Latest revision as of 04:52, 27 October 2014

Participants

Date

26/10/477

Log

The Maritime District is abuzz with activity, as a relativly large airship is being filled to the brim with a variety of supplies... Crates and barrels of food and drink, bundles of wood and countless bags of tools being hefted up onto the ship. Along it's side, it has a single ramp laid out for individuals to walk up, where a few guards at the top check for work orders to seperate craftsmen from the paid swords.

A thin and scrawny male Blackback is near the two guards, flipping through the papers on his clipboard as he speaks. "Marcidius, please ensure all of the hired hands are in the safety of the center of the ship, and our esteemed swords are ready at the decks and cannons if you would? I've no interest in losing any of my craftsmen, as that would make our point here moot would it not?"

Thelergramor walks into the Maritime District, in a completely fucked mood as his cannon hangs from his shoulder. Shirtless, plague masked, pants-wearing heavily armed wolf. Figured an expedition would give him a reason to get the hell out of Firmament for a while; avoid his problems. And there's an airship! "...I hate flying." Walks towards the Blackback. "You. You in charge here? I'm here to... do.. job things."

After making sure all of her gear was in order, Cassidy makes her way for the airship dressed up in her red longcoat and a long black skirt, her spelltome resting in her arms and held to her chest. "This is going to be fun," she murmurs behind her mask as she's up to the ramp, nodding at the guards. "I'm here to assist."

With the rhythmic slap of sandals upon stone and the rattling of layers of armor shifting over each other, a proud little Giraffe marches up to the overseers. He's resplendent in finely polished (and likely fresh-purchased) armor, a ceremonial helmet with a fiery red strip of tucked under his arm...and despite all that, he's still not even five feet tall. "Llewellyn Longenecker, Freesword, reporting," he announces crisply, a wary nod cast to the wolf and fox already there. It was official business, no room for personal grudges...but all the same, he was gonna keep an eye on these two...especially the wolf.

Rev After locking up his room at the freeswords, and naturally making sure his gear is in order. Rev makes his way to the maritime district. The wolf is at the moment dressed in his usual tunic, and trousers. With his boots vest, and gloves completing his outfit. The bag he carries on his back rattles with each stwp thanks to the armor contained within it. The wolf puffs on his kiseru pipe as he makes his way towards the others with a felling ax in hand. "Well niw it seems we have a way of running into eachother on jobs Thelegramor." The large wolf says as he exahkes a cloud if smoke.

Arimia makes her own way to the preped airship, climbing aboard with little fanfare, the small raccoon not even bothering to introduce herself. Once aboard she settles down on the deck, somewhere she hopes will be out of the way, and starts to go through her things. She's wearing her usual vest and shorts, with a cloak, clasped by her defaced clan badges, over it all. From numerous pockets in the cloak she starts to pull out and examine items. A dagger, several darts, a couple scrolls, and so on. This is followed by an opaque vial that she pulls out and opens, the 'coon dipping a thin bristled brush into it and beginning to coat the claws of her metallic arm with whatever it is.

Natska remains close to Cassidy as she follows the fennec to the ship. She's wearing her full armor for this event, sword at her side. She looks over therather large crew of assorted Freeswords, gives Arimia a small nod, and remains otherwise quiet as she waits.

Fenris arrives in the weathered facade of Ash Dustcloak, mercenary for hire. The silvery lynx flicks aside a foul smelling cigarette and adjusts the long musket strapped across his back. He smooths his thick, handlebar mustache and makes his way up the gangplank. "Name's Dustcloak, mate," he says to the being with the clipboard, "Ash Dustcloak. You got the cash, then I'm your cat. " The lynx fingers one of the long teeth on his obviously carnivorous necklace. "Just give me a cannon to shoot," he says, "Always wanted to mess with one of the big buggers,"

Having heard of a lucritive job opportunity, Fayrmune wanders around the airship docks looking for where to sign up. Seeing a cluster of other freeswords, several of whom she knows, she moves swiftly in that direction. "Konnichiwa, Comrades!", she says, bowing to the group. Is this where we are signing up for this expedition?", she asks. "It sounds like something where we can earn much Glory!"

The Blackback looks to Thelergramor and Fenris with an apathetic gaze for a moment before speaking up. "Quite. You lot can take your positions upon the deck then, I suppose we've enough below to man the cannons..." The Blackback then nodding to the guards as they unclasp the gangplank and let it fall to the ground below as the final bits of supplies are hauled up into the ship.

"To those of you whom have read the papers out and about, I am Varlin Blackback, the funder of this expedition. I shall not put this in light terms, we are heading into danger. The land in the mountains we've discovered that has a suitable area for us, is currently inhabbited by some large creatures that we need to clear out first... Our first responsability, shall be establishing a landing pad for easier convoying of resources. By this, I mean -you- lot will be aiding in protecting my workers as they build as fast as they can. I stress the importance of this, because if we are stranded back in those mountains, we are not merely walking out. -However-, you will all be paid considerably well for your time and efforts, and in the case of any casualties your next of kin or bonded shall recieve a larger compensation bonus. Now, questions before we take off?"

Thelergramor nods to Rev. "Seems we do, Rev, yeah." Then notices Cassidy and Natska. Not getting away from his problems, it seems. "Cassidy, Natska. Nice to see you again..." Short wave to the others. "Ash, hello." Starts up the gangplank without another word. Finds somewhere to stand on the deck; hates the deck. No questions for the Blackback. 'Kill things before they kill us' is a simple enough job.

"Now... How far away are we going from Firebough?" Cassidy asks, brow raised behind the porcelain as she gives a gentle nod to Thelergramor. "Well, Natska," she says, eyeing the armour over. "If you're going in close... Do be careful, hm? I'll be at your back all the same, but do be careful."

Arimia continues to apply whatever that liquid is to her claws, brush switching hands to apply it to her natural claws as well, as the Blackback speaks. She glances up when he's done, nodding in return to Natska before tilting her head in response to Cassidy's words. Letting out a soft snort she speaks up, "If she can't handle herself, don' let her along. If she can, get off her arse 'bout it. Metaphorically, anyway. Ain't talkin' literally. What you lot do behind closed doors ain' my business."

Llewellyn gulps--despite his attempts to mask it, it's quite visible, his long neck betraying him. This was quite a bit more than guard duty or pest control. His armor rattles a bit as the full weight of 'we will try to contact your bondmates or next of kin' resonates with him. Not that he had either of those yet, but when magistrates talk of legal processes...it's never good. So! Who would help keep him alive? ... A joker in a costume and her cuddle partner and that scoundrel who made fun of Kalt, and a couple sellswords who fancy themselves soldiers (Llewellyn special--he's in training as a squire, that totally makes him better!)? Oh great, they're doomed. His ears perk up through his ruddy ginger hair as Arimia speaks--no nonsense, great focus, a prosthetic arm just like his...erm..mentor, and someone who literally has to look up to him! Now there's a woman he can trust! He takes a couple sidesteps closer to her, offering up no questions to the Blackback, but eagerly eavesdropping and hoping for an entrance to the conversation...

Rev tucks a little extra pipe weed into the brazier if his kiseru. As he turns his gaze from thelergramor to blackback The large wolf crosses his arms over his chest, and scratches his chin. "Now when you say clear them out. Do you mean run them off, or just kill them all?"The wolf briefly considers asking what kind of large creatures they would be facing. But truth be told leaving that detail as a surprise is much more exciting.

Natska pats Cassidy, careful not to let her heavy gauntlet snag any of the fennec's finery. "Thanks, love. I'll keep an eye out for you, too." Arimia's comment causes the jaguar to smile, and she listens as Varlin explains the mission. "Got it," she tells the noble. "And hello again, Thel."

Ash smooths his mustache and moves off to a railing where he proceeds to light up another foul cigarette. Well, the illusion of one at least. It is really only a sucker, but with a little kitsune magic, it looks and smells real enough.

"Fayrmune is afraid of nothing!", the jackaless says, corssing her arms and standing defiantly. "Just point me towards what I need to do and I'll do it!" She looks quite eager to be off, as standing around accomplishes little, of couse.

"Far. We're traveling out a good ways into the mountains to set up this area... My hope, is for it to provide a plethora of trade and serve as a resupply point for those whom are passing through and over the area. This will give the nation a good source of much needed revenue, and open up far more jobs for our citizens whom are willing to move for work. As far as what I mean by clear them out? They are an aggressive and territorial group that caused heavy casualties to our survey team... So naturally, we will be forced to slay them so as to ensure they do not retaliate against the settlement." Varlin nods gently at his words as he pulls out a pair of spectacles and puts them on snuggly. "Crew man Dahli, please inform the helmsman to cast the lines and unfurl the sails. Destiny awaits us."

The ship lurches for a moment as the lines teathering it down are cast off, and the flowing currents of math aided air can be seen passing along the ship as the large ship begins to push forward over the buildings of the city. It's shadow covering much of the scenery below the freeswords, as it takes into a slow rise as it passes by the spire of the Cathedral, a few of the sailors stopping as they dip their heads before resuming their work. Varlin himself looking back over to the group as the ship finally clears outside of the city, and begins to push up close to the clouds. "Make yourselves comfortable, but be ready if the deckhands call out for trouble. We've enough mages working upon this ship to see us to our destination with haste, so your wait shall not be long." With that the Blackback gives a slight bow of his head, before turning and grabbing hold of one of the ropes near him as he looks out over the scenery below as it sweeps by, the sun slowly begining to set in the sky, causing the world to almost appear to be bathed in amber for those upon the deck.

Thelergramor missed most of that explanation other than 'kill them.' Is completely in favor of mindless slaughter right now. And as the airship lurches, the wolf curses under his breath. "I hate flying..." Keeps a distance from edge of the ship; nods at Cassidy, Natska and Arimia. "You'll be fine. If anyone's going to be maimed or killed, let it be me." Adjusts his mask; ear twitching at the thought. A small smirk, first thing resembling a smile since last night.

Cassidy glances over at Arimia for a moment and shrugs. "I'm allowed to worry," she returns. She wanders off to the side to wait, flipping through the pages on her grimoire to review her spells and pass the time. "Well. I will certainly do my part," she murmurs absently. "Just have to point me at it."

Make yourself comfortable? Alright. After the ship has finished lurching off the ground, Llewellyn sets to loosening the straps on his shield...and the top layer of armor. The chain hauberk stays on, though. He absently piles his equipment into the 'bowl' of his shield, keeping his gladius sheathed his side. A big, thin ear flaps in curiousity as he hears the Wolf speak though. Yes, he made impugned Llewellyns hero--er, teacher, but that's not enough to wish death to someone, with. Besides, a comrade with a death wish could threaten the intergrity of a unit. His gear stowed (relatively) safely, he gives a second glance to the pink raccoon before shrugging his shoulders with a sigh, turning to Thel. "C'mon, now. You can't join a military expedition thinkin' like that. Buck up, eh?"

Rev taps out his pipe, and reloads it. "Hmmm so it will be kill, or be killed. Well that's fine as long as we are getting paid." The wolf says as he moves to a less populated part if the deck to smoke his pipe in peace for a while.

Arimia moves her shoulders in a small shrug, closing her small bottle and slipping it back into a pocket. "Worry 'bout the things you cannot control an' the unknown factors. Not 'bout her ability to handle herself. Shows a lack of trust in her." She pauses, looking at her metal arm, odd eyes focused on the stone band on one finger. "Then again, my record with such ain't the best, an' it's possible I don' know what the bugger I'm talkin' 'bout." Shaking her head she refocuses her attention on the gear, examining the edge of her dagger before slipping it into her cloak, before picking up one of the spikes she pulled out and... doing something to her replacement arm that causes the spike to disappear, repeating the process with the remaining spikes. In contrast to Llewellyn's words to Thel, Arimia says, "Very well. I'll make sure to leave you to be maimed or killed."

"I'm not saving you again, Thel," Natska informs the wolf. Then she smiles and follows Cassidy over to the side, placing her hands on the ship's rail and enjoying the trip, ears perked as she watches the landscape moving by below them.

Ash snorts as he watches Llewellyn approach Arimia. "There's an accident waiting to happen," he drawls in his strange accent, "Leave her be pint-size." Fenris knows that the giraffe will react badly to that, but it has to be part of the character he is creating in Ash. The Lynx flicks the stub of his cigarette over the side, actually a sucker stick. "Gotta love flyin!" he says, "Wind in yer hair, bugs in yer teeth!"

Fayrmune steps to the side of the airship by herself to watch over the edge at the scenery flying past. Turning her head, she sees Natska nearby. "It's really something, huh?", she asks in passing. "I'm still getting used to being on an airship in flight... this is only my third time."

The land below is slowly passing faster and faster as the airship picks up some intense speed... Seems Varlin wasn't lying about them having a surpluss of mages onboard! Soon enough, the ship is passing by Firebough, and the Skunk slowly turns back and idly wipes under his glasses before looking to the group. "We shall be there in moments, you all will need to rope down to the landing area to help ensure it is clear, before we touch down... I do not wish for this ship to be damaged by one of the beasts." The noble skunk walking slowly back to a group of crewmen as he makes a few comments to them and they begin to drag about lines and the like while the ship begins to slow.

Thelergramor shakes his head, responds to Natska with his usual response when someone clearly doesn't want his shit: "I love you too, Natska." Just shrugs at Arimia, "Thank you." And to Llewellyn: "I'll be fine. Probably. Nothing's killed me yet." And clearly not from lack of trying; given the prosthetic leg and multitude of scars on the shirtless wolf. Wonders what they meant by 'rope down'. Decides it doesn't matter; just waits for the crew to be ready.

Cassidy snaps her book shut as the airship starts to slow and reaches up to adjust her hat. Well. This is going to be an interesting trip. It's been a while since I've tackled anything particularly large. Especially with magic. Hrm. I'm not worried, though. I've got some fun new things I'd like to try," she says with a nod towards Natska. "Any plans of your own? It'd be nice to have a strategy."

At the Lynx's words, Llewellyn is suddenly caught between two emotions, neither of them pleasant. He can immediately feel his face start to flush in embarassment--lingering nearby can be explained away, but getting called out makes it that much more difficult. The other part is good old-fashioned anger: what business is it of anyone's who he approaches, and who in the seven hells thinks 'pint-size' is an appropriate greeting? The gloved hand that wasn't patting poor Thel is now balling itself into a tight fist (and come to think of it, the other one is starting to dig into the wolf, too) as the Giraffe draws a deep breath. What would Kalt think? And Mishka! They did both hammer home the point of how knighthood meant fighting with purpose and honor, not letting your rage just get the best of you. Breathe calm in, breathe anger out. And don't look at that pink raccoon, it'll blow your story of 'just passing by.' Don't look, don't look, don't look...well...just a little glance out of the corner of his eye couldn't hurt, they couldn't see it...

Rev slips his bag off his shoulders, and sets it down on the deck. The wolf removes his armor from within it's deoths, and arranges it's pieces reverantly. Before kneeling infront of them, and begins to deeply breath in, and out. Before slipping into a medatative state. And remains like that for several minutes before begining to slip into his heavy armor. After which he returns to his quiet meditation meant for preparing him for the fight to come.

Arimia lets out an amused sound and says, "Jus' 'cause someone is short, don' mean they can't put up a fight. Ask the masked one over there what happened at that little tournament up north. She may have won, but it's been a while since I went with jus' fists." She pushes herself to her feet, standing her full not so considable height, she peers over the railing before turning to watch as the lines are brought out and tied off, likely wanting to be sure none of them are poorly tied. AS she does she reaches into her cloak, pulling out her own smoke, though hers is real, and lighting it with a brief bit of fire magic.

Natska looks over at Fay and gives the jackal a happy nod. "Yes. I love flying; no matter where I go, the journey is always rewarding." Her ears perk as she listens to the others talk, and she gives Cassidy a small shrug. "I plan on keeping anything nasty from getting to close, while you and whoever else has the talent or the gear for it blasts it into charred cinders," she replies, smiling wider. "And hopefully you can just burn it all before it even gets close."

Ash watches the earth speed by below, prepping himself for the coming fight. "Don't mean nothing by it," he says to Arimia, "Just a nickname for a little guy. Doesn't mean he ain't good at his job." The lynx smooths his mustache and gets ready to go over the side.

Fayrmune shifts back and forth as the impending arrival is announced. "Well, I guess that's our cue, huh?", she says, giving a last smile to Natska before turning to ready herself for the rappel down. "Come, friends! It is time to prove our worth and claim great Honor for ourselves!", she calls to the rest of the band.

The Airship lurches suddenly as it makes a quick turn, or as quick as it could manage given it's size... The crew stumble around, but thankfully it wasn't enough to send anyone overboard, one of the crewmen calling out. "There's a large one throwing rocks sir!" And to any looking over the right side, they'd see that was -very- true, as a large rock like creature that towered twice as tall as most homes picked up boulders and threw them at the airship. A few boards splinter across the deck as one travels close, and the ship begins to go lower and lower in altitude as soon they are speeding through while skimming over trees.

"Shit, we cant rope in... Freeswords! Get to the port side of the ship, we're going to have a rough trip down!" The Varlin rushing past as an aid holds out a sword to the skunk, and gives him a thick great coat. The crew whom were hauling the lines begin to throw them over the port side after tieing them to the railing, the ropes ends skipping through trees and past rocks as the ship speeds along, before they come to an almost jarring halt and begin to turn in the air, the erruption of cannon fire ripping into the side of the mountains where the rock beast had been, causing it to tumble down into the dense forest below.

"We've no time, freeswords we need to get down there -now-, and clear a spot. I have a signal for when we've succeeded, for the ship to come back for us!" The noble grabbing onto one of the ropes, and twirling it around his right leg for a moment, before hoping over and rappelling down, slowly using his grip to help slow his descent into the forest below, where spirits know -what- awaits the adventurers.

Thelergramor isn't at all surprised by this development; even as the airship violently lurches or whatnot. Just walks to the portside of the ship and wordlessly does as the skunk did; with the rope. Easily. As if he'd done it before.

Cassidy wasn't expecting the lurch, but the manages to keep her footing, swaying a bit. "Well. Looks like it's time to go, then. See you down there, love," she says to the jaguar before she jaunts towards the edge. No ropes for this one, and instead she just walks right over the end, one hand holding her grimoire while the other holds her skirt down as she uses air magic to ease her touchdown.

That little raccoon girl defended him! Maybe. It sounded like it, at least! Llewellyn can feel his heart flutter for a moment as the earth moves under his feet--wait, no, that's the ship. Cursing fluently, the giraffe lurches towards his shield, rapidly re-equipping himself. Without a moment to waste, he gives a glance around. "Alright, you heard 'em!" he calls out as he follows Varlin's lead, looping it around himself for control and alternately shuffling and hopping down fast as he dares. As much as hates to credit his smallness for anything good, at least his size meant less armor and less mass dragging him down.

Rev eyes snap open, and slams his fist against the deck. The wolf crosses the deck unphased by the suddent attack on the airship. He grabs a rope, and lije someone who has done this many times before dissapear over the edge of the ship. and descends to the ground on the rope. at a controlled but rapid pace.

Arimia makes her own way to the edge, gripping one of the ropes with her metal hand, just to make sure she's guided to roughly the same location as the others. Using her own air magic she makes her own way down, though her cloak doesn't move with the wind, likely weighted down by whatever she carries in those many pockets.

Natska tenses at the sudden change in pace, and as soon as the call to go over is given the jaguar has gone over the rail. Much like Arimia, she's holding onto the rope with one gauntleted hand, keeping her from drifting off course as she uses her air magic to control the speed of her fall. As soon as she lands, she has drawn her longsword and is making her way to Cassidy's side.

Ash nods once as the uproar starts. "Here we go, boys and girls!" he shouts as he takes a few quick steps and LAUNCHES himself from the side of the ship in a freefall! With a little burst of air magic, the lynx lands lightly on his feet, already bringing his gun to bear.

As the group lands into the forests, the trees and brush around are already rustling as strange noises begin to rise from them... A large six legged creature, resembling a cross between a mammoth and Saber-toothed tiger bursts forth into their view, letting out a strange sounding roar as it does so. The beast itself is thankfully not the biggest out there one would assume, measuring at around fifteen feet tall, and just as wide, while managing to be fourty feet long.

"Contact left! Group and clear! Mages get these trees down!" Varlin calls out as he motions to the forest around them, a dozen more mercenaries, and those whom didnt rappelle down with the first group, roping down as he calls out, before the airship begins to lurch forward from above them. The roar of cannons filling the ears of the group as another rock beast lets out a roar and the sound of rock collapsing can be heard... It seems the freeswords shouldnt expect reinforcements any time soon.

The Beast doesn't seem ready to give the group time to begin clearing the woods, as it seems to focus on Cassidy with an intense rage before it begins to charge forward with a lumbering pace, swinging it's tusks back and forth to sweep away any foolish enough to get infront of it!

Thelergramor picks up on the Beast seeming to focus on Cassidy. Which is a problem. So, he levels his bigass cannon at it, and fires it. An exploding round erupts from his cannon at the Beast. Works some dark magic in there too... Because, "Fuck that thing."

Cassidy lofts a brow at the rather... Large charging creature. Rather than try to stop it, she takes to the sky again. Since it seems to have been interested in her... She'll see if she can distract it. She flits over the create, throwing a small bolt of flame at the things back as she passes. Not enough to cause much damage to something that big, but enough to remind it of her presence, hopefully.

"Scatter! Scatter!" Llewellyn bellows to those near him. "He can't get us all at once!" He cuts out of the charging beast's direct path and readies his round shield in front of him to deflect any debris or ricochets, grasping his lighter /verutum/ to throw but holding off for the time being.

"I'm cooooommmiinng!"

Rev hefts his ax, and begins to move off to the left of the large beasts path. His heat beat slowing down as he prepares to mive in on, and attack. However as the sound of Thelergramor firing off his cannon. The wolf pauses, in midstep, and raises a gauntlet encased fist to sheild his eyes. In case of shrapnel, and waits to make his move.

Arimia winces and scowls as that cannon is fired, before shaking her head slightly. She glances around the landing area briefly before focusing her attention on the charging beast. She moves, then, though not out of the way, instead simply casting some dark math in an attempt to disorient and weaken it. Once that's done she pulls out her dagger and tenses, getting ready to move quickly, if needed.

Natska readies herself, moving in front of Cassidy after the fenenc fires off her spell. She braces her feet and raises her sword, waiting for it to get closer before making her move.

No time hesitate. There are probably more of these things out there. Not to mention the thing that had been lobbing boulders. Ash puts his gun to his shoulder, sights, and fires at the beast's eye! The lynx mercenary scrambles for a secure spot to reload.

"I'm cooooommmiinng!", Fay calls as she falls from the airship, quickly rapelling to the ground and landing gracefully but with an audible THUMP. She draws her blade with a fluid motion and takes off in a dash towards the chargeing beast. She attempts to dodge the beast's charge so she can run her blade along its side do deal a raking blow.

The beast lets out a deathly roar as the explosion rips into it's side, bits of flesh and some bone flying out as it's then shot in the eye, set on fire, and cut up! Arima's magics draining that last bit of fight and life from it as it just collapses there... Seems they're big, but not too deadly!

That thought lasts for a second, before the sound of a scream can be heard, as one of the mages whom was using wind magic to try and clear trees, is pounced upon by large creature as big as a being, possessing eight legs and a myriad of insectoid eyes. It's fangs biting into the poor mage as he stuggles for a moment before going limp... Almost on cue, as the spider has it's prey, from that corner of the forest bursts more of the unholy beasts, chittering as they scurry forward at the group, four jumping as soon as they get close, targeting LLewellyn, Natska, Thelergramor, and Arimia!

Thelergramor tilts his head at the odd creatures. Dodges one's attack by simply sidestepping out of the way. Not exactly mobile with the heavy weapons. Lets his cannon hang as he pulls his flamberge and follows the draw straight downward, swinging at the neck of the creature.

Figuring Natska would have hers handled, Cassidy sets her eyes on the creature bothering the giraffe and works a bit of math over in her mind to try igniting it on the spot. Seems the large beast wasn't too bad at all!

Llewellyn looks over the rim of his shield at the horrible boom. That was too easy--ahh, but that blood curdling chittering! That seemed about right. The giraffe sidesteps to protect those nearby, then 'punches 'the iron boss of the shield straight into a spider's face. With as much a scream as he can muster, he swiftly draws his large pilum and drives it straight for the arachnid's...face?

Rev Turns his gaze on the Spider targeting Llewellyn as he lowers his armored fist. The big wolf charges forward, and at the last second turns, and slams his shoulder into the massive spiders side. Then Takes a strp back to raise his ax, and attempts to bring it down on one of the spiders legs

Arimia flicks an ear and looks toward the attacked mage as he's taken down. When the other spiders jump out to attack, Arimia simply takes advantage of her size and darts forward, rolling under the one trying to get her. Turning to face the creatures she performs another bit of dark magic, this one more complex manifesting as a nearly tangible sheet of darkness moving toward the spiders, aiming to damage and confuse the spiders, as well as weaken them.

Natska slips to the side of the spider as it leaps at her, swinging her longsword in a vicious riposte at the creature. "Stay behind our line!" she calls out to the other civilians, hoping they'll take the example the first one set as she presses her assault on the spider.

"Well,"Ash drawls, "Aren't these the beauties of Promise?" He has not had time yet to reload his musket, so he lets the strap slide and hold the weapon against his back as he pulls a boomerang of all things from the back of his pants! He gives the heavy, flying club a kiss, then lets it fly at one of the awful arachnids. "So," he calls out, "These were part of the plan, were they?" The mercenary jams a prepared bundle of cloth, powder and a ball into his musket, speeding to prepare another shot.

"What are those!?", Fay gasps as she flicks her blade clean of the blood. "Whatever they are, they aren't friendly! Come here beasts, and meet your end!", the jackaless howls at the incoming monsters before charging and performing a sweeping strike at the closest one.

Varlin is in the thick of it with the group, having caught one of the spiders on his sword, shluping the dead arachnid off then as he grimaces. "No, not part of the plan, someone get some fire into that side of the forest!" The Skunk pointing in the direction of the dead mage, signalling where the spiders had come from.

The four spiders that had attempted to pounce on the group, are beaten, stabbed, and burned efficiently enough to see them all dead, as Arimia's spell rips through and kills three more that had been trying to skitter forth at the group, while Fay's charge rewards her with a clean kill.

The mages and workers seem inclined to listen as they huddle back a bit closer from the edge, wind and earth magic working to knock trees down and away from the group before moving them away. The area soon becoming a clearing of moderate size, though they still needed it bigger for the airship to be able to unload supplies for building an airship dock.

From above, the thunder of the ship's guns can be heard, as the ground shakes for a moment and a wave of dust passes through the group and they can hear the sound of trees snapping and breaking through their blinded moment... The spiders that still remained fearfully skittering back into their woods, one working to drag the dead mage's body with it, as the dust clears and the group is left face to face with the large rock beast from earlier. Vaguely humanoid in shape, with pulsing flesh below thick stone that served as scales, green glowing eyes centered upon the group before it let out a earth shaking roar... Thankfully, much of the stone had been blown off from the cannons, and it was even bleeding in some spots. Perhaps they had a chance against this giant, either way they'd have to deal with it before ending up as paste!

Thelergramor is less than surprised by the ease with which the spiders were dispatched. "And you guys were worried..." Flamberge laying over his shoulder, the wolf looks over the group. "Anyone hurt besides that guy?" And then there's the stone thing. Seeing that it has blood dripping from it, the wolf focuses some dark magic on it. The usual, entropic fortune, his favorite dark magic spell. Because of the bleeding. And confusion.

Cassidy eyes the giant for a moment, then Thelergramor preparing his spell. She settles her eyes intently on the wolf's back for a moment, pondering... She shakes it off and slips over to Natska's side, conjuring up a bit of focused air magic as she does. She directs it againt a fleshy part of the rock creature, like a penetrating attack.

Llewellyn grumbles beneath his breath, though it's not like anyone can hear it over the sounds of chaos and cannons blasting. "Damn mages. Know a little maths, think they're invinicble." He shakes his shield-bearing arm out, again positioning himself between this strange...Thing and the mages. Maybe now someone would appreciate him. Dropping the pilus for his Verutum once more, he gives the javelin a test toss in his hand, before murmuring something like a prayer and hurling it at the giant open eyes.

Rev covers his ayes as the dust passes over him, and once it settles. He lowers his Arm to look up at the large stone beast towering over the group."Well this should be a bit more if a challenge than the last." He mutters as he begins to slcircle the beast, and to flanks it. Thinking it would be best to attack from more than one side. The wolf dashes towards the stone creature, and takes a leap. The wolf does his best to find a goid grip, and begins to scale the beasts leg. Using his as as a sort if anchor as he climbs. His desination the beasts karge stone shoulders.

Arimia scans the spider corpses, doing her best to make sure none of them are just playing dead. As rock beast arrives, however, her attention is successfully diverted. Looking over the thing she frowns slightly, taking note of the remains of rocks on it, and observing the blood and flesh she can see. "It bleeds. Means it has a heart. Though the size makes me wonder 'bout the effectiveness of this..." Shaking her head slightly she reaches into a pocket pulling out another vial and a sharply pointed dart, oddly shaped with what seems to be a hollow tip and body. Filling the dart with the liquid from in the vial, which gets tossed aside when done, she takes a deep breath, before her metal hand whips forward in a glinting blur, aiming to bury the, likely poisoned, dart in the thing.

Natska shoves the spider's corpse away from her, taking up a defensive stance as the ground shakes and the dust flies. A light bit of air blows the dirt away from her face, and her ears fold back as she sees the giant rock beast approach the party. She spends a moment planning her attack as she sheaths her sword, gathers herself, then charges it with a loud battle cry. As she aproaches the jaguar gathers herself into an impossible leap, fire coalescing around her gauntlets as she launches her best strike into the side of the creature's knee.

Ash does not take the time to ask questions. The stone giant was remarkable! But it was also trying to kill everyone! The lynx raises his gun, exhales, holds it, and fires at the creature's great, glowing eye, on the assumption that an eye is always a good target. Shot made, the silvery feline drops the weapon, letting the strap take the weight as he dashes under the shadow of the trees, pulling the darkness around himself and trying to find a decent position to attack from.

