They Walk Among Us: Game Thread

[Texas Joker 52]

+ Father Daughtry +​

Shaun promptly sat back as the others made their way up, and only listened with half an ear as he nursed his wound. There was something particularly nasty about the bite, possibly some sort of venom. When he looked up at the others, he saw them arguing.

So, he stood up and thumped the blunt end of his spear onto the concrete several times to get their attention.

"Excuse me, everyone, but if we can stop the faction rivalry for the moment? The sewers are crawling with hellhounds, and we don't know how many. There could be packs. Now, we don't know why they're there of if someone is behind them," he said, giving Hugh a mild look before he continued, "But I can't in good conscience let anyone go down there without some kind of warning."

With a small sigh, he used his spear as a walking stick, leaning against it for support.

"Regardless of how good you are, there's the risk of being overrun. And I have a bad feeling that the hellhounds are just the start. Now, I know the Vatican and the Cabal are hardly friends, but we have the same goal in mind. Distasteful though it may be, I suggest we work together." he said calmly before he shrugged.

"Unless you want to keep arguing, playing 'Who's the better Demon Killer?', go ahead, but it's hardly productive." the priest added dryly.

 

[DarkRawen]

"I don't take kindly to threats or baseless accusations, you little shit. Feel free to cower and flee if you want, but don't get in our way. Hey detective, you coming? My sword arm is itching for some action."

Rain felt less tense now that Adrian had come down. He didn't like admitting it, but he had spent a little too much time alone with possible hostiles, and for once he actually didn't mind having a partner.

"Good job finding the targets, even if you did pick up some fleas,"

Rain was surprised by the compliment, and, and smiled, carefully. "I--" he said. "Thank you. though, I'm not sure these are the only targets, something seems off. They're likely to be man-made, chimeras of some sort, and aren't very smart. The woman I followed down here appeared not to know about them either, though she brought one through the tunnels with her. " He stopped when a man covering most of his body jumped down, speaking as well. Was that the detective?

"Save the lead for the monsters kid, and learn some goddamn muzzle discipline well you're at it,"

Rain hoped it wouldn't escalate into some sort of situation. They needed to get moving, and this had already slowed them down enough. However, knowing what had happened the last time he'd asked the templars to lower their gun, he kept quiet, hopefully the two others had it covered.

"Regardless of how good you are, there's the risk of being overrun. And I have a bad feeling that the hellhounds are just the start. Now, I know the Vatican and the Cabal are hardly friends, but we have the same goal in mind. I suggest we work together. But, unless you want to keep arguing, playing 'Who's the better Demon Killer?', go ahead, but it's hardly productive."

"Don't worry about the Cabal," Rain replied, though there was no hostility in his voice this time, nor coldness. He looked at the guy who was aiming a gun on him, then back at the wounded priest. "We'll manage perfectly fine."

That looks painful, though. I mean, they might be templars, but I don't want them to be harmed...

He was hesitant to say anything about it, but it made him feel bad for the other man. Without thinking, he reached inside his coat -carefully so that he wouldn't get shot- and brought out some clean bandages from an inner pocket. He offered them to the younger templar, looking away as he spoke. "You should get that wound dealt with instead, else it might get worse. Given its possibly chimeric properties, it's hard to know just what its bite can do."

He wondered if the other gun-user, the one from earlier, was following, or if he had gotten into trouble. If so, they would have to get going now.

 

[Terratina.]

"...don't take our mercy for a chance to escape back into this failed experiment of yours. Or was it failed at all?"

Another wave of disappointment hit Eligos as the promise of action faded away to a confrontation about factions - that was the best thing about humans, they divided themselves up with arbitrary lines, leaving whatever enemies they may have to fast-forward to the conquering. The sewers was a rank place to be, regardless. He looked around with his eye, the defective detective was still following Adrian around, the sour swordsman was trying to be nice, and two Templars - the younger currently having the privilege of getting a good view of Souldrinker and still being alive while the elder ranted on about cooperation. However, something about what the younger Templar had said irked Eligos, another Cabal agent? Curious.

"Thy knowledge is of note but thou shouldst read up on thy own kind." Eligos muttered, though that didn't subdue the sharp, metallic edge of his voice on bit, "We have been ta'en for the Foundation, it seems. For they are the ones who experiment."

