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Aris points her finger at the boar, not unlike a gunslinger's pistol, and lets loose a series of magical darts. She's reluctant to get closer to the large boar, seeing what it's been able to do so far.
Aris' bolts of magic strike Tuskgutter, and the energy finally overwhelms the boar's overtaxed body and the monstrous swine shudders and collapses to the ground, dead, with a squealing death rattle.
Ahto stays his blade as it becomes clear the beast is dead, but the overzealous and oversized Sams pummels the mountainous carcass for good measure.
At least the meat will be tenderized.
He dodged The massive tusks and gave a trilling cry at the mighty boars fading might. He was more then happy to be the target, more scars for him. Though he was cautious as the mountain of muscle finally falls, staying his bow shot. When Sams fists rain down he is satisfied and puts his bow away for good before approaching and looking over the corpse. Unconcerned with his own injuries as some open up again as his power fades.
Hexa was very interested in Tuskgutters hide and what he could recover for use. Injuries would heal.
He a focuses on removing the usable parts of the hide and getting whatever meat they could carry back between Chacta, Tal and himself. He left ones for thick branches to make a makeshift carrier they could drag behind them. ”Good! Tuskgutter is hunted now Hexa works on this for Vekkel, have feast with Oleg and Svetlana but it will take time. Warband Sleep near cave, stay safe as animals fear Tuskgutter too.” Tuskgutters scent was probably akin to a hunting animal to many. Which should deter predators from attacking in the night at least until his scent fades...
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Owing to the fact that the most devastating wounds upon Tuskgutter were the arrows Hexa shot into his broad skull, the hide is remarkably intact, and with aid from his woodland-savvy allies, he is able to quickly skin the beast.
A makeshift camp is set up around Tuskgutter's lair. As Hexa sets about laying out the hide to dry and flensing strips of meat to roast or preserve, the rest of the party spends the remainder of the day mapping the surrounding woods.
This impressive windfall of food ensures that the party's supplies will hold out for the next few days - as long as no one gets sick of boar meat - allowing continued exploration of the region.
Hexa works the Boar over with abandon, though he doesn't turn away help at all. The massive Tuskgutter would be enough to feed a village! And he'd not see any of it go to waste if he could. He spends time cleaning the skull off as well, believing Vekkel will want it as a trophy for his den. Hexa, having no suitable den nearby was unconcerned with heavy trinkets. Instead, he takes a claw/toenail off the beastly Tuskgutter as a remembrance of this hunt. He doesn't argue when the others want to continue exploring, it meant he had to dry the meat so some of it could come back with them to Oleg's Village. Vekkel would taste this kill, Hexa would stand no less.
Tuskgutters hide he takes a great amount of pride in, wanting it to be perfect for the travel back to the village.
Over the course of their staying at Tuskgutters den, he planned to shore up the area with thick branches and forms a single entrance in with the den opening as a place to sleep. He brings in some fragrant pines and lightens the musky odor in the cave itself and places the fire in the center of the makeshift camp. If he wasn't actively mapping with the rest, then he'd make sure the Warparty had a place to sleep, well defended and safe from hunting packs. His final touch is digging up large stones and clearing out the grasses to build a fire pit deep enough for warmth but to limit the amount of light it gave off. As time goes on his injuries heal with his light treatment, giving slowly over to new scales and puffy scarring.
Tal lazed about, rankling her nose in annoyance with Chacta, both of which did not enjoy their stay in the Boar's former lair.
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Ahto assists Hexa with stripping the hide and butchering the meat.
Once the process is completed, he makes sure to clean the blood off his implements and assists with the disposal of any organs, bones, or gristle that remain.
"You may want to keep the skull and tusks as a trophy," he suggests to Hexa. "Also, the leg bones can be used to make a flavorful soup."
Hexa nods at Ahtos words as they keep the organs aside using his mess kit. Especially the kidneys, which were large, for Paval. The heart he offers to Sams. "Want heart of Tuskgutter?
He does as instructed with the bones. Summoning water and throwing the bones as well into his pot. What bones were too large are cooked separately for later consumption.
At Wonky's searching he gives a huff. "Took Vekkel'ss leg, Wonky right in thinking Tuskgutter take other thingss..."
Within Tuskgutter's lair in the hollow beneath the fallen tree, you find the decomposing remains of at least one other hunter who fell to the fearsome beast.
Wonky easily distinguishes his possessions from among the offal littering the lair: a broken boar spear, a bow given over to rot and termites, and a brass ring, set with an orange stone, that still clings to a wizened finger.
However, the most notable discovery is the man's armor: a shirt of mail crafted from silvery links that appear entirely untarnished and undamaged, quite unlike its former owner.
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"This looks nice," Wonky notes, examining the armour still clinging to the decomposing hunter. "Aris, do you think that this holds an enchantment?"
Wonky will attempt to appraise the orange stone.
"A trinket such as this might allow us to identify this unfortunate hunter and let his family know of his fate. If he has one," Wonky suggests.
The stone atop the ring is a well-cut spinel, and the ring would likely be worth up to 200 crowns.
There is a finely etched inscription within the ring's band.
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"His name was Eloi," Wonky intones, an intensely-sad expression on her face. "He was well-loved and desired back home again until his life was cut short by Tuskgutter, it would seem. All the more tragic is the fact that he was elven, or at least half-elven, so he likely had many more years ahead of him. The natural circle gives and takes dispassionately and we all must return to the green at some point."
She kneels at the head of the decomposing body. "Rest well, Eloi. We will tell your family of your story's end; hopefully, they will find the strength to see your circle turned anew."
She pops up, the eternally-sad expression and tone of her voice completely gone. She announces to Aris: "I would wager - if I was prone to wagering which I am not - that his suit of mail likely is elven chain. Am I correct?" She realises that she's absently fingering Eloi's ring, and hands it to Ahto. "It feels appropriate for you to carry this, Ahto. Perhaps Oleg or Svetlana could tell us of Eloi when we return to them."
She hands the ring to Ahto.
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Ahto takes the ring, looks at it for a moment, then places it in his pouch.
"Perhaps we should remove the body from place, and provide a proper burial. Oleg and Svetlana may be able to give us some insight into this unfortunate soul."
Regardless of whether anyone assists or not, Ahto moves the body to a patch of open ground, then begins digging a grave.
A shelter is created from the slain boar's lair, and a proper burial for this Eloi is made in the clearing beyond.
Over the course of two days, the party explores the stretches of land east of the boar's lair, mapping the southern banks of the river as it emerges from the forest. Further eastward exploration will require moving on from this site, and perhaps starting northwards back to Oleg's.
Due to working with Tuskgutters meat, Hexa watches sidelong as others deal with the dead. Though he pauses to look at Wonky, tilting his head in confusion at the change in her expression. Emotional states were something he lacked understanding in. "Elven Chain... Is this strong..."
When the burial occurs for Aoi'Si Eloi Hexa lays a clawed hand on him, now that he wasn't cleaning the meat he uses an ability he had problems controlling. As he touches the dead Aoi'Si's head he uses his ability silently, gathering information about the Aoi'Si.
That night he holds a quiet vigil over the burial mound. Another thing he was unused to. Though he was slowly gaining more understanding the longer he associated with the Warband and through Wonky's teachings.
Hexa uses his abilities to detect magic on the fallen Aoi'Si's armor.
Hexa reveals his findings as he looks at the shiny metal. Looking to understand its construction..
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During the exploration, he does his best to aid the group in their findings.
Hexa explores and studies any structures the group finds, looking to expand his new knowledge and understanding of Engineering.
He points out any hazardous plants or places for the group as well, so it can be added to their 'Map'. Another wonder of Scaleless that awed him.
To Hexa's surprise, the fallen Aoi'Si's armor does not radiate magic. Wonky explains, though, that the mail links are made of mithril - a metal lighter and stronger than steel, thus explaining its resilience.
Hexa looks at the others before perusing the map. "Aoi'Si Wonky, these marks here mean... Partial, Yes?" He points at the hexes from the Sootscale mine right up to Olegs as his reference.
He wanted to start working the hide, to craft something for Vekkel. The bones too. He wanted to treat the boar skull before it began to rot.
As each hex represents approximately 12 square miles, Hexa estimates that it will take a day's time to satisfactorily map out - and that includes travel and rest times.
The radishes, seed pods, and Tuskgutter's hide will keep during your exploration. The boar meat, though, is another matter. Aside from the small amount that has been cooked and eaten already, the remaining porcine bounty needs to be either cooked or preserved soon lest it spoil.
During preliminary scouting of the hexes east and southeast of Tuskgutter's lair, the party spotted two notable landmarks.
One was a rickety bridge crossing the Thorn River, while the other was a thicket that seems to grow heavily with colorful berries.
Hexa continues to scout the lands ahead and hunt as he goes. Asking politely to see the metal armor once a day as they do so, clearly taken with the thought of stronger metal, anything stronger really. Asking Wonky and Arisl a gaggle of questions as he does so.
He gives the rickety wooden bridge a critical looking over and tries to note the how in its construction and whether the Warparties heaviest companions could use it to cross...
What types of interesting metals are there?
Are there different hides?
Are there different Stones too?
Are houses made of dirt, wood, stone, and plants in their towns?
What animals do they domesticate?
Can fish be domesticated?
What type of plants are farmed?
What are scratches/writing written on aside from bark and Parchment?
Why is the Scaleless so keen on Writing things?
And so on, he is mainly asking questions that would improve Survivability (Weapons, Armor and Hunting gear), Dwelling construction, farming and overall knowledge.
After considering the timing Hexa makes a suggestion, practicing his pronunciation as he did. He does this while picking berries alongside Ahto. "Hexa thinks Warparty cross Thorn River, camp near Sootscale. See them and share Tuskgutter meat for feast. Explor area around Sootscale. Food share make bond with little scales stronger and tell story of Tuskgutter fall because of Warparty. See if Mites are gone now." He emphasizes words that interested him since they were new to him. Occsionally scratching at the leaves covering his injuries unconsciously at times.
