An Age of Dragons and Dragon Hunters: IC

[Bolslania]

John listened to the burned man and the doctor speak, he finished cleaning his knife and sheathed it. He scanned the room.

"If I may, have any of you ever killed anything?" He said in a polite, but not friendly, tone.

[Ovesa]

Uroga was taken aback by the human's question. This was the one who sharpened his dagger, cautiously eying the room like a predator. Although he portrayed himself as polite and distant, there was a distinctive bloodlust in his eyes, seeping into his mind and heart like a poison.

What a strange question to ask people you just met.

Perhaps he was evaluating the skills of his fellow hunters, or maybe he doubted their preparedness in response to a dragon attack. Nevertheless, Uroga answered.

"Twenty or so adders, give or take." She stated: she wasn't the type to brag about her achievements. "They were a regular pest in my home village. Why do you ask?"

[Bolslania]

John nodded, apparently the orc had some use.

"Anyone else have anything? I ask out of precaution." The orc watched him curiously

Can she see the Monster? She might be an issue if she realized it.

[Offer Erapia]

hunters guild, Coche city


Alistair heard the mans questions, he also heard the hardness in his voice he knew he wasn't as friendly as the others. But nevertheless he nodded answering his question. "Yes, when I wasn't working on a farm i was doing Adventurer work, we killed a few adders and even attempted to kill a mountain red it escaped though." He finished looking over at the man who had finished polishing his dagger.

He looked at the man quizzically there was indeed something off about him but it wasn't Alistair place to question. Instead he turned his attention to the orc he was curious as to where she came from in Alistairs village orcs were rare to see. At first glance the first thought that came to his mind was "tall" of course orcs were generally bigger than humans. But that didn't change the fact that this was his first time seeing an orc.

[Ovesa]

As Alistair spoke of his past adventuring experiences, Uroga's interest piqued. Her suspicions were correct; he had, in fact, had experience fighting dragons before. She would keep that in mind for future missions.

That wasn't the only thing that stood out to her; aside from adders, it was unheard of for a dragon to flee from combat, especially one as notoriously aggressive as a Mountain Red. Every Mountain Red her Mother spoke of would rather have perished than retreated from a fight.

She wasn't typically one to prod, but she had never heard of something so inherently unusual. Perhaps if she knew where the Mountain Red was fought, she could have a better sense of why such a thing happened.

"Where did you fight a Mountain Red?" She asked.

[Offer Erapia]

As Alistair spoke of his past adventuring experiences, Uroga's interest piqued. Her suspicions were correct; he had, in fact, had experience fighting dragons before. She would keep that in mind for future missions.

That wasn't the only thing that stood out to her; aside from adders, it was unheard of for a dragon to flee from combat, especially one as notoriously aggressive as a Mountain Red. Every Mountain Red her Mother spoke of would rather have perished than retreated from a fight.

She wasn't typically one to prod, but she had never heard of something so inherently unusual. Perhaps if she knew where the Mountain Red was fought, she could have a better sense of why such a thing happened.

"Where did you fight a Mountain Red?" She asked.

hunters guild


Alistairs attention was taken once again by the orc who spoke up. He looked her way and addressed her with a kindly smile. "It was about three years ago me and the party I recently joined took up a job that involved killing a dragon that was torching nearby settlements." He explained "so we went into the large mountain range that the Dragon lived in, but strangely we discovered the dragon wasn't there and it's horde was unprotected so we set the lair on fire" he said sitting back in his chair.

"We waited for the dragon to return and when it did it went wild we fought that thing for a good while. We managed to blind it in one eye and cut its belly to ribbons but before we could kill the danm thing it flew off" he finished looking a little gloomy. "Lost two good friends that day but I expected that to happen, anyway it never returned and no more settlements got attacked after that" he said with sigh. "Though we got paid only half because the job was to kill it" he said distastefully.

"In all honesty going for the wings would have been a better tactic if it can't fly it can't get away because a downed dragon is a dead dragon and a dead dragon is money."

[Ovesa]

Uroga focused intently as she listened to Alistair's story. The beast must have been a young Mountain Red, one foolish enough to haphazardly attack settlements without having any preparations to protect its lair. Having that dragon lose its unprotected horde almost sounded like a Draconic fable one would teach their hatchlings.

It almost saddened her to imagine how the fight went down. Angry and disoriented, the young dragon most likely knew little about defending itself. Its thick, defensive, scales couldn't have been fully formed yet, leaving weak spots even more vulnerable.

Contrary to popular belief, a dragon's wings were difficult to damage, due to their thick, dense muscles and their regenerative qualities. The flap of an adult dragon's wing could easily shatter human bone in the right circumstances. A young dragon, on the other hand, would not have their wings fully formed yet, giving them a huge weakness that would not be nullified until adulthood.

Alone in the wilderness, with one eye and a bleeding stomach, the dragon almost certainly would have died after the fight. Even if it somehow survived the ordeal, it certainly would have been exiled from dragon society.

