The World of Eafphqu: Team "good." (Inactive)

Game Master Hoary and Wizened

Overhearing Gomdebo's last musing, one of the shepherds stops in his tracks, turns around and hollers with a hand cupped around his mouth to help the sound travel. "I'll tell Ryne to send an ox-cart this way! Any o' you got the skill to drive it?!"

Brilliant idea Gomdebo. Putting those vulnerable to the magic sleep above the ground will definitely increase their safety. :)

She shakes her head NO "If it ain't on tracks, I cannae manage!" she laughs, gathering other odd bits to add to the fortifications.

Fast forward to night scene? Anything else we were supposed to do today?

I'm ready for night scene, but we need to discuss watch order.

With their preparations nearly complete, she smokes a pipe, taking a trip back through her memory trying to think of any stories with creatures like this...

History: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

...but a red hot leaf sneaks through the filter and she coughs spasmodically for a few minutes instead.

Since none of Akassa's volunteers claimed ability to drive an ox-cart, and also because oxen are quite a bit more expensive to replace than a few sheep, Gaukridotr's employees drove two long wagons out to the place the adventurers had picked to set up camp for the night, and then unhitched them, bringing the oxen back to the relative safety of one of the farm's barns. Examining the wagons, Gomdebo and Quint looked at each other and shared a moment of recognition. The wagons had three plus feet deep sidewalls, including a closing latched rear gate. Not only would those people sleeping in the wagons be off of the ground, they'd also be out of the line of sight of the worms, which should prevent any of them from being affected by the worm's sleep magic. That, coupled with an elf-kin being on watch for each shift, meant that there was very little chance that the entire group would be caught unaware. Of course, as plans were discussed, the fact that the worms could, by Jun's recollection, cast more than one instance of magical sleep, was taken into account, and Quint's rigging system of twine, which was graciously provided by the investigator's current landowner, attached to the elf-kin on watch, looped over a nearby tree branch, and then again to each other member of the group, meant that even if they were put into a magical sleep, they could be woken by a quick jerk of the twine.

As the evening's preparations were made, Jun strummed some pleasant melodies on his lute; singing Tindarese war ballads his father taught him when he was young, ballads of victory won at great cost, ballads of heroic deeds, and self-sacrifice, and it causes much of the group to enter into a pensive and reflective mood. None more so than Gomdebo, she who was awake shortly after the world's beginning, and is now a dwarf out of time, looking to find her way in this new world.

So it was that the first evening of this new group, this melding of two groups, was spent pleasantly, if quietly. Quint and Bellaluna drew first watch, and Boddynuck's trusty raven Vralk, perched himself on the edge of the wagon right by his master's, or was it servant's, head to keep a look out both in the wagon and out of it. Having picked a spot right in the middle of the closest flock of sheep, those going to sleep were lulled into dreams by the gentle bleating of the same. Deep purple sky, a gift of Amren's setting sun, turns to darkest-blue, and Luna lays back to get a better view of the four moons: Laureoth heavy and full in the southern sky, rusty-orange Thgol, a waxing crescent, and Durragaim a waning half. Sylgja is noticeable only because its darkness puts a hole in the otherwise star-blasted sky. All in all a pristine night, and Luna clearly feels the draw of such a simple life, sleeping on the hills, watching over flocks and herds, one must have many nights like this.

Yet, tonight marks the end of the summer, the end of the month of Laureoth, and tomorrow brings the beginning of Ilsa, the beginning of autumn, and winter is always close behind. Then many of the animals from these same flocks and herds will be driven to slaughter, with only good breeding stock kept in barns through the cold wet months. And so Luna is reminded of their mission. Akassa's province, Midvale, is built on such agriculture, and these rainbow worms are an interruption at best, a plague at worst, and having taken the lives of children, they are clearly a danger to more than just that. Therefore as she lies down, doing her best to appear asleep, so as to try and gather more information about their quarry, she reminds Quint and Vralk not to attack or disturb a worm, should one show up, but instead to let it, if it will, do whatever it is that the worms do, so that she might understand how they are killing.

