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.
Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 11:53 am
Brian had returned to the camp to regroup after another battle when he had run across Misha. After a series of yes-or-no questions he had invited her off to help save some more unfortunate beast-people, and not surprisingly she had agreed. It was he, she, and a third young woman he had not yet met that headed out into the woods to search for more transformed Chosen or civilians.
It was a bit of a chore, considering how mushy the ground was and how many people and animals had been parading around the campsite. The footprints were wildly varied and mostly destroyed by this point, so it was more of a trek waiting to see movement.
Of course, the movement that appeared was... slightly larger than one may have hoped.
The beast stood among the trees, blinking round brown eyes at the group and cocking its head. Brian froze.
"Ostrich," he whispered, pointing to the creature. No, no, wait. Ostriches were grey, weren't they? "E-emu?" Did he have them confused? (180)
ShortGreen
Kaefaux
Character Name:Brian Watterly Brief description of character: A passionate, competent leader-type with a bit of difficulty expressing the emotions he feels. Deity: Zeus Weapon: Bow (balanced ranged) HP: 47/47 Minicert:
Emu, ostrich, fuzzy dinosaur. Misha was not quite certain but, whatever it was, the thing had a string of pearls around its neck which made it not only likely a "her" but also likely a Chosen. Edging back a bit and circling around Brian as he stood stock still, she eyed the bird. The bird was much bigger than anything she had faced before and the claws on the ends of its large feet looked like they could do a fair bit of damage. The little birdy head swiveled to watch Misha as she moved and she fought the urge to shiver at the evil look in the glaring orange eyes.
Birds. Why was it always birds around this crew?
Sighing internally, Misha drew back and down into a tense crouch. She might as well try what had worked so well with Tom, she figured. Though this bird was much, much bigger. She swallowed her nerves. Then, with a burst of energy, she launched herself at the emu. Her lithe form slammed into its body and it felt a bit like hitting a feather pillow over a brick wall.
As she bounced back and scrambled to her feet, Misha decided it worked well enough, nonetheless. The bird was staggering but not cut. She would take it.
Misha's HP: 75 Damage: 8 Emu: 52
(WC: 216)
grasshopper pie
Kaefaux
Kaefaux rolled 1 6-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-6)
Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 1:12 pm
She'd been considerably quite since they'd found out it was the infamous, according to the Odyssey, Circe herself that had a hand in turning Chosen into animals. On one hand, Tara'd been well.... tickled pink by the notion. How many kids didn't dream of turning into an animal and running away from all notions of horrific human responsibility? Yeah try working as a wildlife photographer. The number of times she'd camped out waiting for perfect shots, wishing she was yet another member of the native wildlife to make her job easier... all in joke, of course, and really she did understand that in reality being turned into an animal was not ideal...
First metal birds, now a--witch? goddess? immortal?--was turning Chosen into animals and really putting them into a bind. Tara cast another, half-bemused half-concerned look towards the feline Misha. Though she didn't know the young man, once she'd determined they were going to try and find more of their turned comrades, she shoved herself right on into their little group.
She'd figured another being with opposable thumbs might be of use.
"Y-yep, an emu," she mumbled to him when they'd stumbled upon the creature. Big, but not as horrific as an ostrich. Luckily. Lifting up her bow and notching an arrow--one of many whose tips she'd altered to be blunt and, she hoped, less dangerous to the turned Chosen--she'd been about to try and hit the creature... only to falter and cuss when Misha lunged for the bird.
Startled by the attack, Tara jumped a bit, and her arrow flew right on over the emu uselessly. So much for the use of opposable thumbs...
[ Tara HP: 42 /50 DMG: 0 Emu HP: 52 ]
grasshopper pie
ShortGreen
Character Name:Tara O'Connell Brief description of character: An always smiling, cheerful sort, Tara wears her heart on her sleeve. A keen eye makes her a valued photographer, and an improving shot with a bow, but her temper makes her surprisingly stubborn and too willing to dig her heels in when she feels it's needed.
