If you go down to the woods today

[hlif]

WHO: Asher Hardie; open
WHAT: Hunting bears!  And maybe other things but mainly bears.
WHEN: Pre-dragon attack on the camp
WHERE: Emprise du Lion
NOTES: Language most likely.  Bear slankets will be on offer from the spoils upon returning to Skyhold.

It's the cold in Emprise du Lion that spurs Asher into action, that particular sort of cold that gets into your bones and can kill someone if they're trapped for too long.  There are plenty of problems to be dealt with, Red Templars chief amongst them, but Asher can let others with more of a personal grudge deal with them first because the wildlife here is bold, maybe because of hunger, maybe because of other reasns because wolves tend not to have bright green eyes.  Whatever the reason, someone has to deal with the other threats that might get bold and decide to come down to the camp and it's what he's spent most of his time doing so far, when he's not propping up the bar in the tavern that is.

Hunting's more fun with company, and so he puts the word about the camp, that he's looking for a few others to come up high into the hills with him where the game is thickest.  The promise of pelts might be an incentive here - it's one of the coldest places he can remember being and he's used to the cold, even one that's come on as hard and fast as winter has here.

The crew isn't the typical hunting party but everyone tagging along wants to be there, and Asher's in good spirits as he leads them all off just as the sun is coming up over the horizon.

Hopefully it'll just be bears and wolves they're fighting today and nothing that's going to fight back with more than claws and teeth.

Comments

[dragoon_pride]

Kain smirks a little bit. "It's apparently one of the traits we have on my world... we age well." Seriously, though, this seems to be true, even moreso for people like Cecil with moonpeople heritage. It's perhaps not a bad thing in some regards, not showing the wear and tear of the endless war he's just been through. But... he definitely isn't used to being somewhere he has to prove himself. It's a challenge he accepts, anyway.

There really are a lot of things he's still getting used to, in this world.

Kain nods agreement. "Very well." With that, he's ready to launch into the attack. Already he can tell he's going to appreciate Asher, that berserker roar that he shouts, the way he doesn't hold back. Kain has similar feelings, putting his all into a fight. Like he's about to do... now! Kain takes to the air at once, soaring far above into the sky before he comes down to strike fast and hard with his lance toward the bear. He definitely wounds it, but this is a big, tough bear, not about to go down after one stab.

[hlif]

"Thedas breeds hard people, lurching from one crisis to the next; half the natives and the wildlife want you dead, and you being from a rift you might be wanted more than most." Thedas doesnt do well with different, with things that don't follow the path dictated by the Chantry and it might be a saving grace that they're in no position to really start howling for the heads of the rifters.

Usually giving his all to a battle, he does look up to watch, to shake his head and almost turn as if the Boneflayers are going to be around to point and laugh with him. He can imagine the low mutterings of his two dwarves about it. But it confuses the bear, not used to danger coming from above and so he swings, aiming for the shoulder of the front leg to start crippling it to mean there's one less weapon involved.

[dragoon_pride]

That's something which Kain has certainly noticed, the suspicion that everyone here seems to hold toward... most everyone else in a way. He'll definitely have to continue that conversation sometime later with Asher, after the fighting. He' seems like he'd talk about it honestly enough.

For now, though, the battle with the bear. Kain leaps aside after landing with a strike, giving Asher room to make his attack. Flipping his lance around, Kain charges in to start stabbing with a ground assault. The bear, of course, is enraged by all of his, and growls loudly, lunging out with its claws.

[hlif]

Bronson barks, darting in and out with Asher because man and beast have known each other a long time, long enough that the hound knows exactly when to move and Asher knows how to cover his blind side. The angrier the bear gets the better though that does mean it rears up, towering over the both of them and Asher nods at Kain, jerking his head before he runs to get in under it while it’s still standing.

The belly won’t be exposed for long but Asher’s axe can rip a clean slice into it and up to where the ribs join at the sternum, Kain’s lance hopefully able to cut deeper than even a greatsword if Asher manages to cover him if he takes the shot and has to pull it free. The belly is the easiest area to tidy up when he’s working pelts anyway, it’s the back that people care about.

[dragoon_pride]

Kain can definitely appreciate now what these war-hounds of theirs are capable of doing. He’d heard some about them, but it’s all the better to see it in action. Must be really useful having an ally like this on hand. Not only one that’s capable but also doesn’t fill the air with useless chatter, only barking. Nodding in return to Asher, Kain narrows his eyes at the bear as it rears up.

Perfect target. He wastes no time, a well-aimed thrust of the lance jabbing straight into the bear’s belly, the beast roaring and already beginning to lose its strength.

[hlif]

Honestly, Asher's realising just how much he misses the crew, the way they can take down something like this so quickly; a mage to drive it with fire, archers to bother it and distract it, thin flashing daggers or smaller double axes to keep it from knowing where to swipe, and a Asher's own heavy weapon alongside someone shorter with a shield. They'd be clearing out the Emprise easily if they were together.

Instead they're probably in Denerim, stopping at the Pearl before moving on to Gwaren.

With another swing, mindful of Kain, Asher aims for the ribs, a solid strike that hits the bone. The shock of impact jangles up his arms to the shoulder, to his back teeth but the bear can't roar so well now, not with Kain's lance in the belly, with one half of a ribcage caved in, maybe finding the lungs if Asher's lucky.

[dragoon_pride]

Kain twists the lance where it's embedded in the bear, feeling the life further draining out of it with that action. With a sure and steady tug, he drags the lance out, blood spilling out as he does. Between that and Asher's latest attack on the ribs, they've got this. Sounds like he may have gotten a lung, too, that's a good sign.

"I'd say..." He watches as the bear finishes struggling. "It's done for."