While Karthan's followers lead away many of the villagers, and Sinri's words convince many of the rest to at least keep their distance, a very few people stick around -- lead pipes in hand, but not in any sort of aggressive pose. It seems they plan to display their courage by staying nearby and being witness to the events that would play out.
Meanwhile, the angel turns her fury upon Isabela. Her voice rings out, Then she spreads her wings wide and darts across the battlefield with a powerful swoosh. She lands heavily in the cobblestones, crushing those just around her with the weight of her armor. Once she lands, she gives a war-cry and brings her sword down on Isabela with all of her might.
The telepath is too well-protected by her psychic powers to be harmed, however. The angel's sword crashes against layers of magical protections long before reaching flesh. The angel recoils from the force of the blow, stepping back and reviewing the her foes. So far those that stood against her were three -- Eliana, Isabela, and Li'omrut.
Isabela braced herself as the Angle reached the ground in front of her.
She was ready as the blade crashed against her psionic protections. Blue psionic light crashed around them, into the air. The force of the blow pushed Isabela backward a little.
Her arms crossed in front of her, she looked past them with a grin at the Angle as it looked back to her. Reevaluating the danger no in front of it. In her feeding form, Isabela felt no compassion or guilt. It was why she only took this form in direr need. For she knew her darker soul was in danger of taking hold.
She smiled at the angle.
"Such a sweet kiss you have."
Then a hand moves.
"I know the designer of your kind and he told me all about the intolerance and dogma he crafted into your being. Such a shame my dear, you could have been much much more."
Then she tapped the Angles blade, just a small tap, and electric power arched back up the bale to the hands that held it.
Electricity Manifesting a ray of this energy type provides a +3 bonus on your attack roll if the target is wearing metal armor and a +2 bonus on manifester level checks for the purpose of overcoming power resistance.
As she has metal on +3 To attack 7pp spent 1d6+6d6 RTA PR over is 19 DMG
Filled with dogma and intolerence she may be, the angel that faces down Isabela is a powerful foe. Isabela's electricity ray has seemingly no effect at all, while the angel hammers down again with her sword, once again causing blue sparks to fly.
The angel raced past her and Moonwing, her head swiveling to follow it as it went after Isabela... Was she always a vampire? When did she become a vampire? Did she have time to focus on that? No. With a short whistle, Moonwing followed after the celestial. Giving him space was the worst thing she could have done, as with enough space to charge, he did. Beak and claws flexing, Eliana's hammer following after it, the two descended like a bolt of lightning. A feather and metal covered, tooth and talon wielding bolt of lightning.
Li'Omrut grins in amusement as the battle turns against the angel in unexpected ways. He takes full advantage of the zealot grounding herself by sprinting towards her. His hooves clack against the cobbles three times before he leaps into the air, swinging one leg around to catch the angel in the back with a flailing kick...
...followed by a second kick at the angel's knee...
...and finally a carefully-aimed fist designed to stun his opponent.
"Here to spread more of your madness, eh, feathers?" he taunts.
Eliana and Li'omrut dive in, fists and claws flying, on the angel. Though several blows land, Moonwing's talons lack the strength to seriously penetrate and harm the angel. Li'omrut fares a little better, but what should be a devastating punch into her face barely leaves her fazed. Still, she now finds herself surrounded by enemies, and the fury leaves her. Instead, she is quiet, contemplative, and calculating. She grips her sword tightly, looking from foe to foe. She locks eyes with Karthan, who stood just beside the battle. she says,
Meanwhile, the people in the street not scared away by the fight and not convinced by Sinri point and shout. "Hey!" they shout, "Eliana is helping the monsters! They're fighting the angel together!"
Wonderful, now I'm in her sight for some godawful reason. Well, better to beg for forgiveness from her than a mourning widow.
With demon, undead and now gryfknight all tearing into the angel Karthan simply stood his ground. At the very least her wrath, and those of the monsters, was directed away from the innocents. That was enough.
"I said back up!" cries the angel as she thrusts the point of her sword straight towards Karthan. His armor catches the blow, but the sheer force of it and the heat from her sword still manage to hurt him. Then she turns towards Li'omrut -- theoretically the origin of this whole debacle -- and brings her sword up and over her head into his shoulder. His demonic blood absorbs the heat of her sword, but the blow is still grievous.
Her final swipe is at Isabela -- a thoroughly well-defended but seemingly harmless evil abomination.
Isabela swots the sword blow away with a flick of her wrist, it streaks across for force barrier as it passes.
