Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC Go right ahead Grey. Thanks for the edit Al. I'll get a new post up after Dru's had the chance to put in. ;) /OOC
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Drusia
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Drusia »

And here we go.

My mission is simple - kill the gunmen. Fortunately, they're making it easy.

I hit them hard and fast. And, like my daughter, I dance. The differece are that I have my clothes on, I'm holding a pair of blades, and I have to dodge the blood. Fortunately, like my daughter, I am a very good dancer.

There's a lot more going on, but I don't let myself pay attention to it beyond the necessity of protecting myself. I have my mission - I have to let the others do theirs. Only then can I take the battle to Aleron and Eli.

-- Drusia

OOC I'll get a new post up after Dru's had the chance to put in. ;) /OOC

OOC: Sorry, busy couple of days. Hope this fits in fine. I tried not to step on anyone's toes.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

The remaining Black guard outside the warehouse broke off their attack with a shout from their commander and cut a rapid retreat as another volley from Carlson's squad blew past them and lit up the battlefield as bright as day. Myra, with a colorful curse, made a beeline for Jade as Tamina and Angrist dove for safety a second time. She seized the woman's arm and pulled her in the direction of the water and the small vessels bobbing there. The half dozen soldiers under Garald's jurisdiction fired a last volley of bullets before a gout of flame from Jargalan incinerated another unfortunate soldier. The squad turned the corner around the warehouse and were lost to sight (OOC Headed to an eisen-ambush or safety, either way Garald's part is done. Mourners please send flowers./OOC).

....

Eli and his master drew to the back of the warehouse as another fusillade from the Sergeant's men pushed back at the invaders. The mana-rifles were nearly out of charge. It seemed the Blacksmith's admission about the smaller capacity of the guns would shortly be illustrated. The Black Guard Captain however, appeared unconcerned. The half-elf called to offer reassurance as the amulet around his neck began to glow.

"Nearly done gentlemen! Just a few more seconds!"

The old man in the cowl cast his hands towards the open ground of the back of the warehouse. The magically sensitive felt a brief pulse in the ether as a large symbol, easily fifteen across, burned it's way into reality on the stone floor. Eli clasped a hand around the crystal and sent a message.

'Can you? From there?'

'You know better than to ask me that, young one.'


Eli stood on the opposite side of the magic inscription and mirrored the other man's gesture. A dark light began to emit from the Ralkin symbol.

'Focus. We'll draw it through together.' Aleron's voice, invasive in his mind.

"Get ready to open the back-door Sergeant!" Eli shouted.
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Alberich »

As fast as the rifles kept firing, Khoo, on Udo's suggestion, kept popping up barriers as he'd just done to block them. Which at least absorbed some of the enemy's power and made it harder for them to aim.

[OOC: Which I think is a better explanation for "how come none of us got hit?" - as compared to "the enemy all had Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Training"]

Udo thought that was fantastic - surely the enemy would run out of power sometime soon and then they'd have them!

* * *

Jargalan, at first, also thought it was amusing. The field was cleared of enemies, save those holed up in the warehouse or munching hay in their version of Paradise, and if the errants were fleeing...why, then, they'd just have to finish off their fancy powered riflemen and then hunt them down like the dogs they were....but then he sensed an intense buildup of mana and realized too late - Oh, fuck, they were playing for time! Gripping Udo's staff in both hands, he aimed a blast for a warehouse wall off to the side of the wide opening and blasted a giant hole in it.

Maybe the errants would get away at that - but if he could help it not a single rifleman would. After all, what was charged could be recharged, and he didn't want their little human-pseudo-magery mucking up the final destruction of those errants. No matter their skill, or the genius behind their wizardly weapons, to him they'd always be something less.

* * *

Tim just stuck with Eli as he fled. A little part of him wanted to hate himself -- after all, he'd been waiting, ever since he'd left Rose, for the right opportunity to stab his friend in the back, take his crystal, heal him, get him out of danger, and engage in "spiritual warfare" to redeem him...and to make up for all his own reckless stupidity in coming here in the first place, to show that he'd been right to come, that a priest could be a hero, and that a mere Orthodox Veracian could do something these "superior beings" from the Reform branch, the elves, the outside, could or would not.

And when the right moment had come - he hadn't. Had it really been that the moment was just too dangerous? Or had he just chickened out? Was he really waiting for the right moment, or was he, as Udo would say, Waiting For Deusexmachina?

But the critical internal voice that normally heckled his every move had grown a lot softer these last few days. He might, in reality, be a cipher, a pawn of Aleron's, but he convinced himself he was a player and an important one, just waiting for the right moment to move.

* * *

As for Garald and his brave companions -- well, their next of kin might be comforted to know that the the Eisenfaust were "silent partners" in the biggest florist shops in Port Lorrel and several other cities too. As a courtesy, those who died in their little "business disputes" always had the most colorful tributes, and their grieving survivors didn't have to pay a penny.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Eli let out a roar of exertion at the same time Jargalan blew a hole in the side of the cavernous building. The half-elf was beyond noticing at that point, the task at hand was pushing him to his absolute limit. Sweat beaded his brow; the crystal was warm enough against his skin to be painful.

'Now!'

The two men punched hands like claws at the whirling maelstrom of energy emanating from Aleron's symbol, the ground began to buckle.

"Open the door Sergeant!" Eli screamed over the tempest. A shot streaked past the summoners and blew a second hole through the back of the building as the ground before them cracked and crumbled inwards.

.......

Tamina rose wearily to her feet, hauling herself upright using Angrist's arm as a rope. The last volley had come within a few feet from incinerating the poor kobold; her speed spell had been the only thing that had saved her.

She turned back towards the warehouse and froze.

"Oh no...." She whispered, then suddenly panicked, shouted. "No! Don't let them cast that spell!"

