"All aloooong the open roooadd," Jeffeth croons along the way to wherever they are going, well before they're close enough to anything that making noise would be a bad thing.

Pasquale has hired - or otherwise convinced - a group to head into the woods on his behalf. He's told them all about the legend of Phantom, an elusive white hart said to be invincible, faster than an arrow, massive as the mountains he lives in the shadow of. The group has traveled north from Arx, sticking mostly to the known roads until reaching Hawkhold. Their destination is further still, nestled into the forests that separate the Crownlands from the Northlands. It's been at least a day's travel along deer runs into the heart of this densely wooded area. Night is approaching, and there is a clearing just large enough to make camp coming into view. So far? There has been no sign of anything other than entirely ordinary creatures.

Raymesin checks perception and survival at hard. Raymesin marginally fails.

Raja checks perception and survival at hard. Raja is successful.

Jan checks perception and survival at hard. Jan is successful.

Skaldia is here, because she always like to get paid to do things, and being a huntress of the Lodge, she has quite a bit of experience with shooting things. On the other hand, as a Disciple of Petrichor, maybe she's also here to ensure no animals that might or might not be sacred to Petrichor are harmed. As they reach the clearing, the huntress scans the area, checking for any dangers or other things of note.

Elora checks perception and animal ken at hard. Botch! Elora fails completely.

Jeffeth checks perception and survival at hard. Jeffeth is successful.

Jeffeth continued humming All Along the Great Open Road. He's somewhere near Jan and Raja because he knows they like that song.

Skaldia checks perception and animal ken at hard. Skaldia is successful.

Rosalind checks perception and survival at hard. Rosalind is successful.

Skaldia also has her trusty hawk, Libera with her!

Jeffeth's singing is contagious. It doesn't seem to bother the Culler woman at all. In fact, Raja sings along with him! Though, one might have to wonder how one person could sound /that/ terrible. Still, she is enjoying the song regardless of any people staring at her. Thankfully, as the darkness begins to descend upon them, she falls quiet and her dark eyes looking back and forth within the shadows.

Raja gestures to a clearing that is nearby. "So. That looked like it was recently used as a camp in the last week or so. Maybe we should scout it out?"

Raymesin, meanwhile, is here for reasons he hasn't actually stated out loud. He's moving with the others, trying not to wince too much at the singing, but generally keeping quiet himself. The overtall Ulbran is watchful and wary, but then he's like that all the time anyway.

Rosalind looks at the singing and grins. "My papa used to sing like that sometimes,"making sure her bow is at her side. The Ravenseye scout as her bright copper hair covered this time around, as not to be seen by anything. Spirit, her own hawk is flying hight about the trees.

Jan does love travel music, it's true. She hums an off-key accompany to Jeffeth but then goes quiet. She looks around, "Others have been this way, marking their way."

Caspian checks perception and survival at hard. Caspian is successful.

"People have recently been hunting here,"Rosalind observes, kneeling closely to the ground. Her head tilts a bit, looking thoughtful.

Skaldia does not join in the singing, and she has her bow, Serene Huntress, in her right hand while Libera is soaring high overhead, following the group in whatever general direction Skaldia is headed. As they approach the clearing, the huntress frowns as she glances around, and she says in a quiet voice, "The birds are quieter than usual here."

Elora walks alongside a pack of five hunting dogs, with a Whitehawk Falcon riding on her thickly-gloved hand. "Josse," she murmurs, "I need you to go up and scout please." The hawk? It just flaps its wings in annoyance. The little blond sighs when the screeching comes. "That's my ear. Stop." The bird stops immediately, but the damage is already done; Elora uses her free hand to massage her ear. She looks where Raja points, however, and nods at Rosalind. "Onida." She is also a disciple of Petrichor, one Skaldia might know, and she's made no effort to hide the fact that she and the animals are conversing from time to time. The wolfhound huffs and sticks close to Elora's legs.

Caspian is never one to avoid a good song, so he of course is joining in to the cacophony of voices. As they grew closer to their destination though, he did grow quiet, grinning to jeffeth. "We need to teach you some new songs my friend." a friendly bump on the shoulder and then he was looking round, following the more seasoned hunters and scouts. As the clearing expanded before them, he paused, something seeming off. he couldn't tell what it was.. until it seemingly jumped out at him. "over there.. the far edge of the clearing.. is that part of a tent buried under that fallen tree limb? Talk about shit luck."

Raja turns her gaze to Rosalind, "Maybe that is why there was a camp there! Hunters! Surely we aren't the only ones wanting to track down this creature." As the group looks around their surroundings, Raja turns to investigate the 'camp' a bit more closely.

