Difference between revisions of "Log:Chimera of the Week"

5 May, 2017

A monster threatens the freehold, some Lost (and one enchanted) go to take care of it.

H06

Some members of the freehold have talked about a monster entirely too close to Stoneheart. One they're worried is going to attack entirely too soon. And so someone has asked that someone (or someones) go take care of this beast. From the descriptions of the beast (which have all been vague) have said it has a feline head, while another said it had a scorpion tail. But all agree that it's just north of the hollow. A few even gave (fairly) good directions to the lair it's claimed for itself. A shallow cave, not that well hidden.

After having heard of the threat to the Freehold, the old sorceress has begun a search north of the Hollow. Augusta's golden rapier is held to her side in one clawed hand as she travels cautiously, leaving a trail of deep green grass and yellow star-shaped flowers in her Wyrd's wake.

Arriving near the entrance to the cave is Damion. Not that long ago, Rorschach foughta bunch of bats or the like. Today it's the dragons turn to fight something. Hopefully he doesnt end up gnawed on like him. He checks his sword as he stands outside the entrance, making sure it's loose its sheath. Then he rubs it and releases some Glamour, increasing its sharpness somewhat. Finally, he closes his and focuses. There's a flash of heat around him, a bit of steam rising from his flesh, and he suddenly feels stronger. He figures that's about as prepared as he's going to get.

Logan is more of a strategist and a sniper than a front-lines sort of warrior. Normally, this mission is not the sort that he would put himself anywhere near. But Max heard the news of the monster, and said she wanted to help. They may be new friends, but what kind of a new friend would a Lost like Logan be if he let Max traipse off to deal with said monster and didn't come along to make sure she doesn't get into barrels of trouble? A bad friend, that's what. And so Logan brings Max into the Hedge, if somewhat reluctantly, and stands with her on a nearby hill not far from the lair so they might look for it together. He is a beacon of light and shadow as he stands up there, always preferring the elevated view. A golden crossbow appears to be strapped to his back.

He notes Augusta out there with some surprise. "That's Vizier Augusta," he tells Max. "She's powerful. I wonder if she's prepared to take it on herself?" He sees Damion from there as well, whom he doesn't know, and his blue eyes narrow.

Max is tagging along with Logan, sticking close to the Dawn that brought her into the dangerous Hedge. Although, not too close since she doesn't want to steal his luck before facing off against any possible monsters. The enchanted mortal isn't sure how she'll be able to help but she's eager to try anyways! Dressed in her usual attire, she's wearing a leather jacket, jeans, and sneakers, her messenger bag hanging across her shoulders. Glancing over toward Augusta when he points her out, she raises her brow curiously. "What's the Vizier title mean around here anyways?" she wonders, looking toward the shiny Dawn. "Boyd, the guy in charge of the Watchers, is one too. I think. Pretty sure I heard him being called that when I was asking around about him," she says with a light chuckle.

The effect of Augusta's Wyrd on the Hedge is the probably the first thing that Damion would notice as she approaches behind her, mingling with his own. She doesn't speak, but walks with straight-backed towards him. At least at first. "Behind you, friend." So far the couple of encounters she has had in the Hedge, people have thought she was a danger ... she wants to make sure Damion doesn't take her for one.

Damion turns around when he hears Augusta's voice, considering the other Summer. "Hey there." He raises a hand towards the other Lost, considering her carefully. "I'm guessing you're here for the same reason, huh?" He offers her a smile. "I'm curious if anybody else beat us here. I guess we'll find out once we go in, won't we? I'm Damion by the way."

"It's an Entitlement title, do you know about those?" Logan gives Max a glance and a friendly smile, because smiling's what he does. Usually. "It means she's a member of the Office of the Vizerial Council...they're kind of like wizards." Or sorceresses. Galadriel, indeed. He hops down from the hill and gestures for Max to follow him. "C'mon, let's meet up with them. I'm curious to see what they have in mind."

"Vizier Augusta ..." The sorceress offes to her fellow Summer as she comes up next to him. The heat of their wyrds together filling the area before the hollow as golden mist falls from her golden-scaled robe. "... Hopefully whatever it is ... is still in there and we can have it trapped." Her glowing eyes turn to see Logan and Max approaches. She arches a brow before saying, "Sir Logan ... welcome to the game." She looks to see if he still wears the Lady's Favour that she gave him before gesturing for him to join them.

Max easily follows along with Logan as they start to approach the others. A smile is offered to both Damion and Augusta, though the one offered to the dragon is more friendly than polite. She knows him! "This is a game?" she questions of Augusta with a small raise of her brow. Curious because she's been told that dangerous tasks in the Hedge are no playful matter. There's a small tilt of her head. "Oh, I'm Max by the way. Nice to meet you, Augusta," she greets her, friendly but casual, because such is Max's way. Then she peers at the cave entrance. "Anyone gone in there yet?"

The opening to the cave is little more than a crack, but it's big enough for any of the Lost to get through. And while they're talking, there's a loud ROAR from within. Loud enough to hurt the ears. It definitely sounds like something feline. Then there's a scraping from inside as something big moves.

Indeed, Logan has the handkerchief tied to his belt. He inclines his head to her first. If they weren't on a would-be battlefield, he might try to kiss her hand. But they are. "It's good to see you again -- " ROAR. Logan whips his head in the direction of the cave. He turns to give a polite nod to Damion before saying, "Perhaps we should get back and discuss our strategy before charging in there." Just a suggestion, one that he is already making good on by taking a step or two back from the cave.

Damion draws his sword from its sheath. The dark-colored bone blade seems to be covered by flames as he holds it. "I wouldn't say it's a game." He glances at Max, and quirks a brow. "I'm surprised to see you here...you don't know how to fight, as I recall?" Then he turns back to the cave. The roar maxes him tense up, and he holds his weapon before him. "Everybody stay behind me." He backs away from the cave and notes to Logan, " If it comes out here, I don't think we're going to have any choice in the matter."

Augusta nods to Damion, letting the soldier take command appropriately. The Vizier moves some ways off to his side, as she does her golden sword is bathed in white fire and the opal on the pommel shines with pale light. It has an effect on Augusta's demeanour, making her appear more commanding. Like Damion, she is in a position so that Max and Logan can be easily protected if need be.

Glancing toward Damion, Max offers a faint smile. "I thought there might have been more tracking or something involved. But, I wanted to help. Don't worry, I'll stay out of the way," she assures the Summers, glancing between the two briefly. Then she rests her gaze back on the entrance of the cave, stepping back to be behind all of the meatshields. I mean, the Lost.

Logan glances at Max. "You don't know how to fight?" Such is Logan that he can make this question seem extremely mild, and not anxious for her (or his) safety at all. He takes the golden crossbow off his back and readies it with a golden bolt, fetched from a bag he keeps back there as well. "Does anybody have any useful intel about this Beast? Beyond the basics?" There was no time for him to research it as much as he would have liked.

The sound from inside the cave gets louder, until they hear another roar, louder this time and...see the creature. Some might have heard of chimeras. Well, this is one of them. Lion-headed, with a goat body and large scorpion tail. And it looks PISSED.

Those bright blue eyes of Max's widen as she spots the beast emerge from the entrance of the cave. The enchanted mortal is glad there's a whole group of Lost in front of her to be attacked instead of her. Still, she's ready to move out of the way of an attack in case the great beast decides mortal flesh is more tasty!

Keeping one eye on Max, one eye on the enormous beast that's just emerged -- though his face barely changes at the sight -- Logan quickly looks behind him for higher ground. Not the hill they were on before, no -- that's too high. But he did come down a hill to get here, and he can scamper up it just a bit more to get himself some elevation. Everything's better with elevation.

With two people getting out range, the Chimera goes for the tasty snack that's closest. Which happens to be Damion! But while the beast's teeth scrape over the man, it doesn't look like much damage was done.

Damion watches the beast approaching, then moves quickly forward, giving his sword a quick twirl to build up momentum before burying the flaming blade into the shoulder of the lion-headed Hedge Beast. It doesn't seem to sink in as deep as it should have with the solidness of the strike. He grunts as he pulls the weapon free and falls back again. "It has some thick hide on it."

The Vizier moves to the side of the chimera as it attacks Damion, taking up a flanking position. She pivots on one foot and thrusts towards the creature with her golden rapier, the white flames licking at the beast's hide to burn into it. Augusta moves with the grace of a Fairest, as blue flames lick and dance across the golden scales of her robe and the sunlight that surrounds her mien shines bridght. For a graceful looking queen, she has all of the martial skill that marks her as Summer.

Max studies the beast as best as she can from her spot in the back, though it's somewhat difficult with all the Lost in the way. Still, she tries to be helpful as she calls out to them. "Watch out for the poisonous tail. Underbelly is probably weakest if you can get under there!" Her tone easily relays that she's probably giving them information they're already aware of. But hey, she's trying!