As for the hellhounds, or Jinmenken, depending on what was more accurate and on which of the Templars Eligos found himself disgusted with the prospect of devouring such whelps. However, such was the price of swift freedom from the metal cage. Acquiring power meant Incorporating any and all demons him and Adrian came across, even if they were but simple imps. Nevertheless, perhaps there was something the creatures possessed that could be of use. It would be nice to have a decent sense of smell, anyway, even if lacking one seemed like a small blessing at the moment. Regardless, nothing could be done until the cowards stopped bickering and left. With a swivel of the eye, Eligos saw and took note of the elder's wound. So much for the mighty Knights Templar.

"Unless you want to keep arguing, playing 'Who's the better Demon Killer?', go ahead, but it's hardly productive."

Speaking of which, Eligos had this to say to him, "Strong words from one bested by a mutt. Is thou only good for chiding children? Thou shouldst not stay here any longer, go before thy wounds or thine enemies overcome thee, Templar."

 

[Redryhno]

"I don't take kindly to threats or baseless accusations, you little shit. Feel free to cower and flee if you want, but don't get in our way,"

Hugh sighed at the weapon pointed at his throat,"Why do the Arcana-inspired always be so antiquated in their weapon of choice?"He peered along the blade up to the hand that held it, before seeing the eye peering out from the guard, looking around the area after settling on himself.

So he is wielded by a demon-trapped blade is he? I was not aware they were not all hidden away, unless it was a demon from this incursion...no...the craftsmanship is much older than what we were allowed to use, this is an ancient sword I'm having pressed against my throat, but why would a demon want to kill more of its own kind?

Another figure stepped off the ladder, dressed in the same way as these two Arcana-users, but...wholly different, the first indication being he was showing a weapon from this millennium, pointed at the ground of course, but still readied.

Three men now, and a fourth that ran off with their new guinea-pig. Two most likely using demonic weapons, the superior of the smaller one, being used by a malevolent sword, but exactly how well-versed are they in their use against someone trained? No, I am in the lion's den with at least one true danger in this man in front of myself. Father Daughtry is wounded as well, there is nothing I can do now.

He looked the dark one holding the sword to his neck - Adrian - in the eye, as he grudgingly lowered one of his pistol and replaced it in his shoulder holster,"I'm not about to let any of you leave my sight until after you've actually proven you aren't involved in some amount of plot involving these creatures. Don't start thinking these are the only things down here as your obviously ignorant underling believes, maddened they are, but you would be even more foolish than I believe you to be if you have the same information as we."

The sounds of the beasts were getting closer.

"We'll manage perfectly fine."

"Jonah was just as arrogant in believing he knew everything as you are being now Pale Swordsman. Believe what you will, but the fact is that you have no idea what's down here, what we know is there's more than a simple maddened kennel in this underground."

Father Daughtry spoke up then, calling for the theatrics to be forgotten as the sounds of the next wave of demons approached. Hugh stepped away from Adrian and his soul-possessing soul, slowly pushing it away from being pointed at anyone's vital parts as well with his pistol,finger off of the trigger, lowering the barrel to a safe zone as well. He paid no heed to the first man's attempts to hand over some sort of bandages, probably cursed in some way anyways.

"We have been ta'en for the Foundation, it seems. For they are the ones who experiment."

"I am sure that you being trapped inside your prison required no sort of experimentation beforehand demon-blade,"Hugh said as he shifted his attention to the eye,"Just as everything the Cabal utilizes required no thought before they donned it."

He looked back to the sword's host,"Wherever you plan on going, I plan on accompanying you through these underground vaults, even if it means your deaths due to not going into this with an actual plan."

16 shots left, each of these beasts requiring at least three well-placed shots, meaning I can only perfectly take out another five, more like another three before being forced to switch guns, or reloading. And then I will be forced into fighting with nothing but Purification and close-combat.

He exhaled, drawing his combat knife slowly out of the sheath on his back, holding it in a reverse grip, the blade parallel with his forearm as he circled around the group at the base of the ladder.

The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in him and I am helped.

 

[hiei82]

Jackson Clark​

Jackson covered the ladder as the others climbed up. He stayed silent as they bickered, trying to hold back the dogs as the others escaped. However, the others seem perfectly fine with staying down in the sewers, trying to fight an enemy with superior numbers, in an environment that suited to their fighting abilities. And they kept bickering. A few new comers joined the fight.

