With the rough outline of a battle strategy in place, work progressed quickly as the sun went down. Many of the villagers were indeed to sick to move on their own and had to be carried into the Behemoth. This left he Lumberjacks alone in the town, preparing their battlefield however they wished in the short time that the last rays of sunlight lit their labors.

An hour after sundown, a fog did begin to develop. It hung in the low areas over the river and on the ground of the forest. The fog eventually never became thick enough that one couldn't see across the small town, but it did make seeing into the trees from the village quite impossible.

At the stroke of midnight, a single wolf's howl echoes over the landscape. It was clearly a wolf, not a coyote. The howl was followed by two minutes of silence. Then a dozen figures emerged from the woods. The dark figures hugged the ground under the cover of fog, possibly wolves. They all came from the compass direction of west, but they were spread out so that none were less than person's height from each others sides. The figures trotted confidently towards the walls, neither running nor slinking cautiously.

P.S. A light breeze is currently blowing from the north-east across the river.

Polkitain is disguised through metamorphosis as a different type of dragon. A couple full horse troughs nearby him. He held a bunch of water from the river in his mouth so he could breathe water on the vampires at least once.

Unless Polk are disguised as a tiny fairy dragon, he is going to be very easily spotted. Maybe this was the intention instead of stealth.

 Arulas waits as patiently as possible. Patience isn't one of his virtues. He checks his rifle. Checks his pistol and radios Polk "See anything yet?"

"Yep. Incoming wolves from west potentially a dozen."


Yes he will be disguised as something like a great horned dragon or something snazzy like a fire wind dragon. Unless his friends did not wish him to be seen in that case a small fey dragon is fine. He rather liked being a cat too.

Kalista pointed out, "That is not normal wolf behavior. Wolves hunt in pack, small groups up front and others from the sides, not spread out like the front line of an army. Wild vampires do not normally have the mentality to change shape."

"Great. Draw them in guys. We get as many as we can. Silver and magic. Seeing it is probably a bunch of seconds not wilds we might have a master on our hands." Arulas comms the group. "We shouldn't need that much blood to turn this bad quick. Get over here Ethan. Your water trick might work once or twice Polk. Join us when it stops working."

On the rooftop, Nyx sighted down the scope of his sniping rifle - ready to unleash a hail of hire whenever the right moment fell

Ethan moves from his initial place as living bait to where Sir Arulas lies in wait for the approaching wolves. "No one said anything about them being able to become wolves!" he thought as he sprinted. "Dig underground, hate water, control fog but not become wolves. One more thing to file away about this insane world."

OOC - No idea where Ethan was, we never decided on that. No clue where Arulas is either but wherever that is, Ethan is running there.

Once they get closer to the wall That is when the carry and dump water operation will occur then Polk will sprint back and hope his friends do well with their pistols.

 I'm operating under the impression that we are going with the bunker strategy. Which means we are all at town hall. The twins are on the roof. The rest except Polk are in the main hall.

Doc raises his rifle, "Laser ain't gonna kill 'em, but I bet it'll sting right bad."

"Quit whining and let a real sharpshooter shoot", muttered Nyx as he sighted down the scope of his silenced Wilk's Winchester and smiling at the spare clips of silver rounds laid out beside him, "This oughta take some of the leeches down"

Polkatain and Ethan
A Great Horned Dragon, even a hatchling, is easy enough to spot when a wolf draws near. Perhaps the scent tipped them off or maybe some spikes were spotted peaking over the top of a wall. Either way, they react to Polkatain's presence. Half way across the field, the wolves break into a run beginning with the wolf closest to the dragon. The others copy this move. Within seconds, the creatures have reached the walls are leaping onto it. They dig in with their claws into the wood and climb upward, changing as they do so into human-like forms. At this range, Polkatain can see glowing red eyes staring back at him.

Ethan's bubble of water arrives in enough time that he can make one attack. Polkatain can direct him where to dump the water, but from Ethan's perspective, all of his options look the same. He can easily catch one and maybe two vampires in his attack if he is lucky. Give me a wild shot roll please. Is Polkatain following immediately with his own water attack? He does not need to roll as it would be almost impossible to miss or dodge.

Nyx and Doc
Immediately after their shower, vampire heads begin popping over the tops of the wall. The vampires reached this initial ring of defense quicker than anticipated. They are spread out but easy enough to spot due to the way that their eyes glow in the darkness.

everybody else
The noise of battle begins to fill the air. The vampires will be over the town wall within seconds. If you have anything else to declare before fangs are in your face, type now or forever hold your peace.

With the leeches breaking into a run, Nyx begins to sight in earnest: ready, he starts taking shots as soon as their heads appear over the town wall

Assuming these are Aimed Shots, with Sniper Scope and using silver rounds. Attempting as many as he can as they pop over the walls, this is one melee round

09:32, Today: Nyx rolled 18,22,8 (fumble),11,10 using 1d20+7,1d20+7,1d20+7,1d20+7,1d20+7.  Attacks - Winchester 40-82.
09:33, Today: Nyx rolled 18,14,0,12,23 using 5d6,5d6,0,5d6,5d6.  Damage - Doubled. => 36, 28, 0, 24, 46

This message was last edited by the player at 08:41, Thu 04 May 2017.

Yes, I am going to dump the water as planned hoping to hurt them before breaking off to join with the others. As he turns to rush back he will see if the trough is wood if it is he will hurl that at a vampire too.

Yes, the trough is wooden.

Kalista will instruct her glittermount to have a globe of daylight spell ready. She enhanced her body with tattoo magic and created a pair of psi-swords, ready for the vampire onslaught.

Nyx, please give me a percentile roll. Your fumble has a 20% chance of hitting a friendly.

Given everyone is in MDC armour and I'm firing silver SDC rounds I hope I'm not going to take someone's finger off!

10:43, Today: Nyx rolled 16 using 1d100.  Calling Low for Blue on Blue

06:37, Today: Polkitain rolled 12 using 1d20.  Throwing Horse Trough.
Unmodified roll since I dont have WP Horse Trough.

Doc grins at his brother and opens fire with his laser rifle.

11:53, Today: Doc rolled 11 using 3d6.  dmg.
11:53, Today: Doc rolled 13 using 3d6.  dmg.
11:53, Today: Doc rolled 6 using 3d6.  dmg.
11:53, Today: Doc rolled 10 using 3d6.  dmg.
11:53, Today: Doc rolled 13 using 3d6.  dmg.
11:52, Today: Doc rolled 20 using 1d20+2.  shoot.
11:52, Today: Doc rolled 4 using 1d20+2.  shoot.
11:52, Today: Doc rolled 9 using 1d20+2.  shoot.
11:52, Today: Doc rolled 14 using 1d20+2.  shoot.
11:52, Today: Doc rolled 14 using 1d20+2.  shoot.

