Xenonight2

((You guys thought I would let this die? Think again!

So you guys thought again I would let this die? You thought wrong! Again! Jeez, don't take me so literally when I say think again.

There is no way I'm going to let this die because the villain is just way too hilarious and bad ass. I wouldn't miss a chance to RP this guy for anything. Within reason, of course.))

Axckerlet growled. He took off his scard and started wrapping it around his arm and tying it to it. (The padding had better take off a bit of the bite if one of them gets their dirty maws on me.) With that finished, he double checked his crossbow to make sure it was functioning. All of the mechanisms looked right, and his bolt looked strong enough to hit the wolves.

There was a final howl, which couldn't have been more than several meters away. The Goblin glanced around, looking for movement and listening for more sound. There was the crack of a twig, the cough of a scholar, and finally the rustling of the bushes as a wolf leaped out of the bushes and charged at Jekalt. Axckerlet had his crossbow trained on the wolf when another of the beasts came running full speed at him.

(Here goes everything!) Axckerlet quickly put the more immediate threat in his sight, and got a good chance to get a look at the thing. It looked about thirteen feet long, somewhere between five hundred and six hundred pounds, had white fur, white teeth, and yellow eyes. For a second, the Goblin thought it looked quite beautiful, but once his sights were on its head he screamed and pulled the trigger.

Before he could see whether the bolt hit its mark, one of the scholars yelled his name. Axckerlet turned around and saw a wolf leaping at him, and he barely had enough time to step out of the way. One of its claws slashed his padded arm, and the Goblin yelled in the pain. He dropped his crossbow and pulled the spear out of the ground near him.

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Marineking

Jakalt spotted the wolf coming at him as it charged like a demon out of the brush. His grin disappeared as he went cold, and his arm launched over his head as of it's own will, sending his javelin flying. It missed, the wolf's motion being too hard to follow for a clear shot. He swore, but Jekalt wasn't motionless for long, and he took his remaining javelin in both hands, taking a step toward wolf as it neared him. With all his strength, he rammed it towards the beast's chest and ducked down in a low crouch to avoid it's teeth.

(((One question Xeno, and I promise I'll keep these to an absolute minimum. What's your stance on fighting NPC's? Should we like, state our attacks and let you be the judge or just take the liberty ourselves, within reason?)))

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Xenonight2

((Take liberty, just be realistic. No one in this group are super swordsmen, so it's not like one of us can take down six enemies by themselves unless these six enemies happened to be tiny bugs or something of similar danger.))

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lokuri

Ian could feel the ripple of anticipation that had flowed through him like electricity suddenly vanish and was replaced by mixed concoctions of heat and chill running down his spine. A giant of a fiend would swiftly stalk its way from the shadows of the small group’s surroundings and arrive before the two goblins. The first of the two lowered its eyes upon Jekalt, while another went after Axckerlet. Eying the two with study gazes, he heard a terrified shriek escape their leader’s lips, though it was understood to not be out of fear for the tremendous beast. It was until a second snow-coated wolf came galloping closer to Axckerlet and attempted a failed sneak attack did the damage truly send agony through him, his arm bearing a fresh wound that would more or less attract more of the vile monsters racing towards it.

Reverting his silver-coated blue eyes towards the direction of the spin-chilling howl they heard earlier, Ian felt his eyes sink into a low glare, his teeth slowly tearing into his delicate lower lip. Moving at what appeared to be a steady pace that made it look like it was traveling at the speed of light in slow motion, the wolf had its shoulders hunched along with its body, wavering back and forth in preparation for an attack. A soft growl gradually transformed into a full out howl as the vicious creature tossed piles of snow flying into the air and smashing harshly upon more snow to arrive within a few feet of the now stiff boy. Even though Ian could feel the warm breath that sent a foul smell through his nostrils, he stood his ground for the first attack, clinging to the javelin for dear life.

Sharp teeth finally took aim for the small frame that lined Ian’s waist, which would probably chomp away most of his stomach down to the start of his legs. Thinking fast, the sharp point of the javelin was sent hurling towards the jaw of the devilish being and partially wounded it until a fierce claw rose like a tsunami rising from below him and sent Ian flying into layers of the disheveled snow. Moaning a bit, yet lying as stiff as wood, Ian felt the tepid crimson liquid of blood forming around his waist. Keeping his frozen state steady, he brought his left hand shakily towards the center of his stomach and wrapped it slightly towards the right side, so that the rigid marks from the claw that struck him came upon his touch.

