Once is Happenstance [Team Walkabout] [The Silver Apples of the Moon, the Golden Apples o]

Grinning Magpie


Unlike her companions, Magpie isn't used to places like this. On the other hand, she's not terribly bothered by them, either, and happily orbits the others, chattering like her namesake. Mostly, she's chattering at Dis.


" - and you don't let me steal them, otherwise I wouldn't be stealing them, you'd just be giving them to me! You're such a jerk - "


Of course, she never stops keeping at least one eye and both ears on their surroundings.


------


Perception + Awareness, 7xD10: 6 8 4 10 2 9 3; 4 successes.
 
Midnight's Fury


The hulking Lunar makes his way along the bamboo walkways. The previous heat had little effect on him, but the cooler weather is not unwelcome. His eyes dart back and forth, still looking for any further trouble from those whose attacks their group repelled. Vigilance was ever necessary.....


Perception (4)+Awareness (3)+ Perception Excellency (4): Results for 11 dice: 8 successes [ 7 6 7 0 5 8 1 7 7 2 9 ]
 
Melissa


Eager to relax as only a warrior can be after battle, Melissa joins the others as they head towards the tavern. But again, as a warrior, the instincts in the back of her mind continually sniff the wind and listen. The butt of her spear makes a rhythmic clack - clack - clack against the bamboo beneath her.


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Perception 3 + Awareness 1 = 4 dice. Result: 2 2 5 7 (1 success)
 
The steady drum of the rain and the wet haze fuddle the senses even as they render the bamboo path treacherous, but Fury's keen senses pick up movement in the nearby gully, past the bamboo thickets. It doesn't sound much like the usual movements of the villagers, most of whom are inside enjoying the respite from work that the monsoons bring. It sounds very familiar to Fury, but then, he's used to dealing with the big and the perilious...
 
Midnight's Fury


The Lunar keeps walking, not changing his pace, but slowly readies Fury's Fang. He speaks in a low voice, to those around him. "There's something moving. Off to the right. Near the gully, past the bamboo thickets. Sounds big. Sounds like trouble. I'm going to check it out. Watch my back."


--------------------------------


OOC: How far away is this place where I heard the noise? This will affect what I do in terms of reaching the area. Also, you said it sounds familiar. How familiar? Just in case: Intelligence (3) + Lore (3) to remember: Results for 6 dice: 2 successes [ 6 7 3 6 5 7 ]
 
Melissa


"Hold on," Melissa says. She curls her free hand into a fist at her side, an easily disregarded movement, and for a moment, she seems to shiver slightly. "You know I'm better equipped for that..." Then, gently, her fingers splay out again - and a dull buzz quickly fades into the distance as three tiny, yellow-striped specks disappear into the background.


---------


Activating Hybrid Body Rearrangement, Hive mutation, which says that the character's insects can be used as "spies"; whether that allows her to see through their eyes, or receive their knowledge when they return, or what, I'm not sure. Need ST ruling. Also not sure whether the mote cost is one per mutation or per point of mutation, so I'll go for the more expensive cost in the interests of balance. So that's 6m spent from the personal pool, and Melissa sends her bees to see what's what.
 
To Fury, it sounds a bit like a demon, but not exactly. Definitely not a natural sound unless it's some sort of extremely exotic animal, and even then, it seems unlikely. The gully is on one of the wide streams leading into the Grey River and runs close to the outskirts of town, so a few thousand feet away from Fury.


While natural bees would have refused to fly anywhere in the torrential downpour, Melissa's have her force of will behind them. Even so, they find it difficult going. One is immediately struck down by the fat drops running off a tangle of bamboo, while the other two find themselves weighted down by the tiny droplets that stick to their fuzzy bodies, fouling their wings and spoiling their (and her) vision. When they finally do make it to the gully, she recieves a confused impression. It's something big, not all the same color or even (it looks like) the same sort of flesh, shambling its way toward the town.


The last impression she gets before the sheer weight of water sends the bees to the ground is that of ragged claws and white, shining teeth.
 
Melissa


The golden-haired Lunar puts hand to her forehead; taking in the senses of many smaller bodies was a bit of a strain anyway, and the confusion of the rain added to that results in a bit of a headache.


"Can't get a good look..." she says, closing her eyes as she gets her tiny warriors, as she calls them, crawling to shelter under the vegetation. "But it's big, monstrous... claws, and teeth, something unnatural about it. And it's coming this way."
 
Midnight's Fury


The Lunar growls, low in his throat, and his hand tightens around Fury's Fang. Yet he continues walking, as if nothing is happening. "People here have suffered enough. Don't know about you. I'm not letting this thing cause more suffering. Gonna stop it. Anyone care to join me?"
 
Dis


Dis shrugged his shoulders, nodding. "Sure, what the hell? Sounds like a riot. Besides, never hurts to play the hero. The ladies dig it." He said with a wicked little chuckle, ambling off in the direction the others had indicated with a slight smile on his face.
 
Grinning Magpie


Magpie grins fiercely, hopping back and forth as she prepares herself. She had seen where the bees had gone - "Holy shit, you're full of bees!" she'd cried accusingly at Melissa when the Lunar had revealed that power - and she was itching to follow them. Still, Qing's lessons on control hadn't been totally worthless. She took four deep breaths, centering herself and her Essence, before opening her eyes again and proving that, while not worthless, Qings lessons hadn't really changed her, either.


"Gonna go sneak up on it, guys. Catch ya in a bit!" she cries breathlessly, and is gone. Magpie's form blurs in the air, as she leaps from building to surface to bamboo thicket to low, broad mulberry tree and onwards, glorying exultantly in her Exalted speed and making her stealthy way to the gully where Melissa's bees had vanished. She slid soundlessly into the foliage around the gully, Essence and experience guiding her steps, and began to wait and watch...


------


Activating Graceful Crane Stance (3m, perfect balance and can stand on anything as wide and as strong as a human hair), Monkey Leap Technique (3m, jumps are doubled and count as move actions and not miscellaneous ones), Lightning Speed (3m, add Athletics to Move and Dash speeds), and Foe-Vaulting Method (1m, add Athletics to all attempts to reestablish surprise) for the scene with Personal essence. Going off to lookit the beastie; shouldn't take me more than a couple minutes to get there at my new speed!


Am hiding, too; Dex + Stealth results are 10xD10: 7 8 10 8 5 4 8 7 2 5, 7 successes; if the Ambush specialty applies (I'm not sure if it does, so it's your call) then it's 3xD10: 4 10 2, 2 more successes for 9 total.
 
Midnight's Fury


Fury closes his eyes and counts to ten. So much for stealth and sneaking up on the creature. The musician goes haring off with no thought to what's going on and then the Lunar announces what she's going to do. Forget about working together. Nothing for it now. Just have to make sure I'm there to finish it off.


"Well, Melissa. No use trying to use teamwork. Seems everyone's bent on doing it on their own. Unless you want to show them how it's done. I'm heading out." With that, the Lunar heads off toward the gully...
 
Melissa


"I've done some instruction from time to time," the dark Lunar replies with a smile. She takes her ever-ominous spear in a two-handed grip, and moves to follows Fury towards the likely site of encounter. She pauses for a moment, however.


My bees are little use in battle while this rain persists, she thinks to herself, But they still have their senses. The village is vulnerable now, and who knows; this creature may be one that moves in a pack.


She takes a deep breath, then suddenly exhales sharply: a red smoke, or mist, seems to spew from her mouth. Fury, who has seen this before, knows what it is: a large quantity of her blood, borne on the air as tiny crimson drops. Familiarity doesn't quite breed comfort, however, as the ruby cloud shimmers silver a moment and coalesces into dozens of tiny, buzzing forms, which immediately zip away in all directions. Melissa remains still a moment more, her eyes closed, as she focuses on steering her "army" into position. Then she grins, and moves forward again.


"Let's go."


----------


Setting up a perimeter with the bees, just in case anything wants to surprise us. A rearguard, if you will; good military strategy. :wink:
 
Worthy to Be Beloved


Worthy looks bemused as everyone seems positively eager to rush into what might be another battle. Not for the first time, she experiences a momentary pang of envy for her more formidable brethren. Ah, well...


Reaching behind to the quiver hanging across her back, she draws out a slender dart -- longer than an arrow, not so long as a javelin -- and a curiously shaped piece of wood, more than two feet long, with a chunk of quartz fastened in the center.


"Lead the way," she says to Melissa.
 
