conversations: human
conversations:  You've been able to see Eisenby in the distance for a week now... just a speck at first, but growing by the hour. The unremitting sun highlights the scarred flank of Mt. Eisen, painted rust red like an open wound. Gray plumes of smoke mark the town itself, rising from blast furnaces and ironworks, and beyond it you can occasionally spy the black breath of a steamship or an azure glint of the sea. The mingling clouds of smoke are a good sign, in this case. A sign of life and industry, a sign you're not too late.
  
  As you draw in close, however, signs turn to the worse. The sun is sinking as you reach the furthest outskirts of the town, but even in the fading light you can see claw marks scattered here and there amongst the storage shacks and shanty houses. The streets themselves are deathly quiet; the doors and windows shut and barred.
  
  And then, startlingly close by, you hear a mournful, keening howl, not properly canine in its... grief. Even without your Ranger training, it wouldn't be difficult to to place that unnatural sound...
  
  Well, at least it shouldn't be particularly difficult to locate Eisenby's Grimm problem?
  
   
   Spoiler 
  Weeeeeell... this isn't  quite  a cold open. I'll give you a chance to introduce your characters and maybe take a moment to prepare for the enemy before I spring them on you. But you certainly know they're coming!
   
conversations: Ascension:
conversations: human
conversations:  Athrusa, the leader of Team AMOUR five years ago.  A Fox Faunus whose skill at swordsmanship was, supposedly, second to none at the time -- stories of how her blade never knew to swing twice against the same opponent have no doubt become hyperbole and embellished over the years, but nonetheless must have some kernel of truth.  A Fox Faunus whose ability to lead was never questioned -- she worked with even the most frantic and idiosyncratic of people and had the personal charisma to string a band of then-misfits together into a fighting team capable enough to hold what felt like an inevitable end back from Menagerie.
  
  That was then.  Legends, as they say, are mere words, dots on a parchment only few care to read.
  
  The reality is now.  Athrusa lets out a somewhat tired sigh as she crests the hill, dressed in her white robes and dark fighting garments beneath, her ashen-blonde hair flowing and long and her ears perked up and alert.  Her body's certainly faced atrophy over the years in her inactivity, and the doctors have still warned her that her spine would never completely heal -- it would drastically limit her mobility, her flexibility, and her strength.  It would make certain maneuvers next to impossible to perform.
  
  It didn't matter.
  
  " Grimms, " Athrusa warns as she peers down towards the town, noticing the claw marks.  " Bramble, how many can you hear? "
conversations: Merilan:
conversations: human
conversations:  Spoiler: For the benefit of those with Super-Hearing 
  When she focuses, Bramble can hear past the moaning howls... she can hear their growling, the padding of their feet, the scrape of their claws...
  
  Perhaps a dozen total? Down the side streets, getting closer. It sounds as if you may be surrounded in a moment.
   
conversations: Ascension:
conversations: human
conversations:  The youngest member of their little party nods, taking a knee and a deep breath. Bramble tries desperately to focus: forget Eisenby, forget the Grimm. this is it, her chance to impress two veteran rangers. To fight alongside them as an equal partner and teammate.   Don't screw this up, Brambs, you screw up!   Trying to use her Semblence practically like this is still new to the young Ranger, but they're not in battle now, so she can focus on it. Focus on looking without her eyes
  
   Clack, thwum, clack. Bone over stone, then dirt, then stone as great clawed beasts pace past creaking wood. A gentle tinkling crash as a shard of glass falls and shatters, followed by a muffled snort and the pad of movement across bare ground. Slow movement, from the left, from the right, starting to speed up as claws drag furrows against the earth. 
  
  Bramble opens her eyes wide, her tail twitching back and forth, making her cloak swoosh and daggers jangle. It's obvious from a glance at the recruit's face that she's scared, but she tries not to show it, smiling and snorting as she reaches for a blade-hilt,  "They're coming to us. They're in the alleyways, both sides. Perhaps a dozen Beowulves, maybe an Ursa. I guess the Grimm don't like Faunus on 'their land' any more than humans do, huh?" 
conversations: Inspector Valin:
conversations: human
conversations:  Of all the things Alice had thought she would do in her career, walking along with one of the legends of the Wild Hunt was decidedly not among them. Especially not given that the legend looks gaunt and tired, like she needs about a weeks worth of sleep and a lot of big meals.
  
  Sighing, Alice picks at the hem of her shorts as they trudge up the hill. Even if they hadn't had a legend tagging along, she expects that this will be a milk run. In remote areas like this, a wolf spotted in the fields can turn into the rumour of a pack of Beowulves quickly from only having your neighbours to talk to. Investigate the area, help the villagers set up a defensive perimeter if they don't have one already, and then back to headquarters inside a week.
  
