Mordugrad IC

[a_libertine]

Silas nodded, and said, "Why I can be a splendid, and large, bait for you."

Following, He looked at them and said, "In fact, I can go without a weapon if it is truly wolves we are dealing with, they'll never catch me once the trap is sprung."

He looked from one to the next keeper in front of him and asked, "Is there a dead end cul-de-sac or fountain square where we can set the trap? I can seal off the way out using wind once we get them into place."

 

[Jedi_Khan]

“If you can still stand after all that liquor I'm going to ask you to stay near the fountain square with, the round one here," pointing to Silas "if you're a Keeper or not I don't care but good bait is good bait whatever support you can provide will be good just don't involve the guard they'll only be a distraction and probably get eaten, and you can keep an eye on him. … Any questions?"

John drained his bottle and when the barmaid brought out a few more as he had requested, he grabbed one and started working on it. John had been drinking for years, so he had a high tolerance for the stuff; it would take a good hour or more of drinking this hard stuff to impair him overly much, and that’s if he didn’t have any food to go with it to absorb the alcohol. Seeing as how John had just had a sandwich to go with his drink, he was just starting to feel slightly buzzed.

As Erik talked, John thought about his past experiences with Wolves, none of which had been pleasant. According to John’s estimation, they were in the top three hardest un-naturals to kill, right behind demons and older, experienced vampires. Even with John’s ability to harden his skin to the point of being akin to solid metal, Wolves almost always managed to do damage to him, mostly in the form of broken bones and internal injuries. When dealing with Wolves and their tendency to travel in groups, John preferred to find the alpha of the group and entice it into a one-on-one fight, using the rationale that if you take out the strongest member of a group first, the remainder will lose heart and run.

“Yeah, I’ve got a question or two. Where’s the fountain square and when are we doing this?” said John, still holding a bottle in his hand, then turned to Silas. “Unless you’re good with your fists or you can somehow suffocate the Wolves from a distance, I suggest you have a weapon handy, but out of sight until the trap is sprung.”

 

[a_libertine]

“Unless you’re good with your fists or you can somehow suffocate the Wolves from a distance, I suggest you have a weapon handy, but out of sight until the trap is sprung.”

Silas nodded, then said, "A weapon is not usually necessary for those things that breath or rely on limbs to move."

Silas gathered air in between his hands shaping it into a ball of hurricane force wind. The sound of the shrieking wind filled the tavern as it gained more speed. The molecules of air moving so fast that waves of heat could be felt coming from it.

Taking the air ball, Silas tapped the goblet he had been drinking from on the side. The goblet shot from the table striking the wall rim first. The goblet sank into the plaster, cutting through until only the stem and base stood out from the wall.

Silas looked at John and said, "As long as I know something is coming, I can prevent it from getting close by spreading the wind out. With enough preparation, I could push everyone out of the tavern."

 

[DeathsKnight]

Brosk Duvan

He walked over to the cup and pulled it from the wall, he returned to the table and placed the cup on the table top.

"Impressive, I do hope that you will pay for damages as well if you leave collateral damage like the hole in the wall."

He was not threatening, just being logical. Citizens tend to be rather upset when their property got damaged and he was a citizen himself since the Keepers did not seem to notice that he was not a real Keeper.

 

[BiSmiley]

I looked around to the group, they asked me when this may occur truth of the matter was I didn'tthe know Wolves didn't run on a schedule, and I was about to tell them so, up until the odor of wet dog seemed to seep into the room. I could always catch a scent from a good distance, unfortunately and that was most definitely the quarry I was expecting.

I waited for the sharp howl and the Distric bell to start ringing "How about now...Hope you can still stand ink, this wont be easy." I was the first out into the street trying to get my directions down I need to run these bastard down and herd them into the square, hopefull Hammer could keep up. I leapt halfway up the shortest building and climbed the rest of the way looking down at the Tavern door and then to the city around us hoping maybe to glimpse the monster's movements.

 

[Mantra]

Dietrich Ward

Dietrich stepped lightly, carefully forward down the center of the crude street. His makeshift bow was in his hands, with an equally handmade arrow knocked and ready to be fired at a moment’s notice. He was planning to make Eldermoore but had never made it very far out of the ghetto. While walking through the winding, ramshackle housing, shops and derelict structures, he had come across a macabre scene. Two people had been ripped apart and left in a state that was best not left to the imagination. Unfortunately, Dietrich has seen too many such scenes in his lifetime. For his imagination to have come up with something even further would have been gruesome indeed had he allowed it. No matter, the moment he had seen the bodies, the Keeper had ditched his ruck sack and drawn his bow. A quick scan of the scene told him the likely culprit. The bloody paw prints were clearly visible, either a wolf of a hellhound he figured. There was no scent of soot or brimstone, so Dietrich figured a wolf. The prints were still fresh, and wet, so the scene could not be more than 15 minutes old either. With grim determination, the hunt began. Dietrich had only seen one set of prints, but a solitary wolf jumping the wall was nearly unheard of, so where there was one, there was likely to be more. In the meantime, there was at least one in need of killing.

As he searched, he also made note of the layout of this part of the ghetto; the crooked streets, the thin alleyways, the sloping roofs and the piles of discarded scrap and refuse. As he poked about searching, Dietrich explored a bit, snooping about and warning those he did encounter to spread the word and take shelter. Dietrich knew well from experience not to charge headlong after a wolfpack. Wolves were notoriously ornery, tough and sneaky. If Dietrich was lucky, this would only be a wolf… if he wasn’t well, then it would probably only look like a wolf. As it was, it took nearly 30 minutes of tracking before Dietrich first heard something worth investigating. When he did find it, he had found a big, gray wolf, sniffing and digging at door, probably looking to make short work of whoever it had cornered in the building. Double checking his surroundings, Dietrich peeked around the corner, fired his bow and run. The wolf had yelped, snarled and come after him. Now the hunt was truly on. Even though he didn’t think the wolf had seen him, Dietrich knew it was likely tracking him by scent. That had been another reason why Dietrich had wound around through the streets and back alleyways in his search, letting the scent of his path criss-cross over itself and back again. Even then, Dietrich was careful in this stalking; in this game, the role of cat and mouse was interchangeable.

So far, Dietrich had managed to shoot the damned thing once more, but his arrows had done little more than keep the creature focused on him and piss it off. Now the wolf had turned back on itself and Dietrich had lost track of where the creature was. As Dietrich moved, he called on his own gifts, reaching out through his focus all around him. As much as the Keeper disliked what he was and what his life had subjected him to, Dietrich did have one guilty pleasure with it even after all these years; never did he feel so alive, so vibrant and connected to the world around him than when he was fully immersed in his focus, when he was on the hunt. It made him feel…strong and young again. Back in the fringes of his memory, when he could remember a time when he had not been worn down with the blood, pain and misery he endured in the present. Now in tune to the world around him, Dietrich felt the subtle breeze on his cheek, could smell the heavy scent of pollution and uncleanliness of the ghetto, felt the tingle up his limbs as a hundred different stimuli painted an ultra-heightened and detailed scene in his mind of his surroundings. For a few more moments there was nothing, and then he heard it, felt it. The fetid, panting breath; the sound of wood creaking, the wolf was down wind, behind him and up high, probably had found some low rooftop to scramble up aid its stalking of him.

“Clever little furball…” Dietrich thought.

Then the sounds changed, the footfalls quickened; one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four. The strides lengthened until suddenly, there was a double thump as strong muscled bunched, then released just above him….

