Hunters of Letrua

[thinkslogically]

"Hey! I found something! Come and see this!"

[spiderwrangler]

Korga rummages in her pack for something the pup can eat, before joining Olly.

[GathersIngredients]

Panting, biting back the pain from the venom and getting hit Loki takes grim satisfaction in his plan having worked out even better than he thought.
"Good job! Now keep the luchan occupied, if you can, I think I need a quick breather!" Loki yells to Mac, confident that the other man can handle one opponent for a little while.
Not wanting to get hit again, he keeps his distance from the luchan, but moving as little as possible and turns the watch back on again.

He also broadcasts a sense of pride/accomplishment to Mac.



(OOC: if the moving itself does count as action, anyways, I'd rather have Loki pull out his bow & arrows and shoot the luchan some more. But I'm hoping that with the induced heaviness and the beast possibly being distracted by Mac, Loki can remain still enough not to trigger the venom this turn.)

[Arch Lich Burns]

Julius gently breaks off the shell around the lizard to clean it off.

"Hmm, maybe more difficult than I thought. I can point to certain people but not creatures. At least not yet." Julius tries to change it to ignore baby beasts instead. At least that would give him some time to work it out. Julius changes the jerky into fresh meat, he then offers to the dragon because the small bit of jerky is not going to cut it.

Julius comes over to see what Olly has found.

Edit: oh wow, baby komotos are 30 cm (about a foot) long! It is about the size of the pup!

[Synch]

Squirrel small friend is strong hunter! Better than squirrel. Let help, keep strong.

She adds as an afterthought,

And be nice to live rock! No mess on live rock or Squirrel have to clean it off.

She jumps down and scampers after Gaul to the egg. She kneels in the sand, gently stroking the egg.

[Dlover]

Olly, Korga, Julius
Olly calls attention to his discovery, and his companions turn to look even as they care for the adopted animals. Korga holds out food for the pup, which lets out a joyful sound and energetically gnaws on the jerk, while Julius attempts to revitalize some more jerky, which... Works surprisingly well. The piece of jerky starts by softening, then swelling slightly as it looks a little more fresh... Julius, being completely insane for even considering the idea, probably doesn't notice that making dead and dried flesh less dead and dried is an insane idea. He also considers making the compass ignore baby beasts. From what he can tell, the babies put out a weaker radiation than the adults, so it can work, but it will also mean shortened range of detecting adults.

That said, the group turn to Olly's discovery. The hollow looks to be almost perfectly round, with three slight furrows on one side. While they're looking at the mark they spot another, about two metres in the direction of the furrows, then another pair roughly eight metres further along, and off to one side by about ten metres.

Risu
Squirrel small friend is strong hunter! Better than squirrel. Let help, keep strong.
If Squirrel says, Aerin accept. Let little friend help next time.
And be nice to live rock! No mess on live rock or Squirrel have to clean it off.
Risu gets a sense of indignation from Aerin, Aeran proud, not stoop so low. Live rock only ones can't hunt, worth respect.

Her conversation done, Risu climbs back down the tree, moving over to where Gaul is watching the egg, reaching out to touch it. The egg feels warm and smooth under her hand, and she can, surprisingly, sense an awareness within. As she removes her hand the reason for this becomes clear, as the egg begins to shake and crack, starting to hatch.

Loki
I've just realised I don't have any of my combat data on my laptop (The main problem being Mac's equipment), so I'm going to have to put off an update here for a couple of hours, until I get home. Plus I'm short on time, and without the program it'd take to long to do all the math. >.> I'll have it up as soon as I can!

[Arch Lich Burns]

Julius offers the ex-jerky to his little lizard. If it does not take it, he hold it out so the little bugger can eat it when (s)he wants.

He does not mess with the compass quite yet, the range is too short already without avoiding the babies to interfere. He will figure something out, but for now he looks more closely at the borrows, wondering what could have caused such a thing. He gives a small sigh and tries to focus. He tries to make an enchantment which projects an image of the creature that did this.

