ooc:
Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday, was out pretty much all day.

Taavi saw the blow coming just in time. Years and years of elven combat training made him move almost without thinking. The arm hit him across the chest but he held his place, a leg stepped back and his torso positioned to perfectly deflect the attack.
~Damn, I'll be feeling that in the morning.~ He coughed as he stumbled back, glaring at Chuckles as the hyena-beast-thing ran out the window. Stepping forward again he kneeled down and picked up the remains of Malbi's flash-grenade.
"Good thinking Malbi. Guess that creature doesn't respond too well to sudden light. A shame..." He stood up and glanced over at Azymyth who had moved out to the balcony.
"Great..." Taavi muttered, glancing at Malbi and making a gesture towards the balcony as he followed after Azymyth.
~Azymyth, you are going to get yourself killed.~ He thought briefly.

[ 04-08-2002: Message edited by: Malbi ]

IC:
Chuckles has two very distinct advantages on those pursuing him, to the casual observer. For one, his body seems strangely designed, clearly capably of bipedal upright movement, but his elongated arms (and hands that reach the knees rather than mid-thigh) allow him to easily and smoothly drop to all fours for quadrupedal locomotion. Chuckles has stuffed the gathered papers securely under his belted waistband, and is thus making full use of his all-fours mode of travel.

The other distinct advantage is Chuckles' distinctly advanced physical anatomy and comfortable nature in using his natural gifts. He uses no weapons or equipment, relying instead on the smooth, instinctive abilities he's been graced with, along with a surprising (to the keen eyed pursuer, like the academecian gnome, perhaps, and certainly to Callena were she here) knowledge of anatomy, structural stability, and momentum physics for someone who seems for the most part to be a feral creature.

In other words, for the layman, Chuckles is pulling ahead by the clever use of his natural physical attributes coupled with a surprising degree of intelligence which allows him to nimbly and rapidly avoid blockades in his way, either by going over or around them, or, in the case of one chicken merchant who'll no doubt have nightmares for years, by going right THROUGH a blockade, distressed chickens, slick chicken filth, and a cloud of feathers in his wake.

Before long, Chuckles is easing into the outer reaches of the city, and is in fact accelerating towards the staging ground much of the architectural staff is gathering and organizing their equipment at.

Of course...to Azymyth and Taavi, not concerned with splattering themselves against the walls as some people may be, there is the distinct question that never occurs to the beast on the rampage or the pursuing doggy, and that question is "What exactly are we going to do with our target once we actually catch him?"

ooc:
I know it's not EQ...but they could have speed potions too!!

Malbi seemed to have the best method of travel, bouncing high to move quickly and see the hyena-creature. Taavi simply followed by watching the tracks in the ground, or in one case avoiding the chickens. He caught up with Azymyth, and then caught a glimpse of Chuckles off in the distance.
"Do you have any idea where the hell he's going?" Taavi asked Azymyth as he narrowly avoided slamming into a fallen vegetable cart.

Turning to Taavi briefly as he dodged debris, he said, "Not sure... but hopefully I'm right in my assumption..." he trails off there. No need to say anything and look dumb if his guess was wrong.

One must keep their wits about them, however...one never knows what to expect...

He kept those thoughts again to himself for the time being as he peered around, looking for any sign of Chuckles or anyone else familiar.

ooc: i r gud spelar.

[ 04-12-2002: Message edited by: Azymyth ]

ooc:
Just in case someone didn't catch this from the Sojourn SL, the Taavi I'm writing for in this story is a Rogue, pretty much the same as an EverQuest rogue. Not a ranger.

Oh and as of this post he is currently using Sneak and Hide so he's invisible.

In the not so distant center, there is the faint murmur and chatter of people milling about, doing their own business. But Azy and Taavi are not, as it were, heading that way. It would seem they are stalking the beast man, or in the very least trying to hunt him.

It might occur all-too-late, then, that they've isolated themselves away from city guards with halberds and crossbows. They are in closed quarters with plenty of places to hide, plenty of places to stalk and skulk. They have, in short, allowed themselves to be lured into the worst sort of place they want to be in around someone like Chuckles.