Grinning Magpie is the first to arrive, bounding across the rain-sodden foliage like a squirrel and causing just as little disturbance as she arrives in the curtain of bamboo fencing the gully. The creature below her is... large. Very large. Elephant-sized, in fact, and with the superficial appearance of an elephant before her eyes were drawn to the mismatched Tyrant Lizard legs and the long, grasping tentacles around the sharpened tusks. The creature's hide is quite literally a patchwork: black bear fur (flattened by the rain) edges against areas of scales, hide, and even feathers, sewn together with slightly glowing twine. It hasn't noticed her yet.


The sound of Midnight's Fury, Melissa, and Worthy making their much noisier way through the underbrush, however, seems to have reached its ears. It begins backing itself up against the opposite wall of the gully, slashing the air with the wicked tusks.


-------------------------


Now is the time to make any rolls y'all feel appropriate. I might suggest "Join Battle"... unless you want to see what happens otherwise. :D
 
Grinning Magpie Disdains Join Battle


"Ugh," muttered the Night Caste, making a comical look of distaste for her audience (a pair of very tired-looking bees). "Still," she continued to herself, "it looks kinda threatening...and if Dis hits it and I don't, he'll be gloating for weeks again."


Magpie settled back on her haunches briefly before dashing up one of the mature bamboo culms. It bent under her weight, leaning out and over the patchwork monster. At the last section she flexed, launching herself into the air with the aid of the bamboo, and dropped down onto the beast's neck, spinning like a top and bringing one leg down onto the creature with a powerful crack.


------


Here comes the hurt train, woo woo! 15 die attack, not adding any dice with an excellency because I'm paranoid and want access to my defense charms in an emergency, so.


15xD10: 7 2 2 1 1 3 7 8 9 5 7 3 7 4 7, 7 successes! As this is an unexpected attack, that's opposing a DV of 0, and all successes count as extra successes! 16L damage pre-soak, glorious ST!


edit: Oh yeah, join battle: 8xD10: 9 10 5 5 10 8 4 10, 8 successes!!! woop woop

Code: 
Grinning Magpie's Combat Block

Punch
- Speed 5 Accuracy 16 Damage 6B/L Defense +4 Rate 3

Kick
- Speed 5 Accuracy 15 Damage 9B/L Defense +0 Rate 2

Clinch
- Speed 6 Accuracy 15 Damage 6B/L Defense NA Rate 1 Piercing

Dodge DV 9 Parry DV 9 Sta+Res 5
Personal 14/14 Peripheral 13/33 WP 8/8

Soak 2B/1L/0A, Hardness 0
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ]
-4 [ ]
In [ ]
Dy [ ][ ]
 
As Magpie kicks the creature in the head, she feels the stitched-together hide sink beneath her foot as if she'd stepped into jelly. The creatures roars at the sudden assault, tentacles waving like mad.


Join battle rolls, please!
 
Midnight's Fury


Hearing the creature roar, Fury charges forward to meet the challenge. Fury's Fang is in his hand, comforting and reassuring. He prepares himself for battle, feeling the rage building, letting it come. As he does so, he feeds Essence into his form, inducing the change to his war form. Moving forward, his muscles ripple and bulge, his skin transmutes into scales, he grows in height and bulk is added to his form. His face elongates, teeth changing to fangs, reptilian features replacing human ones. With the change in his form comes the change in his moonsilver armor, the liquid metal expanding as Midnight's Fury expands, spikes and claw-like appendages forming to mimic the changes occurring in the Full Moon warrior. Finally, the change is complete, and Midnight's Fury never so much exemplifies his name as he does at this moment. One hand tightening on Fury's Fang, the warrior lopes into the clearing with the beast....


-----


Spending 5 peripheral motes to invoke Deadly Beastman Transformation. I'm doing this on the way to engage in battle, but I don't know how the timing will work.


Join Battle: Wits (4) + Awareness (3): Results for 7 dice: 5 successes [ 1 7 3 0 3 7 9 ] 5 successes.
 
Worthy to Be Beloved


As Worthy makes her way through the undergrowth, following Melissa and the others, the same strange change comes over her as over Fury: her neck extends, curving gracefully; her nose lengthens and hardens into a beak; webs form between her bare toes and the faint, almost imperceptible covering of down on her brown skin grows thicker and fuller until it becomes feathers. Even longer feathers sprout from her arms, transforming them into wings -- though she retains fingers at the wing joint to serve as a hand.


The final transformation is the strangest, as a tough-looking substance, white as her feathers, congeals around her limbs and body, until she is clad in what looks for all the world like a suit of armor fashioned from ivory or bone.


