Holgarde - Day One: Cleansing

Edo didn't say a word to Wells' remark, and said, "I can stay on the buildings, nya, and work on his wings, nya!"

"Gani has a good idea. We could aim for the wings first. When it is on the ground, we can reach it easier."

"But Gani," Three Wells asked out of concern. "You will be up there alone. Will you be alright?"

Edo nodded, "If I drop all my weapons, I can run pretty fast. I should be able to outrun a Rathalos, nya."

ooc:
@Blaster: I'm confirming that you would be able to outrun a Rathalos if you stripped your weaponry.


@Rekee: Remember that logo?

-

"With numerous hunters engaging the Rathalos up close, little Edo probably won't be targeted. If he is though, he'll see it coming." David input.

-
ooc:
I figure we're still making a strategy here, and I'm trying to let you guys do that rather than me.
I still owe you guys information on the two high rank monster hunters that will be with you (which should be considered for the strategy). Unfortunately, today I'm a little busy, so school work takes priority for now.
It shouldn't be too long before I give you the info though. Sorry for the inconvenience.

ooc:
@DB: It hit me like a brick joke. I smiled from ear to ear the moment I saw it, and am honored to see you use it.

~~~


Three Wells considered Edo's statement. He felt that leaving weapons unattended was unwise, but the felyne probably knows what he's doing. So, Three Wells did not say anything in response to Edo.

"Sometimes we fight rathian in Rulbo," the hermitaur clad hunter said. "Usually, lancers charge in first to distract monster. Because we have big shields, you see. Then, faster weapons attack, to keep it occupied. Then there's time for large weapons attack. Isn't that right, Kuhn?"



~~~
ooc: @Sunfish feel free to say that it isn't.

ooc: I don't get the logo :s

"Yep." Edo said in regard to David's statement. "If it takes to the air, nya, I'm gonna have to take cover, nya, because chances are that means it's after me, nya. We'll also probably want to keep it near buildings, nya." Then Edo paused for a few, "Alright, nya, here is an idea, nya."
"Our lancers charge in, shields up, focusing on blocking, nya, I'll mount on a building and work on it's wings, nya, our quick weapon wielders, like Sword and Shield, Duals, exc. will take it from behind while our lancers keep it busy, nya. And lastly, nya, any others with ranged weaponry can mount on buildings, or stay at a range, nya."
"How does that sound, nya, for a strategy, nya?"

Cyra just stood and listened to all that was being said around her so she could get a clearer idea of how the hunt was going to go.

"Just leave the distraction to me, nya." Totoro beamed, "He won't be able to take to the air with me darting around."

"Not so different from mine," Three Wells blinked at Edo's suggestion and happily nodded. "It could do."

The tall hunter looked at Totoro. For a moment he imagined the blue armored felyne darting about the deadly jaws and claws of the similarly colored wyvern. Alone.

"Be very careful" he said. "Felyne heroics has very high risk of death."

The group of monster hunters outside heard the scout (man on the watchtower) shout something from his perch. What exactly he said wasn't clear because he was so high up (at least four stories), but the word "Rathalos" stood out.
"Everyone be quiet!" David ordered, stepping closer to the hunter's lodging building.

The scout climbed down the ladder of the watchtower, then came up to the edge of the building and went prone. "The Rathalos is in the air! A-and it's headed this way!!!" He announced, the second part seeming like he just realized it. He quickly got back onto his feet and went somewhere else (probably inside the building through roof access).

-
ooc:
This is a very simple map I threw together to summarize the area.

Spoiler:

https://2img.net/h/i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab16/17dragonboy/holdarderathalos.png

Up is north. The Rathalos should be coming from the southeast (based on where it was last seen).
The red would be the gathering hall. The blue would be the hunter's lodging. The green would be the storage house. The brown would be the caravan wagons (and whatever is pulling them) spread out.
Beyond this map would be other random buildings. Single story buildings, but remember the three central buildings are two stories.

If there's any questions, please ask them.
Otherwise, get ready.

