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Nine Roads Alani	Finally. It's time. After what feels like an eternity of discussion, preparation, and planning, the first act in the play designed to ensure the Exalted of Great Forks do not become known to their enemies is ready to unfold. Before the attempts to dissuade the Immaculate Priests and intercept the merchant who'd stolen the information in the first place, the next ship the Nine Sheaves has sent out of Great Forks needs to be cleverly intercepted. If Tiziri's information is accurate, these ships contain a wealth of information spies have collected from the wealthy and the powerful of Great Forks, collected and bundled on shipboard, and sent off to the Gods-know-where. Once the information is out there's no hope of containing it anymore. There's a good chance the information implicating the Exalted isn't here, or if it is, it's certainly not -only- here. But still, whatever is here can't get out...and just as importantly, the Nine Sheaves has to have a very good reason to pause the shipments. Hopefully, tonight's plan will do both. Conveniently, the shipment was scheduled for a dark, quiet time, with Luna a crescent hidden by heavy cloud cover far above. Two hours past the stroke of midnight, when nearly everyone was gone and in bed, the ship set sail...and an hour hence, the telltale merchant's flag becomes visible in tthe distance...nearly half an hour before it was expected! The ship, a fast, sleek cutter, is smaller and more nimble than expected. Still, there's time to scramble and make the interception happen.
Tepet Makara	Makara arrives in his beastman form that is an amalgamation of a pterodactyl and a komodo dragon. He waits for the others to arrive in order for him to finally resurrect corpses into attacking the vessel of the ones in charge of the arena, so that their secrets will be stolen by a fellow chosen of the moon
Fudou the Mountain	It is indeed time. Fudou hasn't been seen much in public of late in Great Forks. The tournament seems to be heading into its final stages and what's been required of him has been fulfilled to a certain point, excepting any final matches. He doesn't exactly go to ground but in this pause in the action eh's had much time to reflect on matters alongside with making plans with his allies and friends. Thus when he emerges in time for this operation...it's the first time many will have seen him in a space of time. He seems his usual self, however. Affable with that undercurrent of danger shimmering beneath the surface.. A 'siaka in sheeps clothing' so to speak. Speaking of siaka. He's used this form before. A monstrous megaladon like massiveness that now makes its way through the waters, deep, deep below, but towards the ship and the shoreline area where the dead should attempt to make their assault. He doesn't -like- the use of the dead but...he has to admit...it's a pretty solid plan.
Nine Roads Alani	Beyond the horizon, that flag and the fast, sleek cutter carrying it are coming up fast. This isn't one of the same boats Tiziri's recon suggested they were using. It might be easier to push to the shore, actually, but harder to catch. Not playing to Fudou's strengths, to be sure, but the rippling bulk of the massive siaka under the waves is barely visible in the gloom of night, setting up for its run on the ship. The moment is fast approaching! Soon the ship's sharply angled bow slices through the inky waters right around the convenient bend in the river the three Lunars have chosen for their interception point. But do they see the mighty siaka coming?
Tiziri	Tiziri made the notification, and managed to fly on to the ambush site. Hopefully her clones could keep pace, they've been out for some time so it is a lot of effort to make new ones in the future. All the same, she finds a place to rest down and watch, waiting and preparing for what is to come.
Tepet Makara	with the light of a bale moon, the dead from both nearby graveyards and those that drowned in the river arise as revenants under the Lunar....disguised as some ghostly abomination that seems to be a spectral amalgamation of many animals. Possibly some sort of necroconstruct created by a deathknight. With it being a success, the Lunar swims underneath the waters thanks to his gills as he leads the undead
Fudou the Mountain	So it's not the ship they were expecting. It's moving faster then they expected. Great. What else is going to be unexpected. It's far too late to take tehse possible warning signs to heart beyond growing suspicion though. The engagement is on and Fudou is committed to do his part. He quickly accelerates, closing the distance to make up for the unexpected speed and potential course changes and as he draws near, power begins to fill his form up, pushing his strength forward and onwards and upwards. In his true form, playing to crowds or to the fear of enemies, no doubt this would be a mountainous display of bulk and sinew revving up. Right nwo he's just a huge siaka. Well. He's a Siaka. But he's also under water and let's face it. The fish ain't that impressed but they do make way as he thunders in for the ship. He's careful to not attempt to break it in half but a powerful push and steady shove to get it to the shore? That he intends to try and get done in one go.