The old sorceress continues to spin as she moves near the Chimera. When the mortal speaks, her glowing fiery eyes clock her and then glance at the poisoned stinger. She knows what a Chimera is but it is her first time encountering one. One of her clawed hands move to her mouth and two fingers are held in front of her lips. She quietly says something and makes a slicing motion. The golden scales of her robe appear to freeze a moment, shattering an golden mist and then solidify around her before the effect vanishes. Now sheathed in a magical defensive barrier, Augusta continues to move but now with more grace, robes flowing around her and the flaming, golden rapier spitting in one hand.

"Thanks, Max! Stay safe, okay?" Logan ignores his own defense, for the time being, since he's removed enough not to worry about it. Instead, he aims carefully for the creature's left eye, his own brilliant blue eye staring down the bolt with lightning precision, trying to get the absolute best, most accurate shot he can.

The chimera is /pissed/. They've /hurt/ it. It roars as it gets cut twice, and those large, toothy jaws snap out at Augusta, biting into the vizier, more deeply than it was able to on Damion, even biting through her armor. But the clenching of the jaw is brief, at least.

"Hey! How about something a little fresher?" Yeah, he'll probably hear about that one later on. Damion slashes at the Chimera again while it's focused on Augusta, the sharp flaming blonde blade sliding across its eye and the right side of its face. This thing seems tough, since it doesn't cut as deepely as it should. "I wonder what this thing is made of!"

While the others are continuing to fight the chimera, Max starts to pace around the immediate area. She keeps her distance, of course, though occasionally glancing over to keep an eye on the beast. Whatever she's looking for, she seems satisfied with it, and resumes her position behind the group.

The Vizier continues her 'fire-dancing' style of fighting, spinning and jabbing at the chimera. Despite the maul before, she maintains a graceful movement, the Contract keeping her poised. Unfortunately the Sun's Needle grazes against the beasts's hide, its white magical flames flickering across it but apparently doing it no harm. Augusta's expression is unphased as she continues her spinning while contemplating her next and hopefully more effective move.

Logan lets his bolt fly, but the chimera is simply moving around too much. The arrow whirrs past its head. Were anyone looking in Logan's direction, they would see an unusual sight indeed: Logan frowning. The golden Fairest makes a displeased sound under his breath and he reaches for another bolt.

The chimera seems blinded though, and bites at the air, getting near the Augusta, but not managing to actually bite her this time, which makes it roar in frustration.

The dragon backs up slightly, gritting his teeth and lowering his blade as the thing continues to snap at Augusts. Then he charges forward, thrusting hard to shove the long blade into the side of its chest, keeping on pushing until the tip bursts out the other side. The beast starts to collapse to the ground, and he releases the handle, taking a few deep breaths.

There's one last roar from the chimera as it gets stabbed one finally time, and though it strains to reach Damion, it can't manage it, slumping to the ground, lifeblood draining out onto the ground.

Max survived! Not that it way very hard with the Lost taking all the biting from the chimera. However, she grins at the others who actually saved the day. "That was totally bad ass, you guys," she tells them, moving over to stand near Logan, her guardian for the adventure. "The tracks around here say that it's the only one in there. So, if, for whatever reason, you guys were thinking about entering the cave, it should be safe. Well, at least from another chimera." She smirks.

The white flames dancing on Augusta's golden sword flicker and die out as her spinning comes to a halt and she stands over the dead chimera after Damion deals the lethal blow. There is some blood trickling along the golden scales of her robe on her left side. At the moment, she takes not note of her injuries as she takes a deep breath, summer heat spreading from her and those star-like flowers that grow around her sprouting from the chimera's blood that has stained the grass. "Well done, Damion." Her deep voice says gravely, still looking curiously down at the creature.

"You made it," Logan says, smiling at Max -- though not grinning -- and with her and his crossbow in tow, he makes his way back to level ground where the others and the carcass lay. "I guess it's best to let the Summer Court do what they're best at," he comments, smile still in place, poking one of the chimera's huge teeth with the side of his boot.

After catching his breath, Damion plants his foot on the corpse of the Chimera, grabbing the handle with both hands and straining for a few moments to pull it free before it slides out. Wiping the blade on the goatish portion of its body he sighs. "Well, that thing was certainly tough." He resheaths his weapon, then glances at the cave. "We should probably check in there. Make sure there are no other ones, or babies, or corpses of Lost that we don't know are missing yet or anything." He glances over at the others and smiles. "Thanks." He moves over to the entrance of the cave, peering in.

