Suny flits along, still keeping to the shade of the jungle canopy, following her friends.
Nhati herself has no skill at tracking, so she leaves that to the others who have better hope of doing something useful.
She does send her familiar Tai to fly up overhead and provide some areal recon. She'll get a warning from him through their empathic link if anything is amiss, and he'll come down and tell her if he sees anything.
"They do use a lot of wood," Nhati says, sounding a little saddened by it. Despite being an arcanist and a fan of the comforts of civilization, she had studied at the Magaambya, and had learned some appreciation for the druidic arts there.
No-Eyes just walks along behind the others grinning, just a nice day out for a stroll.
aw.
Tracking the drakes wasn't particularly difficult once you knew what kind of 'trail' to look for. It was really more akin to a storm's aftermath than any typical animal trail. At a few points you nearly lose the trail, but after a few minutes of stumbling about, pointing and searching the treeline, you manage to get back on track.
After another hour or two of passing through the jungle, you can hear the sound of running water ahead. Breaking through the tree line, you find yourselves on the banks of a narrow-ish but fairly swift river curving northward through the jungle. To the south, a small waterfall of 10 or 15 feet quietly rumbles and a number of smaller rapids stretch out before. The rocky and barren (relative to the jungle around it, at least) hillside beside the falls is steep, but looks easy enough to climb.
Unfortunately, the number of broken branches and overturned leaves makes the trail impossible to follow--it looks like the drakes pass through here quite often.
Ol' Salty stretches his old bones. "Ah, this 'ere be a nice spot, eh? 'ows about we call a lunch time?"
Suny nods in a agreement to Old Salty,
"Aye! That be a right naffy idea" (^_^)
And then scampers off to examine the water fall, happily splashing her bare feet through the water of the river's banks.
Nhati says, "Lunch time... but carefully on watch. It looks like the drakes pass through here, and they may show up at any time. At which point, we will become lunch."
She'll ask Tai to stay high in the trees on watch. (The parrot familiar's perception modifier is +11.)
Just as the group begins to sit down and enjoy the warmth of the afternoon, Tai begins to make a fuss and flitters down to Nhati's shoulder. In his Mwangi tongue he directs her attention to a large object moving through the water.
Suny, still enjoying the water despite a few errant fish nipping at her toes, gets a much better look at the lump as it stretches its neck and glares up at her from beneath the surface. Somewhere between eight and ten feet long, the scaled creature's draconic eyes were unmistakably hungry.
I'll wait to see what everyone else does xD
Bellamy casts Shield of Faith.
"There's a beast!" Nhati warns the others.
.
Reijo doesn't believe his mates are serious about having a picnic right where a bunch of drake tracks criss-cross. When he doesn't hear them follow, he stops in his tracks to look behind... and sees them all actually begin to setup for a lunch.
Angrily, "Ye bloody bunch o'maroons! Havin' a bloody picnic... right in the middle o'heavy drake tracks?! C'mon, ye blasted snoggers! Them's nest ain't be afar, by th'looks o'it..."
Seeing them ignore his salty warnings, the sailor shrugs and grumbles to himself, heading off into the woods to cool off and find some kind of small mammal to roast for lunch.
...
Returning with a bony squirrel on a wooden spit, he spots the drake emerging from the waters before Suny's eyes. His immediate reaction is to drop the squirrel in a split second of shock, then quietly stand absolutely still behind the nearest tree trunk, and not make a sound.
Bloody 'ells! I TOLDs'em!
Ol' Salty will cast Aid, and use Lil' Fisher as the toucher. Lil' Fisher will move as close to Suny as possible.
" 'Ello beasty..." Replies the tanned Elf to the emerging critter.
"I agre' with Reijo, but if ye really be wantin' to take a rest..."
Vik will find a suitable rock or branch to sit on, and pulls out her gear, dropping it to the ground.
She'll attempt to find a comfortable position to relax in, setting her tricorne to one side, and leaning her head back.
Hearing the beast, she'll jump to her feet and draw her pistol, aiming it at the new arrival.
Drake1 34/34
The hulking creature's fins spread out from its body, and it becomes immediately apparent that they are not fins at all--they are wings. As the creature's neck and head breach the surface of the water, its cool bluish scales glimmer in the sunlight as droplets of water run down their length. It surveys the picnic for only a moment, seemingly laughing quietly to itself. It speaks in a strange and inhuman tongue, its quiet laughter giving way to a vicious, alien glee.
"A splendid offering from the humans. My brothers will approve of this meal!"
With supernatural speed it twists its body back towards Suny and lunges at her with dagger-sized teeth. Try as she might to avoid the blow, the beast's jaws clamp down on her arm and draw a river of blood forth. Immediately the picnic explodes into a flurry of action.
