Never Send a Woman (to do a Rebel's Job), Prep for an all-out assault-- open topic

[-Dory]

((Get up-- Korn ft Skrillex))

Freya was pissed off. It had even been argued that Freya was suicidal-- but she wasn't stupid.

The teleport dropped her unceremoniously upon the grassy plains which were, to her, but another field in another part of another world which refused to stand up in the name of it's own defense. In the distance, the radiance of Ascantha shed light over miles of the city's perimeter; but where she landed was lit only by the cooler tones of the low full moon-- perfect for the nocturnal creature which rose, and spread her wings, with relish, widely behind her.

She supposed she should have been surprised that Salamel's aura had led her to the Aesiran capital, but after the past however many hours, it only made sense that hers would be the mark hiding in the middle of everything else. It was only natural that she would have to unravel an apocalypse and a half before she got anywhere near whatever it was that she wanted; but she didn't really mind. She was used to it; and she was no stranger to finding her way inside of impenetrable fortresses.

That part wouldn't be a challenge.

She'd been told, repeatedly, that she couldn't get cocky-- and the advice had proven advantageous time and time again, but the only real struggle in killing Faerie' had come from her own conscience. If it was any indication, it wasn't a very good one; but there had to be something bigger lurking deeper inside. Surely, there was something there to cause an entire world to cower. Surely, there was some insurmountable force-- there-- to satiate the blood-lust burning still inside of her veins. There had to be.

It clearly wasn't anywhere else; and she wasn't ready to give up on it entirely. Not yet.

She was easily cloaked in shadow. Jagged tears of it cut across her visage even as she stood; blotting out much of her black clad figure, though the pale skin of her shoulders, stomach, and the sides of her legs were harder to hide. With a whistle, she made her position more easily known, and turned her head toward the sound of soft padding footsteps in the grass to her left with just the tiniest of fanged smirks.

Similarly hidden, Penumbra brushed close to her calf, nudging her large head against the curve of her palm before she sat at her side, tongue lolling from between her jaws as she looked calmly toward her caretaker.

It's time. The canine spoke, but only to her; and through such a bond that only two pets could share. My lady is safe; and the Child sleeps much like the dead. Even the unspoken prophesies have been made true-- But Freya, are you sure this is what you want to do?

She wasn't. Not nearly, but she wasn't seeing a whole lot of options. The Aesir and the Abyss held just as many similarities as she had shared with the young Fire Bringer she had slain-- enough to confuse the vague, unforgotten wording of a prophesy uttered millenia ago, but she had come too far to hesitate now. She didn't consider herself one of the peoples that they so readily threatened, but she did feel sure that they did-- and that wasn't something she could just look over, even if she was all too willing to.

She had two options, really-- keep her head down, and kill anything holy looking that got too close; or end this. And the lust... God she just couldn't stop.

Maybe she'd get lucky, and the Aesir would be just similar enough to the devils she had known to offer her the same redemption she so readily gave away. She doubted it-- She was Karma's Blade, and she had yet to meet the cup-- but hell, she still knew how to hope.

"It's a matter of convenience." She dismissed the question along with the need for closure; shifting instead to remove the hefty pack from the wolf's back, and pull from it a familiar pair of combat boots, and corset. Spiked greaves were great for combat, but not so much for stealth; and though she knew in her heart of hearts that this wasn't about her-- the nostalgia was too fitting. Without it, she felt sick, and alone. Jealous, and that wasn't a liability she was willing to risk-- not after she'd seen Faerie's devotion, even when it led to death.

Damn; but she wished Dragonflight was instantaneous. She feared for what sanity she had left, stuck on the irrational conclusion that Fesseln could somehow make it all worth it-- but the madness which came with the night reminded her; she had to do this on her own. If she would hope, she would have to prepare for hope-- just as she had prepared for despair. If she meant to conquer her past, she would have to give in to the addiction which drove it, first.

Of course the concept terrified her. It was a thought she had followed so many times before-- but this time, she told herself, this time she would be successful. -This- time, she would overcome.

But it wasn't about her.

It wasn't about her.

And she pulled the corset tight around her waist.

[Siege]

((OOC: I hope I assumed right and your rp request topic was a invitation to the masses.))

"After doing what you have done most would go into hiding."

Morganus appeared sitting a few yards away from her, his staffs held on his back, emerald and topaz embedded hands on the ground beside him and a wicked smile plastered on his face as he stared at the shining city of silver. He had no presence to detect, his form partially cloaked in a mist of dark energy, he showed no signs of hostility though his knowledge alone could label him a threat to some along with the fact he didn't recall meting her in person before. But his eyes and ears reached farther then even Caspian's network. Thus with the Aesir’s attention elsewhere and all pressure removed from him keeping track of major events in the world was a simple task.

" Is it so hard to believe that there is someone crazier than yourself?"

He appeared talking to himself though the tone of his voice changed slightly and the sapphire embedded in his chest glowed bright for the moment. The man laughed at his alter egos own comment before slowly turning his head so that he could look at the woman and her mutt so that they could see his face. One of his eyes was a emerald in color while the other was sapphire both glowing with a mysterious light.

"I guess you are right though she can only claim the title of The Insane by charging in there without any back up."

" So you came out here to watch?"

He turned his head once again so that he could look upon the walls of the great city once again, or rather so that he could look up those within it, around it, more worried about being spot by a random guard then about being stabbed in the back.

"A possibility."

"If he doesn't join such a fight he will find himself a pile of charcoal."

"That is another idea, though I don't like getting burned."

"Either way I will get to watch something amusing."

"Will this pointless destruction ever end."

"It all comes down to what the lady decides."

His responses were fast, the gems were merged with his body know, their minds tied to his and their thoughts traveled quickly making their conversations seem like nothing more then the fast blathering of a mad man who was having conversing with illusions. But he cared not what the lady or her mutt thought of him. To be honest he didn't care what anyone thought of him, would a man care what a ant thought of him?

"But this is rude of me, so many assumptions yet I can't read minds, well lady what are your plans?'

A tilt of his head and a smile only a mad man could conjure up, yes this was Morganus through and through.


((OOC: Colors= Suldarius/The Sapphire, Torelm/The Topaz, Elymer/The Emerald, The dragon whose name escapes me/The Emerald. Suldarius is the only one speaking through Morganus while the rest are speaking with him via mental link which is why they are in italics. So they should not be able to be heard though due to the openness of the conversation I imagine someone with whisper could pick up on it. I imagine some of this was obvious but I would like to avoid confusion later if possible since I have a habit of rambling in my posts with Morganus and the gems.))

[-Kilik]

What was the nice word for selfish? Independent. Hymn sneered at the thought while he flew high above the sky. Sprite Dragon's had the tendency to greet the twilight, why would Hymn be any different? Tesla could only shrug. An aura kept him concealed enough, though he wore no fancy equipment to protect himself. No, today was a fighting day. One that he had been ready for, for quite sometime.

In his ascent he traveled with Hymn. Anybody who looked upwards would see a small thunder of Sprite dragons playfully readying for the night. En masse the aura and a couple of modified clones of Hymn and the four ducked and weaved. It wasn't an uncommon sight to see, especially on the Yevela Flats. Eight years of Dragoon combat taught him that. Eight years at some fucking high society school that he had 'shed' his way into. Was it worth it?

Only one way to find out. His own visage was glittering of deep blues. While the calico nature, hot pinks and sky blues of Hymn was undeniable the clones were just ordinary. Tesla didn't want to blow his cover just yet. The rush of wind roared as he barroll rolled to his left, letting Hymn draft on the riptide of air that flourished behind him. In that thinking pattern of dragons that was common between dragon and it's bond they went over the list of things together.

