• Closed • The All-Taverns Tournament: Ilaren's Box

[Vivian Shiryu]

There weren't many knights available to answer her, unfortunately, but she would make do with what she had. Hastily assembled little squadron made their way through the stadium to the infirmary where they ran into Ilaren and Tristan, the latter apparently stating to treat the Angler. At Ilaren's orders, Vivian nodded at the Immortal, then turned to face her knights. "Let's move." she said, her voice steady. They then made their way to the bloodworks, circling around to the south side as they got their first look at their opponent: A large chimeric beast, a type of monster that Vivian had encountered before.

She had been the one to pull Zvezdana out of Andaris after her Sessfiend had rampaged through the city, and she had been the one to draw the same demon away from the Qe'Dreki, stalling it in a river until it had returned to its normal form, and she had been the one to fail to stop it's final rampage through Rharne. She had come to terms with her failure to save Zvezdana from the demon that had destroyed her life and taken so many innocent lives, but it didn't mean that this new one made her any less angry. But she had no interest in letting her anger cloud her judgement. Faith was already confronting the Sessfiend, and she could see that the doctor had already merged with Lovalus. No need for her to burn through her own merging at this point, then. There were other things that could be done to keep this demon contained.

"See if there's anything reflective around. Sessfiends are scared of their own reflections. We need to keep this creature from escaping the bloodworks." she said, her tone terse. Still, she thought, it would be better if they could shut down the demon form immediately. Then Vivian remembered what they had been told about Ilaren's Decree just before the tournament. Of course, she didn't know if it would on a Sessfiend, given that the demons were created by curses. After a moments thought, she decided that the information was worth the risk and had Fins detach from her, cancelling out the armor. "Go and ask Ilaren if her Decree would cancel out the Sessfiend form." she said, her voice calm.

Fins took off at a fast swim while Vivian gathered lightning around her feet and in her hands. While Fins was communicating with Ilaren, she'd have to contribute to this fight without her Warden powers. Fortunately, she was pretty good at using Palenon to its fullest at this point. As an Exalted of Ilaren, she could have two lightning bolts in the air at a time, with no limit on how many she could use besides that. So, she threw her first two lightning bolts, the first aimed at the Sessfiend, the second at the water that Faith was making. The same instant she did so, she used Rising Lightning and jumped as far to the side of where she had been standing as she safely could. As she landed, she gathered more lightning, intent on repeating the process. Her plan was to never be where the lightning had originated from, or generally in one place, for long enough for the Sessfiend to get a lock on her.

Meanwhile, Fins made his way to Ilaren and skidded to a halt in front of the Immortal. "Would the Ilaren's Decree thing you did for the tournament cancel out the Sessfiend Transformation. Vivian says they're a curse of some sort." he said, his voice intent.

[Pig Boy]

8th of Zi'Da 721

Between Faith, the Induk Lovalus that she was the avatar of, and the Sessfiend, she could see they were not entirely alone. There was another spirit there. A powerful spirit, birthed from the raging depths of Sesser itself. It had not manifested, as Rage spirits of that kind tend to, but coalesced around the Sessfiend in a field of powerful heat, that began wrapping around it. At the same time as she began channeling water from around the structures surrounding, Faith would see the Sesserfiend sprout a pair of wings, wings that could act as a shield as the Rage Spirit formed a tough armor around the creature, and a sharp valance around the wings.

This all took about as much time as it did for Faith to conjure the waters around the Sessfiend, which was fortuitous for her, as it distracted the beast in its rage. The water sizzled as it touched the Rage-Conjured armor coating its wings, which it used to shield itself from the worst of the torrent. An unearthly growl issued from its throat, part ecstatic part agonized. Then, shaking off the torrents of water, that peeled away and sank into fissures in that armor, peeling away at the flesh of its wings, it began to move toward her.

Bloody wings acted as an umbrella against those torrents, but they wouldn't last indefinitely.

Yet the water that had sank into the Bloodworks was still Faith's to command, and the Induk acted upon it as their consciousness melded with each other. The Induk concentrated on keeping the Sessfiend's claws away, conjuring the water with precision to ward off the strikes by burning away its flesh where it tried to attack.

For a few moments, it appeared as if the creature would be held back by Faith in her Lovalus Avatar form. Then, the beast took its wing limbs by one of their claws, and ripped it off, turning it into a inanimate object. There, it began to infuse the rage-filled flesh with Wrathling spirits that still lingered the Bloodworks, compounded by the rage the Sesserfiend was feeling. It filled the matter of the torn wing, along with its valance covering, and swung it at Faith.



Vivian and her knights approached from the opposite end of the U-shaped tunnel that made up the Bloodworks. Fins dutifully detached from Vivian, and sought out the Immortal, asking its question quickly. Ilaren shook her head, "No, only in single combat would it work. And then, you'd be unarmed against this altered beast. The Decree would have forestalled its transformation, but cannot change it back to what it was before the Decree."

Thus nodding to Fins, Ilaren shouted, "Best tend to your bondmate! Return to Vivian!"



Two of the knights detached from Vivian's unit, to search for something, anything that could be used to reflect a image. The others, along with Vivian herself would come to find the beast at the other end of the Bloodworks before long as they jogged along. The beast was now engaged in combat with a Lovalus-Blessed Faith, who was protected largely by the formation of water shields hastily flashed with each blow it tried to attack her with. That was when it made the grisly move of tearing off one of its own wings, covered in a strange metallic armor. It began flailing it around, and then lashed forward to Faith with the improvised, wrathling infused weapon.

It was stunned momentarily, however, as Vivian's lightning bolts shocked it just at the moment it would've pitched forward to strike. The Sesserfiend, distracted by this new power, and the burning of the lightning against water, howled with fury. It's spiked tail swept along as it turned headlong to barrel ahead toward Vivian and her knights. The Lightning dulled its movements, but it was able to make surprising speed toward Vivian after the attempted whip against Faith with its tail.



The healers cooperated largely with Tristan, and told him what Faith had told them, and sharing the medical bag she left behind.

Thus he began to administer the cures, all the while speaking in a soothing tone to the Angler. "Bah!! Blasted Siren boy! Keep yer slimey mitts offer me."

The Angler tried to fight, seeing Tristan as some hostile merman who'd begun feeding him poisons. Yet the Healers on hand, their hands appearing as tentacles to the Angler, held him fast and strong enough for Tristan to administer those cures and remedies.

The Angler began to calm down visibly, until he sank into a slight stupor, muttering aggressive Rakahi swears as he sank into what amounted to comfort while so heavily poisoned.

The healers on hand monitored his heart rate, taking his limp hand in theirs and making sure it was slowing down to a resting level. It had been very high, as they registered nearly one hundred twenty beats per minute at the start, but then down to ninety of so. His heart wouldn't give out, at least, now it was only a matter of holding down the fort long enough for him to recover.

"Blasted siren boy..." The Angler muttered, shifting in and out of consciousness.

[Tristan Venora]

Tristan was relieved to note that whatever healers were left in the Infirmary after the Mistress and her handmaidens had departed were largely cooperative, although he didn’t have more than a trill or two to think about how much easier to manage the Infirmary was than it had been before. The Angler and the condition that he was in required all of his attention. While he might have been amused by being called a siren boy and even have appreciated the nickname had the situation been a little less dire, his patient’s attempts to fight him definitely didn’t meet his approval. Fortunately, the healers on hand managed to hold him fast and keep him under control while he treated him!

After a while, the Angler began to calm down visibly and even sank into a slight stupor, but Tristan didn’t allow himself to relax yet. While the healers monitored his heart rate, he took a few moments to check his breathing and the color of his skin, and when the Angler had calmed down enough that his trying to punch the “siren boy” was unlikely, he placed a hand against his forehead in order to check his temperature, because all those things could be important signs. All the while, he continued to the man in a soothing tone of voice, just in case it had had some sort of effect on him, after all. At one point, he even gently corrected him, “My name is ‘Tristan’, not ‘siren boy’, Mister Angler.”

He was tempted to ask the Angler if he remembered anything about what had happened before he had started feeling weird, but then he realized that doing so would likely be a futile endeavor. He still wasn’t entirely coherent, and besides, he was barely conscious now. His heart rate had gone down from the previous one hundred and twenty beats per bit though. Ninety beats per bit were still high, but not threatening anymore.

“Please tell me immediately if his heart rate starts to rise again, or if it’s less than sixty beats per bit”, he told the healers that were helping him monitor his patient. It seemed as if the Angler’s heart wasn’t at risk at giving out anymore, but he wouldn’t let his guard down until it was over for good, and the Angler was finally recovering. If his heart rate rose or fell drastically, for more than a couple of trills, he would give him the appropriate medicine and employ the appropriate kinds of countermeasures; otherwise, he would keep him calm and sedated until the antidote finally worked.

“And does anybody know what exactly is going on in the Bloodworks?” he asked as that still constituted a source of considerable worry. Faith was there, Ilaren was there, and Vivian and the knights seemed to have gone there as well, but the unearthly roars were still fresh in his mind (and would always be, due to Vri’s blessing). It would be better to be prepared for every eventuality, and even the worst-case scenario. “How safe would be here in case of an attack? If we need to evacuate the Infirmary, can we safely do so through the arena? Is there another exit?” he wanted to know. He did, of course, not have any idea as to what Elisabeth and Balthazar were facing now, but he heard the sounds of fighting. Had the crowd started to panic due to what was going on?

A crowd in a state of panic was not something that he was particularly keen on dealing with (although it would probably still be better than whatever was in the Bloodworks and required an Immortal’s intervention).

“Chester”, he contacted his bondmate telepathically while keeping an eye on his patient. “Have you heard anything yet? Do you have any idea what’s going on in the Bloodworks, the arena, and in the Lightning Dome in general? I need to know how much danger we are in here. I’ll make sure that Ilaren is informed of your very valuable contributions”, he added, just in case a bit of Chester’s unruly streak remained.

[Faith Augustin]

The truest wisdom.....

Faith hated violence. She always had and that was one of the many reasons why she disliked things like this tournament. The glorification of violence, the idea that it could ever be entertaining was something which she simply did not understand. She recognised that she couldn't understand it because she understood violence in a way that very few people did. Her childhood - her life until Tristan had bought her - had been the use of violence and power to its absolute extreme. She didn't blame the people who fought here for doing so, because they didn't understand and she was grateful for that lack of understanding on their part. But, the thought of one sentient being aiming to strike another made her sick to her stomach.

Faith hated violence.

It wasn't just for that reason. She was a medic and she had seen what happened when "play fights" such as this went wrong. She had treated the worst of the injuries which could happen in combats like this - and she understood the risk that these fighters took, because she had treated people for whom that risk had led to serious and long term issues. So, she hated this kind of thing because it glorified violence, it turned combat into a sport which somehow made people think it was more acceptable and, of course, because it posed a risk to life for those taking part. A small one, if it was well organised, but a risk nonetheless. The biggest risk, of course, was that they'd get a move wrong and they would injure someone else. That kind of thing was hard to live with. It was all just reason after another reason which explained why she did not like these things.

And, of course, because she hated violence.

She had to accept, because she tried to always be balanced in her approach, that she was biased. Her experiences were extreme, yet they were hers and she was here. How many former slaves had been as lucky as she had been? Not many, she thought. How many of them ended up in tournaments like this to try and get some money? And those, of course, were the lucky ones. Those were the former slaves. Faith was under no illusion that, even in places where slavery was illegal, people were suffering and being beaten and tortured and abused. No doubt at all.

For all of these reasons, Faith hated violence.

But, she had a gift for it.

It was strange to her that it was the case, but it was. She had no formal training, she didn't spar or practice and she most certainly did not take part in things like this. Yet, she had needed to fight for her life many a time. She had faced a variety of opponents in life-or-death combat; a lich called Alexander, the would-be kidnappers who tried to abduct her while she was in labour, and many others. She had no formal training, but she had experience and she had skill.

More than that - she had a knack for the unexpected move, and that was she did here.

The water of Lovalus was forming and Faith was aiming to create a quagmire beneath the feet of the Sessfiend. She wanted it to sink into the well-like Oasis she was creating beneath it but she knew that took time. In the meantime, Lovalus itself was directing water and fighting the creature. But then, the creature itself ripped off one of its own winged appendages and began to do .... something. Faith didn't know what, but she knew that it was something she didn't want to happen and so, she did what she always tried to do.

The unexpected.

In this moment, as the water pooled beneath them, Faith stepped forward. Into the "embrace" of the Sessfiend, really, she got as close to it as she could. Her reasoning was simple. It had range, now, and she did not. She was small and it was large and she needed it to stay the hell where it was.

When Faith and Padraig had prepared the modified crossbow bolts it had been to fight one of these creatures. Those bolts worked by virtue of a poison they had created which contained an anti-coagulant and an explosive compound. The creature had blood.

Shule, her Warden Diri, was her constant companion and her friend and she let out a small squeak of surprise as Faith told her what she wanted. "Wrap us up in Lovalus, Shule. Not armour, water." And Faith moved forward. Her aim in that movement was to get underneath the attacks of the creature, to position herself in such a place that she was out of the reach of its heads and their teeth. She'd cling on to its back or its underbelly, whatever it took, but what she did was cling on. Arms, legs, she would wrap herself around it and hold on.

And as she did that, as soon as she did that, she hoped that Shule would indeed wrap them both up in a sort of "spiritborn armour" and hold them together. Because Faith would be doing something simple. A simple ability, one of the earliest gifts Famula had ever granted her and one which Faith used very rarely.

She would burn it's blood until it died.

ooc stuffies

Faith is Master at unarmed combat (45 Knowledge).

She's attempting the following:

1. she's telling Shule to wrap her and the sessfiend up in lovalus water armour.
2. she'll jump in and grab / "embrace" the sesserfiend - to close the gap and make it unable to attack her at range. Almost - hug is the level of close she's going for and she wants to make sure that she's positioned as tactically as possible.
3. as she does that, she activates the "burning blood" ability from Famula's mark.

She's doing this while the Brightgleam Oasis she did last round forms under it to keep it here and to hurt it while she does.

Relevant abilities:
Unpredictable Strategem (the knack for the unpredictable move.
Unpredictable Strategem Faith’s keen understanding of psychology and the human mind makes her a brilliant strategist by exploiting the innate and sometimes unconscious actions of her opponents. After intense study of her opponent’s mentality and position, she is capable of performing an entirely unpredictable tactical move. This can either cause the opponent to completely rethink their strategies and potentially make false moves anticipating further actions that Faith has absolutely no intention of doing, forcing them to strain resources and manpower, or it can cause a complete defensive relapse that prevents them from pushing further attacks for a short period of time, while the opponent re-evaluates their strategies and consolidates in the face of such a masterful stroke. Executed properly, these unpredictable moves can suddenly turn the tides of battle, forcing a temporary retreat, or exposing a vulnerability that even Faith may not have known about until that exact moment, depending on the nature of the move. These moves always run entirely counter to either what Faith was hoping to do herself, or what her opponent would have expected her to do. They can be actions she takes herself or they can be orders carried out by her armies. Appropriate skills such as leadership, or tactics of her opponent can counter-play this, depending on the situation.

Burning Blood:
Blood is sacred to Famula. Some say the soul lives in the blood and although such has never been proven, Famula does grant abilities to her chosen under that purview. This ability allows a marked to increase or decrease the temperature of their blood, and their body temperature without any harm to their internal organs. A Zuuda is always protected from the cold and has automatic control over the temperature of their own internal liquids. When in duress, a marked can confer this unnatural heat onto another without the safeguard of Famula’s protection. In others this immediately confers a raging fever, dizziness, nausea, and weakness throughout their body. Contact must be maintained if a Zuuda wishes to kill someone with this ability...in which case at least fifteen bits (minutes) at Favored, ten at Adored and five at Exalted must be maintained before the damage becomes fatal. Otherwise this is a powerful and simple curse to confer on someone attempting to grapple a Zuuda. As long as their opponent has blood within them, a Zuuda can use this ability. A curious side effect of this ability, a Zuuda can usually easily tell Yludih by touch, immediately realizing that there is no blood within them.

... is resolute determination.

[Vivian Shiryu]

Fins nodded at Ilaren's response to Vivian's question, then started back to Vivian, who was already engaging the Sessfiend and bouncing around the room. It had ripped off one of its wings to use as a weapon, and it became apparent that it didn't like the lightning at all as it turned to chase her down. "I hate these things." she growled as she fired off two more bolts and lightning jumped to the side again, hoping that it focused on her and not on the less mobile knights following her. It was slower than it probably should have been, but it was still fast enough that she didn't want to be at close range with it until she had her armor back up. Fortunately, Fins rejoined her just as she landed from her second jump, the Brightgleam Armor covering as he explained Ilaren's answer.

"Definitely don't want to get into a fistfight with this thing. Lightning's slowing it down, but I don't think it's killing it on its own." she said, as Fins formed a Brightgleam sword and shield for her to use in place of her usual weaponry. She couldn't use Capacitance since she didn't have her usual armor or weapons between her and the water, but she could still channel Conduit through her Steelblood. It hurt, but this wasn't a new technique, and it had charged the water of her Brightgleam armor and weapons in prior battles. Backing this up, she also activated the Blade of Lovalus ability, the power that Lovalus itself had given her after the defeat of Rhaum. Since she was fighting alongside allies, Allied Might, the mortalborn power that had developed after that same fight, kicked in as well.

Before she could move, however, Faith rushed in and tried to hug the Sessfiend. Figuring that the doctor had some plan of her own, Vivian set about making sure that the beast wasn't able to kill her with some unexpected tail or wing strike. Using Rising Lightning again, Vivian lept forward between the Sessfiend's wing and tail, and swung down on the tail, the double created by Blade of Lovalus emerging to swing at the base of the Sessfiend's wing, both strikes aiming to sever the targeted limb. She wasn't still after that attack either, dodging around to the side of the beast and taking a second swing, Vivian swinging at the creatures arm while her double took a swing at the demons ribs before she jumped out of the creatures range to find her next point of attack.

Vivian had once worried that she didn't really fit with the rest of the Wardens. Faith, Varlum, and even Vega were nicer, more gentle people than she was. None of them were particularly fond of violence and fought almost exclusively to defend others. Lovalus's gift, however, had set those worries to rest. For all the good and bad it said about her, Vivian loved to fight, and she was as happy and at home in the middle of a fight as she was in her own house. She never let it interfere with her duty, however, and that was where the plan to pin the Angler's death on her had failed. She was a knight of Rharne, and even without their interference, she would have thrown the fight before she let it claim a civilian's life. It was also why this Sessfiend would not escape the Bloodworks, would not attack the innocents above. She would not allow it, no matter what.

Off Topic

Abilities used:
Spiritborn Armor: Due to the bonding between the Warden and their Diri via the Heart of Lovalus, the Diri now gains useful ability of growing and shape-shifting into a suit of armor for their bonded. The Warden can still hear and speak with their Diri but they will become a suit of armor that is almost a second skin across the Warden’s entire body. The Armor will appear like plate mail that is crafted from raw spiritual ephemera often possessing icy embellishes around the helm and shoulders depending on the tastes of the Warden. It will possess the strength to dull physical strikes and reduce the effect of magical attacks by half, making the Warden far more resilient in combat. After five bits the Spiritborn Armor will begin to crack if continually attacked. The Warden may take cover for another five bits in order to give the Diri time to regenerate its strength. This will allow the armor to continue functioning for another five bits before requiring time to recharge. If continually attacked for over five bits the armor will begin to fracture before shattering. If this happens the Diri will go silent, unable to be contacted for at least three trials. During this time the Warden will have a great deal of difficulty using their abilities, some may even be impossible to use. During these three trials the Diri is healing and recouping its strength. The Spiritborn Armor may be dismissed at any time prior to it breaking and the Diri will take their original form. It takes one bit for the Diri to transform into the Armor.

Spiritborn Weapon: The bond with between the Warden and the Diri have now become seamless. The Diri can now physically shift into any weapon that the Warden needs or desires. This weapon will behave as if it is made of masterwork material, blades will seem as if made of adamantite as they will cut cleaner and sharper than steel. Bows, arrows, and the like will be equipped with an endless supply of equally sharp arrows that appear out of thin air. These projectiles seem to be made of spiritual energy. Bludgeoning weapons will also feel light as feathers but hit opponents like they are made of solid metal. One weapon may be summoned at any given time and any of these weapons will seem to cause an additional searing pain to those struck by them that are enemies of the Warden. If dropped the weapon will vanish into thin air and the Diri will reappear in their normal form. They can transform into a new weapon once ten trills have passed. The Warden must hold out their open hand in order to summon the weapon. You may use Spiritborn Armor and Spiritborn Weapon at the same time as the Diri is still connected to the body of the Warden the entire time.

Blade of Lovalus: Lovalus values healers and protectors, but there is always a place among her Wardens for warriors, those who can seek out evil and destroy it at the root. Vivian is one such and the power given to her by Lovalus shows the Induk's acceptance of who and what Vivian is and highlights her place amongst the Wardens. Based off how Vivian used her Grand Warden powers the first time she merged with Lovalus, the Blade of Lovalus allows Vivian to create an aquatic after image of herself that emerges from Vivian when she attacks an enemy. The key is that the attack the after image uses will always be a different attack from the one Vivian herself used. A slash where Vivian thrusts, or a diagonal swing where Vivian used a horizontal one, thereby turning each single attack into two separate attacks for the opponent to deal with. The weapon used by the aquatic double mimics the sharpness and solidity of whatever weapon Vivian herself is using. It does not flow around joints or any other of the like. This power can be turned on and off at will.

Allied Might: Unbenowst to Vivian, she had a similar Domain to Rhaum Sunless, one of her greatest foes. When he fell in battle with Vivian and her allies, though not by her own hand, Vivian's Battle Domain reacted to his powers and siphoned off part of his War Domain. However, owing to Vivian's own nature and her Reforging, the power she gained was changed to suit her. Whenever Vivian is fighting alongside allies, she grows stronger in proportion to the number of allies she has, with her strength, endurance, and speed all increasing with each additional ally, the additional strength gained from each ally grows smaller the more she has. In short, if she has has 100 allies, she will still be stronger than she would be if she had 10, but she will not be 100 times stronger.

[Pig Boy]

8th of Zi'Da 721

For at least the moment, the Angler was stable and his heart rate was holding steady at a reasonable rate for the trauma he’d endured. The drugs began to do their work, and soon enough he was resting in a light slumber.

The Order healers shrugged at Tristan when he asked if there were any other exits. “I’m sorry, we don’t usually come here. We came through the stands… But it sounds as if something is happening on the other side. Sounds like there’s fighting and screaming.”

“We could bar the doors from this side!” One greencloak suggested, but didn’t make a move unless Tristan ordered him to. If the Duke did order him thus, he along with a few others would board the Infirmary from both the two exits leading into the bloodworks, and the larger entrance through the stands and the Arena.

Chester sent his message through telepathically to Tristan, and Tristan could tell that the diri was quite afraid at the moment. His voice was shaking. Tristan had never known Chester to be anything but a cool customer, but then they’d rarely suffered violent situations such as this!

“They’re… They’re attacking! Fighting! All around! I can’t find Ilaren! Faith and Vivian and some monster are fighting in the Bloodworks… Masked animals are attacking the Rharne citizens…” Chester’s voice trembled, “I will hide for now, yes, I’m sure you’ll be fine though! Just stay where you are!?”



The Sesserfiend snarled at Faith as water coalesced from the Oasis beneath its feet, to around her body, in a fully encompassing shield-layer. Thankfully, she was small, and the water was plentiful enough to keep even its longer claws from making a full penetration through this field of water.

But then she did something quite unexpected. Rather than take up a defensive position or posture, Faith ran toward the hellbeast that stalked the Bloodworks. She ran to it, and with all of her skill at tactics and fighting brought to bear, she wrapped her arms around its foreleg, and then around its torso as much as she could, and gave it a great big watery HuG.

The creature snarled as the reflective waters of Lovalus wrapped around it, sizzling its flesh. But rather than cow the creature, this only emboldened it, bolstering its fury while it was being injured. Still, injured it was, and this slowed it down as it tried to shake Faith off, and then attempted to stagger toward Vivian. Trying to get a hold of anything that might suffice for a piece of flesh.

Its blood began boiling, which was a slow process, but began it had. It’s effects had yet to culminate in the final result of boiling blood, but it was heating considerably, which radiated toward Faith. She could feel the hellish beast’s body heat rising through the waters.

