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Megamarmot Melee

Scene details

Setting: In search of meat and hide, the Star Chasers hunt the most dangerous game (?).

Log


 "It was just this way."
 A short hike inland brings a castaway of the Isle of Blessed Winds to a dense thicket of cacti that mark the beginnings of the cactus-ridden desert that rings the volcano at the isle's center. Here the sand is packed tighter, secured by iceplant and coconut tree root systems. The temperature rises in the absence of an ocean breeze, but in this border zone there remains sufficient shade to stay relatively cool.
 "I found it while harvesting prickly pears. What do you think?"
 Ivo, coming to a stop after carefully rounding a tall and spiny cactus, points to the objective to which he has been leading his friends. There, amidst the tangle of iceplant and framed by a welter of spines, is a large churned mound of earth. It seems relatively innoncuous at first glance. But this Isle, or at least this coastal region of it, does not seem to host many large mammals. The largest our heroes typically see are the marmots that populate coastal region and feast on iceplant fruit. Whatever larger animals besides the giant tortoise exist here likely do so further inland, past the desert and instead in the forested volcanic region.
 But given the relative proximity of this archipelago to the Twilight Canyon, it would not be so surprising if there were some megafauna that promised a worthier foe -- and a greater supply of potential leather.
 Could this churned earth signify the presence... of a megamarmot?

Ruidosa La Crima is here. She has her tome, and is looking into the dessert. She then sigh a little. "Might as well gather more fruit while we're here too." she says. "Along with leather. Let's get hunting marm--" and then she eyes the pile of churned earth. What kind of creature of a size made that!?

"I don't know if I wanna fight a giant, huge, creature today." she says with an absolutely exasperated sigh.

"BUT I GUESS WE ARE!" she says as she stomps into the dessert.


  The rising heat from the desert is a bit oppressive, leaving the only comfort being any nearby shade that can be acquired to cool off. This is perhaps a good thing that Reize is without his scarf in this instance, otherwise it'd be hotter.

 "It's... hot." He looks over at Ruidosa, a bit worried. Luckily, they were able to make some nice sunscreen to help buffer her along with the gem. It took finding some materials and then mixing them together. But he managed it!

  Reize eyes the tall cacti and then the field itself. Reize draws his boomerangs, twirling his boomerangs before giving a confident smile. "Let's get to hunting!" He cracks a grin, looking at Ruidosa. "I wouldn't be too worried! I mean, even if it is a big marmot, we should be able to handle it!" He marches forth, confident and ready for the creature!
 

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Traversing cactus forest (mild border zone)
Roll(s): 15. Total result is 15. This is a success (by 5).


 "I'll leave the tracking to you, chief," Ivo says gamely, grinning as he reaches up to wipe his brow with a fancy embroidered hankerchief. He seems to have taken in stride the fact that the only fabric they currently have is a limited supply of luxury fabric. "I thought it looked promising, but I wanted to leave that for the experts to decide."
 The Cosmopolitan looks after the exasperated vampiress. This can't be the most pleasant environment for her.
 "Rui, want to gather fruit with me as we go?" he says in a pleasant tone. "I think I've gotten the hang of plucking prickly pears." Best to try to keep her spirits up. It's easy for him to stay in a good mood, at least, being trapped on a tropical island with so much good company.
 Although the full brunt of the temperature hasn't hit them yet, it still takes some work to navigate such that one remains mostly in the shade but also isn't made a pincushion by cacti reluctant to yield up their fresh water.
 "Iceplant grow thickly on slopes," Ivo observes as they go, "and any larger marmot would need a great supply of their fruit. If we go a little further island, I think we have our best chance... and let's keep an eye out for smaller marmots along the way, of course."

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Marmot Spotting!?
Roll(s): 2. Total result is 2. This is a failure (by 8).

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Marmot, hereeeeee marmot, marmot, marmot.
Roll(s): 15. Total result is 15. This is a success (by 5).

Oh the heat is oppressive and she hates it. She likes dark, cooler places and the dessert is the opposite of all that. She huffs. "I'm tempted to just cut down cactuses in our path, but, that seems like a unwise decision." she says darkly as she grumbles. "I wish I had my parasol." she says.

She looks out for smaller marmots, however, sniffing the air occasionally, for anything living that she doesn't recognize.

"So. we're actually. tracking this thing." she says with a frown and a ugh.

"Great." she says.

She doesn't see any marmots herself.


  Although Reize boasted about his prowess as a hunter, there is the contentious point that the desert is not his terrain of expertise. Acclimated to the forest life, the desert presents new challenges that Reize is learning to adapt to. In particular, the cacti do make great water sources. However, they need to be avoided when hunting.

 He peeks around, turning a head to keep an eye on Ivo and Ruidosa as they venture off from him. It looks like Ruidosa is on one direction while Reize ventures the next.

