Trouble with a Tribe, Pt III [Job/Solo]

Job Name: Trouble on the Plains, Pt III
Job Rank: B
Job Location: The Plains
Job Rewards: 200 XP/15,000 Huang
Job Prerequisites: Pt II
Job Overview: When you told the Elder about the Earthlets, he appreciated your efforts, but tells you a legend about those being just the first line of defense from an ancient magic. Go back into the forest and see what other dangers might lie there.

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Lexiara arrived back in the confines of the tribe, looking a bit frazzled. She had assumed the hunters had simply been spooked or exaggerating, but the forest did, in fact, contain very hostile creatures. The Elder had been alerted to her return and came to greet her as she rode in. He took the reins of the horse while she slid off the saddle, handing the prancing animal to another of the tribe to care for. He then looked expectantly at Lexi, waiting for her to tell her tale.

“Elder, the stories seem to be true. There were these creatures… they appeared to be made of stone, but were alive. Moss hung from them and they hovered. It was quite… unsettling, I admit. I have never seen a thing like it before. I have hunted these Plains my entire life and I have never stumbled across things such as these.”

The Elder listened to the tale with a frown, a story from his childhood resurfacing at her words. He debated on whether he should tell her about it; it was, after all, just a story meant to enthrall and possibly frighten children, keep them away from the dangers of the forest until they could defend themselves. But the odd creatures seemed to be straight out of the tale from when he was but a child and perhaps someone was trying to recreate it in some way. He guided Lexi to his tent and had her sit while he dressed the wound on her arm, his warm voice drifting through the hut.

“When I was a child, the Elders would tell a tale, a fanciful story filled with magic, claiming it was from ancient times when our people first came to the Plains. They spoke of an ancient magic creature that was deep in the forest and had activated guardians to protect itself when it fell into a slumber. There were floating stones, meant to warn the creature of incoming danger. After this were other armies of creatures, all intended to keep the creature safe. Again, this was just a tale, but perhaps others have heard it and wish to bring it to life? Or maybe it was simply based off of the appearance of these creatures. It is impossible to tell. But perhaps you should investigate deeper, if there is some danger lying in the forest, then we cannot hunt there.”

Lexi listened to the tale with an intent ear, knowing all stories were based, at least partially, on some version of the truth. By the end of the storytelling session, her arm was bandaged and she was curious as to the truth behind this story. She gave the Elder a serious look, frowning.

“While this may be just a story, I intend to find out how much of it is truth and how much is flair. Worry not for me, I shall report back to you with what I find. I will make this forest safe for your tribe again or I will let you know for certain that it is no longer a place you can be.”

The Elder thanked her for her efforts, giving her an encouraging smile as she ducked back out of the tent. The bandage on her arm had a salve under it that was making her forget the pain in her arm as it healed her. A fresh horse was waiting for her when she exited the tent and she thanked the villager before lifting herself into the saddle again. A gentle nudge of her heels had the horse moving north and she let herself settle into the natural gait of the horse. She made no effort to rush her mount, her hips swaying gently in the saddle as the horse picked the easiest path towards the forest. Like her previous horse, this one stopped a decent distant away from the tree line and pranced uncomfortably. There was no doubt that any tamed creature would not appreciate being forced into the hazy gloom of the forest. She secured the horse before heading into the forest, picking out the same path she had taken before.

It did not take her long to find the corpses of the creatures she had killed before but her eyebrows furrowed at spotting them. It seemed almost like the earth was swallowing the bodies, part of the bodies already covered in mud and vines. It had not rained, so the ground should not have been soft enough to be doing such a thing. She did not approach the bodies; afraid she might also become entangled in the mire that was devouring the bodies. Instead, she crossed the creek and put more distance between herself and the odd creatures. The trees were further apart here, but the trunks were much larger. In the dirt, she could see tracks of the general wildlife, which almost reassured her. At least something was not frightened to be here. Her steps followed a set of deer tracks she had found, her time on the Plains giving her the experience to know that sometimes it was easiest to take the path the animals took, it was often faster and smoother than one she might pick on her own.

Soon, she came across odd tracks and she frowned. She had never seen something like them before, it was more like something was being dragged, but there were no steps to indicate such a thing. She followed the new, odd tracks, noticing massive impressions every few feet and it did not take her long to realize that whatever had made the deep tracks in the ground had also made the indents in the earth. Whatever she was hunting was quite heavy and she was on guard. The tracks seemed to stop at a large boulder, about two meters across, but her experience with the previous creatures told her to look more sharply. It did not take her long to pick out the outline of what might be considered arms. The sound of something crunching made her look to her left, just in time to see something in a Crashing Roll headed in her direction. A quick Dash moved her out of the way and she shot an arrow at the creature. The arrow found a soft spot and buried in the creature’s skull, the stony body falling still.

She looked wildly around, trying to ascertain at a glance what other enemies there were. The one she had initially spotted still had not moved and she hoped perhaps it had simply died there. Her quick glances spotted two more creatures lumbering towards her, their bodies nearly touching, and she used Boom to land squarely between their feet, the explosion causing their bodies to shatter and spew small stones everywhere and she raised an arm to shelter herself from the raining earth. As the rocks flew about, she heard the creak and groan from the first creature and she cursed, it seemed it was not dead after all. She used Multi-Shot, the arrows bouncing off harmlessly as the creature used Earthen Guard to protect itself. Her face hardened, it was obvious this one had taken the time she had ignored it to study her attacks and gauged how difficult she would be to deflect. The creature had underestimated her, though and her feet slipped quickly across the ground now littered with pebbles and the normal debris of the forest. It did not take her long to get in a more opportune position and she quickly notched an arrow in the string of her bow, her muscles tensing to pull the string taut before releasing a Death Shot at the creature. The arrow flew straight towards the creature, burying itself in the barely discernable eye socket and making the creature collapse suddenly on the ground. A wave of dirt flew towards her as the body came to a rest and Lexi shielded her eyes, having no desire to have dirt obscuring her vision. Once the dust had settled, she moved carefully towards the body, making sure it would not rear up and attack her. She had made the mistake of approaching an opossum when she had hunted as a child only to find that simply looking dead did not mean it was truly dead. Her lesson had been learned the difficult way, though the scars from the biting, scratching creature had faded as she had grown. This creature did not seem to be alive, though, and she was free to examine the body.

The body seemed to be created from stone and had the same mossy covering as the previous guardians of the forest. She frowned, almost feeling bad for felling these creatures. It was something to worry about later, though. For now, she needed to make her way back to the tribe so she could update the Elder. She made her way from the forest and mounted again, nudging the horse back towards the huts on the horizon. She needed a hot meal and a rest before she explored further.

[Ammo 24/25]
[Stamina 190/300]
[1500+/1500]

Abilities Used: