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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 19, 2023 16:08:05 GMT -5
There's no sense lying, Gerhart is a little bit impressed and amused at the yeti in its armor. They try to look around the room and get a sense of what is all in here, but his focus is brought back to the yeti. It is big and looks like its seen quite a few fights. Good it is intelligent and experienced, that would go well for them if this turned into a fight.
Gerhart is obviously confused by the language, nervous as well until Astrid starts to translate. Phew, got lucky on that one. Though her nervousness still worries him. "You all right?"
He takes a moment to confer with his partner before looking back to the yeti, ready to talk if Astrid is comfortable translating. "We don't want war, we are here because there were some attacks on merchants. Did they do something to harm you and your people? We'd like to resolve this peacefully if we can."
Gerhart takes a small step forward, hands held out palms up to show they are empty and he is going to try and approach this as openly as he can. Was it going to work? No clue, this was a first for him, both the negotiating part and the part where he is talking TO A FIFTEEN FOOT TALL YETI.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 23, 2023 23:35:07 GMT -5
Why does the big, horned, fuzzy monster speak dwarvish? What the heck is going on? Astrid fumbles through a translation for Gerhart as he takes an open-handed approach. The massive leader watches with careful, intelligent eyes that glance between the human and the little horned creature speaking its tongue. When Gerhart gets too close to the other yetis for their comfort, the gorilla-like creatures screech and slam their fists against the ground. The room erupts into chaos, cut off by a loud slam of the leader's axe haft against the ground.
Astrid catches up to Gerhart and continues to translate between the two of them. Her eyes dart around the room for clues, for danger. Why is she so spooked? Under most circumstances, this would be really cool, but something inside her wants to just leave. Cowardice is not her way, so she stays and translates.
"Want speak? Will speak," it says through its thick tusks. It does not stand, however, and there is some personality in the way it sits in the throne, with the slightest of slouches. In a dwarf home, this throne should be intended for a dwarven king or clan head, but it's much too large for any normal dwarf, comfortably fitting the yeti king. "Cart hunters shot kin. Swift vengeance. Heavy hand."
Its eyes narrow, watching Gerhart and Astrid carefully. "Home invaders hurt kin. Swift. Vengeance. Heavy. Hand." It slams the axe against the ground again. The sound reverberates throughout the room like thunder.
Astrid jumps a little and nearly arms herself, but the yeti seems to be waiting for their moves. "No, we don't wanna fight alla ya," she replies quickly in dwarvish.
"Small one, ye cower," it says, one lip turning up in a snarl. "No kin tongue fer cowards."
At this, Astrid's face scrunches up. She's no coward! The fight response takes over, and the tiny girl puffs out her chest and berates the creature in dwarvish. "I ain't a coward. What d'ya mean 'kin tongue'? This is the language of dwarves!"
"Kin. Tongue." It firmly repeats the sentiment and taps its axe against the ground again. There's a chorus of hoots from the yetis, and Astrid takes the moment to fill Gerhart in.
"I don't get it," she says to Gerhart in common after recounting the exchanged words.
There is something odd about the axe and helmet of the yeti lord. The reliefs of clan leaders past carry similar armaments.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 24, 2023 18:09:25 GMT -5
"I don't get it either, but we are at least making some kind of progress I think?" Gerhart truly had no idea if they were actually making progress. At least they did learn that this wasn't done for no reason, it was retribution.....though revenge wasn't something he thought yeti capable of.
"So, it sounds like we are in the middle of a misunderstanding then. They must have been scared and accidentally hurt your kin...when you hurt them, they hired us to come hurt you back.....It's just a circle of hurting, so let's end this eh? No more need for any kin to get hurt."
Gerhart is curious about why they would call Astrid a coward or what would have her so scared. This whole thing was certainly out of the ordinary for everyone, Gerhart the diplomat, Astrid nervous, and yetis with hurt feelings. Maybe this is one of those lucid dreams where nothing really makes sense but there is some sort of subconscious lesson he's supposed to learn.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 28, 2023 12:04:42 GMT -5
When Astrid relays Gerhart's words, the yeti leader looks between them both with studious eyes. It's the strangest thing to watch a massive yeti stroke a fraying, braided beard while contemplating. The chamber echoes while it hums its thoughts. Finally, it speaks again. "Aye. No war. No pain. Too much fer long time."
