you all enjoy the festivities, food, and drink as the night progresses. Some possibly more than others. No one seems to noticing anything amiss, save possibly some quiet people standing off in corners or near the walls. As many of the knights begin to drink more than their share however, the festivities are shattered in quite a bloody and abrupt way. One of the new knights walks up behind Micheal, the main one providing most of the magically enchanted drink and plunges a long serrated knife through his back. With a quick sawing motion, Micheal falls to the floor in a heap, his robes almost causing him to look like crumpled laundry.
Several other newly inducted knights stare in shock, unsure of whether this is some prank, trick, or effect of magic before several other knights move from the shadows, all drawing long, serrated, wicked looking daggers. Striking at those closest to them. Most of those in attendance hadn't brought their weaponry, and no one had much in the way of armor, save possibly some with stylish shields. In the midst of the chaos, an arcane distortion is scene and from it steps a human woman, tall, jet black hair down past her shoulders, wearing an ornate black steel breastplate with red inlay forming runes and symbols on it. She has a greataxe strapped to her back, and wields a shield similar to the brestplate with a morning star. She shouts
Long have you all grown comfortable and lazy on the backs of the people. Long have you profited from our suffering even while you spread lies about protecting us! No more! We follow the Great One, the True One, the Great Beast! He will free us all from the shackles you have chained us with. See our resolve? We strike fearlessly For the Great One, And in return, he grants us the power to survive!
As she says this, you all see pure dark energy swirl through the air around her. Any of your new brothers near her suddenly begin to wither away, their forms turning to what seems ash before disappearing, even one of the knife wielding assailants gets too close and perishes in this way. They never even had the chance to scream.
The woman laughs, let the weak and worthless wither away in the Divine light of Our Master! Strike them down, slay them for generations of oppression, generations of mistreatment! They cannot stand against what is true justice!
More dark energy seems to gather around the woman, before dispersing out,covering the area in a magical darkness that instills a cold terror within you. Suddenly, a bright Light Shines forth, casting away the dark mist and you see the High Cleric entering the room. At The High Cleric's entrance a flash of fear crosses the black armored woman's face. What ensues seems to be a test of wills that ends with the woman holding her own, until Headmaster Alaryn enters as well wielding his famed greatsword and his regal attire tattered bits. The woman seems to glower before retreating and mumbles something into her dangling earring.
Tonight is merely the end of the beginning! Across the whole nation the people strike at you and your corrupt knights! Soon, all will see the truth, all will know, and you will fall! As she finishes speaking another arcane distortion begins to swirl around her before she vanishes.
Even as she vanishes, about 6 knife wielding members move in towards your group. Almost half of the remaining knights have been either killed or wounded by the cultists, however, after the initial shock and surprise their training begins to kick in. Several other small skirmishes have broken out as the Knights that are alive and not fleeing attempt to fend of the assailants. Many using improvised weaponry such as chairs or sharp table knives, while others are left to fight with nothing but their fists or to throw tableware in an attempt to distract one of the attackers or at least hinder them.
Dot
It all happened so fast, even for Serill who had been commended for quickly reacting to situations during training. He put it down to never having faced real danger before. And so he watched as the chaos unfolded, first Michael and then one by one other fellow recruits. Everything seemed surreal and almost as if happening in slow motion. He finally snaps to when the black woman leaves by a way he assumes is some sort of teleportation. What dark master does she speak of?
Luckily he had not drunk heavily, though this was the least of his worries. "By my ancestors... I am a fool." Thinking himself safe he had wrongly placed his trust in the Brotherhood this day and left his blade safely in his lodgings, thinking the presence of weapons would be ill-advised for such an event.
Serill focuses his mind and tries to cast a spell, oh to be a sorcerer right now... To his great delight and surprise it works and a 10ft. square patch of grease appears under several of the cultists.
Lily watches, a bit shocked as this all happened. She grits her teeth when the woman in black appears. As the woman disappears as quickly as she appeared Lily takes a deep breath. This is what I signed up for. This is what I wanted.
Lily looks towards one of the closer cultists and points towards him with her hand. Two magic missiles come out, flying directly towards him blasting him in the chest twice.
The moment Micheal gets gutted, Alistair starts to move it takes him more time than he wanted to waste but he is able to draw forth two daggers from the cuffs of his heavily starched uniform.
Glad I came prepared, I just was not prepared for this sh*t.
Stepping out in front of the arcane casters, Alistair engages one of the cultist. His main hand slashes across the upper chest while his off hand stabs in at the gut.
With uncharacteristic venom in his voice, Dalen calls out to the woman as she disappears.
