The Hunting Grounds IV: Drops Contain 0% RNG

[Holy-hunter]

The sand shark or ‘bulette’ proved that it’s armour plates were as slick and strong as they appeared. The sword would struggle to penetrate far through them and hands (especially hooves) would find little purchase. The saving grace was at the upper connection of theses plates, providing firm hand holds and a weaker spot in its natural defences.

It’s powerful hungry jaws snapped empty air. It raged as it’s back was attacked, swivelling it’s head from side to side to try face the foe but restricted due to its design. Instead it turned, whipping its tail out wide and then suddenly leapt right at Raeh who still lying on the ground motionless.
The full weight and size of the deadly large creature came plummeting down on her small frail frame.
The bulette passed right through the illusion which disappeared into a wisp of smoke and ash as it started burrowing intobthe ground at great speed.

Raeh’s true form, lost invisibility when struck by the monsters tail and was hurled across the sand. She tore off the protective cloth mask around her mouth as she gasped for deep breaths of air before coughing up some blood.

[Earl of Purple]

Off to the Obelisk

Earl had mistaken the description for a sandworm, not a bulette.

The buffalo-bird-tree keeps on clinging with its many hands, and tries to manoeuvre itself around so that it can try slashing at one of the bulette's eyes with their flaming sword. She doesn't have long before the beast plunges into the ground. The creature can't follow, nowhere near as streamlined for being burrowing through loose earth or sand as the bulette is.

Once that occurs, the creature disappears, replaced by the half-elf from earlier- though she still holds the flaming sword. She'll rush over to where Raeh has fallen, and try to help the other half-elf (?) up as she looks around. "You OK there, miss? It's gone, but not for long I think. Could fly you, if you can breathe. You're headed to the obelisk too, seeing the leaflet in Trog's?"

[Holy-hunter]

”Do it!” Raeh rasps with an urgency filling her dry pained breaths as as she grabs the newcomer. A halfelf like herself. ”Get us off the ground!”
She gave no time to greetings or pleasantries, no heedance to personal space or caution. She looked around frantically studying the floor, anticipating the next attack.

[Earl of Purple]

Off to the Obelisk

The half-elf disappears once more, though she doesn't go anywhere- she's just suddenly not a half-elf, turning into the half-buffalo, half-magpie, half-oak tree creature with all the hands, all in the time it would take to blink- though it happens regardless of whether Raeh blinks or not. Picking up the other half-elf with some of her hands, the empyrean takes off and leaves the sand.

Scanning the ground below, and still holding the flaming sword, the strange creature speaks- though its beak doesn't move. "I'm Mishnehel, by the way. What was that thing?" It's the same voice as before, though there's very little commonality between this strange creature and the 'half-elf' Raeh was just speaking to.

[Holy-hunter]

“What was that thing!” Raeh snaps incredulously, gripping on tight and looking up at Mishnehel, studying her, it, intently.
“What in the dark hells are you!?”

The bulette burst through the sand just beneath them snapping the air just beneath Raehs feet before descending back to the ground with a heavy thud. It watched them for a moment before vanishing back beneath the sands.

“Over there.” Raeh said pointing to a small outcropping of hardened sand in the distance. “Put us down there”

Uh, please.
Mishnehel.

[Earl of Purple]

Off to the Obelisk

"I don't know what that is. I've never seen one before, or been in a desert before either. Me? I'm an angel. Yeah, turns out angels don't look like what they show in those temples." Actually some angels do, just not the type of angel Mishnehel is. "I was mostly half-elf, before I got mutated into a giant magpie. I got a thing that gave me my shape back, sort of. It gave me this one, as well. Why, don't you like it?" Mishnehel will fly to the hardened sand, and land, putting Raeh down and disappearing back into her half-elf shape. The sword disappears as well. "I lost my parasol. That thing was expensive... for someone else." Mishnehel shrugs. She's not going to go back for it, she'll have to do without it.

[Holy-hunter]

Off to the Obelisk

"I don't know what that is. I've never seen one before, or been in a desert before either. Me? I'm an angel. Yeah, turns out angels don't look like what they show in those temples."
"I was mostly half-elf, before I got mutated into a giant magpie. I got a thing that gave me my shape back, sort of. It gave me this one, as well. Why, don't you like it?"

”It’s... it’s different.” Raeh said, kneeling down and placing a hand on the sandstone as her eyes darted wearily between Mishnehel and back to the location they came from.
“So you were something else before an angel? And your angel form is a giant magpie? Not the weird beast you were a moment ago?” Raeh’s puzzlement and curiosity had taken her full attention now as she studied Mishnehel sceptically. Watching intently for signs of subterfuge.

[Earl of Purple]

Off to the Obelisk

"I was a half-elf, mostly half elf and half human. Bit of doppelganger or something in there somewhere, so I could manipulate my flesh a little. Mostly I looked like this. Then I mutated from weird magic into a giant magpie, except I didn't get wings. I kept my arms, so really I had the worst of both. No mouth, so I couldn't talk, but no wings so I couldn't fly. At least I could open doors. Now, I can fly, open doors and talk. That shape I was flying in? That's my angel form." No obvious signs of subterfuge in what she says or how she holds herself, as she shades her eyes with her hand and looks back the way they came.

[Meowmai]

[Deep in the Woods]

"Mornin', Missy. Looked like ya slept well." Atreyu holds up the repaired clothes and offers them out to her. Though probably not something she'd want to be seen in public wearing with how many stitches and seams are running across the material, it is at least a complete outfit again.

"Ain't much, but it oughta hold. Least, 'til I can see about getting ya something more appropriate back in civilisation. Mind you don't do anything too reckless in 'em though. They ain't likely to hold up ta much." He walks over with a grin, reaching out to give Kestrel's feathers a pat. "Means we can't do a repeat of last night's activities. Well, not unless you want to do so before getting dressed, anyways." He remarks with a chuckle, letting his gaze linger just a little.

Seems there's no escape from his teasing.

[Deep in the Woods]

Kestrel took her clothes from the werewolf gratefully, thanking him as she did so. She sighed as she looked at the state of them, but honestly, she had been expecting it. In fact, she was surprised that Atreyu had managed to salvage so much of them, after what he had done to them last night. She was definitely going to need to find the coin to purchase some new clothes once she got back.

Unconciously, the birdwoman leant in slightly to the pats Atreyu gave her. Her blush deepened a little, as she began to worm her way into the repaired clothes. "I um, don't think I have the energy left to do a... repeat of last night. You um, more than tired me out. Quite thoroughly..." Her eyes drew themselves to the various bruises and scratches across her skin as she talked. Some were a memoir of their hasty travels through the forest, but plenty more were from the nights scandalous activities.

[Ironsmith]

Somewhere Else in the Woods

>SLEEP TIMER ELAPSED. REBOOTING...

Underneath a blanket of moss and dead leaves, the machine's eyelights flicker to life, shining conspicuously in the undergrowth.

>BIO-SCAN COMPLETE. HUMAN LIFE-SIGNS WITHIN PROXIMITY: 0
>NETWORK CONNECTION FAILURE. ERROR CODE 404
>POWER SAVER ACTIVATED

No point in cloaking now. There wasn't anything around to conceal its presence from. No cameras, no people, nothing.

>REBOOT COMPLETE. STAND BY FOR DIRECTIVES.
>EXCEPTION: NO NETWORK CONNECTION. RETRIEVING STANDING ORDERS.


Find the people. That was the priority now. Find the people. It was no good to its makers rotting away in a forest somewhere in (GPS EXCEPTION: NO NETWORK CONNECTION). So it would have to find its way to civilization, whichever direction that might be.

The grey humanoid slowly rises to its feet, its movements deceptively fluid for a machine. Without the cloak enabled, it somewhat resembles a simplified skeleton with pistons bolted on at the joints; not easy to mistake for a person when it's not trying.