Jeffeth has stopped singing in favor of inspecting the edge of the clearing, crouching down to taste the dirt. Sniff the air. "There was some sort of fight around here recently."

Jan dismounts and ties her horse to a sturdy branch, "I am going to have a quick look around."

Elora checks command and animal ken at hard. Elora is successful.

It still isn't clear exactly what Skaldia's relationship is with her bird, but they do seem to be very well in sync most of the time. Libera continues to circle overhead, while Skaldia skulks around below. The huntress does recognize Elora, a fellow Disciple, and gives the other woman an understanding look as she sees the trouble she's having with the hawk. Animals don't always do what you want! Skaldia's attention returns to scanning the area. Her eyes squint at the bit of tent that Caspian points out. "Be careful," she murmurs if anyone goes to investigate. "Usually if the birds are quiet, there's some disturbance. Then again, it might have been Sir Jeffeth's singing that scared them all away," she jests, with a grin at Jeffeth. "I'll keep a lookout for any trouble. If there are other hunters, they may not like us poking around." She draws an arrow silently from her quiver and nocks it, just in case, though she doesn't draw the bowstring yet. She's just being prepared. Libera, meanwhile, continues to circle above and study the terrain from a bird's eye view.

Raymesin looks around the clearing with uncomprehending eyes, but he shrugs and then he too dismounts, just in case. With his horse's reins in hand he heads for a nearby tree to tie the animal so it doesn't wander off while he's not looking.

Skaldia also dismounts, before doing the above bow-readying.

Caspian hops from his horse, wrapping the reins round a nearby tree so the beast wouldn't wander off. He stepped forward, leaning against the tree a moment. "Well.. if they were hunters, they are in for a bad time when they get back if this was their tent. but also.. wouldnt hunters have a more hidden campsite? less open and exposed so as to not scare away the animals." he motioned above, "as you pointed out.. the birds.."

As the group moves into the clearing, all the details start to come together to paint a picture of a group - likely hunters, though whether from Hawkhold or Shavs is unclear - having been in this part of the forest in the past week or so. The tree limb on the tent appears to have been torn from the tree it feel from (no sign of having been struck by lightning). The area Jeffeth noticed, where the branches were all broken, is right near there. The size and shape of the damage suggests that something - at least the size of a bear, or several bears - made their way very quickly through that spot. The dogs that Elora sends off to scout both pick up on a trail. One is very interested in the damages tree line, the other is sniffing around what appears to be a deer run several yards away.

"Maybe my singing scared the hunters away, too..." Jeffeth grins to Caspian, to add a layer to Skaldia's joke.

Jan checks perception and survival at hard. Jan is successful.

Skaldia gives a soft snicker in response to Jeffeth's comment, but then she's back to focusing on scanning the area as they move about the clearing, scouting around and investigating. The huntress notes the dogs, and their points of interest, and goes over to investigate the deer track. She crouches to the ground, looking for any signs of tracks.

Jan slips off the path and meanders, it's roughly circular but she's more interested in seeing than keeping a perfect circle-and of course she is careful not to wander far.

Raja trots up next to Jan, walking about to check out the area. Though, the reactions of the dogs is not beyond her. She glances to the dogs, then to Jan, "Think they found something?" She inquires of the former Kennex woman.

Caspian perks up when some one mentions a bear might have come through. "ooh! i wonder if..." he fell silent, shook his head "bah they would never let me bring it in the city." he moved closer to the deer run the dog was sniffing bout, and crouched down, examining it closely. "Usually.. you'd see some kind of fur or .. something like that to get an idea of what went running off in this direction." he began picking round to see what the dogs were so focused on

Triton is suddenly looking interested when he catches up with the group's conversation on passing bears.

Rosalind is likely already walking to where Elora's dogs went to. "El's dogs are pretty good trackers,"she says. The mention of bears causes her to look over at Triton with an amused look on her face.

Jeffeth checks perception and survival at hard. Jeffeth marginally fails.

Elora walks quietly into the camp, her brows furrowing when Tero lifts his head and sneezes at Elora. "He says it smells weird," she tells Raja when she speaks. "Outi says the deer trail is normal. Just deer and bears, things like that." Caspian might recognize the big ol' wolfhound beside Elora: the one that menaced him during a certain Explorer test. This time, however, he sniffs at the Champion and sneezes, going back to Elora, Rosalind, and Triton.

Caspian checks perception at hard. Caspian is successful.

