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Post by Mubashir on Nov 30, 2022 22:23:05 GMT -5
It was a cool and misty afternoon among the bamboo poles on crescent isle. Though the sun was largely blocked by the overgrowth, Mubashir was still almost fully wrapped in his gray and golden robes. There was a nice trail through the forest here that twisted and curved through the terrain, passing by pleasant vistas. A fine enough walk on its own, but soon to be sure, Mubashir got distracted by a shred of cloth caught on a broken bamboo about ten leglengths into the brush. Reason enough to wander from this banal pathway at least. He pushed away the shafts blocking his path to grab the cloth fragment. Lifting his shawl slightly, a sniff revealed the euphoric scent of blood. Delightful, yet at the same time concerning. Beyond the fragment lay several tree tops in a trail leading deeper into the forest, each seemingly carelessly clawed away from the bamboo. Animals perhaps? A gang of roving primates? His curiosity drove him forward, deeper into the greenery. The forest was increasingly dense, with large shafts of old growth seemingly barring him from progressing further. After significant struggle, he found the supposed end of the trail, a small alcove in the forest. The sounds of bones being picked, creatures rustling and dancing around a clearing in the bamboo. The air hung with the sanguine scent, though it remained fresh. The victim remains alive? How fortunate!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2022 11:48:29 GMT -5
Maximilian von Vlaculea Cool afternoons were fine for those who didn't especially appreciate warm temperatures. Though also on a walk, this person was more of strolling through this place as an explorer than someone on a mission, as this place was foreign to him.
He too had come across the shreds of cloth scattered here and there in his travels, and he was interested in what kind of story there might be behind this evening, moreso than fear of danger, hope of glory, or any of the other common reasons one who'd call themselves an 'adventurer' might pursue something so risky in an unfamiliar place.
Eventually, his silent wandering found him up in a tree in a clearing of sorts, seeing the same sight as Mubashir - whom Max had neither spotted yet - saw from a different vantage point. His red eyes narrowed as he took in the sight, transfixed as much by the sight of new life forms in this place, as by the smell of blood in the air.
He watched on, a silent observer for now, his scholarly curiosity compelling him to watch this unusual sight and see what might happen next..
| Race: Dhampir | Job: Adventurer | Alignment: Neutral Good |
"There is no such thing as square one. You're starting over with more knowledge, wisdom and understanding than before." —Maximilian von Vlaculea
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Post by Mubashir on Dec 8, 2022 0:36:38 GMT -5
Advancing further, Mubashir pulled some of the foliage away to get a better look. Three bird-women, each twisted by fate into hideous creatures each picking at what looked to be human bones and dancing about a small opening. At the far end was a small...Cage? Nest? He wasn't sure, but it was certainly not well crafted, though it did indeed contain some of the harpy's prey. A small islander child cowered within, dirty, and covered in scratches both small and large. Certainly not the scene he had wanted to see on such a casual walk through the forest, but unfortunately fate seemed to have a way of bringing things together like this. One of them finally finished with whatever scraps were left on her femur and seemed to remember the captive they had trapped. Dropping it, she croaked out a raspy order.
"Bring me the boy....NOW!" One of the subservient harpies hissed, but obeyed the order. She flapped her wings and waddle-walked over to the cage to begin tearing it apart. "Help! AAAhh! Help me!" He screamed as bits of wood and sticks fell apart around him. Mubashir did not want to watch this, as little as it had to do with him, he would be remiss not to assist.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2022 14:04:01 GMT -5
Maximilian watched from the tree branch as the primitive humanoid cannibals prepared to eat the young boy. The boy was screaming for help, his cries echoing through the jungle as the cannibals tied him to a stake. The vampire could see the fear and desperation in the boy's eyes and knew that he had to act.
He had always been disgusted by the thought of preying on humans and had dedicated himself to protecting them whenever he could. However, his heart was torn with a moral dilemma. On one hand, he wanted to help the boy and save him from a gruesome fate. But on the other hand, he knew that his intervention would reveal his true nature and potentially put himself in danger.
