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Annalise	The letters arrived without their carriers going either seen or named, each one like the other: a prim white envelope; yellowed paper folded into a crisp rectangle; flowing script in dark ink; all of it sealed by a mound of red wax stamped flat by an unrecognizable sigil, and all of it cracked and fragile due to obvious age. Aside from the mystery surrounding their arrival, there isn't anything very odd about the letters, unless someone among the many recipients happens to be put off by antiquated blood spatters.     Whoever authored and dispatched the letters possesses a gift for brevity. Despite the shortness of the message, the words convey a heavy urgency.     Honored Guest, I greet you...     You are summoned to Cainhurst.     Do not hesitate; the stagecoach awaits.     There are more details enclosed, of course -- such as how one should get to Cainhurst in the first place.     On a particular day at a particular evening hour in a particular location unique to each recipient, the stagecoach arrives and awaits its passenger (or passengers, as the case may be). Two shaggy black horses draw the old black coach even though there's no driver to provide guidance. The wheels rattle as if about to escape their axles, and there's little sign of paint left on the age-pitted and rusted exterior. Four lamps -- one at each of the coach's corners -- cast a dim light through their sooty panes. It is not the most elegant or welcoming of sights.     At the arrival of anyone bearing a letter, the coach's door creaks open to admit entry; however, the interior is as empty as the driver's forward seat. Like the coach's exterior, the once cozy and plush interior has become moth-bitten and cracked. The leather seats are too stiff to be comfortable, and the peculiar odor within evokes a funeral parlor. No curtains hang over the coach's windows any longer -- not that any would be necessary to guarantee privacy! No, every window is so caked by grime and cobwebs that the outside world is reduced to a gray, barely-seen smudge, especially once the coach's door snaps shut.     The journey is as mercifully short as the letter itself.     All invited arrive almost simultaneously. One by one, the carriages pass beneath a dilapidated archway and roll into a snowy estate built into the cleft between steep, rocky crags. The stagecoach doors open -- again, without prompting from any visible force -- and a gust of icy wind swirls into the coach as if to hasten the disembarking of all passengers. Snowflakes and cold and an unspoken tension all make the region's atmosphere seem brittle and foreboding.     What might these guests make of the others who have been invited?     Cainhurst Castle is a baroque ruin no longer in its prime. It hunkers atop the wintry mountains like a dragon atop its hoard, yet instead of possessing a fearsome majesty and might, it appears ragged and forlorn. There is no joyful warmth shining from its windows. No knights patrol the parapets, no voices echo from the courtyard, and even the crows clinging to the castle's peaked rooftops seem lonesome. Icicles hang from every precipice; they shiver as the wind passes by again.     At least there is some flickering attempt at light in the outer sconces and in the windows. Cold and barren as the place may be, it does appear that someone or something yet resides in this crumbling estate.     A broad and long flight of steps leads to the castle's main point of entry. Heavy wooden doors stand open to admit the visitors into what must be the courtyard.
Riva Banari	What's this? Mysterious and ominous letters arriving out of nowhere? Cryptic instructions that will have her get met by a stagecoach to be taken to an unknown place? "SIGN ME UP!" Riva yells in her room, folding the letter and sticking it in her coat. LATER Riva seems to be taking the spooky as hell situation in stride, watching the environment and kind of just soaking it in. Soaking in all of the ominous, Gothic Gaslight ambiance. Before Riva can make a nervous joke about being mistaken for Darby O'Gill, the coach reaches its destination. Riva pops out and looks around, blinking. It wasn't winter where she left. She shakes and claps her arms, chafing herself some warmth as she peers at the castle, squinting. She purses her lips. "It doesn't /look/ like Castlevania..." She says, unsure. "Man, this place gives me the creeps."
Grimm Hardy	It might have just about been the strangest thing... Seated under the flickering light of a streetlight, sharpening his blade and biding his time. In a world of Hollows and death everywhere, the arrival of the letter, sans someone to actually delivery it, that he could spot is worthy enough of suspicion in and of itself. But when opening the seal does not kill him, and dark eyes scan the words contained therein, the Undead grunts. he'll probably just tell whoever it is to fuck off and not bother him, when the coach arrives.     That was the original plan, anyway. But when his path far too conveniently crossed with that of the arriving coach, at the next lit streetlight sometime later at the appointed time, curiosity reared its beautiful, terrible head.     This is why the door pops open on one of the arriving coaches...     And a corpse steps out.     Clammy pale skin waxen with death, Grim looks like he's seen better days, sunken tired black eyes squint at the snow-dusted ruin, brushing a few flakes off his shoulder as he lands. "Had better rides..." Muttered sourly in memory of the stiff seating, while silently thankful nothing and no one is assaulting him right out the door, just yet.     Unfortunately, Grimm knows just as well as any other that curiosity has a tendency to kill the Undead.
Mordred	Mordred would rate this ride a six. Maybe a five. But probably a six. Out of ten, even! It's a generous rating, heavily biased by what the Saber's idea of a bad ride is like. 'Ride with her mother.' 'Ride on an asshole dragon.' 'Ride that isn't actually a ride but actually secretly a visit to the dentist, also there's no food there.'     She has very low standards.     Stepping out of her Creepy Ride as it arrives at Cainhurst Castle, Mordred wears some short biker shorts (redundance intentional) and a white tube top, although the whole thing is topped by a red and gold coat, something between a cool jacket and a trenchcoat, styled after Psyber's. She has biker boots, too.     The state of the castle causes her to frown; not because she's creeped out, but because she actually feels a bit insulted someone would own a castle and let it just sort of... sit and wither like this. A castle should indeed be majestic, an immediate reminder of the glory of whoever sits on its throne. And if nobody sits on it, you get someone to.     She walks in behind Riva, regaining her perhaps semi-murderous grin. "The place could use janitors, that's all. Let's make sure to note it to the lord."
Shin Tokuyama	"You have a letter."     Shin, who had been staying at a capsule hotel at the time, looked very baffled by this revelation from the owner of the place. But lo and behold, the letter exists and Shin opens it, "This better not be that goddamn Watchtower bullshit. I don't know how they keep finding me, but if I get one more, I'm gonna Witness my foot up someone's ass, I swear."     He tears open the letter and reads it, tilting his head at the contents of the letter and furrowing his brow a bit, "Cainhurst? Stagecoach? I guess." He ponders it, "I guess..."     Later down that same timeline, when the stagecouch actually arrives at an appointed time, Shin is very confused by precisely what is happening.     "HEY MISTER ED. What is even going on with this nonsense?" He shouts to the mysterious, driverless carriage, "This is some straight up horror movie nonsense, right here. Mysterious letters, driverless carriage, the suspicious smell of formaldehyde and greedy relatives."     The poor carriage is going to have to put up with this nonsense from him like... for an entire ride. And, in fact, when the carriage itself arrives, he's only finishing up the previous rant, "-because if this is seriously about some religious nonsense, you can just let me off right here and I'll..." He looks around, "Oh, we're here."     He shakes his head and gets out, "Man what the hell? Who hired Stephen King as a damn Architect?"
Ezio Auditore	The letter had come as a massive surprise to Ezio, confusing as it was that he'd been invited by someone from a world he'd never even heard of. As soon as he saw that stagecoach, he knew this was something that wasn't just exclusive to him. If these messages had made it to Ezio's doorstep without him or his even noticing the delivery at all, there is some /weird/ shit going on that demands investigating. That's the way this goes, isn't it?     Judging by his official looking suit and coat, he seems here on behalf of Heaven or Hell, a foreign mercenary to see this through, at least in terms of investigations given his skillset. The seat creaks as Ezio takes his spot on the coach, frowning. He's not normally this heavy, is he?     The disrepair of the coach is just another hint as to how weird this feels even to a man as seasoned as he.     The spooky ride mercifully ends, and he seems to share Riva's sentiments given how spooky this castle looks. "Let us not disappoint our hosts, then." He says with resignation. No point in dragging his feet, Ezio supposes.     The Martial Artist draws a confused look from Ezio before the assassin realizes the reference. "I would not know." He says, cool as a cat even in these foreboding surroundings. "I get the feeling however this will be the tip of the iceberg tonight, as some would put it."
Iosefka	To say Iosefka is confused by the sudden arrival of that letter is an understatement, to say the least. Why would /Cainhurst/, of all places, desire the presence of a Yharnam medic? Yes, the town is certainly renowned for its medical practices, and outside of the Healing Church Iosefka is clearly the best option, but of all places, why...     Still, the medic eventually finds time outside of her patients to make her way to the meeting place, carrying with her the metal cane she uses to fend off assailants and, tucked under her white robes, a repeating pistol ready with quicksilver bullets. Medicine is prepared in case it's needed; knowing what she recalls of Cainhurst, blood vials certainly seem to be in order. Wary, yet curious, she boards the rotting stagecoach and silently waits on the bumpy ride to her destination.     The doors suddenly swing wide. Chill wind prompts the woman to bundle up her robes a little closer, flipping up her hood over her grey hair. After a cautious moment, the doctor slips out of the coach, her metal cane leading the way before she straightens up on the cold stone of Cainhurst's entryway. Her eyes narrow as she takes in the cold, bleak walls of the castle; surely someone lives here, but that only draws out even more questions from the woman.     Especially so with the presence of others stepping out from their own carriages.     "Excuse me," Iosefka calls softly, raising a white-gloved hand to the others who've arrived, "were you invited here as well? Do any of you have any idea what this all is about?"
Lucatiel of Mirrah	One morning, Lucatiel of Mirrah had awoken beside her bonfire to find a letter laid neatly atop her belongings. Nothing missing; and her pet Najarala hadn't caught anything interesting. While normally she might be miffed that someone had slipped in and out so easily, curiosity had ultimately compelled her to follow the summons.   She had, of course, left with her weapons intact, and after a lot of hassle and headache she had convinced the Najarala to stay behind in her camp. And maybe said a silent prayer in hopes that it does not eat her horse.   Thus it is that the fencer of Mirrah disembarks from her coach with a wrinkled nose of disgust. The reek of age and grime are disagreeable. Free of the coach, though, she adjusts her hat, takes one last look at the empty driver's platform and the horses, and with a shake of her masked head she takes a few steps away from it.   The snowy estate is studied from behind that mask, and Lucatiel proceeds with her hand over the hilt of her estoc. Her greatsword and shield are both over her back, as well, and her free hand rises to adjust the tilt of her hat's broad brim.   It might have been a beautiful state, once, but... what a despicable place.   With a shrug, she slogs through the wind and weather, gritting her teeth against the shocking cold. She hadn't dressed for winter climes, and she's not particularly fond of winter, cold, or wet. Neither does she speak to her fellow arrivals just yet, instead occupied with studying this place she's found herself in, and wondering if maybe accepting that letter was one of her poorer life decisions...   Oh well.   Nothing to do but forge onward, right?   She does so -- but with a hand on the hilt of her estoc all the while.
Yuuki Kuran	What's that? Creepy letter from parts unknown with letters that pierce every layer of defense on the Kuran mansion, landed in a servant's hands, was about to be thrown in a fireplace when a Certain Princess Normal Girl grabbed it.     You see, Yuuki /never/ gets mail. Tearing the letter open with a finger, she reads the contents. "Hmm hmm, awaited in Cainhurst... Stagecoach... find your way down the mountain pass..."     Yuuki grins a big dumb grin. "Adventure! Out of the house! Yesssss!" She calls, fetching someone to get her coat. This is probably a horrible idea, and going to this place would be super dangerous, and that is why she called to Zero to meet her to come on the SPOOKY CARRIAGE RIDE TO BLOODTOWN!     Arriving, she steps out of the coach, draws in a deep breath, and immediately starts coughing and wheezing, drawing out a pair of sunglasses from her coat and shakily putting them on.     Yuuki attempts to play what assaults her nose off, like opening a bag of mixed veggies that's been bad for a month, by grabbing the freshly-arrived Shin and shaking him lightly. "It's you!" She shakes him slightly, sunglasses on her pale face making her look like a huge dork. "Don't abduct people on motorcycles!"     Cool. Good. She played it off. Nobody knowss.
Zero Kiryu	You know who /doesn't/ climb into mysterious vaguely magical carriages sent to him by anonymous post? Zero. Zero doesn't do that, in fact he stood outside seriously considering shooting the horses and trashing the carriage before a more pressing thought occurred to him. While he wasn't likely to jump into HIS carriage, he knew somebody who would jump into the back of HERS fairly quickly. Fortunately, Yuuki had the decency to actually telephone him and inform him of the incredibly dangerous shit she was about to stick her head into.     At least that happened.     Zero just issues something between a grunt and a great hissing sigh into the phone, and heads out to meet Yuuki. If he doesn't go with her, she'll just go on her own anyway. He emerges fromt he carriage behind her, his face immediately screwing up as he sniffs at the air. The stench of it hits him from a distance, but it's not even appetizing. It's old, ancient. Like a vast cellar that stored all of its goods wrong and turned them into so much rotting meat and glorified vinegar.     "What are you doing?" Zero asks Yuuki, as she throttles some guy he doesn't think he's familiar with. He's good at covering up his disgust at the smell, but holy shit it's bad.
Annalise	The great wooden door suddenly shudders and groans. Numerous pops and snaps follow, and a series of straining creaks. Another rumble, and sheets of thick-packed snow slide off the gatehouse roof as the doors begin to swing ponderously shut. Icicles fall like swords onto the stone stairs, only to crack into glittering shards on impact.     The cacophony ends as abruptly as it started, leaving behind a sharp silence.     Through the tall, narrow portal, sharp eyes can glimpse a vast empty courtyard, and sharp ears can hear something scuttle. The smell of old blood intensifies for a moment.
Lucatiel of Mirrah	Lucatiel all but jumps and whirls at the ominous roar of sliding ice and snow, and when she brings her shield up, it's just enough to deflect some of those scimitar-sharp icicles from doing very unpleasant things to her. The force of impact slides her back a step or two, but she manages to keep from being completely overrun, somehow.   When she straightens she looks a bit like a Mirrah snow-woman, with ice and powdered snow dusting her clothing, her hat, and the plumes that trail from the band of her hat.   With a disgusted sound she whips her hat off, baring blonde hair (which still has a little snow in it) to thump the offending white stuff off the leather and plumes. The mask still hides her features, but given that long, braided blonde hair, it's Probably A Woman, although she hasn't spoken yet.   She looks more grumpy than anything else as, without a word, she turns and proceeds to march straight forward into that tall, narrow portal to find out who in the hell dragged her here into this wintry wonderland of woe.   Apparently she has no problem with splitting away frmo the majority of the group.
Shin Tokuyama	"UWAH!" Shin cries out as he's grabbed and shaken. He wobbles on his feet a bit and then attempts to look at her when she begins to talk about abducting people on Motorcycles, "Dude whaaaaaaaat? I never did that. She had a mask, she was a hero in trouble. I left her at a Denny's."     Shin seems to lean in towards Yuuki and squint a bit, "Have we met?" He asks, not recognizing her out of her superhero persona of MOonlight Butterfly Princess Ruri. Either way, he's immediately distracted by the closing door and the massive uprise of noise.     "Oh wow, guys. Let's all hurry inside and split up and search different areas. Nn nn nn, sh sh sh, ka ka ka." He notes, immitating the stock horror movie noises.
