Open Déjà Voodoo

[Rufio]

　

　　　　"Wait!" Friend. Help. Rufio cussed under her breath. Before she could even react to pursue the wild-man, her features contorted into a sympathy-wince as Dravite's man-parts took a whack. "Oww..."
　　　　The Gods and Goddesses may have been splitting their sides, and the mare certainly neighed loudly, which could have been misconstrued for the same-said lack of sympathy. Rufio felt an infectuous giggle vibrate butterflies in her stomach, and she clamped a hand over from jaw-to-jaw to stifle it. Oh dear, poor Dravite!
　　　　Again, her compassion bristled to the surface & she chased after the poor fellow. The mare watched them go quietly, and then decided to follow at a leisurely trot. Breaking out from underneath the sparse family of trees, the woman halted a moment, and looked about for her self-possessed charge. "Where did he-"
　　　　It didn't take long for her gaze to set on the flailing man, before he slipped and unceremoniously plonked himself in mud and water. At first the woman jogged towards the wet-mud, stopping at its edges. Then she couldn't hold it in any longer, a melody of laughter fell from her. She had to hold her side where a stitch was forming from all the exertion of the bewildering morning.
　　　　Her laughter abated to a sympathetic smile as she approached the man, tentatively, slowly. He seemed lucid enough. She waded into the water, her sandals sinking into the mud, the water reaching up and seeping into the rolled-up hems of her dungarees. She paused five feet length from him and responded with a smile. "Not quite."
　　　　Her dark eyes studied him carefully, and she queried. "Are you yourself?" She could see the effects of the Voodoo Moss in his eyes, though she couldn't tell it was Voodoo Moss causing the symptoms she perceived. She wondered if he were ill, suffering a fever. He didn't look feverish, though, no shivering. Proceed with caution, she decided.
　　　　What a mystery he presented, she hoped he'd have answers.

　　

[Dravite]

The man was confused, a little dazed, scratched and bruised in places, but mentally aware now. Rufio approached him quickly and it took Dravite’s eyes half a chime to adjust, bloodshot and lidded. He heard the sound of a horse and looked past Rufio for a moment to her mount; oh, good, he wasn't being chased by a man and his riding wolf then. With some clarity, Dravite managed to get to his feet in the shallow pool and rinsed some of the mud from his trousers and the lengths of his legs from knee to ankle where his pants had been rolled up.

He reached out to take Rufio’s hand and scaled the slope of the pond, mud squeezed between his toes like cheese through a grater. He almost slipped and would have pulled Rufio into the pool, if at the last tick he hadn't found his balance, using his free hand to help him climb out of the pond. “I am not myself,” he admitted, “though I struggle to recall the events that led to now… Did I ride out here with you?”

The horse lord looked again at Rufio’s mount, as sturdy as she looked, he couldn't imagine sharing a horse with someone who had told him his fortune one time:
　　　　　Empty eyes; loss of Self.
　　　　　　Abandoned prayers; a goddess forgotten.
　　　　　　　Violent death to follow; but which loved one will fall?
Is that what she had said? Some voodoo he had paid little mind to; fortune tellers were all the same after all, masters of words who liked to weave webs of deception for those silly enough to part with their coin. Dravite was a god fearing man; he would leave his fortune to the god of fate next time.

Riddles; riddles, riddles, riddles. He was sick and tired of trying to guess, and so he had to ask.

“That day, in the marketplace,” he began when he noticed his hand was still in Rufio’s and was suddenly aware of the fact that he could not feel his fingers, or hers, “how strange,” the man murmured.

Recalling that he was mid-way through a sentence, Dravite let his hands fall at his sides and watched Rufio’s fingers stretch out like the limbs of an old, twisted tree; contorting and weaving together. He closed his eyes and balled his fists in an attempt to rub away the visions. “Did I eat something strange? My nose feels very funny.”

His line of thought was shot; there was no sense to much of anything he said, not able to follow a single thought to fruition. “You said that violence and…”

Dravite raised his head suddenly, that damned stag was back again and staring right at him, but this time it bared its teeth, sharp and menacing, black blood running through the gaps like drool, hanging, suspended momentarily only to fall away, lost to the green-yellow fire of the grasslands. His mouth was dry and his sight betrayed him; the only sense that did not lie to him was his hearing. “Don’t look now… But I think that buck wants to eat you.”

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[Rufio]

　

　　　　"Woah!" Laughter spilled easily from the woman's lips as she was almost pulled down into the pond. Drykas warriors were heavy folk, and her, petite. When they both stood on more solid ground, Rufio listened to Dravite's lucid confession, and then shook her head as he asked how he had got there, a smile lingering in her features. "No, I found you wandering out here."
　　　　Her dark-ochre eyes studied his face carefully, not realising their hands had stayed entwined either, as his words took her mind to that chance market-place meeting. Dravite may not have put much stock in her fortune-reading arts, nevertheless, Dravite and Rufio shared a belief in deities—benevolent and maleficent—even if not an appreciation for seeking ones fate in palms or runes or cards.
　　　　How strange—the words distracted her thoughts, and her mouth puckered in surprise as she released her fingers from his. Yes, she thought, this has been a very strange day. A part of her began to wonder what had put her in the Watch-Man's path today, and vice-verse that day at market. Hm. Just then, she turned with a start, and an expression of confusion. "A buck?!"
　　　　Her hands reached for her knife, to ward off this Rufio-eating buck! If she had had a tick to consider her reaction, her funny bone would have been tickled for sure! It was no buck, standing behind her, as Dravite's Moss-ridden senses perceived. Rufio's horse trotted up to them, her long ears flattened against her cranium, her eyes wide, all rough neighing and bared teeth. Rufio felt alarmed. What was wrong-?!
　　　　It was then her gaze slipped past the skittish mare, and glimpsed in the very distance something shift within the tall grass. "Dravite did you see that?" Rufio was staring at where she had caught sight of something in the Sea. Whatever it was, its coat blended well with the grasses. She couldn't tell how big it was, or even what shape.
　　　　Her mare reached them, her hooves sinking into the mud, she nudged Rufio so eagerly, nervously, with her nose it knocked the woman into Dravite and nearly sent them careering into the pond. "Uh- Sakita!" Rufio chastised, and grabbed the mare's neck to regain her balance. She turned to Dravite, an element of urgency in her usually soothing and occasionally jovial voice. "Dravite, there's something in the grass..."
　　　　Her heart just slightly hastened its pace, a calm woman not as easily spooked as she knew her mare to be. There, in the tick before her eyes settled again on the horseman, the Mix-blood hoped he was in his fit-state-of-mind right now, and whatever ailed him had not taken back his senses into incoherent hallucination.
　　　　A foreboding sense of dread was slowly working its way into Rufio's calmer spirit. Her Zavian mare was always playing up to irrational fears, Rufio hadn't found herself put on edge by it before. Was it that she was reminded by her reading of his fortune? Whatever it was in the grass, Rufio was very aware that Dravite had said it was out to eat her, as superstitious as she was, a piece of her believed the man, in his strangely hallucinogenic state, might have connected with a kind of fortune-seeing, himself.

　　

[Dravite]

Horse, not a stag. The man felt as if he were losing his mind, though it seemed the effects of the Voodoo Moss were slowly starting to wear off; Rufio’s voice, laced with concern, seemed to be a fast track cure for his bouts of insanity. “Did you see that?… There’s something in the grass,” she warned him and Dravite looked out at the green and yellow sea of swaying grass, trying to focus on anything that moved noticeably.

“I don’t se—“ The man didn’t have time to finish his sentence, for out of nowhere a young Olidosapux charged from at them the tall grass, smacking them onto their backs down the incline and into the pool that was more mud that water.

