Word has spread among the settlers about the fate of Gerla's oxen. Although they remain ignorant of the culprit, that only serves the heighten their mounting anxiety. They gossip about wolves, lions, and other predators that lurk upon the open grasslands. However, this creeping fear makes them all the more amenable to Kalig's request. Already endeared to the ability of her company to safeguard them, the Haven settlers eagerly herd their animals into a safe space, ready to be warded with the orcish musk.
Dorick does his best to calm the varied beasts, to both stop them fleeing and to minimise injuries.
The day is spent in odoriferous hurry, both herding together the animals and warding them with musk, then preparing the bait for the bulette. Demonstrating his faith in your plan, Viscount Aristide offers one of his own oxen to serve as fresh meat.
The animal is led out upon the grassland outside Haven before it is slain. Two doses of Mia's aboleth lung concoction are tucked within the carcass, specifically within the best cuts of meat to ensure the beast consumes the poison.
Night falls upon the Whistling Plains, and the nocturnal land shark will - presumably - soon arrive.
Dorick awaits, with Caragus beside him, hoping that the bulette will soon be a threat no longer.
Kalig casts magic stone on a few bits of rubble and stays on the alert.
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Soraya watches the scene with baited breath. Come on, take the bait! Her owl stands on her shoulder, his eyes sharp.
Through the darkness of dusk, Kalig can distinguish a trail of disturbed earth drawing closer to the bait.
The beast, burrowing through the grassy soil, quickly approaches!
mia would hand out potions of bull strength, barkskin, and bears endurance to anyone who asked just incase.
"My thanks, Mia.", Dorick replies as he starts downing proffered potions. One of each.
He watched fascinated at the trap nervously tightening the grip on his rapier peering at the carcass.
Kalig accepts a bear's endurance and barkskin potion.
When she spots the creature, she taps the shoulders of those standing near her to alert them without making much noise.
The land shark erupts from below and hits the ground running, closing the short distance to the bait upon its short but powerful four limbs. It tears into the carcass ravenously, heedless of the fact that it is already dead. The bulette, easily twice the size of a wagon, gobbles up an entire ox's worth of meat in only a few bites.
You wait to see whether the beast succumbs to the magic poison hidden within.
mia covers her mouth with her hands. They might have to fight THAT?!
After a tense few moments, the beast begins to thrash wildly and tear at the grasses with its immense claws. Its maw gulps feebly at the air, uttering hoarse groans as it struggles to breathe.
Fear and panic grip the bulette, but in its hungry madness, it turns its broad head in your direction. Perhaps its eyes can pierce the darkness, perhaps it can smell you, or perhaps it can sense your footsteps upon the ground, but for whatever reason, it has singled you out as potential meals.
The suffocating land shark, in pursuit of what may be its final meal, barrels forth.
Setting her jaw, Kalig casts flaming sphere to meet the bulette as it barrels forward.
Mia lets out an audible "eep" before finishing a potion of barkskin and begin chanting a druidic hymn for aid.
Seraphina’s eyes pop open as wide as saucers as she witnesses the destructive force of the beast AND as it barrels forwards towards them. She stumbles backwards out of sheer instinct to put more distance between her and the ferocious beast. She then eeks out some words of encouragement
Um...we can do it guys...fight like our lives depended on it
S#$t sh&*t s$@t s*^t s%$t s#&t
A verbal litany of not very good language ran through his mind as the thing turned to stare at them and... charged. He could hear Kalig and Mia begin chanting something, no doubt casting magic and while he wasnt sure what they were casting would be able to stop such a beast he didnt doubt one second that it wouldnt be more effective than anything he could do... But they needed time to cast it.
"This is dumb"
He muttered to himself as he moved forward rapier at the ready, maybe he could get lucky and strike the creature in the eye and go straight on through to more important parts... but he doubted it.
Dorick points his bardiche at the rampaging land-shark!
"BULETTE! YOU SHALL PERISH!"
Once per day, a cavalier can challenge a foe to combat. As a swift action, the cavalier chooses one target within sight to challenge. The cavalier’s melee attacks deal extra damage whenever the attacks are made against the target of his challenge. This extra damage is equal to the cavalier’s level. The cavalier can use this ability once per day at 1st level, plus one additional time per day for every three levels beyond 1st, to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level.
