Axe held high, Makoa runs straight for an ahnkeg and brings the weapon down like he was chopping wood.
And like a block of wood, the axe slams into the overgrown bug's carapace with ease, biting deep into the creature.
Makoa's axe digs deep into the ankheg, pulling out some of its innards. Shokambe follows Makoa .
He swings his mace in a wide arc and brings it down on nothing.
Jask reaches out and touches Ishirou, healing some of his wounds.
Next Up: Ishirou, Douena, Ankhegs, Mahjik, Pezock, Urza, Sasha, Makoa, Shokambe, Jask.
Emboldened by his last successful shot, Lorenz moves forward and aims for one of the creatures threatening Sasha.
Lorenz's arrow once again finds a gap in the ankheg's carapace, lodging in its neck.
Looking much better than he did, Ishirou heads over to #5 and attacks .
Unfortunately, much like Pezock before him, he stumbles on a rock and misplaces his swing.
Next Up: Ankhegs, Mahjik, Pezock, Urza, Sasha, Makoa, Shokambe, Jask, Lorenz, Ishirou.
Douena cautiously takes a step back and slaps Mahjik on the leg. "Try and hit it this time, Mahjik," she scolds.
As Douena gives some luck to Mahjik, the two of them and those near them feel the ground rumble a bit beneath their feet. Lorenz also feels rumbling out by him as well.
#2 snaps again at Sasha. Its nasty mandibles scrape across her chain shirt, but don't penetrate.
#5, looking heavily damage, pulls back from being completely surrounded . It then snaps at Ishirou.
It is unable to catch Ishirou, however.
Next Up: Pezock, Urza, Sasha, Makoa, Shokambe, Jask, Lorenz, Ishirou, Douena, Ankhegs.
"With Desna to help out, what could go wrong?" Mahjik steps after the oversized insect and thrusts both hands at it simultaneously. They muscles reverberate underneath his skin and as soon as his hands make pulverizing contact with the ankheg a shudder moves through Mahjik's body as the arms push again another inch forward - straight through the chitinous armor that cracks around Mahjik's hands.
#5 collapses from the power of Mahjik's first strike. The second simply ensures that it's totally dead.
Laughing at the misfortune of another Ankheg, Pezock hurries over to #2 .
He swings his sword and connects with one of the beast's legs, damaging it only mildly.
Next Up: Sasha, Makoa, Shokambe, Jask, Lorenz, Ishirou, Douena, Ankhegs, Mahjik, Pezock.
Wary of the burrowing ankhegs, Urza moves to D23 and releases another magic missile at 02.
Urza's missiles streak across the sky and slam into #2. Sasha then shifts position slightly and attacks.
Next Up: Shokambe, Jask, Lorenz, Ishirou, Douena, Ankhegs, Mahjik, Pezock, Urza, Sasha.
Going around the dead bug and brushing past Pezock, Makoa attacks the last one above ground with his fangs. The sound of his teeth scarping across the carapace hurts his ears.
As Makoa makes his less-than-successful attack, Shokambe moves up to attack as well .
He is more successful. His mace crashes down on the bug's neck with a sickening squelch. The ankheg collapses.
Jask moves up and provides Sasha with some more healing. Sasha is looking almost back to full strength.
Although the four still visible are now down, the two burrowing ones have yet to surface...
Next Up: Ishirou, Douena, Ankhegs, Mahjik, Pezock, Urza, Sasha, Makoa, Shokambe, Jask.
Lorenz looks nervously down at the ground around as the sounds of battle fade away, wondering where the creatures are going to emerge from. Breathing hard, he readies another arrow for a target.
Ishirou also begins to scan the ground, watching carefully for when one of the remaining creatures breaks the surface.
Next Up: Ankhegs, Mahjik, Pezock, Urza, Sasha, Makoa, Shokambe, Jask, Lorenz (subject to readied action), Ishirou (subject to readied action).
Douena edges around anxiously back the way the burrowing ankhegs started from, not wanting to end up on the front lines. "How far do you think they can get underground?" she asks, tapping Mahjik with her wand.
