The Dead Forest (Increased Orc activity due to skirmish)

[Siat Dacore]

"A normal man would be scared."

Siat ran a hand through his bright red hair.

"But I ain't never scurred."

He drained the coke and gripped the bottle upside down at the neck like a club. A grin still plastered across his face.

"Cos this is thriller~"  

[Kraun]

It was really too dark to see the man's face, however, for some reason unknown, Siat would know his mouth would split open into a malicious grin. Maybe it was a small glimmer of white, or maybe it was just the sudden agressive feeling which flowed in the area. It really didnt matter.

"Perhaps," The man's right arm would rise up as his index finger would point at the man. "You should be."

And on the word 'you', before he had even finished his line, the bushes around him seemed to shuffle a little, while the treebraches above would shake.

A ghoul directly above Siat would come crashing down, arms extended to meet the man first, clawed fingers reaching for flesh, it's face a hungry snarl.

One could almost discern the words from the undead's moans, "WE HUNGER..."  

[Siat Dacore]

Siat wasn't totally ready for an attack from the above, so his immediate reaction was to dive and roll backwards, then charge in once the ghoul had landed with a soccer kick aimed at it's head with his right foot.  

[Kraun]

At this point in time, Siat should not be concerned about whether or not he would kick the Ghoul in the face as it would land on its outstretched hands and roll over the ground. Instead, he should be worried about whether or not his hearing was insanely better than any animal's to pick up the tiniest individual sounds possible, as needles were shot at Siat from three directions, his left, his right, and his back.

The needles themselves literally made no noise as they flew through the air due to their low velocity (in comparison to a bullet), were nearly invisible due to their size while moving, and the mechanism which fired the needles were but a whisper of sound, indiscernable from the rustle in the bushes and the moaning sounds which would mask them.

Now, as the needles were suppose to strike at the time the first ghoul would meet the man, this did not happen from the left and right, seeing that he moved, rolling out of the way. Those needles would find their way into the dead monster's grey flesh without sound or resistance. However, the ghoul behind Siat would be a different problem.

As he rolled backwards, he would still be in the path of the needle volley. There was no sunlight to glint off the metal of the needles to provide vision, and because they lacked sound, there was nearly nothing to be done about them. Needles would fly towards the man's body as he rolled, aiming to pierce cloth and flesh alike in the motion.

On the point of his rising to later move in and kick the first ghoul as it landed, more needled would have shot out. The one behind him aiming for the back of his head and neck, while the other two at the sides would have changed their aim to track and shoot him from the sides.  

[Siat Dacore]

The needles would hit, and hit, but not do anything to hinder him as they weren't too painful. He barely felt them, and continued with the kick. He would notice them a few seconds later though, and after the kick, would turn and charge to his right, doing a flying kick when he came within range.  

[Kraun]

Needles. Possibly the single most non-lethal weapon ever. Unless of course, they were huge, and someone stabbed it through someone's eyes into their brain or something. But that wasnt the case. Needles, shot from blowguns and the like, were used because of the advantage they possessed; non-detection. The most common use of needles as a weapon were in the forms of assassination, where the needles themselves acted as the best way to enter a poison into another's body. The seemingly harmless weapon would be the end of so many unassuming people.

The poisons which coated these needles however, were non-lethal, rather, they were made to capture subjects alive. Made from the extracts of calabar beans, gelsemium, stavesacre, and thornapple, grown in the Garden of Eternal Night in the undead cult's lair, it acted as a highly potent neurotoxin. It acts quickly by paralysing the functions of the spinal chord, medulla oblongata, and the central nervous system in the brain, causing a general weakness in the muscles and a lower heart rate, followed by a hightened blood pressure, double vision, and delirium following as secondary effects after a given time.

The poison from the needles flowed through bodily fluid such as blood or the spinal fluids in the spine and acts quickly.

