A Return to Form--Open

[Armitage Apolithymius]

Armitage breathed deeply. Her face and nearly her entire torso was obscured by her cloak and the surrounding foliage. It was hard to be in Lycia again. Already she was missing the mountains and the woods. Armitage was returning after quite an absence, spent in personal exile. Life down here; the struggle, the war, and the hate. It was all starting to pile up on her. So, she retreated to the mountains. Some fools might consider her a coward--she didn't care. She did not leave out of some cowardice or fear. There had simply been nothing here for her. She had some affiliations, sure, but not much to warrant her sticking around. There had been a conflict before and with no compelling reason to choose one side over the other, she chose neither.

Mountain life had been great. It was serene, harsh, but beautiful. With another deep breath she continued her meditation. The sensations of the forest and plains around her pour over her body. There was an attachment one could gain from living in seclusion for so long. When your only company is the land, you learn to cherish it. Her cloak and hood were made of animal furs. A mixed patchwork of wolf, fox and bear fell around her body. The cloak had originally been for defense against the elements but she had grown accustomed to the look and feel of the furs around her. That, and it seemed to have a natural polishing effect on her armor, reducing the time needed to clean it. In addition, it was great at obscuring the motions of her body from her enemies during a fight.

That train of thought snapped her back into her original purpose. She was here for her armor. The family heirloom that was her birthright. The male counterpart that matched the female set she herself wore. Although she had spent quite some time as a recluse, she still kept correspondence, if only to stay abreast of politics. A message made its way to her promising a lead on the location of the armor she sought. Its absence was a constant pox on her honor. And one she was eager to be rid of. She wasn't far from the location; a small trade village on the outskirts of Worde. Apparently, if her informant could be trusted, a noble was using the armor as a shiny trophy. The idea of her heirloom used as dinner conversation. Or a centerpiece on some mantle! It disgusted her.

She shook off some of the anger. The thoughts were poisonous. And she was trying to meditate. Another deep breath. She cracked an eyelid and could see the fingers of twilight stretching over the sky. She had been waiting for nightfall. The undead weren't the best at tracking or coordination. Nonetheless, waiting until night to travel into the town would give her just a bit of cover. That smidgen of breathing room was an edge she needed to take advantage of. Armitage took to her feet. It was time.

A quick equipment check before departing left her secure in the fact that her armor was tight, her cloak was taught and her spear was at the ready. One last deep breath before Armitage sprinted off into the night toward the sleepy village. She avoided the few undead "patrols" that were in her way. The idea that they were truly patrolling was humorous to her. Although the lacked guidance and initiative, starting a fight with one group would, more often than not, draw the ire of another. Then another. Then another! From there it was all downhill and before you knew it there were a platoon of undead streaming through the valley at you. Armitage steeled her mind. It had been quite some time since she faced the undead scourge. It was fear she felt, but pity. A normal foe she could strike down easily. There had even been times Armitage had struck at someone with simply a differing opinion. In the life of a career soldier, moral grey was the norm. But these husks had not asked for this fight. For some of them it was out of their hands entirely. The idea could chill her if she let it.

Dropping her weight, Armitage hit the dirt with a roll. Coming on her stomach, she gripped the sides of her cloak, using the fur to muffle her tumble. There were nearly 50 yards between her and the town. Her eyes scanned the village. Nothing alive lived here. Most of the village was crumbling. All that was left of most houses were the supporting pillars and maybe a door frame. Some of the village had burned down. Other parts were currently burning--probably a lantern clumsily knocked over by a shuffling undead. The parts of the town still mostly intact were the noble houses. Made mostly out of stone they were fairly safe from the fires. The undead themselves didn't pillage so they were left fairly respectable. Armitage tried to spot the house she was looking for. From her information it would have a red roof. The families crest was a crow in flight. These were her only clues. She decided to hold her ground for a bit and wait for an opening in the lumbering "patrols." Tonight could be a long night.

[Orcleous]

Another night another hunt, thought Orcleous as he made his way through the forest. His reputation had tanked since he retreated from the fight with The Madness. The Hero wounded how people even knew about that entire ordeal anyway. A retreat in that situation was not the move of a coward, but one of tactics. However other people thought differently and began to call him weak hearted. The idea was ludicrous. Orcleous weak hearted. The men who spit such words did not even have half the courage he did. Still it was a pain to deal with. Getting jobs was a bit harder and one could only take so many insults before one begins to doubt themselves. Orcleous Orcleous knew he was not weak hearted, but he needed to prove it, to not only himself, but to others. Taking this as a challenge Orcleous took up his blade and his axe and began his hunts. The hero had planned out twelve separate hunts. Each one would show his valor, skill, and courage. He doubted others would look at his skill and see the truth, but he needed it to prove to himself.

Tonight Orcleous decided he would hunt the undead, but tonight the hunt seemed to be worst than usual. The undead where roaming around in ridiculous numbers, which told Orcleous that they really needed to be eliminated. Just letting this amount of undead move around unattended would aid nobody. Looking at the situation Orcleous was sure he could handle it. However he wanted to be sure he did not use Xigshaw while doing so. The magical war hammer was powerful, but it was too powerful. Orcleous did not like relying on its strength. He felt that it facilitated weakness along with its boost in his muscular power. To put it simple Orcleous did not like magic. Magic was the path to weakness and relying on Xigshaw's magic was a quick way to becoming weak. However at the same time Orcleous was not stupid. He took the mighty hammer with him in case he got into trouble. It would serve as a good get out of jail free card if he found himself surrounded by the undead.

