TAKING SULEDIN KEEP

[faderifting]

WHO: The Inquisition
WHAT: Capturing the Keep
WHEN: Guardian 23
WHERE: Emprise du Lion
NOTES: Violence, gore, etc. This log contains closed prompts for quest participants, but is open for anyone who wants their own battle- or post-battle logs. ICly it will take most everyone they have in the region to take the keep, so any character could be part of the assault and its aftermath. It's also forward-dated to the 23rd, so if your character isn't currently in Emprise, they could be by then!

By 23 Guardian, the Inquisition has pressed the Red Templars out of the hills and snow and into Suledin Keep. The assault on the keep starts before dawn and is long and deliberate; there are no trebuchets here. By the time the sky has turned a bright enough gray to pass for morning, the Inquisition has worked its way into the snowy, twisting maze of gardens in front of the fortress. Soldiers weave around the walls and the rubble and the spikes of lyrium. Archers climb up mounds of tumbled stone and into the ancient, twisting trees for better vantage points. By the time the fortress itself is breached, the sun is setting again behind the clouds, and snow is falling.

The Red Templar forces are many and though for them this is a retreat, a last stand in the region, they are well-organized. They fight with the single-minded fury of the corrupted, and indeed many of them show signs of advanced lyrium infection, eyes red, crystals jutting up out of skin, sometimes so numerous that they begin to form their own sort of armor. A few have been so completely consumed that it is difficult to tell they were ever human to begin with. The battle will be long and bloody. Courtyards and wall positions must be taken one by one and held, and more than once retaken again after a successful Templar resurgence. Any Inquisition member able to fight is likely to be pressed into service before the day is done.

As the forces press forward the snow behind them is left checkered red: lyrium, blood, Inquisition uniforms. There are bodies to identify. Wounded to tend to. Enemy soldiers beyond hope of recovery to be put out of their misery, perhaps, for those so inclined. A giant's carcass is laid out in the gardens for inspection; two more are already dead and rotting in cages and chains, with red crystals infesting their bodies. Bigger crystals have infected the castle itself, sticking up from the ground and out of walls almost as if they have been cultivated here. They must be smashed as the army advances, for any who linger near begin to feel its effects, particularly the wounded.

Comments

[liberalum]

Getting nudged out of the way is-- what Dorian is beginning to expect, really, after however many months fighting in ramshackle bands of mage and warrior and archer. He twists like a surprised, butt-touched cat, all bristling indignation until he sees the jagged red lyrium striking the Chevalier's blade.

Oh. Well, that's alright.

Not to be outclassed, however, he drags his staff through the air, meeting resistance as if physically tearing the Veil itself, and sends a very precise, very strong lightning strike past Michel, raw electricity slamming hard enough into the Red Templar's chest to stagger him back. Errant streaks of shimmering green dispelling magics ripple up off pulsing flesh and lyrium shards, for good measure, and Dorian turns a look at Michel.

"Slay your demon," he says, sharp and to the point. Which doesn't sound very much like thank you, or anything, but maybe his gratitude is expressed through not bickering on the battlefield. "We'll hold off this nonsense."

And to Sam; "Spirit magic. You're a spirit mage, so act like one, preferably at the Templars! I'll burn the rest."

True to his word, a wall of flame blisters across the ice, sending up steam and smoke, cutting through the nearest wave of spiders.

[el_tybs]

Add that to the list of reasons why he hated spiders; exploding into a swarm of smaller spiders that were hellbent on coming at you. Granted regular spiders probably could not do that, but it did not make him like them any more to these current ones.

The wall of flame that burns the lot of them coming for him is appreciated, but there is hardly time for that, especially with Dorian snapping at him - at least it sounded like he was snapping - about using his spirit magic. Sam gives a slight huff at that, not like he was concentrating on keeping the aura up or tossing out barriers when he noticed them going down, but doesn't talk back about it in the middle of a fight.

Instead he brings his staff down, brows raised, as he casts another barrier around both Michel and Dorian seeing as they were right next to each other. The new barriers helping both Dorian and Michel with replenishing their mana/stamina as they fight. With that taken care of, and with not having to worry about a wave of spiders, he turns, swinging his staff horizontally at a pair of red templars.

For a moment it doesn't seem like he did anything, but before they can come any closer they appear to stagger. A couple more steps and the templars completely stop moving, instead bending down slightly into themselves, reaching for their heads and letting out shrieks.