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Post by EloHim on Feb 11, 2020 17:40:38 GMT -8
[Volundr]
He tries to look for the pattern in the madness. But he'd be damned if he would ever understand the mind of that particular beast.
"Fuck, where is this thing going? We left the bait on the ship, and the screaming squid just does not stop hollering...it's only a matter of time before Jorm Junior decides to go for the biggest target in his waters..." - he mutters to himself as he watches the target. He knew nothing about fighting such beasts...except that aiming for the head was the most obvious choice.
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Feb 12, 2020 13:16:27 GMT -8
/Lekalis/
The Ex-Lord listened to the waves crash, the men shouting, felt the waves crash and roll the hull with a tide mutilated by some unseen beast. With a dogged sigh, he tightened his grip on his spear and continued to wait; the creature would likely surface and bite, or suddenly coil about the vessel... or worse, beyond his imagining.
But he'd survived a dance with Charybdis once, he was certain some nameless serpent would be a lesser task.
He found himself wishing for one of Tilly's little blades, the smallest shiv would be enough for him; he need but pierce the creatures hide to gut it.
Somewhat haphazardly, he looked to the various oarsmen and crew of the longboat to see if any had a small blade he might bite onto when the serpent surfaced: a seax or dagger of some kind...
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Post by Kidney on Feb 12, 2020 14:20:04 GMT -8
Hugo's fear was heightened more than ever, and his eyes flitted around the ship before they made it to the deck.
There, Hugo caught sight of the serpent.
He did not think, he did not stop.
The clown rushed to the prow of the ship, eyes aglow with inspiration that shot from him like daylight, and in his hands, he began to play the loudest he had done in years, a battle-ballad as powerful as the screams of Tobin. He laughed, and he roared, and he played, lost in perilous musical ecstasy. In this, a voice like thunder escaped him, and he began to hum, deep, like the songs of Volundr's homeland.
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Post by rosallora on Feb 12, 2020 20:06:10 GMT -8
The song from Hugo carried through the air like the song from a seabird riding the salt wind. It goes over the gale and it sails into the ears of the sailors pulling the longboat along. It surges against the black waves, cutting through and towards the serpent straight out of Hell.
Lekalis finds knives in no short supply. And they are very largely unattended, their owners listening to the still-issuing cries of the commanders at the front of the little boats. It's easy enough to slip one out from rope-sheathes or from under one of the benches, taking it for his own.
The serpent breaches again, closer. It opens its maw, showing off glistening teeth that throw off the light of the moon. Tavi yelps when she sees it, the men aboard the Ursa pausing in the work as it stays still for the first time, its large, turquoise and silver eyes taking in the scene.
"Beautiful," Sal whispers under her breath.
"ROW!" The frontman at the helm of the longboat cries, his throat being chewed up with every command. Jonah holds to his post with white knuckles, looking at the two landlubbers in the boat he was directing. "I hope you're ready!"
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Feb 12, 2020 21:54:47 GMT -8
/Lekalis/
With a long drag of air, knowing well it might be the last he has the chance to, he rises away from the knives on the men and opts to loosen the straps to his armor; spotting the serpent in the same motion he feels a numb shiver up his spine. He could feel the electricity in his blood tire from seeing such terrors time and time again, but there was still the smallest ounce of lightning in his veins as he held his eyes on the creature's vile eyes.
He was far from the best javelineer, but he had to keep the creature's head down somehow; keep it guessing lest it have the mind to formulate an attack.
Promptly, the Ex-Lord took one momentus step forward to the edge of the longboat, spear shifting to posture itself somewhere close to its center of balance as he raised his arms to throw. A hand reach down to touch the shoulder of the nearest oarsmen, before he took one final and swift step onto the railing of the boat to launch his spear at the Serpent...
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Post by rosallora on Feb 13, 2020 17:12:57 GMT -8
It flies through the air, a streak of silver against the night. It lodges in the beast's scales, finding enough purchase with its tip to stick out of its side just below its jaw. It roars, mighty and angry, the night air chilling a few degrees further as spittle flies from its throat.
It plunges down into the depths, the spear still thrust into it. It surges back up, breaking through the water and looking at the group with wild eyes and deadly intention.
Tavi, aboard the boat, starts to aim the harpoon launcher. She heaves with all her strength, getting the machinated thing to shift, looking through the crosshairs as the bard plays beside her.
There is a crash, and a crunch. The sound of metal hitting wood, and the slump and fleshy sound of skin being dragged and moved. The roperat glances over her shoulder and shrieks at the sight of Tobin, already bloodied from his escape, making his way towards the bow.
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Post by EloHim on Feb 15, 2020 5:31:34 GMT -8
[Volundr]
He watches as the man’s spear flies to its intended target. That was a start they needed...but one is never enough. Its like a needle to it.
"Not bad, red one! A twenty more and we can call him a pin-cushion!"- Vol chuckles, looking for the beast in the water, oblivious to what was happening on the ship. Viking didn't have to look for long as the bastard showed his face again, looking at their boat… Now was his chance to contribute.
"Now lemme show you how we do it in Uppsala..."- he holds out the harpoon he took from the ship… He takes aim. The only way to make him angry was to aim for the head… The eyes would be the best thing, but he'll take what he can get.
A throw. The harpoon flies through the air with the speed of a flying arrow...maybe little less than that… But it hits. And it hits good.
(rolled an 18)
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Post by rosallora on Feb 15, 2020 6:27:18 GMT -8
The monster's eye turns to jelly as the harpoon sticks, deep and dark, into its pupil. It thrashes, body wavering above in a pillar as the waves crash against it, the water thrown into tumult and the boat rocked as its mouth opens, revealing its dark gullet. It screeches, and Jonah, wide-eyed, passes Volundr another iron length from the stores that they had on the longboat. His wide eyes look at him as he simply says,
"Do it again."
The other men still row, pushed on by a beat that was no longer carried nor needed. They knew their purpose. And the boat was coming right upon it, the beast filling the awareness and eyes of the men aboard. Its glistening scales had some strange quality to them, shimmering in the dark moonlight with strange purpose. The spear Lekalis threw before sits firmly at the bottom of the serpent's throat, nearly close enough to touch.
"READY THE HOOKS!" cries a nearby boatsman. His crew were still pulling, attempting to encircle the creature. THe serpent tail thrashes, and there's the sound of splintering wood as it comes up and knocks the boat halfway into the air, two unfortunate sailors landing in the ice water below.
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Post by EloHim on Feb 15, 2020 14:42:47 GMT -8
[Volundr]
A little firework goes of in Vol's imagination as the spear gets the serpent in the eye. That was a win in his book. Definitely. He nailed the bastard in the eye. He's a god's damn legend! He can do anything and everything!
The moment of vanity clouds the viking's perception. He's in his own little Valhalla, standing over the slayed beast, ready to wear his bones as a trophy and then drink a pint with Thor.
He doesn't even bat an eye to the man's request.
"Again? I mean, sure..." - he says, taking the spear and throwing it to where the beast was supposed to be right now... Except he was not there anymore.
The little Valhalla in his mind cracks and crumbles into dust as viking realises that he just sent the harpoon to the far away waters whilst the beast was in the spitting distance from them.
"Rass...sonovabitch."- he curses under his breath. He would've hit himself if he had more time. But the beast was right in front of them. "Fuck the harpoons. We'll pacify the gris the old fashioned way."
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Feb 15, 2020 16:12:01 GMT -8
/Lekalis/
"Ah." Was all the Lord managed to remark upon the Viking's approval of throw; it was a surprisingly good strike, coupled with the Viking's own ocular strike, it was a fair first volley by those marks alone. Yet the Serpent wasn't without riposte; the boat surging upwards as wood groaned in protest. It wasn't unlike a storm, or the ram of a pirate's ship... in that much he found some surprise in his own level-headedness as he held onto a nearby man and hastily undid the straps to his own breastplate.
"Here, fellow..." Lekalis spoke loud enough for the nearest man to hear, but it still felt like he was whispering amongst the shout of men and roar of sea and serpent,
"... Hold this rope fast, don't mind your dagger, and wish me luck, yeah?" in truth, the Lordling didn't speak to the man so much as at him. Having watched his Love's quick fingers dance on more than just purses and valuables, he let his hand subtly drift down to swipe the man's knife and fix it betwixt his teeth.
As the vessel struck back down to seafoam and waves, Lekalis' armor dully thunked against the wood. A rope found near the oarsman's bench served his instruction; fastening the rope about his waist he gently and quietly tossed a length of it into the lap of the man to ignore or heed as he rolled his shoulders free of his cloak and once more took to the railing of the boat.
Perhaps it was that momentary hesitation of beholding such a monster, or to guide his aim, that his footing became only slightly offset by the rush of waves and rabble of men; no sooner had he put energy into his legs to leap towards the serpent and his lodged spear did he realize that he'd cast himself too far to the left of the creature. His hands reached out but his shortness damned him to the cold of the sea...
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Post by Kidney on Feb 15, 2020 16:27:11 GMT -8
There was something therapeutic about Hugo's eagle-like oversight of the battle below. The fear that gripped his boyish heart at the sight of the titanic monster was held back solely by the thrum of the music in his heart, and in his lute. His eyes, wet, active, sharp, locked on the bleeding eye of the Serpent below. He savored its pain, added it to the rhythm, the melody, the swing. Hugo loved it, yet he feared it too, and so, it must die.
