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dogicrimsonofficial · 3 days ago

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Howler Logs - #30, Haukke Manor

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Featuring Aoki Usa by @shadesofblades

Haukke Manor. Of course it was the Haukke Manor. A blip in the notes, something no one had truly talked about in any sort of length. Something about a succubus… and a house of horrors, before they all became desensitised to the macabre – making the story only mildly disturbing to the most, a ghost story to scare the younglings.

Not that they needed much of that, thank you very much.

Of course when the original stories were talking about a woman turned wicked due to her unfortunate incident, there had been no mentions of the Voidsent. And the people around hadn’t really talked about Haukke Manor all that much… On the other hand, Howler hadn’t stayed around long enough to listen to idle gossip.

They really needed to fix that.

There had been no hesitation, no slowing down once Howler had the location down – they had barely spoken a word, aside from when they finally slowed down by the doors and hopped off from their chocobo. Looking around, they tried to detect a specific grumpy emotion they had been picking up here and there – finally detecting it quite a few fulms away, but rapidly approaching. Okay, good, just had to give a warning now.

“Cy, I need you to stay here,” Howler stated, holding their chocobos face firmly. Cy squawked in disbelief, kicking the ground once like an angry toddler. Howler however didn’t relent, keeping hands on the birds reigns, eyes locked to the brown ones. “I need you to stay out here and kill anything that comes out. The big problem you’ll leave for us, but the smaller ones shouldn’t be able to be a threat to you.”

The eyes narrow, as Howler’s fingers curled on the reigns. “Kill them. Don’t eat, but stomp as much as you want.”

If a chocobo could show glee, this was certainly it – wings fluffing up, leg stomping rapidly on the ground on the promise of a fight.

Truly, a bloodthirsty little thing. Whoever thought this bird was for carriages had no real clue-

With that, Howler pulled back. Eyes locked on to Igey, though they kept tabs on their little follower – talking just loud enough he could hear as well.

“I don’t know how much your contact told you about these things-”

“Not much, admittedly.”

Howler ignored the interruption, and continued on. “-but here’s a rundown. It will get cold, the visuals will be low. Be careful not to let the thing touch your bare skin, or have prolonged touch on anything of yours – it should not be too bad, but better safe than sorry. Hit hard and hit fast.”

“Hm. Most of that shouldn’t pose a problem. Especially with the size of my weaponry.” Igey had full covering gear, was never cold no matter where or why, but this would test the woman’s resolve and ability. She had very little knowledge, and Howler could see the furrow of her brow. Skill would amount to nothing without knowledge. “What sort of ability do these Corrupted have, that enhance what is normally there? Anything in particular that stands out? Combat prowess, usual targets, predictability or un-predictability?”

“I don’t know,” Howler admitted, grimacing. “It depends on what kind of Voidsent was infected. With the imp, I was hit fast with claws, and flinging spells. I’ve also had an encounter with a soulflayer with powerful telepathic powers… So the power and abilities depend on who or what is infected.”

There were too many of those fights to list really, but Howler was trying their best here.

She clicked her tongue in displeasure. Igey was not happy, her emotions may well be controlled but the expression gave away enough. It had them wishing they could offer more. “In that case, I shall enter combat with the utmost caution, and use the intimate knowledge of voidsent I possess, whatever may be applicable.”

With that out of the way, Howler gave a firm nod – jaw set, eyes hardened. Aged by a decade or two within an instant, compared to the Elezen that had spent the last week or so slowly opening up, slowly showing the youth that was hidden just beneath the scarred face and tired eyes.

“That’s what made these things so dangerous,” they warned, before pushing the gates open. “You never know what to expect.”

The gates creaked, only sound within the courtyard. As if on cue, the fog seemed to rise from the very stones they walked upon, unnatural cold taking hold of the air. The stench of stale air made Howler wrinkle their nose, before they made a move with their arm – Pipsqueak taking flight from their hood, taking some much needed distance. Better to keep the little one out of danger.

Taking in a deeper breath, Howler kept an eye on the court, slowly creeping closer as they pulled the spear out – every shadow, every shift of movement in the low visibility making their skin crawl. Yet they did not flinch, focused on trying to sense their target.

Deathly quiet, the unnatural cold of the grave creeping up their limbs. All the signs were here, and yet…

“It knows we’re here,” Howler suddenly said, with a low voice, blue eyes scanning the fog. “Just trying to catch us unaware.”

“Is it intelligent enough to devise a plan or a trap?”

As if on cue, they both flinched – a whistle in the air, a pressure in aether, a shift in the battlefield as conjured stones were launched at them amidst the fog.

Howler did not stop, did not hesitate – their body went into an autopilot, ducking into a roll for a dodge before using the very same roll to plant their feet on the weathered cobblestone for a proper kickoff.

Stone nearly cracked under their boots, and just like that Howler was soaring – they had said to hit hard, and to hit fast, and they bloody meant it. The world turned into a blurry mess of greys and greens, as Howler's focus was laid purely on a singular, bulging eyeball of white and blue, along with the rest of the body of the said eyeball.

There was no shout, snarl, yell or roar – just gritted teeth as Howler allowed gravity to do its job, aiming directly at the widely grinning ahriman.

Pale and blueish skin with darkened, mottled skin, bloodshot eye, the tongue swollen and colored in ugly blacks and purples. ‘Still in the first stages’, Howler noted – ‘Still resembling what it was before infection took hold.’

Howler’s spear sunk in – not into the eye, as they had hoped. Into the wing that was thrown between the two for protection, through the membrane and into the bone of an arm. Tutting tongue, Howler kicked off – pulling the polearm along before it could get stuck, or worse yet, yanked by the ahriman.

Skidding across the rocks, Howler let out a small huff – eyes not leaving the target now that it had been properly spotted. Not even Igey, who stepped next to them, could break that focus.

“Rather swift of you.” It was a passing comment, perhaps mildly worried. But the woman still stepped forwards calmly, great sword materializing in hand. A rush of chill flowered off her coat, as frost climbed the glove- the immediate aura of intimidation and determination wafting in pulsing tides. “I’ll take your example to heart, then.”

The rush of aether sent Igey into a blur, her smaller figure giving a mighty impact upon the tainted voidsent, swinging without hesitation. Drawing attention onto her unrelenting form with a large cleaving swing after alternating swing.

That was all the details Howler could pay attention to, before going back into their task – circling around the beastie, mindful of the thrashing tail and rotting aether creating spells with a concerning ease and speed. It was good at keeping Howler and Igey further away, which was an even bigger cause for worry – even now, Howler could see the membrane of the wing they had sliced through closing itself.

Dark tendrils poured out of the wound, intertwining together, pulling the opened up flesh back together, knitting and fusing it… healing it.

Bloody regenerative powers…

Guess Howler would have to step up the damage then. Maybe slice off a whole wing? That would cripple the creature, and give them time to get in more damage- yes, that was the plan now.

Howler hopped backwards, and focused – before aiming another jump-attack at the ahriman, this time hoping to get the wing and-

-for the first time, they made a sound in this fight as a rock hit their stomach, knocking the air out of their lungs and the body out of the air.

Howler managed to twist their body in the air, trying to recover, ending up on their feet at the very least. Sadly, one of those very feet was quickly taken hostage by the prehensile tail that had been lashing about.

Howler managed to get only one look – the malicious glee of the ahriman, wet eye staring right at Howler, and Igey wiping her eyes behind it, stunned – the world slowing just for a moment, before turning into a whirlwind of muted colors once again, only to come to an abrupt stop as their body hit the ground with a velocity Howler was not all too happy about.

Nor were their goggles, considering how the lenses cracked from the impact. The glass had held for years before now, but now the shards of glass were littering the ground.

Howler would have to figure out a counter-attack and quick- No, up they went again, pulled along from their leg that was already screaming in protest of this unfair treatment. The clone was already getting motion sickness, and quickly squeezed their eyes shut, pushing chin against their chest – bracing for impact that came once again.

It was on the third impact that Howler felt it. The angle had been slightly different, if because the ahriman had decided to try something else or because Igey had intervened, Howler didn’t know. What they did know was that they were going to be bruised and battered, with at least one broken bone – considering they had just landed on top of their arm.

