MEETUP: Snowball Fight!

Alexandria got pretty well buried.

It's been snowing for the better part of two days, from flurries to heavy snow overnight to out-and-out blizzard this morning. Virtually nothing moved for much of the morning, until the snow tapered off a little after lunch to the light, feathery snowfall that now falls from a grey sky as daytime turns to dusk. The air is damp and chill, promising a cold night ahead. A few brave taverns have opened, and more people are beginning to move about, most all of them with snow shovels in hand.

Mostly.

Clerics from several of the churches are lending a hand in places, and even some of the arcanists have drafted students to help move snow -- although students are spending more time throwing snow at each other and their teachers than anything else, at least when the teachers aren't looking. More than a few are nothing more than large and small bundles of white moving about beneath heavy cloaks like a halfling doused in flour.

And then there are the children of the Theatre District, who seem more minded towards play. Two groups of kids, mixed in race and ranging in age from 6 to about 14, have set up a pair of snowforts in the deep drifts to the side of the Hope Theater, and are waging a battle royal, snowballs flying thick and fast. Not everyone's aim is up to snuff, though, and more than a few wayward ones fly into the path of the streets that are being cleared...

THUFF.

"Fooo ...ow ...underful!" The muffled voice comes from beneath the snow, from beneath the sudden snow drift that had fallen on the shop's owner as he'd opened the door to the street. Warm and cheerful, it sounds like he means it, this cheer at being doused in cold, this covering in snowdust. A pair of mittens poke out the side, and that's bare all that can be seen save the tip of a horribly brightly and knitted cap, sort of, around the top. The tip of the cap could be an army's flag, raised in surrender...except bright orange and in the shape of a poufball.

Rain, snow, sleet, or the dark of night, none can keep an Inquisitor from her appointed rounds. Meihui has been patrolling the streets...although if we're honest, it's far more about enjoying the crisp, cold air and the way the light sparkles off the snow than it is about work. She's trudging from a side alley when one of those wayward snowballs describes a clear, clean arc...which lands with a wet smack across her black hair.

"AUGH!" She looks around, finds the miscreant responsible, and starts to storm in that direction. Pausing only to...ooh, scoop up a double handful of snow and pack it into a wet, loose snowball. "Bad aim receives punishment!" she declares, and lobs it at the poor child. Of course, her aim...isn't actually the best, itself...

Kidda's walking along, moving through snow that comes nearly to her hip. She pauses, for a moment, looks around to make sure nobody is looking, then opens her mouth, sticks out her tongue to catch snowflakes... and nope, that aim isn't the best as the kid in question ducks, and the snow ball - fortunately loosely packed - flies smack into Kidda's open mouth.

While usually, Godwyn would usually be on a position at the sidelines, she'd followed Meihui here to see what was going on. That was two minutes ago before the woman in front got assaulted. "I think that one was on *purpose*, Mei!" She glanced over at the fort she'd headed towards, then the other.

The gears turned.

Godwyn grinned as an idea formed and she made her way toward Meihui. "I think we could make it better..."

"Oh--" the rest of it is muffled in snow. Some of the snow begins to swirl--beginning to glitter, to sparkle as it picks up speed! ...eventually leaving Abrahil, a round, red-gnosed gnome behind, with his ears chilled pink and his beard coated in snow-clumps. He looks about and makes to clasp his hands together. Or tries. His limbs are a bit stiff, so there's a touch of creaking involved.

Oh dear. That was not what Meihui intended. Her hands fly to her mouth and she makes a little 'eep' sound as Kidda gets smacked in the mouthe. She immediately runs towards the woman. "I am so sorry," she calls, hardly noticing any other snowballs that might be flying through the air.

Normal people don't walk around naked, espically not in a snowstorm. Then again, golems aren't normal, and to some aren't quite people. And Munch isn't normal even by those standards. Thus the metal man peeks out from a side street with little more than his axe and a curious look, his stubby little wings fluttering in the snow filled air.

"....the heck?"

Talazia giggles softly from around the corner as Kidda gets hit by light packed snow. This was a game she used to play back in Elvengate, and she usually loved it. She watched Meihui walking over towards Kidda and giggled a bit more....before lofting a snowball WAY over thier heads....

And into a fairly large snowdrift on the roof above their heads.

This could get silly quick.

Kidda scrapes the snow off of her face, out of her eyes, and into a ball... then, grinning, she eats a bite of it. "It's fine," she laughs, brushing more snow out of her hair, green eyes glinting. "Looks like they're having fun over there," she indicates the group throwing snowballs.

"Oh how WONDER--" THUFF! A snowball hits the round fellow in the side of the face, and Abrahil wobbles...he truly wobbles and starts to tip. Except, his generous shape leaves doubt to any of it--perhaps he tilts? Or perhaps he was rightside up all along? "Oof...oh dear...oh...Oh!" And at the sight of Munch he does his level best to scramble back into a snowdrift. ...scramble, perhaps wobble and bounce and wibble. Wibble. Wobble. Bounce! Wibble.

The older boy who threw the wayward snowball that hit Meihui for a moment looks stricken, as one who knows his doom is imminent. But ... as Meihui turns to wickedly assault them back, he relaxes ... and then the real trouble starts.

He taps his buddy on the shoulder, and points in the direction of the budding fight. A quick discussion ensues, and fingers point at the golem as he emerges. Headshakes, nods, more headshakes, and then a particularly large snowball goes sailing in the golem's direction!

Lorien arrives, making his way around a bit and blinks a bit, as he chuckles at the view. He seems to be having fun just observing for a bit of curiosity.

Jibbom announces his arrival in typical subtle fashion: by inexplicably descending from the skies, golden wings fluttering dramatically. "CITIZENS, BEHOLD!" He bellows. "It is I! Steel Von Ironblood, Bane of the Night, Alexandrian Hero! I have am here to grace you with my heroic snowballery powers!"

One does not normally expect to find many of Death's servants, laughing and carrying on in the middle of a snowball fight. But among the children laughing and carrying on, a deep, snow-dusted black cloak swirls and dives, its hood falling away to reveal a rosy-cheeked Silmeria, freed from her duties for the moment, and in immensely high spirits. Ducking to one side, she lobs a snowball at a particularly devious little brute with an armful of loose snow, sneaking up on a girl he likely fancies... and her world goes white, as the snowdrift is knocked loose from the roof directly above her.

Ionus's white robes almost serve as camaflogue with the snow -- and if that wasn't enough, he's mostly lost in the mileau of clerics working to move the snow. That is until he spies a familiar face amongst the crowd as he steps back with a mischievous grin before resuming to move snow, two handfuls at a time as he pats together a nice, lumpy snowball and LOBS it toward the recently arrived Sentinel.