OOC, the name says it all.

Today: Ethan rolled 9 using 1d20+2.  Force field water dumping attack.

The vampires crawling up the sides of the town walls experience a very painful welcome. First, a globe of river water is dumped onto two of them, catching one directly and a second vampire taking considerable splash from one side. Both vampires shriek in pain and fall down onto the ground. Immediately afterward, a trough of water is dumped over the top of the wall (wood and all) onto a third vampire with the same effect.

The brothers spot nine heads of the dry vampires peaking over the wall. These gunmen quickly send out precision shots. One stray bullet precisely but inaccurately strikes the hind of Polkatain when the dragon passes into the line of the fire; the hatchling doesn't even feel it. Doc's laser rifle proves ineffective in inflicting real damage. It only seems to blind the fiends for a moment when he plants a shot directly into their eyes. The silver bullets, however, seem to be very effective. Nyx inflicts significant damage on the skulls of four vampires, sending them tumbling down off he walls.

Kalista's steed whips its tail in acknowledgement of her command.

Seven of the twelve attacking vampires have taken considerable damage for their efforts. The other five were slowed slightly. None have made it over the wall yet.

++ Stake 'em whilst they're down ++, murmurred Nyx over the team radio as he spaced out the remaining shots in his Winchester and then rapidly reloaded it

13:53, Today: Nyx rolled 14,24,23 using 1d20+7,1d20+7,1d20+7.  Attacks - Winchester 40-82.
13:54, Today: Nyx rolled 21,19,14 using 5d6,5d6,5d6.  Damage - Doubled. => 42, 38, 28
This message was lightly edited by the player at 13:01, Mon 15 May 2017.

Hearing the order on his little ear plug he pulls one of the stakes he strapped to his leg and will try to make the attempt. He tries for one of the ones greatly hurt by the water.


07:00, Today: Polkitain rolled 9 using 1d20+2.  Staking Attempt.

The next actions posted by others will happen more or less simultaneously with Nix and Polk.

The elf empties the remaining rounds of his weapon into the dazed eyes of three easy targets that he brother blinded for him. All three silver bullets hit their mark. Out of ready ammo, he was powerless to stop the last two vampires from crawling over the top of the southwestern wall.

Polkitain soured over the wall with a gliding-hop, literally throwing himself into danger. He spotted a vampire underneath him, struggling to get up in the mud. The hatchling folded his wings and dropped directly onto the monster, pinning it back down in the muck. The dragon's stake came down with the dragon's weight behind it, shattering bone. The stake lodged -- in the vampire's collarbone.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:20, Tue 16 May 2017.

Hearing the gunshots Arulas orients on the sight of Polk arrowing down on the mud vamp. He attempts to sight the vamp,but quickly realizes Polk will skew his shot so he shifts to the next closest one that he can draw a bead on. His DMR barks once as he fires at the vampire in question.
get the roll in a minute.
  Action 1 Assess
  Action 2 Aim
  Action 3 Aim
  Action 4 Attack
DMR range 29/30 Clip Silver clip 1 of 2
 600 yards
This message was last edited by the player at 03:23, Tue 16 May 2017.

Polkitain winced slightly in sympathetic pain.

Hmmmm didn't seem to work. Polk released all the water he had been holding in his mouth on the vampire below him.

++ Two over the wall ++, called out Nyx as he slammed his clip back home

Ethan sees the two vampires that make it over the wall in addition to hearing the warning over the radio net. He concentrates and places a small cylindrical force field over each of them. The nearly invisible cylinders of force are small, leaving the vampires trapped inside with no room to move.

"Hopefully that slows them down, give the others time to reload," the combat medic thinks, before toggling his own radio. "I got them trapped for now," he says.

Arulas squints to see his foe in the misty night at this distance. The first bullet from Arulas' gun wizzes past his bobbing target. The vampire hears the bullet go past its ear. Before Arulas can correct and squeeze off another shot, the familiar shimmer of Ethan's force fields silently appears in his line of sight.

The other vampire comically walks into its own force field, smacking its face on a translucent wall. Both vampires touch their prison cells with claws as they take in what is happening around them.

Polk after releasing the water from his mouth keeps pushing the stake trying to get the vampire to stop struggling.

Doc grinned, slinging his rifle over his shoulder, he looks to his brother, "Gonna go get them two we missed. Cover me, yeah?"

Doc will ready his revolvers with silver bullets, "Let's see how this goes." he will then make his way towards the two vampires who made it over the wall.

Seeing the elf on the move, Ethan calls out on the team radio net. "Tell me when you want me to drop the force fields on them and if you want one at a time or both at once," he tells the gun slinging elf.

With the vampires being held in place by force fields, the twins can reach them in about a melee round. At difficult range, they could shoot at those vampires immediately. Ethan is correct that his fields will need to be dropped first or else the bullets will simply slam into invisible walls. These two captive vampires begin to claw at those walls.

Meanwhile, Polkatain inflicts the most painful drool ever on the vampire that he has pinned. The vamp's face melts off of its skull, but the monster continues to struggle underneath the weight and might of the dragon. This one-sided fight in interrupted when another vampire leaps onto Polk's back and grapples. Claws hold onto the hatchling's wings, and fangs sink into its scaly back.

Samuel is monitoring the situation by remote cameras. He reports what he sees over the radio channel. "Radar has the targets stationary. I've got eyes on one of them. They are digging alright, but instead of going through the dirt, it looks like it is tearing directly through the walls. It will break through in a minute or so. Hold up! Polkitain is in trouble on the outside. He's going tooth and claw, but he's outnumbered two to one. They're just outside the gate."

Polk feeling the teeth sink in hunches his back and then like Godzilla the spines and frills from his great horned dragon disguise start to light up as glowing force surrounds them slowly making it's way to his tail.


While that is happening he keeps pushing that stake.


12:50, Today: Polkitain rolled 20 using 1d20+3.  Stake attempt.
Yahoo !!!


-10 MDC
-6  ISP
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Sun 21 May 2017.

Once Doc is in pistol range, the unlit cigarette in his lips rolls around, a grim grin growing on his handsome face(alliteration!). "Drop 'em both, no sense keepin' you occupied. Fish in a barrel right here friend."

OOC should I make rolls now or wait til the fields are dropped?

