Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Thu Sep 6, 2018 1:21 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Sir Isaac was about to make up an excuse about chivalry and somesuch, when Belen tells him that he can't let the two lads go first. "Ah, right. Of course. After me, I suppose." Sir Isaac chuckles dryly and walks through the portal.

As they walk onto the sandy shore near the ship, young Belen runs past Sir Isaac not moments after the knight stepped through and young Cyril quickly chases after him to not be left behind. Sir Isaac refrains from rushing, knowing that the sailors would need a few more minutes to setsail at least despite them all working fervently to get the ship ready.

"Time to shove off and head home! Whew, what a night. If you need me, I'm going to get myself acquianted wtih the nearest pillow and a stack of clean sheets."

"You do that, young Belen. You certainly deserved it after what we've been through. I'd say we all deserve it." Sir Isaac says with a smile. "I think I'll do the same. I'm tired like never before, and there's nothing that will keep me from-"

"Alright, you landlubbers! We're leaving this damned place before those dust clouds get too close! Brace yourself!" The captain shouts. The mast falls down and almost immediately catches wind, causing the ship to be pulled forward. Sea water splashes up at the bow and the docks rapidly move away from them.

Sir Isaac immediately reacts by keeling over and grabbing the nearest railing. Holding one hand in front of his mouth to stop anything from coming out, he tries to focus and prevent the sea sickness from completely getting out of hand. Being no match for his rebellious stomach though, he leans over the railing and jetisons last night's dinner.

The oriental lady nurse walks towards him with herbal solutions and a tired frown, contemplating whether she should bother telling him to take off his armour once again. Sir Isaac looks at her with puppy eyes, saddened by his own condition. There was no way that he could sleep like this, or even make it all the way to the stairs going below deck. But he was so tired.

"Oh dear, I hope I won't be destined to bear yet two more days of this…"

Author: Belen, Posted: Thu Sep 6, 2018 10:29 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"It's actually more of a short-distance portal than teleportation, but I get what you mean. Alright, next stop–the docks!" Getting back to a place he'd seen before made opening the portal easier. And on the upside, a lower chance of ending up in the water. Casting the spell, a glyph appeared in the air before them. It swirled into a vortex that stabilized showing the sands of Tyr and a familiar shore. "Let's go! I'd hate miss our ride outta here." His brother went through and Belen stepped aside to motion for the mustachioed knight to follow. "It's not going to close until I'm through, so go on ahead." He added, expecting the man to give some excuse about chivalry and somesuch.

Once they were all on the other side, he was relieved to see the ship still there. He made a beeline for it as the portal vanished in an instant behind them. "Bel, wait for me! Came Cyril's voice on his heels. "Time to shove off and head home! Whew, what a night. If you need me, I'm going to get myself acquainted with the nearest pillow and stack of clean sheets." With a salute he went below deck to finally catch some sleep.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Thu Sep 6, 2018 6:50 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"Yes, I suppose there's no way for you to really determine which men accidentally struck you once we're back on the ship. We just have to hope that they've gotten themselves in a good scare and learned their lesson about unsafe marksman practice." Sir Isaac says, nodding wisely. "And if you could get us closer to the ship by means of teleportation, then by all means. We've travelled and traversed this eerie island for long enough."

"The men who fired the arrows?" Sir Isaac says, a bit uncomfortable to answer that question. "Oh, right. Remember those mercenaries who went to circle the island? It was one of those groups, I unfortunately can't tell you which one. I remembered the man's face, but not which group said face belonged to. There were apparently other people not from the ship about when we fought the Gashadokuro, but those didn't interfere with us. Locals, perhaps?"

"I'm not sure whether the others have boarded yet." Sir Isaac says, still somewhat wary of the general topic of the questions. "At least one group hasn't, probably. Well, except for the man who I questioned before and went ahead to return to the ship, of course. The rest should be right behind us."

Sir Isaac points to the dust clouds behind him, and then realises how close they're getting. "Actually, I hope that they're not behind us, considering… that. Which brings us back to that teleportation trick of yours, young Belen. How about it?"

Author: Cyril, Posted: Wed Sep 5, 2018 7:31 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

His brother mumbled under his breath when the knight said he could ask the man with the cloak in more detail once they were back on the ship. "Sure…like he'd admit it. Plus I didn't get a good look at his face, I doubt I'd be able to pick him out of a crowd. Unless you're willing to tattle." Belen then gave the man a sly look. Covering his ears again, he and his twin felt and heard a terrible shriek that went through their very being. The oppressive atmosphere had lifted, and the ringing was finally over. "It's gone…" Cyril said, watching as the great apparition lost its hold on the physical plane. Belen made another face when Sir Bartholomew began congratulating their mother's success in making things back to normal and coughed several times.

"You know I can just take us to the docks in a snap?" His brother casually said. Belen seemed to be feeling better. While they were eavesdropping, he was making an awfully serious face. He also told him to 'act natural' before the knight came back. Cyril was disappointed that they hadn't been able to defeat the Gashadokuro before sunrise, but it had been a good effort. His brother clearly wanted nothing more than to go home and never speak of the 'stained shirt' ever again. "By the way, who were those men who fired the arrows?" He asked Sir Bartholomew. Neither he nor his brother knew anything aside from there being a shady looking person who was a member. "Yeah, good question Cyril. Who were those saps?" Belen inquired with exaggerated interest. "I'd like to know who tries shooting with a bow in the dark–at night no less."

"I wonder if the others have boarded yet. We did walk a long way." He stated. The others who came aboard probably would be there by now since they chose to search around the island perimeter. They could have gone back before nightfall. If so, the captain would be very considerate to wait for them before departing.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Tue Sep 4, 2018 1:54 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

The two boys were waiting for him as he got back. Good, it would've been quite dangerous for them to return to the ship unescorted, magic or not. Sir Isaac smiles and gestures to the door. Young Belen was right, it was about time that they were leaving the island.

"I don't know why his aim was so bad, or why they were practicing their archery at night at all. Perhaps they mistook you for an undead?" Sir Isaac says, smiling. "But he did seem to be in quite a hurry. Perhaps you'll see him back on the ship, you can ask him then."

A mind shattering wail makes the ground tremble, forcing Sir Isaac to buckle over and cover his ears with his hands. The deafening sensation lasts for a few seconds, but then seizes. As Sir Isaac looks up, he sees the Gashadokuro slowly fall apart into the undead it was comprised of. Each bone was slowly falling off the large frame, falling apart into the individual undead mid-air and then disappearing into the dust clouds that were rapidly forming underneath.

"Excellent! I see that the fair Lady Shiloh has succeeded in restoring the balance of the planes completely, once again forcing the Gashadokuro to return from whence it came. And he even took the damned ringing with him!"

"That said, I think we should maybe pick up the pace a little. The undead aren't particularly fast, but they are inexhaustible. And that captain seemed all too eager to leave us stranded here if any trouble were to arise." Sir Isaac says, getting behind the boys and slowly urging them to walk faster."Come now, chop chop! I don't know how well you lads can swim, but I can tell you that this plate mail reduces me to a brick when in water."

Somewhat nervously, Sir Isaac keeps glancing over his shoulder at the ever growing dust clouds nearing them as he and the boys walk back to the old docks. "Shame for those men who were practicing their archery. Their hideout is quite a bit closer to the Gashadokuro. But that just means that they'll have a good motivation to practice running now."

Author: Belen, Posted: Mon Sep 3, 2018 7:24 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

It was hard for him to tell what was going on from eavesdropping alone. Sir Bart was interrogating the shady guy, asking him for information. Personally this spot wasn't ideal for listening in on people's conversations, and he could only catch snippets. This guy came with a group, but there was some other mob running around wearing black and green. Thinking of people wanting to come here for anything besides taking shots at the Gashadokuro was beyond him, but not entirely impossible. But he couldn't guess why–after all this place was a ruin, all the good stuff to loot were long gone. Also there was that nasty undead infestation that hadn't been dealt with. Why would anybody be interested in this rock off the coast of Komiteia? Straining his ears, he heard panicked begging from the poor sap who got nabbed. Oh man, he must be really desperate. He'd never heard anybody beg on their hands and knees figuratively like that.

The more he listened the more he wasn't entirely sure if this was going north or south. The knight chastised him for being willing to almost anything for money and power. That wasn't exactly the wording he used, but he glanced at his twin hoping he might not have caught that bit. There was a possibility that guy was with the ones who could have shot him. There was gagging, and shuffling of feet. Somebody was leaving. Keeping low, he motioned for his brother to keep down as they continued listening. Some sort of list of last rites, then the sound of a shovel. It went quiet after that. When he heard the knight coming back he and his brother were already in positions that didn't give away their previous eavesdropping. Belen was supposedly fussing over his bloodstained shirt with a new hole, and Cyril was retrieving his string of prayer beads off his neck. 

Looking up, the twins listened as the knight told them what he'd learned from Shady downstairs. Apparently he had an idea where the guys who sent the arrow were, making him regret not being careful earlier. Cyril would be fretting over why anybody would shoot him, and he'd have to come up with something convincing. An accident, due to poor visibility at night would be a good cover. What bothered him more was how the knight conveniently mentioned Shady not being able to show them the way to the hideout. Sure the excuse sounded reasonable enough, but only if he hadn't heard the shoveling. "Oh, well that's a shame. You know I was kind of hoping I'd at least get to see the guy' face-to-face and ask him why his pals couldn't aim." He got up and started preparing to leave, and his brother did the same. 

"I can't wait to get off this island and go home." He mumbled. Well at least the headaches weren't as bad. But he acquired a few new headaches of his own, stuff that he couldn't sort out with just talk. 

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Mon Sep 3, 2018 2:52 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"So, there's just four of you? And you're absolutely sure that they fell back to that specific location?" Sir Isaac asks the man with a big smile. The man whimpers and just nods frantically, trying to crawl away but once again finding the ropes that bind him unyielding. "Now, good chap. Who were those people that were with the boy before? The ones in the black and green robes?"

"I don't know! Please, I don't! Please believe me, I have no idea!"

"I sure hope that this is the truth, old chap. I'm almost done cleaning up, and would be quite nettled if I'd have to start all over again." Sir Isaac says as he continues to wipe of the last bits of blood from his armoured glove. "Sir Julian, what do you think?"

Sir Julian snorts, and Sir Isaac nods. "You're in luck. Sir Julian here doesn't think you're lying any more. That's good. We've gotten that sin out of you, at least. Now, I believe that's all the answers that I wanted to ask you."

Sir Isaac puts down the rag and draws his sword. The man immediately begins to breathe heavily and plead for mercy. "Please! I've told you everything you wanted to know! I answered all your questions truthfully! I did everything you asked!"

Sir Isaac places the tip of his blade on the man's chest, and the man begins to plead even faster. "Please, I'll repent! I'll repent! I'll get down on my knees and beg the gods for forgiveness every sunday! I'll live my life piously from now on! I'll- I'll! I will join a cloister! I'll become a monk, devote my entire life to doing penance for my deeds! Please, spare me and I'll-"

"Tut, tut, tut. What did I say about lying? What did I teach you about what happens when you lie?" Sir Isaac says, bringing his finger closer to the man's three-fold broken nose.

"Please, just let me go! I won't get in your way! I will even help you fight Sir Baerg and the others! But please, just let me live!" The man says with tears and snot running down his face.

"You were willing to kill children, good chap." Sir Isaac says with his big goofy grin, but not a smidge of honesty in his eyes. "You were willing to kill children, for the sake of money and power. From all the sins that one can commit, that one is a pretty dire one. So you beg and plead to the gods to forgive your sins. Beg to them for mercy, because you will get none from me."