Then the yeti stands, using its massive axe as a sort of walking stick. Its stance is somewhat slumped to one side at first, but then it rights itself to stand straight and tall, barrel-chested and proud, matching the dwarven relief it stands beneath. It motions to the yetis in the room, then in a more sweeping motion to the worn and weathered reliefs around it.
"Revenge. Curses. Kin to creatures."
As Astrid translates the broken words to Gerhart, things start to fall into place. Her brow unfurrows, surprised at what the yeti's suggesting. "Wait..." Her eyes dart between the relief of the clan leader and the yeti in front of it. "Oh, Avasha... Gerhart, I think they were dwarves. I-I think he's sayin' they were cursed! Look, he looks like that one there!" She points at the relief. As old as it is though, for this suggestion to be the truth, this yeti would be really old.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 28, 2023 14:59:46 GMT -5
Gerhart seems relieved that it looks like these yeti weren't really interested in continuing the violence. Now he was starting to feel bad about killing the others, turns out this wasn't just a struggle for survival in a harsh environment. Those thoughts are brought to a quick stop at Astrid's revelation.
"No way, really? What...what if there's a way to end this curse? Do they know how it started? That would be perfect to stop all the misunderstandings if we can turn them back into dwarves!" Gerhart seems genuinely interested in curing the curse. One, how cool of a story is it to save a group of people from a curse? Two, it was the right thing to do. Humans like him probably would only continue to fight and harm the yetis, but if they could reverse that the cycle ends.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 29, 2023 20:44:40 GMT -5
Whatever anxiety there was in Astrid fades quickly with Gerhart's excitement. "Aye, if there's a way ta cure 'em, we should!" she says, nodding vigorously. Then she turns to look at the largest yeti in the room again, and the dwarvish words fall off her tongue more naturally than they had only a few moments prior.
"Ya were dwarves before, weren't ya?" she asks. The yeti king's head inclines as if to agree, so she continues. "If yer all cursed, we wanna help ya. Whatever we gotta do ta do that, we'll do it."
Then the yeti king's eyes narrow, some amount of suspicion hidden behind the furrowed brow. Or perhaps not suspicion? Concern? It hefts the axe up to rest on its shoulder, pushing its stance slightly off balance.
"Why."
It's not a question so much as a demand.
Astrid looks up at Gerhart then at the yeti king. She speaks for them both, feeling that Gerhart is a good person who wants to help people at heart. Gerheart.
"Why not?"
One side of the yeti king's lip curls up slightly, threatening to snarl, but instead, it spreads into an odd, monstrous grin. A deep, hearty laugh erupts from its chest, echoing all throughout the room. Several other yetis screech and roar and laugh along, though many don't seem to have the same level of understanding of the situation as their king, only following along with the alpha's behavior.
"Tiny kin. Helping. HAH."
Astrid's expression falls a little. Is it so bad to want to help?
Suddenly, the yeti king's laughter fades, and the room falls silent. A grim expression crosses his face. "Difficult. Deadly. Ye should consider."
Again, Astrid looks up at Gerhart, quickly explaining the exchange. They've come this far, they might as well do it. "Aye, we're here ta help."
The yeti king takes his axe in both hands, holding it horizontally over his head, and shouts to the rest of the yetis. "Tiny kin and warrior man help!" The room erupts again with howls and roars. Thick hands beat on the floor in some monstrous form of applause as the yeti king steps down from the plinth and lumbers across the room, axe slung over his shoulder. He crosses the throne room, the white sea of yetis parting before him, until he reaches the center and beckons them over.
Astrid cautiously walks over, and they soon find an ancient spell circle carved into the floor. Unlike the rest of the stonework in the room, this one hasn't worn away with time. Some kind of magic preserves it. The text on the floor is written in dwarvish, so Astrid reads it aloud, translating for Gerhart.
Clan of blood and war asunder, The world around them wonders, "When they learn to lay their weapons down Will they no longer in a sea of red drown?"
Her head tilts, and Astrid looks at the yeti king, who's watching with interest. Then she looks at Gerhart. "Maybe it's a riddle? What d'ya think?"
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 29, 2023 23:18:41 GMT -5
"Certainly sounds like a riddle....at least this one isn't asking to take an eye." He does not expound on that topic any further without prompting. The Sultan's Tomb was a special kind of hell in some respects. He rubs his chin over and over as he thinks.
"Laying weapons down? Maybe it's the fighting....if they attacked someone's family long ago who were just regular folk....maybe they got cursed. My sister would know a lot more about curses, but maybe they have to agree not to fight anymore?.....Like a peace treaty with the nearest town? Something like official? Or just swearing an oath....take off the helmet and lay down the axe, weapons and armor being signs of war."
It was a long shot and would probably take some convincing for the yetis, but Gerhart was ready to support Astrid through this explanation however she needed. With her knowledge of dwarves, their language, and some of the history, combined with his himbo charm, maybe, just maybe they could pull it off.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 31, 2023 20:27:50 GMT -5
Astrid listens to Gerhart's pondering about the writing on the ground, murmuring over it again. "Well," she starts, letting a pause hang in the air while she tries to figure her words out. "Dwarves are superstitious... and kinda literal about stuff. They don't mince their words... But there ain't no tellin' if this curse was put on 'em by another dwarf or someone else."
Her eyes cut over to the yeti that's three times her height who watches the two much smaller folk wondering what to do. She notices that his thick, dark hands have nearly white knuckles from how tight he's gripping the axe slung over his shoulder. His words replay in her mind. Difficult. Deadly. Oh... Uh oh.
"Gerhart," she whispers, looking over at him instead. "I think yer last guess was right. I think we gotta make him lay down his axe." Her head nods toward his white-knuckled hand. "I don't think we're gonna just convince him ta do that..."
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 31, 2023 22:53:56 GMT -5
"Yeah words might not be enough, hm." He rubs his chin checking the grip on the axe from the corner of his eyes. This would be hard, but they had options at least. Gerhart sighs as he crosses his arms over his chest.
"Few option we got Astrid....we could both jump him, but I don't want to make them think we are fighting them and then everyone attacks. It would look odd since we were just talking about peace....Other option is we do actually circle back to one of our first ideas and challenge him to a duel...just have to knock the axe out of his hand right? Just make it like a first to drop their weapon loses, then just wail on his arm I bet you could break it with one blow."
He gives the half-dwarf a confident grin. Gerhart was truly confident she could whoop this guy if need be. If she asked him to do it instead, he wouldn't protest, but this was probably their most direct solution on the table.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 5, 2023 5:33:21 GMT -5
Astrid considers the options Gerhart lays out before them. Honestly, one of those might have to be it. "I think if we challenge him ta duel us might be a good option," she says, nodding. "If he was really a dwarf, honorable battle and alla that. Hopefully, he'd make all the rest of 'em abide by it..."
Her eyes drift up to the yeti king watching them whispering amongst themselves. His brow is furrowed, much of the curiosity having left his face in place of suspicion. "Why whisperin'?" his voice growls in dwarvish.
"We're talkin' about the inscription here," Astrid replies in dwarvish, following up with Gerhart in common to keep him in the loop. She squares her shoulders a little bit and raises her head to look at the yeti king properly. "I don't s'pose yer willin' ta drop that axe of yers, would ya?" The yeti's grip tightens on the weapon, his lip curls up into a snarl. "Right, didn't think so. We think if ya wanna break this curse, ya gotta put it down right there in that spell circle there." Astrid's hand motions to the carved spell on the floor.
"Can not," is all the yeti king musters.
With a furrowed brow, Astrid looks at the yeti, whose knee her full height barely reaches, and asks, "What d'ya mean ya can't? Like ya won't or ya can't?"
"Can not."
Astrid's face looks pained, and she looks to Gerhart as if to confirm their fears before turning to face the monstrous king of white. "Then Gerhart here an' I formally challenge ya ta a duel!"
