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 Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 12:45 pm
Character: Halen Wyrm: Ealir'faryn Character: Ravea Wyrm: Alinta Physical strenght Bruno “So you’re the one they sent t’ bring down ol’ Bruno eh? Y’re the fifth that’s come ‘ere t’ do that an’ if y’ walk away y’ll be the first... What? Were y’ not tol’ that bit? Ooh, you’ve been ‘ad mate. Well, best o’ luck then; it were nice meeting y’.” This fine old forest supports many folk with its bounty. Trees are cut down, cut up and sold; animals are hunted for meat and the occasional party of nobles can be seen wandering around after an exasperated looking guide. Lately though, activity has lessened somewhat thanks to the presence of a very large, very angry bear. Apparently it has killed and probably eaten the last four people sent to deal with it, a fact you have only discovered from talking with a local innkeeper. Do you have any idea why you have been elected for this decidedly dangerous job? How exactly do you intend to deal with the bear and what, if anything, will you have to say to your superiors when you return? Assuming you manage to dispose of the bear that is. Value: 5pts
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:00 pm
"Remind me again why I agreed to this?"
Dawn had just arrived, and Ravea once again found herself out on another 'adventure' of sorts. While she would have liked to sleep in later, maybe cuddle Daela a little longer, Alinta had prompted her awake at the word spreading of a very bad bear nearby. Though she had initially shoved away the light wyrm's mindtouch, wanting to stay sleeping for awhile longer, Alinta's persistence had eventually worn her down and gotten her out of bed.
Now, a full day later and several towns away from home, Ravea found herself outside a rather empty inn. It appeared that this bear had killed the last four people sent after it. Bits of them had been found. Bits, not pieces. Ravea was a hunter herself, but the very thought of consuming ripped-up human flesh made even her a tad queasy. She sighed. "Tell me again, why we're doing this?"
//The guild sent out a request for someone to handle it.// Alinta insisted licking the remains of her fishy breakfast from her muzzle. The light wyrm tossed her head about in a manner similar to that of a restless equine. //Besides. We haven't gone adventuring in awhile.//
Only Alinta would find taking on a man-eating bear to be 'adventurous'. Personally, Ravea found it mildly suicidal. Bears of this size and reputation were not to be trifled with. "Really smart of you to volunteer us, Alinta. And we're only hunting it during the day. These things are more nocturnal, and I'm not taking it on at night!" she said, hoping this would dissuade the wyrm.
It failed. Alinta was unfazed and as prancey as usual. //Yes, yes, fine. Daytime only. I like day better anyway. Besides, we're not going it alone!//
Ravea looked surprised for a moment. Not alone? This was good news! Her face fell just as quickly at the thought of who it might be. Alinta, if you even thought of inviting Delame and Tempest, I'll-
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:16 pm
What are we doing, again, Ealir? Raising an eyebrow at the black wyrm who walked with a sort of bounce to her step, Halen was seriously considering turning to run.
Oh, it will be fun with Alinta and Ravea to help. Ealir'faryn had recovered wonderfully since the attack. Seeming cheery had never been a strong point for the fire wyrm, but lately it had seemed to be as nothing else had ever been. Halen largely contributed this to Thrynor, though gods knew his bonded was unbearable in the best instances.
Fun for you, maybe. I doubt any bear is stupid enough to try and eat a wyrm, She pointed out. When Ealir suddenly stopped, Halen glanced at her, cautious about the sudden change. When the female finally raced forward, the human rolled her eyes. Typical. Running after, she finally spotted Ravea and Alinta up ahead and slowed. They could wait a few extra moments for her, as far as she was concerned. No need to tire herself out this early.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:25 pm
Alinta gave a happy rumble of greeting as Ealir approached, prancing quite energetically in place. "Ealir!" she said aloud, her rough voice not diminishing in the least her enthusiasm upon seeing her friend. Friend... was that the word? Yes, well, it was close enough. "Ealir, we're going to go take down a bear!"
Her bonded gave a snort. Of course Alinta was happy. The bear was no real threat to her. Bears didn't eat adult wyrms... usually. This bear, however, did eat people. She had to admit, though, that Ealir and Halen were far more welcome than Alinta's mate and his bonded. Ealir and Halen were tolerable to genuinely likeable, on a good day. She gave a nod to Ealir and to Halen, who was still on the approach, and then gave Alinta a gentle pat to the shoulder. "Yes, we're going to figure out where this bear is and how to deal with it. I'm going now, so I can get this over with before nightfall," she said, her tone belying her restless cranky attitude. "Shall we?"
Without another word, the therian stalked off toward the edge of the forest, hearing Alinta say to Ealir, "She misses Daela. She won't admit that she likes being a mommy", as the sound of the light wyrm's footsteps began to grow louder. Within a moment, the light wyrm was nosing at her hair. //What is wrong, Vealove? You don't seem well.//
Man-eating bears make me nervous. There. Was that clear enough?
