Swamp Dragon Teeth - RPLOG
Participants
Date
23/10/479
Log
"It is ungodly, ungodly, I tell you!" Amar Widestripe gripes, sitting on a folding, canvas chair that would be a hammock for most beings, "The heat is one thing, nothing like an honest bit of sun, but this place is like a badly kept sauna! And the smell! You tell me that people actually LIVE in this gods forsaken swamp?"
Amar's man, Gavin stands sheepishly by Amar's side, holding a large umbrella and fanning his obese employer without comment on the commentary. This is the time on the notcie and someone is bound to show soon.
Shira is the first to arrive, the small being makes sure to stay on the secure path and stay away from anything that she could sink into. She is wearing her usual gear with its leather leggings and bracers and the metal chest plate over a normal blouse. The rodent waves at the feline as she gets close enough. "So what can I kill for you today?"
A small figure garbed in a fairly simple black robe with a robe belt makes his way carefully towards the two already there. "Hello?" He calls to the two as he moves silently along the ground. Once he's close enough it's clear to Amar who it is, as the Cyan glow makes him stand out like a sore thumb. "Greetings, Amar!" He removes his hood to face the fat tiger. His eyes move over to the right to face the other small clan member "Ah! Hello there. I don't think we've met. I am Kastovin."
"Straight to the point!" Amar says, leaning forward, accompanied by a rather alarming groan from his chair, "I like that, I like that very much." He looks from Shira to Kastovin, then to the swamp boardwalk, as if hoping to see someone else there. "I don't mean to belittle you," he says, then smirks a little at his own pun, "But aren't you two a bit. . . on the diminuitive side for this sort of undertaking? I DO believe I posted that there would be wild beasts to deal with?"
The mouse rolls her eyes. "Do I need to remind you that I took out that huge golem for you on my own? And, as you know, I am freshly armed with new arcane knowledge." She eyes Kastovin up and down for a moment. "Shira. And no. I do not think so either." She crosses her arms and stares off into the swamp. "You have not told us what exactly we will be fighting though, Amar."
Kastovin huffs at the fat cat "Come now, we can't help you if you think we are too small for the job!" He patters up to the large cat and taps his leg reassuringly. "We can do this!" He looks over to his new friend and smiles. "Now, what are we hunting and how bad is it?"
"As you like, as you like," Amar says easing back into his chair. "I have a client who is convinced of the health benefits of Salttide Swamp Dragon teeth," he says, "I can't say I trust in his medical knowledge, but I am happy to take his coin. I cannot, however procure said teeth on my own, since the swamp is know for swallowing its dead quickly. I understand that there is a nest not too far from here." The purple feline points out into the swamp.
Shira squints. "Salttide Swamp Dragon? What is that supposed to be? Never heard of it." She shrugs and focuses for a short moment, starting to hovers just above the ground, thanks to some simple air magic, preventing her from sinking into the swamp, into which she is already slowly heading, just waiting to hear if there is any answer from Amar, before she picks up the pace.
Kastovin has taken out a small water skin and had started to drink from it when Amar said Salttide Swamp Dragon teeth, this causes him to choke a little bit "Salttide Swamp Dragon Teeth?! Those things I use to add to my poison to make it stronger! I am not sure this is wise, Amar?" He pats his chest, trying to clear his lungs of the water. "But hey, I said I'd help and I follow though on what I say."
"They are usually rather timid," Amar says, "Unlessed roused. So there is not much talk about them. Best of luck." The fat tiger waves and accepts a chilled drink from Gavin.
The swamp is quiet, aside from the buzzing of the bugs and the occasional slurp of something moving under the surface of the swamp. Up ahead, a grove of mangrove trees grows in a huge knot, the size of a house.
Shira moves rather quickly, walking on the layer of air between her boots and the swamp, but stays close to the ground and does not take off to fly, simply heading into the direction the feline merchant had pointed out, eying the area ahead.
