[IC] Monster Hunters

[hannahbbug3]

Sunny smiles at the group as they agree on the job. There is still a little bit of worry creasing her brow at the idea that she's sending them into something that isn't easy, but good hunters never rose to the top without taking a few chances. "All right," she said. "I can meet you all in the Light Realm, if you like. Or... well, it's been a while since I came with you on a mission. I could tag along, if you all didn't think I'd be slowing you down," she said.

[NeoSeraphi]

Alexander adjusts his glasses and frowns. "The monster in question has likely murdered several people already. Can you protect yourself?"

An honest question. Alexander has no idea if Sunny even owns a weapon.

[Kallimakus]

Idranel looked at Sunny. She was a new addition to the team, and quite liked the cheerful handler. "If you wish to come." Idranel says, "I trust you know how to handle yourself. But don't worry about us. We're strong."

She sees no point hammering home Alexander's point. She didn't know what Sunny was capable of. She knew her own abilities. As long as she lived, Sunny would as well, should she decide to come along. And not dying was her best skill anyway. The way that she figured she could secure any kill.

[hannahbbug3]

At the question, Sunny gives a small smile. "Sweet of you to be concerned," she says, and she knows the concern is likely well-placed. Handlers usually didn't go out into the field unless it was for a scouting mission. And it had been a long time since her Flight had gone on one of those. "I can handle myself. At the very least, I don't have to worry about my reputation suffering if I run and hide, and if things get too hairy, I'm sure you'll be able to find me hiding up a tree later. But my parents did teach me how to fight," she assures.

[NeoSeraphi]

Alexander pauses for a moment, then he reaches into his saddle bags and pulls out the masterwork longbow that the group received from the hunter. "Suit yourself. I have no objections." He hands the bow to her.

[hannahbbug3]

Sunny smiles and accepts the bow, slinging it over her back before looking to the others. "Very good. Let's get moving, then," she says, leading the way to the doors. But she does pause just a moment before heading outside, double-checking her bag for the correct supplies. "Any special requests for additional supplies?" she asks, just to make sure.

[Drewski]

"Well if we're going to be rooting out a giant plant monster at some point I'd like a much of these supplies as you can find." Talim quick rips a page out of his note book and writes down all the ingrediants and ratios for Alchemist Fire. "I figure after we find the plant that we can just cut down a fire line around the plant and then just start dumping gallons of the stuff on it till it dies."

[NeoSeraphi]

Alexander shakes his head and gets saddled up to head to Fire real quick for this funeral.

[rs2excelsior]

Hrothrun claps Sunny on the shoulder. "We'll be glad to have you along! Another pair of eyes won't be a bad thing, if this corpse lotus is as hard to spot as they say." Privately Hrothrun is a little worried about Sunny--hopefully she's trained well enough to take care of herself. But this target should be easy enough to keep distant from, and the extra pair of eyes would be useful. "As far as supplies... Talim, you said this thing was resistant to acid and lightning? That won't slow Åska down, but it'll blunt the effects of some of your dragons. And my hammer. Sunny, any chance we could get our hands on some Alchemist's fire before we go?" Fortunately, it seems Talim is already on top of requesting incendiaries to take the thing out.

Åska gives Hrothrun a quizzical look as he saddles up and tells the dragonkin the target. "A giant plant? That doesn't sound too challenging."

"Don't get too confident. It's got nasty vines that will grab you, apparently, and it's pretty tough. They wouldn't be sending hunters out to do a bit of gardening.

"Hmm. It'll burn well enough, I imagine."

[hannahbbug3]

Sunny takes Talim's list with a nod after looking it over. "You want Alchemist's Fire, I can get you that," she says. But she notes that it's mostly the reagents on Talim's list. "Are you planning on brewing it yourself?" she asks. "Or should I get the final product? It will take a little bit longer to make our own..."

Spoiler: OOC

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Though taking the time to make your own will not only be cheaper, but will give Alexander and Sunny time to get back from the Fire Realm so I don't have to warp time to make this work.

[Drewski]

"I'd rather we save the small fortune crafting it ourselves."