"No, no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thrown the snowball," Meihui insists, with worried eyes. She doesn't even notice the lob of the ball, or the way it overloads the already precariously balanced snow above. She can't help but notice, however, when a huge slide of snow just comes loose and falls with a cold, wet PLOP all over her and - if she's not quick - Kidda too. "ACK!" Down the Inquisitor goes, felled by an unknown assailant.

From the ground, she raises a fist. "Whoever that was, you're going down!"

A gnome in a snowdrift. Abrahil's gnose pokes its way out, much like a mouse's might. His eyes are bright and warm behind his rose-tinted lenses, but covered by a snowdrift he is. Or, mostly covered. Enough to hide from the terrifying Munch. He'd backed up into one and sort of bounced...well. The rest is left to imagination, and only the fact that he's now covered is the important piece of it.

Vroole had been there for awhile, having been asked to help clear snow around town, his skill as an artificer and the fact he was a walking statue, mostly able to ignore the elements helped also. On his feet even now are what can be called scoops of a sort, tubs running up to a large back pack he wears, the creation buzzing and whirling, snow being shot out a rounded, crafted end of a hose attached so it spits out into a cart he is pulling behind him to collect the snow his feet shovels in to rise up, back and shot into the cart to be deposited somewhere else once it is full. Even now the cart was starting to get full enough he would have to cart it off soon for disposal. Course things change when a errant snowball sails through the air and smack him across the eye socket and sticks there like a bilging white eyeball. "What..." Looking around now he sees he has entered into some kind of play, kids all over tossing snowballs and even a few adults doing likewise now.

Vroole finds it looks like fun, but for a someone who considers all is fair in love and snowball wars. he reaches back to take the hose he had, dropping off the cart and finds and flicks a switch to the side of the pack, it picks up and changes sound, along with beginning to glow a little. Taking it like he might his death ray there is a trigger he manually fiddles with and then hits the selector on the business end of the hose and a snowball goes flying out of the end of it, shooting towards the youth at a decent persons throw speed. Why use your hands when you bring a gun to a snowball fight.

Munch blinks, his face splitting in half, then quarters, opening along the vertical and horizontal axis, a 'mouth' yawning wide, with row upon row of gleaming metal fangs layered within. The TerrorMaw snaps at the incomming snowball, catching a little, but the majority splattering around the barbarian. Chewing absently, his magicite eyes blink in curiousity. "Hey! Steel von Rustblood! What the heck are you people doing?" Seems someone's not familiar with snowball fights.

Kidda grins at the Inquisitor, "I'm fine," she insists - but then... the huge slide of snow comes down on her head, and on the head of the Inquisitor standing next to her... and she ends up sitting on the street. Looking over at the Inquisitor, she flashes a grin, "shall we exact our vengeance?" she asks politely, getting to her feet, and scooping a huge ball of loose snow into one hand, while offering the other to help the Inquisitor up.

There is an indignant squawk as an errant snowball clips Arixillo upsides the head. The brightly-clad egalrin had been heading out to do his usual crossbow practice, but snowball throws deserve to be retaliated. Glancing in the rough direction of the snowball's origin, Arix scoops up a handful of snow and launches it with an lobbing arc.

Mind you, it's no crossbow, and he's only guessing who threw the snowball, so accuracy is by no means guaranteed...

One moment she was headed toward Meihui, and the next she blinked as a snowball pelted her dead in the chest. She looked down for a moment, then scanned the crowd as he eyes narrowed. "Oh, so you wanna play that way, huh?" She smirked. "Indeed... vengeance." Whoever threw the snowball at her would get theirs, once she found them. As she looked around, she knelt and picked up two handfuls of snow...

Meihui accepts the hand and rolls to her feet, shedding snow like stardust. "I think we must. Honor demands it," she says, as dignified as one can when wet, snow-covered, and shivery. She takes up a position beside Kidda, and scoops up snow. "Let's see...it's likely that the triggering missile came from...this direction." And two snowballs fly through the air. Only one actually goes towards Talazia. The other...well, Jibbom makes an excellent target, really...

Talazia giggles even more, but is already out of sight around the corner. She then took a side alley, crossed the street, and tossed another snowball in Meihui's, Kidda's and Godwyn's direction.....letting them see her this time. Twas only fair.

From one of the more ramshackle buildings at the side of the square, there's a clatter of boots on board-stairs; Aldean's being decidedly unsubtle as he takes the stairs two at a time ... and stops short as he reaches the bottom, to positively stare in disbelief, a grin growing across his features.

Now that the adults are involved, all bets are off. Children squeal in mixed delight and outrage as snowballs hit them, and others dodge. The snowdrift that fell off the roof buried several girls along with Kidda and Meihui, and one of them tugs on Meihui's sleeve. "Come on! I saw who did it! It's her!" With that, she pulls a huge snowball -- out of her brown hair alone -- and aims the tightly packed snowball at Talazia.

Silmeria's in the thick of it, and Arixillo's large snowball proves a wayward bomb for the Vardaman Inquisitor ... she'd better look sharp, and she can see who it came from if she looks, amid the white haze of snow flying thick and fast.

"Now...oh. Oh dear...oh!" the round little fellow says. Abrahil watches the snowballs fly and thud...and once Munch has passed, passed past his own hidey-hole well enough...he clears his throat the best he ought, his chins giving a bit of a wobble, and, "Bippity, boppity...poof!" ...sparkles erupt over mittens and around snow. A few of the snowballs take on shapes in the air--the faces and countenance of Heroes of Alexandria, all looking...quite surprised, but splatting just the same, poofing and erupting in snow when they hit, poofing in chill and cold snowflakes. Not everywhere, not everyone...just here and there, or there and here.

The snow Talazia is gathering in her hands begins to sparkle, too. Just the faintest shimmer.

Godwyn saw something out of the corner of her eye. "There!"

She tossed the snowball in the direction of the alley, and it wasn't about to end all that nicely for the one that threw the packed ice at her.

Snow flies, as Kidda flings it - an arcing shot in the direction of the 'attack' that buried her and the Inquisitor in snow. A laugh, and the Lancer picks up handful after handful, flinging it in balls - in many directions.

Ionus emerges from the rest of the clerics, grinning with a wave as some of his compatrioats continue pushing snow, but leaving a strip of ammor for him to work with as he scoops up another handful, quickly packing it together before studying the available targets before letting fire once more!

Stirling walks onto the battlefield in a knit cap and carrying a very large minigun-like contraption in his chrome clad hands. Seems like an easy target until the hum of a vacuum on the bottom starts sucking up snow and machine gunning snowballs into the air. There are no words, only war. Cold snowy war.

Talazia is hit with about 7 snowballs before Meihui and Godwyn can even scoop up their snow. Kidda on the other hand, hits her right in the chest. She doesn't seem too bothered by the snow hitting her either. the other two have their snowballs in the air and Talazia manages to hit ONE in mid-air, causing a rather sparkly explosion of snow before the second flies through the air towards Kidda.....who SHOULD have the most armor in the bunch.

Lorien may be a quiet observer -- but in the chaos that has broken out, there's no such thing. All of the shoveling and clearing that's taken much of the day is swiftly being undone, as one of Kidda's snowballs comes flying straight at his ear, if he doesn't duck!

Gasps and shouts of awe at the magical display of snowball-faces go up, and a few of the adults swiftly redirect their targets. Even the tavernkeeper and a few of the actors at the Hope Theater have taken to quickly balling snow and setting it aside for some of the children. Laughter and screams of mock-outrage fill the square with a joyous sound, and those few who don't qish to be involved swiftly take cover. Stirling and Vroole's snow guns elicit screams of cold outrage, and several groups of kids now band together, and each of them will find themselves the target of a veritable hail of snowballs ... and a few iceballs as well! Someone isn't playing nice...

"Foul!" Meihui cries at Stirling as she's pelted with a couple of those mechanized snowballs. "No mechanical enhancements!" ...was that a rule? Apparently SHE thinks so, and Stirling has just become her number one target. She can't match the speed of the machine, but even so, several wet balls go flying through the air towards the artificer.

Silmeria 's head pops out of the snowdrift, then her shoulders, and after a moment's shock she starts dusting the snow out of her hair... and looks up just in time to squeak, as Arixillo's snowball splatters right into her face. Shaking her head, she starts to dig herself out of the bank, snow falling away in wet clumps, and scoops up a handful to send in a return volley!

Seems the snow was going to fly and Vroole kicks it up a notch, firing at will and at any who are participating. The ease at which he moves shows with the large shovels on his feet allowing him to glide a little and collect snow, sending it up to be turned into an aero-dynamic, normal human sized fist snowball. Over and over they are chunked as that is almost the sound the snowball makes when it leaves the muzzle of the earlier crafted snow blower he had made to help, now being used for fun. Chunk, chunk, chunk, he is a snowball shooting machine, indeed he uses such and even he himself as he takes a few hits, barely flinching he is sending them back with gusto.

"Oh no, no...oh! That won't do at all..." says the round little fellow. He shifts and scoots, doing his best to drag his arm the rest of the way from underneath the drift...bit little wizards like Abrahil have arms like noodles, and so he manages to wriggle his fingers and a bit of the forearm...which is what he'd had before. He isn't going anywhere, oh no, not at the moment. Oh dear. ...but he looks determined! So determined, and wriggles what finger-movement he does have at Stirling's snowgun...

Munch hrumps, watching a few more moments. The golem might not be the brightest fellow, but he gets the idea soon enough. Crouching by a snowdrift, Munch grabs up a rather large handful... which by the time he's done isn't so big. Clawed hands aren't good for packing snow. But it flies well enough, sailing though the air... in a fairly random direction. Ranged warfare isn't his thing, though Stirling's contraption gets a long look.

Arixillo's snowball wasn't so much large as it was likely unexpected. The egalrin scoops up another handful and lobs it at another target, trusting the trajectory to get the snowball there instead of any actual throwing power. There's a reason why his adventuring weapon of choice is a crossbow, after all.

Kidda squeals as she's hit in the chest with snow... and it drops straight down her shirt. "Eeee! COLD!" she yelps, and flings another snowball. Stirling bellows "There are no rules, only victory! " as he gets pelted back, the heat of his mana furnace quickly melting them off his armor. Nothing stops his barrage until one hits him in the face and puts his cigar out. Oh no.

Ionus keeps scooping up snow and firing away, though his target seems to have shifted from paladins to smelly hobgoblins! That is, until he realizes, "Oh...That's not Boshter.." alas, in his rush -- he'd already managed to arc two or three bundles of not-so-fluffy white stuff.

It turns out that hovering majestically out in the open with no cover whatsoever is an exceptionally poor snowball fight strategy. Jibbom quickly ends up pelted from all angles, falling into a snowbank with an undignified thumph.

Meihui gets smacked by a couple of wayward snowballs with grinning faces - pap pap - and has to stop to shake off the snow. She looks at Kidda. "We need a defensible position," she claims, with authority. She falls to her knees, trying to push the snow into a crude wall to hide behind.

Godwyn had to admit, this was fun until snowgun came along. Now it was personal, and she wasn't about to let up on those that took aim at her. Meihui had a good idea, and Godwyn moved to help her out, reinforcing the wall. "Now we're talking!"

After a moment of assessing the situation, Aldean with a baritone laugh joins the fray, coming up behind the snow-coated gnome. "Need a hand, mate?" he asks Abrahil.

Silmeria's not alone in being buried, and there's a little girl of about six near her whose squeals have turned to frantic cries for help. She's stuck in the snow -- under the snow -- and is evidently having trouble getting herself out!

The snowbank that Jibbom unceremoniously ends up in is the one that one of the original group of kids was using as source for their snowfort! Several cries of startlement, followed by grins ensue, and one boy says "Hey mister, help us get 'em!" There's a veritable pile of snowballs right behind the fallen halfling....

"Good idea," Kidda agrees, and starts helping to make a barricade, throwing snowballs while she's at it, for cover. "I'm Kidda, by the way," she tells her accomplice, pronouncing the name 'key-da'.

Stirling eyes his cigar and looks to Vroole "Fellow Artificer! Join me in holy snowball war and let us forge an alliance on the frozen blood of our frosted enemies! Join ranks! For Science!"

Jibbom springs up from the snowbank, his enthusiasm undampened as he addresses the children. "Never fear, good junior citizens! Steel Von Ironblood, Bane of the Night, shall aid you in your snowy quest!" The halfling immediately begins gathering up snowballs.

Meihui moves aside so Godwyn can join her behind the wall. "Hon Meihui. Just Meihui, unless we're being formal," she returns the greeting with a smile. And nods towards Godwyn. "She's Godwyn." And then there's the shout from Stirling. "The artificers are joining forces. THIS WILL NOT STAND!" From a crouch behind her wall, she tries to pelt them both with a volley of balls.

Talazia might be having fun throwing snowballs, but she immediately stops throwing anything when she realizes someone's buried along with Silmeria. She gathers her cloak around her to ward off incoming snowballs and starts to dig up the snow to help SIlmeria and the little girl out of the snow drift.

Munch focuses a moment on his internal workings... a few chemicals here, a few sent there... and the build up of frosty flakes begin to slide off the metal man as his internal tempature goes up. "'No rule, only victory', eh? You asked for it..." Time for the heavy weapons... well, the one heavy weapon. The barbarian's greataxe comes out... and gets plunged into a snowbank. It's wide, it's flat, it's a little like a snow shovel, when it comes to flinging large masses of snow... and the swirling bit of magic keeping the powder in a nice tossable pack? Well that's just pure bonus.

