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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 2001951" data-attributes="member: 15043">The Party Goes Hunting, Only to Become the Hunted“Bah!  Damn brambles!”  Felonca frowned as Nayu complained again, leaves shaking as he pulled himself out of a bush.  Quiet... we need QUIET, she groaned, thankful that the noise lasted only a few moments.Now, back to the task at hand.  Her long, low panther form slinked along the forest floor, perfectly at home, her senses finely attuned to tracking... To hunting! she gleefully reminded herself.  Carefully, she silently padded deeper into the wood, her eyes keenly looking for disturbed ground, her nostrils flaring, seeking any hint of an unnatural animal.“Anything yet, Felonca?” Liu whispered as the monk noiselessly slipped behind her.  Felonca looked up, and shook her head.  For all its advantages in speed, stealth, and even occasionally weaponry, her true form wouldn’t allow her the luxury of speech.  She then flicked her tail, and went back to her search.  A few minutes later, her keen eyes spotted something.Hmm... that’s right odd.  The leaves look out of place over there.  Quickly but silently she bounded over towards the disturbed ground, a bevy of smells filling her nose as she neared.  Humans were here... as well as...She couldn’t quite place the smell.  In many ways, it smelled just like a big cat... the dank smell of fur, the slight stench of a marking somewhere nearby.  However, she smelled two other things in the air.  Firstly, she smelled something like burnt brimstone... which was odd, there were no burn marks anywhere nearby.  Secondly, she smelled blood.What is this?  She gently pushed aside some of the leaves with her muzzle, revealing a footprint.  A few more leaves removed revealed more footprints, covering a wide area.  They all appeared old... more than a few days, perhaps even a week or two.  One of the footprint sets was deep, and went into the woods.One man ran into the woods... away from something.Another two sets of human footprints, also deeply set into the ground, trailed off towards Mafeng.  But it was the final set of footprints that ended the puzzle for her, and chilled her blood.Deeply imbedded in the dirt were enormous paw prints, each print easily over two feet long.A really REALLY massive cat was here... she shuddered.  That’s all I need to know.  She then closed her eyes, and shifted towards her hybrid form, allowing her to speak.“Big cat... when I say big, I mean enormous,” she spoke, looking at the others.  “Looks like the monster chased someone into the woods.”  A clawed hand then scratched her head as she stood up.  “I think if we follow these tracks, we might find its lair... or even it.  I don’t know for sure.”“Mistress Tracker, lead the way,” Cho motioned, and Felonca resumed her hunt.Felonca and the party ventured deeper and deeper into the woods, as Felonca alternately lost and regained the trail of the panicked person and the huge beast stalking him.  All of her senses were focused, her mind concentrated, shutting out other parts of the world as she concentrated on sight and smell, the constant singing and chirping of the forest birds covering her sense of hearing.Suddenly, she heard a twig snap.  Instinctively, she sensed no twigs were under her paws, and a quick, sharp glance behind her showed that none of her companions had committed the faux pax.  She listened intently, but heard nothing as the three men began to whisper among themselves.“I didn’t do that!” Nayu hissed, with Liu and Cho adding their own quiet protestations of innocence.  Felonca was about to growl an angry reply to their argument when a collective shriek thundered through the air.  Felonca’s hybrid hands jumped to her warfans, while she saw Nayu and Liu both give perceptive jumps.  The screaming, shrieking din continued, as Felonca finally detected which direction it was coming from.  Above.The sky, already blotted out intermittently by the trees towering above, was a sea of movement.  Hundreds of shapes flew overhead, as the fowl of the forest took to flight, screaming in warning as they did so.“Gods...” Nayu muttered as the squawking and squealing finally began to diminish.  Felonca watched the birds leave as well, before looking back at the party.  One cat knew the tactics of another, and out there, in the forest, she could sense its presence... slinking, softly padding, listening, watching.   “We’re being stalked,” she whispered.  “Keep your eyes open, and your ears listening.  The beast’s tracking us.”Why don’t you reveal yourself? Cho thought grumpily several hours later.  It was nearing late afternoon, and within three or four hours, night would fall.  Cho sickened in realization that that was the reason the beast had been content to manifest itself so far as only the occasional cracking of twigs, or Felonca’s persistent smelling of “big cat,” and “blood.”A night attack...  