Dietrich did not attempt to turn and shoot, nor did he simply try to run. Instead he tucked his right shoulder and rolled, bowling out of the way as the huge wolf crashed down onto the road where he had been standing not a second before. Huge jaws intent on snapping his torso between them instead snapped on empty air. Dietrich finished his roll, coming up onto his feet. He had protected his bow, but his roll had forced him to let go of and drop the notched arrow. It was unimportant now as the keeper bolted full sprint down the narrow alleyway to his right. The wolf, recovering from its failed pounce, thundered after him, snarling and slavering after him. As he ran, the Keeper tugged a small sack from his belt, yanking a drawstring off in the process. The sack flopped open, spilling its metal contents out behind Dietrich as he ran; the wolf, intent on ripping Dietrich apart as it was, charged over the tiny metal spikes. Any damage the caltrops could have done was insignificant in the long run, but they did manage to target and penetrate one of the few weak spots the wolf had, its sensitive foot pads.

The snarls suddenly gave way to surprised yelps of pain as the wolf jumped nearly straight up as all four paws were punctured. The jump might have been an instinctual reaction, but only served to drive the tiny spikes deeper when gravity returned the wolf to the ground. The wolf yelped again, staggering and whining at the unrelenting stings. Trying to protect its feet, the wolf fell forward, staggering as Dietrich raced to the end of the alleyway. Spinning around, the keeper drew a new arrow from the quiver at his back and snapped off a shot back down the alley where it struck with a meaty thunk. The wolf started to panic now and tried to back away, but its damaged paws slowed its withdrawal. Another whizz and thunk followed. The wolf made to turn and flee, stinging paws or no, but only succeeded in bashing its head into the wall as the narrow alley restricted movement. Thunk! Thunk! The wolf howled and thrashed in pain, confusion and panic, rattling and gouging the walls of the buildings next to it as Dietrich sent a deliberate and disastrous rain of arrows into the creature until it finally slumped forward, sides heaving with heavy, rattling breaths. Dietrich drew back one more arrow, measuring the wolf and showing no mercy. With a final twang of bowstring, Dietrich’s arrow punctured the glaring yellow of one hateful eye.

He waited for long moments before moving in, ensuring the thing was truly dead. Ever wary, the Keeper moved in to retrieve his arrows and caltrops. He was confident he was going to need them again…

After all, where there was one wolf…

 

[DeathsKnight]

Brosk Duvan

The hound was fast, that he had to give to him, Brosk followed the hound to the roof and crouched down next to him, eyes intently gathering as much information as he could. He knew the streets, but a slight change could mean the end of a life. He grunted when he saw movement and pointed it out to the Keeper,

"There. If you plan to draw it towards the square we have to move before it gets to the citizenry."

He did not wait, with sure feet he set off, running as lightly and as softly as his bulk allowed him to. Tigers were not really built for sneaking, more like ambush and power, but there was enough cat in them to make them able to move along softly...well as softly as their size allowed. Jumping gracefully and easily from roof to roof he gained on the wolf quickly, he stopped at the edge of a roof, looking down at the wolf as his cloak billowed in the gentle breeze. How they reeked, he hated their smell and he hated to face them. Big, strong, tough brutes, men who have discarded their humanity to sink into that mentality of the animal. That was the fight he fought every day and he could not stand that some just gave up on their humanity.

 

[a_libertine]

Silas followed Erik on the street, saving his energy for the anticipated fight. The air in the word stank of all manner of evil. So much that it was beginning to give Silas a head ache. "Shame I didn't stay home, the air is so much cleaner than here," he murmured to himself.

Sighing he continued, and thought of the two women he had made arrangements with for that night, and hoped he would not miss the appointment, for their price had to be paid, whether they were used or not. Given his druthers, Silas would far rather make use of their services rather than not.

Sensing Erik's pace increasing, Silas turned his attention from the very important matters of the body to the lesser matter of evil running a muck in the slums. Chiding himself, "That isn't a very heroic thought, now was it?"

