" Well yeah. Range is king, only reason I didnt have a bow was less that I wasnt trained in it I just didnt have the money. Out here you either adapt or become prey. But, I simply find the feeling of hitting my enemy better. Not to mention, those things are expensive which is why I knew the other archer bandits won't be easy to deal with. " Sugua chomps down the rest of his meal and cleans his fingers with his mouth. He moves over, and picks up the Shortbow he was using currently and releases two shots at a tree.
" And chances are there are a few that can loose some faster than that "
"Mark my words, Sugua Bran't....the day will come when I will be one of those few." he pledges, entirely serious.
" Well let's get you back to Oleg's first and then we can talk about that. Maybe then Vlad's dancing or the Kobolds 'peace' will have paid off. Still alot to clear, and Im not sure about that temple or that She-wolf Kressle until we dont have people dropping every other fight. "
Sugua sets his bow down and starts putting on his armor again, sitting by the fire. He lays down once it is secure, " Well , tell me when its my shift I'm going to nap this off. "
"I will take whatever shift is appropriate. First, middle, last, it really makes little difference to me."
Taking a portion of the stew, Vladimir smiles and nods toward Durielle. Seeing the somewhat sullen demeanor of his friend, the swordsman takes a seat near Donovan.
"We never got a chance to finish that conversation, my friend. What was it you were hoping to find for yourself when you left with the old priest?"
Sugua snorts, " Basically the same as before just put Clousuk in Angor's spot, Should *yawn* be fine " Sugua scratches at one of his old wounds dozing off.
Donovan sets one of his hard biscuits to one side along with the stew and sighs momentarily. "I suppose I had all the grand illusions that one has as a youth. Majestically battling demonic hordes or saving the world from the Worldwound -- that sort of thing. Dreams of inexperience," he says with a wry smile. "I'm actually thinking more about the here and now at this point. I was wondering if there's a clever way that we could have done with this -- some way of flooding the crevice, perhaps. But there aren't any streams nearby, nor would it avail us to hurl alchemical fire into the pit, as the beast seems immune to fire."
The young priest runs a hand through his hair, then pauses as he notices how grubby his fingers are. He takes out his kerchief, wets it with his tongue, and wipes some of the dirt from his hands.
Donovan says, "Regardless, I think we are doing better than if we'd just stayed in Restov and did . . . whatever it is. That is to say, if we manage to finish this task of charting the Greenbelt and making it safe for settlers, we may have a more noteworthy impact on the stability of the region and the protection of peoples' lives and welfare. And that seems to make it a worthwhile endeavor, to me at least."
Returning from his meditations Alphonse eats and turns in with few words to anyone, big day tomorrow, they had best be prepared.
Durielle is glad everyone seems to enjoy the rather unexpectedly abundant stew. Everyone's contribution had made it a great meal. She summons power to create water and clean her pot and then again to make some herbal tea given to her by Svetlana before they departed the trading post the last time.
She wanders close to where Vladimir and Donovan sit musing on their past expectations to what now faced them in the present. Durielle murmurs a politeness to sit near them, and if accepted she sits quietly and sips her tea looking up at the stars and silently praying to Desna.
She found herself wondering about Sugua's tattoos and why he had seemed slightly off balance at exposing the black scorpion. Her mind shifted to their newest member, and she hoped the kobold would learn the benefit of working together. She felt sorry for the Sootscales in that their very way of life was now in danger since the coming of the survey charter. A problem for another time, but one that would come sooner than expected, she felt.
Then she lays out her blanket and bedroll and prepares to sleep. Having lived among mostly humans, the elf did not know it was strange for one of her kind to do so. It's possible what she knew as sleep wasn't exactly what others thought of it, but one thing was certain, the oracle did dream. And in them Desna blessed her with the ability to wander the world, a quiet place lit by the stars devoid of the visions of her future. For those few hours Durielle was as she once was: healthy, clear of mind, and alone...
Hearing Durielle's request, Vladimir responds "By all means, please have a seat."