Triton checks intellect and survival at hard. Triton fails.

Elora checks perception and animal ken at hard. Elora is successful.

Rosalind checks perception at hard. Rosalind marginally fails.

Raja checks perception and survival at hard. Raja marginally fails.

Jan mutters "Dogs look for prey or trails, I'm looking for the story. I don't know what they found, I figure we'll know when someone finds something because there'll be a bellow or a 'huh, that's odd'."

Raymesin checks perception at hard. Raymesin marginally fails.

Jan is just finishing her wobbly cirle-ish circuit around the campsite when Raja joins her.

While some of the others are looking into, examining and otherwise talking about the damaged tree, Raymesin is keeping his eyes open. The woods around them aren't any more safe than they were before they found the clearing, and are quite possibly less safe than they were before.

Skaldia checks perception at hard. Skaldia fails.

Jan checks perception and survival at hard. Jan is successful.

Triton watches the group with half an eye while checking the area with quiet sweeps of his eyes from near Elora.

Raja checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Raja fails.

Rosalind checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Botch! Rosalind fails completely.

Skaldia checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Skaldia fails.

Raymesin checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Raymesin is successful.

Triton checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Triton is successful.

Jeffeth checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Jeffeth fails.

Skaldia has been inspecting the deer path, but apparently Elora's connection with her dogs in such that she can discern the tracks are normal. Lifting herself back up to a standing crouch, the huntress turns slightly, eyeing the damaged tree limb next. But she's too far away from it at this point to get a good look at it. She is silent now, doing very little talking. Libera continues to circle above the clearing. Occasionally, a high-pitched 'screee!' can be heard, but that's normal behavior for a hawk, and hardly worthy of note to animals or humans like. Unless maybe you're a mouse or a vole or a rabbit. In that case, you might be dinner.

As everyone is searching the clearing, there's a shift in the air. Caspian, Jan, and Elora and her dogs all manage to sense it. It comes on suddenly, in a distant sound akin to the rush of a waterfall. The sound grows louder - no, closer. Suddenly, a herd of deer comes slamming through the clearing as if being chased. They scatter around the people as best they can, some panicking and fleeing through the damaged area, but most of the dozen or so creatures head off along the deer run, reminding people why they're called such. An extremely loud bleating sound fills the air.

Rosalind was a bit far off, when she trips over a large tree root. And by trip, she means stumble. Rolling not very gracefully. There's leaves stuck to her hair, her bow goes flying. In fact, Rosa looks---very much like the abandoned she once was. "OOOWWWWWWW!"

"Tero says that the strange smell isn't Abyssal," Elora reports further as the iron grey hound starts to awoo at her like a husky wanting a treat. She continues to advance towards the doog, a sharp whistle bringing Outi back from the deer trail. "So there's that, at least." She offers Skaldia a smile. "Do you think you could help me find a tit or pine warbl ... Oh, look out!" she says urgently, trying to pull the woman out of the way. "Sister Skaldia? Are you alright?" She flicks her eyes to everyone else as well, concern in her face. They land on Rosalind, Triton, then the others. "Are you actually hurt, Lady Rosalind?"

Jan's body goes very still, a hand lifts in a warning gesture towards Raja before suddenly seeming to grasp what she's hearing and she grabs Raja by the shoulders and leans back against the trunk of a tree, pulling Raja with her so they are way too close to one another but safely sheltered by the tree.

Jeffeth gahs! Top heavy from wearing about 8 tons of alaricite, he topples over. It takes a good half minute for him to un-turtle back to his hands and knees so he can get back up again.

Rosalind hurries to her feet, grumbling,"No." Just her pride maybe. All the pride. Picking the leaves from her hair, she puffs her a few strands from her eyes,"Everyone else ok?"

Triton tries to imitate his sister Rosa, but somehow ends up rolling to the side instead of smashing to the earth, coming back up in front of Elora and growling as the deer...just sort of avoid or ignore him.

Raymesin, it seems, just happened to be in the right place at the right time. When the flock? Murder? Herd? of deer come thundering through the clearing, he's able to jump and catch the branch of a tree, then swing himself into it. He gives it a few long seconds until after the deer are gone before he lowers himself back down again, landing neatly where he took off from. "They was goin' quick," the Lowers man comments. "Anyone needin' 'an 'and?"

Caspian looked up sharply, as though something had caught his attention. "do you hear.." The chaos that burst into the clearing was not at all what he had expected. "LOOK OUT! ANTLERS!! LOTS OF ANTLERS! AND HOOVES!" He jumped back from the deer path, ensuring the dog was clear too.. but of course the dog was. As the deer charged by he looked round to the others, "is everyone ok? did anyone.." the bleating sound shut him up and he touched his chest. "I swear that wasn't me.." he looked round, "Up up! no way those things would have came through here if there wasn't something sending them this way! maybe a giant goat or something..."

Something on the ground catches Raja's attention and she stoops low to pick it up. However, it just turned out to be something discarded from the previous campers her. The item is tossed back to the side and she stands back up. "What's that s..." She is pulled back suddenly and she squishes up against the tree with Jan, eyes going wide as the herd of deer flee in fear. "Fuck! Gah!" She curses more as the creatures continue their flight. Once the last one goes trotting off, Raja seems a bit wary. "Do deer always do that?" She is a city girl. The wilderness is a bit out of her element. "Thanks Jan.."

Jan says, "No, they're running from something scary." she legs go of Raja and lifts her chin to bellow "For those that don't know, those deer were running from something, I'd be keeping a wary look for something big and hungry if I were smart!"

It's hard to miss that sound of stampeding hoofbeats, though it is a bit disorienting having a bunch of animals run past you, all in a hurry. Skaldia finds herself yanked out of the way by Elora as the animals rush by. Both events are so unexpected - the stampede and the pulling out of the way by Elora - so it is that Skaldia stumbles and falls to the ground, her arm still in Elora's grasp. She catches herself from falling really badly, catching herself with her other arm. She hesitates a moment, waiting to make sure the stampede has ended, and that she herself is okay, before she rises to her feet again. She's wearing leather armor, so that protects her a little bit, though she'll likely need to repair it later from scrapes on one of the knees, and one of her gloves now has a tear in it. There's nothing for it but to wait until the herd of animals has passed, before she gives Elora a shaky smile of gratitude. "Thanks," she says, a bit shakily. "That definitely took me by surprise." She glances up and mutters, "You couldn't have warned me about that, Libera?" The hawk continues to just soar about. Meanwhile, Skaldia glances to Caspian, then takes his advice, and starts climbing the nearest climbable tree. "I think Caspian's got the right idea," she says breathlessly to the others. She might be able to shoot and see better from up there too.

A frustrated huff, louder than it has any right to be, comes from the direction all the deer just came from. There's a stomp of a very large hoof. Thse who turn to look will find a creature that is massive. Moose-like. If mooses were somehow larger and terribler than they already are. This is certainly /not/ a white hart, but the creature is white with disturbingly red eyes. Someone might have the presence of mind to think 'oh, an albino!' befre it charges into the clearing with it's giant head lowered at the people there.

Jeffeth wields an elegant diamondplate rapier with pink diamond studded rose hilt.

Raja wields Serpent's Embrace.

Raymesin wields The Wheel's Edge, a diamondplate dagger.

Jan checks dexterity and medium wpn at hard. Jan is successful.

Elora wields noble cupridium bow with pewter and silver accents.

Skaldia checks dexterity and athletics at hard. Skaldia fails.

Triton wields a pair of dark brown caestus with gleaming alaricite bear claws.

Raja checks dexterity and small wpn at hard. Raja marginally fails.

Raymesin checks dexterity and small wpn at hard. Raymesin is successful.

Elora checks dexterity and archery at hard. Botch! Elora fails completely.

Jeffeth checks dexterity and medium wpn at hard. Jeffeth is successful.

Triton checks strength and brawl at hard. Triton fails.

Rosalind watches the deer run and frowns. "Deer don't usually run like that unless something is wrong, unless they're running from something." But then the giant moose is standing there and she pauses. "Oh. Uh...Well---that'll do it,"she says and hurries to run and find her bow. Quickly.

Caspian checks dexterity and athletics at daunting. Caspian fails.

Triton checks dexterity and brawl at hard. Triton fails.

Caspian p jeffeth = well get some rope on it... then jump on ti next turn!!

That tree just isn't climbable! At least, not by Skaldia. She had to put up her bow and arrow in order to try to climb the tree, so now she's not in a tree, and without a readied bow for the moment. She tries to make herself as not-noticeable as possible, since there's little time as she stares at the white red-eyed moose-thing. Meanwhile, she'll be struggling to get her bow back off her back and an arrow out of her quiver.

Triton growls again and reaches aside to swipe at the moose-wannabe as it rumbles on past like a ... chargin moose.

Raymesin checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Raymesin is successful.

Caspian checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Caspian is marginally successful.

Skaldia checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Botch! Skaldia fails completely.