------


Likewise spending 5 motes to take "swanmay" form...and committing 3 motes to Armor-Forming Technique.


Join Battle: Wits 3 + Awareness 2 = 2 successes [ 3 6 9 2 7 ]
 
Melissa


Hearing the unnatural roar blast through the undergrowth ahead of her, Melissa frowns and picks up her pace, dodging between the mass of undergrowth so different from the places in which she was raised. Seeing the east ahead through the faceted eyes of her tiny insect-selves, she furrows her brow as she considers the best strategy of assault. Such a bizarre creature... best to judge its capabilities before getting too close.


No need not to attack, however. She lightly flicks her twisted spear into the air and catches it again, shifting into a throwing grip.


-------


Join Battle: 5 dice. Result: 2 1 1 9 1 (1 success)


Could've been a bad botch, there!
 
Tick 0: Laundreu


Tick 1:


Tick 2:


Tick 3: Vanman


Tick 4:


Tick 5: Chimerical God-Mammoth


Tick 6: Arynne, Jukashi


Off you go! Anyone not already involved needs to roll Join Battle to take part. Just roll your dice and subtract the results from 6, and you'll start that many ticks from whereever we are.
 
Grinning Magpie


Magpie grimaced. "Ugh, it feels goopy. So gross!" Glaring at the disgusting monstrosity, she leaped from its back and landed on the wall of the gully, balancing there by sheer dint of Essence for a brief moment before springing forward again, hammering a brutal kick to the beast's side. Maybe it wouldn't be so jelly-ish there!


------


Another kick for 15 dice! 15xD10: 7 1 2 8 2 8 5 4 6 9 10 6 4 1 10, 8 suxx. It is a kick, so 9L damage before extra successes are added in, minimum of 2 dice of damage (Ping!).

Code: 
Grinning Magpie's Combat Block

Punch
- Speed 5 Accuracy 16 Damage 6B/L Defense +4 Rate 3

Kick
- Speed 5 Accuracy 15 Damage 9B/L Defense +0 Rate 2

Clinch
- Speed 6 Accuracy 15 Damage 6B/L Defense NA Rate 1 Piercing

Dodge DV 9 Parry DV 9 Sta+Res 5
Personal 14/14 Peripheral 13/33 WP 8/8

Soak 2B/1L/0A, Hardness 0
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ][ ]
-2 [ ][ ]
-4 [ ]
In [ ]
Dy [ ][ ]
 
The monster's hide again absorbs much of the blow, but Magpie's kick is powerful enough to rip out a row of stitches along its flank. Glowing ectoplasm begins to seep out from between the patches.


Magpie hits the Chimerical God-Mammoth for 2 dice of post-soak damage, and inflicts two levels of lethal damage. Kicking's a Speed 5 action, so you go on Tick 5 next, Laundreu.
 
Midnight's Fury


Roaring a challenge, Fury rushes toward the creature. With a flick of his wrist, the Full Moon hurls Fury's Fang toward a tree limb. The axe wraps twice around the branch. Midnight's Fury swings toward the monster. At the apex of the swing, he twitches his wrist and the axe releases. As the warrior begins to fall, he whirls his axe in a tight circle and the head of the axe, attaining high speeds from the spinning, slams into the creature just as Midnight's Fury hits the ground.


-----------


Any stunt dice, oh wise, venerable and most intelligent ST? 8)


The attack, without the stunt dice, is as follows:


Results for 13 dice: 7 successes [ 9 0 8 6 7 6 5 8 6 1 9 3 4 ]


Damage is 17L before soak, with a minimum of 4L (from the Overwhelming Grimcleaver)


Essence expenditures so far - 29 peripheral - 5 to transform to DBT = 24 peripheral, 17 personal.
 
The patchwork mammoth roars in a hundred voices as Fury's grimcleaver slices clear through the thick hide, exposing layers of its gelatinous interior.


The disgusting sight quickly becomes dangerous as the green-veined gelatin forms into new, grasping tentacles. They twine towards Fury's grimcleaver with startling speed.


2 stunt dice for Fury, which are 2xD10: 7 4, 1 extra success. Fury did 4 levels of lethal damage.


Oh no, counterattack! The monster tries to rip Fury's weapon away with 4 successes. Make a Wits + Melee roll to keep from having the axe ganked.
 
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