scotland ♔ yet how the wind revives us here

[untethered]

♬ Presentiment - Manami Kiyota

WHO || Belle, Gold, Emma, Hook, Lila [closed]
WHAT || Several Knights take a secret journey to try to help Amara...
WHERE || Oakhurst, Scotland
WHEN || January 15th, 2014 [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

It's probably a very good thing that Gold sweet-talked them a car in the nearby tiny Scottish village of Oakhurst, because it is freezing cold out and snow blankets almost everything around. Walking the seven miles up the Old Road to the ruins would be a bitch and a half.

Instead, they comfortably drove past rocky downs, near stands of old-growth oak covered in snow, and past two farms that looked abandoned. No other travelers were visible on the lonely road, which finally curves, passing east of a narrow ravine. Belle signals for them to pull over here, where, at the road's closest approach to the cleft, several broken pillars jut from the earth where the ravine widens and opens into something akin to more of a deep, but narrow, cavern. Two of the pillars stand straight, but most of them lean against the sloped earth. Others are broken and several have apparently fallen into the darkness-shrouded depths. A few similar pillars are visible on the opposite side of the ravine.

Comments

[bittersweeter]

[ lila's move puts her near to emma and across from hook, flanking this skeleton as well. since guns + skellies = useless, she instead tries to distract and interfere, swinging her backpack around with the skill of an angry old lady to take it's attention off them and on to her. (aid another 14 (18-4 for an improvised weapon); +2 bonus on hook's next attack) ]

[sternshield]

[ erky's playing it safe i guess so he doesn't hit belle or the old man because he sure got a 6 attack. whoops. SO EFFECTIVE ]

[undealt]

[Bless you, Erky. I don't have to rewrite this tag now.

The skeleton has officially pissed Gold off more than anyone will ever know. Growling, he lashes out with his free hand, grabbing the thing by its neck and casts corrosive touch (nat 20 touch atk, dmg 13 ._.)]

[unhand]

[Unfortunately, Lila's help isn't all that helpful since Hook is filled with fail and his sword slips under the skeleton's arm without hitting anything (atk 10). Still, he manages to get his shit together enough to smash the back of his hook into the ribs (atk 21, dmg... 2).]

[herebemonsters]

[ hook's hit strikes! and the skeleton is knocked down to 0 hp, where it uses its last half action to angrily strike back at him, but it's the most half-assed thing you'll ever see. (atk 2). and then it collapses into a pile of bones.

unfortunately, it is literally at that exact same moment that a dire rat comes shooting out of the room to the north, and a voice bellows something in goblinoid from within. apparently, they've caught someone's attention.

the rat runs right at emma, teeth gnashing, but not catching at her. (atk 5) ]

[uncurse]

[ emma is happy to take a five-foot step out of the way (to the east) and shoot at the rat without hesitation tho, now that the skeleton has crumbled into a heap of bones (atk 18, dmg 7). ] What the hell was that?! [ she's not even paying attention to the ROUS problem that has manifested, she's freaking about the loud goblin bellow and looking at hook and rumple expectantly. they are obviously the goblin experts. isn't that the same as ogres or something ??? ]

[untethered]

[ her bullet hits, but the thing keeps moving despite the wound. a second dire rat emerges and runs right at erky, also ineffectively snapping at him. belle steps in to stab at it (atk 18, dmg... 1), while informing the others with a worried look at the place the sound emerged from: ] I believe there was something in that about... a cookpot.

[bittersweeter]

[ lila fires at the same rat as emma (atk 20 total, dmg 6). ] I'm sorry, like he's gonna eat us? What kind of Hansel and Gretel fairytale shit is this?

[sternshield]

[ lila's shot takes out the rat, which whines once sharply and then rolls over onto its side. erky tries to bring his morningstar down on the head of the other rat, but it dodges at his feet.

just then, out lumbers the source of the threat - a 7 foot tall bugbear wearing a crown of antlers on his head, and full scale mail, a large morningstar held in his hand. he lets out a hearty shout and comes at hook, swinging the weapon with both hands (atk 25; dmg 8) ]

[undealt]

[This is Gold's last freakin' Scorching Ray spell for the day, you y'all better appreciate it. He aims one ray the bugbear (atk 19, 11 dmg), but the second ray misses the rat (atk 2).]