The man gags and coughs up blood as Sir Isaac pierces his heart. Sir Isaac pulls out his sword and begins to wipe the blood off. He then bends over and mends the man's face back into shape, just in case either of the kids will see the body at some point. It was deformed to a degree that would plague any child their age with nightmares for years to come. Sir Isaac then unties the knots and drags the man to the shallow grave that he had made him dig before.

Sir Isaac speaks a few short words about the forgiveness of the gods and the turns from righteousness that some men can take in life. He finishes the eulogy with a sanctify spell on the man's body, to prevent him from raising as an undead being in time. None deserved that fate. Sir Isaac begins to shovel the dirt back into the grave, soon covering the body with soil. He places a small plank on the grave, with the name of the man carved upon it.

"Rest in peace, and may you find redemption in the afterlife."

Sir Isaac's jolly good mood returns as he leaves the room and looks at the children. "The nice chap decided to tell us where those foul men went, the ones that shot young Belen! They're camped at a big building with a well-defendable doorway three blocks that way! He can't join us however, as he had to leave the island quickly. With the necrotic powers flowing back into the land, those with a weak constitution are at risk of falling ill and dying."

"Now, shall we?" He asks the boys with a big smile.

Author: Cyril, Posted: Mon Sep 3, 2018 1:58 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

The crisis now over, things were settling down again. The knight didn't like Bel's nickname for him too much, but he didn't seem angry. Sir Bartholomew was confident that the real cause behind the Gashadokuro was now fixed, and things would improve soon. As the paladin continued on, he started telling them about the gods of the world. When he mentioned their mother, his brother tried to keep a straight face. "Oh, that's–" His brother clapped a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet and shushed him. Meanwhile Belen attempted to act completely nonchalant as the man kept talking about how their mother and someone named Naota were working hard to fix whatever resulted in the Gashadokuro appearing on the island. When Sir Bartholomew began spouting praises of the 'impressive' and 'gracious goddess', Belen feigned an understanding nod while looking at him quizzically. "I'd be quite honoured if I'd ever meet her in person, as should you two lads. So if you two get those boons that she promised you, be sure to be respectful. The gods aren't to be spoken to in an informal way like you would with me." The knight said with all seriousness.

"Uh-huh…sure. Yeah, it'd be quite an 'honor'." Belen proceeded to telepathically make wisecracks in his mind where Sir Bartholomew couldn't hear. 'If we're lucky the only boon we'll be getting is avoiding getting grounded if she ever found out we hopped on a ship here.' Cyril looked to his brother and nodded. 'Oh and don't say anything about mom–I think it'd be better if he doesn't know. It'll just make things awkward.' They agreed to keep quiet on that and never mention it to him. Awkwardness aside, from the paladin's perspective he was confident that once the monster was beaten it wouldn't come back again. When the knight declared himself the closest link to the gods in the immediate vicinity, Belen snorted and pretended to cough. He gave them a few more words of caution before going down to speak with the man the unicorn brought over. "I will." Cyril said in response, waving to him.

When Belen was sure that the knight wasn't paying attention, he and his twin peeked from a hidden spot to see the two bring the shady-looking man inside. Belen motioned for him to spy on what was going on below using aura sight. Completely unbeknownst to the good knight, they were already watching and eavesdropping on what was happening. They'd keep this a secret too, among several things. With aura sight Cyril could only make out the forms of beings and sense what aura surrounded them. If anybody was making faces, he wouldn't know. But for sounds and the general atmosphere, those could be detected. The boys were quiet as they observed from the floor above.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Sun Sep 2, 2018 6:03 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"M-Mustache man?" Sir Isaac says, indignified. "Mister Belen, I'm a good sport when it comes to the youth referring to me, but I have to insist that you remember to use proper titles. I have been knighted, and are thus a Sir rather than a Mister. As such I should be referred to as Moustache Knight, not Moustache Man. It's basic etiquette, really. Moustache man just sounds like some commoner's name."

"That said, I think I shall go down to speak with that fine gentlemen there. Sir Julian can only speak to me after all, so he can't do it for us." Sir Isaac says, laughing as if he just told a good joke. "Don't you guys worry, we have nothing to worry about. Not even from the mighty Gashadokuro. For you see, the disbalance between our realm and that of the spirits seems to have been restored."

Sir Isaac takes hold of the holy symbol around his neck and holds it up. He had already felt it to some degree before, but as he communes with the gods he knew for sure. "Yes, it is as I've felt. The tears between our two realms have been mended by the gods. In case you don't know, we paladins can speak to the gods or hear their will. And they have called us to rally against these foul spirits. And all paladins were summoned to battle at the same time that these posters began to appear everywhere."

"I believe it was the Thundering Tempest specifically who called for me to come here. Oh, right. You lads might not know who I'm referring to." Sir Isaac says, realising how often people of their age could be unaware of the gods these days. "Shiloh Kyrie is a storm god; the Ruler of Onslaught and the Thundering Tempest, the Overseer of Luck and Misfortune. She is also one of the two gods who personally intervened to prevent this whole ordeal from escalating into a full-fledged apocalypse. She and Naota, the deity of light and dreams, have been preventing the veil between our two worlds from tearing completely and ending the difference between life and death. Or something like that. Anyway, she's quite an impressive goddess and a very gracious one. I'd be quite honoured if I'd ever meet her in person, as should you two lads. So if you two get those boons that she promised you, be sure to be respectful. The gods aren't to be spoken to in an informal way like you would with me." Sir Isaac looks at Belen as he says that last part.

"Anyway, I've been told that the barrier between our worlds has been restored. Gashadokuro and the other monster spirits can no longer enter our world at will, and will therefore remain banished once dealt with. I think that the Gashadokuro's miasma has also been slowly been draining back into the spirit world these last few minutes, quickly weakening it. All that remains is to put the monster down once and for all."

"Feel free to ask me if you'd like to know more about her or another god, I'm always happy to educate the new generation about our divine pantheon. Not to brag, but as a paladin I am the closest link to the gods around here. But for now I'll just go talk with the gentleman downstairs real quick, and I'll be back in a jiffy." Sir Isaac says, disappearing down the staircase. "Oh, and Cyril, be sure to keep a close eye on your brother. You wouldn't be the first nor the last to accidentally leave a splintered shard of arrowhead in the patient when removing the projectile and mending the flesh back together. Just keep an eye on his chest for any purple spots forming."

Sir Isaac leaves the boys to it and focusses on their captive. His gaze darkens and Sir Julian begins to drag the man back inside as Sir Isaac cracks his knuckles. Kids shouldn't see what comes next. 

Author: Belen, Posted: Sun Sep 2, 2018 4:01 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Stars above, he'd never do that again. When he was conscious again he wasn't feeling the stabbing pain of the arrow in his chest, but he still felt like it hurt. Cyril then hugged him and was starting to cry again. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Man am I lucky to have a brother like you." Another good thing was that he didn't get upset. Sniffing, he noticed the dark red stain on his shirt that was drying. "…Oh great. There goes another good shirt. Well, I guess I'll have to burn it and buy another one before we go back home. Better not risk trying to wash it–blood's one of the top three worst things to get out." He joked, trying to lighten the mood. "Thanks Mustache-man. I'll be counting on you if my brother isn't around." Belen said to Sir Bart.  He'd already started tacking nicknames to people, now that they'd gotten to know each other for a while.

While trying to assure his twin that yes, he was ok, he noticed the sound of a horse's trot. They peered over the side and saw the unicorn dragging some guy by its teeth like a dog hauling a sack. Squinting, he sure looked like the shifty type. He wondered if he was related to that arrow shot, but didn't say anything. Letting Cyril think it came from a skeleton was the best choice at the moment. He was being pretty considerate of the guy down there; think of it as treating him innocent before proven guilty. Yawning, he covered his mouth with a hand. Right, they woke up halfway through the night and started this whole fiasco. When daylight came, he'd take the time to pass out and catch up on his sleep. Maybe they could go back to the ship just for safety's sake.

The two brothers listened in on whatever the knight and what the unicorn dragged in had to say about the stuff that was going on here. The skies were slowly approaching daybreak, and with the morning's arrival the Gashadokuro's power would wane until the next night. "Hey Cyril, see that guy down there? Totally suspicious, am I right? Anybody who goes skulking around with a get-up like that can't be up to anything good."

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Sun Sep 2, 2018 4:50 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Sir Isaac sees the boy take an arrow to the chest, and the bleached boy immediately jumps off to run to his brother. Sir Julian immediately understands the severity of the situation too, and rushes forward. Sir Isaac runs into the building after Cyril, while Sir Julian turns to chase after the people in the other building. Sir Isaac leaves him to it, instead prioritising Belen's life for now. He spots the people that he saw before, and upon closer inspection they seem more hostile and malignant than he first thought. Cultists? Problems for later.

Sir Isaac watches as the two brothers reunite. Belen still seemed to be conscious, until Cyril placed the mask over his face. Then the boy seemed to complete stop, both physically and mentally. Before Sir Isaac could step in, Cyril was already pulling out the arrow.

"Ah, uhum, well. Good field medic skills and items you have there, lad." Sir Isaac said. "I could've healed him too, if needed, and I do know resurrection if it needs to be used. As long as his soul can return to his body, all can be fixed. So unless Dalanesca or another powerful being who deals in souls has some personal claim on his', we have plenty of time to revive him if need be. You know, if the healing didn't work. And you seem to have done a good job in that regard, kid."

Sir Isaac looks down to the street, where Sir Julian was dragging a man towards them. The unicorn had the guy by the back of his collar, pulling him along with his teeth. He mentally messages to Sir Isaac that there were more men, but that they had fled the moment that he rushed in. But that was fine, they had one person to interrogate. Some lacky, but even a lacky knew some things.

Completely confident that Belen was all fine again, Sir Isaac walks downstairs to see what this guy knew and what his intentions were.

Author: Cyril, Posted: Sun Sep 2, 2018 12:48 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

They were almost back together again. The plan had gone well, and everybody was alright. Sir Bartholomew and his mount carried him to where they found his twin waiting. Bel waved, and he waved back when something hit his brother causing him to stagger. The smile faded from his face as Cyril's eyes went wide at the sight of something seeping through Belen's shirt. "…Bel? BEL!" Shouting, he threw himself off the unicorn's back and scrambled to his feet to dash at full speed. He kept screaming his brother's name, everything else becoming a blur. For someone normally so sedate, the speed at which he ran hinted that something was clearly wrong. His brother–something had hurt his brother!

Belen stumbled to duck down, cursing under his breath. It had been a dumb move, a real dumb move. He'd forgotten they weren't the only people here, but he couldn't be sure if the shot was from somebody with or without a pulse. His head was swimming as he was trying to slow his blood loss. Somebody had the nerve to shoot him, and in a bad place too. Applying a touch of ice in hopes of slowing the bleeding, he heard his brother yelling. Gods no, not like this. He couldn't die, not in front of his own little brother.

There was something that most people didn't know about them that only their parents knew. From appearances alone, everybody thought the older twin was the one they had to keep an eye on–the troublemaker, and more dangerous of the two. That was a partial lie. If there was one thing that Belen didn't want, it was to have anything make Cyril upset. Normally this wasn't a problem since his little brother was rarely bothered by anything. But when he did become upset… Sometimes the kindest people can become the most terrifying when it comes to the safety of their loved ones. Ironic as it was, Belen almost pitied whoever shot him. It was a good thing he never saw who did it, or else they'd soon face a taste of the Infernos in the mortal realm. When Cyril gave something his full attention, he never stopped until it was finished. Most thought Cyril took after their father due to his silver white hair; in reality he had a lot more of their mother in him out of the both of them. He hoped that he'd pull through this, and they'd both be able to go back like nothing happened. If Cyril when mad was awful, their mother was much, much worse.