Riva Banari	Some people arrive, but the first person Riva notices is Grimm. "Holy crap, you're dead." Riva says, not as a threat, but in shock. Immediately, she pats herself down. "Man, am I dead too? Did we just get rolled off to Death Castle in the Afterlife?" She looks like she's about to panic when she gets addressed by Mordred. "Oh, hi Mordred." She says, and then blinks. "Wait. You're not de-... Wait no, technically..." Then Ezio addresses her, and Riva blinks. "You too? Are YOU dead?" She asks, before she sees Yuuki and Shin and Zero show up. "HEY SHIN! YOU'RE TOTALLY NOT DEAD, RIGHT? Riva yells over to the group. Lucatiel doesn't seem to swing the issue one way or the other, but Iosefka manages to break Riva out of her panic with her question. "Uhhhh..." Riva pauses, and looks around. And then she shrugs. "Yeah, I was invited too. I have no idea what's uuuuuAAAAAAAAH!" Riva yells, almost jumping into the air as the massive gates begin to creak closed. "Wow, that's a hell of a greeting..." She mutters, before looking to the others. "Okay guys, let's do this." With a determined step, she breaks into a run, sprinting for the entrance with augmented speed. As she runs, she pulls a large, anchor-like mace from within her coat somehow, the two-handed weapon a forged and altered holy symbol of an Ivalician relgion. Riva mostly likes it because it looks like an anchor and blunt trauma is fun. She has a feeling she's going to need to use it.
Iosefka	Strangeness upon strangeness. Two people throttling each other, a corpse walking out of a stagecoach, a masked...person just walking right up to the castle...     Iosefka finds herself wondering if these people have already been taken by madness, or sickness; perhaps both. None of them show signs of beasthood, though, so despite how abnormal and clearly /not/ from this world they are, perhaps they're worth trusting for now.     -ah, but the door's closing. She can worry about them /later/ - she didn't come all this way just to be blocked out of this place, even as unsettling as it is. The medic rushes up slipping through the door before she gives herself a moment to stop. That was a little more exertion than she's used to, but she catches her breath after a moment and turns to face the others again. Though many are walking off already.     "Excuse me," she speaks up, some practiced firmness in her gentle voice, "but I would highly suggest you all try to stay together and remain cautious. What I have heard of this place is...troubling, to say the least."     The medic gives a quiet sigh, then bundles up her robes a little more in a futile effort for warmth. A quick glance is given around the courtyard. That cane is suddenly brought into a slightly more menacing stance than its earlier walking position as Iosefka shuffles closer to the rest of the group.
Ezio Auditore	Riva gets an amused look, "Unfortunately not yet." comes the dry, Italian accented man as he moves up the stairs. As Ezio takes a breath, he too feels the assault on his nostrils. Oh god, it smells like /death/ around here. He manages to play it off with class, but it's clear he's very uncomfortable here. Then again, everybody seems on edge so it's hard to blame him.     The Assassin just wonders how he got himself into this...     EARLIER THAT DAY     As Ezio inspects the curious letter, he feels a familiar presence enter his office. Mother's here, oh boy. "My boy, you seem to have forgotten a message today." Maria says, producing the letter with a red seal. "Seems addressed to you, what could it be?"     Ezio raises an eyebrow. Letters sent specifically to him usually mean bad things. "I must be slipping." He manages a smile, trying to play it off as a mistake.     "Perhaps. You /are/ getting there in years, my son." Maria points out, smiling impishly as she lays the letter on his desk, only for the message itself to slide out, already cut open with a knife. "Except you already read it."     While one would probably be quick to counter Maria's jabs of age, Ezio is smarter than most men out there. "I can't, I'm too bus-"     "That is what you said about the last invitation you got, and I won't have you throwing away your life by throwing yourself into your work, both public and otherwise! For god's sake, Ezio, you're already nearing fifty, live a little! How bad could it be?" There's just /no/ arguing with your mother, sometimes.     MEANWHILE, RIGHT NOW     Ezio all but sighs at how stupid that sounds now, before he's jarred from thought by the sound of icicles collidding with the ground. "MERDA!" He goes for a 92FS, before he realizes the doors are open. "...isn't that curious? Seems the doors are wide open for us." He muses, before he begins to usher himself and others through to the castle itself.     Inside, he immediately notes there's gonna be no butler here to guide the group along, and so he goes, brushing ice from his coat and only then does he pass through the portal. The courtyard is foreboding, but it beats being locked outside at this time of day.     Even so, Ezio can smell old blood briefly, and the word rushes through his mind, stupid as it sounds.     'Vampire.'     Now Ezio is getting worried.
Grimm Hardy	Grunt.     The Undead's black eyes turn to cast over the other arrivals, waxen lips setting in a scowl, brow knotting somewhere between a glower and a look of mistrustful confusion. The most he does is grunt at Riva. A vaguely affirmative sound to confirm the obvious.     He looks no better off than a walking corpse, really.     But when the doors creak open his hand is instantly resting on the handle of the katana at his hip, a quick backstep dragging furrows in the snow at his feet as icicles come crashing down. Before people start heading in. He pauses, sniffing at chill scent of tang and copper on the air.     "... Guess you all got a letter or something, too...?" Asked, looking particularly at Iosefka. "No clue."
Mordred	"I'm dead," Mordred simply answers. "I mean, that's kind of one of the major prerequisites for being summoned. Totally dead, spear to the spleen. By the way, if you ever get to choose how you die, say 'not a spear to the spleen'. Say like 'a spear to the neck' or something. You know, just friendly advise."     Evidently unbothered by the weather, the atmosphere, or even the smell, the Servant stuffs her hands in her pockets and strides forward, preferably before the doors close all the way.     "Yo, woobie girl," she says at Yuuki.     "And yo, combat hobo," she says towards Shin.     Iosefka gets a nod, as the Servant starts digging immediatly into the one person she's not heard much of (if any of?) in the group. "Yeah, some letter, wax-sealed old style and all. Never been here before, didn't even know the name in the first place. You sound like you know the land though. What've you heard, and what's your name?"     Oh, right. Manners.     "I'm Mordred. Sir Mordred, Mordred, Saber, Angry Person With A Sword, No Stop Please, whatever you want to call me. I don't judge. Just not 'miss,' 'lady,' or 'she.'
Zero Kiryu	"Hey. Useless. Get moving."     Zero snaps to Yuuki, as the doors begin to swing shut ahead of them. He's not coming all this way on her whim without at least figuring out what kind of dark power decided to call them here. And, preferably, putting a number of bullets in it. He pushes on ahead, still awaiting an explanation for Yuuki's actions towards Shin. As for Riva's inquiries, he offers a shake of his head. "We're not dead. Someone sent us messages I was going to rip mine up but useless there decided that it would be something fun to do. So here we are."     The pace that Zero walks at is deceptive. He's not actually moving as leisurely as he appears, merely walking very very quickly, but his quick walk covers an unnatural amount of ground relative to his level of exertion. A glance is cast up towards the doors, judging their approximate strength if they should need to force their way out. Between at least two of them, Zero is certain they could bust a hole in the wall, assuming there's not some kind of magic reinforcing them. If not, this place is shoddy enough that there's probably a hole somewhere ahead.     On the other hand, there's too much going on here that's obviously some kind of sorcery. There's no way that there isn't some kind of supernatural catch to this place.     After a moment or two of consideration, Zero offers some attention to the others in his surroundings. A number of blips on his radar, some of which are mildly concerning because he's not familiar with them. He asides to Mordred, "Base of the skull is ideal."
Yuuki Kuran	SPOOPY DOOR OPENS! It's very spoopy.     Yuuki shakeshakeshakes Shin, before. "Huh? Who am I? Wait, uh..." FLASHBACK     "I better wear a mask if I'll be using my powers! That way, nobody will know my terrible secret. Do I have a ma-Oh! Wait! My Brockton Bay persona!" END FLASHBACK     Yuuki looks very deadpan for a moment, and you can practically taste the 'oh wait'. "Oh. Um... Right. No! No you don't! Well, I mean, maybe you do, but... You shouldn't leave people at Dennys!" She notes, lecturing fingerwaggles to recover from social snarl.     "Oh! Hello, Miss Knight!" She calls to Mordred, confused. "Dead? We're not dea-Ze-roooooo!" She complains, being repeatedly called useless. It's not very good for her bulletproof self esteem! She feels very dented! "I'm not 'useless', I'-Oh wow the door is closing! We better hurry up!"     The idea that they are going to get trapped inside the spoopy door is not present in her head. Obviously if a door is closing, you should enter the area before it closes.     This is LOGIC!!!
Annalise	It isn't hard to make it through the gateway before it shuts.     On the other side, the party finds a broad courtyard tiled in fine granite. Snow sweeps across it in depths ranging from an inch to several feet; the deepest drifts are gathered into corners, and against the castle's walls. In the middle, the courtyard abruptly plunges into a steep, rocky ravine, and judging by the number of cracked and broken tiles lining the ravine's surrounding ledge, the ravine didn't appear until sometime after the castle's construction was complete.     To the right stands a lone tower. To the left, another stairway climbs a gentle slope to another pair of ornate doors. These doors are already closed tight against the cold, but some evidence of light and motion can be glimpsed through the windows framing the doors.     Of greater and more immediate wonder might be the strange skittering making its way down into the ravine, and the rounded, hulking shapes casting their shifting shadows upon the castle's dark gray walls. Nothing can be seen clearly, yet, but it's obvious that someone or something occupies the courtyard besides this mish-mash of an adventuring party.     The gate leading back to the stagecoaches and to safety closes with a surprisingly quiet thump.
Ezio Auditore	Ezio frowns. A church of blood is mentioned over the radio, and this narrative gets weirder and darker by the minute. He looks upwards briefly, spying gargoyles. They seem made of mere stone, but Ezio is generally the sort of guy who takes note of things in a vertical sense.     He frowns further as he steps through the snow, leaving tracks behind before the assassin spies a ravine.     Skittering draws Ezio's attention, and he himself produces his Beretta pistol, and immediately he springs into a defensive posture to Iosefka's aid. His pistol is leveled towards where he heard the skittering, his arm steady like a rock, and Ezio asides to the medic. "Keep close to me, this might get hairy."     Ezio, always the gentleman even when it's unnecessary, not that he's a jerk about it as he leaps to the young lady's defense.
Lucatiel of Mirrah	The Masked Knight slips into the gateway, and at the same time she draws the estoc at her hip, head turning from side to side to sweep the courtyard with a searching look. Sometimes she might like to take off the mask, but it would be better to stay concealed, here. Something about this place sets her nerves on edge.   Something skitters; something dark moves just at the edges of her vision, but Lucatiel doesn't give chase. Whatever-it-is vanishes too quickly, and she's not terribly thrilled with the notion of rushing to meet whatever-it-is. It's probably something disgusting, or terrifying, or disgusting and terrifying.   A roll of her shoulder drops her metal shield onto her left arm. Just in case. She walks forward, thus armed, and--   --the gate closes behind them. Of course it does. That's just exactly her sort of luck, isn't it?   Lucatiel stops and gives a long, exasperated, drawn-out sigh at the situation. With a faint shake of her head, she proceeds forward -- but cautiously, because those whatever-it-is things sounded /big/.
Iosefka	Scuttling. Iosefka may not know exactly what breed of beast the inhabitants of Cainhurst might have devolved into - or, damn the thought, maybe /bred/ for some sickening reason - but she knows full well that she won't be able to endure them. Especially not in the number that they seem to be crowding on the ravine and walls, whatever they are. The medic is quick to slip among the adventurous group, though her cane is still grasped firmly in her hands. Is she shivering from more than the cold?     Ezio suddenly slips in front of her, and Iosefka can't really object to the offer. She nods to the man, then glances aside to their options. "Inside may be safer," she offers. "It seems that door up there has some warmth. Whether we want to risk whoever is home, though..."
Shin Tokuyama	"No!" Shin shouts to Riva, "My solopsistic belief system says that if I die, the Universe goes with me. If you still exist independantly, chances are I'm not dead!" Shin says as he looks around. He's stopped listening to Yuuki as she lectures him, and instead he looks over to Mordred.     "Oh hey! It's that total badass that, if they were someone else, would be totally hot. But they're not someone else, so they're not hot, because they find that insul-*deep breath*-ing, so instead they're just awesome, but someone else identical would be pretty great," Shin says, waving to Mordred happily. He's pretty upbeat despite the girl grabbing onto him.     He does wind up tagging along with Yuuki (and by proxy Zero) as he trails after them and asks, "Oh, so like. An IHOP, maybe? Or a McDonalds?"
Riva Banari	"You have my condolences. That had to suck. Sadly, so far I haven't had much of a choice." Riva replies to Mordred, as they regroup in the courtyard. "Okay so /most/ of us are alive, so we haven't been hijacked to the afterlife. Proably." She glances around the courtyard and frowns, then looks to Iosefka. "So what have you heard about this place, miss...?" She asks. While waiting for her to answer, Riva shuffles around the courtyard, examining things before she huffs, slinging her hammer over her shoulder and putting her other arm akimbo in a displayof indignation. "This place is a goddamn wreck." She says, providing EXPERT*ANALYSIS. She then turns to the front door of the CASTLE proper, and looks over the big closed door. "HEY! SOMEONE IN THERE?" Riva yells up at the castle, before reaching out to thump her hand on the door in an attempt to get some attention.
Grimm Hardy	In through the door and Grimm's frown only deepens. Something... Tingling in the air sets even his pallid skin into clammy goosebumps in a mockery of life. "Thaaat's not natural." Grumbled under his breath, head snapping around when the door closes behind them, seemingly on its own.     Such is the luck of the Undead. Forever without light. Forever getting locked in deadly peril.     Brazenly he walks right up to the edge of the ravine, peering down as he reaches into one of his many pockets, producing a small, stone, glimmering and shimmering, changing color at each angle light falls on it.     And promptly drops it down.     This meaningless act performed he glances to the tower and stairs, but the sounds of skittering prompts him to reach into the band of his jeans, hand resting on the butt of a pistol ready to draw. It's a SIG. P226, for reverence, and though it looks battered, its in servicable condition.     "We're not alone."
Yuuki Kuran	Hey, that sounds like one of the locals! And the air is fresher here! "Excuse me!" Yuuki calls cheerily, after messing with radio a little. Mostly about something something 'it's not my fault', and a sour expression (nothing new!) on Zero's face. But, with all good things, they must come to an end.     There's a skittering, and then there's a confident striding. "Hello? We just want to talk! What is this place? Did you send the letters? Are you... making that noise? Hello! Yes, please, no, don't go down there!" Yuuki calls down the ravine, looking frownily down into the dark depths. "Well, I'm going to go check it out. Can't hurt, right?"     Shin, who is NO DOUBT following her into the jaws of madness and idiocy, gets a thoughtful response. "I don't know, maybe the local authorities would be better. Plus, McDonalds closes at night. Maybe Burger King? They're at least open late."
Mordred	"Yeah listen to that dude," Mordred says, motioning towards Zero. "He knows his painless executions." As compliments go, we'll have to see how Zero takes that.     "It's Sir Knight. Or Knight. Or just Mordred," she says, a bit annoyed, at Yuuki, but ultimately lets it slide because last time(s?) they'd met she was being a woobie. And still kind of seems to be.     The skittery gets the Servant's attention, but Ezio's actions seem to cause her to smirk more than frown at the fact they're surrounded. "Boy, you don't really look like the sort of guy who can take a hit straight to the gut, much less take it for someone else. Why don't you calm down until faces are actually being eaten," she simply says, before giving Shin a thumb-up in confirmation he Handled That Right. Mostly right. Sufficiently right she's not going to complain.     The Servant simply walks up the stairs, with intent to knock onto the doors. And if it won't get answered, and won't budge, with intent to rip the ornate gates out of their hinges, sockets or otherwise castle frame, and make them a way in the easy way.     "Well, you guys have fun poking the obvious hole full of nasties, I'm going to go find me a person in charge and question their tastes in castle upkeep."
