Yarders of the Lambent Fields IC

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran
I21/21 S9/12 M4/7

Aldeb barely manages to get to his feet before the hounds come and he can feel their breath as he takes cover behind the cage. In the frenzy of combat he just barely registers the fuzzy quality of the cage, the slight whisper that tells him it is an illusion.

With an extra bit of effort, he avoids the broken hound. At that moment, Chase, the brave, impulsive, deadly fool gets between Aldeb and the hounds.

"Chase! You will get torn, you brave fool!"

Aldeb concentrates and on his head circuits light up and his eyes glow blue and red. With an effort of will, he focuses on the ever- present whisper of the nanites around him. In his mental space, moments pass as he cajoles them to attack the broken hounds. A cloud of nanites coalesces around the hound, which yeps in pain as it gets disassembled on a molecular level.

Spoiler

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Rolls in OOC

Aldeb nose lets a trickle of blood, which he whips with the back of his hand.

[Zero Prime]

Chase the Hunted, A Passionate Glaive who Shreds the World
^{Might Pool: 8 of 13 | Speed Pool: 11 of 14 | Intellect Pool: 7 of 7}

Chase screamed as the hound discorporated through him, e felt as though a thousand fish hooks had been anchored in his flesh and pulled in a hundred different directions. He sunk to one knee, which was *NOT* the level one wanted to be with the hounds, as their clacking beaks snapped inches from his face. However he noted Aldeb was threatened by these flesh-starving beasts, Aldeb, the one who had taken him in, sheltered him from the Templars. He grunted, stood up, and vaulted the body of one of the hounds to interpose himself between Aldeb and the pack, "Not frelling today you carrion breaths! The only carcasses left on the sands when we're through will be yours!" He slashing his razor ring on a downward angle, towards the beasts thick neck trying to end it's threat to himself and his allies.

Ouch! Down to 8 Might, I am going to attack w/o Phase Sprint or Disrupting Touch, as Pool costs are building up, with my Chakram Slicer, as Asset on the attack (Light Weapon), Dmg 2, +1 Glaive, +1 for being Angry, for a total of 4 damage at the hound wounded by my DIsrupting touch. (1d20)[13]. Let's see how this goes.

[DominoMasque]

SYL
M:10/10; S(1):10/12; I(1):15/15
Arrows: 10

Syl steps aside as the hound lunges at her, kicking it aside as it comes past her.

Spoiler: OOC

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Rolls in Discord. (16 Speed Defence, 9 Attack - 2 damage unarmed).

[infoweasel]

Pulling another bolt onto his crossbow hurriedly, Vukasen brings it up to his shoulder and fires as Aldeb enters the unreal protective barrier. Hopefully the hounds are too stupid to notice how easily Aldeb passed through it. Popping off a shot, he aims between the beams of aether and makes a satisfied exclamation as the bolt sinks deep into the flank of one of the hounds harassing Chase still. Fishing out another bolt, he waves his arm at Syl in a "c'mon' gesture. "Syl! Over here!"

Spoiler: OOC

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4 damage vs an appropriate carrion hound, roll is in the Discord.

[TwoBitWriter]

Crisis Mode!

Roka spectacularly dives away from the broken hound that leaps at her. She attempts to kick back, but the blow is awkward and does not strike home (I'm ruling that the 20 negates the following 1).

Aldeb's "magic" strikes the broken hound before Chase, stalling it enough for the glaive to strike the killing blow, nearly removing the animal's head from its body despite the fatigue beginning to set in.

Syl also easily dodges the attack from her hound, kicking it squarely and painfully on the creature's flank. She can hear the ribs cracking underneath her foot. A crossbow bolt from Vukasen flies past her, striking the beast and killing it.

As it stands, there remain six of the broken hounds and half of their number lie dead in the multicolored sands. They attempt to rally against you.

Spoiler: OOC Vukasen

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Roll an Intellect check against TN 6 to fool the hounds with your illusionary cage. Should have asked for that sooner.

Spoiler: OOC for everyone

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Vukasen's illusionary cage's effectiveness will basically determine who the broken hounds attack next. I will update IC after that roll.

Edit: the six remaining hounds avoid Vukasen's cage completely and instead focus their attacks on those outside of the cage: Syl, Roka, and Chase, each being attacked by two hounds.

[tonberrian]

Roka pulls out her crossbow and sends a bolt into one of the attacking hounds!

Spoiler: OOC

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Pulling out a crossbow and attacking a hound! (1d20)[18], 4 damage.

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran
M 4/7 S 9/12 I 21/21

The cage seems to holding the hounds back. Aldeb feels the relief filling him. However, the glaives are out there, in the middle of it all. This has to end, and soon.