  Or at least, that was what Alice thought before they heard the unnatural howling.  "If it's just Beowulves, we can probably take them,"  she says, pulling shells from her bandolier and dropping them into  the slots in her weapon.  "But it might be better if we tried to make a break for a square, or something like that, to get away from all the cross streets. I don't want to get surrounded." 
conversations: DoctorFaust:
conversations: human
conversations:  Athrusa nodded with a soft smile at Bramble, saying, " Good work.  Your senses have been getting keener lately -- keep it up. "  She then turns to Alice and said, " I agree.  Beowulves enjoy applying pack tactics and flanking -- we'll charge through with a running battle, picking them off as we move to the village square. "
  
  She placed her hand on the hilt of the Mumyo-no-Rakuen, drawing the obscenely-sized katana.  It... was a bit curious, how she could lift it without effort, even in her emaciated state -- there must be something to the weapon that allowed her to do so, the way her touch barely rested against the weapon's handle.  " Alice, would you like to start us off? "  Though the girl looked frail, she'd heard tales of her immense strength, and being able to power through any obstacles in their way was key to this dash-and-divide strategy.
conversations: Merilan:
conversations: human
conversations:  "Oh. Ah, alright."  Alice clacks her gauntlets together, and starts bouncing from foot to foot. The dark-skinned woman looks noticeably more nervous than she did a few moments ago, but keeps enough confidence to say,  "Okay, stack up behind me, but keep moving. On my mark, we make a run for it. Ready?" 
conversations: DoctorFaust:
conversations: human
conversations:  Athrusa nodded and looked at Bramble, stooping to a readied position, the katana... more or less floating behind her.  " Ready! "
conversations: Merilan:
conversations: human
conversations:  A moment before Bramble can confirm her readiness, a moment before Alice can take off running, a single Beowulf slinks out into the road ahead of the team. It seems smaller than typical Beowulves, jackal-like, with a lean and hungry look. A feral growl rumbles in its throat.
  
  Red eyes gleam from the twilit shadows...
  
   
   Spoiler 
  There  are  twelve Beowulves. These are pretty weak specimens of the species... Alice and Athrusa can roll at d20, Bramble at d12. You can engage up to four as a small group, or the whole dozen as a large group. Since there shouldn't be any real GM-driven surprises in how Beowulves fight (well, at least not at this point...), why don't you guys go ahead and roll in the OOC for your Exchanges, against however many of the them you'd like to handle at once, and then if you'd like you can take full narrative control over the fight sequence that gets you to the rolled result. Have fun with it. 🙂
   
conversations: Ascension:
conversations: human
conversations:  Athrusa's eyes gleam with a kind of crimson flair as the Beowulf lunges out at them; she takes the initiative to cover any flank she intuitively feels uncovered, the Mumyo raging out as she thrusts her arm out.  The weapon glides in parallel and skewers onto the Grimm, before the shining steel blade bursts out into a large crimson hand, its fingers laced with shards of her blade.  " Bad move. "
  
  The claw clenches down, and her Semblance shimmers into place as she feels the energy of the Grimm distorting and skewing into hers.  "  Consume Claw...  "
  
  She grimaces as she feels her muscle strain, though, and nearly drops the weapon as it sags and drops the limp body of their enemy.  " Don't let up!  Bramble, cover us! "
conversations: Merilan:
conversations: human
conversations:  "On it!"  Bramble darts forward and right as the wolf-creatures emerge from the shadows, throwing her first knife towards one of them that was closing in on Athrusa's side. The creature snarls, leaping out of the shadows straight at the unwary young ranger with her knife protruding limply from its side. Brambs jumps to the side with an eep, swirling her cloak around the beowulf's mask and pushing it sideways just enough to retrieve her blade before darting away. She hasn't notched a kill but she's keeping one of the Grimm distracted at least?
conversations: Inspector Valin:
conversations: human
conversations:  When the Beowulf reveals itself, Alice yells  "Mark!"  almost on instinct, and charges it. She was hoping to catch the Grimm off guard and land a solid knee strike to start the fight, and by the time she's closed half the distance without it moving, she's fairly confident that she will.
  
  And then she remembers that Bramble just said there were a dozen of them. A low growl from one of the side streets distracts her from her intended target, and she whips around just in time to see a second Grimm come leaping out at her. Combat-honed reflexes are enough to make sure the Beowulf doesn't latch onto anywhere vital, but it still takes her down and rake its claws across her stomach before she can muscle it off.
conversations: DoctorFaust:
conversations: human
conversations:  Athrusa grimaces and hurries after Alice, when she sees the Beowulf knock her prone -- she's not nearly as fast as she'd like to, and her calf muscles and hamstrings are screaming at her as acid build-up takes over.  " Back off! " she exclaims, sending an explosive thrust that strikes the Grimm at its mask and sends it flying.  With her free hand, she reaches down to pull the fallen Faunus up by her hand.  " Come on, Alice!  You've got this! "
conversations: Merilan: