*still has his thanks to Cedric*

...not sure exactly how ambiguous Olan is going to leave things, there, but, yeah. The rough "outline" that I've got moving forward from HC goes a bit like this:

1. Kithran gets "rescued" by Aranwen and Ch'dau
   
   
   
   1. I'm assuming Davena dies but perhaps she's just rendered 'impotent.'
   
   
   2. Kith isn't exactly happy about being saved.
   
   
   3. Also not entirely sure if Gib and Cedric come along for the rescue or not... could be that following that battle in the temple the two clerics go their own ways leaving Ara and Ch'dau to do the rescuing themselves.
   
   
   
   


2. Once they have Kithran back, our little trio makes their way to a yet to be named village, tucked between the Sylvari kingdoms and the Chakran Mountains.
   
   
   
   1. Probably a bit of conflict and complications arising from Kith on this journey and likely more to follow in their first weeks/months in said village
   
   
   2. Sooner or later, likely sometime after Samuel and Sara have established themselves there, Kith starts coming back to her "old self"
   
   
   
   


3. Where it goes from there.... who really knows?

But you made us that way!!!

That was intense!

I'm guessing that, since it wasn't mentioned specifically, each of our party survived 'the end of the world'? Nobody got beaned by an escaping soul and such? We're just gonna get crushed by the temple caving in, right?

Syls and Kazari aren't all that different, it seems... I mean if you don't take into account barbarism vs refinement, anyway. 

Come to think of it, that's probably a good part of the reason Ch'dau is so fascinated by Ara to begin with. Both see the world in very similar ways just from curiously different perspectives. Hmmmmm...

Aranwen with her grace and precision, Ch'dau with his brutal fury, and Kith in the midst of it all bringing that element of chaos to the whole thing!

Well, you know, 'touch' is a big part of kazari communication, along with 'body-language' (ear and tail postion, etc) and such. Words or only a small part of it in the grand-kitty-scheme of things....

...buuuut, yeah, Ch'dau is pretty intrigued by Ara, for sure. And he's really looking forward to actually fighting beside her.

Part 2 is away.

Could have assumed many things and proceeded but figured it best to stop there and let the rest of you post.

Let me know if you want/need any edits, etc... Always happy to comply, especially when I've already assumed so much.

Following the kazari’s nods, Kithran turned her eyes in the direction of the patrol that would be approaching. Just at the limit of her vision, she spied the faint, bobbing silhouettes of the guards as their steps brought them closer. “I’ll take this side,” she said, glancing over her shoulder, “Probably best if the one’s you deal with don’t see you coming.”

“Probably,” Ch’dau nodded, adding a wink before he turned and began hauling the rope up from the wall’s outer side and repositioning it for use on the inner. When he finished, he looked to Aranwen and Mosic. “When the guards hit the ground,” he said, gesturing vaguely to the milling throng of skeletons below, “make your way down as quickly as you are able. Do not wait. Kithran and I will not be far behind.”

((OOC: Anything from Ara and/or Mosic, here…  ))

The Silver Cat nodded, rested a hand on Aranwen’s shoulder, and, then, absently touched her cheek before letting the hand fall away and turning his eyes to Kith. “Shall we, Little Kitten?”

“Just waiting on you, cat-beast,” she quipped, the mischevious grin playing about her lips and eyes, again, as she slinked a few paces in the direction of her planned targets, “let’s go.”

Ch’dau grinned, too, though he didn’t bother to pull his hood back up as he turned in the opposite direction. “Drop the bodies and meet back here, yes,” he confirmed as his near silent footfalls led him away.

“That is the plan,” Kithran shot back. With that, the pair set off in opposite directions along the wall; Kith slinking along, prepared to meet her targets, and Ch’dau racing quickly but quietly the other way in hopes of catching up with his.

As chance chose to have it, both the warrior and the rogue came within range of their respective objectives at roughly the same time. Kithran positioned herself behind a rough outcropping along the battlement and readied an arrow just as her targets came into range and, simultaneously, at the opposing stretch of the palisade, Ch’dau raced stealthily toward the other pair of guards.

From where she was crouched behind the parapet, Kithran thumbed the fletching on her arrow, aimed it at one of the approaching guards’ knee, and sighed softly… He’s more likely to fall forward than over if I hit him from this angle, she decided over an internal sigh. As such, she adjusted her aim, raising the point of the arrow just so, now, and pinpointing a spot on the man’s neck where, typically, she might slip in a dagger. She drew back the string, held her breath for an instant when the arrow’s nock touched her cheek and, just as the guardsman turned his head to gaze at the unholy minions stalking the yard, released both breath and bolt. The arrow whistled acorss the distance and struck true, catching the guard just under the upsweep of his jaw and toppling him inward with the impact. F*** yeah, Kithran cheered silently, already reaching for another arrow in her quiver as the second patrol unit reacted to the first listing over the wall. She put two quick, unaimed but effective shots into the second man as he watched his partner spilled over the wall and then, without bothering to watch the second fall, turned and raced back for the rendezvous.

