Holgarde - Day One: Cleansing

(Metke)

A group of 'Prey could be seen further down in the marketplace, running through the stands and tables. The pack was composed of mixed types, excluding Gaiprey.
A Gendrome seemed to be the leader, who was the first to spot David and Cyra when it came into the same lane as them.

The alpha male slowed to a quick stop, faced its opposition, then started barking at them and its pack mates. Once the order was out, it started straight for the two monster hunters, while his company followed up from the sides to flank.

"PREY!!!" David hollered backwards, and the majority of the accompanying hunters ran ahead to join the engagement.

~

(Rulbo)

"There was a restaurant nearby!" The civilian shouted before rotating out for the next person. Despite what he said, he looked famished and dehydrated.

The worse happened then, when people started screaming in panic. Like ants to a pile of sugar, they started climbing onto the wagons for safety. Not everyone could get on, and people were falling off.

Through the mess of people, the hunters outlining the caravan could be seen engaging some 'Prey, including at least Velociprey and Ioprey. The raptors had engaged from the side-fronts.
Perhaps luckily, in each direction was some kind of building or another between the caravan and the engagements, save for the front where the road was.

-
ooc:
@Rulbo: So they're coming from the side fronts and front area.

@Metkee/Star: Just to put things in perspective; For just two hunters, this group of 'Prey could get ugly. With the others though, it shouldn't be too bad.

"I'll go help the left side, you help the right nya." Totoro said to Three before scampering off in that direction.

(Metke)

Cyra seeing the Gendrome coming at them, quickly unsheaths her dual swords. She moves to the side and takes a slash with both dual swords at the Gendromes left side as it goes by, she keeps moving to try and evade any retaliation from the monster. She will then spin around ready for another attack.

(Metke)

The Gendrome and Cyra charged at one another headlong, bearing similar intentions.
At the last second like dodging a bull, Cyra side stepped, spun around, and in the same motion swung her swords across the Gendrome's hip, taking a few steps further past after.

The Gendrome stopped itself after a paces, limping a small amount because of the shallow cuts on its thigh. In turned around and started towards Cyra again, whom back pedaled to stay away.

Meanwhile, David let his cloak roll down then raised his massive longsword up over his head. He approached one of the groups of 'Prey to the flanks, coming up along the side of a stand.
Timing his swing nicely, the moment one of the heads of the 'Prey popped out from the side of the stand, he decapitated the monster. The body and head fell forward to the ground and sprayed blood, the former twitching repeatedly.

This frightened the others in the group, making them back away with caution. Unfortunately for them, this gave David the time and room he needed to pull off another powerful swing.

Stepping away from the stand and towards the 'Prey that had come out, he spun around with his sword, building up its momentum. He took more steps towards the 'Prey to close the distance, and ended up sinking his blade deep into the neck of one of them.

However, as the second group of flanking 'Prey caught up with him, he now had over four focused on him.
Stalling, he left his longsword where it was and dove over another stand, and continued running. The less agile 'Prey followed but couldn't maneuver the marketplace as well as he could. He was trying to lead them back to the other hunters that were catching up.

~

(Rulbo)

Totoro quickly scaled a short building on the left side of the caravan, putting himself just a few meters away and above the conflict to that direction.

There were four 'Prey engaging two hunters here, the latter of which were on the defensive. The 'Prey were trying to surround the hunters, but so far only had about one hundred eighty degrees of coverage.

~

(Donoto)

"We'll be heading to the center of town. Hopefully they have the same idea." An eavesdropping other hunter said.
Currently the others were bringing Apceros drawn wagons off of the airship onto the ground.

-
ooc:
@Sunfish: When I posted for you I thought you had a gun and the building would be good for sniping. I saw you have dual swords though, but I'm too lazy to edit.
Jumping down on the 'Prey with your swords is very plausible. (You know you want to.)

ooc: How thick is the crowd around the caravan? Especially the front and front-sides?

~~~


Three Wells grabbed his lance from the lead wagon. There was a building blocking his right, so he opted to cover the front.

He examined the crowd in front of him, which probably wasn't as thick as the crowd surrounding the other sides of the caravan, since the caravan was moving forwards and the preys were attacking from that direction.

Pointing the lance downwards so as not to inadvertently create a civilian kebab, Three Wells hollered "Make way!" and charged along the road. As he neared the preys, he steadily lifted his lance, ready to breach the raptors' lines.

ooc: Why yes, yes I would very much like to do so.
------------------------------

Seeing how close the 'Prey were to him, Totoro made a leap for the closest one with his dual swords drawn, aiming to land on it's back and slit it's throat.

Edo nodded, then got back in the watch tower and drew his gun, taking a very close look around. If he sees anything aggresive (LOL) he'll shoot it with a crag, preferably in the head.

(Metke)

Cyra moved to the right side of the oncoming Gendrome, once within reach she will swing out with both dual swords at its right side, and continue past, backpedaling then pivoting for another attack.

Cyra hoped she could keep up this dangerous dance until others could get there, she did not think she could take out the Gendrome by herself, but she was going to give it her all.

ooc:
@Rekee (and Sunfish): I guess the crowd would be about as thick as a concert show. Being who you are though (Rekee), making your way through wouldn't be TOO hard.
I guess it would be about the same distribution all around the caravan. A lot of people are on the wagons though.

@Everyone: I should have mentioned this earlier, but a common 'Prey tactic would be;
Some come from the front,
Some come from the sides,
Some come from the rear.
The second step would very commonly happen (strange if it didn't), and the third wouldn't be uncommon (not guaranteed to happen).
With the caravans that are being attacked, it would be safe to assume that someone stuck to the rear to account for this.
During combat, the 'Prey try to surround their target. If they're outnumbered, they'll probably run away to regroup or just flee.

-

(Rulbo)

Totoro landed directly on one of the 'Prey's backs, and stayed on despite its reflexive efforts to throw him.
He got one sword into the side of the monster's neck, probably striking the artery.
With better balance, now that he had something secure to hold onto, he stuck his other sword into the other side, deeper, possibly going through to the throat.

Whatever the case, the 'Prey started to fall, and Totoro pulled out his swords, fell and landed on his feet nearby. He was behind the three other 'Prey that were engaging the monster hunters.

To the front, there were two monster hunters and three 'Prey, the latter of which was trying to surround the former.
A hunter with a shield was pressed up against one of the raptors, trying to keep it at bay while at the same time trying to stab it from underneath his defense.

Wells solved his issue by blind siding the 'Prey, ramming his lance through its ribs and several inches in. The force of impact pushed the monster away and to the ground, and that with a simple jerk at the shaft dislodged the lance.

~

(Donoto)

Edo didn't see anything new from the watch tower.

All two of the Apceros drawn wagons (two Apceros each) were off the airship, and they were being lead south east towards the center of town, accompanied by some monster hunters.

An idea dawned on Edo; he could follow the caravan from the rooftops. The buildings were close enough that he could jump from one to another with no real risk. Usually, at least. Some times to get from one to another he'd have to use a few other buildings, like stepping stones.

The buildings were generally just a single story high, some going a few feet above.

~

(Metke)

Pulling the same bull dodging trick again, Cyra dodged to the 'Drome's right and put two more shallow cuts in it, this time on its right thigh.

Stopping quickly, the Gendrome tried to whip Cyra with its tail, though didn't connect.
Seeing her chance for another attack, Cyra took a swing at the flailing tail, cleaning reducing it a few inches.

The wounded pack leader let out a scream, then barked angrily at Cyra and beyond (presumably to its troops).

Once he regrouped with the other monster hunters, David did a one eighty and charged the group of 'Prey, as the other hunters did. The two companies clashed and violence ensued, favoring the hunter's side strongly.

