The Hunting Grounds III - Second Most Dangerous Game

[Lord Magtok]

The Striped Pool

Krait had needed a new polearm, after his ancestral voulge had been destroyed back on Yorichi, and coming out to the Hunting Grounds seemed the most honorable way to find a replacement, but now he was having doubts. This would be the fourth beast today to have nothing presentable or dignified for use as a weapon, if things didn't work out here. Part of him wonders if maybe it would be better to commission something from the filthy tall ones in Erin's Emporium, but the spirits of his forefathers would never forgive him for such blasphemy, would they?

"Identify yourself, beast," Krait rasps warily, considering his options. His tiny little serrated hunting knife isn't weighted for throwing. He won't have any choice but to close into melee range, if this thing proves to be yet another vile abomination out for blood, but his battered armor should make such a confrontation considerably less dangerous. He takes a few steps forward, waiting for the thing to climb out of its candy-pink dwelling.

[UncleWolf]

The Striped Pool

It takes a few moments for the form to drag herself to the top of the liquid, but when she does so, Krait will find himself looking upon a candy colored woman about five and a half feet tall and absolutely delicious in shape as well as scent. Her naked skin glistens and she uses one arm to cover her torso as the other extends out, holding a Partisan with the tip pointed at the intruder. Though the weapon is of the same color as she is, the edge appears more than sharp enough to gut a bear. "I am called Marz, guardian of this entrance to The River Twix." She says, her pupiless eyes staring at him. "It is my task to judge if thou is worthy enough to enter the hollowed grounds." Despite her nakedness and her Ye Old English tone, her voice is full of enough conviction to make thoughts of aggression seem...stupid.

[Lord Magtok]

The Striped Pool

Krait eases his knife back into its holster, though he keeps one claw clasped around it, ready for trouble. He'll need more than a little luck if he plans on stopping her with that teeny little butter-spreading, beard-trimming chunk of metal.

"Krait, first son of Kurtulmak, and heir to Avernus. You cannot possibly be serious," His face contorts in disgust beneath that featureless mask, as the cosmic joke that is upon him slowly makes itself apparent. The River Twix. A candy woman named Marz. He ought to bludgeon the sorcerer behind this, beat him to death with his own loathsome puns.

[UncleWolf]

The Striped Pool

The Partisan is raised by the woman until the butt of it is set on the top of the liquid's surface as if it were stone. "Then I greet you, Krait, first son of Kurtulmak, heir to Avernus." She says stiffly, giving a bit of a bow and letting her free arm out to the side in a sweeping gesture. When she's done, she stands tall and looks up at the sky. "Tell me, Krait son of Kurtulmak. Is the sky an untouchable majesty? Does the sun not beat down on the backs of laborers in the fields, toiling to bring food their their Lord? Is not one's soul capable of turning their spine to steel and flesh to stone? Does the rain not cleanse the filth and sin from one's self?" She asks, all rhetorically before turning her gaze back at Krait. She quirks an eyebrow, expecting an answer from him in one form or another.

[Lord Magtok]

The Striped Pool

"I don't...Are these riddles, poetry, or nonsense?" Krait asks gruffly, evidently not the sort of warrior enchanted with flowers, haikus, or even basic courtly manners.

[Morcleon]

Jax yawns, stretching. The fatigue from using the wings was wearing off, but he was still quite tired. "Conjured flesh, at a guess. At least, it behaves in a similar manner. Using magic to construct living flesh on an ad hoc basis is very tricky, you see - a very fine balance of energies must be maintained in order to qualify as viable. Traditionally life essence is used to regulate the energies properly, resulting in it typically being used to create grafts, repairs, and temporary enhancements on living people. Take away the life essence and the energies that feed it go out of balance, quite spectacularly more often than not... Most magic that deals in conjured flesh includes a dispersal contingency in the case of death, so that it dissipates quickly and harmlessly, to keep things like that from happening."

Sophia shakes her head.
It's likely not magic, but as far as I can assume the flesh is as light as a feather due to the fact a being so large could likely not support itself. It's likely that the back of the neck stores a source of life the body is supported by, and the flesh evaporates due to the life source being removed, causing the flesh to no longer be powered on, so to speak. That could also explain why removed titan flesh evaporates and is replaced.
Sophia replies

"Mm... so perhaps it's sort of a dense gas that is compressed by the life source," Yuki suggests. He takes out a small orb from his bag, a number of blue rings and symbols appearing around it as he scans the dissipating Titan.

"Sophia, how long will it take the entire Titan to evaporate?"

[UncleWolf]

The Striped Pool

Marz seems confuses for a moment before shaking her head. "Excuse me. I had assumed that perhaps you were a Knight, Son of Kurtulmak. Though perhaps you are. Things might have changed greatly since my own time. Most I face are those who are of the...poetic kind. As an answer to your question though, yes, I am quite serious."

