[ORP] Shadow Stalkers HotM: Runes-driven CYOA

[Ravenous13]

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft]She awakened to the endless chattering of strange voices whispering in her mind; soon fading into the low murmur of waking kin. Serene and waking with the rest of the voices of the teeming life around them. She squints her eyes to the bright sun before uncurling and getting a good stretch in. Getting up quickly and taking note of her position…which was not where she remembered leaving herself.

However, now was not to time to be confused…or even tired. Now was the time to hunt. She shook herself off a bit, before scraping at the crust of salt still clinging to the tips of her ears. Taking her pack from her tail and putting it back around her neck; she eagerly followed along. Long into the journey they stopped just as her legs were beginning to ache. She sighed in relief. Forgotten wouldn’t complain…that would get her nowhere.

“Bats…” She murmured as she looked at the cliffs. One ear to Albatross and their party, the other following her eyes. Looking back just as their leader dumped the flowers onto the ground. So…they would be bug bait? She tilted her head curiously before trotting forward eagerly to get a few of the flowers. Taking a bit she twists some of the extra web that she had into a thin line before using it add the flowers to her horns and tail. Which…was a bit of work considering that some of the web was still clean and thus still a bit sticky.  Making a face as she spit a wad of web from her mouth wiping it on the grass.

“pth…bleh…spider back…” Which is what it tasted like. Finally done, she felt her initial energy and excitement return. Now they were getting somewhere. Her tail swaying and twitching involuntarily over her back as she waited for what was next. Flowers and weapons in place she was pretty much ready.

“We should go to where the most droppings are… “ She thought for a long moment sizing up the possible difficulties of scaling a cliff. Her ear twitched at the image of slipping on the bat crap and bouncing ungracefully down a cliff possibly breaking a few bones on the way…then…ghosted. If that didn’t do it, she was sure that survival would be severely limited.

“Hm…” A thoughtful noise. “It is possible that we would run into the bats if we enter tunnel. There is bound to be something…although most bats prefer height. They’ll likely be sleeping far back in a cave up there.” Lifting her gaze to the cliffs. “it’s the most direct route…and possibly the most dangerous.” Either way her heart was pounding. She lifted her sharp rock and slung it over her shoulders with the extra spider thread. She looked to the others, waiting to see what their next move would be. She hoped that she would survive this…ah the stories she could tell.

[Lirilei]

Spirits didn't have a weapon, he was pretty sure he would hit another kin if he tried to wield a stick. His hooves would have to suffice.

Listening to Albatross, he followed the smell of the flowers, and while he had no vine or even webbing, he managed to work one into the end of his tail where it stayed nicely. That would do for bait he figured.

The choices were daunting either way. Stumble up cliffs he couldn't see, or go behind a waterfall that could also possibly wash them away. Of the two though the waterfall sounded the easier to traverse with limited sight.

"I think the waterfall is easier...at least for those of us with poor sight, rather than trying to scale cliffs we can't easily see. But if the group thinks that's the better option, I'll figure it out."

[phoe]

[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgright]

No Escape had woken up with a full mane of gloriously dry hair. One good shake and it all fell back around her shoulders, free from the knot that Real Big Fish's talented critters had tied it in. They had wound it around a stick and then somehow jammed that stick into the rest of her hair, leaving it tied up and out of the way. It was nice to feel free and easy in the breeze, but No Escape had promised herself she'd remember that trick. It might be useful as a way to develop a snare later on.

Craning her neck to rub the sides of her face, ears, and neck into the jasmine, and then bit off a few of the indolent smelling vines to wear like a cape. "I vote the waterfall," she said. "Less risk, and more than just bats nest in caves. If we find them, the back of the cave and the waterfall itself make a good choke point." She licked her lips, "And we can cull them if necessary. If we manage to drive them out through the water, they might not return."

[Scaramouche Fandango]

Sleeping rough didn’t bother Fish at all. She twined the flowers around her horns, waving her sticky stick to see if it was still sticky enough to pull things out of the air. “I’m also inclined to say the cliffs, although that Zikwa- sorry friend, I didn’t catch your name- has a good point. The ascent’ll be fraught with tricky footholds, and we don’t want to lose anybody on a hunt like this, not when we’ve come so far.” She looked up the cliffs. It’d be easy to see from up there, too- if the bats weren’t roosting here, they might find their home more easily from a higher vantage point. And while neither was a guarantee, the waterfall route provided fewer opportunities for finding the den.