Cyril didn't remember how he managed to get up the tower, or how much time had passed since he saw his brother take an arrow to the chest. Breathless and still panicking, he dropped beside his twin, who was lying against some cover holding the spot with a hand. The stain was bigger than the first time he saw it, the arrow still in. It was a good thing he didn't try to take it out, or he'd bleed out faster. "Sorry Cyril…I was being dumb. I forgot to check if there was anything hanging around. I didn't think they'd hit me. Maybe one of the skeletons had some arrows or something." Cyril was crying, choking on his words. "You're going to be ok Bel, it's going to be ok. I'll take the arrow out, so you're going to be fine…" His brother grabbed one of his hands and looked him in the eye. "Hey, hey. Calm down…I'm going to be ok just like you said. I'm not made of paper, so don't worry." 

"…Yeah." Cyril wiped his face, hurrying to take out a mask from his things. Lying his brother down, he placed the mask over Belen's face gently. His breathing slowed, all of his body's processes went to a standstill. He was in a suspended state and out of consciousness. Cyril didn't have anything to dull the pain, so this was all he could do. The last thing he did was to put a string of prayer beads around his brother's neck. With deep breaths, his fingers curled around the arrow shaft and closed his eyes before he pulled. The metallic smell of blood was in his nose, but he had stopped crying. With steady breaths, he used his magic on his brother's body. The wound began to close, sealing up and mending. Soon only the blood staining Bel's shirt was left. Washing his hands, he wiped his forehead. He took the mask off his brother's face and hugged him. "Let's not split up again…ok?"

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 5:21 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Sir Isaac steers Sir Julian according to Cyril's directions of where Belen was, letting the unicorn walk in a relaxed pace that wouldn't wear it out any further. Now that the battle was over and the adrenaline started to fade, they were both feeling the exhaustion of the battle. Sir Isaac soon saw the other boy, Belen, in a building up ahead. And it seemed like he had company. Perhaps one of the other groups, who had rallied with the boy and helped him during the spell? Yes, it was rather farfetched that a single boy of such a young age could've mustered the energy and expertise to cast such a powerful spell alone. It was a fortunate thing that their comrades had come to help them.

Sir Isaac looks back at the still kneeling frame of the Gashadokuro. It seemed to be in a serious state of repair and recovery. There were undead escaping it and liches trying to take over control, and the Gashadokuro was reabsorbing the undead and regaining control just as fast. The creature's automatic processes and instinctive reactions seemed to keep it in a constant circle of losing control and regaining it, with hundreds of those circles happening at the same time. At least for the time being. For all they knew, the Gashadokuro could be slowly falling apart, slowly rebuilding themselves, or remain stuck in this state until daybreak.

Well, it didn't matter. Sir Isaac and Sir Julian both needed a rest to recover their energy, and they'd have to figure out a new strategy to take this creature down more permanently. They'd discuss it with Belen and the others once they arrived at the house.

___

The acolyte swallows nervously and looks at the back of the brown-haired boy. The lad was very powerful, as the freaking meteor spell had already suggested. But he was still unaware of her presence, and probably worn out significantly from the powerful magic that he just casted. Her wrinkled fingers clamp around the sacrifical blade of her cult.

They had to kill him. If he was truly so powerful, he would make a very worthy lich or other kind of undead for their master. But it also meant that he was too powerful to take alive, as much as pre-death torture and corruption would increase his value. She had to kill him and trap his soul in the pommel of her blade, so that they could offer both his physical and spiritual remains to their dark master.

She looks around to the other cultists. They too have their blades out and ready, but look just as nervous as her. They weren't powerful necromancers, but doing things themselves instead of delegating the undead to do it was a new and unfamiliar thing. Even the non-magical cultists had chains and items that allowed them to use a couple of undead like vicious hounds or command a handful of skeletons. But with all the undead and even their dark master absorbed by the giant, they stood alone. They only had their basic necrotic magic tricks of life leeching touches and sickening blasts for the time being, and what necromancer really focussed on those?

But without any undead servants and cannonfodder, they had to. Only they of living remained to do the bidding of the master. And the master would reward them greatly for their loyalty in his darkest hours. Perhaps he'd even look at her with desire again, touch her again. He hadn't done that ever since her skin began to wrinkle, he hadn't even considered her anything more than another lacky after her beauty faded. But with the boy as a gift, perhaps…

___

The agent looks at the smoke that was still coming from the area of devastation. The giant skeleton monster was still taken out, and seemed to be slowly falling apart. This wouldn't do, his Lord had told him that the skeleton had to live. He had ensured that all the dead dissappeared for some reason, and there was no telling how fast they would return once he was dead. Psk, at this rate the undying might swarm the island again before the forces of Railoch could even reach shore.

"Alright men, we cannot undo what has already been done. But we can make sure that things don't get worse. We can make sure that those three don't do anything else we don't want to happen." He tells his fellow Railochian agents. "Don't worry, there's no way that our Lords can blame us for this, how were we supposed to know that those three could do something like this? And this might actually present an opportunity for… something. We can make this turn to our advantage somehow, as long as they don't deal a fatal strike to this thing."

Seriously though, what were the odds of those three fools doing something like this? The two boys were so young that he had disregarded them completely, and the knight was a buffoon of such proportions that he had considered the idiot as no threat at all. He had instead focussed on the group of agents from Komiteia, until their entire party had been squashed by a single strike from the Gashadokuro's club. 

The agent looks at the brown-headed boy, standing openly on top of the building on the other side of the street. He didn't seem to notice their presence at all, and was completely open to an arrow to the heart. He didn't seem to consider there to be any danger, just because there were no undead about. Good. That would make this easy.

The agent places an arrow on his bow and aims it, ready to kill the boy with a single arrow through his unarmoured chest. One kill closer to the baronhood that he was promised by his lord, once Tyr would be conquered and in need of new nobility to rule over it. Yes, he would get his comfortable life, no matter the costs. His party members watch breathlessly, longing for the same rewards. Well, their title would be lower than his, but that spoke for itself. He was the leader, after all.

___

Sir Isaac returns his gaze to Belen, confident that the Gashadokuro wasn't getting up and attacking them again. And as long as that monster didn't attack, they had nothing to worry about. This was a matter of life vs dead, and the living would surely all work together to see to the end of evil. Yes, times like these brought the living together and resolved all issues of the past. Sir Isaac smiles, having complete faith in humanity and the good of man.

Author: Belen, Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:40 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"What's taking them so long?" He muttered nervously. It had gone quiet after blasting the area with celestial projectiles. Sir Bart answered back saying they were fine, but he had no idea where the knight was. He should be at the Gashadokuro then, if Cyril was there. Knowing his twin, Cyril would probably try to sneak in a few more attacks during the meteor shower. One had to give him credit for his enthusiasm for getting something done. They should be fine, he could just contact his brother and see how they were doing. He was worrying too much, yeah. Meanwhile back at the blast zone, Cyril was fortunately stopped by the paladin. Had the older brother known his sibling was going to continue stabbing away at the monster in those circumstances, he'd be hopping. 

Cyril looked back at the Gashadokuro's spinal column, still thinking about going. But Sir Bartholomew was worried, and even though he thought he would be alright now wasn't the time to be selfish. It occurred to him that he hadn't communicated with his brother back after their successful assault. Reluctantly the silver-haired boy went up onto the unicorn to leave before they were unable to escape. Belen sat up when his brother replied back to his mental message. As he suspected, they both were at the Gashadokuro and were just leaving. The big lug wasn't dead, or more dead–but at least it would take some time for it to pull itself together. He'd give it five minutes, more or less. 'I'm in one of the buildings just out of the monster's immediate range. Direct the mustache-man this way so we can regroup.'  He told Cyril. Poking his head out, he checked that the coast was clear.

Climbing to the top, he waved his arms hoping they were close enough to spot him. This was a good vantage point to survey the situation. "Sheesh, how much damage can this guy take? He's still got all of his legs and arms!" Belen said to himself. "Can we really beat this thing?" Come to think of it, what happened to the rest of the people who left the ship to search the island? Sure they were far away, but he realized just how bad it would look if some of them kicked the bucket thanks to being a smidge too close to the site of bombardment. He totally forgot they weren't the only ones here with a pulse.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 4:55 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

The meteors struck, exploding in big balls of fire that sent forth shockwaves that would knock the air out of the lungs of anyone nearby and render them unconscious from the mere shock through their body. It didn't seem like any of the meteors made it into the ribcage to ricochet around there and turn the whole area into a certain death, as was the worst-case scenario that Sir Isaac had foreseen happen to the kid. But with all the near-impact destruction that these meteors caused, such a maxxed out devastation wasn't necessary to get someone killed.

Speaking of the kid, Sir Isaac sees a head of white hair fall down. With a featherfall spell [safe passage], Sir Isaac breaks the boy's fall and prevents him from dying from sheer falling damage. The boy doesn't seem too concerned about it, being just as unaffected by it as the whole being vaporised by meteors while standing on a giant skeleton thing. Instead he just calmly asked Sir Isaac if he had received the message to take cover. Then another meteor strikes, and another.

The meteors strike the Gashadokuro again and again, the wailing of the monster soon too incoherent and drowned out by the explosions to be heard. Large explosions of fire sprouted out from every hit, completely engulfing the bones around the impact zone and turning the skeleton into a large red midwinter tree.

"I think we're going to be ok!" The ever-optimistic bleached lad shouts over the explosions, while Sir Isaac was trying to block out the destruction around him with prayers. The chaos continued for what felt like hours, eventually being followed by a silent so absolute that it almost hurt the ears. Sir Isaac wasn't even sure whether the ringing that he was hearing was still the Gashadokuro, or hearing damage from the explosions. He'd find out the answer on that one in a few days.

The Gashadokuro seemed to be far from its prestine state too, its bones wriggling and screaming as the hold on the undead that they were comprised of was getting weaker. They were struggling to break free from their massive super-skeleton form, and some seemed to manage to do just that. Skeletons and zombies began to rain down upon them, once again with their prime directive of killing all living beings as their first priority.

"You guys alright? If you can hear me, say yes!" The brownheaded boy asks telepathically.

"Yes, we're fine. Don't worry, I've got your brother with me right here. I'll bring him back to-" Sir Isaac thinks, only to no longer find Cybil where he had last seen the kid.

"We can try to deal more damage to its limbs now- I'll climb back into its ribs." The bleached boy shouts, already running to the nearest skeleton foot to climb back up.

"From all the suicidal youth…" Sir Isaac whispers to himself, before steering Sir Julian to rush after the kid. Cutting Cyril off by stopping in front of him, Sir Isaac reaches out a hand to help the lad up his steed. "Are you daft, boy? Even if the wriggling mass of hands and faces doesn't concern you, the massive amount of malign miasma of escaping spirit energy seeping out of this thing should tell you why touching it would be a bad idea! We have to get out of here before the undead can swarm us and before the Gashadokuro regains enough control to attack!"

"Not to mention, there's no telling when one or more of the liches in there regains enough control and self-awareness to start controlling this thing. Or at least, part of it. We should retreat for now and plan how to use that against them, instead of being caught unaware by the possible fallout." Sir Isaac says, looking up at the massive frame above them. A zombie falls down just ten meters away, immediately tries to get back up to attack them, and flops down when its broken legs immediately give out on them. "The internal struggle will keep it occupied for a while, we should figure out a way to take it down more permanently while that happens. For all we know, physical destruction will just slow it down until it can reform its frame from new corpses."

Sir Isaac nods wisely at his own wisdom, which was definately based on fact and keen insight, and looks at the boy. "So, first things first. Get on, so we can get out of here!"