Along the opposite stretch, the kazari closed all too quickly on the pair of guards that were his quarry. So silent were his footfalls that the pair didn’t hear them coming until he was practically upon them. One turned, hearing a faint thunk as a clawed foot hit the cobbles lining the walk, but was greeted by the sight of a humanoid tiger turning his friend’s head backward and shoving him over the parapets before a blade ripped savagely through his belly and, then, he, too, was tossed over the walls edge and found himself plummeting groundward. Even as he fell, he watched the silver-furred shape race back in the direction form which it had came and, as is body hit the ground and his bones cracked from the impact, watched as the silver shape met with another darker one just before the skeletons set upon him and he saw no more.

Ch’dau returned to the rendezvous to find Kith, excited and antsy, awaiting his return. “I didn’t know if I should go or…” Her eyes flicked to the rope down which Aranwen and Mosic had already climbed.

“You did well, kibibi,” Ch’dau grinned, glancing over the wall’s edge to see the skeletons separating to investigate the bodies that had just fallen into their paths. He reached down, slipped the knotted rope from it’s mooring, and held out an arm, inviting the thief into his embrace. “Come,” he rumbled, “let’s not waste time.”

((OOC: Assuming Kith doesn’t question things and allows Ch’dau to wrap her up…  ))

The kazari’s powerful arm secured Kith against him and, even as the rope fell, he launched them both over the wall. They landed, seconds later, Ch’dau’s powerful legs absorbing most of the force of impact, before the rope reached the ground. The kazari nodded toward where the shapes of Aranwen and the little Cid raced across the lawn toward the manor-house. “Go,” he chuffed, tipping his head in the direction of Mosic and Aranwen as he sheathed a blade and began to gather up the rope, “they’ll need you once they are inside. I will deal with whatever comes from the bone-creatures and be at your side, again, soon.”

Once again, with an impish grin, Kithran nodded and, with not a word spoken, tore off in pursuit of the Syl and the Cid.

...but... I bought all this honey-mustard sauce!!!

D'hurgan McNugget!!!

Yeah... that's a no for me! Nope. Uh-uh. Nooooo thank you, please!

Could be worse, though, I suppose... It could've been clowns.

P.S. Game Plan part 2 coming up.

Ch’dau couldn’t help but snicker quietly as he watched the thief catch the top of the wall and haul herself over. When she was out of sight, he rolled his shoulders and took a step back from the wall. “I think she might have enjoyed that,” he chuffed, his eyes flicking to Aranwen and then Mosic.

The Bladesinger smirked, her golden eyes sparkling with some small bit of amusement even as she offered a faint shake of her head. Whether that gesture was in response to the audacity of the tactic or the fact that it had actually worked, Ch’dau wasn’t quite sure.

Mosic, on the other hand, simply continued gawking up at the place where Kithran had been. “Sweet Father Falloes,” he breathed, “it actually worked.”

“Regretting not taking her place, priest,” Ch’dau snorted as the Cid’s gaze, following a disbelieving blink, turned to him.

“Not at all,” Mosic returned, “Better her than me.” He shrugged his tiny shoulders then and glanced back up. “If you hadn’t tossed me completely over the wall, to begin with, I doubt I would have managed to catch hold of it as young Kithran did.”

The faint whispering sound of the rope unfurling above drew Ch’dau’s attention away from the Cidal, then, and, as the knots bounced against the wall in a series of quick, muffled pops, the kazari reached out to secure the bottom of the rope. As he did, Aranwen’s gaze peeled away from their surveillance of the streets and fell on Mosic.

“Use the knots similar to steps, but for your hands as well as your feet” she suggested, motioning for the little cleric to take to the rope, “I tried to space the knots with your armspan in mind.”

Mosic looked a bit apprehensive. “Why don’t you go first to show me,” he asked.

Aranwen shook her head, "If she were to make a move, I'd expect it now. I will be ready if she comes."

Ch’dau handed the rope over to Mosic, then, and, with a reluctant nod, the little priest started climbing. As he did, Aranwen placed a foot on the loose end in order to further stabilize it as he ascended. Her eyes, though, remained on the streets, perpetually scanning for any sign of Morgana’s minions, leaving Ch’dau to keep watch over the Cid’s climb.

As Mosic made the top and wriggled over the wall, the kazari offered a faint grunt and nod. “The priest is over,” he murmured, turning to Aranwen.

She looked at him as if expecting that he might go up the rope next but the cat-man shook his head in response to that silent suggestion. “They will need you with them should things go wrong, khatun,” he rumbled softly, motioning her to the rope, “I shall keep guard, here, should any more puppets show themselves.”

With a nod, Aranwen quickly scaled the knotted rope, leaping over the threshold and landing on foot. 

Ch’dau nodded in admiriation at how quickly and gracefully the bladesinger had made the climb. Then, making one last scan of the streets behind him, the kazari took a few steps away from the wall and tossed back the cowl of his cloak. With a faint smirk on his lips, Ch’dau bounded forward and jumped; the claws in his fingers and toes extending as that leap brought him just a bit more than halfway up the wall. He flinched slightly at the scraping sound his claws made as they gained purchase on the rough stone, but he didn’t let it interfere with his momentum. Instead, with a grunt of effort, he launched himself higher, clearing the battlements and landing in a crouch near his companions.

Kith fixed him with an almost irritated glare as he grinned at her. “You could have just jumped up here, yourself, huh?”

“I could have,” Ch’dau admitted, a chuckle scarcely surpressed.

“Ass,”  Kithran hissed, crouching down and turning her gaze toward the lawns between the walls and Adedre’s manse, “I will say though,” she said, her voice lighter, “going up was a lot better than falling do… oh wow.”

While Aranwen had estimated perhaps a dozen of the monstrous creatures had been scattered throughout the lawns the night before, guessing some had been brought inside to search for the thief and the escaped prisoner, the question of how many skeletal creatures actually roamed within the guarded walls had remained a mystery. Such was no longer the case, as Kithran and the others, to their dismay, gazed upon at least twice that many, if not more, between them and the back entrance to dark manor.

Kithran’s jaw dropped open at the sight and Mosic caught a gasp in his hand by way of reaction. For his part, Ch’dau simply grunted in resignation and cast a sidelong glance at Aranwen. The bladesinger’s frown seemed to mirror his own thoughts…

Kithran was the first to offer a suggestion as to how they might proceed in the face of so many of Adedre’s skeletons. Mosic interjected some thoughts of his own, too, offering up what sounded like some useful magical options to supplement the thief’s proposed plan.

 “I cannot guess what sort of clamor they will make as they’re drawn to me or the attention that may come with the falling of dozens of their ranks,” the priest offered, tearing his gaze from the undead horde below to regard the trio with which he had found himself, “I will also need to be signaled when the majority are within about twenty-five to thirty feet of me . . . and will naturally require protection as they approach, but I can do this, if we need a path cleared.”

“You will have it, little one,” Ch’dau assured him.

“I like this plan,” Kith said in response, trying to find the quickest way through this awful mansion, “Look how many are out here. If, as you said Aranwen, most were inside looking for us last night, they must all be out here now. I know the path through this manse, Ch’dau knows it a bit as well now. We just need to get inside and we can make haste to the study up on the third floor.” She glanced briefly again at the creatures below, with weapons made of bone and metal, and suppressed a shiver, “Even if they are alerted to our presence by a few dozen destroyed, that’s still a large portion of their army handled. I am open to other plans, but we should hurry either way, the patrol will be back shortly.”

Aranwen looked towards Mosic, "With magic such as these undead, do they persist if the one that raised them is no more?" 

Mosic offered a shrug of his shoulders, "Hard to say. In some cases I've heard so, in others I haven't. It's not the kind of thing that is well understood."

Aranwen nodded, "I see..." she looked to Kithran, "I have a thought; do you think you might be able to shoot someone in the leg? If the wall patrol were to fall off of the wall in the inner courtyard, that may provide us a distraction that will see fewer skeletons between us and the manor proper," she suggested, "We don't know how many be between us and Adedre on the inside, so it may be better to avoid what we can for the moment." 

“Agreed,” Ch’dau nodded, “We will have a better chance at this should we manage to get inside without alerting all of that…” He gestured vaguely to the bone horde below just his gaze lifted from the lawn and set to scanning the walls to their left and right.

“There is a patrol approaching from that direction,” he nodded to where the wall stretched away to their left, “and the one that passed moments ago continues his rounds in that,” his head tipped in the opposite direction. “Kithran, you take care of those bound for us,” he suggested, “and I will see to the others. Let us see if we can provide our boney friends with twice the distraction, yes?”

((OOC: Okay, gotta go run and help my daughter with something really quick but will be back soon. Figured I'd go ahead and post this much, for now... Feel free to post up if you like, otherwise, I'll see about finsihing up when I return and, at least, get us down the other side of the wall.))

