Printable View
Trap Checking
"I believe we should put it out of its misery, you see, once you kill a beast here in the hunting grounds you are granted a reward of some sort. Now, I am not too interested in these rewards, but I might gain some benefit from them through you, Sam. So you should go ahead and put it down." Astrana replies.
Trap Checking
Sam nods. But after the action he just saw (still bleeding by the way, Astrana sure seems unconcerned about that, Sam grumbles in his head) he's not interested in any more close encounters. He uses his shotgun again to try and blow the trapped croc-buffalo-monster's brains out from the top of the pit.
The other thing is swiftly put out of its misery.
Nothing else seems to happen. Any creatures that were going to be disturbed by a shotgun blast fled at the first shot, or at least by the second. It wasn't a terribly exciting conflict. Much like shooting fish in a barrel, at least as far as Sam's involvement.
People do make lots of things out of croc-alo hide, if that's your sort of deal.
Trap Checking
Once that is done, Astrana stretched. "Well, that was intense. My heart is still beating like crazy." She takes a deep breath. "Maybe that's enough for today, not sure if I want to tempt fate anymore."
Trap Checking
"Uh, yeah, mine too." Sam says, making a show of looking down at his bleeding arm.
"Are you gonna take this thing? I get that we can't put it in the cage with the foxes but it's going to keep biting my gloves all day." he asks Astrana.
Surely it will get tired eventually. But for the moment, he's right. The shrunken leopard is attacking the gauntlets with all its tiny might.
Trap Checking
"I got more cages for this eventuality, so just stuff it in there." Astrana have in fact brought along three cages, the other two are smaller than the first however, they are just big enough for one small animal each. "It shouldn't be too much to carry, I hope."
Trap Checking
Sam is relieved by this turn of events and shoves the tiny cat into the tiny cage.
"Well, I'm glad that's over." he says, grumpily going into his bag and getting some bandages for his arm.
"If you want to call it a day, I'd say that's fine." he tells her.
Trap Checking
"Yeah, let's get back to MERC before anything else happens. It is already getting late after all and we certainly don't want to be out here at night. That creature is nothing compared to the creatures that come out after the sun went down. Just imagine a vampiric version of that." The tiefling argues as she starts getting hear gear together.
Trap Checking
Sam nods, picks up his bag, and will set off, carrying one of the cages if Astrana asks him. But only if she asks him.
You know, Koshal, maybe you should have rested a while before coming here.
As the squire approaches the grounds, he should start to hear a song, first one faint voice, then another, then hundreds, thousands singing in harmony. It quickly changes, growing from cheery drinking song to a sinister warbling piece and on into stranger things.
Not with his ears is it audible. Just with his head. Huntside stands out like a beacon to his inner ears, but it isn't only there. From the skies over the desert where the zirzirzir wingbeats of interplanetary marauders stir the sand to the deepest tunnels beneath the mountains where awful aberrations writhe, is Hunter's song. It isn't done; there's room for so many more voices...
Did he bring Dune? The horse would be little more than food to many of the monsters here - is that a griffin? Just an eagle? Hmm - but perhaps with Koshal on his back the two could take down more dangerous prey than either one of them alone.
[The Grounds]
Koshal brought his whole posse today, as usual.
He might have wanted to rest, but he already slept for nearly a day and this only increases his BOLD RISKS!
Dune is probably incapable of taking down anything bigger than a dog on his own. He's a strong horse, even with some combat training, but he's no warrior's stallion.
Koshal, for his part, tries not to develop a migraine and look for something interesting that isn't going to swallow him in a single bite.
To what part of the Hunting Grounds does he take his search?
Luckily most things won't swallow him in a single bite. Usually it would take at least two, and they're chew him up first.
Now, that titanic sauropod ambling along might crush him under a single foot...
A saber-clawed bear is chasing a pair of dog-sized bug-things up a hill. Above, a flock of scintillating jellyfish things bob and drift, looking for prey to descend upon. Over in the treeline, a flickering fire darts from tree to tree in a playful bouncing way.
Forest
For where else would he hunt?
Koshal seeks a noble beast worthy of a knights hunt but that bear might suit him fine. What is that fire? Maybe a salamander trying to attract prey. A salamander would be excellent! Koshal warily follows the flame for now, his gun drawn.
Everywhere! A proper knight isn't afraid of any sort of terrain!
As he gets into the trees, it looks like the fire is...footprints. Little patches in a trail marking a four-legged thing with a jumping gait that leads off into the deeper reaches of the forest, where all the light is choked away by branches.
