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Arcanis: Gonnes, Sons, and Treasure Runs (COMPLETED)
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<blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4154729" data-attributes="member: 3285"><p><strong>Cut Troat's Gold - Part 2d: Landfall</strong></p><p></p><p>Sebastian’s bat familiar, Dracuul, glided through the Sulfur Marsh night sky with glee. The marsh was filled with flying insects of all kinds; he had already caught quite a few juicy morsels.</p><p></p><p>His master had ordered him on patrol once he bedded down for the night. Dracuul didn’t mind. </p><p></p><p>He wasn’t entirely sure what to look for though. For one, just about everything in the swamp cooed, tweeted, ribbited, growled, hissed, or screeched. For another, there was nearly double the amount of predators at night.</p><p></p><p>A crackling fire ensured that Dracuul always knew where his master was. Not that he needed it; he had long ago learned Sebastian’s echolocation signature. Dracuul liked to think he could find his master anywhere, from the darkest cave to the dankest swamp…</p><p></p><p>Which was pretty much Dracuul’s current situation. He flapped to gain some lift and then glided down towards a creature he knew would taste delicious.</p><p></p><p>Dracuul loved spiders. He didn’t often get the chance to eat the kind that crawled around on the ground. The ones that spun webs were just not worth the trouble.</p><p></p><p>It was a little black hairy spider standing on a tree branch, smaller than Dracuul’s head. He would just swoop by and snatch it up. It would be delicious!</p><p></p><p>Dracuul circled his prey. It was alone. Probably a spiderling that had fled from home before something bigger ate it. Well, it had good reason to be worried.</p><p></p><p>The bat swooped in for the kill. Using his hind claws, he snapped the membrane between his two feet upwards, scooping the spider off the branch into the air in front of him. He flapped his wings forward to guide it to his gullet. With a gulp, it was in his mouth.</p><p></p><p>Two more crunches later and it served at Dracuul’s dessert for the night. </p><p></p><p>It didn’t taste like the other spiders at all. They were hairy and crunchy on the outside, and gooey on the inside. The spiders he normally ate were all legs, with the body barely worth the effort. In comparison, the marsh spiders were a veritable feast.</p><p></p><p>But there was something else. Dracuul knew it immediately. Poison. It wasn’t strong, because it was a spiderling, but it was bad enough. An adult could harm his master.</p><p></p><p>That’s when he saw them: dozens of spiders, hundreds…more than Dracuul knew how to count. More than he’d ever seen in his entire lifetime. Too many!</p><p></p><p>The marsh spiders ranged from tiny to one the size of his master’s head. The arachnids boiled out of a hole from one of the trees near where he’d eaten the spiderling. They were crawling in an orderly fashion down the tree, following a huge spider that must have been their mother. Crawling towards…</p><p></p><p>“Master!” squeaked Dracuul. “Master wake up!”</p><p></p><p>Sebastian’s eyes fluttered open. “What is it, Dracuul?”</p><p></p><p>“I was hunting a spider and they’re not as tasty as the ones I normally eat but they’re much meatier and then I ate one and it’s not all that good but I saw—“</p><p></p><p>“Slow down,” said Sebastian. “What did you see?”</p><p></p><p>“Spiders!” He squeaked. “Many of them, coming for revenge!”</p><p></p><p>Sebastian chuckled. His perspective was often wildly out of proportion with the rest of the world. </p><p></p><p>“I’m not sure that spiders understand…the concept…” his eyes lost focus as he saw the crawling mass of black making its way down the tree. “…Wake up everyone!” he shouted.</p><p></p><p>Sebastian rolled to his feet and whipped out a ruby-tipped wand. The carpet of spiders completely concealed a stump, creating a grotesquely shaped pile of arachnids.</p><p></p><p>The others stumbled awake and away as Sebastian blasted flames in the direction of the marsh spiders. But even as a hole opened up where he incinerated the spiders, it filled in again with even more.</p><p></p><p>“<span style="font-family: 'Impact'">Im toltho I duaewen</span>!” chanted Ilmarė.