Zero Kiryu	Zero peers ahead towards Lucatiel, straying towards the front of the group. An informal point man. It's not an easy job, and here it's a particularly unsafe one. His grumpy expression remains as he mutters into his radio, though it's not audible without taking a moment to deliberately listen. "I assume you can handle yourself, but don't get far ahead. This place is playing tricks on us, and I can hear something feeding nearby." To say nothing of the much more obvious figures, shadows, and sounds that stretch out around them. Ordinarily he'd take the left path, head towards that noise.     But right now, he's concerned that Yuuki is going to find some bad candy and eat it like a particularly dumb first grader, so he's determinedly staying near her.     To Mordred's compliment he answers, "Painlessness is a side-effect. The true goal of such a take-down is to prevent any involuntary actions after effective death. Destroying the brain stem prevents signals from being sent to the rest of the body, such as jerking a weapon held on a hostage. Good way to kill enemies who go out of their way to draw in collateral damage sources."     Silently waiting to see how Yuuki's actions resolve, Zero ponders. What do the people assembled here have in common? Why offer an invitation to them? His eyes flit between individuals. Several of them ping quite strongly and differently on his radar, though they're not quite the same as Yuuki. Neither are they normal, and one of them admitted to being dead already.     It would make sense if they were all some sort of psuedo-immortal, but that's not completely consistent among them...
Annalise	Riva and Lucatiel make quite the vanguard for Ezio and Iosefka. Both are proud knights in their own way. One ruled by the sword, the other by bees -- no matter their calling, their courage is remarkable. As they march up the next set of steps to brazenly knock on the castle doors, they pass a deeply-shadowed cemetery rife with the chilling sounds of more skittering, fleshy crunching, and a heart-stopping slrrrrrrrrp.     The sounds continue unabated. The stench of blood is unpleasantly strong.     Perhaps, if they just ignore it, nothing bad will happen...     The door under Riva's hand sways inward, and an inviting gust of beeswax and candlelight sweeps out to disturb the courtyard snow. Inside, a woman softly weeps.     Mordred's next insistent knock throws the doors wide open. The knight of sass can stride right inside without pause, if she so chooses. The chamber within is large, with the kind of central stairwell meant for dainty ladies to come striding down in a manner that would direct all attention to their pretty dresses and coiffures. There are long tables here with many seats and many candles, and here and there stand statues carved from marble. The whole place is made from marble. High-polished to a smooth and elegant sheen, it lacks the dark patina of obvious age. Someone here has been taking care of --     Gray skirts sweep a semicircle across the floor as a half-seen woman turns from the party's entry, her face in her hands, her sobs muffled. A column blocks her from view.     The ravine becomes flooded by a greenish light as Grimm casts his prism stone into its depths. The light also illuminates the shadows therein, and reveals hard chitin, multi-jointed limbs, and a membrane sack swollen by something red.     The human-like head attached to this horrific body cocks toward the ravine's ledge. Its eyes light up in a hungry glow. A too-long tongue, more proboscis than anything human, uncoils from its maw to flick at the air.     More skittering, and more such figures emerge. They begin to leap their way up the ravine's walls. From rock to rock, from ledge to ledge, at least four of these creatures are on the move.     And Grimm's not even in sight any longer to take the heat! Only Yuuki's in the way of these things. Oh dear. Fortunately, Zero and Shin are both close enough to do something very heroic.
Iosefka	Iosefka's attention turns to Riva once she's addressed, and she offers a small, concerned frown. "Iosefka. I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. In any case...I have heard nothing good of Cainhurst. Where the Healing Church found their special, healing blood, those of Cainhurst instead found something...vile. Unnatural. It was condemned by the Church, but those of Cainhurst - who began to be known as the Vilebloods - spread it amongst themselves and their aristocracy."     The medic continues moving up to the main doors as she answers Riva's question. "While I don't know exactly what they did in these walls, their corruption threatened the purity of the Church's blood healing, and so, long ago, Martyr Logarius led his legion of executioners into the castle to cleanse it of Vilebloods. None of them returned. It seems they must've been at least somewhat successful, though..."     The slightly warmer air from inside the castle brings Iosefka to relax, at least a little. Some tension eases from her body, and she lifts a hand to push back her white hood as she looks into the wide hall inside. She's certainly not going to lead the way, but she'll at least take a look at what's-     Iosefka's metal cane is suddenly thrust between her vanguards, pointing straight at the woman that slips behind a pillar. This close to the cane, its sharpened edge becomes much more obvious, as well as the end narrowed into a weaponized tip. That cane's not just for walking.     "Stay back from them, whatever you do," Iosefka hisses with clear wariness, glaring at the pillar.
Ezio Auditore	A woman who mixes fashion with function. Ezio's getting to like this woman more and more by the minute. He stays near Iosefka, pointedly letting Mordred's snide jabs slide by in a moment of graciousness.     His hands don't release the pistol even as they wander inside, and when Iosefka holds a strange weeping woman at canepoint, he is quick to augment her with a pistol aimed downrange as well.     "Typical, the decadent align themselves with the affluent. Curious they would split from the church, however." In his experience, the corrupt and cruel tend to blurr together, rich, poor, atheist, Christian, Christian-just-for-the-status, etc.     His eyes narrow at the pillar, and he tries to get a closer look at the person /behind/ said pillar as well.
Riva Banari	To be fair, a tiny part of Riva's courage is likely fueled by her experiences in resurrection. Most of it is fuelled by being next to the giant magical walking tank that is Mordred, not to mention the Combat Vagrant, the Assassin, and the Vampire Killer present. Meanwhile, Iosefka is apparently a native to... wherever they are! Riva brightens immediately as she gets IMPORTANT BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE from the medic. "Awesome! Riva Banari, nice to meet you!" She offers a hand to Iosefka as they get inside. As she shakes or not, Riva continues to lead the way next to Mordred. The inside of the castle looks much nicer! Riva's eyes brighten as she looks around. "Hey, the outside needs some work, but it looks like the inside is fine!" The mysterious woman, however, causes Riva to frown. "Is something the matter, ma'am?" she says, dropping her guard for the moment as she looks back to Iosefka. "Are you sure? I mean, she looks like in trouble. Everyhing should work out fine, right? We can talk to her. That shouldn't hurt anything." She says as she heads over towards the column. "Ma'am, we're here to help, What happened?"
Zero Kiryu	"You are inferior predators. Leave."     Zero reaches into his coat and draws out Bloody Rose, for a few instants appearing to be little more than a simple firearm with a fancy engraving job. Seconds after it is exposed to air however, metallic tendrils laced with thorns wind their way from the gun and whip out in a broad pattern that surrounds and encircles Yuuki, producing a perilous situation to approach. They won't strike without prompting, but if the strange beasts that have chosen Yuuki as their prey approach too closely, they'll find the tendrils whipping out at improbable speeds. Latching on, rending and drinking them in, if they should prove too slow to avoid them.     Privately, the Hunter really would prefer if these things had the good sense to recognize that they ARE facing a predator they can't overcome. He might be getting ahead of himself, they might be a great deal more powerful than they appear to be. But he finds it unlikely that they're any worse than the horrors of that Noble's castle.
Shin Tokuyama	"Oh yeah, a Burger King. Those are pretty legit, I guess?" He asks as he looks at Yuuki a few moments, considering it.     "WOAH." Shin calls out as he spots the fairly disgusting monsters. Shin has fought some weird stuff since coming to the Multiverse, but those things take the cake in terms of bizarre creatures. And they're almost unbearably disgusting to look at. Which causes Shin to fall back to his main defense mechanism:     "Who managed to turn Giger's Spank Bank into a living creature? Holy shit," Shin calls out, stepping forward a couple times and coiling back his fist. It wreathes with Red Fire and he manages to thrust the hand forward and fire a quick-moving projectile that will cause an explosion of flame if it hits, "Ryuuken!"
Mordred	"You sound like you do this for a living," Mordred idly comments at Zero, before she actually takes off to harass a door, which actually doesn't require ripping off to open. She splits off from the group as such, entering the large chamber seemingly designed to be a ballroom, or at least a large dinner room.     She's about to comment about the well-kept nature of the room, compared to the rest of the castle she's seen so far (so, the exterior, and the courtyard, not very insightful), when she spots the ghostly or just very quick woman, sobbling and hiding behind a column. She decides to approach, a dance she's done a dozen times in the past; she strides straight, confident, and carries a certain charisma now that she didn't have before.     Also maybe the fact she's technically a magical ghost will help, if this IS a ghost and not just a very creepy woman.     "We ARE here to help. Or at least figure out why we were invited."
Grimm Hardy	For the record, with all the skittering, after dropping his Prism Stone, Grimm did in fact wander off. He decides to follow Mordred; and not tangle with the ugly creatures in the ravine, so he heads right up those steps and to the door, with the others.     Notably, he remains towards the rear of the group. "So this is like Vileblood central, isn't it?" He rasps to Iosefka. Of course the woman darting behind the pillar is no reason for him to take his hand off the butt of his handgun.     "That one of 'em, or just some weepy bitch?" A pause. "I'm not here to help. And I want to be here even less now."
Yuuki Kuran	You know what's spooky? Not doors. Horrible chitinous creatures with human heads and bellies of sloshing blood-substance. The prism stone being thrown into the ravine reveals what Yuuki had thought to be a local to be - truly monstrous. Certainly a local, though!     A local that is given negative reinforcement to attacking her, with the 'wall' of thorns created by Bloody Rose. And... Shin using some sort of projectile? He's not using a weapon! Wild!     Yuuki draws her own weapon, though she doesn't activate it, instead just looking down at the creaures. "Why do they have human heads? And... Is that blood sloshing around inside them? Did they /eat/ people?"     Yuuki squints into the darkness, giving a little sniff-sniff but probably not getting any new intelligence. "Zero, Mister Person-I've-Never-Met, can you see any victims around? Maybe someone needs help? Or, well, since you attacked them, we can probably destroy them."     She looks a little sad. "They don't seem very keen on attacking."
Lucatiel of Mirrah	Continuing down the corridor, the Knight of Mirrah leads with her blade and stays firmly planted behind her shield. The cemetary is very blatantly ignored by Lucatiel; not because she's particularly /afraid/ of it, but because she really doesn't want to deal with ravening hordes of undead on /top/ of whatever other weirdness this place obviously has going on.   Behind the mask, she wrinkles her nose at the stench of blood. That bothers more than the sounds, but she couldn't articulate why.   Half a glance is cast to Riva, but the other woman seems committed to going in. With a resigned shrug, Lucatiel shoulders the door aside once Riva and Iosefka resolve themselves to entering.   The weeping woman is given a hard look from beneath the mask, but comforting distraught people is nnnnot part of Lucatiel's usual skillset. In fact, she's very good at driving them into the state the woman is in right now! Obviously, that isn't very good at getting answers out of her, so she'll leave the weeping woman to Riva, Iosefka, and whoever else has trailed along behind. She'll put up her shield and sheathe her estoc, only long enough to investigate the hall itself.   Her footsteps are soft as she paces the perimeter of the room, looking for something, anything, that might identify this place. Where is this? To whom did it once belong? What happened here?   "Something happened in this place." Her voice is low, female; a woman's, but distorted by that unsmiling mask. Her tone is also quiet and thoughtful, almost distant. "I wonder what. If you can find no answer out of the woman, then we will move on, if that is satisfactory."   Lucatiel pauses, half-turning to regard Iosefka from the corner of an eye. "You," she says, simply. Mostly because she missed Iosefka's name. "You seem familiar with this place. Where are we? What do you know of the history of this place...?"
Annalise	Giger's spank bank? A close enough comparison. The creatures springing from the ravine look to be part man, part spider, part mosquito, and part flea. Some of their bag-like bellies are swollen and taut with blood. Others are to the point of emaciation. All are warped in their proportions from twisted head to claw-like toe.     One skirts the thorny protections surrounding Yuuki to leap at Shin. Incredible speed propels the beast forward as it screeches its hunger, but it's not fast enough to elude the gout of fire heading its way. Scorching heat burns through layers of the monster's chitin and flesh to etch gaping black wounds across its body. A high-pitched wail escapes its maw, before it rallies itself and thrusts its proboscis toward Shin like a flurrying blade. It seeks to latch onto his body as well as to beat him into submission. Its fists and claws enhance the frenzied attacks.     Two other monsters keep a wary distance from Zero and Yuuki. The third creeps closer, more starved and therefore more bold than its companions. It tries to leap at the fence, and to pit twisted limbs against the might of Bloody Rose. When it loses its proboscis and its hand in a spray of blood, it continues to thrash, until one of the other monsters takes advantage of its injury and moves in for the kill. Monster feeds on monster as the beast drags its bleeding kin away into the ravine.     The fourth follows, perhaps content to pursue what it thinks will be an easy meal.     Inside the castle, Mordred and Riva approach the weeping woman. She doesn't stir from her posture, and in fact hunkers over herself more as they try to offer comfort. As the next breeze skitters by from outside -- blowing with it a few snowflakes -- her form almost fades completely from sight. It strengthens a moment later, becoming less ethereal, her body more visible the louder she wails.     More weeping becomes audible, but not from this woman alone. Across the hall, another gray figure sobs into her hands as she fades in and out of view. And another. And another. Yet another scrubs at the floor. Another claws at the walls. These ghostly maids all mourn for something, but it's not clear what...     The stairwell leads to a broad walkway and more doors and rooms. Movement flickers on the edges of Lucatiel's vision. There may be more wraiths above, or something else. Any doors she finds in the main chamber are sealed by the passage of time.     The ghost before Mordred rakes her fingernails down her cheeks. Bloody red tracks appear as she gives a terrible SHRIIIIIEK that echoes throughout the castle.
Iosefka	Iosefka's frown sharpens a little more as Riva and Mordred seem intent on approaching what she believes to be a Vileblood. She's not lashing out, though; she /is/ a medic, first and foremost, and if there is someone in trouble here, her hippocratic oath demands that she ensure their safety. Although...     "Logarius's raid on Cainhurst took place long ago," she speaks up, trying to keep some gentleness in her voice. "Before I was born, certainly. I doubt that anyone here would be the kind we should save."     The doctor nearly jumps out of her skin when Grimm suddenly shows up right nearby; it's all she can do to keep herself from driving her cane into him, but fortunately she looks before her nerves get the better of her. She obviously looks spooked, but she does take a moment to breathe before she replies. "Yes. Everyone here was a Vileblood. I'd have to assume she is, too. The nobles of Cainhurst were synonymous with Vilebloods, so any who stayed here must have become them eventually."     A huff is given before she looks aside to Lucatiel. "As I mentioned before, it was the castle belonging the the nobility that arose around the power of an accursed blood that was obtained, one counter to the Healing Church's blood. They must have been massacred after Logarius and his Executioners came here to purge them, or...perhaps they were consumed by the plague of beasts." She shakes her head, then. "I have never been here before-"     The blood-chilling shriek from the ghostly woman immediately draws Iosefka's attention. She whirls around, suddenly snapping that cane down: its blade abruptly segments, splitting into several jagged segments that all seem to be linked together by a flexible thread that still tugs it into a blade-like shape. The medic snaps suddenly, her gentleness giving way to firmness as she points up to the stairs further ahead. "Get away from them! Move!"
Ezio Auditore	"Tch." Ezio seems fine with the idea of leaving these vilebloods to their fate himself. They can suffer for as long as they continue to clinging to life for all he cares, so long as it's karmic retribution for their hubris. He's kind of a jerk like that, turning up his nose to the nobility. All that sentiment can be gleamed just from one simple scoff from the Assassin, and he gives Iosefka a glance.     She seems like the only person who has half an idea what the hell's going on, which makes her someone at least worthy of trust at arm's length for the time being. Maybe it's just the-     Well, now Ezio's DEFINITELY convinced it's a good idea to listen to the pretty young apothacary for the moment. "What are they?!" He demands, just as he's about to head upstairs, quickly trying to put as much distance between himself and these ghosts.