Cho shuddered slightly at the thought.  I and Felonca can stay awake the night, but neither Master Liu nor Nayu can do the same!  And if we do stay up all night, and it attacks just before dawn when we are worn and tired...“I see something!” Felonca hissed suddenly, her arm up, calling for the party to halt.  Silence hung thick in the air as everyone searched around with their eyes.  After a few seconds, Felonca padded forward, forcing everyone else to fall behind.“What is it?” Cho heard Nayu ask yet again.  The young sorcerer was always insistent to know what was going on, at all times.  A good characteristic the monk granted.  For the time being, however, it seemed to only annoy Felonca.Felonca gestured again as she slinked forward, and for the first time Cho could see it as well.  Shenyang on high...At first, it looked to be the arm of someone that was hiding beneath of pile of leaves... until one noticed that said arm was caked in dried blood.  Quickly, Felonca dug at the leaves, as her face twisted in horror the more she uncovered.“Dear ancestors protect us,” she muttered, her blue eyes wide.It was the decayed body of a young man, his mouth still opened in a scream beyond the grave.  His form was discolored, his eyes and soft tissue long gone, but his desecrated skin was still caked with the dark brown of dried blood.  Just as she was halfway done uncovering his form, Felonca stopped moving leaves.“What killed him?  Nothing here explains the blood...” Cho asked, until Felonca crawled away from the corpse, coughing, nearly retching.  The monk walked forward and looked at what she uncovered, and felt his own bile rising.Just bellow the belly-button, the boy’s body ended in a sudden bevy of torn flesh and shattered entrails.“He was bitten in half,” Cho whispered, before uttering a few prayers for the deceased.“You okay?” Nayu asked gently.“Fine enough,” Felonca choked out, keeping her eyes averted from the maggot filled horror.  This thing doesn’t hunt to eat... it hunts for sport! she realized, her stomach sinking.  Any wild cat would have consumed the body of Li Sin – that is who it clearly was, from the soldier’s description of the missing boy – within even a day of the kill.  The fact that half his body still laid here had many more implications than simply malicious play.A marker maybe?  That this thing doesn’t want its territory infringed on?  Well... too late for that...The air was still thick with the smell of old blood, and as Liu performed consecration rites over the mutilated body, Felonca’s nose began to follow the scent.  Leaning close to the ground, she saw small splotches of dark brown on twigs, leading away from the body.Her huntress mind came back, grateful that there was a puzzle to solve to push the image of the dead boy from her mind.  Carefully, she slipped forward, slowly following the trail as she heard the slight rustle of the others following in behind.Another snap echoed through the quiet forest, and the party knew better than to start questions each other as to who made the noise.  They knew they were being stalked.“This... is creepy as hell,” Nayu said quietly, as he looked about.  The trail of old blood Felonca followed ended here... in a small clearing, little more than a parting amidst the leaves of the great trees.  It was not the rustle of this cloud of leaves that had caused Nayu’s comment... it was what was far closer to ground level.A huge patch of grass in the midst of the small clearing was not thick and green, as it should be in mid summer... rather it was squashed flat, brown and very dead.  Obviously, something immense had rested on the grass for a long time or repeatedly, killing it.  As if that didn’t confirm the party’s suspicions that this was the lair of the great cat beast, the piles of dried bones and skulls laying about did.“I saw something!” Liu suddenly shouted, grabbing Nayu’s shoulder and roughly spinning him around.  As the monk’s finger wildly gesticulated at a bush, Nayu squinted, but only saw green leaves lazily dancing in a slight breeze. “Whatever it was, it knows we’re here now, for sure” Felonca hissed sourly, giving the monk a look of death.“I swear!  I saw something!  Something large and white!”“Which merely means it’s getting closer,” Nayu said, his mind already flashing through relevant spells at his disposal.  Protection, protection, then firepower he sighed mentally.  “I think it means to ambush us.”“That would never do.”  Cho’s voice seemed perfectly calm and even... a state that Nayu was envious of.  “We need to be the ambushers, not the ambushees, if we want to have a chance with this creature.  It’s far larger than us, and clearly more powerful.”“It also has either maliciousness or intelligence higher than a normal animal,” Felonca added.  “The only half-eaten body showed that.”