Eclipse jungle was as pleasant as a demon’s asscrack in the middle of summer.

Ak’ka already hated the heat, but the humidity on top of it all was near ‘bout to make her melt into a damn puddle. She was a northern gal through and through - even her body was cold to the touch, like she always carried some bit of Frostgale with her. Despite the chill that always followed her, Ak’ka was burning hot right now, the desire for revenge thrumming in her veins, driving her to stomp through these damned trees and vines like she was blazing a warpath.

She didn’t give a damn for stealth - and given that her new buddy was clad in loud, clinking plate armor, she figured he felt the same. Hiding was for the weak who couldn’t afford to take a damn hit. Not that she was really thinkin’ about any of that in the first place. The only thing that was on her mind was that damn big cat that stole those merchants before she and Perrath could claim their spoils. The big man was probably pissed as all hell about losing his treasure, but Ak’ka didn’t really give a shit about the money. That cat had messed with her shit, and the matriarch, queen, whatever she was - she was about to learn what the law of the wild really meant.

The strongest were the ones to survive, and if her pride couldn’t hack it, then it was only natural the bigger and badder predators took her out.

They’d been wandering the jungle for a bit, though, with no sign of the damned queen cat. By now the sun was beginning to set, which wasn’t really that great for her. Ak’ka didn’t really have the sensitive eyesight that other folks had, and considerin’ the displacer beast probably had cat eyes, she was about to be at a serious disadvantage. But the thing could be anywhere in this jungle! Frustrated, she kicked a log on the ground, smashing it to smithereens before turning to Perrath.

“You got any idea how to track things? Or should we just burn the whole forest down and call it a day?” She huffed.

Eclipse Jungle may be incredibly hot and uncomfortable, but the darkness lends well to a black dragon, and the company in this particular instance is refreshing. Ak’ka seems to have taken the theft of the merchants personally, and that makes things all the more interesting for Perrath. Really, he doesn’t care much for if the merchants survive the encounter or not – the fight will be a true test of mettle, and they can recover the spoils easily enough should they win. A feline queen has little use for dry goods.

Seeing Ak’ka brutalize a log, Perrath looks on with an amused, dragon smirk. “As much as I’d quite enjoy razing the forest, that would put us in an unfavorable situation of our own.” The dragon crouches down to look at the ground. “Magic has its limits. That beast couldn’t have gotten far without having to move on her own.” His eyes trace the ground for any sign of large paw prints. The thick flora of the jungle makes it hard to see the ground, but… Well, that beast was large, wasn’t it? Perrath’s eyes trail up into the canopy.

“I think perhaps we’re looking in the wrong place,” he says, pointing out a line of broken branches in the trees.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Odd man out
Chapter: Two
Description: After dealing with the creatures and rescuing the group of merchants, you learn that one of them had been snagged by the pack leader and dragged away during the assault. You are now needed to track this beast down to where it has taken the last person. Hopefully he has not become a snack yet and there is still time left for you to rescue the remaining member of the group.
Requirements:
- Requires at least two people (you and one other, if the other participant does not qualify they will not gain the reward. )
- You must make at least 7 post to complete the mission with each post being at least 200 words
- Must locate the pack leader and the person they have drug away
- Must deal with the displacer beast (boss level) and rescue the merchant
- Once you complete this mission you have completed this quest chain and may turn in the mission.

Damn, this Perrath guy was smart! Ak’ka didn’t know much about magic and she sure as hell didn’t know shit about reward-snatching cat queens. The beast had been pretty damn big, so Ak’ka thought she couldn’t walk far without causing a ton of destruction, or she’d just teleported herself to her lair. But Perrath seemed to have a different idea about where the cat was.

Ak’ka squinted, trying to get a better look in the sky.

“… You think she’s in the trees?” She asked, after almost a full minute of thinking about what the Big Man was implying.

Admittedly, the warrior was not that bright.

“Got it. Yeah. That makes sense.” It did not really make that much sense to her at all, but she understood one simple principle - follow the trail of the destruction, wherever it was, and find the damn queen. Step two - punch her face in. Step three - profit.

“Guess we should go… that way then?” She pointed in the direction that the broken branches were in the canopy, leading further to a darkened glade in the woods. Lucky they weren’t too far off from their goal, yeah? Pumped up once more, Ak’ka whipped off the tree she’d had strapped to her back, the one she’d forgotten to use last time in the heat oof battle. But she wasn’t gonna forget now. That queen was about to taste the sting of Frostgale pine needles and she was gonna regret she ever stole from them.

“No time like the present, big man!” She grinned before stomping off towards the queen’s hideout.

