Playerlogs
Battle With Oak 240322
In the chilling night on Underlook Beach, a motley crew faces off against Oak, a tree-like creature only wishing to dream and stand upon the sands. Harriet, Miles, Annie, Viktorin, Meridith, and Autumn, each with their unique prowess and weapons, launch an assault against Oak, who bemoans the violent tendencies of humans. The battle intensifies as Oak conjures illusions, causing confusion among the attackers, resulting in accidental strikes against one another instead of their intended target. Despite Oak's pleas for peace and declarations of merely wanting to retreat back to its own world, the group remains resolute, driven by a perceived necessity to eliminate the entity viewed as a threat to their reality.
As the conflict drags on, Silas joins the fray, armed with an axe and a determination to aid in Oak's downfall. Amidst the struggle, the group exchanges half-hearted banter, their morale waning under the tedious and seemingly endless task of hacking away at the resilient Oak. The creature's sorrowful lamentations about humans' inherent cruelty do little to deter their actions. Even in the face of Oak's protests and its attempts to reason with them, offering to leave if allowed, the beleaguered band persists, doggedly continuing their onslaught. The ordeal tests not only their physical strength but also their resolve as they grapple with the ethical implications of their actions against a being that, by its own account, sought nothing more than solace in a dream.
(Battle with Oak)
[Thu Mar 21 2024]
On the Trash-strewn Sands of Underlook Beach
It is night, about 35F(1C) degrees, and the sky is partly covered by dark grey stormclouds. There is a waxing gibbous moon.
After the lengthy chat is over, Harriet is backing up, rifle held up, and taking aim at Oak.
"Hoom," Oak tells those here. "I suppose in the end, you, too, want to burn the wood."
"My dreams vary," Autumn shakes her head at Oak. "Some are impossible. Others... I rather not talk about it." She then chants under her breath words of power. "Ifrit, come shine your flame in darkness."
Miles probably should've brought an axe rather than a club, though he is quickly backing up one he realizes the foolishness of smacking the hard bark with the blunt instrument.
Meridith is quick, she steps in and her blade slashes towards the creature. Her expression shifts, going flat, casual, concerned certainly.
Annie scrambles backwards in a rush as fighting suddenly starts. She nearly abandons the sledgehammer she was posing with that she thought was making her look pretty cool. After retreating a safe distance, she digs around in her duffel bag for some bandages.
Viktorin immediately sprouts armor, bones dangling here and there, fusing together as if melting. The skull of a stag rests upon his head, antlers jagged, asymmetrical. Raising his rifle, he gazes through the ironsights before firing, murmuring softly, "Sorry Bogumil, these things are the way they are. Death comes to all..."
"When it comes to feeling safe, mate? I fear that us hooms will burn nearly anything, including ourselves." Miles laments in response to Oak. They've made their choice though, and Miles is committed to it. All they have to do is brutally murder this creature that only wanted to feel the sand, and speak.
Autumn says "I will not have my heart broken no longer."
"Damn. We scattered like roaches," Annie comments as she notices she's not the only one that thought it was gonna be a good idea to get far away from that giant tree. Save for Meridith, the brave. "Go get it, Meridith," she encourages with as much enthusiasm as a dead fish.
"Fire!" Oak bellows. "Fire, it burns!"
Viktorin says "Oof. "
Meridith shakes her head sadly. "I did not design this world," she declares. "But I know that something like you cannot exist here. You are too much of the world beyond. Reality trembles around you." She flits forward, a testing blow, and flicks a hand, lifting the tree into the air. "I am sorry," she declares, as fire erupts along its body.
"I am sorry, little one," Annie agrees grimly, in her own way. The monstrosity they're battling is hardly a little one at this stage though. She only knows one thing, and that living nightmares are a no go, no matter how wholesome or tragic they might be. From the distance she's made she begins to fire off shots at the monster, aiming for the beard.
"..Jesus, did you have to use fire?" Miles blurts out aside to Autumn, grimacing from the sound of the living wood's bellows of pain.
"That's the flames of conflicted heart," Autumn speaks with narrow eyes as she watches the fire burn on Oak. When the puff of black smoke heralds A glowing salamander with fiery wings's arrival, she points at the tree.
Loyally, Viktorin stands by Harriet, firing rounds into the tree person. Grim is the expression on his face. But he does glance towards the Warden, making sure they're alright.
Harriet listens to the group, keeping an eye on them all through glance after glance to ensure no one is on the verge of getting killed. She looks quite tired, but she then turns her focus in on Oak, looking at the creature through the scope of her rifle as she shoots again, standing alongside Viktorin.
Meridith frowns, easily keeping up as it retreats. She gazes upon the Oak with pity, as she hurls a rock into the side of its body. She feels the breath leave her, and she gasps, desperate a moment.
The blast of electricity takes Miles off-guard, shocking the man silent. Which may be a relief for the others, but certainly isn't for him, he staggers this way and that, nearly dropping him gun as he tries to shake it off.
Discomfort works its way over Annie's features as their foe screams out its pain. She braces the stock of her shitty hunting rifle against her shoulder, gritting her teeth at the recoil that ensues from another shot delivered to Oak. She catches movement nearby and swivels her weapon at the spirit of vengeance, looking uncertain for a moment or two.
"Did that hurt?" Annie wonders as Miles gets some shock treatment. Of course it probably hurt, she's probably just concerned how much and if she should be worried about Oak's newly arrived ally.
Harriet's attention quickly turns to a spirit of nature's vengeance, and both of her naturally arched eyebrows are lifting. There's a small wince and she fires off a round at it.
Viktorin racks his bolt, sending another round down-range. He nearly winces at the flames gracing the living, walking pile of lumber that's about to go up in flames. And then, flickering a solemn, viridian gaze towards Harriet, he darts back, preparing his dagger for the worst.
"..V-very mu-much." Miles stutters out in response, body twitching against his will as he tries to get himself back under control. The deputy staggers away from the wetter sand, trying to avoid making himself a target again.
Meridith flinches as lightning slams overhead. She pivots and dances after the tree. "If you are what you say, you deserved better. A lot of us do," she says.
Viktorin says "Hostiles. In bound. Weird... wisp thing... uh. Well. That is in good range."
"Hoom," Oak tells Meridith sadly, as the great tree backs up towards the woods. "I wished only to dream, only to dream. But even there things are... polluted."
"Rough." Annie's condolences dispensed with for Miles, she takes a few steps back, taking a knee and redirects her attention to that spirit that is hurling bolts of electricity at everyone now. "Guess some of us might as well deal with that since..."
Meridith says "I pray you find your way back to the world you belong..."
Oak tells Meridith gravely, "I could have just walked away."
Viktorin says "It's weakening. Mm. Time for bones, I guess."
Autumn says "Not all humans are as kind as you, tree."
"Walking away usually means you're the bigger man. Or tree thing," Annie contributes to the grim, potentially tragic discourse happening with Oak and its main foes. Depending on one's point of view. "Can't risk it," she heaves in consternation, sliding off to one side to avoid some lightning crackling nearby.
Oak says "I would have walked into the woods and not returned, but humans love violence too much. What is it in your mannish hearts that needs such cruelty?"
Viktorin darts forth at this point, watching Autumn carefully. Weaving his dagger, he lunges, thrusts, stabbing at the thing, wincing as he's probably dulling the sharp edge with tree bark. "Sorry champ," he murmurs, "At this point it's you or me, and I like me," he continues, informing the tree.
"Is it, hoom?" Oak asks Viktorin.
"Aacck!" Miles is blasted with yet more lightning, staggering this way and that, and barely managing to stay on his feet, "Jesus christ, ow. God, ow." He mutters out, hacking and coughing and trying to catch his breath.
"Can't risk it," Annie reiterates, her voice low and rather unaffected. She tries to pop another shot at the spirit lobbing and creating electricity to defend its master, but the click informs her its time she needs to loud more rounds inside of her rifle. "Damnit," she complains.
Annie turns her head to Miles, aware of the poor guy's complaints. "Need some patching up, guy?" she asks out of genuine concern, one round for her rifle slipping from her shaking fingers.
Meridith says "I could use some too..."
"Like you wouldn't believe.." Miles blurts out to Annie, staggering closer toward her.
"Not even moon deity will save you now," Autumn tells Oak in a hushed voice, raising her khopesh and charging towards the tree creature.
"Thank you, thank you." Miles blurts out aside to Annie, catching his breath as she fills him up.
Fill Miles's armour up, rather.
Oak says "There is no reason for war and fire."
Viktorin says "Agree to disagree."
Meridith winces. Her vision wavers a moment as she weathers bolts of lightning. As the Oak closes with her, her blade clashes out, striking at it, then she shoves it away. She exhales.
Harriet keeps her distance, watching with a fair amount of disbelief over how close the others want to get to a spirit of nature's vengeance and Oak. She keeps firing off bullets at a spirit of nature's vengeance.
Annie retrieves that fallen round before it can roll too far away from her with a generous stoop. Then she makes a mad dash for Miles, hugging her long rifle close to her chest. She drops the weapon and starts unrolling gauze, rapping it around Miles's booboo's. "Anyone able to get to Meri for a bandage?" she calls out across the battlefield, unaware of everyone's exact positioning.
Meridith says "look "
Meridith says "I can get to you."
Meridith scowls as fire erupts on her clothing. She holds an arm around herself.
"Take out the spirits first!" Miles calls over toward the group at large, once Annie had managed to wrap his booboo's. She's such a good battle buddy.
Meridith lifts through the air and lands not nearly so far as she hoped, panting heavily.
Harriet finally gets to optimal range and sets herself up, holding that rifle and aiming with precision.
"Ow!" Annie just about screams as she gets in the crossfire of its intended target, Miles. It even sends her rolling back a bit, so now she knows what everyone else was dealing with. She takes a moment to shake the disorientation away, unable to focus on all the figures in her field of vision for a moment. "Are we winning?" she has to ask after pushing herself to her feet.
Viktorin doggedly pursues the tree, slashing and thrusting with his dagger. He weaves the metal around, harrying Oak as they retreat.
Meridith says "Ow...! "
Harriet calls out, "I really think killing the tree first is the best bet, otherwise, he's going to simply keep summoning forth more of these spirits!"
"That thing has gotta be almost down by now right?" Annie calls out to no one in particular. She looks annoyed as more and more of its minions are being called to aid it.
Meridith feels some presence worriedly chasing her.
Meridith continues to stagger her way to Miles and Annie
Viktorin bursts back into bone armor, darting forth. Desperation drives a blade forward, a lunge and an upward sweep, seeking to hook the gleaming thing on whatever pieces of lumber and bark he can find. "You're a tricky one," he tells Oak, growling.
Meridith says "Vike! "
"Hi, Meridith," Annie greets quietly, racing to meet the lady with the shockingly white hair. She has some rolls of gauze in either hand, ready to deal with Meridith's booboo's as well. "Tell me where it hurts."
"Hoom, we did not need to fight," Oak says.
Viktorin says "Fucking... illusions."
Meridith says "Use your blade only, don't just attack, if he's not next to you it isn't him!"
Viktorin says "He LITERALLY is right next to me."
Annie grits her teeth and works on adding last minute touches to Meridith' with a generous helping of bandaging. She's not sparing any expenses. "All good, or do you need a little more," she asks Meridith, turning some of her attention over to the fight at hand nearby.
Viktorin says "Is Meridith okay?"
Viktorin says "Oh you piece of shit."
Autumn says "You dare to abuse the art or pyromancy?"
Viktorin growls, shaking his head as he tries to tear away towards the tree, ferociously stabbing at it now. Angrily. "Fucking die, you piece of shit!" the demigod roars, leaping upon them.
While Annie bandages Meridith, Miles ends up stuffing a bunch of gauze into her armour in turn. Along with some quick release foam. It's like a daisy chain of first aid.
"Thanks," Annie says reflexively as she feels someone applying bandages over her vest, where a nasty dent advertises where he should focus. She doesn't know it's Miles since she's fixated on that giant tree, firing shot after shot at the thing. "I feel like I should have brought more rounds," she remarks, clicking her tongue.
Full of rage, Autumn smirks as her blade glows red once more, and she continues to lash out at Oak.
"Once more, with spirit," Annie urges, trying to boost back some morale to the rest of the remaining fighters. To her, it looks like chaos, but she diligently keeps firing at Oak, loading and unloading rounds into it with a mechanical nature at this point in the fight, potentially finding her groove.
Viktorin says "This is absolutely absurd."
"I did not want to fight, hmm," Oak tells Viktorin.
Viktorin says "I meant killing you. You're just... made up of so much wood."
Annie is starting to doubt the efficacy of riddling the trunks and branches that Oak sports full of bullets. "We should have brought more fire. And axes," she says to herself than anyone around her. She ducks her head as a scream of lightning hurtles at her, narrowly missing her. Instead it strikes poor Miles.
Autumn says "It's very durable."
"Trees may not have name, but there is a gravity to a wood. When it moves, it moves with purpose, mmm," Oak says.
"Ah!" Miles cries out, as he's blinded and blasted by the lightning, nearly dropping his rifle as his sight is stolen from him. "I can't see!" He blurts out in a panic, raising a hand to grope at his face.
Viktorin says "You can't even move though. You're like... moving two feet. That's not moving with a purpose."
"Slow and steady. Purposeful," Annie chimes in, just because. How slowly Oak moves could be an encouraging sign, but was it moving much in the first place?
"You seemed, hoom, to think this was all you could do," Oak says.
Viktorin shrugs, "I mean, I'm not stopping, am I?"
Autumn says "We're going to need more melee!"
Viktorin says "This is like... when the fucking rats nibble me."
"Miles, you still around?" Annie asks, turning her head to scout for the guy, and as if in answer the crack of his weapon answers her. "Okay. Good. Just checking."
Viktorin says "It's moving SO fucking slow, I can literally just strap my armor together."
"This is the waiting game then. I guess," Annie says under her breath, eyes scanning the area, taking note of the fallen and debris manifesting in the nightmare.
Viktorin at this point seems utterly bored, just walking forward and giving Oak a few swats here and there with his dagger.
Viktorin says "Autumn, you good?"
Autumn says "Wolf could claw and bite me better than this. This is but scratch."
Viktorin says "I'd imagine this is what being nibbled to death feels like."
Autumn says "All bark, no bite."
There's a long, low, sad look around the humans clobbering him with swords and axes. "Is this really what you want?" it asks, stepping back slowly. "To destroy some peace in nature?" There's grief, stricken in its tone, as someone clings to Oak's beard.
There's a long, low, sad look around the humans clobbering him with swords and axes. "Is this really what you want?" it asks, stepping back slowly. "To destroy some peace in nature?" There's grief, stricken in its tone, as mist clings to Oak's beard.
Viktorin says "I mean at this point, I really want to kill you because you're pissing me off, but yeah. I want you dead. You're a threat to our society, civilization, and the residents of the town. Your doom was written in the stars."
"Hoom, hoom," Oak tells Viktorin. "I was standing in the sand, and you came to me with war in your heart."
Viktorin says "Death. Not war. My ancestor has nothing to do with war. Just mortality."
"Not really," Annie admits, maybe a hint of shame to her voice. Riddling bullets into a thing that you necessarily don't have any qualms with isn't the most noble thing to do. "But the rules are the rules," she says, bobbing her head firmly. She reaches into her box of bullets, frowning at the stash she amassed feeling far more diminished before the start of this conflict. "Damn," she complains aloud.
"What rules require you to do this?" Oak queries Annie. It's not fighting at all -- standing there, now, as bullets dig into its oaken bark. "What world do you live in, that you must cut down a tree?"
Viktorin says "A world where I need firewood because it's cold outside."
"Oh, thank god, the lightning has stopped." Miles pants out, and jogs closer toward Annie. He's absolutely covered in sweat by now, from having been blasted by lightning a good few times.
Viktorin says "Don't worry Miles. It'll probably start again."
"The natural order of things," Annie wagers, not sounding entirely certain with that. Her enthusiasm for plinking at Oak is starting to waver. It's almost like they're just shooting at a tree for sure. She shoots Miles with another sort of ammunition. It pretty much reads like, 'Is this working?'
Viktorin says "Can you guys just get over here and start whacking it?"
Harriet keeps whacking it.
There's a wordless sort of shrug afforded back to Annie as Miles jerks back the bolt of his rifle, causing a spent round to ping out into the air. "We're shooting it!" He calls over toward Viktorin, pauses and then glances aside to Annie again. "I suppose we could whack it."
Shaking its head sadly, Oak says, "I thought for a little while this might be a pleasant dream." He pauses, breathing in and out, as it digs roots deeper into the earth. "I spoke to a man last night," it says. "Ah-lex-ann-der," it says, each syllable some slow ennunciation. "He gave me some hope, hoom, for the world. But perhaps hope for spring was misplaced."
"I guess we could whack it," Annie echoes, firing one last shot before the barrel of her crappy rifle wavers, trending downwards. She's running low on ammunition anyway. She takes a deep breath, with a strained smile, and grabs the handle of her sledge hammer, not fully lifting it, so when she commences the trek over to Oak and gang, she's dragging it behind her at a slow, dogged pace.
Autumn says "Get over here and whack it!"
Viktorin sighs as he summons bone-armor to cling to his visage, yet again, only to thrust his dagger out, ruthlessly and miserably stabbing at the poor tree. He's not entirely thrilled with this, boredom dulling his eyes. And then he tells Oak, "Yeah, Alex is a friend."
"Not so much a friend to be full of hope, hoom?" Oak asks Viktorin.
"..Or we could whack Autumn." Miles suggests aside to Annie dryly, starting to jog in closer toward the tree then. He doesn't look bored, but he does look emotionally spent. There's only so much time you can spend effectively putting down a wooden puppy before you have to turn your feelings off.
"Friends can have different beliefs and feelings," Viktorin informs the tree, once more just gliding over it to slash at the bark.
At least for Annie and maybe Miles, attacking Oak up close and personal will give them a new avenue to enjoy this moment with the living nightmare. She seems kinda dubious right now though as their quarry has stopped fighting back. Instead it treats with them with diplomacy or something.
Miles glances back to squint toward Meridith, "Is she alright?"
The tree, slowly, is beginning to root in place in the nightmare, as it digs its feet deeper into the sands. "Hoom," Oak says slowly. "Hoom, hoom."
Viktorin says "I hope she is. The dude fucking lit her on fire."
Closing the distance with the rest of the crew smacking and whacking and slashing at Oak, Annie hefts her sledge hammer and with a grunt, raises it over her head, finding one of the tiny branches on the ground as a suitable target. It comes after Harriet's whack with her fancy warhammer.
Viktorin says "Uh. Wanna like... chat? Like, what do trees do for fun?"
Autumn says "This is going to take all night."
"I sit on the beach," Oak says slowly to Viktorin. "I talk to the birds. Birds are fascinating things."
Viktorin mutters, "Eh. Birds are neat. Belobog, my ancestor's twin. Or something, Gods are confusing you know, birds alight on his antlers and stuff. My ancestor though, he likes death. And weaving shadows with his antlers." He gives a curt nod towards Oak, humming softly.
Miles joins the others in doing his best impression of a lumberjack, smashing and whacking at the tree with all of his measly mortal might.
Oak continues to Viktorin, "Birds do not have great brains." It's a low, slow admission: only its mouth is moving, now, as it freezes more and more into place. "But they are innocent. The song of birds, the chirping, they talk in the same way, like every day is some bright new memory." His voice is slowing, too. "But memory is a curse for trees. We do not have names, but we do remember."
Autumn says "I really need to sleep soon."
"Maybe ask the tree really nicely to knock you over, or extend a branch for you to nap in." Miles suggests aside to Autumn, wiping sweat from his brow as he speaks.
Viktorin says "I just gave you a name. Bogumil. Means favored of God."
repeatedly hitting Oak with a sledgehammer is tedious, and even awful work. Annie is quickly regretting making the trip here to join the others in the whackfest, having preferred the easier job of shooting at the monster with a rifle. "Hello Bogumil," Annie says wearily, already broken into a sweat now that it seems like they're chopping wood more than anything.
"T-E-M-P-L-A-R." Miles spells it out for Autumn with a little shake of the head, "Templar. Not sun human. But, no, I don't want to die, not particularly/"
Viktorin at this point is just whacking the poor thing, boredly regarding Oak as he chatters aside to his companions.
Harriet is swinging her warhammer time and time against at Oak, replying to Viktorin, "I am doing just fine, dear Vik," in a tone that is tainted by only a hint of heavier breathing. "I should have brought an axe."
Sofia says "Are you guys doing alright? Should I grab Meredith and leave?"
Autumn says "You say Templar, I say sun human. Don't disrespect my way of terms."
"Hoom," Oak says, cross. "Leave me alone."
Viktorin says "Grab Meridith, yeah."
Autumn says "Ow... "
Viktorin nods towards Sofia
Harriet sighs as her warhammer hits Autumn, and she squints at Oak.
Miles pauses for a moment, and then gestures toward Autumn with a waggle of his brows, as if suggesting that Oak should give her some attention. Maybe stuff an acorn in her mouth.
Sofia says "I don't think a .38 will help either."
"Oh," Annie blinks after she realizes some trickery is afoot. She aimed her hammer at Oak, but Autumn was the victim. "Uh. Watch out guys," she warns, starting to become more aware. And a reminder this isn't actually a menial task.
Harriet tells Autumn, "I am so sorry. I'm not trying to kill you, either!" and she keeps patching up the other woman.
Miles says "..Look, I appreciate that her getting things wrong is annoying, but why are we whacking her?""
Autumn says "Ow! "
Miles blinks in surprise as his attack goes wide as well, "What the hell!"
Viktorin says "It's using an illusion again."
Harriet exclaims, "Because of tree magic!"
"Hoom," Oak says. "I do not have a quarrel with you, but I do not like you chopping me down."
Viktorin says "Hoom. "
"Does that mean we need to target her to hit it?" Miles wonders of the others with a squinting of the eyes.
Autumn says "One more hit and I'm going down."
Viktorin mockingly chants, "Hoom, Hoom, Hoom."
Viktorin says "Ugh. "
Sofia says "Where's the nearest mirror?"
Viktorin says "In the shops, Sofia."
"Aw, geez." Miles blurts out as Viktorin beats Autumn down.
Viktorin says "This... is kinda awkward."
"What were you aiming for?" Miles checks with Viktorin then, trying to prevent himself making the same mistake.
"Yeah. Oops," Annie says after her swing is still off the mark and hits Autumn on her way down.
Sofia says "A tree with Illusions. Are you sure this thing isn't Old Man Willow? "
Viktorin says "I don't know who that is."
Sofia says "No appreciation for the classics. "
"I am," Oak declares ponderously to Sofia, "An oak. And I am upset with this dream. I would like to wake."
Harriet cringes a bit, saying, "We will likely need a much larger group and far more hours to take this thing down."
Sofia says "Is there such thing as like...nightmare gasoline?"
Viktorin says "I don't watch Lord of the Rings. I watch stuff like, Blade Runner."
Sofia says "Good taste"
Viktorin says "There's regular gasoline."
"I just wish to leave," Oak tells Harriet, his voice some low, upset rumble. "ANd yet."
Viktorin says "Jeez "
Viktorin says "Back to the fire again."
"You could all walk away," Oak reasons. "And I could walk away."
"Ack! Ah!" Miles blurts out as he catches alight, and tries to pat himself down. He quickly gives up on checking on Autumn. No good deed.
Viktorin says "You walk very slowly though."
"Hoom," Oak agrees with Viktorin.
Viktorin says "I was supposed to go on a date tonight."
Viktorin says "This sucks."
Harriet gives a glance around the area for a moment, processing all that is happening, but then Viktorin is complaining about his date.
"And yet you came to bother me on the beach, hoom," Oak tells Viktorin. "Becuase of some ... dream? Some dream you fear I might have?"
"That's not good," Annie remarks, some sympathy voiced for Viktorin. She wipes some sweat from her brow, pretty fatigued at this point. Some encouragement comes from watching Harriet still keeping at it, so she doesn't let up entirely herself.
"This isn't an intimate enough setting for you?" Miles teases Viktorin once he'd managed to get the fire under control, and then moves toward the cover.
At this point, the Czech seems to be far more preoccupied with the other goings-on his life, not exactly fatigued due to his dagger being his main choice of weapon. Still, Viktorin slashes at Oak, muttering quietly. "Man, now my date is texting me."
"I felt my phone trying to get my attention too," Annie complains, the sledgehammer she wields in her hands growing heavier and heavier with every swing. "At least you can tell your date you were busy uh. Saving the world?"
Harriet nods to Annie. "Mine is also going off."
"Saving the world by cutting down a tree, hoom?" Oak asks Annie.
Viktorin says "This is absurd."
"And how about you, Harri-" Miles begins to note over toward her, only for her answer to come before he'd quite finished.
"A very special tree," Annie endeavors back to Oak, giving it a slow, ponderous nod.
Viktorin simply slashes, muttering, "Absurd. God damn Bogumil, you take tree steroids before this?"
Viktorin says "This is... pretty leisurely."
Viktorin says "Oh neat, Silas is coming."
"I feel like I'm being punished with the worst chore in the world," Annie voices out with a grunt. "Oh, he is? Can you tell him to bring - wait he actually uses an axe," Annie recalls, seeming enthused.
Viktorin says "Silas, we need your help. We need to beat this tree up."
Viktorin says "And steal its lunch money."
"You do not," Oak corrects Viktorin. "I could have walked away into the world."
"Wah!" Miles blurts out in alarm as he's blasted by wind, but thankfully it doesn't come with a lightning bolt.
Then the wind comes, right for Annie. Buffeting her backwards while she was mid-swing with her sledge hammer. The sheer weight of it angled behind her combined with the wind makes her fall flat on her back with a thud, and the classic 'Oof.""
"I can walk away, hoom," Oak tells Annie. "We do not need to fight."
Viktorin slips and slides as he's buffeted by winds, grabbing on to whatever he can hold. And then he's back to darting towards Oak, hacking at it with his dagger.
"We probably don't need to fight," Annie agrees, slowly pushing herself up to her feet. She didn't hear any ring, so she trudges back, dragging her ponderous hammer behind her. "But I can't look like a quitter in front of everyone," she makes her case to Oak, sounding awfully apologetic.
Viktorin says "Illusion. "
"That is something, hoom," Oak tells Annie, "that you will need to decide for yourself."
Viktorin points out the tree's leafy illusions, huffing quietly. "Careful now."
Annie takes a few weary steps backward, holding her weapon out before her. She could be contemplating ditching the fight, what with the diplomacy attempts on its end. Or she is backing off to assess the situation when some illusions are called out. "Hi Silas," she says quietly, her breathing laboured. "Fancy meeting you here."
Harriet is repeatedly swinging her warhammer at Oak, trying to chop it down, but it is a very, very slow process.
Viktorin says "You missed."
At least Miles and the others likely have an excuse to skip the gym this week. Even the law enforcement officer is getting tired of assaulting a largely defenceless target, and in America too!
"Hello, Annie," Silas says to Annie as he continues to rush towards the group. He just really seems to be trying to assess the situation as he has an axe in hand, "I don't know what is going on at all, but it is fancy meeting you here... is everyone okay? I saw Autumn was out cold?"
"It's an improvement, really." Miles huffs over towards Silas, "Less white noise while we.. punch this tree."
"Hoom, hoom, hoom," Oak says. "I just wanted to look at the water."
Viktorin says "Yep. Tree likes using illusions to make us hit each other."
"We're uh, hashing things out with our tree friend here," Annie says aside towards Silas, moving in towards Oak itself to give it a good overhand bash with her weapon. The impact sends a jarring shake throughout the hammer, shaking her frame. It's definitely not a weapon to be used for prolonged use. And by hashing things out, that apparently means hacking into it repeatedly, chipping away at it bit by bit.
"Hoom," Oak tells everyone. "I just wanted to walk away."
Viktorin says "You walk too slowly."
"They are referring to us when they say hoom," Annie contextualizes for the newcomer(s).
Viktorin says "Hey Meri, welcome back. Are you good?"
Meridith says "Um, I'll keep..."
Viktorin says "Just come up and hack at it."
"Ah, not me again!" Miles blurts out in alarm as he's set on fire once more. The man desperately pats at his clothing, trying to smother the flames before diving onto the ground to stop, drop and roll.
"I see that," Silas says to Annie as he runs up towards her and starts to jog once he arrives, taking his axe into a two-handed grasp and holding it out menacingly towards Oak, "A lot of us have things we want to do, but can't get away with. You're unfortunately a creature from a place we can't allow to breach our world."
Oak howls, upset. "An axe!"
"I told you Silas has an axe," Annie matter-of-factly reminds. In an 'I told you so' sort of tone.
Viktorin says "How can you even speak? You're a tree?"
Meridith says "...Are you taunting it, Vik?"
Meridith scowls at him.
Viktorin says "No, it's an actual question."
"I have had dreams, nightmares, of places like this," Oak tells Viktorin. "Do you not have nightmares?"
Meridith says "I don't think it's feel very generous right now"
Miles blinks and pushes up to his feet, before rubbing at his eyes. "Did it disappear?"
Meridith says "It's just dark"
Harriet keeps swinging at Oak, time and time, and time again.
"And my axe!" Silas calls out as he hacks down against Oak.
"What, the tree?" Annie replies, shaking her head. "No. I can still hit it," Annie grumbles.
Viktorin says "I forget that the normies can't see in the dark..."
"Hoom, I would have walked away," Oak tells Silas. "But you mannish people are full of fear and anger and fire and axes."
"..Did it blind me again?" Miles pokes at his face, before groaning in Viktorin's direction. "I can see your skinny, flat, lacking arse, Vik. I just can't see the fifty foot tree!"
Viktorin says "I can't exactly be afraid of a tree that moves like a foot in five minutes."
Meridith says "Nnnn... "
Viktorin badgers Miles, "My ass is just fine. And I don't limp none either."
"If you go back to the place you came from you can walk there. This place is not where you belong, just like we would not belong where you are from," Silas says to Oak while hacking at it with an axe.
Meridith says "Be nice to the old man..."
Viktorin says "MERIDITH! "
"That was, hoom, where I proposed to walk," Oak tells Silas. "But they wanted to burn me."
"Oh, thank god, the glaucoma cleared up." Miles drawls out dryly, blinking rapidly until he can see the tree once more.
"Woah," Annie states with mild alarm as an object comes flying in their general direction. She seems to have gotten lucky, as it was aimed at someone else.
Meridith says "We could let it go..."
Viktorin stares daggers at Meridith, waving his actual dagger towards her. "Fuck off. Don't hit me with shit."
"All, hoom, I want to do is leave," Oak informs Meridith.
Meridith says "How will you leave this world?"
Meridith says "It isn't enough to return to the woods here..."
"I was kinda hoping to play Dragon's Domga 2 tonight," Annie bemoans, exhaling gently. The thought makes her forlorn for a moment, but then she is back at bashing Oak with her hammer.
"I will walk into the woods until they are my woods again," Oak tells Meridith. "If you go far enough? They are all one wood."
"..Is that two play-" Miles begins to ask of Annie, though the rest of the question is swallowed up by the gust of wind, which nearly knocks him over as well. "God damn it."
"Thrust by whom?" Oak asks Viktorin. "Not by me. By ambition, hoom, and pride, and mannish things."
"We're not so good at the lumberjack thing," Annie says after lying motionless on the ground for a good while, staring into the nightmarish sky. Then she sits upright like she was rising from a coffin, and returns to their work. "It's single player," she sadly informs Miles, readying her sledge for another strike.
"What are you going to play it on?" Silas asks Annie as he hacks at Oak again, "I saw the trailers and played the first one, it was good."
Oak roots more and more in place, now, as it becomes almost like a tree.
Meridith says "Harry. How."
"I never played the first one," Annie admits to Silas, shutting her eyes and making a face. Then she brings her hammer high over her head. Working the tree mines. "Illusory stuff," she calls out.
Harriet warns Meridith, "Illusion is on you."
"Ah, shit!" Miles blurts out as he too is tricked by the tree, and batters poor Meridith with his club.
Harriet moves to wrap up Meridith's injuries.
Annie says "Damnit. "
Meridith says "STILL ME"
Miles says "If we aim at Meri, we should hit the tree! "
Meridith says "Oh god."
"Or will we," Annie casts some doubt to the crew from a safe distance.
Meridith says "HERE "
Meridith says "I MOVED"
Harriet suggests, "Or we just don't hit anything for a moment...."
Annie says "Don't look her way!"
Viktorin says "I don't think it works that way."
Meridith says "I'm me again!"
Annie says "Or are you."
Meridith groans
Oak exhales, "Hoom, hoom, hoom, hoom."
"It's hard to tell!" Miles admits as he peers between the two Meridith's.
Meridith says "Yes? We're both god kids"
Meridith says "VIK "
Meridith says "WHY. "
Annie says "Who is the godfather?"
"Fuccck!" Miles blurts out as he's shocked, and blinded once more, nearly dropping his club and falling to his knees, before slumping to the side. "...Ow." The man whines into the dirt.
Meridith says "Stop hitting each other!"
Harriet sighs rather deeply.
Meridith says "ANNIE! "
Meridith says "THE HELL!?"
Miles waves his weapon around blindly, which was probably not a great idea, "Sorry, sorry!"
Annie says "Okay. Ugh. Yeah sorry."
Meridith says "YOU FUCKIN' PEOPLE"
Meridith says "Heal me before you fucking idiots kill me again"
Meridith says "MILES "
"I think I got him!" The blinded man calls out, though Miles pauses at the sound of Meridith, "..perhaps not."
Annie grows stiff with a squeak, then falls backwards like a plank. She is up after a moment. "Maybe I deserved that," she gripes grudgingly. Past sins for attacking Meridith.
Harriet starts getting to work on patching up Meridith as best she can.
Viktorin says "We're hopeless."
"Hoom, hoom," Oak says to Viktorin. "Embrace hope."
Meridith nods at Harriet. After literally being attacked a dozen times, even though the illusion lasts a single a single length!!!
"Okay, I think I have him this time.." Miles lines up another action, groping around blindly as he does so.
Viktorin certainly refrains from accidentally causing any more casualties. And then he heaves his chest in laughter at the tree.
Viktorin says "Oh. "
"Hoom," Oak says. "Such a terrible pity."
Meridith says "THAT'S IT, TIME OUT"
"Oof!" Miles goes flying backwards, tumbling across the ground, blind and lost.
Viktorin says "Miles stop trying to cut out Meridith's tongue."
Just for science, Annie whips out a yellow taser, activating the prongs. Then she gingerly presses it to one of the branches of Oak.
"Sorry, Meri!" Miles chirps out as he pushes himself back up and onto his feet, and then rubs at his eyes.
Oak is a tree. Tasers are not, in the scheme of things, effective.
Meridith says "Why? "
Harriet watches as Annie tries to electrocute leaves, and simply bats her lashes a few times before going back to swinging her warhammer at Oak.
"Oh, thank god. I can see." Free at least. From blindness. Miles rushes in closer once again.
Meridith says "Yes, he's not very strong, you all did a lot more damage"
Harriet slaps a bandaid on Meridith's hand. It even has a Disney Princess on it.
