Completed [Bronze Woods] Calamity Glade (Shiyami, Viper, Wrenmae)

[Radiant]

The plan was formed, Ama listened intently to the opinions expressed by each of the members. She made a thinking expression, deciding on how would be the best to form each group. After some time, she came up with a formation "I think Shiyami and Kimi can both go together, the would be the first to engage, then Sir Murdock and Sir Viper can pair up, while I will be in the middle of both pairs. I can signal with my light." Ama didn't believe the glade could send anything to harm the ethereals, but you could never be too careful "Even though you are both ghosts, please remember that there is a possibility that whatever power reigns here have a method to harm you... please, truly be careful."

She gave time for the group to prepare themselves and to voice more opinions before they finally step in. She would answer them to the best of her abilities. After all was set, Ama hunched down and transformed back to her wolf form. The giant white canine then gave a bark, signalling she was ready. Ama would wait for Shiyami and Kimi to go, then she would go, followed by Murdock and Viper.

The separated party departed, mixed feelings between the lot of them. What would they face in this disastrous glade? Only one way to find out.

OOCAlright, I will send a PM containing what would happen to Shiyami first, after he has posted, I will send another PM to Wren and Vip.

[Shiyami]

Shiyami nodded his head, as the Dire Wolf laid out the plans. Seemed easy enough. Just charge in, and create enough havoc and destruction on whatever comes their way, while letting the living deal with any flankers. "Sounds entertaining. This may be less bothersome then I at first thought.", he said, his right eye filled with excitement. He looked at the glade, and took a deep breathe -only out of habit. Ghosts have no need for air, after all-, and floated in.

He had taken about the equivalent of seven human's steps, before he stopped. Another ethereal had appeared several meters in front of him, soon followed by another. As they quickly made themselves known, Shiyami narrowed his eye. He started counting the ghosts, glancing his eye left and right. I count six...no seven ethereals. In an almost orderly formation too. Which gives the possibility that there would be flankers, one to three per side. Worst case scenario, thirteen hostiles in all., Shiyami calculated, coating the blades of his scythe, and a point on the handle every two inches with his soulmist, all the while pushing Kimi, who, after some hesitation, ran back towards the Dire Wolf. "Let 's have some fun!", he called out with a wide, demonic grin on his face. And with that, he finally opened his scarlet red eye.

Quickly throwing the scythe at the group of seven ethereals, he flew after the dealt projectile, leaving his bright red trail in his wake. As he neared the ghosts, he pulled back his right fist, before swinging it at the nearest one. Feeling his fist make contact, he swung around his left leg, and hit a different target. Pulling back his fists, he started alternating his punches, and every once in awhile throwing kicks. Many of the attacks he was throwing, would not be possible if he were alive, and burdened by the mysterious force called gravity. Easily landing hits after hits, Shiyami himself was not exempt from attacks either. He was punched at least five good times now, and soon to be six, with other ethereals swinging their arms wildly, getting smacked and slashed -Holy shyke, was that a claw?!?!-. And that was only those seven ethereals. Shiyami could only trust his back to the others, from any possible threat of flankers.

OOCTwo groups of flanking ethereals, made up of one to three. Up too you guys how many come out.

Shiyami

[Viper]

Viper gave a nod with a smile, in response to everyone agreeing with the plan. Well the group may not be the best of friends, but at least they seemed to be able to agree on something. He managed to get one more once over before Ama turned back to her wolf self. Turning toward Murdock, he smiled.

"Well...I suppose that means everyone is in agreement. Shall we?" He finished with a slight chuckle as he turned his horse away from the group to move off in their assigned area of attack. Putting away his bird call, he kept the whistle in an easy to reach spot and then drew his bow and armour piercing arrow.

After getting his weapon prepared, he trudged along into the glade wondering what they might find. Viper didn't have to wonder long. For soon and whole pack of wolves was spotted charging their position. "Hmm...I hope that blade you ply your trade with is larger than a knife." He said, half jokingly to Murdock before drawing his bow and loosing the first arrow deep into the chest of the lead wolf. The action causing the beast to collapse into a heap to the floor.

Viper hadn't heard or seen any signal from any of the other two teams. Apparently they were the first to be attacked, he thought to himself. Huh, I feel almost flattered to be attacked first! Viper quickly blew his whistle to alert the others that they had been engaged. Throwing his bow over his shoulder, he then withdrew his sword and looked to Murdock.

"You think we can hold them? Or should we fall back!?" Viper could suddenly feel the large scar on his chest. The everlasting reminder of his last encounter with a pack of wolves. He wasn't to keen to engage such a large pack with only he and Murdock...but perhaps this mystery man had a trick up his sleeve? Especially since "falling back" from this type of an attack would be difficult at absolute best.

What Viper didn't notice, was the flock of crows eyeing them from behind their position, ready to swoop down. Whatever it was calling this glade it's home. It was surely powerful, and a force to be reckoned with. Hesitantly, Viper positioned his Strider to be facing the predators, ready to charge if Murdock agreed. His gaze now firmly fixed on the hunters as they bore down quickly on them.

