Duty Session 136: Undead Defense Force

    Wisteria has heard of the undead army that's been assaulting towns and people. She's put out a party request to meet up at a gates to the town to defend the place through a night. The tall albino onna-bugeisha stands outside the gates to wait for the party to gather up.

Who's afraid of the undead?

Not Kotono, the acrobatic ninja with her twin knives and a lot of courage and spirit to her. She's one of the first to show up and has an eager look on her face that seems to say that she's here to take on those undead monsters without looking back!

    Merek is wearing the light black armor which he keeps with him, taking the time to find a place to settle in, sword as well as shield upon the back. He's waiting to assist in the plans to defend all of the village from the undead, while he nods a bit to the party.

    "I'm here now."
    She certainly wasn't there a second ago. But Akatsuki is here, just as she said; breaking from stealth to appear crouched in a kneel by the entrance of the town where the group is meeting.

    Miyako was at the local tavern, playing and singing, when the call for adventurers went around. "Well, friends, looks like it's off to the mines. Time to earn my keep." She slips her guitar back into inventory and heads off to join the forming party. "What's all this about undead, hm? They getting antsy?"

Where the bunneisha is, it's little surprise that the high kicking Salamander isn't far behind. However Vertina isn't up and about this time. She's sitting off to the side, typical lotus position you see in every kung-fu movie ever, meditating on the fierce venture that lies ahead of them. "Give them time, Wisteria, they will come. This threat is bigger than any one of the Alliances."

Technically people are already showing up as she says that, but she's not spoiling the moment or breaking her sequence until she's finished.

    Setsuna approaches the gathering spot casually as he looks at the motly crew. He hadn't expected another undead quest to pop up so soon, maybe it was a theme going on or maybe there were always this many undead quests and he never took notice before. As he casually looks among the group he comments, " I guess we are the night shifft?"

    Mizuki's here too, the cat ninja waiting as Wisteria's headrest and looking... solemn as she thinks of what happened to the last town they tried to save. ...She can't stay gloomy, though, that's not going to help them succeed, is it? She turns around and hugs Wisteria, takes a big breath, and then turns around to face the gathering party with a smile. "Okay everyone! We're protecting this town from a horde of undead! We can't necessarily count on the NPCs to help; We need to build fortifications and then fight off waves of undead! Have we got people with construction skills and AoE attacks? We're also gonna need a LOT of sustain, healing and regen are critical to keep us in the fight! Every time someone has to fall back to drink healing potions, the undead advance further!"

    And oh hey, it's her fellow ninjas! She waves, "Hey, long time no see!"

With the right skills and the right speed, you can achieve just about anything.

There's a need for defensive materials, and fortunately, Kotono's on the job. She looks around and finds some usable materials. There's quite a few of them, but she can't bring it all at once. Fortunately, her speed makes up for this as she goes back and forth bringing the materials that are needed for this situation!

    Setsuna nods his head as Mizuki explains what needs to happen and looks around as they all begin to split up to start to try to get everything they need together. He finds himself wandering from shop to shop trying to convince them to loan some stuff. "Look I need your stuff, I know you don't want to give it up but..." Taking a deep breath Setsuna looks at the shop NPC, " Well look the shop next door said they would do it and I don'want them taking all the credit, and being the shop that helped save the town. Oh you wil? Great." He gives the npc the location to drop the items and moves next door to repeat the same thing over and over. Maybe not everyone was willing to help, but more hits then misses.

    Wisteria squeezes Mizukichi. "We're gonna kick butt, take names, and hopefully keep these people safe. Lets do this thing okay?" if it sounds like a sports pep talk, that's what she's use to. "Lets see about getting these defenses built up, we can dig into our wallets, or get out there and dig up supplies." she says with a wide smile.

"Glad for everyone that showed up when they did. Time is not something we have much of," Vertina says as she gets up from her meditative posture with a backroll onto her feet like it was a casual thing. "So tick tick, lets make the best of what we do still have!" She turns and jogs back into the villiage, and returns several minutes later with various tools and such in her arms. "The people are terrified to come out, but they're at least willing to share some resources to their defense."

