[Lords of Creation] (Qing Jin's Library) Chapter 1: A Series of Unfortunate Events

[Blacklion]

Aeroulus


...turned his head back as the screams of people dying entered his eardrums. He went back closer to the window, to see how the soldiers were cutting down more of the people and his teeth began to grind against one another. All this, just take town a few people? What madness! His sheath both of his sword momentarily, looking at the other two but focusing more on Kain. "...What. You're not climbing on my back, there's no way I could make the jump if you're on top of me."


Though he was confused as to what Kain was doing now. Speaking in some foreign tongue, and moving his hands as if he was preparing himself for something. Aeroulus might've seen the fruition of his work if he didn't hear the glass shatter in his right ear,a nd looked as the ship Captain took a daring jump downward, retrieving his guns from there holsters.


A small smirk of a certain interest came across his face as he began to move back. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" and with that shout, his body propelled himself forward, as his arms flew up and his feet began to bend and crouch inward.

Aeroulus rolled the following in his 8 dice:
1, 9, 2, 9, 9, 9, 9, 4


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 5 successes.

And with that note, his feet touch the floor and his body goes down for a brief second, springing upward by the next. His back but was a few centimeters away from Radiance's. "Well. Looks like you're ready to fight as well." He started drawing his blades, holding his left one in the reverse grip and while his right was standard. "You ever fight Dragon Blood before?"

Aeroulus rolled the following in his 9 dice:
6, 10, 8, 10, 8, 3, 8, 6, 9


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 8 successes.

"The sun's fury is nigh."

 

[Valentine1]

Radiance felt relief slide through his body as he was joined by someone who could actually fight.


"Nah, man. Never." In his broken Low Realm.

 

[Blacklion]

Aeroulus


"Shit. Me either. Always a first time for everything, right?." He rose his left arm up, his forearm pointing back towards Radiance. "You ready, anyway?"

 

[Valentine1]

Radiance bumped his non-gun-wielding fist into Aeroulus's gesture.


"Let's do it, bro."

 

[Devlin]

Kain


Kain saw Gentle jump out the window right before he cast and made a face that you might not see very often. Something between shock, fear, and general discomfort. He hesitated casting out there now, and quickly turned to the door where he moved to the room adjacent to them to cast the spell. As he moved to look out the front now he realized this was maybe the better idea anyways.


The room was burning slightly now, but it had just started. He had to be in and out.


Well there wasn't time to waist now. Kain moved to place his hand against the window. He took a deep breath in and aimed for as many people as he could. He could feel the heat of the fire here, and taste the smoke. After he cast this he was going to have to get out of this building, and fast.


As soon as the butterflies started to fly from his sleeve he ran back out of the room and back into the other bedroom. He looked at the window now. This was it...

 

[Sarky]

Kain:


You are surrounded by the familiar sound of the very air being sliced in two as thousands of razor-edged shards scythe their way from you to the troops below. They were completely unprepared for this surprise, and most are lacerated very badly indeed. Three soldiers were outside the area of effect, and they run for cover, dragging what wounded comrades they can, leaving the others to bleed to death, screaming "Dragon's teeth! They have a sorcerer! They have a fucking sorcerer!"


Death of Obsidian Butterflies: Perception + Occult- Results for 11 dice: 7 successes [ 4 2 5 2 1 7 0 0 6 1 0 ] +Permanent essence = 10 successes. The soldiers are surprised, so no DV. Remove armour soak of 6L, = 4 dice damage.


Rolling damage for all at once- Results for 4 dice: 3 successes [ 7 9 6 0 ] (TN: 7) Not instant death, but without medical treatment they'll die from blood loss soon.


Aeroulus, Ever-Flowing Radiance:


The green glow from around the corner winks out. 5 soldiers round the corner, 2x2, one in front, javelin in one hand, shield in the other.


