confronting Evandau

[gistful]

Characters: Evandau, Anton, Hawke, Septimus, whole bunch of others
Date: August 28th, 2014
Location: The Midnight Hotel, may move to outside one of its entrances in one of the five sectors
Situation: It’s time to confront Evandau.
Warnings/Rating: Probable violence, will update accordingly.

By the time Hawke calls Evandau out, the Hotel is as prepared as it’s possible to be. The radio set has been brought in so they can communicate with the teams outside using the portable WWII handset Akito jerry-rigged. Anton has warned the gang-kedan, particularly the Dust-user and distributers, most of whom are hiding upstairs. The commons aside from the lobby have their doors closed; judging by the rowdiness in the living-room still filtering through the door, ‘noise pollution’ is the going excuse. Anton wants his current patrons as protected as they can be, which is why he encouraged a couple of those present to guard the stairs up.

There are a fair few people in the lobby, which isn’t unexpected, but Anton has warned each and every one of them about the Hotel rules and the fact that, if any of them jumps the gun, he will be forced to defend Evandau. Nothing would ruin the plan more than Anton being obliged to stand up against those with whom he would rather be allies. He doesn’t know most of them, but it’s clear that they’re friends of others who are in on the plan; the only person who worries him is Wreath, sitting quietly in a corner behind the entrance.

Anton himself is behind the reception desk, going through his ledgers and waiting quietly for Evandau to arrive, and keeping Daisy the shotgun close at hand under the counter. Just in case.

Comments

[redlightgreenlight]

Despite all her cautions about Evandau, the man was quickly moving down the list in order of respect, while Hawke and the owner of the Hotel were moving up. Perhaps it was foolish of her. She focused back on the conversation, which was heating up. Then she heard something outside the door, her enhanced senses engaged and she looked toward it just before the alarm went off.

The Hotel Owner's voice cut through, confirming her suspicions. Valdis turned her back on Evandau and walked toward the door, focusing all her energies into her soul sight, trying to see the souls beyond the closed door. They were fainter than normal, but there was an ill tint to all but one, which burned brighter. Then she felt the darkness radiating from beyond the door.

"The evil has come," she said as she reached the door. Taking a deep breath, she pulled it open far enough to slip outside. It was time to fight.

[redlightgreenlight]

There was fire swirling around outside as the tainted cultists fought with a single man. Valdis' eye lit up with battle lust and she shifted on the run, focusing her energy, trying to shift faster. Sensing the urgency, her body responded, the black fur rippling over her body as her muscles and bones rearranged themselves. Then the horse sized hound lunged at the Kedan holding the young man, her armor crushing jaws wide open, ready to rip into the offending creature, ready to tear it off of her foreigner ally and send it into oblivion.

[raavashing]

Wan tensed, shifting from one foot to the other as the confrontation started to get closer and closer to an actual fight. He could practically see it hanging in the air. The soft chime that sounded didn't help, nor did Anton's confirmation that it meant something was wrong.

But unlike Valdis who headed for the doors, Wan moved to join Hawke and Evandau. He took up a position that let him stand mostly 'between' them, though off to the side. He brought his hands up in an appeal for continued peace, "I know there's fighting going on outside, and that can put us all on edge, but please don't let it. There are people out there protecting the building and we can trust them to do so long enough for this to be resolved peacefully."

He wasn't sure if he was overreacting, but with the dark influence of Malicent that hung over the city, he didn't want to risk not stepping in soon enough.

[ironwood]

Distracted as he was, the cultist hadn't been expecting an attack now that he had the boy where he wanted him. So the attack works, and he's thrown into the nearest wall as he shapeshifts his arm into something thinner in a rush to try to get it out of her jaws. The black rope is still in his hand.

Once they see their friend being attacked the two cultists that had been shifting heir skin to stand the fire throw themselves at Zuko, black knives in their hands. Now they know how dangerous he can be.

[lordhotman]

[Zuko's eyes widen as he sees a blur of black out of the corner of his eye. A huge... wolf? Coming out of nowhere? But thankfully the cultist is knocked off of him. ... That was close.

He would thank the wolf later though since now those two cultists with the weird skin are coming after him. Zuko then withdraws the pair of dao swords he recently acquired. If he can't use his fire against them, this is the next best thing. The blades swinging at the knife toting cultists.]