From his rooftop eyrie, Nyx covered the rest of the team - his sharp eyes ready to take any shots needed whilst his brother made his way down. If he's able to see the leeches attacking Polk, he will take the shot

OOC: Assume the wall is between Nyx and the hatchling

Upon hearing, "drop 'em both" over the radio net, Ethan reacted instantly and willed both force fields away. So far the battle was going well in that they were hurting the vampires but the vampires had yet to hurt them. "And that could all change in an instant" he thought to himself, as he waited to either defend his comrades with his force fields or temporarily imprison vampires with the same.

Polkatain
Sharp spines along the dragon's back rake against his attacker and push the monster back out of biting range (but still within clawing range).


Polkitain's stake is no longer useful, but he is able to draw a second stake and plunge it into the chest of the pinned vampire. The vampire's shriek is cut short to half a second as its lungs, muscle, and skin collapse into a pile of dust around a skeleton.

Ethan & the twins
Just as Doc brings his pistol up to line with the face of a vampire, the force fields vanish. Nyx confirms that yes, the wall is between himself and Polkitain.

Arulas & Kalista
Samuel reports, "Cyberknights, I've got movement just outside of your window. One of them might have slipped passed us somehow."

Calista says, "Now," to her steed indicating it was to cast globe of daylight.

Doc grins, "Time to die, again, you blood suckin' sumbitches!" Doc fires one pistol at each of the vampires, firing until the revolver is empty or the vampires fall.


10:33, Today: Doc rolled 19 using 1d20+8.  parry.
10:33, Today: Doc rolled 19 using 1d20+8.  parry.
10:33, Today: Doc rolled 17 using 1d20+8.  parry.
10:33, Today: Doc rolled 10 using 1d20+8.  parry.
10:33, Today: Doc rolled 14 using 1d20+8.  parry.
10:33, Today: Doc rolled 10 using 1d20+8.  parry.
10:33, Today: Doc rolled 20 using 1d20+9.  initiative.
10:33, Today: Doc rolled 17 using 5d6.  silver damage.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 23 using 5d6.  silver damage.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 19 using 5d6.  silver damage.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 24 using 5d6.  silver damage.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 19 using 5d6.  silver damage.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 16 using 5d6.  silver damage.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 25 using 1d20+9.  shoot vampire faces.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 12 using 1d20+9.  shoot vampire faces.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 18 using 1d20+9.  shoot vampire faces.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 16 using 1d20+9.  shoot vampire faces.
10:32, Today: Doc rolled 22 using 1d20+9.  shoot vampire faces.
10:31, Today: Doc rolled 20 using 1d20+9.  shoot vampire faces.

Polkitain growls loudly to enforce his horror factor and will try a second stake attempt at the other vampire with a new stake.


09:01, Today: Polkitain rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Staking Attempt.

A 70 degrees and sunny grenade goes off directly in front of the glittermount. the small globe glows with an almost (but not quite) blinding light in the still darkness of the night.

Doc catches each vampire in the chest with the first of round from each shooting iron. The vampires are pressed back by the force of the bullets even as large exit wounds open up in their backs.

The young dragon's roar drowns out the hiss of his opponent. The vampires steps back, perhaps realizing now that it maybe bitten off more than it can drain. The fiend attempts to dodge but trips over the dragon's tail as it backpedals. Instead of the heart, the wooden stake buries into the vampire's eye socket.

Polkitain winces when he sees the stake go into the vampires eye.

Polkitain took the wooden cross he had and pressed it against the vampire hoping it would have some effect.

When the Glittermount lights up below him, Nyx moved over to the edge of the parapet - trying to line up a shot on the leech below

Arulas drops the rifle and ignites his psi-sword. Blade at the ready he assesses the threats and responds.

Doc immediately moves to the vampires, firing again into their heads, just to be double sure they were dead.

The vampire underneath Polkatain bucks wildly. Any pain felt by the wood in its eye socket is not slowing it. If anything, it's causing the monster to frenzy. The hatchling presses a small wooden cross to the fiend's forehead. This seems to have no effect on the vampire in the mud. The monster claws at the wrist of the dragon's cross-bearing hand and tears at the scaly flesh with a claw of its own. Merely 11 points of mega-damage

Meanwhile, the globe of daylight casts yellowish light up and down the street. The vampire nearby dives for cover inside a small cottage adjacent to the church. Samuel reports that he lost sight of that vampire. Nix, however, saw where the monster went from his rooftop vantage. Arulas, Kalista, and Ethan may all hear the commotion nearby even though they haven't seen the beast yet.

Arulas' psi-sword forms in his hand. It is now ready for action.

At the city's wall (interior side), Doc faces the two wounded vampires. The two monsters dodge in opposite directions to throw off the gunman's aim. The vampire to Doc's left makes a move for cover but isn't quick enough and takes a silver bullet to the back of its head for the trouble. successful called shot to the noggin, unsuccessful dodge The vampire to Doc's right is even less graceful, stumbling into a cart full of garden fertilizer. The creature is both prone and steady as it receives a shot between its eyes. Booth vampires have stopped moving and both are missing the majority of their heads.

Samuel reports that Polkatain is now in an even one-versus-one wrestling match with single vampire.

The noise of vampires clawing through the walls is becoming noticeable between gunshots.

Polkitain growls surprised at the cross not doing anything and then feeling the pain in his hand. He took a wide swing that totally missed the vampire.


07:39, Today: Polkitain rolled 4 using 1d20+3.  Demon Punch Attack.

"One went into to cottage, Sam", called out the 'slinger, assessing whether his vantage retained any value of whether he was better in the thick of it. If the latter, he made way quickly down

Doc spins his guns like the slingers of old, reloading the bullets, he looks at the vampires to see if they are healing or if the silver did it's job.

Ethan was surprised by the sheer determination and single-minded ferocity of the vampires. Despite being meet with force capable of hurting them, the vampires pressed on, apparently heedless of any amount of pain or injury. It was unnerving but like so many other feelings during battle, it was a distraction he couldn't afford. Thankfully his training and experience were enough to push his feelings to the side while he focused on the tasks at hand.

"And right now the task at hand is stopping them from breaching the wall," he thought, as the sound of the vampires clawing their way through the wooden walls grew louder. He willed into existence a large two-dimensional force field, covering the inner side of the wooded barricade that was in danger of being penetrated. "I thought wood was supposed to be deadly to them but I guess they can claw through it with no worries. Great."

Over the radio net he informed his companions of what he was hearing and what he had done about it. "Vampires trying to tear through the wall, I have a force field up to slow them down," he said as calmly as if he were announcing that in response to rain, he had opened an umbrella.

