Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
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The pheasants scattered before him, apparently already unnerved enough that fleeing was finally the better option. In the flurry, he managed to catch one with lucky attacks of beak and talons, stunning it until he could successfully take it by the neck to a fallen log and kill it with strikes from his beak. Many of the birds had begun to scatter before his and Jigano’s dual assaults, though Jigano was still fighting off an ornery male. Rance attempted to track a second pheasant rather than getting close to the fight and getting knocked by heavy hooves himself. He might not have been much of a hunter by trade, but it was a matter of pride to know he could still take down a meal for himself that wasn’t scavenged.
Jigano’s assumption ruffled Rance’s feathers a bit, but more because of what it said about Rance’s own actions than by his offer of assistance. And hearing that he ‘helped new arrivals’ reminded Rance enough of Maea that a shadow of curiosity joined his indignation. Was this person a member of the Loreseeker’s Guild as well? Distracted by the agitated pheasants. He set the thought aside for later. Shit, that obvious? He would have sighed had he been speaking aloud. Not that you’re wrong. Got the basics after arrivin’, but yeah. More information would be nice.
——————————
Rance takes down his catch and will attack another pheasant if he can.
Sadly, nothing seemed to appear for Oliver. Part of him was beginning to regret not killing the snakes, but something just felt wrong about doing that. The things hadn't even tried to attack him and they wouldn't make good food, so he saw no reason to steal away their lives from them.
Instead, he used this failure as pure motivation, moving onwards to find more animals to hopefully bring back to his group. He would try even harder than last time, smelling the air as much as he could and using his eyes and ears as much as he could, looking around and listening for even the faintest of sounds. There would be an animal brought down: he just knew it. Oliver had to prove to the others that he could hunt.
Jigano’s Beastmaster ability came in handy thereafter: the male pheasant ceased, puffed his chest, and likely might have collectively sneered in the horse’s direction, before maneuvering off with the rest of his flock. His damage done, his role complete, save for the single pheasant Rance had massacred – the rest of them remained scattered and gone. Rance’s efforts were waylaid as well, his luck thoroughly run out. In the end, they’d managed to come away with scratches and one fowl. Perhaps they could go back to the cart, place their wares within, and see if there was anything else out there? Or – maybe in Jigano’s case, should take a break.
Oliver’s efforts continued to prove futile. In fact, his fortune seemed to get significantly worse throughout this mission, as he used his nose, smelling the air, he should’ve been paying attention to the ground. Old holes from previous animal homes and upraised roots proved to be his undoing, sliding directly into a small opening in the soil, enough to fell his front two legs entirely. Ridiculous, really.
Then there were the deer hunters. Sunjata’s attempts were finally successful, clawing down the doe’s side again as Deimos took to the other side. Together, they’d managed to trap the creature, and her speed, her swiftness, slowed in her panic, in their matched onslaught and power; panic unfurling, unwinding, until she stepped directly into the tiger’s path. Predatory instinct took over the General, bunched muscles ensuring his launch, his leap, upon the deer, and she careened into the ground, legs buckling, sides heaving. Within a moment, his jaws were around her throat, ivories clicking together, intending to suffocate, waiting for the pulse to cease, to desist. The seconds stretched, and the doe stilled. He lowered her nape, her head, into the soil, remaining eerily, steadily calm.
But the rapacious instincts were still there, and the maddening rush of everything from before clustered, coiled, and clambered together – his contempt for the other being in front of him, the fresh kill bombarding his flesh, until control wasn’t even a figment, a notion, in his mind. His piercing eyes landed upon the panther, and it was likely the fellow beast’s only warning. Then he launched again, claws intending for Sunjata this time.
--
Jigano and Rance have successfully chased off the male pheasant, but also the rest of the flock. Will they go back to the cart and deposit their catch? Or will they keep going?
Oliver failed to find anything, and what’s worse, fell into a hole!
Sunjata and Deimos took down the doe. However, Deimos has used this opportunity to attack Sunjata.
