Hunting the Jörmungandr

[Alekzander Faustine]

It had been all over the news for the past two weeks. Ship after ship disappearing in the North Sea to wash ashore along the Great Britain, Norway, and Denmark. Over twenty four ships in the last thirteen days. Something was horribly wrong in the North Sea, and Alekzander was determined to find out. So he had taken a trip upon his private Gulfstream jet to Great Britain. He had landed this morning in London, and had made his way to the town of Scarborough by renting a speedboat and coming up along the coast. He had heard a lot of wreckage had come to short within the harbor, and really needed to get his hands upon a piece to know what had happened to the ships.

So here he was, walking along the harbor and trying to find a bit of metal that may or may not be there.Finally he stopped and bent. He cupped his hands and dipped them in to the ocean and lifted the small amount of water as he stood up. He willed the water to leave the salt behind and drank deeply of the desalinated water and then shook the rest of the salt from his hands and wiped them upon his jeans. His white wife beater clung to his frame and the harness for his two pistols was visible. As he stood, he spotted something that reflected the sun and he strode purposefully towards it. He stopped, looking down and smiling upon the piece of metal. He knelt beside it, and placed both his hands flat upon the broken, torn metallic object and closed his eyes. Images flashed from his mind of the past of this object. Floating along an ocean and landing here. Being attached to passenger ship and sailing from port. Enormous greenish grey scaled coils wrapping around it, crushing the ship to an watery grave. Hundreds of people being consumed by the enormous serpent.

Alekzander jerked his eyes open and his hands off the piece of metal. He sighed, shaking his head. So the tales where true. Jörmungandr the World Serpent had awoked in truth. It was also extremely hungry. Alekzander sighed, shaking his head. He had to stop it. This creature could reveal all the supernaturals in the world. He walked to his speedboat and leap in, starting the engine up and racing down the coast all the way to Dover. This city was right upon the mouth of the English Channel, a perfect place to begin this adventure. He returned the speedboat and went to a local newspaper. He had them run an advertisement, asking for four adventurers to come to the wharf of the with in Dover. After making sure that the advertisement would run through almost all of Great Britian, he returned to the wharf and decided that he would need a ship. Something that was large enough to sturdy enough to afford protection. He really wanted a battleship of some kind, but even he didn't have that kind of influece.

Instead, he found a man selling an older barge. At a hundred and twenty five feet long, it was solid as a rock. Slow as all get out, but Alekzander didn't need a fast ship. He need one that would survive long enough to do something with. He bought the ship for thirty thousand dollars. The man was only asking for twenty five, but Alekzander insisted in paying him thirty for being so helpful as the man made sure to have the ship filled with fuel and prepared to leave the very next day. Hopefully the man could put those extra five thousand dollars to good use on his family or finding another ship. Night was settling, and Alekzander decided to spend it upon his "new" ship to get a feel for it. He was going to have to rely upon this ship to keep him alive, and there was no better way to do that then to live upon a ship and know it's own personal ways.

[Victoria Belmis]

The night was falling on the great city of London. Usually Victoria would stay out in the streets and wouldn't bother trying to find a inn until dawn, but today Victoria was feeling tired and not in the mood for alchool or noise. “ I must be getting sick...

[/i]” She thought at the realization of this rare mood.

After walking for about ten minutes, Victoria found a small inn with poor aspect, but the shivering female would settle for a bed under a roof. A small bell rang as she opened the door and closed it behind her, a small old man was sitting behind the counter sleeping who quickly woke up at the tinkling sound. He seemed happy for seeing Victoria. “ I'd like a room for a night please.” Victoria grinned sympathetically. “ Sure, sure, sure... ”. The man mumbled with a smile as he turned to grab one of the keys. “ Room 12... I just need to know your name miss.” “ Victoria Belmis ” She replied, watching him noting down her name . “ Such a lovely name, miss. ” He said handing her the key , she smiled in return and went up to . It was in fact small, and very empty, held only a individual bed, a small table, a dirty carpet and a door to what it seemed to be a bathroom. Victoria didn't care, she just dropped on the bed and fell asleep.

In the next morning Victoria felt refreshed and full of energy, she headed to the bathroom and looked herself in the broken mirror “ Bad luck...” she mumbled to herself. Her black long wavy hair was disheveled, lazy she just tied it up on a bun on top of her head. Washed her face, smoothed her red sleeveless shirt and jerked her black cotton hoodie. She returned to the reception, seeing that the old man wasn't there she left the money and the key, and left.

Going out under the gray sky of London, Victoria turned her head to a small newsstand and decided to take a look at the news, bending over a journal. More ships disappearing in the north sea, Victoria had heard news about this before, and found it really odd. She kept going through the pages stopping at a advertisement, it requested four people willing to go on a quest, and they were to meet in wharf in Dover. The advertisement wasn't very precise and didn't give much details, it only said that a man named Alekzander Faustine would lead this trip, but Victoria deduced that it had something to do with the missing ships, taking in account the location of the meeting point. It seemed fun... And she was in fact curious about the ship's disappearing. Who knew? He could even offer some kind of reward. Victoria glanced at the newsstand clock, it marked 7h48 am. If she got on a bus right now, she would arrive Dover just after lunch.

Arriving to the Dover, Victoria got off the bus stretching her legs and arms, making her way to the wharf. The female didn't carry anything with her, besides her loyal desert eagle hidden behind her back and wondered if she should buy anything, but laziness spoke louder. It took her about half an hour to arrive to the meeting point. Victoria stopped next to an old barge, about twenty five feet long, not seeing anyone she sat down, dangling her feet on the water. [/center]

Ba'alzamon, alpha Ungrith'tar was concerned. He was extremely concerned. What little he payed attention of human affairs spoke a terrifying story. Ships dissappearing at an alarming rate with unacceptable amounts of human deaths. They where beginning to get angry, and he knew that when humans began to get upset, they tended to take it out upon people who they didn't understand. As an Ungrith'tar, Ba'alzamon was definitely not understood. He sighed, shaking his head. So he was had been making his way towards England. He snuck upboard a ferry boat late one night and had come across the english channel. It had been very strange, staring at the newspaper he had scavenged from a trash bin behind a restaurant. It was mostly rubbish, as well as more news of disappearing ships. Then, far in the back was an advertisement.

It was seeking adventurers to come to the wharf in the town of Dover. As the Ungrith'tar had already been in that town, it was simple to come here. He wanted to see why this man wanted adventurers for the advertisement had not said why. He walked through the darkness, moving between the buildings as his hooves clicked against the ground heavily with each footstep. He wore his usual armor chest plate with a leather belt and a loin cloth. A metal half helm rested upon his head, a single four inch metal horn protruding between his own personal three and a half foot long stark white horns tipped with black. His two enormous hand axes swung against his hips and his great two handed battle axe was strapped upon his back. He stopped, staring at a female seated upon the edge of the docks with her feet dangled over.

He approached, not caring if he was stealthy or not. He walked right up to her and grunted to let her know he was there in case she didn't already. Then he spoke in a deep, rumble voice from deep with in his chest cavity. "Good evening, Miss. Is this where the adventurers are meeting together?"

[Brothgar Snorglstund]

Brothgar had tired of playing in the mountains with his group of undead beings. It was time to move on finally, after almost twenty years of living in this area. He grunted, shaking his fur out and looked around at his minions. Then suddenly they all collapsed in piles or rotting, stinking flesh. Nodding, satisfied none where left to roam around randomly and killed people randomly where he could not bring their corpses back to life he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and activated his power to teleport randomly.

He opened his eyes slowly, looking around and frowned. There was metal everywhere. Noise filled his ear and he snuffled in anger. Where the hell was he? It was hot, and noisy and smelly. Not that he could say much about being smelly as he most certainly was. He grunted and began walking around, clutching a small battle axe in his fists tightly afraid of what might be around each corner. He had no minions here. Nobody to help defend him. So he had to be extra careful. He frowned, looking around. There was nobody here. Not a soul. Even worse then that, there was NO dead bodies for him to change in to minions. He snapped his teeth in anger at that. Perhaps if he got out, there would be some.

