WG: The Great Hunt Options

[Rohirrim]

This is the thread for Khan, Hjalbir and Lycus' hunt in the Great Forest. If anyone want's to drop in, now would be the time.

This post has been edited by Rohirrim: Sep 4 2013, 12:52 AM

[Darkness Eternal]

“We fish.”

Lycus didn’t wait for a reply. He got his spear ready, and his other weapons, and walked off into the wilderness.

Away from the inn, the road gave way to the tall forests that clothed the land; trees of pine, fir, spruce and oak. Soon it would give way to blue rivers filled with fish. The lowland yielded many other animals. It was swarming with the dark antlered deer surely grazing on the grass at this fine hour.

Lycus marched over the road and into the green forest, away from the sight of those participating in the festival.

Skip fish and foul, he says.

The savage-looking man stopped beside a large tree and crouched down and picked up a handful of dirt. He sniffed it, licked part of it and then let the remains crumble to the ground once more.

Nothing here.

The wind blew, rustling his long hair about. The sights, sounds, and smells had almost overwhelmed his senses when he concentrated. His instincts were driven by a deep visceral knowledge that prey was just about everywhere. The terrain was fine. The weather was perfect. The hour was great and the odds were not against him.

There were only two things that would work in his disfavor.

One he could find a way to deal with. The other however . . .

The wind that blew would carry his smell to the nostrils of game, and they would be long gone before he could even reach them. True, he could try and brave that possible situation by using his speed to pursue his prey. But with the Nord and the tribune, he wouldn’t raise the possibility.

The only thing he could do is mask his scent, which is precisely what he did. The average deer could smell a hundred times more than a normal man, and Lycus was no ordinary man.

He plucked a vial from his pocket, and opened the tip and poured all of the contents into his hand. He began spreading it throughout his body; his face, under his arms, his chest, his legs, his groin and his feet. The oils neutralized the scent, or at least minimized the chances of him being discovered.

The Imperial hunter pulled ferns, leaves, shrubs and dirt and rubbed it all over his body, creating a new smell that would stick to his body in the duration of the hunt. Better to smell like the native land rather than an invasive predator.

A true hunter relied not only on speed no strength, but guile as well.

The wind that blew to him carried something; the smell of prey. It told him they were in the opposite direction of the wind’s course, and thus they wouldn’t be able to smell him. The other hunters, however, might still risk being detected.

Evening came and night soon to follow. He was sure he would be camping outside in the wilderness. The other hunters were fortunate it wasn’t a full moon otherwise they’d join the ranks of the deer and boar.

The Imperial stepped further into the forest, expecting the other hunters to be following him. He took a path to a nearby stream where a small waterfall poured fresh water into a large pool.

There was fish there.

There's a herd of deer three miles from their location to the south. But Lycus didn't tell the hunters that he smelled them. Instead, he said in a whisper not to spook the fish: "There might be deer to the south. They tend to graze around that area this season."