Liberty Beguiling

The warrior who Aleixo has stabbed and thrown back clutches at the wound in his side and rushes to an ally, snatching a potion from the man and gulping it down. When the other assassins see this, their ranks immediately begin to collapse and one by one they disengage and make for the gates. Azul's action.

Amiri rushes to the door and slams it shut before the two inside can react! Acting fast, she grabs a heavy display cabinet from near by and shoves it up against the door as a blockade. The next exit up ahead is a large one that leads out into an interior courtyard. Five invaders lurk on the moonlit flagstones, surrounded by bodies. It looks like they've just finished taking care of another group of adventurers.

As Petros runs out into the courtyard, following--he hopes--the missing general, he quickly fingers the bits of sand at the bottom of his pocket and channels his will into a wave of lethargy that sweeps across the men, felling two of them immediately, putting them into a shallow sleep.  Pointing his rapier at the men, he says,  "Gods, how many more of you do we have to kill tonight? You don't want to save yourselves the bleeding and just run, do you?"

Azul chases after the leader hoping to prevent the assassin from fleeing, he had too many questions to let this man escape. He sheathes his sabre as he runs and unslings his long spear. As he catches the man he roars and leaps forward lunging forward with his momentum and weight behind the blow, aiming to run his spear through the mans leg and knock him to the ground. Just as he lunges Sofia flies low and distracts the man, who looks tired and injured from the battle. The armored man swats at Sofia and sees Azul's blow coming and feebly tries to deflect it, but only manages to push the spears trajectory higher. Azul's blow lands piercing through the man's armor and stomach, with the spears tip poking out through his back.  Azul sorrowfully retracts his spear, he had only meant to disable the man not kill him. He was no stranger to violence, and had been forced to kill during his journey to Hellenia. But each time he was compelled to do so, he mourned the end of another being's story. He quietly says in Draconic  "May you find peace in rest". He then resumes his fighting stance keeping his eyes on the rest of the assassin.

Luthien rush’s back beyond the hedges and leans out just enough to shoot the assassin, piercing his groin and setting his clothes on fire. “Ha! Anyone want roasted nuts?” 

The remaining assassins scoff at Petros's threat and reach for their weapons... but then Amiri steps into the light behind him and they reconsider, slowly backing away into the night. As Petros and his companions move up, they find a Dwarf lying on the ground amongst the fallen adventurers, staring up into the dark sky. He doesn't seem to have any severe wounds, but his trembling whisper is weak, as though he were at death's door. "I can sense your silhouette hovering over me... it won't be much longer... soon, we shall meet, oh lord of oblivion..."

Petros, getting the impression that the Dwarf is feigning injury, moves on after the general while shouting "get up you ponce!  Help us."

Xan sees the enemy line break, the men trying to scatter past them, Azul slaying the leader with a wonderfully placed spear thrust, and then Luthien shooting another enemy in such a way as to make his eyes water, he hoped the elf wasnt a good enough shot to have done that on purpose. He begins to call the spear close to himself, nobody was near enough to strike at the moment bit he didn't want to dismiss it yet. Catching sight of a clearly wounded assassin, heading towards the horses Xan calls forth fire, the more playing across his palm for a moment, before darting towards his quarry. Something made the man turn, some instinct that he was in danger,  his eyes widening at the last moment as he take the fiery bolt straight in the eye. His scream rips through the fight, as he clutches his face, the scream becoming a whimper and a choking cry. "Oooh, that's not what I intended." He whispered under his breath, scanning about doe any other threats.

The dwarf grunts as he regains his feet and warily looks down at his bloodstained armour. "It... it seems that I will live. I suppose I must postpone meeting the gods... Not for long, I'm sure. While we remain in this transient world, Harrim is at your service!" On the far side of the courtyard a surviving group of guards watch for more assassins besides a burning entrance. Their stout leader's unshaven face is covered with scars. There's blood on his armour, but he doesn't even seem to notice his wounds as he confidently gives orders to the guards. "You - run and get an axe. You bring more water. You stay here and hold our defence - those assassins are still around here somewhere." He turns to Petros and his companions. "Aha! Some of our guests survived - good. You need to get to the banquet hall and help the general! We cleared the passage, so you can get through - just try to avoid inhaling the smoke! We'll be right behind you - we just need to put out the fire first to save the mansion!"

