IC: The Sun Never Sets, IC thread for The Sun Never Sets Options

[Tecumseh]

Stogie fires three more rounds at the retreating mass of earth and dirt. One blast strikes the spirit squarely but the slug does little, other than to incorporate itself into the swirling mix of rocks and debris.

Smohalla strains to his feet, his back failing to straighten fully as he stands. His posture is stooped as he plants his shoulder against a thick fir tree to avoid losing his balance. His jacket is slashed, the tatters sticking to his skin as the blood begins to dry.

He ignores that to concentrate on the fleeing shapes. His mind bends the trees and forest out of the way, piercing the troll with his natural born senses. He digs deep into the astral form, searching out its hidden side. The troll is Infected, that is clear to see. He is a shaman, the equal of Smohalla, with a distinct aura of thoughts twisted and disfigured by his disease. He's hurt but repairing fast, his body (and aura) stitching itself back together even as Smohalla watches. Toothy's eyes flare open; his period of unconsciousness has passed. He looks back to the group with fear and anger. For now, his fear is winning. He is clearly unaccustomed to opponents equal to himself. Being knocked out terrified him, and all he wants to do is run home.

Toothy flings a spell behind him, hoping to buy himself some time. Smohalla sees the wave of energy bypass him but cannot do anything to protect his friends behind. Stogie's head explodes into a violent symphony of fireworks, like a pounding form of brain freeze that won't pass. His vision swims as all the directions in the world reverse themselves, then flip again. Ellesar fares better, his sensation feeling more like sandpaper rubbing along his neck and back, then across his legs and arms.

The watchers have not called off the chase. They pursue the earth spirit relentlessly, nipping at its heels. The spirit is strong but it cannot adequately protect itself while carrying its master, and it has been weakened by the accumulation of blows. One of the watchers bites the spirit just so on the back of the neck, and the spirit is forced to succumb. The momentum throws Toothy to the ground, the forest floor swallowing him up.

Ellesar stands, his hands fighting through the abrasive sensation to feed bullets into his rifle without his eyes leaving the forest. There's no movement that he can see or hear.

[phlapjack77]

Smohalla pauses briefly, concentrating on sending a mental command to his watcher spirits

Report to me the activity of my enemy, in the physical world and in the astral. Follow him if you must. Be wary of his claws.

Aloud, he says, Our enemy is afraid, and hurting. But he gets better every moment.

[AtroposReborn]

Ellesar's eyes remain plastered to the trees directly ahead of him. "Then what shall our coarse of action be? If we are going to finish this...thing off then we need to move now and all at once."

[phlapjack77]

Smohalla slides down the tree to a sitting position, pain flashing across his face at every movement.

This body is too injured now to follow you.

I will provide help from the astral.

He closes his eyes and his face relaxes as the pain drains away, leaving his features smooth and calm.

On the astral, a large eagle takes wing from the sitting form and flies towards the position of the downed troll

[pbangarth]

Stogie indicates the unconscious body of Smohalla. "Jake. Protect." Jake runs over to Smohalla's body and stretches out on the ground at his feet. His ears are erect and twitching.

"Well, if we are going after that thing, let's go now before it heals. Otherwise, we should get out of here and hope it doesn't follow. My guess is it will come after us again, only more carefully, so if we can find it and finish it, I'm all for that."

[AtroposReborn]

"Let's not waste time then." Ellesar swiftly begins heading towards the area where they had last seen the troll, weapon at the ready.

[pbangarth]

Stogie sets off in pursuit of the Infected troll. He had hunted dangerous things many times, and it never paid to go straight in after one. He stepped to the left of Ellesar's path of approach and moved among the trees, trying to maximize their cover. The thing and it's spirit servant made no attempt at subtlety in their retreat. There had to be tell-tale signs of their passage and going to ground. Blood on the bushes, broken branches, leaves turned over... there had to be something to give a clue.

