PM to join [The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Milartek joins a hunter he met the previous day. What could possibly go wrong?

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Stretching northward along the coastline of the Suvan Sea, the Cobalt Mountains are the home of the Bronze Wood, numerous ruins, and creatures both strange and fantastical.

[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Milartek on October 25th, 2013, 9:51 pm



16th fall 513 Morning

Milartek had risen early to a light drizzle and dreary sky's. It wasn't the most pleasant day but the prospects seemed good to the young Akalak. The previous day during a leisurely stroll around the city he had literally bumped into and got talking to a young hunter, called Roderick, and had helped him carry his wears to the butchers.

Whilst talking Milartek had managed to convince the young man, Roderick was his name, to take him with him on his next hunting trip.

Which happened to be today.

He walked through the streets with purpose, heading towards the main gate were he would beet Roderick. He shrugged his shoulders, re-positioning the chain shirt so it was more comfortable. He had been told of the dangers within the woods, so had felt the chain shirt appropriate. Along with the half spear strapped to his back and the lakan on his side.

He nodded to the 2 knights at the gate but did not go through, instead he stayed seeking shelter underneath, as there was no sign of Roderick yet. And no sign of the rain stopping.

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[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Roderick on October 25th, 2013, 10:46 pm

Grey skies and spitting rain greeted Roderick that morning, sending a few droplets of water into his eyes as he made his way through the streets to the gates. On days like this he normally would have waited until the rain wore off before he set out, since the water had the habit of washing tracks away while he was in the midst of following them - hard enough feat as it was when he could see them among the dirt and leaves of the Bronze Wood. In such times he would allow the flow of water to stop before he set out, the tracking and killing of his prey becoming far easier. In this case however he judged the downpour was light enough that he could set about his work without having to worry about the consequences of losing his prey's trail. That and he had been out and about the other day when he had bumped into a massive blue creature - an Akalak, he'd learned soon enough, the first he had ever spoken to, as far as he could remember. Occasionally he had heard something about them - their skill as warriors being the most common - and had, on occasion, noticed one of in the distance as he went about his own business throughout the day. Being the first of his kind to have ever met the hunter seemed to have sparked some level of interest within the warrior.

Roderick had been in the middle of returning his prey to the city when he'd run into Milartek, who loomed over him by at least a head. Craning his neck the Zeltivan had blinked up at him and then finally greeted him casually, as was his way. After a few minutes of idle talking they had managed to build up a fairly good relation with one another - not a particularly grand one, considering they had known one another for less than a day, but the Akalak had insisted on helping the hunter with his burdens, and he had not seen any reason to rebuke the offer, so he had let his newest companion join him on his walk. When they had finally delivered the goods and retrieved the money for them, Roderick spent the next few minutes leaning against a wall while talking to the Akalak - whose name was Milartek, he'd soon learned - and relaxing his muscles. First they had discussed the warrior's fighting and training, which had taken up much of his life. Naturally things had spun around the other way and Roderick had started talking first about his training with the bow - which had not impressed the Akalak overly much, though it had been hidden fairly well - and from there it had progressed to his work as a hunter.

From there he had somehow been talked into taking the warrior on his next hunt into the woods - which was today, as it happened. The poor weather had almost convinced the Zeltivan that they should go through with their plans another day, but the insistence of his latest companion had convinced him that going out today would be worthwhile. Now, as he was jostled by the crowds around him, he counted the Akalak's presence as a mixed blessing. With him there he had a better chance of defending himself against any attackers they came across, the danger of being torn apart by beasts or wounded and crippled while out on his own growing less notable; on the other hand however was the fact that Milartek had no prior knowledge - as far as Roderick knew - in the way of hunting; today would effectively be his first time going through all the procedures involved, and there was a good chance he could ruin the hunter's work and force him to return home wet, hungry and empty-handed. Such sour thoughts didn't improve as the rain needled him in the eyes again; Roderick would just have to cross his fingers and hope that nothing bad would happen to them or, if it did, they would overcome their difficulties.

