Fantasy Hunter's Moon [IC] [CLOSED]

[Infab]

Castle Ellisgate - Castle Village - TURN 3
Castle Knight #6 is on fire. Castle Knight #6 HP = 8
Camille = 10. CH Roll = 10. Does 4 DMG to Castle Knight #12. Castle Knight #12 HP = 8.
Theodore = 1. Missed Castle Knight #11.
Ethraeil = 10. CH Roll = 3. Does 4 DMG (Avatar of Death) to Castle Knight #4. Castle Knight #4 dead.
Aleister = 6. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #3. Castle Knight #3 HP = 12.
Wesley = 1. Misses Castle Knight #5.
Francis = 5. Does 3 DMG (The Cleansing Flame) to Castle Knight #3. Castle Knight #3 on fire. Castle Knight #3 HP = 9.
Galina = 1. Missed Castle Knight #3.
Valeria = 7. Does 2 DMG (Senior Inquisitor) to Castle Knight #5. Castle Knight #5 dead.

---

Castle Ellisgate - Castle Village - TURN 3 (ENEMY)
Castle Knight #3 = 10. CH Roll = 5. Does 3 DMG to Wesley. Wesley HP = 14.
Castle Knight #6 = 10. CH Roll = 6. Targets Galina. Chance to Dodge (Banshee's Foresight.) D6 used. Chance Roll = 3. Chance Failed. Does 3 DMG to Galina. Galina HP = 17.
Castle Knight #7 = 3 - 1 (Menacing Aura.) Misses Ethraeil.
Castle Knight #8 = 6. Does 1 DMG to Theodore. Theodore HP = 13.
Castle Knight #9 = 4. Misses Valeria.
Castle Knight #10 = 8. Targets Francis. Chance to Absorb Damage (Iron Man.) D6 used. Chance Roll = 6. Chance Successful. Francis takes no damage.
Castle Knight #11 = 8. Targets Aleister. Chance to Dodge (Vampire's Finesse). D6 used. Chance Roll = 6. Chance Successful. Counter-Attack Chance = 4. Does 3 DMG to Castle Knight #11. Castle Knight #11 HP = 12.
Castle Knight #12 = 5 - 1 (4, Grand Duelist.) Misses Camille. Chance for Counter-Attack (Reflexive Riposte.) D6 used. Chance Roll = 4. Chance Successful. Does 3 DMG to Castle Knight #12. Castle Knight #12 HP = 5.

------​

More shots rang out as the group continued their battle against the vampiric knights. Camille, continuing her onslaught against the knights, managed to stab the knight once again in his side with her dagger before plunging her rapier into his chest. It didn't seem to put the knight down, however, as he attempted to strike her when she pulled back. She narrowly dodged his sword swing, bending beneath it, before driving her rapier into his chest a second time. It was doing a number on the creature, as his movements became more sluggish. It seemed he was trained to fight slower, more armored opponents. Not someone with Camille's speed.

Theodore's shot missed the knight whom he was aiming at, the vampire moving aside quickly to strike at Aleister. After Aleister fired several shots into the knight that had lead the charge against them, he dodged the incoming attack and fired a shot directly into the eye slit of the vampire's helmet as a counter attack. It apparently put the vampire's eye out, his hand quickly going to his face as he recoiled backwards. As Valeria shot and killed one of the knights whom had been severely injured before, Wesley lost a target to strike. Which resulted in him being struck in the side by the knight Aleister had just shot previously. The spear pierced his side, driving inward, but not far enough to hit any vital organs. Not that it'd matter, considering Wesley's vampirism. Galina, attempting to help Wesley, fired a shot at the knight and missed. Francis, however, didn't. His incendiary buckshot lit the knight ablaze, the pellets barely missing Wesley. Afterwards, Francis took another hit. This time, however, his armor absorbed the blow.

