On Den's next turn he retrieves some oil from his backpack and throws it at the ground where the burning swarm is.
Rufus pulls his own flask out to toss it on the still attacking mass of vermin.
Dendarial lobs a flask of oil at the ground near the swarming mass, which does little noticeable damage to the creatures, apart from slightly accelerating the flames on a few with some stray bits of oil. Rufus sends a flask of alchemist fire flying at the swarm but it sails wide and lands next to Winifred, exploding and splashing her, Sir Karse, and the swarm with droplets of flaming goo.
The writing mass of creatures pushes forward, swarming around more victims as the hungry spiders bite and feed...
The flames on the swarm flare up once more before burning out, leaving more dead arachnids littering the ground. The mass of creatures has diminished considerably, but enough remain to still pose a threat.
As the swarm covers Winifred she doubles over in pain as they bite into the exposed areas of her skin, leaving her in a weakened state.
Dendarial retrieves and throws a second flask of oil, trying to get it to ignite from the existing flames.
Dendarial throws another flask of oil at the writhing mass of spiders, hitting them and causing the fluid to coat the arachnids in the flammable substance.
As Will fires up his spell, sending sparks dancing across the swarm, the oil coating the creatures ignites in a rush of flame, burning the remaining creatures to a crisp and sending the charred corpses to the ground, quickly scattering in the breeze.
"Well that was...Unpleasant..." Winifred utters, dusting dead spiders off of her clothes and out of her hair. "It's going to take me days until I feel clean again, ugh!"
"That...
could have gone better." Rufus muses, mildly. "Of course, it could also have gone quite a bit worse..."
Looking over to the bushes. "I believe I'll wait until tomorrow to try gathering the rest of these, if not longer." He adds as he turns to observe the more sorely harmed individuals.
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"Do you really think there could be more of those... swarms in every bush? I'd think now would be the safest time to pick them because anything that would be defending itself just came out and died. Waiting would just allow more things to move in." says Will with a shrug, yielding to those of more survival skills and nature knowledge.
Rufus looks to Dendarial to confirm or refute Will's statement.
"Well, I am alive, but I would hardly say that I am alright." She pauses, rummaging through her backpack, but coming up with nothing. How could I forget to pack a mirror! She throws her hands up in her inability to think ahead. "Does anyone know of a running water source nearby, I am need of a bath after that." She says sighing. "If we're going to go on a diplomatic mission, I don't want to look like I almost got eaten by spiders."
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Realizing by her mannerisms and attempts to put her hair back into place, what the lady is searching for, Karse roots about in his pack for a moment and produces a small leather satchel. Handing it to Winifred, he says, "I'd like it back when you're done, please."
Inside the satchel, Winifred finds a comb, scissors, a nail file, a sponge, a hairbrush, a miniature mirror, a bar of soap, and a packet of tooth powder.
Dendarial is unsure about the spiders and the berries and says Likely waiting til morning with good light will be just fine.
The ranger tells Winifred where the closest place to bathe would be but then adds with a smile Remember its a diplomatic mission to Kobolds. Likely you get extra points for spider bites. Then, more seriously he says If you are going, take a buddy. No one should wander off alone.
Dendarial easily locates the small stream running near the patch and points out the direction for Winifred.
Later, after camp is secured Den gets out his healing supplies (not a healer's kit - those things are expensive. ) and tends to the bites.
Not much I can do. Wrong supplies here. I think I should invest in a real healer's kit.
"I'd rather get extra points for shining like the jewels that I wear." Winifred says scoffing at the idea of getting along better with the Kobolds due to getting bitten. She looks over at Sir Karse and nods. "While I do hope to maintain my modesty, it would also be important to make sure I don't get ambushed while bathing." She says, removing the small mirror from the pouch Karse had loaned her and looking over herself.
Given Dendarial's explanation, Rufus goes ahead & makes another attempt at picking the berries, being certain that no others are near the bushes beforehand this time.
The ranger assumes his position of guard, watching over Rufus and the camp.
Using the gauntlet as protection from the thorns, and finding no further swarms lying in wait within the bushes, Rufus manages to carefully pick enough berries to satisfy Bokken's demands.
While Rufus is picking berries, Winifred goes off to the stream an does her best to quickly clean herself.
"Yes." Rufus replies, stretching after disentangling himself from the Fangberry bushes.
After taking a quick bath, trying to remain aware of her surroundings the whole time she works at removing the spider carcasses from her hair and attempting to wash away any evidence that she had been bitten, Winifred puts her clothes back on and returns to the remainder of the group with Sir Karse.
[dice=""Survival" (Wisdom Check)]1d20+1[/dice]
"We can't camp here?" Winifred asks, not sure what makes the location by the fangberry bushes a bad location.
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Scratching the beginnings of a beard on his chin, Will ponders the question, ”I would think that with water close by, and the potential for food in this fruit, that this area would be more traveled that a more distant camp site. Think of it like a city, the main roads and paths are usually near the taverns and inns. If we want to avoid the constant foot traffic, we need to go off the beaten path a bit.” Feeling more confident in his answer having related it to something he knows, Will continues to ensure Bob is balanced and packed well, scratching the mule’s head to keep it happy. ”Rufus, do we have a place for those fruit to make sure they stay safe?”
"Boon! Here boy!" Rufus calls out at Will's query. As the hound arrives, Ruffus scratches & thumps him thoroughly after pulling out the winter blanket in one of the panniers strapped to Boon's barding & using the blanket as a makeshift envelope to hold all the berries. "There, that should do it." He adds as he carefully slides the parcel back into the pannier.
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Karse keeps watch while Winifred bathes, his back to her the whole while. He does not speak to her unless she speaks first, feeling that she desires a modicum of privacy. On their return, he listens as Will gives his theory of why camping close to the fangberry bushes would not be a good thing he comments, "So why not just pick a direction away from the patch and the water and walk, say 200 paces or so?"
"Would 200 paces be far enough away? I don't want to get trampled in the middle of the night by something that's just thirsty." Winifred says looking at the others. "But then I suppose it would at least be better then being right here."
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”Well, no use standing around staring at each other. The campsite isn’t going to find itself.” says Will, trying to give the group a direction. ”Bokken is to the South Southwest right?” Humming a bit to himself , he turns to the South Southwest and starts leading Bob through the forest, keeping his eyes peeled for a decent flat area without a lot of roots or rocks.
Will manages to find a decent enough spot to make camp for the evening, and assuming that the rest of the party follows him will have no problems getting things set up.