With an economy of movement, Caleb lifted his gun and fired as he swept into the next room, striking one of the dead though not fatally so.

Gabby continues to cover the door with his shotgun.

Randolph takes a position to the right of Gabby and a bit behind him. He begins to slide cartridges into the empty chambers of his Gatling to bring it up to fully reloaded.

“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.”

Persistently pulling Coraline after him, Whateley steps into a pocket of shadows with her,  stepping out of another in the room where the others were, then releasing her, somewhat behind and to the side of the rest of the group. Waiting for Daniel's prayer to end, he spoke.

"The entity the savage brought in from the other world is...you can think of it as evil taken physical form, and it's feeding on the dead raised by that woman, growing stronger. I don't know how to get rid of it, or what makes it vulnerable, but I would be glad of your assistance in doing so," he said.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:51, Thu 04 Dec 2014.

[Language unknown: "...chate sa eead mienc rates...si hano omio ter rotho..."] Sky Dog muttered, then was abruptly in motion, throwing himself past the others, straight into the troubled room.

"Korpi!"

"Kaa!"

The shaman swallowed, unable to see the grounded bird, then squinted at the avakhi beyond the shambling dead and slashed the soft side of his left hand. Stance braced, he held up his bloody palm towards That Which Should Not Walk, let it scent and feel the strength of his onnir.

[Language unknown: "La mo ion aconeách Hi Nte. Ec wamo u ie ntialloreast. Hi u waart romfi ittoll."]

Coraline made no protest as Abaddon tugged her into darkness.  She was far more scared of the creature that had erupted from the portal than of traveling through the shadow.  Even so, she let out a breath of relief as they stepped into the other room with the others.  "Just how are we supposed to fight that?  It just... it just seemed to eat up those other things."  Her head snapped to the door as she heard Sky Dog go stumbling through the hall into the other room.  "Don't go in there!  That thing will eat you alive!"

"What thing?" Gabby asks, his gun still at the ready. "Did that bitch conjure up something? What's gong on back there?"

Caleb looked at the empty chamber in his peacemaker and decided it might be best to rectify that situation. He calmly slid a bullet or three into the empty chamber(s) and prepared to pacify whatever came around the corner.

As he thumbed a bullet (or three) into the chamber(s), Caleb replied to Gabby. "That bitch apparently has an ally that she calls Shadow. That ally summoned, well, a shadowy creature that's eating the shambling dead she left behind. It appears to be getting fatter while devouring."

The shaman heeded nothing beyond the threats before him, knife tucked ready along his forearm, bloody palm raised high so that the dark and slowing seep of red rolled across ghost-white skin. [Language unknown: "Ons p."]

[Language unknown: "Pl a ncol ieons utmasshi e t ti, Diti Ame. Ad cati evprni peera ofetne les ivwh Unilar Ourwherut atni utfi hou iounteeen ne we ckme korionicarut ichtheoer one minone whstr unvor eve."] The words were low yet pitched to carry, the youth's spine held straight as truth.

Even from further into the room, the ethereal being loomed large over the shaman. It seemed at once substantial and insubstantial, its form wavering like smoke but still somehow having a physical presence, or seeming to. Black tendrils licked outward from its form from all directions, as if it was not entirely held together. It seemed previously intent on making its way through the undead lifeforms around it and consuming their essences, leaving them withered husks at his feet. But at the young shaman's call and the sign he presented, it turned in his direction.

Soundlessly it moved in one swift motion, swimming through the undead as if they did not exist, though it's smoky form did not seem to part. Like a snake moving to strike, one of its appendages recoiled and lashed out at the young Evenki.

It struck him like a whiplash, but he felt no pain from it. He only felt as if the very life essence was draining from him.

Sky Dog flinched, bracing himself back...but when his eyes snapped open again the grimace had become a long, vicious grin. His cut hand flashed out, improbably grasping and gripping the avakhi's lashing limb.

"Do we taste good, little one?" the shaman asked, and though his words were clear, the voice was not his own. His laughter rang from the cellar stone. "Hmm..."

Sky Dog cast the thing to the floor, ignoring its resentful thrashing as it tried to prevent its substance manifesting as black feathers. Struggling between giggles and coughs, he called out to those in the room outside: "I have the avakhi, but my sister is at the wall - it would be well for one to draw back these corpses!"

"Wait, Korpi's in trouble?" Daniel suddenly had the urge to run into a pack of Zombies and give them a taste of his blade. "Th' best laid plans..."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:28, Fri 06 Mar 2015.

With the rest of them focused on the doorway, Coraline took a few quick steps towards the back of the room and opened her hand and her mind. The thrill of the wager filled her as she played the most dangerous game, and as she was wont to do, she won. Spectral cards quickly filled her hand, just as quickly as they vanished, and she drew back to release a ball of swirling energy that crashed into the wall, blowing right through it.

OOC: She's aiming for the spot above where Caleb is on the map.

As if a sledgehammer had crashed into the wall from within, something slammed into it creating a hole that was about two feet in diameter, sending wood and plaster into the room with the dead.