While Reijo tosses his skewered squirrel aside and dives for cover, Viktorra wastes no time in putting her pistol to work, taking aim at the beast as it stretches itself out of the water. Back near the treeline, the trio of magically-inclined sailors amongst you waste no time in hastily reciting their respective incantations. As the soft glow and quiet hum of magic fills the air, the beast twists its head towards the shoreline.
It looks hungry.
Bellamy stooped, loaded a rock into his sling, wound it up and let fly at the creature.
for a possible bludgeoning damage.
Reijo stares in amazement at the large creature as he regains his senses and draws his hand crossbow. Releasing the safety, he nocks a bolt and prepares to open fire.
This ain't be werth a few bloody timbers! Wench's treasure best be werth it...
Suny retains her composure and calm, even with a large critter biting down upon her self.
Though her eyes narrow some what.
"Bad beasty..."
If critter lets go? Suny will 'Vanish' and attempt to RUN AWAY!
If critter doesn't let go? Suny will continue to handle animal the sheet out of it with as much pointy as she can muster!
Drake1 27/34
2 Rounds to Reinforcement.
Shield of Faith (From Bellamy, on Bellamy)
Shield (From Nhati, on Nhati)
Aid (From Salty, on Suny)
The sound of Viktorra's gunshot rings through the jungle as the bullet flies through the air and plinks against the hard scales of the drake. The impact draws the blood and ire of the beast as its eyes turn upon Viktorra. A soft, almost mocking growl, rumbles from within. Suny wastes no time in using the distraction as a way to stab a pair of pointed objects into the creature's nose. It recoils backward--darting through the water with remarkable agility--with equal parts anger and injury. Lil Fisher darts towards Suny and scrambles up her leg just as the drake leans in for another bite...
Round 2
Before it can have a chance to retaliate, however, Suny disappears from view. Now clearly angered, the drake's eyes shift to the shoreline. With a guttural, phlegmatic hack, a massive ball of congealed ooze flies from its mouth in the direction of Viktorra. It strikes the ground just in front of her and explodes into a rain of mucus-like substance. And unfortunately, Ol' Salty is just close enough to find a massive glob of the gunk congealing around his feet. Worse, it's starting to burn through your clothes...
Right after it spits forth acid at the crew, a bolt zips right into the beast's gaping maw. As it howls in pain, it has trouble closing its jaws once more.
"That'll teach ye t'shut yer trap, ye poxy bilge-sucker!" Reijo calls out from behind a tree. Dropping his crossbow, he draws his blade and axe while remaining behind cover.
Taking advantage of the nasty beasty's reaction Suny seems to simply disappear.
Shouting in victory as she sees her bullet strike the drake, Vik attempts to duck out of the way of its breath weapon.
And successfully does so, only feeling the splash of it's acidic breath.
She then charges toward it, drawing her rapier, and stabs at it.
Nhati holds out her hand and speaks some arcane syllables. Her hand pulses with a red-hot glow, and an invisible ray of heat shoots out from her hand towards the drake. Unfortunately, the ray shoots harmlessly past the beast, merely searing the air.
Drake1 5/34
2 Rounds to Reinforcement.
Shield of Faith (From Bellamy, on Bellamy)
Shield (From Nhati, on Nhati)
Aid (From Salty, on Suny)
Ducking away from the acidic attack, Viktorra throws her momentum into a charge, dashing forward into the shallows and piercing through the scales upon the drake's breast. It snarls and flinches away, just as Bellamy sends a fist-sized rock into its head. Howling with pain, it begins to sink lower in the water, as though wishing to escape back into the river's depths. It sinks just low enough for a searing blast of Nhati's magic to miss by a hairsbreadth; its heat nearly boiled the water as it skimmed across the surface.
Occupied as the drake was, it hardly even noticed the man with the tiny crossbow along the riverbank. At least until the bolt pierced the roof of its mouth, sticking fast in the soft and unprotected flesh. Its snarls turn to painful howls...
Which are quickly responded to with an echoing roar of anger from elsewhere. Somewhere nearby, the sound of large wings beat against the wind...
Round 3:
But a few moments later Suny re-appears leaning against one of the larger trees a small ways back into the tree line, gasping a little as she recovers from her sprint, still hugging Lil' Fisher for a moment or so. Then she lifts the little otter and begins to gently scold the critter.
"Whut were ye thinkin'? Gettin' close ta' beasty like that?" Which ends more with her smiling and just gently rubbing noses with the otter.
