This opponent is difficult solo, and pairs are suggested!
You venture a bit out into the swamplands, following a strange sound in the distance -- and before you can get too far, you spot a very large-sized animal, floundering around a bit among the trees. As you approach, you notice something strange: some shredded fabric still clinging around one foot, or around its neck, like the remnants of some long-destroyed clothing.
At this point, it occurs to you that this might be a transformed human being. Maybe it's even one of you. And you must capture it.
Except it doesn't seem to want to be captured. Your approach spooks it, and it attacks you in blind fear.
Hit Points: 60 HP Damage: 5 HP each time you attack
If you bring this monster down below 5HP, it is injured and can be captured and brought back to the campsite for safe keeping until you can figure out what to do. However, if you drop it below 0HP, you kill it.
Either outcome, once finished with 500 words each party involved in the battle gets 15XP and rolls 1d100 to collect loot according to the following:
1-25: You gain nothing but the victory of having beaten this opponent. 26-95: Moly Flower: a small white flower with a dark root. You're not quite sure what it's for, but decide to keep it. 96-100: Fine Wine: Why would an animal have a bottle of wine? Considering all that's going on, we strongly suggest you don't drink. If you act rashly and do, though, please PM and be blue for consequences.
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 2:13 pm
Thank god. Ever since the debacle with Rocket Raccoon back in the forest, Izzy had been steaming mad, and itching to fight someone, or something. Izzy raised her spear and looked around herself in a slow circle, eyeing the area and looking for any hint of animal movement. Other Chosen were running off, pursuing people who had turned into animals, or else being pursued themselves. Izzy narrowed her eyes, scanning the woody vale around her for any hint of these creatures. If her group had just continued to follow the trails in the forest, none of them would have been wrapped up in this problem. Coming back to this camp early had been a mistake, and one of these unlucky beasts was going to get hit with the full force of her anger and frustration.
She was nearly out sight of the camp. Izzy's fingers flexed around her spear anxiously, and a worry nagged at the back of her head. She had been talking to Songtao just before this new chaos erupted, before Izzy had gone bolting out into the woods. Had the other Chosen followed her? Izzy looked behind her, and found that wasn't the case - Songtao was still close to camp, and seemed to be sinking back against the trunk of a wide-branching tree.
The Artemis Chosen nearly lost interest and turned away, when a twitch of movement caught her eye. It wasn't Songtao moving though, but the twinkle of something in a branch above her, and the gleam of a predator's eye.
"Song!" Izzy screamed. She raced towards the Demeter Chosen - but even she couldn't be fast enough to save Songtao. She could only hope she was fast enough to give the other woman a warning.
Sage of Chaos
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Fashionable Gaian
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 2:19 pm
Songtao paused in her retreat towards the theoretical safety of a tree as she heard her name. As she looked at Izzy, she registered the look of concern and surprise on the other Chosen's face as Izzy stared at the tree above her. Slowly, she felt almost like an actress in a film, she looked up as well. In the tree above her, a cougar crouched, haunched flexed to pounce at any moment. Their eyes locked, and Songtao jerkily flung herself out of the way, trying to hide behind her buckler as much as possible in the process. The cougar leapt, but a moment too late, and just missed Songtao.
"Xiè xie," she whispered to Izzy in thanks, eyes still wide with shock.
Word Count: 123
Character Name:Songtao Zheng Brief description of character: A capricious, leaning towards grumpy, chain smoker who has joined the Prytaneum to further her conservation efforts back home in China.
Deity: Demeter Weapon: Buckler HP: 56
Sage of Chaos rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6Total: 6 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 2:28 pm
The cougar snarled, angered at being denied its prey. Though the ladies could only guess, the cougar backed up itself and bumped back against a tree. Its eyes darted between Izzy and Songtao, and the beast must have decided that it had been cornered. It curled its lips and gave another low, grating noise of warning.
Izzy stepped ahead of Songtao, and kept her spear steady and upright. She looked over the beast, and furrowed her own brows. Distractingly, Izzy saw the source of the sparkle she saw while the cougar was in the tree - the shine of a long golden necklace, tangled around the cougar's neck.
There! The cougar sprang, her claws wide and diving straight to Izzy. She could only think of raising her spear to it, but the force of the two clashing was too great. Izzy was knocked back a few yards, while the cougar cried and repositioned itself towards Songtao.
The cougar wasted no time in attacking Songtao. She lifted her buckler to block, feeling the cat's claws skid off the buckler and rake her thigh. Grimacing, she braced her foot against a tree as she slammed her buckler into the cougar's face.
The cougar backed away briefly, clearly rattled. Songtao grinned momentarily, circling to defend Izzy while she got back on her feet.
Cougar: 40/60 HP Songtao: 51/56 HP Word Count: 187
Character Name:Songtao Zheng Brief description of character: A capricious, leaning towards grumpy, chain smoker who has joined the Prytaneum to further her conservation efforts back home in China.