Rosalind checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Rosalind is successful.

Jan checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Jan is successful.

Triton checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Triton fails.

Elora cuts her eyes up to where her hawk is circling near Skaldia's own. "They do when the herd feels threatened," she says softly to Raja before looking back in the direction of the bleating. Onida's hackles begin to rise, but there's not a single sound from any of the dogs. They're poised, watching Elora and watching the treeline. The woman calmly notches an arrow, just in case. "Steady... Steady." Then the quarry rushes in. "Away." Up comes her bow, string drawn taut, and the dogs surge forward still without a sound. "Come by, Due! Come by!" She jolts at something, accidentally dropping the bow before she can even shoot. Her dogs, however, they dart in and out of range, snapping at the Moosen's legs and harrying it to keep it more or less in one area.

Raja checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Raja marginally fails.

Jan lurches out from behind her cover and swinges her Turgid Defiance at the charging Moose of Mayhem and then promptly ducks back behind the tree and ducks down a bit, expecting an angry moose to have a go at the tree.

Caspian was more shocked that he was almost right about the giant goat! while not a goat it was certainly pissed like one. He was stock still a moment, both in awe at the dangerous beauty of the creature, and then again in confusion about if this was the creature they were sent to find or not. Wasn't it supposed to be glowing. Thankfully the moose did not give him long to wait before charging toward the group, clearly intent on violence and mayhem! Caspian shrugged his pack off into the dust, grabbing the coiled rope from the side of it as he darted forward. he struggled to unsling a few lengths of it before whipping an end round and round before sending it fying toward the moose in an attempt to hook it into its antlers or round its neck. The rop slid harmlessly off the mosses' back and plopped anticlimactically to the ground. "crap.." He yhelped then as a hoof nearly caught him in the stomach.

Then the beast reveals itself! It's intimidating to say the least. Still, Raja whips out her dagger and stands her ground. "Come on you fell bease. I have been kicked across Bastion by Gargantuans. What you got? Huh!" the beast shows what it's got. As it charges, Raja lets out a yell and charges too! HOWEVER, a small woman vs large moose-beast is not a good match. Raja is just knocked out of the way and given a lesson in humility.

Raymesin looks towards Caspian at the warning, and he smiles, stepping behind the tree he'd just hidden in and pulling his knives from their sheaths at his belt, one blade the brilliant white of diamondplate and the other sooty black. He waits for the beast's arrival, and for it to look elsewhere, and then he slips out of cover and lunges into the attack. It's not just red eyes the creature is sporting a moment later, but red blood spilling from a gash in its white hide. And when a hoof arrives to teach him of his folly, the tall knifeman simply isn't there to get kicked.

Jeffeth was waiting for the precise moment to dive /away/ from the beast and thrust his rapier into it's arse cheek. Which he does. Solidly.

Laurene, a military adjutant arrives, delivering a message to Elora before departing.

Skaldia checks 'permanent wound save' at hard. Skaldia is successful.

Despite the terrible damage, Skaldia does not take a permanent wound.

Skaldia wields Serene Huntress, an oathlands steel recurve bow.

Jeffeth wields Last Line.

Triton learns that missing a gant anything is less than optimal as he ends up a little to close to the thundering hooves with predictable consequences, his burly body sort of stumble-flying off to the side as he experiences the joys of herbivore trampling.

Rosalind wields a diamondplate bow with a spruce green leather grip.

The albino moose-beast is angry, making that awful bleating sound as Jeffeth solidly stabs it in the ass. It rears up, connecting hooves with Triton and Raja before landing hard and making the ground shake. Phantom - as it likely is the purported creature - rounds his attention on Raymesin, who also managed to hurt it.

Raymesin checks dexterity and small wpn at hard. Raymesin is successful.

Rosalind checks dexterity and archery at hard. Botch! Rosalind fails completely.

Caspian wields Charm and Grace, alaricite chain knives.

Caspian checks dexterity and small wpn at hard. Caspian is successful.

Raja checks dexterity and small wpn at hard. Raja is successful.

Triton checks dexterity and brawl at hard. Triton fails.

Jan checks dexterity and medium wpn at hard. Jan marginally fails.

Jeffeth checks dexterity and huge wpn at hard. Jeffeth fails.

