Kyras rushes to Azami's aid. He has absolutely no idea what the horrifying bloody beast is, or what caused the horrifying carnage around him, but he saw the clothing of the creature before Daisuke ably severed its head. [B]"I leave you alone for two seconds..."[
/b] He stands back to back with Azami, looking for the creature. After all, he may not know much about it, but most creatures burn.
There is a moment where Azami's face is a blank mask of nauseated horror, but as Kyras enters the room and makes his quip, she quickly regains her acerbic wit. "If you'd left me alone for four seconds Daisuke and I could have this wrapped up and we could be getting out of here." As she whirls into a back-to-back fighting stance with the Warbanian, she softens the jab a bit. "I look forward to hearing what else happened in the garden."
The Reaver suddenly appears in front of Azami and Daisuke, its flail swinging in a wide arc. It screams and babbles incoherently at them as it does: "WHATISTHEMEATBAGWASTETASTEILOVEHOWWHENIDEVOURTHEMTHESNOWBUDGROWSITSHOWSIEA TIEATYOURMEATHOLESINSIDEMEEEEEAAAAAAGGHHH!"
There are several terrible, small, concussive POPs and Kyras, Tokine, and Chu all get introduced to the brutal experience of blood pouring out of the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth simultaneously. The Reaver shrieks and gibbers with joy when this happens, and does a grotesque little dance as it slides spider-like forward to attack its enemies.
Wounds notwithstanding, Kyras instantly unleashes a blast of fiery energy from his hands that collides with the thing, but it ignores the flaming cone. The fires wash over it and seem not to do any damage at all. Azami lets loose with her sword, trading blow for blow, but just barely misses the thing in her effort to dodge its flail. Unfortunately for her, the effort falls very short; she gets hammered by the weapon and immediately locks into place, dropping her katana with a loud CLANG on the stone floor. She is frozen in place, her eyes glazed over.
The thing also hits Daisuke, and the ronin falls to the floor unconscious.
The reaver exults. "BWAAAAAAAAAA-YOOOOOOOOOOOO!" (but still doesn't make any sense)
Across the room, the Seras have struggled to their feet and look about to come across and help.
Dice
Tokine gets a moment's glimpse of the creature before her eyes are assaulted with agony.
"It's a Devil. Fire won't harm it at all and Cold and Acid hurt it only slightly."
She doesn't go on too much as she sees her friends go down under the fiend's assault. She moves up next to Kyras (30' to k-11) and raises her glaive. She gives it a shake and the bells ring out in a soothing harmony.
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Chu staggered momentarily as the intense pain of the demons infernal magic and the fact he was suddenly bleeding profusely distracted him from locating the creature. The sound of its flail strikes made him swivel around to watch as one of the warriors fell to the floor. As the other warrior stood motionless Chu advanced towards the creature, weaving past the fallen on the floor and the frozen ronin, trying to hem it in so the newly arrived warriors could help to pin it down.
As he came within range of the creature though he gained its ire as it tried to strike him with its flail...
(one is me... Ouchies!)
As the blow connects Chu lashes out with his fangs, piercing its strange flesh with ease and injecting his venom into the creature. Hopefully it would sap its strength...
Charging strike from invisibility, w/ challenge
Damage
Spend my second to last ki point to vanish again. Ready for an AoO if it uses an SLA, or for a full attack if it hangs around.
As smoke billows in the air, Shoto Imuri's form roils into being as he steps toward the blood reaver. Without a word, he draws his katana and catches it in both hands, lunging toward the monster and turning the blade towards it entrails. When the blade comes out, it is slick with ichor. Imuri nods at the creature with confidence and vanishes again.
The Blood Reaver gibbers and giggles with insane joy as Chu comes into its target range, but then hisses in anger as the lithe and dextrous serpentman deftly avoids the giant twin heads of the creature's flail.
As Chu steps back from his successful attack, he looks on in dismay as his poison slowly seeps back out of the bite marks and drips harmlessly to the floor, not affecting the creature at all. Then the wound heals over in an instant, completely recovered. The reaver bugs its eyes out at the Loyal Shadow and howls like a mad gibbon.
Suddenly the impetuous Shoto scion appears and slices the creature, vanishing right after, which gains its interest. It completely ignores Daisuke, Azami, Kyras and Chu, and begins sniffing the air for Imuri, waving its hands in front of itself trying to find him.