Ethraeil finished off the other very weak knight, his ice spear piercing the knight's helmet and ripping its head from its shoulders. In retaliation, one of his fellow knights attempted to strike Ethraeil again, but missed. Theodore was struck, however, by one of the other knights. Galina was also struck, failing to avoid a shot from a knight's bow. The remaining knight took a swing at Valeria, whom narrowly avoided it.

One of the knights shouted something, which sounded vaguely Atracan. Likely a battle cry. Another shouted something else. The knights began to pull back, drawing the group into the village as they fought. They moved through thin dirt streets, enclosed by old stone buildings. Most looked to be crumbling inward, as the village was likely as old as the castle it surrounded.

 

[K0mori]

Gritting his teeth, Francis watched as another vampire went up in flames. "Off to Hell, all of you!" he yelled before wiping his brow. He was running low on his homemade incendiary shells and they still weren't even close to confronting the Duke. His arm ached with a dull pain from the wound he had suffered earlier in the fight, but without removing his equipment it was impossible to tell how deep it had struck him or how much he was bleeding. He resolved to push on without complaint, however, as several of the Inquisitors had taken worse blows since the fight began. The knights began to fall back, allowing them entrance to the castle village, and Francis knew that he could scrounge together some useful materials for the final push into the castle- if only he could find a second to breathe. Suddenly he thought of the exploding inn, and remembered that the enemy had an expert trap maker in their midst, or so he believed. "Watch out, this could get worse...!" he warned the others as he scanned the area for signs of hidden danger.

 

[joshuadim]

After brutally dispatching the knight he had targeted and dodging a strike from another, Ethraeil took a step back to see the enemy begin to retreat further into the village. Likely they were consolidating their position to find a more advantageous location to fight, and the Inquiry needed to press the advantage before that happened. "Keep on them! They're trying to find a better place to fight!" Ethraeil yelled out as he threw out another ice lance at one of the knights.

 

[Dmaster]

Camille regained her footing after her counterattack, prepared to take on the brunt of the knights that were upon her before they began to turn and make a retreat. With great speed she grabbed a quill from her thigh, loading it between her knuckles as she took a few steps to gain momentum. "You aren't getting away!" she spat, tossing it into any gap in the plating it might strike true. The silver was working to slow this one down, and if her quill landed she would charge the wounded knight and leap in the air to end it with a stab to his throat.

 

[Breadman]

Theodore took another shot at the fleeing vampires before continuing forward. They had to be careful, but every wasted moment brought the duke closer to victory. They needed to show extra care as the trapper and their handiwork was likely just around the corner.

 

[Infab]

Castle Ellisgate - Castle Village - TURN 4
Castle Knight #3 is on fire. Castle Knight #3 HP = 8.
Castle Knight #6 is on fire. Castle Knight #6 HP = 7.
Francis attempts to scout for traps (Sharp Eyes.) D6 used. Chance roll = 6. Chance Successful. Trap detected (Thin Tripwire) and disarmed.
Ethraeil = 5. Does 3 DMG (Avatar of Death) to Castle Knight #7. Castle Knight #7 HP = 12.
Camille = 9 + 1 (10, Infallible Focus.) CH Roll = 5 + 1 (6, Grand Duelist.) Does 3 DMG to Castle Knight #12. Castle Knight #12 HP = 2.
Theodore = 9. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #6. Castle Knight #6 HP = 6.
Aleister = 5. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #11. Castle Knight #11 HP = 11.
Wesley = 10 (True Shot.) CH Roll = 8. Does 4 DMG to Castle Knight #6. Castle Knight #6 HM = 2.
Galina attempts to stun some of the knights (Shatter-Wail.) D6 used. Chance Roll = 4. Chance successful. Castle Knight #10 stunned for three turns.
Valeria = 7 + 2 (9. The Prince and the Puppet.) Does 5 DMG (The Prince and the Puppet, Senior Inquisitor) to Castle Knight #7. Castle Knight #7 HP = 7.