A paw outstretched in a leap, and Sunjata manages to catch his claws down the side of the doe. And as him and Deimos work together — surprising well, he finds — the General gets the final blow. Blood has already sprayed from the creature, marring his paws and fur with it as he stills beside the doe when it’s heart finally stops, and his steel gaze focuses on the bloodstained tiger that looks back at him.
This is not a position he wants to be in, not at all. But he had been right to warn Oliver to stay away.
Deimos lunges, and all Sunjata has time to do is pin his ears back, a slight half turn to try and spring out of the way, but Deimos is large and holds a vendetta, and Sunjata finds claws raking along the side of his black fur as he falls to the ground directly beneath the sharp claws of the Sword.
A pulse of sharp pain leaves him from the Attuned bond to all those near, incapable of keeping them down and minimal as he focuses on the General with a loud growl that leaves his throat. He snaps in a rushed, pained, and pissed off wild sense as he tries to push with his own claws back at Deimos to get him to back off. He knows he deserves it, but at the same time he’d rather not be left behind in the fucking woods of all places. You don't think I regret it, do you?
Sunjata gets attacked by Deimos and tries to push the General off!
everyone has a secret
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
This was not turning out to be Jigano’s most dignified day. And he definitely wasn’t making the best impression on the new raven in town, which only added to his exasperation. It wasn’t Rance’s fault, though, and the bard-in-horse’s-clothing shook his head as he glared at the departing pheasants. I’m afraid so, he admitted wryly to the successful hunter between the pair of them. The locals might be a little surprised at an Attuned having more than one shape, but not quite that surprised. He shook his maned head, shifting back to human press a hand to his face and send Healing magic flowing into the wounds to knit them closed.
”Stop by the Atheneum when you get the chance,” he offered with a half-hidden smile. ”Big, domed building in the Sanctuary. I’d like to help, if I can. And I’m well-known for talking a few ears off if given half a chance.” He chuckled before shifting back to his fox form. I’d be happy to share what I know, to help get you started here. I was in your feathers once. A helping hand goes a long ways-- He cut off as a flicker of pain pinged faintly through the bond, attenuated by distance. There was no call for help, however, and he hesitated as he tried to determine the direction it had come from.
Maybe… if you want to drop the pheasant off in the wagon and see what else has been caught, we can meet up to the southwest after? he suggested. I’ll head out first and see if I can sniff out any more trails. Since he had been rather useless at hunting so far, maybe he could find something else to feed them, since one bird wouldn’t go very far.
And while he was at it, head towards where he’d last seen Sunjata going.
Jigano suggests Rance drop the pheasant off and meet him again to the southwest. He heads southwest and tries to sniff out something else to hunt – or find out what Sunjata is doing.
It was likely helping Jigano’s case that Rance was already distracted by his shape-shifting. His only thoughts on the hunt itself were more toward the strange aggressiveness of the prey itself. That was certainly not Jigano’s fault. He didn’t look directly at the white horse, ostensibly trying to see if there was any way to take down one of the swiftly departing pheasants, but the ruff of feathers around his neck fluffed up as he pulled his head down between his wings in embarrassment. Catching the shift of another transformation out of the corner of his eye, he gave up on the birds and looked over at the other Attuned. His head rose and ruff settled as his focus changed from tension to interest. If the situation hadn’t been what it was, Rance would definitely have been giving the man a once-over, from long silver hair to long legs. Younger-looking than he would have expected, but he wasn’t foolish enough to think looks denoted experience, he didn’t even know if people here were all mortal! The smile reminded him of something — someone — but he couldn’t immediately place why.
The raven bobbed his head in an avian nod at the invitation and the offer to help. Especially at the implication that Jigano wasn’t from Caido either. Not only would be helpful to get a perspective from someone who had an idea of what it was like to be so lost, but it would be interesting to compare notes. Not to mention, Jigeno wouldn’t exactly be a hardship to look at for an extended period.
Even if he wasn’t kidding about the ‘talking a few ears off’, if this was a sample…
Rance flinched when the pain winged across him, brief and as obviously belonging to someone else as the voices he’d been hearing. From someone in their hunting party, maybe? Right… Yeah, I’ll take you up on that. He was hesitant at first, weirded out by the strange, alien spike of pain. He shook out his wings as if sloughing the sensation off of him, and Jigano was speaking again before he could continue.
