A/N: Big thanks to my good friend Insane Boy for the script of this chapter.
"After vanishing for decades, Kulve Taroth, the elusive elder dragon hiding deep within caverns of gold and silver, has only recently emerged. Welcome back to TDS, my name is Chris and I welcome you to another very exciting lore video." Chris said as a large golden dragon looking beast was shown on the screen.
When they got a full view of it and its gold, Nora, Ruby and Neo looked on with sparkles in their eyes. "So shiny... so sparkly..." They all said.
"So much lien. My great-grandkids would be set for life." Neo added.
Many more were in awe at the creature. "It's beautiful... All that gold. Against her black scales, it works perfectly." Coco said, mystified.
And Roman, of course, had lien signs in his eyes and drooling like Blake when she had a fish. "Katana! You have GOT to put those on Remnant!" He told her.
"Well... they're definitely up there as one of the least dangerous Elder Dragons as long as no one messes with them. It should be fine." Katana decided.
"This was the first siege added to the new world. A new type of hunt where up to four separate teams of hunters joined forces to achieve one goal investigating tracking and finally confronting the glorious dragon. This challenge calls for hunters to work together as a team and rely on each other." Chris explained with Kulve shown on screen to be covered in a massive gold coat of armor as well as having a pair of massive golden horns.
Weiss was shocked at the amount of gold in the cave. "All that gold must be worth more than the Schnee Dust Company itself!" She said in disbelief.
The rest were more impressed they developed sieges just for Kulve Taroth. "It must be an incredibly powerful monster if multiple groups of hunters are needed for an entirely different type of hunting." Ironwood stated.
"Indeed, but it stresses the importance of teamwork. Different groups doing different things, all for the sake of one common goal." Ozpin said, approving of such methods.
"But does that much work really have to go into targeting one monster?" Cinder questioned.
"A very large monster. And with that kind of size, it's got to be strong." Hazel reminded her.
"It is indeed. One cubic foot of gold is over twelve hundred pounds! Based on the video, I was able to measure Kulve Taroth as 150 feet long. I would need more measurements of its body and obviously only its coating is gold, not its full body, but assuming at least 100 square feat of gold, Kulve must have at least 120,600 pounds! That's at least 60 tons. And that's an incredibly low-balled estimate!" Penny said. [1]
"Oh, my god! That thing's a total unit! I like that." Yang said in amazement.
"So, it definitely is as strong as it is big. They had similar sieges for when Lao Shan Lung showed up, so it makes sense they do it for something just as big and strong." Ilia said.
"Setting her apart from so many other monsters around her Kulve Taroth is unique in that her siege is not always available as hunters must wait for her to reappear. Kulve has a history of vanishing starting around 40 years before the events of the new world." Chris said as Kulve was shown walking in her cavern before vanishing with the power of editing.
"Oh, that makes more sense. So hunters break up into different groups to look at different times as well. That's very efficient." Ren praised.
"And it's a good way to ensure one group isn't doing too much work at one time." Blake added.
"Yay! Equal shares! Nobody is too important or not important." Ruby said happily.
"But dang. Disappearing for forty years at a time. That's crazy. Big girl's looking good for her age, though." Qrow said.
"Makes sense. Even a lot of normal reptiles on our world live very long lives. One of the oldest was 45 years away from making it to 300. So considering dragons of legends live hundreds, if not thousands of years, it's not surprise a giant Elder Dragon lives that long." Emerald said.
"Kulve has a history of vanishing starting around 40 years before the events of the Fifth Fleet when she was firstly discovered by the first fleet." Chris explained.
"It only took 40 years" A gruff looking hunter on screen said.
"However shortly after she was reported she disappeared leaving them unable to do any meaningful research on the creature. The glorious dragon had simply vanished leaving the guild with nothing tangible." Chris explained as Kulve was now seen borrowing into the ground.
"After the death of Zorah Magdaros and the defeat of Xeno'Jiiva Kulve Taroth finally reappeared after signs of her arrival in the ancient forest the commission knew that Kulve had become active once again." Chris explained as all three monsters where shown on screen.
"My question is, how do they lose something that massive and powerful for 40 years? It must be their human ineptitude." Adam questioned.
"The same way humanity hasn't discovered Salem yet, she's been laying low for years. And Kulve has a whole cave system to hide in." Summer explained.
"But then, why would she surface again in such a well-known place as the Ancient Forest?" Glynda wondered.
