None of you are exactly sure what cave Daedîn is talking about, but it is easy enough to see which way he is going so you can follow along. You don't have to go too far though, before everyone else can see it as well, the entrance partially concealed by the late afternoon shadows. You also can hear the noises he was referring to, and they do indeed sound like some sort of conflict going on. You hear the sounds of wood splintering, and someone yelling, and high pitched squeals from just inside. As you approach, the sounds change, and something heavy comes crashing down, and the yelling suddenly gets cut off with a pained wail.
Two small creatures stand just outside the entrance, jumping up and down and excitedly yelling into the entrance... but they also notice you. One of them turns, and you see a big bluish head, with large bulbous eyes looking back down the trail your way. Eyes that, if anything, get a little larger at the site of you.
It starts yelling, the same high pitched sound you heard a moment before, and punching the second one beside it, who turns as well. Then both of them give panicked screeches, and scamper back into the cave calling out rapidly in a language you don't understand.
As you come up to the entrance though, two giant insects suddenly appear, crawling out from inside the cave, both of them as large as a pony, mandibles clacking in irritation. One of them immediately takes to the air, the small valley suddenly filled with the droning sound of its wings, and the other starts down the slope towards you. Behind it, you see more exiting the cave, and somewhere in the darkness of the cave mouth, even more of the small blue creatures continue to yell excitedly.
- Round 1 ---------
Fimbir, Mutahir <------ we are here!
ants
Dynath, Tad, Daedîn
grouped blue men
Benny
Fimbir and Mutahir go first!
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That's, tht's a big bug. Fimbir says as the giant insect begins to descend. He moves a bit closer towards the cave entrance, then extends an arm towards the closest ant. As his arm tracks its downward movement, the gnome's skin begins to glow as orange as his hair, and a lance of flame shoots from the outstretched palm towards its target.
for
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Mutahir's eyes glance over the blue creatures, seeing if he can get a read on them.
Come on you buggy blaggards, taste Rahadoumi steel!
He dashes off to the right, flipping out a pathfinder sign to indicate flanking maneuvers as he moves... it's hard to deny, he makes a good target with his flowing white cape and gold gleam. He stops after a bit, flicking his rapier in a taunting gesture.
[ooc]Readied action to attack first enemy that approaches.[/b]
Fimbir sends a blast of flaming, shooting into the air, and it engulfs the flying insect! The buzzing of its wings falters for a moment, but it keeps coming, diving straight down towards Daedîn. It lands awkwardly on the ground, snapping at the elf with its mandibles, but he easily knocks the bite aside.
Mutahir scrambles off to the side, trying to lure the giant insects towards himself, ready for their approach. He does not see the little blue creatures anymore, nor did he have any idea who or what they were from the brief look he did get... but he does still hear them just inside the cave.
His ploy seems to work, as the bugs coming out of the cave immediately focus that direction, joining the second to all scuttle down the slope towards him! He lands a vicious thrust on the first, and expertly deflects the mandibles of the second, but there are quickly too many for him to do more than that!
- Round 1 ---------
Fimbir, Mutahir
yellow ant (-18), blue ant, red ant (-17), green ant
Dynath, Tad, Daedîn <------ we are here!
grouped blue men
Benny
Bold can go!
Mites!
One of the lowest of the fey. Little better then the vermin they tend to work with. They have a long-standing hatred of your kind, which you are all too happy to return.
Like most fey creatures, they are vulnerable to cold iron, and have a couple of minor magical tricks... but for the most part, the world is better off without their kind in it.
Dynath and his trusty lupine companion leap into the fray, the dwarf landing a solid blow on one of the ants, while Shadowfur takes the burnt one to the ground, and crushes its carapace with powerful jaws.
No longer threatened by that giant insect, Daedîn moves quickly forward and fires an arrow at the ant Mutahir severely injured. The shaft sinks into its head and it drops almost instantly, its body twitching for a moment more, before going still.