Luck is just not with Skaldia today. The huntress, still trying to nock an arrow, just doesn't have the time before that moose-thing comes charging directly toward her! There's no getting out of the way in time. The thing slams right into her full-on, its mighty antlers gouging deeply into her cuirass. With a soft grunt as the wind is knocked out of her, Skaldia goes down on her back, her head hitting the ground as well. She is stunned momentarily as the moose-thing tramples over her, and her leather cuirass, while it likely saved her life, is ruined. Gasping for breath, the winded huntress has somehow managed to keep hold of her bow in one hand, though she doesn't look capable of using it at the moment. She stares up at the treetops from where she lays, dazed.

Triton manages to look more like Rosa this time as he lands in a heap and valiantly tries to struggle back up, his caestus swinging out wildly.

Raymesin checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Raymesin marginally fails.

Rosalind checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Botch! Rosalind fails completely.

Jan checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Jan fails.

Caspian checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Caspian is successful.

Triton checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Triton is successful.

Jeffeth checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Jeffeth fails.

Raja checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Raja is successful.

The blow had knocked Raja on her ass. "Unf." She grunts as she moves to stand up. She spins back to look to the beast who is now eyeing Raymesin up like a tasty snack. The blade makes it to her hand again and she rushes forward to attack the beast once again. The curved blade is brought down upon the beast, ducking simultaneously as the beasts horns thrash back in her direction.

Rosalind checks 'permanent wound save' at hard. Rosalind marginally fails.

Rosalind checks 'unconsciousness save' at normal. Rosalind is successful.

Rosalind remains capable of fighting.

Jeffeth switched out to his huge hammer because that fucking moose is giant. He winds up and swings, misses. The momentum swings him around and he's caught in the ass by a giant hoof. Turn about is fair play.

Rosalind knows better. She does. But she rushed. She rushed and drew back the string. And well--the arrow grew tangled and didn't get ANYWHERE! It got stuck, causing Rosa to fail. Miserably. "Gods. Good thing we're not back home right now..."

Triton probably cannot even see what he is swinging at since he is off-balance and bloody-faced, but he does take that wild swing anyway. Fortunately, he does not his Elora or anyone else with the attempt. The resulting stumble is turned athletically into a roll that nobody is likely to appreciate under the circumstances, but it does take him toward his wife. Instinct or luck, not that he is of much help to her tonight, but he will avoid Moosie and hopefully end up on his feet ebtween the critter and the Lady.

Raymesin attempts to repeat his previous performance, but finds himself a little short. Another bleeding slash is added to the giant white beast's hide - but he's still there when the hoof arrives, although it only catches him a glancing blow, sending him spinning away. He'll definitely feel that in the morning, assuming there is a morning.

Caspian drops the rope, his failed attempt was not to followed up by an encore. With a snort, he pulled his daggers out and began to shake free the chains. "Well, so much for that! lets end this moose threat once and for all!" He danced in then, blades flashing as they whistled in a strike that dragged the blades straight along the back of the mooses' legs, trying his best to cripple the massive beast.

Skaldia finally catches her breath, and with a grunt, she rolls to the side at the edge of the clearing furthest away from the last place the beast was. With an effort, she struggles to her feet, and lifts one hand to her ribs, wincing. She's fine! Everything is fine. But then she shakes her head, trying to clear it, and she reaches back for an arrow. She manages to find one that wasn't broken in the fall, and nocks it. Licking her lips, she narrows her gaze on the moose-thing. This time, she's going to try to take a shot.

Elora shoves her hands into a pouch at her hip, pulling out bandages as she watches Triton manage to clear the hooves of Phantom. Once he's clear, she yells, "Someone try to get Rosalind out of there! Onida!" Elora starts running towards her family, sticking to the outskirts of the clearing. One of the dogs yelps as it barely manages to evade a hoof and, instead of just Onida, the whole pack turns and tears off back to their human. This is apparently not what Elora had in mind. "Get back out there," she fusses, still trying to get to the people who need bandaging.

Phantom attempts to turn, lashing his great antlers around wildly and catching several of the party with hooves. Surrounded as he is, the creature is enraged and reacting to the threats with instinctive brute force. There's no reason to the creature, simply moving to acknowledge and try to eliminate each hit that lands against it. Blood sprays from the wounds of hits that have landed, splattering the closest combatants.

Jan is slammed against a tree and briefly trapped by a moosehorn, causing her to bellow in pain though in the thrashing and she drops and rolls away seeking cover and the chance to re-orient herself.

Jeffeth checks dexterity and athletics at hard. Botch! Jeffeth fails completely.

Caspian checks dexterity and athletics at daunting. Caspian is successful.

Raymesin checks dexterity and small wpn at hard. Raymesin is successful.

