The War of Lilacs

[SpringNixie]

Maria cursed and swore as she realized what the severing of Peter and Riggins' connection to the nexus meant. It meant that the enemy had overcome them and their forces within Sommerda [6] and that Weimar [12] was likely the next territory they would march for. She looked to the city of Erfurt [11] in the distance, spitting upon the ground as she realized Valantin had yet to return from his expedition into enemy territory. She closed her angry eyes and let her thoughts be carried by the whispering Filth within her.

"My Goddess... Knight Peter, Hunter Riggins, and Commander Valantin have all gone silent." She turned her back to the city and began to move away as the desecrated ground beneath her led her every step. "This land is lost should the Court of Spring's forces choose to press for a counterattack and we have not the troops to deal with such an assault. Our best option at this juncture is to retreat into the city of Jena [14] and hold there until our numbers are strong enough to push back once more. I shall lead my troops there until your will is given. Viisk bless those who have fallen..."

With that, the new captain of the Court of Lilacs' knights began her march to Jena to prepare to take the defensive.
------------------------------------------
((END TURN 7))

The Battle of Sommerda
Peter Captured \\ Riggins Killed

Disarming The Red Hand
Valantin Captured

The Gathering of Gera

 

[Svetovid]

Sitting amongst the filth-infected of the city, Desdemona sat in a deep meditation. She was trying to block out the Filth that had become frantic since she had finished transforming the citizens. It was difficult and it had been a losing battle, but she had managed to gain just a tiny foothold in the deepest corners of her mind. There, she imagined not the dismal grays of the area with its black tendrils and countless red eyes, but the soft sand of her home and the gentle touch of the waters.



'It doesn't matter. We were there, too. Tasty, tasty, tasty.'


Desdemona wanted nothing to do with the Filth at this moment. The more that she gave it, the less that she could feel of herself and she needed to be herself for this war. A war that she only fought because of one named Feliks that she had fought beside so many years before.


Silence.


That was strange. Whenever she brought a memory forth, the Filth presence looking through her always jumped at the chance to pick the memory apart like a diner would a perfectly made slab of rare steak. For whatever reason, the Filth was letting her have that memory. She didn't trust it.


“What are you trying to hide from me?”


Silence.


“Does it have to do with Feliks? No. He has long since been dead. Then Valantin?”


Silence.


“What do you know?”


It's not like she needed to ask. The Filth was more than willing to let Desdemona fight this war because it was what Egle wanted and her presence was bathed in so much black that Desdemona often found it suffocating, even when she was wearing her oxygen purifier. The Filth was concerned that whatever knowledge that it was hiding could cause Desdemona to change her involvement in the war. Knowing this, Desdemona grew angry.


When the answer came in the message that Maria sent through and it hit Desdemona like so many tons of bricks. For a few seconds, she forgot how to breathe and doubled over. Valantin was… gone? Another one of that bloodline? The Filth whispering in her head turned frantic and wretched up any piece of memory that they could, shifted her reality and suddenly Desdemona was not seeing the city populated by the Filth infected and the small team of soldiers, but snow and countless trees.


Nearby was the T-55, but instead of the team that she had taken with her to dominate the city with, it was the team that she had been a part of while she still worked for the Red Hand. All of them wore gas masks, partly because of the smoke and ash they often created but because Desdemona's presence could make them sick otherwise.


She could see Feliks arguing with a man who had brought a camera. This operation, like so many others was supposed to be Top Secret. There was to be no record of their existence, let alone photo evidence of their involvement with anything, but the soldier was adamant about 'making memories' or some such.

Desdemona now, as she had then, figured that her allegiance with the Red Hand did not run as deep as that with the people she fought with and she interrupted the argument. She told the men that one picture would do them no harm and if it did, she would shoulder the brunt of it. They gathered around the tank and after a single flash, it was over. The picture was handed to Feliks and Desdemona assumed he would destroy it, though she never saw him do so.



'Fight! You must fight! We need you to fight!' yelled the Filth so terribly that it ripped her from her delusions and sat her back down in the present. 'For him. For HIM!'


No, not for Valantin. For the memory of his grandfather; one of the select few that she believed would fight at her side through thick and thin as she would have… at least before she had left for Templar pastures.


“You're right. I will fight,” she replied underneath her breath as she stood up against the small collection of Filthed men, women and children. She paused for a moment as she walked through the red-eyed monstrosities and thought of the message she'd send:


“Egle, I am too far out,” Desdemona said. “Retreat isn't possible. However, until I find out what happened to Valantin, I will hold this city.”

 

[sam4books]

Egle knew exactly what happened to Valantin. She stared at the filthy phone in her hand.. The single DM...

"captured me they lied went to put avery out of misery.

was ambush, escort dead, i was captured

i'm sorry, i love you"

Val... 'No...'

Those tears, they would never faltar. Her love, ensnared by those damn Spring Fae! Peter, ensnared! Riggans, dead! 'Why can't I ever win!' She thought angrily, glaring out the mansion window at the horizon ahead. Christoph standing behind her, ready to head into battle. They were going to kill him they were going to kill Val! She was certain of it! Positive, in fact! After all, she had read about it in the book she had found in the fortress. 'Stupid! You're so stupid! You should have told him to stay from that damn city! IDIOT!' She scolded herself. Turning on her heel and storming down the mansion.

"He was captured Desdemona." Egle's voice came through the Nexus."The vile Court of Spring has tricked him. I do not yet know the details of such trickery, but I shall not let cowardice and dishonor in the field of battle stand. I'm heading out now...Christoph is coming with me."

Her voice rang throughout the Nexus.

"I'm going to save my Love, come hell or high water. They will pay. They will all pay."