    "Hello." It's a simple greeting back at Mizuki, before Akatsuki is right down to business.
    "I'll scout around the village and see what I can find."
    Just like that she's-- gone.
    It's a little bit before she returns.
    "I found a good supply of wood that can be used to shore up the defenses not too far from the village."

    Miyako smiles lightly as she returns from the fields, laden with a shoulder-load of lumber. "Got about a dozen more of these in inventory," she announces. She flashes a little grin to Akatsuki, nodding, and drops off the load at the edge of the village. "Show me where that is? I'll help carry it back."

    "Do zombies even have names...?" Mizuki wonders aloud but quietly. And then she's off, looking for treasure chests and resource nodes to bring stuff back. Hopefully there's some healing potions somewhere? Maybe? Well, at least there are probably materials for the others to work with...

    Merek nods a bit while he makes a way to one of the nicer villagers, "I would like to make a deal with you," then he would lift up a bag of coin.

    The party brings in plenty of materials. Wisteria looks at the haul that they bring in. "There we go lots of stuff to build with. So lets get all this setup. Lets see if we can get the folks to help us protect themselves." she stands and brushes her hands off "Bribe them if you have to."

    "This way."
    Thusly showing Miyako where the wood can be found, Akatsuki attempts to help build some defenses!
    A hammer goes flying.
    A blushing ninja vanishes from sight.
    No one saw anything.

    Miyako looks at the pile of supplies she and Akatsuki bring back, then over at the waiting villagers. "Come on, lads, this is for your homes, here. Just a few hours' work is all we'll need, and it's all to keep your families and children safe. Are you with us?"

    Setsuna looks at the haul and then comes the realization that someone had to build it. He never really was one for the hands on approach back to the shops he goes. "So look, the shop next door is offering people to help build up defenses. I just don't want you to be outshined so I thought you should have the same opportunity. " He smiles as he leaves with two conscripted builders, and the persuasive negotiation continues down the shop chain.

Someone else is trying to convince the citizen Landers to come help, so Vertina just sets about some actual work. Maybe seeing others trying will help inspire the locals, or something. At least she's gotten some experience with construction with all the work on her to-be tavern... but it's still basic manual labor like carrying things or simple stuff like pounding in nails. With her fists. Someone is going to need to give her a bit of direction for it to be more than just slapdashed together barricades and such.

    Merek tries to assist in the building, although he doesn't manage to do a lot, while he nods a little bit to people in thought.

Kotono's warm smile and positive appearance seems to have a good effect on the townspeople. She's able to convince them to help out after all. "Always look on the bright side of things," She says as she shows her happiness at this whole thing.

    Mizuki takes her scavenged wood and helps Vertina! unfortunately, she also doesn't really know how to build things. "If we were building computers I'd be set... THERE's a skill that's never gonna be useful in here..."

    Wisteria tries to join in on the construction, but magical pillars of stone aren't really intended for long term use, just short bursts of damage, defense, or mobility. It doesn't look like Kendoka get taught basic construction techniques and the tall albino girl is driven nearly to cursing as bulwarks and other defenses simply refuse to come together and stay that way. In the end, the party has managed some pretty halfassed protections but at least it's something to fight behind and from.

    As the night draws on and everyone get's ready it's time to wait for the horde to come if it will come... The fog starts to drift in, the unnatural feeling of the night becomes opressive and the villagers all flee into their homes. Doors lock and the albino girl climbs up on one of her crumbly rock 'walls' "Alright, lets try getting some light, wana make sure we can see the zombies coming right?" she grins, it isn't a dungeon but she's never lead a town defense before she hopes she's doing it right.

Vertina does her best to put together barricades and other obstructions with some constructive critism (haha) from the local Landers... until said Landers are no longer giving said cristism. That's when she looks up to notice they're gone, having fled back to their homes from the eerie fog that is starting to creep around the edges of the villiage area as it got late. The salamander shrugs as she gets to her feet, and cricks her neck to one side. "Okay, yeah, probably best they do get out of our way now."

