The Kingdom - Born on the Bayou

Admiral Duck Sauce 2015-07-20 13:44:35
"I only do one show a night," Ozzy replies to Lucius' candid review of his gymnastics skills. "Go on and give it a look, eh?"
punkey 2015-09-25 22:31:04
Lucius grunts. "Suppose we should have one of us that doesn't fall over their own damn feet do it." He nods to Q. "Come on, fairy, let's do this."
"Fuck you too," Q says, but flutters along right behind him.

----

(Lucius Sneak: 2d10.hi = 9; 1d8 = 6)

Lucius carefully steps through the underbrush, Q hovering a few inches behind him. "Could you flutter a little louder?" Lucius grumbles under his breath.
"Think that they can hear you step on those leaves back at the Beaulieu manor," Q quips back.
Lucius scowls - but steps a bit more lightly none the less.

A few more steps, and he can finally see the edge of the dense hedgerow planted along the road. Lucius signals Q to get low, and he gets on his belly himself, and crawls the last few feet to the edge. There, he sees a very different scene to what the group saw earlier today. Dozens of beast-men and women, at least a hundred, mill around the plantation's dead fields. Most are carrying farming tools, digging up the blighted land under the gaze and whips of six truly giant beast-people - two more boars, a rat, a snapping turtle, a truly corpulent bear, and a cougar-woman - all spread out amongst the fields, supervising the further excavation.

Then, from somewhere inside the manor, a voice, raspy and thick with phlegm, yet loud enough to ring in Lucius' ears, bellows out. "God-dammit! Keep workin' that land! There's got to be somethin' out there!"
"Got it, pops!" the snapping turtle-man calls back, and kicks dirt at a field-mouse woman. "Dig harder! For the love of the Gods, dig!"
"Keep going!" the bear-man roars, finishing his shouting with a belch.

"What the fuck are they digging for?" Q asks.
"Beats the shit out of me," Lucius says. "Stay here, keep watch, we'll be back."

----

Lucius crawls out of the underbrush a few minutes later. "They're digging up the plantation, too. Looking for something - and they sound desperate."
Gatac 2015-09-26 14:53:59
"Hm," Martin opines. "Well, we've certainly blundered into their plans enough that they might accelerate their...whatever ritual they are planning. On the other hand, I don't think we're quite enough to make them sound desperate. I've certainly got no clue how we're going to bring down a half dozen large beastmen, so I suspect they've got altogether bigger worries than us. Asenath-related worries, if I had to guess."
Admiral Duck Sauce 2015-10-01 09:36:06
"So I reckon we got two plans," Ozzy says. "Plan the first is, we sit 'ere on our duffs and wait. See if whatever that lot is lookin' for turns up, then we take it off 'em real quick. Full-on Ripperdan blitz, you get me? Plan the second is, we run in there, do enough damage to one or two of the big jobs an we sway the little ones to help us. They're just farmers, sure, but they're victims too and mebbe they want some payback."
skullandscythe 2015-10-05 22:31:17
Red's nose crinkles as he inhales. Doesn't quite sound like Asenath's displeasure to me, but something more...personal. Gonna have to have a chat with Pops soon as we're done here.

"I like Option 2, myself. If the Descoteaux don't have the manpower, they can't get whatever it is they're looking for. And, while I think we all have a rough idea what it is they're digging up, the diggers will have a good idea what, and maybe why too."
Admiral Duck Sauce 2015-10-08 12:10:56
Ozzy nods. "All right, sounds good. I reckon we spread out our first hits, keep 'em guessing. You lot think we can draw a few into the thicker brush, or should we get stuck in right off?"
Gatac 2015-10-08 12:42:57
"So, I'm..." Martin says. "I'm unclear on how much of my involvement in this fight everyone is comfortable with. I could just, well, go at it with full force, so to speak, or try to keep it reigned in while I fight, or...well, bring up the rear and cover your retreat."
Gatac 2015-10-18 12:39:00
Martin's look sweeps the group, but finds no objections. Disconcerting though his tiger shape may be, there's no denying that it's effective in a fight, and given the half-dozen wildshaped disco toes and their henchmen, being effective seems to rate higher than other, more long-term concerns.

