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Post by Red Charge on Nov 24, 2012 13:37:50 GMT -5
Tempest lead them to said forest, Aeolus now trying to rub the stab wound on his back, Hawthorne noticed it did not stop bleeding, Aeolus looked lightheaded the more he went. The same went for him, as no one bothered to dress his wound either. Walking through the rough countryside couldn't be good for either of them and an infection was getting likely as they trudged through the dirty forest.
When they finally reached the landmark Tempest described, her men went through the same drill as before, digging and looking around roughly. But nothing was found this time. Tempest looked at Hawthorne judgementally. "You know, you will eventually bleed out, the longer we walk around like idiots, the more fatal your wounds will get. Get it right this time. Where is the landmark?"
Left now were the lake overlook and the hillside.
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Ambrosios
Griffons
Disciple Griffon
"And from the ashes, life begins anew."
Posts: 150
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Post by Ambrosios on Nov 24, 2012 15:14:51 GMT -5
Hawthorne watched as Aeolus rubbed the wound on his back, the bleeding on his back showing no sign of stopping. Blood loss was becoming an increasing threat, as were infections. An infection would be particularly dangerous for Aeolus given the location of his wound.
The group soon reached the landmark, and Tempest's men again went about searching it for what they were looking for. To Hawthorne's dismay, they had no success. He listened to Tempest chiding him, gulping when she had finished. He wanted to explain the situation to her in defense of himself, but knew she wouldn't want or care to hear it.
"There's a hillside to the south of here. That's the next place to look." The griffon began walking in said direction, feeling a sudden flash of dizziness. He stopped to clear his head before continuing.
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 24, 2012 16:33:40 GMT -5
They continued south towards the hillside, the guards prodding Hawthorne and Aeolus whenever they stopped to catch their breath or their vision blurred. Aeolus looked in bad shape already, the wound he sustained must have hit a blood vessel, as his bleeding did not even slow as they walked. Hawthorne's slowed down due to the congealed blood, but when touched he could still feel blood droplets flowing.
"How is this... helping the kingdom..." Aeolus panted, "Dragging us half dead across the valley... making us suffer."
"The Tempest Talons are more important than an incompetent soldier and a cowardly professor." Tempest reasoned, "They will be a great aid."
"What are you... even... talking about... aid for what..." Aeolus stopped again, the next prod by the guard dropped him to the ground.
"The Griffon Kingdom has enemies even the Armada can't vanquish." Tempest said, continuing to move. The guards advanced past Aeolus, leaving him for dead, fluttering on the ground, barely breathing. Hawthorne however, was not allowed respite and was shoved forward with the rest of them.
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Ambrosios
Griffons
Disciple Griffon
"And from the ashes, life begins anew."
Posts: 150
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Post by Ambrosios on Nov 24, 2012 17:05:11 GMT -5
Hawthorne couldn't help but continue to look at Aeolus, whose condition was quickly deteriorating. His bleeding was refusing to cease, and the blood loss was having a rapid effect on him. Not long after he had begun talking, another prod had sent him to the ground. Hawthorne could only watch as the guards walked around him, refusing to let him stop or even slow down. His last glimpse at the griffon was of him lieing on the ground, barely breathing.
Hawthorne looked forward, glaring at Tempest, this heartless Griffon who had sent two assassins out to kill him for doing nothing, who had left Aeolus behind to die. This griffon who was putting some stupid artifact above all else.
"Why you then?" he asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. "If you've got the best interests of the kingdom at heart, why not let the military handle this? Why does it need to be you?"
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 24, 2012 17:25:32 GMT -5
"Because, sadly... the king is an idiot who surrounds himself by people who are also... idiots. Same goes for Equestria, the Zebras, pretty much everyone who refuses to acknowledge the real problem we're facing today. Well, not today, but maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after that. No one knows, and no one wants to dare and find out. Well, it's not fair to say no one." She said, not elaborating.
They have reached the hillside, by now Aeolus was long behind them, Tempests' men had dug around and located what they were looking for, another stone with another engraving. "This one's not easy, Father's Embrace..." She said, straining to think herself.
Father's embrace could be any number of things, came to mind several different landmarks, the Elder Tree - a pair of trees conjoined by their trunks, with one being tiny and the other huge. Both of the Elder Tree kind. Or a rocky formation growing out of a meadow of what appeared to be two griffons sitting side by side and leaning on each other, another was a waterfall the ancient griffons called "Father's Stream" and the last was a cliff edge high up in the mountain range, overlooking a smaller cliff. The special thing about those cliffs is that in the old days they were used to teach griffon children how to fly, something that was done by their fathers traditionally. But which could it be?
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Ambrosios
Griffons
Disciple Griffon
"And from the ashes, life begins anew."
Posts: 150
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Post by Ambrosios on Nov 24, 2012 18:13:56 GMT -5
Hawthorne listened to what Tempest said about the king, not having much to say himself. He'd never really had an opinion of the king or his court, though he knew Whitefeather was unpopular in some circles. Tempest hadn't really gone into any detail on this problem that everyone refused to acknowledge, but he didn't get the chance to ask her before they had arrived at the hillside. To Hawthorne's relief, her men had been able to find another one of the engraved stones.