Vivian, meanwhile, also charged the Sesserfiend, although with a much more measured, disciplined, and military-minded armed approach. She summoned the Blade of Lovalus, even as she wrapped herself in Lovalus’ spirit armor.

She could feel the might of having her ally Faith on hand, and ready to fight bolstering her physical capabilities already. She was faster than normal, stronger, and more deadly. The blade of Lovalus sliced through the Sesserfiend’s right forelimb with ease, causing its heating blood to steam against the ground. It brought its teeth to bear against Vivian, but the armor of Lovalus held against their bite, if only for a moment, before Vivian was able to slice a spined wing-limb from the back of the beast. It fell to the ground, it’s long-claw digging into the cobbles of the Bloodworks.

It was then, they realized, they weren’t alone with the Sesserfiend. A beast of Rage, a spirit, arose from behind them. The Dog-like beast pulsating with muscle and vitality, charged them from the rear, first pouncing upon Vivian, and cornering her against the wall, away from the Sesserfiend.

Meanwhile, Faith’s grip on the Sesserfiend was relentless, even as it’s claws began to dig deeper into the waters surrounding her. She felt a piercing claw cut into her leg, then her shoulder. Spikes began to form along the melting flesh of the beast, giving way to new horrors with every layer peeled back.

The battle was far from over, as the Spirit of Rage engaged with Vivian.

[Tristan Venora]

People were fighting in the arena, a monster was in the Bloodworks, and Tristan was stuck between them, together with the members of the Order of the Adunih and the wounded fighters, and he didn’t appreciate that at all. Normally, he loved (watching) a good fight, as much as any Rharnian, but this here … this here was quickly getting out of control. And what more, there didn’t seem to be an easy way to evacuate the Infirmary and escape before the situation got even worse, which, could happen any bit now, judging by the sounds that were coming from the direction of the arena. The crowd seemed to get rowdier and rowdier!

Tristan muttered something under his breath that was quite unbecoming of a well-mannered noble that was experienced in all kinds of matters of etiquette before he quickly checked the Angler. At least for the time being, the man seemed to be stable, his heart rate was stable, and he was resting. For that reason, he rose to his feet and turned to the Order healers. “Alright, we’ll bar the doors”, he agreed with the Green Cloak’s suggestion before he stepped forward and addressed all of them, trying not to panic.

“Bar the doors, to the arena and the Bloodworks”, he told them in a firm and confident tone of voice. He had been a Duke once upon a time, or maybe he still was one. He could definitely still speak like a man who was used to ruling a part of a country, and he used every bit of his duke voice now, in order to get people to work together and alleviate some of their fears. “Take any heavy objects that you can find and put them in front of the doors, and then use anything else that looks like it might be able to halt the attacker’s advance. I don’t suppose we have hammers and nails?” he asked before he waved a hand somewhat dismissively and continued,

“Those of you that are still capable of fighting, I want you to be ready. Rharnians love to brawl, don’t they? I hope that it won’t happen, but if the attackers come here and break through, I want you to be prepared. Healers, if your patients don’t absolutely need you, I want you to be ready to help and defend us as well once we’ve secured the Infirmary. Let’s go, and don’t panic. If we all work together, we’ll manage”, he assured them before he quickly began to direct half the people to each door.

Especially during a crisis, people tended to need clear directions. If you just told them to bar the doors, they might all go ahead and try to bar the same door!

Or stand around and look stupid, although he didn’t like calling anybody stupid, to be honest.

He went to the door that led to the arena and started barring it. It was just then that something occurred to him. They might be safe here for a while, but it likely wouldn’t last, unless the monster and the fighters decided to be reasonable and left them alone. He furrowed his brow as he wondered what he should do. His gaze abruptly went to the windows before he turned to Fastia. He had witnessed her skill at acrobatics first-hand when she had fought Elisabeth. She had a few bruises, and she had hurt her wrist a little, but all in all, she was doing okay, from what he could tell. She was, he decided, his best option.

Short of trying to send everybody down there – which was more likely to end in a disaster.

“Fastia”, he told her in a firm tone of voice. He was talking quickly, because he didn’t want to waste too much time considering that there was fighting all around. “I want you to climb through a window. Use one of the ladders if possible. Run to the nearest guard post, as quickly as you can. Tell the knights that the Lightning Dome is under attack from masked individuals, that a monster is in the Bloodworks, and that we don’t know where Ilaren is. We are holed up in the Infirmary with the wounded fighters. Tell them”, he added, hoping that his name would lend additional weight to his request. “Tell them that Duke Tristan Venora sent you.”

“We need as many Lightning Knights as possible, and soon. If they can, they should consider alerting the people at their headquarter as well. This is a matter of the highest urgency. Please”, he finished, because a little bit of politeness might make the Ithecal more inclined to listen to him.

“My diri informed me of what is going on”, he explained, in case they were wondering how they knew about the monster – they probably weren’t capable of hearing Chester.