 

[BiSmiley]

I had to catch up to the beast some how Hammer managed to get ahead of me but not for long. I leapt and bound across the rooftops, quickly reaching my full speed, the wolf was going somewhere and I was about to make myself its next destination. I cut across to the next out cropping and made a quick dive to a balcony to cut the beast off, the slip of my knife and the yelp were all I heard as I twisted through the air sheathing the blade before I landed crouching in front of this pissed off behemoth.

I made my cut along its snout, not the most effective cut but it wasn't supposed to be "Come on ugly, dog eat dog." Sure it probably didn't understand a word I said but screw it I loved my job.

I bolted to the left and into an alley the Wolf snapping at my heels. I knew exactly where I was, but I needed to keep my pace, and hope Hammer wasn't far off, I didn't need another one of them sneaking up on me right now. Rounding another corner I saw a man wielding a bow and standing over a wounded wolf "You may want to run." I patted him on the shoulder and pointed in the direction I came the Wolf careening into the wall shattering the brick. This guy wasn't moving so I did something I knew was stupid, I let it get close jumping at the last moment and knotting my fingers into its thick fur with one hand and drawing my knife with the other.

First time I ever rode a Wolf, beats the shit out of bull riding it seemed more determined to get rid of me than it was about the potential meal in front of it, throwing me about like a rag doll I still managed to stay in place. Damn thing tried a new strategy running full blast and trying to knock me into things, luckily sticking it with a long knife proved to be an interesting way to steer.

This was going to be popular story in the morning, me whooping and hollering while riding a wolf into the fountain square like a mad man, but once I got there my bad luck struck again. Once it hit the open square my grip had failed and I was thrown into the stone epitaph of the fountain, with nice and loud crunch... I broke something but wasn't sure what. More luck followed the Fountain was shallow and the Wolf looked down at me like a soggy dog treat... how fun.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Brosk Duvan

He stared at the hound as he jumped on the wolf, he had heard of madness, but this was beyond insanity. He of course had followed along the roof tops, the man stooped over the wounded wolf did not seem like a normal human, but for now Brosk had another problem. Keeping up with the hound as promised. He followed along the rooftops, refusing to use all fours as that would give the tiger a stronger hold on his sanity.

Things went askew at the clearing and he winched as the hound got thrown against the fountain, he knew the others were coming, but for now the hound needed help...his help...the rogue...

With a snarl he ran and jumped, this time using his hands to launch himself as well. Maybe it looked gracious, maybe the hood flying off of his head made it look like a real tiger had just pounced. Brosk collided with the very pissed-off wolf and immediately started tearing at the beast's back. It howled in agony as claws and teeth tore at its flesh and skin, then it shook Brosk off. Brosk landed and ran towards the nearest building, jumping onto the roof and hissed at the wolf as it tried to get hold of him. The wolf was a bit taken aback by his actions and tilted its head looking at Brosk, then it jumped. Brosk met it with a swipe across the nose that laid it open to the bone, giving off a satisfying howl and blood spatter.

"Pick on somebody your own size."

 

[Mantra]

"Where there was one wolf...." Dietrich thought, and sure enough, a wild-eyed person came careening around the corner with another wolf right in his heels.

"You may want to run" he said, then not heeding his own advice, decided to leap straight into the wolf's teeth. Not unexpectedly, the fight turned bad for the newcommer, with him being tossed about rather harshly and coming to a soggy stop in the nearby fountain. So apparently, where there was one wolf...there was some dipstick getting his ass kicked by another one.

Dietrich did not know the Keeper, but he knew the type well enough. Young, brash, full of more self confidence than self preservation. There was a good reason why most Keepers did not live past 30. The soggy Keeper was saved, temporarilly at least, by another Keeper flying in, all teeth and claws and delivering a largely ineffective attack. (and brawling in the only water supply for several blocks) More youth and bravado.

These kids just didn't know how to fight..and they were going to get themselves killed if any more wolves showed up.

