asgardmeridiem | END OF ARC 1: DAY 168 BATTLE

END OF ARC 1: DAY 168 BATTLE

[The grey dim light of false dawn has just settled on the city when the sirens sound. The piercing shriek of a modern warning system begins, and within seconds is joined by the low, haunting wail of wood and bone horns from the Elven camp outside the Gate of Fire. A minute later, there is Thor's post to the network.

And now, as the sun slowly rises, the light reveals clouds of dust in the distance, far off to the North and West. In that time, the city will be awakening with a start. Anyone with connections to a god-supported group or to the elves will be roused and rushed off to their jobs. Folkvang comfort house will open its doors, revealing an interior cleared of equipment and converted into a shelter for those who must flee the incoming violence.

The whispers on the streets are of disbelief and fear. Is it really the end of days? Surely the walls will hold against any mundane army. Surely it will all be over soon... right? Healthy natives are saying goodbye to their loved ones "just in case". Perhaps you should be too.

Later, the armies arrive. First the enemy, made up of humans, monsters, and five dragons. The lesser giants look almost human, except for the flame or frost in their eyes and the warm or cool tint to their colouring. But the king of the fire giants is something else. He is tall and broad and strong, riding on a huge, splendid black boar. The queen of the frost giants is equally intimidating, in armor that looks made of glacial ice itself, seemingly too ornate to be practical but clearly worn as if it is. Her mount is a great white serpentine creature that radiates dangerous cold. The other kinds of creatures are uncountable in their variations, but all well armed.

They dwarf the small forces of Asgard and the forward units of the elves, but just as battle is about to break the sound of a great number of clockwork machines heralds the arrival of the full forces of Alfheim. They are joined soon by the modern outfitted soldiers of Utgard, and then the masses of people collide like conflicting waves of water. Above them fly the dragons, and one great flying ship that seems to have come from nowhere but fights on the side of the gods.

What will your characters do? Will they join the front lines? Hide in the shelter? Man the Arena-turned-war-hospital? There are a million things to do in a battle, but not even those hiding will escape the smell of gunpowder and metal and the sounds of battle.]

[ooc note: your characters are welcome to come up with any frost/fire themed monsters you like! They may not directly combat the giant king or queen. They may not fight dragons without first checking in with the mods in this post (and two dragons are already claimed). Try to consider that there will be a second battle, so you can vary what you're doing. Also make sure to read the plot post thoroughly, especially with regards to character death.

Make sure to include the rough time of day in the subject of your top-level comments, as well as if your thread is open or closed. This whole log will only cover Day 168. If you need mod participation/NPCing, please ask us asap and give us some allowance to be slow, since there's a lot going on.

There is a log for the downtime on days 169-170 here, and a full-event log for those staying in the shelter at Folkvang here. There will be a second pair of battle/downtime logs for the second battle (Day 171-172 with downtime on Day 173) posted on Nov 8.

Important note! There will be a lightning speed commentspam thread for taking down the most familiar dragon in this post beginning today at 6pm CST. At that time there will be a mod plurk to let everyone know we're starting. We will also ask those who can to join the AIM chat (asgardchat) at that time so we're all on the same page. It's a thread we want to get done from start to finish as fast as possible/within two evenings, due to mod business. Please don't feel left out if you can't participate in that thread. It's partly an experiment in seeing if this kind of thing works for us, and there's lots else you can do!

Have fun, everyone! If you have questions, please ask on the event post so that everyone else can see them/the answers. Thank you!]

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[The dragon is laughing. Though the sound is low and rumbly, it's definitely, definitely a smug laugh.

The first shot from Watson misses, and the dragon makes it a dare. He lands on the city walls, with the medical tent outside and Mariko on the inside. His long, sinuous neck bends gracefully as he stretches his head out towards the girl, great smoking nostrils flaring.]

[LISTEN ASSHOLE YOU NEED TO STOP

until rion gets a bow

so he's gonna just nod at watson because they were talking before and then ollie out to scavenge up a crossbow or something. seriously, why didn't be remember they have dragons and shit, like in every video game he has literally ever played?]

[Good lad. Watson makes a mental note to find out Rion's name later so he can buy him a drink -- assuming they all survive this -- and raises his rifle again.]

Come on then, you great big beast. Just look back this way --

[Until the dragon turns back to look their way he's just presented with impenetrable scales. What Watson needs is a shell or something -- perhaps a chemistry experiment is in order?

With that thought in mind, he makes the first of two calls.]

Edited 2012-11-02 23:44 (UTC)

I don't think you can. Aim for the eyes or between the scales.

[note: 100% of rion's knowledge on how to kill dragons is based on mythology and rpgs]

Why are you still here, lad? Get moving!

[AND HE'S OFF LIKE A SPEEDING

QUIET]

[She's trying hard not to panic, biting her lip as she often does and attempting not to cry and scream. Because if she makes a bad decision, it may be the last one ever.