Jeffeth drops his hammer. He crackes his knuckles and neck. Readies himself. The BULL OF SOLACE. The legend. Master athlete. Men want to be him. Women also want to be him. And all folks, for that matter, want to be him. His skill is legendary. His feats of strength unmatched in history...

"Yyyyyyyaaaaaa!!!" he charges the beast and leaps! High into the air! He's going to land on Phantom and......

Get instantly bucked all the way across the clearing!!!! Flying like a rag doll until he smacks the ground and skids another football field length or so.

Caspian looked at the impact the blows he landed were having and grimaced. "We need to slow this thing down.." he sheathed his daggers, reaching once more to grab the rope he had discarded. "Come on you big deer, look at me!" Then Jeffeth was hurtling at the moose. Caspian blinked in surprise. "yeah! Get him jeffeth!!" Then jeffeth was flying off the mooose.. "no no jeffeth the other way!" he cursed, then threw the rope toward the moose. "Come HERE!" THe rope landed miraculously around the mooses' neck. That honestly was surprising than the flying jeffeth. Caspian yanked hard on the rope then, "Got you!" there was no way he was going to be able to wrestle the moose, so instead he darted around the nearest tree, wrapping the rope round it and pulling hard, hoping physics would aid him.. "HIT HIM NOW! HIT HIM NOW!!"

Raymesin's pale eyes narrow on the beast; seeing what Caspian was doing gave him an idea, and when Caspian managed to put another plan into effect, the overtall Lowers man is there to take advantage. When Caspian's lasso has the beast still - even for just a moment - Raymesin's blades slash deep across its hind legs, the knifeman apparently knowing exactly where to strike for maximum effect. The movement carries him onwards, past the animal's rear end with a raw turn of speed that's likely best described as inhuman.

Triton checks dexterity and brawl at hard. Critical Success! Triton is spectacularly successful.

Rosalind checks dexterity and archery at hard. Botch! Rosalind fails completely.

Skaldia checks dexterity and archery at hard. Skaldia fails.

Jan checks dexterity and medium wpn at hard. Jan is successful.

Raja checks dexterity and small wpn at hard. Raja marginally fails.

Jan really just wants to stop and stare at the unfathomable audacity that is Jeffeth followed by Caspian, "Wild, What in Petrichor's untamed bush are you DOING?!" she leaps forward and drives her blade into the creature's ribcage, giving the blade a twist before leaping back.

Rosalind is practically giving up on life as her bow is somehow just in some stray bush. "Spirits!"

Elora rushes past Triton has he's on his feet, trying to get to Rosalind, yanking her free once Caspian starts to tie back the rope. While she begins to quickly evaluate her sister in law's condition, working to bind up anything that's bleeding. "Rosalind, you need to stop letting Phantom stomp on you," she murmurs, perhaps more to herself than anything else. The dogs seem to have got their shit together and have rejoined the fight. There's snarling and tearing teeth now as they stand between Phantom and Elora (and Rosalind), trying dutifully to help the humans around them. One of them is right beside Raymesin, snapping at the moose's hind quarters and coming away bloody.

Triton raises his face and ROARS with rage, something primal pushing the wild challenge from his chest as he takes off at a dead run toward the leashed moose thing. Elora is gonna kick is ass later if he survives, but in the moment she has way better cntrol of her dogs than her husband! He lumbers like, well, like a charging bear, his armored and clawed hand drawing back and then, as he slides before and under the beast's neck, he swipes across the mighty neck with his metal claws. Blood...he is gonna need a bath before he is even allowed in the house.

Somewhere, beyond the clearing, Jeffeth recovers his feet and is able to rejoin the group, having to traverse the length of the new 'trail' the next hunting group will likely inspect with curiosity. While he's making his way back, Caspian manages to secure Phantom to a tree, which makes the beast fight terribly against the restraint. The rope is pulled to a point where the tree starts to bend, but Triton slides under and tears out a significant portion of throat. The bleat of rage comes up short, gurgling as blood gushes out of the wound. The beast is definitely showing signs of weakening, but he is still stomping his hooves with full strength - for now.

Jan checks dexterity and medium wpn at normal. Botch! Jan fails badly.

Raymesin checks dexterity and small wpn at normal. Raymesin is successful.

Skaldia checks dexterity and archery at normal. Skaldia is successful.

Jeffeth checks mana and brawl at hard. Botch! Jeffeth fails completely.

Triton checks dexterity and brawl at normal. Triton is successful.

