Holgarde - Day One: Cleansing

ooc: Yay I took out a prey all on my own in one turn!

Edo had a smug smirk on his face, that he quiclly wiped off. He loaded in 5 more normal, then fired one at Cyra's prey's legs (the prey Cyra attacked), then once again, firing two at it's back, then two at it's head.

@DB: That would be great. I'm kinda busy nowadays anyway. Leading a crowd of distressed virtual civilians isn't exactly one of the things I'd put my best effort in. d:


~~~

"If most of our protection is staying here, then we'd better get to the city center fast," said Three Wells to Totoro.

"It's up to you to keep up, nya." Totoro smiled as he moved towards the front of the caravan, "We're moving out!"

ooc:
@Blaster: I'm waiting on the others before posting.

@Rekee: Acknowledged.

-

(Jublo)

Just a few more monster hunters stayed in the area, one of which went to accompany Ryan. They spread out amongst the area, and with their number of men should have been able to handle themselves.

So the caravan continued on without anything in particular happening. David, from Metke, pioneered the travel by walking ahead of the caravan.
After some minutes, it arrived at the center of town.

There was a group of three large buildings here, next to one another but separated by a surrounding street from the surrounding other buildings.
Each of these three larger buildings were only two stories tall, but had a large base area.

One had the look of an apartment complex or hotel, going by the way the windows were lined up along the walls.
A peculiar kind of watch tower was at its top, strange in the first place that it was particularly tall. Something like a dumbwaiter was at its side, and what looked like half an arch bridge jutted out at the top.
The observation balloon probably had some relevance to the special watch tower. Someone was on top of the tower, but details couldn't be made out from the difference in height.

Another one of the buildings was a warehouse, where monster hunter supplies and quest wagons were probably stored.
The observation balloon had crashed through the roof partway, resting on its top. A big singed hole was quick to be spotted in the basket of the balloon.

The only thing that clearly identified the third building was the tall flag post standing at its top, bearing the guild's emblem on its hanging flag. If it worked like any other gathering hall, the first floor probably acted like a restaurant for monster hunters and the quest desk would be present. The second floor would be for paperwork and the like.

A few monster hunters surrounded these buildings, one of which spotted the Julbo caravan as it approached. "We got another from Julbo! A whole lotta them!" He could be heard calling out.
As the caravan approached, he directed it around to the front of the apartment looking building. At this building's front was another caravan, the supplies of which were being unloaded and brought into the building.
The Julbo caravan pulled up alongside the other and stopped.

"All civilians head inside of the building!" David called out to the civilians with the Julbo caravan, pointing and waving at the lodging building, repeating the call a few times.
As instructed, the civilians got off the wagons and entered.

Chirozay sheathed his weapon, withdrew a small knife and waited. He would be of no help attacking the single 'prey, and would more than likely be in the way of Edo's weapon if he got too close. And so he was prepared to throw his knife at the 'prey should it try to flee.

Totoro walked up to the nearest hunter by the buildings and asked, "So, nya, whats the situation around here?"

ooc:
@Glyph and Blaster: Just waiting on Star.

-

(Julbo)

"We've got a lot of people holed up in these buildings here and some around." The hunter explained to Totoro, motioning at the larger lodging building, the gathering hall, and then just random other nearby buildings. "We've been living off of guild supplies, but now we're unloading supplies inside. Some of the Metke hunters went off to meet up with the Donoto group to get them over here faster."

(Rulbo)


"Who is leading the people of this town?" Three Wells asked, looking for a distinguished character of some sort.

(Metke)

Cyra seeing that Edo was gunning for the prey she missed, stayed back, but kept ready to jump in when needed.

(Metke and Donoto)

The remaining 'Prey turned around and started running away. Edo took his first shot at the legs, but ended up only hitting the ground.
Following up, he fired two more rounds at the fleeing monster's back. Both connected, but only slowed the monster, as opposed to outright stopping it.

Chizoray's knife was embedded after, further slowing but still not stopping the 'Prey.
Rather than risk missing the head, Edo put his remaining two rounds into the monster's main body again, aiming for its thigh.
Like every attack before (save for the first), they connected but didn't fully stop the 'Prey, granted they slowed it the most.

Cyra and Tyler had pursued the 'Prey as it fled, keeping their distance to avoid being shot by Edo.
Because the 'Prey was now significantly far from Edo, out of range for desired accuracy, Cyra moved in to attack.
She thrust with both arms and ripped down as always, pushing the wounded 'Prey over.
Tyler came around Cyra, flipped his grip on his sword and jabbed it down into the 'Prey's neck with both hands, finishing it off.


Standing up, he noticed Chizoray's knife lodged in the monster's back. He pulled it out and approached Chizoray, offering him the handle of the knife. "Here ya go."

-
ooc:
@Donoto and Metke: Sorry if I assumed too much with your character's actions. I figured it was for the better, and to get you guys joined up with Julbo faster.