[Lord Magtok]

The Striped Pool

"It has been a long time. Man has conquered the once-untouchable sky. The sun still beats down and the rain still cleanses, however." Speaking of beatdowns, Krait considers the arsenal strapped to his military tunic. If he hadn't used most of his gadgets on those previous beasts, this would already be over by now, and he wouldn't have humored the candy princess with this conversation. Just another minute, though, and maybe she'll lower her guard.

[WarKitty]

Forest

A small black feline slides through the trees. Cautious...right now all she's stalking is a perfectly ordinary rabbit. Just a bit of practice



((Interaction may include trying to hunt the cat))

[Recaiden]

[Forest]

A thin tendril of lightning reaches out of the trees and strikes the rabbit, zapping it in place before dropping it to the ground. With a shriek, a small flock of winged reptilian creatures dart down towards their prey.

They'll attempt to work together to lift the rabbit up and away. Each is tiny, only weighing about a pound.

[WarKitty]

Forest

The cat decides that reptilian creatures are acceptable prey too. She starts trying to sneak up and pounce the nearest one. Her armor hums to life though, covering her body in a force field.

[Recaiden]

[Forest]

One of the tiny dragons is pounced on. It flails about, sparks snapping around in.

The others panic and beat their wings faster, trying to get away with the rabbit, up into the air.

[WarKitty]

Forest

The armor helpfully dissipates the sparks. The cat rolls with the dragon, biting down on its neck and shaking. The rest of the flock is ignored as they take off with the rabbit. If it dies, she'll carry it off into a tree to eat.

[Recaiden]

The dragon is shaken to pieces, and the body dragged off.

[WarKitty]

Forest

No sense wasting a kill, right? The cat turns her armor off and promptly noms the dragon corpse, buries the remains, and climbs back up the tree for a nap.

[Recaiden]

[Forest]

Elsewhere, up in a tree, the remaining dragons feast on the rabbit.

((Sorry, lost my idea for what would happen here.))

[UncleWolf]

The Striped Pool

"It has been a long time. Man has conquered the once-untouchable sky. The sun still beats down and the rain still cleanses, however." Speaking of beatdowns, Krait considers the arsenal strapped to his military tunic. If he hadn't used most of his gadgets on those previous beasts, this would already be over by now, and he wouldn't have humored the candy princess with this conversation. Just another minute, though, and maybe she'll lower her guard.

The Striped Pool

"Ah, to know such a time of wonders has arrived is both a blessing and a curse." Marz admits, looking up at the sky. "To wander through the Milky Way with the twin gods Kit and Kat, I would give anything." She says before looking back down at Krait, pointing the Partisan at him. "But instead I have been ensorceled to stay here until the arrival of the end of times. Perhaps you should state your intentions before we go further."

[Lord Magtok]

The Striped Pool

"How attached are you to that partisan?" He asks instead, staring up at the candy guardian, watching her face warily, for some faint hint of offense or hostility. Most who journey into these lands kill all manner of wild beasts in pursuit of power; it shouldn't be too hard to figure out why Krait is here.

[UncleWolf]

The Striped Pool

There's no hostility or offense, just curiosity as she brings the head up for her to examine. "It was a gift from my last lover. I have several weapons, but I find this one to be one of the more useful. He wasn't a particularly good lover, I admit, but he was romantic." She says with a shrug before looking back at Krait. "Is that why you came to the pool? To prove better than he was?" She asks with a smirk.

[Lord Magtok]

The Striped Pool

Krait removes but a single gauntlet, revealing a dry, reptilian claw of a right hand. He approaches Marz with this hand held high, and gestures towards it with the one that's still clothed.

"This," he starts, as the hand twists and reshapes before the both of them, drastically restructuring itself into something far less brutal and war-like.

"-is all that would be needed to prove better than those past lovers. Tell me what would convince you to part with the polearm. I've need of such a weapon, after my last was lost whilst slaying giants."

[UncleWolf]

The Striped Pool

The woman raises her eyebrow and looks at her weapon. "Is this truly all you wish? In that case, I ask two things of you. The first is perhaps the simplest. Spend the night here and every once every fortnight hence, simply telling me of the world and it's wonders. That is all that needs to be done." She says, completely sincere. "I am bound to this location and unable to venture away for all of eternity." She explains, flipping the partisan in the air to catch the bladed head. "As for the other, I wish to see your face."

[Lord Magtok]

The Striped Pool

Krait doesn't answer immediately. He simply stares up at the candy woman, his emotions concealed by that blank visor. While one would assume he must be deep in thought right now, he could just as easily be nodding off, for all the visual indicators present. After maybe a minute or so of this, he finally decides on an answer.