As Tad moves in closer, ready to heal any injuries, the little blue mites poke their heads out of the entrance to get a better view of what's happening, and do not seem at all pleased by what they are seeing. You realize there are more then two of the little fey now, and they are all chattering angrily, their eyes getting even larger, if that was possible, almost like they want to pop out of their over-large heads.
Fimbir, Dynath, Mutahir, and Daedîn all feel a strange malaise try to overcome them, almost as if the little creatures were willing bad things, just by looking at them.
Two of them then disappear back into the cave, leaving only a couple still visible at the entrance.
- Round 1 ---------
Benny <------ we are here!
- Round 2 ---------
Fimbir, Mutahir
blue ant (-11), green ant
Dynath, Tad, Daedîn
white mite, orange mite, purple mite, cyan mite
Bold can go!
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H....hey.... Fimbir says as the blue mites continue staring and chattering at him. The gnome shivers a bit, unnerved. Sto...stop that....
He tries to get close to the mountainside and hug the wall, trying to get out of sigth from the fey. Back to stone, Fimbir aims at one of the ants menacing Mutahir and fires another bolt of flame.
for
Bennybeck leaps into the fray, thrusting his spear, but the point glances off the ant's hardened carapace. Fimbir doesn't even try to pierce the shell, instead going with roasting the entire thing from the outside. One of the ants suddenly bursts into flame as it makes an odd pained hissing sound. Mutahir quickly puts it out of it's misery, leaving just a faint acrid burning smell in the air.
You hear only high-pitched dismayed cries, from the cave entrance, as it falls.
, ,
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The last remaining ant turns to attack the enemy that struck it. As it spins to face Dynath, its mandibles attempt to clasp around the dwarf's arm. Although they do manage to bite onto him, he is able to knock them loose before they can take too strong a hold . Tad was ready to deal with any injuries, and his long frog-like tongue wraps around the wand in his hand, before extending out to lick Dynath across the back of the neck, leaving a moist trail where it lands.
But the ant is not done, it suddenly contorts and brings its abdomen around and follows up the bite by thrusting a small stinger at Dynath! He was not ready for that, or perhaps distracted by the moist healing touch... and it pierces his leg armor, just above knee, sinking in painfully! He can feel some sort of toxin pumping in with it...
Daedîn attempts to finish off the remaining ant, but his hands are a little shaky from whatever the mites did, and only one arrow manages to pierce the ant's carapace.
- Round 2 ---------
Fimbir (shaken), Mutahir, Tad
blue ant (-20)
Dynath (-17, poisoned), Daedîn (shaken) <------ we are here!
white mite, orange mite, purple mite, cyan mite
Benny
Dynath is up!
His dwarven constitution easily shrugging off the ant's venom, Dynath sends a flurry of attacks at the final ant. Axe head and spear head bounce off its carapace with little effect, until the final swing. With a powerful downward swing, he finally connects with a weak spot, and nearly cuts the ant's head down the middle. It collapses immediately to the rocky ground, spilling out its ichorous blood onto the icy needle-covered ground.
The mites in the cave entrance wail, perhaps in frustration, perhaps in worry. They seem especially perturbed that it was a dwarf that finished their pet ant!
One of them throws a small projectile his way, yelling angrily.... while the second, maybe made of wiser stuff, flees back into the cave. You see no sign of the other two. The one that remains, realizing its error, as it stands there alone, finally turns and hurries back into the cavern as well.
- Round 2 ---------
Benny <------ we are here!
- Round 3 ---------
Fimbir (shaken), Mutahir, Tad, Dynath (-8), Daedîn (shaken)
white mite, orange mite, purple mite, cyan mite
Party is up!
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As the ants fall, Fimbir looks concernedly at Dynath. Are you okay? that looks like it hurt
Then, noticing Mutahir and the others head into the cave, he attempts to follow. Turning the corner, the frantic gnome's eye catches an odd light glowing from the floor.
