|
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
Patrols are everyday, necessary, and oftentimes uneventful. There's no guarantee a patrol will devolve into a chaotic mess of battle, blood, and a pinch of time turning trickery, but it can and does happen and as such, it's vital to remain prepared and comfortable with your skills and duties, and your responses to dangerous situations.
So patrols mix and match and sometimes Summer ends up paired up with Archers of the Long March (Marchers?) or Rangers of the Thorns for their patrols.
Or both.
Today is one of those latter.
Vorpal, for her part, has come along with an abundance of humility, deferring to Lauren as the Summer of their trio unless deference is otherwise established, striding along perhaps a pace or two behind the others, with a simple, but skillfully made knife as her only drawn weapon. It's just a survival knife with a knuckle guard with Sigrun's maker's mark on it. Just a long leather coat made from briarwolf hide for armor, and some lizard-leather handwraps for good measure. It's almost embarrassing how scant her gear for a trip into the Thorns is. She LOOKS terribly unprepared and ill equipped- heck, her only visible active Contract is a close-knit tangle of shadows around her already shadow form body.
She LOOKS like she's not taking this seriously.
But her reputation- if Lauren and Roger are familiar with it- suggest that is likely an illusion- very, very much so. (edited)
Lauren Mason
Lauren's pretty sure anyone volunteering for Hedge patrol probably knows what they're doing, so Vorpal's equipment or lack thereof doesn't phase her. Especially since she wears very little in the way of armor, and carries no visible weapons. Then again, she essentially has a knife coming out of her forehead, and a very sharp-toothed hedgebeast by her side so perhaps the point is moot.
She is, however, not really used to being in charge or anything. But she's trying. "So do we have any intel on specific threats, or are we just assuming the usual?" It's a bit of a joke, but the Hedge is always dangerous so...
Roger Gimlin
The Sasquatch had met Vorpal briefly, and Lauren not at all. So they fell in place as the scout, but as the third place of the trio in 'rank.'
The Archer wore what amounted to an all exercise outfit with a simple leather belt that had Winter's Crest on the buckle and was stained black. It held a combat knife and a hunting knife, but rather than having them ready, the others would see his claws had extended, and his fangs looked sharper than normal.
"I heard about a recent briarwolf attack, but not more than that..."
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
"There's never any shortage of briarwolves. They feed on fear, and flesh, and the Hedge is classically full of both, largely in the same places, so long as there's doors folx can get lost through. I wonder sometimes if the Narnia series wasn't Privateer propaganda to erase common sense fear responses when a door opens onto someplace it shouldn't," Vorpal wonders aloud.
"But no. No specific reports on a horrifying thing expected in the area or terrifying dismemberments or absent hobs or any such things. At least to my knowledge, which is- regrettably- at least two steps removed from omniscience."
Lauren Mason
"You're not omniscience? What kind of Autumn are you?" Lauren joked, but then nodded more seriously. "So yea, just the normal threats" At her side, Astrid let out a derisive snort but otherwise stayed silent. Lauren cracked her knuckles. "Well, maybe we'll get lucky" Lucky to find something or lucky not to is unclear.
Roger Gimlin
The Courser-Helldiver nodded to the pair and Astrid, going into very long strides as befits their mien.
"I'm more of an ambush predator, than a hold them off type, for the record."
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
"I know, right? I'm awful. I only have ONE BOOK, too," She stated, pulling her coat open to show the leaf'bound book in question. "It's a crying shame, really, I'm just waiting for my disbarment notice in the mail."
A thought occurred, and Vorpal did add, "Actually, there IS one concern I've heard whispers of. Some of the locals have seen a dragon in the skies? Like, not a wyvern but like. Full-blown, four legs and wing dragon. I haven't heard of any dragon ATTACKS, though, so I feel like someone's missing something. Do dragons ever just. Hang around and NOT ravage the countryside?"
Lauren Mason
Lauren twitched instinctively at the mention of a dragon, but after a beat she shook her head. "That's probably the new Freehold member. They're a fan of their dragon form. Hence the lack of ravaging."
Roger Gimlin
"Dragon form. Huh..." the beast was very curious, "Sounds like something to purchase in the future."
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
"Ohhhhhh."
Vorpal pads along another pace or two.
"... aw." A sigh. "I haven't slayed any dragons in like. Four years. And the last one asked me to kill it, so it hardly counts. Still. I shouldn't be complaining about the new one being a freehold member instead of a threat. That'd be selfish."
...
She kicks a rock dejectedly off the trod anyway.
Lauren Mason
"Honestly, I'd prefer to avoid dragons. They bring back bad memories." She looked away, but then added thoughtfully. "Then again, it is a shape with plenty of combat potential." She shrugged. "On the other hand I prefer my own capabilities for fighting."