@Julbo: I'll have to get to you later.

Seeing the prey fleeing (There was a third, right? If not, then ignore this post.), Edo quickly sheathed his bowgun, and ran from building to building, chasing the prey. Once he was next to the prey, he'd jump off the building, unsheathing his sword and aiming to land on it's back; sword first. At which point he'd use his left hand claws to stay on, and using his right hand to stick the sword in the prey's neck.

(Metke)

ooc:@DB you were fine with writing in my actions, I am obviously predictable.


Cyra watching Edo, calls up to him, "It is ok, you can come down now, the prey are all gone for now."

Turning to Tyler and Chizoray, "Where to next?"

As she is talking she is wiping down her spear and resheathing it on her back.

ooc:
@Star: I thought you'd notice the thrust and rip part. :-P

@Blaster: There were only the two 'Prey.
I forgot you had a sword and shield... and a bow... I might have done things differently if I remembered... Oh well.
I suppose the difference would be, jumping buildings would require more effort. Like run and jump each time.
Rolling around I imagine would be kind of impossible too, with the stuff on your back.
I figure you wouldn't want to be jumping down from buildings either, because of all the weight. Instead, I would think you would need to climb up/down (which wouldn't be too hard to manage).

-

(Metke and Donoto)

After handing the throwing knife back to Chizoray, Tyler wiped the blood from his sword onto his sleeve.

"Keep sweeping the area I guess." Tyler shrugged to Cyra. The group still had a little more land south of the fire department to make sure was empty pf 'Prey (or make empty).

-
ooc:
@Julbo: I still need to get to you.

(Metke)

"Ok then, ready to get going?" Cyra asks the other hunters as she starts to head south to finish the sweep of the area.

Chirozay cleaned the blood from his knife, listing the alphabet backwards as he did so. "I am prepared to venture from this place," he said in response to Cyra.

Edo stopped in his tracks, then climbed down the building.
"Ready, nya!" Edo said before climbing back up the building, ready to scout the area.

ooc: When he jumps to the next buildinh, he'll get a running start.

(Julbo)

"Morgan, er, Morgan Elram's been taking charge." The hunter said to Wells. "He's inside the hunter's lodging helping out."

Morgan Elram was someone who pretty much everyone knew about if they lived in Holgarde. Like a historical figure, because that was basically what he was. The only exception was that he was still alive, approaching his third century of age. As one could easily discern, he was a Wyverian.

His legacy started as a monster hunter, known for using high powered and long range weaponry. He had achieved high rank and hunted as such a hunter for decades, over a century and the better part of a second.

During his time as a monster hunter, he was part of the settling group for each of the four main Holgarde towns, both as a monster hunter and a politician. Naturally, he was a very popular figure, and still was.

He retired as a monster hunter some time after the four main towns were settled (about a century ago, give or take). The exact reason wasn't common knowledge.

Facilitated by his popularity, wealth and connections, he began to integrate himself into the business world, investing and owning all kinds of different things. In Jumbo, he had a massive amount of farmland and a hospital, among other things.
Nowadays, he was the wealthiest individual in Holgarde, hands down, and possibly the neighboring regions as well. He had an respectable estate in each town, visiting them each about equally.

This wasn't to say he was a selfish aristocrat or anything similar. He was renowned for his great generosity, making tremendous donations and sponsoring all sorts of charity events. His reason for monster hunting was of similar benevolence; to protect and help others, and better himself to accomplish that goal to greater extents. A theory (based on unsupported quotes) was that he retired from monster hunting because he thought he could better help the world through business (and he was getting too old).

He was the one who sponsored the capturing of the Azure Rathalos, Blue Yian Kut Ku, and 'Prey type raptors. They were meant for a great arena event meant to a ludicrous amount of money, as people from all over the region were supposed to be gathered. Obviously and sadly, things didn't go as planned.

-
ooc:
@Julbo: Any thoughts on how I crammed all that information down your throats? It doesn't feel right on my end, but I'm not sure how else I would do it.

(Metke and Donoto)

Tyler gave Chizoray a subtle look as Chizoray listed off the alphabet in reverse. He thought it was a little weird, but also kind of impressive.

The group continued their scan of the area, spreading out again with Edo going from roof to roof. They only passed a couple more 'Prey corpses and near skeletal human remains before circling back to the Donoto caravan.

The caravan was already moving west again when they arrived. "We dropped off enough supplies to last them and left a couple of hunters." One of the accompanying monster hunters explained.

-
ooc:
@Everyone: I got one more post coming up for when everyone meets at the center of town (gathering hall).

(All Groups)

After a maybe ten minutes, the Donoto caravan pulled into the center of town, finally bringing the three caravans (and their best hunters) together.

There was a group of three large buildings here, next to one another but separated by a surrounding street from the surrounding other buildings.
Each of these three larger buildings were only two stories tall, but had a large base area.

One had the look of an apartment complex or hotel, going by the way the windows were lined up along the walls.
A peculiar kind of watch tower was at its top, strange in the first place that it was particularly tall. Something like a dumbwaiter was at its side, and what looked like half an arch bridge jutted out at the top.
The observation balloon probably had some relevance to the special watch tower. Someone was on top of the tower, but details couldn't be made out from the difference in height.

Another one of the buildings was a warehouse, where monster hunter supplies and quest wagons were probably stored.
The observation balloon had crashed through the roof partway, resting on its top. A big singed hole was quick to be spotted in the basket of the balloon.

The only thing that clearly identified the third building was the tall flag post standing at its top, bearing the guild's emblem on its hanging flag. If it worked like any other gathering hall, the first floor probably acted like a restaurant for monster hunters and the quest desk would be present. The second floor would be for paperwork and the like.



Monster hunters from each of the four main Holgarde towns (save for Donoto) were bringing supplies from the arrived caravans into the gathering hall and monster hunter lodging buildings. When the Donoto caravan pulled up alongside, its hunters joined the efforts.

David, who was helping bring supplies in, saw Cyra and motioned her to come over. When he saw Wells and Totoro, he motioned them to come over too.

-
ooc:
Everyone will probably want to look over each other's character data, mine included, so that we know who everyone is called and what everyone looks like (equipment).

Edo hoped over to the guild's roof, then over to the watch tower, to keep a eye for. He took the bow off his left shoulder, along the the quiver. He checked the quiver, to make sure he remembered arrows, then put it back over his left shoulder. (the bow and quiver were right next to eachother.) He set the bow aside, and kept a stern watch in all directions. After, he looked for some way of notifying the others without leaving his post. (He won't use it unless he saw something approach the guild.)

Cyra, seeing David motioning to her, made her way over to him.

ooc:
@Everyone: The purpose of the building that looks like an apartment (dubbed the monster hunter lodging) would be to give monster hunters lodging for various reasons.
One example would be for the day before a quest. They would get up, be right next to the gathering hall and where the quest wagons depart from. It'd be much more convenient.
If some hunters came into town, it would be a place for them to stay until they found other lodging or something.
Generally, civilians wouldn't stay here (wagon drivers might through).

The restaurant part of the gathering hall would be meant for hunters for a few reasons;
The meal portions would be particularly large, to the point where someone would need a large appetite to finish it all (I imagine most monster hunters have a large appetite, because they do a lot of physical labor).
It's most all very healthy, which is probably something of importance for most monster hunters.
Because of those factors, the food is a little expensive for anyone below a hunter's pay grade to afford often.
Civilians could still eat here, though, and it's not really that uncommon.

That's normally, though. Right now they're being used as a stronghold for civilians.

-

Edo found a ladder on the side of the monster hunting lodging building, giving him a way up to the watch tower.
Someone was already up on the platform of the watchtower; a civilian looking person with a telescope.
"Hey." He greeted when Edo came up, wondering what the monster hunter Felyne was doing.
The only thing of interest Edo saw from his high perch was the Azure Rathalos wandering the fields to the south.
Nothing was particularly useful for notifying the others, though he could easily just climb down the tower and tell them personally.


"We're gathering up all of the hunters who will be fighting the Rathalos." David explained to Cyra when she came over, looking over the area.
He stood up on one of the wagons and waved his arms, calling attention to himself.

-
ooc:
@Everyone: Each of you would know that you're going to be fighting the Rathalos, because you're the best hunters available (besides the high rank monster hunters that are somewhere in the city).
Logic would direct you to finding one another.
You would also know who else in your caravan would be fighting the Rathalos.

@Blaster: The gathering hall just has the tall flag post on its roof.
The monster hunter lodging building has the watch tower on it.

Cyra stood next to the wagon that David had climbed upon, ready to do whatever needed done.

Totoro made his way through the area towards Wells. "We should probably head over there, nya." He said after finding him, then promptly departed towards the wagon.

Chirozay noticed the man on the wagon, waving his arms about. "From across the way, Chirozay spotted the wagon man," he said to himself. "Like an ethereal snake he slithered, towards the beacon." He took a tentative look in each of the cardinal directions before making for the wagon. He stopped twice, at intervals approximately one third between his previous location and the wagon, again looking in each direction before proceeding. Once he reached the wagon, Chirozay withdrew a handful of knives, five in all, and began juggling them, whistling a bizzare tune as he did so. He was prepared to do anything that might be required of him.

ooc:

@Julbo: Any thoughts on how I crammed all that information down your throats?

Since it is common Holgarde knowledge, I don't really mind.