{Join battle 6: Results for 6 dice: 3 successes [ 5 3 9 9 6 8 ] (TN: 7)


Tick 2 for them, 0 for you}


Kana:


The green-robed man's spell complete, he stands back up and holds at the corner of the inn, tensing up, waiting for the soldiers to engage before making his move. Cathak Celadus spends time looking thoughtfully at the supports of that side of the inn.

 

[Tabby]

"Bloody hell!"


Alia's curse was quiet, barely reaching her own ears, much less further, but her annoyance was anything but; she had been trying to cut off the head of the snake in a decisive first strike. That the man had survived suggested such a blow suggested that he had very, very good armor - much better than her combiantion of cloth and leather, Alia ruefully realized. On the other hand, that the shot had spun him around and knocked him off his feet was good, and she had seen the spurts of blood when it struck and a few moments later when he tore the offending shaft from his body - it had struck true and gone right through the armor. Even more telling was his relinquishing his gargantuan war-scythe; that shoulder must be nearly out of commission if he was forced to resort to a one-handed sword.


Not a wasted effort after all, she thought with a tight smile. Even as she pondered, though, her body took over. There were rules to sniping, after all - it wasn't just randomly shooting at people and hoping that someone fell over. That was the job of an archer providing cover fire. No, a sniper had even more clear-cut rules. Taking a shot between breaths, to ensure that the bow's aim was as steady as possible when shot. Using terrain to stay hidden and find a good spot to strike from. Putting as much in between yoruself and the target(s) as possible, so that by the time they can make their way over obstructions to where you shot from, you have time to react.


And, most importantly, never take two shots from the same hiding place.


Alia covered the first two meters in the blink of an eye, then launched herself into the air with the lowest possible trajectory, trading height for distance in her jump. Her defenses were entirely irrelevant at this point; no one had seen her, and by keeping as low as she was, behind obtrusions and taller buildings, hopefully no one would. Time was of the essence; she had managed to draw off a few of the Dragonblooded, but they weren't stupid - as soon as they realized that she was no longer there, they would very likely regroup and move back to the main battle scene.


And what a scene it was turning out to be! A smile came unbidden to her face as a maelstrom of massive, beautiful butterflies erupted from one window, pouring towards the mortals in its path like an inexorable tide of glass. The commotion in the alleyway had picked up, and she thought she had seen a dark shadow on a rooftop near the inn, though it had only lasted a scant moment before disappearing entirely. It would seem that the Solars were not such fools as to die in their sleep - and more importantly, there were Solars here. What luck!


Alia landed on another roof with a combat roll, ducking out of sight behind a stall of some sort atop the otherwise flat building - rooftop access, most likely. She had eyes for little other than the massive armored Dragonblooded, though - he towered over the soldiers, making entirely futile their attempt to surround and protect him; it would have worked against an opponent at head level, but she was well above them and could very well just shoot over them. Her target, of course, was obvious; the one to order the initial attack and the death of all humans inside. Cathak Celadus.


She had already failed once, though, and she did not intend to do so again. Nearly completely out of sight in the gloom, her body nearly entirely hidden behind the extrusion, she aimed carefully with another bolt. This one would seal his fate as the first had not been able to, no matter how the monster tried to defend himself. If he was even able to in the first place.


{Move+Jump flurry, angling widely around the Fire aspect + her crew to slowly approach the inn. Once Alia landed, she began an Aim action towards the big dude, which takes her out of comission for the next 3 ticks - I'm not sure if you even CAN flurry Aim actions, but regardless, not going to bother trying; she can damn well wait 3 ticks. Also, just in case it's actually important: 14 meter horizontal jump + 5 meter run = 19 meters covered}

 

[Valentine1]

"Guess I'll take the left, then." Ever-flowing Radiance grinned, although with the slight look of worry on his face that--well, wasn't very characteristic.


This was a squad of men trained to hunt and kill him, after all. But he wasn't nearly about to let a little man in a suit of armor or...or with big choppy swords...or...whatever. Bother him! Would he? No! Instead, he'd hold up both his hands in an admission of defeat--not to the army, but to Aero, for making him fight and stuff, giving a cocky shrug of his shoulders.


So quite suddenly he was moving, his revolver 'dropped' to swing around on his trigger finger, securely held in his hand, albeit without the risk of accidental discharge, and moved in with a graceful -- well, sorta graceful, at least -- movement, almost apologetic as he punched at his target.


tl;dr: Eff that I'm not burning plasma on mortals. Feel the wrath of my badass kung-fu judo karate punch of doom.


Dex + MA + (+1 Punch), right?

Raddy rolled the following in his 9 dice:
1, 10, 8, 4, 7, 10, 7, 9, 5


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 8 successes.

 

[Sarky]

Ever-Flowing Radiance:


5 successes get through soldier's armour (penalising them for just having moved). Add +1 Str and +3B for pistol-whipping goodness = 9, not enough to penetrate armour of 11B. You do Essence damage: Results for 4 dice: 2 successes [ 0 2 1 8 ] (TN: 7)


With a swift jab you land one of the soldiers on his ass, a little dazed, but not out of the fight just yet.


Still tick 0, Aeroulus has an action before the soldiers move. Ever-Flowing Radiance moves next on tick 5.


Alia:


Taking careful aim at Cathak Celadus, you see him grabbing a cobblestone, and staring intently at it. He glows with white essence and his skin takes on a slightly darker, harder hue.

 

[Devlin]

"Alright burning building... Gotta get out... You got this Kain.. you can do this"


He looked at the window now and mentally talked himself through this. His hands moved to grip his staff firmly as he took in a deep breath. Here went nothing...


---------------------------


Kain rolled the following in his 3 dice:


10, 6, 5


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 2 successes


---------------------------


Kain ran for the window at full speed and placed his staff out in front of him to use it like a pole vault. Of course Kain didn't really know how to vault and the use of the staff to do such really helped him in no way what so ever. It didn't stop him however, and as he launched himself from the window and he could see the fighting down below. The seconds seemed to last minutes as Kain was in the air. His attention fully on the two men fighting. For a second, he wondered if they too were exalts.


The thought would have wondered in his mind a tad bit longer if he had not met his destination with a crack. His lack of paying any real attention caused him to land on the roof with anything but grace. He lifted his head up from the wreckage that was his landing and looked around.


"I made it? Holy Sh-"

 

[Feantari]

Kana


Seeing the dragon blooded are distracted, Kana moves toward Aeroulus and Radiance hoping to mop up the group of soldiers and round on the dragon blooded when they have a few less friends.


Leaping from the roof she makes a silent attack on the soldier in the rear. Using her sai in the man's neck to break her fall she tumbles free and braces against the opposite wall with one foot, Look and See at the ready.


--------------------------------------------------------------------


Dex+Stealth


Kana rolled the following on her 8 dice:


6, 10, 3, 10, 1, 8, 3, 8


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 6 successes.


Join Battle - Wits+Awareness+MA(from stance)


Kana rolled the following on her 13 dice:


3, 6, 9, 8, 7, 5, 4, 8, 8, 8, 1, 1, 3


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 6 successes.


Dex+MA+Sai accuracy (11 dice)


Kana rolled the following on her 11 dice:


1, 9, 10, 4, 9, 6, 4, 2, 10, 1, 10


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 8 successes.


For clarity, I'm attacking the back guy in the group of 5 that Aero and Radiance just started attacking.

 

[Blacklion]

Aeroulus


Looked to see as his companion was able to throw a punch hard enough to launch one of the Imperial Soldiers on the floor. An interesting feat to say the least but the mercenary knew that just punch's wouldn't be enough to stop these legions. Instead, he chose to turn his body around to face where the four or five Soldiers were, arming himself with his right blade.