“Of course, we could always use a buddy system to get up there. We can pair up and sling long vines between us. Tied around the middle, they might make it so that if anybody falls, we can catch them.”

[Baneful]

[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgright]Deceiver completely hated sleeping anywhere uncomfortable and was utterly miserable about having to sleep on dirty ground with wet fur. He slept fitfully and his dreams were troubled, littered with flashes of a great ominous cliff over a Big Water, or what he'd learned was called an ocean, one that roiled with screeching monsters rather than water and dashed them against the rocks.

He looked as worn as he felt as he stirred, stretching each leg in turn and trying to shake the sleep fluff from his mind. He spent some time grooming himself as clean as he could manage before following on with the others through their trudging trek.

As they drew nearer to the cliffs he could think of nothing but his dreams.

He carefully tucked and affixed one of the flowers from Albatross' bag in his hair, fussing with it a little in a rather vain sort of way.

"I'd prefer a waterfall cave to falling to my death." he said a little grimly. Three legs were not fantastic for climbing sheer cliffs.

[fluo]

The tribe consisted of valuable kin with their own unique set of skills to offer for various environments and settings. Now was the time to not to be hurling them off cliffs or using them as live bait. Some habits were hard to unlearn the closer she got to her prey. And yet for all their collective talents because some really did believe the voices they heard, not a single kin was a professional bat caller or bait by choice. Almost unanimously, the waterfalls were the chosen path. Albatross eyed the group and counted the number of heads against the piece of bark she kept count on. So far so good and they were mostly all dry. Deceiver and No Escape were pristine even with their long flowing locks. That would change soon.

Waterfalls are picturesque things, but going through them was to feel the weight of the sky crashing down on you all at once. Twigs broke away from her hair and bits of hide flayed from her body in the thundering torrents of water. When she made it to the other side, her ears needed time to adjust from the ringing and then the echo chambers they entered. Curiously, near to one side she saw some mid-sized bones with gnawed off ends. The hair along her spine stood up straight. Moving along, she shelved that discovery for another day. Looking back, all had made it through one way or another. Small slips and scrapes were par the course, and a little blood perfuming the air along with the jasmines wouldn't be so bad either.

It started simply enough. First there was the scratch and scurry of small nails on the floor by the rodents, and then came with the black wind. Escaping bugs were chased by a colony of bats grown fat on the splendors of Spring. While they were holed up in these steep cliffs, natural predators were few and far between. The MotherFather compensates, but sometimes they are busy so it's up to the swampdwellers to give a little assistance. A swing of her "Ugly" stick several times, and Albatross felt the smile bloom naturally. Helping can be fun and downright cathartic. It would give the lunar moths a fighting chance even though she felt like she was hitting air with some of the bats.

How do you help with the takedown? What talents do you employ or is the Lucky Duck on your side? Roll 2d6 for your outcome. The total is irrelevant.

1. Swing and a miss, you briefly eat dirt before trying again.
2. You hit another kin by accident.
3. You hit two bats at the same time.
4. An escaping animal takes advantage of the confusion and relieves you of your food rations and makeshift weapons.
5. You hit Albatross instead.
6. You are victorious and a pile of twitching bats lie near your hooves.

When posting, use this code.

[nobbc][roll]2d6[/roll][/nobbc]

((ORP ends this weekend on Sunday noon EST  ))

[fluo]

[blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 4, 1, total 5[/blockquote]

[fluo]

Today really wasn't her day. She lost "Ugly" in the battle and even knocked a few teeth loose. But the battle had just begun and she wasn't going down just yet. No, Albatross had spunk and she had resolve. She took one of her furbies in her mouth and with a swift swing of her neck that she would surely feel tomorrow, she launched it at the bat. She repeated this with the other one, Ebb. Her longfurby was too heavy and not proportioned right to sail through the air. Ebb and Flow were compact and hardy. They also bounced a lot. While dodging left and right of the various kin fighting alongside her, she looked at the motley crew. Fiercely proud, she resumed the cull. If they could lower the numbers of these bats, the lunar moths would have a fair chance.

[Scaramouche Fandango]

[blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 6, 2, total 8[/blockquote]

[anemosagkelos]

It wasn't odd that Magnolia had fallen quiet and taken to following the group. No, it was all too normal and one of the reasons that kin and creature could not help wondering if she was alive. It wasn't their fault, nor hers either, but she was especially talented at being invisible. Another kin might have been bothered by it; then again, another kin might have noticed it to begin with. She hadn't yet and it was unlikely she would.

