Sad to hear but totally understandable. Real life always comes first. If things change, you know where to find me!
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I’m here! Just been busy. I have most of Alenka’s changes written down but I haven’t looked at gear yet. Will try to update her either tonight or tomorrow
I'm game for more adventure myself.
Alenka stands after safely storing the books. "I think that we have rescued everything possible that we can from the temple. If those are indeed thank you gifts, and judging from the size I would say they most likely are, then gather them up and let's get going. There's still enough daylight that we should be able to get back to the others before dark."
Alenka closes the journal and begins to pack up the tomes. "The books are a great find for the Society but I must admit that I was expecting there to be more. I'm thinking that the temple must have been thoroughly looted already. Although I still find it odd that those creatures were here. What was their interest in the temple?"
Alenka's eyes sparkled as she opened the cabinet. "This is my kind of treasure...books! Most of them look to be holy texts but I'm only guessing because I don't know the language." She digs out a pair of forceps from her dissection kit and very carefully opens the journal. She begins reading, using the forceps to turn the pages rather than touch them with her fingers.
Alenka's nose wrinkled at the smell and her brows furrowed at the desecration. "Why is it that others always find the need to ruin what they don't agree with or understand?" She approaches the statue and takes a close look at the cabinet. "Maybe there's something that still can be rescued."
Alenka marvels at the obvious change in the feeling of the space as the last small man with horns disappears with the swing of Vard's hammer. "What were those? And why would they be interested in an ancient temple? It would suggest to me that there is still something of importance to be found here." She takes a closer look at the mountain sculpture they had been climbing on. "This was the only place where they were, correct? I wonder if they were searching for something?"
Alenka watches the others swarm the remaining creature, fairly confident that their blows would finish it off. She calmly stows the crossbow and draws her cleaver again, ready to add her blade to the myriad of attacks if necessary.
Alenka moves up beside Luk-Luk so that she wasn't shooting around anyone and targets one of the fiends with her crossbow.
Alenka loads another bolt into her borrowed crossbow as she tries to get a feel for the weapon. It was still pulling a little to the left but she was getting better at compensating for it in her aim.
"Maybe they've made a hostile takeover of her temple. Otherwise, why would the others have been creeped out by something evil in the temple? Let's help restore Ragdya's temple then." Not liking having her hands full with a climb, Alenka opts to use her borrowed crossbow to shoot at the little men who have drawn the monkeys' ire.
"They hide well," Alenka murmurs appreciatively. "I wonder if that's been learned or a natural ability."
Were they invisible? Is that why we couldn't see them when we were searching the room?
Alenka moves up beside Thrym. "Maybe our time in the jungle will reveal a highly dexterous creature whose essence I can fuse with yours to make it more likely for you to tread on narrow spaces. But something more noble than a squirrel, yes?" She draws her cleaver and takes the main path. "Let's see who we're dealing with."
Observing the mosaic monkey with the missing eyes she wonders aloud, "I wonder if they were jewels that someone plundered or if the tiles had some significance and were taken?" Seeing that some routes were obviously cut off, she asks, "Which way?"
"Spooky isn't quantifiable and often misinterpreted. For example, I myself have been referred to as spooky which is preposterous." Alenka peers further into the Temple. "However, finding mechanical and magical traps is strictly empirical and I can help with that. You tell me where to look and I'll see what I can do."
Alenka watched the equipment and plunder being carried by the three people and tries to assess roughly how much they may have taken.
"You mentioned you didn't go far into the Temple because it felt evil. Care to elaborate? I request a little more of an explanation than 'heeby jeebies.' How far did you explore?"
Alenka won't stop them from leaving but she'll support others in the group if they decide to.
"There's not going to be a problem here, right?" Alenka continues to look at the monkey statues rather than the people. "That depends entirely on you. We've been tasked with researching and exploring this temple, not just looting it."
