Now this wasn't something Helix saw every day in Nysa. A human like being with a very dubious mask walked up to her and Satella with a greeting in the Nysan language. She heard many people among the land greet her the same, so she didn't need a translator to tell her what the stranger said. Even-more, she felt like she didn't need her translator at all, since the accent the man carried was not that of a Nysan, but that of an Earthling trying to learn the Nysan language.
"I don't suppose either of you speak english, do you?" The man with the mask asked, keeping their distance from the two women.
Wise boy, Helix thought, dreaming up all the possible ways she could kill the man if he stepped any closer. She was very conscious about the people she met in this world, since it was a lot more chaotic than her other world. So if she ever met a stranger on a road near a city full of dead fauns, she would be sure to ready her bow in case of a fight. However, the man seemed to be friendly, which was a good enough reason for Helix not to kill him for now.
"We both do," Helix answered him. "But I speak for both of us." She motioned her head to the town filled with blood. "Wanna tell me what happened here? Those corpses look mighty fresh to me. Whoever did this might still be around."
Now that she looked closer at the carnage, she noticed that almost all the dead bodies had bone crushing wounds. When she focused a little more on the lifeless fauns, she could guess the cause of death was by a weapon of massive size. The building structures were also destroy by something large, which Helix deduced was a creature twice this man's size.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Aug 30, 2016 19:14:35 GMT -5
What luck! They could both speak english, which made things fairly convenient for Jack. It was a lot easier than stumbling his way through Nysan, a language he'd only recently come to comprehend and was nowhere near mastering. Hell, he hadn't even mastered english yet. But whatever.
Anyways, back to the conversation. The woman asked him what had happened. With a destroyed village and many dead fauns, she must have been curious. It was only natural. Luckily, it was a question the young man could more or less answer, since he'd just finished interviewing what were probably the only survivors.
"Swamp troll," The young man began, waving lazily toward the carnage. "One was spotted in the area near here. Villagers were afraid of an attack and apparently I was a bit tardy. Seems like everyone died except for a couple survivors who made it out in time, hid in the trees until the beast wandered off."
Jack rubbed his neck, still a bit anxious to be off. It was probably about time to wrap this whole encounter up and get moving. Wouldn't be long before carrion eaters started moving in and the young wizard really didn't want to waste energy fighting off any hungry monsters when he still had a fourth tier creature to hunt down. He glanced again at the carnage, wondering if the troll might qualify as T3. Nah, it wasn't that big a deal.
"You should probably finish up your business in what's left of the village and move on soon. Scavengers'll show up before long for the corpses and I can't promise the troll won't meander back before I put it down. If you're looking for relatives or friends who were in town and down find them among the debris, they might've fled before the attack. Or been dragged off for troll supper."
"Swamp troll?!" Satella began to shake when she heard that word. Helix new what a swamp troll was, a gross troll that lived in swamps, but she didn't think that they actually existed. Of course, in this world of vampires, demons and gods, why wouldn't there be a swamp troll? "Master, let's go! The last thing I want is to deal with a swamp troll!"
The anti-theist ignored her companions words. "You say you gonna put the creature down? Well I reckon you're gonna need a little bit of my help. You can call me Helix for now. What's your name?"
Satella huffed in anger. "Well you can go attack that creature without me." She folded her arms and gave a stubborn frown. "It's a terrifying beast that can destroy an entire faun village! Going up against it is a crazy idea! There is no telling what will happen if-"
"You can stay here," Helix interrupted. "This man said he got survivors. You can help them pack up into the cart and take them to the town we just came from." She then addressed the man with the mask again, "Where's your survivors?"
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Sept 1, 2016 19:56:15 GMT -5
The female faun who'd been driving the wagon started freaking out at the mention of the Swamp Troll. That was fairly understandable. Most Nysans seemed pretty terrified of the beasts and, from what he'd heard, for good reason. They were big and tough in a world that was barely out of the stone age. Powerful magic users were few and far between, as usual, and those that did exist couldn't very well protect every scattered village and town even if they all felt inclined to do so. For such people, encountering such a powerful creature was tantamount to suicide. The ruined village around them could testify to that.
"Well, I can't stop you from coming along, if that's what you really wanna do," The young man began, glancing at the unnerved faun briefly. "But I can't guarantee your safety. I can handle this on my own, so you shouldn't feel obligated to help or anything."