Meridith says "Ooh! Do you have an Elsa one...?"
Viktorin glances towards Meridith, asking them, "Are you saying I'm strong?"
"Kill it! Stop holding back!" Miles chastises the others.
Harriet peers over at the bandage she applied to Meridith and goes, "Oh, that one was Jasmine..."
Meridith says "Oh! Jasmine is good too..."
As the conflict drags on, Silas joins the fray, armed with an axe and a determination to aid in Oak's downfall. Amidst the struggle, the group exchanges half-hearted banter, their morale waning under the tedious and seemingly endless task of hacking away at the resilient Oak. The creature's sorrowful lamentations about humans' inherent cruelty do little to deter their actions. Even in the face of Oak's protests and its attempts to reason with them, offering to leave if allowed, the beleaguered band persists, doggedly continuing their onslaught. The ordeal tests not only their physical strength but also their resolve as they grapple with the ethical implications of their actions against a being that, by its own account, sought nothing more than solace in a dream.
(Battle with Oak)
[Thu Mar 21 2024]
On the Trash-strewn Sands of Underlook Beach
It is night, about 35F(1C) degrees, and the sky is partly covered by dark grey stormclouds. There is a waxing gibbous moon.
After the lengthy chat is over, Harriet is backing up, rifle held up, and taking aim at Oak.
"Hoom," Oak tells those here. "I suppose in the end, you, too, want to burn the wood."
"My dreams vary," Autumn shakes her head at Oak. "Some are impossible. Others... I rather not talk about it." She then chants under her breath words of power. "Ifrit, come shine your flame in darkness."
Miles probably should've brought an axe rather than a club, though he is quickly backing up one he realizes the foolishness of smacking the hard bark with the blunt instrument.
Meridith is quick, she steps in and her blade slashes towards the creature. Her expression shifts, going flat, casual, concerned certainly.
Annie scrambles backwards in a rush as fighting suddenly starts. She nearly abandons the sledgehammer she was posing with that she thought was making her look pretty cool. After retreating a safe distance, she digs around in her duffel bag for some bandages.
Viktorin immediately sprouts armor, bones dangling here and there, fusing together as if melting. The skull of a stag rests upon his head, antlers jagged, asymmetrical. Raising his rifle, he gazes through the ironsights before firing, murmuring softly, "Sorry Bogumil, these things are the way they are. Death comes to all..."
"When it comes to feeling safe, mate? I fear that us hooms will burn nearly anything, including ourselves." Miles laments in response to Oak. They've made their choice though, and Miles is committed to it. All they have to do is brutally murder this creature that only wanted to feel the sand, and speak.
Autumn says "I will not have my heart broken no longer."
"Damn. We scattered like roaches," Annie comments as she notices she's not the only one that thought it was gonna be a good idea to get far away from that giant tree. Save for Meridith, the brave. "Go get it, Meridith," she encourages with as much enthusiasm as a dead fish.
"Fire!" Oak bellows. "Fire, it burns!"
Viktorin says "Oof. "
Meridith shakes her head sadly. "I did not design this world," she declares. "But I know that something like you cannot exist here. You are too much of the world beyond. Reality trembles around you." She flits forward, a testing blow, and flicks a hand, lifting the tree into the air. "I am sorry," she declares, as fire erupts along its body.
"I am sorry, little one," Annie agrees grimly, in her own way. The monstrosity they're battling is hardly a little one at this stage though. She only knows one thing, and that living nightmares are a no go, no matter how wholesome or tragic they might be. From the distance she's made she begins to fire off shots at the monster, aiming for the beard.
"..Jesus, did you have to use fire?" Miles blurts out aside to Autumn, grimacing from the sound of the living wood's bellows of pain.
"That's the flames of conflicted heart," Autumn speaks with narrow eyes as she watches the fire burn on Oak. When the puff of black smoke heralds A glowing salamander with fiery wings's arrival, she points at the tree.
Loyally, Viktorin stands by Harriet, firing rounds into the tree person. Grim is the expression on his face. But he does glance towards the Warden, making sure they're alright.
Harriet listens to the group, keeping an eye on them all through glance after glance to ensure no one is on the verge of getting killed. She looks quite tired, but she then turns her focus in on Oak, looking at the creature through the scope of her rifle as she shoots again, standing alongside Viktorin.
Meridith frowns, easily keeping up as it retreats. She gazes upon the Oak with pity, as she hurls a rock into the side of its body. She feels the breath leave her, and she gasps, desperate a moment.
The blast of electricity takes Miles off-guard, shocking the man silent. Which may be a relief for the others, but certainly isn't for him, he staggers this way and that, nearly dropping him gun as he tries to shake it off.
Discomfort works its way over Annie's features as their foe screams out its pain. She braces the stock of her shitty hunting rifle against her shoulder, gritting her teeth at the recoil that ensues from another shot delivered to Oak. She catches movement nearby and swivels her weapon at the spirit of vengeance, looking uncertain for a moment or two.
"Did that hurt?" Annie wonders as Miles gets some shock treatment. Of course it probably hurt, she's probably just concerned how much and if she should be worried about Oak's newly arrived ally.
Harriet's attention quickly turns to a spirit of nature's vengeance, and both of her naturally arched eyebrows are lifting. There's a small wince and she fires off a round at it.
Viktorin racks his bolt, sending another round down-range. He nearly winces at the flames gracing the living, walking pile of lumber that's about to go up in flames. And then, flickering a solemn, viridian gaze towards Harriet, he darts back, preparing his dagger for the worst.
"..V-very mu-much." Miles stutters out in response, body twitching against his will as he tries to get himself back under control. The deputy staggers away from the wetter sand, trying to avoid making himself a target again.
Meridith flinches as lightning slams overhead. She pivots and dances after the tree. "If you are what you say, you deserved better. A lot of us do," she says.
Viktorin says "Hostiles. In bound. Weird... wisp thing... uh. Well. That is in good range."
"Hoom," Oak tells Meridith sadly, as the great tree backs up towards the woods. "I wished only to dream, only to dream. But even there things are... polluted."
"Rough." Annie's condolences dispensed with for Miles, she takes a few steps back, taking a knee and redirects her attention to that spirit that is hurling bolts of electricity at everyone now. "Guess some of us might as well deal with that since..."
Meridith says "I pray you find your way back to the world you belong..."
Oak tells Meridith gravely, "I could have just walked away."
Viktorin says "It's weakening. Mm. Time for bones, I guess."
Autumn says "Not all humans are as kind as you, tree."
"Walking away usually means you're the bigger man. Or tree thing," Annie contributes to the grim, potentially tragic discourse happening with Oak and its main foes. Depending on one's point of view. "Can't risk it," she heaves in consternation, sliding off to one side to avoid some lightning crackling nearby.
Oak says "I would have walked into the woods and not returned, but humans love violence too much. What is it in your mannish hearts that needs such cruelty?"
Viktorin darts forth at this point, watching Autumn carefully. Weaving his dagger, he lunges, thrusts, stabbing at the thing, wincing as he's probably dulling the sharp edge with tree bark. "Sorry champ," he murmurs, "At this point it's you or me, and I like me," he continues, informing the tree.
"Is it, hoom?" Oak asks Viktorin.
"Aacck!" Miles is blasted with yet more lightning, staggering this way and that, and barely managing to stay on his feet, "Jesus christ, ow. God, ow." He mutters out, hacking and coughing and trying to catch his breath.
"Can't risk it," Annie reiterates, her voice low and rather unaffected. She tries to pop another shot at the spirit lobbing and creating electricity to defend its master, but the click informs her its time she needs to loud more rounds inside of her rifle. "Damnit," she complains.
Annie turns her head to Miles, aware of the poor guy's complaints. "Need some patching up, guy?" she asks out of genuine concern, one round for her rifle slipping from her shaking fingers.
Meridith says "I could use some too..."
"Like you wouldn't believe.." Miles blurts out to Annie, staggering closer toward her.
"Not even moon deity will save you now," Autumn tells Oak in a hushed voice, raising her khopesh and charging towards the tree creature.
"Thank you, thank you." Miles blurts out aside to Annie, catching his breath as she fills him up.
Fill Miles's armour up, rather.
Oak says "There is no reason for war and fire."
Viktorin says "Agree to disagree."
Meridith winces. Her vision wavers a moment as she weathers bolts of lightning. As the Oak closes with her, her blade clashes out, striking at it, then she shoves it away. She exhales.
Harriet keeps her distance, watching with a fair amount of disbelief over how close the others want to get to a spirit of nature's vengeance and Oak. She keeps firing off bullets at a spirit of nature's vengeance.
Annie retrieves that fallen round before it can roll too far away from her with a generous stoop. Then she makes a mad dash for Miles, hugging her long rifle close to her chest. She drops the weapon and starts unrolling gauze, rapping it around Miles's booboo's. "Anyone able to get to Meri for a bandage?" she calls out across the battlefield, unaware of everyone's exact positioning.
Meridith says "look "
Meridith says "I can get to you."
Meridith scowls as fire erupts on her clothing. She holds an arm around herself.
"Take out the spirits first!" Miles calls over toward the group at large, once Annie had managed to wrap his booboo's. She's such a good battle buddy.
Meridith lifts through the air and lands not nearly so far as she hoped, panting heavily.
Harriet finally gets to optimal range and sets herself up, holding that rifle and aiming with precision.
"Ow!" Annie just about screams as she gets in the crossfire of its intended target, Miles. It even sends her rolling back a bit, so now she knows what everyone else was dealing with. She takes a moment to shake the disorientation away, unable to focus on all the figures in her field of vision for a moment. "Are we winning?" she has to ask after pushing herself to her feet.
Viktorin doggedly pursues the tree, slashing and thrusting with his dagger. He weaves the metal around, harrying Oak as they retreat.
Meridith says "Ow...! "
Harriet calls out, "I really think killing the tree first is the best bet, otherwise, he's going to simply keep summoning forth more of these spirits!"
"That thing has gotta be almost down by now right?" Annie calls out to no one in particular. She looks annoyed as more and more of its minions are being called to aid it.
Meridith feels some presence worriedly chasing her.
Meridith continues to stagger her way to Miles and Annie
Viktorin bursts back into bone armor, darting forth. Desperation drives a blade forward, a lunge and an upward sweep, seeking to hook the gleaming thing on whatever pieces of lumber and bark he can find. "You're a tricky one," he tells Oak, growling.
Meridith says "Vike! "
"Hi, Meridith," Annie greets quietly, racing to meet the lady with the shockingly white hair. She has some rolls of gauze in either hand, ready to deal with Meridith's booboo's as well. "Tell me where it hurts."
"Hoom, we did not need to fight," Oak says.
Viktorin says "Fucking... illusions."
Meridith says "Use your blade only, don't just attack, if he's not next to you it isn't him!"
Viktorin says "He LITERALLY is right next to me."
Annie grits her teeth and works on adding last minute touches to Meridith' with a generous helping of bandaging. She's not sparing any expenses. "All good, or do you need a little more," she asks Meridith, turning some of her attention over to the fight at hand nearby.
Viktorin says "Is Meridith okay?"
Viktorin says "Oh you piece of shit."
Autumn says "You dare to abuse the art or pyromancy?"
Viktorin growls, shaking his head as he tries to tear away towards the tree, ferociously stabbing at it now. Angrily. "Fucking die, you piece of shit!" the demigod roars, leaping upon them.
While Annie bandages Meridith, Miles ends up stuffing a bunch of gauze into her armour in turn. Along with some quick release foam. It's like a daisy chain of first aid.
"Thanks," Annie says reflexively as she feels someone applying bandages over her vest, where a nasty dent advertises where he should focus. She doesn't know it's Miles since she's fixated on that giant tree, firing shot after shot at the thing. "I feel like I should have brought more rounds," she remarks, clicking her tongue.
Full of rage, Autumn smirks as her blade glows red once more, and she continues to lash out at Oak.
"Once more, with spirit," Annie urges, trying to boost back some morale to the rest of the remaining fighters. To her, it looks like chaos, but she diligently keeps firing at Oak, loading and unloading rounds into it with a mechanical nature at this point in the fight, potentially finding her groove.
Viktorin says "This is absolutely absurd."
"I did not want to fight, hmm," Oak tells Viktorin.
Viktorin says "I meant killing you. You're just... made up of so much wood."
Annie is starting to doubt the efficacy of riddling the trunks and branches that Oak sports full of bullets. "We should have brought more fire. And axes," she says to herself than anyone around her. She ducks her head as a scream of lightning hurtles at her, narrowly missing her. Instead it strikes poor Miles.
Autumn says "It's very durable."
"Trees may not have name, but there is a gravity to a wood. When it moves, it moves with purpose, mmm," Oak says.
"Ah!" Miles cries out, as he's blinded and blasted by the lightning, nearly dropping his rifle as his sight is stolen from him. "I can't see!" He blurts out in a panic, raising a hand to grope at his face.
Viktorin says "You can't even move though. You're like... moving two feet. That's not moving with a purpose."
"Slow and steady. Purposeful," Annie chimes in, just because. How slowly Oak moves could be an encouraging sign, but was it moving much in the first place?
"You seemed, hoom, to think this was all you could do," Oak says.
Viktorin shrugs, "I mean, I'm not stopping, am I?"
Autumn says "We're going to need more melee!"
Viktorin says "This is like... when the fucking rats nibble me."
"Miles, you still around?" Annie asks, turning her head to scout for the guy, and as if in answer the crack of his weapon answers her. "Okay. Good. Just checking."
Viktorin says "It's moving SO fucking slow, I can literally just strap my armor together."
"This is the waiting game then. I guess," Annie says under her breath, eyes scanning the area, taking note of the fallen and debris manifesting in the nightmare.
Viktorin at this point seems utterly bored, just walking forward and giving Oak a few swats here and there with his dagger.
Viktorin says "Autumn, you good?"
Autumn says "Wolf could claw and bite me better than this. This is but scratch."
Viktorin says "I'd imagine this is what being nibbled to death feels like."
Autumn says "All bark, no bite."
There's a long, low, sad look around the humans clobbering him with swords and axes. "Is this really what you want?" it asks, stepping back slowly. "To destroy some peace in nature?" There's grief, stricken in its tone, as someone clings to Oak's beard.
There's a long, low, sad look around the humans clobbering him with swords and axes. "Is this really what you want?" it asks, stepping back slowly. "To destroy some peace in nature?" There's grief, stricken in its tone, as mist clings to Oak's beard.
Viktorin says "I mean at this point, I really want to kill you because you're pissing me off, but yeah. I want you dead. You're a threat to our society, civilization, and the residents of the town. Your doom was written in the stars."
"Hoom, hoom," Oak tells Viktorin. "I was standing in the sand, and you came to me with war in your heart."
Viktorin says "Death. Not war. My ancestor has nothing to do with war. Just mortality."
"Not really," Annie admits, maybe a hint of shame to her voice. Riddling bullets into a thing that you necessarily don't have any qualms with isn't the most noble thing to do. "But the rules are the rules," she says, bobbing her head firmly. She reaches into her box of bullets, frowning at the stash she amassed feeling far more diminished before the start of this conflict. "Damn," she complains aloud.
"What rules require you to do this?" Oak queries Annie. It's not fighting at all -- standing there, now, as bullets dig into its oaken bark. "What world do you live in, that you must cut down a tree?"
Viktorin says "A world where I need firewood because it's cold outside."
"Oh, thank god, the lightning has stopped." Miles pants out, and jogs closer toward Annie. He's absolutely covered in sweat by now, from having been blasted by lightning a good few times.
Viktorin says "Don't worry Miles. It'll probably start again."
"The natural order of things," Annie wagers, not sounding entirely certain with that. Her enthusiasm for plinking at Oak is starting to waver. It's almost like they're just shooting at a tree for sure. She shoots Miles with another sort of ammunition. It pretty much reads like, 'Is this working?'
Viktorin says "Can you guys just get over here and start whacking it?"
Harriet keeps whacking it.
There's a wordless sort of shrug afforded back to Annie as Miles jerks back the bolt of his rifle, causing a spent round to ping out into the air. "We're shooting it!" He calls over toward Viktorin, pauses and then glances aside to Annie again. "I suppose we could whack it."
Shaking its head sadly, Oak says, "I thought for a little while this might be a pleasant dream." He pauses, breathing in and out, as it digs roots deeper into the earth. "I spoke to a man last night," it says. "Ah-lex-ann-der," it says, each syllable some slow ennunciation. "He gave me some hope, hoom, for the world. But perhaps hope for spring was misplaced."
"I guess we could whack it," Annie echoes, firing one last shot before the barrel of her crappy rifle wavers, trending downwards. She's running low on ammunition anyway. She takes a deep breath, with a strained smile, and grabs the handle of her sledge hammer, not fully lifting it, so when she commences the trek over to Oak and gang, she's dragging it behind her at a slow, dogged pace.
Autumn says "Get over here and whack it!"
Viktorin sighs as he summons bone-armor to cling to his visage, yet again, only to thrust his dagger out, ruthlessly and miserably stabbing at the poor tree. He's not entirely thrilled with this, boredom dulling his eyes. And then he tells Oak, "Yeah, Alex is a friend."
"Not so much a friend to be full of hope, hoom?" Oak asks Viktorin.
"..Or we could whack Autumn." Miles suggests aside to Annie dryly, starting to jog in closer toward the tree then. He doesn't look bored, but he does look emotionally spent. There's only so much time you can spend effectively putting down a wooden puppy before you have to turn your feelings off.
"Friends can have different beliefs and feelings," Viktorin informs the tree, once more just gliding over it to slash at the bark.
At least for Annie and maybe Miles, attacking Oak up close and personal will give them a new avenue to enjoy this moment with the living nightmare. She seems kinda dubious right now though as their quarry has stopped fighting back. Instead it treats with them with diplomacy or something.