~~~


Three Wells nodded and followed behind Totoro towards the wagon, careful not to mow down any unfortunate civilian. He did make it a point to say "Excuse me", though.

"Hello, nya. I just came up here to check up on some things, nya." Then he noticed the telescope, "Do you have any spare telescopes, nya?" He then noticed someone waving his arms, so when the person responded, he'd head down.
If the person said np, he'll just head down.
If the person said yes, he'd accept the spare telescope and go down.

ooc:
Just to clarify, there's no civilians outside the buildings. There's the wagons, wagon monsters, and monster hunters bringing supplies inside (plus maybe a few civilians and wagon drivers).
This is to avoid what happened with the Julbo caravan (too many civilians outside to protect during a monster attack).

Also, there happens to be only one high rank monster hunter from each of the main Holgarde towns.
As a reminder, they were all already in the Sontruma for the great arena event.

@Star: Just so you know, Tyler would be helping with supplies, not fighting the Rathalos.

-

"This is all I've got." The man on the watch tower apologized to Edo, referring to the telescope in his hand.


All of the monster hunters meant to fight the Azure Rathalos were gathered up by the wagon then, and the hunter on top hopped down. A couple of other monsters hunters came over curiously, but realized what the meeting was for and resumed their business.

"Are all of the monster hunters fighting the Azure Rathalos here?" The hunter formerly ontop asked the group collectively.
Everyone found the other monster hunter from their caravan (because, coincidentally, there were only two from each), and gave a positive answer to the question.

"Okay. My name is David Wood, from Metke." The man continued, then looked to someone else to continue.
Introductions were made around the circle, letting everyone know each others name and calling attention to everyone's equipment and hunter type.

"The Yian Kut Ku left the city on the first day the monsters were released and hasn’t come back since, so we don’t have to worry about it for now." David started to brief. "Only two of the four high rank hunters in the region have made an appearance, from Donoto and Julbo. Because of that, an attempt on the Rathalos hasn’t been made yet.
Some other hunters and them went off in search of other civilians, and are expected to return here shortly. Once they return, we’ll move out.

Are there any questions?”

-
ooc:
I hope everyone is alright with me speeding through stuff like introductions and "is everyone here". I figured you guys would rather move onto other stuff.
Naturally, you can still describe your introduction (and accounting for your "partner") if you'd like.

I owe you guys some Holgarde general knowledge about the Holgarde high rank monster hunters (or at least, general knowledge for monster hunters in Holgarde).

"One question I guess, nya." Totoro said quickly, "What's the current strategy for how to take it down?"

"Gani can sit on my head if he wants," Three Wells said, referring to the only hunter with ranged weapons in the group.