Brian had blunted his arrows as well. They would undoubtedly bruise, but having a few non-piercing shots would be the best bet for all of these turned folks. Pearls could mean a Chosen or a civilian after all, and he didn't particularly feel like killing either.
He might have been privately pleased that he was correct on the animal assumption, but Misha lunged to attack at the same time the emu panicked and began its own assault. He nocked an arrow and let it fly, but it only grazed the beast.
"So. Scariest thing you've fought so far?" Brian asked. Was it the emu, or had she come upon something even worse? (296)
Thrown off by the flying arrows, Misha darted from one side of the emu to the other. She could only imagine how hard it was to be using a ranged weapon with pointy ends and still try to avoid hurting the animal they were trying to catch. No, actually, she could do more than imagine. Poor Brian had been faced with just such a challenge when it came to her earlier.
Gritting her teeth in renewed determination, she again kept her claws in when she rushed the pearl-wearing emu. She would not hurt the other if she could help it! Unfortunately, she only barely managed to deliver a minor shove to the bird before it kicked her away.
Misha's HP: 70 Damage: 2 EMU: 47
grasshopper pie
Kaefaux
Kaefaux rolled 1 6-sided dice:
5Total: 5 (1-6)
Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:02 pm
At least she wasn't the only one missing--or well, he at least hit the emu... Tara didn't move her eyes from the panicked animal except for to glance towards Misha and make sure she was ok. The Chosen could move pretty damn fast as a cat, she had to admit, but Tara was nervous about Misha being so close to those large claws.
Still, she did manage a quick smile at the question. "Got pretty close to a river in Alaska when the salmon were spawning and I was getting photos of grizzlies. Awesome shots, freaking scary to be near them though. Does that count?" She notched another arrow and took aim at the emu. "Also camped out close to a wolf's den once to get photos... got super close, they were looking right at me... still surprised they didn't attack me when the pups got curious and started poking their heads out."
This time when she fired her shot, she hit the emu square in the rump. The bird let out a cry, and turned towards her. Yelping, Tara tried to get out of the way of the charging bird, but it caught her with it's beak, pulling sharply on her hair before she could yank it away from the creature. "We're trying to help you!" By attacking it. So convincing.
[ Tara HP: 37 /50 DMG: 6 Emu HP: 41 ]
grasshopper pie
ShortGreen
Character Name:Tara O'Connell Brief description of character: An always smiling, cheerful sort, Tara wears her heart on her sleeve. A keen eye makes her a valued photographer, and an improving shot with a bow, but her temper makes her surprisingly stubborn and too willing to dig her heels in when she feels it's needed.
It was interesting to have two archers and a single attack-cat to battle this enormous bird. It made sense that it would come after those with the weapons rather than the body-slamming wildcat. Unfortunately that meant that their aim was going to suffer. Unless the emu put its big body right in front of them, they were going to have to struggle.
"Oh, really? Is that what you do? Photograph wild animals?" He couldn't imagine she was taking pictures of dangerous creatures for fun. Then again, there were all sorts. "Have you ever been published?"
The emu came rushing at them and rather than try to shoot it, he grabbed it by the neck as it passed and tried to have it backward. It snapped at his arm and kicked him in the leg, and then ran back. "Look out, Meesh!"
Huh. That had just kind of slipped out. He nocked an arrow as if nothing had happened. (465)
HP: 37/47 (-5) DMG: 3
EMU: 38/60
ShortGreen
Kaefaux
ShortGreen rolled 1 6-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-6)
Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:57 pm
Except it had, in fact, happened and Misha's big ears definitely picked up the nickname. Her head turned automatically, not even thinking about her reaction or the danger she put herself in until the emu's foot caught her hip. Misha staggered to one side. A low hiss escaped her. That would teach her to get distracted during a fight!
Gritting her teeth, she bent into a crouch again. Then she darted forward for another quick tag. Her retreat was almost as fast. She wanted to make sure both of her archer friends had room to aim this time.
