Finally, someone else gave her permission... and Luca looked nervously at the others before pointing into the air. A few seconds later, small creatures with the heads of a green-eyed horse and lower bodies that were mostly just a tentacle appeared in the air and. After Luca explained in Aklo what they were looking for, they soared up to take a look around the area and try to spot anything that matched the group's destination (or would at least put them on the right track). Unlike the spell version, what might be called her natural summoning lasted for long enough to let them actually get a good look and still have time to report back. That they could fly as fast as a normal person could walk definitely helped.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Tyrus drew himself up "Physical strength has nothing to do with it. Long have we known that magic is in the blood - as well as the other humors, to a lesser extent. The blood is the life, the medium through which life force is stored. Haeomthurgy causes the body to produce more blood. More life. The blood is stored in pockets in the body. Oragns bloated with the red fluid of life. I've probably not much more fat than you, Dante, but I've enough blood to drown a normal man." He shrugs "It lets me draw more power, but my reserves are not inexhaustible."
"Hmm. Blood. And here I thought fat men were just full of s$@!."
Tyrus rolls his eyes "Believe me or not. When I started the process I was living a comfortable, sedentary life. If I'd known I was going to be kidnapped by pirates I'd have picked a more convenient dark art."
"Like necromancy?" Dante says, still a little sour after undead control incident.
"There's nothing convenient about necromancy." Tyrus grumps.
Luca's Sagarii disappear into the canopy above for some time, and when they return they report the existence of a sizable clearing some distance to the north-west.
Kien ignores the complaining of the old fat man. "Clearing seems as good a heading as any. We'll eventually sweep it all anyways."
Dante points at Luca after the flying creature reports. "See. Northwest." Assuming everyone agrees, Dante walks down the northwest path.
Luca wasn't sure why Dante was pointing at her, but she nodded slightly and, as the creatures disappeared, she hurried along with the others and tried to stay towards the middle of the group. That tended to be the safest place, after all, and left her free to support the others in whatever way seemed best.
Kien shrugs and follows Dante.
You decide to follow the ancient road northwest, into the mountains. While the stones of the road rarely show through the jungle floor, the path it cuts through the trees is still obviously a road, and you have no trouble following it. You begin to see a few signs of the old society that called this area home - the ruins of what seems to be a tiny roadside shrine, a broken waystone, and once even the crumbling remains of what might have been a guard station, ages ago.
Again, Fluffy stops rigidly before the group, sniffing the air. It moves over to the side of the path where it noses about in the foliage for a moment before beckoning you all over. Blood on a leaf draws attention to the orc-tracks beneath it, and now you can see that several orcs crossed the very road you now tread, though they did not follow exactly along it.
There were at least three orcs who passed by. One of them seems to have been wearing boots.
There were six orcs that passed along this way. One of them was wearing heavy boots, likely armor of some kind. Another moved extremely lightly, and barely left tracks at all.
Timm kneeled down, examining the trail. The Drecna didn't really notice anything special, besides the obvious blood on the leaves.
The orcs obviously passed by here. - he says, knowing he wasn't stating anything the others couldn't notice - I'm not sure if it's the same group, but we should be prepared to face them again.
"Three, at least." Luca noted as she looked up from the tracks. She wasn't great at wilderness survival, but she'd picked up the bare basics during the course of her travels.
"Well, if we can find some sort of defensible structure, maybe we should plan to camp there. Depending on how close to sunset we are, of course. I feel it would be a bad idea to travel in the dark when we know we have a hostile tribe of nocturnal hunters." Tyrus pointed out.
Dante saw the blood but someone had to point out the tracks for him to even make them out. It seems they were all headed the same way. That meant one thing. "If the temple is truly this way, the orcs are probably there. Or close to it."
Timm estimates that you are still several miles from the clearing, a little less than an hour's travel.
It was probably best to keep going - if nothing else, there were the attackers that had hit them last night and might want to try again if they could scrounge up enough reinforcements. The less time they had to do that, the better.
Kien pushes on. Nothing gets done by standing around and talking about it. Besides, it would do him some good to see Tyrus sweating and sucking wind after a few more miles. He grins to himself as he thinks about the idea.
The group moves on, continuing to follow the path. The trees begin to thin slighty until abruptly giving way to clear sky. The clearing is larger than you suspected from the Sagari's reports, several miles in diameter at least. You clearly see what you assume to be the temple off in the distance, directly at the foot of the mountains. High walls surround it, but some of the interior structures rise over them. outside of the walls the remains of a village still exists.
You see no obvious sign of orcs from this distance.
"So - set up in the village, or inside the walls?" Tyrus asked. "My preference is in sight of the temple itself - we can fortify the location and use it as a base camp. I presume at some point we'll be attacked by orcs. Dante, you studied sieges and camp preparation, did you not? What is your considered opinion?"
Strategy and Tactics had not been a part of Luca's studies as a child - and she just looked to Dante as Tyrus queried him. Her summons couldn't make much that would last - a little bit of digging, maybe, but it wasn't like she could throw up a whole fort out of nowhere or something. Best to figure out what they could do.
Dante thinks for a moment before asking Luca, "Can you send another flyer to see if the temple and village appear empty? We know the orcs headed this way. They might be in the village or possibly in the temple. If they are occupying it, we'll have to find a secluded place to camp. They appear to be nocturnal so moving during the day is the best option."
Kien crosses his arms and frowns up at the walls. "Set up? Why don't we just go in?" He asks.