Author: Cyril, Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 6:39 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"It's working!" He exclaimed. Clearly unconcerned about his own physical well-being, Cyril looked up to see a fleet of shooting stars heading down to earth. Belen had pulled through, and this would help give them an edge for now. Until daybreak, the Gashadokuro would still linger, depending on how strong the malice allowing it to manifest was. Being inside the skeletal monster itself, when the meteors made impact he was confident that he wouldn't be hit. To his surprise, Sir Bartholomew and his unicorn came dashing in, barely escaping the first impact. "Drop down, boy! Jump to safety!" He shouted. Cyril did so, and fell stomach down from where he had been chipping away at the spine. "Did Bel tell you to take cover?" He didn't expect the knight to be so close.

Right away the knight began praying to any higher being with benevolence in its conscience. "I think we're going to be ok!" Cyril shouted over the crashing meteors pounding the ground around them. "There's no where for it to run away from the meteors, and it's not getting past its bones!" After the longest few minutes, the aerial assault ceased. The overwhelming malice of the Gashadokuro was weakened, as the ringing was fading noticeably. However, now would be a good time to get out of its grasping range. The malignant force was still strong enough to keep the apparition corporeal, and resurrecting in the same place after being crushed was not ideal. "We can try to deal more damage to its limbs now–I'll climb back into its ribs." He said, planning to resume his efforts at weakening the Gashadokuro's spine. If Sir Bartholomew had any objections, they'd likely stop him before he was on his way to scale its femur again.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 3:54 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

With a mighty holy blow, Sir Isaac slices through the inner ankle-foot tendon of the Gashadokuro. It screams in pain and anger, but doesn't fall. It no longer had the means of staying upright if enough force were to push it to the right, but it could still stand. Sir Isaac looks at the behemoth, still trying to grab the brother that was inside of his chest while also preparing to smite at Sir Isaac with his mighty bone club. It was not succeeding in either, but in between the boy's limited maneuvrability up there and Sir Julian getting tired, neither would last forever.

"Take cover, quick!" A mental message suddenly reaches Sir Isaac, counting down. On the one, red lights appeared in the sky and fell down towards them at a rapid pace. A magical meteor shower, one of the most powerful and destructive spells known to man.

"Are they mad? One of them is still inside the Gashadokuro! He's sure to be struck by that destruction, and if it's strong enough to harm this thing it will completely vapourise the boy! He has no chance of getting out of the blast zone either. What were they thinking?"

Sir Isaac turns Sir Julian around and rushes back towards the Gashadokuro, who still looks at him with murderous intend without any concern for the meteors above. It raised its club for another strike, and Sir Isaac prepares for more light to blast this vile creature with. He knew he had to, it was the boy's only chance. There was only one place within the blast zone that might be safe from the meteors, and that was underneath the Gashadokuro. But in order to ensure that, the behemoth would have to shield the area with their body. In order to do that, the monster would have to kneel.

"On my mark, fire! Now!" Sir Isaac shouts. He sends a flare of light into the Gashadokuro's face, causing it to reel back again. As he does so, Sir Julian prepares another light lance and fires it. The lance flies forth and strikes the Gashadokuro in the knee, causing it to topple and fall sideways. With as much reflex as active thought as the creature had through, the Gashadokuro moves forwards and the other side to break their fall. If there was some force behind the push, it wouldn't have been able to do so.

But without that force, he could kneel. Only being able to set one foot forwards as he was falling, the Gashadokuro falls into the position of a kneeling knight and breaks his complete fall into a prone position. And by kneeling, he creating a safe zone just underneath his ribcage. Sir Julian quickly rushes for it and their only chance of safety left, while Sir Isaac looks upwards. "Drop down, boy! Jump to safety!"

Sir Julian rears to a halt and whinnies nervously as they reach the centre of the hopefully safe area, and Sir Isaac looks up at the Gashadokuro with even more nervosity. If it would get up too quickly, they were done for. And if it would grab at them while they were stuck here, then they'd be squashed or squeezed out before the meteors would do their thing. And all the while, Sir Isaac couldn't lay eyes on the boy.

"Gracious gods in the heavens above, wise and kind as we mortals shall never be. Grant us protection, that only evil shall be smitten by this unaligned destruction while the good will remain unscathed. Give us mercy, that the souls of the young ones won't join you before it's their time. Bestow your kindness, for-"

Sir Isaac's prayer is interrupted as the first of the meteors strikes, turning the world into pandemonium.

Author: Belen, Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 1:53 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"Come on, come on–" Working as fast as he could, Belen was preparing to cast the spell. Glyphs began to shimmer around him as he kept tabs on the other two. A few more seconds, and he'd have to give the knight a heads up. Once it went off, anything that didn't take cover would get a face full of arcane artillery. Collateral damage came with the package, but as long as it didn't include them he had no problems with it. Sending a strong telepathic message to Sir Bart and his brother, Belen's mental voice was broadcast at full volume. 'Take cover, quick! On the count of three, we're gonna make it rain! Three, two, one…' Aloud on his end, the boy yelled: "Bombs away!" The glyphs flared, and high-pitched whistling sounds began overlapping as a shower of meteorites began descending from the heavens. A massive release of magical energy was sent through the immediate area as burning chunks pummeled the Gashadokuro and everything in its vicinity. 

Belen himself ducked into a building that was still standing, holding his breath while watching devastation rain down from on high. He wasn't going to be able do another one of these again at least until tomorrow. The meteor shower mowed down any undead still under the Gashadokuro's call and left the ground pockmarked like a slice of Swiss cheese. It'd take hundreds of catapults to reproduce the same effect. Like some sort of karmic retribution, this time it was the big skeleton getting hit by flying debris instead of the other way around. The onslaught lasted for a few minutes, plenty of time for something this destructive. Despite the undead colossus' resilience, the enchanted meteors delivered a severe blow to the unholy energies it was made from with sheer brute force.

It was still intact, but the terrible ringing that everybody was suffering from since their arrival was starting to fade. Looks like his brother might've been right after all. Staying where he was, he telepathically messaged the others to check on their status. 'You guys alright? If you can hear me, say yes!' His brother responded back, congratulating him on a direct hit. That was a relief, now he had to hear from Mister Moustache-man and they'd be all set.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 5:12 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"By the light of the heavens, yield! Yield, you foul aberration!" Sir Isaac says. He strokes his moustache and calls forth a powerful ray of divine light. It was a parlor trick compared to his sunburst arrows, but he couldn't keep that up forever. Best save his energy and arrows for when they were absolutely needed. Instead, he shines the light at the Gashadokuro's face and causes it to recoil briefly from the blinding brightness. It was a good thing that he only had to distract the behemoth, because here was little more that he could do against a being of such massive proportions.

"On my mark Sir Julian, use light lance! Now!" Sir Julian turns to the Gashadokuro and his horn shines brightly. Extending into a long lance, a luminent version of his horn shoots away at their foe. The horn pierced through the club-wielding wrist and the bone club slowly shifted from his grasp. Before it falls however, the Gashadokuro steadies his grip again and prepares for another smash. "To side. Let's put a little bit more distance between us. We wouldn't want to come so close that it might try stomping us, lest we want the lads to be caught as collision in that devastation!"

Sir Julian immediately complies and begins galloping away from the giant with an angle that allows Sir Isaac to keep an easy sight on their foe. The Gashadokuro follows their path and roars, bringing down his club once again.

"Back! Break and retreat!" Sir Isaac shouts hastily. Sir Julian rears and nearly falls prone as he stops from full pace to zero in a few steps. Not a second later though he is already turning their momentum into a very tight curve and heading back the way they came. The club tears up the ground behind them and dirt accosts them from behind. That had been a close call. A very close call.

Did it know what it just did, or was it mere coïncidence? If this undead creature was intelligent enough to aim for where they were going instead of where they were, then it was a more intelligent creature than Sir Isaac had given it credit for. And a much more intelligent creature than he had hoped for. But perhaps it had just been coincidence. They had just shot it in the wrist, so the creature's aim could be off.

The Gashadokuro screams and wails, grabbing at his chest. Seems like the boys had joined the fray. "To battle, Sir Julian! I promised these lads that I'd keep the monster distracted, so lets see to it that we become his number one annoyance again!"

Sir Julian turns and heads straight for the Gashadokuro, approaching it with incredible speed. With a mighty leap he jumps onto the Gashadokuro's toe and runs over the bones to the behemoth's ankle. Sir Isaac draws his sword and prepares his holy light. [consecrate weapon] With a mighty two-handed slash, fueled by Sir Julian's speed and steadied with Sir Isaac's firm hold, the blade carves through the dark strings that formed the skeleton's tendons.

The Gashadokuro screams with more pain than ever before, his massive frame buckling to the side for just a brief moment before he steadies himself again. The dark shadowy matter that Sir Isaac had carved through quickly burned away for a good three feet, leaving illuminated remnants of holy energy that prevented his tendon from reforming quickly. All skeletons had these dark threads throughout their frame, ensuring that they'd actually stay together and were able to move around like they once did in life. Dark threads that copied the tendons and muscles from the humanoid body, limited and resized to be between the bones only. Normally a detail that none but necromancers concerned themselves with, but in this case a greater weakness than the massive and solid bones.

Sir Isaac braces himself for impact as Sir Julian heads back for the ground, several meters below them. The unicorn's landing is quite elegant, but it was still a shock on the both of them. "Away, quickly! Before it tries to stomp us out!"

The Gashadokuro screams and turns around to once again focus his attention on Sir Isaac. It didn't seem too agile when it came to turning, as was to be expected of a being of such a size on footing so uneven. It raised its club, but it wouldn't be able to properly hit Sir Isaac when they were this close. Instead it had to hold it upside down and stabbed it straight downward. With the area of effect greatly reduced it was an easy attack to dodge however, faster and less predictable as it might be.

It might not be the best of ideas, but Sir Isaac was getting confident of their chances with their recent successes and this new weakness that he had deduced. "Let's make way to his other foot next, and we shall slice through his inner tendon this time! When both are severed, the behemoth will be forced to kneel or fall to the right! It will ensure that the lads will have a much easier target to strike!"

Sir Isaac quickly pulls the reigns to the right, narrowly dodging the bone club that came from the heavens like a column and dug itself several meters deep. To his dissatisfaction, the Gashadokuro lets go of the club with one hand to reach into his ribcage once more. Even another ray of holy light shining directly into the skeleton's eyes didn't distract it enough to draw his hand away from the second assailant.

"Blasted! We best topple it quickly, before it gets a hold of the lad! Anyone is done for when they're grabbed or smashed by this behemoth even once! And I'm not sure if I can ressurrect the boy if he's squished too badly!" Sir Isaac says. Sir Julian whinnies agreeingly and picks up the pace.

Author: Cyril, Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 2:24 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"I can't guarantee how close we're going to end up since I haven't physically seen the place before. So there might be some technical difficulties." Belen grumbled. "Thanks Bel, we'll be able to get there in no time!" Cyril said, trying to cheer up his older twin. Realizing they didn't have any way to contact Sir Bartholomew after they went through the portal, the folklorist asked his brother for one more small favor. "Hey Bel, when we start our plan can you use telepathy to tell Sir Bartholomew?" "Sure…why not. Ok, the portal's almost done." A swirling portal appeared before them both, and Cyril waved to the knight one last time before the twins jumped through. In the blink of an eye, the portal vanished. They tumbled out at a good distance from the spire, in a devastated portion of forest. They had a clear shot of the Gashadokuro, which was all that they needed.

Flashes of light pepper the massive monster, causing it to shriek in rage. The knight was doing his best to take the attention off of them, so they needed to make this work. The twins began formulating their strategy: attack it in a 1-2 combo and deal as much damage as possible when it was unable to defend and retaliate. "So what's the plan? I mean I really hope you have one–since the portal was your idea." Belen said warily. "First, teleport me where I can climb onto the Gashadokuro. Sir Bartholomew should still be distracting it, so maybe it won't notice me. You teleport back here, and I'll start attacking it. When it's being affected by both of us, get your biggest spell ready." 

