Muttonhawk

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

Hmm, this seems a good thread to release my pent-up frustration.

After spending some time skimming the debates, I can't say whether this has been specifically mentioned yet, but...

Why... oh why...
Do so many players...
Think it's a good idea...
To play as a clone of master chief.

This is really more of a subset of Gary-Sue syndrome I've seen that suggests that the player would like to treat this like a game rather than a collaborative story, and has reflected it by constructing a silent protagonist from your average FPS. I understand that, on paper, the concept of making a badass who's equipped for every situation and adaptable for anything else sounds reeeeeally cool. The problem is that I've run into so many people who forget to give these characters any more depth than a cardboard cutout of their reference picture. They very quickly become boring to play with, and (surprise, surprise) guess which player tends to drop out wordlessly from boredom at the first lapse in action? Hint: It ain't me.

Speaking of badasses, why does everyone feel the need to equip themselves with everything and anything at once? You don't need twenty knives unless you decided to make them from glass or something. Even then, why can't you do whatever you intend with one knife? It always slightly comical in my mind when someone equips themselves with a rocket launcher, two assault rifles, three pistols, enough spare magazines to equip a small country's army and the heaviest body armour known to man. To me, such characters will always look like a toddler swaddled in winter clothing when they try to run. I'm pretty sure I read a quote from a Terry Pratchett novel which outlined this perfectly. I can't remember it exactly, or even the source, but it went along the lines of an entire page describing an assassin equipping himself with every tool he had, one by one, then looking in the mirror and slowly collapsing under his own weight.

Phew! that feels better now. I feel like I wasn't scornful enough though. Welp, in any case, thank you for putting up this thread!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

My cs for Depth of Deception is going to be a little while longer I'm afraid. Adjusting to the power level of the characters that have been put forward keep on messing up what I have in my half-done sheet. If that wasn't bad enough, I've contracted a cold, so I've not so much got writer's block as tired folk's block.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Some relief entered Janius' mind. Hopefully now Zharanthixil wouldn't be in a position to harm anyone. If the Elder and the Treeminder had decided that his prejudices had become a problem, perhaps they would try to teach him otherwise and hopefully take steps to heal his mind. It wasn't a guarantee, but for now it was sufficient.

"Yes, Meesei is probably the best mage I know, but she's also wise. She wouldn't harm anyone if it wasn't needed. She'll see to Sabine's injuries." Janius replied, his eyes following Kaleeth's. He looked to meet her smile and couldn't hold back a smile of his own, a genuine one. He had completely forgotten about the wamasu hatchling in all the excitement. "Quite. Though, I'm not sure if they would have adopted the thing by now. It seemed to be giving them enough mischief earlier this morning." Janius let go of one of Kaleeth's hands and walked back to the village by her side.

Tunxeek walked back with Thorantilth, Meesei and Sabine, but stayed with Meesei and Sabine for a while with a suspicion. When the signs made his suspicion more valid, he licked one side of his teeth in thought and leaned forward to look at Sabine's face while they walked. "Sabine, are you breathing okay?"

Breathing shallowly through an open mouth due to a blocked nose and with her face still marked by streaks of tears, Sabine looked at Tunxeek with a small amount of surprise. Her eyes looked down and around, as if searching for an answer, then looked back at him. She slowly shook her head and placed her hand over her wounded side. She didn't seem panicked by it, rather she thought she was just cramped and was waiting for the pain to go away. It wasn't excruciating with Meesei's treatment after all.

Swiftly, Tunxeek shifted in front of Meesei and walked backwards, leaning forward to get a look at where Sabine had placed her hand. He found a large welt that seemed to be slowly shrinking with Meesei's magic. There was something else though. "Meesei," Tunxeek started cautiously, while he looked at the wound, "I do not think to doubt your healing, but I think you may need to focus on this part if Sabine is to attempt the trial again soon." He looked up, at Meesei's face, "Rib has broken."

---

"I suppose I cou-oof!"

The wamasu must have been a trained assassin with its accuracy. Fendros' back was sent to the ground like a plank. After the initial shock of the landing hitting the wind from his lungs, he coughed and looked up to his chest to behold the creature's little face. From this angle it looked like it was smiling. Fendros had a look of surprise. His pride had taken a scratch, but once he got his breath back, he grinned along with Ahnasha's laughter. "Why do I get the feeling this won't be the last time this happens?" Fendros groaned.

If anything was going to brighten his mood after the earlier events, seeing Fendros getting accosted by the daredevil wamasu hatchling from afar was certainly just that for Janius. He was still chuckling by the time he and Kaleeth reached them. "Thinks it's a bird of prey, does it?" Janius asked.

Fendros slowly blinked and looked at Janius with a high brow. Still laying comfortably where he landed. "Its got good aim, I'll give it that. How did your chat with the Master-Hunter go?"

Janius hesitated. With a sigh, his expression darkened and he looked to the ground.

"Not well?" Fendros hazarded, showing some concern as well.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With a look of distressed confusion, Tunxeek looked over at the back of Wulanxeex as he walked away, then back to Sabine. He could hardly fathom the Master-Hunter's motivations. He had changed since these outsiders came. He wanted to investigate further, but he stayed with his father in case he was needed for anything else.

Sabine continued to sob quietly, despite the words of comfort from the others. What made her stop sobbing was something else she realised. Her breathing was shallow and more pained than usual. When she realised that the sensation wasn't going away, she quietened herself for a moment and slowed her breathing, wincing slightly every time her breath reached a certain point. While trying not to move too much in Meesei's arms, she reached one hand down to the base of her ribcage on the side she was struck multiple times. Even with Meesei numbing the pain somewhat, there was a particular spot which shot a sharp pain when pressure was applied to it. "I... want to go... and lie down." Sabine whimpered between small breaths. She still felt completely shut down from failing the trial and the sadness was still written on her face, but for now all she wanted to do was rest. It was too physically painful to keep crying with the injury on her side.

Over by the tree, Janius was pulled from his squat to his knees by Kaleeth's embrace. Even though he didn't quite want to admit that he was scared of what Zharanthixil might want to do next, Janius' expression betrayed the thought. However, as he slowly lifted his arms to hold Kaleeth as tightly as she was holding him, he felt encouraged. This time it was Kaleeth that was warding worries away. If she could stand up and not give into the fear, then Janius thought perhaps he should do the same. Without giving away the true reason why, Janius closed his eyes and said with relief, "Thank you, Kaleeth-Rei." He ran his hand up her back to her shoulder, "Thank you."

After a while, they pulled away from each other and Janius attempted to smile with his hands still holding Kaleeth's. He took one more look at Meesei and Sabine from where he was and his smile faded. "I didn't think he would go that far." He looked back at Kaleeth-Rei, "I don't want to give up either, but your father could have killed someone just then. Is Thorantilth going to do something about it? I didn't understand what he said."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As things were looking like they were going to break out into a fight, Janius braced himself to rush to Meesei and Sabine's defense, but Thorantilth thankfully halted the attack before it could spread. Still, Janius was shocked. Zharanthixil had not only encouraged the Argonian boy to keep hitting Sabine, he attacked Meesei with no justifiable provocation. Without heed to Kaleeth-Rei, he ran up to Meesei and Sabine and stood by them, trying to discern the damage done. "Are you alright, Sabine?" He asked frantically. It didn't look like she had suffered more than a few bruises, but she looked like she was in a state of utter fear.

Sabine had tears running down her cheeks by the time Meesei reached her. Meesei's healing magic nullified the poison, bringing her back to full awareness, but the reality had hit her as hard as the blows. She had lost. She wasn't good enough. The possibility that she might never overcome the trial made her stay curled up and sob quietly into her hands. Luckily, she had come out of the fight without wounds that Meesei couldn't immediately treat. "I can't... I can't do it." Sabine said through her tears, "I'm not good enough."

