Zok looks all around, but not seeing one thing that he recognized. He sighed. He had figured they had gone far, but he didn't realize just how far he was from home. And should he trust his fellows if they weren't halfings? They seemed to be of a decent sort, at least they weren't beholding to the sorcerer-king. "I'll go with you all until I can find a way back to my village. We are more likely to survive that way. Does anyone know where we are or where to go from here?"
Zok also goes over to the Kreen and pat's him on one of his arms. "You either helped me out or kept me from doing my best. I'm not sure yet. I'll keep my eye on you."
"Without my aid, you would look more like the meat you carved off of that man," Nnn'tkklik'l noted, trying to be joking but probably not working, "My abilities to mend your bodies have been significantly diminished. The clutch should not get into any more fights."
"Worry about where to go once we reach Kled." Raun observes, shading her eyes against the bright sun as she tries to make sense of her surroundings. She absently adjusts the rough wrapping of garish, blood stained silk she has donned as clothing. "Should find somewhere to rest for afternoon, and travel during night, not get so thirsty that way..." she adds, but continues to scan the horizon, looking for signs of shelter.
"So...," Gorkhan begins squinting into the distance, "I don't suppose anyone knows where we are and which way Kled is?"
"I have pretty good idea where we are," chimes Nnn'tkklik'l, pointing southwesterly. "Three days that way will get us close. More if we hunt, but we should have enough supplies to make the trip. I suggest we travel at night, starting now. Other things might be coming here to scavenge."
The halfling shielded his eyes from the midday sun. "Then I suppose we should find some shelter. That I think I can help with. Avoiding fights would be best, I agree. Hopefully what we find isn't occupied yet."
If worse comes to worse, the water would stretch farther, he thought, but kept it to himself. The less he talked the farther the water would stretch as well. He would let his actions speak.
Grit nods at Nnn'tkklik'l's assessment. The kreen has our location about right. He picks up some sand and lets it slide through his closed fist, watching the way the wind moves it. He walks a few steps in a couple of different directions shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun. He then briefly confers with the halfing.
Finally he says Sun will be down in 6 hours (DM please correct). Our best chance for shelter is in those rocks there. Maybe food and water too. And may be, just maybe, a friend...
So, with Zok's help Grit is able to find some shade under an overhand of rock that is cool and somewhat hidden - sufficient for the group to rest until sunset.
We should rest until dusk. he says through a rapidly healing split lip.
Nnn'tkklik'l helps with the shelter preparations as much as possible while also checking up on wounds to make sure they are healing as best they can.
I will be taking as much of the guard shift as is feasible, and during that time also monitoring the vitals of the party.
Gorkhan HP: 18/24
Heals 5/hr
Grit HP: 22/22
Heals 5/hr
Nnn'tkklik'l HP: 16/16
Heals 4/hr
Raun HP: 14/28
Heals 4/hr
Safia HP: 20/20
Heals 4/hr
Zok HP: 12/24
Heals 4/hr
That said, after 1hr, before Nnn'tkklik'l shuffles around HP, the injured party members should be at:
Gorkhan 23/24 = 23/24
Raun 18/28 = 25/28
Zok 16/25 = 22/25
With a total of 13hp contributed from the uninjured, which is noted in blue above.
Raun drags her sled along behind her, having to stoop awkwardly and shuffle along slowly to avoid upending it. When they reach the shelter she huddles up under it's shade and turns her attention to the items on her sled, pulling out the armor, furs, and bits of scrap leather. She sorts the leather into different widths, thicknesses and lengths with a look of intense concentration, before starting on the simpler task of braiding the strips together to form a tow rope for the sled.
Grit intervenes. Here, let me do that. He says to Raun, seeing what she is trying to do. You can help if you like.
- Armor
- Shield
Raun looks up at Grit from her work, a relatively well made--if simple--leather harness and to tow her shield that she can discard should the need arise. When he offers to help her with the more complicated task of the armor she stares at him for a few moments before nodding, climbing to her feet, removing the silk cloths and allowing him to fit the armor on her and lash it into place with some other bits of leather to provide suitable protection. She smiles when it is done, slapping her chest experimentally and performing some stretches and fighting poses to make sure it is not going to come unraveled.
You doze in the meager shade of the outcropping while the blazing sun makes its way toward the western horizon.
The elves make short work of the caravan, stripping the dead and gathering anything valuable into satchels and packs loaded onto their herd of kanks. You are surprised to see that not all of the argosy's crew were put to the sword - the elves lead about a dozen survivors from the wagon, sending them off in smaller groups to the north, west and south. The raiders then set fire to the hulk and race off to the east, toward the trade road.
