Fantasy Hunter's Moon: Ascendancy [IC] [CLOSED]

[Infab]

Tresomin - Tresomin Saw Mill - Mini-Boss Fight - Turn Two
Azathor is attempting a charge! Tokreth has been targeted!
Camille = 4. Misses B. Imp #6.
Xiaòzhou attempts to heal Royland (Like Water, Returning). Chance Roll = 8. Chance Successful! Royland regains 8 HP! Royland's HP = 15.
Xiaòzhou attempts to move Jayden away from Tokreth (Like Water, Returning.) Chance Roll = 2. Chance Failed.
Royland = 9. Does 3 DMG to B. Imp #7. B. Imp #7 HP = 1.
Rajko attempts to stun Sebastian. Chance Roll = 3. Chance Failed.
Rebecca is unable to attack! Suppressing further Blood Imp summoning.
Cassandra = 10 (Shadow-dancing, Naturally.) CH Roll = 9. Does 11 DMG (Shadow-dancing, Naturally) to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 39.
Claire = 7. DD Check = Success. Does 6 DMG to B. Imp #6. B. Imp #6 is dead.

-- -- --

Tokreth attempts to counter Azathor's charge! Chance Roll = 6. Chance Successful! Does 3 DMG to Azathor! Azathor's HP = 12.
B. Imp #7 = 9. Does 3 DMG to Royland. Royland HP = 12. B. Imp #7 regains 1 HP! B. Imp #7 HP = 2.
Sebastian (Possessed) = 9. Acc. Roll = 19. Critical Hit! Does 10 DMG to Cassandra. Cassandra HP = 5.

​

The battle increased in intensity, With the group attempting to put down the remaining blood imps or striking directly at Tokreth. Azathor was the first, charging headon towards Tokreth with his sword held out before him. Intending to skewer the blood mage with it. He would, however, find himself missing his target entirely. Tokreth simply sidestepped as Azathor arrived, before grabbing him by his shirt and slinging him almost completely across the room. Using his own momentum against him. "Clumsy one, you are." muttered the blood mage.

Xiaòzhou, focusing on two different tasks at once, raised a hand towards Royland as well as towards Jayden. One for healing, one for moving. And his healing worked, with Royland's injuries being mended quite quickly. However, he failed to make Jayden budge. It seemed the chains binding him to the chair also held the chair in its place on the floor. He'd have to truly focus if he intended to free Jayden from his binding.

Royland, however, would find himself wounded yet again. The blood imp, whom he was pummelling, managed to bite him yet again. The imp was proving to be quite the annoyance. Camille would miss her own target, the Imp slipping out of the way of her swings. However, Claire had managed to slip behind it as it was trying to find a good opening to bite her again. As it recoiled to dodge Camille's blades, Claire drove her cutlass through the Imp's neck. Severing its spine and dropping it where it stood.

Elsewhere, Rajko prepared himself to try and stun Sebastian with his sword's sheath. But Sebastian was a little faster. The soldier, manipulated by Tokreth, raised his shotgun and fired off a mass of buckshot at Cassandra nearby. The blast deafened Rajko briefly, the hunter nearly dropping his sword's sheath as his hands snapped up to his ears.

The buckshot pellets connected, ripping through Cassandra's back as she went to attack Tokreth directly. Forcing a yelp from the pureblood and forcing her to fall to the floor face first. But she wouldn't stay down. Grumbling under her breath, she forced herself to her feet as blood poured from her wounds down her stomach and legs to the floor. She wasn't going down that easy.

And as she straightened up, she vanished just as she had before. She had darted across the room, appearing next to Tokreth. Her sword driven down through the blood mage's left shoulder. The demon flinched in pain, but seemed to take the blow rather well. "Ahhh, pain. Weakness leaving my body." muttered the demon as he glanced at the blade, then back at Cassandra.

"Your head will be the next thing leaving your body." responded the pureblood, coughing up a mass of blood. It seemed the pellets may have hit something vital. She frowned, yanking the blade from his shoulder like an axe from wood. She then vanished again, appearing a short distance away.