Jack frowned underneath his mask as another outburst from the faun interrupted him. "Tenebrous, but you can call me Ten if you prefer. Hey, is she gonna be all right?" He indicated the faun. "I know the Swamp Troll is, like, the Nysan bogeyman or whatever, but seriously. This things gonna be dead before this time tomorrow. She doesn't need to freak out or anything. And, honestly, proximity to me is probably one of the safer places to be with a troll on the loose."
When Helix asked where the survivors were, the young wizard glanced over his shoulder, also curious. "They were back there somewhere, behind that debris pile. A werebeast and a young faun. Dunno where they are now. Thought they would've followed me but they might've split. Not a terribly unwise decision on their part, to be fair."
Now this was a man Helix hadn't met in years. He seemed solemn, yet carried incredible arrogance. The things going to be dead by tomorrow, he said; proximity to me was probably the safest place to be, he admitted. It was clear that he was fairly confident in his capabilities. Maybe he had a weapon on him that would destroy the beast, or maybe he was a being of infinite power. If swamp trolls, vampires, and angels could exist, why wouldn't he be powerful?
In any case, there was something about this man that Helix didn't like. Maybe it was his complete confidence, or the fact that Helix lacked what he so broadly carried. The mystic knew she had weaknesses, and knew that she couldn't boldly claim a monster dead without first seeing its capabilities. The very fact that he didn't seem to know the beast, yet was sure it was going to die was enough for Helix to hate him. Of course, she kept all her hatred bottled inside her. The least she wanted was to make more enemies for herself, so she allowed the man to say what he wanted with zero expression of bitterness from her. If this man wanted to display his power Sarah would gladly watch, and maybe would be pleased with what she saw.
"Satella," Helix sternly called out to her faun companion who immediately jumped at the sound of her voice. "Go look for the survivors. Me and Mr. Tenebris will handle the swamp troll."
"Master, please," Satella protested. "let him handle this alone. The monster is dangerous and I don't want to lose you too."
The faun's words were filled with warmth, but it had nothing but a cold effect on Helix. Even still, she turned to Satella and gave a bright smile, as though she was not at all disgusted by her companions sentiments. "I appreciate your worry, but this seems too fun to pass up."
With that said, she turned to Tenebrous and gave the same smile. "Now, why don't you show me the way? You know where the swamp troll is, right?" She didn't trust this man as far as she could throw him, but he seemed friendly for now. Miraculously, he was not stained with blood, which could at least validate that he wasn't apart of this massacre. "If we leave now, we could probably catch up to it."
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Sept 3, 2016 23:11:29 GMT -5
She'd pronounced his name wrong, calling him Tenebris rather than Tenebrous, but whatever. Jack didn't feel the overwhelming need to correct her. Instead he waited for Helix to finish her exchange with the worrywart faun, busying himself with managing to slip a stick of gum underneath the chin of his mask and catch it with his teeth.
While he chewed and waiting, the young man glanced curiously at the case Helix carried, wondering what was inside. It was awfully mysterious. Maybe a weapon of some sort. Even with his magic, Jack rarely went anywhere without a weapon that didn't rely on his magical abilities.
Anyways, Helix finally seemed ready to get moving which was a great relief to Jack. He was the sort of person who started to itch all over if he stood still for too long. Besides, the troll had already destroyed one village because he hadn't arrived in time. It just wouldn't do to let another be ruined because he'd decided to waste time picking up strays on his way to its execution.
As they left, the young man turned and waved to the faun who'd been traveling with Helix in the most reassuring way he possibly could. Satella, her name seemed to be, was worried about nothing. She'd probably meet her friend again in one piece, so long as she survived her own road journeys in the meantime.
"Hm? No, not really. The location of the creature's lair is a mystery to me. But its tracks are quite easy to follow, as you can see," The young wizard began in response to helix's questioning without even bothering to look at the woman, waving his hand dismissively toward the obvious signs of the troll's passing. Those signs being torn earth and damaged foliage, including the odd fallen tree.
"The beast is quite large. Truth be told, it will be easier to find now with such a clear trail than it would have been before the attack. Something of a silver lining, I suppose." Ten said this flatly, in a matter of fact manner without emotion that almost seemed to belie the sorrow he'd expressed earlier. Sinister implications might even have been inspired, were anyone else.
