"There's another one coming from the east!" Inconnu calls out amongst his encouragement as he flung the last javelin.
Inconnu's warning comes just in time, keeping the party on its toes as the last ankheg erupts behind them. Thus, Micheo and Dugan have just enough time to dodge as the monster spits its stream of acid.
The bard's javelin wounds the ankheg once it emerges, even though it does not sink in especially deeply.
Dugan charges towards the newly emerged ankheg, taking the acid spray squarely in the chest and slashes at the creature with his axe.
Were the ankheg a more human foe, it would not have even had time enough to blink or squeak in surprise before dying. With a single stroke of Glintaxe, Dugan hews the foe in twain, leaving to slough aside into two heaps of ichor.
Allowing yourselves a moment to catch your breath and take stock of the situation, you find no more of the creatures burrowing your way.
Micheo ducks and dodges to avoid the worst of the acid. He keeps his rapier and shield out, ready in case another ankheg strikes from surprise.
Inconnu moves towards Micheo and releases some positive energy to heal him. "We should retreat. We have magic to heal, dangerous though they are they are merely beasts. Lets not wait around to be ambushed. Gather the ammo and projectiles. Lets withdraw for a time. Our hubris might be more dangerous than their current numbers alone.""
With Inconnu healing some of his wounds and no more creatures apparent, Micheo nods and sheathes his rapier.
"Agreed, Inconnu. If we have time, perhaps we can hoist the trap back into position."
As you march back up the ramp to the elevated grounds, cheers come from the high windows and narrow doors of the windmill and watchtower as the villagers celebrate your heroics. A few brave individuals venture out from their refuges and eagerly ask if it's safe to return home.
'I'd wait a bit before venturing out into the town. There might be more waiting for a straggler' Dugan calls up to questions about returning home. He assesses the trap to see if it can be used again.
Ulark waived back. Even as he did so he talked to his comrades ”Creatures of this size...there can’t be too many around. I wonder if they’ve been displaced? Doesn’t seem right for so many to suddenly start attacking a town that ever had problems with them before.”
"I was one of the original settlers who founded Riverside," the gray-bearded Romar boasts. "We laid down the first foundations more'n twenty years ago, and in all that time I've never seen anything like these monsters."
He stamps his foot to emphasize his point.
Aside from lone individuals or mated pairs, ankhegs can also gather in nests of 3-6 adults. Clusters larger than that are unheard of. Thus, it is likely that you have slain all the adults of the nest. However, it remains to be seen if they left any eggs behind in a warren.
Ankhegs are believed to be migratory, although it's uncertain whether they follow herds of prey, seasonal weather patterns coming off the Inner Sea, or some other poorly understood rhythm. Because the migratory habits of ankhegs are so little studied, it remains unknown how rapidly they move or spread.
You reason that these adults may have been attracted by the village's livestock, drawn away from their previous home or migration route. It is possible that this village was built upon a long-circuit migration route, and that it has been multiple human generations since the creatures last came through this area.
...
Dugan finds that the ankheg's carapace has blunted the heads of the spears mounted upon the trap. They would need to be sharpened upon a whetstone to ensure their effectiveness for a second round.
The sky grows darker than the hour would suggest. You can see flashes of lightning in the vast distance of the plains. Any moment now, you imagine you'll hear the first crack of thunder and feel the first patter of rain as the storm falls upon you.
Dugan aims a swift kick at the frame of his contraption. 'This thing will need some work before it's usable again.' He catches a flash on the horizon and scowls. 'Think we should be getting inside before too long, back up the ramp?'
”Think armor could be made from these shells? I’d reckon that it’d provide more protection that steel.” Ulark mused when looking at the blunted spears. ”Maybe when this is all done the townspeople can make something out of this mess using the remains.”
Micheo motions to his own suit of bulette-hide plate.
"I imagine that some smith or armourmonger could do so, Ulark. But let us take shelter for now."
"At the very least the carapace around the head could form a rather fearsome pauldron!" Inconnu responded much more relaxed.
"Ankhegs migrate and it's not well understood how but it can be along long routes. Twenty years isn't so long that it's not possible for them to be doing what is natural to them, either coming through here or near enough to here so as to be attracted by your herd animals. The good news is I've never heard of a group bigger than six adults and often less than that."