 

[Breadman]

Royland growled as the imp kept its jaws clenched on his arm. He managed to get up to one knee while constantly punching it in the head further and lifted the bitten arm up high enough to start slamming it against the floor.

 

[Damian0358]

Though things were going relatively smoothly, Xiaòzhou found himself bothered. It seemed he would have to put in a lot more force to get Jayden to safety, but Tokreth's possession had managed to harm Cassandra massively. Though she could shake it off as per usual, any more and she might not be standing. Rebecca, who had aided her earlier downstairs, couldn't do so now lest more imps spawn in, and her continuous prevention of that continues to make her a would-be target. Concentrating on Jayden would make the most immediate sense, but having everyone else concentrate on Tokreth would move his attention away from him regardless.

The hermit would choose to heal Cassandra as he had Royland previously, and move to shield Rebecca from any harm.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

The blast from Sebastian's weapon certainly rung Rajko's bell, hands jetting up to stop the whistling. He dropped the shashka by his foot, reflexively pulled out his revolver and aimed it squarely at the head of his ally, but through all the dizziness or a moment of clarity shifted Rajko's arm to aim the gun at Tokreth's malicious grin. He squeezed the trigger, letting off a shot which compounded the ear and headache that he was suffering, he would need another moment to recover his scattered bearings.

 

[K0mori]

Having shot Cassandra in the back, Sebastian shook off the glancing blow to the side of his helmet from Rajko before turning his gun on the werebat and pulling the trigger again. This time, nothing happened because he had not pumped the Winchester- Tokreth had not known it was necessary to do so and left his victim too little autonomy to complete the action himself. Moments later, Sebastian started amidst the loud bangs and the clattering of Rajko's sword against the ground, a throbbing pain in his head and only a vague awareness of his actions. He grunted, gritting his teeth as he overcame the lethargy in his veins and took control of his body once more, pumping the shotgun and taking aim at Tokreth.

"Dämonischer Scheißfleck! Ich streiche mit dir die Wände!" He screamed, his voice already parched and cracking from all the screaming he had done while dismembering the body moments earlier. He knew that he had been made a puppet and was simply glad he hadn't shot anyone of value. Now, he would make this bastard pay for it.

 

[joshuadim]

With his charge having been rebuked in a less than gracious manner, Azathor collected himself with haste after having tumbled onto the floor on the other side of the fight. He quickly dashed from behind Tokreth and jumped upwards with intent on bringing down a devastating strike from above against the demon.

 

[Dmaster]

Though Camille's slashing advance was deftly avoided by her demonic foe it did leave Claire an opening to strike. She flourished her swords with a loosened grip, catching a glimpse of Sebastian unleashing a blast of buckshot into Cassandra. It was harrowing that Torketh possessed such an ability, but the silver lining was that it was only the pureblood who had been shot.

Head on a swivel, the huntress directed her attention to the blood mage now that his supporting numbers were thinned. Royland could pummel the remaining imp himself, and Camille wagered that they were working on borrowed time given the state of Jayden.

Swiftly she sprinted at the blood mage, keeping her head and body low while approaching in a serpent-like path. Her approach was made with a series of quick feints to keep him guessing, culminating into a twisting slash aimed at his legs. Azathor went high, she would go low.

 

[Infab]

Tresomin - Tresomin Saw Mill - Mini-Boss Fight - Turn Three
Royland = 10. CH Roll = 5. Does 5 DMG to B. Imp #7. B. Imp #7 is dead.
Xiaòzhou attempts to heal Cassandra (Like Water, Returning.) Chance Roll = 6. Chance Successful. Cassandra regains 6 HP. Cassandra HP = 11.
Rajko = 1. Critical Failure! Weapon Misfire!
Sebastian = 5. Acc. Roll = 8. Does 3 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 36.
Azathor = 9. Does 3 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 33.
Camille = 6. Does 3 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 30.
Rebecca is unable to attack! Suppressing further Blood Imp summoning.
Cassandra = 10 (Shadow-dancing, Naturally.) CH Roll = 7. Does 10 DMG (Shadow-dancing, Naturally) to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 20.
Claire = 6. DD Check = Failed. Does 3 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 17.