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis doesn't stop to take an assessment, her battle rage driving every instinct toward the kill. Her jaws continue to close down even as the kedan tries to morph, she thinks she has him, not believing that he could morph quickly enough to escape her teeth. Just in case, she follows through with her lunge, trying to slam her large body against his smaller form and pin him against the wall while jerking her head to the side, hoping to tear the arm from his body.

[fearlessherosheart]

Tazendra's brain quickly identified that the knife was there, and that it was likely to be poisoned. She thrust her sword out, using her far longer reach (at the moment) to try to skewer the cultist. It made it hard to guard against her sides, but she would cope.

[fearlessherosheart]

Tazendra nodded, though her knowledge of foreign language was slim to none. "Ah, so that is the emblem of your House?"

[gathersnomoss]

"It could be worse. It could be raining. Sounds like a battle cry to me."

[whitelotustile]

By that time, a regular had come into Iroh's tea shop reporting the disturbance. Iroh listened, and calmly locked his cash register. "It appears there's some trouble. You are encouraged to stay here, but I won't be accepting purchases until I return."

With that, he went into the kitchen, turning off ovens and removing things from the heat. He hung up his apron on the hook. Finally, he turned the calligraphed placard -- written in several languages -- to 'Closed' as he left. He didn't lock the shop; someone might need the refuge.

Iroh followed the crowd, hoping he could strike at whatever problems his nephew was having from behind. He suspected those wouldn't expect an attack from two fronts. He only hoped that he would be there in time; battles could be remarkably quick.

[Water]

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery had been watching the group of eleven people outside the Water Sector entrance from the moment he realised they were a group, rather than just innocent bystanders who happened to be clumped together. Despite his disguise, he really wasn't surprised when they stepped forward and attacked.

He was surprised when some of the weapons were black.

The odds were terrible, and none of the kedan cultists were even hesitating. It afforded very little opportunity to ask them exactly why they were attacking. Skulduggery chalked that unfortunate fact up as their loss, and went immediately for the nearest one, intending to take their blackened dagger from them.

[ironwood]

One of the cultists keeps on attacking Zuko. The knife is a low-range weapon that won't do much against something like a sword, but none of them seem to fear death. All they seem to care about is getting close enough to the foreigners to hurt them. So while one of the cultists with the fire-proof skin does his best to avoid the sword, he will keep on attacking even if he's hurt. He tries to jump at him, the pitch black knife ready to stab him in his shoulder.

The other cultist with the fire-proof skin jumps to attack the wolf, but she doesn't seem to have any weapons. Just a black rope that she tries to wrap around the wolf's neck. She doesn't seem the least frightened by the wolf- neither of them do. All they do is calm, calculated.

They have a purpose and they are going to fulfill it.

[ironwood]

The sword makes him pause, but not because of hear. She seems to be calculating her next move, how to best get close to the woman and not get killed to soon in the process.

She throws the knife with deadly precision, straight to her chest.

[ironwood]

The man Skillduggery attacks doesn't seem to be surprised or worried- he doesn't even move. As if getting the man closer was the very point of this whole endeavor. He waits for the attack, ready to strike back-

Except he never does. Instead, Skullduggery will find himself being attacked by three of the other Kedan: one makes an unnatural jump to his back, her legs obviously having been shapeshifted for that very purpose. Another two Kedan simply run at him from his left and right side respectively. The female Kedan has a rope, the two male Kedan attacking him both have black, soaked-looking daggers.

[andaway]

He nodded, looking down at it. "Yes, the house of El. I'm the last one of my house so I like wearing it with pride."

[lordhotman]

It's not that this cultist has any particular skill that makes him so dangerous. Rather it's the sheer persistence and the fact that there's no fear. He doesn't seem to care what happens to him. There's no hesitation at all. That's what unnerves Zuko as he's not come across anything quite like this before.

He continues to try and fend off the cultist with his swords, aiming blows to hopefully disable him. However, the cultist manages to get in a lucky shot. The black knife plunging into his shoulder.

At that moment, Zuko screams in pain. Then in a flash of anger he aims to run the cultist through with his sword.

[skeletonenigma]

That makes it difficult to focus on the first dagger. Skulduggery is forced to improvise, pulled backwards by the kedan on his back the way he is. He reels backwards, drawing the other two attackers in, and then he thrusts his hands out, blasting all three of them away with an abrupt wall of air.

It gives him enough of a reprieve that Skulduggery can draw his revolver, and he whirls to empty the bullets into any of the cultists who come too close.

