Inn-world Combat: The Dread Reign

[st_aff]

At the crest of the mountain, Coc'zac sat atop Nazu's head looking through a glass that Hotor held to his eye. Vokva sat beside them, little more than a pile of bones atop a pile of rocks, and Hafur paced behind them, holding the troops in check. They milled in the pre-dawn gloom, skeletons, wights, zombies, wraiths, and all manner of undead creatures. Periodically, Nazu swept the space behind them with their tail bowling over anyone who'd gotten too close.

The first pinpoint of light had Coc'zac's teeth chattering with excitement in his disembodied head. Today was the day he'd been planning for. Soon, soon the Inn and its occupants would be his. Nazu unleashed a heavy sigh tinged with poison and necrosis. Fortunately the troops were all dead already, and Coc'zac didn't have anything in the way of arms to hit them with.

It fell to Hafur to gesture the troops forward as punctuation to Coc'zac's 'rousing' speech, and together they crept through the portal, avoiding its fizzing and popping edges demarcated in what would be neon blue, if they could still see in color. They couldn't properly hear either, but they were aware of the noise and the danger it marked.

Once they were all through, the advance scouts, four bands of skeleton archers swept quietly as they could through the shadows to take up position around the main buildings, prepared to pick off anyone who exited--for example for a pre-sun jog. And once they'd settled into wary, silent waiting, occasionally interrupted by the pop of a joint or the clatter of toe bones on stone, the next wave rolled in finding shadows to hide in until the residents emerged with the wights taking point.The bone naga and three flameskulls slipped through the lobby doors and stealthed toward the offices, assuming to find the command center there.

It wasn't long before the invaders caught the notice of the residents, and then shouts began to echo through the grey light and journals filled with messages and reminders of siege plans. Several strongly worded messages urged the kids and those without weapons or fighting skills to head for the Temple where the Hallow spell would protect them from unholy undead things.

And so the battle for the Madonna Inn began...

Comments

Tag Loki

[st_hotflashes]

Liz had been having trouble sleeping. It wasn't just all the complicated things going on in her life right now, but also it seemed that, officially, the cat she had seemed to adopt was no longer at the inn at all. Liz just had to hope he wasn't eaten.

So she was out at night in the flower garden looking up at the stars when she heard movement. She sat up just a little from her position lying on the ground and then froze - were those skeletons? They had weapons too.

She slowly rolled to her stomach and used one of the bushes to get a better look. They did not look friendly. They were also in the way of her getting back into the building. She didn't even have her journal with her for help. Her eyes scanned up in the darkness to where she knew Peter's room was. Would he hear her if she called? Would he have enough time?

No. She didn't want to put him into danger like that. She'd have to figure this out on her own.

Re: Tag Loki

[st_ratagem]

One early casualty of having very little actually tied to any given time of day was anything like a schedule, so Loki had used his balcony to get up on the roof to do some stargazing himself. Identify constellations, their placement... maybe figure out if this was actually some version of Earth and possibly where in time it was. Just because the technology of the Inn was set in the past didn't mean the world around it matched.

It was slow going. Astronomy had never been a particular passion.

Sound from the ground below came as a welcome distraction, and he looked over the edge of the roof in time to see a figure (female... Liz, maybe? it was hard to tell at a distance) roll under a bush and several thin white figures fan out. A few glints off the thin figures as they moved were obviously weapons and armor; Loki wasn't a 'warrior' but he'd been on more than enough battlefields to identify such things.

He could have just wished the bush-person luck and retreated back to his stargazing, but instead he dropped off the edge of the roof and then went over the railing of his balcony. He couldn't fly, but strategic shapeshifting let him get down almost as quickly. Snake to coil and move horizontally, squirrel to run down sufficiently rough walls....

Black cat, for a soft landing in the flower garden, between the bush-person and the... skeletons. How interesting.

Re: Tag Loki

[st_hotflashes]

She sucked in a quick breath when the cat appeared, but thankfully years of learning to hide and evade meant she was good at being quiet. Eyes wide, she looked at the cat.

"Shadow .. be careful." It was barely a whisper as she held out her hand to him.

OTA

[st_x5_494]

Waking up on Sunday was much different than it had been his entire time here at the Inn. For once, there were people actually trying to kill everyone.

To say Alec wasn't looking a little forward to kicking some actual ass would be a lie, but did it really have to be weird undead shit like zombies and skeletons? He was pretty sure he saw a flaming skull, too - what the hell! Still, he was not going to sit back and let everyone else have the fun. That would be his story, anyways. It had nothing to do with the fact he might be invested in some of the people's lives here and actually cared about them. Nope. This was pure trained instinct.

Alec was smart enough to forgo his gun for one of Bo's swords - she said he could borrow one and he'd obliged. He watched as a zombie's head went flying off onto the pavement as he swung like he was a professional baseball player.

