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Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Perhaps the journey was long for a day trip, but Giselle spent most of the time keeping a keen eye on all that they passed. In the absence of major threats, with what existed merely acting as inferior food for the her and the other lords, she could spare the time to investigate the state of what the world had turned into. It was a luxury that she unfortunately didn’t have to examine in detail in the city proper given the state of Alavaris.

Sadly, the state of the world had become as drab as Giselle expected. In the absence of Light, most living beings of the good and proper variety had long died and withered to dust. The state of vegetation, sadly, was in a dire state, and it was a miracle in and of itself that humans and more wretched beasts managed to eke out an existence in this dead world.

Even so, aside from speaking with the other lords on details and musings on things that had happened since their slumber, she occupied most of her time keeping a mental journal on all that she saw.

Nonetheless, she was glad when the human settlement came into sight. She observed the architecture, noting its familiarity with buildings from her era, and then the ramshackle repairs and inferior new construction. More importantly, she kept in the mind what was likely a sentry of some type at the settlement’s highest vantage point. If they hadn’t already been observed, they would be seen soon—which meant the time to make a decision would be short.

And short it would be indeed, given that they could already hear voices of the people inside the village. Perhaps surprisingly, they seemed rather happy.

Giselle turned to her fellow lords as Akyasha sent off her gorebats. “I suppose it’s time to see how the humans of this era will react.” If there were no objections from her peers, she would approach the village entrance, a story already crafted in mind. With absence of any gate guards, she would speak to those speaking, but not without being cautious. She remained casual, but alert, and elected to make enough noise on her approach as to not startle before she appeared.

“Greetings. Perhaps you might spare time for questions from some travelers?”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

It seemed her hunch had been wholly unsuitable in the scenario of a sudden and severe mass demon attack. Against mortal foes, or even lesser demons, guard stations and armories were miniature bastions unto themselves. And indeed, as Polina and Lucrecia investigated the ones that they came across, they had been used for their intended role by the city’s defenders… only the defenses had been wholly inadequate. It was not that hard to deduce that, after seeing a more-than-token resistance, the demons had brought in something specialized to bust through the thick walls of those structures.

They showed a worrying level of cohesion and tactical understanding.

Polina had nearly written off the hope of finding survivors and had been simply treating her assignment as a mere mop-up operation when she was alerted to the faint sound of crying nearby. Homing in on the sound with her guard up –there could still be demon trickery, after all—she came upon a gruesome, grotesque scene. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the two distinctive bright red dresses, narrowing at the sight of an obviously deceased maid. More importantly, though, one of them was still alive.

Her eyes flicked over to the humanoid creatures near the girl in question. By her assessment, the downed girl could be mere moments from being gored, and Polina acted immediately.

“Lucrecia! I’m heading in— keep the rest of those creatures off me.”

With that, she sprinted forward with a ruffle of her dress, firing off a fan of blades towards the humanoid demons as she drew her blade once more, inserting herself right in between the awful creatures and the survivor. She made sure to add an extra blade directed at the one directly partaking of the bodies, even if it wasn’t quite the most efficient decision.

Glancing back when she could do so, she checked in on the crying girl. She kept to brief, important questions—unfortunately, consoling her would have to wait. “Reinforcements are here. Can you stand? Do you know if there are any others still hiding?”

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Not in the plan, indeed.

Giselle had lived for over a thousand years, and she had seen countless deaths, and prevented countless more. Even with the downfall of the very last days, there was little comparison to being struck down in victory, with Illena being felled by the undead creature’s last unnatural gasp. It was an unnatural reminder to how vulnerable that she, along with her fellow vampire lords, had become to be struck down in such an unfitting way.

With the battle finished, seeing her fellow lord fail to rise, she lowered her head in a moment of silence for her fallen comrade.

Were circumstances more normal, she would have created a grand sepulcher for the fallen lady, but this was anything but. She had neither the time, luxury, nor power to create a fitting tomb or even a burial. In the future, perhaps, she could return in better times—or, given their current mission to resurrect the remainder of her fellow peers, she would help Illena to rise once more when the right time came.

Seeing Luna take up the heart that their fallen peer had been safeguarding, she summoned up a portion of her remaining meagre blood. Swirling the small ball of ichor suspended above her open palm, she created a simple crimson box. With another touch of energy, she concentrated on the small container before the shade of metal washed over the object, the box turning from blood to thin tin.

Stepping over to Luna, she wordlessly opened the box with an outstretched hand for the songstress and the serpent's heart. “Here. This simple box is hardly a fitting vessel for such a priceless artifact, but for now, it will have to do.”

With a shake of her head, she moved to the spot where Illena had fallen, together with the paladin. Briefly kneeling, she took custody of the silver sword in her hand. While she was still too weak to restore the holy weapon, it was still a potent weapon, even if it has been tainted with Illena’s blood and that of potential countless others of her peers and friends.

