Twilit Tears

((Um, he said it was Friday August 6th... a week from today))

[[...oh. Nevermind then! ]]

((Well, actually, it might work out better if it was postponed a little. I haven't been able to contact everyone on Liiam's side and I'd like to give Requiem more time to get it's . . . ducks in a row, goblins in a rank . . . whatever . . . before we go ahead with it. Which reminds me, how is the NPC recruiting going Temo? Maybe a separate post just for that?)

<<What kind of stuff do you need for NPC recruits? A list of non-basic skills and stats?>>

[[I already posted about it here. All I need is for anybody wanting to NPC to mail/PM (here on the forum, not in-game) me an estimate of their stats and average equipment they wear so I can know where to put you. That's it.]]

(Okay, sorry to do this, but my online math class decided to dump the last 6 assignments and exam in the last 3 days of the class. I'm going to need to post-pone the battle for a little bit until the class is over. How is everyone for next week?)

(( I don't think the requiem has many friends Also, though Xeek might be leaving the Requiem -depending on Fenrir's choice in Xeek's demands- I can play as an NPC for you. ))

((I'm fine with next week as well. Longer this is held out though, the more that's going to happen. I'm trying to hold back on Requiem's own movements in the meantime, but as Xeek pointed out it's getting a little stressful the longer there's no action. XD))

((Plus the fact that one of Fenrir's annoyances that he could've taken care of permanently is now fully Millitean. But yeah, next week should be fine for me, too.))

Crusade wrote:((Plus the fact that one of Fenrir's annoyances that he could've taken care of permanently is now fully Millitean. But yeah, next week should be fine for me, too.))

((That doesn't make them any more or less annoying, honestly. ))

((Don't forget the slow news weeks when nothing happens))

Gairech Hill


Reighinalt served it's purpose. Out of the way, and littered with underground passage-ways that served as a temporary home. Not to mention a breeding ground for troll and kobold; to bide her time in the hours that came before this moment. The tioz-clad warrior scaled the rocky cliff-side. Two hours; at least three to reach the top. Lifting herself up to stand on rock that overlooked Bangor. Growing over in vegetation; and wild predators. A stench filled the air. She could see them from here; rotting carcasses that served no purpose but to draw in scavengers to pick at whatever flesh remained. Dark eyes squint to the sun coming up over the eastern peeks, bathing the city below in early morning light.

Ruins.

She had always held a certain fondness for Bangor. How simple the locals were; and knowing their place in the world. Quite envied their humble attitudes. A shame that it had to be destroyed, she thought. But out of the ash comes the mighty Phoenix. Renewed. If one could only care for the egg. She felt a club smack the back of her head, sending her to the ground and rolling ever close to the edge. Dazed. A bit confused.

"Pretty girl make Kobold mate! Or dinner!" The creature shrieked. As if it's ultimatum was tempting in either choice.

Her platinum brow raised high upon her brow; he had come as a complete surprise. Her flank wide open for attack. This was no good. While pondering her mistake, stood and removed the heavy blade from it's sheath hanging from her back. "Neither," she spoke quietly, making quick ends of the fomor who had jumped her. Sword placed back in it's home soon after. "Thank you," to the dead creature at her feet, as she picked up her helmet from the ground. Shoving the tendrils of near-white inside. "I almost made a terrible mistake. Know that your death will not be in vain, but serve for a greater purpose." Sliding her foot along the kobold, she nudged it off of the cliff and in to the city. Allowing whatever beast below to pray upon it.

Dropping the mask of the helmet over her eyes; Blue climbed back down, in to Reighinalt again. Her current mission was clear. Enlisting help from those who would want to restore Bangor to it's former glory.

...and she knew just the person to ask.


((So yeah. Someone's got her eyes on Bangor.))

