Thyste does her best to sneak up with Lidia; though she’s a little wobblier than usual, she’s still relatively hard to detect.
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"I'm actually much better at protecting people standing in front of me...especially if our opponents have ranged weapons..." Ulretha tells Kioshi.
As the countdown commences, he readies himself and the Pack and when no more fingers remain, goes running as fast as he can around the curve, sounding not a little like Sarah Morninghawk's establishment at the height of working hours with his armor, shield and weapons.
Ben is not all that good at the tactical planning thing. In fact, he's not all that good at a lot of things. So it takes him a bit of time before he springs into action.
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Lidia had ducked the wrong way this time.
Instead of slithering aside just in time, she leaned right into the creature as it bit her arm, then whacked across the jaw with its tail. She yelps in pain and then growls like an angry little beast.
Taking a quick hop back, she laces a pair of arrows toward the drake.
...but her wounded arm simply drops the arrows from the string each time, fumbling them to the ground in the dark. She lets out a guttural keen of frustration then prepares to defend herself using the bow as a club...
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Ulretha is too slow and cumbersome to rush into combat. When he rounds the corner, he sees just how tight things will be and, knowing he can't do anything worthwhile if he got in there, hangs back until he can strike.
He manages to keep the males of the Pack back with him but Onnikka rushes ahead, getting between the mini-dragon and Lidia.
Onnikka leaves the useless males behind, finding that one of her two legged allies has downed one of the big bat lizards but has been injured by the other.
With a snarl, she snaps at the bigger beast.
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Thyste hustles around the corner just a wee bit late, grabbing her bow and taking a shot:
Ben rushes around the dragon, Little Buddy in tow, circling around behind the dragon and setting up a flank (that is provided he makes it that far without getting gooed again).
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"Unless you want to watch Lidia get eaten, yes!" Ulretha answers Kioshi.
Onnikka maneuvers to get the mini-dragon between herself and Ben and Ulretha takes her spot, pinning the beast between himself and Buddy, almost as though the four of them were a pack.
Time to try Aggrimosh out on the creature.
Moderately satisfied that the group is acting like a pack, Onnikka waits for a moment when the dragon is watching Ben to take a snap at him.
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"Unless you want to watch Lidia get eaten, yes!" Ulretha answers Kioshi.
As always, Thyste says something terrible.
She moves in, trying to find a good place to not get drake-smacked.
Regardless, she plugs an arrow in, hopefully:
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The arrival of the hyena gives Lidia a moment to a recover. She throws her back against the wall of the cave and takes a deep breath to refocus herself, then moves herself deliberately back into a shooting stance, pulls an arrow out and nocks it carefully, then fires at the drake.
The cat had been following the group through the wilds all day, nosing about the brush and skulking deviously through the grass, as if it were on a mission entirely of its own that just happened to go the same direction as the party. Lidia had paid no attention to it, and it would sometimes disappear for half an hour at a time, and yet it would always reappear nearby, sometimes lounging on a tree branch, sometimes licking its flank like a bored, pampered house tabby.
But it had followed the group into the cave. And now as Lidia grit her teeth and fought through her pain, the cat begin to yowl loudly from the corner where the passage turned, adding a shrill and unpleasant counterpoint to the clamor of the combat.
Ben feels for the poor dragon, surrounded by a troop of nasty inedibles, whirling or stabbing it from all directions. Still, its an eat or be eaten world, as all good Druids know. First Ben,
Then Little Buddy weigh in.
"I know it doesn't seem fair, spell caster, but then life makes no promises in that regard. And it would gladly eat you if given the chance."
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Once the drake is down, Lidia drops her bow and grabs her bleeding and wounded arm, putting her mouth over the worst, most painful spot and sucking on it avidly for a few moments, then spitting off to her side.
Then she looks at Kioshi, her eyes practically ablaze with anger.
"What is wrong with you!" she yells angrily. "What in the Seven Hells did you think we were coming here for? To make friends with these things? I'm up here getting ripped to pieces, and you blubber about 'Oh, what should I do? I don't know what to do?' Are you crazy? Didn't you see those things practically eat Thyste back on the ship?!"
She points an accusing finger up at Kioshi's face. "You need to get your head in the game! On a mission like this, we need to have each others backs! And if you really don't know what you're supposed to do, you might ASK us, especially if we're walking for hours to get to the place with the MONSTERS!"
She turns away and sucks at her wound again, then spits and snatches up her bow. "It was a mistake to bring you!" she snarls over her shoulder, then stalks out of the cave, still incandescent with rage.
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Kioshi looks astoundingly remorseful.
”I ... I just wasn’t sure. I’ve never gone monster chasing for no particular reason. I mean we all have our goals and I just wasn’t sure what you want to do. And when I came in and risked my neck to get a better view of what’s happening everything was over.... “
Ben rubs his chin and looks a Kioshi thoughtfully.
"What motivates you Kioshi? Why are you here anyway? You do know that we are being sent to confront orcs, right? Are you going to be able to help?"
Unlike Lidia, Ben asks kindly, with no anger in his voice.
It's a good thing we found out about this now, in a battle that was overwhelmingly in our favor.
Thyste grins. "He is here to carry the loot," she offers. "He just didn't want his muscles to get sore first!"
