My thoughts jump to pest control so I say poison them.
Well, they're not swarms, so at least we can club them to death. ;)
Just to make sure I'm clear, you're looking at around 50 pony-sized ants in this one area. That doesn't not include all of the ones currently inside the nest.
I figured. Temerith isn't necessarily suggesting to charge in and try and kill them, but returning to the Post and maybe making plans to deal with it couldn't hurt.
ants of that size would be very destructive once the hive is bigger,
so we should take it out ASAP,
over the course of a week they could gain 20+ more ants.
Anyone got some cans of CN-20
I figure the handful of us won't be quite enough. But if we gather the guards and ex-bandits, we might be able to put up a much better fight.
Definitely worth warning Jhod about - the temple is in one of the adjacent hexes. Maybe he would have some thoughts on how to deal with them as well.
I'd suggest talking to Sootscales about it and seeing if he would help (smoke dragon = smoke out the ants?), but he'd likely view the whole situation as a test for us and prefer to just sit back and see how we deal with it.
I still say poison, the things they are gathering/eating for example, but if we do not have the resources/time. Then I guess we can get some smoke sticks, alchy fire, and alchy acid. Just bomb them with those and target the queen. Once the queen is dead the others can be left alone or hunted in time with no worry sense the nest wont be able to expand or replace its numbers. I am not in favor of a direct fight at all, ants have numbers and the queen can replace loses quickly, we cant at all. If we had a druid or magical items we could have hide from animals cast on us and just walk up to the queen then kill her and get out, or poison her, or light a barrel of alchy fire. Just some thoughts.
I doubt Sootscale will get involved until its at his door step. The ants wont be a threat with his breath weapon. Still should make him aware if only to stay friendly, as well as Jhod sense he is close too.
My plan is to divert a river or stream into the nest. The queen can't actually get out. She'll drown. The rest will die off within a month.
We'll need to kill off the ones on the surface as we get close, but once we get to the mound all we should have to do is punch into the side and let the water do the rest.
If I am reading it right the nearest river on the map is in the hex to the east. It would take us a year or more to properly divert it. It would be another story with magic but we are low levels so yeah. If I had fireball these ants would not be an issue at all. xP
Well, I doubt the map covers every stream so there's another chance there.
That's true. I don't know if a stream would necessarily be powerful enough to flood the ants out, though.
It's worth looking in to, at least.
Yeah but whats to stop the ants from just building a dam to stop some water. A river could rush thru but a stream would take a while to flood their nest and they wont just ignore it. Not to mention their tunneling abilities are way better then ours and they have the numbers as well. I am sure they have some kind of drainage seeing as the river kingdoms get rain alot so if its not enough water it may not effect them at all. If we had a decanter of endless water then that would make things easy but again its currently beyond our reach.
Also we all seem to be overlooking how they got there in the first place. Everything has things it avoids or enemies, so what drove the ants to their current location. Depending what it is we may even be able to make use of it ourselves.
Anyways in favor of returning to the post, after warning jhod and sootscale, to see what we have to work with in terms of supplies and such. Maybe one of our rangers know something we dont.
Also we all seem to be overlooking how they got there in the first place. Everything has things it avoids or enemies, so what drove the ants to their current location. Depending what it is we may even be able to make use of it ourselves.
My thoughts exactly. I doubt the giant ants just popped up here naturally all of a sudden. There seems to be a lot going on here in the Greenbelt that folks in the 'civilized' lands know nothing about. Which is cool - I love mysteries!
I have uploaded a new version of the hex map. Please take a look and make sure everything makes sense - it is updated through your current location.
Regarding the ants: there are a number of small streams and creeks around, but nothing large enough to use in an effort to drown the ants. The nearest river is ~ 6 miles away.
Is there anything else you want to do in the current hex before continuing? I assume you're going to move SE toward the Sootscale Lands?
Hmmmmmmmmm. A tough call. I sorta want to completely explore everything we've already seen (because I am a completionist) and then start working on exploring new hexes.
That said, I'm not particularly fussed either way. What do the rest of you guys want to do?
Just to make sure I understand the new map. Red=unexplored at all while not in the green or red=traveled thru but not fully explored?
Just to make sure I understand the new map. Red=unexplored at all while not in the green or red=traveled thru but not fully explored?
That is correct.
What are our options concerning the ants? How many are above ground right now?
Last question first - there are about 50 ants in your current field of vision, with some continuously arriving and leaving as they carry food back to the nest. There are probably at least that many on the path between the next and the food. So you're looking at roughly 100 giant ants, all workers, above ground.
That total likely represents around 80% of the total worker ants in the colony.
Additionally, there are probably 30-40 soldier ants, representing around 25% of the worker ant population.
So something close to a nest of around 150 ants in total. You guess this total will increase steadily for a while, until it explodes in about a year and becomes a next of thousands (until the ants mate, die off, and queens leave to start new colonies).
