Written by MonMarty While battles raged elsewhere in the city, saving the Empire’s papertrail proved just as important. An Empire built on bureaucracy, the banks, offices and registrars were crucial for the Empire to recover as quickly as possible from being cut off from its capital. No doubt, the loss of the capital for so long had done considerable financial damage, and in order to recover everything quickly, the endless lists and checklists and data sheets that the government had collected over the years were utterly crucial. As such, some of the Noble women and their close allies and friends chose to seek out these offices that had mostly been left abandoned. No doubt, the majority of the Vampires would be attracted elsewhere to defend Greygate or attack the Temple of the All-Beacon, so the plan was to just run into these buildings and then barricade them from the inside. The groups split up into four, one headed by Sivrid Sorenvik to Old Town where they would defend the last remaining Old Gods shrines from the Vampires, while Genevieve Howlester, Milena Cadieux and Tuija Nordhjem & Erick von Eisner respectively went to the State Bank, the Bureaucratic office for Citizenship and the Bureaucratic office for Financial ledgers, three buildings that shared a common access square at the government plaza. Using the cover of night and the lack of Vampires in the streets, the groups fanned out and entered their respective buildings. The Government Plaza groups were the first to arrive, taking up their positions. Milena Cadieux, Henric of Heeresveen, Laeroth Minarith and Fabien Cadieux went into the State Bank, a building that had been looted of all its gold and its vaults emptied, but the paperwork had remained which the Vampires thought had no value. Tuija Nordhjem and Erick von Eisner entered the Citizenship office, a building that had similarly been left alone because it was smaller but contained vital habitation records of the Empire’s citizens. Finally, Genevieve, Rosalyne and Tommen all of the Howlester family, Amelina, Alesia and Lucrece all of the Peirgarten family, and Cillian Gallagher went into the Financial ledger office, the largest of the three buildings warranting the most assistance to barricade. All grounds went about barricading their buildings, Tuija completing first by using a variety of alchemical mixtures to harden foam around the windows and doors, leaving the second floor window open to keep communications between the various groups from across the plaza. Erick barricaded the doors further by moving some furniture about, and dimmed the lights inside in the hopes it would draw them no attention. In another building, Amelina Peirgarten used her alchemy to do much of the same thing, though instead using a mixture to melt and then re-harden stonework so warped bars could be erected around windows, while the rest got about using the hammers they brought to nail planks across doors and openings, while ensuring many of the paper cabinets were locked and shoved underneath draped sheets of cloth and carpets to draw less attention. Finally, the group in the State Bank did not have much room to barricade, the building was fairly open and the main entranceway had been so thoroughly damaged by an explosion to open the vault that Laeroth Minarith simply stood in it, in the hopes of pushing back any vampires that would try to get inside, while Fabien, Milena and Henric stood on a balcony on the second gallery. Before long, the battles began across the city and the melee could be heard from afar, though the government plaza remained empty. Occasionally, the darkness filling the plaza would be broken by the colors red and purple as the airship and Demetrius exchanged salvos of their magical weapons, or a fiery explosion erupted in some part of the city as Vampires and Mages alike made battle. For all of these groups, the night was mostly one of waiting for the inevitable vandals to arrive, and to hold out for long enough to keep these buildings secure, relying on the warriors to win the day. Sure enough, Vampires would arrive, not as many as they might have even expected, but certainly more than the unarmed parties would be able to handle if they fought them head-on. The battleground was theirs to dictate however, as they had mostly barricaded up their buildings, and the Vampires would have to somehow break in while they still defended the obstacles. An attack came on the Citizen registry first, with Tuija and Erick inside. Erick commanded the Vampires to leave when they clattered their weapons on the hardened foam windows, perhaps alerting them that someone was inside. Indeed, the Vampires feeling challenged, tried to pry their way in, trying for any weakened windows on the outside. Inside, Erick rushed from room to room to see which window would break first, while Tuija was quick at work with chemistry, having laid out her alchemy equipment on one of the empty office and brewing together satchels. She instructed Erick to cover their mouths with a wet towel, before she called for him to call out the windows the Vampires were at on the first floor. She then marched ot the second floor, where the two worked together to quell the Vampiric attacks, Erick shouting the directions up the stairs, and Tuija blindly throwing her satchels out the second storey windows to the Vampires down below who were hammering