Dizzy didn't like splitting up, but she liked nothing at all about this dim, swampy land. Too many shadows, too much water. Give me a nice dry cavern system any day.
The dim light played havoc with her sight - she did better in pure darkness than this shadowy, wavery light. Still, Quinn's light was better than nothing, and she was just able to make out the tracks. Straining her senses, she hoped she'd see or hear trouble before it saw her.
Quinn snagged her ioun torch and stowed it. If her and Jibril were going to try and cut the creatures off, it made no sense to have a beacon above her head.
She motioned at Jibril to lead the way and then quietly followed after letting her eyes to mostly adjust to the moonlit darkness. But she still found it difficult to see and relied on Jibril's better eyesight.
She motioned at Jibril to lead the way and then quietly followed after letting her eyes to mostly adjust to the moonlit darkness. But she still found it difficult to see and relied on Jibril's better eyesight.
Jibril seemed concerned at the mention of 'bait' and then when Vilhelm started stalking he showed some surprise at the human's skill. At Quinn's cue Jibril wormed his way into the trees and behind the old ruins.
Like a cat himself, he slipped into obscurity but his eyes weren't quite adjusted to the moonlight and he still found it difficult to see. He relied on Quinn's keenness to back him up. Where did she go?
Rex watched Vilhelm make himself scarce and considered for a moment doing the same. However, he looked back at Dizzy and thought better of it. She's not going to be able to hide in that armor. Even if I could avoid their attention, that would leave he the only target." Instead he tried to position himself so that he was in front of Vilhelm. That way he can hide behind me if need be, but we'll still be drawing attention, like we said we would...
I guess you never know until you roll.
Haha! HERE I AM!!! I feel like the first five seconds of this clip.
Jibril and Quinn slipped into the shadows, moving out of sight and out of hearing. Rex and Dizzy marched boldly up to the centre of the ruins, with Vilhelm ghosting along behind.
The ruins turned out to be an ancient circle of standing stones. Five remained more-or-less upright, while one had fallen backwards out of the circle, and a final stone had been broken in half. The stones stood at least fifteen feet high, and had been covered in strange and alien carvings, that seemed to twist beneath the eye. How such stones had come to be in the middle of a swamp was a true mystery, for they had seen nothing solid at all in their hours in the swamp.
Vilhelm saw them first. A man-sized shape on the top of one of the stones, flattened against it, the silhouette of a head barely visible in the dim light. The second was crouched behind the furthest standing stone. Their attention seemed to be on the "bait", and neither were looking in the direction where Jibril and Quinn had vanished. Unfortunately, neither of the scouts noticed the ambushers.
Creeping a few steps behind the more obvious two paid off, as Vilhelm noticed signs of movement on top of the monoliths just as the creature lurking above was about to pounce. With no time to lose, the invoker pointed at the were-beast-thing with one hand, palm open and summoned a blast of concussive force.
"Up on the stones!"
The blast of otherworldly energy struck true, gently shaking the standing stone in passing before striking the creature in the upper chest, rocking it back. At the moment of impact, the creature was struck with a vision of frozen spruce forest, knee-deep snow covering the ground, sky heavy with clouds, freezing wind caressing the creature's fur with promise of frostbites or worse... and in the air, suddenly, a single silver call of the horn, followed by faint laughter and distant bloodthirsty screams that carried the promise of imminent violence.
The Wild Hunt was on, and it had caught the creature's scent.
What is happening? There is nothing up on the stones! Incredulous that he couldn't see anything, I mean this human must be mad, Jibril crept up behind one of the stones trying to get his bearings. He couldn't find Quinn and even Vilhelm seemed to appear from nowhere. He clung to the back of the stone and took a peak around it's northern side.
Quinn kept quiet amidst the shadows as she waited for an opportunity to attack. She was about to discount the shout of Vilhelm and even, just for a moment, thought that maybe he was working with the creatures and they had all let him lead them into a trap. But then she caught movement in the direction he had shouted. She dropped her dagger into her hand from inside the wrist sheath and prepared to move quietly into position.
As Vilhelm's magic blasted the ambusher, the creature screamed in pain or anger. The sound was a blood-curdling mix of a dying woman and an enraged cat. Shaking off the effects of the strange, temporary vision, the creature prepared to leap down from the stone and engage in battle.
Throwing another blast of eldritch energy at the leaping feline figure, Vilhelm retreated behind friendly lines where he could put the reach of his glaive to good use. As the second blast rocked the creature, its mind was again overcome by the vision of a wintry forest, feeling the bitter cold of the night air nibble at its flesh even as it found itself running from the slowly approaching sounds of pursuit...
Once Dizzy saw the foe perched up high, she summoned the might of the goddess and threw a bolt of pure fire at the creature. Its fur smoked and sizzled as the fire fought with Vilhelm's icy vision for supremacy.
For a moment the were-cat felt the ice on his whiskers, and the feeling of inevitable pursuit was so real that it left him feeling shaken. The counterpoint of fire did little to help.
Howling again, that horrible cross between a woman and an animal, the were-cat leapt down from his high perch, intending to rebound off the broken stone, and pounce on Rex. However, his burned paws betrayed him, and he landed badly on the stone, losing his balance and falling prone in front of the brawler.
Up close, they could see that the creature was indeed a cross between man and cat. The face was feline, with slanted eyes, a wide, fang-filled mouth, and long whiskers. The fine fur on the skin seemed to replace any hair, and he had pointed ears high on his head.
However, he clearly stood upright as a man would, with sturdy arms and legs. However, instead of hands and feet he had paws and claws. A long tail swished in anger. It wore no clothes, nor carried any weapon.
As the injured were-cat took his lumps, his ambush partner struck without hesitation. Bounding around from behind his hiding stone, he used his hands and feet for propulsion, crossing the clearing in two mighty leaps. He then leapt at Dizzy, nearly bowling her over with the force of his pounce. Sharp claws flashed in the moonlight, and it attempted to eviscerate the cleric. One paw skittered harmlessly over her breastplate, but the other found a weak spot in the armour an gouged deep into her armpit. Hot blood flooded the inside of her breastplate, and the cat snarled in satisfaction.
Quinn followed the singed were-cat and watched as it fell prone before the others. She took advantage of its misfortune and stabbed it directly in its spinal column, severing nerves.
Jibril came out from around the stone on it's north side. He levelled an arrow at the creature attacking Rex just in time to watch the second moon-cat charge Dizzy. He changed his target to help her but out of the corner of his eye saw something and changed his aim again. He moved to get close and let go of his bow string.
Rex was bracing himself for the creatures assualt, so when it slipped and made a mistake, he was ready for it. Lifting his foot, he kicked hard towards the fallen creature's chest.
It wasn't the most honorable tactic, but it seemed effective. The obviously mobile creature felt much less threatening when deprived of the ability to easily move. Turning from the one on the ground next to him, he saw Dizzy had already been wounded by the one other. Spinning round, he kicked at the creature's legs, trying to knock it to the ground too
"We've got another one coming." Rex growled to Vilhelm and Dizzy, as he saw Jibril send an arrow flying towards something creeping in the distance.
As Jibril watched his arrow fly his concentration drifted What would Dun Can think of all of this? He would be scolding us I think ... attacking creatures that he would assume were doing a pantomime. For the public. He would try to reason with these carnivorous moon-cats. When they didn't listen? He would curse the games for their callous disregard for human life and call upon an angel - maybe a ferocious golden hawk or a giant majestic tapir. After vanquishing these beasts he would shake his fist at the camera and promise to tell his moth- CONCENTRATE YOU FOOL! my shinning day! that sounded like Ri'dwan! Jibril buckled down and refocused himself.
The prone moon-cat writhed in pain as it received near-simultaneous blows from glaive, boot, and dagger. The weapons (and boot) all connected, though they didn't seem to do quite as much damage as the viciousness of their attacks warranted. Still, blood flowed black in the moonlight, and the creature rolled onto his stomach, curling to protect his belly. Holding up one clawed hand, he called out, "Sstop! Don't kill us!"
Rex lashed out at the creature attacking his cleric, but the cat leapt to the side, fluidly avoiding the attempted trip, without releasing his hold on the dwarf.
Rex looked down in surprise as the one creature not only spoke, but plead for its life. He had expected monsters, but now found himself even more unsure what they were fighting.
Dizzy didn't notice the moon-cat speak - she was too busy fighting for her life. The cat-thing had its claws deep into her, and she struggled to get free.
"Mother's Mercy!" Dizzy cried out in pain. "Yer claws be wee, but they be sharp!" She swung up and hard with her mace, hoping to break an elbow and keep the killing claws away from her face and throat.