"I'd expect them to be as fast as they walk."
As Douena moves away to heal Mahjik, the rumbling beneath the ground increases. A split second after she has moved, ankheg #3 bursts out of the ground right beside where she used to be. Just north of that, #6 bursts out beside Urza.
Lorenz's arrow flies and slams into one of #3's joints, while Ishirou steps up and attacks .
Unfortunately, the ankheg bends to the side, out of the way of Ishirou's attack. It snaps at him; the other snaps at Urza.
#6 misses Urza, but #3's mandibles tear into Ishirou's thigh, pulling him off his feet. He goes down.
Next Up: Pezock, Urza, Sasha, Makoa, Shokambe, Jask, Douena, Lorenz, Ishirou (unconscious), Ankhegs.
"Watch out!" Mahjik quickly steps to help Urza. His hand thrusts with two fingers extended, right into what Mahjik hopes is a vital joint. With a touch of luck it will stun the creature temporarily, just enough to let Urza get out unscathed. He follows up with a swift kick before he sees the effect of his stun.
The ankheg shudders at Mahjik's first hit, its senses temporarily confused. It completely fails to even notice the second attack, which hits a vital area on its belly.
"There you are!" Pezock yells and moves at #3 .
The tengu swings his sabre and cuts a gash along the ankheg's back end.
Next Up: Sasha, Makoa, Shokambe, Jask, Douena, Lorenz, Ishirou (unconscious), Ankhegs (#6 stunned), Mahjik, Pezock.
Urza back peddles from the ankheg and unleashes a scorching ray at it.
Scorching Ray: RTouch
to hit damage
As Urza backs away, the ankheg snaps at him, catching him on the leg, opening a gash and burning him with acid. Urza quickly gets his revenge, however, as the flames of his spell wash over the ankheg. Popping sounds mix with the smell of burnt flesh as the ankheg collapses.
Sasha moves up to #3 and attacks.
She slides her rapier into its side, extracting some of its innards on the way out.
Next Up: Shokambe, Jask, Douena, Lorenz, Ishirou, Ankheg, Mahjik, Pezock, Urza, Sasha.
Seeing Ishirou fall, Makoa moves to stand over him even as he feels his wild side taking over. With a roar, he swings his axe at the creature...
Makoa moves and stands over top of Ishirou. With a powerful swipe, he brings his axe down on top of the ankheg's head, cracking open the entire top of the head. With a squelch, the creature collapses to the ground.
Lorenz looks wildly about for the next mound of heaving earth and emerging ugly giant insects. When none are to be found, he wipes the sweat from his forehead and returns his bow to his quiver.
"I'd like to voice my gratitude that we never fell into any holes." Then, fearing he'd jinxed himself, he stares intently at the ground around him.
"Pezock!" Douena commands. "Pick up Ishirou and bring him over here away from the bugs so we can get healed." She'll gather everyone injured well away from the dying ankhegs and channel energy.
With the bite mark and acid burn healed, Makoa takes a drink from his waterskin and spits, trying to rid his mouth of the taste of ankhegs.
"Thanks for not letting us fall into holes, Desna." He says after a moment, echoing Lorenz as the fatigue leaves his body. "I'm guessing if we poke at the ground before we take a step, we could at least know were any tunnels are."
Douena jabs at Ishirou with the wand she still has in her hand before stowing it away in her pack. "Are those the kind of beetles they have in Sothis?" she asks. "I thought they'd be bigger."
Shokambe chuckles. "No, these are quite different from the one you're thinking of in Sothis. That one is indeed a lot bigger."
"Oh. Maybe these ones were babies. Maybe if we hadn't have killed them, they'd have grown as big as that one." She seems a little regretful but isn't sure she'd have had time to stick around long enough to see how big they'd grow anyway.
"Ah yes," Mahjik grins, "Desna totally had my back there, did you see that? I've always known about the theory and every once in a while a strike goes true - but this is the first time I've experienced true and unerring perfection, as if my body was guided by more than just me."
"Of course it was," Douena sniffs proudly. "It was me and Desna."
"Yes. Well we should be on our way before the scavengers converge."
Once he was fairly certain he wasn't about to plummet into some pit, Lorenz carefully moves toward Jask. "Thank you for Nethys blessing. I noticed a certain improvement in my aim which certainly helped at such long distances early in the fight."
"I am happy to be of assistance," Jask replies.
Pezock wipes the blade of his sabre. "Perhaps we should wait for the scavengers to come," he responds to Urza. "Then we can fight them too! More adventure!"
Despite his suggestion, he's one of the first to begin walking again, waving his sabre out in front of him and declaring, "Onwards to glory!"
Even as you're leaving, you notice a few vultures flying above. As soon as you're out of the way, they dive down to feast on the remains of the ankhegs.
When you stop to wait out the early afternoon heat and eat lunch, you notice more vultures circling above. Not many of them. Just a couple to start, growing to half a dozen after you've been relaxing for an hour or so. Shokambe keeps his eye on them, but says that there shouldn't be anything to worry about. "They're probably hoping we'll leave behind another meal for them. It's not unusual for vultures to follow travellers over the plains."
"I guess it's sort of like a badge of honor," Lorenz says. "If vultures are flying around us, it should worn other creatures not to mess with us."
"Intelligent creatures, perhaps," Shokambe says, his eyes wandering back to check on the vultures in the sky. "Some other creatures might see it as an invitation that there's food nearby." He goes back to whittling on his latest carving.
The vultures continue to circle overhead as you set out again in the afternoon. Over the next few hours, their numbers increase, first by just a couple more, then a few more after that. A couple different kinds of scavenger birds join the group as well, bring the total number of birds to well over a dozen. Around 5 in the afternoon, four vultures of incredibly large size arrive. Their presence initially startles the other birds, causing the smaller birds to scatter briefly. However, it's not long before the smaller birds have all returned to circle with the four giant ones.
"Um," Lorenz says as he looks up at the sky. "Should the birds be getting bigger like that? We're not killing that many things." He's felt a sense of foreboding ever since Shokambe's admonition earlier.
"They're probably mad at us for killing Big Flappy," Douena opines darkly, "and are here for avian revenge." She doesn't sound thoroughly unpleased at the prospect.
"I am no expert, but perhaps we should begin looking for some cover."
Sasha gestures around at the wide, open plain with nothing but grass as far as the eye can see. "Sounds like it would be a great plan anywhere else," she says with a grin. "Unfortunately, I don't see too many cover options at the moment."
Suddenly, one of the giant vultures turns and starts flying quickly northwards. The other birds then dash to follow. As you watch, they dive down at something a few hundred yards away. From this distance, you can't see what they're going at, but a few moments later, a shape breaks away from the commotion and begins flying back towards your group. It's soon apparent that it's Alton. He flies straight for Sasha and lands on her shoulders. She stumbles slightly, as the flappybite is starting to get a little too big to ride on her shoulders anymore. Alton is covered in several scratches and squawks pitifully.
Sasha frowns and glares to the north. "I think they just stole his kill," she says, stroking Alton's head lovingly.
"Poor Alton," Douena croons, with an angry glance toward the birds. She presents her butterfly and channels positive energy to heal the flappybite's pecks and scratches.
"I'm glad they didn't get him," Lorenz says. "Though I bet he made them regret the attempt." He pulls a small snake from his bag and offers it up to the poor creature.
"I'd have Pezock give him a rat," Douena explains, "but I need them for the vampires."
Alton eagerly snaps up the snake from Lorenz and swallows it in a single gulp. Sasha pets the flappybite's head. "Don't worry," she says. "You'll find some other food soon enough."
You continue onwards, free of the vultures' presence for a short while. Unfortunately, once they're done with whatever meal they stole from Alton, they return to circle overhead again. As the sun sinks low to the west and you start considering stopping for the night, you notice that the giant vultures seem to have moved in a little closer. They're still circling high in the sky, but not quite as high as they were previously.