exsiliumlogs | [PLOT] That's no ordinary rabbit

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[PLOT] That's no ordinary rabbit

Date & Time: All day Friday, December 14th and onward.
Location: Initiate Hold
Characters: All
Summary: The plague has taken hold and there are rampant, angry undead critters running around! Better get rid of them quick, before you attract the Scourge Horde.
Warnings: Undead attacks, localized around cute woodland critters.

[The death tolls of all the woodland animals had come around the same time. Some lasted longer than others, but for the most part, it appeared that most of the sickly animals had passed sometime in the middle of the night. The next morning, transports would awaken to find their furry friends looking...well, less than furry. Their eyes glow a sickly yellow, patches of fur fall off their body, and they continuously cry for help.

Help from whom? You?

Or the group of rampaging ghouls charging toward you?]

[ooc: Original plot post is here!. If you would like me to NPC ghoul attacks in your thread, please mark your subject line with three asterisks. (***) Otherwise, feel free to do it amongst yourselves! Please note that I won't be able to NPC threads until tomorrow afternoon.]

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He watched with concern, prepared to step in if needed. Exhaustion could make the best fighter sloppy. They had been going at it pretty steadily for some time now with no signs of abatement of numbers. In that respect it reminded him of darkspawn, too.

He waited for her to draw near before leaving the alley with her and made a point of walking down the center of the road, away from the high rooflines. "Thankfully, yes. Spooked more than hurt. I'm shocked I had the wherewithal to drop my dagger. I could have just as easily stabbed myself in the head."

He paused and looked both ways up and down the street. "Do you have any ideas where they might go? I found Fiona between the clinic and the housing complex." It had been a calculated search. There were few times in his life that he regretted being right as much as that. One thing was clear. His habit of going off on his own as frequently as he did needed to change if it meant arriving too late.

"I don't understand how this is spreading from animals to people so quickly, or vice versa. The few of those animals I saw before simply...died off." People weren't eating them, obviously. She rubbed at her forehead briefly as they walked. Worse than darkspawn, she was almost certain of it.

"I don't, actually," she said, though her pace slowed as she looked around. "I came from the housing complex, myself, after I put Atticus under lock. I didn't want him biting anything and getting sick." Or worse, now that she had seen what could happen. "If Anders is all right, then he's probably keeping the clinic safe. I don't think they would go there." And none of them were congregating in the city itself, but they also weren't leaving into the wilds in the outskirts. "What about the Hold?"

"I don't, either. If it's demonic, it's not like any demon activity I've ever seen." He wasn't sure they could make the assumption that it was. Many things in this place were different from home. This could have had any number of causes that had nothing to do with possession. He hesitated, deciding that sharing this information was more important than clamming up about what happened. "Some of them have magic. They're not completely mindless."

He nodded, feeling a small stab of guilt that he hadn't spared a second thought to the mabari. He was too focused on the people he wanted to find. "I'm glad he's well, even if he may be petulant with you when all is said and done for being left out. The last I saw of the clinic they were holding their own."

He gave the suggestion some thought and nodded again. "It can't hurt to check. There may be others there who need help, too."

"No, it doesn't seem familiar enough to be demonic possession. That's one thing to be grateful for." But that left precious few options left to discern what was going on. "Atticus can be angry with me all he wishes. If it keeps him alive, that's all I care about." She couldn't lose anyone, not even her dog. She didn't know if the Initiative could bring him back in one piece.

"Anders is strong. He'll have Nate to back him up. That's all I can hope for." There would be no chance to contact them. She would have to believe they were all right.

Elissa's eyes flickered to Duncan briefly as they walked. "So it could be magic of a different sort, not necessarily demonic--" The comment struck her and she slowed, the gears turning. How would he know that? "...Duncan."

"I doubt he'd hold a grudge for long." He had always liked the dog, from the time he met them at her parents' home to their time on the road to Ostagar. Sensible beast.

He nodded. It had seemed to him that the clinic was well defended, one reason he hadn't returned there after his encounter with Fiona, that and he hadn't wanted to discuss it with anyone who knew her. So much for that plan.

"Yes. She was turned. I'm familiar with her combat casting. It was the same." It had also seemed that there was a level of awareness, but what would be the point in saying it? They couldn't afford to hesitate in their kills, awareness or no. He couldn't dwell, and he didn't want Elissa dwelling either.

