The Manipulative & the Subserviant

*The three widen their eyes, Reiter and Rhea turning to Parker, and vice-versa.*

Parker: <...The Corpse Brigade?!>

Reiter: <Wait, we were with the Corpse Brigade. This is bad, what side are we on?>

Parker: <Right now, I don't give a shit.>

*Parker waves at Sorrel, tackling and slashing Gustav. Unsure of whom she should attack, Rhea begins casting Golem to protect herself and her friends.*

OOC: Not sure how Abyssal Blade and Unholy Sacrifice will work with the loss of HP component so I hope this is accurate.

"Such uncouth behavior" Sorrel sighed and unsheathed his blade and pointed it at Gustav before saying, "I see the Southern Sky has decided to intrude on my home. I'll be sure to let Duke Larg know they're due for an assbeating. As for you... O blessed darkness, grant thy sweet blessings upon thy foe, enrapture, Abyssal Blade" An effigy of... something... appeared behind Sorrel before stabbing him with a blade and draining his energy to fuel the Abyssal Blade attack.

*Taiyo begins dancing the Heathen Frolick while Mimiru goes to attack the Black Mage charging the spell and Azuma goes to take on a Knight.*

~Lesalia~

*A knight intercepts Mimiru long before she reaches the Black Mage & takes a swing at her head. The other knight slashes at Azuma's shield.*
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OOC: Not even close.

*After being hit with a wave of pressure, Gustav raises his sword into the air & smiles.*

<My turn. Hallowed Bolt!>

*The attack hits each guard & Sorrel with a blast of lightning. Gustav also dodges a slash from Roatha.*

*Not holding a shield because that would be weird with Doublehand, Azuma slashes at the Knight with Rend Power. Taiyo keeps her dance up and Mimiru punches at the Knight to break its armor.*

OOC: I meant more so the HP sacrificing aspect. How would you propose it be done in the rp? Though tbf you really aren't freeforming anything to begin with so.

Sorrel winces as he's hit.

~Lesalia~

*The armor fails to break & the knight slashes at Mimiru again. The other knight stabs at Azuma. Both knights are Hastened. The knight on their side gathers magick energy into his hand & slashes the empty air.*

<Into reality, where miracles don't exist...atheist!>

*One of the Black Mage's chests becomes surrounded by black clouds.*
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*Gustav teleports up on top of one of the buildings & hits one of the knights with a Hallowed Bolt as they're dispersing, killing him. Roatha climbs up on the roof behind him.*

*Taiyo continues with her dance while Mimiru hammers the Knight with Pummel. Azuma slashes the Knight he's fighting.*

OOC: Didn't answer my question.

Sorrel recovers, "After him!"

*Parker casts Tanglevine on Gustav, while Rhea is still summoning Golem. Reiter follows after Roatha.*

~Lesalia~

OOC: Oh well.

*When Parker tries to cast Geomancy, nothing happens. A light shines down over Rhea & a big construct made of rocks & trees dances down before disappearing. As a result, when one of the knights attacks Parker, a hand made of rock emerges from the ground to block his strike. Meanwhile, Gustav slashes, bringing a group of crystals down on Sorrel, critically wounding him. He then teleports to the next building, well out of his range.*
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*The Black Mages run back up the stairs, the one still with faith charging a spell. Both knights block with their shields & counterattack.*

<Get to their backs! They have much less defense there!>

OOC: Well that was dickish.

Sorrel passes out presumably.

[Easier said than done.]

*Taiyo continues dancing. Azuma slashes the shield with Rend Shield. Mimiru punches the Knight's helmet with Rend Helmet while working to get around it.*

"You fools, you can have all their heads for all I care," Iliad said, drawing his dagger, "If you continue with this I'll be forced to-- who am I kidding, you're all too inept to see when death's hand is trying to release you!" With that, Iliad reaches into a small pouch, and launches a shuriken at the neck of one of the Chemist.

--

Zac was starting to get a bad feeling too, "You're right, perhaps I should go out and try to see if I can find him," Zac said, making his way for the door, "Did you see in which direction he went?"

--

Sab moves closer to the thief, and presumably, finally casts her spell.

--

Mortal shrugged, "It is simply a turn of phrase. It means one should not be so concerned with the minor details, as to completely miss the bigger idea. I'm not saying Noctis shouldn't concern herself with details, just not to the point where she narrows her vision so much that she misses entirely the redeeming qualities of what she is looking at."

"How I'd love to introduce you now, to you when we first met," Noctis said, shaking her head. She then furrowed her eyebrows and turned towards the door, "Do you hear something, it sounds like a scuffle is taking place not too far away."

"I'm sure it is nothing the guards cannot handle."

~Lesalia~

*Neither attack lands. One of the knights, on the other hand, gets a solid hit on Mimiru. The knight attacking Azuma backs away as a fire is lit under him. He then moves to counter their knight, but he slips behind him & slashes him across the back of the head before jumping up the stairs after the wizards.*
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E"Suppose they can't. The tide might sweep us in. So to speak."
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Gustav<For all your reliance on brute strength & weapons, you lack a single skill that can touch me. Is this what you wanted to show the Brigade? Even that most foolish of our number accepted power when offered."

*Roatha shoots him a death glare before jumping off the building & running down an alley, Gustav's laugh practically chasing him.*
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~Dorter~

*After a short bit of walking, Lilith comes up on the exchange of blows.*

L"...I think it's this way."

