Noting the dog trying to sneak up on one of the hotchi, Ler'Zet nocks an arrow and lets fly at it.
Khaan's sword cane cuts the white-spotted dog deeply, and it lets out a piercing whine and backs away.
Lyra's crossbow bolt bounces off the edge of the road right in front of the bluish-grey dog. It jumps, slightly, and Jaml uses the distraction to curl up into a ball. "Masaa, tae anak min ei te?" they shout, voice muffled.
Ler'Zet's arrow arcs up and then down through the air towards one of the dogs assailing Nab, but the wind gusts unexpectedly, pushing the projectile off course.
Nab leaps into a bounding gallop again, moving further up the road and now nearing the bend where it switches to a southerly zag. Straight north past the bend is a canyon thick with perij and cottonwood trees.
The yellow dog runs north towards Nab and Jaml. It doesn't seem to spare a second glance towards the prickle-covered hotchi child, though, and runs straight to the head of the pack chasing after the deer, baying like a banshee.
The red dog bites into Relys' now much thicker paper leg, apparently enjoying the sensation of shredding paper too much to realize its danger.
The little white dog circles around the smallest hotchi, looking for a way to bite the child without itself getting injured. It can't find one, and after a few seconds turns and runs north after the rest of the pack. The smallest hotchi shouts in Orc, "I'm okay!" in apparent response to Jaml's question.
Ealykam fiddles nervously with the feathers in their spines. "Thank you for helping us! I had no idea the dogs were what scared Ban," they say to Lyra as she runs off again. Watching her shot and then Ler'Zet's, they pick up a rock and throw it towards the dog menacing Jaml, shouting "Bant tow ttuol!"
The rock falls short, clattering into the berm and lodging as if it'd always belonged there. Ealykam sticks out their lower jaw and frowns.
The four dogs who first assailed Nab, two long-haired and black and two stripey golden ones, chase after their prey, lagging behind it slightly. Nab lashes out with a hoof as the first one gets close.
The bluish-grey dog regards Jaml, then turns and charges down the hill towards Lyra, barking.
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Frog moves to Khaan, and then uses Martial Flexibility to use an attack of opportunity to use Bodyguard on Khaan.
Rivek focuses the droning sound on the red dog attacking Relys, but the animal shakes off the spell as if it doesn't even hear.
The dog attacking Lyra gives a big, bloody yawn, and then collapses to the ground, sound asleep.
The yellow dog that's racing off after the deer Nab seems to falter in its movements, but stays alert from the thrill of the chase.
The small grey dog that's been harrying Khaan's heels falls asleep right behind her, but Khaan and her larger white-spotted assailant stay alert due to unusual mentality and pain, respectively.
Rivek focuses the droning sound on the red dog attacking Relys, but the animal shakes off the spell as if it doesn't even hear.
The small white dog immediately collapses as Rivek's music takes hold, rolling over once from its momentum. It's out like a light. This spell is designed for full-sized people, not tiny animals!
As the sounds of the didgeridoo mount, both of the dogs suddenly fall to the ground, their limbs limp and their breathing slow and calm. Khaan also feels the spell coming over her . . .
The sandy yellow dog suddenly breaks from the cover where Relys noted it. It goes yipping up the road with the little white dog, chasing after the fleeing deer.
The first-escaped deer, Ban, veers away from its reunion course with Nab and springs straight downhill at incredible speed. None of the dogs seem interested in following it now, though.
The calico dog does not emerge from the field.
Masaa peeks out from their spines, and, seeing their attacker gone, stands up and carefully backs away from where Relys is fighting. They go around the driver's side of the car and come up a little behind Frog, looking at Kopo warily. "Wow, how'd you put them to sleep like that? Can you do that to the one that hurt Jaml?" they ask her.
The android effortlessly resists the effects of the spell. As the drowsy sensation subsides, Khaan tries to work out what just happened.
"FASCINATING. AND N O T E D."
Relys will swing with both of giants claws at the red dog, in hope of getting ride of it.
The dogs around Khaan (grey and white-spotted) snore slightly.
