his job:

 

Finish the lycan off with a bullet to the head.

[Ichihimefan!!]

 

~Princess Anastasia Elizabeth Katherine Alexandria, 6th in line to the throne~

 

Location – Notre Dame, Conference Room

 

Tick tock tick tock. Ana stared anxiously at the clock, it was nearly 2PM. Katarina had promised her that she would take her along to the council meeting this afternoon. But that wasn’t all that it took. She practically had to fight her brothers to allow her this one chance. They feared for her safety. Which can be seen as normal brotherly concern. But no, Ana wasn’t standing for it any longer. She has been essentially trapped inside this castle for far too long. Today she was getting her way and she was going to this meeting no matter how stupid her siblings believed it was.

 

Tick tock tick tock. Bong! Bong! The clock struck two and there was a knock at the door. Ana practically flew from her seat and sped out the door, almost knocking over the guard who had come to fetch her. In this moment it would probably be appropriate to burst out into song, but Ana kept the urge at bay. Ana had already situated herself in their carriage as Katarina entered. Ana was basically vibrating in her seat from excitement. Katarina rolled her eyes but let a smile peek through as she ordered the driver to depart.

 

"Finally" Ana thought to herself, outside world here I come!

 

Upon arriving at their destination they were greeted by a man Ana had only heard about in passing. Bishop Gomst. Katarina was right; he did look like a mouse. Ana had to suppress her laughter as she was being introduced.

 

“It is a pleasure to finally get to meet you as well Bishop Gomst. You’re too kind!” Ana finished with a smile. Soon after they entered the Cathedral and the meeting began.

 

The meeting went exactly as Katarina had explained. It was dull stuff. As much as Ana wanted to listen she couldn’t help but let her mind wander. She began gazing around the room looking at the stained glass windows and the humans littered around the room. It’s the first time she’s been this close to humans. They didn’t look particularly grotesque as her brothers pictured them. They almost looked no different from us, but she’d never utter those words.

 

Ana also noticed that the honor guard had not come with them. How peculiar, she thought. But instead it was littered with faces that she had seen around the castle. Why would Katarina bring this group with us? Ana began to ponder, but there was little time for that. The glass windows of the Cathedral exploded into fragments. Lycans began pouring in. Her eyes widened, maybe this was the reason she was forbidden to leave the castle. Ana turned to towards her sister but she had already vanished.

 

“Katarina!?” she exclaimed as more lycans flooded into the room. The motley group of guards who accompanied them began attacking the beastmen. Arrows and the clanging of swords shot through the air.

 

“Are you alright Princess Ana?”

It was Seliesen and he was coming to her rescue. Seeing his act of bravery was enough to knock her back to her senses.

 

“Yes!” She called after him.

 

Ana cupped her hands and whispered into it. With the sound of battle around her, none could make out what she was saying. As she opened her hands deep violet butterflies emerged and flew towards the beastmen. Confused by the illusions the lycan thought nothing of it, but this allowed fear to grip the lycan that surrounded Ana. Her makeshift guard now had the chance to successfully hit their targets. Ana reached into her back pocket and grabbed one of her concealed daggers and threw it straight at the neck of the lycan Seliesen had knocked down.

 

Where had her sister gone and why were the lycan attacking? These questions darted around in her mind as the battle continued.

Edited by Ichihimefan!!, 24 November 2014 - 08:13 PM.

[ANIMA]

Voivoda

Location – Notre Dame, Conference Room

Well, there was nothing really to complain about. She was the Warlord and, in the absence of war, the second best duty for a combat veteran like her was to be the ambassador’s guard. Now, going from a general to a guard is a steep fall, but she wasn't never too engrossed into titles. The important things in the vampire society were who you know and how much favors does that person owe you. So, having nothing to do, Voivoda agreed to Katarina's request to accompany her and her sister to the today's meeting with humans. It is a relatively novel experience for her – she can't remember when was the last time she was in the same room with a human without she trying to kill him or him bowing his head as low as possible. Then again, Voivoda can't seem to remember many things these days. Anyway, she had a chance to witness this “peace and cooperation” thing in practice, so it didn’t occur to her that this particular duty in the current conditions might be boring.