---

Castle Ellisgate - Castle Village - TURN 4 (ENEMY)
Castle Knight #3 = 1. Misses Francis.
Castle Knight #6 = 1. Misses Wesley.
Castle Knight #7 = 10. CH Roll = 2. Does 2 DMG to Valeria. Valeria HP = 17.
Castle Knight #8 = 2. Misses Theodore.
Castle Knight #9 = 5 - 1 (4, Menacing Aura.) Misses Ethraeil.
Castle Knight #10 cannot attack. Stunned.
Castle Knight #11 = 3. Misses Aleister.
Castle Knight #12 = 2. Misses Camille. Chance to Counter-Attack (Reflexive Riposte.) D6 used. Chance Roll = 3. Chance roll failed.

------​

The fighting continued as the group entered the village, the inquiry group pushing the vampiric knights back. The inquiry group, however, would have to keep an eye out for any traps that may have been set. And Francis had already spotted one. A thin tripwire, stretched out between the buildings ahead of them. The knights casually stepped over it as if it weren't there, but the rest of the group didn't seem to notice it. But he did. He moved forward quickly, squatting down and snipping the thin wire with his knife. As he did, a knight took a swing at him, but he easily dodged it by simply moving out of the way.

Camille kept up her assault on her target, tossing a quill at the knight before rushing in to stab him. The quill connected, lodging itself in the knight's stomach, and Camille's follow up also connected. The issue was that it didn't hit where she wanted it too. Instead, she stabbed the knight in the shoulder. He shoved her off, and attempted to counter attack but missed Camille once again. He was prepared, though, moving aside to avoid Camille's counter attack. Meanwhile, Theodore's attack hit its mark, the shot punching through the knight's armor and embedding itself in the flesh beneath. Wesley followed up the hit with a stab of his own, his rapier shoving deep into the vampire's side between his armor plates. But the knight failed to go down, and took a swing at Wesley. He missed, Wesley quickly jumping back to avoid it. Another knight took a swing at Theodore as well, swinging a little too high to hit Theodore.

Galina's screams stunned one of the knights, the knight gripping his helmet and stumbling about. He wouldn't be attacking anyone any time soon. Aleister's shot rang true, hitting a knight in the chest and punching through his armor. The knight stumbled for a moment, before attempting to hit Aleister back. He, however, missed. Swinging wide. Ethraeil and Valeria teamed up to attack the remaining knight, Ethraeil hitting him with a ice spear to the stomach, while Valeria felt the sensation she had during the fight with the Hydra kick in once more. Sazak was assisting her once again. She moved in with an unnatural quickness, slicing the knight across his exposed side. The knight managed to spin around fast enough to get a hit in, his weapon catching Valeria across her back. Meanwhile, another knight decided to take a shot at Ethraeil, but barely missed the lich.

They emerged from the thin alley between the two buildings, into what appeared to be the village square. There was a large crumbling fountain in the center. On the other side, the main gates to the castle. There were other streets going both left and right, leading into other parts of the village. Debris was scattered about here and there, wrecks of old carts and bits of cloth. A sign hung from a single chain on one of the buildings nearest them, which appeared to be an old blacksmith's shop. The group could also see what the trap had been that Francis had disarmed. There were three large limbs, attached to the wall of the building to their left, with several sharp spikes fixed to the ends of them. If they had triggered the trap by stepping on the tripwire, the limbs would have swung around and likely impaled them. That, or at the very least shattered their ribs.

 

[Dmaster]

Her aggressive movements were paying off against such sluggish opponents, so Camille kept moving with the same ferocity as before. Even still she was surprised to see that the knight managed to dodge her counterattack, proving far more tenacious than she realized. The huntress stepped forward, twisting her rapier down and quickly upward to perform a lateral slash - only to halt it part way and transition into another stab. Whether he dodged or blocked it she was hoping that the feint would allow for the slightest window to finish him off.

