Tag: hunting

#Lore24 – Entry #260 – Fantasy Month III #17 – The Grand Game

As Told by Hatae Ulla, Exotic Entertainer, Dedicated of Yurisaya

“Being a Confessor, I suppose you’ve had plenty of experience navigating the ins and outs of high society.  Well, that kind of thing is on a whole other level when it comes to how it’s done in my homeland, we even call it the Grand Game.  Though the dark elves that managed to track us down and attacked us that night hid their house affiliations, I could still figure out some details about them that might be useful.  They’re from a very influential house, for one; their equipment was of the best quality, enchanted even, and they were highly trained for stealthy kinds of actions, the kind where you kidnap people and hold them for leverage.  Their use of that poison gas was a pretty clear indicator of that!

There were no women with them, at least not in that particular attack party, though the one in overall command would have to be female, probably a priestess, and in good standing with the Mantis Queen.  We were hidden from normal scrying at the time, so they still managed to find us somehow…that implies either stronger magic at work, possibly from the Mantis Queen herself, OR it means they’ve got a lot more resources at their disposal and have eyes everywhere, scouts spread throughout the whole region.  Could even mean both, really.  So, that narrows it down even further to only the highest-ranked houses, likely one of the Grand Convocation.  That could mean it’s either my family who is still upset that I’ve left, or one of their three main rivals, who wish to use me for leverage against them…or it could also be that one of the others has ideas for how they could use a rogue noble… Guess it’s good to be wanted so much?

That little attack also told us the two groups are likely not working together anymore.  I would have suspected some arcane assistance from those twins if they had been, but there was none of that, no signs of any mercenaries who were associated with them.  So…that meant we could potentially turn them against one another given the right situation, but it also meant that we couldn’t exactly predict when or if the other group would track us down.  It’s all the paranoia and plotting that really gets me about my homeland, you know?  I hate that my mind can still work like that after all these years, even though I’ve tried to forget all about it.  But they keep dragging me back in, I guess…

Well, we were on alert for any further attacks after that, and they knew it.  Even though we couldn’t spot them, I know they were following and watching; Kazumi knew it too, and she was getting pretty antsy about it the whole time.  Another thing about dark elves, and elves in general I suppose…we can be very patient.  They were waiting for a better opportunity to strike, one where they’d be assured success.  Eri’s a little on the brash side for an elf, though; I think that’s one of the things I really like about her!

No, no, I never got the impression that Siduri or Teelsa were working against us.  An illusion, you say?  Hmm, well, that’s unexpected, but I traveled with her a while before that night in the Bronze Unicorn, and I never got the impression that she was plotting anything.  Maybe she’s just not happy with her normal appearance?  No, I wouldn’t think she’s spying on us, I’d trust her with my life.  Siduri…well, I can’t say I know her that good, obviously, but I think she’s rather honest with her desires.  Although…she does have a very mercenary attitude at times, so if there was enough coin involved…maybe she would turn against us…”

#Lore24 – Entry #259 – Fantasy Month III #16 – The Dark Elves Strike

As Told by Erilantielle “Eri” Kitami, Champion of Erisaya

“Everyone has their secrets; that should be no big surprise to you.  I don’t know much about Kazumi, and I don’t go digging into people’s past.  They tell me what they will, and that’s fine for now.  Until I’ve got some kind of evidence of a betrayal, so what?  Teelsa’s a bard, illusions are a thing they do.  Ask about something else if you have to know, or let me out of here.  I’m getting real tired of this waiting.

That’s not changed; if I had any clue why a bunch of mercs were hunting me down, I’d gladly tell you.  I’ve asked Erisaya many times for guidance, but she kept urging me to Arcavarlon and staying light on the details.  I guess she wants me to discover my past for myself.  That’s fine too.  Everything happens as it does, even though I’m usually fighting against it somehow…

Yeah, we made it clear of Greenspire without trouble, even enjoyed almost a week of travel without sighting any followers.  Those dark elf hunters, though, they’re something else.  Hatae said it was something to do with training they’d kept from their days living in the really deep caverns, how going unnoticed was an absolute requirement or something; she’d know more.  They had picked one hell of a night for their ambush, I’ll give them that.  A new moon and a storm coming in.  Even Kazumi didn’t pick up on their presence till the last moment when she shouted out a warning to us while we were taking our turns sleeping. 