Alinta glanced back at Ealir. //Sorry. She's still cranky. Get your bonded to hurry up so we can find this bear!// Her mental voice was entirely too cheery as well, despite the fact that she wanted to chat with Ealir while Ravea was striding headlong into the wilderness. Oh, human-type beings were so difficult!
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 2:00 pm
"I know! I wonder how big it is." Ealir had seen a few tamed bears in her travels, though really, they had been more cubs than adults, and less man-eating than their current prey. At Alinta's comment about her bond, the fire wyrm gave a chuckle.
Nodding to Alinta's order, Ealir turned and headed back to Halen, not easily worn out. She walked beside Halen, nudging her softly, Slowpoke.
Human. She reminded her, picking up her pace a little. Ealir rolled her eyes, pushing Halen hard enough to make her stop or lose balance.
Then climb up. The wyrm sounded annoyed, and the statement caught Halen off guard completely. Never before had any offer such as this been made. The fire along Ealir's back died down completely, leaving her with a look that clearly made her feel naked.
Wary of this offer to prove Ealir's trust, Halen shook her head. "Nah." Pushing the wyrm, she started to run towards the other pair, aware of the relief seeming to radiate across their bond. Arriving alongside her wyrm, she looked at Ravea, breathing slightly heavier than before. "Where to?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 2:08 pm
While Alinta kept up her even trot at Ravea's side, she kept her head turned, one eye turned backward to watch the other two hunters with her peripheral vision. She wondered too, how big this bear was. Was it... wyrm-sized or human-sized or just normal bear-sized? If it was this bad of a bear.... she was guessing on the first. The thought of a bear her size, with gigantic teeth and claws, made Alinta cringe. Oh dear. Maybe Ravea had best be very careful.
Ravea picked up on the wyrm's worry and glanced upward. Sure. Now that they were already well into the forest, the wyrm was concerned for her safety. She snorted. Perfect. Thinking after they'd already been 'volunteered' to negate the bear problem.
She turned her head at the sound of approaching footsteps, spying Ealir and Halen catching up. She shifted to half form as the pair arrived, flicking her wings and blinking her pale eyes, nostrils flaring. "I don't know. A bear this size is going to leave marks, so we should be looking for any signs of disturbance. It probably can't climb, but it probably can kill anything larger than us, except maybe a wyrm. Look for footprints, for clawmarks... for blood or carcasses. Any sign that it's been by."
With that, Ravea padded ahead on clawed feet, nostrils flaring as she scented the wind for any indication of the bear's presence. Alinta spread out a bit to the right, staying within a few yards of the other hunters as she nosed leaves aside, searching for prints.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 2:42 pm
Fanning out to the left of Ravea, Ealir made sure she and Ravea were still in sight. They were quiet, though neither really knew why. They walked slowly, searching for anything that looked odd.
Halen did not notice her feet stepping in dark splashes on the ground until she stepped in a larger puddle, the smell of decay suddenly flying in her nose as flies buzzed about furiously. Keeping her voice calm, she called out. "I think I found something."
The dead form was unidentifiable, it had been mutilated so. When Ealir came and saw her bonded with one foot in an ankle-high puddle of blood, her eyes widened. Halen?
The woman turned to look at Ealir, "What's that face for? It's not mine."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 2:49 pm
Ravea, having spied a patch of dark fur clinging to a thorny bush branch, had gone closer to investigate. A quick inhale made her sneeze. Yep. Bear. The musky scent was unmistakeable, and it filled her nostrils, making her nearly gag in disgust. Gods, she hated bears on days like these. She had been brushing aside leaves in search of footprints when she heard Halen's voice somewhere off to her left.
//Vealove, I think we found one of those hunters. Maybe. Or.... I don't know...// Alinta said as she trotted through the trees to reach Halen and Ealir. She recoiled at the overpowering stench of blood and decay. "Ugh... and I thought I was a messy eater. Marint would have a fit if he saw this...." she grumbled. She stretched out her neck to sniff cautiously at the mutilated... thing. "Ealir? What is it?"
Ravea, having reached Alinta's side, looked similarly disgusted. "Whatever it is, I have a feeling it met our ursine friend," she commented, pointing at one of the many wounds on the ... thing. "Those claw marks are too deep for anything else, except maybe a wyrm. But if there was a wyrm, there'd be no bear." She thought... hoped... wished.
A sound off behind her caught her attention, and the therian whirled, hissing in a mixture of defiance and warning.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 3:25 pm
Ealir leaned her head down and sniffed at the carcass, disgusted with it even as she stepped back, looking as Halen as she shook her leg to get rid of the clinging blood. Human. Heavy drinker too by the smell off of him. She stepped back from the body, shaking her head to try and rid herself of the stench.
"Unless there's a wyrm working with the bear." Halen speculated quietly, leaning against a tree and watching the others to see what they think. "It'd be easier hunting than anything else."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 3:45 pm
One eye and ear still on the surrounding woods, Ravea turned back to the carcass, lip curled in disgust and revealing her overlong fangs. "Ugh. I hope to the gods he was dead when the bear did most of that," she said. She was a vicious hunter, but even she was not so brutal with prey... and never with human prety.
Alinta gave Halen a look of surprise. "Why would a wyrm work with a bear?" she asked, looking puzzled. "Bears aren't intelligent enough for wyrms to bond to, are they?" She looked at Ealir and Ravea for confirmation.
Beginning to pace in a wide circle now around the other three, her head turning back and forth, nostrils flaring, Ravea shook her head. "Not bond to it, no. Work together with it, maybe, but bears are solitary. I don't see why it'd cooperate with a rogue wyrm like that." She froze in mid-stride. "Unless the bear was a therian." She continued pacing. "But therianthropes of that sort rarely are known to attack humans."
"Rarely, you say," Alinta emphasized, looking more nervous. "But maybe there isn't a wyrm. Why would there have to be one?" She felt eyes, searching eyes, roaming over the four females, and it made her agitated, stomping her forefeet on the bloodied ground.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 4:18 pm
"Maybe, if he's a therian, he had a reason to attack. Some grudge on the people back in town. Some people, a lot of people, aren't as openminded as those of us who dwell near the volcano, especially out in the middle of nowhere." Halen made her point.
"I'm not saying that there has to be a wyrm, just speculating. Even if its not a therian, if he or she was weak enough, why not trail around and help the bear hunt and get good food without a lot of effort? It makes sense to me."
"She's got a point..." Ealir said, "though not much of one."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 4:28 pm
Ravea tilted her head to one side, thinking as she paced. A grudge would explain the attacks, the raids on houses, and the threat to hunters. It didn't explain the eating, though, which was what disturbed her most. "Bears don't like to share, though. Usually. At least not the ones I've met. But you've got a point. A wyrm would have claws deep enough to do... that." She gestured at the mutilated, decaying, gods-awful-smelly corpse. "It just... it doesn't add up. It doesn't all add up."
That, and she was starting to get an eerie feeling that they were about to find out, and, suddenly, she didn't want to know.
"Well, whatever it is, it's probably not going to come back to this. Even that river wyrm wouldn't eat something this stinky, and she'll eat everything," Alinta said, her rough voice colored with a large factor of 'ewwwww'. "Maybe it left a trail."
Ravea looked at the blood on the ground, watching the way it was puddled and splashed. "Halen, which way did you come from? Whichever way you didn't, that's probably the way it went, because the blood trail goes in two directions...."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 10:08 pm
"Usually. Weird things happen all the time, some without reason." She pointed the direction from which she had come, trying to think.
Ealir started off down the blood trail, using the shadows and her dark colors to try and hide. "It keeps going." She smiled back as if she had expected whatever was waiting to suddenly jump out, like in the stories.
Blood still on his hands. Gazing at them, the rather large and very hairy man blinked slowly. Damn, he must have done it again. Lumbering to his feet, he walked out of his cave to a nearby stream, watching the pink tainted water flow slowly away. Washing his face, he found more blood to be gotten rid of and promptly did so.
Standing slowly, he glanced about to little avail. His eyes seemed to get worse every day. Sniffing the air instead, he found unfamiliar scents on the breeze, though honestly not hungry any more. Sitting back at the entrance to his cave, he scratched idly at a few fleas, not that concerned for the time being.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 10:34 pm
Moving after Ealir, Ravea nodded, trailing the blood spatters at the fire wyrm's heels. She padded along on clawed feet, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air for the scent of something--or someone-- unfamiliar. She felt Alinta's comforting footsteps begin behind her.
Seeing that their bondeds were moving off to track, Alinta gestured at Halen with wing. "We'd best keep up. I really don't want them to meet this bear thing alone," she said before moving off at a trot.
Ravea caught the scent of something and sniffed more fanatically, letting out a loud hiss of warning to her three companions.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 10:54 pm
Ealir jerked her head at Ravea's hiss, suddenly keen on listening and waiting to find out rather than move forward. Her eyes kept moving, searching for anything out of the usual.
Halen nodded at Alinta and moved after the wyrms and Ravea, slowing instantly after Ravea's hiss. She reached to her side, slowly unsheathing her dagger, making sure to keep it where the blade wouldn't glitter.
Noises. The therian looked up, feeling his body changing over a dulled mind. He wasn't hungry, but if anyone threatened him, they would die. The bear took a snail's paced patrol around his cave, listening, smelling, waiting.
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