 Arulas starts walking toward the area of the wall that Ethan was at. He draws his cleaned pistol calmly as he walks. He shakes his head "Clawing through wood walls. Not a good sign Kallista. Master or not a Yucatan vamp? Either way could be bad. Ethan in the case of them breaching the walls I want you to fall back to the river if possible. Cover yourself in a force field and don't look them in the eye."

Kalista nodded to her former student. "I can handle things here, go help the others."

  "I'm on my way Ethan." the knight starts a steady jog not exactly sprinting, but definitely moving at a decent pace towards Ethan and what he is assuming is Polk's position. "Polk what is your status? Haven't seen you in a bit."

"I think I got one and am fighting another one." Polk calls out.

Polkatain
The hatchling is not accustomed to wrestling something which has comparable strength to his own. He definitely isn't accustomed to wrestling something both small and compact. The dragon's punch goes wide as the vampire bats it away. After Polkatain speaks his report, the vampire works a hand free and claws at the dragon's chest. Roll a parry of 13 or higher. Failure means taking another 3D6 mega-damage.

Nyx
The elf needs to squint in the fog and the gloom, but it does seem to him that the vampires are bleeding out correctly. Their bleeding has stopped like a wound which is scabbing over far too quickly.

Doc
Doc is definitely in the better defensible position on the roof. He has no line on the vampire in the cottage, but he also thinks that the vampire probably cannot leave that cottage without exposing itself. All is quiet inside the tiny rustic house.

Arulas
The Elven Cyberknight jobs down the short path which leads to the hidden door in the wall. He can hear the dragon fighting something immediately on the wall's far side.

Ethan
The medic channels more of the primal power deep within him. He pastes a cast around the interior of the breaking wall. It's in place before the invading vampires reach through the wood.

Kalista
I am guessing that Kali is inside the church and within the light of the Globe of Daylight spell. Is that correct?

I'm calling that the end of a round. The next round begins in minutes (in real time) just as soon as I get another post typed.

Somewhere, a clock ticks marking the passage of another ten seconds of all your lives.

Ethan
The vampires tear out the last inch of wood between themselves and the town. They instantly begin clawing at the force field that Ethan just erected. Their combined damage-potential is impressive.

Correct, Kali is the last line of defense.

06:31, Today: Polkitain rolled 11 using 1d20+4.  Parry Attempt.

Polkitain won't lower himself to whimper but the claws were hurting him.

OOC you got us elven gunslingers backwards boss.

Doc will use his survival knife and attempt to remove the heads of the vampires before they heal... he was a little upset the silver hadn't killed them outright.

Although he was itching to be in the think of things, Nyx remained in position ready to coordinate the responses from his companions or take out any of the leeches who dared to show themselves

Polk
The tussle continued. Polkitain seemed to have the upper hand, but the outcome of this match was anything but certain. Give me another strike roll and parry roll, please.

The Twins
I did. You two must look alike or something. Doc gave one of the fallen monsters a surprise tracheostomy. Then he kept cutting The head came off cleanly under his knife's blade, surprisingly easy in fact.

Polkitain lashes out again. Trying to rake his glowing spines at the vampires neck.
Still he seems to be clumsy at parrying.



06:36, Today: Polkitain rolled 21 using 1d20+3.  Strike at the vampire.
06:37, Today: Polkitain rolled 6 using 1d20+2.  Parry Attempt.
06:37, Today: Polkitain rolled 18 using 6d6.  Damage.

Doc will take his trophies, and look for a place to burn them. If not the entire body, at least the heads.

OOC damned twins.

Polkaitain
The dragon and the vampire trade a pair of vicious blows. The vampire claws at the dragon's hide again.

The vampire caught the dragon's downward plunging spine with an excellent parry, but Polkitain twisted inside the vampire's grasp and drove his glowing spine into the vampire's abdomen. The vampire appears very weak and slow from its injuries.

Doc
Nobody mentioned starting any fires. Being that the town is packed with dynamite, I'm going to assume that there are no open flames right now.

Doc holds two severed heads by their hair in a single fist. The monsters' bloodshot eyes and fangs in their open mouths only add to the macabre of the scene. Until he decides what he wants to do with them, Doc has a pair of really terrible paper weights. He can hear the running water nearby and he can see glints of golden light. They could be melted in the river beyond the walls, or they could be slowly burnt to dust with the globe of daylight that Kalista's glittermount is producing. Alternatively, he could try lighting a fire in any of the nearby houses. All of these options will take some time.

Doc will move towards the globes of daylight, seems safer than the river. "Nyx, eyes up, I got to heads I'm taking to the magic lights. Burn em up and kill some more."

++ Don't worry, won't shoot you, Doc ++, came the reply, a hint of humour in the acknowledgement. Scanning the area around the cottage and the diffuse light, Nyx ensured the way was clear for his twin and then scanned the edge of the woods once more

Polkitain regenerated a bit which helped as he decided to just full out attack the vampire seeing that it had slowed down. Roaring proudly he became a twisting ball of claws, fangs and glowing spines.



06:31, Today: Polkitain rolled 13 using 1d20+3.  Demon Punch Attack.
06:32, Today: Polkitain rolled 10 using 1d20+3.  Demon Punch Attack.
06:32, Today: Polkitain rolled 5 using 1d20+3.  Demon Punch Attack.


06:34, Today: Polkitain rolled 28 using 6d6.  Demon Punch Damage #1.
06:35, Today: Polkitain rolled 21 using 6d6.  Demon Punch Damage #2.
06:35, Today: Polkitain rolled 19 using 6d6.  Demon Punch Damage #3.

06:33, Today: Polkitain rolled 17 using 1d20+2.  Parry #1.
06:33, Today: Polkitain rolled 14 using 1d20+2.  Parry #2.
06:33, Today: Polkitain rolled 13 using 1d20+2.  Parry # 3.

Arulas walk over to the staked vampire and kicks the skull a few feet away. "Just in case fang face. You understand right." Arulas keeps walking towards Polk and his opponent. He stands nearby and lines up a shot for the fanger's head.
First couple actions he lines up a shot and when he has clear one he fires his pistol.

Polk
The little dragon struck with dragon-ferocity. The vampire's weak to parry resulted in only an arm being torn off. After the arm, the monster's head came off as well. Polkitain is now over the headless body of a vampire.

Arluas
The Cyber=Knight delivers a quick staking to one of the headless vampires in the street and peaks his head outside. He's just in time to see a vampire head roll towards him.

Kalista
The Cyber-knight sees Doc approaching with the pair of severed heads in his arm. Meanwhile, Ethan is looking a little strained.

Ethan
With a sudden great force, Ethan feels his forcefield give way. The vampires have broken through the wall.

Doc hollers, "Evenin' ma'am." and tosses the heads into the radius of the light she's producing. He tips his hat, and taps his radio, "Brother, you got eyes on anymore near me and this good lookin' lady knight?" he gives her a wink and grin, and as if by magic his second revolver is back in his hand.

Polkitain now takes out a stake and calmly pushes it into the vampire he beheaded.
He gathers up the skeletons and the head and arm and trots back to Lady Kalista, "Now what do I do with them ?"

Kalista acknowledged Doc with a nod. She told Polk to burn the body and heads separately and scatter the ashes in running water.

"I don't have a torch, uhm." Polk looks around for any fires.

 "We don't have time just yet for all that and we are sitting in a literal powder keg. Toss them in the river later. Do we have eyes on Ethan?" Arulas asks.
  The staked vampires are less of a concern than the moving targets.

Samuel reports via radio, "I've lost track of all movement outside the wall. Maybe they bugged out and left. Hold on, there's some sort of commotion inside the robot. I need to check this out." With that, Sam drops into radio silence.

At just about the same time, Nyx spots movement in the village streets. A pair of red eyes glance back at him from an alley before vanishing behind a corner. Then another figure dashes through a garden in the side of his eye. The remaining vampires have the chapel surrounded and they are closing in.

Polkitain flies to the wall rampart and breaks off some of the pointed tops to use as really big stakes.

Since he does have the little radio thing he can wear he looks off to the robot in the river. "Sam you ok." He tries him on the radio.

His eyes darting to see if there is anything near the behemoth.

The behemoth is surrounded by water and looks just the same as when Samuel parked it there.

Once the heads have been destroyed, Doc will ready his pistols for more death. "Kalista, see any give a shout. Nyx, you good?"

In his nest Nyx ignored his brother and took the shot he had lined up, aiming for the bobbing head of the figure darting through the garden

06:15, Today: Nyx rolled 22 using 1d20+7.  Aimed Shot.
06:16, Today: Nyx rolled 18 using 5d6.  Damage - Doubled. => 36

Ethan felt it when his force field that had been reinforcing the wooden wall failed. The energy field, which he still didn't full understand how he created them in the first place, flared and then vanished as it was overloaded by the efforts of the vampires. This was as surprising as it was disconcerting to Ethan. Surprising in that while he hadn't expended a great deal of his energy on the making of the field, he had still invested enough that it had easily been the equal of two suits of heavy body armor placed back to back. That the pair of vampires could shred through it with their claws alone in so short a time was disconcerting for obvious reasons.

The medic keys his helmet mike in response to Sir Arulas. "I'm OK," he says, "but they made it through the force field I had in place to shore up this section of the wall. I'm open to suggestions." While he had been speaking, Ethan drew the silver knife from its sheath on his right thigh. He wasn't overly optimistic about his chances of successfully disabling even one vampire with it, let alone multiples but it was what he had to work with. "Besides," he thought to himself, "I could get lucky. Always a chance for a freak rainstorm right?"

Nyx is using silver ammo, right?

The round from the elf's gun stops the sneaking vampire and knocks it backward. The wounded monster crawl-rolls behind the cover of a small wooden garden wall.

Doc is interrupted his thoughts a house cat which darts out of an old old house. The cat runs past him without giving the elf any regard. His keen elven eyes pick up a shadow moving behind the outhouse. Yes, the cat was black.

In the faint light cast the globeof daylight, Kalista and Ethan both figures through a chapel window. Three vampires have emerged from the alleys and are gathering in the street. They are the side of the building behind the back of Nyx.

Polkitain and Arulas are in the street the other side of the chapel, I'm thinking. Polk feels the relief of his injuries healing themselves (fully regenerated now) when is taken surprise. The wooden wall of a small casa suddenly explodes next to them as two more vampires rush them.

Doc, pistols ready, let's the cat go past for the moment, focusing on the shadow he saw. "These things turn into cats?" he asks, as if on reflex one gun followed the cat, his eyes and the other gun search for movement from the area the shadow was seen in.

Polkitain blinks and tries to recover from the surprise.
Reaching down he picks up a shard of wood in each front claw.

With a growl he gets into it with one of the vampires.
He attempts to stake it and parry to avoid it's attacks.



07:10, Today: Polkitain rolled 14,9,14,6 using 1d20+3,1d20+3,1d20+3,1d20+3.  Staking Attempts.

07:11, Today: Polkitain rolled 6,6,9,6 using 2d6,2d6,2d6,2d6.  Stake damage.

07:12, Today: Polkitain rolled 23,15,6,10 using 1d20+4,1d20+4,1d20+4,1d20+4.  Parry Attempts.

Muttering beneath his breath and concentrating for a moment, Nyx estimated the possible placement the vampire could have taken behind the wooden wall and takes several shots in quick succession

OOC: Yes, he's using silver rounds. He's also using his Winchester, which is psychically linked to him and hence he pumps 10 ISP into it to make it Mega Damage before taking the shots

23:16, Today: Nyx rolled 20,19,16,26 (critical) using 1d20+7,1d20+7,1d20+7,1d20+7.  Attacks - Winchester 40-82.
23:17, Today: Nyx rolled 17,19,20,12 using 5d6,5d6,5d6,5d6.  Damage - Doubled. => 34+38+40+48 = 160

 Arias is surprised for all of a second. His Thundergun is tracking before he even realized it. As his reflexes took over it seems that his reaction didn't slow. The Thundergun fires three times not rapidly, but very deliberate and measured.

Seeing that the vampires are behind Nyx and that he might not sense them, Ethan shouts a warning over the radio to Nxy. He follows that up with launching bolts of pure force at the vampires, one for each of them. He doubts it will hurt the undead but that isn't his goal anyways. He is hoping the sudden 'push' will knock them over or at least distract them.

TO HIT
06:35, Today: Ethan rolled 5 using 1d20+2.  Bolt of force.
06:34, Today: Ethan rolled 8 using 1d20+2.  Bolt of force.
06:34, Today: Ethan rolled CRITICAL 22 using 1d20+2.  Bolt of force.


DAMAGE
06:37, Today: Ethan rolled 3 using 1d4.
06:37, Today: Ethan rolled 1 using 1d4.
06:37, Today: Ethan rolled 4 using 1d4.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:57, Wed 28 June 2017.

