"I don't suppose someone has anything explosive on them?
I sure don't..."
Edward does, however, tap Jesal on the shoulder.
"Maybe you've got some weather control in reserve?"
Without having any other real recourse, Arhiel runs with a little squeal of surprise.
"Dis one can hurt dem some wit da lightning and frost, but be needin some help, dis one thinks. Ya be lighting a torch and be fightin."
Jesal prepares to cast aggresive thundercloud if we decide to stay and fight.
Alabaster takes a step backward, and shouts out.
I ain't get thinkin' meself can be hurtin' em! I ain't got nothin' but me pistol an blade, an me magic ain't meant for this mess!
As everyone backs nervously away, the flies--there must be thousands of them!--buzz forward, swarming your nearest members!
Flies: HP: 31 | AC/T/FF: 15/15/14 | Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +3 | CMD: --- | Immune: mind-affecting, weapon damage | swarm traits
The swarm flies over Isaac and begin biting him. He screams out, "Ge' 'em off! P**s! P**s!" He then feebly swings his cutlass at the flies.
His eyes widen as the flies aren't affected by his blade. He then moves out of the swarm. He stops and pulls out the alchemist fire. "D**n! We need to be gettin' rid o' 'em! Woul' alchemis' fire be workin'?"
"Yeah man, it would. Lob it at your heart's content."
"Ya, be throwing da fire. Da rest of ya be lighting torches and spread out. .. now!"
Jesal runs as far away from the others, full movement rate, and then casts cure light wounds on himself.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Alabaster takes Jesal's advice and moves out of the way of the swarm, but shouts out.
I ain't fer havin' no torches! Besmara be makin' me light! I ain't never needed one afore!
The priest runs into the corn field to try and hide from the things.
As the three men yell and run out of the buzzing cloud of flies, bleeding from some nasty bites, Edward and Arhiel spring into action!
Initiative
Edward, Arhiel<-----
Flies
Alabaster, Isaac, Jesal
Flies: HP: 31 | AC/T/FF: 15/15/14 | Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +3 | CMD: --- | Immune: mind-affecting, weapon damage | swarm traits
"I don't have any tricks that can affect swarms, bugger."
Edward lets out a sharp yell at the bugs.
After which he walks into the field.
If I took bleed at the start of my turn, I'm down and dying. I was at 0 after the attack.
Arhiel continues to run, "I have nothing that can hurt these things... let's RUN!...
But then she pauses after passing Jesal, and tries to stop the bleeding.
Edward lets out a vicious yell, waving his arms to attract the bugs' attention, and dives into the cornfield. As Jesal collapses, bleeding, Arhiel runs up to him and tries quickly to stanch his wounds, but there are just too many...she only gets blood on her hands.
The flies seem to hesitate for a moment, but then they swarm to the south, in the direction of their original nasty domicile. They buzz over Isaac and Alabaster once more, causing screams of pain!
Flies: HP: 31 | AC/T/FF: 15/15/14 | Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +3 | CMD: --- | Immune: mind-affecting, weapon damage | swarm traits
Arhiel again tries to staunch Jesal's wounds and stop the bleeding.
This time she rips parts of her own tunic and wraps them around the worst of the bitten areas and manages to succeed in stopping the incessant bleeding, but leaving her with slightly less clothing.
Alabaster yelps in pain from the corn, and curses.
DAMN BUGS! Besmara, be fixin' me up! An' me friend!
He comes running out of the corn, and holds his hand to his chest and a bright red light seeps into his skin, causing some of the bites to fade away. He then starts running to do the same to Jesal.
From the cornfield, you hear Edward call out to you.
"These flies, they're dumb. We don't have running water here, but drop on the ground in this cornfield, and they might ignore you."
As the flies swarm towards them, Isaac grumbles, "Oh, s**t." They then swarm over him. Once again, he screams, "AH! AH! D**n it all! By Besmara's salted ches', why is this happenin'?" He then runs into the cornfield, trying to get away.
Jesal's breathing seems to steady, though he remains unconscious, as Alabaster and Isaac bolt out of the swarm of flies and into the cornfield. Arhiel manages to stop the worst of Jesal's bleeding, as the flies swarm around and look for further antagonists/prey...
Initiative
Edward, Arhiel (still has a move action) <-------
Flies
Alabaster, Isaac, Jesal (stable at -5)
Isaac drops down on the ground in the cornfield. He tries stay as silent as possible.
Arhiel drops to the ground over Jesal's recumbent form and hopes the flies ignore them both, since she can't move him.
Edward quickly drops flat.
Alabaster follows Isaac's lead and drops to the ground, trying to stay quiet.
As the group hurls themselves to the ground in the corn, the flies buzz angrily toward them, but pass just by Edward's hiding place and buzz off. They circle the field for a few moments, but with everyone lying still and quiet among the fallen cornstalks, the flies don't detect anyone...though Isaac and Alabaster's wounds are continuing to bleed.