Skaldia tries to hit that moose-thing with an arrow, but she's just too badly injured to really hold the bow steady. The arrow flies far afield, into the trees, missing the beast entirely. Then, the huntress narrows her eyes, and pulls another arrow out of her quiver. She's not giving up! Possibly the thing will be dead soon, but then again, it is a rather huge beast. Wincing a little as she lifts her arms, and watching somewhat incredulously as the moose-thing is finally secured to a tree, Skaldia shifts her stance and takes aim once again for another shot.

Medeia flips a coin and it lands on heads.

Jeffeth lifts his open palm high in the air like he's Dwayne Johnson. Goes to layeth a Godly smack down on this forsaken moose. He .... swipes at the wrong moose of the three he was looking at (the clearing hadnt quite stopped spinning). His hand comes back around and he smacks himself!

Caspian checks dexterity and small wpn at hard. Caspian is successful.

Rosalind checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Rosalind is successful.

Raymesin checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Raymesin is successful.

Jan checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Jan is successful.

Skaldia checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Skaldia is successful.

Triton checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Triton is successful.

Raymesin's blades strike at the animal's hindquarters again with another precisely-placed pair of cuts higher up and in a spot that's easier to reach now, immobilising its hind legs more-or-less completely. The dark blade and the white blade, one on each side, and then he's dancing aside again just in case it tries to answer his attacks by falling on him or something.

Jan swings but after being nearly crushed she's very wary and doesn't quiet close the distance enough and her swing goes wide but it does mean when an angry kick is sent her way she's able to leap out of the way.

Rosalind grumbles at Elora, but finds the strength to push away. Again.

Caspian checks dexterity and dodge at hard. Caspian is successful.

Elora checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Elora is successful.

Triton turns almost immediately after sliding under the red shower, his eyes practically glowing with blood lust now as he dives back toward red-and-white Phantom, the thick arm once again arcing toward the beast to rip a sizable chunk of potential dinner out of the side of the beast before tree-trunk legs power him off to the side and away from the thrashing hooves.

Jeffeth checks dexterity and dodge at normal. Jeffeth is successful.

Caspian wraps the rope around the tree, wrestling it into a knot and then spinning and charging back toward the moose. His daggers come out once more as the others hammer the creature with blows. Triton lands a nasty gash across the creatures neck, and caspian decides to follow it up. He crouches low, dashing forward and waiting for his moment. as the creature exposed its neck for the briefest of moments, caspian lashed out with the knives. The chain wrapped round the neck once and then the dagger buried it self into the moose's throat. blood splattered as caspian ripped the knife free and and scrambled back to avoid the earthshattering strike of its hooves.

Elora looks at the animal, something in the woman's face conflicted. There's pity in her eyes as she watches the animal expire. "Wait, just..." She looks helplessly at Triton and then Skaldia. After a second, she pushes herself a little closer. "Do..." She exhales. "If there's anything... I don't know. Anything you would like us to do with you?" she asks the animal, rather lamely. She pauses, adjusts, and tries again. "You have been a strong beast. One of Lord Petrichor's finest, for sure. Let us end the pain for you? Please?"

Rosalind watches the bloody mess and just blinks. Even she looks a bit saddened the whole thing. "Can you bury it maybe,"she asks Elora. Then she's weakly standing. Because hooves and antlers hurt.

Skaldia nods to Elora, as she tries to talk to the beast, though there's a bit of doubt in her eyes, as to whether the animal is going to be in any mood to communicate. After loosing that last arrow, Skaldia leans against the nearest tree trunk, then sits down abruptly, holding her ribs guardedly with one hand, her other hand holding the bow on the ground. She probably has a broken rib or two, and is looking rather pale, sweat beading a clammy brow. "I think... the rest of you can manage," she says faintly.

That rope makes all the difference in controlling the direction of Phantom's anger - and hooves. It holds, as does the tree. Every fresh hit takes the fight out of the creature, and it collapses forward to its knees before the back legs buckle under entirely. A gurgling whine can be heard from the dying beast as blood pools beneath it. Phantom looks toward Elora, and the woman will likely claim forever after that the creature nodded to her. No one else saw such a thing happen.

It's nearly dark, and the last bit of light is just enough to allow the group to set up camp in the clearing. They'll need to be wary with the dead beast attracting predators throughout the night, but come morning, they're able to make their way back to Hawkhold with all of the antler, some hide, and a very, very large portion of meat.

Jan is overheard praising Jeffeth.

Jan is overheard praising Caspian.

Skaldia is overheard praising Caspian.

Skaldia is overheard praising Elora.

Elora exhales and moves back to Triton's side. "He asked us to use as much of him as we can," she says. "Does anyone need ribs set?"