Please note that when in ethereal form, those shadows mark him at all time, leaving a shadowy trail. And the sound is basically projected via magic directly into the minds of those nearby, fading or increasing based on distance, but ignoring direction.
Cruallassar Member
Shadow Ranger
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- Cruallassar 9 yrs ago
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As the Ranger's hailstorm arrows spread 200 red bolts of energy across the tree, at least one of them met a bomb in flight. Explosions would still strip the leaves and weaker branches from the nearby trees...but at this range, the explosions would be far enough away not to affect the monster, and the Ranger was away in a stream of shadows before the detonation. The bombs are now taken care of...uselessly, to the chagrin of the elf...but the vamp still has at least 192 glowing projectiles streaking into and around the tree.
Terance Neston
"A little money?" Terrance's family isn't poor, the job of auror pays pretty well. But buying all the candy from 'a little money' with no care for leaving some for later? That was...well, a lot more than his family's definition of a little money. His family's definition was a few Galleons tops, usually nothing over one Galleon...least as far as giving Terrance some pocket money was concerned. They had given him a bit more than that for the year at Hogwarts, but he didn't plan on wasting a significant fraction of it on candy. "Welp, if your family sees fit to provide you with the means to entertain yourself and your friends like kings for the year, then by all means I will happily leach off their hospitality for as long as you allow, my new best friend by virtue of overwhelming riches!" Terrance announces with a jocular grin.
"A little money?" Terrance's family isn't poor, the job of auror pays pretty well. But buying all the candy from 'a little money' with no care for leaving some for later? That was...well, a lot more than his family's definition of a little money. His family's definition was a few Galleons tops, usually nothing over one Galleon...least as far as giving Terrance some pocket money was concerned. They had given him a bit more than that for the year at Hogwarts, but he didn't plan on wasting a significant fraction of it on candy. "Welp, if your family sees fit to provide you with the means to entertain yourself and your friends like kings for the year, then by all means I will happily leach off their hospitality for as long as you allow, my new best friend by virtue of overwhelming riches!" Terrance announces with a jocular grin.
It didn't take physicality to be able to tell that the bombs hadn't gone off. The Ranger didn't have very many of them not on arrows...the pouches that held them had to have padded slots for each of them to be secured in, and those took up room. But however the creature had ensured that they did not explode, they were still there, something to be careful of. As soon as they blew, if the monster was nearby, this fight would be half over. The beast could obviously predict his standard style of attack...so what else but a nonstandard one? He whirls around the tree and materializes in front of the vampire, two hailstorm arrows nocked and loosed simultaneously before he phases back out of physicality and streaking around to another firing point.
And without further ado...the prey was gone.
Oh not gone as in no longer present, but gone as in ethereal, racing through the tree itself to conceal even the sight of the swirling shadows from the hunter...or is it hunted?
The ever danger of setting an ambush, of springing a trap or attacking an enemy by surprise, is the possibility of being ambushed, trapped, or surprised yourself. One shoots an arrow at a king, only for it to be blocked by magic and a bolt of lightning tracing the arrow's path back to the shooter. One leads a party of bandits to attack a weakly guarded wagon convoy...only for the wagons to have been full of heavily armed soldiers, waiting for you. One creeps their way up behind a ranger in a tree...
Only for the tree to explode.
Eight of the explosive packets used to make this Ranger's explosive arrows have already fallen halfway to the tree from the Ranger's grip-as many as he could carry in both hands-when the elf turned ethereal. Each exploding on impact a fraction of a second later, as they tumble into each other and the tree branches, utterly vaporizing the top of the tree and leaving only a blackened stump at the bottom...and taking a sizable number of branches off the trees nearby. If it were not for his incorporeal form, Cruallassar would have smiled grimly, as the thought runs through his head.
Dodge that, you SOB.
Oh not gone as in no longer present, but gone as in ethereal, racing through the tree itself to conceal even the sight of the swirling shadows from the hunter...or is it hunted?
The ever danger of setting an ambush, of springing a trap or attacking an enemy by surprise, is the possibility of being ambushed, trapped, or surprised yourself. One shoots an arrow at a king, only for it to be blocked by magic and a bolt of lightning tracing the arrow's path back to the shooter. One leads a party of bandits to attack a weakly guarded wagon convoy...only for the wagons to have been full of heavily armed soldiers, waiting for you. One creeps their way up behind a ranger in a tree...
Only for the tree to explode.
Eight of the explosive packets used to make this Ranger's explosive arrows have already fallen halfway to the tree from the Ranger's grip-as many as he could carry in both hands-when the elf turned ethereal. Each exploding on impact a fraction of a second later, as they tumble into each other and the tree branches, utterly vaporizing the top of the tree and leaving only a blackened stump at the bottom...and taking a sizable number of branches off the trees nearby. If it were not for his incorporeal form, Cruallassar would have smiled grimly, as the thought runs through his head.
Dodge that, you SOB.
And yet, no Ranger worth his salt would ever rely on his eyes alone.
Nor would one fail to maintain as close to complete knowledge of his surroundings as possible. Cruallassar's sight may not have seen the Magna Pater sneaking up on him...but it was a hunter, an ambusher, and there was only one place it could be. Not to mention it smelled like death warmed over. Elven hands flashed into pouches on the Ranger's belt, hidden by the cloak he wore. He knew precisely where the Magna pater would be, even if he couldn't pinpoint his location now...and when the beast struck, he was ready to act.
Nor would one fail to maintain as close to complete knowledge of his surroundings as possible. Cruallassar's sight may not have seen the Magna Pater sneaking up on him...but it was a hunter, an ambusher, and there was only one place it could be. Not to mention it smelled like death warmed over. Elven hands flashed into pouches on the Ranger's belt, hidden by the cloak he wore. He knew precisely where the Magna pater would be, even if he couldn't pinpoint his location now...and when the beast struck, he was ready to act.
So, because I stated it in a manner that seems otherwise on my character sheet, I am acting as if my Ethereal sight is in fact only limited to vision, however the manner in which it was originally intended...and which I will edit to reflect on the original version of my character sheet not being used in this battle...is that it is in fact a total surround sense sort of thing when he closes his eyes. But as I said...irrelevant to this battle.
The Ranger well knew the lethal potential of toxins and venoms secreted within other substances used by various monsters, animals, and other creatures. He knew enough to be as thorough as possible in his attempt to wipe away the slime...after all, this wasn't his first fight with strange and unearthly monstrosities...or even more mundane, but equally dangerous ones.
But of course, some substances could not easily be wiped away without more than a cloak edge. Cruallassar quickly became aware of his eyes watering unexplainedly...of a strange and irritating stinging in the lower edges of his still-closed eyes. It didn't take much to connect the dots. In the blink of an eye...not his eyes of course...he summoned a magic arrow from his bow, twirled it between his fingers, and as fast as he could, ran it lightly across the outside of his eyelids, scorching the flesh...and the most dangerous part of the toxin...from right eye corner across the bridge of the nose to left eye corner, and causing it to stick to the lower lid, protecting the eyes. As the elf grunted with pain...the first involuntary sound he had made since the fight began...he allowed the arrow to dissipate, its grim purpose furfilled. The Ranger would not be using his natural eyesight for the rest of this fight...but at least the eyes are intact to have their vision regained later. Now only his ethereal sight, and his highly trained and developed other four senses would let him detect his foes, and his ethereal sight added to his memorized image of the battlefield as the fight progressed will allow him to 'see' his environment. And now, he is far angrier than he began...this beast had turned out to be a canny thing indeed. Oh the Ranger would enjoy killing it.
But of course, some substances could not easily be wiped away without more than a cloak edge. Cruallassar quickly became aware of his eyes watering unexplainedly...of a strange and irritating stinging in the lower edges of his still-closed eyes. It didn't take much to connect the dots. In the blink of an eye...not his eyes of course...he summoned a magic arrow from his bow, twirled it between his fingers, and as fast as he could, ran it lightly across the outside of his eyelids, scorching the flesh...and the most dangerous part of the toxin...from right eye corner across the bridge of the nose to left eye corner, and causing it to stick to the lower lid, protecting the eyes. As the elf grunted with pain...the first involuntary sound he had made since the fight began...he allowed the arrow to dissipate, its grim purpose furfilled. The Ranger would not be using his natural eyesight for the rest of this fight...but at least the eyes are intact to have their vision regained later. Now only his ethereal sight, and his highly trained and developed other four senses would let him detect his foes, and his ethereal sight added to his memorized image of the battlefield as the fight progressed will allow him to 'see' his environment. And now, he is far angrier than he began...this beast had turned out to be a canny thing indeed. Oh the Ranger would enjoy killing it.
The Ranger is hit full in the face with a glob of the disgusting slime. Of course it distracted him. Of course he closed his eyes to avoid it. But it would take more than a face full of thick and very disgusting slime to prevent the firing of those three arrows. And his ethereal sense worked even through closed eyes...something which he had practiced doing specifically for the purpose of using it when his natural sight was distracted. The arrows would still fly, straight and true...though as soon as they had done so, the Ranger shifts back to the ethereal realm again, re-materializing on the branch of a tree to wipe his face with the edge of his cloak and clear his natural vision. This creature had more than one surprise in store it seemed...well, it wasn't the only one on whom tricks could only work once.
Oh come on...I spend the last five minutes composing a post, then I post it and Doc already posted something that entirely negates it! Welp...time to edit.
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