[mission: hyrypia] and when our bottles and all we are fill’d with immortality

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: The Barithian Hunters (and anyone sneaking along)
WHERE: Hyrypia - The Finger Maze
WHEN: DAY :018
SUMMARY: The barithian hunt leads into the depths of the Finger Maze.
WARNINGS: Violence. Animal slaughter. Character death. Need a warning added? PM this account please!

THE FINGER MAZE
DAY :018
IN MORNING'S PRE-DAWN GRAY the camp is far more subdued than on preceding days. There's no music, breakfast is a quiet and simple affair, and the servants are hushed as they go about their duties. Before the sun has even fully risen, the members of the Envoys participating in the hunt make their way to their mounts. When they arrive they are given a speech that seems practiced - likely only a slight modification of something that the Elinmaster has said many times before. The group - just under forty hunters kitted out with all of the weapons and traps they have had time to learn in their days on the graze - is brought to the fenceline running parallel to the technomagical barrier which guards the mouth of the Finger Maze proper. In the fence is a plain gate. Once the hunting party is gathered there, it opens. A slash in the technomagical barrier disintegrates before them and the smell of ozone evaporates or is carried into the twisting depths of the Maze by the wind howling mournfully inward from off the Graze. The Elinmaster leads the hunting party through the gap.

Once on the other side, the party draws pauses until the technomagical barrier rises once more behind them. No crowds today. No onlookers (unless they're being especially industrious). Then the Elinmaster brings a familiar sounding horn to their lips. It's long, low wailing note echoes down into the maze and splinters down the endless twisting pathways. With that, the hunt begins.

INTO THE LABYRINTH
I. THE STAGING GROUND
HERE IS HOW YOU HUNT A BARITHIAN, explains the Elinmaster. First, a field of battle needs to be chosen - and it's always better to know the ground you're fighting on than to be caught unawares in unfamiliar territory. The hunting party will need to establish a fall back position inside the canyon that's advantageous to them, at which point it will be lain with all manner of traps. Memorize it. You'll want to know every nook and cranny when you return here under duress.

Plan your routes and lay your traps. You do remember how to set them, don't you?


II. BY THE TAIL
WITH THE STAGE SET, only the star is lacking - or the villain is. But the Finger Maze is a vast labyrinthine space that stretches on for miles. Finding the Barithian, even as large as it is, presents a challenge - perhaps the second greatest challenge of the hunt. It is time for the hunters to separate. Some go off alone, some travel in small groups. Each is equipped with a small version of the horn that had summoned them to this work in the first place. Their task is simple and herculean: to search the maze for signs of the beast and locate it, then to draw its attention and lure it back into the staging ground. Lastly, they must send out the call to summon the rest of the party to rendezvous meet them where the chase will end. However, only one route leads to the barithian. Perhaps--

a) There were signs - a bone, a tell-tale scrape on the canyon walls, a corridor of felled coral. It was difficult to tell from the back of the Elin, so it made sense in the moment to dismount and check more closely. --At least, it made sense right up until now when you suddenly hear something. Something-- big. Its footfalls shake the floor under your feet; its heavy breath snorts out of its multiple sets of nostrils with a wet visceral sound. You can’t go back the way you came - the trembling footfalls seem to come from that direction. Luckily, there's a narrow cave opening in the canyon wall right there.

Inside is dark. The cave goes very deep indeed - so deep that after a time you can smell the promise of fresh air again. Maybe there's another exit? Which is good, since the way you entered is no longer an option: the beast is there, it's massive forepaws clawing into the stone on either side of the cave entrance and its huge mutli-nostriled nose sucking in big, gulping breaths.

b) ((OOC NOTE: first come first serve)) You find the Barithian. Even with its great hulking back turned to you, it's awe-inspiring. Terrifying. The Elinmaster's assistants had described it on the way in, but their words failed to convey the details. It's disturbingly massive - mammothian, even -, its six legs coiled tight with muscle, and strong, sharp claws on each of the massive paws. You have to get it’s attention. How you do it is up to you, but you know that the moment it turns its massive head toward you with its beady eyes hidden behind a broad, triangular face plate and its multinostrils flaring with a horrible groaning noise that it's time to get a move on.

c) Your search has turned up nothing - but that's not surprising is it? The maze is huge. Not everyone could strike gold. Hell, not everyone would even want to. It’s almost a relief until you hear it: the low, moan of the signal horn echoing through the maze-like canyon. You need to get back to the staging ground and you need to go fast - or risk leaving the other hosts to face the beast alone.