Miles glances back to squint toward Meridith, "Is she alright?"
The tree, slowly, is beginning to root in place in the nightmare, as it digs its feet deeper into the sands. "Hoom," Oak says slowly. "Hoom, hoom."
Viktorin says "I hope she is. The dude fucking lit her on fire."
Closing the distance with the rest of the crew smacking and whacking and slashing at Oak, Annie hefts her sledge hammer and with a grunt, raises it over her head, finding one of the tiny branches on the ground as a suitable target. It comes after Harriet's whack with her fancy warhammer.
Viktorin says "Uh. Wanna like... chat? Like, what do trees do for fun?"
Autumn says "This is going to take all night."
"I sit on the beach," Oak says slowly to Viktorin. "I talk to the birds. Birds are fascinating things."
Viktorin mutters, "Eh. Birds are neat. Belobog, my ancestor's twin. Or something, Gods are confusing you know, birds alight on his antlers and stuff. My ancestor though, he likes death. And weaving shadows with his antlers." He gives a curt nod towards Oak, humming softly.
Miles joins the others in doing his best impression of a lumberjack, smashing and whacking at the tree with all of his measly mortal might.
Oak continues to Viktorin, "Birds do not have great brains." It's a low, slow admission: only its mouth is moving, now, as it freezes more and more into place. "But they are innocent. The song of birds, the chirping, they talk in the same way, like every day is some bright new memory." His voice is slowing, too. "But memory is a curse for trees. We do not have names, but we do remember."
Autumn says "I really need to sleep soon."
"Maybe ask the tree really nicely to knock you over, or extend a branch for you to nap in." Miles suggests aside to Autumn, wiping sweat from his brow as he speaks.
Viktorin says "I just gave you a name. Bogumil. Means favored of God."
repeatedly hitting Oak with a sledgehammer is tedious, and even awful work. Annie is quickly regretting making the trip here to join the others in the whackfest, having preferred the easier job of shooting at the monster with a rifle. "Hello Bogumil," Annie says wearily, already broken into a sweat now that it seems like they're chopping wood more than anything.
"T-E-M-P-L-A-R." Miles spells it out for Autumn with a little shake of the head, "Templar. Not sun human. But, no, I don't want to die, not particularly/"
Viktorin at this point is just whacking the poor thing, boredly regarding Oak as he chatters aside to his companions.
Harriet is swinging her warhammer time and time against at Oak, replying to Viktorin, "I am doing just fine, dear Vik," in a tone that is tainted by only a hint of heavier breathing. "I should have brought an axe."
Sofia says "Are you guys doing alright? Should I grab Meredith and leave?"
Autumn says "You say Templar, I say sun human. Don't disrespect my way of terms."
"Hoom," Oak says, cross. "Leave me alone."
Viktorin says "Grab Meridith, yeah."
Autumn says "Ow... "
Viktorin nods towards Sofia
Harriet sighs as her warhammer hits Autumn, and she squints at Oak.
Miles pauses for a moment, and then gestures toward Autumn with a waggle of his brows, as if suggesting that Oak should give her some attention. Maybe stuff an acorn in her mouth.
Sofia says "I don't think a .38 will help either."
"Oh," Annie blinks after she realizes some trickery is afoot. She aimed her hammer at Oak, but Autumn was the victim. "Uh. Watch out guys," she warns, starting to become more aware. And a reminder this isn't actually a menial task.
Harriet tells Autumn, "I am so sorry. I'm not trying to kill you, either!" and she keeps patching up the other woman.
Miles says "..Look, I appreciate that her getting things wrong is annoying, but why are we whacking her?""
Autumn says "Ow! "
Miles blinks in surprise as his attack goes wide as well, "What the hell!"
Viktorin says "It's using an illusion again."
Harriet exclaims, "Because of tree magic!"
"Hoom," Oak says. "I do not have a quarrel with you, but I do not like you chopping me down."
Viktorin says "Hoom. "
"Does that mean we need to target her to hit it?" Miles wonders of the others with a squinting of the eyes.
Autumn says "One more hit and I'm going down."
Viktorin mockingly chants, "Hoom, Hoom, Hoom."
Viktorin says "Ugh. "
Sofia says "Where's the nearest mirror?"
Viktorin says "In the shops, Sofia."
"Aw, geez." Miles blurts out as Viktorin beats Autumn down.
Viktorin says "This... is kinda awkward."
"What were you aiming for?" Miles checks with Viktorin then, trying to prevent himself making the same mistake.
"Yeah. Oops," Annie says after her swing is still off the mark and hits Autumn on her way down.
Sofia says "A tree with Illusions. Are you sure this thing isn't Old Man Willow? "
Viktorin says "I don't know who that is."
Sofia says "No appreciation for the classics. "
"I am," Oak declares ponderously to Sofia, "An oak. And I am upset with this dream. I would like to wake."
Harriet cringes a bit, saying, "We will likely need a much larger group and far more hours to take this thing down."
Sofia says "Is there such thing as like...nightmare gasoline?"
Viktorin says "I don't watch Lord of the Rings. I watch stuff like, Blade Runner."
Sofia says "Good taste"
Viktorin says "There's regular gasoline."
"I just wish to leave," Oak tells Harriet, his voice some low, upset rumble. "ANd yet."
Viktorin says "Jeez "
Viktorin says "Back to the fire again."
"You could all walk away," Oak reasons. "And I could walk away."
"Ack! Ah!" Miles blurts out as he catches alight, and tries to pat himself down. He quickly gives up on checking on Autumn. No good deed.
Viktorin says "You walk very slowly though."
"Hoom," Oak agrees with Viktorin.
Viktorin says "I was supposed to go on a date tonight."
Viktorin says "This sucks."
Harriet gives a glance around the area for a moment, processing all that is happening, but then Viktorin is complaining about his date.
"And yet you came to bother me on the beach, hoom," Oak tells Viktorin. "Becuase of some ... dream? Some dream you fear I might have?"
"That's not good," Annie remarks, some sympathy voiced for Viktorin. She wipes some sweat from her brow, pretty fatigued at this point. Some encouragement comes from watching Harriet still keeping at it, so she doesn't let up entirely herself.
"This isn't an intimate enough setting for you?" Miles teases Viktorin once he'd managed to get the fire under control, and then moves toward the cover.
At this point, the Czech seems to be far more preoccupied with the other goings-on his life, not exactly fatigued due to his dagger being his main choice of weapon. Still, Viktorin slashes at Oak, muttering quietly. "Man, now my date is texting me."
"I felt my phone trying to get my attention too," Annie complains, the sledgehammer she wields in her hands growing heavier and heavier with every swing. "At least you can tell your date you were busy uh. Saving the world?"
Harriet nods to Annie. "Mine is also going off."
"Saving the world by cutting down a tree, hoom?" Oak asks Annie.
Viktorin says "This is absurd."
"And how about you, Harri-" Miles begins to note over toward her, only for her answer to come before he'd quite finished.
"A very special tree," Annie endeavors back to Oak, giving it a slow, ponderous nod.
Viktorin simply slashes, muttering, "Absurd. God damn Bogumil, you take tree steroids before this?"
Viktorin says "This is... pretty leisurely."
Viktorin says "Oh neat, Silas is coming."
"I feel like I'm being punished with the worst chore in the world," Annie voices out with a grunt. "Oh, he is? Can you tell him to bring - wait he actually uses an axe," Annie recalls, seeming enthused.
Viktorin says "Silas, we need your help. We need to beat this tree up."
Viktorin says "And steal its lunch money."
"You do not," Oak corrects Viktorin. "I could have walked away into the world."
"Wah!" Miles blurts out in alarm as he's blasted by wind, but thankfully it doesn't come with a lightning bolt.
Then the wind comes, right for Annie. Buffeting her backwards while she was mid-swing with her sledge hammer. The sheer weight of it angled behind her combined with the wind makes her fall flat on her back with a thud, and the classic 'Oof.""
"I can walk away, hoom," Oak tells Annie. "We do not need to fight."
Viktorin slips and slides as he's buffeted by winds, grabbing on to whatever he can hold. And then he's back to darting towards Oak, hacking at it with his dagger.
"We probably don't need to fight," Annie agrees, slowly pushing herself up to her feet. She didn't hear any ring, so she trudges back, dragging her ponderous hammer behind her. "But I can't look like a quitter in front of everyone," she makes her case to Oak, sounding awfully apologetic.
Viktorin says "Illusion. "
"That is something, hoom," Oak tells Annie, "that you will need to decide for yourself."
Viktorin points out the tree's leafy illusions, huffing quietly. "Careful now."
Annie takes a few weary steps backward, holding her weapon out before her. She could be contemplating ditching the fight, what with the diplomacy attempts on its end. Or she is backing off to assess the situation when some illusions are called out. "Hi Silas," she says quietly, her breathing laboured. "Fancy meeting you here."
Harriet is repeatedly swinging her warhammer at Oak, trying to chop it down, but it is a very, very slow process.
