Whenever you feel it's best. I must also point out, this RP has magic in it, which is the most highly unlogical and unreasonable thing we've ever come up with as humans. Lol . So let's just say the zombies can get through our armor with magic. The answer to everything that doesn't have an answer already: magic. Anyways, I realized this RP is perfect for the time of year, with Halloween coming up and all.

OOC: Magic is also the counter answer. Oh, do I hate people.

Hallow and the others made their way into town. They could see the smoke coming from the chimneys of the houses, but no one was outside. Hallow sighed, then walked up to a door and knocked on it. A lady opened the door a crack, which was chained tight, which Hallow knew wouldn't stop the zombies. Although they were slow and didn't have very good reflexes at all, they were extremely strong and could rip the door off its hinges, despite the chains.

Hallow said, to the lady, "Do you know where the boy who survived the Plague is?"

"Yes, he's in the second-to-last house down the road. He's-" but she didn't finish, for her eyes landed on Vexxus, and she screamed before yelling, "Cursed demon!" and holding a holy symbol chained around her neck in her palm. She slammed the door and they didn't hear from her again, despit Hallow's consistent knocking. He sighed, then led all of them down the road. Finally, they reached the second-to-last house and entered. There, they saw a boy sitting at a table with a dwarf, probably one of the guards who'd arrived before them. He smiled at the dwarf and said, "I'd say good evening, but we haven't had any of those in a long time." the turned to the boy and continued. "Hello, what's your name?"

The boy's face remained indifferent, and he said, "Gretop." and Hallow nodded before looking out the window and saying, "The sun's gone. We'll have to wait 'til morning to leave. Right now, some of us will have to stand watch. We'll take turns."

"I guess I'll take one of every shift. But one of you better be out here topo, in case something happens." Vexxus said. By the last comment, he meant in case he decided he was hungry and decided to eat the lady who tried to attack him with a cross.

IC: "I do not care how we divide up the shifts. Let me know what you have all worked out." John stepped outside to watch the sun set, but caught only the very last rays before it did. Stepping back in, John shut the door behind himself, then locked it. Muttering a few words, John watched as the door fused itself into the frame. The frame inturn fusing into the wall until there was no longer an exit, only solid wall. And walked back to the group to find out what they had decided. Staggering slightly, but almost non-noticably as he did so. "I have sealed the door." John said "I will open it up tomorrow... It is one less opening to defend if the Zombies come knocking tonight..." John helped himself to a chair and propped it up in the corner, waiting to hear what was decided with the shifts.

~John

"Well, I don't really think any of us are in the mood to make an organized plan, so why don't I take the first shift and wake someone else up when I get tired? Meanwhile, you go to sleep." said Hallow as he got up and walked to the window, then peered out at the now-black air, a flickering candle the only source of light.

Far into the night, when everyone else was asleep, Hallow's head started nodding, despite the eerie feeling he had. Despite the eerie feeling everyone had in these dark times. And the silence, it was so creepy. Even the people's breathing was quiet, something that their subconscious caused because of their fear for zombies. Finally, Hallow decided to wake someone up, so he walked to John and shook him, trying to get him up.

At that moment, there was a loud crashing sound. Hallow turned to see something slide in through the window. Quickly, he charged and pinned whatever it was to the ground, sword held to its neck, ready to kill, then squinted his eyes, trying to foucs and see what it was.

It wasn't a zombie, after all, but a rather beaten man. Before Hallow could do anything for him, though, he faded into the afterlife. Hallow cursed, then ran to the window and listened. He heard the distinct mumbling and shuffling of zombies, then yelled at the others to get them up, saying, "Zombies are coming. Get ready for a fight. Let's make sure the boy don't get hurt, shall we?" and he ran to the window, sword held up, ready to jump out the window and attack the zombies. He had to try and keep the out of the house. Unluckily, he couldn't tell how many there were, but he guessed a fair amount for the group to deal with.

