Arc 5 (Continental): Hearts, Minds, and Souls

[Cielo the Pachirisu]

Corcoro of Aslosus

"...hey, there's... there's like nobody in he-!"

Corcoro looked down and saw the Lizalfos with the knife. Immediately, instinctively, he pulled out his arquebus with the slow match already lit, and took a knee to prepare a firing position.

[I-A]

Maria Sotabashi

"Nobody in there? Corcoro?"

She looks up at her companion in position to fire worried for his safety

"Are you alright?"

Shortly after she turns her head toward where the his arquebus is aimed and sees the lizalfos

"Oh, Now I see the problem."

[Magnus_XV]

"I am Shaltarok" he announced, visibly sheathing his Knife.

"I'm what you'd call a 'Fixer', and these scum" gesturing to the piled guards "Killed my last client, and I am here to exact punishment"

He stepped towards the unconscious pile.

[VictorAYorke]

Lieutenant Erika Homewood
This was all she needed. Erika raised her voice.
"You know those are town guard, don't you?" The knight paused, and gently cocked her head. "What was your last client doing, anyway?"

Meanwhile, if Corcoro were to look back across the barricade, he would see that the slumped figure had vanished, leaving only a worn cloak and an aged, Hylian steel dagger.

[Magnus_XV]

As he approached the slumped bodies, Shaltarok recoiled as a wave of nausea rolls over him.

Stepping away from the bodies Shaltarok turned. "Wow, whatever you used is powerful stuff" cocking his head to the side to study the party "as to my previous client, discretion is part of the service, but it is of no worry to you".

Stepping up to the knight in front of him, Shaltarok gestured to the unconscious group "these are no guards, they are bandits simply making use of the chaos, they killed my client, and have stolen certain items promised to me" pausing for a second to size up the person in front of him, "I only require two things, then we can part ways if you see fit"

[Mewjora]

The Shadow Temple

The mad mage's fireball fizzled, the light swallowed up by the darkness. "Tell me friends. Why do you associate with this arbiter? Do you not realize he would trap your soul in the abyss no quicker than look at you!" Wizzro said in a mocking tone which hinted at an emotional anger towards the harsh truth of his own statement.

"Board them NOW!!!" He said almost in a tantrum. "I want that Arbiter's Soul!!!!"

The ghost ship made itself parallel with the smaller vessel and around ten heavily armored Stalfos Spirit bound swung across the gap on ropes.

[VictorAYorke]

Lieutenant Erika Homewood
Erika let the Lizalfos approach, keeping her shield half in front of her in case he tried something. Her right hand remained close to her holstered axe, but yet not in contact with it.

As Shaltorok spoke, the word 'service' caught the knight's attention more than his description of the guards/bandits. Here was a, what? Assassin, burglar, thug for hire? A contractor in some unsavoury business, now unexpectedly out of work and probably unpaid.

So the question was, did they have a need a self-styled fixer? Or was the reptile in front of her about to turn bandit on them? She let herself play for time.
"Discretion, yeah, of course. What exactly do you 'require'?"

[Dragus]

At the sight of the interlopers swinging across on ropes, Andromalius wasted little time. He immediately took a few careful steps backwards behind some of his better-armed comrades and flung both of his arms forward, firing one medium-sized explosive beam using both of his palms. The beam was directed at one of the swinging stalfos, and if incapable of destroying it his intention was to at least blow it off course and into the "sea" around them.

"We each act of our own free will here. This poe is not our master." He called in reply as his attack sizzled forth, though since the fighting had now begun and it may have simply fallen on deaf ears depending on the temperament of the being on the other ship.

[Magnus_XV]

"Firstly, I require their deaths, not revenge for my client, but they took my payment" Shaltarok glanced around at the other figures in the room.

"Secondly, I require the for-mentioned payment, I hope this won't be a problem for you" Shaltarok stepped towards his prey, and sniffed at the disagreeable fumes that still lingered.
"How long is this stuff suppose to linger?"