Doc has one shooting iron trained the outhouse weekend he sees it rise up off the dirt. The monster lifts the small building over its head and hills in a threatening position. Doc will have aim bonus advantage on his next attack roll.

Meanwhile Polk finds himself uncomfortably close vampiric fangs again. No suitable wood shivs are within claw reach for the hatchling, but still has a couple of wooden stakes more on him. With his very first trust, the dragon buries a stake into the monster's heart. The question is now how soon Polk is able accomplish this. He owes a Save vs Horror Factor roll as being sucker-clawed by a pair of hungry undead is different.

Save

13:30, Today: Polkitain rolled 20 using 1d20+5.  Save vs Horror.



Polkitain looks at the vampire seeing if it becomes a skeleton again.

Arulas uses his advantages of sixth sense and many years experience fighting vampires to quickly gain an upper hand, foiling the sneak attack. He unloads his first thunder gun shot into the vampire before reaches grappling range. The shot lands o.k. the monster's abdomen. Roll damage if you like and gimme a parry roll maybe also.

At the same time, Nyx is shooting at hidden target. The wooden obstructions do not even slow down his bullets. wild shot The shot goes very wide without even clipping the monster. In response, the vampire leaps from its housing place and towards Nyx's roof in one superhuman leap. Nyx can off maybe one more quick shot before the fiend reaches him.

Nyx, nix that. We are using your first dice roll but without the bonuses. That's still a natural twenty. The silver bullet inflicts incredible damage on the vampire, basically blowing most of its left side away. The frenzied monster is still coming for him though.

Ethan's experimental attacks against the stalking vampires work just like punches to the nose. Only the third vampire, however, is knocked off balance and tumbles from the force. Ethan is getting the idea that although these monsters look emaciated, they are much stronger than anything their size should logically be.

Rolling away from his rifle and to his feet, Nyx tries frantically to summon a blade of pure psychic energy in his defence

OOC: Activate his Psi sword power, parrying

Once Doc sees the monster lift the outhouse he grins, "Shitty idea son." he says before he smoothly squeezes the trigger of his silver plated silver pistol.


07:44, Today: Doc rolled 19 using 1d20.  shoot... add aim bonuses(no books at the moment).
Add my bonuses someone! At work, no books :(

Bonuses do not matter right because he rolled enough and then some, and the vampire is no position to dodge.

The bullet strikes the vampire in its center of mass. The monster wobbles, them tosses the outhouse at the elf. The shot is wild but lucky. Doc needs  either dodge or else have a lot faith in his armor.

Meanwhile, Nyx ignites his psi-sword in preparation for closer combat. While the blade is still forming, the vampire draws close and lashes at elf with a claw take across the psi-slingers armor. Dodge or take it and counter?

Trusting in his armour, Nyx takes the blow and counter strikes back

14:49, Today: Nyx rolled 8 using 1d20+5.  Attack - Psi Sword. Miss?
14:49, Today: Nyx rolled 20 using 4d6.  Damage.

This message was last edited by the player at 20:59, Sun 02 July 2017.

  Arulas sees the bullet slam home and put a hole in the vampire's abdomen. Thick syrupy blood starts pouring out for a being that doesn't bleed easy or get hurt easy at all. The report of the gun slamming home sounds like a thunderstorm rolling in. "I do so love the sound of thunder."
10 points of damage  3/6 shots used.

"Who needs help ?" Polkitain brings the skeleton to Lady Kalista.

Doc rolls to the side, coming up with his shooting irons trained on the creature.

10:08, Today: Doc rolled 19 using 1d20+8.  dodge.

IF I can attack feel free to roll for me or let me know and I'll roll.

The vampire in front of Arulas eats a bullet the hard way. The monster gives back with its claws -- but it doesn't give as good as it can get. Arulas' armor takes 13 points of mega-damage. The monster is close enough that the Cyberknight could write a detailed report on its fangs. He may also start parrying if he likes. (because Arulas has his psi-sword in his other hand, right?)

Doc ducks beneath the incoming privy. The vampire in front of him is rushing towards the gunfighter but is entirely exposed.

Polkitain sees that Arulas is fighting against a vampire very nearby, but the old Cyber-knight seems to have things under control. The dragon finds the (even older) Cyber-knight Kalista inside the chapel with Ethan.

In front of Ethan (and Kalista), two of the three street vampires smash in windows of the chapel and leap inside.

On the chapel's roof, Nyx finds an easy target in the frenzied vampire who cannot dodge and didn't think to parry either. The psychic's blade slices across the monster's torso leaving a deep slice. Nyx's armor took 19 points of damage.

Everybody gets to attack now.

Realizing how dangerous things just became Polkitain activates Demon Punch again and launches himself at the nearest vampire. Clawing and parrying trying to confine the combat to where he is.

He doesn't roar though not wanting to scare the others in the church.


Action 1 activate demon punch
07:22, Today: Polkitain rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Demon Punch Attack 1.
07:23, Today: Polkitain rolled 8 using 1d20+3.  Demon Punch Attack 2.
07:23, Today: Polkitain rolled 20 using 1d20+3.  Demon Punch Attack 3.
07:23, Today: Polkitain rolled 13 using 1d20+3.  Demon Punch Attack 4.

07:24, Today: Polkitain rolled 18 using 6d6.  Demon Punch Damage #1.
07:25, Today: Polkitain rolled 20 using 6d6.  Demon Punch Damage #2.
07:25, Today: Polkitain rolled 27 using 6d6.  Demon Punch Damage #3.
07:26, Today: Polkitain rolled 27 using 6d6.  Demon Punch Damage #4.

07:26, Today: Polkitain rolled 20 using 1d20+4.  Parry 1.
07:27, Today: Polkitain rolled 24 using 1d20+4.  Parry #2.
07:27, Today: Polkitain rolled 20 using 1d20+4.  Parry # 3.
07:28, Today: Polkitain rolled 10 using 1d20+4.  Parry 4.

Doc quickly fired both pistols at the charging vampire.


10:30, Today: Doc rolled 8 using 1d20+3.  hit.
10:30, Today: Doc rolled 7 using 1d20+3.  hit.

Calista aimed at the vamp with her water gun.

rolled a 9

Watching the repetitive frenzied attacks, Nyx timed his next blow to carve into the same spot in the creature's chest - letting out a fierce warcry in Dragonese as he struck home

20:13, Today: Nyx rolled 25 using 1d20+5.  Attack - Psi Sword - Natural 20!
20:14, Today: Nyx rolled 13 using 4d6.  Damage - Critical. => 26

Polkitain
Polk doesn't have to go far to find the nearest vampire. The young dragon turns towards the sound of smashing wooden shutters in the chapel, but he is stopped short as something grabs his tail. A claw has appeared out of the dirt and holds the dragon in place. Polkitain channels his mental energy into claw as he steels himself for the next wave of attacks.

