exsiliumlogs | [PLOT] That's no ordinary rabbit

Entry tags:

[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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

Her smile was crooked and hardly there, and she allowed him to go without any more pleas for his safety. He could handle himself. She just had to convince herself that she didn't need to watch every step he took in the process.

She rushed up to the Hold as instructed, blades out and ready for the few she knew she had no choice but to engage and put an end to. Elissa had the element of surprise on her side, able to kill one before any of them even noticed. Two others rushed her and she had a more difficult time killing them, one getting close enough to nearly touch her armor before she took off its head. The others had followed Duncan away, giving her time to set up where she needed to put her trap. The flask was opened and its contents emptied in a half-circle away from the Hold, angled to catch even the few stragglers who would come around the side. It was an obvious trap if observed at the right angle, perfect for their shambling adversaries to fall into but not so difficult that an ally would trip into it.

Once she was ready, she put two fingers to her lips and whistled loudly for Duncan. "Here!" she called, grabbing out the smoke bomb. She gave him ten seconds to register her shout before she tossed it down, cloaking herself and the trap she'd left behind.

His muscles burned with fatigue, every swing of his daggers feeling more weighted than the last. It reminded him yet again of Ostagar, a protracted fight against an implacable foe of immeasurable number. No matter how many he cut down they kept coming. In his mind's eye he saw Cailan go down again, a moment of distraction that nearly got him bitten.

Elissa's whistle could not have been more opportune or welcome. He shoved his way through two trying to close on him from the front and ran again, faster now. He wanted some of them following, not all. He picked up speed before reaching the edge of the trap, sheathing his daggers and gathering himself to hurtle through the air across it in a tremendous leap.

He hit the ground in a roll, coming back up to his feet and all but slamming into the wall before him. His breathing was ragged and harsh. "Inside," he gasped, wasting no time in reaching for the door to yank it open.

She held her ground for as long as possible, afraid that if she made a beeline for the door, he'd be left behind in the smoke and she'd lose him. Elissa kept one blade out, the one not covered in flame, in preparation for any fight that managed to slip through the smoke and the trap itself. When Duncan finally was able to join her, she turned and went for the door, helping him tug it open. She gestured for him to go first and she grasped the door handle to pull it closed behind them, all too glad to get inside.

Elissa turned and took him by the arm, leading him away from the doors and the windows so they wouldn't be spotted by the undead outside and followed. She didn't take him far, just to one of the alcoves near the door and out of immediately line of sight, wary that they perhaps stumbled into a much more dangerous situation inside. Her footsteps were silent, practiced, and she all too gladly took the moment to catch her breath. "Are you all right?" she asked softly, gaze riddled with concern.

He followed her in, allowing the guidance. He was too winded to do much else. Once they were in the alcove he stretched both arms up to expand his lungs further and allow him to recover himself faster.

"I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath." Sweat plastered his hair, and he could feel it running down the backs of his knees, one of the few places his armor didn't have his clothing compressed tightly against him.

"This place may not be safe, either." He leaned to glance warily down the corridor before going back into concealment again. "At least we're good here for the moment."

"Take your time," she said, voice hushed in the hallway. There were no sounds for the moment but the Hold was large enough that if there was anything going on, it could easily have been muted down a corridor further away. She set her hand on his shoulder briefly and then straightened, looking out to ensure they had the time to take the reprieve he required. "We probably have a few minutes at least," she agreed.

He'd done enough. She needed to help. "Give me a few minutes. I'm going to scout ahead. If I'm not back in five, well..." She half-smiled. "Assume I'll be back." She wasn't going to take long, not under the circumstances.

Elissa slipped off down the hall, moving as quickly as she could afford without making any sounds. Once far enough away from Duncan's hiding spot that she wouldn't draw attention to him, she pressed against the wall. It wasn't too long before she heard the crunch of footsteps. A glance around the corner gave her a visual on the ghouls that had congregated in one of the side halls, lingering without purpose. They seemed directionless and muted, never looking her way. She went back to Duncan's side.

"There's about five down one of the halls nearby. They don't seem to be hunting like the others were. Maybe they're waiting for something."

He nodded, continuing to take deep, even breaths until some of the burn in his muscles eased back again. When she left, he kept an ear out and a silent count of the time. He took the opportunity to give himself a quick equipment check, making sure his armor was still secure, that no straps were broken, and that he still had his belt pouches intact.

He recognized the soft scuff of her boots when she was nearly on top of him again. He knew the dead would never approach with such stealth. "Damn. Here." He offered her her dagger back.

"I have a few throwing blades. Maybe we can pick them off before they become aware of us. I wish we knew more about how this happened, or why."

She took the blade and slipped it into the small sheath on her belt, adjusting her bracers while she had the moment to do so. They would need to be at their best for the close-quarters combat they were about to enter into. "I hate to wonder...but I never could tell where those animals were coming from. You don't think the Initiative was giving them to us, do you?" It was a foolish notion born out of paranoia, she knew. Who would try to kill their own recruits? "Or the United Earth, perhaps?" Neither were pleasant options.

Once she'd adjusted her armor, she finally nodded. "Picking off a few at least would give us the advantage. I just hope there aren't more so close by, or killing those five will draw more to us." It couldn't be helped, she realized, but it would be difficult.

"If they did, it wouldn't be the first time one of their number has done something to jeopardize the safety of the transports. Possibly a rogue researcher? I'd be more inclined to believe United Earth," he said, speaking too softly for his words to carry beyond the alcove.

"Before we engage, we need a plan of retreat. I don't wish to become boxed in. Let's check out the nearest office. I noticed the door when we first came in." If it was locked, all the better. It likely meant none of the creatures were inside, and they could retreat to it in stealth once they picked the lock if they needed a place to lie low.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject