Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei's speech would have done the trick for exciting the immediate forces, but to most her words were completely forgotten before the mighty presence of a Daedric Prince in his own domain.

Fendros, somehow having convinced himself that he would never see Hircine in the flesh while he lived, let alone on this battlefield, froze up as if staring down a predator. It was easy for his mind to work out why. He saw Ahnasha's reaction and knelt. His mind was blank on any other course of action.

Janius was exhilarated, but his beast spirit held the most sway, and it compelled him to kneel.

Finally, Sabine, clutching the Staff of Magnus in both hands, felt for the first time that such an implement would do her no good in the face of such power. She knelt with shivering knees, suddenly less sure that Clavicus Vile could be held back by her capabilities with the staff.

The reactions from the Legionnaires and Dominion troops was more or less unified. They were on edge since the lycan spirits around them had appeared to join them. They remained standing fast beside one another with hearts racing and breath quickened. They were elite soldiers, made to stand against fear. In comparison to this, however, the other side of the portal did not seem so terrifying anymore.

Teroiah and Gro-Tagnud stood staring with Ri'vashi, in competition to keep their emotions held together.

"Akatosh slay me," Gro-Tagnud betrayed in a monotone.

"Look sharp, Legate General," Teroiah shakily responded. "This one is on our side. For today."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Teroiah and Gro-Tagnud exchanged a glance.

Naturally, Teroiah spoke up first. "At least we will have force enough to hold the line. Pushing them all through could give us a shield to set up and advance with impunity."

"Not all of 'em," Gro-Tagnud countered. "We've both been working on moving boots at a large scale. There are too many to move quickly through the one portal. By the time all of them are through, Vile will have had time to rally and alert all forces. We need to have a foothold before that happens or we're just setting up a mill grinder for troops."

"We will be more likely ground to dust without their support," Fendros commented.

Gro-Tagnud frowned. "I never said they weren't supporting us. We're just goin' to have to ride in the second wave in two columns: standing soldiers on one side, hunters on the other. We set up as planned with plenty of reinforcements."

"To consolidate," Teroiah said.

"Exactly." He pointed to Teroiah in agreement. "We secure the ground we can take. Skirmishers stick to their own roles."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros knew Vykosa had not come to pick a fight. He did not take the bait. Whether Gro-Tagnud and Teroiah were silent for the same reasons was hard to tell.

And just as well they heard her out. Vykosa's offer took everyone by surprise. Not just for the scale of support, but the last detail in particular.

Teroiah spoke up to clarify, showing only enough pretentiousness in her tone to mark her as uncowed. "When you say joining Hircine in this hunt, do you speak metaphorically? Of all his lycans running forth? Or does the Prince of the Hunt wish to attend in person?"

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. IV

Perhaps a simple way to resolve this is to ask everyone to be mindful of the length of their posts.

@Kho

No, the length isn't the problem. That's what the summaries are for. The problem is the sheer number of posts and my current free time. My free time in particular is much narrower than it used to be. But even if it wasn't, I don't want to put extra editing work on other players if they don't want to. That would not be fun.

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. IV

Ahoy GMs. You might be wondering why I haven't gotten around to an IC post yet. It goes a little something like this: There are upwards of four chunky posts a day in this RP, often many more. I'm spending all my time that I get for play-by-posts these days catching up with what happened in the prior 24 hours. It's not sustainable and I can't keep abreast with current goings-on at my current effort level.

With this in mind, I would like to fade into being a lurker for the time being and jump back in when I'm sure I can make a long term contribution. I hope you don't mind.

I hereby relinquish my claim on any concepts Ereun-Za carries as a character. I can always make something new or tweak him later if need be.

Thanks for making inspiring stuff. I'll stick around the Discord for the larfs and the memes.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The abruptness of Vykosa's appearance made Fendros reach for his sword and Janius brace himself to strike. They were all on edge without the spirit of their powerful lycan acquaintance visiting them.

A moment passed to realise Vykosa did not intend to attack. Fendros relaxed enough to speak up to Meesei. He did not feel comfortable looking Vykosa in the eye for too long.

"If this Vykosa has experience leading lycanthropes, we could at least hear her out," Fendros offered.

Janius' ears pinned back under his helmet, not trusting her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

All eyes were on Narsi. She glowered at Lorag while she caught her breath, but could not keep her eyes on him. "I won't, father," she finally said.

Orcish stoicism, in combination with Narsi's pride, demanded that she neither continued to cry nor show any affection. She instead stood to her feet while wiping her eyes dry with her arm, and gave Lorag a stern look. "Go take some heads," she struggled to say strongly. "Or whatever it is you do."

With that, the pack only had to pull themselves away from their children to get going.

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. IV

Take 2, this time with less mosh pitting…

Ereun-Za, enraged

Name: Ereun-Za

Primordial or Conceptual: Conceptual

Domain: Fire
The flickering yellow ghost. A tool to many when in control, but made wild it is all consuming – eating life and drinking air in a greedy frenzy. Fire is an angry energy with no regard for itself or anything around it. This concept is not only a physical phenomenon combusting fuel and releasing energy. It is also an inherent instinct in all evolved life to mindlessly consume for sustenance and rage against all obstacles.

Portfolio: Ruination
All artifice is brought low by one means or another. Once ruined, all its glory is humbled by its broken form. Ereun-Za holds the power to bring ruin to creations in its vicinity. He breaks buildings, crafts, bodies, tempers, and hearts alike.

Broken things may be repaired unless utterly annihilated, but Ereun-Za’s power grants no such reparations through this portfolio. Things created with the power of ruination may only bring destruction.

Their Realm: The Swath
The Swath is a shifting bed of soft dunes blasted by a never-ending, molten glass blizzard. An orange haze permeates through in some hint of a dawn or sunset, but no single source of light can be located except for the gouts of scorching fire that break up out of the sand to keep the blizzard moving. Scattered bricks and broken rusty tools stick out of the ground at dangerous angles, and breathless screams in the air prevent one from concentrating on anything but the pain of trudging through the blinding storm.

Persona:
The internal state of Ereun-Za’s emotions is one of constant pain and frustration. Some deep element of his psyche keeps him emotionally compromised. It reacts to any attempt at interaction as a cruel trick and any expression of joy, happiness, or superiority as a dismissal of his pain. Because of this, his ability to reflect on his emotions and decisions is impaired by a paper-thin temper. And when his temper fails, it releases violent tantrums. To him, in such moments, everything is trying to cause him suffering. Everything is making things worse. It must be destroyed, if for nothing else than out of spite.

While calling Ereun paranoid is true in a way, Ereun’s expression of this state of mind is actively aggressive. He rarely leaves tantrums without a new grudge that he persecutes to its functional destruction. His mind paradoxically opens up from his emotional blindness, but only in the capacity to scheme and reason ways to undermine the subjects of his grudges. He is not interested in reconciliation. He is not interested in healing his rage or fighting for an ideal. He is the incarnation of hate and bitterness with seemingly no remorse.

Ereun’s ultimate goal, if it can be called that with how little he regards walking towards it, is to spread his tortured state upon all of Galbar until it is a grim reflection of his own realm the Swath.

IMPORTANT COROLLARY: Despite Ereun’s emotional turmoil, he is limited by experience, not his capacity to feel. He may change as he marches around Galbar on his selfish, hollow rage, though changes for the better will not come as easily as they are proposed.

Base Form: Ereun-Za the Yellow Ghost
The usual form Ereun-Za takes is that of a lion with skin of bright, crackling yellow magma and a mane of billowing smoke. Each of his pawprints leaves a small flame behind him. His breath is hot enough to cause the air beyond his mouth to ripple, and when focussing this heat, dark blue-purple flames jet from every crevice. His eyes are perpetually wide and manic, looking out for the next slight against him.

Domain Form (Ruination): Vessel of Spite
The Vessel of Spite is the form taken to inflict pure ruination. It is a massive tumbling meteor of burning rubble roughly thirty metres in diameter, flying with his will and forcing masses around it into a tornado-like helix to toss earth and water alike across the landscape. Thin jets of flame project in beams to incinerate points around it.

Avatar: The Grey Rider

The approaching smoke on the horizon…

The manifestation of Ereun-Za on Galbar is a single human-sized, softly smoking figure encased in grey, bony, spiny armour and riding on an equally grey horse that constantly sheds a fine ash. In the avatar’s right hand is a burning sword that wreaks destruction on all around it. He refers to himself as Ereun-Za, though his reputation spreads through his actions more than his speech. As such, his simple description, the Grey Rider, spreads like his fires.

As if suppressed by the spiny grey coral that coats him, or perhaps as an adaptation to the influence of the surrounding Lifeblood, the Grey Rider’s outward behaviour is more reserved and contained than Ereun-Za in person. He not only exercises a certain level of patience, but his slow, seething voice resonates in a way that demands attention through chills and intimidation. For behind this barrier, the tantrums do explode outwards in small flumes of violence. When these outbursts occur, the Grey Rider’s voice splits into the disgusted shouts and jeers of an entire crowd bearing down from all directions. However, in lucid times, the Grey Rider manipulates the bitter and the betrayed to rise up in rage and blindly destroy their enemies, and the world that allowed them to exist.

The Grey Rider’s horse is never far from the avatar, almost as if the two are one in the same being. The horse has no apparent name as the Rider never speaks to it or of it. The horse is as tough as the avatar, runs frighteningly fast, and can barge through buildings and beings like a siege engine. To traverse the skies, it sprouts a pair of bright, burning, wing-shaped flames from its shoulders, billowing smoke behind it. The wings are so bright that fires start around it from sheer radiant heat.

Musical Theme:

Boiling Anger

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The only sounds Rhazii made with his face down in his parents' embrace were soft, slow breaths from the back of his mouth, interrupted at times by deep sniffs. Fendros comfortingly rubbed his back. They were together for as long as was needed, which was a long time indeed.

"Don't..." Rhazii began. "Don't sacrifice yourself, okay?"

Fendros took a breath in and out. "You know we will be doing our utmost. Love you, little one."

Rhazii, taller than them both, to speak over a whisper. "Love you father. Love you mother. Good hunting."

Janius got halfway through "Me neither, son," before Julan began to shift. At this, he started to softly laugh.

After the transformation, Janius regarded Julan's words by looking into his eyes to see any trace of distraction. He only saw Julan's hidden anxiety. Janius bowed his head and closed his eyes, sighing quietly. "You have. You've done so much to help us, and you will do so much more. But right now, you, Rhazii, and Narsi need to stick together. Just like you've done before." He risked placing a hand on Julan's shoulder. "You're a growing young man. Your time will come to hold burdens like we do. But, if all goes well, your burdens won't have to be as heavy. Isn't that right, my love?" He glanced to Kaleeth.

"Oh, fuck you!" Narsi burst out, drawing everyone's eyes. She did not heed them. "I'll beat the shit out of every fighter under those damn rocks until I'm the best-" she jabbed a thumb at her chest. "-and I'll be the one to haunt your damn ghost!" She brought up her fists. "Won't be able to overpower me well enough just as a ghost!" She punched Lorag ineffectually on his armour. "So you better live!" She punched with her other fist. "So I can beat you like I promised!" She had one more punch before her fist just stopped, pressed against the gut of his breastplate. She was baring her teeth and hissing growls in and out. She didn't realise the tears going down her cheeks halfway through her tantrum.

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. IV

Alright, let's see how this goes...

There is one aspect in particular that might draw some debate. I'm more than willing to adjust things.

Ereun-Za, enraged

Name: Ereun-Za

Primordial or Conceptual: Conceptual

Domain: Fire
The flickering yellow ghost. A tool to many when in control, but made wild it is all consuming – eating life and drinking air in a greedy frenzy. Fire is an angry energy with no regard for itself or anything around it. This concept is not only a physical phenomenon combusting fuel and releasing energy. It is also an inherent instinct in all evolved life to mindlessly consume for sustenance and rage against all obstacles.

Portfolio: Ruination
All artifice is brought low by one means or another. Once ruined, all its glory is humbled by its broken form. Ereun-Za holds the power to bring ruin to creations in its vicinity. He breaks buildings, crafts, bodies, tempers, and hearts alike.

Broken things may be repaired unless utterly annihilated, but Ereun-Za’s power grants no such reparations through this portfolio. Things created with the power of ruination may only bring destruction.

