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 Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 11:31 am
Thorin got the feeling that this beast was underestimating his power when it refused to budge. He had been certain that it would receive the opportunity to feel exactly how much force could lay behind a charging dwarf. Then it had moved not having underestimated Thorin at all. It's tail worked just as the beast had hoped and Thorin collided with one of his men. Perhaps it had not counted on the sturdiness of Thorin and his men, however, because the blow scarcely effected either of them. It also resulted in what was most definitely an unintended event: Thorin's head cleared enough for him to think.
Thorin shook himself off and turned about to better asses the situation. He couldn't keep charging and getting knocked into his men. Eventually such actions would start having some effect on himself and his ilk and he couldn't have that especially not with Thranduil proving himself as unhelpful as always. The elf simply could not be trusted when the dwarves were in need of aid. He heard him bellowing in the bushes but that did Thorin and his men no good. One of their brother's in arms had already fallen, painfully, and the threat still stood. They needed to act.
"Form ranks!" Thorin called and was immediately rewarded by the sounds of all the dwarves in the vicinity falling into position behind him. As soon as they stopped moving he gave them a very simple order, "Charge!" Moving as one the five dwarves surged forward with the four behind Thorin spread out wide so that the might stop the shadow fiend from dodging.Sabin Duvert Sorry Thorin was giving me trouble today. @_@
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Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:26 am
Still savoring the remnant taste of dwarf from his first attack, licking his chops, Hashashad kept some eyes on the results of his first move. A snarl of disappointment flashed across his features as the two stallions collided with barely a bruise.
As his brave attacker paused to consider, Hashashad never stopped moving, never took his eyes off the scene around him, as the figures moved and began to reform. He sprinted to the edge, lowered his head, and charged the side of one of the dwarves, attempting to gore him with one of his horns before they could pull into the tight formation.
It was a pity - Hashashad had hoped he could scare them, cause them to break ranks and split up to flee like he had in the past. To play with them and draw it out. Maybe it would just take a bit more effort now on the front end... whittle them down until only a few remained... and then not let them leave. Then it would be time to really play
The half dozen elves quickly drew to Thranduil's call, appearing out of the bushes and joining their king, awaiting instructions. Thranduil spoke in hushed tones as he began to form together a plan of his own. The elves were seldom in a hurry, especially when this was a threat that had been in these woods for months now, and Thranduil had seen what running in recklessly had already done against this monster. The dwarves seemed... averse to strategy, and if they insisted on running in before they thought, then Thranduil was certainly not one to deter them. Let them keep it busy. The creature had not yet seen them, they had the advantage in that regard.
He quickly surveyed his men; one of them, a younger stallion, but while he was smaller and more slender than most, was quite adept at reconnasaince had spied it, and seen it attack the dwarf. It was a clever monster, not some drooling mad dog that needed to be put out of its own misery. It would require some finesse - some tactics.
Two men, he sent to fetch vine-ropes, to twist them together to form a stronger bond... another to collect the sharpened sticks from a cache that was not far, with the instructions to set them up on one particular edge of the clearing that the dwarves and the beast were stoming about in.
The other three, he took with him, and peered once more through the bushes to see them forming a sort of... small and primitive phalanx... - and led them around the side. When the time was right, they'd close in as well, and try to pen the monster in between themselves and the dwarves and herd it.
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Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 8:51 am
It hadn't worked. They had moved to slow and their opponent was too swift. It was like dealing with dragons all over again. The dwarves broke ranks and scattered to avoid being skewered by the phantom beast. Immediately after he passed by Thorin's men reformed their line. Thorin himself took the chance to spin about and aim a quick kick at their foe with his hind legs. The beast had come in close enough to attack and Thorin wasn't going to miss his chance to counter.
Even in the midst of a fight Thorin couldn't help but notice that the elves were nowhere to be seen. No aid was coming from the elves- as usual -Thranduil's bellowing had likely been to warn his men away. Taking down this enemy would, once again, fall to the dwarves.
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Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 11:19 am
The dwarves were fast enough on their feet to scatter before Hashashad as he had charged from the side. A fleeting moment of disappointment flitted through the beast as he had failed to impale the outmost man and drive him into his fellows. But they were broken. Scared. His grin stretched wide as he angled his charge to careen off to the side and not leave himself open from his failed charge.
However, he had not managed to recover well enough to avoid a kick from the stout leader. Heavy hooves impacted with the shadowy monster - but the impact wasn't as telling as Thorin had hoped. The angle of his correction mixed with the strange shadows that ebbed and flowed around the beast made it difficult to discern just where the semi-solid smoke ended and the smoky-colored beast began.
Still, it yielded a bellow of pain and anger from Hashashad as he was hit. He skidded and wheeled about to face the dwarf that had landed the blow. He seethed in anger - he was Hashashad- he was darkness! He would NOT show weakness!
Anger filled the creature and it summoned its command over the darkness, taking the existing shade from Thorin's mane and darkening it, particularly around his eyes, robbing him of his vision for the moment.
Let him feel fear. Let him grasp about in the dark.
He reared, bringing his hooves up to strike at the dwarf.
Thranduil positioned himself across the clearing with his men, looked to them and mouthed a coundown: 5... 4.... 3... 2... 1!
Thranduil snorted in frustration as he and three of his men finally burst onto the scene on the far side of the clearing from the direction that Thorin had initially begun his march. Scattered - the dwarves had been routed and dispersed - USELESS! Not three minutes ago THranduil had calculated this action based on the - now apparently erronous - assumption that Thorin could keep his men together for at least five minutes. But no. The dwarf was useless even in the most basic tactics, apparently.
For a moment, Thranduil was caught off-guard - ill prepared for the chaos that he and the elves had burst in on.
Then, "Hold tight," Thranduil spoke swiftly, not even realizing that this was similar to the command Thorin had used himself only minutes ago. "The enemy is deadly... and smart. We continue with the plan."
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Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 3:03 pm
Thorin's hasty counter-attack had hit but not for a moment did he think it was a particularly successful move. It felt like he had gotten more air than flesh and while the creature's cries were a bit pained they sounded even more angry. Thorin dropped back to the ground, turned to face his opponent and squared himself away preparing for the next attack.
Behind him his men managed to regroup no longer under direct assault. Before him he could see the beast, from his peripheral vision he thought he saw the elf and then he could see nothing. It was as though a great hand had reached out and torn the sun from the sky. Though it was darker than night. Thorin could see nothing. He backed away quickly for he could not fight blind but Thorin did not move hastily enough. Something collided with his shoulder bringing Thorin to his knees.
Thorin's men shouted and moved around him to protect their king with everything they could. Thorin focused on getting his feet back under him. Under the shouts he could hear the cursed elf speaking. So, he had come after all, though he was late as could be expected. "Keep your guard!" He ordered his own men as he got to his feet. He couldn't lead them in battle like this but he would never let them fall like their friends before them.
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Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:57 pm
Nisshou H lol, if you weren't the stats person, I'd suggest adding Hashashad to the first post, but that's probably not necessary, huh? wink
THUNK - Hashashad's front hooves collied heavily with the stocky stallion's shoulder, dropping him to his knees.
Excellent... excellent... This was more of a challenge than Hashashad particularly cared for, but there was something about besting a group of stallions that had come prepared for war that was absoloutely delightful. To bring the strong to their knees and let the stalwart taste true fear: fear of death - it was something unlike anything else. Preying on the weak was one thing, but when you could do so with the strong, then it made Hashashad feel like a god.
... and with it, more than a little overconfident.
HE noticed as more soquili burst out of the underbrush, but it was only another four - more slender things, some with antlers. THey were in a tight cluster. No matter. It would make no difference.
He turned away from the new arrivals, keeping a flank-eye on them, and directed his attention onto one of the dwarves that had broken formation, leaving their apparnt leader hurt and blind for the time being - he'd play with him more later.
He kicked off the ground and pounced at the dwarf like a cat, going for a bite on the neck.
The elves began to move, keeping tight formation and advancing on their foe, shoulder to shoulder, antlers lowered. Thranduil was in the middle, and he kept his eyes locked on the shadow-fiend. Unnervingly, even as the Monster turned to attack another dwarf, eyes on his flank seemed to bore right back into the elvenking.
He was quick - and ruthless. And disturbingly enough seemed to be doing more than just defeneding himself against the dwarves. He seemed to be exalting in it.
Wordlessly, the Elves advanced, stepping in a line... herding...
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Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 4:46 pm
Sabin Duvert Ummm....he is in the first post? He has been since the day after he joined the RP. I just didn't add his name to the title. He's right under Thranduil. Is the image glitching for you?
Back on his feet, Thorin worked on regaining his sight. He blinked his eyes slowly then rapidly to no avail then shook his head. His dark mane went back out of his face so that it no longer cast them in shadow. Thorin could not explain what happened but with his hair out of his face and the shadows out of his eyes he was able to see again though everything seemed a bit fuzzy and dark still. What he saw was something straight out of a nightmare.
The monster had decided to leave Thorin be surrounded by his men and was instead targeting one that had failed to stay with the others. "No!" He roared. The stray dwarf startled and jumped to the side but not fast enough. The shadow beast's teeth scraped across the dwarf's neck. The wound was not as severe as it could have been but Thorin still did not see much hope for the dwarf, they had no healer with them and home was a long way away. The dwarf king ground his teeth together.
Movement to the side caught his attention. The elves. Useless elves. Two of Thorin's men had already fallen prey to this monster and they only chose to move now. After the race of dwarves had lost so much already. Typical. Somewhere in the back of his mind he supposed he should be grateful that they had bothered to assist at all this time. Thorin did not feel grateful. He felt furious. Thorin's men pressed in closer to Thorin's flanks, unintentionally mimicking the elves, but they did not move. Let the elves have a turn at watching their kin fall. Why help them when they had stood by watching the dwarves suffer, again.
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Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 12:56 pm
Nisshou H Wow, either I am totally blind (possibly) or it had cached or something (Gaia has a bad habit of doing that to me, too) - I absolutely see it now. Ignooooooore me!
Hashashad growled as the dwarf moved and his fangs didn't strike as true as he had intended. But still, they had managed scraped across his neck, and the stallion would likely be down for the count. If not now, then soon.
But with more sudden arrivals on the scene, Hashashad's gusto began to wane into irritation and anger, He much preferred subtle, guerilla tactics rather than outright combat. Not that he had any loss of faith in his abilities, or capacity to best these simple creatures, but the mindset of creatures in a battle was not the terror and fear that he craved. But pride still clung to the draconic beast. He would not give up - not before he painted this clearing in their blood.
The initial cluster of stallions - what remained of them at least, huddled around their leader as the stags marched on him. His mouth stretched into a wide grin. Had they missed what that yielded? THey bore antlers, unlike the first, but it shouldn't matter.
He turned to face them, tail ebbing behind him like smoke for a moment before striking off the ground in a sprint and heading for the far right.
FOolish! Thranduil thought quickly to himself when, instead of stepping back from the advancing elves the monster dashed towards them - towards his left side of their ranks - an older, stockier elf with an impressive rack of his own.
This wasn't part of the plan!
They would adjust - they had to.
With a stamp of his back left hoof to alert and signal his men, they didn't cease their advancement, but angled - angling their racks towards the side, to catch the beast as he struck.
But Hashashad went low, snapping out like some serpent, closing his jaw over the ankle of the stallion on the far side. Bones snapped like twigs and the stallion crashed to his knees.
THe elves - as a group - charged their assailant.
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Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 7:55 am
Thorin looked on with cold eyes as the elves continued their approach only to see the monster dart to the side just like he had done earlier. Thorin snorted lightly, it seemed Thranduil had not been paying much attention to what had been going on behind his shelter in the bushes after all. Not that this was in any way surprising. He watched as the elves moved their heads to position their antlers, he had to admit that was a good idea but it was very clear that it hadn't been good enough.
There was a sickening snap that Thorin imagined he could hear even over the sounds of marching hooves. The dwarf king grimaced. Rejoice not when an elf falls... It was an old saying amongst the dwarves. It continued to say but do not rush to pick him up either. At this point Thorin was thinking less of it being helping the elves as it was helping themselves.
Even though his shoulder throbbed and his knees ached from crashing to the earth Thorin stood proudly. He looked to his men and while he wanted to let out a dwarven war cry he would settle for one in the common tongue. There was no way he was going to let the elves hear the secret language of the dwarves.
"Charge!" Thorin shouted before leading his men towards the shadow beast at a different angle from the elves. He would fight this battle too but he was not fighting it with the elves. They simply had the same opponent. Sabin Duvert Not to worry! Gaia likes to eat images. It's the site's favorite snack.
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:46 pm
Nisshou H I know you don't follow quotes, but doing this mostly out of habit
Hashashad's jaws closed over the foreleg of the outermost elf and crunched sickly as the elf crashed to his knees. Even though he was stocky for an elf, he was dainty next to the dwarves, and the force of the dragon's jaws nearly cleft the leg off. The elf cried out in a strangely almost melodious bellow as his fellows turned on the attacker.
With a twist of his head, Hashashad finished the job. These slender creatures tasted different from the hearty, savory stocky ones. It was lighter, wilder and tasted of leaves and berries. He could see them grouping to attack, but he hesitated, savoring this new taste - this new experience and the fear and pain of the fallen stag.
The elves moved faster than the dwarves had to defend their fallen brother, but there were just three of them now, with Thranduil in the center as they charged swiftly, racks lowered to gore.
Thranduil preached savvy and tactics, but each cry from his fellow was a hammer in his heart, and it was difficult to see past the blinding red that threatened to rob him of his level-headedness.
The dwarves were collecting themselves again and moving to confront the beast. The strategy, Thranduil clung to it. He could not let his anger cost him the life of another elf.
So instead of closing the remaining distance in a few bounds, he metered himself - and his well-trained fellows matched his pace in lock-step. He played off of the dwarves' advancement and once more began to try to herd the dragon to where his fellows hopefully were now laying in wait.
Hashashad grinned once more as they slowed. Surely, even these new beasts feared him, saw how quickly he had dealt with one of their own. They were scared to confront him! At first, the monster refused to budge. Instead, he casually lifted a cloven hoof and placed it on the break of the elf's leg, applying pressure to yield another bellow that certainly was music to the monster's ears.
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 12:22 pm
Sabin Duvert I, however, am assuming you actually do get these. XD And I'm sorry this is a short reply...Thorin didn't give me much.
He continued his quicker pace towards the demon beast with his men close behind him. They would drive it out and away from their home and make it pay for all of the lives of their fellows that it had ended.
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Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:22 am
Nisshou H I do indeed - thanks for the quote!
The dragon scoffed as the elves slowed, "You have right to fear me.." he hissed, putting words to voice for the first time. It was an eerie sound, chittery, as if the shadows themselves spoke. He mocked, smiling, all the red eyes slitting into a smile.
But as the dwarves refocused their attack, Hashahad did not wait to gloat longer. This was not his style of confrontation - here in the open, facing several intelligent beings head-on. There was no fun in that. No game. Despite the stags' slowed advancement, and likely fear-based hesitance, it was not the shaking, defeated fear that Hashashad loved.
He turned, though the myriad eyes on the creature's flank stayed fixed on his agressors, as he leapt towards the treeline. There, he thought, he could flitter between the shadows, catch his attackers unawares and start picking them off again. Take his time. Enjoy...
Thranduil told himself that his metered attack was out of restraint, for tactics and not out of fear, but the dragon's words set his hair on end. Painful, traumatic memories threatened to rear its head. This was not the first dragon he had faced. But he could not flee - he had a responsibility - he had to drive this beast from his lands if not dispatch it once and for all.
And as he saw the monster turn, he felt a thrill of (premature) success. The plan was working. with a snort, he forced his muscles to unlock and surged forward to match the charge of the dwarves, his elves following him on his flanks. They would close the trap on this monster.... He watched him with narrowed eyes.... five more paces... four...
And behind the treeline, the other half of Thranduil's cerynei readied their snare: sharpened branches had been set up behind concealing bushes to catch his charge. thorny, woven vines readied to entangle the beast. They hid, nearly invisible and silent as they heard the beast charging their way.
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:15 am
Sabin Duvert I am so sorry for the delays. Thorin has been being a whiny butt.
Thorin glanced at his troupes and realized what the beast was thinking. They could not fight in the trees. They were not squirrely like the elves. They could not spring around over the branches. They were more adept at barreling through things and trampling down anything in their path. "Hurry! We've not yet won!" He ordered his men urgently. He urged his body forward with greater speed which was when he noticed something else odd, the elves were now following his lead and matching the speed of the dwarves.
Elves that would have no trouble matching the monster in the trees. Why were they so intent on joining now when they had so keenly kept back just moments ago? Thorin's hair prickled. Whatever was going on he did not trust it.
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 7:30 pm
Nisshou H Tsk - Thorin doesn't want to work with Thranduil even in the RP lol XD
Thranduil smiled darkly as he watched the smoky dragon dash past the tree line. It thought it was in control of this situation, but it was playing right into Thranduil's plans. The monster deserved what was coming to it - it had killed one of his herd - a good, brave elf.
He didn't need to signal his men. The knew what to do. For now, he just closed the trap with the unwitting aid of the dwarves, driving the dragon past the trees.
He closed the last bounds to the wood's edge, his rack lowered and his heart steeled.
Hashashad slipped through the densely clustered trees effortlessly, a wide grin stretching his maw. But with all of his eyes, in his overconfidence, his utter assumption of control, he did not expect a trap.
Just a moment after crossing into the treeline, there was a sharp TWANG sound and suddenly thick ropey, thorny vines were drawn taut around him by three elves who had been hiding in a V-formation. And right ahead, as he tried to continue forward, sharpened pikes had been concealed with bushes and leaves and undergrowth, poised to try to impale the beast.
Hashashad stopped dead, a hair before the pikes as the elves worked quickly to try to catch him between the ropes, the elves at the two points of the V trying to hurry together to snare the monster.
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Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 2:15 pm
Thorin stopped abruptly just as the creature entered the trees. He was struck by a sense of confusion that could rival the devil's own. He was suddenly aware of more elves lurking in the trees. Thorin could feel his anger towards the elf burning away at him like the fires of a forge. This was why he had been refusing to help? Because he had a plan? He only chose to help when he saw that his little trap could be sprung. Thorin glowered at the back of Thranduil's head. His men were unsettled by the revelation that there were for more elves about than any of them had realized. Thorin turned to them to help ease allay their worries. There would be no more fight unless the elves managed to bungle everything. Once the creature was put to death Thorin would take his men and go.
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