A male figure begins to take residense in the ruins of Fort Bangor. Though not disguised, his physical appearance does not stand out to memory. During the day he is not in sight, while at night he wanders through the wreckage. Sometimes he seems to be chatting to an invisible figure, sometimes he kneels down as if performing a prayer service, while at other times he slashes the air with a translucent sword. He handles the picked clean bones of all that remain with care, and gives each set an individual burial, whether Human, Beast or Fomor

The Ruins of Fort Bangor

Through the visor of the helmet, the person known in disguise as Blue stared at the male offering a proper burial to the deceased and rotting corpses. Holding a sword with one hand; a shield with the other. Clearly she had come to fight; but found herself more surprised that another would be here. Insane, maybe? Not highly likely. An insane person would be gnawing on the bodies, not burying them. She approached the man, none too quietly so he could hear her coming up. Hoping he was a friend, not a foe; since she gave herself away quite willingly.

"I'm surprised to see someone here." Blue's voice was neither feminine or masculine. Lackluster and monotone; making it difficult to pin-point that she was a female. "It's dangerous to be out here alone." Surveying the immediate area for any danger.

Turning around in surprise a couple of seconds after the armored figure came within 100 feet of him, Yuurei was clearly expecting Blue as much as Blue was expecting him.

After a few seconds of delay in which he was picking his words, Yuurei replied, "The only immediate danger of a Ghost town is one I am specialized in handling....And I am never alone." He gazed at a spot of air by his shoulder at this point, then looked down at the goblin he had been preparing to move. "All deserve peace and respect in death, regardless of their allegiance in life. Otherwise, their souls will be unable to move on."

((I woe at the fact that this is my only guaranteed method of getting an RP in. Should we move this to another thread?))

<<Well I'd asked Gate prior about where to post, but I don't see any harm with making another thread, and linking back here when things go down. Any objections?>>

[[ I would suggest PMs or IM if you're ever on at the same time. I'd be all for roleplay here since I personally enjoy seeing things play out in this manner (it's like reading a story~); but sadly the thread itself isn't for specific roleplays, but to keep people up to date on general events. ]]

((none here, I just made one))

[[Well, plans for that attack fell through. There wasn't enough of a turnout for Liiam's Super Team and it would've been more a suicide run than usual with those that were available, plus the server glitch that happened afterward led to more problems. Unfortunately for Super Team, people's getting antsy and things need to progress. I'd been holding off til this attack came and went, but initiative gone now, need to get things rolling again. +_+ ]]

[[...right after Dal sends me that PM she said she'd send me last night. Delays, delays... ]]

{DISCLAIMER: Before you people state anything about 'this is not fair' or 'how the heck are you implying that you guys have these,' this idea, in its final form, was approved by the council and was verified for use within the Twilit Tears RP and possibly future usage, depending on how we feel this takes and how much the idea is abused by the general membership. Yes, this means you, random people who just said 'Who, Me?' I also sent this post word-for-word to Temo, and he gave the go-ahead. So, without further ado, I reintroduce the bandits into the fray.}

---

Zachary Dellinger, the Dunewyrm, took a look at his creations. Bastardized, though they may be, he would have no doubt that they would prove useful. Mobility and freedom to dock where they please had been an issue; with the various ports locked off from the general public, the bandits had to climb the ridges and cliffsides to infiltrate and spy on the army of Fenrir in Udalh. With the sheer numbers of Fomor on the ground in Udalh, along with the walking dead and Fenrir himself, the small number of bandits had little hope in defeating the horde in a fair fight across the plains.

But who said the bandits would be fighting this war on a tyrant's terms? The Dunewyrm hadn't. And Zachary Dellinger was almost sure that Requiem would not be ready for what there were about to find knocking on their doorstep.

---

As his friends who had joined his cause slowly began to enter the base, an aura can be felt of excitement; word has been spreading that the enigmatic leader of the bandits had been locking himself in his study and the creation bays for a number of months now, but no word had yet been leaked as to what exactly he was doing. All that had been previously mentioned was that the Dunewyrm planned to create something that would 'make the bandits a force to be reckoned with in this war.'