The awareness, if it was there, had not afforded Fiona the ability to control it. If she had been trapped inside her body, forced to witness her actions, if all of these walking dead were, was it not a mercy to take them down? He became aware he had such a tight clench of his weapons his knuckles were aching. He shook out some of the tension with a hard shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh, my friend," she said, looking over at him. "You're no Fereldan. You don't know our hounds so well." But it was a jest clearly made in the face of grim circumstances as they walked, one she didn't linger on for very long. She couldn't even manage a smile.

Her steps slowed but did not stop, even as he told her about Fiona. She couldn't begin to imagine it, fighting such a close friend and having to kill them. She could only assume he did so; Duncan would never let someone else kill a friend, even one trying to hurt him. It made her heart ache for him, though she didn't dare draw attention to what he may be feeling. There would be time for that later, after the battle was over.

But her thoughts went back to Alistair and Cailan, that they might be caught in all of this, and that they might turn into one of those... Her pace quickened. "Let's just make certain we don't lose anyone else today."

"A fact never lost on me," he said in kind. It mattered little that his father was Fereldan. He had him for such a short time. He was Orlesian street rat through and through. Perhaps he had moved up in the world and had enough polish that it rarely showed. It didn't mean he had ever felt truly at home in dog country, no matter how long he stayed there.

"Yes," he agreed. It was a driving imperative that finding her had only assuaged somewhat. The others were also important to him, their safety more of a priority now that his largest priority was obsolete. Unless darkspawn showed up here, many things would remain shifted for him.

He kept up with her pace, all the while watching the shadows and the potential ambush sites. It was going to be a long night.

She wasn't the praying sort these days, but Elissa offered up a silent prayer to the Maker that if they found the others, they wouldn't be in a similar condition.

The streets were mostly quiet, eerily so, until they broke away from the town proper on their way to the Hold. She stopped as she caught sight of a small group, moving to press herself against the wall of one of the buildings at the exit. They didn't notice at first, their attention diverted. She began to recognize some of the people as townsfolk who inhabited a few of the businesses and shops. One was even the owner of the cafe she and Anders liked. She winced softly, watching their movements. A quick glance told her that they had no further destination...but she could see others along the path leading to the Hold. It would be a difficult fight indeed.

She turned to Duncan with her frown. "Ready?"

He didn't like the quiet. It reminded him of the Deep Roads. Every sense was on heightened alert. He caught himself looking up several times, as though another of the animals would come at them any moment. Fighting was preferable to the unnerving calm before the storm.

He took cover at the same time that she did against the opposite wall. It gave them a better overall view and kept them out of one another's way if things got ugly. He nodded at her question, giving a silent signal that he'd be going right.

Without a sound, he slipped from the shadows, prepared for a tough go.

She waited for him to move first before she did, springing out from her hiding spot and making a beeline for the left. There were too many clustered around for this to be a stealth kill but the first ones could go as silently as possible, as close as she dared to get near them. One close swipe of her sword beheaded her first kill, and the second was grabbed from behind, throat being slit just as easily. When it fell, she took her second blade and impaled it through the forehead, the slippery squelch of the blade in flesh making her wince.

But even those two were enough to get the attentions of the rest of the group, who turned to her. One lunged, much faster than the others, and went straight down for her legs. Elissa sprang back and narrowly missed its hands, but both of her blades sank down into the undead's shoulders, sticking it to the ground until she could remove them.

Duncan spread his arms and slammed into two at once, forcing them forward into a small knot. As they stumbled on one another and tripped, his blades were a blur of slicing, the silverite cutting into flesh and bone alike. It was more important to immobilize them than get a clean kill immediately. He left behind several from his first charge writhing but unable to stand.

As more closed in, he used his weight and armor as much to his advantage as his speed, silently thankful that no matter what might have been going on somewhere in their heads, they acted slow and stupid. He would never have been able to use such tactics on darkspawn and survived. He slammed into them, kicking and jumping, breaking jaws with his cowters and ribs with his pauldrons and sabotons.

Whenever he became too closely pressed, he retreated among the dead and crippled to trip up his pursuers and take out those he had skipped over the first time. Although every now and then he glanced to make sure Elissa was still up, he was too surrounded to divert his attention more fully.