He ran swiftly, as his right arm reared back upon the other soldier in front and as the distance close, it propelled itself forward in order to cut through the air as if it were nothing and plunge itself deep into the armor of the victim, hopefully disabling him with in one stroke.

Aeroulus rolled the following in his 18 dice:
2, 10, 10, 9, 9, 6, 5, 1, 2, 8, 10, 2, 10, 2, 1, 5, 5, 1


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 11 successes.

[4 Strength + 4L+ 7 remaining successes - 6L = 9 Raw damage]

Aeroulus rolled the following in his 9 dice:
3, 8, 4, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 3


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 3 successes.

 

[Sarky]

Kana:


Launching yourself at the lone soldier in the rear, you take him completly unawares and drive the point of one sai deep between neck and shoulder as you land on him. A spurt of crimson suggests you hit something vital, and he'll bleed out quickly. Unfortunately his cry of surprise and pain alerts the two soldiers in front of him, and they turn around to attack.


{Adding 2 stunt dice for dramatic attack. Results for 2 dice: 2 successes [ 3 0 ] (TN: 7)


Surprised soldier gets no DV. 10 successes + 6 for Str and weapon damage - 6L soak, = 10 damage dice


Damage- Results for 10 dice: 4 successes [ 0 4 9 1 0 6 2 1 2 8 ]


Kana's Dodge/Parry DV is now 4


The others get a chance to notice the rear attack. Per+ Awareness- Results for 6 dice: 6 successes [ 8 4 0 2 7 0 ] (TN: 7)}


They both throw their javelins, with just a few feet betwen you, and whip out their swords to try and finish the job. The first one goes wide by a hair's breadth, while the other one... With a golden glow and a wisp of smoke you're suddenly an inch to the right, and it clatters harmlessly against the wall.


{Tick 2:


Soldier 1: Results for 6 dice: 3 successes [ 9 8 3 8 6 2 ] (TN: 7) - Miss, Kana's DV now 3


Soldier 2: Results for 6 dice: 6 successes [ 0 2 7 7 9 7 ] (TN: 7) - Hit, 0 extra successes. Flickering Shadow Evasion raises Kana's DV to 9, javelin misses. their next action is at tick 6}


Aeroulus:


Your sword sinks deep into the man's side, and he yells in a mix of anger, pain and fear, and does the only thing he can- He tries to stab you with the javelin, but you block it easily.


{Soldier is at -1 from wounds, Dex+Melee+Acc- Results for 7 dice: 4 successes [ 0 4 9 6 1 8 3 ] (TN: 7) Missed/parried. His next action is at tick 6 }


Ever-Flowing Radiance:


The soldier you floored stays prone and lashes out with his javelin, a low sweep attempting to knock the feet from under his assailant.


{Radiance's Dodve DV is 3 from previous action


Soldier: Dex+Melee+Acc-Wound- Results for 7 dice: 4 successes [ 3 8 7 7 1 9 3 ] (TN: 7)- Hit, 1 success.


Radiance must make a Dex+Athletics roll to stay on his feet.


Everyone:


The sounds of fighting can be heard around the front of the inn. Alia can see the woman in red and her troops have run into some other trouble, pirates of some sort. Now why would a bunch of pirates willingly take on a Dragon-Blooded..?


For those who can see him, the man in green, with the Dragon Talons, looks dismayed. Cathak Celadus moves to engage, but he lays a hand on one armoured shoulder, shaking his head. He begins shaping more sorcery, while Celadus and the remaining men form a tight protective circle with their shields. Celadus activates what looks like a gem set into his gauntlet and in a bitter voice shouts "Melina! Back to the inn, there are too many anathema, we're getting out of here!"

 

[Devlin]

"Hey are leaving? I mean... Damn right they are leaving! You better leave! I'm a paragon of combat you fools! You stood no chance! Ehhhahahahah!"


Kain stood on the roof triumphant like he hadn't been a chicken shit this entire time. Then the thought struck him.