► Show Spoiler

I need to figure out a name for mu dragon. Then train said dragon.

Also I needed to do a massive overhaul of the compass anyways. It eorked well so far, but in needs to be more precice and able to show muliple groups of beasts, will do that when we get back but in the mean time Julius is going to make some collars that allow them to be treated as non beasts tonight.

Edit: dlover i hope you are happy. >.>

[Dlover]

Loki
Loki directs Mac to distract the luchan, backing off and firing some arrows even as the venom burns through him. Mac arrives on the scene to carry out Loki's directions, and it feels like everything goes as expected. Laying into the demon with his blades, Mac inflicts heavy damage, enraging the creature and prompting a retaliatory slash, which all but glances off Mac's armour.

► Show Spoiler

Loki hits Luchan four times, dealing 21(18) damage and inflicting 4 stacks of Heaviness.
Loki takes 10 damage from Venom.
Mac hits Luchan 8 times, dealing 50(44) damage and inflicting 8 stacks of Lightning.
Luchan hits Mac twice, dealing 30(9) damage, inflicting Rend, Bleeding, and 2 stacks of Weakness.

► Show Spoiler

Loki: 76% Venom(1): Takes 10 damage after acting (1 Turns).
Mac: 79% Rend: Take 10% more damage from next attack. Bleeding. Weakness(2): Deal 10% less damage.
Luchan: 22% Heavy(9): -45% evasion chance. Lightning(8): -40% hit count.
Felid A: DEAD
Felid B: DEAD

► Show Spoiler

Holy hell, Mac's more of a powerhouse than I expected. 50 raw damage, that's just goddamn insane.

[Synch]

Risu sends comforting thoughts through to the creature inside, feelings of warmth, affection and protection. She leaves the egg alone, unless the creature inside seems to be struggling, picking off pieces of shell that are hindering its escape.

"Gaul, do you have any small bits of meat that we can feed it once its hatched?"

[GathersIngredients]

With victory all but assured, Loki refrains from doing anything, letting Mac get the glory of finishing off the luchan.

► Show Spoiler

I daresay that Mac is a powerhouse in combo with the lowered evasion from the heaviness. Maybe something Alice should look into...
And I'm assuming that with all that heaviness and lightning on the luchan, the last 22% health shouldn't be a problem. If there's any trouble, I would have Loki help out, but I really don't expect any.

btw, I just looked up that the luchan has an innate evasion chance of 20%. Doesn't that mean that as soon as he is down 20% he should be immobilised?
Which was basically after the second volley...

[Dlover]

► Show Spoiler

Yeah, the lowered evasion plays a fair factor. The massive damage was mostly to do with how many attacks he landed.


You honestly know the mechanics better than I do. For some reason I thought hitting a full 10 stacks caused immobilisation. So yeah, it should be Immobilised, and the fight's pretty much a guaranteed win.

[GathersIngredients]

► Show Spoiler

That's just because I really like the game a lot. Plus, I took the heavy-inflicting weapons for that very reason. It'd be a shame if I forgot about that.

ps: no healing this turn? Is that a side effect of being poisoned?

[Dlover]

► Show Spoiler

You turned off the watch when you got poisoned, remember? That's where the healing comes from... I didn't apply the healing on the round you turned it off, did I? I shouldn't be doing that if i did.

[GathersIngredients]

► Show Spoiler

yeah, but I had Loki turn it on again last turn.

Panting, biting back the pain from the venom and getting hit Loki takes grim satisfaction in his plan having worked out even better than he thought.
"Good job! Now keep the luchan occupied, if you can, I think I need a quick breather!" Loki yells to Mac, confident that the other man can handle one opponent for a little while.
Not wanting to get hit again, he keeps his distance from the luchan, but moving as little as possible and turns the watch back on again.

He also broadcasts a sense of pride/accomplishment to Mac.