The shimmering around Stirling's artifice-shooter goes poof! and about the same time, the round little gnome looks up. His eyes sparkle and his cheeks are red, his gnose a cherry. ..."Oh! Oh, why...oh, why, I was just hiding here, you know. Thinking to myself--" he doesn't look at Munch the Toothy, "--thinking oh, what a nice erm, place it is, you know. ...but now that you mention it, why I'd love a ha--oh! Oh, that poor dear!" he braks off all the sudden, and gestures as best he can towards the fallen Silmeria. He looks quite panicked that someone's gotten stuck. "Why, sir! You must put on your cape and go there at once!" The last of the words ring out from the elderly, snow-stuck fellow, as though he were still in theatre...ages, ages ago. So many ages.

And yet more on top of them.

The frantic cries for help have Silmeria turning on the spot, incoming snowballs ignored as she digs through the bank, reaching in to tug the poor, frightened little girl free. One tug, then another, and finally the Vardaman stumbles backward, making quiet shushing noises as she brushes snow off the girl's back. GLancing around, she spots the wall being raised, and quickly ducks behind it. "Could you be nice enough to give a poor little girl sanctuary?" she asks of Meihui and Kidda. "This poor little thing seems to have had rather enough for the moment..."

How could Vroole not accept such an offer, as it seems that they could produce enough snowballs for several other people each with their canny methods. The golem does indeed join Stirling and with his own contraption he begins to add his own caliber of snowballs to that of the other Artificer's, Course now Godwyn and Meihui are having to deal with two snowball artilliists.

Munch regularly might join his fellow being of artifice... but what would the fun of that be?

Godwyn nodded. "We'll protect her with our lives!" She grinned and gave a quick glance over the wall, then ducked again. "Hey there!" Godwyn's smile eased a bit. "What's your name, little one?"

"Of course," Kidda nods, shoving more snow into the makeshift wall, then shoots a look at Godwyn, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," she flashes a grin.

Arixillo dives behind some combatants as a flurry of snowballs heads his direction. Once on the other side of that crowd, he does a few scoop-and-flick lobs towards the thick of the fighting, aiming more for crowds and less at individual people.

"Absolutely," Meihui agrees, with a wink towards the girl. She scoops a little hollow against the wall. "Here, you can sit here and nothing should hit you," she tells her. But now they are under a barrage from the artillery. She looks to the other two women. "Concentrate our fire...take out the hobgoblin first, I'd say. Aim for the eyes, the eyes!" Toss toss toss!

Cheers and clapping go up from Jibbom's newfound allies at his proclamation, and the kids seem to take heart. "Hey, they've got contraptions! We gotta get em!" one shouts, and the whole gang turns their hail of snowballs in that direction.

The little girl sniffles, tears frozen on her cheeks as she nods at Silmeria. Several of the older kids seem to take the little girl's plight to heart too, and one kneels down next to her with SIlmeria. "We'll protect her!" she agrees. "But you have to help us!" The fort occupied by the small group is under relentless attack, between the artificers and a second group of boys who are divided between them and the artificers as to who to attack. Some of them go wide-eyed at the orders, and begin grinning hugely. They've got military people helping them! This is awesome!

Ionus rushes over to stand beside Godwyn, or...maybe that's the attempt as well, Ionus may be used to running on snow from his childhood, but SCIENCE...Yes, science still says it's much harder to stop and so...the offer to help becomoes a collision course even while crying out, "YEs...we will save...ACKKAhasahdsfghh...."

"No contraption is a match for the might of Steel Von Ironblood, Bane of the Night!" Jibbom enthuses to his new throng of admirers, beaming at them and posing as impressively as his flabby physique allows. He hurls a snowball. It goes wildly off course.

Kidda looks around, hoping to find a means of getting more ammunition. She looks over at the roof across the street, then looks to Godwyn and Meihui, "if we can hit that, we might be able to knock the snow off the roof," she points.

The snowballs directed at Arixillo's targets get answered ... in spades. Alone, he's quite the target, and is likely to find himself in the middle of the three-way war that is brewing fast. Everyone's taking sides, and anyone in the middle ... it's a no-man's land in the middle of the square.

Snow supplies are dwindling, and a few enterprising adults have taken to emulating Talazia's trick and bringing down some of the heavy snowdrifts on top of the roofs ... both to provide more ammunition and to dump it on the heads of their enemies.

Godwyn looked up toward Kidda's location and grinned. "And it would make a good distraction." She glanced toward the half-sil. "Cover me. I'm taking some of these soldiers and making a second front." She glanced toward Silmeria. "You in on this?" Stirling lets Vroole lay down the barrage while he starts building not only a snow fort but battlements and firing positions. "Don't let up! Never give up, never surrender!"

"Cover provided," Meihui agrees readily. She stands, making a target of herself, and starts throwing small snowballs...barely a handful of snow each, but she's throwing and making them as fast as possible, trying to lay down suppressive fire for Godwyn and the others. "For the glory of Light!" she proclaims, in her grandest, most powerful voice. Whether she realizes it or not, she's just begging for a snowball to the face. Reaver the GreatAxe sniffs, as he's plunged into another snowbank. "Really! This isn't very dignified!"

Munch the Golem snorts, turning the haft to gather a sizeable load. "Forget dignified. It's fun! Besides, no other could launch like us. Let's show them how it's done!" 
Reaver might not fully agree, but the magics of the blade hold the snow to itself in a sticky mass... at least until it can be lauched at the artificers. The massive globs aren't fast, they aren't accurate... but they do tend to splatter anyone in the local area.

"Of course," Silmeria says in answer to the requests for help, grinning widely, and pops up behind the wall. One arm raised to cover her face from errant missiles, she scans for the roof Kidda mentions, but is brought up short as Godwyn suggests widening their lines. "That sounds excellent, in fact. All right!" she says, clapping her hands to get the kids' attention and dropping her voice. "It's vital that we keep their attention on us, children... on the count of three, I want you to pop up and yell as loud as you can, and throw all the snow you have at the artificers, okay?"

Honestly the golem knew nothing of surrender, as he had never done so. Now thinking a long time and not considering what was going on around him had happened, but not now as thunk, thunk, thunk, the snowballs fly from his machine towards the opposition. Indeed he was a good shot and some had seen that before on runs for the guild, his machine seeming to be very accurate and very good at making almost perfect spheres out of the snow until they hit with a wet smack and snow billowing outward from the impacts.

Talazia is smiling at Meihui's bravery, but the first snowball that goes for Meihui's face will get intercepted by another snowball from Talazia.....along with a second snowball aimed for the one who threw it.

"Oh dear...why, they've gotten so focused! Oh, such dashing, such daring! You know...I could use a good, hot cup of tea. ...now, look at that one! The little one, yes, over that way!" Abrahil, in his half-buried little way, wriggles his fingers towards the children Silmeria calls upon. Capes! Capes unfurl behind them, heroic capes, with brilliant trim and brilliant color, labeled: OFFICIAL ALEXANDRIAN SNOWBALL BRIGADE!

