#Storyline: The Hunt for the Saurotaun

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The Hunt... Is On Storyline: The Hunt for the Saurotaun

Featuring: Aultena Sephimiri ( @roleplay-aficionado ) Edgard Beaumont ( @therpperson ) Rae-Hann ( @yokasaris ) Siannault Tavard ( @tavard-ffxiv ) V’hala Helsi and V’ari Tia ( That one nerd that isn’t on Tumblr )

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RP Journal: 09/14/2020

Time has slipped through my fingers since last I penned an entry, hasn’t it?  Much of the time has gone into planning the expedition into Dusk Vigil that happened this evening. While I’d originally planned to take Sumiko along with us, she’d written to say she couldn’t make it, that Nan’to would be upset with her if she did. I’m no stranger to wanna-be father figures thinking they have the right to rule my life, so there was no harm done. To replace her, I enlisted the aid of new-found friend and comrade, V’ari Tia. Along with Edgard Beaumont, and Rae-Hann we were a formidable enough team to take on most anything.

(Courtesy cut for length...)

/Most/ anything. The expedition itself showed us signs of a monstrosity with a powerful connection to wind-aspected aether, as well as claws and a beak sharp enough to cleave a man in twain with but a single stroke. Evidence of the beast’s carnage lay deep within the bowels of the ruin, a pile of various severed body parts of both man and beast. It was revolting. By the time we got to the heart of the ruin, we were fairly convinced that this would be no trifling hunt. This would be dangerous.  This would be brutal.  This would be terrifying.

Once I laid eyes on the Saurotaun, none of that mattered. The haze of crimson that filled my vision as I looked at it peacefully sleeping is something I’ll never forget.  I could hear the blood pounding in my ears like the thunderous crash of waves against the cliffs of La Noscea.  After fifteen long years, there it was. The thing that killed my parents, killed their hunting party. Eight hunters’ lives all just snuffed out in the blink of an eye.  And I wanted nothing more than to kill it myself.

Were it not for the three of them, I would’ve gone to my death in a haze of rage and grief then and there. Ari with his earnest truth and subtle fear for the powerful aether surging around us. Rae-Hann with his reminder that I once pulled him from the same precipice, where what we wanted and what actually mattered diverged and all that was needed was a hand to show us to the correct path. Ardi who told me to /stick to the plan/ -- the same words I’d used to Tristane all those years ago. As much as I didn’t want to fail my parents, to turn tail and run when my ancient enemy was right before me, I wanted to fail these three steadfast, faithful friends even less.

/Stick to the plan./  With Ardi standing there between my quarry and I, all I could hear was my own voice screaming for Tristane to stick to the plan. Screams of fear and anger. The aching pain in my heart, like it was the alpha’s teeth and claws tearing through it. There was no way I could put Ardi through that.  None.

So, we left. It was a harrowing run to escape the beast’s lair as it screamed its fury and the wind whipped at us from all sides. Gods, I hate Coerthas and I hate the cold.  I hate it even more now. I will never understand people that enjoy it.  Give me a warm, autumnal forest or a sunny, white sand beach. 

Once we recovered, we adjourned to my cabin in Tailfeather. Ari promptly fell asleep on the rug by the bath, not that I blame him, it’s probably pretty warm there. Ardi made dinner and I talked about how I felt about all that had gone on. Rae-Hann eventually joined us, having diverted off to Ishgard to pick up a bottle of wine. An amusingly endearing gesture, pretty common for Rae-Hann when it comes to our friendship. So, the three of us drank wine, ate miqo’bobs, and just let me vent about my feelings and some of our thoughts and conjecture on what the Saurotaun is or could possibly be. Eventually, we came to the conclusion that we should just operate on what we know, rather than continue to ponder over what-ifs and maybes. Rae-Hann departed not long after.

During the course of that talk, Ardi said that /we/ would spend the next fifteen years hunting the Saurotaun if it happened to get away. We. As if he would just naturally spend the next fifteen years at my side, hunting a nightmare monstrosity with no other thought or concern for anything else. When I asked him about it, he even said as much: Why would I want to be anywhere else but by your side? I have to admit, it’s a wonderful feeling to have someone I know I can count on, someone I can trust with absolute certainty, and someone I know will be there no matter what happens.

We, too, went to bed, exhausted by the day’s events. Tomorrow, we would begin planning, researching, exploring our options. We wouldn’t go into this fight unprepared. We’d be ready and the next time I encountered the Saurotaun -- that beast would die.

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Journal Entry: 07/31/2020

Tonight was… bittersweet. As I make my way back to Kugane, I have ample time to look over the past few days and mull things over. There’s a lot to unpack, but in the end, I think leaving Ul’dah behind for a while is the best thing for me. 

(Courtesy Cut for Length)

The Beaumont Twins have been diverting, even amusing at times, but in the short time I’ve known them every hunter’s instinct within me tells me that they’re friends best kept at arm’s length. Edgard lives behind a permanent mask and there’s no telling where, when, or if who he really is will ever emerge. I’ve seen fragments of it, fractures in the armor of his expectant arrogance, but that’s not enough. I value honesty above all else and a life lived wreathed in a lie is a far cry from honest. 

As for Edmond, I want to believe what he said tonight, that he was looking to change his life and work toward being better to himself. Yet, in the same breath, I saw how bound his fate is to his brother. I don’t know that one can live without the other and that’s a level of dependency that leaves very little room for anything else. Not that I’m looking for something with Edmond, but he certainly seemed to have his hopes set on me. The heartbroken look in his eyes when we parted ways tonight spoke volumes. 

My heart still mourns Tristane; I came to realize that when I was talking to Lorrendor about it. It’s been almost six years and I’m still haunted by his screams, telling me to stay back, trying to protect me to the last.  Protect me, like I was some genteel maiden, and not his hunting partner. We should have worked together to beat the Alpha, but in some reckless sense of valiance, he threw the plan we’d devised out the window, going in to fight the damn thing on his own. There’s a part of me that hates him for that, even now. 

And I see the makings of that in Edmond. I don’t want or need someone who will treat me like a damsel in distress, that I’m someone to be saved, swaddled, and shielded. I’ve earned my stripes as a Huntress and I fully expect to walk beside my partners as an equal. I don’t see that happening with Edmond; he’ll either turn me into a surrogate for Edgard, someone to follow, or he’ll turn me into a damsel, someone to be protected and placed behind him. That’s not who I am. It never will be.

Still, I’ve made plans to return to Ul’dah for the Grindstone, as planned. Whether either brother will be there -- or in a better mood -- is anyone’s guess, but I’ll at least be able to sleep knowing that I’m a woman of my word. I’ll make the return trip to Kugane with Lorrendor, who promises to have his affairs settled in Ul’dah by then. So, at least I’ll have company when I go back. 

I plan to show Lorrendor the city; some of my favorite places to eat, the best merchant stalls to buy from, and the hot springs.  Oschon’s Worn Sandals, I can’t wait for a good long soak in the hot springs!  We’re also going to be doing a lot of hunting, which will be interesting. I’ve never actually seen Lorrendor in combat, so we’ll see if his talk of being a hunter rings true. I’m not one for bagging small prey, so the challenge will be a good way to gauge. After all, if he truly plans to help me in the hunt for the Saurotaun I can’t take along an amateur.