Tettia looks over the boat and the tracks and looks as if she's going to comment on something, but after a nervous glance at Primrose she bites her lip and frowns.
Consumed by her queasiness, Primrose can't focus enough to recognize anything.
After taking a quick look at the tracks, Sarine keeps a watch on the perimeter. "You're right Aurelian. It could have been stolen from an earlier expedition, perhaps, but I'm not aware of any missing ships from the colonization effort."
Her familiar moves over to see what everyone else is looking at.
The group's combined effort on identifying the tracks reveals that they are likely those of humans, faceless stalkers, and an unusually large skum—a race of intelligent amphibious humanoids.
Tettia finally decides to say something. "Umm ... I'm not sure if ... I don't know if this is ...important ... information. But there were faceless stalkers and a large scum here along with humans." She keeps her face studiously blank and braces for snarky criticisms.
"Why would that not be important?" Zay says with a blink up at Tettia. "That's very important. I agree-- the skum track is much larger than usual. So these 'stalkers' are working with aquatic creatures, it seems."
Zay stands and brushes a little sand from their knees. "I could try and scout the tower if we want, surreptitiously. But if anything goes wrong it could be dangerous. Perhaps we should just stick together and approach."
Tettia nods at Zay's suggestion, but which one isn't clear.
"It tells us we're on the right trail, Tettia. Our people are waiting for us. Let's go get them."
"Yes, we should stay together, so Aurelian Fache can make sure these ... things ... do not kill or take anyone else," the swordsman says fiercely. "You did good to tell us what we're facing, and soon these things shall have no blood, as well as no face!"
A dangerous look crosses his face as he prepares to follow the tracks.
The group is able to follow the tracks into the woods to the west until they abruptly stop, evidently covered intentionally from here. Hollow husks of crooked, leafless tress grow from the blackened ground in this forest. The bark on the trees is marred with wound-like cracks that weep blackish sap.
Perception Checks
As the tracks reach their end, rasping legs of a hideous, shining carpet of fist-sized ticks rattle ominously as they being their approach. Additionally, everyone but Primrose sees two shadows not too far off that have two flickering pinpoints of light where their eyes should be.
HP 57/57; Hero Points 2/2
AC 22, touch 15, flat-footed 18, CMD 21 (23 vs. disarm)
Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +2 (0/1 set mind; 0/4 charmed life; 0/1 defiant luck)
Panache: 5/5 (0/1 deed reroll); 0/1 inexplicable luck
Consumabled: 0/1 swordmaster's flair
Effects:
Seeing the shadowy creatures, Aurelian decides he will deal with those. Moving in front of Tettia in a protective stance, he raises his sword.
Seeing the swarm of ticks approaching, Tettia begins searching through her bag, looking for something. "I've got just the thing for that sort of thing," she says, finally producing a slender wand.
"See, Prim? Wands can be quite handy," she says with a grin as she points it at the swarm and a ball of flames begins rolling towards the crawling carpet of ickiness.
Sarine moves forward to engage the swarm of insects, preparing to unleash some of her arcane power on them.
Deciding a comment on rods and wands are best left for a time of less stress, she instead decides to help Aurelian Fache be the best that he can be. "Let me guide the way!" she starts as she reaches to the her back and pulls out a wooden pole with a blue and green fabric wrapped around it. She flips it out and unfurls the fabric which catches the slight breeze in the air. She thrusts the standard above her head and begins to sing an inspirational tune to help focus her allies on the tasks at hand.
11 DMG to Tick Swarm
9 DMG to Tick Swarm
safe
Aurelian riposte for 6 DMG to Hollow 2
The ticks approach Sarine, and while her spell does seem to kill some of the creatures they still proceed to wash over her and drain her blood. Tettia's sphere appears to just barely hit the creatures in the swarm, burning away some of the ticks before they even make it to Sarine.