Mordred	"So long story short, the nobility here messed with blood powers they shouldn't have, died, and now they're special undead?" Vileblood, Mordred can't say she's heard the term before, but the ghostly appearance is enough to say 'undead' without too much margin for error, she feels.     But before she can question Iosefka further on the facts, the woman is screaming, and like a banshee it's kind of painful for the ear, but also seems to be dangerous beyond just that, if the medic's reaction is anything to go by.     Mordred frowns, and Clarent flares into existence in her left hand, the long, surprisingly dazzling silver sword, obviously meant for two human hands to hold, just sort of appearing out of red and blue sparks of mana.     And then Mordred thrusts it towards the woman, almost lazily.     "Whatever, I'm a ghost, I can kill ghosts," she says, although odds of being heard while the spirit is SCREAMING seem pretty low. She is, however, not going to fuck around with something that may or may not be capable of killing them.
Lucatiel of Mirrah	Turning slightly, the Masked Knight frowns in the direction of the soft-spoken medic, although the other woman can't see it. This story is not the kind thing she wants to hear, because hearing that the creepy, weird castle you've just been locked inside is infested with horrible monstrosities is not exactly comforting. No, not even to Lucatiel.   "These names mean nothing to me." The woman's masked face shakes. "I trust these 'Vilebloods' are some manner of monstrosity, for the way you speak of them, surely. I--"   She freezes for a moment as Grimm suddenly appears in their number, but that's just because she's blinking owlishly at him. Where did he come from? Still, he seems to have been invited, so presumably he's not going to murder them horribly or anything like that... but she's still keeping an eye on him all the same.   Lucatiel shrugs one shoulder, unfazed by Iosefka's huff. "So. These people were involved in some sort of blood-cult, and the local equivlent to the Church came down upon them like a proverbial ton of bricks. So, then, any left must then be Vilebloods, too. Charming. I do not think--"   Twice in a row she's interrupted, this time because there is SUDDEN HORRIBLE SHRIEKING trying to make her ears bleed in new and interesting ways. Lucatiel claps her hands over the points of her mask that ought to be where her ears are, snarling.   Iosefka's neat trick doesn't escape her notice even as she tries to buffer that shrieking, though. Thankfully she's on the other end of the room, and in the time it takes Iosefka to snap her warning, Lucatiel's reached up to draw that massive Mirrah cavalry greatsword over her back.   "Is there aught left to save, healer? Or shall we put it down as a kindness?" Her voice is flat; and it seems she's genuinely, honestly waiting for Iosefka's opinion on the matter before she takes any action.
Shin Tokuyama	"Yeah! Burn you piece of shit!" Shin calls out as the monster gets scorched. Of course, the monster doesn't actually die from that, which means that Shin actually has to deal with the fact that it's alive, it's injured, and it's pissed off. That makes it incredibly dangerous, but, he can't let Yuuki down in terms of trying to protect her from these monsters along with Zero.     That's why when it thrusts in towards him, Shin goes under the probuscus. This puts him in danger of the claws and fists, though, and those both beat against his body painfully and open even more painful deep and bleeding wounds across his body. It's actually a fairly painful thing for Shin to endure, but he will for both the same of victory and for style.     So with a heaving strain of his muscles, Shin lifts the monster up over his head and across his shoulders. He wobbles in his footing before he yells abruptly, "FUCK YOU, GUY!"     This is followed by him hoisting the creature and suplex-throwing it to the ground with a massive burst of ki and strength.
Riva Banari	Riva almost looks like she feels sorry for the ghost... Until she rakes her face and screams. With a yell of fear, Riva backpedals and falls back on her butt in the face of the noise, and she looks alarmed as she sees many more ghosts. "Um.... How about we move on! This is a great idea." Riva says, scrambling back to her feet and trying to urge people to listen to Iosefka. She has an AWESOME idea according to Riva. She heads for the stairs herself.
Annalise	The shrieking doesn't stop; it escalates. One after another, the visible ghost women take up the banshee-like wailing of the first, until the castle seems to shudder from all the sorrow swelling up inside it. Blood fountains up from the first wraith's mouth into a violent upward spray. The blood paints a violent contrast to her bleak, colorless body. Even as Mordred's sword pierces her torso and sends her toppling over into nothingness, the blood continues to spray, and wherever it falls it burns like poison. Riva may feel it, and Mordred, too.     The other ghosts begin to pursue Iosefka, Ezio, and Lucatiel. Hands extended, lips curled into a vengeful sneer, they let their feminine beauty transform into something bestial. Riva, heading up the stairs, is the first to escape the rushing tide. The ghosts seem to ignore her. Ahead of Riva, down the hall, another chamber stands open. There is equipment here for sewing, and for other servant tasks. More ghosts huddle in the shadows, their mourning more muffled and controlled. Past them -- the outdoors. The parapets, it must be. There are gargoyles outside, and more of those strange marble statues...
Zero Kiryu	They'd rather eat each other than risk a more threatening foe. Zero acknowledges this by turning his attention towards the lingering pair of monsters and lazily firing his weapon towards one of them, trying to cripple the damned thing so it can't put up a fight. Maybe it'll drag its buddy off into the ravine and they'll be rid of it now. He says to Yuuki, "They're vampiric animals of some kind. There's not going to be anything left of anyone who was here before us, and since one of them looked like it was starving we can ascertain that viable food sources haven't come by for a while."     "At most, there might be something to bury. Bones. Possessions."     It leaves a bitter taste in Zero's mouth, and on second thought he decides that he'd rather exterminate these beasts than simply turn them on each other. The tendrils whip about, snaking into the ravine and beginning to expand. They seek nothing more or less than blood, and so, naturally they will go after the bloated blood-filled growths that house these creature's meals.     Except the one Shin is fighting. Zero assumes he's alright, and doesn't try to shred his opponent.
Ezio Auditore	Ezio very hurriedly continues up the stairs. Thankfully these things seem capable of dying, even as they grow far more menacing when Mordred busts one.     That poison blood makes him very happy he brought a gun to a ghostfight tonight, and he levels the nine to fire a doubletap at one of the ghosts. "Iosefka, with me!" he calls to the medic, already in mind to protect her and let the tanks handle these things up close. He forgot his axe tonight, hard to hide that under a suit jacket you see.     As he heads upstairs, assuming Iosefka is already on her way as it is, he takes note the gargoyles he saw from earlier when they reach the sewing room, and he makes his way through the door leading towards the parapets outside, cocking one eyebrow to the marble statues with curiosity.
Mordred	Mordred does manage to shank a ghost! Unfortunately it sprays corrosive blood everywhere. That's a lot less fun. She takes a step back to shake the liquid off her skin, and then dons her armor, silver and red, heavy plate covering her whole body save her head, essentially out of thin air, forming from red and blue wisps of magic. Now that she's armored, her walking around will clink and clank a lot more, but she seems completely unbothered by the excessive armor, movements-wise.     With everyone retreating up the stairs, the Saber closes the gap in a single leap, landing at the rear of the retreating group and making a wide arc with her sword. Red energy like lightning dances across the blade, extending the reach of the slash with a red, deadly shockwave of pure offensive magic, essentially trying to fell the first wave of pursuing banshees to buy the group a moment.     And, perhaps, to satisfy some of her bloodthirst for jackass screaming ghosts. She'll follow after the group once they've all gotten off the staircase and ahead to wherever.     "So you HAVEN'T ever seen ghosts like this?" she idly asks Iosefka, just to confirm.
Grimm Hardy	Iosefka merely gets a stare, a silent, tired, flat look from black eyes when she comes near close to stabbing him, Grimm shows little in the way of being ready for it, save perhaps for the hand resting lazily on the grip of his katana. Lucatiel's stare is met with one equally in return, silent and hard.     The phantom woman's shriek however makes his grip tighten, at the sound and face-raking display. The more ghosts he sees, however he sets his lips into a thin line. "That's not creepy at all." Sarcasm however probably probably does not translate well, when his voice doesn't rise above a rasping monotone.     HOWEVER the resident expert on the locale says to move and he's not going to question it for the moment, drawing his gun from his belt and quickly exchanging one magazine for another, as the wailing hits a crescendo of riotous shrill ear-searing pain. He's already bolting after the others, attempting hand snapping up to squeeze the trigger, he takes a pot shot at one of the vengeful phantoms, bullets streaking a blue phosphorescent light behind them as he takes off after the others.
Iosefka	"They can't be anything human anymore - there's nothing left to save," Iosefka shouts back to Lucatiel before rushing up the stairs. She winces in pain as shrieks echo through the castle, lifting her hands to try and cover her ears. Blood is flying from them, ghosts though they may be; strange, but this is all so unfamiliar to Iosefka already that it almost seems to just meld together.     She pauses suddenly in the next room: there are several of them here, too, but it seems they're not interested in doing anything to the adventuring group as long as they're not disturbed. Still, whether Iosefka wants to risk something like that in the first place is up for debate.     "Stay away from them," the doctor says a little more gently to the others. "We need to get away from them if we can, though. It looks like there's some space outside that should be open, if we want to progress. There must be /someone/ sane here..."     To Mordred's question, Iosefka can only shake her head before cautiously moving onward to outside. "The only strange things I've seen before are beasts, creatures like men turned to wolves. At least those still had corporeal forms, but whatever caused this...it could have been the corrupted blood, but the Executioners were known for using strange powers themselves. The unrighteous, they said, could be called to their aid as repentance in death."
Annalise	There's no pleasant way to describe it; the blood-swollen creature Shin suplexes to the ground explodes apart. Like a water balloon tossed on a cheery summer day, the blood-filled bag stretched out from the beast's stomach bursts into ruin. Red sprays out in all directions -- not in a fine, pretty mist, but in stringy globs and half-coagulated lumps. Some of the fresher blood still reeks of warmth and life as it coats Shin, and probably Zero, too. Yuuki probably got her share of blood spray already.     Bloody Rose carves a serpentine path of ruin throughout the ravine. Its thorny tendrils find prey in great number: bloated beasts; gnashing maggots; and even a ravaged body or two that still twitches with the last dregs of life. Terrible and unstoppable, the weapon creeps its way into every crevice and cranny, digging out whatever evil calls the ravine home. More bloodlickers shriek their death cries. Other, more animal voices bellow in horror. There is nothing there that can resist the weapon's relentless hunt.     Finally, all goes quiet -- quiet enough that the wailing of ghosts can be heard by the ravine group. Yuuki, Zero, and Shin will have their attentions gripped by whatever is going on within the castle.     Or maybe they'll find that lone tower too fascinating to pass up?
Annalise	The red half-circle of power loosed by Mordred's sword cleaves the front ranks of pursuing ghost-women into fast-fading shreds. Sticky, gooey blood spattered across the floor is all that remains following their destruction. A few other banshees continue to pursue, but seem to hesitate at chasing Mordred and the rest up the stairs. They cluster at the base of the steps to radiate their impotent rage.     Not long after Mordred climbs the steps, the ghost-women beging to disperse back to their original positions, to resume their quiet pacing and quiet weeping. It's almost as if they'd never been disturbed at all...     In the servant's room, the other ghosts also appear to be undisturbed, and will remain that way if no one's foolish enough to disrupt their pacing or their weeping. One ghost woman gazes with despair into a hand mirror. Another runs her fingers along what appears to be a ruined embroidery pillow. Yet another leans into a statue's cold frame as if in search of a lost love's embrace. Their weeping goes on forever, and cuts deep into the hearts of any sympathetic listeners. There is little sorrow in the world as deep as what these women possess.     Outside, the battlements provide a gargoyle-lined walkway to another building in the castle complex. The gargoyles themselves are no less decayed than the rest of the castle, but whoever carved them was expert in crafting their hateful, snarling faces. Why, they look almost real...!     Fortunately, the stone does not come to life tonight. The castle continues through another ghost-filled study in surprisingly good repair and into a vast, multi-storied library. The wooden shelving framing the walls is heavy with tomes and scrolls. The air smells like dust and leather and parchment. It'd be almost pleasant, if not for that incessant, heart-wrenching weeping!     Oh, and the clatter of armor that is distinctly not Mordred's.
Mordred	"Executioners? Actual people who execute people sentenced to death in court or by the king, or are you talking about something else? Like, inquisitors, or whatever. Hunters. Because I can't think of a reason an executioner would want his victims to stick around, much less to help." Mordred asks Iosefka, once the ghostly women have withdrawn. There's corrosive blood on her armor now, presumably slowly eating away at it until it stops, or seeping through joints to melt through cloth and skin inside.     But, at least, no more screaming ghosts.     The ear relief is INTENSE.     They pass through the gargoyle-lined battlements, causing the Servant to eye the statues warily. If this place is as spooky and haunted as it seems, it's just a matter of time before the gargoyles get up and take matters into their own hands. They DON'T, go figure, but she keeps an eye on them anyway.     The clatter of steel is something she's more familiar with though; paying no mind to the smell, the ghosts they came across, the books or the fact this library is well-kept too, she instead sets about to look for the source of the noise. Are they finally going to get to talk to a real person, not a banshee?
Shin Tokuyama	"Gross. Shark week," Shin comments as he stands up, wiping the disgusting blood off his facefirst and foremost. He takes off the suit coat and uses what dry portions are on the interior of it to wipe more blood off his face, "Make sure that crap doesn't get in my mouth. The last thing I wanna do is come down with some nasty-ass case of Gigerrhea."     He tosses the bloody coat to the side and makes a grossed-out face before starting to walk along. Yuuki and Zero get a somewhat boisterous and bombastic thumbs up gesture from him, "Yeah, see, no sweat?"
Grimm Hardy	That was certainly an eventful romp. Reaching the battlements with the others, Grimm puffs for a moment, breathing despite his horrible looking status of Undeath, though no breath actually mists visibly in the snowy chill. With the screaming no longer making his ears bleed, he digs a pinkie into one and wriggles it a beat, before dark eyes squint upwards at something.     He keeps a LEERY berth from the Gargoyles though, but remains gaze narrowed upwards. Before licking his lips and lining up his pistol, practically glaring down the iron sights when inside the library, and squeezes the trigger.
Lucatiel of Mirrah	"I have no intention of getting any closer than I must," the masked woman retorts to Iosefka, somewhat disdainfully. That shrieking thing is already making a valiant effort at destroying her eardrums. She would rather not encourage the trend. "If that is the case, if you truly think there is little left to save, then so be it."   Lucatiel eyes the weeping women with disdain, although she doesn't do anything to provoke them. She sidles away and around them on the periphery of the room, the silk of her shirt rustling with a whisper. The greatsword is returned to its shoulder scabbard, leaving her hands free, and she makes a gesture of annoyance. "This place is nearly as wretched as Drangleic," she mutters, mostly under her breath. "Without even the promise of souls. I sincerely doubt anything here would be of use for any purpose..."   The mask turns back to Iosefka, silent at mention of men turning into wolves. It's better than live men turning into dead men, but she withholds comment.   That spectral weeping is getting distracting.   Into the library they go, and Lucatiel toes a pile of disentegrating books on the floor as they go. No weeping women here, but she can still hear that wretched sound. On a whim, she looks up, regarding the ceiling. Maybe she's making sure nothing up there is going to fall on them from above. You never know...   "There is a ladder up th--"   Grimm's already shooting at it, and in the time it takes Grimm to line up a shot, Lucatiel practically jumps and whirls, staring hard at the pistol and shot. Not, it seems, out of any lack of familiarity with the weapon (although that's part of it); but a distinct tension to her, as though suddenly made severely uncomfortable (which is most certainly the case).   She says nothing, though somewhat curiously, she actually backs a step away from him.
Yuuki Kuran	The sentiment that there are no survivors makes the brownhaired girl sad. In the sense that some people would get teary over the idea that there are starving children in africa or particularly destitute conditions in various areas, or sad pictures of cats in the rain and such. Yuuki Kuran is that kind of person. But, for all of her SHOJO ANGST, there is also the steel of protagonism. And, so she prepares to unleash her own powers to put the creatures out of their own starving misery when Zero decides he's done with this, and blat blat goes the sound of the gunblast, as well as the SHOUSH of Shin's street fighting unleashing not just a can, but a whole crate of whoop-ass.     She would dust off her snowcoat but not a drop got on her - Bloody Rose is a greedy gun. "I wouldn't eat that, either. I think that blood's no good." She offers, somewhat airily. Yes, the blood is bad. It was also in the belly of a terrible starving bloodbag bug chitin horror monster.     The hot factoids.     Well, there's a tower. "Let's go check out that tower! Everyone else is checking out that house... building... other thig, the place behind the door, so this way, we'll clear out the areas! Sound good?" She asks, with cheer, sounding like they're gonna have a committe session over this.     And then promptly she turns, and just heads right for the tower, up the stairs. Screw your comitte. This is an elaborate WoW-style escort quest and this NPC know show to run, you jags.
Ezio Auditore	The lack of screaming is relief, as Ezio frowns to notice his ears have also been bleeding this whole time. The whole time and he didn't even notice, goddamn is he slipping in his old age. Squinting briefly, he then glances upwards to spy a ladder amid something up high, also wary of the gargoyles.     "I think if-" And Grimm's shot it. Like Lucatiel it seems Ezio's already getting shown up, not that he minds, he wasn't sure if shooting the damn thing would work anyways.     That said, Grimm's a hell of a marksman who has much better experience with firearms than Ezio does, at least modern semi-automatics anyways.     Holstering his Beretta, he waits for Grimm to begin climbing before he does the same thing, opting to take a look at things from up high if possible.
Riva Banari	The blood splash hits Riva's clothing and it hisses upon contact with flesh. "AGH! THIS IS NOT MAKING IT ANY EASIER!" Riva yells as she bails to the stairs. The chaos of Mordred going to town on the spectres frames Riva heading upstairs and getting away to the upper floor. Riva, now sneaking instead of running, peers into the servant rooms and promptly sighs, frowning and scowling to herself as she quickly moves past onto the battlements. She doesn't pester the ghosts. There's nothing Riva can do to help them except maybe dispatch them, and Mordred is doing a hella job handling that for now. Riva pops along the battlements, quietly moving with anyone else who follows along, but she does take a moment to speculatively poke a couple of the hideous gargoyles. "Wow." She says. "I can't believe there's people out there who are /this/ good at making almost... lifelike-looking horrible things." She mutters, before she moves along into the library. She's just... scouting the place out. And totally not trying to hide from screaming ghosts trapped in an eternal circle of damnation and horror. Right. In the library, Riva pokes around at the books. Maybe some of them might be useful reading, but she tries to keep quiet. It would not do to get blindsided again. It's when she hears the clatter that she pokes her head around a set of shelves, and blinks as she sees what's making the noise. She weighs her options, before she steps out with her hammer held defensively. "Hey, are you a good guy or a bad guy?" She asks the armored man who is approaching the others. Oh Riva, still not willing to just shank first and loot later...
Iosefka	"Not quite Hunters, though an earlier form of them, in a way," Iosefka corrects Mordred, shaking her head. She takes a moment to thud her segmented cane into the ground, sending up a brief flash of sparks as the individual segments are locked back together into a single length. She huddles her robes around her again as they head back into the cold air. "The Executioners were Logarius's...clerics, I suppose. Warriors of the Church, whose strength was focused on purging those would would corrupt its radiance. Beasts, mostly, but in the case of the Vilebloods, those who appeared human would fall under them too. Their strength just happened to mostly involve killing those corrupted, for there's nothing left otherwise."     She sighs softly as they continue up to the library. "We never had a king, or anything like that. The Church has always lead us through its healing nature, its goodness. At least, in Yharnam, and the area around it."     The medic barely has much time to settle in the library before Grimm's spooking her /again/. After all that silence, a gunshot sure is a terrible way to get your nerves back in gear. Iosefka yelps, lifting her cane again in a readied stance, glancing around fitfully for a threat - or someone more reasonable who might be here, judging by how some of the others are acting.
Zero Kiryu	"You need a rain coat if you're going to handle a giant flea like that in the future." Zero asides to Shin, with a bit of morbid advice. The vines of Bloody Rose begin to withdraw, and he contemplates the blood those creatures might have consumed. Could Bloody Rose be tainted by such a thing? He doesn't think so, no more than it might be tainted by any other creature of the like. He's not even certain that Bloody Rose can expel the blood within itself, although he's used it to transfer blood from himself to Yuuki on at least one occasion. Hrm.     A distant screaming catches his attention, for a moment, but then Yuuki decides they're going to that tower over there. So, Zero follows after, Bloody Rose clutched in hand with a trail of vines withdrawing from the crevice behind him. Why would these creatures even be here if there's not an adequate food supply? Are the castle occupants shipping people in regularly to keep the horrors here alive?     It could be effective.     But not while selecting strong people who have the opportunity to fight back, even wipe the creatures out. So why?     "This doesn't make any kind of sense." He complains to nobody in particular, glancing around as they head for the tower.
Annalise	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEvAxthexfc     LAST TIME --     A party of selected guests arrived at Cainhurst Castle, where many met for the very first time at the castle's aged gates. Through the gates, the party found yet more ruin in the form of a courtyard home only to blood-sucking monsters and wailing winds. As Yuuki Kuran, Zero, and Shin Tokuyama stayed behind to handle the monsters, Lucatiel, Mordred, Grimm, Ezio, Riva, and Iosefka all ventured into the castle's haunted interior, and there met the wailing ghosts of deceased female courtiers. After the meeting resulted in a short skirmish and splashed the party with tainted blood, the group inside the castle continued onward, climbing steps and passing more ghosts to escape to the castle's parapets.     The gargoyle-lined parapets led the group to a vast library. More ghosts could be glimpsed sobbing in the shadows, yet it was here that another threat was introduced: something in a suit of armor approached. As Riva and Mordred considered the new danger, Grimm fired a shot toward the ceiling for reasons a few did not understand. The shot was answered by a shrieking clatter as a ladder that had been raised suddenly dropped its feet to floor level. The fortuity of the ladder presented an alternate route through the library, perhaps away from the approaching man in armor...     Meanwhile, Zero and Shin dealt handily with the blood-sucking monsters, and then followed (in some exasperation) as Yuuki Kuran continued to journey away from the main group in pursuit of her own curiosity. She entered the eastern tower to immediately discover a gated shaft. Another way into the castle? Where did it go? Inside the shaft could be found long chains and several gears. The lever to operate the mechanism was stubborn, but the girl's superior strength forced it to give. At the lever's pull, a platform descended from above, the gate opened, and Zero, Yuuki, and Shin took the risk of a ride up into the castle.     NOW --     As the elevator rises elsewhere, the library's armored knight -- a hunched fellow draped in light but ornate silver armor -- cocks his head at the ladder's descent, then cocks his head another way in appraisal of Riva. He then seems to look at Mordred. No facial expression can be read thanks to his decorous masked helm, but from him emits the kind of dangerous aura one would normally associate with predator animals. His light sword flicks upward into a guard posture. His other hand, sporting a firearm, gives a rough gesture with the barrel toward the ladder. He takes another step forward to leave the stairwell just as the rattling of the elevator's mechanics begins to echo through the library, and gestures again.     Behind the larger group of guests, a previously-unseen door to a dusty foyer slams open. Another rattling follows as a gate peels back. The nearest weeping wraith to the foyer door recoils almost in shock, and bends over into more ragged, desperate sobs as Yuuki, Zero, and Shin step into that foyer. A few other ghosts begin to echo the first ghost's sobs, all trembling on the edge of violence. The scent of blood strengthens, and blood begins to drip from the corners of each stricken ghostly mouth. The chain of sobbing spreads until the larger group is surrounded in a grief-stricken cacophony. Hatred buffets their minds as the ghosts abruptly threaten to turn aggressive.
Yuuki Kuran	The elevator requires a bit of NORMAL GIRL elbow grease, but the mechanism is cranked with a screech and the trio of DAMSEL and DISTRESSORS make a loud entry into the foyer, filled with blood-crazed ghost-ghouls.     That offputting blood-scent makes Yuuki wince, but as the wailing poor souls begin their keening, she extends a hand, palm up, in a plaintive gesture. "Please, we don't want to fight you! Why are you like this? Why are you... Drooling blood?" She asks, confused and concerned.     Spamming >Convince at ambient monsters sometimes pays out, you see, and if she can't...     She looks to Shin - master martal artist! - and Zero - apex predator - and frowns. "Do you think we can get past them to find the others, or what's causing this, without fighting?"
Shin Tokuyama	"Well, I don't know much about this 'without fighting' thing you're describing," Shin says as he wrings blood out of his jacket and starts to put it back on himself. He lets out a bit of a tired sigh and then proceeds to try to wipe yet more blood out of his hair. He's a pretty gross and bloody mess from that exploding tick monster.     Shin Mental Note #331a-4c: When using pro wrestling moves, do not use suplexes or hard falls on enemies that can burst. Locks and bars, perhaps throws.     "This seems like some horror movie shit, though. We're about a dude with an axe coming through a door away from segueing into another movie at this point. Right now, we seem to have gone from weird aliens into poltergeist. I guess we can maybe try?"     "Right now, I'd settle for a towel over finding the others. Or a hot shower. Well, that would require the towel too, so I guess it's less separate things and more that the second is an upgraded version of the first." He kinda trails off here to see if Yuuki can convince the spirits.
Zero Kiryu	"I don't care if we get past them without fighting." Zero answers, plainly. He's only keeping a loose grip on Bloody Rose, but its vines still haven't been retracted. He glances around towards the surrounding ghosts. "If they're capable of interacting with us physically at all, then I'm certain that Bloody Rose is capable of destroying them. The whole group of them are vampires, so if they give me an excuse to exterminate them, I don't really mind."     "I've already killed one local species on this incursion. Another one hardly makes a difference, even if it's already dead." Other than answering Yuuki's request, Zero doesn't acknowledge the surrounding ghosts directly. Giving a bunch of predators the impression that you're a reasonable target isn't a good idea, and meeting their growling directly isn't necessary.     So Zero just stays relaxed but confident, without exuding the body language necessary to provoke /most/ predators that he knows about. Bloody Rose might be a bit offensive on its face, though it's dangerous as bared fangs, whether acknowledged as much or no.
Mordred	A ladder.     Well, Mordred honestly had more immediate interest in the armored man. His steps heard a fair while before he appears, it'd gotten the Servant excited. A fight? A real fight, against another knight, perhaps? Whoever it was had heavy armor-- and indeed when he appeared, that much was obvious. A blade and a firearm, too. Unorthodox, but nothing to ruin the mood.     The blonde teenager grins, raising Clarent and pointing it at the man, allowing the full length of the silver sword to shine before her. She'd turn to look at those behind her-- at the ladder, or perhaps considering helping her-- and then simply offer:     "I can hold him off while you go. It won't take me long to catch up if something happens," she says, through her toothy smirk, obviously feeling confident.     Then back to the man, to pay him proper mind.     "Oi! You face Sir Mordred of Camelot! Introduce yourself, and then let's skip over the boring banter part and get to killing each other! Unless you have a good reason why we shouldn't."     But considering so far everything in the castle had attempted killing them, she didn't feel entirely out of place assuming this man was not here to say hi.
Annalise	The ghost approached by Yuuki lets out another wail that turns into a bubbling gurgle as poisoned old blood wells up from her throat. The stench is sickening; even a kind-hearted girl like Yuuki would find it to be hard to bear. An instant later, the blood becomes a fountain -- a miniature torrent -- that releases with an animalistic growl behind its forceful expulsion.     At the same time, a slender, warped dagger is raised, and the wraith swipes at the air multiple times as if to drive Yuuki back.     Fortunately, by that time Zero has stepped forward to lead the group through the foyer and into the library proper. By that time, he'll be able to guide Yuuki safely past the thrashing ghost, and introduce Bloody Rose to the castle's inhabitants should they become...problematic.     In the library, Zero finds two things.     One, the other party -- a good thirty feet away or so? Not too far, though the library's haphazard furniture makes for an indirect path.     Two, a dozen more ghosts letting their mad grief out into the world in the form of disgusting blood spatters. Those might also make things troublesome.
Iosefka	Iosefka is not one to be trusting /anyone/ in this castle. Perhaps predetermined biases are part of it (certainly they are, considering her earlier comments on what happened in this place), but earlier residents have given her more than enough reason /to/ worry.     The doctor stands there for only a few moments, staring across at the strange knight that's arrived and is now gesturing toward the ladder. She's not too pleased with how he's gesturing with /weapons/, but perhaps...     Well, now that Mordred's handling that man, perhaps she has enough of a distraction.     The doctor suddenly just breaks into a run toward the ladder, particularly after she hears the shrieking of ghosts in the library; she'd like to avoid dealing with those as much as possible, considering their last venture. Assuming nothing stops her in her determined sprint, then she'll just do her best to climb up to the top of that ladder. Maybe they'll meet someone important there?
Riva Banari	The guy in the armor doesn't respond. In fact, he looks super goddamn scary. This is like, the essence of Bad News Bears to Riva, and even despite her attempt to contact the guy she is not getting good vibes from this. In fact, she's getting very bad vibes. With a nervous glance, Riva looks back at the ladder that the knight is gesturing to. Are they daring them? Will the knight shoot them down should they try to escape that way? Is he calling dibs? SHE DOESN'T KNOW. Mordred simplifies things. She might not know the knight's capabilities but she sure does know Mordred's ability to kill every bitch in a room should she so choose. "Thanks, Mordred. See you on the other side!" Riva calls to the knight, and then turns to head back to the ladder. Iosefka, as usual, seems to be showing uncommonly good sense. "Everyone up the ladder. I'll go up last." Riva says, holding her holy symbol-made-hammer in a defensive stance as she lets others get climbing. "Hustle!"
Grimm Hardy	Yep. A ladder. Gun still smoking in his hand, Grimm casually slides it back into the band of his pants. Pale lips curl as the Undead allows himself the briefest smug look as the ladder comes screeching down, he folds his arms across his chest and waits a moment. As though expecting the adoration of the unwashed masses.     At least until the knight trudges out to meet them.     Grimm Hardy will let Mordred face this one down, he's already scrambling up the ladder after Iosefka.
Annalise	The old knight is startled by Mordred's forthright approach and delivered challenge. The words stir something in the knight's ancient heart: something of honor; something of chivalry. He is recalled to a life before blood and ruin. He remembers a glittering court, a beautiful queen, and the laws which governed the behaviors of both.     He has no voice with which to respond, but surprisingly, he sweeps a bow, and shifts his stance, his sword now poised to strike and riposte with the best.     Mordred's duel is accepted.
Lucatiel of Mirrah	It would be the knightly thing to do, to stand beside Mordred and face down that armoured titan together.   Too bad Mirrah's knights are altogether a different brand than what most people think of 'knights' as. She's as much a scoundrel as a soldier, trained not on honour and integrity but on the desperate struggle to survive. Therefore, she has no qualms about abandoning the Servant and the others, although she does give a grunt of what might be satisfaction when she spots Iosefka running beside her.   Oh boy, more shrieking ghosts. Lucatiel's expression sours behind her mask. No, thank you.   The knight of Mirrah wastes no time in making a dash for the ladder, returning her greatsword to its scabbard as she jogs. Kicking aside moldering books where she must, she reaches the ladder at speed, and has to stumble to a halt before she can seize it and start climbing. Once she does, she'll attempt to haul herself up there as quickly as she can after Iosefka.
Ezio Auditore	The armored titan is definitely something Ezio is not keen on facing as he is, even with armor piercing rounds. He gives Grimm a nod of approval as he observes the young man's handiwork, before he makes his way to the ladder. Climbing up, he is content to let Mordred handle things, to see if she's able to put her money where her mouth is.     Ezio isn't above pettiness if it means having to deal out a lesson to the mouthy, considering Mordred's remark about being untanky.
Shin Tokuyama	Oh hey look, people.     "Found the others," Shin says as he points to the others about thirty feet away. He could shout, and he will shout, but that's for after he does something much more important: Throw books at them.     Shin grabs a book from a library shelf nearby and full-force hocks it at the back of Riva's head as she climbs up the ladder. It is only after this happens that he helpfully shouts:     "HEY!"
Annalise	At the top of the ladder...     Another floor of the library. It's quieter here, as there are no ghosts. A few patrolling knights can be seen on the library's opposite end, their armor lit by the library's few sconces. Two knights stand near the balustrade to look down on the duel unfolding between Mordred and their brother.     There is a door here. It's large, and a chill breeze drifts beneath it. It's flanked by a pair of larger sconces that resemble gargoyles.
Yuuki Kuran	"Hey, so you did!" Yuuki notes, looking at the horrible ghouls. "Maybe if we just... walk... past them, it'll be alright?" She wonders, looking at that horrible blood.     Some morbid part of her wants to just tear out, sink her fangs in these broken creatures, and learn what ailed them. Another part is revulsed at not only that thought, but at the 'taste' she'd recieve... and yet a third part was worried that if she tasted that corrupted blood, she'd 'catch' whatever it is that was messing them up.     The first two parts told the third (human) part of her to sit down and shut up, she was ABOVE such concerns, harrumph.     "Yeah, let's-Don't THROW things at them!" She sighs, looking to Zero and then hurrying on. If Zero isn't flipping out at them, she thinks it's safe, and she may need to help Riva with concussions!     MAYBE IF I JUST IGNORE THEM WE CAN BE FRIENDS AND NOT KILL EACH OTHER ha ha ha.
Mordred	No response, but the knight does bow.     Then it IS a knight, and Mordred's curiosity is satisfied. As her opponent takes his stance, and her allies withdraw up the ladder, the Servant takes forward, and immediatly launches into a dash towards the man.     Aggressive and without finesse, any expert swordsman can tell Mordred lacks 'swordsmanship' so much as she has overwhelming strength for her stature. She could certainly clash with a master and come out on top, but it wouldn't be through skillful and impressive maneuvers, but through simply being stronger. That's not to say she doesn't know how to flourish her sword and make fancy moves, but at the moment that's not the game she's playing.     A full frontal assault, trying to crash her sword into the knight's. To push, to make the steel spark as the blades slide onto one another, and then to suddenly put more strength into it, for the blade's razor edge to catch the man's shoulder as it pushes his weapon back.     At least, she's showing restraint. She doesn't want to kill him.
Iosefka	Iosefka, being the first on the ladder, is naturally the first off. Seeing the two knights is...definitely concerning, but in Iosefka's mind, if they're not going to go after her, then there's no worry, right? Seems like they're interested in Mordred's impending duel more than dealing with the rest of the group.     "Come, it looks like there's a way out here," the doctor offers to the others coming up the ladder, pointing her cane toward the open doorway. "We should try not to disturb anyone if we can help it. If any of these knights are serving someone - which I suspect they must be, considering our invitations - then we may yet find our answers without too much difficulty."     With that, Iosefka starts making her way off toward the door, once more pulling her hood over her head. The cold's still not pleasant, even after everything inside the relatively warm castle has been vastly more unpleasant.
Lucatiel of Mirrah	Oh, look, more moldering books. Lucatiel coughs, trying to clear away the smell and taste of decay and dust. Gods only know what she's been breathing in through this stuff; it's basically made of age and rot, with a pinch of forlorn neglect.   Dragging herself to the opening at the top of the ladder, that magnificent hat pops up above the surface after Iosefka, followed shortly by the rest of the knight's head and shoulders. She hesitates for a moment with her arms braced over the edge, frowning behind her mask at the distant knights on patrol. Something tells her they're not going to greet visitors very warmly, unless one considers violence a conventional greeting.   Her head turns to Iosefka, offering a silent nod; apparently she agrees with this plan. Not having the entirety of the castle trying to kill them would be a plus!   Pulling herself up, she trails behind Iosefka. While she has no hood, she does reach up to settle her hat more firmly over her head, tugging the brim into place.
Zero Kiryu	Zero doesn't have much to say about the combination of behaviors going on in front of him in the form of Yuuki and Shin. He lets out a simultaneous sigh and growl of annoyance, his exasperation overwhelming. Since he's pretty much devoted himself to making up the rear guard to begin with, and they've got a bit of a sprint to that ladder, he decides that now's probably the time to start shooting the shit-stirring ghosts. As his group advances into the library, presumably headed towards the ladder along with all of the others, he raises Bloody Rose and just starts shooting at the vampire-ghosts.     "Get moving. I'm tired of smelling the filth they're spreading. I'll jump up in a minute." He asides to Shin and Yuuki, as gleaming crosses of bright pink light issue from the muzzle of his gun. It might look ever so slightly ridiculous, but it'll kill things dead all the same. Especially things that ought not be able to be reduced to that state to begin with.
Grimm Hardy	Top of the ladder and everyone in front of him isn't dead. It's safe to assume Grimm won't die when he hits the top, and shortly after the others, the morosely taciturn Undead follows up the rest of the way to the next level. Though he's eyeing the figured watching the fight below, as long as they don't actively come AFTER him, he'll pay them little care. Iosefka gets something akin to a half-assed shrug, but it looks like he's fine with keeping subtle for the moment while following for the door as well.
Annalise	Simply put, the man's rapier is not meant to sustain the kind of abuse Mordred wants to dole out. He's a fencer by style, for fencing has an elegance and grace that Mordred's battlefield aggression can't possibly match. For a moment, the Cainhurst Knight holds his ground, and his weapon resists -- but only for a moment. Just as the sword's edge approaches his shoulder, he attempts to sidestep, and to deliver a jab at Mordred's ribs. At the same time, he attempts to twist his rapier free of the deadlock.     Unfortunately, shifting his stance in this manner doesn't do him any favors. Without a strong focus on the action of his rapier, he falters, and Mordred's sword cuts into his shoulder. He recoils instinctively. He's in obvious pain.     The Cainhurst Knight nevertheless attempts to get back into the duel. He switches his rapier to his other hand.
Ezio Auditore	Thankfully the knights are more than distracted by the swordfight further down to pay too much infiltration to Iosef, Grimm, and Ezio. The assassin keeps his pistol in a holster, beginning to crouch over and seek for cover from the knights on their level while advancing after Iosef. "After you, my lady." He whispers.     The assassin makes his way toward the door as well, bundling up in his coat to withstand the cold. This is /definitely/ not what he is used to, under any circumstances, but he'll power through it for now.     He also glances down to spot Shin tossing something at Riva.     His facepalm is truly epic. Kids these days.
Riva Banari	WHOOSH-CLONK. You can practically hear the critical damage gong as Riva takes the hurled book in the back of the head. Her eyes roll up into her head as she falls over, hitting the floor like a sack of bricks. You can almost see the tiny stars and Ayakos flying around her head. Whoops. Yeah, looks like the Perfectly Normal Girl has an opening to give Riva a hand!
Annalise	Bloody Rose is a fearsome weapon to bring into this fray. 'Blessed' bullets are already favored by Hunters of this world, and though the nature of the 'blessing' may be very different, Zero's bullets are still as effective. The ghosts stagger beneath the fire as if made of true flesh and bone. Burning, agonizing wounds blossom into existence where every bullet strikes, and blood pours out to paint their gray figures crimson.     Each ghost can only sustain so much punishment before it disappears into gray wisps.     Those that survive the initial volley come after Zero with their fingers curled into claws and their lips pulled back to reveal ghastly fangs. Blood continues to run from their mouths and to spray the air with a poisonous ichor that burns any flesh it touches with a hideous corruption. Gleaming daggers taken in some hands flash at Zero an instant before the daggers -- and the hands wielding them -- are broken into ash.     There are enough ghosts to keep Zero occupied for at least the duration of the duel...probably.
Annalise	The double doors found above the ladder lead to the castle exterior again. Another tier of battlements stretches between curving, snow-strewn rooftops. Marble statues of fine courtiers in regal postures continue to crowd these walkways, along with the pale-winged gargoyles standing watch over the entire castle.     All eyes are inevitably drawn to the peculiar sight of a cold throne stationed atop one of the castle's many high-arching rooftops...that's odd.     The walkways do seem to lead in that direction, but...     Eventually, the walkways come to an end. A single slender watchtower invites the explorers to climb up a ludicrous ladder to the castle's highest heights. From there, it might be possible to leap over to that section of the castle -- but all that snow makes it risky.
Yuuki Kuran	Thankfully, due to woobie tactics, Yuuki does not have to deal with the brutal job of blat blat ghost gunnery. She didn't want to hurt them and held that in her heart long enought that ZERO handled it. Yessss, muh conscience is clear, as is my field of enemies, best plans forever!     Actually, Yuuki feels pretty bad, but they ARE raving monsters. Reaching the top of the ladder, trying to make sure Riva is OK, she looks past the doors, with the gargoyles and...     A 'cold throne'? "I heard that ruling was cold and lonely, but this is a little to literal, isn't it?"
Shin Tokuyama	"Boom! Headshot!"     Shin raises both his arms in victory at toppling Riva. She seems cool and he figures she'll be fine. Most Elites usually will be when he's only throwing books instead of punches. There's a bit of a pause as he watches Zero, who is much above him in current power, start clearing out ghosts. He asides to Yuuki, "Well, I got their attention. Your boyfriend is pretty tough, by the way," Shin notes, attempting to incite significant shoujo embarassment.     He'll mostly tag after Yuuki, though, after his moment of victory in hitting Riva has been achieved.
Mordred	It's with his style and skill that the knight of Cainhurst frees his rapier, striking swiftly into the Servant's ribs. The thin blade finds an opening in the armor, piercing the hardened flesh of the Saber under the heavy armor, drawing false blood that magically stains the ground, but is unlikely to remain long.     With both fighters having taken a step back to evaluate the other, Mordred grins. "You may use your firearm, if you wish. There's no dishonor in it if it's your fighting style. Come at me with everything you have, knight! I would know why you fight, and why we were invited here!"     Having gotten a feel for the man's strength, his fighting, his stature, the Saber views the fight in her mind's eye. The possibilies flow like parallel timelines. In one, Mordred foolishly charges head on, and takes a bullet to the face. In another, she goes for a side strike, lacking restraint and cleaving the man in two. The third possibility, she uses rather than study.     Driven entirely by Instinct (the Servant skill), Mordred makes another dash for the knight, but she suddenly swerves halfway through, changing the posture of her upper body and shifting her weight left. Her blade goes for a quick thrust, aimed for the point between the shoulder and elbow, not so deep as to cut the whole arm off if she succeeds.     Her sudden motion is made to avoid a point blank shot to the face, but there's no guarantee he'll even do that. It's just something to plan for.
Iosefka	It's quite a relief not to have to worry about any further threats out here, either human or otherwise. That throne, though...     Iosefka's eyes narrow as she looks out toward the rooftop. "Why would anyone..." A pause, and then she sighs, shaking her head slightly and pulling her robes closer around herself. "I suppose that's our best option. Unless any of you have an objection, we should likely head there," she offers toward the rest of the group nearby.     And off she'll go! Climbing up that watchtower does seem like the best option, as risky as it may be - anything's better than dealing with more ghosts, at least. The doctor may not be the /most/ agile, but she can probably manage keeping her footing across those rooftops as she makes her way toward the throne roof.
Annalise	What better way to befriend a Cainhurst Knight, whose adherence to chivalry and beauty exceed most other disciplines? To be the very image of honor and nobility -- isn't that what would most please his lady?     PANG! The knight's pistol discharges a single round that skims through the air Mordred's head once occupied. Though the arm wielding it is slowed by injury, his aim is still unnervingly precise. The firearm works in sync with the knight's blade; at the same moment Mordred (or a warrior of average skill) would be distracted, the knight dances forward, thrusting his rapier forward twice in quick succession. He then leaps back in anticipation of an answering slash!     Having his firearm to hand must have uplifted his morale somewhat.     Even as the ghostly women die to Zero's assault, he keeps his attention solely on Mordred. Above him, the watching knights clap their gauntleted hands against the balustrade in approval.
Zero Kiryu	Claws and knives are acceptable, though Zero is very careful to avoid the projectile-vomit blood that gets hurled his way. Claws and knives draw blood, here and there, and one knife even finds purchase in his left leg, but he doesn't allow a single droplet of the tainted blood to come anywhere close to him. It's not that he's trying to avoid the acidic effect -- though he is -- so much as the fact that he finds it /repulsive/ on an incredibly primal level. He dislikes the smell and appearance of blood even under ordinary circumstances, owing to his condition.     It's a necessary thing, for his existence, but he hates it. Like so many other things.     It is, perhaps, a hint to his powers of recuperation that Zero jerks the knife in his leg out and casts it aside, tendrils of thorned metal whipping about in a great whirl around him to bite into the phantoms that are outside of easy shooting angles. As for those that present a clear target, they're shot at without hesitation.     A glance is cast towards the other battle raging nearby, with Mordred, and the Knight.     Beings seem to come to this place to lose their minds. What, he wonders, has enough self left to issue an invitation? Zero raises his free hand to the radio at his ear, muttering into it rapidly.
Riva Banari	Riva groans and slaps the ground when Yuki pokes her, as if her hand was searching for something. "Mmmmhnothingfiveminutes." She mutters groggily, slamming her hand on the floor... And then she suddenly sits bolt upright. "Oh god, spooky ghosts-AAAGH!" Riva puts a hand to her head, grimacing as if she's feling a bad headache. "What the hell hit me?" She asks no one in particular, clearly not seeing Shin's victory posing. It's the clashing between Mordred and the Knight that cause Riva to pay attention again. "OH GOD! That's right, we are evacuating! EVERYONE MOVE, we are at THREAT LEVEL SPOOKY, the skeleton danger is elevated and they might be right behind you. MOVE!" Riva climbs up the ladder with the others, getting up and out of the library so she can get back to the others, heading out to the walkways. She looks up at the throne looming over the area. "Wow, who would hold court out here in the exposed weather? That's crazy." Riva says, and then heads up when the ladder is free to clamber.
Lucatiel of Mirrah	Lucatiel eases in through the doors, with a hand on the hilt of her estoc and a wary look around the premises. Nothing so far seems determined on jumping out and eating them, so she allows herself to relax, just a hair. But just a hair.   She eases onto the rooftop behind Iosefka, shrugging when asked for an opinion. Mostly, she's here for the ride. And because she received an invitation. She doesn't have much in the way of initiative for exploring, though, mostly because everything she's seen in this place is trying to kill them horribly in some way or another, and she's not really interested in racking up her 'bizarre and unusual deaths' counter.   Hitching her shield over her shoulder, Lucatiel sets off after the good doctor, perhaps making a mental note to give her the third degree later... if she's a healer, she might know more about a certain ailment, too.
Grimm Hardy	"So now we're playing on the roof."     Grimm really is just a bag of sunshine. The scowl he flashes says prettymuch just what he thinks of the plan while following Iosefka. He's a nimble sort, though, so he's already climbing up after her and Lucatiel, testing his footing casually every step of the way. The snow will be a problem- no matter how nimble he may be, all it'll take is a slip and it's over.     He's cautious, taking to a hustling trot after the doctor and other Undead, but will let caution slow him down where necessary.     Grunt.
Yuuki Kuran	Riva doing their best impression of 'not a morning person' and trying to find the alarm clock makes Yuuki give an exasperated smile, looking to Shin. "You shouldn't be happy you brained them so hard it came back around to sleeping." She chides again, before blushing deeply. Like, cherry red.     "He's not my boyfriend! He's my bodyguard!" Flush bluster huff hrrnng shojo. "I have a fiancee. And it's not him!"     It's her brother. Yuuuuuup. HOW DEEP DOES THE SHOJO RABBITHOLE GO?!
Annalise	Leaping across the rooftops proves to be the only way to access the throne; fortunately, there's only one COMPLETELY NORMAL GIRL who might have difficulty with these feats, and she's got plenty of people to lend her a hand. After a short scrabble downward, and another bold leap or two, the group will arrive at a great flat expanse at the peak of the castle's roof. It leads directly to an isolate wing of the castle. It leads directly to the throne.     The throne is not empty.     The figure seated on the throne is far taller than any human. He is lanky and dessicated of limb, and frigid, half-decayed robes adorn him from head to toe. His right hand clutches a tall staff that was once beautiful. His head is bowed. The only fine thing about him is the golden crown frozen to the top of his head. His hair and beard are very long and stringy, and caked by ice and snow.     Here, the wind is brutal. Snowy gusts wail their way across the rooftop throne room. The only bit of warmth is the light of two torches positioned behind the throne, on either side of a pair of massive, ornate double doors.     Something...cracks.     It's the ice that's cracking. Ice snaps and pops as the figure's clawed hand curls away from the throne's arm. It continues to groan and fragment as he tears his shoulder from the back of the throne, and almost seems to sob with the same grief as the ghost women whenever he at last lifts his crowned head. A raspy sound escapes the robed man's lungs; it rises into a loud roar as he plants his staff, and uses that to lever himself out of the throne itself.     He begins to stagger toward the group.     His strides are purposeful despite their weakness.
Ezio Auditore	Slipping in through the doors, Ezio draws his Berreta again, following Iosefka and Lucatiel inside. Determined to keep on guard, Ezio does not trust the lack of anything jumping out at them yet as he begins to make his way up to the rooftops with company. "Yes, quite the enlightening activity this is." He muses dryly in agreement with Grimm.     Cautious, he makes for a slow but steady pace as he minds his footing, that pistol not leaving his hand for a moment.     Of course, that silence is broken by the being on the throne. "A king," He announces plainly, calmly as if it were some pearl of profound wisdom.     "It seems he is not as dead as he looks." Ezio doesn't seem as terrified as he should be by the fact this corpse-like figure is stumbling towards the group, and he narrows his eyes before nodding to the rest of the group.     And then he draws from his coat a /massive/ axe. How in god's name he fit that thing in his coat is a mystery for the ages, but EXECUTIONER is brought to bear. It's clearly a magic weapon, as Ezio weilds the thing with impossible grace and skill in his main hand while the pistol moves toward his off-hand.     "Come, then. Let us end this."
Iosefka	Ice, snow, wind...and then a frigid corpse of a man sitting on a rooftop throne. Iosefka's steps toward the throne slow down a great deal as she sees more and more of the towering man there, and when he suddenly moves, she freezes in place.     And backs away.     "...this..." The doctor seems to be struggling a little to speak as she starts backing off from the slow approach of the bearded, decrepit man. "...is this Logarius? I..."     Iosefka very quickly moves toward the back of the group, shuffling out of the way of everyone else and soon hiding behind a spire. "The staff...a sword, as well, and that crown...it must be, but /how/?"     She quickly shakes her head clear of her confusion before shouting over to the others. "I am the /last/ person who should be facing someone like this, but you all - be careful! I don't know what could possibly be keeping this man in this state!"
Annalise	Bloody Rose, as stated, makes a fearsome weapon for this place. It's perfect for defeating Cainhurst's more vile denizens. Its power seeps into the cursed blood giving life to these ghosts, and purifies it in the same manner as fire purifying gold. The ghosts shudder, collapse inward, burst apart. Their shrieking voices echo out through the windows, and fade away on the wind.     Eventually silence returns to the library, save for the ongoing duel, and the steps of knights elsewhere in the library.     Up above, at the top of the ladder, one open door repeatedly BANGS against the wall as the wind toys with it.
Lucatiel of Mirrah	Lucatiel follows Iosefka doggedly across the rooftops, easing her greatsword from its scabbard as she goes -- not to attack anything, but because the balanced blade makes for an excellent counterweight.   She blinks somewhat owlishly once they traverse the castle's roof into the isolated wing, and blinks even more owlishly once they reach the frozen throne. The frozen throne that is most emphatically not empty, with a person that must be ten feet tall reclined upon it as though he or she owns the place.   Even she's given pause at the sheer size of that brute, shivering in the wintry wind. Before she can entertain the prospect of bailing on her fellow adventurers, because this is really becoming more than she signed up for, the ice crackles and shatters as the giant figure slowly rises to its feet and approach the group.   No, probably not friendly, she decides, the plumes of her hat fluttering in the wind of the creature's furious roar.   Shifting her weight, she slowly approaches the towering figure. She sidles in front of Iosefka as the healer backs away, shifting her grip on the greatsword and raising it with a clatter of metal. Cautiously and deliberately, she circles the giant of a man, searching for na opening.   Ignoring the chatter of her comrades, she fixes her focus on Logarius, and makes another mental note to give Iosefka the third degree about /that/ person, too. In the meantime, she'll look for some kind of opening, if there's one to be found.
Riva Banari	Everyone hauls themselves over (and Riva will totally give Yuki a lift, she owes her one), and they array themselves before the frozen throne. No, not THAT Frozen Throne. This one. It's when the huge being in the throne moves, that Riva gasps. "Oh hell! This is crazy! THIS HAS OFFICIALLY BECOME TOO SPOOKY!" She exclaims, taking a couple steps back. Once again, it's Iosefka that gets Riva to get on task. Riva looks back to the medic, her expression caught between abject fear and concern, before she grimaces and looks to the huge man. "All right. We're going to do this. Stick to the plan, Riva. You got this." She says, psyching herself up as she sets herself with her hammer. "You want to get them, you need to get through /me/ first! YEAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Riva yells in challenge, throwing herself forward in a charge. As soon as he gets close enough, she flips and slams the hammer into the ground, causing a burning red shockwave of Anima force to lash out and buffet the man. "GIMME YOUR BEST SHOT!" Riva yells. This is going to suck.
Shin Tokuyama	"Dude, it's the same thing for all narrative intents and purposes," Shin says to Yuuki as he heads along after her and regroups with Riva. To avoid retaliation from Riva, he carefully does not mention he was the one that clonked her with a book.     Shin is starting to jump from rooftop to rooftop, following after Riva and Yuuki. Unfortunately, it's on one jump between rooftops that he lands on the edge, his foot catches a loose shingle, and it breaks under him, "Sonuva bi-"     The martial artist slams down face first and topples back towards the edge, "Tell my wife... I love her..." He cries demurely as he's scrambled down over the edge and falls off the roof.     Weirdly, when people go to check for a body, he's gone. He'll probably be fine and reappear in a few days.
Yuuki Kuran	Yuuki didn't even think the throne was truly occupied, and gets quite the shock when it is - by something animate, if not alive. The cracking ice causes her to shy back, looking to Shin and Riva as the former poses and the latter recovers her wits. Well, that, and surprised at the LEVELS OF SPOOPY.     (Spoopy level: Extreme), but as she chases the other across rooftops...     SHIN TAKES A DIVE OH NO!     "You have a wife? Do you mean that girl you keep talking to? I can't fulfil this last wi--wait, where did he go?"     She turns to the spookiest of creatures (imagine those pose makes sense temporally) and then immediately busts out her phone.     "Hey, Zero, I think we found the boss."     She draws Artemis in baton-form, not activating it yet, and hangs back. Sure diplomacy won't work, but discretion is good!     As is not taking the very first attack, dying, and then blowing her Normal Girl cover.
Grimm Hardy	Across roofs and back into a new part of the castle, this journey is just a long exercise in Grimm bitching under his breath. A near slip in the snow nearly had his name on it, but he recovered well enough before meandering on the rest of the way, before hunkering down after the others into the throne room.     And seeing who's on the throne.     Grimm has no idea who that is.     "That's not a king, that's a corpse." Noted sourly, before he's proven wrong when Logarius rises. And begins his approach. "Ungh."     It's a vague grunt. If it were real words they would probably be akin to 'okay not wholly a corpse'. But the Martyr's intent is clearly evident in his approach.     Grimm uynslings the guitar off his back. Worn but clearly well loved, painted in softly glowing flame designs, he doesn't seem to bother doing something silly like... Plug it into an amp. He simply begins to play, fingers strumming chords and riffs, causing that glow to build before he gives it one last rockin' twang.     The sudden release of heat seems to flare up, before it unleashes...     In Lucatiel's direction, a sudden wash of warmth as the pyromancy spark within the guitar shunts a portion of that heat into the Knight's body, bolstering endurance as it makes her skin into pure gleaming iron.
Iosefka	Logarius proceeds in a slow approach, his staff serving as a walking cane for a few moments while he steadily regains his ability to walk. Years - maybe decades - of ice and rime flake off his body, snapping off aged joints and allowing him more room to move. Soon, he's upright, and a crimson, arcane power suddenly wreathes the blade extending from the end of his staff. From his hip, he unsheaths a long broadsword, its body black and its serpentine blade seemingly narrowed down from the crossguard.     Riva's blazing energy flies out toward Logarius, crashing against him and making the giant of a man stumble back briefly with a dull grunt. He seems about to keel over for a second, but...no. With a frigid, grinding series of cracks, he straightens up again, then swings his scythe-like staff in front of him.     The tip of the staff flares with arcane power, and from it bursts five howling skulls made of that crimson energy. Swirling, howling, shrieking, those skulls home in on Riva, their eyes blackened pits and blood stretching between their teeth. The raging spirits of the brutalized dead will simply explode on impact if Riva doesn't get out of the way.     Logarius is quick to continue: there are plenty more opponents standing on the rooftop, and he seems determined to deal with them. His staff spins in front of him once before it's slammed into the roof, then lifted into the air. Bloody power pours from it, flowing up into the sky and coalescing in a brilliant, yet baleful light above Logarius.     All at once, that light explodes with swirling, furious spirits, all manifesting as those raging, bloody energy skulls that howl and roar as they whirl around the central glow. Seemingly outside of Logarius's control, that giant chaotic orb of furious spirits hurtles down toward the group as a whole, ready to slam into them all at once.
Mordred	Two quick thrusts with his rapier, and a gunshot that mostly catches one of her bangs. The Cainhurst Knight's bullet claims a blonde lock of hair from the Servant's head as her upper body moves, and as she trades a slice at his arm for a another hit from his rapier. The first merely slides across her armor, scratching the steel, but the other is able to find a joint, cutting through the red and gold cloth underneath to draw blood under one shoulder.     Though the Saber notices that things are happening outside-- it seems Zero spared her a glance, and he himself had been keeping busy out here too-- she can't allow her focus to sway off the knight.     But why does he remain silent?     Clearly, he could understand her. And clearly it was capable of experiencing morale effects. Its body moved differently, after being told he could use his pistol. He enjoyed the fight more? It felt like it, even if no words were being spoken.     Rather than backing away, Mordred would use the fact she can wield Clarent with one hand to her advantage. The two-handed blade, still lunged forward from its successful thrust, is suddenly turned ninety degrees, the flat facing the knight. It swings, a powerful blow, trying to knock the knight off his feet and to the side, the slightest trails of red magic following the blade and indicating magic is being burned to increase its striking power.     At the same time, Mordred's other hand reaches for the rapier, still inside her chest below one shoulder, and she attempts to hold it there. Batting the knight away, and holding his weapon inside her, to disarm him of one weapon, and maybe break a rib or two with her strike.     He'll still have his gun, though.     "I take it you can't speak. Are you really a knight, or just another specter haunting this castle?"
Lucatiel of Mirrah	Although Lucatiel doesn't have the opportunity to catch sight of Grimm preparing to use some sort of magic on her, she does notice when the energy rushes into her with the force of a tidal wave. She staggers in mid-stride, thrown off-balance as her limbs turn to iron and her body adapts to the physiology of something extremely not-human.   She understands an instant later, as her movements slow and her skin gives the groan of distressed metal. Iron. Well, that's clever. With this, she should be able to stand against the Frozen Giant over there on somewhat more equal terms.   Turning, she closes in towards Logarius, ignoring the vile sensation of that bloody power when he lifts his staff into the air, baring ferrous teeth behind her mask and marching doggedly forward.   She tries to raise her voice, but it just makes a gravelly sound in the back of her throat. No good with that, then, but maybe she can get his attention -- by attempting to surge past those spirits, trying her best to ignore them and advance on Logarius himself.   Her intent is pretty clear as she attempts to take a two-handed swing at him -- focus on him and get his attention off her allies and fixed on her.
Annalise	The knight's armor all but crumples beneath Mordred's blow. Ornate, but far too thin to offer more than the lightest of protections, the knight's armor is yet another example of Cainhurst's preference for form over function. The knight lets out a wheezing rattle of a grunt as his body is thrown sideways. Ichorous blood seeps between the cracks in his armor whenever he rolls onto his hands and knees and attempts to collect himself.     His shaking hand returns his pistol to its holster at his hip.     "...yield," the Cainhurst Knight manages. "I...yield..."     The words are costly. A great effort is required for him to speak even that much. His voice sounds hollow thanks to the close press of his mask.     All of a sudden there is a ruffling from above as a cloak of black feathers billows open. It spreads around a masked man making a leaping descent from the second floor, becoming like raven's wings for so long as the fall lasts. He hits the floor, and sinks into a low crouch.     His masked helm is identical to the knight's, but he seems far more capable of speech.     "You're wanted above," the man rasps. His voice is cold, yet also dimly amused. "The Martyr will not be easy to dispatch. Or you can stay and converse, as you like." He stands up, and looks down at the defeated Cainhurst Knight. "Seems you appeal to their way of thinking. How interesting, heh! How rare to see their lot so lively anymore...perhaps he hoped to die on your sword?" How morbid.
Ezio Auditore	Whatever it is, that spirit ball thing is not good at all. Ezio is smart enough to make a move to evade when he sees the King is casting some sort of energy attack upon everybody. "Merda!" The assassin makes his way out of the attack radius before it hits, bracing himself as if expecting a shockwave or risidual effects after the fact.     Lucatiel's Iron Form will make her a perfect tank for this, and meanwhile Ezio focuses his aim on the giant King, sprinting into attacking range while firing away with his 92FS, bullets riddling Logarius' leg. Then his axe bites at Logarius's heel, intending on crippling the king further than he already is.
Grimm Hardy	Mischief managed. Slinging his electric guitar away, the Undead resolves to let Lucatiel now worry about fending off the decrepit frozen martyr. As soon as that staff is raised, he's on his toes, though... And no sooner than those crimson skulls start flying about, he's on the move, already ready for the massive ball of terrible, spiritual, energies.     Grimm Hardy's means of evasion are simple.     He flings himself, bodily, sidewards. A rolling tumble sending him in a brief sprawl, head jerking aside as that terrible energy comes within a hair's breadth of his cheek, before hoisting himself back to feet. He really seems keen on keeping out of the direct fight though. It might be why he reaches back into the band of his jeans. On one hand he draws his gun, in the other he flips on the gently glowing screen of a tap-screen smartphone, already piddling at an app.     But Grimm's not texting and fighting, he's loading up a sorcerous macro, thumbing one last button before it flares to life in his hand.     A flare of bright blue-white light forms at the screen, and he reels his arm back as though preparing to hurl a javelin. And flings. The bright lance of blue-white smoldering light flies from the phone like a narrow, trailing contrails of shimmering misty phantom light as it goes on a course aimed for the Martyr.
