2023.03.15 Shoot That Bee!
| 03.15.23 Shoot That Bee! | |
|---|---|
| Mercy’s Messenger, Branton, and Pink Floyd teach archery; Irsa is bee’d, and Trey is amused. | |
| IC Date | 03.15.23 |
| Players | Branton, Irsa, Mercy’s-Messenger, Trey |
| Location | Sept of the Enduring Spirit |
| Spheres | Bastet, Garou |
Large Cavern - Deep Forest
The winding cave from the surface broadens into a massive cavern, bramble-covered gaps and fissures in the stone ceiling high above allowing light, breeze, and rain to infiltrate these hidden depths. Over the ages, soil and seeds have filtered down into the cavern, spreading out and taking root with all of nature's persistence; wild grasses and flowers cover the ground and even trees have managed to grow tall and untouched amongst thick bushes. Birds have found their way down here to nest in safety, their chirping song and the hum of insects echoing softly in the cavern. The buzz of large honey bees is loudest; someone long ago established an abundance of apiaries to boost local hives and please Bear. Their boxes are hidden out of the way of travel paths where they can be tended and harvested in safety. A meandering stone path is worn through the light cave-forest, widening into a large intersection. A short branch leads to a fire-lit cave filled with racks and the sounds of grinding, while another wends towards a cavern that rings with laughter and music. A final path moves further into the forest, beginning to slope downwards and farther underground, lit in dappled patches through cracks in the high ceiling.
Ragged Brown Wolf pads into the cavern, stopping midway to carry on a growled conversation with the Warder. The Elder Bone Gnawer grunts and waves her through. The wolf-shaman darts past him, kicking up all four feet in an excess of energy as she circles around and dances in place. Iron Flail doesn't bat an eye -- he's seen her do this soooo many times.
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Canadian Lynx actually pads out in lynxshape from the valley proper, bouncing a little bit on his huge murder mittens. He spots Irsa and waves a forepaw -- yes, he actually waves in feline -- and begins running in circles around the brown wolf, being a silly lynx.
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Mercy is making the most of her last day before she flees for 'fail magic time'. Probably she's sent some kind of word to her friends about where she'd be and an open invitation to join her. The hippy is just now coming out of the supply depot with some archery junk in hand when she's accosted by a BEE! Like a really fucking big bee from one of the hives off over by the guest lodge. And it's one of those asshole bees that just wants to get like 3 inches from your face, and no matter how much you move and back up it just STAYS 3 inches from your face. So in short, the Fury is trying not to get mugged, and trying in vain to get around the damned thing without tripping and falling over.
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Ragged Brown Wolf throws back her head and warbles out a musical howl, a wolfish song of her own invention. Work those paws, cat! She's having a great time, living her own best life and dancing just 'cause, right until Mercy staggers into the cavern under full bee assault. >> Buzzers and flower-stealers! << she yowls, launching herself right at the bothersome insect. This can only end well.
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Canadian Lynx bounces along with the much-larger wolf, and yowls tunelessly at the wolf's 'song', offering his own "pleasant" song about things assaulting his favorite Fury. He swipes a murder mitten upward in a fakeout at the bee -- he doesn't actually want to harm it, after all -- and yowls in something that sounds like a song. A bad one.
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The thing is, bees are wiley fuckers, you cant manage to smack them away except on accident. Don't even ask how that works, but it's true. Wolf and cat are trying though, which means it definitely wont work. But you know what will work? "AAAAAHHHHHH!!" An epic horror movie scream errupts from Mercy RIGHT before she's crashing backwards through a bush, a panicky dive backwards to try to avoid lunging beasts and only mostly succeeding. A stringless bow goes flying one way, a quiver of arrows another way, and the arrows themselves making a great escape. Various little wax packages fly into the air and rain down, and Mercy's dirtyass bare feet flail amidst the branches.
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Ragged Brown Wolf's head tilts back as the bee buzzes off, giving none fucks whatsoever about the chaos left in its wake. >> Buzz menace! << the wolf growls, padding over to nose her mentor upright and trying to tug her out of the bush. That's a dirty foot in Hammer-Tooth's mouth, right there.
