Bael Hunt (Closed)

[Yorick]

A swordmaster, a two-blader, and a kungfu guru, it seemed. And then her. Well, that was relieving... Somewhat. She sensed that she might have to watch out for the martial artist. Especially if she planned on punching a giant freak of nature to death... How would she get through its hide?

Shaking her head to clear the stupid thoughts, Yorick took another long draught of whiskey and made an unhappy face.

"Stuff's like water. I've had homebrew that had better flavor and kick than this junk.

Anyway, I figure that whoever put up the posters should be along soon. While we wait, I think it's in our best interest that we also get acquainted with everyone else's style when it comes to combat. Now I personally can handle either formations or free-for-alls, so I'm flexible there. The only thing I really, really loathe is cowardice. So please don't run away."

[Duma]

OOC- It's NPC time!
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A man emerged out from one of the back rooms of the pub. He was a large man, both tall and wide. There is scar down his left eye. He has grey beard that trails down to his mid chest with a mustache to match. The gentleman had a long sleeved grey shirt, with vest made of bear fur over that. His right arm was pinned up, showing the man was missing one arm. On his head a bandanna that covered bits of his messy reddish-grey hair. His slacks were beige and appear to have several questionable stains. Upon his back was a large silver axe. There were fur boots on him to complete the ensemble.

"Oy! Which one of ye is here for the monster of the mountains?" His voice was loud with a heavy accent.

Duma looked over and answered the man.

"Those of us at this table are... Sir." Good gods this man looks like he's straight out of an arena man's fantasy. The sword-master did his best not to stare.

"Good then. Name's Oglaf. If ye survive the journey you'll be rewarded. The towne has put together a sum of 5000 gold. Ye can split it evenly among the livin. Plus we will praise ye as hero's for slayin the beasties. The survivors say it's a giant spider. Can't ave livin in the mountains. Ye get into it's nest, kill it and it's eggs. Tis about half day's march up the mountain path to the cave. Trail an't safe, got wild animals, crazy weather, and shaky footing. If ye want to back out do it now. I'm gettin ye half way up the trail then ye on your own. Any questions?"

"When will we be departing." Duma asked.

"Now. Get yer rear's moving. Anyone left behind is dead weight." The man started to make his way out the door. Duma sighed a bit and got up.

"Well.. then. Ladies and gents, lets get moving."

[Ajari]

"I cannot fathom why one would accept the obligation of purging such a blight if they lacked the courage to do so," Ajari spoke simply in reply to Yorick.

And then the man who called for them game in. His description of the event was quick and to the point. Clearly this was a man who did not like wasting time. A giant spider was their foe, apparently. Something unnatural and bent only on destruction. Surely this was the beginning of what she was sent here for.

And just as quickly as the man arrived, he left. Ajari got to her feet, looking at those of her companions who had decided to introduce themselves. "Well then, he seems in a hurry. I suppose haste is needed, shall we?" she said, leading the way out of the 'pub', following the greying man with the missing arm.

Perhaps it had been these creatures that had taken it?

This certainly promised to be an interesting excursion, and perhaps she could learn a bit more about how dangerous these foes were.

[Vincent]

Vincent was surprised to hear Ajari wielded not but her bare fists. She didn't even have gauntlets or gloves. To say he was skeptical did not do his feelings justice. He was impressed sure, but skeptical. This was something he'd have to see first hand. Actually he WANTED to bear witness to something so impressive. He thought a moment on his own skills. He would like to learn to fight bare handed, it was part of the reason he got himself the gauntlets he did. He wanted to ask this woman if she could mentor him in this but felt it imperative to find a better time. Besides he still needed to find Near and learn the ways of assassins. But as soon as a moment arrived he would ask. Maybe it would be best to wait until he was proof positive as to not look the fool.

Yorrick mocked the drink calling it water. Vincent chuckled to himself. It brought back memories of when he and Neil celebrated their first success. Neil had called the drink weak and yet Vincent found himself drunk on nary a quarter of the glass. So she was game for any fighting. Good deal, Vincent was accustomed to going wild but if need be he felt he could take orders. Then again every time orders went out the jobs got botched and going wild saved the day... this is not going to go well if it has to be organized he decided. "Don't you worry, I won't be running away ever again" Vincent was tired of running and not staying to fight. He hated being a coward so many times in the past. He vowed to see his jobs through to the end from now on.