Vertina lives up to her draconian spitfire nature by doing just that -- spitting fire. She spews several shimmering bolts of flame out into the darkened fog to help provide some illumination for when the attack wave finally comes.

    The defenses... Well they could be better, but Akatsuki isn't going to say anything as long as no one comments on her hammer incident.
    The ninja lights a torch and sticks it into the ground. She vanishes. Re-appearing a short distance away, she lights another torch and sticks it into the ground, repeating the process for a small perimeter of light before she moves to rejoin the others.

    Merek looks along and into the night, while he takes a moment to lift up a hand to send a flame to assist with the lightning. Then he nods a bit to the party. "Alright, no telling when the enemy will be coming, we should be prepared for it," he would note.

    When Mizuki hears Kotono say 'always look on the bright side of things', she starts humming the song from Life of Brian as she works... But soon dusk approaches, and... yeah, this isn't happening. Damn, this isn't a good start...

    But darkness and fog? THIS is a problem she could be prepared for! She pulls a bunch of torches out of her bag, breathes fire on them, and hurls them out over what is to become the battlefield, providing a number of light sources. "Ha! No gloom of night will stay THESE adventurers in their duty!"

    Setsuna takes a deep breath as the fog rolls in. " Here we go. " Taking a deep breath Setsuna takes a torch and whispers a small spell as the torch burst into flame. With a flick of the wrist he tosses the lit torch into a trench creating a wall of flames.

    Miyako stands on the palisade they'd built behind the wall, looking out at the fog closing in. "Well that's going to make things interesting," she mutters, and starts sketching runes on the air.

    "Man fears the darkness, and so she scrapes away at the edges of it with fire. Or lights up THE ENTIRE EFFING SKY!"

    Her runes /explode/ into light, spreading along the wall and shining out at the grounds beyond.

The liht shall always light the way... or something like that.

Kotono uses her magic to keep things lit up and things a bit brighter than usual. "There's nothing to worry about with Kotono here!" She cheers.

    The albino girl works on lighting things up, setting little ghost lights on her 'wall' she just can't seem to get them bright enough to do anything, either the fog is dampening them, the darkness is some kind of magic she isn't countering... or she's got the dimmer turned way down and can't find the switch. Either way the girl is near onto swearing again as the fog rolls in further.

    "I'll try to scout things out. Let's keep an eye out! Don't let your guard down!" she says loudly into the foggy night.

Something's coming.

"Gotta stay alert," Kotono says as she gets into her fighting stance. Her daggers are gripped tightly and she narrows her eyes, glancing from side to side occasionally. "I dunno what it is, but I'm ready!"

    Miyako sits perched at the edge of the wall, where she'd cast her light from, looking out into the dimming day as the fog rolls in. She keeps a close eye on things, referencing frequently the sketch she has started to make, marking out landmarks and points that an attacker could take cover. Too soon, she stretches and yawns, setting the map aside for a moment while she draws a wineskin and a snack from her inventory.

    Merek looks to the fog, well he knows a lot about that, all the same he wasn't doing that well when it came to setting up the defense. All the same, he will give it his all as well while he watches.

    The fog seems encompass the fire that Setsuna started gaining the eerie orange glow surrounding Setsuna as he can't help but loses himself in the fog. He isn't even sure if he is still facing forward. Taking a deep breath Setsuna says to anyone near him. " Don't suppose anyone can see anyone or anything, besides just sea of endless fog? "

    Akatsuki emerges once again out of stealth, kneeling up high in a tree branch, dark eyes squinting through the fog.
    Whatever comes, she's hopefully ready for it.

    Unnoticed as she enjoys her snack, Miyako's map floats away on a vagrant breeze, never to be seen again.

So much for actually providing some light. The unnatural fog eventually just swallows it all up and snuffs out the flames.

Vertina snorts out a growl and hops over the barricade she was standing ready at. She clenches her fists... but its the stomping of one of her strong legs into the ground that creates and audible crunch as she actually imbeds her foot a bit into the soil. That's only matched by the raise in her voice. "Com'n you rot brained maggot mulch dirt lickers! If you're trying to psych us out with your stank fog and unending darkness, you're wasting whatever afterlife you have!"