Not currently seeing an opening for her atttack style to take advantage of, Fay starts to survey the battlefield. "Form up, but don't cluster!", she calls to everyone. "Hit it in its exposed spot!" She starts to dash out of what she guesses is its immiediate attack range, trying to get to its side and eventually its back.

The Giant lets out a loud bellow as Arimia's claw digs deep into it's flesh, the skin not as thick as one would assume, given the usual stone protection. Cassidy's magic ripping open some of the flesh along it's side, as Ash's shot smacks into the stone at the eye, and gouges into it, causing the glowing green eye to almost wink out, before Llewellyn's weapon scores a hit upon it causing the great beast to roar as it raises it's fist high into the air, and brings it down at the Giraffe at the same time Natska unseats it at the knee, causing it to topple forward threatening to crush those closest to it.

Varlin raises his sword and begins to charge as the beast is toppling. "QUICK NOW! Kill the creature while it is down!" The mages lending their own support in helping to blast away some of what remains of it's rocky protection to aid the freeswords in hitting it! Rev thankfully isn't crushed during the fall, managing to get into a position to put him onto the giant's back even!

Thelergramors expression remains blank behind his mask as he charges the fallen stone thing. Flamberge in hand, the wolf moves towards the neck-region and makes another overhead swing at it with a low grunt.

Cassidy remains fairly motionless, but works again at the same spell, once more spearing at the downed creature's exposed areas with focused wind pressures. She had no clue what else might come, and was content to conserve her energy.

"Shit!" Llewellyn manages to curse, diving to the side as the stone monster lunges for him. Despite his armor--and maybe owing to his size--he manages to avoid the worst of it, and clambers back to his feet. With the creature on the ground, he draws his gladius and sets to hacking at its neck...or whatever the analogue would be on this creature. It's a pretty effective killing strike on Beings, so it's worth a shot, no?

Rev does his best to maintain his balance, and wther though luck, or skill. The large wolf manages to ride out the fall. Without any missfortune. The big wolf runs aling it's back to the naoe of the beasts neck. Rev raises his ax over his heqd, and lets out a deep roar, and begins to slam his ax down on the nape of beasts neck over, and over.

Arimia darts to the side as the huge beast falls, patterned tail lashing as she moves. She mutters, though not so soft as to go unheard, "With a full dose of heartfire in it, it shouldn't be gettin' back up anyway." Regardless of her words she moves toward the beast's head, gripping at the stone with her metal arm. That done she starts to weave dark and fire magics, attempting to combine the two to tear through defenses and pour as much heat into the rock as she can.

Natska darts back as the giant beast begins to fall, grinning. As soon as it has landed, she darts forward, throwing all of her weight into a strike at what she thinks is a good vital point.

Ash sticks to the shadows for now, carefully reloading his gun while other beings hack at the monster's neck to finish it off. The lynx, grey as the shadows that surround him, scans the area for any more threats. There had been an awful lot of undesirable surprises on this trip.

Fayrmune gets around to the beast's flank just as it topples forward. She leaps onto its back and starts to run along the spine. Turning her sword upside down and brandishing it with both hands, she dives to her knees, driving the sword into the monster's neck using the full force of her momentum and body weight.

With the combined efforts of the entire group, not to mention how much was directed at it's neck as Arimia's magic burned a great big opening for everyone to even severe a spinal chord with a sickening crunch, the beast is finally down... Laying there quietly as the sounds of the forest comes over the group, the light slowly fading away for a moment before a bright artificial light from above illuminates the group, as a oil powered lamp light illuminates the clearing, and the air ship begins to touch down.

"Well... I believe that solves that for today hopefully, with the larger threat out of the way, we can get everything readied here..." Varlin's words cutting through the group, as dozens of mercenaries whom had been in charge of handling the ships cannons and aparantly repelling winged reptiles, many of which were laying dead upon the deck, rush out to help secure the area. The workers don't take much longer to rush out as well, carrying all their tools and equipment as they begin to shout directions to each other. "You're welcome to board the ship and return if you want. I've enough men here now to help hold until we get our defenses set up, and ready. As well, your payment is inside of the ship, as I figured you'd not want me to carry it lest I get killed." The noble skunk speaking firmly as he sheaths his sword and looks around. "One casualty... Too many for my tastes, but better than estimated. Either way, return when I call for aid, and you'll be rewarded further."

Thelergramor drags his blade from the neck, sheathes it over his back. "Good job." Short compliment directed at, well, everyone, before walking back to the airship. "I'll be back with more weapons." He speaks as he passes the Blackback. Boards it, unconcerned by any of this. Looks forward to next time he gets to come out here to kill stuff.

Cassidy nods at the Blackback and adjusts her hat before smiling at Natska. "See you up on the deck, then?" She asks before lifting off with a bit of air magic to carry her back up to the boat. Not a bad day, all in all! Interesting, certainly.

Fayrmune pulls her blade out of the slain beast's neck and flicks it sharply to her side to free it of blood. With a graceful and fluid motion and descends from its back. Upon reaching the ground she turns and bows to the fallen foe. "You were a worthy foe, I honor your death.", she says to the corpse. With that, she turns and joins the others in getting back aboard the airship. "This will make quite a Story for telling back at the Inn!", she says, somewhat giddily.

Llewellyn is a bit wide-eyed at the pink raccoon. A little terrifyingly intense, but...she knows how to handle herself on the battlefield, that's for sure! And she's not afraid to use some good old-fashioned muscle. Again removing his shield straps and tucking his helmet under an arm, he pauses to give a nod and salute to the Blackback coordinating it...and to lag behind and see if he can engage Arimia in conversation. Nothing wrong in talking tactics with your comrades-in-arms...right?

Rev continues to swing his ax for aa moment longer after the creature had already clearly died. The wolfs more violent animilistic side showing through rather clearly. However he begins to calm down. The wolf pants, and climbs down from the back of the stone corpse. His armor is painted in blood, as he makes his way back to the ship without a word to anyone. Where he begins to strip down out of his armor.

Arimia muttters softly, "Too damn old," as she takes a few steps back from the dead beast, looking slightly tired. She fishes about in her cloak until she comes up with another smoke lighting it with a flare of fire magic. Glancing at Fayrmune she responds, "An' everyone's got a dozen like it. Assaults on Mossy Stone, tearin' apart an Old One cult. Shootin' an Old One in the face..." She trails off and chuckles, shaking her head, "No matter what I think 'bout her choice of who to work with, Wulf does have a certain sense of style. Anyway. Most everyone there has faced somethin' like this. Seen horrors an' violence. An' glory." This last is said with a derissive sneer as she looks over the dead beast, then around the clearing. Without a further word she moves to climb aboard the ship once it sets down, moving to collect her part of the reward, muttering something to herself about dumping it in Shanty Town, and otherwise ignoring everything, and everyone, else for the time being.

Natska takes a moment to check herself over and make sure her gear is in order, then grins at Cass as the fennec calls out to her. She makes her way back to the airship, then up and onto the deck. "Well done, everyone," she says, giving the group a small nod.

Ash swaggers out from under the trees and scoops up his boomerang from where it lays near a dead spider. The rangy lynx thumbs his mustache as he saunters across the clearing, checking out the monstrous corpse. Seeing the others boarding, and at the promise of pay, the mercenary trots off to join the others. The silvery feline comes up behind Llewellyn and slaps the giraffe on the back. "Good throw with that shield, mate," he says, "That was a fine shot."

The moment they are all inside, and the supplies unloaded, the air ship closes up, and soon begins to rise into the air once more. Any on the decks able to see the hasty construction happening below under the watchful eye of the Blackback, as the mercenaries move tries into a perimeter, giving them staunch firing lines as a bastion of civilization, is placed in this strange untouched land.