"O Angel, I see your mind, I see your pride, your anger, and rage. And I see hidden by it. The feelings of fear, of terrier and worry that you're losing your mind. Losing it in a world so dark there seems to be no light at all. Driving you to blindly follow beliefs to the point you have become the very thing you hate. Evil itself!! You do not protect the weak and more, you slay them because BECAUSE they are weak. And so you fall to evil."
Isabela goes into full defense mode as she talks.
Li'Omrut's next taunt dies on his tongue as he gasps in pain from the angel's terrible sword. The fire in her strike, he tries to return with his fists.
Moonwing pulls back as he sees he's not managing to actually hurt the angel. Eliana reared her hammer back to strike again, glancing at Isabela as she proceeded to start talking... The demon just punched her some more. Did she try to break through the madness? Should she have used her words before resorting to violence? The literal vampire was trying diplomacy, though she may just be taunting her. "Angel, I do not wish to do this! I do not wish to hurt you, but you have threatened the people of this city. My duty lies in protecting them. Please, I beg of you, go to the Flight of Herons. Go to Sigarda. Leave the city's defense to me and mine."
Isabela takes a 5' step back,
"Angel, there is a kidnapped child in this city, taken this night by a mad man. he has killed other children by dark and evil means. I was seeking her to rescue the child and bring her kidnaper to justice."
She drops to her knees, her physic powers drop and she changed back from her Vampire form.
"I will fight you no more, for I ask this, aid me this one night to find and rescue this child. Then find her or not. I will offer myself to you without a fight. I ask that pride and arrogance not drive your hand but compassion and justice stays it. And I swear on my life, read my heart, for I speak truth."
Head bowed, she waited to see which the Angel picks.
The angel fends off the attacks from Li'omrut. The demon manages to land one blow on her, but the flames from his strike flow off of her armor like water from a duck.
The angel pauses for a moment. She looks between Eliana and Isabela, then towards Karthan. She frowns. "Perhaps," she muses, the firelight from her blade casting her face with a harsh glow. "Corrupted or not, it is still my purpose to cleanse the world of evil."
Pointing her sword first at Li'omrut and then at Isabela herself, the angel booms,
She turns over her shoulder to look at Eliana for another moment.
Finally, the bystanding commoners are overcome by their fear. They flee through the park and into the city streets, trying to get home and away from this fight.
Karthans ribs hurt to the point where it was hard to catch his breath. He kept his guard up but only barely. And felt the bitter sting of irony at being attacked by the angel whilst surrounded by a city of monsters and evil men. To hell with it. To hell with them all.
Karthan spit the coppery blood from his mouth and snarled. "Corrupted or not I refuse to cow to senseless madness and let another drop of innocent blood be spilled in its name! EVEN IF I HAVE TO PUT DOWN EVERY MONSTER BY MY OWN HAND!"
5ft shift back one square.
The pain of combat having solved the crisis of faith for him Karthan elected for survival. There was no point in clashing blades with her massive man chopper. Instead he thrust his buckler forward to cut off the line of attack and onscure her vision next his sword arm moved like a snake thrusting forward and arkund her guard to target her eyes. Blinding her was unlikely, but the distraction was enough to throw her off in a move that saw countless werewolves die ignobly on a wall of pikes. As he made his cut moving his wrist to let the razor sharp blade do most of the work he finished his strike and simultaneously slipped back out of measure to stifle a counter response. All that was left was to see if they could capitalize.
The angel is starting to get incensed again. As she fights, she cries, "If you all would just back away, I could slay these evil creatures of the night and be done with it!" Looking between everyone, she adds, "None will sway me from this basic purpose."
Then, focusing on Isabela as punishment for the girl's insolent words, she sweeps around behind the vampire girl. Gripping her sword in both hands, she tries three times to penetrate Isabela's defenses. Each time, she fails, foiled by the vampire's quickness and her force shields.
Seeing how this battle is going for him, but also seeing how the angel seems to be forcing those in the area to be his unwilling allies, Li'Omrut takes advantage of her attention on someone else. As his sensei taught him, he focuses his will and draws forth his ki energy. He redirects that energy to his physical form, making it tougher and hopefully able to better withstand the angel's blows.
The magic that aided Moonwing faded, but it would hold on just a little bit longer for Eliana. It was all she could ask for, just a few more moments to deal with the angel. On some level, she felt bad for doing this, but it was obvious they were not going to stand down willingly. They must be beaten into submission, then perhaps some change can be brought about. So even as she turned her attention to Isabela, Moonwing brought her closer so she could thrust her hammer out, taking advantage of Karthan's opening.