The hand-and-a-half blade, Hermes of course. A ring for protection and another to help lighten the weight of several explosive and self-dividing shruiken. Those were the primary things. A kunai always managed to find a way to his strap. For the most part he knew that he was dressed and prepped as his alt. ego. Leather blacks and gray cotton clothes. Slightly thicker gear padded underneath. He had planned much more suicidal attempts, executed them all with pricision as well, this was a first though. Wanting to take on something much... much more.

A deep sigh as he let the wind pass through his hair. Maintaining his visage and the clones weren't a problem. In fact, Tesla quite enjoyed making them swoop and dive in various moments of lift as he himself just phased through the clouds. A little bit of fun before the worse of the best kind of action came. How he couldn't wait. The problem... Voices that surged with ancient energy crossing the psychic span. Tesla and Hymn both hissed simultaniously, their wings matched in flapping beat to create a slightly louder clap. They weren't called packs or murders for one major reason... It was a thunder. The bigger the thunder of dragon's, the louder the roll of sound that came from their movement.

Hymn and Tesla spoke without speaking. The flashing pictures of an owl hooting. The angry screech of a confused gryffyn. The sight of falcon's diving and the rune for old Aesirian for the word no. The images were their own as was apart of the bond but the emotion was neither.

They were but specks in the night sky. Nothing to worry. Instead, a whispering hiss that rung on lesser decible's of psychic sound like an itch. Tesla swooped quietly flickering in the fading light as his aura shifted from sprite dragon to human in a matter of moments. He was very careful to move. Not exactly as graceful as a cat, after all his movements were designed to kill with force. It was dragoon training. It was Tesla, the alt ego would come later. If at all, until then timing and posing was everything. Staying low he sent a low short~wave whisper. Letting them slip out only so far before ripping the psychic expanse back to keep anyone from trying to hijack the message. "What kind of fun, is being had here?"

It was a fair enough message. Depending on their comparison for fair.

This post has been edited by Kilik on Jun 22 2012, 07:53 PM

[-Dory]

((Super Villain --Powerman 5000))

Mounting an assault wasn't entirely unlike wearing a corset. There were so many ways it could be done, but only one was correct; and you normally knew you'd gotten it right when you realized that the steel boning was making it all but impossible to breathe without the proper skill, and finesse.

Of course, Freya didn't need to breathe; but she had both. When one had this nagging habit of getting herself in to the middle of whatever the most dangerous situation around her was, they were mandatory adjustments to be made. The garment was just a reminder that she had-- with ease, and could do it again. This was her world now, after all.

She hadn't expected help-- not really; but she couldn't have said she was surprised to hear a voice from behind her as she sat to switch metal with leather.

She paused to cast a glance toward him, measuring the first of the strangers for a moment as it seemed that he spoke to himself; and she quietly gave him the time it took. Not that she was fooled-- nothing was what it seemed in the night or the Underground, and it wasn't as though she hadn't given a similar display hundreds of times before. No, she saw the inner debate even if she didn't hear the parts; and she knew it for precisely what it was. It glittered in the way his eyes glazed to listen, glowed in the madness of his smile and the gems in his possession-- gems she knew, from experience with others, held demons of their own.

"Am I not hiding?" She responded idly, eyes moving back toward her boots as she pulled the laces tight over her calves, forced them to loosen again as she leaned her ankle forward, and began the tedious process of knotting up the excess. She wondered, vaguely, just what those demons were saying-- if they saw her for what she was, but she doubted it mattered. When Freya called, all of the Underground answered; and that was just how it worked. She didn't pretend to understand it; it was just something that came with the closing of the circle-- but it was something she could trust. "Hiding... Hiding... Hiding, yet always in plain sight? I wonder..."

A private joke. The corners of her smirk tipped upwards with amusement; but how long had she been hiding, and how long had she known? Months, maybe? Seasons? Years? Was it even possible-- oh but she had no way to know. Time frames were such a bitch.

"And who needs plans?"

She ignored Tesla's whisper in it's entirety. She wasn't a diplomat, and she wasn't a recruiter-- if he wanted to play, he'd play. She was in no mood to make it that much easier for him.

Flames still burned behind her eyes, barely reined with discipline as she remembered the reason-- hands balling in to fists as they dropped away from her boots, and she rose sharply. -Devotion-.

It struck a nerve. It reminded her, too much, of herself. The exceptions were few and far between-- Freya's was a history of devotion and betrayal, and but she had had the sense to take the hand at the close of every circle, and still did. She hadn't been able to save Faerie', but his murderers were in that damned city-- Xanthe had set it up for her-- and for making her their instrument, their blood would mingle with his.

She decided, and lit a cigarette.

"I figure we'll go in, raise hell until there's no more hell to raze; and then rain it all down on them." She gave a small shrug, and crossed her arms thoughtfully over her chest. "Go in as a unit, and drop off in to battle as needed, or as we are able..." She paused, smirk returning as she brought the cigarette back to her lips. "But that part depends on how many people show up."

The knowledge of which would be a gradual thing, normally; but Xanthe had been stacking cards before Freya had known there was a game.

She took a long drag off of her cigarette, held it for a moment, and let the smoke waft from her nostrils as her head tilted back. Well, maybe she could provide one, small suggestion for their little spy.

"Natalia, Lady Evangeline, Elyon, and Ark Baptist."

Maybe he cared enough. She didn't.

[-Calignious]

Traveling at night wasn't the sort of thing Armin preferred, but he didn't have much of a choice. It was much too dangerous to move during the day, the light would betray the weathered vagabond to his enemies. The night's cool air is what kept him going, and the fear of capture. It had been weeks since he ran into town, and it was just about time to go back.

Since then his appearance very much changed. He was no longer able to keep himself as clean as before, and now sprouts of hair were visible on the young man's face. His long maroon hair, once tamed, was sweeping in the wind behind him, and his clothes were battered by nature. Nonetheless, he continued to drag himself on this treacherous journey, not caring for a second about his new rugged look.

As he plowed through the brush of the plains he noticed a bright glimmer in the skies above, followed by roars of thunder. At first it startled the young nomad, but soon he realized it was a pack of dragons. An unknown voice swept into his mind, and he immediately thought that he had been caught for sure. He rushed behind a nearby tree, and remained there for a few seconds. Pulling his hood over his head, he peeked to look around the tree. Darkness met his eyes, but something else began to meet his ears. He could hear distant voices mumbling beneath the the shroud of night. There wasn't much too look at, and there was nothing he could see.

His free hand quickly hovered over the hilt of his blade. Sweat trickled down from his forehead, he gulped and quickly drew his blade. It glowed even in the darkness, as slivers of static traveled alongside it's edge. Some of the static crawled up the young alchemist's arms and to his other hand's finger tips. It began to glow brighter as the static discharged with higher intensity, and it quickly transformed into a light to guide him. He waved the light around the shadows nearby, and finally came out from behind the tree.

"Who is there..?"

[Siege]

((OOC: Thank you for humoring my characters rambling Dory.))

Morganus remained quiet while the lords continued to chatter within his mind, he listened to what the woman had to say, just because she seemed interesting. The newcomer seemed a bit... something, did the fool really expect them all to be friends? Well not like his own entrance was any different besides the fact he was immortal to almost the full lengths of the term and dwarfed any of the maggots present in terms of raw destructive power. Maggots? When did he start referring to people as such, truly puzzling.

"Isn't that the easiest way to hide?"

Morganus doubted she expected anyone to respond to her random comment but he couldn't resist answering it and showing his support of the concept. The came her plan of attack, he remained silent till the end but could not help but laugh at the end of it. Was she truly insane, was she like him in that concept, though he was a pro when it came to escaping thus making dumb choices reall held no consequence for him. But yes the woman was becoming more and more interesting.

"It makes me wonder how we lost to you fools."

"Simple, being it is hard to plan for randomness and also you lost to the overwhelming force that stands before us. It is funny how things come full circle."