She pulls her foot free, and part of the rocky soil with it, which she kicks out into the fog. "We ain't moving until you come out of that rank cloud and FIGHT US LIKE PROPER MONSTERS!"

When in doubt, posturing and trash talk works right?

    And... they wait.

    And wait.

    And wait.

    "I think I see something!" Mizuki throws a coin into the fog, and... it doesn't sound like it hit anything.

    Wisteria, shifts, long white ears, perky fluff tail, big broad feet, SHARP SHARP Teeth. The tall albino bun girl leaps into the air and then she's bouncing from air rune to air rune in a thunderous rush. Paushing here and there with her survey telescope to check the state of the walls the adventuring team has haphazardly built. It's some time with minor thunder claps and pauses before she shouts down. "INCOMING! And they look slavering!" She drops back down a cascade of air runes before landing back on her 'wall'. "Let's Show Them What Odyssian's Can Do!" Sure there's lots of people here, and Odyssian's aren't even the majority but they are like half the party.

    Merek lifts up the sword from the back, his shield as well, then places both of his hands upon them. He then points forward with Shadow Eclipse, "You will no longer take the Landers! Take this back to your decrepit Queen! Let her know, we Adventurers march!" Then he begins to charge into the enemies while he swings about with the sword. A whirlwind of the flame generally begins coming from that weapon, "RAGNARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!"
    He swings along into them like a berserker, his weapon dancing with him, "A Queen that can only take out her anger on the innocent, knights that would kill innocents, know that I have sworn a mightier oath to the blade, beyond what any of your own can claim! The chains of steel can't hold the holy storm!!!" he then begins to sweep about into the undead upon the way.

    Setsuna sees the forces of the undead come through the fog and waits for a moment letting those who are more combat oriented take the lead. He takes a moment and waits and then smiles. Speaking outloud his words carry magic into the air, " Rise from the ashes, gather your dust. Your duty is not done yet, slay those who you once ran with. " His spell reaching out to the bones of the fallen undead and stand up behind their comrades. They are just about to flank the undead, before more undead come behind them and trample them. To be fair, it could have gone much worse as well.

"Let's do this!" Kotono yells as she rushes in, intent on demonstrating her ninja skills...

Only to trip and fall. She's lucky to back off just in time to avoid getting badly injured. "Oh no! Why did this have to happen?"

    Descending from her tree perch, Akatsuki's kodachi flashes in her hand as she draws it from the sheath. Dashing onto the battlefield as the undead come, blade lashing out in debilitating strikes as she darts from ghoul to ghoul, dealing out punishing slashes and cuts without so much as a word.

    Mizuki's coin disappears into the fog. And then...

    They charge.

    Will it be any different from last time? Mizuki can only hope. She was careful not to use too much MP on lighting the torches, meaning she's still pretty much full. She can only hope it's enough.

    As the hordes rush in, Mizuki rushes... THROUGH them, dodging zombies' attacks to try and reach the back line. So that when she reaches the skeleton archers, she can

                                    FIREBALL                                    
                                                                                
                                ALWAYS FIREBALL                                
                                                                                
                                     JUST FIREBALL                                
                                                                                
    ...She can only hope that this gives the others the reprieve needed to fight  
               the ghouls without constantly retreating to heal!                

Looks like Vertina was right on calling out that psych tactic. Because here comes the enemy in droves of hideous ghouls with skeletal archers providing support fire. "That's more like it. Almost started to think you'd be late for your own second funerals!" The Salamander makes a few quick handsign gestures as she mantras "SONIC CYCLONE STYLE" and her entire form seems to blur and vibrate a bit and she bolts from her position with such force it leaves a swirl of dust in her wake!

Moving at such blinding speed she easily dodges her way through a slew of arrow fire and slams one of her clawed knuckle guards into a charging ghoul. Smashed out of the charge it tumbles backwards, but doesn't even completely fall to the ground before Vertina grabs onto it's leg, and spins around several times with her speed boost to sweep away several others with the flailing body to try and open a path for others to get to the bone slingers.

