Description
A tooled leather band spans his broad blue forehead to hold
back the wavy green locks of hair before they confined in a
loose net of knotted kelp. Ink tattoos adorn his cheekbones
in a rectilinear pattern of black triangles and wavy lines.
,
He wears a sharkskin satchel from his belt as a pouch, and
beside it a small thin knife in a leather case, meant for
cleaning animals rather than fighting, and his armor is
mismatched and incomplete.
Role
Trader, Target, Foes and Flotsam
Added Sat Dec 23 23:50:02 2023 at level 1:
"Secure that line!" the first mate bellowed. Two sailors scurried
to catch the rope snapping beneath the sail caught by the storm.
"You, boy! Get below!" Usanaar dodged around the two men and caught
the swinging boom in his much larger hand, holding it as the sailors
snagged the rope and tied it off. Although he wasn't a sailor, the last
place he wanted to be was below decks when the ship was so close to
Corte during a storm. The hope had been that they would lose the pirates
who followed them out of Hamsah Mu'tazz into the squall, but squinting
through the spray the dark gray silohouette danced into and out of sight.
Closing the hatch behind him, Usunaar ducked down into the hold of the ship.
Crates and barrels were tied down to prevent them from all sliding toward
one side of the ship, and finding a space in which he could be comfortable
was a challenge. Water played at his feet.
"I should be on deck," his echo spoke to him. "Wind is the voice of my mother,.
and lightning is her smile." He punched a fist into the water that had seeped
up out of the bilge. "And those pirates should fear the wrath of the stormkin
as much as a storm!" Even to his own ears those words rang hollow, though. He
did not carry more than a beltknife to defend himself, and in an oiled cylinder
he carried the bill of ownership to that portion of this cargo belonging
to his uncle. He was above, doing what he could to protect his investment.
The ship suddenly lurched and the scream of splintering wood and the roar of the
sea filled Usanaar's ears. The ship listed to port, and barrels and crates
strained against their netting. A heartbeast later and the aft spun as a strong
pounded the ship around, and cargo broke free and began tumbling about
wave in the hold. Something struck him, and then all went black.
Savior, Mentor, Hunter, Friend: Part 1
Added Sat Dec 23 23:52:52 2023 at level 1:
The young giant woke with a start. He was floating in a small niche
carved in the coral, streaks of sunlight entered the alcove through
a screen of asparagosis growing at the entrance. Usanaar tore at the
kelp strap keeping him from drifting out of the sleeping area.
"Easy, large one. You are safe here." Usanaar turned to the voice,
and slowly his vision adjusted to the gloom and he saw the human,
his face scarred by sun and weather and many decades of life. "Of
course you weren't apt to drown, but floating unconscious is a good
way for a fellow to get eaten by a shark or caught by those who
might wish you harm." He held up his hands to show they were empty
then extended one. "Perri. I live and hunt in these parts."
Usanaar ignored the hand and studied their surroundings. The interior
of their shelter looked like it had once been a natural crevice in the
coral that had been altered to make it more accommodating for its
resident. Living conditions were spartan: three clay amphoras leaned
against the entrance wall, and a green-tinged cooking spit was secured
over a vent in the sea floor that heated the room and might be used to
cook food thrust into its midst. A well-stitched satchel made from the
hide of a shark was secured in a corner, and from a woven basket his
rescuer retrieved a small piece of seaweed and chewed on it casually.
"You built this place?"
Perri shrugged his shoulders. "Time, tides, tools, but the teeth and
claws of the former occupant did the hard work." The old man pushed away
from where he had been sitting to reveal the sleek skull of a dragon.
"Did anyone else make it?" Usanaar looked carefully at Perri, who slowly
shook his head.
"You saved me. Why?"
"Because that is what good folk do."
Savior, Mentor, Hunter, Friend: Part 2
Added Sat Dec 23 23:55:05 2023 at level 1:
"Watch closely." Perri slid his thin-bladed knife behind the gill-plate
and down to the spine. "Now to maximize the fillet, you want the knife
to glide along the spine. Here, you do it."