Nine Roads Alani	It's very, very easy to forget just how absolutely -massive- siaka are. At around fifty feet in length, seeing one rise up out of the river just enough to -shove- against the side of the ship is as impossible as seeing the sun at midnight. The river might be pretty big, but the siaka belongs fathoms deep in the ocean, not here. And yet, they are known for rising swiftly from the depths when they scent even the tiniest drop of blood in the oceans. As the massive bulk surges to the surface, it angles against the side of the cutter with disturbing aplomb and gives the vessel a mighty push, easily beaching the vessel. And yet, even before the siaka rose from the depths, screams and shouts could be heard from the ship. It had, if anything, tried to catch the wind more and angle away from that very selfsame shore, as cries of "Undead!" and "The Shadowland attacks, Dragons preserve us!" carry out over the wind. Everyone was facing to starboard as they did their duty as crew, and not a single one was watching the other way for a coordinated attack from the port side. The result is the cutter splinters with the sound of creaking wood and the agonized shouts of seamen as the boat hits rocks on the right shore. The ship lists ten degrees starboard, and it's plain it is not getting back into the water without herculean effort. The dead, particularly those of the sea, start to shuffle to the ship, and some of the undead start to climb over and on top of each other to get up and onto the vessel's deck. The shouts from the crew are overshadowed at once by a stentorian bellow. At full volume, the man shouting has an impressively loud, commanding voice. "Bosun, secure the cargo! Crew, abandon ship NOW, get to shore, and scatter! Last Contingency in effect. LAST CONTINGENCY!" The crew are already working at full speed, terrified but well trained. That last shout, though, gets them working on the double.
Tiziri	What plan survives first contact? Of course things go wrong. Yet the fact is, they expected it. So now Tiziri adapts, or in this case, watches, seeing how things go. She's remarkably sanguine now that matters are in motion. However? There's obviously something here too, something in the reaction here. Tiziri sees where she must be even as her shadow starts to do something else... begins to shape the essence of sorcery while she shifts into a small bug, and starts to fly towards the ship where her target is hidden. There will be no preventing them from getting it!
Tepet Makara	"You will be preserved by the dragons...as unrotting corpses beneath Pasiap's bossom that will never see the light of day" The "undead creature" mocks the sailor's prayers to the Immaculate Dragons for salvation. Seeing as how they mentioned the dragons with reverence, it seems they are truly Immaculates. He leads the undead into following the crew while dealing those that still hope to combat them. "In the end...you will join us whether we shall devour you or join with your beloved Danaa'ad through drowning" He says with blasphemous mockery to the crew
Fudou the Mountain	No lightningt bolts, gouts of flame, whirling winds or spouts of water. Not even wood rising up out of nowhere. So far so good! The terrible impact was satisfying mind you but Fudou is not inclined to test matters when the key purpose here is misdirection, not demonstration of true might. As such, once able, he veers away form the beached ship and shoreline nad seeks to make his way deeper into the depths of the river and then further up the shore where another shape can be safely taken and he can double back to observe these matters. Ideally his sea shape will no longer be needed though his eyes dart about in search of any that are foolish enough to enter the water in pursuit of him.
Tiziri	Fly Tiziri continues to buzz towards the ship and where the goal is hidden, she won't risk it being lost because of something. Better, zombies and the undead tend to cause lots of flies! So this is all about helping her slip in. All the while there's a different, more mystical element in the background that is shaping the fabric of creation...
Nine Roads Alani	The activity on the ship is rising quickly towards a fever pitch. Sailors are running to and fro, every one frantically trying to get their own tasks done. Credit where credit is due--while they are to a man -terrified-, there's only a rare few that are panicking to the point that they're not getting their jobs done. They're a well-trained crew, about 30 people strong. They're focused and they're certainly well-motivated! Of special interest is the captain, still bellowing orders from the deck. It's not immediately clear who the bosun is, however, since there's a number of sailors running around in the interior of the ship doing Heavens know what. There are also at least ten of the doughtiest sailors, clearly the most skilled warriors among the crew, lining up in a defensive phalanx near the side facing the shore, which is the most obvious location for the undead to climb in. Since the deck is tilted that direction, they have less of a climb that way. Woe betide any sailor who falls off that side, though, for they will surely hit dry land, and probably zombies soon after. Some of the sailors have cutlasses, others bows. No arrows yet fly, however--they don't have an angle and are not trying to lean over the edge. Once the zombies arrive, however, they're sure to get a warm welcome. As Tiziri approaches the ship in fly form, she can slip inside more than easily enough. No one is going to notice her under these conditions. Getting that close to the ship, however, means Tiziri is close enough to catch a pungent whiff of something. Some kind of...substance, probably alchemical.
Tepet Makara	"Devour them until they are nothing but bone or walk as another corpse among you!" The shambling hordes loom ever further like the coming of a locust swarm that will come to devour the crops of a farm. Seeing as the more battle hardened warriors among them could be a problem, he observes them for now as they may cut down his horde with ease which may complicate the infiltration. He snarls at them with an inhuman growl in order to evoke fear in their eyes, his voice like the boogeymen that whispers in a child's closet or underneatht their beds. His blood red eyes looks at them with malicious intent, for he is a predator stalking their prey and he is surrounded by a spectral aura, as if the winds heralding their deaths arrived
Fudou the Mountain	Some distance away, the monstrous siaka had pulled back from the initial ramming attack. With the effort having successfully beached the ship the rest of this operation was now on Makara and Tiziri to bring to pass. Fudou's presence here was primarily as additional muscle -if- it was needed and things went absolutely sour and topsy turvy. So far so good! It's almost like he planned this perfectly! Wll, Tiziri did. It was her initial idea to involve Makara after all but let him gloat for a moment. Further up the river, a mangy looking cat emerges from the waters near the shoreline and rapidly sprints away into the tall grass. It'd just fallen in, that's it. Nothing to see here. Not that anybody -would- be looking for such a thing let alone -now- of all times with that display that Makara just put on. Even from where he is, Fudou sees the disguised anima roll upwards and hears Makara's thunderous voice over the landscape. A large hawk suddenly takes flight, winging skywards and spinning dramatically to try and shake what remains of the river water from it. Fudou takes flight, circling higher and higher now to gain a better perspective of the chaotic heist scene.
Tiziri	Something is wrong, Tizi-fly can tell too. So it is she hurries with her process, but something else is important too. She releases her shaping. It is a gamble, but something else even more important is showing here, and she begins to shape towards a new spell. as it might be necessary shortly! She is rushing towards the lockbox now, and the intel it holds...
Nine Roads Alani	Well...the sailors are brave, well-trained, and clearly work together well as a team. But they're only mortal. No amount of discipline or drill is going to convince thirty mortal sailors that standing their ground against THAT is going to get them anywhere but dead...and then joining that thing's army! They probably have no idea what a nephwrack is, honestly, but it hardly matters. Almost as one, every sailor on deck--about twenty men--SCREAM like little girls, their faces turning bone-white with terror. One of the archers, looking right into Makara's eyes at the mostt inopportune moment, simply collapses in a boneless heap right where he is. A few drop their weapons, but to a man, every single one, including the captain,drop what they were doing and haul ass off the ship. All of them leap right off the side in one direction or another. Many land in the water and are swimming for the opposite shore, whatever attacked the ship completely forgotten. Others leap off the side towards the near shore, and unfortunately three of those land within range of the zombies. One jumps right over where the zombies are mainly coming from, an impressive act, but he lands with a sickening CRACK as his leg gives way. He lives...but will not be able to crawl faster than the zombies can shamble. Most, however, make it to shore with more minor injuries and tear off into the woods. Below decks, however, things are different. As Tiziri arrives, she sees the other ten sailors, clearly led by one man with better clothes than anyone but the captain and a whistle around his neck. All ten of them are crasking open small sealed casks of that same horrific-smelling accelerant, splashing them pretty much everywhere, but especially near a good five open chests full of papers. The leader has a crowbar in hand and is violently wrenching a small, heavy-looking, sealed metal box from its setting on the inside of one wall. The lock looks truly elaborate, perhaps one of a kind, and the box looks sturdy enough that a fire might not damage the contents. As one, the ten sailors look up with almost comically idential worried expressions at the screams of anguish from up above, but they carry on their tasks with grim efficiency.
Tiziri	The Tizi-fly makes her way towards that lockbox, carefully landing on it away from the crowbar (that might hurt!). Meanwhile, the shadow has followed, and continues to do an elaborate little fly dance. It's a bit like two steps one way, turn around, jump back leg clap, jump again and wiggle two legs. Then even a little fly butt wiggle because it really is a dance of somesort. At least it does the job, attempting to gather some sorcerous motes as quickly as possible!
Tepet Makara	the "nephrack" grins with his rotten fangs dripping with paralytic venom from his glands, as the crew all cower in fear and the archer that wanted to assassinate him instead fled with the rest of the others. His job was not done however as his fellow chosen of Luna is still trying to find something in the ship. "Look for the others in the rest of the ship. They may run but they cannot hide from us forever like how life cannot escape death" The lunar disguised as an undead creature commands his shambling dead to find any crewmen in the section of the ships to scare them off. Meanwhile he commands the other dead to still chase those that got away in order for them to scatter, in order to destroy their coordination
Fudou the Mountain	He can't help but feel some discomfort. It would seem for all his vast power, time has softened Fudou on violence towards those who cannot possibly defend themselves and for all his insistence that what must be done, must be done, when arguing with Rishi to no avail on matters of war and The Realm.... He takes no gloating or glory in seeing the mortal men fall. But there was truly no other way he could see without possibly risking exoosing even -more- of them to something var worse then casualties from a clever raid on a ship and there is no real way to intervene to save those have fallen without completely giving everything away. He wouldn't be much of a lunar warrior and champion if he couldn't get over these losses. But there's also not much he can do save circle the area at a great altitude, watching the events with the sharp gaze afforded him by his current form and hoping Tiziri finishes her task as quickly as possible else matters potentially shift against them with unexpected surprises.
Nine Roads Alani	On deck, the ship begins to list just a degree or two more to starboard as the sailors leap off in all directions, but by Makara's order the zombies all begin to shuffle on deck, climbing over each other and onto the starboard side in an ungainly, stinking, rotting heap. While the zombies dutifully follow the order to go onto the ship (they're not smart enough to "search", precisely, but they are at least capable of heading towards the back of the cutter and the doorway to belowdecks), the order does not come soon enough to save the lives of the sailors caught by them. The three that fell right among them had no chance, their soul-wrenching screams piercing the night unto silence. The one with the shattered leg is left alone, however, since the zombies all headed the other direction. He's not going anywhere very fast, though. Below decks, the men are working as fast as they can. They're basically dousing everything, though one of the sailors starts helping the bosun with the captain's locker. It's at least halfway free.
Tiziri	The fly shadow continues the dance as the main one starts to look about, seeming to be more than a little concerned. She is definitely trying to figure out how much time is left and just what is going to be the best strategy. The zombies are coming. The others are there... there is a few moments at least, and the shadow dance continues as the fly continues to focus....
Tepet Makara	Hurry up, hurry up. The words repeat in Makara's head as he awaits for Tiziri to be done with her job. As he observes the chaos, he wonders whether taking a prisoner would be a good idea for interrogation, but he is not sure what the others will think of it. His wings then set off to see if some of the crew are unfortunate enough to be slow
Fudou the Mountain	He's just not built for these sort of htings. Neglecting his shapeshifting compared to his other endeavours has left Fudou unable to intervene without giving things away. He would counsel Makara to stay the course and stick to the plan but alas... Hawk's don't talk! Still, this one does 'think' and the thoughts echo that of the other lunar as he makes another overhead pass and then also searches the horizon for signs of any potential incoming trouble.
Nine Roads Alani	From the skies, Fudou can keep an excellent eye out. The sailors clearly don't know where they are precisely, and are just panicking and running in all directions so long as it's "away". Neither Fudou nor Tizir know exactly what Makara did to scare the bejeezus out of the sailors, but none can deny its effectiveness. The shouts and cries are surely drawing attention from parts distant, but the three Lunars chose their ambush spot well: No villages are truly close by, and anyplace with real soldiers are even further away. It's a safe bet someone will arrive come morning, but it's rather unlikely anyone will arrive sooner than that. No one is on their way just yet. After all, it's only been a few minutes since this whole thing began. Below decks, one of the sailors looks up from the doorway to the deck and shouts behind him. "Bosun, we're out of -time-! The line collapsed in -seconds-, we're alone here!" "Damn it," snarls the bosun. "Fuck this fardling chest, we'll be trapped here! GO! I'll fire it up, last out. GO!" The sailors don't need to be told twice. All of them drop what they're doing and run out of the hold, barely in time to avoid the zombies coming in over the starboard gunwale. They jump into the water from the port side. Last out is the bosun, and as the other sailors are leaving, he grabs a lit lantern from the wall, ready to throw it into the mess of papers, wood, and accelerant...
Tiziri	The shaping continues... The fly is dancing, shaking, doing whatever fly shadows do to gather the essence of the world. Yet that is not all, in that shadowingcorner of the box, suddenly the Tizi Fly comes to a realization, something from the morning before. A moment when a figure appeared and a question proposed in verse. "A box little fly, in inferno you might die, will you say goodbye?" It suddenly makes sense! And a little fly smile appears as she thinks an answer in the proper double seven syllable way, "This little fly will not die, this little fly says goodbye!"
Nine Roads Alani	The last sailor out the door is the bosun, and with the zombies approaching only a few feet away from him, he has nothing like enough time to do things the right way. He would have had more time if the sailors on deck had held the line for even a few moments, but they collapsed so fast his part of the plan was almost over before it began, forcing him to leave the chest. Still, his team below decks had done their job, and the papers are now fairly soaking in accelerant. As strong as the chest is, it might not survive the fire...or it might heat up to the point that anything inside might not survive. But that's a risk the bosun will have to take. Without hesitation, he flips the lantern into the air, and as it spins end-over-end, he doesn't wait to see the result. He can't, for the zombies are but bare seconds behind him. He turns and dives headlong over the port gunwale, expertly sliding into the water and making for the opposite shore as fast as he can. The lead zombies reach out but can't quite catch the bosun's ankle as he dives, but the orders were to go below decks, not catch sailors, so that is what they dutifully do. They barely have a chance to reach the door, though... ...for Tiziri is already there, in the room, and as the lantern sails in a lazy, glittering arc through the air, she zips next to the chest in fly form and -flexes- as she shifts back into her human form, her body easily bursting the captain's locker out of the partially torn wooden socket it had been stuck in. Her shadow, moving independently of the rest of her, snakes out with both shadowy arms to take the heavy metal chest--essentially a one-foot-cube metal safe--in both arms. Her shadow struggles with the weight, holding mightily onto the falling chest while Tiziri's own flesh arms and voice finish the final invocation of the powerful Celestial Circle Spell she'd been working on all tthis time, Travel Without Distance. The Lunar is instantly surrounded by a mandala of burning silver-blue light, runes all around her, the walls, floor and ceiling, illuminating the space for one brilliant instant before the lit lantern touches the stacks of accelerant-soaked paper. She winks out of the hold a split second before the ship's hold goes up in a MASSIVE wall-shaking fireball! The ship is absolutely engulfed in mere moments, a raging inferno that incinerates the rest of the papers, the zombies, and the remains of the sailors that didn't make it away from the zombies in mere moments. It lights up the night in every direction, and parts of the flames burn an eerie greenish-blue for moments at a time as the zombies fuel the flames.
Tiziri	Tiziri had set up a rendezvous point 38 miles away, closer to the city, in an abandoned farmhouse. That's where she went to. Even more fortunately, it was a place her clones were able to gather and secure, staying close enough to guard it. Most important when she gets there? Given in that flash of light she is vulnerable. The others should know where to go to find out the success or not, and might need to given she was not back with them at the site.
Tepet Makara	Although the zombies perished with the fire, they now filled their purpose. As the crew are too busy fleeing in fear of the nephrack, Makara flies to the rendezvous point to see if Tiziri was successful in getting whatever was on that ship
Fudou the Mountain	The skies hold no protection from the rolling shockwave that ripples out from the blast. Fudou's hawk form is sent tumbling backwards, spinning earthwards as the force of the blast reaches him and buffets his vulnerable form like a leaf caught in a gale force wind. The ground rushes up to meet him but he rights himself just in time and takes flight again, soaring heavenwards and then blinking in astonishment as he looks down over the burning remains of the ship. There's nothing left to it but to trust that that was...an explosion that meant success as opposed to some sort of disasterous trap going off that consumed the other Lunar and he turns and begins taking flight in the direction of the point that had been chosen by Tiziri at the end of all this. hopefully Makara will not be far behind and it will -only- be Makara and not anyone or anything else summoned by the cataclysmic end to their little heist.
Tiziri	From the sky the house looks fine. Probably still abandoned. One would have to approach or enter to find it is occuppied. Inside? A number of spear armed women in heavy and concealing robes. They do stand down at recognizing those approaching. While on the ground, wrapped in a blanket and near a metal box? Another one. At themoment she seems to be asleep.