Kyras teeters on exhaustion, his powerful frame straining as he steps between the Bloodreaver and Azami. As he steps to the other side of the distracted devil, his body and demeanor shift. He gives way for the bestial creature inside, letting the Dragon take control of his body. With one last surge of strength, he roars as he brings his katana upward. The sharp blade cuts clean deep into it with an overhand stroke. Black blood flies in all directions as he brings the sword up for a second attack, this time a thrust deep into the devil's chest. With a final surge, his teeth shift into the draconic countenance. For a moment, he is more monstrous than the devil is. With a guttural, primal roar, the Dragon lunges with his maw into the devil's throat. He tears its cursed flesh, dark ichor and blood flowing freely down his mouth and he roars victoriously. He nearly falls to a knee as the Dragon begins to recede, Kyras finding himself unable to call further on his power before the Dragon takes control completely.
Kyras' brutal assault on the Blood Reaver draws its attention away from seeking Imuri. The thing howls as the big westerner's sword slices it up, but whether it howls in pain or pleasure is not completely clear.
With Azami still stunned and unable to act, it spins and swings right past her, hammering the Dragonborn with its flail, intent on getting revenge. However, Kyras falls briefly to one knee, causing the creature's swing, which would have been a head-crushing blow, to swing harmlessly overhead, whistling around in an arc and striking no one. As it swings, it is clear to all that this creature is not in good shape. Its movements are no longer graceful, and it is leaking blood from places it probably shouldn't be.
Daisuke rolls through the gore around the group, rising opposite Imuri next to the blood reaver.
His clumsy strike is easily avoided by the dextrous foe.
Through the pain in her eyes Tokine sees the fallen man get up and still bravely try to fight. "Here, ...Ronin, you are in need of Shelyn's blessing." She flicks a few of the bells on her glaive and her hand glows aqua blue in response. She steps up and touches the struggling Ronin discharging the light into his wounds.
Sneak attack damage
Imuri materializes in mid-hop as he lunges to the creature's left and spins his katana diagonally against its defenses. The blade sinks into its torso and the outsiders ribs snap as Imuri's steel separates them. If you return, he whispers, our shugenja will dedicate themselves to trapping your soul in the Realm of Slaughter, where you will die daily without exulting in mortal flesh. Do not test us on this.
Confirm
Secondary damage
Shoto-sama turns to the Sera sisters while the thing still gurgles, his face a mask of stoicism. Tell me how I can serve, Sera-chan.
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Chu held himself in reserve trying to time a trip with the next attack upon the foul Blood Reaver. At least that was what he believed before Imuri plunged his blade into the beast and ended it with one last swift and decisive blow. With the creature removed Chu turns and heads towards the Sera's, his usual air of command and ancient lore is stifled by his lack of attire.
He approaches the Sera sisters and begins to gesture with his scaled hands, with each motion his claws begin to recede and his scales begin to settle. With each motion of his hands the blood, dirt and grime staining their clothes begins to flee, revealing the wounds the pair of sisters have received.
"Honorable Sisters please forgive and enlighten me. Pray tell me, What happened here?"
With the demise of the creature, Tokine rushes into the room to check on the wounded. Turning to the others, "Bring any wounded to the center, I will heal them along with the Sera sisters."
Awareness returns to Azami's eyes; she bends to pick up and resheath her katana before moving to gather the wounded towards where Tokine indicates.
Shoto Imuri steps through the wounded, dying and dead. He looks thoughtfully about, as if taking measure of all that has been lost. Coincidentally, he pauses near the two Sera sisters, standing close. This time, however, he does not murmur to avoid the ears of rivals and political victims. He looks directly at the sisters and nods seriously.
The Shoto bends down and tears a piece of the white kimono, spattered with dark blood from its obviously dead owner. Reaching for Aki-Kirei's sleeve, he pulls her arm to him without touching her skin - even in this pregnant moment careful not to breach protocol. He wraps the makeshift bandage around her arm and ties two clay vials into the silk. He looks at Aki-Kirei and then nods at her older sister with clear intentions.
One for her, one for you.
As he lets her wounded arm fall, he shifts his posture, the moment almost over. Before turning to help move the wounded and identity the dead he says softly. You must both be well before we leave tonight. Some girls will do anything to avoid a date.
Imuri does not smile, but the look in his eyes is one of extended trust. Of hope that a few loyal samurai survive these events and defend their Empire together.