“We need some bait... someone that looks helpless,” Nayu thought aloud.  “Liu, we need your ability to heal, so you are out, and Felonca, it will probably recognize you as unusual, and perhaps dangerous... so,” Nayu swallowed, hard, “I think I should be the bait.”  Mage Armor, Shield... and a few well placed fireballs, hopefully... I should be fine...“But you are a master spellcaster, are you not?” Cho offered.  “That is at least what Master Liu says.  If that is so, you should be in hiding also.  I shall be the bait.”Are you nuts!? part of Cho’s brain screamed at him.  That... THING is easily larger than a horse, capable of biting a man in half, yet you VOLUNTEER to be the bait to lure it out!?Cho could see the same look of confusion on Nayu’s face... the look asking why.  Cho sighed, and steeled his heart.“I must.  You are here to find your parents.  If we fail, I can hold the beast off so you can flee, and find them.”  If I die so the many are better, I am making myself better, one of his master’s mantras entered his head.  One look at his face told the others he’d grimly set his course, and nothing would change it.Felonca felt the bark of the tree rasp slightly under her claws as she clambered higher and higher, her midnight black panther body pressed close against the tallest tree next to the clearing.  The plan was rather simple.  Nayu and Liu hid in some bushes at the near edge of the clearing from where Liu had seen the white shape... Felonca had reasoned that the beast would circle around, in an effort to attack them from behind.  Cho meanwhile ran about the middle of the clearing, making an excellent attempt at sounding hysterical.Carefully, Felonca clambered out onto one of the larger boughs than hung over the clearing belong, slinking closer till she felt she was in a good pouncing position.  Ah... a fellow tree climber!  You will make interesting prey!  a voice purred.  Felonca looked around, perplexed, before she realized it came from within her head.  It can speak?! she panicked, clambering down from the tree in a hurry.  This thing is even smarter than I thought!It was only a few seconds later when Cho saw his bane.  The ground shook lightly as the immense beast, easily as long as two horses, padded towards him.  It did bear a passing resemblance to a lion, save all its fur was a snow white in color, and its eyes burned with a fiery red glaze of hunger, and hate.  Even though Cho was not hengeyokai, the smell of burning brimstone assaulted his nose.“W...Why do you hunt?” Cho asked, steeling himself.  Unconsciously, the warriors body slipped into a defensive pose.  “Why are you killing innocents?”  If it is as intelligent as they say, it might reveal how it came to be here...The beast slowed its approach, and slowly started to circle the monk, its eyes boring in directly on his own.  A tongue shot from between the snow white lips, blood red and forked, licking its chops.I like to play with human things, it chuckled, before it pounced.One second, the creature seemed slow, even languid in its movements, as it lazily circled around Cho, sizing him up.  From the way Cho’s face suddenly looked confused, Felonca realized it was speaking in his mind too.  The next second, it was all speed, a blur, as if an immense coiled spring had shot forth, lashing out.  A roar that seemed to shake the trees to their roots thundered through the woods as the creature pounced on Cho with its immense weight, its claws tearing at the young man, his blood curdling screams grating Felonca’s ears.CHO!  She felt herself shifting, back towards hybrid.  Even as her paws slid into nascent fingers, she clawed at her belt, and pulled forth the old gift from Master Quan-Shi, left outside her inn door so long ago.I hope you will find this necklace useful she remembered, feeling the icy pearls run under her hands.  With a tear, she bit off the largest of the snowy blue-white baubles, and hefted at the rear of the beast as its claws continued to tear at her comrade.  A bright flash blinded her eyes for a moment, and the beast left forth a roar that was clearly of pain.  Its posterior now covered in icicles, the beast spinning to find its attacker.Nayu stood there, fear running through his veins as easily as blood.  What the hell happened? the sorcerer thought, fearfully.  He’d concentrated, focused, bringing forth seemingly all the magical power within his body, and focusing it within one small, tiny white bead... a bead that should have given birth to a fireball, ranged perfectly to strike Cho’s attacker but leave the monk alone.Instead, the bead, as it passed within inches of the great beast’s body, seeemd to sparkle, then fizzle.My magic is useless? Nayu thought, confused, only now realizing that he was standing in the open, and had been since he’d released his ill fated spell.  