Dietrich yanked at one of the embedded arrows, pulling it free from the wolf corpse with a wet slurping sound. Turning, he saw the second Keeper, a beastial if the cat-face was any suggestion, take a swipe at the wolf's nose. Knocking the arrow, Dietrich let it fly towards the wolf where it struck the thing in the rear hip.

 

[a_libertine]

Silas watched Erik ride the wolf in amusement, "What an interesting way to get it into the fountain square."

He watched Erik fly into the fountain, Brosk tangle with it and a stranger shoot the wolf with an arrow, trying to get its attention. The wolf was turning from one assailant to another keeping them in sight. Suddenly it leaped toward the man with a bow in his hand.

Silas pulled the air from around him, and shot it toward the wolf spinning it heels over head before slamming it to the ground. A satisfied smile creased his face as the mangy mutt yelped in pain.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

The howls sent chills down John’s spine, dredging up memories of the first time he fought a Wolf, memories he’d rather not have. Pushing those memories aside, John wandered the streets trying to find the fountain square. Erik hadn’t bothered to tell John how to find the square and it didn’t help that this was John’s first day in the district; he just hoped he could find it before it was too late to do any fighting.

The sounds of a fight nearby drew John’s attention after a few minutes of wandering and led him to the fountain square where he found a massive wolf leaping at a man with a bow. However, the wolf unexpectedly did a flip over its own head and landed with a pained yelp flat on its back.

Not missing a beat, and not noticing Erik in the fountain, John pulled his shirt up and over his head, dropping it on the ground as he sprinted towards the downed beast. A few feet away from the wolf, John activated his power, the tattoos covering his body starting to glow softly with power as his skin became as strong as steel, and then leaping into the air, he came down elbow first onto the side of the wolf’s neck as it tried to roll over to get to its feet.

It didn’t matter how big or strong the wolf was, the neck is always one of the most vulnerable spots on any creature, and the side of this creature’s neck had just taken a hit equivalent to having a nearly two hundred pound steel bar slam into it. If the wolf was lucky, the blow would have snapped its spine, killing it rather quickly. If the wolf was unlucky, then it was a quadriplegic and in serious pain. However, it was much more likely that due to the strength of the neck muscles the creature possessed, the bulk of the force was absorbed and the spine was merely fractured, not broken. This meant that another blow to the neck would finish the job or too much neck movement would leave the wolf paralyzed.

No matter what the blow did to the wolf, after impact, John rolled over the shoulder of the arm he landed on and put some distance between him and the wolf, grinning at the prospect of a decent fight.

 

[BiSmiley]

I managed to haul myself out of the fountain, a bloody mess maybe a few broken ribs. I saw the Ink standing over the beast he'd nearly broke in two with a smile. It was still flailing about "May want to cut out its heart or it'll be up again in a few minutes." The healed fast too unfortunately.

I felt queasy for a moment a sharp pain in my back and a slight crack, and my legs gave out! "Fuck...fuck!" I reached around to find I was bleeding pretty good, must've buggered up my spine...

I'd been injured like this before, took too damn long to heal though...spent half a year paralyzed and stuck at the Beastial training Den the whole fucking time... this wasn't as bad but still hurt like a bitch.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Brosk Duvan

He watched intently at the battle below, things suddenly started to go wrong for the mutt. Then a scream reached his ears and he turned his head, looking into the direction the scream came from. The slums, seemed like this was a well-organized attack, with a hiss that he knew could be heard on the plain he ran along the rooftops on his way to the scream. He hoped to high hell that it was not a were. This one just proved that claws and teeth did not faze it much, luckily he had his blades and those were the ones that could actually kill the bloody thing dead.

He dropped from the roof and sniffed, undead, the alley looked like a butcher waded through the people with an axe. A low moan and whimpering reached lead the way for him into a dark, dank building. He found a girl trying to hide in a corner as a person shuffled towards her, then Brosk realized what the person was. A zombie. With a low growl he moved forward and lashed out with his talons, the zombie's head went flying and the now finally dead body fell to the ground. Brosk knelt down to lower his height and not scare the frightened child any further.