"STOP ARGUING," Jackson yelled as he fired into the head of one of the beats, "We can deal with interpersonal rivalries AFTER we have dealt with the hell-hounds with literal SHIT in their mouths."

One jumped Jackson as he reloaded. He smashed it in the skull with the gun, crashing it into a wall, then finished off with a knife to the eye.

Jackson looked at the beasts as they came at them, trying to figure which direction the majority were coming from, and which were just flanking the hunters.

 

[Drummodino]

"Why do the Arcana-inspired always be so antiquated in their weapon of choice?"

Adrian didn't reply and kept the sword leveled at the gunman's throat, waiting for him to make a sudden move. He listened as Rain updated him on the situation, without shifting his gaze.

"Thank you. though, I'm not sure these are the only targets, something seems off. They're likely to be man-made, chimeras of some sort, and aren't very smart. The woman I followed down here appeared not to know about them either, though she brought one through the tunnels with her. "

"It seems our information was misleading," Adrian mused. "Well at least it seems the others here weren't any more informed than we were, otherwise they'd have sent more agents."

Thankfully Randall followed him down the ladder and backed him up, hopefully that would prevent the young man from doing something stupid. At that moment, the injured priest spoke up.

"Regardless of how good you are, there's the risk of being overrun. And I have a bad feeling that the hellhounds are just the start. Now, I know the Vatican and the Cabal are hardly friends, but we have the same goal in mind. Distasteful though it may be, I suggest we work together. Unless you want to keep arguing, playing 'Who's the better Demon Killer?', go ahead, but it's hardly productive."

As much as Adrian hated to admit it, he agreed with the older Templar. The best chance of success would come from working together against a threat of this size. Petty squabbles would have to wait for now. This appeared to disappoint Eligos as he offered a rather snide comment in response to the priest. The gunman too didn't seem to take it well either, refusing Rain's offering of bandages and spouting off sheer nonsense about experiments and Cabal plotting. He did lower his weapons however, so Adrian allowed him to step away and lowered Eligos to his side.

"Wherever you plan on going, I plan on accompanying you through these underground vaults, even if it means your deaths due to not going into this with an actual plan."

Rolling his eyes at the man's words, Adrian replied "Sure, whatever kid. Just try stay out of my radius," and turned as the final member of their diverse group yelled at them. It appeared company had arrived. With a grin Adrian removed his glasses, his superhuman vision lighting up the dank sewers like it was midday. Glancing at the rest of the party, his eyes glowing a soft red, he muttered "Shall we?" and then stepped up to meet the oncoming beasts. As one leaped towards him, he stabbed Eligos forward, spearing it on the long, hand-and-a-half blade.

 

[IFS]

"Wherever you plan on going, I plan on accompanying you through these underground vaults, even if it means your deaths due to not going into this with an actual plan."

"Sure, whatever kid. Just try stay out of my radius. Shall we?"

"About damn time," Randall replied, grinning underneath his balaclava. The bratty kid was still proving to be an idiot, even ignoring the request of the priest who was talking as if he was his superior. Both templars then, at least the other one isn't a dribbling idiot. Randall thought, if the kid had half a brain he would know better than to pick a fight with an ally while they were fighting demons, who seemed to have decided they had spent enough time hanging back and had begun to charge the group once more.

He removed his sunglasses with one hand and hung them from his collar, relying on the darkness to hide the condition of his skin around his eyes, though most of it was still well covered. It was dark enough down here without wearing shades after all.

This was the only action he had time for before the demons were on them, both hands snapped to his pistol as he raised it, his gun roaring twice before the thing dropped. Another leaped at him and he barely sidestepped the fanged horror, smashing his gun down like a hammer on its head then firing a single shot into it before it could recover. Not for the first time he was glad that his transformation had made him stronger, the .50 caliber pistol he used now would have been much more difficult to use before, and anything smaller would take far more rounds to drop one of the nightmarish demons.

He moved up, trying to keep Adrian close by, the swordsman was much better equipped to handle the hellhounds after all. Randall wasn't a terribly cautious person, but he certainly understood the value in keeping your enemies at arms reach, especially when you could shoot them before they could touch you. At least the narrow sewers keep too many of them from coming at us at once, we get the swordsmen out front and it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel; only considerably worse smelling.

 

[Terratina.]

