[color=DAA520][b][h1][center]Entr’Acte: The Tide of Blood[/center][/h1][/b][/color]

[hr]

Blood. Flesh. Bone. Feast. Food. Hunt. Hunt. Hunt. 

The hunger drove them to hunt, to feed upon flesh, their minds had become warped and broken, long forgetting their origins as the very beings they now descended upon to sate their eternal hunger. They had become a scourge upon the northern highlands, entire villages would fall silent after their hunts, blood soaked tents and ravaged corpses were often found by the druids who dared to travel the northern reaches and far too often those druids failed to return, another feast for the flesh hungry abominations.

They were the Iskrill, though that was a name only they would use for themselves, the humans they hunted often referred to them as the Scourge, Abominations, Beasts, the like, even the trolls knew to hide when the call of the Iskrill hunt sounded in the distance. They were feared amongst the north, and even the south knew of their hunts, they were at their height. 

Then the damn walls came, the spears, the metal, the humans had learned to fight back, the hunters, became the hunted. 

A city arose, it dedicated itself to fighting the scourge, the Iskrill were unprepared and were shattered, their stranglehold upon the north had fallen and they were forced to split. The eastern broods fled into the twisted forests of the Aberrant, a region the Iskrill found themselves perfectly at home in, sending hunts into the highlands, testing the city. The western broods had little to flee to, until they found another city, a shining beacon devoted to a false goddess of the sun. A fest waiting for them. 

The Iskrill had been beaten, but they refused to go, they were a parasite upon the north, and they would feed until there was nothing left. 

[b][i][h2][center]The Beast and the Wasp[/center][/h2][/i][/b]

Serkox and his pack had been following the beast for a while, a mighty giant moose that could feed their brood for quite some time, they were drawing close through the mangled trees and brush to it, he could almost taste its flesh upon his tongue, the thrill of the hunt’s best part was drawing close, the killing of their prey and getting the first feasting of its flesh. 

The 5 hunters stalked quietly through the brush, their weapons, some javelins and axes drawn, their claws and teeth could be used in case they broke, but that would make things, far more difficult. They followed the beast’s scent, drawing ever closer, that is when they heard it. Echoing through the forest they could hear the cries of the moose, Serkox could begin to sense something else in the distance, it was not anything he had come to know as native to these woods like a wolf-bear, they were different, this couldn’t be good. 

He gestured towards his pack, ordering them to move quicker alongside him, their pace quickened, eager to drive back this new scent and gain their feast. They found themselves in a small clearing, a giant moose fallen to its side, already smelling of death, then, there were the creatures, they were strange, like nothing the hunter had ever seen before, they were human like but insectile, red and brown striped with large stinger like body parts, hovering on fast buzzing wings, they wielded weapons similar in make to the hunter’s own, it was clear they have lived in these woods as well and had too hunted down this giant moose. 

There were three, an easy number to take down, but near them Serkox could see smaller insect looking creatures, they were similar in design yet smaller, and more bestial looking, he counted five. Fuck. This could be difficult.

He gestured for his men to ready their javelins, he still had the element of surprise which could prove useful. He cocked his arm back, javelin at the ready, aiming it towards one of the larger creatures. With a soft prayer to the All Father he chucked it with all his might, as did his pack members. 

A few struck true, two piercing right through the smaller creatures, and Serkox’s flying right into the larger one’s chest, bringing it crashing down, it's wings sputtering with last gasps of its life. The remaining creatures turned towards their direction, their wings buzzing angrily and weapons now drawn and at the ready. The hunt’s best part had begun.

The hunters drew their axes and charged towards the creatures, Serkox crashed against one of the larger creatures, its own spear-like blade and stinger clashing against his axe and claws, each one slashing and stabbing at the other, seeking an opening. A battle began around them as well, the two larger creatures proving themselves the match of the hunters, the smaller ones though buzzed and dashed around the hunters, being far more of a nuisance, though the occasional axe, claw, or stinger struck true, causing the hunters to howl in pain or the creatures to buzz louder. 

