The Winter's Queen [Magus AU]

[Theta "T" Roidmet]

T shakes her head. "Good plan." 

[NPCs]

Dog growls softly, then paws at the symbol that's for Varric's body.

[Carver Amell]

"Yeah, what? You want to go after him first?" 

[Theta "T" Roidmet]

"Yeah. He draws aggro." 

[NPCs]

Dog huffs softly, nodding his head. Beka and Silence look a little uncertain, but Dog shifts his attention to them, making soft grunts and nuzzling them.

[Tethras Clan]

Zevran takes a deep breath, then lets it out. "I'll need at least a minute to get into place. Then a ten count before I'm ready to attack."

[Carver Amell]

Carver pauses to consult with Varric, then shrugs. "Fair enough. But be ready to bail one or the other of us out." 

[Tethras Clan]

Dog huffs softly as the mabari all shift to an alert stance. Zevran nods curtly. "Let us get this done with," he says shortly.

~Amen to that that.~

[GamesMaster]

Beka and Silence approach the throne, hesitant, wary, but tails wagging just a little, as if they've been looking for their mommy. T rubbed some mud and dust into their fur, to add to the idea that they've been wandering homeless rather than well fed and cared for.

The Lich's face lights up when she sees them, and she sits forward on her throne. "Silence! Beka! Good girls, come here and get a hug. Oh, what good girls you are, to come all this way to find me!"

Silence pulls back, growling a little, wary. Beka pauses, falters in her footstep. It smells almost like Hawke -- but not quite. Not enough to override her recollection of the plan. They both back up just a bit.

The pain on Hawke's face is plain. She crumples, then ices over as the Lich takes over once more. "Capture them, put them in Aveline's room," she demands, snapping her fingers. 

Now the dogs run, the legion of undead on their tails as Varric's corpse gives more specific orders. "Cut off the escape, don't let them get far." 

[Carver Amell]

Good. Zevran's getting into position. I'll let them lead the others out before charging in, thinks Carver, fingering his sword. 

[Tethras Clan]

~Good man, stay steady,~ Varric murmurs. ~The guards are basically armoured skeletons. Pretty sure their blades are cursed to have extra necrotic bite, but otherwise nothing special. The big bruiser to the left, super zombie. Very diseased, don't let it touch you or bled on you for that matter.~ He continues to give a run-down of the various undead, trying to touch on highlights for Carver's combat style.

Zevran pauses a moment, barely even breathing, as he sees a ghostly face peek in from the ceiling. Fucking undead. Need to keep moving however... have to get in place before Carver and the rest are spotted. Have to finish things and get back- back home. Back to 'bela.

[GamesMaster]

The Mabari run past, barking, leading the undead behind them on a merry chase through the hallway. A moment later, Dog, T, and Carver rush in. Dog darts straight for Varric; T is slowed by a vampire and a handful of the ice zombies, while Carver has to fend off attacks from the diseased one without being touched. 

Just as Zevran is about to strike the distracted lich, she steps away from the throne, jumping between Dog and Varric's corpse. "No! You leave my papa alone!" she demands, and her voice holds the weight of thunder, the temperature in the room plummeting. "I need him!" 

[Tethras Clan]

~Oh Hawke,~ Varric says in a pained voice. No, not Hawke. Ignore the face, the voice. Look deeper. See the flaws, the changes. It's not her.

Dog growls, the noise deep and rumbling, a thunder of his own. He shakes himself, then barks. There's a flash of light, then three more foo dogs appear in an arc behind him. They're only about half his size, but just as golden and glowing. Huh. That's a neat trick...Two of the foo dogs rush over to tear into the diseased zombie hulk, either immune or uncaring of the rot and decay they're biting. Dog and the other reinforcement go after Hawke.

[GamesMaster]

"Oh no you don't!" Hawke slams her staff into the ground, calling out a word that... well, it burns to hear, whatever it is. Varric doesn't understand it, which means it's not a word at all, not in any traditional language. It helps, a little, to realize she's not so much shaping her spells with Draconic invocations as letting the raw necromantic magic rip itself out of her. That's not something Hawke would ever do.

Nor is the billowing green smoke pouring from her staff. She indulged Varric's poisons, but she never accepted his offer to learn how to use it herself, preferring a more straightforward method of killing. This, though, this is worse than anything he's put out. 

[Tethras Clan]

It pays for it, however, as both foo dogs rip into the lich's body. The smaller one doesn't manage to do any damage, teeth skimming across magical protections. Zevran, realizing that a timer just went into play, stops waiting for the best time and slips out from behind the throne to unleash his flurry of attacks against Hawke.