--- --- ---

Tokreth manifests armor made of blood from the environment (Sanguine Armor.) Tokreth is now invulnerable to melee attacks for three turns, and regains 3 HP! Tokreth HP = 20.

​

Royland's attempts to remove the Imp biting his arm proved successful, as the repeated slams against the floor finally forced it to release. And as soon as it let go, Royland raised his boot and delivered a fatal stomp to the Imp's head. Smashing its teeth in and shattering it's smooth bone-like face. Meanwhile, Xiaòzhou moved over in front of Rebecca. Placing himself between her and the blood mage in the event that he decided to attack her. At the same time, he focused his energies once again. He lifted his arm, pointing his palm towards Cassandra and soon focusing on her. And soon enough, most of Cassandra's wounds began to heal rapidly. Far more rapidly than they normally would, even with her pureblood nature. She could feel it, and eventually began to feel buckshot pellets being forced from her body. Good. Less for her to have to dig out later. She cut a look to Sebastian, before looking to the others. Watching as they made their own moves, and looking for an opening for her own.

Rajko pointed his revolver at Tokreth, as carefully as he could, and squeezed the trigger. Only to hear a pop, and nothing else come from it. Shit, a misfire. That wasn't good at all. He'd have to check his weapon quickly and reload. Sebastian's weapon, however, was working perfectly. He pointed and fired off a shot, screaming angrily in his native tongue, and managed to wing Tokreth with the buckshot. The blood mage recoiled a bit, almost stumbling, but somehow remained upright. And the smile on his face seemed to grow wider. Just more weakness leaving his body.

But soon, he'd be set upon by Azathor, Camille, and Claire. Azathor's aerial attack landed, carving a nasty gash through the blood mage's back, while Camille's lower swipes made their own cuts across the thighs of the demon. Claire, rushing in from the flank, drove her cutlass blade in a singular chop through the demon's stomach. It was almost as if she had been swinging an axe at a tree. Tokreth groaned a bit, this time. The pain seemed to be becoming too much for the demon to bear.

And then there was the opening. Cassandra vanished once more, and reappeared about two meters before him. Saber held to her side as if she had just made another swing. In fact, she had. Tokreth glanced down, and soon witnessed his left arm simply drop from his shoulder. As the blood poured from the wound, Tokreth responded simply with an annoyed look. "I thought you said my head was next, Cassandra?"

Cassandra shook her head, as she turned about. "I changed my mind. Its more fun to remove the limbs first. You agree, yes?" she said, her tone particularly serious.

Tokreth nodded, smiling. "I do indeed. However, I need mine." he responded. And suddenly, the arm quickly shot up from the floor. Returning to its former position at his side, and reconnecting to his shoulder. Cassandra, and the others that bore witness to the event, looked on in shock. Tokreth chuckled a little, before raising his right hand. "Your blades have become an annoyance. Let's remedy that."

And suddenly, globs of blood began to rise from around the room. Wherever there had been a patch of human blood, some of it rose into the air shaped like a simple scarlet ball. And then, they darted towards Tokreth. They would come to stop mere inches from his body, with only one meeting his flesh where his severed arm waited. That blob of blood would quickly mend his wound, reconnecting his arm and its tissues to his body.

The rest of the blobs began to form sheets around him, like armored plating. He was manifesting a suit of armor from blood. As the plates slowly revolved around him, he chuckled again. "Now, continue." he simply said, folding his hands behind his back. But his eyes soon shifted towards where Rebecca and Xiaòzhou stood. It wasn't hard to tell who he was intending to target next.

 

[Dmaster]

As Camille's blades found purchase in the demon she was already preparing another series of slashes to press the advantage. With him now lacking an arm she figured his defenses to be all the more open, yet quickly she found her swords deflected rather easily by the armor of blood Torketh surrounded himself in. Sucking on her teeth she takes a few steps back to gauge the situation, catching a glimpse at who Torketh's gaze was resting on now. If her sabers could not cut through his armor, she had been equipped with an alternative option.