Suddenly their employer came bursting into the room. Woah, this guy was huge and... odd. His body told a story of conflict, whether it was years of it or one fateful encounter he didn't know but the man knew fine weaponry and bore a silver axe. The missing arm made Vincent a tad uncomfortable though. Not for the sole sake of the disfigurement but because had things gone worse that could have happened to him rather than just a hidden scar on his forehead. He instinctively rubbed under his headband.

The man asked if there were questions without offering time for them. Oh, well. Vincent saw the man rush out the door and Ajari follow. In surprise Vincent scooted his chair out quickly but found the leg struck an odd hole in the ground causing him to tumble backwards. "Woah!!!" Without missing a beat he quickly got back to his feet and followed leaving the chair overturned. "Haste indeed," he remarked.

[Yorick]

"Right. Now this is how I like to do business. Straight to the point. No mincing words or funny stuff."

Downing the rest of her drink in one gulp, the halberdier got up, tossed a few coins on the table to pay, and headed out, following the rest of the people. The boy looked like he was tripping already, and he hadn't even had anything to drink. Bah. That man had a nice axe, though. She wished she had an axe like that. Whoo, that would be the stuff.

"So, Oglaf, what's the scoop on this monster? Is it only one of them, or are there more of the beasts? I'd like to know all I can, just in the interest of preparedness."

Tossing her hand axe up and down, Yorick mused over the group once again. This could be a fun job, provided nobody got cold feet and she didn't have to babysit.

"Hey, white-hair, you said you were Vincent, right? How long have you been swinging that sword around? You look awfully young to me, but if you're good, hey, more power to ya. I'm just surprised you've got the balls to hunt down a monster, since ya barely look old enough to enlist."

Yorick gave the kid an appraising once-over. She'd have to watch and see how he turned out. He had potential. His swords were shiny, which meant either he was green or he took good care of his gear, like her. Well, time would tell, that was for sure.

[Kyle]

Kyle just listened as every announced themselves and what they did. He merely arched an eyebrow as Vincent offered him a seat, he preferred standing. The two that stood out to him though were Yorick, the woman of many weapons, and Ajari, the woman that punched things. Locke used to punch things, it was sad that the ship was lost at sea. Maybe somehow Locke had survived, he was one of the few people he'd met that wasn't either completely incompetent or completely annoying. Maybe he could have even called him. . . Friend. Maybe he could talk to Vincent later about his encounter with Near, or maybe ask if Ajari could explain some of her fist fighting skills so he could compare it to Locke. It wasn't everyday that you saw someone just fight with their fists after all. Poor Locke.

Kyle was only a little surprised when the big one armed man named Oglaf came out and announced himself as the man that put up the poster. He looked strong and intimidating with the massive axe on his back, but why would he want to risk his life anymore with such a bad injury as a lost arm. Something like that was career ending. Poor poor man. The reward was 5000 gold among the survivors, that was 1000 gold each, no petty sum, it could restock him quite nicely. Hopefully no one had and bad ideas about increasing their own portion of the gold. Things could get a bit unsettled at that point.

However Kyle was quite surprised at how fast the man seemed to be wanting to get the mission going. Most employers wanted to make sure everyone had enough stuff for every possible problem, maybe this guy wanted a few to die. Not on his watch they weren't. Kyle was one of the first out the door after the man. As he went out Yorick asked a question about the spiders, one that he could answer. "The Bael tend to stick in groups, and they attack as such." That should answer her question.

[Duma]

"Aye Lassie i'll be giving details as we walk."

It wasn't long before the group of warriors were out of town and heading up a path. Oglaf spent most of trip talking about what to expect, and somehow roped Duma into carrying things. Duma didn't mind. If they were things that would prove useful against the monsters they were about to face. It was starting to get colder as they traveled up the path to the mountain cave.

"It's important that ye be successful in killing the beasties. This place makes a livin by sellin timber and ore harvested from the mountain. If we can't mine we can't live. The miners found it's nest while searchin for new ore veins. Our scouts say they be only one spider, but since thar be eggs, and ye need a man and woman, they may be two."

Duma listened. If they do attack in groups like guy in our group said.. we potentially have to deal with 2 spiders. Hmm.. Five of us two of them. We lack magic.

"Oglaf, how well do weapons fare against them."

"Greenhorns that took the job before ye said that priestly magic works best. Shame ther priest died. If ye cut it it bleeds, so ye lot should be fine." Oglaf pointed the the bag he made Duma hold.

"In that bag be a few things. Torches, flint, and some oil. Use it to set it's nest a flame. The healers gathered up some anti-toxin for ye. Spider bites be poisonous.

