There was only a brief pause before Ever stepped in next to Melvin: his heart still in his throat, and doubly so since they were suddenly in the heart of combat. Somehow, though, the thing's lack of unified face made it less scary, to him, than the near-human smile of the horsemen. This was a beast. A really creepy beast, but just a beast.
So he swung, Amory's blade sweeping through the mass of squirming rodents. Others nipped at his legs, a writhing mass that made Ever hop back again, just a bit breathless, considering. It had been a solid blow, but it had hurt.
"...I suspect the key will just be taking it apart. If you can't hit it, maybe focus on striking some of the ones closer to the ground, to protect those who can..."
Defense might be key, here.
HP: 42/50 DMG: 12 Charge: 1/3
Boss HP: 82
xxthe semblance of unity
xxmoonkitsune
The Semblance of Unity rolled 2 8-sided dice:
1, 3Total: 4 (2-16)
Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2014 7:02 am
"If we could get to the belly or tails, maybe," he said in response to Melvin as his fist swung out. Unfortunately, the reply was just enough of a concentration break that his punch went straight into one of the rat's mouths. The gleaming teeth stopped the force of his punch and raked across the back of his hand. A tongue drooled out and curved around his wrist, the muscled length of it gleaming wetly. Horace cursed in disgust and pulled back bloodied knuckles.
"...wonder how many diseases this thing might have." He moved back, sliding closer to the other hunters. "Maybe you've got a good thing 'bout striking closer to the ground." Horace's voice was a little rueful, but he dropped down in a lowered fighting stance. In the other mission, Jan had run solely defense, and it had worked. Horace shifted on the balls of his feet, watcing the rat-thing warily.
"Can't get to the tails when they are all at the center." He said, moving in to circle, but stopping when he went flush with the wall. Tunnels made it hard to maneuver, and he was glad that he didn't have a massive weapon. Of course, he would have an easier time if he had Saliva out, but that wasn't an option with his cuff on. Instead, he had to rely on the less than familiar runic dagger he was using as a poor substitute.
"I'll be sure to get checked from the Life techs after this. If it's eating whole people, who knows what else it's been devouring down here." The idea of being eaten piece by piece was a terrifying death in itself, but being bitten and contracting some new Fear strain really bothered him.
Just looking at the rats was making his skin crawl and his stomach turn, and he lifted up his scarf to cover his mouth as a quick mouth guard.
He slashed again and managed to get one rat, but it seemed to just roll under the mass of rats and disappear as others took its place.
HP: 34/50 DMG: 5
Boss HP: 77
and be blue rolled 2 10-sided dice:
8, 1Total: 9 (2-20)
Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 9:45 am
Ever was oddly distant, right now, head bobbing in a distracted nod in response to their comments -- and, honestly, it was possible he wasn't even listening. He'd choked down oatmeal before leaving, and in this moment, he was regretting it. Hard enough to deal with food when there wasn't some monstrosity in front of him, all gnashing teeth and thrashing tail --
His blade sliced through a couple tails, and he grimaced as the mass rolled again, teeth and tiny claws coming at him al at once. Finally, he risked a glance back at Melvin.
"Don't take any samples yet." He knew Life techs. He was one. His obsession was in a different direction, but he was familiar with the single-minded tendency to study. "Please wait until it's dead."
The Semblance of Unity rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-6)
The Semblance of Unity
Predestined Victim
Offline
Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 12:37 pm
"I concur," Horace said, dodging a rather nasty set of teeth. "Dead samples don't wriggle quite so much." with that, he simply moved closer to Melvin, ready to deflect that next hit the rat might make. If he couldn't hit it, he could at least keep it from hitting the others.
"Well, I'm not taking a sample NOW!" He said, looking at Ever as if he had been insane to even say that. "Kind of want it to not bite my fingers off first or drag off one of my limbs before I get to dissecting it."
He stepped forward again, taking a few steps to the side to see if he could see any weak spots. All he saw was many eyes turn towards him, opening their greasy mouths and lashing out with pale-pink claws.
Another slash and he pulled closer again, smiling to Horace. "Thanks for the cover."
HP: 30/50 DMG: 7
Boss HP: 70
MoonKitsune
Romantic Exhibitionist
Offline
and be blue rolled 2 10-sided dice:
2, 7Total: 9 (2-20)
"You had that look on your face, Melvin." He said it as he swung, lashing out to slice his blade through one of the creatures' mouths -- not that it did much good. Three more sprung up in its place, nipping at his arm, and Ever had to shake himself free. It left him a little breathless, nervous, but he covered it by turning a sharp, sardonic look onto Melvin.
"I know that look."
HP: 28/50 DMG: 3 Charge: 3/3
Boss HP: 66
the semblance of unity
moonkitsune
The Semblance of Unity rolled 1 6-sided dice:
3Total: 3 (1-6)
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 5:59 pm
"No problem," he said to Melvin. "I'm probably more useful in defending right now than attacking. It;'s not much, but-" He shrugged and kicked at a rat, watching warily as it scooted back closer to its fellows.
"If we could knock it out, a live sample would be great. But I'd just as soon kick it to pieces first." He didn't understand Life beyond wanting all the samples. With a huuf, he moved closer to Ever, figuring he could use a bit of a human shield, even if it wasn't a very good one. He'd just... alternate, or something.
"What look? I didn't have a look! The only look is one where I don't want to catch Fear Plague from these things." He said, moving to side to swipe at a rat that looked like it was out a bit more than the others. It hissed and bit at him, and he regarded his now torn glove with some dismay.
He was getting so many shots after this.
"I'd all be for blowing this to pieces, but if we wind up with some sickness, samples would be good." He said, stepping back. "I'm just saying."
Also for this collection of rats to both share thought and have their fear be sustained underground with little contact to humans had to say something about its endurance in the real world. It wasn't even weak! That was at least interesting.
HP: 22/50 DMG: 4
Boss HP: 62
and be blue rolled 2 10-sided dice:
5, 1Total: 6 (2-20)
Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 2:22 pm
Ever twisted again, swinging even as he tried to dodge the nips of more rats at his feet, making a disgusted noise that turned into a sharp curse. Annoyed, more than anything else, and the rattling in the back of his mind didn't make it much better --
And then he realized Horace was there and blinked back into focus.
"Er. Thanks." He shook his head just a little, rolling the dagger in his hand and trying to haul himself back into focus.
He moved forward again, moving to cut a rat grouping before it pulled back in time, slashing forward. He barely got a chance to even nick the pile before it reacted quickly back. For a mass of rodents, they were fast to all see what was going on.
"Damn. this would be so much easier with a gun." He said, looking at the dagger in his hand.
You think this is bad? I have to watch you fail over and over while I just sit here doing nothing! I'M HUNGRY!!
HP: 19/50 DMG: 1
Boss HP: 61
MoonKitsune
Romantic Exhibitionist
Offline
and be blue rolled 2 4-sided dice:
4, 2Total: 6 (2-8)
"I feel like a gun's the wrong weapon," Ever offered, flicking Melvin a look -- and then shrugging. Not for them, of course, but to him, the idea of attacking a hoard of mice by shooting bullets into the heart of it --
Well. They'd be hunter bullets. Fear bullets. A bit different. It still sounded weird.
This time, when he swung, he let his charge loose against the creature's shield. No damage, but he drew in a slow breath in preparation.
"We can do this, I think." Maybe...but it didn't actually look great. Maybe if only one of them attacked and both the others defended...
the semblance of unity
moonkitsune
HP: 15/50 [+50 percent of damage for 3 turns] DMG: 0 Charge: 0/3
Boss HP: 61
Third Tier: Dice: 2d4 First Dice: indicates how many turns the effect will last, starting with your next regular attack. xxxxx1: 1 Turn xxxxx2-3: 2 Turns xxxxx4: 3 Turns Second Dice: represents how much health you steal per hit. xxxxx1: 0% (Absorb no health) xxxxx2: 50% (divide your damage by 2) xxxxx3-4: 75% (multiply your damage by .75)
The Semblance of Unity rolled 8 4-sided dice:
4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 4, 1, 1Total: 23 (8-32)
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 3:27 am
Horace eyed Melvin carefully, watching how many times the rat thing bit at him, at Ever. The three of them did not work together as a team terribly well, he thought. Ever and Melvin were both likely hitting harder than he could have, but it wasn't enough. s**t. "Melvin!" he barked out. "-pull back to defense for now - you're flagging." And if Melvin didn't pull back, he'd keep getting hit. Horace could heal someone, but only someone. And he didn't think Ever would sit on defense.
Jannisari glowed brightly and he touched his fists together, watching the spark grow and rise. It skipped away from his hands, jerking fitfully in the air above him, before crashing around Ever. The pale man was surrounded by a halo of electricity for one brief moment, the glow of it reflecting strangely in the multitude of rodent's eyes. {Thank you, Doctor.}{you are doing better than expected, horace.} He grinned.
"Ever, if you keep up the offense, I'll alternate between the two and maybe we can take this thing down a little more efficiently." His fists came up and he eyed the rat-thing warily, all of his attention now on it. There was a chance, of course, that neither Ever nor Melvin would listen to him, trainee status and all, but no one else had been vocalizing strategies anyway. It was all so terribly inefficient.
Melvin still felt that a gun was better, and Saliva screamed in agreement. It had been weeks without being nothing more than a totem pen behind his ear and she was begging to be let free again. That meant being a 'good boy' and being useful.
It also meant he sucked at fighting.
Already feeling worn, he looked back at Horace when he called him to step back. If he had a bit more pride for fighting, he might have refused, but he hadn't had a great record with fighting and was used to defending. Nodding, he stepped back and flanked Ever's other side, watching as electricity of some sort washed over him. "Healing?" He asked Horace. Melvin's own charge did something similar, but instead of a electric halo, Melvin was just a straight plasma shot to the person's shield.