Ic:

"I'll be the first to attack." Arbre said, his tree trunk appeared infront of the window. "It will be easier for you guys if I can trap them with my roots." Arbre said. "By the way, I'm Arbre." Arbre said as his trunk lifted up and he placed himself back in the line of trees, waiting for them to engage in battle.

OoC:
Not much, but it seems that everyone didn't read my two or one other post, so yea.

I did. Sorry, I must've forgot to respond.

IC: "Sorry about that, Arbre. With all the confusion going on earlier, I must've forgot to respond. It's good to meet you. I'm Hallow." said Hallow, and suddenly there was a thump from the other side of Arbre's roots. The zombies were trying to break through and get in.

"Move your roots for a moment, Arbre, so I can jump through the window and attack." said Hallow.

"Well, our first test as a group. Lemme help." Rizzo muttered a few words and as he did, raised his hand. In doing so, a ball of light shot out and hovered in the open. Twenty or so zombies were assembled outside. The light also stunned the zombies for a few seconds.

"Quick, Hallow, attack now!" Rizzo shouted.

IC: John awoke to shaking shortly before a loud crash was heard by all assembled. Rotateing his head he worked the kinks and cramps out of his neck and back. He felt good, really good from his rest. John elected to stay in the building, watching from the window until the light illuminated the Zombies. It looks like a trap... John thought. Climbing out of the window John grasped the jutting edge of the roof and swung himself up onto it. Turning, John walked up the roof until he was at the highest point. Muttering something John clasped his hands together. Instantly an orb of fire shot up above him, only for a second, then it winked out. In that second John saw that the Zombies had already formed a loose circle around the house. Not good. John thought, climbing back to where he could overlook where the others were. I cannot use to much magic, John thought, Not from up here... If I do, more Zombies will come... Settleing back on the roof, John watched to see how strong these Zombies were. There will be plenty of fighting tonight, John thought If this is what I think it is... How strange for Zombies... John thought.

~John

Vexxus wasn't near the cabin when the zombies attacked. He was hanging out in front of the old woman's house, making moaning and other zombie sounds to scare her. She deserved it, though. When he heard the scratching on a door and real moaning, he took off towards the sound. He started clawing at the backs of the zombies, who paid no attention to him.

"Hey, guys, looks like I'm not your only zombie problem now!" He joked loudy over the moaning. He continued prying the zombies off of the house one by one to the best of his ability.

Moving forward with his weapon, Leo waited for the one called Hallow to attack before he went forward with his own axe. While he was pondering the right time to strike, the dwarf heard something.

You could be off doing other things, you know.

“Like what?” he snorted.

Massing an army. With all this confusion, it’ll be pretty easy to take this place down.

“…Nice try.” With that, the voice went silent and Leo was focused on the…tree. Then he heard another voice, one that was unfamiliar. The more, the better we will be able to defend this kid.

OOC: Guess I'll enter now.

IC: Behind the attacking mass of zombies another mass aproached, a necromancer, a liche, face hidden by blackness arrived unsensed, as he was already of the dead. With him he had nearly a score of zombies, plucked from this very land after they had been given true death then reanimated by more conventional means. With the zombies was nearly half a dozen skeletons armed with rusty yet very sharp sword. They had no coordination and more stumbled then walk, but even clumsy slices was enough to remove a limb.

Void peered at the hoard assaulting the defenders eagerly, this was the first time he had seen a mass attack thus far.

Hallow also jumped out the window, decapitating a zombie before he landed on his feet. Then, he spun around, the holy fire of a Paladin leaping from his sword as he did so, until he was in a crouching position. Many zombies caught on fire. Most ignored it. But, on some, the holiness of the fire really took effect, and the zombies ran around, blind-like, screechin. One of them slammed into the house's wall, lighting it on fire. Hallow yelled, "Someone put that out!" before he felt something hard slam into his side, brusing it.

Then, two hands grabbed his armor, and he was lifted over the head of a zombie. Then, the zombie threw him into the ground, and several of them leaped on top of him, but Hallow was able to erect a field of light, burning the zombies' eyes, causing them to run a little ways away before turning back, and Hallow was able to jump up and back to the house, near the rest of the group.

