RP:Into the Wyvern's Nest
Part of the Yeti Tribe Arc
Part of the Snow Maiden Arc
OOC Note
This is part of an on-going group of RPs aimed to develop other regions around Frostmaw, and as such is going to be categorized as one of the "Planned Arcs".
Characters
NPCs
Episode 3: Eradicating The Wyvern Nest
Reaching 35 meters, the length of the east indiaman was hardly the ship's best feature. Built up from the lowest, five decks lay. The weather-worn ones were kept in proper order, a tight regiment of repairs and cleaning kept the entire ship in pristine condition. Three masts supported the square rigged sails, currently lashed securely to the ship's booms. The sails themselves had been made of a bleached canvas, white as the outdoors would allow and showed no signs of rips or tears. Various barrels and crates sat on the main deck, not littering, but rather in a well thought out order. Without a figurehead to signify it’s title to the illiterate, the only form of identification for those unfamiliar with her was a simple name carved into her woodwork, claiming it as ‘Mutiny’. Nailed to the side of the vessel-- easily viewed from the dock or from the ship’s gangplank-- lay a sign informing seasoned sailors as well as folk without their sea legs that adventurous men were encouraged to sign the ship’s roster and to join their next trip out.
Satoshi is a-hunting. Only thing is, her prey isn't for meal purposes. The feline's after adventure, and a certain ginger-haired pirate to drag along with her. Which leads to Satoshi sauntering up the gangplank, whistling a jaunty tune as she fixes her sights on a random sailor and raises a brow. Without a word the man jerks his thumb in the direction he last saw Trey, knowing full well that she's the only reason the magus pays Mutiny any visits. Tossing the man a salute, Satoshi follows the sailor's indicated path, calling, "Oi~! Can the cap'n come out to play~?"
Trey bursts rather suddenly from a rather sturdy door leading to below decks, face plastered with a wide, excited grin. Quick steps and a long stride made the two meet quickly, and the captain greeted the feline with a voice to match her face. "You've arrived! It took you long enough. I'm packed and ready." Not only did it seem like the captain was ready for adventure up in the icy regions of Hollow, but the ship also seemed to be well stocked and ready for a voyage. In fact, there were more sailors on board than usual, enough to sail the ship and enough to form a very nicely sized boarding party. Those were just the men on deck. A few minutes after the woman appeared, a rather androgynous ... man? appeared from the same door, acting like someone who was desperately trying to hide hurt pride.
Satoshi is taken aback with the enthusiastic greeting, but for only a moment before she adopts the same expression, finding the captain's excitement contagious. "I had other business to attend to first, but here I am obviously. Let's end the dawdling and get goin', hmm~?" The mage, however, doesn't heed her own words as she takes a moment to glance about at the heavily stocked ship. "Planning a party or somesuch?"
Trey smirks. It was always an extra boost of excitement when getting Mutiny ready to launch. Even in cases, like this one, where the captain would not be present. "Something like that. Think of it more like crashing a party. I've recently struck a business deal with someone more capable of moving my goods than I am. For that deal to happen, we need to be more active. I figured, since you and I had plans, Shoadie and Harry could take the ships out and bring back some income." Rupert blinks at Satoshi. In that creepy, I-don't-have-eyes-or-sockets-for-them-or-any-features-at-all kind of way.
Satoshi's only half-listening to Trey's explanation, distracted as she is at having a pseudo-staring contest with the jelly cube. At some point however, the feline gets the unnerving feeling the eyeless creature blinks and with a shudder she looks back to Trey. "That thing's creepy. And I've seen some pretty creepy things..." coughing weakly and shooting Rupert another glance, she adds, "Anywho~. Shall we? Adventure awaits!"
Kasyr finally jogs into view, looking a combination of cross and just overall flustered. This particular expression only seems to become even more exaggerated when he gets within earshot of the feline- the tiefling outright flailing in mute aggravation. Well, mute for all of a few seconds, "...That was cheating, Cherie! You do not excuse yourself for a pre-race snack, et then dissapear! You especially do not try and strand me away from the finish line! How could tu?!"