 

[joshuadim]

Ethraeil's spear hit true again, and dodged yet another one of the knight's attacks with a quick sidestep. Ethraeil took a quick glance around, looking for a target to finish off and saw that both Camille's and Wesley's were nearing death's door. Ethraeil opted to help make Camille's job easier and sought to rip the soul out from the knight she was fighting with a quick motion of his hand.

 

[Infab]

Castle Ellisgate - Castle Village - TURN 5
Castle Knight #3 is on fire. Castle Knight #3 HP = 7.
Castle Knight #6 is on fire. Castle Knight #6 HP = 1.
Camille = 7 + 1 (8, Infallible Focus.) Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #12. Castle Knight #12 HP = 1.
Ethraeil attempts to rip the soul out of Castle Knight #12. D6 used. Chance Roll = 6. Chance Successful. Castle Knight #12 dead.
Francis = 5. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #6. Castle Knight #6 dead.
Theodore = 10 (Calculated Risk.) Does 13 DMG (Man of Science) to Castle Knight #11. Castle Knight #11 dead.
Wesley = 9. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #7. Castle Knight #7 HP = 6.
Galina = 8. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #7. Castle Knight #7 HP = 5.
Aleister = 8. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #7. Castle Knight #7 HP = 4.
Valeria = 3 + 2 (5, The Prince and the Puppet.) Does 5 DMG (Senior Inquisitor, The Prince and the Puppet.) to Castle Knight #7. Castle Knight #7 dead.

---

Castle Ellisgate - Castle Village - TURN 5 (ENEMY)
Castle Knight #3 = 6. Does 1 DMG to Wesley. Wesley HP = 13.
Castle Knight #8 = 10. CH Roll = 6. Targets Aleister. Chance to Dodge (Vampire's Finesse.) D6 used. Chance Roll = 2. Chance Failed. Does 3 DMG to Aleister. Aleister HP = 16.
Castle Knight #9 = 8 - 1 (7, Menacing Aura.) Does 1 DMG to Ethraeil. Ethraeil HP = 18.
Castle Knight #10 cannot attack. Stunned.

------
​

The enemy numbers were dwindling, as the group continued their aggressive assault against the knight. As two of the knights continued to burn, while one was sufficiently stunned by Galina's scream, Camille and Ethraeil decided to team up on one of the vampires about to collapse. As expected, the feint threw the knight off and Camille was able to stab the knight once more. As he struggled to pull the rapier out of his stomach, he soon started to feel himself growing even weaker. A moment later, he suddenly collapsed, as Ethraeil ripped the knight's soul from his body. In a way, he had robbed Camille of a kill. Still, they had more to focus on. As Ethraeil absorbed the soul into his form, he couldn't stop a mace from slamming into his shoulder at a high velocity. One of the healthier vampires was attempting to exact revenge for his comrade.

Meanwhile, Francis fired off a standard buckshot shell, effectively blowing a burning knight's head off with it and terminating its life on the spot. Theodore would also kill one of the knights, pitching a quarter of a stick of dynamite at it and watching it explode quite violently. Finally, Wesley, Galina, Valeria, and Aleister all teamed up on the knight that Valeria had been fighting. Wesley and Valeria sliced the knight up viciously, while Aleister and Galina planted several shots into the creature before it eventually collapsed at Valeria's feet. Another knight, taking the chance to attack, targeted Aleister and swung his weapon. It caught Aleister across the side, as he attempted to lean out of the way. Another, the remaining burning knight, slapped Wesley with his weapon as well.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Running low on silver!" Aleister announced as they continued through the streets. He had perhaps a dozen bullets left in the leather pouch on his belt, the rounds jostling around as he moved. Once those were gone, he'd be down to using his claws and magic. The latter would need to be saved for more important moments than this, yet slashing and stabbing these knights with his hands would be somewhat uncomfortable. Not to mention it was rather unseemly to do in battle. It was more an indoor method, he felt, easy to use at parties and bars or in emergencies. On the field out here, a gun did best.

After he helped finish off one of the knights, he felt the sting of a blade on his side and he jumped back. It had cut him well, right across his flank below his ribs. He clasped one hand to the wound and held it there, focusing some healing magic directly into his wound. There was no time to wait around for it to heal naturally. With his free hand, he fired his revolver at the knight who attacked him.

The real tragedy was his shirt was practically in tatters now, thanks to an earlier slice to his other side. He'd have to deal with that after the fighting had died down.

 

[Dmaster]

Camille glanced back at Ethraeil as the knight she was fighting had his soul ripped from his body. What she gave him was not a look of malice or contempt for something so petty as taking a kill from her, yet reflex to see what had befallen her combatant. With a quick nod she looked ahead, starting to kick the vampire corpse from her blade as she strode deeper into the fray. Weary of traps yet most focused on their enemy at the moment, she soon picked up her pace to cross swords with the nearest knight.

She heard Aleister's complaint of lack of ammunition and weaponry, and with a backstep she swiveled to him and tossed a quill directly at his feet. A few more parries and she got the window to draw another to fight the knight with. "Use that, just don't cut yourself!" she calls back. With everything sorted she made for another stab at her opponent.

 

[joshuadim]

Ethraeil returned the nod to Camille as she turned her attention to the remaining knights. The fight was nearing its end, and once they were through with them it seemed nothing stood between them and the Castle itself. All this would be for naught if the Duke managed to master the ring however, and time was of the essence. It had hit him some time ago that the hydra was the duke's doing, there's no way it could be anything else. If he could summon a hydra with the ring at his current state, what could he accomplish when he understands how to wield its power? With this in mind, Ethraeil threw another ice lance at the knight that had struck him on the shoulder.

 

[Infab]

Castle Ellisgate - Castle Village - TURN 6
Castle Knight #3 is on fire. Castle Knight #3 HP = 6.
Valeria regains 1 HP (Unholy Aid.) Valeria HP = 18.
Aleister = 7. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #8. Castle Knight #8 HP = 14.
Camille = 6 + 1 (7, Infallible Focus.) Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #3. Castle Knight #3 HP = 5.
Ethraeil = 8. Does 3 DMG (Avatar of Death) to Castle Knight #9. Castle Knight #9 HP = 12.
Theodore = 9 (Calculated Risk.) Does 12 DMG (Man of Science) to Castle Knight #9. Castle Knight #9 dead.
Francis = 4. Misses Castle Knight #10.
Galina = 2. Misses Castle Knight #3.
Wesley = 6, 5 (Multi-Shot.) Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #8, 1 DMG to Castle Knight #10. Castle Knight #8 HP = 13, Castle Knight #10 HP = 14.
Valeria = 6 + 2 (8, The Prince and the Puppet.) Does 5 DMG (Senior Inquisitor, The Prince and the Puppet) to Castle Knight #3. Castle Knight #3 dead.

---

Castle Ellisgate - Castle Village - TURN 6 (ENEMY)
Castle Knight #8 = 2. Misses Aleister.
Castle Knight #10 is stunned. Cannot attack.

------
​

Aleister's shots rang out once again, hitting the knight in his helmet. None punched through, but they caused some pretty major dents that disorientated the knight. Enough for him to miss Aleister on his responsive attack. Meanwhile, Ethraeil's ice spear ripped through its target before the target suddenly exploded due to another quarter stick of dynamite detonating at chest level, thanks to Theodore. Francis and Galina's shots missed their marks, though Francis missed by a far shorter distance than Galina's. The buckshot coming close to grazing its target. Wesley's rapier stabs were far more accurate, plunging into the flesh of two of the knights.

Camille moved in quickly to attack the knight whom was still on fire, stabbing the creature several times in the torso. Then, quite suddenly, Valeria rushed in at the creature's flank and delivered a vicious slash that split the creature's abdomen wide open. A moment later, she cleaved the head from the shoulders. Another dead knight. There were now only two left, and both seemed prepared to fight to the end.