[Brihentin13]

Onirix

The fizzling of the fireballs told Onirix much about his target. The ship itself was less than physical, having much in common with the magical "ocean" it glided upon. The direct approach would likely prove fruitless. It's passengers, however, looked very, very corporeal, meaning that they were subject to the laws of physics and gravity. The ocean below was likely quite deep, perhaps even linking into the Shadow Plane itself, making it a wonderful thing to throw enemies into. Even if the ocean were literally just water, the weight of the bonemen's armor would make them sink hilariously.

Planes be damned, gravity is the strongest force in the universe.

"No one touches my friend, Eyeball!"

The lovable nutter from the woods ran forward and delivered a crushing, magically-propelled shoulder charge to the first Stalfos he saw as it attempted to board. This would hopefully take one enemy out of the equation early.

[Cielo the Pachirisu]

Corcoro of Aslosus


Corcoro didn't want to take his eyes off of this strange fellow. But he couldn't help but feel something had changed behind him. For a moment, he did a double-take back to the other side of the barricade. Huh. It seemed that the slumped figure from earlier had vanished, leaving only a worn cloak and what looked to be an aged, Hylian steel dagger.

That... was kind of disconcerting. He didn't want to turn my back on this new guy, but at least I knew where he was.

He slowly turned back towards over the barricade. "H-hey, I hate to interrupt, but something changed over here..." He said down to the others.

[Mewjora]

The Shadow Temple

One of the unfortunate Stalfos was caught by Dragos' beam and was sent off course and fell into the dark abyss below. Due to the fact that the Stalfos were forced to swing over in such a close proximity to each other (Due to the size of the company's vessel.) two other Stalfos were tangled up by the one sent off course and all three plummeted into the nothingness below.

Now seven Stalfos remained on board. Onirix made an effort to charge one just after he landed. While he was caught off guard by this, it did not have the desired effect. The surprise and force of the mad mage's attack, made the Stalfos drop his crimson flamberge and steel buckler in order to keep his balance. However, this was no mere shambling pile of bones, this spirit bound had seen many battles and was filled with the rage of 1,000 years trapped in this prison. He quickly turned on the mage, with unholy strength he put the mad mage in a headlock, much like a vice grip. He signaled to one of his allies and another spirit bound approached slowly, shield up, waiting for the mage to either pass out from lack of oxygen, or for him to try and make a move to throw off his captor.

As for the other five Stalfos, they approached the rest of the company in formation with their shields up. They would attempt to corral the company to the more narrow stern of the boat, where their swords would have much more effect on the unarmored mages with nowhere to run.

[I-A]

Maria Sotabashi

She looked up at Corcoro

"What happened? Is everything okay? Do I need to come up there?"

She reached her hand into her pack and pulled out a small glass philter just in case.

[Brihentin13]

Onirix

And now, I'm being strangled to death. Wonderful.

Onirix considered his situation. Lightning didn't really work on skeletons, nor did Shadow magic. Skeletons also didn't have any gonads to kick, so that was out. Fire was the best choice. Onirix grabbed his captor's elbows and poured sustained, concentrated blasts of fire into them. He endeavored to disconnect the arm at the joint, where comparatively flimsy cartilage presented a wonderful weak point, leaving his opponent with naught but stubs.

[VictorAYorke]

Lieutenant Erika Homewood
"Far be it from me to stand betwen a 'fixer' and his killing," Erika said, before pausing. As much as the guards/bandits had irritated her, if they were guards then they would still be missed. What was more, their deaths in an area her comrades had passed through would lead to them, rather than to any Lizalfos hitmen.

"But you let them report in before you finish them. Or be spotted. Or, whatever. Create witnesses of them alive."

Now for Corcoro. The knight glanced at the Keaton atop the barricade.
"What changed? Is there something there now?"