"How the hell am I getting off this roof?"


-------------------------


Perception + Awareness to find a way off the roof


Kain rolled the following in his 5 dice:


10, 5, 4, 5, 1


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 2 successes.

 

[Blacklion]

Aeroulus


[Tick 3]


"Sorry. You guys didn't stand a chance."


He muttered as he rose his right arm upward, high into the night sky as he looked down on the Imperial soldier. As much as he was a pawn in their little game, they were still following under the Dragon Blood and as such, even if he spared his life, there was probably nothing that would make Solar 'good people.' On top of that, they had executed people who had nothing to do with the conflict.


He brought his sword downward on to the soldier seeking to split his skull in two with one fine strike.

Aeroulus rolled the following in his 18 dice:
10, 2, 3, 5, 2, 4, 9, 4, 9, 1, 9, 7, 5, 10, 5, 1, 4, 9


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 9 successes.

[4 Strength + 4L + 5 successes - 6L =7]

Aeroulus rolled the following in his 7 dice:
8, 5, 7, 2, 9, 5, 7


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 4 successes.

 

[Sarky]

Back alley:


The poor man only has time to scream before his helm shatters under Aeroulus' blow and his blade crunches through bone and brain with a sickening noise and a spray of gore. The scream dies with a gurgle, he spasms once, then slumps.


The remaining three try to retreat as best they can towards Cathak Celadus and the sorcerer. With Kana between them and safety though, they clearly believe they're unlikely to make it out alive.


Out front:


A burst of flame further down the street results in a number of terrified screams, and soon after, the blurred form of the woman, Melina can be seen racing up the street with the speed of a forest wildfire, leaving a trail of burning footprints. She's heading for the defending group of Exalts and soldiers, which are beginning to become indistincts as an unnatural wind plays up around them.

 

[Valentine1]

"Ow."


Spoken in true Skytongue, mind you, as Radiance waited for the world to stop spinning, resting his hands on the ground for a precious few seconds. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, arms draped over his legs, as he watched the little mortals run off, the smell of the fire bothering his nose, wondering if he had ordered dinner yet. He had a wonderful chef, you see, on his pleasure boat, and--


Shit. Fire. Exalts. Mortals. Duty. Stuff like that. Where's my gun?


Oh. Right there. Cool.


He stood up, shaking off the dizziness, and turned his head to Aeroulus ever so slightly, as his eyes looked over his weapon and made sure everything was still...you know. There. The guy was no blacksmith or mechanic or whatever you call someone who fixes firewands, afterall. But he could keep the pieces in one pile, at least.


"So that guy who tripped me, he was obviously a Dragon." The click-click of his firewand. "Don't worry, I'll kill him."


He popped something in his back and rubbed his backside for a moment as he walked, slowly, after the retreating soldiers.

 

[Devlin]

Kain moved down from the roof via a ladder on the side. He moved his hand up to his head as he touched the ground, only to find he had used enough essence that his caste mark wasn't going to be hidden so well. He grumbled slightly realizing he wasn't going to be able to blend in and run. He also knew he couldn't defend himself as well as the other exalts that were fighting seemed to be able to. His best bet right now was to stick by them it seemed.


He didn't like this idea much, but he decided it was best. He made his way, carefully making sure not to get involved in any fighting, closer to Kana, Aero, and Radiance. It was his best hope right now.

 

[Feantari]

Kana


Kana let the men pass, but kept her guard up in case they tried anything funny.


------------------------------------------------------------


Just guarding and waiting for the situation to diffuse so we can run for it.

 

[Sarky]

Kana:


Cathak Celadus fixes you with what can only be described as a stony glare. "We WILL find you again, demons." he snarls. "You cannot run for long."


A whirlwind winks into existence around the group, as the man in green yells "Stormwind Rider!". It fans the flames of the inn, redoubling the strength of the fire, before hurtling off at a hundred miles an hour, carrying the survivors with it.