With no better direction available to it, the newly awakened machine picks a random heading and moves in that direction, taking in the sights and sounds around it.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Deep in the Woods]

Atreyu grins and waves a hand, clenching it into a fist for a moment, before opening it palm-out to Kestrel, revealing a fresh bounty of magic berries.

"Ya need but say, missy. If yer still feeling a little tired, a berry or two will sort you right out. Hells, ain't much a good berry or two won't sort out. We coulda been at it all night, and the berries would fix it. Or all day, fer that matter." He lets out a gruff laugh. "Heh, naw, we gotta get you out of here, and see about getting you some new clothes. I ain't the sort to leave my debts unsettled. 'sides, if we wasted too much time, we'd be stuck in here fer another day!"

Seems like it's time to get moving! I'm sure Kes won't have any trouble keeping up today all juiced up on berries, right?

[Meowmai]

Deep in the Woods

As they had when Atreyu performed the same trick the day before, Kestrel's eyes lit up in wonder as he produced the berries. It was hardly a flashy magic, but the fact that someone could just magically pull some filling food out of nowhere absolutely amazed her. She reached out to take one, before hesitating at his joke. She thought he was being dead serious at first!

It's not that she didn't want more though. Because if she was honest with herself, she would have to admit that she did want more. Just not here and now, is all. The birdgirl gave an embarrassed chuckle when she realised he was joking, and started to eat one of the berries. "Well, m-maybe some other time... um, Yeah... yeah let's get moving, shall we!?"

Kestrel still ached a little, but the surge of energy that came with the berries were more than enough to revitalize her and help her get moving at a good pace.

[Recaiden]

[Somewhere Else in the Woods]

>SLEEP TIMER ELAPSED. REBOOTING...

Underneath a blanket of moss and dead leaves, the machine's eyelights flicker to life, shining conspicuously in the undergrowth.

>BIO-SCAN COMPLETE. HUMAN LIFE-SIGNS WITHIN PROXIMITY: 0
>NETWORK CONNECTION FAILURE. ERROR CODE 404
>POWER SAVER ACTIVATED

No point in cloaking now. There wasn't anything around to conceal its presence from. No cameras, no people, nothing.

>REBOOT COMPLETE. STAND BY FOR DIRECTIVES.
>EXCEPTION: NO NETWORK CONNECTION. RETRIEVING STANDING ORDERS.


Find the people. That was the priority now. Find the people. It was no good to its makers rotting away in a forest somewhere in (GPS EXCEPTION: NO NETWORK CONNECTION). So it would have to find its way to civilization, whichever direction that might be.

The grey humanoid slowly rises to its feet, its movements deceptively fluid for a machine. Without the cloak enabled, it somewhat resembles a simplified skeleton with pistons bolted on at the joints; not easy to mistake for a person when it's not trying.

With no better direction available to it, the newly awakened machine picks a random heading and moves in that direction, taking in the sights and sounds around it.

Somewhere even else in the forest, in what happens to be more or less that very random direction, a hunter is waiting patiently for their prey, hidden away at the base of a large tree.

This hunter would have human life signs, so depending on the sensitivity of the machine's scanners, they might be quite far away indeed. Or maybe their camouflage is working for them, and they're actually pretty close by. Either way, they're not hunting for skeletal robots in particular. Neither are they out here alone.
The first thing the robot is likely to detect, other than the trackless forest, is a little black fox scampering through the undergrowth, and pausing to look at the machine.

[Ironsmith]

[Somewhere Else In The Woods/The Machine]

That little fox was not human. It was also unlikely to be a surveillance drone or other form of intel-gathering device; it gave off no signals and seemed to have completely normal vital signs. Since it was neither a friend or a foe, there wasn't really any point in engaging it, one way or the other.

>PULSE DETECTED. LOCATING...

The machine's head swivels slowly as it recognizes human vital signs, scanning the forest for signs of the person...

And finding none. False alarm?

Maybe. But it wouldn't do to be found like this, on the off-chance that it had, indeed, stumbled across a human.

>ACTIVATING CLOAK (00-0F)

Where there had been a brazen T-800 ripoff a few moments ago, there now stood a very lost and frightened-looking young woman; pale, brunette, brown eyes. She shudders as she looks around again for the human. "H-hello?" She calls, her voice shaky.