Knowing she had gotten lucky using the same trick twice, Crya didn't hold out much hope for a successful third run, and she wasn't doing enough damage anyway.

She dropped her dual swords and quickly grabbed her lance off her back and whipped it around to the front. This time she is going to meet the Gendrome head on. She plants her feet for a sturdy stance and when the Gendrome comes at her she will thrust at its chest with her lance using both hands for optimum force and damage.

She will then tear it out quickly back step and pivot to the side to evade and prepare for another attack.

(Rulbo)

Three Wells drove the lance into the prey again to ensure its death. Turning his attention to an unoccupied prey, he ran a few steps towards it with his lance held out. "Get this guy if I miss", he said to the hunter he had just helped.

Expecting the creature to dodge this straightforward attack, he prepared to swing the lance at whichever direction the prey hopped.

(Metke)

The Gendrome almost beat Cyra to the punch, lunging in as she swapped weaponry. Cyra was fortunate to retreat some, giving her the space she needed to get the head of her weapon in between herself and the pack leader.

It was still close though, and Cyra didn't get the full extension thrust she was hoping for, more of a push. None the less, it was still a push with the a sharp weapon.
As the Gendrome backed up in order to not be pushing itself up against something sharp, Cyra just pushed her lance out further, until finally the Gendrome was far away enough to be out of reach.

A big slit was in the alpha's chest, beneath its sternum. Monster hunter instinct hinted that the wounded monster would be much less aggressive and more careful now.

~

(Rulbo)

The original 'Prey was definitely dead after Wells stabbed it in the ribs a second time. It was lying on the ground, just twitching (as is common after death).

As he expected, the other 'Prey evaded his attack, side stepping and backing away simultaneously. Well's swing fell short because of the monster had retreated so much.
When the other monster hunter followed up, the raptor turned and ran away, headed towards the left flanking party of 'Prey.

The remaining 'Prey followed the same idea, running off to the right.

-
ooc:
@Star: The other fight (with David and the other) would be progressing. I just figure Cyra wouldn't know what's going on, since she'd focused on the 'Drome.
Plus its a very general, and kind of clustered, fight, and I don't see much reason to write it out.

(Rulbo)

"Stay at the front in case more come along," Three Wells said to the two hunters. Turning to the caravan, he waved with his shield arm as an "all clear" signal. He then followed the two 'prey towards the left.

(Metke)

Crya knew that things were going to be trickier now.

Still holding her lance with both hands, she starts to move around the Gendrome watching its every move, just waiting for the opportunity to strike again.

She will keep moving and circling the Gendrome until the chance opens up for her to go for another two handed thrust to its chest.


ooc:@DB: Ok, thanks for letting me know.

Edo found that idea to be a good idea, so he jumped from building to building while following the caravan.

Totoro quickly moved onto the next 'Prey, aiming to jump up and stab into its neck as he ran towards it, before heading to the other hunters.
*Edited

ooc:
@Rekee: There were two remaining 'Prey after the engagement. One went each direction, not both one way.

@Sunfish: Being a Felyne, you'd be really short. I wouldn't think you could reach a 'Prey's neck (assuming its not crouched down asking for it).
If you could clarify or edit, please.

@Blaster: I'm sorry, I partly lied about the buildings.
Further off would be buildings that you could go from top to top.
For now though, there's just market stands. A lot of them would be separated too much to jump from one to another (streets in between).

-

(Rulbo)

Upon pursing one of the 'Prey to the left side of the caravan, Wells was back with Totoro.
There were two monster hunters furthest away from him,
three 'Prey attempting to surround the hunters,
and Totoro closer, who seemed to just have killed a 'Prey.

Lastly there was the 'Prey that fled to this engagement prior, coming from Totoro's rear.

~

(Metke)

Cyra and the Gendrome circled for a moment, both very paranoid of the other.

After about ninety degrees of rotation, the Gendrome broke off to join its troops closer to the caravan. A limp was evident in both of its legs, enough that Cyra could probably keep up.

The group ahead (closer to the caravan) was still engaging the various 'Prey. Only a couple of the monsters were left
David had broken off, however, to assist Cyra. The Gendrome saw this and stopped in its tracks, squaring off with him, but still mindful of Cyra from behind.

~

(Donoto)

A couple of monster hunters remained with the aircraft while one of the workers deflated the balloon. They would catch up soon.

The rest accompanied the caravan, which headed directly for the center of town.
With the way the marketplace had distributed itself, the wagons had to traverse a large amount of stands and such to get where it was going. The accompanying monster hunters did what they could to move stands to get them out of the way.

So far, there were no signs of danger throughout the marketplace. This was with everyone looking around.

-
ooc:
@Blaster: Sorry I'm kind of not giving you much to do at the moment. I don't really have a good reason why either (got a little work to do, you might just be getting the shaft).
I'll try to make it up to you though.

ooc: Well ya could of mentioned they were farther away! Yeesh!

Edo climbed down the tower and join up wit hthe caravan, jumping onto it's roof/climbing onto it's roof.

Cyra took off after the limping Gendrome.

She saw that David was now there to help and had stopped the monster.

Not wanting to remain at its back, Cyra starts to circle around to its right side with her lance in a two handed grip. As soon as she is in range of its side, she will thrust with the lance aiming to go between the ribs. She will then pull the lance down to increase the damage and then out, while dancing back to try and evade.

(Rulbo)

Three Wells began picking up speed and charged at the fleeing 'prey with his lance.

ooc:
@Everyone/Sunfish: Just as a heads up, when you edit a post, there is a significantly large chance that I will not notice unless you notify me.

Sorry about my absence. You guys probably saw the reason on Minegarde.

-

(Rulbo)

Totoro's running jump strike wasn't particularly powerful or damaging, despite connecting with one of the 'Prey's neck.
The aggravating attack did distract and stall the 'Prey enough for one of the more powerful monster hunters to successfully follow up. One of the lower rank hunters rammed the head of his hammer into the chest of the 'Prey, most likely knocking the wind right out of the monster and breaking or cracking some bones underneath.
Totoro got out beneath the hunter and 'Prey's feet before he was stepped on.

The 'Prey that was fleeing from Wells and unknowingly pursued engaged the other low rank hunter, which occupied it long enough for Wells to ram his lance into its butt. The tip dug in several inches, the better part of a foot. Internal organs were certainly ruptured and the monster wouldn't last the day, but regarding more immediate effects, the monster fell to the side and flat onto the ground, still alive and literally kicking.

Now, Totoro was behind the two lower rank hunters.
Each of the two lower rank hunters was occupied with a 'Prey in front of them, with a third 'Prey lying on the ground with a second hole in its butt.
Wells was behind the two remaining effectively fighting 'Prey.

-
ooc:
I'll get to the others, I just get nervous when my post gets really long. EDIT: And I gotta go for now.

(Metke)

David moved in on the Gendrome with his sword raised high, and made a cautious but full swing down at its head.
The monster retreated backwards and raised its head out of reach, but then stumbled to the side in order to get away from Cyra, who it was expecting to attack from the rear.

The alpha raptor then turned around and made a run for it away from its two assailants, almost falling over with every step. Like before, it wouldn't be hard to catch up with the monster, especially since it had to maneuver its way through the stands and tables of the marketplace.

~

(Donoto)

The Donoto caravan started to reach the edge of the marketplace, and one of the larger buildings Edo saw earlier came into better view.

It stood about two stories tall, probably a little taller. On its roof was a watch tower similar to the one Edo perched on before. Someone was up in the tower, and some others were on the roof as well it seemed. They seemed to have various kinds of long range weaponry, and one looked like a monster hunter, another like a blue suit guild knight.

Some shouting and waves came from the people on the roof, and some of those with the caravan returned the same.
Someone on the roof fired some kind of firearm towards one of the nearby buildings between his position and the caravan's. The caravan hunters all started drawing weapons.

As the caravan pulled out of the marketplace and into a small collection of buildings, Edo saw the yellow face of a Genprey peaking around the corner of one of the buildings.
Now, Edo had some buildings around that he could scale and travel across, each a single story tall give or take a few feet. He could make his way over to the larger building, which was only a few decameters away, and a ladder was right their to scale its side.

-
ooc:
@Blaster: I figure you wanted to climb buildings, so I kind of spelled out that possibility for you.
The part about the ladder isn't really a hint, just an option.