The sounds, more than anything, brought her to attention. Perhaps, they brought her back into existence. Either way, she looked up to see the chaos begin and though she wasn't truly impulsive, she couldn't help moving forward as the others took to maiming the black mass that was pouring in with shrill squeaks and thundering flags of wings. It was as she entered the fray that she remembered she'd let someone else have Nightshade—

[blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 3, 4, total 7[/blockquote]

[anemosagkelos]

She needn't have worried about her lack of Nightshade, it seemed. She threw herself into the fracas and swung her long locks towards the swarm. The tresses caught on two bats and the more they struggled the more they tangled into her mane. It made it rather difficult to do much else, her head weighted down and hair screeching.

Really, it was a good thing she didn't have her treasured companion, for a bright animal came from nowhere and bit down hard on her front left leg. She didn't scream. As only Magnolia could, she bellowed melodically, "Hey, I forgot extras of that honeycomb!"

[Ravenous13]

[blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 1, 4, total 5[/blockquote]

[Scaramouche Fandango]

Fish reared on her hind legs and swung her sticky stick like a madbeast. It did its job perfectly; the rough globe of spidersilk filament still had enough grip to snag bats on the wing. Her enthusiasm was boundless as she made wide sweeps in graceful arcs, each maneuver downing at least one of the flying mammals. It wasn’t long until she had quite a nice pile of them.

However, while the sticky stick proved to be gloriously useful against bats, it was also gloriously useful against kin. Once or twice, somebody nearby got spider webbing in their face. “Sorry!” Fish called to the unknown victim of the sticky stick. “I’m trying to be careful, but this thing has a mind of its own!”

[Ravenous13]

As Albatross announced that they’d be traveling through the waterfalls; the first thought was: I wonder what bats taste like…She had tasted a great many things but bats were never on the menu. A breath escaped her as they neared the waterfall…magnificent…and loud…so very loud. It was almost overwhelming compared to the quiet spot of woods that she usually wandered. Then they entered.

Forgotten had never knew that going through a waterfall would be so …grueling. Her muscles and head buzzed relentlessly and her body soaked. By the time they’d reached the other side she was trembling with an energy that she’d never known. She decided then…that she’d have to do that again sometime. Shaking off the excess water and allowing her ears and eyes to adjust she took a moment to take in her surroundings. Once settled she followed along at the edge of the group. She made note of the evidence of remains …Her hackles raising slightly as she wondered what else might be lurking here. But now that they were here…

Wild and glorious bats. She watched as one flew towards her, its leathery wings furling and unfurling in such magnificent power. She found herself grinning at the curiously wild beast. Such a beautiful creature…Her musing shattered soon by the crash that followed as it was knocked out of the air and directly into her side; sending her tumbling and scrambling to stay upright for a few feet. Thoroughly scraped, cut and bruised now, her eyes blazing in excitement and fury. She slung her stone blade from her shoulders and into her mouth rushing back into the fray, with a wild roar -that one would not expect to come out of such a quiet doe- Leaping into the cloud of flapping and squealing creatures, slashing wildly at each high point and swiping with her hooves. Much more calculated than it looked really.

Dodging a careening furby and nearly catching a stick to the neck, she leapt sideways, skidding across a particularly slick part of the cave floor. A bat swooping down and catching her across the jaw, knocking her weapon through the air, slicing through a wing of another bat and landing somewhere far to the left. No time to scramble for it though. She figured she would find it later… besides with her stone in her pack -she could always find it. A brief moment with the chaos she heard someone mention…’honeycomb’. Honeycomb? A brief thought causing a light chuckle to escape before ducking beneath the sticky web stick, hearing it catch someone behind her.

Left without a makeshift weapon, she resorted to her natural weapons. Flinging herself -snorting and snarling-  back into the melee, she set to stabbing and tossing with horns and stomping with hooves. Every so often she would use her teeth to snatch a bat from the air or in the midst of attacking and shake it like a dog might before using her horns and hooves to remove it from the battle.

Subconsciously she occasionally threw herself between the bats and a few others that lacked weapons or were faltering; causing herself a few injuries…but it didn’t stop her. She didn’t mind at all. Acting and reacting more than thinking, seeming to gain more momentum as time went on. Forgotten would not stop until the deed was done.

[Baneful]

[blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 3, 2, total 5[/blockquote]