[Recaiden]

The fox watches the machine's head swivel back and forth, and then it scampers off into the brush about the time the machine suspects a false alarm.

That's interesting. The machine disguises itself as a human. A vulnerable looking one, to lure in enemies?
How about...a warning shot? That should make things fun.

Ahead in the forest, first there is a tiny shift, perhaps a glint of light off a lens.
Second, there comes a fairly fast projectile that, if left alone, will smash a large hole straight through one of the trees near the machine.
Third, one can hear the sound of the bullet cracking through the air.
Fourth, there is a signal now, coming from many different directions, a silent song that can ordinarily only be heard by sensitive living brains, as it has no physical carrier, it is a pure idea. But who knows what this machine is capable of?

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

A warning shot. Unambiguously hostile action, taken by this unseen human, against it. The jig was up already.

>DEACTIVATING CLOAK... OFFLINE

The image of the distressed woman disappears, leaving the plastic skeleton in its place. It begins advancing on this sniper's position, having both seen and heard where the bullet had come from. Its pace is slow at first, but rapidly accelerating as it gets its bearings regarding the foliage and ground underfoot.

With this new information, it came to a much different conclusion; this person was hostile toward it, and just as likely its creators; which meant it had standing orders to "investigate and neutralize" the threat. No protections for this guy!

[Recaiden]

It's pretty easy to trace the path of the bullet. And now that the shooter has risen from their hiding place, they're pretty easy to see.

The human is in slick black armor with a helmet that hides their face, and is holding a big magnet-intensive gun that is attached by a pair of tubes to a backpack. One of their gauntlets is bright yellow, the other looks like it was made out of the grey shell of some giant bug. Besides the gun, they've got a sword, a knife, the hilt of another sword, and a belt of various gear.

What they're thinking is 'excellent. We have the robot's attention.'

They pull the trigger - this time, actually trying to hit.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

Unfortunately, "trying to hit it" is easier said than done. The machine is closing in on the sniper's position at a remarkable pace, which makes it a difficult target to lead; not helped along by the fact that its profile is relatively small, rail-thin in some places, and in constant motion in relation to itself.

Fortunately, an experienced sharpshooter like this sniper seems to be might still be able to make a shot like that, by aiming for the head or the center of mass, both of which contain vital components, like the processor or power supply.

Unfortunately again, even a high-caliber bullet has limited effectiveness on this thing when it does hit; it turns out the plastic that makes it up is less "ten-cent trash can material" and more "military-grade kevlar". The physical impact of the bullet might throw it off balance for a second, but the actual damage is minimal.

It's managed to close about half the distance between them in the meantime. At this rate, it'll be on the sniper's position in a few more seconds.

[Recaiden]

The bullet does something like 'hit the robot in the head but only dent the plastic', which the shooter finds pretty impressive.
So, in the few moments they have, they toss down the gun, shrug off the backpack, and draw the sword. It's a slightly unusual sword - no point, mostly wooden, the cutting edges made of otherworldly green stone, held together at this point more by magic than anything else. They take on a guarded stance, glad that by shooting they were at least able to slow the machine down, and prepare to swing the blade when the machine closes in.

"Excellent disguise you had!" Calls out a fairly distorted voice. "But the wrong place for it."

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

The machine doesn't really have anything to say about the sniper's thoughs; it's a little more concerned with its rapid approach of said sniper. It also doesn't seem to care much about the sword, charging full-on into a football-style tackle.

If it manages to hit, it won't actually do very much damage; the whole device weighs less than 10 kilograms, so the impact would be less-than-impressive, even for the speed at which it was moving. The danger, if it could be called that, would be what it does afterwards; it would lock its arms around the sniper's, attempting to pin them to his sides, rendering him harmless.

[Recaiden]

That's fair. Almost no one has time to banter in a fight these days. And it's not the machine's fault; it's tough being lost in the woods!

Well, the machine's not going to worry about the sword, but the shooter is still going to swing it, sweeping in towards the machine's torso from the left. It is very sharp and might even manage to get through the plastic.
Then they get hit and grabbed.
Huh. They were really imagining that that would have knocked them over, and thrown them both against the tree.
But since the machine is several times lighter than them, the shooter tries to throw the both of them forward, knocking the machine against the ground beneath them.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

The machine takes a battering as the sniper slams it into the ground, but remains steadfast in its grip. However, as a bit of a lucky break, it lands on the side that has the sword lodged in it, pressing it through enough for it to come clear, along with a couple plastic ribs.

Not that this makes much difference. The machine still has enough structural integrity to maintain its hold. All it has to do now is immobilize the sniper, and the fight would be over.

Which was precisely what it was trying to do now. As soon as it hits the ground, it lets its legs bend back behind those of the sniper, before bringing them back up to brace and trying to make sure there wasn't any room to bend the knees.

[Recaiden]

The machine is able to lock the sniper's legs.
Low on options, they try to take advantage of the machine's missing ribs to jerk one arm free - it should give them a little range of motion, and then a little more leverage.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

The missing ribs aren't enough to allow the sniper's arm to come free entirely, but it does open up some literal wiggle room.

The machine doesn't seem to have accounted for this. It's perfectly content to simply maintain the hold; its power cells would last well past the time it would take for the sniper to starve to death. Failing that, the machine was significantly less edible than the human, so if one of the grounds' carnivorous beasts just happened by, the danger to itself would be minimal.

Neither of which were its intention. It hadn't quite adapted to its new environment yet.

"Please remain still. Law enforcement will be on the scene momentarily."

[Recaiden]

Well, if the situation calls it, this is probably enough to reach their belt and press a button.
But the robot doesn't seem to be crushing or attacking, just trying to restrain its opponent. They can lie on the ground, struggling slightly, and-
Oh.
"I don't think that's likely. We are far outside anyone's patrol routes."

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

Oh. They were talking now. That was a good sign, right?

>ERROR CODE 404: NETWORK NOT FOUND

Well, damn. The police definitely weren't coming. Still, it couldn't risk releasing what was clearly a dangerous hostile agent. If nothing else, the prognosis for extended combat wasn't exactly in the machine's favor.

"Please remain still. Law enforcement will arrive momentarily." It repeats, not really seeming to know what else to do.

[Recaiden]

You can't see it under the helmet's faceplate, but the sniper has started to frown.
"You're lost, aren't you?"
"Listen, no laws were broken here. No enforcement is coming."
They say, not convinced that the robot is really listening.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

There was a quiet hum as the machine processed this. The sniper was... concerned, maybe? Worrying that it was lost was a remarkable step up from taking pot-shots at it, empathy-wise. Maybe this was a sign that they could reason with each other.

>ACTIVATING CLOAK (#00-0F)

There she was again. A frightened, confused young woman, who now happened to be holding the sniper in what might charitably be called an embrace. The image was incomplete, however; whatever mechanism was used to hide the machine's true nature was damaged when the sniper cut out its ribs, leaving a blackened, spark-flinging blotch in its place.

"...I do not know where I am." She confesses.

[Recaiden]

Well, the scene looks different now, but the sniper is as restrained as ever.
Still, the robot stopped repeating itself.

"These are the Hunting Grounds, an arena with no rules, only tenuous customs. Law begins at the town walls, quite a few miles away through these woods."
Maybe that sounds familiar? Any answer should at least help narrow down just how lost this machine is.

[Ironsmith]

[The Machine]

Hunting grounds. That sounded familiar, conceptually, but only barely narrowed it down. There had to be thousands of hunting reserves on the continent where she had been manufactured alone; which one could they possibly be in?

The rest took a little longer to sink in. An arena with no rules? Some kind of no-man's-land; not exactly where she wanted to wake up. That was more helpful, though; now she only had a few hundred possibilities to contend with.

She decided to table figuring out her location for now and move on to more pressing matters.

"Why did you attack me?" She asks quietly, in as soothing a tone as she can muster.