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Post by Arvind Pillai on Nov 6, 2006 8:33:17 GMT -5
While travelling on foot to a small, secluded village to meet some old friends, you decide to take a seemingly shorter route through the forest. Ill-fortune rears its ugly head soon enough. You hare brought to halt by a group of shifting figures in the distance. They hold spears and other primitive weapons. They remind you of Goblins, only less numerous and more tactical. But anyway, this lake was far from such menacing creatures such as Orcs and Goblins. Who are these people?You are unable to pinpoint what their objective is, exactly.  |
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Post by samhattangady on Nov 7, 2006 8:10:30 GMT -5
Samarth looks at the people and is completely perplexed. He asks them, "Who are you?"
((Test to know if they understand English))
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Post by Arvind Pillai on Nov 7, 2006 8:18:19 GMT -5
The nearest man slows to a stop. "Trikal!" he yells from the distance.
Upon realising that you are not from these parts, he tries a different approach.
"We - Hunt - Elephant" he stutters incoherently.
You notice that the shady figures are moving towards a herd of Elephants.
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Post by samhattangady on Nov 7, 2006 8:36:23 GMT -5
" I - Help - You. I - Kill - Elephant." says Samarth.
He waits for their response.
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Post by nightviperone on Nov 7, 2006 23:10:57 GMT -5
Having already readied an arrow to his bowstring, Dannin keeps the bow aimed towards the ground and the string easy, but ready to be drawn and fired if need be. Arcing a brow, he shifts his head some, pulling his hair back over his shoulder.
"Why are we going to hunt elephants?", he asked quietly, to no one in particular. Then he turned his gaze directly to Samarth and smirked. "Come to think of it," he adds, "what in the ninth realm of the here-after is an 'elephant'?"
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Post by Arvind Pillai on Nov 8, 2006 8:13:42 GMT -5
The native clearly saw that the outsiders hadn't the slightest clue as to what he was talking about. Elephants were an endemic species. Perhaps the average man would have vaguely heard of Oiliphaunts but certainly not Elephants. The grey, trunk-bearing animals simply did not have the appeal of their larger, more legendary relatives.
He decided to try a different approach. Any help they could get would be helpful. They often formed temporary alliances with stray travellers looking for adventure.
He imitated the sound of a trumpet and then placed his arm near his nose, mimicing the floppy motion of an elephant's trunk.
When all this failed, he wildly pointed to the large, greyish masses along the horizon.
"Elephant!"
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Post by nightviperone on Nov 8, 2006 12:27:20 GMT -5
Dannin arced a brow as he watched the dark skinned man and his pantomime. As the man gives out and turns, pointing to the larger creature, Dannin turns as well... and freezes. Oh," he said flatly, "is that all?"
He looked down to his bow, then back to the creature. Then to the man, back to his bow, the creature, and finally his bow. "Bloddy hell," he muttered as he looked back, once more to the creature. "I'm gonna need a much bigger arrow." He hesitated, then shook his head. "Much bigger."
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Post by Arvind Pillai on Nov 8, 2006 13:26:05 GMT -5
The Native took the speaker's reluctance as a sign of acceptance. He smiled and skirted off towards the animal. Before leaving, you hear him mutter: "Shiny-we give- for help." This tribe was particularly rich. Not that money had any real meaning in these parts, but it certainly helped attract fellow hunters. They had built up their stockpile during the days to the Osirin War when they aided one of the camps in a bloody battle. They gathered around the herd, forming a wide circle of great radius. They seem to be waiting for some sort of signal to launch the attack.  |
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Post by nightviperone on Nov 8, 2006 20:37:33 GMT -5
He chuckles at their enthusiasm. "Well," Dannin smirked to his companion, "looks like we just got hired. Shall we?" With that, he started after the tribesmen.
On the way, he looked ahead, spotting a sloped rock formation, striahgt down on the far side, but the near side sloping upward like a ramp. Veering from his course, Dannin takes to the rock, running up it's slanted face, stopping at the top edge of it, one foot propped higher than the other. Frokm there, he had a bird's eyes view, and was even slightly higher than the "elephant" creatures they were hunting. "I wonder if you big monsters make good eating," he mused to himself, then chuckled sliughtly. Raising his bow, he drew the fletching and bowstring to his cheek and sighted along the shaft directly at one of the behmoth's forhead. He waited though, hesitated. As he watched the movements, he noticed that the head was creased down the center, as if the head was protected by two thick plates of bone and skull. It would be neraly impenetrable with just his bow and these flight-style arrows. Lowering his bow some, he eased the string down and took a squat, his young brow furrowed in concentration. He studied the creature a long while before, suddenly, his green eyes lit up in recognition.
