It wasn't that he was hiding...exactly. It was just a break, perched at the top of a busted flight of stairs, his coat off and fingers working slowly through the tangled mess of his hair. He'd been out in the snow, and that showed in the puddle around his feet, the wet that still clung to his hair, the cold that left his nose just faintly pink.
He blew out a breath, giving up on his hair and set to cracking his knuckles instead, shooting the dagger next to him a brief look, like he thought it might be a snake about to bite him.
Quote:
This opponent is difficult solo, and pairs are suggested!
A small swarm of birds spot you and swoop in like they're of one mind to attack. Their bronze beaks glint wickedly, and their metallic feathers catch the sunlight. They attack by launching these feathers or by flinging their poisonous dung.
Hit points: 60 Damage: 5 damage each time they are attacked.
If you successfully kill this bird, each party involved in the battle gets 15XP and rolls 1d100 to collect loot according to the following:
1-60: You gain nothing but the victory of having beaten this opponent. 61-75: Poisonous Dung: You manage to collect a vial of the vile stuff. It can thrown at an opponent once to poison them, dealing 1 damage for 3 turns. After this it is consumed and leaves your inventory forever. 76-90: Heart's Blood: You manage to collect a vial of the creature's blood. It can be used once to replenish 3 HP, at which point it is consumed and leaves your inventory forever. 91-100: Metal Feather: Once per battle, you can backstab with this small dagger. Add 2 to your final damage. This item is reusable, and remains in your inventory.
xelhaspixiestix
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 5:37 pm
and be blue
Quote:
This opponent is difficult solo, and pairs are suggested!
A small swarm of birds spot you and swoop in like they're of one mind to attack. Their bronze beaks glint wickedly, and their metallic feathers catch the sunlight. They attack by launching these feathers or by flinging their poisonous dung.
Hit points: 60 Damage: 5 damage each time they are attacked.
If you successfully kill this bird, each party involved in the battle gets 15XP and rolls 1d100 to collect loot according to the following:
1-60: You gain nothing but the victory of having beaten this opponent. 61-75: Poisonous Dung: You manage to collect a vial of the vile stuff. It can thrown at an opponent once to poison them, dealing 1 damage for 3 turns. After this it is consumed and leaves your inventory forever. 76-90: Heart's Blood: You manage to collect a vial of the creature's blood. It can be used once to replenish 3 HP, at which point it is consumed and leaves your inventory forever. 91-100: Metal Feather: Once per battle, you can backstab with this small dagger. Add 2 to your final damage. This item is reusable, and remains in your inventory.
"Hey Asher," Mal was pink cheeked from the cold, but he also had his glasses off. It changed the way he looked, and it didn't help that he was still wind-ruffled. He was also smiling-- a little, cat that got the canary smile that made him look particularly smug. "Ready?"
The sleeve of his coat looked tattered, but Mal was exceedingly, almost obnoxiously, bright eyed. "Let's go."
Asher frowned down at him from his seat on the stair, and the expression made him look surprisingly intense, cool; not the usual shake-it-off smile but something unhappy and faintly threatening. He sat up, at least, elbows off his knees, and shook some of the lingering water from his shoulders. He was cold, and damp, and all he wanted was a shower and something hot to eat --
"Ready?" It was wary. "For what? Where?"
xelhaspixiestix
Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 9:15 am
and be blue
"We're going to go kill some monsters. Come on, hot s**t. You're such hot s**t, show me how it's done." Mal was smiling up at him, still, like the intense cool expression wasn't threatening. Maybe Mal didn't see it. Maybe Mal didn't care that it was there, even though Asher had already beaten him once. After all, it had been pretty close.
And Mal seemed to be dealing with the current crisis just fine. "And then I'll buy you a drink when we get out of this. Two, if you want." One for beating him before, and one for coming out and killing things with him now.
There was a moment's pause, a little hesitation -- maybe, for a moment, he was tempted to just sit there, to tell Mal to ******** off and find his own way. Then his hand twitched, a slow reach to grab his coat, and it turned into an avalanche. He rolled up to stand. He pulled it on. Shaking himself out again with his boots still squelching just a little bit.
"I don't know how you think you're going to do that." He shook his head just a tiny bit, but came down the stairs. He'd follow Mal out, clutching his dagger as he did.
"Buy you a drink? I think I can manage to find a way." Mal grinned at Asher; the grim was mostly inspired by the fact that Asher had gotten up and grabbed his coat. Mal wasn't sure exactly what he would have done if Asher hadn't gotten up-- but there was no need to let the kid know that.
"What's that quote from the movie with the dinosaurs? Life, uh, finds a way?" It was a little teasing, but only a little as he found the door he'd been keeping track of; it was a side entrance, and a couple of the birds had been lurking around it. Enough of the birds that Mal felt comfortable calling them a sword.
He still counted to three and spilled out of the door on three, slipping forward into the attack right away. Right away. No point in hesitating with these things, because Mal wasn't sure they thought about it.
He thought they were just attack birds; see a moving thing, kill it. Or try to.
He got lucky with the first swing, and he was kind of glad; how stupid would he have looked, teasing Asher about being hot s**t, and then screwing up?
Mal's HP: 50 - 5 = 45 Swarm HP: 60 - 6 =54
xelhaspixiestix Crew
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and be blue rolled 1 6-sided dice:
5Total: 5 (1-6)
"...do you mean...Jurassic Park?" For just a moment, Asher was a little stunned -- by calling it that dinosaur movie perhaps -- and he had to shake it off. Mal charged out like a madman and, after a moment and a deep breath, after zipping up his coat and flicking up the hood, Asher followed.
It was immediate chaos. He ducked and swung, but the idea of fighting birds was, he thought, a crazy one. These things could fly. He had to wait until they swooped and then, even as talons scraped at him, Asher stabbed out.
His timing was good. He hit the thing solidly, breathing out shakily and prepping for the next strike.
And Mal, in contrast, went merrily about swinging at them. There were enough that he didn't mind getting caught; every time he got caught, they were close enough for him to catch them, too.
"Yeah, I guess I do mean that movie. I'm not so great with movies." He was much better with music, especially classic rock. "I'm starting to really hate birds, Asher."
Mal's HP: 45 - 5 = 40 Swarm HP: 46 - 3 =43
xelhaspixiestix Crew
Offline
and be blue rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-6)
Maybe wild swinging was actually the wiser of the options. Asher, in contrast, was still, ducking out of the way as a bird swooped in and only then shooting his arm out to smack at the bird, to try to knock it out of the sky.
He only winged it, faintly, while it took a big swipe at him. Bits of fur flew off the hood of his coat and Asher, cursing, ducked again. "....birds are the worst."
Maybe the best, and maybe not. "Birds are a damn pain in the a**, I hate birds too." There were worse things, maybe, but Mal wasn't sure what could be worse, yet. At least there were no flesh eating horses, though he'd heard that was a thing in some places. The idea was kind of terrifying.
Mal's HP: 40 - 5 = 35 Swarm HP: 41 - 3 =38
xelhaspixiestix Crew
Offline
and be blue rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6Total: 6 (1-6)
Maybe the little bit of banter was refueling Asher -- made him draw in a slow breath and put just a little bit of steel in his spine. This time, as the bird swooped in his aim was better. He hit it, harder than it hit him, head bobbing in one sharp nod of satisfaction. Better. At least a bit better.
But maybe the banter wasn't so great for Mal, because his next swing missed-- and he stumbled forward a couple of steps when the bird caught him. "Crap. Crap!"
Mal's HP: 35 - 5 = 30 Swarm HP: 30 - 0 =30
xelhaspixiestix Crew
Offline
and be blue rolled 1 6-sided dice:
5Total: 5 (1-6)
"Don't just wave that around like a tennis racket, actually aim a bit." Asher said it a bit sharper, but -- he did seem more himself, at least. More color in his cheeks, though maybe that was from the cold. More light in his eyes, but maybe that was from the adrenaline.
As a bird swooped down, he demonstrated. And he hit it hard, again. He was getting the swing of this.
"Banter is my kryptonite, what is your problem?" Mal ignored Asher-- well, ignored Asher's teasing, anyway, and lunged for the next bird that came down at them. This time, the sword bit deep.
Thank god.
"Happy now?"
Mal's HP: 30 - 5 = 25 Swarm HP: 22 - 6 =16
and be blue
xelhaspixiestix Crew
Offline
and be blue rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-6)
"Better." He huffed a bit as he said it, maybe the fight starting to get to him. A bird raked claws across his shoulder and he flinched, batting it away with his dagger, drawing a rake of ooze across the beast's body.
His own shoulder remained, somehow, unharmed. But the coat was wrecked, arm barely holding on now.