The mechanical arm.

That made a very concerning cracking sound, so loud it echoed across the courtyard.

Oh they were going to need a medic and mechanic both afterwards-

“Howler…!” There was emotion there, true, unbridled emotion from Igey in that moment. Worry, panic- and then, anger. Flaring hot, despite the icy after taste her aether always carried. Her hand flew outwards, conjuring a giant ice spike, to fling at the Ahriman’s open jaws and pierce the swollen tongue of rot and bile. “You pay attention to ME, anaseisíphallos!” The combination of shout, aether, and cast drew the giant eye’s attention for the moment-

-while Howler felt a mix of very reasonable panic as the tail pulled taut, almost bringing them with it, ready to slam them again against Igey most likely-

-when a blur of black and blue struck.

The tail that had been holding Howler's leg went slack, and the ahriman suddenly jerked – pulling back, letting out a startled screech. Whirling around for a brief moment to stare what the hell had hit it.

Howler ripped off their goggles first before looking up, confused for a brief moment, before both relief and guilt washed over them. Relief, knowing they had a better chance now. Guilt, for they had to be saved during a mission meant for them.

But beggars could not be choosers, and Howler was going to be the last person to complain about help, even if it came from their more stand-offish, black and blue Viera stalker.

“Careful!”

Their sudden helper had turned to take a brief look at Howler, assessing the situation. Howler in turn gave a thankful nod as they discarded the now broken goggles, forcing themselves up from the ground – at least to get into a kneeling position.

Their left side was in agony, making every breath a task, every slight movement or twist into a painful ordeal. It was no wonder, it had taken the full brunt from being slammed right on top of the mechanic arm – Howler would have not been surprised if they had broken a rib or two, or at the very least bruised their side.

Slowly, they exhaled, looking at the battle – the Viera, satisfied that Howler wasn’t at least dying yet, had taken Howler's spot, using hit and run tactics to cause as much damage as possible, while Igey kept the bloody thing’s attention with a combination of intimidating aura and powerful attacks.

And yet, the corrupted ahriman kept pulling itself back together. It was getting faster at reading incoming attacks, too, now dodging or blocking with less vital parts of its body – clearly its intelligence hadn’t gone yet. Dangerous. Its tail had already grown back as well – that regenerative power was something to be truly feared here.

What they needed was one powerful attack. One that could take it out in single go, something strong enough to outpace that healing.

Howler shut their eyes for a moment, hand on their spear.

They really didn’t want to result in this tactic but… what was a spear but a staff with a very sharp end?

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“Are you alright?”

Igey’s worry was palpable, and Howler could only grimace in return – hanging there limply, between the two, before lifting their head just a little bit.

“Not really. You better not stand right in front of me for a bit. Vertigo got me bad.”

There was a hiss, as a hand passed over their side – an attempt to steady the clone. Howler instinctively flinched away from that touch, grimacing at the sudden twist inside their guts.

“We better move you back to Gridania,” Igey commented, all the earlier emotion locked tightly under the lid. She turned towards the Viera, eyes narrowing a little, suspicious but… not as much as before. “Will you help? Howler’s chocobo is just outside the gates.”

The Viera nodded in response, starting to drag Howler along – the Elezen making a tiny sound at the back of their throat. An apology, most likely, hard to tell, the clone was too afraid of making too much noise now.

They really did not want to throw up on their stalker-friend-ally. That was bound to leave a really bad impression.

“... I broke my arm.” Howler finally admitted, with a soft and quiet voice, suddenly feeling very small.

“I heard,” Igey responded, voice uncharacteristically soft as she kept her hand on Howler’s back. “We’ll get it fixed.”

Howler let out a hum in response… and merely closed their eyes.

Time for some rest.

#Howler Logs #Howler Kore #Igey Shemhazai #Aoki Usa #ffxiv gposes #duskwight elezen #hyur #As usual there's more shots under the read-me!#I... Really hope you guys enjoy this one #I'm actually kinda scared of posting this one because I put a lot of work on to the special thing featured here #ANYWAYS GO GIVE LOVE FOR AOKI #Youtube

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