R2
Ol' Salty draws his dagger and moves towards Suny. He keeps out of the way of the drake, however.
R3
If the drake dies, Ol' Salty will channel energy (Wandering Spirit = Life)
He'll use his move action to get as many allies as possible
The little otter chirps happily to Suny, but then leaps off and runs back to the old man.
Lil Fisher returns to Ol' Salty!
Suny sighs as the magical energy washes over herself and cleans away the worst of the critter chomping. Before leaning out from behind her tree and looking about carefully for any more scaly-kind.
Hearing the great beast, No-Eyes yelps and ducks under the nearest cover/concealment (a bush, hollow log, cave, etc.)
"Bloody son ov'a dungbie," Reijo declares on hearing the sound of more drakes approaching. "We best be swift."
Smelling blood, Reijo charges full on at the wounded drake like a predator chasing after its prey. The vicious sailor is surprisingly agile and unencumbered by the waters, and, with a gruff roar and a flying leap, he tears into the beast's scaly flesh with his cutlass.
Vik figures it's a good of a time as any, and utters a quick blessing to the Pirate Queen, and suddenly a second copy of her appears.
She quickly strikes out at the beast, hoping to finish it off before it can cause anymore trouble.
"Sounds like there's another one coming!" Nhati says.
If the first Drake is still around, she will let fly with a pair of magic missiles at it. (One casting, but at level 4 that's two missiles.) If not, she'll ready an action to throw the spell at a new drake if/when it appears.
Drake1 -3/34 (dying) Surge 2/3
1 Rounds to Reinforcement.
Drake2 34/34 Surge 3/3
Drake3 34/34 Surge 3/3
Shield of Faith (From Bellamy, on Bellamy)
Shield (From Nhati, on Nhati)
Aid (From Salty, on Suny)
1 Mirror Image (From Vik, on Vik)
As Suny heads invisibly for the trees, Salty runs towards the banks of the river in hopes of aiding her. To his disappointment, she (and Lil Fisher) appear a few dozen feet behind him, near the safety of cover.
Meanwhile, the great beast bleeding into the river's waters is down, but far from out. It rears back and offers Viktorra its full attention and a full maw of teeth. Splashing forward, it sinks low in the water and clamps its jaw around Viktorra's leg. Immediately pain surges through her body, even as the drake's rear splashes upward and then disappears beneath the surface of the water. It moves with incredible speed, trying to put as much distance as it can between itself and the intruders.
In the crystal clear waters--well, aside from the blood--it is easy to see the drake as it swims deeper and further into the center of the river; its old eyes full of rage. And while the depths of the river may have been a deterrent to blades and bows, Nhati had no such problems. Dashing to the riverside, she lets the arcane flow through her and sends a pair of magic missiles arcing through the water, boiling it as they pass through. They find the drake and strike it with great force, sending it rolling onto its side as blood seeps from the wound and muddies the water.
Ol' Salty wastes no time in centering himself between everyone in the group and easing their wounds with a touch of the divine.
The sound of wings beating grows louder, and now you can hear the angry 'voices' of at least two different beasts. One sounds close, the other in the skies above. Bellamy and Suny cover near the trees, their eyes on the skies in cautious anticipation. You figure you have only a few seconds before a pair of very, very angry drakes see what you've been up to...
Round 4
Ini Order: Suny, Drake, Vik, Bellamy, Reijo, Nhati, Salty
"We not be outta' this yet, friends."
She will wait, pistol in hand, and ready an action to shoot at the first drake she sees.
"I knew I wrote this thing for a reason..." Nhati says, as she pulls a scroll out of her backpack. "Will have to remember to write another."
She speaks the arcane syllables written on the scroll, and a shimmering field briefly plays across her body.
Reading a scroll of Mage Armor.
"Why's they sound so irritable. They's tha' ones startin' tha' fuss..." Sunny mumbles to herself then,
"Ah!" She scampers out from behind her tree and towards her companions, "Rope! Rope! Rope! Gimme, gimme gimme!" She calls even as she races over to collect as much of the parties ropes as she can gather.
Satisfied that, for now, the first drake has been dealt with, Reijo heads back to the trees once more to take cover. He heads for an area that a drake's voice is not coming from and, should that be a place by the earlier tree he hid behind, he heads there to recover his hand crossbow.
Ol' Salty does have his rope on him, so he goes over to Suny. Absent-minded, he lets her take the rope, but casts a spell on her when she comes into reach.
The air around Suny begins to form a small mist, granting her concealment as the blur spell.
"Careful lass, ye ain't wantin teh be gettin too 'urt aye?"
"Thank'e!" Suny exclaims as she grabs the offered rope from Salty, even as she eagerly looks about for any more being offered.
Drake1 -4/34 (dying) Surge 2/3
Drake2 31/34 Surge 3/3
Drake3 34/34 Surge 3/3
Shield of Faith (From Bellamy, on Bellamy)
Shield (From Nhati, on Nhati)
Aid (From Salty, on Suny)
1 Mirror Image (From Vik, on Vik)
Mage Armor (From Nhati, on Nhati)
Mist Shroud (From Salty, on Suny)
A few tense moments pass as the group scrambles back to cover. Reijo scoops up his crossbow and rapidly puts another bolt into the mechanism, while Suny collects as much rope as she can carry. Viktorra prepares her pistol for another shot and takes aim... just as a drake crests the trees. Its wings beat against the air with visible fury. You're not sure how it knows--but you're pretty sure it knows what you've done.
Alternatively, maybe they're always that angry looking. In either case, Vik wastes no time in lining up her shot and firing.
Another report rings out through the jungle as Viktorra stands with her smoking gun. Once again, however, the bullet seems to deflect off the creature's scales, hardly harming it. As though on cue, a second drake bursts out from behind the waterfall upriver, its wings beating furiously before it launches itself skyward.
Round 5
Ini Order: Suny, Drake, Vik, Bellamy, Reijo, Nhati, Salty
Quickly draping the rope bundles over either shoulder as a form of 'bandoleer' Suny makes a mad dash straight for the river...
*SCAMPER, SCAMPER, SCAMPER, SCAMPER...*
Noticing Suny's scrounging, No-eyes manages to haul out his coil of 50' and throw it out towards her.
'Whatha bloody'ell she be doin'?' Reijo wonders to himself about Suny's dash for the river as two more drakes close in.
Hiding behind the same tree, Reijo takes aim with his hand crossbow at the nearer drake, waiting for the creature to come a little closer before firing...
"These blaste' things won't come fight us!"
Vik will quickly reload her pistol, and then join Reijo behind the trees, watching the drakes.
Ol' Salty gives himself the same blessing as he gave Suny, and prepares for the fight.
Drake1 -5/34 (dying) Surge 2/3
Drake2 31/34 Surge 3/3 BW Delay 4 rounds
Drake3 34/34 Surge 3/3
Shield of Faith (From Bellamy, on Bellamy)
Shield (From Nhati, on Nhati)
Aid (From Salty, on Suny)
1 Mirror Image (From Vik, on Vik)
Mage Armor (From Nhati, on Nhati)
Mist Shroud (From Salty, on Salty)
As the pair of drakes appear, Suny finishes collecting all the rope she can find and begins to... well, do Suny things. The drakes, however, were not apt to wait for her to finish.
The one directly across the river flapped its wings with furious intent, beating against the wind as it crossed the waterway to circle around the south end of the group. As it flew nearly directly overhead, it spits forth a ball of the same caustic goo. It falls through the air and through the misty air gathering around Ol' Salty, exploding at his feet!
The latter drake, skimming the surface of the water, sets his sights upon Suny. As she reaches the shores of the river with her bundle of rope, so too does the drake reach her with its gaping maw. Its wide eyes gleam in the bright sun as it thrusts forward into the misty shroud... and come up with nothing! Its magic expended, the veil protecting Suny seems to evaporate in the tropical heat... and the drake looks all the more angry for it.
Wanting to avoid further attacks from the drakes, Ol' Salty finishes crafting another protective hex, this one for himself. Reijo, though, does what he does best--make a mess of things. He leans around the trunk of his temporarily favorite tree and lines up a shot on the drake just above. Unfortunately, despite the pirate's best efforts, the tiny crossbow's bolt plinks directly against the beast's toughest scales. Viktora rapidly reloads her weapon as the drake starts to circle above for another pass...
Round 6
Ini Order: Suny, Drake, Vik, Bellamy, Reijo, Nhati, Salty
The latter drake, skimming the surface of the water, sets his sights upon Suny. As she reaches the shores of the river with her bundle of rope, so too does the drake reach her with its gaping maw. Its wide eyes gleam in the bright sun as it thrusts forward into the misty shroud... and come up with nothing! Its magic expended, the veil protecting Suny seems to evaporate in the tropical heat... and the drake looks all the more angry for it.
'Vanish' !
Suny ignores the large lizard flying towards her as best she can and arcs into the waters of the river.
Thence she simply 'runs' (Swims as fast as she can) to the drake which is in the river.
Is a cunnin' plan, hey? :D
'Cept... Suny dun't has any knowin' about healin'. ;_;
Maybe a little help from tha' DM? Suggestions etc?