"Alright, who's next?"

(ooc: feel free to assume he's fighting whatever undead baddie floats your boat!)

Re: OTA

[st_ripetail]

Rocket aimed to exit the buildings as quickly as possible to fight in the open, but he honestly wasn't that worried about the stank dead things.

It was probably a miscalculation, as he'd managed to get himself in the middle of a crowd of things that didn't care if you hopped on their shoulders and broke their necks, and only cared a little more if he filled them full of cannon holes.

It was fun, yeah, but making a hole in the crowd to get out through was tougher than he expected. Not that that stopped him from laughing and yelling, "Come get some, assholes!" among other, more profane, invitations to come at him.

OTA

[st_affandskull]

Even if it hadn't been undead, Dorian would have joined combat. He'd spent too long with the Inquisition not to, no doubt. It was a terrible habit, really, running towards trouble rather than sensibly taking cover. But it was undead, and any necromancer worth the name would have been attracted to that much negative energy.

Ordinarily he'd have found a group to work with (read: hide behind), but at the moment it was just easier to take control of a few shambling corpses and back them up. A patch of undead-on-undead combat with a side of fiery ruin moved through the Inn grounds, with Dorian at the center.

Minions - OTA, tag Peter

[st_ayedhidden]

When the chaos happened, Annie knew she needed to help. She had powers. If she didn't help and someone got hurt, she would be partially to blame. She snuck into Peter's room and retrieved the small web-shooters he made for her.

Wearing her costume that had a black spider drawn inn permanent marker on her shirt, Annie crawled out the window. She saw a skeleton about to shoot an arrow at someone leaving the building. She pounced on the skeleton and tried to pry its head off.

"Sorry, the inn is closed." She quipped as she felt the skeleton head slowly coming loose.

Re: Minions - OTA, tag Peter

[st_arkintern]

"Annie?"

Peter almost can't believe what he's seeing when he spots her. Annie with her web-shooters. With the web-shooters he made her. The ones he told her were just for practice, just for now.

He doesn't know whether to be angry or relieved.

Peter races towards her, then launches himself at the skeleton, feet first; its head easily pops off, its jaw neatly separating from its skull as it collapses.

He turns and looks at Annie, wide-eyed behind his Spidey-mask.

"Annie, you need to get to the temple." And before she can open her mouth to protest: "Please don't argue with me. I know you want to help, but you can't help this way. Not right now."

Molly at the Temple - Open

[st_eampunk]

Molly hadn't needed the journals to know something was wrong. She'd been hit with waves of panic and fear, enough that it made it through her walls. When she did look at the journal to see what was going on, she put on Harry's coat, got her wands and headed out to do wards. As she stepped out of her room, Molly saw Miguel come out of his room with Dante, and she made sure that they joined her.

"I'm going to veil us, uh think of it like an invisibility cloak, so no one will see us leave."

It didn't take long for them to reach the Temple and luckily Dante stayed very close to Molly. Once they approached the building, she ushered them inside. "Be careful and stay really close to Dante. I'll be right back, I promise." She smiled at Miguel to hopefully reassure him before she headed back outside to start setting up wards and traps. She could already feel a drain on her but she pushed it aside like she had in Mexico. There would be time later to deal with the fallout of her actions.

Molly & Corbie

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Knowing that she didn't have a fighting bone in her body--to Illyana's constant disappointment--Corbie had come to the temple with Mildmay on her heels because regardless of what he might or might not be able to do against ghouls, he would not leave her. But she hated feeling helpless. Useless. This was the closest to home and family she had for the foreseeable future, and possibly longer than that. She wanted to protect them somehow.

So when she saw Molly enter with Miguel and then go back out with the promise to return, she called after: "How can I help?"

Coc'zac - Boss Fight

[st_ockcharacter]

Coc'zac the Conqueror, prime general and guiding darkness of the Dread Legion, did not remember what warm fuzzies were. He was beyond life, beyond death, beyond base emotion! But this, he imagined, would have been a moment for at least tepid fuzzies. There was an Inn full of powerful beings who would make powerful undead minions, bolstering the might of the Dread Legion even further! They had no conception of what was coming for them, and all would fall before him! And his lesser generals.

But mostly they would fall before great Coc'zac!

Nazu, reliable Nazu, started breathing bone shards into the desert, creating a border of spikes to pen the living to their killing field, and Coc'zac rolled off the dragon's head to see to certain matters himself. Great leaders such as him led from the front! And it was always a good idea to remind the twins that there were reasons he, Coc'zac, was the leader and they, whoever they were, were his servants.

Fortunately for that purpose, a band of Inn residents appeared to be inclined to challenge the demilich's magnificence. Coc'zac flew to meet them, teeth already clicking on the rote words to call a thick beam of sickening energy from the sky upon them.