Returning his attention to the conversation with Donovan, he says, "Oh without a doubt, it is a worthwhile endeavor. That is not to say it will be easy, but worthwhile things seldom are."
Donovan nods and replies to Vlad, saying, "We're agreed on that point too. I hope we can find a way to make some money so that we can improve our gear. Being a bandit may be profitable, but so far hunting them isn't."
Donovan shifts any of his gear, if necessary, to accommodate a place for Durielle to seat herself.
"If nothing else, we may be able to leave any goods we wish sold with Oleg. The traders who come by may take some of the goods off his hands and he could give us a cut of the profits. I doubt we'll find much better in the way of money-making endeavors out here."
Clousuk was hardly a craftsman, but then, he was not attempting to create anything extravagant. Or perhaps he was simply convinced that anything he created was a masterwork. As the rest of the party continues to discuss strategy, he busies himself with a length of twine, winding it tightly around the troll tooth. Their triumph over the vile trolls would make for an excellent story... but defeating the mites would be an even greater conquest.
"Clousuk pluck out that nasty bug eye..." he mutters as he hangs the tooth around his neck.
Donovan stifles a yawn and arches his back before he responds to Khargol. "I'd welcome a few coins to improve our odds," he says, "but I'm not sure how much of a market there is for the kinds of small and low-quality things we've been picking up."
Unfurling his bedroll and moving to lay down on it, the half-orc shrugs slightly. "Out here there probably isn't a market for much of anything. Any supplies we aren't going to use are things that someone might buy from Oleg after making the trip out here. And Oleg himself might buy any furs or extra meat we might come back with."
The night wears on and soon all of party have turned in for the night except those who took up the roles of night watch.
As dawn breaks across the Greenbelt, the grey skies that seemed to be following the party since Morgrym's death seem to be at an end, and the day promises to be a bright and sunny one.
Off on the distance at the site of the kobolds and mites battle the party can see a pair of wolves rifling through the remains.
Back at the Sycamore tree, it appears someone did some writing in the middle of the night, as a single word is splashed in red across its trunk above the entrance to the Mites den, "Redja'jigoveer"
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Sugua seemed to rise relatively back to normal. He practiced martial stances, rigorous movements to maximize striking, parrying, blocking; Offense and defense were a constant dance. Notably his armor stayed on the entire time. He also did not seem to ask for the potion he gave Durielle back, if that meant something it could be anyones's guess.
Once they reached the Sycamore, Sugua raised his row and looked at the words confused " The Lizards run at them again? "
Waking in the morning Alphonse take his time to steady his mind and feel his magic strength flow inside once more he is more confident that he can assist his party in their endevors. Taking time to look back at the tree that they had entered one can clearly see writing across the top. "To any who are more linguistically inclined there seems to be strange writing on the tree. anyone know its meaning?"
"I do not think so, Sugua, or if they did it was not the kobolds who scrawled that word...whatever it is." Vladimir says, confusedly looking at the word.
Following Alphonse's question, Vladimir responds, "It isn't in any language that would normally be associated with the fey either...curious."
Sugua shrugs, it didnt matter too much to him but another thing was sort of concerning. " Y'know, I'm not sure if you noticed.. but that Chief Lizard said somethin I have seen yet. He said the mites were good at.. explosions. I havent seen a caster or trap one since we came in. Maybe all the traps went off though, who knows? " Sugua starts heading down into the caves.
" At least we are'nt tired as a halfling slave in Cheliax this time. might actually get a bit further in. " Sugua grunt and shoulders his blade.
"It isn't written in Orc, either. If that centipede from yesterday was truly of the abyss, it could be written in the language of demons or devils. I doubt the contents of the writing would stop us from entering again, regardless."
Entering into the Mites den again, Sugua finds the walls of the den to be mirrors of the outside of the tree. All over the tunnel walls the same word is repeated again and again in dark red.
"Redja'jigoveer"
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Khargol will approach one of the walls and touch the dark red color to try and ascertain exactly what it is that the wall is painted in. He will also call upon his ability to detect the presence of evil, focusing his mind on the direction they are moving in.