--Byrthelm Republic, Midvale Province - Desmoday, 24, the last day of Laureoth, a few hours after dark, 146 R.R.--

Not often do the plans of adventurers go as smoothly as designed, but this is an excellent exception to that expectation of the unexpected. About halfway through Luna and Quint's three hour watch, they both feel a trembling of the earth. Luna give's Quint a look that says, remember the plan! So he does not sound the alarm, but instead sits quietly, waiting watching. Soon enough one of the worms breaches the surface of the earth, mere feet from their camp, and their fire. This close again... Luna can only guess that perhaps the warmth of the fire somehow draws the creatures. Maybe they can sense the warmth in the earth? Regardless, the royal elven monk, lays perfectly still, appearing to the entire world as though she is asleep.

Quint gets a good look at the worm for the first time. Its strange flesh, covered in dirt, is no less mesmerizing. Vivid colors of the rainbow swirl and pulse across the creature's ribbed rubbery hide. Drawing the eye, and holding the thoughts. Vralk, paces nervously on the edge of the wagon, eyeing the worm with suspicion, but being an intelligent animal knows that plans are in place, and that he should wait to sound the alarm until Luna has had a chance to do her investigation.

All righty! Just a reminder I use Hero Lab to keep track of combat, and thus it rolls initiative. Current Initiative is: Shenkt (unconscious-nonmagical), Boddynuck (unconscious-nonmagical) and Vralk (holding action), Luna (prone, pretending to be asleep), Lindaer (semi-conscious-meditating), Quint, Gomdebo (unconscious-nonmagical), Worm-enemy, Nikeisha (unconscious-nonmagical), Psalm (unconscious-nonmagical), Jun (semiconscious-meditating). If it wasn't obvious by my description laying prone in the wagons provides total cover, ergo blocking line of effect for spells, but also means you must use half your base movement to stand up, should you want to. At this point no alarm has been sounded, as Luna made it very clear she wanted to let the creature "attack" her, to gather more information about how the creature feeds. Up to you all how you want to accomplish that. I'm ruling that Vralk is smart enough to understand not to sound the alarm in order to further Luna's plans, so he is readying an action to squawk his alarm if he deems the worm is a threat to his master (or is it servant) Boddynuck. Ergo, Luna, you're up. If all you want to do is continue to lay still, I'll keep the roll you rolled in discussion as the roll to beat to know that you are not actually asleep. :)

Ummm ... I never said I "wanted it to attack me!" ... but I guess that's fair enough.

Luna lays still, relaxed, breathing normally as if she was asleep. She keeps her eyes focused on the worm waiting to see what it does. She will try to stay that way, until it becomes obvious which way the tendrils enter the body, or she feels some other form of pain or danger.

Quint you're up.

Quint lies still on the ground, his eyes open just the faintest crack, feigning sleep. His grip on the shortbow in one hand and fletched arrow in the other tighten imperceptibly, but he otherwise waits. He feels the piece of twine, making sure it is taut and ready to pull to wake the others.

Ready action to yank on the twine if Luna stops faking sleep (or looks like she's no longer able...).

Are we rolling acrobatics to pretend to be asleep? Stealth, Sleight, and Deception all seem to make more sense, but ok...

Acrobatics?: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Gomdebo snores loudly, as if marble sized grains of gravel are enlodged throughout her sinus cavities. Still, she seems to be dreaming the dreams of the innocent.

Quint, I allowed Luna to use Acrobatics as the skill for that pretend sleeping deception for multiple reasons, not the least of which was I wanted her to be able to use a skill she had proficiency in in order to give her the best chance of success. Also, being a monk, her control over her body is her greatest asset, and I wanted the skill attempt to reflect that extraordinary measure of control. You are right that there are several other "better" options there as far as the rules are concerned, but I like to give my players' characters the best chances of success, especially when they are being ingenious and thinking outside of the "hit it until it stops moving" box. :) Since Quint is also a character that is very adept at using his body as both a defense and a weapon, I'm perfectly fine with you also using acrobatics as the skill to pretend slumber. :)

Approaching the camp and perceiving all its potential meals to already be asleep, the worm slithers right next to Bellaluna, and what follows requires all of the elven monk's body control to not react to. The worm's smaller inner mouth with quivering tendrils extends out, like a disgusting hollow tongue. The tendrils tickle Luna's neck, head and right ear, as the mouth gropes for purchase. Then, the small mouth latches onto her hear, tendrils still quivering around her. Waiting to see if there is some thing, some protuberance or appendage that comes out of the mouth and tries to enter her ear, Bella waits patiently, but no such thing happens. Instead, in one of the strangest experiences of her life, Luna feels the worm attempting some form of telepathic communication. Being an elf, and therefore never experiencing unconsciousness, Bella can only guess that the creature is trying to influence her dreams.

I'm rolling this for you Bella, just so we can move things forward.

Bellaluna Wisdom Saving Throw: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Then, again, in what continues to be one of the strangest things she's ever experienced, she feels, internally, the worm trying to siphon her psychic energy. She actually feels the worm attempt to feed on her invisible psychic self.

Okay saving throw made, so no damage actually is done there. And now Bellaluna has the best information about these rainbow worms and how they operate. Initiative = Shenkt (unconscious-nonmagical), Boddynuck (unconscious-nonmagical) and Vralk (holding action), Luna (prone, pretending to be asleep), Lindaer (semi-conscious-meditating), Quint, Gomdebo (unconscious-nonmagical), Worm-enemy, Nikeisha (unconscious-nonmagical), Psalm (unconscious-nonmagical), Jun (semiconscious-meditating). Which means that we essentially come all the way back to Bellaluna's turn. The worm will be aware that it was unable to feed on you Bella, but that realization will not happen until its turn, so, how you react at this point is up to you, if you want to continue to pretend to sleep to try and gather even more information, please give me another Acrobatics roll.

Mended, if I understand your description correctly, no tendril actually enters my ear correct? It just connects to my ear & then does this ... telepathic thinga-ma-bob? If that is correct, proceed as follows:

No longer wanting to feel these horrible sensations, and feeling as if she has gathered the information she was looking for, Luna suddenly tries to reach out to grab the worm while at the same time yelling as loudly as possible for everyone to wake up. "WAKE UP! A worm is here! Try to catch it!"

Again, rules ignorance of 5E, what kind of roll/s do I need to make to try to grab it?

PS: Did you notice I actually created a new profile to change it so it shows me as "Luna"? :D Wasn't difficult at all. I opened the profile on one tab, opened another tab with the new profile & used my 'copy/paste' abilities! :P

Round 1

Hack jumps awake and swings at the beast attacking Luna.

Wake and attack!

GA Att: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
GA Dam: 1d12 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Round 1

Hack jumps awake and swings at the beast attacking Luna.

Wake and attack!

[dice=GA Att]1d20+4
[dice=GA Dam]1d12+6

That's a strange way to 'capture' the worm.

Luna, awesome about the new profile. And also yes, you are very right about the description, no tendrils breach the ear cavity or make any wound in the body. The worm's feeding is entirely telepathic. As of now only Luna and the DM know that though. :) As for grabbing the creature, in 5e it is an Athletics skill check, so in your case a 1d20+4, because you are proficient in Athletics. :) I'll roll it for you, so we can move things forward knowing whether or not the worm is grappled.

@Shenkt, 1) it's not your turn in the initiative, and 2) your character is WAY too far away for you to pop awake and take a swing. Luckily for the narrative your attack roll missed anyway. The Battle Grid link right under this profile's name, is a link to a Google Drawing that I'll always use for combat encounters. You can check there for positioning and movement questions.

Bella's loud yell wakes everyone up, and startles the worm to no end. The wily monk reaches out with her hands trying to grab the worm and take it alive.
Luna Athletics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Worm's Athletics Check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Unfortunately for Luna the worm is entirely too slippery and squirmy to get a good grab on.

Initiative = Lindaer, Quint, Gomdebo, Worm-enemy.

Also, important note for everyone, 5e requires fully half of your movement speed to stand up from prone. Good thing is, standing up from prone does not provoke any opportunity attacks. :)

Edit: I realized I made a mistake earlier. Half-elves sleep. Only full elves don't need to sleep. Ergo, both Lindaer and Jun would have also been nonmagically unconscious and are now prone. Caught it before it made a difference. Whew!

Quint gives the rope a sharp tug to make sure everyone is awake as he stands, concealing himself behind the tree until the time is right to strike. I don't have enough movement to stand up and reach the worm to help restrain it. I could fire an arrow, but that won't help us take it alive (unless we try to put it to sleep, though it's likely immune).

