Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Oct 4, 2012 22:07:49 GMT -5
(This post is uncategorized because it takes place outside of the subcategoies [west of Tanziania, as shown on this map: africa.theworldatlas.net/africa.jpg])
African Wyvern
"The Wyvern is a large cousin of the European Dragon, lacking front limbs in place of powerful wings. Their height can reach 28 feet (though some eyewitness accounts have claimed larger), and an amazing 50 feet in length. The Wyvern's scale colour ranges from a dull green to a dark brown in colour, to allow it to better blend into its environment. It's wings are more powerful than any other Dragon species, allowing it to prey upon larger creatures, such as Hippos and Elephants, which it can carry back to its nest in mountainous and rocky areas.
Extreme caution should be taken around these wild creatures."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That was the only paragraph of information in one of Red's books, along with many blank pages that she intended on filling with information on her trip. She had found the best place to start searching was on the border of Tanzania, where a large mountain range existed, along with a large river system for Ancaladar to remain hidden. With a pencil in hand, Red sat in one of the nearby trees, which provided her with both shade and cover, as she watched the local wildlife go about without knowing of her presence. It was crucial for Ancaladar to remain hidden at this time, as the presence of a Dragon among the wilderness would likely scare off the local animals, and hinder her chances of watching a Wyvern hunting.
Having spent several days searching, she had decided to give her trip one more day, where she was hoping to at least get a quick sketch of one of these majestic beings. She would have to act quick though, as the Wyvern was supposed to be a fast flier. Not only that, but they spent little time in their hunt, supposedly snatching up prey, before lifting them high into the air, and dropping them to their death, the reason why she was trying to remain out of sight from the air.
The nearby wildlife all perked up, looking around nervously and twitching as though about to bolt. At first nothing seemed amiss, then a faint sound began to build. Some of the more skittish creatures took off, fleeing the area as the sound increased in volume. In seconds it was recognizable as a yell, one growing steadily closer. As the shout reached a crescendo something hammered into the middle of the open plain, shaking the ground all around and throwing dirt into the air.
The dust cloud billowed outwards, sweeping across the plain. Every animal had left long before the impact, leaving the area strangely still and silent. The cloud soon dissipated in the weak wind, blown away almost as quickly as it appeared. Where the object had fallen there was now a crater deep in the ground, the bottom more than ten feet deep. A muffled groan sounded from its depths.
Shaking stars from his eyes Bullwinkle stood, dusting himself off and glaring up into the sun overhead. The damned wyvern that had tried to kill him with the drop was nowhere in sight, either hiding in the rays of the sun or fleeing. Stupid lizard was probably too dumb to know when to run away. "If I had wings I'd have a new scaled coat today." the powerfully built minotaur growled, digging his armored feet into the side of the crater and crawling out on all fours.
The reason that the minotaur had survived such a fall became apparent as he continued to dust himself off. The grey tone to his skin was not just dust, his own flesh was stone. Wary of the great serpents return, Bullwinkle kept his stone flesh up as he looked back at the crater with a laugh. Maybe he wouldn't kill that dragon after all, the ride had certainly been fun. Chuckling to himself he turned, the armor plating covering both his arms gleaming. He also wore armored boots and a metal belt that held his loincloth in place. A golden ring pierced his nose, which was sniffing the air. Something was out of place here....
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Oct 6, 2012 23:07:37 GMT -5
The sudden stir in wildlife was quick to catch Red's attention, pausing her note taking to watch as the small herd of animal life quickly fled from some unseen threat. Perhaps it had been the very thing she had been waiting for these past few days, and without another moment to lose she quickly snatched her binoculars which hung from her neck from a leather strap, and watched the skies for any flutter of wings that broke the surface of the cloud cover. She had expected to see some large reptilian beast, diving through the surface of the clouds to snatch up one of the fleeing animals that ran from its seemingly invisible presence. But what she instead saw caught her off guard.
A figure dropped through the clouds, breaking through the surface and dropping toward the ground like a bullet. She quickly glanced back up at the cloud cover once more, but there seemed to be no sign of any tell-tale draconic presence that she could see. Red was quickly caught off guard though as the figure slammed into the ground, creating a small shock-wave that knocked her out of her perfect balance in the tree. Wobbling rapidly, she barely had time to grab onto the branch of the scrawny-looking tree as she fell out, feet dangling almost helplessly from her position. Red slowly dragged herself up just enough to grab her notepad and book bag, before dropping down to the ground, tumbling forward slightly to try and recover from any shock to her feet that she might experience.
"What was that...?" Red mused, glancing over to the crater it had caused. Surely whatever it was couldn't have survived such an impact, but as she watched the hole, afraid to approach in case the wyvern was to return for its prey, she watched with wide eyes as a figure crawled from the hole. Skin a stone grey, she grabbed her binoculars and observed it once more, watching with great surprise as the humanoid appeared to possess bull-like traits. Seeing this, she couldn't help but scratch her head.
"...A Minotaur?" she questioned to herself, a little skeptical at first. She had remembered something about the species in Greek mythology, but her research on dragons had overshadowed her notes on the other creatures of lore. It looked as if it were made of stone, yet it was still seemingly capable of moving fluidly.
Bullwinkle finally caught the scent clearly, smiling as he turned towards a nearby tree. "A human?" he muttered to himself curiously, wondering what one of such a frail species would be doing out here alone. The wilds were the province of the supernaturals for the most part, where anything seen could not be confirmed and the missing were rarely found. Growling as he considered that even a mere human could be a threat if they possessed a weapon, he moved slowly towards the tree.
His form was too large to be concealed in the grass, however he did crouch low. Hands practically brushing the ground as he moved forward he kept his beady eyes locked on the source of the smell. Bullwinkle could not yet see the human, but his eyesight was as terrible as the bovines he resembled, so that meant little. His hunched posture kept his heavy skull low to the ground, the sharp horns gleaming threateningly. A full charge from the extremely heavy and solid minotaur could easy break even the trunk of the tree, and his blood was beginning to boil at the thought that a mere human believed him such easy prey.
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Oct 7, 2012 22:42:07 GMT -5
Red watched as the figure ducked down toward the ground, vanishing from her immediate sight. With a frown, she grabbed her binoculars again, scanning the area where she had last seen him moving. Sure enough she spotted him, crawling toward her location. This made her skin tingle slightly with worry: why was he approaching her in such a way. Was he afraid of her? No, that didn't make sense. A being of such power couldn't possibly fear a frail creature like herself. At that point, she suddenly dropped her binoculars, which bounced against her chest.
Perhaps he was threatened by her? Readying for some kind of attack? Not all supernatural beings were rational after all, perhaps this was one of the more violent races. All she knew was that if she didn't get out of the way soon, or else she could find herself as someone else's meal. Quickly backing away, she glanced back up toward the tree she had been perched in. It wasn't much, only a scrawny tree, but it was better than nothing, likely unable to flee from such a creature.
Quickly, Red grabbed the lowest branch of the tree, kicking her feet against the tree as she dragged herself up the branch. It wasn't much, but it would have to do, as she continued to watch the creature approach her location from its position, hoping that her fears could be soon put to rest.
Unfortunately Red was about to be sorely disappointed. Bullwinkle spotted the shifting leaves of the tree and realized that the person must be hiding among the branches. Smiling and snorting he lowered his head still further, powerful leg muscles bunching up as he braced. All at once he exploded forwards, legs throwing him into a head long sprint straight at the thin plant. Armored boots dug deep into the dirt and kicked up an impressive dust cloud as the enraged minotaur charged forwards.
Had he been without stone hard flesh the tree would still have broken such was his mass and momentum. His own skull would have been severely damaged as well of course. However the minotaur was nearly a ton of solid marble with his power active, and his speed was in no way diminished. A solid oak would have stood a chance, but this slender tree did not.
Wood splintered as the lower head hammered into the trunk, splinters flying through the air. With a great crack and a groan of protest the tree fell towards the ground, the trunk split clean through by the charging bull-man. Steam blew from his nose as he turned, red eyes glaring into the tumbled foliage, seeking the one who presumed him some kind of curiosity or sport.
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Oct 7, 2012 23:11:46 GMT -5
As the tree shifted underneath of her, Red quickly jumped out, a little scratched and cut from the branches as she made her quick escape. Tumbling to the ground, she was able to get a much better look at her attacker who, just as she had feared, was a hostile being. Swallowing, she quickly got to her feet, sprinting toward the closest body of water: the local river. She knew she couldn't fight it by herself, so she would need help, as much as she hated to fight it. But she had to defend herself, and Red knew that she would need the help of her Draconic companion.
Red didn't dare to look back, figuring that the Minotaur would be quick on her heels. Panting a little, she brought her finger and thumb to her mouth, blowing on it to let out a loud whistle. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then a violent ripple began to form against the surface of the river's surface. Suddenly, with a violent spray of water, a loud roar was emitted as a draconic figure emerged from the surface, seeing the scene before him. Red hoped that the creature would halt its attack upon seeing Ancaladar, hoping that they wouldn't have to turn to more violent measures...
Bullwinkle had charged off after the girl as she had fled, but skidded quickly to a stop at the sight of another dragon. This one was some form of water dragon from the looks of him, but he was also strangely small. Even the wyvern that had dropped Bullwinkle had been larger than this one. The minotaur smiled widely at the sight of so powerful a beast, breath coming it great gusts of steam from his mouth and nostrils.
It was no mere human who had been watching him, but a draconian! Bullwinkle laughed, drawing a pair of throwing axes from his hips. They would have been full blow battle axes for a human, but the burly and powerful minotaur wielded them one handed with ease. He took a deep breath, chest inflating as he inhaled for long seconds. Finally his mouth burst open, unleashing an incredible roar as the bull man once again burst into motion.
Armored boots kicked up a large cloud of dust behind him, the distance between Bullwinkle and his opponent closing swiftly. He had fought dragons before, they were not so tough once their powers failed to harm him. The resilient stone that was his body would not be harmed by mere fire or hot water, but if this one spat acid the fight could quickly get...interesting.
Post by Blair Von Drake / Red on Oct 8, 2012 14:44:39 GMT -5
Unfortunately Ancaladar did not use burning acid, but scalding water instead. Red wasted no time, quickly taking a leap of faith which landed her on the back of the dragon's neck. The reptilian's wings began to flap rapidly, dragging its form out of the waters that had once engulfed its figure. Red was still breathing heavily from her escape, not having a chance to recover as the battle quickly ensued. It seemed that the creature was not going to give up its pursuit on the pair, meaning that they had no chance but to fight now.
Red began to whisper something into the dragon's ear quickly, having taken note of their foe's resilience, and likely protection against any of Ancaladar's water attacks. Seeming to act upon her advice, the dragon craned its neck downward. Not toward the Minotaur, but toward the river body itself, and released a torrent of scalding hot water. The resulting contact bathed the area in a thick mist, allowing for the pair to move upward, while obscuring the vision of their foe as they landed on the other side of the river, awaiting the next move.
Red still couldn't fathom why the creature was so hostile toward the pair. Apart from simple observation, she hadn't made any aggressive moves toward the being. Perhaps all Minotaurs were just hard headed and aggressive, but she couldn't be certain about that.
Bullwinkle came to a hesitant stop, glaring all around with nostrils flaring and red eyes burning with rage. His already poor eyesight was reduced to near useless in the sudden flare of steam, everything around him obscured by the thick mist. He did what his kind usually did when uncertain and angry, he put his head down and charged.
The ground shook with every heavy step as he tore across the mist covered plains, horns lowered towards the ground. It took him several seconds to realize that he had broken free of the steam, skidding to a stop and glaring around. Nothing was in sight, the infuriated minotaur stomping his armored foot in frustration. His nostrils flared again, sniffing the air for some hint of the dragon and his rider.
She was disguised by the powerful scent of the plains themselves and of the slightly oily scent of the dragon. His scales must have produced some kind of natural oil, it made it quite easy to home in on him. Turning to face the dragon once more, though the steam was still in the way, Bullwinkle roared and ran full speed towards him.