on the foam to try and break in. Each time a satchel fell, a puff of smoke erupted, and the Vampires dropped to the ground, their bodies paralyzed with muscle paralyzers, before they would eventually suffocate. The Vampires chose not to face such odds, reasoning that attacking the Citizenship registry would just be a hassle and cost casualties, instead splitting up and going for the bank and the Financial offices. The Bank faced the lesser of the attacks. The Vampires charged in, running past the destroyed gate which Laeroth chose not to remain in. As soon as they entered the main lobby with its marble floors and collapsed chandeliers, Laeroth summoned the mists of Solleria, covering the floor in a knee-high blanket of vapor that cascaded up the walls, as if the entire room had drifted into a cloud. Perched from a balcony were Melina, Fabien and Henric, ready to pelt objects from the interior at the Vampires. Laeroth initiated with his sword and shield, concentrating on keeping the enemy away from him, but still chasing him, giving the others the opportunity to throw things over the railing. Down went a candleholder, an inkwell, a stool, and a drapery handle. Milena started throwing plates and porcelain ware like throwing stars, a yelp of anxious frustration escaping her, while Henric and Fabien flanked her with heavy document casings and wooden cabinet drawers. The absolute avalanche of trash and furniture that stormed down to meet the Vampires along with Laeroth’s avoidance tactics caused them to win the day. Even if the individual objects did not hurt the Vampires, they distracted them long enough for Laeroth to find an opening and place a well aimed stab, all factors contributing to make sure even a non-combatant group of nobles could shine in defense of the city. In the Financial registry building, the largest group had barricaded themselves away from the largest number of Vampires as well. From the rooftop, Cillian and Lucrece shot their weapons, Cillian his crossbow, and Lucrece her short bow, down at the Vampires below that were trying to climb up the walls or into the window barricades. Cillian cranked his crossbow, taking aim, and shooting, before turning back to crank another shot, while Lucrece tapped out with him and took aim to fire several shots, until it was time for Cillian to fire again. While Cillian took aim again, Lucrece shouted out another Vampire that was getting close to scaling the wall on the other side of the building, causing the tag-team to reposition and shoot at other approaching targets. Inside, the defense was frantic, with Genevieve running from room to room, bashing at the arms and hands of the Vampires tunneling through the bars of stone and wooden furniture stacked up against the windows with such vigor her otherwise perfectly styled hair came loose, the curls dancing in front of her face. Alesia panickingly ran from wall to wall, seeing where the Vampires would break through, and then back to Amelina who was mixing together alchemical concoctions to try and fortify the walls, handing them to Alesia who would then run back and throw them against the walls. Rosalyne was meanwhile on the second floor, mixing together her own concoctions to drive away the attackers. From below, Alesia and Genevieve shouted a more immediate solution was needed for the group of Vampires by the Front, to which Roselyne replied that she had something, but that it could be a bit much. Without any more though, she tossed the potion down the balcony at the Vampires, after which a violent explosion ripped by the side of the building, blowing open one of the windows and knocking Genevieve and Alesia to the ground, followed with a croaked “Too much!” or something to that effect. When the dust settled, Genevieve called out for Tommen, but heard no reply. Upstairs, Roselyne also started looking for him, and fear struck that he had somehow been killed or worse. The situation was dire, Lucrece had run out of arrows and her own arm was cut by a passing shot from a Vampire, Cillian was desperately cranking his crossbow, but his arms fatigued and he could not get the string to load. Just when they could hear the Vampires clawing at the stonework close to them however, Lucrece looked up, and tapped Cillian’s shoulder to draw his attention to what she was looking at. Above the two of them, Tommen Howlester floated, his body with arms stretched out in a perfect T-pose, his expression completely devoid of emotion, levitating at walking speed forward to the edge of the building. The two just stared at him with an incredulous look on their faces, following him as he went. Tommen reached over the edge of the building, continuing to float at least four storeys up in the air, hovering further and further away from the edge. And then, all of a sudden, he started spinning in place, faster and faster with each rotation, as flashes of light projectiles burst from his stretched out hands, seeking the Vampires. A flurry of shots erupted from his rotating body, remaining otherwise motionless in its perfect T-pose like a perfectly balanced spinning top, peppering the Vampires with light projectiles, casting from the walls and impaling them in the chest and back as they tried to flee. Genevieve had made her way to a nearby window, finding just a large enough crack to watch him do whatever it was he was doing, and all she