Trey hadn't even noticed the cube had been following her, which in turn creeped the captain out. Nevertheless, it was soon going to no longer be her problem. A quick jog back down below decks enabled the woman to reappear with proper gear, rations, and other such useful items. Shaodie was glaring at Rupert in a somewhat jealous way. No matter now many people the cube tried to eat, Trey never berated him. Then again, the cube also never stole one of the captain's ships just because he disagreed with her. In fact, Rupert never disagreed with Trey. Not even when she punted him. Which she often did. Like now. A splat signaled that the bizarre runt was now on the dock and off of Mutiny. "My gift to you guys. I'd hate to see how Rupert deals with folk when I'm not present." Heaving a bag onto her back, the sailor joined Satoshi, and apparently Kasyr. "Didn't you hear? Don't bring up minor things like that, adventure is out there!" Trey points at nothing in particular. Except perhaps the sky. Maybe a cloud. It's up for interpretation.
Satoshi attempts to look guilty at Kasyr's words but... she's had little practice with such an expression and it quickly falters into a self-satisfied smirk, made all the more smug with a purr mingling into her response, "Tut. You say that like you expected less from me~. You should know better. Also~," moving to give the tiefling a quick kiss on the cheek as way of apology, the feline gestures toward Trey, "we're off to Frostmaw to recruit the yeti. Come play too~?"
Kasyr goes from looking indignant, to a touch happy at the kiss....and then promptly out and out confused, "..Err? Yeti? Recruited? ...I didn't know the fighting ring in the corpse was still up, or doing challenge matchs? ...This isn't some sort of shady slaver operation, es it? ...I'm entirely fine with poaching et murder though.. I've never eaten Yeti, after all. ..I think. Maybe. I forget these kinds of things. Erm, anyways." Looking altogether sheepish at his improumptu rant, the tiefling promptly takes to pointing in the same direction Trey was/is. "..Onwards to adventure! Less time for thinking, et all that." That said and done, the tiefling simply sidles up beside the feline, and tries his best not to look like he'd said anything awkward.
Trey laughs at Kasyr's somewhat desperate ramble and, gripping a strap of her back with one hand, travels down the gangplank, slapping the man on the shoulder as she passes. "They're not for eating. They're for hiring."
Satoshi nods along with Trey's words as she follows the woman off the ship. "Indeed. For hiring~. Remember when I mentioned almost getting kabob'd by a yeti? He's a member of the tribe we're off to visit, and hopefully recruit a few members of~. Make sailors of them! So... Onward, to adventure!"
Kasyr just looks even more confused by this point, "You nearly got kabob'd ...et you don't want to eat them? ...Not even one? I suppose if you want to make sailors...out of the animals. ..Somehow. ..I'm just going to keep quiet et follow you two, oui."
Trey didn't really get the whole eating people thing. Still, even if she did, savage barbaric killers who are super tough are bound to be good sailors and pirates. "Hey, savage, barbaric killers who are super tough are bound to be good sailors and pirates. Let's get going, we're wasting daylight!"
Satoshi does the whole 'leading the way to Frostmaw' gig while giving the confused tiefling a quick explanation, "They're not -all- animals. The tribes around Frostmaw are fairly clever--it's the environment, only intelligent types can live there--so we're going to see about talking the chief into letting some of his folk leave with us if they want to. And I want to kill one. Mr. Anti-Outsiders & Shish-Kabob'er, Steelsnow. But... that's bad for diplomacy, y'know?" And voila, all that chatter gets them to the snowy landscape. Fast forwarding is awesome.
There is no true path here and the area is covered in snow. No visible dirt or ground can be seen beneath your feet as you step heavily in the deep white frost. From this spot you can travel north, east, which is back towards town, or west.
Kasyr , even though the actual window of clever response had ended approximately half of hollow ago, can't help but sputter his sudden ephiphany, "With how savage, barbarous et deadly dangerous moi et Satoshi are- we must be excellent pirates. ...Minus the damage to ships. But yeah. That entirely makes sense with how you have us along. I entirely see et agree with this logic, Oui."
Trey stops dead in her tracks. She didn't -think- Yeti used magic, but she could be wrong. "You have a point... hey cat," the captain yelled to Satoshi, not to Casper, "Yeti magic-capable?"
Kasyr ||Even if the shout wasn't meant for Casper, the cat was still staring fixedly at Trey- and now meowing loudly for the pirates attention. This wasn't an indication at all of how the tiefling would occasionally address the pet.