The safest bet, of course, is to reach the center of the maze, now that the pair has entered. Heading back risks the same possibility as heading inward; that Chuckles has swept around and is waiting for them. But the people at the center of the materials maze are calm-sounding and unfrightened. Clearly they haven't seen Chuckles yet. And the brutal fact is that more people mean more distractions and possibly more fodder.

To Azy, one might question the logic of using something that inspires the hunt. One might go further and ask oneself why, if someone is hostile towards you, and you divert them in another direction, that one insists in following them. One could easily become the hunted.

And Taavi, brave Taavi, might query the logic in hiding. As has been noted earlier, Chuckles possesses a powerful sense of smell, and the inhuman hearing of a canine. Footsteps? He can hear breathing, your heartbeat, perhaps. And unless one's blow from the shadows is lethal, what are the chances that you'll be permitted to land a second? And is that truly the choice you want to make?

All these thoughts might, depending on one's frame of mind, slip through the mental perspective of the duo now that they're in the maze. Or they might not.

What would no doubt send faint tingles along their skin is the faint, echoing, sinister "hyeh hyeh hyeh hyehehehehehehehhrahraahrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....." of Chuckles, impossible to pinpoint amidst the surroundings

As he stood looking around and heard that unsettling laughter-like growl, he steeled himself, working to not show any fear, nothing to fuel Chuckles hunger for the hunt... A hand did stray to his hip where he always kept hidden his longsword through enchantment, just in case.

[ 04-14-2002: Message edited by: Azymyth ]

Apparently from no where, an arrow shot into the sky, the arrowhead on fire as the missile streaked through the air.

Taavi's thoughts briefly flickered to Calena and her inventions as he slipped his gnomish collapsing-bow, now the size of a small dagger, into his belt. The arrow would land fairly close to where hyena-man was located, but thanks to a very specialized crystal would not start a fire. And, with a small amount of luck, Chuckles would start moving again, making it just a little easier for Taavi to locate the beast.

[ 04-16-2002: Message edited by: ArchAngel ]

The long-armed hyena man scales the height of a stack of stone blocks and ran across a pile of timbers towards Taavi's point of fire, growling and snarling as he barrels towards what will likely not end prettily, blowing past Zelante as he briefly hits the ground for a few bounding steps before scaling another pile of building materials ever closer to the heart of the area

[ 04-21-2002: Message edited by: Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael ]

Up, up! Possible intruder! Headed for the center!

Under her breath she adds 'I think...'. She unhooks her crossbow from her belt then loads a bolt, attempting to follow Chuckles.

She stops struggling suddenly as she recognises the gnome and she blinks,

Oh... I'm terribly sorry about that... we've got a situation here and I thought you were an enemy. I'm afraid I don't have time to tend to that wound there, I have to get back to the chase.

She gently moves Malbi off to the side then jumps to her feet and resumes her journey, reloading on the run.

Caution being the better part of valor, he makes a few more steps back as he looks for something that might help in stopping the rampaging beast. His foot brushes against a coil of rope left next to some sort scaphelting, which gives him an idea. Reaching down, he lifts the end of the rope and calls out to Taavi (who is about 15 feet away now if he hasn't moved), "Heads up!" and tosses one end of the rope towards him.

[ 04-22-2002: Message edited by: Azymyth ]

...And yet, even as the small clouds of dust kicked up as he grinds to a halt...there is a faint, low, aggravated "grrrrrrrrr..."

Bloody hell! Up you lazy bastards, we've got trouble!

Comes around the corner of a burnt out building as the dust from the landing is clearing, spotting the others but still leveling her crossbow at the form in the dirt there and waiting for some signal.

Ok... I want some answers and I want them NOW! Comin' chargin' through here like it's a running track... scattering our hard work everywhere... makin' me think that we were being invaded again...

She shuts up and waits for some words that should be forthcoming, looking rather silly being all flustered and annoyed.

He then stands straight and crosses his arms, peering between the small woman and the huge hyena. At length, he coughs politely and asks Calena, "So did you two have fun last night?"

False alarm! Just a buncha people runnin' around where they shouldn't be.

She pointedly glares around again.

He peers between the two as the exchange is made, quirking a brow. "So... what's up?"