So the lightning at least made the Alpha Male take pause, which was good. Adam and MacKensie were able to get back to where she was behind the front lines as well, which was also good. Fenna was not doing so good being yanked toward the, now momentarily distracted at least by whatever Adam had done there, Alpha Female. Not good. Well, not all bad either but only for a moment being perhaps? Something. Plus her new 'ghost buddy' had managed to save her skin somehow with his little stunt, though apparently he couldn't do it again either. Also Clive was in bad shape and Arthur hadn't been able to keep that one wolf back before it had charged her. Crap.
Zell at least had a chance to deal with his wolf, and the giant Japanese man who now had Clive's gloves seemed to be charging the momentarily stunned Alpha Male Mutant Direwolf.
Basically other than being totally outmatched by a couple of freaky Mutant Alpha Direwolves, and dealing with any remaining lesser wolves perhaps, they were doing generally ok. Generally ok? Sure, generally ok was something she'd allow herself to think about it all. How they were was at least better than the alternative of dealing with whatever was-
"ROOOOOAAARRRRR!!!"
-...making...that noise in the south...which was also actually the same direction where the Direwolves had come from. But now the noise was louder and much closer to them. Great. Juuuuuuuust great!
Well, it had been making noise from the south at first at least. Not so much now, which was worrying based on how fast it would have had to move to be coming from the northeast now. Or maybe whatever it is was using tunnels? But with the noise moving closer it did not bode well for things either since this thing would be coming into the group's rear. If this thing was anything bad, and was worse than the Alpha Mutant Direwolves, they would be overwhelmed in an instant! She really didn't want to get eaten by a wolf and left in a maze of hills, not that any of them likely wanted to die here either. Ugh.
Hmm. Hmmmmmmmm. Ah! Aha!!!
That might help. Maybe.
Lillianna's hand as she spoke suddenly changed direction, pointing toward the Alpha Female as she unleashed a powerful Lightning Bolt spell proper toward it. Maybe it would help damage it or stun it in this case, or at least force the thing to keep an eye on the attack and then have to soak another attack in the process. Or something. Anything. But she wasn't going to sit idly and do nothing either! She couldn't, even as a trembling shiver of what felt like a mix of excitement and fear ran down her spine as her gaze remained focused on the battled ahead.
In this case, she was glad they believed her right off of the bat. Very glad, as it turned out, as Adam tried to collapse his bridge and the pack of wolves were trying to charge right on over to their side. It would seem two of the wolves would be lost along the way, thank goodness, but the majority and the two Alphas would still get their way to the other side and attack them. Not so good. Really not good actually.
Fenna and her, apparently magically size-changing, spear would go after the Alpha Female. Joji was fighting one of the 'lesser' wolves, if that term was even applicable to them compared to anything the mage had seen back home ever, but was injured in the process. Zell was struggling against one of the 'lesser' wolves as well as it tried to push him back, not that this would be necessarily hard for them to do to any of them given the size of the things. Arthur and Clive seemed to likewise get in the thick of battles of their own against the remaining lesser wolves, and James-
"Buff's in, fuck them up!"
...was being James, based on what she'd heard of the first battle. Tossing a spell in Zell's wolf's face in this case, and casting a boon upon them it seemed, were the courses of action he took. As he did the latter thing, however, an unnatural endurance seemed to take hold over her body, which despite the mild shock of feeling it take effect on her was at least welcome. Not that it much helped a non-physical fighter, but it was surely better than nothing...right? Right. No need to be picky when they didn't exactly have a choice or many options right now for much of anything.
Otherwise, MacKensie seemed to rush in to try to pull Adam back to backlines where she was and the druid tried to cast something as everyone seemed to be in the thick of some kind of combat. Meanwhile the ghost that was still floating near her piped up again.
"Ah! Umm...ah'll be right back, miss! Maybe ah' can do somethin' to help!"
"What are you doing?"
And with that the ghost seemed to disappear down the left path, or rather just move through the scenery and such as if it wasn't even there. In the meantime the mage pointed her free hand at the Alpha Male Direwolf, channeling a flow of crackling lightning out of it like a stream toward the beast to try to do something to it aside from the few arrows MacKensie had fired at it. She would work to avoid hitting her teammates with the attack, but it wasn't the same single-bolt explosive power of her Lightning Bolt spell either. Certainly she was hoping to get something to work, though out of the corner of her eye she noticed one of the Lesser Wolves dart through and gun it toward her!