"Three, maybe two", spoke ORcleous as he looked over a hill. Three of the undead shambled across the open field as they searched for flesh to rip asunder. Orcleous wanted to eliminate the mall as fast as possible. If he was not quick he would risk alerting others. It was his goal to cut there numbers at least in half before the sun rose and he wanted to be sure he completed his goal. After talking a deep breath Orcleous tossed himself over the hill. His foot steps grabbed the attention of the three undead and caused them to turn toward his location. However the Hero was too quick for them. The moment he jumped up he rushed forward and moved into a lunge attack. The silver sword pierced through the brain of the first undead and was quickly followed by a spinning slice that removed the head of the second undead. The third, let out a moan before it attacked with its claws. However Orcleous was not in the mood, nor did he have the time. As the beast attacked Orcleous swung his silver sword and cut the monster's arm right down the middle. He then thrusted his blade forward stabbing his sword through the beast nose area and throuhg its brain.

[Armitage Apolithymius]

Armitage counted out the undead to herself as she planned her route through the town. Ideally, she wanted to alert as few of the undead as possible. They were simple enough to take down silently, you just had to eliminate them before they got whipped into a blood frenzy. As she eyed the town it seemed as though things would be fairly in control for her. She tried not to let the excitement of tonight’s purpose get too here. If she got too anxious or tried to go too fast then she’d have a whole wave of undead down on her head. If that happened she might have to retreat and who knows how long her armor could afford to wait. If it was even there.

Just then she heard a noise. Sounded like someone’s voice a bit closer to the town. Her eyes scanned the horizon. Her attention was pulled to a man running toward the closest batch of undead! For a moment she panicked. Should she run in and help the man? Should she retreat now? For all she knew, he could be a bandit. Retreating would be as good as surrendering her armor. After a moment of hesitance, she let out an annoyed grunt and sprinted from her position.

Her speed was surprising in the armor. A lot of people assumed anyone in armor was slow--that was usually not the case. Couple that with Armitage’s near lifetime of experience in the same set and you have someone who could move at a fairly unencumbered pace. As she closed the distance she could see him fighting. He took the undead down quickly enough. Maybe he wouldn’t draw the rest. Maybe there was still time.

Before she got too close she could see a pair of undead rounding the corner of a house. They seemed to notice the new man immediately. She was almost there. A twinge of worry snuck into her mind. Sometimes the undead howl before they attack. That would surely alert the whole town’s worth of undead. She quickened her pace and breathed heavily into the hood of her cloak. She could make it.

As she closed the gap to the undead she lowered her shoulder. Holding her cloak close she tackled the closest undead into the dirt. Holding her cloak close she tried to muffle the noise of her armor as she tumbled to the ground. She felt the crack of the creature’s bones below her. Before she even lost all of the momentum of the tackle she already grabbed the creature by its face, wrenching its head clean off. It must have been a zombie for quite some time to have came off so easily. Spinning on her heel, keeping her center low, Armitage slammed an armored leg into the other approaching undead. This upended the beast, causing it to fall to its face. With a light hop she bounced into the air and landed on its head, crushing it in the process.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Armitage demanded in a hushed, but clearly irritated tone.

She did not remove her hood and she hadn’t used her weapon on the undead. She was trying to stay as quite as possible. The sound of metal on metal carried and could draw a lot of undead very fast. She studied this man while she spoke. From far away he seemed rather old but now that she was close she could tell how young he was. Many young men lived harsh lives in this world but still, it always pulled at her heart a bit to see it in action.

[Orcleous]

"Two more", spoke Orcleous to himself as he finished off the last of the three. The hero turned to face what he expected to be two more shambling corpses. Instead he was meet with the image of a women in armor. How did she get this close without me knowing, thought Orcleous to himself. He put to much focus into his elimination of the undead and not enough into his surroundings. Still by the fact that she did not attack him Orcleous was sure he could throw out the idea that she was a bandit. Then the women began to speak and the sound in her voice told Orcleous that he had some how offended her.

"The name is Orcleous", spoke the Hero. She had not drawn a weapon and had eliminated two possible threats. She deserved that much of a answer from him at the least. "I am but a simple mercenary from Bern here to cut down the numbers of the undead in the region. Because of certain events my name has taken a stain across the region so I decided to improve my standing by taking a few heads. Pretty common work really. So my fair maiden, let me ask you the same question. Who are you and why are you here. I am pretty sure you did not come here just to enjoy the woods or clear out this town, and I doubt you came here to improve your reputation. That can only mean that you are here to either scavenge or you simply have a hatred for the walking corpses.

Actually now that Orcleous was thinking about it. How many undead where here. He knew there was a good amount, but he had no idea how many of them where in the actual horde. He had dealt with a horde in the past. Though that was with the help of twenty other mercenaries and was in Bern. Hordes in Bern where much smaller than the ones in Lyica. Which to Orcleous was all the more reason for him to start eliminating undead. He was actually surprised that most people where not already doing it. What did they think was going to happen. The undead do not starve, they do not die, they simply roam around till they find something to kill. More men and women in arms should be fighting these things. Well most people probably saw it as not there problem till the undead where on there doorstep. Maybe Orcleous should do something about that. Though that was a problem or a idea for later. Right now he needed to deal with this women and his own personal hunt. From what he could tell she had some skill.

[Armitage Apolithymius]

Armitage snorted audibly at being called his fair maiden. Those were three things that she did not consider herself in many capacities. Some more than others. It was a slight she had grown up and dealt with all of her life despite, multiple times, proving her mettle beyond measure. Unfortunately, that was the climate of the world. More often than not, women did belong to men. And even mroeso they were made to feel soft and weak. Old frustrations rose to the surface and Armitage did her best to force them back down. She was so easily distracted today. Why now, with such an important goal ahead of her?

“Well, Orcleous, my name is Armitage Apolithymius.” She spoke her full name proudly, as per usual. It was then she decided it would be best to hide her true motive from this stranger. “And you’re right. I am here to scavenge and you’re one heavy step away from cockering it all up!” She tried her best to sound forceful without being too loud. The threat of the horde ever present.“Do you have any idea how many undead are out here? Draw too much attention and we’ll have an entire battalions worth on our hands.”

Armitage was clearly no stranger to fighting. As a matter of fact; she didn’t even doubt that her and this man, based in part on his previous display, could handle a majority of it and escape without much harm. But there was a chance it would put her goal in danger. That was a chance she plainly was not willing to take. She had to seize the moment, and take advantage of what little small chance her armor might be intact and in this town.

A chill crept up her back. Her intuition was telling her she had stayed too long out in the open. In a real battle this type of thing would have gotten them killed. Luckily for them, the undead were slow and, mostly, fairly dumb. Her eyes scanned their surroundings, making sure they hadn’t already been spotted. She had to hurry.

“Look, I’m searching for a particular noble house. You’re more than welcome to come with me if you’d like. Otherwise, you’ll just make a good distraction for me while I find my goods. Hmm...maybe I should’ve let you draw the horde...” Armitage trailed off as she thought about if she truly made the right decision. She quickly snapped back to the current. “We can continue talking over there...” Pointing toward a broken down house with a caved in roof, Armitage began moving. “We’ve already stayed in the street too long.”

As she finished speaking, her pace toward the house quickened into a light jog. She couldn’t help but display a sense of urgency. She wondered if Orcleous would follow. There’s no way he could have known it, but he was the first human she had interacted with in what felt like years. Perhaps that was making her short tempered and irritable. For a moment she wondered how she would react if Orcleous were to start fighting the horde and get overcome. Would she help if it would put her danger of losing her armor? She wasn’t sure--again she thought of living in the mountains. There, she didn’t have to deal with moral decisions. It was all about survival. But, in the end, was this really much different?

Armitage moved into the doorway of the house. The door hung at an awkward angle, it’s top hinge and door handle broken long ago. With a nudge she continued into the house and quickly assumed an alert position. She scanned the room for undead and, once all was clear, she’d move completely into the room and collect herself while waiting to see if Orcleous followed.

[Orcleous]

"I don't know maybe a hundred or one hundred and fifty. You can't really tell unless you count them all", spoke Orcleous answering the maiden's question quite literally. "Though I know what you mean and are trying to say. I have been dealing with the undead since I first started swinging my sword. I know how they work and how to take care of them. I am not a halfwit", spoke Orcleous. As the Hero got a good look at the maiden he noticed she had some good quality armor. It was not something you would buy at your local blacksmith or from some random merchant. It was quality, which made Orcleous start to doubt that she was a simple scavenger as she claimed. Still it was none of his business. The boy of them where out here and the both of them where hunting the undead. Well Orcleous was hunting the undead. She was looking to find something.

"You probably would have been better off if you had done that", spoke Orcleous as he gave the maiden a sly smile. The maiden then directed him away toward another spot. She did not like sitting in one spot for to long. It was smart. The Undead where slow, but they where not immovable. Stay still too long and you might find yourself completely surrounded by them. Orcleous took her advice and followed. How could he let a fiery red head go off by herself. Though the truth of the matter was that Orcleous preferred to fight multiple undead with a group. It was more efficient that way.

"So", spoke Orcleous as he caught up with the maiden. The hero spoke in a hush tone, he did not want to attack the undead after all. "What is so special about this noble house. You seemed to be aiming for this structure specifically. If you are looking for coin then I will tell you it is probably all gone by now. When nobles abandon a place they don't leave behind jewels and gold. The same goes for anything that could help you fake nobility. I knew a guy a while back who tried to find something to make himself look like a noble. They don't leave any of that behind either."

As Orcleous walked completely into the room he noticed that the place was in pretty bad condition. It was to be expected, but Orcleous kind of figured it would be better. There was something about nobility that made Orcleous think there stuff would remain grand even after they left. They did a good job of putting on airs. "So do you want to take point or me", spoke the Hero as he turned and looked at the spear wielding maiden. He was sure she would, but she just might defer to him. To be truthful Orcleous would rather be the first in. There was a advantage of being the first to see what is going on. You get the better understanding of what is going on.

[Armitage Apolithymius]

Armitage pushed through the house as the man spoke, seemingly ignoring him. Some of his words held true though--bandits usually did not leave much of note behind when there was a place to be pillaged. Even when said place held troves of undead. All she could do was hope that her armor was still here, somewhere. Or, at the very least, that it was here at some point and would leave behind some clues as to where to find it. She reached into the back of her cloak and produced a letter. The one she had originally received from her informant. It had been kept close since it arrived in her care and she treated it carefully, as if it could affect the well-being of her prize. She let out a deep sigh before unrolled the note.

"I'm looking for a particular noble house. I don't know what their name is but their coat of arms is this..." Armitage held the letter out to Orcleous. On it was stamped a seal that looked like a large crow, wings spread, with a spear in one talon and shield in the other. "I don't know who or what it stands for but I must find their house. They have something very dear of mine. Pushing down a rotted door, Armitage continued through the back of the house until she came to the other end, the side that looked into the town. She wiped dirt off of a window and peered into the streets. "The house I'm looking for. I've been told it has a looming black roof and was very hard to miss.

"You're welcome to help me, if you'd like. But I'd rather we not alert the whole town to our presence. Undead alone aren't anything to fear but whenever they start to whip into a frenzy, sometimes the commotion can draw larger, more dangerous foes. I don't want to put my mission in jeopardy. Agree?" Armitage finally lowered her hood as she spoke, shaking out her hair. It was starting to crowd her face and the heat was getting to her. She looked at Orcleous seriously and held his gaze. She wanted to make sure she was understood. "After we find what I'm looking for, you're more than welcome to return to whatever task it was that you were doing. Hell, I may even join you depending on how this goes." The hint of a smile crept on the edge of her lips but she suppressed it. She didn't want to get excited and assume she would find what she was looking for.

After Orcleous' response she would return to looking back out of the window, peering over the town, trying to find her prize. The layout of this town was not familiar to her, it must be one she had never visited before. Hopefully, within the maze of busted, broken down buildings her heirloom armor would await her. "I usually like to lead the way but I'm not familiar with this town. I don't really have an idea of where to start so, if you do, I'd be happy to follow up. My original plan was to just sneak from house to house, hoping I'd eventually fine one tall enough to get a good view of the rest of the town. Then I'd go from there." Her guard began to come down a bit. She always did have a soft spot for trusting people.

[Orcleous]

So that was what her gig was, thought Orcleous as the maiden showed him the letter. He looked at the sea, but caught a few words before she pulled it away. Mostly her name, armor, possible, and house. Guessing from that she was looking for a suit of armor, thought Orcleous did not know why. Nor did he really need to know. It was not Orcleous stick to dig into other peoples personal business, though he did have a taste for being nosy. The two statements contradicted each other, but they made sense when applied to life. Orcleous did not actively seek to find out other peoples private matters, but he did look into things when they where placed before him. It was a family curse. His mother was nosy, and his grandmother was as well. It was only natural that it would pass down to him.

"Well", spoke Orcleous as he rubbed his chin. "How could any man say no to a pretty face and crimson locks of hair." Orcleous let off a small chuckle before he opened his mouth to speak again. "Nah, in all serious sure I will help you. Whatever you are looking for it must be really important that you find it. Even more so if you are willing to try up a town filled with the walking dead. As for my own personal mission, well it is not as important. It is mainly me convincing myself of something that I already know. After we get what you are looking for I think it would be best if we both got out of here. Nothing personal, but something in the back of my head is telling me that things won't go as smoothly as it sounds. Things never go just as planned", spoke Orcleous as he walked over to the other side of the window and looked out it. To him most of the buildings looked the same, this was going to cause a problem.

"Two people in armor moving through a town filled with undead. "Yeah this is not going to end well", spoke Orcleous as he unstrapped his breastplate. It was nothing special like knight armor or something. It was just a simple green breast plate with a black arm guard. The design was useful when fighting against monsters, but not moving around in silence. "Don't worry I will be back for you", spoke Orcleous to his armor as he placed it on the ground. This left Orcleous with nothing more than his thick padded jacket he wore under his armor. "Alright I will take point. I will go first and then you wait and see. If you hear sounds or movement then hold off I might have been spotted. Once you are sure that it is clear follow", spoke Orcleous as he moved out the back of the house.

"Yep just like old times", whispered Orcleous to himself as his mind drifted back to that graveyard he moved though when he was still a novice. It was a poor choice of a place to try and fight the undead, but Orcleous was not the wisest of brats back then. Keeping low to the ground Orcloeus moved over to the next house. Rather than use the door, which Orcleous was sure would creak, the hero placed his hand on a broken window seal and hopped into the structure. Once he was inside he gave a quick look around of his immediate area and waved for the spear maiden to follow. He then began to move through the house Keeping low to the ground and his ear on the wall Orcleous searched the building for the undead.

"Hmm", spoke Orcleous. He did not hear anything, but he was not a hundread percent sure. Reaching into his pocket Orlcoeus pulled out a gold coin. The Hero kissed it for luck and flipped it into a hallway. The sound of the coin hitting the ground rang through the building, but Orcleous was sure it would not go anywhere outside. Now it was simply time to listen to see if any of the dead picked up on the sound.

[Armitage Apolithymius]

Armitage watched as Orcleous began to unbuckle her armor. Her hand absentmindedly finger the straps of her own chest piece. Leaving one set of armor behind while searching for the other seemed counterproductive to her. But, he did have a point--it would be noisy to continue with it. Uncertainty filled her mind. What if something happened to it? What if there were bandits around? Would the chance of alerting the horde be worth it? After deep contemplation, she began to unstrap her own set of armor and set it near Orcleous' own. At least this way, if something happened it would be to both of their armors. That was comforting, somehow.

The cloak came off first with a bit of flair. Afterward the breastplate, followed by the tasset, legs and finally the manacles. She left the gauntlets on. Best to leave as little uncovered flesh as possible, that, and they'd be useful to pound in the head of a zombie if necessary. Underneath her armor was a traditional Laus Sergeant Major's uniform. Although it's general shape still held some of the pomp and circumstance of the position, by this point the garb would look quite rugged. No longer a vibrant color, the stains of the sun and combat sucking most of the texture out long ago. Some of the midsection was replaced by patches and the bottom was ripped and tattered in various places. Armitage considered replacing the undergarment many times since leaving her battalion, but she could never do it. She liked the memories it carried and, in a few ways, it reminded her of home.

After removing her armor and placing it safely, her spear and cloak were quickly reattached. Armitage bounced in place a couple times, re-acclimating herself to the feel of her weight without the armor on. It was in this moment she realized just how long she had been wearing the armor around casually. She didn't sleep in it of course, but putting it on had been the first thing she did in a day for nearly as long as she could remember. She felt light and a bit more free than usual but in many ways this made her feel vulnerable. For a moment, she thought of putting it all back on, but turned around and started to follow Orcleous before the thought could invade too much of her mind.

Following outside, Armitage kept low and her cloak pulled tight. The next house they moved into was generally unremarkable except for one thing; it had a second floor. Hopefully from there Armitage could get a good look of the town. From where they entered the home, the stairs were easily accessible. Orcleous had the good sense to want to clean out the bottom floor. Armitage trusted him to do just that. "I'm going to check the upstairs. Come up if it's all clear." With that, Armitage quickly, but quietly, bounded the stairs for the second floor. They were old, and of course a bit creaky, but she made it up them without much raucous. She took a moment to be happy she wasn't in her armor for, if she were, she very well may have fell right through the steps!

The second floor looked as though it had been thoroughly vandalized. The drawers of every desk and dresser were poured out. The doors to anything resembling a closet were all broken off and Armitage could see the difference of color on the walls from where things had once hung, but have been removed. She moved through the couple rooms that the upstairs held, not finding anything of note in any of them. She finally came upon the room with a window looking into the city. The scanned the roofs of the houses, looking for the one described in the letter. With the whole city cast in nightfall it was actually quite difficult. Since the city was essentially dead, there was no man made light to illuminate the street.

Before she could get too good a look at the city, suddenly there were arms around her. She heard the groan of an undead in behind her head as it wrapped its boney arms around her and tried to wrestle her to the ground. Armitage gritted her teeth. How could you be so foolish to let an undead sneak up on you! You must be getting soft. Armitage's mind berated her as she struggle in the grasp of the skeleton. Her arms were locked to her side and she was unable to either draw her spear or defend herself properly. It was trying to drag her to the ground, it on top. Armitage had been caught flat footed and was unable to easily shrug the creature off. For a moment she debated calling for Orcleous. She stifled the urge though--the danger of drawing more monsters was too great. Now that she was unarmored that was a prospect she was even more uncomfortable with. For now, she struggled, her mind racing to think of a quick escape.

[Orcleous]

The coin hit the ground and Orcleous did not hear anything, that was a good sign, but that did not mean that there was nothing there. Orcleous tighten his grip on his sword and prepared to move forward. However the red headed maiden had come up behind him. She was keen on going up the stairs and checking the second floor. Orcleous thought it was a bad idea, but kept that to himself. She was far older than he was and probably knew what she was doing. There was no point in him voicing his displeasure. Instead Orcleous spent hims time doing his job Holding his silver blade out in front of him Orcleous walked into the first room, it was empty, he expected much. He still gave it a good look around just in case. He then moved to the second room and repeated the process till he got to the last on the floor. The last room was locked. This was a good sign, thought Orcleous that something of value was in here. Still he had to be careful, squeezing his blade in between the door knob and the wall Orcleous popped open the door. The hero walked into the room to see a pair of bones lying on the ground and what looked like a old sword safe.

"Nothing in here, but bones and dust", spoke Orcleous as he walked over to the safe. The hero stabbed his silver sword into the ground as he began to take a look at the old structure. He was surprised such a thing was still in such good condition and not pilfered. "Surely somebody would have decided to take or steal from this", spoke Orcleous to himself. As he looked at the safe he heard a familiar sound. It was a small click, to most people it would probably be ignored, but Orcleous had fought enough monsters to know exactly what that was. Quickly Orcleous drew his iron sword from his belt and turned around. It was a smart move as a bonewalker held his silver blade and was swinging down at him. The two figure's weapon meet in the air creating a loud ping. Fortunately for Orcleous the sound was contained to the room.

"Bonewalkers", spoke Orcleous with surpise as he struggled against the beast. "Here I was only expecting walking corpses", he spoke as he placed one hand onto the massive hammer on his back. He felt Xigshaw's power run though his body, but the hammer was not pleased. Orcleous however did not care at the moment. He knew it was going to give him trouble down the road, but at the moment he just needed the boost in power. With his muscles now empowered by the magical hammer Orcleous pressed the creature back rather easily. Throwing it off balance with a great push Orcleous released Xigshaw and placed both hands on his iron sword. Taking a deep breath Orlcoeus swung his balde with all of his strength. The blow cut the bones completely in half destroying the monster and sending its body falling onto the old rooting floor.

"Well this is a interesting development", spoke Orcleous as he sheathed his iron sword and picked up his silver blade. The Hero was starting to get a bad feeling. If the creatures where able to sneak up on him he wondered if they would do the same to the armorless maiden. Unlike Orcleous she had not been fighting monsters for two years. Retreating back down the hallway Orcleous began to move with purpose. He put a stern eye to every room he passed to be sure no more walkers stood up while he was away. When he made it to the stairs however he was forced to halt. From the look of it he could tell they where not strong. There was no way he was getting up them while holding Xigshaw.

"Crap", spoke Orcleous as he unstrapped his mighty war hammer and let it sit on the ground. He tied some bandages around one end and carried it up the stairs. Now safely at the top Orcleous attempted to pull on the bandages and pull the weapon up. That plan failed however as the bandages where unable to bare the weight of the massive hammer. "Going to have to go without", spoke Orcleous as he pushed on. Looking around Orcleous began to search for the crimson soldier. He quickly passed each room with a glance inside as he made his way to his destination. As he arrived however he was meet with a worrisome sight. The maiden had been struggling with a pile of walking bones. Orcleous did not bother asking how, but rather moved to aid. Grabbing the creature by the collarbone he pulled it off the maiden and threw it to the side.

"You alright", asked orcleous as he held out his silver blade toward the monster and waited for it to assault.

[Armitage Apolithymius]

Hmm. With a simple jump I could probably smash his bones across the floor... But that would undoubtedly make a lot of noise. How such simple problems can be catalysts to life threatening situations is always amusing. Armitage mused while she struggled against the strength of the skeleton. There was very little immediate danger. Almost the entire situation hinged on how she reacted. There was nearly no way, at least in her mind, that she could shake the creature free without making a raucous. To test the waters she planted a hard foot and tried to yank her arms free. A sharp pain shot through her right shoulder, letting her know its grip barely loosened, if at all. She settled back onto both of her feet, lets the skeleton struggle back against her resistance.

Suddenly, she was relieved of her burden. Her arms came free and fell to her side. Bemusement danced around her as she turned to see Orcleous in the room. With a tilt of her head. she eyed the man. She would not have thought he was terribly powerful. Of course he had the look of a soldier and was clearly, by no means, weak. But she wouldn't have expected him to be able to toss the skeleton creature aside so easily. She rotated her shoulder in its socket, making sure she still had full range of motion. There was a bit of stiffness, but nothing that would inhibit her. The skeleton struggled to regain it's footing and right itself. From it's actions it seemed to be confused at how it was dislodged so easily.

"Thanks."

Armitage was grateful for the help, but didn't like that he left the skeleton "alive." The creature turned onto its back and was about to start clattering its jaw. The noise that normally produced was a strange "clack clack" that served as a sort of signal to others in the area. That was exactly what they didn't want. Armitage rushed forward and placed a swift boot into the head of the skeleton. There was an audible pop as the skull cracked against the back wall of the room. That wouldn't necessarily kill it but, that usually disabled enough that you didn't have to worry about them much farther. Her momentum carried her a bit more forward than she expect. Her shoulder was used as she braced herself against the wall. She wasn't quite used to moving around without her armor yet.

"That was a good save. You have good instincts...Thanks." Armitage walked back past Orcleous and toward the window facing the town. She looked back out across the roofs and moonlight. "It's a bit hard to make out differences between the houses since night fell. I'm not really familiar with where a noble person would want to put their home. Any ideas?" She was genuinely curious. Without much of an idea of where to start, this could really take some time. "We might just be here all night..." Armitage spoke beneath her breath while she looked over the town.

The town was beautiful, in a destroyed and downtrodden sort of way. It was probably the moon light making it look appealing, but still. The sereneness of the scene appealed to some primal part of her. Her ears were perked up and senses were still tingling. The coldness of the undead beast's touch threatened to chill her core. She shook the idea off and let the adrenaline of the situation warm her body. The fire of excitement burned in her, at least for the moment.

[Orcleous]

"It looked like Orcleuous did not have to do anything. It seemed like she could handle herself after all. Still he was a bit worried about the bonewalker. She had scattered it, but he was not sure it was completely dead. Orcleous did not want to have another incident like last time. Moving over to the bones Orcleous stabbed his silver blade though the skull of the creature. With this he was sure it was gone, mainly thanks to silver's monster slaying properties. He was going to have to recommend a silver spear to the maiden after all of this was over, but that was for a different time. She was over by the window and looking out. Things where a bit too dark for ORcleous to make out which house was which. This darkness however was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand it made hiding from there enemy easier, but on the other it also made moving about and detecting enemies harder. Not to mention that there are also Bone Walkers here. That is what caught him off guard the most. He had never seen the two creatures together before, but now they where. It was not a good sign to Orcleous. They might have a much harder fight ahead of them then they thought. Bonewalkers despite being nothing, but a pile of bones, could think and plan unlike the lumbering undead.

"A nobles house", spoke Orcleous as he walked over to the window. "Well if you follow standard city construction there are only two places a noble would place there home. The first is near the center of the city. This is where the most important people are going to live. If the city is under attack these will be the people to get hit last giving them the time to escape or mount a defense. If the noble was looking for space it will be on the outskirts, though estates like that have there own walls and towers for protection. I don't see anything like that so I guess it was the prior one. The house we are looking for is probably located at the center of town, which means we are going to have to go toward the center of the town."

"As a warning, the deeper we go in the higher our chance of being spotted is. If push comes to shove I will play the distraction", spoke Orcleous as he looked out at the streets. "I got a hammer down stairs that can do that job pretty well. Though I prefer to this stealthy. Whatever you are looking for make sure you get it. We don't want this to be a wasted trip", spoke the Hero as he turned toward the stairs and made his way down. Orcleous still had very little idea of what was out there. He saw a few bodies moving in the darkness, but other than that nothing. The bonewalkers also made this job more difficult as they provided a invisible enemy. As Orcleous reached the bottom of the staircase he grabbed his massive hammer and placed it back onto his back. "Probably best we leave out the back door again", spoke Orcleous to himself as he made his way back toward the window he came inside. Going out the front seemed foolish to him.

[Armitage Apolithymius]

“Towards the center of the town...good thought, even if it’s more dangerous.” Armitage listened to the man’s knowledge as he assessed the city with her. “I scouted outskirts of the town a day or so ago. I can confirm that I hadn’t seen any noble keeps or castles.” She was glad he had, at least, a general idea of where to go. Though Armitage had seen noble houses growing up, she never really gave much thought to where they would live in relation to the rest of the city. She could probably guess where the barracks would be, and if given a layout of the town could plan could patrol routes, but that was the beginning and end of her city planning knowledge.

She listened as Orcleous offered himself as a distraction if necessary. This tugged at her sense of honor a bit. Of course, there was quite a bit of old world “no man left behind” mentality pounded into her. Her mind fought against that though. I owe this man nothing--if he wants to sacrifice himself to help me succeed, why should that bother me? She silently mused to herself as she watched him speak. He did save me from that bonewalker though... She tabled the thoughts for now.