As the first ghoul landed, it would promptly be booted towards the man which simply stood there, half hidden in the shadows. The other ghouls of course, continued to fire their shots as previously stated.

When the man charged towards the ghoul on his right, jump up, and let his leg fly out, it would reach out with its clawed hands to grab ahold of his leg and dig its fingers into flesh.

Normal ghouls have a natural paralysing ability when striking with their claws and opening wounds, and S-II ghouls were no different.

The first problem was not dealing with the ghouls, but how quickly the poison would flow through the body and act to paralyse him. The high powered sedative, though designed to be non-lethal, came with one sngle drawback; if an antidote was not applied quick enough, death may occur to the subject by asphyxiation.  

[Siat Dacore]

Siat's body could deal with poisons much better than most other people, but he wasn't immune by any stretch. He could already feel the poisons working, but they would work slowly. Slowly enough for him to finish the part.

But anyway. His leg would be caught, and it would be pretty unlikely that the ghoul would actually be able to stop the kick, rather just cut up his leg as the kick was delivered, which it did. The blood poured immediately, and Siat winced, then grabbed the ghoul (after he had landed from the kick) and smashed the bottle over it's head, then shoved the large piece he was holding into it's throat before he took it's left arm at the wrist and pulled it up behind it, using the ghoul as a shield from any remaining ghouls.  

[Kraun]

The ghoul would topple over from the kick, right onto its back. And as Siat would grab it and smash a bottle over its head, both having landed close together, the ghoul's right arm would aim to cut his belly open with its claws, even when the glass was jabbed into its throat. Undead didnt need to feel pain, nor did they need to breathe, and some did not even need to feed for an energy source.

At that moment, the first ghoul which had been kicked would be getting up and advancing. The ghoul formerly to Siat's left, not to his back when he was doing the flying kick, would continue to fire a few more needles. The final ghoul, which had originally been at Siat's back, would be circling to its right to flank the man.  

[Siat Dacore]

Siat noticed the claw and as a result of trying to dodge it, fell backwards onto to his back, taking the bottle shard out as he did, meaning the needles would sail over his head. He quickly jumped back up to his feet and threw the bottle shard at the needle firing ghoul, hoping to disorient it for a second or two whilst he picked up a stick/branch which would serve as a staff.

Because Siat hadn't had time to strip it, it had large amounts of foliage on one side which could also be used to deflect needles if he were lucky. He grabbed the staff which both hands and charged in to the needle-firing ghoul, using the staff like a spear to jab at the ghouls solar plexus, before he span the staff in a full 360 at the ghouls head level.  

[Kraun]

As Siat fell back, avoiding the claw swipe from the ghoul he had flying kicked, henceforth shall be known as ghoul number two, it would begin to rise even as Siat turned to throw the glass at the needle firing ghoul, henceforth shall be known as ghoul number three.

Undead needed not feel pain, and many forms of attacks which would be considered lethal in the case of the living, such as getting stabbed in the throat, had little effect on what was already dead. Ghoul number two would rise and chase after the man from behind as Siat charged the third ghoul.

The third ghoul of course, seemed to hardly notice the glass at all as it began to advance and meet the man, moving forward in a lowered position, body close to the ground, almost running on all fours.

The ghoul which had began to circle around to flank Siat would seem to have disappeared for the moment, having moved into the forest, it would not be in visible sight. This one shall be known as ghoul number four.

However, Siat, having been busy dealing with the second and third ghoul, splitting his attention between both of them, seemed to have failed to notice the first ghoul, the one which had dropped from the treetops and was peppered with needles in its sides. The poison of course, had little effect on the undead, as their body's metabolism was much different from that of the living. Barely functioning at all.

Now, lets take a look at the big picture and not each individual ghoul. Siat would be located in the center, moving towards ghoul number three with a staff in his hands. He would be closely followed by ghoul number two, right behind him giving chase. Ghoul number three would of course be in front of him, advancing towards his position as well. And finally, ghoul number one would be at his right side.