Their Realm: The Swath
The Swath is a shifting bed of soft dunes blasted by a never-ending, molten glass blizzard. An orange haze permeates through in some hint of a dawn or sunset, but no single source of light can be located except for the gouts of scorching fire that break up out of the sand to keep the blizzard moving. Scattered bricks and broken rusty tools stick out of the ground at dangerous angles, and breathless screams in the air prevent one from concentrating on anything but the pain of trudging through the blinding storm.

Persona:
The internal state of Ereun-Za’s emotions is one of constant pain and frustration. Some deep element of his psyche keeps him emotionally compromised. It reacts to any attempt at interaction as a cruel trick and any expression of joy, happiness, or superiority as a dismissal of his pain. Because of this, his ability to reflect on his emotions and decisions is impaired by a paper-thin temper. And when his temper fails, it releases violent tantrums. To him, in such moments, everything is trying to cause him suffering. Everything is making things worse. It must be destroyed, if for nothing else than out of spite.

While calling Ereun paranoid is true in a way, Ereun’s expression of this state of mind is actively aggressive. He rarely leaves tantrums without a new grudge that he persecutes to its functional destruction. His mind paradoxically opens up from his emotional blindness, but only in the capacity to scheme and reason ways to undermine the subjects of his grudges. He is not interested in reconciliation. He is not interested in healing his rage or fighting for an ideal. He is the incarnation of hate and bitterness with seemingly no remorse.

Ereun’s ultimate goal, if it can be called that with how little he regards walking towards it, is to spread his tortured state upon all of Galbar until it is a grim reflection of his own realm the Swath.

IMPORTANT COROLLARY: Despite Ereun’s emotional turmoil, he is limited by experience, not his capacity to feel. He may change as he marches around Galbar on his selfish, hollow rage, though changes for the better will not come as easily as they are proposed.

Base Form: Ereun-Za the Yellow Ghost
The usual form Ereun-Za takes is that of a lion with skin of bright, crackling yellow magma and a mane of billowing smoke. Each of his pawprints leaves a small flame behind him. His breath is hot enough to cause the air beyond his mouth to ripple, and when focussing this heat, dark blue-purple flames jet from every crevice. His eyes are perpetually wide and manic, looking out for the next slight against him.

Domain Form (Ruination): Vessel of Spite
The Vessel of Spite is the form taken to inflict pure ruination. It is a massive tumbling meteor of burning rubble roughly thirty metres in diameter, flying with his will and forcing masses around it into a tornado-like helix to toss earth and water alike across the landscape. Thin jets of flame project in beams to incinerate points around it.

Avatar: Horde of Rage

Pouring out of the smoke…

The manifestation of Ereun-Za on Galbar is an army of twisted, screaming creatures hell-bent on rending apart all they touch.

The individual creatures vary in form. Some are small leaping mouths of sharp teeth with bodies the size and shape of dogs. Some are bipedal bodies of bone, sinew, and skin with killing weapons held or grafted on their upper appendages. Some are hunched giants with four legs and four arms ending in axe-blade or long-taloned hands. Some even have membranous wings. Many other kinds of abominations may form to adapt to the challenge before them, should Ereun-Za will it. The common thread between all of them is a desiccated, fire-poof, ashen blue skin, a number of bright glowing eyes, a lack of deep intelligence beyond the commands of Ereun-Za, and a base urge to take everything apart except (most of the time) one another.

The horde does not need to rest, eat, breathe, or fear. Fortunately, each individual in the horde may be slain by mortal wounds, though they reproduce by a gruesome process of splitting in half and growing into their new forms like some macro-scale mitosis over the space of a few days. This mitosis is helped along by the tugging grasp of their fellow horde-mates. The horde never grows beyond the equivalent strength of roughly 43,000 strong human soldiers unless Ereun-Za exerts power to temporarily swell their numbers.

Ereun-Za can assume direct control of every creature in the horde, even speaking through them, so long as they are not further than fifteen kilometres away from the average centre of the horde. Horde creatures further away than this succumb to their base instinct to roam and destroy without the benefit of Ereun-Za’s guidance.

Musical Theme:

Boiling Anger