Dog of War (for Shinyhappyfitsofrage)
- Thread starter Ecnalab
- Start date
Gwyllgi blinked. "Oh, so he didn't just make your tits bigger. And, I mean... I think I kinda took that one from you, if no one else had, before me." She looked at the old man. "So, uh, how strict is that maiden policy?"
Gwyllgi smirked, in spite of herself. "Well, uh, haha. If that counts." She jostled Iona with her elbow. "Eh? Eh?" She looked at the old man, giggling. "So, does that count? We got us our milk, here?"
Gwyllgi quirked a brow. "A coal mine? Locally? Huh. Well, isn't that convenient." She turned to Iona, smiling. "So, where should we start?" She frowned, then. "I uh, should probably ask instead of assuming. Are you alright with helping me in this? In, uh... basically lactating on demand for me? I could certainly use your help on this, and would appreciate it immensely." There was honesty in her tone, a gesture of supplication.
Gwyllgi shrugged. "I can do that myself. I wouldn't mind an extra hand, but you've helped me so much already, I hate to impose on you even for this. I am desperate to get this stupid illusion off of me, though. I like the way I look. I'm fuckin' hot."
Gwyllgi blinked as she pointed at her. "Uh... well, ok." Did she come off as some sort of deviant? She wondered. "So, onto the mines, then. For the snail. And the bull. Do we need to bring back the entire shell? And how do we catch, uh... fire? I suppose I can take a torch or something, hope it stays lit the whole way back." She'd look to the old man for answers on those questions.
Gwyllgi took the lantern from Stobr, glancing it over. "Huh. Well, definitely better than a torch. You ready, Iona?" She assumed Iona intended to tag along, after her comment earlier. "You're free to stay here though, if you like. I'm probably gonna have to beat the crap outta these things. Hopefully, it'll be that simple." Usually her claws could solve problems that had to do with large monsters, but time would tell.
The hills were pleasant, this time in the evening, their paths moonlit and accompanied by the buzz of insects. Gwyllgi thought it boring. 'Needs more action', she was wont to say. When they finally arrived at the quarry, and Iona asked how she wanted to handle this, she shrugged. "I should probably go alone. I mean, it's just monster hunting, yeah? Something I'm pretty damn good at. If you're alright with that, Iona."
Gwyllgi shrugged at her. "It's violence! I'm good at violence. Better without having to worry about protecting anyone." She'd put a hand on her shoulder, then pull her into a hug. "Just to be clear, I don't think of you as a nuisance. I really enjoy your company. But I'll worry endlessly if I think you're in danger." She held that hug for a long moment, just enjoying having Iona close. Gwyllgi was a very tactile creature, like most dogs.
Gwyllgi smiled as Iona pet her behind the ears. It was ok for Iona to do it. She liked Iona. "Right. Stobr's. I shouldn't be too long!" She'd pull back and grin, tossing Iona a carefree thumbs up before dashing on into the caverns, eager for some sport. The hunt was on, and all her senses were on alert, looking for the telltale signs of a trail. She wasn't the most experienced of trackers... but she had the instincts and sharp senses of a canine, if not more so, and a natural affinity for the hunt.
As it turned out, all of Gwyllgi's innate hunting skill ended up being pretty redundant. Not twenty feet into the dark mine shaft, a oily smell filled her nose, and she ended up stepping in a thick, slippery trail of slime. The trail coated most of the floor of the tunnel as it descended deeper into darkness. Eventually, the tunnel forked, with the slime trail proceeding down the larger of the two paths, and the pungent smell of brimstone wafting up from the other.
The trail was easy to follow. Dreadfully easy. Gwyllgi wiped her feet off on the stone, disgusted, and continued down the path until she came to a fork... conveniently separated into two distinct paths that were obviously leading to each of her quarries. "Huh. What are the odds..." She mumbled to herself. Brimstone on the left, meaning the fiery bull, and snail trail led down the right. That was... ridiculously convenient. Boring, even. All of her senses seemed useless, here. Whelp, might as well hurry up with this, and get back to Iona. She headed towards the brimstone first. She was immune to fire anyway, so the bull should be an easy start. Her clothes weren't so immune, though. She hesitated, then quickly stripped down and tossed her clothing in a pile, until she was down to flesh and chains, before continuing on.
Heading down the smelly passageway, the tunnel came to a large open area where several branching shafts met. There in the center, as if waiting, was a creature the size wagon. Its long scaly body was topped by a spiral shell that bore brilliant green and blue swirls. Its long neck reared up, and its tentacled head regarded her for just a moment, before its throat bulged and it expelled a gout of noxious fumes from its round mouth. The strange gas smelled like brimstone, indeed, but hand a far more bizarre effect. Her mouth went dry, as thirst welled up inside her, as if all the moisture around and withing her was being sapped away. Lingering in this dehydrating gas would not be wise.