Elissa was glad that most of them were slow, reaction times limited as they moved. It was easier to fight back, though, like Duncan, she ran the risk of being overtaken now and again when too many closed in at once. She spun in a practiced arc, blades flashing, injuring - if not incapacitating - any creature that came too close. It was killing them that was more difficult, requiring more precise means of dealing blows.

Her blades were long enough to do more effective damage until she was nearly overwhelmed, but the flicker of flames along her sword could at least burn some of them as they reached for her. Not even the pain seemed to register across their glassy expressions; they kept coming even if she had set fire to their clothing.

Glances were given to Duncan sparingly, though she could hear his voice over the din of the muted gurgles and faint groans from their foes. Unless he shouted, she would assume he was all right, though she tried to keep him within her line of sight at all times. It only got her into trouble when one managed to grasp her shoulders, fingers scrabbling at her armor. With a twist of her hand, she stabbed back and into its face, thrusting up and into its brain. Withdrawing, blood and ichor dribbled onto her shoulder and she turned her head at the smell, coughing into her elbow. She whipped around and finished the job, beheading it too.

"There are too many of them!" he called to her over the din. "We need to cut our swath and fortify in the building. They're attracted to our movement!" No matter how many they cut down, more from the periphery of the battle came to join it. Sooner or later, they'd be too worn down adequately to defend themselves. They were too much in the open.

To make good on the idea, he made his way closer to her. They could more easily clear a path together than spread apart. "We can warn others via the devices that it's not safe over here," he said, breathless from being winded.

"If we can get that far!" she called back. If they continued to press and dog their steps, they might as well be leading more trouble into the Hold itself. But there were so many outside of it; if they were trying to go to the building, they would already have done so. Something was keeping them there, ensuring that anyone who passed was ripped apart. A clearer picture of what may have been happening was forming in her mind but nothing concrete, her attention constantly diverted when another got too close and she needed to strike it down.

She turned her head to him and nodded. "All right. Let's go now, while we can." If they waited too long, they would risk simply getting pinned where they were until someone else came along. "I don't suppose you have any traps on you," she inquired, reaching into her belt.

"We'll get there," he said grimly. It might wind up being by the skin of their teeth, but they'd do it. He was determined, and both were capable.

"Caltrops, which will be useless against them." Pain didn't slow or stop them. "And some smoke bombs. That will work to our favor." If they obscured their movement, they could make it further without being hounded by those drawn to motion. He hadn't used them up to this point because they were trying to keep sight of one another at a greater distance.

He reached into a belt pouch to take one of those up now.

They had to. She wasn't going to stop until they managed to kill her, if they could.

"I don't understand how they don't even seem to feel it," she muttered, a thought she wasn't keen on dwelling on for the moment. They had more pressing matters to attend to. She pulled out a small flask and checked it briefly, sniffing its contents. "I have a sticky trap. Probably won't do much besides slow them down while we keep moving." She didn't have enough to really do some damage, sadly, as she hadn't thought to bring more and there was no time to make any on the fly.

Elissa stepped forward to guard him as he worked, stepping forward only once to stab her blade into one's chest. She kicked the sword free and sent the creature tumbling into its fellows, slowing two others down.

"Think of it. The undead at home are no different. They keep coming until you hack them to pieces. They know no pain, no fear, only hunger for life." He glanced at the bottle and nodded grimly. "Save it for if we get overwhelmed."

He gave a quick look around and decided the first smoke bomb ought to go right ahead of them. "Be ready to run forward," he said. He only had three, not enough fully to cover the distance they needed to go. At least the wind wasn't blowing. He threw it hard and it burst, immediately releasing a billowing cloud of smoke that thickened by the moment. He waited for Elissa to take the lead, bringing up the rear to cover their flank.

"The dead back home are also typically long since dead and usually are skeletons. Not...this." What they were witnessing was a true abomination of nature, worsened only because she knew a friend had been reduced to a shambling horror of their former self. But she nodded mutely, tucking the flask back into her belt, steadying herself.

Elissa didn't waste time, rushing forward the moment the smoke began to thicken. The haze of smoke was enough to keep their assailants from immediately retaliating, sight obscured. She didn't waste time trying to kill them as she went. They'd be taken care of if there was no other option.

"True, although I've seen a few more freshly dead possessed corpses in my time." It wasn't the sort of thing one ever truly got used to, any more than one got used to darkspawn. It had to be approached the same way as any other threat. Methodically and without sentiment.

