"Magic and Psionics are double-edged swords, I'm theoretically immortal. Midichlorians are responsible for it, and I'm gonna travel a lot before I get home." If that fish is ready, I'm eating it. Food is food, regardless. "That's the long and short of it. Any other inhabitants on this island? Any information about this location is pretty important towards me getting back home."

Yes. The fish is ready. It is rather salty but otherwise bland.

"I've heard of versers that are older than me looking  a way to their home dimension. I've thought about it... but you would still be unageing. And I concluded that it would be too painful to watch my friends and family grow old and die. Furthermore, Some people would not appreciate being turned into versers. I'm really sorry for my future self's actions

... I haven't found any sentient inhabitants on this island. I have no clue where this island is other than it is on the border between the tropical and temperate zones. You don't want to go to the central part of this island. The adamantortoises there eat any kind of iron they can find. Including the iron in your blood. They really like processed iron. The iron in my sword and dagger  them into a frenzy. Apparently they feed on the bamboo in the center of the island, it has a lot of iron in it. I blame the high magic here for allowing them to work. The material in their shell would make great armour though. "

Adamantortoise. I'm not entirely sure how he pronounced that correctly. Still, I've heard the name: it's from Final Fantasy, and it is shorthand for 'I'm a powerful monster, and do not screw with me until you are postgame powerful.' Only a complete moron would ignore Eli's advice and go to the middle of isla-

"You said the bamboo has iron in it?" Yup. I'm going. "Which way is the border? I might have an angle for getting through this, but I need something to bargain with."

Eli Raises an eyebrow at your question.
"Meh. I've been getting bored relaxing on this island.
The center of the island is that way."

He points to the peak with steam coming out of it.

"I will help you out in anyway I can.
So. what is the plan?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:33, Fri 27 June 2014.

"Plan? I'm making this up as I go. I figure if I can get the bamboo, I can distill it for iron. Even if I can't go that, I'll have iron bamboo, which I can do stupid things with. And who knows? If I can study these adamantorti, perhaps I can kill one and eat something other then fish. If they aren't poisonous as a final middle finger, anyhow."

"I figure we'll need to uproot the bamboo, though. I doubt I can cut it with any of my tools. I wonder if these things don't like it cold? They live next to the volcano, so that tells me they don't heat up in the sun. If they are cold-blooded, their metabolisms are slow. We hit them during the night, if we fight them at all."

I'm shooting all over the place topically. I'm excited at the prospect of hunting a big indestructible force of nature, and stealing its food without being detected.

"Well. I can cut the iron bamboo with my sword. I enchanted it and then made it pretty much indestructible. I don't have the equipment to forge the iron normally  I could shape it with magic but it'll be ether slow or dangerous. Hmmm... What would you want.

If we fight one, focus on the head or legs. Because their shells are very hard to hurt but the armor on the other areas is a lot thinner. I can only nic it's shell when I hit it as hard as I can. Try to ham string them if you can. Because they are a lot quicker than you would guess from a tortoise that size...if two show up just run."

Eli isn't very good at stealth. The two of you make your way the the edge of the iron bamboo forest. There are small metallic shoots scattered around you. It looks like they get bigger the further in you go.

It's just like Jurassic Park 2, the one that didn't happen. Don't go into the long grass indeed. Still, I only need some of the six foot long ones. I'm not overly greedy. "We kinda lucked out." I say to him quietly. "Mind your step. The babies are probably like pungi sticks, go right though your footwear." I'm following my own advice, as this just occurred to me as we arrived that this could be a thing. Of course, it doesn't slow down what's going to be chasing us.

"In fact, make sure we have a easy path out secured. We might need to run really fast in a few seconds." I will not be killed by spikes on my first expedition.

He whispers back "ok"

He draws his sword from it's sheath. The first thing you notice is that the blade is made of a blood red metallic material. The second thing is that it's a fairly standard zweihander design. You get two distinct feelings from it: One, It's extremely eager for battle.; Two, It's very protective of things Eli cares about.

Eli starts expertly stabbing the bamboo at it's base to clear a path. The sword goes though them like a hot knife though butter. Unfortunately the stabbing makes a fairly decent amount of noise.
You're getting a feeling of annoyance from the sword
You make it in to where the bamboo is 6 foot tall.
(I'm guessing that you mentioned sometime that you wanted the 6 foot long ones.)
He starts chopping them down.
How many are you gathering?