The blade in her right hand spun about before she tucked it into its scabbard, the miniaturized crossbow on her arm began to click as she readied it. Her stance spread to keep her core braced so her aim was true, her arm rising up to direct the bolt toward the demon mage's chest. "Do not think yourself invulnerable, monster!" Camille shouted, purposefully drawing attention to herself so that Rebecca and Takato could weave their spells undisturbed. Her fist tightened to loosen the bowstring, firing the bolt at Torketh!

 

[Breadman]

The wretched creature was finally dead, its head splattered to pieces. The knight started to 'breathe' heavily as he turned his attention to the blood demon. The fiend had covered himself in a shell to shield himself from physical attack. As always they made their next moves obvious to tell. Royland moved to stand between the saint and the demon. He removed his helmet to face the demon.

"Our sins anchor us in the Abyss, bloodsucker." Royland sneered again "Let me see which ones you regret the most!" If he knew his tricks, then this one should be the one he would avoid.
[[Royland uses Penance stare]]

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Rajko grit his teeth when he expected a bang. How disappointed is he to hear not the roar of gunfire, but the pathetic whimper of malfunction. It burned his pride for his equipment to fail in such a manner as this. He had half a mind to chuck it directly at the blood sorcerer's dome, but cooler heads prevailed. Rendering the firearm safe by rapidly unloading the remaining shots. He heard Sebastian speak the language of his homeland, Daristein, Rajko could not help but respond in kind. "Versuchen Sie, uns nicht auch noch umzubringen!"

Rajko sweeped around Tokreth, unshouldering his firearm before firing again. He never prayed for luck, he isn't starting now.

 

[K0mori]

Sebastian loaded another shell, further infuriated by the grin Tokreth had given after taking his last shot. He watched as the others set upon the demon, hacking and slashing at him. Cassandra had even taken off the monster's arm, but that didn't appear to slow him down. In fact, when he calmly reattached the appendage to his shoulder a moment later, Sebastian quietly cursed Cassandra for not aiming for Tokreth's head.

"Versuchen Sie, uns nicht auch noch umzubringen!"

Sebastian wasn't in the mood. "Den Mund halten!" he spat, keeping his eye on the enemy. Seeing the demon set his sights on Rebecca, he dashed in front of the saint before turning and firing another shell.

 

[joshuadim]

Azathor sneered at the display of the blood mage hiding behind his precious armor. A full on assault wouldn't cut it in this case, no matter how hard he wanted to cleave the demon's head off, and so he opted for another tactic. The demon prince quickly sheathed his blade and pulled out his pistols, unloading them towards the demon with rapid fire until his clips in both were empty and the barrels went silent.

 

[Damian0358]

Xiaòzhou gritted his teeth and scowled at Tokreth, now covered in his armor of blood. The hermit took his options into consideration, but as he did, a voice popped into his head.

"[...the blood mage is not bluffing when he said that he would remedy the 'annoyance' of melee strikes, Xiaòzhou,]" Zazriel remarked, "[as you are right now, you would not be able to break through that bloody defense with the Zìránquan.]"

"[...is that so?]" Xiaòzhou responded internally, externally merely sighing, "then the best option would be to concentrate on defending Rebecca, and continuing to aid the others as appropriate."

The hermit stretched out his arms, getting on one knee, as he attempted to form a bubble shield made of qi around himself and Rebecca.

"The others are more than capable of finishing him off," he thought to himself.

 

[Infab]

Tresomin - Tresomin Saw Mill - Mini-Boss Fight - Turn Four
Camille = 6. Acc. Roll = 13. Does 5 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 15.
Royland uses Penance Stare! Tokreth has been stunned for a turn and cannot attack!
Rajko = 6. Acc. Roll = 7. Does 3 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 12.
Sebastian = 10. Acc. Roll = 13. Does 5 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 7
Azathor = 7. Acc. Roll = 4. Does 1 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 6.
Rebecca is unable to attack! Suppressing further Blood Imp summoning.
Cassandra = 5. Acc. Roll = 7. Does 3 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth HP = 3.
Claire = 9. Acc. Roll = 19. Critical Hit! Does 10 DMG to Tokreth. Tokreth has been killed.

