[IC] Swords Beneath the Starlight

Barnabas looked down at the deceased ritualist before him, blood and gore still dripping from his jaws. There's some hesitation there, some guilt for a moment, but it's buried down quickly, the mind hiding those feelings away in favour for distaste for the Revotrian people and humans. They had this coming, they came after his people first, enslaving and killing them, why should he feel pity for this?



He howled over his kill, and then turned to go north, sensing the fight continued. He ran past Milo, shoving him slightly as he passed with a bloody growl.

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SpoilerMoving up north 5, then west 1. Beast Gauge 12/15. Also, don't know if I can or not, but I'd drop out of transformation this turn if I could to save BG points at the end of the movement.

This is getting bad quickly! The rogue person seems to be doing a great job of taking people out, but there's still quite a bit more danger on the way.
That means it's get up and go time! People need her help, and Mazelina will move one square South and heal up Saya before calling out!

"Why are you doing this? If you leave now, you won't end up like your foolish mage companion!"
Violence wasn't her specialty, and all she can offer are her words, and...maybe...a momentary distraction. Probably not. But maybe.

"..."

Sunny remains quiet for a moment, looking over the body of the fallen student. Then, she simply plants her heel into the ground, pivots, and walks away. As she does so, she pulls out her vulnerary and makes use of it as she advances towards the front lines. Now was not the time for anything but moving forward.

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SpoilerSunny moves 2 spaces left, 1 space up, and uses a charge of her vulnerary

"Me neither."

Milo lets the mercenary leave freely, and turns back to the others just in time to avoid Barnabas barreling past them. He hadn't seen a transformed laguz before and it was... alarming, to say the least. And bloody, way more than he would have expected. It made him look past, and catch a proper glance of the student he had been mauling before. He nearly felt sick at the sight of the kill. Still, there were more important things to do, and instead he took a quick glance at Sunny and Baylee.

"Come on, way is cleared."

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SpoilerMilo moves three spaces up, into the forest.

"Thanks Mazelina!"

Saya, invigorated by the healing magic, decides it's time to try and rescue that red-haired guy! Because being surrounded sucks!! They grab Mazelina and fly up, dropping her in the woods so that she can heal the guy if he survives. They then claw at the fighter ahead, to clear a path.

(Rescue Mazelina w/Savior, up 5, right 1, drop Mazelina to the south with Savior, then attack Fighter 1, then move west 1 with Canto)

Mazelina heals Saya! No weaponsaver this time. As she is picked up by her bird ally, a voice echoes through her head.


"Your attempts to dissuade us futile to the point of sadness. You cannot stand in the path of Progress, child - neither you nor your goddess. Stop wasting your breath."

Saya attacks!

BATTLE FORECAST

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Spoiler
SAYA: 61% HIT, 10 DMG, 1% CRT x2
FIGHTER: 62% HIT, 13 DMG, 0% CRT

Saya MISSES! The fighter HITS!! Saya MISSES ONCE MORE!

+1 EXP

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SpoilerPLAYERS
AIRITECH: 21/21
BARNABAS: 20/20
BAYLEE: 24/24
CASEY: 16/17
LOGAN: 20/20
MAZELINA: 16/16
MILO: 11/21
SAYA: 7/20
SUNNY: 16/18

ALLIES

AXE: 4/22
ABNER: 21/21
ROGUE: 21/21

ENEMIES

BOSS: 24/24
FIGHTER 1: 8/22
FIGHTER 2: 22/22
CAVALIER 1: 6/20
CAVALIER 2: 20/20

Before Casey can catch his breath, Saya is off with Mazelina in tow. He grumbles to himself, skirting around the outside of the forest as he approaches the enemy. From the edge of the treeline, he shouts at the enemy.



"Oi!" He gives a shrill whistle, hoping to grab as much attention as he can. Flush them out, he tells himself. "Are you lot so pathetic it takes three of you to fight one man?" he chides, brandishing his dagger. 

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Spoiler Casey moves 3 right and 1 up.

Well... the tide seems to be turning, that's good. That wizardy bastard has got Logan kind of nervous - to the point that they decide against swooping off alone to fight him.



"Ye should know a losin' battle when ye see one! So... feel free to surrender!"

When the enemies inevitably fail to surrender, Logan moves to strike at the nearest cavalier.

(One right, attack cavalier, one left and two down.)

Airitech goes one up and three right and shakes his fist at the horseman.

She didn’t notice right away, with the battle going on. But now seeing it and realizing started to hit her. She stares at the body for a couple seconds too long. She’s going to pretend it doesn’t hit her as hard as it does for now, and she turns around, running to catch up with everyone just like before except for the added weight of sin on her back. It’s the reality of living and there ain’t noting you can do to run from it.

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Spoilermove 1 west and 2 north

Airitech, Baylee and Casey adjust their positions!