It seemed that all the bandits (PC and otherwise) would learn fairly quickly. The Dunewyrm had called everyone topside.

---

"You all have done an excellent job," the Dunewyrm yells above the noise of the desert winds. "The intelligence that our scouts have gathered has proven fairly useful. The diplomacy a number of you have demonstrated has vastly increased our numbers. The actions taken by a good number of you," he says, as he glances to each member of the 'Liiam team,' "has proven to slow Fenrir's movement or at least sow chaos among his ranks. I could not ask for a better group to lead than the group that I have following me."

He turns to face the rocks of the mountains, sprawled high against the cave of Ant Hell. "I apologize for this taking so long, but I believe I have something that might just allow us to assist in turning the tide of this war." He turns back to the bandits, smirking. "Took me long enough, right?" He shrugs. "Direct your attention to the top of the mountains, and witness the glory of the Bandits' war-machines, the Wanderers!"

As the devices come into view, everything begins to click. One cannot take a boat into Udalh, so the only sound way it to fly. Birds and Griffons will not fly in the main of the continent... but one device hadn't even crossed most individual's minds. A device called the hot-air balloon that were found in Zardine, crafted in such a way that could turn the tide of the war; a flying machine.

The bandits' flying machines... The Wanderers.

The mobilization of the Corenites against Fenrir would begin.

The cheers could be heard all the way in Filia.

---

{Specific details: Each Wanderer consists of 4-8 tube-shaped hot-air balloons, wrapped together and attached to a large set of platforms that a number of bandits (approximately 20-30) would be deployed upon. Specifically, there is one Wanderer with 8 tube shaped balloons, two with 6 tube-shaped balloons, and two with 4 tube-shaped balloons. Each wanderer would be propelled by a number of cylinders on the back of the balloon charged with air blasts and flamethrowers. This would theoretically propel these large dirigibles to their intended destinations via alchemy crystals and charges for a set amount of time.

The ship can reach any altitude that a normal hot-air balloon would be able to reach, but one must keep in mind that going to high will either pop the balloon or make it extremely difficult for the passengers to breath when the atmosphere becomes extremely thin. Fuel consists of wood, flint, and flamethrower crystals to keep the hot-air balloons afloat, as well as a number of air burst and flamethrower crystals that would be placed in cylinders at the stern of the Wanderer in question and would be used as a propulsion and turning system.

As a deterrent from people saying 'but flamethrower won't work', my original response to Xeek's question in regards to that: The reason Flamethrower would be a viable resource is because of it's relatively shorter range and the fact that the balloons would be built to allow someone to shoot the flamethrower to heat up the air within the balloon. That's basically the same principle used within normal Hot-Air Balloons with a bit of a twist for extra caution.

The Wanderer's weapon outfit will include 4 Ballista-like weapons and 3 Catapult-like weapons. Other projectiles coming from the ships will come from individual bandits utilizing Crossbows and Crystal-fired projectiles or Magic (Of the bandits on board, at least four will be magicians and 4 will be alchemists for the bare minimum operation of the ships).

Any questions, PM me and I will respond to them. If there are huge problems that you see with this plan working that haven't already been addressed, please address myself, Gate, or the council who approved of it. Everything on the balloons was put in their based on what was already allowed (trebuchets of Wolfe) and on actual IG items (balloons, ballistae, random people shooting things, fire, flint, maybe some pie).

*salutes* Bandits. We'll mobilize either this weekend or next week. One for all, and all for fun!}

((Next week? I gotta attend a convention down here this weekend))

He studied shifts changes for a while, as well as those coming and going. After that, it had been easy to slip in and out of the Shadow Realm periodically, disguised as one of the many mercenaries Tara had need for lately. The time was spent getting a lay of the city, determining where the best place to finish what he started would be; and after having done that, all he had to do was wait. Day in and out when he wasn't with..."company", he visited the other Tara, perching on buildings to keep out of sight of soldiers on both sides of the pitiful war they waged below. People were often too busy focusing on slaughtering the opposition in front of them, so he had no worries of someone looking up to spot him.

