Cat's eyes darted to the end of the river bank, and the waters disappearing behind the cliff. "If you want to save this fawn, better get on it lick-cat-y split." As he glanced into the dark, frigid river a chill went through him. "Only option might be to hop on and join this little ex-pur-sion..."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:24, Tue 13 Nov 2018.

"Alright, Alca, I need you to get behind that Anteka and give it a little nudge. Be careful you don't startle it on your way, though." Gaige told his kinsect; on command, it took flight and made its way behind the Anteka, taking a bit of a wider berth so as to not startle it before it needed to. Once behind it, Alca made to give a small nudge to the Anteka, just as Gaige had told it to.

Meanwhile, Gaige backed away from the river, so the Anteka felt safer coming ashore. "We should probably back up a bit and give it some room." He suggested to the others.

"Nyah! And while you work on that, I'll climb up this steep meownd of snow and try to fabri-cat a way to get you up." Cat pondered. "You got any rope, lady? Bug boy? If not you might consider taking the iceberg ex-purr-ess past this wall."

The “mound of snow” Cat was referring to is the mountain side cutting off the shore.

“Not on me, and we don’t have enough time to get any.” The huntress replied about rope. She backed away from the water with Gaige and watched his kinsect take flight.

Because of the wide path it was taking, it took Alca longer to get around to the other side of the young anteka, but it paid off when the anteka didn’t notice the kinsect at its rear. The herbivore jumped forward when prodded, then spun and slipped around on the ice before falling over the edge with a splash. It only spent a couple seconds in the water before getting ashore and bolting somewhere into the town, breaking line of sight with the hunters.

“He should be okay for now.” Even though young, the anteka was a snowlands animal.

Chunks of ice continued to flow down the river intermittently, occasionally large enough to stand on top of.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:08, Sun 02 Dec 2018.

"Well, without rope you two hairless-types will have real diffi-claw-ties getting over this ridge." Myar shook his head in fur-ustration. "I guess no one would blame you, Bug Boy, if you cat-pitulated to this blizzard. The sword didn't have any real significats to you, right?"

"Actually... It's one of the last mementos I have of my late father." Gaige shared. "That sword, and its other half here," He patted the sword sheathed on his lower back. "They're my very first weapon, a gift from my father. That's why I decided to pursue the Blangonga; to get my sword back."

Gaige looked to the other side of the river, wondering if the giant ape really managed to cross it. There was only one way to find out, he decided. "Well, now that the Anteka is safe and sound, let's make our way over to the other side of the river." He suggested as he made his way towards the bridge.

"Mew got it, bug boy!" chirped Cat. A part of him was really worried they'd end up trapped on an iceberg like that anteka, cruising the river until it was time to swim to shore. A bridge, however, Cat could stomach. He raised his paw in salute to Gaige, and followed at his side.

“I’ll grab some rope and let the others know what we’re doing.” The huntress said before jogging off back into town. The two could see her talking with another hunter briefly before disappearing into the shed. She rejoined them before they passed the gate, carrying a coil of rope over her shoulder.

“The Blangonga may have sunken to the bottom.” The huntress told the others as they went over the arched bridge, idly looking over the railing. “It would be easier to spot from directly overhead on an iceberg.” With the icebergs passing right underneath the bridge, it would have been simple enough to jump down onto one.

"Alright; since its my sword in its leg, I'll go take a look." Gaige volunteered, looking over the ledge. "Just to be safe, though, think you could tie that rope around me?" He asked the huntress.

Once the rope was firmly tied around his waist, Gaige looked over the railing at the river below, waiting for an iceberg to pass underneath. Once one did, he'd jump onto it, and would thrust his glaive into the ice should he land successfully.


I got permission from the GM for the rope tying.

Myar gulped. "I'll slide down the rope if that ice isn't too deli-cat, but so help me if either of you let me fall in that cat-scade, I'll have nine ghosts to haunt you both with."

“Mm.” The huntress nodded to Gaige, then leaned her bow against the railing and took the rope off of her shoulder. She used the span of her arms to pull out some lengths, then with practiced speed wrapped it around Gaige’s waist and thighs, making a quick climbing harness. “Okay.” Once done she pulled out some more slack and held it loose, but was ready to grab and pull should the jump go awry. One might have noticed a brief smile on her face after Cat’s threat, before she wiped it off.

After some waiting, Gaige dropped from the railing and several feet down. The iceberg rocked uncomfortably from the sudden landing, but the embedded glaive prevented Gaige from slipping, and soon the ice mass settled. After climbing down the rope Cat was on the iceberg as well, and the huntress collected her bow and the rope and made her way to the other shore. She kept pace with the iceberg, holding the rope like a leash, but was more focused on watching for anything coming from the land.