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+<div></div><br> <br>The Maritime District is abuzz with activity, as a relativly large airship is being filled to the brim with a variety of supplies... Crates and barrels of food and drink, bundles of wood and countless bags of tools being hefted up onto the ship. Along it&#39;s side, it has a single ramp laid out for individuals to walk up, where a few guards at the top check for work orders to seperate craftsmen from the paid swords.
+A thin and scrawny male Blackback is near the two guards, flipping through the papers on his clipboard as he speaks. &quot;Marcidius, please ensure all of the hired hands are in the safety of the center of the ship, and our esteemed swords are ready at the decks and cannons if you would? I&#39;ve no interest in losing any of my craftsmen, as that would make our point here moot would it not?&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor walks into the Maritime District, in a completely fucked mood as his cannon hangs from his shoulder. Shirtless, plague masked, pants-wearing heavily armed wolf. Figured an expedition would give him a reason to get the hell out of Firmament for a while; avoid his problems. And there&#39;s an airship! &quot;...I hate flying.&quot; Walks towards the Blackback. &quot;You. You in charge here? I&#39;m here to... do.. job things.&quot;<br> <br>After making sure all of her gear was in order, Cassidy makes her way for the airship dressed up in her red longcoat and a long black skirt, her spelltome resting in her arms and held to her chest. &quot;This is going to be fun,&quot; she murmurs behind her mask as she&#39;s up to the ramp, nodding at the guards. &quot;I&#39;m here to assist.&quot;<br> <br>With the rhythmic slap of sandals upon stone and the rattling of layers of armor shifting over each other, a proud little Giraffe marches up to the overseers. He&#39;s resplendent in finely polished (and likely fresh-purchased) armor, a ceremonial helmet with a fiery red strip of tucked under his arm...and despite all that, he&#39;s still not even five feet tall.
+&quot;Llewellyn Longenecker, Freesword, reporting,&quot; he announces crisply, a wary nod cast to the wolf and fox already there. It was official business, no room for personal grudges...but all the same, he was gonna keep an eye on these two...especially the wolf.<br> <br>Rev After locking up his room at the freeswords, and naturally making sure his gear is in order. Rev makes his way to the maritime district. The wolf is at the moment dressed in his usual tunic, and trousers. With his boots vest, and gloves completing his outfit. The bag he carries on his back rattles with each stwp thanks to the armor contained within it. The wolf puffs on his kiseru pipe as he makes his way towards the others with a felling ax in hand. &quot;Well niw it seems we have a way of running into eachother on jobs Thelegramor.&quot; The large wolf says as he exahkes a cloud if smoke.<br> <br>Arimia makes her own way to the preped airship, climbing aboard with little fanfare, the small raccoon not even bothering to introduce herself. Once aboard she settles down on the deck, somewhere she hopes will be out of the way, and starts to go through her things. She&#39;s wearing her usual vest and shorts, with a cloak, clasped by her defaced clan badges, over it all. From numerous pockets in the cloak she starts to pull out and examine items. A dagger, several darts, a couple scrolls, and so on. This is followed by an opaque vial that she pulls out and opens, the &#39;coon dipping a thin bristled brush into it and beginning to coat the claws of her metallic arm with whatever it is. <br> <br>Natska remains close to Cassidy as she follows the fennec to the ship. She&#39;s wearing her full armor for this event, sword at her side. She looks over therather large crew of assorted Freeswords, gives Arimia a small nod, and remains otherwise quiet as she waits.<br> <br>Fenris arrives in the weathered facade of Ash Dustcloak, mercenary for hire. The silvery lynx flicks aside a foul smelling cigarette and adjusts the long musket strapped across his back. He smooths his thick, handlebar mustache and makes his way up the gangplank. &quot;Name&#39;s Dustcloak, mate,&quot; he says to the being with the clipboard, &quot;Ash Dustcloak. You got the cash, then I&#39;m your cat. &quot; The lynx fingers one of the long teeth on his obviously carnivorous necklace. &quot;Just give me a cannon to shoot,&quot; he says, &quot;Always wanted to mess with one of the big buggers,&quot;<br> <br>Having heard of a lucritive job opportunity, Fayrmune wanders around the airship docks looking for where to sign up. Seeing a cluster of other freeswords, several of whom she knows, she moves swiftly in that direction. &quot;Konnichiwa, Comrades!&quot;, she says, bowing to the group. Is this where we are signing up for this expedition?&quot;, she asks. &quot;It sounds like something where we can earn much Glory!&quot;<br> <br>The Blackback looks to Thelergramor and Fenris with an apathetic gaze for a moment before speaking up. &quot;Quite. You lot can take your positions upon the deck then, I suppose we&#39;ve enough below to man the cannons...&quot; The Blackback then nodding to the guards as they unclasp the gangplank and let it fall to the ground below as the final bits of supplies are hauled up into the ship.
+&quot;To those of you whom have read the papers out and about, I am Varlin Blackback, the funder of this expedition. I shall not put this in light terms, we are heading into danger. The land in the mountains we&#39;ve discovered that has a suitable area for us, is currently inhabbited by some large creatures that we need to clear out first... Our first responsability, shall be establishing a landing pad for easier convoying of resources. By this, I mean -you- lot will be aiding in protecting my workers as they build as fast as they can. I stress the importance of this, because if we are stranded back in those mountains, we are not merely walking out. -However-, you will all be paid considerably well for your time and efforts, and in the case of any casualties your next of kin or bonded shall recieve a larger compensation bonus. Now, questions before we take off?&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor nods to Rev. &quot;Seems we do, Rev, yeah.&quot; Then notices Cassidy and Natska. Not getting away from his problems, it seems. &quot;Cassidy, Natska. Nice to see you again...&quot; Short wave to the others. &quot;Ash, hello.&quot; Starts up the gangplank without another word. Finds somewhere to stand on the deck; hates the deck. No questions for the Blackback. &#39;Kill things before they kill us&#39; is a simple enough job.<br> <br>&quot;Now... How far away are we going from Firebough?&quot; Cassidy asks, brow raised behind the porcelain as she gives a gentle nod to Thelergramor. &quot;Well, Natska,&quot; she says, eyeing the armour over. &quot;If you&#39;re going in close... Do be careful, hm? I&#39;ll be at your back all the same, but do be careful.&quot;<br> <br>Arimia continues to apply whatever that liquid is to her claws, brush switching hands to apply it to her natural claws as well, as the Blackback speaks. She glances up when he&#39;s done, nodding in return to Natska before tilting her head in response to Cassidy&#39;s words. Letting out a soft snort she speaks up, &quot;If she can&#39;t handle herself, don&#39; let her along. If she can, get off her arse &#39;bout it. Metaphorically, anyway. Ain&#39;t talkin&#39; literally. What you lot do behind closed doors ain&#39; my business.&quot;<br> <br>Llewellyn gulps--despite his attempts to mask it, it&#39;s quite visible, his long neck betraying him. This was quite a bit more than guard duty or pest control. His armor rattles a bit as the full weight of &#39;we will try to contact your bondmates or next of kin&#39; resonates with him. Not that he had either of those yet, but when magistrates talk of legal processes...it&#39;s never good.
+So! Who would help keep him alive? ... A joker in a costume and her cuddle partner and that scoundrel who made fun of Kalt, and a couple sellswords who fancy themselves soldiers (Llewellyn special--he&#39;s in training as a squire, that totally makes him better!)? Oh great, they&#39;re doomed.
+His ears perk up through his ruddy ginger hair as Arimia speaks--no nonsense, great focus, a prosthetic arm just like his...erm..mentor, and someone who literally has to look up to him! Now there&#39;s a woman he can trust! He takes a couple sidesteps closer to her, offering up no questions to the Blackback, but eagerly eavesdropping and hoping for an entrance to the conversation...<br> <br>Rev tucks a little extra pipe weed into the brazier if his kiseru. As he turns his gaze from thelergramor to blackback The large wolf crosses his arms over his chest, and scratches his chin. &quot;Now when you say clear them out. Do you mean run them off, or just kill them all?&quot;The wolf briefly considers asking what kind of large creatures they would be facing. But truth be told leaving that detail as a surprise is much more exciting. <br> <br>Natska pats Cassidy, careful not to let her heavy gauntlet snag any of the fennec&#39;s finery. &quot;Thanks, love. I&#39;ll keep an eye out for you, too.&quot; Arimia&#39;s comment causes the jaguar to smile, and she listens as Varlin explains the mission. &quot;Got it,&quot; she tells the noble. &quot;And hello again, Thel.&quot;<br> <br>Ash smooths his mustache and moves off to a railing where he proceeds to light up another foul cigarette. Well, the illusion of one at least. It is really only a sucker, but with a little kitsune magic, it looks and smells real enough.<br> <br>&quot;Fayrmune is afraid of nothing!&quot;, the jackaless says, corssing her arms and standing defiantly. &quot;Just point me towards what I need to do and I&#39;ll do it!&quot; She looks quite eager to be off, as standing around accomplishes little, of couse.<br> <br>&quot;Far. We&#39;re traveling out a good ways into the mountains to set up this area... My hope, is for it to provide a plethora of trade and serve as a resupply point for those whom are passing through and over the area. This will give the nation a good source of much needed revenue, and open up far more jobs for our citizens whom are willing to move for work. As far as what I mean by clear them out? They are an aggressive and territorial group that caused heavy casualties to our survey team... So naturally, we will be forced to slay them so as to ensure they do not retaliate against the settlement.&quot; Varlin nods gently at his words as he pulls out a pair of spectacles and puts them on snuggly. &quot;Crew man Dahli, please inform the helmsman to cast the lines and unfurl the sails. Destiny awaits us.&quot;