He began to bang around, trying to find out how to get out of this damnedable metallic prison and began yelling and roaring. Maybe somebody would hear him and save him. Then again, they might just kill him. Most people did that upon seeing him. That or they just ran away from his stench and odd appearance. Hopefully they wouldn't do that this time at least. He actually did need help.

[Stilia Medusa]

Stilia Medusa, despite the suggestion of her race by her mere name, was not currently a gorgon. No, she was a being with legs, another brown-haired human girl among many. This particular human girl was bundled up quite tightly, despite the weather; even having a scarf draped loosely around her neck. She felt pleasantly warm now that she had donned it, already hating the England atmosphere. She made a mental note to never come again, despite the beautiful architecture and history behind the small country. It was too wet, too gray, and a tad too cold for her reptilian tastes.

Stilia did not head back where she came to find an airport, she was determined to stay here despite her new dislike to the place. She had been conversing with a friend, a very peculiar one, and was here as a favor to the woman. Well, she thought it was a woman, but it was always hard to tell with the mermaids. Stilia had befriended the race, having helped them out greatly. But, one day, she had been approached by one who sought help. The mermaid had told Stilia tales of a giant worm, which terrorized both humans and mermaids alike. It had begged for help, and had even offered her treasures. Having no use for such things, especially with the money she had gained from an old friend, she had declined the reward but accepted the offer. It was a marvelous experience to come across something new, even if that something wished for her to be dead. She had always know curiosity would lead her to her grave, although she certainly hoped the World Serpent wouldn’t makeher onein his stomach.

So here Stilia was, in Dover, wondering what to do next as she carried her meager belongings in a backpack. She thought of buying a boat, but that would be a foolish thing to do on her lonesome. Still, she could not help but wander by the docks, looking for something useful. She spotted a large but old barge, and wondered if it was for sale. It certainly looked seaworthy. But, as she stood there on the docks, her eyes casually travelled over a woman sitting with her feet in the water. She wondered if the woman was cold, doing such a thing, before suddenly recognizing the face. She had not seen this woman since an exploit in New Mexico. Traveling over, she cast a glance to make sure none were watching her before shifting into the human form this demoness would recognize. She kneeled by the other woman. “Victoria Belmis? Is that you?”

Before the woman could reply to her, Stilia's eyes widened as a large creature approached them.

[Victoria Belmis]

Victoria glanced over, as she heard her name being called. To her surprise she was greeted by a familiar face she had once met in a asylum located in New Mexico. Victoria still ignored the female species, but she knew in fact she was not human, but she couldn't help to feel pleased to see a familiar face, and a new opportunity to learn more about this mysterious female. Victoria drew a smile at the presence of this woman. “ Stilia?”

Her smile faded as she watched a giant figure approaching who in the place of feet had hooves and held two enormous axes . Victoria tensed and got up quickly astonished. “ Holy sh- ”. The demoness automatically prepared mentally to defend herself, but as the beast spoke she understood they were there for the same reasons, so she allowed herself to relax. “ Yes, yes it is...” She examined the creature once again, and a thought came through her head. A minotaur. She had heard of these beasts before but never once believed they were real.

A loud roar sounded from another location in the wharf, Victoria looked at the minotaur “ Did you bring someone?” She felt curiosity taking over her, she never believed in these creatures, and now she was facing one, maybe two. Before waiting for an answer, the demoness walked hastily towards the roaring. Turning a corner of a ship she saw, not a minotaur but another creature. Some kind of primate. “ Oh, it looks like Christmas in here...” She thought to herself. The creature was as intimidating as the minotaur, but it seemed to be in need of help, almost scared. Victoria approached the primate carefully, not wanting to give the impression that she was an hostile being. “ Hey... Need help?”

[Alekzander Faustine]

Alekzander could hear people below him upon the wharf and smiled. One, two, three different voices! It was better then he had expected. Two female, and something else. It could only be described as a male voice, though it was so deep and bass he blinked. There was absolutely no way that voice came from a human being. He leaned out and looked over at the three and sure enough, with the little bit of light from the moon and the far off lights of the city he could see two females who where dwarfed by an absolutely behemoth of a being with four great horns. What in the world could that thing possibly be?