"Jonah was just as arrogant in believing he knew everything as you are being now Pale Swordsman. Believe what you will, but the fact is that you have no idea what's down here, what we know is there's more than a simple maddened kennel in this underground... Just as everything the Cabal utilizes required no thought before they donned it."

Oh, this was rich.

"Thou art five-and-twenty years too early to be spewing half-backed platitudes, airling." Eligos replied, "As for my imprisonment, 'twas an intricate thing, for anything less would be doomed to failure. No thought? Quite the opposite was the case."

Thankfully, however, the time for talking was over as soon as Adrian plunged the demon blade into one of the hellhounds.

Without any thought, the sword pierced the monster's flesh and the tendrils followed, slithering down the wound to get at the good stuff. If Eligos had a mouth, he would grin - finally action! Let the mongrels be destroyed! No demon that couldn't withstand a simple stabbing deserved to live. Indeed, they just lived to be crushed!

 

[Texas Joker 52]

+ Father Daughtry +​

When the Cabal swordsman offered a roll of bandages that Hugh promptly ignored, Shaun shook his head and took them himself.

"Thank you." he told him, nodding once before sitting back and setting both spear and bandages aside.

Closing his eyes, he held his right hand just above the bite marks on his other arm and began to concentrate.

"Heavenly Father, grant your humble servant your mercy and grace, for I am about to do battle in Your Name. Watch over me as I vanquish these demons from Hell for Your Glory and not mine, for this strength is Yours and Yours alone. Amen." he prayed, even as a warm light emanated from his palm onto his wound.

Within a minute, his wounds had closed neatly, but they were far from healed. But, they were good enough for the moment. As the others made their way back into the sewers, he tore off the ruined arm of his priests jacket and wrapped his arm firmly with gauze. As soon as it was bound, he stood, taking up his spear again and making his way back into the depths.

Once his feet touched the floor of the sewer, he moved forward to stand next to Hugh.

"Don't think I'm going to let you fight these abominations alone, Hugh. I am your partner after all." he said with a small smile as he ran a charging hellhound through.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Jonah was just as arrogant in believing he knew everything as you are being now Pale Swordsman. Believe what you will, but the fact is that you have no idea what's down here, what we know is there's more than a simple maddened kennel in this underground."

Rain didn't reply. It wasn't important, of course not, but he didn't want to reply, seeing as he didn't know who this "Jonah" was. He kept quiet, the templar spoke about it as if it was common knowledge, and it would be shameful to admit he had no clue.

I doubt it would do me any good to know, but...

Finally, he spoke, though it was four simple words. "I am not afraid." He really wasn't, if they didn't act now, more people could be harmed. Besides, if he got hurt or even died, so be it. At least he had died doing his duty.

That's all I'm here for.

That was the only thing that drove him, after all. Only that. He shut these kind of thoughts out as soon as he started thinking them, there was no feeling worse than the empty, sad feeling filling him if he dwelled to long on unimportant things.

"STOP ARGUING! We can deal with interpersonal rivalries AFTER we have dealt with the hell-hounds with literal SHIT in their mouths."

The yelling from behind him helped Rain's train of thought back on the right trail. He buried any kind of doubt.

Not important now. Anyway... So that guy is doing well, that's good to know.

He looked to Adrian, who spoke.

"Shall we?"

"Yes," Rain replied, adding sir might seem odd now, but he still muttered it to himself. "Sir." He was about to put the bandages back, however, the hurt templar priest came down and took them. It seemed that he intended to follow the younger, louder one.

"Thank you."

Rain looked at him, surprised, and nodded, before following the others. He kept his distance from the templar with the gun, he was wondering if the gun users were skilled enough not to accidentally shoot him in the back of his head, and this one seemed like he might do it on purpose. Hopefully, the gun users was skilled enough not to. When he decided on a target, far enough from the other people in the group for him to attack without accidentally cutting of a limb, he raised his blade and closed in. With a swift swing, he beheaded the creature.

 

[hiei82]

[HEADING=2]Waterfront[/HEADING]

"Whatever you say." The captain said, shrugging his shoulders. As long as she was paying; he didn't care. He'd have his boat ready by the evening. He was about to turn back to the task at hand when he remembered the reporter. Turning to the man, he began to speak. "So wha can I do fer ya?"