Relys is caught off-balance by the red dog lunging forward at her, and she swings her claws wildly and ineffectually.
Rivek is quite certain that they didn't include Kopokopo in the radius of their sleep spell. They couldn't avoid including Khaan, but at least Kopo would be safe. Rivek would've staked their savings on this. So it is to their utter surprise that Kopo eases its weight back onto its belly, lowers its head, and drifts off to sleep.
That really shouldn't have happened.
Rivek and Ealykam are the prime latitude, both equally north.
150 feet north of Rivek/Ealykam, in the brush between field and road, is the most recently escaped deer, named Nab. It is dragging part of the cart's remains and is fleeing as quickly as it can. Five dogs are hot on its heels - a couple black ones, a couple stripey golden ones, and a yellow one.
60 feet north of Rivek/Ealykam, on the road, are the sandy yellow dog and the small white dog (1 damage).
Parallel with the northern edge of the corn field (50 feet north of Ealykam) and about 250 feet west of Ealykam is the earliest-escaped deer, Ban. It is downhill and probably out of sight for anyone not on the western shoulder of the road (that is, Relys and Jaml), but everyone can hear its hoofbeats and tell its direction.
30 feet north of Rivek, face-down on the road with their spines sticking up, is the tallest hotchi, Jaml (3 damage).
At the edge of the brush, near a perij tree that marks the boundary of a combined bean-and-corn-field, stand Ealykam (the middle-sized hotchi), Lyra (2 damage if that attack earlier hit), Sterling (Lyra's talking raven), Ler'Zet, and the bluish-gray dog (1 damage). The bluish-gray dog is in melee combat with Lyra.
Somewhere in the field, at least 40 feet east of Ealykam, is the calico-colored dog.
Rivek is standing halfway down the road's western berm, about 10 feet from the scrub and 10 feet from the road surface. They are a total of 50 feet east from Ealykam.
About 10 feet south of Rivek's level, up on the road, Relys and the red dog are locked in combat.
South of Rivek 35 feet is the metallic blue car, on which Kopokopo (Frog's dire axolotl) is sleeping. By the rear driver's side door is standing Masaa, the smallest hotchi child (1 damage).
Directly behind the car are the small grey dog (sleeping), Khaan (6 damage), and Frog. Southwest of Khaan is the white-spotted black dog, sleeping. This group is about 55 feet south of Rivek and 10 feet east of them.
Khaan looks at the sleeping creature aboard the car and lets out a strange whirring noise. It might be the approximation of a groan, or maybe laughter.
"I KNOW NOT HOW WE MIGHT CATCH UP WITH THE PACK. THE DOGS ARE FASTER THAN US. THE CREATURES AS WELL. WE NEED SOMETHING LOUD MAYBE... While she is closest to Frog, Khaan seems to be talking to herself.
Seeing the situation cannot be resolved on her own, she chooses to go assist the member of the group currently engaged in melee. She makes a beeline for Lyra.
Khaan makes it down the gravel slope and through the brush to where the bluish-gray dog is menacing Lyra.
Nab bounds further through the brush, entering the canyon and disappearing from sight. None of the dogs manage to grab hold of it as it springs away.
Ler'Zet fires on the nearest dog that's still attacking someone.
Ler'Zet's bow gets bumped by Lyra jumping backwards as the dog bites again, and his arrow lands somewhere in the canopy of the perij tree above.
Jaml looks up, and, seeing their attacker gone to bother Lyra, runs back down the road and grabs Masaa's hand.
The red dog lunges for Relys again. It seems about as off-balance as she is, though.
Ealykam picks up another rock and lobs it at the bluish-grey dog. The dog yipes as the rock hits its hindquarters.
The crossbow bolt thuds into the ground without hitting the earth. Lyra's attacker reels around to survey its new aggressors as she steps away. It jumps towards Ealykam in a growling grey fury. Ealykam lets out a sharp cry of pain - they've been bitten in the arm - and their spines flare straight up, causing some of their blue feathers to dislodge into the wind. Ealykam seems about to pass out.
The pack of dogs about 150 feet north chases Nab out of sight into the wooded canyon, still yipping. It's hard to tell what's going on up there.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!" Frog shouts as she runs to follow Khaan over to Lyra. She readies into a fighting stance and clenches her fists. "I'll try to keep their attention, at least."
Frog again readies an attack of opportunity for Bodyguard on either Lyra or Khaan.
The dogs seem uninterested in Rivek's flurry of lights - they have perhaps encountered floating lights before, down in the swamps, and understand them to be false prey. Or perhaps they just don't notice the lights in the heat of the hunt.
The sandy yellow dog continues to chase after its pack-mates and Nab. They have a good lead on it, though.
Ban jumps over the fence of one side of a corral and back over the other, continuing its scared escape downhill and to the west. Relys can see that it's coming up on top of a protrusion in the hill, around which is planted a diverse garden.
The calico dog fails to make an appearance.
Masaa picks up a stray piece of gravel and lobs it at the red dog attacking Relys. The rock hits the paperthirsty animal right in the snout, actually knocking it to the side slightly with the hit. Masaa shouts, "Leave her alone!"
Relys will yet again try to strike the red hound.
Taking advantage of the dog's distraction, Relys slashes down with paper-thin claws. Her first blow drops the animal unconscious.
The group of animals around the car continues napping.
Rivek and Ealykam are the prime latitude, both equally north.
250 feet north of Rivek/Ealykam, beyond the road and out of sight somewhere in the canyon, is the most recently escaped deer, named Nab. It is dragging part of the cart's remains and is fleeing as quickly as it can. Five dogs are hot on its heels - a couple black ones, a couple stripey golden ones, and a plain yellow one.
220 feet north of Rivek/Ealykam, having run off the bend and into the woods around the canyon, are the sandy yellow dog and the small white dog (1 damage). They are both chasing Nab.
Parallel with the northern edge of the corn field (50 feet north of Ealykam) and about 500 feet west of Ealykam is the earliest-escaped deer, Ban. It is downhill and probably out of sight for anyone not on the western shoulder of the road (that is, only Relys can see it), but everyone can hear its hoofbeats and tell its direction.
At the edge of the brush, near a perij tree that marks the boundary of a combined bean-and-corn-field, stand Ealykam (4 damage), Lyra (2 damage), Sterling (Lyra's talking raven), Ler'Zet, Khaan (6 damage), Frog, and the bluish-gray dog (2 damage). The bluish-gray dog is in melee combat with Ealykam and Khaan. A quartet of floating lights has appeared above the battle.
The calico-colored dog is apparently hiding somewhere in the field.
Rivek is standing halfway down the road's western berm, about 10 feet from the scrub and 10 feet from the road surface. They are a total of 50 feet east from Ealykam.
About 10 feet south of Rivek's level, up on the road (so 10 feet east of them), Relys (4 damage) has just defeated the red dog (2 nonlethal + at least 11 lethal damage).
South of Rivek 35 feet is the metallic blue car, on which Kopokopo (Frog's dire axolotl) is sleeping. By the driver's side door stands Jaml, the largest hotchi child (3 damage). Next to them is Masaa, the smallest (1 damage).
Directly behind the car is the small grey dog (sleeping). Southwest of that dog is also the white-spotted black dog, sleeping. This group is about 55 feet south of Rivek and 10 feet east of them.
Khaan tries to strike the dog, yelling for Ealykam to step away from the dog.
Khaan comes behind the bluish-grey dog as it attacks Ealykam. She swings her cane down in a single, desperate strike, and the blade connects. The dog collapses with a short growl.
The plain yellow dog's deeper yips can be heard not far from the crashing noise.
The white dog disappears into the canyon.
Ealykam looks around at everyone gathered, then at the unconscious dog in front of them, then at their wound. Their gaze seems to freeze there.
Hearing the call for the car, Ler'Zet slithers back towards it, hoping to get in before it leaves.
It's slower going back uphill, and Ler'Zet only makes it to the bottom edge of the gravel berm.