Upon hearing that the Rathalos was headed their way, Cyra unsheaths her spear and watching the sky in every direction, readies herself for what she knows is going to be a very difficult battle.

ooc:
1) How large is the space between the three central buildings? Enough for a rathalos? For the caravans?
2) How large are the roads and alleys?
3) Other than aptonoths/popos, what else is left with the caravans? Eg: supplies, workers, etc.
4) How strong are the buildings against physical damage? eg: Fireballs, Rathalos charges, Weapon strikes.
5) Are the surrounding buildings occupied?

I don't have a good feeling fighting a rathalos among three buildings full of people and supplies. Probably part of the fun, I suppose. d:

~~~


Three Wells unholstered his red Hermitaur lance, and also made sure that the katana across his back could be released with a firm tug.

Lance and Shield in hand, he glanced at the hunter's lodging building. "Are there any gunners in there?" he asked David. "They could help us when the rathalos is in the sky."

Edo was suprised the Rathalos came, as he wasn't quite ready. He quickly climbed up to the largest building, and got out his gun. He loaded in three crags, and zoomed in on Rathalos, aiming very carefully at either of it's wings. He won't fire just yet, but he'll keep his aim.

ooc:
@Rekee/Everyone: The space between the buildings would be enough for the Rathalos to fit into, but it would be tight.

The roads and alleys are enough that the Rathalos could maneuver freely, however he wouldn't be able to run very far at all (unless it was down the road). However, the caravan wagons (which are overbuilt and hefty) would get in the way (he could tip one over if he wanted to, but not just by accident).

Just for the record, all three types of "big herbivores" are present (Aptonoth, Popo, Apceros).
There's still a significant amount of supplies on the wagons.
The monsters hunters are still around, but probably not for long.
Something to be very mindful of is all of the herbivores hooked up to the wagons. They're not gonna stick around with a Rathalos, and they'll probably be what the Rathalos is hunting for.

The Rathalos could probably break down a wall (of one of the three main buildings) if he really wanted to, as in rammed into it multiple times. The first collision probably wouldn't be too much cause for concern. Weapons and fireballs wouldn't do much though, though there is potential fire damage.
If he stood on a roof, it would cave in.
Naturally, windows would easily shatter.
The surrounding buildings may or may not stand up if the Rathalos ran right into them.

You would know the hunter's lodging and gathering hall are occupied. By what people have been saying, they're VERY occupied.
You wouldn't know if the supply warehouse is occupied. It very well could be.

@Blaster: The three main buildings I mentioned on the map are the three largest, each two stories tall. I don't know which one you'd want to pick (they'd each have ladders on their sides, but you wouldn't be able to jump from roof to roof).
However, the hunter's lodging has the watchtower on it, which would put you over four stories high (sum of tower and building).

Just to give you a heads up, at that height, aiming would be a little more difficult (hitting large targets like wings wouldn't be hard, but more precise shots would be).
Also, you could expect a Rathalos fireball to knock that tower over, and you wouldn't have much room to evade. With its height, and your heavier amount of equipment, it would be a painful and damaging fall.
On the flip side, as mentioned earlier, Edo can be very low profile among everything else (ei; doesn't stand out), so the Rathalos might not attack him.

All in all, you're welcome to use the tower, I'm just saying there's some detriments and risks.

@Everyone: I'll post again.

With news of the Azure Rathalos coming, the monster hunters quickly started inside the three central buildings. Some grabbed whatever supplies they were going to take, others dropped what they were doing and went right inside.

After hearing Wells' idea, David quickly grabbed one of the monster hunters (coincidentally Tyler). "Tell all long range hunters to shoot from the windows!"
"Okay!" The hunter nodded, then headed off inside the hunter's lodging building.

From atop a two story roof, Edo could see the Azure Rathalos coming from the south east. Currently, it soared over the city at very high altitude (out of accurate range), sweeping over the city. It would pass over gathering hall area within the minute, and would certainly notice all of the large herbivores gathered in the streets.

The wagon animals stood around with complete ignorance. When the Azure Rathalos came around, they would certainly take off running to anywhere but where the Rathalos way, making a lethal stampede.

Totoro drew his weapons and darted off towards the caravan, ducking into one of the wagons near the herbivores and waited for the 'Los to appear.

Cyra positioned herself against the corner of the Guild building(closest to the storage building) were she could look and see the caravan and the herbivores, but where she would hopefully be out of the way of a stampede. She was also close enough that with her speed, she could reach the battle in just a moment.

She has her spear out and at the ready.

ooc:Crya is not carrying her shield at all. She wants the strength of a two handed attack and the shield would only slow her down and lessen her attacks.

Edo looked up at the tower, then took off all his armor, his sword and shield, and kept the bow, quiver, ammo bag and gun. having them all equiped, he climbed up, once up he set the bow aside, along with the quiver, and took the gun out, then loaded in three crags. He set the gun on the wall of the tower (the thingy that comes up so you don't fall) and aim at the Los, carefully taking aim at it's wing. Once it came into range, he would fire.

ooc: Edo stripped himself naked, took off his sword, climbed up the tower with his gun and bow.
Also, would he be able to jump off the tower all naked and all that? He'd obviously quickly throw his weapons off before jumped.

ooc: I'm fine with stampeding herbivores. But hooked to caravans? Now that's something you don't usually get in every RP.

~~~

Three Wells readied his lance and shield. Wherever the rathalos lands, he will charge.

ooc:
@Star: Acknowledged. I assume you still have your dual swords on you.
Could you make up a spot where you put your shield? Just for potential future reference (if you or someone else wanted it later or something).

@Blaster: That would work, yeah. Good thinking.
Your weapons should be okay from the drop, granted you'd want to get them checked out later.
Where did you put your sword, shield and armor? I wasn't sure if it was at the base of the tower or atop the tower.

-

After bringing his wide blade longsword out, David headed towards the rear of the wagon group, expecting the Rathalos to land among it.
The rest of the monster hunters (low rank) retreated inside the buildings. There was a lot of shouting and general noise, and the gunners ordered by David (conveyed by Tyler) had yet to appear.

For what was really only seconds, time dragged on as everyone waited for the Azure Rathalos to appear (Edo could clearly see it approaching).
Suddenly the monster flew over head, flying at a high altitude that gave it a birds eye view of the city. It passed the central buildings, and its enlarged shadow followed along from the ground a second later.

Edo saw the wyvern tilting to the side, turning around in a wide arc. It was now coming at the buildings, rather the caravans parked outside, from the north and from behind. It was gliding and losing altitude.
The herbivores hadn't the faintest idea what was going on, or what was coming.

Seconds dragged on for an eternity again as the Azure Rathalos swooped in from the north. Then, like an gigantic explosion, the wyvern slammed into one of the Aptonoth from behind, breaking its back, crushing its innards and killing it instantly. The monster hit with so much force that the attached wagon behind was jerked forward and some harnesses were broken or snapped.

After trampling the Aptonoth, the Rathalos continued forward from the ground as its momentum carried it forward. He bumped hard into the rear side of another wagon, throwing it forward and finally bringing himself to a stop.
Once still, he stood firmly on both legs, inhaled deeply, then raised his head to the sky as he let out a roar of volume proportional to his massive size. Underneath his roar was the screaming of those inside the buildings, plus the terrified cries of the herbivores.

Without a moment of delay, the herbivores started bucking and running, going any way that lead them quickest off from the giant wyvern. For most, this meant run south, where as some ran to the east.
Unfortunately for Cyra, one of, and then a couple of the wagons came running through the alleyway between the gathering hall and hunter's lodging. There was enough room for her to slip by them without being trampled or run over.

Wells and Edo were in front of the Rathalos, among the wagons, but were currently occupied with evading the fleeing herbivores that threatened to kill them before the Rathalos did.
David was behind the Rathalos, faced with the same stampede issue.

Once the blue king's roar ended, and Edo was no longer hindered by the pain in his ears, Edo started lining up a shot at the monster's nearest wing (it's right).
It was an easy shot, so with only about a second of aiming, Edo fired, stepping back from the recoil.

The little explosive round stuck to the Rathalos' webbing as planned, and detonated seconds after.
Looking over to inspect the damage done (and lining up his next shot), Edo barely saw a small slit in the montser's thick webbing, a few inches in length.