I'm debating establishing an NPC with you, since Coyote seems to be really busy.
If you didn't know, a decameter is ten meters (I think I'm going to use that more often).

(Rulbo)

Three Wells charged at the prey on his left, while holding up his shield against any attacks from the right.


ooc: For the record, he holds the lance on his left arm and the shield on his right.

Totoro circled around to the left most 'Prey and would use guerrilla tactics of running up and slashing at whatever he could reach before darting back out of range as a distraction for the other hunters.

(Metke)

Cyra once again took off after the Gendrome.

If she catches up to it she will try for a thrust with her lance in its right side between the ribs, pulling and ripping for optimum damage.

"Nya! Not good, nya!" Edo said as he climbed the ladder, then once on the top of the building, he got out his gun, loaded in one crag, aimed at the prey's head until it was perfect, then BANG! He fired, hoping the crag would blow it's brains out.

(Donoto)

Edo could smell the scents of various kinds of 'Prey as he ran the rooftops to the larger building. He didn't happen to see any of the 'Prey, but that was probably because he wasn't particularly looking for them and they were probably hiding as best they could in the urban environment.

Once he was up on the roof of the taller building, after climbing the ladder on its side, he saw that the other gunners up on the roof were looking for targets. Only one of these gunners was an actual monster hunter, and another was a blue suit guild knight with a standard issue rifle. The others were civilians.

When Edo started looking for targets, he didn't find any immediately. The nearby buildings provided substantial cover and concealment for whatever 'Prey were nearby.
Then he spotted a 'Prey peaking its head around a corner, scouting the larger building. Since the target was within range, and didn't seem to be going anywhere soon, Edo started aiming for the shot.

The better part of half a minute passed, and then Edo fired off his crag shot.
Unfortunately, the shot quickly went sour. The slow flight speed of the heavier shot (and smaller amount of propellant) gave the 'Prey plenty of time to react, or rather reflexively get behind cover.
The 'Prey hid behind the building, and the shot flew into the wall of another building, detonating after, probably scaring the crap out of the 'Prey. If it yelped, it couldn't be heard over the relatively small but still somewhat loud explosion.

The caravan continued towards the larger building, bearing its ready monster hunter escort.

-
ooc:
Getting to the others.

This makes me want to do something like a siege battle. Kind of reminds me of Coyote's Halo RPG.

(Metke)

David also chased after the Gendrome, and because his weaponry (short sword) was a little more maneuverable than Cyra's (big spear), he caught up with the fleeing Gendrome first.

He swung at the back of the Gendrome's leg as he came up from behind, effectively and completely tripping the monster.
As the pack leader fell, slid and rolled, David was carried forward by his momentum, but then Cyra came charging in.

Putting all of her built up speed into it, she thrust her lance into the side chest of the grounded Gendrome. Unfortunately, she only went so deep, catching some ribs on the way in. A hard tug was required to dislodge the embedded weapon.
The Gendrome seemed unable to get back up, or at least didn't yet.

~

(Julbo)

Totoro slashed at the lower legs of the 'Prey a few times, thoroughly fouling up its footing.
The hammer hunter followed up with another ramming pound to the monster's chest.
Wells followed up further by jamming his lance into the raptor's side.
The lance embedded in the monster's side held it in place enough for the hammer hunter to finish the monster, lifting his hammer up over his head, then dropping it down on that of the 'Prey. The initial impact probably gave the monster a concussion and knocked it out, but the impact between the hammer and the ground outright squashed its skull.

Seeing the 'Prey have its head bashed in, and realizing what happened to its other pack mates, the remaining 'Prey took off running east (where the caravan was going).

The crowd was still in mass panic and making too much noise to hear much else.
Monster hunter instinct hinted that the caravan was still being engaged on other fronts.

-
ooc:
I love that "monster hunter instinct" trick for giving hints.

(Metke)

After tugging her spear free, for good measure and to put the Gendrome out of its misery, Cyra walks up to the back of the head of the monster and thrusts her lance downward with both hands through its neck.

"Good job everyone," Totoro said, catching his breath, "but we should really finish up the rest of them, nya." With that he took off after the one that had ran away, intending to slash its legs should he get close enough and resume guerrilla tactics.