"Go away!", a small voice whimpered. "Father said you're not allowed here."
Aibek looked back to the others again, the witchwolf's body suddenly clearly tense. Dozens of questions filled their mind - here by the house, likely the family's property, or here the whole village... where was their father or mother or anyone else... when did they last see...how old...
Aibek took a deep breath, trying to make their voice as soothing as possible and attempted to make loud their stepping back a few steps, "I apologize, I do not mean to alarm or trespass. Do...do you know where your father is or when he is likely to return? I am more than happy to go but...there are concerns that likely should be discussed with someone of your village. My...job is to help care of the city of Khalharum and its people...which right now includes you..."
Aibek was chatting in quite the friendly way at the moment... and with a bit of a shrug, Azri left him to it. No sense letting too many cooks make a bad broth, after all. ...Is what she might have said if she actually ate things anymore.
"The old ruins? But barely anyone lives there anymore."
Aibek glanced back nervously. They were glad they weren't just told to go away again but the entire situation made the witchwolf uneasy.
"True, though now that Nexus is partially up, repairs are being made and more people are coming to Khalharum..." Aibek started slowly, both wanting to be informative and gauge the unknown person's understanding of the area.
Nigrum stands guard in case of ambush or wandering monster. Were they dealing with another invisible girl or something? He came from a land of kami but even this was pushing it, all things considered.
Azri's eyes flicked towards a nearby building as her unnaturally keen vision caught sight of something... and with a smooth motion, she raised her staff and fired a bolt of force from it towards the air well above their heads. At that angle, it would be pretty much immediately apparent that she wasn't trying to hit them... just let them know she knew they were present. Now, how were they going to respond, hmm?
For an instant, Mihara gets the feeling she saw something, but is unable to locate whatever it was. She stands at attention, listening carefully to the ongoing conversation.
"More people? How many people? Lots? Like...fifty people?" The tone of the voice suggested that this was a number of people beyond imagining.
"We have company." Azri said mildly, stepping out front to face them. "Come down or I'm going to have to assume you three are hostile." she called as she did so. They deserved at least an opportunity to explain themselves... but with a potential threat to her family, her tolerance did have its limits.
"No." One of the figures rose, revealing a heavy gun of some kind. "This is Father's town. You are unwelcome. Leave." Although the odd robe kept its figure hidden, there was something offer about it. Equally, the voice was wrong and had an unusual vocalization to it.
Aibek smiled at the tone in the young ones voice, "Far more than that now, built well over 50 homes in the last couple of months, most are already filled." Aibek said as they considered. "Some new merchant groups too, they have things you or your father might be interested in."
Hearing Azri, Aibek glanced back but stayed where they were.
There was a pause at the door, and a murmur, "That's a lot of people." It paused as it heard the voice talking, apparently waiting to see what the gunmen said.
"I agree, it's quite busy at times. Sometimes I walk outside of walls for quiet. I was near here a few weeks ago on a night walk... but somehow missed your village." Aibek commented, not moving from where they stood but their eyes remained mainly on the others as the shadow archon took in their surroundings. The figures came from somewhere...and there might be more.
"And our town is over yonder." Azri said, gesturing towards Khalharum. "...Well, it's going to be a bit more than a town by the time we're through, at least. More importantly, we'd prefer to be good neighbors. Hospitality - or at least a cautious but reasonably benign distance - will be returned. As will hostility, for we've little interest in allowing nearby threats to our home. So, what sort of relationship would you like to have?"
"None." The figure craned its head towards the sun. "Ten minutes. Go."
"If you really want people to stay away from the area, the best way to get that to happen is to negotiate." Azri pointed out. "With a proper settlement, we'd be able to tell our people that this area is fine and we don't have to interact with it. Without that, for our own safety, we'd have to come back until we felt the region was secure."
The creature considered this...and raised it's rifle in one smooth motion. It's two compatriots did the same.
Round 1
Without hesitating, Azri waved a hand and send a burst of fire streaking out through the air and towards the second figure. She'd been entirely reasonable - but if they were so hostile to outsiders that they literally preferred to attack instead of getting an agreement that would help stop others from bothering them, they were clearly too dangerous to go free this close to the city.
Thus, fire.
for
Nigrum had kept silent, mostly because the people he came across were delicate when it came to talk. Even the gnolls on this island apparently. But once battle began, they would submit or fall. He jumps towards the nearest foe on the roof, drawing Tsui as he goes and brings her down in one smooth motion.
"Truly sad that it comes to this." Mihara sighs. She draws her blades and rushes through the air towards G1, aiming to strike decisively.