He had always been careful to keep his identity hidden, knowing that humans often feared and persecuted those who were different. He wondered if he should risk exposure to do what he knew was right, or if he should stay hidden and safe. The dhampir wrestled with his conscience, trying to weigh the pros and cons of each decision.
In the end, he knew that he could not stand by and watch the boy be harmed, and he realized that he would probably wind up revealing himself in order to save the boy's life. But how? What could he use, here in his surroundings, to make sure that he didn't die alongside the boy? And what if there were more of these creatures in concealment?
He would continue to watch for now, to watch for a sign...
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Post by Mubashir on Dec 23, 2022 6:29:37 GMT -5
Mubashir erupted from the treeline, throwing himself towards the group of harpies with no actual plan in mind. He tripped slightly on a pile of bamboo before reaching the center, and pulling himself together.
"You there, put an end to thiss at once! One mussnt toy with their prey before indulging, iss that not what sseperatess you from beasstss?!" The harpy pulling apart the ramshackle cage pulled to a stop, as well as the rest of them. They silently looked at Mubashir before each cackling loudly to each other.
"Oh! Oh! Pardon me sir, we shall indeed spare the boy...For Dessert! It would seem as though our main course has brought itself to us this time, doesnt it sisters? EEHHEHEHE!" With several wild flaps of each of their wings they were aloft, circling the clearing and giving the perception to Mubashir that there was no running away from this. Two of them swooped in from behind while they circled, slashing open his back. A slow, steady flow of dark crimson blood began sputtering onto the ground. "Hey! Not very nice" He shouted, reaching out to grab one of his attackers by the talon. For the brief few seconds he had hold of them, he drained as much life force as he could. At least it would staunch the bleeding, for now.Vampiric Touch 30S: By touching an enemy's flesh or clothing, you are able to sap their life energy from them. You will cause them to grow fatigued for their next post, feeling dizzy and weak. Their movements will slow and they will stumble for a brief moment. In addition you will heal yourself of all surface and minor wounds, such as scratches, bruises and cuts.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2022 9:32:37 GMT -5
"Let me lend you a hand," said a voice as Maximilian dropped soundlessly from the branch he had been perched on and stepped out from the trees. The half-vampire's eyes glowed with an otherworldly light as he focused his attention on the harpies. "These creatures have no honor. It is up to us to defend the innocent and put an end to their twisted game."
As Maximillion spoke, the air around him began to shimmer slightly. The harpies cackled and laughed at the newcomer, clearly not taking him seriously. But they quickly learned their mistake as Maximilian began to use his telekinetic abilities to his advantage. With a flick of his wrist, he sent one of the harpies flying into a nearby tree, where it crashed with a loud thud.
The other harpy, sensing danger, tried to attack from behind, but Maximilian was ready and it met the same fate as the first. He had two hands outstretched in the direction of each of the harpies, and a close look would show what looked like some invisible force crushing the two harpies against their respective trees, the wood crackling and splintering at their backs.
After a moment, Maximilian's hands dropped briefly to his sides and the two harpies dropped limply to the ground, unconscious and worse for wear but not dead. He immediately turned around, raising his hands again, in what looked like some kind of defensive combat stance. There were more of the harpies, and this fight would go on forever if they allowed it to.
"We need to get to the boy," He said in a clear, crisp voice. Although he didn't yell or shout, Mubashir would hear his words clear as day.