“I ca-can’t…d-die,” A trembling thought suddenly entered Ian’s mind. “There…is o-only…one way…t-to gain e-enough strength…to f-fight this b-bloody beast. M-magic...no, not now! I-it will take too...much t-time. Think...ah! I c-can quickly wrap my...wounds. I-it won't h-hold for long, b-but...it should work...for n-now.”

A soft murmur of agony flew forth from Ian’s lips as his eyelids slowly closed. He could feel a cold sensation engulf his body and warmth mixing in at the same time, making his stomach go slightly numb. His right worked its way hastily inside hidden pockets to pull out what looked like a string of thick, white cloth. With some effort, Ian managed to rotate his body along with the bandages, lifting and falling until it was finally secure around the wound. The sharp pain that was grasping his stomach lessened a bit, not completely gone, yet to an extent that he could now stand.

“I will have to be more cautious from now on,” Ian told himself, rising to his feet. “I will not be able to bandage my wounds with such luck as that again, especially because it takes so much time to do in the first place. As for a weapon, my shortsword should suffice until I can retrieve that javelin once more…not that I am any good with it.”

((OOC: Alright, I changed the part where the magic was performed and you do have a point. Healing IS complicated, and even if you know it, it takes a lot of time to perform. I think I was sleepy then or something, because now that I think about it, it would take a few hours just to heal a cut! o_o Well, I hope this new method works.))

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Xenonight2

((I already explained in the OP that magic is extremely hard to use. It requires a lot of time and hard concentration. One break in concentration and the spell is ruined, and will possibly backfire. Here's an analogy: it's like painting a masterpiece. You can't do it lying on the ground bleeding to death with a wolf about to pounce on you. In fact, healing is one of the more advanced spells, meaning it would take about a decade to learn.

Also, wolves don't roar.

Otherwise, excellent post! I thought it was very good.))

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Marineking

(((Sorry for taking so long. I was kinda busy, and to be honest, I was waiting for someone else to take a turn. Looks like it's just gonna be us three through the rest, at this rate! Maybe you could PM the others, if you haven't already. They might simply have assumed this was dead.)))

Jekalt smile twisted into a snarl as the beast bore down upon him. When it was barely a breath away, he thrust the spear toward the beasts neck and leapt out of the way, missing slightly but still having it embedded in its upper chest - though not in his heart, to Jekalt noticed to his great annoyance as he rolled to his feet and grabbed another javelin off of his back in one swift motion.

The beast growled in rage at the pain in his chest, bitting at the spear but unable to get a proper hold on it with his teeth. While he was distracted, Jekalt leapt forward with his new spear, shoving it down hard into the wolf's spine near his neck. That should have been the end of it, but the wolf, ignoring it's pain and focusing on it's rage, made one last lunge at him, catching him on the arm, just below the elbow. Thankfully, Jekalt had instinctively leapt away, and so the bone-breaking hold just turned into a nasty gash. Finally, grabbing the spear in the wolf's neck, Jekalt jerked it towards him, causing enough internal damage to force the wolf down.

Ignoring the bloody mess he'd made of the wolf below him, as well as his own wound, Jekalt wrenched out the javelin from the wolf's body and spun to the others. Seeing that Ian was in decent shape, he turned his attention to Axcerlet, moving to aid him if possible.

Jekalt was laughing now, he noticed, a low, throaty noise from deep in his chest.

(((Sorry if that was a bit overpowered. Jekalt is, after all, a skilled, agile hunter with prior experience with these beasts. I can change it if you need me to.)))

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Xenonight2

((No, it's great MK. That seems exactly how a trained hunter would deal with an animal like this. Note that these are rather stupid for Wolves, and just charge and use brute muscles. These guys are mincemeat compared to what we're going up against later, except for maybe Ian, but hey, doesn't mean some battle-hardened Goblins could teach him a few things!))

Axckerlet gripped his spear, and shifted his feet. The most important thing when dealing with a wild animal was footwork and speed, not strength. Even a Goblin Warlord was not as strong as a bear, but what animals lacked was intelligence, and refined smarts. However, crude cunning and shrewd maneuvering could sometimes make a beast a dangerous opponent. A beast had strength and speed and a pure hunter's instinct to guide it was something never to be underestimated. (Fortunately, Axckerlet thought to himself, this thing doesn't seem to accustomed to eating prey that had spears, and was ready for it.)

Now it all came down to one moment. The Beast had recovered and was readying its charge at him when he shifted into one of his most honed positions. On the outside, the Goblin was trembling and yelling and possibly going insane, but on the inside he was focusing every inch of his body on one motion of his spear. The trembling was to keep his muscles from tensing to the point where reaction time was slowed from unstraining the muscles to move; the yelling was to keep his hard pounding and his breathe moving. As the Wolf began its charge, only a few meters away, Axckerlet was patiently waiting.

(I've been practicing this for several years. This wolf has no idea what is going to hit it!)

The Wolf charged at him, its head low and its lips curled up to show blood red gums and white as bone teeth, and slobber dripping down from its jaw to the snow about to be pummeled and crushed by its swift paws. When it neared him, it pushed on its hind legs and jumped at him. Axckerlet marked where its head was during the jump and responded accordingly.

In one fluid motion, the Goblin shifted his weight and put all of his strength behind one push of his spear. The tip of the spear seemingly effortlessly slipped between the Wolf's open jaws and slammed into the roof of its mouth. There was a sharp yelp, and Axckerlet jumped out of the way of the crashing wolf, and dropped his spear which snapped under the weight.

The Goblin let out a fearsome howl at his victory, that ended adruptly when he noticed the bloodied corpse of Duncan ((that's Kain's character, I just killed him off)) and the moaning body of Ian.

"Jekalt!" Axckerlet screamed, "Two wolves in the Scholars - get 'em!" And with that, he ripped the short sword from his scabbard and ran, with still more blood curdling yelling, into the group of scholars, and then at one of the Wolves pinning a Scholar to the ground. His yelling turned to curses when he realized how bad the situation had turned.

It didn't notice Axckerlet charging it, except at the last moment when it looked up to growl at the person challenging his food. Instead, it met the tip of Axckerlet's short sword stabbing its neck. Its thick fur took away most of the blow, and the skin was tough, and the sword had barely broken skin when the Wolf stood up on all of its legs, crushing the Scholar beneath it snapped its head, causing Axckerlet to drop his sword.

"Lasgkir!" Axckerlet muttered, his eyes widening when he realized he was facing a six hundred pound canine and little time to get the daggers hidden on his body. A true Goblin, though, he did lose his battle lust for a second.

When the Wolf lunged at Axckerlet's throat, he barely dodged it at the cost of his unbalance. The Maneater took advantage of this and pounced on Axckerlet, which he again dodged, by hopping to his left and slamming into another Scholar. The Goblin knocked the Scholar down, and tripped over the Scholar. In an instant, the Maneater was jumping on Axckerlet to pin him down while it went at his throat. However, again, Axckerlet used the second at his disposal to judge the speed and distance of the Wolf's jump, and kicked his legs up which slammed into the Wolf's chest as it dropped. It did not stop the six hundred pound beast, but it slowed him enough for Axckerlet to grab the dagger on his shoulder. When the Wolf's jaw went for his throat, Axckerlet squirmed his upper body to the right out of the Wolf's reach, and stabbed his dagger into its throat. Before the beast could collapse, he rolled out of the way since the blow to the neck sapped the strength from its limbs, allowing the Goblin to quickly move.

Axckerlet got up slowly, but the adrenaline kept him from feeling any pain, and he immediately rushed to where his shortsword was. He glanced around the clearing, trying to see where Jekalt and Leo were, and where that last Wolf was.

((This might seem a little overpowered right now, but Axckerlet is certainly going to feel the battle once his adrenaline cools off. Right now he doesn't notice any of the numerous wounds he has.))

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Marineking

((By "Two wolves in the scholars," I'm assuming you mean including the one you just killed.))

Jekalt watched as his commander impressively dealt with his prey, using his spear in a fashion that Jekalt could admire. He stopped as he noticed Axcerlet was alright, and nodded at the command that followed, spinning around back towards the wolf he'd just killed. Reaching it, he dropped into a low throwing-stance and observed the area with the scholars, his breath coming out in heavy gasps. Axcerlet was already charging off howling for one of the wolves, so Jekalt focused on the other one. It was biting at a scholar who'd taken to hiding behind a rock to halt the beast's charge.

Noise faded as Jekalt's mind focused, going in a moment from fire to ice. His laughter halted, and he spent one full instant adjusting his aim. Finally, with a rush of breath, he spun, letting his spear loose, hearing clearly the whistle of the blade slicing through the air. Thwak! This time, it met its mark, nailing the wolf in between the shoulder and the leg, stopping it's advance toward the scholar. Silence shattered as Jekalt let out a swooping howl of victory, and the fire was back fully in his veins. He reached over and tore out the other spear that still remained in the dead wolf's body, and leapt over the carcass, charging with a bloodthirsty howl toward his prey. The wolf turned and moved to meet him, but it was too crippled to build any real speed, allowing Jekalt to crash his shoulder into its side, thrusting his spear into the bowels of the beast and tearing through its flesh. Sharp claws thrashed across his chest, but that only added to his rage, and he plunged the spear down into its neck, where the spine should be located. His aim was true again, and the demon finally fell limp.

Gasping for breath, and smiling as well, Jekalt turned and, leaving the spear in the wolf's neck, checked for his companions and, at second thought, the scholars as well. The pain of his wounds was beginning to seep through, but he ignored it for now.

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lokuri

Ian could hear the cries from the other two, a fiery of anger flashing over them. Gazing in the direction of Axckerlet and Jekalt, he would notice two wolves aiming for two defenseless scholars. Cursing under his breath, he felt like racing over and assisting the two, yet he had his own problems to deal with. Rage would boil through him as he watched one get his head crushed under the force of the beast. Trying to relieve his anger, he took a deep breath, yet a glare still remained in his eyes. His fingers clenched into a ball that trembled ever so slightly. The short sword now was grasped into his pale fingers, frost bitten from the untimely cold. The blade glistened for revenge, as well as his eyes.

“You bloody wolf!” Ian would bellow, charging for the wolf as quickly as possible. “Die!”

Ian would feel his body move like the blowing wind beside him, slicing into it with his grip around the obsidian handle. Taking a different course, instead of just straight at the creature, Ian would rotate his body to the left just as a vicious paw would crush down into the soft snow below, bringing a heaping amount with it as it rose in the air once again. Taking the chance for what it was worth, Ian would time it precisely, hoping he would not get injured any more. Once the claw was in motion, aimed for Ian’s face, he would head straight ahead, confusing the naïve wolf. The silver metal was coated in crimson blood as Ian side stepped and twirled all his might into a single blow, slicing at the wolf’s right leg. A deafening howl of fury was then sent into the heavens as the wolf smacked at the pest that had now harmed its leg, which was bleeding ten folds worse than his mouth. Unfortunately for the vile being, he had charged the sharp nails into its own side, sending it in pain as the claws would obviously cling to the large animal.

Sighing with relief, yet most of his energy sapped, Ian would then grab the javelin, only for the wolf to take this opportunity and knock Ian into the air slightly with its large head, too hurt to do much else with one leg not functioning. A pain would send emergency signals through his brain as he felt his bone in his right shoulder make a crunching sound. Moaning and clenching his teeth to try to hold back the pain, he watched as his vision grew blurry. Feeling like he was on drugs, he knew there was only one way to keep the wolf at bay. He would wait patiently with the javelin held in a warrior style, lucky that his left arm was his dominant arm. When the head of the beast found where it's enemy was standing, a sinister looking grin seemed to play on its face. Ian could feel his heart racing as he drove his feet into the snow and chaged at full speed, just as the tinted gold teeth attempted to chomp at Ian once more. It was at this exact moment that the javelin struck the wolf's neck and clung for dear life. Startled, the dumb creature would bob its head as though pestured by the mediocre stabbing, trying to shake it off. Racing with all the power in his legs, Ian would slide on his back under the wolf, using the force from the run, and slice at the left leg.

Growing cumbersome under the deficient support of its legs, which left the upper right and lower left leg unharmed, the monster would crash into the snow, avoiding Ian simply by luck in his favor. Huffing and taking deep breaths, he arched his head in the direction of the two goblins. Although his legs worked fine, the lack of ability to suppress pain was as terrible as the dim-witted wolf, which was now bleeding to death, unable to stand. He would yell out, but he could no longer see which direction the two goblins now were. Instead, he would slowly fall unconscious, his body too out of shape to actually withstand combat. Perhaps if he had actually trained for this mission, thinking it was easy cash, he could of handle himself better.

((OOC: No, Ian is not dead, simply unconscious. He has a fractured bone in his right shoulder and the wound in his lower stomach/waist may have reopened during the battle. He will be good once in a hospital or after a bit of rest, but will be out until the end of this scene. I thought it was okay, since I assumed those last two wolves will be it. If not, I shall alter my post in any way see fit. I just assumed that since he was a bum off the street, with a bit of skill, he would not be the most powerful person, now would he?

Also, with Jekalt’s and Axckerlet’s guidance, he will surely be able to withstand battle such as this easily in the future, or he is doomed! Anyway, where IS everyone else?

EDIT: I hope this sounds a bit better. I am trying to keep him alive without making him seem over-powered. That is hard, since he is so weak. Anyway, the next post will probably dive into Ian's past, something I never got to really do...much...))

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Xenonight2

((So, uhh... So what's Ian actually going to do, besides what he would do? Sorry, but I'm really confused since this style is very different from the one you used before. And if this what he is actually doing, I'm confused as to how Ian can throw a heavy javelin with a broken shoulder, wounds all over his body, never being trained in throwing a javelin, and with barely any energy and be able to hit a beast and then run at it. Then again, Axckerlet managed to do some pretty extraordinary things himself, hahah. I guess we don't need to worry about realism too much if it makes the fighting fun to write and read. Anyway, don't worry about not being a good fighter. =] I've got that handled.))

Axckerlet, his breathing coming in haggard gasps, and his back bent from exhaustion looked around the field to see how many survivors. A few of the scholars had been killed, and a few were injured, although only one of which was serious. Most his mercenaries were dead as well, only Jekalt surviving (no surprised there, Axckerlet thought, killing beasts is his profession I would imagine from the way he dealt with those creatures - that's why I hired him, wasn't it? Did he say something about hunting?) and the first Scrawny, the one named Ian. (How he did it is either a miracle, luck, or skill.)

The Dwarf was dead, which Axckerlet realized wasn't unpredictible seeing that bare fists don't do much against a six hundred pound wolf. The other scrawny was dead, which wasn't shocking in the least, and the one Knight fellow, who had probably never faced a creature like that.

(Why did I hire a bunch of idiotic greens in the first place? Most of them had probably never seen a real fight before. I was drunk, that was probably why.)

"All right! All but the injured round up by me. I'll count the survivors, the injured, and we'll see what to do next." The Goblin called to the scholars and the remainder of the mercenaries. Speaking was painful for him, but he continued anyway.

As the others gathered around him, he counted: eight Scholars, and two mercenaries, excluding him.

"First, Moriu! Are you alive? All of you scholars please take off your hoods for a moment so I can see your faces."

The scholars did as they were told while Moriu stepped forward. "Yes, Axckerlet?" The Scholar said.

"Just a second, Moriu. I needed to know if you were alive. All right, we're going to tend to the wounded. How many are wounded?"

"One of our scholars has a broken leg and is missing one of his hands, and one of your mercenaries."

"Right, Ian is his name." Axckerlet winced at the thought of tending the others wounds, especially when the pain coming from his shins and arm started growing. He blocked it from his mind, and continued: "We're going to need to patch up the wounded, bury the dead, and figure out if we're going to move on towards the ruins and if you can even continue the excavation of the ruins. Moriu, you should be able to answer that last question."

Moriu seemed to be largely held together, surpisingly. Axckerlet realized that if he were a weak, scrawny Human who had never seen a wild beast before, he would have been terrified and soiling his pants. Perhaps this bookworm was tougher than he appeared to be.

"We should. Our research grant requires us to move forward unless the key members of the expedition die, and we are compensated for the death of each non-essential member. It'll be hard, but we can do this."

The Goblin appreciated his courage. He leaned in close to the Scholar. "We have much to talk about after I'm done addressing the survivors." Axckerlet grimaced at using that word. Moriu nodded.

"So we're continuing the expedition. According to my map, we're no more than a day or two away, depending on the weather." The pain was only increasing in his body, but his Goblin strength helped him push it away. "I know a few things about medicine, and will help the injured. Does anyone else know anything about medicine?"

One scholar, a rather large, well-built man with brown hair and a strong jaw. His muscles were formed, but just that - formed, and possessed little useful strength. "I do," he said.

"Come with me, and we'll help the injured scholar." He told the scholar. "The rest of you, collect your things. We'll be moving past this area to a better campground for the night. If it bothers any of you, I'll dispose of the dead. Does it bother any of you if you have to do it?"

Most of the scholars raised their hands, and Axckerlet pointed at the three who didn't raise their hands. "We don't have time for a proper burial, but if you want to, I can respect that decision. Now, where is the wounded Scholar?"

The large Scholar gestured to Axckerlet, and as the Scholar dispersed he followed him.

"What's your name, Scholar?" Axckerlet asked.

"Hanslo," the Scholar said. By the time he finished the sentence, they were kneeling by the wounded Scholar. His leg was maimed, and his arm was crushed. The wounded Scholar could barely breathe. The Goblin stood up and called to Jekalt. "Jekalt! Come here for a minute, I'll give you your orders!" Then he knelt, and began inspecting the wounds of the Scholar, while Hanslo gave him reassuring words.

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