"Hmm. Lemme see..."
"So, what type of animal is it?" Anders asks impatiently.
The markings do not create distinct footprints, but do look like they were made by the sharp claws of a medium sized animal. Due to the crispness of the markings, it can be assumed that they come from a predator similar in size to the Womp rats you fought earlier.
"Claw marks means more predators. There has to be some easier prey somewhere on this planet but looks like we aren't finding it. Can you track it Tarros? Might as well see if we can kill this thing next."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's follow these tracks!" Anders waggles his spear enthusiastically in the direction of said tracks.
As you follow the tracks, you start to see larger imprints on the packed dirt, interspersed by spots of a sticky liquid. Close examination reveals it to be blood. But from what.........
As you follow the tracks that are interspersed with splatters of thick blood, you eventually come to a point in the trail where the trees seem to thin, and you can see that it will open into a clearing in a short distance. From what you can see of the clearing you cannot see anything, but you can hear a large amount of noise coming from the direction of the clearing. You can hear some sharp yaps, barks, and shrieks, as well as a loud, low moaning noise, punctuated often with low grunts, which are quickly followed by a series of yaps from the higher pitched animals.
"Sounds like there are some animals already fighting. Who wants to get into the middle and murdering them all?"
Vyr takes out his bow.
"Um. Maybe we should see what's happening first? Getting into the middle probably isn't good, in any case..."
Tarros drops low, sneaking up to get a view of the struggle ahead.
Nodding once, Anders watches Tarros creep out of sight.
Anders cautiously waits for Tarros to return, clutching his spear close to his chest.
"Um. Maybe we should see what's happening first? Getting into the middle probably isn't good, in any case..."
"Course there may not be much left if we just let them tear each other apart..." Axel whispers as he hunkers down next to Anders and Vyr, keeping his spear at the ready.
Tarros' attempt at sneaking up to the clearing is successful. After a short time of crawling through the underbrush, he spies a view of the clearing, just in time to see a angry, wounded Ronto swing out with a leg to collide with a snarling, leaping feral Tuk'ata, sending it flying into a tree, where it hits with a sickening crunch, slides to the ground, and is still. There are still 4 hounds circling the Ronto, with several others also lying still on the ground, 2 obviously crushed under the heavy feet of the Ronto, and a third that has been impaled upon a broken tree branch. If Tarros lingers for more than several seconds, he sees one of the remaining 4 hounds leap at the Ronto, inflicting a deep gash on it's flank, adding to the numerous deep wounds it has already suffered. Though the pack seems to be down by half, the remaining hounds seem to have the Ronto in a situation where it cannot win. If Tarros returns to his friends, as he turns away, he sees another hound get crushed under the foot of the Ronto, adding to the sizeable number of dead hounds on the ground.
Tarros slithers back to the other three. "There's a pack of Tuk'ata taking down a ronto. Looks like they're winning, but not by much. How about we let them finish the ronto off, then scare them away?"
A high pitched shriek cuts through the wood, clearly signalling the death of another Tuk'ata.
Anders nods once, a determined look on his youthful face.
"What's the plan? Charge in yelling, or flank them?"
"Mmmm. I might sneak around. Maybe Vyr too? No offense, but you and Axel are pretty noisy," Tarros says with an apologetic tone. "Don't think there's much of a rush. A couple of hounds aren't gonna eat the whole ronto by the time we show up."
A sharp crack echoes throughout the air, and anyone looking toward the clearing can see a small tree crash to the ground. As Tarros and Vyr make their way around the clearing (no stealth check required, combat is taking up the combatants attention).
Anders and Axel suddenly see a dark blur streak towards them, soon recognizable as a single Tuk'ata, running for its life. It books it between them, and is gone before they can react.
When Tarros and Vyr get in sight of the clearing, they see 7 dead Tuk'ata, with a battered and bloody Ronto standing in the clearing, catching its breath. It looks severely injured, and could be easy prey.
"Okay, guess the Tuk'ata didn't have him quite as securely as I thought. Let's see if we can finish it off." Tarros whispers to Vyr.
First finding a position near maximum accurate range, Tarros nocks an arrow and looses it at the same time Vyr does.
Screw it.
"Let's go, I'm tired of waiting!"
Anders waits for Axel to agree with him, and then charges out to confront the beast with his spear.
"All if fair in love, war and hunting."
Vyr takes up a position beside Tarros and shots an arrow.
Both Tarros and Vyr's arrows hit their marks, causing the Ronto to drop to the clearing floor, chest heaving as it breathes its last.
The forest quickly stills, all sounds of combat silencing. As you all survey the scene, something seems amiss. Several of the wounds on the Ronto look as if they were caused by blaster fire, with blackened areas surrounding them, and cauterized flesh typical of blaster wounds. A quick glance at the clearing itself shows another strange occurrence. All the trees and bushes around the clearing seem to be trimmed and pruned to discourage them from encroaching upon the clearing, and the tall grass in the clearing seems too green, and also too short for the time of season. This late in the summer season the grass should be waist high and brown, dying before the autumn and winter.
"Hmmmm... boys I found something interesting." Vyr follows the trail to the hatch. "This Ronto was already injured by blaster fire before it fought the pack. Maybe who ever shot the Ronto is down here. Either way, we are not the only hunters here. Taros, see how much meat we can get from the Ronto and the rest of the dead animals. Meat first then we see where this takes us. I am sure if we stumble on to something we aren't supposed to our trainers will tell us. Until that happens, Axel, get in the hole." Vyr looks to Axel with a stupid grin on his face.
Anders sheepishly waggles his spear at the Ronto's corpse.
"Well, that was anticlimactic."
"Hmmmm... boys I found something interesting." Vyr follows the trail to the hatch. "I am sure if we stumble on to something we aren't supposed to our trainers will tell us. Until that happens, Axel, get in the hole." Vyr looks to Axel with a stupid grin on his face.
Tarros's mouth drops open involuntarily. "Um, what? Don't do that! Bad idea."
"That's somebody's game trail, there. It's been maintained - you can see the branches were cut. The hatch is pretty close, so I think it belongs to the same guy. Could be anything down there, from a secret house to a deadly trap. And I think you have more confidence in our trainers than I do. The Mandalorians don't seem the type to save you from your own stupidity."
Tarros walks over to the hatch near the trail, examining it from the outside.
"Don't forget the blaster marks on the ronto. Maybe this guy was hunting it before the tuk'ata scared him off," Tarros adds from where he is kneeling.
Tarros's mouth drops open involuntarily. "Um, what? Don't do that! Bad idea.""That's somebody's game trail, there. It's been maintained - you can see the branches were cut. The hatch is pretty close, so I think it belongs to the same guy. Could be anything down there, from a secret house to a deadly trap. And I think you have more confidence in our trainers than I do. The Mandalorians don't seem the type to save you from your own stupidity."
Tarros walks over to the hatch near the trail, examining it from the outside.
"Don't forget the blaster marks on the ronto. Maybe this guy was hunting it before the tuk'ata scared him off," Tarros adds from where he is kneeling.
"Ha! Save us? Tarros surely you jest? I expect our trainer to stop us before we trash one of their favourite hunting hide outs or stumble onto something we aren't supposed to but not save us. If we want to be Mandalorians we need some bravery and a sense of adventure. However, ignoring the advice of others is a terrible idea. You are the best at the meat cutting and that is our mission. See how much meat we can get from our kills. We get our meat then we go hatch diving. You can stay up here if you don't want to go down but I want to know what is down there."
Yeah, no way am I getting involved in this.
Anders looks from Vyr to Tarros and back again.
Man, I'd feel a lot safer with a blaster and some armour. I feel too exposed.
Anders sighs quietly.
Do I get involved or not? Should I remind them about our Comlinks? We could just call one of the trainers and ask about the hatch.
Anders shakes his head slowly, sighing once more.
I just want to get out of here. Bows and spears just don't cut it for me.
Tarros blinks. "Um. I just didn't want Axel to jump into something that could be dangerous." While Tarros seemed to have grown more confident since they set out on the hunting expedition, he seems to retreat back into his shell. "But I think you agreed with me? I'm not actually scared of it..."
Tarros gets up and walks over the ronto without further complaint, and silently starts cutting up the creature.
"Let's go, I'm tired of waiting!"
Anders waits for Axel to agree with him, and then charges out to confront the beast with his spear.
"Alright," Axel agrees, "Chum's up, let's do this!"
Both Tarros and Vyr's arrows hit their marks, causing the Ronto to drop to the clearing floor, chest heaving as it breathes its last.
The forest quickly stills, all sounds of combat silencing. As you all survey the scene, something seems amiss. Several of the wounds on the Ronto look as if they were caused by blaster fire, with blackened areas surrounding them, and cauterized flesh typical of blaster wounds. A quick glance at the clearing itself shows another strange occurrence. All the trees and bushes around the clearing seem to be trimmed and pruned to discourage them from encroaching upon the clearing, and the tall grass in the clearing seems too green, and also too short for the time of season. This late in the summer season the grass should be waist high and brown, dying before the autumn and winter.
Axel and Anders burst in on the scene just as the ronto collapses in a heap on the ground.
"Well, that was anticlimactic."
"You said it," Axel says with a slightly deflated air. He prods the ronto with his spear. Quite certain it is dead, Axel picks up his spear, clambers up on top of the haggard corpse, and strikes a pose. "Well, no sense letting a fair kill go to waste. Get out your holo-cams boys, we're now top game hunters!" Axel flashes an overly dramatic grin at an imaginary audience.
However, no one seems to be paying him any attention, as they have suddenly become interested in a nearby game trail Axel previously failed to notice. "What, ain't nobody gonna take my pic? C'mon guys..." Axel's voice falls on deaf ears as the others continue to debate the newly discovered hideaway. The final decision seems to be to leave it alone while Tarros does all the work of cleaning the kill.
