Tarentek shrugged his shoulders. "If you have somewhere in mind, I would certainly join you, but I don't have a particular need to get out of the house. Staying in one place for a while doesn't bother me too much, at least not anymore. Being both a scout and a marksman, patience was something I had to learn really quickly. Exploring new, unknown areas was indeed part of my job, which was obviously pretty exciting, but there was also a lot of waiting involved. Imagine guarding a small, mostly empty cave in a mountainside for about thirteen hours straight while the rest of my team was exploring an ancient ruin, and that is just the most recent example. There are a lot of stories I could tell about that. I mean, they would be really, really boring stories, but I could tell them. Luckily, we always traded off on who was on guard duty for our camp."
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Tarentek gave a slight chuckle. "Well, I'm a lot less likely to run into any trouble in here than I am out there. Until your people have been given good reasons to trust me, it is probably better for me to stay out of sight and out of mind, at least when alone. Besides, I had plenty to keep myself occupied. I have a lot of lost time to make up when it comes to my exercise routine. I never particularly enjoyed it before, but after hardly being able to do anything for the past week, I can't describe how fulfilling it was to be able to just be able to lift something heavy. Anyway, we don't really have to go find Raldel right at this moment. I've already spent most of the day thinking on what I'm going to teach everyone, so I have my plan. And if Raldel was focusing on the ritual, then he may not have made all the decisions yet."
"Well, in that case, I think congratulations are in order. I'm sure this is a big moment for you. I do wish you did not have to go out on this mission so soon afterwards, but I suppose it is for your people." Tarentek responded. After he had returned everything he had moved before back to its proper place, he took a seat at the table across from Onyx.
"Sure, I'll come with you tomorrow. Technically, we could leave at any time after I have my assigned escort, but I do want to make sure everyone knows how to behave before we arrive. Even if the others do not intend on joining us for negotiations, we should be prepared for anything. Who knows, the Queen might request to see them for whatever reason, and we cannot afford to deny her requests. Ideally, we won't need the escort, but I'll be glad to have them if we do." He commented.
"Sure, I'll come with you tomorrow. Technically, we could leave at any time after I have my assigned escort, but I do want to make sure everyone knows how to behave before we arrive. Even if the others do not intend on joining us for negotiations, we should be prepared for anything. Who knows, the Queen might request to see them for whatever reason, and we cannot afford to deny her requests. Ideally, we won't need the escort, but I'll be glad to have them if we do." He commented.
Ssarak Dyreackthanose
---
"I can hear them. Their thoughts are almost insane, ravenous. They may very well be...wait. Ready yourselves, they're coming!" Ssarak warned, quickly bringing his weapon to bear. Their attackers were far from subtle as they charged from the cave screaming at the top of their lungs. As soon as he saw the first of them start to come within range, Ssarak acted quickly and efficiently. The feral being was nowhere close to approaching tactically, so it could not evade the heavy, diagonal strike from the axe head on Ssarak's weapon, which had more reach than its meager club. The sheer force of the blow was enough to split the beast's skull open like a melon, which was unquestionably fatal. However, the second of the attackers was close enough behind the first and was able to leap up on Ssarak before he could recover from the swing.
Fortunately for Ssarak, the very shape of his head was a boon in this situation, as it only took moving his head a slight amount to make the club hit his helmet at an angle, significantly reducing the impact. It was still painful, but not deadly. Ssarak grabbed a hold of his attacker's side with one hand as he turned to use its own momentum against it by throwing it straight to the ground behind him. Knowing that there were yet more of these frenzied beasts, Ssarak ran a few steps away from the cave entrance to give Alaira some space to enter the fight, trampling over the one he had tossed to the ground in the process. Even with Ssarak's size, it was not likely to be lethal, but at the very least, it would be injured.
By this point, it was obvious from their attackers' appearance, and their reaction to the light, that they were feral vampires. They were essentially mindless beasts that cared only for their next meal, which meant there was one more that was unaccounted for. A feral vampire would not have wards, especially wards as strong as those he felt. In all likelihood, it was another psychomancer who was probably the greatest threat remaining in the camp. However, he was also nowhere to be seen. He likely was the one who commanded the ferals to attack, as Ssarak heard the order when he was reading their minds, but he was not following up on the attack with his own abilities. To Ssarak, this was immediately suspicious. To send vampires out in the daylight to fight was a bad idea on its own, but to do nothing to aid them was just a waste of forces if he actually wanted to kill them. Either the psychomancer was preparing another defense below the surface, or he was trying to escape. Ssarak knew well all of the tricks a psychomancer could use to slip away unseen.