    Alerted by the shouts, Miyako leaps to her feet and looks out over the grounds before the wall. "Well, ****," she says as she examines the oncoming creatures. "Right then, buggers, time to die." She starts drawing up runes, then pauses. "Die? Re-die?" She shrugs and starts again, a large rune-construct forming under her hands as she prepares her spell.

    "Okay you little creeps. Here comes the sun!"

    And with that, the spell activates, beams of light lashing out from the wall below her and splitting in three whenever they strike one of the creatures. They do not do enough damage to destroy the monsters, but weaken them more than enough that the closer fighters can slaughter them easily.

    Merek would nod a bit when all was finished, looking to the field as well as to the villagers when all was won. He thinks about it a moment, "I'm not going to call them Landers anymore, I will call them people," he notes. Because he's tired of that whole difference. He then will thank all of them for assistance, and make a way on to pick up things from the field.

    Slinging her naginata over her shoulders and hanging her arms over its haft, Miyako sighs softly as she looks over the battlefield. At least the villagers were all saved. That's good.

    She looks over at Merek and smiles, nodding. "That's what they are, alright. People. Who deserve our friendship."

    As the battle ends and Setsuna looks around he breathes a sigh of release, "It would appear we won the night." Turning back he sees the villagers bow and show their gratitude and can't help but smile as he bows back. "Thank you for all your assistance." Turning to his fellow adventurers he adds to them , " I appreciate being allowed to help out. Thank you all very much. " Setsuna would of course stick around to help pilfer the battlefield of at least a trophy of this victory.

    Wisteria draws runes in the air, the earth magic and dark magic coiling about her. "LETS DO THIS THING!" She stomps one foot and raises her hands "Thorn Bind Hostage!"

    Thorny vines errupt from the ground snagging the front row of zombies. She jumps down from the wall and charges in with a primal scream... the cry of the caerbannog. Her sword slashing and dark magics roiling to destroy the undead that face her pittful excuse for a 'wall' of magical stone and earth. The battle rages and by the time the dawn comes the Adventurers stand against the rising sun and the undead do not. The Landers village is safe for another day and the horde is short that many more cold rotting bodies.

    After that risky move, Mizuki finds herself scrambling to evade the remaining skeletal archers while fighting them. It's frantic, and she doesn't have time to pay attention to what's going on in the larger battle...

    But eventually it becomes clear that there are few foes left. After she mops up the back line, she returns to the front line to see how the others fared. Well, she can see noone DIED thanks to the party HUD, but, y'know, see how they're doing and all.

    She smiles and finally relaxes a bit as she sees the others. "We did it. We actually did it!" She hugs Wis tight. "I wasn't sure we coul-- I mean, um, of course we could!" She holds out a thumbs-up. "Good job everyone!"

    She greets the Elder with a smile. "All in a day's work! We're glad we could help!"

    More quietly, she adds, "Although, you might want to put up at least some wooden walls and guard towers, as long as this crisis continues. Just in case."

"Whooo! Take that you walking body bags. Your reboot has been cancelled!" Vertina then bounds over to grab both Wisteria and Mizuki into a big hug. "We did it girls! We saved them!... With everyone else's help too, of course. And looks at this." She steps on a chunk of discarded armor with her foot to flip it up. "We threw them a going away present and they left us gifts."

    Miyako stretches again and smiles, sliding her naginata back into inventory and walking about the village to greet the locals as they emerge from their homes. "All good, folks, it's all over." She smiles and pats the head of a little girl, then moves on to the tavern to look into breakfast. Which she quite deliberately overpays for. Folks deserve a little happiness.

    Wisteria hugs her smol friend. "I'm glad we were able to, it's good to know that the horde can be stopped even if it's just one little village at a time." she grins, showing all those pointy razor teeth. She finds Vertina and gives her a high five. "Good work." she says brightly "Good to see we have a reward." she laughs warmly.