She walked on a bit, but then paused, looking back. They're leaving a trail. She turned and hunkered down to brush dirt over her own tracks. A sudden feeling of stepping into cool shade on a hot sunny day billowed up as her Glamour reached out and erased all of their tracks. "Just in case" she said, as she stood. "Getting snuck up on would be terrible"
Roger Gimlin
When he laughed, at Vorpal kicking the rock, it had a very gorilla-esque hoot to it. Even in the scouting situation, with the so-called tension of a patrol, it became a hearty belly laugh, echoing through the nearby trees and vines and paths. The problem with so much ability to project, sometimes, is situations just like this.
Sure, he probably could have controlled it, if he felt the absolute need, but why bother in this point If something heard, it could be fun. (edited)
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
"Getting snuck up on would be just the worst," V agrees, nodding, and shivering pleasantly at the clashing sensation of warmth into cool with winter chill. "But fair enough. Let's us avoid dragons. Leave them to the new kid. And Roger, if he pleases, apparently!"
((I dunno if folx are specifically excited for a fight or not, but I'm not opposed if folx want to flex their sharp bits at guilt-free targets <3))
Lauren Mason
((I'd love an actual fight!))
Roger Gimlin
(Si!)
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
(Do we want a challenge or punching bags?)
Roger Gimlin
(Challenge sounds fun)
Lauren Mason
(agreed)
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
(Okay, continue then!)
Roger Gimlin
Roger stopped laughing finally and got caught up to the group, "Sorry.. just seeing someone so... " motioned at Vorpal, "Kick a stone like a kid... made me just... that was funny."
Lauren Mason
"Well, I guess if there was anything around, it knows we're here," Lauren said, her gaze sweeping the surroundings. Astrid had her head up as well, nostrils flared.
"Maybe that'll be a good thing"
Roger Gimlin
"Good Point!"
WIth that, some glamour flickered into his mantle and he was just gone, and the Winter moved invisibly with the pair. (edited)
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
V grins lopsidedly, a daggerslash across her pitch-shade form, pleased her display made Roger laugh- and then Lauren makes a Good Point, and Roger vanishes, and as if on cue...
A howl shakes the ground hard enough to crack it, just faintly, and ivy crawls up through what had, a moment ago, been a Trod. The howl was, intellectually, absolutely terrifying, but somehow lacked impact- and the Hedge-wary would recognize what just happened.
Something- something big- had just Spun the Trod down.
It wouldn't last, of course.
But one of the biggest advantages of Trods was that Briarwolves couldn't enter uninvited.
And judging by the sounds in the Thorns around them... that was no longer the case.
(We can roll initiative, or folx can take another turn to pose and prepare, whichever suits!)
Roger Gimlin
(I think we were all ready for an ambush, so a round of prep makes sense to my view)
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
(Go ahead! I didn't want to deprive such, nor demand one if nobody needed it.)
Roger Gimlin
Roger went full Winter then, standing stock still, and scouting for the fuckhead that caused this trouble. Of course there were no mirrors around, so he'd wait to see what interrupted the trod.
A breath of Summer's heat came from the Archer, as Lauren would likely recognize the Vigilance of Ares spreading through the area.
His claws, eyes, ears, and legs were already embodying the creature he was, but from there, it would depend on what the creature was.
Lauren Mason
At the sound, Lauren and Astrid split up, each moving to the opposite side of what... well what had been the Trod. Lauren shifted, prepared to turn and launch a kick or headbutt at whatever approached. Astrid's headtail thrashed as she bared her teeth, with a growl that most certainly doesn't sound like anything mundane.
Lauren smiled, but it wasn't a happy expression. "Let's go"
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
V's head tilted faintly. "... is that a new varietal? She seemed to consider herself as prepared as she needed to be just now. She twisted Sigknifr about in her hand, prepared to bend and weave out of whatever might come their way, planting herself between Astrid and Lauren, facing the other direction as the underbrush bustled and BURST as briarwolves rushed out to meet the visible trio. One dove towards Astrid, two towards Lauren, and a trio towards Vorpal, but from the sounds in the brush, this wasn't all of them.
Not nearly.
Roger Gimlin
The Courser-Helldiver slowly worked their way forwards, to stand near where the wolves came charging out of the hedge, in order to ready himself to lash out at the incoming whatever it was. (Yielding initiative for now)
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
As the wolves move in, one of them bursts through some low brush that collapses to the side, revealing a pristine-looking path that honestly looks much more like the Trod they were on than where they now stand. It's the clearest path of escape- at least if the changelings can fend off the slavering briarwolves racing towards them! (An action has been taken.)
Lauren Mason
Lauren bares her teeth at the wolves rushing her. Her teeth may not be pointed, but there's something animalistic or perhaps better to say bestial in her expression. She twists and lashes out at the closest briarwolf with a cloven-hooved kick.
(3 succ for attack)
Roger Gimlin
Seeing the injured briarwolf seek payback on Lauren, the winter said "fuck this shit" and launched with all the strength of a beast onto the back of the wolf, claws and fangs bared. The goal was to flay the beast from neck to tail...
...and did just that. The beast was ripped open on both sides of the neck, through the ribs, the abdomen, and all the way through the hips, leaving nothing left to hold up the torso, which fell from the four legs. (edited)
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
The wolves fell on the trio of visible targets, and blood went everywhere.
Lauren's kick gouged into the lead wolf's face, driving it back a pace with a horrid yelp, leaving its flanking partners to dive onto Astrid and Lauren, lashing out with their claws and scoring blows, worse for Astrid than Lauren, whose armor bought her some breathing room. Snarling, the lead wolf leapt to join in- only for its jaws to snap bonelessly shut as its torso slammed to the ground beneath the weight of invisible Winter, brought low just in time.
Which left three wolves on
T H U D
There wasn't really any fanfare. There weren't any anime SHING sounds, or gleaming blades or anything else. Just... a sound like a troop taking one marching stride in lockstep, and a messy, wet thud as the three wolves hit the ground in a tangled, crooked pile, lanced with their own claws behind Vorpal.
Untouched.
Unbloodied.
Dark head twisting to peer back over her shoulder and see whose blood she smelled- and who needed help most.
Lauren Mason
As the wolf's claws slice in to her, Lauren lets out a screech of a pain that sounds remarkably equine. But before she can react much more, there are a bunch of dead wolves. She blinks, surprise briefly overcoming pain. "You sure you're not Summer?" she says.
Astrid on the other hand is bleeding, but she snarls and leaps at the wolf that attacked her. Her teeth dig into the wolf's side. (edited)
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
Assessing the situation, and seeing how nasty Astrid's teeth prove on her own target, Jackie turns, her arm swinging up and over her head, as if to cut the air itself. A strange motion- and one mimicked by an unearthly shadow arm erupting up from the shadows beneath the wolf that just bit Lauren. Black ripples up through it in a heartbeat-quick flicker, and it simply... slumps.
In two different directions, tusks to tail.
"Help Astrid, and stay on guard. There's something else h-
W H A M
It looks like Johnny gets cold-cocked by the Predator's older brother. Something huge, hulking, and only really notable because it moved shimmers as it swings a titanic fist into her and sends her flying into the bushes to the side. It's almost comica-
"I'm okaaaaaay!
Ow."
... okay, it's a little funny.
Roger Gimlin
He pivoted and went to the wolf closest to the Astrid to attack it....
Roger Gimlin
...His claws went deep into the shoulder of the wolf, to leave Lauren a good opening if she wanted it.
Lauren Mason
Lauren wasn't really much of a MMORPG player, but even she knew to take out the little ones before the big boss. With a powerful thrust of her legs she rammed her horn into the wolf.
Lauren Mason
The horn pierces into the wolf's side and Lauren tosses her head back, dragging the horn's razor edge through the creature's side. It obviously hit something vital, because blood sprays as the wolf collapses to the ground.
Normally Lauren has white fur. It's pretty red now.
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
Vorpal picks herself up as shadows coalesce to dust her off. There's shadows wisping off the limb that struck her, too, clearly having eaten into the bludgeon of a fist somewhat.
A shadow shoved her blade back into her hand as Vorpal leaped, eating uo the distance between the fight and herself, calling over, "What's the plan??"
Roger Gimlin
The Winter, this time, disappeared from perception... Then they maneuvered off to the left, to see who was to be attacked next. And then help from behind.
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
It's harder and harder to see the Thing when it doesn't move. And trying to see it makes it harder to notice other things.
Like the trees weaving together and redefining the paths through the valley vale they're in.
Is it a stretch to define a valley as a "structure"?
ABSOLUTELY.
But it's also very in keeping with the Irewolf's nature to leave the paths out as tangled as the Thorns in. And if its meals aren't going to force its hand, it's going to spend its time making it as hard as possible for them to make it anyplace else.
(It now requires a Wits+Composure roll at -4 to move through the area to someplace specific or leave. Failing just leaves you more disoriented! It will require one of those rolls for Roger to rejoin the others!)
[6:40 PM]
(It also requires a Perception check at -6 to spot the creature to attack it. Once it's been spotted, you're fine until it stops moving again and forces a new check!)
[6:40 PM]
(It is Lauren/Astrid turn time!)