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Treads-on-Thin-Ice lets out a yowl that sounds very much like 'Aw, shit.' He runs toward Mercy to make sure she's okay, and once he sees the flailing feet, he mrowls apologetically and shifts up. Way up, to his Sokto form, which is still pretty goddamned big catmandude, all things considered. He holds out one hand to Mercy to help her out of the bush. He's kind of cute as a catmandude. Like, ear-scritching cute, not Metis-making cute. "You okay?"
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"IT'S GOT ME! IT'S GOT MEEEEEEEE!" Mercy wails as Irsa tries to chew her foot off at the ankle. Not really, but you know. Sputch! Her other filthy foot smooshes into Irsa's wolf face, covering one eye and gettin' the stank on her. But then there's the hand of a cat man and she slapslapgrabs, almost as ungainly as a turtle on its back right now. "Oh hi!" she greets, snapping out of her 'I'm totally about to die' moment nice and quick.
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Ragged Brown Wolf lets out sharp "YIP!" as she's foot-assaulted. She lets go of Mercy's foot and steps back, snorting and sneezing mud out of her snout. >> Ick, << she complains, pawing at the muck on her face. Mercy is currently stuck in a bush, with Treads-on-Thin-Ice offering to help her out. Mercy's unstrung bow, her arrows, and who knows what else are scattered all over the place. Iron Flail pointedly pretends to see nothing.
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Treads-on-Thin-Ice is totally, totally not going to get into the foot fight. He's just trying to get Mercy onto her... aw, shit. Right. Plan B! He grabs both her hands and gets her out of the foliage, at least, and says, "Hi. Um. That looked painful..." He then hefts her up once Irsa is no longer playing footsie, and sets Mercy onto those dirty feet. "There you are," the catman says, brushing off his fur, his voice a little hissy sounding from the fangs.
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"WHAT looks painful?" Mercy asks when she gets up onto her feet, some leaves and twigs from the bush stuck in her dreadlocks and her glasses all askew. "What? Because NOTHING HAPPENED and I have NO idea what you're talking about!" None at all! She smashes her glasses back into place and then gives Irsa-wolf a big grin, which of course gets passed over to Trey as well. "I had stuff, help me find my stuff!" She starts picking up the wax envelopes and stuff that are near their feet.
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Branton comes along the tunnel from deeper in the cave system, with a adolescent wolf shaped creature racing around him. Its fur looks...odd though, a mishmash of multiple colors and shades. Spying his mate Branton pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing. The multicolored wolf races ahead at Mercy like he got shot out of a cannon.
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Ragged Brown Wolf grumbles to herself as she starts hunting in the underbrush, nosing waxed parcels back to their owner. >> I found these. What else flew? << she asks. Both ears shoot straight up at the sight of the new arrivals. >> Fire Maker! And Flower Bright Coat. Good hunting! << , she greets them. This is apparently wolf for 'Branton' and... well, whatever the hell the last thing is. That other wolf knows what she means.
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Treads-on-Thin-Ice says, "I... uh... nothing, nothing at all. I saw nothing." He ahems, working on helping Mercy recover all her stuff alongside Irsa. He lifts arrows and begins packing them back into the quiver carefully. He looks up as Branton and the multihued wolf come in, and he waves a hello with his free hand. "Hey," he says. "I was just... not helping Mercy out of the brush where she totally didn't fall. Nope. Not at all." He's so helpful! He returns her quiver and arrows to her, and then starts looking for the teeny wax packets.
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Welcome back to the bush, Mercy! "AAHHH!" thud. But also she's covered in metis this time, so at least she's warm while stuck in a bush. God, that poor shrubbery, it did not ask for this shit! Flailing feet, flailing tail, a lot of sputtering from metis smooches and a lot of rustling, but the patchy colored young beast manages to get himself up AND pull Mercy up. It takes some work though. Fortunately her hands were not totally full this time, and she's got a death grip on some of those little packets. "Gah! You go out to teach some archery and instead you get a close up look at the underside of leaves! Hi, baby. Hi other-baby." she says, first to the patchwork metis, and then to Branton. "Have you met my kid yet?" she asks Trey.