Despite taking the time to use her celestial gift, Lyra quickly gains on Ler'Zet - she's simply faster than him.
A cracking sound and then a heavy splash can be heard. The yipping seems to die down for just a moment, before rising back up to full volume. Most of the dogs seem to be keeping pace with Nab.
Frustrated, Frog starts shaking her fists in the air at the bluish-grey dog. "Why don't you get the heck out of here already!" she shouts.
Rivek climbs back up the berm, jogs down the road, and hops into the driver's seat. Jaml climbs into the seat behind them and scoots over to the middle.
Frog runs north along the edge of the field. She shouts at the Masaa-sized sandy-yellow dog , but doesn't seem to scare it. Rather, she seems to attract its attention.
The small sandy-yellow dog checks its pursuit of Nab, wheels around, and begins bounding downhill back towards the party.
Relys sees Ban leap-juke around the promontory in the hill and charge right down through an onion patch. Suddenly, the whole party hears a string of shouts in Aster from far downhill.
The calico-colored dog exits the bean-corn field on its south side and begins slinking through the brush up to the road, well behind the car. It looks fearfully about itself.
Relys will move or double move if needed, to intercept the small yellow dog then try to scare the dog.
Relys runs up the road, easily getting close enough to bring her razor-sharp claws in detail view for the sandy-yellow dog. It checks its run again and growls, ears back and tail down. It seems scared of her.
To the west (and downhill) of the road is a 20-foot steep gravel slope, after which is about 40 more feet of bunchgrass. A bunch of bales of wool, and the remains of a hotchi cart, are strewn through this brush. West of this brush is a field of corn and beans, but the field ends about 50 feet north of Ealykam, and is just bunchgrass from there on north to the canyon. West and downhill of Ealykam about 400 feet is a corral, and a further 200 feet is a large protrusion out of the slope, and a garden.
Ealykam, the middle-sized hotchi, is the prime latitude.
~300 feet north of Ealykam, beyond the road and out of sight somewhere in the canyon, is the most recently escaped deer, named Nab. It is dragging part of the cart's remains and is fleeing as quickly as it can. Four dogs are hot on its heels. Somewhere in those woods are two long-haired black dogs, two stripey golden dogs, a plain yellow dog, and a small white dog.
The small sandy-yellow dog is about 60 feet north of Ealykam and 70 feet east of them (up on the road). It seems scared of Relys.
Parallel with the northern edge of the corn field (50 feet north of Ealykam) and about 750 feet west of Ealykam is the earliest-escaped deer, Ban. It is downhill and probably out of sight for anyone not on the western shoulder of the road (that is, only Relys can see it), but everyone can hear its hoofbeats and tell its direction.
On the same latitude as Ban, but instead 60 feet east of Ealykam, is Relys (4 damage), up on the road. She's scared the sandy-yellow dog.
North of Ealykam about 20 feet is Frog, shaking her fist at the sandy-yellow dog.
At the edge of the brush, near a perij tree that marks the boundary of a combined bean-and-corn-field, sits Ealykam (4 damage), crying. Khaan (5 damage) is standing a short distance away from Ealykam, over the body of the bluish-grey dog. A quartet of supernatural lights floats over them.
Lyra (2 damage) and Sterling (Lyra's talking raven) are about 20 feet south of Ealykam and 10 feet west of Ealykam. Ler'Zet is on the same latitude as Lyra and 20 feet west of Ealykam.
About 10 feet south of Ealykam, up on the road (so 60 feet east of them), is the insensate red dog.
South of Ealykam 30 feet (and east 70 feet) is the metallic blue car, on which Kopokopo (Frog's dire axolotl) is sleeping. Rivek is in the driver's seat, while Jaml, the largest hotchi child (3 damage) is in the middle back seat and Masaa (1 damage, the smallest hotchi) is in the driver's side back seat.
Directly behind the car is the small grey dog (sleeping). Southwest of that dog is also the white-spotted black dog, sleeping. This group is about 55 feet south of Ealykam and 10 feet east of them.
South of Ealykam about 100 feet, the calico-colored dog is sneaking uphill. It seems scared of Ler'Zet.