John looked at the fire quickly racing up the wooden houses side. Above it small droplets of water started to form on the wood. Then more and more, until a small stream of water raced downwards to put out the fire. John turned his attention back to the Zombies surrounding the house. What to do... John thought Magic is out of the question for now, as is getting off of this roof... So for now I will just sit and watch...

~John

Every time one of his zombies fell, the necromancer simply reanimated one of the enemy zombies to replace his ranks, his zombies fell rarely however, it took a lot of effort from these unarmed corpses bite and scratch through a limb.

Void was unimpressed, he had thought since these zombies were animated by spirits they would have some modicum of intelligence.

Jumping out of the window as well, Leo also began hacking away at as many zombies as he could. Delivering several decapitations and devastating strikes to the zombies, the dwarf suddenly found himself surrounded by 5 zombies. Grabbed and thrown into the air, he landed hard on the ground near the tree fighter. Getting up, Leo realized that the zombies were simply being reanimated and returning. New tactics, new tactics.

"Is there anywhere else we can get this boy safe?" he shouted.

Vexxus just went along, slowly ripping off the heads of the zombies who weren't even focusing on him. It's not that he was doing it to give them time to rip him off, but it was the best he could do. He wasn't very strong.

He felt something behind him, a zombie had just ripped a gash in his back, trying to get to one of the humans. Vexxus returned the favor by ripping it's arm off and bashing it's skull in with the arm.

Void spotted Vexxus, and seeing the intelligence of his actions wondered if he was a fellow liche. Summoning half a dozen zombies to his side he walked towards Vexxus through the zombie hoard that ignored the liche entirely having no interest in the dead.

Void called out a greeting in the necromantic tongue, magically translated to the undead and necromancers, not actually a language, just meaning conveyed on magic used to command undead forces usually.

"Fellow traveler in death, state to me the truth of your being so I may discern."

OOC: You mean Void, right? Vex doesn't know a thing about necromancy.

OOC: Does my edit not say void?

I had said that before you edited.

IC:
Vexxus looked toward the strange man, then walked over to him, "I'm sorry, were you talking to me? I only speak English." He felt his back, which was in fact ripped open, but not hurting at all.

Void frowned in the darkness of his hidden face, what sort of liche couldn't feel the magic?

"I asked your origins."

His voice came out a hiss with an echo quality to it.

"I...don't know. I just woke up a couple of minutes ago. I think I was infected and that's how I died, but I'm not sure." Vexxus told the man, "That language, what were you speaking?"

Void ignored the question, this was unexpected. These spirits must have somehow trapped this man's own spirit with him. Of course intelligent and self sustained zombies would be useful. Vampires are really more trouble then they are worth, but these spirit zombies would be a great addition to his army if he could control their mind. Simple brainwashing techniques would be enough. Of course that leaves the possibility that there is something more to these spirits.

Void said, "Come with me."

I'll get a post up tomorrow. Don't wait up for me.

Now, what did I say about entering role-plays late? I like this one really much, though. Is it too late into the storyline?

Name: Faye Stromatus
Gender: Female
Age: Looks quite young, around her late teenage to early twenties, but is in reality around fourty years old
Race: Human-elf hybrid
Appearance: Faye is slender but surprisingly fast when she wants, with pale skin and delicate features like elves, strangely large jade blue eyes, and light, brown-blond hair that is arranged in a long plait. She is slightly taller than an average elven woman.
Equipment: A pendant with a sapphire that enhances her healing abilities.
History (optional): Born of a one-night stand between an elven lord and a human commoner, Faye was cast out from both races of her mother and father at the same time. From the age of four she lived with a nurse grudgingly hired by her father to take care of her until she was of age. Because of the nasty rumors and her strange heritage, she could not find a living among the average professions for a girl her age and no man would marry her. She met a travelling monk who reluctantly taught her healing magic and left him as soon as the King of Inalalla's call arrived. She currently resides in Haven, attempting to find a cure for the plague.
Other: Quiet and timid, but at times compassionate

Accepted, Luna.

