Sutoratosu

Turn 2 Ghost enters a Hymn State, Summoning Tama Vajra unto the field! Tama takes one look at one of the Lahmus (A) before unfurling his cape and blasting it with 3 explosive bolts of darkness, dealing [14] damage 3 times for [42] Damage total! Ghost’s Hymn Gauge drains to 15/20! Victoria shoots Officer B; his armor takes most of the impact, only sustaining [5] damage! Aurora fires some healing rays upon Walmond and Victoria, healing them for [18] hp each and curing Mira of her burn! She also regenerates 10 hp, her wounds healing completely! Seeing a new, far larger threat enter the field, Officer B slings lightning at Tama Vajra! He promptly fines that the seal on Aurora is not as simple to overcome as wanting really hard to fry the giant man faced tiger! He bleeds for [8] damage, but it seems his cuts have finally clotted afterwards. Walmond spreads the love as he heals himself, Mira, Navin, Empi, and Ghost for [16] HP Each! Lambda meanwhile taunts the abominations on the field, inciting Lahmu A, B, and Bel Lahmu B into a rage! Mira spends 1 magra and heals herself for [22] hp! Officer D cures Bel Lahmu A’s res debuff! Soldier Squad A attempts to attack Navin after watching him reduce a grown man to tears(2,5,3,9,1)! Amazingly, he dodges each of their sword strikes, leaving the soldiers standing there both amazed and terrified of this explosive god of combat! Empi gives Navin a little push! Sadly Mitsu is on an entirely different killing field and now fireworks go off between the two, but hey he gains +11 Synergy! It’s something, right! She also regenerates 6 hp for her hard work! Soldier Squad B attacks! 1 strikes at Empi, 1 at Victoria, 3 at Lambda, dealing [15], [13], and [13] damage to them! Lahmu A attacks Lambda with zealous fervor (1)! It charges the robot like a freight train driving it’s spindley arm into her chassis for… only [5] damage as it finds her mods break the game. Bel Lahmu A manages to recover from it’s Acid bath and becomes airborne again! DT Archer Squad B opens fire! 4 arrows descend upon Tama for [0] damage as they bounce uselessly off his hide! A stray arrow strikes Rampart however, finding a nice new home in one of the cops knees for the low low rent of [10] damage! Rampart and Press open fire in hail of lead and glory, putting new holes in Bel Lahmu B, A, and Officer A for [28], [28], and [20] damage each! Presses careful marksmanship sends the Bel Lahmus tumbling to the ground, screaming in outrage! Lahmu B strikes at Lambda (2) dealing [2] damage to her! Bel Lahmu B lays screeching on the ground, flailing to try and get back into the air! Looks like it’s having trouble… DT Archer Squad A fires everything they have into Lambda, 5 arrows dealing [10] damage in total as they barely make it past her defensive mods! Officer A conjures and icy spear and fires it at Mira, dealing [5] damage to her and lowering her init by 1. Officer C does the same to Lambda, dealing [6] damage. Enma stikes officer B for [7] damage. He’s cursed, and looking miserable. Kino fortifies Walmond and herself. Walmond has 16 shield. Navin goes absolutely ham and fulfills Bel Lahmu B’s wish, sending it flying with fury and fire in the form of [59] damage as his ungodly punch rends flesh from bone, and completely annihilates the struggling creature before it can land. The Castle fires on Lahmu B with it’s cannon, dealing [53] massive damage and covering it in acid that begins eating through its hide. STATUS

Arya "..." Silence. For just the briefest of moments, the stoic mask that had been her face throughout their discussion was replaced by one of utter surprise once Helen explain the... contents. Nothing more but a widening of the eyes, raising of the brow, but telling enough. Arya gazed at the floor, no end of ponderings running through her mind. The events of not even the past hour played before her on repeat... and the memories of the gun took center stage. The Pipe as well- everything she'd tried. How it had all failed in the end, even the flashbang. How she knew things would've ended, had that strange girl not intervened when she did... "...she'll be back." Arya said, raising her gaze back to Mother Opium. Her eyes gave the answer before her words, "she'll be back... and next time, she won't bother toying with me. Even with the powers you mentioned, there was almost nothing I could do against her. All I could do was try to run when given the chance, try to get us away from there... even that failed. Next time, there will probably be no chance. period." With that said, she shakily rose to her feet, and despite the aches and sores still radiating through her, bowed deeply. So deeply infact, her torso was nigh parallel to the floor "After everything you've done for me and my father... after how long I've known Natalie... you don't have to ask, Mother Opium. I still have questions about all this... but if what's in that jar can grant me the power to stop future assailants, then I swear to you on my life: It doesn't matter who, or what, comes for her next. I will be waiting... and I will have no mercy to give."