A second claw breaks through the packed dirt grasping for the softer scales of the dragon's underbelly. It's a good strike, but it isn't good enough. A swift kick from Polkitain's rear claw parries the vampire's hand. Twisting, the hatchling delivers a powerful blow to the figure emerging from the broken earth. Something definitely went crunch when Polkitain's fist connected.

Kalista and Ethan
The Sea Titan's shot from her water pistol was slightly clumsy, but her target's attempt to dodge was worse. The vampire takes a face full of scalding water.

The monster pushes through the pain and counter attacks with a haymaker punch meant to knock Kalista on her back. The fiend must have been blinded by the squirt gun attack and misses comically. Don't even bother to roll a parry unless you want to do so.

The second vampire circles around the floor to flank Kalista and Ethan.

The third vampire is now knocking open another window but hasn't entered the building yet.

Arulas
The elven Cyber-knight is still fighting toe-to-toe with his own vampire, a particularly ugly and foul smelling specimen at that.

Doc and Nyx
The elven twins continue to wear down their own opponents. Doc unloads more precious silver a vampire's gut. The murderous creature doubles over and collapses into the dust.

Meanwhile Nyx delivers perfect slice to the monster on the roof. The monster is cut in twain at the lower chest. It's lower body slides down one side of the roof and falls into the street below while the upper body tumbles off the other side of the steeped roof and disappears into the street on the other side.

With a twist of his mind, Nyx summoned the Winchester back into one hand whilst his psi-sword still shimmered in the other. He sighted down the scope from where he stood, scanning the town for signs of more of the fiends. As he worked he flicked on the mic within his body armour, ++ One more leech out of commission - in front and behind the church if someone on the ground can stake it and ensure it's not crawling to freedom ++

Doc will again sever the head of the vampire(if it is in fact incapacitated). If not he will shoot it in the back of the head while it isn't moving, then cut it's head off.

Calista commands her horse to cast a second globe of daylight.

"There are so many ! How are they coming out of the ground ?"

Polkitain looks concerned.

"Kalista is this a trap ?"


I did all my actions so I will wait for the next turn.

Calista responds, "Get into the light."

If Polk can he will get in the light.

Ethan watches as the vampire winds up to deliver a Hollywood perfect cliche hay maker punch...and then miss utterly. If it wasn't a life or undeath situation, he would have laughed until he cried.

Since it was a life or death situation he found himself, not to mention his bride, in, he reacted with not with laughter but with calculated violence. First he summoned another force field, this time a flat wall large enough to cover the window the vampire was trying to break through. He knew it wouldn't keep the thing at bay for long but all he wanted was to buy some time for Kalista to deal with the problems they already had.

 At the claw swipe that actually scratches the armor he simply looks at the vamp and waggles his psi-sword in a tsk-tsk-tsk manner. His sword hisses out at the vampire. Hoping to break through whatever guard the thing has he presses the attack.
off to roll.

Doc
Doc's vampire is unmoving in the dusty street, but its body is already beginning to stitch itself back together. The decapitation is necessary.

Nyx
Since he's looking around, a vampire is in the street behind and underneath him, trying to crawl inside a window. Doc is inspecting a vampire which he just brought down. On another side, Arulas and Polkitain are almost back to back and fighting in very close melee range with one vampire each.  Nobody looks free to do the staking for Nyx just yet.

Arulas
The cyber-knight's sword swings with great speed through the air like a katana draw from its sheath. The lucky vampire back pedals and avoids the blow, but it takes itself out of biting-range. The vampire spent his last attack on that dodge.

Polkitain
As the vampire underneath him struggles free from its own hole, it proves itself the more ferocious (if not the strongest or smartest) of the two unearthly creatures. The vampire bites the dragon's meaty tail. 23 points of damage

Ethan and Kalista
A fresh shimmering force field appears appears in the window and locks out a frustrated-looking vampire.

Kalista's command is answered by clockwork magic churning inside the body of her glittermount.

The two vampires in the room make use of what type they have to press their offenses. Each one claws at one of the adventurers like feral animals. Dodges or parries?

Only after the vampires have acted, does the fresh Globe of Daylight activate. Like a switch turning on, the room fills with a gentle daytime glow. The vampires both pause and cover their eyes with their arms.

Parry w psi shield please.

Polkitain can't help but let out a yelp when the serious slash to his tail happened.
He curled his tail up away from the monster.

Doc goes to work quickly with his knife again, removing the head of the beast.

His wife's words, command really, to 'get into the light' registers with Ethan only as the claws of one of the two vampires are coming right for him. The combat medic reacts as he had been trained to do during his long ago Combatives course; he parried using the dagger in his left hand. His empty right hand or 'reaction hand' as he had been taught to call it, struck at the vampire's wrist. It didn't move to slap or punch the wrist connected to the claws that were attached to it but rather to grab it.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:30, Thu 06 July 2017.

When the vampire clawing at the window fills the scope, Nyx calmly took a shot intending to blow the beast's brains out

10:56, Today: Nyx rolled 22 using 1d20+7.  Attack - Winchester.
10:56, Today: Nyx rolled 20 using 5d6.  Damage - Doubled. => 40

Wrapping things up...

Doc
Doc has a new trophy, a smelly vampire noggin.

Nyx
His intention to blow out the monster's brains partially succeeds. His silver bullet blows off half of the vampire's upper skull and the left half of its brain. The monster staggers and turns away from the building.

Ethan and Kalista
Ethan manages to push the vampire's claw away from the medic's face, but he is not quick enough to completely negate the damage. The monster's claw instead tears into the armo of Ethan's armor. 11 points of mega-damage Ethan's grab is more successful, pinning one of the vampire's wrist in place. The creature is a little surprised to see a mortal fighting it so brashly, so it isn't using its full strength to resist.

Meanwhile, Kalista skillfully parries the attack from her own opponent, making it look easy. The glow from his psi-sword is drowned out by the sudden surging of light that comes from the globe of daylight behind her.

Suddenly, Ethan's vampire receives a powerful blow from an invisible source. Bones splinter inside the vampire's dead body. Both vampires break away from combat (and that daylight) and dash towards the windows.

NEW MELEE ROUND BEGINS!