Deity: Demeter Weapon: Buckler HP: 51/56 Word Count:
Sage of Chaos rolled 1 6-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 3:06 pm
Izzy had been knocked backwards, and slowly tried to draw herself up from the ground. Her hands trembled, and for a moment she lost grip on her spear, letting it fall back to the dirt. She snatched it back up and glared at the beast, as if a rude stare from her might keep the cougar at bay.
She bit her lip, and tried to stand again. She wasn't able to attack the cougar, not until she got herself back together.
Songtao met the cougar's eyes again, wondering what drove the changed-Chosen to attack their kin? She decided she needed to get it away from Izzy, to give the Artemis-Chosen a chance regain her feet. Gaze locked, she started side stepping away from Izzy, the cougar shifting to follow the moving target. Once she had the cat turned at least 50 degrees away, as quickly as she could, she charged, bracing the buckler with both forearms to hopefully maximize damage. Instead the cougar dodged just enough that Songtao bounced off the cat's flank. Songtao received a swipe across her back as she stumbled away for her troubles.
Cougar: 36/60 Songtao: 46/56 Word Count: 295
Character Name:Songtao Zheng Brief description of character: A capricious, leaning towards grumpy, chain smoker who has joined the Prytaneum to further her conservation efforts back home in China.
Deity: Demeter Weapon: Buckler HP: 46/56
Sage of Chaos rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 3:26 pm
The cat considered Songtao carefully - perhaps it didn't expect a human with no pointy parts to be such an issue. It sunk low to the ground, its hind-quarters high, and considered its next strike -
-when a spear knocked against its side, grazing the side of the cougar and causing it to yelp in surprise and pain. Izzy laughed from behind the creature, back on her feet and crowing in pride.
"That's what you get! You can't take us both down, little kitty!"
While the cougar was occupied with the much pointier Izzy, Songtao took the chance to attack again. She ran up to the creature and aimed to bash the cat in the head again, when she slipped on some leaf litter and fell at the cougar's feet. The fall knocked the air out of the Demeter Chosen, leaving her stunned for a moment. The cougar took her chance in turn, slashing Songtao across the shoulder and upper chest.
"CÃ o!!" Songtao gasped, scrambling to get back on her feet while trying to keep her buckler up at the same time.
Cougar: 30/60 Songtao: 41/56 Word Count: 394
Sage of Chaos rolled 1 6-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-6)
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 12:40 pm
The cougar was on a roll now. Izzy had dashed for her spear while Songtao had tried to attack, but the cat had learned, and was too smart to keep either of the Chosen women out sight for long. The cougar leapt to Izzy, and while the Artemis Chosen was frozen in surprise at being caught, the beast smashed its paw across her as well, bruising Izzy's right arm and elbow and batting the woman away from her weapon again.
While the cougar was distracted by Izzy, Songtao scrambled to her feet.
"Xià chē!" she charged the cat with her shield held up like a battering ram. Her strike hit, but not with as much force as she hoped for. The length battle was taking a toll on her for sure. The charge itself definitely did some more damage. Songtao backed away quickly until she stood in front of Izzy, buckler still held high.
"Maybe!" Songtao panted, "This is not working good. Maybe I should shield and you attack?"
Cougar: 26/60 Songtao: 36/56 Word Count: 485
Sage of Chaos rolled 1 6-sided dice:
3Total: 3 (1-6)
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 2:14 pm
Izzy winced, and drew up besides Songtao. "Yeah. She's too smart now, and won't let us divide and conquer anymore."
The cougar didn't have a lot of patience, and seemed ready to batter Songtao again. Izzy grabbed some stones around her, and quickly tossed them over the cougar, to a bush behind it. The beast was surprised at the rustling and spun around, perhaps worried that another attacker was flanking it. While the cougar was confused, Izzy had the chance to grab her spear, and swiped the animal across its back.
Instead of charging again, as was her nature, Izzy slowly walked back with her spear raised, and stayed close to Songtao and her shield. "Alright! Do your thing, Steven."
((3+1=4 No damage taken by either Izzy or Songtao.))
Songtao kept her gaze locked with the cougar, bracing her buckler with both arms. It reduced her agility, but allowed her to put additional strength behind the shield.
"My name is not Steven!" she replied through gritted teeth. The cougar bolted forward, but knowing that Izzy had her back, Songtao focused on blocking the attack fully. The cat's claws scratched across the metal surface with a horrible chalkboard-esque screech, but both women were not harmed further.
Cougar: 20/60 Songtao: 36/56 Word Count: 562
Sage of Chaos rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-6)
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 8:17 pm
Izzy actually laughed out loud at Songtao's distress. Maybe it surprised the cougar too, or maybe it was still stunned by being knocked back by the shield. Either way, Izzy got a free shot at the cougar, then retreated behind Songtao again.
As enraged as the beast was, apparently it retained enough intelligence to learn from past mistakes. Songtao wasn't quite sure if she should plant her feet or bounce on the balls of her feet to remain loose and agile, and while she debated the choice, the cougar attacked again. Songtao was fully protected by her shield, but she wasn't quick enough to protect Izzy.
