[IC] Table of Monsters

[KaBling]

As it turns out, fighting wasn't the best idea. Especially as those previous attacks were meant to be jokes, but that's beside the point now. The ninja dodged everyone else's attacks, but made the occasional trip from having to keep a katana (which somehow weighed him down) as well as suffering a bad arm wound, meaning he wouldn't be able to throw as well as he would normally do. Nonetheless, he still ended up knocking everyone down one by one, apparently having too big of a heart to kill us simply. This was made even more odd by the fact he was a damn human, but at least it meant we'd get another day to fight.

Even if he did try to kill us, we had a secret weapon: the princess. And she was a secret shield. So, what happened was that she literally disappeared for the first minute or so of the fight, then comes out of the depths of the caves covered with cobwebs and complaining about the spiders in the cave. Even more worringly, she actually actively defended me against the ninja's attack, bearing the full brunt without so much as a flinch. The princess stepped in after yelling about how gryphons were majestic bests and swatted the ninja's weapon away, letting the confused ninja continue to pummel her while also breaking his wrists. Well, he was shaking them shortly afterwards, and after noticing that he'd already dealt enough damage to everyone else, he proceeded to start running and... I'd say swipe, but if anything he was dragging the stupid katana out of the cave again. I assume he had a cart or something, because no sane person would attempt to drag it all the way to their house or something.

"Squawk?" That was literally my natural instinct. Apparently the princess wasn't aware that we were what was left of the party. I just kinda stood there as the ninja stupidly dragged his katana up the stairs, with everyone staring at him and the ninja evidently puffing, looking back at us several times before finally leaving the cave. Even the princess gave bad looks, while the rest of us were unsure wasn't going to finish us off again. After about a full minute, it was just the party in odd forms and the princess. "Okay, that's finally over. Anyone sapient enough to talk?" I startled the princess, but I didn't really care as I started to crawl towards everyone else. Yep, dead. Well, I think they're dead anyway. This world is VERY hostile, I'll remind you again.

[Evanist]

Deravan moved forwards, shaking a bit, before suddenly the potion effect finally ended. He stared for a bit and shook his head.
"God dang ninja and his transformation potion...." he says, before seeing that Backstab was down. He stared longly.
"Can someone heal her!? Anyone!?" he asks worreid. That god dang ninja... he could not fight and he did see that fight at a distance. Nothing could be done against him. This was really worrying. He then looked at the princess, who seemed to have blocked some hits for Miles. He didn't say anything about it, and looked sad right now. He sat down, and worried. That guy was so strong... still, he let them live... but why... If only... if only the group was stronger. Training... this is what was needed to be done now. He just hoped that he could have enough training to actually do something against that ninja next time.

[Eklispe]

Dorisma roared, well, squawked angrily at the fleeing ninja. Though she would've liked to wrest the sword from his grasp it seemed he would have no trouble earning it back. So she was forced to wait idly until the ninja finally left them, alone with their thoughts and all the transformed townsfolk. Well they couldn't do much now but wait for the potion to wear off. She flapped her wings awkwardly while she waited for the potion to wear off and finally gave a sigh of relief as she returned to her normal form. Well that had sucked. She shook her head clear and looked around. Well, nothing to do now but move on and hope they could get stronger before the ninja returned. "She'll be fine." Dorisma said dismissively and waited for everyone to return to normal so they could move on. They still had to get to this stronghold place.