It was boring. First five minutes it was interesting to watch the human representative sending sleazy compliments towards the Princes Katarina, as well as watching vampire ambassador struggle not to throw up in disgust, but quickly the novelty of experience was lost and all that was left was standing behind the vampire delegation and hope that a new war starts so that she could tear the head of that stinking, shit filled pig on the opposite side of the negotiation table.

Situation with humans didn’t escalated to that degree, but lycan attack was just as good of an occurrence.

In the first few moments of the attack, as the Princess Katarina disappeared and her vampire comrades joined battle with the assailants, Voivoda restrained herself from acting. Why? Well, because these were supposed to be peaceful times, massive lycan attacks shouldn’t happen, so as far as she knew, this might be some common event to transpire during the negotiations. Maybe some form of lycan ritual entrance? Don’t misunderstand, Voivoda could’ve reacted just as fast as any vampire in the room, but she was unsure if reacting was a proper course of action. She joined this delegation to earn favors with the royal family; killing members of the lycan party would be counterproductive. So what if they entered the room by crashing through the windows? These moronic, despicable barbarians probably don’t know how to use a door!

But, seeing her comrades start fighting the mutts, Voivoda’s misunderstanding was quickly dispelled. Fabric of her clothes tore as the tendril launched from her chest, rushing towards the legs of the nearest lycan, intent on grabbing them and pulling the beast off its feet and then moving further towards its neck, strangling it.

“I knew your sister was joking when she said that we now live in peaceful times!” Voivoda remarked joyfully to Ana as she readied her cane to defend herself from possible attacks. 

Edited by ANIMA, 25 November 2014 - 01:46 PM.

[Unbelievably Majestic]

Sarah Button
Outer wall

Overall Sarah was quite happy the Lycans had attacked. She'd wanted to put a few of these mongrel raiders down for a while. Sadly most of the times she'd arrive at a pillaged settlement they had already scurried away like the vermin they were. And then she would have to deal with the victims. People of dubious worth. People who didn't have the stones to become a awesome Crusader. They could have protected themselves if they had joined the Crusaders. She always told them this. They were never very grateful for the fantastic advice. It was annoying to say the least. But now the mutts had finally decided to grow a pair. A head on fight. All out war. More people would want to join the Crusaders after this. She was pretty certain about that. Oh yes. This was a good thing. A wake up call.

Sarah was grinning from ear to ear when she had her first fight of the battle. The dirty flea-bag jumped out at her from behind a bit of wall that it'd been hiding behind. Hiding! Ha. The big guy grabbed her before she had taken out her swords. Probably thought he was being clever. A disarmed opponent is an easy opponent and all that. But Sarah was never disarmed. Her arms were her arms! She was a Holy Crusader! And this foolish animal had thought it was tough enough to beat her! Haha! She headbutted the beast in the face, feeling a satisfying pop and crunch as she hit. She almost pitied the thing as it fell to the floor scrambling around, trying to figure out what had happened. Almost pitied. But not quite. The sword she was now pulling out of its chest made the 'almost' very apparent.

Like a good Crusader Sarah had proceeded on to slay her way through the sea of filth that was crashing against their shores. And like a very good Crusader she was keeping her eye's and ears peeled for orders despite the mayhem. Lt. Gerard was the first to give an order. "Alright men, do you see that white wolf at the back? I’ll see to it that anyone who brings me his head gets a promotion and sacred weapon from the vault. Onward!" And there it was. An order. A mission. And a very exciting reward. A reward Sarah wanted more than anything. It had long been her dream to have a sacred weapon. She'd asked for one every month since she joined the Crusaders. The first day of the month. Every month. She didn't even need to ask by now. She just turned up, got a simple "no" and left. But one day they had to say yes. And that day would be today!