Lauren Mason
Lauren is riding the high from downing the last briarwolf, and she spins to face... try to face... wait. Where did that thing go? That's not good. Not good at all. "Guys?" she says, looking around. "I think we might be better off making a withdrawal. Come back with a war party" Very carefully, while still keeping her eyes on where the beast should be, she crouches down to scoop up some of the dirt. She mixes it with the blood from her wounds. "Just gotta find the Trod and we can make a run for it"
Roger Gimlin
The Beast came racing through the hedge, as if it wasn't there. Then he locked in on the beast's scent, then the sound of it's breath and the shimmer of it's movement... and leapt through the open path once again, claws outstretched to rake across the hindquarters of the creature. (8Ag)
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
The beast HOWLS, and the Hedge SHAKES, the same gut-quaking eruption of sound that occurred before. It whirls, and one tree truck of a limb SLAMS into Roger, hurling him STRAIGHT through a wall of brambles that weave shut again right after.
(5L (the smashy flavor) and you're separated from the group again. It'll take another navigation roll to return, or- if you start running- your chase target is now 5 instead of 4!)
Roger Gimlin
"FUUUCK! YEP! I CONCUR! RUN!"
Roger Gimlin
The beast ducked and weaved around vines, using the subtle edge of their claws to slash through the first set of vines.
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
"On it! Don't wait for me! We'll leave together, promise!" V shouted as she watched the brambles and ivy start to rush up ahead of them, forming new passages and blockades even as she looked.
For everyone but the thing.
"Oh, now. That's not hardly sportsmanlike at ALL!"
V raised her voice as she raised her hands, and the shadows from the undergrowth behind the charging beast exploded forward and dragged it back into place, pinning it down briefly as her grin razored across her shadowed face, before turning and prying the vines apart with more shadows as she chased down the other two!
Lauren Mason
Lauren turned and began grabbing thorn branches and ripping them out of her way, following the instinct that pulled her towards the safety of the Freehold's Hollow. She was strong, and fast, but the Hedge seemed to fight her at every step. Working in concert with her Astrid bit and ripped through the Thorns as well. It helped. Not as much as either of them would have liked
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
V noted that the thorns were thickening and fighting back against the other two, and stopped running, turning to face the Irewolf and throwing her hands wide and low, like an umpire.
Shadows swept the beast's legs out from under it, sending it crashing and snarling to the ground!
"Hey, not to put a damper on things, but this hedge is getting thicker by the second! How we doin'?!"
Roger Gimlin
"Just go, go, go," as they barely got farther through the vines. True, they were halfway to safety, but they should have been done by now, "Let it eat me if it y'all get going."
1
Lauren Mason
“No one gets eaten” Lauren declares with a Summer’s force. “We can do this!”
1
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
It's getting close. Both the chase in general, and the beast, despite Vorpal's best efforts to turn it back and delay it. Last ditch, as she sees Roger making it just out of sight by the skin of his teeth, she puts her hand to her side, low, wrists together. " I ain't gonna say the stuff they always scream when they do this..."
She looks up at the beast, inches away.
"But you're boned anyway."
She shoves her hands forwards as if expelling some tremendous mass of collected power- and as if responding, the hidden trod beneath its feet CRUMBLES as a raging Torrential river running the other direction tears it's feet out from under it and sends it howling back into the vale, and the maze-like thicket it created within.
Immediately, she turns and shouts to the others as she forces her way out of the last hedgerow. "HEADCOUNT."
Roger Gimlin
"I'm kind of alive! Just need a few bandages."
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
"Bandages or traction? He threw you like a tetherball."
Lauren Mason
“We’re here! No new wounds, but I feel like I should get the Hedge equivalent of a rabies shot”
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
"Yyyyyyeah, that's- probably not a terrible idea," V admits. "That was... I've never seen something like that before." Pause. "Teeeechnically, guess I still haven't. I don't suppose either of you have heard of anything like that?"
Lauren Mason
Lauren shakes her head, even as she leans forward, hands on her thighs as she catches her breath. “Don’t like it though. Especially not this close to the Freehold”
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
"Roger? Ever feature one of those on a made for TV special or something? No?"
Roger Gimlin
"Bandages," he sighed softly, "And a good chiropractor... I hit a tree, and that's where it hurts the most... as for what it is..."
Roger Gimlin
"Sounds like what they used to call an alpha briar."
Vorpal (and Briarwolves)
"Alpha Briar. Bralpha. Alphiar. Hm. Well, whatever it is swung like a truck. That was nuts. And I definitely would not want to get stuck in its territory. I think Lauren had the right idea. Call the area off-limits until a proper squad can be put together to deal with it.
|