Page 1 of 1

Blue Suede Shoes [05]

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 3:47 am
by The Undying
Start: http://www.fasagames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=197
Previous: http://www.fasagames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=205
------------------------------

There at the heart of the Beastmaster's home, a variable web of light spread out before Minuial as lit by her Talent's magic. A multitude of tracks for the Adept's comings and goings littered the area. Some paths glowed brilliantly, the passage more recently, while other tracks appeared faint or waning, indicating older errands. Even among those, the entire ground seemed to glow with the barest of light as the weeks and months of leavings and daily activities within the clearing layered upon each other like a multi-thread tapestry. With no further guidance, any path seemed as good, or as bad, as another.

She led the group through the trees, doing her best to thread their way along multiple tracks to save time. More than once, she ultimately led them back to the clearing, the Beastmaster having gone hunting or gathering, or perhaps simply wandering in his madness. Twilight had long since taken hold, but now, it seemed that dawn threatened to overtake the night, and multitude of lost hours began to weigh upon the team.

On perhaps the fourth trip from the clearing, Minuial froze, eyes fixed upon the space before her. The Beastmaster's path led steadily away, but here, there we new tracks. The tracks themselves made little sense - the imprints more like a Namegiver than a wild animal but the gate and placement entirely wrong. Minuial knelt down, focusing her attention upon these new impressions. The myriad paths of the light representing the Beastmaster faded from her view, and in its place, a single, far larger trace of light moved off from her along the odd footprints. She spoke a simple warning, "be ready," and led them forward, this time far more cautiously and opening up a bit more space between her and the others as she scouted.

The path led the four further into the woods and away from the clearing. After a time, the tracks led them to a large cave opening in a small eruption of rock from the ground. A worldless exchange played between Scout and Warrior, and Shale stepped to the fore, his head hunched slightly as he led the way down into the dark. The sudden loss of the ever-present rain was almost jarring as they stepped below the shelf marking the entrance, but it was a welcome change.

The tunnel made an easy downward slope, carving through the earth more just below the surface than plunging into its depths. Rivulets of rain water rushed along the grooves underfoot, but the rough-texture stone floor still provided sure footing. The space seemed to darken briefly, threatening to leave the Obsidimen and Human groping at the walls for direction, but a soft natural light seemed to appear from somewhere ahead before the dark could truly set in.

The tunnel opened to the air once more into what appeared to be a massive sink hole. The opening itself was wide and the walls slick with loose earth and debris soaked in rain water. With the thin canopy far overhead, the rain also came down heavily, the mud underfoot sucking at boots with each step.

Minuial was the first to spot the movements of some creature in the shadow cast by the high walls. Her quick but deft movements to draw forth arrow from quiver and knock it to bow alerted the others. Shale set his footing to prepare for a strike while Eristed fell back towards the tunnel and prepared to work his magics.

The creature stepped forward, its features steadily resolving as the moonlight fell upon it. The rotting head of a Troll loomed above them, sunken eyes glaring venomously down upon them from a higher vantage than even a natural Troll should offer. It's jaw hung slightly unhinged, it's already off-centered neck causing the skull to lean further to the side under the weight of its single unbroken horn. Beside the Troll head, a far more putrid Elf head hung almost limply, its neck protruding more from the top of the creature's chest than atop its shoulders. One eye socket sat empty while the other, driven almost ineffectively by sagging muscles, attempted to fix upon the adventures from beneath the down-bent brow.

The body of the creature was a twisted mound of flesh. Interwoven Namegiver corpses seemed to somehow wrap around and through each other, sometimes over skin and sometimes through rends in tissue. Multiple pigments and textures of the base corpses appeared at irregular segments and lengths across the uneven surface. Each of the bodies seemed to be at different stages of decay, some skin still fresh with in tact flesh and muscle, others dripping putrid juices from bare strands of sinew and bone.

Two arms sat attached to the approximations of shoulders. One arm was no doubt once the Troll's, although the shoulder it joined with was an oversized knot with impossibly dense layers of muscle. The other arm was shorter, more delicate, but no less functional. Other arms sprouted haphazardly from the torso, some barely appearing above the elbow, some dangling limply while others flexed sporadically.

Like the arms, the torso sat upon two legs on the sides as one might expect of a biped. However, a third leg also protruded at odd angle from the right hip, helping to steady the oddly balanced mass. Where the remaining legs of the corpses could be within the bulk was unclear.

The construct took another lumbering step forward, now fully into the moonlight. The entirety of its frame swayed to the right onto its double legs, nearly to the point of toppling, before straightening once more in a whip-like jerk to the left. The malignancy of its presence was only further enhanced by the shadows cast across the ridges of the inter-twisted flesh.

The jaw of the thing fell slightly open in a breathless sigh of pleasure to see new victims stumble into its lair. A thick, cloudy ribbon of congealing blood and rot slowly rolled out from inside the mouth and over the broken lip, a mockery of saliva.

And the battle began.

------------------------------
Next: http://www.fasagames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=213

Re: Blue Suede Shoes [05]

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 3:48 am
by The Undying
i sketched this out during lunch. Apologies for any horrible misspellings or broken text. I'll fix it later.

Re: Blue Suede Shoes [05]

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 11:46 am
by Slimcreeper
Wouldn't this be a great time for a piece of rhubarb pie?