The Kingdom - Born on the Bayou

skullandscythe 2015-12-03 23:36:33
Red shoots a couple of arrows at the puking bear. Anything regurgitating black bile is pretty close to, if not actually at, the top of his shit list.
CrazyIvan 2015-12-17 01:26:52
Ana looks down at the downed woman, her expression somewhere between sternness and pity, her sword settling against the Panther-woman's throat, pausing for a moment, her movements formal, orchestrated, and achingly familiar. They both knew their roles, and it allowed them for a moment of normalcy in the corrupted turmoil of this Gods-forsaken swamp.

The Panther-woman lets out a ragged, pained growl, blood on her lips. "Just do it," she says. "Damn tablet should be the death of all of us anyhow."

Never one for needless cruelty, Ana obliges her, the sword severing arteries and nerves, the light swiftly fading from the woman's eyes as the duelist squares herself to meet the oncoming figure of the Rat.
Gatac 2015-12-19 05:40:36
Martin feel bad. Ate something bad. Bear is big. Bear spit. Spit make Martin feel bad. But Martin not run. Martin not run.

---

The tiger seems to wobble under the weight of the vomit, but after it shakes the mass off, it starts to circle the apparently Asenath-morphed patriarch of the Disco-Toes, who's still bent over retching. For a moment, it locks eyes with the bear-man.

---

If Bear spit on Friends, Friends feel bad, too. Friends not strong like Martin. If Bear make Friends feel bad, Friends die.

---

"Stupid little...kitty cat!" the bear-man burps between heaves.

---

Bear is bad.

---

The tiger bears his teeth and lets out a low growl as its paws dig into the ground.

---

Bear...bear must die. Even if Martin feel bad, or die. Bear must die.

---

Several hundred pounds of muscle whip into action in an instant as the tiger pounces at his bilous/odious/adipose opponent. Two ways this can go: either he brings the bear-man to the ground and finishes this quickly - or things are going to turn out poorly for the striped monk.
punkey 2015-12-20 04:05:41
(Initiative for the rest of us!

Ozzy Initiative: 1d6 = 1
Lucius Initiative: 2d10.hi = 6; 1d8 = 2
Anton Initiative: 1d8 = 7; 1d6 = 1
Anata Initiative: 2d8.hi = 4
Red Initiative: 1d8 = 6
Q Initiative: 2d10.hi = 7

Rat-Man is still two rounds away
Tiger!Martin: 3d10.hi = 6 vs. 2d8.hi = 5 / 2d12.hi = 12; 1d10 = 1 vs. 2d10.hi = 10 = 12 Shock, 2 Wounds
Anton: 2d10 = 5; 1d6 = 6 vs. 1d8 = 5 / 2d10.hi = 6 vs. 1d10 = 6 = 6 Shock
Boar-Man (One is one round away): 1d8 = 5 vs. 2d10.hi = 6 / Miss!
Q: 2d10.hi = 5 vs. 2d8.hi = 7 / Miss!
Red: 1d10 = 9, 1d10 = 3 vs. 2d8.hi = 8 / 2d8.hi = 6 vs. 2d10.hi = 9 = 6 Shock
Lucius: 2d10.hi = 5; 1d8 = 4 vs. 2d8.hi = 4 / 3d8.hi = 2 vs. 2d10.hi = 6 = 0 Damage!
Anata: Action already taken
Bear-man: 2d8.hi = 8 vs. 2d10.hi = 9 / Miss!
Ozzy: 2d12.hi = 6; 1d8 = 7 vs. 2d8.hi = 6 / 2d12.hi = 9; 1d8 = 5 vs. 2d10.hi = 9 = 9 Shock
Snapping Turtle-Person: 2d8.hi = 7 vs. 2d12.hi = 6 / 2d10.hi = 8 vs. 2d12.hi = 7 = 8 Shock, 1 Wound)

