Completed [The Cobalt Mountains] Exotic Meat (Ball, Roderick, Aoren)

[Radiant]

As the second Yukman tried to grab the small clay figure, Ball punched the ankle bone with surprising force for a creature his size, causing the Yukman to stumble at the unexpected strike. This gave Roderick a chance to strike, the archer released an arrow that sang through the air and firmly placed it through the Yukman's brain, it fell down to the ground, dead.

Due to the loud sounds of the geyser and just the general stupidity of the horde, they still went unnoticed. The first Yukman snarled as the net trapped it. Aoren quickly went forward with the plan, he slammed his blunt weapon to the Yukman, causing it to roar angrily which was quickly silenced as the Drykas kicked it, knocking it unconscious.

It was quite far away from the group so its voice didn't quite reach the horde, at least not fully alarming then. However, a few curious Yukman began walking to the direction of the voice, this few caused the others to become curious as well. In the end, the horde was gradually heading to the party's location, albeit in a walking pace.

Don noticed this, a look of annoyance on his face. "Tch... we have to get out of here. Now." He quickly took out his smokestick and gave it to Aoren. "Here, burn it and throw it far away from here. That should distract them." Then he faced the tree where Roderick perched himself, signalling him to go down. "Alright, Clay-man, you can ask ride one of our shoulders, we will travel much faster that way."

After Aoren was done with his task, the henchman would ask both Roderick and Aoren to carry the unconscious netted Yukman. Hopefully, this would all go smooth.

[Ball]

Ball rolled backwards just in time to not get squished by the monster’s corpse. A quick glance at the horde of the dirt beings fighting each other nearly brought Ball to tears, he didn’t have tear glands so the little clay being was luckily saved from that outburst. He was nearly one of them he felt. Nothing more then dirt...

Ball shook his head, dislodging the thought, he was a squire... Not some half-brained twit of a monster.Turning his back from the horde he watched as the netted one was knocked out cold, silenced. Yet it wasn’t enough Ball noticed as the ground beneath him gained a slight tremor, turning his head to look over his shoulder he could see that the horde was slowly becoming aware for their location, luckily they weren’t entirely noticing them. Ball hoofed it as fast as he could, ignoring the suggestion of climbing on one of their shoulders, Ball had Imass. And the four legged mount wasn’t going to be left behind. Not with that horde of dirt scum behind them.

It was a tugging contest that Ball wasn’t going to win, thankfully his dog wasn’t entirely dimwitted, he reached over and yanked his miniature master from the ground and lowered him on his rump. This gave Ball the ability climb quickly into place between front shoulder blades. Once in position he waited for the rest of the group before he nudged his furry dog hard in the sides.

The dog needed to second encouragement and his furry tail took off, bounding hard through underbrush, not not hard enough to cause any discerning trails or sounds that the yukmen could follow.

Created goes to Euthisa

[Roderick]

After the offending Yukman had fallen beneath the hunter's arrow the second was promptly beaten into submission by Aoren. While the Drykas and mercenary set to work binding the creature the archer returned his attention to the horde, noting with some amount of displeasure that a few of the beasts had begun making their way towards the group. Several more joined in the slow walk, then more, until the entire horde was shuffling and stomping its way forwards. Was there really any point in them attempting to hold their ground? No. There wasn't Don motioned for him to climb down from his perch so they could make a swift retreat, but the hunter hardly needed to be told; he was more than aware of what a Yukman horde could do. Swiftly making his way down the side of the overhang he landed on the ground with a light thud and quickly set off at a jog when he saw the others were already retreating. The Pycon had mounted himself onto his furry little dog and was riding it away from the scene with all the urgency he could. In the meantime Don was leading effort for them to quickly withdraw; he handed a stick of something to Aoren while Roderick seized hold of the captured Yukman and started dragging it along after slipping his bow over his shoulder. He felt the weight diminshing slightly when Aoren took hold of the other side and between the two of them the Yukman was swiftly carried away from the geysers, and the encroaching horde of its brethren. Sneaking a glance over his shoulder every now and then to see where the horde was, he sped up into a light jog, so that Aoren would be forced to match his pace. OOCFar too short, but I wanted to get my reply done quickly.

[Aoren]

“How did I know that would happen?” The young Drykas mumbled more to himself than to those around him. Aoren shook his head once the captive Yukman was decidedly unconscious. There certainly was no denying the fact that it was. No more thrashing about, no more growling and howling, his firm kick seemed to have done the trick. The Drykas sighed rubbing his face in irritation as he watched the rest of the horde slowly drift toward the source of the commotion.

