When Aq heard the buzzing, he instinctual began to scan his surroundings finding the source of the high pitched buzzing. Once the giant wasps were spotted, he grabbed his heavy crossbow and shot the bolt at whichever wasp was leading the group.
He tossed his now empty crossbow onto the floor of the boat, holding his spear tightly ready to attack with it or with what spells he could muster.
"Get ready for Combat!"
Cueta, always ready at the prow of the boat with her bow, takes a quick measure of the wind and distance, and fires off two arrows in rapid succession. It was good to have arrows again.
"Bugs, why is it bugs?" Esmarelda asked with an annoyed look as she summoned a ball of acid into her hand and threw it at one of the giant wasps.
After she threw the spell she drew her rapier.
Up the River
Both Aq and Cueta drop two Wasps to the ground quickly with their deadly accurate shots.
Es manages to freeze one but the creature appears to shrug off the strike with ease. Those that remain dive to attack!
Wasp 4 17/17 - Sting vs. Cueta - Damage .
Wasp 5 21/21 - Sting vs. Art - Damage .
Wasp 6 21/21 - Sting vs. Aq - Crit? - Damage .
Rizz cuts at the Wasp threatening Es - Greatsword - Damage
The first Wasp misses Es while Rizz clips its wing, barely. The rest of the Wasps though strike their intended targets with their stingers including: Aq , Art , and Cueta . Aq takes a particularly vicious hit from his foe.
.
I readied myself the best I could to prepare for the buzzing assault of the oversized wasps. However, they came in at such a pace that I scarcely had my cutlass freed from its sheath before the vespid had stabbed me with its stinger.
Thankfully, a pair had been felled before they reached us by some accurate archery, so the wasps' numbers had been thinned. It was my job to thin them further.
After slashing at the giant wasp in front of me, I readied my defenses to block its attack.
With the creature no so close Esmarelda forewent magic and worked more on her blade work.
Harmony casts sleep, trying to target as many wasps as she can, and doesn't shy away from including allies in the 10'-radius burst -- she's gambling that the wasps are more likely to fall to the effect first.
Grimacing as the stingers pierced her skin, Cueta feels sluggish, but shakes it off. Stepping back, she looses two more arrows at the wasp that just stung her. One arrow sails wide, while the other skips along the creature's carapace, drawing a green puss from the wasp.
"Blast and avast!
Aqguazula bellows out when the stringer punctures deep into his flesh.
He hops backwards and begins casting a spell.
Rizz. Hates. Bugs. She goes to finish the one she injured.
"C'mere you stupid, buzzing hide-muncher!"
Up the River
Art's strike is on the mark but these deadly foes do not fell so easily and the creature continues to hover in front of the Captain.
Es' strike is turned aside by the thick hide of the creature.
Harmony's spell fells the creature hovering before Es, with the magic's effect, the creature falls into the water and quickly sinks.
Cueta's first shot misses high as her balance is slightly off from the step back but the second arrow pierces the monsters wing.
Aq also takes a step back causing the boat to tilt slightly backwards with all the weight being shifted backwards, regardless, his magic closes some of the wounds he received.
Rizz steps into the spot vacated by Aq and manages to land a solid blow but as Art experienced, these foes do not go down easy.
Wasp 4 13/17 - Sting vs. Cueta - Damage .
Wasp 5 -9/21 - Sting vs. Art .
Wasp 6 21/21 - Sting vs. Rizz - Damage . .
Will save vs Sleep.
One wasp surges forward at Cueta and connects with a staggering blow.
Mere inches away from stinging Art's shoulder, the Captain manages to turn aside the blow and delivers a riposte slicing the wasp's throat and slaying it instantly.
With Aq away, the wasp attacks Rizz and connects delivering a glancing blow.
Harmony throws her spear at the nearest wasp. "Take that, beasty!"
Rizz goes to put most of her weight behind this next attack, fewer attacks might hit, but when they do...
I had felled the giant wasp going after me, so it was now time to take the fight to the foul arthropods. I moved up to the one attacking Cueta, since she was beset with a buzzing bug that had managed to give her a grievous wound.
Stepping back again, Cueta looses two more arrows at the nearest wasp. Two arrows thunk into the wasp's carapace.
"Kill that fooker, Artevious!"
Aq uses this time to mend his wounds. Preparing to charge back into the fray, he uttering a prayer to his foul gods asking for their blessings.
"If you get stung I won't forgive you." Esmarelda grinned at her captain as she summoned for another had of acid and tossed it at the creature.
"That's the encouragement I need," I said to Esmarelda with a quick wink in her direction. Then I readied myself to parry the wasp's sting if it came in my direction.
Up the River
Rizz's swing is an over-commitment and she once more misses the one threatening her.
Harmony's throw is acurate and the Wasp that Cueta already struck has another weapon protruding form its body.
Art steps into the vacant space that Cueta abandoned and strikes the Wasp down!
Cueta switches targets and lands two more shots, both right over Rzz's head, that find their mark.
Aq heals himself further after his grievous wound.
Es burns that very same wasp but it does not fall.
The Wasp remaining, has taken enough and withdraws from the combat, none of you shall be its meal this day!
Tug calls over from the boat that he and Sandara share, "Boy am I glad they attacked you all and not us!"
