Juno apologises to Adi. "I'd offer some of my rations to make up for it, but it's...elf stuff. Not to everyone's tastes. Dry, a lot of berries." She then asks Nesica, "Do you not have any more charges for that curative wand? I don't like seeing Whimsy like this."
"Yeah, I'll give it a shot"
The wand fizzles, and refuses to activate any more.
"Yeah I'm...not getting any more from this today. Looks like we'lljust have to watch him for a few hours."
Juno suggests the rest of the group rest, if only for Whimsy's sake, but ventures out to see if she can trap a few rabbits or forage some berries and bush vegetables.
Juno takes the group's waterskins and goes out to hunt among the blackened forest, but is disappointed to find it almost completely devoid of fauna and their spor. She does find a tree positively crawling with beetle grubs, and collects some of these to bring back. She also finds a few spindly wild onions and fern rhizomes, but they're so scattered that harvesting them is almost not worth the effort. To fill the waterskins, she visits the stream/spring Nesica found earlier with the beautiful flowers.
About an hour after sunset (), with the waxing moon lighting her way, she comes back east to the cave with food collected in her sweat-smelling hat. Juno is beginning to pass around waterskins full of slightly mineral-tasting, but otherwise clean, water, when she hears something that sounds like labored wingbeats. Nesica can't see too well in the moonlight, but she spots blackness against the stars about 20 meters up and to the west - something large and winged, with strange projections from its body that don't make sense for any natural creature.
Juno crouches, slowly raising and cocking her musket but holding her fire. She slows her breathing, and tries to be as unobtrusive as she can. She doesn't know that this is the dragon, but it's the only thing she knows for sure is in the area that is large and flies.
Nesica's eyes widen with understanding.
"Anticore! Shoot the damn thing out of the sky. FAST!"
Nesica goes invisible and scurries into the back.
Nesica recognizes the monster as the dreaded anticore, a rare monster created by the eccentric Magaambyan initiate who would become its first victim. The anticore lacks the spines of its more common antonym, but is a faster flier, can bash enemies with its powerful arms, and can grip foes with its foreclaws. It has a vaguely scorpiod head, the legs of a bat, the wings of a lion, and the tail of a human. Anticores are nowhere near as intelligent as true dragons, but can still usually speak one or two languages.
The creature seems to hear her spellcasting, and begins to flap towards the party's cave.
The warm night air rushes through the cave in gusts, playing with Whimsy's white downy fur. The dead trees around the party creak and rattle from the wind. And on that wind rides a monster.
The anticore seems to notice Juno readying her rifle, and before she has a chance to get it into position, puts on a sudden burst of speed. It flies towards the cave entrance, dropping to about five feet off the ground, and tries to grab the gunslinger in one of its claws.
Okay, well she's back down to 19, so forgetting delaying an action:
Juno takes the hit, yelling as claws cut into her, and attempts to break free of the anticore's grasp, utterly horrified at this misshapen abomination. She yells out "Somebody get this bastard off me!"
Nesica begins chanting, hoping that Juno can hold out in the creature's vice grip...
Juno isn't able to free herself from the iron grip of the anticore's pincers. She's just barely able to keep hold of her gun in one hand, but can't use it.
Since Juno can't fire the musket, she'll pull out a smokestick out of her bandolier.
Adi drops her waterskin and pulls her sword from its sheath as she runs up, trying to hack at the anticore's flank while being ready to deflect a blow with the enormous blade. Unfortunately, the monster's tough fur and hide cushion her blow - she draws nary a scratch on the anticore.
The anticore tightens its grip on Juno's arm, and begins feeding her head into its mouthparts. It grips her other arm with its other pincer. The pain is unbearable for Juno, but the creature seems wholly focused on devouring its prey, now - it does not respond to Adi's weak slash or Nesica's obvious spellcasting.
Juno is unconscious as the anticore chews on her head. The unactivated smokestick tumbles from her hands.
Nesica completes her spell, and a great flash of light appears in the distance and begins shimmering towards the group.
Through the air, a familiar though angelic entity moves towards the anticore, screaming angrily and firing lasers from its eyes.
Nesica runs up behind Adi and casts Vanish on Adi, pulling her from sight.
Nesica's archon manages to cut a small piece of the anticore's rear off, and the creature makes a chittering roar through its mouthful of half-elf head.
Suddenly, a high-pitched roar rings out across the prairie. Streaking across the scrubby plains is a black jaguar, but there's something different about it.
This jaguar has two human arms—and two lion wings—protruding from its back. The human arms wield a gleaming greataxe, which it brings down upon the hideous creature that has felled Juno. As it pounces, the lion wings and normal panther claws lash out in a furious frenzy of blood, fur, and chitin.