[Lugia]

I just had to watch as the ninja tried to knock out Miles, as well, but, somehow, someway the princess rush in just in time to take the attack, that is, after complaining about the spiders in her hair, and in her crown. Interestingly, the ninja didn't seem to want to kill anyone, and, just as well as he started to run away from our group... as he drags along the somehow heavy katana... I don't think anyone wanted to mess with him at this point, so we all just ran in our own direction, hopefully away from the ninja. Miles, after squawking like the part-bird that he is at the moment, asked if everyone could speak, and I spoke up, saying "Yeah, I think we can still speak... even if our voices are a little weird..." my voice was still weird and squeaky, but, I needed to speak, anyways. I ran alongside the rest of my team for a while until I finally changed back to my old self, armor and everything. I then notice Erion next to a knocked out Backstabs, who finally wakes up, but seems pretty badly beat up. I use my healing magic on her, somehow healing MUCH more than I thought, and actually bringing her back to peak condition... even if I still only felt half alive at the moment. "That... should just about do it... man... this place is wearing me out, both physically and magically," I comment as I continue through the damp cave, hoping that I'd never find another ninja, again. Just as I thought I might make it out of this place without another fight, two rabid-looking wolves show up, and seem ready to tear us apart. One of them seemed ready to fight, at least, but the other just seemed dazed, or confused.

[Evanist]

Deravan, who was now back to normal, saw the rabid wolves coming, and frowned. He then, quicker then the rest of the group, rushed and actually slashed right at one of the wolves side, leaving a deep bleeding cut on it, burning. One thing for sure, that was one big deep cut. A deep cry of the wolf could then be heard. If someone were to hear the scream, it would be really high pitch. Deravan then tried quickly to strike the wolf again, only for it to move away quickly before it could get hit again. Well, one deep cut was enough for now. He then stood guard, hoping the wolves would not go and rip them to pieces. That cut was something that would have probably killed a normal wolf, so they were probably a lot tougher then normal.

[KaBling]

The princess decided to be quiet for the time being, considering we'd just suffered quite a nasty defeat against a ninja so keen to get away. One by one we started to shift back to normal, with Robert going from some tiny iguana back into a Kobold. Backstabs didn't seem to recover as quickly though, and oddly enough I didn't. I just kept walking on all fours with the rest of the party, but I couldn't help feeling that transformation bomb may have worked too well. I mean, it left a bit of ringing from how violently the smoke appeared from one little ball, and I could feel a bunch of things in my mouth that probably shouldn't be there.

Shortly before we met some wild wolves however, I ended up getting back into my normal form, albeit painfully. This was very odd considering that no one else seemed to struggle with their own returns, but me... well, I felt like I wasn't actually becoming a Kobold. Shockingly, I was correct. I stayed behind so that I could actually try to think straight, leaning against the dark and cold walls of the cave, but I could feel something like sticks shredding the back of my head. I started to feel weaker and weaker, while also having extra understanding of... things. My whole freakin' body didn't feel like it belonged to me, more foreign than being a damn Kobold, or whatever I was shifting into at this point. To my horror, I went from a gryphon to a... Drake.

Let me tell you some history: it was a Drake that got my family into gambling. It was a Drake that began collaborating with humans and ensured we didn't just wipe them out with dragons. And it was a Drake that started a war with Kobold a long time ago. Now, I had shifted into something that would probably earn me a target, even if my own dislike of them was expressed. I retained my clothes, weapons (including an old sword from a guard), and other equipment. I felt taller but weaker, and my breathing shallow. I wondered how my party members would react to me, all fussy and proclaiming myself to be Miles as some sort of freak show. I REALLY want to stick a knife in that ninja now for doing this to me. I mean, this world is so damn dangerous that my adventure involves me turning into a Kobold. I really wished for this to be temporary, but the as each minute passed, I knew this wouldn't be the case.

I heard loud struggles and the sounds of a growling canine further on in the cave, echoing from where my team-mates entered. Either we were fighting again, or someone wasn't exactly their normal self. I supported myself away from the wall of the cave, trying to breathe normally while also walking one step at a time, as if I was a toddler again. I really did not feel alright, but of course I had a bunch of team members who needed me further down the cave, feeling the tips of my new horns running from side of my head, as well as my new draconian mouth while I kept walking down the path to my party.

[Lugia]

Deravan seemed to have the more alert wolf covered, so I decided to take advantage of the other wolf's dazed state, and I fired off a fire spell, though... something seemed a bit off about the spell. I tried to control it, but the thing went haywire, almost hurting me, and nearly burning the wolf to a crisp once it hit the thing. Somehow, the thing still stood there, but, its tail was between its legs, and it was already looking for an escape route, a way out of this place. The thing's packmate, however, was a bit more brave, preferring to run up to me to bite me right in the stomach, though, thankfully, my armor took most of the blow, and, as if it was some sort of retribution for what I did to its friend, the bite hurt... a lot. As soon as I managed to get the thing to loosen its grip, I tried to head towards the back of the group, though, I felt like I couldn't cast another spell, even if I tried, at least, not one that would be helpful in a fight. "Th...this is bad... I really should have rested when I had... the chance..." I said to my teammates. I then notice a new guy, a drake who was wearing Miles' clothes. "Oh as if this day couldn't get any worse for me... now I gotta fight a drake, too!? This world just wants me dead, doesn't it?" I end up saying, even if it was right in front of the drake's face, I kinda wanted him to hear it, maybe it would convince him to leave me alone, somehow. The air seemed thick, as if I was breathing in more moss than actual air thanks to my current condition, but I felt like I could stand... maybe even against another attack, just, not from these wolves.

[Riddles]

Everyone in the group began shifting back to their normal form, with the exception of Miles, who had turned into a drake. Trey couldn't tell if that was his real form, or if there was some sort of mistake with the potion. He decided to give Miles the benefit of the doubt for now, but it would still be a good idea to keep an eye on him, just to make sure he wasn't up to anything.

Just as they were about to keep going, two wolves came out and attacked. He could tell that these weren't ordinary wolves. If they were, they would've been dead after Robert and Deravan's attacks, and they also wouldn't be this aggressive. One of them, which seemed to be more hostile then the other, decided to bite Robert in the stomach. Trey tried to use a fire spell on it, but it managed to get out of the way, somehow.

[Eklispe]

Dorisma ran forward as the rest of the group began assaulting the duo of wolves that was attacking them. One of them was nearly scorched to a crisp by Robert but the kobold was quickly repaid in kind by one of the wolves taking a chunk out of him. Dorisma prioritized the kobold's safety over taking down the wolves and quickly scooped up Robert and slung him over one shoulder crouching into a defensive position and putting her back to a wall.

As she did so one of the wolves lunged at her but his fierce fangs scrabbled useless against her shield. She awkwardly attempted to bash him with her shield but he managed to dance out of range. Dorisma carefully set Robert back down while keeping herself between him and the wolves as best she could. After all he had just proved himself to be quite effective at scorching these beasties and no one else had been injured yet. "Good?" she asked crudely.

[Evanist]

Deravan, seeing that the other wolf was blasted hard by Robert, smiled a bit. Well, that thing will have trouble soon. But he was more preoccupied by the one that he hit at first. Just then though, Backstab attempted to go and hit the wolf, who moved out of the way before she could do anything. That dang thing. Just then, Deravan rushed and started his first slash, only for the wolf to dodge once again... and make Deravan plunge his dagger on a rock. He quickly moved with his other dagger and then striked the wolf again, who did not see it coming and then got slashed a bit. At least he got a hit on it... He thne removed his dagger from the rock, frowning. These guys were though, that he would give them. And seeing how hurt some of the members of the group were... and then seeing a Drake in Miles clothing. Great... either he was seeing thing and Miles turned into a drake, or he was eaten quickly that drake took his place... or something weird happen. Maybe it was cause of the transformation potion...

[KaBling]

"Lads, it's me! I don't know what's with myself, though." I yelled out, clearing a few things up when Robert announced he'd be fighting a Drake afterwards. I didn't really like Drakes either, but not so much as killing them. No, my opinion wasn't changed from this transformation. Either way, I acted quickly, siding myself with the others almost awkwardly before taking out a knife or two from my pockets.