About half way up the mountain path Oglaf stopped.

"And this be where I leave ye. Someones gotta keep the town standin while ye be off fighting. This be the time of year for fog, so ye all need to be careful. Keep follwn up the path, till ye reach a fork in the road. Take the left path, and ye be at the cave. Bring back some proof that the beastie is dead an 'll be buyin rounds of drinks for yall."

"We appreciate your supplies and advice sir Oglaf. I look forward to that free drink." Duma spoke politely. Oglaf answered any questions the group had, before giving off a hearty laugh, a phrase of good luck, and started walking back down the trail towards the town.

Duma gave a mixed sigh of relief and annoyance. He rubbed his free hand through his hair, and composed himself. He pulled up the hood to his traveler's cloak, and kept walking up the path.

[Ajari]

Ajari was more than happy to listen on their trip to the mountain. Her companions certainly seemed motivated to get this done, if nothing else. So divine magic would be effective. It was too bad that none of her brethren were here. Some of them had practiced the art, though Ajari never took to it. She always found that a little odd, since she was blessed from the heavens with this mission and power.

Still, there would be time to consider that later. As they traveled up the mountain path, she began to feel much more comfortable. The chilled air was a welcome reminder of her home. As the large man went over the details of their trip, Ajari had to wonder just how large these creatures were, but decided such information didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. They'd be fighting them in a cave, in the spider's home turf. Thankfully, her eyes were used to the dark, so she didn't imagine she'd have much trouble seeing.

How would her comrades fare, she wondered? Spiders were notorious for having farm more strength than their size would indicate. It was doubtful that any armor they could field would be useful against them. Indeed, the best option would be dodging them. For that reason, she would probably be the best choice to lead.

"If it is all right with you, I will lead. My eyes are quite well trained and I feel that thick armor will not avail us in combat here. It would be best for someone unencumbered to lead," she explained. They had not yet arrived at the cave, but Ajari figured it would be best to discuss these matters well before they arrived at the den of the beast.

[Vincent]

Yorick chose to address Vincent due to his age. It had been a while since that was an issue with anyone. But he was unproven here and the world was far larger than he let himself previously believe, so it could be forgiven. "I am eighteen by now and yes, I am relatively new to combat but I have been traveling for several months now honing my abilities and I have seen much already."

He hoped he didn't appear to be over selling himself but that was his true feelings regardless. Besides, sure she dabbled into multiple weapon styles but what made her feel so superior to judge him? "As far as having bravery trust me, it is not careless enthusiasm. I'm terrified of the very idea but I'm still here." Vincent assumed the others felt very much the same. Fighting giant arachnids was not an appealing idea and none had faced these beasts before. They were all sure to be having doubts and uncertainties. Or they were completely rash fools.

The drunk answered the question of how they fight, together. Typical, five on one would be too good of odds. Vincent wondered though if it was so much fighting together as it was they both just want to feast on them. Not a topic to dwell on right now, that much was certain.

Vincent was grateful for the supplies and wasted little time taking his portion. He pocketed the flint and bagged a torch. They didn't need it yet but they surely would. Oglaf wasn't very encouraging but he was realistic. No raising their hopes and expectations. That was for the best. "Thank you Sir, these will be put to good use and we will all come back 1000 gold richer for it." He wasn't planning on drinking anything.

Duma seemed relieved to be out of the man's company and began to lead the way. Surprisingly enough the bare handed woman spoke up desiring to head this mission, or at least the path. Vincent had no qualms about it. Frankly he didn't care who lead. "I have no objections but I feel I ought to point out that even if armor won't help here, bare flesh will be even worse."

[Yorick]

Taking a vial of antitoxin, a torch, and a flint, Yorick nodded her thanks to the man and moved to the front of the group, next to the martial artist, Ajari.

"I trust Ajari. If she says she can handle the point, then I say we allow her to. I'll stay near the front as well. I can't wait to sink my steel into this beast. It'll be quite a refreshing encounter, I'm sure. Hah, hah."

Taking out her iron axe and hand axe, Yorick tossed them up and then caught them, grinning. Turning to Ajari, she nodded and spoke briefly, the trust evident in her words.

"I'll cover you. Please, do the same for me."

Looking around at the surroundings, the halberdier shuddered briefly at the damp. What a wretched environment. It was a small miracle that people could head up here to work without going mad. The fog was thick and the air was thin, and everything was eerily still. The sound of their footsteps was magnified as they trudged up the path, and the woman was cautious. Anything and everything could pop out at them. Soon, she was in the zone, poised for combat, ready to do battle with a gigantic fiend.