"Come little one, I will take you to a safe place,"

she shook her head and in a stuttering voice said,

"No....there is more..."

Brosk turned his head on impulse and saw that what he had thought to be dead corpses pull themselves to their feet. He heaved a sigh as he got to his feet, this time he was really in deep dog crap. He cracked his knuckles and looked at the little girl,

"When you see an opening run, find a Keeper and send them here. This is going to get rather...messy."

He did not want to admit to her that he might die here before she could get away, but he had to give her a chance to get away at least. The first zombie shuffled through the door and Brosk ripped it's head off with a clawed swipe, the back door cracked inward and as Brosk turned to face the sound, the door collapsed and more zombies shambled into the small building. An uppercut to the leading zombie resulted in a satisfying crack, but if it was jaw or neck Brosk had no idea as more zombies started to stream in through the doors. He snarled and attacked any and all that came close to the corner where the little girl huddled. Strange thing was that he did not fear for his life, but for her's, pulling his Katars he set about decapitating the zombies. Soon the stench was overwhelming, but still they came. This was not good. Sheathing one Katar, he grabbed the girl, tucked her under his arm and with brute power and ferocity forced a path open to the front door.

With loads of luck the worst he got was clawed and the girl not harmed, reaching a low roof he tossed the little girl as gently as possible onto it, then turned to face the zombies, drawing his sheathed katar,

"Go to the Fountain Square, there was Keepers before I came here."

He wanted to add hurry into that sentence, but she was just a little child and he had more pressing problems, preventing himself from becoming food and maybe an undead himself. He lashed out with his Katars and snarled, not that it mattered just how much he snarled, it just made him the audible target and that was what he wanted at least let the girl escape.

 

[Mantra]

Dietrich Ward

The wolf was clearly confused as multiple enemies bombarded it from all sides. Then Dietrich saw yet another Keeper, this one a glowing ink, leap into the fray. Dietrich watched the glowing, grinning fool strike the wolf and ready himself, standing out in the open, cocky and brash and confident, waiting for the wolf to recover and attack.

Typical Ink.

Dietrich however, did not relish any such confrontation. He had lived long enough to see far too may Keepers ripped apart or worse with such displays of bravado. Still, he too waited, keeping a knocked arrow at the ready, but his reasons for hesitating were different. The wolf was clearly staggered by the blow to the neck. It wobbled slightly, muzzle down and then with a whipping motion, the beast coughed, hacking flem and flecks of blood onto the ground at its feet. That was what Dietrich was watching for, waiting.

The wolf’s head remained down, twitches in its neck rippling. The ears flattened back and then the head whipped up again, mouth opening, drawing a deep breath as it prepared to cough again…. Dietrich released, the bowstring twanged and sent the arrow flying towards the wolf.
The spaded shaft vanished into the wolf’s mouth at the very apex of the pre-cough. The wolf’s cough turned into a surprised yelp and hack. Shock and pain made the wolf spin and whirl, careening about as it danced backwards, crashing into the wall of a nearby house. It was all for nothing however, the arrow had swept through the wolf’s soft pallet of the mouth and up into the brain. As the great wolf rebounded off the wall it fell over, dead by the time it struck the ground.

Dietrich pulled and knocked another arrow, scanning the rooftops for another opponent, wary of another attack as he moved forward slowly.

 

[a_libertine]

Silas looked at the dead wolf a moment, then walked over toward the archer. Stopping in his tracks, Silas' face contorted as the smell that he had followed to this district came back in full force.

"Gods," he swore, "That smell is horrible."

Silas doubted the other Keepers would be able to smell it yet, though he supposed it was possible that they could. "There is something about a quarter mile off, maybe a little more, that is just putrid," he said.

"Any ideas what it is?"