Shoto Imuri turns to look for ranking courtiers whose yojimbo failed them. If any are alive, he places them together, both so Tokine-san can reach them with her power, and so they will speak together of the ones who saved them.
The second Blood Reaver explodes in a hideous shower of gore and viscera and impossible amounts of rank and steaming blood. Chujitsuna and Tokine and Kyras are able to magically remove much of the filth, but everyone's clothes will need to be cleansed or just burned to rid them of the foul taint of devilish death.
As you all set about the grim business of cleanup, the first thing you note is that on the ground by where the first Reaver died is the tattered remnants of a palace functionary's uniform, and on the ground where the second one exploded is what's left of a cleric of Nethys's vestments, with markings unique to Clan Hoshi.
Most of the dead are palace guards, two were friends of Azami's -- inasmuch as the haunted and cautious ronin had friends -- and the rest were battle-tested veterans who, from the positioning of bodies, all died defending the honored guests and peers of the empire.
The wounded all tell the same story; "There was this hideous mewling noise, a giggle and a scream and then they were upon us! It happened so fast. One came from the gallery, one from the hall by the servants' quarters. Where could they have come from? What could this mean?"
Aki-chan steps forward and helps comfort the wounded, telling them little stories to take their minds off the pain, her beauty a distraction all by itself.
Zhongyi, whose broken leg is now fully healed, strides towards the dining hall. "Each of them had a ghostly ruby on a thick chain around their necks when they came into the room, but each one threw its ruby into the dining hall." She keeps her katana out as she advances.
With those in need gathered around, Tokine strikes the bells again but this time they take a a much somber note.
"I can provide additional healing to those still in need."
Azami is not one to shrink when getting dirty or bloody - she has too long been a soldier, and never had been very fastidious. So it is saying something when the redhead pauses to regard her clothing and openly grimace, uncomfortably trying to aid the wounded and move the dead without sharing the filth.
She adds the names of the two dead soldiers to her memory; did she really just see them that morning in the mess hall when she was speaking of nightmares to Yohei? And now, perhaps in part because of her own choice, their lives are eclipsed. Not once does she regret her choice- death is a part of this path, her own included. She will leave righteousness and guilt to the paladine: they certainly have such things in hand.
When she brings the dawn, she will release all the names of the fallen, their names expunged from within. Their spirits, and her own, can rest when that day is realized. For now, they join the other ghosts inside her heart, a hardening to face the tasks ahead.
At Sera Zhongyi's words, Azami redraws her own katana, heading towards the dining hall, the tinkle of silvery bells still echoing soothingly in her ears.
"Thank you for your assistance, Curator," Daisuke says with a quick bow, "The blessings of Shelyn are most appreciated."
Though weakened by the blood reavers, he moves confidently after Azami toward the dining hall. A ninja endures.
Kyras welcomes Tokine's healing energy into his body, its magical power infusing him with a strength that even the Dragon cannot match. He gathers his magic to clean the blood from his face and body, but does not feel the familiar touch of the Dragon on his mind as he gathers the arcane energy. For once, the Dragon is completely quiet and entirely quelled. He enjoys the clear head, free of the Dragon's lust for blood and power. "Tokine, thank you. As usual, your mere presence is calming." With her in the room, he barely glances at the Sera sisters, but does notice when Azami walks out. With a bow, he follows her to make sure that she is not investigating the dining hall alone.
In the dining hall there are two chains on the floor, each one clearly missing its stone; there are metal rods for settings, but nothing precious there. Nothing else in the room appears to be disturbed.
"I don't like the look of this. At all." Zhongyi turns to look at Azami. "You! Ronin, guard. Where do you stay this night? Where does the Dragonborn stay? What do the two of you call home?"
Aki-chan steps away from the wounded after they are healed, and makes her way softly to Imuri. She snaps open her fan and looks at him coquettishly.
"[b]Please, do me the honor of accepting my humble invitation to join me for morning tea in Madame Daiyu's tea house, where we may speak privately." She brushes by you and there is the clink of bottles. She has hung your two potions, now tied together at the neck by a delicate cord -- -- over the handle of your katana. "My sister could not accept these. Her pride..." the younger Sera swallows whatever she was going to say and gives you a veiled, but sad look, her celadon eyes clouded.
In the dining hall Zhongyi is barking orders at someone.
