World Tree MUSH

    The town of Glenmouth is a bit on the larger side, with a population of roughly 500 humans, elves, dwarves, halflingsm and other races. It's a little cosmopolitan enough to even have a few stone buildings and its very own cellphone shop.
    This shop is presently where Anna Primrose can be found, browsing through some of the lower end smartphones available- you know, the kind you mainly use for email, GPS, texting and... Gasp. Actually calling people.
    What a rarity in this day andage, but as the sleepy little town faces nightfall, it faces something of a crisis.
    For one, the shops are closing early, and a very confused princess is nudged out the shop without managing to pick a phone, before the doors are locked.
    "You'd best get off the streets and get to the inn, too, young lady." The clerk says, earning a few blinks.
    "Before the dead start walking, I mean. --You didn't know? The past few weeks our cemetary's been crawling with the undead. ... They don't actually attack anyone though. They just kind of lock everyone up inside their homes and don't let anyone leave until morning time."
    "Huh..." Anna muses at this explanation. It's the same explanation the inn keeper gives, in fact as she returns to the local tavern and inn which will serve as the meeting place for this little jaunt.
    "So I didn't get a phone." She says to her travel companion. "I was nudged right out the shop at closing time. Something about the undead."
    There's that.
    And the fact that a chill mist begins to float over the ground as shambling footsteps begin to fill the darkened streets.
    "I think something is up in the graveyard, if the dead aren't letting anyone out at night."

    "I'm honestly still not sure if I am more surprised by such a response or the fact that a small town like this in this world even *has* an electronics store," says the aforementioned travel companion -- Shirou Emiya. The red-haired boy rubs at the back of his head in visible confusion while looking back to the store Anna was just more or less kicked out of, russet brows digging subtly together.

    "Are undead a common problem in this world, anyway?" He asks of Anna with a glance back to her when he steps back away, turning to face... well, wouldn't you know it, a menacing sight of chilling mist and the sounds of what must be zombie footsteps.

    "...Or maybe I'm just getting impressed by my videogames again..."

    "Hey when are you going to get a phone? It's going to be way easier than when you send me missives by mail for work." Asks a voice to Anna. Said voice turns out to belong to her favorite 'weird guy that gives you advice', Valerian Railton, "So do you believe me about the Demon Cult yet? Or are you still on the fence about that one." 

    Valerian calmly takes a stimstick out of his pocket again and lights it, smoking the stimulant like a cigarette as he calmly taps some ash off and exhales some smoke, "Anyway, I'm here for the job you wanted me for. I'd usually charge a ton for work like this, but I'm kinda invested in seeing where your whole future thing winds up."

Misaki was not supposed to be here. She was supposed to be going home from cram school. She just took a tiny shortcut through vines, and now she's not where she's supposed to be. She grasps tightly to her trusty flashlight, and takes a step towards the nearest building when one of the undead comes out of her blind spot into the light and she screams.

A few more encounters and screams like that later, and a terrified Misaki comes through the inn door. Too frazzled by the combination of darkness and the walking dead to even think to transform.

 
 A certain Mountain King had been hitting the local tavern hard, after traveling all around the Tree and meeting all kinds of strange people and critters it was kind of refreshing to run into a place that mildly reminded him of Azeroth. Muradin's partying with fellow dwarves had been cut short though, something about mystical mist coming down and the dead stirring up from their graves. Why, Muradin was halfway downing his fourth mug of ale of the night when his dwarven buddies all bolted out of their chairs and out the bar. "Oi! Where's everybody going!? HEY!!" The rest of the patrons were next as the bartender gave a hurried last call and promtply kicked everyone out of the bar. "Wh-what?? Ye blokes gotta be kidding me, it's barely midnight! I think.. hmm..?" Muradin dug into his pockets to check his pocket watch and he stared down at it with one eye closed, trying to make sense why everyone ran away from a perfectly good night of drinking so early. "Hm, maybe it's a local holiday I ain't aware or something.." Sighed the dwarf as he ambled forward to try and return to the inn where he was staying. As he returned there, wouldn't you know it? He recognized a couple of figures inside, some of them looking as bewildered as he was. "Oi!! Anna! Shirou! Fancy seeing ya 'ere!" Muradin waves at the two kids standing there along with Valerian. 

    'The dead are nonviolently making people stay indoors at night' is certainly a weird take on the old zombie uprising. Weird enough for Hyouka to be interested in showing up; as an Adventurer(tm), this sort of strange experience is exactly the sort of thing she craves. She even had enough notice to swap elemental crystals for this particular venture! And while it's not terribly rare for her to make the trip to a particular job with her roommate along for the ride, it's still a welcome treat whenever it happens.

    Also a welcome treat: meeting fantasy races.

    The first thing Hyouka notices heading into the inn is Muradin arriving just ahead, and her face pretty much lights up. "-oh? A dwarf? Isn't that wonderful!" She moves carefully to the side of the door so she's not blocking the way, and gives a cheerful wave. "I'm Hyouka. Are you here for the undead... whatever-it-is that's going on?"

    It is, in fact, noteworthy that Hyouka managed to drag Serrah over to Some Heroics<tm> (or at least, it's noteworthy if you believe Serrah's admittedly shaky word on the subject). However, the whole idea of a problem caused by non-hostile undead kind of hit her close to home. She hasn't been dead for over a year, admittedly, but it was enough for her to get a good night's sleep beforehand, and she's only a little tired.

    (She's also been slightly shy around Hyouka since the you-know-what-let's-just-not-talk-about-it on Halloween -- that costume! So gorgeous! -- and this will hopefully take her mind off that.)

    "Hey, easy there, partner," she says dryly as Hyouka just makes a beeline for Muradin. "He's just a guy, probably, settle down." She seems unaware of the whole 'king' part, and 'fantasy' races are perfectly ordinary in Serrah's homeworld to the point of not even being noteworthy.

    The only familiar face already here is Misaki, however. "Uh ... hey," she says gently, when she sees the state Misaki is in. "You all right?"