IC:Early Morning

Hallow's sword swung outward in a wide arc, holy white fire flying out, burning zombies as it made contact with them, and Hallow's swing decapitated a zombie, sending his head flying away.

Suddenly, the zombies stopped. That's all. They just stopped, turned, and walked away, moaning the entire way. "What the Hell was that about?" asked Hallow, amazed. Then, he realized it was getting brighter out. It was morning. Hallow sighed, then said, "Well, I know we didn't get much sleep, none for me, but we should probably get going to Filz." and he turned, but qickly spotted what looked like another undead, talking to Vexxus.

Another talking zombie? cried Hallow in his mind. Then, he walked up to the duo and held his sword at them, ready to spray holy fire on them, and said, "What is all of this about, then? You'd better not be betraying us, Vexxus. And who are you, stranger zombie?"

The Liche raised decayed finger, held it in his face and with much menace in his voice rasped, "I am no pitiful zombie, I am a Necromancer, a liche by my own design. I have come to see about adding these zombies to my own forces, and I want this zombie here so I might learn more about the spirits animating his corpse!"

He reached out with his other hand to grab Vexxus.

Hallow quickly reacted, placing his sword up to the necromancer's throat. "You can't just take a member of our group, necromancer. Especially not for whatever evil purposes you have in mind. He has a mind of his own. He's different from other zombies, not some piece of meat you can just claim." said Hallow, not believing he was standing up for the zombie, but he knew it'd be worse to let the necromancer take him to do whatever experiments he had in mind on him, and Vexxus was indeed a member of the group, so Hallow felt a responsibility for him.

IC: Seeing the Zombies retreat,John climbed down from his perch on the roof. Landing first on the window-sill below, before jumping to the ground farther down. He started walking towards the Zombie, Hallow, and a new person. In time to see Hallow put his sword to the neck of the new... thing... John saw as he got closer. Placing a hand on the hilt of his own weapon John went to stand next to Hallow.
"What is going on here?" John asked, not taking his eyes off of the new comer.

~John

The necromancer chuckled and stepped back, his skeletons coming protectively on his flanks. Void said with his echo, "Why not let the man decide for himself? I might even find a cure, he certainly isn't like me, mayhap his body can be revived. Now wouldn't that be worth allowing me a bit of study?"

"Not if it's a cruel sort of experiment, necromancer, and I would suspect just a thing from your kind. If he goes willingly, then that's that, but he must know the consquences. If he chooses not to, though, we'll protect him." said Hallow to the stranger, then said to John, "This stranger is trying to take Vexxus."

The Necromancer waved his hand dismissively, "We dead cannot feel pain. Still I will be studying the animating spirits by having my wraiths share the possession. Perfectly painless."

IC: John did not like the look the man gave when he said 'perfectly painless'. He is hiding something... John thought. Outloud he replied to Hollow "Is that so?" John said. Turning he faced the Lich. "Well, we cannot allow you to simply spirit off a member of our group for your studies... He is one of us now, not some little plaything for you to tinker with for your own amusement..."

~John

Void decided to try one more tactic before he fought them, "If I offer you my services to help you survive, then will you allow me?" To show them his power he began animated all the dead corpses around the battle field, whether they were headless or not.

"I could be useful."

Controlling such a number was taxing so he preferred to keep only a score.

Ooc: I can't do much until the boy reaches Haven, so think of this post as an introductory one.

IC:

It was a very, very rare event that Faye would ever be remembered. Rather funny, considering her talent and the people's need of it during this time, but most of the time she would be easily mistaken for someone else, as if there was another half-elf anywhere in the realm. But nevermind that, as the gnomes say. She had work, and plenty of it too.

It would be a mistake to say that she stayed in the shadows. This she noted with a tiny, timid smile as she entered the Hall of the Ill. She regretted the decision each and every time.