"Sstop! Don't kill us!"
"You say that now, after what you did to my friends?" Vilhelm hissed, maintaining his distance to the downed creature so he could take another swing at it if it tried to jump him while releasing one hand from the pole of his glaive to point at the creature still holding onto Dizzy, releasing another concussive blast that hit the creature squarely in its feline face.
For a moment, the creature had a vision of being fastened into a wall by rough leather bindings in a dark cabin lit only by dim candlelight. In the darkness beyond the light, a host of gleaming eyes could be seen, watching. Every now and then, a flash of light on yellowed teeth, followed by bubbles of cruel laughter. And then, from the shadows, a lithe, elfin figure strode forth, the cold light in its pale blue eyes casting counterpoint to the happy smile on his face, as it brought a bone-bladed dagger up to the bound prisoner's face, the smile widening as the blade cut lightly into the side of the creature's mouth...
"If you want peace, stop your attack at once!" Vilhelm snarled, fighting the urge to strike the creature down, to avenge his friends.
What would Dun Can think of all of this? He would be scolding us I think ... attacking creatures that he would assume were doing a pantomime. For the public.
"The guru is one hundred years old. The jester is one hundred and one. Dun Can, your innocence follows me after your days. There is more to this than we can see."
"You say that now, after what you did to my friends?"
Quinn hid her surprise that it had survived her attack by adding her voice to Vilhelm's. "The man has a point. You killed his friends and now you attack us. You've forfeited your lives by doing so." Her eyes narrowed, "Why shouldn't we kill you?" Not to mention that you'll just be brought back from the dead so that the Game can continue.
Rex remained on guard. He had seen it far too many opponents pretend to beg for mercy, only to turn around and strike once their opponent had dropped there guard. Still, he was curious about the creatures and their intention and waited to see what their response to his companions would be.
Dizzy opponent stilled briefly, as the strange vision temporarily took over its senses. It mentally wrestled with the illusion, but was unable to shake off the feeling of the blade biting deep into its furred face.
It reacted in pain and fear, lashing out with claws and teeth. The cleric was completely unprepared for the viciousness of the attack. The claws punctured armour and skin on both arms, tearing through arteries. Pinned and helpless, the dwarf could do nothing as the maddened cat tore into her neck with razor-sharp fangs, nearly tearing her throat clear from her body.
Limp and dying, Dizzy collapsed to the ground, her attacker still atop her, gnawing savagely.
The other cat, still curled in on itself, pushed itself back pathetically, desperately trying to get out of reach of Team Orra. "You...attacked usss. Desssecrate holy ground. Go!"
Quinn glared at the were-cat, "You can't desecrate something just by being present there. And the fact that you haven't stopped the attack on our friend isn't helping your cause."
She punctuated her words with her dagger as it struggled to move instead of stopping its kin from tearing into Dizzy.
Figuring this closest foe wasn't an immediate threat, Quinn launched herself towards Dizzy and the were-cat that was tearing her apart. Her dagger flashed in the moonlight before she plunged it into the creature's exposed back.
Sorry, Dizzy is dying, and therefore not threatening it.
Jibril had relaxed, his bow pulled to his side and his right hand out in a conciliatory way. There was a chance, a chance they could talk this through ... then he saw Dizzy go down under one of the creatures. no,no,no Jibril ran to the remnants of the broken stone and hopped onto it. , it was a desperate cry and a bit surprising as there was none of the poise of the elven people in it, nor the self assurance of his human half. Then, in complete contrast, his voice went soft, a coo of peace, "As that one is to you - this one is to us. Please, we will leave your sacred circle, but you must let us tend to her."
Rex decided against kicking the fleeing creature one more time. Its fear seemed too convincing and he was still hoping the others could be convinced to back off. However, the one still attacking needed to be dealt with. He wasn't going to bet Dizzy's life that the creature would let her go. He swept his leg under the creature one more time, this time easily tripping the creature. Once it was on the ground he began a particularly aggressive serious of attacks.
"You better listen to the elf and back off!" Rex growled as he wailed on the it. "Drop our friend and the blows stops! Hurt her again and I will make sure you die!"
Map updated. It's a little tine thing up at the top, but if you zoom in it'll work. Sorry I don't have more time for it.