The suspicion and irritation leave the yeti king's face, swiftly replaced by a monstrous grin and a hearty laugh. He raises his voice and opens his arms, announcing to the whole clan of yetis. "Tiny folk challenge!" The crowd around them erupts into hooting and screeching, the yeti king joining in, beating his chest with his free hand. Then he swings his axe around over his head. The yetis fall silent for a brief moment. Then, like spilled marbles, they suddenly rush out through the corridors, a sea of white fur washing away and draining the room until all that remains are the two adventurers and the yeti king.
At first, Astrid is anxious about the sudden movement around them, expecting to be swarmed and overwhelmed and needing to make an escape. But that's not the case. The throne room instead is cleared to make a proper arena for them all. Without the bodies filling the space, suddenly she can see bones and skeletons of decomposing warriors with bits of armor clinging to their long dead forms scattered around the room.
By "difficult" and "deadly," it seems the yeti king wasn't kidding. How many foes has he defeated before? That doesn't matter. They have to beat him now.
The yeti king lumbers away a few steps then turns to face them, axe gripped tightly in hand. "Before clan, tiny kin and human challenge king. Prepare yerselves. What begins cannot be stopped. Agree?"
Astrid watches him anxiously, but in the moment, he seems reasonable. She repeats it to Gerhart then looks at the king again and nods. "Aye, we agree!"
In common, she then quickly starts the discussion of a plan with Gerhart, expecting to have a moment to gather themselves. "Right, so if we can disarm him then get his axe over there, that might solve th-"
There's a flash of white as the double-headed axe whips through the air. With incredible speed, the yeti king leaps into battle, aiming right at them with a swing that could cleave a man in half! There's something different about the yeti king. His eyes glow a bright red, matching the now softly glowing runes of the spell circle at their feet.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 5, 2023 9:37:52 GMT -5
"All right, we might as we-WHOA" Gerhart ducks under the axe, quickly drawing his swords. He lets out a breath of relief having somehow dodged that. "You go high for the head, I'll try and bring him down."
Gerhart would move in, his swords aiming at the yeti's knees. If he could hamstring the yeti, that would help but the beast-man was a lot quicker than his size would have you expect. Before Gerhart could really get a swing in, the yeti had already recovered his swing and blocked his attacks.
The yeti roared out and pushed the young knight back with a swing, the axeblade scraping against his cuirass. Thank Ginma for armor. This guy was decidedly strong than Gerhart, but Gerhart was faster he just had to not underestimate his opponent.
He moves back in, side stepping the axe and lashing out with a diagonal cut across its thigh. The yeti tries an overhead smash, but Gerhart steps under it, stabbing into the other leg. The next strike was wide and feral, but it came much closer to hitting Gerhart than he would've liked, shaving a few hairs off his head.
As it pulls the axe back for another strike, Gerhart takes the pommels of his swords and slams them into each of the wounds he caused dropping the yeti to its knees.[1]
"NOW ASTRID!"
1. Grounding Strike
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 5, 2023 17:42:57 GMT -5
Normally, Astrid would opt to go for the legs. Kneecapping folks isn't outside of her comfort zone. The problem with this yeti is that it's much too large for that. Her head barely reaches its knees. Going for the head is much more in the realm of possibilities for her right now.
Having barely dodged the yeti, she wants to stay out of its reach. Astrid unfurls her wings and leaps into the air, a couple dozen feet into the air and hefting her hammers in each hand. The yeti's swings toward Gerhart are practiced and precise on top of being powerful, but every time it glances in her direction, Gerhart gets another hit on it. She decides to make Gerhart's job easier, and she moves her hammer in a way that indicates a spell is being cast.
Purple magic strikes the yeti, and suddenly its movements fall slower. Gerhart gets his blades in just right and with intense blunt strikes, brings it to its knees. The yeti king roars, the bellow slow and garbled with air pushed from its lungs at half speed. It raises its hand wielding the axe into the air, trying to strike at Gerhart despite having taken a knee. That's her target!