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Round 1

Psalm wakes drearily in a haze, "Its not morning yet is it?" His eyes go wide and he pops to his feet and begins casting a spell. As he casts a long green thorny vine begins to snake around him snapping like a whip. It snaps out toward the creature.

Cast Thorn Whip.

ThornWhip: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15
Piercing Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5

If that hits it and the creature is large or smaller it is pulled 10 feet closer. Which should be diagonal from the Wagon.

Gomdebo's eyes pop open like shiny gemstones and she tumbles off the back of the wagon awkwardly. Seeing Luna struggling to grasp the worm's churning fat rolls she gives the ol' dwarven stone grip a try...

Str Athletics: 1d20 ⇒ 16

Cracking open an eye, Nikeisha looked over at the dogpile of attackers on the worm. It didn't seem likely that she would fit,let alone make much of a difference. Most of the people there outweighed her by a significant margin. Instead, she yawned, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes before picking up her staff and laying it on her lap.

"Kaima,"she muttered, tilting the staff so it tapped on the floor as she spoke. If the creature wanted to play with Sleep spells, Nikeisha could oblige. She hated being woken up.

Casting Sleep on the Worm. Unlikely to work, but hey, why not? It's also a DC 14 Wisdom Saving Throw, please, for a total of 5d8 ⇒ (6, 8, 6, 5, 4) = 29 hit points worth of bad guys.

I thought that I was first in initiative...how can it not be my turn?

Round 1 Retcon

Hack jumps up and double moves, jumping out of the cart and rushing in a direct line to the worm.

@Luna: There is no way you ard going to prevent Hack from trying to kill this thing. As a barbarisn, he likely has never, nor will ever, try doing non-lethal damage. Sorry...

Round 1

Snapping out of his meditation, Lindaer jumped towards the worm.

Athletics: 1d20 ⇒ 12

With his elven frame, he did not have the bulk of a man like Hakt. He also did not have anything resembling training for something like this. But, this was his duty and he gave it his best.

I thought that I was first in initiative...how can it not be my turn?

You slept through your turn, and didn't wake up until Luna's.

Boddy quickly wakes up and moves a little forward. He then casts sleep at a point behind the worm so only it is affected

sleep: 5d8 ⇒ (6, 3, 4, 4, 3) = 20

It's clear that I'm failing as DM here... I should have probably made it more clear that all those asleep were skipped in the initiative because they were unconscious, even the half-elves, only full-blooded elves have the Trance mechanic. So half-elves sleep the same as humans, they just can't be put to sleep with magic. So, in order to make this as fluid as possible, I'm going to reiterate what has already happened, then I'm going to adjudicate the actions of those people that were up in the initiative before the worm, then adjudicate the worm's actions, and if the actions declared by those that are after the worm, still make sense, I'll adjudicate those as well, otherwise I'll have you retcon your choices to fit with the flow of combat.

So, to recap. Quint, Bellaluna and Vralk were the first watch of the night. Both Luna and Quint were pretending to be asleep, in order to try and lull any worms that showed up into a false sense of safety, and in order to allow Luna the chance to gather more information about the way it "attacks." She allowed the creature to slide right up and grasp her ear with it's inner mouth, and shortly thereafter she felt an attempt by the creature to draw on her psychic energy. At that moment she yelled the alarm to wake everyone up, and made a grab for the creature which failed. This put us with Lindaer, Quint, and Gomdebo, up in the initiative. Lindaer popped awake, jumped down out of the wagon (he had just enough movement to do this) and made an attempt to grab the worm himself. Grappling in 5e is one action and is also a skill contest,
so the worm gets an athletics roll to attempt to beat Lindaer's roll of 12.

Worm Athletics check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

That brings us to Quint, who is trying to hide, but unfortunately made mention of a tree that does not exist. The circle image on the Battle Grid is actually there to represent a ring of stones, and a dug out fire pit. So there's no actual way for Quint to hide there. Which brings us to Gomdebo's turn, and she also popped awake, and down out of the wagon attempting also to grab the worm and restrain it, rolling a 16 on her Athletics check.

Worm Athletics Check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Aha! She succeeds! So at this point Gomdebo is grappling the worm, which gives it the grappled condition. However, it is the worm's turn in initiative immediately after Gomdebo's and it get's a chance to escape the grapple. This initiates a new Athletics contest.

Worm Athletics: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Gomdebo Athletics: 1d20 ⇒ 19

Excellent! The dice have spoken, and the statuesque :P dwarf is able to maintain her grapple on the creature! Which brings us to Nikeisha's turn in the initiative. She cast sleep on the creature. We'll say, because Nikeisha is a smart cookie, that she cast the spell where it would only affect the worm. Sleep in 5e has no saving throw. It simply works on every creature within the area of the spell's effect in increasing order of hit points. In this case she rolled more than enough to actually put the worm to sleep. :) And that is where I'm going to leave things. Initiative is now over, since the creature is both grappled and unconscious. So...

The entire camp is abuzz with excitement, as Gomdebo was able to get a strong grip on the undulating rainbow worm, and Nikeisha's magic put it to sleep. Finally! A live specimen... Now, what to do with it?

Jack jumps off the cart and approches those holding the unconscious worm.

Well, ya have one. Unless you are planning to raise it as a pet, I fail to see why we didn' kill it 'cause it killed so many.

Not a failure as a GM, but my failure on reading comprehension.

"Don't kill it!" Lindaer called out. "We need to understand what they are, where they come from, and the best way to remove them. If we have one alive, this task will be much easier."

If ya say so...have at it.

I am trying to go through old posts. Those in the wagon were not effected by the magical sleep. Do we know that? Or is it wise to infer.

Nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Psalm looks at the creature studying it. "Magic sleep can effect it so it is not immune. Luna you were closest to it and it was certainly interested in you. What can you tell us?"

"We should try and communicate with it. See if it is intelligent or not"

Psalm, in this encounter the worm never cast sleep. It was convinced its next victims were already asleep, and when its turn came up in the initiative its every instinct was to try and escape being held by Gomdebo. I did mention, mechanically speaking, that laying prone in the wagons provided total cover, and therefore blocked line of sight/effect from spells in general, though. :) Boddynuck, you might want to make sure to restrain the worm in a much more permanent manner before you wake it up to communicate with it. They do have a burrow speed, remember. :)

Psalm, in this encounter the worm never cast sleep. It was convinced its next victims were already asleep, and when its turn came up in the initiative its every instinct was to try and escape being held by Gomdebo. I did mention, mechanically speaking, that laying prone in the wagons provided total cover, and therefore blocked line of sight/effect from spells in general, though. :) Boddynuck, you might want to make sure to restrain the worm in a much more permanent manner before you wake it up to communicate with it. They do have a burrow speed, remember. :)

Hmm So if it never cast sleep in this encounter we don't know IN character if the line of sight blocks this creature's sleep ability. Can we assume the creature's sleep ability (perhaps an Arcana check) is the same as the sleep spell. We have at least 2 characters that can cast that.

Psalm pipes up at Boddy's idea about communication. "Well it will burrow if it is woken or try to put those it can to sleep. We are hardly non-threatening currently arrayed."

Is it scaly like a snake or slimy like a slug? Maybe putting it in salt would weaken it

Gomdebo, think earthworm, a bit slimy, more rubbery than anything else, able to squeeze its body into impossibly long thing form, or compact it up short and thick.

Lindear shuddered. He had managed to get his arms onto the creature before it had gotten out. It was hard to think of anything more disgusting than it. How Gomedo managed to hold onto it as he did was beyond his comprehension.

"Glad you asked Psalm! It definitely latches on to the ear & that is QUITE AN EXPERIENCE TO GO THROUGH! LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT IT SOMETIME!" says Luna as her whole body shivers just a bit. "But it did not actually try to penetrate me with a tendril, it seemed to try to feed off of me ... mentally somehow? It was a very troublesome feeling & I doubt stuffing something in out ear canals to prevent entry would work, since it did not actually send in a tendril." Luna shivers all over again briefly, still trying to shake off that feeling of the worm crawling on her skin.

Mended, would Luna know about telepathy? At least what it is? I wasn't sure so didn't use the word just in case.

Luna then turns to study the worm. "Now, how are we going to go about studying you & learning more about your species? And most importantly, how do we get you to lead us back to your lair or nest where I am sure that we will find either more of you, or bigger versions of you, or both! Any ideas form you gnomes that seem to be able to communicate with animals? Or anyone else?"