Petros takes a handkerchief from his bag and dunks it in a pail of water a man is carrying passed.  Tying it around his head to cover his face, he says, "we trapped a few in a room just down that hallway there with a cabinet, and two are down but alive in that courtyard.  Good hunting." Petros rushes in.

The hot air burns Petros's lungs and his eyes water from the smoke, but he pushes on down the burning corridor. Finally, the group makes it to the hallway leading to the banquet hall, when somebody can be heard calling to them. A beautiful armoured woman holds a burned, barely living guard in her arms. "There are two more!" She shouts as she passes Petros by. "They are wounded! Help me pull them out!" In the background, Tartuccio can be heard grumbling about keeping Alanis waiting.

Aleixo gives chase, something he would not usually do. A fleeing force is a defeated one. But these men had attacked from the shadows, they had been sneaking around someone's house. They were without honour and he feared for his horse. Cutting off one man's path he steps straight in with a lunge, left knee bent dragging his right straight almost to the ground. He keeps his shield high as his sword comes low beneath the screen. Blind to the direction the attack has come from the man is powerless to defend against it. The blade is slowed by the thick metal links of the chain but not enough to stop it with the driving force of Aleixo's arm pushing behind. Bringing his trainling leg in and standing to his full height as he finishes the strike, he takes the man clean off his feet, literally in the case of one of the feet. The man flies backwards leaving his right leg still where it had stood a moment before.

Sval feels his marked target's life begin to leave him in a slight burning sensation he feels in his chest. He pulls the mark from the man and moves it to the assassin he can still see. The reverse of the well-practiced motion comes with ease. Sheath the sword, draw the bow. He pulls an arrow from his quiver, running around a hedge to get a better angle. Draw back, loose. The arrow is lost in the hedges behind the fleeing assassin.

Petros rushes where the woman indicates.

Seeing the last Assassin flee Azul exhales and takes a moment to control his breathing. He then takes a rag out of his pack and wipes the blood from his spear and slings it across his shoulder. He then heads back to the group, giving a small smile when he sees they are alright. Worry starts to build in him as he realizes that these probably aren't the only men here tonight. "We should keep moving my friends, I fear there is more work to be done this night"

The bandit fleeing from Sval ducks the arrow and pelts out the door, past the horses and into the night. Meanwhile, saving the poor fellows doesn't take long. Petros and Amiri both lift one up and carry them away from the fire. Only then does the armoured woman pause to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her face. "Thank you, that was truly noble of you," she says. "Now, let us rush to General Alanis's aid!" Ensuring that the guards that they've rescued are relatively safe, Petros and his companions make their way into the hall where the battle is in full swing. Up ahead a group of spellcasters has sealed the general inside a magical barrier with some kind of giant-like creature!

Luthien, with a wild display of savagery in her eyes,  "I agree lets push on inside. no point in idling while innocents  might still be at the mercy of these assassins."

"Take down the spell-casters!"  Petros shouts as he wills power into his blade, swiping it left then down across the thighs of the man in front of him.  Although just brushing against his clothing, the blade releases the energy springing to surround the man.

Linzi immediately begins to weave an incantation, sending an iridescent ball of bright light and golden dust flying into the midst of the assassins. The glistening particles stick to two of them like tiny magnets. "Get them Petros!" The halfling yells. At her side, Harrim grasps his holy symbol and chants in deep, reverberating celestial syllables. A grey sheen slowly rises on the weapons of Petros, Amiri and their heavily armoured companion. Meanwhile, Jaethal leaps into action, swinging her scythe at the same man as Petros.

Retrieving his spear from where he left it on the ground, Aleixo joins the others in heading for the entrance to the mansion.