The youngster wasn’t very old and seemed to have lost its herd. It looked dehydrated and thin, the hard, leathery bump on the end of his noise that would one day be a horn was not bigger than a man’s closed fist, rounded and smoothed at the top. It made a deep bellowing sound and Dravite sat up in the pond and checked to see that Rufio was all right, he then stared up at the animal wide-eyed and very much himself. “Are you okay?” He asked the girl, making sure she hadn’t fallen on her dagger, or cut herself, when he noticed the nick in his trousers above his right knee where Rufio had mistakenly caught him with the edge of her dagger. The cut didn’t hurt, pain receptors numbed by the adrenaline that surged through his veins as he watched the Olidosapux calf run back and forth aimlessly.

Dravite reached for his own dagger and failing to find the weapon on his belt he turned to bury his hands in the murky water, feeling around in the loose muck for the steel short-blade. When he found the weapon he crawled towards the middle of the lake to quickly rinse it clean to take a firm hold of the hilt. Struggling to his feet, Dravite reached out for Rufio’s hand and pulled her through the muck to help her up onto the bank. The woman barely had her feet planted firmly on the ground when the calf came around the pond to charge again only to trip on a thick tussock of grass and slide to the edge when he then rolled, an outstretched leg just clipping Dravite’s foot out from under him so that the horse lord fell back into the muddy pool.

The animal was clumsy, all long, flailing limbs and little coordination, driven by instinct along, which told it to flatten anything in its path and run from those with sharp teeth and talons. Dravite, without his spear, was somewhat at a loss. He gripped the dagger in both hands and threw himself down against the Olidosapux, plunging the weapon into the animal’s shoulder through the thick hide, far shy of the neck he had intended to aim for. The calf lashed out, kicking with its front legs, and Dravite was forced to let go of his dagger in order to get out of the way in time. The juvenile struggled to its feet only to slip over in the pond, sloshing muddy water everywhere.
“Look out!” Dravite shouted at Rufio.

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[Rufio]

　

　　　　"Aahghh!" Was the sound of surprise that lurched from the woman as she was knocked down into the muddy water-puddle! Wet, sticky mud was cold against her back as they slid down the incline. After Rufio's knife had nicked poor Dravite's low-thigh, she lost its grip and it landed with a thud a good yard from where she had landed herself.
　　　　The woman sat up stiffly, the mud wet and cold and unpleasantly plastered across her near-bare back—for she'd only worn a cropped wool-lace crocheted top beneath the blue-wool dungarees—and back-side. It was times like this she was glad she had shrugged off the usual Drykas fashions and chopped all her hair off. Her face scrunched as she looked at Dravite and replied, half-in-jest. "I'll be alright so long as your bad-luck doesn't rub off on me!" Teasing. Caring.
　　　　Her muddied form shook with inconsolable giggles as she clambered to her feet, her sandals slipping in the mud making her ungraceful, the source of her amusement. She gave Dravite a thankful look as she climbed onto more solid ground with his strong helping-hand. Adrenaline—that powerful hormone—the perfect antidote to drugs in the system, as the heart beat faster and processed the blood at an uncanny speed.
　　　　Rufio felt it too, pumping energy into her body, her heart-beat fleeting. "Uhhf!" The lumpy, hairy hide of the calf knocked her with a heavy clunk, and there again she was sent careering down into the pond with a great splash. This was just not Dravite's day, and now, it seemed, it just wasn't Rufio's either—comrades in misfortune!
　　　　This time a thick slab of mud was slopped across her face. The Mix-blood pulled herself up onto her knees push-up-style, and plopped her butt on her feet. No patience for grass-sign or even speech, a growl reverberated from her as hands swiped mud from her eyes. Just this once, she wanted to stay out of the mud, just today! Nonetheless, just then—"Look out!"—Rufio twisted to see what was coming and her whole face fell, jaw agape.
　　　　A well-meaning curse to Caihya's creatures left her lips as the woman sprung like a rabbit. She threw herself aside, and landed in the mud, for the third time that bell! There was no time for Rufio to make her complaints at the matter verbal, as she scrambled up out of the murk. Her hands found her knife, wrapped about its handle, she gripped it, with her frustrations backed by adrenaline.
　　　　With the same ideas as the Watch-man, the woman lunged at the herbivore, and intended to push bone into hide. It was a leap of faith—Rufio had no skill with weapons, hunting or brawling with Olidosapi (not that many could boast about the latter to be fair). "Urgh!" She managed to embed her knife to the hilt in the side of the beast's neck, above Dravite's.
　　　　Surprising strength for one so short. The knife a hair's breadth from the animal's jugular—not that Rufio knew to aim for it, so she was none-the-wiser. The Olidosapux thrashed out with its legs, barely missing the woman, who lost her balance and was half-tossed backwards, avoiding mishap. In doing so, the woman's meagre knife bit into the jugular. Not enough to kill it—lodged as it was to staunch bleeding.
　　　　Mean-time, the Zavian mare had been cantering around the pond in a nervous frenzy, neighing loudly, not knowing what to do when her two-member herd refused to scatter. As the herbivore was stabbed twice, it was too much for the mare, and she let out a high-pitch cry before galloping off into the Sea of Grass.
　　　　Rufio didn't noticed, too absorbed by the splashing scene in the pond, she staggered towards Dravite and grabbed his forearm in her small hands absently. With a tone of sudden inspiration for their lack of weapons now, she suggested quickly. "Dravite, a rock, a big, big rock." Head-blow. Your strength. Sympathy. Kill. The woman suddenly became aware of a bulge tucked into her overalls and pulled out a burlap sack now covered in mud. She groaned as if the idea had been glaringly obvious all along and explained her plan to Dravite.
　　　　"I'll put this over its face, like a bird-hood." Blind. Less danger. "You, the big rock." The woman looked down at the wounded animal, did they even have time? Did it have the energy to clamber out of the pond and have a charge at them again? This was all happening so fast.

　　　　

[Dravite]

The world was a blur as his gaze darted back and forth, searching for something that matched the woman's signing; a rock, but where? The grassland weren't exactly known for having too many of those and the man doubted his strength. These animals were made for beating heads with one another to settle their disagreements in a wide and Dravite had faced a much larger male before, after all, he had earned his Windmarks for such a feat. They needed to be smart, Rufio's plan wasn't bad and covering the animal's eye might just work, but if they wanted to kill the juvenile he would need to get a hold of his dagger.

As Rufio moved closer to the animal, approaching from behind, away from the thrashing limbs, Dravite timed his move. As soon as his partner in misfortune dropped the cloth she had pulled from her pocket, he dashed forward, using his arms to push down on the front leg as he aimed to jump over the animal's girth. He hadn't planned to be met with so much resistance and just as his feet left the ground, the calf lifted its leg and tossed the man in a violent roll across the width of its body and down into the mud.

Dravite coughed and spat out some murky water before getting to his feet. Nothing felt injured, but he was sure he would feel rather battered and bruised by tomorrow. He struggled to free his dagger but was finally able to rip it free before he moved to join Rufio near the head. Again he brought the blade down with all his strength but this time he had opted to use one hand. Lhex must have noticed them for as the dagger struck the calf, the animal raised its head and sent the weapon flying through the air, landing somewhere in the tall grass behind them.

The horse lord looked at Rufio and then at her dagger. The animal was weakening and the trick with covering his eyes seemed to put some kind of spell on it. He grabbed the girl and pulled her past him to take her position. "Finish him!" He ordered, closing his arms around the creature's head to hold on in an attempt to stop it from finding its feet before Rufio could take its life, "go for the neck!" The Drykas man encouraged; this being the same way he had taken down many a deer where the hide was generally softer and easier to work with.

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[Rufio]

　

　　　　Rufio had leapt down into the murky water, and tossed the burlap sack over the Olidosapux' snout, up over its eyes. She leant back, alongside its head, putting her weight into the sack with a struggle, to stop it slipping below the animal's eyes. Grinding her teeth, the woman slipped twice, almost losing her advantage over the animal.
　　　　As Dravite jumped down in with them, her features were a-query, until she saw him grab for his dagger. Fate did have a mean sense of humour sometimes, and Rufio cried out as Dravite was sent splashing into the water. Rufio panted as her arms grew sore, glad that she was stronger in shoulder and thigh than she was tall. As the man returned, Rufio looked at him, as he looked at her, then as he did, looked at her dagger, in unison, as if telepathically entwined.
　　　　Understanding struck her like lightning. She felt the man's unwavering strength as he pulled her past him and he took over the burlap reins. "Finish him!" The woman needn't be told twice, she grabbed the knife, set her right foot onto the animal's shoulder, and hauled herself atop it. Straddling it like some Olidosapux wrestler, the Mix-blood held fast with her thighs and knees.
　　　　Her hands wrenched the knife free, her abdomen clenched and her biceps seared in the effort, but she had it! With less-than-a-tick to think, the woman hugged the animal's thick neck, her arms didn't even reach all the way around. Bone blade set to rough hide, and—slice!—the jugular, damaged already by the knife-strike, split asunder. Dravite was sprayed with blood, turning the mud that covered him a strange kind of earthy-ocher-red. As if painted for war.
　　　　The Olidosapux shuddered, its throat gurgled, and it was an unpleasant sound to Rufio. The Olidosapux sagged, and sunk into the water, and it was over. Rufio sat atop it a chime, panting for breath, utterly covered in mud and soaked through to the bone. While half her face was covered in mud, her hair plastered with it, her arms, her overalls a mess she wasn't sure she'd ever clean out, Rufio grinned like an idiot.
　　　　It was her first kill, ever. And the entire meaning behind her grin spoke in her body-language, in her grass-sign. Her dark-eyes shone out from the mud as they fell on Dravite. For a moment she said nothing, then—"Man, you look a mess." And she laughed aloud, a hearty sound, infectious—symptoms of the adrenaline rush still coursing in her body.
　　　　As the heart-cheering sound abated, she held out a hand, indicating for Dravite to help her down. She didn't want another face-full of muck anytime soon—for someone who didn't mind the getting stuck in and dirty, she had had quite enough of it today!

　　

[Dravite]

Painted with the blood of their foe, Dravite pushed himself up and away from the animal when he felt the life slip from its being. He left the sack over its face, and went to Rufio, holding a hand out to take hers and help the woman down from the hefty juvenile. They would need her horse if they intended to drag the beast from the muck in one piece as cutting it up in the water would do them little good health wise, tainting the rich meat.

The horse lord squeezed the woman’s hand and pulled her into a lazy, one-armed hug; he was just happy they were still alive and both in one piece. It was then he remembered his dagger and abandoned the girl to climb up the slope of the pond and onto the bank where he began his search for the weapon. Ticks turned into chimes and soon he had spent too many looking for the dagger; the sea had claimed it for now. Perhaps it was fate. Perhaps someone else was destined to find the weapon and put it to better use.

Dravite’s skin crawled as he heard the familiar drumming of heavy hooves against the plain and spun to see Rufio’s mount had returned, nodded her head wildly and raking the earth. He watched the spotted mare put on a show and laughed; her spirit reminding him of the horse he was without at this present moment in time. As the man stood thinking of Cree, he turned look at Rufio. “I don’t suppose you have any rope handy in those yvas bags?

He knew she was a smart woman and she would quickly catch on to what he was hinting at. “Why don’t you drag it back and I’ll meet you in Endrykas to help you skin and butcher the animal. I don’t have any of my gear on me and I should probably wash this wound out before too long.”