Gathering your own possessions, you wait until the sun dips below the western mountains before setting off across the rapidly-cooling dunes toward the rocky badlands to the southwest. The light of the burning caravan as well as the twin moons above provides ample light, although you know the bonfire behind you will soon draw any number of curious - and hungry - scavengers.
Having adjusted the grips on his new weapons, and noting the good quality of the bone Kukri, he stowed his gear and gnawed on some salted human flesh as he watched the rest of his crew with wary eyes. Nearly convinced they were benign for the time being, he managed to gain a napping posture which looked awkward and uncomfortable. Upon waking he prepared for the night's journey with a view to be inconspicuous. He kept ahead of the group, especially the half-giant's thundering feet and kept quiet, enjoying the light of the moons.
to avoid natural hazards
to pay attention to his surroundings as they move
The mul, now significantly armored up, walks beside Nnn'tkklik'l carrying his new shield and his free hand near the club at his belt.
And when drinking of water is done, Nnn'tkklik'l offers the mugs to people first (since that can spill). Once the mugs have been emptied, he will loop them into the straps of the waterskins.
Gorkhan ranges around the group, his speed allowing him to scout out all sides.
First night of freedom
The twin moons paint the dunes in shades of turquoise and violet as you set off on your twilight march. The searing air quickly cools and you wrap yourself tighter in your scavenged clothes.
Although both lack the keen nightvision common to others in the group, Zok sets off at a brisk trot to scout ahead while Gorkhan ranges along the party's back trail to watch for pursuit.
An hour or so into your march, Zok finds the first evidence that you are not alone in the desert. Footprints, as plain as if they'd been left by a drunken baazrag, mark the recent passage of humans - some of the surviving guards from the caravan, most likely. They can't have passed more than an hour ago and, like infants, they've made no effort to cover their tracks.
They appear to be squabbling like infants, as well. A half mile after picking up the trail, Zok finds one of them. He has a nasty cut on his thigh, but the wound is crusted over - it's the slit throat that appears to have done him in. A half dozen centipedes, each as long as a man's arm, are already at work on the corpse. Zok keeps his distance and they don't appear to notice him.
Gorkhan isn't as fortunate. Doubling back, he climbed a high dune to see if anything came to investigate the burning caravan. Just after the sun set, the first of the scavengers appeared. A pack of sand howlers - hound-sized, tusked lizards with a thick carapace over their oval heads and eight eyes capable of producing a hypnotic effect that can paralyze a man while his guts are torn out.
Shuffling back down the dune, Gorkhan stumbled, sliding the rest of the way down in a cloud of sand. Based on the howls, he's pretty sure at least part of the pack came to investigate. Moving quickly, he made his escape, but it's only a matter of time before the beasts pick up the scent of the group's trail.
If Grit is convinced that the sand howlers have their scent and will catch them before sun-up he councils Best we pick the place for combat, and sooner is better as we will soon loose the light.
Raun would have liked to range out a bit more herself, but considering she was acting as the pack mule of this motley group such a thing didn't seem feasible. As it was she had to occasionally stop and let the others catch up as she let her lengthened stride carry her ahead.
When Gorkhan returns with news of the sand howlers she glowers off into the distance behind them, nodding to Grit's suggestion. "Kill them before they kill us." she agrees, scanning around as he does.
Zok agrees with the others. "Yeah, an ambush is best. Perhaps a display of strength will frighten them off. Perhaps we can shuffle around in one area to confuse our scent and hide under the sand. If we focus on the lead one, the rest of them may scatter. If not, then we will just have to go from there. Anyone fight one of these before? Any tactics would be useful to know."
"Can we eat them? It would be nice to have some proper meat and turning their ideas on them makes it even better." She grinned, showing pale white teeth. In her head several voices cackled along, revelling in the irony. "I like the ambush idea. If only we had some more tools and time to set it up properly."
"Try not to get bitten too badly. I have little healing power left."
{You fool! Be fast but be sure of your steps. Or do you want to be a meal?}, the thought slides through Gorkhan's mind as he picks himself up and races back to the others. "Shut up...," he mutters.
"I have no experience with these creatures, but the thoughts on an ambush and taking down the head and possibly breaking the others makes sense," Gorkhan says, as the group discuss their options. He then looks around for potential sites to set up an ambush.
As the piercing cries of the sand howlers grow louder, you rush into the shadow-covered badlands. The terrain ahead is carved by a series of gullies and shallow ravines - the remains, the storytellers claim, of ancient rivers of water.
The body of the dead guard that Zok found earlier lies at the entrance to one of the larger gullies. Thinking that it at least could slow down your pursuit, your choose that one. Fifty yards beyond, a rockfall has littered the ravine floor with boulders and rubble, creating a natural chokepoint. Only a few of the sand howlers should be able to approach at a time, and you can still flee further up the gully if need be. The ravine walls cast deep shadows on each side, but the center of the channel is still illuminated with dim light from the moons above.