"Very well, then," Martin says. "Let's approach quietly. They'll know we're here soon enough."
CrazyIvan 2015-11-01 01:23:11
Ana gives Martin a long, meaningful glance, though if she had an objection to him transforming into his shape, she keeps that to herself. Though she does offer him a bit of advice as she draws her own sword.

"Martin, remember - as you give into your animalistic impulses, it's possible they will as well. Many of those down there are innocents. But they will also feel like prey."
Gatac 2015-11-04 15:01:18
Martin gives Ana a long, meaningful stare, the kind that could only possibly be followed with a "God dang it, woman, can't you see I..."

"I managed just fine last time," Martin says.
Gatac 2015-11-05 11:15:53
(Kasey: And on a d10 vs. d6, you rolled 8-1.)

Okay, just focus and think...tigerly thoughts.

Martin closes his eyes and starts stretching out his arms and standing on tiptoes, arching his back to the sound of a crepitus concerto. Within seconds, his already furry body starts growing and filling out, and as he tips forward to come to rest on all fours, he passes the threshold from Rakasta to full-on tiger with ease, no flickering, no spasming, nothing that even looks like effort. As he stalks forward to briefly rub up against Ozzy, Ana's cloak slides off him and sinks to the ground. There's no obvious vocalization to go with Martin's movement and lazily swinging tail, but he emits a deep, rumbling sound that could equally be a low purr or a noisy stomach, neither of which is an entirely comforting thought.

A HUGE FUCKING TIGER has joined your party!
Admiral Duck Sauce 2015-11-11 15:36:39
Ozzy pats Martin on the shoulder, pointing to the bear-thing. "That one," he whispers. "Lucius, you've got the precision, let's you and I handle that turtle fucker. Red, keep 'em off-balance, keep moving, make 'em fink we've got more than wot we got. First one wot gets 'alf a chance tries to rally the farmers. I ain't one to tell you lot yer jobs, though, so let's just do this."

Ozzy stalks as best he can towards the beastly overseers, reflecting that indeed, he has been pretty bossy as of late but it's worked out so far, innit?
CrazyIvan 2015-11-16 01:58:22
There is a sadness in Ana's eyes as she nods at Martin's statement.

Everyone manages just fine last tine. That's what makes it 'last time'.

Retrieving her cloak, she draws her sword, a more grim and serious expression crossing her face. Martin's soul is a matter for some other time, after a great deal of blood has been shed. For this moment - well, it's not as if he isn't an asset.

"Lets get on with it."
Gatac 2015-11-17 14:28:44
Turns out it's pretty difficult to break down the concept of a strategy into something (no pun intended) palatable to Tiger!Martin's animal instincts. The boarman at the mine, that was an easy sell: biggest, juiciest target. But what could move a tiger to deliberately target a foul-looking, foul-tasting fellow bearman? Play-hunting? Martin's too big for that. Territory encroachment? Well, if anything, Martin's encroaching. Protecting his "family"? Eh, close, but no cigar. In the end, it comes down to the long evolutionary enmity between feliformia and caniformia. This fat honey-slurping bastard playing at being apex predator? That has to be corrected.

Body low to the ground and tail for once under full control, Martin creeps through the brush, circling the group of beastmen and searching for the best angle. If he could pounce on the bearman's back and quickly snap his neck...that would be good. Anything else might be too fair a fight.
skullandscythe 2015-11-24 07:40:26
Red nods to Ozzy and slinks off in a different direction, one with better shooting possibilities. Along the way, he ponders what sort of illusion he'll need for Ozzy's...he hesitates to call it a 'plan.' Dark, but they can see in the dark, some of them. Noise and form, for the arrows, then, and some scent for the archer shapes in the brush. Can't have too many arrows, but enough that it's no distraction - focus on three targets, turtle and bear and...is that boar Jean? Fits. Turtle, bear, and Jean-boar. Cluster of eight each, fletched Beaulieu style.

Can't really call this a 'plan,' either. Oh well.
punkey 2015-11-25 09:08:42
(Tiger!Martin Sneak: 2d10 = 4; 1d8 = 6
Red Sneak: 1d8 = 4; 1d8 = 3)

As Ozzy, Lucius, Anton, Anata and Q stay put, Red and the tiger formerly known as Martin stalk off along the innermost edge of the hedges surrounding the dug-up remains of the Descoteaux fields. Red draws an arrow - which appears to split into two, and then two again, and then two again, eight arrows shimmering in his five fingers. He steps carefully and aims his pseudo-barrage at the three Descoteaux animal-people that seem to be in charge.

Martin, on the other hand, is more fixated on his prey. As he moves into a good spot to pounce on the back of the disgustingly fat bear-man, his pupils dilate and he draws in a deep breath - and oh sweet good Datehl he smells awful. Martin's whole head fills with stench and rot - and something sickly-sweet and bile-like that the rakasta buried underneath the tiger recognizes. He coughs and snorts, getting the attention of the disgusting bear-man. "What -" the bear-man belches loudly, "- uugh, what was that?"
punkey 2015-12-03 08:08:05
(Initiative!

Everyone else in the group except Martin gets to go first because they didn't screw up their roll.

Boar-Men: 1d8 = 7 One is two rounds away
Rat-Man:1d10 = 10 Alas, three rounds away
Snapping Turtle...Person: 1d6 = 1
Bear-Man: 1d6 = 3
Cougar-Woman: 2d8.hi = 6

Martin: 3d10.hi = 9

Surprise round!

Ozzy Attack: 2d12.hi = 10; 1d8 = 6 vs. Turtle-Person 1d4 = 3 / 2d12.hi = 8; 1d8 = 1 vs. 2d10.hi = 10 = 0 Damage!
Lucius Attack: 2d10.hi = 9; 1d8 = 4 vs. Turtle-Person 1d4 = 3 / 3d8.hi = 7 vs. 2d10.hi = 9 = 0 Damage!
Anton Attack: 2d10.hi = 6 vs. Boar-Man 1d4 = 3 / 2d10.hi = 10 vs. 1d10 = 4 = 10 Shock, 6 Wounds
Anata Attack: 3d12.hi = 9; 1d8 = 1 vs. Cougar-Woman 1d4 = 1 / 3d8.hi = 5 vs. 1d8 = 1 = 7 Shock, 7 Wound
Q Attack: 2d10.hi = 3 vs. Turtle-Person 1d4 = 1 / 2d8.hi = 8 vs. 2d10.hi = 7 = 8 Shock, 1 Wound
Red Magic: 3d8.hi = 3 vs. 1d6 = 3 Partial Success! Distracts Boar-Man for 1d6 = 3 Rounds, adding 1d6 to Attacker rolls)

Whatever the formerly human Descoteaux clan was expecting to come out of the brush, it's highly unlikely that it was going to be four humans (and one faerie, he's kinda hard to notice with all the bellowing normal-sized people coming at you). Anton closes the gap quickly and delivers a devastating out-of-the-park swing to the closest boar-man's head, nearly spinning him all the way around and sending a few teeth and no small amount of blood flying. Anata figures that the cougar-woman, clad in the tatters of a fine formal dress, might have gotten a lot bigger, stronger, and hairier, but she's still gonna have all her blood-filled bits in roughly the same spots, and aims the tip of her rapier straight for where her heart should be. The cougar-woman yowls in agony, staggering backwards off the blade as blood spurts out of the wound like only a punctured artery can, and she nearly drops right then and there.

