Guild's War 4: Operation Popping Daisies

[Bacon]

((Mage Manor))

Bacon looked around for some clue as to what was happening outside. Cal was surprisingly unhelpful, and could only describe a vague "magical event" in the area.

He had been waiting nearby for further orders as Amneiger contacted the Commander, making a mental note to ask later about the details behind that particular promotion, and then continued to wait as Amneiger tried contacting somebody named Celestial. The name didn't strike Bacon as familiar, but he wasn't particularly good with names in the first place.

He realized that, looking for a view of the situation outside while he was waiting, he had started to wander a short distance away from Amneiger. He mentally laughed at the idea of tagging along only to get seperated and turned back around to regroup.

As he did so, he saw someone he didn't recognize approaching Amnei with a hand up. It looked like the man was attempting a handshake but for all Bacon knew he could easily sprout lightning bolts from his fingertips or something. There was no telling with the inhabitants of this world.

Remembering what Amneiger and Fraze had said about a delicate diplomatic situation, Bacon fought his gut instinct to level his weapon at the man.

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. My name is Zephyr. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Bacon would have preferred leaving the negotiations to Amneiger, but since he was currently on his communicator trying to contact someone, Bacon didn't know if letting the newcomer, Zephyr, interrupt him was such a good idea.

Approaching the man, Bacon said, "His name is Amneiger. I'm Bacon. We're trying to get a sense of what's going on here."

[Draco]

((Mage Manor))

Draco and Dragus continues to fight the zombies from their own shadows. That is until a darkness covered them. This darkness sent chills down Dragus' spine. He emerged from the shadows, kneeling on the ground shaking. One of the zombies sees this as a chance and swings at him. Draco appears and slices the arm off. He takes a good look at the zombie, and notices he was all ready missing a arm.

"Whoops."

He smiles and grabs Dragus. He drags him into the shadow and they make their escape. Draco didn't like this shadow... It was very familiar... It was almost like the feeling he had when his other self took control...

In moments the two reemerge on the outskirts of the battle. He tosses Dragus to the ground.

"Snap out of it. You'll get used to it."
"Oh yes, get used to it. Are you even used to it?"
"Just focus."

Dragus takes a few deep breaths, and sits up. He stares at the army ahead of him, the Manor, the darkness... With shaky legs he stands up.

"What do we do?"

Draco shakes his head.

"You're the Tactician. I just go on instinct."

He pats his cousin on the back.

"So get back to those mages and help them out! I need to head north. We need reinforcements. Knowing them, they're probably all ready getting ready... I hope..."

With that, he takes off, leaving Dragus there. Dragus takes a deep breath and melts back into a shadow and takes off back to the mages, appearing behind them again.

---
(North of Mage Manor))

"Oh, abandoning them to die from the army! What a great leader you are! Even your own cousin! Did you not feel that power? Good or bad, that was the same power that brought me to life. The same feeling that made that angry jelly creature so interesting. THAT was the place I want to be! I can go wild there! Full strength! Why are we running?!"

"I said it before, we're getting backup."

"You don't need it! I don't need it! WE don't need it!"

Draco continued to run.

---
((Darkthorn))

A lone ninja sat on a hill at the edge of the town. He was one of the ninjas that decided to remain at the dojo when Draco took a group of them to live in that city... Brassport was it? Sure it was a step in the right direction, but he liked the mountains more then the city. Others have stayed for their own reasons as well. Most stayed to protect their original home and the Elders that remained there. But earlier, they received a message. A message from a bird. They rarely needed to use them. A lot of the time the cats at the dojo attacked them... Normally birds were used more often out on the field, not to bases. But if a bird came, it meant one thing, there was a emergency.

The ninja stood up. It was time to head out. There was something dark forming to the south. Behind the ninja, standing gathered in the streets of Darkthorn, were a unknown number of ninjas emerging. Walking out of town and to the lone ninja. It was time to head out. They all began to march

[icon]

(Brassport- Ninja HQ)

Clemmens grinned at the ninja who stood in the doorway. There was a familiar look to him, he must have seen the man around the city... Tosheroon Okeet, his name was, or something like that. He gave a cheerful nod. "Morning there! I hope you don't mind me imposing on you ninja folks but I recall hearing that you know a lot about this world, and well..."

He grasped the machine off his janitor pack, pulling it into view through a rather ungainly twisting move that involved a bit too much clanking. "I found this odd metal device, it seems like something you lot might know about," he commented, finally pulling it free. "Any chance you might be able to tell me what it does, or if it belongs to those Spacefleet folks, or-"

It was then that he paused, considering the second part of the man's comment. There seems to be an emergency, he'd said. There's a pretty good chance that it might have something to do with the news that nice ninja fellow was carrying...

Common sense told him to forget the whole thing, an emergency doesn't concern you unless there's a soapy water shortage or a sudden influx of giant rat infestations. But common sense had told him not to pick up this machine, and not to ask that ninja about it, and look where that had gotten him. If he backed out how, he might never know what was going on.

Clemmens glanced back and forth along the street before leaning in. "Actually, is there any chance I could come inside?"

[Draco]

((Brassport - Ninja HQ))

Toshiro looks at what Clemmens has. It was interesting, but he had no idea what it was.

"I have no idea what that is. However I think I know someone who might... What I do know is that it's probably Space Fleet tech. My friend should be showing up soon. So go ahead and come inside."

He steps inside and up the stairs. He assumes that the janitor is following and makes his way into the ninja part of the building. Once there he opens a door and waves to Clemmens.

"Come in here."

He waves to another ninja and whispers to him, telling him to bring his friend over when he arrives. He steps into the room, along with a random ninja, and sits down. The random ninja stands.

"Apparently, there is something stirring in the neighboring land of Dunburrow. A undead army has risen and marching. The guild leader is out there right now. Messenger birds have been sent to all corners of the land, to all guilds. Even the space birds."

The random ninja leans over and whispers in Toshiro's ear.

"What? We still haven't figured out how to get them into space? Drat... Just do the normal method of alerting Space Fleet."

The ninja steps out and whispers to another ninja and the first steps back into the room. Toshiro leans over towards Clemmens.

"If you were wondering. The normal method is to find a fleeter off duty planetside, and tell them. Usually involving dragging them into a dark secluded alley or throwing something at them. We try to keep our distance when possible."

There is a knock on the door. A goggled, blue haired man wearing a coat steps in. Gil steps in and is about to say something, but notices the machine.

"Oooh! Now what is this! This is a beauty! I don't know what it is, but look at her! She's wonderful!"

His eyes are practically lit up staring at it up close. Toshiro sighs and facepalms.

[Celestial]

((Castle Kestrel))

Celestial, who had learnt her lesson and set her commlink on vibrate, picked it up and listened to Amneiger. She was just about to reply when Death's voice forced her to pay attention. It was a difficult thing to ignore, especially inside the echoey chamber. However, she kept the commlink on so that Amneiger could listen in.

She remembered that dagger. It was a pretty shiny dagger as well, something she wished she held on to now.

The Archmage noticed Zylaa's attempt to be neutral. She decided to try and return the favour.

"The items...what happens if they get back in the hands of their proper owners?" she asked Death.

((Mage Manor))

The librarian drank in Azzie's fear, feeling itself grow stronger the more she screamed. Several more zombies met their demise in its clutches as he left nothing but bones. While it felt the attacks, they did not hurt it as much as it though. The physical attacks barely even touched it. The magic was more annoying but only in the same way that being unable to find the right page in a book was annoying. But they gave it a target on which to focus on. Simultaneously, tendrils lashed out of the dome and wrapped around the zombie mages, dragging them up into the dome.

One of the tendrils snaked towards Alabaster but instead of attacking, it ended in a face. Alabaster's own face.

"Good luck, Alabaster. A whole order of mages could not stop me back when I was a young, inexperienced underdeepling. I wiped out a whole civilisation in a single day, a civilisation which I bet even your dear comrade has never heard about. What makes you different from them?" it asked him, imitating Alabaster's own smirk.

More tendrils erupted out of the other Alabaster's eyes and mouth and headed right for the real one, wrapping around him and trying to force their way inside through his mouth, eyes and ears.

At the same time, another tendril extended out to Krisseh. It touched on the Underdeep inside her.

Arise. Obey me, my sibling. Assist me in this fight,[/i] it whispered in her mind.

[Lord Hayati]

[glow=white,2,300][/glow]

Krisseh slowly got up. Everything was black, all around her. It was like that trope, that when you're dead, you end up in darkness... and then there would be a bright light.

Thats what she hoped, at least.

"Am... I dead?"

No. She couldn't be. if she was dead, she would be a zombie by now. something was keeping her away.

Suddenly, a bright light emerged.

"Well, what do you know. should I head into it?"

Would it be the light to salvation? or the light back to battle. who knew. But Krisseh started to dash to it, hoping it would end things.

Arise. Obey me, my sibling. Assist me in this fight![/i]

suddenly, a tendril from the darkness, grabbed a hold of her tail and foot. Freedom wasn't going to be that easy, it seemed.

"No! NO! NOOOOOOOOOo-

.. yes... I shall Obey."

-x-

Mage Manor Battlefield

Krisseh's started to rise, almost completely dark. you wouldn't know if she was jelly, because shadows surrounded her. with her pesky little soul chained up, and out of commission, The underdeep could play and fight.

"Thank you for Reraising me, Master..."

[Terra]

Mage Manor

Zephyr turned to the other Spacefleeter; he’d only just realized that Amneiger was holding a communication device similar to Celestial’s...it was a bit embarrassing.

“Pleased to meet you,” Zephyr said to Bacon. “It seems that we have similar goals, then; I would also like to learn more about the situation here. I assume you know something about the zombie army, then?”

Zephyr set down the books he had still been carrying under his arm; there was a small, conveniently-available table sitting against the wall. Hopefully he would be able to return later and read through the books more thoroughly.

“Perhaps we ought to go outside and see what’s happening there,” he said. “Also, is there any possible way to turn off the sound on those communicators? It would be rather helpful sometimes...”

[Jina]

-Brassport-
Owen Camdon drove down the streets of Brassport in his tank, surveying the city. He had been the mayor now for over 2 and a half years, and although many saw him as a good leader, managing not to let everything fall to dust after the city had been inexplicably dragged through worlds, he still had problems. Mainly, the mages. In their old world, the people of Brassport had long had a distrust of mages, leading to a large witch hunt only a few decades ago. However, in the new world, mages were everywhere, and could not be simply chased away.

Owen had held the belief since before he was mayor that they would not be able to survive in the new world unless they could learn to integrate with the mages, and although he had never publicly stated it, there were suspicions. However, many of the people that he was supposed to represent believed the exact opposite, and since they had lived through the hunts and the atrocities that had happened in those times, he could understand their point of view. With elections getting closer and closer, he was starting to feel the pressure to take one side or the other - either attempt convince people that these mages were different to the ones they knew before, or go completely against his beliefs for the sake of re-election and hope that he could change people's opinions in the longer term. For now though, he had to make a much more important decision before getting back to his office.

Hmm. Bacon and eggs really are much tastier than salad, but then again, salad is healthier, he thought. That being said, I spend my life inside a machine, I hardly need to watch my figure. Bacon and eggs for lunch it is.

He drove into his parking spot, and was about to climb out of his tank when a guard came running over to him. "Your Worship, a report from the air scouts!"

Oh, yay. This sounds like something I have to deal with straight away. Couldn't he have waited until after I've eaten?

"There's been reported sightings of a large shadow near Mage Manor! They don't know what it is, the scouts and militia are awaiting your orders sir!"

Shadow.. hmm, I remember seeing something like that before. This could turn nasty. Owen rubbed his nose for a second, thinking. "Alright, tell the scouts to go up again and see if it's still there. Have a closer look, but tell them not to be seen, or heard. Or sensed by any mages, if possible. Tell the militia to... oh, I don't know, tell them to wait. Sorry, no, better use the word 'standby', otherwise the military types will complain. I'll go have a chat with some contacts and see what they know, tell the generals to expect their orders by bird if they don't see me in person."

The guard was about to salute, then paused. "By... bird, sir?"

"Yes, you know, the flappy things. Now hurry along with my orders."

Owen closed the hatch, and reversed his tank out of the spot. The trouble at Mage Manor worried him. It might be time to choose... Hmm.

He pulled up outside of the ninja headquarters, and knocked on the door 3.1415 times.*


-The White Weewoo-
Jina rowed towards the cliffs, and in a freak coincidence not related at all to the fact that she was a character in a roleplay, came across the White Weewoo. She rowed towards the ship, and climbed aboard it. "Hello every- hmm. No-one around."

She headed below the deck, and went over to her hammock. After a short rest, she grabbed her daggers, and her cloak-slash-sack, containing a few bottles of chloroform, then went back up and started climbing up the cliff. Knowing my luck I'm bound to run into somebody I know soon enough.


_{*Don't ask how. What's important is, he was hungry, and pi sounded pretty good right now.}

[icon]

(Brassport Ninja HQ)

Clemmens noted how rickety those stairs were, then decided to decided to drop his janitor pack at the door before following Toshiro up the stairs and into a room. He set the machine on a table and then, finding a chair, he leaned forward and listened to the news the other ninja had.

An undead army? He frowned. He'd heard stories of necromancers, but they were always just rumors, or so he thought... this was certainly unusual.

Toshiro was giving him a bit of exposition about the ninjas' methods of operation. He began to take a bit of pleasure in the fact that he wasn't a Spacefleet member when another man walked in.

Ah, Gil Maxwell, he thought to himself. Clemmens' janitorial route near city hall often passed by his workshop, where there was always some noise or steam going on. Gil was a pleasant fellow, most of the time.

"Hello there, Mister Maxwell," Clemmens said. "I was rather hoping you would be able to tell me about it yourself, to be honest. I don't even know what it's called, I've just been referring to it as Ix for the time being." He pointed to the painted letters on its side.

"But there's a few parts that look like they move, maybe we should look at it and try to crack it open. That is, if this whole zombie thing in Dunburrow isn't going to affect your plans."

[Bacon]

((Mage Manor))

“Pleased to meet you. It seems that we have similar goals, then; I would also like to learn more about the situation here. I assume you know something about the zombie army, then?”

Bacon shook his head. "What, me personally? Nah, I don't know much of anything yet. I just got here; literally just got back to the planet after a long absence. Haven't had the time to smell the roses, much less the zombies." He paused, and furrowed his brow. "Not that I would smell a zombie, that'd be weird."

“Perhaps we ought to go outside and see what’s happening there. Also, is there any possible way to turn off the sound on those communicators? It would be rather helpful sometimes...”

Bacon was unsure what to make of that last remark. He didn't know what good the comms would be if they were turned off. Perhaps Zephyr meant to avoid detection in stealth operations. Bacon glanced at the comm Amneiger was holding. It wasn't a model he was familiar with, not that he was familiar with very many. "Well, I don't know about Amneiger's, but mine goes straight to my earpiece. As for your other question... I'm not sure. What do you think, Amnei?"

[Huntress]

Castle Kestrel library

"And is this zombie-summoning ability now a permanent sort of thing?" Zylaa asked once Death was done with his tirade.

SHOULDN'T, the reaper admitted, looking into the hourglass again. IT'S MOST LIKELY FINITE. SHE TOOK A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MAGIC AND USED IT TO RAISE THE ZOMBIES. IF THOSE GET ERADICATED, SHE'LL HAVE NO EASY MEANS TO BRING THEM BACK UP.

"Glory, no hydra logic then," Hunty said cheerfully. "So we- eh, um, the goody-twoshoes wanting to kill our glorious overlords would just need to knock 'em down like bowling pins."

Death fixed his stare at her. NO.

"No?"

I SAID ERADICATED.

Death explained further. Magic doesn't just appear or disappear, it merely changes its shape and state. The supply Miss Jensen obtained was like a pool. Knock down a zombie, its share of magic goes back to the user, who can then revive that same zombie with the same magic. The trick, apparently, was to completely annihilate anything that could get back up and walk.

"The items...what happens if they get back in the hands of their proper owners?" Celestial asked.

THEY ALREADY ARE, Death said, giving a glum little wave with the scythe. THE MAGIC IS ALREADY OUT AND SEVERED.

WE CAN, OF COURSE, TAKE IT BACK, AS IT'S RIGHTFULLY OURS, he added after a moment's thought that, unbeknownst to the humans, was mostly along the lines of HOW MUCH WIGGLE ROOM DO WE HAVE HERE? BUT THAT REQUIRES A RITUAL - AND A SACRIFICE. WHY IS THAT MEEPIT GRINNING?

"It's a Pavlovian reaction," said Hunty, bopping Bloody Mary upside the head. The meepit had been building up a steady grin ever since the word "eradicated" that was still widening.

[Fraze]

Mage Manor

Alabaster watched as a reflection of his own face appeared before him. "You have an odd sense of priorities," he responded calmly. "My associate has expressed an intent to kill you, and yet you first pursue the lesser threat. I am not the one you need to fear--"
Before he could finish, Alabaster was enveloped in the creature's attack. Impending death holds little sway over one who has already experienced it.

BOOM
A sound echoed through the dome like a lightning strike on the other side of a room.
...That is, Alabaster tried and failed to say.

On the outside of the dome, Charles Brick reached back his fist, glowing with magical power, and struck another blow. A small crack appeared in the dome. "Did somebody call for the cavalry?" he cried. "You lads have gotten sloppy after a few centuries in the crypt."
Brick threw one punch after another, each with the force of cannon fire, until the cracked surface shattered, forming a hole in the dome wide enough for a number of zombies to escape.
"Long-range casters and skeletons," he barked. These poured out of the hole, endeavoring to get out of range of the creature's tendrils. Brick himself stepped into the dome, and surveyed the scene.

Hellas took the opportunity to cut through the tendrils binding Alabaster, and shoved him roughly toward the newly created breach, hacking at any more tendrils that approached. Alabaster went willingly, and once outside, attempted to get to the group of zombies that had escaped.

Slowly, jerkily, the bones of the destroyed zombies reconfigured themselves. Magic had been holding together the parts that flesh and tendon couldn't. With no flesh, all that was needed was to ensure that the bones didn't separate. A heavily damaged corpse needed a great deal of magic to keep itself together; a skeleton needed far less. They continued the assault, keeping the tendrils at bay where they could, and attacking the dome itself as much as possible.

Hellas and Brick exchanged looks. "Shame that grumpy nomad fellow isn't here yet," Brick quipped. "He'd like this part." He then turned back to the dome, continuing his assault on it from the inside. Hellas joined the fray, slicing through anything that came within reach of his sword.

--------
Castle Kestrel
Miss Jensen glanced up from her clipboard. Interesting things were happening at the Manor.

Euripides had taught her that a proper entrance was important. And of course, she didn't even need thousands of years of experience on the battlefield to know that speed was even more important.

A pair of conveniently placed zombies appeared in the throne room. "Bring me my horse," she said.

--------

Spacefleet--Some control room or other
"Sir, do you remember that surveillance probe that went down on the surface?"
The officer in charge of the control room walked over to the cadet's station. "What about it?"
"It's moving. Looks as though somebody found it."
"Where is it now?"
"Brassport."
"The natives are probably worshipping it or something," the officer grunted. The cadet said nothing, despite her family coming from the region. "Activate the camera, see what's going on."

The cadet punched several commands into her console. Down on the surface, the probe buzzed to life, and the protective cover over its lens retracted. The image was heavily distorted, since the probe had a telescopic lens meant to monitor the surface from high in the atmosphere, and didn't work so well at close range.

[Pixie]

Ellen balanced on her knees until she found the bottle of pain-numb potion. She took a small swig, as relief surged through her beaten body. She hadn't be hurt by anyone but herself! Before she could stand to her feet, she noticed that black tendrils getting in Alabaster's face, literally.

I guess they aren't evil after all.. Or at least they're on our side. Wish they weren't blinding everybody. Oh, good, the tendrils are gonna get that slime of a man! Wait... no!

There was a blast as a hole was shatter in the black dome and another general burst his way in. She watched as the tendrils binding alabaster where severed, and the three men made their way out.

She grasped grabbed the pacification and persuasion potions in her left hand. A surge or adrenaline rushed through her body and invigorated her with with a second wind. She didn't bother trying to stand up, instead she morphed into the form of the blue bird, and took after them, a meter or two behind the reach of the swinging blades.

We need to attack the problem at it's roots! I will catch them distracted, then I will change in mid air into a elephant and knock them over. Then I'll shift into my regular form and force feed them potions to them while they are down. Maybe tie them up so they can't attack me when they come around...

Ellen took a little higher into the air, about 10 feet above the general's heads, before her vertigo took effect. She gave off a small, nervous cheep, then promptly turned into the form of a massive elephant, right above their heads. She plummeted.

[Amneiger]

Amneiger listened intently to what he was hearing through his communicator. It was clear that he'd joined this conversation partway through, but he thought he had the gist of it.

"Just a minute," he said to Bacon and Zephyr. "Maybe we won't have to go outside." He switched his communicator to the shuttle. "This is Amneiger. What can you see of what's going on in front of the Manor?"

"There's a big black dome over everything," the pilot said. "I can't see through it, but there's a big hole in it, and the zombies - and skeletons now - are spreading out and attacking the dome."

"The dome itself?"

"Yes sir."

Amneiger wondered why the zombies weren't attacking the source of the dome. He didn't think they'd figure out the answer by just standing here. He switched the communicator back to Celestial's frequency so he could keep listening.

"Let's go take a look," he said to Bacon and Zephyr. "We shouldn't need to go outside, I think. There should be rooms with windows at the front of the Manor, right? We can look out the windows instead of walking into the middle of a battle."

[♥ Azzie]

It seemed quite a short time before Azzie heard the bang of Brick's punches. She may- may- have been half-dozing in her flight and nearly touching the floor. Fear was a powerful motivator, but the lack of sleep she'd gotten the previous night was even more so. At any rate, the loud noise made for a very rude awakening indeed. And it was much louder than she'd heard it when it had been all the way at the Castle.

When she was properly alert again, she looked around, and still she could see nothing. This was ridiculous. She allowed herself to begin glowing a bit. It did nothing to help her see around her, dark as it was, but the presence of some light in her field of vision was oddly calming.

She also knew that it made her a sitting duck. Focusing, she closed her eyes and felt a change in her body. When she opened her eyes again nothing looked different, but she knew she'd shrunken to bottle-size. It was a feeble precaution, but it seemed to her that a five-inch target would probably be harder to hit than a five-foot one. She hoped, anyway.

More punch-sounds rang out, and in a moment light seeped in from... a hole? They had managed to punch a hole in the barrier. But it was still rather unnaturally dark. The light didn't seem to spread as far inside as it should have. She flew, not toward the hole as she would have dearly liked to, but in the opposite direction. If the invaders were attacking over there, it stood to reason that the farther she was from it the safer she was. She flew until she bumped into a wall, and then stopped, keeping an eye on the opening as she waited for something to happen.