Andalia: The Great Storm

The storm was coming. Raize Stormscall could sense it. The world he knew was under threat, and so now he fought against things, inhuman, nightmare beasts that seemed brought from man's nightly terrors to bring havoc to the world.

The Town of Aescell was a nice little port town, bordering the Silver Lake, and now it had become a battleground. The Crusader Prince crouched on top of a house as a patchwork fiend made its way through the streets. He clenched the handle of his blade and watched the lumbering undead progress.

The demons and the undead were a natural combination...well, as natural to them as possible. They were aberrations against nature and had to be destroyed either way. A creature like this showed that a necromancer had to be nearby, but first he needed to stop its rampage before focusing on its master.

Raize leaped off as soon as it moved past, conjuring the Light on to his blade...

The thing turned and one arm shot up to meet him and his blade cut through it, and he used it as a sort of platform to go further and then cut through the head.

He landed as the creature fell forward to the bloodstained ground.

He whipped his sword some to get the repulsive blood off, and then sheathed his blade again. Another day of righteous slaying of these monsters.

Sakkaku was on the outskirts of town. He leaned against the wall of a ruined house with his blade drawn as he waited. He was sent there with the task to kill the necromancer that was summoning the undead. Not only would he be able to take down a mage but one who was tormenting the souls of those who had died honorably. Disturbing those who had died was something that the assassin considered unforgivable.

He peaked around the corner and saw a crusader near the other side of town. From what little he could tell, the crusader had just killed an undead in a very flashy manner. Sighing at the site, Sakkaku scanned the area some more. He found his target heading his way. He was guarded by two zombies and Sakkaku figured that he had an anti-projectile ward around himself.

Sakkaku hid back behind the building as he prepared himself. He would have to kill the necromancer with one strike in order to pull this off. The assassin breathed in deeply and exhaled before scaling the ruined house. Getting in the prone position, he inched his way towards the lip of the roof until he could just barely see one of the zombies guarding his target.

When the zombie left his field of vision he backed up slightly before sitting up and getting ready to run. When the zombie left his sight again, he mentally counted down, Five... four... three... two... one...

Sakkaku leaped from the rood right as the necromancer passed him. The assassin aimed his blade for the mage's shoulder but, to his dismay, one of his guards managed to intercept him. Sakkaku crashed into the undead monstrosity as he pulled his blade from its shoulder and cut its brain stem. Even though it was already dead, it still needed a brain to operate.

The assassin cursed as the necromancer fled and summoned more undead to him. Sakkaku threw one of his kunai out him with some hope that he didn't have a barrier. He did. The assassin dodged an attack from the other zombie as two more staggered to him from different direction. With no place to hide, Sakkaku decided that the best course of action would be to join someone. So with that, he ran towards the crusader.

Raize saw the man fleeing that way and ran to where he now saw the necromancer fleeing. He seemed to have no concern for his well being, and one of the undead guards went to attack the running young man. That was when a huge fireball rushed at it from above, and incinerated the undead monster.

Taysa, his wife-to-be sighed, walking out of a house she had been working in while bandaging up some villagers in disguise, "Raize...why are you always so immature about this?"

However, the necromancer still got away. Raize looked over at the assassin and asked, "Hmm, seems we were allies today...what is your name, stranger?"

Meanwhile, evil was afoot quite far away. Well, Kalein was trying to make it be afoot, but it was more likely being stomped underfoot. The latest undead from his minion failed.

AGAIN.

The intimidating Lich Lord paced about in front of his servant, "You Have Failed Me."

"P-Please...milord..."

There were thirty seconds of tense silence, as the Lich thought of the worth of his minion versus the failure...

"Oh I can't do it!! Just go, and don't fail me again..."

There was a collective sigh from the demons assembled there.

edited 28th Jan '11 11:41:37 PM by NickTheSwing

Sakkaku skidded to a stop as the zombie that was chasing him was incinerated by a fireball. The assassin glared at its caster before turning his attention to the crusader as he inquired about his name.

Sakkaku chose to ignore him as he scaled a nearby building. He scanned the area but didn't see any sign of the necromancer. "Damn," he said under his breath as he assumed that the necromancer got away via a teleportation spell. There was no tracking him now.

He weighed his options. He could leave now and hope to find him when he attacks another village or he could stay with the crusader. His chances of finding his target would increase greatly if he stayed with him. Sakkaku didn't want to but logic prevailed in the end as he dropped to the ground.

"Sorry about that. I wanted to make sure the necromancer was no longer here. As for us being allies, I suppose you could say that. As for my name, I'm Sakkaku Yamazuki. Judging by your appearance, I'd say you are Prince Raize Stormscall."

Klementina had been riding for hours, constantly north towards the Lake of Silver where the esteemed priest in the last village had told her elements of the Demon Lord's army could be found preying on innocent civilians. Of course, their innocence really wasn't for her to judge personally. Yet. What mattered was that it was full of things no one would complain about if she killed. That was nice. Almost made up for having to trek all the way into the damnably cold north.

The thought made her shiver anew.

"Do you want your cloak back m'lady?" the girl behind her offered helpfully, making to move the extra cloak wrapped around her shoulders. Constantina Yuriovna Popov was the best Klementina could ask for in a squire... er, 'personal servant'. Years of exposure meant she hardly ever threw up while watching her mistress battle and was quite a joy to talk to. That being said, she took to the cold much worse then Klementina had. So the knight shook her head before winking, "Nah, you keep it. The thought of that necromancer and his minions'll keep me warm enough."

"That confident he'll still be there?" Constantina's hand fell absently to her own sword, and she suppressed the urge to scoff. There was a reason her friend hadn't made it to be a knight; the defaced corners of her mouth turned up into a genuine expression of pleasure, "Oh aye, I'm sure there's somethin' to fight. Otherwise tha' fella wouldn'a given such a big speech about us bein' 'not fit to take the field' or 'a danger to the war effort' or 'offputting'"

Ignoring the fact her mistress lumped them together for the priest's lecture, Connie shrugged, "Did it stop you m'lady?"

"Hell no, I'm a knight of the realm even if I hain't a crusader," The pale rider hunched over a little in the saddle before mumbling reassurances to herself, "Do what I damn well please to save the damn country.

"You just didn't like it that he called you mad," trust her servant to punch the elephant in the.... saddle bags(?) right in the face. Klementina straightened up instantly and instinctively, scabbard clanking against some other piece of gear. A (more)threatening cast stole into her gray eyes, Connie didn't flinch as she swung around to face her dead on waving a metal clad arm in anger, "The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad!"

Smoothly wheeling her horse around towards the village Klementina swiftly overcame her sulky mood as the rode past several bodies in the street. Citizen or puppet it was hard to tell at this point without examination, but the sight of corpses did wonders for her morale. There was fighting to be had here after all! Bah, let the Church try and expel her now! Humming a little tune mother had taught her years ago for times like these, the knight ignored the niggling temptation to play with some of the better bodies herself. They were tainted, and besides that just wouldn't be polite to either party.

Eyes peeled for any chance crusaders or a sign of the necromancer's activity, Constantina spotted the rather obvious gold colored armor first. Taking it on herself to alert Klementina, she lifted an arm and pointed, "Looks like a Grand Shield m'lady, down that cross stre-"

The lead rider had already begun to turn her mount, Constantina realized, as she spoke. Sighing, she dropped the arm. Of course she wasn't sharper eyed then her lady. Silently she prayed as they approached the standing figures, that the eldest Aksenov girl wouldn't irreparably damage their chances of doing some good straight out of the gate. For her own part Klementina eyed the boy's polished shining armor with disdain, feeling far more secure in her own stained steel and mail. She'd need to be polite though if she wished for them to stay in the north. Polite and careful about what she said. And what she did. This was going to be annoying.

Sorry for such a long post

edited 29th Jan '11 2:59:24 AM by hotelkilo

"For the love of all that's holy, sir!" Gaille came rushing up on her horse—It was always difficult to find one for her size. "Couldn't you take a moment to stop and think before rushing into battle? It'll get you killed one day!"

She dismounted, stroking her horse on the nose once before facing her commander, standing tall and strong as she always did. Her stance faltered a little when she noticed the assassin. "Who is this?" she asked, tensing up and placing a hand on her hilt.

"Sakkaku Yamazuki, a strange name...aye, I am Raize, Prince of the North."

After Gaille approached him, he turned and offered a wide smile, "Well, I am alright now, aren't I?"

Taysa scolded him further, "But what if you try that maneuver on a real demon or some variety of higher undead?"

Raize looked at her, "Well, I will be more careful then."

He heard the horse's steps approaching and glanced at Klementina. She had the appearance of a knight outside of the Crusader orders, and she was roaming about. He inquired toward her as she approached, "Hello there, what is your business?"

