The Harbinger of Ferocity

Post a random fact about yourself.

I feel as though I have no choices in my life, that all of the things I think to myself I might choose between I already know the answer to. That I am resigned to always following a singular path and that the options are illusory to me, that only pursuing that which is instinct, intuition, is all there can or will be. I am comfortable in this.

D&D 3.5e - The Marches of the Savage Realm

It was true through and through that there was nowhere back from the forsaken land they found themselves marooned in, a little spit of civilization in a vast sea of relentless, restless wilderness. Even the road cut through the fields and the odd wood was far from safe unto itself and if they withdrew now they would well have returned to the town which they launched from, only to find they would need turn around and repeat this process; the rats likely having returned in strength, or worse. If there were beasts as these about, as well as the sizable, knife-tusked boar they had seen prior, undoubtedly those things that consumed these manner of animal would be afoot too, be them beasts as well or worse, monsters.

Able to restrain herself from gagging at the filthiness of the rats, who were living in squalor underground and feeding on the carrion of this stead's land turned battleground, Tracan motioned to the door. She didn't share their concerns for the same reasons, rather the longer they dallied and delayed, the sooner night would come, and she had no intention of hiding in some burned out barn or a rat's barrow to keep alive over the wash of darkness.

"Let's go."

She said nothing more and led them in, soon stepping aside so the men, with heavy armor upon their frames and shields in their hands, could pass her by. As with any elf she was lithe, dexterous, and gracile, but she was far from banking her life on her reflexes and the bite of her dagger to get her through the tight quarters ahead.

Once they moved into the remains of the house, they saw clearly what had taken place here, at least so far as the dire rats had invaded. The floorboards had been gnawed away, a hole dug into the center of the room, the blackened wood furniture torn asunder into bits from grinding teeth, and the precarious bits of roofing hanging in. There was a floor above in the farmhouse, although daring there would be a risk to life and limb in no short order thanks to the long extinguished fire's effects. So too was there probably little of value, the highwaymen and thieves that raided this little homestead all but certainly having taken everything. All else that remained now was the cellar and the tunnel, of which both seemed now interconnected...

Effects

Initiative Table
Renault - 21
Vah'lux - 20
Gorosk - 18
Quentin - 14
Tracan - 13
Creatures - ??

The party enters the remains of the large, ruined house on the stead and find it mostly destroyed. There is an upstairs as well as a cellar, which the massive hole burrowed into the floor now seems part of. All of the group is to roll for initiative, as combat is pending in the near future.

@BangoSkank@Hellion@Lord Wyron@TyrannosaursRex

D&D 3.5e - The Marches of the Savage Realm

Despite the rightful wariness she gave, Vah'lux did not see anything at the moment, neither did she hear it. The smell of old burnt wood and the reek of the rats themselves, filthy creatures they were, all were far more distracting than she may well have anticipated. They were pungent, slightly odorous in a rotten way; being this close to them was not welcome and the breeze was the only reprieve she found. The house, or rather the blackened structure of it, was what loomed before her and the rest with her, and it was reasonably as bad if not worse than dealing with the creatures outdoors. Something struck her however and that was the fact her weapon, sizable and deadly as it was, would be tremendously restricted indoors, let alone a tunnel. The latter of which she was keen enough to understand at least let her attack from one direction and well past the heads and shoulders of her allies, but still at penalty as the rats were large for rats but nowhere near the size of men nor goliaths as she.

In the meanwhile, Tracan simmered quietly to herself, her lip chewed in annoyance. She hadn't come marching out here to loose arrows at rats and others get bit by them only to come back again and repeat the process another time. Had the remark been made by anyone else outside of de Brey it may well have been better received. For the time being however, temperamental as she was, she only stewed quietly to herself rather than immediately give in to another outburst. In more and more ways she began to comprehend the resentment elves had for other races but pushed the notion out of her head; she wasn't one of them after all, they shunned her.

Effects

Vah'lux notes nothing of significant importance but recognizes in close quarters, her glaive will be of little help unless there is sufficient room to wield the weapon. This is unlikely, presenting her a particular challenge similar to how Tracan's bow is now mostly useless.

@Hellion

Post a random fact about yourself.

It always is a puzzle to me when I am asked for my opinion and insight on a matter directly and it becomes evident my response was not what the individual wished to hear. Would they rather I have lied to them and played sycophant? I do not grovel for favor nor clamor to share their, or anyone else's, opinion. Why bother asking for the truth of the matter if one was not willing to face it? Again, people know not that which they desire, I suppose, but I am afraid I will never understand why they expect otherwise from me.

D&D 3.5e - The Marches of the Savage Realm

At the sound of the orc speaking up specifically to her, the wild elf now paid him attention. Before she was in her own place, her own thoughts on the matter, only having discerned something about there being more of the rats, which she already assumed to be handedly true. She needed no real convincing internally that this was a futile effort, although now she gave it no more mind until she thought upon the man's question, the words "... any idea why these things might be so focused on this plot of land?"

