Drahlneep's laser blast strikes the retreating dwarf in the back causing him to stumble.
Kricker chases him down and swings again at the aggressor!
Kricker chases the retreating dwarf swinging the roaring sword, but slightly dazzled from the fiery bomb burst, he misses.
Perrik hustles after Kricker, and if he can reach the other kobold attemps to cure him.
Asumi gets a final shot off before her battery drains and the dwarf tumbles forward dead. A tiny cloud of condensing water vapor hovers over the half frozen corpse.
"Why was this mudspawn after you?" Perrik mutters a minor orison (accompanied by faint pattern shifts in his scale markings) and begins to examine the fallen foe and its gear.
Asumi helps Perrik by rolling the body over. Several objects have magical auras which are revealed by Perrik's spell: two potions, six arrows, and a ring. "The Red Ranger was a warden of Iadenveigh, perhaps the one that most hated technology and those that wander the contaminated lands of Numeria. I did not realize this when I first approached this town and had to flee for my life. The dwarf has been searching for me since and must have found our trail."
"So...they're going to miss him? Notice his absence, perhaps be enraged to find him dead by TEK?"
"They will have to find it first."
The ring is made of antler with an arrow carved into the outside face. Perrik recognizes the symbol as that of the human hunter god. He senses the deep intention and prayers that have imbued it with the ability to heighten the wearer's perceptions in the forest and accuracy shooting through the obscuring undergrowth.
Jeji identifies the potions as a potion of lesser restoration and a potion of cure light wounds.
Jeji that rings cries out to you. Let’s grab the magic arrows and potions as well the arrows we can at least sell.
Asumi puts another battery in her gun. "It might not be the best time to wait for the Technic League spy. A mob from the village may show up first and I dont have that many batteries left. "
"Yeah, you're right." Drahlneep says to the alien. "Not after running into stubbyshanks. I don't think we have the time to dispose of his corpse fully, best we can do is drag it into the trees."
"Drahlneep, can you conceal our trail from here? I do not want the mudspawn's allies following us."
Drahlneep hastily tries to hide the signs of their passage, finding particular trouble hiding the scene of the battle. He is convinced he has done at least a serviceable job of it, but wishes he could know better.
With the evidence hidden in the forest, Asumi leads the way with Drahlneep following to conceal the warband's trail. Once outside the old wall, Asumi tracks north a short ways and then due west explaining that it is best to skirt the woods along the border until reaching the badlands of the Felldales.
On the third night of travel the badlands known as the Felldales come into view beneath a waning gibbous moon. The spring nights have been cold, but at least there has been no wind and the kobolds are warmed somewhat by the exertion of marching. The thick forest has done a better job of shielding the darksighted from the bright moon than the scant clouds, but now Asumi calls for a decision: go north and hit the more well traveled route to the Scar of the Spider, which passes through the dangerous orc settlement of Kuratown or take an abandoned route which may hold other dangers.
"Orcs or mystery TEK monsters?" Drahlneep snickers. "I would go with the orcs myself, but I don't know how they would react to our friend here."
I feel we could easily skirt the orc settlement if we needed to. I prefer the orcs to the unknown.
"I don't know. Orcs are big and angry and tough to kill. If they discover us, they will be even angrier. And they group together like derro."
Asumi gives a double shrug. "I can hold my own. Jeji is wise not to underestimate the orcs of Kuratown; they are fierce raiders and said to be the only ones that have established a permanent settlement among the dangers of the Felldale. That said, raiders may be preferable to the other things that haunt the badlands."
"So like I said, known dangers or unknown," Drahlneep snickers. "Whatever comes, we will face it. Just point me in the direction we want to go."
Asumi nods and leads the way north along the edge of the badlands looking for a location to camp. Not much farther along, she finds a narrow canyon with some tumble weeds at the mouth which roll toward you though no wind is felt.
"Beware of the plants--they are bloodbrush--poisonous, and they will attack us."
Perrik's warning comes just in time as a pack of four bloodbrush tumble towards you in the formation of widely spaced semicircle.
Perrik:
Kricker: ;
Drahlneep:
foe:
Drahlneep sneers and hefts his force shield while drawing his laser pistol. He targets the one most to his left. "Are they trying to surround us?" he asks before entering his adrenaline-fueled battle rage.
[ooc]+1 hit/damage if PBS[/dice]
"By the dragon, attacking plants!?!?" Jeji asked incredulously. Drahlneep had made the clear decision so Jeji followed his lead, hurling a flask at the biggest group of them before backing away.
As the tumbling weeds tumble closer to about ten yards, Drahlneep starts blasting with his pistol. Two red beams hit a bloodbrush causing it to burst unto flame. It rolls to a stop and just burns to the ground. Emboldened, Jeji tosses a vial at the next one around the circle. It is a direct hit and flames dance over the spiny weed though it keeps rolling forward.
Kricker draws and activates his chain sword and waits for one to close with him.
"They appear vulnerable to fire," Asumi notes. 'Keep doing what you are doing." The three remaining bloodbrush roll forward, two on Drahlneep and one on Kricker. Drahlneep manages to keep his shield between the barbs and his scale, but the burning one leaps onto Kricker as the toothed sword roars to life. The priest is badly scratched, burned, poisoned, and grappled by the plant fiend all at once!
Perrik opens with a superior version of his usual first spell, bolstering the party while hampering their floral foes.
Kricker reels in the deadly embrace of the flaming weed.
Nodding at Asumi, Jeji quickly grabbed another vial and hurled it, this time away from the one engulfing Kricker.
In his fury Drahlneep double-taps the laser pistol trying to take the deadly bushes out before they crush him.
Perrik calls out in the tongue of the Androffans bidding the Ancients to bless the warband and curse the weeds. Drahlneep auto fires at the weeds attacking him. He ignites one and incinerates the other. Kricker's eyes roll at the strange visions revealed to him by the plant's psychotropic oils.
Jeji steps back behind Asumi and tosses a bomb at the burning bush near Drahlneep. The vial explodes on the bush splashing Drahlneep, but the shrub is quickly reduced to cinders.
The remaining shrub continues digging its burning, drugged brambles into Kricker.
Kricker tries to defensively cast cure light wounds to keep himself up!
Perrik steps up behind Kricker and casts another cure on the wounded priest.
Kricker shakes off the drugged effect enough for a simple healing spell. Perrik dodges in to bolster him further.
Drahlneep spins, ready to fire, but somewhere in the back of his dragon brain he realizes Kricker is still caught up with the flaming bush. Not knowing what else to do he rushes the plant shield-first.
Drahlneep runs over and smacks the bush with his shield, but the wiry structure of the plant absorbs most of the impact with little effect. The thin stems and branches do not hold up to the fire so well though and the fire grows quickly burning Kricker before the bush is finally reduced to ash. The heat of the cinder piles fades quickly in the chill just before dawn.
"Let's find someplace to hide during the bright. We should set some traps in case the pinkskins track us while we rest."
Drahlneep grunts and sits heavily a moment. "You alright Kricker? That...didn't look good." He peers at the kobold a moment. "His eyes don't look right," he tells the others.
Jeji nodded in agreement with Perrik. "Good idea, on both accounts."
Jeji gave Kricker a once over, trying to see if he could find anything wrong with the kobold. "He looks fine to me, but I'm no shaman."
I'll be fine. Just a bit distracted by being on fire. I got better! Thanks for getting that off of me, Drahlneep
Kricker gets out of the wands the Kobolds picked up in Torch and taps himself with it until he looks significantly better.