Duty Session 218: Clearing Castle Eas

    The sun is working its way down the horizon, and with the mountains to the west, a twilight shade cloaks the recently-completed outpost. It is there, at the great wooden gate, that Baroness Wake wait, her eyes turned upwards, peering where Eas lies, out of sight for now, but never far from her mind.

    About her, the bustle in the outpost continues. Construction materials are gathered, catalogued, and the last workers turn in for the evening. The landers who reside here will not be out at night this near the orc nests. Activity has died-down considerably, but it seems the remnants have not yet been swept away.

Yeowang has accepted this request for adventurers. She needs the experience, she's still very new to the adventuring thing, and her vast stores of RL training and experience aren't worth much here. Which she finds frustrating. So she's basically retraining herself, and so she's here, with quite a serious look on her face, standing by quietly, but entirely ready. No weapons, though she holds herself in a way that suggests she doesn't need them.

    It is there, at the great wooden gate, that Yuuki too waits...

    Well... Rests might be more appropriate. Draped over a large sword-shaped body pillow, Yuuki takes this opportunity waiting for the others to arrive to get in some shuteye. Very important since they're going to be storming the castle again. She's going to need all the energy she can get!

    Akatsuki is here.
    One moment she was not. The next moment, she breaks stealth, and she is. Resting in a crouch with her hand on one knee, the ninja assassin is stone silent for a beat, regarding nap-time Yuuki.
    "..."
    Does she dare disturb her? Does she leave her be? It's a beat before she makes her decision, quietly clearing her throat with a pointed 'Ahem...' to try and waken the slumbering sword monster.

    By this point in their relationship, Wake has seen pretty much every behavior Yuuki has, all exhibited in that trademark Yuuki way. The Baroness muses aloud, "I'm trying to recall, Yuuki, if you ever napped through an entire raid.. but as I recall, against the Great Cyclops you woke up after you got hit by its AoE and then proceeded to lead in damage and steal the killing blow."

    Wake turns her attention to other matters and regards Akatsuki and Yeowang with the slightly hint of a smile. "I'm delighted that you are both able to join us tonight." She slides into a curtsey and bows her head, "I welcome you to Eas. It's not yet much to look at, perhaps, but if you can see even a bit of the heart of those who have worked here, it does not look so unlovely."

    Miyako has never been to Castle Eas before, but she has met the Baroness a time or two. Noting the posting of a request for aid, and having been passing through the region while investigating something else, she decided to drop by for a visit, at least.

    "Good day, neighbor," she offers as she joins the group, the familiar guitar slung over her back. "I heard somebody was looking for Useful Idiots to help clear some rodents out of their henhouse?"

    "Miyako, dear. It's a pleasure to have you along for the trip. And you are certainly no idiot in my eyes, but I would be most pleased to have your help in clearing the rats from my home."

tHaving done this more than once, Wake leads the way. She'll assume that Yuuki wakes up. After all, she's not one to miss a chance at converting monsters to xp. The initial trek goes from the gate up into a recently repaired road through the foothills and into the mountains. Wake slips into stealth at a final turn. To the left, the party is screened by a thin row of evergreens and just past this is the bridge.

    It is held by an orc party. They have to be given credit for sheer determination, to be certain! They are working on burning and destroying the bridge. At this point, it's all they can to protect the monster nests beyond.

    "They never give up," Wake whispers.

Yeowang nods her head to Baroness Wake and says, "I'm glad to be able to help." She peers at the situation says, "I'll take the orcs." And take them she does. It seems she's quite used to complicated multi-combatant situations, and she smoothly plays one off another, bouncing between individual fights, punching and kicking the orcs quite savagely until they give up their pixels and evaporate.

    "I am certain it will be a fine castle, once the monsters have been cleared out." Akatsuki says matter of factly in regards to the place not being much to look at. But that's why she's here right now, isn't it?
    To help kill some monsters.
    So when the party approaches the bridge and finds a squad of orcs trying to dismantle it, the assassin vanishes from sight...
    Only to re-appear, hanging from the bridge side, shimmying hand over hand closer to the orcs, completely unnoticed.
    Only to lunge upward and grab an orc-- and fling him down off the bridge to the water below, before she's among them, blade flashing as she draws it and starts cutting more orcs down.