(OOC: if the moving itself does count as action, anyways, I'd rather have Loki pull out his bow & arrows and shoot the luchan some more. But I'm hoping that with the induced heaviness and the beast possibly being distracted by Mac, Loki can remain still enough not to trigger the venom this turn.)

But if it needs time to kick in, that's okay. Just trying to learn the mechanics.

[Dlover]

Ah, I missed that part. In that case, Venom ran out this turn, and Loki's at 86%hp.

[thinkslogically]

"Those look like really big footprints... Going... This way..."

Olly cautiously follows the prints for a few metres and then tries to see where they might lead. He also tries to remember if he's seen any creatures with a footprint like this before (e.g. lizards, mammals, birds - nothing overly specific), using his notebook from the arena for guidance if necessary.

[Dlover]

Olly, Korga, Julius
The group continues their study of the prints. Julius studies the furrows, and can only come to the conclusion that they were created by relatively (To the foot size) small, blunt claws digging into the ground. He tries to focus on forming a projection of the creature which left the marks behind, but the best he can manage is picturing the foot. Olly, meanwhile, follows the prints a short distance before looking off in the direction they lead. The swamp continues for quite a ways, but he can see rocky hills rising up in the distance. Turning back to the prints, he also considers what left them, then pulls out his Arena guidebook, looking for anything that looks to have potential. Flipping through the pages, he eventually pauses on one, noting a similarity in the sketched representation to the illusion Julius formed - Abschir, the giant tortoise.

Risu
Encouraging the hatching repkull, Risu leaves some space for it to break through the shell, turning to Gaul. "Gaul, do you have any small bits of meat that we can feed it once its hatched?"
Reaching into a pocket on his coat, Gaul pulls out a small pouch and passes it to her, "Not much, but it should be enough for a hatchling." After a short time watching the egg wobble and crack, a section breaks away, and the repkull crawls out, stretching in the sunlight and looking around warily. Setting its eyes upon Risu, it shuffles toward her, emanating a gentle hunger and expectation.

Loki
Loki leaves the finish for Mac, who wastes no time in doing so. With a brief farewell, Mac heads off to get his cuts cleaned while Loki goes to meet Malis, who treats his injuries for him. The pair spend some time enjoying each other's company, but are eventually disrupted by Marie, "Malis, sorry to ruin your fun, but I need to borrow this man for a while. You, come with me. If I'm not mistaken, you should be ready to learn about Enchantment, and I want you to understand the basics before you go fumbling about and causing trouble. Neither of you have arguments, do you?"

[GathersIngredients]

Loki smirks at Marie's comment of wanting to borrow him, bites back a question what exactly for and resists the urge he feels for some reason completely unfathomable to him to wave his hand at her, telling her "This is not the arena fighter you are looking for" while broadcasting disinterest into her. Instead, he simply nods, ready to follow Marie.

"See you later Malis. Safety first." He winks at her and rests his hand on her shoulder, slipping down her arm as he walks away to keep contact with her as long as he can before he leaves.

[Synch]

Risu murmurs a quick thanks, reaching for the pouch without taking her eyes off the repkull hatchling. She smiles and extends a small morsel of food, sending through radiating thoughts of comfort, protection and most importantly, nourishment. She sends through a brief message, Squirrel. Guardian. Unsure what communication the hatchling might understand or utilise, she searches its thoughts to see if it comprehended the message, and has any replies of its own.

[thinkslogically]

((Olly will follow the group, and they to be the solid (if not too bright) voice of reason if things get too magical.

He will for now exclaim:
"I knew it! Look! It's an Abschir! Come on! I've got to see this!"

((He'll read more about what it says in the description forward though so he's at least a bit prepared and knows how to not piss the thing off. He's looking to see the creature, not necessarily hunt it.))

[Arch Lich Burns]

"Should we go after it though? With tracks this large, if they are aggressive we could easily end up seriously hurt ...or dead. I'm pretty sure I don't have the magical experience to bring you back from that."

