As Toulbe describes how dwarven ale can dissolve a rusted minecart track spike if soaked overnight, everyone feels a bit more confident heading towards the abandoned mine.
Struggling against the ant’s mandibles, Glor jabs with a blade made from stone. The ant, having just charged, fails to deflect the blow, and the blade plunges through exoskeleton with a satisfying crunch.
Adu fires off a warning shot and alerts a nearby chipmunk. Goggeck comes charging in and finishes off Glor’s contender, splattering yellow ichor across the dusty trail.
Having evaded the mandibles, Brunhild is free to take a shot. Her arrow neatly pierces carapace. Hezekh redirects his attack to help out, but fails to land a hit.
The remaining drone bites and stings at the nearest target, Hezekh.
Echoes of the elemental beetle and wyvern fight resound in Hezekh's memory as he is bitten and held by the giant ant. Luckily, it’s stinger misses its mark.
"Ants, ants..." Adu mutters while she reloads her crossbow. Then she brightens. "I know! Grandmother Spider, weave your web around these vermin and catch them so Toulbe can cook them!" As an aside to no-one in particular, she asks, "Spiders eat ants, right?"
Goggeck steps towards the second ground-bound ant, aiming to smash it as well!
Hammers rise, and hammers fall. With Adu's blessing, Goggeck brings the hammer down on the second ant, freeing Hezekh and eliminating the immediate threat.
”By the Forge’s Glow, how many of these creatures are in these parts? Better than orcs, to be sure, but dangerous to settlers nonetheless.”
Only slightly wounded, Glor brushes himself off. His blade that appeared at his time of needs has vanished as if it never existed.
Hezekh falls to the ground with a thump. "Well, that wasn't quite what I was looking for. But we got through it alright."
"Is anyone badly hurt?" It doesn't look like it and so Adu is tempted to save her spells, but she's not always the best at noticing such things.
”By the Forge’s Glow, how many of these creatures are in these parts? Better than orcs, to be sure, but dangerous to settlers nonetheless.”
"Two less, now." From anyone else this would have come across as sarcastic. Adu is clearly perfectly serious. "And we're going to clear out the nest, so soon it will be safe for anyone to come here! Which I guess will mostly be Girtul, I don't think anyone else really wants to come this way."
I managed ta get bit. Glor notes as he wipes at his bloody side.
"One feel better spell coming up!" After thinking for a second, Adu casts one on Hezekh as well.
After Adu administers to the wounded, the party continues up the ravine toward the mine. Coming to the top of a crest, they can view the mine entrance below. As when they first came to this place, it is crawling with giant ants.
Workers fill the ravine, gathering food and moving it inside, while excavating rubble, waste, and debris from within. The hustle and bustle in and out makes it hard to get and exact count, but you estimate twenty or so at any given moment outside the entrance. You can expect up to twice that amount inside the colony.
Larger and more fiercely armed with sickle-like mandibles, soldiers guard the entrance, constantly checking on the workers as they move in and out, scanning them with sweeps of their antennae, on the lookout for intruders. You count six soldiers near the entrance. You can guess there are more inside.
Patrolling further out are the flying drones, buzzing around in pairs. You’ve just taken out one such patrol. You spot two more pairs of patrolling drones.
At the heart of the colony must be the Queen, the only fertile female. You know that if you can take out the queen, the colony will lose cohesion as the hive mind dysfunctions.
”Bloody lot of them. But they’re just ants, aye? So they won’t have any ranged weapons. Seems to me that we need a defensible position. Somewhere that they can’t bring numbers to bear. So we can wear them down as they come to us. Fighting them in the open seems like suicide.”
Currently, you stand on a ridge overlooking a ravine. The mine entrance lies on the opposite side of the ravine, down below, at the end of a side ravine. You think you might be able to pick off a few ants from here, perhaps take out the flying patrols, without raising the pheremonal alarm.
Aye, I've got a decent range throwin dirt an rocks.get Get our range attackers behind a defensive line. Take out flyers first as they may not alert the others as quickly. Glor eyes the flying ants with intent. I can through up some walls that will give a little cover too.
”Let’s do it then.” Brunhild said.
"I can call on Grandmother Spider again. That seemed to work out well, right?" Adu nods, satisfied in her theological choice. "Killing other insects is what spiders do best."
"Sounds like a good idea to me." Hezekh says, unlimbering his crossbow and loading a bolt.
"Aye. Let us strike them from afar, then finish the remainder with steel and fire."
Goggeck readies his heavy crossbow.
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Touble looks at the ants with some speculation as if he is trying to remember something important but it seems he cannot place it. He tilts his head and looks at the recently clobbered ones. "You know...might make a decent armor component. Their hides seems kinda thick? It'd at least make a decent plate." he said going off on a random tangent.
Glor puffs on his cigar before targeting the Blue flier. Grit and gravel bind togehter into a sphere that blasts from his hands and blasts towards the flying ant. Unfortunately it flies wide.
C
Up on her vantage point, Brunhild shot down, but got the angle all wrong. The arrow skidded off the rocks...a poor way to start the battle.
Glor and Brunhild try to take out a squad of flying drones, but their missiles go wide. A poor way to start indeed. But, perhaps they have still gone unnoticed?
Perhaps not. Glor and Brunhild have successfully captured the attention of the northern fliers. Luckily, all the other ants simply mill around, going about their business as usual.
Hezekh fires a bolt, then reloads.
Touble mostly squeaks and hides behind the nearest dwarf as the flying creatures start making their way towards them. "Ah...I'm not good at such a distance!" he manages to let out in the middle of trying to inspire them.
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Hezekh fires one off after Glor and Brunhild, and hits with a well timed volley. The closer drone falls 10 feet before steadying itself. The drones move in, exuding the pheromone equivalent of shouting The colony is under attack! Save the Queen! Save the Queen!
Having been so alerted, the southern grouping of workers begins congregating around the entrance.
Adu squeaks a little as some of the ants move closer. "Um, I guess that's a good thing though, right? So we can hit them?"
She punctuates that question with a shot from her crossbow.
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Adu’ s bolt glances off the drone’s carapace as it moves in closer.
Goggeck likewise joins in on the opening volley.
He adds to the growing number of bolts lying harmlessly on the canyon floor.
Reacting to the silent alarm, the other flying pair moves in, while more workers congregate near the safety of the mine entrance.
Brunhild took a deep breath and let an arrow loose. Enchanted as it was, it flew much more true than before. She allowed herself a small smile as it left her hand.
Glor focuses on one of the incoming flyers and lets loose a blast of earth and stone.
Redoubling their efforts, Glor an Brunhild strike their targets with ease. One drone falls, the other is in bad shape and tries to remain aloft.
Despite the hurt, it’s lacy wings keep it in the air.
More ants go marching toward the entrance. Two of the meaner looking ones begin marching toward the dwarves on the hill.
Hezekh fires another bolt, and reloads again.
Crit?
Toulbe holds his breath for the moment, spying that some of the flying ones are starting to fall. He spies two more starting to get closer to the group and lets out the alarm!
"Two more are flying in at Goggeck!" he yells out.
Goggeck calls out in response to Touble's warning:
"Let the ants come! Let them taste dwarven bolt and dwarven hammer!"
As Goggeck speaks, a palpable charge of energy fills his limbs. He launches another bolt at the nearest flying monster:
Hezekh fires a bolt straight into its head between the two multifaceted eyes. It plummets from the air into the dirt.
The next closest drone is struck dazed by Toulbe’s inaudible scream, but it keeps itself aloft.
Soldier ants begin charging forward, reaching the base of the hill, while the workers continue to congregate near the mine entrance.
Despite Trudd’s guiding arm, Goggeck’s bolt errs through the air.
Adu continues firing at the incoming creatures. Not that she's usually all that good at it, her skill with a crossbow leaves much to be desired, but every little bit helps. Right?
Although maybe Trudd missed her target when she was trying to help Goggeck, because this particular shot was the finest she'd ever made.
Adu fires true, into the heart of the giant drone. But, even giant ants don’t have true hearts, but a dorsal aorta that pumps ichor through the open circulatory system. Anyhow, the flying giant ant is badly hurt.
It loses altitude.
The drone behind it buzzes it’s wings harder and charges in at Goggeck!
It just barely misses.
The injured drone flutters in and lands next to Adu. Being dazed, it can’t do much else.
In the rearguard, some too the workers begin moving in behind the soldiers.
Brunhild felt both inspired and blessed as her allies' abilities. She took aim with her bow and sent and arrow flying down towards one of the approaching soldier ants.
Glor turns and tries to take out the wounded flyer next to Adu.
Glor and Brunhild continue to lay out the damage. Brunhild takes out an approaching soldier with one shot. Glor annihilates the injured drone just as it lands next to Adu.
The ants come marching one by one. Hurrah! Hurrah!