Before he could call out to them, loud poundings against metal and roaring. Alekzander blinked and frowned. 'What in the world could that be?' he thought to himself, walking across the deck of the ship. He leaned out and looked down upon the scene. Some sort of hairy being was pounding upon the ships around it, roaring and shouting in some foreign tongue like a crazed being. Alekzander frowned deeply, shaking his head. If the creature didn't shut up, it would bring everybody in the area down upon them. Drawing a single one of his pistols, just incase this highly perturbing thing attacked him, he leap over the railing.

He was completely aware the fall would more then likely kill him or snap a leg or both, but he had absolutely no fear. He never showed any kind of fear in any situation. There was the odd times he had some, but still he refused to show it. Fear was weakness in his mind. He extended a hand and used his innate powers of water. A gaint column of water materialized beneath him and he propelled himself upwards slightly with it as it struck him from beneath. This slowed his momentum and he caused the column to dissappear beneath him, effectively lowering him to the ground. Then he pushed all the column, along with the water that had drenched his cloths, away from himself and off the wharf before allowing it to collapse in to the sea.

He had effectively made a grand entrance, dropping from the sky upon a column of water that didn't get a single being in the area wet and stepped towards them, completely dry and spoke in a soft but firm voice. "Please, whatever you are STOP making that noise. You will draw every single person in the area down upon us and I have no wish to have to spend the next three days explain to the authorities who we are, why we are here, and even more harder still WHAT we all are. So please calm yourself. We will help you."

Ba'alzamon remained silent as the female reacted accordingly. He was not surprised at all, for this was the typical reaction he recieved from most people. Supernatural or not. He didn't have anyway special of telling if this female was "gifted" as he liked to put it but he had a feeling she was. After all, who else would show up to an adventure like this unless they thought they where exceptional such as himself. No human could hope to have a chance upon such a quest after all. When she questioned him about bringing somebody with himself, he simply shook his huge head from side to side causing his horns to swing wildly around though he made certain nobody was in the way and thus he would not accidently gore anybody.

He gazed upon the other female, the one who had spoken to and labeled the questioning girl as one 'Victoria Blemis' or some such. The second female had not said a single word to him, and he simply shrugged it off as simply speechlessness which was something he was also use to. However, this female seemed, almost familiar. Her scent was extremely familiar for some reason, almost as if it had been ingrained in to his memory from long, long ago. He put it aside to question her about later and followed Victoria as she moved off in search of the loud noise. He followed behind her, his hooves clacking loudly against the stone beneath their feet. Unfortunately, he was definitely NOT made for stealthy approaches. A large disadvantage upon his part, though he didn't seem to mind it as stealth and trickery was simply not a part of who he was.

As they rounded a corner, a strange sight poured through his optical nerves in to his brain. A rather short, monkyish looking being was pounding away at the ships surrounding him with his fists and a small puny axe, roaring and shouting something Ba'alzamon didn't understand at all. He moved to stop the smaller being when suddenly a male appeared, dropping from the ship on what appeared to be a column of water he controled. The man landed upon the ground, and spoke to the rampaging creature, seeking to calm and counsel it with wisdom and intelligece. Ba'alzamon though this a very wise decision and so simply watched as the man did his best. Whether it was what it took to calm this creature was yet to be seen and Ba'alzamon gripped the haft of one of his own axes, just in case he needed to step in.

[Brothgar Snorglstund]

Brothgar stopped instantly making noise as the female rounded the corner and glared at her, then jumped as she was backed up by the enormous horned behemoth behind her. He blinked, then narrowed his eyes and sighed. So much for any plans on killing her and reanimating her corpse. However when the male dropped behind him on a column of water he jumped away from him, hefting his axe high ready to strike at the man. He was not use to being snuck up upon, and it rattled his nerves. He looked from one to the next to next slowly, breathing heavily and grunting. He was extremely nervous at this. They could all want to kill him or worse, make him use his powers for their own purposes. Not that he could even sense any dead corpses nearby, except some that where far beneath the waters which he couldn't get to.

Instead he slowly lowered his ax and nodded at the man, though he had not a single clue as to what he had just said. He was hoping that if he acted weak enough and humble enough, they would leave him alone and he would be able to get out of here and go set up a place to begin living and working out of to raise the undead again quickly to have his own army. He snuffled and sort of tilted his head down, looking up at them and occasionally as his mind worked feverishly to come up with a plan.

[Stilia Medusa]

Victoria recognized this form, or perhaps her voice, which never could change. But before she could say another word, there was the minotaur, speaking. Stilia had come across their kind before, and even worked alongside one once, hunting a different sort of worm. Stilia really probably should stop trying to find these dangerous creatures, but her curiosity continuously pushed her on. She remained silent, eyeing the creature, determining it’s motives. It spoke of adventurers, and Stilia cast a confused glance Victoria’s way, wondering of what he spoke.

Well, she would have cast such a glance at Victoria, but instead it fell on thin air. After her reply, the demoness had stalked off to address the banging noises that had also begun. She was talking to a being she could not see, offering her assistance. It seemed this banging creature had become the center of attention, as all approached him. Even some strange man, hopping down and somehow controlling the water to aid him in his entrance, was instantly headed over to the creature. Apparently it must be of interest, and she wondered vaguely what it was. A man, merely causing a commotion as he had seen all this unnatural things, like the water-man and the Minotaur? Or something else?


Despite the fact that it would have been sager and safer to remain where she was, she stood and walked on over. Everything was so confusing, but she could spy through the throng of people that there was an ape-like man, an axe in his hands- or possibly her hands, as she knew not of the species, although it looked like a he. She listened, hearing words but unable to see which of them spoke. As she knew the voices of both Victoria and the minotaur, she knew it was not them. That left either the water-man or the creature, but by context she could easily refer that it was the earlier of the afore mentioned. He was trying to calm down the being, also offering help. Stilia merely stayed at the back, listening and watching, ready for any sort of trouble. Hopefully they had not attracted the attention of curious humans, as that would be bothersome with the ape and the minotaur.

[Victoria Belmis]

After Victoria, the others followed to inquire the scared creature. A new male arrived meanwhile on a platform of water. A elemental, the female noted down to herself for further situations. She observed as the male spoke to the beast. Humans would be rather unpleasant at a time like this, Victoria, the elemental and Stilia could easily be mistaken by one but the same couldn't be said about the minotaur and ape, so it wouldn't be very fun if any human were to come and decided to call authorities. She glanced to the water-male, trying to indicate with her gaze she had the same intention as him when trying to calm down the beast.

Victoria wasn't sure that the ape spoke or even understood english, so she tried to rely on smooth gestures and speaking in a soft tone that the creature would consider harmless “ We're not going to hurt you, we are merely trying to help you...” She gave up a small smile, quickly vanishing

She raised both her hands signaling she was not holding any weapon of any sort, and approached carefully the ape that had lowered his ax at the words of the elemental. “ There, there... See? We're all friendly here. ” Her look danced again between the male and the ape, as she got closer to beast, but far enough for it not to feel threatened.

[Alekzander Faustine]

Alekzander watched the others from the corner of his eyes, making sure they where all right. They all seemed fine, especially the only other person, a female of some sort, that was also attempting to calm the rampaging creature. He noticed her eyes flicking to him on several occasions and nodded at one such, letting her know that she was noted. Seeing the ape like creature lower it's axe and slowly slipped his pistol back in to his holster and nodded slowly. He then turned back to the group and nodded to them all smiling a warm stunning smile. He parted his lips and spoke in slight british accent to them all.

"Welcome everybody! I will assume, with the exception of our confused friend here, that you have all come to hunt the mighty Jormungandr or the World Serpent. I am glad to see that we have such a diverse crowd here. Brawn, brains as she has yet to speak, diversity, and finally beauty who I am sure has more then just that to supply..." as he said these he pointed at the minotaur, then nodded to Stilia, before gesturing at himself and finally gazing pointedly at Victoria for several seconds allowing his eyes to slide up and down her body. He looked away, up at the ship and nodded towards it.

"Perhaps we should move up on to the barge. We will have more privacy there, and no stray night bobbies will find us standing around like a carnival act." He slowly reached out and touched the ape like creature's arm, then pointed up towards the deck of the ship and motioned for it to follow them while slowly walking back towards the gang plank the way the two female's and minotaur had come from in the first place.