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Branton grins as the patchwork wolfform metis child licks his mother and Branton says to her "Hey. Find everything okay?" the to Irsa he adds "How's things?" then to Trey (completely sailing past the explanation of his mate's mishap) Branton provides a translation "He's explaining that he's super excited to be practicing wolf form fitting in not just human form fitting in."
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Ragged Brown Wolf finds a loose arrow and pads over to stuff that into Mercy's quiver. She snorts amusement at the metis wolf's excitement before shifting back to her wolf form. "He's real fast, no matter what form he's in," she tells Trey. "Yo, buddy, I got somethin' for you," she tells Mercy's kid, as she sets her pack down on the ground. "You can open it now, or later when ya get home, whatever y' like." She sets down a brightly-colored parcel, wrapped with pale yellow wrapping paper marked all over with pink shooting stars and golden comets.
Bones snap and break, shrinking and shaping into a new form. The creature before you becomes a dark, scarred woman.
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Treads-on-Thin-Ice answers Mercy, "I have not, yet." He looks to the wolf and says, "You must be Pink Floyd," he says, looking to the metis wolf with an affable smile, or as much of one as can be managed in sokto form. He extends a hand to the young wolf, apparently intending to shake his paw. "Well, you definitely look like a young wolf, so you're doing great." To Branton: "Thanks for the translation," he says with complete sincerity. Back to Irsa: "So I saw. Runs like a shot, definitely." He bends down, scoops up another wax packet, and places it with the others.
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Reclaiming her lost and scattered stuff from the kids, Iris thrusts the unstrung short bow out towards Trey and says, "Here, take this... And this... And also this." She hands him a quiver and one of the packets. "On loan for the day, we'll see how you do with it and if you like the feel then we'll find one that fits you nice and good." The rest of the envelopes go into her purse. Once she finds it, that is. "So, have you won at wolfing yet? Did you get a trophy?" she asks Pink, greeting Branton with a side snug now that she's got her hands free. The gift giving from Irsa gets a grin from her, she's got her Bigass Purse if he wants to save it, but you know how kids are, they never want to wait for anything.
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Branton watches Pink interact with Trey and grins when the little dude shakes the offered paw and then *poses* with his head thrown back in a howling gesture without the howl >>I am the trophy<< then there's a present and Pink is sniffing and walking a circle around the parcel with his nose stuck to it. Branton grins at Irsa "He likes running a lot. Or its just about going fast however he can." Branton gives Mercy a return snug and chuckles.
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Pink would easily pick up the scents of paper in that package there, along with wax, metal, and some kind of floral liquid. Irsa finds one last arrow and hands it to Mercy. "Archery, huh? Lucky me! Happens I got my crossbow with me. Gimme a sec, an' I'll find you quick-like."
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Irsa ducks out, zoom! Right back in the direction of the main cavern.
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Trey laughs brightly at the pose, approvingly, giving the wolfling a thumbs-up as the excited young wolf noses around the gift. It might be noticed that Trey really doesn't seem at all affected by whether a wolf is a metis. "When I first was able to shift," he mentions, "I spent at least two hours a day in chatro running at top speed. I make pretty good speed on snow, too. Built in snow shoes. My Kuasha gave up on chasing me and just let me run around. Said it helped calm me down." He laughs, then reaches out to take the bow, the quiver, and the packet from Mercy, smiling a "Thank you, sounds great!" He considers his form, then the bow, and finally shifts back down to Homid, then measures it against his 'normal' shape, nodding. Much better fit.
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"If you go get yours too, you can practice with us." Mercy tells her super weird kid while giving him an affectionate scritch. She releases Branton and waves the gang to follow her, except Irsa cause she's zooming, but she'll find them! Just off to the side of the depot building where there's some targets set up and no real way to shoot anyone on accident. Unless they're idiots, in which case they probably deserve to get shot. There's lines gouged into the ground for close, medium and long distance, and she picks the close range mark. "We'll start here till you get the hang of the movement. First thing's first, you gotta string the bow. Your string is in that packet there!"
