Neverwinter Forest plague

BWP thread for NWF. Scimitar is calling everyone together -- @Eshe @Kaskara @Goldhawk @Kieran @Nadie @Mazi @Astra

It was a torrential wave – and it hit the forest with a force that left him in a state of panic and confusion at first. The locusts swarmed the woodlands – pelting him in every direction with stinging slaps. The clear sky above had darkened with the abundance of them – and the buzz they offered was almost deafening upon more sensitive ears.
 
The dark agouti wolf’s one good ear slid back to his skull, his bright eyes widening as he studied what was occurring. The bugs hopped from branch to branch after landing, while others skittered upon the ground, taking to feed upon the gentle mosses and grass.
 
Tilting his muzzle back, Scimitar called to his pack mates – his howl urgent as it rose, steady in the air. He called for them to gather – and only as his voice died down against the spring wind did the wolf give a shake of his pelt, hoping to rid himself of some of the insects that had taken to his flank and tail. He had never witnessed anything like this before, and he did not know what to do.

Kieran heard the buzzing first and with a curious gaze he stepped from the innards of their happy home. He yelped aloud as the swarming insects buzzed to sit and hover around and then fell upon the grass like demons were after them. He studied them and sighed, this was not good. he had never seen such things, but he had heard of them from the old country and it spelt disaster for most everyone involved. They would eat the grass and the herds would move.

Scimitar's howl rang out and Kieran waited calmly for his love. He would help her there and then they would have the meeting. Kieran shuddered in fear, and the thought of the unknown. He was certain this was his fault. He had told Kaskara this would happen bad luck followed him like sickness.

The young she-wolf heard it first. The ominous buzzing filling her ears, leaving no room for anything else. Her eyes grew wide as she turned to look behind her. The once bright sky grew dark as the mass of insects seemed to devour up the whole earth. She shook her head, not believing her eyes. Once her shock had died down, confusion took over her, but Astra stayed unusually calm. 

Scimitar's howl broke the ruckus of wings and clicking mandibles, and Astra hurried herself into action. She trotted through the cloud of locusts as best as could, ignoring she sting of the bugs hitting her sides. Her skin crawled at the thought of the bugs crawling upon her - she knew some were. 

Finally, she reached the alpha, her eyes visibly wide in fearful confusion. However, she remained calm, gazing around the the locust covered ground, Sky, and trees. She realized that once the pests left, there would be nothing left. The herds would move on because there was no food, and then there would be no food for them!

She had been far from her mate when the strange humming had begun. She looked all around her and saw nothing, within the trees, but when the locusts descended upon Neverwinter she saw nothing but them. Scimitar howled, and Eshe picked up and ran toward him, incredibly confused with what was happening. These things... were they eating the conifers?

They blocked her line of sight, and Eshe was moving basically blindly. Where the hell...? The droning wings of the insects moving en masse were horrifying to the woman who had never seen or heard of anything like this in her life. What it meant, she did not know. One landed upon her and sought something, but in not finding anything it took off again.

Mazi was terrified.  Bugs were everywhere.  Endless amounts of bugs just flew through the forestry and was beginning to turn the place into a barren wasteland.  The herds would move.  They would be left with nothing.  Whimpers of fear and fright escaped her maw as she turned and began to run, feeling the stings of bugs against her sides.  What was this?  Where had these things come from!?

The howl of Scimitar brought her focus closer together at least and she began to run at her speed towards where she had heard her Alpha male’s howl.  Quickly she reached the Alpha, trembling.  She noticed others that had beaten her, but so far none that were recognizable except for Scimitar.  No Goldhawk or Nadie.  A fearful whimper escaped Mazi's throat, her question directed to no one in particular.  “What’s going on...?"

Alone by a river, Goldhawk choked and gagged on the locust in his throat until finally he threw it up. It had flown straight into him. Throat raw, and startled into silence, he watched wide-eyed as it twitched horribly on the grass — and then the blurred horizon came into terrible focus. A plague of insects was sweeping over Neverwinter like a great dark tidal wave. It was sickening and brutal, and Goldhawk couldn't turn away until he heard the call of his liege. The warrior turned and ran swiftly as the locusts battered his pelt, expression grim but forcibly calm as he tried to ignore what the plague was doing to his beautiful forest...

When he arrived at the gathering, chaos had the reins. Control your fear, Mazi, there's a good gal, he advised his friend as he saw her trembling and confused. We have to keep ours heads on, wot. Certain that his Alphas would shortly command them into a safe place, Goldhawk stood tall and glanced round urgently for his comrades. Where was Kaskara...?

She entered the clearing to find her other pack members assembled, Goldhawk comforting Mazi who she moved to join. They were the wolves she was closest with anyways.

What the hell were those things? They resembled grasshoppers but no grasshopers she knew of acting this way nor did they gather in such huge swarms.

The bugs had begun to devour the beautiful evergreens that made up their home, making her angry. Anytime one of the bugs came across her path she swatted it down and crushed it beneath a large paw. It gave her an odd sense of satisfaction to kill some of them as she waited for Scimitar to speak.

I would say we can forego posting order, but maybe try to let everyone respond per round?