[hannahbbug3]

Sunny gives a nod. "Then I will get you those supplies," she says. "You've given me the ratios, but how many did you want to make?" she asks.

[Drewski]

"As much as you can find?"

Spoiler: OoC

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There will be 9 of us fighting it, so let's say 3 uses each. So 27 uses of it, at 6g66s66b, is 180gp worth of ingrediants.

[hannahbbug3]

Spoiler: OOC

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So long as you deduct the gold, we'll pass over some in-game time for you to craft those. Go ahead and roll me up a craft alchemy check, or you can take 10 if you prefer.

[Drewski]

Spoiler: OoC

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Bah! Taking ten! Talim could take a negative 3 and still craft alchemist fire! -180gp!

[hannahbbug3]

After a bit of downtime - Sunny and Alexander leave and come back, with the reward of a Mouthpiece's favor to brag about. They don't have any monetary gain, but the dragons have long memories and always repay favors, in due time. Talim spends the time crafting the Alchemist's Fire that everyone needs for the upcoming fight, while Hrothrun enjoys the break - and the opportunity to be in the Ice Realm once again. Idranel wanders off on her own for most of the time, but as she's so shy and quiet, her absence doesn't make a huge impact. Finally, nearly two weeks later, the Flight has re-formed and is ready to hit the road.

"So just one last question," Sunny says, as they finish securing their saddles. "Who am I riding with?" She glances over to Talim and Gela, giving the pair a warm smile. "Do you mind, Gela?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Working out with Kallimakus what we're going to do with Idranel's retraining, but for the point of the main thread, Idranel has retrained one of her sphere talents going into the next fight, in effect now, as Idranel would have had plenty of time to retrain in the past two weeks. Even though we haven't gotten anything done on the retraining thread.

[NeoSeraphi]

Alexander is ready to go. He saddles Jenna up and checks the map. Once the group is ready, they'll take off to find this Corpse Lotus.

[Kallimakus]

Idranel is preparing as well. She is going over her equipment meticulously, making sure that everything is securely packed before climbing astride Berilian.

[Drewski]

Gela smiles at Sunny, "Of course not Sunny, I'll give you a lift any time."

Talim nods his head and starts to pass out the Alchemist Fire. "Ok, everyone gets three vials each. I assume everyone is familiar with how to use them safely?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Alexander pockets the vials. "We can hit this beast as quickly as possible with all the firepower we've got, but I do not think it will go as smoothly as you intend it to, Talim." He nods. "However, I am content to follow the plan until something goes wrong."

[Kallimakus]

Idranel accepts the vials and nods in reply to the question, adding them to her bandolier.

[hannahbbug3]

Sunny gives a beaming smile to Talim and Gela before she climbs into the saddle, sitting in front and taking the dragonkin's reins into her own hands. "Let's get going, then. Come up here, Talim, let's go!" she says brightly. It's been since... forever that she's gone on a mission with the group, outside of accompanying one or two of them at a time for some miscellaneous thing. And despite her hesitation to fly, she does seem quite excited to be going with you all. And... suddenly less hesitant, as soon as she's in the saddle. She looks like she knows exactly what she's doing - but then again, her parents are Riders. Even if she's a Handler, she isn't so out of her league on the back of a dragon.

They lift off, climbing into the sky. Sunny does pass the reins off to Talim, leaning back against him once they get in the sky. It's frigid up here, and right around the city, the winds are whipping quite a bit, but not enough to throw the dragonkin off course. The wind does blow Sunny's long hair into Talim's face quite a bit, however. It does get gradually warmer and less windy as the group gets farther south, and gradually the frozen lands below them shift to a marshy-looking taiga.

"Do you all ever get used to what the view is like from up here?" Sunny calls over the wind to the others as they begin to approach the mountain range that makes up the Lightning Realm once again. "It's gorgeous!"

[NeoSeraphi]

Alexander frowns as his gaze sweeps out across the landscape.

<You're making that face again.>

<Jenna, you can't see my face from down there.>

<I know. You're still making the face.>

Alexander sighs in frustration and grips the reins just a little tighter.