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Post by Mubashir on Dec 25, 2022 3:33:50 GMT -5
"Oh! appreciative of the help my friend." Mubashir say graciously, turning around to see the new fighters prowess to devastating effect. He stared for a moment as the Harpies are crushed into the trees before shaking his head and refocusing on the task at hand. Dashing towards the cage, he stumbles as the harpy leader flies over him, tugging at his robes, and lands between them with a crash. "youuu twooo have ruined our meal! PAY! PAY! Hatess the interloperss HATES!" She cries, flapping her massive wings menacingly. He jumps out of the way of a few savage pecks and lands to the left of the Matriarch. Quickly reaching out and grabbing at her talon, taking a large scratch to his arm in the process, He once again begins to drain the harpy of her life essence. Her stance wavers as though anemic, pale where once flush. She stumbles backwards in dizziness to regain her standing, and weakly slashes once more at open air. "If you have ssome trick up your ssleeve traveller, may i ssuggest now would be the time to usse it?"
The gash on his forearm slowly retracted together as the energy drain continued, but even in the dim light of the afternoon he couldn't continue forever. Another enemy still encircled the area, waiting for its chance to strike.
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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Dec 26, 2022 23:52:10 GMT -5
Fish the Sneak did not have the same altruistic motives in following the scraps of cloth and blood. A fight like this usually meant there were easy pickings for looting and when there wasn't something on their schedule to do, a little bit of easy money was nothing to complain about. Quietly, they made their way through the bamboo forest, head tilting ever so slightly back and forth to locate the sound.
Thankfully with their abilities they were able to get close enough to the fight without being heard.[1] They curiously watched the exchange of words and talons. There's a pause as Fish considers what to do, it looks like they arrived a bit too early. Sometimes people can be coerced out of goods and gold if you save their lives Fish thought. If all else fails, they can dive back in to hiding and go back to plan A.
When Mubashir finishes their plea for help, he would suddenly notice that the harpy in front of him had stopped moving. It fell forward, face first into the grass, in the back of its neck a throwing knife shaped like a crow's beak would stick out. Fish scrambled through the bamboo poles to keep the flying one from immediately dive bombing the smaller bird.
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Post by mchart (Nathaniel Shishalee) on Dec 27, 2022 13:26:34 GMT -5
Taking a walk in the forest not far from his home on the Crescent Isle Nathan notices usual noises of to the west unable to use his wings due to the dense nature of the forest in this area he heads west to investigate. As he begins to get closer he he hears the strange screeching, which soon realises is a chant his pace accelerates as he gets closer. One draws one of his axes and then his knife as he gets closer. He crashes into the clearing ready to hack something to pieces
A hood stranger dressed in rugged dark travelling clothes and a dull chainmail Haubergeon crashes into the clearing . He carries a hand axe and knife and there is a second axe in his belt. While all have seen better days they are well maintained, so this is stranger is not obviously not rich. From underneath the hood a few stands of long silvery white hair protrude even with the hood up he is obviously are dark elf with oddly almost translucent looking skin like thick purple glass. He has a pair of his own wings which are but they are too large to be used in this environment.
Nathan alert, asks "Where is the fight?" when he sees the bodies on the ground he says "Have I missed it?" he asks, still alert.
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Post by Mubashir on Dec 28, 2022 7:16:19 GMT -5
With a blink, the first man was gone, and the harpy fell to the ground, a bird themed knife sticking out of it. In their place, A man burst through the wood and into the clearing, his axe at the ready. Nearby, a small black shadow weaved through the poles, dodging a swoop from the last remaining harpy.
"Ah, quite the contrary. You've arrived for the final act!" Mubashir exclaims, pulling himself to his feet and dusting off his robes. "One more bird, and you will be able to take a bow and claim victory!" He turns back to the cage in which the child lay, eyes wide at what was occurring before them. To him, this must be an act of Lunalas grace, to be rescued in the nick of time by several generous parties. Mubashir kicked at one of the smaller branches that made up the cage near the bottom, and the entire thing came crashing down. Being mostly shreds of bamboo and bone, the pieces weren't that heavy to begin with, and the child was evacuated from the mess in due haste.
"There we go, young one. It iss all right. The axse-man and the blur in the woodss have come to help uss!"