"OH SHI-"
*WHOOSH*
*SCHING*
*THUNK*
...eh? EH?!?!
An old polearm of sorts, a halberd that seemed to be in somewhat decent even if rusty and rather aged condition, soared up into the air from somewhere down the left path before shooting off in her direction. She hadn't even noticed it with her focus on the battle, but as the Lesser Direwolf charging toward her with throat-tearing intent came along the aged weapon slammed into it and through it with its point spear-style tip and pinned its back half to the ground with a solid impact as it hit the crusty earth below. A moment later the ghost from before seemed to emerge from it, albeit somewhat flickering in appearance and a hand held over his gut as he floated back over to her side.
"Heh. That took it ah'll outta' me there...but...ah...its been ah' long time since ah' tried doin' at'. Beasties took my throat out in life as I and mah' adventurin' party were headed back injured from ah' battle, seems fittin' ah' do this at least.
Erk. Takes a lot outta' me ta' do it on all my own though, miss, not feelin' too good after. So ah' can't do it again all on me own I'm afraid."
Maybe seeing dead people wasn't all bad after all.
"Though the Elwet was much heavier than a normal chicken, it was still smaller and lighter than the Runt who came charging at it with a stone knife. Though Lazash's initial plan succeeded, and she slammed into the monster from the side, as its feet left the ground there wasn't enough resistance from its body weight to really drive her sharp stone home. She pierced a thick layer of feathers and drew blood, but somehow her instincts warned that this wouldn't be fatal. As they tumbled together, the beast's wings and feet flailed wildly at her--and its sharp talons raked her soft belly, leaving several slices that burned with pain, before she finally came up on top and managed to wrap her tiny hands around the fire breathing neck!
But now, despite weighing more than it and perhaps being stronger, the Elwet proved that it, too, was stronger than its size hinted. Clucking furiously, it began to scramble and try to run--with Lazash still on its back! Though her grip tightened every moment and the bird's eyes bulged from lack of oxygen, it simply poured every ounce of adrenaline and survival instinct into a mad charge for freedom--"
Ah, no that was pain she was feeling for sure. Her abdomen had been clawed at for sure, and it hurt as much as she'd expect it to. A fair punishment for what she'd just done.
But why hadn't she charged the Elwet that was in front of Akeno?
Simple. She would have been in the path of the stupid fireball-thing the other one spat out. Not that anyone else cared about that fact.
Yet attacking it freed up the others to attack the one in front of their resident martial artist. In that sense they could get one down, she kept this one busy as she continued to grip as tightly as her body could manage around its skinny neck, and then maybe their self-appointed group leader could do something to the others hopefully. Sure it wasn't a prefect execution, sure, but it was certainly not the end at least.
Hopefully it all wasn't going to get any-
"Grunthor put his whole body weight into a charge much like Lazash, but whereas her goal had been to pierce a feathered heart his, from the start, had been to get his string-bean arms around the crowing terror and bear both their weights to the earth. In this he succeeded--though most of the Elwet's body was hugged against his chest. This left its beaked head free, and even as he buried his face into its...surprisingly soft chest, he could feel the pointed appendage drawing a pattern of bloodied dots all over his bald head, seeking his eyes!
But up came Grunthor's arm, and down came his sharp rock! He missed the first shot but clipped one of the antlers, and now that he knew where its body was in space alongside him the second blow hit its mark! The Elwet cried out once more as one of its eyes was blinded forever by the chiseled stone edge! In this moment of weakness Grunthor could secure his mount and finish the creature off--but if he raised his head to do so, he'd see another twenty-something pounds of feathered fury, carrying a further weight of exactly 1 Lazash, coming straight at him in a mad charge for freedom--!"
Unclenching, clenching. A fist from within that swirled with the essence of a blizzard.
Her fist opened, two hands grasping upon the stick she had, and Esfir leapt in, interposing herself between the pinned Elwet and the charging one. One end of the stick she thrust into the ground, the other end angled towards the one that dragged the talkative one. Chicken bones broke easily, though the flesh itself may not be pierced by such a blunt instrument.