The iceberg was smaller in size, maybe ten feet across, and would shift if Gaige moved around too suddenly. The surface was very uneven too, going up or down a foot in places, and one side was taller than the other. Regardless, the drifting mass was fairly stable with its passengers. Soon they drifted past where the Blangonga had gone into the water.

"Alright... Easy does it..." Gaige muttered to himself, keeping a tight grip on his glaive. He leaned over the edge, looking down into the water for any signs of the Blangonga. As he looked, he realized they should check the other shore for footprints, as well. "Hey!" Gaige called out to the huntress. "Think you could keep an eye out for any Blangonga tracks?" He asked, trying not to take his eyes off the water for too long.

Cat's eyes were built for darkness, so he scanned the riverbed for any glimmer of ultraviolet that could indicate a metallic reflection lurking in the dark water. "Anyone got any water-purroof light? Might make it less effurt to see any metal casting it back our way." There was always the option of flashbombs, the melynx remembered, though he was unsure how well the bomb material held up underwater, and didn't really want to blind his compawtriots.

“Yup.” The huntress called out raising her arm, probably giving a thumbs up, before returning her attention to the land.

---

Spoiler for Gaige: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
When Gaige looked back to the water, he thought he saw something familiar at the bottom, his sword? But it passed underneath the iceberg just as he looked.

---

---

Spoiler for Cat: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Maybe it was his feline night vision, or maybe his thief’s shiny sight, but Cat saw a short gleaming line at the bottom of the river.

---

Peering from above, the hunters could garner about how deep the river was. Even if they reached down with Gaige’s glaive, they’d still be a few feet from the bottom.

We might be stretching things by being able to see the riverbed despite the night blizzard, but oh well.

"Huh...? Wait a minute, was that...?" Gaige wondered aloud, then hurriedly moved to the other side of the iceberg and gazed into the waters below, hoping he was fast enough to confirm his suspicion. "But if it is, then where's...?" He continued wondering to himself, probably sounding like he's talking gibberish. That wasn't the forefront of his worries, however; what was the forefront of his worries was wondering what to do if he really saw what he thought he did.

Myar let out an affirmative meow. "I saw it, too. Paw-lished shiny. Straight, too!" The joyous thought of heading back to town was the energy boost Cat needed. Then, he realized the water was still deep, and wet.

"Nyah! No way to get it without some serious effurt, and," Cat gulped, "swimming." Still, there was not much time before it would be lost. His paw rummaged in his pack, grabbing a paintball. "I can toss it on the bank, make a purr-pawndicular sort of mark. We can get back here with that fella that doesn't mind the cold. Lion I think was his name? Good name!"

Again the iceberg rocked when Gaige hurried from one end to the other, making a small wave. Though it was hard to see clearly, it did seem to be his sword at the bottom of the lake. Soon it was out of sight though, as the iceberg continued downstream. There were still no signs of the Blangonga either.

Like by the airship, trees periodically were near the riverbank, varying in size.

If desired, you can assume the huntress pulls you ashore.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:17, Sun 16 Dec 2018.

"It is my sword!" Gaige exclaimed, relieved to have found it. But now there was the problem of how to retrieve it. Myar's plan sounded as good as any right now. "That sounds like a good place to start." He said in response to Myar's idea. He supposed first, though, before they can do anything, they should get back on solid land, where they don't have to worry about falling in freezing water. "Hey!" Gaige called out to the huntress. "Think you could pull us ashore?" He asked as he tightened his grip on the glaive, so the whole iceberg can be pulled towards the shore line.

Once ashore, Gaige sheathed his glaive and watched for a moment as the iceberg floated away. "Once we get the shoreline marked, we should start heading back to town; we won't want to waste any time." He commented, ready to begin heading back to town once the others were.

His paw shot up to salute, then Cat plucked a paintball from his bag. He tossed it on the shore, doing his best to create a bright pink splotch of snow in the right spot.

Once ashore, he asked the archer, "you think you can hit that pink dis-claw-loration a few times from here? Might sound su-purr-fluous, but can't ever be to cat-tious!"

“Yup.” The huntress called again to Gaige, giving him a moment to brace before reigning the iceberg ashore. Though the iceberg drifted further downstream before touching land, Cat’s paintball had marked the general location of the sunken sword.

“We can just use some branches to mark the spot.” Together in a few minutes the hunters took some branches from a nearby tree, dug a small hole and planted the branches facing up, leaving a post that would stand even in the storm.

I’m assuming you guys want to go to the Gathering Hall to get Leon. You’re welcome to move there and post without waiting for me.

Content that they'd have no trouble finding his sword again upon coming back, Gaige made his back into town, heading for the gathering hall.

Leaving to Warintla - Gathering Hall

We’re gonna have people at the animal barn, the tool shed, and the marked spot along the river. Rather than have people jumping a bunch of threads, we’ll just keep it all in this thread for the time being.