Meanwhile, not far away, Victoria made her call. "We need a pickup or dropoff point asap." The man on the other end of the line responded with a "Yes, Ma'am" and the sound of typing. "The carrier will meet you at 102 Salem Street in ten. Will that be all Ma'am?" Before she could reply however, Victoria felt something wrong; Sesthine's bond had gone quiet.

[HEADING=2]Sewers - Sesthine[/HEADING]

Sestine bounded through the sewer system without much difficulty. Well, aside from the terrible smell of human refuse. The only real concern were the barking roars around her and growing closer. It quickly became clear that the entire sewer system was infested with these dog-like abominations. In all her many years, she'd never encountered a creature quite like the monstrosity over her shoulder. Demonic canines were hardly rare; just none she'd encountered were quite so skinless and covered in humanoid faces.

The sewer system was ancient and meandered greatly making her entire path to the water front much longer than it would have been on the surface. She was already clocking in at three times the time to cover a quarter the distance even at full gait.

Shortly after communicating her intentions to Victoria, Sesthine noticed something was wrong. It took her a moment to determine just what it was however; the lack of barking. Where before the barking echoed throughout the entire system, now it was disturbingly quiet. Clearly they were preparing an attack.

She caught a glimpse of one of the beasts in her path. It roared at her and charged. However, before it even reached her, she sensed something behind her. Something all together different. She turned, caught a glimpse of white fabric and a massive form before everything went dark.

[HEADING=2]The Sewers - 20 minutes later[/HEADING]

Adrian and Rain lead the way through the sewer system, step by step. With each step, the echoing sounds of the demon dogs seemed to grow louder and more enraged. There had been a brief period of time where the entire system had been quiet, but nothing had come of it. Whether that was a sign of good or bad things to come was yet unknown. As they moved through the labyrinth of feces and rats, they occasionally caught glimpses of running figures in crossing tunnels. Thus far, the creatures appeared to be staying back; having learned their lesson that a direct assault wasn't the best plan.

For his part, Eligos rather enjoyed the quiet time; it gave him time to get over the foul meat he'd consumed. The creatures were undoubtedly not of this world, yet their flesh was. All of it was of the lowly humans (and worse) of this world, yet given life by some kind of foul power the likes of which he'd never tasted. Still, after working his way past the soulless remains of the humans, that tiny taste of power - true power - was as addictive as any high demon of the homelands. When they found the true demon, he'd enjoy absorbing its powers.

For the longest time, they searched like this; occasionally taking pot shots at the running beasties but never managing to get more than a grazing blow before they disappeared down one of a thousand other tunnels. They hadn't encountered anything of use at all.

Then they found it; a dead beast and an axe. The beast was the same they'd encountered before; it's faces instantly recognizable to those who'd seen the first attack. The axe was the same the strange woman had wielded. Apparently she'd meet a terrible fate down here. However, one other strange thing made both of these otherwise important pieces of information less than relevant. There was a man standing over them, dressed in an armored coat of some kind and carrying on him a strange gun of odd shape. Those with good eyes could see a tube going over his shoulder carrying some kind of blue gel-like liquid.

When they saw the man, he'd spun on his feet to face the oncoming party with his gun was pointed their way, but as soon as he could see the group properly, he lowered the weapon. "I take it you're hunting as well then?" he said with a thick Boston accent. "You Foundation or we gonna need to do the usually alliance BS?"

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Jackson stayed at the back of the group, keeping a watch behind them, taking pictures of the creature's corpses as they walked past. It was clear these creatures were either somewhat intelligent or being controlled by something that was. Thankfully, the group had taken his advice and stopped bickering.

He took mental notes on the others in the "group," taking particular note of the large man with the sword. Those clothes were WAY to thick for such a hot day, yet he showed no visible signs of even a minor heat stroke. The group suddenly stopped, obviously they had found something important.

"I take it you're hunting as well then? You Foundation or we gonna need to do the usually alliance BS?"

They had found the Foundation agent, or at least something acting like the agent. Jackson set up the range finder to watch the group's back and pushed his way forward. Obviously this guy was using extraplanar tech, so it was hard to tell how destructive this guy could be.

"Why did you go dark after tagging the beast, and didn't report the infestation of the hounds?" Jackson said, avoiding the questions, switching to a thermal view while he spoke, "How long have you been down here?"

There is only so long a human could stand these toxic fumes, Jackson was amazed the others had lasted this long.