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Speaking of loot...
While the others are berating one of the useless no-snouts for being a useless no-snout (what do you expect, after all, he's not a gnoll...) Ulretha wastes no time in heading deeper into the cave to find out if what they say about dragon hoards is true, his mouth literally watering at the thought.
Speaking of watering mouths...
Meat! Onnikka pauses just long enough to give the two legs a quizzical look as they make loud noises then turns to the bounty.
Fazingar and Crezobill pause just long enough for the alpha to start eating before they fall to the feast, as well.
They've never eaten anything like this before so there is even more snapping and snarling amongst themselves as they find the tenderest victuals.
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Kioshi thinks for a moment after seeing Lidia run away and it really seems as if he feels bad. Thyste's words do not help.
He then turns to Ben and tries to answer his question.
"I am an explorer, seeker of knowledge and I really can fight! I am a follower of Chaldira and please believe me that I also am brave in battle as I know that the calmatious turn has my back! But I want to know why I am fighting ... " he says with an eye towards Lidia.
He then looks at Ben "I came here to accompany you guys because of my past. I never had much friends and people do not really like me. But Rodrick was my friend! I am still quite shocked that he passed away. I do not know how Rodrick's relationship with the people developed over the years after our paths divided but I know that I owe him to protect the town and people he loved! I know very well what a difficult road one has to walk when a friend dies... or when a sibling or mother leaves this world ..." he says with sad eyes that look to the ground.
"So I am here to confront the orcs!" he says, raises his head and looks directly at Ben.
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Lidia emerges from the cave, her throat choked with anger and her eyes moist with emotion. As she often does in moments like this, she heads off to find a good tall tree to climb, doing all she can to leave no trail.
Eventually she finds a suitable maple tree. With almost preternatural skill, she claws her way up like a squirrel until she is about 40 feet in the air, then straddles one of the branches and unlimbers her pack. She pulls out some greasy half-rancid unguent made from heaven-knows-what and rubs it on her wounded arm, after which she wraps up her arm with some tattered remnants of an old shirt.
The cat has climbed the tree as well, and is loitering on a different nearby branch, watching Lidia intently, its stub of a tail beating back and forth tensely.
Once she is finished with her rustic first aid, she seals her pack again and wedges it onto where a nearby branch emerges from the trunk, and likewise hangs her bow and quiver there. Then she looks toward the cat.
"Pss pss!"
The cat looks down warily, and at first seems reluctant to make the jump, but with about a full minute's worth of encouragement, it makes the short leap to her lap. Lidia immediately wraps it up tightly in her arms in a desperate hug.
"Forget it. Who are all those people to me anyway? It's not my town. I don't need this."
She grumbles in this manner for a while directly into the furry flank of her cat, who seems to realize Lidia's need to hold something and grumble into. It hangs limply in her grasp, doing all it can to purr away her misery.
"Well, Kioshi, knowledge is good, but there comes a time when..."
Ben sighs.
"Well, I think I have the perfect solution. The rest of these folks seem to be highly motivated by money. If you want you can be a sort of bard. You can write down what we do and make a story. But then no loot for you. If you do fight, then you get a share."
Not that there is much left of any loot with these guys... Where is Ulretha?
Ben turns around and sees Ulretha rooting around the lair.
"Um, Thyste?"
Ben points over at Ulretha.
"You are loosing your edge."
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After casting detect magic and checking the items Kioshi informs you of their magical functionality.
”So this is what they can do. If you need any further assistance with respect to their individual application then please inform me and I will guide you!“ Kioshi says a little too proud about his abilities.
Thyste shrugs. "I'll snag whatever I need from the pile when I don't have to fight hyenas for it," she says. "Besides, how often do these piles contain things that are my size?" she asks, stepping over to the +1 Buckler of Indeterminate Size. "Look at this; it's clearly enchanted, but who can say whether it's fitted for a shorty like me?"
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Ulretha listens closely to Kioshi as he examines and explains the function of the different items of value in the hoard. He is hopeful when he finds the nice pick but snorts in disappointment when he finds that only the tiny shield has any magic on it.
"Interested in upgrading?" Ulretha asks, holding up the buckler and nodding towards hers.
"Whoever doesn't run off pouting gets first pick," he explains.
"Definitely!" says Thyste.
Ben shows no interest in the loot once it is explained to him what the items do, though he does start field dressing and skinning the creatures.
"You know, this might make good armor material. And dragon meat is a delicacy in many parts of the world."
The Pack snarls and snaps at Ben if he gets too close to the part of the dragon their eating...which is the stomach, liver, kidneys and other delicious organs.
Ulretha does nothing to interfere, but will help butcher the other animal...though he has some snacks along the way.
"Ulretha, I'm going to need to establish myself as higher in the oreder than them." Ben snarls back, playing the alpha game, Little Buddy at his side. Though it is not his nature in general, he backs his master up with bared teeth.
As the organs come out, he tosses them to the side, allowing all the animals to dig in including Little Buddy. There is blood. Lots of it it and by the time the animals have dragged their chosen portions to the side, pretty much everywhere.
Matter of factly, Ben states, "I'm going to need to wash up."
Thyste gets in on some of that sweet, sweet organ meat. Very nutritious! "Not every day a fox gets to eat a dragon!"