Usanaar took his own knife and slipped it into the incision Perri had made
in the ocean perch. When he felt the resistance of bone, he turned the edge
and began sawing it toward the tailfin.
"No, not like that. You end up shredding the meat and you lose too much of
the fillet." He placed his own withered hands over those of his apprentice
and made a slight adjustment. "Angle it, and let the edge do the work." The
boy stared through the fish, focusing instead on the feel of flesh parting
from bone. A moment later, "Ok, stop. Leave the fillet attached to the tail,
and move the knife to pull the fillet away from the skin and scales."
Perri took the intestines and cut through the connective tissue so they
could be straightened out, and with a pass of his knife he cut open one
end and emptied the offal out into the ocean water in a foul-smelling
cloud that quickly dissipated. "Sausage skin or cure and twist into a cord.
The head, of course, we could make a stew out of, or if a fellow is hungry,
the cheeks we could cut out. Sweet eating. The rest, well, we can put out"
as bait for the traps. Crab would be good eating tomorrow."
"Thank you for teaching me, Perri. I have nothing with which to repay you."
They had been unable to find his uncle's remains in the wreckage of the ship
but few remains and little cargo had survived the sharks, storm and pirates.
If his uncle had survived, he was likely a slave somewhere.
"My sunrises are numbered, Usan. Repay me by guiding deserving folk through
stormy nights. The gods know there are enough of them."
Savior, Mentor, Hunter, Friend part 3
Added Sat Dec 23 23:56:41 2023 at level 1:
Perri and Usanaar stood in the river, the tip of their gigs
held motionless below the surface of the running water. "There
are different types of hunts, Usan. If you have large numbers in
your party, like dolphins you can push the prey into the shallows.
This is how you feed a village, but the scavengers will steal
much of your kill and the survivors will swim deep into hiding.
"The second way is the way of the shark, but it involves charging so rapidly
onto the target that they do not have time to react. Stealth and strength
are key aspects to this strategy, but intelligent, skittish animals will sense
you and head for the depths long before you get a chance to strike.
"The third way involves creating a sense of peace by staying motionless.
Be patient. Allow the animal to feel comfortable, to eat on the plankton
or the minnows that might be near. Then, when you see they are vulnerable,
strike like the lanternfish or octupus."
Like a snake he thrust his light spear through the water and embedded its
three prongs into the brown trout. He pulled the dying fish from the gig
and dropped it into the wicker basket at his side.
"Patience is your friend, Usan, as is intelligence. If your prey is mindless,
you can cause them to react the way you want them to and can kill them easily.
Intelligent prey might be overwhelmed if you can effectively rush them.
If you want to eat well, though, you must wait patiently for the right
moment to pounce."
Savior, Mentor, Hunter, Friend part 4
Added Sat Dec 23 23:58:01 2023 at level 1:
When Usanaar woke, he still felt heady from their raid
on a Hokkan slave ship from the night before. They were
able to bring five slaves to the shore and kill one of
the slavers, and when the two of them returned from their
foray they drank heavily on fermented sea lion milk and
feasted on pillaged salt pork.
"Perri, how long do you think we should wait before we
strike again?" His friend did not move, so he reached
over and shook his shoulder. "Perri?"
He pulled the old man over onto his back, and Usanaar
saw the eternal peace that had come over his mentor's features.
Leaning in, he placed his forehead against that of his,
wrinkled friend. You feast in the Great Hall this evening,
Perrimachus of Seantryn Modan, and you will live on in me.
Hours later the last stone was placed in the watery cairn
he had created for the person who had done more to raise
him than his blood family.
He had much yet to learn, and he had much yet to do.
It would be dawn soon.
Living the Dream?