Trey eyes Casper, feeling a bit like when Rupert stares at you. "Wha- yes? What? What do you want? Is.. what?" The captain is not all together fond of cats, especially since she was able to dispose of the ratter on Mutiny, ever since a new stalker started eating the rats for food.
Satoshi halts, not for the question but upon catching the faint sounds of cracking ice. Glancing down at her feet, the mage frowns faintly. Risking that thin bridge again might have been a better idea than an alternate, unknown path... But cat's aren't ones for fore- or hindsight, and so with a shrug she pushes the danger from her mind and gives her attention to Trey. "Don't think so.They're smart, but not -that- smart." Nodding, the mage continues onward, humming a tune to drown out the whispered complaints of the ice they tread on.
Kasyr looks blankly at Trey, before simply patting the cat poking out of his book bag. Not that this stops Casper from meowing at all. No, the poor thing seems to be even more plaintive as the tiefling follows on the heels of his beloved- The cracking noise becoming a fair bit more forceful in the tieflings weigthy wake. Not that Kas is really paying attention. Oh no, he's too busy making remarks, "...I don't think Casper can talk back? ..Erm, anyways. What about druids. Or er, shamans. I've seen dumb races have those before. Like...orcs, et ogres."
Trey eyes the tiny cat suspiciously, like he's out to get her. Reluctantly, the woman turns to face the larger feline. "Good, then I doubt they can do the damage you lot do." Still, the thing made Trey very uncomfortable, that tiny bag-cat, causing the sailor to keep shooting cursory glances at it. The cracking went unnoticed to her, too preoccupied with her cat based paranoia to pay much attention to anything.
Satoshi looks back at Casper when a particularly loud miyew receives a responding crunch from the ice and produces a small hole where her boot heel has just set down. Lifting her foot up to inspect the gap a moment, she gives the fellow white cat a stern look as she holds a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture. "You're going to call an avalanche down on us at this rate. Or break what we're standing on. Also," and here the mage looks pointedly at Kasyr and Trey, "tread lightly. The thin ice is singin'~." A few cursory words from the feline has the surface beneath their boots reinforced, and with a certain nod the magus begins walking forward again. To find her own boot sinking into the hole made prior. She has a brief chance to mentally berate herself for not adding magic to where -she- stands before the feline drops from sight with a yelp. A fair chunk of the 'ground' where she stood is gone, revealing itself then to be the frozen roof of a cavern with its floor lost from view from either gloom or depth.
Kasyr blinks a bit at the felines sudden dissapearance, forgoing his beloveds advice in favor of a hasty dash over towards where she fell. Unforunately, the ensuing bit of gawking provides the tiefling with little aid in actually -finding- the feline and so, before he has time to think it through, he quite abruptly stomps the ground with as much force as he can muster. With a creak, crack, shatter,yelp, and a final ensuing (quiet) mewl from Casper- both tiefling and pet dissapear through the floor. ...Obviously, thinking things through is taking a back seat here.
Trey jumps back, an instinct that had saved her life countless times in all out sword fights on the sea. This case wasn't any different. Ice is just frozen water, no? The crack Kasyr caused chased towards her, and she would have ensured a broken bone or two if she had remained in play. Another lucky coincidence, Trey happened to be a pirate. Pirates like rope. A long and sturdy coil came streaming from the woman's pack just then. Reluctant to approach the now wider hole, she merely shouted, "You two alright?" Turns out ice doesn't like shouting. Wasn't much the captain could do from the surface anyways. Not anymore, at least. The rope came tumbling down with her. "I brought rope." the sailor said dumbly.
Satoshi's managed to land on a patch of the cave that's more snow than ice, enough to change the impact from dangerous to mildly stunning. And Trey's words reach her dazed mind at the same time that sharp, insistent tugs are given to her leg. The feline grumbles groggily, trying to order her thoughts. "Stupid, useless rope... Leggo me!" With a growl, the feline kicks out at the source of the pulls, only to have the supposed 'rope' answer back with a pained squawk. Blinking owlishly, the feline forces her vision into focus upon a thick patch of white against the blue-white of the cavern. A few more blinks erases the blur, revealing a thickly packed group of young wyverns gathered around her, with one holding a scrap of Satoshi's boot in its jaws as they all chatter excitedly. "Erm... You lot like rope and not cat... right? I promise, I'm not edible..." They really don't believe the mage that's fallen into their nest.
