Dancing Dead (Open)

[Yorick]

There had been signs. Yorick had ignored them for a while, but when they cropped up with more regularity and urgency, the woman had finally given in and gone to Ostia.

And what a hellhole it was.

The place was a cesspool. It was a wasteland, a gigantic ruin. There wasn't much to speak of anymore, save the villages that had popped up out of the ashes, the moving towns and the bandit cities. It was a hard place, for hard people. Grime was expected, a sailor's tongue was necessary. A sharp weapon was sufficient. There were no good words to describe Ostia except... Just like home.

All the people here were the fringes. The hangers-on. The people living day to day, not sleeping on mounds of golden coins and concubines. The people in sackcloth as opposed to silk. The people like her. Like her family. It made her more comfortable in the barren environment, made her endure the watery drinks and awful food and terrible lodging. It was so familiar, all of it.

But now she had a job to do. She remembered the Bael expedition. Now she was leading her own. There was a graveyard nearby, where apparently they'd made a mass pit or something stupid like that. Now there were skeletons marauding around. Bonewalkers, they called them. Wights, they said.

They were just skeletons. Why use a fancy name for something so simple? They were just skeletons. And as such, they should be easy to kill, right? Just hack 'em apart and leave 'em.

Yorick looked over the flier again. She'd talked to the guy in charge earlier, and he promptly told her to wait here, collect any interested people, and then go about killing them. He was some sort of magistrate, so he was too 'high and mighty' to actually work. What a guy.

"Experienced men-at-arms sought. Bonewalker and Wight extermination. Infestation. Large reward. Assemble in bar "Phil's" at corner table Tuesday."

She was already waiting. Now, would anyone show up? Or would she be alone to deal with these boneheads?

[Oya]

It had been a while since Oya had returned to Ostia. The wasteland seemed as lifeless as it did the first tie he was here. Oya had decided to do some more personal research and returned to Lycia to gather some more information on monsters. At the time he was separated from Willow. He did not want to bring her into the monster infested city. For the time being Oya was traveling along and to be truthful it was not pleasant. He missed having Willow by his side. He had gotten so use to it he had almost forgotten what it was like to camp out on ones own. Still Oya made due and arrived at his destination. Once there he read a couple of fliers about dealing with some Bone walkers.

"Bone walkers", spoke Oya. He remembered the old pirate tales about them. He heard all the stories about skeleton men and ghost ships, but had never seen one himself. This would be a life time opportunity. Oya could finally see the fable ghost men and see how Xigshaw worked against their ilk. He wondered if the hammer would be effective against their ilk. Blunt weapons in general were already said to be effective against the moving bone men, but Xigshaw had the power of holy light. Light magic alone was said to be the bane of all monsters and oya wanted to see if this claim was completely true.

As Oya arrived at the location he saw a woman who body was covered with scars. "Interesting", spoke Oya aloud as he walked up to the maiden. Scars were badges of honor. The scars on her face told oya she had been many fights. It did not tell him if she won or lost, but it told him she was tough, and that was enough to convince him she was a good partner for this kind of mission. Against creatures that were not human toughness was needed.

"The name is Oya", he spoke as he slammed Xigshaw into the dirt. Xigshaw seemed to be his primary weapon these days. Mainly due to its temperament. The blasted weapon hatted it when Oya uses another. "So I here this is where I need to be to slaughter some Bone Walkers. "

[Yorick]

"Hm?"

She hadn't even needed to go in the bar. Here was someone. A man with a great club. It was huge, to be quite frank, and looked as if it weighed a ton. What a gigantic weapon. How on earth could he wield it?

"Slaughtering Bonewalkers? Yeah, you're in the right place. I'm Yorick. Good to meet you, Oya. I got put in charge of this thing since the magistrate's too big of a pansy to grab a sword and do it himself. Now, I'm not saying that soloing a group of these things is smart, but the guy could've helped, at least. Whatever."

Yorick looked this Oya up and down. Orange hair. Well, that was cute. He looked like he had a yam busted on his head. But what mattered was whether or not he could swing that club through things. It seemed like he could, so she could care less what he looked like.

