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Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Lissa

In the end, while it wasn’t quite the true assurance that Lissa had been looking for, she at least had a way forward to approaching the volatile situation with the Yaga and Kyrsa—enlisting the help of this necromancer Yaga girl. Lissa had her own apprehensions about a girl that was willing to dabble in such dark magics, but she was always willing to listen to a story, or hear out a redeemed character. In the end, she knew that political expedience was always the king, even if she disliked it at times.

After accepting the anti-illusion charm from Jolca, Lissa headed straight for the forest.

Ever onwards, after all.

Her trip through the forest was blissfully uneventful, enough that it made the Raam-in-disguise question if she had followed the directions correctly, or had been given proper directions at all.

She did come across a lone Kyrsa in the snow-covered forest, though, and the marking that she did on the tree made her curious enough to wait for the Kyrsan figure to leave before inspecting what they had marked. If it wasn’t anything of significance, she would continue on searching for the necromancer’s abode.

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina decided that her choice to switch back to her battle rifle had been a good one upon seeing the devastating effect the high-power rounds had on their bodies and attempts at regeneration. Oh, they still regenerated, but not quite as easily if she had stabbed and slashed at the creatures repetitively. Had she not been carrying the girl as she jumped back and away from the humanoid demons, she would have emptied the rest of the magazine and loaded in another pair of stripper clips.

Instead, she fell back to keeping them away with some of her blades, and a combination of cobblestones and debris for good measure, even if they were less effective. Thankfully, it seemed the demons began to think better of pursuing her and Lucrecia too vigorously. Who knew they had such an adroit sense of self-preservation?

Once the situation had calmed some, the girl finally began to respond to stimuli. Hearing the girl let out a cry, Polina looked down at the girl in her arms. She paused for a moment to consider her question, before responding. “Yes. Do you know where other maids went?”

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Giselle suppressed a frown when Aleksiya attached herself to her arm like a lost, frightened child. For one, she felt it was beneath her peer to act in such a way, even now, and more importantly, it meant that she had to quickly change the narrative of any explanation that she might have to give, or otherwise limit her options.

It was too late, though. The white-haired vampire held up her free hand in both a wave and a placating gesture, before quickly affecting a slightly apologetic expression upon hearing one of the men’s complaints. Privately, she questioned his awareness. She had, after all, made more than enough effort to make herself known to not startle any of these humans.

“Hardly. My name is Giselle,” she offered, deciding against giving Aleksiya a name for the moment. “And yes. My home was destroyed, as were my companions’. We’ve traveled a long way to find someplace safe.” This was all true. In a manner of speaking… but still completely true.

The undead princess would have continued the conversation along these lines when she caught Dragan and Akyasha approach from her periphery. That was not part of the plan, but she rolled with it. As Dragan engaged the men in conversation, she was approached by the cleric, with some… complications. She frowned, both at the news, and for the men as well. It would look bad if they had just arrived and brought trouble for these villagers if they were meant to get anything out of the interaction.

“…Sorry, I’ve bad news. One of our other companions keeps overwatch on the road… they’ve spotted beastmen approaching and a girl fighting off undead... perhaps one of yours? We may have to prepare for a fight. If you have an alarum, I would raise it.”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Unfortunately, it seemed like the young girl was too traumatized to respond to her questions. Polina was only able to spare a few moments to speak to the girl; just a moment later, she was back to fending off the demons.

Lucrecia was also right, and Polina knew as well that their position here was not very tenable. They would have to pull back soon. Seeing the humanoid creatures’ unusual regenerative properties, the maid switched strategies. She quickly unslung her rifle as one of them charged at her, working the bolt of her rifle twice as two high-power shots rang out to slam into it. Relying on the tendency for the high power slugs to chunk its flesh on exit, she then directed a pair of blades to finish the hounds.

Thankfully for their situation, Polina was uniquely suited to rescuing little girls without compromising too much on her offensive and defensive ability. The moment the immediate threat was gone, she swooped up the crying girl in one quick motion, before jumping back to regroup with Lucrecia. “Hang tight with me, okay? We’re getting out of here.” Keeping her in a princess carry, she gave her a pat on the head.

If any additional demons continued to approach as she left, she would direct more projectiles at them.

Epic of Beginnings - Dawns Cradle

Lissa

Lissa raised her eyebrows at the girl’s response. She wasn’t wrong, but Jolca’s behavior was starting to get a bit beyond social propriety as she clasped her hands over hers. It probably wasn’t nearly enough to keep Lissa there if she had really wanted to leave, but it left her wondering if it was some sort of negotiating tactic while she continued her dialogue with Ambros. Considering that she had gotten them out of a tight spot earlier, the Raam wouldn’t begrudge her for some strange behavior when she still owed the girl.

“Mm… I see. That’s helpful to know, at least,” she nodded, taking his words at face value for now. Lissa had no doubt the nuances of the situation were far different than what he was probably saying; internal politics were hardly ever that simple, but if she could work with him right now to get that caravan and other merchants through, then that was good enough for her.

What Lissa didn’t expect was the potential third party. Frankly, though, a necromancer and an enemy of the Death Goddess didn’t sound particularly promising. It sounded very dangerous instead, and her kneejerk reaction was to agree with Ambros.

Then again, she was a Raam, and certain aspects of such dark magics didn’t particularly faze her…

“I wouldn’t mind looking into this witch if we have an accord… Just give me some more information and I can see what I can do. Jolca, what makes you think she would help against the Krysa or getting the merchants though? Now, those patrols, hmm. They would let me or my companions just do that? There’s the envoy status, but that sounds a bit provocative.”

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.”