Speaking of his diri …

“Chester”, he mentally called out to his bondmate next. “You will not hide. I absolutely need you to stay here right now and continue to listen so that we’ll know if they are coming closer, or if Faith and Vivian are returning. I’ll protect you, but we can’t do without you right now. I also need to know what kind of monster is in the Bloodworks. Do you know what it looks like?” he asked. A moment later, he quickly checked the Angler again to see if his condition was still stable – he absolutely refused to lose a patient, no matter under which circumstances - before he continued to secure to Infirmary and tried to listen to the sounds of the attackers.

Were they coming closer?

[Faith Augustin]

The truest wisdom.....

She just had to do two things.

Faith knew that Vivian was there, she could feel the presence of her fellow Warden. As she was stillI believe so, anyhow? Ignore if not bonded with the Induk Lovalus, Faith had the strange sensation of being both inside her own body and connected with one of the most powerful beings on the face of Idalos. She was aware, from her connections with Shule, with PB, and her own sense of awareness that she was no longer alone, that there was Vivian, but there was also other beings, other things.

And so, the first thing that Faith had to do was to trust.

She had to trust that Vivian would do her part. That Tristan would do his. Those were her people here, people that she had shared her life with, in different places and stages. Tristan who had bought her from Jamal. Tristan who had taught her that there were kind and gentle people in the world. Tristan, who had taught her how to be free and who had, one fateful trial, asked her if she wanted to be free. She owed him more than she could say. Then, there was Vivian. She and Vivian had not got off to the best of starts but they had shared experience after experience and Vivian had become someone that Faith knew she could rely on. That was rare for the young priestess of Famula, of Vri and Moseke, and she felt very strongly that both Tristan and Vivian were more than people she knew, more than people she had met.

They were her friends and, as such, Faith trusted them completely. So, that was the first thing done, easily enough.

As she felt the claw dig in to her leg, and then one into her shoulder, she felt a sharp and vicious pain, but she did not give in to it . She did not cry out or let it distract her focus . But what she did was to simply keep on doing what she did.. In that split second, she believed that she understood what the Sessfiend was doing, but Faith would have no part of that plan. It was hurting her in its final moments, desperate for her to let go, so that it could heal. She knew that, remembering it from the time they had hunted a Sessfiend in Andaris; if it was injured, it would heal. She knew that she had to keep on it, keep going.

Because the second thing she had to do was hold on.

Hold on, keep going, using the Burning Blood ability, hold to it. So, as it cut into her, Faith wrapped herself around it more. As each layer peeled away and revealed more and more horrors, Faith held on to it tighter and tighter. She did not want to die, not at all, and she was afraid. But that fear would not help her and so Faith did what she had done many times before and she pushed her fear away, far away from her and into her hands. And she held on.

She might die here, she knew that. As she wrapped herself tighter around the beast and concentrated on burning its blood, she knew that she might die. But she might die any trial and, on the trial she did, she would do the right thing. Always. If this thing got out into the crowded arena, then innocent people would die and get hurt. That could not happen, not if she could help it. So she tightened her grip, aiming to hold on to it as hard as she could in a vice like grip . Basically, she hugged harder and held on until it was dead.

Or, until she could hold on no longer.

... is resolute determination.

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian grinned as her blades hit home, letting the joy of the fight wash away her anger with the Sessfiend's presence. She hated Syroa's demons, as she hated their creator, and she always would. But anger had never been a productive emotion in her experience, and so she let the thrill of the fight wash it away. Of course, her enjoyment of things was rather dampened when a rage spirit, in the form of a large dog, jumped her from behind. "Pest." she said, turning so that it took her on the breastplate of her armor, the thickest part, rather than anywhere more vulnerable. Thankfully, Three Sheets to the Wind sped her reaction time up considerably while she was sober. If she hadn't been taken by surprise, she'd have been able to dodge it completely.

Thanks to her turn, she was able to reverse the grip on her sword and drive it into the wrath dogs side, the Blade of Lovalus coming out to slice at its back. But neither attack felt particularly solid and she didn't expect either of them to kill it. She wasn't particularly bothered by that, however, since a new opponent wasn't anything hugely unexpected. The enemy always had surprises, and if she let that bother her or stop her, she'd never have been able to jail Pearl Hopper or defeat Rhaum and his shapeshifting friend. All this dog was another enemy for them to beat.

Of course, her plans changed when she looked at Faith and saw the little healer getting pretty injured by the Sessfiend. "Right, don't have time to play with you." she said, gathering lightning under her feet and using it to leap into the dog shield first. As she did, she gathered two bolts of Elemental Manipulation and threw them in two opposing directions, one towards the Sessfiend, and the other away from it. She could ride the bolts and if there was much intelligence to this thing, it would probably expect her to ride the one going towards her target.

Vivian, however, knowing her ability to cover distance quickly was a major asset, rode the one going away from the Sessfiend, hopping away from and back to solid ground before it struck another wall. She gathered lightning under her feet as she landed and lept again, but this time lept so that she was to the side of the Sessfiend instead of going straight for it. Wrath and rage were predictable, violent emotions, ones that didn't allow for anything but immediate action against a target. She knew this, and she aimed to use it against the dog and the Sessfiend by doing what they never could have done.

She had fought Sessfiend's before, after all, and they were single-minded and predictable. It's what had allowed her to pin Zvezdana's Sessfiend in a stalemate for hours, with no magical or divine aid, or even any better armor than somewhat nice chain mail. She was far better equipped now, far more skilled. This would be over much quicker. When she landed to the side of the beast, she gathered lightning under her again and lept to the side again so that she was around behind, then gathered lightning one more time and lept forward, bring her sword down on the back of the creatures neck. She aimed to sever either the spine or completely decapitate the beast. Either way, it wouldn't be fighting Faith anymore.

[Pig Boy]

8th of Zi'Da 721

Tristan used his Duke voice, invoking all the

leadership

he was capable of exemplifying, he rallied those remaining and able to help to gather some barricade debris and other things to block a potential incursion by either the beast in the Bloodworks, or else the riotous attackers in the Arena.

There were sounds still emanating from beneath and without, troubling noises of people dying, and a beast below bellowing in horrible fury. But Tristan had nerves

of steel

and could endure a little scare. He’d seen his share of scary situations before, and had managed well enough in those. Plus, he had a clear plan of action.

The people who were capable of moving large objects did so. The Wall lumbered over, and helped one of the smaller-framed healers of the Order move over a large cabinet bureau. The Wall smiled at them, and patted them on the shoulder. Everyone seemed to rally to Tristan’s calm. Afterall, if someone who didn’t look very imposing or strong was calm, they were Rharneans, used to a fight. They should be fine!

Eventually the doors were as blockaded and barricaded as they were likely to get. Then, Tristan turned to Fastia, calling to her. “Aye sir, I can do that.” Far from reproachful of being commanded to do something, she almost seemed relieved that she’d get to escape the Arena. Then he gave her his task, and she nodded, resting a clawed hand over her heart. “By Ethelynda, I will see it done with all the speed I’m capable of.”

Having thus accepted her task, she began climbing up the Infirmary walls like a salamander, and then opening the windows narrowly, squeezing her way through the opening. From there, she climbed down the side of the building, and was gone for the moment. Tristan had only her word to go on, that she’d fetch the Order healers and Lightning Knights. Hopefully it’d be enough.

Chester’s spirit shivered at the sound of Tristan’s commanding voice. “I will listen, my bondmate… Yes. There’s a nasty dog down here though now… But I will watch and listen. As for the monster? Some larger hound-like thing with spikes and wings and tail. I’ve never seen or known anything like it… Something of the Immortals, I’ll wager.” Chester shivered as he approached nearer to where Faith and Vivian were fighting it. He’d report back their progress as their fight continued.



As long as Faith held on, dousing the Sessfiend in the spirit waters of Lovalus and simultaneously boiling its blood, the creature was entirely incapable of healing. However, as she clung to it, the claws did not dissolve beneath the waters. They became narrower, dilluting slightly but that only made the tines of its bones sharper, digging into her flesh, causing her blood to mingle with the boiling of the Sessfiend.

But still, the Sessfiend seemed to diminish with every trill she hung on, and it seemed to be dissolving its defenses pretty handily, as it thrashed through the corridors.

Vivian, meanwhile, had been pinned momentarily by the Rage Spirit. But she recovered her mobility very easily, as the hound, fast as it was, could not contend with the Exalted of Ilaren. She was able to move like lightning, and predictably the hound followed along on a straight path toward her, indulging in its fury.

The superficial wound she’d left on its back after it struck her first, was not as light as she thought at first glance, yet it wasn’t enough yet to dispatch the beast.

It clawed its furious way toward her, following a predictable line of attack. But Vivian was too fast for it to get a bead on, and was able to move in and out of its measure with ease. Soon enough, when the lightning began to sizzle and burn the Rage Spirit as well as the Sessfiend, the smell of burning flesh and ephemera wafted in the air. Then, Vivian struck at the creature, the Sessfiend’s neck. Her sword, moving with all the speed she was capable, worked its way through the bone and grisle of the creature being hugged to death by Faith.

Then, in a few moments, the Sessfiend’s form began to dissolve. Beneath the boiling blood, the sizzling acrid smoke from the lightning which was conducted by Lovalus’ waters, and the fundamental incompatability of Lovalus’s calm waters and the furious creature’s flesh, it was almost more than one person could bear.

Vivian would feel sick to her stomach in the midst of it all. But it wouldn’t be quite enough to unsettle her to the point of losing

composure

While the creature slumped, it’s skeleton partially exposed to Faith, she fell upon a few more of the spikes along its back. These wounds were serious, and might be fatal if not bound and treated immediately, or else healed with whatever other abilities they might have. The waters of Lovalus washed away some of the hurts, but they weren’t enough on their own.

The Rage spirit seemed to disappear along with the death of the Sessfiend.