Morganus laughed, it was truly funny and yet expected, history always repeats itself though it doesn't normally happen this quickly. But then he caught one of the names that the lady mentioned and went silent for a moment, what was lady Eva doing now, it had been awhile since he had talked with her. His emerald eye glowed bright as he began to search for her out of pure curiosity though he could only do so much while trying to keep his attention on his surroundings. With people showing up he really didn't want to drop his guard and get jumped by one of the many people he had complications with. On that thought another person stepped forward and asked a question he just had to answer. Thus Morganus stood and turned his head, his normal wide deceptive smile plastered on his face.

"Just a nameless beggar who laughs in the face of gods."

Yes, nameless, what was his name again, it had been decades though it did not matter. A name was just a label which people place upon you at birth, it holds no value and many others could have the same name. Oh yes his manners.

"Oh and this lady and that bat whose names I don't know or possibly didn't bother to remember."

"And?"

"Oh yes and Suldarius and his lackies."

" When did I become a lacky?

" The moment you responded.

[-Atonement]

Damaris Peak had always been cold, not just cold though, it was the kind of environment where nothing lived, nothing moved, the very air itself almost seemed frozen in place. High above it all, if one could possible trek to the top, and while it was easy for the kind of souls that usually came and went, a very select few mind you, one would find something most...unusual. Inside the now deserted and empty fortress high above the world something began to stir. Inside the main hall a frozen obelisk stood, it jutted up from the floor, the thick blue ice formed into something vaguely cocoon shaped, though nothing quite as beautiful as something one would find in nature.

---

Prior to Freezing

You still doubt me after everything I've done for you?

Somethings I'm never going to get used to...having two little girls in my head at all times, not the highlight of my life.

We can hear you. And we are far from little girls. The Garnet's tone was much harsher than the Marcasites, sending pain coursing through his arm as she spoke. Levi winced in pain, this was ridiculous, sleeping was at least a reprieve from the two of them.

We kept our promise, it's done and now you must keep yours....you know what will happen if you don't. The Marcasite cooed almost gently into his ears, yet Levi could tell it was a voice still dripping with malice. Keeping the two of them subservient was like holding the leash of a rabid dog. It didn't want to just run after the nearest thing and rip it limb from limb, but it also wanted to turn on you as well. He kind of liked it.

He felt the Marcasite in his palm begin to ice over, and then the pain that he had once felt the last time it had encased him. As the ice slowly crawled over his body the pain slowly vanished into numbness, threads of ice began to cover him as if he had been a fly stuck in a spider's web, the deal he had made had been reckless indeed, but the reward? Now that was something he truly desired. His vision began to blur as a dim layer of frost began to form on his eyes shutting out any light in the chamber room. It was too late to go back now, the conversion had already begun.

---

The structure slowly began to glow, dimly at first, but then with an increasing intensity, giving off heat, something that hadn't existed in this place for an unknown amount of time. The energy from the obelisk then began to pulsate sending out violent waves of glowing flame to all corners of the room, surely if anything flammable had been there it would have been instantly ignited, instead the flames scarred into the fortress walls, leaving deep charred marks as if a blade of flame literally had been raked along it. The ice began to crack, and with a loud sharp crash the cocoon exploded sending shards in all directions....life had emerged.

How long had he slept? Minutes, days, years? Impossible to tell really, regardless Levi Madidus had awoken. A dreamless time spent in the permafrost had left him momentarily disoriented and confused, his head ached and his stomach turned, surely he would have vomited had it been full. His green eyes began to slowly pulsate with mana as he summoned up his strength, slowly things began to come back to him. Well at least those two are gone....for now.
A wicked smile crept across his lips as he felt a new presence began to stir within him. Lovely. Still this meant he was bound to fulfill the promise he had made to the two pieces of shiny rock.

Find the other shiny rocks. Restore them. Bring back some fun into the world, and at the end of the day isn't that all anyone wants? Yes, Levi could get behind that. The most interesting part is he already knew where to find them, infinite knowledge of just about everything in the world was something else, and just as those little girls could read into his mind, and violate his memories, so too could he do that to them. Kind of an unpleasant thought really.

With a wave of his hand the lone arching structure in the room seemed to come alive. It's shadow seemed to twist and bend in, arching upon itself and swirling into a pitch black abyss. Darken truly knew how to make useful things, and a portal to anywhere in the world was indeed useful, shame it was only a one way ticket. Getting back was always a bitch. Still though Levi knew he had no time to waste, and unfortunately the man he was going to see was one he had skirmished with before. Not a pleasant person to talk to especially since he had been burdened with the same...well Levi didn't know if he would call it a curse...but i suppose it was something they had in common. He stepped briskly trough the shadows, allowing their cold caress to fling him to the winds.

With a crackling and a hiss a dark maw cut into the night, the mouth of the abyss devouring the empty space which had once been there feasting on it greedily. As the portal began to stabilize a figure emerged stepping onto the plains some twenty feet behind the old man.

"What have we here?"

((Just had to clear that up since my gems are gone, this way Levi loses them before he encases himself in the ice, and everything works out))

[-Dory]

((lol... you haven't rp'd with Freya in a while, have you Seige? She's got plenty of voices of her own, to account for.))
((The Fear of Darkness --Headhunterz))

The easiest way to hide... the smirk broadened, ferociously, as she sucked in another lung-full of smoke. Maybe; but that wasn't the intention... just her talent, and Freya was too damned talented for her own good. The instability, and the madness it inspired probably didn't very much help her case; but hell, the shit worked.

It looked like one of the demons was lumping her in with the rest of the world again. But Christ-- no one got the point, ever; not until the very end. Underestimation was definitely among the most powerful of her assets, but otherwise, it was an infuriating pain in the ass. She wasn't like them, never had been-- she was something else entirely; and self made. She had nothing that she hadn't earned over millennia of blood and tears-- undercutting it was to undercut everything she had been through; and for a moment, she considered starting her display just a little early.

We'll have about five minutes, Lifting her eyes, Penumbra drew her mind away from the rage before it had it's chance to come to a head; and she took another hard puff of nicotine. After the initial blast, before The Child wakes to find that we've drawn the circle.

Perfect. Alexandra's voice hummed from the complete opposite side of her mind. Combined with her heartbeat and toxic breath, the contrast was almost too much-- threatened vertigo, but she held her ground.

They were still coming. She glanced behind her, first toward Morganus as he handled the introductions she had completely looked over, as best as he could; and then toward the sparking blade. A static alchemist with the sense to come out armed and ready? It looked like this world had some surprises for her, yet.

And one more, before she had had the chance to speak, came through a dark portal not far from the boy.

But it was adorable how they all thought to manifest behind the grouping. Behind and behind and behind...

"Single file, Ladies and Gents;" She ignored the muffled voice from the thick sheath slung diagonally across her back. "No need to push, now..."

And turned around to look toward them, arms crossing against her chest as she tilted her head back, and released some smoke she hadn't realized she'd held. It was quite a grouping, congregating here; promising, but they needed a little more light, didn't they? And a little more guidance. Oh, and real introductions might not have hurt, either.

Wedging the cigarette between her lips, she lifted a hand over her shoulder to draw Purebane from her sheath, and drove the weapon in to the ground beside her. It simply stood there for a moment, unresponsive as the whisps of a figure swam almost visibly through a blade wider than it's weilder's torso; before a very soft, subtle violet glow coursed over it's edge. Slowly, the light would grow-- though it wasn't anything substantial. Just enough to banish the shadows from the edges of the figures close by.

"My name is Freya Hamilton." Lifting an arm, she draped it over the sword's hand guard and leaned against the weapon casually as she looked over the beginnings of her squad. It wasn't a pack-- not nearly; but it was a hell of a starter set. Enough to work with, at least; provided that she could get their full potential out of them... and she was good at that, too. Mainly because she didn't really try. She wasn't anything close to resembling a leader... but she was a hell of an opportunity; and the ambitious liked those.

