<div></div><br> <br>A dugong stands behind a large set of wooden stands, crying "Firewood, get your firewood! The snow is coming, step up and get something to burn, keep yourself warm!" as he points his cane over the crowd. Workers behind him make a good show of pretending to be busy, passing firewood back and forth to eachother. The line isn't quite as long his other ventures, but still sizeable enough that the wait will be terrible. There appears to be a lapse in security, the only golems present stand directly in front of the dugong. A familiar serpent stands at the back of the line hissing "Now I know this is familiar." as she looks to her bandaged side, not quite healed up from her previous beating. She appears to be preparing a spell.<br> <br>Arimia sighs softly when she sees the large crowd. And hears the familiar Dugong up in the front. She walks over to the serpent standing at the rear and reaches up to grab one of the snakes arms. "Uh-uh. You let someone else get their attention first so you don' end up in the same state as before. Or worse." After saying that she looks around before nodding to herself and starting to try and slip toward the front. <br> <br>Saibh doesn't recognize this particular dugong, but she's had a bad enough runin this week already with the lumps to prove it even! Rubbing tenderly at the lump on her head, she makes her way over to a familiar face or two, having scanned the crowd. At best she offers a wave to them for now, listening to the pitch for now<br> <br>Selena growls angrily at the sight of the Dugong, though she seems to ease up slightly at the sight of Arimia, Saibh and Bite. "Hello." She offers, giving each a nod of recognition before moving through the crowd to get a better view of the Dugong for targetting purposes as she readies an earth spell. The tone her voice takes makes it plain that she's not happy with the salesbeing at all, and to an unusually extreme degree.<br> <br>The badger decides to take things at a different pace she walks around the line and begins leaning against the nearest tree keeping the dugong in her line of sight as she hefts her hammer up in the air and takes a few practice swings, "Alright." Kilsa sets the hammer in the ground as her gauntlets start to glow brightly and the hammer does as well. She stand there calm as ice as her hammmer glows brightly and sizzles against the dirt.<br> <br>Sun following the annoying sound of the dugong trying to auction off his wood the tall grey wolf walks into the clearing. The workers can barely be called such as even he can tell half aren't putting up any effort. His hammer and musket hang from his back as a reasuring weight as he looks over the crowd with his dull grey eyes.<br> <br>As Arimia pushes forward in the crowd one of the beings she passes glances over her then raises his hand, and makes a fist briefly before pounding his chest. The dugong takes note, also noting the spectacle that is now Kilsa. He hands the next being in line their wood then says "We're taking a short break. Come back later folks it will be half price." Part of the crowd groans and dismisses themselves. An arrow lets loose at Kilsa from the crowd, glancing off her armor, and dagger aimed squarely at Arimia's thigh misses the small raccoon completely. Bite is grazed by a third arrow, her body not quite able to perform a dodge correctly at the present time. "I think you folks need to learn to leave us well enough alone." the dugong calls out as he claps his hands once. From the now rapidly fleeing crowd five figures emerge, three already reloading arrows and two of them moving in on the raccoon. Bite lets out an explosion upon one of the bow weilders, her only option to prevent harming her friends with the explosive force.<br> <br>Arimia laughs softly and gives a vicious looking grin, though her small statue likely isn't that intimidating. She reaches up and undoes the clasp on her cloak, letting that fall as her tentacles unweave themselves from behind her, spreading out as she adjusts the claw-like gloves she's wearing, the math on them flaring up brightly. She doesn't start moving toward the beings approaching her, instead simply shifting her stance into an odd blend of a duelist's elegant stance and something... Rougher, but no less effective looking. "Come on, then. I'll be sure to teach a better lesson than I did last time," she calls out toward the dugong, "Or are you gonna run like a coward again an' leave your men to get their asses kicked?"