Act 2: Upheaval I - The Werewolf

"I can," the monk says confidently.

The werewolf relaxes its posture.

Mihai raises his voice - "I met your elder kin, Endless boy. Man, are they embarrassed for you."

"I must say, that form really suits you," Konrad calls up. "Really brings out the inner you: a hideous, hirsuit, dog-eared cunt. Well, what are you waiting for? Come get your biscuit."

The Endless slowly closes the distance between herself and the adventurers while making sure not to lose line of sight. Despite the taunts, she doesn't seem eager to join the party on the ground.

Florolf hides behind Nadzieja's leg while Fluffle grabs Steve's ear, ready for anything.

"I prefer meat," the werewolf say with low, growling voice. She stares directly at Konrad and speaks very slowly, stretching out each word, enjoying the way they roll off her tongue. "But you're overcooked."

She smiles, exposing two rows of long teeth, and keeps walking toward the party.

"No human should know about–" She then stops dead in her tracks, 30 feet away from the intruders, and darts her eyes at the monk. "Ah. An Avatar."

Nadzieja holds the beast's gaze.

Mihai tilts his head - "Shit, you really all know each other."

Mihai fights off the urge to get distracted, and slightly tightens his grip on Waterglass (ready action to charge at the Werewolf as soon as it's within range).

Steve readies an action to cast a spell at the werewolf if it charges or jumps down.

Konrad turns his head toward Nadzieja, but refuses to take his eyes off the werewolf. He winces with anger. Another meddler, and just how old are you? How dare you. "That's okay. I'm an acquired taste."

Readied Actions:

"Why do you interfere, Avatar?" the towering werewolf growls.

A human-shaped silhouette emerges from behind Nadzieja. Almost invisible to the naked eye, it is similar to a heat-haze that distorts distant views, except this one is clearly unnatural. A fraction of a second later, colors and textures are added to that outline and a man appears. Old and well-groomed, this man greets the party members with a nod and a discreet smile. Steve and Mihai recognize him as Van Willis, the bureaucrat who applied for the position of Chief Executive of Blue Sound. Konrad believes he's seen him before, but he's not sure where.

Van positions himself one step behind the monk to her right and joins his hands behind his back. His expression, previously warm and paternal, is now somber.

"Because you are," he answers.

The werewolf glowers at the old man. Fluffle looks back and forth between the two of them, bewildered by what this all means. Florolf is still hiding behind the monk's legs, whose eyes are still fixed on the monster in front of her.

Mihai's jaw finally drops - "We... really need to talk after we kill this thing."

"Motion is carried. We'll take it up at the next meeting," Steve mutters, the sight of Van igniting thoughts of Blue Sound and their roles within the company in his mind.

"Well, what do you know, this three-course meal comes with a few side dishes. But wait, where's that misplaced air of confidence?" Konrad sneers, his smile sick with scorn.

"Tell me, how long have you been queen alpha, taking your meals as you please? Three days? Three weeks? Did you really think your unsanctioned feasts would go unnoticed any longer? Unchecked, undealt with? And yet you're all in a huff over a couple 'Avatars' showing up. So allow me do the courtesy of popping that cherry: you're in the wrong pride, sweetheart. And you're out of your league."

The werewolf scratches the rooftop with one of its claws, clearly irritated by this turn of event and especially Konrad's taunting. She stares at him and drool starts dribbling from her maw. And just as it seems ready to pounce forward, the Endless turns around and tries to escape. But something stops her; an invisible wall, one that wasn't there before. Furious, she howls and attempts to rip open an exit with her claws.

Nadzieja shoots a cautious look at Van.

"Just as I promised," he says.

"...You better go hide somewhere else, ‘old man’," she replies. Her attention then switches to the party members, making sure they're ready to fight.

The monsters is still on the rooftop, trying to escape.

"Oh, my f..." Konrad nearly facepalms at this pathetic display. "Face it already, you're cornered! Now quit wimping out and come down here and face this fight like a warrior! It won't feel the same to put down a fleeing dog, but I will do it."

Steve keeps his eyes on the wolf, ready to blast it when she jumps down.

Mihai sighs in disappointment - "Can we start already? I've a ton of bigger fish to fry after this."

Mihai gets ready to bat it out of the air, should it plunge.

Van Willis nods at Szef Zerva and turns around.

"I wish you luck," he says before dissipating into a haze of heat.

The werewolf gives up on fleeing from this place once she hears Konrad taunting her again. She darts her eyes at him and hunches forward, ready to lunge at the party.

OOC:

Steve readies an action to blow her up with a spell as soon as she's in the air (and within range if I have one).

The battle against the werewolf lasted for less than a minute, but it almost killed Mihai and managed to hurt Nadzieja. The monster traveled between the Shroud and Odwaz, and if it wasn't for the help of the monk and the carbuncle, it would have been a lot harder to bring it down. Konrad was transported back into Odwaz with Florolf's help and fought the werewolf there, forcing it back into the Shroud. Just when the werewolf was about to attack Steve, the black mage managed to petrify it and Mihai went for a final blow. He succeeded in cutting its head clean off, but it wasn't over. The monster's corpse was reanimated by the Endless, who attempted to cut Mihai open with its claws.

Ready for that eventuality, Steve shot a fire spell at the monster's arm, which caused it to explode. Hot blood mixed with dirty fur showered Mihai from head to toe. The monster fell with a loud thump to the ground and stopped moving.

Nadzieja urgently approached the corpse, her fist ready to attack. Fluffle looked at Mihai with wide eyes, aghast by the gore. And Florolf wiggled his tail with delight.

Konrad leans on his undamaged foot, sword raised in defense. "Is the Endless still there?"

"You okay?" Steve yells at Mihai.

Mihai isn't happy that the thing can still move after having had it's head chopped off. And being showered with burning werewolf gore, there's that.

"Oh, for fuck's sake..."

Mihai takes a swing at the Werewolf's other arm, intending to relieve it of that appendage as well.

Hit 19, Damage 29