Search Posts
Xing follows her new friend-sisters over to the bridge, where she stands sniffing the air. When Sabelina turns back, Xing pats Senna on the shoulder, then follows. At the corner where Mama waits, she gives her a nod as she follows Yash into the new area.
”I have to work around you squirming around all over them.” Xing frowns, muttering, "I do not ... squirm." Listening to everyone's suggestions — and realizing the group overwhelmingly wants to clear out these threats if possible — Xing nods her acceptance. Xing steps forward, pressing her knee into its chest while holding its shoulders with one claw to pin it in place. "Violence only gives birth to violence, bugbear." Then, with her free claw, she tears its throat out. Standing to her full height, she peers into the waiting gloom. "I am ready."
Xing stalks back over, handing out the more interesting items , and momentarily sits to slip on the strange-looking footwear. Instead of traditional shoes, they more like blue ankle-wraps that she can pull up to her mid-calf. With a nod of satisfaction, she stands up, somehow seeming to loom a little taller than she normally does. She bounces a few times on the balls of her feet, a small grin spreading across her feline features. ”Ooh … *Wǒ xǐhuān zhèxiē,” she mutters. Yash’s words go uncomprehended, so she gives a quick questioning look to the team for translation.
”"So why are we avoiding this leader? If we find him, we deal with him just like the rest.” ”I have nearly died too many times to take any warrior lightly, especially if the fight is not necessary.” She shrugs with a considering look, ”Though I suppose much of what we face or do not face is as much up to coincidence and luck as any intentionality on our parts. We will meet them if we meet them.” She looks up at her friend-Sabelina, ”And I will have to trust your bravado and blade-skill to keep this skin intact, no?” She looks around, clearly ready to continue their search for more of the listed items.
As the conversation continues, Xing takes a moment to lick her wounds. She eyes the rest of the group, and — seeing them all unharmed — invokes one of Iro-Shu's mantras to hasten her own healing.
Still working the residual pain in her knee, she begins pacing the area, looking for anything on their list or anything that appears valuable.
As her golden eyes scan the gloom, she adds her two cents. "If the crew is dead, I would not mind avoiding this warband's leader." She shrugs, "Though were I this leader, any valuable items I looted would remain near me, so avoidance may not be an option." He looks over at Senna, a frown on her feline features, "Ask him how we can identify ... or better yet avoid ... this leader."
Xing maintains her hold on the bugbear, "Tie him up while we question." Once the bugbear is tightly bound she checks her wounds as she listens for the creature's responses. "And did the bugbears take items from the ship down on the beach?"
Some part of her mind notices Yashnarz's healing energies relieving her pains, but Xing still struggles to maintain her grip on her prey. "If I can hold him down," she grunts as she tries to wrench his arm sideways,
Trying to ignore her throbbing knee, Xing lunges forward, grabbing at the final attacker.
Not willing to waste an opportunity, Xing rushes forward, her claws grabbing at the team's prey.
:
Xing squints into the darkness, then shrugs. "The stairs are as good a place to start as anything."
Xing tries to peer into the darkness, straining with eyes and ears.
"I have some rope," she whispers, "We could tie together in case someone slips or is knocked off."
"Our minds were elsewhere," Xing mutters, then nods her thanks as the energy encases her fur. She looks left, then right, then at the crew, then shrugs, then stalks to the left.
Xing gives a small bow to Mama, testing out her previously-injured hip. "Thank you." She smirks, "Though I do not know how I feel about being called like an animal." She looks over at Sabelina's question. "We have lost any surprise we had. So I think we use what powers we have to protect ourselves, and move in." She looks over at Senna, "How much magic resources do you have left? I would not mind one of those magical protection spells, if you can spare it."
Trying to control her breathing, Xing scans their surroundings for further attackers. Then she quickly rifles through the nearest bugbear's gear, looking for anything useful ... but specifically keys or anything that might help them enter the structure.
"We should keep moving, since that they know we are here." Putting her suggestion to action, she carefully lopes forward, stopping at the wall to see if there are alternate ways to enter the structure.
Xing can't let it go so easily. She speeds after her prey, long legs eating up the distance. As the bugbear gets closer, she summons Iro-Shu's granted power, letting it build in her throat before roaring out a single word. "STOP!"
"You should do as the lady says," Xing growls, falling into a combat rhythm with her battle-sister. She gives a grim smile, "She will continue until she gets her way, anyway."
:
:
Bugbears are arriving faster than they are falling! Xing fights her growing desperation, trying to focus her fear into killing before she can be killed. She retreats another step, risking a glance back at Mama Cookie and Yash as another flurry of claws slices at the bugbear on her flank.