"Yes. We really should leave now," Jack began moving, using the spear like a walking stick. "If you've anymore questions, you'll have to ask them while we move. "
Without further ado, the hunt began. Immediately after Helix expressed her want to get moving, the man moved, and he and Helix walked towards the path of destruction.
Tenebrous was right, there was a clear path that gave an undoubted sign that the troll passed through it. There were broken trees, giant footprints, and trails among the dirt that signaled it dragged something with it. Possibly it's weapon? From what it seemed, and the tracks it gave, this thing was indeed very big. How that man could see all this and still be confident in his capabilities were a mystery to Helix, one that she felt would be solved if she stuck around long enough.
However, before they left the bloody village, Helix set to work her own capabilities. She lagged behind Tenebrous slightly so that he could not focus on what she was doing, then she placed one hand behind her back. Mystically waving her hand, she sent her magic through it, which began scattering throughout the hamlet and into the bodies of several dead fauns. When Helix and Tenebrous were out of eye shot, the dead beings would come to life, stand up on their own, then follow where the two monster hunters went, hiding until further needed.
In the mean time, Helix walked with her new acquaintance. Eventually, she began noticing something odd about the trail the swamp troll was leaving. When she felt that it was something important, she pointed it out to the man.
"The creature is harmed." As if to prove her point she pointed to the dripped blood on the grown. At first she figured that it were the dripping blood of the troll's victims, but blood never stayed wet enough to leave a trail unless it came fresh from the body. In fact, by the time Helix arrived at the village, a good number of faun blood already permanently stained the walls.
There were other signs too; bent trees to symbol the creature leaned on it, dragged out foot prints that showed the creature was fatigued, and many more. It wasn't hard to notice these, and very possible to think that the monster was harmed. After all, Helix saw some dead faun carry bloody weapons as well. Even if they went down, she was sure that they went down fighting.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Sept 7, 2016 21:42:51 GMT -5
As they moved, following the Troll's trail, Jack made sure to move at a pace Helix could keep up with. Normally, he might've run the creature down by now but the young man wasn't confident she had the legs for it. Oh well. It wasn't like he'd find out anytime soon unless he asked. He really wanted to catch this thing before it went to ground back in its lair.
"With it's long strides, there's no way we're gonna catch this thing unless we hustle. Can you handle a run? I'll let you set a pace you're comfortable with." Jack cast a sidelong glance at the woman, looking away from the jungle for the first time since they'd set out.
Ten pretended not to notice when his companion dropped back somewhat. The young mage was a naturally suspicious individual and his paranoia could occasionally get the best of him. But he didn't feel like this was one of those times. So as not to tip her off, just in case Helix really was up to no good, he kept ready but resisted the urge to look over his shoulder at her.
Honestly, he wasn't too worried. Jack might've seemed oblivious, with his nose buried in the tracks, but he was paying very close attention to the jungle around him. He'd learned through experience that he couldn't let guard down in the Nysan wilds and was ready for anything, including treachery.
Helix made a comment about the Troll being injured. Of course it was. Even the weakest faun could use magic and any idiot with an arm could toss a spear or two. But stubbing your toe while stomping some ants wasn't the same as limping away from a serious fight with a critical injury. A city full of fauns might've been able to take down a Troll if they all worked together. But a small settlement with just a rickety wood palisade? They could've handled some small wild animal attacks but something like the Swamp Troll that could crush buildings in a single swing and poisoned anyone unlucky enough to get close was too big a challenge.
"Don't get your hopes up. If these were more than scratches, we'd be wading through blood right now." Jack paused briefly to stoop down and carefully gather up some of the blood in a vial. The young man then proceeded to lift up his jacket and the shirt underneath so Helix could see, revealing a pattern of scarring along his flank. "Greece. And this arm? Lost it in Siberia, once. Point is, legends don't die easy. Cornered beasts are some of the most dangerous, especially if they're hurting."
Apparently the man wanted to move faster, quite the eager one wasn't he? Well, Helix saw some point in his reason, but she didn't think the creature would get very far with its injuries. Even still, she was a guest intruding on the man's hunt, the least she wanted was to slow him down, so she began to jog. To the man it might not seem like much of movement, since he seemed a lot faster than her, but she was actually moving as fast as she could without tiring herself. If she fell out of breath now, she would't be able to dodge the creature if it came for her later.