Dravite looked down at the cut above his right knee and was surprised to find it looked relatively clean and that little muck from the pond had managed to penetrate his trousers; he would probably need to buy a new pair, along with a dagger when he got back to the city later, though there really was no hurry. The sun was high, but the mud they were covered in would protect them from any burning one might usually expect. He would help the girl with the dead beast and then make his way back.

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[Pearl]

DRAVITE

Experience

• Riding, Horse: 2
• Unarmed Combat: 4
• Body Building: 4
• Weapon, Spear: 3
• Intelligence: 2
• Wrestling: 1
• Weapon, Dragger: 3
• Socialisation: 3
• Endurance: 5
• Leadership: 3
• Wilderness Survial, Plains: 1
• Philosophy: 1
• Organisation: 1
• Scavenging: 1
• Animal Husbandry: 1
• Tracking: 1
• Webbing: 1
• Detection: 1
• Logic: 2
• Rhetoric: 4
• Running: 2
• Stealth 1
• Cleaning: 1
• Foraging: 2
• Planning: 1
• Acrobatics: 2

Lore

• Some Drykas Prefer the Sea of Grass
• The Watch is swift with justice
• Dravite: Does not cheat
• A death can haunt you
• Cree: Enjoys a challenge
• A lost item returned is priceless
• Mental wounds cut deeper than a knife
• Herbalism: Voodoo Moss is a strong hallucinogenic
• Two heads are better than one!
• Fortune tellers are masters of words
• Herbalism: Voodoo Moss causes numbness
• The Sea of Grass holds many dangers
• A young animal alone operates on instinct
• Blind an animal to gain the advantage
• Lhex: God of Fate
• Lhex: Has a twisted sense of humor
• Rufio: A smart woman

Penalties

• Dravite will have several scratches on his arms, neck and upper body which will heal over the next five (5) to seven (7) days. His bruising will heal in the same length of time, and he will be sore for the next three (3) days. The cut on his right knee will heal within seven (7) days and will leave a light scar, so long as he cleans the wound properly. The cut to his right thigh will heal within the next seven (7) to ten (10) days, if cleaned and treated properly, and will leave a scar.
  
• Missing Dagger (please remove from items inventory)

Seasonal Event

• Lose Something in the Tall Grass (Completed)

RUFIO

Experience

• Botany:1
• Body Building: 3
• Planning: 2
• Animal Husbandry: 1
• Observation: 5
• Riding - Horse: 2
• Deduction: 1
• Logic: 3
• Intelligence: 1
• Horsemanship: 2
• Stealth: 1
• Socialization: 5
• Rhetoric: 4
• Running: 1
• Endurance: 3
• Acrobatics: 2
• Wilderness Survival, Plains: 2
• Brawling: 2
• Tactics: 1
• Wrestling: 1

Lore

• Botany: Knotweed - a bamboo-like plant
• Dravite: An alert man of The Watch
• Rufio: An aspiring Herbalist
• The Sea of Grass is unforgiving
• Rufio: A humorous woman
• Dravite: Mysterious
• Sakita: Easily spooked
• Rufio: Superstitious
• Mud is slippery
• Rufio: Prefers short hair
• Medicine: Adrenaline is a powerful hormone
• Medicine: Adrenaline - The perfect antidote to drugs
• Dravite and Rufio: Comrades of misfortune
• Rufio: Brawls with Olidosapux
• Rufio: Kills an Olidosapux

Penalties

• Rufio will experience some muscle soreness for the next three (3) days.

Thank you both for allowing me to grade your thread. I truly enjoyed reading it and found myself on the edge of my seat on several occasions wondering what was going to happen next! And I even got the giggles right along with Rufio!

Rufio, I am sorry that I could not award you any points in weapon:knife as I could not find a weapon:knife on your CS (I could only find an eating knife). In light of that, you were awarded brawling and wilderness survival:plains instead. If you truly do have a weapon:knife, let me know and I will be happy to make these changes for you.

As always, if you feel I have missed something, please do let me know. I look forward to reading more of your threads!

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