[ironwood]

The cultist shifts, not enough to avoid getting hit by the sword but at least it doesn't hit him in any vital parts. He lets a cry of pain out when it hits his own shoulder but at least he's done the hardest part. The knife is in, now he only has to make sure the kid is infected.

So he forces himself through the pain and twists the knife inside the kid's shoulder a bit.

[ironwood]

The wall of air hits them, throwing them to the floor. Even though they don't seem to mind pain at all the shock still makes them pause for a moment, probably giving Skullduggery time to think and act.

Nearby, one of the cultists reveals yet another weapon: a bow and an arrow. The arrow's tip is completely black, and it's now being pointed straight at him.

[lordhotman]

Zuko struggles with the cultist, gritting his teeth as he fits him and the pain. Zuko cried out again as the knife was twisted. The poison easily seeping into his wound. Despite it all, he tried to plunge his second sword into the cultist's body.

[Water] (15 minutes late with starbucks!)

[solo_patria]

There had not been time to began construction of the smaller barricade that Enjolras had tried, when the attack came upon them. Instead, he'd been rather pulled into the fray itself, and did not have much in the way of weapons to work with. He'd anticipated that, if there was any fight at all, it would be one to prevent an escaping Emperor, but not along the lines of this.

Grabbing for his lightning charm, he started to call the bolts down, and to direct them toward the cultists coming here. After one such application, he grabbed for a thicker bit of wood from his supplies, and, wielding it like a club, he launched himself into the middle of things, as stupid of an idea as that maybe was. It did not matter right now, really,when it was was the only thing to do. At least he may be giving them a little pause,correct?

It was not until he was nearly too close, and close enough he got a good look at their weapons, that Enjolras realized exactly what was going on.

"Merde!" He drew the syllables out, even as he looked for an opening, realizing, at last, how stupid a move he'd taken. Still, there may be something he could do.

[fearlessherosheart]

"As you should," Tazendra said. "Though... a House seems to be a large thing for there to be only one member remaining."

It had happened in the Dragaeran Empire: while the House of the Teckla made up ninety percent of the citizens, the House of the Phoenix's population had dropped to one moments before Tazendra had been summoned to Keelai.

[fearlessherosheart]

One of Tazendra's protection spells flared as the knife hit it, sapping it of much of its lethality; it hit Tazendra, but hilt first. She did take a step back. "Bah. Do not throw your weapons at me!" She used the retreat to better position herself in the Hotel's doorway, not quite into the threshhold.

Maybe she should risk the ire of the kedan mystics (and loss of a power source for sorcery) and blow these cultists up.

[ironwood]

"You are informed as much as you need to be," Evandau returned just as bluntly. "You may subsist on blatant displays of martyrism but I do not. Short of throwing myself against the Palace barrier until bloody, I am doing everything in my power to keep the corruption from spreading any farther into the city. If I thought that would accomplish anything, I would do that as well. As for sending anyone to safety, where in Konryu do you think is safe from this darkness? Nowhere. If anything you are safest here, where Tu Vishan's influence is strongest to combat the Death plane's poison."

Anton's statement of the exterior being attacked prompted a flash of seemingly genuine surprise that dissolved into a flash of anger, though not directed at the proprietor. "I have no idea why they're attacking but it cannot be a coincidence." Yet another reason why he'd wanted this meeting at the police station, but that was moot now.

Instead he spun on a heel and moved toward the door he'd entered through, obviously determined to engage the cultists. He shot a dark look at Wan as he passed. "Since I've obviously been baited here under false pretense," he said coldly. "Something I will deal with soon enough, I would rather offer aid to those who are doing something rather than posturing in here."

sorry for slow

[wintershepherd]

Jack looked over at Akito waterbending, raising an eyebrow. "Picked up some new tricks, huh? Korra teach you how to do that?" As the Avatar was the only one that Jack had ever seen do that.

Privately, he wasn't fully comfortable with Sarah being here for this, not if things with Evandau got ugly but the spirit intended to make sure she was kept out of harm's way. He knew what it was like to want to help and he didn't want to deny anyone that based on age or skill -- especially since she was just as affected as anyone else by what went on in the city, good or bad -- but it was too hard wired into him (Guardian or not) to not minimize the risk if possible.

"You doing okay, kiddo?" he asked warmly, completely at odds with his seasonal persona. Standing at the base of the tree, Jack could easily be viewed as just hanging around. If they did see Sarah, everyone kedan and Foreigner alike, knew that he interacted closely with the youngers of the city, he could do this and not break their cover.