He followed closely behind, only having to turn once to lop off an arm of a creature that snagged him by the back of his cuirass. He ran with her as far as they could, all the way to the edge of the smoke haze. It was clear enough there that they had enemies closing again.

"Fight a few, and then I'll throw another. We're going to have to clear some of their numbers on the way." He turned to engage one that lunged at him with its hands curled to claws. He kicked at it, causing it to release noxious breath directly into his face. Turning aside, he involuntarily gagged.

"I don't think I want to know the circumstances involving that." Darkspawn were one thing. She couldn't yet discern if she thought the walking dead were more bloodcurdling than the Tainted who had lost all sense of self.

Elissa spun around when she heard him falter, prepared to step in, but he handled it just as well on his own. When the smoke cleared and they began to press in on them again, she was ready once more, striking out to keep them at bay.

"Just give me a warning when you do." Her blades went out, first together and then sweeping apart. She hardly stopped moving, wary of being caught unawares if she did. Her head turned when she heard him coughing and she pulled out one of her spare knives, tossing it at the one closest to her comrade. It didn't quite hit the mark, lodging itself in the underlying tissue of the creature's eye socket, but it kept it away from Duncan long enough for him to recover.

"I'm sure you don't." Not all of his stories from his past were entertaining or things he'd ever readily share. It was safe to say that most weren't.

He recovered himself fairly quickly, still coughing but able to coordinate himself again. He sheathed one of his own blades and pushed and twisted the dagger. The creature dropped, and he yanked free the weapon. Jamming it into his belt, he drew his own much longer dagger again to continue fighting.

When it seemed they might get overrun once more, he took out the second smoke bomb. "Distance throw," he warned her. "We're going to have to sprint for it." Without further delay, he reared back and threw the pellet. It exploded and began releasing its contents. He eyed the best path to it and began to run, weaving, bashing, and slashing as he went. Once more he was no longer focused on taking them down, just getting them out of his way. He kept his eye out for Elissa, as well.

Elissa kept her back to his, knowing they could better fend for themselves if they could cover the entire circumference of their fighting range and keep any foe from venturing too close. It was difficult to stay in that circle, as she stepped out often enough to engage one or two and push them back, but she always came back to her place, not wanting to expose either of them for very long.

She didn't look back when he called to her, taking one more head off while she had the chance. "I'm right behind you," she called and when she turned her head, she saw him throw. She was hot on his heels as he moved, never slowing longer than it took to push one of them out of her way. Occasionally, she swiped her blades out only to take off the hands that tried to grab her, leaving them somewhat helpless to cause too much damage.

Once they reached the smoke, she rushed into it, finally coming up beside Duncan. Past the cloud, the path was a little more clear, but she could spot the throng of undead just before the doors of the Hold in the distance.

He was getting too old for this, but damned if he was going to say anything about it. He took the opportunity to catch his breath a little, keeping his voice down. "I have an idea for that trap of yours. I can lure them away from the door. You can lay a line about maybe...fifty feet from it, then I'll bring them back. It should slow and tangle them enough that not only will we make it inside but others still alive could get past." He knew the substance's hold wouldn't last forever. He hoped that if enough of them became stuck in it, they would also incapacitate one another trying to pull free.

"Take this." He reached to give her the final smoke bomb. "Use it as your cover when you're setting the trap. We can both slip inside without being seen or having them rush the door again."

It was a solid plan, to be certain, and she nodded decisively as she went. Her hand went to her belt to feel for the flask, fingers closing around it as she tilted her head up to assess the trouble at the Hold. She turned toward him. "Just be careful. Please." It didn't need to be said. Losing him a second time would be so much worse now that she'd gotten to know him outside of their cause.

She took the final smoke bomb and tucked it away for the moment. "I'll make any second you give me count. Don't be too long."

"When am I not?" It was a light tease, the intention to put her more at ease. He tightened his grip on his weapons and darted out from the cover, spinning and flashing them through the air. He was too covered in gore to catch much light. It was enough to get the mob coming in his direction.

He angled away from Elissa and the door, off to the west where a street light would call even more attention. He couldn't run too quickly, or he knew he'd lose their interest. It was a fine line between baiting and engaging. All the while he looked through the throng to gauge Elissa's progress.

No matter how light he was on his feet or how swift, he wasn't able to avoid engagement altogether. As he had when they were on the move, he crippled those he didn't need to kill. If he had the chance, he would finish the job on his way back to the Hold.

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