With all her might, Astrid lets loose her war hammer directly at the yeti's hand. It strikes true, crashing into it and likely shattering a few bones. Electricity from the hammer sparks along the yeti's hand and down its arm. She starts to celebrate but quickly finds that the yeti's grip on the axe doesn't loosen at all, and its rage through its pain only becomes moreso. Its other hand swipes at the girl, but she dodges, aided by the slowing magic making the yeti move through timespace molasses.
"I think we're gonna hafta pry it from its hand!"
The cord on her smaller hammer catches her eye while it flails in the wind. "Maybe we can wrap it up an' hold its arm down with this!"
Bat Wings [post 1/3] Slow - Yeti at half speed for the next round.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 5, 2023 19:18:24 GMT -5
Gerhart looks back just for a moment before catching a fist to the side and getting flung back a few feet. Ow...that hurt. His gauntlet was dented, but that saved anything from being broken thankfully.
"That might work, hold on, I'll get the arm down, you get that cord around the hammer and pull!"
The young knight had a move he had wanted to try for awhile, a combo move he had been trying since he started at the guild. Now seemed like a great time to try something dumb and untested. Gerhart gets up and makes a made dash towards the yeti[1] but slips by it as it slowly tries to swipe at him. He plants a foot and does a small hop to shift himself and start running up the wall[2] launching himself back off the wall at the apex of his run.
He sends himself towards the yeti and crashes into its back[3] toppling it over. Gerhart awkwardly tried to get it in an armbar sort of a hold, it wouldn't last long but enough of a shot for Astrid to take the hammer. "Just let go buddy, we are trying to help."
1. Rushing Charge 2. Wall Dash 3. Guillotine Drop
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 8, 2023 20:54:04 GMT -5
Gerhart's well executed combo downs the yeti king, who thrashes against the man's attempt to hold him down. Despite broken metacarpals in his hand, the yeti's grip stays firm on the axe, and his strength threatens to overpower Gerhart. This yeti could throw the weight of a fully grown man with little effort were he on his feet, but in this moment, he's down.
Astrid rushes down, landing quickly and rushing to try to wrench the axes from its hand. Even with her unseeming might, the axe doesn't even loosen. So, she decides it's time to use magical tactics. Astrid flings the metal cord around the head of the axe to give herself more leverage, then she slaps her hand against the weapon. Lightning sparks out from her hand and travels down the axe's haft and leaps into the yeti king's arm. It roars in pain, thrashing more, but with the magic, its arm is temporarily disabled, numbed and twitching. With Astrid and Gerhart's efforts combined, the axe pulls free and clatters to the ground.
The yeti king goes absolutely ballistic. Red light glows in its eyes, and it bellows and thrashes, throwing Gerhart off with its good arm and scrambling to its feet to rush after its axe. Astrid sees the behemoth barreling her way and rushes to the spell circle, throwing the axe inside of the glowing red runes. It clatters loudly against the stone and skids to a stop in the middle. Suddenly, the runes glow a brighter red, and magic seems to lift them off the floor. The yeti king comes to a stop, his fur buffeted by a whirlwind manifesting around the spell circle.
The axe in the center of the circle disintegrates, its ash swept up and away in the winds. As the magic grows more intense, the whole room is bathed in red light. Astrid rushes over to check on Gerhart, but a pulse of magical energy knocks her off her feet. The yeti king falls to the ground too, and the entire crumbling dwarf home rumbles.
When things subside rather suddenly, left lying in the yeti's place is a half-naked white haired dwarf drifting in and out of consciousness.
Charged object Bat Wings [post 2/3]
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Feb 8, 2023 21:15:27 GMT -5
"HELP" The call for aid comes out more as a yelp than anything intelligible as Gerhart is flung aside like a ragdoll. An audible OW leaves him as his head cracks against the rock wall, opening up a cut, nothing serious, but it will sting in the morning.
He coughs as he shakily pulls himself to his feet ready to get back into the fight until a whole lot of other things happen. The young knight looks around confused, was this place about to collapse?
"Is this place about to collapse? Should we grab him and go?" He points to the now naked dwarf, not having fully realized it is the yeti just yet. Concussions are wild. "Is he even alive? WHAT IS GOING ON? How long was I out?"
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