[spiderwrangler]

"From what I recall, they aren't typically violent or aggressive, but can be accidentally destructive. I think if we want to approach, we should do so openly, and non-threatening."

[Arch Lich Burns]

Julius gives a long audible sigh. He would rather not be knee deep in mud, but he needs the money more to buy matierisls for his next project, this will hopefully give them another day of money's worth. And he can't bear to residt Olly's puppy eyes. He reluctantly says, "Fiiine. We can see the giant beasts. Olly, please stop looking at me that way, it's unnerving. Do we need to go right now though? I would rather not sludge through that filth. I'd at least want to make my boots filth proof."

If they agree to wait, he burns a rune into the tongue of his boot.

► Show Spoiler

E1: This item distrubutes weight in a larger area (like snow shoes)
E2: increases liquid density of liquid it is on
E3: freezes liquid it ison
E4: constantly cleans filth off wearer

He then tests it out by making a small water puddle and walking in/on it.

If not then he will use his teleport rod and goes to locations that seem dry and constantly cleans himself off via enchantments.

Edit
No matter the response he gently pokes Olly. "Allisandra is your instructor, do you know anything she likes or wants? I wanted to appologize about earlier and I know nothing about her, asides that she might like pranks and I am not sure that would be wise thing to give her quite yet."

[Dlover]

Olly, Korga, Julius
Olly announces his realisation and wastes no time ins setting off in the direction the footprints lead, reading the booklet's entry on the creatures. Julius raises wariness on the safety of approaching, quickly resolved by Korga (And Julius reading the booklet). Julius then raises a minor fuss about getting his boots dirty. With his companions not paying heed to his wussiness, though, he opts to teleport between relatively dry patches of ground as they advance. It's a bit of a trek, following along the prints, and the group eventually comes to an end of the tracks, short of a large rocky hill.

► Show Spoiler

"Abschir are sometimes referred to as the walking fortress, as their size can grow to immense proportions, with the largest known creature rivaling the size of Let Fortress before it left sight walking into the ocean. It is still unknown as to the largest an Aschir can grow, if there is a limit beyond their food source. These enormous creatures have a tough hide which gives the appearance of stone, and bear a shell which is itself harder than the rocks it mimics. These imitations of stone created some confusion before the existence of Abschir was discovered, as farmers would report rocky hills being several dozen metres distant from where they had been the night before, the Abschir's footsteps being misinterpreted as the prints of a great demon which enjoyed playing tricks on humans. Since the realisation that these hills were in fact creatures, such rumours have died out. Being herbivorous, Abschir show a reluctance to engage in acts of violence, and upon reaching a suitable size will ignore all attempts at provocation entirely, as they no long notice the attacks. Many believe Abschir are the most intelligent of beasts, some few even claiming they are on a level with human intelligence. While there are signs of greater intelligence than other beasts show, though, there is no sign that they approach human levels of intelligence.
Though Abschir are reluctant to fight, one must still be cautious around them. The interior of their shell appears to hold vast amounts of warmth, and Abschir have been known to occasionally spout flames from their beak as a method of releasing this heat. Larger creatures are also often uncaring or unaware of what is beneath them and will move carelessly, so it is important to ensure one does not place themselves in a position where they may be accidentally trampled, as the great weight each leg bears can be more than enough to crush bones.
It is unknown as to whether Abschir are edible, as all attempts to prepare the meat have taken great amounts of time to remove enough of the stony outer layer to access meat, by which time it already shows signs of rotting."

Risu
Risu presents some food to the repkull, sending comforting feelings to the creature, and she can sense it react with a calmness, shuffling forward to taking the meat from her fingers, taking time eating the morsel. Watching it eat, she tries to send a message to it, but the faint sense of confusion, quickly erased by hunger, indicates it doesn't understand. Behind Risu, Aeric drops to the ground and shuffles forward, watching the exchange. The sudden presence of the bird of prey prompts the hatchling to scurry to Risu, hiding in her shadow as it radiates fear. Little prey? Why feed it? Not prey?