<br> <br>Saibh is a bit slow to react to the ambush seeing as how she had been watching the wrong part of the crowd. Once it starts though, she begins to fight her way through said crowd, trying to use them to obfuscate her attempt to flank. As she does this, her well worn shortbow is drawn, partially obscured by her long coat as she notches an arrow. Once she's off to the side a bit, she crouches down, takes careful aim and begins to line up a shot on whichever one seems to be distracted with the attack from the others. Adjusting her aim, running a quick calculation of wind, she looses the arrow. One might notice she quickly shakes her left hand out after doing so, shaking loose a few tufts of fur<br> <br>Selena shakes her head as she releases her spell, a deep rift cutting the the ground under the dugong for a moment. Selena glares at the being  contmptuously. "You're not running this time, you spineless cur..." she growls in the wake of her spell, waiting to ensure the Dugong either can't get out or can't get away while keeping an eye on the proceedings as best as possible.<br> <br>A savage growls come from kilsa not paying attention to the arrow that glance off of her as she heft up the white hot hammer and screams tossing the hammer with all her might at the at dugong, Her gauntlets are still glowing with the math that allows them to ignite yet cancel out the heat from burning her hands off. A grin crosses her face as she heft up her shield in front of her face hoping to join the fray with her allies.<br> <br>Sun lets loose a growl as he sees the volley of arrows fly at people in the group. He would not tolerate such an unjust action. Seeing the group clearing he charges at one of the people with the bow as he draws the Hammer from his back in a downward smash at the marksmen.<br> <br>"I'm here!" Kiyasai yowls as she sprints in her full armor and her helmet's visor down, only telltale sign the tail left hanging out behind her to keep her balance. Her hammer is held firmly in her two hands in front of her as she aims to charge past the group towards the group of ambushers, using her special array of lights to make it look like she has wings sprouting from behind her, if only to draw their attacker's attentions to her, and away from people more important. She dashes towards whoever is closest to the group.<br> <br>The golems lurch out and yank the dugong upward as the fissure begins to close, crushing at his legs and taking away his stylish slacks. As soon as he's lifted up a flaming hammer smashes against the side of his head, knocking him out cold. An arrow lodges into one of the previous crowd hidden attackers, and one of them is knocked back by a hammer, although this does little to deter them from wheeling around and smacking sun on the temple and working to wrestle his hammer away from him. The workers that were behind the stall come out slowly, two mages in brilliant red robes lift their hands and then fire rains down from the sky, scorching all involved in the fray. Kilsa manages to avoid most of it with her shield but no one is spared the intense hellfire that spreads over the battlefield. Bite does all she can do, injuring her body she rases a powerful shield which deflects most of it back towards the casters.<br> <br>Arimia scowls and does what she can to avoid the fire falling from the sky, though she can't entirely do so. She doesn't spare a look toward the mages, keeping her focus on the two beings nearing her. Once they're in range the 'coon's body moves in a blur, with the raccoon lashing out with a violent spinning kick, lashing out at both of the beings. <br> <br>Saibh stumbles back at the onslaught, keeping her bow well away from the mess. The rest she quickly swats at, putting out embers on her coat with a scowl. Shaking her hands loose then, she draws another arrow and draws another shot back, aiming for the closer of the two mages. She takes her time, adjusts her aim just a bit and releases the shot before moving further along, keeping a short distance from the main group, but staying far away from their line. <br> <br>Selena curses loudly as the sky begins raining fire, quickly darting back to Arimia, trying to project a wide shield around herself and the raccoon. "Stay close, Ari." She comments, throwing up a shield around herself in mimicry of Bite along with a violent gust of wind in an attempt to deflect more of the fire back towards the Dugong, staying near the raccoon to help provide cover from other magical attacks.<br> <br>Selena curses loudly as the sky begins raining fire, quickly darting back to Arimia, trying to project a wide shield around herself and the raccoon. "Stay close, Ari." She comments, throwing up a shield around herself in mimicry of Bite along with a violent gust of wind in an attempt to deflect more of the fire back towards the Dugong, staying near the raccoon to provide cover from other attacks. Most of the fireballs are deflected to the ground around her, though the resultant fire is fanned by the additional air, prompting a curse from the wolf  who really should've expected as much.<br> <br>The large badger holds up her shield and hisses in pain as some of the fires drop around her she contines to charge and try to close the gap between her and the nearest enemies hoping that her allies can mop up the weaker enemies so she can stop the mages.