Auropa wrote:Cyradil Vask
Haden Hill
Galnius wrote:Tenna
The Great Swedish Empire wrote:Karl Thaddäus
We die in darkness
The tunnels
Theodor Arnulfsson / Riki Farinhait
It didn't take long for Theo to finally receive some support in the fight against the flanking behemoth. Cyradil, after rescuing one of the officers from near death, suddenly charged past him, straight at the monstrosity. This was the same wounded woman from earlier, right? So we have at least a few healers among our ranks, then... That was reassuring. Cyradil's attack did not take the creature down in one blow, as expected, and while she barely managed to escape unscathed, she practically screamed for any sort of plan.
The heat of battle was not a good time to be making strategies at all, but Theo's experience against the beasts of the surface gifted him an idea.
"The joints!" the Dragon Killer yelled out, leaping to the side and pushing Cyradil away from the behemoth's ground-shaking slam, covering the two of them with his massive pavise shield. "A humanoid creature this massive cannot sustain itself upright if even one of its knees is taken out. And if it falls, its sheer mass should leave it unable to stand back up easily."
Of course, that's easier said that done. After all, just getting to the knees would be pretty hellish while that creature is still swinging its monstrous arms...
"I'll stand before it in the front, get around it and try striking the knees from behind."
Theo stepped away from Cyradil, spinning the partizan spear in his hand and raising his shield, while the giant behemoth started approaching him, winding up its fist to strike.
Meanwhile... Outside of the tunnels, in the foliage of the forest, Riki watched the surviving forces of the three armies make their way towards destiny with a passive glance. One of the knights, a woman, tried to pat him on the shoulder, but the necromancer simply jolted back and backed off, covering himself with his pitch black cloak. That was about it for his interactions with the rest of the party - for the most part, Riki simply stuck to himself. His horde of zombies could not deal any decisive blow at the remaining demons by a long mile, so instead he had to resort to harassing actions. Demons were easy to fool - a zombie of one of their kind could easily blend in among their ranks and then suddenly lash out to cause chaos.
It would die, and lose its second chance, but it would also sow disorder and prevent the demons from reorganizing. For a while, this meant that the demon hordes could not rush the tunnels with their full force. It was a thankless job, of course... But, when the day of judgment arrives, Datune will know who tried to give Eboris a second chance and who would have rather saw it perish.
Focused on his duties, Riki did not escape getting touched, apparently - suddenly, an Elvish woman grabbed him by the elbow and started dragging him along.
"H-huh?.." the necromancer muttered under his breath, almost inaudibly, but did not resist. She wasn't a demon, so, as far as he was concerned, she was likely an ally. The Elvish woman dragged him across the forest before suddenly pulling him into a tree, where the two of them sat down on one of the thicker branches, strong enough to hold the two of them without any difficulty. A silence of a few seconds ensued. Riki blinked, not sure exactly on what had happened or what he did to deserve this, but... hey, it did get him out of the sight and reach of any demon below.
Almost instinctively, he pulled out his ornate knife to draw a glowing pentagram mark on the bark of the tree, then pressed his hand onto it. Dozens upon dozens of corpses below them, scattered across the forest and the battlefield, would start to rise and join the necromancer's horde. This included many of the corpses littered in front of the rear guard party in the tunnel, desperately trying to hold back the demon advance - the men would witness their dead comrades stand up and rejoin their ranks, the mortal wounds on their bodies not even bothering them.
"You didn't have to, I was fairly protected..." Riki finally spoke up. "...but thanks."