"Don't get grabbed by a vine?" Eamon offers.
"Perhaps you should try to focus on defensive spells or invest in heavier armor? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," Kurvis says.
Ramona nods. "I am worried too. Their absence casts a pall on everything that we do here--I doubt I will ever be truly at ease until we discover their fate. But as you said, we don't know where to start looking for them, so we need to focus on the tangible for the time being. Perhaps in our surveying and exploration, we will come upon some clue to their whereabouts."
The governor sits back down in her chair and sighs. For a moment, the stoic facade she has been projecting since arriving at the island slips, and Abigail can see her shoulders slumping under the burden of the responsibility she feels towards the other colonists. Then the mask returns as she regains her composure.
"Since the roaches destroyed a good portion of the food stores here, we need to stock up on fresh meat. I've asked Anya Sandstrider to organize a boar hunt tomorrow. I'd appreciate it if you and your friends could help in that endeavor."
"Oh, something of the sort," Arma says. "I'm a mediocre physician, a poor fighter, took some bad hits from some big man-eating vine, but I can't say my ego didn't take a beating, too. I just don't want to get myself or somebody else killed, after everything we've all been through to get this far."
"You are too hard on yourself. Not your fault you are soft," Anya says. "You live in big city. Not have to fight and hunt to survive. Now you must learn to live in wilds, or wilds eat you alive."
The Shoanti lays a companionable hand on Arma's shoulder. "You come hunt boars with me tomorrow. I can't teach you how to be better healer, but I can teach you how to be better warrior."
Relia tries not to roll her eyes. "Thanks for the advice. I'll keep it in mind." She takes her leave and heads back to her stillroom to do some thinking.
Ramona returns Abigail's smile. "I appreciate it. It's good to have an ally in my corner. And ribs do sound delicious!"
Her green eyes twinkle. "Hmm, anything I need? You wouldn't happen to know how to give a massage, would you? My muscles are still sore from being trapped on a cramped ship for six weeks." She rolls her neck to try to loosen it up.
"Right? Whose idea was it to pack the ship full of carpenters and farmers, anyway? I tell you, prioritizing practical skills over those who could provide creature comforts was the wrong move," Ramona says with a warm laugh.
You spend the rest of the night resting after the dangerous skirmish in the woods. In the morning, Anya Sandstrider finds the four of you, numerous spears tied to her back.
"I teach Arma how to hunt today. Maybe the rest of you come too? I know good spot where boars come by in late afternoon. I take you, we set up ambush or trap, yes? Bring home lots of tasty meat for colony."
Anya gives a short laugh. "Ha! Only fifty people live here. Easy to be famous."
"I'm interested. Let's go." Relia follows Anya and the others out to the boar hunting grounds.
"How do we do this?" She asks noticing all the spears.
Anya leads you into the forest for a couple of miles before you come upon a small clearing lined with oak trees. "Boars come here later today. If you know how to make good traps, this is good spot. Maybe dig pit or put down snare? Either way, we hide and wait for them. Throw spears, or brace for them to charge. Other weapons and magic good too. They don't go down easy so just be prepared, yes?"
She hands a longspear to each of you.
Arma takes one of the spears with some trepidation, recalling that boars are, in fact, quite dangerous. "Right, let's see what we can do."
Tessa thinks for a moment, trying to remember if boars are weak enough to be taken down with color spray.
In preparation for the boar hunt, she memorizes a slightly different set of spells (Mage armor, heightened awareness, enlarge person, magic weapon, and color spray if she thinks boars will be taken down with it, or burning sands if not.), taking the spear afterwards with some trepidation.
Boars are tough, but weak-willed. They are susceptible to color spray.
Relia takes the spear. "I think I can do this." She weighs it's balance.
Arma uses her knowledge of traps and leverage to make a snare of her own.
Tessa joins Arma in making a trap, hoping it won't come to the point of her using a spear.
After setting up the snares, you hunker downwind and wait for a while. A light shower falls in the early afternoon and eventually, after it dries up once more, two shaggy boars emerge into the clearing. They snort and root around, not noticing you watching from nearby.
One of them stumbles into Arma's snare trap. It closes around its hind leg, yanking the beast up into the air! It squeals in fear and thrashes around, while the other one snorts and squeals as well!
Relia moves up to the boar that it's in the trap with her spear out in front of her.
Tessa mutters a quick incantation and taps Abigail's weapon as she rushes by her, glowing elven script tracing out the length of the polearm, hardening the blade.
Arma drinks her mutagen and moves forward to threaten the boar still on the ground.
Tessa quickly enchants Abigail's polearm before the ranger rushes out, stabbing deep into the boar's side with the beak-shaped weapon. As it squeals in pain, Relia and Arma move into melee range as well.
The wounded boar lunges at Abigail, goring her! Meanwhile, the other one thrashes around in the snare, trying to escape, but it is stuck tight!
Relia moves into a position where she can get in flank, and stabs at the boar on the ground with her longspear.
Tessa runs over to the boar struggling to escape the snare, and unleashes a torrent of overpowering colors at it.
Relia moves to flank the boar with Abigail. She drives her spear into its side. Abigail steps back and skewers the boar with her own polearm, and it falls dead to the ground.
Tessa unleashes a color spray at the remaining boar, and it ceases its struggles as it falls unconscious. It's a simple matter to cut it down and deliver a coup de grace before it can recover.
Anya grins as she emerges from the brush. "Very good! Nice, clean kills. Good meat for colony." She winces a bit when she sees Abigail's wound. "You okay? Need some healing."
Arma props the spear up so she can dig through her pack. "Well, that went pretty good, I think. And my snare worked beautifully! If ya want it, got a healing extract here you can use."
"Here let me help. Relia touches Abigail and a warm blue light glows where they are connected.
You tie the boars to a pair of long poles and haul them back to the colony, reaching it as evening approaches. Several of the colonists cheer when they see you return, marveling at the size of the boars. As the blackmith Luetin Calewick approaches, though, it's clear his gaze is squarely fixed on Anya. The balding man sports a bushy mustache. He has a stocky frame, but far more of it is muscle than fat.
"My, my, what a catch!" Luetin says. "And the pigs ain't bad, neither! I'm surprised you needed anybody else to help you bring those things home, Anya. I bet you're strong enough to have carried it all by yourself."
Anya grimaces. "Easier to work as team."
"Oh, yeah, definitely. Y'know, I think the two of us would make a good team. I could show you a thing or two about civilized life. Whaddaya say?" Luetin asks, waggling his eyebrows.
"I say you should bang your head against your anvil and see which one is harder," Anya replies.
Luetin chuckles. "Feisty, girl! I like that!"
Anya mutters something in Shoanti that defies translation.
Relia rolls her eyes at the interaction with Anya and Luetin. "It was a good hunt. Let's eat some fresh food."
"It certainly was... exciting. Bit of team bonding, you know what I mean? Nice to get a bit of fresh air, for sure." Tessa notes, "I hope the boar tastes good."
Arma clicks her teeth derisively. "If anybody wanted to learn about 'civilized life' they'd get better lessons from the boars. Back off, Luetin, she isn't interested."
Luetin holds up his hands. "Alright, no hard feelings, yeah? Can't blame a guy for trying." He turns and walks off.
Anya glares after him. "That man is always 'trying.' I do not like him. He smells like smoke and he has bad teeth."
The colony's cooks prepare and roast the boars, and everybody partakes of the tasty feast.
"Too much to eat all at once. We smoke it to preserve for later," says Anya. She helps Abigail do just that, hanging the extra meat in racks to let them dry out.
"You seem good out in the wild. Do a lot of this back where you are from?"
Anya laughs when she sees Abigail blush. "No need to feel shame. It is good to be good at something. I did not have woods to play in back in Cinderlands. The plains were hot and unforgiving. But I learned how to survive, to hunt with spear and bow. Now both of our skills will go to good use in helping our new friends survive here."
Relia helps prepare the boar as well. "I'll set up the smoking racks. I'm really glad we were able to find these. It gives me hope that we can sustain ourselves if needed." Relia is humming to herself as she works.
After enjoying the delicious dinner, you turn in and rest for the night. In the morning, though, Ramona finds you with a concerned expression on her face. One of the colonists was attacked during the night. She leads you to the home shared by Daib Joiner and Geoff Tamor.
Daib explains that he awoke in the middle of the night to find someone trying to choke him to death. Geoff got up to get a drink of water and returned to find some stranger in their bedroom trying to kill Daib. Geoff struck the assailant on the head with an iron skillet, but this only seemed to daze the individual, who staggered out the door and disappeared into the night. The pair describes the would-be killer as a "horrible little naked man, with gray skin and long, rubbery arms." It sounds like another choker.
"I don't want to cause a panic with the other colonists, but this culprit must be found and prevented from causing any more harm," Ramona says.
"Did you see which direction it wandered off in?" Relia asks Daib and Geoff.
When the group is away from the victims, Relia wonders out loud. "Where are those things coming from? It sounds like there may be a next of those things close by."
Daib and Geoff didn't see which direction the creature went. Searching outside the house, though, Abigail finds small, starfish-shaped footprints leading away from their house. She follows them south to the former Levin farm, which is now occupied by Faedwyr Trundlebrook and his wife Helena--the same home in which you confronted the drunk choker during your initial exploration.
The tracks become more difficult to follow as they head up the hill, but with careful examination, Abigail keeps them in sight. They lead to the well just outside the farm house. The well descends forty feet, and the rock walls are uneven with a few cracks and crevices that could serve as usable foot- and handholds.
Arma peers down into the well, frowning at the severe descent. "Hm..." She looks at Tessa, assessing the wiry elf's strength, and grimaces. "The last thing we need is to drop down, break a leg, and then have to deal with a choker hiding down there. Ooh, I got it."
She pulls the rope out of her pack, ties it off on the well, and drops the free end down the well. "Just brace your feet against the wall, hold on to the rope, and bob's your uncle, same thing back up."