Added Mon Dec 25 09:41:54 2023 at level 12:
He remembered this place, but recognition just relegated him to
a spectator. Dappled light dancing on the forest floor as the
wind stirred the leaves of the elms. Out of the brush came the
black-furred head of a wolf, his yellow eyes trained upon the
young villager gathering gooseberries.
Usanaar bent his knees and rushed forward, nearly fourty-three
stone of muscle and bone bearing toward the wolf. As he was
about to strike, an elf wielding a stick stepped obblivously between
the giant and the wolf. Usanaar battle roar transformed into a
scream as his armor-clad knee connected with the elf.
The storm giant drove his sword into the wolf, pinning it to the ground.
Surveying the brush, there were no other threats and the villager had
run screaming back toward the village clearing. He turned his attention
to where he knelt, and beneath Usanaar was the crushed form of the
would-be defender, his face agape in pained horror and his vacant gaze
staring into the eyes of Usanaar.
This is where the nightmare ended, but even awake Usanaar could not forget
that face, and he wiped his sleeve through his tears. The villagers would
not talk to him, Olgakar and Sutton seemed uninformed, and the princess
simply gave him an errand to run. Why did they deem the elf so unimportant?
Is this indifference what drove Perri to live in the sea, far from man?
The Draugen
Added Sat Jan 13 21:21:02 2024 at level 42:
The net closed around the orc chieftain, and from the pond emerged an immense form,
seaweed hanging in a cascade from his armor and woven into his hair. A shrill cry pierced the air,
and a harpoon the size of a small tree sprang from the orc's side. The orc tried to flee, but the nets
and their hooks dragged him back into the water just as a falcon struck, clawing at the orc's eyes.
The watery monster struck again, dealing it a savage blow, and then the falcon shifted into
a muscular primate and these two fed the orc to the fishes.
The threat of these nets is becoming strong, Usanaar thought. I do not wish those allied with the light
to die to them.
I must pledge to the Fortress.
PK Wins
Dec 28, 2023|Lv 27|Udgaardian Plains|Vahkun vs 1: [27] Usanaar (100%, surprise attack)
Dec 29, 2023|Lv 30|Mount Calandaryl|Cranzliss vs 1: [30] Usanaar (100%, piercing venoms)
Jan 1, 2024 |Lv 38|The Dragon Sea|Ecnalap vs 2: [38] Usanaar (16%, surge of water), [51] Jaulvad (83%)
Jan 2, 2024 |Lv 38|The Drogran Hills|Ecnalap vs 1: [38] Usanaar (100%, lightning bolt)
Jan 8, 2024 |Lv 38|Voralia's Tears|Ansudae vs 1: [38] Usanaar (100%, icy grip)
Jan 13, 2024|Lv 42|The Grove|Watclawsh vs 2: [51] Sinnyah (63%, punch), [42] Usanaar (36%)
Jan 13, 2024|Lv 42|The Redhorn Mountains|Irgech vs 4: [42] Usanaar (18%), [51] Kelkalan (19%, bleeding artery), [51] Zekeilial (32%), [51] Horfik (29%)
Jan 23, 2024|Lv 42|The Redhorn Mountains|Vrolah vs 1: [42] Usanaar (100%, frigid smash)
Jan 26, 2024|Lv 42|The Redhorn Mountains|Vindyrys vs 1: [42] Usanaar (100%, drowning)
Jan 27, 2024|Lv 42|Fortress of Light|Vindyrys vs 1: [42] Usanaar (100%, claw)
Jan 28, 2024|Lv 42|The Dragon Sea|Ixen vs 1: [42] Usanaar (100%, drowning)
Jan 28, 2024|Lv 42|The Dragon Sea|Vrolah vs 1: [42] Usanaar (100%, savage blow)
Feb 5, 2024 |Lv 45|The Dragon Sea|Ogahn vs 2: [45] Usanaar (40%), [51] Jihl (59%, KB)
Feb 7, 2024 |Lv 47|The Dragon Sea|Idrepi vs 1: [47] Usanaar (100%, wrath)