Something about this night seemed increasingly ominous. It was probably the dark of the night playing tricks on her and the trickle of fire in the courtyards but, if only for a moment, Armitage thought she saw a pair of wings in the darkness of the streets below. She listened, staying alert for a sign of anything more than zombies. The night seemed oppressively quiet. Armitage stifled the urge to shiver as a chill ran up her back. She pulled her cloak close; she wasn’t used to feeling the air directly on her skin. Normally the armor was there to protect her. With a sigh, she left the window and followed Orcleous.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Armitage watched him retrieve his weapon. She felt a humming energy coming from the thing. It was like a static, or a tension in the air around it. Armtiage always believed strength should come from within. That’s what she always said to herself, of course, but if a powerful artifact came her way she doubted she would refuse it. Following Orcleous, she gave him a nod as the reached the window in the back of the house to signal she was ready to move out.

[Orcleous]

Orcleous moved around the edge of the house. He was still going to need to move toward the center of town. That meant he was going to have to go into the street and attempt to avoid monsters. Orcleous was pretty good at staying hidden. He was a assassin at one point, but he was not sure if the soldier could pull it off. The two would have to rely on signals and timing if he wanted to pull this off successfully. As Orcleous moved toward the edge of the building he heard a sound on the other side. Stopping before he turned the corner Orcleous reached into his back pocket and pulled out a mirror. Using the mirror Orcleous looked around the corner and saw two of the undead. One of them was closer toward the corner and the other was a bit further in the alleyway. Placing the mirror back into his pocket Orcleous drew out his iron sword. It was not as effective at killing zombies as his silver blade, but together they where far more versatile.

Quickly Orcleous turned the corner. With a swift lunge attack Orcleous stabbed his iron sword into the head of the first Zombie from bellow and rushed forward to take care of the second. Abandoning his blade in the first creature's head gave Orcleous the few precious seconds to get in and respond to the zombie before it can alert the others. The creature twisted its body in preparation for a attack. However a quick slice from Orcleous severed its head from its shoulders and sent its body falling to the ground. "Hey grab my sword" whispered Orcleous as he both asked her to pick up his blade and gave the signal to move. Orcleous then opened a window on the side of the nearby building and climbed into it.

This time however Orcleous did not even bother to flip the coin. Instead he simply began to move into the darken house looking into the rooms as he went by them. He made sure there where no bones lying on the ground or any open holes leading down to any lower floors. Orcleous knew enough about Bonewalkers to know that they can not just appear. They always came from the ground or a pile of bones on the floor. If he did not see any of the two then he did not have to worry. Besides Orcleous had no plans to stay in this has neither way. The Hero moved through the house till he reached a window leading to the next house over. Opening the window and falling back onto the mirror Orcleous checked the alleyway for any threats and then hopped back outside.

"Going to need to cross that road", spoke Orcleous to himself as he began to use the mirror to see how many undead where in the street.

[Armitage Apolithymius]

Armitage regulated her breath as she walked the streets with Orcleous. This whole ordeal was proving more and more exciting by the moment. The wild outdoors had been interesting for her, sure, but she had forgotten how excited by the idea of urban warfare she was. It had been awhile since she had to stalk through the streets like this. It reminded her of the raids she had went on with the city guard. She always relished the times she, along with a small team of soldiers, could roll into a house in the cover of darkness and expose a smuggler or other persons of ill intent. Those were the times when she felt the most like she was “cleaning up the streets.” Sure, her time spent in wars and battles with monsters were, most likely, better served; nonetheless, the excitement of a raid was a whole different feeling.

Coming back to reality, Armitage watched as Orcleous deftly dived into the alley. She lingered in the entrance way for a moment, making sure they weren’t being followed and that Orcleous hadn’t descended into a trap. Letting out a quick breath, Armitage rounded the corner and bounded after Orcleous. As she passed his iron sword, she already had a hand around the handle as he whispered for her to grab it. She wrenched it free of bone and flesh and fell into step behind her companion as he entered the new building. She reached the window with a long stride and easily hopped through the empty frame without much sound at all. She spun around as she did so, waiting to see if she had been followed by anything. Ready to cut down an undead, she waited tensely by the open window for five heartbeats.

Orcleous proceeded down the house and Armitage followed closely behind. She kept his sword at the ready, balancing its weight in her hand. It had been awhile since she wielded a regular blade. Sure she had trained with them and was proficient enough to be a practiced duelist, but spear was her weapon of choice by far. It had been years since she actually used a sword--Armitage hoped her skills hadn’t deteriorated enough to get her into any real trouble. A part of her was sure though that when the dung hit the fan, years of muscle memory and training would kick in. She gave the blade a light spin and rotated her wrist, familiarizing herself with its weight.

Armitage decided to stick with Orcleous through this house. Now that they had a more specific goal to reach, there was no reason to explore through the homes. She kept her eyes toward the back of the house, bringing up the rear of their little defensive platoon made for two. She paused as Orcleous checked the next street and then leapt out the window. Following suit, Armitage landed in the alley in a low crouch, her cloak falling around her. She eyed the street ahead as Orcleous thought out loud. She gritted her teeth a bit as she realized just how wide the road was. This must have been one of the main streets that passed through the city as it was wide enough for carriages to travel side by side and still have room for foot traffic.

The alley they waited in gave a wide birth into the street and Armitage chanced looking out without the mirror technique Orcleous was fond of. From her estimation, there were 4 undead in the immediate area, with a couple more patrolling down the street. Glancing down the opposite direction, the street seemed to be mostly empty. Armitage thanked their luck that the undead were congregated mostly on one side of the street--that meant they didn’t have to worry about being attacked from both sides. Yet. For now. Armitage’s gears spun as she mused over the best way to take out the undead that were immediately in their way. A direct attack could work, with Orcleous following up. But what if the carcasses in the distance noticed the raucous. Hmm...