Good, the brutish woman is smarter than she lets on. Some people Perrath might have to explain every little detail to, but Ak’ka seems perfectly capable of picking up what information he’s putting down. In the heat of battle, the skill is invaluable, and judging by the way she rips that tree of her back, she’s raring to use that skill.

“No time like the present, indeed,” Perrath agrees. His movement through the underbrush is much more graceful than the raging barbarian woman’s. Where on earth did she get that tree, anyway? It seems coniferous, so it wouldn’t have come from anywhere in Moonglade. She has ice magic, so she must be from somewhere in the far north. What brings her to Eclipse Jungle, he wonders.

Careful steps are necessary when navigating the forest floor littered by branches and debris. Each footfall threatens to snap a branch and alert the cat queen to their presence. Then again, Ak’ka isn’t moving too carefully. While Perrath quite enjoyed their fight together, he’s not above using her as a meat shield should the situation necessitate it. His ears catch the sound of one crunch from her footfalls, hollow, unlike the branches.

“Hold, Bonegrinder,” he warns, his eyes flickering in the darkness. Just as he suspected – she crushed a bone. Fitting for one of her namesake. The dragon motions to it beneath her foot. “I estimate we’re near the lair. Have you any ideas how to corner a beast that can teleport?”

Now the Big Man was askin’ for her opinion on strategy. Ak’ka didn’t normally think ‘bout what she was doing before she went into battle. She just charged in and did what needed to be done, and that had always worked for her so far.

Mostly.

Well, she wasn’t dead yet.

But Perrath had a point. The other kitties had that annoying ability to teleport, but only in short bursts. If they didn’t take down the damn queen fast enough then the bitch would just teleport away to another part of the forest, slip right outta their fingers…

Wait.

“Far as I can tell, these cats can only jump where they see.” Otherwise during that fight they woulda just jumped past Ak’ka’s wall to the merchants, but they didn’t. Only teleported around Ak’ka and Perrath. “Queen’s a bit more intelligent I guess, but principle’s probably the same, ‘specially if she’s the mom of those shits.”

She cracked her knuckles. The sound was almost as loud as the CRUNCH of the remains from the kitty’s old snacks underfoot. “I’m thinkin’… maybe a pincer attack? We block her line ‘a vision, box her in. I got my ice walls, and you got…” Well, that evil lookin’ dagger Perrath had on ‘im seemed to spook those cats pretty good. “You’ve got your fear shit. Why don’tcha give the kitty a fright? Just do anything ya can to block her vision.”

Seemed a good enough plan. Simple. Not super complicated. And if it didn’t work, she could just fall back on the old tried and true… punch it till it couldn’t even find the strength to teleport away.

It’s unnerving how long it takes the Bonegrinder to answer his question, but Perrath waits. There must be something cooking in that likely very thick skull of hers. Luckily, there is, and he gives a nod of agreement. “Good observation,” he says, looking ahead toward the lair. “I believe you’re right, at least about the smaller ones. The queen may not be limited in the same way, but we wouldn’t know unless we tried and found out.”

Standing straight, Perrath looks around the forest for a less crunchy path to the cave, but there doesn’t seem to be. Stealth won’t be an issue for him, but for the orcish woman… Well, perhaps they could use that to their advantage? “I have some abilities that allow me to creep through the shadows and go unnoticed,” he says. “It won’t prevent the queen from smelling me, but perhaps I could get into the cave behind her while you draw her attention to the front and then block the way out with your wall of ice? If this is agreeable, I will move ahead.”

For a dragon man kitted in some armor, it does seem odd how quiet Perrath can move when he wishes to. Most of the time, he wants his enemies to hear him coming. He imagines Ak'ka feels the same thrill when she loudly closes the gap between herself and her prey.

“Yep! Ain’t nothin’ to it but fuckin’ around and finding out.” Ak’ka night not’ve been the sharpest gal, but she made up for it in stubborn bluntness; sometimes you didn’t have to search for a solution that was smart when there was an effective one right in front of her. And she wasn’t boutta shy away from a fight with an enemy whose abilities she didn’t know.

The queen needed to be taken care of. That was the simple truth. That was all she had to care about.

The more Perrath spoke, the more it dawned on Ak’ka what he was sayin’. Huh. She really hadn’t noticed it before, but for all the big guy was clunkin’ and stompin’ around, he shoulda been making some sorta noise, yeah? And yet, he was just slinking through the brush with the ease of a snake and the pride of a lion. She knew a prowler when she saw one. A deadly predator who ya didn’t notice had snuck up on ya from the dark ‘till it was too late.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Ak’ka whistled. “Takes a lotta skill to train steps and movements when ‘yer as big as us.” The big man was far more than just the brute enforcer he looked to be. “Yeah - I really ain’t stealthy. I can definitely get the queen’s attention, though.”