"'Strike fearlessly?' All I see is a bunch of cowards murdering men in cold blood, you black-hearted b!*~~!"
Years of training and hard work kick in immediately, pushing past the shock and horror, leaving reactions for later as Anduriels's sharp mind immediately goes into action.
It was a point of pride that she wore her rapier today and now it might be the difference between life and death. With a single fluid movement, the spell-dancer draws her blade, her body shifting into an amazingly fluid motion as she assumes a perfectly balanced stance her blade weaving a pattern before her as her free hand goes through a rapid succession of intricate movements, shimmering blue arcane sigils manifesting in the air before her to form a coruscating shield of energy that lets out a soft hum as she glares at the oncoming cultists.
"Every last one of you is dying tonight." she hisses.
Lily Fires two Deep blue blasts of force, each one striking home into the closest cultists chest, halting him in his tracks.
Wellington then manages a fine strike with his dagger on the cultist while he is still recoiling from the blasts, the blade slides easily through the mans paltry leather armor.
One cultist is forced face first into the slippery substance as the other attempted to use him to maintain his own footing, somehow he manages to keep from slipping.
The cultist then slowly, but gracefully, manages to make his way out of the grease, using his action to surge forward again. stopping next to sir Wellington.
The remaining 3 surge forward, one moves in behind Sir Wellington, using his allies presence to try and slip his dagger into the more vital areas.
The other two move forward, one charges into combat with Lily (provoking from Wellington) the other charges Anduriel
The first charges forward, thrusting a vicious stab into Lily's stomach, giving it an extra twist filled with malice
You will all taste divine justice! The elites have taken enough from us, now, we will take it all back! Especially from you, you and your powerful merchant families have left the rest of us to starve!
The other moves in to strike Anduriel, attempting to cover his allies back.
Vs Anduriel
"Oh f@$~ off," Dalen growls as two massive hands grab the man at the neck and belt before he wrenches the man away from Lily and spins him to face a table, preparing to bash his face into it.
"I. F+$!ing. Hate. Self. Righteous. Hypocrites. Like. YOU," he bellows, each word punctuated by the tightening of his fingers on the man's neck.
Surprised by the violence that had suddenly broken out in the midst of the knights, and then surprised by the anger Dalen was showing and the brutality of his actions, Elaina was rather slow to act. Not sure of what she could do to help, she grabs a platter from the table to use as a shield and moves to protect Dalen's flank as he slams one of the attackers' faces into a table again and again.
I don't think I've ever seen him this angry before, and I can't say I am not scared of him now, she thinks to herself as she tries to get a handle on the situation.
Demari's delight in having found a fellow follower of Old Deadeye, in little Elaina is instantly shattered by the assault of the cultist. The brutal slaughter quickly enrages the usually calm cleric.
"Your terror ends now!", Demari unclasps his holy symbol from his uniform and raises it up high. A 'spear' sized arrow materializes into shining brilliance, then quickly lunges at the nearest foe.
Sending off the magical weapon to do the deed, Demari quickly moves to shield Anduriel from anymore harm. "Miss Anduriel, hold on. Casters fall back!"
Well if that worked, perhaps something else might. Here goes...
Serill feels the magic take shape through him as he focuses it, crafting the spell that he wants. Just as it is about to take shape and alter the world it comes undone, dissipating harmlessly and invisibly to all whose eyes were not attuned to the arcane, magical energy wasted.
"It's not working. I don't have my focus." Serill steps back as Damari had ordered, defeated and helpless to watch the battle unfold. The first real test where things can go very wrong and you have failed. At least my parents cannot see this.
Anduriel hisses in pain as the blade slips past her shield and scores her side. Even as Damari calls a warning for her to fall back, her eyes flash with anger and...something else. A wild grin slips across her face as the elegant blade dancer rattles off a surprise spell seeking to daze her opponent, immediately following with a fluid strike.
Lily shudders for a moment as the blade is twisted in her stomach. She gasps for air, the taste of blood in her mouth. She stumbles back a step, ready to pull out her claws on the cultist that attacked her. As Dalen grabs the cultist that stabbed her she gives a nod of appreciation to him. She backpedals, from the fray trying to put some distance between them and her. She extends her hand again, sending two magic missiles towards the closest cultist.
Alistair knows that he is in trouble and he is fine with that. His movement out and in the front drew away a few of the cultist, which meant fewer enemies heading towards the arcane casters. He winced as he sees a cultist running towards the casters. He had hope to draw them all in but that was not the case. He can not give more thoughts to the casters as he is being surrounded. The dagger catches him across his back just under the reinforce back plate. He knows that trick, hell he has done that one himself a few times. They are trained at surrounding their targets, be careful not to get distracted by multiple targets. They will strike where and when you can not defend yourself. Do not get flanked
Feeling the blood running down his back was a reminder to move.