Ssarak could not let the psychomancer escape, but the feral vampires were not going to let up the pressure. Even now, the one he had trampled was starting to stand, while another was rushing past it. Extending out a hand, Ssarak used an illusion that would perhaps be even more effective than usual in this situation. It was a bright flash of light from his hand which would hopefully serve to blind and confuse the ferals. They were obviously sensitive to light, and their simple, rage-filled minds might react with the same momentary aversion to the perceived light as to the actual sunlight.
"There is another in the area, a psychomancer. We cannot let him escape!" Ssarak shouted to the others. It was loud enough that the psychomancer would be able to hear him if he was indeed above the surface, but in this case, that was exactly what Ssarak wanted. Using the brief opportunity afforded to him by the blinding light, Ssarak worked up a short sprint, then lifted off into the air safely above the feral vampires. He just had to trust in his allies' abilities to handle the feral beasts while he located their final foe. Unfortunately, Ssarak could not simply look around and spot the psychomancer if he was using invisibility. Even if his invisibility was not perfect, it would take too much concentration to scan the area in the time he had. There was the option of Ssarak using his own psychomancy, but he had another, potentially easier solution in mind. All he had to do was trick the psychomancer into making a mistake.
"There! I found him!" Ssarak shouted, followed quickly by him loudly flapping his wings to gain more height, and therefore potential for speed. Of course, he had not actually located the psychomancer, but the sudden announcement that he had could cause him to rush, or even use other abilities to aid in his escape. Either way, Ssarak scanned the area, looking for any sign of movement, especially in the grass or bushes.
---
"I can hear them. Their thoughts are almost insane, ravenous. They may very well be...wait. Ready yourselves, they're coming!" Ssarak warned, quickly bringing his weapon to bear. Their attackers were far from subtle as they charged from the cave screaming at the top of their lungs. As soon as he saw the first of them start to come within range, Ssarak acted quickly and efficiently. The feral being was nowhere close to approaching tactically, so it could not evade the heavy, diagonal strike from the axe head on Ssarak's weapon, which had more reach than its meager club. The sheer force of the blow was enough to split the beast's skull open like a melon, which was unquestionably fatal. However, the second of the attackers was close enough behind the first and was able to leap up on Ssarak before he could recover from the swing.
Fortunately for Ssarak, the very shape of his head was a boon in this situation, as it only took moving his head a slight amount to make the club hit his helmet at an angle, significantly reducing the impact. It was still painful, but not deadly. Ssarak grabbed a hold of his attacker's side with one hand as he turned to use its own momentum against it by throwing it straight to the ground behind him. Knowing that there were yet more of these frenzied beasts, Ssarak ran a few steps away from the cave entrance to give Alaira some space to enter the fight, trampling over the one he had tossed to the ground in the process. Even with Ssarak's size, it was not likely to be lethal, but at the very least, it would be injured.
By this point, it was obvious from their attackers' appearance, and their reaction to the light, that they were feral vampires. They were essentially mindless beasts that cared only for their next meal, which meant there was one more that was unaccounted for. A feral vampire would not have wards, especially wards as strong as those he felt. In all likelihood, it was another psychomancer who was probably the greatest threat remaining in the camp. However, he was also nowhere to be seen. He likely was the one who commanded the ferals to attack, as Ssarak heard the order when he was reading their minds, but he was not following up on the attack with his own abilities. To Ssarak, this was immediately suspicious. To send vampires out in the daylight to fight was a bad idea on its own, but to do nothing to aid them was just a waste of forces if he actually wanted to kill them. Either the psychomancer was preparing another defense below the surface, or he was trying to escape. Ssarak knew well all of the tricks a psychomancer could use to slip away unseen.
Ssarak could not let the psychomancer escape, but the feral vampires were not going to let up the pressure. Even now, the one he had trampled was starting to stand, while another was rushing past it. Extending out a hand, Ssarak used an illusion that would perhaps be even more effective than usual in this situation. It was a bright flash of light from his hand which would hopefully serve to blind and confuse the ferals. They were obviously sensitive to light, and their simple, rage-filled minds might react with the same momentary aversion to the perceived light as to the actual sunlight.
"There is another in the area, a psychomancer. We cannot let him escape!" Ssarak shouted to the others. It was loud enough that the psychomancer would be able to hear him if he was indeed above the surface, but in this case, that was exactly what Ssarak wanted. Using the brief opportunity afforded to him by the blinding light, Ssarak worked up a short sprint, then lifted off into the air safely above the feral vampires. He just had to trust in his allies' abilities to handle the feral beasts while he located their final foe. Unfortunately, Ssarak could not simply look around and spot the psychomancer if he was using invisibility. Even if his invisibility was not perfect, it would take too much concentration to scan the area in the time he had. There was the option of Ssarak using his own psychomancy, but he had another, potentially easier solution in mind. All he had to do was trick the psychomancer into making a mistake.
"There! I found him!" Ssarak shouted, followed quickly by him loudly flapping his wings to gain more height, and therefore potential for speed. Of course, he had not actually located the psychomancer, but the sudden announcement that he had could cause him to rush, or even use other abilities to aid in his escape. Either way, Ssarak scanned the area, looking for any sign of movement, especially in the grass or bushes.
See, I like it better when you don't tell us the enemy's tricks and instead give appropriate hints as to what is going on (as long as the hints are sufficient). I'm trying to reason out whether or not Ssarak could figure this out. I think he could surmise a few possibilities about what this psychmancer might be trying based on what he knows. He would guess that he might be either trying to escape, or stall for time to create a more solid defense underground, since sending feral vampires up into the daylight would be a really stupid move if he was trying to actually kill his attackers. Ssarak has put quite a bit of time into studying psychomancy, so he knows the tricks. It's like when I'm facing down an enemy who is playing a character in Smite that I've put a lot of time into. I know the strategies and tactics, so it's hard for them to surprise me.
Still, it's a lot easier to get to these conclusions when I myself don't know the answer. No need to worry about making a decision that I wouldn't have otherwise.
Still, it's a lot easier to get to these conclusions when I myself don't know the answer. No need to worry about making a decision that I wouldn't have otherwise.
So Ssarak can feel his wards and knows he is there, but cannot see him. Ssarak isn't going to just happen to look right at him and see him, but I have a plan, just have to get up in the air. Time to stampede.
Well, after I do some things I need to do.
Well, after I do some things I need to do.
You said they're not fighting tactically, so if Ssarak gets that heads-up that they're coming, he could probably smash one of them in the face as they're charging. However, he knows the psychomancer is there, and he would very much want to find him. How perfect is invisibility?
So...the vampire already left? No chance to stop him from leaving the cave?
Never thought I'd see you arguing tooth and nail to have your character fail.
If all else fails, there's always luck. Many a time has history been forever changed by chance. An assassin going for a sandwich at the same restaurant as his target after his first failure, a notoriously innacurate musket just happens to find its mark. All kinds of things can happen.
If all else fails, there's always luck. Many a time has history been forever changed by chance. An assassin going for a sandwich at the same restaurant as his target after his first failure, a notoriously innacurate musket just happens to find its mark. All kinds of things can happen.
Two things.
Firstly: Grey is not swinging the axe at her, he's trying to club her with the handle. That's usually how he opens fights. Stun with a knee to the stomach and a concussive blow to the head, finish with blade at his leisure. If the knee misses, he does NOT strike with the axe, and will instead evade or block with the shield.
Second: Even if he did try a normal swipe, he would miss. He wields his axe with a very high grip, a little more than halfway up the haft. This exchanges reach for power.
Grey couldn't have possibly hit her with that attack.
Gripping the axe closer to the head would not give more power, it would give less. A lower grip allows more power because the center of mass is farther from the hand, which is acting as the fulcrum for the lever. A higher grip grants more control, because gripping closer to the center of mass allows you to manipulate the entire object more easily and quickly. That is why swords are supposed to have a center of mass in or near the hilt. You can test this yourself with something like a hammer.
Edit: Here is a video to illustrate this point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh1QDf_6Dmk
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