Khaan runs towards the car and takes her position in shotgun, sheathing her blade as she settles into her seat. She waits patiently for anyone else preparing to join them and nods to Rivek.
Khaan makes it to the car, but just barely - she's within range of touching the hood, but hasn't yet gotten around the car to her seat. Lyra, Sterling, and Ler'Zet, meanwhile, race around to the passenger's side back seat, but bump into each other as they try to simultaneously squeeze in.
Rivek sees their client and additional passengers coming, and realizes they're going to slow down the car way too much to be able to catch up to the dogs and deer. They turn the key and slam a foot on the accelerator, and the car lurches forward.
Kopo slides rapidly off the car as it suddenly ceases to be beneath her. Her feet make a solid thumph sound as she hits the pavement, and her eyes seem immediately clear from any drowsiness.
In a scant number of seconds, Rivek has brought both car and passengers to the bend in the road, and they can see into the canyon below. The canyon is filled with perij and cottonwood trees, the latter's leaves beginning to brown slightly. The canyon is steep, but the rocks and tree trunks look spaced enough that the car could make it down to the water.
Speaking of which, about 250 feet down and north is a dark, channelized creek with sandy banks. A group of fallen trees crosses the water on about the same longitude as the road, and downstream of this blockage, on the near shore, a very soggy-looking stripey-golden dog is shaking itself dry. On the opposite shore and up the slope about 50 feet, Nab can be seen through a break in the trees. It is standing stock still with head lowered.
The sandy-yellow dog flees Relys in apparent terror, heading uphill off the road as soon as the car has passed. It practically vanishes.
Ealykam continues crying by the side of the field, holding their arm tightly. They look up towards Frog and Relys, seeming to realize no one's paying attention, and shrilly yell, "Ow!"
Ban's galloping noises slow, but whoever's shouting at it doesn't stop. If anything, they sound more angry.
- We need to figure out who's tagging along in the car and who's staying behind,
- We need to figure out if anyone wants to play one of the NPCs,
- We need to figure out how fast Rivek is driving,
- We need to figure out what the people in the car are doing while they're driving,
- We need to figure out what the people in the car do when they get to the bend,
- And we need to figure out how the people staying behind react to a crying hotchi, the other escaped deer, the person yelling at the deer, and their own situation.
Ler'Zet makes no effort to catch the car, figuring the driver must have good reason for not letting him in. Instead he looks over to the crying child.
"Peasse, child. Let me ssee the wound."
Knowing his appearance can be frightening, he lowers himself until he is at eye level with the young hochi as he approaches.
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Knowing she can't reach the seat, she chooses to hop aboard the bonnet of the car instead.
"F O R W A R D!" Khaan yells loudly, straddling the front of the car cane pointing towards the escaping animals.
By the field:
Ealykam continues gripping their arm. They sniff some mucus back into their nose, but the tears keep coming. "Can you fix it? I think it's broken!" They look at Ler'Zet's fangs with trepidation.
In the car:
Rivek drives smoothly after the first jump, the increased speed eliciting only a gentle hum from the motor. With Kopo's weight gone, the vehicle moves much faster.
In the car:
Nab slowly turns in a circle, head still lowered. Its tail flicks in surprise as the yellow dog and the small white dog spring into the clearing and lunge towards its neck and flank. With a single leap, it dodges out of the way of the first and steps over the second, but it doesn't manage to fight back against them - and seems off-guard now. The dogs seem not to have noticed the car on the other side of the canyon, so intent on wearing down Nab are they.
By the field:
Looking downhill, Relys sees Ban chewing on a plot of sunflowers about as tall as the deer itself. A human woman in overalls and a wide-brimmed straw hat comes into view. She runs up to the deer, still cursing, and shakes her fists. "Singthipen tuayang thi na yankua thithan pen. Kchak khed khongkhony lae pai heuon!"
Ban does not seem impressed, and continues eating.
Ler'Zet shakes his head slightly. "It is not broken, but the wound is deep. Keep presssure on it until it sstopss bleeding."