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 Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:41 pm
As Goddess of the Quiet Woods, you protect all manner of life. But recently, you've been receiving reports from the local wildlife that something is rampaging through your woods, causing massive amounts of damage to not only the flora, but the fauna as well.
Silvana, upon investigating, you'll find that some of the local critters have fallen victim to this monster. Many more local forest denizens have come to you seeking help in saving them, their families, and your forest.
The monster has left signs that it might be a Dragnid beastie, but its been far more destructive and malicious than any Tainted beast before. Some of the attacks even appear supernatural in nature, which isn't normal from Tainted animals. It seems calculated in its attacks, hitting specific areas as if its taunting the Goddess of the Quiet Woods.
You only have until the beginning of February before the monster has destroyed the Quiet Woods. You must work fast to stop the creature.
((The next prompt will come after Silvana has attempted her task and either succeeded or failed in her task.))
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:58 pm
 Something was seriously wrong in her forest.
A section of the foliage shifted, dismissed as the leaves fluttering in the breeze. Except that there was no wind. A few moments later, the forest demon revealed herself, leaping to the ground below and holstering her bow. A quick search produced a fallen branch and she took a moment to focus before drawing a circle with it in the air. The portal shimmered, then stilled to show a similar forested area on the other side. Once it had stabilized, Silvana dropped the branch, readied herself, then leapt through.
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Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:51 am
She could feel the 'wrongness' of it as soon as she stepped through. A darkness, a corruption...like a wound upon one's very soul, unable to be healed as the flesh could be. She shuddered, hand slipping towards her bow at her back cautiously. It had been here...the question remained, however: Was it still here?
Please...help...
She hesitated, wondering for a moment if this could be an attempt to distract her from her hunt. Perhaps some trick of mimicry by the beast. It had proven far more intelligent thus far than any creature she'd encountered before from the dark forest. The call was too strong to ignore and she hoped that such an emphatic call could only be genuine as she let down her guard to search for the source.
She found it, approximately ten to fifteen yards away from where she'd stepped through the portal to arrive. The area itself seemed to have been victim to a furious attack. Great furrows in the ground were littered with the remains of torn plant life; roots ripped from the ground had been shredded and left splintered. Even more concerning, the splintered tips of the roots appeared darker than the rest of the wood, and as she neared them, Silvana could barely suppress a shudder at the darkness she sensed there. Pain radiated from the very environment itself.
A flicker of movement alerted her to a pair of does not far from where she stood. They fidgeted, stomping anxiously at the ground as if they wanted to flee, yet they stayed where they were, turning fear-filled eyes towards Silvana. Please...help him! The demi-goddess' golden gaze followed theirs down to a great stag, lying on his side in the tangled brush, struggling weakly as a crimson pool gathered near his underbelly. It didn't take the huntress long to assess the situation. The poor creature had been torn open...or perhaps gored, it was hard to tell with all the blood...and was slowly bleeding out.
Tried...to...protect...
Silvana could feel the stag's pain, his breath labored as he tried to explain. "Shhh...rest, great warrior," she soothed, stroking his muzzle. If only she'd gotten here sooner, maybe...just maybe...but now, it was too late. She could do little to save the poor beast. She could see the pain, the fear, the desperation in his eyes, as much as she could feel it in her chest. He was dying and there was little she could do to stop it. Perhaps, at the least, she could lessen and end his pain.
Kneeling, she leaned over to touch her forehead to the stag's, humming softly and cradling his head in her hands. The stag's panicked breathing slowed, his struggles lessening as she did her best to dampen his pain. There were few deaths more painful or more drawn out than that which he was currently experiencing. If she could not save him, she could offer him peace.
Her movement was both subtle and swift, the blade delivering the poor creature eternal peace from his pain while the forest goddess murmured soft comforts for his journey beyond. As she rose, a tear dripped from her cheek to disappear in his fur. "Go," she said simply to the watching does, never looking their direction. "There's no more for you to do here. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain. Get somewhere safe." She still had work to do, though his was done.
Taking a moment, she shifted her powers from easing pain to cleansing the darkness from the corpse. She didn't have time for a proper burial, but she had noted the corruption of the wound and could not safely leave such darkness unattended while she continued her hunt. It was spreading. Whatever this thing was that she was hunting, it was trying to spread its corruption from the dark forest into hers!
She wasn't having any of that.
Turning her efforts into an area effect to save time, if using more energy, she breathed deeply and focused on cleansing the area of the darkness before she could follow the trail further. She was losing time, trying to clean up after this thing as she tracked it...