Now that he has established a rapport with the nanites in the area, Aldeb whispers again at them, targeting a different hound. He puts more effort into, it willing more and more nanites to go after the nearest hound.

The nanites respond, and they go after the hound. As if being erased by a divine eraser, the hound disappears, its molecules now part of the Fields.

A small scent of burnt rubber appears around Aldeb, as his circuits burn into his flesh, making him gasp for a second.

[Zero Prime]

Chase the Hunted, A Passionate Glaive who Shreds the World
^{Might Pool: 8 of 13 | Speed Pool: 11 of 14 | Intellect Pool: 7 of 7}

Chase, fatigued by the his frequent slipping between dimensions stumbled as the hounds savaged his body, ripping bloody strips in his side. Suddenly off balance with the weight of his savage attackers, his Razor RIng swings wildly as he cries out in pain.

OOC: Speed Defense Task, Trained due to Unarmored Defense & 1 Asset for my Shield, bringing the level down to 2 Ranks, Diff 6. (1d20)[1]. Now, an attack, Eased for Light Weapon, Damage 2, +1 Glaive, +1 Passionate. Chase will target the one with Roku's crossbow bolt in it. (1d20)[3]. Yup, I hate D20's, so how much damage do I take?

[DominoMasque]

SYL
M:10/10; S(1):8/12; I(1):15/15
Arrows: 9

Syl waits until the hound is almost upon her and fires a shot into it's beaked jaw before stepping aside.

Spoiler

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Rolls in OOC, pass speed defence rolls and hit for 7 damage

[infoweasel]

As the chaos of battle becomes a bit easier to take in with the 'force cage' effectively giving him safe haven, he frowns deeply as he watches Chase's armor spatter with the mixture of his own and the hounds' blood. 'Chase! Frakkin' drek, idiot, running in like that..." Hurriedly pulling another bolt into place, his wiry muscles strain under his lightweight cloak to draw it fully back. Focused on Chase, no sooner does the squeal of pain from his target's beak pierce the air before another bolt is being drawn back into place, his breath coming faster as the heat and the near-panic of battle wash over him.

Spoiler: OOC

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4 damage to an appropriate Hound.

[TwoBitWriter]

Crisis Mode!

Chase stumbles while trying to defend himself against the assault of two hounds. He is brought to the ground while the beasts dig into him savagely (8 Might Damage. Chase is now impaired with 0 Might)

Roka kills a hound with her crossbow, two more fall to the combined attacks of the rest.

Three more hounds are now dead and the few remaining take this opportunity to flee rather than continue on. They abandon their fallen and before long have completely retreated from view.

As quick as the battle began, it is now over. Nine hounds lay dead and Chase is gravely wounded.

[tonberrian]

Roka shakes her hand from the pain of the sprain. "Nothing like a good fight to stretch the muscles. Chase, you okay?"

[Zero Prime]

Chase the Hunted, A Passionate Glaive who Shreds the World
^{Might Pool: 11 of 13 | Speed Pool: 11 of 14 | Intellect Pool: 7 of 7}

OOC: Chase will try an untrained First Aid, binding his wounds, I will go for an additional 2 on the recovery, so difficulty 6. (1d20)[6], healing (1d6+1)[2], and an additional 2 if the First Aid check was successful. Then I will do a 10 minute recovery, going for an additional 3 on the recovery, so difficulty 9. (1d20)[11], healing (1d6+1)[4], and an additional 3 if the previous First Aid check was successful. Nice, success, if barely, 11 Might regained.

[DominoMasque]

SYL
M:10/10; S(1):12/12; I(1):15/15
Arrows: 9

Syl takes a breather, while Chase tends his wounds, "Well, that was bracing. I'm not convinced that it was worth getting so cut up about." She glances over Chase appraisingly.

Spoiler: OOC

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1 action recovery (1d6+1)[4]

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran

Now that the danger is over, Aldeb stomps near Chase and helps him tend his wounds. He also brings him water. His anger visibly dissipates as he does.

"Next time, Chase, we stick to the plan. And just to make sure, let's make a plan. First, choose places where you can't be swarmed. B, if you can, shoot from afar. And C, wait for all of us.

I almost had a heart attack, watching you do that stunt."

Spoiler: Recovery

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Recovery (1d6+1)[4]

[Zero Prime]

Chase the Hunted, A Passionate Glaive who Shreds the World
^{Might Pool: 10 of 13 | Speed Pool: 11 of 14 | Intellect Pool: 4 of 7}

With Aldeb's help, Chase used some of their precious water to clean his wounds, there was nothing worse than carrion rot, where flesh and bone would try to regrow over the filth these hounds carried in their saliva. He had seen enough cases to know that he would fair better in the face of dehydration than the rot. As he bound his wounds, tightly, he listened to the old man's admonishments. Sighed, a little gingerly, "Sorry 'deb, just the whole thing with the gorram Templar's has me riled up, when I first ran up towards them, I *actually* say their faces on the skaggs." A chuckle, a wince, "Heh, you know me when I get worked up."