"Food." Tracan said, her voice unemotional and plain as the day above them, "This entire farm has shelter and most of all, food. They probably came to scavenge the bodies when the raid was over but stayed to feed on the crop."

It was the best guess she had had to go off of but she preferred to frame it as fact. The next bit she had to say, brief as the first, was less certain and just as questioning, "I imagine we'll find more inside and the barn then." Her stare became more intense as she pointed her daggered eyes toward de Brey again before she slung her bow across her chest. Adjusting the string, she drew the steely dagger from her side, the only thing sharper than the scrutinizing she gave the man earlier. She still wasn't pleased about killing the rats but the beasts were making a lingering point.

@BangoSkank

D&D 3.5e - The Marches of the Savage Realm

With another of the monstrous rats slain and no more to come, at least not in the blood tinged air of the midday at this moment, it seemed overtly apparent that they were one more victorious. Liberating the farm from the clutches of the wilder things was no chore and these creatures made that leagues apparent. They had wounded the paladin and the monk alike, thankfully no long lasting wounds, but they were still filth ridden creatures and their bites were a threat in that sense all its own. Without a healer as the priest of the temple who they set out for in this task, one could only imagine the destruction even this minor threat could be had the commoners and whatever they scrounged up for weaponry come this way. It would be their bodies littering the pained earth and lying in the disowned field, surely.

The goliath quite likely felt a surge of pride at felling the last rat before anyone could so touch it, the beast killed in expeditious order by the time she had even spoken again. The elf, however, was not quite so impressed as they were still rats after all and worse things wandered these woods. She shuddered at the thought of wolves and what blinding terror that would be, let alone anything from a bear to more arcane creatures. At least their lives were not nearly at stake or that of those more noble creatures and so when she finished plucking her arrows from the ground, she spoke up again.

"If there's this many rats out here and in their burrows, there's bound to be as many and more inside this house, probably tunnels even." She brushed the hair aside from her face and gave a warning glare to the two injured men, then most of all to the last man who was arguably at fault - as far as she saw it - for this particular escapade. Although truthfully, it likely could not have ended all that much better in outcome for them should de Brey not have startled the savage rodents and upset their defense with his reckless behavior.

Effects

Combat has ended with Vah'lux slaying the last of the dire rats. Tracan again goes about collecting her arrows.

All of the party members gain 100 experience points.

@BangoSkank@Hellion@Lord Wyron@TyrannosaursRex

D&D 3.5e - The Marches of the Savage Realm

Two of the rats fell dead almost instantly in a matter of seconds, their still warm figures sprawled out across the ground in lifeless motion. They died in the heat of the moment and their bodies reflected that dynamic quality and last bit of effort they had exerted before being reduced to broken bones and soon dying flesh by the blows of the monastic orc. They were not the only of the beasts to fall, for just as soon as those two before them were slain, another joined them dead in the dirt. Only this time, Beaumont backhanded one of the creatures with a reverse swing of his sword, following it as it dared attempt to move outside his area of threat; the blade caught it at the spine and it went lifeless.

Vah'lux was just as successful too, having been focusing herself upon one of the monstrous vermin as it leapt and bit at the other human. Again it sprung forward, tooth and claw wild before suddenly as it landed on the bracer of de Brey's free arm, it vanished with the thrust of a tremendous blade. It hit the ground, pinned, and dead upon contact with the blade before it so much as struck the soil which now turned red with its blood. It hadn't even the time to call out in surprise before it was killed, its moment of near triumph at biting the intruding man interrupted in the very moment.

But that was not all, for the last rat, having shaken off the surprise off the first few moments of the charge hustled its way out of doorway and set about attacking as well. Composing himself, de Brey saw the rat just as soon as it saw him and he had the wherewithal to immediately protect himself with his shield as it plowed into his armor. With a metallic thud and weight pushed thrust upon the bulwark safeguarding him, he avoided an attack this time solely by his own doing.

Effects

Initiative Table
Tracan - 23
Gorosk - 17
Creatures - 11
Renault - 5
Vah'lux - 4
Quentin - 0

The two remaining dire rats move in to attack from a different angle but provoke initially. In both instances, Beaumont strikes one and so does Vah'lux before they can attack, the latter which would have wounded de Brey. A final rat, one inside the house and previously not known about, makes its appearance and attacks de Brey only to fail in the effort.

@BangoSkank@Hellion@Lord Wyron@TyrannosaursRex

Wanna be a site mod? Look here.

Let us see if anything comes of this.

Post a random fact about yourself.

There are times in which to myself I invent my own narratives between dreaming that I implement into the dreams and shape. This creates such a bizarre melding of the real and that which is not, it becomes difficult to tell where one starts and ends as they are all too similar. They often morph and take on a life of their own once dreamt but still are as desired and imagined.

Post a random fact about yourself.

Almost none of the characters I have written, none so far as I can remember, have had "good" outcomes in their lives. Some are better than others, just that nearly all have some terrible influence or impact upon them, tragic or not. I cannot begin to fathom a character who is happy and all who is quite well, what they would even do or why.