His stomach clenched – his eyes taking in the sights of each member as they answered his call, his eyes searching them from a distance to ensure nothing terrible had happened. He did not know what the insects were – only that they clung to the beautiful conifers of the forest and devoured the foliage of the land.

His eyes sought out for Kieran, Eshe and Kaskara – none of whom had come to view yet. Those that were accounted for remained tense, and as Goldhawk mentioned they should remain calm, Scimitar exhaled a shaky breath, his tail giving a sweep through the air, feeling the bugs coil in his pelt. “They’re eating the trees and plants,” he murmured, uncertain if it was loud enough for the others to hear him. With his eyes skirting once more to the surrounding area, willing the familiar forms of his family to emerge, the cinnamon wolf waited.

“We have no herbs to store,” he muttered again, his form taking to pacing gently now. Such a thing was futile – and only as he watched a rather thick swarm a bush and devour its leaves in a pace quicker than he had imagined, did he realize the extent of what this could mean. “How are our caches?” His eyes swept over the group, wondering if anyone had recently contributed to the packs caches.

Kaskara's belly was giant, indicating she either carried a few large children, or many within her. Either way, it made her slower than normal. She got up and walked beside Kieran, fear and dread rising equally as her gaze sought out the destruction the bugs left in their wake. Kas cried out for her home, saddened by the loss of leaves and pines, and nudged closer to Kieran as they walked. They arrived just in time to hear her brother's questions, and she closed the gap between them to kiss his cheek. She glanced around at the others, smile falling as she turned back to Scimitar. Eshe? she asked simply, wondering where her sister was.

Kieran stuck close to Kaskara, his heart wrenching in his breat when she cried. He tried to make her feel better, lick her face, make her laugh even if a little bit. As they arrived he too heard Scimitar's question and though he didn't want to sacrifice Kaskara's comfort and hunger he knew she'd tan his hide if he didn't.

Tar's a well-stocked cache near our den sight an' another a wee further away. Both cud last for a few meals.

Astra peered around at the wolves in the clearing around her. Obviously, she was the newest wolf, and remained quiet, trying not to draw too much attention to her. She knew they had more serious matters to tend to at the moment. 

Ears swiveled back and forth among the few wolves that spoke. Between the ominous clatter of wings and mandibles and the voices of her packmates, she could hardly hear them. She heard a few words like food, cache, and full from Scimitar. It was enough to catch the gist of it. From two wolves who had just appeared into the clearing, she noted the word full. She guessed they were speaking of a full cache that they knew of and part of her uneasiness washed away. At least she knew they would have food, even if it was only for a little while.

Wanted to wrap this up a bit. If you guys wanted to do actual scouting parties and have a report back to Scim, that's fine by me! Or, we can always touch base through PM with any findings and pretend it happened behind the scenes. :)

Kaskara’s question drew a short shake of his muzzle, his eyes drifting past her to the surrounding woods. It was chaotic – the sight of locusts swarming the trees that had shrouded them in protection. He could see them stripping the very essence of nature, and he released a shaky breath. He had never witnessed anything like this – would they take their fill and leave?
 
His eyes flashed to Kieran, who spoke. A nod of gratitude was offered to the man, and he gave a gentle nod to the pair of O’Malleys. “Can you both see that it remains untouched for now?”
 
With a nod to Goldhawk, Astra, Nadie and Mazi he began to shift his weight. “The rest of you, try to see the damage of the forest – even what might be happening in the remaining areas outside of our home. Can you report back to me after? I need to find Eshe.” He could not settle here without his mate, so uncertain to where she was now.
 
He was eerily calm for the hum and buzz of the locusts as they devoured his forest – bugs stuck to his fur, and he gave his massive form a quick shake, hoping to rid the strange sensation as they tangled in his fur. With a tip of his muzzle, the dark agouti male was off to scour the lands for his mate, his jaws snapping to the air to catch a bug every so often.

With the swarm so thick here, Eshe could scarcely move through it! The insects rallied together and all around her, and she nearly choked on one as it surged past her parted jaws. A thick swallow was all it took to get it down, and she made a blech face at the taste of it.

She stumbled through the buzzing hoard with her eyes near-shut. Seemed like one of these guys could take an eye out or something. Not game for that, Eshe paused to try and gather her bearings. She wondered if she should hunker down for a bit, but felt a need for her mate, a vague little thread of it. He was safety, he was home, and she worried for him as well as the Forest. Gotta keep it moving. Gotta find him... She was sure Kaskara and Kieran were safe with one another, at least, and perhaps Scimitar was already with the duo and perhaps the pack had all congregated and everyone was okay.

My last post then!

Astra nodded to her alpha's words, pale green eyes bouncing off everyone in the locust filled clearing. A stone weighed in her heart as she realized that these bugs were taking away their home. The place everyone so dearly loves, and the place she was learning to love. They were stripping the magnificent trees of their needles, and the ground of the thin vegetation. Pretty soon, everything will be dead and barren. The young female turned to the edges of the clearing, trying to decide where to go. She did not know if anyone would follow her, but she wouldn't ask in case they all had their own places to go. Once Scimitar dismissed them all, the female of ebony and snow made her way into the forest, eyes narrowed to slits from the locusts flying in all directions. They were big and they definitely look to have the porential to take out an eye.