+The ship lurches for a moment as the lines teathering it down are cast off, and the flowing currents of math aided air can be seen passing along the ship as the large ship begins to push forward over the buildings of the city. It&#39;s shadow covering much of the scenery below the freeswords, as it takes into a slow rise as it passes by the spire of the Cathedral, a few of the sailors stopping as they dip their heads before resuming their work. Varlin himself looking back over to the group as the ship finally clears outside of the city, and begins to push up close to the clouds. &quot;Make yourselves comfortable, but be ready if the deckhands call out for trouble. We&#39;ve enough mages working upon this ship to see us to our destination with haste, so your wait shall not be long.&quot; With that the Blackback gives a slight bow of his head, before turning and grabbing hold of one of the ropes near him as he looks out over the scenery below as it sweeps by, the sun slowly begining to set in the sky, causing the world to almost appear to be bathed in amber for those upon the deck.<br> <br>Thelergramor missed most of that explanation other than &#39;kill them.&#39; Is completely in favor of mindless slaughter right now. And as the airship lurches, the wolf curses under his breath. &quot;I hate flying...&quot; Keeps a distance from edge of the ship; nods at Cassidy, Natska and Arimia. &quot;You&#39;ll be fine. If anyone&#39;s going to be maimed or killed, let it be me.&quot; Adjusts his mask; ear twitching at the thought. A small smirk, first thing resembling a smile since last night.<br> <br>Cassidy glances over at Arimia for a moment and shrugs. &quot;I&#39;m allowed to worry,&quot; she returns. She wanders off to the side to wait, flipping through the pages on her grimoire to review her spells and pass the time. &quot;Well. I will certainly do my part,&quot; she murmurs absently. &quot;Just have to point me at it.&quot;<br> <br>Make yourself comfortable? Alright. After the ship has finished lurching off the ground, Llewellyn sets to loosening the straps on his shield...and the top layer of armor. The chain hauberk stays on, though. He absently piles his equipment into the &#39;bowl&#39; of his shield, keeping his gladius sheathed his side. A big, thin ear flaps in curiousity as he hears the Wolf speak though. Yes, he made impugned Llewellyns hero--er, teacher, but that&#39;s not enough to wish death to someone, with. Besides, a comrade with a death wish could threaten the intergrity of a unit. His gear stowed (relatively) safely, he gives a second glance to the pink raccoon before shrugging his shoulders with a sigh, turning to Thel.
+&quot;C&#39;mon, now. You can&#39;t join a military expedition thinkin&#39; like that. Buck up, eh?&quot;<br> <br>Rev taps out his pipe, and reloads it. &quot;Hmmm so it will be kill, or be killed. Well that&#39;s fine as long as we are getting paid.&quot; The wolf says as he moves to a less populated part if the deck to smoke his pipe in peace for a while.<br> <br>Arimia moves her shoulders in a small shrug, closing her small bottle and slipping it back into a pocket. &quot;Worry &#39;bout the things you cannot control an&#39; the unknown factors. Not &#39;bout her ability to handle herself. Shows a lack of trust in her.&quot; She pauses, looking at her metal arm, odd eyes focused on the stone band on one finger. &quot;Then again, my record with such ain&#39;t the best, an&#39; it&#39;s possible I don&#39; know what the bugger I&#39;m talkin&#39; &#39;bout.&quot; Shaking her head she refocuses her attention on the gear, examining the edge of her dagger before slipping it into her cloak, before picking up one of the spikes she pulled out and... doing something to her replacement arm that causes the spike to disappear, repeating the process with the remaining spikes. In contrast to Llewellyn&#39;s words to Thel, Arimia says, &quot;Very well. I&#39;ll make sure to leave you to be maimed or killed.&quot;<br> <br>&quot;I&#39;m not saving you again, Thel,&quot; Natska informs the wolf. Then she smiles and follows Cassidy over to the side, placing her hands on the ship&#39;s rail and enjoying the trip, ears perked as she watches the landscape moving by below them.<br> <br>Ash snorts as he watches Llewellyn approach Arimia. &quot;There&#39;s an accident waiting to happen,&quot; he drawls in his strange accent, &quot;Leave her be pint-size.&quot; Fenris knows that the giraffe will react badly to that, but it has to be part of the character he is creating in Ash. The Lynx flicks the stub of his cigarette over the side, actually a sucker stick. &quot;Gotta love flyin!&quot; he says, &quot;Wind in yer hair, bugs in yer teeth!&quot;<br> <br>Fayrmune steps to the side of the airship by herself to watch over the edge at the scenery flying past. Turning her head, she sees Natska nearby. &quot;It&#39;s really something, huh?&quot;, she asks in passing. &quot;I&#39;m still getting used to being on an airship in flight... this is only my third time.&quot;<br> <br>The land below is slowly passing faster and faster as the airship picks up some intense speed... Seems Varlin wasn&#39;t lying about them having a surpluss of mages onboard! Soon enough, the ship is passing by Firebough, and the Skunk slowly turns back and idly wipes under his glasses before looking to the group. &quot;We shall be there in moments, you all will need to rope down to the landing area to help ensure it is clear, before we touch down... I do not wish for this ship to be damaged by one of the beasts.&quot; The noble skunk walking slowly back to a group of crewmen as he makes a few comments to them and they begin to drag about lines and the like while the ship begins to slow.<br> <br>Thelergramor shakes his head, responds to Natska with his usual response when someone clearly doesn&#39;t want his shit: &quot;I love you too, Natska.&quot; Just shrugs at Arimia, &quot;Thank you.&quot; And to Llewellyn: &quot;I&#39;ll be fine. Probably. Nothing&#39;s killed me yet.&quot; And clearly not from lack of trying; given the prosthetic leg and multitude of scars on the shirtless wolf. Wonders what they meant by &#39;rope down&#39;. Decides it doesn&#39;t matter; just waits for the crew to be ready.<br> <br>Cassidy snaps her book shut as the airship starts to slow and reaches up to adjust her hat. Well. This is going to be an interesting trip. It&#39;s been a while since I&#39;ve tackled anything particularly large. Especially with magic. Hrm. I&#39;m not worried, though. I&#39;ve got some fun new things I&#39;d like to try,&quot; she says with a nod towards Natska. &quot;Any plans of your own? It&#39;d be nice to have a strategy.&quot;<br> <br>At the Lynx&#39;s words, Llewellyn is suddenly caught between two emotions, neither of them pleasant. He can immediately feel his face start to flush in embarassment--lingering nearby can be explained away, but getting called out makes it that much more difficult. The other part is good old-fashioned anger: what business is it of anyone&#39;s who he approaches, and who in the seven hells thinks &#39;pint-size&#39; is an appropriate greeting?
+The gloved hand that wasn&#39;t patting poor Thel is now balling itself into a tight fist (and come to think of it, the other one is starting to dig into the wolf, too) as the Giraffe draws a deep breath. What would Kalt think? And Mishka! They did both hammer home the point of how knighthood meant fighting with purpose and honor, not letting your rage just get the best of you. Breathe calm in, breathe anger out. And don&#39;t look at that pink raccoon, it&#39;ll blow your story of &#39;just passing by.&#39; Don&#39;t look, don&#39;t look, don&#39;t look...well...just a little glance out of the corner of his eye couldn&#39;t hurt, they couldn&#39;t see it...<br> <br>Rev slips his bag off his shoulders, and sets it down on the deck. The wolf removes his armor from within it&#39;s deoths, and arranges it&#39;s pieces reverantly. Before kneeling infront of them, and begins to deeply breath in, and out. Before slipping into a medatative state. And remains like that for several minutes before begining to slip into his heavy armor. After which he returns to his quiet meditation meant for preparing him for the fight to come.              <br> <br>Arimia lets out an amused sound and says, &quot;Jus&#39; &#39;cause someone is short, don&#39; mean they can&#39;t put up a fight. Ask the masked one over there what happened at that little tournament up north. She may have won, but it&#39;s been a while since I went with jus&#39; fists.&quot; She pushes herself to her feet, standing her full not so considable height, she peers over the railing before turning to watch as the lines are brought out and tied off, likely wanting to be sure none of them are poorly tied. AS she does she reaches into her cloak, pulling out her own smoke, though hers is real, and lighting it with a brief bit of fire magic.<br> <br>Natska looks over at Fay and gives the jackal a happy nod. &quot;Yes. I love flying; no matter where I go, the journey is always rewarding.&quot; Her ears perk as she listens to the others talk, and she gives Cassidy a small shrug. &quot;I plan on keeping anything nasty from getting to close, while you and whoever else has the talent or the gear for it blasts it into charred cinders,&quot; she replies, smiling wider. &quot;And hopefully you can just burn it all before it even gets close.&quot;<br> <br>Ash watches the earth speed by below, prepping himself for the coming fight. &quot;Don&#39;t mean nothing by it,&quot; he says to Arimia, &quot;Just a nickname for a little guy. Doesn&#39;t mean he ain&#39;t good at his job.&quot; The lynx smooths his mustache and gets ready to go over the side.<br> <br>Fayrmune shifts back and forth as the impending arrival is announced. &quot;Well, I guess that&#39;s our cue, huh?&quot;, she says, giving a last smile to Natska before turning to ready herself for the rappel down. &quot;Come, friends! It is time to prove our worth and claim great Honor for ourselves!&quot;, she calls to the rest of the band.<br> <br>The Airship lurches suddenly as it makes a quick turn, or as quick as it could manage given it&#39;s size... The crew stumble around, but thankfully it wasn&#39;t enough to send anyone overboard, one of the crewmen calling out. &quot;There&#39;s a large one throwing rocks sir!&quot; And to any looking over the right side, they&#39;d see that was -very- true, as a large rock like creature that towered twice as tall as most homes picked up boulders and threw them at the airship. A few boards splinter across the deck as one travels close, and the ship begins to go lower and lower in altitude as soon they are speeding through while skimming over trees.
+&quot;Shit, we cant rope in... Freeswords! Get to the port side of the ship, we&#39;re going to have a rough trip down!&quot; The Varlin rushing past as an aid holds out a sword to the skunk, and gives him a thick great coat. The crew whom were hauling the lines begin to throw them over the port side after tieing them to the railing, the ropes ends skipping through trees and past rocks as the ship speeds along, before they come to an almost jarring halt and begin to turn in the air, the erruption of cannon fire ripping into the side of the mountains where the rock beast had been, causing it to tumble down into the dense forest below.
+&quot;We&#39;ve no time, freeswords we need to get down there -now-, and clear a spot. I have a signal for when we&#39;ve succeeded, for the ship to come back for us!&quot; The noble grabbing onto one of the ropes, and twirling it around his right leg for a moment, before hoping over and rappelling down, slowly using his grip to help slow his descent into the forest below, where spirits know -what- awaits the adventurers.<br> <br>Thelergramor isn&#39;t at all surprised by this development; even as the airship violently lurches or whatnot. Just walks to the portside of the ship and wordlessly does as the skunk did; with the rope. Easily. As if he&#39;d done it before.<br> <br>Cassidy wasn&#39;t expecting the lurch, but the manages to keep her footing, swaying a bit. &quot;Well. Looks like it&#39;s time to go, then. See you down there, love,&quot; she says to the jaguar before she jaunts towards the edge. No ropes for this one, and instead she just walks right over the end, one hand holding her grimoire while the other holds her skirt down as she uses air magic to ease her touchdown.<br> <br>That little raccoon girl defended him! Maybe. It sounded like it, at least! Llewellyn can feel his heart flutter for a moment as the earth moves under his feet--wait, no, that&#39;s the ship. Cursing fluently, the giraffe lurches towards his shield, rapidly re-equipping himself. Without a moment to waste, he gives a glance around. &quot;Alright, you heard &#39;em!&quot; he calls out as he follows Varlin&#39;s lead, looping it around himself for control and alternately shuffling and hopping down fast as he dares. As much as hates to credit his smallness for anything good, at least his size meant less armor and less mass dragging him down.<br> <br>Rev eyes snap open, and slams his fist against the deck. The wolf crosses the deck unphased by the suddent attack on the airship. He grabs a rope, and lije someone who has done this many times before dissapear over the edge of the ship. and descends to the ground on the rope. at a controlled but rapid pace. <br> <br>Arimia makes her own way to the edge, gripping one of the ropes with her metal hand, just to make sure she&#39;s guided to roughly the same location as the others. Using her own air magic she makes her own way down, though her cloak doesn&#39;t move with the wind, likely weighted down by whatever she carries in those many pockets. <br> <br>Natska tenses at the sudden change in pace, and as soon as the call to go over is given the jaguar has gone over the rail. Much like Arimia, she&#39;s holding onto the rope with one gauntleted hand, keeping her from drifting off course as she uses her air magic to control the speed of her fall. As soon as she lands, she has drawn her longsword and is making her way to Cassidy&#39;s side.<br> <br>Ash nods once as the uproar starts. &quot;Here we go, boys and girls!&quot; he shouts as he takes a few quick steps and LAUNCHES himself from the side of the ship in a freefall! With a little burst of air magic, the lynx lands lightly on his feet, already bringing his gun to bear.<br> <br>As the group lands into the forests, the trees and brush around are already rustling as strange noises begin to rise from them... A large six legged creature, resembling a cross between a mammoth and Saber-toothed tiger bursts forth into their view, letting out a strange sounding roar as it does so. The beast itself is thankfully not the biggest out there one would assume, measuring at around fifteen feet tall, and just as wide, while managing to be fourty feet long.
+&quot;Contact left! Group and clear! Mages get these trees down!&quot; Varlin calls out as he motions to the forest around them, a dozen more mercenaries, and those whom didnt rappelle down with the first group, roping down as he calls out, before the airship begins to lurch forward from above them. The roar of cannons filling the ears of the group as another rock beast lets out a roar and the sound of rock collapsing can be heard... It seems the freeswords shouldnt expect reinforcements any time soon.
+The Beast doesn&#39;t seem ready to give the group time to begin clearing the woods, as it seems to focus on Cassidy with an intense rage before it begins to charge forward with a lumbering pace, swinging it&#39;s tusks back and forth to sweep away any foolish enough to get infront of it!<br> <br>Thelergramor picks up on the Beast seeming to focus on Cassidy. Which is a problem. So, he levels his bigass cannon at it, and fires it. An exploding round erupts from his cannon at the Beast. Works some dark magic in there too... Because, &quot;Fuck that thing.&quot;<br> <br>Cassidy lofts a brow at the rather... Large charging creature. Rather than try to stop it, she takes to the sky again. Since it seems to have been interested in her... She&#39;ll see if she can distract it. She flits over the create, throwing a small bolt of flame at the things back as she passes. Not enough to cause much damage to something that big, but enough to remind it of her presence, hopefully.<br> <br>&quot;Scatter! Scatter!&quot; Llewellyn bellows to those near him. &quot;He can&#39;t get us all at once!&quot; He cuts out of the charging beast&#39;s direct path and readies his round shield in front of him to deflect any debris or ricochets, grasping his lighter /verutum/ to throw but holding off for the time being.<br> <br>&quot;I&#39;m cooooommmiinng!&quot;<br> <br>Rev hefts his ax, and begins to move off to the left of the large beasts path. His heat beat slowing down as he prepares to mive in on, and attack. However as the sound of Thelergramor firing off his cannon. The wolf pauses, in midstep, and raises a gauntlet encased fist to sheild his eyes. In case of shrapnel, and waits to make his move.   <br> <br>Arimia winces and scowls as that cannon is fired, before shaking her head slightly. She glances around the landing area briefly before focusing her attention on the charging beast. She moves, then, though not out of the way, instead simply casting some dark math in an attempt to disorient and weaken it. Once that&#39;s done she pulls out her dagger and tenses, getting ready to move quickly, if needed. <br> <br>Natska readies herself, moving in front of Cassidy after the fenenc fires off her spell. She braces her feet and raises her sword, waiting for it to get closer before making her move.<br> <br>No time hesitate. There are probably more of these things out there. Not to mention the thing that had been lobbing boulders. Ash puts his gun to his shoulder, sights, and fires at the beast&#39;s eye! The lynx mercenary scrambles for a secure spot to reload.<br> <br>&quot;I&#39;m cooooommmiinng!&quot;, Fay calls as she falls from the airship, quickly rapelling to the ground and landing gracefully but with an audible THUMP. She draws her blade with a fluid motion and takes off in a dash towards the chargeing beast. She attempts to dodge the beast&#39;s charge so she can run her blade along its side do deal a raking blow.<br> <br>The beast lets out a deathly roar as the explosion rips into it&#39;s side, bits of flesh and some bone flying out as it&#39;s then shot in the eye, set on fire, and cut up! Arima&#39;s magics draining that last bit of fight and life from it as it just collapses there... Seems they&#39;re big, but not too deadly!
+That thought lasts for a second, before the sound of a scream can be heard, as one of the mages whom was using wind magic to try and clear trees, is pounced upon by large creature as big as a being, possessing eight legs and a myriad of insectoid eyes. It&#39;s fangs biting into the poor mage as he stuggles for a moment before going limp... Almost on cue, as the spider has it&#39;s prey, from that corner of the forest bursts more of the unholy beasts, chittering as they scurry forward at the group, four jumping as soon as they get close, targeting LLewellyn, Natska, Thelergramor, and Arimia!<br> <br>Thelergramor tilts his head at the odd creatures. Dodges one&#39;s attack by simply sidestepping out of the way. Not exactly mobile with the heavy weapons. Lets his cannon hang as he pulls his flamberge and follows the draw straight downward, swinging at the neck of the creature.<br> <br>Figuring Natska would have hers handled, Cassidy sets her eyes on the creature bothering the giraffe and works a bit of math over in her mind to try igniting it on the spot. Seems the large beast wasn&#39;t too bad at all!<br> <br>Llewellyn looks over the rim of his shield at the horrible boom. That was too easy--ahh, but that blood curdling chittering! That seemed about right. The giraffe sidesteps to protect  those nearby, then &#39;punches &#39;the iron boss of the shield straight into a spider&#39;s face. With as much a scream as he can muster, he swiftly draws his large pilum and drives it straight for the arachnid&#39;s...face? <br> <br>Rev Turns his gaze on the Spider targeting Llewellyn as he lowers his armored fist. The big wolf charges forward, and at the last second turns, and slams his shoulder into the massive spiders side. Then Takes a strp back to raise his ax, and attempts to bring it down on one of the spiders legs <br> <br>Arimia flicks an ear and looks toward the attacked mage as he&#39;s taken down. When the other spiders jump out to attack, Arimia simply takes advantage of her size and darts forward, rolling under the one trying to get her. Turning to face the creatures she performs another bit of dark magic, this one more complex manifesting as a nearly tangible sheet of darkness moving toward the spiders, aiming to damage and confuse the spiders, as well as weaken them. <br> <br>Natska slips to the side of the spider as it leaps at her, swinging her longsword in a vicious riposte at the creature. &quot;Stay behind our line!&quot; she calls out to the other civilians, hoping they&#39;ll take the example the first one set as she presses her assault on the spider.<br> <br>&quot;Well,&quot;Ash drawls, &quot;Aren&#39;t these the beauties of Promise?&quot; He has not had time yet to reload his musket, so he lets the strap slide and hold the weapon against his back as he pulls a boomerang of all things from the back of his pants! He gives the heavy, flying club a kiss, then lets it fly at one of the awful arachnids. &quot;So,&quot; he calls out, &quot;These were part of the plan, were they?&quot; The mercenary jams a prepared bundle of cloth, powder and a ball into his musket, speeding to prepare another shot.<br> <br>&quot;What are those!?&quot;, Fay gasps as she flicks her blade clean of the blood. &quot;Whatever they are, they aren&#39;t friendly! Come here beasts, and meet your end!&quot;, the jackaless howls at the incoming monsters before charging and performing a sweeping strike at the closest one.<br> <br>Varlin is in the thick of it with the group, having caught one of the spiders on his sword, shluping the dead arachnid off then as he grimaces. &quot;No, not part of the plan, someone get some fire into that side of the forest!&quot; The Skunk pointing in the direction of the dead mage, signalling where the spiders had come from.
+The four spiders that had attempted to pounce on the group, are beaten, stabbed, and burned efficiently enough to see them all dead, as Arimia&#39;s spell rips through and kills three more that had been trying to skitter forth at the group, while Fay&#39;s charge rewards her with a clean kill.
+The mages and workers seem inclined to listen as they huddle back a bit closer from the edge, wind and earth magic working to knock trees down and away from the group before moving them away. The area soon becoming a clearing of moderate size, though they still needed it bigger for the airship to be able to unload supplies for building an airship dock.
+From above, the thunder of the ship&#39;s guns can be heard, as the ground shakes for a moment and a wave of dust passes through the group and they can hear the sound of trees snapping and breaking through their blinded moment... The spiders that still remained fearfully skittering back into their woods, one working to drag the dead mage&#39;s body with it, as the dust clears and the group is left face to face with the large rock beast from earlier. Vaguely humanoid in shape, with pulsing flesh below thick stone that served as scales, green glowing eyes centered upon the group before it let out a earth shaking roar... Thankfully, much of the stone had been blown off from the cannons, and it was even bleeding in some spots. Perhaps they had a chance against this giant, either way they&#39;d have to deal with it before ending up as paste!<br> <br>Thelergramor is less than surprised by the ease with which the spiders were dispatched. &quot;And you guys were worried...&quot; Flamberge laying over his shoulder, the wolf looks over the group. &quot;Anyone hurt besides that guy?&quot; And then there&#39;s the stone thing. Seeing that it has blood dripping from it, the wolf focuses some dark magic on it. The usual, entropic fortune, his favorite dark magic spell. Because of the bleeding. And confusion.<br> <br>Cassidy eyes the giant for a moment, then Thelergramor preparing his spell. She settles her eyes intently on the wolf&#39;s back for a moment, pondering... She shakes it off and slips over to Natska&#39;s side, conjuring up a bit of focused air magic as she does. She directs it againt a fleshy part of the rock creature, like a penetrating attack.<br> <br>Llewellyn grumbles beneath his breath, though it&#39;s not like anyone can hear it over the sounds of chaos and cannons blasting. &quot;Damn mages. Know a little maths, think they&#39;re invinicble.&quot; He shakes his shield-bearing arm out, again positioning himself between this strange...Thing and the mages. Maybe now someone would appreciate him. Dropping the pilus for his Verutum once more, he gives the javelin a test toss in his hand, before murmuring something like a prayer and hurling it at the giant open eyes.<br> <br>Rev covers his ayes as the dust passes over him, and once it settles. He lowers his Arm to look up at the large stone beast towering over the group.&quot;Well this should be a bit more if a challenge than the last.