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Pink looks at Irsa as she runs off and then asks his mother >>Do you think its a thumbs present. I don't have those right now.<< Then practice is mentioned and that is for sure thumbs time and he scampers to his dad and melts into his homid form with effort. Branton is already kneeling down and getting the boy's practice short bow out of the case that was totally stuffed in the duffle bag. Branton chuckles as Pink strings his bow and explains to Trey "My son's the same way. Unless there's a interesting rock that just has to be stared at he's a million miles an hour or asleep."
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Irsa isn't gone long, her crossbow wasn't far away. Her own quiver of bolts is one of those types that are belt-fastened and tie down at the thigh. All the better for quick-drawing those bolts for reloading, ya'll. "So, what're we pretnding t' kill?" she asks.
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Trey ahhhs and opens the packet, drawing out the bowstring. He looks at the bow, and then at the string, shrugs gamely, and examines both weapon and string. Ahh, the top loop is larger than the bottom. This much he knows. Okay, this should be challenging. He stares at the bow, at the string, and then looks up with a helpless expression. "I admit I've pulled a bow a few times, but... I've never strung one. Unless it involves yowling a lot and looking cute in Feline form, I think I'm lost." He grins back over to Branton. "Yeah, that was me when I was not quite done being a kit. As I got older, I learned to talk too much instead of running around. It's a talent."
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"Kids, best messengers ever, they're always so *fast*! ... Aaaaand easily distracted, so maybe they're not quite the best." She was gonna tell Pink that it's probably a thumbs thing, but he's already getting his opposables on, so never mind! "We're gonna pretend to kiiiiiill.... Anti-Santa. Krampus. The guy that steals bad children at christmas and turns them into toys. Okay, I'll explain, Pinkie will demonstrate, just follow what he does. Take one of the string loops and tuck it in the notch at the bottom of the bow. Then thunk that down on your shoe, right between your big and index toes. You're gonna bend the bow now, and don't worry, you wont break it, just give it a good, even press downward until you can get the other loop into the notch at the top of the bow. Put your arm strength into it, it's gonna be tough to bend cause it's got to make that string *tight*."
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Pink stands up super straight and does his best to look super serious and focused as he demonstrates how to string his bow, doing each thing as his Mom narrates, there's a brief distracted glance at the present that he could open now that he has thumbs but now that he's reassured himself that its still there he remembers to FOCUS. For his part Branton nods at Mercy's target description "Nasty sort, sure discipline is a thing but its wicked out of proportion."
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"Probably that stupid dire wolf tryin' to steal Christmas again," Irsa remarks dryly, checking the string on her crossbow. "I hear that's on a banner or somethin'."
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Trey:makes a point of watching the young Metis closely as he strings his bow, and follows the motions as they go. It's not perfect, of course, it's not even particularly good the first time, but he puts strength into it, and *pushes*, and the string gets tighter. He almost lets go. Almost. Stretch, streeeeeetch, and there it is! "Should've stayed in sokto," he mutters, "for this part." He tests it curiously, and grins over at Pink. "Good teacher," he tells him. He blinks at Irsa's remark, but he is pretty sure he'll be confused even if he asks, so instead, he chuckles.
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Mercy explains strings while the bows are getting strung. "Whenever you're not using your bow, un-string it. String it up when you go on missions or patrols or whatever, but when you're off duty, the string comes off. The tension on the string sloooooowly stretches it, and after a while it becomes useless. Same thing with the rain, that's why you keep your spare strings inside wax paper, so they stay nice and dry. Keep it unstrung if it's raining unless you're in a position where you're pretty sure you'll need it. After using it in the rain, recycle your string into some other project, it'll be fairly worthless for a bow. These are made of tendon, so soaking in a bunch of rain water AND being pulled tight makes them loose and weak." She grins at Trey and says, "You're going to be building a *lot* of muscle over time to do this, it's a hell of a full body work out."
When stringing the bows is done, she says, "Always point your bow downwards at first. It's pointed down, and you reach up over your shoulder to get an arrow. Knock the arrow while the bow is pointed down - that means getting the string into the tiny little notch at the feather end of the arrow, and the other end loosely held against the bow shaft with your index finger. This way you don't accidentally shoot a packmate in the ass, and it's easier to recover if you drop anything. Right foot pointed forward towards the target, left foot pointed left, so that you stand sideways. It makes you a more difficult target to hit in retaliation." Irsa gets to skip everything except the stance, because she's a cheater cheater crossbow shooter!
