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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 21, 2018 6:18:14 GMT -8
/The Boardwalk/
With the ex-Lord waiting to strike, he would find himself suddenly taken by the waist by a wave of water; stealing him away into the waters before he could make a sound.
Avoiding this fate, however, Tilly managed to trounce forward with a familiar struggle towards the writhing mass of blue tubes. Closer now, she might notice their writhing was in fear and distraction, rather than some malign uninterpretable fear.
Though an uncomfortable and alien urge boiled in her blood : to consume this creature. A focusing trance pulsed just behind her ears, beating in her heart;
SLAY IT. SLAY IT. SLAY IT.
It whispered, it beat and urged.
Roderick's Blade might seem to glimmer and bleed an otherworldly red as it rose up in Tilly's hands; her veins constricting and glowing for a brief moment, as though the light of the dawn was hidden just beneath her mortal shell.
When it swung down, a bleeding arc of energy seemed to tear through the very fabricks of reality; cleaving through the Tall Blue Figure like a boat through water.
The droning immediately ceased, and the waves suddenly swept away from the shallow water:
Lekalis would suddenly erupt from the water some ten meters out, up to his waist in water.
Courcy too, would be sprung free from her watery coil. The corpse of the Fishman latched onto her slipping away harmlessly from her arms, leaving a sticky pale residue on her forearms where his scales had brushed against her flesh.
The three other bodies of the other Fishmen bloomed up in shallow water; The one Lekalis and Tilly had punctured scratched at its wounds, trying to close them before it bled out for a second time.
However, the one Lekalis had initially skewered through the head was standing with malice in the water; missing an eye, it set its sights on The Ex-Lord.
Meanwhile the one The Squire had booted was already racing towards Courcy; some 30 feet from her, he'd barely make it into striking range. However, he seemed to brace for an attack; his hands raised up and his shiny scales glimmering in the growing dusk.
Courcy was relatively free; her Halberd still in her grip, while the Fishman's spear lay in the water, floating beside her. She was waist-deep in water, and about 30 feet from Tilly and the Tall figure, on the opposite side of the Boardwalk to Lekalis who was roughly 50 feet away from her.
The Tall Figure, however; while the wound had sundered its seemingly otherworldly vessels and sent it hissing and popping back 5 feet, it was still alive. It was roughed up, but there was plenty fight left in it.
From Tilly's experience, the way the creature now wriggled back, struggling to move away; this was a fragile casting host of a creature. Handling arcane grimoires like the one Jacques once held and what once housed Solly, gave her a unique insight on the aura exuded by this Tall Figure;
Destroying the writhing tendrils would be relatively easy, but without proper ritual and insight, slaying this beast permanently would prove elusive.
But, perhaps more importantly, the creature had reared back and closed its parka of plunder; revealing a bristling and pocked hide of barnacles on the other side of it.
Hundreds of tiny boney spines suddenly shot out from these barnacles, threatening to stab into Tilly with spontaneous force...
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/Lekalis/
The wild rough and tumble of being momentarily submerged, then emerged in nigh the same breath had him gasping and blinking in a bouncing fret; indeed, he wondered if he was still on the same plane of existence for a moment as he wiped his hair away from his eyes and rubbed the salty wetness from them.
"TILLY?!"
He called out hopelessly as he spied a familiar hat squaring off against the Tall Figure.
Lekalis made to slosh his way over before he spied a familiar and daunting creature. It was something he could tangibly fight, at the least, so he braced his spear and made to charge as best he could through the water, aiming his spear at the center of the creature in the same fashion as he'd slain the last.
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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 21, 2018 7:16:58 GMT -8
Tilly hardly registered the series of events, Lekalis being swept off-- they were so close to shore, the end was near.
She made to sidestep away from the barnacles, turning her body so that, with her side closest to the monster, it had a smaller area to hit.
Tilly would make to step behind the Figure, slashing her sword in the same spot she had previously. She wanted it to die-- or at least become more manageably dismembered.
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Post by black379 on Mar 21, 2018 7:45:49 GMT -8
Courcy gasped again, a painful rasping breath, as the violent waves receded. She was still regaining her composure and sense of direction, but mercifully the charging fish beast was distant enough to act. Quickly grabbing the last pelagic's spear, she hunkered down and pointed its tip, as well as the sharp end of her own halberd, at the enemy. She braced for it to impale itself on her weapons.
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 21, 2018 8:34:19 GMT -8
/The Boardwalk/
Lekalis' charge was a bit slowed by the waves; rather making an aggressive jog as he made to stab the Fishman in the chest. Thankfully his stab at the end managed to catch the Fishman offguard somehow and the spearpoint plunged deep into the belly of the beast with a soft squelching noise. It gave a gasp and seemed bloodied from the forray, but still standing strong.
Tilly, however, in a much more nimble dance; she skirted around the sudden explosion of spines, a few managed to smash against her chest and pierce her coat, though it was all superficial as most were too fragile to penetrate the scale-mail chestpiece nor snag her coat for any measurable duration. The Moth-dust cloak seemed to finally shake free some usable amount of sleeping dust, white flakes drifting behind her like a phantom of winter.
Instead, she was positioned precisely where she needed to be.
With neither the skill to utilize the blade, let alone experience, the Longsword moved with implacable grace and fluidity despite it all.
Gentle, boney hands seemed to impress themselves over her own in her minds eye, she could feel the sensation but she failed to truly see it. Its liquid sensation seeming to meld over her hands as it guided the sword in an upward swing; cleaving into the blue meat with less ease, it seemed the initial magical strike had worn off some, but the damage still showed.
With a flicker of red lightning, arcane power danced over the blade like a conduit and into the Monster before she pulled the blade back. Tilly's heart raced, the world was sharper, clearer. And it wasn't merely because the foggy drone had waned.
For better or worse, she saw more of the world, to put it simply. Most dominantly, the creature before her.
There was something in its chest that was holding it together; she could see it pulsing through the meat, without directly seeing it. Its blue heart was panicking and waning. The Creature was cornered.
Courcy's battle, however, was proving just as bloody; the Fishman lurched forward, seeing her brace, and bravely took those weapons head on. At least, so it seemed.
As it suddenly dove towards the pelagic's spear, and reached out to grab Courcy's halberd with its hands in the pseudo-kamikaze tackle.
Lekalis' own Fishman growled in response to the fair blow; but now it rose its heavy arms upwards and slammed down onto the spear's shaft, meaning to break the head off of the weapon.
The Tall Figure, while reeling from the blows Tilly had struck, still stood boldly. Though its strength seemed rather plainly sapped; it spun with unnerving speed to face Tilly, its writhing mass of toothless mouths opening and closing, before suddenly surging forward; its cloak flourished open like a cage and made to pull the Ex-Graverobber into a writhing embrace.
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/Lekalis/
He spied the creatures movements with a growing fear. He knew he couldn't pass up the opportunity, but he was loathe to let his spear break yet again. Regardless, he made his last goodbyes with the fair spear and let go of it while lunging forward; his hands moving to unsheathe his falchion in a wicked draw cut from the Fishman's hip bone to his clavicle.
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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 21, 2018 8:48:04 GMT -8
Forward, now: she saw its vile heart and, as it stepped to her, she lunged for it. Just her and the beast-- she had to kill it.
Tilly poised the sword to pierce the heart, ducking low and forcing her weight into the steel to drive it into the center of the Figure.
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Post by black379 on Mar 21, 2018 12:37:06 GMT -8
Courcy made to jab at the beast as it jumped. It may have caught her halberd to avoid its spike, but the spear would still pierce the scaly hide. She kept hold of both weapons, so the fishfolk wouldn't have more to use against her. But she pushed back to drive the spear deeper.
This time though, as she remained in tight quarters, she was cautious not to be trapped in the creature's coral-claw grasp. If she had to, to avoid helplessness, Courcy would ditch the polearms if the enemy made to grab her.
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 21, 2018 14:35:26 GMT -8
/The Boardwalk/
Destroyed was the spear Lekalis left in the Fishman, his clublike fists snapping the wood like a twig. Yet the sacrifice was not in vain; as the Falchion struggled to cut into the scales, when it finally broke, the fishman opened and spilled its innards like a can of worms.
Tilly's strike, too, proved to be the ultimatum of her duel. With the tendrils slithering out and twisting around her arms as she lunged forward, the world became an undulating mass of deep blue and fleshy red. Magic pounded in her head as the grey fog vanished.
Pain poured out from ever pore beneath her skin as she pushed forward and the longsword seemed to find no purchase in its path. Indeed, it seemed like she'd missed her mark.
The writhing mass was constricting, drowning and burying her in darkness; the blooming heart she'd seen vanished from her sight as the world became Dark.
Waves rushed past her, bubbles racing over her face, catching on corals and seaweed and ruins. Winding through tunnels so quick it was like to cause whiplash, before suddenly stopping infront of an emblem. A familiar star-like design that had been clasped around Elaine's neck was carved roughly into the stoneworks of an underground labyrinth, an arrow pointed to the left. She went, and found another arrow, left again. Again and again, arrows directed her deeper down t'ill she came to a door made of red-white wood, overgrown with corals and weeds.
A skeleton gripped a flask of orange holy-oil, molded to the wall nearby in the corals.
Her sight pushed past the door and she faced a pulsating, rhythmic mass of tendrils that fanned out from a huge pearl that looked to have been cut from the clear blue sky itself.
Bubbles boiled over her vision, covering her sight in blistering white t'ill her vision faded to grey.
Shapes could be made out again; the distant shore infront of her, the longsword outstretched infront of her, impaling a sodden ball of blue flesh. Tendrils and weeds and nets were draped over her person.
Whatever had held the Tall Figure together had disipated with its death, and its construct now lay strewn about around Tilly in slimy gore.
Pain still pocked her skin, though the sensation was fading in light of renewed vigor. Words seemed to carve into the back of her mind, bleeding, refreshing:
"SLAY THEM ALL", it said,
"UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT"
Despite this sudden death, Courcy's Fishman still writhed and lurched forward in manic desperation; its skin had gone clammy, and it may have underestimated the damage its own spear could do, as it poked out the other side of its back, from its belly.
Still, it slowly began to bend the head of the halberd; pushing and pulling on the shaft just behind the head, threatening to break the weapon as it bled profusely from its gut.
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/Lekalis/
With a satisfied grunt, Lekalis shoved off the deceased Fishman and made to race over to Tilly and assist as she seemed all but consumed by the creature for a moment; only to slow and pause as the creature collapsed with a muffled pop, his Dearest standing still.
He gave himself a moment of respite and admiration to her victory, before the sounds of water sloshing and fishly gargling brought his attention to their Hellion comrade,
"COURCY!!" He called out, doubly to direct Tilly's attention as he waded through the water and dragged himself onto the Boardwalk, hastily scrambling over it and slipping into the waters on the other side.
Trying his best to close the distance between himself and the one they'd meant to free. The whole battle was pointless if they couldn't save her...
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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 21, 2018 15:26:20 GMT -8
Tilly breathed hard, drenched in the creature's gore. Her swords trembled out in front of her, and her legs shook like gelatin. Her eyes followed Lekalis vaguely as he made his way over to Courcy, but at first glance it didn't seem that she was in any dire trouble-- relatively speaking, of course.
She had to kill this monster.
Tilly gave the goop at her feet another good stab with the longsword before she more-or-less dropped to her knees, fumbling through her bag for the bottle of holy oil. She found it, grasping it by the neck of the bottle, uncorked it and poured it over the corpse of the monster.
Her other hand reached up to locate Beansprout, in her hat atop her head, to ensure that the Figure was dead and inert.
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Post by black379 on Mar 21, 2018 17:59:54 GMT -8
With some regret, Courcy let go of her halberd. Perhaps without any resistance, the creature wouldn't snap off its head. And even if it did try to turn it on her, it shouldn't be too effective in the close range.
Instead, with a forceful growl, she shifted all her weight to the spear. She leaned on it to one side of the creature, hoping to pry open the wound further, or even break the spear off inside it.
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 21, 2018 18:22:40 GMT -8
/The Boardwalk/
Lekalis, despite his rather frantic scrambling, managed to keep his footing for the most part; though he occasionally swept his foot into empty water as he waded towards Courcy, only managing to get within 10 feet of her and the Fishman with the extent of his movement.
Like a small fire, however, Tilly's haphazard ritual started with sparks as the oil touched the blue tendrilly flesh; the immediacy of it was enough for her to reflexively pull the bottle up and halt the pouring.
The oil that had spilled out onto the flesh burned brightly and quickly, leaving a crater down to the wooden boards before it was fully expent. However, the oil that remained in the bottle began to quickly turn a golden hue instead of its glowing orange.
Its radiance seemed to be dimming.
Beansprout flexed and paled a touch as it seemed to comprehend the situation; there was a worried sensation exuding from the dagger, before the familiar drain sapped out from her arms. Numbing her limbs for a moment, she'd feel a stinging sensation in her fingertips holding Beansprout; for a moment, they looked green, and budding with flowers.
Next she blinked, the vision was gone and she felt secured in the knowledge that this creature was effectively slain, for now. But it was an extension of something much larger.
Courcy's ongoing battle proved to be changing to her favor; having let go of the Halberd, it flicked uselessly and unbroken in the Fishman's hands. As she moved and shifted her weight into the spear, it tore open the wound wider, spilling more and more blood into the water around her. Effectively surrounded by the black inkish substance.
For better or worse, the spearhead did snap rather immediately after, as the Fishman gave a grunt and flexed forward.
It turned now, sneering and baring its unstructured maw of teeth at her; growling as black blood dribbled out of its mouth and it lunged at her, aiming to tackle the Hellion into the water...
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/Lekalis/
With as much effort as he could surmount, he surged forward; his boots heavy with water, he felt like he might get there too late. But, as his efforts would have it, he found himself within charging distance of the creature.
Bellowing with more gusto than his speed might entail, he raised his Falchion up and aimed to slice the creature's core open from its flank...
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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 21, 2018 18:58:04 GMT -8
Tilly hung her head low, breathing heavily as the weight of the fight's exertions finally pressed down on her; the adrenaline was waning.
No doubt, the red-curse assisted.
Her arms were so heavy. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched her two other compatriots slay the last fish. They had it handled, she figured; the creature was more than half-dead, with a spear in its belly, and outnumbered.
Even if they hadn't, she wasn't rightly sure if she could manage to stand up and swim her way over to them.
Doubled over, with shoulders slumped, she instead made to sluggishly scoop up what treasure she could immediately see around her and stuff it into her coat pockets.
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Post by black379 on Mar 21, 2018 19:10:05 GMT -8
Courcy had nearly exhausted herself quarreling with the pelagic beasts, but it was nearly finished. With a final burst of strength, as the creature lunged forward, she jabbed the broken remnant of the spear at its open maw. She didn't dodge, and the fish man would barrel into her, but at least it should swallow the shattered staff.
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Mar 21, 2018 19:20:33 GMT -8
/The Boardwalk/
Finally reaching the Fishman, Lekalis' lunge was a bit stretched, but he would manage to open a great gash into the creature's bared back, punishing it harshly though it still soldiered on with a determination like a storm.
Tilly's relaxation would net her a good fist-sized sapphire, along with fifty odd gold pieces; there were probably more gems and gold pieces to grab, but they were hidden beneath weeds and meat and netting and coral.
Back to the Fishman; Courcy's strike caught the creature off guard, its mouth the perfect diameter for the spearshaft to go in and through the creature's head. With a brutal sound of splintering wood, flesh, and bone, the spear shaft put an end to the Fishman's advance; finally slaying it by impaling it through its sagging head.
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/Lekalis/
Between heavy breaths, he coughed and spat out some exhaustion; setting his hands on his hips as he almost doubled over, happy to see the creature go lax at last, he rose a brow at Courcy, offering a cocky smirk before he looked over his shoulder to Tilly.
She looked alright, he supposed.
"You good?" He asked wryly, turning to face Courcy again as he picked up her halberd and offered it to the bloodied Courcy...
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Post by Vanitypirate on Mar 21, 2018 19:57:57 GMT -8
Tilly would have killed for a nap then-- though, she did already, technically, kill for one.
Ideally, she would've peeled herself off from that boardwalk and gotten onto solid land, but she was still catching her breath and trying to force more liveliness into her bones. Slouched forward, she seemed more like to fall over and lay down on the boardwalk itself.
Still, she continued to slowly pluck up the gems and coins around her, shifting debris, organic and man-made alike, out of the way to find more goodies buried beneath, stashing them in her pockets.
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Post by black379 on Mar 21, 2018 21:33:24 GMT -8
"Bitch! Fucker!" Courcy cursed as she delivered kicks to the slain fishman. It was dead, but she was hardly done vengefully brutalizing the thing. Once the corpse drifted and her kicking ceased to do any more than splash water, she doubled over herself, leaning on her knees.
With a drawn out sigh she looked up to Lekalis. There was a clear fire ignited in her eyes, granted it wasn't directed at him. Yet she looked weary too and barely managed a smile more like a grimace.
"Fucked me up..." The hellion conceded, extending an arm to retrieve her halberd from him. Her wrists and almost up to her biceps were well-mangled and bloody. She shakily took her weapon, promptly using it as a crutch before turning her gaze to the beach.
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