<br> <br>Kiyasai seems unfazed by the fire, trained to handle much worse pain than just a little bit of heat. She hollers out from behind her mask in a way that seems to reach everyone just as powerfully. "Towards Victory!" She repositions herself  so that the large shield on her back is taking most of the fire, then with her renewed spirit she dashes over to the two mages to try to shieldbash one of them with a bodyslam and swings her hammer fiercely at the other.<br> <br>High above all the action, Angel watches and circles. It didn't seem like a good time to try and enter to help out, and even less a good time to try to be heroic and demand a reward later. For now, he watches and waits. It will be time to strike soon, and he would be ready. Surely he could profit from this somehow. He whinces though as he watches everyone flail under the firestorm.<br> <br>The raccoon manages to whip out and deal some damage to the two approaching beings as they get close enough, but soon finds themselves in a veil of fire. The wto back away from the trapped raccoon and whip out knives, throwing blindly into the flames, missing completely. The shields Selena and Bite have constructed may be powerful assets for protection, but they also greatly open themselves to outside manipulation. They are soon plagued with terrible imagery as it creeps into their heads. As it does the serpent winces and then raises quickly conjures a spread of flames upon the already raging inferno of a battlefield with no visible target as she flashes a wide fanged grin. The mages who started the whole act are already fanning the flames, quite literally, whipping out in unison a spread of fire and plaguing the already burning party further, noteably Saibh, before one of them takes an arrow to the knee. They are then set upon by Kiyasai, who knocks both of them fairly hard, one falls to the ground, out cold and the other stands there stunned. The golems don't seem to be recieving much in terms of orders, they stand there holding the downed dugong in their grasps.<br> <br>Saibh mutters to herself and continues backing away from the mass of fire, trying to avoid being a crispy critter as well as watching her bow, it's string and her ammo go up in smoke. Jumping back, she lines up a third shot and fires it off on the move<br> <br>Arimia lets out a soft growl of "You aren't getting away from me that easily." Her form starts to shift and twist then, growing larger, fur replaced by scales. She launches herself forward toward the retreating beings, and when she emerges from the flames it isn't a raccoon coming at them, but a dragon. Her clothing is a bit burned by the fire, though it only reveals the crystal plating under the silk. And her scales are a bit singed, though likely holding up better than her fur would be. Once she reaches one of the beings her body starts to move in a blur, with fists, feet, knees, elbows, forehead... Just about everything being used to strike the being in a rapid flurry. It looks like a wild attack, but trained eyes could see the discipline and martial knowledge behind the attacks. <br> <br>Selena murmers something to herself, shaking her head and trying to collect herself for a brief moment, pinning her ears back for a moment when she realises the raccoon is no longer present, making a quick, low leap out of the flames without turning back, the uneven land causing her to trip in her hasty landing as the wolf coughs up smoke from the fire, barely safe. Her face is obscured by her arms and the ground, making it difficult to tell exactly how she is, though she continues to force herself back from the fire as best she can.<br> <br>Kiyasai is heavily winded from her efforts, but she sure as heck isn't showing it from behind the terrifying visage of her armor. She yowls at the other red mage and stops the fire with her own gauntlet to bat the mage's hand away, keeping him dostracted while the group does their work.<br> <br>Kilsa decides to do what she does best and hurt somebody as she nears the only awake mage in the area and charges her math powered gauntlet and delivers a massive punch to the mages face and growls  before looking for any more agressors. Her shield raised and waiting.<br> <br>Angel watches as things go from bad to worse for the group below. If he didn't do something soon, there would be much less people to try to collect rewards from. He swoops downward at the back line of the mages, landing briefly to grab one in his talons, scraping at them. He doesn't stay long though, fighting from the rear was tricky business and staying in one spot a bad idea. So, after Angel has racked his claws down one of them, he tries to take back to the air.