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Not able to find anything within the forest that might drive away the monkeys, Yaiho remembers something from his youth. He remembers marking his territory against wolves and the wolves respecting it.
He goes to where the monkeys are causing the most trouble, the food. And pulls his pants down partway and starts pissing on the outskirts of the camp to mark his territory.
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Danicka hurries over to the most aggressive macaques and casts a spell, speaking to them in a soothing voice.
Then she examines the macaques, to see if she can tell which monkey is the leader of the troop.
Once she gets him in her sights she casts another spell on him.
Then she tries to urge the leader of the monkeys to leave peacefully. "Go on, dears. Back to your own home."
She watches for a while to see if it works...
A few of the monkeys scatter as Yaiho starts marking his territory near the cooking fires, running to join the group gathering near Forrest on the other end of the camp. However several of the braver macaques stay behind and join in. The porters start shouting and exclaiming in vudrani as they pack up what food they can and run towards a more sanitary part of the camp. The contest between Yaiho and the small group of macaques is in full flow when Brock doubles over laughing.
By the time Danicka makes her way beside Forrest, the little gangs of macaques are starting to join together into an even larger pack, all screeching and egging each other on. They're growing braver and more brazen by the second, as mob mentality starts to set in. Another monkey-made projectile flies towards the crates where the two Pathfinders stand. The screeching calms, however, as Danicka starts to work her magic. Several macaques start to wander away from the group, and a couple more just sit down quietly, leaving a confused looking monkey standing in the middle, screeching at his comrades with another projectile held in his hand. "AAGH! AAAAgh- ooh?" It stops screeching and looks straight into Danicka's eyes and takes a few steps forward, "Oooh ooh... Eventually, with Danicka's gentle encouragement, the lead monkey starts to wander back into the jungle, taking the rest of his gang with him. The few monkeys still playing with Yaiho, turn around and run after the rest screeching at the top of their lungs. Presumably the monkey equivalent of, 'wait for me.'
Following breakfast and the simian disturbance, the hunting party pack up camp and head off into the jungle. For most of the morning, you follow the main trail that winds through the trees, the journey as slow and claustrophobic as usual. All of a sudden, the old elephant panics and begins stamping about wildly, threatening to shake the howdah off its back. Then, a large snake hisses threateningly from the underbrush just ahead, and you see some of the porters run up to it shouting in vudrani in an attempt to scare it off. It doesn't seem to work, however, and it strikes out, narrowly missing one of the porters with its fangs dripping with venom. The Count, holding on for dear life, begins shouting at you. "Help us! Please, get this animal under control or we will all be thrown! You must find a way to calm it-" The Baron interrupts him, "Ignore that buffoon! We'll be fine, help the porters first!"
Rook, who is also in the howdah trying to finalise business arrangements with the baron, has to hold on tight as the elephant stomps around in a panic. He can hear hissing sounds directly below, and by looking over the side, he can make out four baby snakes lashing out at the elephant's feet, several of which managing to sink their teeth into the hard hide. To his right, the mahout tries desperately to keep the animal under control, but it's too wild, and he soon slips from his seat. "AAaeeeagh!" He screams as he picks himself up from the floor and limps into the cover of the underbrush, holding his broken arm.
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Forrest sees the army of snakes and gets a daring glint in his eye. " Tell me, Brock! " He dashes off into the woods. "What is more brave? " He draws his rapier and shouts behind him, cheeks flushed. "Fighting one slightly-larger-than-normal snake, or four venomous vipers? "
With that, the halfling runs runs beside the line of pests, egging them on. "How's it feel to have no legs, you dirty land sharks! "
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*Boom* Birds scatter from the trees as the gunshot echoes around the jungle. The porters looks around to see Brock's smoking musket, and look at their own empty hands and immediately come to their senses. The snake focuses all of its attention on the gunman allowing the porters to flee safely into the underbrush without injury.