"Both of those dragons looked quite large and powerful, likely capable of matching Kulve, if not outright defeating her. Maybe after they were both defeated, she deemed it safe to emerge, perhaps looking for more territory." Pyrrha theorized.
"After investigation the commission was led to a new and mysterious local the caverns of el dorado. As soon as the location was pinned down the guild quickly organized the commission's very first siege tasking hunters with breaking Kulve Taroth's horn for further study." Chris said. The entrance to the cavern was shown as well as two large blue horns were lying on the carven ground on screen.
"Poor Kulve. Having her horns broken off like that must hurt terribly." Velvet said sympathetically.
"How much could they learn from just the horns, though?" Jaune wondered.
"Look at them, Jaune-Jaune! They're glowing blue! That must make them special!" Nora said.
"It's possible that Kulve has some form of power that is channeled through her horns, in a similar manner to Alatreon." Winter theorized as the Blazing Black Dragon smirked at her recognition.
"Arriving in the caverns of el dorado hunters find massive sprawling paths that allow for small distant glimpses of something moving through the cave system after tracking her and traversing the area Kulve can finally be taken head on. Curiously Kulve displays a strange behavioral pattern when compared to most elder dragons. Kulve is largely docile and will not attempt to directly attack the hunter shrugging off most attempts of attack until she's pushed back into the upper layers of her nest." Chris explained. More of the cavern was shown with gold stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Kulve was shown peacefully wandering her caves.
"Thank goodness. I'd hate to see how bad things would be if they were mean." Velvet sighed in relief.
"I find it quite fascinating, creatures so much larger and more powerful than us simply living peacefully, allowing us to be near them as long as we don't attack them and respect their space." Ozpin agreed with a smile.
"She's too busy being fabulous to worry about fighting." Coco stated, nodding with her eyes closed as if what she said was absolute fact.
"One interesting detail about Kulve is that despite her large metal coat she's highly agile and quite strong hinting at an immense physical strength moving this massive coat around behind her. we also see her forming new tunnels in El Dorado in real time with her melting through walls or simply smashing past them with brute strength. Measuring in at about half a meter longer than Xeno'Jiiva, Kulve Taroth is enormous with most of her incredible size coming from her massive external golden shell this gold has many strange properties but upon breaking it off from her body we learn that the metal itself contains weapons from hunters who failed to bring it down making each failed attempt at a hunt do nothing but reinforce its armored shell." Chris said. On screen, Kulve was shown melting holes in the caves and brute forcing her way through walls.
"Actually, despite being rather heavy, gold is also a very soft and fragile metal, so with her size, it would not actually not take much for Kulve Taroth to break through it. The feat I find to be much more impressive is it melting the gold." Penny said.
Cinder was shocked at this. "The melting point of gold is 1,948 degrees Fahrenheit. But that's just when it starts melting. To be able to melt gold in an instant like that, it would have to be at least twice as hot." She said in shock. With her whole semblance revolving around heat, she found out all she could about the melting point of things.
"And it would likely decimate both our aura and any of our weapons or vehicles caught in it." Ironwood said worriedly, Ruby hugging Crescent Rose to her chest out of fear.
"So, either way, thing thing is a beast. Smart to break out the siege equipment." Neo said.
"Kulve achieves this by melting weapons and other precious metals into its coat and letting them cool this leads us to Kulve Taroth's most striking feature her gigantic twisting horns which are held as the final objective of the siege not only are they covered in large quantities of gold like the rest of her body but they also appear to be the source of most of her powers." Chris explained. Close up shots of Kulve's head and her massive horns were shown on screen.
"Got it: break the horns off and then find the buyer willing to pay the most for them." Roman declared.
"Of course that's where you'd go first." Ilia said with a roll of her eyes.
"Honestly, that's the best idea of Roman's I've ever heard." Weiss admitted.
"All in the name of research, you attempt to rob this beautiful creature of her horns? I'm wondering who the monsters are." Adam said.
"It's unfortunate, but they need all the information of Kulve Taroth they can get in case something happens that would make it turn aggressive. These Elder Dragons are living forces of nature, after all." Blake told him.
"Similar to many other elder dragons scholars best guess is that the exterior shape of the horns allow her to burrow through the earth while the interior appears to also possess some sort of magnetism that attracts precious metals to her as she moves through the earth. Though her physical size and strength are already impressive Kulve Taroth is also able to superheat herself dramatically raising her own internal temperature softening precious metals and forging them into herself when she reaches high temperatures Kulve is capable of breathing fire at her foes. The heat of this flame is incredible wiping out hunters and being able to easily melt the arena in which she makes her last stand." Chris said. On screen shows Kulve breathing raw heat.
"And there it is. Right on the money, Blake. I don't even think we could get near her if she's in a state like that. Being within ten feet of her would probably feel like being inside an oven." Emerald said.
"Why would she want to melt the arena, though? Wouldn't it be hard to fight in a place that's been melted?" Jaune asked.
"For Kulve to be able to disappear for decades at a time in these tunnel, they must be incredibly vast and deep. Perhaps by melting one area, she can escape to another, safer area." Pyrrha theorized.
"Or melt the poor soul still in the arena when she melts it." Hazel pointed out, causing everyone to shiver.
"Gee, thanks for that lovely image, Hazel. I'm sure we've all wanted to have molten gold rain on our heads." Qrow said sarcastically.
Katana looked at her daughters. "Did one of you show them Game of Thrones?" She asked, both daughters shaking their heads.
"This flame is a fearsome weapon but it is also Kulve's biggest weakness. Kulve Taroth's armored height is very resilient but when enough damage is done to her chest her hide will mollify and weaken this is the result of the organs in Kulve's chest that stabilize her internal temperature being damaged during this modification her body temperature rapidly increases reaching up to nearly 1400 degrees Celsius if she is also enraged the heat softens the gold that is embedded in her height and along her coat meaning Kulve will take increased damage across her entire body as well as making the hunter's task of breaking off pieces of Kulve far easier aiding in the commission's research." Chris said. On screen, Kulve's coat was shown all molten melted looking.
"Sometimes your greatest strength can also be your biggest weakness." Ren said.
"Yeah, we've been learning that a lot lately. I never thought giant monsters would help us learn life lessons or improve our fighting styles." Yang agreed.
"That's another important lesson, Miss Xiao Long: you can find wisdom and learn important lessons from the most unlikely of places. You just have to be observant and pay attention so you don't miss these moments or the lessons being taught." Glynda told her.
"Still, though: 1400 degrees Celsius or however much Cinder said in Fahrenheit?! That's insanity! How do you even fight that!?" Nora said.
"From a safe distance, or with quick hit and run tactics, striking hard to damage the metal, then retreat before the heat overwhelms you." Winter analyzed.
"When she first reappeared Kulve Taroth proved difficult to study even for seasoned hunters. Her siege has a unique method to it that each attempt is considered separate meaning that most research gathered in each hunt is not carried over to those who don't really care about research this may not seem to matter but as we increase her research level we increase not only the time we have to face her but also the final rewards. Kulve Taroth is one of the very few monsters in monster hunter world that will actually retreat from battle which results in a rather small time limit the main target for this siege is to break the horns off of Kulve Taroth in order to help us further research her biology but this is no easy task. Kulve's horns are extremely difficult to break in the short time limit we have with three individual part break layers we have to get through the durability of the horns the elusiveness of the dragon and the danger she presents these are the reasons that Kulve Taroth isn't just a hunt it's a siege failing the quest is likely with Kulve escaping but as each team puts research towards the final goal Kulve Taroth's horns are eventually broken." Chris said. On screen up close shots of Kulve's horns were shown both full, semi-broken and broken off.
"Whoa, mama! Those are some tough head spikes." Qrow said.
"Obviously, they're meant to be used in battle and house her greater power. They aren't meant to simply break or fall off like antlers." Adam said.
"Adam gets really defensive about horns sometimes." Ilia explained.
"With as extravagant as Kulve Taroth is the weapons we receive as rewards are just as remarkable covered in precious metals of their own due to the fact that these weapons are given directly as rewards they're quite unique in that there is no crafting involved in their creation instead they are given to us in a raw unapprised form it is said that these weapons are extracted from the gold in Kulve Taroth's horns and coat with the smithy shaping them into incredibly powerful equipment for the hunter. Each of the weapons hidden in the golden height were unique with multiple variants for each weapon type including different elemental effects status capabilities and secondary bonuses like defense for quite some time these weapons were considered some of the best a new world hunter could get their hands on." Chris said as many beautiful golden weapons were shown on screen.
Ruby's eyes lit up even more at this. "We get tons of gold and awesome weapons from breaking her armor off!? Awesome!" She said excitedly.
"And weapons of all different kinds with all different elements!? That's amazing!" Summer said, just as excited as her daughter.
