Book II - Chapter X: Stormfront

[opius]

Jinn's brows knitted as he sidestepped and swerved to avoid the worst of the zombie's gouging claws. He blocked the second with a swing of his shield before slugging the Zombie. A mighty crack rang out.

(21 to hit, 7 bludgeoning. 13 radiant damage from SMITE.)

"You gotta be kidding me- The fuck you mean 'contain?' How many more are there?!" visible confusion turned to anger. Jinn scrambled for something to give him a bit of leverage, something to hurl that wasn't loose cobble...

(Free object interaction- pick up an item)

His handaxe! There it was, jutting from the pile of the gore beneath his feet, still wedged in his previous foe's skull. From there he pushed past the Zombie he'd slugged- whether it still shambled or not- and pushed ahead with blatant disregard to his own safety.

Barely turning the corner he reared back to hurl his blade and... Found he didn't quite have the ability to hit anything else. He reared back and slung his handaxe toward Cerys' assailant.

((14 to hit, 7 slashing damage))

"You're gonna have to box my ears in - I need you up if we're gonna keep up with them!"

[Kyt]

Well shit. She was fine with cleanup, but those things were squirrelly. Somehow. Seeing them ahead in the distance, Rey ran forward past her allies, fumbling with the crossbow. The closest one was just in her good sights; the dragonborn swore a quick oath as she tried to take it out in one shot.

((Move, Bonus-dash; Attack, 17 to hit, 17 piercing damage if it's restrained, 8 dmg if not))

[uberwulfx]

She briefly looked at between Cerys and was about to protest, but this wasn't the time for banter. Her eyes closed in on the one making his exit and she called out to his back. "Oh, no in the hells you don't!" Raziel was pointed, and crackled again with energy that traveled the length of the alley.

((Eldritch Blast x2: 17 for 8 force, 25 for 10 force))

[Ancelas]

Cerys kept her focus where it mattered - on the dangers spreading into the city. She slammed the butt of her staff into the ground, once more causing cobblestones to erupt beneath the feet of her enemies as vines reached out to ensnare their legs and hold them fast. The old cultist and the zombie nearest him were snagged by the vines and held fast, though the zombie in the rear of the group was pushed back by the entangling vines, avoiding the snare - only to collapse as Rey's bolt pieced the back of its skull, dropping the corpse to the ground.

Jinn obliterated the zombie near Vincent with a mighty haymaker, before rushing forward to grab his handaxe and hurl it into the back of the monster attacking Cerys. It slammed into its back, between its shoulderblades, and the fresh zombie staggered, briefly looking over its shoulder at its attacker. It was swaying now, the magic animating it faltering, though it still seemed strong enough to hold to its feet.

Not one to be left behind by her companions, Crystal ran forward, eyes black, blood trailing down her cheeks as she dragged smoke through the air by swinging Raziel forward, unleashing a pair of smoking, meteoric blasts of energy at the cultist. The old man hissed during his struggle and threw up his free hand, twisting bands of sickly green light weaving together into the shape of a Shield against the blows. The smokey light of the first eldritch blast struck against the shield and was dispersed harmlessly into the air. The second, however, seemed to burn through the barrier and strike at the cultist, eliciting a wheeze of pain from the restrained man.

[CautionCat]

Vincent rushed forward, but the old man was still too far away. Snarling, he shouted after him.

"Go ahead! Send more of you to us! It'll make it easier to snuff you all out!"

He panted, coming to a stop, nostrils flared with anger.

[Ancelas]

The zombie Jinn had attacked turned back to Cerys, the nearest warm-blooded creature, and attempted to swipe its claws at her - only for it to be unable to lift its arm because of the axe in its shoulder. Instead, it lunged forward to bite her, but it was awkward and ungainly, teeth clacking as it tried to get to her neck ((two misses!)).

The remaining decrepit zombie, still entangled in the vines Cerys had summoned, struggled to get free but only succeeded in restraining itself more tightly in place ((Failed check!)).

The cultist, meanwhile, nearly succeeded in freeing himself - only for the vines to tighten around his arms and legs, further binding him in place. Wild eyes turned on Vincent and his eyes narrowed as greasy black smoke swirled around his body. "Be careful what you wish for, boy," he snarled as his body dissolved into mist. "You just might get it!"

The old man's misty form shot down the street and around a corner, vanishing from sight amidst the pouring rain. ((Cultist has escaped))

[redcoat]

Cerys cursed roundly as the cultist got away- but at least the zombies wouldn't be spreading. With her concentration on the vines trapping the zombies, she spoke a word in druidic- the sound of thunder.

((Casting Thunderclap, DC 15 con save, 10 pts damage))

[opius]

"Baaaahh scared old man!" Jinn growled as the cultist caster bolted. "Take off the mask and every time it's a scared- old-"

He liked lunged forward and clobbered the zombie who was attacking Cerys, fist lighting up with crackling light. "-Man!"
((Flanking, 24 to hit, 10 bludgeoning, 14 radiant from his final level 1 SMITE))

As knuckles met the back of it's skull, he went for the impaled axe and tore it free next.
(item interaction to pick up a weapon. God I need more axes.)

Again heeding little for himself, he left the zombie for Cerys to finish off and continued to run as fast as his legs would take him. Stopping short beside Vincent, he let the axe fly in a wild arc, throwing everything he could at the situation.
(Long range attack at disadvantage, 10 to hit. 5 slashing damage.)