Benthus wanders into the area and arches a brow at the frenzied activity that is going on in the area. He dodges several straight snowballs and decides that his present position is not a good place for an observer. He shield his head with one arm and heads to one building. A tall building. He knocks on the door and informs the owner who he is. The door opens quickly and Benthus scrambles inside.

Kidda pops up, throws a snowball, letting out a war cry as she does so, aiming for the nearest artificer, grabs and throws another, and another, as fast as she can make them and throw them. Snow flies at her, and some of it hits, making her sputter, but she keeps throwing.

Godwyn nodded and glanced toward some of the other children. "All right, who's coming with me?" Five of them raised their hands, and she nodded. "We'll move on Silmeria's signal." She smiled toward the inquisitor. "Whenever you're ready!"

Arixillo darts around the periphery of the fight, lobbing snowballs at any group that might be starting to get the upper hand at the time. He doesn't seem to be a part of any one group; rather, he's just taking potshots at any group that seems to be getting hit with less snow than they're throwing.

Snow explodes in front of Meihui's face, the first return attack countered by another thrown ball. She looks over towards Talazia and grins. Which means the /next/ snowball catches her cheek, and she staggers back. It doesn't put her down, though - she shakes it off and gives Godwyn. "On your order, Sentinel!" She gathers up more snow, cannibalizing part of the wall to provide ammunition. Snow flies fast and furious, including two balls aimed right at the artificers' faces.

"Got it!" The childlike treble chorus answers Silmeria in ragged semi-unison, and gasps of delight and more ragged cheers go up as the heroic capes unfurl behind them. Quickly, they all start gathering snowballs, and pass from hand to hand until each and every one of them has handfuls of snow to arm themselves with. Wet and cold, with red noses and hands, they're gasping for breath and laughing for sheer joy.

The hail continues to fly thick and fast all over the square, and just about everyone is covered in the stuff. More of the stuff is being brought down ... and some of it comes down on its own, scattering across the square and sending Aldean diving for cover. He, too, seems inclined to watch for the moment, arms folded across his chest, but his grin is broad. That is, until Arixillo aims one at him .. .and connects across his chest. That does it ... the man's getting one back from the bard! With ... questionable aim.

The illusion of capes seems to be the perfect touch that SIlmeria hadn't even been looking for, and the snow-dusted blond laughs delightedly. "On three!" she reminds the cadre of combatants, looking at Godwyn and pointing off toward the taverns. "One... two... three!" Which point she pops up herself, loosing a fairly atonal, if loud, yell, hurling snowball after inaccurate snowball at the Artificer's contingent.

"Oh, such wonderment! Such, such...oh, so delightful. Future heroes, all, I say! Now...oof. ...oof..." Abrahil does his best to wibble, to wobble from the snow drift. He just isn't going to get anywhere, you know. Nowhere at all. He is going to try his best, though.

In the meantime, the capes of Silmeria's team flutter boldly in the wind. Heroes all, on a mission of snowball-based smiting! Artificery is very EVIL, you know. Though...so is Jibbom.

Especially Jibbom.

Godwyn... *scrambled*, her own small squad running just behind her. It didn't matter if anything hit, they had to make a big enough commotion so her small force could make it to cover that was a bit better. "To the alley, go! Go!"

Talazia covers Meihui yet again on the first snowball thrown. However, right afterwards, she lobs one way over Silmeria, Meihui, Godwyn and Kidda. "head up! Ammo coming down!" She obviously means she's trying to knock another snowdrift down onto the girl's fort to help them.

Munch isn't evil... just violent. And scary. And dangerous. ...okay, so maybe a little evil. But right now he's fighting against other artifice, so that has to count for something, right?

• scoop* *fling!* *thump!*

• scoop* *fling!* *thump!*

Vroole isn't fooled by any illusions, seeing right through it the pile of snow builds up around him, only feeding his machine even as it begins to pile up higher and higher. Ignoring for the most part most of what hits him, his free arm blacks more and more of the snowballs being tossed towards his eyes, or what one would consider eye sockets. Well if ti was numbers they were going to use, he was well prepared as well. his hand reaches down to find a shield looking, copper contraption he slaps to his chest and it begins to glow. A mage shield spell appearing around him to begin deflecting more of the snowballs and allowing him to continue to fire away now with less distractions. The war golem was a statue of flurry snowball shooting, this way and that, spotting Godwyn try to make a broader front he aims at her and the children with her now and her dash for more cover around Stirling and himself.

Jibbom does not seem to be getting the intricacies of snowball combat down. He springs wildly out of cover when he attacks, immediately suffering an onslaught of snowy projectiles every time. At least he's a useful decoy for his side?

Nothing if not obedient, the shouts of the children join Silmeria's semi-aimed offensive, and their hail of badly-aimed snowballs joins hers. Some of them are pretty good, though, and one arcs directly for the mouth of Vroole's snowball gun....

Then the snow comes down over their heads, and squeals of shock and surprise and outraged wet girls goes up, an earsplitting pitch that only girls of that age can manage. It takes them a minute to realize what's happened ... but now they have more ammunition at least! They'll figure that out in a minute.

Meanwhile, the boys with Jibbom laugh at him, and one offers him a hand up; then, the lot of them resume their aims, using the halfling as cover and decoy.

"Duck and cover," Meihui bellows in response to Talazia's warning. She crouches, but just to shield the little girl who's had enough from any further snow burial.

Stirling ducks under the barrage coming his and Vroole's way. Surely it looks like they are outmatched until a shout comes from the road leading the artificer halls. A group of young artificers with cobbled together snow launchers join the fray!

Godwyn's eyes widen as she takes note of his interesting change of tactics. "Oh shoot... faster!" Just as she feared, the golem took notice, and focused his attacks on her group. She moved in front of one of the children and took a whole ton of snow to the face, and wherever else he could hit her. "Keep... ack! Keep moving! I'll be right there!"

A few minutes passed by before Benthus reappears, this time on the porch of the building he just got in. The porch is located at the third floor level. The owner of the house, plus a few other people inside the building, have gathered chairs and placed them close to the edge of the porch to see all the activity that is going on below. Benthus has a cup in one hand, the steam of his drink wafting up in the cold air. He turns to the person who provided him entry into the building and offers what one might assume to be thanks. Together, the people on the porch get seated and enjoy the games that are going on below them, all the while sipping on their cups and keeping themselves warm and comfortable.

Kidda scoops snow into a larger pile in front of them, packing it into a fort, quickly, and scooping some into snowballs, throwing in between reinforcing the fort.

"Oh dear, oh dear...you must look the part! Now...angry words and angry brows, all hail the mighty V! Horns and tails and puppy-dog warts...your, your erm, badness for all to see!" Abrahil wriggles his fingers and whispers the closing of the spell...and where CAPES OF HEROISM! had appeared upon the children, black, billowing capes appear behind the joining young artificers on the opposing team. BILLOWING! With EEEEEVIL! "Your nemesis, m'dears!" Abrahil cries out. "Your nemesis prepares to take the field!"