“Not good. Not good at all. Don. Hand me the—“ Before he could even finish the sentence the smoke stick was being tossed toward his face. He caught it just before the stick smacked him in the nose. He didn’t need to ask Don what it was for. He already knew. The trick would be igniting the damn thing and tossing it far enough away that it got them out of immediate danger but close enough for the horde to see it. Yukmen were a curious lot. They were always drawn by something that was new, interesting and exciting. They were also prone to ripping that new exciting thing to shreds or pounding it into oblivion because it surprised them.

Not wasting any time Aoren held up the smokestick with his right hand. He rest his quarterstaff in the crook of his elbow upright against his body. Bringing up his left hand he exuded liquid Res over his hand then elevated it in front of him. Aoren snapped his fingers igniting the outer layer of the Res. He thrust one end of the smokestick into the conjured fire setting off the device. Immediately thick black smoke began to billow forth from the stick. Needing no encouragement Aoren waved a hand dismissing the magical fire allowing the rest of his Res to rejoin the threads of his body he then brought his arm back, gripping the smokestick firmly and chucked the damnable thing as far as he could aiming directly at the Yukmen headed their way.

The effect was immediate. There were Yukmen who were confused and distracted by the smoky object producing thick black clouds that quickly covered the area. Aoren was entirely convinced that would be enough of a distraction to gain the attention of the entire horde. He certainly wasn’t going to stick around long enough to find out the answer to that.

Turning on a heel he rushed forward grabbing the unconscious Yukman alongside Don and Roderick. He didn’t need to look behind them to know that the little distraction that he’d created wouldn’t last long enough to stave off getting noticed by a choice few. Like his cohort, the huntsman, Aoren glanced over his shoulder seeing that not only was the bulk of the horde converging on the smokestick but that they were beginning to investigate the noises being made by their hasty retreat.

“I think picking up the pace would be a good idea.” Apparently his fellow adventurers believed it was a good idea too as the pace quickened not a split second later.

Now, Aoren certainly wasn’t unaccustomed to carrying heavy objects. He wasn’t unfit. He wasn’t opposed to hard manual labor but the Yukman wasn’t exactly light. The creature was entirely dead weight and they were crashing through bushes, plowing through underbrush, trekking across dirt and generally just forging a path where one hadn’t been before. That certainly didn’t make for an easy escape. Nevertheless, Aoren shifted the unconscious Yukman he was carrying propped up as comfortably over his shoulder as possible.

That was another thing that was chewing at the back of Aoren’s mind.

“How long before this nasty creature wakes up? I only hope it stays unconscious long enough for us to put a respectable amount of distance between ourselves and the main horde.”

With that thought in mind he pushed himself to run harder determined to not let the group fall out of step. He made a point to ocassionally look at their surroundings in search of the small Pycon and his dog-mount just to make certain that they were safe. If anything held true about Aoren it was that he was a loyal young man who had no interest in leaving a comrade, however short term, behind. Especially to the nasty fate that would await them in the clutches of a Yukman.

[Radiant]

The party retreated, the Pycon on his riding dog and the three human males on foot with one unconscious Yukman cargo. The thick black smoke made for an excellent distraction for the horde, but it didn't last for very long before the stick burnt out, producing no new smokes. Some of the Yukmen were also attracted by the party's footsteps. Only three of them noticed it at first, but like always, more and more of them followed when they dismissed the smoke as uninteresting.

"Tch, yeah! Go!" Don agreed with Aoren's suggestion and picked up the pace, half-running while gesturing for Roderick to do the same. The henchman took a lance over his shoulders and found the horde walking at their direction, they were far away to not be explicitly noticed, but not far enough to be safe. They kept running, it was an odd experience, running from something that hadn't noticed them yet, but would be should they stopped to rest.

As they ran, the party could spot a male human hunter blissfully sleeping with his back against a tree, unaware of the dangers around him. Don noticed the hunter, but made no action to even bat an eyelash. He'll be a good distraction... Hopefully, none of the party was a suicidal goody two-shoes, waking him up would waste precious time and ran a heavy risk of the horde catching up to them while leaving him would certainly put the hunter into certain death.

[Ball]

OOCI have gotten Radiant’s Permission via chat whisper to use the sleeping hunter. Thank Pinky!

Ball watched as Don and the others rode past the sleeping hunter. Yet the pycon stopped Imass and looked back over his shoulder. The horde of dirt people were shambling after the trio and the petching squire just had to stop! Looking back at the sleeping hunter Ball sighed, it was his duty. His honor. His job! Petching hell! Ball looked at the man, looked back over his shoulder again and then at Imass.

He had to think fast, this man was going to be beat to a pulp and taking a dirt nap if Ball didn’t react soon enough. Think squire! He slapped Imass’ rump and the dog let out a yelp of surprise. The squired three inch dirt man knew he was taking a chance in life or death at this moment. Yet this is what he lived for, this is his life, his path. Syliran or not, this hunter wasn’t going to die on Ball’s watch, nor in Ball’s hindsight. This man was now Ball’s responsibility.