  Luckily, for him, he sees sign of a brown, furry hide from a hilly path of the desert below. The boy turns his head the other way from Ruidosa and Ivo. He furrows his eyebrow, considering a stage-whisper, but he rummages into his satchel to procure a small crystal held by a rod. The Phonic Resonator.

  As he speaks out towards Ivo through the device, the voice carries that 'watery' background.

  "Found it. 20 meters from my position."
 


 "Shall I fan you with a palm frond?"
 Unfortunately, Ivo can only be encouraging for so long before he gives in to the temptation to tease Ruidosa. But he isn't just messing around, instead taking on a playfully speculative expression, as he so often does when he considers the next step to take in their rebuilding of civilization.
 "The lack of flexible wood or a capacity to forge fine metal does make the prospect of crafting a new parasol rather daunting," he murmurs. "Maybe if we could scale one of the larger volcanic boulders along the coastline, some of the trees that grow up high there would be serviceable--"
 When Reize speaks, Ivo quiets down, slowly sinking to his knees and reaching for Hauteclare's hilt without drawing it. Silently, he glances between the target Reize has pointed out and their fearless leader. If Reize signals, he can use Hauteclare to strike at a distance and make a sound to potentially startle their prey into the open. That's likely the most he can offer when it comes to a task like this. Hunting was not part of the course material at the Cosmopolitan Academy.

Ivo teases her. She makes a face and frowns a little. She then sighs and rolls her eyes. "You know. If you we're serious about anything with my mom, now would be the time. She's gonna need blood eventually." she says darkly serious, as she huffs in the heat. She doesn't sweat, but she's drying out. It's just an undead thing. It stinks.

Still, she sneaks closer to the ground when Reize sports a Marmot.

She then readies a bolt of dark energy...!

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: First Strike Wins the Surprise!
Roll(s): 12. Total result is 12. This is a success (by 2).


  While Reize waits for Ivo and Ruidosa to gather up with him, he readies one of his boomerangs as he is adopting the 'hunter' mindset, rather than his 'battle' form. He watches for his companions and he says, "Okay.... here we go..."

 One.

 The creature, 20 meters below through the sandy, rough environment, is a massive marmot. It wanders around the area, moving against the cacti. As it bumps into them, they crash on the ground, all unable to stop its motion.

 The boy swings the boomerang, letting it loose as it flies out of his hand. "Here we go!"

 It conks the Marmot. Its attention is grabbed and its head rears back.

>>> The Marmot is ready to fight.

  What does it do?

 It burrows into the sand, kicking the ground off before it digs into the ground. It starts moving in lightning speed towards the path of the boomerang, ready to bowl the trio over.
 

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20-3>=10.
Comment: Evasion (distracted)
Roll(s): 2. Total result is -1. This is a failure (by 11).

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Avoiding Being a Bowling Pin.
Roll(s): 3. Total result is 3. This is a failure (by 7).


 Ivo blinks once, smiling. Then he blinks again, smile fading. One can almost see the formulae floating about his head as he glances from side to side. His first thought is that he's actually rather touched by what seems to be a kind of acceptance on Rui's part, if perhaps very begrudging, of Ivo's Scholarly Interest in her mother. Thus the import of her words sinks in slowly.
 "Aha... surely not... such an accomplished woman would have transcending such a need... probably... wouldn't she...?"
 As his face goes blank, he feels that he can hear voices whispering in his ears. A miniature Faruja stands perched upon one shoulder.
 "I *warned* you about this, Ser Galvan! You must resist temptation! You must not allow this party to descend into decadent blood-bonded depravity and while away your days as a voluptuous vampire queen's plaything--"
 "Convincing as ever, my friend," Ivo mutters.
 "It's fine!" a miniature Daiby cheerily says upon his other shoulder. "What is scientific investigation if not the search for new experiences? Besides, if doing so messes with your body, you can just molt!"
 "I'm not sure that-- hm?"
 And there, floating before him like a desert mirage, is none other than La Crima herself, gazing at him with enigmatic warmth. As Ivo stares up at her in awe, his vision of her speaks.
 "Such a waste, all that blood."
 "Hm?"
 Ivo blinks again. Having spaced out entirely while standing on a shaky slope, he was blown away by the marmot's charge and subsequent erosion and ended up embedded on a spiky cactus. Whoops.

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Speedy Explorer!
Roll(s): 17. Total result is 17. This is a success (by 7).

Ruidosa La Crima is too busy laughing as Ivo is sent into the air that she fails her own dodge roll and gets sent into the air.. "Well..." she says on the down swing. "This is gonna hurt." she says as she lands with a pomf straight into a big cluster of cacti. Ow ow ow ow ow.

Owowowowowowowowowow.