Unfortunately, it was far too late for the warning.

.......

With their weapons shot dry and only one exit route to take, Carlson's men (less one who'd been picked off by a pissed off elf with a staff) began their flight from the scene in the company of Eli and Tim. A hideous chittering noise split the air hard enough and scratched at the eardrums as something enormous began crawling it's way through the rip in the fabric of reality that the Ralkin had created.

One man stayed behind, the cowled figure, who gave a silent wave as the pair exited into the cold night air.

'I'll hold it here. Return to the tower.'

.......

Tamina had a clear, and horrifying, view as the Ralkin completed their spell. What came through the void was a creature she knew too well. Her eyes grew wide, her sweat ran cold, her ears pricked up; all the signs of prey knowing a really big predator was in the area.

The alien screeching from the warehouse was a sound that featured in nightmares. The kobold drew in a breath and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"MATRIARCH!"

OOC I propose a split in the group of this point. On the one path you've got a man holding a big bad monster in place (in the port, not immobile, obviously) and on the other you've got a fleeing errant and his companion. I'll post something up in the discussion thread if people have thoughts to share.

edits-sp OOC
Last edited by Jack Rothwell on March 22nd, 2013, 1:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Graybeard »

Khoo extracted the amulet and turned to Tamina. "Uh, if I put this thing on, will it interfere with that thing calling her brood? Seems like it ... might be kind of a good thing to do."
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Tamina whimpered and scurried backwards as the huge creature crawled it's way clear of the warehouse; it's legs clattering across the stone with a sound like giants playing drums.

"No brood!" She replied to Khoo, looking behind the thing and seeing Eli and his men leaping hurredly onto horses through the hole at the back of the building. "'s here alone, but it's very dangerous! But someone's gotta get after Eli!" She yelled the last line to her allies scattered across the slate floor of the demonstration area. "He escapes, he can start it all again! Catch him!"

As the Matriarch pulled it's fifty foot body clear of the warehouse Tamina spotted the robed figure still inside it. A flash of light showed that the mage had thrown up a barrier; the kobold snarled.

"Aleron!" She spat.

OOC Edit-sp's./OOC
Last edited by Jack Rothwell on March 22nd, 2013, 8:56 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Alberich »

Jargalan actually hadn't waited for Tamina to say anything; he'd done a mana-assisted leap, swing, and jump to the roof of the warehouse, calling out "<Come on!>" to Drusia. He ran to the edge, fired a blast at a fleeing rifleman, leaped back down to the street, and took off after them. He was dressed more lightly than the soldiers, and knew himself to be an excellent athlete. He enjoyed pacing them so as to let them tire themselves out, but whenever he got a clear shot, another one was going down. He liked the predator's role.

[OOC: I joined in Jack's discussion of who should really go where here]

Udo to Khoo's question yelled "Fuck yeah!" and went running -- not after Eli and his riflemen, but for where Drusia and Tamina had taken down the first mana rifle demonstrators. He wasn't much for long-range sprinting -- and in slow runs he tended to break out into really dirty songs, which wouldn't be good for pursuit -- but this he could manage, and if he could get hold of those things, he might have something to say about which monsters could try eating Tamina!
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC Just a little side-scene, consider this a commentary about chaos theory if you like, or even if you don't :D ./OOC

The boat was small and the oars were short.

The Blacksmith and the Bandit had hit the edge of the pier with a leap and a ten foot drop to the cast-off area below, forgoing the stairs for the very serious possibility of being blown up. Pain had lanced up the weaponmaker's leg as she came down awkwardly on her right ankle. She'd bitten back a yelp and limped gamely to the tiny vessel the other woman had 'liberated', and half-hopped, half-fell into it's wooden confines.

Now, a few minutes later. Myra's furious paddling had drawn them far away enough from the Port to be in relative safety, and present to them a thrilling, and unsettling, view of the battle taking place on land.

"I should throw you overboard woman!" The Black Guard Sergeant snapped between panting breaths. "That furry-thing and her monk buddy nearly did me in while you stood there like a sore prick in a sauna!"

"I don't even know what that means." Jade replied, massaging her hurt ankle and wincing. "I'm a bloody contractee, not a militiawoman, it's not my business who's fucking Lucas Logan over."

"You could've put in a little more work to earn your pay you... you..."

Myra's mouth hung slack as she stared at something over the other woman's shoulder. Jade frowned, and turned to look.

"What. In. The. Actual. Fuck." She said tonelessly at the sight of what appeared to be a centipede from hell scuttling out of the warehouse they'd come from.

"That wasn't there before." Myra glanced at Jade and saw a peculiar expression crossing the blacksmith's face.

"What?"

"I just- got the strangest feeling that this is all my fault somehow." She said.
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Re: Port Lorrel- Puppet Masters (part 2)

Post by Browncoat »

When Angrist noticed the Matriarch, an evil grin slowly spread across his face.
{Now there's something worth fighting}
Even as the monstrosity cleared the warehouse, Angrist was charging towards it. He dodged a couple swipes and jumped up to kick the beast. To his surprise, the armored shell seemed to take no damage whatsoever. One of the legs hit Angrist on his return to earth, but the angle was awkward so he wasn't too hurt.
{Let's try that again}
With a bit more energy, Angrist launched himself from the ground like a bolt from a crossbow. This time, his fist pierced the carapace...and got stuck inside. Before he could pull free, Angrist noticed a magical build up with the same signature as what summoned the Matriarch.
{Gorramit}
A blast from the robed figure tore Angrist off the Matriarch (pulling his fist free) and sent him tumbling across the pavement. Even before his head cleared, he was already staggering to his feet.
{Whoa. Reminds me of the time I tried that one mushroom}
They kicked me out of the asylum. I miss the jello.
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