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Branton gets out a practice bow, though his is a longer recurve bow, and takes a spot next to Pink and goes through the motions to string his own bow. Slow and smooth as he listens to his Mate teach, smirking a bit because how hot her skillfulness is.
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Irsa grins like the tech-using cheater she is. Steel and aluminum alloy, baby! "I got th' advantage of a crank I can use t' draw back mine," she admits to Trey. "But I can also draw with a lever-hook, or by hand. Last method's the one I use."
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Trey nods at the talk about the string; as a leatherworker, he's familiar with what happens to hide when wet or stretched, and tendon seems to follow the same principle. He nods with a rueful smile and says, "Oh, I can feel that," motioning with his chin toward the downward-angled bow. "Could use it, to be honest." He takes an arrow from over his shoulder as directed, then works to fit it into position, getting used to the feel of it as much as how it looks. He rearranges to the proper stance, looking to Branton, then Pink, and then Irsa as she explains the differences between crossbow and standard bow. "Didn't know you could draw a crossbow by hand," He admits.
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"Okay, now you're ready to draw and aim. The shaft of the arrow is held LOOSELY by your finger against the bow, you have to allow the arrow to move back, but you want to make sure it doesn't just slide off onto the ground. At the string, you grip the butt of the arrow between your index and middle finger. You don't have to squeeze hard, you just want to make sure it stays with the string. Ready? Now point your bow up at the ceiling over there, good, and now draw. SHOVE with your left hand and PULL with your right hand, and I mean HARD. One smooth motion. You're going to feel the whole thing wanting to come down, let it, your goal is to get the arrow pointed at the target, and your pushing and pulling is going to help. When the string is touching your cheek, and your left arm is fully extended, you're ready to get your aim." But she'll get to aiming next, first she wants to get right up next to Trey and make sure he's got proper posture. "Shoulders back, spine straight, tighten your stomach..." she's instructing.
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Branton grins at Irsa's declaration before explaining to Trey as he goes through his own motions "Its a can versus should thing in most cases. You have to be really strong to do it at all, much less with any sort of speed or efficiency. When the whole point of crossbows is mechanical assistance making it easier and rendering plate armor obsolete."
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"It ain't easy, but y' can do it if you gotta, especially in your stronger forms like Near-Man an' Crinos," Irsa replies to Trey, confirming what Branton has already said. "Think that's why Shaderunner shoved this thing at me. It's easier to hide a crossbow in th' city if it ain't a big one, especially if you're an urrah cliath that don't got those tricks down. City tribes can get away with loading up their shooters with stabilizers an' sights, but I ain't gone that way with this. I wanted t' learn the proper way of shooting. Tech is nice, but I ain't Glass Walker, and I don't wanna rely on it that way."
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Trey rolls Dexterity(4) + Archery(1) (5 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes.
1 3 4 +6 10
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Trey listens. Fingers take the arrow-butt and grip it, holding it in place. Then... there's the upward motion, the shove and the pull. HARD. Kitty is quick, but strength is not his strong point, and it shows in the shiver of muscle under skin as he shove-pulls and lowers the whole works to beside his cheek. He shifts a bit, back straightening, and carefully flows back into a proper stance. Both arms are showing strain, and he speaks, quietly, "I'd need a different bow in those forms," still holding, managing the stance -- sorta. Imperfectly.
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"Look down your arm, see the tip of the arrow against the red dot in the middle of that target. Now raise the bow so that the tip looks like it's about two inches above it. When you're ready, release the string, but do not move your left arm. And don't flinch, you're going to be very tempted to flinch when the string jumps forward, resist the urge." Her kid, while still just a kid, is definitely going to be a buff lad when he grows up, he's been doing this for a little while now and has the drawing and aiming down pat. Not perfect, but really good none the less. "Irsa, how're you doing with your own aiming, these days?"
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Branton is pretty good at the whole archery deal, moving with practiced precision as he helps with the demo. Keeping his mind at the task, honest.
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Irsa shrugs and cocks her crossbow. "Not too bad, but it's been 'bout a week since I last practiced," she admits to Mercy. "We've been that busy getting settled into our new digs. Jackie was th' last person to fire this one." She loads a bolt and sights down its length to another target nearby. You don't shoot in someone else's lane at their target, that's just plain rude! And also, pummel-worthy. No one needs to see angry rangemasters and disappointed Black Fury Elders in action. She fires immediately once she's got her shot lined up, just like Mercy taught her.
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Irsa rolls Dexterity + Archery vs 6 for 4 successes.
2 4 5 +7 +9 +10 +10
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Bam! Dead center. Even Irsa looks surprised at that shot.
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Trey rolls Dexterity(4) + Archery(1) (5 dice) vs 6 for 2 successes.
4 5 5 +7 +10
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It's a matter of pride. Trey is not going to be outdone by someone younger-- well, actually, Pink is probably not far from Trey's age, though given the difference in breed, they are at different maturity levels. He looks down the length of his arm and centers the point, then raises it. Two inches, or thereabouts. He draws in a breath, checks his stance again, and then lets it go. He manages not to flinch, mostly, just a little twitch of his cheek. Meanwhile, the arrow moves at rapid speed and THUNK! It actually hits the target -- not on an edge, even, but a ring in. Nice! Not bad for the newbie cat.
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"And that's archery!" Mercy says with happy pride as Trey looses his first arrow and manages to hit the target. Not a bull's eye, but who cares, dude *hit the target*! "Your first job is to just get used to the motions. Try to aim of course, but it's mostly getting your back and arm muscles to adjust to the strain without seizing up. I suggest a hot bath after any training session, just for the sake of your poor muscles. Sure, you're *fine* in your non-breed form, but you can still get super sore for a while. When your body's adjusted and you feel confident, then we'll start tacking on the smaller lessons, the stuff that teaches you to do this without looking at your arrow or having to stop to aim first, and how to adjust your aim for targets that are farther away. The funnest part is making your own arrows. Or bolts, in Irsa's case. Or insanely awesome exploding fucking rocket propelled grenades in Branton's case. Question Trey, does the string pulling hurt your fingers? Do you need a draw glove, or do you have some callous to pad your fingers?"
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Branton grins at his mate as she talks about special ammo options and he comments "Deliberately fragile alchemical pellets in a crumple pocket right behind the arrow head. Filled with elementally activated solution because so many things can be killed by being set on fire."
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Irsa rolls Dexterity + Archery vs 6 for 0 successes.
1 1 2 3 5 6 10
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Irsa loads another bolt. "Truth, he's got fire down on lock. How hot can ya burn, Branton? You ever taken a temperature reading?" She takes the shot, just as that annoying bee from earlier takes this opportunity to swoop down and perch between her eyes. 'WAAAGH!" the Bone Gnawer yells, doing her very best impersonation of a Warhammer 40K Ork as her shot goes totally wide.
Sent>+roll Dexterity + Archery
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Trey rolls Dexterity(4) + Archery(1) (5 dice) vs 6 for 2 successes.
1 3 +7 +7 10
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Trey actually grins as he hits; he may be at close range, but hey, it's a start and the arrow didn't wind up shot up an Elder's ass, so he's a happy kitty. He nods at the advice and rolls his shoulders to work out the tension. "Oh, I was figuring I might be able to do some double-duty arrows, long term. Talen and enchant both."
Branton's arrow plan makes him smile. "I was thinking something similar." At the question, he hrms and says, "My fingers are pretty well callused from some of the craft work I do. I *feel* the string, but it's not too bad. Could always make one, try it out." Even as he's speaking, he's setting up another shot, push and pull all at once, lined up to his cheek. He'll do it slow until it's muscle memory. This seems to work for him, because the next shot hits the same ring, opposite side of the target.