Doc calls out on the radio, "Anyone got one of them fancy daylight spells goin'? I need to drop Jose off, he wants to tan."

++ One ... Moment ++, responded his brother, lining up a second shot on the badly splattered vampire below

"Bang", spoke the Winchester

++ Flare, inbound ++, came the second satisfied-sounding radio communication from the 'slinger sniping from the rooftop, pausing to thrown a TW-flare down into the alleyway

Attack 1: Another shot on the vampire
13:03, Today: Nyx rolled 20 using 1d20+7.  Attack - Winchester.
13:04, Today: Nyx rolled 24 using 5d6.  Damage - Doubled. => 48

Attack 2: Chucking the flare

Polk took a sec on his radio ~Samuel you ok ?~

He then went back to renewed attacks on the vampires in the church especially any threatening the residents.


06:40, Today: Polkitain rolled 20 using 1d20+3.  Claw attack 1.
06:40, Today: Polkitain rolled 7 using 3d6.  Claw Damage.

06:41, Today: Polkitain rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  Parry 1.

Ethan grunted as the claws of the vampire sliced his armor, shoving the arm he had used to block the blow meant for his face. He was glad his wrist-lock had worked...after a fashion but the supernaturally strong creature easily jerked free and fled from the sudden appearance of sunlight inside the chapel.

"Not so fast," he said as he created another force field, this one big enough to cover the entire wall of one side of the small chapel.

The vampires are in full retreat. They scramble to get away in every direction, but instead are cut down with blows and shots to their backs. The final four vampires (2 in the chapel, 1 in the street below Nyx, and 1 underneath Polkitain) all fall to the skilled hands (and claws) of the Lumberjacks. Heads are collected and turned to dust underneath artificial daylight soon afterward. All in all, ten vampires fell in defense of the town, and the town remains intact save for a few holes here and there.

Samuel soon returns to the radio. He reports that everyone inside the Behemoth is well. An issue arose involving a minor leak that triggered a panic attack, but he was able to handle it by himself. He further reports that no more movement is visible around the town. After reviewing his sensor logs, he amends his report by saying that radar (but not thermals) did pick up something moving around the tree line during the attack, but it is gone now. Cameras only caught a glimpse of the man-sized figure shrouded in shadows.

In the aftermath, it is counted that the Lumberjacks suffered only a loss of ammunition and a few bumps to body armor. Polkitain took the worst beating, but his scales regeenrrate to pristine condition with minutes.  Kalista and Arulas are able to confirm that all of the vampires fought tonight were of the wild variety.

In a show of gratitude, the villagers bring out hidden gifts. Tequila is offered. The villagers also gift to the Lumberjacks a special tool. It's a woodman's ax with a steel blade that is coated in silver. The hickory shaft has been somehow enhanced to mega-damage toughness.

Doc happily accepts the offer of tequila, letting someone who's better suited take the ax. "I got a few, Nyx, you?" he asks his brother who he was perpetually locked into competition with, good natured as it may be.

"Sam, can we enhance that image and see if we can get any useful details from the figure in the woodline. No thermal means probably a vamp, I guess. Maybe it's our mark?"

Sam (in NPC mode) answers, "There isn't a lot of data there with which I can work. I will see what I do. One thing that I can do is add a recognition protocol to the camera's software. If the Behemoth sees this particular figure again with no IR signature corresponding, we can be notified. Hey, is that tequila? Where did you get that?"

  "Sounds good Samuel. I think it can wait until morning. Go ahead and breach and disembark your passengers. Tequila it is. The villagers broke out something called Sauza and 1800 Silver. Not a huge fan of tequila. They have some good beer though." Arulas says as he sips a Mexican brew with a lime wedge in it while watching some vampire heads burn in the artificial sunlight. He would have liked to interrogate one,but we got carried away. "I say the axe becomes the team's mascot."

"Four?", hazarded Nyx, with a crooked smile for his twin when they have re-gathered after the attack. He shrugged though, the more familiar foe easing his normal edge, "But I had the advantage of the eyrie"

Declining the tequilla, his smile faded when he heard reports of the watcher in the woods, "Let us hope these wilders were not a simply probe against the village. It would perturb me to pass back this way and come upon a burnt out shell"

At Sir Arulas' suggestion he nods, "That would be fitting, indeed"

Polkitain looks around, "I could go for a nice meal, or one of those hot cocoa things." He smiles.

Calista was still at the business of disposing of vampire corpses when the odd ax reward was given. "I think one of our team was particularly brave. Bravery should be rewarded. I believe the ax should go to Polk." Leaning into Ethan she missed him and muttered about rewarding him later.

"Wow um Thank you." Polkitain bowed deeply surprised and happy at the recognition.

“And just like that, it’s over,” the thought flashed through Ethan’s mind as the sounds of combat; the bangs of gun fire, the crashing and breaking of wooden boards, the howls of the Undead, even the sound of his own heavy breathing, just faded away. It was a funny thing and something that still surprised him even after all the combat actions he had been in; the sudden stop at the end. For him, it was just as sharp and shocking as the start of combat. Perhaps that was because that’s all he ever really remembered; the moment the violence started and the moment it ended. Everything in between was just a blur, no more real than a mirage seen from a distance.

The men out of time took a deep breath and removed his helmet, showing his face for the first time since the action had begun. He appreciated the offer of tequila even though it was not his preferred drink. When it came to liquor he was a fan of whiskey, preferably bourbon though scotch would do in a pinch. Whatever his preferences though, he didn’t refuse the offered tequila. “These people need to celebrate and feel like they need to thank us,” he thought as he took a glass. He swirled it once, brought it to his lips and then downed it in one go, swallowing quickly. The rough, clear alcohol burned its way down his throat as he handed the glass back. “Thank you,” he said and smiled.

Then came the axe, another show of appreciation for what his companions had done. He agreed with his wife when she said that the axe should go to Polk. “It’s like a guidon,” he said and gestures at Sir Arulas. “That’s like a mascot, as he said. Basically a visible symbol that the rest of can follow in battle. A reminder of past accomplishments to draw strength from during times of stress…like fighting blood sucking monsters that are a real pain to destroy.”

Ethan was smiling as he spoke for he was happy that everyone had made it through the night. Then Kalista leaned into him and whispered in his ear. His skin flushed and it had nothing to do with the tequila. He put his arm around her waist and cleared his throat. “So what is next on our agenda?”

"Polk tends to jump first into danger so him having it would make him out standard bearer which is a position of honor and responsibility. Yes I think that fits both ideas well." Arulas intones in a humorous manner that sounds far to serious to be serious at all.