A moment later, there was a cry from within the Eastern District, and a handful of armed Darknut civilians appeared at the far side of the alley. A lone Initiate bullied his way to the front of the formation before arranging the others into a narrow phalanx.

The formation then stood, resolutely if not exactly neatly, to recieve whatever came over the barricade form the town proper.

----Lord Captain Kalian Benton Galhansen----

The officer cleared his throat.
"Well. The offer remains, I suppose. Is it much further?"

[Mewjora]

The Shadow Temple

The fire burned at the skeletal brute's limbs. However, it was relatively ineffective as it was not cartilage that held the bones together. The creature was born from necromancy, as such it was held together by spirit and shadow magic. However, the raw energy from the fire was enough to loosen the shadow energy, and the skeleton released Onirix.

Learning from his mistake, he grasped at the inner side of Onirix's elbows. Putting him in an arm lock, and attempting to keep him from casting magic from his hands. After this, he motioned to his ally to move in for the kill. The other spirit bound rose his sword high and lept at the mad mage. A look of bloodlust shone from his dark eyes as he felt the rush of combat fill his undead body.

[Dragus]

While still gathering more magic in his hands to combat the approaching foes, Andromalius spotted the more distant stalfos advancing on Onirix as another grappled with him. His hands remaining near his sides and continuing their several-moment process of gathering magic, he flung his face in the direction of the struggle around the same time as one of the stalfos started to leap. The purple-eyed Hylian immediately unleashed a cone of potent sonic screaming energy from his mouth, which as it had before when using this spell stretched his maw unnaturally. The unearthly mouth-based attack was directed at the leaping stalfos and though it was unlikely to cause much direct damage he intended to blow it off-course from Onirix or better yet off the boat.

[Brihentin13]

Onirix

Grappling with the skeleton was proving to be most troublesome, but Onirix was somewhat emboldened by the change in situation. While he clearly could not overpower such a beast, he could out-think it. The wizard had never expected the rotten, musty stench that permeated the entire Shadow Temple to be a relief, but the loosening of the vice around his neck seemed to make everything smell good.

The skeleton had lost the magus' neck but grabbed his arms, making the aiming of spells difficult. Unfortunately for the skeleton, as Dragus was now clearly demonstrating across the room, casting was a more mental exercise then physical. The point of release could just as easily be a mouth as a pair of hands. As Onirix thanked his lucky stars for teammates, he endeavored to not be outdone. The wild wizard closed his eyes briefly and concentrated on his next attack.

Three spectral swords appeared in the air above Onirix and his captor. It seemed that it was time to pull out an old favorite, the "sword dance". Using knowledge he had gleaned from the "Nebuzia incident" regarding the disruption of magical bonds, Onirix willed the ghostly sabers downward, one for the skull and one for each shoulder. The blades, made of a wicked combination of Shadow and lightning, lacked much physical force but had the potential to "confuse" the very bonds holding the necromantic creation together.

[Magnus_XV]

SHALTAROK

Drawing his bow and knocking an arrow, Shaltarok steps to the side, giving himself a clear line of site at the approaching horde.

"I believe we have a bigger problem", He muttered to the Knight

"I'd stay back if I were you" He announced to the Citizens

[Mister Scarecrow]

Alia Blackwood

Five stalfos barred my way, two more could be seen wrestling Onirix behind them. Rayleigh stood in front of us but there's only so much he could do in straight up swordfight against multiple enemies...

Simple solution for a simple problem, reduce the number of enemies.

I gathered what few mana I could safely grasp into my arms. I felt it coiling around before flinging it off, in form of several intertwined chains bursting out of my sleeves. It shot toward two closest stalfos, twisting out of any block or parry attempt to strike at the cervical vertebrae.

The chains being made out of spirit element, theoretically it would clash against shadow and greatly weaken the magic keeping the stalfos in one piece. I think I've concentrated enough into the chains, hopefully it still pack enough punch to actually decapitate the thing...