She clapped Perrath on the back and laughed.

“Where you’re all quiet, I’m used ta bein’ loud.”

That cat would hear the battlesong in her blood and the screams from her mouth and know, ‘till it was the last thing she ever knew, what it was like to be someone else’s prey for a change.

Wasn’t nothing they could do about hiding their approach to the cavern now, but at the very least Ak’ka could make her presence as big as possible so that Perrath could do his work from the shadows.

“Lookin’ forward to huntin’ with ya, big guy.”

That was about as much of a signal as Perrath was gonna get. She waited ‘till he’d slipped a little bit further ahead, before stomping her way to the front of the cave. Each step a vicious THUD that disrupted years of untouched bone and dust. Each step a challenge.

She only stopped right at the edge of the entrance, where light met dark. The stench of death was overwhelming, but familiar. The anticipation was already pumpin’ in her heart as she drove her fist into the cave’s entrance, rattling loose stone and leaving an orc fist-sized mark as she pulled away.

Well. She really wasn’t lyin’ when she said she wasn’t subtle.

“OI! CAT BITCH! YOU TOOK WHAT WAS MINE - AND THE BONEGRINDER’S COME TO COLLECT HER DUES.”

In most circumstances, a character like Ak’ka would probably irritate Perrath. The noisy arrogance and disregard for others (read: mostly him) could easily become a thorn in his side. Today is different. Experiencing combat while partnered with someone without true care for the safety of others has been refreshing, and in shorter terms, fun. While he doesn’t exactly want to hunt the Displacer Beast Queen, he can’t deny that part of his willingness has been to see exactly how the Bonegrinder will handle things. In all honesty, Ak’ka could probably destroy her without his help.

But where’s the glory in that?

When she claps him on the back, he can’t help a chuckle, guttural and deep in his throat. “I appreciate your praise, Bonegrinder,” he says. “Your noise level won’t disturb me at all. In fact, we will take advantage of your unique skills of distraction and destruction.”

They reach the mouth of the cave, and Perrath gives a nod, seeing Ak’ka’s body language shift. There she goes. Meanwhile, he takes advantage of the shade from the canopy of trees and ducks into the shadows, moving silently whilst approaching the cave.

After Ak’ka shouts into the cave, there’s a low rumbling reverberating within. The same voice from before speaks within her mind. The Bonegrinder dares trespass now? I have taken what was owed to me. The exchange is complete. Coming here now tells me that you intend to steal further from me.

---

Pass without a trace

Her voice echoed along the cave walls for a minute before that voice happened again - an eerie response straight into her mind. She wasn’t sure if this was creepier, or the image of the big kitty actually opening her ugly maw to speak real words. She grimaced at the unpleasant sensation. Even though there was no tone to the words, it sounded insufferably smug. How the hell did a cat with no voice sound smug?

Oh, Ak’ka would relish the chance to drive her fist into the queen’s face and show her exactly who the true predator was.

She cracked her knuckles - still wreathed in blood from the last battle. “YOU AIN’T OWED SHIT! LAST I CHECKED, WE TURNED YOUR CATS INTO PASTE. IF WE’RE KEEPIN’ SCORE, YOU STOLE FROM US.”

Her mental response was akin to a hiss.

I’ve no need for staking a claim on prey that enter my domain. I show you mercy, and you respond by challenging me in my territory?

“Oh, I intend to do more than challenge.” Ak’ka boasted - pounded her fists together as the tattoos on her shoulders crackled for only a moment. In a second her arms split, leaving her with two full sets.^[1] Twice the arms, twice the pummeling. “I intend to smear the remains of your heart under the bottom of my boot.”

You can certainly try.

And then the cave shifted. It was too dark for Ak’ka to see, but she could hear it all the same. The crunch of bone and the low, rumbling growl of a predator. If there was any time for her to act, it was now.

She only saw the yellow of slitted eyes before the giant from hours ago slinked from the shadows, big and overconfident. Ak’ka stomped her foot on the ground, defiant - and in a second before the big cat attempted to tackle her, a wall of ice blocked them all in.^[2]

“YOU AIN’T GOIN ANYWHERE, SLIPPERY BEAST!” She roared - and the fight began again.