Mariko takes a step behind, breathing in heavily and desperately attempting to take a fast look at her surroundings to see if there's a place to hide. Or anything similar to it. Anything but just staying there!]

[Watching her panic is nice. His neck is very long though -- quite long enough to get his great head right up in front of her.]

...Boo.

[Mariko lets out a scream and almost falls to the ground in pure fear! By instinct she covers her face with her arms, still shivering from head to toe...]

[FUCK

THAT'S A LONGBOW. AND THAT'S A SHORTBOW. AND THAT'S A COMPOSITE LONG BOW, WHICH HE ALSO CAN'T USE

AND THAT'S NOT EVEN A BOW THAT'S JUST ONE OF THOSE POLEARMS GARY GYGAX MADE UP IN A DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS MANUAL HOW DID IT GET IN THIS PILE OF MISSILE WEAPONS

after a lot of searching rion finds a crossbow... now just to load it, okok]

[Watson is a gentleman. There are certain rules involved with that. Not hitting below the belt, not making a pass at another man's fiance, not arguing with enthusiasts ... Dragons were never fully covered, but Watson has his pride as a marksman to consider. He's waiting for the dragon to raise his head when a scream -- a female scream at that -- prompts him to action.

Abandoning his post at the medical tent, he sprints towards the wall, levelling his gun at the bulk of the Dragon's great rearend. Hardly dignified but with any luck at this close a range, the Dragon will feel this.]

[WELL it doesn't pierce his hide, but it certainly stings like a horsefly on a sweaty day.

His head jerks up, and he turns, mouth open to blow flame at the offending insect-or-insect-like-nuisance.]

[rion is still fumbling with loading the crossbow. he's gonna take conveniently about the time it will take for the dragon to respond to someone else's actions to get it loaded.]

[Watson's strategically backing away -- but this does give him a lovely clear shot of the dragon's mouth.

... he can't pass up a chance like this, now, can he?

That's another shot.]

[The second shot draws blood, but the fire has already started! It shoots out in a jet, effectively cauterizing the wound in the process.

But now the dragon is mad. He starts beating his wings, getting ready to lift off!]

[finally! rion's got it loaded, he brings the crossbow up... and pauses for a little bit, before firing off a shot. he's aiming for the head, preferably an eye, but he is not a particularly great shot.

oh well!!!]

[He achieves a bounce off the cheek! And in return he gets a fire jet.]

[FUCK FIRE IS HOT AND BURNY

HE'S GOING TO JUST LIKE DUCK AND

COVER

AND HIDE

HOLY SHIT OW]

[Aaaaand Mariko was about to get out from the alley and into the nearest street as she heard the noise! She can't help ducking for cover and hiding in the nearest corner, covering her head and again trying to not start screaming, half due to survival instincts and half due to the remains of her pride.

When is this going to end, damn it? And where are Nanako and her other friends, that boy Hisao included? They better be fine, and she better lives through this to see them again...!]

[You know what else needs to be on fire? Buildings in the city. That sounds like a lovely thing to breathe on as I lift into the air again!]

[Buildings in the city do not need to be on fire you overgrown lizard. Eyes will fire a few shots toward the dragon with the hope that it will at least delay his ascent until others could fire at him, carefully trying to keep cover meanwhile so he could hide if he had to.

Why did it have to be so high up already?]

[Scrambling out of the way of that terribly inconvenient flame jet has meant that it has taken longer than usual for Watson to reload his gun (first casualty of the battle: Watson's suit jacket?). He fires off another quick round of six shots with the rifle as the dragon lauches itself into the air, hoping to cause damage while the dragon is still relatively close to the ground. With no clear shot of the face, he's concentrated instead on the joints and wings, hoping they might be more vulnerable, or at least slow the dragon's ascent.]

[Between the two of them, they put some small holes in the leathery membranes of his wings. It's not enough to down him, but it's making it hard to catch the updraft, and he pinwheels as he ascends.]

(no subject)

bloodypocket - 2012-11-05 03:58 (UTC) - Expand

[~~Bitches~~Dragons like you just don't know how to quit, indeed!

After some seconds Mariko tries to keep on going, covering her mouth with her sleeve, doing her best to focus and find another detour that will take her away from the battle and closer to the Hall so she can contact her fellow Housemates...]

[Still trembling, Mariko tentatively opens her now tear-filled eyes. She was expecting to still have the Dragon pretty much in front of her, ready to either make fun of her or directly go for the kill...

But nothing happened. At least not to her. The Dragon's focus was not on her, but on whoever made the shot that she thought it had been just a sort-of part of her imagination!

And no, she won't let go of that chance either. So once Mariko notices a slender but seemingly long alley not too far from them, she runs to it as fast as she did in the Darkness days. One of her shoes is lost in the race, but this is a life or death situation... she has to alert the Freya people herself, and get out of the way of whoever is fighting!]

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