</p><p></p><p>Dracuul flapped around in agitation. He wanted to help, but what could one bat do against so many?</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, the air was filled with bats. They squeaked in confusion, not entirely sure how they’d gotten there or what they were supposed to do.</p><p></p><p>Dracuul turned to face the chaotic mass of foreign bats. “Follow me!” he squeaked.</p><p></p><p>The bats rallied. Dracuul dove down and scooped up one spider, just as he had before. The bats understood.</p><p></p><p>One after another, they dive-bombed the marsh spiders, scooping them up and eating their fill. Wherever the swarm of bats struck, no spiders were left behind.</p><p></p><p>Again and again they struck, chasing the spiders wherever they went. Between his master’s fire and the bat army, Dracuul made short work of them. </p><p></p><p>One word from Ilmarė and the bats dispersed. Dracuul was a little disappointed. He landed on Sebastian’s shoulder.</p><p></p><p>“You did well,” said his master with a smile. “It seems you’ll be a great leader one day.”</p><p></p><p>Dracuul bobbed his head. He was pleased. </p><p></p><p>“Since when did you start talking to that thing?” asked Ilmarė. </p><p></p><p>“Since he started talking back,” said Sebastian with a smirk. </p><p></p><p>“Speaking of talking animals,” said Kham, “where’s Cal?” </p><p></p><p>“Master,” squeaked Dracuul. “Look down.”</p><p></p><p>The log that the spiders had swarmed over wasn’t a log at all. It was Calactyte, still snoring peacefully. He was unharmed. The spiders weren’t able to penetrate his scaly hide.</p><p></p><p>“Cal’s right,” said Vlad. “Only the ss’ressen are tough enough to live in this forsaken place.”</p><p></p><p>“He can keep it,” said Dril. “Let’s get out of here.”</p><p></p><p>Sebastian crossed his arms. “It’s the middle of the night. I’m not about to go traveling now. And I didn’t have enough time to finish my meditation. I’ll need to start again.”</p><p></p><p>“Start again?” said Kham. “Are you kidding me?”</p><p></p><p>Sebastian shrugged. “If you would rather continue on without the assistance of my sorcery…”</p><p></p><p>“Fine, fine,” said Ilmarė. “But this time, can we post an actual guard instead of flying vermin?”</p><p></p><p>Safe in a tree high above them all, Bijoux’s tail flicked in agitation at the comment. She refrained from commenting.</p><p></p><p>“I’ll stand guard,” said Dril. “I don’t think I can sleep in this swamp anyway.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="talien, post: 4154729, member: 3285"] [b]Cut Troat's Gold - Part 2d: Landfall[/b] Sebastian’s bat familiar, Dracuul, glided through the Sulfur Marsh night sky with glee. The marsh was filled with flying insects of all kinds; he had already caught quite a few juicy morsels. His master had ordered him on patrol once he bedded down for the night. Dracuul didn’t mind. He wasn’t entirely sure what to look for though. For one, just about everything in the swamp cooed, tweeted, ribbited, growled, hissed, or screeched. For another, there was nearly double the amount of predators at night. A crackling fire ensured that Dracuul always knew where his master was. Not that he needed it; he had long ago learned Sebastian’s echolocation signature. Dracuul liked to think he could find his master anywhere, from the darkest cave to the dankest swamp… Which was pretty much Dracuul’s current situation. He flapped to gain some lift and then glided down towards a creature he knew would taste delicious. Dracuul loved spiders. He didn’t often get the chance to eat the kind that crawled around on the ground. The ones that spun webs were just not worth the trouble. It was a little black hairy spider standing on a tree branch, smaller than Dracuul’s head. He would just swoop by and snatch it up. It would be delicious! Dracuul circled his prey. It was alone. Probably a spiderling that had fled from home before something bigger ate it. Well, it had good reason to be worried. The bat swooped in for the kill. Using his hind claws, he snapped the membrane between his two feet upwards, scooping the spider off the branch into the air in front of him. He flapped his wings forward to guide it to his gullet. With a gulp, it was in his mouth. Two more crunches later and it served at Dracuul’s dessert for the night. It didn’t taste like the other spiders at all. They were hairy and crunchy on the outside, and gooey on the inside. The spiders he normally ate were all legs, with the body barely worth the effort. In comparison, the marsh spiders were a veritable feast. But there was something else. Dracuul knew it immediately. Poison. It wasn’t strong, because it was a spiderling, but it was bad enough. An adult could harm his master. That’s when he saw them: dozens of spiders, hundreds…more than Dracuul knew how to count. More than he’d ever seen in his entire lifetime. Too many! The marsh spiders ranged from tiny to one the size of his master’s head. The arachnids boiled out of a hole from one of the trees near where he’d eaten the spiderling. They were crawling in an orderly fashion down the tree, following a huge spider that must have been their mother. Crawling towards… “Master!” squeaked Dracuul. “Master wake up!” Sebastian’s eyes fluttered open. “What is it, Dracuul?” “I was hunting a spider and they’re not as tasty as the ones I normally eat but they’re much meatier and then I ate one and it’s not all that good but I saw—“ “Slow down,” said Sebastian. “What did you see?” “Spiders!” He squeaked. “Many of them, coming for revenge!” Sebastian chuckled. His perspective was often wildly out of proportion with the rest of the world. “I’m not sure that spiders understand…the concept…” his eyes lost focus as he saw the crawling mass of black making its way down the tree. “…Wake up everyone!” he shouted. Sebastian rolled to his feet and whipped out a ruby-tipped wand. The carpet of spiders completely concealed a stump, creating a grotesquely shaped pile of arachnids. The others stumbled awake and away as Sebastian blasted flames in the direction of the marsh spiders. But even as a hole opened up where he incinerated the spiders, it filled in again with even more. “[FONT=Impact]Im toltho I duaewen[/FONT]!” chanted Ilmarė. Dracuul flapped around in agitation. He wanted to help, but what could one bat do against so many? Suddenly, the air was filled with bats. They squeaked in confusion, not entirely sure how they’d gotten there or what they were supposed to do. Dracuul turned to face the chaotic mass of foreign bats. “Follow me!” he squeaked. The bats rallied. Dracuul dove down and scooped up one spider, just as he had before. The bats understood. One after another, they dive-bombed the marsh spiders, scooping them up and eating their fill. Wherever the swarm of bats struck, no spiders were left behind. Again and again they struck, chasing the spiders wherever they went. Between his master’s fire and the bat army, Dracuul made short work of them. One word from Ilmarė and the bats dispersed. Dracuul was a little disappointed. He landed on Sebastian’s shoulder. “You did well,” said his master with a smile. “It seems you’ll be a great leader one day.” Dracuul bobbed his head. He was pleased. “Since when did you start talking to that thing?” asked Ilmarė. “Since he started talking back,” said Sebastian with a smirk. “Speaking of talking animals,” said Kham, “where’s Cal?” “Master,” squeaked Dracuul. “Look down.” The log that the spiders had swarmed over wasn’t a log at all. It was Calactyte, still snoring peacefully. He was unharmed. The spiders weren’t able to penetrate his scaly hide. “Cal’s right,” said Vlad. “Only the ss’ressen are tough enough to live in this forsaken place.” “He can keep it,” said Dril. “Let’s get out of here.” Sebastian crossed his arms. “It’s the middle of the night. I’m not about to go traveling now. And I didn’t have enough time to finish my meditation. I’ll need to start again.” “Start again?” said Kham. “Are you kidding me?” Sebastian shrugged. “If you would rather continue on without the assistance of my sorcery…” “Fine, fine,” said Ilmarė. “But this time, can we post an actual guard instead of flying vermin?” Safe in a tree high above them all, Bijoux’s tail flicked in agitation at the comment. She refrained from commenting. “I’ll stand guard,” said Dril. “I don’t think I can sleep in this swamp anyway.” [/QUOTE]
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