---

1. Extra Arms Tattoo
2. Glacial Wall

From Perrath’s place in the shadows, seeing Ak’ka gain another pair of arms makes him immediately decide that yes, he would much prefer the orc to be an ally, not an enemy. She is truly fearless. There’s a certain amount of respect someone should have for the creatures they’re fighting. Admittedly, Perrath would prefer Ak’ka be the one to take on the cat queen while he retrieves the captives (if there are captives to retrieve). This won’t be a situation where he abandons the orc and collects the pay on his own. She seems the vengeful type who could actually do some damage unlike that red scaly bastard, Almond or whatever his name is.

So Perrath stalks his way to the back of the den, only finding that it goes back quite far, until he finds the rear where the merchants they’re here to rescue come into view with their full cart. The men cower in fear. Good, they’re alive, so this is all worth it in the end. Perrath decides to leave them where they are and return to the cave entrance where the Displacer Queen is desperately trying to cut through Ak’ka with her claws. The queen’s best defense is her ability to teleport, but with her escape blocked, she has to use other tactics.

Like just about any Space magic spell that exists. As Ak’ka comes in, a rift in spacetime opens, and an entire cart complete with attached horse skeletons (presumably from another trader raid) flies out with blistering speed as a battering ram.

Other folks mighta thought it stupid to trap themselves in the beast’s lair with the queen bitch herself boring her feline fury down on them. But Ak’ka wasn’t the kinda gal to think in terms like that. A trap was only a trap if ya let it be one. And she wasn’t stuck here with this kitty. It was stuck in here with her.

The monster scratched at her arms, claws leaving deep gash marks along the lower set - just fine with her. Better to sacrifice her limbs than to let that thing get close to her face and carve a smile into her throat. Second arms reached for the tree on her back, wrapping around the solid trunk and whacking the cat in the side. The cat was bigger than her, but Ak’ka hit with the force of a meteor falling from the sky. The cat staggered, taking a step backwards - the momentum of her assault, paused.

Ak’ka wiped some of the blood off her arms and smeared it across her cheek like battle makeup.

“Ha! Yer gonna have to do better than that.”

The cat snarled, baring her fangs, and then did just that.

The air rippled with an energy that made the hairs on the back of Ak’ka’s neck stand on edge. The cat leaned back, ripping through the air itself with her claws to create a deep cut. Not in the stone behind her. But in the fabric of the world. Ak’ka’s eyes widened as the three claw marks in the air widened and turned deep purple, launching an old wooden cart and skeletal horses right at her.

“Oh, fu-“

The cart clocked her square in the jaw, the weight of it knockin’ her straight to the ground. The wind was knocked outta her lungs, wood and bone splintering with an impact that rattled the ground around her. Shit. The cat was stalking closer to her, and her tree’d been knocked a couple feet away in the fall, just out of her grip. Ignoring the pain, the burn in her lungs, Ak’ka glared back at while she reached for her weapon, wonderin’ which would come first - her grabbing her last hope for savin’ herself, or the cat makin’ mincemeat of her.

As the queen of beasts stalks closer to her prey, each step snapping bones beneath her man-sized paws, her green eyes peer out of the darkness intensely. Her paws flex, revealing massive talons, and the tentacles sprouting from her back vibrate with intense magic. Three small orbs of magic, each glowing a different color, manifest above the queen. They swirl around her crown of horns, one red, one blue, and one green, casting faint light about the cavern. Then they stop and take aim to fire off at the downed orc before her. A bit of cooked or wet meat never hurt her before.

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion overcomes the Beast Queen. The magic orbs above her head start to fizzle but don’t disappear. She loses the ability to stand strong, stumbling backward and shaking her head in some attempt to shake off whatever lethargy has just overcome her. This is completely foreign to her, but Ak’ka saw something similar happen to her Displacer Beast pride only hours ago. Behind the Beast Queen, Perrath has his weapon poised, the last lingering tendrils of magic fading after casting his spell. This is their chance!

"On your feet, Bonegrinder! This pathetic feline cannot be the end of you!"

---

Queen: Tri-Beam aimed at Ak’ka
Perrath: Desperation on the Queen

Nah. Ak’ka wasn’t gonna sit down ‘n just accept her death as long as she was still kickin’. She just had’ta keep movin’ through the haze and pain and reach for that weapon. Behind her, the cat was preparin’ another nasty spell, somethin’ that spelled wet and burning all at once. Ak’ka shrugged off wood and debris and chunks of bones, ignorin’ the ache in her body as best she could -

And then everything slowed as a looming shadow appeared behind the queen bitch, and the giant lady slowed to a crawl, spell fizzlin’ our while she clutched at her head.

And Perrath’s voice, a rallying cry that echoed off the walls of the chamber, fillin’ it with sound. Hard to believe that someone with such a big presence could diminish it so much. But now wasn’t the time for quiet. Now was the time to hit like a fuckin’ hammer.

That was exactly what Ak’ka intended to do.

The lady stunned, Ak’ka didn’t need to bother reaching for the tree anymore. Nah. That was too impersonal. She wanted to feel the sting of pain in her knuckles and the ache of her muscles come morning. When the she-bitch staggered, Ak’ka clasped her fists together, all four of ‘em - and swung, driving it straight into the cat’s chest with a force n’ speed of a vengeful god.^[1] A blow hard enough to crack ribs and rupture lungs - and enough to send her staggering back in Perrath’s direction. Wasn’t an especially flashing finishing blow, but Ak’ka didn’t need fancy maneuvers to make her damn point. She wasn’t about to give this beast a show in her final, disgraceful moments.

Just the promise of retribution, wrought from her cold, dead paws.

---

1. Bull’s Strength - Fists equipped with heavy and double strike enchantment

Without the strength to stand or fight back, Ak’ka meets no resistance blasting her hands through the Queen Cat’s sternum. Bones crack and flesh rips as the orc’s might sunders the feline. As she stumbles back, Perrath readies his weapon and slams it into the back of her leg, knocking her to the ground then delivering a crushing blow to her hips. The Queen Beast yowls pathetically, her breath burbling through blood that pours from her mouth. No magic in her domain can heal her, and life trickles from her body like a spring brook.

Perrath rests his weapon across his shoulder and steps over the blood to check on Ak’ka. “Excellent show, Bonecrusher,” he says in a congratulatory tone. “I see where you earned your namesake. It’s been a pleasure to kill with you.”

Looking at the Queen Beast’s bloody mouth, Perrath goes over and slams his weapon against her snout, knocking each of her saberteeth from their sockets. He collects one for himself and offers Ak’ka the other. “A souvenir,” he says with a proud but gnarled grin befitting a dragon.

“The kidnapped merchants are in the back of the cave, largely unharmed,” he reports. “Let’s deliver them back to their troupe and collect our reward.”

For all that tough talk the cat was no match for Ak’ka’s furious fists and Perrath’s bloodthirsty swordwork. Ak’ka ground her ribs to a pulp, allowin’ Perrath to put her down with a nasty jab. She’d been so eloquent earlier, and yet, right now, she’d fallen like all beasts did. A pathetic scream in her last moments, her pride fell’d to two monsters of the woods more vicious than her. Ak’ka wiped at the blood on her face as the beast fell, the life fading from her slitted eyes. The Big Guy made his way over to her, singin’ praises and whatnot.

“Thanks. Yer pretty good yerself. It’s been an excellent hunt.” Ak’ka replied as the bloodhymn faded from her and her adrenaline quieted. She watched while the draconynh made his way to the cat, prying her teeth from her maw - keeping one for himself, and offerin’ the other to Ak’ka herself. A ritual earning. Ak’ka didn’t usually keep trophies of her kills ‘sides the scars on her back, but who was she to deny a gift? She grinned and grabbed the tooth, tucking it in her pocket. She, too, wasn’t free of pride from time to time. Besides, it’d make a pretty necklace.

“Right.” Ak’ka bent down to pick up her tree, slinging it across her back while the two retreated further into the cave, unimpeded. The cat’s clan had been wiped out by them just earlier this day, meaning the queen had been the only resistance. Didn’t take long for them to find the stolen cart of people, huddled fearfully together. They flinched when the two approached, only to relax somewhat when they recognized the armored fellow and the half orc as the ones who’d fought off the displacer beast pack earlier.

“Oh… you came back for us!” One of them - probably the leader - breathed.

Ak’ka assessed the state of the cart. Everything looked fine, but one could never be sure. “Everythin’ in working order?” She asked. When she received a few hesitant nods assuring her that they had nothin’ more than a few bumps and bruises, Ak’ka nodded. “Right. Let’s get y’all back to yer caravan.”

Leading the cart out and retracing their steps was easy enough work now that they knew where to go. Before long they’d reached the edge of the forest, where they’d left the caravan. It hadn’t stuck around to wait for its missing cart, but that was an easy enough fix. They just followed the trail to the nearest village, where the merchants’ friends were waiting at a tavern and drinking the evening away. Made it easier to negotiate (i.e., intimidate) a little extra coin out of them for saving their charges. Ak’ka didn’t really care much for monetary reward, but she and Perrath ended up splitting the two-hundred solar reward down the middle, for honor’s sake. A decent hunk of change for a good day’s work. Ak’ka didn’t meed much more than the thrill of the hunt, but the prize at least paid for the merry meal and drink and lodgings afterwards. A good celebration to a glorious battle. She hoped the first of many between her and the Big Guy.