Completed Manhunt (Orion, Sei, Ethan)

[Sei Tendo]

Sei was caught by surprise at the idea of using Ethan as bait. Either he wasn't listening to Sei when he spoke, or he was insane. He at Orion with spite. He agreed with him, but there was no need to be aggressive. He turned back to Sera Frostfawn and returned to his easygoing expression. He listened to her words while watching her color changing eyes. In his long year of life, he had only seen one Vantha other than Lyrri before, and he was still curious about them. As she explained, her eyes went from blue to black, and back to blue again. As Sera spoke, she refered to the "Cloaked" person as a "he", and apologized for it midway through her explanation. "It's fine, please continue." He said with a nod. He ffound Sera was not interested in Leeching, and from the color of her eye when she mentioned it, she never would. He then cast a glance at Orion, who, for some reason, wanted to know what force the group had to offer.

Of course, Orion was a squire, so he guessed it was only natural Orion wanted as much information about his teammates as possible. Most likely he wanted to know who could hold their own and who would need backup in difficult situations. Orion would not only fight, but tend to wounds, while Sei would mainly be fighting. Then there was Ethan. Ethan had trained with Ser Titus, and would most likely use his training to defend himself. Sera Frostfawn would be able to handle herself, so he only needed to keep an eye on Ethan, and make sure he didn't do anything insane.

He downed his ale and stood with Sera Frostfawn. Following behind her he adjusted his shealth and sighed. Today would be a long day.

[Ethan Ironhorse]

When Ethan heard Orion state that his thoughts on an ambush was stupidest things he ever heard, and it set his teeth on edge. Yet, because Sera Frostfawn asked them to calm down, Ethan took a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. There was something about the Squire Orion that really got under Ethan’s skin. Ethan took a moment to think about Orion’s responses, it made sense that they would want to know about each other’s skills. The way he had phrased it had certain touched a sensitive nerve, and he wasn’t wrong in the since that there were risks trying to ambush the Leecher. Yet farmers had been using that tactic for years to kill wolves, yes some of the sheep died, but if the trap was laid right the wolf was always killed. Sera Alicia also had a good point, the mage might have other magics, but even if Ethan took a sap along to knock the mages head, the risk was lessen to the surrounding people. An ambush allowed you to choose your ground, everything else meant that they had to either deal with the ground they were at, or go to his den. So Ethan did the only thing that he could, Ethan released his anger and simply said, “I disagree with your assessment of the risk versus reward. However, as Sera Frostfawn is our leader I defer to her skills.” For a brief moment the thought of using Orion as bait crossed Ethan’s mind. Ethan took a deep breath and went back to focusing on Sera Alicia. It was a little easier to listen to the sing song little girl voice of the Knight at the moment. So Sera Alicia had five apartments that were possible hiding places for the Leecher, to Ethan that seemed a bit risky. Knocking on doors in the Bittern District wasn’t a good idea, scaring people with little meant that they would be on edge, and what if one of those apartments were housing other criminals, they might all be in for a surprise. Ethan almost wished that they could stake out the main hallways and corridors. That way they could watch for a cloaked figure, if Sera Alicia had locations then there was bound to be a couple of good locations to watch from. However, Ethan kept his thoughts to himself, to try and keep the peace. It was when Orion actually asked the question about how do four people go through a doorway, that Ethan had to admit it was a good question… even for a Petc… Ethan clamped down on the thought. Orion had a point about the door, “Would it be easier if we split into two groups then? One person knocks, determines if they are the person we are looking for, if not they go on to the next apartment. If they are and they go for a grab, then they still have someone as back up. Otherwise, if Sera Frostfawn believes, we should stay as one group, should we discuss who’s knocking and what order do we go through the door?” Ethan still wasn’t sure how they would know who the leecher was. If Ethan was the mage and opened his door up to Orion he wouldn’t be wearing a cloak. Well Sera Alicia did say that the mage was destroying themselves from their leeching. Maybe there would be physical signs? Of course it was the Britten District, not the healthiest of residents lived there. This felt like they didn’t have a good understanding of the situation yet. However, Sera Frostfawn asked if they were ready to go, so maybe Ethan was just over thinking the whole thing? Maybe, it would be that simple, have the guy open the door and rush him and then beat him into submission? Ethan didn’t order anything or grab an ale, the last thing he wanted on his stomach was food or drink. If things went wrong, he didn’t want to have to use the privy in the middle of it. So Ethan got up and stretched, he kept his mouth closed and hoped his fists would be enough.