Aurelian has his own issues to deal with as the sets of eyes begin their approach. As they come closer to him, they appear to be gaunt, shadowy bodies that are little more than insubstantial tattered cloaks. Their most disturbing feature, however, is their gaping mouths. Aurelian is fairly certain he can partially see through them, and when the first makes its move to touch him he dodges out of the way and lands his prepared thrust. The creature wails in pain as his magic weapon tears through its incorporeal form. The other moves to touch Aurelian, but he deflects the ghostly arm and follows it up with another powerful stab.
Tick Swarm 100/120
Hollow I 32/47
Hollow II 41/47
Tick swarms are known for clinging to creatures that leave the area they are in as well as for carrying the bubonic plague.
These are hollows, a variant of the wraith. They drain charisma instead of constitution.
"Those are a type of wraith!" Tettia calls out. "There a ... a ... what are they called. Howls? No! Haunts? No! Hollows! That's it! Don't let them touch you! They'll drain your life energy! We'll need magic to harm them."
Leaving off from the swarm, Tettia directs mystical bolts towards the damaged incorporeal threat.
"Ugh! These things are filthy!" Sarine cries, distressed by the amount of blood she is losing as she moves out of the swarm, hoping to draw them away from the others.
HP 57/57; Hero Points 2/2
AC 22, touch 15, flat-footed 18, CMD 21 (23 vs. disarm)
Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +2 (0/1 set mind; 0/4 charmed life; 0/1 defiant luck)
Panache: 4/5 (0/1 deed reroll); 0/1 inexplicable luck
Consumabled: 0/1 swordmaster's flair
Effects:
"Back up, Tettia," Aurelian calls out, "give Aurelian Fache room to work!"
He thrusts again at the seemingly more wounded of the creatures , blade seeming to flash as he moves it with dizzying speed before reassuming his guard position.
"....I haven't seen insects like this before," Zay says with a frown. "....well.... this should still work."
Zay's head cranes back to study the sky overhead, and their eyes close briefly. "ማዕበል! መብረቅ! ልጅዎ ይደውላል!"
A crack of lightning strikes from the otherwise clear sky, focused on the blood-red ticks.
Zay digs into their various pockets at the same time they take a tiny step back from the storm and the ticks. After a few seconds of rummaging, they retrieve a necklace that looks to be made of polished beetle shells. "This could help too. If you're wearing it, you can attack bugs just fine.... Sarine, do you want it?"
Primrose keeps her banner aloft as she continues to sing to her companions, weaving a melodic tone through the chaos of the battle before her. While singing, she reaches into her pack and pulls out a vial of alchemist's fire.
22 DMG
DMG
16 DMG
Zay summons a thundercloud inside the bounds of the swarm, and bolts of electricity surge out to the thousands of insects below. It appears to be rather effective.
Aurelian's blade darts out twice at the hollow that he dealt the deadliest blow to earlier, both of which connect thanks to Primrose's inspiration. The creature still appears to be hostile, though Aurelian is pretty sure that it's form is beginning to fray.
Tettia unleashes a volley of three missiles on the hollow that Aurelian nearly has downed, all of which slam into the creature. As it is pelted with the force of the magic missiles it dissipates from the world entirely.
Sarine gets out of the body of the swarm, but several of the bugs cling to her upon her exit! She conjures another gout of flame, killing many of the bugs in the swarm, but it continues to surge and seek blood from her companions.
The tick swarm continues to surge forwards towards the main group, engulfing both Primrose and Tettia in small, bloodsucking bugs.
The remaining hollow attempts to attack Aurelian once again, but its ghostly arm is parried and Aurelian counters with a solid strike.
Tick Swarm 61/120
Hollow II 31/47
Zay makes a little tch in their throat at seeing how wan and bloodied Sarine looks. "That's... not good."
A flick of thin fingers, and the small, localized thundercloud pulls close, just shy of Primrose and Tettia.
That done, Zay edges around closer to Sarine, still holding the amulet, though they are unsure she'll manage to take it as rough as she currently looks.