(Animal Barn)

Lantern lights spotted the animal barn, swaying in sync with the blowing winds. Some hung from hooks mounted to the building, other from portable metal posts stuck into the ground, or just carried by hand. It was probably the busiest place in the town presently.

The large sliding barn doors had been smashed and ripped from their rails, now put up against a wall on the inside for the time being. Similarly, the stables had been wrecked and the fragments of lumber were being put aside. The corpses of popo and anteka were all over the place, not always in one piece, with their blood covering most of the ground. Most had been thoroughly devoured, but a few were mostly whole, perhaps killed out of caution, annoyance, or just sport. The townspeople and hunters were in the process of carving what meat and hide could be used, partly just to make the heavy bodies movable.

Meanwhile, a few hunters were pulling out sleds and reigns from another area of the barn. They varied in size and construction, some for lighter loads and people, others for heavier loads and perhaps larger monsters. Among those ‘helping’ was the mosswine hunter, who tried to jump on a sled to use it as a snowboard, and instead sent it flying forward while he fell on his rear.

Some distance away from the barn, a felyne and small anteka could be seen running around each other. It was unclear who exactly was chasing and fleeing the other though.


(Toolshed)

A few people were going to and from the toolshed, but otherwise it was much as the hunters had last seen it; full of tools. There were shovels and rakes and other things with long handles, and a few metal implements had hooked shapes to them.

If it’s a commonplace tool, you can assume the shed has it. If it’s not so common, maybe just check with me first.

From A.S. Firefly - Crash Site

With the surprise threat put down under and preparations finally complete, the hunters set out into the blizzard to secure the route to the town. The cold and wind fought them every step of the way, and they couldn’t see very far, but the river was an easy guide to follow, staying fairly straight. The tracks from the previous squad of hunters were a reassurance.

The group started out large, but periodically a few hunters would break off and stop while the rest continued. Towards the end of the journey the group noticed a makeshift marking post along the river side, some branches sticking up from the ground. What it was indicating was not apparent, but they did see some relatively fresh tracks coming from the town then going back, and which tree the branches had been stripped from. The last break off group decided to stop at the marker, while the remaining party went for the town, including Jadore, Ashyrel and the heavy bowgunner from earlier.

The cliff face along the opposite riverside opened up briefly, revealing a small hidden valley. From there a great wooden arch bridge spanned across the river, reaching up high and sloping off at each end, more than wide enough for a couple of wagons to pass each other by. Everything about its construction was thick and sturdy, built to stand the test of time. Even a giant monster and his friends could have strolled across it if they wanted to, which some clearly had by the giant fist tracks and mounds of frozen feces (which someone had dug into?).

Just after the bridge was a tall and wide wall, built just as sturdy. It was at least two stories tall (which the Blangonga seemed to have jumped and climbed over) and reached around both sides of the bridge, going several feet into the water, preventing passage without swimming around (which the blangos seem to have done). At its center was a double door gate, currently open (seemingly by the previous group of hunters). Just behind the fence on one side was a roofed watchtower, currently vacant, just tall enough to see directly in front of the wall.

Some lights could be seen swaying and dancing through the village beyond, but otherwise it was hard to see anything through the dark, or hear anything over the winds. As the trio ventured into town, they spotted a bloody blango corpse hidden beside a building.

See picture below for a rough idea of the layout. Not at all to scale.
I’d recommend reading my previous post. The tool shed and animal barn are where people are headed. There’s also the gathering hall, but that’s probably emptying out of players momentarily.
Any questions, let me know.

_{Entering from Warintla- Gathering Hall}

"What a mess," Leon commented as he looked around the barn. Rolling his eyes as the mosswine man fell on his rear, he pointed to several of the sleds. "Alright, so we need those sleds to bring supplies from the ship back here. We also need some volunteers to help pull them, any takers?"

_{Edit: Specifiying where I am}
This message was last edited by the player at 18:05, Tue 22 Jan 2019.

“Yup.” All the hunters bringing out the sleds raised their hands, among them the Mafumofu armored man from earlier. “We’ll have more hands on our way back.”

The mosswine hunter got up and dusted off, then strolled over to one of the larger sleds that the others were strapping up. “I’ll take the lead. Wouldn’t want to run anyone over. But don’t fall too far behind, eh? ” He tried to figure out how to pull the reins meant for side by side animals, awkwardly standing in the middle and holding them overhead. “Race you to the bridge!” Suddenly he was off, the giant sled jerked into motion behind him as he headed towards the toolshed.
After a moment something seemed to dawn on the Mafumofu hunter. “... Wait, Roy! Tsk…”

The other hunters didn’t rush to catch up, but in short time had the other sleds ready to go, some just stacked on top of each other, and followed the wide trail in the snow.