Alenka wakes with a start, a little disoriented. Initially she feels like she's back at school because it wasn't the first time she'd fallen asleep after working into the wee hours of the morning but it's far too hot and muggy to be home. She is surprised to find a blanket thrown over her. Someone must have had pity on her during the night. She stretches the kinks out and starts to immediately study her formulae book and make the day's extracts and mutagen. Once she was finished with her work, she joins the others. "Are you comfortable navigating the jungle and finding your temple on your own? I can help guide you on your way, if not." Alenka shrugged, "If you can provide us with a map, I'm sure Fain can figure it out. Right, Fain?"
Alenka joins Fain with the leucrotta's body. Not to preserve it but to study it. By this time, her mutagen had worn off and she was feeling clearer of mind. She paid special attention to the vocal cords, looking at size and shape. She takes a small tissue sample which she stores with her alchemy kit.
She works into the early morning, learning everything she can about the creature before falling asleep beside where she was working.
Blood drips from Alenka's teeth and claw. She bends over the collapsed body and severs the spinal cord with her hands. She growls, "It's dead. Falroun probably dead. Shouldn't have split. Stalked them, then stalked us." She shrugs her enlarged shoulders, "Or not. Should go to lodge. I'll take body."
Alenka doesn't wait for what the leucrotta will do next. Rather she pounces on it from the back while it's attention is on the Baron.
She rakes at its flesh, tearing into it with claw and teeth.
Light blooms and Alenka gets a proper look at the creature. "That's not a tiger." She has a sneaking suspicion that her blade was going to be needed on the ground. Quaffing her mutagen, her strength is augmented as her form becomes more bestial. She grins ferally as she realizes that mixing Jenni's blood in with her formula has resulted in claws and elongated teeth. She pushes past the baron and scurries down the ladder.
Alenka logically reasons out why the Baron should stay in the tree. "Baron, Vard and Luk Luk are correct. You're better at protecting from above. Thrym will make sure that the Count is found and brought to safety. We shouldn't all be running around in the dark." She then grasps her borrowed crossbow and aims it out at the darkness.
Alenka sighs and begins her climb again, taking it slow and steady. The baron was correct and soon she is joining him on their machan. "I will need to use one of your crossbows as well, thank you." Don't aim fer the head - ist just a big bone Alenka is in the process of loading her borrowed crossbow and settling herself but feels the need to add to Fain's advice. "Not if you get it through the eye. Then the bolt will go straight into its brain. But I guess that's more of a precise shot than what you're speaking of."
Alenka views the machan with a great deal of skepticism. "Maybe I should have accompanied the Count. I have no ranged weapon to use nor do I have any desire to kill the creature. I only wish to study it once it is dead." She grasps the rope and attempts to climb but doesn't make it off the ground. "Are we sure this is the only way?"
Alenka joined Luk Luk to make as much antivenom as possible. Chances were that there would be more snakes in their future. It would also allow her to learn more about the anatomy of such a large poisonous snake.
As Alenka dissected the reptile for study, she also cut away the meat to give to those preparing the soup for their evening meal.
Alenka moves towards the hurt mahout, "Unlike your spider, that snake was extremely poisonous. It seemed like the better choice to eliminate the threat before comforting a spooked animal. Besides, isn't that kind of the mahout's job? If the keeper of the elephant can't calm it, what good will we do?" She looks over the mahout while asking the rest, "Who was bitten by the snake? You've most likely been poisoned. Form a line. I have a few doses of antitoxin if needed."
Alenka continues to make strategic cuts at the more vulnerable parts of the snake from behind as it remains focused on the halflings.
Alenka watches the porters try to calm Babar before moving forward to help deal with the large snake. She moves around behind it with her cleaver at the ready, making sure that Vard and Fain remained its focused targets.
[ooc]Adding the sneak attack damage because hopefully she's flanking[/ooc[
I will be traveling today and away until a little after Christmas. I may be able to post but if need be, please bot Alenka. Wishing you all the very best this Christmas!
Alenka observed the whole chaotic scene with some bemusement. "The only thing to do is lure the monkeys away. But you all need to try harder. You're sending them mixed messages by feeding and playing with them here and as long as that happens, they won't leave."