Kastovin follows at the same pace as Shira, using his keen eyes to watch out for anything that may think them as easy snacks. Once they come across the huge knot, he pauses and looks at Amar and says "I think we found what we were looking for..."
Amar is well out of earshot by this point, but Kastovin could be right. There does not seem to be a ready entrance to the onot of mangroves. It looks like a likely nest, though.
Shira shrugs. "Maybe." The mouse quickly approaches the cluster of trees and starts to circle it, looking for an entrance. She draws her foil, which might as well be a dagger for a regular sized being, and keeps it pointed at the cluster as she does her round, in case one of the creatures suspected to be inside jumps out.
Kastovin walks up to Shira and says quietly "I can fly up to see if I can find anything, if you think that would work." The cat walks up to a tree and gently taps at it, listening for anything.
They are living trees, somehow grown together. There could be an entrance at the top, but with the nature of mangroves, the way in is probably under the water in the roots of the trees.
Shira finishes her round and groans. "You can try that, I suppose. I will check if there is a way in from below." With that, the mouse draws upon the air layer she was standing on and makes it enclose herself fully as a bubble, sinking into the swampy water as she starts doing another round around the growth, this time under water.
Kastovin nods and start to float up into the air to get a good look around, seeing the area open from there. He starts to lower himself gently down to the hole, trying to get an idea what's resting inside.
The little mouse manages to keep a bubble around her head, but the rest of her is submerged in the muddy water of the swamp. In the murk, there seems to be a wide hole leading upward into the middle of the clump of mangroves.
Kastovin, on the other hand, finds a rather small, cluttered, winding hole at the top of the clump, maybe big enough for him to squeeze through.
Shira rolls her eyes at the botched air spell, cursing herself for not using the proper soul gem. She sighs in her little head bubble and swims towards and through the hole that she has discovered.
Kastovin stands by the edge of the hole and pokes his head in, seeing he can fit. He starts to worm his way down the hole, using the light from his eyes to see. "I hate tight spaces..." He grumbles as he makes his way though.
Both Shira and Kastovin make their way into the hidden nest in the middle of the mangrove grove, Shira dripping from the main entrance, and Kastovin dangling high above the hollow center. Dust and a few buzzing flies float in the dim twilight over the shallow water within, a few loose logs float in the tepid water.
Shira begins hovering over the watter again and shakes herself, before letting the bubble disappear. "Disgusting" She scans the area and her eyes linger on the logs in particular. She squints at one of them for a moment and then makes a thrusting motion with her foil in its direction, causing a wave of dark magic to hit it, and probably either confirm or deny her suspicions.
Kastovin falls out of the hole and gently floats down to one of the logs in the water, he hopes to not cause too much noise as he lands on it. He looks over, his spotlight eyes lock onto Shira and he jumps slightly in fright, thinking it was a monster but he calms once he sees it's just her. He waves as she's doing something...
The mouse's suspicions are well founded as the log that she struck with her black magic suddenly submerges itself and several others, including Kastovin's perch start to flail around, dumping the small cat into the filthy water! As the water churns and boils, three huge, long snouted, vaguely crocodilian heads rise from the water on long, thick necks, snapping angrily!
Shira smirks as she proved herself right, though her eyes wander towards where Kastovin sunk into the water. Weighing her options, she decides that she has already made herself the more attractive target, and that it should buy him some time to get back up again. She casts again, this time without a thrust of her weapon. The mouse is quickly engulfed in shadows that are ready to block and counter the attacks of the swamp dragons.
Kastovin is neck deep in the water "Eeewww..." He looks up at the creatures and he gets a mean look on his face and his eyes take on a deep crimson color. He stands up and holds out a paw and mimics throwing something at the closest thing to him while running to the side of Shira.
The water in the midst of the three, thrashing bodies explodes in a blast of air and the three heads lower a bit as they are pushed apart by Kastovin's magic, the backlash of which pushes the small cat toward Shira.