Thing was, I still wasn't used to being a drake. I ended up dropping of my knives, the thing clattering on the cave floor before instantly reappearing in-between two of my fingers. Stupidly, I dropped it once more before having an actual grasp with the damn thing, standing straight and taking aim at any old wolf around the cave. I didn't anticipate the fact that when throwing my knife, it didn't seem to go as where I intended, and instead brushed past the wolf's fur to my surprise. "Damn it." I still wasn't used to my body, releasing too early and just above the wolf. This wasn't going to be an easy fight.

[Lugia]

"Yeah... I think I'll be... ugh... fine... I'm kinda out of magic, though," I say to Dorisma once she puts me down... thank goodness she protected me, else that wolf's bite might have ended me. I regain my balance, and watch for a moment, trying to find an opening of some sort, and, finally, I get the opportunity to take advantage of one. I notice the one cowering in fear, and decide to attack the moment it starts looking away from us, managing to pierce right through the thing's heart, obviously, if it was alive then, it wouldn't be for very long... unfortunately, I looked away from the fight for just long enough for a wolf to tackle Backstabs and bite her right in the neck, leaving her to stay on the ground, and if we don't act fast, leaving us with one less teammate. "Dorisma! Someone! Anyone! Backstabs needs some help!" I shout to the rest of my team, sure, I was the healer, but I was out of magic at this point... thankfully, the bite wound wasn't exactly deep, some bandages might even be enough to get her through the rest of this trip, and possibly long enough for me to restore my magic so that I could heal her properly. I started running back to her, just in case nobody else heard me or wanted to help... I didn't want to lose a teammate right now, not this early in... wait... I'm not on an adventure, right? What was I thinking? Well, either way, if nobody else could or would come to her rescue, I might be able to get there... though, whether or not I'd end up as wolf food on the way remains to be seen. I can't let there be a casualty on this trip through the cave.

[Riddles]

One of the wolves was down, but unfortunately, so was one of their teammates. Backstabs had taken a bite to the neck from the more aggressive wolf, and now she was lying on the ground. She appeared to still be alive, but she wouldn't be for long if somebody didn't do something.

Trey tried to use a fire spell on the wolf, but once again it jumped out of the way. It wasn't standing near Backstabs anymore, though, so Trey used this as an opportunity to get closer to her. There wasn't much he could do, though, since he couldn't use healing magic and didn't have any potions. All he could really do was try to keep the wolf at bay until someone else came over and healed her.

[Eklispe]

Dorisma looked between the two heavily injured persons conflicted. Deciding on a course of action she rushed forward swinging a fist that the wolf avoided easily, of course the main purpose of the attack was to get the wolf to back off. Now Dorisma would focus on intercepting the wolf if it leapt to attack, even if she got hurt it would be better than her more fragile teammates being on the receiving end of its vicious attacks.

[Evanist]

Deravan, who sees his teammate was down, quickly rushed to her. He knew he was taking a risk, but he did not want anyone in the team to die because of these dang wolves.
"Come on Backstab..." he says, before getting some cloth out of his shirt, using it to try to save her to stop the bleeding. It was no use. He could not stop it with just cloth.... He then though about something. Patching... He quickly cut some of his fur, and then started to patch out the wound quickly with his cloth, before putting the fur in to absorb the blood that might get in there, and stop the bleeding from getting worse. He then patched up with more cloth, quickly ending the patching. He breath deeply as it seemed the bleeding stopped after what he just did. He looked worried at her.
"Thank god...." he says calmly, before looking back at the last wolf, mad. He might have lost some time back there, but at least he saved one of his teammates, with the others all occupied trying to kill that wolf. Then a word came in his mind... A ninja usually... attempts to kill his target no matter what... Even if someone else is injured, he would let the others take care of them while he tries to finish off the target... But he did not do that. No... he went ahead and saved Backstab without a second though. This made him think right there. All this time he was fallowing this path... but... he was not sure if he was going in the right track...

