What Ernst hadn't remembered about being a teenager was just how aggravating they were. He'd thought he was making real progress, at first, but the way that girl had just burst into giggles...yeah, he needed somewhere to regroup. Maybe he could find Davor or Erica again, or even Zan or Sylvia - Davor was a bit more likely. He was the biggest of the four, and Ernst could definitely say he'd seen more than glimpses of his favorite bear. He'd even talked to the guy, if briefly.
He started by asking around town. Then he veered off into the wilderness, back towards camp. It wasn't like anyone there would recognize Davor, anyw -
Oh. Hey. Speak of the devil. (Though, really, Davor wasn't much of one) His friend was accompanied by a pretty Asian woman, and he looked really bloody. What the hell had happened? "Davor!" he called, cupping his hand around his mouth and making strides over toward the pair. It looked like the woman was fussing, which was probably reasonable. Davor looked...well, actually, as Ernst looked him over, he realized that Davor didn't really look that beat up. But just the sight of blood was worrying. Ernst hadn't seen any animals that looked like they wanted to attack? He reached his right hand toward Briiva with an affable smile, although he still clearly looked distracted. Well, if they'd had any run-ins with the a*****e Wiccans, they'd understand the preoccupation. "Ernst Nzikobankunda, at your pleasure."
Ernst made a pretty noticeable sight, tall and pink-haired as he was. More noticeable was the long, unsettlingly straight orange claw stretching over Ernst's shoulder. Ernst had stepped a little too close to a Japanese spider crab on his very brief romp through the swamp, and it looked...well, it looked like a spider crab, which didn't have a very elastic face. But it didn't seem to be taking too kindly to the intrusion, all the same.
Quote:
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.
lisseul
Soldier of Song
Character Name:Ernst Nzikobankunda Brief description of character: A very tall, friendly but airheaded man with a tendency to ramble. To those who know him, he's dressed surprisingly practically for this journey.
Soldier of Song rolled 1 6-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 2:29 pm
Not one to swat others' hands away, Davor was trying to find a good way to get Briiva to stop with his ear already, embarrassed by the attention and momentarily forgetting that oh, he could just use his words. It had stopped hurting so it couldn't be that bad, and anyway, he'd taken care of the squirrels so everything was fine.
Things were even better when he heard Ernst again, the man standing out in all the right ways against the greens and browns of the forest -- though, he certainly could pass for an especially flashy tree with how he towered over everyone else. Davor greeted him amiably, which was really just a very subtle softening of his face, as he nodded to him.
The micro-expression was swiftly replaced with a very-much-visible look of shock at the claw reaching from behind his friend, and worse still, the... the thing it was attached to. Jumping in and so rudely interrupting the handshake, Davor took Ernst's proffered hand and pulled him away, gesturing to Briiva with his war-hammer to "Watch out!"
Character Name:Davor Kozel Brief description of character: A bear of a man in both stature and apparent dexterity in tree-climbing, Davor is really more like a teddy than a grizzly once you get him talking. Just, good luck with that.
"Fine or not, you leave it like that in this sort of place it's just gonna get infected!" Briana took the opportunity of Davor stopping to greet his friend to finally brush on some of her liquid bandage solution onto the mans injured ear. He probably wouldn't care for the sting of the antiseptic, but the application would keep his ear getting any worse. "There, that should do for now, at least-"
Briiva was suddenly aware of how tall this friend of Davor's was. She already had to look up to Davor, so this person was like craning up to see the top of a skyscraper. She took in a sharp breath and beamed up at him as he introduced himself: Ernst. "I'm Brianna Pavlovich, Pleased to meet a friend of my room-" Briiva let out a short cry of distress as she the leg, which seemed to be about the same time Davor did as he attempted to pull his friend to safety.
Rolling backwards, Briiva pulled out her bow and quickly strung it; her practice was paying off, now it was almost second nature for her.
"The ******** is that?" She exclaimed, arrow already notched and being pulled back. She released to score a solid hit on one of the creatures legs, the arrow flying inches away from Ernst's head, but it didn't seem to do nearly enough damage to get excited about.
Weapon: Great Bow HP: 42/47 DMG: 5 Crab HP: 55/60
Character Name:Brianna Pavlovich Brief description of character: Headstrong and impulsive, Briiva is an excitable, over zealous ball of energy that can explode at the slightest provocation. While friendly and always ready to help out, she has a flair for the dramatic and will get carried away more often than not.
Deity: Hephaestus Weapon: Great Bow HP: 42
thyPOPE
Solider of Song
thyPOPE rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-6)
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 3:36 pm
Oh - hey, the Asian woman was familiar. She'd been in the forest, Ernst realized. And at dinner, too, although he hadn't directly heard the name, as far as he could remember. What had she been saying? Something about a room? What was going on, and why were they acting so skittish? Ah, ********. He still had no idea what was going on, but when Davor pulled, he let himself be pulled, although he was still scraped in the process. It hurt, but probably not as bad as it was supposed to - which was a good thing! Thank you, Davor.
It wasn't so bad, though - there was still the marks. Unfortunately he was still too frozen in shock to do much of anything for the moment, even though he'd spun around to finally see the spider crab in all its glory. What...was it? A giant spider? Did spiders have so many spikes?
"Beats me," he breathed, only barely remembering to pull his fortunately very large tower shield off his back, where he'd been slinging it like a very unwieldy backpack. He brandished it in front of him, but he couldn't really figure out where to go to do damage. This thing was basically a giant moving suit of armor - and had a few scraps of denim hanging off some of its limbs. Had it killed someone?
No, ********. No, it had to be - there was no way this thing was native to the area. "Are you a Chosen?" he called toward it, but it didn't respond, only brandishing its pincers - claws - legs - whatever they were at them as it readied itself to lunge forward again.
li55eul
xXxSold13r_0f_S0ngxXx_gothic_rose_666
Character Name:Ernst Nzikobankunda Brief description of character: A very tall, friendly but airheaded man with a tendency to ramble. To those who know him, he's dressed surprisingly practically for this journey.
Soldier of Song rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-6)
Soldier of Song
Bear
Offline
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 5:48 pm
Once Ernst was out of harm's way, Davor hefted his war-hammer in earnest, following Briiva's lead. This creature was.. creepy, above all else, and he felt only further unnerved when the other man tried to communicate with it. s**t. Sure enough, there looked to be pieces of clothes on those spindly legs, and he felt a shudder go through him.
But Briiva hadn't hesitated in attacking so neither would he. Aiming to bash one of those claws away, he swung his hammer as it leaped forward again, managing to strike it but not quite taking the leg off. Which, good. s**t, he'd feel really bad if the creature turned back and... they'd injured a fellow Chosen to disfigurement. That was not something Davor needed on his conscience.
Character Name:Davor Kozel Brief description of character: A bear of a man in both stature and apparent dexterity in tree-climbing, Davor is really more like a teddy than a grizzly once you get him talking. Just, good luck with that.
Briiva felt a shiver run down her spine as she heard the question Ernst posed, and felt her own hesitation behind releasing her bowstring. The implication were a little disturbing, but she reasoned that if they were chosen, they might still have their godly protection- at least, that was what she hoped. With that in mind, she felt her hesitation evaporate: All they needed to do was to disable it, they might not have to kill it outright.
The arrow flew steady enough, lodging itself in the creatures thick carapace. "If it is a chosen, I think we're going to have to reason with it a little- unconventionally!"
Damage: 5 Crab HP: 45
thyPOPE
Soldier of Song
Character Name:Brianna Pavlovich Brief description of character: Headstrong and impulsive, Briiva is an excitable, over zealous ball of energy that can explode at the slightest provocation. While friendly and always ready to help out, she has a flair for the dramatic and will get carried away more often than not.
There wasn't a lot to be said. Ernst didn't want to critically injure someone who might be a Chosen - or even just a random human. It wasn't like they'd chosen this.
Uh. Not that that would make it any easier to fight them, either. He'd only really gotten past the birds by convincing himself they weren't truly alive - despite all of the, you know, blood. Which they bled. Hah. Apparently being Chosen came with a complete realignment of Ernst's morals? Well - he was happy to eat meat. He just didn't like doing the killing himself.
He knew it was hypocritical. But it was worse when there was a possibility that this armored spider thing could be a person, too. "Think - think Arthur could tell?" Ernst asked, helpless. "But - but yeah, I think, at this point, we'll have to knock it out." And it wasn't something as clear-cut as getting a tranquilizer dart on it. If only. He darted forward with his shield, pushing himself in front of Briiva at least (she had the ranged weapon) so that he could smash at the crab. He couldn't tell if it was being pointlessly aggressive or just mad right now. He'd kind of understand the second - but he didn't want to die, himself.
As he darted forward he scratched his feather across its shell. He couldn't tell whether he was doing much damage - it was, well, shell. And he maybe wasn't pressing as hard as he would with, say, a lobster that he was eating.
Lisseul
Soldier of Song
Character Name:Ernst Nzikobankunda Brief description of character: A very tall, friendly but airheaded man with a tendency to ramble. To those who know him, he's dressed surprisingly practically for this journey.
Soldier of Song rolled 1 6-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-6)
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 11:02 am
He'd been so good at hitting moving targets before -- those metallic birds from the last mission? Never stood a chance. And it wasn't like the legs on this creature were moving near as quick, save for when it jabbed at them. Somehow, Davor just couldn't get a bead on it as it swiped at him, and it definitely wasn't because he was holding back. Even if he did find the giant crab unnerving, because were so many legs really necessary?
Character Name:Davor Kozel Brief description of character: A bear of a man in both stature and apparent dexterity in tree-climbing, Davor is really more like a teddy than a grizzly once you get him talking. Just, good luck with that.
Briiva looked briefly back at Arthur, but the raccon was barely poking his head from over her shoulders, quickly shaking his head. He was shaking, because whatever that thing was, he wasn't sure if it considered raccoons tasty or not. Briiva gently scratched the little guys head before pulling back on her bow. "Thanks for the cover!" She called to Ernst. With him holding his shield in front of the both of them, it gave Briiva a little more time to focus on making sure her shot.
The arrow buried itself deeper into the carapace with a hearty thwack! but it didn't give Briiva the same exhilaration she had when they all fought against that huge bird monstrosity. Just the small chance that they were fighting a human unnerved her: She really hoped that if they were human, they would forgive the group for treating it as a pincushion.
Damage: 10 Crab HP: 28
thyPOPE
Soldier of Song
Character Name:Brianna Pavlovich Brief description of character: Headstrong and impulsive, Briiva is an excitable, over zealous ball of energy that can explode at the slightest provocation. While friendly and always ready to help out, she has a flair for the dramatic and will get carried away more often than not.
Deity: Hephaestus Weapon: Great Bow HP: 32
thyPOPE rolled 1 4-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-4)
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 1:27 pm
Ernst grinned back over his shoulder at Briiva. It did look like she and Davor were doing the bulk of the work, and he could definitely acknowledge that by moving into a defensive position instead. He was at least okay at holding his shield and standing here: he didn't really know where to start with the damned crab. "What d'you think, Davor?" he called, not sure if he expected a reply. Davor was usually taciturn, but it was nice to hear his input anyway, Ernst thought, watching to make sure the crab didn't go over his -
Hahaha. Whoops. Its claw glanced off his shield but it looked like Ernst had been able to at least mitigate some of its planned revenge strike. He didn't know if it meant much, but if they weren't getting hit then they had a bit longer to figure out what to do.
Lisseul
Soldier of Song
briiva takes 50% on 1,2 briiva takes no damage on 3,4
Crab: 28 Ernst: 46
thyPOPE
Devoted Hoarder
Offline
Soldier of Song rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6Total: 6 (1-6)
Soldier of Song
Bear
Offline
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 3:00 pm
It was hard to say where they should aim, considering the damn thing had so many legs to tear and catch with. Davor was certainly feeling it, having been forcing himself to get nearer and nearer to try to get a hit on the crab. He almost envied the others and their choice of weapons, but actually, he felt better knowing they were protected.
Focused on the crabs erratic but aggressive movements, he actually did answer Ernst, part explaining what he was up to: "We should get close." Granted, he wasn't completely sure if that was the way to go, never having encountered such a horrible creature and already hoping never again, but it was a tempting target.
As the crab lunged again, so did Davor, finally managing to dodge its clawing and get a free hit between its legs, hammer swinging down right onto its body and sending it scuttling sideways. Damn that was rewarding.
Character Name:Davor Kozel Brief description of character: A bear of a man in both stature and apparent dexterity in tree-climbing, Davor is really more like a teddy than a grizzly once you get him talking. Just, good luck with that.
Briiva's next shot bounced harmlessly off the gaint crab thing's body, leading briiva to curse. "Damn it!" still, the vengeful swipe had been at least partially blocked the vengeful swipe in return
Ernst wasn't sure if it was getting more desperate, or well - if it was really reacting much at all. Its legs were definitely moving around more quickly, but he couldn't say that it was hitting its targets - them more. Ugh - why hadn't he been more careful, and looked where he was going?
He smashed his shield forward because there was really nothing else to do. It clanked solidly against one of the legs, sending the crab skittering back - but not before it hit Ernst, too. It seemed to be moving almost woozily. "Could we - lure it back toward camp somehow?" he asked. He didn't really know if that was a good idea, but it wasn't like it had been doing anything else until he'd pissed it off somehow. Right? It wasn't just going to turn on them?