Then, in a burst of showmanship, Forrest barrels into the underbrush, drawing his rapier as he goes. With a flash of his sword, the first young snake is slain the instant it lashes out, but Forrest's overconfidence gets the better of him and the second sinks its fangs into his calf before he is able to react. Immediately, the venom starts working its way through the halfling's body, making him feel a little weak. Committed to his course of action, however, Forrest continues bounding and jumping through the dense foliage. As the third snake strikes out, he knocks it away with ease, but is unable to capitalise with a strike of his own, his head feeling light as he fights off the venom.
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Prickles quickly assesses all the beasts that could endanger his pet! Deciding the loud one and the green one can handle the big snake, he moves to Danicka's other side, ready to defend her from the little snakes, or the big beast with the snake nose and the tree-stump feet.
*Ahruuuunngh!* The elephant continues to trumpet and stamp wildly as Danicka tries to calm her down. "Gods, hurry! I do not know how much longer I can hold- Aagh!" The count loses his grip as he shouts down, but manages to grab hold of the howdah again before falling out completely. Through the great puffs of dust kicked up by the elephant, you can see a very pale looking Matsanda holding on for dear life. Unfortunately, after a few moments, it's evident that Danicka's soothing words are having no effect. However, she does notice that the job got a little bit easier when Forrest killed one of the small snakes.
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Arin sees the situation deteriorating and realizes he needs to provide some of the usual divine help to all of his teammates.
He steps just off of the trail, putting a large rock between himself and the elephant and starts to call out to his divine patrons.
Once behind the rock his eyes start to glow with the usual white light, but his hands glow a very soft red. Likewise his shock of white hair lights up with a shimmering soft red light, similar to a flame. Just as the incantation ends there is a bright white flash over the whole area and Arin's visual oddities end at once.
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When the commotion starts Rook downs his mutagen to boost his reflexes and hold on.
Rook thinks back to the warbeasts of Belkzen but they were never this massive but regardless he grabbed the reins or anything he could to attempt getting the beast under control.
With a commanding voice he calls out to it, "Settle NOW! A mighty beast need not be afraid of scaled worms! SETTLE."
He maintains a firm grip as he reigns in control. Then he takes a look over the side to see Forrest proving to be a terrible game warden.
"Don't get yourself killed! Those are Emperor Cobras...and unlike Yaiho's last snack are actually venomous." he yells while also laughing between statements.
-1 DR
Arin jumps behind a rock to spare the elephant from any more distress as his mysterious patron starts manifesting its blessings. Pretty soon, everyone, including the elephant, begins to feel a warm, comforting glow from within.
Rook quaffs his mutagen and immediately takes charge of the situation, dextrously jumping from the howdah proper and into the driving seat. With his legs astride the great elephant's neck, he proceeds to command the panicking beast to calm down in a voice that is equal parts forceful and reassuring. *Bahruuuhhhhaaa!* She trumpets as she starts to settle, the wild stamping stops and although she is still clearly panicked, the elephant takes to Rook's direction and stands still. "Aha! Good man!" Baron Rudyahm cheers as the howdah steadies, he turns to the pale looking count and starts barking orders. "Matsanda, get your gun. We need to provide covering fire to those brave warriors below!" The count nods feebly as he loosens his death grip on the side.
Meanwhile, down below, Forrest fights off the effects of the venom, gritting his teeth through the burning pain. Despite Rook's taunting, the searing pain coursing through his blood subsides, and it seems the halfling will fight another day. All that remains of the bite are two slightly itchy puncture marks in his calf.
With the porters scattered, the mother snake slithers onto the trail and rears its head upward aggressively at the next nearest creature, it's brightly coloured, scaly hood flaring threateningly. Yaiho barely has a chance to react as it suddenly strikes from quite a distance, it's large fangs sinking into his shoulder and delivering a fearful dose of venom. Venom that Rook knows is much more potent than the baby snakes that will soon swarm all over Forrest. The adult Emperor Cobra's venom, he knows, can, with just a single bite, easily kill even the sturdiest of adventurers within a minute. As the snake rears back to a defensive position, Yaiho's shoulder bleeds profusely from the two large puncture wounds, and he can feel the venom working its way through his blood.
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The snake is rattled by Yaiho's crushing attack, surprised that the half-orc is still standing. Blood spatters on the trail floor as the cobra hisses and slithers away from razor-sharp tusks. She opens up her hood even further, parading in front of Yaiho's face in an attempt to intimidate the seemingly unstoppable snack.
The babies, possibly still upset that Forrest called them 'dirty land sharks,' forget all about the elephant and turn their attention to him. One slithers up a trouser leg, another tries to slip through his open shirt, and the last just keeps climbing up towards his neck. Six pairs of tiny teeth attempt to sink into soft halfling flesh, but none are able.
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Forrest laughs as the snakes come at him. "You have fallen into my trap, worms! Prepare to meet, THE STICK! " He whips his rapier around tabbing at the little snakes. Hmmm... that name isn't as good as I was hoping..
His rapier flashes in the light as his eyes flare with passion as the snakes die around him. With snake remaining, he smiles. "Oh, you think you can get up in my business, eh? " He looks at the snake crawling up his leg and stabs at it. "You have to pay for that! "
One by one the snakes fall to Forrest's lightning fast blade and he stands heroically amongst the bodies of his fallen foes, having taken on four venomous terrors single-handedly.
As Brock approaches, the Emperor Cobra quickly turns her attention from Yaiho and lashes out with terrifying speed, her two large fangs bared. However, the daring man is quicker still, and ducks under the snake's gaping maw as he sinks his pick deep into its underbelly. The snake recoils, hissing at the new attacker with obvious anger.
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Seeing the massive snake is not yet eaten by the green one, Prickles dashes in front of Danicka and growls at it menacingly...
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Arin notices that Yaiho is trading fairly savage strikes with the cobra.
He glides along the back of the battlefront facing the cobra, hoping that his scratchy Abyssal doesn’t leave Yaiho surprised at his sudden presence.
Yaiho feels a very dry, scratchy hand meet his shoulder, as if somebody was holding a dry leaf there...
Fortunately, the snake is too busy tangling with Brock to lash out at Forrest or Arin as they rush across the trail. She dislodges herself from the heavy pick in her underbelly to find two more bite-sized morsels within reach. The weird pale one strokes the big green one for some reason, and the puncture marks in his shoulder inexplicably close. The Emperor Cobra hisses angrily as she watches her hard work undone, and thrashes her long tail. She mostly ignores the fluffy snack as it steps forward, growling, and only spares a glance for the long brown creature with the weirdly large head as it shrieks loudly.
Danicka wracks her brain, trying to think of any weaknesses her friends can exploit, but nothing comes to mind. Fortunately, she does know that they have no particular strengths either, and any type of attack will be equally effective.
Meanwhile, with the elephant firmly under Rook's control, Baron Rudyahm grabs his musket, loads it with a paper cartridge and moves to the front of the ornate wooden howdah to line up a shot. "Great Scott! Look at the size of that thing." He exclaims, waving for the count to follow suit. Matsanda shakily grabs his gun and moves to a position to fire, a kiwi fruit sized bump growing on the back of his head. Apparently he whacked it pretty nastily on the wooden floor when he slipped during the elephant's panicked stomping. "Wh... There are two of them?!" He says, blinking as he stares down the sights.
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With the snake slithering so closely to his friends, Rook decides to play it safe. He gets one of his bombs ready and lobs it over everybody's heads so that it'll explode safely on the trail behind the giant cobra... That's the plan, at least. However, the elephant jerks unexpectedly just as Rook releases the vial, and his aim is almost thrown off completely. Fortunately, the shot is quite easy for someone of Rooks talents, and he still just manages to hit his target.
The snake coils up its tail and hisses as the flames lick at her body. She manages to escape the worst of it, however, by diving head first into one of her attackers. She wraps around Yaiho's body and clamps her jaws around his mid-section, piercing his armour and injecting the potent venom near his heart. The wound looks quite severe, but the snake is starting to look a bit beaten up itself. It lets go of Yaiho and rears back into a defensive position, ready to strike at the next person to move.
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Forrest pierces the snake's body, punching a small hole in all the dense, tough muscle that covers her length. She rears her head back even further and turns her attention to the fiery halfling making his way behind her, her serpentine movement making it extremely hard for Brock to aim. The cavalier issues a challenge and swings, but his pick just misses, bisecting the air just behind the Emperor Cobras large, unfurled hood.
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Prickles steps forward, still snarling at the giant snake, as his meek pet shrieks and fusses over the green one.
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With the bite this time, even in his state of Rage, Yaiho can feel the poison coursing through his veins. But deep in his subconscious, he knows if he doesn't take the big snake down his companions could die from such a foe. With that single thought in mind, Yaiho strikes with true ferocity at the snake.
Despite the severe wounds and the venom burning through his veins, Yaiho refuses to give in. In fact, he displays a feat of power and ferocity that may well go down in legend (yet again, inadvertently overshadowing Forrest's own incredible display of heroism and skill.) First, he dislocates several vertebrae with an incredible blow of his massive maul, making the snake go limp just below the hood, then he practically tears it in two with a slash of his tusks where the bones once were. The Emperor Cobra slams onto the ground, spraying those around it with a fine mist of blood. Calling it dead would not be doing it justice.
However, the battle has taken its toll on Yaiho. His legs begin to wobble and the colour is rapidly draining from his face. Baron Rudyahm recognises the signs immediately, having seen men afflicted with terrible poisons during the war. "Hold on, son!" He yells as he drops his musket and dives out of the howdah, landing heavily ten foot below. "Aghhh! Damn leg!" He hobbles over to the group of Pathfinders, practically dragging one leg behind as he puls out a vial of antitoxin. "Here, get this down your throat! It'll taste foul, but it might just save your life." He hands the vial to Yaiho and takes a step back to give the Pathfinders room to work.
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Feeling helpless for want of healing skills, Brock rips his healing wand from his pack and hands or to the closest healer.
"Here, help him!"
Stepping back Brock is shocked to realize that he actually cared if Yahoo pulled through, and not just because such a powerful warrior was useful. In fact, that annoyed him as Yahio was constantly overshadowing his own martial prowess, stealing all the honor.
Huh, I actually like the big guy. Fancy that
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Forrest watches Yaiho fall and gasps. His indignation at having a Perfect Battle taken away is gone. He sees the color drain from the half-orc's face and then Forrest's. The halfling purses his lips together, thinking hard. I hurt things, not heal them! Then, he has an idea!
He dashes on top of the snake's corpse, bringing his Cloak of Resistance around in a whirl. (A quite handsome whirl, at that.) He wraps it around Yaiho's neck and pats it down flat. "I told you to buy a cloak, you big monster! " He sits there, counting Yaiho's breaths, waiting for a response. The cloak looks more like a bib on the large man, but it seems to help.
When the big man stops losing color, he looks to Danicka and Arin. "Well, will our wands bring him back? "
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Rook seeing the carnage below makes sure the elephant is calmed before leaping down to check on his kin.
"You are a half-orc. Best of both worlds so don;t you fall to some garden snake!" he roars while looking through his supplies but realizing he could do nothing more than make sure he is positioned properly to slow the venom aiding Danicka although she handles it easily.
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Arin reached into his pack for his healing wand to deal with Yaiho's latest wound. Before he knows it time has passed and it seems his group was huddled around the half-orc having already handled it. Somehow Arin spaced out and lost a lot of time... how could he simply do that amidst such intense action?