Yes, she definitely seemed like a Lady of War, welcome on the battlefield and Raize would gladly pay any expense for her loyalty.

Sakkaku nervously shifted in his spot. There were too many people here for his comfort. He glanced to his sides, calculating his escape route just in case things got hairy. In order to try to avert that, he decided that it would be best if he sheathed his weapon.

Since Prince Raize had said his name within earshot of the dwarf he didn't feel that it was necessary to repeat it. He turned to face the knight that was coming towards the group. Judging by her heavily blood stained armor, she had seen a lot of vicious combat.

Sakkaku steadied his nerves. The knights didn't actively hunt out the Assassin's Guild but if they found out that he was a member of it, he'd be in a lot of trouble. Wanting to be prepared, he already had a simple yet believable cover story planned out and rehearsed it several times.

"That's not the point," she mumbled, looking away. "I do not like being left behind." She shook her head furiously, straightened her stance, and watched the assassin with a steely gaze.

The Prince sighed, "Sorry...I just saw the opportunity and, well...next time, I will incorporate you into plans."

He had a lot to learn about women...

Taysa just put her palm to her face, marrying this big lug...she chuckled a little.

edited 29th Jan '11 1:31:30 PM by NickTheSwing

She shrugged. "No you won't," she said lightly, smiling a little. "You have too much fun with this." She looked over the battlefield. "Details, now."

Raize sighed, "Fine...it looks like a Lich was involved, no regular necromancer could make something that huge." Indeed, Raize had dealt with necromancers and they had, at most, been sending their flunkies at him until he struck them all down. This one seemed more spread out, and less panicky, like there was a specific plan in place. He decided to have the grain stores of the town investigated, and then sent off some Crusaders to purge any infected food. This enemy was a disease, one that needed to be culled from the land.

He looked at Sakkaku and asked, "Why were you trying to slay that necromancer?"

That was too easy, "I have dealt with his kind before. If you kill the mage then any spells they have cast shall stop. If I had managed to kill him, all of the undead would have stopped and would have returned to their natural state. The only difference this time is that he somehow expected the attack. All magic users are like weeds: they will keep coming back no matter how much you cut them. The only way to deal with them is to uproot them, destroy the source."

Given that Prince Raize's fiance was also a mage, he probably just insulted them. Sakkaku, however, did not care. He knew were she and all other mages, including himself, got their power. Whether it is used for good or evil, magic is still a curse.

Dismounting as gently as she could, Klementina bowed shallowly towards the other knight and the two women in turn. So he was a Prince eh? That probably merited more respect then she was willing to give at the moment. Oh well, he wasn't making a fuss yet so she granted him a straight answer. Looking at him dead on for a few seconds she simply replied happily, "Killing."

While Constantina rubbed an eye in exasperation, she gently began drifting towards the man who was the focus of the good Prince's attention. He seemed familiar. Very familiar. Klementina sniffed the air near him; at the very least he too had been graced with the power of the creature. Even if he wasn't using it. That alone was enough to make her suspicious but the way he moved, his eyes looking around at the surrounding buildings and alleys taking them all in.... if this had been the streets Rzhev'skaa she would've clapped the man in chains on the spot. Here in the north.... who cared? It was far out of her jurisdiction, so she returned her attention to the conversation.

Her ears perked up when the necromancer was mentioned, so it was still alive! Her instincts had not failed her after all! With all these other armed persons about Klementina had the sinking suspicion that someone else had beat her too it. Well, they hadn't. And best of all there was a Lich in the wind too? She giggled not bothering to force a smile. It had been a long time since she'd even had a chance to face a lich in battle. For her part Constantina remained impassive, that last time had nearly killed her mistress. At least she wasn't rushing off alone again.

Klementina cocked her head sideways as the suspect began talking about magic. Certainly was an interesting position coming from him, and she frowned in confusion. Playing with the sword hilt with a free hand as she considered his words and her own observations. No, she'd never been wrong before, he was a magic user himself.

"So when," Klementina asked still frowning, finally voicing her confusion with the whole deal, "Are ya goin' ta slit yer own throat?"

Still mounted, Constantina slowly slipped forward and buried her face in the horse's mane.

edited 29th Jan '11 7:10:31 PM by hotelkilo

Taysa just clenched her hands and had to restrain herself from chucking another fireball at the assassin.