Loki
Loki stands up to follow Marie, pushing down the desire to make jokes, and says his farewell to Malis, who responds with a gentle smile and, "I expect you to be a capable Enchanter when I see you next." Marie leads the way, turning through several corridors while she lectures him,

"The first thing you need to understand, as a new Enchanter, is that the powers you now have can be extremely dangerous if you're not careful, both to you and to those around you. Enchanters harness and direct the power of Magic, a chaotic thing which resists our control. One of the first things you will manage is manipulating the flow of Magic to accomplish some desire, a relatively easy task, but a dangerous one. It is an easier task than creating a more permanent enchantment because, when forming a temporary enchantment, you draw the energy through your own body, shaping it as you can, and your body will subconsciously adjust the effect in minor ways to more accurately achieve your goal. The danger comes from the same aspect, though, as the human body is ill suited for absorbing Magic, and drawing large amounts of it through your body can have sickening and painful consequences. That you joined us without my sensing your ability means you have only recently come into having it, so I assume you have consumed demon blood since joining, yes? The pain experienced in that process is an extreme form of the sickness you will experience should you push yourself too far, but also a necessary measure for building your body's resilience to Magic to the point where you can withstand the strain of Enchanting.

"The alternative to temporary enchantments are, as could be expected, permanent ones, which are safer, but harder to get right. An Enchanter can form what we call runes, images which, in their mind, represent what they want to accomplish, and can channel Magic through these runes rather than their own bodies. A rune, once it begins to work, will continue to do so until it is broken, providing a reliable consistency to the effect without weakening the Enchanter. Over time, this becomes every Enchanters primary course of action in handling Magic. The images you use for your runes are not vital, only that you associate the effect with the image. Many enchanters will associate differing images with the same effect, sometimes they will use the same image for differing effects, all you need to remember is to focus on what it means to you when you make it.

"Now, a great deal of an Enchanter's skill comes from practice, though sometimes one will have an inherent ability for it. Regardless of this, every Enchanter has an area they specialise in, an aspect that they are in tune with, and can subconsciously shape to their will more accurately and more powerfully than others. These specialties are what we call Talents. Some find their Talent quickly, others never find it, but it will be something linked to your personality, that much I can say for sure. Should you not learn your Talent, you will still have the potential to be a skilled Enchanter, for you will be at no disadvantage in other areas compared to any fellow Enchanter with no talent in the field except for your level of experience. On the other hand, those who know their Talent can make excellent use of it, and often finds a specialised craft to sell their skills at a high price. As an example, the ammunition pouch you carry was created using my Talent for Space, and warps space to recall and restore anything placed within, such as arrows or bolts. Should somebody with no Talent for that attempt a replication, I expect the result would be having the recalled items physically move to the destination, rather than appear there. Other Talents have similar advantages."

Coming to an end of her spiel, Marie pushes open a door and leads the way into a spacious room containing several sets of swords, leather armour, and metal plating to go with the armour. In the centre of the room, on a large bench, sit a pen and ink beside carving tools, "You will learn a great deal more from experience than from my explanations, and it may take some time for you to become familiar with the flow of things. I will guide you to start, though. Before we begin, do you have any questions?"

[GathersIngredients]

Loki listens to Marie as he walks along with her, trying to wrap his head around these news. Yes, he had been... influencing the luchan in the arena, but... had that really been enchanting?

He scratches his head."Yes I have been consuming demon blood.

Well,... since you asked if I had any questions before we begin... what exactly are we going to do here?"

► Show Spoiler

EDIT: Actually, I think I'm gonna try and let Loki keep this to himself, at least for now. He can just pretend not to have/know a talent.
Removed bit:"But I have been feeling... hearing, maybe... other people's or creature's ... well thoughts or emotions - sometimes it's not so easy to differ between these two - even before I drank the blood. How is that magic? How could I possibly make runes for that?"