[Tecumseh]

Stogie staggers out of the spell's area of effect. Warmth floods his brain as the piercing, icy sensation melts away. Ellesar also breathes a sigh of relief as he walks forward, his skin settling down from its harsh scrubbing. Smohalla eyes the affected area on the astral but it does not follow the men as they leave the effect. Rather, the spells dissipates, its swirling vortex slowing down until the captured mana escapes and reincorporates itself into the surrounding air.

Smohalla sends the watchers to the troll's last known position, but they are little help. The forest is overwhelmingly busy on the astral and the watchers can't penetrate the vibrant swirl. Smohalla leaves his body to follow the trail himself.

The shifter reacts with some surprise as Smohalla's spirit sheds its mortal coil and goes off on its own. In his wolf form, he approaches Smohalla's shell and sniffs at it lightly. He looks to Jake, seeking reassurance that this is a normal proceeding. He backs away from Smohalla's body slightly, just in case whatever split Smohalla in two is catching. He sits back and watches Smohalla's spirit fly away.

Stogie has little difficulty following the trail left by the earth spirit. In its haste, it upturned rocks and branches, leaving a jagged arrow pointed straight at its final resting spot. Ellesar and Stogie approach the area gingerly, their eyes twisting side-to-side while their shoulders pivot with their guns. There's a cool wind blowing across the forest floor, a dark cloud still covering the sun. Stogie does his best to stay quiet; his heightened senses notice every leaf he brushes and every drop of sweat on his forehead.

Suddenly, there's movement. A dozen meters ahead, vines reach up off the ground, binding together and forming a thin, dense shape. Plants stretch to life, their branches curling and tightening into knots, thorns pricking forth off every stem. On the astral, a new being forms, a spirit created from the plant life all around. Then there's a flash; the troll bursts forth from his hiding spot, sprinting away. The watchers leap to the chase. The new arrival stares the men down with hollow eyes, covering the troll's retreat.

[phlapjack77]

Mentally commanding his Watcher spirits, Smohalla sends one to harass and attack the Plant spirit.

The other he sends to follow the troll's retreating form.

For himself, he prepares to return to his Physical body and summon another spirit.

This time, his summoning will not be so tame.

This time, his spirit brother will join the battle.

[pbangarth]

Stogie reveled in the clearing of his senses, only to shiver as his enhanced physique ground to his normal state. Damn, already? As the spirit coalesced before him, Stogie drew mana into his body, seeking every mote of power to be able to deal with such a nasty opponent. Within seconds, he was liquid smooth once more. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

He whipped the shotgun around, settling aim on the center of the animated mass of plants. No wide spread of fire this time, Stogie squeezed the trigger and let the stream of lead work through the magical thing's resistance.

[pbangarth]

Lying in defense of the comatose Smohalla, Jake feels the magical energy from Stogie's powers drain. A twinge of stiffness ensues. Jake raises his head as the shifter approaches. It big! Danger! He draws on Stogies power to ready for a fight. Stogie say PROTECT!

But the shifter's actions are not aggressive, and it seems more curious, maybe even a little cautious. Jake waits. When the shifter sniffs Smohalla's body, Jake relaxes. This is something he understands. He settles back down, alert, strong, swift.

[AtroposReborn]

Feeling the harsh sensation lift off of his skin was almost enough to cause Ellesar to relax...almost. Of course that was before he saw the tumultuous twisting of flora come to life before him. It was the roar of Stogie's shotgun that packed the final punch of reality back into his head.

Today just gets better and better. The rifle had already found its way to his shoulder. His finger squeezes the trigger, releasing the familiar sound of his Remington into the air. Without allowing any time for retaliation Ellesar finds cover behind the nearest tree. The impact had been less than appealing.

"How many friends does this guy have?! Even the damn plants are helping him out...." Not to mention Stogie is making me look pathetic with that tree-leveling gun of his.

[pbangarth]

"Yeah, well it looks like he's running out of friends." As Stogie aims again, clearing his senses of the astral view, he winks at Ellesar. "'Course, if you were to aim for the center of mass instead of that twig up on the right, we might hasten the process."

[phlapjack77]

One Watcher spirit zips after the retreating Troll, keeping its distance without looking like it was keeping its distance.

The other Watcher homes in on the newly-arrived Plant spirit and begins an assault on the astral.

Even without having sentience, the Watcher exudes a sense of confidence, close on the heels of its victory over the Earth spirit.

Smohalla feels his being merge back into his physical body, feeling the pain in his ribs afresh.

He keeps his eyes closed, his breathing steady as prepares to send out his call.

[AtroposReborn]

The comment caught him off guard. It had been far too long since he had someone to share quick-witted pleasantries with mid-battle. Hey! No reminiscing when something is trying to kill you!

"One friend is enough to let him escape if we don't dispose of it quickly" Ellesar replies, hands flowing through the motions of reloading. "And who are you to speak of aiming with your point-and-pull gun?" Ellesar flashes a quick smile as he pivots around the tree and fires another round at the shrubbery, swiftly returning to take cover as the sound of the rifle is still reverberating through the air.

[pbangarth]

"OK, then!" Before the echoes of Ellesar's shot dissipate among the trees, Stogie fires another burst into the shredding plant mass. Grampa would have shaken his head. Hunting plants with a shotgun?

[phlapjack77]

Smohalla's call echoes down the astral, reaching deep into the metaplanes with its intensity.

Barely a moment has passed before an answering call reaches out from the deep beyond.

A large, ghostly image of a red-brown eagle manifests in front of Smohalla.

Electricty crackles and jumps around the ghostly form, lending it an even more otherworldy presence.

Smohalla bows his head a moment, then raises his eyes to meet those of the eagle's.

Brother Thunderbird, much thanks to you for heeding my call.

it would be a great help to me if you would aid us in this fight.

[Tecumseh]

Like professional wrestlers, Ellesar and Stogie tag team the plant spirit in front of them. Unlike professional wrestlers, they actually hurt their opponent.

Ellesar starts the fusillade with a grazing hit that does little more than send a few twigs and branches twirling to the ground. Stogie, eager to impress, rattles off three slugs that tear deep into the spine of the spirit. Ellesar, inspired by Stogie's performance, leans out from behind a tree to drill a shot deep into its head. The spirit, reeling, can do little but fall apart after Stogie pumps three more slugs into its tortured frame. It's clear that they don't have burst-fire shotguns wherever this thing came from. Once it gets over the shock of being disrupted, it will be much happier on its home plane of buttercups and calla lillies. Stogie makes a mental note to send the good people of Enfield a nice letter about the landscaping properties of their firearms.

While Ellesar and Stogie destroy, Smohalla creates. The shifter, already alarmed by the startling changes observed in Jake and the sudden return of Smohalla, jumps back at the appearance of a crackling ball of powerful astral energy. The spirit bobs in front of Smohalla, awaiting instructions.

[pbangarth]

"Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about! OK, Ellesar. Let's hunt us some sick troll."

Jake nudges Stogie's mind, Sheep move. What now?

Stogie answers, Stay. Watch the wolves.

[Tecumseh]

Ellesar and Stogie take off in pursuit of the troll, bashing their way through the plant life of the forest floor. Smohalla leans forward and whispers to his spirit, sending it forth with a puff of his breath.

Without help, Ellesar and Stogie would have no chance of catching the troll, whose longer legs could easily outdistance theirs. Furthermore, his great mass allows him to plow through saplings and thick bushes that slow the smaller metahumans down as they slalom through the forest.

Suddenly a huge gust of wind picks up behind the human and the elf. The rush of air catapults them forward. While their normal stride length might be two meters, now it's four. They exchange a look of wonderment with each other as they sprint at a fantastic speed. They must be running sixty kilometers an hour. But instead of getting a strong wind slamming them in the face, they face almost no air resistance. It's like there's a prow in front of them, breaking the air out of the way. The air spirit flits ahead of them easily, bobbing and rolling through the trees like a speeder race on Endor.

Crashing at this speed would be hazardous, so the spirit guides their footsteps too. Plants and vines bend out of the way, ensuring safe footfalls at every step. Not only are the two screaming along, but it's easy. Even with murder on the mind, this is undeniably fun.

The spirit proposes to Smohalla that once it can see the troll it will try to slow him down, either by triggering an accident or by slowing its movement in much the same way that it is speeding Ellesar and Stogie. It can also attempt to shock the troll but it suggests that engulfing it would be a poor idea since the much larger troll would likely break free easily.

The chase continues.

[pbangarth]

Stogie calls over to Ellesar, "Woohoo! Wish I had this guy smoothing the way when I was after that sixteen-pointer!

"What say when we get close you go right, I go left so this thing can't hit us both with whatever it did to us last time?"

######

Jake acknowledges Smohalla's conversation, but he is working; told to watch the wolves. Nobody watches better than a border collie.

[phlapjack77]

Smohalla reaches out with his mind to his spirit brother Thunderbird.

Protect my friends, concealing them from the eyes of the threat.

Strike the threat, strike hard and from a distance.

He pauses, then reaches out with his mind again, a different target this time, the watcher spirits.

The enemy spirit - it is an Earth spirit. You have destroyed one before. Do so again.

His eyes focus once more, finding Jake solidly, comfortingly next to him.

A thoughtful look passes over his face as he looks from the dog to the wolf.

[pbangarth]

Jake is relieved the wolves are not doing anything in particular at the moment. Brave and diligent, he is also intelligent enough to know he really can't do much to corral these things. If they want to move, they will move. But Stogie did say "watch", not "hold', so that he can do.

Stogie has moved out his thoughts, but that is OK, too. Work often takes him out of range of direct command.

He acknowledges Smohalla's perusal with a twitch of one ear. I work now. No play.

[Tecumseh]

Ellesar nods to Stogie before he turns and ducks his head to sprint. He pours on the speed, his legs slamming the earth in a rapid blur. Quickly, he is 10, 15, 20 meters ahead. He lifts his head and can see the troll smashing through the forest about 25 meters to his left. He looks for a moment to see if the troll reacts in any way, but the troll holds its course. Ellesar looks down and sees the colors of his hands and clothing changing. At first he thinks it's shadows, dappled light spilling through the trees above. But, no, it's more than that. His skin is now alternating patterns of brown and green and grey. His footsteps are softened, each step making no more noise than a raindrop on a leaf. He looks back and can barely see Stogie. If it weren't for the plants and trees moving, he would lose track of his partner in a second.

Stogie sees Ellesar sprint off, the air spirit trailing him slightly so as to not let either the human or the elf remain undefended. In fact, the air spirit makes it easier to keep an eye on Ellesar, since it at least provides a general direction to look for him. Stogie turns his eyes back to the forest, looking for the troll to appear. There's a flash far ahead, a glimpse of pale skin as it darts between trees. Making the shot from here isn't impossible but it would involve more luck than skill.

Smohalla winces. The troll has a new friend, one more formidable than the last. He catches a glimpse of it through his watcher's eyes shortly before the watcher is swatted out of the astral air and then smashed into the ground under the spirit's heel. The second watcher races to aid the first, but it's too late. The spirit backhands the watcher, splintering it into a thousand pieces of astral dust.

Smohalla's heart sinks. It's a bitter sensation to feel the demise of any being, even one so simple as a watcher. He mourns the loss of these watchers, who managed to accomplish much more than could reasonably expected of them. They're gone now, their noble essence fading back into the astral world.

[pbangarth]

Stogie marvels at the effect of the spirit's help on his travel, and that of Ellesar. The flash of the troll's image up ahead spurs him on. "I'm a-comin' for ya, big fella!" Stogie shouts. Let it focus on him, and not notice Ellesar till too late.

Wait a minute. Gettin' a thing with a punch like a truck focusing on you, boy? What are ya thinkin'!