Holgarde - Day One: Cleansing

Cyra seeing where everyone had gone now, takes up her spear and runs up to the neck, Standing over a soft spot, careful of the head and the fire, she will evade if necessary.

Going in for a soft spot away from Edo, using a two handed stab she will bring the spear down and run it through the soft part of the neck and she will then rip it out if she is able to. Moving away as needed to avoid any bites or fire, she will dive, duck and roll as necessary.

Edo suddenly realized that it's not a good idea for him to attack the Rathalos, so he quickly left the Rathalos, climbed back up the building he was on, and went over to his bow and gun.

ooc:
Sorry I haven't posted. I've been kind of busy.

@Blaster: Just so you know, you already stripped your equipment. It's by the base of the tower.
I'll assume you threw your sword and shield down though. You'll want to decide if you brought them back up or not.

@Rekee: If were to bot Wells, I would have drawn the longsword. :-P I tried to wait so you could.
I'm not really sure about the characteristics of your longsword, and I didn't want to make assumptions.
By characteristics, for example, David's longsword is heavy, so its slower but stronger.
I was thinking the Hornetaur sword is like a katana; lighter, faster, and with a very sharp edge. Particularly good for soft targets but not so good with hard (unless thrusting/piercing).
So, I suppose I'm asking what you'd like the characteristics of your LS to be, if its not "normal."
At the moment, I'm just going with "normal."

-

After he tossed his sword, shield and own body down, Edo started his climb back up the ladder of the hunter's lodging.

Totoro rather easily went from the Rathalos' wing to his head, which he pounced on top of, landing near the eye.
The Rathalos immediately began thrashing its head around (more so than already), simultaneously trying to snatch up Totoro in his jaw as he tried to shake him.
Totoro didn't manage to attack the Rathalos' eyeball with his sword, due to the weapon's cumbersome relative to the situation and his inability to get a hold of something to stay on.
Rather than fall off and potentially be eaten, Totoro leaped back off the Rathalos' head, passing Cyra as she came around to the underside of the Rathalos' neck.

Wells was safe from the tail near its base, however the monster's right leg was practically groping for him, and the Rathalos knew where Wells was. Accordingly, Wells distanced himself from the kicking good leg while trying not to go too far out. Conveniently, the tail's thickness thinned as he progressed.
He then stepped in, brought his longsword overhead in a powerful downward swing, and brought it down on the Rathalos' tail.
The blade went only a couple or so inches in, shell and flesh included. The shell was obviously what was holding back the longsword, and literally held it tight until Wells jerked it free.
A second overhead swing hit almost right into the previous hack, but just off. Like with splitting wood with an ax, the shell made something like a wedge between the two swings.

Chizoray footing on the left wing was sound enough for him to walk across it like a carpet.
He came to the back edge of the wing, where with a horizontal slash his blade and the webbing would be ideally perpendicular.
With one powerful swing, he tore over a foot through the webbing. His subsequent swing slashed the same amount, letting the lower part of the webbing fall to the ground. Both newly made edges of the webbing were streaming blood.

Finally on the correct side of the neck, Cyra ran in on the Rathalos' throat with her lance held to thrust.
However, the Rathalos clearly saw her coming, and was very protective of the vitals within his neck. He reached for Cyra with his jaw, temporarily stopping her charge.
Flames started to build up within his mouth again, but the likely fireball had yet to be launched.
With the Rathalos' neck curled up the way it was, it would be difficult and risky for Cyra to get by the Rathalos' fangs to his neck.

Even though the potion he'd drank hadn't enough time to take effect yet, David quickly started to near the Rathalos, sheathing his shorts word as he sluggishly jogged. Along the way he scooped up his longsword.

The front end of a heavy bowgun was sticking out the window from before.

-
ooc:
Positions

Spoiler:

His right wing would kind of be up in the air.
If there's any questions, please ask.

ooc: He would have left his equipment on the way back up.

Edo loaded his gun with three pierce, and carefully aimed at the throat. Once he has a clear shot, he'll fire all three.

ooc: The LS will be just normal.

Three Wells continued hacking away at the tail.

Cyra not wanting to risk the chance of a fireball, quickly retreats away from the front of the head.

She is going to try something crazy here, running around to the back of the head, using her agility to aide her, she is going to jump up onto the head and in the same movement as the jump using a two handed grip on her spear, jab down into the eye.

Hopefully she can do this quickly enough to surprise the Rathalos whose attention she hopes is elsewhere.

Cyra will quickly retreat once she is done or before if a significant threat arises.

Totoro ran around to the underside of the 'Los and began plunging his blade in and out of the softer hide.

ooc:
I'm guessing everyone is gonna think this is an update, but then realize it's not and be unhappy.

@Sunfish: Can you be more specific as to where you're attacking? Because the underside could refer to the underside of the neck, or of the main body (or even the tail).
Bear in mind, the Rathalos is guarding his neck with his mouth (and the neck itself), and his body is protected by his legs (and other potential complications). It's not to say you can't get by the defenses, just keep them in mind.

ooc: I meant the body, probably somewhere in the center underneath about where the wings would be. I'd imagine there wouldn't be too much trouble getting in there.

ooc:
Aw, screw it. I'll make assumptions, and bot Glyph while I'm at it.
@Sunfish: Screw you, you posted too late (as I was posting). :-P I'm going with things my way.
In fairness, you'll see why my way may be more desirable. That's not to say your idea was bad or mine is good, it's just that it's a different situation.

-

With the tail still swinging around as much as it could, Wells had a very hard time hitting the same spot each time.
Four swings later, he'd only put four more hack marks in the tail, none any deeper than the others or adding onto one another.
Regardless, even the Rathalos would be less inclined to swing his tail with a section of it hacked up.

Meanwhile, Chizoray continued swinging away at the Rathalos' webbing, tearing it across from the back forward.
After a sum of over five swings, the webbing had been slashed so far (plus everything else) that the Rathalos surely could not fly anymore.

Unfortunately, the Rathalos' attention didn't leave Cyra as she went around to the backside of his head. He either ignored Totoro or prioritized Cyra.
As Cyra went around, his head followed. He would have followed her all the way around if he could roll his body as needed, but his head only moved so far.
In the end, his head was essentially upright and he could see Cyra out of the corner of his eye.

Edo lost his clear shot at the underside of the neck when the Rathalos' rolled his head upright.

Because the head was upright, jumping on top of it would provide a poor angle of attack to the eye.
However, now all Cyra had to do to hit the eye at a good angle was move in and thrust.
And so, Cyra rushed the Rathalos' head and thrust her lance at the side of his face, aiming for his eye.

However, like any animal, the Rathalos was adept at using its body to defend itself, namely its shell to protect its less protected area.
He rolled his head so that his crown faced Cyran, which was covered in his hard carapace. At the same time, he curled his neck in again to withdraw his head from the attack.
In the end, Cyra just scraped the top of the Rathalos' head as he turned it and pulled it away, fortunately not getting stuck.

This whole time, the Rathalos' attention had been on Cyra, which distracted him from David, the more destructive of the two monster hunters.
David had charged the Rathalos with his sword held up overhead, straining his back but forcing himself through the pain.
When the Rathalos coiled away from Cyra's lance, David dropped his sword down on the Rathalos' jaw.

The heavy blade easily parted through the unprotected flesh of the monster's lower mouth, only obstructed by the thick bones within. David's sword must have been jammed hard into the jawbone, having split some distance through it.

The Rathalos shrieked in agonizing pain, jerking his head and David's weapon with it. He couldn't struggle because of the excruciating pain it would produce, because David firmly held his sword in place.
Thus, his head was essentially held still, one side towards the ground, the other up. However, as a wounded animal fighting for his life, it was only a question of time until he broke free from David's siege with a surge of adrenaline.

Edo still did not fire for the throat because David was now in the way. Cyra nearby, and more so Totoro running in to attack the throat, were all the more reason.

With the Rathalos no longer defending its under neck Totoro rushed in and put as much power as he could into a thrust.
The blade was put through more than half of its entire length, surely entering the Rathalos' wind pipe. Because of the hole's lacking size, plus it being plugged by the sword, however, he could still breath.

-
ooc:
@Blaster: Sorry that you kind of got screwed that round.

@Rekee: To maybe clarify what's going on with the tail;
If you were to hack at a piece of wood with a sword, but not really focus on one fine spot, you'd hack the crap out of it but not get too far.
With the Rathalos' tail moving around so much (bear in mind you had to move out some to not get hit by the legs), it's hard to hit the same spot.

Spoiler:

"Ah, **** it." Edo said, throwing his gun to the ground, following it. He quickly picked it up, making sure he had crags in it. (If he didn't, he'd put crags in it.) he went to where he had a good angle to fire a crag into the previous throat wound he made, then fired all his crags into it.

With the head still Cyra moved in quick with another attempt To put her spear through the exposed eye.

She runs in and thrusts into it with both hands on the spear for added strength.

Totoro down on the blade as hard as he could, hoping to put at least a slight tear where his blade had gone in before pulling it back out and backing up to a safer distance to find his next target.

With his initial target in ruins, Chirozay decided to make himself useful and find something new to cut. Blade in hand, he quickly made his way off of the monster's wing and towards it's neck, near the others. He moved to be on the other side of the Rathalos' body, and with all of his strength, brought his weapon down on the underside of the neck.

For a moment, Three Wells looked up from his tail hacking, and was glad to notice that the other monster hunters were all doing fine on their own.

So he continued hacking away at the tail.

Cyra had to aim at a downward angle from above to hit the Rathalos' (right) eye, considering it was facing towards the sky.
Regardless, she thrust her lance at it and gouged straight through the highly vulnerable bulb, utterly destroying it.

Worse than before, the Rathalos let out an ungodly cry as his level of pain was pushed further over the edge. All else became negligible to him, like the would be excruciating pain he'd have felt when he jerked his head back and pried David's large blade from his jawbone.

Not having any luck with worsening his wound, Totoro pulled out and backed off. David and Cyra followed suit, because the Rathalos was rapidly starting to get up.
Edo wasn't yet ready to fire, because he was unloading his bowgun and reloading it with the three crag rounds.

Chizoray lost his chance at the throat, and the tail was about to become a large threat for Wells, so both hunters backed away from the infuriated monster.

The Rathalos forced himself onto his underside, then just as quickly stood up on his two legs despite the heavy injuries on one of them.
Using his right leg as the pivot point, he spun around counter clockwise and lashed his tail out at the group of hunters, falling short of each of them.

He stopped after a half spin, landing firmly on his left leg, showing no signs of weakness.
Using his only remaining eye, he looked up and over his left shoulder at the group of monster hunters, his tail held low at the majority of them and his head up high. His broken jaw continued to leak flaming fluid, presenting the ever looming threat of an explosive fireball.

-
ooc:

Spoiler:

@Rekee: You'd be nearby your lance now.
Your shield would be by Totoro, Edo and David though (assuming you dropped it).

Edo quickly ran to Cyra, noticed the stomach wound, and aimed very carefully at it. Once he has a perfect shot, he'll fire his crag into the wound, hopefully killing it.

ooc:
For a second I thought you meant Cyra's stomach wound, and/or health shots (which wouldn't exist).

Anyway, I may have lost track of all the specific wounds on the Rathalos.
The only thing resembling a stomach wound I remember is when Cyra ran underneath the Rathalos with her swords, putting some shallow cuts in.
Is that what you were referring to? If so, I can basically say it won't have any chance of killing him outright (not saying don't do it).

If you're aiming for something else, please refresh my memory. Bear in mind Cyra is opposite of the stomach itself now though (behind him), so shooting at the stomach from next to her wouldn't really work.

ooc: The stomach wound. I'm kinda hoping the crag will slide through it, getting caught inside it somewhere. If he has to shoot it so it won't hit the tail, he'll also time it to where it will go by the tail.

ooc:
The only "stomach wound" I recall is the one I described above (which technically isn't really a "stomach wound", more between the legs).
Is that the "stomach wound" you're referring to?
If it's not, please refresh me to any other stomach wounds (how they got there, quotes would be nice).

His stomach would be facing towards his front, because he's raised front side up.
Since you're behind him (by Cyra), you wouldn't be able to shoot at his stomach, because the rest of his body is in the way.

(Shooting at the between the legs wound I mentioned would be possible, but hard because its a small, moving target. The wound is very shallow too.)

Just as forewarning, even if you do manage to get the crag inside his abdomen area (which I unfortunately don't see happening), it probably wouldn't kill him right away (it would be more of a multiple day thing, if it even kills him).

Sorry to get nit picky on this, I'm just trying to understand where you're aiming, and giving you heads up about limitations.

ooc: Your making me sound extremely weak -_- I imagine a crag for a felyne should have the same kind of explosives as those for people. *shrug*

Edo changes his aim to the left leg, aiming carefully to fire it into thw wound. Once he had a sure fire shot, he'd time it to where it would pass the tail and go in the wound, hopefully having the explosion topple it.

Totoro ran around the backside of the 'Los, circling wide enough so that he was not in harms way and then darted for the legs by running underneath the wings. Once directly beneath the wing he would pull out one of his swords and charge it into the nearest leg wound.

Crya decided to make a run for the right leg. With her spear in both hands, she runs around the Rathalos watching the tail ducking dodging as needed to reach the right leg.

Once there using a two handed thrust she will thrust the spear into the back of the right leg, twist it in and then pull down with all of her might. She will then run, duck, dive, dodge, and roll until she is clear of any threats from the tail or the head or fireball.

ooc: I'd prefer Three Wells to not have dropped his shield. It's on his right arm now, right?

EDIT. okay, it's on his back.

~~~


Seeing the rathalos craning its head, Three Wells lunged forward and thrusted his longsword at the rathalos's neck/chest.

If the rathalos lowered its head in response, he would chain the thrust into an upward swipe across its neck/jaw, hitting with as center of the sword as possible, and then side-hop out of the way.

If the rathalos spins, Three Wells would duck (below wing level) and throw himself towards the rathalos's body with his back facing the tail.

ooc:
@Blaster: Well... You kind of are weak in terms of raw power, unfortunately. You're a Felyne, and you're using a light bowgun (not a particularly powerful weapon).

I'm going with the idea that the generic Felyne (LBG) crag shot is smaller than a generic human (LBG) crag shot. Sure, a Felyne could probably shoot a human sized one, but that would be more Felyne HBG.

In any case, human or Felyne crag (of any size really) probably wouldn't outright kill the Rathalos if it went off in his abdomen. He's very large, and the explosion compared to him is small. Granted it would still give him hellish internal problems, just probably nothing immediately lethal.

@Rekee: The Rathalos' head is high up out of reach, even for LS. (If it was in range, it would be an ineffective attack, because you'd be hitting with the tip of the weapon with little power behind it).

Regarding the shield... I imagine you would have a very tough time having it on your arm and wielding a longsword. It's significantly heavy and its cumbersome.
I suppose we could say it's put away on your back on some kind of harness? Just bear in mind there'd be a delay between getting it out and guarding.

I suppose you'll want to edit your post.

ooc: I've edited my post

What would be the outcome were Three Wells to block the tail (not tail spike) using the blade of the longsword?

ooc: Edited my earlier post.

ooc:
@Rekee: Assuming you get into a very solid guarding position (using your whole body, not just your arms), you could probably block the whole thing.
Otherwise (using just arms or something), you would basically take the hit, maybe hurt your arms trying to resist too.

Turning a thrust into a swing reminds me of Saito from Rurouni Kenshin.
I would think the power of the swing would be lacking though.

-

When Wells ran in towards the Rathalos' front, the monster turned and lowered his head to address him. Seeing this, the heavy monster hunter adjusted his thrust into a swing aimed for the wyvern's head.

When he saw the monster's jaw opening wide and a firestorm within, he closed his eyes and relaxed his body, knowing what was about to happen.
He took the fireball point blank in his chest, the resulting explosion of which touched upon his abdomen, shoulders, and most painful of all, his head.
Because of the sheer force and upper leverage, the heavy hunter was knocked away and flat onto his back, his longsword pulled from his hands and flying off a few meters.
Bits of flaming residue were on Well's face, burning away at his skin and flesh beneath.

Despite seeing an ally laid out, Edo focused on his aiming and fired his crag round, putting it in the group of the left leg wounds.
It exploded, skinning a portion of the thick hide and the torn muscle underneath, leaving a near fist sized chunk hanging.

David, Cyra and Totoro thereafter charged the Rathalos' legs all at once.
Because he only had one eye to see with, the Rathalos only saw Totoro and David approaching. He wound his tail back, then swung once the two hunters were in range.

Because the tail swing was so easily foreseen, David knew to address it and acted accordingly.
He stopped at the end of the tail swing and pivoted his body so that it was tanget to the swinging arc. Likewise, his sword was perpendicular to the tail as it approached, its head put against the ground at an angle facing away with David behind, using his whole body to hold the blade in its position.

The tail hit the heavy blade and slid up along its tilted body, nearing the shaft of the weapon. David's position was unchanged, and he acted like a shield for Totoro to continue for the legs.

Cyra got by completely unnoticed, allowing an all out running thrust into the Rathalos' right leg. The spearhead went in deep, but it was difficult for Cyra to either twist or push down the weapon.
Instead, she pushed sideways on the shaft of her lance, using her her legs and whole body to move it. Like an over sized crowbar, she pried away the Rathalos' muscle and hide.

The tail quickly swung back from David towards her, but lacked a significant amount of power. In any case, Cyra retreated off to the side of the monster, falling out of the swinging angle and radius.

Totoro drew one of his dual swords and jumped up at the collection of wounds in the left leg. He planted his sword into one of the preexisting gashes, and hung on the left leg from there.

-
ooc:

Spoiler:

On the map, Well's longsword would be a little off to the right (east).

Cyra seeing the hunter that had bit hit by the fireball, takes of at a full tilt run to get to him as fast as possible to try and help him.

She will watch for any danger and dodge if needed.

Once reaching Three Wells she will to what it takes to put out the flames using her own hands if need be and she will then do whatever she can to help him to safety and treat any visible wounds on his face.

Edo quickly adjusted his aim to the right leg wound Cyra left, firing a crag into it.