Xalli Tekuani stays low among the fern shadows, glaive angled forward as the deer bounds through dripping undergrowth. Ahead, the forest breaks around a narrow ravine.
Wet leaves slap against the animal’s legs. Beyond the ravine, another rhythm enters the chase: heavy footsteps, approaching from the opposite side.
Xalli Tekuani
The ravine leaves little room to maneuver.
The deer hears the stranger before it sees them. Its ears snap forward, then it veers sharply, hooves skidding toward the unseen presence beyond the gap.
Loose stones tumble into the ravine beneath the animal’s turn. Branches whip and sway on the far bank, but the intervening trees conceal whatever waits there.
The deer is nearly level with the ravine’s narrowest crossing, while the unknown footsteps quicken. Xalli’s glaive remains ready, and the next opening will vanish quickly.
✓ Quest Accepted
Claim the deer as Xalli's quarry
“His mind would race with worry and fear until he realized he is Xalli Tekuani, Scarab of the desert, he would rush forward with his glaive, his eyes catching every little detail before letting out a massive roar for intimidation, stabbing his glaive into the ground”
FAILURE (Poor Intimidation, rolled +1)
Xalli surges through the ferns, glaive sweeping low as his chitinous feet hammer wet earth. Every snapped twig and shifting shadow sharpens beneath his watchful eyes.
He reaches the ravine’s narrow crossing and unleashes a tremendous roar. The deer flinches, stumbles, and veers away from the sound.
Xalli drives the glaive into the ground to command the bank, but the point strikes loose stone instead. The shaft jolts violently through his grip.
The impact collapses a shelf of muddy earth beneath him. He catches himself as the deer bounds onto the far bank, while the glaive wedges crookedly between roots.
His roar has not stopped the animal, but it has changed its course. The deer disappears along a fern-choked side trail rather than toward the approaching footsteps.
From the broken bank, a narrow shelf is exposed beneath the roots, leading around the ravine toward the deer’s new path. The wedged glaive can be freed, but not without time.
“Shifting his attention to the deer he would use the trees to his advantage, jumping up and zipping forward, climbing branches with blinding speeds, dropping down infront of the deer and stabbing his glaive straight into it’s own momentum drives it into my glaive”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Melee Combat, rolled +3)
Xalli abandons the trapped glaive for the moment and springs into the dripping canopy. His hooked feet bite bark, carrying his broad chitinous frame upward and forward with astonishing speed.
Branches flex beneath him as he races above the deer’s side trail. Orange-brown wing structures sweep close to his back, and rain scatters from the leaves below.
Xalli Tekuani
The deer is running beneath the third cedar.
Xalli drops from the final branch directly into the animal’s path, landing low with his weapon braced before him. The deer has no room to turn.
Its own momentum drives it onto the waiting blade. The impact folds its charge to a halt, and the deer collapses silently among the wet ferns.
For a breath, only rain and trembling branches answer. Behind him, the abandoned weapon remains wedged across the ravine, while the slain deer lies within reach.
The heavy footsteps from the opposite bank continue through the trees, now closer than before. Something has heard the struggle and is approaching the ravine.
Quest Complete
Claim the deer as Xalli's quarry
Skill Upgrade: Melee Combat Mediocre→Fair