Challenging a foe requires much of the cavalier’s concentration. The cavalier takes a –2 penalty to his Armor Class, except against attacks made by the target of his challenge.
The challenge remains in effect until the target is dead or unconscious or until the combat ends. Each cavalier’s challenge also includes another effect which is listed in the section describing the cavalier’s order.
Challenge: Whenever an order of the lion cavalier issues a challenge, he receives a +1 dodge bonus to his AC against attacks made by the target of his challenge. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels the cavalier possesses.
He then moves himself and Caragus directly in the path of the charging land-shark, setting his bardiche against it!
The charging land shark evades Kalig's flaming sphere, letting it roll past and singe the grass beneath them. The beast's tightly bound muscles power a mighty leap into the air, reaching a height of ten feet.
As it crashes down, though, Dorick buries his bardiche into the bulette's underbelly, nearly eviscerating the creature with a single stroke. Thus, a shower of gore carpets the grass beneath your feet a split moment before the creature lands.
With a bone-rattling crash, the bulette arrives in your midst, lashing out with all four sets of claws as it lands. Dorick, Francoix, Caragus, and the summoned porcupine all find themselves bloodied by the onslaught. The brutal attack stymies Francoix's accuracy, and his needle-like blade only skitters off its hide.
At the last moment, Dorick tries to get Caragus to hop back from the claws and jaws of the beast!
His mount is spared injury, but he is not.
Keeping some distance between horse and land-shark, Dorick sets to grim purpose.
"Face me, beast! Face your doom!", he roars as he drives his gore-covered bardiche forward!
He yelped in pain, the sudden searing pain of the bullettes sharp claws tearing though his leather armor and his flesh made his vision swim for a moment. He drew his dagger in his free hand and stabbed viciously with both rapier and dagger again aiming for the soft spots he could see.
Mia directs the porcupine to retaliate before her eyes grow golden, he hands begin to morph into feathers as she slowly morphs into an eagle before flittering over to hover above Dorick readying herself to aid him as best she can.
Soraya was going to try to shoot the thing with her crossbow, but couldn't get a clean shot and didn't want to hit one of her allies. After the first set of attacks, she tries to hex (evil eye) it to help them defeat it.
Kalig directs the sphere back toward the bulette's hind legs (away from the crowd it is attacking). She loads a magic stone into her sling.
"Defend yourselves! The point is to bide time till it chokes to death, not get yourself killed showing off!"
Procupine used tail whip!
the enemies hp was lowered!
Seraphina, despite being deadly afraid of the beast creeps forward. She gets right on the edge of her casting range and casts a spell. Under the beasts claws a slippery goo forms, in hopes of catching it off guard.
(Grease, reflex dc 14)
"It clearly does not wish to cooperate with that plan!", replies Dorick, his eyes fixed on the snapping jaws and slashing claws before him.
The flaming sphere rolls backward, crashing into the bulette's armored hide and burning its rear. Soraya's evil eye resonates within the bulette's primal mind, causing its evasive movements to slow - giving Dorick and Francoix the opportunity to land their blows. Just as the giant porcupine buries several long quills in the beast's underbelly with an upward tail swing, bardiche and rapier strike a vulnerable spot at the base of its neck. A loss of blood and lack of oxygen take their toll, and with a violent shudder the bulette collapses to the red-stained grass before it can even snap its jaws one final time.
"Back away from its death throes!", yells Dorick, as he keeps his bardiche between himself and the flailing beast. Caragus remains steady, only to move whenever the others are clear.
It fell from the grease and everyone concerted efforts to down the beast and one thing Francoix absolutely knew how to do was get away when it was time to do so. He spun on his feet and dove turning it into a roll to get away not stopping until he was almost 20 feet away.
Kalig watches the creature die impassively; when it stops moving for a good few minutes, however, she punches the air. "Well done!"
She makes extra sure no danger is present out in the dusk... ... and then dismisses her flaming sphere.
Eagle Mia lands on Caragus's flank and turns away from the death of the creature. After its thrashes end, she turns and looks around before deciding to stay in her form. It felt comfy being so small.
In the tense moments that follow as your adrenaline continues to flow, there is a fleeting paranoia that another bulette - a mate or rival - might burst forth from the darkness. However, the night remains still and quiet, only disturbed by the smell of blood and the heady musk of the slain beast's armored hide.
You have again defended your nascent village and rid the region of a predator that threatened to despoil the entire region.
Once he was sure the creature was dead dead, he got a little closer and peered at the monster. Near the mouth he took a look at the size of the teeth and let out a low whistle.
"look at those things. And light, its armored like one of your knights Sir Dorick."
He began knocking on its thick hide.
"I bet some skilled smith or leatherworker could make something fancy from that eh? How big is its skull I wonder? Think it would make an interesting talking peice at an inn or bar?"
"We have vanquished the beast!", calls Dorick to the sky, brandishing his bardiche.
He turns to Francoix and the others.
"Aye Francoix. Its hide would surely make fine armour, and its skull should adorn the future village inn!"
Eagle Mia flutters around a bit as Dorick's sudden jerk and brandish startles her. At the mention of mounting the creatures skull, she gives a small screech and shakes her head in disagreement before flying to the ground, clawing up a small hole she then points to the head of the bullette with one claw and then back to the hole in the ground.
Soraya is pleased that the creature is dead, and laughs when the eagle suggests burying it. It certainly served to break the tension. She's mostly glad no one was seriously injured. "Anyone need any healing?" she asks.
Dorick chuckles along with Soraya, then turns to her:
"I could. The damned thing got one solid hit on me."
"That thing is so big we'd have to work to dig a pretty deep hole to keep carrion at bay. Might be better to have draft animals drag it out well away from the town. Or burn it, but that'd take forever. Whatever we do, harvest whatever parts you all want from it first. A few teeth would be good gifts for the orcs and the hobgoblins. I'll go get the tanner."
At first, it is difficult to drag Connetlie the tanner from his hovel. He goes on and on about the dream he was having, even if you can understand little of the giant strawberries he speaks of. Once he is informed of the task you have for him, though, his mind lands firmly in the waking world.
"You are fortunate, then, to have me," he boasts. "I guarantee no one else in my family could have handled such a beast."
As the diva tanner continues to tout his skill and denigrate his family business back in Galt, the temptation to simply leave him behind crops up. However, along the way, some of Fendir's kin as well as Rhork and one of his orc compatriots join the procession, clearly curious about how the hunt unfolded. Once you return to the battle site, they array around the huge corpse and examine the beast - speculating about what could be made of it.
"Connetlie, could you craft a suit of full plate armour from this beast? I would proudly wear such, or any heavy armour that can be wrought from its form."
"My thanks, Soraya."
Kalig thanks the orcs about the information about the musk, which helped keep the other livestock safe. She offers them some of the teeth--or makes another suggestion based on their speculations.
She will also assist with handling appropriate disposal of the remains when the time comes.
"Oh? Plate armor? Um," Connetlie stammers, buying time to think his way through this.
Working alongside the oft-insufferable tanner, you've learned that he compulsively seeks to be the center of attention. Whether by constructing his home and shop right in the lee of the ruined gatehouse or by touting his skill at his craft, nearly all that Connetlie says and does carries the message "look at me." Now, however, this behavior has lured him into a pitfall.
Even without his response, you are already sure that even if he can properly treat this unusual creature's hide, it is quite beyond his ability to transform it into a suit of armor.
"Now that I think of it, the rest of our people will soon arrive alongside dwarven envoys. I will confer with them, my esteemed colleagues, to ensure that we can complete such a project."
Putting aside the tanner's distracting bluster, he is correct on one matter. The rest of the settlers will arrive any day now. Even if you've eliminated this dire threat, there is only a little time left to make final preparations to host a suddenly larger population.
While his ego may be annoying, Connetlie's skills are still useful. Armor or no, he is one of the few who can properly skin and preserve the hide, so Kalig thanks him (without elaboration or fanfare) for his hard work, and asks him what he would like in compensation.
"My thanks, Connetlie. I look forward to seeing - and wearing - the results of your labour.", says Dorick.
"You think any part of this is edible?"
He asked with an eye to two thing really... not wanting to waste meat really and well, he did recall the town was about to be much larger. It was possible that many folk would be hungry while they got settled... it was certainly a chance to make more coin and win over some more hearts when it came time to building his grand inn and tavern... The thing was getting larger and more grand each time he thought about it.