"Which one?"

[UncleWolf]

The Striped Pool

The woman frowns, unsure of what he means for a moment before nodding when she realize what he's asking. "Whatever face that will be the one to visit. I ask to know nothing more than that unless you give it freely." Marz says before setting her partisan back into the top of the pool. "The blade will be yours in the morning the moment the sun rises."

[Lord Magtok]

The Striped Pool

Krait puts his glove back on, but loosens his mask. His face is mostly about what you'd expect from a kobold, though there are signs of either advanced age or some kind of terrible skin condition here and there. Spots of pink where there should be yellow, soft where they should be hard and scaly. It's not a surprise he'd hide it behind a mask this whole time.

"I am indeed known as Krait, son of Kurtulmak. I did not when I said that I was I am in the business of being multiple things, however. The other, my unseen face, it commands legions of the devoted in shadow wars for my people. I only speak of this, even these scant details, because you are unlikely to tell another soul any of this. If not, I would be obligated to either kill you where you stand or execute myself instead, so that my people would not be burdened by the revelation. Our time is coming." Krait explains, as he reaches into the mask, opening up a panel in the back. He does some fiddling, and out comes a tablet computer, with MagGoogle loaded and ready.

"The world and its wonders may require a visual aid," he explains with a rare levity. Though it's there in his tone, there doesn't seem to be any sort of smile to match on his face. It could be that he's been scowling behind that mask for so long, he completely forgot how to do anything else.

[UncleWolf]

The Striped Pool

The guardian of the pool looks him over carefully before reaching beneath the surface to pull out a small golden decanter, a pair of goblets, and a small red stone. She walks over to the edge of the pool before turning around and sitting on the shore, her feet still connected to the liquid. Apparently she can never leave it completely. Once she takes a seat she blows some air over the stone, causing it to begin glowing and give off warmth and the smell of cinnamon. She gives Krait a small smile before setting it between them. "Cinna-Stone. It'll keep us warm through the cold night. Wine?" She asks, holding up the decanter before pouring some for each of them. "You will never have to fear me telling your secret. I swear that I'll never reveal your face to anyone for as long as I live and more."

[The Alexandrian]

[Have you seen my daughter, Alexis? - Swamps]

Zefir rides a motorcycle, eh? Does he happen to have a fine leather jacket? If not, I know what Alexis is gonna buy for his birthday!

Now to figure out what Zefir should fight today. Let's see here...

We want to stick with the theme, so Zefir should fight something you might find in a swamp. Giant leech monsters are cool. Crocodile/alligator beasts could work too... Hmm...

Ah-ha! Yes, yes, that'll do. It's not exactly a swamp-dweller, but it's close enough.

You've heard of a lungfish before, haven't you? Imagine, if you will a lungfish that's about twice as long as Zefir is tall. It's head is mud-brown, bumpy, and spherical. A row of razor sharp teeth line its mouth, some bent at odd angles. A lipless monstrosity it is, with slimy scales and a short tail. It stands upon two stubby legs mounted atop two webbed feet. Two arms terminating in claws protrude from its sides. It is a grotesque creature with yellow eyes and a misshapen face.

Yes, one of these creatures rises from the mud in front of Zefir, glaring at him with those disturbing yellow eyes.

[ThirdEmperor]

Huntside Infirmary

The druid shakes his head.
"No, I couldn't take your money for something minor like that. There's a few long sticks on a pile outside if you want something to lean on." he says simply, but otherwise lets him go.

"Well, I am in your debt." For what that's worth. Giving a nod to the druid, Sebastion is on his way. There's still a touch of limp to his step, a little flinch each time he's obliged to put weight on his leg, but that's mostly bruising. Nothing worth bothering with a walking stick as he wanders back out onto the main road.

And without any particular goal in mind, I suppose it's only a matter of time before the gravity of a good meal pulls him towards the dining hall.

[Deathkeeper]

Huntside- Mess Hall

And so there is the Mess Hall, just opening up for lunch! Much merriment is being had, mostly the rowdy, loud kind with all these boisterous hunters about.
There's no cost here really, as it's a public place, so Sebastian can just go and get food from any of the various counters around.
Hopefully he can avoid the Head Cook, who would likely be horrified at how bony the fellow is.

[Arkhosia]

"Mm... so perhaps it's sort of a dense gas that is compressed by the life source," Yuki suggests. He takes out a small orb from his bag, a number of blue rings and symbols appearing around it as he scans the dissipating Titan.

"Sophia, how long will it take the entire Titan to evaporate?"

About 10 minutes.
Sophia replies.

[Calemyr]

About 10 minutes.
Sophia replies.

"Oh."

There wasn't much more to say, really. "I take it that this mission is accomplished, then?"