[Horde] Chapter Five: Session Ninety-Six
Characters
| Major | Supporting | Minor | Antagonists | Mentioned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31st
The warband was asked if they had selected the team that would compete in the contests, and they confirmed they did. The warband stepped forward along with Lantresor. The first challenge was explained, as it was expected the teams would compete in a hunt through the expansive wildlands. Some of the greatest beasts present were ancient spirit beasts, the most powerful among them was the beast Fenryr, a great wolf that stalked the Fields of the Eternal Hunt.
Odyn explained the contestants were not allowed to directly interfere with each other, and ultimately the best hunters would prove victorious in the end. None of the beasts in the fields would be harmed in the end, as if slain, they would simply respawn, and ultimately the beasts were in on it.
Sol conjured up a fel-esque red and gold vehicle that looked something like a surfboard, but it floated on the air. Zuni was immediately entranced by it and he asked Sol to try it later. Sol agreed he could make one later, or Zuni could try that one if it survived the contest.
Sol attempted to make some small talk with the competition, and was ignored by most of them. Sol commented to Caria that he was pretty convinced “mom” was going to eat her that night, and Caria sneered at the term and got a predatory look on his face.
When he approached Fathnyr he got a warning growl. Sol attempted to make a comment about how Skovald killed his children, but he only got another roar right in his face.
Sol used [Augury] to try and sense if a mind blank would help to free Fathnyr from whatever influence was over him. However, the results gestured toward woe, indicating a poor result should Sol cast the spell on the dragon.
Chen poured everyone a toast for good luck before the hunt started. Symma removed one of her feathers and handed it to Chen. She explained that it was a token attached to a favor, and she wished for Chen to leave a message for Chi-Ji when he returned home. He asked her if she knew the red crane, and she said that she knew of him, but she simply wished to tell him she was sorry.
They bowed respectfully to each other.
As the horn sounded, Zar’Kaa gauged the area to try and pick up on any tracks that led out of the starting zone. Symma used [Commune with Nature] and she immediately got a read back on all the most powerful targets in the Fields of the Eternal Hunt and how powerful they were.
- Fenryr - Wolf [5]
- Haukenulfnir - Wolfhawk [4]
- Arthfael - Bear [3]
- Alitus - Eagle [3]
- Ketlingr - Cat [3]
- Habrok - Owl [3]
- Garos - Worm [3]
- Hyrtir - Stag [2]
- Vetholnir - Hawk [2]
However, all the beasts were moving rapidly across the fields.
Sol jetted up into the sky on his hoverboard to serve as some eyes in the skies to help narrow down some of the area where the large game lurked. Meanwhile, Arthak went to follow the enemy team and purposely was as noisy a nuisance as possible to scare the game away from them. Varedis was the one that he stumbled upon, and he stood next to Arthak for a moment with a slight smirk.
He reached into a pouch and withdrew a smaller pouch of rolled tobacco.
They smoked a bit in silence before Varedis wandered off again.
Seria focused on finding more tracks and together she and Symma were able to identify the path of Haukenulfnir, the wolfhawk, as she darted through the trees and the skies. There was a prime opportunity to try and lure the wolfhawk into the path of another high priority target. They opted to try and take the gamble to get two for the cost of one. Zar’Kaa had a prime opportunity to try first.
He launched himself into the trees in pursuit of the beast and launched himself upward with a bolt of lightning. He grabbed onto the tail feathers of the beast, which released a screech and dove back towards the ground in order to buck him off. However, she didn’t see Nyxxa waiting in ambush. With a flash of steel, the satyr carved into her wing and sent her sailing off path and forced her to land somewhere.
Symma leashed the wolfhawk with a chain of lightning and tried to push her down to the ground. A mixture of panic and thrill was in the spirit beast’s eyes, and then she looked at Symma. Her eyes dilated.
It was a moment of hesitation that gave Symma the opening they needed to cause the beast to crash into the ground. She howled as she started to recover, and the rest of the ground started to converge on the point.
A howl returned in answer, and a bunch of wolves, their fur black as night, also arrived. At the very center of the pack was a massive black wolf with a golden glow. It had weapons embedded into its hide. With another immense howl, the storm of wolves started to storm down the cliff-face to form a protective circle around the wounded wolfhawk.
Fenryr leaped down effortlessly and landed next to Haukenulfnir. He licked her wounded wing twice, and he opened his mouth and spoke in vrykul.
He howled again.
Two other large wolves, Fenryr’s eldest children Gerrei and Fereki, also moved to flank their father. Fenryr opened his mouth and released a blast of frost which washed over like a chilling wave. He then inhaled, and most of the group was pulled toward the massive wolf. Fenryr attempted to chomp down on Sol, but the eredar did a kick-flip and deflected the blow aside.