"You may know me as The Abomination, or the Nectara; depending on your age range. Then again, maybe not... you'd have to be a few thousand years old; but you know." She shrugged and took another puff off of her cigarette. "Master level vampire, and angelic demonkin; pretty much wrecked Roft, Moun, and Nazca... in that order." Pausing, she considered her words quietly. She wasn't bragging-- or at least she wasn't trying to, but if they were going to work together in any shape or form, she figured they should probably know exactly who they were getting involved with. "Dragoon; Shrike and Sprite, Fesseln and Alexandra. My Abyssal form was named Nedrah; the same Nedrah who's life was sacrificed in the creation of the Abyss. My sword is Purebane, she is the manifestation of malice. My elements, currently, are Darkness and Fire."

She paused to look over them, still wearing that damned smirk. "Your turn."

[-Kilik]

Faciatingly boring. So... Mudane. How many times had people thought to strike something like a cowering group? People needed a history lesson. Hymn quipped in with a purr. Somehow people were always obsolete in such a way that oblivion wouldn't be enough to take out the trash. Trash. Always trash.

A humbling grin, sharp canine teeth showing. With left hand across his chest he bowed. "Tesla, Fledgling dragoon among very few other things. Sprite, of course. Nothing else so special about me, just here to settle a debt." Trash. For the most part that's the only word that summed them up. Unique trash but trash enough. The first, Freya, as it were. Had thought to dim the darkness. Arrogant actions like that led to the worse situation's.

How Gregori loved the night. Why would he have to share his skills with the world? Did his skills even exist or could you say anything existed without displaying the skills? That was all for another time. Never trust anyone. Iridej rule number uno. That included sharing information about himself to the trash that littered the night before him.

Storming the keep? That would be quite... dandy. A cruel smile enveloped him as he released his overly excessive bow with a maddening clap of his hands. Just one clap. They didn't deserve anything more than that. "Anyone else like to make their introductions before running off into the mouth of madness?"

That was a comment he liked. Looking towards the alchemist with a sparkling sword. He couldn't help but share the image of packaged meat tied to a shield with Hymn. The imagery of a puff of smoke only left him with an impossibly large grin as he remained the void in the night amongst the underground of would be soldiers.

The Iridej was just more than ready to see a few heads roll and the bait was littered all around him.

[-Calignious]

Something told Armin that these probably weren't the type of people he should trust, but his naivety got the better of him. The shady man's introduction wasn't very orthodox and made absolutely no sense to the young traveler, but he tried to be polite so he smiled stupidly anyways. It was probably obvious that he had no clue what was going on, but he really didn't want to admit it.. at least not yet.

He glanced over to the other woman who seemed to have been talking to the shady guy named nameless. It was still difficult to see facial features on the both of them, but by the looks of it they didn't look like the where happy to see each other, or himself for that matter. He lowered the orb of static now that was pulsating, so that he wouldn't bug the others. When the light moved, he noticed someone else nearby who was probably there the whole time. Has he been there the whole time? The intensity of the light was lowered a little bit, but it wasn't completely gone now.

Suddenly someone else had come out from the darkness. It was like he just appeared there out of nothing. Probably some sort of teleportation that the alchemist didn't know of, but at least he was aware of this new presence. The newcomer spoke, and his voice was a little familiar to him. He had heard it long ago, but he couldn't come up with a name... or even a face. Not in the dark.

Armin quietly moved the sword back to its hilt. He figured if these people wanted him out of the picture, they would have done it already. The static began to fade away, until it completely dispersed into his body. Why are these people even here... For someone so intelligent, he really was clueless.

The smoking woman began her long and sort of violent introduction. It wasn't the kind of thing the alchemist would expect to hear, and it even sounded partially untrue and exaggerated. Either way it seemed like this was all some sort of game to her, maybe it was. The other was much more quiet, but his response raised even more questions.

He looked at the rest of them and decided that it was his turn to speak. Should I tell them my real name? I don't even know who they are.. they could be out to ki-.. No they wouldn't do that...

"Hello.. I'm Armin Ren... just a wandering vagabond."

[Siege]

A voice Morganus found all too familiar and made him want to duck for cover for some reason. Morganus turned his head and looked Levi in the eyes before his smile shrunk and become a awkward grin as he raised a hand and weakly waved at the mage.

"Oh hey bastard how have you been doing?"

His voice lost most its normal joyful flare and gained quite a bit of venom even though he was holding a weak smile. Though could anyone blame him, the damn mage had tried to roast him on multiple occasions and came damn close on both occasions. But before a spat could begin the lady started talking again. Apparently her name was Freya and apparently she was the creation of some odd breeding and had a long line of achievements. Then the bat spoke but Morganus only bothered to catch then name before zoning him out. Then the timid newcomer, well at least his introduction was short and simple.

"I am guessing you want a name, well I am currently known as Morganus and am known for ruining tea parties, assisting in castle crashing, drenching gods in dirty water and slapping lycans," He then pointed over his shoulders at his staves and started to grin a bit wider once again as he regained his composure. "These are my unnamed sticks and if anyone can't guess I am a simple human who has a superiority complex."

A pause as he looked around at the people who had gather, bring a hand to his chin as he tried to recall what else the Lady Freya had mentioned. Then his eyes went wide and he snapped loudly with his other hand and quickly spun around to look at Freya once again.

"Oh yes my element, is mental destruction one?"

A wide smile and a laugh, this was truly amusing but then he turned and looked at Levi awaiting his introduction since they had never meant on... almost stable terms.

[-Atonement]

Woah. What had he managed to stumble upon here now? Quite a collection of people, and shame to say most if not all were on or near his level, some even stronger than him. Fun. Well he had always seemed to run into an awkward band of people every time he started things, and most of the time it proved to be...fruitful? Was that the word he was looking for? He starred puzzled into the air for a moment before deciding it was indeed the word he would use to describe it, an on one occasion the word was indeed quite literal. That was a fun time.

The mage walked slowly toward Morganus in a casual way, if only to be closer to the group, he had planned only on talking with this one, and more if it came down to it, but a situation liked this called for some tact. Not to mention the woman seemed keen on everyone introducing themselves like the first day of some school house meeting where the little brats eagerly exchanged their names, hopes, ambitions, and whatever else they felt like sharing. Levi hated that sort of nonsense. Still he did suppose it would be rude to not reciprocate, plus it seemed all the rage these days everyone is doing it!

"Oh c'mon now Morganus is that the greeting I get after all these...how long has it been since we last saw each other? No for real though I kind of encased myself in some ice for sometime I'm really at quite a loss as for how long." Levi smiled, he so enjoyed breaking the serious atmosphere that serious people held. Always something with these people, some great evil to fight or some great wrong to right, it was honestly kind of droll, and at this point pretty damn cliche. He chuckled to himself before moving on. He would have to introduce himself.

He knew just the way to do it too. He lifted his left hand a small stick smoking flame appeared, held between his fingers, Levi took a puff of his imitation cigarette before putting the final touches on the scene, In his left a forged ice sword, a shoddy replica of Freya's sword, Purebane he believed she said, slowly took shape as he mimicked her pose planting it in the dirt before him. I'm such a showman, I wonder who I picked these things up from? He smirked before clearing his throat and begun to elaborate on his own little monologue.

"Howdy all, my name is Levi Madidus, and I suppose I would be the Imperial Archmage of the Zaleran Empire, provided it still exists. You may know me as...uhm....hmm well just that I suppose but I assure you I am...was? Quite famous. I'm human I guess, though at one time I shared my body with a pair of lovely gem women who I currently am indebted to. As for my accomplishments me a few friends and that fellow over there," he pointed to Morganus, "have crashed a few floating castle's blown up some capitals of empires and built some pretty cool hidden fortresses. Standard stuff really. I don't really have any cool named weapons or anything like that....oh and as for my element?"

