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To a wise observer, the first wave of attacks from the party on the Alphas would make it painfully clear: The Heroes from the Sky were severely outmatched.



The Alpha Male direwolf's reflexes were instantaneous. It went from pouncing on Adam, paws and jaws mere inches from the Druid's face, to jumping into a 360 spin that evaded MacKensie's flurry of bolts. The giant red-striped beast's attention was now locked onto the Ranger, slipping left and right effortlessly to dodge each shot MacKensie fired, snarling with utter contempt for the woman. She couldn't hit it, but the distraction was enough that Adam could retreat without being harmed.

Yet, as soon as MacKensie stopped firing and turned to run, hand in hand with Adam, the beast struck out immediately with another lunge at the pair. Once again it was inches from the Druid and Ranger, and would have undoubtedly snapped it's jaws onto MacKensie's shoulder, but out of nowhere came the stream of lightning.

Lillianna was the first to land any kind of hit on the Alpha Male, the lightning strikingly it directly. It winced and recoiled slightly, pushed back a step. The vast majority of typical damage from a magical lightning bolt was negated by the inately high magic resistance of the animal. Barely a scratch, but it was stunned for long enough to allow it's prey to escape behind the party front-line.



Fenna's charge was enough to make the Alpha Female direwolf pause her attack on Adam, and turn her canine gaze on the spear-wielding Ranger. The direwolf reared up onto it's hind legs and whacked the tip of the spear away with a claw-strike.

Yes. Claw-strike. This direwolf was no ordinary wolf but a twisted Chimera of sorts. It's body was longer than the other wolves, it's forked tongue that of a great lizard. Before Fenna could recover, the beast advanced on her and grabbed the shaft of the spear with a clawed hand, so that Fenna couldn't get away, then yanked the Ranger toward itself and opened it's jaws.

Adam's vines took it by surprise and managed to coil around it's rear half, but the plant magic was not strong enough to hold the Alpha Female in place. It shook itself easily from the trap, snapping the vines but left itself open for an attack...



The Enchanted Gloves of Lesser Protection glowed momentarily and Joji's bite wound healed completely. His skin sealed up without leaving a scratch, although the blood still covered his arm.



One of the Lesser Direwolves fell to Arthur's powerful anchor attacks, but the last remaining one injured Clive, leaving the ex-farmer writhing on the ground with deep scratches and a bite wound before charging Lillianna and being killed by the flying halberd of the ghost. Clive struggled to his feet, his shovel broken leaving him unarmed and injured.

"ROOOOOAAARRRRR!!!" was the distant promise of wrath once again. Except this time, it was a little louder and little closer.

Perhaps more worryingly... it was no longer coming from the south. The roar was now north-east of their position.

But there was more pressing matters to attend to right now, in the form of two extremely powerful, extremely angry direwolves.


The ghost that spoke to Lillianna did not mean her ill, nor was he lying. Closing in on the party was a pack of 8 direvolves. An Alpha Female and Alpha Male leading 6 Lesser wolves. Although to call these wolves 'Lesser' betrayed the sheer size and strength of them. Each were eight feet long and 150lbs at least, claws of black steel and a bite force akin a hydraulic jaw. The Alphas were not only larger, but carried an array of mutations both deadly and aesthetic. While all the wolves were gray, the Alpha Male carried tiger stripes of blood-red fur, and each time it barked into the air, a hypersonic blast of compressed air shot from it's mouth like a missile. The Alpha Female didn't have a regular tail, but something more closely related to rattlesnake...



Clive got into the formation, walking in front of the wizards. He flexed his shoulders, ready for a fight, though when he looked down, he realised his shoe lace was untied on his right shoe. "Darn it," he said, taking off his gloves, then passing them to Joji. "Hey partner, would you hold these for me, for just a moment."

And without realising it, he handed to Joji Yamazaki his enchanted magical gloves. The very things that protected him from damage against the skeletons. And there'd be no time to get them back.



The direwolves came up the very same passage that the party had come from, and they saw Adam first and started charging. Adam barely managed to dismantle the bridge before the pack was upon him. The final tree began to come loose as the Alpha Female nimbly crossed and leapt the rest of the way, landing to the side of Adam.

2 wolves who tried to follow their leader, fell into the gorge with the last tree, unable to react in time, howling as they disappeared into the cave system below the surface. Dead or injured, but completely out of the fight and likely to become food for the predators who lurked in the darkness.

Other wolves intelligently recognized that the bridge was falling and jumped, climbed and clambered up the cliff walls to their left and right, to then get stronger run-ups and higher take-off points, diving across the gorge at narrower points that were unaccessible to the party.

The Alpha Male did no such thing as he needed no such bridge. His strong leap made it halfway across the gorge, and in mid air he displayed just one of his powers. Under his paws, a strange disc of light flashed for a second - a platform he used to jump again! The moment the Alpha Wolf air-jumped, the disc of light was gone, but his momentum was carried him the rest of the way across the gorge. Just before the patriarch landed, he barked loudly at the group, sending a powerful non-lethal punch of sonic-compressed air at them, aiming at no one in particular.

Then both Alpha Male and Female, stood on either side of Adam, growled at him before they pounced with bites and claws.

Adam would be able to dodge one of them, but if someone in the party did not help in some way, the Druid would face the consequence of the 2nd Leader wolf before he was able to retreat back into formation.............




The rest of the pack, of which there were now 4 Lesser wolves across the gorge and closing in back on the position of their Leaders. Once they reached them and the pack became whole again, the wolves turned at the party and charged them down........
@CalleI look forward to your post!
@ZapdosThat was an awesome post, brother! You tied it into @Eviledd1984's post & interpretation of the GM description, then dove into specifics as the group navigator led everyone through the environment. Made clever use of the druid powers, engaging and intense writing. Gave everyone lots to react to and left room for someone else to push on ahead if they so choose. I love it!


_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The Mazy Hillocks: A veritable labyrinth created by thousands of years of wind and rain. The region is a series of steep hills, ravines, cliffs, earth and rock. Getting lost is only the initial danger. Uneven terrain requiring scrambling is enough break an ankle, which might prove lethal on it's own. In addition, too much noise or weight may see one the victim of a rock slide. Or a sink hole might leave an unlucky soul in the cave network below. Humans rarely venture into The Mazy Hillocks. Those who do, rarely come out, for it is home to greater predators than regular wolves. Somewhere in the bowels of this mighty maze is a conduit of Source that draws to it the fiercest of creatures. It sustains them, twists them. Makes them stronger, even gives them powers. Only the strongest survive the competition to make this fortress of nature their home.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The following hours were filled with anticipation for the Heroes from the Sky. With threats ahead and an even bigger threat closing in from behind, it seemed that all of their options were tainted. The party Cleric, James, who'd quickly become the group's trusted strategist, chose the fastest route through and off they went.

Open communication between the group navigator and the two rangers made for an effective team. Fenna scouted ahead of the group, reading the tracks on the ground, identifying common animal passages and rights-of-way. She relayed a steady stream of advice on where the group should avoid leaving their scent, where seemed safe and what size of threat they'd be looking at should a fight break out. MacKensie maintained her vantage up above, coming down repeatedly to alert the group about wolf sightings, then going back up to watch their movements. Adam's skilled map reading made effective use of the nooks and crannies of nature, bringing the team along shallow streams where their visibility would be low, or finding small differences in ground elevation to help shield them all from sight in tight situations. All the while, with all the twists and turns the group had to make, the Druid made sure that they consistently reoriented themselves north.

There were some close calls, with the rangers having to lethally silence a wolf or two in order to maintain their stealth, but the Heroes from the Sky made it through the territory of the two wolf packs. Leaving the woodlands behind, they reached the Mazy Hillocks at the turn of the afternoon.
I added Fenna's familiar to the character page, just to have a spot where it can be tracked without having to dive into PMs.

I'm going to be adding a Zeroeth post on the Character and OOC tab where I'll be adding pieces of lore to give y'all a better idea of the world. Players such as @Saiyan & @Teyao have also contributed in specific areas of the world-build too, so I'll be sure to credit them when their work is displayed. If you have ideas you want implemented into the world, I'd be willing to hear them out and even radically edit what I already have to accomadate you, if I like it (especially if it relates to your character or character arc.)

Don't worry, I won't blast you 50k text walls all at once! It will be a steady process over the next few months, and I'll try to keep it relative to the current part of the story where were at.

Thanks for all your writing so far guys, it's been awesome!
Fenna's Falcon - Currently Level 7


Name: Sil
Gender: Female
Appearance: Slightly larger than normal - a beautiful golden brown colour, marked with dark brown spots.


Level 1 - Able to hunt small animals for party. Able to attack, harass and distract enemies. Can damage minion class enemies. Can make natural, basic bird noises to communicate danger when scouting.

Level 2 - Damage increase. Basic emotional telepathy with Fenna. LOUD SCREECH - can apply an area-of-effect distraction on non-undead creatures.

Level 3 - Agility increase. Perception increase. Basic Indoor Flying Skill - Sil is no longer afraid by confined space, able to fly when there is enough room for her wings and make sharper turns to avoid colliding with walls or ceiling

Level 4 - Able to hunt medium-sized animals. Damage increase. Intelligence increase. Can kill some kinds of minion class enemies. Can do small amounts of damage to monster & leader class enemies.

Level 5 - Increase in Agility. Increase in Perception. Advanced Indoor Flying Skill - allows for more difficult manoeuvres and moving through even smaller spaces.

Level 6 - Telepathy with Fenna increased to basic Common Tongue.

Level 7 - EAGLE VISION - Fenna is able to concentrate and see through the eyes of her Falcon, providing she is not distracted.

Level 8 - ???

Level 9 - ???

Level 10 - ???

Extra notes: The falcon will gain experience/Source along with the party, but these gains can be boosted by Fenna's emotional bonding with her famililar. Word count mentioning the falcon, good RPing with it, naming and gendering it etc. A much smaller boost can also be recieved due to it's bonding with other party members, or other players giving IC time to the familiar. And of course, it's part in battle will also be noted.

This page will be edited as [@Calle] and I further flesh out the concept.


Fenna's sighting and warning to the group was prudent.

Ahead of the party, directly north and in the party's path, was a small watering hole that, while home to many animals, was largely dominated by two wolf packs from the surrounding area.

To go straight through would undoubtedly be the fastest route to the Mazy Hillocks and Valhiem beyond. To veer around the watering hole on the east side would mean crossing the river and going over a large hill that overlooked the woodland. To veer west around would mean going deeper into the thicker parts of the woodlands.

High ground would be useful if a fight broke out. But the high visibility would increase the chances of drawing attention from near and far.

The thicker lowlands was preferable if stealth was the priority, but if there was a fight with wolves on that terrain, the predators would have the advantage.

If time was of the essence, as Commander Vadim had told them, then the bold move of marching on through might be the best move. After all; who knew if wolves would even pick a fight at this time of the morning, or if they would even be at the watering hole in enough numbers to cause problems.
Okay so, this afternoon I was assailed by an idea that refused to leave my brain until I got it on "paper", so here it is if any of you wanna take a look. And if any of you are fans of the Fate franchise then this must look vaguely familiar.
@Zool
@Teyao
@Dark Cloud
@Saiyan
@Goblinguy
@Calle
@Zapdos
@Eviledd1984
@Crusader Lord

Move Clive's powers from this AI product to my character's real sheet


@Dark CloudNot how this works, brother.


The Heroes from the Sky did well to get back on the move early. They moved ever north through the light woodland terrain. The path ahead was littered with potential dangers and delays. Knowledge, skill, stealth, a little luck - all of these things would help them. The wild was unforgiving, even for adventurers, and the creatures to be found there were nothing to scoff at. There were no undead skeletons that might drop their weapons once their leader was down. And there was not 42 townsguard to act as a safety buffer. These were intelligent, ferocious animals whose homes the party would have to pass by or travel through. And without the experience and Source to power their crystals to the higher heights of veteran adventurers, their ability pools were limited, as was their resistance to fatigue and damage.

Today would not be easy.

***


Zigmund Mugba-Zarak - elite unit of General Saladin's scout force - sprinted throughout the night. Non-stop, enhancing his stamina through magical means. This would come at a slight cost to his overall power, but it would make no difference if he could catch the heroes from another world out in the wild. They would be no match for him, that much was certain.

One battle under their belts? Not enough to ascend in strength, not enough to even call themselves a Silver Tier party. This would be comically easy. Had the mission not been so important, had delicacy and accuracy not been required, he'd be tempted to play with his food. Savour the moment. But no, the control core must be apprehended if the Witch Queen's armies were to maintain that one of many advantages. The skeletons were only a portion of the forces, after all. One aspect of the Undead Legions. There were other undead who were not slaves to the control cores. And beyond undead, there were sentient creatures and races in service to Her Majesty. Zigmund himself was human.

Well... he was once upon a time.

Bushes and branches wobbled and swayed with the slipstream draft of wind created by Zigmund's speed. He was gaining on them. He could feel it. Smell it. Soon they would all be his.
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