Munch has green wings. He doesn't need a cape.

Stirling returns to building the fort, along with the reinforcements of young artificers. A flag goes up proclaiming it to be Fort SCIENCE!

Arixillo retreats back around a couple of corners, taking a few moments to catch his breath. A short pause wouldn't do him any harm; besides, depending on things, it might help setup for a sneaky return.

Once the snow is down, Meihui pounces on it with a glad cry. She funnels a pile of it over to the little girl. "Here you go. You can make snowballs. Just keep them coming." And then she goes back to the battle. Fling! Fling! "Save Godwyn and our brave foward camp!" she calls out, and directs her fire towards their attackers.

Meihui and now Kidda is being covered on the first snowball coming their way. it seems Talazia's letting them take the glory....not that she minds.

The mage shield that pops up around Vroole appears to dishearten a number of the kids. "Hey ... he's using magic! NO FAIR!" someone shouts. "What do we do?" The kids quickly look at Jibbom in one place and to the adult women on the other, eyes wide. The little girl nods, the tears beginning to dry, and she starts making snowballs with the occasional sniffle and a shiver. Instead of aiming for the forward camp, though, the girls look at Meihui. "Can we make him not do that! We can't hit him!"

Jibbom accepts the hand up, and is quickly drafted into service as mobile cover, a pudgy shield standing between the boys and the onslaught. "Ooof! Auugh! Waaagh!" In no time at all he resembles a pudgy, short, winged snowman.

Snowball after snowball flies from Silmeria's hands; Death's Inquisitor hardly shaken up by the blackest and billowiest of capes, she throws a grateful smile back at Talazia for the cover, and the rearmament. "You can bury him!" she sings out to the complaining children. "That shield won't be much help if he's completely covered, will it?"

Meihui echoes Silmeria's advice. "Turn him into a snowman!" she agrees. She takes off her outer coat, and tucks it around the shivering girl. She's moving around enough that she'll be warm enough for a bit.

The illusory red capes flutter heroically! over the snow. They always seem to know when to spin, to flutter--as though they'd minds of their own. The black capes, too--opposing sides, fluttering and flying in the winds, heroes and anti-heroes all. For the children. "Oh, oh dear...a battle for the ages!" Abrahil whispers, from his hidey-hole. "But will they make it? And oh...oh! The prince of the other army has fallen!" Poor Jibbom, Poor, poor Jibbom.

Snow builds in a wave, slowly, but growing, pushing it's way along the filled alley, a tsunami of white powder, pushing out towards the street, splitting riseing.. and shapeing itself into a pair of massive apelike guards, standing to each side of the alley. Within the now clear alley, the Magus Mikilos calls out. "When you're all done, I've hot coco and cookies. Anyone who wants to keep fighting can take it up with the Snow Elementals. I'm sure they'll oblige."

Zalara is late but for good reason. She heard that this snowball fight was going down and she had to make preparations. There is a loud roar of a mana engine and in come Zalara on her hoverbike, it's been modified with shovels on the bottom that feed snow into the hoverbike and it flings out snow from the front from big tubs. She looks around, "Am I too late to pick a side?" She has small hand crank on each of the pipes and she aims one for one side and one for the other. She laughs as she brings out her death ray that's been modified to create and fling snow balls.

Benthus and the adults on the balcony look on with mild amusement on their faces at the snowball fight that is happening right below them. A few chuckles could be heard and seen among the spectators above as they continue to sip on their warm drinks and enjoy the snowball fight that has not only little kids in it, but adults as well. They talk between themselves, pointing at certain groups and clapping their hands at what they think is a brave or entertaining move. Yes, there are also head shakes over anyone using underhanded tactics to be better than the others, but nothing is said out loud and no one is being called out. They just continue to watch and observe the mayhem in this large snowball fight.

Meihui's and Silmeria's words seem to give the kids heart, and their capes are again visible from behind the wall as a veritable wall of white snowballs, as fast as both armies of kids can throw, sails at the artificers, Stirling, and Vroole, looking to bury and negate the shields Vroole ahs thrown up. A few of the boys point at Munch, seeing that the golem is on /their/ side ... or not at least on the artificer's side. "Come over here!"

The snow elementals elicit gasps and distraction from adults and children alike, and the hail of snow at the artificer camp slows.

Meihui pauses in her firing to eye the snow elementals with narrowed eyes. "Magus Mikilos," she calls out, recognizing the voice, "if those things start flinging snow boulders, I'm calling foul!" A pause. "The cocoa is appreciated, though. Come out so we can thank you for it!" Her grin is evil, and she is packing a very special snowball.

Stirling eyes the new snow golems and changes his aim, as do many of the young artificers. Whirlygigs whirl, rubber bands stretch and spring spring! It truly is an arsenal of snow launchers of all kinds. All directed at the snow golems.

Munch is careful not to grin... it tends to make people nervous... but the golem is enjoying himself, and moves to join the boys as they call.

"Treachery!" Silmeria says, eyes comically wide, as Stirling targets the neutral cocoa-wizard. "Children, will we allow such an attack on hot cocoa to go unanswered! I think not!" After which, she begins frantically scooping and throwing, leading as many of the kids as can take their attention from the general chaos toward utterly burying Stirling, for his vile acts.

Giggling her fool head off, Talazia can't help but lob a snowball into the air at a rooftop near the artificer's position to drop a BIG snowdrift upon them.

The Snow Golems just stand there, getting pelted. Not as if it harms them any. Errant balls that fly by melt swiftly, the alley magically warmed for those ready to leave the battle behind.

Zalara turns her hoverbike towards where the big snow drift is, "Don't worry I'll help dig you guys out. She fires off snowballs from her death ray and she aims up to try to pelt Talazia with them.

Screams and squeals of outrage from girls and boys alike ensue as the hoverbike sprays everyone liberally with snow -- not that there's a lot of unpacked snow left by this point, with every drift and every alley being raided for ammunition. Still, it's wet and cold, and not exactly appreciated. "It's her!" one of the boys shouts, pointing at Zalara. "Get her!" A hail of snowballs from the boys' snow camp answers the spray of the hoverbike, some of them hard with ice inside...

"NO!" Capes a-flutter, the girls are shouting imprecations, some of them not very nice, at the attacker of cocoa -- not that this exactly changed the angle of their assault at all!

Meihui fehs as Mikilos does not come out, and the artificers' volley proves the impenetrable defenses of the alley. She shakes her head, and then scans for new targets. Zalara hasn't been a target of the Inqusisitor's righteous wrath, and she's targeting Talazia, so..."For the glory of Eluna!" And zip zip go two snowballs, right for Zalara's face.