Logan moves to strike!

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Spoiler
LOGAN: 100% HIT, 8 DMG, 6% CRT
CAVALIER: 53% HIT, 10 DMG, 0% CRT

Logan attacks! They hit! 8 damage!
The cavalier counters! A hit! 10 damage!

+2 EXP

Logan repositions!



Fighter 2 attacks the Mysterious Axeman!

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Spoiler
FIGHTER: 53% HIT, 11 DMG, 0% CRT
M. AXEMAN: 60% HIT, 14 DMG, 1% CRT

The fighter misses!
The moonlight catches the stranger's axe. He swings, an inhuman roar leaving his throat as he does!

A E T H E R

The axe sails through the air and plants itself in the bandit's chest, only narrowly missing the heart! 15 damage! The lad heals for 7!

The other fighter is... sort of terrified by this! It's as if an aura has overtaken the young man, one that tells him he'd be better off leaving this to the cavalier. He attacks Mazelina instead!

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Spoiler
FIGHTER: 50% HIT, 13 DMG, 0% CRT

He strikes, and... his attack goes wide!! A lock of hair is cut from Mazelina's head as she narrowly dodges the axe.

+1 EXP

The cavalier gears up to strike the young man!

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Spoiler
CAVALIER: 67% HIT, 12 DMG, 0% CRT
M. AXEMAN: 53% HIT, 1% CRT

Against all odds, the horseman misses once more!

The prince's counter-attack also falls short. He seems winded.

The other cavalier decides it's time to prove his glory by finishing off a wyvern rider! He is oblivious to how bad things are going over the river.

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Spoiler
LOGAN: 100% HIT, 8 DMG, 6% CRT
CAVALIER: 53% HIT, 10 DMG, 0% CRT

The cavalier attacks! His attack goes real wide!
Logan counters! They hit! They manage not to bungle their lance in the process. 8 damage, and only -1 QL!

+2 EXP!




"Lucrezia, ma'am! Reinforcements are on their way! I'll have to be off - a knight's duty is to protect the innocent and the beautiful, after all - but I thought I'd let you know!"


"Abner, wait! You-- ugh."

Abner sallies on down to save Logan!

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Spoiler
ABNER: 100% HIT, 11 DMG, 7% CRT

Abner strikes! The cavalier falls dead.


"Nothing to fear, fair rider! Abner, Great Knight of Renault, is here to protect you!"


"The prince is safe... for now. Time to cut the head from the snake."

Lucrezia the Rogue runs forward, draws her bow, and fires at Father Balthazar!


"Putting your leader on the front lines? You Revs really are confident, aren't you?

"Confidence has nothing to do with it. We have conviction on our side. Progress stands with us. So long as we have faith, our victory is inevitable. We needn't all live to see it."

"Spoken like someone about to eat dirt. Let's end this."

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Spoiler
LUCREZIA: 92% HIT, 14 DMG, 9% CRT, x2
BALTHAZAR: 52% HIT, 15 DMG, 0% CRT

The rogue strikes! A hit! Poison flows through the Father's veins!
Balthazar counters! He hits! Darkness surrounds the rogue, crashing in in a terrible implosion!
The rogue strikes once more! A hit! Father Balthazar falls dead!


"...His sacred word... transcends... my weak flesh..."

16/100 EXP

The Revotrians scatter to the winds. The Father of Fear has perished.



The strange axeman and Lucrezia regroup. Abner gathers you lot and leads you to them.


"These are the reinforcements I mentioned, your highness! Quick, introduce yourselves!"

"'Ey-yo, fancy folk. My name's Airitech and yes, we're the reinforcements."



Airitech looks at the battlefield. The body count wasn't as high as he expected, but it was still depressing as shit.

"Mm. Battle could had gone better but Revotrians are sure as smart as they're cruh-ray-ZEE for Progress, yessire. Y'all okay, though?"

"Hmmph. We all made it, that's what matters though." Barnabas offered, stepping up beside Airtech. His face and hair was wet from the stream, having cleaned all the blood off himself before getting over here. There'd been quite a lot of it... He shook his head, spraying water over the place and clearing his thoughts before looking at these people they'd saved.

"Barnabas." He said simply to these new ones. Until he knew how they'd acted no need to put work into politeness.

The knight on horseback has addressed one of his allies as 'Your highness,' and it dawns on Casey that they've made yet another chance encounter. How much time will he spend in the company of one noble or another?



"I'm Casey," he offers, careful with his tone. He's content for now to listen and observe, at least until he understands things a bit more clearly. His eyes drift to the green-haired woman who'd dealt the final blow. Despite not being the most heavily armored nor armed of their group, she'd made short work of the Revotrian commander. Her aura is a bit difficult for him to read, and so he quickly turns his eyes back to the conversation.

