first hunt ⚔ subquests and exploration

[rokubro]

Characters: Rokurou Rangetsu | Huntsman (Red Riding Hood); anyone
Campaign: Hollow Christmas Carol
Format: [ brackets ]
Open
Summary: Time to explore, hunt, find some tombstones and deal with wraiths, and maybe work on some shooting practice (because no matter where he is, have to always train!). Most of these have a journal portion as well.

» A: OUT BY THE FOREST «
[When Rokurou came to after all that, it took him a while to realize that hey. It wasn't his vision that was compromised, everything just really looked that weirdly dull around him. After making sure he had his bag and swords still on him, he stared at the dark forest in front of him. Guess this is where he starts, huh? Time to check the journal and see if there's anything useful...]

[ i. JOURNAL: hello? anyone else around here? ]
Hey guys, it's Rokurou. Anyone else by this super creepy forest? According to the journal there are some tombstones to find, so I'm just going to go ahead and head in, see if I can locate them as well as check the place out. Man this place is weird, but hope there are some cool enemies to fight!

[...Somehow his ending line isn't quite right........]

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[ ii. wraiths ]
[After careful trekking through the spooky woods, Rokurou stumbled onto the first piece of tombstone. Literally, he almost ate dirt and barely caught himself by grabbing onto a low hanging branch. At first he thought it was a huge rock, but upon closer inspection he notices the engravings on it.]

Hm... Maybe this is it?

[He crouches down to pick it up to get a closer look. UNFORTUNATELY while it is indeed a tombstone piece—it's not Ebegeeser's. He feels a sudden chill rise up behind him, and he whirls around just in time to see a ghostly wraith looming behind him.]

Shit—! [He just manages to roll out of the way as it lunges towards him, dropping the stone and pulling out his swords.] Well, I was looking for a fight!

[Despite the surprise, he's grinning as he engages the wraith, blades slicing clean through the apparition. At least it's actually doing some damage.]

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[ iii. tombstone collecting ]
[After figuring out that he needs to find certain pieces and not pick them all up willy nilly, Rokurou is able to focus more on the task. So when he finally finds one from Ebegeeser's tombstone, he looks at the glowing instructions.]

Find the foggiest...place? [And just going to look around him and just a shit ton of a fog.] ...Yeah that's going to be easy. [Not.]


---
[ iv. learning his inner huntsman ]
[When not dealing with wraiths or tombstones, Rokurou is just going to take his time and venture further into the forest. Occasionally he would hear the sound of hooves galloping through, but whenever he found the place where he thought it was, he never finds any tracks. So weird... There's also not a lot of wildlife here. Kind of begs the question of what they should do for food.

In any case, he's just going to be exploring and figuring out more about his essence. Tracking down things, staring up at trees, lazing around in trees because even great daemon warrior hunters(??) need a break and nap.]


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» B: FISHING BY THE RIVER «

[ i. catching some fish...? ]
[After exploring the forest, Rokurou checks out the nearby river since he had read a bridge was needed. He hadn't quite found the spot with the planks yet, so he's sitting on a log with a makeshift fishing pole instead. Might as well see what he can catch right? But.....UUUH.]

...Now that can't be right.

[He holds up the line, staring at the fish skeleton thrashing on the hook.]

---
[ ii. JOURNAL: what's for dinner? ]
Soooo I'm out here by the river trying to catch some fish. Good news, there's fish in these waters. Bad news, I'm not sure how much I TRUST it. A few of these are actually living skeletons and some are... Looking a bit half-eaten.

Anyone in town know if there's food there? Otherwise I have no idea what we're going to do for provisions. Forest is pretty scarce, but I'll try again later.


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» C: SHOOTING PRACTICE AND SWORD TRAINING «
[When not helping trying to find things, Rokurou will be out in the field with some makeshift targets made of straw and branches. He'll do his usual sword training regimen, alternating between his two short swords and greatswords, sometimes mixing one or the other. He's adept with the greatswords now, but he still has a lot of practice to get to the level he really wants.

But what he really needs practice on is the whole "gunblade" thing his swords have turned into. So there will be occasional gunfire as he aims to shoot random items off a fence. ...It's not going that great, he's hitting maybe 60% of the time. As evident when a bullet whizzes by an (empty) glass bottle of ale.]

Aargh, what the hell am I doing wrong? I hit the other one...

[He knows practice makes perfect, but jeez. Even he can get frustrated. Compared to how expertly he handled the swords, he definitely is an amateur at firearms.]


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» D: WILDCARD «
[Wildcard option! I only focused on the tombstone subquest, but he'll be helping out with all the others as well as just generally exploring to see what he can find about the place. Feel free to hit me up on Discord or laenavesse]

Comments

[chippedsoul]

You had weapons. [He could have been a jerk and not say anything and just took one instead.]

[rokubro]

[Wow that would have been rude? And probably get his hand or head cut off...]

I thought you were going to get one back in town.

[chippedsoul]

I did. [He swings at another incoming wraith.] It didn't arrive here with me.

[rokubro]

Wait, seriously?

[Well that's something to keep in mind for the future as he senses one coming from below and jumps out of the way just in time.]

We should probably try and talk to the Storyteller about that.

[chippedsoul]

I'm sure it's because I'm supposed to be a "school teacher". [But yes,it's something he's considering in the future. He goes in to thrust his sword into the one that appears from the ground.]

[rokubro]

Oh right, that whole Ebegeezer thing, right?

[And he'll cover Asougi by swiping the one that appears out of that tree.]

[chippedsoul]

Right. [Who the heck comes up with these names? He straightens up, looking around when there didn't seem to be anymore wraiths coming at them.]

Those two must have been the last.

[rokubro]

[Rokurou is even saying it wrong. It's Ebegeeser but. Look at the name. It's just ripe for geezer.

He takes one last slash for good measure before taking a look around himself. There's some faint, distant wailing sounds, but... Yep, looks like the wraiths are gone.]

Aw that's a shame. Was just starting to have some fun. [A somewhat cheeky grin as he sheathes his swords...and then glances at Asougi holding his. Hm.] You can hang onto that for now. [For now.]

[chippedsoul]

[Don't tell him that name mishap. He looks over the weapon that he was given, nodding.] Thank you. [He sheathes the blade. The length will take some getting used to, but it's better than nothing.]

I'm sure you'll stumble into more.

[rokubro]

[Geezer geezer—]

With all these broken tombstone pieces, I don't doubt it. But even I'll start thinking the fighting will get old fast if they pop out every time I pick one up.

[chippedsoul]

Be more careful then. [He huffs and then proceeds to start walking on ahead. Surely he won't pick up the wrong tombstone like this daemon.]

[rokubro]

Just as careful as saying that tongue twister?

[Smiiiiiiiirk.]

[chippedsoul]

Tongue twisters are an abomination! [They don't count. He stomps off to put some space between them, but also to examine a few broken tombstones he's discovered. With the sheathed blade, he just flips them to see the engravings, though it's a little hard with this fog.]

[rokubro]

[He's just going to chuckle before he notices how Asougi is handling those tombstone pieces. Uh.]

Just be careful with those. They might not like being handled so roughly.

[Gently, Asougi, gently—]

[chippedsoul]

. . . [He's just trying to read them, dude. He's not turning them that roughly--Oh, one of them cracked a little. Hear those wraith-like screeches? That's the sound of mistakes were made.]

[rokubro]

[WHAT DID HE JUST SAY.]

Told you.

[For a Disciple you really suck.

Anyway, CUE BATTLE MUSIC as the wraith pops out of the ground.]

[chippedsoul]

Tch. [He's wasting no time drawing the sword and getting to work.] Have you actually found a piece that we need from here?

[rokubro]

Not yet—I just started when you arrived.

[But he's just grinning, anyway. Yeah, he has no place to talk, but doesn't stop him from messing with Asougi a little. At least he's joined up with him and is helping to attack the wraith.

And! There's only one, so it shouldn't take too long.

Unless you know in the process of fighting one of them accidentally kicks one up. That someone being Rokurou. And that "one" piece topples into a small PILE of them. Why is there pile is anyone's guess.

But. Yeah.

Good news, there's a piece that's glowing in there! Bad news, they got a wraith army now.]

[chippedsoul]

What- [He sees that glowing piece, but right now he's grimacing at how many non glowing pieces got cracked. Whatever, they're not exactly that tough. He'll be able to slice through them no problem.

Yes...it's more fun this way.

He cuts down one, and then another, the gleeful sensation of laughter creeping up his throat, the voice continuing to whisper and getting more excited with each kill. This was much more than just a few wraiths from before. This could turn into a slaughter.] Shut up! [He shouts quite suddenly and literally punches one of the incoming wraiths instead, sending it flying.]

[rokubro]

[Rokurou is too busy dealing with the wraiths to pay too much attention to Asougi aside from just casual checks to make sure he wasn't overwhelmed. Aside from thinking, "Crap this is a lot," he's not too bothered by the amount, either. He's always up for a good challenge, and since these guys are easy to take down, the numbers make up for it.

However, when he hears the shout, he takes a moment to look over at Asougi's way—and then has to stumble backwards to avoid the wraith that was punched right at him.]

Whoa—! [He barely manages to keep his footing, needing to reach out to a tree before having to scramble away as two wraiths take the opportunity to strike at him. Feeling one pass through his arm is not cool—it's chilling.]

What the hell's going on over there!?

[chippedsoul]

[He hears Roku, but gives no answer. There's no time to rest or a moment to think, not with all these wraiths still coming. All he could do is kill, and kill, and kill....]

...hehe. [What's going on? Nothing's going on, just someone enjoying themselves right now. Even as the wraiths manage to claw into his clothes, cutting into flesh, he continues to jump into the fray, killing them mercilessly like an animal. Those wounds are nothing when they'll just heal anyway. This rush of the hunt, the power he feels, it excite's him beyond anything he's ever felt.

Don't you want to find out just how far you can go...?

Deep down, the answer is yes.]

[rokubro]

[Rokurou has to deal with a few wraiths before he can focus on Asougi again, but when he does manage to look... Something feels really off about the guy.

His movements are more reckless, and every so often he swears he could hear a strange laugh—a sound that's only confirmed when Rokurou manages to get closer to strike down a wraith before it gets to Asougi. The man's entire demeanor has changed and in a way reminds him of a daemon's. Completely different to that of the more controlled, more precise movements earlier.

But he can't exactly question the guy right now. Well he could, but with all these wraiths, it really wouldn't be wise.





Especially when the group that's left suddenly fly up into the air and start converging to form one massive wraith.

CUE BOSS BATTLE MUSIC]

[chippedsoul]

Aw, they're getting desperate. [He takes a few steps back, casually lifting a tombstone slab with one hand like it didn't weigh a thing.]

Too bad for them. This only makes them an easier target! [After making a whole turn, he throws the slab right at the giant wraith. Will it actually hit it or go through it though?]

[rokubro]

You're really getting into this now, huh?

[It's a wry remark, but he's still eying Asougi. Maybe the guy just gets a kick when in battle? It's technically his first time seeing him fight so not impossible...

Except, you know, when he one-handedly picks up that slab and just chucks it at the wraith. Which does a combination of hitting and going through it, creating a large hole where it passes and causing the wraith to shriek in pain and anger.][Watch out for the sudden green flame that spews out at them! Rokurou will be dashing to the side, aiming to try and get in a few deep slashes from its back.]

[chippedsoul]

[Rokurou might be able to as the wraith's attention was currently on the Disciple. He did decide to throw a rock at it after all. As the flames burn the grounds, he dodges the incoming fireballs with ease, moving faster than before. He's seems to be waiting for something, and he gets the cue when the wraith screeches loudly and rears backwards from Rokurou's attack.

Finding the nearest tree that hadn't been burned down, he climbs upwards, leaping off it with a force powerful enough to knock the tree over. He's going for the wraith's head, with every intention of slicing it off.]