[Wrenmae]

Wren noticed the ravens first. Strangely enough the crowding of their wings among the treetops first alerted him to their involvement. As they were all looking at him, piercingly, perhaps, he missed the first growl of the wolves as they stalked out of the undergrowth. Viper, however, was quick and launched his first arrow into the breast of the beast, dropping it.

Wren wheeled his horse immediately, leaving no room to explain what he thought they should do.

At once, the ravens took wing, shrieking in their low, hoarse voices and swooping down on Viper and Wren, obscuring their vision as the wolves moved into position.

Cursing, Wren pushed the hood of his steelcloth cloak over his head and swung off his horse, sending the beast galloping out of the glade and into the forest. It wouldn't run far, Vayt had made sure the thing knew its master.

On the ground, he was swiftly surrounded. Hypnotism would be a last resort, as it would be hard to explain to the others...especially those that would be returning to Syliras.

Instead he drew one of his throwing daggers and hurled it into the eye of the closest wolf, sending it yelping and snapping across the ground in death throes. With calm and almost mechanical efficiency, Wren drew three more of his throwing daggers and casually slew the wolves. Every now and then he'd pause to swipe at a diving bird, but mostly moved to try to keep ahead of them.

After the fourth dagger was thrown, one of the wolves leaped onto him, knocking the hypnotist onto the forest floor. Snarling, it went for his neck, but Wrenmae jammed his arm into its mouth instead. The wolf struggled against Rayage's steel cloth, but it took too long to tear through...affording Wren the time he needed to draw one of his long daggers and impale the beast through its ear and deep into its skull.

Twitching, he pushed the corpse off of him and continued backing away toward the edge of the glade.

The wolves followed, but Wren was careful not to let them get behind him.

"Keep firing!" he warned Viper, slashing at the crows that continued to swoop in and attempt holds with their talons.

At this point...a controlled burning seemed like a perfectly approachable option...something was controlling these creatures, undoubtedly.

[Radiant]

As the time went on, it getting more and more obvious something was up. The wolves kept on appearing as each of them died by Viper's arrows and Murdock's long daggers, they seemed to just spawn from the trees, out of sight from the party. Ama howled, trying to speak in Canine, telling the wolves to back down, but they didn't listen, they didn't even react to her. It was like the wolves were an extension of whatever being controlling the Glade.

The ravens flocked down from the skies, trying to surround Viper and Murdock by pecking out their eyes. The unnatural intelligence was perplexing Ama, she had the thought of a Phylonurist might be the one behind it, but dismissed it immediately. A phylonurist would not attack innocents out of the blue.

The spirits, they were not strong individually as one strike from Shiyami made them disappear in a poof of mist, but they made up for it by their numbers, they kept on materializing around the ghost, using claws and fangs to slowly rip apart the ghost's soulmist.

This was not going good, Ama charged and tackled down a wolf that was flanking Viper, she saw Murdock could take care of himself. The archer needed more help. Emitting a bright explosion of yellow light from her body, she caused the animals to be flinched and sent the spirits staggering. The dire wolf quickly shifted to human form.

"E-everyone!! I suggest we back off for now and regroup!" If the party decided on retreating, Ama would escort them, regrouping, and then form another plan. If the party decided to continue fighting, the Kelvic could only hope for the best and pray they could hold on long enough until whatever power spawning these creatures exhausted itself.

[Shiyami]

Whatever the petch that light is suppose to do, it's broken., Shiyami grumbled unhappily, as he felt the now familiar battering ram hitting his stomach, along with the peaceful clearing of his mind. He really needed to ask the Dire Wolf about the specifics of that magic. At least the ethereals he was fighting seemed to have been temporarily occupied or scattered. Hearing the wolf call out for a retreat, Shiyami sighed. "Tactical retreat it is.", he called out. He was 'holding' his scythe, slashing at anything that goes near the corporeal members of the party, without regards to the other ethereals who come back for his soulmist. Why does this feel so familiar? Oh, right, the last time I stayed behind to defend, I got ripped apart by Yukmen..., the ghost mentally sighed, before shrugging the problem off. Unlike himself, the rest of the group were still alive. 

"I shall let the younglings live their lives full, Dire Wolf! Don't wait for me. Also, allow me to request a favor: make sure Kimi doesn't step into the Glade!", Shiyami called out to Ama, staying between the group, and as many hostiles as possible. Which is quite the number. "Same strategy as always...", he muttered quietly, before Materializing. He would allow himself to be attacked, acting as distraction, while waiting for the others to pass the border of the glade. Unlike last time, he wasn't planning to do this without a fight. His scythe spun in the air in front of him, waiting for the targets to arrive. Once the group was back in safety, he would dematerialize, before doubling back out of the glade as well. That is, if he isn't ripped apart similarly with the Yukmen. If the group stays in the glade, Shiyami will only stay materialized, drawing as much of the creatures attention as possible.