Alia:


{You have enough time to take another shot at the group if you wish, although the surrounding wind will add another 3 to Celadus' DV.}


Everyone:


Alas, it is far from quiet. There are still a few screams from the inn, but the flames are so fierce by now that saving anyone left inside is suicide. The pained moans of the dying Realm soldiers subside, either as they finally let go of life, or are helped along by enterprising citizens who reckon that a good chain hauberk would fetch a good price.


The large gang of sailors that harassed the Fire Aspect starts milling about the area, searching for someone. Radiance recognises some faces from his crew. They are all sporting a number of nasty cuts and bruises.


Alarm bells are going crazy throughout the city. People are haphazardly trying to get a bucket chain going to limit the fire damage.

 

[Devlin]

Kain saw his chance with the racket calmed down. He held his staff out in front of him like he was trying to emulate some kind of odd fighting style with it as he walked up swinging it around.


"Ah, good fight good fight. Took out twenty of them myself! Hope your numbers were as high as mine! Ahahaha! If you must, I accept. You can all be my body guards! Congratulations! Party! Yeah!"


The sad thing was, he actually did do some decent damage out front.


"But on a more serious note. Is there any way we can leave here now? I mean I know we are skipping the introduction thing but uhhh, alarm bells you know. Not a fan. To much noise."


Kain talked a little fast yet, and seemed to be doing it on purpose so he you didn't have much time to tell him to go die or anything. It was also a speech tactic used normally to confuse anyone who might be too slow to keep up at all. Not that any of them were that slow, just maybe that Kain thought they might be. He was an arrogant ass sometimes being raised a rich kid.

 

[Blacklion]

Aeroulus


His swords swiped across the air, as the droplets of blood left the edge of his blade and proceeded to place both of them in their sheaths, before his ears open up to hear the sounds of the sirens go crazy.


"Doesn't matter. We need to move from this place now." With the sirens going crazy and all of them at the crime scene, it just wasn't a good look. He walked around the corner, waving his hand in the air for them to follow out.

 

[Feantari]

Kana


Kana cleans her blades and returns them to her back while talking.


"We should also find the archer. I can track down that one and meet the rest of you somewhere. Perhaps the docks?"


"Care to give us a ride Radiance," she says with a wink.

 

[Valentine1]

"Yeah, yeah, fine." He said, eyes not focused on Kana, instead down the barrel of his repeater, eye focused on on the path that took the aggressors away. "...bang."


He spun the weapon around his finger and holstered it--albeit fancy, he didn't seem to notice he had done anything, just a casual example of his familiarity of the weapon.


"Yeah, let's scramble. See you at the docks, gotta get my ships ready for sail. We'll get out to sea as soon as possible. If that Archer's trouble, you know where to find me."


And with that, he was trotting towards his familiar faces. He scooped someone up by the collar of his shirt, yanking him away from the fire, and muttered something to him in his ear, gave him a half-hearted salute, and disappeared into the crowd.


[[Getting the men organized and the ships prepped for sail.]]

 

[Sarky]

Radiance:


Your men surround you protectively. One of them pipes up "Cap'n, glad t'see you well. We heard the whistle but we was mostly takin' shore leave so it took a while to gather the lads and, well, that was the Wyld Hunt, we're only human. That woman in red killed five of us before anyone managed ta land a punch on her, but we managed to give her a few lumps she won't soon forget. Young Jenkins there managed to get her a good whack across the back of the head with a plank, he's a sneaky one..."


... And so on until you reach the ships. Your men are a little short-staffed thanks to the Hunt, but they're just going to work harder to make up for it. The Divine Spirit and her companions will be ready to sail within half an hour.


Your first mate takes you aside for a quiet word. "Captain. You know I respect your judgement and decisions as well as anyone here, but leaving port at night ain't very auspicious. The crew won't like it much, though they'll not say it. We're on the run, ain't we?"