Satoshi dropped 20 Ice Wyvern-Hatchling.
Kasyr is falling. More than that, he's falling in somewhat close proximity to where the feline is, but not quite. Still, with the possibility of being able to land on her still very real in the tieflings mind, he feels obligated to shout out, "I'm falling too, Satooosh-" ...And then the hybrid slams directly into a scaly cushion. Certainly, not as comfortable as a dragon skin love seat, or a patch of snow- but the not-quite-as-lively-as-a-second-agos Wyverns neck really does make a good foot rest. And really, the hybrid is stumbling over and lying across the things back because it's cushy- and not at all because he's stunned. And that 'Eee' Sound that followed his words is him finishing the sentence, and not the dying wail of the creature. ...Really, the narrator isn't lying at all. Nor is Casper mewling in abstract terror and taking refuge in the hybrids pack, "...Erghle....Sacre bleu."
Trey eyes the hatchlings, wrapping the end of rope she had around her hand tightly. "You just had to drop us into a pit of dragons, didn't you, stray?" Eyes fixed on the mob of dragons--which the woman assumes they are, the rope is slowly and steadily wound to her, a pace that, in hopes, won't attract the enemy's attention. "I suggest we not kill anymore of them, tiefling. Next, I suggest we leave. I get the feeling dragons don't like unexpected guests. The rope had been pulled all the way to her now, and still without taking her eyes from the hatchlings, the captain made a lasso on one end. "See any exits? Besides up, I mean."
Satoshi sits staring at the place where a wyvern had been seconds before, both delighted and baffled to find her tiefling there instead. The good cheer doesn't last, however, as Trey's pessimistic words give prelude to the sudden cacophony of terrified hatchlings, high-pitched squawks fighting to be heard over each other as wings and claws had their own sounds to the mix while moved about in the panic. Apparently dropping a demi-incubus upon a baby wyvern is equivelant to kicking up a hornet's nest. Holding an arm in front of her face to fend of stray claws, Satoshi stumbles to her feet, already in search of an exit as the pirate has requested. The feline doesn't stay standing long however, as an outraged roar resonates through the cavern suddenly, knocking her back to her prior position. The hatchlings fall silent, save for a few sniveling peeps, as a mound of blue and white frost at the far side of the cave moves, unfolding itself into the massive form of the infant saurians' mother. The behemoth's eyes immediately lock on the interlopers, namely the one sitting on one of her children, and another roar blasts through the air as she pulls herself to full height, scaly head scraping the roof. Satoshi blinks, tossing a crooked grin and nod Trey's way. "There's your exit."
Satoshi dropped 1 wyvern.
Satoshi said to Kasyr, "You -had- to land on its baby, huh...?"
Kasyr 's reaction to Trey's comment is a rather grim sounding, "Working on it." Abruptly followed by the manifestation of a black angular gauntlet around one of the tieflings hands- as saiid fist is balled up and slammed into the face of a frenzied and frightened Wyvern hatchling. Apparently, the tiefling has equated not killing to Knocking-senseless-until-they-back off due to wanting to survive. Or at least, did. The arrival of the mother is a part of the equation the tiefling hadn't exactly counted upon. Freezing up mid-fist-meets-scaly-face-action, the tiefling tilts his head towards the feline, most especially checking to make sure she hasn't been mauled too badly during his attempts to placate the crowd. "...Exit? ..Es this one of your...can see weak points or tunnels with your ice magicky thing? ..Because all I see es a rather nasty example of prey." Idly, the tiefling can't help but shout over to Trey, "Hey, Captain! I know it looks tempting, but don't hang yourself with the rope you have! You probably won't die in the crossfire. I can promise this, maybe. Loosely."