This probably wasn't the best time for a conversation, but Tara still grinned a bit. "Yep, though we'll see how long that sticks with this change of... well, location and stuff. And yeah, a few publications in some wildlife magazines. Mostly stuff for local groups that hired me." Least, that was the short version of it all, but she figured it was enough given their uh.
Situation.
The guy's nickname for Misha definitely didn't go unnoticed by Tara either, and she shot him a wide-eyed look of genuine interest--how well did the two know each other then? But the fact Misha got hit by the emu only made Tara give a slight hiss of her own and notch another arrow.
This time, the arrow hit the emu dead-on---or well, not dead but uh... right. She was grateful for the fact it was a blunted tip at least, but the fact it hit the emu in the chest at the base of it's throat and made the creature sputter and stumble a bit made her nervous. Of course, when it began to flail about in distress and retaliation, Tara had to move away quick, thankfully only getting smacked a bit by it's wings as she zipped past it. "Sorry! Not like I want to hurt you!"
[ Tara HP: 32 /50 DMG: 12 Emu HP: 24 ]
grasshopper pie
ShortGreen
Character Name:Tara O'Connell Brief description of character: An always smiling, cheerful sort, Tara wears her heart on her sleeve. A keen eye makes her a valued photographer, and an improving shot with a bow, but her temper makes her surprisingly stubborn and too willing to dig her heels in when she feels it's needed.
"Oh, that's actually pretty neat," Brian replied. His voice was oddly calm for the fact that they had a searingly angry and terrified bird coming after them. It wasn't just any bird, either. It was a big bird. At least it wasn't made of metal.
"Yeah, this is all pretty new." He let an arrow fly and did not strike such an excellent hit as Tara. he stumbled over a root as he backed to try and dodge an attack. Damn it! He wasn't used to fighting in the woods at all! (563)
Misha appeared at Brian's side as he got back to his feet. She butted her head against his hip, a clear gesture of affection and support. Then she looked up into his face and flashed another one of her feline smiles. Before she could do much else, though, a flicker of motion at the edge of her field of vision brought Misha around in a tight spin. The emu, head bobbing angrily, picked up its pace at her notice and aimed a beak blow at her shoulder. A quick move to the side helped blunt the blow and Misha twisted with impossible, boneless grace to reciprocate. Her paw and claws caught feathers, yanking a few out of the bird. It squawked loudly and rushed to get out of her range.
Misha's HP: 60 Damage: 4 Emu's HP: 17
WC: 562
kaefaux
Kaefaux rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-6)
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2016 7:59 am
The bird was flailing all about, and kicked up some rocks and twigs that managed to thump against Tara, making her wince a bit as she backed up to take aim again. It wasn't that she didn't understand the emu's fear, but if it really was a person... they had to try and restrain them and get them back to camp. Least until they could figure out how to undue Circe's magic...
Letting out her breath, she fired the blunted arrow, watched as the strike hit the emu in the leg and made it stumble a bit again. The giant bird at least seemed to be slowing down from their efforts, so that was something.
[ Tara HP: 27 /50 DMG: 6 Emu HP: 11 ]
grasshopper pie
ShortGreen
Character Name:Tara O'Connell Brief description of character: An always smiling, cheerful sort, Tara wears her heart on her sleeve. A keen eye makes her a valued photographer, and an improving shot with a bow, but her temper makes her surprisingly stubborn and too willing to dig her heels in when she feels it's needed.
The emu didn't seem like it was about to stop. Brian didn't want to risk its life in the same way that pummeling them didn't seem to work all the way. He saw the bird's chest heaving, though, and so he dodged aside and grabbed its neck again as it swung, spun around it, and released. He wasn't about to wring its neck, but the emu did reel and hang its head suddenly, panting. Brian relaxed without having realized that he was tensed at all.
"Are you gonna come with us now?"
The emu panted and nodded its head. Human emu indeed. He smiled and nodded.
"Anyway, Tara, that's pretty neat." He held out a hand and rested it on the emu's back, planning to return to camp that way.