    'Ahem...'

    Yuuki jumps to her feet, sword drawn! She looks around blearily for a moment, before realizing where she is and relaxing. She blinks a little at the assassin, before saying, "Oh hey... Akatsuki, right? Is it-" Yawn, "-time to go?"

    Yuuki sheathes her sword, leaning over to pick up her sword pillow and stuff it back into her inventory. During which she replies to Wake, "I was a little overleveled for that raid. If I recall correctly I was helping out a newbish Assassin get her first legendary weapon!"

    Miyako and Yeowang get waves. She doesn't recognize the latter. But that's okay. All are welcome to kill orcs!

    Speaking of which, it's time to get moving!

    Up the hill they go. Along the way, Yuuki puts a finger to her temple, "I'm having a prediction! When we get to the bridge, the orcs will be trying to destroy it."

    A few minutes later, "The prophecy has come true!" Ahh, repeatable quests. Never change.

    The others have the orcs handled, so Yuuki goes about trying to fix the bridge. She managed to do this last time, surely she'll succeed this time!

    "OW!"

    Yuuki mutters quietly to herself after slamming a hammer down on her thumb. The digit glows red from damage.

    Miyako smiles casually as she walks on with the group. "Oh, clearing monsters out improves any area," she assures the ninja. She smiles lightly and waves back to Yuuki. "Hey, it's the potato imp! Maybe I'll play some music once we make camp," she suggests, then pauses as the group stops just before the bridge.

    "Orcs, huh? I hate those guys." She considers. Maybe she could conjure up a wave and wash them away. Without hurting the bridge any more than needful. It wouldn't be hard... She starts to inscribe her runes in the air, preparing the spell, and the wave starts to rise... water tumbling along the river towards the bridge... then she starts humming the song that's been stuck in her head, muttering something about a drunken donkey, and the whole thing falls apart.

    Good luck the ninja is already on the case.

    One would think that by this point the orc raiding parties would expect to fail. It's one of the oddities of monsters, though. They clearly do not pass their experiences on to the next group. Perhaps this is a game limitation, or a desire to always make the experience consistent for adventurers. Or.. maybe.. just maybe.. it has to do with all the orcs dying every time.

    Whatever the case may be, the orc force is completely shocked as one of their number apparently decides now is the time to go bungee jumping. Without any equipment. And then suddenly Yeongwan and Akatsuki are among them. It's not pretty for the orcs, but it is incredibly effective. In fact, it's so much so that the only orc who noticed Miyako's attack prove ineffective only has time to raise it's weapon before it falls flat on its face.

    The Baroness observes the fight for a while, commenting to Yuuki, "You know, I think you are at your best when you are hurting things other than yourself." She quietly does the work needed to fix up the bridge, drawing upon magic to do so in a way that is not her trademark, but nonetheless ensures the bridge doesn't collapse.

    With the bridge successfully passed, the group continues on into the High Pass. The road to get there is in remarkable condition, but it's clear that at least some recent work has been done in several sections. The regular push of adventuring parties through here makes it hard for even the determined orcs to keep the pressure on. Raiding against well armed and fired-up adventurers has proven painful for the monsters and leaves them on the brink of being overcome.

    For all that, the ruins of the old gate and the avalanche that occured there back when the first party visited have yet to be cleared. The party has a choice. To work through that warren of stone and metal or to find the secret passage.

Yeowang follows the group up the mountain, and then we find the wreckage that conceals our path forward. Detailed the task of searching the ground for clues, she finds a few telling marks and indicators, which she shares, that lead us into the direction we need to go. "Here and here," she explains, and then will follow where those clues lead us.

    With the orcs handled, Akatsuki sheathes her blade. Casual as can be. Moving on.
    Taking to a knee once again, she runs her fingers over the ground... And follows a set of old footprints for some distance.
    "This way."

    Miyako nods. "Mmm, well," she muses. "Probably some sort of secret mechanism, right?" She pauses a moment, thinking it over, then flips a pair of goggles out of inventory and slides them on. "Let me take a look."

    She squats next to the supposed entryway for a long moment, drawing a few runes in the dust here and there....

    ... and then stands, leaving a red mark around a tiny hole in the stone. "Okay, we need a lockpick or something. Ms Ninja? You're up."

    Yuuki is shaking her thumb at the mild pain as she responds to Wake, "Hey. I've never put 'good at building things' on my resume!" Pause, "Or rather, I wouldn't, if I had one." Yuuki drops the hammer and continues on now that the bridge is safe, "Now, 'good at destroying things'... Although on a resume, I'm not sure many people hiring would appreciate that. In fact, of the numerous things I can do..." She wonders how many would apply to a real world job.

    Not that she's ever going to have to find out.

    As they come to the blocked path ahead, Yuuki looks. She recalls that path leading one way. And then the secret passage leading another. Though finding the latter can be difficult, even for repeated trips through. Still, Yuuki prefers the secret passage way so is always willing to try and search for it. Especially since she HAS the Searching skill!

    So Yuuki does just that, using her Search ability to help further identify the direction for the path forward after Yeowang's discovery, "More over here too!"

    Finding a secret entrance that you've visited three times should be easy. Yet it always seems tricky. Wake has found it in a variety of ways (and simply didn't bother trying once). This time, she stands back and lets Yeowang narrow things down first. It's appreciated, really, to have skilled companions. Wake takes considerable pleasure in the fact that she's regularly surrounded by the very best the server has to offer.

    Wake, for the most part, allows the party to provide most of the guidance, here, too. Yuuki picks things up from Yeowang's start, guiding the group closer still to the entrance. It's hardly a moment later that Akatsuki's discovery guides them to a rather unremarkable bit of smooth cliff wall. Miyako's magic then reveals the key hidden there. It is there that Wake steps forward and reaches into that keyhole with magic to unlock the passage.

    The gate opens smoothly as ever.

    "I must admit, I'm so happy to have something that I don't need to fix," Wake says, sighing quietly as she steps inside.

    She looks ahead with a focused expression. It seems the game always subtly changes certain things. Or perhaps Wake is just so lousy at picking up codes that the symboles placed in the mines make no sense to her at all.

    It is a rather boggling maze, though. Still, for all that, magic of light, darkness, and the reading of lost symbols of a bygone age are all means to cut through this maze.

    "It's such a pleasure to be working with so many remarkable people. Of all the things that this Castle may one day produce, it is the relationships that I hope will prove the most valuable of all." The Baroness turns to look over at Yuuki, "Not to get all mushy, but I'm very pleased you are with me on this dream quest. I'm certain you'll find no shortage of opportunities to wield a blade instead of a hammer."

    Miyako pads along through the tunnels, pausing every now and then to yank out her sketchbook and copy down something she sees on the walls. "Look!" she calls, excitedly. "This here, it's just like one I saw at Zantabraxus' Hall!" -- an obscure dungeon in another region of Yamato. "We need to go /this/ way," she decides, and points down one side of the intersection. "Come on, this is great! I've got to see all of these!"

Yeowang smiles to Wake, and says, "You seem unusually thoughtful, among adventurers. Most of them are straightforard and direct, and that's not bad, but you seem quite intriguingly different. I'm quite glad to be working with you on this." For all her gracious words, though, she isn't able to do much with the Light magic, no matter how she tries. She'll have to trail along with others who've found the right way.

    Into the secret passage!
    "Looks like we didn't need my lockpicks after all." The Assassin remarks to Miyako as the group progresses, she keeps her eyes peeled for the various markings on the walls to help guide the way along, tapping into the dark energies present to help discern a path.

    Teamwork!

    The secret passage is discovered, the group beginning to move into it.

    And despite her words, Wake does indeed get mushy. Yuuki laughs, rubbing the back of her neck, "I'm just happy to help out! Plus, I figure I'll get my fair share of use out of the castle too." Yuuki still hasn't thought about finding a more permanent place to crash despite how long it's been.

    Soon enough the passage gets dark and maze like. Yuuki's been through this way before, though doesn't particularly remember how. It doesn't help that she got turned around a lot the last time too. If it hadn't been for Prophylaxis...

    "Oh! I heard that if you close your eyes, your other senses go into hyper mode to take over. Maybe that'll help navigate!" Maybe that's a bad idea.

    But Yuuki tries it anyway! Closing her eyes, she begins to walk blindly ahead. Her pointed ears twitch every now and then. There are several close calls where she almost walks into a wall or low ceiling, but she somehow manages to turn at the last moment.

    The Baroness smiles at Miyako's excitement. "I'm delighted that you able to make sense of it all. Perhaps when this place is tamed I might trouble you for some help creating a guide that the workers could use. If the city is to live again, her people must be able to find worthy work and healthy profit for their efforts."

    Wake simply calls upon light to drive back the darkness, which is an odd change, perhaps, considering that the legends she has left in her path have been all about working in shadows. But she worked alone then, as well. Much has changed for the better.

    "I appreciate the compliment," Wake says to Yeowang. "I suppose I am changing. This is no longer an adventure to me. It's not an escape. It is home, and my heart has found what it always craved here." She says nothing about the issues Yeowang has with light magic. She's seen enough of the woman's skill to not care in the least about such a trifling failure.

    Steering the group further, Akatsuki's discoveries uncover a much-appreciated shortcut that cuts off at least ten minutes of winding pathways.

    There's something about Yuuki that makes all efforts less troubling. Even in the stifling shadows that push in all around on the little bubble of light that the party works in, there is laughter. At least Wake is laughing. "I'm not sure how you did that, but I definitely want to see you do that again on the way out."

    Eventually, these combined events pay off and the group makes it through. It takes some time, though, even with the expert guidance. The mines are far from a small set of tunnels, and there's no shortage of ways to make wrong turns.

    The door on the far side opens out onto a pathway that skirts the falls, providing a breathtaking view of the Castle. Ruins or not, the place has a beauty that has lived on, and the Dome of Stars and the numerous pinnacles of the castle stand yet. Even the green of the gardens has managed to withstand the abuses of the orcs.

    The party finds its next challenge only after Wake has had a chance to enjoy the beauty of a sunset over the roaring falls. What the group finds after is a gate held in force against them. There's a lot of orcs waiting on top of the fortification, and the portcullis is down. Someone is going to have to raise it again. That someone is going to probably need to be shielded so that they don't get turned into a pincushion in the process.

Yeowang smiles to Wake, and nods about it not being an adventure. "Life rarely is," she observes. But none the less, she's led an adventurous life, and she moves like a martial artist even as she throws ranged ... chi attacks, it seems like, though the portcullis, sniping the enemy as we take out the gate's guards and force access.

    Miyako smiles brightly as the group continues through the secret tunnels, copying down runes onto a map and exclaiming whenever she finds one she's seen before. " - and this one I saw in the Unholy Fane of Doctor Compoculus! Eee, that was a dungeon! Won't be going back there 'till I hit level 50 at least!"

    She flashes Wake a grin. "Sure, I'd be glad to help out. Any chance we could sneak in a trade deal for Shibuya while we're at it?" She waggles her eyebrows at the Baroness, trying (perhaps less than successfully) to appear more sophisticated and diplomatic than she might actually be.

    There is, however, the ongoing Orcish Question. "Oh come /on/," she snaps, ducking aside from a crossbow bolt. "This is getting old reeeeeal quick." A few runes inscribed on the air, and a shimmering wall appears, shaped and molded to look like translucent stone, to interpose between the party and the goblins. "There. Look all you want, bozos, but don't touch!"

    It's a lovely view.
    Too bad it's interrupted by a hail of arrows from orcs up on top of the ramparts.
    Akatsuku taps her fingertips to the center of her palm, shurikens appearing from nowhere suddenly in her grasp.
    This is when arrows and crossbow bolts are met and replied viciously in kind as Akatsuki hurls a machinegun barrage of shuriken and kunai up at the greenskins with murderous intent.

    Yuuki opens her eyes again on the other side of the maze, "Piece of cake!" Yeah, she's not sure how she did that one either. On the bright side, they are treated to the great view of Castle Eas. Yuuki has to admit that Wake chose well in her quest to uncover a long lost castle. And on the even brighter side, there are more orcs to kill!

    But first, Yuuki has to be able to get to them. Last time she went up and over the wall. But there were more people in that party which made the tactic more viable. Here, she should probably stick with the group. But that portcullis open. Yuuki's not strong enough to lift it... But maybe-

    Yuuki walks up to the portcullis, giving a nod to Miyako in thanks for the shield. Yuuki slowly draws her sword...

    'But Yuuki', you might be thinking. 'This is a fortification object with 9999 HP and enough defense to only take 1 damage per hit! You'll be here for days!'

    In the face of that doubt, Yuuki only takes in a deep breath. Her sword begins to glow with light. But it's not the ordinary glow of an ordinary skill. No, this is something special.

    Yuuki scrapes her foot back along the ground as she sweeps the glowing blade out to her side. There's a sudden blur of movement! Accompanied by a flash of light!

    Yuuki stops. Sheathing her sword with her back to the portcullis. A triumphant grin on her face.

    The enemy's first shot earns a side step from Wake, the next volley, far better aimed, sends deadly darts raining towards her and the others. Where the lot of them fall uselessly to the ground, blocked utterly by Miyako's shield. One of these falls in front of Wake, who catches it and eyes the barbed tip with narrowed eyes.

    Something about it sparks a part of the Baroness that is rarely seen. She is.. angry. She flicks the bolt into the air, and crosses her arms in front of her. Just as the deadly dart falls she flicks both hands forward and it rockets off towards the orc who fired it, punching through his left shoulder. With another gesture Wake grabs the deadly missile and with a measure of exertion and focus turns her hands clockwise. Like a puppet on no strings, the dart follows her motions, and when Wake casts her arms wide, it rockets forth, punching through three the bodies of three more orcs.

    Things go worse for the orcs than just a single dart could manage though. The have Akatsuki to deal with, and in a very short time a score of the enemies simply have to decide to stop firing at all or to be slain. At least half of them give in to the temptation to fire and burst into pixels as whistling shuriken cut them down.

    "Well, I have been working with Merek's trade company to start to establish the basics. We're not on the current trade routes, but will be once things are settled a bit. I have a village to rebuild, people to settle, crafts to teach. I hope I can manage to address some potential tariff challenges before it becomes clear how lucrative the duties could become."

    It's about that time the Yuuki steps forward. Wake falls silent, tilting her head and studying her friend closely. Wake finds herself whispering softly, "She makes me laugh and smile in ways others cannot, but Yuuki has these moments that are truly legendary. I have seen enough of them to know when one is about to occur.. this is one such moment."

    The portcullis makes a sound when it is hit that is hard to describe. It's reminiscent of a massive freight train slamming down its brakes. The steel SCREAMS and white hot sparks fly. The entire structure trembles for a moment as a web of cracks go through the metal as if it were shattering glass. Finally, it bursts apart, not just where Yuuki struck it, but everywhere, simultaneously. There is no portcullis left.

    The Baroness stands there, taking in the moment with a small smile. She steps forward along the path, looking over at Yuuki and joking, "I hope you prove better at fixing defenses than bridges. That looked expensive!"

    The path from the gate is not short, but it's hardly difficult to guess the direction. The vast blue dome is definitely the key building, and that is where the group goes. The orcs, or what is left of them, do not hinder the adventurers on the path.