...Oh for the love of-
Clutching even tighter and tighter for her life, Lazash sought to crush the neck of the bird with all her might now as it tried to run for freedom. She'd pull up and use her whole body to crush that neck if she had to! But she wouldn't do anythign that might cause her to fall off or get caught under its feet or such again. The goal? Kill the stupid thing as quickly as she could, and then IF she managed to kill it stop and use the stupid stone from its body to help attack another bird someone else was trying to deal with so they could gang up on at least one stupid bird. If she even got that far.
She wouldn't make excuses for this one, but she sure as hell wouldn't try to die here and now either. Again. So soon.
Ingestion - After consuming a required amount of biomass from a particular Creature, 1 of that Creature's Skills can be copied at its lowest Rank.
Creature Analysis - Rank I - Upon analyzing a target, information relevant to the chosen type will be displayed. Higher Ranks will grant more detailed information. (For example, using Creature Analysis on a Slime would tell you the most generic, widely known information on Slimes as a species)
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Current Equipment and Inventory:
Swaddling Pelts - Equip, Clothes - Old animal skins used to keep an Orc baby warm as they sleep. Once the Runt is old enough to start hunting, these are usually just enough to cover the parts that need the most covering.
Wooden Stick - Equip, Weapon/Tool, Material Component - A wooden stick. From a tree. That's...that's all there is to it. Can be thrown. (Was set down on the side of the bushes they started on, for the moment being at least that is.)
Sharp Rock - Equip, Weapon/Tool, Material Component - A rock with a slightly sharp edge. Useful as a primitive knife or chisel. Can be thrown.
@Zeroth Quoted the bit as Lazash bolts in like a bat outta' hell and tries to get something in the middle of this situation. My only regret is not having been able to use the Creature Analysis skill yet, but that can come after we kill it. Never said the animal had to be alive to use that skill on it, right? :P
Also I had no idea on which Elwet would be closest to Lazash with her entrance to the left of where Akeno went in, so I assumed and had her gun for the one nearest to her in that case. (Er, if I need to fix that at all then I can! No problem. Or if all else fails she would attack the one closest to her if the current target of her blitz, as designated in my post, doesn't work. XD)
((EDIT: Fixed a few words in that post I forgot to fix right before I posted it. Whew.))
Hmm. A fair plan of attack for their hunt, given the multiple threats around. No desire to pursue the Jackalope due to the imminent threat in front of them, which made logical sense. A familiar feeling bubbled up within the Runt as she took up her rock temporarily set down her stick, the anticipation rippling through her new body's muscles and tendons and bones. It had been some time since she'd felt like this, but there was no sense in getting too excited or jumpy either. Even so, she could almost smell that salty sea breeze once more, feeling the hot sand under her toes as the rays of the cruel sun beat down, and feel the neck of one of those blasted 'normal' chickens from back when in her hands.
Yet the rejection of a proper weapon? It brought a brief frown to Lazash's face, but she didn't say anything about the matter as she readied herself in a proper running stance for a burst of quick speed and her hands gripped her sharp rock with a two-handed approach and a well-practiced grip.
Yes, they were children. Adults in child bodies, reborn but carrying more over into their new lives than most could hope for. And to what end? What experiment was this supposed to be on the part of those two spirits they'd met along the way into their new lives? Hmm. It mattered not right now either way, as they had to survive before they think about or could do anything else.
And that she understood as clear as crystal.
As Akeno pushed through the bushes before them and went through, beyond which lied an unknown amount of their prey, Lazash would finally dart off as fast as she could move forward into and through the bushes to the left of where Akeno had entered. Her intent was to bolt through and get the element of, somewhat perhaps, surprise as the martial artist got the attention of the Elwet over there. However-
As Akeno grit her teeth and decided to simply burst through the underbrush, she found herself coming face to beak with a large, full bodied chicken bearing not only draconic scales, but pointed antlers and perhaps the meanest gaze ever possessed by a flightless bird. There were four of them in the clearing, pecking at the ground or preening themselves--and every single one of them turned their gaze on the Orc Runt that had just barged into their midst. They were roughly twice as big as any chicken Akeno might've encountered in her lifetime--standing somewhere between 30 and 36 inches tall on average, weighing at least twenty pounds a piece.
The one in front of her immediately screamed and jumped back, buffeting her face with its wings as it did so. The next closest released a loud cry of its own, this one of warning rather than surprise, and that seemed to move the other two to more direct action. The one furthest from Akeno turned and started to book it for the nearest bush. And the remaining third member of this little flock opened its beak wide to release a blast like a firework, a small flaming mass that traveled towards the Runt like a baseball pitch--!
With her slight delay in pursuing after Akeno, Lazash would burst through as the Elwet had their attention on the former. She saw the one jumping back from Akeno as it screamed, and heard the warning squawk of the next closest Elwet hit her ears. She saw the third launching a fiery spark out, and the fourth try to run away. To Lazash, then, it was a mere moment to choose her target before things devolved further and she lost too much speed after bursting in to do anything useful. She had to commit to a target, and the original plan wasn't really so viable in the heat of the moment.
The closest one to her, from the direction she was coming in from at least, was the one launching the fiery attack at Akeno. Without pausing, then, Lazash darted into the third Elwet as fast as she could and would slam her body weight behind the primitive knife of sorts as she tried to drive it at the chicken's side and likewise into its center of mass as hard as she could. About where a heart could maybe roughly be expected maybe, given the peculiar size of these creatures at least. She hoped she was getting this somewhat right.
As the creature's focus was on attacking Akeno, it seemed, she could make a move to take advantage of that with her speed and rock and what body weight she had as a mere Runt. Hit it from its side, rather than charge from the front, and make it pay for its lapse in attention-span in these moments.
If she could knock this thing over and stick it with her rock in the process, or at least do something to it with her charge at all to stun or leave it shocked, she'd do her best to wrap her arms around its neck and grab it as tightly as her little body could muster before trying to twist it and break it as she could before it could get around to her (hopefully). If all else failed, and she could grab the neck at least, she would do so in such a case and still grip it just as tightly and with the same neck-breaking intent to boot.
Ingestion - After consuming a required amount of biomass from a particular Creature, 1 of that Creature's Skills can be copied at its lowest Rank.
Creature Analysis - Rank I - Upon analyzing a target, information relevant to the chosen type will be displayed. Higher Ranks will grant more detailed information. (For example, using Creature Analysis on a Slime would tell you the most generic, widely known information on Slimes as a species)
Empty Skill Slot
Empty Skill Slot
Current Equipment and Inventory:
Swaddling Pelts - Equip, Clothes - Old animal skins used to keep an Orc baby warm as they sleep. Once the Runt is old enough to start hunting, these are usually just enough to cover the parts that need the most covering.
Wooden Stick - Equip, Weapon/Tool, Material Component - A wooden stick. From a tree. That's...that's all there is to it. Can be thrown. (Was set down on the side of the bushes they started on, for the moment being at least that is.)
Sharp Rock - Equip, Weapon/Tool, Material Component - A rock with a slightly sharp edge. Useful as a primitive knife or chisel. Can be thrown.
A place called 'The Mazy Hillocks' certainly seemed to be living up to its name, that much she could tell for certain. Hills, ravines, earth, rock, trees, steep slopes, and for all she knew a blasted Minotaur running around the place after some king pissed off a local deity! What else, were they going to be running across an army of undead waiting for them along the way? Witch Queen sending them some kind of fancy welcome to a new world before they even figured out how they got there in the first place perhaps?! Ugh. She liked walking along the beach, and the forest hadn't been bad, but hiking in the mountains or a place like this wasn't her 'cup of tea' to put it metaphorically.
And the others had seemingly agreed with her little revelation seemingly without much...er...thoughts of their own really. At least from what she'd heard and seen so far. Not even a hint of doubt for a sudden claim that the enemy knew they had-...ah. No, after the battle it'd make sense if the enemy figured something had happened since that village hadn't been turned into a mass grave. But even then, and admitting to herself that it wasn't as far-fetched as maybe she felt it was at first, did these people not have an ounce of critical thinking to at least ponder if that might sound real? To ask her for evidence or anything to indicate why she'd just said that out of the blue?!
Maybe there would be a way to get around this place more expeditiously and lose any potential pursuing party, at least without-
"Is there a way we can get around this thing?”
"I'm afraid not, not without backtracking and losing a ton of time on our trip."
Fair enough of an assessment, she wasn't the one holding the map after all. But perhaps she could say something and see if they could at least look more at the map to try to find some sort of-
"ROOOOOAAARRRRR!!!"
...Nope. Nope nope nope. NOPE!!!
A dark roar from the rear meant something wasn't happy, or something was maybe looking for a mate, claiming territory, or maybe trying to scare off intruders or such things along those lines. It also meant the thought of trying to sit around looking for a more carefully-routed optimized path would not be something good either. Nope. Not at all. They would need to keep moving, rationally speaking, so with that in mind the mage would try to keep close to the others within reason due to being in the back of the group. Especially when they'd walked into a DEAD EN-...ahem. A dead end.
Right. So all of this meant going right into things, somehow getting past this gorge of a dead end, and through the rest of the-...Mazy Hillocks. Yeah that name was going to come back to bite them hard in the arse somehow, wasn't it?
The red-eyed man examined his surroundings, finding a small patch of dirt near the group that seemed to transition to the rocky surface of the gorge, and began casting upon it. Four trees, each the width of a person, began growing out of the ground next to each other. They grew horizontally towards the other side of the pit, eventually creating an impromptu bridge that would allow the group to get across safely. Two were right beside each other to provide a walking surface while the other two were angled to provide a sort of railing for whoever was using it. It wasn't elegant, but it would hold up to the strain of the group crossing, two people each. Adam had taken extra time to be sure the root systems of the plants were strong enough to carry that sort of weight. He also made sure that thick and sturdy branches were sticking out at appropriate intervals so that people could hold onto them for extra support.
Adam was young, but the kid was being rather useful to the party's current situation. She had to admit that honestly. His instruction for crossing would also be useful of course, didn't want to act out of panic and just blitz across like some idiot and mess things up. She wasn't that dumb, she felt, and after he spoke to the wider group she gave a small nod and waited for her turn to cross.
Not that Zell almost falling to a potential injury or worse didn't give Lillianna herself a small spook for a moment either. A small squeak came out of her lips before she tightly closed them shut at the scene. Hopefully no one noticed? Maybe. If she was lucky. At least she wasn't as loud in her surprise as James had just been at the same time, however, though MacKensie running off to scout ahead and returning with far-less-than-favorable news didn't help the nervous mage's current state. Not that she was obviously panicking, right? Haha. Who would do that? Totally not someone who was being unnerved a bit by everything that had been going on on this part of the trip!
Ugh. No, she had to breathe. Focus. Think. Too many little things trying to get and stay under her skin. Not that there weren't big things either, but she had to control what she could control at least. Breathe. In and out. Lillianna would focus herself and work to calm her nerves, though visibly standing to the side and breathing with focus and her eyes briefly closed was certainly something of an indicator of what she was doing at least. In and out. Focus on the next task ahead, and maybe finally make herself useful-
"Hey dude, just wanted to say thank you, without you we would have likely lost Zell..."
"I grabbed the branch," he said annoyed over his shoulder, like he was already sick of explaining it.
"...and that would have sucked, even if he is a moron sometimes"
"I'm standing right here bro!"
For a moment the mage was caught off guard as Zell's exclamations brought her attention back to James and MacKensie, but at the same time...
"Pffb-...pff...pfft!"
The talk between MacKensie and him about Zell, after the poor guy was saved, and while he was standing right there did help to kill the tension in her opinion. On second thought, it made her chuckle for a few seconds more despite it all, attempting to stifle a laugh from her mouth and attempting to avoid standing out somehow at the same time. Not normal for her, but it did help her let out some of the anxiety as she'd been trying to calm herself. It wasn't personal, but the timing was perfectly comedic when her head was in the right headspace to just be slipped up by something as little as that.
Once she regained control over herself, however, the mage would seem to return to a somewhat calmer 'normal' (she figured) and would follow along with the group to the next juncture. With MacKensie having scouted the right path, then, with Fenna now also pointing out the vultures circling over what looked like somewhere down the left path in Lillianna's eyes. Yes, scavengers did make sense in an area where terrain made it harder to survive, or where predators were lurking about. That many vultures going around though? That wasn't a good sign in her mind either.
"Perhaps we should take the central path, given what we know so far, but keep a rearguard in case-"
Her words trailed off into a dead silence as her eyes picked up on 'something'...distinct.