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"Okay cool." Mercy says, nodding to Trey while she inspects Pink and Branton's form. Neither of them need any corrections, but she 'helps' Branton anyway. Let's face it, she just wants to feel the dude up. But they're married, so. "If you do make one, it just needs to be for those two fingers. Less supply to use up that way. Oh, important thing, lemme see your bow." When she's got it, she holds it in her left hand but doesn't draw, just mimes drawing. "See my left wrist, how it's out juuuust a little bit? That's so I don't rip off all the skin. If you get lazy and let your wrist come in, the string's going to slide down your forearm and wrist, and it's gonna be incredibly painful. Just, you know, as incentive to not get lazy with your form. If you get worried about it, you can make a leather guard to buckle around your forearm. I don't like those, it's like hey, sudden battle, everyone pause while I put on these bazillion guards! Plus they get all sweaty and the smell just never goes away." she hands back the bow. "I think you're doing great!" she adds to Irsa while watching that bolt go sailing off into the brush. "Miiiiight wanna practice more, but look at that killer form!"
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Branton grins and shrugs at Irsa "I once burned a Black Spiral corpse to powder. So at least eight hundred Celsius to account for the bones. I did do some tests with a Willworker who was one of the mad science sorts. The pay was real good, she had some sort of bullshit matter transmutation engine and made me a brick of molecularly pure gold that weighed damn near thirty pounds. Never did send me copies of the final data though. Maybe we should work up some proper tests. With my assorted amplifier items it can get really absurd." Then to Trey "Its an advantage to having leather bracers on anyway, you could enchant them and get even more out of it."
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Irsa drops her crossbow on her foot to keep it place while she tries encouraging the buzzing menace to split. The bee's having none of this: it happily crawls into her hair, legs pumping away making little bee braids. Irsa hunches her shoulders at Mercy's remark, juuust a bit embarrassed. But Branton's right there like a total pro, replying to her earlier question. "Holy shit, seriously? Dude, you could hire yourself out as a kiln."
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Trey winces and says, "Yeah, even if I regen in manshape, it's still gonna hurt like hell if I do that." He considers this and says, "Rather just learn not to hit myself, unless, of course, I enchanted a guard up to do something special, but then I'd have to dedicate it, too. And yeah, it'll get stinky, but I can always enchant the outer part and make the lining replaceable." He takes back the bow, pleased so far at his good showing. Don't rest on your laurels, kittycat, get back to work. He's in the process of getting back into stance when Branton's comment makes him blink slowly and turn his head to look at the man wide-eyed. "Holy fuckballs," he whistles. "Is that from the fire magic, or just from Enchanting?" Looks like someone's going to be asking for the recipe.
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Branton he grins at Trey "My first power was the Sight but after that? Emotion Fueled Pyrokinesis. Apparently I'm part fire elemental on my mother's side." a pause for a beat then clarification "Not even joking."
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"That's a really good point, the enchanting thing, I didn't even think of that." Mercy says with a sagely nod and a point towards Branton. "What you've got right now, by the by, is a standard short bow. More compact, easy to use in trickier situation, while mounted, whatever. When you get stroger and better at archery, you can choose to check out the long bow. It's longer, obviously, so a little more cumbersome, but they're a lot tougher to string and to draw. But they hit harder and farther." She says this while she just *stares* at Irsa and the bee, not leaping forward to help right away because... Like she could get shot! "Irsa um.. hold real still, kay?" She doesn't know if Irsa *knows* the bee is in her hair, but she probably definitely needs the help now!
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Irsa tilts her head, sensing something nearby. For those able to see into the Umbra, a small Rat galling can be seen perched on her shoulder. "Shit, I gotta run," she growls. "Cub just popped, we got a pack cornerin' him right now." She packs up quickly as a thin layer of fog begins to pool around her feet. A Moon Bridge flares open, and she's gone mere moments later. So long, bee! Enjoy life in the Big City!
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Trey whistles at Branton's revelation, duly impressed. It's about then when he realizes that Irsa has a bee... oh, boy. "Good luck," he calls after Irsa's retreating back, smiling. He's taken Mercy's words to heart, and considers the bow he's using. "I'll definitely want to build up more strength before I try that. Maybe I'll get one of those pull-up bars. Because I want to try both, over time."