The yelping dog wasn’t enough to wake the man. And Ball had to look back over his shoulder to gauge time. There wasn’t much of it and Ball had to react quick. Slapping the dog in the back of the head and pointing at the sleeping man Ball growled, “Bah.Add.Da.Mah.An.” [‘Bad man’] That did it! The dog lunged forward and clamped his teeth into the man’s forearm.

This gave cry from the man as he was awoken abruptly, Imass released the man’s arm immediately and Ball pointed over his shoulder at the horde of Yukmen coming their way. Ball then pointed towards the trio of humans running back to the Fortress City and Ball nodded, “Go. I Ball. I Squ.Wa.Eye.Ur.” [‘Go. I Ball. I squire.’] There wasn’t much more time to waste, he could see this.

Even the groggy man knew better then to stick around at the sight he was given and stood to run. Ball didn’t waste any extra time and made Imass take off once again at a gallop, quickly closing the gap between him and the trio he game with. C’mon hunter... Let’s go. He chanced a look back to see if the man was running... He was, but Ball couldn’t tell if he was going fast enough to beat the oncoming wall of monsters.

Created goes to Euthisa

[Roderick]

Running single-mindedly onwards, Roderick almost missed the man sleeping beneath a nearby tree. Taking a nap in the middle of the Bronze Wood was a sure way of getting oneself killed, especially given the crowd of man-eating Yukmen that were milling around behind them. Putting the two elements together, he came to realize a disturbing detail; if they didn’t do anything that man would be torn apart by the Yukmen while he slept. Dying like that would be extremely unpleasant for him, to say the least, especially if the monsters chose to begin devouring him while he was still alive. Before he could come to any particular decision, he saw dawn glance at the man and then carry on, leaving him to die – his death would give them a chance to escape from the horde while they were busy with the meal on offer. The small Pycon had other ideas; veering away from the group of that daft little ball of fur he rode, he headed straight for the sleeping human, drawing near and doing all he could rouse him from his slumber. A series of yelps from the dog had no effect, but then Ball gave a command of some sort and the little thing started chewing on the man’s arm – he woke up promptly then. Gesturing back at the large horde heading for them, the hunter followed the squire’s directions and quickly started running away in the opposite direction. By that time Roderick had twisted his neck back to see – it started to hurt so he brought his eyes back to the front and picked up his pace, since he’d slowed somewhat as he’d watched events unfold. Despite that he couldn’t help but think over what was going to happen to that man if he didn’t get away. Leaving him to die would keep the Zeltivan from his own death – something he felt he should be set on doing all the time. For all that idea’s positive aspects, however, he couldn’t help but break his own rules from time to time. His own father had nearly died at the hands of a yukman horde, for petch sake – could he really bring himself to abandon this man to die? Leave him. Just leave him. Remembering the stories he’d been told as a boy had taken the strength from his previous opinion, allowing a small niggling voice to begin wheedling away at him. Save him. Help him. Did he really have time for that, though? A glance back showed him the man was making good progress – but several Yukmen had taken notice of him now and were moving more swiftly now and were catching up to him. If Roderick didn’t act now they would catch the man and he would be dead. Oh for petch sake. Releasing his hold on the bundle he’d been gripping, Roderick let Don and Aoren’s efforts carry it away from him, watching as they carried on with the Pycon further into the woods. Breathing slowly to calm himself he turned around and saw the growing number of Yukmen headed towards him; holding his bow tightly, he slid an arrow free and readied it, drawing back fully as he eyed up the nearest beast. He honed in on its legs, watching their movements carefully, while judging the direction of the wind so he could adjust to it. Gently breathing out he watched as his arrow sheared through flesh and muscle and sent the ugly thing crashing down to the ground. Landing flat on its face, he felt a slight smirk come to his face at the comical way its limbs flailed around, but he pushed it from his face and reloaded. Seeing that one of his nearest pursuers was no longer a threat, the other hunter stared at Roderick for a few moments in surprise. “Move!” Shouting towards him the Zeltivan loosed again, taking one of the Yukmen in the chest, then seized hold of another arrow and set it down and wrenched his bow up into place; his muscles flexed and shifted under his clothes as he held the fletchings at his cheek, a scowl fixing over his face as he concentrated. This time his aim was better and the Yukman’s face became a bloody mess as the point of the arrow smashed through its nose and into the side of one eye. Clearing the horde, the stranger pelted on through the bushes, wheezing out some gasped word of thanks. Roughly grabbing him by the shirt, Roderick dragged him to his feet as they abandoned him for a moment, shoving him forwards and setting off himself; he’d wasted time doing this, but he could take back what he’d just done – nor did he want to, he found. Running alongside this unnamed hunter he pressed himself to run faster, trying to forget about every dark rumour or horrifying folk tale he’d heard about the Yukmen and their habits. He tried to land the middle part of his foot against the ground, so the impact was spread out better, while attempting to control his breathing so it was even, rather than the gasping bursts he felt rising in his chest. Hearing crashing sounds behind him, he found a new burst of strength and hurtled off ahead, boots pounding the ground as he streaked away from the man he’d just saved and re-joined the others; their new companion joined them a short time after.