Alistair notices that they are wearing Leather Armor of some kind and opts to stab at his target.
The cultist in the grease attempts to stand and move out of the slick substance.
He manages to make it out, and moves to aid his ally against Anduriel.
1- Alistair
2- Anduriel
Alistair lands two solid blows on the cultist and he lets out a grunt and his face becomes a grimace as readies himself to strike back. Just as two dark blue bolts of force slam right into his face, launching him a few feet back to land on the floor.
the Other cultist behind Alistair calls out briefly to his ally before sinking his blade into Alistairs back.
Anduriel strikes out with her weapon, landing a small, but solid, nick on the cultist as she just barely misjudges the distance as he took a small step back. She then feels a threatening presence beside her as the cultist free from the grease moves in behind her.(you get an AoO as he moves around you) And in the moment of distraction the cultist in front of her lashes out towards her leg scoring a nice cut, just missing a vital artery in her leg by mere centimeters. However, as he sneers when his blade draws blood a large, green arrow of force flies forward into his arm, causing him to twist slightly and grunt in pain as he looks rather worse for wear.
Dalen moves in and grabs the cultists in an Iron grip of hatred. Before he fully wraps his arms around him however, the cultist lashes out in an attempt to fend him off to little avail as even though the dagger sinks in to his forearm the pure outrage from Dalen seems to all but numb the pain.
The cultist then attempts to plunge his dagger into the man, the close proximity allows him to get a good gut shot in even with the awkwardness of the tussle.
Alistair strike a slashing attack on the cultist running by him
With a roar, Dalen slams the cultist's face into the table with a crack as he breaks the man's nose.
Elaina grabs a knife from the table and seeing Anduriel in trouble, goes after the cultist that had just stabbed the spellsword. However, the nervous archer fumbles and drops the knife with a clatter. Seeing that she's now unarmed and facing an enemy more skilled in melee combat than she, Elaina whimpers, though she stands her ground.
Demario watches as Anduriel rushes into the thick of it, injured yet emboldened! So this is the Order. I like this..
"Waaaagggghhhh", Demari roars as he as he directs the brilliant force arrow to spear the wounded attacker assaulting Anduriel.
After sending forth the spiritual weapon, he hoist up his holy symbol once again. With a quick prayer it flashes as it elongates into a spear.
With the force weapon in hand, he gets ready to assist Anduriel.
"Lily lookout!" Serill cries out seeing her stabbed by the enemy.
He focuses harder, visualising his blade in hand and the arcane energies focused by it. This seems to help and it coalesces, making copies of him. He runs to help his nearest ally. It looks like there are 4 Serill's in the fight now.
Lily continues her backpedal, one hand on the large hole in her side. She watches as her last flurry of missiles took out one of the cultists. Okay one down, we can do this.. She continues to look over the fight, trying to find another target to pick off.
Anduriel lets out a scream of pain and anger as the blade slices her deeper than expected. bleeding heavily and very aware of her dangerous position she sees Elaina coming to her aid only to be disarmed. Taking advantage of her enemy's distraction she fires off another spell hoping to daze the cultist as she strikes.
Demari thrust at the cultist besieging Lily, letting her slip by as he joins in the fray.
He also calls forth his spiritual weapon to assist Anduriel, in saving Elaina.
Alistair lashes out with a double strike at the cultist left infront of him. The cultists dodges one of Alistairs blades, but doing so causes him to slam even harder onto the second dagger(main gauche) ramming it to the hilt in his chest.
The cultist Dalen slams into the table is able to shake off most of the disorientation, however due to a mixture of blood and a mild concussion his vision is slightly impaired.
he attempts to wriggle out of Dalens grip, now fearful of the bulky mans rage however the Iron grip proves stronger and the man can only watch in fear as his head is lifted up above the table edge again.
Anduriel Skewers one of the cultists surrounding her with a well timed thrust, just as he went to stab her. Her blade pierces the armor like a hot knife cuts butter going straight through his heart. As she does this, she causally flicks her wrist and casts a spell towards the one behind her.
The spell takes hold and the mans eyes seem to glaze over and he looks around as if trying to remember where he is. Only to be blasted by Bolts of blue force, he then slumps to the ground.
Next Round, you hear a terrified scream Please, no! NOOO!! that is cut abruptly short as Dalen Slams the cultist's head against the table repeatedly until it is but a bloody pulp.
As you look around, you notice several other skirmishes still going. At this point, you can choose to aid other groups around the hall, or help out team 2 in their fight.
Dalen grabs the dagger from the now dead cultist's hand and moves to help the other knot of knights fighting. There were cultists still standing and he intended to correct that oversight as soon as possible.
Missing as his target nimbly dodges the blow and having to adjust his blood-slicked grip, the knight growls as he looms over the robed figure.
"I'd surrender," the baritone voice rumbles, "I'm not in a forgiving mood."
Seeing that, for them at least, combat is over, Elaina begins to treat the wounds of those nearby that have been injured, and trying to save any cultists that are still breathing before they slip over into the realm of death.
She pointedly does her best to avoid what's left of the man that Dalen attacked, and tries not to wretch anytime she thinks about what happened.
"H-he's mad," she mutters to herself as she works.
After dispatching the last cultist on him, Alistair will engage any of the cultist that he can flank.
Not so tough now that the tables are turned huh...
Flashing a grateful smile at both Lily and Damari for having her back, Anduriel gives the stunned looking Elaina a wink before turning to approach one of the other embattled groups, ignoring the limp from her substantial wound.
As soon as she approaches a cluster of the cultists, the swordswoman raises one hand, making an intricate gesture as she shouts an arcane phrase, a blast of scintillating color washing over those in front of her.
Demari seeing all the immediate cultist down he looks to the rest of the graduates he talked too . He sends forth the Spiritual Weapon to assist them in felling the cultist.
After loose the giant arrow, he turns to the most injured among them to gather around. "Anduriel, Lily, Alistair stay still for a moment"
Safe again for the moment, Serill's 8 eyes look around at the chaos in the room. "Quite a savage fellow when pushed. He thinks as Dalen rushes off to join another fight right after smashing the head of a cultist in. He took a moment to look around the immediate area near him first.
The squire was looking after the wounded, so many. He decided to help, staying near her so as not to leave anyone alone to surprise he checks those on the floor for life.
Lily walked closer to Damari, and the healing energies partially sealed the wound. Her hand remains on her side, trying to keep the wound from possibly reopening. "I needed that. Never knew a blade could hurt so badly." She then looks around the room, and tries to spot the a relatively injured cultist shooting off another set of magic missiles.
You spread out, finding what remains of the skirmishes and quickly turning the tide of the remaining battle. By a rough guess, over half of the knights that had been at the ceremony were dead, and a quarter still wounded or missing. The most surprising thing is just how many traitors had attacked tonight. out of a rough estimate of 120 recruits tonight, about 40-50 had taken part in this surprise attack. Not long after you gather up and subdue the few remaining cultists that were still breathing, Mia Fey walks back in through the large double doors. Her clothing torn, charred, and tattered. Her normally beautiful face wore a pained and exhausted look.
Thank goodness, you all have my sincerest apologies, This was not the only attack tonight, and I was forced to maintain belief in your abilities and training, though the toll is more than I can stand. Come, Let me tend to the wounded.
She presents her holy symbol and a mist of golden light spreads out from around her. As it touches you, you feel refreshed and your wounds close rapidly, leaving not even a scar upon you.
Please, all of you return to your old barracks rooms after helping to... to... collect... all the dead. All Knights within the city have been called to high alert and several will be posted around and in your barracks. You will all receive a briefing tomorrow, but, for tonight, the Headmaster has deemed your parts finished. Several of the other knights slowly begin to move about, collecting fallen comrades to line them in rows. Their faces either in tears, or nothing but a blank expression as the adrenaline leaves their system. Mia then walks to your group after speaking to another group of 6 knights.
I thank you, from what I was told, you six were one of the biggest factors tonight wasn't near as bad as it could have been. I am sorry I could not stay and aid you, we have lost so many tonight... Please, come with me, and bring the ones you managed to capture... Feel free to collect any items you wish on the way, I understand you are all probably on edge. I do not blame you, however I doubt you will need them anymore. I am also sorry, but I am afraid your work is far from over.
Allistair will help anyway he can
Dalen's face is anything but blank or tearful as he hauls two of the captives up by the backs of their necks. Anger simmers in his green eyes as his hands tighten more an more as he sees beyond the facade that Mia Fey had placed between the world and part of her that could only see the blood and be horrified. It was the same anger that had driven him to bash a man's face in and the same anger that had lead him to slaughter bandit after bandit when they had attacked Sir Aldon on the road. The two captives cry out in pain as he remembers their words, the twisted logic they used to justify their actions. He didn't hear the gasps from the cultists and barely felt their necks at all as he heard the words of hypocrites echo in his head over and over again.