He stood there, dumbfounded, as Liu charged out of the bushes with a yell, swinging left and right to drive the beast from his fellow templar.When the beast turned and an immense paw caught Liu in the chest, Nayu suddenly was yanked back into the present.  Quickly, shakily the words for another spell ran through his mind.  Qing, a dju-go...  Cho leapt up, bloody and torn, only to charge the beast headlong.  Mai-op chen...“SUNG!” Nayu snarled, extending his hand in a familiar manner.  The same crackling, billowing tongue of flame that had helped him so many times before lashed forth, speeding away towards its target......the trees just above the beast’s head, which burst into a riot of flame.“DAMMIT!” Nayu swore, digging down and calling forth more magic...Felonca’s world was a mere blur, as she spun about, her warfans extended in a graceful dance of death.  She stopped her spin, intent on going momentarily on the defensive to gauge her situation, and the blur came into focus, just as a massive paw caught her just above her belly button, and sent her sprawling.  Roaring, thunderous roaring melded with screams and shouts in her ears as she flipped back to her feet, feeling the blood running down her stomach.The beast’s immense eyes were boring in directly on her, as it slowly padded forward, its eyes belying malicious glee at the toughness of its new toys.  In the fiery reflection of those orbs, she could see Cho and Liu bracketing her, their forms also torn and bloodied.  Behind the beast, still standing, was Nayu, noiselessly mouthing more words of power.“Bastard!” Felonca snarled at the seeming glee coming from the creature, despite the icy frost covering its tail and behind, the bruises undoubtedly growing under its snowy fur, and the slices around its sides and haunches where blood had seeped through the thick pelt to drip on the ground below.  Defiantly, Felonca snapped into her oldest defensive posture, the Flying Dragon, both of her warfans extended towards the beast.Her eyes momentarily found Nayu’s, and for a split second, a silent conversation took place.  The next moment, she let loose a blood-curdling yell, charging forward as fast as she could go.  On each side, she heard Cho and Liu issue death cries as well, all lurching forward towards the beast, just as it happened.Later, Nayu would tell them he wasn’t initially sure if his spell would work, considering what’d happened the two previous times.  But this moment, the long, spitting tongues of flame that erupted from his fingers blasted deep into the massive creature’s rear, turning its snow white fur black, and sending the smell of burnt flesh high into the heavens.  The beast suddenly turned to face this new threat, as the three other party members slammed into its flank, hacking, punching and clawing.Blood now flowed quite freely over the snowy fur, as the beast suddenly snapped around.  For a second, Felonca was sure that its maw would find her and bite her in half, but the immense turn continued as she saw for just a moment those haughty eyes now looking fearful.  The beast instead began to charge into the woods, fleeing from a fight it now knew it could not win.“Get him!” Felonca snarled, shifting her momentum to charge after the creature.  The bastard will otherwise just heal and then come back!  Kill him now!  She heard footsteps, and Liu shouting, but then a blur passed by her, as Cho dashed after the beast.The ancestors are with me!  I am one of the blessed! I have in my mind the power to control my surroundings!  I will catch you! Cho ran through the mantras, his body screaming and complaining as his legs pistoned him after the great beast.  After the immense blasts of energy had scalded its back legs, it was far slower... while Cho’s faith was keeping him as fast as normal.The moment when Cho took the air, the world felt... peaceful, even as he drew his fist back.  Even as the white furs on the massive beast’s back came into individual view as he fell.  Even as his fist went forward, and he felt and heard a sickening crack as the beast’s neck was shattered, and its fleeing form tumbled to the ground...With an uncharacteristic flip to the side, Cho landed on the ground.  Despite his torn stomach, his aching side, the pain throughout his body, he felt alive... and he realized the mantra was true.When you save others, you save yourself.= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = The creature featured in this update was a bezekira, or “hellcat” as seen in the Monster Manual.  Isida was kind enough to bring her ambient music CDs, of which I played the creepiest songs during the “hunt” for this beast.  That, coupled with the fact the players never saw the creature for a good half hour before the fight, really... really creeped them out.  I think it was probably one of the most fun encounters we’ve played so far.</blockquote>

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