Open Bone-Dog Saints

[Tia'aria]

It was about noon when Tia'aria made her way out of the library, a place that had become her new home, and she was making her way to the Pearl House where she stayed, far down at the lowest tier and overlooking the Plunge Pool Bay. It was a quiet day, but a cold one, as it was often at this time of the year. Her coat barely warded off the bite of cold, but she toughed it out. There was always a chance to buy something warmer from Red Diamond or the bazaar, so she didn't worry too much. There were colder nights than there were days, but she knew there was a promise of spring behind every cold gust of wind that blew in off the Suvan.

There was a loud sound, an explosion, and somebody screamed bloody murder, startling the girl out of her thoughts with an audible and unflattering gasp. She whirled around to face north, the direction of the entrance of the city, thoughts immediately flying to ones of danger and invasion. There was always that threat, being so isolated of a city. Second, she thought of Zith, and her eyes flicked up to the sky warily as though she expected one of those monsters to swoop down at that moment.

It wasn't so.

There was shouting, growing louder, and she followed the sound. As she ran, she unsheathed her suvai, ready for what trouble may be already happening in the city. She didn't expect what she saw though, after forcing her way through frightened people that only wanted to escape. Crystalline dog-like animals, mauling citizens and guests as they burst out of a building and flooded the streets. Some were felled by the very people they were trying to kill, but there was such a great number of them that Tia'aria was dismayed and frightened. With her weapon, the admittedly fancy dagger, she felt she didn't stand much of a chance against these things.

However, people weren't saved by fear and uncertainty. She may not have been a legal citizen of Riverfall, but she loved the city with all her heart nonetheless.

The Konti ran forward, baring the suvai as she sprung upon the nearest monster and the woman he was in quick pursuit of. Shouting her best Tukant oath, she slashed at the dog thing, getting dangerously close to the beast to do so. The dog snarled and stepped back to glare at her before lunging, leaving the helpless woman along for only so long as the one that stabbed at him remained alive. She had barely even pricked his hide and drawn blood, and even so it seemed he had some resilience to the poison in the weapon because it barely staggered him before she had to run, cursing at her own stupidity for not working this out in the first place.

She ran away from the violence, drawing the dog away from all his buddies where she had a better chance of facing off with him. She wasn't a runner, however, and her inactivity was taking a toll on her endurance.

"Petch," she cursed under her breath. She felt like the dog was on her heels but her heart was hammering too hard to hear him. Sweat made holding her suvai difficult and the burning in her thighs made running painful.

Turning a hard corner, she spied a raised alcove she could try to use to boost herself up into a building. Turning to see where her quarry had run, and then flailing her weapon at him when he lunged at her face, she toppled over with him on top of her. She did the only thing she could, which was grabbing at the underside of his jaw and pushing his head away from her face. Her suvai found itself forced through the base of his neck and he finally slumped down, either taken by the poison or dead. She didn't stick around to find out, pulling the weapon from the beast as quickly as possible while taking the greatest care to not break the weapon, she took off again. Not to hide in the alcove, but back to the action.

[Descant Shepard]

Descant's eyes narrowed at the fray. He took in the panic and fear that all were putting off. Those that were escaping continued to shoot him baffled looks as he simply stood observing the goings on. His eyes scanned like some sort of machine, noting the style of motion and attack that the dogs employed. They were wild and uncalculated, with numbers on their side. They attack in packs but some strayed. It also seemed that the packs singled out a target before closing in on them. Dogs, he'd disliked them from his days as a pit-fighter. But those were Kelvic dogs, these were diseased and translucent. Where had they come from?

His thought process was interrupted as a canine came charging at him, jaws snapping at this throat. Descant's arms drew up from his cloak, his right hand gripping the handle of a dagger while the left block the dog by gripping under its jaw. With a clean thrust and a planted foot, the blade plunged into the throat of the writhing dog, taking its life. Letting the dog fall, the Kelvic's golden eyes surveyed the crowd. A woman in a tree and one surrounded by a pack. The treed female would be safe for the moment, but the cornered woman was priority number one.

His speed was considerable even in his human appearance, weaving around and darting past people that ran the opposite direction, making his way toward the Human. She weilded a crossbow, she would be completely defenseless but at short range, it would do no good. Once he was in range of Eosi And the group of dogs pursuing her, he barreled into one of them, jabbing the dagger into it's side, sending the dog flying limply towards some of the others. Their attention was easy to draw, as a few turned toward him. Trying to tak the heat off of the Redhead to buy her some Ike to figure a way to escape or help the treed woman.