Alenka follows behind the group as they begin their hunt. Her interest is in things once they were dead and not necessarily making them dead. Although her studies had taught her the most vulnerable parts of anatomy to target if need be as well as how to tell how close one was to death. To add what help she could to the Count, she shared the placement of the most important arteries in an animal. "Should one of these arteries be severed, or even nicked, the animal will bleed out in a few short minutes." She claps Fain on the back following his impressive shot, "Well done, Fain." Before turning in for the night, Alenka offers her help to the porters for skinning the carcasses. In that way, she was also able to take a few samples for posterity. It was possible someone may want the eyes of a leopard or bison hair one day. There was no accounting for some people's tastes. --- The next morning Alenka exits her tent to find out what the commotion is in the camp. She observes the monkeys with great interest, especially the use of their tails as somewhat of a third arm. "Fascinating. Their tails appear prehensile in nature. Similar to the elephant's trunk but their tails can actually support their weight." "Someone needs to do something about these damned monkeys before they ruin the camp!" "I think the locals consider monkeys divine or some such. They may believe we bring a deity's wrath on us if we do something about the monkeys. Whether true or not, the porters may leave."
Alenka regards the Count blandly, "Your father-in-law is correct in that we won't waste resources on a hypochondriac. All those with experience in this room have told you the spider is harmless. If you have your own antitoxin to waste then feel free to use it but I side with the Baron in declining giving you any of his stores." When Luk Luk questions her about the spider, Alenka shakes her head. "If there was poison to extract then I would gladly dissect it. My days of cutting apart mundane insects and arachnids are far behind me. I have moved on to much more interesting and rewarding studies. Please, go ahead and roast it."
Alenka gives the elephant an appraising look before saying, "I thought the mahout would have already named it," she takes a closer look, "Named him. But if not, his name will be Babar." ----- Alenka agrees with the halfling's assessment. "Fain is correct, no poison. The Count will live without need of our aid. The pain you're feeling is like that of a bee sting. You'll have swelling and discomfort but it doesn't require antitoxin. The edema will recede but probably not until morning. The pain will serve as a reminder to check boots and bedrolls or anything that something poisonous can crawl into." "It's good that this happened now. It reminds us that there are dangers we are unfamiliar with that lurk in the jungle and we will all need to be more vigilant. Better now than if poison truly was involved."
"This creature's heart probably weighs one a me." Alenka made many laps around the elephant, taking it all in. She had never been this close to such an animal before but she also couldn't see what benefits one may gain from combining its essence with their own. Most women she knew were always trying to be more petit, not larger, and most people didn't like a larger nose. "It is a fascinating creature but what are the benefits of using one?" Turning her face to Fain she adds, "If you think the heart weighs the same as you, the intestines are easily double that." "Does it have a name? Or do we just call it elephant?" ----- Alenka followed behind the others, not being overly concerned by what had caused the commotion but being somewhat curious anyways. However, when she saw the spider carcass her interest was piqued and she quickly moved forward with Fain with the same question in her mind...is this a species of spider that is venomous? If so, it would be beneficial to milk it of its poison while it's freshly dead. She pulls out her dissection tools and then puts on a pair of thin but protective gloves before beginning her examination of the spider in earnest.
She glances at the spectacle that is Falroun. "Relax. We will know soon enough if you were poisoned and if you were poisoned, raising your blood pressure by acting as you are will only spread it through your blood stream faster." Once Alenka was finished with the more interesting of the two specimens, the spider, she moved to the human and looked him over. Needless to say, her bedside manner was lacking.
The hot, humid air hit Alenka like an invisible wall and she squirmed a little in all the layers she usually wore as she began to sweat. She was extremely glad that she'd had the foresight to learn and study a formula allowing her to endure elements comfortably.
Carrying her alchemy kit protectively, Alenka asks Matsanda, "Do we have far to go tomorrow for the hunt?"
Ah ha Alenka, you have bought the good ingredients then? Excellent! Alenka nods at Luk Luk's comment, "You can't practice good alchemy without good ingredients." The young pup has yet to prove himself to the elder, is my read of the situation Having been oblivious to the exchange between their two hosts, Alenka asks, "Are you sure that it's because he hasn't proven himself or is it because he tried to prove himself and failed?" Not being one for small talk or hard labor, Alenka hunkers down in their quarters with her formulae book and alchemy equipment to do what she does best - study and create.