He nodded towards the carcasses of the broken hounds, "Someone flay the skin, then cut strips from their flanks and thighs, wash 'em good in boiling water, and then salt them, lay them flat on the metal. Makes a decent jerky, save us some rations for the day."

[DominoMasque]

Syl sets to carving up some of the hounds. It's a little distasteful, but Chase isn't wrong.

[TwoBitWriter]

The Deeps
Early Afternoon, 38 degrees Celsius

You save a day of rations with the hound jerky that Syl prepares and Chase's wounds appear to heal without infection and he shows no symptoms of disease. After finishing the evening and resting in the shade of the Numenera metal shell, you set out the next morning.

Two days later and you are now a full 60 kilometers out from Picalah and have reached "The Deeps". Here the Dust is largely untouched and shimmers in mesmerizing colors and hues, more brilliant than any of the areas closer to the Picalah. Here also, there are clearly more traces of the Numenera. First you encounter bits of metal and synth sticking out from the Dust, bleached by the intense sun, and before you know it you find yourself in the middle of an entire broken field littered with the objects of the past. A glass cylinder whistles a merry tune as you pass and creates a small Dust devil that swirls playfully around you, rustling your hair and ruffling your clothes. A pair of hourglass-shaped bits of synth call aggressively to one another in an unknown language before bashing together, exploding brilliantly, then reforming themselves only to engage in combat again. An odd four-limbed beast ambles awkwardly, chasing a small golden sphere flitting just out of its reach.

Ahead, you see a pool of thick and black liquid. Behind it is a metal structure about the size of Oryata's shop that curves over the pool. You note that with an uncanny precision, every minute a single drop of the black liquid drops from an aperture at the top of the structure and drips into the pool which accepts the offering without a single ripple breaking the surface.

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran

Aldeb, as a matter of course, has been checking Chase's wounds. As they get closer to the Deeps, Aldeb feels a strange anticipation and dread. Here is the area where he lost his family.

But the sight of the numenera cheers him. This is what he knows to do.

"This reminds of the old times. This seems to be a good place to set camp and start looking. Not even the damned priests will come here easily."

[DominoMasque]

"Well there's certainly things here, surely good for an oddities or iotum at least?" Syl lets Aldeb seek out something promising - this is his field.

[Zero Prime]

Chase the Hunted, A Passionate Glaive who Shreds the World
^{Might Pool: 13 of 13 | Speed Pool: 14 of 14 | Intellect Pool: 7 of 7}

Chase wandered around the site that Aldeb had selected out, "Let's put the water purifier here, set up fires and drying racks there and there. Set up some poles, keep our rations off of the ground." He shrugged, "Floods, or scavengers, both can be deadly." Even as he spoke he winced at his still tender wounds, held together by crusted bandages. "Gorram! Looks like I will have to change those, again." He sat down, eased his pack off and began to apply clean dressing to his wounds, he noted the old bandages, dried with blood, but not pungent odor, no discoloration or puss, so the likelihood of an infection was a little less concerning.

He began to assist in the set up of the camp, keeping a wary eye on the horizon line looking for other yarders, strangers, or threats.

[tonberrian]

Roka starts looking around. There's cool stuff here, sure, but the best loot is always below ground.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20)[11]Intellect to find a passage down. No relevant modifiers.

[DominoMasque]

Syl joins Roka in searching for an entrance. Her silver eyes gliding over the area and structure.

[Zero Prime]

Chase the Hunted, A Passionate Glaive who Shreds the World
^{Might Pool: 13 of 13 | Speed Pool: 14 of 14 | Intellect Pool: 7 of 7}

As the group began to spread out, Chase wandered over to the pool, still sullen after their encounter with the broken hounds. He selected a spot underneath the metal overhang, to shield himself from the sun, he then watched curiously as the black, vicuous liquid dropped in a slow, steady rate into the pool beneath. His interest piqued, he looked around until he found a piece of curved metal buried in the sand, perhaps nothing more than some salvage dropped by Yarder's who'd wandered this far months ago, but still it was the liquid and not the metal that held his attention.

Moving back to his spot, he waited until he saw the next drop begin to form, and then, before it could fall, he reached out with the salvaged metal disc, and caught the drip on it's surface, rolling it back and forth in wonder.