"....we might want to spread out..."
"Thank you Zay," Sarine says as she takes the amulet from him. "That sounds useful."
"If you could shock these ticks off me, I'd appreciate it. Maybe get some of that pile too."
HP 57/57; Hero Points 2/2
AC 22, touch 15, flat-footed 18, CMD 21 (23 vs. disarm)
Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +2 (0/1 set mind; 0/4 charmed life; 0/1 defiant luck)
Panache: 3/5 (0/1 deed reroll); 0/1 inexplicable luck
Consumabled: 0/1 swordmaster's flair
Effects:
Aurelian continues to fight, unfortunately getting a little overconfident as he finds the phantom creature poorly equipped to stand up to him.
Primrose is too busy being eaten by tiny creatures to yell at Aurelian and recognizes she needs to get out of here, quickly. She screams in pain as she tries to swat things off her and yells ”Getthemoff!Getthemoffffff!”
Tetta shrieks as the creepy-crawlies begin crawling over her. Her body shimmers as she summons a barrier to help protect her and then does her best to escape the horror.
... and ends up just spinning in circles trying to get the things out of her hair.
22 DMG
DMG
Zay's thundercloud emits more lightning into the swarm of ticks, surging electricity through the shimmering mass of bugs and blasting many of them apart.
Aurelian manages two swift and deadly stabs with his rapier, further loosening the connection the hollow has on the material plane. The creature tries to strike back at him, though the swordsman is too fast and dodges the blow outright.
Primrose and Tettia exit the swarm, one of them succeeding to remove the bugs and the other not having nearly as much luck.
The swarm, something so primal that even its utter lack of intellect is bypassed, sees the hollow and its members begin to scurry back. If the hollow is defeated they will certainly come back for more.
Tick Swarm 28/120
Hollow II 9/47
Zay again beckons the cloud, coaxing it into position with little pspspspspsss as if it were a cat. The cloud obligingly continues to crackle along the ticks.
Zay takes a careful step back and draws a vial of acid from their belongings...
"Let's see how this thing works," Sarine says as she steps up to the writhing pile of ticks.
HP 57/57; Hero Points 2/2
AC 22, touch 15, flat-footed 18, CMD 21 (23 vs. disarm)
Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +2 (0/1 set mind; 0/4 charmed life; 0/1 defiant luck)
Panache: 3/5 (0/1 deed reroll); 0/1 inexplicable luck
Consumabled: 0/1 swordmaster's flair
Effects: Inspired (+4)
Recognizing that his friends have the swarm handled, as far as he can tell, Aurelian concentrates on ending the threat of the hollow.
0 DMG
Zay's thundercloud doesn't manage to connect with the swarm, but Sarine enters the fray with her greatsword to great effect. With the aid of the clasp, Sarine tears through the swarm with her weapon and in two swings it is entire dispersed.
Aurelian lands two more quick stabs on the hollow, the second one destroying the creature outright.
Sarine and Tettia are able to remove the remaining ticks with the help of their companions, preventing them from taking any further damage from blood loss.
PCs searching the area where the hollows lurk who succeed at a DC 20 Perception check find a particularly large, hollow tree, inside which is a humanoid skeleton overgrown with bark. The unfortunate skeleton is wearing lenses of detection and a necklace of adaptation. Near its feet lie other possessions: a scabbard of many blades (ACG) holding a +2 longsword, two potions of cure serious wounds, and a wand of alter self (34 charges).
Primrose is rolling around on the ground, arms flailing about and genrally freaking out. "Get them of of me! Get them offffffff!"
The small stormcloud dissipates to nothing.
"...please calm down," Zay says with furrowed brows, approaching Primrose as she flails. "Hang on. ....ግፊት መታጠብ!"
A sudden forceful wave of saltwater appears from nowhere in front of Zay and crashes over Primrose. It may or may not get rid of lingering ticks, but it definitely soaks her. Zay is helpful enough to offer Prim a hand to her feet afterwards.
