07.11e: A Marriage of Inconvenience

[Draylen]

"I am but a meager commander of men, and a poor replacement for Master, no man's lord," Aibne says, nodding a little. "But greetings, Dal'ashi." He looks over the cat, pursing his lips slightly, shaking his head. "I can't imagine anyone confusing Rogbar for you, but I suppose these things will happen. I have men on the inside dealing with the obvious threats, and we're going to take down the gate and the watchers. Help us, or don't, but if you hinder us I will have your head on the spear you hold." He is deadly serious, but isn't touching his sword yet. "Now. If you're going to be yourself, feel free, but don't look like you're Master Rogbar. You'll never pull it off to anyone who knows him."

[Joshua]

Before he can reply, a mass of foot-long roaches bursts from the main gate (and several crevices) interlocking like fire-ants into a strange robed gestalt. It will draw a black blade from no where*. Before anyone reacts (or at least, before any shots fired can land on him), he will slam his sword into the ground and invoke a zero-lynchpin conjuration that completely abuses the local magic system.

A wave of green energy floods around him and outward to a range of almost two or three miles. Despite the appearance it has no effect on anything living. As the roach-monster deflects arrows and bombs from the air that were tossed in retaliation, hundreds (maybe thousands) of zombie hands** start to burst out of the marsh and surrounding land.

Osmund will laugh, shouting, "Exalted!" Before tugging a rip-cord on his vest and drawing a very bizarre looking gun. He will smile as helecopter blades sprout from his backpack, lifting him off the ground. The gun will hum slightly and the gem it's built around will glow a pure white. "Oooh, yeah."

Dal'ashi will simply comment. "Oh dear."
_________
*: Technically from elsewhere.
**: And these are cheater-zombies. Not that fast, but very resilient, and they regenerate slowly. Thankfully, they are non-infectious***...
***: People who actually die will animate as zombies so long as the conjuration is still in effect, and these things did come from a bacteria-infested swamp... But, that's about as bad as fighting in a swamp normally.

[Draylen]

"Oh fuck this bullshit!" the bear groans, shaking his head. "Protect the catapults! Initiate ZAP*!" He twitches his fingers and murmurs a quick incantation** as weapons begin to quickly ignite. The shield wall falls back to the catapults quickly being reloaded before locking in place surrounding them with magically flaming spears providing a barricade. "We don't have until the crack of dawn this time! Don't waste ammunition you don't have to! But above all, don't die!"

With that, the bear charges in, carefully evading the hands of the zombies almost growing out of the soil as best he can. He is beyond irritated right now, and he's making long strides toward the cockroach demon, making the shortest path possible towards it.

---
*Zombie Apocalypse Protocol. No real reason to have a different one any time you're in the same basic situation, they all explain more or less how to survive it.
**This is what Aibne does with magic. Mass, if fairly simple, buffs. It might go up slightly to a one-lynchpin because its' the full company of Shadow Striders, but it's still a very, very fast spell that he's extremely practiced with.

[Joshua]

Osmund... well... is ariel-dogfighting skeletal flyers firing a gun that shoots holy blasts of homing laser energy. You get the impression it's been way too long since he's done this. He does occasionally fire at zombies getting too close to breaching the shield wall.

Dal'ashi will keep close to Aibne's flank, keeping zombies aways as the bear heads to the roach-knight.

The roach-king lunges forward, almost teleporting in a flash of movement*, rushing past you with a lightning-fast strike that's impossible to see. He laughs, sheathing his blade in triumph, until he turns back and realizes you managed to block it... He hisses, a half-dozen chains of roaches emerging from his back, as he readies his sword for the next clash.
_______________
*: Ebon Lightning Prana + Writhing Blood Chain Technique

[Draylen]

The bear's stone sword, wreathed in flames, jumped in the way of the great daiklave, his body using the momentum to wheel him around to face the roach-king. "In the name of the Shadow Striders, I bid you now," he says, "take me to Rogbar the Mighty and let us be on our way. Do this thing, and I shall not be forced to destroy you." He weaves the sword as he speaks, in an infinitely complicated circle, keeping it loose and ready to block another attack.

[Joshua]

The roach monster will pause a moment, weapons still ready. "Why do you seek Rogbar*?"
________
*: It's a trap!

[Draylen]

The bear tilts his head, going over a number of possibilities in his head, frowning very slightly, before adopting a vicious sneer. "I will not explain my reasoning to a minion," he says, staring down his snout at the cockroach beast. "Suffice to say, my business is far more important than what ever you might have. This is your last chance. Take me to him, before I take your insolence as deserving of my full attention!"

[Joshua]

"I'll send you where he's going!" It shouts, a green aura flaring as it lunges forward. The living chains strike along with his blade, enhanced by whatever local magic he's channeling to match you in warfare. Thankfully, he's only matching, leaving a number of small cuts after a minute or so of exchanges. He seems to be building up to something, and as a side effect, whatever aura he's generating is making the zombies stronger.

Dal'ashi is watching your back, keeping the supercharged zombies from encroaching too near you. "Forget him, get us inside!"

Osmund is still having a grand-ole-time blasting and dive-bombing and... well... enjoying his ultra-superior stats and not having to worry about his endurance because he's using a copter and guns.

The Striders are doing ... they're fighting for their lives. Thankfully the zombies are slow, but they are wearing the company down by being resilient and persistent.

[Draylen]

"No!" the bear roars at Dal'ashi. "I will not let this thing kill off my men! You want inside, now's your chance, I'll handle things from here!" He keeps striking at the foul beast, trading cut for cut, but even a flaming artifact sword can only do so much. He's keeping an occasional eye on the striders fighting the zombie and frowns, before giving a low bellow. He jumps back to disengage from the truly massive sword, and thrusts out his empty palm, triggering a massive blast of wind which howled along its path toward the roach-king's chest. "FORZARE!*^"
---
*One lynchpin, 'shadow magic'. It's target is 'what I punch at'.
^Yes. Yes I really did just do that. No, I'm not sorry.

[Joshua]

Dal'ashi will pause, ears flicking in the air. "He's here."

As for the roach-beast, it splinters back into its component bugs under the attack. It wails, "Mistress?" as it shatters. Bugs dispersing rapidly.

Two unfortunates. First, the conjuration doesn't break. Second, and most important for Aibne, a spear-tip emerges from his chest after Dal'ashi runs it through the bear's back.

On the plus side, it only grazes your lungs and anything of importance. Dal demands, "I'll make this quick. A beastman stole a shard from my patron, do you have it?"