:
:
At the sounds of more approaching attackers, Xing growls. Her words are punctuated by frenzied slashes of her claws. ”We must finish these quickly! If one of us falls, our survival chances drop.”
:
:
A pained shriek rips from Xing’s maw as she tries to pivot with the strike. Her staff falls forgotten as she lashes out with both claws, trying to remove one of her attackers.
:
:
When the creature doesn't drop, Xing drops into a low stance, one claw swiping up to disembowel her prey. As she fights, her focus remains on getting the group to a defensible position inside the structure.
Xing scans the area, then quickly ducks down. "About a half-dozen threats. Bugbears, I think. They know we're here. There are two gaps in the wall on our right side. Head towards the second one. I'll distract them momentarily, and try to meet you over there." Without wasting a moment, she breaks from cover, exploding across the open expanse and pouncing the peeing bugbear. Her bo staff whistles as it rushes towards its head.
Xing ghosts forward, eyes and ears alert for danger as they climb the path towards the structure.
Xing remains in front, her long legs easily carrying her quietly up the trail. Her golden eyes constantly range across the steep landscape, then back to the trail in front of her clawed feet, then back again.
Xing nods, "Maybe we will find the owner of those prints." She shrugs, "Maybe they can be convinced to give us more information." she stalks off in the direction of the lone footprints, watching for threats along the way.
Xing scrunches up her face as another thought hits her, "Or ... maybe it was one person carrying a crate, and no prisoners." She looks up at the structure, "But whether it is prisoners or the cargo we're seeking, that building looks like the place."
Xing crouches down, resting for a moment as she watches the building looming above them.
Xing lopes back and reports her findings. "So maybe someone escaped down the beach, but there is no telling how long it would take to track them down, and it might give us no more information about the supplies we seek." She points up to the blood and prints heading towards the building. "Maybe soldiers and a prisoner? If these soldiers are taking those on the ship, we may want to investigate."
When Xing finishes searching for tracks , she'll take a swim around the ship to search for anything in the shallows.
Xing pauses her studying of the terrain around them and looks out over the waters. She frowns, "We can definitely take a look. But if something has dragged the loot out into the deeper waters, we may as well head back to Threshold now." She smirks, "Unless you have a way of providing us with ..." she pauses, struggling to find a word, then puts her hands flat against her neck, opening and closing them like fish gills, "... those things that fish use to breathe?" She shrugs, then finishes her study of the area for tracks.
Xing wipes the soaking grime from her hands as she joins the group, inspecting the crates. "Nothing on Uller's manifest says Lodi Farms. I see Lost Farms, but that can't be the same." She looks around, squinting up at the bluffs, then at the ominous structure. "Unless we can find tracks indicating where the other ship's goods were carried ... that building is likely our best bet." While the team decides which way to move, she searches the ground around the ship, radiating out from its wrecked location, seeking any tracks or signs that someone moved the ship's goods.
Xing points out the footprints, then looks around at the surrounding bluffs and potential hiding spots. ”The tracks are of big humanoids.” She points at Yash, ”Maybe your size? Thought I cannot tell anything more. And the bodies of the sailors were dragged off.” She pulls out Nine-Toes’s list of items, ”We should begin finding what we seek.” Then she steps up next to Sabelina, muttering a string of Tian curses. ”This is not good.” She looks over at her new friend, ”I guess we should investigate further.” She is clearly cautious, searching the water below for signs of threat before wading in.
Xing — who's been standing idly (and unhelpfully) off to the side — begins climbing up behind Lady and Sabelina.
Once atop, she stoops down, seeing if there are any prints or signs that might tell them what happened. "This seems like more blood than a simple grounding would account for."
As soon as the great behemoth hits the ground, Xing’s eyes are scanning the area around them for additional potential threats.
Yash’s compliment brings her up short, and she gives the tall orc a surprised look. ”You, as well, Yash-of-Many-Words.” She pauses, her golden gaze sweeping across everyone. ”To all of you. Well fought.” She considers the sextant, her tail lashing with agitation. ”It does not give me confidence that the ship is intact or unmolested, at the least.” She looks back out at the direction from which the ettin attacked, her eyes squinting into the dusky distance. ”If the boat is being pillaged, time is against us. We should make as much time as we can while we have any light at all.”
Xing touches her sheered whisker, her eyes narrowing to angry slits at the big creature. Then her onslaught continues. Strike. Slide. Lunge. Strike. Pivot. Strike.
Attacks:
:
Xing writhes and spins in the air, righting herself just as she hits the ground in her low stance. "Okay, we do it this way, then," she growls as her tail lashes once. Then she launches herself at the huge creature one more time. This time, her claws are a series of blinding but smooth strikes seeking any exposed, soft skin.
Attacks:
:
As the big threat lumbers forward, clumsily navigating Sabelina’s goopy spell, Xing takes initiative. She explodes forward, her fur and tail whipping in the wind behind her, directly into the brute’s reach. At the last second, she dives, trying to avoid his defenses, rolling to her feet as she jumps up onto his torso with clinging claws.
As she strives for any point of leverage, she snarls out a cough, ”He smells no better from here!”
:
Seeing Yash jog forwards, spreading out, Xing nods and follows suit. Where Yash moved straight, Xing repositions herself to create a loose wall of defenders between the brute and Nine-Toes’s donkeys. She deliberately drops into a low, ready stance .. feet wide, body poised, and her claws ready to counter should the big brute come within range.
Readied Strike:
:
Xing nods her thanks to Senna as she follows Yash. ”I feel as though we are making this personal, now,” Xing quips as she jogs forward, stopping next to the big orc. ”We have no insight into the quality of this thing’s character.”
Afterwards, she considers the approaching brute, then looks back at the cart. "Should we move that back? I do not want this creature within his long arms' reach of our only method of transporting goods."
:
Xing—having reverted to her natural, white-tiger self once outside of town—lopes along beside the cart as they travel, quietly content to watch the waves, the trees, and basically let her mind sort through the deluge of barkeeping information she’d experienced the first half of the day. By letting the lessons wash over her, she strives to let some of the details settle into place even as the bigger picture is firmly cemented from her lessons.
”You have a strange notion of fun, Yash-of-Many-Words.” Suspecting that this big guy isn’t here to simply swap stories, Xing gathers her Chi, slowly rotating her hands in a wide, flat circle before presenting the back of her left hand … which pulses softly. She touches her own chest, then Yash and Sabel’s shoulders. They feel an energy creep along their skin as Iro-Shu’s protection sinks in.
Cool! Just get out this all-too-used D5 right quick ...
Xing grins back at Bob ... until the head rolls to a stop by her clawed feet. She pauses to regard it, looking down at the disgusting filth seeping from the gore where its neck met its body. "Do you suppose all of these creatures are evil ... preying on whatever they can kill? Or is there a group of good hags out there somewhere? Making the world around them a slightly better place for their presence?" She considers a moment longer before shrugging. Then grabs it by its hair and standing up with a wince. "Whoever wants the glory, come now. I'm telling the Watch."
After a moment of silence, Xing settles down into a crouch, tentatively touching her bleeding shoulder and neck. "I have heard of creatures that can regenerate their health after seeming to be destroyed. Does anyone know if this hag has any such ability? I do not think Threshold would appreciate if we didn't fully complete the job. It might be worth removing her head just to be sure." She looks over at Yash and Bob. "How are you two?" She gives a toothful grin, "She wasn't too gentle, was she?"
As sight returns, Xing scowls at the changed tactical situation. Yash and Bob bleed, Sabelina still recovers in the far corner, but the hag looks like she’s taken some of her own punishment. Xing is still too wounded to directly help out … the group must survive. Iro’Shu can help with that! Xing thinks as she darts along the wall, clambering over the empty sarcophagus on her way to the room’s eastern exit. She slides to a stop at the room’s mouth, her foot-claws grinding across the pebbles and dirt on the floor as she takes low-center stance, her arms slowly moving in precise circles. Energy builds in her left palm, which she then flips outwards — towards the fight — and a wave of warm energy pulses outwards, rejuvenating everyone it touches … but falling just short of actually touching the hag. She gives Mama Cookie a sideways glance. ”I think we found her, no?”
:
At the vicious attack, Xing’s survival instincts kick in. When she hears Yash’s command, she doesn’t hesitate, dodging directly away from the direction the attack came from.
Xing frantically holds an image of the room’s layout in her mind as she rolls across the floor, attempting to come to a crouch against the room’s western-most wall. With one hand against the wall, she makes her way around the room’s edge, attempting to get to the exit.
Xing shakes her head, futilely trying to clear her eyesight. When the hag slashes her shoulder, Xing lunges back out in the direction she thinks it came from ... trying to get ahold of the foul creature.
:
For this evening's performance, Xing will be playing the part of the Fool. Watch her flounder and flounce! /facepalm
|