The huge Swamp Dragons hiss and scream like boiling tea kettles, enraged by the sudden, painful assault, first by Shira, then by Kastovin, huge heads whipping about to find the source of the pain that has suddenly interrupted their slumber. One zeroes in on Kastovin as he flails his way toward his shadow wrapped companion. Another recovers itself and a long, forked tongue flicks between its scaly lips to taste the air as its head swings ponderously toward where Shira has concealed herself. The last of the creatures seems the worst wounded and is still trying to get its bearings, shaking its head and screaming!
The small mouse grins. The new spells she learned are working great so far. Pondering a moment what to do, she unleashes another one on the one that is clearly starting to pick up her scent. A mark appears on the creature soon after she did a thrust into the air with her fencing sword, inflicting incredible pain.
Kastovin yells and holds out both hands, holding fire in one and nothing in the other, he mixes them together and tosses the new spell to the one getting closer to him "Stay back damn you! We just need some teeth!" He shakes his head, trying to clear his eyes of some of the water afterwards.
There is a bang and incendiary flash as Kastovin's magic forms, causing the creature attacking him to flinch and recoil, but not for long, as it only draws back long enough to blink and let the spots clear from its eyes before lunging at the little feline.
Shira, a short distance away, has troubles of her own. The sleek scales on her current target blacken low on its neck and it shrieks in pain, thrashing violently in the water and sending a wave to overwhelm both attackers! Meanwhile, the third beast has recovered a bit and is charging with unexpect speed toward where Shira waits!
"Eww. Eww. EWWWWWWW." The mouse shakes herself to get the water, if you can even call it that out of her face, fur and hair. She lets out whining sound, before she, just in time, starts her attack on the charging animal. No spell, this time, but she plans to stab and slice at the animal's side as it misses her thanks to a well placed dodge.
Kastovin is flung up into the air with his magics, but is caught in the jaws of the dragon. The small cat freaks out in the jaws of this powerful creature. He throws an invisible thing down the mouth of the creature. "I will not let you eat me!" He yells
Strangely, the charging beast did not seem to be targetting Shira, rather, it was making a break for the entrance. Its goals, however, become a moot point as Shira's saber inks to the hilt in its eye as it charges past, yanking the mouse from her magically made perch and dragging her into the foul, brackish water with it!
Kastovin's attacker gags on the small feline's improvized blast of air magic and wretches, spitting Kastovin and the contents of its last meal into the shallow water of the den before it too decides that disgression is the better part of valor and bolts away, surging through the swampy water! The third monster is heaving and gasping for wheezing breaths as it is finally released from the heart stopping effects of Shira's magic and it thrashes about, trying to get its bearings.
A little "Eep" is all that is heard from the mouse before she vanishes under water with the creature. She does not let go of her weapon however, instead targeting more dark magic at the monster.
Kastovin is in the pile of vomit from his escape, but quickly recovers, pulling himself free. "Ew ew ew ew..." He says quietly as he frees himself. He watches as Shira vanishes with the dragon and he stands up. He gets a paw ready and throws a pure fire force to the dragon that's on the floor! An easy target, he thinks.
The thrashing creature above the water is, in fact, an easy target, though farm from a harmless one. Kastovin's impromptu fireball splashes against its tough hide and the beast shrieks its rage, finally focusing again and lunging at the exposed feline.
Under the water near the entrance, Shira can feel the passage of the escaping creature as bolts past, but the one with both her sword and her magic in its brain has lost this fight. Chunks of flesh seem to rot and peel away in seconds as black veins spread along the surface of its smooth skin, oozing outward from its ruined eye.
Shira yanks her sword free, and uses it to quickly knock some of the dead beast's teeth out, shoving them into her satchel, before emerging out of the water just in time. She takes a deep breath as she does and takes a moment to scan the area for the other two and to check up on Kastovin.
Kastovin yelps out as he's dragged into the water. He claws and scratches with his free arm, trying to go for the eye of the creature. "HELP!" He calls out, hoping Shira would hear him. He finally stops his weak clawing and does something better. He throws a ball of something at the eye of the creature, it's not clear what it is until it goes off.