"Wait, you don't mean–" He clarified for his brother before he could finish, "Not explosion–the meteor shower." Belen inhaled deeply, clearly not thrilled at the idea. "I'll buy you some time. Before you set it off, tell Sir Bartholomew to take cover. We'll be able to hit both it and the other undead around the island." He reassured him. His older brother rubbed the back of his head and exhaled, doing his best to grin. "…Well what are we waiting for? Let's roll!" Belen held onto him as he teleported them both to a still-intact portion of a building. "This should give you a decent place to climb up and latch on. Just don't get spotted, ok?" Cyril nodded, then his brother disappeared. At once he started scaling the wall's surface, steadily approaching the closest bones of the gigantic skeleton. He cast a spell of resurrection on himself just in case the Gashadokuro spotted him. If one of them had to take a hit, he needed to stay alive so they wouldn't join the stream of souls feeding into the monster.

Latching onto a femur, he clung on as it shook in response to the holy attacks. Once it stopped he quickly resumed his advance, working his way up to the spine. Slipping into its rib cage, he began stabbing at the vertebrae with his obsidian-lacriamium blade. The divine energies imbued upon it made the Gashadokuro recoil, clawing at its torso to rid itself of the pain. There were visible spots of damage where the undead apparition's form was being compromised. Wreaking as much havoc as he could while avoiding the bony hands, Cyril hoped Belen would have enough time to launch their first major blow.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 3:31 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"We shall take the fight to the behemoth, then!" Sir Isaac says. his moustache'd unicorn rears and whinnies bravely. "Sir Julian and I shall keep this thing occupied and shoot some of the bigger soul streams just before they can be absorbed, but we can only do so much! I've only got twelve arrows left, and not enough energy to make them all sunburst! You lads give me a signal once you've prepared something to harm this thing with, and I can maybe stun it for a second with my flashbangs."

"Go, Sir Julian Calimero the First of the Helios bloodline! To battle!" Sir Julian gallops through the portal, soon leaving the two boys behind. With powerful strides he charges at the Garashadokuro, which already turns to face this brightly shining dot in the otherwise complete darkness. The bone club rises for an attack, dust falling off of it from the rapid movement. Sir Isaac swallows, seeing some of those dust particles fall with a velocity that suggested that they were actually boulders. Then, the bone club swings down upon them with great force and speed.

"To left!" Sir Isaac shouts and Sir Julian almost makes a straight 90 degree curve to dodge the incoming mass of destruction. The shadow of the club looms over them for a split second as it darkens out the moon and plunges them into complete blackness, but then they jump back into the light and rush further. A shockwave knocks the air out of Sir Isaac's lungs as the club comes crashing down behind them, sending up more mud and dirt than a village's worth and causing the ground to tremble like an earthquake.

As if the exercise of mass destruction equalling a force of nature was nothing at all, the Gashadokuro rises the club again and prepares for another strike. Sir Isaac prepares his bow and lines up his shot. "Steady now, Sir Julian… Now!"

A line of light encroaches upon the Gashadokuro and nuzzles itself in between two soul streams that are about to be absorbed into his body. A bright flash almost half the size of his ribcage tears them apart and makes the Gashadokuro wail in agony. His second club smash falters as the arm that was rising to prepare for the club to smash the island again breaks it movement to shield the body from the light. It's of little consequence however, slowing down the Gashadokuro only for mere seconds.

"To him!"

Sir Julian changes course again to head for the massive skeleton and Sir Isaac grimly looks at the club as it is once again raising for a ground-shattering smash. They could dodge this thing, narrowly as it may be, and they had its attention. Sir Isaac saw no weakness or vulnerability to take advantage of, however, nothing to decisively harm this behemoth. But that was not his task, fortunately. He just had to keep this abomination busy while the boys concocted some kind of plan to harm it.

"To left!" Sir Isaac shouts as the club is once again swung down upon them.

Author: Belen, Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 9:04 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Today was just not his day. An explosion of sound and they were keeled over, everything was hurting all over. Belen swore he was deaf, until he could still hear his brother and Sir Bart shouting. Struggling to regain his senses, he was lucky to not have his eyes open for the light shot the man's bow was giving off. A pair of hands pulled him up, and he was barely catching up to what was going on. "What? What's going on? Why is everything going straight down the sinker?!" His brother wasn't paying attention to him as the knight asked him a direct question. Before Belen could give any input, his twin answered. "We need to destroy it while we can." He stared in disbelief. "Destroy what? What are we doing?" Again his brother kept talking without noticing he was trying to give a second opinion. "The night has just begun, but I think there's a way we can shorten our traveling time. Bel, can you open up a portal?" 

Throwing his hands up in defense, Belen was flabbergasted. "Whoa, whoa–hold on! Why do I have to open a portal and where am I opening it to?" Cyril fumbled and pulled out a wayfinder's widget, pressing a spot on one of the sides. Its smooth surface lit up and flashed a circular symbol before projecting a simplified topographic depiction of a portion of the island. "I had it record everywhere we went after we left the ship. The most detailed areas show where we walked, while the closest surrounding areas are outlined. The tower is right here." He placed an index finger on a visual marker labelled 'The Spire' on the light projection. "And you need a portal because…?" "We have to get there right away. There's a monster there and we need to destroy it." Cyril explained with determination.

"…No. Nuh-uh. Absolutely not. I am not sending us on a one-way ticket to death by some evil thing that's out for blood." His brother started pleading with him, but he wasn't going to budge. He should've said no when they thought about getting on board, but he was putting his foot down now. "Please Bel? We really need your help! …If we get rid of the monster, it'll make your headache go away." There was a moment of silence as he crossed his arms and turned away. He sure made a very convincing argument. Out of the decency of his own heart–not because he wanted to rid himself of the persistent migraine–he made a decision. "…Ok, fine. But you better be more than a hundred-percent sure that it'll take the ringing with it." Cyril was delighted, and was already talking about plans on what they should do to stop the giant skeleton as soon as possible. Rolling his eyes, Belen started opening the portal to the closest place he could in relation to the Spire.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 5:25 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"How close by is it?" Sir Isaac asks. The bleached-haired boy points at the spire in response.

"Please tell me it's close by. Like, real close by and somehow playing tricks with perspective." Sir Isaac says. "Or some other feasable reason for it to look bigger than it really is."

"There- It's finally here. Things like that are at their strongest after night falls." Cybil says.

"That's not what I wanted to hear. That's the exact opposite of what I wanted to hear. Please tell me something a bit more reassuring." A very wary Sir Isaac says.

In response, Cyril recites a legend that he heard about this behemoth. And almost as if he hadn't heard Sir Isaac, he didn't make it sound reassuring at all.

"Well, at least we know what it is. Say, did these Nichirin priests mention anything about a weak sp-"

Sir Isaac is interrupted rudely by a blood-curdling shriek that even nullified the ringing in their ears. Almost as if in response to the physical scream, green light begins to well up from the ground around them. From the grounds all over the island. Like streams, clotted together with a few whisps of lonely souls here and there, the desecrated souls rallied to the call of the Gashadokuro.

"Destroy the rising corpses, it's gathering power! The more unconsecrated dead it takes, the stronger it becomes!" Cybil shouts, drawing his weapons.

"Damn it, there's no time! Those souls are welling up from all over the island, we cannot possibly reach all those places in time before the souls have already been absorbed! Even with my holy bow I can only hit a few of the streams from here!" Sir Isaac shouts. "Say, Cybil! Is this thing distracted while it gathers more souls, or will it gather them regardless? Oh, and cover your eyes before this thing goes off!"

While shouting, Sir Isaac takes the moustache-shaped composite bow from his back and places a magic arrow on it. Whispering a small prayer while aiming it, he shoots the arrow at the nearest soulstream. The arrow leaves a line of light behind it as it flies straight at its target, exploding upon impact. Almost as bright as a small sun, the holy light brightens up the sky for a brief moment. [sunburst][holy light] Sir Isaac covers his eyes by covering his face with his elbow, and he hears how the Gashadokuro screams in rage and confusion. As the sky darkens again and Sir Isaac's eyes readjust, he takes a look at the results of his attack. The front and back of the stream are still headed for the Gashadokuro, but there was a large gap torn right through it where the evil souls had been ripped apart by the divine force.

It was but a small victory amongst a dozen losses, though. Sir Isaac could maybe reach three of the soul streams with the range on his bow, despite the the great range of his bow and clear shot that such a slow-moving floating target gave him. Three streams out of the dozens that were headed for the Gashadokuro, plenty of which were coming from the very other end of the island. And this skeleton titan was only increasing his strength further, his power was already more than massive without these additional souls.

"Cover your eyes in three, two-" Sir Isaac shouts, taking aim at one of the other soul streams. Two seconds later the sky lights up again and the stream was torn asunder. The Gashadokuro screams in agony and turns his head to their general location. Its eyes flare up brighter in rage and it sets a massive step, only for it angrily scream once again when the light explodes like firework a third time.

"There, that was the last stream I can reach from here. If we want to take out the others, we'll have to either move or go to the source of the streams." Sir Isaac says, turning to the two boys with all his chivalrous cheer replaced with a serious demeanour. "As many souls as it appears to be absorbing, we probably have time. This creature has been plaguing the island and the ships that sail around it for days, perhaps weeks now. It's not going to finish absorbing every last soul tonight, nor will its power increase too much beyond what it already is if it would. At least, I think so. If your lore on this creature suggests anything else, I'm all ears. In fact, you seem to be the most knowledgeable one amongst us about this particular conundrum. So I'm leaving the choice to you, Sir Cybil, what do we do now?"

Sir Isaac, still completely serious, takes out his holy symbol (whose angel-wings look suspiciously moustache-shaped), unsheates his sword (with a moustache-shaped cross-guard) and holds the one aloft while placing the other on his lips. Calling forth his celestial steed [summon companion] by speaking its name into his symbol, Sir Isaac slices the air in front of him to carve a tear into reality itself. His unicorn warhorse gallops through the tear and circles around to meet his paladin. The tear closes itself again and Sir Isaac quickly jumps onto his steed's back.

Both the paladin and the unicorn look at the two boys. The latter sniffs the air to get a read on the two, and the moustache on his upper lip wiggles. "Tell me, Sir Cybil? What will we do? Shall we take the fight to this behemoth, or focus on the graveyards? Or do we split up to do both? I don't think I can defeat this beast by myself, but perhaps I can keep it occupied and distracted, if that would stop him from absorbing more power."

Author: Cyril, Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 2:45 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Cyril listened carefully when his brother told him of the dream. This was all very familiar, like he had heard about this somewhere. Sir Bartholomew woke up next, and said he had a dream just like Bel's too. Staring up at the moonless sky, he racked his brain thinking. "Bones…a battlefield. A great skeleton…" The rumbling began, and he could feel the oppressive presence he had sensed upon setting foot on the island shift. "Sir Cybil, you can sense this creature, can't you? How close by is it?" The knight asked with worry in his voice. Amidst the rumbling, a great figure emerged from the spire, two great glowing spots towering above the entire island. The cloud cover moved, and the great shape of a massive skeleton was made clear. Watching the monstrosity take form, the folklorist stood and pointed. "There–it's finally here. Things like that are at their strongest after night falls."

"Towering several stories high, as big as mount Waraji–eyes shining a frightening crimson red. It reached out and crushed with its left hand, smashing any escaping victims with a club made from a single large bone–" He recited, recalling the passage he had seen in an old scroll years ago. "Borne from the casualties of battle or the victims of famine, its origin lies from the collective spirits of the unburied dead. Without being given funerary rites, their spirits turn vengeful and bear an unyielding grudge against the living. From the records of the cleric-priests of the Nichirin sect, this monster was called: 'Gashadokuro'." 

A blood-curdling shriek split the silence, forcing both brothers to double over while covering their ears. It was so loud that it drowned out every other sound, replacing the terrible ringing. The bound zombie that the paladin had tied up earlier began to writhe at the sound of the great skeleton, and a greenish fire left its body to join the hordes of wisps swarming the spire. The rotting corpse then disintegrated. The shaking did not cease at the ghastly monster's arrival. More undead, those who had not freed themselves beforehand began to emerge from their graves. It was an exodus of the dead–en masse with the destination being the Gashadokuro itself.

It was all making sense to Cyril now; he understood why of all places Tyr had been where it manifested. Tyr was in fact, the perfect place for this to happen. The necrotic energies and corpses who were never given their last rites, years of abandonment–just the right conditions to create a Gashadokuro. When his ears were no longer screaming, he scrambled to his feet and drew a katana and an obsidian-lacriamium sword. "Destroy the rising corpses, it's gathering power! The more unconsecrated dead it takes, the stronger it becomes!" 

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:58 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Sir Isaac stirs awake as their quiet campsite turns more active. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he notices that it's already past midnight and several hours into what should've been his shift. Did the bleach-haired boy forgo waking him, or did he just not notice the hours pass? It didn't seem like he had fallen asleep, so at least that wasn't the problem. He didn't even seem that tired, despite the long shift and the constant ringing. An insomniac, perhaps? Well, it didn't matter for now.

The other brother was awake too, surprisingly enough. He still seemed to be in a bad shape, drenched in cold sweat and quite shaken up. And apparently, as Sir Isaac figures out as the sleep fades from his mind and his awareness returns to him, Belen had awoken just now as well. His sudden awakening was what had woken Sir Isaac up, in fact. That, and the rumbling.

"Bones. Hundreds and thousands of bones." Sir Isaac hadn't caught the rest of the conversation, but he heard that. And the serious tone with which Beren said it. There was something ominous in it, as if it was something significant despite it being just a normal dream.

"I think I saw something similar. A whole field of bones. A battlefield of fallen soldiers, broken banners and all kinds of rusting tools of war. It was a strange dream, looking down on it from up high like an eagle. Just that sight of decade-old death, suddenly glowing red. That sight, and a skeleton hand that reached up to grab me. One so massive that it could wrap around me whole and reach up into the clouds. But once it tried to grab me, the sun rose and it all faded." Sir Isaac says. "And then I had a dream about riding a strawberry cupcake into a garlic-shaped fortress occupied by rainbow-ghosts. I don't think there was any meaning behind that one, though."

Sir Isaac clears his throat as he receives the weird stares that the last comment earned him, and decides to just lie back down. If he'd pretend to go back to sleep, he could avoid continuing this conversation.

Rumble. Rumble.

Sir Isaac sits back up again. Turning to the two boys, he quickly double-checks his equipment and whether his sword is ready for combat. "Heads up. Something is coming. Something big."

"If you place your ear on the ground, you can hear the footsteps. Which was definately why I lied down again just now, to confirm what I heard. They're not as strong as that tremor we felt just before the two of us woke up, but they're definately getting stronger." Sir Isaac says, grimly looking at the spire on the horizon. "Sir Cybil, you can sense this creature, can't you? How close by is it?"

Author: Belen, Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:26 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Head pounding, a brief sense of relief washes over him after the knight worked his magic. Still, it did a number on him. Try as he might, sleep didn't come easily. Tossing and turning, at last he passed out. His brother gave a nod when Sir Bart said he'd take over the next shift, keeping watch. Night slowly descended over Tyr. Eerie silence came as the few sounds of life disappeared with the daylight. Near the dead of the night, small wisps of greenish flame materialized in the air. Floating like fire flies, they flitted through the cold air. The only place they didn't appear was inside the protective circle. As soon as one drifted too close, it would come in contact with the barrier's force and vaporize. 

As the night dragged on, the clouds obscured the moons to darken the island further. Fitful dreams came to him in jumbled nonsense. He saw bones, thousands and thousands of bones piled up on a barren wasteland. A never-ending field of skeletons as far as the eye could see. The skies were red and dark, choking fumes polluted the air. It was hard to breathe. Then, from the boneyard came a rattling. That rattling rose to a clamor, and thundered like a roar. The bones were quivering, and shook like an earthquake's first tremors. Eerie lights entered the eye sockets of every skull still whole, and the bones themselves began to move. The ringing returned, growing louder, louder as the moving mass grave shuddered and twisted into a shape. Rising like resurrected corpse, the bone pile reared itself up to tower over him. It formed limbs, a torso, then a head. Large holes formed to create a skull's visage. The sickly lights shone brightly in the empty spaces as the mouth was formed. A great massive giant of bone loomed hundreds of feet high, and when it turned to look down at him–he screamed.

Jolting awake, Belen was covered in cold sweat. Shaking, his eyes darted to see if he was still in the land of the living. No bones, no signs of that horrible monster. He could make out the shapes of his brother and Sir Bart close by. Shapes of stars gently shone on the ground as Cyril pulled out a glass bottle of starlight, setting it in the center of their encampment. Seeing the familiar lights, he was relieved. Sitting up and pulling off the blanket, his twin took notice and came over. "You ok?" He nodded. "Yeah. Just had the craziest dream, that's all. All that stuff we heard on the way here must've caused it." Taking a seat across from him, his brother asked: "What was it about?" There was a long pause before he could work up the courage to say it. Swallowing hard, he replied. "…Bones. Hundreds and thousands of bones." 

Within the circle of protection and with some credit to the knight's efforts, the headache was more bearable. The painful ringing wasn't as severe, but still present. There was a tension in the air, as if sooner or later something would happen.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 3:07 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"I wonder why it only can command the undead?" The bleached lad asks.

"Why can necromancers only command the undead? Well, because necrotic and enchanting energy are two entirely different forms of magic." Sir Isaac says a bit more curt and annoyed than usual. He closes his eyes and breathes in, trying to take control of his bad mood. The lad wasn't responsible for the constant ringing, and he had to worry for his brother too. The non-bleached lad looked like he was in a very bad shape for some reason, possibly the ringing or another curse.

As Belen was laid down to rest with the blanket wrapped around him and while Cyril began writing protective runes around their camp, Sir Isaac follows the zombie for a bit. Following it for about a minute or so until its groaning was out of the group's earshot, Sir Isaac places his boot on the zombie's skull and grabs the torso. With the pinned down zombie unable to claw at him properly, Sir Isaac begins to tie a rope around the zombie. Once he feels like it was secure, he releases the zombie and ties the other end of the rope around a nearby tree. Assuming that the knots would hold, they could continue following it tomorrow.

That is, assuming they'd still need to do that. Sir Isaac looks at the ever darkening sky and the spooky sight that the forest around them became as the dead trees turned into a world of shadowed, gnawed claws and fingers around them. This was no place for the living. It hadn't been for a long time.

A few runes before Cyril would finish up his barrier, Sir Isaac hops into the circle. He studies the other boy, Beren. The lad was in a bad shape, perhaps even a hint feverish. This was more than just the ringing, this was more serious than just a bit of a bad mood. Sir Isaac places his hand on Beren's forehead and calls forth curing energy. [cure] He didn't know if it would solve the issue, but if this was a curse or dark magic of some sort, it should at least allevate the problem a bit.

As Cyril finishes up the barrier, Sir Isaac lies down. "I'lll take the middle shift, you boys need your sleep. Good night…."

Author: Cyril, Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 7:44 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

The ringing was almost deafening, screaming loud and clear. Cyril could feel the pain, but due to both training and natural tolerance he was able to push through. The shambling corpse single-mindedly headed towards the spire, compelled by a powerful influence above whatever magic had animated it. "I wonder why it only can command the undead?" The young folklorist mused as he observed the zombie's behavior. His steps were slowing the closer to the spire they walked. The presence was nearly overwhelming, yet he could see no visible source. The trek was wearing them all down. When Sir Bartholomew asked what the should choose next, he crossed his arms to think."…Let him go ahead. Everbody's pretty tired now, and I'm sure the undead won't bother us. I can help set things up." 

His brother had been following behind, with hands on his shoulders leaning heavily–groaning as much as the real zombie. He looked to be in really bad shape, so Cyril thought this was best. He also had taken a lengthy nap on the way here, so he wasn't feeling tired just yet. Letting his brother use the blanket, he started by drawing a wide circle with a diameter of at least ten meters using his staff. The circle line was deep, so it wouldn't be easily covered or disturbed by foot traffic. As his brother rested, he methodically began preparations to set up a location of sanctuary. Scavenging some sticks, he began fastening slips of paper inked with symbols onto them. These he placed at five different points on the circle, facing outward. This would ensure that nothing, physical or incorporeal, would be able to disturb them when they were inside. 

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 5:00 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Strange runes suddenly appeared in the air around Sir Isaac, something that might've been a cage or trap if it weren't for the positive energy that it radiated. The rubble that pinned down the zombie began to shake and turned into a stone golem. As it jubilated its sudden self-awareness and ability to move around, Sir Isaac can only stare at it dumbfounded. The golem turns into the direction that they had come from, and walks off. The glyphs slowly fade away, and Sir Isaac steps out of the protective barrier.

"Well, uhm… Good job. We could've just kicked the one rock and pulled the other out, but this works too I suppose." He says, looking at the golem that was still headed straight for the sea. He then turns to the zombie, that had immediately began crawling towards the spire once it was released. "See, what did I tell you? If a zombie doesn't care for you, it won't care for you at all. They're simple abominations, only capable of two or three tasks at most. If any one task takes priority to their unquenchable hunger for those that live, then they won't even give you a second glance."

"Some kind of command undead, probably. Quite impressive, for it to work from such a distance and with such vast numbers of undead. But nefarious nonetheless, and in need of vanquishing." Sir Isaac says, casually strolling after the crawling zombie. It was a shame that it wasn't even as fast as a regular zombie, but moving slowly did have it perks. Less possibilities for ambushes to take them unaware, assuming one of them would scout ahead properly.

Following the zombie through the city and into the barren farmlands beyond, Sir Isaac and the two lads continue their journey. It was not without its perils, but the problems they faced were not of the serious kind, nor the sort that one would boast about.

"Urgh, I hate escort missions." Sir Isaac grumbles as he pulls the zombie out of the quicksand before it can complete consume him. The zombie snarls and tries to scratch Sir Isaac, but completely forgets about him again once Sir Isaac throws him over the sand. Crawling on as if nothing had happened, the zombie continues while the group tries to circumvent the treacherous environment. Sir Isaac knew that it was a mindless being, but it was still too careless. Because quicksand and the swamps, sure. People lost their lives to those areas too. But it required a special kind of stupid to crawl straight into a rabbit hole and get stuck in there. "From all the zombies we could've followed, it had to be the dim-witted uncle."

With his mood lowering with every mile that they travelled and every decibel that the ringing got louder, Sir Isaac's smile is soon gone. Grumpy and not engaging in any further pleasantries with his travelling companions, he just keeps his eyes on the zombie and the looming spire that was getting ever bigger.

"I'd say that dusk is about to reach us, boys. So, what will it be? Shall we continue following our guide, or string him up and make camp?"

Author: Belen, Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 1:53 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

The headache was making it harder and harder for him to focus on anything else. Belen was feeling envious of his twin right now; he was holding up just fine. When the knight asked his brother for a more specific explanation, he was rubbing his temples. "It's near the center, a very large and powerful presence. Very hard to ignore, and it's probably blocking out everything else that could be here." When the man asked for clarification, Cyril added: "Oh, I mean just on the island around where we are right now. Everybody else is too far away, and I can't pick up weaker signatures with the big one this strong." While the others went to investigate the area, he was standing in the open wondering when this migraine would pack up and leave.