Then her eyes found the solution. In the middle of the street there was a communal well. Sometimes, in medium sized towns, there were wells in the middle of busy streets to help keep them, and the surrounding buildings, clean. It was then Armitage noticed some of the houses on this street doubled as storefronts. She reasoned this was probably some form of a market street, even if just a small one. The four undead were milling about the bulk of the street between them and the opposite alley, with the well nearby. The full vision of her plan came into view.
“Mind if I throw your sword?”

Armitage smiled widely as she asked, the vision of her plan both amusing and dramatic. The question was largely a formality, as she planned to give it a toss regardless of his answer. With a light snort of a laugh, Armitage took a half step forward and gave the sword a long throw. She had a feel for the balance of the blade and was able to lead it, pommel first, into an unartistic arc through the air. Her aim wasn’t always the greatest but, in this case, it didn’t have to be. The blade landed with a clang and, to Armitage’s surprised, actually managed to land tip first into the dirt of the street. She waited anxiously, abating her excitement, waiting to see if the creatures took the bait.

Her patience was rewarded as the four undead came to congregate around the sword. The noise and its shiny metal, drew them like moths to a tiny flame. She could see them approach and tilt there heads, some of them letting out mildly confused groans. For a moment, Armitage allowed herself to wonder just how much humanity was left in these creatures. How much of their brains still worked? Did they possess any logic or reasoning skills? Armitage had assumed they wouldn’t be able to tell what direction the sword came from based on how it landed but, could she be sure? These were probably questions better suited to a scholar or wizard but, just sometimes, she couldn’t help but wonder.

The time to act was now. With alarming speed, Armitage dashed from the alleyway. She surprised herself with how fast she could move, her body reminding her mind that she wasn’t wearing her armor. Sometimes, she forgot just how easy it was to move when you weren’t wearing what was nearly the weight of a full extra person. Her cape flared behind her as she sprinted into the open street, hoping to act fast enough to not draw attention. She closed the distance to the ghouls, her muscles tensing and her fists clenching as she processed their positions and the best order to eliminate the threats.

Her mind cleared and instinct took over as Armitage lowered her shoulder and rammed it into the back of the first undead. If his mind had the capacity to process surprise, then it was voiced by an uncertain groan as his weight forced him forward. He hit the lip of the well and began to teetered precariously on the edge, the rigormortis in his limbs not allowing him to catch his balance easily. Carrying her momentum, Armitage grabbed an arm an undead had outstretched toward her. With her weight and speed, she swung the creature around and into the back of the other that was balancing on the edge of the well. A series of moans echoed from the well as both undead tumbled down into its darkness, a far away splash signaling their landing.

Her actions were lightning fast--the trained reflexes of a soldier. She had taken out the first two before they had even realized she was there. Unfortunately, whatever was left of their senses started to return to the remaining undead and they lashed out at Armitage in a fury of undead determination. Her previous action had put her right between the remaining two undead. Armitage dropped to a low crouch and shot a strong leg back into the face of the undead behind her. Successfully, the kick managed to jam the jaw into the face of the undead and disable it. This wouldn’t stop the zombie from attacking but it would stop him from howling or unleashing that typical teeth chattering that tends to draw other undead.

Armitage sprung forward. Her weapon arm flung outward and gripped the thrown sword by the pommel and brought it up into the zombies chest. With a grunt, Armitage was forced to let go of the sword as it stuck from the armpit of the creature. She was trying to lop off his arm. Unfortunately for Armitage, the momentum of her attack was blunted by having to rip the sword out of the ground. That, combined with her lack of sword practice, made her a poor hacker off of limbs. The undead reflexively reached out to grab her around the next. With lightning reflexes of her own, Armitage shot forward. She grabbed one of the beast’s outstretched arms with her own and let her other hand rest upon the side of its skull. With a grunt of force and a push of muscle, Armitage forced the creature’s skull into the side of the well. With a satisfying crunch, the zombie went limp and Armitage flipped its body into the well with the others.

A bit of panic surprised Armitage as she nearly forgot about the sword. She reached out quickly and wretched the sword from its corpse as it nearly fell out of reach, practically diving into the well herself. Her sigh was quickly replaced with panick as she felt the last undead shuffling behind her. Armitage tried to right herself quickly by she was caught off balance. The undead, not necessarily smart enough to push her over itself, was just trying to attack, grab, chew, and scrape on her back. This was enough to push Armitage completely off balance and force her into the well with a undead latching onto her back backside.

Fortunately enough--if you can consider any part of falling into a well fortunate--the well was quite wide as to accommodate multiple people fetching water at once. In a burst of quick thinking, Armitage whipped out her spear and held it overhead. Her spear caught with a snap, lodging itself in the sides of the well and holding Armitage plus zombie just a couple feet from the well’s entrance. After stabilizing her grip it was a simple matter of hacking away at the undead’s arms as it tried tirelessly to climb her. Although fountains of untiring determination, undead usually lacked the muscle and arm strength for large feats of power. She used the sword in her free arm against the creature, eventually loosening its joints and causing it to careen down into the bottom of the well with the rest.

With a sigh of relief, Armitage stuck the sword in the belt of her tunic. Not accustomed to carrying a blade, she had no sheath. Desperately, Armitage tried to pull herself up onto her spear. She tried to spin or bounce or walk on the wall but no matter what she couldn’t manage to pull herself out of the well. Well...I suppose I’m stuck. Armitage resigned to herself. On the bright side, this would keep her out of view of any passing undead that she may have drew the attention of. She took a moment to stop struggling and listen; she heard the gentle gurgling of the undead beneath her but her attention was on the street. She didn’t remember seeing Orcleous and wasn’t sure if he was in a fight of his own. For now, it seemed all she could do is wait. Armitage relaxed her arms and tried to conserve strength. If she heard Orcleous in trouble and he was unable to help her out, she would have to find another way.