Re: Coc'zac - Boss Fight

[st_ormbreaker]

"So what is the game plan here?"

Thor gestures with Stormbreaker over at Coc'zac, who's already racing towards them with a rapidfire speed that reminds him a bit of the fire dragon he didn't-quite-defeat-himself on Muspelheim.

"Smash real close," Thor directs a hand at himself. "Fire from afar." He gestures at Tony. "Do some magic." He points at Loki. "Sound reasonable? I should be able to draw him away, keep him distracted."

He doesn't want this creature drawing any closer to the inn -- or to his friends in it -- than he has already. And given how quickly he's moving, well, they'd better decide fast on a game plan.

Hotor - Boss Fight

[st_ockcharacter]

When Hotor launches his assault on the inn, he's surprised to find that there are leaving creatures just stupid enough to rise up to meet him. He's not accustomed to being challenged by anyone, save for Coc'zac, who he has no warm feelings for. And as the living race towards him, his thoughts are immediately on Coc'zac and the hatred he feels towards him.

With one swift, powerful motion, he swings out the moment one of his would-be attackers comes within sword's reach.

Re: Hotor - Boss Fight

[st_unaligned]

Bo brought up her sword to block the attack and was thankful it seemed as though she had not lost her touch after all this time. She had to brace herself - the mummy dude had a kick to him.

"Looks like someone's in need of a facial." She pushed back at Hotor's sword and went for a swing herself. Despite herself, Bo was smiling - as if something inside of her relished in this chaos.

Nazu - Boss Fight

[st_ockcharacter]

Nazu surveyed the battlefield with a studied resignation. They did hate the living for their...liveliness. So much energy and passion expended on such pointlessness. Everything ended, except death. Death was endless, and they had tired of it centuries ago.

So, too, had they tired of Coc'zac's grand schemes and plans. Left to their own devices, Nazu would find a proper lair, amass treasure, and sleep, but they had few devices left, their own or otherwise and even fewer designs. They were stuck in this partnership until something ended their undeath and they did dare hope this battle might be the thing.

They would not let the living win of course. No honor could be found in that, and no sport. They would do their best, unless it was simply too exhausting, and then they would do almost their best and that would have to be enough.

At Coc'zac's signal, they took to the air and stretched out their massive tattered wings. And when they saw the flat land clear and black with peculiar stripes on it, they chose it for a blast of their bone shard breath. The cone of shards made jagged teeth to pen the living in, but also spilled shattered bits over the entire surface. All those who walked upon it would move slower, or risk vicious cuts upon their feet.

Pleased by their preparation (and Coc'zac's departure), Nazu retreats some forty feet up and prepares for the incoming attacks.

Re: Nazu - Boss Fight

[st_ripetail]

Oh, oh, oh. That is a giant flying bone lizard. A GIANT FLYING FUCKING BONE LIZARD. Something to shoot at - a lot! An excuse to test his new rig and fly!

Without paying attention to anything else, or even looking around to see if he had backup, Rocket hit the thing to start up his rig and aimed himself and his fully-extended cannon right at the giant flying bone lizard.

"HEY UGLY!" he yelled, even before he got into firing range. "I'd say pick on someone your own size but instead I'M GONNA PICK ON YOU!"

Vovka - Boss Fight

[st_ockcharacter]

If the stupid living creatures of the inn planned to escape or defy Coc'zac, they would have another thing coming to them. They would serve him or become pulp on the ground. Vovka approached the inn from one of the opposites sides and surveyed her surroundings.

When the door of one of the buildings opened, Vovka was already swinging her large fists - She would not let them escape.

Re: Vovka - Boss Fight

[st_artliving]

Xavin was female when she opened the door, male as he ran out, and a massive pile of orange rocks as he ran to meet the bone creature's fists with his own.

Neither of them would escape!

Hafur - Boss Fight

[st_ockcharacter]

Hotor charges in sword-first, as he has always done, and Hafur resists the urge to rub his forehead in exasperation. There isn't much forehead left, for one thing, and Hotor would always be Hotor, for another.

Hafur could no longer remember their mother's face, or her name, or anything about her life. The only thing he had of her was a half-remembered whisper in the night: take care of your brother, Hafur. He does not have your fine mind, and you need each other. Through war and conquest, death and undeath, all the bloody centuries of their existence, somehow that whisper remained.

There is no joy in Coc'zac's war, and Hafur is long past caring whether the skull succeeds or fails. But Hafur will take care of his brother. They need each other. And so, he turns to those defenders of the Inn outside his brother's reach, and he raises his arms, his tattered wrappings whipping back in a nonexistent gale, and he calls to the swarm.

Re: Hafur - Boss Fight

[st_affofthemoon]

In the chaos that ensued once the Inn found themselves under attack, Zahra could not sit back and let everyone else fight. A part of it, yes, was that she missed such a battle and the urge to remember what it felt like was strong. Another part of her was protective of her children - she would be damned if someone or something came here to turn their safe haven into a world dangerous for her unborn.