Ozzy and Lucius run side-by-side to their target, the snapping turtle...man? Woman? Whoever this is, they definitely got beat with the presto-changeo stick more than the others, and there's not a whole lot left that resembles a person. That is a marked disadvantage as they try to waddle around, their stubby legs not helped out by their ridiculous shell - but that shell proves to be one serious advantage when all Lucius and Ozzy get for their troubles is a TING that sounds remarkably like a chipped dagger blade and four very sore knuckles.
"Hey! Knock that off!" the snapping turtle person says. (If you were wondering if hearing their voice would clear up any ambiguities, you would be mistaken.)
Q, seeing that Ozzy and Lucius are having problems negotiating the rather extensive suit of armor their target is wearing, swoops in. "'Scuse me!" he says, and flutters around the turtle person's back and delivers a good slice to the back of their neck.
"Ow! Quit it!" the turtle person says.

Red takes a deep breath and looses his illusory barrage - and watches as the arrows swoop off into the trees or the ground. As his spell spends itself distracting rocks and tree branches, Red's about to turn his attention to drawing his next arrow when one of the wildly swerving "arrows" suddenly turns straight for the boar-man he thinks might have been Jean Descoteaux, and zaps into him right between the eyes. "Hey! How come there's two of you all of a sudden?" he shouts at Anton, his head lolling around a little.

(Martin Attack: 3d10.hi = 10 vs. Bear Man 2d8.hi = 2 / Damage: 2d12.hi = 12; 1d10 = 9 vs. 2d10.hi = 6 / 12 Shock, 6 Wound
Bear-Man Shoot: 2d8.hi = 8; 1d6 = 2 / Damage: 2d6.hi = 5 vs. 2d12.hi = 5; 1d10 = 9 / Infection: 2d8.hi = 4 vs. 2d12.hi = 7, Failed)

Martin pounces out of the bushes at the bear-man, his jaws locking down on hard on the...ugh, layer of putrid-smelling fat on his shoulder. He bites down and tears off a great big lump of it, but the taste is so vile and rotten that he falls off immediately and spits it out, his stomach roiling with nausea. There...there is something very wrong with this particular bear.
"Owww!" the bear-man cries, but then staggers back a couple steps. "Uugh, I don't...oh Gods my stomach," the bear-man moans, his paws holding onto his gut. His hands just barely fail to reach each other - but then, with a deep gurgle, his stomach...it moves, shifting about and then suddenly bloating up so much that the bear-man's round gut reaches to his knees.

"Oooooourgh, I don't feel so good!" the bear-man cries, then bends over towards Martin and with a mighty groan, lets his mouth hang open as a torrent of black, viscous bile gushes forth all over him. The stinking flood splashes all over his side before he can leap out of the way. Martin instantly feels a wave of weakness and numbing wash over him, but with a shake of his body tossing most of the goo off, it passes.

The sound and dangerously familiar odor of the bear-man's...release draws everyone's attention. It looks for a moment like the bear-man actually dislocated his jaw in the effort as it hangs down to the top of his gut, but then the bear-man rights himself and his distended maw closes up.
"Better," the bear-man says, but then his stomach gurgles again. "Oooh, or not."
"Aw hell, not again," the turtle-person says.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2015-12-03 09:42:26
Ozzy dances a few paces back from the turtle, shaking out his hand.

"Fire, then," he says, raising his other hand, forefinger and pinky extended in the traditional sign of evocation. He summons up a gout of flame for the shell-headed Descoteaux, hoping its toughness doesn't extend to the eldritch as well as the physical.
e of pi 2015-12-03 22:52:08
Anton grimaces at the odor as the bear-man vomits up a gout of the demo queen's all-too-familiar bile, and restrains a shudder as he pulls himself back to the fight with the board-man who might have been Descoteaux.

"You're seeing double?" Anton asks, winding up. "How about a nap?" He swings for the fences, and anything else that might get in the way.