At the very least, someone had to take it lest it fall into improper hands.

Approaching Aleksiya, she held out her scythe for the shorter lady, recalling her preference for the scythe. “I have no use for this now. If you would like it, it is yours.”

If she could still properly sigh, she would have then. “I suppose we’ve stayed here long enough, as somber as this victory is. Shall we?”

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Lissa

“Hmm… strange. From an outsider’s perspective, I agree, it sounds rather engineered. To what means, though? Persecuting merchants or traders is self-destructive, unless you intend to isolate your village and community from the outside world. Either that, or… he’s trying to play to his populace over something that isn’t obvious,” she decided to offer, voicing some of her thoughts aloud. She was about to tuck an arm under her chest for a bit of a thinking pose when Jolca suddenly stepped over, grabbing her hand.

“Eh? A bit forward, aren’t you?” Lissa raised her eyebrow as the other girl more or less began to fondle her hand, although she refrained from jerking her arm back for the moment. Deciding to ignore her question, she instead focused on Ambros’. Were her actions that transparent? Why was Jolca playing with her palm so much, anyway? Checking for a pulse?

She tapped the girl on her free shoulder with her other hand. “Ahem… Is my hand really that interesting?”

That little bit of dialogue, however, was cut short when Ambros descended from his throne to approach her. He was a large man, but despite the size difference, the smaller Raam was not intimidated. There was the obvious deceptive strength parity, of course, but enough years of experience had immunized her to such a tactic, despite her bright-eyed, sometimes flustered personality.

“Hmm… I will, but conditionally,” she responded, keeping her same stance, although she affected a thoughtful expression as she dropped into her merchant mode. “It’s… obvious that the current situation doesn’t benefit anybody. This de facto embargo on merchants is devastating other villages and communities up the road, without access to vital goods from traders like Mie; I’ve seen it in person. If you can clear the roads for Mie, or other merchants like her, then you’ll also gain the good graces of others in the neighborhood. If you can do that, then I won’t have problems lending the full assistance of me and the rest of the resources at our disposal.”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina allowed herself a slight smirk of satisfaction as her attacks finally landed on the pesky demon, prompting a cry of outrage from the cute creature. For such a prideful being, being battered by the ground was likely far more humiliating than being hit by something more noble, like a blade or even a bullet. The maid was ready to unsling her rifle once more and unload on the helpless monster when she received direct orders to the contrary.

A mop up operation, was it? Polina didn’t like it, preferring to finish what she had started, but she acknowledged the command from Leoniya with a nod and a wave of acknowledgment. She followed after Lucrecia wordlessly, knives out once more as she began to clean up the stragglers alongside the foreign maid. Her knives homed in on their targets like guided missiles, and unlike her dance with the high demon just earlier, these had no problems finding their mark deep in the vitals of the monsters that dared approach.

Once a sufficient amount of lesser demons had been cleared, she approached the other maid. “I’m headed to the nearest armory or guard station. If there are any survivors to be found, they’ll be there or in a similarly defensible location.”

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Lissa

Lissa paused as she beheld the man on the ornate wooden throne. Commanding authority, he clearly had character, if his tattoos and battle scars were anything to go by.

She crooked an eyebrow at the general, unamused by the bipolar nature of his responses, but turned away as he was interrupted by another. She responded to her question with a slight inclination of her head. “Yes, indeed! I thought that I should drop by, at least, to see how things were doing. An envoy should not be kept in the dark, no?” she decided to reply, mostly neutrally, knowing that injecting herself into local politics like this was a dicey thing, as it had been for the past couple hours, already.

Although the tension was palpable, she continued with her own positive demeanor. “Yes, it’s a pleasure! It’s not a problem. I understand things have been difficult lately,” she commiserated, prodding for information at the same time.

She continued to smile politely even as Marushka was all but ordered out of the room. As the others vacated the room, she stepped forward at the enthroned man’s gesture.

“Ah… it’s not a problem. It was a little rough earlier on with the Kyrsa, but I appreciate the Yagan hospitality,” she replied, with a bob of her head. “That explains their undue hatred of merchants, at least. What was the story behind that? But where are my manners? I am Lissa,” she continued, looking a little flustered as she affected a polite bow with her hand flared out, as was the custom for addressing some lords that she was familiar with.

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

It seemed like the demon took great offense that Polina had managed to scratch her. Really, what a poor sport of a demon it was. Wouldn’t a self-respecting powerful evil being respect an opponent that could actually land a good hit on its own self? The maid thought the creature was a petulant sore loser, but Polina didn’t think it was a particularly prudent move to judge the cute beast in public when it was already pissed off. Oh, there was merit in pissing off opponents further to make them slip up, but as a good professor from her courses always said, there was a time and place for everything.

The Farisian maid braced for contact, forming up her cobblestone shielding as tightly as she could… until she noticed the… flying tank aimed right for her position.

Had Polina been a less composed maid, she would have uttered the very same obscenities as the cute demon had, but she certainly mirrored the creature’s words in her thoughts. Instead, she immediately pulled back, effectively throwing herself out of harm’s way as she crashed to the side, somewhat less gracefully than she had intended.

It was still passable, considering that she hadn’t been turned into maid-paste by a flying Kyrsan tank. Polina quickly recovered, springing up on her feet and dusting her now slightly soiled dress with a brush of her white apron. Her eyes flitted over, searching for the demon and the tank, raising an eyebrow upon seeing the demon in a rather compromised position, with the Kyrsan maid, amusingly, fruitlessly searching for and failing to find the threat right beneath her.
She decided to respond by arching an eyebrow and firing her wall of cobblestones in a single large fusillade at the pinned demon.

Two others had already pointed out the issue, after all.

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

So close.

In a vacuum, Giselle would have ended the fight right there, but large skeleton destabilized the ground briefly enough that her blow didn’t strike true. It did damage, clearly, but the majority of it had been deflected… but it was clear that the undead paladin was not going to weather the fight. The three of them had done far too much damage to it, and if it wasn’t Giselle, then it would be another that would deal the ‘mortal’ blow.

Indeed, it didn’t take long for the paladin to become distracted once again, and Giselle saw Dragan move in for the final blow. It was just a bit poetic, and she decided to stand aside to allow him to deal with his brother, moving her attention to the larger skeleton in the event that removing the paladin from the board would simply allow it to free-roam instead. Keeping her weapon at the ready to strike at it in case it didn’t collapse, she placed herself in between it and Dragan.

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Lissa

“Eh, well, being bright and bold and just going out there has always tended to work for me. Even if I don’t reflect those attitudes in my speech,” Lissa rebutted with a light chuckle before slightly adjusting her sword belt. “But you’re right. I suppose we do need a little bit of subtlety here…” The Raam-in-disguise sank into a nearby seat as Nylah summarized the situation and what they knew so far. Nodding along, she only spoke up towards the end of her speech.

“Hmm… sounds good to me. Perhaps I’ll check in with what local merchants they have, if they haven’t been strung up and executed,” she replied dryly.

With that, they had their simple plan, although it seemed Eirhild had decided to stay put and avoid sticking her neck out, which was a perfectly rational and safe decision. By the time that she left the house, it had started to lightly snow, although Lissa was bundled well enough to handle the cold. Not that it ever really affected her too much…

Lissa went off in search of the local merchants, and she headed towards the village center. Before she could get any real headway in finding said peddlers, though, she was able to get good directions to Jolca, and she decided to look for her first, where she found her in what seemed to be the town hall, along with some other familiar, but perhaps unwelcome faces.

“General Gershel,” she nodded, with a neutral, if somewhat unamused tone in her voice. As an outsider to the village and this particular conversation, she politely waited for it to end, but of course listened in to the dredges of what remained of it.

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” Lissa said, as she approached Jolca after the little argument drew down, finding herself coming in at an obviously bad moment. “What has everybody so riled up, anyway?”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

"Cheeky brat."

Polina tsked at herself in frustration as the high demon girl weaved in and out of each attack, neatly defying even her own guided missiles that she sent and continued to reengage. The admittedly cute creature even seemed to take joy in that fact, as it saw fit to insult them with her words. An interesting being, if it seemed to understand human nature. Her eyes narrowed as it took hold of Kat, and she raced to aid the poor cat girl. With her blades still on the girl, Polina finally had some luck as one of her blades landed true, the shock allowing the maid to squirm free.

The success, however, meant that she now had the demon’s full and undivided attention.

Thankfully, it seemed her message had been seen and received, as she caught the change in movement of the loitering airship in the corner of her eye. She was sure that the maids in command would be rather cross with her more… bold decisions of the past few minutes, but what she didn’t expect was… a Kyrsan tank being fired at their location.

After a split second, Polina decided not to question it. Instead, she simply made sure she was not in the path of the hurtling hunk of steel, and then quickly refocused her attention on the high demon. With her own source of trouble hurtling at her, she immediately jumped back, pulling her weapons back with her, too. The moment she reconsolidated them, her eyes flitted over to the chewed up remains of the cobblestone square. With another flick of her free hand –what was living without some flair, really?—she pulled the loose stones off from the ground, creating both a defensive, fluid barrier in front of her, and a secondary means of offense. Still keeping her sword at the ready, she sent off a mass of the rocks at the demon, mixing in her deadlier blades amongst her little barrage.

Well, that better work. At least, until backup was on site in the next few moments.