"...too late." Dead on Arrival, or Driven away. Those were the only two statuses likely appropriate for whatever poor folks used to live here. How might things have been different, had they arrived on schedule? How would this village have fared if the guards it had called for hadn't been tied up by one stupid incident after another and countless thugs and morons? "Too. Fucking. Late. hmph. heh..." "hehahahahaha..." there was no joy or amusement in that laugh, as she shook her head. Only irony, bitter, cold irony. The Callous Irony that seemed to run this world. What escaped her mouth was not a chuckle one shares with friends, nor even one born of scoffing cynicism. No, it was low, malicous, and vindictive laugh, the type of laugh one gives to fate, after having yet another heaping load of steaming horse shit piled on their plate, when it was already so laden with the manure, "HahahHAHA! Too Late! Much, much too late to help any of them! heheheheheh...." the laughter, lifeless though it already was, died. She drew her rapier with an audible static and pop as the air stunk with burnt ozone. She set her eyes on the biggest and the baddest fucker of them all- obviously the boss from his stature, the way he carried himself, and the various peices of ornate weapon she saw on his belt. "TOO LATE! OF FUCKING COURSE WE'RE TOO LATE! GODS DAMN IT!!! AN ENTIRE TOWN, RAZED TO THE GROUND! HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED HERE!? HOW MANY PEOPLE CURSED THE NAME OF THE GAURD AS THEY WERE SLAUGHTERED LIKE PIGS!?" "Weeks. Fucking weeks we spent, trying to get back on track. All that time spent by this pig fucking bastard and whatever whore son allies he has waiting further inland, wreaking havoc on this isle and it's people... now what? There's no one left to save..." "Indeed there doesn't. I've always found that many who live deserve death, in this world. But just as many who die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Cadence? ...Then do not be so eager, or hasty, to deal out death in your judgement; this rabble here could well be mere scavenge-" "That's cute. You think this is to the death? No... no, ITS TO THE PAIN, Mara! Each and every last one of these Wandroughts I get my hands on..." Move to N15, And let the power of rage Anima support flow through belros

Arya's eyes lingered on the door, too late to bother saying anything by the time she was gone. In all fairness, Natalie had a point- every part of this seemed like something out of a madwoman's demented dreams or some authors realm of fantasy. But despite how fucking mental it sounded, Arya herself had been given far too much evidence that at the very least, something was happening. The wrapped injuries were proof that her little brush with death had been quite real, as was the bullet in her palm even now- it felt and acted the same as any bullet she'd ever held before. Miss Bates' eviscerated corpse had certainly been quite real; she could still smell the stench of burned flesh... "I..." she sighed, turning back to Mother Opium, nodding in slight defeat "Very... well then. I suppose the most pressing question is... how this all even begin, how long has it been going on? How do goddesses end up reincarnating into human form, like you claimed? Or even dying in the first place, for that matter?"

"I see no reason to stop you," the Rider had responded to Zant "Saves me the trouble of unloading his sorry arse myself. Now then, there seems to be a stragler over yonder, a heavier lance could be useful, the way things are going. Come Lenneth, let's see if he's stupid enough to take the bait..." Vuln Self, Canto to E10

Remi, 10-20; Exploring Westward "Remi burn more grimm with hot fiya if have to. No skin off Remi's back. Would be nice if Remi and friends made it through without fight though...but Remi not get hopes up." with that said, the little Nopon kept Helios One at the ready, quietly creeping off towards the west and eyeing the cliffs for any sign of movement. Specifically any that suggested they'd been detected and an ambush was soon to follow.

"Oh, I can think of quite a few things it could refer to..." Cadence answered "So could my father in his last days, I think...or rather, he certainly could once he was dead." From her pursed lips, her fixation on the horizon, the long silence that followed however, it became increasingly clear that for the time being at least, she was done talking about that particular matter. Helena would note her bone white grip on the railing, the way she shook ever so slightly. Shook with something different than the fear and unease she'd shown earlier, when the topic had been on her mother...

Lucille kept her ears peeled as they walked the ruined roads of the town. Despite the large indents she'd (quite gracelessly) fallen into outside, it seemed the creature was not near... for now. She clicked her tongue even more as they reached the guardhouse, touching the largest of the stones. The dragons flew overhead, feeding her a rough idea of how large the blockage was- it was going to take a fair bit of force to clear a navigable path... "I think I have an idea to get through here" she called to the party "but any help to clear it out would be useful... and uh, those of you who can't, you should really stand back." 2 minutes. It was all it took to silently revise her main spell, as One of the others seemed to be doing... something to lift some of the smaller stones out of the way. Edge of Silence gains a trick level! and once she had, she gave the warning to back away, doing the same herself. Taking in a massive breath, she uttered the incantation in so rapid a fashion it blurred into a single, violent syllable. She could feel something stir deep in her gut, rising from up to the back of her throat. A vibration of great force that she knew full well was not from the Thaumaturgy she was weaving, yet could not identify. It was almost as though her head was swimming, alien sounds filtering in, sounds she knew should not be there, could not be there... As she finished the chant though, the sensation became lost in chaos and noise as raw power escaped her lips and was made manifest into this world... "I...how? What?" She shook her head, dazed as ever as the dust cleared and the ruined tower settled. It was made quickly apparent that the results of her spell were not what perplexed her though, given how she turned in all directions, listening for something, but failing to find it. "Did... anyone else hear that just now? Not the crash, before it? Actually... nevermind, if none of my beasts heard it, neither would any of you. Um... let's just keep going, okay? Hopefully she wasn't hiding in whatever part I just accidentally destroyed..."

"....it's common knowledge isn't it? After the Demon of old was defeated and the heroes split the fire emblem's gems and went their separate ways, the Saint Pira settled on Luceria and began preaching and aiding the sick and the lame, standard stuff a lay person expects. The Inquisitor Arduin began to gather his own following on Arcadia in the meanwhile. As for their original intentions... well I'm sure they were both good enough in their own ways. But by now? Doesn't really matter. They've almost certainly been tweaked here and there over the ages to suit the needs of whoever held the reigns at one time or another- warping so far from the original intent that it's barely recognizable. The church isn't run by the goddess after all, but by mortal men who can only claim to know her will. And Mortal Men tend to be the worst monsters of them all, if given the chance..."

"I probably could..." She answered "though in all honesty, after nearly a month out here at the very least, and given the context of everything else that happened, I didn't really expect her to still be alive. But well, since we're already out here and already found one, might as well find the other body. At least they can be together in death that way..." And with that said, she found a spot on the ground and took a seat, closing her eyes (despite it being nothing but a formality for one such as her). Again, she let her senses expand outwards away from her physical body, beyond the boundaries of the physical world, but unlike with Joe and the cabin, she did not stop at what was immediately around her. Now, like a dying star going supernova, she took a breath, and in the next minute the entire world fell away from her in a burst or noise and countless other sensations. Her mind knew the restrictions of no worlds, nor the boundaries of time, as she wondered the sea of the timeless. The waves were choppy, as they were always, but to her surprise, not only was Joe's Wife relatively easy to lock onto in time, but her condition was far from what Lucille had expected... Lucille scries the current location and status of Joe's Wife! "Found her..." She said, slowly closing off her extrasensory state and rising from the frigid earth. She clicked her tongue a few times to reorient (going that deep always did make one a bit... unsteady once they were back in their body) herself, before finally pointing in the general direction of the ruins "The Castle. After Joe got frozen, she ran across the lake and into the castle. Been stuck there ever since, though certainly not for lack of trying- whenever she makes an escape attempt, the damn frost strider finds her and chases her right back inside. It hasn't seem interested in going in itself, though..." With that bit out of the way, she withdrew her cane, pearly white fire erupting along its length, casting her face in dancing shadow and light... "I suggest everyone get ready for a fight. Whatever this thing is, it's definitely patrolling this place. I think Joe's wife could do with some visitors who won't try to murder her just for trying to go home."