Kasyr said to Satoshi, "It -had- to be standing in my way. Anyways, it's not like I could have avoided it. *Coughs*YesIcouldhavebutsowhatenfin*Coughs*"
Trey shouts in slight panic, "That is NOT an exit. THAT is a dragon!" Hastily and no longer having her eyes glued to the younglings, the captain seriously widens the hole in her lasso. In much the same fashion, the mother's eyes were not on the captain, and so she took such a perfect opportunity to skirt to her side. The wyvern lowers her head enough to better view the murderer of her favorite child, the one that all the elders said would go places, the one that was practically named as the chosen one, the most powerful wyvern in three thousand years. One of which the likes stories of old have never even seen. The baby that Kasyr had crushed would restore the ancient glittering city of wyverns, where they would live in peace and rule their lands for a thousand years or more. Trey obviously knew very little if not nothing about dragons and their two-ish limbed cousins. One thing she did know, was that she was pretty damn good at throwing lassoed ropes very high. It was a skill that came in handy often onboard Mutiny and other large ships. Several twirls around her head and the rope picked up momentum, enough so that with a rapid and forceful throw, the loop easily landed around mommy's left horn. A quick yank pulled it tight. Would something that big notice something as small as the pirate? Especially with Kasyr punching her babies in the face? Doubtful. Still, risky business it is, climbing a dragon. Especially one that's really a wyvern.
Satoshi gives the tiefling a simple retort of, "But look how mad you've made Mama Beasty. And, I don't see an exit... per say. Just a means of making one." Glancing at the squished wyvern as she unsheathes the frosty katana, she can't help adding, " 's what you get for tearing my boot, anyway." And then, Trey gets her own comment, "Hrm. Yes. No worries, cap'n. We do this regularly~." A hatchling blinks back at her, baffled at being called 'cap'n'. Where has that pirate gone? --Insert death of baby wyvern here, by means of that katana put through its face--Oh, there she is... Satoshi blinks once, cuts down another hatchling, and mutters in a sidelong manner to Kasyr, "Has she done this before..?" They're going to find out in a moment as the mother lunges suddenly, jaws uttering an outraged growl as they snap for the tiefling. Satoshi's at least close enough to give its muzzle a few haphazard swipes from the blade while it's focused on Kasyr and trying to return the favor delivered to her younglings. The cat's also given the chance to call to Trey, "Told ya it was an exit~!"
Kasyr nods sagely to the feline, before he viciously jams one gloved fist into a hatchlings shrieking mouth. Barely giving the monstrosity time to scream, the hybrid then extends his hand outward, sending the sharp glaws of the gauntlet shredding through the unarmoured insides of the lil' wyverns mouth- before they are ultimately lifted upwards into the roof of the things mouth- to rip into it's brain. Scratch another baby. "She's human, and sly. I don't see this as h-" And abruptly jutting out his non gloved arm, the hybrid catchs another hatchling by the throat, before it's promptly hurled at the incoming jaws of the B.F.W (Big Freaking Wyvern)- a sacrifical lamb sent screaming to it's death. After all, the intended sacrifice is far too busy hopping backwards, and then leaping off to the side- a dead Wyvern still attached to his arm. It's only after the B.F.W. is busy nuzzling the ground and trying to get it's lizardly kin out of it's teeth that the tiefling pauses to remove his glove. "Slaying these things as dates. I don't see her dating either. I don't know." And Crack goes the tieflings fist into another hatchlings skull, this one plowed down into the ground, so that the tiefling could plant one foot onto it's neck, and use his other foot to punt its face with enough force to sever it's head from it's body. "..Think she's gonna be fine, mon amour?"
Trey had already begun ascending the rope, and so the sudden jolt of the beast forces her into a high swing, saving the captain's arms a strenuous workout and landing her right on a nice ridge of back--with a bit of directional help from the swinger. Placing her hand before her to steady her landing, a glance up gives the sailor all the information she needed. The cavern is large, but likewise to the mother, and so her nice little wings were closed, for now. Trey certainly isn't going to wait for them to open, forcing her to drop the rope in order to gain the position she wants, which is a useless position, and a deadly one, without the rope. Climbing was another skill the sailor gained from being on a ship. Despite the lurching of the beast, the woman manages to make it to the dragon's neck and, the bottom of the rope still in hand, loop the other end around the other horn. Toughly made boots dig into the softest part of the dragon's neck that the captain can find just in time to give the line enough taughtness to prevent the rider from being flung from the beast as it rubbs its face back and forth on the ground. With a sly grin, the pirate pulls up on the line-styled steering system, which she--in her own opinion-- had rigged so cleverly. Nothing happens. Suddenly Trey realizes just exactly where she was. On the back of a very massive, very deadly mother beast who was watching her children be punched and murdered in their little faces; and the pirate was -pulling- its -horns-. Dumbass.
