Weeks after the appearance of the three Arken Generals, the time had finally come where the people of Regalia began to formulate proper attacks against the magical forces. It began with a plan of ambush, luring the Arken Claire into the slums and attacking her from all sides with the help of those from all walks of life. Silven, Witchblood, Mages and physical fighters alike to better understand what it took to destroy their vessels once and for all. They targeted the least physically capable of the Generals, the Finely Dressed Woman, and chose her to plan their attack around. The group spent weeks formulating their methods, planning out how she would react and also finding the best ways to not only lure her into their web but to let her guard down. On the evening of the Fourteenth, just after nightfall, a group of six made their descent into the slums of Regalia. Among them stood Tullion Kearney, Edmond du Pont, Wilfre Vaendit, Leufred Reginar, Florianne Gris, and Yevgeniy Salenko. They entered with severe intent, as it would be the evening they would participate in the killing of an Arken. The group started deep in the slums, spreading themselves wide in front of the Old Gods temple, each and every one of them taunting the Arken to gather her attention. It all began with the boiling of water in a nearby channel, then the whisperings in their ears. Each was told something different, the taunts growing in how personal they were as the Arken was becoming more displeased with their reactions. The Arken, Claire, soon took power from the group, leading them into the Temple and creating a barrier behind them. The battle began as the Arken manifested ahead of them in a vision of stone. Arrows flew from Leufred’s bow as the group advanced, the arrow tips ripping through Claire with ease as her wounds slowly turned to stone under her dress; all magical spells simply bouncing off of her. Yevgeniy stepped up with his weapon, aiming a swing of his blade just as Claire raised her hand to stop Leufred’s arrow from flying, severing her hand at the wrist and turning her forearm to stone. The hand clanked to the ground, now statuesque. Claire soon moved for the witcheater, seeing his speed as an issue she cast upon him, his flesh slowly turning to stone as he moved. The battle was short and sweet, arrows slowly ripped the Arken to shreds, the bleeding cracks in the stone growing in severity as time went on. Claire then defended herself easily against Wilfre's sword, her cold hard flesh deflecting the weapon just before one of Leufred’s arrows ripped through her skull, flying through her forehead and into Yevgeniy’s cheek, further immobilizing him as he attempted to pull out the arrow. With two down, Claire moved to the center of the room, bracing herself as her forehead slowly turned a sickly grey in an effort to heal herself. Florianne’s spray of hornets was easily deflected, the Arken having a view of them all from the center of the room. Florianne noted this and moved on to using mundane methods of attack, such as hurling rocks and using her swords. It would seem magic didn’t have any effect on the Arken. Tullion Kearney rounded the room, remaining out of Claire’s field of vision, the rest of the party distracting her fully from the halfling. A brick flew across the room, cracking the side of the Arken’s skull and sending her flying to the floor; Florianne having found out her magic would have no effect. With Claire downed, Leufred aimed their bow once more, though the Arken managed to manifest one last show of power and send him flying towards the far wall. Tullion took the opportunity with Claire fully focused on Florianne and Leufred, taking his shield and aiming a weighted bash for the Arken’s face. Then another, and another. In an effort to protect herself, Claire’s flesh fully turned to stone, cracks forming across her features as Tullion’s shield crushed her one hit at a time. The group stepped back, watching for any signs of life from the Arken before Florianne stepped up to stab her blade directly into Claire’s nose, cracks traveling up the corpse and releasing a shining light accompanied by a shrill shriek, the statue crumbling to ash upon the ground. All that was left behind was a single stone hand, perfectly intact on the floor. OOC Notes: One of the Arkens, Claire, is dead. This leaves two known Arken left.