He backed away and shouted towards the dogs o keep their attention locked on him. "Hey, right here you filthy bunch!! Come on!" He beat against his chest as he backed up to provoke them into attack. A second later, one of the group charged at him. He employed the same tactic as when he killed the first one that attacked him. His left arm blocked the dog as it lunged, and his right stuck the dagger into a sensitive area, this time the heart.

[Xalet]

Thick horseshoes pounded against the ground, icy and powdered as it was as the Knight and Squire made it up and into the main city. With one ton of horse and four hundred pounds of Akalak and items, the smart dogs gave way. The not-so-smart ones? A loud crack could be heard as the tough skeleton of whatever made up the otherworldly creatures gave way underneath one of Septimus' hooves. She wasn't about to take the time to step over or around such things, in fact if Xalet didn't know any better, she appeared to be aiming for them. "Leaning right!" he called out, one hand used to control his balance upon Septimus' saddle while his right pulled a single keen-edged short sword from its scabbard. Twisting the polished blade in his hand he suddenly moved his body weight toward the right most side of the saddle, his right foot resting heavily into the stirrup as his right arm swung in an under-handed motion, the weapon peeling away the skin and bone of one such canine creature as he executed it from behind mid-run. The speed Septimus was charging at gave even the seasoned rider pause, forcing him to re-adjust his grip and seating as he pulled himself back up into the appropriate portion of the saddle. Leaning back, he yanked the reins as his eyes spotted someone in particular, the six armed woman Rosela. "Oh, it's the hot one!" Xuphim was quick to point out. "Squire, to that tree, I know the occupant." Xalet stated simply, squeezing against Septimus' leftmost side in order to direct her in the correct direction. Once there, Xalet looked upward toward the olive skinned Eypharian, addressing her with an unfamiliar "Hello ma'am." unless she knew of the more proper and duty bound soul. Any rambunctious Bone Dogs that wished for a taste of Septimus' hind-quarters would no doubt be met with a face full of iron-clad hoof. "Pardon a moment." he continued, keeping his introduction brief as he informed Septimus, "Dismounting." so she would recognize his desire to remove himself from her back. Unburdened by him she could no doubt fight in a more unrestricted manner. The heavy sollerets upon his feet came down upon the ground with a pair of loud thuds, his left hand finally sliding away from the horn rested proudly at the forefront of his saddle. Seemingly the Akalak didn't pay much mind to lowering himself upon the ground in the middle of several Bone Dogs looking to have their first taste of Eypharian. The first sought to peel away the metal carapace that covered Xalet, looking to get at the soft flesh within. Getting at the juicy center of the Knight wasn't so easy. As the creature pushed off of it's hind legs, jaws extended, Xalet's blade came right through the mouth at the gum-line, sending pearly teeth spinning through the air as the unnaturally sharp weapon exited the back of the things skull. This was where Xalet's combat experience fighting multiple opponents showed itself. Those well trained eyes followed the next Bone Dog, pulling his leading foot to the rear with a quick sweep as his hand wrangled one of the four-legs keeping the thing upright. With a flick of his arm he sent the dog crashing against the tree like a man would toss a sandbag, the brutality of the maneuver a technique clearly learned outside of the typical Akalak culture. A Knight knew not to allow an opponent a chance to recover of course, as even after the canine had impacted the tree with a most heinous force, his right fist clutching the hilt of his sword as he spun the weapon in a rear-ward grip, slammed it into the opponent's midsection, rupturing whatever valuable organs it kept inside. Even before the first corpse could land lifelessly upon the cold ground Xalet twisted on the balls of his feet, his right knee scraping along the floor below as he hacked into a second dog's spine with an ice pick styled maneuver of his blade. Unable to control it's body thanks to the lack of any appropriate neural connectivity the Akalak rose, bringing the top of his foot upward into the grievously wounded hound's chest, leaving the limp remains cartwheeling through the air until it finally arrived at a skidding stop nearly fifteen feet away. A third dog was barely shoved back with an awkward thrust of the Knight's recovering foot, but it was just enough to allow him to quite literally reverse his grip back to the neutral position and toss his short sword the small distance like an over-sized dagger with his right hand, the blue blade kissing the hard musculature as his left hand retrieved his second sword of the pair, cleaving a vicious arc into the translucent skinned monsters vitals. With a foot he held the third body steady so his right hand could retrieve his first weapon with a harsh yank. Sheathing both weapons in their respective scabbards, Xalet held a hand up toward Rosela, "Need a hand, ma'am?" Secret : Since we're kind of a unit and in order to keep the fluidity of combat, Septimus has given me permission to post some of her movements while we were together, and I've given her the same. Oh and hey Rosela.

[Septimus]

Moving a large mass through a crowded place had proved to be a large task in itself. However, when most of the crowd was diseased skeleton-framed dogs attacking a city, there was close to no problem with that for with the large mass came a lot of weight. With a copious amount of weight came a rich amount of muscle which also brought a great amount of speed. Add all of that together, along with a witty brain, and you got Septimus.

Septimus, whom of course, was not only trampling the beasts but directly lunging at them. As expected, those who tried to dodge and snap at Septimus or Xalet both were struck with another hoof, whether it be from the one behind or beside the original. If that didn't get the job done, Septimus had full faith in Xalet to get it himself. Actually, he did do this. Her eyes in this form allowed her to see in a much wider view and gave her a better alert of what was coming and what was happening.

Feeling the reins being pulled back, Septimus came to a grinding halt as her hoof clashed against the skull of one of the dogs, reducing it to a pile of lurid pulp. Her head was high and swiftly searching for the woman in the direction to which he was directing her. Needless to say, she stepped on it once she spotted the six armed woman. Septimus had never seen a woman of her race and her mind was curious. But all in all, could you blame her? Never had she seen any creature quite like the woman. Septimus quickly realized she had let her mind wander, even if it was for a small second, and she rapidly whipped it back into focus.

Septimus quickly stood guard as the Knight dismounted from her large black back. Less weight on her back, meant more freedom to move. Plus, she wouldn't have to worry about throwing him off with any sudden unexpected movements. Ass-kicking time, motherpetchers!

The first bone-dog to strike hesitated at first and that in particular made its imminent death sooner than it would have been, for Septimus quickly jerked the entire front half of her body up and sent it propelling down. It was a smart creature, unlike the rest of its siblings, and had stopped to analyze its opponent and see where to strike. However, it wasn't nearly quick enough.

The next opponent, or opponents rather, came in a pair and almost struck at the same time. However, Septimus took note of one of the beasts that was coming, no doubt, straight for her. The other however, was coming too slow for a full on attack to the point a novice could tell. Septimus almost instantly suspected a feint and that's precisely what happened. The dog thrusted forward but scuttled away from her just as the other bone-dog came to strike at her hindquarter. To keep balance, Septimus kicked her left hind hoof out (rather than both) with great force and quickly felt it hit.

The shockwave thrown into the bone-dog sent it flying a good 7 yards minimum and needless to say, it didn't move again. Septimus performed this, all the while lunging for the other dog. She kicked off once more with her large muscular legs and threw her broad shoulders forward, all to gain momentum. This very momentum allowed her to cover the distance in the time needed for her hooves to crash into the dog before it could get around her and charge toward Xalet and the six armed woman.

[Kavala]

It was chaos, that was for sure. Kavala fired her crossbow only when she knew she had a clear shot because there were people and warriors everywhere. She thought she heard voices she recognized, and glanced wildly around but too much was going on at once. Warhorses and Syliran Knights? The gross crystaline dogs were doing real and true damage to her city and Kavala hated it.

She loaded and fired repeatedly, sometimes hitting her mark sometimes going off course though she aimed carefully each time, sighting in the dogs down the line of the crossbow. The dogs were moving and that made them not easy to hit. She also had a limited supply of bolts so she was being careful. She was playing out her amo very carefully when a scene unfolded below her.

A woman rescued a girl and then stood in the street torn. She then seemed to spot Kavala and lunged towards her. Kavala put down her crossbow, moved to the edge of the porch, and dropped down flat on her stomach, extending a hand. "Pass her up and then you get up here too. You'll do more good picking them off up here than down there!" Kavala said, stretching her hand out reaching for the girl from the relative safety of the roof over hang. There was plenty of room for two women and a child and the roof was far sturdy enough to hold them for sure.

If the woman with the firey hair tossed the girl up, Kavala would grab her, swing her onto the roof and then make sure she was safe before turning back to help the stranger up onto the porch. Once the pair were out of danger, she'd definitely go back to shooting.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

It was an all out fight now, Akalak, Knights, even Konti were in the streets to combat the strange looking bone dogs. Riaris quickly rushed into the clearing, ready to meet the beast head on. The others with him also charged in to help out. The Akalak thought to make his way towards the downed man that had been dragged into the streets, but he was quickly blocked by a charging bone dog. The create lunged at him and the jewel skin warrior jumped back to avoid it's sharp claws. Lakan in hand he charged in just as the beasts did a second time, and slamming his weapon into it's gut as it rose up.

Riaris forced the beast into the wall where he stabbed it again and again, before dropping the body onto the ground. He turned around, spotting his brothers firing arrows into the beasts, and others wielding lakans and long sword to take down the threat. Looking around he saw that there were just as many people moving between the bone dogs, which made it hard for the archers to take any shots that weren't close.

"Fall back and circle around! We need to cage them it, and force the rest into into a close circle where we can take them!"

Hearing Riaris' words, the archers back off and and split up to corner the areas so that they could keep all the crystal dogs in eye sight and drive them towards the rest. The others using lakans and long swords did so as well, moving around to force the dogs to follow their would be prey and keeping them mostly running through every street.

Another beast raced towards Riaris, who slammed a stiff boot into his face, then tackled the dog to the ground where he could jab is lakan into his face and neck. Standing up again, his gaze fell to the far distance where he saw women climbing into a roof. He recognized Kavala of course, it would be hard for him not to. There were dogs on the ground below attempting to jump at them and feast upon their bodies.

Riaris raced towards them only to be met with another dog who jumped into his arms and knocking him down. The Akalak jammed his lakan into it's face hard and shoved the dog off him as fast as his limbs would allow. Standing to full height again, he noticed two more dogs charging towards him. Thinking quickly, he reached down, gripping the legs of the slain dog and swinging it's body into the air to slam again the closest dog, then to the next, sending them both flying through the air.

With the small area cleared, he called up to the women on the roof. "Are you alright?"

[Cephei]

The frozen tree was slippery; she kept trying to climb up the tree, but to no avail. The tree was just too frozen for her to get a solid grip, and the Bone dogs had surrounded the tree now, jumping up and pulling at the ends of her cloak. She threw the Tulwar sword to the ground, missing the thought of protection that it gave her. With two hands now she grabbed up for the limb above her head, pulling her body up and away from the beastly canines that slobbered and growled for her flesh.

Cephei felt a sense of triumph come over her, as she watched other’s helping those on the roof. She did not need any help, she could manage this on her own, and she was strong enough to do so. As she moved her feet, the boots began to slip. Cephei’s heart skipped a solid beat as she grasped the limb above her head firmly. No matter, this did not help her situation. The tree was too slick for her flesh, she could not grasp the limb firm enough, nor could she find her footing on the other tree limb. This was it, this was the end. Cephei’s head turned and looked up at the sky, as she plummeted to her doom and death.

The bone dogs instantly came upon her body, as Cephei’s eyes lingered on the sky, ready to embrace Leth once again. She was ready for this death to overcome her. The pain was excruciating at first, making her scream in pain and horror as the dogs ripped flesh off of bone, then everything went numb. She felt nothing, heard nothing, only saw pieces of her body being ripped off and devoured by the evil canines. Her eyes stared staring up at the sky, as she left this world, and entered the next.

[Vanator]

Vanator veered away from his course, bent on helping the woman with the tulwar. But the freakish canines were everywhere, rabidly attacking anything they could pounce, sometimes even each other. One of the creatures lunged at the Drykas from the side, its fangs mashing against the metal links of his mail shirt and causing Vanator to stagger. One hand pounded repeatedly against its chest as the other brought the end of the ax handle down on its head, twice, until he heard the crack of bone, and could see the ivory skull within its translucent body split. Heaving the massive creature onto another one crouching to attack, Vanator leaped over a third running past. His eyes found the woman again, scrambling up a tree, bone-dogs snapping at her heels.

"Hold on!" Vanator yelled to her. Two of the beasts skittered in front of him, each with their maws sunk into the headless torso of some humanoid, pulling it apart in a tug-of war. Van swung the battle ax with two hands downward like an executioner, cleaving the head of one, while the other started off, dragging the torn body with its brethren's severed head still clamped on.

Breaking into a run, Vanator saw the woman throw down her weapon, desperate to climb out of the attacker's reach, but finding no purchase on the frozen tree. She struggled to cling to a limb, the slavering beasts growling and jumped at the dangling woman. Vanator cleared the path before him, now frantic to reach the stranded girl. Wide sweeping arcs of the honed battle ax hacked a path for him, leaving bone-dogs scattering or writhing on the ground, their bodies slashed apart. But he would be too late.

"NO!!" As if in slow motion, Vanator watched the woman's grip slip and she crashed to the ground amid the ravaging creatures. His rescue was delayed again as stained fangs clamped onto his riding boot, the grip of the jaw so powerful in nearly broke his bones. With a grunt the Drykas swung the ax down on the monster's back, the blade biting through its spine. Even as it died, Vanator had to drag the thing several feet before the iron-like jaw released.

He ran full sprint until he came upon the scene. The man could not see her for the crowd of bone dogs that descended upon her. The Denusk drew forth a fistful of res, quickly forming a wobbling sphere before igniting it and lobbing it at the mob of dog-things. The unstable res-mass exploded in a flash of flame, more stunning in sight than in harmful fire, but the effect was sufficient to scatter the nightmarish monsters.

"Petch." What they left made Van groan. There was little that remained of the fallen woman to discern, her flesh shredded from bone. The beasts had dragged off an arm and a leg. But there was no time, and no place in the Drykas' heart, to mourn the stranger. It was true not only in the Grass, but everywhere. Caihya's cycle never ends, and everyone had their appointment with Dira.

Vanator's attention returned to the attempts to staunch the bone-dog assault. The Akalak unit was shifting, moving to encompass the beasts to better annihilate then. He headed off to help them when he caught sight of his sister helping a girl and a woman onto a rooftop. He was glad to see Kavala safe, and uttered a prayer that she would stay put. Others moved about, some fighting, some fleeing. He spotted Rosela, the clothes merchant clinging to a tree with her many arms. Van did not fear for her. A deep violet Akalak, flanked by a beautiful Tiaden War Horse, were defending the Eypharian.

From another corner, a Konti burst into the street, a bone-dog hot on her heels. The thing overtook her, but she slew it with her suvai. Instead of seeking shelter, she headed off again into the fray.

"Find safety or to the Kuvay'Nas!" He yelled to the Konti. Not only could they help the Akalak stem the tide, they would find better defense within their numbers. Vanator then headed for the hulking Akalak yelling up at Kavala, for he appeared to have taken charge of the fight.

[Rosela]

OOCSorry for the huge delay! What once been a somewhat secluded tree to climb up on, quickly became surrounded by people and bone dogs. Eyes darting around, she tried not to focus on the bloodshed as several people dispatched the creatures. The Akalak with the horse turned out shockingly to be Xuphim and she heaved a sigh of relief. ..Ma'am? Since when did Xuphim, who she made out with in the middle of the petching waterpark, call her ma'am? Hesitating a moment, Rosela grabbed his hand in two of hers and slid awkwardly out of the tree. Her first instinct, to immediately jump into his arms and cry, was tempered by her confusion and the amount of blood all over him. She'd never get her shirt clean of all that. Instead, she kept close to the tree trunk, clutching her stiletto like a talisman. He looked like Xuphim... Was this his other side? Why didn't Xuphim speak up then; wasn't he at all happy to see her? Maybe this other, formal side took over just for battles. "What's going on? Where did these come from?" She yelled to not-Xuphim, wanting to be heard above the barks and howls of the dwindling dog pack. With so many people fighting them, the dogs were vanishing quickly. In moments of relative quiet in between howls, she could hear echoes of dogs throughout the city. She had absolutely no intention of wandering around the city, slaughtering those things. "Can I...Can you help me get home?"

[Eosi]

A man off to the side lured the attention of the surrounding pack. Whatever he said, it didn’t matter. That gave Eosi the perfect opportunity to follow up, scrambling after the girl. As she closed the distace, Kavala’s flawless face came directly into view. The Konti reached out to her and without thinking, Eosi complied. With a steady heave she tossed the child up. Seconds spilled away as the Konti pulled the squirming girl onto the roof. The Inarta sent another arrow into the pack, striking a leg before scrambling up to safety herself.

”Thanks,” she said breathlessly. Notching another arrow in her weapon, she began taking keener aim. There wasn’t a lot of time for gratitude at the point. People were dying all around them and the pack only seemed to thicken with every loss. It seemed Rosela was okay for the moment, having caught the attention of a Syliran knight. She was rather beautiful, after all. Being a woman in Riverfall afforded certain advantages.

The creatures began jumping and snapping. The child was weeping quietly in terror behind them, braced against the edge. Their saliva smelled something awful. She drilled a shot right between the eyes of one before a rescuer emerged in the form of a large, purple Akalak. He swung the inert form of one beast to ward off another. A tactic only successful with the application of brute force. ”Nice!” She cried, firing again into the crowd. Petch, she was lucky to have brought her bow.

The Akalak was not the only rapidly approaching party. She gave an appreciate glance toward the human running up his flank, carrying a rather broad axe. Even in the worst of times, the gods could be relied upon for some attractive scenery. But that prompted an interesting point. Was Leo alright? Chances were he was still at the Sanctuary. But the man could handle himself. He'd burn the city down first.

”Incoming!” She said as a dog attempted to bound up the left side of the ledge. This was madness. Rather than fire she kicked it, forcing its slavering jaws backward. Still, the creature was far more powerful than she realized. It snapped and snarled at her foot as she ground her heel into its face. ”What in the Ukalas are these things?” She hissed, struggling with the otherworldly canine.