Viper stood there motionless for a moment, simply staring at the monster. Disbelief almost overwhelming him in the event of its death. We did it... His smile widened some. Then when he heard the word victory yelled out by Ser Wade, his head snapped to the direction of the sound. Raising his bow high into the air, he likewise yelled out the same word as he began to jog to the site of the slain beast.
When he arrived, it was only then he realized how tense his body had become. With the danger now passed, all that tension lifted off his shoulders eliciting a sigh of relief to emanate from Viper's lips. His eyes looked the Balicani's shot, torn, hacked, and now mangled corpse. Even in such a state, the monster was still a wonder to behold.
Viper's thoughts were interrupted as Ser Wade actually approached him, apologizing for the earlier slight, and actually paying him a compliment of sorts. It took Viper off guard as he pondered the words in his mind. Normally he would have found this too, offensive. He was a Drykas after all. But then, Viper had to take in what he was referring to. His people were raiding, kidnapping, and in the worse cases outright enslaving those unwilling to go to Endrykas. It was an extremely rare time when he was ashamed of who he was...or at least where he had come from. And it was also such a strange thing how battle could allow peoples of different cultures to at least come to a mutual respect for one another.
Viper bowed sincerely out of respect this time, and in a tone lacking all the sarcasm of his earlier reply said, "Thank you Ser Wade. It was an honour to fight alongside you and your Knights." Yet another oddity Viper now felt. With as much time as he had been spending with the Knights. He was beginning to feel almost as comfortable fighting with them as he would any of his fellow Drykas.
As the Knight made his way to pay his respects to the other warriors, Viper's attention was drawn back toward the creature they had just slain. Having been given permission to harvest prizes, Viper moved forward to do just that, noting curiously though how the Knights moved off seemingly not interested in such things. Out of respect for the warriors who had fought in close quarters, he stayed away from the legs which they themselves had crippled. Figuring they would want prizes from areas they themselves had attacked. Instead, he pulled a knife and moved to one of the uninjured legs. Reaching out, he cut of the claws which were as sharp as meat hooks.
He then moved his way forward to the head. As much as he'd love to bring back the head for placement on a plaque, it was much to large. Besides, that would be terribly selfish of him to deny the others of any types of prizes from the head as well. Examining his arrow which had much to his great surprise been the killing blow, Viper finally withdrew the projectile with a bit of satisfaction and returned it to his quiver. It alone was a prize all to itself, he thought to himself. Still, kneeling down, he gingerly removed a handful of 21 of the serrated teeth from its large jaws to go alongside the 5 claws he had already harvested. For he want intent on making a necklace with these gathered prizes.
Viper stood back when he was finished, so as to give more room to the other men looking for their "bonuses". As he regarded the slowly disappearing carcass, he looked down at his own clothes. His adventures here in Syliras had so far cost him much of his finer looking items including now, his cloak. If he was going to stay here...he should probably look into better armour.
Looking around, he found a nearby body of one of his fellow hunters. After paying his respects to the man for his courage and sacrifice, Viper removed the man own cloak for use as a bag to lay his next prizes into. He quickly returned and began to remove hundreds of scales for use in an armoured undershirt. The shimmery green to slightly gold colours of the scales would be both very protective and light weight, but also very decorative to the new outfit he also now planned to have made up. His mind wandered to a few people back at Endrykas who would probably be just a little envious of such a prize.
Satisfied that he had enough to complete the item he wanted, and happy there was plenty left if anyone else wished to do the same, he backed away once more. His habit of making use of every item a kill had to provide, had Viper wanting to do more gathering. But he suspected he had already gathered enough, and anymore really would just be greedy. He would keep an eye on it though. If others didn't strip the one or two other things he had an eye on, he would return. The items he would return for after being paid would end up being more scales to make a pair of matching pants to his scale shirt, a few dozen extra scales to sell (275 total - 100 Scale shirt, 125 scale pants, 50 for sale), and finally a strip of the fur (2ft. x 6in.) from his underbelly. That he would use as the top decorative piece to a new cloak he now needed as well.
For now though, he caught back up with the departing Ser Wade, prizes draped over his shoulder in his makeshift bag. "Ser Wade. One more moment if you would. What would you like us to do the bodies of our fellow hunters? Would it be possible to at least bury them if we can't bring them back to the city for burial?" Whatever Ser Wade would respond with Viper would be fine with. In any case, Viper would remove the valuables from each dead man that hadn't been turned into a puddle of smouldering goo. Each man's personal effect kept in their own individual bags. For Viper had it in mind to return their things to their families if he could find them. If not...extra bonus. Respect, honour. But waste not. That was his philosophy.
After everything at the battle scene had been finished, Viper returned with the others to the wagons. Instead of availing himself of their use however, Viper instead opted for his mount. A very excited Aeyan, neighed happily upon seeing his rider's return. A chuckle escaped Viper's lips as he rested the bags of items over Aeyan's back and then moved to greet his friend.
"Hey brother." He said in a soft voice as he ran a hand along his striders neck. "It's good to see you too. Don't tell Ser Wade this, but it probably was a good thing you didn't come after all. Not sure we would have been able to handle that beast over that terrain. But anyway, let's go home yes?" Another laugh, and Viper mounted up.
He then rode over to where Edreina and Razkar were. Looking to Razkar first, he nodded respectfully. "It was good fighting alongside you sir. Impressive your skills are Razkar." He then turned to Edreina and in an obviously joking manner said,"And you my dear, need to learn to duck." He laughed a bit before continuing. Still, brave of you to take on that Balicani alone like you did. I hope you heal up quickly." His tone had shifted from one of jest, to one of sincerity in his final words. With a smirk and another nod to both of them he moved off toward other people he wished to thank.
"Matthew!" He called out to the man that had done much to give everyone hope and courage. "First of all, I wish to apologize. Honestly, when we first met, I had very little expectations of your assistance at all on this expedition. But I couldn't have been more wrong. I want to thank you for your help out there." Viper did not embellish more. He knew Matthew would know what he was talking about. Instead he held out his hand to shake.
He then rode off to Isolde, to congratulate her on her excellent shot which help to keep the Balicani to distracted and injured to be much threat any further to the men who had been at the very forefront of the attack. And then finally to Sagitta, to express appreciation for her work keeping the archers armed, her bravery in striking the monster with her grappling hook, and finally congratulating her as well on her amazingly effective attack.
With his congratulations and best wishes all expressed, Viper rode alongside the convoy quietly all the way back to Syliras to receive pay.
When he arrived, it was only then he realized how tense his body had become. With the danger now passed, all that tension lifted off his shoulders eliciting a sigh of relief to emanate from Viper's lips. His eyes looked the Balicani's shot, torn, hacked, and now mangled corpse. Even in such a state, the monster was still a wonder to behold.
Viper's thoughts were interrupted as Ser Wade actually approached him, apologizing for the earlier slight, and actually paying him a compliment of sorts. It took Viper off guard as he pondered the words in his mind. Normally he would have found this too, offensive. He was a Drykas after all. But then, Viper had to take in what he was referring to. His people were raiding, kidnapping, and in the worse cases outright enslaving those unwilling to go to Endrykas. It was an extremely rare time when he was ashamed of who he was...or at least where he had come from. And it was also such a strange thing how battle could allow peoples of different cultures to at least come to a mutual respect for one another.
Viper bowed sincerely out of respect this time, and in a tone lacking all the sarcasm of his earlier reply said, "Thank you Ser Wade. It was an honour to fight alongside you and your Knights." Yet another oddity Viper now felt. With as much time as he had been spending with the Knights. He was beginning to feel almost as comfortable fighting with them as he would any of his fellow Drykas.
As the Knight made his way to pay his respects to the other warriors, Viper's attention was drawn back toward the creature they had just slain. Having been given permission to harvest prizes, Viper moved forward to do just that, noting curiously though how the Knights moved off seemingly not interested in such things. Out of respect for the warriors who had fought in close quarters, he stayed away from the legs which they themselves had crippled. Figuring they would want prizes from areas they themselves had attacked. Instead, he pulled a knife and moved to one of the uninjured legs. Reaching out, he cut of the claws which were as sharp as meat hooks.
He then moved his way forward to the head. As much as he'd love to bring back the head for placement on a plaque, it was much to large. Besides, that would be terribly selfish of him to deny the others of any types of prizes from the head as well. Examining his arrow which had much to his great surprise been the killing blow, Viper finally withdrew the projectile with a bit of satisfaction and returned it to his quiver. It alone was a prize all to itself, he thought to himself. Still, kneeling down, he gingerly removed a handful of 21 of the serrated teeth from its large jaws to go alongside the 5 claws he had already harvested. For he want intent on making a necklace with these gathered prizes.