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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Dec 28, 2022 9:01:34 GMT -5
The kenku slips out from the bamboo to retrieve the first knife they threw before ducking back into the thicket. Fish knew that there was a limit to how long this cat and mouse -- or bird and smaller bird -- game could go on, but the benefit of having others meant the harpy would be distracted. They tucked and rolled away from a swipe, spinning to get to their feet and throw another pair of knives.
Without the element of surprise, Fish couldn't land a great killing blow like the first time. The knives do, however, connect with the harpies arms creating a gash across each one. The pain would be enough to send the monster crashing down into the forest floor.
Fish circles around through the bamboo once more to retrieve their knives. With the harpy thrashing in pain on the ground, it would be the perfect opportunity for the others to come in and finish it off without Fish having to risk themselves by getting close to something in its death throes.
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Post by mchart (Nathaniel Shishalee) on Dec 28, 2022 14:09:19 GMT -5
Nathan moves towards the injured party but as he does he sees it is nowhere near crippled. He moves careful but still had to avoid some vicious swipes with it's claws.
Eventually he moves a position and attacks with both of his axes. The first few blows were blocked with her claws, but eventually a blow gets through and the harpy slows, the second and third hits come more quickly until eventually Nathan beheads the beast. Breathing quite heavily he says "I thought it might not die for a moment but steel still ended it".
Nathan stops and listens for any more Harpies hearing none he then proceeds wipe the blood from his axes and puts them back in his belt.
He then turns retrieves the knives and offers them to the diminutive birdman. "I think these belong to you". He than offers his hand and says "I am Nathaniel Shishalee and it is a pleasure to meet you both and you are, are you residents of the Isle or are you visiting the area? What brought to here in particular, I have to admit I was only here through chance, taking a walk in the woods near my home"
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Post by Mubashir on Dec 28, 2022 19:55:04 GMT -5
Lifting the child, he bows before Nathaniel and the bird, gracious for their assistance. "I am mosst graciouss for your arrival, and sso too, I asssume, Iss the young one. I am Mubashir the Magnificent, and the pleasure is all mine."
He lifts the young Moongladean child in to his arms, and holds them close. The warmth of their embrace was soothing, and Mubashir was glad to not allow a monster to devour them. He pulled away from the childs grasp, as tears streaked down the young ones cheeks. Such gratitude, it was sad he did not yet have the energy to enthrall him. With a quick motion, Fangs dug deep into the childs carotid arteries, draining the child in a matter of seconds. Young ones only had about two to three liters of the Sanguine Succor within them, but it was fresh and unpolluted by age or poisons of society. As the corpse began to shrivel, Mubashir laid it down, back in the deconstructed pile of bamboo and bones. Wiping his lips, he gave a courteous bow to his fellow rescuers. "Much appreciated, the both of you. It would have been remisss of me to allow ssuch monssterss to conssume ssuch a preciouss ressource, and not even appreciate it. Now, I musst bid you farewell!"
With a poof he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, soft mist pouring away through the forest, naught to be seen again. Demon of the Mists Child consumed by discord poll
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Post by mchart (Nathaniel Shishalee) on Dec 31, 2022 12:35:13 GMT -5
Nathan stands utterly shocked, unknowing as to what to do next. After a while of standing dumbfounded Nathan shakes his head and says "I would not of seen that coming!". Eventually Nathan shrugs and takes a claw from the matriarch as a souvenir and searches the remaining bodies along with Fish to see if there is anything worthwhile. He wraps up the body of the child to take him back so at least his family can mourn properly.
Nathan then gathers wood to burn the corpses. He stacks the majority it up at first lays the corpses on top. He then piles the remaining wood up around them. Then using the torch he carries he lights them up. As they burn Nathan sits and watches, conflicted, while he believes in the everyone's right to life, he cannot reconcile that with the murder of a child to extend one's own life. He had heard of vampires taking blood from aa vanquished foe or from lovers but never from random children, except in stories of cowardly beings pretending to be 'Boogie men' who when caught muling for their lives pathetically but are killed anyway.
Eventually Nathan throws a bit more wood on to the fire and then takes the child back to it's parents.
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