Shiyami

[Wrenmae]

Wren needed no invitation to retreat, as he was already beating a path backward. When the dire wolf blazed her aura, Wren took the opportunity to collect his daggers, wincing against the glow and then backing away from the crows and wolves. Viper continued to fire arrows at the wolves that tried to flank his horse, the beast backing up even before Viper could spur it to.

The hypnotist ran low across the ground, daggers out. Although he wasn't skilled enough to wield both blades adeptly, he led with one and defended with another, keeping the pursuing pack away from his vitals.

He barely paid any heed to what the echo said...yes, noble, stay behind and sacrifice a life it didn't have. Personally, Wren had already accepted the ghost as a convenient focus point for other opponents. It couldn't die, so at the very least it could serve as a distraction.

One of the beasts came close, snapping at him from the side, prompting Wren to pivot and throw himself backwards, rolling across the ground and regaining his feet in a flourish.

But the wolves didn't follow, only turned back to those still in the glade.

He had passed the edge...and they would dare not follow him past.

Sheathing his blades and breathing hard, the hypnotist put a hand against one of the tree trunks to steady himself.

"Damn glade," He muttered, "Might as well burn it all down."

[Radiant]

Without a word, Ama nodded and began working hand-in-hand with the others to retreat from the accursed Glade. Ama didn't worry too much about Kimi as the ghost could simply blink away from the location. All notion of hostility and racism seemed to disappear within the group as they all faced a common enemy, once out of the glade, Ama checked for the group, only Shiyami was inside the Glade's figurative circle of influence. "Shiyami! Go! Get out of there!" The ghost should be able... well, even if worse comes to worst, he couldn't die anymore.

"Damn glade, might as well burn it all down."

Ama's keen senses picked up Murdock's mutter. That... was one of the solution she came up with, but decided to drop it due to her believing there would be some other way to solve this without damaging the land. Seeing the current situation, she began running out of options. "Murdock..." Ama approached the man, her face showing visible dilemma "Do you think it would really work? I considered it before but..." She glanced back at the glade, it didn't hurt the land in or around it, just fiercely protecting its 'territory' "I don't have the heart to hurt the land... however..."

She closed her eyes and seemed to be thinking "If that what it takes to keep peace in the forest, let's do it. Burn it to the ground!" If Shiyami came back, Ama would tell him of the plan as well. "Go, find some firewood! We'll make torches..." She began immediately, searching the forest for decent fallen wood and twigs for torches.

After enough wood gathered, the Kelvic would sit down and began creating fire by rubbing the wood against each other, unless someone had a more reliable and faster way of creating large fire. Not only that, they would most likely need to extinguish the fire after they were done to prevent it spreading too far.

[Shiyami]

Shiyami was in the process of knocking a wolf that leaped towards his materialized body, when he heard Ama telling him to pull back. He dematerialized at that very moment, and with luck too. The wolf had been barely grazed by the scythe, and faxed straight through his body. If Shiyami was a second later, he would be pinned under the lethal jaws of the animal. Turning around, he threw his scythe, lodging it into a tree not far from the group, before moving after the it, with the speed of a human running. He ignored the continuous attacks of the Glade's ethereals, and opted for a hasty retreat.

Finally crossing over the boundary of the Glade's influence, he sighed in relief, as he slowed down. Kimi quickly launched herself at him, effectively accomplishing the so called 'children's tackle hugs'. "Don't worry, no mind. I'm out, it's alright.", he said, as he ruffled the small girl's hair. He listened carefully as the plans of burning the glade was given, and sighed, before saying in a tire tone, "I see no other options. In all my years, I haven't seen nor read anything similar to this situation.". He started floating around, pushing twigs and branches towards the pile being made by the group.

However, while waiting for the fire to be started, he looked up at Ama, and decided to ask a question to sate his curiosity. "If you don't mind me asking, what was that light you use to cause the Glade's inhabitants to recoil? It feels like I got a ballista fire at my gut, yet soothing for my mind.", was the question.

Shiyami

[Wrenmae]

Wrenmae sighed, trying his best to bite back his retorts to the Kelvic. Instead he let them gather their wood and bring it to the edge of the glade, already hard at work to start flame. Wren, however, did not pick up any of the wood, he stood, looking at the glade instead.

At a distance it was peacefully, immeasurably calm. He did not feel menace now that the interlopers had gone over its border, nor did it seek retribution for those lost.

Wren sighed and looked back to Ama, the only among the current party he felt confident in speaking to. Viper had been driven off a bit and was re-evaluating his purpose in the quest.

"To burn down a green part of the forest, we'll need quite a bit of fire, and an ability to control the burn." He stared at Ama and crossed his arms, "If you're not careful, the rest of the forest will go up as well. Are you sure that the borders of this glade are expanding? Furthermore, are you prepared to lose acres of this forest in an attempt to destroy this glade? It seems well prepared for any eventuality, and I can only assume once we directly attack it...whatever is within will come seeking retribution."

He seemed to weigh the question, pondering it.

"We can set the glade aflame...but before we continue, I need to know how much we're being offered for this job. How important is it to you to destroy or contain?"