[semi-locked] Event Post: In the barrow den.

[traitre]

Who: The four accused Dragonsworn, and anyone they ask to come along.
Where: A barrow den just outside Silverglen Retreat.
When: Variably between May 16th-23rd.
What: A barrow den. Eight foot tall killer bear-men. Dragonsworn on a mission.
Warnings: Inevitably violence. Will update as needed.

[ 1 ]

Nestled away in a shadowy part of the night elven forests is the barrow den Ysiel spoke of. You've been asked to clear it of a horde of furbolgs, and the evidence of their encroachment is obvious even before you set foot past the threshold of the den into its black depths -- pottery is smashed, the trees around it are scored by huge claw marks, the masonry is splattered with mud and blood from what looks like a fresh hunt. Whatever got these creatures into such a rage must be serious, but there's not much time to worry about that now. If the furbolg are allowed to stay in the den so close to the Retreat, it's only a matter of time before they spread to the village. Ysiel and her few warriors are good enough to handle most anything that comes their way, but a furbolg invasion would be pushing it.

Just beyond the ornately-carved doorway the stone path curves down and around, lit only by sporadically-placed lanterns. Only one way to go: deeper.

[ 2 3 ]

Once you reach the den proper, it's clear that the little house above was only the tip of the iceberg. Cavernous is the only way to describe the place; the ceilings are so high that the little lanterns that illuminated the walkway so well before only shine small rings of light below them here, leaving most of the den in darkness. Over the years, the roots of ancient trees have burst through the ceiling and they cast twisted shadows all around the earthen walls. If it isn't for the delicate scrollwork on a supporting arch here or there, it'd be impossible to tell that this place wasn't simply grown straight from the earth. Such is the night elven style.

It's a few hundred yards in before you find your first furbolg. Even dwarfed as it is by the tall ceilings and grand scale of the den, it's clear from afar that this thing is huge: eight feet tall on its hind legs with broad, furred shoulders and massive paws bigger than a man's head. With its paws at its side its claws extend nearly to the ground, practically sharpening themselves on the stone path as they trudge around aimlessly. A dozen or more of the things prowl the hallways leading further underground. Some even have crude weapons: a cleaver, a rusty sword, a gnarled staff. Ysiel had said that these bear-men were reasonable (if reclusive) neighbors before, implying intelligence-- but there's no trace of intelligence in these creatures. They seem to do nothing but stand around, occasionally swiping at the air in a sudden rage or gorging on one of the stag corpses from their recent hunt.

[ 4 5 6 ]

The hallways get steadily more twisted and confusing to navigate as you make your way further down into the den. Dark, cramped passages branch off the main run -- these are empty and practically untouched by the furbolg, and the supplies the elves had kept here are still intact in chests built into little alcoves in the stone walls. It's relatively safe to rest here.

The main passageway eventually opens up into a large, two-storied chamber. A central pillar connected to the main pathway by two staircases overlooks a bottom floor occupied by half a dozen more furbolg-- and what might just be their leader. The bear-man is easily over ten feet tall, eyes like green coals and back and shoulders riddled with elven arrows that look like toothpicks on his hulking mass. He wields a battleaxe in both paws, like the ones the Burning Legion's felguards use.

With the death of this last, monstrous furbolg, the threat to the Retreat is removed. There's nothing left for it but to return to Ysiel with the grisly proof of the beasts' demise.

[ Plotting Post/Questions | Silverglen Retreat Log | Wrap-up Post ]

Comments

[yugo]

[Oh, das nasty. Yugo manages not to get blood all over him, but only barely.

As his back is turned, another furbolg rises up from the tunnel behind him and charges. Yugo bounces right off like a rather inconsequential little bouncy thing.

He smacks into a wood beam pretty hard and ends up stunned on the ground for a moment. His fault for facepulling the patrol, honestly.]

[ninjacques]

[That's not good. Jacques trusts Zelos to finish off the first as he turns his attention to the new furbolg that Yugo's managed to find. He slips out an arrow from another quiver strapped behind him, clasping it carefully before he nocks it into his bow gun.