The wait finally paid off. Toward the evening and just before he was about to slip back into Erinn, a shout of alarm came from below about unfamiliar fomors flocking through the area. There weren't that many - from what he could tell, there were only about thirty gremlins flying through town, causing a good deal of confusion and disorder within ranks. Fomors of Tara's forces couldn't tell if they were enemy or ally, people of Erinn simply couldn't keep up - except for a few archers with very good aim. Three, no, four gremlins had fallen to arrows; and it was then that Fenrir realized something even more interesting about the commotion - the souls of the dead had risen in a black flame and darted through town quicker than they had been, eventually enveloping the bundle one of the creatures in particular held strapped to his back. All of them had a similar bundle, but this one was certainly the real thing. Fenrir had to compliment whoever thought of creating a distraction like this.

Still, he needed to act quickly. By the time this force was defeated, word would already be getting around that Requiem had its sights on Tara. As the gremlin retreated into an ally to catch his breath, Fenrir dropped down to meet him, which gave the little one a bit of a start. When realizing he stood before his emperor, the gremlin let out a relieved cackle and quickly pulled the bundle from his back. "For the Master!" he rasped after unraveling it, presenting Fenrir with a blade crafted from dark crystal that glowed with the souls it had just absorbed - a piece of the final twilight shard.

Fenrir was...surprised, amused, and yet disappointed. He had been expecting the entire thing to be delivered, but it must have been taking some time. Fomors in the other world that weren't already under him were very difficult to negotiate with and more annoying to navigate around. "How far ahead of the elites was your party?" he asked the gremlin.

"Quite." came the reply, a little more clearing once he caught his breath. "Flew far, flew fast. Mages wanted to give Master good edge quickly. Hope is good - very heavy!"

Taking the hilt of the sword in hand, Fenrir was relieved to see that not only did it work better than his first attempt in crafting a weapon from the shards, but he could directly absorb the souls trapped with in. The result brought a dark grin to his face, just as a small group of lancers spotted him and his grunt within the alley.

"Yes...good. I think this will do nicely."

---

That evening, seven more gremlin corpses were accounted for, along with eight Shadow Lancers, two Shadow Alchemists, and three veteran Tuatha De Danann mercenaries. The peculiar thing about the bodies - aside from the gremlins - was that while some wounds weren't even fatal, their bodies were cold and drained: something similar to the elves who had their souls stolen a few months before Requiem emerged. The remaining gremlins and their leader managed to slip away - whether they're still lurking in the other world or Fenrir escaped back into Erinn hasn't been determined yet, but there's talk of the guard at Stonehenge being increased...

[[ Thar, that's what I had meant to put in for the past...4 weeks now? Sneak preview of the last legs of this thing! XD; ]]

// I should be able to attend what you have planned, Dellinger.

(Okay, it's now take 97 on getting an attack on Requiem organized. Getting prepped for and attending a new semester of classes put me really off track and I haven't been on nearly as much, lately. But time to set things right by pushing for another assault on Requiem. I'll be aiming for either Friday the 17th of September or Saturday the 18th. I realize that some people can't be on late so I'll see what I can do about setting it earlier. The normal cast of Super Team is going to be needed, and I'm getting tired of listing people who know who they are. Requiem needs NPCs, possibly PCs depending on where the attack takes place. Could be Emain, could be Dunbarton, most definitely will end up in TNN for an extra special ass-kicking. NPCs on the Super Team's side will be as many spirit animals as Liiam can coax out of Justice and any other groups that Liiam can convince to join the battle. Probably no one. Let me know time considerations and I'll try to get this properly organized for once.)