Perhaps more of us should try to grab on so as to hold it in multiple grapples or assists?

Luna, YES, telepathy, while not terribly common is a widely known power on Eafphqu. Luna would know the term, and would understand at least at a basic level that some creatures are capable of that form of communication. There are also more than a few spells that create the ability to communicate telepathically. :) Good question!

Psalm squats looking at the area of disturbed earth. "I wonder how powerful its burrowing is? Soil, wood stone."

"Well, lets tie it up (wrap it in ropes) and put it into a cart on top of a rock. And THEN wake it up. It shouldn't be able to escape from all that! If it can, finding that out is probably worth more than talking to it anyway"

How do you tie up something with such a malleable body? Maybe we should be thinking more along the lines of stuffing it inside a bag or box, or a bag inside a box...

As soon as Gom got a good grip on it, it went limp. She thought she killed it, but when it started snoring gently she cradled it like a baby "Aw, look. Its no beast of the hells, just a stranger from another realm I'd say. I suppose we should put it down though, check for pregnancy and what not...and aiyah, Ive a sack...someone grab 'me bag..."

She has a sack holding a few things you could dump out, but her hands are full.

Btw, now that we're all getting a good look, how big is it?

Mechanically speaking, size medium. But with the malleability, it can stretch itself up to twenty feet long, though it would be very thin at that point, or compact itself down to a compact one 5' square. Now, unconscious, it is about the size of your average human, in both length and girth.

So, if we choose some simple numbers, we can interpret that as 1ft diameter at 5ft length, or about 4 cubic feet in volume, which would make it weigh almost 250lb if its density is similar to a human (note: it's shape will give it more volume for similar dimensions, relative to a human). If it's a tube worm, a considerable portion of that inner volume might be air, which would make it lighter.

Now, a cylinder (a reasonable first-order approximation of its shape, though rounded or tapered ends would probably make the estimate closer) with a volume of 4 cubic feet and a length of 20ft would have a cross-sectional area of about .2 square feet and a diameter of about 6 inches. So we need to make sure anything we try to contain it in doesn't have any holes that big.

6 inches is somewhere between the diameters of my calf and my thigh, so perhaps a pair of pants (from one of our medium-sized party members) or three (which would total close to 20ft of leg length) could be fashioned into an appropriate restraint? If it goes up one leg of each pair and down the other at its maximum extension, I imagine that would be an exceedingly difficult position to wriggle out of if the belts were cinched tight to prevent it from getting out that way.

Also, that would make it look even more ridiculous than it already does.

Btw, I'd like to know how many times it can cast sleep per day. Once it wakes up, presumably it won't be difficult to get it to try as many times as it can...

Yes, trust me, getting it to cast sleep will not be difficult at all, once it is awoken. If it's in a sack, or pants, though, it won't have line of sight to cast it on anyone... I'm just waiting on you all to reach a consensus about what to do, and then declare that action before I narrate the worm's reaction to be captured. So, let me know when you all have decided on your course of action with the unconscious worm.

Pants! Lets go with that idea. I’m all for it. Also we really should show this to the proper authorities. Let’s them know what to look for as well, and let’s them know that we are indeed on the job.

Gomdebo stuffs the snoozing worm meat into the pants and places it up on the wagon, turning to the others and giving a thumbs up with a goofy grin after.

Sorry all, been a bad week battling the flu.

Jun jumped awake as Luna called out her warning, and took a moment to retrieve his blade. By the time he was prepared for battle, the worm had been captured.

"We're going to need to find out as much as we can about that thing, but I doubt it's the only one of it's kind, so we should remain vigilant." says Jun.

"It's a shame we can't secure something to it," Nikeisha mused, looking at the beast. "If we could, we might be able to set up a dye pack or something similar. But at least we know what and how is doing the killing. Now we need to find them all."

Nikeisha considered. "Every time we've slept outside, we've been attacked. If we can gather everyone in the area in one place they can't reach - top floor of the inn, for example - and the livestock somewhere else, give these things only one place to grab a meal, we should be able to draw them all out. Like pus from a wound."

"Now that we have got it safe lets wake it up and see if we can communicate with it"

Boddy will jump up onto the wagon and shake the worm awake