"Aye," he muttered to himself as he rose, bringing the bow back up, and the arrow's fletching back to his cheek. "Most of ye'r head may be protected," he thought in a whisper to himself as if speaking to the great beast, "but that crease there, that's gotta be soft as babe's arse, ain't it?"
With that thought in mind, he concentrated, blanking out everything else around but his hands, the arrow, it's sharped head, and that barely moving line along the center of the creature's head. It was as if everything slowed, yet nothing else existed, and he let the arrow fly.
>tag<
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Post by Arvind Pillai on Nov 9, 2006 8:33:22 GMT -5
The arrowhead lodged itseld in the creature's forhead. A wild trumpet was heard along with a mixture of angry shouts. Suddenly, a tremendous amount of dust was thrown up into the air. Dannin spots a massive, dark figure plowing through the grass. Several natives (including the one you encountered earlier) were chasing it. A javelin strikes it in the leg and it collapses. Injured, but still dangerous.
The other Elephants dispersed themselves in different directions, trampling all in their way. The dust impairs your vision but you are able to count atleast 4 other beasts.
"Nangul emva ettaman!!" yells one of them, punctuating the sentence with appropriate gestures. He seems to be angry at the archer for initiating the attack. Such a privilege was reserved only for the chieftain. An uncivilized rascal like Dannin did not deserve such honour.
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Post by nightviperone on Nov 9, 2006 12:51:54 GMT -5
Dannin watched the arrow's ever-so-slow travel, lowering his bow in the same exaggerated motion. Suddenly, just before the arrow hit home, time caught up with itself. Dannin smiled in elation as the arrow sunk deep between the thick plates of the mammoth creature's skull, halting it in his tracks. He looked down toward the shouts as the Natives emerged, offering them a smile in acceptance of their forthcoming congratulations. Suddenly, though, his smile faded. That tone did not sound pleasant and that look was certainly not congratulatory.
"Oh," he muttered to himself, "this can't be good."
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Post by Arvind Pillai on Nov 9, 2006 14:03:35 GMT -5
Suddenly, Dannin found himself facing a charging bull. The behemoth's ivory tusks reflected the white light of the sun as it thundered towards the poor fool.
Once again, time seemed to slow. The vigorous movement of the elephant's hulking muscles were now painfully visible. Dannin's arrow is at the ready.
Will he fire, or dodge?
Elephant: llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Dannin: llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
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Post by nightviperone on Nov 9, 2006 17:15:14 GMT -5
By sheer reflex, Dannin had brought his bow back up, another arrow at the ready, and drew back. He leveled the arrow to land right beside the first, in the same crease...
... but hesitated. Dropping his aim down and a bit to the right, he let fly, aimed directly at the charging behemoth's eye. Before he could see hit or miss, though, he had another shaft drawn, then nock placed, the fletching drawn to his cheek and ready to go.
>tag<
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Post by Arvind Pillai on Nov 10, 2006 5:49:00 GMT -5
Today was Dannin's lucky day. The arrow made its mark. A strange shriek rattled the air and the half-blind elephant rambled off in another direction.
Not for long...
It came back at him. This time, from behind. One of the Natives lunged at him, throwing the Dannin out of harm's way. It thundered past, pursued by several brave hunters.
"You stay." says the Native while jumping back onto his feet. Without warning, he set off behind the elephant. A fierce pain throbbed in Dannin's arm.
Dannin: llllllllllllllllllll
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Post by nightviperone on Nov 10, 2006 12:27:15 GMT -5
Dannin watched as the half-blinded beast moved around the rocky outcropping, and his eyes widened as it came back in. Suddenly there was an impact, though, and not the beast. The world went by in a flash, and he found himself laying on the ground below the outcropping. He was dizzy from the impact, but nodded in response to the Native's choppy order. Once the man was gone, he made to sit up.
"Gah!", he bit off through gritted teeth as a pain shot through his arm. Raising the arm with some effort, he inspected it for the source of the pain.
>tag<
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