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Yaiho drinks the vial of antitoxin, throwing back his head to make sure it goes down quickly, and promptly falls over backwards, landing with a heavy thump and a puff of dust on the trail floor. Forrest does the only thing he can, and whirls off his magical cloak with a theatrical flourish, laying it on Yaiho like a bib. Despite its size, the magic fortifies the large, unusually pale half-orc's immune system, helping him fight off the effects of the venom coursing through his veins. He sits on the snake's corpse, counting breaths and watching Danicka work. She kneels down beside Yaiho and starts by sucking out as much of the toxin from the wound as she can, spitting it onto the ground as the other Pathfinders start scrambling for their wands. Once she has removed as much venom as she can, which involves waiting as long as she dares before closing the wound, Danicka takes the offered wands and starts filling Yaiho with positive energy. By this time, Rook has calmed the elephant sufficiently for himself and the count to dismount, handing the care of the animal back to the mahout who has limped from the bushes now that the danger is gone. He roars encouragement to his fellow half-orc and aids Danicka in any way he can. Brock watches with surprised concern as his wand is put to good use, and by the time Arin finally manages to pull out his own wand, Yaiho's eyes are open.
"Ha!" Baron Rudyahm cheers and offers his hand to help Yaiho to his feet. "Wait till you taste it roasted." He looks over you all with a expression of pride. "Excellent work, team! Not a single person lost in that unfortunate exchange, and you put the safety of the porters over your own. Ha! You Pathfinders really are worth every penny." Matsanda still looking quite pale, the lump on his head is still growing, passes Rudyahm his ornate cane and adds, "Spared no expense. Thank you for calming the elephant so quickly, Rook. I am not sure how much longer I would have been able to hang on." He absently massages his head, where the bump is growing ever larger. Soon the porters return from their hiding places, and the hunting party sets off yet again.
A few hours after your dramatic encounter with the snake, you reach a place where a small stream crosses the trail. Baron Rudyahm explains, "This is the stream my fallen friends and I were following when the tiger ambushed us 5 years ago. We'll break off from the trail to find the tiger's territory on foot from here." In a jovial mood now that he is so close to getting his revenge, the baron gathers some supplies and equipment which he distributes among the group. "Falroun, I want you and the porters to take the elephant half a day farther down the trail to the hunting lodge outpost. You're obviously suffering from shock and a concussion from that snake attack. You can wait in safety for us to finish this hunt. Yoliri will never forgive me if I got you killed because of my need for revenge." The count reluctantly agrees, a little touched that the baron is showing genuine concern for his wellbeing. "Good luck, Sir!" He says before turning to you, "You have proven time and again that you are well suited for this task, but I ask you one more time. Make sure my father-in-law bags that tiger, and bring him back to his family safely. Good luck!" The baron also suggests that Yaiho should go with his son-in-law, concerned that his near-death experience must have taken quite a toll, but puts up no resistance when he refuses.
The count waves you goodbye as the entourage splits, and you start following the stream away from the established hunting trail. It's a little cooler by the water, and when midday approaches, the heat doesn't quite reach the dangerous levels of the previous days, although it is still mightily uncomfortable. The journey is slow thanks to the barons old leg injury, but after about an hour you can make out a clearing up ahead.
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Yaiho thanks everyone for seeing to him, but he blushes with embarrassment from the attention. He looks down at the giant snake and beams with pride at his work. Repeating, "Snake tasted good."
He joins the front group again as they move onward, but does notice that he is slightly a little slower and not at full strength. But keeps it to himself. When the Baron suggest he stay behind with the Count, Yaiho scoffs. "Yaiho fine. Yaiho want to see tiger. See Baron strike tiger down."
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Yaiho's frowns and he becomes somewhat irritated before he whispers to his companions and the Baron. "We are being watched."
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As Yaiho opens his eyes, Danicka lets out a shriek of joy and throws herself at him, giving him a big hug and sobbing, "I thought you would DIE!" Tears run down her face and make a big mess on his chest.
Eventually she pulls back, and blushes. "Sorry."
She stands up, dusts herself off, and wipes her face with her sleeve.
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"Really? Is it the t-t-tiger?"
She quickly pulls out a few scrolls and begins casting them on herself, Yaiho and Forrest.
Danicka looks over to see if the Baron is wearing armour.
Clutching another scroll in one hand and her staff in the other, she nervously looks around.