Godwyn doesn't take the distraction of the snow drift for granted. She gets moving immediately to join her troops, who seem to have made it to their new position in one piece! "Cold, cold, cold...."

She made it to the alley and took in a breath before leading them behind the building. "All right, troops! They've brought reinforcements, but that's all right. We're going to give them something to remember!" They cheered and followed her as she led them through the back ways...

Stirling howls and charges from his position with the young artificers staying behind with reluctant looks. However he does not make it far as the snow drift on the roof buries him, a solitary chrome gauntlet sticking out.

Munch pauses a few moments, watching. Things have escalated, and escalated again. If the barbarian escalates to match, someone's going to get hurt. So, replacing his axe upon his back, the metal man heads for the alleyway, nodding cautiously to the Snow Elementals before passing between them to the warmth, cookies, and hot coco beyond.

There is clapping on the balcony as artificer Stirling gets buried in snow, probably not because they were against the hobgoblin, but because it was unexpected. (Benthus) "Mmmmh!" Jibbom is probably trying to say something he considers to be extremely important, but the snow which is almost entirely coating his face makes him wholly unintelligble. He continues to serve as a moving target.

Zalara lays flat back against the seat of the hoverbike to avoid the snowballs aimed at her and from her back she fires off some snowballs of her own. This is getting serious...seriously fun. Her hoverbike gobbles up the snow drift and she grabs Stirlings hand to pull him up onto the hoverbike. "You throw snow balls and guard my six while I direct my hoverbike." She says as she sits up and grabs a hold of the controls. She turns the bike to direct both barrels at the boys, almost she keeps an eye out for Meihui.

"Oh! Oh my! The villanous villain of villany is vanquished! He is sent away! Oh, well DONE, m'dears! Oh, we--oh, it was so wonderful! Such heroism, such...DARING! such..." and on and on it goes, a gnomes gnomish blather, and Abrahil's eyes are bright and his gnose twitching from where he is underneath the snowpile. It goes on and on and...on. And on...and ...perhaps the edge of Stirling's chrome'd fist does sparkle a bit, or catch the light just-so, just for effect.

The streets of the Theatre District are utter chaos in the wake of the blizzard that spent the better part of the last two days blowing through Alexandria. A veritable hail of white balls flies in every direction, at anyone and everyone. Artificers have broken out death-by-snow rays, hoverbikes, snowblowers, and shields, and have built a fort, the children's shoulders fluttering with black capes. A snow fort that seems to be the girls' corner has a mixed range of kids gleefully pelting the artificers' camp, and a few pelting the boys camp, led by the godly women who've joined the fray.

Several of Zalara's snowballs connect in the third camp -- a group of older boys, for whom Jibbom is serving as mobile, snow-covered decoy. Frosty the Snowbane is garnering laughs from a number of the adults and actors who stand with the boys, and they and the boys both return fire at Stirling and Zalara -- adn not incidentally at the girls' camp.

Off to one side, a pair of snow elementals stand guard, the alley behind them warmed and ready with cookies and cocoa courtesy of an enterprising Mikilos.

Talazia slides around the corner to avoid the larger snowball aimed at her. She then giggles at meihui's battle fervor. "Yeah.....For Eluna."

Meihui hits the snow to avoid the snowballs flung in her direction. "HMPH!" She claims the balls created by the little girl, and watches Zalara's bike carefully. Carefully, carefully. She waits until the time is right, then whispers to Talazia. "She's got another target. Let's overwhelm her!" And then she pops up, rapid firing missiles with more enthusiasm than accuracy.

Stirling take the hand from Zalara but declines the seat on the bike "Nay fair valkery! I must retire to the halls of Serriel where those who perished in war may drinks of the hot cocoa." he announces with a smile and heads towards the snow golems. "I'll be right back," Silmeria says to her fellow holy snow-warriors, crouching down in front of the six-year-old still busily making snowballs, shivering. "You're looking a bit tired," she says, holding out her hands. "C'mon... let's get you warmed up and some cocoa." Glancing over her shoulder at Meihui, the Inquisitor beams. "I'll have your coat back soon," she says, leading the girl toward the alley.

Abrail gives another paff! against his snow prison and then with a finger alongside his nose, he vanishes. Poof! ...small, cunching footsteps are heard thereafter, making a retreat...whichever direction Munch is NOT in...!

"Okay." The girl's got a very small voice, but seems only too willing to follow the Inquisitor to safety and warmth, taking Silmeria's hands with her own tiny, chilled ones. she follows along, still snuffling a little bit.

Vroole is not one to give up, even as the pile surrounds him more, and Stirling appears to be retiring from battle in defeat. He roars out and turns the backpack onto the highest setting, the snowballs not so perfectly round, more slushy as they slop anyone they hit now instead of thudding into them. The effect also helps to begin to keep up with the snow being piled around him, the scoops on his feet where the snow is picked up sucking it all in greedily to spit out spit wad like snow from the barrel now of his machine.

The Sentinel on the other hand seems to have done quite the job of getting her troops where the need to be without incident. "All right, let's do this. Start making snow balls, I'll see who's out..." Oh no, that noise. "...there. Stay silent, everyone..."

She moves toward the exit of the alley and takes a brief look, then pulls her head back with a wince. "Right. That's new."

Zalara nods to Stirling as she starts to whip the bike around into doing doughnuts throught the snow. She is hit with a couple of snowballs that manage to time it just right to get through her Whirling Snow Dance of Doom Defense, bascailly trying to throw snow in all directions at once. She laughs as she hangs on and finally comes to a stop and she reves the engine before she turns to aim at the girl side this time.

Silmeria scoops the girl up, shaking the last of the snow from her cloak as she bundles the child up, smiling gently. Slipping past the snow golems, she pauses in the spell-borne warmth of the alley, drawing in a deep breath and smiling at Mikilos. "I'd heard there was cocoa to be had, Master Wizard?"

Several of the younger kids begin to abandon their forts or hide behind the walls, shivering as the cold and the wet take over. They start eyeing the path towards the snow golems, seeing that nothing bad is happening to those who walk past them. And cocoa does sound awfully good. More, though, continue the assault, although the spray of snow and wads of wet slush/snow are greeted with squeals and screams. That's not fun anymore!

Cold, wet... Kidda wipes snow out of her eyes, and then holds up her hands, "Truce!" she calls out, "come on, the kids are getting cold!"

Meihui hides behind the wall as slush ensues. It's not quite enough - she's tall - and the top of her head is soaked through. "Ugh." She stands, raising her hands. "I'm out for a bit. I think we've beaten all the life out of the snow, if nothing else."

Talazia giggles softly and pats Meihui on the shoulder. 'Come on. Hot chocolate seems good right now. Besides....the kids have the right idea." She says softly as she stands up.