---

OOC:

The attack is successful. I'll update the map when I get a chance, but where Caleb is on the map, the wall that is a space above him now has a significant sized hole in it. At its base, it is about waist high, and a character can shoot through it and target the closest undead in the cluster.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:28, Fri 06 Mar 2015.

With a sigh, Daniel moved over toward the dead thing that was close to Sky Dog and swung the relic sword that had been passed down through the generations to him. It whistled through the air, cleaving in two the skull of the recently reanimated corpse.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:37, Fri 06 Mar 2015.

Gabby, only slightly startled by the exploding wall, took aim at the nearest deadder noggin and let them have it with a blast of 12-gauge buckshot and a wild whoop.

"KRAW KAW KAW KAAWK!" Korpi yelled at the explosions, visible only as a dark fluttering between shuffling dead feet. Sky Dog pressed himself to the wall out of Daniel's way, wide-eyed at all the detonation.

The shaman's attention was snapped back to the avakhi as it struggled up, manifesting and de-manifesting ruffled plumes of darkness. He licked his lips, finding that the god had left him on his own though still close enough to feel: a pressure like talons on the shoulders and a stinging pulse of sheer power singing through his blood, back to the black of the world and ages before human kind.

He cleared his throat and honed his imitation: [Language unknown: "As latereard onal onlat hasresher menie his," ]Sky Dog nodded at the portal. [Language unknown: "La ouench ome st conousyin motio a n beacte. Tic m omioee p ekess a ainthuess usenneli,"] the shaman grimaced a little, fighting down the god's laughter. Then suddenly his whole stance changed, more poised than tense, more bird than man: he leant to lick the demon's trembling tendril and released it in a flick of his own blood, laughing.

It seemed for a moment to pause, still and silent as the grave, even as its smoky form seemed to writhe. It seemed to recoil from Sky Dog as he commanded it, as if in fear. Then it turned, abruptly, and headed into the portal through which Dr. Grint and the one she referred to as 'Shadow' had previously departed.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:47, Wed 11 Mar 2015.

"Ha! Ha! Hahaha heh! Haaaaaheehehee...!"

Raucous laughter followed the dark one's departure. Sky Dog steadied himself against the wall, threw back his unruly locks and all but bounced on his toes, calling to the walking dead: "You do come on, all you dead ones! See, we are so tall and well to bite on, yes? Ha ha! Here is life for you!"

Squinting briefly to be sure the dead were truly headed his way, the shaman sprang back, leading them up into close confines, grinning.

Whateley ignored the commotion, walking up the place where Coraline had expertly blown a hole in the wall. Using that to his advantage, he pulled back his wand and watched it crackle. With a swish of his wrist, he unleashed two bursts of crackling energy that connected with and vaporized the skulls of two of the undead, causing the bones beneath them to crumble in a pile. The process left him looking, unusually, a little worse for wear.

"Get back in here!" he said, moving near the doorframe to try and save the savage from one of his undead attackers. He cast his wand forward and sparks seemed to dance along its edges but fizzled out at the tip and it seemed to have no effect.

"Yes, I am bringing the dead ones there," Sky Dog said cheerfully, stabbing at and batting aside the undead arms - and foot - attempting to injure his person.

From her vantage, Coraline could clearly see the walking dead and the helpless fluttering bird beyond.  The meaning behind the shaman's torrent of words was suddenly made clear.  If the raven's fearful floundering caught the attention of the corpses, she'd be dead before anyone could reach her.  With a steady breath, Coraline reached between the realms and pulled forth another handful of ghostly cards.  Her lips curved into a satisfied smirk as she twisted the demon to her bidding, draining it of a small fraction of power to use as she willed.

She reached out -- not with her hand, but with her mind -- and touched the smaller consciousness of the cawing animal.  Fear!  It was the predominant emotion that she could feel and she knew it had pervaded the small thing's mind and shut out all ability to reason or think clearly.  The raven was a smart little beastie, but still an animal with an animal's mind and instincts.

By now, the raven's conscious was all too familiar to her.  She had touched the bird's mind once before as a measure of protection, to prove to herself that she could control it if necessary.  After the night that Korpi and Clementine had nearly attacked her, she knew that she'd need a way to protect herself it it ever happened again.  Ironically, she now found herself using the spell to aid the poor creature rather than to banish it.  No matter what the bird had done in the past, Coraline couldn't sit idly by and watch it suffer and possibly die.

With a moment's concentration, Cora found the focus of the bird's fear and pushed it aside to grasp the intelligence beneath with a firm, gentle hold.  When Korpi was able to see beyond the fear and think clearly, she called with the softest of mental whispers.  It was not a command, nor a binding of spirit.  Though Coraline could have easily forced her will upon the raven, such drastic measures were not necessary.  The fear that had paralyzed the creature was overcome and the bird launched herself into the air, quickly flitting through hole that Coraline had blasted in the wall and landing safely out of the way.

The deed done, Cora reached once more into the ethereal plane to risk her life on yet another thrilling gamble.