3rd - 3/5
2nd - 7/7
1st - 5/7
Moonwing followed up her attempted strikes with a flurry of his own, trying to take advantage of the opening in his own way. Beak and claws snapping out at the angel.
Then, focusing on Isabela as punishment for the girl's insolent words, she sweeps around behind the vampire girl. Gripping her sword in both hands, she tries three times to penetrate Isabela's defenses. Each time, she fails, foiled by the vampire's quickness and her force shields.
Three times the flaming grate-blade of the Angle come down and three times it twisted in its path passing her by harmlessly. Isabela stood and looked at the now insane and crazed eyes of this so-called defender of justice and good. She had looked into its mind and seen ho broken it was, how lost and fallen.
Then in a pitying and with a voice full of sorrow, she says to it.
"I never fully understand what my lover Sorin meant when he said to me. It was cruelty beyond imagining, pain beyond description, that it fell upon him to distory her forever. But looking into your eyes mad Angle. I now finally understand what he meant. I am so very sorry you were made so flawed"
And she means it, she pitties this poor being, made with the best intentions but made sadly fundamentally broken. They were seeking to end something that had been made to do good, to keep what she believed in like her lover Sorin. Balance in this world. Such a same, such a dam shame.
EDITED
Three times the flaming grate-blade of the Angel come down and three times it twisted in its path passing her by harmlessly. Isabela stood and looked at the now insane and crazed eyes of this so-called defender of justice and good. She had looked into its mind and seen how broken it was, how lost and fallen.
Then in a pitying and with a voice full of sorrow, she says to it.
"I never fully understand what my lover Sorin meant when he said to me. It was cruelty beyond imagining, pain beyond description, that it fell upon him to destroy Avacyn forever. But looking into your eyes mad Angel. I now finally understand what he meant. I am so very sorry you were made so flawed"
While Li'omrut focuses on his demonic body, thickening the scales that protect him, Moonwing and Eliana launch a renewed attack upon the angel. The griffon claws into her deeply, drawing blood for the first time. The angel staggers back from the blow and quickly turns around, bringing her blade to bear against the beast that wounded her.
Isabela knows that angels are resistant to all the elements as well as to most forms of physical harm. As higher, super-human beings, angels are very durable. Isabela also knows, curiously, that angels are immune to petrification. They radiate a protective aura and can speak with all creatures as well.
Seeing the angel back herself into a wall Karthan moved to cut her off and set up for a devastating blow of his own. Seeing the flow of the battle from here he had a moment of reflection. Am I truly doing this? Strikeing down an angel with a vampire and a demon? We must all be truly damned if this is what it has come to.
Outwardly he roared."If you value your wretched hides move in and put her down together! Put an end to this madness before it turns the city to ash!"
Karthan shouts out, providing support to his allies rather than striking the angel himself, while Taime continues to cackle (allowing Moonwing, Eliana, and Karthan to be protected by her luck) and tries to lay the evil eye on the angel. Unfortunately for all, the angel's will is too strong to be struck powerfully by the spell. She manages to shake off most of the curse.
Looking about herself, the angel elects to use Li'omrut and Karthan's retreat to her advantage. She leaps into the air, flapping her wings powerfully to gain some elevation. Blood drips down her armored leg from the spot where Moonwing pierced her, but she pays it no visible heed. She flies over Li'omrut's head and comes to a stopping point in the street, about at the same level as the roofs of the nearby buildings. She turns back towards the group of people fighting her and fixes them with a glare.
Still heavily wounded, Li'Omrut is not a fan of the angel's new positioning, especially since she's in the air. His shuriken did not put out the damage he had hoped, earlier. He darts a few feet away to put the corner of a nearby building between himself and the blast of holy light she hit him with earlier.
Remembering his training, he adapts a fighting stance so that he is ready when he can engage with her again.
Remembering that she's probably b+$~*%! crazy, he taunts her some more.
"I'm glad you're showing all these humans that angelkind doesn't really care about them!" he calls out. "Angles think men are tools to be used until they get in the way, am I right?"
He turns and nods casually to Elena, "I am right."
Isabela dusted herself off as the Angel fleed.
"So brave ones, just so you know, My love crafted most Angels so they were resistant to all elements as well as to most forms of physical harm, so making one bleed is an achievement. You should be proud of yourselves."
She walks over to Li'Omrut and out of sight of the Angel as well.