 

[Dmaster]

Camille kept up her relentless advance, knowing that their enemy was cornered as she closed in on one of the last knights. Staying to fight was certainly commendable on their part, yet she wagered that even they knew how futile it was to continue. Unflinching loyalty to their puppet master, no doubt. She lunged with her rapier and began to clash swords with her next target.

 

[Viper Actual]

Targeting the knight that had just attempted to strike Aleister, Galina lowered her rifle and unleashed one of her deafening screams in an effort to stun it.

 

[K0mori]

Francis took a step back to reload, and grinned at the sight of the remaining two knights making their last stand. "We've got them handled, and they know it! Today's a good day to finally taste death, eh, lads? Good on you for staying put!" Snapping the shotgun closed again, he planted the stock in his shoulder and his feet on the ground and blasted away another two shells.

 

[joshuadim]

Only two knights remained until they were free to advance forward towards their goal. This was starting to become annoying for Ethraeil as the remaining two continued to put up a fight, and so he launched a bolt of dark magic once more at the knight closest to him.

 

[Infab]

Castle Ellisgate - Castle Village - TURN 7
Camille = 10. CH Roll = 3 + 1 (4, Grand Duelist.) Does 3 DMG to Castle Knight #10. Castle Knight #10 HP = 11.
Galina attempts to stun Castle Knight #8 (Shatter-Wail.) D6 used. Chance Roll = 1. Chance Failed.
Francis = 5. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #8. Castle Knight #8 HP = 12.
Ethraeil = 10. CH Roll = 10. Does 6 DMG (Avatar of Death) Castle Knight #10. Castle Knight #10 HP = 6.
Aleister = 7. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #8. Castle Knight #8 HP = 11.
Theodore = 7 (Calculated Risk.) Does 10 DMG (Man of Science) to Castle Knight #8. Castle Knight #8 HP = 1.
Wesley = 8, 8. Does 1 DMG to Castle Knight #8, 1 DMG to Castle Knight #10. Castle Knight #8 dead, Castle Knight #10 HP = 5.
Valeria = 3 + 2 (5, The Prince and the Puppet.) Does 5 DMG (Senior Inquisitor, The Prince and the Puppet) to Castle Knight #10. Castle Knight # 10 dead.

------​

Soon enough, the group would set upon the remaining two knights with sheer aggression. Camille moved in quickly, striking one of the knights with her quill. The hit provided an opening for a piercing stab from her rapier, the point piercing through a rusted portion of the knight's armor and driving deep into the creature's chest. A moment later, the knight was struck by a dark bolt from Ethraeil. Galina, meanwhile, attempted to scream at the other knight to stun it, but was quickly silenced when said knight pitched a rock at her and shut her up. It left him open to Francis, whom had reloaded his double barrel. He fired off both barrels, peppering the knight with buckshot. It stumbled the knight, long enough for Aleister to get in a shot of his own. Theodore also pitched a quarter stick of dynamite at the creature, but it failed to kill him. It did severely hurt the knight, blowing off parts of its armor and shattering a few bones in its chest.

Wesley finished the creature off, firing a shot into the creature's head as well as into the other knight. Valeria would be the one to finish off the second knight, however, moving around to the creature's rear rather quickly and driving her sword through its spine. She snatched the blade back out after a few seconds, and quickly beheaded the creature in one swift swing. Then, the only ones left standing in the village were the inquiry. "Excellent work, everyone." stated Valeria, straightening up and wiping the blood on her sword off on the leg of her trousers. She kept her revolver out, however, as she looked about. They were still in the square of the castle's village, standing near the crumbling fountain. The fountain was dry, since it hadn't seen water in likely a few hundred years. "Shall we take a look around? Its best to prepare while we can...and try to find an alternate way into the castle. I'm sure none of you would like to barge through that gate into whatever awaits us on the other side of those doors." said Valeria, pointing to the gate on the other side of the fountain with her revolver. She then whistled, and soon enough their horses arrived. Stopping just nearby.

 

[joshuadim]

"Castles as old as these usually have some form of tunnels to allow for escape of their nobility in the event of a siege... that might be our best option since they probably expect us to go through the front and barge right in." Ethraeil said as he looked around. "The question is finding this entrance in time."

 

[Dmaster]

The huntress flicked the gore from her blades, sneering as she looked up at the castle proper. Without knowing where the Duke was exactly it would make things a bit more complicated. The way she saw it is that he wouldn't hold back once they were inside its walls, so it would be best to sneak in as close as possible to quickly dispatch him before he could call for help. Yet Camille knew by now that whatever their plan the situation they carefully craft is never ideal.

"Can any of you sense him?" she asks the few remaining supernatural members of the inquiry. "If there is any passage that leads directly to his decrepit dwelling I say we take it." she says while she starts to sheathe her cleaned weapons. Calmly she strode up closer to the castle, well outside its perimeter for safety reasons as she squints in an attempt to find anything unusual.

 

[K0mori]

Once Francis had soaked in the victory of the moment, he decided to chime in on the brewing discussion. "Chances are, if there are secret entrances, then the enemy probably already knows about them and prepared for that. I mean, they know we aren't a bunch of fools, I hope..." he added, wondering whether the Inquisitors had made a habit of barging in through the front door before he met them. "In either case, I'd suggest a radically different plan. Castles like these used to have garrisons, but look- there's not a soul on the wall or the watchtowers. They're all inside, waiting for us. If we really want to catch them off-guard, I say we run a rope up to the roof, and then me and the alchemist can plant a hell of a charge... We could blast our way in from above." He scratched his chin as he sized up the challenge ahead, and a mental image began to form.

"Or maybe, we go from several angles at once and overwhelm them," he mused, a mischievous grin appearing on his face. "One of the vamps can run a rope up the wall for me and Theodore, since they're good at getting up walls. The kid can do it," he suggested, motioning at Wesley. "If we can get a tunnel entry, we get the graceful ones down there to sneak their way in. That'd be the sassy one and the other bloodsucker," he explained, referring to Camille and Aleister. "We put our strongest fighters up front, Miss Witlock, the lich, the banshee girl, and..."

He paused and looked around, realizing that Rosanna had never returned to the group. "Huh. Think that dullahan will catch up anytime soon? Or should we just forget her?" he asked with a cold indifference.

 

[Viper Actual]

Galina, who was standing near Francis, nodded. "I agree with his plan. Attacking from multiple angles might be our best chance." She looked around the village square and shuddered briefly before returning her focus to the group.

 

[Dmaster]

"We can't afford the time to wait for her at this moment." Camille answers, looking up at the castle garrison and twisting her mouth with her hands on her hips.. "And you don't give me enough credit. I could easily scale that wall if it was necessary. But for the sake of cohesion I will accompany Aleister for a more... Precise approach, oui." With that she starts to break away from the group in search of a tunnel entrance, her mind made up and committed to not wasting precious moments.

 

[Breadman]

"Bold plans." Theodore added while he though on what to do next. Francis was right. If there are secret entrances, then the Duke would likely have someone monitoring them at all times in case of assault. That was assuming that an entrance would be here and not somewhere on a cliff. But there was another thing that concerned him.

He looked towards Ethraeil.
"Do you sense anything?"

 

[joshuadim]

Ethraeil looked back to Black Hollow when Francis mentioned Rosanna, knowing full well the fate that had befallen her. He didn't dare mention this however for fear of hurting morale of the already strained group. The time for that would come later when they were through with the mission. And upon Theodore's behest, Ethraeil glanced at the castle and around the area if he could spot anything of note.

"The land is shrouded in black magic... a byproduct of the twins. What concerns me most though is what's in the castle... I feel something powerful in there."