*She runs to stab one of the squires in the back as the others attack Iliad.*
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*The thief crouches over, & is taken out when Ramza hits him with an invisible fist blast. Agrias manages to climb the hill & take out one of the Black Mages, but the other moves up to Sab & begins gathering energy.*

Astarte nodded, "Of course."

Noctis seemed a bit worried at this, "Then perhaps we should vacate the area, before we find ourselves in danger."

--

Iliad dives out of the way of the attacks and makes his way over to Zac, who rushed in, gun drawn, "How did you know where to find me?" He asked, launching another shuriken at a Squire this time.

Zac used Barrage on another, putting four holes in the man, "Don't thank me, I would not have even come looking were it not for Eve's suggestion."

"Glad to know you'll always have my back..."

"You never called, what was I supposed to do?"

--

Sab cast Slow on the mage, "Time, rest and give your kindness to the worthy! Slow!" As the spell landed she then moved directly in front of him so that he would be caught in his own spell.

*Since he's already up there anyway, and now feeling kinda mad, Reiter slashes at Gustav's back (if he's still there). Rhea summons Moogle to heal Sorrel.*

Parker: <...Right, terrain. Stupid.>

~Lesalia~

Gustav<I see the lot of you have went turncloak. No matter, my work here is done.>

*Gustav teleports off of the scene. One of the surviving knights climbs the building & attacks Reiter while the other one makes a beeline for Rhea.*
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*When Astarte & the mage, who says his name is Seraph, reach the castle's front gate, they find the guards slain. A blonde man in purple armor with gray skin & sunken cheeks turns to face them, bloody sword in hand.*

???<I'd begun to think you'd never arrive. At least you had the sense to disregard that scum Arelaz's foolish plan, & pick a fighter from a superior stock.>

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Are we doing this?"

???<The fool has yet to dispatch of the guards on his tail. So we must wait for him.>
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*Outside the tavern, an out-of-breath Roatha bangs his fist on the wall.*

R"Damn it! Even if I changed classes, I couldn't beat him...I really screwed this one up."

E"Beat whom?"

*Roatha turns to notice the girls have left the building.*

R"...The Order of the Southern Sky is attacking the city. And Gustav is with them."

E"What? But that's crazy! Welcoming high-profile traitors into his ranks & attacking the royal city? Does Duke Goltanna mean to start a war?"

R"It might be that he thinks the Northern Sky already started one when it overstayed its welcome in the royal castle."
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~Dorter~

*A fire ignites on Sab & then spreads to the mage. Shortly afterwards, the flames on the mage become swirling gray numerals, & he slowly crouches.*
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L"This is why I always follow my intuition."

*One of the Squires falls to the Barrage & Lilith cuts down the other wounded Squire. The Chemist, of course, throws a Phoenix Down at him & runs behind the building. The squire slips behind Lilith's back & stabs her, while the other one makes a desperate lunge at Iliad.*

Mortal was shocked, "Are they so brazen as to attack here, at the heart of the country?"

"Apparently they are," Noctis said, taking a few steps towards her home, "Come Mortal, we should return home, Lord Father may be in danger."

--

Sab bats the mother fucker in the face with her stick.

--

"I'm glad you do," Zac said as he chases the Chemist and guns him down with Barrage.

Iliad takes the hit, but splits it with the Squire thanks to Soulbind. Iliad then stabs the Squire, and moves over towards where Lilith is.

Astarte's eyes widened with horror and she took an involuntary step away from the two men.
She had several immediate questions that she wanted to ask, but she held her tongue.
What's going on? Who are these people? What are they going to do?

OOC: The lack of freeform is making me start to question my sanity in joining this.

Sorrel rises up from his healing treatment in order to intercept the knight going towards Rhea.

OOC: Saying you can't do something that isn't physically possible isn't "lack of free form." And you can't "intercept" an attack that's already happened, so I'm ignoring that post too. The RP does have "freeform," but you have to know where to look.

~Lesalia~

"So, you were wondering about the job. You might call it a political assassination. Or freedom fighting. Or random violence. It really depends on which one of us you ask."

<...You didn't tell her the plan?>

"I told her we had an important meeting with the Queen. Which is perfectly true."
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E"What about the Lionsguard? Do they have control of the situation?"

R"No. They're preoccupied with a group of thieves & a summoner. Plus, Gustav nearly killed them already."

E"...Do you think I could fight him?"

R"Well...if he doesn't have the Summoner with him to invoke Golem, we MIGHT have a chance."
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~Dorter~

*The Black Mage dies. The fight yields 1000 Gil & 500 JP for Sab.*
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*By the time he locates the chemist, he's already started climbing a tall building & is once again out of range. As Lilith finishes off the Squire Illiad attacked, the other one moves away & hurls a rock at her head.*

OOC: The attack didn't happen yet. You just said the knight made a beeline for Rhea not what they did.

Mortal turned to Euryale, then back to Noctis, "You go on ahead, Noctis, I will stay with Euryale to help out on this front."

"Are you mad? Come we must go, the estate will be the safest place for us!"

"I don't want to hide out where it is safest, I want to make sure that the entire city is safe."

Noctis ran a hand through her hair, "Argh, dammit, Mortal, fine. I will come as well. The four of us should be able to do some good here, I imagine. Whatever we do, however, let us be safe."

--

"Watch out for the rock!" Iliad called to Eve as he launched a shuriken at the offending Squire.

"Baaah!" Zac called out in frustration, "Come back here!" Zac called out as he climbed after the Chemist. Once within range he uses Leg Shot to end the chase once and for all.

--

Sab lets out a small sigh and looks around to see if there is anyone left to threaten the party.