She places a friendly hand on his shoulder and whispers to him.
"Let me know if you win."
And then she is gone,
Deep in the under-city, she arrives in a tunnel she knows well and walks into the darkness.
Eliana stares up at the angel as she retreats, meeting her glare with an even-tempered look... At least until Li'Omrut spoke up and she snapped at him. "Quiet you, the only reason you live is that as far as I have heard, you have never gone against orders. She did not enjoy having to work with the demon. Turning her eyes back up to the angel, she simply watched. Would she flee the city, or would she continue the fight? She might, now that... Isabela left them. Great, she ran off.
The angel hovers above the group, blood dripping from her foot onto the ground (and Li'omrut) below. She waits for a few moments before she responds. "Humankind is weak, and foolish. They need shepherding from their own mistakes." Her gaze moves from person to person -- the last four that had remained before fleeing from her fury. Eliana, Li'omrut, Karthan, and Taime. She points her blade down at them. "Your time will come," she prophesies, "And it will come soon. You cannot stand against the tide of evil when you turn against your own protectors and welcome it into your ranks."
Then she swings her sword around herself in a whirling blaze. In a flash of fiery light, she vanishes from view.
Slowly, people start to poke their heads, disbelievingly, out of the nearby windows and doors. Their eyes are wide and nervous sweat beads upon every brow.
"Aha ha ha ha owwww," Li'Omrut's laughter is interrupted as the pain from where the angel burned and cut him finally makes itself known.
"Heh heh. She ran away."
Eliana reaches a hand up to her forehead, rubbing it as the Angel proceeds to leave. At the very least, she wasn't gonna have to continue the fight. Deciding to answer something for herself once and for all, she chants a familiar chant, turning her now glowing eyes to Li'Omrut. It wouldn't change what she did, but it would change how she handled the demon in the future.
3rd - 3/5
2nd - 7/7
1st - 4/7
Li'Omrut meets Eliana's eyes as she scanned him, looking for something that the eye can't see.
"Got what you need?"
""Yes, I did." She was hoping to be wrong, but a small sigh escaped her. Looking over at Taime and Karthen, this entire thing sat poorly in her stomach. Brought up bad memories. She just wanted to get back to the chapel... One hand came down to stroke Moonwing's head, before looking over at Karthen. He had been hit and injured. Letting out a small sigh, she motioned for him to come over and offered a hand. "Let me handle your wounds. It is the least I could do for a fellow defender of the city."
Karthannignores the gryfknight for a moment. The fury far from gone. The vampire made her cowardly escape but the source for all this grief remained.
He leveled his sword at the demon and said, "She came for you and she will be back. And she's likely not the only. Why should we not take your head now and suffer not your existence?"
While Li'Omrut submits to Eliana tending his wounds, he looks over at Karthan.
"I've been in this city for two* years! You've had all this time to try and attack me, but now that a violently insane angel has come along, you suddenly want to do raise up arms against me?
"That's what they call..." Li'Omrut pauses to snap his fingers a few times as he tries to recall something. "Oh, yeah! They call that 'blaming the victim.'"
*
"It matters not now who she came from. The madness is deep inside her, and she has found a target. Even if the demon is dead, she'll return for the vampire. Even if the vampire is dead, she'll return for us. Even if we're dead, she'll return for the city. Whatever mercy and temperance that may have existed in her heart are gone now. All that exists is the urge to purge any who she may view as corrupt. If an entire flight can descend on a group of Cathars actively serving the church, then it is beyond easy for her to justify it against us." Eliana wasn't offering her hand to the demon, she was offering it to Karthen. Perhaps if he didn't reek of evil she would have healed him. But he did, and so she didn't even want to touch him.
While the party begins an argument over right, wrong, evil, and violence, the scene changes to a orange pallor. From one of the roads leading to a populated area of town, the sounds of shouting and stomping can be heard. The sounds are accompanied by the brightening of torchlight as held by dozens of local townspeople.
From what anyone can see, a mob is on its way to the town square. They're going to arrive any moment now.
Her less than stellar sight leaving her ears keen after so long, she can hear their chanting coming from a long way away. Letting out a sigh, she turned to face the approaching mob. Glancing over at the demon, then over at Karthen, and then Taime, she spoke. "Unless you all feel like calming a mob down, I suggest you leave. I'll be doing my best, but I've got a method to escape if things go sour. You all do not."
Li'Omrut walks over to the door to the merchant's consortium and bangs on it with his fist.
"It's me! The angel is defeated! Open up! Hurry!"