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 to 5HP or below, 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.
Seiana_ZI rolled 1 6-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-6)
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 4:54 pm
Zebulon was cooperating, for a given value of cooperating.
"Are you sure you don't want to turn around?"
It was probably the fifth time Zebulon had asked that question.
"I mean, you're still healing, right? Don't wanna open back up tha--"
His words suddenly slammed to a halt when he heard some ruffling noises. It didn't take terribly long for him to make the connection that the ruffling noises were coming from an emerging black bear--Louisianan black bear, he assumed--that was staring at them just about as frightened as Zebulon was looking back at it.
He attempted to clear his head by observing some features. Was this one of them or should they run away-- oh. There was some sort of scarf--who wore scarves in the swamp? Maybe it was just remnants of a shirt?--around its neck. This wasn't a bear; it was a former human. s**t.
Perhaps being too busy scrambling for a solution to this problem in his head caused him to completely forget to even defend himself, getting charged and scratched by the frightened former human bear.
HP: 51/56 Damage: nope Monster HP: 60/60
Amasis
Character Name:Zebulon Castaneda Brief description of character: Zebulon accompanies his even temper and clear mind with an oft-frustrating tendency to be snarky even in the most serious moments, needling people far past the point he should. Tagging along is a need for control, tempered by the fact that he does usually know what he's talking about. His normal ease seems lessened at current, though his control over himself is back now that he's removed enough from the conflict with the metal vulture.
Deity: Athena Weapon: Shield HP: 56 Minicert: n/a
Seiana_ZI
Codebreaking Conversationalist
Offline
Amasis rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6Total: 6 (1-6)
Amasis
Everyday Blob
Offline
Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 7:47 pm
Diryas was a little less concerned about his health than Zebulon was, more concerned with trying to recover as many of the fled Chosen as they could. His health would remain satisfactory for the time being, he was sure. At least he wasn't an animal.
Speaking of animals.
He was just as startled by the bear as Zebulon was, making similar checks to determine that this was indeed one of their members. Not an actual bear, luckily. Though, to be fair, Diryas wasn't sure how much help that'd be, given how... primal the bear-Chosen seemed to be acting.
Up to and including attacking them, it seemed.
Diryas jumped back when the bear clashed with Zebulon, not wanting to get anywhere near the claws or accidentally in Zebulon's way. He was hardly going to leave Zebulon to do this himself, however. He unhooked his whip and pulled it back. When he let loose with it, the crack hit the side of the bear, a result both gratifying and concerning. He did not want to maim them; they were supposed to be allies, after all. This transformation was hardly their fault. But if attacking would subdue whoever this was... then he would have to take that option.
Even if the retaliatory strike almost laid open his dominant arm.
Health: 42/47 DMG: 8pts Monster HP: 52/60
Character Name:Diryas al-Baksh Brief description of character: seemingly the dictionary definition of "quiet loner type" who doesn't tend to speak much unless spoken to, unless it's about chemistry (having a phD in it requires passion, after all); petit in build and not the most athletic but willing to work around it.
While Diryas was concerned about maiming the personimal, Zebulon really wasn't. So long as they didn't kill them, they'd be fine.
And they were being attacked, especially Diryas. Even if the bear-human really wasn't thinking, he didn't care. When he saw the claws of the bear strike against Diryas' arm, Zebulon threw his shield up and attempted to throw the bear off Diryas.
Unfortunately, while he did manage to take the bear's attention off his partner for the moment, he didn't really manage to cause any damage at all. Again. The shield caused a sharp breeze, at best, which seemed to enrage the frightened bear. It turned its attention back to Zebulon and scratched his cheek, nearly throwing his glasses askew.