"You want to get a drink while we see if anyone else shows up? The whiskey's like water, the beer tastes like runoff, the wine is vinegar, and there's not much else to be had, but it's better than nothing, I say. How about it? We can start getting ready. Warm us up, get the muscles ready for action. Plus, it's awful out here, so I don't want to stand around looking like a fool. Let's go. It's on me."

Kicking the door to the bar open, she blew through it like a tempest and sat down at the bar, motioning to the keep and grabbing the proffered whiskey.

"This is so weak, I could down a gallon of it. What'll you have, pal?"

[Oya]

"A drink", spoke Oya. "Yeah I could use one.", spoke Oya as he followed the maiden inside. Her words about the spirits bother Oya a bit. Weak liquor Lycia was truly in trouble if they did not have any strong spirits. Out in the Ilse strong drink was a staple, though Oya himself never really got into it. He was more of a wine person himself and he drunk very little of it. A drunken sailor might be a common sight on the sea, but it was not a smart one. Oya preferred to keep his head level. On land was no different. A clear mind was the difference between being run through and coming out of a battle alive. Still even with the advantages of not being drunk present Oya would rather have strong alcohol. Nothing personal to those who like their drink weak, but a good shot of good whiskey was far better than thirty shots of cheap mess.

"Sorry, but I would rather not have anything", spoke Oya. The idea of drinking a gallon of whiskey and still not getting drunk turned Oya off completely from ordering any spirits here. "Just give me some water", spoke Oya. The pirate would rather hydrate himself in preparation for their future brawl with walking bones. As Oya waited on his water, which he was surprised he had to wait, he looked around to see if there were any interesting people in the bar. Bar were a good spot to find entertainment and to get into some trouble. There was nothing like a good bar fight.

[Mila]

"Oh Ostia. How far you have fallen." A cloaked figure spoke to itself in a whispered tone. The young maiden was cloaked from head to toe in a standard travellers garb. The figure even had a sort of bandana wrapped around her mouth to avoid giving away her gender and identity.

She had traveled a long way from Aquelia to get to this seedy little village. Lone women were easy targets for bandits and monsters alike so she took precautionary measures to avoid any trouble. She kept her tiny coin purse tucked away in her bosom, and hid her bag under her cloak with the rest of her. Inside her elongated sleeves she kept her trusty fire tome, ready to open and begin casting at a moment's notice.

She knew a job for monsters was here somewhere. She recalled the words on the flyer she saw on her travels. This was the right village, there weren't too many left in Ostia. The bar "Phil's" She recalled. She looked around at several ramshackle bulidings before coming across the right one. Fortunately there was a sign on the pub door she could barely read.

She walked in and looked around.Not exactly a cheerful place. She saw a woman who appeared to be no stranger to battle, and another individual with a peculiar axe. They seemed to be the only ones in the base prepared for battle. From out of her sleeve she pulled out the flyer and approached them.

"Are you the one looking for people to fight the living dead." She tried to speak in a gender neutral tone.

[Yorick]

"Water? Suit yourself."

As the barkeep brought the man a water, which looked like it came straight out of the stagnant creek nearby, Yorick gave a small bark of laughter and downed the whiskey, shaking her head in disappointment. The stuff was so weak... Motioning again, she got another brimming glass and set to work on that one as well.

"Maybe the magistrate will reward us with a cask of wine or something nice and fine like that. What a bag of dung."

Suddenly, there was a noise, and Yorick turned to see a figure covered in clothes. Looked like someone had wrapped a person in cloth. Like a poorly-done mummy. What on earth was it doing here? Looking for the afterlife or something?

He-she-heshe-it spoke in an androgynous voice. Great. All the more confusing for her. She didn't particularly want to deal with guessing, so...

"Yep, that's us. Hop on board, chap...lassie...whatever the hell you are. You look like a mummy. Not my mummy, just a mummy. So... I guess that's all I have to say about that. The name's Yorick, and that's Oya. Want a drink, or will that keep you from entering the next world?"

There was no malice in the halberdier's voice as she joked with Mila. Heck, she was being her normal self. Friendly, but in a brusque and tactless sense. She really hadn't been brought up with manners or any sort of code of decorum, so she tended to say things how she saw them. Which occasionally brought up some issues.