Whoa, what's that? Muta, Daed, does that look weird to you?
He skids to a stop before his momentum carries him over the threshold.
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”Thanks for the help, friend. I wasn’t about to let a bug get the best of me, no matter how big it was, but it’s bite was rather nasty.”
[ooc]Im not sure if we are still in initiative order or not. If so I’ve already taken my turn, if not I’ll follow in the cave with my bow drawn. I auto-pass the perception check/ooc]
Mutahir rushes into the cave, so focused on the fleeing mites, he completely misses the faintly glowing symbols on the rocky floor. He doesn't even notice the warnings called from behind. But, though the words of those behind him don't seem to phase him, the fact he suddenly plunges into darkness does. The fading light from outside proves to barely reach past the entrance, all he can make out is what looks like a busted down, hastily erected barricade.
Daedîn and Fimbir both spot the obviously magical runes before stepping on them, but their warning come too late to stop Mutahir, who hurries over top of them, causing them to swirl slightly... though nothing else obvious happens beyond him almost tripping over the logs and timbers laying shattered on the cave floor in the dim light beyond, as he can't see much beyond there.
From the entrance, Daedîn's sensitive elven eyes can barely make out one of the straggling mites as it clambers along the wall over Mutahir's head, well out of the human's reach. But it is enough for him to target, and he fires his arrow without hesitation. The arrow hits the bulbous little blue creature dead center, and it lets out a painful scream as it slips off the wall.... a scream that gets quickly cut off as it hits the hard stone floor with a thud a few moments later.
Fimbir and Daedîn leap over the glowing runes, the former just barely making it, as neither is able to get a proper run at it, and the gnomes shorter legs become an issue. But they do manage it, and easily avoid the broken debris that Mutahir did not.
With the sniper comes the light of his wayfinder, revealing the front portion of the cave to all. It is not a large space, barely more then a crack in the mountain that goes upwards a fair distance, and runs off to the south, getting rapidly narrower as it moves away from you.
Right near the entrance, you can see piles of broken debris, from what looks to have been a hastily erected barricade made from the gnarled local trees, a few piled on supplies, and large rocks. Just beyond it, lays a dirty, ragged dwarf, unmoving on the cave floor. Judging by his wounds, the ants were probably working him over pretty good.
You see no sign of the mites, though as Dynath and Shadowfur enter, the wolf's nose starts working, and its attention seems to be focused deeper into the cave as it growls quietly.
The dwarf does seem to be alive, but unconscious and bleeding.
The others see no sign of the mites, but can follow Shadowfur's nose to the south further in to the cave.
Tad's healing hand is enough to stem the wounds, and there is a low, muffled sigh, as the dwarf slowly regains consciousness.
He comes to slowly at first, groaning... but then realizing suddenly where he is, his eyes burst open, and suddenly glances around with an out-of-focus, somewhat manic, look. Seeing people standing over him, he suddenly scrambles back and away. Being still severely injured, and already near a wall, he doesn't get far, as his response is more a painfully crawls to the side. He presses his back up against the stone wall of the cave, eyes squinting into the light.
"Wha...? Who...?" He seems a little out of it, as he moans again, dropping his head into his hands for a moment, before looking up again. "You ain't her." He mutters, not really talking to you, more arguing with himself.
"I ain't her." He adds, looking down at his hands, as if confirming something. "Not this time... I don't think... But they were all her last time, and I was none of 'em. Or was I all of 'em? And the rest of 'em! I think its still growing..."
He starts rubbing at his hands, and looks around wildly again, finally focusing on you. "What happened? The bugs!" He suddenly is scanning the ground, until his eyes light on a battle axe laying where it fell at Dynath's feet. He looks like he wants to dive for it, but isn't quite ready to leave the safety of the wall at his back just yet.
"Those little blue bastards?" He asks.