He held up his now free right hand, spreading it out wide, and began to gather some mana. From each finger a small orb began to form, one above each: fire, ice, thunder, pure energy, and even a small green ball of healing energy swirled about briskly. "Well all of them I suppose."

[-Dory]

Well, wasn't this just a pain in the ass. The crew she was looking at was motley, at best-- but hey, this was the Underground, and Nedrah was feeling lively. She had found a way to train Xanthe despite her overwhelming hatred for her, and she could give these people a crash course on badassery... and not pissing her the fuck off. It was just going to take a minute. And a whole lot of self control.

Firstly, although it was going to make her look like a raving lunatic, she turned a warm smile to young Armin. He was naive, and he looked scared out of his mind; and he had damn good reason to. "It's nice to meet you, Armin." She greeted him as politely as she was able, given the abrupt rising in her temper, and strode forward to offer him a hand to shake. "Don't let this scare you, but we're about to go kill 'God'; so, you know..." She paused, glanced down toward her hand, and then back toward the boy's face. "...You might want some means of teleportation before the end of the night. Now!"

And, rather abruptly, she spun to turn a fanged grin on the lovely gentlemen making her job more difficult. Her eyes sparkled, blood beginning to seep from their edges to drown all lightness save the feral gold of her demonic heritage.

Secondly... Alexandra offered the shift she needed for the moment, and those eyes locked directly on to the troublesome 'Iridej'. As she moved, she could have almost sworn she felt the scales begin to rise over her skin, pupils splitting in to slits. If he was any type of dragoon, he should have seen it coming; and so there was absolutely no pause in her long strides toward him. No hesitation in the sweep of her hand which brought Edmund's blade from it's hilt, to Tesla's throat.

"Your flaw is arrogance." She more sang then spoke, angelic voice mingling with the serpentine hiss of the dragon she'd become. "You think you know what you do not, and you refuse to hear to the contrary." And she couldn't help but notice how nicely the sword's hilt actually fit against the flat of her wrist, and how the violet light of her namesake blade gleamed against the ruby in it's guard. Apparently he wasn't a very good spy, either; if he'd missed the drawing of the circle. "Fix it, or I will."

And the dragon faded from her demeanor. She twitched, and cracked her neck. This was going to be a pain in the ass.

Next was Morganus; and she knew the type when she saw it. This one probably had an ulterior motive in all of this, but that wasn't necessarily her problem. At least not yet. For the moment, she was content to smile, nod, and keep in mind that he had as many reasons to put the Aesir down, as she did.

And so she pointed her sword at Levi. He looked like another team player, however obnoxious. He was more clueless than he was malicious; and gung ho. Quick fix. "Empire's dead, tried and failed to surrender... right here, actually." She filled him in over the sparkle of the sword, "Assassins have been dispatched after the remaining survivors, and we're running out of independent ground, so you're in the same boat as me. Welcome aboard."

She looked back toward the Beggar and, with a flourish, replaced the blade in it's sheathe. "If going in as a unit and breaking off as needed is a bad idea, what's your brilliant plan?"

_____________

((Freya has songbird.))

[-The Gunslinger]

Haggard and bent, the old man stumbled after his plow, which was being pulled by his donkey. A donkey whose appearance contrasted with the old man in every way possible. Rags and a sunburned, wrinkled, and dirt-covered face for the old man, and a pristine black hide for a donkey in its prime.

Cursing, he attempted to grasp one of the plow's two handles. Right before his grip closed, however, the donkey jerked forward. This had been going on for half an hour now. The damn beast was too stubborn to continue field work, but this was certainly not for a lack of energy. Oh, no. The stupid animal had far better things to do with its time than prepare the ground for a new year's harvest. Better things being endlessly tormenting its aging master.

Scratching his nose (which quickly turned into picking, a habit he'd unfortunately developed somewhat recently), the old man sighed. Unless he turned around to head back to his home somewhere over yonder, the creature would continue to torment him. He hated letting it win, but his knees had gone bad in his old age and he no longer had the time nor the patience to rein in the unruly animal.

He was about to turn around when he saw people in the distance. His eyes were nearly as bad as his knees, and at first glance he wasn't even sure they were people. When he squinted real hard, though, he was sure that the hazy blobs in the distance were people.

People. In the middle of nowhere, just talking in the middle of a field. The nearest town had to be several leagues away. And it was night. Then again, that didn't hold any particular relevance, given the fact that he was plowing at nighttime. Which, if what he'd heard about other farmers was true, wasn't very common. But he liked the feel of the cool night breeze on the last few wisps of his hair.

He considered whether or not he should approach the strangers. They could be bandits, or rapists, or even rapist bandits. Or bandit rapists, but they latter implied that they'd rob him and probably kill him before they did the thing that rapists do to him, which would imply that they were necrophiliacs. And if they were necrophiliacs, they probably wouldn't be out in the middle of nowhere, since necrophiliacs liked corpses and corpses were most commonly found in cities since they had graveyards. Then again, he'd heard the Zaleran Empire had been destroyed somewhere out here, so maybe they were hoping to scavenge and rape those corpses. Of course, this was all assuming that that they were bandits and rapists. They might just be travelers, out here to enjoy the night sky. Or patrols from the Aesir inhabiting Ascantha, out here to patrol the Flats to make sure the rapist bandits looking for Zaleran corpses to do their dirty deeds upon...

"STOP!" he screamed at the donkey. "STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

The donkey blinked.

"Fine, then I shall leave you behind." The donkey could play at its games, its attics, its schemantics and its physicalchotic mind games. But no, no no no, it would not work. He would not be fooled by its apparent stupidity.

Whistling to himself, he thanked the Aesir that he was not crazy, all the while mentally praying that his stupid draft animal would catch some terrible disease and die.

He set off in the direction of the people, slowly walking toward them. After about fifty feet, the donkey began to follow, the plow turning over soil as it dragged in the beast's wake.

He wanted to scream. But no, the people were close now, and they would just think he was crazy for yelling at an animal. Most people thought that. No, instead he would keep his cool.

It took him another two minutes to reach the party. A strange looking group of people, he saw as he neared. None of them were dressed similarly. Vagabonds, perhaps?

"Well I tell you hi I say hi there to y'all fine folks. Might I be asking you what you doing out in the middle of this field? At night? Weird place to be, also on my farmland, although given that that isn't official and naught with Aesir up in the Silver City I ain't reckon y'all really know where an' whence the fields here crop up from, you ken?" Silence for a second, and then he realized he was blabbering like an idiot. A sudden suspicion rose within him, and sure enough, a moment later his donkey had arrived.

"YOU BASTARD!" he screamed. The animal had made him look like a stupid, uneducated, poor, ignorant farmer. If these people were bandit rapists, they would surely kill him now just because of the annoyance he had caused.

Seething with rage, he turned around and punched the donkey in the face. What happened next was a bit unclear, but it appeared as though the donkey had opened its mouth. Only to reveal, rather than flat teeth, razor-sharp fangs, which clenched down on the fist. Driven by some unknowable motivation, the donkey didn't stop there. Impossibly fast, it began to devour its master. In a matter of seconds his arm was gone and his head has disappeared into the donkey's gullet. Another few seconds, and only a foot was visible. One final bite, then gone.

The cannibalization had been absurdly visceral. Large pools of blood, in which floated various organs and muscles, were slowly seeping into the grass.

The donkey blinked once, then, unperturbed by its surroundings once more, belched.

[-Luthe]

A private message. A personal indictment. A lovely chat between two friends. Hardly friends, though - the man ruined his lovely castle and spilled his tea. What became of the little sorceress, Salome? Heavens if Morganus gave a care in the world. But it was so nice to talk again. To anyone. Talk to anyone, because the world had been so boring these last two months. Comatose was not the way to go, Luthe would have you know.

So he began his somersaults through the Beggar's mind.

"Pssst. Morganus. Are you all still there? How's Ariel's soul splitter coming about?"

So many voices, so many gems. The poor old man must be going absolutely bonkers. Oh, but that was the draw of having power, as the wizard Lien Graveck could surely attest. Luthe noted coyly that the dark enchanter seemed moreover morally, mentally, physically intact. Joyous! So the voice of the Aesir dug right in. Banter and all that. He hadn't had a good conversation with anyone in the last month!

"Good oh! You're well indeed! I worry, you know. You're a difficult man to track, and what a messy mind. Ghastly!"

I just wanted to let you know that Caspian's sensory network is staggered. He won't be able to feel any of you entering the city. I know, I know - small wonders. Please..."

The sounds and image of Luthe quieting a boisterously clapping crowd appeared in the Beggar's mind, then quickly went away with the dying applause.

"I do what I can to help. He's an old cranky meany face, so you deserve that much of an edge, I thought to myself, I did. And lo. Brava, brava!"

An image of a twirl of the silver noble's hand, and an uplifted finger, as if making pointed note of something...

"He'll only be able to sense the corite. Go under the cover of night, and everyone will be in their homes and you'll have the least shadow corite exposure. Just a suggestion, you know. Oh, but don't tell me a thing about your plans. My mind is his, you know. Tee hee! Let the other folks know, would you? That's a dear. Pip pip, cheers, and all that rot. I'll be just elated when you all storm the castle walls. It's such a bore here. Farewell!"

The voice of Luthe was gone.

[Siege]

"I see," Morganus had been silent for a bit, listening to his old friends banter rather then what the lady and the others were saying. He had always found Luthe interesting and overall was disappointed in the fact that he may never get a chance to have tea with the man. As Luthe's comments came to a end, so did Freya's allowing him to catch the end of what she had to say. Thus first he opened up a link between him and the woman before removing the ears of every other psychic in the area in order to keep their conversation private. He then made a request of Suldarius before letting the lord speak to the lady.

"He asked put this simply for you since you are the unfortunate one who appears to be gaining the position of leader. Caspian can only see outside of his own vision using the shadow corite, keep to the shadows and avoid detection as well as you can and you could probably get a good ways into the city without raising suspicion. Though this information did come from Luthe which means Caspian already knows I am here and will probably be waiting for me with open arms and some lightning. That said he could make a fair distraction while you take who you need to get in there and do what you need to do."

But of course while Suldarius was explaining to Lady Freya the situation Morganus was allowed to babble to the group the concept in a rather childish way since he knew they could all probably understand it.

"Well Caspian is basically blind at the moment and as long as we are subtle about it we can just walk in, get our business done and walk out though that means..." Morganus immediately turn his attention to Levi before raising a finger to point at him while his own smile widened," You are not allowed to come cause you have a habit of blowing up everything you see including myself."

He then paused and looked down at the... donkey... which had blood dripping from its fang lined mouth. Well he thought it was kinda odd but that would explain the screams he heard awhile back.

"I also suggest leaving the donkey behind cause we don't have time for snack breaks."

((OOC: All psychics whispers are locked momentarily, excluding Morganus's. So besides the donkey who might be someone I thinking of, no one should be able to hear Suldarius besides Morganus and Freya.))

[-Calignious]

The quiet wanderer listened to what the others had to say about themselves, their names and a little bit of their past was made known. The man with the familiar voice was now introducing himself, and of course his name did ring a bell. After all he was formerly his superior in the Zaleran Empire. Although Armin had never spoken to him before, he remembered who he was and what kind of.. person he was. There were definitely some screws missing on this guy, but either way it was good to know that people made it out alright.

"I was also stationed in the empire..before .. well you know."

Some of the others here seemed to have met before, and even though they acted like friends now Armin couldn't help but feel like they all secretly hated each other. He shrugged off the idea and his mind wandered aimlessly as the others greeted each other. Unexpectedly, the woman stepped forward and politely welcomed the vagabond to the group with a hand shake. As usual he smiled now a bit more confidently but shook her hand gently.

"It is nice to meet you too, Freya."

Her next comment is what opened his eyes more to the whole situation. All of them had gathered to plot an attack on.. the Aesir. This was his chance to redeem his former self. A chance that he couldn't pass up. He nodded his head now, with a small tint of seriousness. It was time to get his own personal revenge, for all of those soldiers who fell by their hands. Also, for creating such a lonely lifestyle, one that required Armin to run and never look back.

An unknown voice echoed from somewhere in the planes.. some old farmer it seemed. He rambled on about how odd it was to see a gathering here like this in the dead of night. That was before he was gruesomely devoured by his own donkey. It was enough to make his stomach turn, he quickly looked away from what remained of the old man. Confused, he drew his sword in the event that he had to defend himself from the carnivorous donkey.

[-Dory]

Freya held her breath; wishing, momentarily, for patience.

The moment she saw the wandering farmer was the moment she really really really wanted to kill him. It wasn't the talking-- well it was the talking, but it was more the simple fact that he existed. He approached the group not unlike a buzzing fly too close to her ear; and if Freya was going to lead this thing, not only was it going her way-- but it was going that way without the annoying human bugs making her temper even just that much harder to control.

She blinked, looking toward The Beggar as the voice of the demon gem played through her head, and grit her teeth in silence. What was with these people and wanting to be inside of people's heads? And her's to boot-- stupid. Stupid people. Maybe they'd understand why once the rest of the Aesir were dead-- but she sincerely doubted it, and suddenly she figured the rest of the world might as well go down too. She didn't need people-- her most recent diet had been that of gods and the Well of Syn, but animals worked well enough too.

The Donkey ate the man.

A grin cracked through the scowl. Better. Case and point, actually.

Looking back toward Morganus, she let her shoulders heave with a soft sigh, and hooked her thumbs in to the criss-crossed laces holding her pants tightly against her legs.

"'Our business' is killing them." She stated matter of factly, brows flat over her eyes as she stared at him, and then toward Levi-- who was apparently not allowed to come due to explosive tendencies. "Vetoed." She pointed out, just for the benefit, and then looked back toward Morganus. "We can get in, no problem; or at least I can." And if this was the Underground, she felt fairly certain that every body here could keep up. Some of them might have needed help... but hell, Freya was a master vampire, and a woman. What the need to kill wouldn't handle, maternal instinct would.

"We're not getting back out without making a scene."

She paused, blinking as her ears caught the sound of a weapon being drawn, and her gaze flicked, momentarily toward Armin. Following his gaze, she looked back toward the donkey, and sighed lightly. The animal was amusing, a welcome reprieve from the chaotic stupidity; but the boy had a point.

Inside Purebane behind her, the ectoplasmic figure of a young woman flung herself against the glasslike confines of the blade. Her hands seemed to find some purchase, though the rest of her slid unsuccessfully and broke apart; dissolving in to the violet haze below her waist.

"This is the Underground, motherfucker." There was enough of her to speak. "We stand as we are, here."

Freya lifted a hand to wave her thumb toward the sword. "What she said." She stated, and crossed her arms again.

[-Atonement]

These people were defiantly on something. It really did seem that way. Also Levi didn't ever recall volunteering to waltz on in with the insane plan of "leave people behind when needed" strategy. That sort of thing may work in children's tales or stories where a group of ragtag heroes went off to fight the big bad guy and in the end when the dust settled the best friends all hugged having lost no one at all to their own immense stupidity. This was real life. People who get left behind die. He should know the moment he left the capital if what Freya had said was true those Empire idiots surrendered and apparently died for it....the morons.

"High-five for old army buddies then Armin!", Levi made the appropriate gesture despite being several feet away. Poor kid, it seemed like he really walked into something messy.

"Yeah about that. Even if we are in the same boat there dear, I don't think we are going to the same port. I'm not here for God slaying, I've been there and done that. Also mind where you point that sword, you could poke an eye out, plus," he pointed over toward Tesla, "that isn't the way you go about making new friends especially if you want them to commit suicide with you." He smiled sweetly at her, "Try asking nicely. I always find a smile, however false it may be really helps to win people over."

"Also you really can't tell me what to do there old man" Levi chuckled at Morganus, "I came here for you anyway." He was about to go on when the donkey showed up.

Levi watched as the grotesque show played itself out, not at all what he had seen coming. He had saw the farmer walk up and was casually listening to him blather on when he saw something he wish he hadn't. He blinked several times and it was over, like it didn't really happen, was he hallucinating? What. The. Fuck. He looked around appalled, this was the second time today he literally felt his stomach turn over, and once again barely avoided vomiting, especially when the donkey did. Oh shit.. he gagged one before regaining his composure. Something about vomit tended to induce the same in the young mage's stomach.

As his stomach settled Levi looked around keeping one eye on the donkey at all times, "What the fuck! None of you find this even the slightest bit disturbing!? You're just gonna do nothing and ignore it!?"

"Fuck that!"

Levi barely needed to think anymore to cast, it became instinct at this point natural reaction, and any sane person not on some sort of drug, or suffering from a mental condition of some kind did not just ignore shit like this. They burned it. To ashes. He focused a small orb of flame in his hand raising it at the barnyard animal it swirled and pulsated before launching itself straight out toward the creature. As it rapidly closed the distance the orb had already enlarged itself several time over until the final product was a sphere of flame so massive it would easily take down much larger game than a mere donkey. Confident that was the end of it he didn't bother to watch the result.

"What were we all saying now?", not that it mattered these people were all mentally incompetent somehow.

[-Kilik]

His act had done it's job. He hadn't but batted an eye when Freya made her movement. The flicker of scales in the night were the tell all and Tesla quite enjoyed himself. Unflinching, Tesla stood there and smiled with that dead space look as his piercing blue's met her's. "Noted." He couldn't help but mutter with a blank smile. One man's trash. Another person's treasure. Was the whole family like this? Another thought for another day.

Next up. His meat shield introduced himself. He had to be a meat shield. Maybe Dennis would like a friend. How wonderful they would be together. Armin Ren. Seems that somehow everyone knew each other in one form or another. Then how quaint it was as Morganus shared the information. Was it Morganus. The voice wasn't his. Strange. Must be that ancient power seeping from him.

Rambling now. Hymn sent a violent jerk of forward attention. The blade had long since left his throat. Horribly rude it was of her then again Levi chose to stand up for the Iridej. If you could call it that. None of that really mattered to him. Tesla wanted to know more about Freya with her violent outburst's. Were they common?

In the distance he could barely hear the near-silent ranting of an older man tending to the field at night. It was normal for these parts, just like the illusion that he mantained of sprite dragons in the night sky. Ah, that was better. Less light. Why was she so horribly rude?

As the group continued their ranting's he couldn't help but watch as the donkey and it's owner still continued their tread closer. The violent act and the cannibalistic donkey did nothing for him. Seemed Morganus was right. Levi did have a habit of wanting to blow everything up. Cannibalistic donkey must survive. For whatever idiocy it stood for. Something told him he needed to keep it alive. Distant wind chimes in his thoughts told him to do it.

Compelled, his sword flickered, signalling the alternative of wounding the soul and not the flesh and the shadow's itself murmered and bent in existance. Where he once stood the donkey stood now. Where the donkey once was stood a flash of metal and shadow as his blade cleaved the spells with arrogant force. After all arrogant was the word to use.

"Suppose we could bring the donkey." He chided like a small child. "He's amusing. After all." After a pause and a large childish grin and a wink he couldn't help but add in. "My responsibillity and all that."

(I'd apologize but I can't seem to stop him from wanting to do this... Shadow switch on the wonderful donkey and Aura cleaving the spells.)

[Siege]

"I see."

"You know that you should of killed him in his sleep."

"Probably, but amusing people are rare in this boring world."

"You got centuries ahead of you, missing one amusing person won't hurt."

"Humanity is a terminal disease and it might require a millennium to find another like him."

"I can't deny that fact."

Morganus was back in his own world, walking away from the group rambling with Suldarius as he went. Oh why would that damned mage come looking for him now, yes he dealt some minor damage to the Empire but overall the child should have no reason to seek him out. Then why, it was troubling not to know something so important, it was annoying. Overall at this point he didn't care what others thought about the how they should go about their war, they had no plan, no one showed signs of having actually having looked into the cities defenses. Their plan was doomed to end in failure and it fell to him to find a way to assist them with a victory.

Then a image came to him, a lucky spider in the castle's dungeons just barely avoided being crushed by something, more images came in, rats, spiders, moss they were his eyes and ears. Clockwork abominations, what material were they made from, what powered them? A wicked smile crossed Morganus's face, Luthe had betrayed him when they spoke, Caspian probably knew they were there, no he knew they were here that would explain the machines.

"You are all fucked," Morganus whispered before dropping his mask, his false aura, there was not reason to hold it anymore if they knew that they were coming. The air around him became think with energy, the gems on his hands and chest glowed brightly, they knew a battle was coming and the thought bringing down the almighty Aesir seemed to excite them.

"Time to light this city up."

"Lets show those worthless maggots what they are up against."

"Those gods will learn that this planet is not their toy."

"Glad to see you are all excited but there is something I need to do first."

Morganus spun around and randomly pointed a finger at Levi. Why was he going do this, who knows Morganus is a lunatic and even he will agree with that statement. But still with his trademarked smile plastered on his face he made a comment that contradicted everything he had said previously about the boy.

"Levi if you want to talk then I am going have to ask you to either follow me into hell or sit here like a good boy and wait," Morganus said this with no venom in his voice, though anyone that knew him knew you couldn't trust his smile or his words, scratch that you just couldn't trust him in general. He then waved his hand in a arc towards the rest of them.

" Lady Freya, The old sewer system might provide you a way in if you can find a way into it. Tesla, it is a donkey you moron. Armin, you are probably going die in the next day or so but if you don't let me congratulate you now for surviving a real war."

Then Morganus placed his left hand over his chest and frowned, he disliked relying on the gems for power but he knew that he couldn’t fight an army if he went in using his own abilities. But before he did anything he made a mental link with Freya knowing that if anything she could get him some information once the fighting got started.

"Think aloud if something big happens, I'll be in touch if my insanity bares fruit.

"Oh and the Aesir are preparing to march, have fun."

With a pop Morganus vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

((OOC: Morganus out. He is in the ascantha topic if you wish to follow him Attonement.))

[-Dory]

This was a nightmare.

Freya blinked, eyes sticking on Tesla for a long, pissed off, moment before they moved onward to Levi. She'd already told the man his flaw, and none of his actions debunked it... just made it that much more obnoxious. Either way, what warning she'd found mandatory to give had been given; and if the man didn't want to play along, it was his choice to make.

But Levi seemed to be under the impression that this was something he could just ignore; and then again, that was why there was an Underground.

"Yeeah, you know; you -could- just watch us march off in to the mysteriously glowy yonder," She stated with a small, mostly indifferent shrug as her gaze blazed further, and toward the Beggar. He was doing something, but she tried not to pay him too much mind. "If you really really want to survive the night; but how much longer do you think you'll survive otherwise?"

She paused, and looked back toward Levi. "They've given us twelve hours-- to sleep, to plan; but there's not much standing in their way. Within twenty four, there'll be nothing. No one to help, nothing to hide behind."

Stopping, she turned to look toward Morganus as he addressed her again-- Lady Freya? And since when had anyone that wasn't Fesseln considered her a Lady? But she let it go. A sewer system could be handy, yeah; but that was assuming that she had some vague intentions of not being noticed. She didn't, but he disappeared as abruptly as he had shown up, and she stashed the information away for use when some younger, less temperamental fighters arrived.

In the meantime, she looked at what she had-- and took a deep breath.

"Nothing worth saving." She picked up where she left off, eyes stopping on Armin for a moment before she turned, abruptly, to reclaim Purebane from the Earth.

"You all should do what you want," She spoke over her shoulder as she did, "But it's now or never, and I figure you might -want- to keep that in mind."

[-Atonement]

So they decide to save the donkey. The donkey that eats people. The donkey they just saw eat someone, and they want to drag it along as a pet. Screw these people. So much for trying to kill abominations. What has the world come down to nowadays when people don't even bat an eyelash when these sorts of things happen? Levi sighed. This Tesla fellow was probably going to be a bit troublesome. That said, he really didn't have to worry about someone who was about to charge into a direct conflict with the Aesir god. Last time Levi did the same he had barely made it out alive....then again he also obtained quite the useful ability or two. Flip a coin heads you power up, tails you die. Good times...I wonder where Epoch ended up.

With that it was back to more pressing matters. The Beggar. Oh sonuva bitch!! Before Levi had time to say anything he was gone. Just like that, and whats worse he knew exactly where he went. Luckily, or unluckily, whichever one you preferred Levi had spent enough time chasing that crazy bastard enough to know how to identify him, he may be gone, but there's no way he would hide. He closed his eyes and concentrated, it was a lot easier to trace since he had known the starting point of Moragnus' leap, and some trace energy still remained. He hadn't gone far....trouble was where he had gone. "Follow you into hell indeed eh?", the mage mused to himself. Seems like he would end up going god slaying after all. Best enlighten everyone.

"Well now Ms. Freya, it seems like our mutual friend has gone ahead.", he turned to smile at her before going on, "And it also seems like we're doing that breaking off thing a bit early. Try to take some advantage of whats going to happen next, you'll need all the help you can get....Looks like I'll be helping you out after all."

With that a dim glow began to envelope his body, "Try to keep up!", just as The Beggar had done before him, Levi simply ceased to exist. At least in Yevela Flats.

[-DamagedHero]

"Sometimes i wonder if being in that hell humans talk about would be easier then planning to and following through with an attack on Ascantha.... It'd probably be a lot less fun though." Naga stepped forward, once again alone as he had sent his companions back to their people. As it were as he ruffled his dark hair under his hood his red eyes gliding through those that remained having only briefly seen the man who was enveloped in a light of sorts. Naga had a cigarette in his mouth lit and was puffing smoke every few seconds. It was a nasty habit formed to deal with the stress of his job.

Naga's eyes rested upon one of the only familiar faces which happened to belong to Freya, which made him laugh a bit. "Oh were doing what we want? Does that mean when Caspian's dead i can use his body as a practice target?" Naga actually sounded excited at the prospect of doing that and it made him laugh a bit louder before he spoke again, "To all those who don't care I'm Naga of the A'ya... to all those that do... point and tell me who to shoot... wait wait.." Naga thought about it for a second before slapping his forehead and groaning in irritation at his mistake, "reverse that... uh oh yeah whats the plan or are we gonna level the whole fucking city?"

Naga felt himself wanting to take a knee and touch the ground so he did, he took the cigarette from his mouth carefully and blow out a long puff of smoke and chuckled to himself as he thought about how Caspian had put his people to the ax for siding against him. For a long moment Naga felt himself actually starting to care. That feeling lasted about as long it took him to put the cigarette back in his mouth, and that took about a second.
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"I dislike walking... and traveling merchants though the latter is easily resolved with a swing of my sword." Ark muttered as he walked towards the gathering of those getting ready to assault Ascantha, his tail swishing too and fro as his giddy looking perpetual smile stuck out on his face, but given the fact it was Ark this was normal. Also that his overall appearance of the short, green-haired, green eyed monster looking thing? who know stood on his hands slowly walking towards the group his sword hanging next to his head.

"Hi Scary lady who hit me" Ark said taking one of his hands and waving rather calmly for how excited he seemed his eyes were sparkling and his mind was filled with the pain he would cause those who were counted amongst his enemies. Ark licked his lips and let out a small squeal of delight before his tail smacked him in the back of the head. Ark yelped in suprise before spinning around to try and glare at his tail... It was a lot more difficult then he could have possibly imagined from his current posistion which was basically balancing his entrie frame on one arm while staring with his head tiled as far back as it could be so he could stare daggers at his tail.

Ark then let himself down slowly to stand back up on his two feet before dusting his raggedy ass pants off before giving the scary lady a mock salute, "Grinning Reaper Ark Baptist reporting and ready to kill someone... okay gonna be honest i'm ready to kill them all.... do you think i still need the trumpet Tracy gave me? Cause if not i'm leaving this heavy ass thing here!" Ark put his hand upwards with the trumpet produced from where he had been carrying it and Ark struck a rather ridiculous looking pose with a smile on his face and his eyes closed, but to those who knew him and to himself. This might seem like perfectly normal behavior.

(OOC:This should work i hope)

[-The Gunslinger]

The donkey didn't even bother moving as the globe of fire rushed towards it. Maybe the animal was simply too stupid to recognize the impending threat. Whatever its thoughts (or lack thereof), it really didn't matter, as a second later the beast was whisked away by one of the thieving rapists.

After this little debacle, the donkey continued to stand around, doing - and thinking - nothing of relative importance. The shock of teleporting hadn't really registered with it; the thing was probably too stupid to realize that it had just moved at all.

Heedless of the bickering and disappearances going on, it leaned its head down to take a bite of grass. As it did so, it began to cough and sputter. As it gagged, pieces of flesh and bone began to fall from its mouth. The spectacle continued for well over a minute, until the last of the undigested farmer was out of its stomach.

Then, adding even more to the absurdity, the lump of bone and sinew began to move. All that remained intact on the farmer besides his head (although there was a fairly large chunk of brain missing) was his torso and his left arm. Snapped ribs and other bones were protruding out of his flesh, which had been cut to ribbons by the donkey's razor-like teeth. After a few moments, the ghastly remains of the farmer had managed to prop itself up with its left hand. Then, from the corpse's mouth, came a disembodied voice, clearly not its own.

"My oh my, that was dreadfully unpleasant. That poor animal will likely suffer stomach pangs for weeks; some human flesh is simply too disgusting to keep down. Nonetheless, that is neither here nor there, and so I will endeavor not to waste your time. Instead, I would pose a simple question: Why the Aesir?"

A brief pause, and then, "What have they so done to infuriate you all? Killed people? All rulers must suppress opposition when it reaches a certain level, lest anarchy and chaos reign. Under Zaleran rule, taxation was high and starvation was widespread. These problems are systematically being stamped out by the Aesir. Yes, one must surrender certain rights in order to gain this safety, but what of it? So long as civilization exists, people will always have to forfeit some of their rights. You seek to do what? Champion the cause of freedom, of justice? Both are the words of tyrants. Freedom is a lie, for chains bind all of us - the tangible chains of the civilization that we live in, with its laws and customs and cultures, as well as the the ethereal chains, the chains of love and duty and necessity. As for justice, such lofty words are too often thrown around at the expense of the common people.

"What do you think will happen when the Aesir are gone? Who will step in to govern? It's easy to criticize a government until you are the one at its head. The Zalerans, who prided themselves on the will of the individual, could not govern. The Aesir, who stress unity, have proven to be quite successful. When they are gone, when there is a power vacuum in Ascantha? Who will step forward? Many despots will arise, each more vicious and power hungry than the last. So, why do you rebel? Perhaps it is because there is no place for you within and empire such as this. You are among those who would lead, not follow. The ones who refuse to be bound to any civilization, even if that civilization inevitably has the potential to stamp out hunger, poverty, and disease. Do you think that this will ever change? The rulers who would choose to leave you alone are even more foolish than those who would try to control you. The power unknown factors such as yourselves hold is too great to go unchecked.

"While you may say that your cause is altruistic, in the end are you all not being profoundly selfish? So, once again, I ask you: Why the Aesir?"