&quot; He mutters as he begins to slcircle the  beast, and to flanks it. Thinking it would be best to attack from more than one side. The wolf dashes towards the stone creature, and takes a leap. The wolf does his best to find a goid grip, and begins to scale the beasts leg. Using his as as a sort if anchor as he climbs. His desination the beasts karge stone shoulders.<br> <br>Arimia scans the spider corpses, doing her best to make sure none of them are just playing dead. As rock beast arrives, however, her attention is successfully diverted. Looking over the thing she frowns slightly, taking note of the remains of rocks on it, and observing the blood and flesh she can see. &quot;It bleeds. Means it has a heart. Though the size makes me wonder &#39;bout the effectiveness of this...&quot; Shaking her head slightly she reaches into a pocket pulling out another vial and a sharply pointed dart, oddly shaped with what seems to be a hollow tip and body. Filling the dart with the liquid from in the vial, which gets tossed aside when done, she takes a deep breath, before her metal hand whips forward in a glinting blur, aiming to bury the, likely poisoned, dart in the thing.<br> <br>Natska shoves the spider&#39;s corpse away from her, taking up a defensive stance as the ground shakes and the dust flies. A light bit of air blows the dirt away from her face, and her ears fold back as she sees the giant rock beast approach the party. She spends a moment planning her attack as she sheaths her sword, gathers herself, then charges it with a loud battle cry. As she aproaches the jaguar gathers herself into an impossible leap, fire coalescing around her gauntlets as she launches her best strike into the side of the creature&#39;s knee.<br> <br>Ash does not take the time to ask questions. The stone giant was remarkable! But it was also trying to kill everyone! The lynx raises his gun, exhales, holds it, and fires at the creature&#39;s great, glowing eye, on the assumption that an eye is always a good target. Shot made, the silvery feline drops the weapon, letting the strap take the weight as he dashes under the shadow of the trees, pulling the darkness around himself and trying to find a decent position to attack from.<br> <br>Not currently seeing an opening for her atttack style to take advantage of, Fay starts to survey the battlefield. &quot;Form up, but don&#39;t cluster!&quot;, she calls to everyone. &quot;Hit it in its exposed spot!&quot; She starts to dash out of what she guesses is its immiediate attack range, trying to get to its side and eventually its back.<br> <br>The Giant lets out a loud bellow as Arimia&#39;s claw digs deep into it&#39;s flesh, the skin not as thick as one would assume, given the usual stone protection. Cassidy&#39;s magic ripping open some of the flesh along it&#39;s side, as Ash&#39;s shot smacks into the stone at the eye, and gouges into it, causing the glowing green eye to almost wink out, before Llewellyn&#39;s weapon scores a hit upon it causing the great beast to roar as it raises it&#39;s fist high into the air, and brings it down at the Giraffe at the same time Natska unseats it at the knee, causing it to topple forward threatening to crush those closest to it.
+Varlin raises his sword and begins to charge as the beast is toppling. &quot;QUICK NOW! Kill the creature while it is down!&quot; The mages  lending their own support in helping to blast away some of what remains of it&#39;s rocky protection to aid the freeswords in hitting it! Rev thankfully isn&#39;t crushed during the fall, managing to get into a position to put him onto the giant&#39;s back even!<br> <br>Thelergramors expression remains blank behind his mask as he charges the fallen stone thing. Flamberge in hand, the wolf moves towards the neck-region and makes another overhead swing at it with a low grunt.<br> <br>Cassidy remains fairly motionless, but works again at the same spell, once more spearing at the downed creature&#39;s exposed areas with focused wind pressures. She had no clue what else might come, and was content to conserve her energy.<br> <br>&quot;Shit!&quot; Llewellyn manages to curse, diving to the side as the stone monster lunges for him. Despite his armor--and maybe owing to his size--he manages to avoid the worst of it, and clambers back to his feet. With the creature on the ground, he draws his gladius and sets to hacking at its neck...or whatever the analogue would be on this creature. It&#39;s a pretty effective killing strike on Beings, so it&#39;s worth a shot, no?<br> <br>Rev does his best to maintain his balance, and wther though luck, or skill. The large wolf manages to ride out the fall. Without any missfortune. The big wolf runs aling it&#39;s back to the naoe of the beasts neck. Rev raises his ax over his heqd, and lets out a deep roar, and begins to slam his ax down on the nape of beasts neck over, and over.<br> <br>Arimia darts to the side as the huge beast falls, patterned tail lashing as she moves. She mutters, though not so soft as to go unheard, &quot;With a full dose of heartfire in it, it shouldn&#39;t be gettin&#39; back up anyway.&quot; Regardless of her words she moves toward the beast&#39;s head, gripping at the stone with her metal arm. That done she starts to weave dark and fire magics, attempting to combine the two to tear through defenses and pour as much heat into the rock as she can.<br> <br>Natska darts back as the giant beast begins to fall, grinning. As soon as it has landed, she darts forward, throwing all of her weight into a strike at what she thinks is a good vital point.<br> <br>Ash sticks to the shadows for now, carefully reloading his gun while other beings hack at the monster&#39;s neck to finish it off. The lynx, grey as the shadows that surround him, scans the area for any more threats. There had been an awful lot of undesirable surprises on this trip.<br> <br>Fayrmune gets around to the beast&#39;s flank just as it topples forward. She leaps onto its back and starts to run along the spine. Turning her sword upside down and brandishing it with both hands, she dives to her knees, driving the sword into the monster&#39;s neck using the full force of her momentum and body weight. <br> <br>With the combined efforts of the entire group, not to mention how much was directed at it&#39;s neck as Arimia&#39;s magic burned a great big opening for everyone to even severe a spinal chord with a sickening crunch, the beast is finally down... Laying there quietly as the sounds of the forest comes over the group, the light slowly fading away for a moment before a bright artificial light from above illuminates the group, as a oil powered lamp light illuminates the clearing, and the air ship begins to touch down.
+&quot;Well... I believe that solves that for today hopefully, with the larger threat out of the way, we can get everything readied here...&quot; Varlin&#39;s words cutting through the group, as dozens of mercenaries whom had been in charge of handling the ships cannons and aparantly repelling winged reptiles, many of which were laying dead upon the deck, rush out to help secure the area. The workers don&#39;t take much longer to rush out as well, carrying all their tools and equipment as they begin to shout directions to each other. &quot;You&#39;re welcome to board the ship and return if you want. I&#39;ve enough men here now to help hold until we get our defenses set up, and ready. As well, your payment is inside of the ship, as I figured you&#39;d not want me to carry it lest I get killed.&quot; The noble skunk speaking firmly as he sheaths his sword and looks around. &quot;One casualty... Too many for my tastes, but better than estimated. Either way, return when I call for aid, and you&#39;ll be rewarded further.&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor drags his blade from the neck, sheathes it over his back. &quot;Good job.&quot; Short compliment directed at, well, everyone, before walking back to the airship. &quot;I&#39;ll be back with more weapons.&quot; He speaks as he passes the Blackback. Boards it, unconcerned by any of this. Looks forward to next time he gets to come out here to kill stuff.<br> <br>Cassidy nods at the Blackback and adjusts her hat before smiling at Natska. &quot;See you up on the deck, then?&quot; She asks before lifting off with a bit of air magic to carry her back up to the boat. Not a bad day, all in all! Interesting, certainly.<br> <br>Fayrmune pulls her blade out of the slain beast&#39;s neck and flicks it sharply to her side to free it of blood. With a graceful and fluid motion and descends from its back. Upon reaching the ground she turns and bows to the fallen foe. &quot;You were a worthy foe, I honor your death.&quot;, she says to the corpse. With that, she turns and joins the others in getting back aboard the airship. &quot;This will make quite a Story for telling back at the Inn!&quot;, she says, somewhat giddily.<br> <br>Llewellyn is a bit wide-eyed at the pink raccoon. A little terrifyingly intense, but...she knows how to handle herself on the battlefield, that&#39;s for sure! And she&#39;s not afraid to use some good old-fashioned muscle. Again removing his shield straps and tucking his helmet under an arm, he pauses to give a nod and salute to the Blackback coordinating it...and to lag behind and see if he can engage Arimia in conversation. Nothing wrong in talking tactics with your comrades-in-arms...right?<br> <br>Rev continues to swing his ax for aa moment longer after the creature had already clearly died. The wolfs more violent animilistic side showing through rather clearly. However he begins to calm down. The wolf pants, and climbs down from the back of the stone corpse. His armor is painted in blood, as he makes his way back to the ship without a word to anyone. Where he begins to strip down out of his armor.<br> <br>Arimia muttters softly, &quot;Too damn old,&quot; as she takes a few steps back from the dead beast, looking slightly tired. She fishes about in her cloak until she comes up with another smoke lighting it with a flare of fire magic. Glancing at Fayrmune she responds, &quot;An&#39; everyone&#39;s got a dozen like it. Assaults on Mossy Stone, tearin&#39; apart an Old One cult. Shootin&#39; an Old One in the face...&quot; She trails off and chuckles, shaking her head, &quot;No matter what I think &#39;bout her choice of who to work with, Wulf does have a certain sense of style. Anyway. Most everyone there has faced somethin&#39; like this. Seen horrors an&#39; violence. An&#39; glory.&quot; This last is said with a derissive sneer as she looks over the dead beast, then around the clearing. Without a further word she moves to climb aboard the ship once it sets down, moving to collect her part of the reward, muttering something to herself about dumping it in Shanty Town, and otherwise ignoring everything, and everyone, else for the time being.<br> <br>Natska takes a moment to check herself over and make sure her gear is in order, then grins at Cass as the fennec calls out to her. She makes her way back to the airship, then up and onto the deck. &quot;Well done, everyone,&quot; she says, giving the group a small nod.<br> <br>Ash swaggers out from under the trees and scoops up his boomerang from where it lays near a dead spider. The rangy lynx thumbs his mustache as he saunters across the clearing, checking out the monstrous corpse. Seeing the others boarding, and at the promise of pay, the mercenary trots off to join the others. The silvery feline comes up behind Llewellyn and slaps the giraffe on the back. &quot;Good throw with that shield, mate,&quot; he says, &quot;That was a fine shot.&quot;<br> <br>The moment they are all inside, and the supplies unloaded, the air ship closes up, and soon begins to rise into the air once more. Any on the decks able to see the hasty construction happening below under the watchful eye of the Blackback, as the mercenaries move tries into a perimeter, giving them staunch firing lines as a bastion of civilization, is placed in this strange untouched land.[[Category:RPLogs]]

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