Tunxeek approached the three. He was as worried as they were. He quietly stepped around and retrieved Sabine's staff, then went to see her. The entire situation had turned to madness in his eyes. He looked from Meesei and Sabine to Thorantilth. "Father, why did he attack Meesei? He's never trusted outsiders, but why was he so violent?"

Janius looked about for any remaining danger, staying around to keep them safe. While searching, he spotted Kaleeth seated by a tree looking distraught. He simply looked over to her. He had a look of genuine worry at this point. Even with the possible punishment of Zharanthixil from Reanaseer and Thorantilth, the pack was not safe in the village anymore as far as he was concerned. Glancing once more at Sabine, safe in Meesei's arms and without serious injury, Janius decided that there wasn't much else he could do and walked slowly back to where Kaleeth was seated. He looked at the ground beside her and spoke, "She's going to be okay, I think she's mostly just shaken." Squatting down in front of Kaleeth, Janius reached out and gently took one of her hands so he could look her in the face, "Are you alright?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The world spun as Sabine was brought to the ground again. The position of her staff meant that one end stuck into the soil on her way down, pulling it from her hand and landing just out of reach. Wulanxeex didn't give her a single moment before she began to receive hits over her body. In the shock and confusion, she instinctively curled up into the foetal position with her hands either side of her head and wrenched her eyes shut. Everything was so dizzy and blurry that the pain began to make her panic. She didn't know to yield, so Wulanxeex kept hitting her.

Janius saw the same chance that Sabine had as Meesei had spotted, but as the chance passed, he looked rapidly between the fight, Thorantilth and Meesei. He couldn't bear to watch anymore. He stood up quickly and shouted to the treeminder, "Thorantilth! Stop this before the boy kills her!"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Before Sabine could stand half way up, she was knocked down to her knee again by a blow to her shoulder. Wulanxeek was met by another short shout of pain, but Sabine's swing at his legs did manage to hit as well as she had hoped. Wulanxeex had fallen prone and she had some extra space. Sabine stepped back, held the length of her staff over her head, and tried to bring it down on Wulanxeex's torso. She was so drained and dizzy that she was surprised that she was able to keep herself from falling backwards. The time she took to try and get her balance resulted in enough time for Wulanxeex to at least defend himself.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Heading off in a few minutes. I'll get another reply in after about two hours I think.

EDIT: Perhaps not. It'll be a few more hours. Looks like you're asleep anyway though. G'night!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Pushing Wutanxeex away was a small victory. She she got some distance, Sabine decided to try and step forward to swing the end of her staff onto Wutanxeex's left shoulder, but her limbs wouldn't allow her to move fast enough before he struck first out of nowhere. She didn't have the time to dodge, so she tried to redirect her weapon to block again. Her staff couldn't quiet close in in time. "Ack!" Sabine let out a high pitched yelp in pain. The club caught her directly on her open side, causing her to drop to one knee.

Both Janius and Tunxeek winced in unison. It looked as if she could have avoided the blow, but the drug's effect was evident in all her movements.

In desperation, Sabine swung wildly at Wulanxeex's legs to at least ward him off. She could hardly breath from the pain and having the wind knocked from her.

"Get up. get up!" Janius whispered pleadingly.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

In a reflexive reaction, Sabine raised her staff with the centre between her head and the club. The weapons met with a clack, but what was surprising was how Sabine stopped the blow without so much as a step backwards. As soon as the club was stopped, Sabine angled her staff to push the club away and thrust the end of it onto Wutanxeex's chest. Before she could strike, he followed through and grappled her. Sabine struggled back a couple of steps, taken off-guard, but was not forced to the ground.

Janius couldn't even blink. Under his breath, Janius encouraged Sabine, but did not coach her out loud for fear of voiding the competition. "Come on Sabine, come on, throw him off."

She managed to keep his club at bay, but Sabine had to react somehow. Seeing an opportunity, she put her right foot back, then threw her knee up into his chest. If it was enough to discourage Wutanxeex, she would try to thrust the end of staff at his gut to try and push him back.