Gwyllgi seemed to find the wrong quarry. Apparently, there was a veritable maze down the trail, and she sighed as the snail came into view. "Well, whatever. I'll just-" It exhaled noxious fumes at her, and the gout of it had her eyes widening, and her backpedaling. She'd have to be decisive with her attacks, and maintain distance. Fortunately, up close wasn't the only way for her to fight. She could punish the snail from afar. The fumes made her eyes water even though she dodged them, the gas spreading out. Yeah... she didn't want to be hit with that. Good thing she had lightning reflexes and battle experience. She would stay well out of reach of that breath attack. The snail looked so... visceral, throat bulging just before it breathed. What an alien, odd thing. She couldn't help but marvel at it a bit before flinging a ball of hellfire at it. She'd see just how quickly this snail could hustle when under duress, now. That, or she'd see it cook in its own shell.
Despite their reputation for sluggishness, the snail retracted into it's shell with lightning speed, and Gwyllgi's spell impacted on the hard surface, leaving little more than a scorch mark. As she watched, the creature began to expel more of that awful gas from the opening of its shell, forming a cloud of the stuff around itself.
Gwyllgi whistled as the ball of flame exploded against the side of the shell, and ultimately fizzled out. If she wanted to cook it, she'd have to do better than that. Without anything that burned easily, she couldn't do so from a distance. She grimaced. Well, she still had some aces up her sleeve. First off, she was resistant to acid. It wouldn't melt her like it would a mortal. She cast a spell, enhancing that aspect of herself further. Then, she activated her cloak of embers, and hellish rebuke, heating up everything around her, and surrounding her in a corona of fire. Then, she cast her hellish regeneration on herself. She'd need it.
She dashed in, and wrapped her arms around the snail, and roared, lifting it up with herculean strength, until she was holding it overhead. She would cook it, in person. She winced as she felt the gas, but with her resistances and her regeneration, she could bear it, for a time. One of them would give out first, and it wouldn't be her. The shell started heating rapidly, held over a literal inferno.
She dashed in, and wrapped her arms around the snail, and roared, lifting it up with herculean strength, until she was holding it overhead. She would cook it, in person. She winced as she felt the gas, but with her resistances and her regeneration, she could bear it, for a time. One of them would give out first, and it wouldn't be her. The shell started heating rapidly, held over a literal inferno.
The gas continued to pour forth, and while much of it was consumed in the fire that surrounded Gwyllgi, enough got through that, buy the time the snail expired, she felt like she hadn't had water all day, and her lips began to chap as her skin dried out. Still, she was victorious; dehydrated, but victorious.
It took several minutes too long to take down the snail. She ended up staggering away from it, as it lay there, charred. It hadn't even tried to escape, instead relying entirely on its noxious nature. Gwyllgi was in a bad way afterwards, dehydrated terribly. Her chains brought forth a mug she kept attached to them beyond sight, however, and she weaved a small invocation that allowed her to mimic low level arcane casting. She summoned water, and drank, deeply. She did this several times over, choking on it with her singed throat, and almost retched it up more than once from drinking too quickly. She felt miserable, and growled and muttered to herself the entire time, while she tried to gain her strength back.
Gathering a piece was mercifully easy after she had composed herself. Dropping the huge animal on the stone floor resulted in the entire shell cracking down the middle, and a sizable chunk was easy to pry off. That just left the slime covered tunnel she had bypassed a moment ago... unless she felt like exploring any of the other tunnels in this maze.
Gwyllgi gathered herself up, after an hour of rest and sipping conjured water. She felt mortified, honestly, that that had taken so much out of her. She really did tend to rush things... she probably could have done that much more easily if she'd just used Brisingr properly, but she tended to neglect her powerful chains. She scooped up the chunk of the shell, and walked back down the passage to drop it with her pile of clothes. This, along with a few other scent markers, would give her the ability to easily find her way out if she got lost looking for the bull, which might be quite possible, given that she'd already mistaken one for the other. She'd steel herself, then march down the other tunnel, starting shallow, before she headed deeper into the cave complex, trying to get a good mental map of her surroundings.
Following the trail of oily slime was easy at first, it went down one tunnel and then another. It got tricky, however, when she came to a crossroads and found the stuff going down all three. As she paused to think her next move through, a faint clopping sound came from one of the tunnels. It got louder, and louder, before it was joined by an agitated snort, and Gwyllgi saw a large shadow pass by one of the tunnel mouths before disappearing.
The slime was an overwhelming scent, making it difficult to track anything else, and it went many directions. Gwyllgi had to wonder how the creature kept so moist in these tunnels. There must be an underground lake or some such, somewhere nearby. Eventually, she heard the sound of hooves on stone, and pressed herself against the wall. She heard the snort as it grew close, and then watched it disappear down a tunnel. Well, it was running around for some reason. Time to give chase.
She was a trained monk, extremely fast naturally. With an invocation, she doubled that speed. She summoned her smokey, hellish cloak about herself, wreathing her form in black mist, and darted after the bull, chasing it faster than a cheetah in its sprint, and she could maintain the speed for a good while.
She was a trained monk, extremely fast naturally. With an invocation, she doubled that speed. She summoned her smokey, hellish cloak about herself, wreathing her form in black mist, and darted after the bull, chasing it faster than a cheetah in its sprint, and she could maintain the speed for a good while.