37 - A Call To Arms

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Help the Heavens go after the cultists' compound
When: April 1
Where: A converted farm on the rural edge of the Tokyo metro area
Summary: Between Amaterasu's shinki observing the known cultists, and the work that the new gods and shinki have done, a rural property that might be the cultists' compound has been identified!






After months of investigation, Amaterasu's shinki still haven't found the rebel gods she's searching for -- but, with the help of the new gods and shinki, following the cult has revealed their rural meeting place! It was once a farm, but has recently been rebuilt into a compound with a big central building, heavy concrete walls and plenty of outdoor spaces for ritual magic. The new gods, and some of the old, have been asked to descend to the Near Shore and find out everything they can about this mystery compound.

High Walls

It's not just concrete that protects the compound. The walls are engraved with magical symbols, and any god or shinki who gets too close to them finds themselves feeling increasingly sick, weak and repelled from the structure. Even flying over won't work. There's only one exception: when the front gates are opened to allow cultists, or scheduled deliveries, a careful few gods or shinki can sneak through without being blocked by the spell. How will they get in? Shadow a cultist? Pretend to be a pizza delivery driver? Or will they risk alerting the cultists by trying to break down some other part of the wall?

Booby Traps

The problems don't end when they get inside the compound. Dozens of cultists seem to live here -- or maybe they're just visiting for the weekend? Either way, there's a lot of people inside, and while most of them overlook the presence of Far Shore beings, that doesn't mean there's no danger. Magical booby-traps and seals are dotted around the grounds and throughout the big, sprawling, two-story manor at the end of the driveway. Some of them blight any god or shinki who triggers them. Others glue their feet to the ground, or make them instantly noticeable to any passing cultist, or weaken them by draining their energy away.

The traps have clearly been made by several different people, and some of them have weird senses of humor! Almost any effect might be inflicted on the unwary characters who stumble across a booby-trap, although most of them won't cause serious injury or death, and the effects wear off within a few minutes to a few hours after either they get away from the trap, or someone else helps them by destroying it.

The First Fight

Not every human cultist in the compound is blind to the presence of gods and shinki -- and with all the traps being triggered, it's just a matter of time before they're caught. The first warning that the cultists know they're being invaded is the piercing sound of a bell. The second is the appearance of lashing ayakashi tentacles that rise up from the ground all throughout the manor house. As the humans flee, the tentacles will wrap around any gods or shinki they can catch, trying to drag them further into the house and down. Although they can be cut and destroyed, the main body of the creature is out of reach: it lurks far below, in the building's basement, gnashing a massive, serrated octopus beak that's ready to rip apart and devour any souls who can't struggle free of its grip in time. Follow the spectral tentacles down to the beast's lair, and slay it before it can kill all the invaders!

Please comment to the First Fight thread below if your characters are trying to rend the ayakashi. Each character can only be in ONE First Fight thread. RNG will be used to determine which fighters manage to strike the final blow, but RNG will only select a single thread; players are free to negotiate how the final blow happens within that thread.

The Second Fight

As the octopus ayakashi dissolves, finally free from the magical bondage that forced it to guard the cultists' compound, a mysterious door is revealed set into the far wall of the manor basement. A strange glow emanates from within. Enter... if you dare!

To participate in the second fight, please comment to the Second Fight thread below with the character(s) who will be participating in your thread. A top-level with further details will go up on February 7.

In Summary:

• Investigate a cult compound
• Watch out for traps
• Battle a giant octopus
• Uncover a mystery
• Have fun~

Questions? Leave us a question on the OOC Plotting Post and we'll do our best to answer ASAP.

Comments

Booby traps

[hypomeneo]

I will burn it off.

[Says the Caster who... is actually on the hunt for cultists right now for interrogation a friendly chat with pizza and is phasing into view as he turns a corner, speckled with blood.

Huh... vine trap. Also a bunch of magical traps about.]

Be careful how you move once you're free. They've mined this area pretty thoroughly.

[... which... Caster. Detecting those things are kind of their business.]

[curruid_coinchenn]

Do it, your magic won't harm me.

[ Well, that's not entirely true. While his Rune Magic automatically activates for Magic Resistance, the pain of the spell can still be felt. Not that it would show on his face, of course.

Berserker has a vague awareness of the magic traps around them. Weak mana signatures, but his skill is not with magic, of course. He'll defer to the Caster's skill. ]

It won't stop me again...but I appreciate the warning.

[hypomeneo]

[Waver makes a noise of understanding as he aims. Prepare for some literal carefully controlled firepower, then. Regardless of the fact of harm or pain (thank you for not flinching, Berserker, you do a guy still negotiating with enacting all the flavors of hurting people good), Waver is still taking care with the damage he's doing.

Mainly that means freeing Berserker and totally destroying the trap so it doesn't get anyone else.]

... no. It won't. You're one of the strongest and most sensible around here.

[When not Madness Enhanced, but otherwise...

... yes, that was a compliment, don't call him out on it.]

Hmph.

Honestly I'm swinging on leaving this mess, disabling it so one of the idiots running around here doesn't blow this for everyone, or guiding the damn gits running this place into having their own traps blow up in their face.

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ Berserker doesn't call him out on it, instead choosing to give Waver an odd smile. Being complimented is strange still and there is something funny about a Berserker being called the most sensible.

But his Madness Enhancement is trigger, whoops. The Caster is not his enemy, though, so he still speaks to him normally. There's just a driving force to destroy the cultists now. Nothing to do but slaughter. ]

Having them run into their own traps...I like that idea. [ A toothy, twisted smile as he slowly rises to his feet, unsteady and still weakened. ] Payback...I can kill the stragglers.

[ A voice as cold as ice. No remorse, no quarter for the enemy. ]

[hypomeneo]

... I was originally hunting them down to interrogate them, but paring down their numbers can only help.

[Ooookay... between that smile and that sudden appetite for death, that's a turn. Madness Enhancement his mind whispers and instinct tells him to go with it. Waver has been made aware of the Heroic Spirits in the building Far Shore and while he does not dwell on himself, he does know what Berserker is.

But that's okay! We can make this work! Waver has a plan! Servant instincts are rising as Waver thinks this through. He has a bunch of familiars watching in the compound and he's more aware than most of the cultists' movements. He can lure away cultists so others can breach inside with less difficultly. Or get them away from kids... sheesh, he ain't pleased about some of their number. (Sorry Elfnein and Romeo, but guys?! Why are you here?! Waver is Concerned.)

Berserker can be their gory Guardian Angel in a sense.]

Especially if they're lured away from the most strategic points.

[... right. Tonight is a Theme and there will be Much for Waver to process and Talk with Iskandar about later. But murder seems like it might do everyone some good... so let's do this??

(Hi anxiety, no time to deal with you right now. Time to go Servant on some cultists.)]

[curruid_coinchenn]

Not all of them are important, are they? The ones that run to defend out here probably won't have the knowledge you're looking for.

[ A...reasonable assessment from him. Berserker's strength returns steadily, no longer relying on his spear to keep himself upright. Now he's just angry and ready for the slaughter. Though Waver is not his Master, he will defer to him as such in this situation. He recognizes the other's abilities for what they are. A tactician in command of an unstoppable, remorseless killing machine. ]

I will spare any you want to keep alive.

[ Notice he didn't say "not harm". ]

Just point me in the direction of our enemies...

[hypomeneo]

[HE NOTICED. W E L P... delivering the mercy kill might be a persuasion point, right? NECESSARY ACTIONS.

... good thing Iskandar worked him through justifying everything in his head so he doesn't feel guilt, right?]

No. Not all of them are. Most are low level... the trick is finding the right one. We both need to keep an eye out. Their weakness will reveal itself to at least one of us.

... I trust your judgement when you spot it. If you think an enemy might hold a key in destroying all of them... give them to me and we shall find out.

[He is also not saying 'no harm'.

... Iskandar, Satya, Irisveil. These are some of the reasons of why. He cannot do this without knowing exactly why he's doing this. He will not leap without knowing. Indecision will murder him here... not thinking and accepting the consequences will murder him with guilt. So, no. This is necessary. He further and further slips into the Servant mind state as he speaks.]

This way. The alarm has not been raised yet, but I expect it will be soon. Some of the others are being very... showy in the way they're handling things. [He... is watching a JPOP concert through one pair of eyes of his familiars for instance, okay? And everyone's having trouble with the traps.] I will conceal our actions so they don't attract any more attention than they must and tip our hand before it's needed.

[The feathered fan appears in his hand as Waver prepares to bend the air around them to help conceal the sound and sight of slaughter. There's a group of cultists milling around the building, heading towards the van.

Well... the pizza van was eventually going to attract attention, wasn't it?]

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ Again, he simply defers to Waver's judgement and nods. Anyone who looked important, disable but do not kill. The smallest of mercies that Berserker could offer. He follows after him in silence, looking more like a predator stalking its prey than a human being.

The other Servant's words are heard and acknowledged, but not with words. He's in another world right now, only interested in seeking out his enemies and those that need to be destroyed. Conquer, take, destroy -- it's all he knows and all he's good at. As the cultists start heading towards the van, Gae Bolg appears in his grip. A vicious smile comes to his face, but he holds back for just a second. ]

Stay clear...

[ A courtesy offered to Waver as Berserker leaps forward, spear gripped in both hands. The cultist closest to him is the first to fall, the brutal strike crumpling them to the ground. A spray of blood covers his face as he yanks his lance free. ]

One.

[hypomeneo]

[Staying clear doesn't mean he doesn't get a full view of the carnage. Waver's teeth grit as he positions himself in front of the van, a part underneath the Servant acting to support recoiling at the violence - just... not as much as he ever thought he would. Like he's seen life reaped before him violently before though Waver would never call his mindset that of a warrior. And. He doesn't know if Chikusa is back with another cultist of his own to interrogate. So he's there to keep any cultists out as they thin the ranks.

Waver first casts a wind spell to keep the screams from getting out, and adds elements of light from fire magic to it to create a silencing mirage to keep their stealth. Doing something with the bodies later will have to be... thought of later.

Right now, with their actions concealed, Waver's job is to protect Berserker from the traps and spring them at the cultists to trap them at their mercy. Waver's fan is out and flicking deftly as he weaves mana to match Berserker's merciless dance. There, there, there... traps unravel as bodies fall and more spring as some cultists do the sensible thing and try to run, and there are little bursts of magic to head them off and guide them to ruin. Waver's eyes take in the magic flaring. Some linked to individual cultists and some of a more permanent nature like the wards on the outer walls... and some actually not magical at all. One cultist screams as his foot is impaled by spikes erupting from the ground.

Waver is watching for any cultist that the others might want to protect the most and let escape, no matter how subtle the sign. The panic that Berserker causes should reveal the (mod) chosen one.

And it does.

It's the glimmer of the other's eyes as Berserker approaches, concern for that one person.]

That one.

[The fan points, glimmering with mana running across crane feathers.]

The one the other three want to protect.

[curruid_coinchenn]

[ Berserker's efficiency at killing is disturbing. The calculating nature as he takes lives shows what kind of existence he must have had prior to becoming a Heroic Spirit. A possibility that both could and could not be. Targets found and eliminated, then simply moving onto the next.

He listens to Waver, though, noting the one he wants alive. ]

They won't escape...

[ He simply shrugs off resistance from the cultists. Attacks go ignored, even if they harm him. Wounds appear on him, but they don't slow him down. Blood from his enemies mix with his own, creating a splattered canvas on his body.

The ones protecting the important one put up a decent amount of resistance, but they, too, soon fall. Conquer, take destroy. Unrelenting force. Single-minded determination mixed with sheer brutality. ]

[hypomeneo]

[... there's worse things to see, Waver thinks as the blood seeps into the earth. Worse things than enemies falling. There's a pulse of sheer fury at them because now? Now because of their fanaticism, their families and friends are going to suffer. There will be empty holes in lives where living, breathing people used to be and that can never be mended. Never.

The burden of that settles on his shoulders, since while Berserker did the killing, Waver gave the order. Not that he'd escape the responsibility of it regardless even if he was not in charge - by hand or word, he participated.

As he bears the responsibility for what comes next for the lone survivor - a whimpering wreck of a human being that still has the gleam of the true believer in his eyes. There's blood pooling under him - Waver can't tell if he's injured or not and if so the severity yet - and that doesn't matter as Waver strides forward. It can't matter right now, save for what he needs to prioritize to ask if it's going to be fatal.

He has questions and the cultist has answers.]

Thank you. Let's get our answers.

[Waver watches the writhing man carefully as he closes, ready to defend himself if he lashes out. Sure Berserker's there, but Waver's not inclined to make the unforgivable mistake of getting attacked by underestimating a desperate enemy. That's just going to get him killed one day.

To the cultist, then, as Waver prepares to snare them in hypnosis. A low, commanding growl.]

Look at me.