Evolutions: +2 Str, Limbs (2), Pounce, Claws, Grab (claws)
Total Cost: 11 RP
Nesica pales "Great, we're in anticore country. At least this one is on our side."
The hideous figure of another anticore rushes down the dark forested hillside towards the melee, jumping off of the rise beside the cave opening and landing on her larger cousin with claws, wings, and greataxes flailing. She grabs ahold of one of the anticore's bat wings with her many claws and latches on, tearing a great rent in the lower portion of that appendage, cutting open the anticore's bat-like torso to expose the arthropod-like vascular system inside, and clawing off one of the anticore's pedipalps. The smaller anticore's weight seems to be greatly burdening the larger one, which was already carrying a whole half-elf.
Adi tiptoes around the larger monster and brings an underhanded slice towards its exposed underside, still being careful not to let her guard down. She pops back into visibility just as she cleaves into the anticore's abdomen. It chitters in pain and alarm, and seems very close to death.
The anticore drops Juno and tries to claw itself free from the antipathic anticore, kicking up a storm of dust as its wings beat furiously to keep it aloft.
It doesn't manage to free itself, and the new arrival avoids being slashed by its vicious claws.
Nesica moves into melee, ready to see this thing put down.
Nesica darts out of hiding and launches an electrically charged hand towards the creature, filling the air with the smell of smoke and burning chitin.
On the flank, the Lantern Ruchon's eyebeams light up the area, letting out a deep booming hymn as it does so.
It's...not very effective.
Nesica moves into melee
Oh god no...
The anticore's endo-exo-skeleton lights up the night as Nesica discharges a powerful static charge into its intact wing. The smaller anticore also glows, but the worst of the energy seems to be absorbed in the left-wing side of the original - the fur across that one's back has melted to char. Its wingbeats suddenly skip a beat, and it immediately plummets the last five feet to the ground. Its wings then kick back up again, but lash out reflexively - the creature is clearly unconscious.
The smaller anticore holds shut the bleeding artery in Juno's arm, and the color stops leaching from the half-elf's face.
The smaller anticore gives an approving growl as it finishes stitching up Juno's arm with its human hands—hands which, the party realizes, have tiny sharp stingers for fingers. These are what it's using to make the stitches.
It straightens and stares levelly at Nesica.
Nesica looks at the creature's hands.
"You...arrived just in time. And are apparently a doctor. Thank you, anticore friend. You saved the day!" Nesica spreads her arms outwards. She wants a hug.
Juno opens her eyes while she still can, and sees the form of another chimaerical beast looming over her. She sees the prone form of the Anticore, and Nesica going in for the comradecuddles. She feels her wounds stitched up.
"Oh. You must be Sunt. Thank you."
She picks herself up, takes a moment to try to finish of the anticore with her longsword, staggers stiffly to her bedroll, and gently eases herself onto it and asks "Does anyone have a potion or a wand or something? I don't think I'm in a fit state to move for a while."
Juno ends the anticore's death throes by quickly cutting through its spine.
The panther head stares at Nesica. A familiar, grating voice emerges from its maw. "By the Wendo, are you serious? Don't hug anticores, Nesica!"
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Nesica starts at the anticore creatures before immediately breaking into a wide smile. "SUNT!"
Nesica leaps up and hugs Sunt. Completely ignoring what the guide just said entirely.
"Where have you been? Have you been looking for Gree? We saw her the other day. She stabbed a hobgoblin and was nearly eaten by a troll."
Juno collapses again a few minutes after Sunt arrived, the archon's blessing having worn off.
Nesica is pretty busy being excited that Sunt is around.
The party takes their evening meal around an insensate Juno. A couple hours later, Sunt notices a reddish 5-foot snake slithering towards the cave entrance. It is followed by another of a similar kind, which Adi also spots.
In her mind's eye, Juno stands over a little girl, curled in her room with her hands over her ears, crying. She'd kneel down and whisper words of comfort or rebuke if she could, but she can't. She's just an observer here. There are raised voices outside, muffled and indistinct with the haze of memory but one word is very clearly audible.
“Halfbreed.”
The little girl is toying with her ears now, and Juno knows exactly what she's thinking – that maybe if she got some scissors and cut off the points, maybe people wouldn't treat her so differently anymore. Maybe they'd just think she was a slow grower? And then suddenly her father is there, strong arms wrapped around her tightly, the tears of the one sure thing in her life splashing onto her shoulder as he tells her they need to leave town. Again.
The vision blurs, and then is gone, leaving Juno floating in the weightless void of unconsciousness.
Adi and Sunt simultaneously cry out, "Snakes!"
Sunt makes a sound almost perfectly imitating the screech of a hawk. One of the snakes freezes. The other seems unfazed as it slithers forward towards the cave.