[Radiant]

On the way to the Bitten District, Sera Alicia pondered about on how they were going to approach the apartments. Squire Orion and Sir Ethan made a good point, it was better for them to stick together, yet they could be suspicious if four group that looked like bodyguards surrounding a noble girl stormed to the Bittern District "I know, gentlemen, one of us will knock the door while the rest of us observe from behind and act at the first sign of trouble." Alicia nodded, she was sure this plan could work.

At Bittern District...

The group seemed inconspicuous enough, with them walking separately, not clustered up against each other. It was at this district they could see the lower-end of Syliras' social echelon, rough-looking and sickly people everywhere, laborers, unemployed, thugs, they were a lot of them here. Some of them made whistles to attract Alicia's attention, typical lowlifes. She just ignored them and moved forward, before taking out her map and making gestures for the group to gather. They faced a typical dirty apartment, Alicia couldn't use her auristics to detect what was inside, the stone walls were too thick.

"Alright, I will go ahead and knock on the door, you gentlemen be ready... nuh uh, I insist, I can't.. let one of you get hurt..." Alicia decided to take the initiative and walked to the door of the first apartment on the list, she knocked. A cough was heard from inside and a gruff muscled man, most likely a laborer, came out "Yeah?! What the petch do you want, girl?!" He spat on the ground, he disliked pampered rich-looking people, those petching nobles.

"......" Alicia struggled to keep her calm, she wanted to just kick this man on the groin, her eyes shifted to rather red in suppressed anger "N-nothing, kind sir... I must have got the wrong addre-"

"You got the wrong district, Illythian's not here, bitch!" He slammed the door on the Vantha Knight's face, she returned to the group, shaking her head. "That's not the one..."

They went to the next apartment, it was empty and unlocked... the group searched for any clues but nothing of note could be discovered, they move on to the third. A very old-looking woman with graying hair opened the door, Alicia at the front with the group behind her.

"Yes, what is it, *cough* Miss?" The senior coughed, she looked frail and sick. Alicia almost felt pity. Still, she couldn't help but having a sense of dread coming from this old woman. She silently activated her auristics and... her eyes opened wide, the woman's aura was strange... it was red, pulsing red, like she was some kind of blight upon the air. Alicia's eyes shifted to black in fear, but she swallowed in and nodded to the woman. "Ahaha, it's nothing, Madame... I must have got the wrong address..."

"Oh, *cough* okay then..." The woman smiled as Alicia turned around to walk back to the group, wanting to say 'we got her... that's her!'. But then... the air crackle and time seemed to slow down as Alicia felt her neck being grabbed and pulled by an invisible force "ACK!!!" She winced and grasped her neck, but found nothing there. W-what is...this... P-Projection?! And then she was pulled deep into the darkness of the apartment, before the rest of the group could properly react, the apartment's door then seemed to close by itself and locked.

Inside the apartment, Alicia was held by her neck, facing the dead eyes of the old woman, she looked around and saw this hag had transformed the secluded place into a shrine for... Uldr, the undead god. "Filthy little dogs..." The Chained One looked at the small knight with an expression full of hate, the hag then extended her left hand and grasped the knight's face, draining her djed. Alicia's scream reverberated through the apartment before she went limp, when the group managed to enter, the hag would use the unconscious knight as hostage.

"Back off... or she'll die."

[Orion Michaels]

The scene which unfolded before Orion’s eyes was more than shocking. He’d never seen such a thing before. Sera Alicia was turning back to them after talking with an older woman, a barely contained smile on her lips, and then suddenly, she was gone, a phantom force dragging her back into the apartment. The door slammed behind her and suddenly it was the three men standing there, their ‘fearless’ leader gone. Orion knew they were way in over their heads, they couldn’t keep up with someone who could so easily dispatch a knight. None of them could stand toe to toe with one of such power.

When Alicia screamed, Orion sprang into action.

”One of you two, go get more knights and tell them the leecher has captured a knight. Me and the other will try and hold her here until you get back.” Orion was unsure of how much power this withered woman held, but she took care of Sera Alicia without so much as batting an eyelash. ”We both have a choke point, but she has Alicia as a power source to fuel whatever magics she may have. We need to hold her here until some with more power than any of us hold arrive.” Orion didn’t give them any chance to protest, making his way towards the door. The squire delivered a front kick to the wooden door, grunting loudly as he did so. The door didn’t give.

So he did it again. ”Help me get this petching door open!” The wooden doors of the Bittern district weren’t anything of special quality, but he didn’t carry the mass or power to take one down on his own. With the aid of one of the others, however, it would be possible. Withpermission given to mod other player the aid of the remaining member of their rag tag group, they would break this door down and attempt to ensure not only the safety of the knight, but the defeat of his wicked leecher.

”One . . . two . . . three!” The two men collided against the door, their combined weight causing some movement in the door, though the lock kept it in place. ”Come on! We’ve got this! Again! One . . . two . . . three!!!” The force behind both men’s attack send the door flying open and them stumbling into the entrance where they were met with a horrible greeting. Orion wasn’t familiar whatever shrine was set up, but the hold on the now limp Alicia and the threat of her demise was all he needed. Drawing his sword, he spoke.

”You’ve got nothing more to gain here. There’s no way to escape. You’ll cause no more pain. Yield now and receive fair judgment before the council of three. Continue to resist and find this room your grave.” Orion waved his sword back and forth, balancing on the balls of his feet to react as needed. ”You’ve been found. There’s no sense in fighting any further. Please, release her.”

Orion’s mind was racing, trying to think of what had happened here. She’d pulled her into the apartment without so much as moving. Perhaps it was related to what Fallon had done when they fought so viciously the end of last season. Phantom limbs, grasping, pulling, and choking without regret. ”Did you really think you’d go unnoticed, go unfound?” He had to get her to engage him in conversation, take as much time as was possible. The help had to arrive quickly, otherwise they were doomed.

Orion maintained the distance between the two, forces, not wanting to provoke any sort of retaliation or unneeded attack upon them or Alicia. He hoped no one would force anyone’s hand, not until the Knights arrived.

[Sei Tendo]

Sera had initiated the plan, and knocked on the first door. A man appeared, and swore at Sera Frostfawn, which pissed Sei off. He slammed the door and Sera confirmed he wasn't the one. He wasn't exactly calm after the other apartment, so when a sickly elder woman opened the door, his rage faded to sorrow. He watched the interaction between the two, and when the door was closed it looked like Sera had something to say. Just before she could speak, Sera let out a cry and was pulled into the apartment. There wasn't even time to react, there she was, walking back to the group, and then, all of a sudden, she was yanked into the apartment by... Air? Force? No, it was projection, wasn't it?! He wondered. This was a new development, and he now remembered what Sera Frostfawn had said before. If they could leech, they could possibly use other magic. He scanned the area, finding no one and braced himself.

That's when it hit him. Sera Frostfawn was a Mage-Knight. Maybe she had used.. What was it again..? Aurstics? What if she had used aurstics, and the older woman had sensed it! When Sera was about to tell them, the fiend stopped her. He watched as the door closed and the click of a lock was heard behind the door. He tried to control himself, and the only thing he could do was sit in rage. First, a man had disrespected Sera as a woman with his language, then, a sickly woman had played him for a fool.

He looked around, and his eyes boiled with rage. If it was one thing he hated, it was being tricked. He took out his longsword and ran toward the apartment. As he approached it, he heard Sera scream, but it was somehow cut short. He was trembling. Trembling with rage. "SHYKE IT ALL!!!" He shouted, kicking the door open, as his eyes widened with shock.

There, in the apartment, was a shrine for Uldr, the God of the undead. The Chained One held the limp Sera Frostfawn by the neck, and stared hatefully at the group. "Back off... Or she'll die."

"Like petch we will!" He exclaimed. His features overflowed with rage, and bore his elongated teeth. "I'll make you pay..." His voice was harsh. And a twinge of hate could be heard from his words. He held his longsword in his hands, and braced himself for what would come next.