HP: 46/56 Damage: wow gj zeb Monster HP: 52/60
Amasis
Character Name:Zebulon Castaneda Brief description of character: Zebulon accompanies his even temper and clear mind with an oft-frustrating tendency to be snarky even in the most serious moments, needling people far past the point he should. Tagging along is a need for control, tempered by the fact that he does usually know what he's talking about. His normal ease seems lessened at current, though his control over himself is back now that he's removed enough from the conflict with the metal vulture.
Deity: Athena Weapon: Shield HP: 56 Minicert: n/a
Seiana_ZI
Codebreaking Conversationalist
Offline
Amasis rolled 1 6-sided dice:
5Total: 5 (1-6)
Amasis
Everyday Blob
Offline
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:16 pm
The actual pain of the bear strike was much less than Diryas had expected, perhaps thanks to the new benefits they had as Chosen. Accordingly, he ducked around Zeb--once the other man finished his shield bash attempt--to strike a second time with his whip. It was just as successful as the first, something that was immensely gratifying. The bear pulled back a moment before striking at him again. He took the hit with a nonverbal grunt.
Glancing back over his shoulder, he asked Zebulon, "are you alright?"
Health: 37/47 DMG: 8pts Monster HP: 44/60
Character Name:Diryas al-Baksh Brief description of character: seemingly the dictionary definition of "quiet loner type" who doesn't tend to speak much unless spoken to, unless it's about chemistry (having a phD in it requires passion, after all); petit in build and not the most athletic but willing to work around it.
This was said through grit teeth, perhaps hinting that he wasn't entirely fine. It didn't really bother him too much physically, but he was hurt by how terrible of a job he was doing when it came to actually defending Diryas. If he couldn't land a hit, the personbear had more time to hurt Diryas, and that bothered him.
Perhaps there was a better way to go about this.
After all, he did have a shield.
Zebulon moved between the bear and Diryas, raising his shield to the bear in an attempt to block some of the worst damage. "I've got the bear, just focus on hitting him!"
HP: 46/56 Defending: Diryas for Full Damage Monster HP: 44/60
Amasis
Character Name:Zebulon Castaneda Brief description of character: Zebulon accompanies his even temper and clear mind with an oft-frustrating tendency to be snarky even in the most serious moments, needling people far past the point he should. Tagging along is a need for control, tempered by the fact that he does usually know what he's talking about. His normal ease seems lessened at current, though his control over himself is back now that he's removed enough from the conflict with the metal vulture.
Deity: Athena Weapon: Shield HP: 56 Minicert: n/a
Seiana_ZI
Codebreaking Conversationalist
Offline
Amasis rolled 1 6-sided dice:
5Total: 5 (1-6)
Amasis
Everyday Blob
Offline
Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 5:13 pm
For the record, Diryas did not like the idea of standing back and letting Zebulon take all of the punishment the bear was dealing out. It was precisely the opposite of what he wanted to do. However, he knew that--given their respective abilities and equipment--Zebulon had the right idea. Now, he just had to make sure that he took the bear down in enough time that Zebulon would not be seriously injured.
Of course, Diryas still had every intent of doing it with as little harm to the bear-person as possible. But, if he had to choose, he already knew how easy of a choice he would actually find it.
He let fly with the whip again, with another strong result accompanying the crack. It took a considerable amount of his resolve to stand his ground when the bear doled out to Zebulon the blow meant for himself. He didn't bother asking if Zebulon was alright, already knowing the response he'd get, just as he knew he wouldn't believe that response.
They were making progress, at least.
Health: 37/47 DMG: 8pts Monster HP: 36/60
Character Name:Diryas al-Baksh Brief description of character: seemingly the dictionary definition of "quiet loner type" who doesn't tend to speak much unless spoken to, unless it's about chemistry (having a phD in it requires passion, after all); petit in build and not the most athletic but willing to work around it.
It may have been the opposite of what Diryas wanted, but it was indeed what made the most sense. Zebulon had a shield. Diryas had a whip.
The shield wasn't just made to bash things with, after all.