[unhand]

[Hook bares his teeth in a fierce grin, stepping in to stab forward with his sword (atk 18, dmg 3 if it hits), before jabbing his hook hard into an exposed bit of fur (atk 22, dmg 12 with penetration).]

[uncurse]

It's not eating anyone. [ emma backs off to get out of the range of the bugbear, putting her back to the wall as she raises her gun to fire off a shot at the beast (atk 18, 12 penetration damage). ]

[untethered]

[ emma's bullet strikes the bugbear, who's bleeding from hook's slashes, but he just looks angrier... meanwhile, fang bites back at belle, chomping on her leg (atk 16, dmg 5). she stabs down at it again, digging her sword into its back (atk 16, 5 dmg). it squeals, barely holding onto life. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ lila does not believe you, emma, because that bitch looks hungry so lila doesn't take her eyes off of him, firing another round just after emma's. (atk 23, dmg 15) ]

[sternshield]

[ lila's shot takes the bugbear in the chest... and he staggers backwards and then falls over, unconscious.

erky finally manages to hit something (atk 20, dmg 8), slamming his morningstar down on the rat's head and crushing it. aww yis.

/init ]

[bittersweeter]

[ well... okay, so emma was right. lila pauses once everything seems to be dead. ] Anyone suddenly starving or is it just me?

[uncurse]

[ yeah now that it's slumped over on the floor, emma is finding this wall a very attractive option to ... keep her standing. 7 hp and con damage and spent spells and an ambush is not her idea of a fun time. she drops her backpack off her shoulders so she can slump flatly against the wall, exhaling heavily. ] I've got food. [ she indicates her backpack. ]

[undealt]

[LOOK WHO FEELS BAD HE NEARLY LIT BELLE ON FIRE. IT'S GOLD. He stoops to check out the bite on her leg.] Are you all right?

[untethered]

[ belle looks slightly unnerved, but she glances around and sees that the field of battle is cleared finally, and relaxes a bit, though she shakes off gold's concern, reaching out to pat at his arm ] I-- I'm alright. Is everyone else--?

[unhand]

[Hook sheathes his sword and hovers near Emma to catch her if she needs it. He looks over the rest of the party to see how they're faring, then slips his hand into his coat pocket to pull out his bottle of rum. He pulls out the cork with his teeth and takes a swig before offering it to Emma. She looks like she could use it.]

And I've got drink. Reckon those golden apples are nearby?

[uncurse]

No way of telling, is there? [ she looks to gold for confirmation. detect magic ????? but she's not thinking to try it and also probably has a range of 0. she grimaces, holstering her gun and taking the flask from hook. ]

[bittersweeter]

We could ask this guy... [ instead of attending to emma because hook has that covered, she crosses to the bear thing. and very calmly, shoots it. (atk 22, dmg 6) ] Oh no wait, we can't. Oops.

[undealt]

[WOW LILA. That's creepy.

Now that Belle's checked out, Gold's able to assess how badly he's off. He's wobbly on his feet when he stands, keeping balance with his cane and he casts detect magic just for the hell of it. It's probably not going to work.]

[unhand]

[Hook doesn't really flinch at the extra murder since the big reason he didn't do it himself was that he didn't think of it. And he's worried about Emma. He's not doing perfectly well himself, all battered and bruised, but he's still standing freely.]

Perhaps we should rest awhile before we continue our search. Take some time to heal. [Looking at u Emma. But he does spare Belle a glance.] Got anymore of those potions?

[uncurse]

[ emma starts at the noise of the gunshot, straightening up. her gaze fixes on lila for a long moment, but she doesn't say anything about it, and her expression remains unreadable. she slowly tears her gaze away and looks at hook. ] And risk another one of those things charging in here while we're sleeping? [ she's just pointing out the flaw; she is pro-rest at this point but unwilling to state it outright. ]