The stench of death, decay and suffering filled the air. The groaning from patients was a buzz in the background -- though they were quarantined, they could still be heard by everyone and anyone in Haven -- and a sense of despair pervaded every nook and cranny. Other white-robed healers rushed around needlessly, and Faye saw a elderly physician shake his head sadly at every other casualty. Such was the state of the kingdom.

She wished for nothing more than to hold one of the patients' hands and give them a sense of hope, but until the boy from Filz arrived, there was very little chance of a breakthrough in the curing of the plague.

Until then, she could do very little other than wait and hope.

"I can't allow you to do that to Vexxus, necromancer. If you could only prove to us that your experiments were harmless, then maybe it'd be considered. However, if there's no way to do that, there's no way for us to know, so there's no way we can hand Vexxus over to you, and there's no way we can make a deal with you if we can't hold up our end of the bargain. It's honorless." said Hallow, and he turned to Vexxus and asked, "What do you think, Vexxus? What do you want to do?"

Just as Hallow turned to ask Vexxus, he would've turned to face and empty spot where Vexxus once stood.

During their argument, Vexxus decided that if he was going to be constantly fought over, then traveling with them would just be an offset. All he had to do was get something thatchould cover his entire body, and he could live in peace. Then he stopped, and turned around.

The village was only a few minutes of a walk back, and the field continued on for what seemed to be forever. Then he realised that he had done this when he was alive. When he was involved in an argument, he would literally walk away and just think about it for a while. So, that's what he did.

He sat down, and began debating what he should do. He could learn about the man with the minions and his ways, or he could continue with the group he was already in and try to find out more about his past.

So, his choice was either past or future.

He couldn't choose, yet.

The Necromancer said, "He has gone, I'll find him." He turned his back and his minions placed themselves between him and the party of living people.

IC: "Not without us going with you, you are not." John said, walking towards the Necromancer.

~John

The Necromancer scowled unseen behind his veil of darkness and waved his hand dropping all but 15 zombies back to the ground, he waved some more while chanting and summoned up a ghost or wraith, he ordered the wraith to fly up and find Vexxus aand then the Necrmancer just stood there waiting until the Wraith returned with the location of Vexxus, then Void led the way towards Vexxus.

Lexxus? Seriously?

Anyway, not much I can do right now.

OOC: Expect to see a lot of mistakes with names from me.

OOC: I will.

"Vexxus?" said Hallow when they'd found him. "Just come with us to Haven, alright? You're not like other zombies. You've somehow been able to keep your mind intact. If we can get the boy to Haven, and if they can find a cure, then you could be human again. If you go with this necromancer, however, who knows what he'll do to you. Even if he just wants to cure you, who knows what he'll do to you to do that. And if you just go off by yourself, there's likely no way you'll get cured either way, and you may get slewn by a wandering Paladin or someone else."

"You're theory makes sense," Vexxus told Hallow, "Except for one thing. I like this form, and I don't want to be cured. Like the necromancer said, I can't feel pain. I most likely won't be able to die, either. I can find ways to hide in humanity." He stood up, brushing himself off. "I will still accompany you to Haven, though. If the people there want me dead, then by all means I will let them kill me. We can present the facts to them, and I will show them how I have kept my humanity, but if they still see me as a holder of the Plague, then their decision will be enforced."

The necromancer seriously considered attacking them and kidnapping Vexxus, but seeing a Paladin decided to wait, Whether Haven succeeds in a cure or gets destroyed either way Vexxus will learn he can't stay there forever.

"I will go with you to Haven."

Hallow narrowed his eyes at the necromancer and said, "If I could, I wouldn't allow that. Even if we did our best to enforce that decision, however, you'd follow us anyway. We have no way to stop you, save killing you, and it just doesn't seem ethical to do that when you technically haven't done anything wrong, and we have no proof that you would do anything bad to Vexxus if you got ahold of him. However, I'm keeping my eyes on you, necromancer. I don't trust you..."

The necromancer smiled in the darkness, "You do that, maybe I'll even come to "like" your eyes and take them home with me. Heh Heh Heh."