could say was “What the actual fuck” muttered under her breath. When the Vampires were fleeing from this overwhelming firepower, Tommen stopped rotating and floated back to the roof where Cillian and Lucrece were still watching him, unpacking his lunchbox, and reaching for a perfectly cut sandwich, dark rye bread with the crusty edges cut off, a little bit of lettuce, some cucumber cut in the shapes of hearts (perhaps by his wife) and an egg salad to boot. He took a bite from his sandwich, then shrugged, tossing the sandwich over his shoulder. It flung itself down to the last group of retreating Vampires, where it turned into a void-hole, sucking stone work and shrieking Vampires into its epicenter, swallowing them whole before disappearing into nothingness. He dusted off his hands and straightened his clothes, landed, and just walked off with a whistle to his tune, Cillian and Lucrece now looking at each other in the hopes either had any clue what just happened. Elsewhere in the city, Sivrid, Elena, Sekhet and Sage had taken up positions on the mountain slope of the last Old Gods Temple in the city, home to the shrines of the four Unions and source of the river that fed half the districts of Old Town, a target that the Vampires would surely use to poison the water supply. Indeed, Vampires came to face them and the few Velheim people they managed to scrounge up along the way. Sage had taken up position with the wounded faithful on the mountain, as the temple had been home to many refugees, too ruined to draw attention to the Vampires before, and offering shelter. Many of them were emaciated, and had sustained wounds from smaller skirmishes with Vampires in the weeks prior. Her eyes said it all when Sivrid came to get an update, these wounded could not leave. Even if abandoning the Old Gods temple was an option, they would have to cut loose the wounded, and none of those present would consider this an option, so the group resolved to hold their ground and call upon whatever powers they could to keep out the Vampires. Elena and Sekhet stood between the trees, lying in wait to ambush the Vampires, while Sivrid stood at the top of the stairs, hair tied back and with an axe in hand, a weapon she had not truly used to strike at necks, head, and torsos in a very long time. The Vampires came up the stairs, slowly at first, but faster halfway, where Sekhet and Elena shot out from opposing sides. Using their Feka Asha speed, Elena clawed at the Vampires from behind, who when turned around, would no longer be facing Sekhet who used their Sihai blade to cut off their heads one by one. The Vampires however severely outnumbered the two, and eventually they were forced to retreat further as Wyrden corrupted the trees around them and turned their ambush spots on them. With the roots turning hostile, Sivrid having to face a melee with a much stronger opponent and a larger group became a more realistic possibility, and so she called upon the Gods for benediction, to protect their people and their last remaining temple, for if this temple should fall, surely this would be a signal that the Old Gods were doomed. And just like that, Sivrid was inspired with an idea. The Union of Water temple had a large dam across the hill where the staircase led up, the entire mountain’s fresh water flushing through the pool. Due to Assembly proposals in the past, the well itself had been dammed shut, the Unionists believing that the Old Gods sacrifices would cause blood and gore to enter the water supply, thus blocking it off for sanitary reasons. Sivrid could not reasonably break down those brick barriers with a dingy little axe, but if she could bend the water to her will, it could be used to redirect the flow of water onto the staircase below, and form a waterfall that would cascade the Vampires out of ever reaching the Temple. Sure enough, she prayed and tried to call upon her Elemental Control, hands flat on the stonework to try and connect with the water beyond, and sure enough, the water seemed to obey her call. Signalling for Sekhet and Elena to make their final retreat, Sivrid finally unleashed the flow of the water on the side, it boiled over the dam barricade, and unleashed a torrent of violent water onto the staircase below. If the water itself did not wash away the Vampires, the wet stonework proved impossible for the Vampires to scale, yet the clawed Feka-Asha could still move with impunity, and strike at any Vampires who were still left standing. The water just kept coming and coming, as if the whole waterfall had been redirected away from the Yanar district onto the staircase and the square below, quickly filling up with knee-high water. It was in that moment that the fire from the fire-shrine seemed to burn just a bit brighter, the earth in the earth-shrine resonated gently with a peaceful hum, and the air blew that much stronger up in the air-shrine, the Velheim flag of Drixagh vigorously dancing in the wind, and the hearts of those present lifted that the temple would live another day, the hungry and the wounded profusely thanking Sage for helping them, patching up their wounds and handing out provisions she and Sivrid had brought along. With all done, Genevieve and Sivrid both stepped out of their respective hold-up positions, firing off their flares, as the lights danced over the rest of the city and victory was at hand.