[Radiant]

OOCAoren asked for his turn to be skipped, we will be moving on.

"No! You fool!" Don couldn't keep his frustration, the petching clay-man just had to be a goody two-shoes, an idiotic one at that. The hunter's cry alerted the horde fully and they screamed their distinct 'Yuk yuk' sounds, footsteps rumbling as they increased their pace. Even worse, the archer decided to help that hunter by abandoning the group, with one less man carrying the unconscious Yukman, the task became a lot harder. As Roderick let loose his arrows and killed some Yukmen, the horde became even more hostile, all of them were barrelling to the party now.

"YOU PETCHIHG IDIOT! PETCH THIS SHYKE! PEEEETCH!" Don screamed vulgarities then he dropped the sack, he didn't care anymore, he wouldn't risk his belly being devoured by Yukmen for Kale Belmont to have his little feast. The guard abandoned ship and ran at full speed. "YOU IDIOTS!! RETREAT NOW!!" He motioned for Roderick to follow him, the clay squire was already in front of them. Aoren was nowhere in sight though, had he become lost? Don didn't have time to care, the horde was closing in fast. He took out another smoke stick and scratch them against tree barks as he ran, the highly-flammable substance burned then he threw it backwards. The Yukmen became confused for a few ticks, buying them some time, but they would have to make the best of it as the Yukmen ran pass the smoke, crying their high-pitched 'Yuk yuk' voices.

What am I going to tell Sir Belmonst?! Gah! That fat petcher can go petch himself! The henchman looked disapprovingly at the squire and archer, they would pay for this.

[Ball]

OOCKinda short... Sorry >.<

Ball had turned to see what the commotion was all about. Shyke Spinning his mount again he pointed to the netted yukman and the man known as Don. It seemed simple enough, that man carries that net. The dog barked and tugged at Don’s hand directing it gently, yet sternly, back to the net. Ball jumped from Imass’s back and tugged a the hunter they saved, pointing to the net. “Now.” There was no time to fight with understanding.

Pushing past the hunter he stopped at Roderick and pointed to the net, “Now.” The three inch squire had to gain the attention of all those he was with, it was a simple tap to their ankle bone, nothing seriously damaging but it was noticable. Once he had their attention directed to the netted Yukman Ball turned his attention to the horde of beasts. This was a wooded area. Trees, decaying logs, rock... Rocks! Ball grabbed at one and acted as quickly as he could. Picking up the mammoth rock was hard for the small pycon but he grunted through it and lifted the bugger overhead.

One...

Two...

Three...

The Yukman were in range and Ball pushed the rock away from him towards the horde as fast and as hard as he could. He hoped to the heavens that the rock was enough of a distraction, seeing as it was flying at them At the very least he was creating a half-arsed distraction. Pausing to see how far the rock flew forward Ball stopped hesitating and took off, following the trio he hoped were taking the netted beast with them.

Created goes to Euthisa

[Radiant]

Not only Aoren, but Green archer was missing as well, this had gone from bad to worse, because of that little goody-two-shoes clay squire, everything was ruined. Now, the party was scrambled, which meant every man was for himself. Don dropped any sliver of camaraderie he had with the party and ran for his life. The henchman wasn't paid enough to face certain death. The Horde was in full alert, now barreling at the retreating party with varying speed, some slow, some fast, but one thing for sure, their stamina was remarkable, the fast ones were already closing the distance.

Ball's attempt at distracting the horde with the rock bought them a couple of precious ticks as the horde slightly slowed down to examine it, then obviously, they deemed the piece of boulder uninteresting, continuing the chase. Imass caught up with Don, the henchman turned his gaze to look upon the squire with contempt, "I hope you are happy, 'squire'! You ruined everything!" The henchman made a grave mistake, he focused too much attention to the Pycon, he didn't watch his footing and tripped himself on a root. Don tumbled onto the ground, spraining his knee, "Aaaaaagh!" He screamed in pain, panic flooded his mind as the high-pitced cries of Yukmen were getting louder and louder.

Don tried to stand up, but his ankle failed him, he fell back, grasping it as he shifted on the ground in pain. Self-preservation instinct took over as the man screamed at the top of his lungs, "HEEEEELP!" But who? Who would help him? There was no one here but the clay squire and his dog, Aoren and Roderick were nowhere to be seen. The man began offsetting his despair with rage, at this wild goose chase, at Belmont, at the Yukmen, everything. He brandished his sword and faced the approaching Horde. If he was going to go down, he would not do so without a fight.