As the large blue humanoid came into view the hunter pushed his sour thoughts away and let his mood be brightened by the sight of this new travelling companion he'd come across. Strolling over with fixed purpose he gave a friendly nod and a little smile, greeting the Akalak pleasantly, "Milartek - good to see you again." He fiddled with his weapons harness as he saw Milartek's armour, a sign of him not being particularly knowledgeably in the human's field of work. "Mail? That'll make a fair bit of noise when you're moving. Better mind that." He shrugged it off, not wanting to spoil their day before they had even set off; another way he dismissed it was by thinking that being forced to deal with such a distracting, intrusive noise would help him with ignoring such irritations in the future."Well there's no use standing around talking about what we're going to do. Let's just get to it." Without asking Milartek his opinion on the matter Roderick swiftly set off, giving an over-the-shoulder gesture for the Akalak to follow after him as he set off at a quick, march-like pace. Clearing the gates with all the haste he could achieve he made a beeline for the Wood, passing over the road onto dirt. Soon he found himself becoming lost beneath the great, comforting canopy of leaves that hung over his head, serving as a blanket against the rain.

As he stepped over, past and beside the pouches of wet mud and leaf mulch that carpeted the forest floor, he looked around for any signs that the undergrowth had been disturbed; his eyes scanned the region for any foot markings in the dirt, or bent bushes from where something - or someone - had pushed through or moved past the foliage. For the first few chimes he found nothing, the sour thoughts creeping back into his head as the clink of his companion's armour steadily began to make itself more noticeable, now that the hustle and bustle of the city was no longer drowning out the noise. At last, just as he was about to plunge neck-deep into a pool of pessimism, Roderick discovered was appeared to be small amounts of fur that had become snagged on the branches of a bush. Honing in on the area around it he was able to make out a few prints, distorted and blurred as they were. Following them with some level of difficulty, he motioned for Milartek to walk beside them, so he didn't destroy the trail; if they lost it further on he wanted to have a good place to start over from.
Last edited by Roderick on November 26th, 2013, 5:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Milartek on October 27th, 2013, 7:08 pm



Milartek hadn't really thought about the noise the chain gave of as he was used to it, it was just another of those everyday noises that blending into the background after a while. Still, he would be glad of it if anything went astray.

Anyway, he would try to learn as much as he could from this man, despite any misgivings he had already caused. Still, he got the feeling he was a bit of a burden on the young hunter, the silence doing nothing for his worry. consolidated in the way he just marched of into the forest.

Well, ok, he would just wait and observe for a while, bide his time and try to prove to the man that he could be of some help.

He was scrutinizing the ground, picking over the floor and foliage looking for... well Milartek had no idea but he peered over the man trying to see what caught his attention each time. All he could really see was wet mud and leaves piled in what seemed to be random scatterings.

Nothing odd at all.

Roderick stopped at one point for a good chime, searching the floor intently until he signaled for Milartek to follow. Try as he might, Milartek had no idea what Roderick had seen. It just looked like mud, leaves and bushes to him.

They walked in silence, Milartek directly behind the hunter, trying to step as quietly as possible, but still making a fairly noticeable squelching sound.

After what felt like bells, which in reality was a mere chime, Milartek could not contain himself. He had to ask questions.


"So, what were you looking for on the ground? It all just looks like mud and leaves, all of which look like each other. What are you following, if you are actually following anything?".

With the last question, the young warrior stepped out of line with Roderick and onto the path of the trail and, oblivious, walked up to the young mans side so he could better hear his response.

oocSorry for late response, moved house today, yay! :) But I will be quicker now (fingers crossed)

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[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Roderick on October 27th, 2013, 10:48 pm

Clink. Clink. Clink. He resisted the urge to turn around and rip Milartek's armour off and hurl it into the nearest bush. Deep breaths, Rod. Just breath and stay calm. He's not doing it to annoy you. Clink. Clink. Clink. I am going to rip his head off if that doesn't stop. Breathing out heavily through his nose, he pushed the feelings away with some more pleasant thoughts; at the very least the Akalak would be ready to fight if they ran into anything that might try to eat them. The Zeltivan's own fighting skills were rather rusty, given his lack of the more close quarters martial training of late. So long as he could stay at a reasonable distance he would be able to take anything down with his bow - recently that idea had become a little less pronounced. Normally he could take beasts down before they noticed him, but humans were proving an entirely different matter. He felt the warrior's eyes on the back of his head as he looked over the nearly destroyed tracks left by the bush. There was a big area next to it that seemed to have been pressed down - it looked like something had fallen as it was trying to follow the animal. Gradually the prints became a little clearer and he stopped when he found a good one. Kneeling down amid the filth and grime of the forest floor he chose to ignore the mud and dirt that brushed against the knees of his breeches as he focused all of his senses on looking over the print before him; it was cloven, the two different pieces of the hoof having come down and pressed into the soft mud created by yesterday's rainfall. The result was a pair of matching almond-shaped indents in the mud - this one an almost perfect example of a deer's hoof. He knew the last detail because of how the front half of the print pointed forwards slightly near the front of the animal's hoof.

Milartek made a noticeable squelching sound as he moved forwards, his boots sinking into the wet mud, while Roderick managed to lessen the sound of his by skirting past the worst areas, aiming for where the leaves overhead provided the best cover, the dirt being a little more compact. That said he still made some level of noise - but at least he didn't sound like a boar that was stomping its way around with reckless abandon. As he looked a few feet ahead, towards the next few tracks, the silence - if the squelching, clinking Akalak was ignored - was shattered by the sound of the massive warrior unleashing his pent up thoughts. He didn't bother looking up at him first, instead concerning himself with a small pile of scat that had been left behind by a deer. Reaching down toward it the hunter laid his fingers to it and checked for any feeling of warmth; it was stone cold - nestled among the roots of a tree it had been sheltered by the rain, which had been lighter in this area. It told him that it wasn't from the animal he was looking for. Though he did find something more interesting; a paw print, its shape denoting the pads and claws of some form of canine - a wolf, as far as Roderick could tell, though the slightly distorted shape made that opinion a little less sure than he would have liked; he would rather know exactly what he might be facing, but in this case his guessing would have to do. "Anything we can find. I don't think we're the only people to come looking for this deer - there were too many prints for one animal - nothing big enough to be human either. There's at least two or three wolves following it - they hunt in packs." He rose and brushed leaf mulch from his leather breeches, then set off at a quick pace in the rough direction the trail was headed, searching the area all the while, picking apart the different details he could notice; at one point he began moving so quickly that the bushes around him began blurring ever so slightly.

As he went he spoke softly to Milartek, who he assumed was following, "You get all kinds of signs - fur snagged on branches, prints left in the mud, a bush that's been disturbed, trampled grass - even the animal's dung." Just as he finished he veered away to the right, towards an area of grass that seemed a little flatter than the rest. Bending his back to get a better look he walked over it carefully, searching around for a sign as to whether the deer had come this way and, if it had, which way it had gone after. Droplets of something dark had stained some of the grass, bringing his attention to it. Looking more closely he saw more of it, then more. Continuing the stains became more noticeable and finally he realized what they were; blood. There was a rocky overhang just in front now and he followed the trail up it, curving round as he climbed the outcrop and moved quickly along. He stopped suddenly as he saw the body. It wasn't a deer.

Lying in the dirt the dead man stared up at the sky, his face contorted in agony as numb fingers reached towards the gaping tears in his body. With a sad look and a sigh Roderick stepped towards the fallen hunter and knelt beside him. For a moment the absence of any human prints any where nearby confused him, but he put that down to the man having come up here from a different direction. Roderick judged that the man had been going after the same deer he was and had fallen prey to whatever had also been hunting it - beasts with sharp teeth, from the way they had torn his flesh open. Poor sod. The man's shortbow was lying nearby, presumably abandoned in the grass when he'd been attacked. His armour and helmet were made from the body of a deer - the wolves that had killed him would have mistaken the smell of his armour for that of their prey. The hides had been torn and bloodied as the man was ravaged and killed, and his vambraces were streaked with blood, a buckler fastened to his limp arm, while his bloodied axe lay just out of his reach. The rain had worn off, and it seemed it hadn't reached up here, so the ground was completely dry - the blood wasn't though; it was still wet, the man's face warm to the touch - the pack that had killed him was nearby. Robbing a corpse wasn't something to be proud of, but they had no need for their things anymore. Roderick wouldn't blame someone for taking things they needed from his corpse when the time came. Besides, it wasn't like he was jumping around on the body.

Roderick had forgotten his own vambraces that day, having set them down in a different place to where he did normally. Unbuckling the man's own vambraces, the Zeltivan strapped one on, and was in the middle of fastening the second when he remembered the Akalak standing nearby. "We can worry about him later; he just won't be needing these anymore." When he'd finished with the second vambrace he stashed the man's dagger away in his belt and then tugged his buckler free, strapping it to his own arm. The grip of the handaxe was still wet with blood, so he dried it on the man's cloak, doing the same for the other purloined possessions, then shoved the handle through his belt. Rifling quickly through the corpse's pockets, he found a pouch of gold mizas hanging from his belt, along with a circular pendant dangling from his neck, something etched into its surface - wiping the blood away the word 'Brandt' came into sight - a family name, maybe? He took them both and rose to his full height, "Grab his bow and quiver. I'll keep them if you don't want them - just hold onto them for me for a bit."

Straightening Roderick looked around briefly at the different signs around the place, narrowing in on a few prints leading away into the undergrowth. He started following them, brushing the dead man from his thoughts as he went. "Don't worry about him - he'll be more than happy with us if we kill the wolves." He continued walking, slipping away into the bushes and letting his mind take in the different signs of his quarry's passing; trampled grass and disturbed bushes met him - as well as the distraught trilling of nearby birds. The wolves were close - very close. Drawing his bow from his back Roderick nocked an arrow to the string and set his fingers in place, ready to take a shot if anything came at him. He heard the sounds of eating ahead and started placing his heel down carefully before rolling his foot forward til it was lying flat, then repeating the process. When he had reached the tree he leaned into it and peered around the corner, taking in the sight before him; four wolves had felled the deer he'd tracked all this way, and they were in the middle of devouring it. On his own this would have been too dangerous an undertaking - but with the Akalak ready to fight nearby, he felt he could manage it. Drawing his arrow was easy by now, and his muscles hardly reacted as he brought the string back to his cheek and took aim at the nearest wolf, the point hovering over its side.

Letting go of the string, Roderick watched as his arrow became embedded in its chest, the animal letting out a startled yelping as it collapsed and began bleeding profusely. It seemed strong enough to stand up again, but with its legs buckling beneath it he doubted it would get far. After a few tics he had another arrow readied at his cheek, his arms holding his aim steady as he eyed up its brethren, who had all turned towards him, seeing him as another tasty morsel in their day's feast.
OOCMaybe I'm not allowed to create a dead guy for Rod to loot, but I liked the idea so I just went with it. I'm planning on using it as a bit of character development for him - just a tiny bit, though.
Last edited by Roderick on November 26th, 2013, 5:56 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Milartek on October 28th, 2013, 10:13 pm



The hunter gave no response to his questions. And no indication that he was going to. This annoyed Milartek slightly, but he presumed that the man was busy tracking, and that his questions could wait until a convenient time.

Or until he had finished with the poo he had just touched. A little disgusted, Mialrtek shock his head, wondering why on earth the young man had done that.

He glanced down to wear the man was looking. He saw a smudge in the ground, and the more he looked the more like a paw print it became. He could see were the pad had struck, and maybe the hole just in front of it had been a claw?

He wasn't sure, anyway Roderick soon interrupted his thoughts with the answers to the Akalaks questions, which served to both educate and confuse him further.

So what he had seen was a print, a sign left by a passing animal in the ground. Other tells were fur caught on trees, or other flora. Disturbed shrubs and grass, although he didn't know how to look for those because it all looked the same to him! And then dung, which explained why the hunter was playing with it. Not that Milartek had any intention of doing the same.

At the mention of wolves however Milartek instinctively reached a hand to brush his Lakan, making sure it was indeed still there. It seems that he might prove to the hunter that chain was the right apparel.

Something caught Roderick's eye then, and he bent low to a patch of grass that seemed to be a little flatter than other places. But it could of just been an optical illusion.

His chain shirt clinked as he bent over at the spot the hunter had just left. A dark stain was in the grass. It wasn't until they saw more of it that he clocked it as blood. Roderick picked up the pace, and Milartek had to be careful not to trip over on the loose rocky outcrop they were climbing as he tried to keep up. Fortunately Roderick stopped just past the outcrop and it wasn't until he reached him That Milartek realized why.

A body.

The young warrior had unfortunately seen death before, however it always saddened his heart. The man had great gaping wounds that tore through his armor and proved fatal. his face a contorted symphony of agony. He only hoped that the man had died quickly.

HE almost tore the hunter off the man when it was clear that he intended to loot the body. The dead should be honored and respected, not abused and just left. It was true what Roderick said, he didn't need them anymore. But that wasn't the point. Even dead he deserved respect.

Milartek vowed to make sure that the man received a proper burial and that whatever had killed him died by his Lakan.

Once Roderick had taken everything he deemed of value, he asked Milartek to take the bow, which he did reluctantly, and turned into the direction that the wolves had left. Even Milartek could tell that something big, or a few medium sized creatures had been here recently. The grass was flattened in places and there was at least one bush he saw that looked as if a creature had gone straight through it.

Roderick drew his bow and nocked an arrow, which the Akalak took as a sign to draw his Lakan and discard the bow as it would only get in the way of his fighting. As the approached, the Akalak still clinking away but now being a little more careful with were he stood, they could hear the sounds eating.

The wolves were close.

Instead of following the hunter Milartek made off to his left, trying to be as silent as he could, but making just as much noise as normal, until he was a good 15 feet to the left of Roderick. It was then that he heard the whole of the Wolf and the snarls of its companions. The hunter had shot one. Good, they were going to attack them after all.

Milartek didn't hesitate now, and sprinted past the tree line into the little clearing the wolves were in. 3 were running towards were he now presumed Roderick was, and one was dragging its back legs behind it. Obviously on its alst legs.

The warrior kept going, straight at the wolves coming in from the side of them. The wolf at the back of the pack was too intent on the hunter to react in time and the massive warrior barreled into it, causing wolf and Akalak to sprawl to the ground in a heap.

His Laken had sunk into the wolfs flank as he had charged it, left shoulder down and right hand lowered so the Lakan went in on impact.
Unfortunately he had not managed to maintain his grip on it on the sprawl and he now struggled to get free of the wolf, who was now thrashing on the ground.His claws scraped against the mail, but one set managed to scratch at his arm and the Akalak grunted in pain as fresh blood was drawn.

He managed to kick his way back off the wolf and scrambled to his feet. He reached up to his back, were his spear should have been. But it wasn't there. Curse it the petched thing must have fallen free of its rope binding and now lay useless somewhere in the forest.

The wolf was struggling to get up, the Lakan embedded deeply within its flank. Acting quickly the young warrior approached and when he was a couple of steps away leaned back, lifted his right foot up and delivered a brutal front kick to the head of the wolf, catching it on the end of its muzzle. Then he sprung at it, forcing it back onto its side, and wrapped his two powerful arms around its throat and squeezed with all his might.

its front legs kicked painfully at his chest, but he couldn't let go of his hold now. If he did, he was dead.

Unaware of the other wolf approaching him from behind, the warrior kept his grip true, the struggles from the wolf getting weaker and weaker.


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[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Roderick on October 29th, 2013, 8:33 am

Death was a sad thing; Roderick couldn't deny that - yet he didn't let it trouble him. While there were certain corpses that were wandering around the world, the majority remained inanimate. The brief bit of sorrow he had shown was all he would ever give to a dead stranger; why should he cry and mourn for someone he'd never known? He had a feeling the Akalak was greatly displeased by how he looted the hunter's body and then left it - but what was he supposed to do? He'd put a fair amount of work into chasing his quarry down and to leave it now seemed a waste of time and effort. Besides, the dead man couldn't complain about having to wait.

For now Roderick was occupied with the wolf headed straight for his face.

The speed with which it hurtled towards him was rather startling, and he quickly took the different areas he could aim for into account; its legs were moving too quickly for him to have any hope of landing a hit, so instead he changed between the chest and the face - an arrow to the brain would kill it while one to the lungs would slow it down and kill it slowly. He decided to aim for its face and hope for the best, quickly releasing his hold on the string and watching as the arrow hurtled forwards and buried itself in the wolf; the abrupt addition of a big pointed stick in its cheek seemed to convince the animal that he'd rather not be eaten; slowing almost immediately, the animal collapsed a few feet away from him, while its packmate seemed a little less enthusiastic about trying to kill the hunter. In truth he was a little surprised by the shot he'd just made - he was getting better.