Well, at first it was just one 'something' at least, but as she began to look about more she began to notice more and more of those 'somethings'. Floating. Walking. Sitting on terrain. Flying about in the air. Whatever they wanted to do really. And all of these 'somethings' were moving wistfully or angrily or hopelessly or otherwise about the place, moods as variant as the weather and many of said moods obviously negative looking in nature or sounding like such through wailing and moaning and so forth. Their forms all were distinctly somewhere between translucent and transparent, see-through by nature but not as clear as glass or water, and yet no one else seemed to take note of it but her.
Men mostly. Some women. Children. Animals. Some looked all intact or there, normal enough to not be too wild-looking. The majority otherwise, however, had obvious signs of injuries or missing limbs or semi-attached heads and exposed bowels and-...ugh. No, no, breathe. Focus. Yes. Ok.
There was only one movie line she'd known in life that described this most succinctly, though she wasn't sure using it here would convey much in detail. So another approach would be needed then!
After swallowing a gulp of air the mage would looked calmly down at Adam and the others and pipe up for the first proper time since they'd entered this place. Maybe she'd even get a chance to say more if she was quick enough, before she looked even more crazy. Not that landing in a world full of magic and such, finding a magical connection in a cube made to make undead leaders for undead armies, and making a shelter when it wasn't rainy or such outside, wasn't already abnormal enough on its own. No, then this.
At the same time, however, the idea popped into her head that this could be useful perhaps. Potentially.
"...-ok, so does anyone else other than myself see the large amount of spirits of the dead, as in ghosts, all over the place here?"
Her eyes then went up to look at the ghosts once more, only for a face to pop up in front of her suddenly and make her visibly jump backward.
The younger spirit that popped up in front of her then looked a bit startled himself, though would float over to her slowly but gently and put his hands out as if to show he wasn't a threat. It was enough to get Lillianna to slow her heartbeat down and look at him more closely as well.
His body seemed clad in a basic gambeson type of armor that covered his arms and had a tall neck on it, with a shirt of chainmail covering this as well as his torso and upper arms. Thick woolen pants covered his legs, and likewise came over the top of what she assumed was a pair of boots. A medieval-styled metal helm, rounded on top with a brim around the outside of it to give the eyes and neck shade, covered his head. Finally, a pair of leather gloves and pair of metal bracers on the spirit's hands and forearms. All he was missing was a weapon in hand, really, but no sheath was by his side either.
"I dun' mean no harm, but...you...you can see us, miss?"
"Y-Yes. Ahem. Yes, apparently I can."
"It's been so long. One who can see the spirits, I've heard the stories about you's. By the Quinity, even my little sister could see em' too. Got trained by the local church healer she did, though we was lucky we had one back in village as small as ours."
"Umm...
The spirit seemed to look briefly surprised again, before pulling off his helmet and holding it over his chest. His head of messy and roughly-cut short sandy brown hair would likewise become visible as he did so.
"Ah! Sincerest pologies', miss, ah' didn't mean ta' go so long as I did. Just...been horrible in these parts since ah' died. Alone. No one else ere' to talk ta' that wants to. But none of is' ere' is really important anymore really..."
The mage paused for a moment, mouth half-opening before closing again. Something seemed to flash over her eyes, as if something 'clicked' in her head, and her expression would briefly soften for a moment. After a few seconds would pass, then, Lillianna spoke up again to the spirit still floating in front of her (and at a more proper distance now for conversing at least).
"...No. No need to apologize at all in this case.
If I may ask, though, do you know anything about the paths ahead?"
"Er, that might not be what yous all needs right now, miss.
Really, your lot here needs ta' get ready fast. I just wandered back from tha' south and there's pack of the direwolves that're following you. Comin' to attack they is, seens em' myself. Just a small pack, but em's deadly ones tryin' ta' get yous all from the rear here."
Wait, wolves following them into this place? Or had they come from here? No, never mind that now. The mage looked back over at the party and spoke up
"Ok, so one of the dead spirits here just let me know there is a small pack of direwolves coming from the south. I don't care if I sound crazy, and I don't know if these wolves followed us here or are from here already, but we need to get ready for an attack from our rear.
BurningCold
Zapdos
Xaltwind
Spiffy
dwyer austin
The Otter
Dezuel
Izurich
Danyel
Aku the Samurai