With a heart full of hope, and a hand full of sword shaped justice, Sarah started to work her way over to the wolf who seemed to be in charge. And that was when she saw it. Her heart skipped a beat. Fear. Sadness. Something that felt like hunger. Someone else was trying to kill the big guy! Or, was it two people? It seemed like some sort of piggy back ride situation was happening. And they were already there at the grimy grey wolf! Jumping towards him! Not a thought for poor Sarah and her awesome promotion she was about to get! No! Not one! They were going to steal it from her! Sarah wasn't a happy Crusader at all right now. She burst into full sprint, knocking weaker Lycans aside like they were made of hair and stench. Which, of course, they were. But that didn't make the sight any less impressive for a casual onlooker. She was in a hurry, and there was no time to lose! She needed to get in there and part the grey wolfs head from it's body before those other people stole her kill!

[Rainbow Dash]

Outer Wall

Lt Gerard was issuing commands when he saw the lycan push. A group of of the beasts simply charged though Crusader lines. Although they paid a heavy toll for it, it meant the Crusader's formations were broken. This could become bad.

Gerard charged to the breach himself, leaving a sizzling lycan asunder on the way. He defended a pressed swordsman from attack and prepared the push back. He'd opened his mouth to shout a rally when a brute of a lycan holding some odd weapon burst out of the breach. Only discipline and years of training saved him. Standard Crusader doctrine stated that if one did not have a holy weapon designed to stop Fiend attacks, one would avoid attempting to block them. The inhuman strength they possessed was never to be underestimated.

Instead he dropped and rolled under the swing out of pure reflex. With a roar he swung his axe upwards, hoping to bisect the lycan.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The white wolf known as Dazzle watched, idly breaking a whimpering squire's arm. Some thought him stupid for leading this attack. They could not see the truth in front of them. The lycans were growing weak. Humans were the dominant species now. They spread so fast and the lycans did nothing to cull their numbers.

Dazzle watched. He'd moved onto the fingers now. Each and every lycan that threw himself at the Crusaders was a martyr. Although he honoured their memories he had no wish to join them himself. Dazzle would not die here today.

Dazzle watched. The human was muttering something under his breath, perhaps a prayer. Dazzle had to watch. White wolves were not overly common and in a fight like this were easy targets. Marksmen although too cowardly to even be considered warriors were deadly regardless. Something caught his eye. A female carrying a male. Dazzle would have laughed if he had not seen Fiona once tear a man in two. Females should not be underestimated.

But it seems they had underestimated him. The woman leapt at him. The male wielded a gun. Dazzle hurled the broken squire towards them, blocking their sight.

 

 

The body never reached them. Before it had collided a shining furred arm reached from behind it and grabbed Beatrix's armour. With casual strength the white wolfman threw the two of them over his shoulder. As they tumbled head over heels they caught a glimpse of the former white lycan. Snowy fur had been replaced by something else. Where it was ordinary fur before it now reflected light with such intensity that the lycan was blinding to look at. It was as if every strand of fur had become a shining mirror.

 

Fortunately for the twins the wolf-men he had thrown them into were also shocked by the display. They had just this one chance to get the upper hand on the three of them before the lycans swarmed.


OOC

Spoiler

Kovu - Gerard has dodged under your swing and retaliated. He is not in a great position though so his attack is not perfect. Your character will now know he is fighting a man of skill. Furthermore, his dodge has allowed you to evaluate his agility and dexterity; you rate him an 8 and 10 respectively.
Apollo - You've been able to survey the battlefield while leading the wolves on a chase.
Sarah - Dazzle is giving you a come hither look. Very sultry. You wish you had sunglasses
Gruffud siblings - Dazzle is a jerk. But a strong jerk. 3 lycans on you. You have initiative, don't waste it. Dazzle's overdrive is making it hard to get a good shot on him but you won't lose sight on him

Lt Gerard, crusader
Str - 10
Agi - 8
End - ??
Dex - 10
Will - ??
Holy Arts - Searing Light

Dazzle (shapeshifted)
Str - 25
Agi - 10
End - ??
Dex - 17
Will - ??
Overdrive - Splender