Sharing food and killing off local threats were important to struggle tribes. Tuskgutter would have been a grave threat to the Little Scale. Things he knew would help the Warparties position.
"Go north through lands Warparty seen, explore great tree, kill mites, explore until see Chief Oleg and Svetlana again. Seeds and Radishes stay good. Tuskgutter hide too, not meat. Hexa hunt Elk again." He didn't mind rotting meat it had a unique flavor, but others didn't have as tough of stomachs as his kind. He looks at the Warchief for a moment before adding. "Does Warchief have plan?"
He looks to everyone for thoughts on this, before giving a throaty chuckle at Sams who eating berries without hesitation.
Tal follows Hexa, who feeds her the occasional hand full of Berries while Chacta snaps at him if he ignores the ornery and burdened horse for too long.
The dense thicket grows in a long, thin valley pressed between two low hills. From a distance, they appear to be wild raspberries; however, once the party grows closer, you make a surprising discovery.
Ahto and Hexa identify these as fangberries. These rare berries are often sought both to make wine and, perhaps more importantly, to brew potions.
Harvesting them must be done carefully, though, as Sams unfortunately discovers. When he plucks the berry, his hand is pricked by some of the innumerable, incredible sharp thorns that grow upon the bushes.
Up close, you also find that the thicket is coated in a thin, white gossamer of spider webs.
.....
The old wooden bridge spans the Thorn River at a point where it winds through a 20-foot-deep gulch.
Ahto is unsure of its construction, but Hexa makes a more certain appraisal. While it could definitely carry one person at a time, two people - or one especially large traveler - would risk a collapse.
Any more weight than that would certainly be the end of the bridge.
Hexa had thought to harvest a few plants for Svetlana and maybe a gift too sootscale but as he encountered the white gossamer of the spider webs he hesitates visibly. Clicking his teeth in annoyance. He tries to free himself of it as he does what a good survivalist does when faced with the unknown.
Move far, far away.
"Hexa not see this before Warchief Ahto..." He calls to Tal and Chacta, telling them to move away.
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”That is a lot of spider web,” Ahto remarks. ”I am no expert on arachnids, though. I have no idea if those webs are still occupied without reaching in. For that matter, I have no idea if the spider that made it is venomous. It’s a shame. Those berries would be good for alchemical brewing or even making wine.”
Wonky's words and seeing that the thicket was covered in these webs forces Hexa to stay back. He would have to wait too acquire more plants for Svetlana as much as he disliked stepping on his own tail. He considers the option of not going after a full grown plant and perhaps seeds instead...
He steps forward, determined to get more for the village even though he had bad experiences with insects...
He shooed Tal and Chacta further away in case he needed to run...
Fangberries contain a single, central seed within each berry. It should be possible to carefully collect some from the edges of the thicket without either slicing up your arms on the thorns or angering the chew spiders.
Hexa moves carefully forward. Staying on the edge of the thicket as he gathers berries. He stays away from where the webs are thickest and doesn't even flinch when the thorns stab beneath his scales.
He gives enough berries to wonky for two potions worth and keeps the bloodied ones for himself for planting. He uses summoned water to wash the berries of their gossamer threads and blood from his injuries.
On his first attempt to harvest some of the fangberries, Hexa is too incautious. He stumbles, and a tangle of thorny brambles pierce through his scales. He also pulls his arm away to discover that a few chew spiders have leapt onto his limb and begun living up to their name.
Having learned his lesson, and after violently brushing the spiders off, Hexa's subsequent attempts are far more cautious and, as a result, much more successful.
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"I would very much like to use those fangberries to make some of my extracts into potions," Wonky suggests.
Wonky checks out the bridge. "Oh my, this thing has seen better days. It would take a little bit of work, but I think I would be able to make it more stable so that more than one of us could cross at a time."
The gnome eyes Sams up and down. "I would advise you to not try to cross it right now, Sams," she suggests.
All the while, the gnome scribbles notes into her journal, cataloguing landmarks and geographic features into a map.
Traveling eastward from the fangberry thicket, you discover a notable geographic landmark. Just before the point where the Thorn River feeds into the Shrike River, the water grows very shallow.
The resulting ford is never more than 3 feet deep, creating a natural crossing.
...
Surveying the environs of this river junction takes another day of exploration, and another day is spent more thoroughly documenting the area around the Sootscale Tribe's cave and the Sycamore Tree that formerly housed the mite tribe.
At the foot of the old sycamore tree, you find a macabre effigy - a dead mite set upon a stake. You take this as a sign that the Sootscales well and truly have the mites on the run.
...
You estimate that it will only take another day - maybe a day and a half - to map the stretch of land between you and the trading post on your return trip.
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"This ford might be a good place for a broad stone bridge, something that can bear heavy wagons and frequent foot traffic," Ahto says, giving the area an appraising look.
As the group moves Eastward towards the Trading Post, Ahto notes the corpse of the mite. Preferring to take it down, rather than leaving it to rot and attract vermin and scavengers, Ahto considers the ramifications of such an act on their fragile peace with the kobolds. Would they see it as an insult, or attack on their sovereignty?