[Oya]

"Oya stared at the water with a facial expression of deep displeasure. If he was not here on a job Oya would have burned this place down for that insult alone. There was no way Oya was drinking that mess and to make it worse the liquor was weak. I horde of a dragon comes down and burns this place to the ground curse Oya to himself. It was shameful it was that a bar was in this state. Oya could not stand to look at the glass. He pushed the glass away with his hand.

"I don't think I am going to have anything from here", spoke Oya. "Contaminated water, watered down booze, and probably cheap food. I would rather eat a demon wolf than eat or drink anything from this place", spoke Oya as he turned his back to the counter. Lucky for him somebody else walked up to them. It was a much needed distraction from the insult that was this bar. Oya looked the masked figure up and down.

Covered from head to toe, thought Oya. He was not sure what she was up too. Why go through the trouble of covering up your skin if you are doing a monster hunting job. Maybe this person was wanted or something, but that made little difference here in Ostia. The law was not here. The threat of arrest was gone. Then why wear the mask Oya wondered, but that was none of his business. This person was here to aid them in killing the moving dead and that was all that mattered.

"So what kind of weapon do you use", asked Oya as he stared into the exposed eyes.

[Mila]

Mila nodded and took a seat nearby. She let out a sigh, her feet welcomed the relief of the chair. She tucked her arm into her sleeve and pulled out a book, she flipped over to a page about bone-walkers and the living dead. One of her journals on the subject, it was surprisingly well detailed. She quietly folded the flyer into the page of her book, closed it, and quietly tucked the book back into her sleeve again. She pulled the bandanna down off of her face. Since, she had found the group of hunters she needed there was no point in hiding her gender, and face anymore. She still kept her cloak on and hood up though.

"My name is Mila. I am a mage. My weapon of choice is fire. I'm researching monsters on behalf of the academy. It is a pleasure to meet you both." Her voice was quite nice when not in disguise or muffled by the bandanna.

"Sorry about being incognito. It's just how I choose to travel. The world isn't exactly kind to maiden's traveling alone." She offered her hand out to shake as is common courtesy.

"Oh, I'll have some hot water if you would please." She ordered politely to the bar tender. Again from her sleeves she pulled out what looked to be a tea bag. Never forget your manners even in seedy places like this.

"Has anyone had any experience with monsters before? And when do we start?" The bartender passed to her a small mug of steaming water. She put the tea bag int the warm cup and let it sit for a few moments. She then blew on the top of the hot water, to cool it down slightly, before taking a much needed sip. Bitter. But well worth it.

[Yorick]

"Hoho! A mage, huh. That's interesting."

Clasping the soft hand in her own, rough and scarred, Yorick shook it firmly and then looked at the woman more closely. Young. That suggested a lack of experience. She couldn't make any weighty judgements just yet, but she would have to be ready to help this girl if need be. And in a pinch, Yorick couldn't count on being able to drop it all to save Mila's skin. Hers came first, after all.

"Right, so I guess you're still learning your craft, then, since you're a student... Well, I suppose you need all the real-world experience you can get. Just be careful. Monsters can be nasty. Especially Bael. Those things are freaks among freaks.

From what I've heard about Bonewalkers, they're quite a bit faster than the Revenants that are usually thought of when someone says "Monster." They also seem to have a reputation for intelligence in some forms. Wights are supposed to be the masterminds, and the Bonewalkers are the footsoldiers. Sounds to me like a bit of a scary scenario. We'll have to be careful.

Other than a bit about them working well in groups, that's all the information I have. As to when we start? Whenever you're ready. I'm set."

Looking over her gear, Yorick checked to make sure everything was ready to go. Sword? Knives? Lance? Javelins? Axe? Throwing Axe? After accounting for everything, the halberdier smiled and rose, throwing a coin on the counter for all of the drinks.

"Let's go kill us some skeletons, hey?"

