[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

[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.]

[ninjacques]

[He's trying to conserve on those other arrows, so as long as it seems the ones already shot hold, Jacques turns his attention to those that have come up.

He'll cover Zelos until Yugo's ready to go- he's still got a fair number of his regular arrows, after all.]

[highrules]

Here.

[ If Jacques doesn't mind, Zelda will be laying down her weapon in order to focus on him and those ordinary arrows. Her hand glows momentarily, bright enough to definitely be noticeable by all and then suddenly: Light Arrows. ]

Perhaps the light will draw in even more? [ She adds in nonchalantly after, as if she's not able to tell what ails these creatures in the end. ]

[wilder]

[Zelos meanwhile stands at the ready as the ones who came up come into view. He gives a little grin and taunts them]

Finally! I was getting bored waiting for you guys!

[And with that, he's charging forward for the attack. There's the sound of a shield colliding with claws as he blocks their first swipe, while attempting to slash at their stomach in return]

sorry i was out all day!

[yugo]

[Yugo takes a moment to assess the situation. This is definitely going much better... so far. Now that he's centered again, he draws his sword once more and launches himself upward, taking advantage of Zelos' distraction tactics to chop at a furbolg's face.

There's still the other one to deal with, but it's still rooted in place by ice, so it's kind of mad.]

'sokay!

[ninjacques]

[Jacques pauses as Zelda approaches, blinking as the arrow in hand- as well as those in his other quiver begin to glow. Well, that's interesting, but it will definitely prove useful.

Nodding at Zelda, the Hunter turns his bow gun, now locked and loaded, shooting the bright arrow at the other furbolg. Purposely he aims high, figuring that even if it isn't a lethal shot, it can momentarily blind and distract the creature long enough for him to get a second shot in.]

as close to done with moving as I'll get so

[highrules]

[ It's the least she can do for now. Jumping into the fray with her limited experience will only end up causing the others to leap out of concern for her... possibly, if they noticed. Seasoned warriors tend to pick up on things like that so for now she'll settle on staying near Jacques.

She does seem a bit eager to join in with the others more out of wanting to protect them than to help them. Surprisingly, she holds back the impulse and keeps watch for any that may be sneaking up on the pair. ]

[wilder]

[Things are all well and good, as Zelos finishes his slice. But the furbolg isn't down yet, and he miscalculates how it'd react to Yugo chopping at it's face. With the wound in it's stomach and now it's face, it lashes out wildly and angrily. Zelos, no longer quick enough to dodge such unpredictable movements, gets hit dead and knocked back into a wall next to him by the sheer strength of the bear.]

Arg-!

[He's going to need a couple seconds to recover from that one, leaving him wide open in the meantime]

[yugo]

Kaneis!

[There he goes. Now it's just Yugo standing between him and his pals, armed with just a tiny sword.

His eyes narrow and his brow sets. He roars and charges, burying his sword in the bear's belly-- not that it slows it down any. It takes a swipe at Yugo, and he rolls, just barely dodging it.

He's back up in a second, but the ice Yugo threw down to root the other bear has worn off. Yugo doesn't even have time to consider his options. He throws his hands in front of him, a multi-layered portal forming--

-- and then blasts the injured furbolg with bluish light, evaporating most of it and sending what's left careening into the tunnel wall.

Which is cool and all, but there's still the other one to worry about, at least until his friends below get free.]

[ninjacques]

[Jacques has no idea what the kid's just done, but it's super effective! That leaves a semi-blinded furbolg flailing around, although thankfully none of them are within its immediate range.

The Hunter shifts his focus just past the creature, and there is the faintest creaking as one of the old roots slowly begins to stretch out from the wall, reaching out as the furbolg turns upon hearing the sound. The root curls around it and pulls back towards the wall, pinning the creature long enough for Jacques to make his next shot count.

The root slackens its grasp about the thing, letting the body thud on the ground. That's two.]

[wilder]

I'm fine! [Zelos meanwhile is recovering! He pulls himself back up and shakes his head out of daze- just in time to see Yugo utterly destroy a furbolg. GODDESS WTF WAT THAT]

[And with Jacques taking care of the other one, he can actually react]

Dude, did you just vaporize that thing?!

[yugo]

[Magic. Or rather, portalception?

He catches his breath, not anticipating needing that much energy to vaporize a bear. Actually, he didn't mean to vaporize it at all-- just burning it a bit would've been okay. Oops.

He looks kind of embarrassed.]

Uh... yyyyyes?

[He glances at the body and a half.]

I didn't think I could do that yet. Cool.

[ninjacques]

[Meanwhile, Jacques glances at Zelda before stepping back towards the rail to see if the other two furbolgs are still caught up in vines. He tilts his head before looking over his shoulder at the other two.]

...one got loose.

[highrules]

[ Moving to join him at his side to confirm his words, Zelda frowns at the thought. In the best of ways, it meant that the rabid creature was making its way here to join the onslaught and at worst, it might bring a number of friends. ]

We should prepare ourselves for more. [ Her gaze travels towards the darker part of the path as if waiting for them to leap out of the shadows. ]

[wilder]

So you mean you don't know your power limits yet? [he raises his eyebrows at Yugo, his expression turning from surprise to near sarcasm. Of course.] Right...then, maybe you shouldn't do that again for now. Just in case.

[No need to have the kid accidentally kill himself because he didn't know his magic limits. Turning from Yugo, he gives a quick nod at Jacques's words before he focuses on Zelda while catching his breath. Even if they got loose, he has time for sass]

Right, figured that much when we got told to clear the whole den. And I hate to be rude, but are you gonna help out more with the fighting this time around, my dear? You know, since you're here and all.