​

Manifesting his bloody armor in an effort to stop the group's melee attacks proved to be Tokreth's biggest mistake. Especially after telegraphing who he was intending to aim for with his gaze. Within moments, most of the group had switched to ranged weaponry with only Xiaòzhou remaining in a melee stance. However, he would summon a sort of bubble shield in an effort to protect himself and Rebecca from harm. He wouldn't need to, however. Royland would make sure of that.

The moment Tokreth's eyes met Royland's face, he felt a hellish stinging pain suddenly hit him across most of his body. It was as if he himself were being tortured, and it almost made him lose his focus on his shield. His vision blurred, his jaw tightened. Teeth clenched, as blood oozed from his mouth as it had been the whole time. He felt his muscles tighten up as well, virtually locking him in place as he struggled to withstand the agonizing pain.

And then came the crossbow bolt, buckshot, and bullets.

Camille's crossbow bolt darted between the blood plates, hitting the demon in the stomach and lodging itself inside almost halfway up the shaft of the bolt. Rajko's revolver shot clipped the mage's shoulder, forcing him to recoil slightly and opening him up to Sebastian's buckshot. The blast from the shotgun knocked him around into a spin as it hit, and ripped off, the same arm that had just been reattached. Azathor's pistol rounds peppered the demon, but none of them made a solid hit. Most simply grazing the demon as he spun about. Then, Cassandra's rifle round punched through the demon's right knee, forcing it to buckle. He dropped down onto said knee, crying out in pain.

Only to be silenced by one final revolver shot from Claire. Her Gasser revolver sounded off, the massive carbine-sized round darting from the barrel and punching a hole through the blood mage's head. Blood and brain matter exploded from the back not even a moment later. The blood plates disolved into simple masses of red liquid once more, dropping to the floor with simple wet splats, as the demon fell backwards. Lifeless.

"That takes care of that." muttered the enforcer, spinning the revolver around her finger before simply slipping it back into its holster.

 

[K0mori]

In the quiet that followed the demon's demise, Sebastian turned away from the grotesque remains and walked, shaking, toward the stairwell before finding a beam to lean against. He placed his shotgun on a dry patch of the floor, reached into his coat, and pulled out a match and a cigarette.

 

[Infab]

As everyone let themselves relax, finding the battle to be finally over, Rebecca's eyes returned to their normal look and her arms dropped to her sides.

"He had been intending to summon several dozen blood imps. Had I not acted, this room would have been full of them." she said, looking towards where Tokreth's corpse now lay. The blood he had dripped from his arms now slowly vanishing. As were the corpses of the blood imps, oddly disolving into messes of bone, muscle, and flesh. It was as if someone had slung acid on them, really.

Both Claire and Cassandra watched the imp corpses vanish, before looking to Tokreth's. "Is his going to do that?" asked Claire, cocking an eyebrow. Cassandra's voice drew her attention, her head turning quickly to look at the pureblood as she approached Tokreth's body.

"Yes, actually." said Cassandra, "Take a look." She pointed down at the body, finally stopping next to where it lay. And soon Enough, those that were watching would notice his body fall to pieces. As if he had been sliced up by several hundred knives. The blood that oozed out soon seemed to disolve into a scarlet colored smoke, as the chunks of his body began to decay rapidly. A very strange way to go.

"Tokreth was a rather special kind of blood mage. I know because he tortured me in the Abyss, at one point." she stated. "The only thing holding the wretch together was his own blood magic. He had himself carved up like that to dull the senses. Strengthen his tolerance against pain. But its kind of hard to, you know, survive something like that unless you're gifted with certain talents and abilities."

She glanced up to Royland. "Making him feel any pain was a miracle unto itself. Guess we hit the right nerves, eh? However frayed or severed they may have been. And once you shot him in the head..." she continued, looking to Claire, "...That seemed to be the final period in the story of his life."

"...Truly a vile creature, then." responded Claire, "Interesting to know he tortured you, though." Claire soon shifted her gaze to Jayden, whom seemed to be starting to return to consciousness. "Xiaòzhou, Camille, help me get the chains off of him so we can tend to his wounds." she quickly stated, moving across the room to where Jayden sat in his chair.

Cassandra chuckled at Claire's commented directed at her. "Azgon let a variety of bastards torture me. I killed a third of them on the way out of his palace." she stated, cycling the bolt on her rifle finally before slipping it onto her back. She then cut a glance to Royland. "So how do you know him? Bad blood with your lot?"