As many as I can carry, and keep a decent speed. Probably not a lot, but better then nothing. I get out of here, and stay away from any trails. Come to think of it, I actually have no clue what these things look like. It isn't like I asked.

Oh well, cross that bridge when its important. "Let's turn these into weapons. I can turn these into spears by simply removing the heads at an angle. It can be done with regular bamboo with lethal results, so I should be able to do it with these."

When you mention turning them into spears. Eli picks one up, cuts the end off at a good angle and then trims the limbs off of it.
"Here. It's quick and rough. but it'll work for now. I got all the sprigs so you won't stab yourself when you stab something with it

Achievement Unlocked:Beginnings of an Arsenal

You manage to pick up 10 of them.

You hear something crack behind you.
You turn around and see a huge tortoise with a metallic green shell that is about 10 foot across at it's widest point.
The Tortoise roars at you

Eli shouts out "How in the World Did You Sneak Up On US?!?!"

The Tortoise is blocking the way you cleared out.

You have the Initiative.

That's actually a good question. Likely, we weren't paying attention to it. I'm going around this thing. I'm not attacking it from the front, because I don't have to. It's a tortoise on an isolated island. I'd be surprised if it had any natural enemies beyond the volcano itself. My solution is simple, flank it, don't get bit (highest priority), stab it in the back leg joint. I know tortoises have a bit of reach, and keeping out of that deceptive range is rather important.

"Kill it patiently. We don't need to blitz it." I'm circling to its backside. "Any pits we can drop this thing down? It's own weight can kill it quick."

Oh, beloved square-cube law. Killing mammoths off since the stone age. Hell, a small drop might kill this thing off.

You start to move around it but misjudge just how far it's reach is. It's much longer than you would expect. It lunges at you with a bite but bounces off an glimmering barrier that surrounds you for a few seconds. You make it to it's backside before it can try again.
Eli says
"None that I know of."
He them proceeds to get it's attention be hitting it as hard as he can.
His weapon bites deeply into it's neck.
It roars in anger and then does a devastating smack with it's forelimb.
Eli gets knocked back 3 meters. A hit like that would nearly kill most people.
Eli looks like he might be able to survive one more hit

You then stab it in the back of the knee with your spear. It bites deep into the tender flesh there.
Eli stands up and then goes into a defensive stance. There is a glittering white light around his wound.
The Tortoise smacks Eli with a forelimb; Powers Though his parry and his barrier; and then pins him under its limb.
It then bites Eli's head off.
Eli disappears with his sword
This message was last edited by the player at 02:19, Fri 04 July 2014.

That's one. I've lost Eli, and that barrier my brain is still comprehending the brief existence of. But I've wounded it, and its time is limited, as long as I can keep it moving and panicking. It's an animal, and I need to confuse it.

I proceed to mount it from my position. Not to be cavalier about the death of a companion, but this creature will probably be distracted by that. From it's back, I can harass it if it doesn't retreat into its shell. This will take all day, but I don't have anything better to do right now than to establish myself as the alpha predator on this island.

You climb onto it's back and then manage to stab it's head. It's a minor wound but you still hurt it.

It's starts bucking like a bull and it take all of your effort to hold on.
You manage to hold on for a minute. before it throws you off in front of it.
It actually looks tired.


OOC Achievement Unlocked: Ride a Turtle
This message was last edited by the player at 02:53, Fri 04 July 2014.

I'm not done yet. It's still alive. I move around to its wounded side, slow and steady. I want it to move and reposition itself, and I need to catch my breath. I want it to favor the wounded leg, so it will bleed out faster and die. If it doesn't move with me, I'm remounting it again and stabbing the base of its skull, or at least where I think it is.

You prepare yourself to continue fighting it and then time seems to slowdown and stop for you. The soft silver light of the moon fills the area. A beautiful lady with pale skin, long silver hair and silver eyes that glow with moonlight appears before you.
"You have shown an extraordinary will to live. I like that about you. Unfortunately I need you in another part of the Great Wheel. Hmmm..."
Her expression turns thoughtful then it turns into a very scary toothy grin.
You can't seem to move ay the moment.
She walks up to you and holds your head with her hands. She then kisses you on the the lips.

You feel a pit of rage well up within you. Greater than you have felt in your entire life. With that Rage is Power. Power to change the world.

She steps away from you.
"Come see me sometime Hotlips"
She disappears.

Time starts up again.
You are surrounded by a corona of pale silver-white light. You feel yourself change and transform. You are growing larger and your clothes rip to shreds. Your dog-tags are tight around your neck.
Your nose and mouth have elongated into a snout full of lethal teeth. Your hands are now tiped with large rending claws.
And you are covered in fur that has various shades of grey in it. And ypu have grown a tail.

Of course you don't recognized this consciously. Instead you are filled with a need to kill the thing in front of you. Your ability for tactical thinking is severely limited.

OOC: Achievement Unlocked:Kissed by a Goddess, Exalted!
This message was last edited by the player at 04:14, Sat 05 July 2014.

OOC: I can roll with this. You give me power, I'll use it, drawback or no.

Finally out of the cage. My turn at the wheel. I want to kill this thing in a dozen ways. I want to tear this creature limb from limb and eat its heart raw. I am death incarnate, and none shall stay my wrath.

I rush for the wounded leg, seeking to remove it as fast as possible. No more attrition, no more "bleed." I'm tearing it off right now with claws and fang, and I want to hear this creature's cries of pain and dismay when I do. If it is stunned from the pain, I'm digging into this monster from the leg hole I make, burrowing inside of it like a parasite until I hit the other side.

You charge the wounded leg and rip off a hunk of flesh from it. It turns and delivers a crushing blow that sends you flying. That really hurt. Three or four more hits like that will kill you. But you feel the wound immediately start to heal on it's own. You feel like you could use the rage to force it to heal faster  You get up and charge the leg again and rip off another chunk. It turns and grapples you.

IT wants to grapple ME?! I take a page from Hercules. I might be in a psychotic rage, but that doesn't mean I can't think classically.

I seize its tongue with my claws and pull it out of its mouth with one hand (not aiming to tear it out, but kinda ambivalent), and with the other, I strangle it, digging in the claws if I can in a one-two opposing force motion. Feet are going onto anything that lets me pull. If it bites my hand (somehow without hitting its own tongue), I'm biting its face, eye first.

You try to maneuver into an controlling position with the grapple, But didn't quite get it.
It gets a bite in on you that would have killed a lesser person but only severely wounds you.
You force it's jaws open and pull out it's tongue. Grabbing it's neck with your other hand, you start to strangle it.
It offers a titanic struggle against you but you maintain the upper hand.

I draw it back as far as I can go, trying to draw its head away from it body faster then it can move after it. I'm too angry to use "Rage" to heal, my plan is nonexistent. I bite it right back in the face, targeting its eye, while maintaining my grip on its tongue and throat. If I'm capable of coherent speech, I'm not going to use it. The snarls I'm giving out will likely be enough to get my point across.

But I'm not letting go unless it shears my arm off or kills me.

You Bite and Bite and Bite its face. Then You rip it's tongue out. Your next chomp caves in it's brain pan. Killing it instantly.It falls over backward.You feel yourself shrink back to normal.
You still have the silver-white corona.

You hear clapping behind you. You turn around and see the same silver lady.
"Bravo! Bravo! I love it when Exalts and mortals surprise me. That fight was almost impossible, But you pulled though with guile and savage power. Quite Remarkable. Oh.I forgot to introduce myself. I am Luna,Holder of many titles that don't matter at the moment. It's a pleasure to talk to you Hotlips"

I spit the blood and viscera out of my mouth. Not sure who's it is at this point. The world falls back into place, the other gets quiet again, and my thoughts are now returning.

"I'm married. Do not do that again, goddess."

I kind of kick myself mentally for that one, but it was the first thought on my mind, and I don't regret saying it. I just regret making it the first thing I said. I'm also still coming down from the high of being a giant murder machine. That's not an experience I'm used to having, and I want to go back to it. I now have some insight as to what went through Dr. Jekyll's mind went he kept drinking that potion.

She just smiles at your statement.

"Hmm... You are sort of needed elsewhere but... there is a Hearthstone on the center of the island that would interest you."

OOC: Some information was dropped on me, dear reader, that puts this situation in perspective.

I realize, like in a bad dream, I am not wearing pants at this point. I also realize how little I care at the moment. "At the volcano? Not sure how I'm reaching that. You have any other tricks you'd like to tip to me beyond the ability to turn into a murderous giant wolfman, and healing while in that state?"

"And while your at it, what's a hearthstone?" I've got vague memories of them from other game systems, but I want to hear her take on it.