EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The cheering and celebration lasted for a short time after Fendros’ speech. Though, after that, there was little left that could follow it. For the moment, after all that had transpired, it felt like they were finally able to enjoy their victory. A memorial was planned, for everyone they had lost in the battle, and for their fallen Champion. For now, though, they were able to look ahead, with a new Champion leading them. For Fendros and the rest of his pack, there was still more work ahead: work that was not likely to be finished anytime soon. However, here and now, they finally all had a chance to rest. After all was said and done, Fendros was still able to wish his son a good night, then lay down to sleep in his own bed with Ahnasha safe and healthy beside him.

---

When Fendros opened his eyes, he was not in his room in the Silent City; rather, he seemed to be in a forest. A familiar forest. It was a hilly area, covered in evergreen trees, and looking around, he could see the familiar landscape of the Valus mountains rising above to the east. These were the forests of County Cheydinhal. After a few moments, he would become more aware of the scene around him, it’s scent especially. There was the body of a werewolf at his feet, with an arrow in its right arm and its head mostly severed, along with the mutilated corpse of a horse nearby. His horse, from long ago. Before he became a werewolf. The scent of fresh blood in the air was overwhelming, almost intoxicating. It would be like he was smelling blood as a lycan for the first time, all over again. The torn leather armor he was wearing was covered in blood as well, but unlike the last time he was here, there was no wound on his flesh underneath the claw marks on his armor. Also unlike last time, the urge to hunt and kill was not so overpowering as to take command of him. He was no fledgling lycan; this time, he was in control.

What Fendros would feel this time, instead, was something urging him off into the forest. It was not a sound nor scent, just the feeling of…something to push him to move on down the path deeper into the forest.

The Cradle

Regardless of what any individual’s opinion on it may have been, they had a plan for the moment. They would investigate from the ground, with the Sacred Band and Void Company as escorts, and a handful of scientists from each species. No one was receiving special treatment.

From within the ship, none of those on the surface team could yet see where they had landed. The scenery would have to wait until they were outside. In order to maintain their cover, the soldiers were recommended to keep to weapons that were concealable. They did not yet have enough data on the natives’ weaponry to be able to convincingly mimic it. Armor was still usable, as long as it was made with rigid plating, and was not too bulky. Void Company had opted for a lighter, more form-fitting variant of their usual armor which would not interfere with the holograms.

Among the Rothians, Vreta and Nirann were accompanying as attachés to Void Company, while Marae and the archeologist Artek’Qin were joining as members of the science team. The ship had landed, so the team was in the hanger bay making final preparations to depart.

“We should go ahead and ensure all of our disguises are working correctly.” Vreta addressed the group. All of the equipment he needed, he put into a backpack and set aside, the sole exception being the shield belt he was wearing. He made sure it was tightly secured and fit snugly to the body to avoid it interfering with the hologram. While the hologram device did project an energy shield as well, it was far weaker than one meant to protect against weapons fire, so the shield belt was needed for protection.

The hologram projector was a harness, worn like a bandolier around the torso. While it would take some adjustments, it could be fit to any of the species present. Vreta was the first to activate his. The device took a few moments to scan its surroundings, calibrate to its user, then apply the pre-loaded hologram of the native it was meant to be imitating. All at once, Vreta’s reptilian body seemed to shift into that of one of the insectoid locals.

“Activate your holograms, then go through a range of motions to make sure there are no calibration errors.” Vreta recommended. From the perspective of the others, he sounded just the same as usual, though that was only due to their own translators. Vreta’s translator was outputting his words audibly as though he was speaking the native language.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

@EliteCommander

Would it be okay if I shoot you a DM, so we can brainstorm perhaps some better character ideas. I don't think the whole jester assassin thing is going to work.

@Eviledd1984

That's quite alright. I can help you integrate whatever ideas you might have.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

As the Glen had been collecting himself to respond, Kareet had cautiously approached the creature’s corpse, setting her gaze upon any detail that could be important. Anything that stood out immediately. “Hmm, physiology unlike anything I’ve seen before. Doesn’t match any description of anything native to the Ascendancy…and a heat resistant hide? Never heard of that occurring naturally. Blood is…black? None of this sits right with me.” She muttered, mostly to herself.

Kareet was tempted to pull out her notebook right away to start sketching what she could see, but the Glen, J’eon, was finally able to answer. He was alive, but even the most oblivious observer could see that he was hurt. Altogether, it was inconvenient, as it meant she could not pretend she did not notice. She wanted to find out what she could about this creature while she was able, but it was plainly obvious that J’eon needed help sooner rather than later. Her impression of Shirik’s personality was that they would want them to help him. Still, she managed to avoid letting on to her reluctance to pry herself away from examining the corpse.

“Kareet of Arcaeda, Seeker of the Order of Sages.” She introduced herself as she stepped up to the Glen laying on the ground in front of her. “You should be treated as soon as possible. I believe Ertiseda has a Life mage. We should be able to get you there; it isn’t far.”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

@EliteCommander

A fair point, to save both of us any grief. I was thinking of going with my original idea. And go with a faction/race that are mostly assassins or are skilled in covert ops. I was thinking their whole culture would be based around jesters and or clowns. I'm unsure If they should be knowledgeable in magic, or are more tech focused. But they could be other professions to try and fit into being part of the crew. So my character specifically could be the bartender or maybe part of security.

@Eviledd1984

To clarify, the Jotunheim and her crew are Humans from Earth. There is no magic in their universe, and they've only encountered one other alien species. All of the other playable races are natives of Kanth-Aremek. They are a late-medieval society which has discovered magic in the last few centuries. The Jotunheim is about to (unintentionally) cross over to their universe.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

@Catharyn

I am interested in joining this roleplay. I just had a few questions, firstly would we be able to create our race to be a part of the crew? Secondly would an undead character more specifically a skeleton be able to join the crew?

@Eviledd1984

You can create a character who is a native of Kanth-Aremek. They wouldn't start out being associated with the Jotunheim's crew, naturally (The Jotunheim is only just about to cross over into their world).

We are early enough in the story that I am fine with people creating their own custom race. The major political powers on the continent are set in stone, but it is established that there are multiple smaller nations and other factions. Unfortunately, though, being an undead, or any thinking magical construct, is something that would be particularly difficult to integrate into the story. Kanth-Aremek, for most of its history, has been "normal". There was no magic or anything supernatural. Magic became known to the world a few centuries ago, and fully-conscious undead are not something that works easily with the magic as I have written it. At least, not in a way that isn't very exceptional. One could use Force magic to "animate" a construct, and Thought magic to give it a simple mind (emphasis on simple). To be able to create a fully thinking mind is a kind of power that I am not sure I would wish to be possible. And if it was, there would probably be exactly one person on KA who would be powerful enough to accomplish it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There is just one more scene for me, I think. Everything else is being tied up well.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

For Kareet especially Shirik’s decisive attack was blinding. Her eyes were well-adjusted to the dark, so the fireball had her turning her head and covering her eyes. She blinked a few times when the light finally subsided, then squinted as she tried to get a good view of the aftermath. Right before the fireball had come down, the Glen had taken a hard hit from the beast. At the very least, that had launched him clear of the blaze. After a few moments, he finally came into view for her. He had been knocked up against a nearby tree, but he was still moving. Still alive.

Kareet stumbled forward carefully. She still felt half-blind, but she could navigate well enough. However, she was halfway to the Glen when she heard yet another, enraged screech from the direction of what should have been the creature’s corpse. How could it be anything except dead? A fireball like that, right after being frozen? There was nothing alive that could survive that kind of thermal shock. Anything less than death was impossible. Unthinkable. Yet, when she turned her head, she would not deny feeling terrified when she saw the body moving.

Fortunately, it seemed the universe was taking at least some mercy on them when she saw the state the creature was in. The freezing and heating had torn its hide apart across much of its upper body, allowing its insides to be burned to its core. There were some traces of dark green blood, but much of what she could see on half its body was charred beyond recognition. One of its arms was simply gone, while with the other was desperately trying to pull it towards Kareet. It shrieked and tried to snap its remaining mandible at her, though made little progress with either.