And then the path ended.

Well, to be honest, there were two more paths, but she wasn't expecting the fork. Stopping for a second, she bent down and used her axe to carve a large "X" on the path they'd taken up. Just in case they got turned around.

"Left fork, then. Here we go. Ready, everyone?"

[Kyle]

Kyle had a few mixed feelings about using the touches that were handed out, they could give them a better range of vision, but they could be spotted so much easier, not to mention he kind of needed both of his hands, although he took it in case worse came to worse, it was pretty hard to be over prepared after all. Magic might help if they had any that used it, he couldn't recall the mage at the caravan doing too much to the spiders though, was only priest magic good against them? Fire seemed like it should work too. Fire could hurt a lot of things.

However the offer of alcohol was lost on him, he didn't think anything that could dull his senses would be good. Apparently it helped with stress though. Maybe he should try it if it was free like Oglaf said. He planned on getting back after all, and two spiders shouldn't be that hard. Well, hopefully, the fact that these two might be poisonous was. . . worrying to say the least. The other ones weren't so, but, well, things are different everywhere.

Kyle started zoning back into the conversation at that point. It was surprising to hear that Vincent was older than him. He didn't really act like it. Oh well, people were weird. Ajari volunteered to take point, it was a dangerous job especially for someone unarmed, and Yoroick said she'd cover her.That didn't seem like the best idea to him. He should be point, or at least helping, he had sharp senses and had actually dealt with the things before. "Um, I think I should cover her. I have good senses. And experience." It was true after all, there was no point in lying. Would people hate him for speaking the truth? A lot of people seemed to hate that.

He moved towards Ajari, he didn't know if anyone would be opposed to him covering her at point. But oh well, it seemed the most sound to him currently. He spoke in a lower tone. "Hey, are you sure you can hurt these Bael with your hands? Without getting hurt, I mean?" It wouldn't due for people to get hurt for no reason. He needed tostart caring about the people around him a little if he was to lead a guild later. Especially in the cloud of fog that was coming up.

[Duma]

Duma took his share of the supplies and followed Ajari and Yorick. The fog was starting to settle in just as Oglaf cautioned. He kept silent as he followed the others listening to their advice.

The fork was up ahead. He nodded towards Yorick when she asked if they were ready.

"About as ready as I will ever be." He made his way up to the left path. Just as Olgaf said, there was the cave. The fog had started to thicken so he lit a torch. He hadn't realized he walked past Ajari and had taken point for the moment.

On the ground he could see a few animal bones and human skulls. At least we know it's not picky about it's good.

He noticed the webbing that poked its way around the cave. It was in a similar fashion to a funnel web but much larger. Prey would have to walk in, trigger a line of some sort, then the spider would pounce. At least that is what he remembered from his sister's books. Duma did you know spiders could do..., he could heaar her voice in his head. Proudly reciting any little known animal fact that could prove useful on their travels. Webbing can be used as a gauze to stop bleeding and buy us some time if we are out of bandages. And she would smile after each little tid bit of information, he used to love and hate that about her. But this wasn't the time for such thoughts, she is gone and he needed to remember that.

To those looking at him he appeared to be staring deep into the cave. Something was not right he could feel it. He carefully drew his sword out and held it aside as to tell the others to stop before entering.

Things were too quiet.

Duma looked above him carefully. Through the mist he could barely make out the shilloet of a hairy spiders leg.

"IT IS ABOVE!" He shouted before moving away from the cavern entrance. Their was a loud hiss coming from the creature as if it were angry about being discovered.

It jumped down from its hiding perch to greet the group in all its glory. The creature was huge! And it carried the scars and some weapons of it's previous opponents embedded into it's exoskeleton.

The fog was not helping them. The creature could almost seemed to be dissapear in and out of their vision at will thanks to the poor visibility.

[Ajari]

Ajari nodded to Yorick with a smile. She would have suggested likewise, in all honestly. When the other man from the bar, whose name she could not recall, requested to be second, she shook her head.

"You are the only one here with a ranged weapon. I think it would be best for you to be in the middle, where you can fight if we are attacked from either side. Yorick's range is shorter than yours, so her being closer is more efficient. And about me being able to hurt it, truthfully I have no intention of piercing its skin. I aim to aggravate the creature, to keep it striking at me. If we keep its attention focused on one, the others can sneak by and attempt to strike when it is vulnerable," she explained.

She advanced up the path cautiously, until they reached the cave. She was standing right in the mouth of the cave when she heard Duma shout his warning. The lot of them scattered, but Ajari had to consider her options. They were pretty close together at the time. Most of them would be jumping back, which meant that her attempting to do the same would cause some of them to collide with a decent probability. So, Ajari chose to do something unexpected, she dodged forward.

Rolling under the creature's massive form before it could touch the ground, she now stood in the cave. This meant that the spider was caught in a pincer, but it also made it possible that Ajari could be. There might be two of them. Keeping her senses attentive, Ajari went in for her first strike with no hesitation. She'd been intending to get its attention by striking it in one of its eyes, but since she was behind it, that was not possible.

However, the former adventurers had left her another way of antagonizing the beast. Jumping forward, the pressed her foot into the back of one of the weapons sticking out of it. The force of the blow was stronger than a normal person could throw out, as she felt the power of her bracelet surge into her. She struck hard, hoping that using the old weapon as a place to focus her strike would be effective.

[Vincent]

As they traveled further and higher it grew colder and foggier. It almost felt like he was back in Ilia, almost. Glad to have kept his cloak despite warmer climates he pulled it around himself. He almost looked like he could have been a mage if not for the three blades he wore on his back and waist.

Vincent wiped away the moisture that was building on his brow. It was a mixture of sweat and condensation from the cold fog. If not for the beads on his cloak he may not have realized it. He shook the cloak in order to help it dry.

At the cave Duma lit his torch first and in the light revealed skeletal remains of man and beasts. Vincent scowled at the sight. This thing would die before he did. The cave was humid and warmer than outside. It was a perfect place for one to catch an illness. The decay and poison dripping spider just made it all the more likely.

Vincent noticed the end strands of the webs. The whole cave was covered in it! One false step and you were likely to lay victim to the monsters. "Hmm, why don't we just burn the webs? That will spread over the whole cave destroying everything right? It seemed like a logical plan but the fact of it was if the webs caught there was no telling if they would be caught in the explosion of flames that would induce, and there was no time for anyone to offer their opinion on that matter.

With an audible hiss the first of the monsters leaped from its hiding place above. It landed with earthshaking results. The weight of the creature caused a minor vibration that told tale of its size and weight. Vincent reacted in an instant by jumping to the creature's flank. There were to many people to risk moving back but there was no chance he would jump at it without a better angle.

Despite that the beast was hardly visible. He had not realized it earlier but the fog was hard to see beyond one's own hand. If not sight then at least you could hear it move. That is if you kept calm enough to focus.

Ajari seemed unfazed in many ways. Vincent was astonished to watch the woman lunge underneath and avoid the crushing fall and follow up by kicking an old blade and plunging it deeper. She really could fight barehanded. He simply HAD to learn from her.

As impressive as it was he still had to earn his coin and drink tonight. Without letting himself lose an opportunity he quickly rushed in as the Bael reacted to the pain striking a leg with his lancereaver, that hooked into it allowing him to sharply turn at an angle sliding under and strike at the underbelly. It worked, in the sense he was alive and on the other side, but his sword was still in its leg. He quickly got back to his feet and prepared for the counter attack. There was no telling who it'd target and he still needed his other sword.

[Yorick]

"Well, then. Aren't you an ugly son of a..."

Yorick trailed off as the weaponless woman set to work harassing the beast. Well, that was an interesting tactic, but she was all alone... Well, as long as she kept it up without getting eaten or mauled, Yorick was fine with it. Quickly analyzing the situation, the halberdier first did something unusual. Moving over to the spiderwebs on the wall, she grabbed one and pulled the thick strand, creating an improvised rope. Taking out her iron lance, she held it firmly with one hand and grabbed her 'rope' with the other. Running and jumping, she took advantage of the boy swordsman's distracting strike and dropped down on the creature from above, jamming her lance into its huge abdomen and grabbing on with both hands as it abruptly jerked.

"I think it doesn't like having spiked rods jammed into it! Just a tip!"

The creature bucked sharply, and the halberdier lost her balance, hitting the wall with a thud and sticking there. Web.

Grabbing her axe from her side, Yorick hacked away at the webs. She'd get through the fibrous restraints soon, but for now, she was immobilized. Thankfully, she was behind and to the side of it, so it couldn't see that it had snagged her... Right?

Working harder, Yorick managed to free about half of her back, which caused her to tilt sideways, now dangling on a diagonal. Sawing away, she watched the fight, shaking her head in disgust at how quickly she'd been neutralized.