Unrelated to the Naga attacks but a critical issue all the same. These once-thought elusive dragons have began attacking any near the Stagnant Oasis. Their barbs are extremely poisonous, so be sure to stock up on potions from the local Cadentia Hunter's Guild outposts. Rumors that these creatures were summoned due to over gathering of Cactus Rose are both unfounded and ridiculous. Who would you rather believe? Some random desert folk or the lovely and ever honorable Sephina, President of the Hunters Guild?
WANTED: Chimera
The last expedition into the ruins included a mad mage who created chimera from the local fauna to protect the group. When the mage was slain by the Naga, his creations lost control and turned on everyone. They fly over the ruins and the surrounding valley, swooping down to attack any living creature they see. Watch out for their three heads, their venomous tail -- and their fire breath!
WANTED: Excavation Gear & Lost Relics
It is said the ruins are possibly related to a lost empire. Attempts at excavation have been disrupted due to a recent incursion of local Naga tribes. The Hunter's Guild seeks adventurers to delve into these ruins and recover equipment and any other treasures of historical value within the area. The excavation site is two miles directly south of the Stagnant Oasis.
LOCATION: Southern Cadentia, Stagnant Oasis
LOCATION: Southern Cadentia, Roaming.
LOCATION: Southern Cadentia, Uncovered Ancient Ruins
Proof of Hunt: Cactus Rose Dragon Horn
Proof of Hunt: Venom Sac
Proof of Hunt: Excavation Gear and Lost Relics. The more you bring the more you're paid.
. . .
WARNING: Be on the look out for Naga activity in the area. The guild is not responsible for any loss of limbs, sanity, life, etc. Proof of Hunts must be turned in at either the Cadentia Hunter's Guild Headquarters or the Gangos Port location in the South Eastern region of the desert.
(( OOC: This is a writing prompt that will last throughout the month of May! Feel free to respond on the boards, play out the hunt in the public rooms, or even having your character talk about completing a hunt. As long as you visibly write something related to your character completing 1 - or all - of the hunts. These hunts can be used, along with past and future completed hunts, to apply for the Small Game Hunter achievement: https://rhydin.org/info/list_achievements.php?id=236 and will also be rewarding icons to your profile depending on the rank(s) of completion (Gold / Silver / Bronze. You can collect all three! Let your imagination run wild and enjoy! ))
".. The final resting place of the exiled prince.. broken free of bondage by serpent tongue to sleep among the dreamers." soft words spoken beside firelight. The researcher reached up to fiddle with a pair of glasses that looked to have seen better days while brown eyes behind them strained. The remainder of the text Gregory attempted to translate had been far too damaged. Unable to make out the rest, no matter how hard he squints, he reluctantly groaned after carefully setting the broken piece of ornate stone down beside him.
"When do you think it'll let up?" a question posed by another Hunter who stood closer to the mouth of the cave.
They had been lucky to even stumble onto this place after being turned about during their trip back to Gangos. The sand storm seemed to have come out of nowhere. The horses were gone, much of their supplies lost, but at least Gregory was able to save the broken tablet. Treasures one thing, which his partner was very vocally annoyed about losing their lion's share of, but he did not want to part with this find. It was history, a piece of the story that could very well bring light to just what these ruins were.
"Exiled prince.." Gregory muttered. He needed to read over the tablet again. Maybe he was missing something.
"Hey, did you hear me?" the Hunter spoke up again.
She's the only female of the group. They had found her after she was separated from her own party. With the blood on her clothes they assumed that either a Naga attack happened or possibly foul play. She did arrive to them carrying a golden rod of sorts, and it still clung to the belt loop at her waist, the current assumption was that trouble went down and she chose to run off with the gold instead of staying and fighting. Probably the smartest choice, but it made the others wary to trust her.
"Who the fuck knows." came from the leader. A brawny man, one of the desert locals, who had been trying to sleep; but with the muttering from Gregory and the random questions coming from the woman-who-refused-to-give-a-name, he was starting to get annoyed.
The annoyance must have peaked — because he stood and said, "I'm takin' a piss.."
There is a brief moment where he paused beside Gregory say, "Keep an eye on her.. Second she falls asleep, cut her throat."
This didn't phase Gregory. A life of a Hunter was a rather cut throat business, after all! This wouldn't be his first time and it most likely wouldn't be his last. He'd nod his head then spoke up after his friend continued on his way, "Don't go too far, there might be stone scorpions. They like to hide in the dampness of caves."
The annoyed muttering which came in response brought a grin to Gregory's lips.
"You see that wench back in Cadentia? The one with the big tits?" Came loudly from deeper in the cave.
"There's a lot of those, you'll have to be more specific." came Gregory's reply while he fixed his glasses and attempted to make out some scribbling off in the corner of the tablet; though a momentary distraction came from a sound coming from the mouth of the cave. Gregory looked up to see the woman-without-a-name still standing there; though now taking a lean against the rock and shaking her head.
"Sorry you ain't as well endowed, love. But you got a pretty face all the same." This came a minute or so after Gregory thought about it. And yes, it sounded cooler in his head. Like an attempt to at being suave.
