A Cleansing Reign: the Forest Reverie has started at Outside Arx - Lyceum near The Roseward - Edge of the Roseward - Volkov Forest.

Honeydew Village, once, used to be thriving. New businesses would come to the town, and curious merchants would visit, day in and day out, to find out just what those fruits of theirs were all about.

That all changed after the Thornweave attack. After all, most of the villagers were killed, and those fortunate enough to have been away on merchant caravens must've been preyed upon by any number of things, man-killing trees notwithstanding.

When they arrive, it is to be regaled to an even weirder sight.

Signs of struggle are everywhere in the village, fresh blood spilled over on walls, some corpses that look at least a couple of days old lying on the floor. It'll take a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of this.

It was that first scene of struggle that had the commander pulling his blade from its sheath. Where before it once seemed a graveyard, now it was a murder scene with fresh spatters of blood sprayed this way and that. As he had before, he attempted to herd the lesser combatants into a group. Katherine, Roran, Lora and Brigida, were his charge, at least in his own mind. Surely was we less gifted than both Brigid and Dante with the blade as his talents lay elsewhere. "It seems no fortune can find this place..." His gaze swept back and forth, looking for any clues or origination marks.

Brigid, mindful of Rane's watchful eye on the less than armored four, gripped tight her glaive before easing towards one of the bodies to inspect what may have exactly inflicted the wounds. " It seems that someone or something wishes fortune not to find this place." Came in a softened cadence, mindful to keep her voice a quiet thing.

Brigid takes Black Lion Breastplate from Lion Backpack.

Brigid takes Black Lion Helm from Lion Backpack.

Brigid takes Black Lion Boots from Lion Backpack.

Brigid takes Black Lion Gauntlets from Lion Backpack.

Brigid takes Black Lion Cuisses from Lion Backpack.

Brigid takes Black Lion Pauldrons from Lion Backpack.

Brigid puts a deep green seatouched wool and brocade caped gown in a simple cloth pouch of black velvet.

After dismounting from his destrier, Dante draws the Edge of Perdition with a grim expression at Rane. "Quite right, but we'll have to change that. The Roseward was quite filled with horrible death and destruction too." He begins to pick through the corpses and gore, looking for any evidence towards what happened here. Besides slaughter. He keeps close to Lora, just in case.

Roran stays astride his horse for the moment, surveying the fresh and not so fresh damage, murder and mayhem to the city. "Well. You don't see this is the city." The man states with a certainty, hands tight on the reins.

Lora has no particular comment to make for the blood that splashes the walls. If anything it simply makes her look less happy about being here, though she takes a few extra moments to survey it from the relative safety of horseback before shaking her head. Dismounting takes a moment. Settling on the churned ground is its own project, though mostly she waves off Dante's help, leaving him to go pick through corpses. "Where is the pile where we found the spear, last time we were here?"

Rane looked around to get his bearing, this being only the second time he'd been here after all, and lifted the point of his sword off to the left. "There." It was unmistakable as he remembered on rock in particular that had a distinct shape to it. He made his way to that area and looked around, tamping it down with his boot. "Yes, here."

Roran checked perception + investigation at difficulty 35, rolling 14 lower.

Brigid checked perception + investigation at difficulty 35, rolling 14 lower.

Lora checked perception + investigation at difficulty 35, rolling 3 higher.

Rane checked perception + investigation at difficulty 35, rolling 28 lower.

Dante checked perception + investigation at difficulty 35, rolling 7 lower.

It's at the centerish of the village where the pile was, where the inverted symbol was, that Lora stops some paces behind Rane and looks around again. Slowly. And then back, before she tilts her head. "There're a number of broken arrows leading that way. Maybe toward that building." One some distance outside the edge of the village, but still visible from its center.

Rane looked up and spotted the broken shafts once they'd been pointed out. "To that building then." He rallied the troops, so to speak, and followed the trail of broken arrows to the edge of the village and that particular building.

Seeing that there was nothing to find of interest or unable to decipher what exactly the cause of the death was on the corpse she was inspecting, Brigid nodded at Lora's direction and glancing momentarily back to make sure her bay courser, Vane, was adequately picketed with a breakaway loop did she decidedly muster up behind the group as they made their way towards the architectural outlier.

After poking around the corpses and gore for a bit and finding nothing of interest, Dante shrugs and rejoins Lora - who does spot something. Mounting up again, he follows Rane and Brigid at a slow canter, sword in hand. A wary eye is cast around the outskirts of the village, just in case of an arrow ambush.