Viktorin says "You missed."
At least Miles and the others likely have an excuse to skip the gym this week. Even the law enforcement officer is getting tired of assaulting a largely defenceless target, and in America too!
"Hello, Annie," Silas says to Annie as he continues to rush towards the group. He just really seems to be trying to assess the situation as he has an axe in hand, "I don't know what is going on at all, but it is fancy meeting you here... is everyone okay? I saw Autumn was out cold?"
"It's an improvement, really." Miles huffs over towards Silas, "Less white noise while we.. punch this tree."
"Hoom, hoom, hoom," Oak says. "I just wanted to look at the water."
Viktorin says "Yep. Tree likes using illusions to make us hit each other."
"We're uh, hashing things out with our tree friend here," Annie says aside towards Silas, moving in towards Oak itself to give it a good overhand bash with her weapon. The impact sends a jarring shake throughout the hammer, shaking her frame. It's definitely not a weapon to be used for prolonged use. And by hashing things out, that apparently means hacking into it repeatedly, chipping away at it bit by bit.
"Hoom," Oak tells everyone. "I just wanted to walk away."
Viktorin says "You walk too slowly."
"They are referring to us when they say hoom," Annie contextualizes for the newcomer(s).
Viktorin says "Hey Meri, welcome back. Are you good?"
Meridith says "Um, I'll keep..."
Viktorin says "Just come up and hack at it."
"Ah, not me again!" Miles blurts out in alarm as he's set on fire once more. The man desperately pats at his clothing, trying to smother the flames before diving onto the ground to stop, drop and roll.
"I see that," Silas says to Annie as he runs up towards her and starts to jog once he arrives, taking his axe into a two-handed grasp and holding it out menacingly towards Oak, "A lot of us have things we want to do, but can't get away with. You're unfortunately a creature from a place we can't allow to breach our world."
Oak howls, upset. "An axe!"
"I told you Silas has an axe," Annie matter-of-factly reminds. In an 'I told you so' sort of tone.
Viktorin says "How can you even speak? You're a tree?"
Meridith says "...Are you taunting it, Vik?"
Meridith scowls at him.
Viktorin says "No, it's an actual question."
"I have had dreams, nightmares, of places like this," Oak tells Viktorin. "Do you not have nightmares?"
Meridith says "I don't think it's feel very generous right now"
Miles blinks and pushes up to his feet, before rubbing at his eyes. "Did it disappear?"
Meridith says "It's just dark"
Harriet keeps swinging at Oak, time and time, and time again.
"And my axe!" Silas calls out as he hacks down against Oak.
"What, the tree?" Annie replies, shaking her head. "No. I can still hit it," Annie grumbles.
Viktorin says "I forget that the normies can't see in the dark..."
"Hoom, I would have walked away," Oak tells Silas. "But you mannish people are full of fear and anger and fire and axes."
"..Did it blind me again?" Miles pokes at his face, before groaning in Viktorin's direction. "I can see your skinny, flat, lacking arse, Vik. I just can't see the fifty foot tree!"
Viktorin says "I can't exactly be afraid of a tree that moves like a foot in five minutes."
Meridith says "Nnnn... "
Viktorin badgers Miles, "My ass is just fine. And I don't limp none either."
"If you go back to the place you came from you can walk there. This place is not where you belong, just like we would not belong where you are from," Silas says to Oak while hacking at it with an axe.
Meridith says "Be nice to the old man..."
Viktorin says "MERIDITH! "
"That was, hoom, where I proposed to walk," Oak tells Silas. "But they wanted to burn me."
"Oh, thank god, the glaucoma cleared up." Miles drawls out dryly, blinking rapidly until he can see the tree once more.
"Woah," Annie states with mild alarm as an object comes flying in their general direction. She seems to have gotten lucky, as it was aimed at someone else.
Meridith says "We could let it go..."
Viktorin stares daggers at Meridith, waving his actual dagger towards her. "Fuck off. Don't hit me with shit."
"All, hoom, I want to do is leave," Oak informs Meridith.
Meridith says "How will you leave this world?"
Meridith says "It isn't enough to return to the woods here..."
"I was kinda hoping to play Dragon's Domga 2 tonight," Annie bemoans, exhaling gently. The thought makes her forlorn for a moment, but then she is back at bashing Oak with her hammer.
"I will walk into the woods until they are my woods again," Oak tells Meridith. "If you go far enough? They are all one wood."
"..Is that two play-" Miles begins to ask of Annie, though the rest of the question is swallowed up by the gust of wind, which nearly knocks him over as well. "God damn it."
"Thrust by whom?" Oak asks Viktorin. "Not by me. By ambition, hoom, and pride, and mannish things."
"We're not so good at the lumberjack thing," Annie says after lying motionless on the ground for a good while, staring into the nightmarish sky. Then she sits upright like she was rising from a coffin, and returns to their work. "It's single player," she sadly informs Miles, readying her sledge for another strike.
"What are you going to play it on?" Silas asks Annie as he hacks at Oak again, "I saw the trailers and played the first one, it was good."
Oak roots more and more in place, now, as it becomes almost like a tree.
Meridith says "Harry. How."
"I never played the first one," Annie admits to Silas, shutting her eyes and making a face. Then she brings her hammer high over her head. Working the tree mines. "Illusory stuff," she calls out.
Harriet warns Meridith, "Illusion is on you."
"Ah, shit!" Miles blurts out as he too is tricked by the tree, and batters poor Meridith with his club.
Harriet moves to wrap up Meridith's injuries.
Annie says "Damnit. "
Meridith says "STILL ME"
Miles says "If we aim at Meri, we should hit the tree! "
Meridith says "Oh god."
"Or will we," Annie casts some doubt to the crew from a safe distance.
Meridith says "HERE "
Meridith says "I MOVED"
Harriet suggests, "Or we just don't hit anything for a moment...."
Annie says "Don't look her way!"
Viktorin says "I don't think it works that way."
Meridith says "I'm me again!"
Annie says "Or are you."
Meridith groans
Oak exhales, "Hoom, hoom, hoom, hoom."
"It's hard to tell!" Miles admits as he peers between the two Meridith's.
Meridith says "Yes? We're both god kids"
Meridith says "VIK "
Meridith says "WHY. "
Annie says "Who is the godfather?"
"Fuccck!" Miles blurts out as he's shocked, and blinded once more, nearly dropping his club and falling to his knees, before slumping to the side. "...Ow." The man whines into the dirt.
Meridith says "Stop hitting each other!"
Harriet sighs rather deeply.
Meridith says "ANNIE! "
Meridith says "THE HELL!?"
Miles waves his weapon around blindly, which was probably not a great idea, "Sorry, sorry!"
Annie says "Okay. Ugh. Yeah sorry."
Meridith says "YOU FUCKIN' PEOPLE"
Meridith says "Heal me before you fucking idiots kill me again"
Meridith says "MILES "
"I think I got him!" The blinded man calls out, though Miles pauses at the sound of Meridith, "..perhaps not."
Annie grows stiff with a squeak, then falls backwards like a plank. She is up after a moment. "Maybe I deserved that," she gripes grudgingly. Past sins for attacking Meridith.
Harriet starts getting to work on patching up Meridith as best she can.
Viktorin says "We're hopeless."
"Hoom, hoom," Oak says to Viktorin. "Embrace hope."
Meridith nods at Harriet. After literally being attacked a dozen times, even though the illusion lasts a single a single length!!!
"Okay, I think I have him this time.." Miles lines up another action, groping around blindly as he does so.
Viktorin certainly refrains from accidentally causing any more casualties. And then he heaves his chest in laughter at the tree.
Viktorin says "Oh. "
"Hoom," Oak says. "Such a terrible pity."
Meridith says "THAT'S IT, TIME OUT"
"Oof!" Miles goes flying backwards, tumbling across the ground, blind and lost.
Viktorin says "Miles stop trying to cut out Meridith's tongue."
Just for science, Annie whips out a yellow taser, activating the prongs. Then she gingerly presses it to one of the branches of Oak.
"Sorry, Meri!" Miles chirps out as he pushes himself back up and onto his feet, and then rubs at his eyes.
Oak is a tree. Tasers are not, in the scheme of things, effective.
Meridith says "Why? "
Harriet watches as Annie tries to electrocute leaves, and simply bats her lashes a few times before going back to swinging her warhammer at Oak.
"Oh, thank god. I can see." Free at least. From blindness. Miles rushes in closer once again.
Meridith says "Yes, he's not very strong, you all did a lot more damage"
Harriet slaps a bandaid on Meridith's hand. It even has a Disney Princess on it.
Meridith says "Ooh! Do you have an Elsa one...?"
Viktorin glances towards Meridith, asking them, "Are you saying I'm strong?"
"Kill it! Stop holding back!" Miles chastises the others.
Harriet peers over at the bandage she applied to Meridith and goes, "Oh, that one was Jasmine..."
Meridith says "Oh! Jasmine is good too..."