Grit finds an area that would be difficult to charge and readies to fight. He recommends his friend Nnn'tkklik'l stand behind him and assist as he may. He uses his prep time to ready a spear throw and activates his Wild Talent.
"perhaps we could use the body as a distraction or bait."
"Good idea. Let's set ourselves up in a semicircle around the body and attack when they come up to sniff it. Hide yourselves as best you can." He says, looking at Raun. But there was a reasonable boulder nearby that she could crouch behind.
Zok does what he said he would do earlier and takes himself about twenty feet beyond the body and buries himself in a light coating of sand, using his sandy blonde bangs to shield his eyes and waits for them to come.
Raun spends what time she has arraying herself and her weapons behind an out-thrust of rock. She drags the sled out of sight behind it and undoes her bundle of weapons. Selecting the six spears, she thrusts them, haft end down into the sand nearby, ready to be snatched up and thrown. Her morningstar she leans against the rock, and then hefts her shield and one of the spears, hunkering down as best she can, the rest of her weapons arrayed on the sled behind her. She allows the rock to diffuse her shape and focuses on controlling her breathing as she waits for the arrival of the howlers, eyes on the corpse 15 feet away.
Gorkhan nods at the plan and gets into position, his tembo sword drawn.
{Perhaps you should offer yourself up as bait. Your great lumpy feet make noise enough for everyone!} the barbed thought enters his mind as he stumbles.
"Shut up," Gorkhan mutters, not really finding a decent place to hide and waits for the oncoming attackers.
Nnn'tkklik'l will place the waterskins in a safe location with the non-combat gear of his clutchmates. He will have the crossbow ready to shoot on the command of whoever is leading the attack, as well as a spear to defend himself.
You drag the body of the dead guard into your chosen canyon and leave it splayed on the sand in the open area in front of the choke point. You settle in, hiding yourself as best you can, to wait for the sand howlers.
It isn't long. The intermittent howling becomes a cacophony as the pack reaches the ravine. Then it sounds as if a portion of the pack heads off to the south, perhaps in pursuit of the remaining guards. Other howls stay close, before falling into silence.
A few moments later, three shapes slink into the ravine, sniffing at the ground, their dazzling compound eyes reflecting the moonlight. Focused on the corpse, they don't seem to notice Zok buried in the sand nearby, but one growls and advances slowly toward Raun and Gorkhan as the other two tear into the corpse, one eye alert to danger.
The druid steps forward and throws his spear at the approaching Sand Howler.
The kreen will step out from behind a rock and take a shot at the howler that Grit just threw a spear at.
(not sure if heavy or light crossbow, assumed light. otherwise this is a d10 dmg)
Gorkhan lowers his hand, a crystal forming in it, before snapping his arm up and letting the crystal fly at the nearest howler.
Zok bursts out of the sand and runs up on the lead lizard, hopefully catching it off guard. But since his companions cannot hide, he finds himself fighting a ready creature. I'll have to compensate for that in my further plans. They sure don't fight like halflings...
Safia stays in the back and instead focuses on one of the eating creatures. Soon grey fog seems to seep into it's nostrils and mouth while it eats.
With her adrenaline starting to pump as the creatures approach the bait Raun's knuckles go white on the grip of her spear. When the third howler ignores the corpse the giantess rears up with a roar, hurling her spear. Before it has even hit she scoops up her morningstar, lumbering into motion.
The lead sand howler shuffles back a step as the volley of spears and other projectiles clatters into the dust around it, not a single shot one striking true. Swinging its head dismissively, it turns toward the sand-covered halfling approaching it, loosing a piercing howl before it leaps with fangs bared. The beast slams into Zok, tearing at his shoulder and arm with jagged teeth .
Behind it, one of the feeding beasts rears up, tossing its head as it shakes off Safia's magic . The sand howler's prismatic eyes begin whirling in anger as it eyes Raun standing near the source of the attack. Loosing a howl of its own, the creature charges Raun , its teeth tearing a bloody wound in the half-giant's muscular calf .
The third beast continues feeding, although the dead flesh may not hold its attention long with the smell of fresh blood in the air.
Raun swings clumsily as the second howler bounds towards her, missing it badly, the giant having been prepared to lead a charge, not receive one. She bellows in pain and anger as she feels the bite of it's teeth into her flesh. Her wound seems to steam in the cool night air as she grits her teeth, and attempts to bring her mace down upon the howler's head, trying to crush it's skull in a single blow.
If the creature falls she hefts her bloodied morningstar and advances on the next foe, placing it between herself and the halfling. If not, she bellows her defiance in it's face.