A Hunting We Will Go
| A Hunting We Will Go | |
|---|---|
| Players | Undercity Khali, Rachel, Seth, Tilly and Velathrix go down into the Undercity to begin hunting down the Pure. |
This part of the city rests atop what was once the shoreline of Old Chicago, over a hundred years ago. When the city burned and thousands lost their homes, they merely shoved the debris into the lake, and built on top of the ruin. Most of it has been packed in and reinforced with I-beams and concrete, but over the years the rot of the event has seeped into the porous material and decayed it. Decades have created pockets and holes that left some of the water of the lake ebb and flow with the tide, the deepest, darkest parts of the Undercity perpetually wet and slimy with algae and mold. And yet, if one goes deep enough, gets turned around, there is a source of light, way deep down where the air grows thick and the walls seem to fade away and become distant. Shadows slither at the edge of sight - sometimes human-ish, sometimes low and scuttling or tall and filling a space. Just things at the edges of sight that slip away when turned to directly. The wet lends itself to an unnatural fog that shrouds and distorts things down here, making it easier to get turned around and wander too deeply. +----+ Lilith +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The city is as the is. Crowded and busy, full of contradictions and disparity - in income, standing, mood, and vice. Beneath the city, in the ruin of what once was, deep in the tangled maze, it is damp and dark. It smells interesting - wet, mildew, that expected stink of old decayed sewage, but also of char and ash and hints of smoke. Worse than the absolute dark and the rancid scents, is that feeling of being observed, watched from the shadows at the edge of any light sources. Things skittering, slithering, sliding. Things that shouldn't be ~here~, enabled by the rift in reality that peels the veil back between the Shadow and the Flesh. Tracing the path back to where the frenzied ritual of fire performed before Missus O'Leary's miscreant cow, a switchback tunnel opens up into a small cavern of sorts, three heaps of wood and half-burned bodies, reeking of rotting and burned flesh. +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:10:28 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Velathrix +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Velathrix arrives, wearing an exceptionally heavy and large velvet robe that covers his form, complete with hood and black belts that wrap around his waist. Over his shoulder is a set of leather scabbards, two in total that allow for the hilts of two long blades to present themselves over his shoulders. A large black shield of modern materials is on his left arm, carried in such a way that suggests he's used to having such a thing there. clipped at the man's belt on his left hip is a black metal helm, stylized in an old Gothic manner, and from the bulk of the robe around him, it's likely that he's already wearing the matching set. "Well isn't this an interesting sight? Bodies, burnt... one would almost think we're on the right track." +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:11:30 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Rachel +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Out of view of the public, as they descend into the undercity, something happens when Rachel moves out of sight into a shadow, and emerges again. First the color bleeds from her eyes. Then the whites. Until they are nothing but glossy black. In tandem with this, her shadow seems to deepen. Something is //wrong// with it. It looks like it’s cast by something trying to //imitate// Rachel’s shape, but can’t quite manage it. It //writhes//, sometimes sprouting an extra limb Rachel doesn’t have, a blade, a claw, a tentacle, before becoming subsumed into the dark mass behind her. That shadow seems to have seeped into her as well, slithering beneath her skin in uncanny veins, not quite tattoos, more like living shadows moving along her skin. She pops something into her mouth, from a test tube she’s taken from a pocket. Her flesh //shifts//. Subtle lines appear around her mouth. Extra eyes open up above and below her regular ones, domes of compound lenses. Flesh moves like stretching taffy until it sprouts into two shapes behind her, dark dragonfly wings attached with black chitin. Her fingers develop a sheathe of the same black chitin, retractable claws tipping her fingers. As for her outfit,tThe look Rachel has today could best be described as military surplus store punk. She’s got combat boots, camo fatigue pants, and a flak jacket over a shirt. There’s a pistol strapped to her hip, and rucksack on her back loaded up with who knows what. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail, and she’s forgone rings and bangles, though her hamsa remains on its cord around her neck. There’s a shotgun in her hands, with a strap looped around one shoulder. She's hanging back behind the vanguard, trying to keep towards the center of the group (she's the squishiest one here, after all). +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:15:10 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Khali +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ It is rather odd, for someone who usually covers up from neck down, arriving wearing //less// that usual might be...strange. But Khali arrives wearing black cargo pants, combat boots that look well worn, a sword strapped to her waist, a sleeveless shirt and a kevlar vest. "One would." Khali agrees, her hand resting casually on the hilt of her sword as she takes in everything before them. +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:16:15 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Seth +------------------------------------------------------------------+ As the group starts to gather in the Undercity to get their hunt on for the Pure, Seth smiles at everyone as they arrive. He's dressed in a black t-shirt with dark jeans and sneakers without much else. There is a plastic bag that he stows out of the way that looks to have a change of clothes for him and Tilly along with some stuff to clean them up should they need it after the hunt. Before they head deeper into the Undercity he works with Tilly, the pair of wolves working on a ritual that looks like the regular sparring they take part in but much more ritualized. Once it's complete he gives Tilly a high five and then shifts into dalu form and shakes out his arms and legs while moving closer to the bodies while looking them over. In this form his voice is deeper with a hint of a rumbling growl, "We can try to track from here. If I shift into wolf, I can communicate through Tilly if needed. Looking at the others, he nods at Tilly right before he shifts into his wolf form, starting to sniff around. +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:19:08 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Tilly +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Arriving with Seth, Tilly is dressed in a pair of black leggings, black sneakers, a black tanktop, and, yes, a black jacket to zip over all of it. There's even a black cap to keep her blond hair tucked back, out of sight and out of the way. After engaging in the ritual, then watching Seth shift, she arches an eyebrow when he indicates that he can communicate through her. "So trusting," she jokes, amused, arching a brow at the others, skimming over their own combat forms. "Rachel, looking hot," she approves, her praise genuine, if a tiny bit tongue in cheek. "Velathrix, /excellent/ robe. Ohh, cute vest, Khali." Then, her attention turns to the burnt bodies. She's all business now, bending to try to examine them more closely, wondering what clues she can glean from them, if any. +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:23:00 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Velathrix +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Velathrix does a double take on Rachel, having not expected /that/ and then nods, "Indeed, it would seem we've all come prepared in a way..." he comments as he hands Rachel a dollar though as he looks around he fails to see the vending machine, so he just shrugs. "Where..." his words trail off as Seth shifts and he gives Tilly a look, "Alright, I take it he's going to lead us to our prey?" he asks casually before giving Khali a nod, as his eyes drift to the sword at her hip and back again. Vel will move closer to the bodies however, using a knife to cut the flesh so that he can exsanquinate a few droplets of blood should it be available, tasting and testing so as to determine whatever he can from the corpses. His gaze will search around as well, attempting to see if there are any other tracks or trails that lead away from this roasting party. +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:40:18 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Rachel +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Rachel looks visibly pleased Tilly's praise, even if it might be humorously intended. She gives Tilly a smile, revealing a mouth filled with sharp, inhuman teeth, and proceeds through the Undercity with a sway in her hips and a shotgun in her hands, Vel's dollar shoved into the pocket of her jeans with a soft 'Thanks.' She frowns, when she looks towards the bodies. "Is looks deliberate, doesn't it? The way they're piled." Her voice is odd. There's a rough sort of buzz to it. +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:46:48 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Khali +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ "We could ask him to use one bark for yes, two for no." Khali suggests, which by her tone seems to be an attempt at levity. Possibly poorly placed considering the situation, and that no one would want their position being given away anways. But for anyone that might get too close, she offers a more serious warning, "Be careful to keep your distance from me while we are here." It's a brief warning, but she appears serious about it either way. Then she starts to search around as well, making a nod in agreement with Rachel, "It is possible it was staged. There's many possibilities for why...ritual, trap. I always opt for assuming every step is a trap until proven otherwise." +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:47:45 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Rachel +----------------------------------------------------------------+ "Which is why you're still alive?" Rachel can't help quipping at Khali's //almost// Princess Bride quite. She asks it rhetorically, but if you're not familiar with the source it might be hard to tell. +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:49:02 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Lilith +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The arm is there, so inviting, outstretched as if in supplication of aid, fingers curls up from the natural contraction of things, then the fire freezing it into that position from the heat and the drying of the flesh. Velathrix reaches for the hand,and the hand reaches back. Crispy fingers moving with freakish speed, latching on tight, the leathery skin splitting, some flaking away to show the stained bone beneath. Worse, the sudden motion causes the carefully piled pyre to collapse with several cracks and thuds, but more... The loud crash and the dunk-donk sound of cowbells filling the space and choing through the darkness in an unmistakable alarm. +----+ Fri Sep 16 20:53:32 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Velathrix +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Vel curses up a storm, which is quickly stopped as the alarm goes off and he grunts in a quite negative way, "Well so much for the element of surprise," he grumbles as he stands up. He looks at the arm hanging off of his own and he grabs it with the other, pulling it off his wrist and looks to be about throwing it away before he thinks of something and instead holds onto the arm in his shield hand. "Well, aside from this wonderful and loud announcement of our entrance, please tell me you've found a scent," he asks of Seth the hound. "We may as well get going..." he offers, shrugging off the embarassing failure. "It was a trap." +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:04:23 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Rachel +----------------------------------------------------------------+ "I'm going to try my stealth approach. Don't be alarmed if you stop noticing me," Rachel says, as she stops, almost freezes, in the darkness of the Undercity. +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:13:41 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Khali +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ "Thus...I am still alive." Khali whispers in Rachel's direction, clearly at least getting the reference. Even if she didn't quite land the quote. There is a hand waved in Vel's direction to indicate why she treats everything as a trap. However, with the alarm bell rung she pulls her sword out, glancing in Rachel's direction at her words before she nods, eyes shifting towards the wolves to see if they have any new alerts. +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:16:14 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Laughs-at-Death +-------------------------------------------------------+ Laughs-at-Death sniffs about in wolf form as the black wolf makes its way around the space. Exploring a little he looks like he'd warn about the bodies just before it appears to be too late. If a wolf could laugh, even with the alarm, this wolf would be doing whatever a laughing wolf does. Looking to the others he speaks to Tilly in a broken form of the first tongue. Nodding at her then motioning with his head. +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:19:00 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Tilly +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Studying the pile of bodies, Tilly tilts her head right, then left, then right, appearing to pick up on something as well. Nodding to Seth, she seems to agree with his assessment, having made her own. "There's - " she begins, then blinks as the room starts to tremble and get funky. "Mhm, yup. Get ready, trouble incoming, more than 10." Grinning, she looks, well, excited. Party time! Then she starts to change forms. Her comfortable, spandex workout gear starts to stretch with her as her shoulders broaden, her muscles thicken, and she gets those big, big eyes to see you better, and those big teeth to chomp you better - she's not in full garou yet, but she's certainly not looking entirely human anymore, as she shifts into Dalu form. +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:22:11 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Velathrix +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Velathrix grunts at the mention of encroaching enemies and he reaches with his free hand to grab the helmet at his waist, plunking it onto his head with a metalic thunk as it catches into place and his red eyes gleam out from beneath the visor. "Sorry folks, I'll make it up to you soon, I promise," he tells them as he shifts the loose arm from his shield hand to his free one, ready to toss it at the first thing that comes into range. +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:24:28 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Rachel +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Rachel's dragonfly wings snap out behind her and blur into buzzing half-glimpsed shapes. In defiance of all physics, this is enough to lift her into the air, and she shoots up towards the roof of the cavern, shotgun gripped tight in her