I think we just need an action from Vilhelm. As you can see, he's close to Dizzy. The moon-cat has been tripped, and is being hampered by Rex and Quinn.
Jibril, is that the bit that you had in mind to stand on? The broken upright piece, or the part that fell from it?
PS: googling "cat man" in an attempt to find a picture for the map was disturbing. "leopard man" was more so.
Seeing the dwarven healer go down under the tearing claws, only yto be pushed aside by Rex's furious charge, Vilhelm stepped closer, drawing his wand from his belt and whispered the word to trigger its power...
But the stress and hurry got the best of him, breaking his concentration enough that the wand's power flared, grounding into the stone by Dizzy's side instead of manifesting as healing energy.
The one who surrendered is on the map. The one that Jibril shot at isn't on the map, because nobody has eyes on it.
I'll update tonight.
Dizzy was not prepared for the complete viciousness of her opponent. She felt claws and teeth tear into her, and for a moment appreciated the fate of the rat at the mercy of the hunting cat.
There was pain, and blood, and then nothing.
Quinn's dagger tore into the retreating cat, and while it opened up a fresh wound on his flank, it did not stop him. He continued crawling and wriggling backwards, into the circle of stones, as if trying to hide behind the stone he'd been perched upon before. As he moved backwards, he said, "Thiss iss OUR placsse. Leave now, or die. Asss the otherssss."
Reaching up, he placed his hand on one of the strange pictograms carved into the stone. He murmured a strange word in a sibilant language, and immediately a sickly green light filled the circle. It grew from an eery glow to a bright light in a matter of seconds, then blazed suddenly. When it faded, the moon-cat's wounds had healed, and he was standing on his feet, fangs bared. "Lasssst chancsse. Go."
As everybody was blinded by the spell's glare, there was a great crashing and ruckous coming at them from the east. Blinking tears from her eyes, Quinn turned to see an enormous crocodile sprinting across the island towards her. Certainly it was moving much too fast for a reptile of that size.
A few heartbeats later and it was on her. Again, it seemed to be a were creature of some sort, for though it had a crocodile's deathly maw, the eyes were far too human, and the legs were not the right shape.
As the crocodile engaged Quinn, the moon-cat rolled smoothly to his feet and avoided Rex's quick kick. The two were-animals attacked Quinn in well-practiced coordination. The crocodile's jaws clamped hard on Quinn's leg, nearly cracking the bone with the force of the bite. At the same time, the flanking cat took advantage of his position to lash out with his claws, raking hard against her rib cage, angling down under it, and finding her kidney.
Quinn knew it would take a miracle to keep her on her feet for more than a few seconds. The crocodile was already starting to move backwards, and there was no way she'd be keeping her feet if it started to drag her. As she stared down into the strangely human gaze, she saw a hank of wet, blond hair caught in the creature's teeth.
As it realized what the other two had done, the first cat cried out, "Ssstop, foolssss!" But his two companions paid him no heed.
Vilhelm covered his eyes with the hand still holding his wand as the sudden light flared, but it was too late - he was half-blinded by the conjured burst of light anyway. And as his eyes slowly adjusted, he realized the battle had shifted again, with the addition of the largest reptile the invoker had ever had the displeasure of laying his eyes on.
"On no you don't," Vilhelm growled, focusing the full force of his will on the blast of otherwordly energy he directed at the scaled menace.
Jibril was directly in front of the strange moon-cat as it invoked it's strange spell. As he stood elevated in the open air the green aura lit him up. He braced himself against it. There was something about the way it illuminated him. It was operatic and, only for a moment, he looked angry. Then the chaos hit as Quinn was grabbed. Jibril did a 180 turn surveying the scene to get his bearings There was a chance but it is gone and now we must give in to the sadness of things and fight
Rex threw his arms up in front of his face, as the blinding light made his eyes water. However, he was able to block most of the light. As, he moved his arms he saw the crocodile come assault their rogue. "Quinn! Look out'" He shouted. Watching the creature tear into his ally felt like a flashback to a terrible memory, as Rex got a crazed and desperate look in his eyes. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He screamed at the cat in between them, as he began wailing on it once more.
I had taken into account Rex's AoO, which I rolled for and it didn't hit. I didn't give Vilhelm one since he had a wand in his hand. I forgot about Quinn.
Jibril, your turn too. Sorry for confusion. After the baddies go, everybody can go. I just wrap the end of one turn around with the beginning of the next one.