Yuuki Kuran	Many things Yuuki is prepared for. Sweeping declarations. Spooky narration. Dialogue. Getting along! Making a new, spooky friend (it's happened before). What she's not ready for is for Zero to be tied up fighting ghosts. Zero has been there to protect her against just about every single horrible thing in her life. Well, Zero or her older brother (but that spooky jackass won't be making an appearance today).     This, too, is a horrible thing aiming to cause her harm.     Yuuki has been conditioned for other people to sweep in and rescue her. This is why when nobody does, she EATS DIRT. Blasted back and into the ground and away, she bounces once before rolling into a heap. She looks dead for a few minutes, the sound of bones snapping having accompanied by her epic eating-it-dead-on.     But, after scant moments, she rises back to her knees, activating Artemis into a long, metallorganic scythe. "R-right... I need to fight for myself, too! Uh, do any of you have a plan?"
Riva Banari	Riva brightens for a moment as she sees the shockwave hit, and the huge man staggers for a moment. Maybe she CAN do this! Maybe she has a chance after all! Maybe- "AAAAAAH SCREAMING SOUL HEADS!" Riva yells, beinging up her hammer in a defensive block position, as if it would do anything... To be fair, the impact reveals that a good amount of the first blast gets diverted around her in a blazing comet tail as Riva's own Anima power conflicts with the incoming life-rending assault... But then the others hit, the explosions sending Riva flying back in a smoking, bloody wreck that crunches into the snowy roof and slides backwards. "Bluuuuuuuhhhhh." Riva enunciates as it is revealed that she appears to have had most of her blood punched out by screaming skeleton skulls. She isn't moving for the moment.
Iosefka	Strangely, that swirling sphere of arcane spirits just...blazes right through Lucatiel and Yuuki after slamming into them, then passes straight through the roof, damaging only those who are still animate, it seems. Logarius, however, is hit in the middle of his own recovery: a blue spear of light strikes into his chest, almost in a counter to his own arcane magic, and just as it crashes into him, Ezio's axe cleaves into his frigid, yet emaciated leg. Logarius abruptly falls to one knee with a pained, angered growl, but a moment later, his staff and sword are held down in front of him. A crimson mist begins to swirl from where those weapons touch the roof, and even the most insensitive being can start to feel a rapidly rising power in Logarius.     Iosefka, meanwhile, sees Riva fall, and very clearly not get up. The doctor curses quietly to herself, then, after quickly glancing to see if there's any danger between her and Riva, she sprints across the rooftop to the other woman. Her attempt at dragging Riva behind a spire is slightly awkward - that weapon may need to be left behind for a minute - but, after a few moments, she manages.     A vial is pulled from her robes, its contents filled to the brim with blood and a needle placed right on its end. It's with barely any ceremony that Iosefka suddenly jabs that vial into an accessible vein in Riva's body, letting the strange blood seep through and join with Riva's own. A process that, remarkably, seems to immediately start sealing wounds and repairing a good amount of the damage done to her!     Logarius, meanwhile, may only sit for a few brief moments before, suddenly, all that building energy /explodes/ out from him in a powerful flash and a shockwave to send anyone to their knees. The Martyr swiftly rises, and with much more speed than he had before, he swishes his sword in the air before stabbing it into the rooftop. That serpentine sword is pulled free, but it leaves behind a glassy duplicate in the roof; one that sends a beam of arcane light into the air, manifesting an ominous orb of crimson in the sky above like a misty blood moon.     The mist rapidly coalesces into even more of those glassy swords. In a few seconds, the arena is filled with a ceaseless rain of those arcane replicas, firing in all directions and reforming in the mist before shooting down again.
Mordred	"Hoped to die? I would think not, or he wouldn't have yielded," Mordred answers the second-- knight? That man has a much grander cloak, that's for sure. The Servant lowers her blade, pursuing neither deeper injury nor killing blow.     "No, a man of his skill could have ended his own life on my blade at any time he chose," she notes, eyes wandering from the downed knight to the one standing before her. "I take it they've lost their ability to speak much. But you obviously haven't. I think my companions can handle a fight, so why don't we answer some questions before I go? I have some time to spare."     She motions towards the downed man, making the subject of her questions obvious. "So let's start with the obvious. Who is he? For that matter, who are you? Ghosts? Immortal knights of the castle stuck in its service? Other, please fill out the blank?"
Annalise	The feather-cloaked man sweeps a gentlemanly bow in Mordred's direction. "My manners are out of practice...forgive me any lapse. They call me The Bloody Crow. I've no longer any other name." He straightens before he continues. "You are Sir Mordred. It wasn't hard to learn of your knightly prowess...or your ambitious nature. A suiting ally for the lady I serve."     There is a long sword strapped to his left hip, and a pretty-looking but complicated firearm resting on his right. "As for this?" He nudges his head in the Cainhurst Knight's direction. "Another soul denied its purpose for entirely too long. Return his sword, would you? He may come to need it. At last, he might...heheh."     "You do me honor by accepting the invitation to come to this forsaken place."
Lucatiel of Mirrah	A corpse it seems to be, but it moves with vigour, and seems to know what it's doing. That is to say, it is self-aware enough to be hostile, and Lucatiel is fairly certain that the thing is oh look at all of those swirling spirits and oh dear lord that hurts.   Lucatiel staggers as the amorphous souls blaze right through her, but she perseveres! Primarily because not moving proably means entering a whole world of pain.   And suddenly there are swords, which she ignores, because she's made of iron! Oh, yeah, those do hurt. Sparks fly every time one of them glances off of her. But that spell keeps her moving forward, struggling to try and reach Logarius himself.   Once she's close enough, she raises up that Mirrah greatsword and attempts to swing it straight for the lower torso of Logarius. That ought to get his attention.
Mordred	"Oh. Sure."     That's right, there's a rapier in her.     Mordred withdraws the weapon from its socket, and takes a brief moment to look it over. The thin, sleek blade isn't her style; too fragile, too easily bent. As the wound heals magically, wisps and specks of mana remaking the skin and cloth, the Servant hands the blade back to its owner.     "Bloody Crow, huh? That's a title if I ever heard one, not a name. But really, good enough. So, a soul, you say? Then this knight is... what, undead? A physical ghost? Something else? You're being awfully vague."     But something else caught her attention.     "I don't often get creepy invitations and a free ride in an old school chariot, so points for originality on delivery and travel. But why'd you invite us? The lady you serve has need of muscle?"     She eyes the Crow's weapons.     "Well. More muscle."
Grimm Hardy	As a Soul Sorceror, Grimm has more than a vague knowledge of magics and spiritual energies. But he can tell that even a layman or blind man would be able to realize... Logarius is building power.     "Well shit."     In the instant all those glassy magical swords come hailing down, he's on the move, cursing himself and wishing he had spent his Iron Flesh spell on himself rather than Lucatiel. But That's in the past, and in the now, he's busily tumbling and diving, swerving and weaving amid the rainfall of sharp death.     With a grunt, he raises his left arm to fire his pistol, only to learn that it isn't there anymore.     Not the pistol, his ARM. That's what's missing. And he seems to take it rather well, considering the realization earns a snarl of frustration and pain, when another plunges through his hip and arrests him right where he is.     With bloody fingers, he's tapping that phone again, thumbing another macro'd spell with a growl, bladk eyes wide and wild as it flares to life in his hand, and he flips the screen towards the Martyr. Unleashing a focused beam of white hot soul light.
Ezio Auditore	Ezio frowns. "Damn." He says almost mildly before grabbing his coat. Those flying swords are enough to send him diving for cover, before he rolls upon the ground. That blade will find itself slicing through the wooly overcoat with ease, but only the coat.     The assassin himself stands with a knee bent, drawing his pistol again.     Pulling the trigger, he gets a loud click as the pistol slide locks back. "...damn."     He doesn't bother to reload, instead he just draws a handful of throwing knives, before flinging them towards the undead king after realizing he dropped his axe during that dramatic leap. This is just /not/ his night.
Annalise	"Indeed."     The library briefly shivers; in response to the conflict going on above? Some kind of blast? The Bloody Crow looks up toward the second floor's open door, and he tenses before letting out a hiss of a sigh. "As you forgive my rusty manners, please indulge the creativity. There are certain standards that must be upheld. The lady is of a particular way, as are all who serve her, this Knight of Cainhurst included. Was the stagecoach comfortable enough? Probably not; how shameful we've all become."     "That's what happens whenever your power is stripped against your will. The Church sent its villain, and he has since been her jailor."     The Cainhurst Knight reclaims his sword. He bows again, before moving away to tend his wounds. The Crow is looking right at Mordred again, or seeming to be. "Does the peril of a trapped lady move your heart enough to lend assistance?"
Riva Banari	Riva is dragged away, the Templar unable to really argue with the situation. She leaves a red trail behind he as Iosefka gets her to relative safety and then engages in an impromptu blood transfusion. As the blood mixes with her own, Riva feels her heart skip. A rush flows through her, her wounds sealing more rapidly than could be natural. The Templaress sits up suddenly, sucking in a breath, shuddering for a moment. Is it the cold, or something else? Finally, she exhales. "Whoa." She summarizes the experience, and looks down at herself, patting herself down for a moment as it to make sure everything is present. "Wow, whatever that was, it was amazing." She says, looking over to Iosefka. With a thumbs up, she leaps back to her feet. "Thanks for that. I owe you one!" She calls, before charging out there again, scooping up her hammer as she runs into the middle of the blade storm. "I'M NOT DONE YET!" She calls, as she hurls herself through the blades, dodging to one side and then the other. She doesn't, however, strike at the Martyr. Instead, she swings her hammer at that strange blade duplicate. It looks like that's the source of that horrible blade rain. She can't dodge through it forever, and it's making things super complicated!
Yuuki Kuran	Leaning on her NORMAL GIRL powers like a crutch, Yuuki simply recovers from the hit after a few moments of sitting on the ground, more than enough time for the 'frozen guy' to start up his area of effect blast and rain of swords, gaining such power.     These sorts of transformations are odd to the young Kuran girl. How did creatures gain such power? Was it magic? She could see no 'logic' to it.     Seeing Riva healed by blood, though, and smelling the power inherent in the ampuolue, draws her more surely than a moth to one of those zappy attractor lights. She leaves the rain of swords to the masked Lucatiel and Ezio, hurring to Riva's side -- or, well, Iosefka's. "What was that? Was that healing blood? Are you...?" She begins, having to skirt the edge of the effects to sate her starving curiousity.     "Are you... A vampire?" She asks. Yeah, real careful there. "V-vampires in my world have healing blood. Or is this that blood you were talking about before, the Church? Some sort of ritually powerful blood?"     Yuuki looks hungry, behind her sunglasses, but curious as well.     And the BOSS MONSTER OVER THERE is being ignored - much to her detriment, were an attack to come her way.
Iosefka	Iosefka gives a short nod to Riva, crouching back behind the spire as the battle rages on the rest of the rooftop. "It's nothing. Please, though, be careful! I don't have much more that I can give you, so you must try to defeat him soon!" Yep, she's still staying back there. This is no place for a medic.     Yuuki, however, gets a very strange look. "...vampire? No, I've never heard that term before! It's the Church's blood, as I was speaking of - young lady, are you well?" Wariness clearly seeps into her voice. Her hand seems to tighten a little around her cane. Hunger for blood is something Iosefka definitely has had to deal with before, with very negative effects.     Logarius is no longer the shambling corpse of a man that he was a few moments ago. With that burning power within him now, he seems far more invigorated - no doubt how he must have been long ago, when he first came to this place.     With the replica sword causing a chaotic rain of blades across the rooftop, Logarius is free to take everyone one at a time. Lucatiel comes at him with her greatsword, and he staggers as the heavy blade cleaves down his torso, but in a second his own blade - easily as tall as Lucatiel herself - is raised. With remarkable speed for his earlier slowness, he delivers a pair of swift slashes, one horizontal and the other vertical onto Lucatiel - and a second after the last is swung, a flash of sharp energy bursts along the path his blade took in its final swing, adding a third strike to the assault.     Then, out of the blue, Riva shouts, drawing Logarius's attention...but too late. Her hammer swings for the blade in the roof, and its impact immediately shatters the magical replica like glass. The mist above manifesting the rain of swords suddenly fades, as do the various replicas.     Logarius /bellows/ in wordless fury.     Knives suddenly bury themselves in Logarius's body, causing him to stagger once more and draw his attention away from Riva to a more immediate threat. Hunched over, aching from his injuries, he whirls around to see Ezio, and with another swing of his staff, a howling skull of that same crimson energy suddenly appears dead in front of the assassin. Ezio only has a few seconds to react before the skull suddenly detonates in a roaring blast.     Grimm is raising his strange device next, and Logarius quickly retaliates. The Martyr floats back into the air, pulling back his scythe-staff in a two-handed grip. All at once, he speeds down straight for Grimm, swirling that arcane-powered scythe around him - just as the beam of soul light blazes into him, blasting a bloody hole through his torso.     The Martyr freezes where he's hunched on the rooftop. It's strange, after seeing him move so swiftly, to suddenly see him just...stop. Whether he's about to attack again is difficult to tell, but in a moment...     ...he crumples to his knees, barely held up by his staff. A brilliant white light consumes his form, and with a blinding flash and a last, mournful howl that echoes on the chilled wind, Logarius's form vanishes, seemingly bursting into a shower of blood behind that brilliant white light.     The rain of blood droplets across the rooftop soon fades into a drizzle and then nothing amid the snow, and where Logarius once stood is now nothing more than his crown. Glistening gold and emblazoned with brilliant jewels, unstained by blood, it seems to have completely endured the weathering of time, quite unlike its earlier owner. Some strange power can be felt in that crown; something hidden, yet strong, pulling toward the throne where Logarius once sat.     Behind that throne sits an archway flanked by two still-burning torches, much like what one would see around a doorway. But where that door /should/ stand is nothing more than a solid stone wall, with hardly a crack in its smooth surface.
Mordred	Mordred manages not to pay too much heed to the OBVIOUS FIGHTING. Even though a few parts of her are starting to anticipate regrouping to go fight something else. Instead her green eyes focus on the Crow, not minding his behavior in the slightest.     "I liked it. It was nostalgic. There's something about a car or a motorbike, you know, but a classic stagecoach, it's not bad either. I'd clean the windows though, let people appreciate the road on the way next time."     But she didn't come to talk stagecoach care!     "A trapped lady. Hm. I don't know. I've been told one who's lost his honor shouldn't go around pretending to still be a white knight. I think that's reason enough to go ahead with the plan, though." She grins. "Tell me more."
Yuuki Kuran	Yuuki, who wears her sunglasses at night (so she can, so she can) avoid having people see her blood-activated headlight dinnerplates she calls eyes, smiles at Iosefka, having not gotten SHREKT by conversing with the healer by Mister Crowned King Frosty. "Oh, uh, just... some of the creatures here reminded me of them. Vampires, from where I'm from, come in various types - the very strongest have blood that can cure any illness or harm. But, well... The weaker ones are blood-crazed monsters. My bodyguard, Zero, and I try to help people while hunting down the bad vampires..."     She explains, slowly, as she glances the blood-healer up and down. She plays this off poorly by coughing into her fist, and then cracking a smile - which has just a tiny hint of slightly-longer-thank-normal fangy canines.     "Ah, um... So, this place has a lot about blood, right? The ghosts drooled blood, those insect abberations were trying to prey upon people and drink their blood, um..."     She looks away, sheepishly. "Sorry. Thanks for helping Riva. I'd love to see some of that healing blood of yours, sometime. But I can wait!"     SHE MOST CERTAINLY DOESN'T WANT TO PUT IT IN HER MOUTH, NO SIR.     "You know, whenever's good. Uh, wow! Looks like they beat the boss-monster! Yeah, want to go and investigate?"     YUUKI'S SOCIAL-FU IS THE SMOOTHEST.