Everyone seems to declare it relatively safe to get on the ground, so Roran dismounts finally, the lantern taken from where it's safe to now his hand and follows with the group. Careful to stick to the relative middle of the group.

The building that they approach is quite clearly the town shrine; it's as big as what the former great hall used to be, though it is built of wood and completely simple, for that matter.

By the altar, three bodies lie, though one seems to have been left kneeling down in front of the statues representing each symbol of the Gods. A cursory glance to their tabards might identify them as Templars.

The commander grew somber at the grizzly scene. Death was everywhere in these woods and in this village. He did not call out their allegiance, as it was plain for all to see. Rane looked around the bodies again for anything out of sorts and in particular, their cause of death. "We should bury them when we are through here."

" Given that the ground itself has been a betraying thing, I'm still of the mind to burn everything and may whatever breeze blows through here take their ashes to safer havens. " With that said the Baroness, eases up to the Templar who is kneeling, curious he was left doing so while the others had faltered.

Sliding off of Andras again, Dante examines the bodies. The Marquis' face takes on a decidedly hostile expression when it is clear they're Templars. "Slain brothers and sisters," he mutters between his teeth, nodding at Rane in agreement. "Yes, we should. It would be disrespectful to not bury them." Although Brigid's argument does make sense too, darkness is everywhere here. "Let's decide before we go. Just in case." Sword in hand, he takes a closer look at the statues.

The statues seem undisturbed. Whatever happened here was likely stopped by the Templars, though as one nears the altar, they can see the twisted and robed bodies of the individuals who attempted the desecration. Twisted, because their very human bodies appear to have been ritually scarred from the face and down to the neck, removing any resemblance of fine features or even a notion of beauty. The Templar kneeling down appears to be held in place by the greatsword he was carrying, the point of which presses against the floor. Inspection of the blade reveals that it is diamondplate.

"We bury them. Their swords we bring back to the city, to seem them given to the Grandmaster." Roran murmurs, looking at the three templars. "Those who have done their duty to the end, in the name of the gods."

Rane checked perception at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Brigid checked perception at difficulty 15, rolling 28 higher. Brigid rolled a critical!

Lora checked perception at difficulty 15, rolling 2 lower.

Roran checked perception at difficulty 15, rolling 8 lower.

Dante checked perception at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Amund drops Canon, a diamondplate two-handed sword with rubicund cross-guard and pommel.

Is anyone at all going to argue with the archlectors? Lora doesn't appear inclined to, though she looks at Roran for a few long moments. And at Dante as well, his anger neither unsurprising nor out of place. "Perhaps," she suggests, "this is where we should perform the ritual. After the bodies have been removed. We can bury them with the others." There is something very sad about the last thought, maybe melancholy that the village is now little but a large cemetery.

Brigid checked command + leadership at difficulty 20, rolling 21 higher.

Brigid, glanced at the weapon whose make was clearly exceptional but the task at hand drew her attention away, " If something decides to spro- " A halt of words, forgetting to argue with the Archlector at the moment for her focus was now on survival, " Rane and Dante, form a ring! We've got company." The Dragoon brandished glaive, positing herself to make sure one side barricaded Roran, Katherine, Lora, and Brigida from whatever was lurking. Something from the shadows was weaving it's way, a skittering rush of speed in their silent hastened steps. Was this a trap?!

Rane checked perception + war at difficulty 20, rolling 22 higher.

Brigid checked perception + war at difficulty 20, rolling 8 lower.

Dante checked perception + war at difficulty 20, rolling 20 higher.

For a long minute, Dante looks hesitant. Not about the sword, which he simply nods in agreement with the Archlector. "Of course. Nothing else would be appropriate." The mention of company is what has him pausing, the realization that they could draw them into an easy killing zone within the shrine - but what that would entail. The Marquis shakes his head and begins to move out. "We cannot kill in here, this is consecrated ground. It will make the battle harder, but to spill blood in a shrine? No." The Templar raises his alaricite blade and gives Lora a faint smile. "Stay behind me if they come near you." Then he steps out with a gesture to Rane and Brigid to join up in formation with him.

Rane agreed implicitly and gave a nod to Brigid as his blade was drawn to those coming their way. "Back, everyone." He glanced over his shoulder to the Archlectors and Katherine, ushering them outside where their advantage was minimalized, but their conscience would be clear.

A nod to both Rane and

A nod to both Rane and Dante, moving forward to take on whatever materializes.