Oh, right, the Akalak.

Turning his head towards Milartek he saw the warrior engaged in a wrestling match, his arms wrapped around his foe's head as he fought with it, gradually throttling it with brute force. The Akalak was so engaged in what he was doing he was unaware of the massive wolf stalking up behind him, its teeth revealed as it quietly snarled and moved in for the kill. Pulling his purloined handaxe free Roderick stepped forwards and, in passing, buried the weapon in the injured wolf's head, silencing its pained growls. The distance between himself and Milartek's two adversaries was suddenly rather large, and as he nocked an arrow and drew it straight back, he found he wasn't holding his breath to steady the shot. He mortified of missing right now. His entire world honed in towards the beast's neck, hands steadying his bow as he let go and watched for the end result.

Everything grew silent.

Slamming into the side of its head the arrow drilled into the animal's brain. Half way through leaping towards Milartek, its mind collapsed as he killed it, sending the beast sprawling into the dirt, a few feet away from the Akalak. The warrior's own wolf had grown very still, and Roderick knew the threat to them was over. Slipping his bow over his back he quickly walked back through the trees to collect the fallen hunter's bow, left behind by the Akalak as they'd come here. Slipping his new bow over his shoulder he returned to the clearing and pulled his arrows free and returned them to his quiver, then called over to Milartek, "Gather the arrows and grab the biggest wolf." He tossed his rope to his companion, then pulled the handaxe free and wiped it on the wolf's fur, sliding it away again as he left the clearing.

Stepping free of the tightly packed trees and rough undergrowth, a shaft of sunlight fell down onto him, highlighting the fallen body laid out across the forest floor. It might have just been him, but Roderick thought the dead hunter looked at peace - almost happy, in a way. Fitting, really. Crouching down beside the man he sighed quietly to himself; he supposed he'd have to take it back to the city to be buried. Moving his arms beneath the man he lifted him into the air; he was surprisingly light - the man had been a small individual, and so there wasn't that much weight to him. He waited for Milartek to catch up and then began walking towards the city.
Last edited by Roderick on November 19th, 2013, 7:50 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Milartek on October 31st, 2013, 6:06 pm



With a final squeeze of his arms the wolf stopped thrashing as the life slowly ebbed out of it. He was breathing hard and fast, his chest hurting with every breath. The wolf's legs and claws had pounded against it but fortunately his mail shirt had protected him from most of the damage, a point he would be sure to bring up with the hunter.


But there was no time to celebrate his victory because a vicious snarl went up directly behind him, causing him to push his body to the right, and log roll ungracefully over the dead wolf, expecting at any minute to have a snarling wolf come at him. But instead he heard a thud and a whimper. He quickly pushed himself up of the floor and looked around.

All the wolfs were dead, including one close to his wolf that had an arrow buried into the back of its head. The hunter had got to it before him, and had maybe even saved him from being mauled. Whether or not the hunter had saved his life was another question all together, and brought some moral problems for Milartek. If he had, then he was obliged to offer his lakan until the same dept had been repaid. He would have to think about the situation before making his decision. For now he needed to find the hunter.

He looked around the clearing, eyes searching, until he finally saw Roderick emerge from the undergrowth, the bow he had abandoned earlier. He seemed to have sustained no damage mainly because he used , in Milarteks opinion a weak mans weapon. But he couldn't deny he was very effective with it.

Leaving the hunter to do whatever it was he was doing, Milartek checked his torso, prodding and squeezing it. It was sore, but the pain wasn't enough to lead Mialrtek to think anything was broken. Tentatively he bent down and pulled his lakan free of the wolf, wiped the blood of on its fur, and re sheathed it round his waist.

As he stood up the hunter was looking at him and told him to gather the largest wolf, tossing him some rope to use. He just nodded, no point in arguing with the way he was ordered about. The smell of blood was bound to bring other predators to the area, so leaving quickly would be ideal.

Looking around,he identified the biggest wolf, although they were all relatively the same size, bent down and heaved the sticking thing up and onto his right shoulder. It stank or damp and stale blood, and it was also heavy. He lifted it so its head and front legs dangled over his back and his right arm wrapped around its mid section. If he got too tired he would tie it up and drag it.

He made for the direction that Roderick went and soon found the young hunter waiting, and carrying the dead man in his arms. Good he intended to give him a proper funeral. That pleased Milartek and he nodded that they should get going, not wanting to top with the weight of the wolf on his shoulder.

"If we can lets go back the same way we came. My spear as fallen off my back somewhere and i would appreciate it if we found it."
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Milartek
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[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Roderick on November 1st, 2013, 7:51 pm

The Akalak didn't look quite as pleased with Roderick's skill as the hunter had hoped; then again, the giant beings didn't see the bow as being a particularly grand weapon, so that in itself should have prepared him. All the same Milartek seemed grateful in his own way, so that put a balm on the hunter's pride. Within a few tics they had made their way safely away from the clearing and were heading back down the rocky incline they'd scaled earlier. Walking down at a steep angle while carrying a dead body proved to be just as difficult as he'd imagined, and Roderick soon slowed to a crawl to avoid falling unceremoniously on his arse. It certainly wouldn't impress his companion all too much. At least Milartek seemed pleased about Roderick's decision to carry the fallen hunter's corpse back to the city.

Looking around every now and then Roderick took in the different sounds around him; the birds had returned and were chirruping calmly now, calmed now that any threat of danger had vanished with the death of the wolves. All the same he couldn't help but feel something was out there, waiting to come at him now that his arms were busy with his burden. Shrugging it away somewhat, but unable to completely relieve the feeling he resolved himself to moving along more quickly as he began to speed up, shifting his hold on his burden as he stepped through the crushed, blood-spattered grass they'd passed through earlier. All the while the Akalak would be looking around for the spear he'd lost - chances were the weapon was lost forever, but there was always the possibility that they might come across it at some point.

Leaving the Akalak alone to go about his search Roderick fell into a steady rhythm, boots drumming the ground as he descended into the more muddy regions of the wood. Overtime the body in his arms began to become heavier and he felt his muscles working harder as he tried to avoid dropping the corpse. Eventually it proved to much for him and he knew he had to stop; by that time he was certain something was watching him, but he had no idea what it could be. As he laid the body down in the grass and rose with a slight stretch, he heard Milartek drawing near from behind. A thought occurred to him about what had happened earlier after their brief fight with the wolves, most specifically the look on the Akalak''s face after Roderick had saved him. "Back there, when I killed the wolf, you gave me an odd look. Why was that?" Just as he was finishing the sentence he became aware of something lurking nearby, and he knew he should have noticed it sooner.
Last edited by Roderick on November 19th, 2013, 7:52 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Milartek on November 4th, 2013, 9:54 pm



They carried on in silence, the weight of the wolf slowly gnawing at the young Akalaks Strength. Soon he fell behind the hunter, not because he was lagging due to fatigue but because he was searching the undergrowth for his lost weapon.

He noticed the dried blood and flattened grass as they walked through, he even stooped down to look at something that vaguely respelled the wolfs paw. After all, he was supposed to be learning about hunting.

Roderick was by now a good chime ahead and so, pausing Milartek put down the wolf for a quick break. After all it would be easier to search without the weight, but he was quickly giving up on the idea of ever finding it. The fact that it was basically a glorified stick didn't help the search within a forest

So much so that he was distracted by the wolf and decided to make an artificial paw print. He knelt next to the wolf and tried as best he could to push the paw into the moist earth. He tried several times to leave a distinguishable paw print, and found that only when he pushed with a good force did it leave a shape that vaguely resembled a paw print. Still he tried to commit to memory the shape that the pads made in the dirt.

A sudden breeze harassed his shoulders and caused his skin to prickle. The sudden chill reminded him that he was on his own, covered in blood and probably smelling very good to a predator, and a sense that he was not alone tugged at him.

So wincing from the pain of his sore chest, he heaved the wolf back up onto his right shoulder and set of in pursuit of Roderick. All the while he kept glancing around, that same feeling of being followed upon him.

After a couple of chimes he saw the hunter, resting on a muddy track and came to a stop just in front of him laying down the wolf. It was only as he bent down to the floor, letting the wolf slip of his shoulders did he glance the eyes of the presence he had felt. Golden gleaming eyes were staring, not at him, but at Roderick. The hunter had began to say something, but the words didn't register. The eyes were getting bigger.