Now, as Siat seemed busy and concentrated on dealing with ghoul number three, he probably wouldnt notice ghoul number one coming in from his right, blindsighting him like a football tackle where it would plow right into his lower right ribs and take him down.

What would result from this, if Siat went down and did not manage to avoid this, would be somewhat like a dogpile as the other two ghouls would dive in.

Besides this, there was also the problem with the toxin to deal with. Unlike normal poisons, a neurotoxin's primary effect does not affect the body's cells, muscular structure, circulation, and whatnot It directly affects the nervous system of an individual. Going into biology and all that other boring school science stuff, 'inhibitors', as they are called, act directly on the nerves, preventing them from sending signals to the rest of the body. In this case now, that would be exactly what was happening. The toxin carried by Siat's blood may move slow if he had been in a relaxed state without excercise, but at this moment, he seemed rather tense, and his heart was probably pumping relatively fast. Bus thats beside the point, as for the needles which had struck the back of Siat's head and neck, the toxin would have near direct access to his brain and spinal chord, where it's primary effects took place.  

[Siat Dacore]

Well, one could argue that such a minute amount of the poison introduced would have very little effect, not to mention super-natural defences to it, but one won't.

Siat's muscles seemed... not in tip top shape at this point- there was something very wrong with his body but he didn't know what. But that was irrelevant at the time, what's more important was how he dealt with the tackling ghoul, ghoul number one. Being that Siat was carrying the staff on his right side, it was coincidence that that would help him perform his counter.

He saw the ghoul coming in to tackle and realised that there was no way for him to get out the way, so instead he did something very ninja-esque. As the ghoul came within two feet or so, he turned to face it in a slide and pushed it down with the staff by putting the staff, with a hand on either side on it's neck and pushing down. As he did this, he put all his weight backwards, meaning that his legs kept travelling and he went to the ground, similar to a sliding tackle in soccer.

Now, the ghoul would be pinned down at the neck and having it's face pushed into the dirt with no leverage to lift it's head aside from using it's arms in a push-up, which would be difficult considering his next move. Siat snapped the staff into two fairly sharp stakes and immediately impaled the leafy half through the ghouls back and into the ground, likely pinning it there.

If ghoul number two came within range, Siat would stab at it's gut with the remaining stafe.  

[Kraun]

As Siat would push ghoul number one down, the ghoul would reach out. It's arms would loop around the back of Siat's legs and pull, collapsing his knees. Such an action didnt have much of an effect, as Siat was already going down stomach first anyways. But it would prevent him from getting up, as his knees would be forced to the ground and kept there. And then the ghoul was pinned with a stake through the chest. Not a problem. If it wasnt moving, Siat wouldnt be moving anytime soon either. And, as the stake seemed to go right through the metal chest protector on the ghouls and into the dirst, it would seem to be stuck, as the bits of broken of metal would keep it in place.

Ghoul number two would dive right into the man on his knees, getting impaled through the gut. However, while the stake went into flesh, it was still moving forward, its arms lashing out to the man's head and neck as momentum would carry it through and push against the man's arms. Its right hand would close around Siat's face, palming it like a basketball, its left hand wrapping around his neck. And then it would squeeze and dig its claws in; legs hand around the man's throat, right hand in the man's face, claws digging into the man's eye sockets.

The third ghoul, which Siat had originally been charging at before, would fall upon the man also, this one from his left side. It's clawed fingers would aim to stab into Siat's gut and lower back.  

[Siat Dacore]

Well, Siat was being gang-banged by ghouls, what a terrific situation.

What does it take to kill these things?!

It was safe to say that Siat was definetely not on top of things right now.

As ghoul number two's hands lunged towards him, he would hit away it's right hand with his own left and then grab its left wrist with his right and hold it away from him.

His now free left hand would whip out and crack the third ghoul in the face with super-natural force, likely sending it toppling backwards a few feet.  