[Ethan Ironhorse]

Ethan kept his mouth shut as they went into the Britten District. Everything was going to fine, he kept telling himself. Afterall, they had a mage-warrior who looked like she was fifteen. Ethan used everything to calm himself as they walked around the Britten District. Ethan at least felt better with his work clothes on, being able to blend in more in the district due stains and over wear on them. When Sera Alicia said that she would knock on the door’s, Ethan’s own mind began to scream. How was this a better plan? At least with Ethan knocking the Leecher wouldn’t have a first shot at the team’s most experience mage. Still, maybe it was important to put your most experience combat person in front. Still Ethan, knew that in a lot of ways this all made sense, Sera Alicia had narrowed down the possible apartments to five, she had the most magical experience and was likely to protect herself. Additionally, people wouldn’t be angry at a woman that looked like a little girl. So Ethan bit his tongue and bowed to experience. When the first man opened up the door and cursed out Sera Alicia, he wanted to knock on the door and ask if the man’s wife got home from Ethan’s apartment safely last night. Sera Alicia might not have been a woman under any circumstances that Ethan would have lusted after, but she did deserve respect, besides break the idiots nose would have been a great way to release all this anger. The next apartment was empty and Ethan began to feel slightly better, after all twice it had been nothing, maybe Sera Alicia had been wrong? At the third door, a sick old lady opened the door and Ethan relaxed. This was panning out to be a waste of time, which Ethan was ok with. After all they might decide to do his plan afterwards, and that was ok… then it happened. Sera Alicia was pulled in the room and the door closed, as a mage Ethan felt the djed that had been used to perform the magic, though it had happened so fast he wasn’t even prepared to do anything. Ethan pulled himself off the wall that he was leaning against. Petch! A Projectionist! Devandil had performed the same type of magicks when Ethan had seen him the first time. Orion called out for one of them to help him with the door and the other to go grab the guards. As Sei stepped up to help with opening the door, Ethan was conflicted about leaving them. Yet, he couldn’t imagine why he would stay behind. As sick as it made him to leave Sera Alicia without knowing her condition and following orders from Orion especially since he agreed with them, he started running as best he could down the corridor. Ethan thought he remembered a patrol out in one of the main hallways. He ran as fast as he could with only a look here and there down intersections trying to find knights. Thinking that raising the alarm would be the best, he started yelling for Knights, “Knights to me! A murder is about to happen!” As Ethan ran and yelled he hoped the other two could handle the mage.

[Radiant]

The Nuit hag knew that Alicia was her only salvation, so she kept holding the knight like her life depended on it. It was only a matter of time before the rest of those armored louts arrived, so the undead tightened her hold on the unconscious Alicia's neck with her left hand, gradually twisting her neck to the point of snapping. "...back off..." She was not interested in negotiations, it was either both of the knight and her lived or died, their choice.

"Silence, dogs!" She hissed, the sickly senior tone from before gone. A breeze of soundless wind and then... *SHIING!* Sei's sword was suddenly wrenched from his hand and moved by itself, holding it against the Kelvic's throat. The projected right arm of the Nuit holding it in place "Back... off..." She accentuated her threat this time "Let me leave the gates... then I'll drop this child bitch there, any sudden move and I'll kill her... and you." By "you", she meant Sei of course.

At Ethan's Location

Ser Wade was patrolling the city with his familiar two younger knights companion. He was also on high alert, with the suspicious cases of civilians being drained of energy. He couldn't believe that the Order could miss such a person and even unwittingly allowed a single poor soul to pass away. His eyes darted around the area, before he heard a shout...

“Knights to me! A murder is about to happen!”

"Hm?!" He immediately shot up in alert and shoved his way to the source of the voice, he then stumbled upon a man, hurrying, heaving, and panting. It was obvious this man was the one shouting about murder "What is it, Sir?"

After Ethan explained, they would require no more explanation and would immediately go with the blacksmith, with all the events that had been happening, Wade was eager to root out this foul person once and for all.

Back to Orion and Sei...

"...." The hag didn't wait for anymore explanations and began walking forward, Alicia in tow, her projected arm still hold the sword to Sei's throat, forcing him to step back "You too..." She said to Orion "Get anywhere near me and she dies, along with this man here... so back off, boy!"

[Orion Michaels]

It took everything he had not to snap at Sei for his action. The worst thing you could do was antagonize a cornered beast. Any attempt at negotiation, persuasion, or just buying a little time was shattered entirely with the aggressive waving a sword and an angry yell. The idiot ruined everything. Before Orion even had a chance to try and make up the ground they'd lost so quickly, his fellow combatant had been disarmed and his weapon turned on his neck. "Shyke.." They'd lost all control, not that they ever really had it. The immense power she must hold in order to keep two people at bay in such a way...