Southwest, right, Rance agreed, looking around them with some suspicion, though he heard nothing strange. He turned one dark eye on the silver fox as he hopped to get a grip on the pheasant with both clawed feet. Be careful, he said with a seriousness people back home would have said was uncharacteristic. Jigano probably had a better idea of what was out there than he ever could, but that didn’t make Rance any less wary.
Rance took off with the pheasant in his claws, a little awkward for the weight. It would take him a while to return to the wagon and drop off his prey, noting that it looked out of place in the otherwise empty cart. As he took to the air again, he called out across the bond to anyone who could hear, Animals out here are fuckin’ violent. Anyone else havin’ any luck?
——————
Rance drops off the 1 (one) pheasant in the wagon and checks in on the others before he heads southwest.
A soft growl escapes Oliver in frustration. What the actual fuck. What the fuck in fuck. First of all: where the hell are all the animals. APPARENTLY everyone else is finding good game but no. Not him. Nope. Not Oliver No-Last-Name. Apparently, he is unable to find literally fuck all. And then, of course, he fucking falls into a hole....kind of. His face basically slams into the mud and he growls very loudly as he straightens himself back up, mud now caking his face and poor fur. Okay. That's fucking it.
I'm finding fuck all. I'll head back towards where we met. Very angry, Oliver starts the trek back to where the wagon was, still looking for some game, but also in a very pissy mood. Right now, he just looks like an angry kitten covered in mud. Fantastic.
Oliver begins to head back towards the cart but still continues to look for prey, even though he is a ball of anger.
03-06-2020, 09:57 PM (This post was last modified: 03-06-2020, 09:59 PM by Deimos.)
DEIMOS
the resurrected sword
Chaos and ferocity, teeth and vengeance, his mind was a seething maelstrom of vitriol, vehemence, and violence, intending to rake just as much vendettas and rebuttal as he could. He wanted the other man, the other beast, to bleed, to fall apart, to be massacred on the forest floor, to be left for naught but the vultures and scavengers. Fueled and incensed by loss, by the ridiculous nature of their misadventures, by every other cataclysm rocking, ricocheting, over the stretch of abyss and voids, the Reaper came full circle, no noble Sword, but disastrous, pernicious heathen. Sunjata’s words were more of an echo. Do you regret any damage you inflict? His machinations curled to Hotaru, to the spite-laden wedding he never attended but heard well enough about, to the cannibal, to the damned end result of that hellhole excursion into caverns and towards dragons.
Pushing and shoving, Sunjata managed to escape beneath the slash of his paws, but not without some damage accomplished, the stretch, the reach of Deimos’ claws stinging, digging into his side. Not to be dismayed, not to be outdone, not to be waylaid in his rage, in his wrath, in his contempt, Deimos rampaged once more, racing forward, intending to use his mass, his bulk, to knock the panther down to the ground.
Jigano and Rance successfully drop off the pheasant – no harm, no fowl there. If they were intrigued by the pulse of Sunjata’s pain response, ordinarily they could easily go and follow the strangled ruminations – except a series of leaping, bounding deer would waylay their path, the herd from Sunjata and Deimos’ previous teamwork, rushing, surrounding, and bombarding their senses. Would they follow, give chase, or continue to seek out the panther and tiger?
And Oliver. Oh, Oliver. Out of the hole issue, and straight into another.
The pheasants were back.
The male was once again displeased, irate, and thoroughly unimpressed by the number of predators around his flock today, and immediately rushed out of the brush, intending to chase off the much larger cat.
--
Deimos has done some damage to Sunjata, but Sunjata has successfully pushed him off. Deimos attempts to go and push Sunjata down.
Rance and Jigano have put their kill on the wagon, and come across the renegade deer herd!
Oliver, unfortunately, has met up with the pheasants. The male attempts to chase him off.