Owieowieowie.

This is gonna take a moment to get out of.


  Reize had anticipated the angry marmot's charge under the ground. The boy takes a sprint to meet with the creature and then he springs off from the ground to leap over the rumbling earth. "Grrrr... I'm not done with you!" He catches his boomerang as it returns from mid-air, putting him on the ground.

 What he did catch was Ivo flying off the ground and Ruidosa following suit.

 "..Tsch..." He grits his teeth. He needs to keep them out of harm's way.

 "HEEEY! OVER HERE!" He calls out to the marmot.

 He'll take the aggression instead of his companions. As he runs around, the marmot is charging at the boy with determination.

  This leaves Reize at the decline of the hilly ground, but should give Ivo and Ruidosa a chance to recover.
 

Ivo Galvan rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: Try to exploit opening while stuck in cactus
Roll(s): 7. Total result is 7. This is a failure (by 3).


 Ivo is so thoroughly skewered right now that he's not sure it's a good idea for health reasons to try to extract himself too quickly, lest he deflate like a balloon. But he manages to get Hauteclare free and, while he cannot move his arms too much without ribbons of pain whirling through his body, he can manipulate his wrist sufficiently to "pilot" his flying sword.
 "Urgh..."
 As Reize successfully distracts the rampaging megamarmot, the Cosmopolitan tries to send his blade arcing out towards it. It might not be the ideal weapon to pierce the creature's hide and less effective than a bludgeon or magic, but it would be something, and it does not seem like the animal expects a counterattack from either cactus-bound adversary.
 Unfortunately, due to the many challenges he faces, Ivo is not able to strike the megafauna directly. The point of Hauteclare skips on the surface of the dense sand nearby as it arcs for another pass. But that sand does spray up at the marmot, startling and momentarily blinding it as it skids in Reize's direction.

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20>=10.
Comment: I'M GONNA MURDER A MARMOT. +_+
Roll(s): 13. Total result is 13. This is a success (by 3).

Ruidosa just floats into the air. Because she's an undead vampire. She looks angry, and is covered in big prickles, so looks like a pincushion, but she angrily just starts flinging orb, after orb, after orb of dark energy in it's direction, just becoming a torrent of rage.

"KILL YOUUUUUU." she says angrily.

Reize Seatlan rolls 1d20+3>=10.
Comment: Directing Charging Marmot to Heavy Cacti
Roll(s): 5. Total result is 8. This is a failure (by 2).


  With the heat taken off from Ivo and Ruidosa, he keeps the beast towards his way. He is running over towards the large cactus that is at a good distance from him. He looks back to see the large marmot charging under the ground. He antcipated for it to keep on the ground and run to the cactus.

 As expected for Ivo, the blade has a very difficult time reaching the marmot, especially as it burrows through the sand. Once it emerges from the ground, it delivers a devastating headbutt towards Reize.

 "Ggghhhh!!!"

 As the boy soars in the air, the marmot immediate brings an arm down to slam the boy into the earth. A geyser of sand kicks off from the impact.

 "!!!!!!!"

  As the creature narrows its eyes towards the boy, it raises another paw for a smack down...

 ... Then dust kicks off to blind it, followed by a barrage of dark energy orbs. It gives off a hiss while looking up at the vampire, yet it is unable to attack her while airborne. The marmot rubs its face, trying to get some of the sand off of its muzzle and eyes.
 


 The megamarmot may be a physically imposing foe for an herbavore, but it is no MegaCapo. And whatever dangers this isle may still hold, the creature does not seem to have adapted to any predator wielding magic of raw Destruction.
 Ivo, halfway through bringing Hauteclare around for another turn to try to properly take advantage of the megamarmot's distraction after bowling Reize over in turn, falters as an enraged Ruidosa unleashes a rain of dark orb after dark orb, not letting up. Having no apparent way of challenging an airborne opponent, the megamarmot clearly tries to dig to safety, but the hitstun is too much.
 "Ah..."
 When the dust clears, the megamarmot is slumped and smoldering, pulsing with eerie shadows, Xs for eyes.
 "I... think the hide should be fine, but..."
 Ivo squints.
 "Is it... safe to eat?"
 An unconventional approach to hunting, to say the least.


  Reize is hurting pretty badly from the weight of the beast. He grimaces, looking up at the paw lifted up to slam at him...

 ...Until Ruidosa comes to the rescue.

 There is a sigh of relief from the boy as destruction rains down. As the creature wobbles, its collapse is enough of a warning for Reize to recover enough to roll away from the crash.

  After the debris of sand kicks off, he shields his eyes and he calls out to the group. "Everyone alright?!"

 Once the dust clears off, he coughs, "Y--yeah, I think the meat should be good... I'll handle the skinning and we can take the meat back."