AtS: Eh!? What Happened? [IC]

[Herzog]

The morning trickled by as the groups waited. Maya was beginning to get a bit anxious to be about the trial. But they had been told to wait.

She joined the conversation with the others.

"You are right Rufus. It should be a fascinated and enlightening experience. Hopefully, we'll get to enjoy it rather than worried about surviving the trial."

The girl chuckled at that last bit. Some how, she didn't think the Ul-Mor was going to kill them.

"Honestly, while the trial is probably going to have some danger to it, I don't feel it will be truly life threatening. At least if we keep our heads about. The Ul-Mor don't seem to be the type to kill off their youngsters in a rite of passage. Only I'm sure there are accidents every now and then..."

"I just wish we could be about it tho. The heat is starting to get to me."

[PMiller]

~ Day 14: 0710 - The Place of True Warriors ~

Alex just shrugged and shook his head. Sunrise was hardly that bad, yet they all were acting like it was high noon. But it was getting hotter as they jabbered and they had trekked all night. "Well, we best start resting up. The mantra of all soldiers is to sleep whenever you can. And we have 23 hours of rest before the trial."

"Set the usual watches, I guess."

Miranda agreed and found her shade of a lean-to and tried to get some rest before the heat became to unbearable.

While everyone speculated and thought about the unknown trial ahead, the day came relentlessly. It passed uneventfully and soon night fell. During the dimness of the twin moons, the castaways waited until sunrise. The Ul-Mor were busy with preparations and other things. Riders went out and only returned a bit before dawn. Athru has food and water delivered to ensure there were enough supplies.

~ Day 15: 0555 - The Place of True Warriors ~

Come the lightening of the sky to mark the approaching dawn, Athru approached with a group of unmounted Ul-Mor. Through the polyvox, his words were translated, "It is now time for the Ritual of Adulthood. Those that survive will become Ul-Mor. Those who do not will become a different form of the One. Take spears." From his tentacles, he offered four wooden spears with hardened points. They were the same crude design that the Ul-Mor carried. He made a brief ceremony of pointedly offered a spear to each human in turn. Upon slithering before Argo, he remarked, "A spear would not serve, you must rely upon you own means."

OOC Information | Show

Inventory in 1 Spare Backpack carried in hand by Alex
1 machete
1 first aid kit (Basic anesthetics, stimdoses, antiseptics, medscanner, antibody plus, antitox, spray hypo, etc...)
3 compasses
2 life jackets
1 pocket multi-tool
3 pairs of boots
Extra Water
3 Backpacks

Polyvoxes worn: Maya, Argo, Trever

[Herzog]

Maya based the resting day in boredom and restlessness brought up by the oppressive heat. While nothing happening, and the group was able to rest, the girl was ready the trials to begin the next day. Now holding the spear in hand, the reality of what the Ul-Mor had just said registered.

The statement that those who don't survive become a part of the One glared out to the girl. Death was apparently real during the aliens trials, and she would have to revise her assessment of their culture. Unless of course, they were scaring them group into being cautious and successful.

She said her thanks to Athru as she had taken her spear and waited for the others. Having shouldered her pack, Maya was ready as she would ever be.

[Aura]

Accepting the spear offered from the leader of the Ul-mor, Rufus nodded. In light of previous conversation, he added sardonically, "Hopefully, then, they don't design the ritual to kill very many of their own." Taking a quick re-check of his pack, he added, "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Almost... excited." With that, Rufus shakes out a little of the tension from his legs and relaxes again.

[LMiller]

While resting, Trever was staying awake half of the time. He couldn’t sleep really well because of being curious about the trial.

The boy was awake when Maya got up. Finally, somebody waking up, he stood quickly and got a spear too.

“Thanks,” Trever said to Athru and checked out the spear.

The boy sat back down into the sand and put his belongings into the pack. He slowly stood up, nervous about the trial.

“I’m ready too,” the boy said to the others just starting to get up. With his spear in one hand, Trever was ready for anything.

[Argo]

“I will,” Argo said when Athru slithered in front of him. He watched the Ul-Mor with alert ears, focused with his nose pointed forward. “Thank you, Athru Sea People’s Bane.”

He wondered who the Sea People were. Surely mighty enemies of the Ul-Mor. Maybe once they became part of the tribe, he could ask.

He looked up at Trever and the others as they held their spears in their hands. Argo sometimes wished he had hands like they did, because they seemed so useful. But Argo had his laser pistol and his teeth and his friends. Those would be his means. He didn’t need a spear.

“I know we can do it, everyone,” he said.

[PMiller]

~ Day 15: 0600 - The Place of True Warriors ~

Alex took the spear and shrugged. He had little intention to use it in a fight, preferring to shoot his laser pistol instead. He was actually decent in unarmed combat from his soldier training and could do better with his fists and knees. He secretly wondered what would happen if he tried to dropkick one of the Ul-Mor like a soccer ball. "If these guys use these crude weapons, then the challenge should not be that tough."

He slipped on his pack and carried the extra provisions in the spare pack in the opposite hand from the spear.

Miranda was not so sure. She had little skill with melee weapons as it was. "If you say so," she commented softly. She collected all her gear and donned her pack before using the spear like a walking stick to follow along. She had a little skill with fighting hand-to-hand, but it was more like a few self-defense training classes than anything major.


Seeing the group ready, Athru slither-scooted across the sand to lead the way to the ritual area. It was a circular depression, sort of like a large bowl about 20 meters across with short rocky cliffs of 1-2 meters making up the sides most of the way around. He led the way down a slope on the west side of the depression, opposite a narrow ravine that opened into the bowl from the east like a corridor. The sun was just barely coming up over the horizon right there, making it hard to see.

Looking around, the Ul-Mor were gathering around to ring the bowl from above and watch. Many were mounted on their lopers and carried spears in tentacle, the points upwards to the sky.

At the based of the slope were five straw dummies. Athru stopped there and started talking, the ployvox translated, "Use these likenesses. They help." Each of the straw dummies were rough approximations for each of the castaways. One was obviously four-legged with a tail to represent Argo. Another was short like Trever, two were slender and had femine shapes like the women, and lastly two were a bit thicker to represent Rufus and Alex.

Athru spoke again, the polyvoxes spitting out, "May you fare well against the quickdeath." He quickly slithered back up the slope to his waiting loper.

OOC Information | Show

Inventory in 1 Spare Backpack carried in hand by Alex
1 machete
1 first aid kit (Basic anesthetics, stimdoses, antiseptics, medscanner, antibody plus, antitox, spray hypo, etc...)
3 compasses
2 life jackets
1 pocket multi-tool
3 pairs of boots
Extra Water
3 Backpacks

Polyvoxes worn: Maya, Argo, Trever

[LMiller]

Trever looked around as he entered the bowl. It was like a dream; he never thought this kind of event would ever happen in his life.

“Wow, look at those straw dummies, they look just like us!” he said and jogged toward one of them. The boy touched it, then motioned Argo to come.

Then, he noticed all the Ul-Mor around him watching. Trever frowned, looking back at the straw dummies. He didn’t want to get nervous because of the crowd.

“I wonder why we need the straw dummies?” the boy asked the dog.

[Argo]

“I don’t know,” Argo said, raising his nose to sniff at the dummy that looked like a dog. It smelled like dried grass and dust. He felt a tickle in his nose and sneezed once, then shook his head and sneezed again.

“Maybe we’re supposed to use them to pretend to be us,” he said. “Maybe we have to fight this quickdeath, and we need to use the dummies as bait.”

He sniffed at the dummy that looked like Trever but was more careful this time not to inhale any dust through his nose.

“They just smell like straw. Maybe the quickdeath is a creature that flies. Maybe it’s supposed to look down and see things it thinks are us, and try to attack them, and we can surprise it.”

[Aura]

Rufus eyed the straw men and dog suspiciously. Standing next to the one that closest approximated his own height and weight, he wondered aloud, "Perhaps these are traditionally sufficient to trick some beast with poor eyesight? Perhaps we can hide behind the straw man and use our spears?" Illustrating the idea, he steps behind and brandishes his primitive weapon over the 'shoulder' of the punching bag. "Or, I don't have any real idea. This planet surprises me constantly."

[LMiller]

Trever copied Rufus and went behind the one that was like him.

“It could be a monster with poor eyesight, or a fying one.” he said, bending down to examine the straw men. The boy glanced over at the technician, and a chill came down his spine.

“Umm... guys,” Trever said nervously to the others. "Do you think an Ul-mor's gonna fight us?"

[PMiller]

~ Day 15: 0600 - The Place of True Warriors ~

Miranda followed Maya and sorted out the slender looking straw dummies that appeared to be each of their likenesses. She replied, “Trever, I think it unlikely their young Ul-Mor have to fight older ones to become adults…”

“This Quick Death does not sound like a champion of their, but more like a very fast native creature. Let us hope you are right that it has bad eyesight.”

Alex showed more bravado as he took the straw dummy that was most likely his own decoy and said, “Mawk it!”

“If the little squids can beat it with spears and their straw decoys, then we should be able to. Just shoot the thing, whatever it is.”

There was very little time to prepare, basically just enough for each of the castaways to collect their straw dummy likeness and draw a weapon if the spear was not enough. A moaning, “blaaaaaaahhhhh!” sounded and there was an answering roar a few seconds after. Then the sound of scrambling claws over rocky ground.


Suddenly, there was seen a large tiger-sized creature covered with some sort of reflective armor running toward the group from the opposite end of the arena-shaped depression. It had a long neck and hideous head, with gaping jaw filled with sharp teeth. It had four eyes mounted on stalks above its head.

Three small tentacles ending in suction cups dangled from each of its sides. This hideous beast was running toward the cluster of castaways and their straw dummies at an unbelievable speed, and was apparently going to attack without any preamble or discussion. It was already only 5 meters away!

OOC Information | Show

Inventory in 1 Spare Backpack carried in hand by Alex
1 machete
1 first aid kit (Basic anesthetics, stimdoses, antiseptics, medscanner, antibody plus, antitox, spray hypo, etc...)
3 compasses
2 life jackets
1 pocket multi-tool
3 pairs of boots
Extra Water
3 Backpacks

Polyvoxes worn: Maya, Argo, Trever

[LMiller]

Trever kept looking around curiously, thinking of what the creature would be and when it would come out.

“It should come out any minute n-” He was cut off by the roar and gasped as a weird looking tiger-like creature came at him.

“What the heck?” he mumbled to himself and ran to the left of the straw dummies. The boy motioned Argo to come quick, and then took out his laser pistol as it came near.

Trever aimed at the head and fired just as the creature was a few feet from the others.

“I hope that hit!” he cried and looked to see if the others were fine.

Fire laser pistol (12)

[Argo]

Argo ran over to Trever instinctively. He would defend the boy no matter what. Trever was his friend and the instinct to protect him was strong, even though the creature looked terrifying.

He let out a deep growl.

The creature was a big quadruped, more catlike than doglike, and was bigger than Argo. Bigger than the humans as well, even Al. Argo guessed it probably weighed at least six times as much as he did. It had strange tentacles, kind of like the Ul-Mor did, and a mouth full of vicious-looking teeth. The thing that surprised him was the eyes. Miranda had guessed it had bad eyesight. But it had four eyes that looked like they could turn in any direction.

He wished he had thought to urinate on the dummy that looked like him before he’d run off, just in case Miranda was right and it didn’t hunt by sight. Maybe it hunted by smell. But it was too late now.

Argo raised his head and aimed his laser, hoping to get in at least one good shot before the creature got closer. If he had to, he would jump in front of Trever to try to distract the creature and get it to chase him.

His aim was good, maybe because he was standing at the same level as the creature.

Rolls | Show

Fire laser – (1)

http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread. ... st12021318

[Aura]

Rufus takes a moment to compose himself before the appearance of the creature, not adding into further speculation. Even though a primitive weapon, he kept the spear given to him by the Ul-Mor ready, albeit in his left hand. He watched wearily, being careful not to stray too far from the strange decoy, a rough likeness of himself.

At the appearance of the creature, Rufus quickly drew his laser. "Four eyes. You'd think that it would have no trouble seeing with a set-up like that, but alright," he commented, musing on the nature of the creature. Stepping behind his decoy, about a half-spear's length back, he sighted down the length of the weapon and cracked off a shot. The morning landscape quickly became punctuated by repeated lances of light as his friends did the same.

Roll | Show

http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?p=12036639#post12036639