With a grimace, Dereje starts to make his way around the shoreline, taking extra care with his footsteps on the slippery stones.
Hana scrambles for the cliff side to see if she can get up it before the crabs get to her, counting on Dereje and company to shower the large crustaceans with ranged strikes.
Estietre hustles along the shoreline - trying to keep up with Dereje.
Savras will load his light crossbow then start heading towards the action!
Lawdrak sends Sharpmaw up ahead, and the t.rex picks its way along (half speed).
The young druid fishes out his sling and follow along.
Hana keeps scrambling up the cliffside, wondering if crabs can climb.
Savras aims his light crossbow and fires at one of the crabs.
Ranged Attack -
Light Crossbow Damage
In the water though, it is hard to place the bolt into them in a way that causes a great deal of damage.
Estietre continues to scramble along the rocky shoreline toward the base of Hana's ascent.
Still far out of his pistol's effective range, Dereje continues along the shoreline, holding his arms out to help keep his balance.
Estietre gets within a few dozen feet of the crabs... she points and murmurs a phrase. Sparkling motes surround one of the creature's eyestalks.
Finally coming within range of the large crustacean, Dereje whips out his pistol, freshly repaired with brand-new components. A gunshot rings through the air when he pulls the trigger, opening fire on the crab.
LAwdrak and sharpmaw continue a careful (hlf-speed) advance.
Savras re-loads his crossbow. He has their measure, his next shot just needs to be a bit more accurate!
Still climbing.
Still picking their way carefully, Lawdrak and Sharpmaw continue to advance.
(Double moves at half speed.)
Lighter on his feet than ever thanks to his new armor, Dereje has no problem avoiding the crabs' snatching claws. Gun still in one hand, the paladin uses the other to draw his cutlass from his belt. As always, fighting in melee was not his preferred strategy, but as he learned on the Shiv, he could scarcely afford to waste ammunition on every animal that crawled out.
Dereje hacks at the crustacean with his blade, aiming for its delicate limbs.
Estietre makes the same gesture and points at the other crab.
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Hana continues to ascend the cliff face while Mum dazzles the other crab with stardust. Meanwhile, the crabs snap at Dereje and Estietre. The blue-hued crab pinches Dereje's leg, but fails to hold on. Estietre is not as fortunate as the red-hued crab latches on with both claws, causing Mum quite a bit of pain and anguish.
Feeling the giant crab's claw dig into his unarmored leg, Dereje grits his teeth and tugs it free. Once more he swings his cutlass, this time at the crab that has Estietre in its grasp.
Seeing Estietre's predicament, Savras moves to assist unfurling the chain and drawing his rapier, he stabs and swings at the crab.
Attack Rapier - Damage
Attack Spiked Chain - Damage
The dinosaur slides up and bites at the (blue) crab.
Lawdrak, still moving at half spped, steps up and stabs his spear at the same crab.
Using her spear, Estietre attempts to wedge her way out of the claw... intending to spin around on toward the cliff face and away from the crab.
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Estietre frees herself from the crab's grasp just as Savras's and Dereje's combined efforts finish off the red-hued crab.
Sharpmaw takes a big bite out of the blue-shelled crab, tearing a few of the unfortunate animal's legs off in the process. Lawdrak is unable to finish off the wounded creature with his spear glancing off the crab's shell.
Hana continues her ascent toward the top of the cliff. Some forty to sixty feet above her she can make out what appears to be a cave mouth.
The remaining wounded crab pinches at Sharpmaw in an attempt to harm the one who has so grievously wounded it, but fails to do anything of note.
Hana glances down at her compatriots, very upset that she isn't there to help fight, but screws up her conviction and keeps climbing.
Nodding in satisfaction though not necessarily pleased to kill a creature just looking for a meal, Savras turns his attention to the last foe.
Attack Spiked Chain - Damage
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Savras's chain strike crushes the hard shell of the remaining crab, ending the threat.
Hana continues to climb the cliffside, eventually reaching the cave mouth.
The samurai-ko pulls herself up into the cave mouth to find herself at the feet of a dark skinned man, wearing nothing but a loin-cloth. The man's wild, knotted hair whips about in the wind. Looking down at Hana he asks in a rather perturbed manner, "Who are you and for what purpose do you seek me?"
Hana pauses to catch her breath after the arduous climb, but still bows deeply to the old hermit. Then she settles down into a seated kneeling position with her hands on her thighs.
"We have come seeking your wisdom," she says formally. "We recently learned of information about a lost city within the deep jungle, and we hope to reach it before others do - any who might use its lost knowledge and wealth for nefarious ends. But to do that we must have a better understanding of our undertaking."
She looks over her shoulder and says, "Will you permit me to lower a rope so that my companions might join us? Perhaps they can explain better than I. I am but a simple warrior."
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The old man scowls at Hana. "No, I don't think so. I don't want a bunch of strangers in my home. I have a mind to bring Gozreh's wrath down on the lot of you. Your friends killed my crabs."
Pausing a few moments he says, "Still, I suppose you have come all this way...lower your rope. I'll go down there to meet with you all and see why you're wasting my time."
"Well go on, after you. I'll meet you down there." he says jumping from the edge of the cliff and gently floating toward the rocky shore.