Seeing the ape like creature calming down, Ba'alzamon slowly released the haft of one of his hand axes and slowly relaxed his muscles. So there would be no fight, which he was actually grateful for at the moment as the male who had arrived upon a fountain of water spoke truly. There would be guards patrolling the area, ready to investigate anything strange and out of the ordinary. Which was exactly what they would be described as. A Ungrith'tar, two females, a male, and an ape would be quite a sight to behold for a simple human. That is if their weak minds could even wrap around that and not drive them instantly to blathering idiocity. He cared not for the human's attempted passes at the female, as he was not in the mood for such things at the moment but agreed with his comments to move up upon the ship to escape scrutiny.

He turned and would lead the way, hooves clacking against the stone beneath them before mounting the gangway up on towards the enormous barge. His hooves make metallic clangs all the way up that would do nothing to help their situation of attracting attention, but unfortunately there was absolutely nothing he could do about this at the time. The flat section of the ship was completely empty except for four large shipping containers towards the forward bow, two stacked upon the other two and in the center of the deck. The bridge rose on the aft bow, towering over them at almost twenty feet high. Ba'alzamon found all this of interest, looking back at the male who had apparently organized all this and grunted towards him in his deep, bass rumbling voice. "This is impressive. Except may I ask why this ship? Why not some sort of war craft? And what is in the four random metal boxes?" He gesticulated at the for shipping containers.

[Brothgar Snorglstund]

Brothgar decided to play it cool. He relaxed suddenly, as if he had calmed down and nodded at the female and male speaking at him. He even forced a smile, though it would probably look more like a grimace or snarl. Not that it seemed to matter much. Everybody was leaving after the spectacle he had caused. He felt pretty foolish now as a matter of fact now, having caused such a ruckus. However he had never been around or even seen a ship before. Being surrounded by them was unnerving to say the least at first. Now he could see them and realized they where some sort of vessels that floated upon the water. How interesting.

He stretched out with his sense, feeling dead bodies near by and nodded to nobody specifically, feeling the comfort of the dead. He did not raise them though. Not yet at least, that would come later. He waited and watched as everybody else slowly made their way up on to the ship and followed at a good distance, staying at least twenty feet behind whoever ended up being last. There were reasons for this as well. One, his stench would bother everybody, he even knew that straight of the bat. Secondly, he was looking for any avenue of escape to get away from them even for a little bit. He was anxious to get away and raise the dead to command as he wished.

[Stilia Medusa]

This ape thing was incomprehensible. She wondered what sort of language it spoke. Perhaps this creature lived in a colony with it’s own kind, hidden away much as other species- much like her own- do as to hide from the overpopulating humans. A better question would be how this creature managed to get here, in the midst of a large human population, without once being seen. Why was it freaking out now?

She watched in silence as they tried to calm the beast-man, Victoria and the water-man speaking kind words, despite the fact that it was obvious this thing was not an English speaker. She supposed it was more to get across a sort of calm, and, eventually, the thing did do such. It had quieted, and lowered it’s weapon. That was good, albeit she did not dare to let down her guard. The moment it did, the elemental turned, his way of speaking making her think of a Ringmaster greeting the audience. He said something about hunting the World Serpent, and her interest was instantly peaked. Perhaps she should stay within this band of mismatched individuals, if they were seeking the worm. She wondered as to their motives, but did not question it. If anything, they could make good distractions, and help her slay the beast. Of course, there were disadvantages, but the advantages outweighed them greatly.

She noticed this strange man pointing to them, stating that the Minotaur was brawn, and herself brains. She silently raised an eyebrow. To his knowledge, she could easily be a mute, or perhaps a foreigner whom did not understand their tongue, or even someone incapable of the intelligence needed to speak. And yet he took silence as brain. She did not break this silence to offer any opinion though, quite alright with letting him think as such. But the man had moved on to hitting on Victoria, causing a small eye roll on Stilia’s part. He mentioned the barge though, causing her to nod in agreement. She followed along, noting how the ape stayed far behind. She kept warily observing him, not liking having a stranger behind her back, easily able to attack them. But they made it onto the barge, which was only a short distance away, without problem. Stilia cast a glance around, wondering what was to come next.