His eyes having trouble adjusting to the transition from the bright sun to the darkness of the den, Vladimir asks "Durielle, would you happen to be able to cast that spell on my blade again, or should I use one of my sunrods?"
Khargol can tell the writing is in blood, and he detect a faint evil below him.
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Durielle collects her things and straps her pack tightly. Finding water from a future rain, Durielle creates water and rinses the sleep from her mouth and washes her Then she dresses back into the armor she had removed the previous night before sleeping as usual.
She performs some Natural Divination and then draws her sword and follows the party into the den. She summons her innate ability and causes Vladimir's blade to shine brightly once more.
"That should do it!"
"This writing is in blood...I also feel a faint evil presence below us..."
Clousuk scratches his chin, unable to make any sense out of it.
"Clousuk says Clousuk, no sneaking this time. Mites and their bug expect scaleless, yes?"
Gonzo seems to be deep in thought throughout the night, expressing himself only when spoken to. That morning he didn't say much, just good morning had anybody initiated the greeting. He didn't seem to notice the writing and everybody's words drowned into a void beneath his thoughts.
He snapped back to reality as he noticed the group had approached the cave entrance yet again. "Oh boy, I believe this may not be the best of ideas... I don't believe that centipede was making an empty threat."
Gazing upon the dreadful writing, "This isn't good, not at all..." He examines it closer...
Gonzo can infer no information from the word.
" Probably something like, 'Leave' or 'Death is here' a warning. Maybe a threat, considering we are going to kill them all it's not like we are any better " Sugua keeps on moving.
"Who know? Maybe mean nothing. Maybe just stupid mite scribbles," Clousuk says dismissively, unwilling to be unnerved by the signs.
"Most likely. Certainly a threat, at the very least...though I am not dissuaded. We struck a bargain with the Sootscales and I intend to honor it. Not to mention that any creatures harboring something like that centipede will serve as a danger to any attempts at colonization of the area."
"I sure hope we are ready for such a feat. We should watch ourselves in here, and definitely try a different path to the mites, if there is one."
"There is yet no need to be overly concerned; when we fought the creature yesterday, we had just put down four trolls. We were not at our best. We also have no evidence that the creature is still even here. Certainly, the writing is new, but that doesn't mean the centipede is still present. The presence of evil I feel is not a strong one and I will continue to focus my senses in case it moves."
"I do hope you're right," He states as he continues into the cavern with the rest of the party.
Archie sees nothing of note outside the Sycamore excepting the wolves continuing to scavenge the battlefield.
As the party descends they find themselves before too long back at the lip of the chasm from the day before.
However, in the bottom of the chasm the party can see a number of dead mites heaped together outside the far end of the chasm where the centipede lay in wait from yesterday. Each of the Mites appears from a distance to have their throats cut.
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"Perhaps whatever did this to the mites also exterminated the bug for us as well. I pray we don't meet them."
"Maybe food for big bug," Clousuk replies, pleased to see dead enemies, but disappointed that he could not kill them himself.
Their throats have been cut. Given that those with greater knowledge on the subject than I have said that the creature's nature hails from the lower planes, I would guess that these mites were sacrifices as much as food."
" Last I checked Centipedes completely devour their food. Ah well I'm not pressed about it. " Sugua jumps on the bodies with a squish and starts climbing
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Before there is any discussion on the matter at all, Sugua jumps back down into the chasm. Khargol had been about to protest the sudden action, but then stops himself, realizing the futility of it. The other half-orc was going to do what he was going to do...but that didn't mean Khargol was going to let him do it alone. Shield and sword at the ready, Khargol slides down into the chasm after his companion, his entire body tensed and ready for another encounter with the monstrous centipede.
Sugua and Khargol once again find themselves at the bottom of the chasm. But if the centipede is still dwelling within the Sycamore, he is not in sight and Khargol does not detect his presence at the moment.
However, he does detect the faint evil from before on the other side of the chasm, at the top of the makeshift rope ladder.
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"The evil that I sensed earlier...it seems to be coming from up there."