 

[Drummodino]

Adrian walked slowly down the sewer tunnel side by side with Rain, Souldrinker at the ready. The area was infested with the creatures, however they kept back from the group for the time. He could see them scuttling through the tunnels not too far from them, tracking their progress. They clearly had some form of limited intelligence or were being controlled by something else. This worried Adrian, the situation was far more serious than they had been led to believe. A team of Cabal agents could have cleaned this mess up, but could the group they'd gathered here do the same? He wasn't confident.

As they walked, Adrian leaned over to Rain and spoke in a low voice. "Remember we have to try and collect some corpses of these creatures when we get out of here. Otherwise this will have all been for naught." Straightening up, they continued deeper into the tunnels.

Eventually they found something of interest. A man with an armoured coat was standing there alone, pointing a strange looking gun at them. An axe and one of the dead beasts were lying at his feet. He lowered the weapon when he saw the group wasn't immediately hostile.

"I take it you're hunting as well then? You Foundation or we gonna need to do the usually alliance BS?"

Before Adrian could answer, the unidentified gunman spoke up from the back of the group.

"Why did you go dark after tagging the beast, and didn't report the infestation of the hounds? How long have you been down here?"

"We're a mixed bag here," Adrian said gruffly. "Speaking of..." he followed up, turning to the gunman. "You haven't identified yourself yet. "Who exactly are you, and who are you working for? I don't like not knowing if the man behind me is going to shoot me in the back or not."

 

[Texas Joker 52]

+ Father Daughtry +​

It seemed that the demon dogs, or whatever their master was, was smart enough to realize there were too many of them to make overwhelming with numbers a tricky proposition. So, before moving forward too much farther into the sewer tunnels, Shaun took it upon himself to make sure the hellhounds that were already taken down were good and dead. The tip of his spear was wreathed in white flames, and he gave each corpse a solid jab, deep enough for the purifying flames to reduce the corpses to ash.

At least, until he heard the tallest member of the group speak up to his own partner.

"Remember we have to try and collect some corpses of these creatures when we get out of here. Otherwise this will have all been for naught."

At that, he looked up in the middle of reducing a hellhound to ash an gave them a sheepish smile and an awkward chuckle.

"Uh, I'll... I'll just finish doing this later and leave a few alone for you. No need to do it now, I suppose." he said before joining the main group.

He stayed by Hugh's side and grasped his spear firmly in his good hand while his wounded arm remained curled up against him. It was almost half an hour until they found another dead hellhound and a discarded axe, both of which were being inspected by a man in a heavy coat, carrying a strange looking gun and having some sort of tube going over one shoulder filled with something blue.

The man turned when he heard them, raising his gun for a moment before lowering it once he got a good look at them.

"I take it you're hunting as well then? You Foundation or we gonna need to do the usually alliance BS?"

Shaun spared a glance for the soldier and tall swordsman as they replied, before he spoke up himself.

"We've actually already been there and done that. Father Shaun Daughtry, and my partner Hugh Paille, Knights Templar," he told him, motioning to Hugh as he introduced him.

"My Cabal 'friend' is right to ask though: Who are you?" he asked, his stance becoming more defensive.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

"You haven't identified yourself yet. "Who exactly are you, and who are you working for? I don't like not knowing if the man behind me is going to shoot me in the back or not."

Jackson kept his eyes on the Foundation Agent, not loosening the grip on the gun for a second.

"Private Jackson Clark, NBWDAC," he said.

 

[Terratina.]

"Remember we have to try and collect some corpses of these creatures when we get out of here. Otherwise this will have all been for naught."

Eligos gave a grumble to Adrian's words, at least at first. The demon might have had succor from the sewer's stench, but with the taste of the hellhounds' flesh, it was a different story. He had ingested something foul. That word was, in Eligos's view, somewhat synonymous with human and logically enough, that was exactly what he had ingested. Well, more or lest. The proud demon didn't what to think about what other poor things had gotten into the mixture of human flesh and corrupt power.

The Cabal wouldn't get much out of the corpses either. Then again, humans were humans: taking anything that stank of the occult with absolute horror or glee - the Cabal being part of the latter. However, before Eligos fully dismissed the thought of anything useful being inside those mutts, there it was on the edge of taste: a little hint of power, gloriously addicting power.

"Uh, I'll... I'll just finish doing this later and leave a few alone for you. No need to do it now, I suppose."

