Play dirty and win. Monsters won’t show you honour if given the chance, so don’t serve them honourably in turn.

Lavanya Sanghvi - the Monster Bane - Adventurer’s Guide to Surviving the Idroan Wilderness

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From underneath Ish’s cloak appeared two stilettos, their blades dark and matte but exceptionally sharp. Under his mask, he grimaced as his mind rang out in alarm. Not only was this beast devastating enough to clear out Dom in a single blow, but it also specifically targeted the strongest foes. This was troubling as it suggested the beast had more intelligence than to sink into a barbaric rage that could easily be exploited.

Before he had time to develop a plan, the bear hurtled towards him, crushing saplings and stragglers alike. As it came onto Ish, the ryfin flipped over its headlong charge, his blades streaking through its fur but only scratching its flesh. It wheeled about and came again, and this time Ish slipped to the side, passing its claws by a sliver.

Finally, Ebert arrived and whacked the bear in the side with his giant club. It yelped as he knocked it onto its side, but it rolled over immediately and leapt onto him. Before anyone could react, it savaged his legs and fell him. Although he desperately punched and shoved it back, the bear ignored his protests and sunk its teeth into his belly.

The other ogres were upon it now, driving it off their captain, but as the bear gave way, it did so with Ebert’s guts dangling from its teeth. While they struggled to contain it, Ish glanced at the battlefield and saw the woodland creatures were charging again. Although the archers and mages barraged them, it appeared the New Derby gunners had run out of ammo. Ish admitted he had severely underestimated the guns as he simply hadn’t expected such raw power from peculiar weapons, and their lack of presence now allowed the animals to advance under several raised mana barriers. Suddenly, his attention was pulled back to the bear as it broke from the ogres’ hold, bounding towards Ish again.

Gritting his teeth, he waited for it to draw close before slipping by its side once more, only this time it swung its hip as it passed, smashing considerable heft into his face. He was quick to his feet, but somehow the bear was already behind him, smashing down. Its claws ripped his cloak into ragged strips, but before it could shatter his exoskeleton, he burst into smoke and dispersed around the beast. It looked about in surprise, searching for him while he materialised behind it.

Launching himself, he drove his daggers into its back, this time penetrating through. He used his weapons as purchase to hold on as the bear wildly swung, attempting to throw him off. Although his grip began to strain, luckily he didn’t have to hold on for long as the ogres lunged into the bear with headlong sprints, rocking it over.

Ish leapt off, landing as nimbly as a cat, and slashed at its eyes. From what he had gathered, this creature had dumped all its points into strength and constitution, so it made sense to blind it before anything else. This way, it would struggle to hit them with its devastating blows and they would get to whittle it down with some more confidence. However, as his blades neared, the bear cuffed him with a wayward blow.

Disintegrating to smoke, he fell back into reality some paces away, grasping his head as he tottered. His head was swimming, and he felt slick wetness against his fingers. Groaning, he had little time to make sense of the brown furball filling his vision by the second. It caught him with its teeth, closing in around his shoulder. It swung him once, twice, and its fangs crunched through exoskeleton and bone, tearing his arm off and tossing him aside.

The ryfin did not faint, instead his mind slowed to a trickle as he stared past the canopy into the bright blue sky, the three suns beaming down in all their glory.

****

The bear immediately lost interest in Ish and made for the mages now on their high ground. As it left the area, Healers rushed to the ryfin in the same way they had done for Dom and pulled him away from death’s clutches. They dragged his body to the backline and lay him down, before returning to the battlefield.

Josh ran to intercept the bear, dreading the coming clash but at the same time knowing he had to stop it. To his relief, several others joined him in his quest, including Harlan, Ivan, Lina, and Yuri. While this thinned their frontline, the truth was the rest of the animals provided little danger with the archers and mages showering projectiles on them. The bear was different in the fact that, no matter how many icicles pierced through its skin or fireballs exploded against fur, it kept going with feral determination.

Harlan was first to the beast, striking overhead with his runic warhammer for a stunning blow. The bear skidded to a stop, its limbs weighed down by his ability and its head spinning. Lina was on it then, her sword slicing into it and leaving a line of scorched fur. She went for another, but the bear broke past its shackles and swiped at her. Fortunately, Ivan shoved her aside and flicked a poisoned knife into its face.

Undeterred, the bear smoothly switched targets and swatted Harlan with its next blow. Before it could follow-up, however, Josh pulled the rugged man back and took his place. It tried to break away from them, but the ogres caught up to it, tackling it down from all sides. It struggled as before, mauling and biting them, but its injuries only grew. Renard shot several electric arrows, sending currents through its spine; Natalie bombarded it with piercing icicles, needling its flesh; Krisa’s firebird flitted around its swipes and flapped its way into its throat, searing it from within.

Even so, the bear lacerated its foes with wild abandon, struggling ever more until finally its protests grew feeble. It fell limp and stopped resisting, breathing its last ragged breath before devolving into a colossal chunk of ruined flesh and fur. There was no fanfare, no cheering, but the other animals instinctively knew what had happened as they buckled in sweeping rows. Some initially hesitated, but on seeing all their allies retreating, they too fled with haste.

In their absence, the humans and Order troops trudged through the blood-red soil, corpses of all species littering the field. They gathered their allies and healed those who still lived. Then, after a brief respite, a significant number of the healthy continued their trek towards the quarry while the others hauled the injured back.

When the party arrived at the quarry, they found it deserted except for a few stragglers. It came under their control less than an hour later. They made cursory checks of the mines, then filled their backpacks with loose manastone ore and left, leaving the quarry lifeless once more.

Tomorrow they had to face the horde, but after that, they would be back to permanently set up their mining operations.

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Ish Shadowhand is a pure-blood ryfin of commendable skill. He specialises in clandestine and assassination missions but has respectable achievements as a commander as well. He venerates Dimas, but has significant respect for Karaes as well, and to a lesser extent, Foltrus. No instances of showing disloyalty to the Order. He has family in Kitael who he is close to and who should be held hostage in the event of betrayal. At the time of this report, he was described to be taciturn and morose but talented.

Following the Apocalypse, he took a high position in Lyfort and established good relations with its citizens and its mayor, Kore Brightmind. As a trusted officer, he was sent to Riverside as both an envoy and spy, and he performed both tasks sufficiently, expanding the Order’s influence over the village.

His class is titled Shade, a rare class which has attribute bonuses in agility, perception, and arcana. Its first ability further increases his attributes when his skin is hidden from view. Its second ability allows him to transform into smoke and displace himself - while this can be done indefinitely, it drains mana at a high rate, so he is unlikely to do it for more than a couple of heartbeats.

He is proficient at daggers, swords, blowguns, and bows. If required to be killed in combat, I recommend getting into melee range as quick as possible before he has an opportunity to use his blowgun. Then, be cautious of his speed and take glancing blows at him, ripping his clothes and lowering his class’s attribute bonus. After that…

Dimas - Reports on Figures of Interest to the Order of Tyr