Open Chronicles Celebration of Winter: Part 2 (Noct Yaegirs)

[Rainer]

They came in all sizes, all forms. Some had powers and some had none. And it was said that the snow had followed them down the peak. But in the end, it was them the brought the snow. And they came with a wail and a shriek."
-The Caretaker​

The visitors that had ascended to Urngor Orhim were greeted with sunny frost, a brisk temperature, and the pale crescendo of the sun along the snow capped summits of the Spine that wedged itself in the backdrop of the Crobhear lake. But that was soon gone as the draft of the mountain allowed itself in through open windows and tattered shutters. Flames danced beneath the mantles and the braziers threatened to go out as a rumble seemed to stir beneath the mountain, vibrating the castle doors that led out into the courtyard.

The Caretaker stood, old eyes drifted to the ceiling as he felt the vibrations through the ground. Like a beast walking towards the Castle, bringing with it the weight of the mountain.

"Yeagirs..." He spoke loud and stern, though his tone didn't not reflect the expedience that the current conditions required. Setting his cup of brew down on the kitchen counter, he addressed the assembled hunters. "Celebrations are on hold for now." He moved over to a weapon wall mounts and pulled two blades down. One was labeled Crux by a bronze label, another Galli by the same. Strapping them to his back and side, he moved quickly towards the front door and swung it open. Snow and a gust cut through the dining area and he drew Crux, his long blade, and held it lazily to his side.

"Every year it's the same. No matter the offering." In the dust covered courtyard stood a single being, over ten feet in height. It was covered in white fur and had claws that seemed to extend beyond necessity. It was a towering beast of muscle. "Range fighters, take the stairs to the battlement and keep them off the walls. If anyone can fly, you'll have and advantage here. Otherwise, we need to push them back off the bridge and seal up the courtyard." He lifted his blade and side stepped as a pillar of ice, fashioned into a giant spirit tip, cascaded through the dining room and lodged itself into stone floor.

"You...fucker. I just patched that floor." Taking to a crouch, he charged out with a speed that would have seemed impossible, given his size and age.

Tag: Gannis Sol Eclipse Kaige Severos Garrod Arlette Larka Briar Arnor Skuldsson Sigrith Raisanu Sardok

OOC:

Spoiler

There are many of these creatures but they are all currently outside the Keep. Objective, keep them out and make them pay for ruining a good time. Feel free to pair up or solo some beasties. Reference photos are below

Spoiler

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[Garrod Arlette]

Garrod stood at the white line that marked the throwing distance at the range, some ten paces away. His head turned some to better angle his sight, one knife in his right hand, two in his left. His vision blurred some, but the others around them were smart enough to keep wide.

"Shit," he cursed as he squint his eye some. "Might've had one too many," he said with a smirk. He hiccupped, and swayed lazily back and forth where he stood.

His eye opened wide and his smirk turned wide grin. The first knife flew from his right hand with cutting snap of his arm, high to low, the bladed tool shot point forward and sunk into the round cut stump that was propped up as their target. Right near the bullseye.

He laughed some beneath his breath, and tossed a knife from his left to his right, threw it, low to high, and it sailed more easily through the air and just sunk its blade point into the log, further from the center point. The third knife he let fly from his left, crossing his body with a hard pitch. The knife struck forward and clattered off one of the others with a loud clang and it zinged away fast and dangerous like before it plinked and rattled off the stone.

"Oy! What in the bloody fucks are you doin, Garrod?!" one older Yaegir chided. "Handle your damn booze, or don't go throwin knives ya goon!"

Garrod gawked.

Then came the rumbles. Then came the cold.

It sobered him up real quick. "Guess we'll have to finish this later," he said to Sol, as the old Caretaker called for attention and made ready for battle. Many stirred to action, retrieving their kits and getting themselves to positions of advantage. "Bloody god damn fucking abominable snow beasts," Garrod grumbled, his runed greatsword cradled carefully btewixt his arms, its long run rested on his shoulder as he half-hurried to the front.

https://soundcloud.com/david-giffard%2Freharl-get-some

The gate swung open with a snap and the first snow beast stood towering before them, all snarl and ice. The harsh cold swept through and a spear of ice sought to skewer them and only ruined the floor. The Caretaker didn't care for it, and launched himself at their foe, all fury and steel.

Other Yaegirs and those guests willing to fight rushed forward in his wake. Garrod followed, quiet as parties and duos and single hunters took on their foes.