However, Fenryr vanished, and then manifested all over the battlefield to slash at the entire group, as if a dozen Fenryrs were attacking at once. As he reappeared, Symma blasted him backwards with a crackle of lightning, but he closed on them again.
Nyxxa rushed forward with a flurry of attacks, and Fenryr growled at her, but she steeled herself and managed to clip into the beast’s flank. She attempted to then dart into the shadows, but Fenryr honed in on her immediately.
His eyes glinted.
Gerrei teleported down into the midst of the group with a streak of lightning and released a dreadful howl. He then launched at Nyxxa and chomped down, shattering one of her mirror images.
Zar’Kaa opted to focus on the wolfhawk and he stabbed into her with a devastating strike. He then vaulted herself onto her back. Fereki barked at some of his fellow wolves and launched at Zar’Kaa as wings unfolded beneath their front legs. Clearly they were children of the wolfhawk, and they honed in on the troll to defend their mother. Zar’Kaa was able to defend himself against them, however.
Lantresor moved to help Zar’Kaa focus down Haukenulfnir. His first two strikes cut in, but she was able to whip around and avoid his third strike. She launched herself through the air and whipped her body around with another thunderous howl. She was able to buck Zar’Kaa off and slam him into the ground, leaving him momentarily stunned. She twisted her body around and honed in on Zar’Kaa, taking a glancing blow from Lantresor. Seria, however, interposed herself as she bit into the wolfhawk’s wing and dragged her to the ground. Haukenulfnir decided to focus on Seria instead and she clamped down on the druid and began to wrestle her to the ground. Seria, however, grabbed onto her and rolled, hoisting herself on top as she drove her own fangs into the wolfhawk’s neck.
Her body faded into light, and Seria turned her attention to Gerrei. The swarm of wolves honed in on Arthak and started to stalk around him.
Symma summoned a [Grasping Vine] using her staff to pull Zar’Kaa to safety before it faded back into the ground. Lightning then crackled around Rak’Symma and she caused a thundercloud to form overhead and used [Call Lightning] to bring a lightning strike careening down at Fenryr and a swarm of the wolves. About a third of the wolves were wiped out with that single strike.
Fereki also released a dreadful howl over the group.
Arthak stormed through the swarm of wolves to get to Fenryr. With his first strike, the great wolf was able to dodge, but his second and third strikes connected.
Sol used [Steel Wind Strike] and teleported around on his hoverboard as he slammed into the various wolves, grinding on all the wolves’ faces with the board. Several of the woods were knocked into each other, and he ground off one of Fenryr’s fangs and launched across the battlefield. The blood scent Fenryr was focusing on to track Nyxxa was disrupted.
Zuni was watching the entire thing through the bonfire cheering wildly.
Zar’Kaa couldn’t help but be inspired as he came to.
Nyxxa flipped away from Fenryr as she settled into a fighting stance back-to-back with Lantresor and started to fight Fereki. As she slammed her glaives into the wolf’s maw, the creature was left stunned.
Gerrei teleported in a crash of lightning and materialized right by Symma where he proceeded to nip and snap at her. Rime started to gather on her limbs from the bites as she started to freeze, her body becoming restrained by the ice.
However,Gerrei was grabbed by another vine as Arthak used the Axe of Cenarius to pull him away. He then refocused himself on Fenryr and continued to strike the massive beast with heavy strikes. The great wolf released another dreadful howl, as he was very wounded.
Fenryr started to inhale again, and as Symma was drawn into his mouth, he clamped down, but mist slipped through his fangs as Symma teleported out of the way. Fenryr turned his attention back to Arthak and attempted to chomp down on him instead, but Arthak deflected it aside with his blade.
Symma brought down a hammer of lightning on the wolves and sent them scattering. As the rime continued to coat over Symma, Sol slid his finger across his wrist-mounted device and red magic flowed toward her to give her a warming boost as he used [Resistance], saving her from being frozen.
Fenryr howled and stomped on the ground. A pillar of ice erupted under Arthak and shot him up into the air. However, Arthak was able to twist himself enough to avoid being impaled, and he shattered the pillar of ice with his blade on the way down.
Seria loped straight for Fenryr. She flickered and reappeared with her teeth straight on his neck as she used her strength to overpower him and sent him sailing right into the cliff face. He looked up at her with his wounded eye, and then over at the others.
He dissipated, thoroughly defeated.
The remaining pack of wolves, however, was not done and continued to fight. Sol pulled out his horn of blasting and fired it downward with a sudden explosion of sound.