Satoshi is in the midst of divorcing a hatchling's lower body from its upper when she's interrupted--mid-hewing--by an indignant screech from the mother. Just what's got her in such a fit--because obviously it has nothing to do with watching her children be slaughtered while some morsel ties things to her horns, Satoshi will never know, but she's certain of one thing. That wyvern is -pissed-. And has forgone singular lunges of claws and jaws in favor of thrashing about wildly with every limb. Talons swing for hatchlings and harassers alike while her barbed tail slams against the cave walls, sending cracks spidering up to the roof where chunks of the ceiling begin falling away. Satoshi, dancing around saurian strikes and the cascading debris that claims a wyvernling or three, finds her way to the tiefling's side with a minimal collection of wounds. "Mind playin' guardian a moment? I should probably keep that ceiling from caving in on us all, y'know? Need to concentrate~." Which is her cue to stop moving about and focus, putting her magic to use as she frantically weaves spells to reseal cracks, trying futilely to keep up with the wyvern's lashing tail. The amount of dropped ice lessens, at least, but not before a particularly large chunk breaks loose, too large for the mage to keep under control. The shelf of ice, easily filling the gap, and then some, between the pirate-ridden wyvern and the two vampires, crashes to the ground with the intent to flatten anything unfortunate enough to be caught beneath it. Head's up~.
Kasyr doesn't really have to focus on murdering the hatchlings anymore, really. Between a rampaging wyvern, and a bloodthirsty vampiric duo, the baby saurians have opted for the third more favourable option: Fleeing from the fury of their mother and waiting until the interlopers are dead and nommable. This doesn't entirely save them of course, as the tiefling can't help but get in a parting shot; this taking the form of a rapidly manifested broadsword which is used to baseball bat a rather large chunk of the ceiling in the creatures direction. Well, theoritically, it could survive being crushed and dragged across the cavern floor as a quadra..pa...thingy. Look, it's dead. Which, now leaves the tiefling to contemplate both the appearance of his beloved, orders to protect her- and the whys of the caverns currently collapsing state. "...Oh." Foregoing any sort of subtlety, the hybrid also opts for a more flighty plan of action- that being an altogether impromptu slipping of his arm about the felines waist, if only so he can heft her onto his shoulder and flee as quickly as possible from the B.F.W. Oh. and obviously, with courtesy in mind. "Try not to die, Cap'n. We'll think of something."
Trey , in her sudden revelation, hastily ties the line's center around her center, because falling off of the beast seems like a good thing not to do, especially with it thrashing around as it is--which it starts doing just as the knot gets tied. Keelhaul-- the act of lashing a man to line and dropping him before a moving ship, to be dragged below the hull until he either appears aft or until dead, which generally both go hand in hand. Such things go through a woman of Trey's stature when finding oneself suddenly flying upward and over a ship, or in this case, a dragon-like-thing. Everything seems to be in slowmotion as the woman's hands are wrenched from the line with a sudden downward jerk of the beast, flinging her up into the air. Ice falls from the ceiling as the beast slams back, and the captain's line is pulled taught for a moment, flinging her forward. Then real time came back. Perhaps it was Kasyr's advice, or perhaps it was the fact that they seemed to be running away from imminent death. Either way, the sailor now found herself dangling quite gayly--or treacherously if you prefer to see it that way-- before the wyvern's snout. A human suddenly being right in front of your face, seemingly floating, is an ample distraction--turns out-- to cause a dragon or something quite like it, to stop moving for just a moment, to figure out what it is. Trey then did the only thing she could think of to do, dangling there before mommy. The pirate waved.
Satoshi carries on with her casting, whilst being carried. It's a relatively convenient thing, being swept off your feet and away from immediate danger, especially when it provides you time to focus on an offense instead of a defense. Which is exactly what Satoshi does when she catches sight of Trey waving at the momma-saurian. Well, after the mage takes a moment to mumble, "Suicidal dumbass..." What? Those words are totally being used as the start of another spell. A spell that targets the loosened slabs of ice above as the magus undoes her prior work with a simple command. With a thunderous crack, a sizeable piece of the cavern roof comes crashing down, directly upon the back of the mother wyvern's head at the same moment that her jaws part and lash forward in a move to gobble up the pirate. Another crack announces the shattering of the B.F.W.'s skull, and a collection more following her collapse to the ground signals the cave isn't going to be a cave for much longer. Now's a good time to leave, maybe. But no worries... Satoshi's got more than enough energy left to coax pseudo-stairs from the cave wall, so long as the tiefling keep up with the hero-act so she can focus solely on that. The feline does at least break her concentration long enough give a backwards glance in hopes of spotting a captain. Preferrably alive and making her escape too.