Whilst the others warmed themselves, Lucille was off near the ruined cabin. Her beast had scoured the place top to bottom, feeding her report after report of the quite frankly bizarre scene they'd found inside... "What could even do that to someone...?" well, the most obvious answer was some form of magic... but there was something else bothering her, the hole in the roof that sunk deep into the frigid earth, how from the description it seems he didn't put up much of a fight, the way whatever did it to him didn't even bother to eat the corpse... sighing, she walked into the ruined structure herself "Alright, thats enough. Vera, bring me that bottle. Do, help me clear some of the snow from this body...." The two eagerly leapt at the commands, glaring at each other. 5 minutes later, Lucille was crouched over the dead man with the potion in hand, letting her senses recede as the last of the divination flowed forth... Lucille Scried the Body and the Potion! "....Damn it." She rose and left the structure, calling out to the others "Well, it seems we might have even more company. There's something big roaming around these parts- enough to dwarf that cabin... and whatever it was radiated some type of freezing magic. Killed a man too, name was Joe, around 23. Body's perfectly preserved in the cabin, he apparently came up here with his wife to hunt, but they got snowed in for a few days, and when it finally lifted a little and they left to go get more firewood... well, that's when the thing spotted them. Going back inside and hiding didn't help, obviously. His wife's long gone, ran off into the blizzard, and that was at least several weeks ago. Oh, and here, found this stuff on him," She tossed the bows, arrows, and the potion into the snow for the others to collect "The stuff in the bottle apparently makes you tougher for a little bit. From the looks of it, Joe didn't even so much as break the seal before he died."

"Afraid I can't really say," She shook her head "I didn't exactly speak to the church elders on a regular basis, most of the times I got dragged out to meet them it was for formalities. My grandfather probably knows all about it though; and chances are you're not gonna find out much more than you already have, not unless someone gets bold, or stupid. One thing I do know is that the church is frighteningly adept at keeping their dirty laundry from airing in public, lest the faithful start to form doubts of the sheperds they so easily let themselves be sheep to. Infact, that's been just one of the responsibilties of my House over the centuries: making sure that when said laundry did make it out, whoever was responsible was Silenced. Quickly. Not that anyone in the church would openly admit to it- as far as official records are concerned, those with loose lips simply vanish, without a trace. But in all fairness, that excuse does hold some truth, being burned away with a flash of divine light seldom leaves much of a person behind."

"My family has produced the highest ranking officers and commanders of the Holy Gaurd for generations... My full name is, no, was Cadence Medea Albus," Cade answered, "to say I know people in the church would be an understatement, I was born into it, had never even seen the world outside it's domains until I joined the guard. I've met the highest ranks of its priests and seen some of the deepest depths of what's hidden in it's archives... which is precisely where my father did most of his research"

She muttered something under her breath, as the spirits laughed at the jab. Something about 'bloody treacherous wandroughts', though whatever it was soon became overshadowed by the shift in conversation, "Well, I guess the obvious answer is an ancient ruin," she began "but of course, any scholar worth their salt would probably have assumed the same. Most known ruins by now have probably been scoured and everything of value taken, either by men of science... or by heathen bandits who didn't even know what they were looting. No, if I were to search, the one place I'd start is the Church Archives- there's no end of things it's supressed and locked away over the centuries, only to forget about. My father once said he'd found more stashed away in the deepest reaches of those shelves than all the isles he travelled to put together..." Oddly, the black book felt heavier than usual under her coat. Almost as if it heard the mention of it's former resting place and shifted in discontent, trying to escape the conversation. Cadence almost writ it off as her imagination... until the Anima quietly began to panic, and kept doing so until it stopped. She made a note to ask Mara exactly what this thing even was later.

Do wandered over to the abomination he dispatched, savagely ripping and tearing at the carcass as he dug out the protective spikes and snapped them off with a deft stroke of the paw. With the spoils of that gruesome battle secured, he spread his wings and flew back across the barrier of sunflowers, spitting the spikes out at Lucille's feet. She pet his head in thanks, earning a content pur. Lucille takes the 5 Bone Spikes! "Oh for the fucking love of... would SOMEONE help that poor idiot get out of whatever he fell into so we can leave? Preferably one of you whose already in that abomination of a biome..."

"Well... I guess... all I can really ask her is.... how she could do it... how she could look him right in the eyes and..." She shakes her head, quickly moving onto the next. By now it should've been obvious who 'her' represented "I'd Probably ask Ingrid whether she actually hated me, or just the fact that she failed the trials when she had a chance and I got further than she did. I'd ask Prudence what I should even do now, probably get something pretty sarcastic but still kinda helpful. I'd probably ask Meila why she never played along or helped me out when I faked being sick, not even once, despite knowing exactly why I was faking to begin with...and gramps well, only thing I want to ask him is why he didn't step in sooner or more often during the training... why he just stood there and let her keep going most a lot of the time."

There was several moments of awkward silence. Cade simply stood there, eyes wide like a deer about to be made wyvern chow. Of course, she'd asked herself the very same question sometime after the fact of actually joining... but it wasn't any easier to answer now than it was then... "Uuuh....ummm" for she had no answer. She could go the rest of her life without ever seeing the beast that was mother's fury again, and she would've been quite happy with that "I...I...I don't...really know. After what happened back home, I... I can't take that woman in a fair fight. There's probably not a lot of people who can, especially as enraged as she was when I... last saw her. Barely even got away alive...best I could do is try to run. Again. I don't even know how my sisters or grandfather would react. probably try to take me back, for one reason or another," She shook her head, trying to take a few steadying breaths as she braced herself on the railing. For once though, dads old technique seemed to be doing fuck all to help "I-I can't... I won't go back. Don't care what they say... I don't want to fight them, but if that's the only way to flee... I'll do it, I guess. Probably won't win- Meila or Prudence I might be able to take... okay, no, just Meila. Prudence and Ingrid probably wouldn't have much trouble bringing me back by force, if that's what they wanted to. And my grandfather... I'd might as well just give up and come quietly in that case. I've never seen him in combat when he hasn't been holding back by a lot, and even then... he's still terrifying, just like all the old stories about him say. "Though, if all they want is to try to talk... I... I don't know. I wouldn't mind seeing my sisters again..."

"No one told me about Wild Magic, not at the beginning. When I first used it, I was trying to save someone who didn't deserve to die... I was scared, frustrated, guided by instinct and nothing else. Everything after that was simply me taking it to the logical conclusion; trying to confine it to replicable conditions, establishing greater control. It wasn't until I'd already refined it enough to kill men twice my age that I was told of the true cost it exacts. If I got the power to use my magic unrestricted though, right here, right now?" "Hmm..." "I wouldn't be spending my life killing thugs, treasonous nobles, and madmen. I never wanted to become a warrior, I never even had an interest in fighting to begin with. If I had the means to fully realize my talent, I'd leave everything behind. My mother, my household, the guard, everything. The power of the spirits has better uses than tearing each other apart in an endless cycle of petty conflicts. My father spent his life trying to rediscover and archive things that had been lost to that very cycle, had no end of tales from when he was young and travelled the isles in search of lost knowledge and forgotten history. All I ever wanted as a little girl was to do the same someday. As for responsibility... you ask that as I hadn't already accepted it, being here, fighting for the gaurd. As if I don't lay awake some nights, thinking about the people I've killed. Thinking about how one of us is able to think of it at all, and the other isn't so lucky. There's blood on my hands, it's only a matter of time before it lies on my heart. Magic can change nothing about that simple fact- whether I happened to kill those people with a sword, or did it with a wild spell, it doesn't matter. They're still dead by my hands either way."

"My mother, that was who," Cade answered "She never cared about it, up until then... but once my sister failed, I was the last one she had to try and mold. If it hadn't been for her, my dad probably would've started training me. I was to become the sword of their house, it's protector. And I was to do it following the old ways of our blood line, and nothing else. My sisters got lucky- they failed to live up to those expecations, and the next oldest simply took their place. I was the youngest, there was no one else. Didn't matter how hard I tried to flunk it, didn't matter what I did to try and get out- the results were always the same... she'd just get harsher." "Even when I cooperated, she demanded perfection. Picked out every little flaw, no matter how small- if I didn't improve, same thing happened. If you think I really had the time or the energy to learn magic under her tutelage- you're wrong. Hell, I'd be lucky if she just yelled at me if my focus wandered. It was like that up until.... recently. Let's leave the story at that. Just for the record though- you're asking what's stopping me from learning now... nothing. I taught myself, even, hell ever since I revived Karik when we first met, I've been trying to refine what I could into something useful, practiced almost every night on my own. I was tired of how I constantly fell short and could contribute practically nothing while everyone else fought. Tired of being utterly useless, all because I was stuck relying on pathetic weapons like these swords... especially when I could practically feel the power of the spirits thrumming everywhere. Do you know what its like, to be dead weight, constantly taunted by something so much greater? I do. And even now, I am taunted still- for all that practice, for all those nights of lost sleep, all the blood, sweat, and effort... my body can apparently only take so much. I fight with swords because I have to pick and choose when, or even if, I use a raw spell carefully. It's a matter of practicality more than anything."

"Uh, well..." She sheepishly began, "I....no. I'm not. Never had even a day of formal training in it before. Most of what I know, I got it from playing with the spirits or watching my dads work when I was younger. He wanted to train me, and I wanted to learn from him, but...never got the chance." "I've been drilling with these damn things since I was Eight. Can't pick up a tome; never learned how to properly use one, and last time I tried things kinda... blew up. I've practiced how to use spells without one, like my father could, but doing that on a regular basis will just end up killing me. These barbaric pieces of sharpened metal are the only things I can actually fight with- I don't really have any choice in the matter. "

"I uh... just wanted to talk, actually...." About...what? She didn't know, really, had half expected to be laughed out. Not even two minutes in, and she was already a good three steps further than she'd planned for. At least she hadn't berated her as some two-bit wannabe mage; unlike the fire on that poor dockhands roof, the damage seemed to have been temporary. After what felt like an eternity (though in truth was barely a few seconds at most) she noticed the volume, "What were you reading just now, if you don't mind me asking? It doesn't look like any tome..."

Giving her regards to Karik, Cadence had wandered off not long after Belros got his appraisal. There was no real destination, nor any task in mind. She simply stared out over the open waters, too many thoughts swirling about to sort them out. It was only then however, that she heard them chattering as always- something about... fire? Fire...? She didn't smell anything burning, didn't see any smoke. What could they be- "Oh...crap..." There, not but a few meters away, a certain mage had her head buried in a book. She knew exactly what fire those cheeky little bastards were talking about now, and as her face flushed they chatter turned into laughter. All she could do was look back at the ocean, try to ignore it... Actually, no. No, fuck them and what they had pulled on those docks back then. Should've never started talking to the treacherous wanks again. Listening to their mockery drive on, Cadence took a breath, steeled herself, and began calmly walking over. Where there had once been laughter in her ears, it was soon replaced by confused murmurs. What was she doing? What was she thinking? She had to admit, a large part of herself was asking those very same questions. But apparently there was a plan somewhere, "Sorry to bother you," She began, "I... don't think we properly met before,Granted that was mostly my fault... I'm Cadence, by the way." Silence. For once, the fickle, mischievous buggers were utterly silent. And it was golden.

Remi, Vale 11.20; Exploring Northwards

E10, Heal Hoshiko

Loadout Moves Lucille uses Edge of Silence on Eater of Souls C. Do will use Draconic Tactics on whichever enemy is at lowest health (Edge of Silence launches 2 Res-ignoring, Undodgeable attacks which deal {1d3+Int[13+6]}*1.3 damage each. Draconic Tactics deals {2d6+Str[6]} damage, when used on Avians or Serpents however, it deals {3d6+Str[6]} instead.) Using her extra action, Lucille will use Edge of Silence Again, targeting whichever two enemies are at the lowest health! Do will again use Draconic Tactics on whichever enemy is at lowest health! (extra action capability is provided by the passive "Uncanny Senses", bestowing the user such once every 3 rounds, starting turn 1)