The cave was silent for a moment after the High Priest spoke, the Acolytes basking in the feeling that everything would be alright soon, while the light from the pillars mixed with that from the fire Sun Fox had set, making the water of the lake and the Acolytes' weapons glint eerily.

Then, suddenly, a voice spoke, low and menacing, breaking the silence like a stone's throw.

"You will not keep anybody safe; your mere human body will yeld to the power of the plague like everything else always does."

Many a head turned in the direction the voice was coming from, and the man who'd used it. He was tall and broad shouldered, and his figure was wrapped in as red a robe as Vshna's Bishops, yet it couldn't have been more different. Their robes were old, somewhat tattered and worn on the edges, and not always fitting, the cut often a dull one that merely covered, without hiding or emphasizing the wearer's fiture.

The Cener's robes, on the other hand, where fine, thin embroidery of green ivy branch running along the sleeves and on the rim; they had been clearly been shaped to measure, making the muscular figure of the man clearly noticeable, but they were elegant too, layered in such a manner that his hood kept his face in shadows artfully arranged to make only his dazzling green eyes visible. It also allows everybody to see a sort of ripple running across the man's figure, yet it was no shiver, for he stood still and tall in the manner of one who has full control over their muscles - nor was the buzzing sound that came from his figure in any way natural.

Behind the red cener was a varied group, both a menacing presence and a prove of the man's power, for how they waited for a command from him to move. Many were Vazhag, armed with short swords or spears and covered in scraps and blood, yet grinning like madmen at the enjoyment they were taking from the battle they'd just been throught. More impressive, though where the four soldiers wearing polished armors, the sigil of a tigers on their shoulder pads; the only part of their body not encased in steel were their head, all similarly looking in their corpselike pallor, long white hairs falling on the shoulder, and empty eyes devoid of any pupil or iris. Among them, it would be pretty easy to almost miss the black cloacked woman to the Cener leader's right, except that the tip of the spear she held was glowing blue, just like her eyes under the hood she was wearinig.

The High Priest said nothing at the challenge, his mask hiding all his features, but he did turned his head toward the side, to the Acolytes who'd been fighting the attacking group, and who were now reduced to about six people, one of them wearing red and wielding a golden staff, who had knelt when he spoke, but looked now ready to rejoin the battle at his command.

Instead, the man moved, flanked by the other two bishops, and wlaked into the small boat that connected the island to the rest of the cave, and once thei all were inside, he raised his hands. Suddenly, a wind started to whip around the room, and then, without any apparent force moving it, the ship started to move forward across the water, delivering the trio to the shore. As the ship moved, the air started to look darker, and many an Acolyte looked upwards in wonder and admiration - for, within the closed cave, a vast blanket of clouds had suddenoly formed, and was covering the entirety of the ceiling with menace.

Once his feet where at the shore, the High Priest spoke, his words once again echois across the cave everywhere.

"You, who believe you can withstand the unleashed power of Vashna, I'll give you the one chance; repent, or you will know that such arrogance is always punished with death."

A thunder from nowhere suddenly shook the room, as if to punctuate the man's words, and the Cener stood silent for a moment, before suddenly bellowing, as he pointed both of his closed fists forward:

"Attack!"

And at that, swarms of monstrous insects exploded from the holes that were now visible on his hands, while at the same time, with a single motion so perfectly coordinated and syncronyzed that it went beyond mere discipline, all four white soldiers lowered the staves they were helding, unleashing a barrage of glowind death rays on the Acolytes, while the Vazhags darted forward, bellowing as they charged.

Merely a moment later, just as the Acolytes raised back and answered the charge with one of their own, another robed man appeared atop a tent near the cave's wall, noxious smoke of four different colours raising from his figure and then darting toward the follower of Vashna as he moved his hands to direct it, and the woman behind the lead Cener raised her spear high, blue fire erupting out of it in a brutal explosion before reforming in hundred of bird made of flame, divebombing the Acolytes.

And then, the raised hands of the High Priest closed into fists, and within the underground cave, from the dark clouds that now covered the entire ceiling and were so black as to resemble smoke, it started to rain, a torrential downpour that washed down on everybody and everything within the cave.

