Chapter 2 : V-day Unulaq and Tornuaq

[DSIGFUSS]

So be it then human! You will die like your friends.

The hooded man with great effort rises to his feet and as he does so, his hood slides off his head. His face is contorted and bubbles as if his blood were boiling beneath his skin. He looks at Tornuaq with red glowing eyes and snarls. Large fangs begin to form in his mouth and his blood soaked hands now seemed clawed. The effort forces the creature back onto his knees and he laughs spitting out even more blood onto the snow. Hairs begin forming on his face and arms as he growls… waiting.

Come to me plainsmen! I will taste your blood on my tongue before the end.

oc - Both of you go first if you are chosing to attack.

[Andrew]

Sword (70%) (1d100=10)
Parry (70%) (1d100=92)
Damage (1d6+1=3)

Tornuaq runs up to the damn thing and attacks.

[ImpInTraining]

ooc: Is there charging damage with a spear?

Unalaq levels the spear chest high to the thing and starts running intent on running the thing straight through.

Parry (70%); Attack (70%); Damage (1d100=35, 1d100=37, 1d6+1+1d4=6) - what a crappy roll on damage.

[Andrew]

OOC: I said the same with my damage. I really hate that site, usually my rolls are really high.

[DSIGFUSS]

Both Dorset brothers press their advantage on the foul creature. Tornuaq’s blade merely bounces off his thick hide, seeming to have lost its earlier enchantment Thorrin had given it with his beautiful song. (ooc- Or the creature is resistant) Unulaq’s spear however digs into the creatures belly and it howls in pain. (3 damage) It slashes out savagely at Unulaq with little precision to its attack. His claws swing wide, and Unulaq easily pushes the blow aside readying himself for another strike.

[ImpInTraining]

Unalaq laughs in the midst of battle to Tornuaq, "That Viking sword does not seem all that great to me." He pretty much forgoes defense to focus on his attack, jumping to the left in attempt to flank the creature on both sides with the Inuit warriors and lunged his spear in low and lifting up with it hoping to find another weak point.

Parry(70%);Attack(70%);Damage with Spear (1d100=97, 1d100=11, 1d6+1+1d4=10)

[Andrew]

Seeing that his sharper, new sword was somehow ineffective against the Ijiraat, Tornuaq decided that instead of attacking the Ijiraat he would defend his brother instead.

OOC: Now how does that work in CoC? Basically on all my turns I will defend any attacks that come in for Unalaq. I know in real life it can be done, done it but I'm not sure if CoC has anything like that. Regardless though, that's what Tornuaq is doing.

[ImpInTraining]

ooc: Your sword isn't necessarily ineffective... it just absorbs some of the damage I think. You have to do more than 3 points when you hit it.

[Andrew]

OOC: I'm not sure if Tornuaq would realize that or if he would think the creature had an immunity to this kind of weapon. If he get's a clear shot while doing defense for Unalaq he'll take it, otherwise he's just going to defend his brother.

[ImpInTraining]

ooc: You could always stand back and just pelt it with snowballs.

[DSIGFUSS]

ooc- Two things…

One - Imp is right. You have to do more damage. You guys have a 3 Damage resistance with your armor as well.
Two- I still haven’t decided whether or not I am going to allow parrying vs. animal attacks. I’d like some feedback from you guys. What do you think? Can you parry a claw? Since we’re the first group to address this, whatever we decide here will be law!

Unulaq drives his spear into the flailing creature and it howls much like a wolf as it dies and slumps to the ground.

ooc – San checks 0/1 (You’re having a really weird day!)
ooc – Inuit Mythos check
ooc – Spot Hidden check

[Andrew]

Sanity (68%) (1d100=63)
Inuit Mythos (15%) (1d100=23)
Spot Hidden (60%) (1d100=90)

[ImpInTraining]

ooc: Aren't we supposed to get some sanity back when we defeat creatures like this? I mean, if this keeps up, I don't stand a chance. I'll be laying fetal with my thumb in my mouth in no time.

Sanity (53%); Inuit Mythos (15%); Spot Hidden (70%) (1d100=34, 1d100=54, 1d100=26)
Made the Sanity check, missed Inuit Mythos, and made Spot Hidden.

As for parrying animal attacks, tactically speaking, I don't see why an animal attack can bypass a parry. But if you ask me, I think the parrying in this game is kind of weird. I can understand if you forgo your attack to parry and use all of your weapon skill % to do so, or maybe if you split your skill (divide in half) to parry and attack in the same round, but allowing a parry at the same time as an attack with the full weapon % effectively gives each character two actions a round with their melee. Is it really supposed to work that way? Can you parry and dodge in the same round too?

Unalaq looked at the fallen foe and flipped it over face up, then jabbed the spear in its throat just to make sure it was dead. "Tornuaq, I am afraid our peaceful lives have gone to the dogs. I guess we should backtrack this creature's path to see if that Shaman it attacked needs help."

[Andrew]

OOC: All a parry is, is deflecting a harmful blow away from yourself. If a cat goes to scratch and you knock aside it's paw it's a parry, you can even parry a head. My dog lunges at me with the intent to lick the crap out of me and I use my hand to shove her head to the side, it's a parry. Now with a weapon I'm going to possibly do damage, especially a bladed weapon to a hostile animal. I think it's the GURPS system that says if you parry an unharmed opponent or animal they take half the damage of the weapon because even though I'm using the weapon to parry them, I'm not throwing any force in it like an attack.

Parry or block it's the same thing really. With a shield you have big area for defense and a sword it's the same thing but a smaller area for defense. That's one of the things I came to quickly learn in the SCA. If I'm fighting sword and shield I have my shield strapped to my arm and can more easily deflect attacks but if I'm fighting two swords my left sword is my defense but instead of having the big protection it's a lot smaller but still does about the same job.

So in answer to the question: Yes you can parry animal attacks. To me it'd be crazy not to be able to do so. However I also agree with Tom in the craziness of this system and their parrying rules.

Tornuaq looked down at the creature and listened to what his brother had to say, in answer he replied, "I agree, if things keep going this way we'll have to find a new homeland. As for checking on the shaman I agree there as well, if she lives maybe she will be able to help Thorrin as well."

[DSIGFUSS]

ooc – I agree with the parry thing too. Ok then…. you can parry animal attacks, and they will do take half weapon damage. (Without the Strength bonus)

ooc - As for the sanity loss Imp… I hear yah. It’s a flaw in the game. I’ll ask Handy for some suggestions to curb it.. but you are having a pretty weird day. As far as I’m concerned I treat Sanity loss rolls for how well you are handling yourself at the moment of the San Check. So if something starts to freak out and I ask for a San check and you pass, your character should act normally. If you fail the check then you should let your freak flag fly.

When the brothers turn the beast over, Unulaq spots a symbol on its chest. He can’t remember where he’d seen it, but it seemed very familiar as did the creature with the red eyes. Was it in a dream?



oc- Unulaq’s and Tornuaq’s fight with the Ijiraat polar bear is now almost completely gone from their memories. It all seemed like a fading dream. Everything else, they remember. The Beluga whales, finding Thorrin, fighting off the Vikings. They just can’t seem to recall their encounter with the Ilijiraat polar bear. They will soon forget meeting this Ilijiraat in its true humanoid form as well.

A trail of blood left by the Ijiraat can be easily followed North. Tornuaq remembers a hilly region close by, where his people often stopped to rest on their way to the ocean hunting grounds where they had found Thorrin.

[ImpInTraining]

Curious at the mysterious symbol on its chest, Unalaq started cutting that section of the skin off of the man to take with them. He would show it to the Shaman when they saw her, and maybe she could clue them in on what exactly they just killed. After that, he made his way back over to the sleds and took one dog off one sled and put it on the sled that was short by two, therefore they'd be running at the same speed, roughly. He checked on the Viking... "Norseman... that's what that thing called him. Viking... Norseman, I wonder which is right?" Unalaq questioned aloud before hopping back to the back of the sled and getting the dogs going again. They'd follow the trail back as far as they could... try to piece this mystery together.

[Andrew]

Tornuaq helped where he could and merely shrugged unknowing at Unalaq's question. Once the sled's were prepared he followed close behind his brother.

[DSIGFUSS]

The two bothers follow the thick trail of blood across the plains with very little difficulty or need to slow down. As they suspected, the trail leads back to the Dorset resting ground. They have both camped there many times before. In the summertime, wild mountain cranberries littered the rocky plains. Tornuaq, Maniitok and Unulaq would often pick berries with Maniitok’s sister, competing fiercly with each other for the greatest crop.

Now, the cranberry bushes were covered in snow and as they reached the hilly region his people often used, both Unualaq and Tornuaq could not help but stare in stupefied horror. The clouds gone, the moon lit up the battlefield before them.

Ogtuk-Luk, the Shaman’s protector, stood with his spear raised looking out over the icy plains. Qannaq, the venerable hunter hobbled beside him as Faroo, the young spirited Dorset warrior helped him along. Two Dorset warriors (or was it just one) were ripped apart, their bodies mangled beyond recognition. All around him bits and pieces of the Inuit’s sled dogs littered the icy ground. At least half of the sled dogs had been slaughtered. Others were injured and the rest were whining to their masters. There was just so much blood.

Beyond the dogs, Tornuaq and Unulaq could hear the cries of their Shaman Yuralria, praying aloud to her gods to save her fallen Dorset warriors and deliver them from this terrible evil. Her voice sounds hoarse and strained.

[ImpInTraining]

Unalaq shook his head in disbelief, "That creature did all this?" He gave a special thankful prayer that he and Tornuaq didn't have to face it full strength. He pulls the sled a good distance away from the dead to keep the dogs as calm as possible, then heads over to speak with the Shaman Yuralria. He waited for an appropriate time to interject, not wishing to interrupt her prayers.

[Andrew]

Tornuaq rubbed his eyes, hoping that they were playing tricks on him but when he realized they were not he said, "By Sedna's hair... That, that thing did this?" Following Unalaq's actions, Tornuaq did the same.