"Um. I just didn't want Axel to jump into something that could be dangerous."
"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Axel says, wounded. But he grudgingly hops down off the ronto to let Tarros do his work.
As Tarros chops away at the ronto's flank, Axel prods the trapdoor with his spear. "Man, who'd want to build a hidey-hole this far out into the woods anyways?"
While Tarros works at cleaning the Ronto, Axel's prodding of the hatch causes it to suddenly fall inwards, revealing a vertical shaft stretching down into darkness. A ladder is set into the side of the shaft, it looks fairly sturdy. The shaft is big enough for a single person to descend/ascend.
"Not it!" anders announces, shaking his head rapidly.
Axel takes a step back as the old hatch collapses. He takes a look down. "Well, it's got a ladder, so it's gotta go somewhere. I'ma take a quick look guys," he calls out and hoists himself into the narrow shaft.
As Axel descends the ladder, a rung several meters down suddenly breaks, causing Axel to fall several meters to the floor of the pit. The opening of the pit is 5 meters above the floor, and the light filtering down reveals him to be in a moderate sized room.
Anders heard a distinct *Thump* sound from where Axel had descended.
"Are you okay?" Anders asks loudly, unsure of the depth of the hole.
Axel curses to himself as he lands hard. He gets up an dusts himself off. "I'm alright," he shouts back up the hole, "one of the rungs just gave out on me. Watch your step if you're coming down."
Now at the bottom of the pit, Axel takes a closer look at his surroundings.
Anders slowly climbs down the ladder, making sure of his grip.
"So, see anything interesting?" Anders asks as he pulls out his glow rod and clicks it on.
When Anders reaches the bottom, both he and Axel can see that they are in a small room, 5 meters by 5 meters, with a durasteel door set into the northern wall. The room in empty, besides Axel and Anders. After a few moments, a low, booming voice echoes through the empty space, uttering a single ominous word; 'Welcome.'
After the voice finishes echoing, emitting from unknown speakers, the door in the northern wall creaks open, emitting a sliver of light into the room.
"Well, that's not creepy at all," Anders mutters sarcastically. "Tarros, Vyr! Get down here, there's some weirdo bunkered down here." Anders yells up the hatchway, his hands cupped around his mouth to aid his efforts.
"Well thanks! I think..." Axel replies to the bodiless voice, turning this way and that, unable to find its source. This is a classic set-up: the heroes find the crazy hermit's dungeon wherein he traps them in an unsolvable maze. To earn their freedom they must best the hermit in a game of riddles, and if they lose he feeds them to his pet Dianoga. Of course, the riddles can't be solved, so the heroes have to cheat... Seeing the door open he quietly mutters to Anders, "y'know, right about now is when I'd really wish I had a blaster."
"You and me both, Vod." Anders mutters, glaring at his spear.
"Do you think I should tape my glow rod to my spear? Or is that too cliche?"
"Well great, I was looking for anything other than a old man in a hole.There is a joke in there somewhere but I can't think of it. Tarros how much longer? I don't want those boys doing something regrettable with out our supervision."
"Um." Tarros takes stock of the work he's completed. "It's gonna take about an hour. Rontos are big, you know."
"The ronto should keep. As long as wild animals don't get into it, I guess. You wanna hold off your exploration of the mysterious hole until this is packed up?"
"Hmmmm... figured. Worth it though. Anders, Axel come back up to help Tarros, then we will go down. Our mission comes first, our need to explore comes seconded."
Anders shrugged.
"Sounds good to me."
Man, secret passageways, strange voices, and a huge monster hunt? Wait until Mihail gets a load of this! He's going to flip!
Anders grinned as he carefully climbed back up to the surface.
I Should send him a message some time...
After the Ronto has been cleaned, the exploration of the pit can commence! When a party member descends the ladder, they can see that the door has been closed, and the room is filled with darkness once again.
"Figured the voice would be kinda upset with us."
Vyr steps down the ladder into the room and knocks on the door.
"Sorry it took us so long, friend. We had another mission to attend to. Are we still welcome here?"
"Is this a bad time to mention that I'm afraid of the dark?" Anders quipped as he flipped on his Glow Rod.
"Alright. There we go," Tarros says while brushing off his hands. "Ronto packed up. Got enough here that I think we can call our hunt a success."
Tarros walks over to the hole, adjusting his pack on the way. "So, let's see what's down the trapdoor."
"Is this a bad time to mention that I'm afraid of the dark?"
Tarros shrugs, a gesture that is lost in the dimness. Tarros realizes this, but doesn't bother vocalizing.
As the party groups, once again down in the subterranean room, nothing seems different. The door has closed, and the room is empty besides the party. After a few moments, after your eyes have adjusted to the dark, the door opens once again, spilling light into the room. The same ominous voice from before speaks once again, uttering the same, chilling word, 'Welcome.'