[Kyt]

Rey sighed as everyone trash talked. "You all really like antagonizin' people, don't ya?" She mostly muttered to herself. With most everything in hand at this point (at least as much as it could be) she carefully shouldered and aimed the crossbow at the far zombie.

((Attack: 23 to hit, 13 piercing dmg))

[Ancelas]

Cerys spoke the word of Thunder, blowing flesh off of the undead creature attacking her and sending it reeling. Before it could catch itself, Jinn was there, meaty fist smashing into the side of its face and unleashing a flash of golden-white light that left an unmoving corpse in its wake, its head dissolved in radiant light.

As Jinn retrieved his axe to hurl at the entangled zombie in the distance and Rey let fly a bolt from her crossbow, it was impossible to tell which struck first - both bolt and axe struck the creature's face, the bolt digging deep into one eye hole, the axe cleaving the head in half at an angle. The corpse collapsed to the ground, no long animated by fell magic.

The Lucky Hand were left standing in the middle of the street, the undead fallen at their feet. Rain continued to fall, spreading pools of blood across the muddy cobbles. Vague shouts could be heard from the side streets, accompanied by the splashing feet of well-intentioned Wachovians arriving to the scene of the fight with makeshift weapons in their hands, looking to defend their neighborhood only to find it quite well-defended already.

Could the assault have been a coincidence, or had the Dead Three tracked the Lucky Hand to this neighborhood? In both this and the encounter at the Elfsong Tavern, someone had gotten away to spread news of the battle. The Cult seemed to consider the Lucky Hand a threat in a way they did not consider the city guard - or they had a grudge against the Hand that kept them coming back.

Either way, the old man's words hung in the air - they would never stop coming, and where they went, plague and undeath followed. No one would be safe until the Cult was purged.

[CautionCat]

Vincent leaned away from Jinn as he threw his axe, a little shocked, but not surprised. Man had a rage that was infectious.

He sighed, and looked to the others, and the dead on the ground. "Is everyone okay? I don't think we're going to be getting much rest. I don't know how we can unmark ourselves..."

[redcoat]

Cerys leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath. "I've been better." Bruised and bitten, she certainly looked like shit- given that she rarely was in combat in her humanoid form.

"I think the only way will to be to eliminate the cult, but I'm spent, and I can't be the only one. Whatever it is will have to wait long enough for us to get some rest."

She needed to check on the kids- though she was confident that they'd managed to contain the danger, she couldn't help the rising feeling of anxiety at not having them in line of sight.

[opius]

Jinn wiped his brow- Whether it was the sweat or the rain the man was damp. Damp but not winded. Seeing the party's work, he nodded with some affirmation and went to grab his axe from the newly re-corpsed corpse. As he stood up, he was somewhat startled to see the townsfolk had arrived. Lifting an arm he called out to the flash mob, "Ay! A few seconds too late to the party, but we sent em' runnin that way if you're lookin' for a fight-" He gestured off in the direction the old men had gone, wiping his blade clean. "They're bold, but they ain't brave. Keep standin' up- tell em that Brampton shit don't fly on this side a' town. And ah- hey- somebody get the town guard yeah? These corpses ain't gonna clean 'emselves."

A few quick words to the townsfolk. Even if their initiative wasn't there, it was the thought that counted- and seeing so many folks ready to throw down did his heart good. Moseying back toward the party, he sheathed the handaxe and moved in toward Vincent and Cerys- but addressed them all in kind.

"Nice shot Rey." He winked cooly in the dragonborn's direction but kept it short. "Crys, that you blew me the fuck up? Put the gods damned fear into those fucks- good goin." He nodded curtly to her- seemingly no love lost.

He then patted Vincent on the shoulder, half dragging him closer to Cerys. "An' you two- good friggin' hustle. Been a long time since I seen folks bleed that much and keep goin. Stabbed, bit, and still standin'- let's get inside and get some booze on those wounds. "

[Kyt]

Rey snorted in derisiveness as the last zombie fell. Good riddance. She closed back in with the group as more people started approaching, albeit too little, too late. She looked more nervous at the gathering crowd than she had at the zombies. She ran her thumb under her snout, gaze sweeping around. "M'fine. Benefits of staying at bolt range. Ya'll took the heavy hits."

She gave a long sigh. "We're gonna have to chase these fuckers down, aren't we?"

[uberwulfx]

"Sorry, sorry!"

Crystal had half a mind to go after the one that got away, but she knew better. It was a good thing she wasn't set on sneaking away and getting Ashe-- a good thing she hadn't even gotten her sister at all yet, actually. First things first, she had to check on Cerys, who she was already running to. She grimaced at Jinn's reminder that he was in the explosion. Even if he was praising her work, she didn't feel good about the end result, and the cultist's warning thereafter.

"Gods, I'm so sorry."

Eyes black and bleeding, she dropped to give Cerys any help she could. Crystal didn't have any healing magic-- that was the men's forte-- but she would be there. As emotional support or additional firepower, it didn't matter; the gauntlet had already been thrown and Crystal's failure to act quickly meant that things almost turned out horribly for her ally.

"We'll get you taken care of, get the kids, and regroup."