clawed hands. +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:28:32 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Lilith +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Within a few moments, before the oddly long echo of the cowbells has fully faded, laughter drifts in from that switchback tunnel that leads to the chamber. It's sharp and the sort of unsettling laughter that comes with a feeling of someone being 'not quite right'. "Rathburn was riiiIiIiIIight." The last word dragged out, singsong and masculine. "Shhh, shut up, they're HEAR us." This a woman, but also giggling. A rake of claws along the wall is a third voice, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:30:49 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Khali +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ "Ten?" Khali glances around, taking in their side, doing a bit of mental math to sort how she feels about their odds. Evidently, she feels fine because there is the very thinnest of smiles, "You can make it up by.." Whatever she was about to say is cut off as the laughter drifts down the tunnel, and she shifts, taking a few steps towards the tunnel entrance. However, she's careful to not block anyone else or get too close, just putting herself into a position to be ready for whatever comes out of it. +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:32:36 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Lilith +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The second voice, the woman, rises into a screeching, shriek of a howl that breaks off into laughter. "Come play with us." Voice guttural with the Dalu shape. +----+ Fri Sep 16 21:59:30 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Laughs-at-Death +-------------------------------------------------------+ The moment the first of the Pure arrive, Seth shifts, the sounds of his bones, muscle and sinew popping matched by Tilly. They are fast in their war forms and attack as a team, the pair of them tearing into the Fire Touched Pure before it can react. He goes low and she goes high to tear him in half to spray the Undercity with its blood and gore as they tear the Fire Touched limb from limb to leave him in pieces with a mad roar. +----+ Fri Sep 16 22:31:12 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Khali +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ When the one goes for Seth, she doesn't hesitate to go for the other one. There's no great howl or scream of defiance, or anything else beyond quiet as she moves in to strike the other of the Pure. The sword that she's been holding onto is finally put into use as she swings it at the Pure, and connects, with a result that was VERY unexpected in and of itself. +----+ Fri Sep 16 23:26:39 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Rachel +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Rachel stays hovering by the cieling. Her allies have all rushed into the melee of course, which means she has no clear shot. She holds where she is, waiting for an opening, despite the unexpected pain that shocks across her body when one of the bad wolves is struck. +----+ Fri Sep 16 23:27:50 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Velathrix +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Velathrix watches the blood fly as the two wolves go after their counterpart, lowering his shield ever so slightly so that the blood of their victim splashes his armour in the most glorious of ways. As that one is torn apart and Khali moves forward to strike the other whom is not yet turned, Vel's eyes gleam, his nostrils flaring behind the helmet as he takes in the deep scent of blood that liberally coats everything. A soft growl can be heard from within the helmet before he steps forward, shield raised before he calls out to Khali, "Here, let me lend you a hand, it appears this one is unarmed, let's give them something to hold onto," he states before his arm cocks back and he swings the severed arm in his hand against the Dalu shifted Pure with such force that the burnt skin and bones quite literally explode upon impact,pieces flying in all directions, while the resounding sound of someone being slapped with something like a trout echoes out into the cavernous area. +----+ Fri Sep 16 23:31:28 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Lilith +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The weirdest thing about the hand... is when it hits, it /reaches/ for the target, the fingers flexing out in preparation to grab before the impact shatters it. +----+ Fri Sep 16 23:32:28 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Velathrix +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Such strangeness, "A shame, had I known, I could have told them to get a grip..." Vel laments. +----+ Fri Sep 16 23:33:11 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Laughs-at-Death +-------------------------------------------------------+ Laughs-at-Death is covered in blood and gore from the last kill, his black fur matted down and blood dripping from his mouth. Flexing his claws he gets a look at the battlefield as his companions attack and gets attacked. Leaping from his place he tackles the next combatant after Khali and Velathrix hit it. It's a vicious