"Do you really think you'll be able to get away with this? It's a long way to the gate," Orion growled, sliding back slowly as the leecher advanced, examining their situation. Sei couldn't do anything without having a smile opened up on his neck. Ethan was getting help, but it didn't seem they would be arriving soon enough. If a whole contingent of knights came down on her in this situation, she'd kill Alicia and think nothing of it. Take as many down as she could before she was overcome. There was too much death in this scenario. If they went outside, the knights would come crashing down, and everything would end the same as the other possibility. With the option of speech removed, Orion had to act, and hopefully get someone free from her grasp so they could subdue her.

Orion took a quick assessment of the situation, trying to figure out just what he could do. From what he could gather, they were completely occupied. One arm was useless, being used to threaten Sei's life via magical means. The other arm was being used to drag Alicia along, another threat at life. The villain's legs were both being used for walking. Orion shot Sei a somewhat nervous glance, knowing anything that he did could result poorly for the stranger. Still, he took the risk signing up, just as he did, just as Ethan had.

Sera Alicia knew the risks as well.

"Sei. I need you to jump backwards." Orion spoke calmly, not taking time to see if he understood. He was taking a huge risk here, but if she was likely to die anyways with inaction...

Orion quickly shifted his weight forward, and brought his blade up while lunging forward. While moving, the squire moved the blade parallel to the ground, delivering a powerful thrust aimed at the leecher by way of Alicia's shoulder. There was never a moment he was so thankful for the tiny apartments of Syliras. It took nearly no time for the former doctor to clear the distance between them, aided by a lack of armor weighing him down. If things went as planned, he'd at worst nick the knight's shoulder, but connect fully with the frail looking woman. Worst case, he'd catch Alicia fully and she'd be wounded viciously, but still, the leecher's torso was right behind her. He prayed Sei listened to his instruction and freed himself of the danger. If nothing else, Orion should have all the focus of the wicked mage. Perhaps Ethan would return in time to scrape his remains up off the wall.

[Sei Tendo]

The motion was swift, and before Sei could react, the hag had used projection to hold his longsword to his neck. He had a dagger, but using it would put Sera Frostfawn at risk. He stood their, and battled his thoughts. If he moved, he'd be killed in a heart beat. He was still enraged, but letting his anger lead him would be his death. He glanced over at Orion, who in turn gave him a nervous glance. Orion swore, and Sei swallowed. He was paying for his earlier actions, and began to sweat. Orion tried to talk the hag down, but she continued on her path, so when Orion asked him to jump back, he decided to just obey it. He jumped back, and Orion went to slash at the hags arm were she held the limp Sera Frostfawn.

Here we go.

He decided to help a bit, and removed his dagger, unsure of what he was doing, he reached for his sword in sync with Orion. With her hands full, there was no way she would be able to block two attacks at once. Right?

[Ethan Ironhorse]

Ethan turned the corner, feeling entirely to glad that he didn’t eat a meal at the tavern before this. As Ethan stopped for a moment he saw a trio of knights coming to him. He waved at them till they arrived. Messaging the stitch in his side, Ethan realized that all the running he had been doing was for endurance, not for speed. “Ser! Sera Frostfawn and a few others have found the Leecher… the Cloaked Person. It’s a mage Ser, and Sera Frostfawn is in trouble, the mage pulled her into a room and my companions are trying to knock it down. Follow me.” Ethan stood up and pushed through the pain of the stitch, as his feet hit the stone pathways, he called out to people just standing about, “Get the Petch out of the way!” Ethan kept looking backward to make sure he didn’t out run the knights in their heavy armor. Ethan’s emotions were running high. After all they were about to lose someone, and they still weren’t sure if they could get her. What if she had created an escape route or somehow she had Morphing? If that was the case, she could change her appearance after killing all three of the group members. The feeling of fear and guilt began gnaw at his insides. He should have been the one in that room… he had lesser energy, Sera Alicia had just given that creature all her energy. Thoughts of horrible things began to come to him as he picked up the place. Was there anything he could do? Ethan could try and perhaps build a shield to protect Sera Alicia. Granted, it would be destroyed in a blink of an eye, but perhaps that would be enough to give someone time to do something. As Ethan ran, he tried to do the relaxation techniques taught to him by Devandil, yet every time his foot hit the ground, or he had to remember what turn it was, he found that he had to start completely over. Ethan felt panic began to rise, why is this happening? Petch, I need to find a way to do this faster! Come on, Come on!