Raize looked at the female warrior, he understood the position that Sakkaku had on magic, but then when she brought that up, he looked between them rather confused, "Uhm...why would he do that?" Raize also scanned over the woman warrior, she definitely had an aura of pure determination about her, like cold steel.

Taysa just put her palm to her face. He really could not tell...

Gaille tensed further. She could feel the magic radiating off of each of them, and it made her nervous. "How many of you have it?" she snarled. She thought it was just the mage girl, but the stench was overpowering now that she had time to think.

"He was goin' on an' on 'bout rootin' out and destroyin' magic users," Klementina shrugged as she stated the obvious. It didn't occur to her that someone else wouldn't be able to detect magic, "Seems mighty hypocritical ta me."

The little girl got it, Klementina thought happily. Constantina cantered their mounts sideways to allow her lady a clear view as well as getting herself out of the line of fire. Mistress could get careless when she was excited. The lady knight looked over at the girl and then back to the man before placing a gauntlet clad hand on her chin in thought, "Well there's him, the lady over there, and myself. I think that's all, miss. Not that it matters I suppose."

She gave the fellow a sharp look before turning pointedly away to look at Constantina and the girl.

edited 29th Jan '11 8:28:27 PM by hotelkilo

She spit on the ground and crossed herself. "Magic," she said, spitting the word like a curse. She turned away and flipped up the hood of her cloak to hide her trembling. "It's a disease, that's what it is..."

"Now now," Klementina smiled cheerfully, "You aren't gonna catch magic miss, and at least I prob'ly hain't gonna melt ya brain. So there's nothin' ta worry about!"

With that she placed her hands on her hips in what she thought was a heroic pose.

edited 29th Jan '11 8:36:25 PM by hotelkilo

Raize spoke up, "Well, given the presence of a Lich here, I think I should go home, to Estolia's capitol city of Leonsburg. I would cross the Silver Lake to get to a trail to the capitol. The presence of a Lich would indicate that the demons are most likely going to invade this area heavily."

Some knights returned to Raize and reported, "The majority of the grain was infected, we purged it all."

Raize smiled, "Good, better they are hungry than infected."

Every muscle in Sakkaku's body tensed as the knight revealed one of his secrets. Damn it, he thought as he resisted the temptation to run. He knew he had to be wary around Raize's fiance but this was unexpected and unwelcome. The assassin closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles. When the other were done speaking he opened them and continued.

"I am not a hypocrite. My views include myself. For the sake of all those involved I will only say that you, Prince Raize, won't have to worry. I will not attempt to harm your fiance unless she attacks me first. The same goes for you," he gestured towards the knight. "If you intend to track down that necromancer then I will be willing to aid you. If you have no objections, that is."

My post was much longer but it didn't sit well with me so I rewrote it.

edited 29th Jan '11 8:55:25 PM by Zelenal

Taysa was a little worried of that assassin, and she knew that he was very much determined in this point of view. "You can count on me not to strike you down..."

Raize kept his affable smile on his face, "Now that we have this taken care of, we can move on. I would like you to accompany me in defending this area from the demonic hordes. This will, of course, require returning to Leonsburg with me to restock supplies."

Taysa, at the mention of supplies, looked down, the peasants here will go hungry...how will you fix this? Do you feel regret for this, Raize?

He looked at her, a little concerned, "Anything the matter, Taysa?"

"N-Nothing, Prince Raize."

He knew that she only called him that when she was concerned, but he decided to ask later.

"Go to the city? Why, there's what," she counted them all again plus the other newly returned knights, "More then enough of us!"

Plus, if they went home that meant she would be deprived of her chance to kill someone soon. That was a most unpleasant thought. Almost as distasteful as the populace going without fod, though the prince was right infection would have been worse. That was long ranged though. She'd have to have Constantina leave some of her supplies behind. Wait. There was something she could do about the lack of blood. What had the fellow said there at the beginning of his riposte? Oh yes, that's right

"I have none, ya seem like tha competent sort. Though," Klementina chimed in unbidden, tapping the handle of her most readily available weapon before licking her lips as she glanced aside at the unarmored man, "I could help ya fulfill that wish."

edited 29th Jan '11 9:31:36 PM by hotelkilo

Gaille struggled to regain her composure, jumping at Raize's voice. "I will join you," she insisted.

Sakkaku nodded at Raize's fiance before answering him, "Whatever it takes." When the knight spoke up he answered without turning to face her, "If you are implying what I think you are, I'd rather you not. I have no reason to fight you and I currently have work to do."