attack that knocks the other gauru down under him as he tears it apart, washing the ground and area in its blood. +----+ Fri Sep 16 23:50:31 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Khali +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ The Pure are dropping like flies, which means that there's not many targets remaining as far as Khali can tell. So she goes for what is available, and once more takes her sword after it. It is a fine hit, but not an amazing hit. But better than no hit, maybe? +----+ Sat Sep 17 00:07:58 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Rachel +----------------------------------------------------------------+ When Rachel finally takes her shot, the noise is terrific, amplifying and echoing off the walls of the chamber. But even with the bad wolf as harried as it is, it manages to dodge out of the way. +----+ Sat Sep 17 00:10:41 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Velathrix +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Velathrix grunts and there's blood and everything flying all over the place, some of it even his as the Werewolf claws against him, deflected slightly y the shield but still the claw gets through the cloak, tearing it and through a portion of his armour to rip into the flesh beneath. His eyes flare red behind the visor as the thumping of the Pure's heart is quite visible to the Kindred's senses as he lunges forward, driving his gauntleted hand through the beast's rib cage and with a sucking, shattering pop, he yanks his hand back, holding the still beating heart of the Pure for the creature to look at while Vel drops his shield, draws his helmet back and proceeds to bite into the still beating heart, fangs piercing and spraying the arterial blood everywhere. +----+ Sat Sep 17 00:15:44 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Lilith +----------------------------------------------------------------+ There's blood and parts -everywhere-. There's a few moments of utter silence after the last body falls, broken only by Velathrix's slurping. And the automated scritchy scrabbling of a couple more of those grabbyhands trying to get hold of meat scraps that fell close enough to trigger the grotesque response. +----+ Sat Sep 17 00:19:36 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Seth +------------------------------------------------------------------+ Seth finds no more Pure to fight and shifts back to his hishu form. Covered in blood and gore he looks around then smiles as he points to the others, "Wow! This went great. I thought that one was going to get me, he wasn't fucking around. But that first one got torn right in half!" Pointing at Tilly he laughs, his deed name obvious now as he looks to the others. "Everyone is good right?" Pulling a knife from the pocket of his jeans he starts to get to work on skinning the corpses. +----+ Sat Sep 17 00:25:16 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Tilly +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ After tearing into a second pure, Tilly moves, like she's ready to swipe for it again. But then, it's down. She chuffs, snarls and stamps her big bad foot, then follows Seth's lead, also shifting back into her hishu form. "Gone already!" she exclaims, letting her lips pull back into a snarl. Reaching for the one that she and Seth pulled in half, she smirks. "This hide will be worth keeping." +----+ Sat Sep 17 00:28:58 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Rachel +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Rachel flutters down to land from her former post at the cieling, racking her shotgun, but holding it low for the moment. "Well, that was... a learning experience." +----+ Sat Sep 17 00:30:00 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Khali +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ There's a slight upwards flick of a brow at Velathrix, but it's not really so much judgment as amusement. Then Khali nods to Seth, "Quite fine, actually." She replies, making sure to clean the blade of her sword with a hankerchief from her pocket, which she then holds out to Velathrix. +----+ Sat Sep 17 00:30:54 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ +----+ Velathrix +-------------------------------------------------------------+ Velathrix watches the werewolves return to their more human like forms as his fangs withdraw from the now desiccated heart that he holds. "Hmmm, maybe keep it as a memento for this wonderful outing we all attended," he notes, gathering a small silk bag from his belt, wrapping the heart up in the handkerchief that Khali offers him before delicately placing it in the bag and tying it closed at his waist. "Well, three, do you think that puts even the smallest dent in the situation here, or do you think they have something on them that could lead us to more?" Vel asks, curious of what the others think, as he looks to Khali and grins, licking his fingers. "So... Rachel, that's some mean shooting from the sky, next time we can get you some..." he looks to the other werewolves that are still living, and then raises his hand to hide his mouth from them so that he can aside whisper to Rachel, 'silver shot.' +----+ Sat Sep 17 00:34:53 2022 +----------------------------------------------+ | |