In the next moment it's sent flying off, glowing a faint green. Should it find its mark, it will start to sprout vines in hopes of slowing if not entangling the furbolg. Hopefully in that it will buy time enough for Yugo to recover, but regardless, Jacques has another (normal) arrow set and fired.]

[wilder]

[Good job Yugo! Zelos looks over at the sound of someone smacking into a wood beam in surprise, but is quickly brought back to attention to the furbolg he's currently handling. The thing is badly injured and doesn't have much more to go- so he'll reach up and stab it in it's throat, half-decapitating it to finish it off]

[Jumping out of the way of the falling bear, he'll look over to check on the kid while Jacques shoots at the patrol]

Yugo! You alright?

[yugo]

[Yugo pulls himself to his knees, and then his feet. He doesn't wobble too much.]

Y-- yeah! I'm fine!

[He's been through worse scrapes than this, but now he's kind of annoyed. He doesn't want to bring anyone down, so he wastes no time getting back into the action. He hops through portals with ease, reappears once more above the enemy, and delivers some serious kicks.

This time, he goes for the eyes. The furbolg roars both from being entangled in roots as well as someone shoving their shoes in his eyeballs.]

Pick on someone your own size, you big jerk!

[ninjacques]

[With all the commotion, it shouldn't be any surprise to find a couple more of the beasts heading in their direction. Jacques keeps an eye on the tunnel once Yugo's back on his feet and kicking- literally.

The Hunter's arrows first arrows sent in the direction of the approaching furbolgs are likewise meant to slow them down, figuring their roars are enough of a head's up to the others of his group.]

[wilder]

[Oh good the kid's alright. The whole portaling thing is pretty weird, but he won't really question it. It seems useful enough. ]

[The roars are definite heads up enough. He jumps over the body of the dead one to meet up with one of the oncoming furbolgs before it has a chance to get over that arrow. This time as he slashes his sword, a strike of fire goes along with it- causing even more injury to it's thick skin. He'll trust Yugo to handle the one he's on]

[yugo]

[As the others handle reinforcements, Yugo continues dodging. The thing is blinded, so it can't really do much-- unless Yugo portals the furbolg's hand and makes it slash itself.

Well, that's unfortunate.

One more kick, and the pat goes down for the count, bleeding unceremoniously. Yugo draws the short sword on his back as he runs to help Kaneis and Jacques.

For a kid, he's definitely strong. So are the others-- that's good.]

[ninjacques]

[The arrows that had halted the furbolgs' rush also glow and sprout long tendrils that wind about at the feet of the creatures to give them something extra to deal with while Zelos attacks.

Jacques takes aim for the other, shooting another of his plain arrows off.]

[wilder]

[Magic arrows, okay sure that's new. Handy though, and he'll take advantage of the furbolg being trapped by tendrils as a chance to move around the bear and stab it in the weak part of it's back. A few more slices and one more goes down for the count- leaving the last bear of the patrol left]

[yugo]

[The kid in the hat tries to handle the last one. Somehow he seems in his element. He tumbles through another portal, reappearing above the furbolg's head again, his sword raised. He brings it down into the beast's face, then readjusts himself and clings to the bear's back to avoid being clawed into ribbons.]

[ninjacques]

[Freshly grown magic arrows. Being Greensworn certainly has its perks.

With Zelos taking the one down, Jacques watches as the Bluesworn boy pops in and out of the area. Though he doesn't look it, he's impressed, but there's time enough for that. As soon as Yugo's moved behind the furbolg, another arrow thuds soundly between the creature's eyes.]

[wilder]

[And with the sword being brought down, and the arrow right between the eyes- the creature falls! Much dead, so kill, wow.]

[And it sounds like no other patrols have noticed this attack just yet, so they have a moment to breath and loot bodies. Zelos glances back at the others]

Well, that was a fun start.

[yugo]

[Yugo shakes the blood off his sword with some disdain, then sheathes it and faces the others.]

Sorry about letting that one get the jump on me. I didn't see him at all. I'll be more careful next time.

[ninjacques]

...there's probably a lot more waiting within.

[Lo, he speaks more than one word! Jacques looks in the direction heading deeper into the caverns before he glances over at Yugo, nodding a little.]