She promised Kash she wouldn't venture to far from him and she was doing just that as she summoned a wall of light between Hafur and the inn.

That was when she saw the insects appear and braced herself for their attack.

For Vax, Scanlan, Steph, Regina

[st_ockcharacter]

Theirs was a very specific task, knock out the command post, and take as many of the residents as they could. Not take them down, but take them, because they would be the useful ones. So Coc'zak assumed, and so they had been informed.

Which was why although the rest of the Dread Reign amassed outside to take on whatever resistance the residents could supply (puny, it was to be imagined), Altair and the Naga led a pack of three flame skulls into the inn in a patch of magical darkness.

With luck, the command center would be easy to identify, and they wouldn't be spotted before they'd done what they came to do.

Re: For Vax, Scanlan, Steph, Regina

[st_abby]

It wasn't the sky lightening for dawn that had woken Vax, or the shift of Stephanie in their bed. Not even the clamor of battle outside had done it. What it was would have been difficult to make sound sensible in the groggy clutch of the early morning, or at all, for that matter. But he'd been sunken in a dream, the impossible quiet and bone-deep coolness to it no less eerie for being familiar. And what had woken him was a voice, sharp and clean and as piercing as any blade, her whispered words ringing in his head as if she'd shouted them, his heart pounding hard in his chest. When the threads of fate have become irreparably tangled, some of them must be cut free.

He'd looked outside, they'd hurried to arm and armor themselves, and some dozen undead bone bags later, there they were defending the Inn like so many others. Him half-distracted by his own thoughts all the while as his blades flashed, his wings unfurled, an inky black shadow fighting in a fury unlike any since Vox Machina stood against the Chroma Conclave. For this thankful fucking once, Vex hadn't argued to either take his boots or when the bigger threats of several bobbing flame skulls, a giant serpent of bone, and a - well, Vax didn't know exactly, but the weirdo had fancy robes and a wicked-looking staff and fuck high-ranking casters, that's what - had appeared and stayed well back with Percy to cut down more skeletons and do some healing. Was this what you meant? Go kill some undead? Is it their threads that need cutting?

He didn't let it stop him, though, or even slow him down. He swooped head-first and dove and threw multiple daggers at the first of the flaming skulls, was what he did. There'd be time for worrying about godly riddles after the battle.

Open (But By Arrangement Plz)

[st_opsummoningme]

It occurred to Illyana, as she made progress sloughing through the army of undead, that most of the trained combatants residing at the Madonna Inn had experience working in small teams to fight threats comprised of many more individuals. It was certainly working in their favor, as she observed the most powerful enemies leading the attempt to herd the residents into a central area being challenged to their respective stand-stills. And while she could very well have aided in one of those multiple stand-offs, there was a less glorious but no less significant value to their greater defense efforts in diverting the swarms of lesser undead from joining those more crucial battles.

And frankly, she had missed the feeling of crushing her way through masses of enemies. She had missed teleporting between one place on the map to another, appearing to catch a cluster of undead completely off-guard and overwhelming them with the surge of a spell or cleaving them apart with slashes of her Soulsword.

"I will crush you all until there is nothing left to reanimate," Illyana swore with distinct satisfaction as she emerged from a sudden portal beside one of her allies and smashed her luminous sword through yet another skeleton.

Re: Open (But By Arrangement Plz)

[st_james]

As much as it had pained him to admit that he was one of those categorized as kids and those without fighting skills, coming face to face with a skeleton army made you reassess really bloody quickly what 'fighting skills' meant.

At home it meant physically fit, can take a punch and has halfway decent hand to hand skills and weapon proficiency even if you don't carry one regularly. Here, he decided as he grappled with one of the undead (and he was not going to think about that until later) it probably included some sort of melee weapon proficiency and a super power.

Which was his last thought before Yana appeared beside him and crushed the skull of the thing that had grabbed him. It sort of crumpled and left him holding a humerus in each hand as it fell apart.

"Appreciated," he hoped he sounded less shell shocked than he felt.

Illyana & Jag

[st_artandstoke]

Jag started when the portal opened beside him, and a bright sword cleaved through the undead he had been roasting. "I hope you were talking to the other blokes," he remarked, more than a little shaky, but unwilling to let that get in his way. Or in the way of quips, apparently.

The fire on the now doubly dead undead died out with a thought, and he turned back to the next line of undead making their way forward. He'd got separated from Emma a little while back, and he could only hope - trust - that she was still all right. He also knew, from what his Emma had told him about Illyana, that he was probably in good company.

He shifted his hands, calling up another fire ball. "I burn, you slash?" And with that, an outward arc of one hand sent the fire curving through the next wave of skeletons, the heat growing inside his chest each time the flames found something to feed from.