Viper stood back when he was finished, so as to give more room to the other men looking for their "bonuses". As he regarded the slowly disappearing carcass, he looked down at his own clothes. His adventures here in Syliras had so far cost him much of his finer looking items including now, his cloak. If he was going to stay here...he should probably look into better armour.
Looking around, he found a nearby body of one of his fellow hunters. After paying his respects to the man for his courage and sacrifice, Viper removed the man own cloak for use as a bag to lay his next prizes into. He quickly returned and began to remove hundreds of scales for use in an armoured undershirt. The shimmery green to slightly gold colours of the scales would be both very protective and light weight, but also very decorative to the new outfit he also now planned to have made up. His mind wandered to a few people back at Endrykas who would probably be just a little envious of such a prize.
Armoured Shirt Design :
Satisfied that he had enough to complete the item he wanted, and happy there was plenty left if anyone else wished to do the same, he backed away once more. His habit of making use of every item a kill had to provide, had Viper wanting to do more gathering. But he suspected he had already gathered enough, and anymore really would just be greedy. He would keep an eye on it though. If others didn't strip the one or two other things he had an eye on, he would return. The items he would return for after being paid would end up being more scales to make a pair of matching pants to his scale shirt, a few dozen extra scales to sell (275 total - 100 Scale shirt, 125 scale pants, 50 for sale), and finally a strip of the fur (2ft. x 6in.) from his underbelly. That he would use as the top decorative piece to a new cloak he now needed as well.
For now though, he caught back up with the departing Ser Wade, prizes draped over his shoulder in his makeshift bag. "Ser Wade. One more moment if you would. What would you like us to do the bodies of our fellow hunters? Would it be possible to at least bury them if we can't bring them back to the city for burial?" Whatever Ser Wade would respond with Viper would be fine with. In any case, Viper would remove the valuables from each dead man that hadn't been turned into a puddle of smouldering goo. Each man's personal effect kept in their own individual bags. For Viper had it in mind to return their things to their families if he could find them. If not...extra bonus. Respect, honour. But waste not. That was his philosophy.
After everything at the battle scene had been finished, Viper returned with the others to the wagons. Instead of availing himself of their use however, Viper instead opted for his mount. A very excited Aeyan, neighed happily upon seeing his rider's return. A chuckle escaped Viper's lips as he rested the bags of items over Aeyan's back and then moved to greet his friend.
"Hey brother." He said in a soft voice as he ran a hand along his striders neck. "It's good to see you too. Don't tell Ser Wade this, but it probably was a good thing you didn't come after all. Not sure we would have been able to handle that beast over that terrain. But anyway, let's go home yes?" Another laugh, and Viper mounted up.
He then rode over to where Edreina and Razkar were. Looking to Razkar first, he nodded respectfully. "It was good fighting alongside you sir. Impressive your skills are Razkar." He then turned to Edreina and in an obviously joking manner said,"And you my dear, need to learn to duck." He laughed a bit before continuing. Still, brave of you to take on that Balicani alone like you did. I hope you heal up quickly." His tone had shifted from one of jest, to one of sincerity in his final words. With a smirk and another nod to both of them he moved off toward other people he wished to thank.
"Matthew!" He called out to the man that had done much to give everyone hope and courage. "First of all, I wish to apologize. Honestly, when we first met, I had very little expectations of your assistance at all on this expedition. But I couldn't have been more wrong. I want to thank you for your help out there." Viper did not embellish more. He knew Matthew would know what he was talking about. Instead he held out his hand to shake.
He then rode off to Isolde, to congratulate her on her excellent shot which help to keep the Balicani to distracted and injured to be much threat any further to the men who had been at the very forefront of the attack. And then finally to Sagitta, to express appreciation for her work keeping the archers armed, her bravery in striking the monster with her grappling hook, and finally congratulating her as well on her amazingly effective attack.
With his congratulations and best wishes all expressed, Viper rode alongside the convoy quietly all the way back to Syliras to receive pay.
Excellent job! I really enjoyed threading with all you. 