Temperate Forest
Koshal doesn't really have any means to see in the dark, although Faye does. He'll follow the flames into the dark forest a small ways, but if it goes much farther he'll have to give up and turn around.
Has Koshal considered that he (or his posse) might be the prey a salamander is trying to attract?
Right when he stops, hesitates, decides to turn back, it grows even darker as the burning footsteps shift to black flames that cast no light.
Forest
Man, Koshal wishes he had Anchor's sunlight right now. He continues on his way, reigning in Dune. The horse doesn't like this situation one bit. Faye will keep watch for them with her shadowy-eyes.
Faye might spot a lone wolf watching them from off to the side, its pale brown fur standing out in the woods. Has it come from down north? Regardless, it doesn't seem inclined to attack her, her horse, and its rider all alone.
There's a buzzing, bristling sound in the air, growing louder and closer.
No salamanders show themselves.
Forest
Koshal kicks Dune into a run. Faye has no trouble keeping up but it's about the fastest she can go.
He had intended to be prepared knowing it was a trap but it seems he wasn't...
The best-laid plans of men and minotaurs often go awry.
Such as because of the sudden arrival of a swarm of angry bees which is soaring out from the depths of the forest, slowly gaining on the group. Dune could probably outrun them in a sprint, but Faye would likely be left behind and have to use her powers to escape.
Forest
Koshal slings his rifle over his back and slows Dune for a second for Faye to catch up. He opens his mouth to start a command but Faye already knows what he's thinking, pouncing into his waiting arms. The squire catches his dog and kicks Dune into a full sprint.
The insects keep up the chase for a while, perhaps to make sure that Dune is well and truly away from their hive. But they're falling further and further behind, and after a minute of frantic flight, they disperse and turn away.
They should be safe for a-
A moderately large rock smashes into the ground right in front of Dune, tearing up plants and dirt and a cloud of dust. A near miss. If you follow where it came from you'll see a sort of giant, primeval and animalistic: ten feet tall, teeth of a shark, ears of a fox, face of a hound, skin of a leopard. But more of less human-shaped all the same. He reaches down to heft up another boulder.
Much harder to notice is the patch of woven dirt and grass up ahead beneath which a giant trapdoor spider sits. It's not a coincidence. The beast-ogre often drives prey right into its waiting mandibles. It eats the insides, he gets the skin and bones.
Forest
Koshal drops Faye to the ground as Dune rears. Koshal brings him around in a wide arc, hoping that a curved path will make him harder to hit than going straight at the monster while Koshal beings firing at it with his rifle in slow, consistent reports.
A target following a curved path doesn't seem to trouble the giant. It's harder to tell just how fast the prey is moving, but they also have fewer angles to dodge that bring them out of the missile's path. He hurls the boulder right where Dune is about to be (Aim for the rider? Who's so much smaller? You must be kidding).
One of Koshal's shots goes right through the monster's ear; he snarls and falls to all fours, a smaller target as he darts towards the pair. He does his best to spring from tree to rock to clutch of tall grass to get a little bit of cover.
Forest
Koshal yanks Dune's reigns, halting the horse before he can run into the way of the falling boulder. Koshal continues to lay shots into the beast as he kicks Dune back into action. It'll be at least four shots before it can reach him at the rate that it's going.
One shot. The giant springs to the left.
Two. He dives into a roll, the bullet passing between the waving tips of his tails.
Three. Just missed and ricocheted from the rock it was scrambling over.
Four. Right in the shoulder.
It twists away, favoring its wounded left arm, and then spins back, lashing out at Dune with his right. Just one punch should be plenty to smash bones and send horse and rider both tumbling into the weeds.
Forest
Faye latched onto Dune's leg and blinks, and learns that she can only take one thing with her at once. Koshal drops to the ground without his horse, barely avoiding the punch by pure luck, and scrambles backward, aiming a shot point blank at the creature's face.
Bang! Crack! The monster seems to have caught the bullet among its many many many many many teeth. It spits out the projectile and one loose tooth before falling upon Koshal to try to wrestle the gun out of his hands.
Forest
Koshal effectively throws the gun into the creature's jaws as it tackles him, attempting to keep it from biting him for the second he needs to draw his pistol and unload it into the monster.
Koshal you were supposed to take out your special bullets after you used them before you're wasting them on one monster. Oh well, the creature will certainly have a bad time with all of those bleed bullets being shot into its neck and chest section point-blank.