Reacting quickly, Petros's foe brings his sabre up to clash with the strike of the rapier, taking much of the force out of the blow. The man rapidly retaliates, throwing Petros off of him and slashing twice with his sabre, before thrusting with a dagger in his off-hand. Two other thick-set warriors quickly join the melee, swinging their maces aggressively at Petros and Jaethal. Petros takes 8 slashing damage and 9 bludgeoning damage to vigour, reduced to 6 and 7 by DR -> 19/32 Vigour. Jaethal takes 13 bludgeoning damage to vigour, reduced to 5 by DR -> 23/28. The men between the tables at the outer edges of room lurk on the outskirts. They brandish slivers of iron and speak fell words of enchantment. Jaethal appears to shake the influence off, but Petros finds himself suddenly unable to move, even as an ethereal blade materialises besides the two of them. The strike against Jaethal is wide, but paralysed as he is by his foe's magic, Petros is struck with deadly precision. Petros takes 19 force damage to vigour and 2 force damage to wounds, reduced to 17 and 2 by DR -> 2/32 Vigour, 14/16 Wounds, 2 Bleed. Up ahead, the monster swings brutally at General Alanis with blackened claws. She's still clad in her evening gown, but wields a shining bastard sword with glistening blue runes running down the length of its blade in both her hands. The creature's first swipe sails over her head. The second looks like it will connect, but she finds an opening at the last moment and counter-attacks, avoiding the wicked strike. Now, with the giant on the defensive she follows up with a rapid sequence of blows, driving the monster back. Amiri snarls in anger when she sees Petros wounded, charging into the fray with an earth-shaking battlecry. The comes up behind one of the mace-wielding thugs near Petros and lays into him from behind. On the other side of the room, the woman they met on their way in follows suite, striking with the measured precision of long training. Meanwhile, Tartuccio takes cover behind a table, hurling a firebolt at one of the casters on the flanks. "Petros!" Linzi yells as she sees him helpless to avoid injury. Her words carry power and he feels the bleeding wound staunched. She too takes cover behind a table, hurling a curse across the room at one of the spellcasters. Harrim follows Linzi's cue and step up behind Petros. His celestial chanting continues and the wound behinds together. Besides him a ghostly scythe appears, swinging to and fro at the assassins, even as Jaethal puts her target on the defensive with her own.

As Aleixo, Sval, Xan, Azul and Luthien enter the mansion they can hear the sounds of battle from up ahead. The corridor to the banquet hall appears to be on fire and some of the ceiling is collapsed. They need to find a way to clear a path through.

Petros barely manages to fend off another flurry of attacks as the paralysis releases its hold on him. However, the other two men he is facing are force to turn and tackle other problems as Amiri and Valerie come up behind them. Petros takes 7 slashing damage to vigour, reduced to 5 by DR -> 2/32 Vigour. Amiri takes 10 bludgeoning damage, reduced to 6 by DR, reduced to 3 by resistance -> 29/32 Vigour. The spectral blades continue to assault Petros and Jaethal, but are too slow to catch them. Meanwhile the spellcasters weave their own wards of protection. The monster facing General Alanis continues to brutally assault her, but every strike is knocked aside by her own blade and transformed into a new advantage. Amiri goes into a frenzy, recklessly swinging at her foe with repeated strikes, until she drives her blade through his chest. Her counterpart on the other side of the room is the complete opposite. Almost serene as she inexorably dismantles her opponent's defences. Harrim presses his hand into Petros' back, continuing to channel healing energy to him, while Linzi and Tartuccio continue to support from the rear. Petros's action.

Hearing the sounds of battle Azul rushes forward shield raised and sword drawn hoping to help the mayor's forces. Roaring in dismay as he finds the burning corridor, there was too much fire and too little time. The sounds of battle intensify as he pauses in the hallway, if he just had a few moments he was sure he could use talent to manipulate flames to extinguish the fire. But the tides of a battle can be changed in seconds and he doesn't have the time to waste. He almost suggest they go around until he remembers Xan burning the man with fire.  He looks to the man and says "Are you able to manipulate fire as well as generate it. If we can combine our efforts we should be able to clear the hallway and join the fight"  After he says that he sheathes his sword and reaches his hand out to the fire. His Amethyst eyes glowing as he martials his arcane energy waiting on Xan's to see if they can combine their might.