"Oh cra -" the bear-man burps out, reflexively raising and swinging his arm in an attempt to swat a fucking tiger out of the air. So how does that go for you, bear-man?
"Argh!" he cries as the tiger claws into him, leaving bloody gashes on his arm and the already-oozing shoulder wound. The bear-man's position and sheer size keep him from being toppled over by the pouncing attack, but it's all he can do to push against the tiger's head as it tries to snack on his trachea.
"Get that -" he cries, swinging his free arm at the tiger's head, but it tears loose, ducks underneath the swipe and mauls his fat belly one more time before he finally manages to kick it off for the moment. "Get that" - BURRRRRRRRRP - "that gosh-darned tiger off of me!" His belly bulges again, and this time black ooze slides out of his wounds. “Whooa!” he shouts as his body whips itself to the side, and another gurgling rumble issues from his gut as his jaw stretches unnaturally far again and unleashes another torrent of black bile towards Martin, but this time he pounces out of the way just in time. Red looses two arrows, and one strikes the bear-man while the other sails over. More black goo oozes out around the arrow, but the bear doesn’t even notice it - or isn’t capable of it anymore.

The Boar-Man formerly known as Jean tries to dodge Anton’s blow, but dives the wrong way - enough that the hammer doesn’t crush his skull, but it certainly breaks a few ribs when it impacts his chest instead. “Oh gods,” the boar-man wheezes as he doubles over, blood dripping out of his snout and ears. He tries a weak swipe in Anton’s direction, but fails halfway through as his body decides his hand is better suited to supporting his wounded bulk.

Q dives again for another swipe, but the snapping turtle-person swats at him and he has to roll mid-dive to dodge it. Lucius leaps up to try to get another shot at his/her softer parts above the shell, but only digs his daggers into the shell again as his feet slip trying to climb up. Ozzy has no such height problems, and just grabs ahold of the shell and punches them square in the face. “Ooww!” the turtle-person says, and grabs Ozzy’s shirt in return. “Stop! It!” Two punches to Ozzy’s face feel like getting hit with a brick (something Ozzy knows a fair amount about), and both of them let go of each other.
e of pi 2015-12-23 22:11:16
"And stay down," Anton says and puts one last blow into the boar-man's chest.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2015-12-24 07:51:42
Ozzy shakes his head until there's only one turtle-man again, then shouts out to the transformed villagers. "Oi! Now's yer chance! Stop diggin' in the mud fer these bastards an' fight!"

He then leads by example, going for the mutant's face again.
Gatac 2015-12-31 10:37:05
Tigers don't...roar, exactly, but they sure can growl, especially with their fur matted with blood and covered in mud. He circles the stricken bear-man again, then - with a final hiss - pounces once more, aiming to dig his claws into the bear-man's wounds and wrap his jaws around the fat, short neck. Spine, skull or teeth - something is going to crack in the next ten seconds.
punkey 2016-01-11 10:15:24
(Rolls!

Rat-Man still one round away
Tiger!Martin: 3d10.hi = 9 vs. 2d8.hi = 4 / 2d12.hi = 5; 1d10 = 5 vs. 2d10.hi = 6 = 5 Shock
Anton: 2d10.hi = 10; 1d6 = 1 vs. 1d8 = 1 = Dead
Boar-Man (now somewhat upset you killed his brother): 1d8 = 6 vs. 2d10.hi = 5; 1d6 = 3 = Miss
Q: 2d10.hi = 7 vs. 2d8.hi = 5 / 2d8.hi = 8 vs. 2d10.hi = 3 = 8 Shock, 5 Wound, Unconscious
Red: 2d10.hi = 3 vs. 1d8 = 4 = Miss
Lucius: 2d10.hi = 7; 1d8 = 1 vs. 2d8.hi = 8 = Miss
Anata: 3d12.hi = 9 vs. 2d8.hi = 4 / 3d8.hi = 8 vs. 2d10.hi = 4 = 8 Shock, 4 Wound
Ozzy Talk: 1d4 = 4; 1d12-6 = 0 vs. 1d8 = 8)

“Hey!” the rat-man shouts as he barrels along on his skinny legs towards the fight. “Wait - wait for me!”
Martin waits for no such thing - he pounces at the corpulent bear-man, now positively leaking black bile out of every wound, trying to rip his spine out through the back of his neck. He succeeds in taking a big mouthful of abhorrent-tasting flesh - but the bear-man barely notices.
“uuugh no,” he moans, flailing weakly in Martin’s direction, but he still stays on his feet.