Zebulon turned his head to glance behind him briefly, to make sure Diryas was actually going to take advantage of the opening. And he did. The whip made a resounding crack, and Zebulon gave an encouraging whoop, that quickly transformed into a grunt when he was shoved backwards by the bear smashing into his shield. Nevertheless, he recovered quickly, standing his ground and trying to make sure the bear wouldn't get though.
HP: 46/56 Defending: Diryas for Half Damage Monster HP: 36/60
Amasis
Character Name:Zebulon Castaneda Brief description of character: Zebulon accompanies his even temper and clear mind with an oft-frustrating tendency to be snarky even in the most serious moments, needling people far past the point he should. Tagging along is a need for control, tempered by the fact that he does usually know what he's talking about. His normal ease seems lessened at current, though his control over himself is back now that he's removed enough from the conflict with the metal vulture.
Deity: Athena Weapon: Shield HP: 56 Minicert: n/a
Seiana_ZI
Codebreaking Conversationalist
Offline
Amasis rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6Total: 6 (1-6)
Amasis
Everyday Blob
Offline
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 9:51 pm
It took some of the wind out of him when the bear made contact despite Zebulon's best efforts. He was light enough in build that the force pushed him back over a foot, and he supposed he had to be thankful that it was his nondominant shoulder that took the most damage. He jumped back to put distance between himself and the bear again, making sure to keep behind Zebulon so that Zebulon wouldn't have to worry about coverage.
For their credit, the bear was starting to look a little worse for the wear. Still obviously with plenty of fight in them, unfortunately. They would have to keep it together if they wanted to make sure they succeeded.
Health: 34/47 DMG: 8pts Monster HP: 28/60
Character Name:Diryas al-Baksh Brief description of character: seemingly the dictionary definition of "quiet loner type" who doesn't tend to speak much unless spoken to, unless it's about chemistry (having a phD in it requires passion, after all); petit in build and not the most athletic but willing to work around it.
Zebulon winced when he saw Diryas get knocked backwards. That wasn't what he wanted. He needed to do better on his defence next time.
He shook his arms out before repositioning himself to better protect Diryas while still leaving him some room to properly hit the bear with his whip. This new method did appear to be more effective than Zebulon attempting to terribly attack while Diryas clearly was on a roll, since he was absorbing most of this damage with his shield, but how long would this take?
Hopefully not much longer.
HP: 46/56 Defending: Diryas for Half Damage Monster HP: 28/60
Amasis
Character Name:Zebulon Castaneda Brief description of character: Zebulon accompanies his even temper and clear mind with an oft-frustrating tendency to be snarky even in the most serious moments, needling people far past the point he should. Tagging along is a need for control, tempered by the fact that he does usually know what he's talking about. His normal ease seems lessened at current, though his control over himself is back now that he's removed enough from the conflict with the metal vulture.
Deity: Athena Weapon: Shield HP: 56 Minicert: n/a
Seiana_ZI
Codebreaking Conversationalist
Offline
Amasis rolled 1 6-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-6)
Amasis
Everyday Blob
Offline
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 7:45 pm
Perhaps it was due to the last hit, but Diryas' whip went wide this time. It hit the bear, but only a glancing blow off of the shoulder. He murmured something distinctly unkind under his breath, the end of it hissing as the bear let him know exactly what they thought of his attempt. They were getting there, at least. He had to tell himself that.
Now just to hope that they got there before the bear finished taking pieces out of the two of them.
Health: 31/47 DMG: 2pts Monster HP: 26/60
Character Name:Diryas al-Baksh Brief description of character: seemingly the dictionary definition of "quiet loner type" who doesn't tend to speak much unless spoken to, unless it's about chemistry (having a phD in it requires passion, after all); petit in build and not the most athletic but willing to work around it.
The whip went a little wide, but that was alright -- it still seemed to glance the bear, anyway, close enough that it at least did something.