" We can certainly try !" Xan nods in agreement to the dragonborn's idea. His power welled up, fire he could control and so too it seemed could Azul. He took a moment to find the energy Azul was applying, tying his own power into it, the weave twisting around the fire, faster and faster, capturing it all and bringing it under control. It was too much for him alone and even together he knew they would be at the for a while. Time they didnt have. " I need you to give more power. Feel what I am doing and match me, I can sense you have the power for this, release it to me. " He calls over to the dragonborn, his eye blazing as he wrestled the flames, the white orb flaring ominously. "There, you are doing it! I have it now, dont relax yet, we are nearly there." Xan shouts over the roar of the flame, as the coils of the combined magic tie the fire and drawn it's strength away. In a few seconds of intense heat the balance shifts and the magic triumphs, each section of the blaze controlled by the magical tendrils which come together with their new flaming cargo and smash against the barrier of rubble at the end of the room, the force of the strike extinguishing the fire and dispersing the magic but also throwing down the barrier, freeing the access to the area beyond. Xan's shoulders slump for a second but the exhilaration is evident in his face. " Well done Azul, we make quite a team." 

Azul smiles with his Amethyst eyes glowing as the last bit of fire dissipates and their combined magics blow through the barrier. He lowers his hand, and takes a moment to slow his breathing, which had intensified during their efforts. The combined power of their magic was almost mesmerizing, Azul thinks "When we have time, I will have to find out how his magic works. It is not often that I find a human as skilled as he is with bending fire to their will." He then pats Xan on the shoulder and says "We do my friend." He then unsheathes his sword and runs down the hallway yelling  "We must hurry and join the defense."  

Sval draws his sword, emotions switching off once more, and follows Azul. 

At the far end of the corridor the open door to the banquet hall can be seen. Battle has already been met!

Luthien Trades her Bow for her Curved blade now glowing faintly green. and Rushes onward with the group. whispering to her self "let slip the hounds of war."

Petros, almost worn out from the fighting and the spell slinging feels this sword fight going poorly.  He's just outmatched.  He gathers his will, feeding his frustration and anger into the spell his mind was kindling.  He raises his hands, sword held up loosely between then and shouts, "Fotia!" and flame roars out in a cone in front of him, causing the two fighters in front of him to dodge out of the way, giving him a moment's reprieve to withdraw, while the spell caster just beyond them gets singed, the scent of burnt hair added to the smoke in the air.  As he backs away, leaning on a nearby pillar for momentary support, he sees the rest of his dining companions rushing into the room.  "Well I'm glad you decided to join us!" he says with a smirk.  "See if you can knock out those spellcasters?  We have to save the general."

Those defending the mages pull back in the face of the massed onslaught. The man wielding two blades begins to duel with Amiri, but his blows are quickly turned against him but her enormous greatsword. Meanwhile, the blows of his counterpart with the mace find only Valerie's bulwark-like shield. The casters move in rapidly from the sides, brandishing hands that crackle with black energy even as their spectral blades support the attack on the two warrior women. Inside the magical barrier, the giant continues to face off with General Alanis, this time succeeding in knocking the woman back. However, its triumph is short lived as she uses the opening to slash at its belly, driving the creature from her until she severs first one arm and then its head. The blueish corpse slumps to the ground, spilling blood across the floor of the hall. "IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!" She bellows, looking about wildly in all directions. Aleixo's action.

Xan rushes after the others, his legs a little heavy but keen to continue. As he moves he prepared a defensive spell, sheathing himself on a layer of protective magics, invisible but potent. He inwardly berates himself for not having done so sooner. As the group reach their apparent destination he summons the energy for another spell, strengthening himself Alecio and Sval as he did before, finding the thread of the power and breaking it apart sending two of the third out to bless the other two men whilst holding the third for himself. Feeling invigorated he prepares to follow Aleixo into the room, and the chaos within.