"To be able to shape heaps of raw, unapprised metals into all different kinds of weaponry, these smithies must be amazing. We could use people of their skill levels." Ironwood said.
"Perhaps for our police and military, but the weapons crafted by our students are tried and true. Plus, it's important that students retain the ability to build their own weapons." Ozpin said.
"Taking a step back from the elder dragon herself the caverns of el dorado are quite a marvel in their own right. Supposedly these caves were carved out over many years by Kulve moving through the earth harvesting the ore and minerals and leaving behind an incredible twisting and sprawling area beneath the surface and so the creator of the cave's Kulve Taroth can navigate easily allowing her to maintain a level of stealth despite her massive size. Kulve's influence can be seen all throughout el dorado with sparkling metals and crystals all along the walls the bio energy of Kulve as well as the ever stream turned the caverns into their own ecosystem and a variety of local species have begun to make the caverns their home there are many small species of endemic life from gold helm crabs to copper Calappas however one of the most interesting occurrences here the gold tribe this unique Gajalaka tribe is exclusive to the covenants of el dorado these Lynian will use the precious metals in the caverns as well as parts that fall off of Kulve Taroth to fashion themselves exotic weapons and armor unlike normal Gajalaka they do significant damage even to high gear." Chris said. On screen, each of the mentioned creatures where shown as well as the gold covered Gajalakas.
"Nice. Those cats know how to accessorize." Coco praised.
"Even the bats have gold on them!" Nora said in amazement.
"But as I said, gold is quite heavy. That must make it difficult for the bats to fly." Penny said in concern.
"Maybe Kulve's Bio-Energy gives them a boost?" Emerald theorized.
"After leaving the magnificent caverns of el dorado hunters likely had no idea that they'd be back two more times for far scarier and far more dangerous encounters with the mother goddess. Our first return was an encounter with arch-tempered Kulve Taroth very few monsters were found to have an arch-tempered form but each and every one has been devastating as Kulve Taroth is no exception." Chris said as a new form of Kulve was shown rising from the earth to face whoever sets foot in it's home.
"Arch-tempered?" Ironwood asked.
"They're monsters with more Bio-Energy than normal, so they're stronger and shinier. And some have powers or abilities the normal ones don't have, or just use the abilities they do have more aggressively." Katana said.
"Oh, goodie. Just what we need. Aggressive Elder Dragons." Weiss said sarcastically.
"And since he's bringing up this one first, that probably means it's not even the worst part." Adam pointed out.
"With the new ability to rapidly chain a breath attacks together as well as a brand new condition of permanent enrage called her fury state while in this mode Kulve's attacks are faster stronger and some are even able to leave incredibly dangerous residual flame or molten metal behind. On top of all of this at cove had a brand new coat one that appears to be a magnificent combination of platinum and opal this remarkable new coat not only makes this appearance of cold more resilient than her gold robed counterpart. It also appears to be more elementally attuned greatly affecting the weapons found in her the combination of the far more aggressive behavior as well as the difference in the metals she cloaked herself in led the guild to believe this may have been an entirely different subspecies" Chris explained. On screen Kulve's new coat was shown to be a glorious mix of platinum ad opal to form a very unique looking color. It then showed Kulve breathing fire and setting the ground she walks on alight.
"So it just spams attacks now? Lovely." Jaune said in annoyance.
"I know, right?! I hate it when bosses do that! Especially ones that take off a fifth to a quarter of your health. That's just cheap!" Yang said.
"I can certainly think of a few bosses like that." Razara said in annoyance, thinking to a certain corrupted Elder God in a certain particularly violent fighting game.
"Penny, how much would this new coat effect fighting Kulve Taroth?" Winter asked.
"Assuming it is indeed made of platinum and Opal, it would be stronger than gold, but also softer. So I'd assuming being hit by it wouldn't be as painful as being hit by the gold shell, but since this Kulve is apparently stronger, that may not matter. Put simply, she just has better armor now." Penny stated.
"But you get even better weapons from it!" Ruby cheered.
"But are they really worth the added risk?" Velvet asked. Everyone pondered a bit on that.
"The rewards for taking on an arch-tempered monster are often extravagant and at cove was no exception anyone able to complete her siege was rewarded with the even more magnificent her weapons these share the glistening pearlescent colors of at cove and pack an even more powerful ability. "When compared to the previous Taroth weapons these weapons were mostly famed for their incredibly potent elemental and status effects as well as marking the first time weapons included set bonus skills like critical element or critical status." Chris said as on screen hunters where showing of even more magnificent looking weapons compared to the previous set.
"Okay, it's worth it." Coco said.
"In fact, if you can manage to get a set of ice dual blades, the Kjarr blades from the fight, those are actually incredibly useful for fighting Alatreon. In fact, they almost make the fight easy." Tekko said, earning a glare from Amaryllis. "A-at least the damaging part, the 'avoid dying' part is still pretty tough." She corrected herself.
"Still, it's quite strange how they pick up so many different elements, abilities and statuses in such a way. It must have something to do with Kulve Taroth's Bio-Energy." Glynda theorized.
"But they still won't be able to do anything to Salem." Hazel grumbled.
"Arch-tempered Kulve Taroth was the last time we thought we'd see a glorious dragon especially after Safi'Jiiva filled the siege slot for mastering but to the surprise and delight of many mastering Kulve Taroth emerged similar to at Kulve, this form is even more powerful than anything seen before. Even retaining the added features of her arch-tempered form but unlike previous encounters mastering Kulve Taroth was ferocious and fearless she no longer ran after her horns were broken she instead chose to fight to the death." Chris said as on screen showed Kulve looking like her old golden form but also using attacks from her At form. Kulve was then shown still fighting even when her horns where broken off.
"Oh, she looks really mad." Ilia said nervously.
"Of course. He symbols of power, which also channel her power, were broken. Her pride has been damaged and she must regain it!" Adam insisted.
"This Kulve must be a nurse or something. She's following the oath: no surrender! No retreat!" Nora declared.
"Nora, I've already told you, that is NOT the nurse's oath." Pyrrha told her as Ren clung fearfully to Jaune.
"Defeating her not only allowed the hunters to craft her brand new armor it also gave them the chance to take their old Kjarr and Taroth weapons and bring them up to mass rank levels with some reaching incredible levels of power." Chris said as hunters were seen taking their old arms to black smiths to upgrade their gear.
"Yes! Even better weapons!" Summer cheered, while Ruby was drooling now.
"I'm seriously starting to get concerned about those two." Cinder told Qrow.
"Yeah. You should be. I know I am." Qrow admitted.
"I'm used to it with Ruby, but seeing it from mom is way too crazy." Yang said.
"Wow. It's crazy how many different kinds of armor they can craft from the same monster. We'll have to make sure to make different styles of our clothes, too." Neo told Coco.
"Kulve left us with many memorable hunts from the harrowing challenge of facing the mother goddess to meeting interesting new endemic life and to exploring the truly majestic caverns of El Dorado it is no wonder that so many of us fondly remember the glorious call of the rough." Chris said as the screen faded to black.
"Such an incredible experience." Blake said, amazed.
"I only hope we can all have experiences like that together." Emerald said.
"I'm certain you all will. You all have incredible futures ahead of you, full of possibilities and most certainly, adventure." Ozpin told them, all the students smiling at this.
"Thoughts?" Katana asked.
"Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme!" Roman, Neo, Coco and even Weiss said.
"It is super awesome! All that gold is amazing! And the weapons you get from her are so cool!" Ruby said excitedly.
"I wouldn't mind taking her on, either. Maybe I could make a new bike out of gold." Yang added.
"Her firepower is impressive and her physical power to drag that long coat of gold is nothing to sneeze at." Cinder said.
"And any Elder Dragon that isn't constantly looking to destroy the world is a welcome change." Winter stated.
"I wouldn't mind just being in the caverns of El Dorado, just taking in the sights." Blake said.
"And I'd take all the gold!" Roman added.
"I want her armor. Then I'd be a real queen of the castle!" Nora declared.
"So, what's next?" Jaune asked.
"Uncle Sai made another video." Razara said.
"Yeah! And this one is on one of our favorites!" Tekko said excitedly.
"Well, it must be a good one then if all three of you love it so much.
"That's right. So get ready for a real shocking experience, because next up is Tobi-Kadachi." Katana declared, starting the video.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed! Be sure to check out Sai Blade's Tobi-Kadachi lore "Squirrel Snake! Tobi-Kadachi Lore". And do both me and him a favor and subscribe if you haven't.
[1] Yeah, that's the best I can do. I'm too lazy to go super in-depth to analyze exactly how much gold is on Kulve, sorry. Maybe if Sai gets enough of a following, he can ask Game Theory to analyze that for us.