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The party divides up the eggs, and then prepares to head back to the grippli village.
A few hundred yards from the dinosaur nest, the ravine suddenly falls silent—no birds, monkeys, or other jungle creatures are audible. A few heartbeats later, a bellowing roar echoes through the ravine, causing countless small birds and animals to abandon their hiding places and scatter as quickly as possible. A series of great shuddering cracks herald the downfall of several trees in the distance, and a second thunderous roar pierces the air, followed by the frantic shouts of panicked humanoids.
Suddenly, a massive dinosaur bursts out of the jungle to the southwest, pursuing a dozen leather-clad explorers through the ravine. The furious creature sweeps up a straggler into its massive jaws and flings the screaming victim off into the jungle, roars, and rushes toward its next target.
The fleeing group is heading right towards the Pathfinders, with the massive dinosaur running behind them. Those with keen eyes can see the glinting symbol of a brass serpent around the neck of the one in front, indicating that this is the group of suspected Aspis agents. The dinosaur chasing them appears to be the same species as the one that was laying dead near the nest. It is a terrifying beast with a huge head filled with dagger-like teeth and enormous legs that propel its massive body forward in long strides.
At this point, each Pathfinders must make a decision. Do they want to take advantage of the lead they already have and put as much ground between themselves and the Aspis as they can? Or do they want to take advantage of the fact that they haven't seemed to notice the Pathfinders yet and try to knock a few of them over as they run past? After all, a wise person once said that if you and an enemy are being chased by a dinosaur; you don't need to outrun the dinosaur, just your opponent.
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Guy decides he likes the idea of outpacing the Aspis. Figuring that Laafdahni may have some trouble here, he places feather step on her and whispers to her "Don't try to follow my path! This spell should help you avoid some of the brush."
Then he dashes off crying "Oh no! They are trying to get me!" You quickly realize he is trying to get some of the Aspis agents to follow him through sections where they need to do a lot of jumping and ducking to avoid the brush.
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The furious creature sweeps up a straggler into its massive jaws and flings the screaming victim off into the jungle, roars, and rushes toward its next target.
Laafdahni's blood runs cold. It's not hungry. It's angry! ... I don't think Color Spray will work on this one. It takes a moment to register that she needs to run. Finally, terror galvanizes her, and she turns to flee before she becomes just another meat parcel on the floor of the jungle--or in the belly of a beast.
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Sinaryn sprints ahead of the group, running faster than she ever has before and nimbly hurtling herself over a log. Then she looks a backwards and sees that some of her allies are struggling to cross over the log. She reaches a hand out and pulls Bocke over the obstacle and panting heavily he assists the slow moving Bask and the short legged Jang over the log. Together they continue running towards the cover of a rocky outcropping.
Guido takes a different approach, casting a spell on himself then bounding effortlessly through a thicket of spiny plants. A few of the Aspis follow him into the brush only to find that the path is definitely not as easy for them.
The Aspis agents are quick on the heels of the party and several of the faster ones speed past Sinaryn as she helps her allies cross the fallen log. Sinaryn see one of the agents begin to fall behind and with tears in his eyes lets out a desperate plea, "Please, don't leave me behind." A woman in sleek black leathers looks back and laughing says, "I bet you regret hogging all the antelope jerky, fatso." Sinaryn looks away as the gigantic dinosaur grabs the struggling Aspis agent in its jaws and flings him in the air. He falls towards its open maw screaming and the beast swallows the unlucky man whole.
The massive dinosaurs chases the fleeing Pathfinders and Aspis agents towards a rocky outcropping. Everyone scatters as the massive beast charges forwards, slapping into the rocks. The impact causes boulders and earth to roll off the hill, blocking the route the party's path. They can rely on their memory of the terrain they just passed through to find a reliable route around the fallen boulders.
On the other hand, Bask thinks that he is strong enough to quickly clear some of the rubble out of the way.
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Baske knows that the best chance to avoid getting eaten is to get out of open ground and under the cover of trees. With the rocky outcropping blocking his view he struggles to remember where the shortest path to the trees is, but decides to rely on his gut and waves to the party to follow him. Sinaryn and Jang shout back to the slower party members and help them cross over the rocky terrain. Unfortunately, when the rocks begin to fall, Bocke is right in the path of the falling debris. A rock strikes him in the back of the leg, not injuring him, but sending him careening face forward.
As the party runs around the hill, they notice that one of the Aspis agent's legs were pinned under a fallen rock. The other agents callously step over the pinned woman as she struggles to pull her leg loose. She does not call out for help but instead hurls curses at her compatriots who were lucky enough not to be buried under the rubble.
The party makes there way around the rocky outcropping and can see the relative safety of the jungle up ahead. There is an open stretch of grass that they will need to get across though and the rampaging theropod has already climbed over the rocks and has the party in their sight.
The Pathfinders could try to hide in the high grass and hope that the dinosaur goes after the Aspis agents instead.