Are you all right?

[wilder]

Yeah, most likely. Sure hope we can keep getting them in small numbers.

[Praise be two whole sentences! But since jacques is covering concern, Zelos just shrugs]

It happens. You were more useful than I thought you'd be.

[.........he swears that was supposed to be nice]

[yugo]

[Whoa, the quiet guy actually said something more than one syllable! Yugo blinks at him, and then his face splits into a grin.] Yep! I'm fine. Thanks for the save, guys.

[As for Zelos, Yugo shifts into brat-mode for sec.]

Hahah! I still have some tricks up my sleeve.

[He steps through a portal and reappears a little ways ahead of the group, peeking over the railing to see if anyone's coming. There's another group of bears down there, but they don't seem to have noticed the commotion. These ones have staves, though it may or may not make a difference in the end.

He returns to the others in a flash.]

There's four more down below us. I don't think there's any way to ambush them from up here, unless you want to drop over the edge.

[ninjacques]

[Nodding again in agreement with Zelos' sentiments, the Hunter looks over as Yugo does his thing. It's not like any sort of rune magic he's familiar with, not that he's ever been an expert in it.

When the boy returns to report his findings, Jacques looks thoughtfully in the direction he had scoped out. He pulls out an arrow, one of the special ones that he could coax to grow.]

...draw them up here? Maybe we can try to split them up.

[wilder]

[Wow brat alert. But at least they have someone who can look ahead. That's useful enough]

We'd probably break some limbs dropping over.

[At least, he's assuming so. He's been sort of overly careful about jumping and drops since becoming human again, just in case.]

Can any of your fancy arrows do something like that? All I got is fire.

[yugo]

We can split them up, no problem.

[As a blue dragonsworn, he has some cool stuff he can do, too. Or, well, one cool thing. The other things he hasn't quite gotten the hang of yet.]

Just say the word and I'll go distract them.

[ninjacques]

[Jacques carefully sets the arrow into his bow gun.]

If you distract them, I can try to trap a couple down there, let the other two come up this way.

[They took two down without too much trouble earlier, at least.]

[wilder]

[He shrugs, flicking off some of the excess blood off his sword]

Sounds like a plan to me.

[yugo]

[Yugo nods and disappears through a ring of blue, as he is wont to do.

One might be able to hear the familiar noise of his portals, a standard for the way he fights. There's some taunting--]

Hey, pig-faces! Come and get me-- if you can!

[The resulting roars echo up through the tunnel, accompanied by the sound of Yugo teleporting as fast as he can go. Within moments, the bears are in range of arrows from above. Yugo pops into existence, blows a raspberry, and hops into a portal only to reappear just a few feet ahead of the nearest bear-- just out of reach.

Well, that does look infuriating. He's used to dealing with people twice his height, or more.]

[ninjacques]

[As soon as Yugo vanishes, the Hunter quickly and quietly makes way to the edge where he can snipe, clicking the arrow into fire-ready position the moment the sounds erupt from below.

He watches the furbolgs below as they begin moving around in attempt to try catching the teleporting boy, choosing his targets carefully before he fires off one shot, then nocks and squeezes off another. Each arrow practically erupts into roots and vines, snaking towards the feet of the closest furbolgs. He's already preparing another shot in case the other two don't prove enough to hold, but he throws a glance towards the others yet on the same level as him. Get ready.]

[wilder]

[Zelos listens to what he can of what's going on down below...yeah. Guess he shouldn't be surprised the kid is an expert at being an annoying brat. Least it's coming in handy]

[But he catches that nod and steps forward down the path, to make sure any approaching furbolg would encounter him before Jacques. Sword and shield ready, he waits for anything to come running his way]

[yugo]

[Yugo's nothing if not an acrobat. He flies past Zelos, turning as he does and gesturing at the furbolg's feet. Ice appears, rooting it in place instantly.

He touches the ground, flips, and lands on his feet. He's a little tired, but he's enjoying the free use of his powers again. Even so, he can hear Adamai warning him not to overdo it-- he's still recovering from his fight with Qilby, even though it's been over a month.

He'll just take a moment to catch his breath, then.]