III. THE BATTLE
THE HORN DOES ITS JOB. By the time the hosts unlucky enough to have the tiger by its tail come riding back into the staging ground, many members of the hunting party have already returned and are armed, if not ready, for when the creature comes barreling in behind them. It shakes the brittle bone coral with the weight of its galloping footfalls and makes a deep, low sonorous noises that echoes down the stone walls. With its ire raised, the barithian is even more fearsome than it had seemed from a distance. It’s size and strength are undeniable up close. The creature tears great mounds of earth up under its clawed feet and there's a mesmerizing, horrific quality to the flash of filtered canyon light off its sharp teeth.

The riders are now tasked with the last phase of the challenge - kill or be killed, using the weapons and techniques they have learned in their time here. And hey, maybe you have a few non-Hyrypian tricks up your sleeves you can play with some subtlety. Fighting fair seems less than ideal when one of those huge paws comes swiping right at you.


IV. THE FRUIT OF DIPLOMACY
'DON'T GET CLOSE TO THE HEAD,' had seemed like an easy to follow rule back on the Graze, but the reality of facing down with the barithian is far more complicated. And despite being slowed by the environment, the traps laid for it, countless spears jutting from its dense marbled hide, here in its last moments the great beast is at its most dangerous. Maybe someone gets over confidant. Maybe it's just general exhaustion. Maybe it seems like the barithian is staggering when really it's turning for one final, deadly snap of its ferocious jaws.

It bowls three riders from their Elin with one swipe from its massive paw - mechanics twisting and bursting with brilliant flares of released technomagical energy - then lunges for the felled hunters left in the wake of their ruined mounts. A Descendant throws up both arms in some lunatic, useless defense mechanism. Beside her, Lavellan drives the blunt end of his spear into the ground and braces the shaft across his knee. The Barithian drives itself down on the point of the spear, snaps down on his arm by reflex and then recoils - tossing him clear like a horrifying rag doll as the great animal thrashes.

There's an immediate, palpable, indescribable POP! A ship being hulled and all the air sucked out of into into the vacuum of space. A glass bauble splitting into a hundred thousand pieces on some distant stone floor. A seam splitting. A branch snapped across the knee. And then there's nothing left at all except the frothing barithian snapping out those nearest i to it.


V. THE RETURN
THE RIDE BACK TO THE CAMP seems to take twice as long as the one they took to the Finger Maze - though it hardly seems long enough, knowing what lies at the end. Certainly the other Hosts will have felt Lavellan's death, but you know what they say. Seeing is believing.

It doesn’t matter. The camp awaits their return regardless. As they ride through the gate again one of the massive technomagically driven wagons passes them, headed into the maze to retrieve their kill. Once they reach the edges of the encampment, the atmosphere there remains subdied. While the other Envoys and Hyrypian hosts might not know the nitty gritty details, the certainly seem to have considered the possibility of things going badly. There is food, drink, and eventually even some gentle, sober music, however the evening is quiet and many of the envoys retreat to their own tents rather than remain in the public spaces.

Some victories are not celebrated.

---

((OOC Notes: This log covers the barithian hunt and any relating events that take place on DAY :018. You can find information about the hunt and ask event specific questions HERE.

Have more generalized questions? Drop them on the MISSION: HYRYPIA OOC POST or get in touch with us on the Mod Contact page.))

NAVIGATION • GAME CALENDAR • MISSION: HYRYPIA • FAQ
• MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[adamance]

[No, she wasn't waiting. When she crosses, there's a ripple of tension and disapproval in the air. Lexa recalls the plan to send Bellamy into Mount Weather alone. It had been a good plan, even if it was risky. None of her people could have done it: they lacked the technological know-how to handle it.

But this is different. This is like taking a sky person and giving them the role that belongs to someone from Trikru or Azgeda. Her judgment is the foundation of much of what she does, and she doesn't bother concealing it here.]

I wonder what you hope to accomplish today, Bellamy. [It's not an answer, but there's a sense of expectation as she somehow manages to straighten up and look taller before pivoting to lead him out of the tent.

They can have their conversation on the way. It's probably better that it's where no one can hear them.]

[deployed]

[ The question Lexa poses isn't unexpected. With Lexa, there is always the faint sense of being measured and categorized. In the face of this last event, it doesn't surprise Bellamy to have her judgements brought around to apply to him once again. He bristles, but his response is determinedly calm. ]

The same thing you and everyone else heading into the canyon today wants to do.

[ What's really being called into question is his ability. Bellamy doesn't need Lexa hooked into his mind to know that is ultimately where this conversation is heading. ]

What else would I want?

[ Sitting on his hands on the sidelines would be a waste. And Bellamy wouldn't be able to bear it, even if he didn't have the same ability on an Elin that Seviilia or Lexa did. There were other ways to contribute, and he'd at least mastered the ability of staying on his mount regardless of which way it moved. ]

[adamance]

[Staying on a mount is a far cry from hunting—and Lexa has measured the distance between those two things time and time again. It's not only a matter of skill that's up for debate here. She knows that Bellamy is ill-equipped there. She doesn't need to consider it on a greater level. It's more the why that comes to the forefront of her mind now, agitated that she might lose him because of his need to feel of use to everyone.]

I believe that why you're going and why I'm going are two separate things. I intend to go because I believe I can succeed, or survive the process. You, on the other hand, likely believe that if you aren't in there with me and I'm wrong, that you made a mistake in not trying at all.

[Lexa doesn't restrain her judgment. It bleeds through in her words and through her mind, like a pressing weight meant to crush him and make him turn back.]

[deployed]

[ Bellamy's sigh rustles the front of his veils. She's partially right. Bellamy hadn't accepted his invitation because he thought that he would be the one to strike the killing blow. He'd accepted because he'd thought he could act in support of his Nest and any other factions who needed back up.

It had felt cowardly to turn down the invitation. The lingering prickles of Misato's objections over pursuing the beast outside the barrier might have shifted more in him than he's willing to acknowledge. ]

I'm not going in there thinking there's a possibility I'm going to die.

[ Lexa may not believe that of him, but Bellamy puts it forth as the truth. He is not interested in dying here. ]

But you're right. I want to be there with you, and the others.

[ Bellamy doesn't say broodmates aloud, but they're included in his thoughts. ]

You're not going to get me to back out.

[adamance]

You would be much more use to us waiting here, where we can't be distracted by your presence. This isn't Mount Weather, Bellamy. [Lexa doubts that he'll die today, but there is always a chance, as well as a sense that they are still here to be culled, to ensure that their strongest keep trying until they ultimately die. No one sends an envoy without individuals who are prepared to fight in defense of their people. And those same people would be expected to participate. Lexa believes that above all else, even if she knows that she might be wrong.

This may just be about trying, but the brutality of the race a few days ago leads her to believe that it's more than that. It's a way of measuring their worth and their value. If they wanted them to partake in traditions, they wouldn't be blind, led by the sighted who give no indication that they want them to see.]

It was hard for you to be sick and idle while we rode that day. You can't act as if you now must make up for it when you were already useful.

[deployed]

I'm good for more than one thing, Lexa.

[ And walking directly into danger, regardless of whether it's Mount Weather or a full scale battle, is something Bellamy excels in. Lexa's concern isn't unfounded, but Bellamy can't let her dissuade him. ]

I'm not making up for anything. I want to help finish this.

[ Even if what he ultimately ended up being able to do was little more than divert their competition or defend their people. ]

You're not going to talk me out of going in with you.

[adamance]

Then remember one thing today, Bellamy. You are there to act as a shield that no one asked for. Don't force my hand to take you out of the fight because you never recalled that. [If he is foolish, Lexa has no qualms in stopping him and finding a secure place to keep him. It will be difficult, but she doubts Bellamy would be seen as prey. The thing they mean to fight will be their prey, will be on defense, and will stand a high likelihood of acting out in response.]

And don't delude yourself into thinking you're good for anything but being a shield today.

[Harsh and cruel. She can't convince him, and she knows that she shouldn't push him to prove himself. But if he does respond in such a manner, she has no problem with pointing out that particular flaw in his faulty logic. And reasoning. And decision making.]

wrap this y/n?

[deployed]

You're wrong.

[ But Bellamy has become familiar enough with Lexa to know that simply telling her isn't enough. The only recourse is to contribute, and not to get himself killed in the process. His anger is barely concealed, but it's muted. Bellamy doesn't let it seep into his words. ]

Come on. The sooner we get into the canyon the sooner this will all be finished.

[ And Bellamy wants it finished very badly. ]