Meanwhile, Rebecca looked on, before soon looking about. Where had Sebastian gone? Eventually, she turned around to find him in the stairwell, trying to light a cigarette. Even if she hadn't actually seen him do what he did earlier, she heard it. The axe chops, hacking away at a corpse. The yelling in his native tongue. All of this was getting to him, and it clearly showed. The man was visibly shaking.

She soon approached, calmly and softly speaking as she neared. "Sebastian, can you walk with me? Outside? I feel like I could use some fresh air, and I'd like some company." she said. Subtly trying to tug him out of the room and away from all the corpses and blood. Away from this disgusting mess.

 

[Breadman]

Royland looked into Tokreth's eyes and he instantly knew what sins weighed him down. The wraith's head was full of images and sounds of the atrocities and horrific violence the blood demon had inflicted on its victims. The cur had savored every memory down to the last detail and Royland would send it all back towards him just as fast. The momentary paralysis allowed the knight's allies to finish it off. The mangled corpse of the creature now lay on the floor dissolving into nothingness.

As lady Cassandra would explain the nature of the beast, Royland would calm himself. The penance stare was required a certain amount of turmoil from the wraith, as the fumes were back again. He placed his helm back on his head to cover the ghastly features in time for Cassandra to ask him a question.

So how do you know him? Bad blood with your lot?

"In a way. Wraiths prowl the Abyss to torment and punish the wicked souls that find their way there... That was how we used to be at least." He was silent for a moment and turned his head to face her. The images in his head still fresh. He now has to carry every moment of her torture in his memories along with everything else. "For centuries we lost our way and left a void. Him and his ilk would fill it. But instead of seeking out those who deserved their fate, they would torture for sport. Taking twisted pleasure in the horrors they would inflict. From that difference, friction and hatred grew as they climbed in the ranks and their methods became dogma and my kin would lose more of themselves in the Abyss to compete."

"You have my sympathies my lady." He added after another moment of silence "What good they are at least."

 

[Infab]

"You have my sympathies my lady." He added after another moment of silence "What good they are at least."

Cassandra shrugged. "I've grown used to torture. I was tortured in a past life, and tortured in this one." she said, glancing back down to Tokreth's decaying mound of chunks. "How I choose to deal with it matters more, in the end. Buckle and snap, like I did before, or hold it together."

 

[Damian0358]

"As expected," Xiaòzhou thought to himself with a smirk, watching his compatriots defeat Tokreth with ease. With Claire's final shot, sensing the lack of life emanating from Tokreth, he dispersed the qi shield he had put up. After Rebecca relaxed, he gave her a bright smile, patting her on the back for all she had done for them that day.

As he raised his arm to begin passively healing everyone, including poor Jayden, he, as Rebecca would, took notice of Sebastian. He was clearly not handling any of this well. As he considered following Rebecca towards him, Claire called him forth to help with Jayden. He hoped that Sebastian would at least see him give him a wave and a gentle smile, some brief acknowledgement, before shifting his eyes towards the matter at hand.

"The chains don't hinder my capacity to tend to his wounds as they are," he remarked to Claire, making his way over to the poor man, "however, it may be worthwhile numbing him for a moment, assuming the chains are cutting into him," commenting as he aimed his hands at Jayden to numb and heal him.

 

[Dmaster]

Camille looked at the dying blood mage with a gaze of utter contempt and disgust, retrieving a bolt from her pouch she loaded it into her crossbow and began to collapse the mechanism. It was not often that she spared such hateful glances on those that she aided in killing, as even when she was vindictive and systematic with her vampire hunting she typically saw their deaths at her hand as a tragic necessity. The tragedy being that their vampirism drove them mad with grandeur and delusions of power, leaving them husks of who they once were. This was not so for a demon, a vile creature who only reveled in pain and torment for the sake of it.

The huntress turned her gaze toward to Sebastian as he excused himself from the bloody scene around them, and she turned on her heel to perhaps share some words with him. Yet Claire soon asked for her assistance, Camille looking back to Jayden while she nodded at the pureblood to indicate her cooperation. She strode up to Xiaòzhou as he made his medical evaluation, starting to crouch down as she observed the chains.

The conversation between Royland and Cassandra prompted Camille to scoff, the vampire being at peace with her torture seeming quite bitter to her in the moment. "Such sympathies are wasted on her, even from a wraith of the Abyss," the huntress muttered lowly as she tried to find where the chain's bindings started.

 

[Infab]

"Such sympathies are wasted on her, even from a wraith of the Abyss," the huntress muttered lowly as she tried to find where the chain's bindings started.

Claire chimed in as well, as she moved around behind Jayden to find where the chains were connected. "She's telling the truth. Don't bother." stated the enforcer, cutting the pureblood a narrow-eyed look before squatting down behind the chair. Eventually, she found a set of three locks. All of which required a key, but there wasn't any time to go searching around the mill for the key (or keys) that would fit. She reached up, taking hold of each lock one at a time with both hands and giving the lock itself a sharp jerk downwards. Breaking their internal mechanisms and forcing them to unlock. She slipped them off, and motioned to Camille to assist in removing the chains.

Carefully, they unwrapped the chains from around Jayden. Tossing them into a pile nearby as Jayden was freed. The boy almost slid out of his chair, but Camille managed to catch him before he could slip out. A few groans and murmurs escaped his lips, as he continued to regain consciousness. Xiaòzhou's healing magic seemed to be working rather quickly, with all of Jayden's wounds healing rapidly. Color began to return to his skin, and the bruises began to fade. And it wasn't long before he was completely healed.

"Jayden MacKie?" asked Claire, squatting once more next to the man as he sat on the floor now clutching his head. He shook his head for a brief moment, seeming to be trying to regain his senses, before looking up at her and the others.

"Y-Yeah, I'm Jayden." he muttered, "Who the hell are you?"

"Your saviors." responded Cassandra from nearby, folding her arms. Claire cut her another look, before looking back to Jayden. "My name is Claire. This is Camille, and this is Xiaòzhou. That woman over there is Cassandra, the knight is named Royland, and that man with the two pistols is Azathor. We were sent here by the Church." she stated.

Jayden took note of her glowing red eyes and almost chuckled. "Right, the church." he muttered, looking back to the floor as he held a hand against his forehead. "Vampires, foreigners, inquisitors, and knights...Better than fuckin' demons, I guess."

He then sighed. "Let me guess...you want to know about by ancestor too, right?" he stated afterwards, looking back to Claire. Claire nodded in response, and was met with a groan as Jayden attempted to stand.

"Well, you're shit out of luck. All I know is he was a pirate. Only thing of his I have is his damn rifle. He didn't leave a fuckin' journal or a map or anything." he said, as Camille eventually stepped over to help him to his feet.

"Just the rifle?" asked Claire, raising an eyebrow. Jayden nodded rapidly. "I should have tossed the thing in a lake, or sold it when I had the chance to the gunsmith." he muttered, "It'd be a better use for the thing. Tried to shoot one of the demons with it, and it didn't work."

Claire nodded. "Older black powder weapons are a bit tricky. Certainly an art to using and maintaining them." she responded afterwards.

"Well, if you want the thing, you can fucking have it." he muttered, pointing over towards a far corner towards the northeast portion of the building. "They tossed it over there."

Cassandra glanced in the direction he was pointing, before strolling over to the corner. Chairs, tables, other assorted junk...and a rifle with a now partially bent barrel. "Found it." stated the pureblood, flicking a table out of the way and leaning in to grab it. As she drew it out of the corner, Claire arrived next to her.

"Let me see it." responded the enforcer, to which Cassandra simply shrugged and handed it over. Once it was in her hands, Claire began to thoroughly inspect it. "You're saying this is all he left?"

"Yeah, just that." was Jayden's response, waving a hand towards it.

Claire nodded gently, as she continued to examine the old rifle. It was a blunderbuss, of course, and engravings marked its barrel and stock in several places. Simplistic ones, instead of the fancier ones that one would find on more modern weaponry. As she flipped it around to look at the butt of the stock, she soon spotted something. An indention in the rear, about the size of a coin. In fact, it was likely a coin used to be there for decoration.

"Was there a coin here on the butt of the stock?" she asked, glancing back to Jayden. He nodded rapidly. "Old copper one. Had an Atracan king's head on it. I think it may have fell out when they threw the rifle over there, because it was still there when I tried to use it." he stated.

She nodded again, before pressing a finger into the indention. There was a click, and suddenly the butt of the stock popped open. Revealing a recess, with something inside. "It seems your ancestor left a lot more than you were lead to believe." soon stated Claire, much to Jayden's surprise. She reached in with her fingers, eventually clutching something with a leathery exterior. And as she pulled it out, they would soon find that it was a journal. A small one, but still.

 

[joshuadim]

When the blood mage fell, Azathor simply gave his pistols a twirl before holstering them and shrugged. Not much needed to be said, considering the demon had been dispatched so decisively and relieved of his head. And even less so when Jayden began to talk once the questions started coming from Claire and Cassandra to the young man, as he likely didn't want to see another demon in his sight. He gave a small wave to him once he was introduced before returning his attention back to the scene. Even though the demon was dead, he didn't feel right in relaxing. It was more a force of habit than anything, but it gave him more comfort than thinking everything was safe.

When Claire investigated the rifle Jayden had and found something hidden inside, Azathor's attention returned as he tilted his head towards this new discovery. "Hmpf, a hidden treasure." the demon prince commented, "How fitting."

 

[K0mori]

Sebastian jerked when Rebecca touched him, as if he hadn't noticed her approach. After a moment, he seemed to process what she was asking of him, and he nodded grimly before stooping down and picking the shotgun off the floor. He then walked down the stairwell into the second floor overlooking the machinery down below, and he paused a while, looking over the carnage again with a stone face, ashes dropping off the end of his cigarette.

"Was this what it was like?" he croaked, a moment later. His voice was broken from all of the screaming and shouting he had done. His expression now bore less disgust and instead carried a bit of helplessness. "The Age of Darkness, I mean. That's what they want, ja? To bring it back..."

 

[Infab]

Rebecca followed Sebastian down the steps, her armor clacking gently with each step. And as Sebastian paused, she did as well. Her head shifting to look at him as he gazed down at the machinery (and carnage) below them on the first floor.

"Was this what it was like?" he croaked, a moment later. His voice was broken from all of the screaming and shouting he had done. His expression now bore less disgust and instead carried a bit of helplessness. "The Age of Darkness, I mean. That's what they want, ja? To bring it back..."

Rebecca remained quiet for a moment, her own eyes shifting to the bloody mess beneath them, before eventually speaking. "...In a way, yes." she responded softly. "...During my time, demons were able to freely roam about, often without the need of vessels as there was enough darkness here in the mortal realm to sustain them. Kingdoms rose and fell, with endless wars spurred on by the demons spanning the continent. Before I was born, entire civilizations had been erased, such as the Elves and the Dwarves. Countless innocent lives were taken in the chaos."

She paused briefly, shutting her eyes, before continuing. "People resisted, of course. The Order of Velin, the Church...the Vigilant Order, which I helped to found. There were other groups as well, though the Icons hunted them down and snuffed them out. The Witch Coven of Mother Lièvremont, the Black Templars of Saint Adimus. The Nightstriders of Darisa, I'm sure you're familiar with. They were exterminated by the Icon of Vainglory, Sazak."

She eventually opened her eyes, looking to Sebastian once more. "Taranoch wants to bring that madness back. Sazak... wants a little more than that, I bet. He was always one to dream a bit bigger." she continued, "...We need to stop them before they succeed. Otherwise, the world you and the others know will be erased and replaced with insanity and that." She pointed to the bloody mess below.

She then turned to Sebastian fully. "...I know you doubt yourself. Believe me, I did the same. I was just an ordinary foot soldier before I became...this." she said, her head tilting down and gazing at the emblem painted onto the chest piece of her armor. "I didn't want to become a knight, nor a paladin, nor a saint. I didn't believe myself worthy of the titles...and still don't believe I am. But... the people have need of leaders, heroes, and saints during dark days. So, someone has to play the part."