 

[Svetovid]

Captured? It wasn't as bad as she believed, but Valantin still being alive meant there was a war to still be fought. "Where would you like me to be?" she asked via the Filth. "I will not retreat, but I will press forward wherever you wish."

 

[sam4books]

"Start heading your way west. See if you can gather more reinforcements from nearby cities. I am regrouping with Maria. And I will be moving around Erfhurt. A frontal attack won't work with these people----MARIA." Her voice was angry. And full of boiling, maddening rage. "BE PREPARED TO MEET ME IN THE SAALE-ORLA REGION[23]. We are NOTgoing to lose to this honorless scum. THEY WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE THE DAY WHERE THEY CAN MAKE A MOCKERY OF US."

 

[Svetovid]

"Very well," she says, newly invigorated by the idea that there may be battle up ahead. Knowing that the Queen wasn't ready to give up may have made her a bit more enthusiastic. "We'll head west [to 25] and see what we can do there."

 

[SpringNixie]

((END TURN 8))

A Question of Abandonment

 

[sam4books]

Egle sat with a whole army of infected forces. Sighing, waiting. Every now and then Christoph would glance back and give her a concerned stare.

"My Queen, why have we stopped?"

Egle wouldn't answer. She just looked ahead, towards the horizon. Waiting for her capturerers to come.

"Head back Christoph. Take Lilith. Escape while you still can."

She whispered, the last sentence of her begging being carried through the Nexus.

"But my Queen! The dream! Who shall fight for it!"

"JUST GO." The Warrior Queen yelled. Her voice shaking the foundations of the infected land surrounding them. "You too Desdemona... Prepare for a retreat..."

She clutched onto a tooth hanging around her neck.

'...Before Salem comes...'

She wanted her Father's church to at least survive... And the Family's vessels. She felt her Father deserved at least that. A group of people to keep him living through worship and prayer.

She suspected her brother would attempt to cash in on that in his plans.

She didn't blame him. They were there....

She let out another sigh.

 

[Svetovid]

A retreat? The idea tasted sour in Desdemona's mouth, but she would no argue. Still, she'd leave the filth-transformed denizens of the city as a nice surprise and made a hand gesture that all of her men would see: the sign to turn back.

"Then we head north [22] in hopes we'll make it in time. I suppose there is an explanation for this?" she asked through the Filth.

 

[Pattern-Weld]

The infected civilians, non war combatants, would slowly find themselves being drawn to the church grounds. First a few, then more, and more. The filthy animals as well. Being drawn there by some unseen force. Any forces connected to the nexus on the battlefield would feel its pull as well. Royalty in it's command, a natural need to follow, that could be combated by those with strong wills.

 

[SpringNixie]

((END TURN 9))

 

[SpringNixie]

((GMs Note: Despite Queen Karaliene's capture, there will still be a finale. The threat is not yet over.))

 

[Svetovid]

A tactical retreat was mission and Desdemona could tell that someone was following them... or seemed to be. The air was thick, but not with the tell-tale signs of war, death or Filth. No, it was rather clean.

The Atlantean turned her head from where she sat on top of the tank and noticed that the area that she had burnt to the ground now had a damned pasture in it. 'You certainly know how to choose your foes,' Desdemona thought. They'd continue their retreat East (23), before catching up with everyone else at further on (16).

Hopefully, someone, somewhere had a plan. If not, Desdemona saw little chance that they'd be winning this war.

 

[SpringNixie]

((END TURN 10))

Simple and Clean
Queen Karaliene Captured

 

[Svetovid]

"We're almost there," Desdemona says across the Filth as she continues to make her way eastward [16]. "What's become of Egle? Of this war?"

 

[Pattern-Weld]

A new voice reached across the filth. Foreign to Desdemona, yet similar. The same Strain as Egle. "She has allowed herself to be captured along with her love." It resonated in her. She could sense its power. The weight it carried. More powerful now than Erik or Egle combined. "I hold the key to their salvation. My flock gathers. We will give you the reinforcements you need. We will turn the tide. My arrival is imminent. Prepare yourself for a fierce battle. I bring with me the true power of Viisk."

 

[Pattern-Weld]

((FINAL BATTLE SET UP)) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YOr0cYZrbMez0p5Nw-Ptt-6A5CPHqK4uyBl3tS5snH0/edit



The CoS forces finally reached the wall in front of the last fortress, still cleaning the filthified land in the Greiz region. Everyone was on guard, they had been more strict on using their earplugs, so they hadn't lost many troops recently but.....they still had to worry about Gera to the North and Atenburger to the East, the final destination. Nickoli stood with the troops vigilantly, wanting to be one of the first to go into Atenburger and end this. His eyes unblinking watching the wall. All sources said it shouldn't be too hard to take them down but he wasn't so sure. The strange constellation of 9 stars worried him. Then, at 3 in the morning, he saw it. A cloud, no a legion of filthy dragons. Faceless things with crocodile teeth, manes of spines that go all the way down their backs. Long and clawed arms at the front, with smaller hands trailing their sides like a centipede until they reached bent and powerful legs. Creatures of nightmare, with a massive beast at the front. A second large group flew to Gera as if to reinforce it. They began raining down filth on the forward troops, as Nick shouted for the fae to enter defensive positions. In the middle of the cloud a group of six transport helicopters could be seen, they looked like they had been stolen from Venice. The final battle was beginning.

((POSSIBLE BATTLE LIST))

Desdemona+Tank Vs Theo+Stray (If Des is up for it) Space 23
Dragon Attack at CoS base. Space 3
Machine Fae attack at Erfurt. Space 11
War in Greiz. Space 16
Final in Atenburger. Space 18


((Please let me know which battle you would like to participate in, depending on how many people want to do it, I will split these battles into smaller battles, or make there be less battles. Charles will be doing some portal shenanigans to allow everyone to participate in whichever battle they would like to.))