Hearing Petros' call and seeing the people on the front line surrounded, Aleixo leaps forward into action, sidestepping the mess on the floor from the blanket he runs towards one of the casters surrounding a woman in armour he barely noticed at the party. Both his feet leave the ground as he lands as good a strike as he ever has with his spear, tearing into the chest of the caster and throwing him back.

Xan follows Aleixo into the fray but holds position near the roguish Petros, who seems to have been caught in this fight for a while. Feeling very weary he reaches deep within himself to cast another spell, once more the ethereal spear appears ahead of him and date unerring at a wounded man with a mace. The thrust catches him by surprise scoring a cut across his back, but not enough to keep him out of the fight. " Petros, good to see you again, anything exciting happening with you these days?" He asks with a tight lipped smile glancing across at the other aasimar.

Amiri's rage is a cold fury as she maneuvers her way out from between her foes and rounds on the spellcaster, beating him back with the flat of her blade before spinning in a full arc to slice clean through one arm at the elbow. "Try casting now, hah!"

Sval springs into action, sprinting past the dwarf to one of the spellcasters maintaining the strange ritual in the center of the room. His blade cuts across the caster's back -- a deep slash that began to bleed. He stepped back, giving himself room to maneuver and defend. The blood from the caster mixed with a strange sparkliness that seemed to be some sort of magical effect. Hmm. Interesting.  

Valerie heaves her shield into the thug she is facing, knocking him to the ground and driving her blade down into his shoulder. Tartuccio hurls another firebolt up the length of the hall, but the spellcaster he is aiming for dodges easily. On the other side of the door, Linzi continues to support her allies. Her whispers echo in the ears of the invaders, robbing them of their will to fight.

Luthien rushes into the room and stops to the left of Petros, "ah Petros! started the fun without us I see." she gives him a wink and a smile before sprinkling a pinch of dirt on her self and says a few arcane words, casting Longstrider  on her self. She quickly glances around noticing more assassins and others who she has not met before engaged in combat and slinging spells. picking out one of the assassins that looked similar to the ones she faced outside and curses him, making his muscles bloat hideously.

Azul runs into the room sword drawn and shield raised. Seeing the general stuck in the sphere, he quickly analyzes the situation and sees that the mages are keeping her trapped and that she can't see out. He yells at the top of his voice "General try to break free, you have support outside. Everyone else target the spell casters if their concentration is broken we should be able to free her." Seeing two mages in a line he then runs in front of Aleixo  and takes a deep breath unleashing a torrent of flames from his mouth. He catches both of them but unfortunately they managed to avoid the worst of the burns. He then settles into his fighting stance sword out and shield raised.

Harrim's ethereal scythe swings wildly at the man with two blades, but fails to make contact. However, his healing magic continues to rejuvenate Petros. Meanwhile, Jaethal steps up to the nearest of the mages taking part in the ritual and fells him with a single sweep of her arced weapon. Petros's action.

Turning to Xan, Petros replies, "Nothing much.  You?"  Petros feels renewed vigor rush through him and moves to engage a spellcaster next to Amiri while replying to Luthien, "Luthien, with me the fun never stops." The spellcaster, overwhelmed with attempting to survive Amiri's whirling blade, barely even register's Petros's blade as it plunges through his back and out his chest, passing directly through his heart, killing him instantly. As his body falls between Petros and Amiri, Petros catches Amiri's eye with a grin and says, "I don't know as I've ever more enjoyed such a good cut and thrust.  You're quite the partner."