<You're overthinking things. It's an immobile plant monster. We won't be in any danger. Just fly over and bomb it. Easy.>

<The last mission should have been simple as well. But that chimera...>

<...You can't predict everything, Alexander.>

<And doesn't that frighten you?! Doesn't the unknown, the threat of death even when you take every precaution possible, doesn't that terrify you?>

Jenna is quiet for a long moment.

<If you make a mistake, you have a team that will step up to help fix it,> she answers.

Alexander looks over at Hrothrun.

<...Yeah. I guess I do.>

[Drewski]

"I do not think it will go as smoothly as you intend it to, Talim."

"Oh Gods know that it won't go to plan, but its certainly not a bad idea to walk in with one. I mean its not like it really cost us that much to prep."

Talim wipes Sunny's hair away from his mouth for what feels like the 5th time in the last 5 minutes. "How could you ever get used to a view like this? Its the closest you'll ever get to seeing the world as the Gods do!"

[Kallimakus]

"That is why I love to fly" Idranel says in reply to Sunny.

She ponders on what to say of the plan. It is simple and carries no alternatives or contingencies. Granted, her own plan would be observed as 'charge, then attack until target is dead'. Even if it was more complicated in reality. And perhaps the fire would come handy. She shouldn't dismiss it so readilly.

[rs2excelsior]

Hrothrun gratefully accepts the vials from Talim and mounts up. Åska gives him a bemused expression. "Alchemist's fire? Really?"

Hrothrun chuckles in return. "Apparently fire is one of the things this thing isn't resistant to. My hammer won't do me much good this fight. Oh, yes, go ahead and gloat."

"I didn't say a word," Åska replies, slowly and evenly.

"I know you were thinking it. You know why I didn't enchant the hammer with fire. There are things which can resist fire, you know." Åska sniffs, as if the very thought of his fire breath being inadequate is unthinkable. "Speaking of enchantments, Alexander, I've been working on that axe you asked for. Going to take some work still, but it's shaping up nicely."

He listens to Talim and Sunny discuss the view, glancing down from Åska's back. It really was amazing; flying was one thing he felt he would never tire of. Even before becoming a rider, he had liked to climb up to high cliffs in the mountains and just sit on the edge, with the world stretched out beneath him. Drove his father to fits sometimes.

[hannahbbug3]

Sunny chatters quite happily as they continue their flight, talking with any of the dragons or riders that choose to respond to her. She eventually gets around to telling stories about her parents, of hunts from a long while back that might interest the newer members of the Monster Hunter Guild.

"...and so then, my mother, who was the only one on the team smart enough to realize everyone else was just fighting mirror images, was the one to finally take down the beast! And that's how they got rid of the vampire in the Light Realm," she concludes one story. Without pausing for breath, she points down below. "Clearing. Looks like a good spot to camp from here," she says. Evening was drawing in, and while they could likely keep flying for an hour or so more, it would probably be good to take the break. Especially since they were going to be fighting tomorrow.

[NeoSeraphi]

Jenna lands as soon as Sunny points out the spot. Alexander and Jenna aren't ones to question their Handler. She organizes. They kill things. It's a good working relationship.

Alexander begins setting up a pot and some sticks for anyone to use as a cooking fire.

[Kallimakus]

Idranel has been listening intently, making mental notes. After landing, she goes on to pitch up her tent and help Berilian unpack her alchemy gear. She didn't need it tonight, but come next morning, many of her remedies would need to be remade. For now though, Alexander was setting up a campfire. She sits by, taking out her journal and uncorking some ink. She writes down some parts from Sunny's stories in her journal. There was still the mission posting about vampires that was fresh in her mind, so insight in defeating them could be useful. She does jump between pages a lot, writing a thing her and a thing there.

Berilian also basks in the warmth of the fire behind Idranel.

"Does anyone feel like sparring? I could use a bit of exercise." Idranel asks as the evening goes on.

[rs2excelsior]

Åska touches down in the clearing with the others and Hrothrun begins unsaddling the dragonkin and setting up camp. It doesn't take too long to get his simple bedroll laid out, and he is doing basic maintenance on Åska's saddle, but glances up at Idranel's question. "If you like, sure," he responds. "Can't hurt to get a bit of practice in. With weapons or without?"