The Brotherhood has become corrupt, they claim. What of them that kill us in cold blood, those of us that have not had a chance to prove ourselves? What of them that would subject a kindly woman to this?
His teeth grate together as his hands tighten more.
Elaina falls in beside Dalen, her face as pale as white ash. A corner of her mind marvels at how calm Mia Fey appears, but she is mostly occupied with not being sick as she follows her knight. As they walk, she doesn't see so much as feel the tightening of Dalen's hands on the necks of two of the prisoners. Feeling something is wrong, she looks up at the young man's face, and notices the anger and rage blazing brighter in his eyes.
"Dalen?"
The archer's timid question doesn't even reach his ears. Her eyes flick to his hands, now beginning to turn white at the knuckles.
"Dalen," she calls out a little louder than before, but again, the knight does not answer as the prisoners begin to cry out in pain and gasp for breath.
"Dalen! Please! " Her arms wraps around one of his as she makes to pry him off as she calls out. The cultists are close to screaming from the pain as she calls out once more.
With a snarl, Dalen whips his head around to see who was grabbing onto his arm, and blinks in surprise as he realizes that it is Elaina, whose wide, blue eyes are looking into his with fear. One thing above all others struck him in that moment as his brain raced to catch up with his reflexes.
Elaina was afraid of him.
And like the snuffing of a candle, his rage is gone, his anger forgotten, and his hands loosen their grip on the cultists' necks, though he does not let go. The snarl fades into a look of confusion as his eyes widen in surprise, then that too fades, his face is blank as he realizes what he'd been doing, but the shame that darkened his eyes was not for causing the cultists pain, but for how Elaina had looked at him. Unable to meet her gaze, his head slowly turns back to face forward as he followed Mia and the others.
The rest of the way, the knight is silent as he thinks about what he'd seen in his squire's eyes and how he must look to the others in the Brotherhood.
Demari surveys the devastation throughout the hall. Horrified by how many brother and sisters slain, angered by the others betrayal, yet so truly saddened by how unprepared he was. How impotent he was in saving lives. Erastil, you warned that I would be need. But I don't know if I can be enough. Please, guide my hand that I may stand against these ill times. Let me not stand, unable to protect these innocents.
After Demari's quick prayer, he looks to Mia Fey. She is trying so very hard, yet her kinder heart is in tatters. There are times for mourning, but now is the time for action. He goes to her and speaks in a hushed tone.
"Thank you for your strength, Mia. The gods will see us through this. I know this may be hard, but can you tell us what other attacks have gone on? Do you know what Great Beast, these madmen spoke of? Are they the cult of Rovagug!?
Mia turns to regard Damari as they make their way to the Headmasters quarters.
Thank you Damari, as for the other attacks, well, several well to do families were attacked, including the main building where the council of nine reside at during this time of year, discussing as ever politics and matters of government. One of them was killed before the assassins were defeated, and several merchant families lost many of their kin as well. she pauses and looks towards Dalen, I... am sorry, truly. I... She breaks eye contact and looks away for a good while before looking back. I, know yours was one of the ones attack, however I cannot tell you the fates of your family. She stops speaking for a bit again, before continuing. Also, Daniel, the Headmasters son is missing...
After a slight pause, she moves on, seemingly not wanting to elaborate on the last fact. As for the Great Beast...I do not know for sure, the symbols did not look like those of Rovagug, and I know there are other patrons out there who could be referred to as a beast. However, studies on those matters where never my strongest suit, I could tell you everything about Iomedae, Sarenrea, even many things of Erastil and others. Outside those however,well, I never pushed myself to learn. Something I very much regret now. She looks down again, as if blaming herself even more for tonight before shaking her head and putting up a tough front again. Either way, Alaryn has much to deal with, and the council is putting a great deal of pressure on him to greatly increase security measures around the inner districts... It may be better if he explains this fully. she goes quiet again.
Serill aids in securing the captured cultists and traitors after the fighting ends. He could not fathom how they had managed to get so many of them past the tests. This seemed unprecedented. He crouches down to gather his breath and wits. The excitement of the fight gone left him aware of the horror of the situation. The dead were everywhere, right in front of him. He had never seen anything like it. I am not ready for this, what am I doing? I should have stayed in Valen. There was no going back now. He would not run any more.
He stands and pays attention when Mia comes over to address them personally. His thoughts more collected as she thanks them. He listens to her explanation to Damari but it doesn't help him put any of the pieces together. "I am ready."