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:46 am
No time to rest, the winded demi-goddess moved on. She could feel trouble stirring to the east, fear and pain...another attack. The beast was moving through her forest almost as quickly as Silvana could...even with her portals. That alone was alarming.
Without warning, she felt an intense, sudden pain in her side that caused her to double over for a moment with a groan. Dammit! While the connection she shared with the plants and creatures of her forest could be beneficial most times, it also had its downside. However, pushing through the pain, it gave her something to focus on and track. She could almost pin-point the location of the disturbance...focusing on that, she drew another portal and leaped through, trying to prepare herself for anything on the other side.
A shudder coursed through Silvana and she realized that the sudden sense of loss meant that another of her creatures had fallen. She'd never felt such a strong reaction to any single animal; however, she didn't have time to puzzle over it. To one side, the fallen creature lay, covered in mud from the fight, but she thought she caught the sight of a great, curled ram's horn amid the brush. Nearby, another creature...dark, matted with muck and plant debris, but lean, with the hunting stance of a predator. It seemed somewhat...feline in nature, perhaps? She knew what she thought it to be, yet...
Since when had lions ever appeared in her forest?
Well, if it came from the dark forest, there was no discounting anything, she knew.
She drew her bow and notched an arrow, smoothly drawing a line on the creature. If it were nothing but a mad beast, the threatening gesture may mean little to it. But, if it were as intelligent as she believed, considering how skillfully it had eluded her thus far, she had to imagine it would at least recognize the threat of a weapon.
"Halt, creature! You have done enough damage to this forest! Return from whence you came, else I will be forced to drop you where you stand!"
She never expected it to answer her.
Dimly glowing eyes turned on her as she heard a smug voice in her head. I'd like to see you try, little girl.
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 1:42 pm
She could feel contempt dripping from the voice in her mind. Most animals thoughts came as a general feeling or image; this one was sending words as well. Hiding any reaction, she narrowed her eyes and held her bow trained steadily. "I am the protector of these woods. I will tolerate your presence no longer. Leave now or I will be forced to consider you a threat and deal with you as such."
Apparently, the beast found this statement uproariously amusing. YOU? Deal with ME? You haven't even been able to keep up with me, little one! The crouched figure straightened up, moving with a predatory grace as it started to circle the demon, much to her displeasure as she tried to follow, keeping the arrow tip trained on the creature.
Silvana turned warily, keeping her eyes on the four-legged beast. She almost needed to, simply to remind herself that she wasn't speaking to another Pae'il. Perhaps she was. Though, she'd never met one able to speak directly to her mind like the forest's animals before...she had seen one that could turn into a creature similar to this. A tiger, not a lion, but similar enough. He too had been Tainted, if mildly.
"Be you beast or Pae'il?" she asked, seeming to ignore his amused statements about her ability to keep up with him. It hadn't been easy, no, but she'd been trying to balance the pursuit with cleaning up some of the mess left in his wake. Now that she had him, she wasn't letting him get away to continue the chase again. She'd concentrate on the hunt before anything else. "Either way, if you require healing, you may have it if you leave this land in peace. This is your final warning."
The beast's laughter shifted into a feral growl. You test my patience with you, child. I thought toying with you might be fun, but now you insult me...first by pretending to have any power over what I do, second by comparing me to the likes of yourself. Ha! As if I could have anything in common with such a weak, pitiful creature! His steps had grown quicker, more tense, shifting direction abruptly twice, causing Silvana to rush to switch directions with him to follow. Tail twitching, it turned it's shaggy shoulders and head towards her again, the flicker of light from its eyes and a flash of fangs as its lip lifted in a snarl catching the demoness' eye. I tire of this game.
With a snarl, the massive beast rushed forwards, its speed belying its size as it moved more swiftly than one thought possible for something so large. It was on pure instinct that Silvana drew a bead and released her arrow to fly true.
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Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:38 am
She was saved only by the quick action of leaping to the air with a powerful thrust of her wings. It was a close escape, but Silvana managed to grab onto a tree branch and clear the beast's path. It passed, whirling and starting to circle her where she hung from the limb.
She'd missed? But how? It'd been so close, she couldn't have missed, even with how swiftly it was moving! Filing this off as an adrenaline-fueled oversight, she narrowed her eyes at the creature's movements below, preparing to drop and get to a new safe position to shoot. She'd tried to give it a way out, but the decision had been made.
At the furthest point of the creature's circling, Silvana dropped to the forest floor again and ran. The bow was best used at a distance, and the only weapon she had for close combat was the small blade she'd used earlier. She didn't really want to get close enough to this creature to have to depend on it. Which meant a bit of running, shooting, then moving again until she was sure she'd been able to fell the beast.
***
The demi-goddess was growing weary. Between the excess use of her cleansing powers earlier, plus tracking the beast, and now the drawn out fight, she was running low on energy reserves. Though she'd managed to avoid a direct blow thus far, she was sporting a number of scratches and what would likely be bruises come tomorrow from the effort required to keep herself from the monster's reach. It seemed that every time she'd pause to line up a shot, the beast would close in on her supernaturally swift and she was forced to decide whether to risk taking a hit, or dropping her shot to dive aside to try again later.
She really didn't want to get hit by that thing.
What shots she had made all seemed to miss. She couldn't be THAT bad of a shot, even with adrenaline coursing through her system. She swore that they had connected...but the beast had no wounds to show for it. What was going on?
The lion-creature, meanwhile, was starting to enjoy himself again. The hunter b***h couldn't last much longer at this rate. And he enjoyed watching her time and time again try to line up a shot, either to cancel at the last moment, or to take it, then grow more frustrated when she seemed to miss. She wasn't missing. No arrow nor sword had ever pierced his hide. But, it certainly was amusing watching her try. The game would be over soon in any case.
NOTHING was working and she knew time was running short. This was a hunt unlike most, instead of having a hunter and prey, they seemed to be playing both roles simultaneously, each trying to hunt the other. And she was tiring more quickly. She needed to find something to work, even if she had to get desperate.
It was probably also a stupid idea. Sometimes stupid was what you needed though.
She needed to set up to draw the beast towards her. That didn't seem to be a problem at least. Just...not dying in the process; that would be a nice bonus to the plan. Diving from the low branches of a tree, she folded her wings tightly to pick up speed for a final short escape. Just enough to get some distance on the creature before landing and turning, drawing her bow taut with the movement. She lined up the shot as the creature whirled to chase her, roaring in challenge. "Come and get me!" she taunted, though her insides felt like liquid. By Dolandor, she hoped this worked.
Mother, let my aim be true... The swift prayer offered, she watched the creature charge forwards, roaring in defiance to her challenge. She tensed...let out a breath slowly...then released.
The roar cut short with a strangled gurgle; music to the demoness' ears. And then the creature's bulk hit her with the force of a charging bull, knocking her flat and pinning her to the earth. She was knocked breathless from the impact and wondered for a moment if the creature might get its revenge and take her with him. After some short struggles, the great beast went still...though he was still heavy as hell, as far as the demi-goddess was concerned. She was surrounded by the smell of foul things, the creature's matted fur obscuring her vision and making it even harder to breathe than it already was. Squirming, she brought up hands and knees, using all her strength to push the limp corpse off of her. The lion-creature's body hit the ground, jaw hanging wide open in death; the feathered end of her arrow protruded from between its fangs, the other end buried deep in the monster's brain.
"How's that for a 'little one'?" she grumbled under her breath irritably, brushing twigs and debris from her arms. Ugh...she had some injuries to take care of soon, but it could have been much worse. She glanced aside at the tainted creature, wondering briefly what it had been like before the dark forest had apparently corrupted it.
Great...now for more clean-up.
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Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:39 am
((Silvana has hunted and killed the corrupt beast terrorizing her forest.))
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Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 5:59 pm
Silvana has successfully protected and defended her charge. Many of the local inhabitants are so grateful, they have dubbed the Quiet Woods as Silvana's Woods.
Successfully completing this task has pleased her family, and she has been granted an invitation to Dolandor; mist-shrouded island home of the Pae'il Deity. This invitation is a special privilege, so don't squander it. wink
=======================
A pink, chubby little mellon in a diaper flitted about, poking at Silvana. He has a letter to deliver.
Quote: My Dearest Niece,
It is my privilege to personally invite you to my ENGAGEMENT PARTY on February 14, the Day of Love! You may bring a date if you like. There will be dancing, food, a string band and lots of tributes to Me!
Requested Gift:
Fleece from a golden ram.
Love Always,
Venus ~
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Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 2:46 pm
Silvana was still attempting to clean up the mess when the diapered Mellon found her. Though it wasn't the first time she'd seen such a creature, it took her a moment to remember where she'd seen it before: her aunt's temple, serving drinks and snacks at the party last year. When he held out the letter, she gave him a look as if to ask, Really? Right now?, but reached out to accept it nonetheless.
As she scanned the letter, the Mellon flitted away off into the forest. Silvana's weary expression turned to disbelief. Her aunt wanted a what?
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Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2014 10:11 am
She'd just have to figure out where in the world to find a golden ram later. First, she needed to finish cleaning up this mess. She looked over the torn foliage...the forest could heal the physical damage with time on its own. At least, it could now that Silvana finished cleaning the dark, tainted energy from the area. So much dark energy needing purified in one day...she was starting to feel more than just weary, but chilled as if to the bone. Granted, there had been a chill wind from the north as of late, but this was different; an inner chill, spurned by exposure and exhaustion from dealing with such darkness.
Work's not done yet, Silvana.
She sighed, rolling her neck and shoulders before setting them resolutely and turning towards the corpse of the culprit. So much death and destruction, all because of one creature. What was it? Where had it even come from? The corpse cleansed of dark energy, she neared it without fear, only wary curiosity. It did seem leonine in form, lean and muscular, its coat too dark to be considered tawny, instead something more like a deep sable. Silvana knelt, laying her hand on the fur thoughtfully, looking it over. Shame to waste...
Drawing her dagger, she moved towards the beast's underside to begin skinning it. Or so she thought. Try as she might, her knife simply would not break the creature's skin. It wasn't dull...it couldn't be, she'd just used it earlier...it couldn't be dulled already. Thumbing the blade's edge experimentally, it took only the lightest pressure before blood welled from a shallow cut and she hissed softly. Golden eyes fixed on the corpse and she tried again, applying firm pressure with the blade to gut the creature...nothing.
By Hades, what was this thing?
On a curious whim, she pulled one of her remaining arrows from her quiver, held it firmly in her fist, and slammed it point-first down into the lion's still side. The point snapped cleanly off from the force...the furred skin left without a mark. She inhaled sharply, keenly aware now just how lucky she'd gotten with her kill shot. If she'd placed her bet on any other shot, any other target point on the beast...she'd likely be in its belly by now, rather than her arrow in its brain.
She withdrew from the creature, visibly shaken by the realization. A close call...too close, and based on too little knowledge to even have known just how much danger she'd really been in. Instinct alone...or perhaps luck...had been what had carried her through. She surveyed the creature again with something like wonder. What sort of creature could not be harmed by normal weapons? Not a mark on its hide, no matter where she looked. How could she have expected to skin it? Though, if she could have...the pelt could be good for more than just warmth...
Wait...what was that?
The creature's fore paws lay crossed, almost peacefully in death, but what caught her attention was a wound it had likely received around the time of death. A gash in one foreleg...it looked to be a cut from the innermost claw of the opposite leg. An involuntary self-injury at the time of death? Eyes widening, she darted in to test the theory, taking the massive paw in her hands and turning one of the claws back on the creature's own hide...
...and was rewarded with the sight of the claw slicing almost delicately through the previously impervious 'armored' hide. So...that was the trick. With some preparation, she set about her task...
*****
It was exhausting work on top of an already exhausting day, but the effort would be well-worth it, she felt, for what she could get from this. Besides, she had saved the forest and its residents from this creature, and even such a destructive beast still had use. An impervious pelt seemed a rich reward for such efforts that she would have gone to anyway.
Perhaps too rich. Silvana hesitated in gathering up the treasured pelt, realizing that she'd still not solved the riddle of her aunt's demand. If she couldn't obtain the requested gift, shouldn't she offer something as good or better in its stead? She looked down at the pelt with some sadness. After such work to acquire it, even if it felt greedy to do so, she had felt that for a moment at least, she'd deserved this much for herself. Best not to get too attached to things, she supposed.
Work nearly done, she surveyed the area in preparation to pack up and move on, then hesitated. How could she have forgotten the other poor creature, fallen prey to the lion's rampage? On the other side of the destruction, the spiraled horn jutted upwards from the tangled hedge of briers and shrubs...
...wait a moment.
It couldn't be. It would be too much of a coincidence...wouldn't it?
She neared the body slowly, warily...disbelieving...her steps quiet and reverent. The spiraled horn became two, emerging from the broad, solid head of an adult ram, stocky shoulders behind fallen still. It was dead, true, and covered in mud and debris from what must have been a violent struggle. Much of its body was obscured by the mess, but a beam of sunlight hit the creature's flank in a rare clear spot...a golden shimmer reflected in the light.
'By Olympus," Silvana muttered in awe, only able to stare for a couple of minutes before shaking herself from her stupor. How...how had her aunt known? She narrowed her eyes suspiciously...then, decided she was too tired at the moment for such things. Later. For now, she apparently had some shearing to do before her day was done...then some washing and preparation before her aunt's celebration, but that could wait for another day.
***
[FIN]
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