Kasyr is altogether fixed in his given purpose, weaving between chunks of frigid debris as he makes his way towards the set of improvised steps which have semi-mysteriously decided to make themselves known. ...Really, the tiefling isn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth however- not with the imminent threat of being double stacked pancake looming at the back of his mind. And so, up the tiefling goes, somehow evading any sort of erroneous footfall as he scales up the icy stairs- to finally take up a kneeling position at the very bring of the soon-to-be-anything-esxcept-a-cavern; Satoshi still upon his shoulder, of course. "...The captain es...still of...more that one dimension...correct? Not serving as a carpet or meal for the big lizard, oui?"
Trey is essentially slammed to the floor with the beast's head, being thrown only a foot or two due to the restrictions of the line. Giant slabs of ice crush the dragon's skull, like squishing a grape. In the same analogy, grape juice spurts all over the captain. Grape juice and bits of grape seed. The woman's whole body aches at her second fall of the day. Was something broken? Probably. The only problem with figuring out what it is is that her whole body feels like it is broken. Yet the dragon is dead, and so the woman staggers to her feet, swaying just slightly, and makes for the stairs. Was it foggy in the cavern, or just her head? After a short walk, the woman can't figure out why the stairs refuse to get closer, then it dawned on her-- the line was still tied to the dragon, and Trey's waist. A simple fix a simple dagger remedies, though it loses precious time. Now the captain finds herself half running, half stumbling towards the stairs, desperate to beat the falling ice. As the stairs come into reach, the wind forced from below a collapsing piece of ceiling blows the woman down. A hand was needed to help her stumble up the stairs now, and when it came to choosing to free the dagger or her ribs, the dagger was left behind. Finally the woman is able to join her companions and, eyeing both of them with little energy, she manages to mumble, "Yes, I do stupid things. This still isn't my blood. Let's go."
Satoshi can't help but be impressed that Trey's made it out alive and fairly intact--even if the wyvern blood coating her has a far from pleasant scent to the vampiric cat. "You're more durable than ya look, cap'n." Offering the pirate a salute, Satoshi then directs her attention to her beloved guardian, "See, love? Not a carpet -or- lizard-chow. She's got a knack for this~. We should bring her along more often~. Oh..." the feline's ramble abruptly ends as her focus is drawn to the final collapse of the cavern, leaving nothing but an uneven crater of ice and snow, a tomb where a wyvern nest once stood. Blinking, the mage eventually shrugs dismissively, "Well, guess we'll need to go another route after all. Too bad~. Also," and here she lightly taps the tiefling's shoulder she's slung over. "You can put me down now, y'know."
Kasyr at first offers the feline an incredulous look...until he realises that he is in fact still hefting her over his shoulder. Really, it's pretty bad that he can forget this- but...she isn't that heavy. So, with a slight mumbled apology, and a bit of care taken into depositing her upon her feet, the tiefling finally responds, "Er. Well, You know. I was being careful. Et such. Because, you can never be too careful after you fall in a Wyverns nest? ...Oui. That almost sounds right. Anyways~!" Nodding, the tiefling looks over at Trey then nods, "I suppose she would survive at least some of the issues. So...I suppose we can drag her along in future." Lastly, the tiefling straightens up, if only to glance over the edge at the fallen wyvern, "...I can't really help with the direction bit. ...The only thing I can say...is we ought to find a way to get the scales from that thing and sell em..."
Trey shakes a brain-bread/Trey-skull sandwich--that is to say Trey's skull is sandwiched between brains. "You would think about that," the woman directed to Kasyr, "If we go back in there, we're getting my bloody rope back." Bloody the adjective, not the curse word, for that rope, or rather now, two ropes, is-- or rather, are-- in fact quite bloody. "Personally, I say we just push on. Let's get to that tribe already." Doing just that, the captain pushes past the tiefling, mumbling as she passed, "What makes you think I'd want to go on adventures with you after this?"
Satoshi watches the pirate pass with a dejected expression--complete with drooped ears, and offers a mumble in reply, "Thought she had an adventurer's spirit. Such a shame... Oh well~." Straightening up and grinning in an unbothered manner, the mage takes her place beside the tiefling and tugs his hand as she follows after Trey. "We'll come back for those scales. And the rope. Later. We've got some yeti to visit. ..." she falters a moment then, ears once more folding back. "Erm. Before that... Hunting might be in order... The whole 'fighting for your life' thing tends to make me hungry..." And really, it's hardly diplomatic to speak with a tribe's leader while viewing him more as a chew toy than a chief.
Kasyr idly frees his hand from the felines, if only to loop their arms together. "Well, then. I do suppose that takes priority, over both pressing onwards or profiteering. We can't really have tu wandering around with someone who might look a bit appetising a few hours in after all." ...Obviously, diplomatic faux-pas' don't even register on the tieflings mind as a possibility...or concern. "..If you would forgive us, Captain, we'll be slipping away for a bit, to properly prepare ourselves in the instance of....more fun and games. Tu sais?"
Death of a Monster
Segment 3 of the Frostmaw Arc
~From the journal of Cliff Edge, adventurer extraordinaire, adopted bloodbrother of the yeti tribe, Howling Winds, and lead investigator of the Snow Maiden rumors.~
Well Journal, my loyal companion, it seems we're in a real hornet's nest this evening. Frostmaw is dangerously abuzz with the Snow Maiden rumors, there is a constant droning noise in the background from all the chatter. Apparently she's been spotted again. And I had the good fortune of meeting the hunting party who witnessed the sighting. It took an emptying of my pockets and many rounds at Frostmaw Tavern, but soon enough they willingly recounted the tale. This is what I learned:
While tracking a herd of reindeer through the forest, one of the four Frost Giants (they can't seem to agree -who- it was) suddenly pointed out three figures upon the plain of snow just beyond the tree line. They knew immediately that the smallest form, white as the ice and leading the way, was the Snow Maiden, even from a distance. She moved just as others had described across the snow, seeming to hardly touch upon it, drifting like a ghost. The two companions with her are believed to have been her snow griffin guardians in human guises. I hadn't heard before that the griffins could change shape, but questioning the giants' words has proven a poor idea and I nearly lost the rest of the story (and my right arm) for doubting them.
Fortunately, a few more of Drargon's finest brews cooled their tempers enough to resume story-telling. As our quartet of witnesses watched, the Snow Maiden suddenly came to a stop and, with seemingly no effort, tore open the ice beneath her. To the unwitting wanderer, that plain of ice is just that, a plain of ice. But it seems our Snow Maiden knew better, for lurking below the surface of that ice is a vast network of caverns. And the nest of the dreaded ice wyvern, Frostbane. With companions in tow, the Snow Maiden descended into the nest to confront one of the deadly beasts that frequently haunts Frostmaw's inhabitants.
The hunters say they heard the sounds of a mighty battle being fought, with the pained roars of Frostbane and her brood shattering the silence of the tundra. The ground shook with the ferocity of the combat and from their vantage point among the trees, our watchers witnessed the sudden collapse of the cavern's roof, the Snow Maiden presumptively calling down the ice to bury the foul beasts once and for all. The Frost Giants rushed to the crater then to see if they couldn't spy the Snow Maiden among the rubble, but by the time they arrived and the dust and snow settled, she and her companions had long since vanished once more. Leaving only a frozen tomb where the wyvern nest had been.
It's this tale that has further fueled the fire running rampant in Frostmaw. And has been the source of many outbreaks in conflict among its people. It is quickly becoming obvious that the city is divided, one side retaining the old ways revived by the Snow Maiden's reappearance, and the other side holding a steadfast loyalty for Aramoth (these ones are Ezezil's strongest supporters too, coincidentally enough). I've heard even the Council of Elders is in debate over the stories as they strive to find a way to bring about order once more. I believe they may be planning to try and capture this Snow Maiden in hopes of uncovering an imposter. Let's hope they don't call down the wrath of a demi-goddess of blizzards with this attempt.
Perhaps I shall seek out this Snow Maiden myself. Although... I get the strangest feeling I've met her already.
This adventure keeps getting better! Let's push onwards to see the future it brings!
~Cliff Edge