-
ooc:
@Blaster: I held off on the next shots just so you're not doing too much in one turn.
Just so you know, if the Rathalos tries to fly, it may make its webbing wounds worse. Don't be discouraged if it seems like you're doing negligible damage.
If you will be spamming crag shots (a valid idea, I'd say), be mindful I'll probably cut off your ammo after a certain point. I'll give you a heads up well in advance.

@Everyone: Let it be said, I intend to give you guys hell with this fight.

ooc: Cyra found that she fights better without a shield, so she never had one. and yes, she would still have her duals.

Crya, have just escaped a near miss, charges at the Rathalos.

She charges the rear of the creature and using a two handed thrust stabs into its rearend, ripping and pulling for optimum damage.

She jumps back and to the side in hopes of avoiding a counter move by the Rathalos.

ooc: Thar weapons be at thar base.

Edo fired his last two crags at the same wing, aiming at different spots, hoping to prevent it from flying.

ooc: If the webbing got torn more, would it be unable to fly? Is it already unable to fly? I'm not really sure on that aspect.

Totoro took this chance to jump off the wagon he was on and charged towards the back of the 'Los, aiming to take a slash or two at the back of it's legs as he darted through them and then retreat to a safe distance.

Chirozay bided his time, trying to remain out of the way. A golden opportunity would arrive at any moment.

ooc:
@Star: Acknowledged.

@Blaster: The Rathalos would still be able to fly right now, basically perfectly (probably some annoying pain though).
With enough damage, his flying could be hindered or outright made impossible, yes.
A hint (I don't want to say too much); if you imagine his webbing as paper, think of which ways of cutting it up might hinder his flying best.

-

Like the others, David used the standard hunter strategy of attacking the monster from behind. Being the closest to the rear, he would have been the first to attack.
However, the Azure Rathalos turned around to address the Aptonoth he just smeared into the street. The adjacent Aptonth was in a frantic panic, trapped by the combined dead weight of the wagon and Aptonoth corpse it was unable to pull.

When the Rathalos turned fully around, it saw David approaching and let out a threatening snarl, also taking a full step towards him.
Adhering to the threat, David backed off.

Totoro was the next to arrive at the Rathalos' rear end (now facing south), having weaved through the stampede of large herbivore drawn wagons.
His two slashes at the rear of one of the Rathalos' lower legs did essentially nothing. They made slits in the thick and tough hide, not breaching or drawing blood.
The wyvern glared at Totoro as he ran out from underfoot, but his attention was diverted by pain.

Relatively simultaneously, Cyra attacked with a powerful running thrust and Edo fired a second crag shot at the same wing (right) as before (having waited for the Rathalos to stop moving as it turned around).

Edo's second crag shot still hit the monster's wing, but off from where he aimed. As before, after sticking and a few seconds, the small explosive round detonated.
Edo couldn't see the damage he did (too far), but he could assume it was the same as before.

Cyra's lance head dug into the left leg considerably deep, as to be expected from a running thrust. She penetrated the tough and thick hide protecting the muscle underneath, and went a little beyond.
When she tried to push the lance down in order to widen the wound, the flesh and hide barely gave. The monster's body was too tough.

As she pulled out and retreated, Cyra saw the Rathalos' long tail swinging right at her. The wyvern was pivoting its body, adding to the force of the swing like one puts their whole body into a punch.
Because of the tail's length and speed, evasion for Cyra was unlikely. As quickly as she was able, she planted the butt of her lance into the ground and held it as a shield.

Unfortunately, the force of the swing was too much for Cyra to hold back. Though she resisted, the tail pushed through her and knocked her to the ground, though did leave her relatively unharmed.
Probably expecting this, the Rathalos stepped away from Cyra and swung its tail at her again the other away. Further away now, the end of the tail would now be the point of contact, much more lethal than the shaft.
For one, the end of the tail was lined with large spikes, each one a chance to tear or impale its victim.
Also, like a whip, the end had more speed as the tail was swung.

Not able to get up fast enough or much anything else, Cyra took the tail end to the side. She was fortunate to have tried and get up and ended up somewhat rolling over the tail.
One of the large spikes put a gash in her abdomen, having tore through her protective Khezu hide armor, deep but not yet life threatening. Other than that, her arm was mildly injured from the raw impact force, and that was all.
She dropped her lance on the second impact, now a couple steps away, but the Rathalos had its tail wound up for another swing.

-
ooc:
That tail is going to be a real problem, especially for rear attacks.

The Rathalos is facing east.
Cyra within tail range behind (west of) the Rathalos.
Totoro is somewhere NOT south (right) of the Rathalos.
Wells is left (south) of the Rathalos.
David is right (north) of the Rathalos.
Edo is up in the watch tower (west-ish).
I'm not sure where Chizoray is (I had forgotten about him until before this post, but forgot again as I wrote).

@Blaster: Sorry that I cut you off at one shot again. It was kind of for the same reason as before.

ooc: I have an urge to do something absolutely insane, are there any small buildings or structures really close to the 'Los?

Knowing that something had to be done, Totoro ran in close again and stabbed one sword down into the foot of the 'Los until it took notice of him where he would then flee as fast as his furry legs could take him.

Crya rolled as quickly as she could to get out of the way of the next tail swing. She knew she would not survive another.

Edo let out a couple swear words in a tenth of a second, before shouting at the Rathalos, "HEY! BOZO! IF YOU WANT TO PICK ON SOMEONE, PICK ON THE ONE PUTTING HOLES IN YOUR WING!" he shouted at the top of his lungs; probably hurting his voice for awhile. He took out the crag, swiftly putting in three pierce. He aimed at the los' head, and fired all of them if it took his bait. If not, he fired the pierce at the tail.

ooc:
@Sunfish: If you tell me what your plan is, it'll better help me answer if it is plausible or not.
I assume you want to jump on top of the Rathalos and climb around.
There's the one wagon with the dead Aptonoth and freaking out Aptonoth. You'd need the Rathalos to almost right next to it though, to jump up onto him.
There's small buildings (single stories) beyond the borders of the simple map I drew. Again, you need the Rathalos to be relatively near to get onto him (less so than with the shorter wagon). You'd also need a way to get on top of the buildings, which I may or may not give you right away.
There's also the two story tall buildings, which would probably be easiest to get on top of the Rathalos from (granted he still needs to be kind of close).

-

Cyra got away from the tail before it whipped her again. As the end slid across the ground, it hit her lance and tossed it another couple meters away (still not far away at all).

The Rathalos saw Totoro out of the corner of its eye and focused on him. When Totoro ignored his growl and neared one of his legs, the Rathalos raised its talons and stomped towards Totoro, intent on pressing him into the street.
This was enough to make Totoro stop in his tracks, and he retreated when the Rathalos tried to take a bite out of him, almost succeeding.

Because the Rathalos ignored Edo (for whatever reason(s)), Edo started aiming for the tail. Because of the distance of the shot and the constant movement of the tail, it was a shot that required some time to ensure.
Seconds passed before Edo took his first shot. It connected with the thick shell covering the tail, but what damage it did (and if it got through the shell) couldn't be determined. At the very least, the round didn't punch all the way through the tail.

The gunners still had yet to appear, and people were still screaming and shouting inside the buildings. Save for the one wagon with the dead Aptonoth, most of the caravans had cleared out of the area.

-
ooc:
Basically the same positions as before.

Edo aimed his pierce at the los' head, before realizing something; he stopped aiming, set the gun aside, then did something rather stupid; he took an normal pierce, took the tip off, and went through his arrows; he got out a very small arrow; the tip, however, was very sharp; sharpest arrow he has, homemade, but why? It's too small for his bow; he took the sharp tip off, and put that in his pierce. He emptied his gun, put in that sole pierce (which should now be tremendously sharp; likely enough to pierce a los head.) and took extremely careful aim at the head. Once he knew for a fact the pierce would connect (It better connect!) he fired. (And I don't care how hard you want this thing to be; that pierce had better connect! As long as it hits the los, I'm happy.)