"That..... was unpleasant," the slight figure offers, displaying a certain gift for understatement as they look around trying to judge everyone's injuries. "It looks like several of us are hurt."
"Hang on... what's this..." Zay seems to forget they were trying to examine the wounded as a glint of something catches their eye. Zay approaches a tree, using their fingers to pry at crumbling old bark. A skeleton is soon bared to the light, a number of pieces of gear seeming to have survived better than the body.
"...huh."
Aurelian silently admires the soaked Primrose, keeping on guard for any other threats.
"Yes, that must be the source of what Aurelian fought."
He examines it, trying to decide if it's a recent skeleton or -- as the bark seems to indicate, and he hopes -- older.
As Zay hoses down Primrose, Tettia continues to shriek and run in circles until someone manages to calm her down enough to remove the last of the creepy things.
She's pale and shaking by the time it's all done. Although whether the paleness is due to loss of blood or just an emotional reaction to the carpet of nastiness is anyone's guess.
"When we set up camp later," she says quietly to Prim. "Would you check me over for any of those ... things? Ticks are notoriously hard to get rid of and I'd hate to have one somewhere I didn't know."
She looks over the skeleton and lost treasures with curiosity. Using her mystical sight to reveal their secrets to everyone.
Primrose stops screaming when she's doused with the water, caught off guard by the "assistance". When she helps Prim to the her feet, she looks nervously at her arms and body while her hands frantically slide up, down and around searching for more of them. Thank, thank you Zay."
Primrose nods several times to Tettia "Oh, oh yes. Great idea. I keep feeling them crawl on me. I'm too afraid to look. The question is if I can wait that long..." she shivers, trying not to think about it anymore.
Trying to focus, she helps Tettia identify each of the items and explains to the party what it is that each one does.
Trying to wring her clothes out, she asks "Can we keep moving? Preferably away from any more creepy crawlies? I am ready to get back for a long bath."
"Yes, Aurelian will help you get your bath," the swordsman says amiably.
He looks to make sure Sarine is OK.
"That was gross," Sarine says with a shudder. "But we can't stop now. We have ground to make up."
"Thank you for that clasp, Zay. It helped a lot. Do you want it back?" she asks the druid.
Zay wanders over to Sarine as Tettia is investigating the items. "You might as well hold onto it for now, I think. I have other ways of dealing with bugs, so you can make more use of it than I can. Can I see your injuries?"
After some brow knitting, Zay shakes their head. "You're going to feel weak for a bit, you lost a lot of blood. I can't do much about that right now. But I can at least patch up those bites."
Tettia had also been badly bitten by the swarm, so Zay moves on to her next. "...we ought to make bug repellent, maybe.... they got you pretty bad..."
Some rummaging in a pack, and Zay pulls out a thin stick of driftwood carved with wave patterns. "I can at least help close the bites, like for Sarine."
"Is that better?"
The healing magic soothes the pain, but the feeling of things crawling over her still persists.
"Thanks, Zay," she says. "I really appreciate that."
"Yes, of course. Why would we stop now? After several of the party members were just mauled by thousands of blood-sucking creatures that have literally stolen the life out of their bodies!!! Let's carry onward."
Having been hurt worse then both Tettia and Sarine, she is able to carry on but definitely has countless wounds covering her entire body. Clearing her throat several times after Tettia has been healed by Zay, Primrose makes a point to accentuate her injuries and attempts to attract the attention of the druid without specifically calling out to them.
She swats at her body unnecessarily as her eyes continue to search and down her soaked body.
"Yes, miss Primrose?" Zay says with a single blink even as they turn to addressing her injuries with the driftwood stick.
"Do you need something?"
Relief floods the bard's body and she moans softly, relaxing as her wounds close and the stress of the encounter slightly diminishing. "Thank-you." she breathes out in relief, placing a hand on Zay's shoulder. "Nothing. I'm good now. Let's continue."