"You did great," Max tells Logan enthusiastically with a smile as they start to move closer to the cave. The mortal will also take a peek into the entrance, though not fully venturing inside until one of the others goes in. "Do flashlights work on this side?" she wonders, having been told that technology, even simple, can go funky in the Hedge. "I have one in my bag."

Augusta sheathes her own sword on her delicate belt, so that the blade sort of disappears in the folds of her golden robe. She touches her damaged side a moment and grimaces before looking at Logan and Max, "Sir Logan ... you should escort the mortal with us into the cave, but with some protection." She steps forwards first to Logan and bends down, her hands on his forehead, kissing it, glamour touching him before she turns to Max and does the same if she allows it. "My blessing protect you." Her Weisse Frau guard wrapping mystical armour around both of them before she too turns towards the cave and follows Damion.

Damion considers a few moments, then draws the revolver holstered on his hip this time. The ivory-handled weapon looks to be gold. Not gold plated, solid gold. With the other, he unsheaths the hunting knife at the small of his back. Why? Maybe just a change of pace. He glances at the golden boy. "Can you shed some light on the situation?" Hard to tell if that was meant to be a joke or not.

Logan smiles back in Max's direction. "Thanks, Max. You were super-helpful!" And not at all the death-trap you might've been. "You don't really need a flashlight with me around, though. You'll see." Then Augusta offers his blessing, which Logan accepts with grace and a small smile. "Thank you, Vizier. We are in your debt. C'mon, Max." He moves towards the opening of the cave, and a soft light appears to be coming from the direction of his left hand...though when he raises said hand, the light does not move with it. "Certainly," he says with a grin in Damion's direction.

As Augusta leans in to give the kiss of blessing, Max quickly moves backward to refuse the contact. Knowing that the Vizier was trying to help, she just as quickly offers an apologetic look. "Sorry... People can't touch me or bad stuff happens to them," she vaguely explains. The usually confident mortal looks a bit defeated for a moment, but she doesn't let that bit of sourness linger. Instead, she looks over to the extra shiny Logan, placing a grin on her lips. "Whoa, that's pretty cool. Personal flashlight," she says with a chuckle.

The old sorceress smiles down at Max and nods, accepting the apology gracefully and not forcing the issue. She walks beside Damion into the cave with the Golden Boy and Max behind them. Her own mien shines with sunlight, but only to the perspective of the viewer and doesn't shed real light, nor do the blue flames which lick about her golden scale armor. She stays silent for the most part, speaking quietly to herself, "Such a beast so near the Freehold. Either it was driven out of the Deep Hedge or had another reason to be so near."

There don't seem to be signs of any other beast in the cave, or even signs that the chimera'd been here long.

Damion glances around the inside of the cave, frowning a bit. "Mmm. Not much here." He considers the lack of nesting that's gone on. "I don't think it's been here long. Maybe it was driven here. Or just was hungry." He glances at the others. "We should report its death back to the Freehold." He holsters and sheaths his weapons.

Augusta looks around from the center of the cave, her fiery glowing eyes flaring the illumination from them appearing even beneath her skin around the eyes. She turns on one foot and looks around the chamber before closing them. "Nothing. Damion ... the trophy is yours if you wish to bring the Chimera's head back to the Summer Court. It is your right."

Logan extinguishes the light near his palm, since there's nothing to see here. "Guess that's the long and the short of it," he says, glancing from Augusta to Damion when she suggests that he take the head. He does not add to the encouragement, but watches the other man for a moment to see what he will do.

"Better to be safe than sorry," Max chimes in, not terribly disappointed there wasn't anything cool to find in the cave. There's always another adventure to be had. She's just thankful she survived this one! She glances over to Logan with a grin. "How soon can I bump up those archery lessons?" she asks him, chuckling lightly as they start to move back out of the cave.

Damion consdiers the body for a few moments then says, "Might be a good idea." Besides, it's not like he doesn't have an ego. No harm in showing off their kill. He draws his sword again, moving over to the body, and raises it over his head before beginning to chop through the neck of the beast. "This'll take a minute. This damn thing was tougher than it looked."

Augusta stands near the corpse while Damion works. Bloody work like this is nothing new for her. She has done far far worse and not to enemies. Many Viziers have. In the end, she will go with Damion back to the Freehold. She has some healing to attend to after all.