"You're suggesting that having travelled for a day, had less than eight hours sleep and then travelled all day for another day now would be a good time to start something that requires all our wits? Potentially moving into an ambush, in the dark, against nightdwellers, carrying our entire load of camping equipment?" Tyrus checked on Kien's desires.
We can be cautious, definitely. - says the inquisitor. Used to travels and journeys, he actually enjoyed being on the road - And if we need rest, once again, then we can probably enjoy the time while our friend scouts out.
How much do you have to sleep between fights? Kien bites his tongue. "Alright, just let us know what you need. We'll move when we can than."
"I have read a number of accounts of archaeologists. All of them were cautious and careful. This is not to say all archaeologists are cautious and careful, just the ones that survived to write accounts." Tyrus lectures.
He turns to Luca "Can you send that flyer? Dante's plan is sound."
How much do you have to sleep between fights? Kien bites his tongue. "Alright, just let us know what you need. We'll move when we can than."
"It's a few hours until sundown and then things shift into their favor. I would think that would be obvious," he says in a belittling tone. Walking into unkown territory with aggressive enemies was asking for trouble. Kien either thought little of the consequences or highly of himself (maybe both) to move forward without doing even a little scouting.
Kien shrugs. He's used to fighting in the dark more often than not, but he understands the eyes of his companies aren't as strong.
Luca frowned and pushed up onto her toes to try and guess the distance. "Um... how far away is it?" she asked, squinting. "They can only be here for a few minutes, so if we're not close enough, they can't get there and back fast enough to really look through and report how populated it is."
"That is a good point. Let's get closer. Hopefully if there is an ambush, they'll spot in in time for us to prepare."
The temple sits against a cliffside at the far end of the clearing, at least two miles away. The sun is shining in a mostly cloudless sky as you walk into the field, wary for any attack.
The tall grass of the clearing stands several feet high, but still makes for a clearer view than the dense jungle. Kien's sharp eyes spot a tiny gap in the grass, and he signals that the group should stop. Sneaking up to investigate, Kien finds the corpse of some sort of bipedal, predatory creature lying in the grass. It appears to have retreated from whatever killed it - now that you are closer, you see a long trail of blood and bent grass leading off to the east.
The creature has a pair of thick, crude arrows still jutting from its chest and the base of its neck.
You do not know of anything like this creature living in this region.
The overall anatomical structure of the creature seems otherworldly to you. It is possible the creature is not from this plane.
You recognize this creature as a Nonichus, a pack-hunting predator from Asperius.
Dante jumps into a ready stance at Tien's warning. With one hand on his blade he follows along, spying the creature in the grass. A quick look and Dante can tell something is very off about it. "That is no creature from this plane," he says confidently. He enough about basic anatomy to know this thing had taken a very strange evolutionary path. His eyes squint at the arrows and then the blood trail leading east. His eyes pop in fear at the realization that this thing had fled whatever tried to kill it. "We should leave. Whatever killed it is probably headed this way."
Mhmm. Otherworldly threats. All sorts of unpredictable abilities come with them. "Yes let's get out of the open."
Luca's pool of knowledge was mostly focused on aberrant creatures and things related to them - a doctor she was not, and she didn't really trust any of her not-friends to do a good job with it, either. On the other hand, if it wasn't from around here... "Nn." she agreed quietly. Her Eidolon moved a little closer, clearly on guard against threats.
"I agree, Dante - on both counts. They'll be too alert for an ambush."
You are currently a ways into the large field to the south of the temple. You essentially have the choice of returning along the way you came , heading east along the blood trail, or heading in the same direction the creature was retreating in and attempting to approach the temple from the jungle.
"West, then? I've no desire to meet the attackers, not to retread old ground twice."
Tyrus sets off.
Eager to avoid whatever danger had ended the life of this creature, you move west. Along the way you pick up signs of more of them - trails through the tall grass, and claw marks in the dirt. It is not until you reach the jungle line that you see a living example.
As you emerge from the field, a ululating hiss sounds from the branches of a tree, where one of the taloned creatures crouches on a low branch. It is coiled as if to pounce, but has made no move - it's eyes are intent on you, and the long pinions or hair on its neck are rising in falling in an almost hypnotic threat display...
Suddenly Fluffy lets out its own peculiar hiss and whirls in place, just as Kien picks up a faint rustle in the grass behind the group and turns as well. Fluffy and Kien can just barely spot four more creatures approaching the group from behind.
Begin Combat: Surprise Round
Kien takes a step towards the four behind them, eyeing them with a snarl. "The hell are these things?"
Growling, Luca's Eidolon darted over to place itself between her and the group of four enemies. Protecting her was its first - and, indeed, only - priority, and it was quite willing to physically hold them back in order to give Luca time to call forth allies.
End Surprise Round. Begin Combat Round 1
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
Tyrus
Kien
Dante
Luca
Fluffy
Timm
No sooner do Kien and Fluffy react to the presence of the ambush than the creatures make their attack, dashing forward and leaping, prodigious claws outstretched.
They fly through the air, a blur of feathers and fangs. Kien has the presence of mind to dodge, but the targets of the other three feels the claws sink into their flesh.
The creature up in the tree hops down and begins making for Luca.
Kien quickly works on taking his creature down.
Luca's Eidolon let out a fierce growl as it was hit, then took a defensive stance to continue trying to protect her as much as possible. For her part, Luca stepped in the safest direction as possible and the air began to ripple in front of her as she called forth an Akata to help bring down the attackers.