And then came the next landmark, Father's Embrace. Hawthorne thought carefully of all the landmarks in the area that could fit the name, and there were several. Was there anyway to narrow them down? The griffon spent several seconds, thinking about what they had in common and then about who wrote the letter. "How old is this letter?" Hawthorne asked. "Is it pre-Griffon Kingdom? Equiterian perhaps? If so, there's a pair of elder trees to our North-West, that would be our best bet."
Hawthorne didn't quite start leaving as soon as he finished. He wanted to confirm the age of the letter, otherwise it would make his theory entirely irrelevant. Even if the Tempest Talons were an Equiterian artifact, the letter could have been written much past their time. He needed assurance before he sent them onto another possible goose chase.
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 25, 2012 0:54:43 GMT -5
"No, it won't be the trees." Tempest denied, "It's Equiterian Era. No trees are thousands of years old." She groaned helplessly, "Hurry it up proffessor. We don't have time to lounge about." The harpooners near her moved uncomfortably as she got more exasperated.
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Ambrosios
Griffons
Disciple Griffon
"And from the ashes, life begins anew."
Posts: 150
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Post by Ambrosios on Nov 25, 2012 11:33:48 GMT -5
Hawthorne blinked confusedly at Tempest before realizing she was correct. How he could have thought it was the trees was beyond him. Must have been the blood loss. "Sorry," he said weakly. The professor was unsure about the remaining landmarks. The most likely candidates all seemed equally unlikely, but he had to pick something.
Well, the previous two landmarks had been stone formations in the valley. Maybe there was a pattern. "There's a rock formation that resembles two griffons sitting side by side leaning on each other," Hawthorne said. "It's going to be slightly south-west of here, this direction." The griffon began walking towards the rock formation, hoping that his new theory would have better success.
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 26, 2012 23:53:00 GMT -5
Tempest's group followed Hawthorne's direction the journey was tedious and exhausting, especially for the wounded Hawthorne, however, it was in vain. Once more, nothing was found around the rock formaiton. Tempest rubbed her temples with a talon.
"You know, I assumed this would go much faster with you around..." She said, "Where is it? Get it wrong this time and not even the ghost of King Dreadwing will be able to save you."
Hawthorne's situation was not good. He had already lost quite a bit of blood, his feathers were stuck together by the congealed one, every movement he made was bringing him immeasurable pain and he knew Tempest's patience was at the last straw. She had made it perfectly clear, after all.
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Ambrosios
Griffons
Disciple Griffon
"And from the ashes, life begins anew."
Posts: 150
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Post by Ambrosios on Nov 27, 2012 0:15:44 GMT -5
Much to Hawthorne's chagrin, he had guessed wrong on the location of the landmark, again. His wound was now making each step increasingly painful, and the flashes of dizziness were starting to become more and more consistent. Not to mention Tempest was becoming increasingly irritated.
As slower as it was going than Tempest had expected, it was still going faster than she'd be on her own. Under different circumstances he would have told her this, but these weren't different circumstances. Tempest had him dangling by a rope and was about to cut him loose. It didn't matter that he was doing his best, she just wanted a whipping mule.
"There's a..." The griffon had to pause a moment as his vision blurred, almost causing him to lose his balance. "A waterfall... North... Father's Stream." Hawthorne had to hope that the the waterfall would be the landmark they were looking for. He was physically exhausted and wouldn't be able to handle much more exertion. If he was wrong, Tempest would leave him to die, at best. He was too light-headed to imagine what else might happen.
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 27, 2012 1:05:41 GMT -5
Tempest's group, now increasingly restless, headed towards the waterfall. They started talking among themselves in whispered hushes. Hawthorne could not make out what they were saying. They were obviously well practiced in talking without being overheard. One of them took Hawthorne's side to keep him from falling over.
They reached the waterfall fairly quickly, or maybe it was the dizzyness Hawthorne was experiencing that made it seem that way. They reached the mouth of it, the waterfall wasn't as active as it was during Winter, and Tempest sent one of her men to look into it. The Griffon braved through the torrent of water, and came out sopping. "There's a big tunnel here." He said.
Tempest slapped her face. "A big waterfall and no one ever looked behind it for a cave?" She asked no one in particular, leading her group through. The heavy flow of the Waterfall strained Hawthorne's back as he went through, and instantly he felt unexplainably uncomfortable beyond measure. It was like every single fiber of his being wanted to leave the area, but not because he was scared or tense, almost like an instinct.
Tempest and her griffons seemed to feel this as well, "Alright, let's bandage up the professor, give him some potion too." She commanded, the griffon holding on to Hawthorne's side was quick to follow, drying Hawthorne up, bandaging him and pushing a potion to his beak. He instantly felt rejuvinated, not as well as he would have been, but the dizzyness and weakness at least went away for now.
"Know anything about this place?" Tempest asked him.
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Ambrosios
Griffons
Disciple Griffon
"And from the ashes, life begins anew."
Posts: 150
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Post by Ambrosios on Nov 27, 2012 1:19:25 GMT -5
Hawthorne could barely make out the sound of Tempest's men whispering to each other as they made their way to Father's Stream. Not that they needed to. He was so lightheaded he could barely focus on walking straight let alone picking out what the griffons were saying.
Sooner than expected, the group had arrived at the waterfall. The water pounding on his back as he passed through almost caused him to collapse, and it took what was left of his strength to force himself through. On top of that, he felt very uneasy about the tunnel he had just entered. His gut wanted to pull him back out, away from this place.
The griffon supporting him had soon dried and bandaged Hawthorne as well as gave him a potion. It helped immensely, banishing his lightheaded-ness in an instant and sending away his weakness as well. Now that he could think straight, Hawthorne could get a better look at the tunnel itself. "No, I've never seen or heard of it," he said, answering Tempest. "Not sure it's natural, though."
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 27, 2012 1:41:10 GMT -5
"Probably isn't, keep your eyes peeled. I doubt they trusted a waterfall and whatever they put on here that's making our feathers stand on end to keep the Talons safe." The griffoness stated, squinting to see in the dark. She pulled one of her griffons, an owl hybrid to the front. "Watch where you step, I don't want anyone falling into a dumb trap."
After a moment where they regrouped and lit several torches, Tempest's griffons pressed onwards, Hawthorne in the middle. The uncomfortable sensation only increased as they went further in the cave, which had so far been unremarkable.
"I hope this isn't because of the Talons, if we went all this way for a pair of talons we can't even use, I'll lose it."
They finally reached a large door in the cave wall, and after thorough examination for traps, pushed it open. The small tunnel had suddenly become a massive cave with uneven ground, at the end of which was a heavy chest.
"I don't like this." Tempest said.
"I'll try and fly over it." Said one of her griffons, taking off before the former Air Marshal could stop him. At first he seemed alright, flying over the uneven terrain, but as soon as he reached half way, a massive stony hand jutted out of the ground, catching him mid air and crushing him into a pulp.
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Ambrosios
Griffons
Disciple Griffon
"And from the ashes, life begins anew."
Posts: 150
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Post by Ambrosios on Nov 27, 2012 10:05:46 GMT -5
Hawthorne could feel the unsettling feeling the tunnel was giving him get stronger and stronger as they ventured into the tunnel. A large door at its end opened up to a huge cave, a chest sitting far at the other end of the chamber. Hawthorne watched uneasily as one of Tempest's griffons flew off towards it, waiting for something to happen. And sure enough, half-way from the chest a large stone hand had suddenly appeared and crushed the unsuspecting griffon.
Hawthorne could only gawk at what had just happened, his eyes wide and his beak agape. Several seconds passed before he finally brought himself out of his frozen state of shock. The professor looked over at Tempest, waiting to see what she would do next. This was now out of his area of expertise. There was nothing natural about giant stone hands guarding a chest within a well-hidden cavern.
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Post by Red Charge on Nov 28, 2012 13:33:54 GMT -5
Tempest stared at the stony hand for several moments, surprised, but not out of her cool. "Okay, see, I was expecting something... just not quite this..." Her griffons grouped together, grasping harpoon guns, some readying bombs.
"Alright, boys, it's time to have some fun!" She called, her group spread around the now rising elemental, well at least she kept her head and wasn't too temperamental. From the ground he rose, a hominid made of stone, reaching high above the griffons with a head shaped like a cone.
ELDER EARTH ELEMENTAL
Earth Elementals are created when powerful magic is in an underground environment for a long period of time. Thus the Diamond Dog tunnels are full of them often, wherever dragons bury their hoards as well. When they are form they are but brittle clay, but once they harden they can become as tough as the hardest bedrock. Elder Elementals are among the longest lived Elementals and are quite difficult to take down, even in a group.
Special Effects
Made of Stone - Earth Elementals cannot be harmed by a sword or an arrow, as they are made of tough stone it takes a lot of force to hurt them. However, due to their stone status, they are weak against blunt objects.
Stone Mastery - Elder Elementals are masters of their elements and can manipulate their environment to their advantage, by creating earthquake, causing stony spikes to jut out of the ground or even making avalanches.
Elemental - This creature is magic infused, it will take powerful magic to hurt.
Danger Level - High
Tempest's men spread around the massive stone hominid, shooting their high power harpoons at it to distract it, as the others readied their explosives. The Elemental groaned and creaked as it tried swiping at the attacking Griffons, but to no avail. Several bombs went off, breaking large chunks off its body. It roared angrily, its voice that of an earthquake and smashed the ground. The griffons trying to distract it were caught blindsided by the spikes jutting out from the walls around them, and were skewered, still alive, but not for long.
Tempest signaled one of her heavy griffons who rushed forwards, pulling down from his back what seemed to be a hand cannon, he began preparing it. Hawthorne however, suddenly found his leg trapped in the stone after the Elementals smashed the ground, unable to move.
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