Catching the sheepish words and the name of the elder Templar, he then gave his reply to both Adrian and whoever was wise enough to listen to his counsel. In spite of the little scene with the all-too-shouty soldier and the Foundation Agent - seriously, who wanted to focus more bickering between hairless apes when there were more exciting things to talk about? The Foundation was probably just here for some samples anyway. Goddamn scientists.

"Verily, the game is not worth the candle." Eligos said, "Those caitiff curs art worth less than their components. The only thing of promise within them is but a lick of their creator's power."

 

[DarkRawen]

"Remember we have to try and collect some corpses of these creatures when we get out of here. Otherwise this will have all been for naught."

"I understand. Although--" he turned and looked at the path behind them, the Templars had purified most of the bodies already. He'd been told they did that, though he wasn't completely sure why.

To eradicate the demons.

He supposed, but it seemed like such a waste. The older one, the priest, heard what they were talking about, and chuckled in an odd way, as he was in the middle of making another disappear.

"Uh, I'll... I'll just finish doing this later and leave a few alone for you. No need to do it now, I suppose."

Rain, keeping his eyes on the Templar for a while longer, nodded. This one had been less hostile than the other one.

"That would be preferable."

Turning back, he noticed another of these creatures, dead, with what he thought to be a familiar axe.

That's the one that woman was carrying, isn't it?

He was rather sure it was, yet she was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a strange man, with an unusual gun and a tube of some kind.

"I take it you're hunting as well then? You Foundation or we gonna need to do the usually alliance BS?"

The conversation started taking several routes after the man they had happened upon spoke. There was the one questioning this man, then there was questions regarding who the military man was, who, not surprisingly, identified himself as a military man. Jackson Clark was his name, apparently. Apart from him, the Templars also had named themselves, Shaun Daughtry and Hugh Paille.

Rain didn't see much reason to do the same. It wasn't really their business what his name was, and, as Adrian had not introduced himself, nor would Rain. Instead of keeping an ear on what the discussion was, he heard Eligos speak.


"Verily, the game is not worth the candle. Those caitiff curs art worth less than their components. The only thing of promise within them is but a lick of their creator's power."

"How so?" he asked, though, he was muttering so that he wouldn't disturb the other conversation. The demon in the sword would know better than any of them what the creatures were. Rain tried to think of a good question. "Do you know what created them?"

 

[Terratina.]

"How so? Do you know what created them?"

Eligos frowned. Well, as much as a demon trapped within a sword with nothing but an eye and a few flakes of flesh that made up a ragged eyelid could frown. There was the simple dilemma of explaining it in human terms. How little they knew of the demonic. Then again, was it just that the other Cabal agent was asking to recall the taste of those fouls beasts in detail?

"Dram glory in ripping snapping marionettes made of dead flesh and magic apart; no essence within either." Eligos replied in the same quiet tone, "The creator is well-versed in stitching flesh and hath a fair amount of power. Little else can be gleamed from their remains."

 

[hiei82]

[HEADING=2]Sewers[/HEADING]

"Francis Sachs; Harvard branch of the Foundation." he said seemingly offhandedly, though he visibly shifted a bit defensively; as soon as Adrian stated they weren't Foundation. "As for the other questions, you can take them up with Harvard; I've bigger things to deal with than paperwork or putting up with some damned alliance." he said, turning on his feet and walking away.

However, as Eligos started speaking, he stopped walking away. He listened to the speaker - though unaware that the speaker was a sword - for a few seconds, before starting to make his way further into the sewer system.

 

[Redryhno]

Father Daughtry continued his Purification of the beasts as they were finally freed of their chomping faces, at least for the moment. They continued along the sewer system, Hugh having to reload both his guns, the one in his hand now with normal rounds, the holstered one with the Church's incendiary rounds.

However, as they came upon the scene, he recognized the axe from the sliver earlier before they had met up with the Cabal, though the wielder was unfamiliar, but, he did see a clearly bullet-shaped hole in the many-faced demon. The man standing over the two apparently deceased subjects however was wearing a coat that matched the description of this Boston Ripper they had initially entered into the sewers after.

"As for the other questions, you can take them up with Harvard; I've bigger things to deal with than paperwork or putting up with some damned alliance."

"So do we,"Hugh said,"We came into this Boston Underground tracking a Type-II or possibly Type-III Demon, and it appears you've killed one of these Cabalite's colleagues judging by that axe."