[Oya]

"The name is Oya", spoke the pirate as he shook her hand. Soft, it kind of reminded him of willows, it was nothing like that of a warrior. Her time as a mage could be seen clearly on her hands. A persons hands told so much. Ones craft was written into it. Oya knew she was not the type for physical combat, but he also knew the power of magic. However he wondered how affective her fire would be against walking bones. Bonewalkers did not have flesh to burn or brains to melt. Fire worked well enough against othr types of undead, but he figured she probably meet her match against these kind. Still it was not his place to share such words and thoughts. His focus should be on battle and the enemy that lied ahead.

"Finally", spoke Oya as he got out the chair. "I was getting tired of this place anyway. Weak spirits and sullied water. This place deserves to be burned to the ground." With the bar behind him Oya mind once again turned to the Bonewalkers. At first his thoughts were on the mage, but now they turned to himself. Oya thought he had the right weapon for the task. A giant hammer and massive power to back it up. With Xigshaw he could smash those bones to a thousand pieces with a single blow, but that did not mean victory. He had no idea how fast these things moved, or how irregular their movements were. In the stories he heard from pirates as a kid Bonewalkers were quite nimble, but they wee also fought by frighten sailors ready to soil their underpants. Oya was not sure what was more accurate. Well it did not matter. He was going to find out soon how powerful they were. Oya was going to show them the might of Xigshaw.

[Mila]

"Interesting." Mila spoke in between her tea sips. She took note of what Yorick told her about bonewalkers and wights. It correlated to the info she had in her journal.

"I'm not a student. I graduated and work professionally." Mostly. She finished her tea. She could almost feel them judging her. She was used to it. The academy was particularly harsh with her through her school years. Many of her superiors were misogynistic, so she was forced to constantly improve, and impress them in order to graduate. And her fellow classmates weren't particularly fond of her either. They were simply jealous of my talents. She told herself.

"It's alright. But I assure you I'm no stranger to fighting. Many monsters do not like it when bits of your research involves poking them with sharp objects."

"Baels? As in gargantuan fibrous venomous arachnids?" Her face lit up in excitement.

"Ooh you simply must tell me all the details about your encounters with it." She directed herself at Yorick. There was a bit of fan girlish delight in her voice. Remember to sound like a professional. Stupid monster fascination. She cleared her throat and composed herself.

"I've yet to encounter one for research, so any information I can get would be useful." Nice save. She took a moment to give them both a once over. She had never seen anyone carry so many weapons and wondered how Yorick would wield them all in combat. The pirate Oya, had a particularly peculiar ax. Is that a magic axe? I suppose I could ask. Mila had seen a variety of magic weapons shuffle through the academy but rarely axes. Oya spoke his peice about the establishment and Mila suddenly lost the curiosity about the weapon.

"Yes! Let us commence with smashing of the skeletons." She wasn't sure what to make of Oya in the group. She quickly got up, not wanting to cause any trouble and followed them out.

[Yorick]

"Oh, the Baels? Those things were nasty. Poisonous claws and fangs. Get any of their venom in your blood, and it'll numb you up, making you lose feeling in your body. And you'll get sedated, too, so that they can just leave you hanging in their industrial-strength net - er, web, and then come back to gnaw on you later. The things are huge, fuzzy monstrosities. Ugly little buggers."

Grabbing two vials of anti-toxin, Yorick gave one to each companion.

"You might want these. They're designed for Wights and Walkers. Apparently, some of our targets carry weapons coated in poisons, so I got some antidote just in case. Let's see, actually. I'm proficient in lances, axes, and swords. Oya, I don't know what that thing is, but it looks like one hell of a club to me. And heavy, too. How much does it weigh? Anyway, I digress. The skeletons will have the whole gamut, including bows... So Mila, you've got range duty. Keep an eye out and see if you can pick off the ones trying to snipe us. I can guard you from close-range attacks, if need be... My armor's a lot harder than those robes of yours."

Barking another laugh, Yorick led the way out and down the path towards the graveyard, ignoring the signs warning danger and doom and beginning to explain her plan as they started their trek.

"So here's the gist of the plan. We find the skeletons in the graveyard. We start attacking them. If all goes well, they will die. If not, we move to plan B. Any questions?"