Brigid gets Canon, a diamondplate two-handed sword with rubicund cross-guard and pommel.

There will be no argument from Lora; she but bows her head in acquiescence and moves to follow, keeping with the slightly larger party of noncombatants. "It will all be cleansed," she points out, with one backward glance toward the slain Templars. What's coming, however, she has no words for, as she had none for the blood that greated them.

Something wicked this way comes. The fighters are circling. Roran draws the lantern high and starts to pray. "Blessed LAgoma, brightest lady in our hearts. She who guides us through change whether for the better or the worse. Guide us with a steady heart and mind as we endure what the Abyss sets before us. Envelop us in your warmth and bolster our hearts and minds." He continues to pray, hand tight on the lantern's handle.

Roran checked mana + theology at difficulty 45, rolling 15 higher.

Lora checked mana + occult at difficulty 45, rolling 160 higher. Lora rolled a critical!

There was something almost poetic about the thought that crossed her mind, something urged her to pass off her glaive to Lora, then reached forward for the Templar's blade and gripped it tight with both hands, giving it a testing swing as she then took back up her position there was a look of vengeance swirling stormy in the light of eyes. I'm sure there would be something to be said about it later, but all that the Baroness could summon was the image of honoring the fallen...with bloodshed.

Dante checked dexterity at difficulty 10, rolling 15 higher.

Rane checked dexterity at difficulty 10, rolling 9 higher.

Brigid checked dexterity at difficulty 10, rolling 3 higher.

Amund GM Roll checked dexterity(4) at difficulty 10, rolling 15 higher.

Amund GM Roll checked dexterity(5) at difficulty 10, rolling 5 higher.

Amund GM Roll checked dexterity(5) at difficulty 10, rolling 16 higher.

As Roran begins to pray, Lora passes the glaive on to Katherine with a glimmer of a smile. She produces the small bag of the components she's been carrying: the lodestone gathered from Honeydew on their last visit, a jar of rain collected from an autumn storm, blessed in Mangata's name. There're flowers too, a small bouquet of the season's last wildflowers, gathered along the way, and a handful of Frosthope, whose scent briefly rises over the smell of death and rot. And a bottle of oil, of course. She mostly holds them ready, echoing the Archlectors' prayers before passing them along to be crushed and mixed.

And as they're passed, Roran begins to crush, prayers continuining, though he moves as swiftly as he can safely do so in the ritual. OF which, it seems, has been practiced enough in the mind that putting it into practice and not just theory seems to go off with perfection as Marquessa Consort and Archlector work hand in hand, prayer in prayer.

Outside, three heavily armored individuals seem to have been about to storm into the room; their faces are just as scarred as those of the corpses of those slain by the Templars. Behind them is at least nine more individuals, but stopped at the doors, there is little choice but for them to try and get past the knights and the Baroness. Wielding his poleaxe, their presumed leader attempts to force a wedge inbetween the defenders, swinging his weapon down at Dante as he screams.

Amund GM Roll checked dexterity(4) + huge wpn(4) at difficulty 15, rolling 38 higher.

Dante checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 53, rolling 11 higher.

Barely getting out of the way of that attack with a well-timed jump to the side, Dante returns the favor with a two-handed slash towards the leader who tried to literally poleaxe him, the alaricite blade making a vicious slash towards him.

Dante checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 45 higher.

Amund GM Roll checked dexterity(4) + dodge(5) at difficulty 60, rolling 3 lower.

Amund GM Roll checked dexterity(5) + medium wpn(4) at difficulty 15, rolling 29 higher.

Rane checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 44, rolling 9 lower.

Amund has rolled 5 10-sided dice: 2, 5, 7, 8, 8

A cultist's axe manages to get past Rane's defenses, striking him on the shoulder. 60 inflicted and Rane is harmed for moderate damage.

There was little fancy in the way of Rane's footwork, mostly out of fear that those behind him would reap the wounds. Granted, he twisted, but not far enough and the blade caught him in the pauldron and into his flesh. He grimaced and hissed while lunging forward with his blade.

Rane checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 51 higher.

Amund GM Roll checked dexterity(5) + dodge(4) at difficulty 66, rolling 22 lower.

Amund GM Roll checked dexterity(4) + huge wpn(5) at difficulty 15, rolling 28 higher.

Brigid checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 43, rolling 29 lower.