There are footsteps, and a familiar voice speaks up as a figure appears in the door. Troops rush past behind him. It is Captain Takagami. His Katana is out and is covered in blood, like the rest of his clothing and skin. He appears unharmed. "Ancestors forgive me. Madame Curator, who...what...there were more of them? I fought and killed one of these down below, in the catacombs. It died the same way." He speaks as he investigates the scene and helps with the wounded. A platoon of soldiers rushes in behind him and begins cleanup. "It was...I thought it was a strange functionary named Wong Tsai, but it turned into a demon of some kind."
It is not written what might happen if all five were to be destroyed in the same 24-hour period, because that has never happened.
"There were two creatures here who also appeared to be Wong Tsai," Daisuke informs the captain. He doesn't need to point out the bloody mess which covers him head to toe.
He turns back to Zhongyi, "I had not determined that. There may yet be more to do tonight."
Azami crouches down to scoop up the empty necklaces, bloody fabrics smearing the floor inadvertently; from this vantage point, she scans the dining hall for any sign of disturbance, odd sounds, even glancing up to the ceiling where the spider once hung. Where is the Emperor, in all of this? She tries to remember if she saw his face among the wounded...or the dead...in the other room.
Kyras enters the room just as Sera Zhongyi barks at her, and she affords him a nod that avoids immediately answering the noble's demands, letting Daisuke give his response. Rising back to standing, her katana angles downward into parade rest and she takes a few steps towards Kyras, delineating where she falls in allegiances.
She gives a curt bow that borders the edge of rudeness, her voice low so that only those present can hear it. "Noble Sera, your defense of the palace is remarkable. I fail to see, however, how our resting places connect to this carnage. But if it pleases you to know, we would be staying at The Imperial Temple of Cultural Exchange." Azami's steel gaze does not leave the noble's face to judge her reaction.
And she certainly does not make any eye contact with Kyras, knowing her answer might be unexpected. To some degree, the response surprises Azami herself.
Tokine having done what she could for the living, turns to the others to listen to the Captain's report.
She pulls the statue and stone from her pocket. "There is so much going on here, the theft, the Queen's attack on me and Ryo the gardener, these blood devils working with these multiple Wong Tsai?...and there was the shadow creature I saw briefly before dinner"
"Very well, Ito-san. I trust you have already informed Madame Curator of this." The more martially capable of the two Sera sisters looks impassively at you and Kyras, then turn and approaches Daisuke. "What are you called, ronin? I was not aware the Hoshi had taken to hiring out."
All those NOT in the dining hall: Pairs of guards have begun peeling off and questioning people. Two approach each of you and some start to move towards the dining hall. They take information and statements and offer what assistance and answers they can. The palace guard rarely acts as gendarmes, but in this case Captain Takagami has deemed it necessary.
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Chu looks about the dining hall with a well trained eye, his mind's eye was flying through he hundreds of scrolls and tomes he has read in the last century of life. He couldn't help but notice Imuri and Sera-Aki and barely restrained rolling his eyes in annoyance. A true manipulator that Shoto is, but there is a time and a place and now is not that time...
"You say we have slain three of these abominations? Then there may be two more left to deal with. Let us pray it is not Pāncasirōṁmauta or else this will happen again and again. By the gods the Demon of the Five Headed Death walks in the Empire. If it is the demon, then we best find the last two heads before the next day or else by this time tomorrow..." He indicates the gore of the third Blood Reavers death. "They will return, and most likely take on a different guise as is the way of the Five-Headed Death..."
Chu turns and looks casually towards Imuri as he connected with the Shoto's mind. Chu had remembered something, something dire that the Shoto had mentioned earlier that night. {Did you not say you had a duplicate of Wong Tsai in your custody? I hope for the safety of those you left to guard this individual...}
Chu maintained his connection with the Shot as he approached Captain Takagami. He nodded respectfully to him as he spoke. "I commend your men, especially those who gave their lives and faced their deaths with Honor. I request four of your best samurai to accompany me to the Shoto Imuri's home. You must take care as well Captain, there may be two more of these creatures yet to deal with and we need to move quickly and find the others before they can regenerate. In the name of the Empire and for the sake of his people we cannot allow that to happen. We must find every Duplicate of Wong Tsai, before it is too late..."
Daisuke bows respectfully, "I am Daisuke, Sera-sama. It is true that the Hoshi do not normally recruit ronin, but they saw benefit in assisting the gaijin Kyras, I am a skilled investigator, and they had..." he getures toward the blood stained remnants of the clerical vestments in the other room, "issues of trust within their house."