"The bad news is they've probably laid eggs somewhere, tomorrow we should search here and the nearby farms. They're not as dangerous as an adult but livestock or children might be in serious danger- not that it would be safe for an adult either. But the threat is greatly reduced compared to a few hours ago."
Dugan nods 'We could probably save ourselves some time and ask the locals where they showed up first. More than likely that's going to be near where they made a nest, if they did.'
Romar reiterates that the Akens and the Froats were the first to lose livestock, so they suggest looking around their pastures first when hunting down a potential nest. However, a few of the locals overhear Inconnu and conclude that the ankhegs have been slain. Soon, quite a few people are clamoring to return home before the rain comes, while a smaller number insists that everyone needs to wait until the "monster hunters" confirm that it's safe.
Inconnu does his best to get people to take the safe option. "Listen to me, I'm glad you are taking the turn of events positively but although it is likely that is all of them, it's not guaranteed. Until we search the grounds of Akens and Froats to deal with the nest it's not safe to return home."
"The work is not fully done yet. We'll head straight there at dawn, after that if all goes well only a few more hours before you can return home with confidence and we'll continue on our way knowing the threat has been dealt with."
Inconnu speaks with confidence and authority, immediately earning the villagers' respect and obedience. Talk of leaving the towers subsides for the rest of the day, trusting the monster slayers' judgment in the matter.
The boom of thunder rattles the windmill's stone walls, heralding the storm's arrival. In but a moment, the comparative quiet is replaced by the heavy drone of rain pelting the stone and earth outside.
The villages try to distract themselves by turning their attention to scraping together what little food is left within the refuges. Once the rain begins to fall, buckets and cups are filled via the windows, and the water is mixed with milled grain to form a paste-like dough. It looks as unpalatable as it sounds.
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Inconnu briefly considered heading out in the rain... with how hard it was coming down it would no doubt disorient the creatures but it would be a miserable affair and they'd get lucky if only a few of them got sick... and after this village they still had their mission to achieve.
As they sat in miserable conditions Inconnu decided to tell the locals the tale of the Kidnapping Kobold King and the Dwarven Ghost that was not all as it seemed! ... with a few ommissions.
Ulark made his way around, talking, chatting, doing what he could to raise spirits. Given the long night, it was the least that he could do.
The food and accommodations within the sanctuary are abysmal. The entertainment is another matter, entirely.
Inconnu's stories enthrall the villagers - especially the few children among them - and Ulark handily keeps morale high even as the downpour rages throughout the night. There are no more audible complaints; instead, there is an air of eager anticipation among the refugees, akin the children awaiting a festival on the morrow.
The rainstorm finally breaks just before dawn.
The stone walls of the mill keep the air within cool, but you suspect this will be a stark contrast to the humidity waiting outside.
Micheo does his best to rest, though he smiles and laughs as he too enjoys the tales of Inconnu and Ulark.
”We should venture out to end this pestilence.” Ulark said, his previously jovial face now a mask of seriousness.
"Absolutely, friend Ulark.", replies Micheo, weariness in his voice, but determination also.
'Agreed, let's head to the Akens' place first?'
The small Aken farmstead sits on the periphery of the village, a tiny cottage surrounded by rolling pasture. The previous night's torrential downpour has left the ground thick with mud, although the naked sun is quickly drying it out. There is no trace of the flock of sheep that once grazed here.
Dugan begins searching the area for signs of continued ankheg infestation.
It was a nice day. The sky was so beautiful....only Ankheg nests were generally lower than that.
"It's unfortunate this is giving time for any pursuers to catch up but this little village wouldn't have survived if we hadn't happened by. Perhaps someone took notice when we passed by the Shrine and made sure to guide our path."
Dugan finds clear signs of burrowing and eruption points in and near the pasture, likely remnants of the ankhegs' first attacks upon the livestock before they soon turned their attention to the residents. However, these tunnels have all been collapsed by the recent downpour.
Inconnu reasons that the ankhegs would have chosen a nest site that would not have been susceptible to flooding, and so he directs the party towards a gently sloping hill nearby - the highest point nearby, other than the village watchtower. Drawing closer, Inconnu also identifies the lack of deep mud, further suggesting the good drainage of this patch of land.
When Dugan locates signs of frequent burrowing, he confirms that the creatures' nest is likely within this small hill.