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As for your options... leaving them alone for now is option 1. They aren't actually hurting anything at the moment, and don't appear to be a direct threat. Granted, that will change, but they are not an immediate problem that needs solving. It might also be possible to figure out a way to maintain their current holdings and prevent them from expanding much more. I'm not sure how that would happen, but I guess it's possible.
That said, there is always the potential of something causing them to expand faster and/or more aggressively, so attacking them is another option, or poisoning them, or figuring out a way to destroy the nest (and the queen).
If you decide to attack them (now, or in the future), the good part is that these seem to be ordinary ants, so their reactions are fairly predictable. They aren't intelligent, don't understand tactics, and operate in ways that the group should be able to plan around.
I still think dealing with them sooner, rather than later, is the best plan.
Even if they aren't hurting anyone, they pose a significant future threat, and Temerith absolutely doesn't want them to pose a threat to either his comrades or the trading post. While Sootscale can likely handle his own business, others may not be so lucky. Howl-in-the-North, for example, is unlikely to be able to handle hundreds of soldier ants with just his pack.
Seeing as we have a year to play with concerning this problem I think we can afford not to rush. With those numbers my first suggestion seems the best, poison them. Or we can use a more direct option like ordering alot of alchy fire or oil, soak their nest in the stuff and light'em up. With the queen gone and no other to take its place their threat is ended.
Poison is a bad idea too. The needed amount would probably do a lot of collateral damage to the surrounding ecosystem.
Anyone know where we can find a Colossal Anteater?
Don't we know a druid, or rather doesn't Raxus and co know one. Ask him about it, or at least see if he can make the potions so we can sneak in and kill the queen. Or set up barrels of stuff near the queen to go boom. ;)
There have not been any NPC druids yet, so I don't think that's feasible. Jhod is a cleric, and Bokken is an adept.
Anything else before moving to the next hex?
Can't think of anything else, honestly. Onward!
I like the new hex map.
By the time you arrive back at Oleg's almost a week and a half will have passed. I'll have a pretty big post when you arrive, so I'm just trying to figure out exact timing.
After you leave Sootscale, are you planning to explore any of the three "visited only" hexes north of your current position (Ford Crossing, Gold Mine (Vacant), and Spider Trap)?
I would suggest exploring one or more of the three "visited only" hexes only if we can make it back to Oleg's in time for the tribute delivery.
According to the handy Campaign Calendar, you have nine days until you need to deliver the tribute. Plenty of time to explore all three hexes (or more) if you want to squeeze them in.
Well, we definitely do not want to miss it, and Bydar would like at least an extra day buffer.
On a side note, I'm sorry my posting has slowed a bit, and they've tended to be a bit brief when I do lately. Real Life has been taking up a lot of my concentration lately
No problem, you're keeping up, and brief isn't a problem. Hope everything works out and RL calms down.
Depending on what Sootscales problem is, I may push one way or the other. We will be coming back this way to deal with the ants so its not an issue in the grand plan. Personally that hex right next to the post has me nervous. Way to easy to be blindsighted by a nasty. xP
Edit-Maybe its me but did the boggard hex disappear?
Personally that hex right next to the post has me nervous.
I agree. I'd like to get that one explored right after we deal with the tribute.
Edit-Maybe its me but did the boggard hex disappear?
Yes, but not intentionally. I'm planning to open it up again tonight.
I'm down with all of that. Let's do some hardcore exploration before we head back home, since we've still got plenty of time. :)
Though if we encounter some big trouble it could be a problem,
like missing the day to deliver the meat to wolfy
So which hexes are you going to explore on your way back to Oleg's?
I'm tempted to suggest exploring the two red hexes to the northeast of the Sootscales' Sycamore Tree hex and then the hex containing Bokken's hut before returning to Oleg's, just to see what's in those two hexes.
On a partially related note, does the Campaign Calendar need to be updated to include the time spent exploring the Boggard hex? If so, that means we have less time before the tribute to Howl-in-the-North is due.
I don't know how I missed that on the Calendar, thanks for the catch. I've added it now, and it pushes everything another day.
I can't help but imagine Mikmek as a cutebold.
Yeah, he's kind of gotten that vibe. Wasn't really my intent, but he does look up to you guys like heroes.
So if people are done talking to him, I just need to know what direction you want to go on your way back to Oleg's Trading Post.
I say we go directly there. See if their is any news and can order anything we need to deal with the ants. Not to mention howl of the north's stuff. In the stolen lands you cant expect everything to run smoothly all the time and a little forewarning should something concerning the payment would be good. Then again maybe I am just paranoid. x3
It isn't paranoia if they're really out to get you...
Just checking in. Others okay with a direct return to Olegs?
I think that may be a good idea.
Want to stop by Bokken's hut on the way? He might have some thoughts on how to battle/poison the giant ants.
It would be a 1/2-day detour to visit Bokken.
Good idea
Smart. Let's do that.