He was nodding in agreement with whatever Mister Moustache was saying, just to prevent himself from straining his brain more. They kept looking around until the man stumbled upon one of the elusive undead that had cleared out when this all went down. Peering at a safe distance from behind the knight, Belen made a face at the mindless corpse. Cyril was staring at it thoughtfully, as if it was important. Sir Bart–a mental nickname he'd given the knight to shorten the effort to address him–poked the zombie which growled at him, but ignored him moment after. Weird. Zombies typically were in attack-mode all the time, going after anything that had a pulse. They didn't have the brains–pun intended–to ignore a warm body walking up to it.

"I think we can make that support beam topple if we remove the stones there an there, thus freeing this zombie." He wasn't liking the sound of this idea already. "What do you young lads think?" The ball was thrown back to them, and he looked at Cyril. "Well…" "Ok! We can move them real quick!" Belen paused. "We…what?" His twin looked back at him with those dearly innocent shining eyes of his, and his heart plummeted like a rock into his stomach. "Oh no–I am not letting that crawler get a leg up on chewing me!" Nope, no, nuh-uh. No way in the Circles was he going to put himself in a situation for a zombie to attack him. "I'll put up a barrier?" Cyril said, attempting to bargain with him. He frowned. "Please?" He closed his eyes and stuck his fingers in his ears.

A few minutes of silence followed, then he caved. The next moment all three of them were inside a protective barrier while Belen cast a spell on the rubble. Glyphs shimmered in the air as the stones keeping the zombie pinned came to life, and gained limbs. A chunk of marble opened its 'eyes' and blinked before leaping up screaming: "I'm FREEEE!!!!" It skittered off to parts unknown, and the support beam fell flat without anything to prop it up.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 4:22 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"Well, of course it had to be catapults, Cybil my boy!" Sir Isaac said. "We know that something has been attacking any ships coming too near, with too much accuracy to be a coincidence. And by the same logic that no catapult could throw such heavy rocks so far, no other means should be able to withstand that same force. Meaning that either the force isn't too great, or there's some way around the problem. And that solution may just as easily be applied to the catapult, for it's the construction that allows humans to throw rocks the farthest. To assume it would be anything else, say a really big person, would only be a more farfetched alternative to a fortified catapult. Therefore, we may assume it's catapults until we find proof of it being anything else."

Sir Isaac smiles and continues wandering while trying to find any sign of life or unlife. But the fallen civilisation was devoid of either, with the exception of their little group. There were some insects here and there, but even rats and birds seemed to have left this place. Sir Isaac could understand why, if they too were troubled by the ringing. It wasn't just always there, it was also getting worse over time. His forever jolly mood was dampening, the ringing causing him to get more and more vexed about this whole operation and the complete lack of anything to fight. The unbleached twin seemed to feel the same, he wasn't feeling too well. But, he didn't think that their group had any individual who'd shed blood over some discomfort and annoyance, so it was all good.

"It's getting louder…" "Do you think we're close?" "I don't know. But something big is here. I can't sense anything else on the island besides you, Sir Bartholomew, and it."

"You don't sense anything else, lad? With what kind of detection? And what kind of range?" Sir Isaac asks warily. Perhaps it was just something with a limited range that couldn't pick up soulless undead. But Cybil was sensing something, which could be real close depending on his range. "And when you say there's nothing else but us, does that include the ship crew? Or have we since put too much distance between ourselves and them?"

Sir Isaac looks around, seeing only the ruins of what were once simple houses and shops. The defensive value was negligible, especially in their current state. There was a much bigger and stronger building a few blocks back, but it was too fortified. Even if the liches that roam these parts disappeared, the traps and defensive mechanisms they probably riddled this city with would remain. No, picking out the best defendable building was a bad idea around these parts.

"If we need to find some place to camp until nightfall, I'd suggest we pick up the pace and reach the city walls. If this city was once like any other human city, it will have towers and several rooms specifically made for soldiers to rest and stand vigilant. Even if the structure has since collapsed here and there, it would give us a significant advantage with minimal chances of running into traps." Sir Isaac says, looking at the spire in the distance. "Not to mention, it will give us one direction into clear wilds and another into a city scape. We take the wilds if this creature is a stealthy one that takes advantage of this chaotic environment, and seek out the city if the creature is a raw force that requires us to hide."

Walking another block, Sir Isaac sees some movement at last. The zombie was clawing and moaning, completely unaware of them. A lot of rubble was piled up on his legs, including a large support beam that pinned him down. The bloody marks and swipes on the ground before him and the boney remnants of his fingers made it clear that this zombie had been trying to crawl his way out from under the rubble for a long time now, without avail.

Sir Isaac studies the zombie and takes out his sword. He pokes the zombie in the head, and it looks over. The ravenous eyes of the undead meet his, and the zombie snarls. Before it can even try to grab Sir Isaac however, its eyes glace over again and it continues trying to crawl towards the spire. Sir Isaac looks at the strange sight and sheathes his sword again.

"Well, that's something. I think we can make that support beam topple if we remove the stones there and there, thus freeing this zombie. From the looks of it, he'll lead us straight to whereever the other undead went. But, that's not just my decision to make. What do you young lads think? Do we want to set up camp and stake out the place for the new monster, or shall we follow this little critter?"

Author: Cyril, Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2018 6:45 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Cyril watched as his brother smiled and nodded, like he usually did when meeting people he didn't immediately get along with. The silver-haired boy didn't mind the man's quirks, and continued to listen as his brother handled the talking. This Mister Bartholomew was very friendly, unlike everybody else who wanted to come to the island. It was a good thing he was coming with them. So far the others were more interested in staying close to the coastline, so that meant the center was where they might find clues. Being a folklorist he was mentally combing through memories of creatures and tales to find something that would match what they read from the bounty posters. In the end, they would have to do a stakeout to catch a glimpse of their target. When the knight mentioned catapults, he was surprised. "You really think catapults threw the rocks at us sir? They must be very big ones to do that! But even then, catapults can't throw something like that too far. It'd be too heavy, right?" 

The only catapults he knew that might be strong enough to do so were the ones his mother made; at least that's what he thought. Throwing something so big–like a wagon–would make a wooden machine break. They started their trek inward, surveying the ruins of a once grand civilization. He took in the sights of the architecture, the remaining artwork, and the way the abandoned city was laid out. Most of the artifacts were long gone, leaving him little to analyze. Cyril wondered what kind of place Tyr was before it all fell. He noticed his brother wasn't feeling too well despite trying to keep a smile on his face. He could tell if Bel wasn't well; they were twins after all. The place did feel truly deserted as they saw no signs of the rumored undead. While most were happy they weren't present, his mind had one question. Where could they have gone? 

"It's getting louder…" He said, noting the ringing increasing its volume and intensity. Staring towards the direction of the great spire, his gaze was fixated. "Do you think we're close?" His older brother asked. "I don't know. But something big is here. I can't sense anything else on the island besides you, Sir Bartholomew, and it." Where was it? Turning away, he began poking his head into one of the ruined hovels. "We should be fine out here. It probably won't show up until nighttime." His twin grimaced at the thought, not too keen on the idea of going out at that hour. "Oh, great…"

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2018 3:30 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"Cyril and Belen!" Sir Isaac repeats after the boy, leaving his voice trail of for a moment to give either boy the chance to give their last name as well. But they didn't, and it didn't matter. The chances that he would know it were slim, for there was no chance of such boys who had to go on such perilous adventures at their young age would be of noble descend. Sir Isaac's heart bled for their financial strife, which forced them into such a dangerous profession at their age. "How quaint to make your acquaintance, and I hope that we will all make it through this ordeal healthy and well. I certainly will try to keep you lads safe, don't you worry."

Sir Isaac throws the two boys a wink with his irresistible charm, one which always calmed the people down and replaced their fear with hope and laughter. Well, smiles and snickering usually, but that was also a positive effect. He looks at the light-haired silent one of the twins for a moment, just in case he wants to say something too, and then looks up at the mainland.

"Very well! That makes sense, I suppose. Our quarry shall appear some time at night, therefore we should try to find this other threat that attacked the ship prior to nightfall. And as you can see, our honourable compatriots in arms have already volunteered to scout the two sides of the coast line. In consideration for you two, I suppose, as the ones who manned the catapults and attacked the ships are bound to be somewhere near the water. Yes, while they bravely take the more dangerous routes, it will certainly be safer for our party venturing inland!"

Sir Isaac confidently begins walking forwards, towards the spire of the island and the many shadowed ruins of the long since abandoned city before them. They need not worry, for the undead had apparently all left for the centre of the island. And even if there were a few stragglers left, he was certain that he could keep the boys safe from harm.

Once he was sure that neither lad could see his face however, Sir Isaac turns serious. The undead didn't worry him, he could smite those. The rumours he had heard however, those were more troublesome. Rumours spoke of the guild masters of Railoch and the city lords of Komiteia preparing for a full-fledged invasion of Tyr, both planning to take full advantage from this sudden disappearance of the regular undead. Both planning to quickly set up a landing site on the shores and fortify their positions, before the undead would once again come for them in endless hordes. And if the island was truly this deserted, both sides would only have the other to fight.

Sir Isaac glances at the two boys. They weren't halflings, surely. But were they perhaps working for either side? If so, the other side might attempt to deal with these scouts before they could report back. And even if they weren't, those assassins might try to kill them all just to be safe. Either side could've been a fellow passenger of their ship, or perhaps they were already on the island. And as much as one should fear the undead, Sir Isaac feared the relentless cruelty and dishonourable tactics of a patriotic rogue more.

But, those were nothing but baseless rumours. Perhaps it was mere conjecture, or a trick of either nation to coax the other to invade Tyr and solve that necrotic problem for them. Yes, that was always an option too. The chance that this island was about to become the battlefield of a new war, a price domain that they would shed much blood over, was but a small one. Sir Isaac shouldn't be so pessimistic, not in such already grim times.

Sir Isaac looks around, seeing nothing yet but having a strange sensation of something watching them. Just his nerves, perhaps. And the ringing didn't help either.

Author: Belen, Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2018 2:45 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"Man am I happy to be on solid ground again." Stretching his arms behind his back, Belen was feeling less nauseous now that they were off the ship. Unfortunately that was replaced by a worse headache than when they were at sea. As soon as they got off, it decided to up the ante and move from ringing to persistent buzzing. He and his brother were taking their sweet time regaining their footing while everybody else was busy to find the source of the rumors and get this over with. He couldn't blame them–anything that gave you migraines through being in its proximity was a real pain in the neck. While keeping an eye on his twin, one of the people first off the ship came up to them. Oh yeah, he remembered this guy. In the first leg of the trip he was pretty chatty, trying to strike up conversation with just about anybody. He had full armor, so he probably was a knight or something. He piped down once the seasickness hit, like it did for most people. 

Nudging his brother to pay attention, the metal-clad dandy marched up to them with gusto. Boy, this guy sure was something else. Right off the bat he unloaded a full speech as an introduction, and when he started giving his name Belen only caught the first five things in the chain of words. As this very verbosely wordy man kept talking, he raised his eyebrows and nodded understandingly–while trying to catch up with what was being thrown at him. Sweet stars, that was a lot of words to keep up with. "Perhaps you've heard of me, the mighty Moustache Knight?"The man asked, curling his finger around the edge of his aforementioned mustache. As Belen opened his mouth to answer, the man thrust his hand towards them as if asking for a handshake. "Sure…yeah. Nice meeting you too, Sir Knight Bartholomew." There was no way he was going to list the rest of that jumble of words.