Or they could try to fend her off with whatever weapons they have, or even throw a rock at it. While standing their ground and fighting the massive creature would be suicidal, a lucky hit or two might distract the creature long enough to get to the treeline
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For a brief moment, Bocke loses his balance and feels himself falling backwards. Wildly careening his arms, he manages to land on his side. It's not graceful, but at least he didn't crush the eggs.
Bocke accepts a hand up from Jang and quickly catches up with the group. Seeing the tall grass, he ducks down. The ground is wet, so he rubs a handful of mud on his skin to mask his scent. The other Pathfinders follow his lead and the dinosaur veers off in the direction of a group of fleeing Aspis. One desperate agent draws a spear and throws it at the beast. The projectile slides off the monster's thick hide and the creature runs right over him, trampling the poor person under it's massive foot.
As the party enters the forest, they find themselves facing a rapidly moving stream. Lying face down is a black clad human. The water around the body is ready and bubbling with the splashing of dozens of wide, flat fish. Piranhas! Does the party want to jump over the stream or try to swim across the stream while the devilish fish are distracted with their current meal?
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Guy feels his confidence come back as he easily soars over the stream. Bocke follows afterwards and they stand on the shore, ready to help the other Pathfinders cross. Sinaryn slips and almost finds herself falling backwards into the water but Guy is quick to reach out and grab her arm. Despite this, he slides across the rocks from her sheer weight and almost falls into the water himself when he feels a tug on the back of his shirt as Bocke pulls him back. Together the rest of the group gets over the stream and continues running.
The trees have slowed the dinosaur down quite a bit, but from the crashing of trees behind the party it is clear that it is continuing to give chase through the jungle. A blood curling scream from nearby as the dinosaur catches up with yet another Aspis agent serves as a grim reminder that the great beast has not given up its pursuit.
The party remembers passing by huge pit when they came this way and when they stumble upon it again they see that several of the Aspis agents are frantically trying to get across the pit by swinging across it using the thick vines that are hanging from the canopy. This presents a unique opportunity. The vines that they are using could be easily severed with a well placed shot. On the other hand, having come this way before, the party knows that there is a shortcut around the pit. The only problem is finding it again.
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The party finds a shortcut around the pit, a natural trail that runs along a hill. From this vantage point, they can start to see the edge of the ridge is getting closer. There is more screaming as the dinosaur picks off another one of the Aspis agents trying to climb across the pit. The rest of them make it over the pit and runs straight into a dense mass of foliage. With only the Pathfinders in sight, the massive beast turns towards them and roars, then begins to run towards them.
Like the remaining Aspis agents, the Pathfinders will also need to slip into the dense foliage of the jungle where they will be able to outmaneuver the fast but relatively clumsy dinosaur. There may be a weak spot in the dense vegetation where the party can slip through. If they are not able to find a weak spot, then they will need to do their best squeezing everyone through the overgrown jungle before the angry predator can close in on them.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Wide-eyed in terror, Laafdahni dives headlong into the brush...
...and clonks her head on a sturdy trunk. At first, the pain doesn't even register through her fear. All she can think of is that the distance between her and the tyrannosaur is closing, and that is DEFINITELY not a good thing!
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The party barely makes it to the safety to the underbrush and they can here the trees around them crash and crash to the ground as it pushes its body through the vegetation. Bask can feel the air rushing out of the dinosaur's massive head and smell the foul, coppery stench of its breath as it nearly snaps off his limb. Sinaryn manages to pull him into a bush just in time as its jaws close in on where he was just standing. Laafdahni falls into the mud, gasping out mouthfuls of dirt as she sees the huge beast looming above her, but backpedals into the underbrush. Weary and frightened, the party crashes through the underbrush towards the ravine wall up ahead.
The remaining Aspis are running through the jungle neck to neck with the party and the dinosaur is close behind. The Aspis agents are running towards the same handholds that the Pathfinders used to climb down. The best chance they have is to make sure the predator chasing them concentrates on the Aspis instead of them. The Pathfinders are going to need to make sure that they get there first. They could try to steer the dinosaur towards the Apsis using what knowledge they have of animal behavior Otherwise, they are going to need to jockey for their position on the wall.
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Dashing toward the edge of the ravine, Laafdahni is lagging behind, the lactic acid churning through her causing her legs to feel like lead. Apsis agent beat her to the start of the hand holds. Self preservation kicks in, and she treats them the way they've treated their own compatriots (though with less sneering and taunting). Quickly chanting and gesturing, she casts Color Spray at them before darting past to slip over the edge before being eaten. A tiny part of her brain says: There will be time for mourning their deaths and regretting my actions later, but only if I survive!
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Guy decides that it would be much easier to make the dinosaurs reconsider if a few fell down. He watches for an opportunity, then casts his Grease spell to cause one to collide with some of the Aspis agents and the cliff face.
He then tries to climb up a different section of the cliff while that is sorting itself out!