The mouse rises to find only a vacant nest, one of the creatures having escaped and the final one causing a thrashing patch of foam as it struggles under water with Kastovin! His blast of air magic does not seem to have had much effect on the monster grappling him!
Shira rolls her eyes and dives under water again. Taking a quick look around to find the creature holding onto the cat with its jaw and sending dark energies towards it with a thrust of her blade, causing the scaled beast to rot from its forehead out, and inwards.
Kastovin is struggling tp hold is breath in, he had almost given up hope as Shira dives in after him. Seeing her use her dark magic, he knows this is the perfect time to do an attack as well. Two balls form in his hand, letting them form togeather he tosses them at the creature biting down on his right arm.
The beast's thrashing comes to a sudden, twitching stop as Shira and Kastovin's magic combine against the creature, Shira's hex sending it slack and Kastovin's boiling ball of heat blasting down its throat. It is suddenly quiet again as the creature's carcass starts to sink.
Shira dives down again, to once again knock some teeth out of the sinking enemy and stuff them into her satchel. After she retrieved them, she comes back up and yells at Kastovin. "Lets get out of her, I got a bunch of teeth." She focuses a little after having said that and starts to float towards the tunnel in the canopy Kast came through.
Kastovin breaks the surface and grabs his bleeding arm. "I'll try!" He starts to float out of the water to the hole he came from. "We should charge double for this. I was not being paid to be thrown up on like that. Not to mention the sheer nastiness of this nest." He says while floating to the hole.
Floating out is hardly an option. But crawling throught the small opening is only a moderate difficulty. After that, the trek back to Scraggly Root is a simple, if smelly and buggy afair.
Amar has acquired another chilled drink and what appear to be tinted glasses while Gavin fans him patiently. "Ah!" he calls when he sees the wet, bedraggled pair, "Welcome back! I assume you were successful?"
Shira nods at Amar. "I have a bag full of teeth." She eyes Kastovin for a bit. "Did most of the work to be honest." She shrugs and tosses Amar a small leather pouch, that she had filled with the teeth on her way.
Kastovin shrugs to Shira "Well, excuse me. I was not expecting three giant creatures. I came here to help, and I tried. You could've been there alone and do you honestly think you could've taken them all alone?" He holds his still bleeding arm. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go clean and patch this up. You can keep your money Amar, you surely need it to pay off this big ego of hers." He starts to wander off in the direction he came in.
Amar's anticipatory smile sours a bit at the sight of the little pouch. "There were three of them and these are all the teeth you were able to retrieve?" he asks, obviously disappointed, "What did you do? Just punch it in the jaw and take what came loose? One Swamp Dragon should have given nearly a hundred teeth and there are not even half that here!" The fat cat sighs and shakes his head. "Well," he says, shaking his head, "a deal is a deal." The fat tiger waves to Gavin who hands over a bag of jingling coin to Shira. "I thought you might say that, Kastovin," he says, so I have had Gavin get you something special." The bear hurries after the leaving cat and hands him a small box.
Shira just stares at Kastovin and says: "Yes?" As if she thought that was a fact so firmly established that asking about it seemed weird. "Well. There is a limited time frame before they sink out of reach after you kill them. I killed two of the three and collected as many as I could, before I decided to retreat, because of his injury." She shrugs and stuffs the coin pouch into her satchel. "The third one should be hurt and easy prey, I could go back and kill it and you can send someone to retrieve the bodies? Or just get them to kill it, like I said, I think I hit it with something nasty." She crosses her arms behind her head and nods to herself.
Kastovin smiles and takes the box. "Thank you, Gavin." He takes the box, gives the small bear a tip, and lets his arm hang loosely as he walks with the cake box in hand. Soon the cat vanishes in the brush, the last you see of him is his light but it goes dark soon.
"Indeed," Amar says to Shira, looking just a bit sour, "I shall keep that in mind next time I hire a Freesword with the sole task of gathering a specific ingredient." He waves a fat hand, "Thank you for your services."