    No matter how many times Wake has been in the Dome of Stars, it always hits her. She's perhaps the only adventurer here who saw it in its splendor, back in the days of Elder Tale's offline game. It was not a common destination and took a ton of work with no loot rewards to speak of. The view was enough of a draw for Wake. She knows the boss is coming, she just doesn't care. She looks skyward, admiring the constellations that glow along the surface of the domes up until the very last moment, when the nearly-giant-sized orc boss leaps forward, swinging his sword with enough force to flatten an elephant.

Yeowang follows Wake and the others to the Dome of Stars, admiring the architecture even as the giant orc boss approaches. When it gets closer, she used one of the skills she doesn't have in real life, a heavy debuff that freezes the target for a few moments. She then darts in close, while it's frozen, and delivers a roundhouse kick to the frozen area. The icy surface shatters, and the drop in the orc's HP is substantial.

She continues to fight on after that, punches, kicks, sweeps, her heavy kicks and blazing fast punches whittling away at the monster's health bar as the party dogpiles the lone orc boss. She's entirely calm and confident as she delivers her share of the beatdown, never pausing, letting up, or letting her guard down. She dodges the few attacks sent her way fairly easily.

    Pause.

    "Arrrrrgh, I didn't think of that!" Legendary image broken.

    Yuuki quickly spins around, hands on her head in shock as she realizes she just destroyed the entire portcullis. She looks at Wake, "It'll respawn before the castle is turned over, right?" She looks at Yeowang, "Right?" Then at Miyako and Akatsuki, "Right!?"

    Yuuki drops to her knees for a moment...

    She then stands up once more, "Well, that settles it. I'll just have to get a better one made! I mean, it was destroyed so easily. Clearly we want something more substantial. Like, maybe something made out of Dragonsteel." Yuuki quickly starts walking forward, "See? It's a good thing I revealed how weak it actually was. Ehehehehe..." Yuuki turns her focus to killing off the remaining orc archers in order to move past this moment.

    Finally they come to the end boss of this quest. Between this one and the twins, Yuuki thinks she likes this guy better. And it's not just because he's bigger and has a massive sword... Okay, maybe that is the only reason. Whatever!

    But seeing Wake distracted by the admittedly distracting beauty of this location, Yuuki quickly rushes in to the defense of her friend, "Think again!"

    CLANG!

    The sound echoes off the domed structure as Yuuki deflects the large orc's strike with her much smaller but-no-less-dangerous sword. She then charges in with a cry, her blade glowing though less impressively than before. She swings it towards the orc's chest for a heavy blow!

    "Good to hear," Miyako comments. "Merek's the man to talk to, for that kind of thing." She smiles as she watches Yuuki do her thing. "Oooh, nice. Very nice. I wonder if she's looking for a job?"

    She shrugs and follows on with the group into the castle, looking about wide-eyed and smiling, making occasional notes in her little notebook.

    "It /should," she assures Yuuki. "If you really really want to try it again. Maybe you can try to solo the whole thing?"

    A few minutes later she's looking up at the Dome of Stars, and at the giant orc that inhabits the chamber. "Welp. That's gonna be fun." She shrugs and stands by the entrance, sketching in her notebook, copying down the arrangement of the starry sky depicted above.

    When the orc screams out and swings its weapon, she doesn't even bother to look up. Runes rise from her notebook and take flight, arranging themselves in her familiar glowing line, as though she'd been writing them down all the whole time in preparation for that moment. "There we go," she adds.

                FROST SHOCK!

    And the bolt of freezing energy zooms from her hand to smash into the monstrous creature. "Go 'way, ugly, you smell. I'm trying to take notes here."

    Annnnnnnd...
    he portcullis certainly is no longer an issue.
    Akatsuki puts on her surprised face as Yuuki goes over the top.
    Her expression doesn't change by a single iota.
    But she's surprised. She's very surprised. She just... Doesn't emote very well.
    "I do not know if objects such as gates and doors respawn. Only monsters." Akatsuki heartlessly replies to Yuuki, in the aftermath.
    Nevertheless she keeps her eyes peeled for any further attacks from above as the group presses on into the domed chamber, where the biggest and the baddest orc boy is waiting for them. Tumbling aside to avoid the blow that comes down, she touches her fingertips to the center of her palm again, hurling more shuriken and whittling down the boss' HP in tandem with the others until she makes a vaulting high leaping somersault.
    A katana appears in her hand. It most certainly was not there before, as she grips it reverse-handed and comes down on the big orc...

    "ASSASSINATE!"

    And delivers her trademark strongest attack that she has, with full lethal intent behind her blow.

    Baroness Wake really dislikes orcs. They ruin everything. She can't even imagine how hard she will have to scrub to get the smell out. She wonders if the monster nest being emptied will take that smell away? It is to be hoped. Cleansing agents are expensive!

    She should really stay more focused, though. Every time she goes through here she tends to take a lot of damage. This time around, though, Yuuki saves her! It's not the first time. Nor even the tenth. Wake's always been more focused on killing in a single hit than getting into protracted battle.

    Thwarted, the boss is positively irate, having wasted its special attack on that parried blow. But it's wrath is forestalled by a burst of magic from Yeowang. And then it's not just pummelled by the woman, but it takes a nasty strike right in the chest. While armor protects it from some of the damage, its a bad start.

    The boss turns away from the clearly dangerous members of the party to attack Miyako. It makes it half way there before the frost shock strikes it. The beast lets out a roar of frustration, its attack falling uselessly short as it is hurled backwards.

    The boss is not a joke, though. It gets back to attacking with amazing speed. The sword swings like a sledgehammer downwards, only to again meet nothing but air at Akatsuki leaps to the side, out of its reach. Before the monster can turn its wrath on the assassin again, it is struck by a flurry of blows from all sides. It's something of an oddity just how many shuriken it's ugly face can hold. Under this all out assault from all sides, its hp dwindles swiftly.

    Protected from the deadly opening attack, Wake largely stays out of trouble. Her magical counter attack misses the mark and she takes a glancing blow as payment for her efforts.

    A moment later, the boss passes the cooldown and chargess up another of those horrible attacks. For some reason it is focused on Wake. Perhaps she seems the most vulnerable. Regardless, the orc should have been more worried about the others, who have brought it to death's door. Just as the attack activates Akatsuki's strike strikes true. A swirl of pixels bursts forth. The boss is dead.

    Yuuki relaxes after the boss explodes into pixels. She sheathes her sword and then wipes her arm over her forehead, "Phew, another victory! Soon we'll have this place cleaned and ready to go!" Yuuki spins around to give Wake a grin and thumbs up.

    Yuuki then turns to the rest of the group, giving them a thumbs up too, "Good work, everyone! That was a lot of fun. Excellent ice magic, Miyako! That finishing move was awesome, Akatsuki! Those are some impressive moves... Uhhhh..." Yeowang is already gone.

    Yuuki looks around for a moment, before scratching her head and asking, "Did anyone catch her name?" Oh well. Next time!

    Miyako makes several more notations, nodding, occasionally glancing up at the ceiling, while the ninja-girl finishes off the orc. Then she looks down and back over at Yuuki. "Thanks, Yuuki. You did pretty well yourself, from what I saw." She was totally not even looking, focusing in on her notebook and sketches.

    Wake sighs gently. Though it's not long, she takes in the view in a slow turn. Her eyes eventually settle on a dais, where a worn stone seat lies. She hesitates for the space of a few heartbeats, and then turns away.

    "Thank you all for your help," she ways warmly. "Sadly, we must go. It feels different, but I would not risk staying here too long. I will scout this way later to see if we've managed it."

    There's a distant rumble of thunder, and as the group steps outside once more, the deepening twilight is illuminated by flashes of lightning. "It seems at least one orc still draws breath," mutters Wake. She directs her attention to the west, where, at the terminus of a long stone bridge that reaches out over the falls, the greatest tower of Eas stands. In its pinnacle are flashes of green and red light.

    Wake leads the group swiftly away, not wishing to wait for the storm to overcome them. "The time for that one will come. But not this night."