Amund has rolled 8 10-sided dice: 1, 3, 3, 5, 5, 6, 7, 10

There's a preordained order to the ingredients Lora hands over. Things blessed, sanctified, prayed over previously and dedicated to the gods. They're prayed over again as she passes them to Roran, murmuring along with him, following familiar calls and responses. She almost entirely manages to tune out what's going on outside, the clang of metal and the grunts and cries as people are stabbed and slashed. If anything she, perhaps, prays a little more loudly, as if to drown some of it out, somehow.

The cultist with a great axe strikes Brigid's torso powerfully, likely leaving a dent if not an open cut upon her cuirass. 75 inflicted and Brigid is harmed for moderate damage.

Brigid checked dexterity + huge wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 39 higher. Brigid rolled a critical!

The blow caused a step back to be taken, grunting deeply at the torso strike that sent the air rushing from her lungs. Retaliating with a low growl, pearly whites bared briefly as upper lip curled, that beautifully crafted blade is swung in a sweeping arc towards the scarred faced bastard causing that great axe to plummet to the ground and innards to begin an oozing pool from the rend. Brigid is not a Templar nor is she a Knight, all propriety of any Oathlandic behavior flees as the Dragoon kicks out viciously the downed assailant causing him to be rolled over. Tip of that righteous blade hammered home with a finished twist to make sure there would be not even a shred of doubt.

With two dead, and Dante's foe seriously wounded and about to flee, there are nine left. Those don't wield armor as sophisticated as the vanguard, and they seem to try and mob over the three, trying to get past them to make it to the gates of the shrine.

Inside, there is a faint, but steadily stronger scent. A familiar scent, a welcome scent, to some. The smell before rain.

Rane checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 45, rolling 10 higher.

Brigid checked dexterity + huge wpn at difficulty 45, rolling 35 higher. Brigid rolled a critical!

Dante checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 45, rolling 40 higher.

After running the leader's shoulder through with the tip of his sword, Dante isn't about to let him flee. While Brigid cleanly hacks the head off of the other three that are charging their position (if a decapitation can ever truly be clean), the Marquis slides behind the escaping foe to hack through his thighs from behind, the blade's edge slicing right through them both. Standing afterwards, he kicks him over.

Inside, Roran carries on the ritual with Lora, raising his voice to try and drown out the noise as well as the steps are carried on and that scent comes. Shoulders lighten and there's renewed vigor as he looks to Lora, a smile on his face even if fleeting for the seriousness that this entire things requires of them. Something is coming.

Rane held his ground and was less concerned with the lethality of things and did his best to parry and knock blows away, keeping them from getting to the bunch of religious folks behind him.

Was it the sword in her hands whispering sweet ardent cravings for more? Or was this an inner fury that always nestled close to the tempered, demure Baroness? It had to be the lifting prayers that guided and lit her soul aflame, for the three that made their way towards Brigid were quickly dispatched. Attention went towards Dante, checking in on his positioning and then a quick sidelong sweep to check on the whereabouts of both her cousins.

The smell of something other than death is indeed a welcome one - and perhaps it doesn't even smell like peppermint. Lora smiles back at Roran though, but doesn't falter, only renews her prayers, her chanting. Perhaps it helps that the sounds outside seem to suggest victory for their side, but it scarce matters. Only the ritual does.

After falling head-first onto the ground and sporting a hemorrhage from where Dante cut him down, the heavily scarred man seems to be drifting in and out of conscience, while the three remaining soldiers try to attack each of the three knights that have bested their group.

Inside the shrine, it is warmer and warmer, as if the Eternal Flame is adding more of its heat to the indoors' surroundings, the flame turning brighter and brighter by degrees.

Then, it starts raining outside. Thunder streaks the previously clear blue sky as a sudden torrent falls upon the forest, the sizzling hiss as it touches the desecrated ground not too far from where they stand audible even at this distance. Then thunder strikes a particularly ancient and dry-looking tree, causing a conflagration. It burns and burns, in an ever-widening ring, despite the rain. The scent of petrichor is strongest for a moment, and the three that remain start to flee for their lives, as if afflicted by something terrifyingly painful.

This time, Dante doesn't move to try to stop the fleeing soldiers, instead keeping the fallen leader down. "We should see what we can," he begins before that rain begins, the flame suddenly brighter. He exhales with a look of surprise. The thunder shakes his consciousness, the Marquis moving backwards to stand defensively by the shrine. Just in case anyone else shows up.

Rane, as well, readied himself for any more arrivals. With the rain falling and muting any approaching footsteps, he glance this way and that to rely on his gaze. Thankfully, Lora and Roran were continuing on with remarkable efficiency.