And then I said: let it be Chaos. :)

So, just to make a couple of points clear, the High Priest is still standing next to the boat, with the two bishops at his side; everybody else is busy fighting, except for the small group of Acolytes standing by one side which are actually Sabre Fox, Water Hornet, Frost Ferret, Sun Fox and Silver Raven covered by an illusion... not that anybody knows that. They'll be noticeable soon, though, if they keep standing still while the fights explode - especially since things are going to get a lot more vicious from now on, and, as I hope it's well clear by now, there's going to be plenty of deadly and devastating area of effects attacks going on in this one fight.

Sun Snake, you and your current companion are currently near one of the elevated tunnels that give entrance to the cave, overlooking things from there; you're placed so that, if you wanted to, you could strike at the back of the group of Ceners - a perfect position for a pincer attack, if you will, although two people being an useful pincer support force for an army does feel like a little bit of a stretch, especially considering the circumstances here.

Dusk Rat and Swift Fox, you're still tailing Sun Snake as you were earlier, hidden in exactly the same manner, so you're free to do whatever you want from that position; your passenger is still out of it for now.
Any questions you have, feel free to ask! ^_^

Sun Snake was both impressed and depressed by the raw power on display. He knew the High Priest would be formidable, but the enormity of the task at hand was finally upon him. He had surmised stealth would be required, not direct confrontation. However, having the possibility of it removed by seeing the power of the man also removed an unexpected comfort.

"You see," hissed Sun Snake to Bishop Madayl by his side. "The High Priest indeed takes the field without the Deathstaff, for he does not need it. Nor is the Maiden of Sacrifice by his side, and I know she was with him. One of this shell's last words were of his failure to fool her. The abomination's intervention, I believe. The two things most precious to raising Vashna are still in the temple, along with the traitors who will take one or both from us."

Sun Snake's hands clawed and it was with reluctance he seemed to come to himself. "Bah, we cannot be distracted. We cannot distract the High Priest from the holy cleanse to remove the Cener's filth. We need to get to the temple now. We need to wrap hands and magic around the throats of my treacherous kin and stop them from fleeing, until the High Priest can hear of their lies and deal with every false foe infecting the ranks."

Sun Snake pointed to the group around the High Priest. "Is someone missing from the group? A trusted member who should take the field with him?"


Lol, wow, a lift sure might be good around about now...

It would, wouldn't it? ^_^

Madayl shook his head as he said, pointing at the two bishop's on the High Priest's sides:

"No, Hurlon and Everell are there with him, and the third of the leading bishops, Jhala, was likely killed by an ambush from the lizard warriors who have been roaming the caves, the ones who look like Gourgaz but fight smarter and were lead by an hellion wreathed in fire, several days ago now... I wonder where those have ended up, they didn't acted out at all yesterday."

He seemed thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged and continued:

"Anyway, they both are there, where they are supposed to be. Hurlon is the strongest and most skilled warrior in our ranks, so he standing there and guarding the High Priest makes sense, and Everell's powers are long ranged ones, thus he usually stays out of the melee."

Madayl paused for a moment before adding, troubled:

"Although, it is strange that he hasn't summoned any golem yet - they would surely do wonder against those armoured soldiers the Ceners have with them."

Swift crouched low on the Kraan, cursing quietly under her breath.
"Looks like war just got unleashed down there" she muttered.  "Hoping both sides don't mistake us for the enemy.  Even if we are!"

Narrowing her eyes, she peered around at the layout of the camp below, trying to spot anyone recognisable or anything useful...


OOC: Can I see any of the others from here?
Also is there anything that looks like a supply tent or something full of useful items worth looting? :)
This message was last edited by the player at 00:51, Fri 24 Jan 2014.

Water Hornet instinctively crouched when the thunder boomed acrossed the cave, hunching his back even more when the rain started.

"The boat," he shouted trying to make himself heard over the sound of rain and battle, pointing towards the High Priest and his retinue, "the temple!"

"We have to be faster than Yugash...the young Cener," he added, made a few steps forward and looked at other Kai. All the doubts he had were clearly written over his face. Nevertheless, his posture was that of urgency, and again he pointed towards the boat.

Fox immediately nodded towards the boat as Hornet suggested.

"I agree. This is the perfect chance to get to the temple while they are distracted. Let's go!"