Azri's fire scorched one, although the heavy cloth seemed to offer a certain protection. Mihara's strike hit too, although you got the feeling that they wouldn't be so simple to hit next. Even odder, there was a heavy metalic ring as her blades struck.
The creature took a step back, raising its weapon and opening fire once clear.
The second opened fire on Nigrum as he closed, although unable to divert the swordsman from his attack. It reloaded with impressive speed, however, and fired a second shot.
The final one attacked Azri, and again reloaded with shocking speed.
At first, Aibek was startled that the people actually started firing. Instinctively, they pressed themself against the door to protect the small voiced person and to make themself a smaller target. The more Aibek watched the combat, the more worry and frustration grew in the witchwolf.
Pulling a shadow crossbow from the limited shadow that could be found, Aibek called out,
Aibek adjusted themselves, standing defensively against the door, watching the people with guns and the others.
"Are you okay in there? I advise staying clear of the door, the walls are better protection. I've got the door covered for now but I cannot guarantee I can keep it that way. I just..." Aibek asked the person inside the small hut, ending with a frustrated sigh, head softly hitting the door as the thoughts of how little they knew of what they were doing. [b]"I'm sorry...this is likely a bit scary. I hated when there was fighting in my village. The others and I can't really leave though without knowing everything is well. Your village's sudden appearance has caused concern in Khalharum and with everything else that's happened...hundreds are hoping the others and I can check it out and make sure it's safe."
Aibek readied a shot, not yet firing.
When hit Nigrum's crown shines for a moment as a silvery sword appears and lashes out at his attacker.
Metal?
Mihara attempts to get a closer look at the combatants before striking.
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Unsure why things devolved so suddenly, Ayreth summons her aura to help her friends subdue the threat quickly.
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The first attack to hit Azri had its force dulled - the second hit bit did no damage at all thanks to her naturally tough body. Muttering, she gestured curtly, and a Stinking Cloud appeared to envelop the first and second enemies. Alas, it wasn't quite wide enough to catch all three, so she went for the next-best thing.
Mihara considers the creatures. Given the odd, precise movements and the metallic nature of the skin seems to be artificial. They even smell metallic. They seem to be some kind of metallic creature. A golem, perhaps, although that doesn't seem right.
If either the gunslingers or the girl heard Aibek's frustrated words, neither answered. There was no noise from inside the room, nor any sign that the gunslingers either acknowledged or cared.
Two of the Gunslingers moved back by a few feet, into the Stinking Cloud, and opened fire with a raucous fullisade of assaults. If the spell bothered them at all they gave no hints of it, and instead used
The third moved to the edge of the building, focusing instead on firing at Ayreth. Apparently her buffing had been noticed.
The shot glances against Mihara's skin, but deals very little damage, thanks to her resistance.
"These are automatons of some sort!" she calls out to the others.
She vanishes from sight and appears behind the remaining gunslinger.
rounds
"Nigrum! With me! Let's show them what we can do!"
Mihara readies a blow for a two-pronged attack with her fellow swordsman.
Nigrum closes the distance with the only one outside the cloud and in sight. He brings down Tsui on the supposed metal man, then brings her across.
"Once we are done with this one, Azri must rid us of that fog. We can't see them."
Meanwhile the magical blade follows and harasses the same one Nigrum attacked.
"Huh. Well, I might not be coffin, but that's no excuse for them at this point." Azri said, attempting a joke. The bad news was that the cloud wasn't easily dismissed - the good was that it wouldn't last too long anyway, and would probably trouble their accuracy while they were inside it. With that, she readied another blazing hex to target the first one she saw.
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Ayreth hits her knees as the shots ring out. "What in the Nine Hells?! Son of a pig-nosed snot farmer..." Ayreth curses as she stands up. She then summons a sparkling light around herself.
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A deep growl poured out of the witchwolf as their attempts went apparently ignored through a hail of bullets. Eyes narrowing at the one that shot Ayreth, Aibek responded in kind as the shadows around their feet twisted and turned to the shadow archon's swirling thoughts.
The concentrated rain of destruction quickly avenges the harm done to Ayreth, leaving one a crumpled heap of cloth.
The other two moved out of the gas...and away.
Both lept the gap between buildings easily, moving over to the next roof.
Azri darted west, aiming to keep pace with the fleeing figures for now. She wasn't inclined to allow them to escape that easily - not when they'd had every opportunity for a fair and peaceful resolution and had thrown it away for no sensible reason at all.
Mihara takes off at astounding speed and gives chase, quickly closing in on the fleeing foes.
"Not so fast! We are still open to dialogue, though we will ask that you first set down your weapons."