The black bear in front of them didn't seem particularly subdued yet, though, and Zebulon cringed as the bear managed to shove by him to strike at his partner despite his attempts at defense with a shield. He needed to do better. Diryas getting hit was unacceptable.
He'd be fine, though, wouldn't he? He wasn't on the ground--
Zebulon threw his shield back up and spread his legs out, attempting a standing-his-ground stance.
HP: 46/56 Defending: Diryas for Half Damage Monster HP: 26/60
Amasis
Character Name:Zebulon Castaneda Brief description of character: Zebulon accompanies his even temper and clear mind with an oft-frustrating tendency to be snarky even in the most serious moments, needling people far past the point he should. Tagging along is a need for control, tempered by the fact that he does usually know what he's talking about. His normal ease seems lessened at current, though his control over himself is back now that he's removed enough from the conflict with the metal vulture.
Deity: Athena Weapon: Shield HP: 56 Minicert: n/a
Seiana_ZI
Codebreaking Conversationalist
Offline
Amasis rolled 1 6-sided dice:
3Total: 3 (1-6)
Amasis
Everyday Blob
Offline
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 8:15 pm
Diryas' breathing was getting a bit ragged, to be sure. He wasn't going down yet, definitely not, but he was definitely feeling the lactic acid buildup in his muscles. A whip crack laid open another line on the bear through the fur, but it wasn't enough to stop the turned Chosen. The retaliatory attack made him falter for a moment. But, in the next second, he hissed something under his breath and shifted his grip on his whip. Alright, he was going to try something...
Health: 28/47 DMG: 4 pts Monster HP: 22/60
Character Name:Diryas al-Baksh Brief description of character: seemingly the dictionary definition of "quiet loner type" who doesn't tend to speak much unless spoken to, unless it's about chemistry (having a phD in it requires passion, after all); petit in build and not the most athletic but willing to work around it.
Unfortunately, standing his ground really wasn't as effective as he thought it would be, and the bear crashed against his shield again, shoving him backwards and leaving Diryas open for a swipe.
Concerned, he glanced over his shoulder to see how the other was doing. He seemed alright, for the moment, if not a little warm. Very warm. He didn't necessarily want to see Diryas panting like that in a battle. Meant he was getting worn out. Maybe he needed to try to keep the bear further off him...
Once again, he attempted to change his positioning to absorb more of the bear's damage. Maybe it would work better this time.
HP: 46/56 Defending: Diryas for Full Damage Monster HP: 22/60
Amasis
Character Name:Zebulon Castaneda Brief description of character: Zebulon accompanies his even temper and clear mind with an oft-frustrating tendency to be snarky even in the most serious moments, needling people far past the point he should. Tagging along is a need for control, tempered by the fact that he does usually know what he's talking about. His normal ease seems lessened at current, though his control over himself is back now that he's removed enough from the conflict with the metal vulture.
Deity: Athena Weapon: Shield HP: 56 Minicert: n/a
Seiana_ZI
Codebreaking Conversationalist
Offline
Amasis rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6Total: 6 (1-6)
Amasis
Everyday Blob
Offline
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 8:42 pm
Perhaps it was the shift in his grip on his weapon, or maybe it was the opening provided him by Zebulon taking the entirety of the bear's charge with his shield, or maybe it was sheer determination. Either way, whatever it was, Diryas' next attack was a sharp one, across the bear's face with a resounding crack of the whip he wielded. He was sorry for the chosen they were fighting, but in the interest of surviving the encounter, Diryas couldn't help but feel victorious.
He didn't let himself get carried away, however. Momentary satisfaction was good, but it would be best to finish the job and get the turned Chosen back to the others.
Health: 28/47 DMG: 8 pts Monster HP: 14/60
Character Name:Diryas al-Baksh Brief description of character: seemingly the dictionary definition of "quiet loner type" who doesn't tend to speak much unless spoken to, unless it's about chemistry (having a phD in it requires passion, after all); petit in build and not the most athletic but willing to work around it.