Things were just getting fan-fucking-tastic. Almost as if all gods of Caido were out to get him, things decided to backfire. Yes, he did want some game to kill, but absolutely not like this. Oliver barely had the chance to smell the birds before one of the stupid little things basically came at him, squawking and being a terrible nuisance. BIRDS. BIRDS. BIRDS. Oliver frantically yelled through the bond. He didn't exactly have many options here so...time to try something super wild and probably stupid.
Letting out a roar ofsorts, Oliver growled at the birds and leaped at the bird trying to attack him, he shut his eyes as he did so, knowing that he'd really rather not get his eyes pecked out. Swiping, he tried to dig his claws into the male bird as well as any of the female birds that happened to be coming near him.
Oliver jumps at the bird, shuts his eyes, and tries to violently kill the pheasants.
Another deep rebounding growl leaves Sunjata as he pushes the tiger off, feeling claws along his shoulder puncture. It’s barely enough time to breathe as Deimos’ voice growls equally as upset in the bond of his mind. Bearing his teeth at Deimos and pinning his ears back, he tries to stand, feeling the wound tear a bit more with the motion.
It was never my intention, Deimos. He growls, voice cut short as the tiger pushes him down again, claws digging into shoulders this time and Sunjata can’t help the further pulses of pain. I didn’t mean to get them killed. I didn’t mean to hurt Hotaru. I regret everything about what fucking happened. He says rushed, panting with pain. So back off. With that, he pushes back against the General, hissing beneath the pain of claws to get him to back off again.
everyone has a secret
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Oliver was caterwauling in the background, but Jigano had his own concerns as a herd of deer broke through the underbrush ahead of him, and the small fox realized immediately that he was outmatched. Neither fox nor raven nor python forms would help him here. His horse form might have saved him from getting trampled, but he wouldn't be able to collect any meat for the wagon like that.
Which really only left one option available to the bard.
Did you have dragons on your world? he asked Rance with a hint of wicked mischief in his mental tone even as the pale fox sprouted wings and scales, expanding in size to a lithe, long necked silver beast that was thirty feet in length from scaly nose to the feather-like tip of his sinuous tail. He kept his wings tightly folded as the deer bounded around or away from him and lashed out with jaws and tail, hoping to grab or stun one or more of the bounding prey beasts.
Jigano turns into a dragon and attempts to bite at one deer and stun or break the legs of another with his tail.
Another ping of pain and the exclamation of ‘BIRDS’ came nearly at the same time — were they from the same source? It was hard to tell and he nearly asked, but he’d already offered his — admittedly vague — warning. If Oliver wasn’t being careful about the wild prey he was assaulting or being assaulted by, then it was his own damn fault. The cry hadn’t been an actual call for help, at least, so maybe the spotted cat would be able to handle himself?
Rance was on his way to where he was supposed to meet Jigano when he came upon the herd of deer bounding through the forest. Running from the other hunters, perhaps? Either way, there wasn’t much a single raven could do by himself, he mused ruefully. Maybe if some of the larger predators had been nearby….
He caught sight of something pale moving through the trees even as Jigano’s amused query came across the bond. Dragons? Yeah, but I’ve never see—what the actual fuck?! Rance croaked an alarmed cry, back-pedaling midair as the fox was replaced by something else, something unlike and mortal or Hidden beast he’d crossed paths with. In his unconscious haste to put space between them, he arches past the deer, perhaps even spooking them further? Not that a raven was groing to be much compared to a fucking dragon.
Rance is startled by the dragon. He darts past the deer and might startle them by accident, making it easier for Jigano.
The panther fell, and Deimos gave no care, no indication, of the other beast’s pinned ears, bared teeth; too far gone now, too lost in the rapacity of his condemnation, of his ire, of his searing, unholy sedition. It’d been far too long since he’d been allowed, permitted, to release the seething maelstroms, the carved abhorrence, the fiendish, antagonistic dominion, and in these strangled, ravenous moments, there was no return. He was ice and fire, rage and contempt, a reticent rapier howling unsung violence, yearning to tear the fool apart; minatory enticement, overwhelming, overbearing, eldritch treachery.
What could’ve been brotherly, comrades-in-arms motions had long since been sundered and stained; this was merely the inevitable, the ominous declarations of lost souls and mutilated lives. With Deimos’ mass towering over him now, the push upon his shoulders was like nothing, only a glancing thought as he slid and then repositioned, ferocity given over and smothering, consuming, what little compassion was left in his cold, withered heart. He maneuvered one paw to press in on the panther’s neck, along windpipes, to strangle-hold breathing, to asphyxiate. He yearned for the panic in the fiend’s eyes, for the widening stare, for those brief instances where he thought he might die by Deimos’ motives; like all the others he’d rendered obsolete and gone. Sunjata’s words were nothing; paltry, minute, trifles, too little too late, naught to refute the circumstances, the I didn’t mean to such a waste of a thought. His actions had led to all of these circumstances, combined with idiocy, with ignorance, with foolhardy discontent. And now four were dead. The Sword’s deepened tones ran on in his chest, rumbled through the attuned bond, every syllable a cold, desolate blade. You are selfish and reckless, and everyone else has to suffer for it.
The Reaper would’ve seen the killing blow right before his eyes, and dealt it. There’d be no other warnings, no other ultimatums. A threat removed, gone, vanquished, never to touch or tarnish another in his midst. The temptation was there, existing in the press of his mind, in the weight of his paw. The only thing that saved Sunjata from more pain, from more inflictions, was a promise the Sword had made to the Shield.
He lifted his limb, and uttered one command. Leave. The rest of the warnings and ultimatums would exist there, in between the ether of woodland and carcasses – not needing to be said or spoken. This was only chance he’d ever receive from the General.
Seemingly worlds apart, but realistically not far at all, Oliver’s luck had completely, utterly, run out. The outcry of birds might have fallen upon deaf or all-too-knowing ears, but no one advanced towards him except the pheasants. The roar did make the male hesitate, but he continued to flap his wings, to insist upon Oliver leaving, beak striving to peck in all directions, a driving, unrelenting force of fowl. Oliver’s paw swept towards him, knocking him off his chosen path, saving the beast’s eyes. The females made quite the racket, fluttering and flying off into the brush again, quite done with today’s antics.
Dragons might have been overkill for deer, but based upon today’s prey, it might’ve been the only reasonable solution. Rance’s tactics of herding deer in Jigano’s direction worked wonderfully, several smaller does fleeing in blind panic towards draconic tails, one in particular making her leap far too late, and tripping, skittering, across the soil.
--
Though Sunjata tried to push Deimos off again, it only worked for a moment, Deimos coming right back. In return, Deimos pressed a paw upon his windpipe, releasing him thereafter, and told him to leave.
Oliver’s eyes haven’t been pecked out! He lost his chance with the female pheasants, but Oliver knocked the male pheasant off to the side. Is this your opportunity to finally be rid of that incredibly vicious animal?
Team Rance and Jigano has finally had more success! Rance’s flying towards the deer steered several in Jigano’s direction, and the dragon’s tail has tripped a young, dim doe.
03-07-2020, 04:00 PM (This post was last modified: 03-07-2020, 04:03 PM by Jigano.)
Willfully oblivious to the clash occurring nearby, Jigano was far too focused on the deer herd to move beyond them to the drama playing out beyond. Not when there was finally a moment of connection, a crack of tail against slender legs, even if his bite missed its intended target.
Well, now you've seen one, he sent to Rance, perhaps just a little pleased by the reaction, though at least he'd tried to warn the newcomer. Can you try and startle another one back this way? If not, maybe you can follow them and guide me if I can get above the canopy to spread my wings. But first...
Never let it be said that Jigano of all people couldn't walk and talk at the same time. Or, in this case, talk and bite, twisting back along his own sinuous length to attempt to take the fallen doe in the throat with long, sharp teeth before she could rise again.
Isuma, meanwhile, stood guard over the cart and the lonely pheasant within, a mighty defender of their current catch while the bigger predators were out spilling more blood on the Woodland loam.
Jigano asks Rance to try and scare another deer back towards him, and tries to kill the doe with a bite to the jugular.