After a minute or so, the flies cease their swarming and settle back around the head that you originally disturbed, while some fly off in search of happier hunting grounds. As you pick yourselves up carefully, you realize that Jesal needs immediate help.
"Um, guys... Jesal's in bad shape... I stopped the bleeding but he's still out cold."
Eward walks over to Jesal.
"Get up buddy, nap time's over."
*Smirk*
Isaac slowly stands back up and heads to the others. He definitely looks worse for wear. "Well... tha' be embarrassin'. We tell no one o' this. Agreed?" He looks to Jesal. "Will he be alrigh'?"
Look to each of the others, he says, "Let's not be tryin' tha' again so soon. Let's heal, maybe explor' th' res' o' th' islan', collec' thos' torches from th' cliffs, and then go fer roun' 2. We still hav' to be findin' Sandara an' Giffer."
"Yes, let's get those torches in case there are more fly swarms, but let's not disturb this one again, since we know where it is. Not sure if Sandara and Giffer are going to be findable Isaac... It's been a long while and they were taken underwater...Wouldn't they be drowned by now? It's not the fate I'd wish on them, I'm just sayin'... " she trails off with a sigh... "We've got water to find and barrels to fill... and somehow a mutiny to plan as well... I don't even want to go back to be honest, but I don't want to be stuck here on this awful island either."
Edward reacts a little bit touchy at the suggestion of the two's deaths.
"They're , she's , ..they're not dead that easily."
"Ya, dis one bein thankful" Jesal coughs as he comes around.
[ooc]Will cast CLW on himself as well
"We be findin dem alive and takin dem back or we be findin them not and we be takin dem back." He states firmly.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Isaac hears Arhiel's thoughts. He slowly turns to her, his eyes showing slight anger. He approaches her. "Well, if ye wan' to abandon 'em, tha's fin'. Bu' I'm not leavin' 'em behin'. We los' one member already. No mor'. If I leav' 'em behin', then I'm not bein' worthy o' Captain."
"Isaac, you're looking pretty bad too. I you'd stand still for a moment."
"DOn't be angry, Isaac, I don't want to abandon anyone, I'm just stating what might be the case... "
Alabaster looks downcast at his boots for a second after Arhiel's suggestion, and then his eyes snap back up, full of fire.
I ain't fer leavin' here, not until I know fer sure what be happenin' to em! An iffen they be gone ta tha Queen's ship, then I'll be killin' every grindylow I be seein' an damn tha Wormwood!
He offers up a quick prayer to Besmara, and heals a bit more of the bites from the swarm.
Now healed and feeling somewhat better - if depleted - after your battle against the flies, the group continues to follow the path, keeping a wide distance from the edge of the cornfield. As you hike, you come across several other severed heads, always set at the edge of the cornfield and facing outward. Given the clouds of flies buzzing around them, you give these a pretty wide berth as well.
In not too long, you reach the foot of the hills, and the path begins to switchback up the steep slope. As you climb, you get a good view of the island stretching away from you to the east, with the tops of the Man's Promise's masts visible over the trees of the swamp that lies between you and your ship. When you round a final bend, beside a trickling mountain stream, you see a long, straight, and more gently sloped path that leads up to a structure that is clearly not natural.
A well-built timber stockade rises from a flat, overgrown area ahead of you. The walls are made of sharpened stakes 7 feet high, and a giant tree sprouts from the center of the compound, wrapped in strangling vines. The gate stands ajar, and peering in, you can see a small wooden lodge in the jungle clearing. A bubbling freshwater spring rises from beside the huge tree and flows between a chink in the logs, creating the stream that you passed on your way up.
Arhiel points out the spyglass in the wall to others... "Look, there's an old spyglass wedged in the wall." Though she doesn't push ahead of others, once the party enters the compound, she goes over to it cautiously to see what it's aimed at. She peers through it. "We should take it with us when we leave here... could come in handy to have one."
Isaac stays silent as Arhiel makes her point. When Alabaster makes his speech, Isaac nods. "Aye. An' I be doin' th' same." Turning back to Arhiel, he says, "We need to be havin' fate tha' they liv', Arhiel. We cannot be givin' up on them."
When the team reaches the top, Isaac looks around the area. He also sees the spyglass. "Aye. An' from th' looks o' it, it seems to hav' been wedged her' on purpos'." When it's his turn, Isaac looks through the spyglass. "Aye, lass. I plan on takin' this."
After he's done looking through the spyglass, he walks around the lodge.
Having passed to the other side of the compound to take a look at the spyglass, you can see that the little hut's door is closed, and that it's a rough-hewn affair, hacked together from logs that are still mostly tree trunks. There are no windows, though a few chinks in the logs must let in some light.
Looking through the spyglass, Isaac and Arhiel (and anyone else) see a plateau far to the south on the hillside that appears to surround a substantial sinkhole or crater. More significantly...there are two grindylows gamboling about the hole!
Isaac looks through the spyglass and sees the grindylows. "Well, well. It seems we be on th' righ' track. I see two grindylows. And... wai'... one o' them be wearin' Sandara's tricorn'!"