The assassin wielding the dual blades turns on Sval, lashing out with a rapid series of blows. However, the Norscan turns the first away with his own sword, letting his armour absorb the residual impact. The remaining mace-wielding thug tries desperately to stand under the barrage of blows, but isn't fast enough to avoid Jaethal's scythe, which severs his leg at the knee as he tries to stand on it. The man screams from the pain and falls down unconscious in a puddle of his own blood. The spellcaster that Aleixo sent flying down the hall falls back behind the magic circle and pulls out a scroll. He chants a series of words that are painful to the ear and a vortex of purple and black swirls before General Alanis, giving way to a new monster. This creature looks like an undead centaur with bull's horns sticking out from its brows. Its hauntingly pale complexion is made more all the more eerie by the way its stomach flesh sags and its upper half seemed sickly, with festering sores covering it. The creature's tail is long, serrated and covered in the same stiff bristles and spines. The General immediately leaps into action and her blade sings as it arcs through the air, slicing through the monster's chitin plates like they are mere paper. Aleixo's action.

Aleixo steps up beside Azul, squeezing between the tables. He thrusts out with his spear, feeling it tear deep into the flesh of the caster and he rams the point home trying to force him back, stepping up onto the table to follow him with his spear and prepare to strike the next one. He bashes down with his shield, forcing the mage he stabbed to the ground. 

Watching Aleixo barrel forward and hurling an enemy to the ground Xan couldnt help bit be impressed by the sheer strength of the man. Knowing his own talents ran a different way he sighed and using what he had decided to try and keep the other enemies near the spearman off balance. Calling the spear across to strike he simultaneously sent a small note of fire at the same target, the caster almost dodging the fire which clipped them on the shoulder moving themselves right in line with the ethereal spear which struck hard against their head, a ringing blow which would undoubtedly muddle their thinking for a while. Moving to get a better view Xan heads towards the side of the room, pleased with the progress they appeared to be making.

Lost in her frenzy, Amiri smashes her blade repeatedly against the overwhelmed defences of her opponent, severing his arm just below the elbow. Sval's action.

Amiri's ferocity and brute strength almost knock Sval out of his cold, switched off state. But not one to be outdone, he sprints and hits the ground in a slide, past the well-muscled woman up to one of the ritual casters. Without giving the man time to react, Sval brings his blade slashing through the caster's outstretched arm, severing the appendage midway between elbow and wrist with a sharp crack  of breaking bone. He thrusts at the man's throat, only to slash him from bridge of nose to temple as he bent forward from the pain of losing an arm. You're only prolonging your suffering.

Striding up through the room, Valeria approaches another of the acolytes maintaining the barrier. Her blade flashes in the candlelight and the man screams as a bloody gash is rent across his face. Meanwhile Tartuccio and Linzi advance up the flanks of the room, both continuing working their own magic as they move. A firebolt flies through the air and the circular barrier begins to flicker as more of the spellcasters lose concentration. Luthien's action.

In a blink of an eye Luthien Transforms. Her skin ruptures and bones brake and snap into place like an animal ripping itself free from the inside. This new creature roars and charges forward tackling one of the spell casters to the ground. Both now prone Luthien stares hungrily at the sorcerers throat as she draws back her claws to tear him to shreds.

Azul catches Luthien's transformation out of the corner of his eye, and his curiosity peaks. Throughout their battles tonight he noticed her using blood magic, a school of the arcane that Azul had almost no experience with. His mind gets distracted by the possibilities for a second, until he he hears Sofia hoot out at him. He then hears her voice in his head say "Stay focused, there is still much to do" . He then leaps into action hammering down with his shield on the head of the mage that Aleixo knocked to the ground. The shield smacks into the man with an audible crack. His head smashing into the floor and bouncing back up, afterwards the man slumps over completely still. He then runs forward jumping on the table shield raised and lashes out with his saber at the mage below him. His saber cuts through the unarmored mages arm like butter, flinging it across the dining hall.  He then holds his sabre horizontally out in front of him over his shield, eyes focused looking for his next targets. 

As Azul fells another pair of the casters supporting the barrier, the shimmering field of energy flickers once more and finally vanishes completely. General Alanis looks about rapidly as she assesses the situation around her. Harrim immediately rushes the fiendish monstrosity with which she is battling, swinging his flail at it wildly, and Jaethal quickly joins him in diving into the fight.