Once the creature has finally fallen, Xelani turns around to scan her companions' condition. She is relieved to see Rufus' bleeding has stopped and is now showing signs of recovery thanks to Castor's blessings; the half elf himself, on the other hand, looks ash-grey and unnaturally stiff in his movements. Thinking quickly, she rushes to his side trying her best to recall whatever notions her parents taught her in her youth.
Kneeling besides him, she examines his thigh looking for the tiny spots marking the inoculation points. "Try not to move the leg. Relax the muscle as much as possible" she tells Castor as she uses some rope to apply a rudimentary tourniquet, intermittently sucking and spitting the venom out.
Once Castor's illness has somewhat stabilized, she turns her attention toward Rufus, who has regained consciousness in the meanwhile. "Let's see if we can restore you to full health, shall we? We'll need you at full power if we want to survive these tunnels." Muttering a prayer, she channels Erastil's blessing from her body and into the wounded warrior.
"Whatever we do, we'd best do it quickly. There are no guarantees they aren't preparing a counter action even now."
"We've been pretty stealthy until now, allowing no mite to flee to warn the others. But this thing must have made quite a lot of noise as we fought it" she says in response to Rufus' warning. "Our powers have been pretty depleted in this last fight, and Castor surely needs some rest to recuperate. Mites we can handle, but I wouldn't be too anxious to face another monster such as this" she says, pointing at ichor-stained carcass occupying most of the room they're currently standing in.
"Είμαι κάλεσε Mikmek . Εγώ ... Δεν ξέρω πόσα υπάρχουν . Νομίζω ότι ο αρχηγός τους είναι ορισμένες για τις οποίες εδώ . Φρικτό μικρό μπλε άνθρωπος ... Αλλά ... Αλλά εμείς πρέπει να βρούμε Sharptooth ! Θα πεθάνουμε όλοι , αν δεν το κάνουμε !" the kobold replies to Rufus, laboring to breath a bit.
Nearby to the conversation, Castor feels a bit better and the poison seems to have run it's course. He still feels pretty stiff as the damage to the poison lingers.
Wincing in partial agreement with Korinne's words, Rufus turns to the now freed kobold. "*Draconic gibberish*"
"I agree; retreat is our safest option."
"I think Sharptooth is...is near their leader. That one is very dangerous. Sharptooth hasn't been able to protect us from him." The kobold says.
The group proceeds cautiously back the way they came. The kobold was easy to set loose and was more than ready to get out of this place. Nothing prevents your escape though as you leave, you have a feeling the mites were keeping tabs on you, at least until you left the hole.
The group is able to find a small place, some miles away from the giant sycamore of the mites. Guard duty is put into place and in general, you feel relatively safe to at least go about setting up camp.
"So what's our plan now?" Xelani says while looking nervously around, eyes piercing the surrounding darkness. "Are we going back come morning? I reckon we'll find one less giant millipede, but probably quite a lot more angry mites."
"So long as we survive, an engagement of attrition is an option." Rufus replies to Xelani's query. "Not an elegant one, but still..." His expression makes it plain this would not be his first choice.
"Almost undoubtedly," he answers Korinne's musing, "they are hateful little fellows, unloved by nearly all other denizens of these lands. Such vermin are their only boon companions."
Xelani nods as Korinne and Rufus express their points. "Indeed. Individually, and even in small groups, they didn't pose much of a treat. As long as we don't get heavily outnumbered or surrounded, this Sharptooth idol should still be well within our reach."
"So we are decided. Tomorrow we make another foray into the lair."
"I do believe attrition is on our side. It would be foolish to confront them on their terms when we can hold the advantage and confront them little by little at our own pace. That said, my fingers are feeling pretty numb; I don't think I'll be of much use with my bow for the next few days. Thankfully, Desna's blessings should give me plenty to do."
"My one suggestion would be that we not attempt an assault tomorrow. We will need to plan for multiple possible campsites if we have to make more than one go at this. We cannot afford to risk them simply following us back, or worse yet, determining where we camp & preparing an ambush for us there..."
Turning to Mikmek, Rufus explains to the kobold all his reasoning while assuring the diminutive reptile that they would do all within their power to retrieve the idol.
"I like it. Strike them from a different direction every day without those blue menaces even knowing where they've been hit from. Wear them down by attrition" Xelani chimes in nodding approvingly.
"Not to mention Castor could really use some time to recover."
"A wise plan, Rufus," Castor nods. "That, and if we're going to leave anything unattended, particularly the horses, I would much rather we at least do so where the mites aren't likely to know."
"It seems we are in agreement then."
With the others consent, Rufus will speak with Mikmek to convince the Kobold to assist in locating safe, concealed camp sites. While doing so, he will also question him to find out as much as he can about both the Mites & the Kobolds.