Silver Raven seemed thoughtful at the commented and commented, a note of worry entering his tone:

"Are you sure we can do that? We'd need to defeat both the High Priest and the two men standing next to him to get the boat... and we'd need to do so without any of the other Acolytes noticing we were attacking their leaders. That's very risky."

Sun Snake looked to the indicated bishop, then snarled theatrically. "Does not raise creatures, yet protects himself with Nadziran magic?" Sun Snake pointed. "I have had my mental defenses augmented by Nadziran magics more than once and been in the company of kin similarly boosted. I recognise the black globe of nothing where a mind should be." Sun Snake shook as and twisted his features and hands as if to change, but then composed himself. "Do you employ such means too? Would this Everell of yours possess means or device like that?"

Madayl's eyes narrowed at that, as he answered:

"No, he would not; he's the one who thaught us how to make our thoughts unyeldingly confused - he would not rely on a different technique over the one he mastered."

His grip on the staff hardened, and he asked, sounding menacing for the first time since Sun Snake had known him:

"Do you have any suggestion as to how we can strike you traitorous kin, Child of Vashna?"

"None more than the obvious. A magical strike to make him reveal himself, for if he has Nadziran magic he may have a way to disguise himself from casual wounds that would prove his falsehood."

However, Sun Snake did give an unpleasant smile. "They have made a mistake though. They act in secret not with the High Priest's blessing. They have taken one of your own and replaced him. You simply need to reveal the treachery to the High Priest, we will not need further explanations nor proof. We almost do not need the abomination. Though if my kin falls without a word, we will still need someone to tell us how deep the rot has set in, and what others may be hiding in plain sight."



Is there a battle in between our position and the High Priest, or is there a clear run? How close is the Cener and in what direction exactly from us relative to the High Priest?

If you were to trace a line from your position to the High Priest, it would run straight through the mass of fighting people - and the Ceners are in the middle of that group.

Madayl nodded seriously and said, in a determined tone:

"You're right, we need to releal this treachery at once; we should move, right now."

Even as he spoke, the High Priest made a sweeping gesture with his hand, and a lighting strike suddenly fell from the sky, hitting one of the four soldiers who were supporting the Ceners' attack and completely melting both the armour and the man inside it; that caused the vazhag to waver a bit, allowing the Acolytes - who'd been on the defensive that fat - to start pushing their enemies back.

Sun Snake nodded, though pointed to the outside of the battle, co-incidentally in the direction of the the other Kai. "Let us skirt the enemy though - let us not be caught in the fire of the High Priest's wrath in our haste to warn him."

Madayl nodded at that, returning to his normally stoic expression.

"That sounds sensible. Let's move, then."

And with that, the man moved to descend to the ground using the ladder carved in the rock, clearly unwilling to waste any more time in which his leader could be easily backstabbed by the enemy.

Follow the man, try to avoid confrontation while appearing to not care about confrontation!

Also sad for no Kraan rescue...

Swift flinched slightly at the lightning strike.
Steering her Kraan closer to Dusk's she called across, hoping the noise of the storm and the fighting below would cover her voice.
"Can you tell if any of the others are down there?"
She glanced towards the High Priest's position and then the tangled battle he was casting destructive spells into before shifting her gaze to the island the Temple was built on...


OOC: Is there enough space for us to circle around the battlefield and land on the island behind the Temple, so the building would conceal us from the view of the High Priest and his troops?

"Then in that case we need a distraction" Fox spoke up. "Any suggestions people?"

"The snakes," said Water Hornet thoughtfully looking at the lake, "they are not acting naturally; something...or someone is holding them in place. If we could break this control, that would create enough of a ruckus, I guess."

The Magnakai focused on the trio of Acolytes in the distance. "Although doing it so the High Priest doesn't realize what is happening will not be easy."

"If we put the temple between us and him, does it matter if he notices something happening?" Ferret looked between the three figures by the boat and the water surrounding the island. "If we could be in the water holding on to something that was propelled across...." He blinked for a moment at the lake's surface. "We might be quick enough to reach the temple before he moved far enough around the lake to see us."

"Use the snakes against them" Fox said. "We could use them as a barrier as we get across. They may be felled easily but it will be a good enough distraction none the less"