“Oh, come on.” Kareet grunted. She reached back and slid her hammer back into her backpack. Now that she had the time to do so, she traced a few signs in the air, then extended both hands forward as the feathers on her arm started to stand up from the static. There were a few small arcs of electricity between her hands and the creature, which, after a moment, erupted into a sustained storm of lightning focused squarely on its head. With its hide no longer protecting it, the electricity was able to have far more of an effect. She kept it up until the beast finally stopped moving. Still, for this thing to have had any life in it after being hit with such power…there was no animal she knew of that could possibly fit its description.

“Just…stay dead.” Kareet muttered at the creature’s corpse before turning her head to the others. “You, Glen. How hurt are you? Can you speak? Can you move?”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

The intense cold that struck at the creature’s core was rather immediately effective against it. Its scream this time seemed to be one of pain. It stumbled forward, half-collapsing in front of J’eon. Even without eyes, the way its body shifted towards him felt like it was glaring down upon the Glen.

From the start, Kareet had not wanted to get involved in a fight, but now that she was committed to being here, it was her training that quickly took over. It was easy to identify the exceptionally quick, and equally precise movements of a trained war caster. She could manage to mix in spellcasting seamlessly into swings, parries, or in this case, a throw. As she reared her hammer back, she moved two fingers along its haft at just the right angle and speed to imbue it with an electric charge.

The hammer came flying in, magnetically guided and accelerated, over the Glen to slam straight into the front of the creature’s head. The hard, sharp mandibles had been frozen to the point of becoming brittle, and so the one the hammer struck shattered upon impact, followed by a discharge of lightning all down its head and neck. The electricity only heated small, concentrated areas, but in the places it affected, it seemed the otherwise tough hide did not fare well through such rapid swings between cooling and heating. The hide actually appeared to be cracking in places.

“Hit it hard, all together!” Kareet shouted as her hammer flew back into her hand.

The creature, however, would not be stunned forever. With as massive as it was, J’eon’s spell had only affected part of its body so far, and the Glen had not yet ran, so he was still within its reach. With a roar, it made a powerful backhanded swing of its massive arm straight at J’eon.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J’eon’s spear was well-aimed as the creature charged. Even as the beast tried to maneuver around it, the spearhead did manage to connect on the side of its head, piercing and burning its flesh. However, J’eon would immediately notice just how tough its hide really was. Even with a good thrust, the spearhead only partially pierced into its head. With even more force, he might have been able to do more, but the hide put up enough resistance that the creature was able to jerk its head back before the spear could push deeper. At the very least, it had forced the creature to step back so it could not trample the Glen right away. Still, this creature was both absolutely massive and dangerously close. A single, solid hit from it could easily kill.

Bizarrely, the creature’s overwhelming aggression did not seem to subside in the slightest. Fire was generally a powerful deterrent to wild animals. Merely by showing it, Heat mages could often go undisturbed in the wilderness, which made this creature’s apparent indifference to it all the more unusual.

As soon as they had come upon the scene, Shirik had decided to get involved, which meant Kareet had to make that choice as well. The last thing she needed right now was for Shirik to be hurt. She reached back and, with a brief motion, formed a magnetic link between her hand and the weapon stowed away in her backpack. With a thought, the connection strengthened and her war hammer magnetized into her hand. Though, she did not move any closer for the moment. Instead, she breathed out, pointing her hammer’s head at the creature as she ran her fingers down the metal haft. An electric charge built and amplified through the metal, and when she finally flicked her hand away, it all discharged at once, sending a bolt of lightning straight at her target. It lasted but an instant and was accompanied by a crack of thunder.

The bolt struck the creature’s raised hand and sent a shock through its body…though the effect was much less than Kareet had hoped. Its flesh was blackened on the point of impact, but not burned as much as Kareet would have expected. The best she could say at the moment was that she had hurt it enough to interrupt its attack and give the Glen more of a chance to evade.