It was bloody, Serkox caught the creature in its leg with his axe, blood spurted out from the wound as the creature loudly buzzed, with a sickening crunch he dug the weapon head deeper, grabbing the bottom with his extra bottom arm, and he pulled with all his might. 

The creature screamed, and the sound of tearing exoskeleton only barely covered it, the leg tore at the wound point, muscles stretching far beyond their limit with a wave of bright green blood pouring forth. A final snap echoed through the clearing as the leg ripped, Serkox held it aloft, the creature crashing into the ground from the pain, he twirled his axe around before finally embedding it into its skull, ending its life. 

The other hunters had managed to dispatch their creatures, two were heavily injured from the smaller creatures though, the stings apparently contained some poison. Serkox doubted they would live much longer. They needed to get as much feast as they could. 

“Gather as much as you can.” The hunter growled at his pack members. They moved as quickly as they could with their injuries, gathering enough flesh for their brood, before slowly returning home. The two stung would soon pass.

This would not be the only encounter with the insects, both beast and wasp would clash time and time again, fighting over the same hunting grounds, predator versus predator, the Iskrill’s savagery clashing against the Swarm’s sheer numbers, hive against brood, a war that for whoever won, humanity would only lose. 

[b][i][h2][center]The Fallen Sun[/center][/h2][/i][/b]
Ykkat walked through the bloody and ruined streets, charred and broken buildings surrounding her, now home to her fellow brood mates, feasting softly upon any sort of flesh they could gather, be it human or animal. They had come to this city long ago, descended upon its inhabitants and slaughtered them, eaten them as a glorious feast, by the All Father if only Ykkat had been there for that. 

Now they had come to live in the city, hunting whenever they could, they had to gather a lot to feed the numbers they held, which proved difficult with the anarchic nature of the broods, each one vying for more and more flesh to sate their endless hunger. Even in the past they had been like this, and now, even after having claimed the ruins of a mighty city, they were still behind their enemies, especially that of their hated rival beyond the mountains and the river. 

Ykkat knew this needed to change, they would not last long if their prey sought to fight them in force, they grew more and more powerful each day, while they stagnated. 

She came upon the home of one of her companions, Zerkam, a strange Iskrill who was born with rainbow eyes and had strange powers, many called him blessed by the All Father but few ever interacted with him, afraid of his power. They were fools.

She entered, finding the Iskrill sitting on his cot and staring at one of his arms, a soft flame glowing in his palm, as soon as he spotted her he seemingly snuffed it out, rising to greet her. 

[color=8FBC8F]”Greetings Ykkat, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”[/color]

[color=FFE4E1]”I wished to talk to you about some things, but I see you were busy doing something.”[/color] The flame had been an improvement, as the Iskrill had little knowledge or control over his powers, he was learning, this was good. 

He looked upon his arm, the one that had held the flame [color=8FBC8F]”Yes, I was just learning more about my powers, it is difficult, a bunch of trial and error mostly, but enough of that.”[/color] He turned back towards his cot, gesturing for Ykkat to follow him [color=8FBC8F]”What did you wish to talk about?”[/color]

The two Iskrill sat, Zerkam looked ever curious as to her visit, they were not that often admittingly, but he enjoyed them nonetheless. He offered Ykkat a piece of flesh, which she ate slowly, thinking of her words. 

[color=FFE4E1]”Well Zerkam, I wished to speak to you about something, it's about our people here. As you know, we are rather divided, we fight amongst ourselves even as we are hunted down by our own prey, it needs to change.”[/color] This was the first time she had ever voiced her opinions, and she could see his reaction to her words, his eyes widened, unsure of how to respond. 