She remembers my name.
Azami turns to regard Daisuke, her eyes slipping to the blood-stained symbol of Clan Hoshi on his tunic.
Kyras listens patiently as Chujitsuna explains the story of the Five-Headed Death, the story seeming even more bizarre and exotic coming from the fanged mouth of the serpentman. "Well, that's three out of five Wong Tsais down. I know what I'm doing tomorrow. Or tonight, as the case may be." He lets out a short laugh, almost carefree. The clearheadedness of being free of the Dragon, however temporarily, is making Kyras almost giddy. He stands aside Azami and offers Sera Zhongyi a ne'er-do-well shrug that implies, what can you do? It is accompanied by a grin that borders on flirtatious and is wildly inappropriate in the scene of carnage.
Kyras isn't paying enough attention to Daisuke to notice his conversation with the Sera sister, but he does notice Azami's distrust. He thinks to himself, 'She distrusts everyone. Nothing out of place there,' but follows her lead. Her instincts were usually spot-on, though he still smarted at how she had treated him the day before. (To her credit, he had not made a good first impression with the acid spray and unnecessary killing.)
Tokine will walk up to Kyras and Azami and draw them over to a lantern on the wall. "Azami, you are still very hurt. Let me get a look at those wounds."
Tokine does not bluff...there is concern in her voice but also worry.
Away the others if just momentarily. Tokine cast a healing spell upon Azami but adds, "Hold still, I don't want to leave a scar."
Then in a lower voice. "Before the Queen attacked, she seemed interested in the paintings I showed you earlier..deadly interested. I don't even remember wanting going to the Garden before I heard Ryo's warning to run." She takes her sleeve and brushes it along Azami's arm and then over to Kyras. The solidity of rounded object could be felt int he material. "They are a key."
She opens her hand showing the dragon statue and stone. "And then there is the unknown significance of these...You know I never thought to try this.."
Imuri nods knowingly at the younger Sera. I would rather the opportunity to see you before morning tea. A meeting has already been arranged with the Solarians, with Kyras, and with the Curator. I can honor you by seeing you first, or I can invite you to be included. The Empire needs unified heroes, and perhaps a few capable of doing what's necessary to defend it.
He looks at Tokine healing the wounded, and at the others talking about the reavers or their origins. Not even mighty clan Sera, with all of your skills and charms, can survive alone.
Imuri notices Chu moving toward him and creates distance beween himself and Aki-chan. He raises an eyebrow in anticipation of her quick answer.
The young samurai, red blood visible all over black silk, bows sincerely and does not straighten until he begins his response. Honored Advisor-sama, if the fourth face of this demon showed itself at my Mother's city house, then it is dead and we have only one more to destroy.
He looks across the room at Azami for a second before an idea expresses itself on his face. There are shugenja employed by my family who can locate persons or things of value. Could such magic be used to locate the chains Azami holds and whether another is in the castle?
Imuri raises his head and voice to the room. Where else have any of us seen this Wong Tsai? The Temple?
Shoto Imuri glides over with two members of the Imperial Guard. He bows to the Curator and waits for her to turn from her ministrations. Tokine-san, I believe these items resemble the artifacts you described earlier. I will not guarantee their identity, as I did not catch the thief. I believe however she discarded them to improve her odds of escape. If they belong to your collection, I hope they are unharmed. If they are forgeries, perhaps we can divine their origin or purpose.
Tokine bows and takes the two items and hands the rod back. "Thank you for this magic item, but I did not have the opportunity to use it."
Then looking at the items she smiles a grateful smile at Imuri. Holding up the items for the others to see. "And thank you for these. What role they play in all this I am unsure. This dragon statue is very old, perhaps the oldest item in the Temple's collection. But this stone is not from my display. Let me try something I never thought of with this statue, but perhaps there is more to it then its age that would attract a thief to try such a daring attempt."
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As Imuri spoke Chu brought his potent magic to bare on the young Shoto, the blood and gore retreated from his clothes. Chu's focus was intense until all the stains upon Imuri's clothing were banished. Then Chu bowed his head respectfully to Shoto Imuri. "Forgive me, I mean't no offense Shoto Imuri. I worry for all the Empires people and will gladly place myself in harms way for them. I trust your word and what you say is so." He means every word sincerely.
He turned back to the Captain and spoke pointedly to the others nearby as well. "Which temple do you speak of?"