  Mist rises over the roads of Glenmouth, swirling with every disturbance. In this case, it's the hooves of an enormous coal-dark war horse. Perched on its saddle is a slight figure in a hooded black robe that looks like some kind of necromancer or something, maybe? Hard to tell. They've got a bow slung over a shoulder and a quiver, but otherwise, they look... well, less like they're being spooky and more like they're looking for something.

  The hood is drawn so it's hard to see the face, but the hood turns to regard the other arrivals, as though curious. Some are known factors, but some are not. The further down the road the horse goes, the more nervous the figure looks. That feeling of being watched is just eerie...

  Someone's there, but the way they're moving is just wrong.

  After some very awkward encounters with some very dead people, Zelda and her horse are scooted towards the inn, and she manages to hastily hand the animal over to a groom (who is going to be earning OVERTIME with that animal) and shoulders her way into the building. She leans against the wall as she shuffles in, and turns to squint at the doorway suspiciously.

  This place is weird.

  By the time she looks up and sweeps the hood back, blinking owlishly, there are other folks here. Some of them she even recognises! "Oh. Miss Kiyama. I was not expecting to see you here." Rather than a creepy scary necromancer, the person under the hood is... a rather harmless-looking young woman of probably aristocratic descent. Rich chestnut hair, worn in a simple braid, and summer-blue eyes scan the room. Oh, and pointed ears.

  She's totally not a Night Elf, at least. Or a Blood Elf. Well. Probably not a Blood Elf, right?

  "What a peculiar town this is. When I read the initial posting, I was expecting hostile activity." Zelda seems... entirely baffled by this turn of events.

    "Actually, I was just looking at phones today." Anna remarks to her favorite chainsaw big brother figure. Valerian is Anna's only chainsaw big brother figure, actually. "I had a phone before I fled the castle actually. But I left that one behind so I couldn't be tracked." Pause. "I never said I didn't believe you about the demon cult, it's just..." It's a lot to take in. Nevertheless she motions all around them. "Apparently the town has non-violent zombies. Shall we go find out why?"
    As for Shirou, the girl's initial response is to puff her cheeks out. "Well. Most of the stories I had read and heard depict the undead as ravenous and mindless devourers of living flesh. This is... Well it is a thing, but this is apparently out of the ordinary that they aren't attacking any-." 
    Anna's axe is instantly in her hand as she hears a scream from outside. ... Enter Misaki.
    "A-ah... Hello, miss Sakai. I see you ran into the locals."
    "I do not think it's a local holiday, sir Muradin." She notes to the arriving mountain king, slinging her axe back over her shoulder to rub her neck before motioning at the amassing undead out the window as Hyouka and Serrah arrive. Anna raises her hand. "We are here for the undead whatever-it-is that's going on, yes." Then Sheik arrives and the team now has a full party.
    Anna spends a moment looking out at the shambling undead roaming the streets in front of the inn before she makes a decision.
    "Let's all head out the back."
    Anyone willing to follow the young princess out the back soon has to quietly stalk the deserted Glenmouth streets. The groans of the dead can be heard from just one avenue over, and the street the party is currently on is deserted, save for... Is that whistling?
    A single figure emerges from the darkness, humming to himself; a young man in his early 20's in a band-tee and some jeans, human.
    And his mouth is covered in blood.
    "Ah..."
    As soon as he sees the group he turns and runs, heading straight for the direction of the local cemetary.

    "Ugh. Well..." Valerian digs around in his apron and then pulls out a smartphone, "Here. It's a burner phone. I have a few." He says in a casual, and not even remotely suspicious manner. 

    Almost immediately after he hands it to Anna, his head whips around and his focus goes right to Hyouka. He sniffs the air a couple times, "You've met a dragon. A really old one." He sniffs a couple more times, "Ancient, right?" He holds a hand out to her, "Valerian Railton. Exotic Materials Merchant." 

    Valerian does not have the Juicer Chainsaw today. Instead, he reaches towards his hip and draws a machete while they go out onto the street at Anna's prompting. He points at the fleeing young man, "Vampire! That's totally a vampire!"

>> SUMMARY[Valerian Railton] >> Hands Anna a Phone. Sniffs at Hyouka. Points out vampire.

    "That's *definitely* not how I would imagine undead as a concept," Shirou tells Anna with a slight purse of his lips as he crosses his arms over his chest. "Even ignoring just the fiction stuff, the stories I heard from Kiritsugu about the *actual undead* in my world..."

    He barely has time to even consider addressing most of the others, on account of the scream. Much like Anna, his hand is on his weapon - the silver sword gifted to him the other day - and drawing it from it's sheath. ONly to spot a Misaki charging in.

    "Oh. Sakai-san," he observes, in complete deadpan while slipping the sword back into it's scabbard. "You too, huh? You feeling better after that--"

    Aaaand he doesn't even have the time to fully resheath the sword before Anna makes an Executive Decision. "Wai-"

    Guess he's going to have to make with the introductions to Zelda and Hyouka later, when he's not running after the Runaway Princess.

    Not runaway from him, mind, evne if she is runni-... oh, sod it, nevermind!

    Outside, he ends up staring right back at the bloody-mouthed man. He even lets out an "--Ah," right at the same time as the other guy does.

    "...What kind of vampire, exactly?" He wonders out loud. You know, since apparently there's probably like a kazillion different *kinds* of vampires between all the worlds connected to the Tree.

 
 The Mountain King quickly slides sideways to allow Saki entrance, slightly startled by the sudden screaming. He knew that twas the season to be spooky still, but this was getting a little ridiculous! Fortunately, Anna is quick to explain, and as more people start filing in, the dwarven warrior quickly understands what's going on. Looks like he managed to sumble himself into yet another adventure! Well, that's just the way he likes to spend his evenings actually. 
 
 Muradin crosses his arms and listens intently to Anna until Hyouka nearly runs up to greet him. Normally he'd be delighted to greet a young lady, who was likely a fan of Muradin Bronzebeard, but once he gets a good look at her he finds it quite suspicious that this apparent elf lady seems to so excited to see him. Hasn't she seen a dwarf before?? The dwarven warrior keeps his muscled arms crossed over his chest and somewhat leans sideways looking up strangely at Hyouka with a certain level of apprehension to his tone of voice and attitude. "Ello?" He says, bronze colored bushy eyebrow raising in curious concern. What Hyouka probably doesn't know is that Muradin isn't from your standard fantasy world, he's from Azeroth, and in his world the good elves are the Night Elves and the 'evil' ones so to speak are the Blood Elves. And let's just say that sadly Hyouka's skin tone is the wrong color. Muradin sucks in calming air though, reminding himself that he's not in Azeroth and that this lady is prooooobably not a Blood Elf. After all, he's been here long enough that he's ran into quite an assortment of knife ears--I mean elves, enough that it keeps his prejudice in check. She's not with the Horde, Muradin, or at least, she probably isn't, otherwise she wouldn't seem so happy to see you, is what the dwarf thinks to himself. 
 
 "Well met, lass. Muradin's the name." He has the good sense of introducing himself to Hyouka before she brings up the tiny matter of the undead rising. "Right!! I dinnae that was something that was going on, but since I'm 'ere let's get to bash some undead skulls!! HAH!!" The dwarf pops his neck and a crack of thunder is heard as his magical axe and warhammer appear in his hands in a flash of light. "Let's get to it!" From the corner of his eye, he sees yet another mysterious elf appear in the form of Zelda, and -THIS ONE- does resemble the Blood Elves that he's used to. But he has no time to investigate the matter further, there are undead that need to be put back to rest! 
 
 Muradin follows Anna to the back of the inn, axe and hammer at the ready, just in time to see the bloke with the bloody mouth making a run for it as Valerian calls it a vampire. "Who the bloody hell cares, Shirou!? KILL IT!!" Muradin answers Shirou as he too starts running after the alleged vampire. He's vaguely aware that an universal way of killing a vampire is to chop off their heads, and oh look, he happens to have a magical axe right for the job. 
 

    "Oh, I can still be happy to see him, can't I?" Hyouka replies to Serrah in a playful pout. But with the arrival of the mysterious Sheik (whom Hyouka is DEFINITELY MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME, cough cough), it looks as if they're ready to roll out.

    And then the cyborg is accosted by someone who can smell the dragon on her. "...er, well, yes," she replies after a baffled second or two. "Not in this body, but she was the one who had it built for me, and my onboard AI is patterend on her thought processes. The core works on similar principles to a dragon's heart, too. I'm Hyouka Kiyama, I'm an adventurer," she greets both Valerian and Muradin. "I look like an elf, but this is actually an artificial body. I'm human up here," she adds, tapping her forehead. A voice from somewhere in the neighborhood of her collarbone chimes in, "I am DARGN, Hyouka's onboard AI assistant."

    Oh hey, a vampire. And it's running. "O-oi! Get back here, you!"

    She takes off like a shot, running at a speed that would leave a horse in the dust.

  Since there isn't much reason to stay behind, Zelda falls into line with the others as the party files out the back entrance. At some point a second figure joins her. The Sheikah are even more delicate than their Hylian cousins, and Loremaster Yalai looks downright fragile beside Zelda. There's nothing fragile about the needle-like throwing knives fanned between her fingers, though, or the cold intensity of those red eyes. The two confer for a quiet moment before Yalai bobs her head and ducks away, seemingly melting into the shadows.

  Yalai definitely looks the type to be mistaken for some kind of offworld elf.

  The exchange between Valerian and Hyouka is watched curiously, but for now, Zelda doesn't comment. Nor does she move to take her bow, although she watches the bloody-mouthed young man make a run for it. While she could try to pin him in place with an arrow, in this case, it might be better to track him. Her eyes narrow as she watches him scurry off.

  ...She does have that creepy feeling of being watched, still, but maybe it's just Muradin looking at her funny. Zelda's hooded head tilts as though to say, who, me? It's all the time for an exchange she has, though.

  Hyouka leaps forward. Zelda isn't far behind, black robe swirling behind her. If they want to see where the guy's going, best they catch up quick!

    There's that sensation of Light again. Serrah tries not to grimace at Zelda's arrival, but she nevertheless subtly moves herself so that Hyouka is between the two of them. She snickers at Hyouka. "Yeah, yeah," she says. "And I'm Serrah Delany, sort of following my roommate around," she adds dryly, gesturing at Hyouka as she follows Anna out the back door.

    But now Anna's leading everyone outside, and then there's a vampire. Serrah raises her eyebrows; she doesn't nee Valerian's supernatural senses to tell what he is. A little over a year ago, she was a vampire.

    But then the man is running, and Muradin is recommending a fairly final solution to this particular situation. Serrah hefts her baseball bag, frowning at the dwarf king ...

    And then, in an instant, she's gliding a few inches above the ground next to the vampire, keeping pace with him. One instant, she's by Hyouka; the next, as abruptly as a video skipping ahead, she's by the vampire. "Hey," she says in a relatively gentle tone, keeping her mouth half-open in a way that reveals her own fangs (which are admittedly noticeably smaller than his). Many vampires are murderous assholes, yes, but she feels the need to at least talk to him before any permanent-killing happens, just to be sure. "Whatcha up to?"

Just a little startled." Misaki thinks to transform to be heading out with the group, and immediately she's getting a bright orb above her head as she turns off and stows her flashlight. This is no time for directional lights. She rushes along to the apparent vampire like the others.

    Valerian hands Anna a phone. That's... Really handy actually." "A-ah... Thank you." The girl says somewhat sheepishly. That's tucked away for now, she'll figure out the features on it for later. Right now... The group is chasing a bloody-mouthed dude!
    Now, Anna is fast, but she's not as fast as this guy' who is off like a bullet. "I suppose we'll find out what kind of vampire he is when we stop him for questioning." Anna notes to Shirou. "... Silver hurts vampires right?" She's on the up and up when it comes to demons but not entirely one hundred percent on vampires.
    It's a problem for the princess to figure out later as others catch up to the alleged vampire; namely Hyouka and Serrah.
    "KHEEEEEE!" That's his initial response, a sound of surprise mingled with fear as he shows his teeth. Oh he has fangs alright, but the rest of his teeth are jagged and yellow and an abysmal mess of razor sharp points. "Nothing! Back off!" He snarls, hands turning into jagged claws which he swipes at the cyborg and dhampir. If his claws catch them it'll cause an instant temporary magical paralysis! Which is bad.
    What's good is that he runs right into the graveyard where-- Anna comes skidding to a halt as soon as she's past the gates.
    "--Wait." The girl hisses at the group. She spends a moment as though concentrating. Her hands tremble. The hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. If she had hackles, they'd be up right about now.
    "It's a trap!" She says as several other figures emerge from the mists.
    There's the youth the group chased down. There's an older human man in his fifties dressed like the town sherriff. An elven housewife with a knife in her hands and a bloodstained apron. A burly dwarf with a shaggy black beard... Two hobbits grinning to show those unnatural jagged teeth, and a heavyset dragonborn.
    "Well well well. A bunch of adventurers." The sherriff says smacking his lips. "Looks like fresh meat's back on the menu tonight, kiddos." He says as they all flex their clawed hands. Before they LUNGE in almost unison.
    That speed isn't human. It's not human at all as-- Anna parries a blow and hacks down one of the hobbits. Its skin sloughs off to reveal an utterly ghoulish form beneath as the others try to sink their teeth into everyone else!

 A human in an artifical elven body that is in reality a dragon.. 
 
 By the forge, this place gives Muradin a headache. 
 
 Fortunately, Muradin has an excuse to not focus on trying to wrap his mind around Hyouka's identity since they are currently in hot pursuit of a vampire! Muradin would obviously like to lead the charge- but let's be real now, everyone in the party can likely outrun him since he's so short! The plucky dwarf give it his best shot though as he runs as fast as he can to catch up with the vampire, but slowly he starts sensing that all the elven and in general taller folk are overtaking him. "Soften 'im up for me lads and lasses! I'll be on top of that blighter in a sec!!" Calls the dwarf almost as if trying to cover up for the fact that he simply can't keep up with everyone running! Dwarves... natural sprinters and all that... 
 
 While he's trying, and failing, to catch up to everyone, Muradin has plenty of time to catch the look that Zelda is giving him and he glares right back at her. He's not falling for that sweet innocent facade! No sir!! 'Yea you!' The dwarf tells Zelda with but a twitching gesture of his bushy eyebrow, you know the one. 'No funny business, elf!' Muradin seems capable of communicating with Zelda purely with facial expressions. 
 
 The real tragedy here is that Zelda probably has no idea why Muradin is keeping such a close eye on her considering there's likely no dwarven equivalent in Hyrule, so to her it probably seems like uncalled for animosity for Muradin. But such is the way of the Tree sometimes, at least Muradin isn't acting on his suspicions that she's a Blood Elf and is keeping from getting into all out aggression. 
 
 Eventually, the group does catch up to the vampire lad, but by the time they do he had apparently made it all the way back to the graveyard where reinforcements were waiting for them. 
 
 Well, that's all fine for Muradin- he came here itching for a fight! "I GOT THE UGLY ONE!!" Calls the Mountain King as he flings himself forward, eager to meet the charge of the undead. His target; well, maybe it's a little obvious, it's the other dwarf! He's going to give his kin a mercy killing. "COME 'ERE YE LITTLE BEARDLING!!" Muradin taunts the other dwarf with a very dwarven taunt in an attempt to get his attention as he swings his mighty hammer upwards in an uppercut, crackling with lightning the weapon seeks to slam into the dwarven vampire's chin and crush his jaw and maybe decapitate him out right if the dwarf leans into the blow instead of trying to defend himself. 
 

    "I don't know!" Shirou answers (not at all) helpfully to Anna, with a quick look to the sword in his hand. "I... I guess we'll find out?" He's not entirely sure how he feels about potentially killing a more humanoid-like being though, but guess that's a problem he was going to have to face eventually anyway!

    "I mean, assuming those two don't take care of it before..." He murmurs, referring to the Very Speedy Hyouka and Serrah-- but he skids to a stop right behind Anna, with a blink. "What-- what's wro--?"

    HE does not have the same kind of danger sense Anna does, clearly. He jumps when she yells about the trap, and turns over to face the other half of the people who have decided to spring a surrounding circle on them. "Are they all vam--"

    He doesn't have time to finish the question or get an answer before they're leaping. Shirou, for his part, has to bring up his sword with his left hand braced to the blunt of the blade to help guard against a blindingly fast, strong swing from a set of claws, and even then he's pushed back to skidding. "You--!" The boy does try to make a quick counter swing right after-- but the thing is probably too fast, and already retreating right away from the range of his blade before he can get a hit in.

    "Oh. So you're just dragon infused. I've got the same thing going." He taps his chest indicating something under his clothing as he answers Hyouka. 

    "Dude really? You're using 'Meat's Back on the Menu'?" Valerian says with a grimace, "Dude, that line sucks." He shakes his head, "It's passable, but no effort. Like a C- Threat." 

    With the Machete in one hand, Valerian holds up his arm as one of the creatures comes in to bite him. Despite biting down on a chunk of leather in his sleeve, it's tough, like trying to break through plate mail as it bites down, "Gross. This ghoul is getting spit all over my armor." He frowns and taps his chest, "That's it. I'm not fucking around any more." 

    Valerian seems to grow a few inches in height and more than a few pounds of weight as his body bulks up to fill out his clothes a bit more, making them more snug as his physique becomes more muscular. He tosses the machete away and just grabs the creature biting him by the throat. The other hand grabs the creature by the shoulder as he pulls his hands apart from eachother and attempts to rip the creature in two vertically.

>> SUMMARY[Valerian Railton] >> Answering Hyouka. Critiquing villain dialogue. Putting away the machete and then trying to just rip a monster in half.

    Hyouka is entirely too used to just tanking anything less than artillery. She's happy to just let the vampire slash ineffectually at her arm... except that it turns out not to be ineffectual at all! Not for the lack of damage, but rather the fact her body locks in place. "Nnn-!" There's a groan of effort from the cyborg. DARGN intones, "Hostile enchantment detected. Purging." A second or two later, she's freed, but that was long enough for the vampire to escape.

    Her first priority is going to be checking on Serrah. Once she's sure her roommate is alright, it's back on after the rest of the group to catch up with Anna.

    And good gracious, that's rather a lot of... undead? Cultists? Monsters? It's hard to tell. "Fisto, ON!" But by the time they're lunging, Hyouka's twin arms are already replaced with the massive FISTEAU gauntlets, both aglow with lines of orange mana and radiating faint heat.

    The first, hideous creature to lunge for her is going to get a pair of nasty surprises - one being that she's capable of keeping up with and reacting to their speed, and the other that the massive fist aimed straight for its head doesn't just come with superhuman strength and a great deal of mass. It also discharges a burst of flame-elemental mana on impact, turning every blow into a fire-aspected attack and lending it extra power. "ORA!"

>> SUMMARY[Hyouka Kiyama] >> Yes! PAWNCH!

Misaki leaps back when the undead take action, and finds a nice tall point to stand on as she summons Joyous and Marvelous, "For meat, please file in and head for the food court." She takes a few quick pot shots at the one going after Shirou, doing her best to try to avoid letting that guy in particular get hurt.

  Eventually Zelda's going to cast Muradin a blank, puzzled look after so many bizarre expressions, because really, she has no idea why she's being singled out, here. She'll just have to track him down later and find out what gives.

  For now, the Hylian backpedals a little as the vampire whirls and confronts his pursuers. While she hasn't gone so far as to nock an arrow to the string, she does have her bow shrugged down by this point and ready for one. Nothing. Back off. Yeah, he sure looks like he was up to nothing, with all that blood around his mouth. Zelda looks unconvinced.

  Oh. Well. Of course it's a trap. Half-turning, Zelda glances between each of the undead figures, and this time she does quietly ease an arrow into place against the string. She looks distracted, though, trying to determine which is the biggest threat. So far, she's leaning towards all of them.

  Zelda eases back until she's closer to the cemetery fence than where the battle is shaping up. Distance and range are her friends; being hemmed in and unable to move is just plain dangerous with a bow.

  I got the ugly one! Muradin calls, and Zelda can't help but snort as she raises her bow. Inhaling, she raises the bow, drawing the arrow back until the fletching is past a pointed ear. The string creaks as she chooses one of them to train her arrow on, leading her shot and following them as they move. A little closer, a little slower... there.

  Zelda backs up against the fence and lets fly her arrow. No sooner do her fingers splay open than she's already reaching for another, slapping it into place and drawing, just in case her first shot might (and probably will) attract any unwanted attention.

    Serrah boggles at all those teeth, then jerks backward through the air to avoid the claw-swipe, letting out an androgynous-sounding squawk.

    She shakes her head. Hyouka checks up on her ... "I'm okay!" she calls to Hyouka. "I'm fine, jeez." She reaches into her sports bag and pulls back towards Anna, rejoining the rest of the group.

    She frowns when Anna gives out that warning. "Oh, great," she says, looking up at the sheriff and raising her eyebrows. She pulls out a baseball and tosses it into the air a few times. "So ... your plan A is killing. Gotcha. No Dhampir Diplomacy from me, then!"

    And then Anna's slicing reveals that one of the halflings is a ghoulish creature -- just as they attack. "Whoa!" She jumps into the air to avoid the aproned elf's knife and teeth. "Motherf --!" She doesn't want to get caught up in melee just yet, so ... another video-skipping-ahead twitch, and the undead elf has half a dozen baseballs heading towards her face at the speed of a car on the expressway.

    ... Not that hard, though. Serrah's compunctions about killing are happening even here. The guy with the bloody mouth did actually talk to her ...

    "Maurezhi..." Anna spits. "... Demons...!" The girl growls, eyes turning bloodshot with violent intent as she names the group's collective foes. "They... They're demons that eat the living and steal their memories and wear their skin, parading around as the living to get more victims."
    That explains much as she nearly froths at the mouth just thinking about them.
    A lot happens though, and a lot of it isn't pretty as Valerian rips one of the demons in two, the screaming demon neatly bisected and left twitching and very dead.
    The issue with Maurezhi eating their victims personalities however mean those personality traits linger, and the dwarven one snarls. "BEARDLING?!" It roars, taking Muradin's goad- before his hammer smashes its skull in.
    Another lunges for Hyouka- who brawls it into submission with her fiery blow so powerful that the demon's head is reduced to cinders.
    Baseballs pummel the elven housewife's skull hard enough to stun the demon wearing her skin, before it gets up and makes another attempt on Serrah's life.
    It's the demon attacking Shirou that seems to be gaining the upper hand on the youth-- until Misaki starts blasting it and Zelda's arrows embed into its body. It lunges--
    Only for Anna to put it in a sudden headlock.
    "FINISH IT, SHIROU." She snarls as it flails and tries to break free. While several more of the ghoulish demons emerge from the mists.

    Having upgraded from a Machete to his bare hands, Valerian seems quite at home killing these demons. He tosses the two halves of the demon he ripped in half to each side of him and shakes his hands a couple times to get the blood off of them as he marches into the thick of it. 

    He reaches out to grab another Maurezhi by the shoulders. His fingers dig in as that supernatural strength reduces the joints and tendons in the shoulders to pulp and mush, staring it in the eyes as he paralyzes its arms, "Let's talk. Who's after the girl? Who runs the cult? You're going to give me a name because you're a coward and you want to live." 

    As he holds the monster up, he switches to only holding it by one shoulder as a gloved hand reaches into its mouth to grip an incisor between thumb and forefinger and painfully twist it to the side and pull it out with a light spray of blood, placing it into a pocket on his apron, "Sooner you talk, the sooner it stops." Says the Juicer as he pulls the valuable teeth out of the Demon's mouth for later storage. 

    Of course, if or when it does talk, he doesn't spare it. He instead snaps its neck to give it a relatively painless release from his interrogation.

>> SUMMARY[Valerian Railton] >> Valerian has questions for the Maurezhi.

  Demons.

  The word cuts above the din of battle like a razor to the Hylian, and Zelda stiffens in shock as though struck a physical blow. Not that she's surprised to learn that's what these creatures are. It explains a lot... and wakens instincts of her own. Zelda's expression doesn't change, but those summer-blue eyes have gone terribly cold. There is something approaching rage in her own eyes as she looks to the creatures the group is neatly ripping apart. The one she'd shot is still alive and struggling, held in the grip of Anna Primrose's locked arms.

  The Hylian princess lowers her weapon and bows her head, and while her lips move, there's too much going on to hear any sound. Hello? Is she crazy, dropping her guard like that? Yet when she lifts her head and opens her eyes, there is... a change. Summer-blue has darkened to the blue of an autumnal sky. And is her hair a little more blonde than it was? That Light clinging to her; was it always that overpowering?

  Yeah Serrah probably won't like this very much.

  Zelda doesn't have an arrow in hand, but she reaches as though to nock an arrow to the string. She does. Rather than wood and steel and fletching, however, it's made of Light -- scathing, punishing Light, flickering at its outermost edges and hard to define; almost unbearable to look directly at, like staring at the sun.

  No dramatic speech. No eloquent statement of purpose. Zelda just hauls back on the bowstring, leads the headlocked Maurezhi carefully, and lets fly. The Light Arrow actually crackles as it flies, snapping like electricity, and leaving the smell of burnt ozone in its wake.

  --Oh. Wait.

  "I--I'm so sorry, Miss Delany...!"

  WHOOPS.

 
 Muradin would love to get into some old fashioned dwarven/elven animosity with Zelda at some point. It's frankly been too long. However, he's the type of dwarf that has his priorities in order. Undead and Demons come first before Elves, probably even before Orcs and Goblins actually. Undead in particular are detestable creatures for Muradin who by now has come to associate them with Arthas- it only makes it more of a sore point that he's now fighting what once was -probably- a proud dwarf turned vampire. Or demons as Anna calls them, Maurezhi or something? Honestly, what's the difference? They're still nails for his hammer! 
 
 *BLAM!* Off goes the dwarf's head as he stupidly takes Muradin's taunt and essentially offers his jaw in a platter for Muradin to slam him upwards with his lightning covered warhammer. 
 
 "Back to the stone with ye, laddie." Grumbles the Mountain King, hoping that the dwarf can at least have a proper after life, whatever that might be in a place like this. 
 
 The battle rages on, but Muradin's companions are a hardy bunch, even Shirou is somehow bumbling his way through this one somehow thanks to Zelda and Misaki's efforts. Enough that Muradin hardly finds it necessary to try and play tank like he did last time- though to be fair, he was protecting Miwa and Double A and not Shirou.. Shirou seems to have his own tank in the form of Anna. What is up with those two anyway? 
 
 When Anna puts the elven demon thing in a headlock for Shirou to finish off, Muradin thinks this is over until yet more ghouls arise from their graves. "Ah! Bloody hell! Canna even watch a propa' execution in peace 'ere!!" If there's no need to play tank might as well just play clean up. Muradin cracks his neck and jogs towards the rest of the ghouls apparenlty crazy enough to take them all by himself!!? 
 
 "KHAAAAAAAAAAZ MOOOOOODAAAAAAAN!!!" 
 
 Suddenly, Muradin is no longer a dwarf, he's a 15 tall stone giant that slams into the horde of ghouls and starts raining down hammer and axe blows into the crowd. As a person would stomp ants really. Not even the energy draining claws are enough to pierce Muradin's stone skin as he stomps, cleaves and smashes into them until there are none left. 
 

>> GAME >> Muradin spends an Edge for: AVATAR

    Of course it's demons. Unfortunately, Shirou is in no position to make any snark to that effect, on account of needing to put all his focus in fending off the claw-swipes from the Maurezhi that has decided to dance with him. He's not fast enough to push back into an offensive, and it sure doesn't look good--

    But bolts of magical energy and arrows both push the beast away enough for him to get a breather. And if there was any worry of Shirou not managing to come out on the other side of this in spite of both MIsaki and Zelda's help, he finds Anna grappling it down.

    "--Yeah!"

    With a narrow-eyed focus, he spins his sword to grip it with both hands, the point aimed forward as he prepares to step in and lu-

    Wait, what's that light?

    For reason that he can't quite comprehend at first, he is, for an instant, reminded of a certain white-haired person in red he knows, and his eyes snap off over to the side. He doesn't really even have time to fully see *what* happened or that it was in fact Zelda who did it, because a violently-bright, crackling arrow flies through the space in between and he finds himself instinctively leaping back with such urgency away from the light that he finds himself tumbling right down onto his bum on the ground while he watches the demon get utterly obliterated with widened eyes.

    He gulps quietly, with the realization of just what kind of group he's gotten himself in the middle of once again.

    Serrah grimaces, and kicks the monster in the face. "Sorry," she says, "you aren't gettin' any of this, ghoulie!"

    And then her head abruptly jerks around towards Valerian. "Jesus Christ, dude!" she exclaims, her voice taking on another androgynous tone as she raises her voice. "You ... that's ... uh ..." She glances at Zelda distractedly, because that sensation of light is becoming even more overpowering than it was before. "WHOA GOD FUUU--"

    She stops time just as Zelda fires, her words also cut off like a video skipping ahead, and then she's a couple dozen feet away from the fight, laughing out loud. "I don't have any complaints, though!" she says, leaning in midair with her hands on her thighs. "God damn!"

>> GAME >> Zelda spends an Edge for: Light Arrow, whoops I almost forgot.

    Smash, slam, PUNCH! Hyouka still doesn't have anything near a warrior's instincts or proper training, but she's had enough fights now that she can sort of fall into a rhythm, and make up the rest with brute force and magical fists. She finds her swing, and she doesn't let up, driving those huge fists into any Maurezhi dumb enough to get in range - and this time, avoiding their claws, not eager for a repeat of that lockup when there's so many of them to deal with.

    Of course, having found a rhythm does mean that she can spare at least enough attention to catch a glimpse of Valerian putting on a very different sort of show with his own brand of brute force. She doesn't say anything out loud, the way Serrah does; however, the look on her face pretty much screams, 'Wow, that's sure not pretty.'

    She's midway through her next punch when Muradin turns into a giant. "What the-?!" This time, it's pure awe. Enough, in fact, that she very nearly takes a claw from another ghoul. "-oi! Careful, I'm watching Muradin work, you!" She manages to flail out of its reach, and then steps back in with a brutal downward punch, infused with elemental fire.

>> SUMMARY[Hyouka Kiyama] >> There sure are a lot of shows going on right now.

    "GWHAAAHK!" That... That is the sound of a demon being blinded by pain as its natural regeneration is simply and brutally overpowered by Juicer strength, arms going limp as its shoulders are reduced to mulch.
    "I'll never tell!" The demon snarls.
    Out pops a tooth.
    "GHACK!" It squeals. "W-won't tell you a th-" Out pops another tooth. Valerian is... Well, we'll get back to him in a moment, because he's about to go through a lot of teeth here.
    As more of the ghoulish demons emerge from the mist, they are met by a fifteen foot tall dwarf.
    It does not go well for them as the war cry of Khaz Modan rings through the town.
    Hyouka's indomitable fists prove to be too much for the demons that assail her, the cyborg's combat rhythm may not be a perfected thing without proper training, but her skill thus far and instinct and sheer strength are more than a match for the speed and tenacity of the demons she pummels into the dirt.
    Anna spends a moment struggling with the supernatural strength of the monster in her grasp, but her own fury is enough to give her the strength she needs to pin it in time to leap herself away as Zelda's Light Arrow slams home, obliterating the monster with a shrill cry as it turns to dust and ash... Which eventually leaves...
    The one demon Valerian is ripping teeth from.
    "Ghhugghg! I c-can't tell you! He'll kill me a thousand times over!" It squeals.
    Out comes another tooth. "GWAGH! LORD XAXUGOR WILL KILL M--" It blurts, flailing ineffectually before giving up. "IT'S A HUMAN! In line for the throne! P-pacted with us t-t-to get rid of the competition and crawl up to rule Rosalia! JUST STOP ALREADY!"
    The pain sure stops for that demon with a nice solid ~pop~ of its neck, leaving the graveyard silent for a long, quiet moment...
    As the dead begin shambling back from the town and start crawling back into their graves to rest for eternity. One of the zombies, a more... Freshly deceased old man pausing long enough to say: "Thank you... With the Maurezhi gone and our living loved ones safe from them, we can return to our final rest without worry... For those of you who desire a reward, I know the location of a long dead dragon's den, within a few miles of the city. Its hoarde should still be there if it hasn't been too long."

  Once her target is dispatched in a flare of divine light, Zelda straightens, frowning as she looks on. It's very definitely dead. The pile of particulates it leaves behind is... awfully tiny. The Hylian bows her head again, and in the silence following Valerian's mercy-kill, the graveyard is momentarily quiet enough that the sharp-eared might hear her.

  "This servant of the Author of Law offers humble thanks." Shrugging her bow back onto her shoulder, the princess clasps her hands and bows; strangely archaic, a gesture of ritualistic reverence.

  When she straightens, she looks to the deceased old man offering his thanks. No hatred, no anger, no compulsory hostility: For a moment Zelda almost looks sad as she watches them pass by. Clasping her hands, she bows again to the silent spectres passing by her. "May the Goddesses watch over your rest," she murmurs, quietly. "We thank you."

  Hmm.

  Dragon treasure... The larders in Snowpeak have been looking a little empty, lately...

    Valerian drops the dead demon and looks to Serrah, "I don't exactly like being the bad guy, but these shits won't stop coming after that girl and I'll be damned if I'm not gonna go all out in figuring out who they work for." He notes as he wipes the blood off on the apron he wears, "After what the demons on this world did to her, they're the ones that called 'No holds barred' first. I'm just playing by their rules." 

    Valerian sighs and then walks over to Anna as he places the remaining teeth in a pocket on his apron, "Lord Xaxugor is the next demon you want to kill. The human behind it all wants to take you out of the line to the throne, so it's probably a relative of yours. The good news is this eliminates your parents, the bad news is it makes your parents a target for an attack." 

    Valerian smiles a bit, "The other good news is that you have a lot of strong people falling in with you, little Rage Monster. From giant dwarves to robots to...crazy arrows of light." He waves his hand to the rest of the group, "The more people you can count on, the better. It'll keep you from going too far while you master your powers." 

    He looks towards Zelda as she thanks him, "Just doing my job for her. This Demon Cult shit is getting out of hand on this world." He tilts his head a bit, "Valerian, by the way. Have we met? Your voice sounds vaguely familiar." He met her once as Sheik, but she was in disguise and hiding her voice, so he hasn't pinned it down yet.

>> SUMMARY[Valerian Railton] >> Filling in Anna. Introducing himself to Zelda, who he has definitely never met before in another scene in disguise.

 
 SLAM! SLAM! STOMP!! Muradin pops the remaining ghouls with his hammer and his boot, smearing their corpses on the ground like smashed flies. With this high casualty rate even the undead falter it seems, soon enough there are none left to stand before the Mountain King and Muradin exhales a breath. "Tsk!" The giant dwarf huffs and shrinks back to his normal height of five feet, weapons dissapearing from view as he flicks his beard to clean it from some stray undead blood. 
 
 "Alright! NOW we can interrogate the bloke, me thinks." Says the dwarf, that was the plan right? Kill the straggler ghouls so that Shirou could finish off his target and Valerian could question his man. Even a hardened warrior like Muradin has to wince at the treatment that Valerian gives the ghoul, teeth torture is always top quality pain, right there with nail pulling-- not that Muradin would know any of that of course, he's a warrior king that deals death in the battlefield! But... you know.. a king has to know these things. 
 
 "Huh, so the plot thickens.." The dwarf rubs his beard. Just when he thought that the madness following Anna was over it turns out that there's yet another overlord behind the scenes. He figures that they'll be undertaking that quest sooner than later. Like Valerian, Muradin also has a vested interest in seeing how Anna's future unfolds. Mostly-- because he feels really bad for her rather than any other motives. 
 
 For now though, the battle seems to be over, and the undead that were being controlled by demons begin to shuffle back to their graves, with one of them even thanking the heroes.. and offering a reward.. "Aw well, that's just--wait WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT TREASURE!!? A DRAGON'S TREASURE!!!?????" 
 
 Muradin's eyes literally turn into cash signs and he barrels over towards the elderly zombie, holding out a piece of parchment paper and a pen. "Mark it! Mark it 'ere in me map!!" 
 
 Dwarves... 
 
 They gotta have their gold... 
 
 More so when its from a dragon. 

>> SUMMARY[Muradin] >> GOTTA HAVE ME GOLD!

    Serrah drifts back over to the group. She sighs irritably at Valerian, but doesn't say anything. She does, however, smile faintly in Muradin's direction. "A dragon horde, huh," she murmurs. "Guess we're eatin' the good stuff again soon, huh, Hyouka?" She gently elbows her roommate in the side.

    Well that was... very much not pretty. But they at least got the info, right?

    Wait. Did that thing say someone is trying to kill royals? Even someone younger like Anna? Oh that is not going to fly. "You've got a cyborg willing to help too," she adds on to what Valerian says to Anna, holding up one massive gauntlet - and, as if to make a show of it, she briefly runs a rush of fire-elemental mana through the tremendous fist, setting the orange lines along the weapon brightly aglow.

    But oh hey, one of the zombies promised them treasure. That shows promise. "...o-oi, the right brand of instant noodles is pretty good," she protests to Serrah, somewhat weakly.

    Serrah shakes her head. "I don't mean it's bad, I mean ..." She gestures vaguely. "... good good!"

  As she straightens Zelda looks unwell, but the moment is gone as she sweeps the hood back over her head. Her face is plunged once more into shadow, broken only by a few unruly chestnut strands. Those are smoothed away as she turns back towards Valerian. The hood tilts just slightly before soft laughter issues from it. The sound is bitter and dark; too cynical for a young lady of her apparent years.

  "I would lend you my assistance in this matter, free of charge, if you wish it." The opportunity to smite a bunch of demons? Yes please. The hood lifts slightly as introductions are given. Zelda straightens, before clasping her hands and bowing; less ornate and ritualistic than she had been, earlier, but still highly formal. "I am Sheik. I was a handmaiden of the royal family of Hyrule until the coup." Her mouth is still visible beneath the hood. It twists, wry. "Yes. You have met me before, although we have not been formally introduced. Your powers of perception are impressive, Mister Valerian. So too is your prowess." Zelda tosses her chin at the remains of his victims. "Gruesome, but sometimes such things are unfortunately necessary."

  Muradin earns a glance as he scrambles to get his map signed by a ghost. Wait a minute. They're dead. Can they even hold a quill? The scholar in her wants to watch just to find out.

  Hyouka and Serrah earn a glance, next, as 'Sheik' turns to face them. As before, she clasps her hands and bows, politely. "And thank you for your assistance, as well. My apologies for the discomfort," she adds; this, to Serrah. "I did not know if normal arrows would suffice for the task at hand. Demons are often inconveniently... enduring."

  She turns then to face Muradin once more. "Who are you?" It's not impolite, but her voice suggests she's not going to brook any foolishness. "And why have you been staring so?"

    With everything over, Anna is still hyperventilating for a moment longer before she begins to calm down, eyes returning from bloodshot to their normal green color.
    "S-Someone related to me..." She murmurs on the topic of just who wants her dead. "I have... Sisters, cousins, also in line for the throne... It couldn't be any of them though, I am among the oldest. But..." That also puts her parents in danger, and that makes the girl look a little less like a rampaging barbarian and more like a sick, scared, teen for a second. But she recovers quickly enough, clearing her throat with a slow nod. "I'll hunt this Xaxugor down to the ends of the Abyss if I have to..." Muttered as she clenches her grasp on her axe, knuckles turning white. She's a little too preoccupied to think about treasure at the moment, herself.

 
 Somehow the ghost of the old man manages to mark Muradin's map, magic pens perhaps, or maybe the dwarf simply marks it himself when the ghost points the dragon's den in his map. Either way, once done, Muradin once again turns back to Anna and the group. 
 
 "Naturally, ye know ye can count in me axe to help ye out, Anna." So claims the Mountain King. Muradin gave the princess an oath that he would help her with her quest- and a dwarf's oath is completely unbreakable. Muradin has thus far followed her into the gates of Hell itself, he would be remiss to let her tackle this intrigue alone. Even if.. perhaps it's not his expertise.. but he will help regardless, surely there will be an opportunity for old fashioned skull smashing once they uncover this little conspiracy thing that's going on.. 
 
 "And then right after that..." Muradin's face darkens, his helmet casting a grim shadow over his face. Has Muradin.. ever.. looked this evil? His eyes shine with an unnatural light, and he flashes a grin beneath his gold beard. "We get me gold......" A dwarf's lust for gold runs deep, and Muradin is no exception. 
 
 Caught out of his dreams of gold is Muradin when a certain elven maiden finally confronts him. Finally, Muradin gets to put a name to the elf, this so called Sheik! 
 
 "I be Muradin Bronzebeard." The dwarf introduces himself and looks up to Zelda, though he's considerably shorter than her, somehow Muradin always felt very imposing despite his height. His piercing blue eyes stare up and he frowns at her question. 
 
 He must tread carefully here, Muradin can't afford to be making powerful enemies in the Tree, and yet her figure resembles too much that of a Blood Elf for him to simply ignore. He would have been dead a thousand times over if he didn't watch his back. He just has to be sure. 
 
 "I've been staring because ye resemble a hated enemy of me people the dwarves. I ask ye, plain and clearly.. are ye a Blood Elf?" 
 
 Very subtly, one might see Muradin's fist clenching ever so slightly, as if he was ready to summon his hammer back to his hand and strike. 
 
 He does not break eye contact with Zelda.