[Kraun]

As ghoul number two's right hand would be knocked away, it would swing back around to do exactly the same thing as before, go for the man's face. And even though its left hand was held away, it would still be trying to get it close to Siat's throat. However, considering the fact that the man was now using his hands to fend off the ghouls, it must be safe to say that he had let go of the stake. This meant that the ghoul would be given free reign to move forward, and it would do just that. As it's left arm was held away and Siat would be striking at the third ghoul, it would take the liberty of shuffling forward to bite the man in the side of the neck.

Ghoul number three of course, would be dealing with a fist come flying. Considering the positioning and sitation, it would most likely be a backhand, given the term 'whipping out' as opposed to 'shooting out straight' from the body as a straight punch. This is assumed as his arms would have been previously used to stab downwards at the ghoul at his feet, and the one on his right. Because it was diving forward, it was not planted, and its momentum would be carried forward, and as the punch would have swung in, it would send its head snapping to the side and its body to divert in that direction. It would roll across the ground once before it got up and rushed the man again.

Ghoul number one, the one impaled to the ground would be moving during this time. It's legs would fold and unfold as it tried to right itself, even with a stake through its body, while it used its arms, pinning down Siat's legs as a base to lift itself with.

Yet, at the same time as Siat's struggles with the two ghouls, he would have to deal with the fourth. Which was was his head pointing? Was he looking to his right, where ghoul number two was to stop it from grabbing his head, or to his left, where ghoul number three was, to smack it in the face? Maybe he was turning his head from one side to the other? Maybe he was staring straight, relying on his peripheral vision to see both?

The fourth ghoul would come from above. As the first ghoul had done in the initial staged of this confrontation, the fourth did the same, it came from the treetops directly above the man, crashing down, headfirst and arms outstretched, claws grasping for the flesh that seemed oh so close at the man. The fourth ghoul had moved to flank the man, and in this environment, it did just that.

S-II ghouls were extraordinary hunters. Their pack metality combined with their limited telepathy to each other allowed them to form contingency strategies quickly, especially surprise attacks where their limited telepathy was the only sense they needed. The fourth ghoul had disappeared, but given information by the others, it knew exactly where to go.  

[Siat Dacore]

Siat had no way of avoiding ghoul number four and consequently was hit. He flopped forwards under the impact onto his hands, so he was now on all fours.

He let out a scream as his flesh was ripped at, hot blood flowing and squirting everywhere, but something was different.

The scream subsided into a laugh as his looked up at the original man's direction.

"Did... did you think me some kind of novice..."

He removed both his arms from the ground, but stayed in the same position as if he was supported by his arms.

"...to be taken so easily unAWARES!?"

He was delirious from shock and panic, not to mention the bloodloss and poison.

In a quick assessment, he had a ghoul on his top, bottom, left and right. This meant only one thing, he could go forwards or backwards.

His arms reached back to the ghoul that had his knees, and grasped the corresponding arms at the wrist, then lifted and pulled to Siat's forward, removing the hands from his legs and letting him stand up, which he did, right leg into an arch first, then he pushed himself to his feet using that right leg.

He did all this, with the ghouls still latched on, assuming they did.

His right hand would grab the ghoul that was biting his neck by it's lower jaw and push down and away from him, meaning the ghoul would have no further bite into him, although it had already left two nasty gashes that would need tending to soon. Once he had stopped the ghoul from biting him, he would squeeze the jaw, crushing it and disabling the ghoul's bite- his strength was terrific and unless the ghoul's entire bottom jaw was made of diamond, it would have to find a way to stop him doing it.

The ghoul on his left would receive a similar fate, except this time it would be it's throat, which meant it would be kept just out of reach also, perhaps just able to scratch his left side.

There was nothing he could do about the ghoul on his back just yet.

As for the ghoul on the ground/possibly crouched, trying to get up, it would receive a swift boot to the back of the head/face depending on what stage of getting up it was in.

Siat's current health was about 15%.