Anton, on the other hand, has no such problems. With one final blow, he caves the boar-man’s skull in - and hears the screaming charge of the second one behind him.
“You - killed - my - brother!” he shouts - a good battle cry, but much better at giving away his intentions. Anton turns just in time to see him charge in, hammer raised, and ducks underneath the blow with ease.

“You know what?” Q says, fluttering in a quick arc around the turtle-person’s head, delivering a quick gash. “I gotta ask - who are you supposed to be, anyway?” He swoops down, slashing down their arm, then undoing his scabbard’s sash and spinning it above his head. He dives down, and swings the scabbard down just as he snaps up - and the metal scabbard connects at just the right moment, sending the turtle-person to the ground. Q hovers in space where they were just standing. “Am I right?”

Red nocks an arrow and takes aim at the bear-man’s back. He looses it - and the bear-man just…bends out of the way. The whole bear’s bulk just throws itself out of the way, whipping a spray of black into the air as it bends and stretches impossibly far. That is...definitely not expected.

Lucius isn’t perturbed by the spray of black bile or the bear-man’s sudden silence, he just charges in, daggers drawn at his front. Fuck stealth, fuck subtlety - he’s just gonna cut the fucker’s head off. He leaps into the air, straight at the bear-man’s limp, unblinking eyes - and sails right over top as the bear-man wobbles out of the way again.

Such acrobatics might be unusual for street brawlers and assassins - but not for experienced dualists. Anata spins to one side, shuffles forward, and then pauses for just a moment. Her eyes read dozens of tells in a moment, almost none of them consciously, and then she strikes only once - and skewers the bear-man right in the neck. A twist of her wrist later, and the saber slides right out of the side, drawing a trail of melting flesh and black bile with it. The blow severs the bear-man’s spine, Anata knows it.

But the bear-man doesn’t fall. In fact, all that happens is the head lolls towards the slice that Anata took out of it. It lumbers to one side, and now bile is pouring out of it, but not as fast as it begins to bloat, and swell - and grow. What was already a fairly large man-bear-thing is now growing larger than Anton, larger than Ozzy, and still lumbering about.
“oooogh,” it rumbles, and turns to the group. “ooooorgh”

The other animal people, the mice, the crows, the rabbits, the lizards, they were about to join in the fight, but now?
“Fuck that!” one of them shouts, and they all break and run.
e of pi 2016-01-12 21:30:59
Anton turns through the follow-through of his dodge of the second boar-man, and stares as the bear explodes into a massive...monster of bile. "That was your brother?" he asks, gesturing with Kneecapper at the boar-man lying on the ground. He points the mace at the bear. "Then what the hell was that?"

He makes a "shoo' gesture with Kneecapper. "You should get out of here if you want to live."
punkey 2016-01-19 17:18:24
The surviving boar-man stares morosely at the lumbering bile-bear-beast. "You damn fool Henri," he says with a piggish snort. "Never should have ate that tablet."
CrazyIvan 2016-01-24 01:38:56
Ana gives her sword a rather disgusted look, flicking her wrist to get the worst of the bile off the blade, while keeping the tainted fluid as far away from her as possible.

"He ate it? What could possibly posses you to do that?"
punkey 2016-01-26 06:29:22
"After we let the Mistress...change us, Jean wanted to use it again, get the other one, and kill the Descoteaux," the boar man says. The rat-man skids to a stop behind him, taking cover as the bear-blob-thing lumbers around. "Pa wanted to break it and go back to the way things were. They had a fight, and Henri...he weren't the brightest sort, and always was eatin' stuff, even before he was a bear, and so...he figured he'd get rid of it his way."
Gatac 2016-01-28 14:14:52
And now, a look at the duality of man's soul:

(Martin) "What a sorry tale indeed. Asenath's corruption preys as ever on those foolish enough to grasp for any shred of power. We must bring news of this development to Master Rollins and hasten our efforts to end Asenath's wicked schemes, that we might mitigate further suffering on her account best as we can. Datehl walk with us all, that we shall prevail in this most desperate quest."

(Tiger) "I AM A FUCKING TIGER"

This has been a look at the duality of man's soul.

---

Tiger!Martin paces uneasily behind the group, brushing up repeatedly against Oswald and Lucius. A low growl escapes his mouth, together with copious amounts of drool that carries away the sordid aftertaste of bear fat / demon bitch goop.

The look he's fixing on the boar-man is not a good one.
skullandscythe 2016-01-29 00:28:25
Red is fine with the impromptu parley, but stays where he is. Showing his face in these parts might break the tenuous truce going on here. And, hey, if the situation does need more shooting, he can do it fine here.
e of pi 2016-01-29 22:02:14
Anton shakes his head. "Process of elimination" isn't really in his mind, but he can see when no one else is stepping up. He lowers Kneecapper slightly. "That doesn't seem like it's gone so great. We were sent to deal with it, too" he says to the boar-man. "It's bad news. Mind if we take care of it before it hurts anyone else?"
punkey 2016-02-03 09:45:45
(Anton Talk: 1d6 = 5 vs. 1d8 = 4)

The boar-man looks mournfully at the mutated blob/bear/man/thing as it wobbles about. "Guess we done screwed this one up enough -"

He is rudely interrupted by the blob-bear wheeling around much faster than a giant obese blob of blackened flesh and rotten fur should manage and crushing him flat - literally - with a massive fist. It leans over, belches an unearthly stench, and vomits a black tentacle of goo with bits of rotting guts in it that encircles the remains of the last boar-man and yanks it into its oversized and unhinged maw.

"Holy fucking shit!" the rat-man yelps, and scrambles to put you all between the goo-bear behemoth and him.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2016-02-03 14:53:52
"Read my fookin' mind," Ozzy says. "Friends, I ain't got much ter go on here but fire, so that's wot I'll do-"

Fire was always easy for Ozzy. Fire's anger. You can be hot-tempered. A firey redhead. But fire is also what keeps the wolves and monsters away from the cave. It's borne of fear, too, and the most primordial fear is being eaten. There's one more thing as well - fire cleanses. No small number of inquisitors have purified poor bastards with flame, and Asenath's touch is filthy indeed.

Ozzy becomes a flamethrower.
Gatac 2016-02-06 04:57:53
The tiger hisses and growls as it recoils further from the fight. Whatever hunger drove it to fight here is gone now, replaced by a mixture of confusion and fear, and it is this moment of weakness that Martin seizes.

Datehl, walk with me.

He has no hands to perform the gestures and his consciousness is a small voice shouting into the vast jungles of the tiger's mind, but the young monk digs in and fights for it, forcing the cat's body to obey him muscle by muscle.

Datehl, walk with me.

The tiger whimpers and coils as it is wracked by spasms and parts of its body contracting, breaking and reforming. For a moment, the universe's sloppy notes on just what exactly Martin is are swept off the desk again, and reality scrambles to decide if this thing is a man or a tiger.

Datehl, walk with me, you son of a bitch!

Will triumphs over hunger, discipline bests ferocity and Man V Tiger ends in a shocking surprise upset for Man.

Well, rakasta. But we take our victories where we can get them.

"Ugh," Martin moans as he picks himself off the ground. He's hungry, he has an epic headache and he's buck-naked, but he's standing on his own (two) feet again.
CrazyIvan 2016-02-10 04:55:25
Ana's look of distaste might as well be a permanent fixture on her face ever since she entered this gods forsaken swamp. Still, she looks impressed when Ozzy ignites.

"It has a certain elegance to it..."