Godwyn doesn't mind hanging back for a bit. In fact, she's looking for options. And then Zalara does her thing, and it gives her a break. Godwyn heads back toward her kids. "Okay, they've called truce. But hey, this would have worked!" She grinned and ruffled the hair of one of the boys. "Come on, let's get some cocoa!" With that, she made her way back the way she'd come. After all, they didn't need to know she'd almost flanked them. They might do this later, and who knows? It could still be a good path.

By the time she made it back to her side's camp, they were making for the cocoa station, and she followed with a spring in her step.

The alley is warm, but not hot... too much leads to sniffles and heat rash, you know. A few simple tables have been set up, with picthers of cocoa and plenty of mugs to go around. The cookies are set on little trays, and there aren't a whole lot of them, but there seem to be some mothers coming from the far side with resupplies.

Vroole looks around, his flurry furry dying, if it was one thing he had a weakness for it was kids. And the plea for being too cold was heard, though he didn't feel it much himself. He places the end of the muzzle back where it was used to fill the cart earlier and nods, "Well done, well done.... All would make fine warriors of the winter snow throwing."

Meihui grins at Talazia. "That sounds like an excellent idea." She offers her a bow. "A good showing! I am Hon Meihui. And you?" She starts to move in the direction of warmth and cocoa.

Zalara hears the truce calls and she shuts down her snow thrower. She looks around and smiles as she guides the hoverbike towards the young artificer and she picks up a few to ride with her, the smaller ones as she heads towards the warm alley where hot cocoa is being served. She nods to Meihui and Talazia as she passes them.

Godwyn gave Vroole a once-over. "You make an imposing villain. Have you considered theatre?" She chuckled and met up with Meihui. "Well it was a good plan, but it seemed to fall through once he put his shields up. Thank you for the support, though." Godwyn smiled. "Turning him into a snow man would have been amusing, too!"

At the Sentinel's call, the trickle in the direction of cocoa becomes a stream, and only a few of the older boys remain, either pelting each other or examining the hoverbike and the golems -- and the elementals -- with awe. "Where'd you get that?" one of the boys shouts at Zalara.

"Yeah, cocoa!" Around Godwyn, the kids burst into a run, abandoning their positions. Mikilos will find himself getting some help in cookie and cocoa supply from some of the good wives of the district, along with thanks and laughter. Aldean trails behind as well; although he's stayed out of the worst of it from the shelter of his stairwell, he's by no means untouched, and laughing along with the others.

The Snow Elemental Guards stand still, as they've been doing... still, quiet, unmoving... utterly fake. Massive snowmen, well sculpted, but nothing more than a bluff.

Talazia giggles softly. "Talazia Silvermoon in service of Ni'essa the huntress." She says with a smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Meihui."

Silmeria makes sure the sniffling little girl is properly warmed up and comfortable, thanking Mikilos and his motherly suppliers for their kindness. "Is your mother here?" she asks the girl, "or d'you want me to fetch her?"

"And you," Mehui says, with a giggle of her own. "A good time all around, I think." When they reach the 'elementals', she pauses for a moment to look at one, then stretches all the way up, and uses a fingertip to carve a big, goofy grin on its face. Godwyn giggled as she watched Meihui toy with one of the statues, then does the same on the second one, giving it a face where a tongue stuck out of its mouth.

Taking off the contraption and placing it in the cart of snow he had left earlier, Vroole looks to where everyone is going. The alleyway warm, it begins to melt the snow off his armor and rocky form, any that had clinged or stuck into crevices between that armor and appendages. "That was... Invigorating. I don't know when I've had so much fun."

Zalara gives rides on her hoverbike as she goes to ferry back and forth to grab up any children left out there and to make sure none are buried. She laughs as she sees the snowmen and the faces that were put on them, 'Funny."

Meihui chuckles at Godwyn's 'improvement'. She passes through the statues, and walks over to Vroole. The artificer is bowed to, then given a stern look. "Shield, hmm?"

"Um ... *sniff* I don't see her...." The little girl looks around, then back up at Silmeria, but before the inquisitor can respond, a hefty woman bustles up. "She's my sister's lass, I'll take her," the bustling woman offers with a smile. "Thank you ... I didn't catch your name."

The boys Zalara picks up cheer in delight -- they love it, and are having the time of their lives. "Where'd you get this?"

Silmeria looks up with a smile, bobbing her head. "You're quite welcome, Miss," she says, "and it's Silmeria, of the Vardaman Temple. Do be sure she doesn't fall sick, as cold as she'd gotten?"

Ionus shakes his head as many gather for cocoa, though there seems to be at least one child not mollified by the treat ans so Ionus finds himself consoling / shepherding the young child along with a brief prayer in search of his parents...

Vroole looks to Meihui as she comes up and bows, he does also, even as she asks that question and his gravelly laugh rings outward, "In war, there are no rules, even those of snow throwing... Numbers dictated that defenses needed to be bolstered. It was the simplest plan and may have prolonged the fun as well. All was considered before it was done. If it was otherwise and I could offer the such protection for yourself. It would have been given."

Godwyn smiled and gave a shrug. "If he hadn't done it, I wouldn't be hit with snow. And I wanted to be hit with snow, even if it was unpleasant."

Zalara smiles as she gives as many rides as she can, "I made it myself. I scavenged parts from the junkyards of the city and through my knowledge of artifice I was able to put it all together and improve on it."

Meihui hmphs, clearly not buying that justification. "It was an escalation. You're lucky none of us decided to answer in kind. Still..." she looks the golem up and down, and allows, with just a hint of grudgingly, "good fight." Another bow, before the Inquisitor moves off towards the cocoa. "And it's the principle of the thing," she tells Godwyn.

Godwyn nodded. "I know. It still cast him as an ideal villain and it was a considerable challenge to overcome." She smiled. "I'd say you're both right on this. Makes it complicated, but that's how I see it."

Benthus smiles as the snowball fight is winding down and people are heading towards the warm alley way where Mikilos has prepared warm refreshments for everyone. He thanks the host of the house for allowing him to enjoy the scene through their third floor balcony and begins to head off. But as ground level is likely to be be a bad place to be in for someone who has no snow splatter on him, he decides on an alternate route. Talking to the host again, he points to the roof of the building. A nod and a shake from the host later, the half-sil departs from the balcony.

After a few minutes a screeching sound can be heard on the roof, but louder than any normal sized bird could do. Suddenly something flew from the top of the building and swiftly passes through the district, too fast for a casual observer to look at clearly.

Benthus was never seen living the building through any of the doors.

Zalara continues to give rides to all the children that one on on her hoverbike all up and down the alley.

And Zalara has some new friends for life ... and some awestruck artifice admirers.

Vroole laughs softly again, "Principles are decided by each his own. Where I saw necessity others might see it as cheating. Perhaps it was my nature as well in the grander scheme of fun and fame." The golem also nods to Godwyn, "I would have never used anything lethal... I do have some morals, even if only a rock, cold and only recently born of life."