[Oya]

Antitoxin, thought Oya as he looked at the concoction. Oya had some in his bag, but he was not sure if it would work for the poison the skeletons might have. The one he had was designed to stop the poison he carried, which had many good uses, thought Xigshaw was never one of them. There was no point in poisoning a guy once you smashed his brains in. Still it was a good item to keep on him. Oya slipped the antitoxin into a pouch he kept on his belt for quick access.

Oya had taken notice to the wondering eyes toward Xigshaw. At first he was not going to say anything about it till Yorick came out and spoke about it. Once that happen Oya figured he might as well tell it. "Oh, you mean Xigshaw", he spoke as he drew the fable axe from his back. The weapon was massive, but Oya held it with one arm as he pointed it forward. "Xigshaw, or its more formal name The Holy Axe of Faresh, is a magical weapon with a very unique enchantment. The axe multiplies the strength of the user who is its rightful owner. Despite its massive weight almost anybody can wielding it. The weapon was crafted for the whole purpose of striking with the most force possible in a single blow, and thus this massive hulk of iron was forged." As Oya finished speaking he held the handle of the axe out toward Mila. The pirate jester for her to take hold of the massive weapon and see the power of Xigshaw herself.

There were two reason Oya was comfortable with giving the maiden a chance to hold the legendary weapon. The first he knew even is she wanted to she could not steal it. The moment she went to far away from Oya Xigshaw would reject her and the club weight would pin it and her, if she was unlucky, to the ground. The second reason Oya wanted to create good team chemistry. He could tell his comment about burning the place down had gotten under the maiden's skin. So letting her see his weapon was a good way to pull her back to his good side. Teamwork was important in these kind of battles.

Oya waited for her to finish, whether she took it or not, and then placed the weapon back on his back and began to walk toward their destination.

[Mila]

Mila listened intently to Yorick as she described her summary of her encounter with the Baels. Absolutely entranced by her rather rough descriptions of the beasts and their strengths. She made mental notes to herself to write this down once the job was over. She took the anti-toxin and put it in her bag. Then she heard Yorick's description of the bone walkers and Wights and potential strategies. The joke to her clothes kind of flew over her her head. But the information was useful. She was to help pick off any potential skeletons using ranged weapons to cover the other two. Sounded simple enough and it was a tactic she was familiar with. She would support her brother in the same manner when they used to travel together. She briefly wondered how he was doing, and if he had any monster encounters to share with her.

"Right then. I'll cover you guys. Don't worry."

Her attention then refocused to Oya and the ax. A holy weapon which responded only to it's chosen wielder. How peculiar. She lifted her hand as if to grab the weapon but then retracted it. Maybe I shouldn't. She didn't want to upset any holy spirit infusing the ax with her "not a chosen" one hands.

"No thank you. I don't want to drop it and end up losing my toes." She spoke casually. Several of my toes. She followed the other's out.

"Ah, should excrement hit a certain rotary device, and plan A fails what is plan B?" She asked Yorick. The mage guessed that plan B would be something along the lines of retreat or run.

[Yorick]

"Plan B is run like hell. And figure something else out to kill them. But mainly run like hell. I already almost died when a Bael gave me a love nibble. Not gonna become a skeleton concubine. No sir."

The giant axe looked like a pretty fine weapon, so when Mila decided not to lift it, she grabbed it instead. Hoisting it above her head, she was surprised at how easy it was to lift.

"Hey, this isn't too bad. I think it -"

Suddenly, the axe became unbearable heavy, smashing into the ground with the force of a falling anvil.

"I take that back. Well. OK, let's get started."

Cresting a hill, Yorick looked down on the large cemetery in the valley. It was a frightening sight to behold; there were at least two dozen skeletons waiting for them, milling about in their 'fortress' like hosts awaiting guests to a dinner party.

"Damn... There's so many of them. Well, I suppose we'll just have to be careful. Getting in the thick of them seems suicidal, so... We should try and bait them out in smaller groups. Oya, can you cover Mila while she launches fireballs at them? I'll try to skulk around and throw javelins and my throwing axe at them to confuse and harass them. We've got to start somewhere, and a vicious surprise assault should give us an early edge."

Moving away into the thickets and slinking down the hill as inconspicuously as she could, Yorick kept her eyes peeled at both groups. The second they started launching fire, she'd start throwing her weapons too.