Kind of where my mind was going, as well.

Post is coming soon.

...with an arrow to the knee on the side.

Got it!

Would you care for an appetizer or a cocktail while you wait?

P.S. No apologies necessary. We've all had those days.

I like where her mind is going, here, and am giving some consideration to a few things as I get back to work on my own post:

1. There is likely more than one "patrol" atop the wall... Most likely three or four in my mind.


2. Therefore, in our current position, we've got one patrol heading toward us from one side and another with their backs to us on the other.


3. If we drop a guard from BOTH patrols into the grounds, it might serve to spread out the skellies a bit more as they move off to investigate both disturbances
   
   
   
   1. Smaller groups of the undead to battle should we happen to draw their attention crossing the grounds, perhaps
   
   
   2. Also the possibility of being flanked by both groups if they happen to close ranks and catch us in the middle
   
   
   
   

Thoughts?

That's awesome!!!

I see that the butterfly is on, now, so I'll hold off on the post I'm working on for a few and see what our beloved Khatun might have to offer by way of reactions and strategy before I get too far ahead.

I like the idea of an encounter with the guard atop the wall, myself. That could definitely serve to provide a bit of strategery going forward... toss the bodies to the skellies, get them to crowd around, attack or avoid while they're distracted, etc.

Aaaaand "silence" might definitely come in handy.

Yup... I can see that... Just don't do that Naruto-run shiznit. Sooo crepifying! *shudders*

Trying to get an idea of what our group might be looking at, here, in a "big picture" kind of way (that is, beyond just the bone army clattering around on the lawn). I figure that our spot on the wall is somwhere toward the back in relation to the house itself. The window through which Kith and Ch'dau made their earlier exit is on the opposite side of the house from our current vantage point... Something along these lines?

I imagine, of course, that there might be a few other outbuildings scattered about and that the grounds might be a bit more expansive than what they appear in that very rough map above, but it gives a general idea of what I'm imagining/where we are/etc. We've probably got a few options as to how, exactly, we manage to make our entrance to the house (cellar doors, actual entry doors, and the like) but, first we need to make it that far.

And, you're right, Adedre would have totally beefed up her bone army with the corpses of her fallen guards and such. No edits or rehashing needed, at all.

Got a post started but may hold of just a bit to see if Rer tacks up anything for Ara before our little troupe hits the ground on the far side of the wall.

And, I suppose we did leave them just kinda laying around... we did it to ourselves!

Meeting was quick, today. Sitting here pondering exactly how to proceed, now... Any other thoughts beyond what Mosic suggested in Kith's last?

1. Mmmmmmmmmaybe... just a little...  Edit accomplished  - daggers have been replaced by Kithy's bow.

2. Hooray for new vocabulary! My pleasure!

3. Yay post! Loved Kith's POV on this and of course the lawns are crawling with bone-heds! Why would it be easy, right?

Meeting coming up for me in about 20 minutes but I'll see what I can do about getting something written up after that.

Good morning, my dear little family! 

...just a short one to "get us there."

I didn't want to go too far past that in order to give you both the opportunity to respond/react. Went with a mix of 1 and 2, it seems... Ch'dau launched Kith but, in the end, proved that 15 feet was't much to a kazari.

Anyhoo... we're at the top of Adedre's walls, looking in toward her home, now. Run with it as you will. 

“As to the scaling itself,” Aranwen said, tugging a lentght of fine, knotted rope from her pack, “we just need one person to get on top, secure and lower this, and then it should not be too difficult for the rest of us to follow.”

Ch’dau glanced over his shoulder at the wall, seemed to consider it for a long moment and, then, with might have been seen as a slightly mischeviouc set to his features, took the rope from the Syl woman. “I have a thought,” he rumbled, unfurling the rope and beginning to re-wrap it in loose coils between his elbow and fist. “Kibibi,” he almost grinned, his eyes turning on Kithran, “you wear less armor than the rest and, therefore, are likely the lightest…” Finishing the looping of the rope and securing it’s loose ends, he reached out and slid the coil over her head and shoulder; “…I will await you at the bottom of the wall,” he suggested, “ You will get a running start, step into my hands,” the Kazari crouched, lacing his fingers together between his knees to demonstrate his proposed postioning, “and I will launch you toward the top of the wall, yes?” With those last words, he pantomimed the proposed action and, as his hands reached the apex of the ‘boost’ maneuver, he allowed them to circle around into a clap not unlike the one Kith had left he and Aranwen with hours ago. “You gain the top of the wall, secure the rope, the rest of us climb up, and we are in…”

((OOC: Assuming a “You’re going to throw me? Up there?” or some such from Kith, here.))

“Yes,” the Silver Cat nodded, almost too enthusiastically, “Unless you prefer I try and scale the wall, myself…” His turquoise eyes flitted toward the priest of Falloes, then, and he shrugged; “…Or I could toss the priest.”

“No,” Mosic said, almost instantly, “No. I choose either option that doesn’t involve me getting tossed skyward by Samuel, please.”

The kazari definitely chuckled, then. “Well, Little Kitten,” he shrugged almost tauntingly, his eyes practically glittering as they fell back upon the thief, “The choice is yours. What will it be?”

Kithran’s eyes dropped to look at the rope he had already draped over her shoulders. Lifted to consider the wall ahead. Turned over her shoulder to guage an appropriate distance for a running start and, then, with that impish grin playing on her lips, returned to regard the cat-man with a faint but self-assured nod. “Let’s do it,” she grinned. “How far up can you get me?”

Ch’dau snorted. Reached out, clamped his paws around her waist, and lifted her easily from her feet. “How far would you like to go?” he chuckled softly, setting her back to the ground.

“Just get me to the top, cat-beast,” she smirked, already backing toward the gate where the street spilled into the garden.

“Done, kibibi,” the kazari chuffed. He backed toward the wall as she backed for the street, braced his back against the wall and reassumed the stance he’d mimed earlier. Between his knees, he laced his fingers together, providing a stable platform on to which she could step and, when he was sure he was ready, his gaze lifted to meet hers and he nodded.

Across the small garden, Kithran shook her head, almost as if, in disbelief, that she had agreed to this course of action. Then, at the same time, gave a quick nod and, in a blink, sprinted forward, running at full speed toward him.

Ch’dau settled lower in his crouch, tightened the pressure of his fingers against one another and, when her toes touched his palm, lifted with all his might even as she leapt. As his eyes followed her skyward, his ears might have caught the hint of a squeal as the shadow-girl soared upward. She reached the top of the wall, stretched out a hand to grasp the stone flanking the battlement, and proceeded upward. Then, the limit of Ch’dau’s boost reached, she stopped climbing and began falling.

There was more squeak than squeal in her voice then but, even as she fell back toward the earth, Kith had the presence of mind to check the positioning of the stones that rose to meet her. As she fell, she stretched out a hand, once more, and this time, found purchase on the cold, rough, Greystone that greeted her seeking grasp. She grunted softly as her decent was suddenly halted, scowled down at the grinning Kazari through the twilight, and, after a twist of her head one way, them another, confirmed that the patrols weren’t approaching, hauled herself up and onto the narrow path formed of the estate’s battlements. She went quickly to work, tying off one end of the rope to a sturdily mortared outcropping of stone and, after a tug and test, dropped the free end off the wall to where her compatriots waited.

She readied her bow, nocking an arrow to the string, as the rope tightened, and her dark eyes slid from side to side, making sure that no patrols would catch them during their infiltration. Soon enough, Mosic appeared, huffing a bit from the effort of the climb but, still, once in a position to do so, the little Cid rolled onto the battlement and tugged his mace free, ready to defend those who might come up the rope after him.

Aranwen appeared next. The Bladesinger seemed less winded by the climb and didn’t need to roll onto the stone cobbled path of the battlement. Instead, she simply seemed to swing over the wall’s edge, her blade already in her hand as her feet met solid ground, again.

The rope went limp, then, and the tension of a body climbing it never returned. Instead, there was the sound of a grunt, a scrape, another huff of effort and, following that, the Kazari landed amidst the group. The look of amusement on his features was obvious even to those who had never encountered the cat-folk of Capasha before.

“You could have just jumped up here, yourself, huh?” The thief sniped, shaking her head slightly.

“I could have,” Ch’dau admitted, a chuckle scarcely repressed.

Kithran sighed. “Then why?”

“I do not know,” the kazari snorted, shrugging his massive shoulders, “Perhaps I simply enjoy throwing you.”

“Ass,” Kithran hissed, crouching down and turning her gaze toward the lawns between the walls and Adedre’s manse.

Shopping with wifey is always an expedition!

Anyhoo, as to the wall - I had a few options in mind:

1. Kithy-launching-off-the-cat, of course, was one that first came to mind


2. Also considered just having Ch'dau show off those kazari leaping/climbing abilities but am partial to the Kith option


3. We toss the Cidal... which could be just as fun, I think, but, again, The Kith/Ch'dau Fastball special may even surpass that.

I'm up for any of the above, tbh, and will start scrawling us out a post soon, so, if either of you have a preference or other suggestions, let me know.