<br> <br>The knocked arrow, the badgers mighty fists, and Kiyasais distractions prove too much for the remaining mage. The mages both down, the dugong out of commission, and two of the four remaining capable of fighting being pummeled by Arimia, the two remaing bowmen drop their weapons and raise their hands into the air. One of them gestures towards the stalls, the other gives him a nudge and whispers something to him. Bite goes from a gleeful pyromaniac to gasping for breath as she doubles over, crying out as her healing injury tells her she moved the wrong way rather painfully. Selena seems to be experiencing a similar effect, the both of them coming out of the effects of their sheilds are still quite vunerable to such ailments.<br> <br>Her mission done, Kiyasai feels the exhaustion catch upto her and she crumples on all fours, her armor not having really saved her from the fire.<br> <br>Arimia catches sight of Selena's predicament out of the corner of her eyes, sensing the dark magic as it's used. She growls and shoves the being she was beating on aside, then reaches over to grab the other one, swinging one blade-clad fist at the being's gut, tearing into them with the sharp claw-like protrusions. She gives a twist of her hand and whispers something to the being. <br> <br>Selena struggles to keep her eyes open, incapable of voicing her pain due to the smoke in her lungs. The wolfess continues trying to pull herself from the fire nonetheless under the torturous effects of the death curse, trying to choke out something, managing only a handful of staggered syllables marked with obvious pain.<br> <br>The badger growls and looks to too bite and Selena, "Hey what is going on?!" The badger growls and grabs the nearest bowmen and screams in his face. "What is happening to them. Speak quickly before I use you as a poison taster."  She holds up the bowmen she collected and holds him by his tunic as she moves closer to the pair. "Start speaking quickly."<br> <br>Angel seeing the danger ebbing, lands and looks about. Spotting the oversized badger, he walks over to her, "Ma'am, how can I be helpful? You have injured, I could fly some back to town for you, or offer my services as a scout. Something doesn't seem right here but I can't put my talon on it. I can carry two at once of their sizes, " and he gestures to Bite, Selena, and Kiya, "Or one such as yourself." He grins slightly at the talk of using a bandit for a poison taster.<br> <br>The being whispers something then spits at Arimia, however the two bowmen are far more giving, or at least to start with. "In the stalls, the remaining mages." one says before beginning to look quite ill, his friend bursting into laughter as he oozes fluids. Most of the party begins to feel quite confused and ill as their bodieis attempt to do the same, with the exception of Arimia and Selena who escape the effects completely. Of them all, Kilsa feels it the worst, havinig almost no protection at al from it's effects. As this happens two figures emerge from the stalls, running towards the treeline. One seems to be preparing a spell, the other seems to be writting a note, which they throw to the ground as they flee.<br> <br>Arimia says impassively, "Your choice." She then rather casually tosses the being to the ground. "I'll be back for you when I'm done." She turns toward the stalls she'd felt the magic coming from in time to see the two beings emerge and quickly moves, covering the ground between her and the fleeing figures. Once she's caught up she growls, "I ain't done yet," and moves to stop their retreat. <br> <br>Selena shudders slightly as she feels some more magic flood over her, though mercifully to no effect this time. She begins trying to pull herself up with very little success, instead falling back forward. "Where..?" She asks, a little disoriented from her past actions though she seems to be more interested in the opposition.<br> <br>"uuurgggg." Kilsa vomits as blood drizzles out of her nose like red rain, the large female stumbles around as all her nerve endings are on fire. She doesn't have any resistance as her body seem to be feeling weaker and weaker as blood starts to come out of the corners of her eyes. "uuuuurrrrrrgggg." More chunky vomit as she stumble more and slips on her first pool of vomit and hit the ground blood and bile coming out of various orifices in her head.<br> <br>Angel squacks out loudly, which quickly turns to gurgles as blood and mucus froth forth from his beak. His eyes roll back into his head as his ears get a similar treatment, blood running down the sides of his cranium. He falls to the ground upon his chest, trying to gather enough strength and sense to at least fly away. <br> <br>Kiyasai stumbles as she's attacked by magic over and over again. She's exhausted, barely able to stand, lumbering slowly towards the enemy and the others. She holds on to Kilsa tightly before she gives in to the dark spell, coughing out blood that drips from her helmet. <br> <br>The prepared spell fires harmlessly against Arimia who quickly catches up to the fleeing mages. The one writting notes throws their papers and quill backwards in panic as they exert themselves to run faster, whipping harmlessly across Arimia's face without even a paper cut. Arimia is right on their tails. Bite seems to have allowed herself to pass out, many of the others seem to be getting marginally better.<br> <br>The attempted attacks seem to do nothing more than annoy Arimia, prompting her to put on an extra burst of speed. She catches up to the two fleeing figures and reaches out, rather violently skewering them with the glowing clawed knuckles. At least the blades biting into them are cauterizing the wounds. That done she lets out a grown and pulls the figures down with a violent wrench of her arms, tugging the blades free. She stands there a moment, rather obviously fighting the urge to commit further violence before bending over to grab their forms and start dragging them back, saying, "You two are gonna face the guard. An' if I even think you're entertainin' the possibility of tryin' anythin', I'll cut out your tongues. May not stop you from tryin' more magic, but you'll have a hell of a time defending yourselves in the courts without them."<br> <br>Selena pulls some salves and medical herbs from her medkit, having caught her breath enough to attempt to counteract some of the damage and alleivate the creeping rot from the curse - attempting to at least slow its progression until someone else can help.<br> <br>Kilsa is marginally better but the blood loss and lunch lost leave her filling sickly and unable to do much more than groan and finish up chucking the remainder of her breakfast and lunch. She does nothing but try to slowly get up on very shakey legs and fail slipping again on the sick mixture of blood and vomit.<br> <br>Kiyasai holds Kilsa up and away from the pool of her liquids as she holds her tight and tries to soothe her with her voice. "Everything's going to be over soon, alright? I'm here for you." She murmurs in a low voice, gently massaging the badger's shoulders to calm her.<br> <br>Angel is left to fend for himself next to Kilsa, he manages to weakly get to his 'feet' He shakes his head before looking to Kilsa and Kiyasai, "Ma'am, I have... to say.." before upchucking much like Kilsa, "ugghh.... that.. this is the worst I've... ever seen." And he slumps back over panting softly.<br> <br>The two mages dragged back over to the rest of the group, makes all enemy casualties accounted for. Either out cold, on their last leg, or feeling ill, none of the previously hostile foes are in any postion to fight back. The dugong remains in the grips of two golems, who hold him firmly, their life seems gone. Whoever was controlling them is unconcios or gone. Selena's attempt to heal herself barely yeilds any results as the treatment hardly makes up for the rot going on in her body. An unconcious Bite, a sickly Kilsa and Angel, and a downed Selena mark the friendly incapacitated. The flames are dying down, having spent their worth on the clearing, and in the distance a group of folk can be seen carrying buckets of water,much too late to be of much help. "Are you all alright?!" a young hedgehog calls out as he and many others approach.<br> <br>Arimia unceremoniously dumps the mages on the ground then walks over to Selena. She bends down to pick up the wolf and carries her over to where Bite is, before sitting down and just holding her. At the call from the hedgehog the dragon looks up with a snarl before the words fully process. She calls back, "Run back to the city and tell the guard they need to bring a meatwagon out here. Then fetch the best healers you can find and get them an' a comfortable wagon out here. Coin isn't an issue."<br> <br>Selena finishes her attempt to treat herself with a groan, stowing her kit back in her bag, at least able to vocalise as Arimia picks her up to move her next to Bite, murmering something up to the raccoon disappointedly, giving Bite a quick look over.<br> <br>Kilsa looks over to give Kiyasai a greatful smiles but come off as horrible as her gums are bleeding. "Thanks, Kiya." She says before giving a sickly burp and trying to stand. She decided to let someone else do the talking for them.<br> <br>Kiyasai moves to help Kilsa up and support her with the help of her hammer acting as a crutch for her free arm. "It's dark magic. I'll fix you all..." She fiddles with her pendant and waits for the change to take effect.<br> <br>The group comes to douse the fire, one running back and fetching a few carts which everyone is loaded up onto, Bite, Selena, Kilsa, and Angel loaded up with ttwo priests and a very dedicated medic who begin working on them. The dugong and his group are all put behind bars while they await a trial, and the group is given a gracious reward as they reach firmament.