All that got him was a look. One that gave off the vibe that the woman was looking at something lower than dirt. Gregory could be thankful for one thing, with the dim light of the fire — the flush on his cheeks would be hard to make out. He buried his face back into his studies and tried his best to put his mind on something else.
As the minutes passed something seemed to nag at him in the back of his mind.. Ti-an hadn't returned, and he knew the man was talkative enough when it came to wenches that him not responding was somewhat strange. The awkward fopaux with the nameless woman had distracted Gregory for a time to not realize it, but now that he did... he felt a cold sweat began to build up.
"Ti-an?" He called out.
No response.
"Ti-an! This wasn't funny back at the oasis, and it's not funny now."
Still no response.
Silence fell over the makeshift campsite. The rage of the shifting sand whistling from the outside.
".. Shouldn't you go check on your friend?" The nameless woman asked.
Gregory sat there still. It would be the brave thing to do, but bravery wasn't on his mind at all. Paranoia bringing up different thoughts. Could there really be stone scorpions? He was lying about them supposedly being this far south, but could he have been misinformed? He let out a small laugh to try and break the tension (or more likely make himself feel better).
"Ti-an.. Joke's over," he said.
He waited.
Nothing came.
No. There was a sound. A whistle. But not from the storm behind him.
A glint of something, he could make it out only for a moment, then came the searing pain. He looked down to see an arrow sticking out from his chest. In a panic he stumbled from the rock that had once been his seat, only to jolt back once more as a second arrow found his chest. Gregory struck the ground hard — enough to slam the side of his head against the stone and blur his vision.
He heard a scream. Was it him? No, he was yelling, but that scream wasn't his.
"Hume.. Far too South you have gone."
Gregory did not know that voice. But he did know the word. It meant Human, from the tongue of a tribe of the desert. No, no. He shouldn't be thinking about that.
"Wait, wait!" He began to say.
With blurred vision he raised his gaze and only saw the shadow of a looming form standing over him. The loving warmth of the fire gone, all that was there had been silhouettes in the darkness.
A third thrust. He felt it only briefly... Then nothing.
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<"That one runs. Do we follow?"> one of the hunters of hunters said to their partner.
"Fascinating, fascinating.. And you say you just came upon this tablet by accident? What luck!" the chipper gnome of the Hunter's Guild exclaimed with a wide, toothy smile beneath his long bushy beard.
"Yeah.." came the reply of the woman before him. She seemed alert and a little on edge with the way she constantly looked over her shoulder. Within her hand she clutched what looked to be a golden rod, which did indeed catch the gnomes eye!
"So you'll be turning this tablet over to us, now what of the treasure?" he so very much wanted to get his hands on it. The exquisite design seemed to be text of sort! Of course he wanted to get to the bottom of just what it could be. After all, this expedition was for historical purposes and nothing more!
"No, no.. I'll hold onto this. The tablet only.. I still get the mark, right?" the woman questioned while clutching the rod closer to her.
"Of course, of course my dear! The Hunter's Guild is fortunate to have adventurous souls such as yourself gracing our halls." The gnome set a the bronze mark atop the counter and slid it closer to the woman, along with some gold to go along with it. "Now if you ever change your mind about that piece of treasure you found.. We will make sure you're compensated quite handsomely for it!"
The woman, after another look over her shoulder, just shook her head and reached to snatch up the mark. A few hunters in line after her were already giving curious looks to what she had, and a few were even whispering to one another.
"You! Take over." The gnome said to a rather young looking human who was busy reading a book. The girl nodded quickly and stood up to take the gnomish fellows place as he explained while leaving, "I need to bring this to the President.. Such a curious thing!"
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"Here stands the final resting place of the exiled prince, broken free of bondage by serpent tongue to sleep among the dreamers.. Yes, yes.. and here! You see the outlines here?" The old gnomish man pointed to the designs that were slightly damaged at the bottom corner of the tablet. Sephina, President of the Hunter's Guild, looked at this with a purse of her lips and a furrow of the brow.
He continued, "They match with what was found in the tombs of Ananta royalty.. How exciting! It's no wonder that they were so protective of the ruins, perhaps the Ananta of today hold distant relations to this exiled prince! But aren't they all women? Perhaps the prince is from--"
"May I see it?" while it came in the form of a question — Sephina wasn't really asking.
The gnome nodded his head and quickly handed over the tablet. Sephina gave it a scrutinizing look and then said, "Savyn, you really need to get your eyes checked.. This tablet says nothing about a prince, serpents, or anything like that!"
Savyn was squinting now. Unsure really where Sephina was going with this. He had been studying the relics found in Cadentia for quite some time, even had an apprentice or two back when he was young enough to go diving into ruins as well! Of course his translation of the tablet was correct. "Sephina.. Here, this symbol means--"
Crash. The tablet hit the hard wooden floor and shattered. "Oops. Clumsy me." Sephina said with a surprised expression. Her hands still held apart after dropping the priceless artifact; though drop was the kind way of saying it. She practically threw it down.
Savyn stammered while standing there shocked, ".. L.. Lady Sephina!" He started to reach down to grab at the pieces but was nudged away by a well placed foot. The nudge wasn't really hard, but enough to send him off balance and stumble back. He is an old gnome after all!
Sephina smiled as Savyn looked back up to her and offered with words laced in false kindness, ".. I think it might be cursed, so you better not touch it. Don't worry, I'll make sure it's disposed of properly.. And, from now on, let's not talk about mistranslated tablets. Okay?"
Aiden showed up at the Hunter's Guild looking none the worse for the wear after the unexpected battle with the Cactus Rose Dragon the night before. His Jeep, however, still had two busted headlights, gouges from the dragon's claws in the hood and several spines still sticking out of the armored sides of the vehicle. "Collecting the bounty in the name of Sultan Koyan al'Hamid and The Harper." They recognized him, of course, and processed his claim with a minimum of fuss if only to get him out of the building all the more quickly.
Veeda's sandstone spike pierced the dragon's underbelly and went deep, pushing up into the spines along its back. It thrashed and flailed, its wounded wings beating, its clawed limbs swiping, its tail whipping around at whoever may have been close and unlucky enough to be struck by it. But then Aiden's lightning was slamming into its back, and Noira was sweeping one hand away to dismiss and shatter the meteoritic iron -- then unleashed another bolt from both hands towards its belly where it was wounded, arcing through the iron, wrapping around the sandstone spike, and pulsing into it from below as the same time as Aiden's bolt ravaged it from above.
Luna's and Garm's attacks tore into its underbelly, interrupting its short-lived attempt to retaliate in its death throes with another pained shriek, one that was choked by Riho stabbing into its throat. As it bled from a growing number of wounds, including the spike jammed through a few organs, and where the lightning bolts had torn open its scales and seared its flesh, its thrashing slowed... then stilled. The sandstone spike cracked, and it slumped onto its side with a heavy thud, kicking up a great cloud of sand...
* * * * *
Noira made idle conversation with Koyan as she walked up to the creature's head as she slid a long, saw-toothed knife from her hip. She planted her boot on the creature's nose, carefully held its horn without sticking herself, and started hacking and cutting around the base.
For a minute she kept cutting, flesh tearing and bone cracking audibly, until finally she pried the large horn loose and staggered back. She loosened her cloak to form a kind of sling to wrap up and carry the thing, as she announced to the group:
"If anyone wishes to claim part of the prize for this beast, give me your name, and I will see that the Hunters Guild sets aside an equal share for you."
* * * * *
She delivered the horn to the Guild headquarters in the morning, perhaps later in the morning than she had intended, with no overt sign of what caused her delay, only a distinctive Vii string of beads worn around her left forearm...
She offered the names of the others involved that had been given to her, either to set shares aside for those who had asked or to confirm that their shares were rightfully given; then she left, happy that the Guild seemed content to let the elfess come and go in spite of her meddling in their business.
((Italicized portions taken from my sends to the scene in Cadentia Bazaar last night.))
Aiden showed up at the Hunters Guild once again, this time with a with a grim look on his face. He slapped down a small container with the venom sac of a Chimera captured inside. "Claiming another bounty for Sultan Koyan al'Hamid and The Harper." As before, they processed him out with all due haste.
****** Two out of the three Polecats clinging to the Chimera's tail managed to land a viscous attack strong enough to cause the creature to screech in protest. Blood poured out of its tail, the appendage bitten almost fully through. The flames from the dragon's head went arching away from Koyan and toward the sky. Who knew the little creature could bite that hard?!
Two seconds later, Aiden's lightning bolt came crackling out of nothingness to slam into the creature's spine. It's whole body spasmed, half of it falling off one side of the Jeep as its wings flailed then drooped. The Goat's head fell silent and the Lion's head was snarling kind of pitifully, but the Dragon's head was trying to swing around for another gout of flame.
The Polecats felt the jolt from the lightning bolt next. Their fur stood on end and they were launched off the creature lashing tail even as Koyan came springing up onto the Jeep like some Turkish God of Death. The Turk stabbed right into the back of the creatures head, but as he sank the sword in the Lion's Head gave one last, desperate lung and bit into his arm with crippling force.
******
((Taken from Live Play with KoyanAlHamid))
The Sublime Bellamere arrived at the hunters kill with the bones of a mighty Chimera as well as a poison sack from its stinger. He made his arrangements with the hunter's guild for payment and collection. While more had been gained, he had decided to keep the majority of the spoils for himself.
"It would seem I need to claim this bounty. If there is more that is required, do let me know." He said with a flowing, precise voice.
Atiea arrives back at the Guild, bringing several bounties in, though notably, she has a horn from a Cactus Rose Dragon among her kills. She looks..rather ragged, limping, clothes torn up, a few needles still impeded into her skin. Though a calmness rests in her. While exhausted, she is at ease.
Riho appeared to have recovered completely from her desert travels when she showed up at the Hunter's Guild, seeking to arrange for her prize as confirmed by Noira.