You'll let me eat one, yes? Belephus asked, almost politely as the hunter hurried through the din of rumbling stone and crackling ice.

A spear of frost burst forth before him, quick reflexes the difference between seeing himself in its cold reflective surface, and being run through. He growled, and ran around the object. A snow beast dead ahead of him. It sent a ball of ice the size of a hog flying toward him.

Garrod shift his greatsword low, edge near run across the ground as he let out hot breath and the runes of his blade glowed bright gold and infernal red. He plant his lead foot forward and twist his body to drive power intho his strong armed swing. The weapon arced up in a vertical slash, the air before it blurred with magicked heat, and fire surged forth in a pillar of flame that traced a line forward. It crashed into the ice block and killed its speed, and the fire column moved on, to crash into the snow beast flush.

It roared and bellowed, as it thrashed away from the fire, its thick oily coat catching alight as it thrashed about. Garrod, windswept and fast as motes of zephyr magic danced faintly about him, dashed forward, leapt up with beastial grin wide across his face, and drove his heavy bladed sword point first into the side of the monster, boots landing hard against its muscle, blade sinking into its clavicle. The creature roared, massive hand reaching up, it caught Garrod by the foot and thrashed him down into the ground with a harsh clatter as armor met stone floor of the courtyard. The hunter skate across the brick work, and his sword still jut out from just below the creature's neck.

It let out a death groan and fell to the ground with a thump.

Garrod, on his back and in agony, just started laughing. "Happy fuckin holidays, ya bastard!"

 

[Gannis]

"Spears," he said firmly towards Larka. He placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her back towards the hall.

With an entire wall of weapons to hand, he wasn't going to take his butchering sword to join a defensive line.

He dropped his voice as they walked.

"How are you feeling? We don't shift. Not here."

The Yaegirs were not the Venari. The methods he taught Larka, the things that had been done to them were not for sharing with others.

"Grab a spear the same length as mine, we go for the bridge and work together."

If she was too drunk to fight properly he would prioritise the safety of his ward over the other monster hunters. That was the responsibility he had been given and sometimes he took it seriously.

 

[Larka]

Perhaps it was a good thing that these monsters had intruded on the festivities when they had. Anymore merriment and Larka would have started showing off her flexibility and hyper-mobility. After that, it was only minutes before she contorted her limber body into a box.

Larka nodded her head diligently at her mentor, scampering off with him, Kitty following suit and salivating at the mouth. Her eyes, once mischevious and mirthful, were completely serious— although she did throw a glance back at Kaige. She had liked him.

“I’m not drunk if that’s what you’re asking, you didn’t give me permission to drink.” In truth, she hadn’t bothered to ask Gannis and besides, food was the only thing she really cared about. That being said, perhaps it was good she hadn’t drank. Grabbing a spear as Gannis commanded, the young venator in training was ready to fight against the beasts.

Or at least she thought she was. She had yet to go up against anything like them before.

“Am I not allowed to flip around how I usually do?” Larka asked Gannis quite seriously. Those weren’t necessarily Conclave secrets but….

 

[Kaige Severos]

No sooner than the call for battle had been sounded that Kaige’s spear was unleashed. It was a beauty of a weapon, lovingly crafted of the best wood and metal could offer. The exquisite blade, curving outward before tapering to a fine point, had been folded countless times before it and the long handle, tied with leather grips, were enchanted to make both nigh unbreakable. It was Kaige’s first real possession, and his most valuable. He smiled and waved briefly at Larka and her companion before turning his attention to the trouble at hand.

One might expect him to head to the stairs. One would be wrong as Kaige charged to the bridge. His pace was unbelievable as he kept up with the Caretaker’s sprint. Within an instant he spotted the snow beasts, hulks of power and racial prejudice plowing through the snow-covered expanse. One had already engaged the greatsword-wielding madman Garrod when one snow beast roared at Kaige. From its mouth, a ray of dry ice formed and crashed forth to impale Kaige.

With perfectly timed reflex and a grace few could hope to match, Kaige leaped backward. The ice smashed, solid and heavy, into the ground. Mortared stone and wood cracked around the embedded point.

Kaige didn’t wait. He surged forward, running up the ice so cold he could feel it even past his boots. He leaped the base, his spear held up beyond his head as he seemed to intend on piercing the snow beast’s neck. The monster was smarter than that, heaving its great bulk backward as the spear rushed down in front of it. It brought its claws down to tear open its opponent’s flesh, wherever that might be.

As Kaige’s spear found purchase in the ground, he twisted,

-Eagle’s Illusory-

spinning around the spear handle. The beast’s claws found nothing but air as Kaige completed his maneuver. His feet caught the beast’s arms and though not enough to cause any true damage to the wall of muscle

-Hunting Falcon’s Gamble-

provided enough to allow Kaige to push off, landing on the ground. The beast, confused, howled as Kaige smiled… and a spear blade swung up and over to crashed into the beast’s forehead.

-Risk of the Gryphon-

As the beast collapsed, its skull leaking brain fluid, Kaige turned to race to Garrod’s aid, the hunter on the ground and still in quite the jubilant mood. His spear never stopped moving, striking, parrying, blocking, swerving and slashing and stabbing, around and over, beneath and behind in a terrifying display of stances and maneuvers

Jaguar’s Hunt - Shadow of the Fleet – Crow’s Demise - Curse of Rain

flowing one from the other in a hurricane of death.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Gannis]

"Didn't I? Oh yeah, that's just me then," Gannis replied. It was almost certainly why he had forgotten telling her that she wasn't drinking here in front of the group.

He tilted his head from side to side to check his balance.

"Gonna regret those beers. And it's not your skill with the blade, but our other secrets," he confirmed.

"Not that you want to be flipping around at first," he said, turning from the rack of weapons. "We hold the bridge, let the people on the tower do the damage. If we're forced into the courtyard and spread out...yeah...til then, at my side and hold onto that thing for dear life. We dig in."

Gannis reflected that he had spoken more words in the months of Larka being his charge than he had in the entire year before.

"Let's get to the bridge."

 

[Rainer]

The caretaker moved deftly and defiantly as he spun his blades upward and outward, as if they were connected to his very hands. Fanning outward, he stepped right as the monstrous beast brought a giant sword, made of frozen steel, down towards him. It struck the ground where he once was, sending vibrations through the courtyard, as he shifted his hips to sideswipe the old Yaegir. Extending his hips back, the sword grazed across his belt line but found not purchase, as the stout man twirled back and hopped a few times.

It was like he was dancing.

The beast let out a guttural scream, arms held akimbo, as blue energy poured from his skyward teeth. Awash in a vibrant blue that cut through the snowy white gusts that buffeted them. The caretaker smirked and took on a more serious posture. "Come on you big f-"

The iced sword moved so quickly that it almost caught him by surprise. Bringing his swords up in a cross, he caught the blade in his guard and almost buckled beneath the weight of it. With back arched against the force, they were caught in a battle of wills that the caretaker would soon lose.

Suddenly, the beast buckled as he let up on the pressure, letting out a loud scream. Behind him, a man stood with blood glistening against his silver blade. In his other hand, a half empty bottle of grog.

"Hey!" He barked, eyes narrowing, as the beast turned towards him. It was bleeding profusely from the Achilles heel. "Snow pusher!" Solid insult. "Quit picking on the elderly." He pointed the bottle at the Caretaker to make sure the comment was understood. "Why don't you pick on someone your own s-"

The beast turned, landing a kick to the caretakers chest as it swung backwards, aiming to cleave Rain in half. He brought the blade down just in time to meet the blow but the kinetic force was too much. He was sent flying into a nearby wagon of straw.​

 

[Garrod Arlette]

It all hurt, so good.

The roaring. The sound of steel clashing, and bones breaking. Disgusting. Butchery.

But you love it, grinned the demon behind his missing eye. Teeth long as knives in the black of his mind.

Garrod lifted himself up off the ground. Crouched low and on his knee, he saw a man before him rip small monsters to shreds with swift spear strikes and silver wind steps, and Garrod felt the hiss and crackle of something down in his chest. Warm. Hot. Fire. He grinned wide, and stood as he drew out a short side sword, its silvery blade a bit thicker than the standard dueling blade. Made it look like more of a chopper than a stabber.

For a moment, Garrod's eye met Kaige's two, the spear warrior whirling his weapon as blood flecks trailed off in wide spattering arcs from its point. Garrod grinned wider, still crouched, with his blade drawn and his eye wide and with a feral excitement.

His white gauntlet fist thrust forward, and his thumb stood proudly up in that universal salute. Nice.

Another small snow-beast fuck seemed to see Garrod's sword stuck in its partner. Maybe, learning from the big bastard, the small bastard put its meaty mitts on the hilt of Garrod's weapon, and yanked it out of his fallen comrade. Took a look at the blood with its beady red eyes, and looked at Kaige and Garrod. It roared out its challenge and lunged for them.

"That's my fucking sword!" Garrod shout as he stood up.

The beast did not care. Swinging for him with a savage upswing arc, Garrod just barely blocked, at the edge of the weapon's range, it shook his poise but the one eyed Yaegir stood with both hands on his shorter blade, feet quick stepping to restore balance and ready for the falling follow up.

Down came the monster-killer's blade, and it crashed into the stone work of the bridge.

Garrod growled. "You are damaging its edge!!!" he roared as he surged forward, windswept behind him, his swordspoint stuck into the muscles of the creature's thick and wooly arm, and with a hard yank he slashed a red gouge into its flesh. The creature turned and slammed Garrod clean in the chest with a fat fist, knocked him back so hard he felt the force through plate and padding. Felt the bone in his arm ache with dull and deep pain, but he had gotten the spiny part of his gauntlet up, just in time.

The white chitenous armor, with its opalescent jewel, shimmered a sickly green, as the beasts blood trickled and run along its jagged edges.

My... a little snack? For me? Belephus laughed. How generous, Garrod. How kind.

 

[Larka]

Oh, so those secrets? Larka almost felt a arrogant blush rise to her cheeks in realizing that Gannis thought her to be so dense as to betray the conclave and tell of their secrets. But, he was a few beers in, and only that brought her solace as she took a moment to study the weight of the spear and length. Heavier than what she was used to when it came to using her sword, but also far more reach. Hopefully it would be enough, Larka didn’t have the longest arms.

“Got it!” Larka said, swiftly following after Gannis as they made their way to the bridge. Maybe they had taken too long, or many they were just in time as it seemed there was plenty of brawling happening on the bridge already. Larka caught a whiff of the blood, could see splatters of crimson on virgin snow. She didn’t feel fear as she looked at one the large beasts: white and hairy in a way that reminded her of a yak.

Although the teeth on this beast were nothing like the large horned animals with shaggy hair. But Larka was inured to such frightening things by now— at least there wasn’t a stench of decay like with the demons in Sargasso.

She didn’t have time to stand around a watch, as if waiting specifically for them, a beast came barreling towards her and Gannis. Howling like the winds, Larka caught a glint of… was it able to use weapons? There was definitely something in it’s hands, but as it crashed through the snow, white flurries kept her from correctly discerning what it was.

Her spear pointed outward as the beast threw up a wall of snow to blanket the venari in a attempt to blind them. Larka refrained from cursing as she darted to the side, her dark braid flying behind her. So these things were intelligent as well.

Gannis

 

[Kaige Severos]

There were so many of the creatures. When one fell, another sprang up in its place, like the many heads of the legendary Hydra. It would have been disheartening to any army. Fortunately, the Noct Yaegirs were no army. They were not mere solders, marching under a weathered flag.

They were killers. Killers of monsters such as these.

Kaige swung his spear in a wide arc, slashing the throat of one of the snow beasts. It gurgled as blood spewed from the gash and fell heavily. Another lunged at the demon hunter, who retaliated with a strong jab of the spear, catching the beast in the eye. The beast roared as Kaige pulled the spear to the side, and the beast was blinded. Flailing, it staggered away, but more came to replace it.

Teeth gritting with rarely-seen impatience, Kaige caught the eye of Garrod, who gave him a thumb’s up with a wide smile to match. What the hell? Did he think this was fun?

The thought gave Kaige pause. He’d seen bloodlust before, and yes, the ones afflicted with it did find killing fun. The surging adrenaline gave them a certain high. Even Kaige knew the feeling, from time to time. Was he really no more than a mindless murderer? How… depressing.

There was no more time to dwell on the thought, though. Kaige rolled to the side as another monster came for them, engaging with the insane Garrod. Kaige stepped forward, raising his spear, about to help when two of the fiends came rushing in, effectively blocking the way to Garrod’s assaulter and catching Kaige off guard.

One of the beasts swept its arm in low, seizing Kaige by the leg. The world turned upside down as it swung Kaige up in the air. The second beast then flung a solid fist and pain exploded in Kaige’s body as the hit landed, sending him flying. He smashed into the ground and rolled to a stop.

“Fuck,” Kaige whispered as he ran a hand down his body, feeling the shifting of broken ribs. He bit his lip as he concentrated on the one healing spell he knew, hoping it would work quick and well enough to allow him to join the battle again... and before another beast saw him and decided to finish the job.