'Agreed, I'd rather have been here to help these people and have to face whoever's chasing us than to let them all die and us getting away with our hides intact.'
Dugan eyes the hill up and down. 'Suppose we'll need some shovels. I don't want to wait for them to get big enough to dig out to us.'
"Times like this I wish that I was an archmage. Just fill the place with fire or whatnot. Uhm...think we could do that? Not the magic part. I mean, if they have tunnels then fill them with smoke. Force them to come out."
"They go through a larval stage after hatching and are unable to hunt. That doesn't last but we wouldn't be able to lure them out if they're still at that stage. Give me me a chance to try to lure them out while you find some shovels... if nothing crops up by then we are digging. Or gathering firewood to smoke them out." Inconnu gets out a bag and puts a few small bits of detritus in it before casting unseen servant and having it trail along the ground near the small hill Dugan points out.
"Right!" Ulark got to work, glad that there was a plan.
Even after twenty minutes, nothing emerges from the hillside to pounce upon the bait dragged by the Unseen Servant. Thus, it becomes clear that a more aggressive tactic will be needed.
"Right lets try smoking them out. Still we can set up around the area and fill in some of the other exits to speed things up."
"Smoke it is." Ulark went about the task of collecting dry leaves, fallen branches, and anything else that might be needed to begin the process of smoking the creatures out.
'To be safe I'll see if I can rustle us up some shovels while you're getting the fire going.' Dugan sets off back towards the village proper to find some helpful townsfolk.
Back at the village, Dugan finds that daybreak has renewed the residents' optimism-born impatience. With no new sounds of battle to dissuade them, they emerge from their shelters upon the rocky promontories and now return to their homes. They readily lend him a pair of long-handled wooden spades.
Back at the lonesome hill, the rest of the party heaps dry detritus at the narrow entrance of the nest within. Leaves, twigs, hay, and dead grass are gathered together as tinder. Once lit, you do what you can to ensure the smoke pours inside.
When Dugan arrives, the smoke has been filling the unseen nest for some time. Just when it seems this plan will be fruitless, and you begin to plant the wooden edge of your spades in the soil, you hear hissing squeals from within the burrow. Soon enough, a number of grotesque, pale larvae - the size of bread loaves - are wriggling free of their smoke-filled nest.
Inconnu does his part in clearing out the nest but does his best to avoid their mouths... wary of how soon they might develop that acidic spit.
"This is heroic, right?" Ulark asked as he dispatched larva after larva. "Never thought I'd find work that made me look fondly on cutting down trees..."
Dugan goes about slaughtering larvae in a very business-like manner. 'It's not heroic, but it's pest control. No telling what havoc these little beasties could bring about if we let 'em live.'
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As you go about dispatching the larvae, the smoke continues to pour into the warren. After slaying eight of the horrid beasties, you notice that no more of them are forthcoming. Thus, you conclude that the nest is clear. You have saved the tiny village of Riverside and ensured that there will not be a recurrence of this infestation.
"It'd start with small game... then the goats and children Ulark. They're not evil, just doing what comes natural to them. You've seen where that leads when it's too close to a settlement. These villagers weren't able to handle them."
"Lets head back to tell them the matter has been put to rest. We should get back on the road after we've washed some of the soot off and had a meal. It was right to stop but it gave time for anyone pursuing us to close the gap."
"As you say." Ulark stated in agreement. He was tired, but at the same time he held his head up high. He took pride in their actions, and was confident that come what may, they did the right thing.
You are given a hero's welcome once you return from the fields and pastures. Though dirty and visibly tired, the villagers of Riverside feel an undeniable excitement to have reclaimed their homes - and they make it clear that they recognize how such was only possible thanks to the party's efforts.
"You men were traveling downriver, aye?" Romar asks. "Must be awfully footsore to be crossing these plains on your own legs. Young Efram Froat has a canoe he ain't using, and he owes me a favor that I ain't using. I could see to getting him to part with it for you fine gents. The water'll carry you easier than your boots will."
'A nice paddle sounds really pleasant, thank you.'
"Indeed, that is most generous." Ulark said. "Is there a place that we can rest for the night? We will be leaving come the morning."
"I guess Sarenrae really is looking out for us then. I'm afraid the last part of this tale wasn't all that exciting. Once we figured out where they were it was mostly standing around and digging."