Milartek forced himself him up and launched himself at the hunter, tackling him around the waist propelling both away from the spot that the animal had just launched itself. Moving quickly he pushed himself of the hunter and drew his blood encrusted Lakan, spinning to face the beast.

It was almost like a cat, but bigger, maybe waist height on a human, with pointier ears and clear fangs.

Not looking at Roderick he gave a command as the cat creature, turned its golden eyes upon him, ready to pounce again.

"I will distract it, shoot the thing as soon as you get the chance. Don't miss."





He then took a deliberate step forwards and braced his body to jump out of the way of the pouncing cat. Hopefully he could jab it with his lakan, but if not he could distract it until Roderick got a shot in.

oocSorry for the late reply mate got exams for work coming up soon so revising like mad! Felt like getting a bit more combat in, hope that's ok? Pretty sure I have seen someone else use a Lynx in the woods, but if not let me know and we can change the animal to something else!

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Milartek
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[The Bronze Woods]Stealth is not an innate skill

Postby Roderick on November 5th, 2013, 6:32 pm

The journey to that particular spot had been quiet for the most part, with only a few sounds here and there, most of them due to the large blue humanoid that was trying to locate his lost weapon among the grass and leaves. Roderick slowed and glanced over his shoulder when he heard Milartek stop, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the sight of the warrior messing around with something on the ground. Shaking his thoughts away he faced forward again and continued walking, eventually hearing the clinking of mail as the giant warrior began to follow him once more. As he lowered the corpse to the ground the niggling tremor of unease grew within him, until finally, just as he'd finished asking his companion an unimportant question, he realized there was an animal right in front of him, hidden away in the bushes.

Roderick had just dumped the shortbow on the ground, annoyed with how it continually shifted around on his shoulder. His hand snapped upwards, pulling his bow free as the eyes loomed up before him. Before he could react properly, however, he felt a heavy weight slamming into his side and he was hurled off to the side. His bow suddenly wasn't in his hand, and his head was smacking against something hard. The hunter's vision swam as he groaned in pain; his right arm gave a slight throb of pain when he moved it; if it had been broken he was in trouble. He lay there for at least a chime, quite possibly more, hearing the sounds of fighting nearby; the blow to his head had almost knocked him unconscious, and so joining the Akalak at that moment in time was not a priority for him. Simply breathing and letting his senses return, he felt the pains in his side gradually fade away; carefully opening his eyes he winced at the rush of light that penetrated them, but after a few tics it died down and his sight becoming sharper and clearer.

At that point he tried to get up; placing his hands beside his chest, he pushed upwards, and felt his body rising from the ground. Using his legs he managed to prop himself up onto his knees, steadying himself with his hands as his head swam again. Leaning back slightly and looking around he saw that the Akalak was involved in his battle with a lynx. The details of what had occurred came floating back; he remembered the sight of blue arms curled about his waist - the Akalak. While he could appreciate what the warrior had done, he'd just been in the middle of moving out of the way when he'd been floored. If Roderick had been left alone he could have handled things - at least that's what he told himself. An attempt at standing set him collapsing to his knees almost immediately, his vision swimming for a few tics before sharpening again. Reaching up the skin felt dry, but it was sore and tender. Closing his eyes he slowed his pained breathing and relaxed himself, then set his hands to the dirt and used them as a support as he tried to stand again. On that attempt he succeeded, rising up to his feet with a slight wobble. Turning to his left he saw the battle that was raging and, grumbling in pain, hobbled over to where his bow had fallen.

Bending over and almost falling again, he managed to maintain his balance and seized hold of the weapon, hefting it up and turning towards the Akalak and the lynx. A few arrows had probably spilled from his quiver, but there were plenty left. Tearing one free he knocked it and prepared a shot, aiming it for the animal's back legs. Loosing he watched as it pierced flesh and disabled the animals rear half. At that moment he lost his balance again, hurriedly steadying himself with his bow. The Akalak would be done with his fight soon enough, what with his opponent being badly crippled.
OOCSorry for the whole knocked out business, but I figured having Milartek fighting on his own for a bit would grant a bit of tension to the fight - I think I ended the battle with the wolves a little too quickly.
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