Sandara inspects wounds from her position, "Are any of you in need of further healing?"
Rizz growls as the insect hurries away.
"Nah, I'm fine. Anyone else?"
Grunting, Cueta waves at the priestess, and then looks down to the many wounds she suffered during the fight. Thank Besmara, her body had seemed to resist the monsters' poison. "Aye, I can use some healing."
"Huzzah!" I shouted after a battle well-fought. The buzzing beasts had come upon us swiftly, but we far outmatched them in martial prowess.
When Sandara asked about healing, I looked down and realized I too had been injured. It wasn't something I would normally be terribly concerned with, except we were traversing a thoroughly unsanitary jungle.
"Aye, I was also wounded. But see to it that the others are looked after first," I told her.
While she administered to those who took wounds, I kicked at the rather impressive corpses of the giant wasps. They had begun to curl up in the classic pose of a dead bug, but seeing one very nearly the size of a horse do the same as their tiny brethren was quite surreal.
"I daresay that was quite an impressive battle, against a foe that would send many people quailing in fright. In fact, I've seen grown, large men shrink from one of the tiny specimens. These are truly nightmarish in proportion. My hats off to you all."
Esmarelda grinned as she look back at the cleric. "I believe I am fine." She said with a thankful nod.
"I'll take that offer," Rizz says as she reaches out her hand towards Artevious's hat.
"Gimme."
"Wait. What? No," I said as I took a step back to protect my hat. "It's an expression. My hat comes off in a gesture of respect, but then it returns to its owner. Me."
The nearly feral gnome was completely unversed in social mores. I decided to try to distract her. "Shouldn't you be checking to see if the wasps are edible?"
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"I don't eat everything..." Rizz says, her eyes still lingering on the hat of Artevious de Poisson.
Harmony moves over to pick up her thrown spear from the body of the wasp, and returns it to her back. Since Sandara is offering magical healing, Harmony doesn't offer her own, saving it for more critical times instead. "Everyone seems to be fine, and I doubt that giant insects carried anything valuable, so once Sandara has taken care of our injuries, we should be ready to move on."
Aq remains quiet, choosing to ignore the party banter. He unbuttons his shirt, his wound swollen with poison from the wasp.
Ap places a hand on the wound, with his deities blessing his wound fully closes only a mark of the visible entry wound remains.
"Why is it always bugs?" Esmarelda asked as she crossed her arms. "Though I guess I should be thankful it wasn't anything worse." She swiftly pointed out with a laugh.
Up the River
Tug begins to kick the corpses off of your vessel after he ties his off to yours. "Wow, you guys really are tough!" Sandara tends to the wounded expending a great deal of her magi to ensure all are healed.
Tug then leaps back over to his vessel after he unties as does Sandara.
"I am going to say one more day till we get to where we need to be Captain Artevious. From there we'll need to walk it, can't get too close to the falls with these vessels or we'll capsize. Course, the water level is much lower than I'd remember it being the last time I was up this way". He points to the area at the edge of the river where you can see silt and dirt which was clearly once underwater in the not too distant past.
You find another spot up river to set up camp. A place that looks like it was cleared out for that exact purpose. As night falls who takes what watch?
Esmarelda
Artevious
Cueta
Aq
Harmony
Rizz
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be a drought if the water were plentiful," I reasoned.
When we came upon the next campsite, it was again time to ready ourselves for the night. The wasps had been a harrowing but manageable fight, and I was looking forward to discovering the cause of the mysterious lack of water. I hoped our next day would be fruitful.
"Let's do the same watches as before. Cueta has the first watch with Tug, Esmarelda and Rizz take second watch. Aqguazula, if you're still willing to take two watches, I'll take third with you and you take last watch with Harmony."
Aq steps off on the boat and onto the sodden beach that was once a riverbed. He drags one of the wasps with him, placing it in the center of camp.
When Artevious adresses him, he simple nods."Understood." Aqguazula focuses on craving his mediation circle in the sand and removing the chitin from the wasp. Once he's finished his tasks, he looks to the group."I'll hunt for food in the river, someone should look for firewood"
"Well I can, just I'll need to sleep longer." Esmarelda pointed out with a small shrug. "Spells can be so limiting some times." Esmarelda said with a small smirk.
"Sounds good to me," Rizz says, throwing out her bedroll onto what she hoped was a soft patch of earth, a ways from the shore. As Aqguazula went to search for some fresh grub, Rizz went to work looking for dead and dried brush to start a fire.
Those nearby can see Rizz trying to brute-strength pull a young sapling from the eath, its flashy green body much too young to burn well.
Harmony follows the plan.
Cueta stands, watching the gnome pull at the sapling, grinning, and then heads into the woods to find some firewood. She doesn't bother to correct Rizz - anything that could mellow the little berserker out, like excersice, was welcome.
Up the River
Aq is able to catch some fish as Cueta aids in finding some firewood to boil water and cook the fish.
The initial watch goes by without incident. When the watches shift, Rizz spots something out in the shadows of the jungle.
Rizz drops off her freshly wrenched from the earth sapling and hops over to Artevious.
She proceeds to jump on his back and climb up to his face.
"There's someone in the brush watching us...
She gives him a quick smack on the head, attempts to grab his hat, and tries to run off with it around the camp, hopefully giving him enough time to see the figure she spotted.