Exalted Third Edition: An-Teng

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream


Halcyon all but runs back to scoop her sanxian from the rug on which it rests and cradle it in a protective embrace. She looks sheepishly at the caravan hand sitting nearby, "I don't want you to be stepped on either, of course," she mumbles.


"Do we hunt the creature first, then, so it cannot reach the camp?"

 

[JayTee]

"Lord Craig, we are at your disposal. Do you feel that the Tyrant Lizard is a sufficient threat that it warrants investigating?" Asked Kyros.

 

[Rykon]

Craig stops and kneels down next to one of the tracks, his eyes close for a moment as if in deep concentration. "Yes, but I don't think we'll find it... Feels like someone or something else got to it first. From what I can follow, the trail ends abruptly...pointing back toward our target's direction."

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





The young woman has followed their ostensible master as he examines the tracks, and now considers him with a puzzled frown. "How can you tell, Prince Craig?"

 

[Rykon]

"Many of us Earth aspects tend to develop a sort of...'earth sense' this happens to be my area of specialty relative to my peers."

 

[JayTee]

Kyros frowned at Prince Craig's assessment of what had happened to the Tyrant Lizard. "If the caravans and the people in them keep disappearing, and the tyrant lizard has vanished as well, whatever we are looking for seems to be indiscriminate in it's attacks." He said, thinking out loud. "Regardless, to be able to attack a caravan and contend with a Tyrant Lizard, whatever the cause of these disappearances must be formidable indeed."

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





"If the trail ends abruptly," Rising Tide ponders, "does that mean the tyrant lizard... vanished? Or did it just fall down as a result of dying?"

 

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream


"How do you make a tyrant lizard vanish?" asks Halcyon, incredulous.

 

[Rykon]

Craig strokes at his chin for a moment and then looks at his tent, then back to Kyros, "Assuming your servants don't mind keeping watch, I'd rather prefer to rest. The animal movements are...troubling, but it looks like we'll have to deal with that when the time comes. Last burden we need is exhaustion when it comes time to run, huh?" He offered with a chuckle.

 

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream


Halcyon doesn't need to be told twice to hit her pillow after an arduous day of riding in a bumpy cart. She finds a pitched tent somewhere, tosses down her well stuffed bedding, and passes out immediately.

 

[Sherwood]

[QUOTE="Random Word]
Halcyon Dream
"How do you make a tyrant lizard vanish?" asks Halcyon, incredulous.

[/QUOTE]
Kiera smiles. "I could, with little effort. Being sneaky is one of the many gifts I have been given over time to help accomplish my work. But the question here is, why would someone want to do so? Did they kill it, or drive it away?"

 

[JayTee]

Kyros





Ordering his demons to keep watch over the camp as the slept, Kyros likewise soon turned in.

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





The young Dawn Caste decides to join the demons and caravan guards in their watch for the first few hours of the night. She keeps her keen eyes on the horizon, noting the movement of every man there, and every one of her sleeping companions. When the guard changes, she too retires for the night.

 

[Rykon]

Once Craig wakes up, the last guard shift begins stowing everything in the caravan. By the time most of the company is awake, all but the tents and bedrolls in use are packed away. Assuming no delays, the caravan proceeds along the road again for quite a while until Kyros receives a message from the wasp creature, "The Tyrant Lizard is heading towards us, someone is riding it. From the sound of things, it has several friends and they are all moving very fast."

 

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream


Halcyon starts at this sudden revelation, her continued study of Tengese folk songs interrupted. "Riding it? How fast is 'fast'?" she asks nervously, fingering her Daiklaves. "Should the mortals evacuate, or do we form the van and intercept?"

 

[JayTee]

Kyros





"I suggest we prepare for battle." Kyros said to Craig. "I do not know who this party might be, but if they have command of a Tyrant Lizard, their intentions may not be friendly."

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





"We should face it away from the caravan proper," Tide agrees with Halcyon Dream, and moves her hand to the hilt of her sword. "Killing the beast means nothing if it comes at the cost of innocent lives and untold destruction."

 

[Sherwood]

Kiera nods in agreement. "I may not be of much help against such a monster, but I will do what I can."

 

[Rykon]

Within moments a rapid drum roll of vibrations can be felt from the ground. Craig leaps off the caravan and into nearby under brush. The caravan drivers pull the cart off the road and behind some cover as they start throwing camouflage nets over them and ducking inside. "Stay alert, if they fail to spot us wait till their backs are turned."

 

[Sherwood]

Kiera decides that it would be best for her to be hidden. "I'm going to fade out of sight, but I'll be here if and when a fight breaks out." Grabbing her chakram off of her arm, the Solar looks for a good spot to wait. Focusing a flow of Essence, she vanishes from sight and crouched down.

Spoiler

spending 5m 1wp on Mental Invisibility Technique. I roll Dex+ stealth vs the Resolve of my opponent, and if they fail, I'm not detected.

[dice]17657[/dice]

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





The young Dawn Caste stays stock still, her hand clasped firmly on the hilt of her still sheathed daiklave as she waits for the attackers to show their faces.

 

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream


Halcyon moves to bask in Rising Tide's aura of calm confidence with poorly feigned nonchalance. "This will be easy for you. You must have fought many foes this size," she says, clearly more to reassure herself than anything else.

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





"No," she whispers at Halcyon Dream's words, "none. My sifu told me of them and instructed me to fight such beasts in my mind, but I have never seen a real one."

 

[Random Word]

Halcyon Dream


Halcyon looks crestfallen at this, then recovers. "So you have a plan and the training to execute it, you've just never put it into practice?" she asks hopefully.

 

[Esbilon]

Rising Tide





"Yes," she responds in whispers, her gaze still turned towards the path of the monster's approach, keeping her ignorant of Halcyon's reaction. "Simply put; kill it by a thousand shallow cuts, and don't get hit even once."