Alenka regards the baron blandly, "So the hunt will be with arrows then? Blades will easily mar the tiger's appearance. And I can assure you that no one wishes to take your trophy from you. I'll just take a few internal samples, that's all." Alenka swats the porters hand away from her alchemical equipment. "That's not to be handled by anyone untrained. Unless you want to go 'boom'." Collecting her gear she says, "Lead the way."
Alenka didn't feel the need to defend her abilities. Instead she simply states, "Even the most experienced individuals can fail so I don't really know what kind of answer you're looking for. If it eases your conscience, you are absolved of whatever may happen to me in the jungle." When the discussion turns to the tiger hunt, Alenka's interest isn't the hunt but being able to study the tiger. Was there something special about this predator over others? "May I study the carcass after you are victorious in the slaughter?"
Alenka added, "But there isn't just one type of monkey. They range in size, abilities, temperament - they have great diversity. I guess in that regard they're a lot like people, just like Fain said." She checked her formulae book and gear before offering, "I can help with the medicine aspect of our trip. And I'm fairly confident that I can make more what we'll need." Her eyes lit up, "And the jungle could hold even more treasure to be used for healing as well as substances to harm. Flora and fauna often hold the keys to health and death."
Alenka was relieved to see the Count leave so that they could focus on something more important and interesting than a tiger hunt. When asked about questions, Alenka quickly spoke up, "Ruins are always an important find, especially those that haven't been already plundered. What, specifically, do you hope to find? Is your interest solely because it is suspected to have been abandoned by the legendary Maharaja Khiben-Sald when he left Jalmeray over four thousand years ago? Or are there specific rumors of what it contains that has piqued your interest?"
"So, tiger first and ruins second? Admittedly the ruins hold much more interest for me than hunting an animal. But if we can't do one without the other then tiger hunters we shall be." For the first time since arriving in Magnimar, Alenka wondered if she had made the right decision to forego her studies to pursue this trip.
Before leaving Illsurian, Goggles visited a few places to restock her supplies. Some places were as expected - the sheriff had allowed her to get some items from the Curiosity Shop with the agreement that the money would go to the town instead of criminals. Some places were not. Alenka stopped in at the butchers and finally convinced them to let her purchase one of their good quality cleavers since hers had a chip now in the blade after the fighting she had done. She also spent some extra time studying and some of the more difficult concepts she had had trouble with earlier were now easily deciphered. She was fairly certain her healing solution could now be effective on others as well. @ Alenka, "So apparently there's a breed of python that can unhook it's lower jaw. It's not long but it's thick in the midsection, a lot of muscle. But with it's jaw unhooked it can stretch it's oris 'nough to swallow a man." Alenka had been quieter than usual as they walked along. Jenni had readily scampered off with some of the carnival folk to get herself settled so Alenka didn't have that familiar presence by her side. It disturbed her more than she expected it to. A small part of her feared that she would never be called Goggles again. Fain's voice brought her back to the conversation at hand. "That is an impressive feat but I'm not sure what its appeal would be to those seeking to augment themselves. But a snake's fangs filled with venom would definitely draw interest. I expect the jungle will hold interesting specimens to bring back samples from." Imagine a whole hall of these creatures, all posed, aidin' in there greater understanding and study?! ... "That would be something. But if you truly want a better understanding of creatures, you need to study the insides because that will tell you how things work. The outside is just window dressing. Although the outside is what tells you what's interesting to begin with."
Alenka reached out and gave her friend a rare, and therefore awkward, hug. "Hairstyling and clowns? I could never stand in the way of you following what you love. You deserve to be happy instead of just following me and my aspirations. Besides, I don't think there is anywhere I could go where you wouldn't be able to find me should you so desire." She stepped back and retrieved her tools, "But before we part ways, can I take some of your blood?"
Level Up: +7 HPs
Chirurgeon
Vivisectionist
Skills (+8/level)
Background
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