The lightening strike is a thing that parts lips such was it's natural magnificence and the heat that sweeps out to send the other unfortunates scattering has caught her attention. Falling back to stand alongside Dante and Rane once more, grip tightens in await of any further assault.

These things are familiar to Roran. This is not his first cleansing and unlikely to be the Archlectors last. He jumps when the Lightening strikes but still they carry on with the ritual, a nod to Lora is indication that things are going as they should be.

The first crackle of thunder inflicts the first real pause in Lora's own prayers and she looks up instinctively, the flash of lightning that'd heralded it apparently missed. It doesn't last, though. She looks off through the still-open doors to see the rain begin to fall, first a drop or two and then the torrent, coming hard to soak the ground. She catches Roran's nod and smiles at the Archlector then, a faint glimmer limned by the sudden ignition of the tree outside, and she resumes.

The fire rages and outside it is warm and windy at the same time, as trees, corrupted and twisted, start to collapse to the ground, swept by the force of the wind and weakened by the fire. The rain continues to pour as more and more of those trees fall, until a large enough clearing has been made that one can stare down the road and see Honeydew rather clearly.

Afterwards, the flame dies suddenly, a black plume billowing afterwards, only to be carried away by the wind.

A creature, massive like a bear but horribly mutated, starts to bound its way towards the three outside, only to collapse suddenly and, it seems, die in peaceful sleep.

A peaceful quiet settles, all around, where a tree with leaves that seem almost golden stands out from the rest.



Inside, of course, the offerings are burned down, and the lodestone has somehow turned into ash. The ritual is complete.

The pelting rain causes Brigid's brows to furrow, watching the felled trees crash to the ground and quiet shockingly the creature emerge - readying herself for a blow and mind working on points of attack does it crash into the earth. It was hard to take eyes away from the hideously ghosted creature but the gilded leaves, standing apart in the stillness caught attention momentarily.

And then the Lodestone is ash and the items brought for sacrifice are diminshed and Roran's prayers come to an end and looks to Lora. "Shall we go tend to our warriors and see what cleansing rain will do?" His hand closing about his lantern with a deep breath.

Water ran in rivulets down his face with eyes widening in preparation to fight that otherworldly beast until it, too, was gone. It's life snuffed away. Then, silence. Aside from the rain that now seemed a gentle respite to the chaos of battle.

Absorbed in the crash of thunder and flash of lightning, Dante almost misses the bounding, misshapen creature until Brigid's attention fixes on it. He prepares for the coming attack - but it never happens, the beast falling dead on the spot. Rain patters along his helmet, the Marquis watching to Lora and Roran for what comes next.

For a long moment Lora is entirely silent, listening to the sound of the falling rain, breathing in that clean smell. It passes because it must, and when it does she turns to Roran again, that very faint smile returned. It is, at long last, no longer sad, and she offers the Archlector her arm. "Tend the warriors, bury the dead. It might finally be over."

Lora's comment caught him offguard. Who needed healing? Why was his arm both warm and cold at the same time? The river of red that ran from the inside of his sleeve reminded him of the wound and then that reminded him of the pain. She shook it off as best as he could and made his way to the fallen templars in preparation to bury them, since burning seemed an impossible task with the rain about.

"Tend to the wounded, bury the dead." Roran agree's and as they emerge from inside and all that warmth, Roran regards the friendly warriors and then to the perished enemy ones. "Those not hurt, probably go tend to finding a good spot to bury, those that are wounded, come in the shrine and let me see what we can do for you."

The aches and pains would most certainly double tomorrow, but for now it was manageable. Brigid, while still having preferred to burn instead of bury, went to help Rane begin preparing the bodies and collecting the swords which included the glimmering one that now rested across the length of her back, " I'll make sure to return the weapons to the Grandmaster and let him know where they rest." A sharp whistle cut through, it's cry greeted by the distant wicker of Vane who lipped himself free and trotted down the cleared path. There was a bit of dancing on hooves, ears forward and alert at the site of the creature but otherwise he seemed unperturbed.

Thankfully escaping from the melee intact, Dante takes a shovel and beings to dig a grave for the fallen Templars. The matter of the sword isn't his, it is up to the Archlectors and Brigid. "Lord Rane, Baroness Brigid. Ought to get your wounds tended to by the Archlector before they get worse," he says with a worried expression, Lora receiving a tired smile. "One step at a time, right?"