[color=8FBC8F]”So you’re, wanting to unite the Broods? All of them within this city?”[/color]

[color=FFE4E1]”When you say it like that yes it does seem daunting, but we can do it brood by brood, start with ours, organize ourselves, make sure we can fight back against our rivals. Then we can go to the next brood, if they see the benefits it’ll get easier with each brood.”[/color] She had put a great deal of thought into this, she had no desire to see her people destroyed by their prey, the prey was meant to be hunted, not the predators. 
Zerkam sighed [color=8FBC8F]”You’re obviously going to do this with or without my help so I might as well.”[/color]

[color=FFE4E1]”Perfect! Since you’re chosen by the All Father they should listen to you more, now, lets see if we can’t help your powers some more.”[/color]

The two talked, trying to learn more about the strange Iskrill’s powers and Ykkat’s plan to unite the broods so the hunt may continue, their plane would need some help, they both knew that, but they wouldn’t quite expect the help they would get. 

[b][i][h2][center]A watching father[/center][/h2][/i][/b]

Yamat had watched his children with increasingly curious eyes, while he himself admitted that the Iskrill were not his best works, they were more than proving themselves as worthy of their father’s aid. And that aid he would give them. 

That blasted city had split them in two, now his eastern children were engaged in a war with those wasps and the western ones were seemingly sitting, waiting for their deaths, he needed to give them a boost. 

But what could it be? He thought to himself a great deal, that one Iskrill within the fallen city would have to gain some other aid, he could not make a ruler that was for sure, but he could assist his children in another way. Those wasps, while enemies of his children, were interesting too, perhaps those who had proven themselves in the Aberrant could be helped as well? It would make the play far more interesting. 

It was decided, he would bless his children, and the wasps of the north, now exactly what would he give them? They needed some sort of ability to counteract the organization of the humans, hmmmm, ah ha! That would do just fine. 

He raised his hands, his runes glowing their beautiful gold, and he conducted his blessing. To the Iskrill and the Vespians he would give the gift of mutations, each one could force upon themselves mutations, only physical ones though, wings, limbs, claws, acidic spit, anything they could think of, they could gain it. Though of course, even Yamat could not just give them a straight blessing, instead he made it random, the Iskrill would have to wait a week before the mutation was fully complete and the result was random as to what they would get, but their thoughts would influence the range and they could still operate, with the Vespians he opted to give them more powerful mutations and a bit more control, but at the cost of having to live within one of their cocoons, unable to work, that would be a fine balance. 

He would give the groups a slight nudge as to their new abilities, perhaps a few new mutations at some inopportune times? Yes, that would sate him until his other plans were needed. Speaking of which, he turned his attention once more to his avatar, he had a package to retrieve. 

[hider=summary of this chaos]
There’s a brief telling of the Iskrill, how they were once predators of greatness but were forced back and divided into east and west by a certain spartan like city. 
We come upon an eastern hunter, who encounters a Vespian hunting party taking down their giant moose, the two hunting parties fight, eventually resulting in the Iskrill winning but suffering loses, the two groups would soon become rivals due to their predatory natures clashing. 
Then we go west, detailing a female Iskrill who desires to unite the broods in the now destroyed sun city, she talks to a Iskrill servant friend about it and he agrees to help, but they will need a lot more help to actually achieve this goal. 
Lastly we see Yamat, watching his children and deciding to bless them and the Vespians of the aberrant with the ability to force mutate, before turning his attention back towards Mathius. 
[/hider]

[hider=mp dealios]
Starting=5mp/5dp
2mp-confer upon the Iskrill the ability to forcibly mutate. The process is entirely random and takes about a week to fully complete, though the creature can still operate normally. These mutations can be anything bodily, wings, pincers, claws, poisoned spikes, strange growths and bones, etc, metaphysical or magical mutations can not come from this power. 
2mp-give the Vespians of the aberrant the ability to do the same, but they can gain more powerful mutations but they have to retreat to their cocoons and are not able to operate normally for the duration. 
Ending=1mp/5dp
+5 prestige to the Servants
[/hider]