[KaBling]

"Oh, that's really damned!" As if saying damn once wasn't enough, I had to say it again: one of the wolves had leaped right onto our resident thief and rip out her jugular vein. That HAD to be painful, if not lethal. Blood sprayed a bit, but I looked above to focus on the wolf instead. I took a deep breath and flicked a knife in-between my fingers, not even taking position as I hastily did a quick throw at the thing. I nearly tripped up after that throw, the sound of shoes grinding against the floor of the cave. However, I was lucky enough to have that knife embed itself into the remaining wolf's leg, albeit at an odd angle. I was starting to get a hang of my new form, luckily enough.

[Lugia]

Thankfully, Deravan took care of Backstabs, at least, I hope he did a decent enough job of it. Either way, I continued to run towards Backstabs just in case I somehow got my magic back and could heal her a bit more properly, however, the wolf spotted me running, and decided to try to run right at me. I drew my sword, and tried to cut the wolf into pieces before it could do the same to me, however, I accidentally flung my sword a few feet ahead of me, and the wolf was already here. I tried to think of anything, ANYTHING I could do in this situation, but I didn't have much time to think before the wolf lunged at me, aiming to do the same to me as it did to Backstabs, however, I was too quick, and managed to jump away from the attack and pick up my sword, however... I was a bit more interested in putting some sort of distance between myself and the wolf, so, instead of taking another opportunity to attack the wolf while it had its back turned, I turned tail and headed right for my less than beat up teammates. Obviously, as soon as the wolf figured out what happened, it chased after me again, but, by that time I had enough of a lead to get back to my team before it could, thankfully. "Whew... that almost ended badly, huh?" I comment, noticing the fact that just barely dodged that attack which, given my current condition and where the wolf was aiming would have easily ended in my death, no, not just bleeding out on the ground like Backstabs was, but actual, instant death. I managed to somehow position myself in a spot where Dorisma would end up protecting me for a while just before the thing got here, and started sniffing around for its next target.

[Riddles]

Thankfully, Deravan was able to patch up Backstabs before she bled out. The wolf was still standing, though. It tried, and failed, to attack Robert, who quickly fled. He went behind Dorisma, which was the best option, given that Dorisma could probably take an attack better than anyone else could.

Trey used a fire spell once again, in an effert to burn the wolf to death and end this fight once and for all. Despite the fact that it just took a knife to the leg, it seemingly had no trouble jumping out of the way once again. To make matters worse, Trey could feel his magical energy start to run out. He could probably only get one more spell out of the energy he had left.
"This fight's starting to get annoying real fast." He said.

[Eklispe]

"Come here pup!" Dorisma growled at the wolf, knocking her fists together menacingly. The wolf seemed to take offensive at that, glaring daggers at her as it circled. She was glad Robert had hid behind her, that made this just a little easier. If it attacked her she would wrap her arms around it and squeeze it, holding it still for her teammates to finish it off. Hopefully it wouldn't cause to much pain in the struggle, but as long as her more fragile friends were safe it would be acceptable.

[Evanist]

Deravan had enough of this wolf, enough of it hurting everyone and trying to kill everyone. He quickly rushed to the wolf, before it looked surprised from him suddenly moving after saving his friend. Suddenly, Deravan plunged his dagger into the wolf's heart, a evil look in his eyes right not as he moves closer to the wolf ears.
"Say hi to the devil for me you stupid wolf." Deravan then said in a evil way before removing the dagger from the wolf's heart, as it falls on the ground, bleeding out, blood splattering on the floor quickly. He then breath deeply as he looks at the rest of the group.
"We might want to rest now... We needed to try to get everyone back on their feet." he says, before sitting down and going to one wolf, and starting to try to skin it. Unfortunately, his dagger got stuck while doing it, making the skinning lot of difficult and making him unable to get it done right there.
"Dang it... stupid little..." he says, going to try again soon.