The man, Tenebrous, seemed to know a lot about this creature. She was about to question how he could know so much about monsters, but remained silent as he revealed it himself. When he raised his shirt, Helix witness all the scars he had collected over his years of living. Greece was where he said he got them, but from what was Helix's question. Then the man mentioned how he lost an arm in Siberia, leaving Sarah to assume that he somehow gained it back. Millions of questions flooded Helix's mind, but the only one she could release from her mouth was: "What exactly are you?"
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Sept 17, 2016 2:40:10 GMT -5
Helix broke into a light jog at his suggestion that they speed up a bit. The young wizard effortlessly matched her pace and, while it wasn't quite as fast as Jack would prefer to move, it was a better pace than the one they'd been moving at a moment ago. So that was something, at least. It would also help him to warm up his muscles a bit before the fight.
What am I? The young man echoed inwardly, slightly confused. What a strange question. And rude. He didn't meet very many people who went around blurting out such strange questions. Perhaps she was a bit touched in the head, he wondered, glancing at Helix briefly. Jack wasn't anything but himself and he'd never been interested in the sorts of magic that could change that. "Me? I'm just a guy. Nobody, nothing. What are you?"
Jack slowed and came to a halt after they'd been running for a few minutes, eyeing their present surroundings. They'd come to the edge of a fungal patch, a section not entirely unusual to Nysan jungles from what he'd seen. The trees remained rather thick, making it difficult to see much of the area outside of the destructive path the troll had taken through it, but from what was visible it looked much like the rest with trees, brush, and other flora with the exception that it also contained thick groupings of mushrooms, some as large as a grown man.
Patches of fungus completely covered some trunks and on the jungle floor were gracefully fluted stems that would appear quite alien on Earth standing next to squat mushrooms with broad caps and sturdy stems that made them appear strong enough to stand on. Each was oddly colored, ranging from deep scarlet dotted with white crescents to yellow-green medleys and some would even give off a slight glow at night, illuminating sections of the patch in startling cyan or violet. It was quite a beautiful sight but any knowledgeable individual would be well aware of that which was not visible.
Fungal hounds stalked patches such as these, easily blending in when they wished, and the air carried spores invisible to the naked eye. A creature might wander among the beautiful colors, hallucinating, or find itself stopping to rest on one of those comfortable mushroom stalks placed between trunks, growing increasingly drowsy. Or they might simply find the air feels thicker only to discover themselves unable to breathe after increasingly difficult breaths. Or maybe it would pass through, unharmed.
"It's safest to go around areas such as this, but we may lose vital time while attempting to pick the troll's tracks back up on the other side. And we don't know how far the patch extends, possibly for miles. Fungal hounds are a worry, I'm sure their nest is agitated from the creature's passing, but so are spore clouds. They grow increasingly thick towards the center and can get really nasty. What do you want to do?"
Post by Laenieya Valistien on Oct 8, 2016 12:56:33 GMT -5
Laenieya soared over the devastated landscape, frowning. "Wow..someone really threw a hissy fit." She continued following the path, until she spotted two tiny little people, hundreds of feet below her. "I spy with my little eye....two people or something and a buttload of shrooms. Hm.."
"Eh. Live life to its fullest, or something." She began to divebomb, grinning and closing her eyes, enjoying the wind in her hair, and the branch from a large tree in her face.
"SACRE BLEU, JAUNE ET ROSE!" She yelled, falling backwards the rest of the way, hitting the ground unceremoniously. "......I hate my life." She whimpered, and rolled over, pushing herself up. "Ow ow ow ow.."
Lae turned around, and spotted the two people, a bit far away, and she waved. "HI!! I COME IN PEACE, AND ALL THAT! I'M ONLY SLIGHTLY ARMED! PLEASE DON'T MURDER ME, THAT WOULD BE BAD!" She called out.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Oct 8, 2016 16:19:40 GMT -5
Jack was in the process of attempting to snake a twizzler up under the edge of his mask when he heard someone shouting. Well, it obviously wasn't Helix. He chewed on the piece of candy while he turned lazily toward the sound, wondering who was feeling the need to be so loud in such a scenic yet deceptively dangerous location. Peering into the foliage greeted him with the sight of a waving individual. He appreciated that. Made em that much easier to spot.
Waving in return, the young man began to make his way over. Jack just kept running into people today, wasn't he? Oh well. Would probably be a good idea to inform her of the rampaging monster and advise she keep her eyes open before moving on with his hunt. All these distractions were kinda slowing him down but Ten wasn't really in that much of a hurry, even with the possibility that more innocents could end up hurt with every extra minute that the troll was loose out there. It would be best if he took his time and made fewer mistakes.
"Hi," Jack began once he was within easy earshot of the stranger, having finished up the twizzler he'd been chewing. "Don't worry. I'm also pretty peaceful. But, I gotta let ya know, theres a Swamp Troll on the loose.
Just tracked the beasty from a faun settlement it ate back that way," The young mage indicated the direction where he'd come from. "And the jungles a bit more dangerous than usual with it on the loose and active like it is. So, um, just keep an extra eye open while you're strolling around, k? At least till I have its head mounted somewhere nice and safe."
Post by Laenieya Valistien on Oct 9, 2016 4:00:09 GMT -5
"Swamp troll? Ew, that sounds awesome." She pulled a face. "Are you two going after it alone?" She asked. If she was right, these buggers were huge, and dangerous, and needed a lot of skill to take down.
"You could probably do with some more help, and I'm a pretty good shot." She tapped her knuckle against her bow, leaving out that she was completely lost and was hoping to find her way back by following one of these peeps.
"Not to mention, if your going to go track it, I do have an easy way to find it." She opened her wings, which were almost the size of her..so not very big, but still. They could keep her in the air.
"Birds eye view and all. Might be useful, since that's a pretty dense...I wanna say jungle? But there's a few mushrooms, so.....forest? I don't know."
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Oct 9, 2016 16:26:12 GMT -5
"Well, it was just me but then she stumbled up and insisted on coming along. You're welcome to come, too, since I can't really stop you. But it'll be dangerous and stuff." Jack scratched at his chin from underneath the mask he wore, watching her carefully. She seemed even more eager to come along than Helix did. He hoped she really could handle herself. There was no one around to babysit.
"We were in the process of following its trail," The young man gestured halfheartedly toward the obviously destructive path the troll's passing had left. "But now it's looking like we'll have to go around, since it passes through a fungal patch. It would be appreciated if you helped us find the trail again once we're on the other side. It's definitely a jungle."
"Names Tenebrous, by the way. Nice to meet you, Miss...?" Jack rolled his shoulders and began moving on, motioning for the fae to follow. He'd prefer not to be caught in the forest come nightfall. Silent Deaths seemed to become more active then and, while he could see well and handle them, they'd be an unnecessary drain on his resources while he was still in the process of trying to take down the Swamp Troll.
"C'mon. We've lost enough time as it is." He broke into a light jog. "I'll move at an easy pace, so try to keep up. We can talk more while we move, if you want."
As he moved the young man tilted his head slightly to the side, curious. Jack could've sworn he'd heard something deeper in the jungle. It probably wasn't much of anything, since his danger sense hadn't been set off. The jungle was full of noises after all. It was typically the things you couldn't hear that were really dangerous. Still, it had him on edge for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Post by Laenieya Valistien on Oct 10, 2016 12:57:23 GMT -5
"Laenieya. Laenieya Valistien." She told him, and followed. "I can handle myself don't worry. Never gone against a swamp troll before, but I've had experience fighting against this bigger than myself."
She kept up fairly well, but would've been much happier if they were flying at a fast pace. Alas, these two had no wings, or form or flight for that matter. Shame, really. Wings are so much better than legs.
"So, how much has this troll fella destroyed?" She asked. "I saw some of it, but there's no way it was just some of the path down here. Are we talking a few houses, or NYC?" Lae frowned. She hoped it wasn't NYC. She was tiny. And that would hurt. A lot.
"And, more importantly, how tough is it's skin?" The fae tapped her bow. "Because arrows can't pierce everything, sadly. And my magic isn't exactly on the offensive damaging side. My most offensive is blinding a guy for a bit. Useful, but not exactly gonna kill a troll."