Closed Elusive Quarry

Scorn // Khida wishes for fish, and Scorn wishes for human. Or falcon. Or whatever she can get.

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The Wilderness of Cyphrus is an endless sea of tall grass that rolls just like the oceans themselves. Geysers kiss the sky with their steamy breath, and mysterious craters create microworlds all their own. But above all danger lives here in the tall grass in the form of fierce wild creatures; elegant serpents that swim through the land like whales through the ocean and fierce packs of glassbeaks that hunt in packs which are only kept at bay by fires. Traverse it carefully, with a guide if possible, for those that venture alone endanger themselves in countless ways.

Elusive Quarry

Postby Khida on September 7th, 2013, 11:42 am

The predator didn't seem fazed by the falcon's attempts to dislodge its hold; it only tightened its grip instead. When it landed at the river's edge, it proceeded to shake her around, which was distinctly unpleasant and disorienting. Later, she might think on that as a strange thing for a predator to do -- wave its prey around like a festival banner or somesuch -- but at the moment, about all she could think of was making it stop.

Which it did, but not for reason of anything Khida could do. The predator then just sat there and stared at the falcon, giving her opportunity to examine it more closely in return while her thoughts reassembled. It was surprisingly human-like, outside of its fur and bat-wings... a similarity which became all the more pronounced when it proceeded to speak Common. While shaking her again as if to emphasize its directives, but with much less vigor; it didn't interfere with Khida understanding the words, her attention sharpening on the bat-beast-thing's face.

But it didn't apparently want to talk. It just wanted her to shift so it could eat more. And she wasn't about to take soft-skinned, talon-less human form while in the predator's very clutches. Khida considered that decision vindicated just moments later when the bat-thing proceeded to lean forward with gaping mouth. She shrieked fury and defiance at it, batting with her unhindered wing, head snapping forward in a slash of hooked beak. She wasn't just going to sit there and let it take a bite out of her!

...and Khida was rapidly running out of things she could do to keep that from happening. It did flinch back from her onslaught, its grip loosening slightly -- noticeable mostly in the fact that the breath she took for her second shriek was deeper than the first. If she shifted, maybe she could jar its hand loose entirely... or something. She didn't like it, but shifting offered a slim chance -- and in desperation, Khida took it, going from falcon to unclothed human in a sudden burst of light.

oocThere! :)
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Elusive Quarry

Postby Scorn on September 17th, 2013, 1:59 am

At the sudden burst of light, Scorn snarled and threw a hand over her eyes, accidentally letting go of her prey. Realizing she'd potentially lost something so hard-won, she opened her eyes again as soon at the light receded. What she saw made her cheer in triumph, though the sound was mostly outside the range of human hearing. She had done it, she had discovered the secret of size-changing meat!

Scorn almost pounced upon her prey right then, so pleased was she, but before she could enjoy her first bite, a nagging thought grabbed her and refused to let go. If there was this creature that could change its size, were there more? Perhaps hiding amidst the smaller prey that Zith rarely bothered with, or among humans.

Scorn grabbed at the human-bird's arm as she demanded, "Does all prey change size like you?" Had she been missing out all this time? It would be an amazing discovery, to do the work of hunting something small, only to have it grow into many times as much meat. It would make transporting slaves much easier as well...
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Elusive Quarry

Postby Khida on September 19th, 2013, 10:14 am

The bat-winged creature shied back from her form-change, and Khida scrambled back over the earth in unthinking attempt to put more distance between them. Its hair was blue, she realized, thoughts hanging on that odd and utterly irrelevant detail -- as vibrant a blue as the sky was rapidly becoming. The creature wasn't as big as the wings made it look; it wasn't even as big as Khida's own human shape, now that they were both on the ground. But she couldn't quite put together how to take advantage of that fact in this immediate moment... or in this form.

The predator made some sound she could barely hear, an unpleasant stab of high-pitched whine, then lunged and snagged her arm with sharp-clawed fingers; evidently, the Kelvic's scramble was not fast enough. Stupid slow human skin. She hissed at it, automatic, defensive, only to be jarred by its abrupt questioning. Khida hadn't expected it to stop for talking -- but most predators she encountered, on which her expectations were based, didn't even have the facility to begin with.

"No," she answered, short and abrupt, the answer practically surprised out of her. "I'm Kelvic." And if it was distracted with talking... Khida raised her free hand in a swipe at the predator's face, fingers hooked, using the twist of her torso to yank her other arm back in hopes of breaking its hold. If she could get free -- shift again -- dive into the riverside brush --
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Elusive Quarry

Postby Scorn on September 23rd, 2013, 3:11 am

"Kel...vic?" The word was strange, not one Scorn had heard before. She wanted to know more, maybe find out how to best track and make use of the strange beast that could change their shape. Sadly, her prey had other ideas, and a second flash of light blinded the Zith again.

Disoriented, Scorn tried to follow the falcon, but the Sun was rising. It was making it too bright to see clearly, but even worse, it was reminding her how tired she was. It was time to sleep, after all. She should be resting, not chasing mysteries. Frustrated, Scorn flew in erratic loops, trying to catch the sound or scent of her recent prey. But she was just too disoriented, and all the effort she had gone through to catch the falcon just seemed less and less worth a second attempt.

After a few chimes of fruitless searching, the Zith finally decided that a "Kelvic" was not worthy prey. It was just too much trouble for too little reward. She size-changing ability might be useful for transporting them as slaves, but Scorn had neither need for nor interest in slaves. So, as far as she was concerned at this hour of day, the size-changing prey was mostly useless.
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Elusive Quarry

Postby Khida on September 24th, 2013, 10:22 pm

Free of constraint for an all-important moment, the falcon leapt up and made a straight line for the riverside brush, not looking anywhere but at her chosen destination. She didn't even think very hard about her goal -- just that it was cover, neither open space nor solid obstacle; desperation didn't allow time for pickiness. Khida crashed into the thinner branches with what seemed a great noise to her... but then, her own heartbeat seemed a loud thunder just now. What the predator beyond actually perceived, she couldn't guess.

More slowly, Khida wormed her way deeper into the concealing brush, putting as much thicket as she could between herself and the predator. She was certain at any moment, with any breath, any too-rapid heartbeat, she would hear it come barrelling in behind her. Eventually, there was no deeper to go -- on the other side, the brush soon gave way to grass, which was not cover in quite the same way. She could only stop, huddle down, and wait.

Khida sensed it out there, somewhere in the nearby air -- or was nearly convinced she did. Slowly, as ticks gave way to chimes, she realized it wasn't coming after her. As chimes stretched into notable fractions of a bell, she began to hope it might have given up and gone away at last. Cautiously, the falcon ventured back out and scanned the sky -- all of it that she could see remained free of the large gray predator. Aloft, the vista proved much the same -- sky and earth and river all devoid of that strange menace. They were equally devoid of clues as to where it had gone... but 'not here' was good enough in the Kelvic's book.

Safety established, Khida oriented herself against the line of the river and the rising sun, and made her way back home. One close call was surely sufficient unto the day.
Spring threads: 2/5 .. | .. Season Goals .. | .. GradersMaxed skill: Observation.
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Elusive Quarry

Postby Poppy on October 20th, 2013, 4:00 am

Image

...because you've EARNED it!

Khida :
+5 Observation
+4 Unarmed Combat
+1 Planning
+1 Wilderness Survival

Survival: Signs of Water in the Grasslands
Hunting: Spotting Fish in Water
Survival: Heed Your Instinct
Survival: Being Hunted
Lore: Hiding in Brush


Scorn :
+4 Observation
+2 Tracking
+2 Hunting
+1 Unarmed Combat
+1 Rhetoric

Hunting: How to Spot Prey from the Air
Hunting: Difficulty of an Aerial Hunt
Flying: Upside-Down is Difficult
Kelvic: Size-Changing Meatbags


Notes :
What a fun little catch-and-accidentally-release thread. I especially loved the "Make happen more meat" bit. :) I might suggest slightly more detail in your posts - some were quite short and didn't really earn you what they could have.


Please PM me with any questions, comments, or concerns!


Image
But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed.
Tam o'Shanter, Robert Burns

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