Bastards had planned it well, though.  First thing they did was toss some kind of concoction of theirs into the campfire that covered the area in a smoke filled with some kind of poison that slowed us down, making us very sleepy, and choked Teelsa out from casting her spells, to say nothing of clouding our vision.  Had Kazumi not been on the outskirts of the camp, I’d say they would’ve had us; she whipped up a good strong whirlwind to blow the poison cloud away and at least gave us a fighting chance; had they simply wanted us dead, it would’ve been a lot easier for them, but since they were trying to capture us alive, we had enough of a chance that things evened out once the air had cleared, even if we were moving slow.  The Sisters were watching out for us that night, I’d say.

Yeah, we drove them back, killed a few of them, and we weren’t too badly injured, and we knew they wouldn’t make the mistake of attacking with Kazumi on watch again; I’d say she put a big target on herself that night.  Still not rightly sure how they tracked us, though; I’m figuring the twin twats that are hunting me were the ones using the scrying magic Lady Jade told us about, and the dark elves were doing something different.  Pick Hatae’s brain on that one; she knows her people far better than I do.”

#Lore24 – Entry #258 – Fantasy Month III #15 – Catching Rats

As Told by Kazumi, Druid of the Circle of Claw and Fang

“This one is sated for now, Confessor, though this one was disappointed the captain did not deliver her meal.  Perhaps this one is more agreeable now that the beast within is sated…what answers do you seek now?

This one knows little of the events that took place inside the Greenspire, for she spent most of her time outside of it and on the outskirts of the city.  This one was hunting for those who had sought this one’s companions.  Though this one does not trust the lady of the tower, this one accepted a trinket that would shield her from the scrying that we had been warned of, for it would make hunting easier.  Yes, this one was successful in finding some of those who had burned the wood, though not those twin mazoku, only lesser, spies sent to root us out.  This one thinks they knew little about hunting large cats, you see; most kept forgetting to look up.

This one learned little that was useful, though.  They knew who they hunted, that they were meant to be returned alive, but not why they hunted, only that the coin in their sacks was worth the risk.  This one has little use for coin, but this one kept what she found for the others to ease traveling.  They take so much that is not needed with them…

Yes, this one did encounter some of the dark elves as well, though they were much more subtle, more keen to avoid this one’s hunting.  They are sly, these dark elves, very much wary of being spotted, and capable of adapting and setting traps for large cats.  This one observed from afar, did not engage more with them, not without the others.

This one would venture to the Greenspire a few times to check in, and after a few days, this one was restless to be on our way.  Finally, we set out through a hidden tunnel to hide our departure from the tower, coming out in familiar woods to begin the journey to Arcavarlon.  No pursuers were waiting at the time, though the dark elves would be the first to find us on the road, using methods this one is not certain of.  Perhaps there is more to the power of their Mantis Queen than even Hatae knows? 

A spy amongst us?  Hmm…no, this one is certain that is not the case.  This one is observant, this one senses no deceptions.  The bard?  No, you are mistaken.  That one is simply acting as her nature dictates.  She is not human, and her kind are rare in these lands; it is easier for her to travel in her human guise.  When did this one find out?  From the first meeting of the party, of course; her scent was quite distinct, even beneath the kobold smell that clung to them, and this one’s nose is trained to know its prey.  No, this one is not from these lands, and this one is not speaking more of it.  This one wishes to forget the past.”

#Lore24 – Entry #185 – Supers Month II #4 – Something Worse than Man

From the journal of Abigail “Sassy” Dawson, Mage of the Order of Hecate

With some supplies from Granny Opal’s stores, a bit of food, and plenty of powder and shot, I set out from her cabin and didn’t look back.  I wanted to see the country, see what had become of it after the war.  I was kinda an odd case at that time, I guess.  I’d had my life torn apart by the war, but I didn’t feel no strong emotions about it.  I guess my trainin’ in the arcane, learnin’ that there was a much bigger world out there that most people don’t even know about kinda put things in a whole new perspective.  Things I’d only heard of growin’ up that I thought were fairy tales were real, in some way or another, and though I didn’t know it at the time, it weren’t too long before I’d run headlong into some of them.

I’d only ever been around small towns and the hill folk growin’ up and even when I was with Granny Opal, so for all my desire to explore, I was nervous as heck when it came to dealin’ with people, and they were not shy about givin’ me the hairy eyeball.  Guess it was the fact that I was dressed like a mountain man, wearin’ leathers and hides instead of them dresses and the like that women normally wore back then. 

I was a lady out of time even when I was a youngin’, I ‘spose. 

Still, as I made my way along through the small towns and down them hills and valleys of Kentucky, goin’ from place to place, I was slowly learnin’ how to speak with folk again, though I could tell there was some serious trauma all over the place.  I’d lost count of how many wounded soldiers I’d seen makin’ their ways back home, or how many homesteads I’d come across that were abandoned or burnt out.  Weren’t none of it right, and it ought not have happened, and I don’t even think I understand exactly how it came about even to this day.

But, I’m ramblin’ on here when I need to get to my point.  It were maybe three months after I’d cleared on outta Granny Opal’s holler and I was over on the western end of the state in the flatlands, just south of Bowling Green when I first came across one of them kinds of things Granny had warned me about.  By this time, I’d managed to earn a bit of money and had won a few shootin’ contests, and had myself a pretty well-kept Colt Navy revolver and a proper gun belt and clothes (still weren’t wearin’ none of them fancy dresses, though), and I still had my trusty old Enfield and a wicked little Arkansas toothpick I’d picked up.

As it were, I came across the scene of a right tragic affair down in a town called Franklin, and a spread that had been allied with the Confederates that had seen its own brand of Union terrors.  Place stood out cause it was a unique lookin’ house, octagon shaped, and I could see the arcane energy in turmoil all over the property.  Was somethin’ much worse lurkin’ around them parts back then, cause the Veil Between Worlds was right thin there; I just didn’t know if it were cause of what happened, or if that had caused the stuff that had happened there.  I’d seen places that had off-kilter flows before, but nothin’ like this.  Didn’t take much talkin’ with the locals to learn that somethin’ was goin’ on, and it weren’t no Union troops doin’ it.  There were people goin’ missin’, and piles of bloody remains bein’ found, like people and livestock both were bein’ butchered and eaten.

Don’t know really what made me do it, just a sense of doin’ the right thing, I guess, but I decided to do what I could to deal with the problem.  Not that I was no expert or nothin’, but I reckon I could shore up the barrier and root out anything that might’ve been comin’ through.  Won’t linger too long on the nitty-gritty details here; after some huntin’, I’d learnt that it was a pack of dogmen that had moved into the area, come from somewhere on the other side through the leyline that went through the area.  Kinda like werewolves, only without the subtlety, I ‘spose.

It weren’t the brightest decision I ever made to track these things, to be sure, but I was young and dumb back then.  They knew I was a trackin’ them pretty quick, and it weren’t long before they came after me.  Musta been a good two-dozen of them in that pack.  Asher and I both got one hell of a workout that first encounter, and thankfully they’d only sent half a dozen after the lone human and her horse, thinkin’ I was easy prey.  They weren’t countin’ on me havin’ magic bullets, nor on Asher movin’ faster than them.  He weren’t just no ordinary horse, after all, and had grown stronger alongside me.

After that, things got real dangerous, real cat n’ mouse kind of huntin’, and I took a few licks myself.  If you can, I’d recommend NOT getting’ bit or clawed by dogmen; ain’t a pleasant thing.  I must’ve been out there in those fields and patches of trees for a good two weeks trackin’ these things in and out of the places where they’d jump the Veil.  Each time I’d come across a portal, I’d work up the ritual to seal it off, usually havin’ to fend off another bunch of the pack while I did it.  They eventually got the hint, though, and cleared out of the territory, and I put up as strong a warding as I could in the area to bolster the Veil, though I don’t expect it to have lasted forever.  Ain’t had a chance to make it back there to follow up, cause my life would take a drastic turn after that little excursion.