There's a frown on Mazelina's face despite their victory. She brings a palm to her right temple, pressing there both for the headache forming, and against the side that lost some hair. Tragic.

"Mazelina," she says, and then lifts her gaze from the ground, "It is nice to meet you, though I suppose I should mention that he spoke in my head. The...hooded one."

"..." As the remaining Revotrians flee, Sunny simply stands and watches them go. Her allies move to group up as well, but Sunny lingers. New allies are always interesting, but...

Instead, Sunny finds herself falling back. She approaches the fallen body of the student not torn to shreds by Barnabas. Dropping to a knee, she reaches down and adjusts his head, looking into his face...

No, not familiar.



"I'm sorry." She says to the student's body. "You've been misled. It's a shame things have turned out this way. I shall offer you a prayer. May Nature take you in, so you may return to a world favored by Progress..." Sunny bows her head and clasps her hands.

Saya changes back to human form, panting after their injury and near-miss fight with the soldier.



"I'm Saya, warrior and future chief of the Hawk Tribe. Wish we could have met under better circumstances!"

They give a little bow with a flourish, wincing as they remember their wound.

Baylee just quietly walks up to the group. She watches Sunny head off towards the bodies and decides she will talk to her later. She also glances at Milo to see if hes still standing and gives him a weak thumbs up, and then she checks on the rest of the party and then sets her eyes on the new strangers. She doesn't have much to say to them. They were meeting strangers all the time at this point.

"Baylee Hicks." She grunts quietly

"I'm happy to have the chance to meet all of you. I am Prince Roland of Renault, son of King Leor the Lionheart. You've all met our brave Sir Abner, it seems. This is Lucrezia, our Spymaster."

For her part, Lucrezia seems less interested in pleasantries and more interested in what Mazelina brought up.


"They do that. The black mages. They like messing with you. Can't read your mind, far as I can tell, so just try and shut them out. Best not to pay any mind to their innane rambling about 'progress' - like the archer said, it's all they talk about, and it's all nonsense."

The prince's eyes light up at the sight of the two Laguz.


"Ah, you have Laguz among you...? I take it you're Outlander Laguz, natives of Ilya?" He offers a bow. "Rest assured, you've found allies who will tolerate no discrimination. My people have had their conflicts with the Laguz Kingdoms, but my father made certain to guarantee the rights of Laguz living under the crown. Some of his most stalwart allies in the War of the Flame were Laguz, and he did not forget them the moment the Kingdoms started their raids."


"Human memories are short, but I promise you that I take after my father, there: I will not forget my friends."


"Serious talk aside, are you folk traveling alone? I'd be happy to offer a spot in our lovely caravan if you're looking to join the fight against the forces of evil!"


"...That's really not your offer to make."


"But am I wrong to make it?"


"...No. I don't think so. If you would like to stand with us in driving back the tide of darkness, I would gladly welcome your companionship. Each and every one of you."

Milo takes a minute to patch up his remaining wounds, and then follows the rest of the group to meet the people they sort of just helped rescue.  He sees Baylee and smiles back at her.


"Thanks, couldn't have made it through 'em without you."

He then turns towards the prince.

"It is an honour, sir.  Milo Carter, at your service.  We're not alone, some companions of ours from Achaim headed off some of the enemy to the south.  I think their - our - goals might be aligned though."

"They can just do that?" It's terrible. Mazelina feels a shudder up her spine, and she can't quite suppress it. A moment later, she's straightening out her robe and tucking hair behind her ears, controlling what she can control. "Thank you...for telling me. I will keep your warning in mind."


"As for your offer, sirs, ah...would you mind if we discussed? As Milo says, it sounds like our goals might be aligned, and having further support would be wonderful, but I want to make sure the acceptance is mutual, if that is acceptable?" While she asks, she busies herself helping patch the injured folk up! Gotta do some healy stuff!

Barnabas looks at Saya, then at the prince, and slowly bows back, not super sure about bowing, but alright, hadn't expected it.



"Yes, we are. It's good of you to say that." Seems like the nobles were fairly okay with Laguz then. Yeah, mostly humans were fine, before this whole fiasco, but still, guess they'd been lucky, or something.

Anyway, Mazelina was right enough, and they still needed to wait for Lien and the rest to return from their scuffle. He was a little lost on the plans of this group right now.


"I'm up for them. They're enemies of Revotria, that's good enough for now beyond everything else."

"I'm with Mazelina," Casey chimes in. He's nervous about what might have happened to Dermid's group after they'd split up. "Our friends might still be fighting out there, for all we know."

Barnabas blinked, then looked concerned.



"Yes, obviously once we know Philomel and Lien and the rest are okay. Good point."

"Oh, are these our new friends?" Sunny's voice rings out, suddenly next to the group with her head cocked. "My apologies, I was a bit busy with some thinking." She offers the trio of new faces a smile. "My name is Sunny. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."