But such were the ways of Draconic life; it was a constant race to become stronger, wealthier, smarter, and more aware of your surroundings. When one dragon fell, other dragons would learn from those mistakes, and become stronger because of it.

She gave a nod of approval. "Sounds like quite the fight. I'm impressed."

[Bolslania]

"Excellent" John said, he did actually mean it, having two people who knew what they were doing when it came to fighting dragons was a very useful thing indeed.

"What about you two?" He asked indicating the dwarf and human who was in the door.

[Revlona]

The Call

So this was to be his team. Interesting, they would have to make do. The scale mail of the Guildmaster clinked together gently as he approached the group, they seemed competent enough, though maybe not entirely together in the head.

"Alright, that's enough chitchat. Welcome to my team, I am Across, you may call me Across or Guildmaster. You all know why you are here so I will keep things simple, a Mountain Red has laid waste to several villages in the past month, our information teams have worked diligently to use these sightings and attacks to learn the location of its den. We believe we have found it, we are going to kill it." He said, before taking a breath and continuing.

"I will not allow personal squabbles or beliefs to stand in the way of our mission, we are professionals and have standards. We are doing this to rid the Kingdom of a Dangerous threat, not for some personal vendetta or hatred. If you want to know, I do not hate Dragons, I simply understand the danger they present. You will do the same or face the consequences. Any questions?" Across said, his hand lightly resting on the hilt of his saber in a way that spoke of the dangers of the man yet did not exactly threaten.

[Ovesa]

Uroga carefully observed the man who called himself Across. He seemed fairly competent; he had a cool, controlled demeanor, and he carried himself with a distinct level of professionalism. He acted not out of impulse, but of necessity. As he spoke, his hand rested on his saber's hilt, almost instinctively. How odd.

Although she maintained a respectful outward appearance, there were two things that stood out to her. Firstly, his armor. Scale mail, it was called. It was strange to her, mimicking the appearance of those you were sworn to destroy.

Secondly, it was the use of the word den to describe a dragon's home (as if they were some lowly creatures). Lair was the term she often heard, although in Draconic it typically had more positive connotations.

"Where do you believe this dragon is?"

[Bolslania]

The Call

So this was to be his team. Interesting, they would have to make do. The scale mail of the Guildmaster clinked together gently as he approached the group, they seemed competent enough, though maybe not entirely together in the head.

"Alright, that's enough chitchat. Welcome to my team, I am Across, you may call me Across or Guildmaster. You all know why you are here so I will keep things simple, a Mountain Red has laid waste to several villages in the past month, our information teams have worked diligently to use these sightings and attacks to learn the location of its den. We believe we have found it, we are going to kill it." He said, before taking a breath and continuing.

"I will not allow personal squabbles or beliefs to stand in the way of our mission, we are professionals and have standards. We are doing this to rid the Kingdom of a Dangerous threat, not for some personal vendetta or hatred. If you want to know, I do not hate Dragons, I simply understand the danger they present. You will do the same or face the consequences. Any questions?" Across said, his hand lightly resting on the hilt of his saber in a way that spoke of the dangers of the man yet did not exactly threaten.

John's eyes flicked towards the Guildmaster. He had met him in passing once before, when he joined up, but never really spoke with the man.

"Any more specification of the thing?" John asked, what he meant was size, demeanor, intelligence, and other useful information.

[Revlona]

Uroga carefully observed the man who called himself Across. He seemed fairly competent; he had a cool, controlled demeanor, and he carried himself with a distinct level of professionalism. He acted not out of impulse, but of necessity. As he spoke, his hand rested on his saber's hilt, almost instinctively. How odd.

Although she maintained a respectful outward appearance, there were two things that stood out to her. Firstly, his armor. Scale mail, it was called. It was strange to her, mimicking the appearance of those you were sworn to destroy.

Secondly, the use of the word den to describe a dragon's home (as if they were some lowly creatures). Lair was the term she often heard, although in Draconic it typically had more positive connotations.

"Where do you believe this dragon is?"

"According to our information reports the Dragons home is at the edge of the Coche mountains, 23 leagues from here to be exact,"

John's eyes flicked towards the Guildmaster. He had met him in passing once before, when he joined up, but never really spoke with the man.

"Any more specification of the thing?" John asked, what he meant was size, demeanor, intelligence, and other useful information.

"It's big, red, breathes fire..." Across said, his face devoid of any emotion for several seconds before smiling once.

"I'm kidding, it's a little bit below average for a Red, maybe 3 meters shorn off the average mountain red, this means it is either young or it is actually a sub species,"

[Bolslania]

Uroga carefully observed the man who called himself Across. He seemed fairly competent; he had a cool, controlled demeanor, and he carried himself with a distinct level of professionalism. He acted not out of impulse, but of necessity. As he spoke, his hand rested on his saber's hilt, almost instinctively. How odd.

Although she maintained a respectful outward appearance, there were two things that stood out to her. Firstly, his armor. Scale mail, it was called. It was strange to her, mimicking the appearance of those you were sworn to destroy.

