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 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. ]

[unhand]

We'll take turns keeping watch. I'll go first. If something comes, I'll wake you. [He gives her a soft smile, reaching for the flask.] Just rest up.

[bittersweeter]

And I don't sleep, so. He'll have company. [ although she is pointedly... not looking at hook as she moves back to emma to rifle around in her bag for an apple. ]

[undealt]

[Gold attempts to deal with the blood on his face from that great facial wound the freakin' skeletons gave him. Thanks, skeletons.] Well, I, for one, need the rest, and unless you want to face the next leg of this trip vastly unprepared, Ms. Swan, you'd be wise to do the same.

[LECTURING TIME. But no really, he is exhausted and he's going to find himself a corner and get in it.]

[uncurse]

[ wow lila that just makes emma suspicious. she looks between the two of them as she hands the flask back to hook. and gold chastises in the background. three generations of hell family. she wipes the back of her hand across her mouth. surely you should know why emma is suspicious of hook and teenage girls by now, lila. surely. and your boyfriend remains a mystery.

basically, her quick spark of discomfort is 100% justified and no one is telling her otherwise. but she moves to sit against the wall regardless. she gets some more food out of her backpack in case anyone else wants it, then uses the pack for a pillow and starts settling in to sleep.

did anybody think to bring a sleeping bag ... bc this girl sure didn't. ] Fine. We rest here for the night.

[unhand]

[Hook takes some of the food since oops he didn't think of that. Then he settles against a wall to keep a good view of both doors. Then he holds up the flask of rum, offering it to Lila.

Ok, Emma might be right about him being bad news for teenage girls. But in fairness, this is about helping her with horrible blowback nightmares, not trying to sleep with her.]

[untethered]

I've many more potions. You should all take as much as you need. [ she lays out several of them and takes one over to gold, extending it with a sympathetic smile. ]

[undealt]

Thank you, Belle. [YEAH, JUST GONNA TAKE THAT AND CHUG IT. Good times. He lingers for a second, like he might want to say something else, but he ends up just giving her a polite nod and a "goodnight" before finding somewhere he can sleep. AND NO HE DIDN'T BRING A SLEEPING BAG. He'll just sleep with his bag as a pillow like a peasant.]