He blinked, and he saw a house before him. Nothing stirred within, but nothing within Hugo stirred either. He entered the house, young, tanned hands pushing a handmade door, and eyes cast within.
A familiar fire sat unlit, cold air sitting stagnant within a house that smelled like blood. Hugo stepped further in, and turned the corner...
Blood. So much blood.
The scream ripped Hugo from his subconscious, and he jumped from the deck, breaking the highest string on his lute and aiming a glance to Tobin, his beastialness making his way down the deck towards him. Hugo was frozen, frozen with fear. Like he was so long ago.
"Joan? Is that my son? My son in your hands?"
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Post by rosallora on Feb 15, 2020 16:51:25 GMT -8
An unintelligible sound rose from the maw of Tobin as he rushed forward, tentacles fwipping and tripping over themselves as he clumsily made his way to the railing. Tavi watched wide-eyed as Hugo attempted to embrace the monster, Tobin easily throwing off the bard as he slithered over the wooden rail.
"Tobin!" Sal calls, but it falls on deaf ears, and the monster, or man, plummets into the dark water below.
Tavi abandons her post at the launcher and grabs Hugo, shaking him harshly. "Pull yourself together! To your mind! To your mind!" The woman slaps him quickly across the cheek, hoping to shock him to his senses. "Don't let the sea take you!"
And the sea was the very thing that surrounded Lekalis, his form nearly light against the dark of the water. Salt was all around him. He saw for a moment, blinking through the pain of ocean water, the silhouette of the twisting creature. Then he breaches the surface, gasping for breath. The rope was loose in the water, but a man onboard the longboat grasped it in his hands, and began to bring it to tautness in hopes of getting him back.
Much the same was happening with the other boat, men reaching for their companions. The serpent turns its attention to the men floating in the water that it had flung in, diving quickly and snapping up one of them in its jaws. There was no sound that came from him as he was eaten, the force of the monster forcing him under the surface taking all noise from his body. There is a black, glimmering arch in the air, and then nothing at all, the beast sinking back below.
Jonah curses, and the tail of the beast breaches the water, moving in that same, slow arc. "GET IT!"
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Post by Kidney on Feb 15, 2020 16:58:10 GMT -8
There she was. Covered in her own blood, Joan sat like a statue, wild eyes locked on the shaking being ahead of her, her own child, scabbed, cold, whimpering quietly.
Tobin threw Hugo aside.
The world returned in full force, and Hugo's voice returned to him in a startled scream, and he slammed into the deck. He scrambled with nothing like a flopping fish, and, grabbed by Tavi, he screamed again, eyes wild. Her slap came like a club, and with a yelp he locked his eyes to hers. "Tavi?" He said, scared, confused, near tears.
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Post by Bloodtrailkiller on Feb 15, 2020 17:43:17 GMT -8
/Lekalis/
The rush of water was both relieving and frightening; the last he'd gone under waves was in a frightful attack at the beach, and even then, he could yet feel shore beneath his bootheel. Yet here... there was nothing as he spasmed for a moment; his arms and legs kicking out after his initial plunge.
But there were years of instinct and impulse behind his now practiced stroke; already his arms moved and legs kicked in productive means, even so burdened by chaps and leathers, he could see the serpent's scales glistening in the Night. Visions of raiders in the Black Sea came to mind, the richest oft wore similar scale-mail and likened themselves to the myths this serpent had crawled forth from. To gut a man was like to gut a fish, there was little difference in the end.
Though as he neared the serpent's retreating form, he realized that it was soon to submerge; with due haste he almost dropped the knife in his mouth to brandish it and slash out at the creature's tail only to strike nothing but sea foam. If the creature was going underwater, he would certainly be the most prime target when it aimed to strike next; with some burgeoning panic, he tugged on the rope to hopefully inspire whoever held it to tug a bit faster... and to reassure himself that there was someone on the other end at all.
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Post by EloHim on Feb 15, 2020 20:31:59 GMT -8
[Volundr]
Man, this was just laughable. One can throw a spear, the other one can't jump...what a team. At least a man had an idea to tie himself down and give someone a rope. But not a good swimmer, no sir.
Volundr makes way to the man holding the rope and helps him tug it, pulling the bastard to the boat. The red one was not acting like a proper fish, flailing his knife about.
When viking and the other man on the boat got the longhaired mess of a lordling close to the boat, Vol bent over the edge of the boat, grabbing a man by the collar and pulled him onto the boat.
"If you wanna play bait, make sure you're not only dressed in red but bleed red. That way, you'll be noticed in no time." -he takes his chance to spit acid, whilst looking where the serpent was going to make its next appearance.They couldn't rely on Viking nailing another shot, the amount of harpoons was limited and he already missed one. No he needed to do what the red one was doing - climb on. He already did half the job.
"I need to get close to his head. I missed one chance, but not gonna miss another."
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