Taking the man's hand, he pointed at himself and his twin. "He's Cyril, I'm Belen. We're twins, if that isn't obvious already." Looking at them side-by-side, they were in fact identical, save for their hair and eye color. "My brother doesn't talk much." Cyril waved smiling. "Anyway, we should probably start looking around. I don't think I'd want to be on the island when night falls. Everybody else's working on finding the thing that tried to sink us earlier, or treasure. There's rumors of some giant that appears after dark from what the bounty posters said."

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2018 2:08 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Suddenly the ship started rocking violently! And so did Sir Isaac's stomach. He immediately buckles over while his sight is nearly taken from him by black spots. He can only barely grab on to the railing of the ship with one arm, leaning heavily against it to prevent being tossed off the ship. Lots of salt water erupt very near him, completely drenching Sir Isaac. Unable to straighten himself with his stomach in a knot like this, Sir Isaac just keeps holding on to the railing for dear life while keeled over and trying to keep himself from losing his senses.

A large explosion broke apart the sky above him, for reasons completely unknown to Sir Isaac. Had it happened in in the three or four planks that were underneath his feet, then he could've told you in great detail what just happened. But something that required looking up? Not right now. Little pebbles of stone fall from the sky and plink! plink! plink! on Sir Isaac's armour without leaving any damage. He was sure there was a good explanation for that, but it was of lesser concern right now.

Nothing happened for the next few minutes, and Sir Isaac's sea sickness slowly subsides to its regular degree of awfulness. As he looks up, he sees the people walk around a bit more anxiously but not too angry or afraid. It didn't seem like anyone was lost to the sea or got killed in another fashion. Good. If there were none injured or otherwise harmed, Sir Isaac could focus on their nigh arrival to the haunted island of Tyr.

Finally, they arrived and anchored. The captain seemed wary and annoyed that anyone would come near this damned place, and looked at all the mercenaries and adventurers with a sour expression. "Well, here we are. I still think ye folks are bloomin' mad askin' me to sail out ta' place like this, but-"

It might be very unbecoming and perhaps even downright rude, but Sir Isaac doesn't wait for the captain to finish his speech and jumps off the ship. Falling to his knees, he kisses the sweet sweet stability of solid ground. Finally, the rocking and bobbing had stopped!

Letting his stomach recover for a while, Sir Isaac sits on the docks while the rest of the people slowly gather their stuff and debark. As he was carrying everything he needed and was already in gear, Sir Isaac required to do no such thing. Once all the non-crew left the ship, he gets up and approaches the nearest group.

"We are at Tyr at last! Now, let us go out and find this fiendish foe that threatens the ships that sail near this already damnable island! No need to worry, for I, Sir Isaac Bar- Oh, you have no need of my assistance? Well, I understand that knowing and trusting each other is important for a group, but I am a palad- Of course, that's completely reasonable. No, that's okay. You just… And you're already walking away."

"Rejoice, good man! For I, Sir Isaac Bartholo-" Sir Isaac says with a big confident smile as he turns to the second group of mercenaries. His words fade away into a whisper though, flat-out ignored by the gruff mercenaries that rudely turn around and walk away without even acknowledging Sir Isaac's presence. Just like the first group of mercenaries they walk down the shore, probably with the intend to circle around the island. A sound strategy, to keep the sea at your backs so that you only had to watch for enemies from one side. These brave non-descript men were certainly not so out of their league that they'd quickly die off-screen, not with such sharp wits.

With the first two groups departing though, Sir Isaac is standing there by his lonesome. Looking around, he sees the third and final group descend from the ship. Aha, now it made sense! Certainly they knew that Sir Isaac was a reliable and responsible paladin, so it was only natural that he would be pared with the young lads. Of course, how silly of him to not realise that sooner! He'd keep them save, so that the other two groups didn't have to worry with heavy hearts about these underaged boys and their well-being.

Confidently, Sir Isaac strides towards the two boys and twirls his moustache around his finger. "Greetings! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and I hope that we shall get to know each other better in the adventure to come! My name is Sir Knight Isaac Bartholomew Casnothal the Second of house Casnothal, but you may call me Sir Isaac. Perhaps you've heard of me, the mighty Moustache Knight? Anywho, enough about me. Who are you two?" Sir Isaac smiles and extends his armoured glove out to the pair for a handshake.

Author: Cyril, Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2018 12:15 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

[OOC: I'm going to be alternating with these two from now on! Hope you don't mind.]

Suddenly the ship started rocking violently! The force of the sudden swinging from side to side was enough to shake Cyril awake. The crew was shouting, holding onto whatever they could as the ship veered sharply, narrowly missing a direct hit from something. A large spray of salt water splashed onto the deck, and he rubbed his eyes to see the water's surface fall. "All hands on deck! Keep yourselves secured, we're about to make landfall!" The gloomy island was clear ahead, and more shouts rang out in panic as another incoming projectile was headed their way. A large rock the size of a wagon was hurtling through the sky. One hit from that, and the ship could go under. "Cyril–barrier, now!" His brother shouted. At once he scrambled to his feet and focused his power to form a protective barrier over as much of the ship as possible.

His brother then quickly cast a spell, a glyph appearing in the air before the incoming chunk of stone. A powerful blast shook the skies as it was blown apart, raining down smaller harmless fragments onto the ship. His brother slumped against a wall with a heavy sigh of relief. "Where did that come from?" He asked. Belen shrugged. "I dunno. But I'm pretty sure it didn't just happen to fly in our direction. Did you see the size of that thing?!" Concerned Cyril leaned on the wall next to his twin. "Do you think we should go back?" His brother thought for a bit, then shook his head. "…Nah. We already came all this way. It'd be a real let-down to turn around and sail back without checking the place out."

"Yeah, I guess." He replied, staring out at the patch of land steadily growing larger in their sights. "Did you have a good nap?" His brother elbowed him, with a smirk. Cyril looked back in surprise. "How'd you know?" Bel ruffled his hair grinning, "When I called you didn't say anything, you goofball. Well at least you woke up in time for our arrival. We're going to need to stay on our toes from now on." After a little chit chat, Belen went to climb up the crow's nest to get a better vantage point on any more flying debris that wanted to sink their ship. Before leaving he told him to use a barrier again as soon as he gave the signal. Now by himself, Cyril wandered around the deck to see if anything was happening. There was this sort of annoying buzzing sound in his ears that he didn't remember having before, and tried cleaning his ears. On his self-tour of the ship, he noticed everybody was suffering a bad headache. 

Maybe it was the air here? But there wasn't any stench or swamp smell that normally accompanied malignant air. There was a strong sense of magic hanging around the island that was spreading out into the surrounding ocean, something that he hadn't felt before. Rolling up his sleeve, he saw goosebumps on his forearm. It probably wasn't anything peaceful, judging by its effects on everyone. With great difficulty, the shoreline of Tyr came into view. There was an old dock that might have seen ships from around the world in the distant past, but now left as a solemn greeting to people like them. The barrage of rubble stopped once they were within a few meters of anchoring, which seemed to be good.  He waited patiently for his brother to descend the main mast as the sailors began preparing to anchor.

"Well, here we are. I still think ye folks are bloomin' mad askin' me to sail out ta' place like this, but I'll keep the Waveskimmer docked 'til ye get back from gallivantin' on this piece of gods-forsaken dirt." The captain spat into the sea, grumbling before walking away.

Author: Sir Isaac, Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2018 4:55 AM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

Sir Isaac grunts. Being on a boat already rendered him sea sick, so the additional ringing in his ears only made things worse. And that was saying something, considering just how sea sick he was.

But, Sir Isaac had a mission, and he intended to see it through. The posters said there were monsters afoot, foul ones that had to be vanquished. There had been monsters sightings all over the continent, apparently, but Sir Isaac had chosen Tyr. The island was already haunted by the undead, and the new threat was probably also undead. His cup of tea. He hadn't done a thorough search of the others on the ship yet, but he was pretty sure that he was the only paladin around. None other than him was wearing armour as shiny, certainly.

Sir Isaac proudly twirls his moustache while looking around the ship at the other passengers. Then the ship rocks on the waves and his stomach churns again, forcing Sir Isaac to immediately keel over.

The ship nurse, a lovely lady in her mid-twenties and a pure-blooded human of these eastern isles, quickly approaches Sir Isaac with another cup of water with some herbs inside them. Sir Isaac accepts them and drinks the whole cup in one go, knowing how it had helped him for a while the last few times.

"You should not keep armour on, Isaac-sama. Weight moves you around more, makes waves worse on your health." She says in her broken Adelunian, with the same concerned yet strict tone she had taken with him ever since he got on the ship. "Take off, put back on once at Tyr. You not worry, yokai hate salt. Will not swim through sea or stand close to shore. You safe, unless they throw rocks. Then armour won't help anyway. You sink like rock, you drown like rock."

Sir Isaac nods to her, thankful but not inclined to comply with her request. The nurse smiles at him in a conflicted way, clearly wanting to lecture him more until he does as she says and stops torturing himself, but at the same time opposed to telling a warrior above her standing what to do. It was a noble intend that she had, she clearly hated the sight of anyone suffering for any reason. But, none could solve all the problems in the world. She just glances down and walks away, making rounds to check up on all the other passengers and the sailors.

Both the nurse and Sir Isaac look up alarmed when a somewhat worried voice suddenly rises. Sir Isaac smiles when he sees that the worried lad finds out that his brother didn't react because he had fallen asleep. If only that were an option for him as well, Sir Isaac would've gladly slept though the sea sickness and the damned ringing. The nurse stands still and fidgets with her fingers, not sure whether she should approach the two boys or leave them be. The decision is made for her when another passenger beckons her, demanding a fix for the ringing. She could only nod and bring some aspirin bark solution in water, which barely helped against the supernatural ringing.

Sir Isaac looks at the island in the distance. They were getting closer, and would soon be upon the island of the dead. The ringing would only get worse, but at least the sea sickness would fade.

Author: Belen, Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 10:48 PM, Post Subject: Bring Out Your Dead [O][Event]

"Ugh…my head." Word down the grapevine said there were monsters running amok on the continent. Normally he'd ask his mom since she'd be the first to know, but she had suddenly disappeared. His brother said she was ok, she told him so. Cyril said something about talking with her in his sleep, which didn't make a lot of sense. He could be right, though. His twin was a little out there, but lying wasn't something he was good at. And he should know, being the de facto expert in misdirection out of the two of them. The atmosphere was giving him the creeps long before the island was in sight. Somewhere along the line, the sky was turning a nauseous shade of green. "We're sailing in the right direction alright–my head is killing me!" That ringing in his ears was annoying at first, and he tried plugging them with cotton. It didn't work, and he tried all sorts of things to make it stop. But as they drew closer, it only grew persistently worse. 

The tall spire signifying the isle appeared through the sickly fog, and it was dusky here despite having departed well before noon. Just thinking about where they were going gave him goosebumps. Not that he'd admit it while his brother was within earshot. Everybody else wasn't feeling their best either thanks to their newly acquired headaches. Keeping quiet was a way to prevent tempers from flaring and having a fallout before they made landfall. Leaning on the railing, Belen turned to look at his younger twin Cyril who had his back against the main mast. For some reason, he looked perfectly fine. His face didn't look any different from usual, no squinting, no stiffness, no signs of pain. How? There he was, sitting calmly on the floor staring straight ahead. 

Tiptoeing over, the brunet whispered to him. "Hey…Cyril." No response. "Cyril! Oy!" He waved a hand in front of his brother's face, and nothing happened. Leaning closer, Bel noticed he was breathing rather slowly. "Huh. I can't believe it–my little brother fell asleep with his eyes open." No wonder he wasn't reacting to the ringing everybody was suffering from.