sixthiterationlogs | (no subject)

WHO: Cougar Alvarez & The Hunting Party
WHERE: The Inn
WHEN: December 12th
OPEN TO: All - jump in wherever it suits!
WARNINGS: Discussion of violence
STATUS: Open

In a way, the village is strangely like coming home even though it's not one that Cougar would ever have claimed. Maybe it's not that he's relieved to see the village, but just that he's relieved that the long hike back with a heavy, eight foot beast on his shoulders that reeks and makes him smell awful has been wearing on his last nerve, making his patience dwindle to the point that when the inn comes into sight, it's a good thing, otherwise Cougar might have killed the first thing they came across.

The beast is large and looming and he's inclined to believe Helen's theory that this is what killed the animals and Karen. The rest of what they've found is equally as confusing, but given the amount of people they seem to be attracting given their cargo and the smell, Cougar doubts they'll have any trouble rallying the troops to discuss it.

He hefts up the animal over his shoulder for the last few feet into the inn when the door is held open for him, heaving it off his shoulders so it collapses on the floor. Cougar digs out his hat from his back pocket, sliding it on his head, and glancing over his shoulder at the people who have come in. He tips his hat to them as he glances back at the creature, bending down to haul the arrow out of the thing's eye, because he'd carved this one himself. "It's dead," he offers in a rough deadpan, the sarcasm dryer than some of the winter days.

Sniffing himself, he grimaces and heads off to the corner with one last jut of his thumb towards the group. "They know more." And with that, he heads upstairs to try and get some of the awful smell off and to wrap up the bruise on his chest, just in case.

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"It appears to be a very similar creature. Eerily similar, yet not quite the same," Ciri replies to the blond woman who is also a new face to her.

She listens to her recounting of the beast's slaying, and it peaks her interest even further as she leans over the body to get a closer look at the chest where the harpoon had carved a visibly deep wound.

"If this is anything like the monsters back home," she begins, now peering at its claws, noting in her head its differences and similarities to the forest monsters she had encountered back home. It's limbs appear far more bestial in form, less the winding branch-like claws of a Leshen. "They were quite susceptible to silver. Is it possible your harpoon in fact contains silver?"

She realizes she has yet to introduce herself. "I'm Ciri, by the way. I've only just recently arrived."

Edited 2016-12-15 02:49 (UTC)

Riza is curious now, so she continues that line of questioning. "What are the differences? If you don't mind me asking. I wasn't quite sure what this creature was myself, just that I had never seen anything like it." In some regards it's form reminded her of a chimera, but she doubted that was the case.

At the mention of silver Riza glanced over at the harpoon she had set aside, "I don't think it has that in it, unless it is a minute amount." As far as she could tell it was just wood and bone. "Perhaps it isn't a leshen or it has other properties."

"And hello Ciri. There aren't that many people in the village so I gathered you must have arrived while we were out. I'm Riza."

"For one thing this creature has far more hair. Leshens are forest spirits, their skin often resembles the bark of trees with branch-like claws, this monster has quite distinctly bestial claws. The form of the body, however, the shape of the skull, it's all very similar."

Ciri also turns her gaze to the harpoon, rising to her feet for the moment. The smell of the beast was quite intense at such close range. "It is entirely possible this creature is vulnerable to different materials. I've never been to this world before, or encountered any of its monsters. Already I've noticed only a few of our alchemical ingredients are similar, and those that are appear to work in subtly different ways. That could well be the case here as well."

She offers Riza a smile in greeting. "I'm glad to see you've all returned relatively unharmed, this monster appears quite dangerous."

Forest spirits and knowledge of monsters made her wonder if this woman was from a world similar to Harry. He'd sometimes spoken of creatures like that. She hadn't meant many people here that were familiar with such things though. But, there were a lot of worlds out there, it was why she didn't react much to Ciri's reference to alchemy.

"We only have the one...so it's hard to tell if it would be all creatures like this or if we just managed to hit it in the right place with the right tools," Riza assessed, not thinking they should jump to conclusions just yet. "To be honest, we didn't start encountering monsters until recently, at least, that I'm aware of," Riza added after a moment of thought. This thing was one and then Natasha had admitted to encountering a hydra awhile back, though no one had been able to locate that creature since. Monsters certainly didn't seem to be quite as common here as in other places she had visited. "But, yes, sometimes there are more differences between worlds than you might first realize."

"Hrm," Ciri hummed in agreement with Riza'a assessment, once again eying up the bloodied weapon.

"I've encountered plenty of monsters in my own world, and some in others, but I've never encountered a world quite like this one. There is really no way of knowing what we might encounter." There were so many questions still unanswered, and at the moment, they were all of them forced to move forward on their best estimates of whatever they happened to be dealing with.

Which, given, was somewhat of a normal day for Ciri. "I'd love to give the creature a thorough autopsy, but I agree it's best we move it out of the inn for now," she said, concurring with another of the unfamiliar arrivals who suggested it. "The cold should halt at least some of the decomposition."

"Same here," Riza admitted. While it was true at one time she wouldn't have said there were monsters in Amestris she had, of course, been proven wrong. Then of course there were the creatures she had encountered in that fake version of Manhattan. Both instances had left her with an acceptance that just about anything was possible given the right circumstances. "So, you've been to other worlds then? That seems to be a bit of a rarity here -- people having prior experience with multiple worlds I mean." She could name about a handful of people, most of the others were only experiencing this for the first time it seemed. She certainly remembered what that was like. It was a lot to take in.

Riza nodded, "It's probably for the best. You might want to speak with Helen, she seemed to have some knowledge of the creature as well and I think she has some experience with autopsies. I was certainly going to leave that to people who knew what they were doing."

“In my experience, it’s a rarity no matter where I am,” Ciri muses, thinking of the worlds of home, how most waited thousands of years for a conjunction of spheres before a portal between the worlds would open and allow one to bleed into another. Even Eredin’s mages struggled with it, yet this place and it’s fountain appeared to draw them all in with ease.“I have been to many worlds, I could never name them all. Many I left before I learned their names. I take it then this is not the first other world you’ve been to either?”

That did intrigue her.

She took note of the name, Helen, and Ciri decided it would be in her interest to speak to anyone who might have additional knowledge of this beast. Already, Ciri wished she had a way to record her observations, and hoped there might be a way still to share them with Geralt… if she ever managed to find him again.

She offered Riza an easy smile. “Well you certainly knew what you were doing when you brought the beast down. Had I a drink to share, I would offer it to you in congratulations.”

"This would be my third I suppose, if you consider the world I was born to my first," Riza replied, finding it strange that in comparison to this woman she has been to very few. Of course, she knew there were far more out there than that -- her time both here and in Manhattan had taught her that much. She probably couldn't name all the places or people she'd learned about, but it had been enough to teach her that the universe or multiverse was much bigger than she would have ever imagined.

Riza nodded in gratitude, "I'll keep that in mind if we ever manage to get alcohol here, though it's not necessary. I was just completing the task we'd set out to do." She'd hated what had happened to Karen, but she was glad they'd been able to find the beast. She was even more relieved that they had done so without suffering any further causalities. "I've gotten used to fighting monsters," she added, almost offhandedly.