Secondly, the use of the word den to describe a dragon's home (as if they were some lowly creatures). Lair was the term she often heard, although in Draconic it typically had more positive connotations.

"Where do you believe this dragon is?"

"According to our information reports the Dragons home is at the edge of the Coche mountains, 23 leagues from here to be exact,"

John's eyes flicked towards the Guildmaster. He had met him in passing once before, when he joined up, but never really spoke with the man.

"Any more specification of the thing?" John asked, what he meant was size, demeanor, intelligence, and other useful information.

"It's big, red, breathes fire..." Across said, his face devoid of any emotion for several seconds before smiling once.

"I'm kidding, it's a little bit below average for a Red, maybe 3 meters shorn off the average mountain red, this means it is either young or it is actually a sub species,"

John's lip twitched, it was hard to tell if it was amusement or annoyance(Annoyance really, but they don't know that)

"I'll guess we'll figure out when it's dead." He says shortly.

"So, when do we head out?"

[Offer Erapia]

Hunters guild


"Twenty three leagues is a hefty walk if I must say, even if we have horses. If we can average ten leagues a day we should get there in two maybe three days." Alistair inquired rubbing his chin as he did the math in his head. "It would be best to leave early in the morning to get a good start" he added. He gazed at the leader of the group
the one who called himself Across he had a professional demeanor about himself. He seemed like a man who took everything seriously but in business that was the best man you could find.

Alistair also took note of the type of dragon they were hunting. A mountain red was a dragon you had to take seriously even if it was a youngster or a lesser subspecies. They all would have to formulate a plan later but as of now Alistair wanted food and sitting around wasn't going to fill his empty stomach. He waited around for a few minutes seeing if anyone else has anything to say. After which he stood up and stretched his limbs "alright I'm going to the tavern." He said to himself he grabbed his helm and put it on before heading out.

[Voxija]

Javarga listened to the talk of the hunter's guild. This was it, her first real kill! Not just a dire moose, but a real dragon. Javarga made sure to listen intently. She was going to do it. Javarga wasn't a hotshot. She would follow orders and work in a team.

Javarga was a bit worried about the people she would work with. The human who just straight up asked "what have you killed?". Javarga was glad she didn't answer that question, since it would have been embarrassing to admit she hadn't killed a dragon. The mad doctor with the accent. The orc seemed oddly reticent. Like there was something in her past that she wasn't telling. Eh, they can't all be as talkative as Javarga.

Javarga Thunderfist was not worried. She would help kill the dragon and that was that. And they would all share some mead afterwards. Or we could have a drink after Across was finished talking. Odd. Javarga could have sworn that when she first heard about Across, her friend had said "Arcoss". But that didn't matter. What mattered was this meeting.

[Bolslania]

John's eyes tracked the armored man as he walked out, then flicked back to the dwarf and doctor. It made sense the doctor hadn't killed anything, being a doctor and all, but who knew about the dwarf. He wasn't one to brag, and he, when he did speak, which wasn't often, he didn't really talk about his vast experience of killing unless someone asked, even then, he got straight to it and didn't glorify anything. His eyes transferred back to Across to await the reply to his question.

[Offer Erapia]

Coche city, tavern

Alistair pushed past the large wooden door it creaked as it slowly shut behind him. His heavy footsteps thudded against the floorboards with each step he took. He took a seat at a table that was against the wall away from the other people there. He removed his helmet and set it down on the table. Alistair waited for a few minutes the place was a bit busy so service was slow. But soon enough a lady approached him she had long black hair and blue eyes with a sweet smile.

"What will you be having?" She asked. Alistairs pondered for a moment before making decision. "I would like a pint of ale and chicken" as he spoke to her he could see her eyes drifting off, staring at the terrible burn on his face. However he also noticed that she didn't stare for too long and quickly readjusted her gaze. Alistair twisted and grabbed a pouch that clung to his side. He shoved his fingers in a retrieved three silver coins. He handed them to her and she stepped away getting his refreshments.

As he waited he decided to preoccupy himself. He reached into his satchel his hand dug past his dagger and smaller blades until he found what he was looking for. It was an old book the leather covering dried and cracked from many years of use. Alistair flipped through the white pages of his past drawings everything from dragons to the smallest insects filled numerous pages. The drawings themselves were intricately detailed as if the real thing was somehow trapped on the pages. Flipping to a blank page Alistair pulled out a stylus and began to draw.

Even as the waitress brought him his food and drink Alistair continued to draw without breaking his stride. He drew feathers and wings of a large bird he had saw on the way to Coche city it was a robust creature with broad wings and a slightly curved beak. He only stopped a moment to take a healthy swig of ale the sweet yet pungently sour taste stung the insides of his cheeks as he swallowed. Setting the mug back down he grabbed the pencil and began to draw once more.

[Stalins backhair]

Karl had remained mostly silent. He was a little surprised by the man's question. There was something.....different about him. Like he operated on a whole other level. He remained silent when the Guildmaster came in. He waited for the guildmaster to tell them when they were going to leave.