| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Cass catches up to the sight a moment after the heard as a whole, she looks quizzically at Des before catching the end of Atia and Jorans exchange, she looks over and murmurs "I think we all are on the edge to be quite frank, the bit of freedom we have is spent on this hellhole" to Atia
"You're not kidding, Cass..." Atia says, bumping slightly against Joran and shooting him the barest hint of a lascivious grin before turning her attention back to the witch. "We should move on. The clock is ticking."
Shaking his head, Seadreamer walks up.
Ach it ba a head, lets see about making other creatures headless and not us. lets keep going
he walks past the head, walking towards the stockade.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Atia stares at Joran with her brows furrowed in confusion, eyebrows raising. "Who else is showing signs of cracking? Maybe the island is causing some kind of mass hysteria..." Atia looks worried, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and heaving a heavy sigh.
Joran tries to remain as nonchalant as possible as he darts his eyes toward Lanni several times, hoping the gnome isn't looking his way.
"You're not kidding, Cass..." Atia says, bumping slightly against Joran and shooting him the barest hint of a lascivious grin before turning her attention back to the witch. "We should move on. The clock is ticking."
Turning his attention back to Destinie, he quickly cuts it back to Atia when he feels a slight bump from her. "Yeah, we can't let this con...," he pauses, catching sight of that look she's giving him. Sighing, yet, still unable to contain a grin, the barbarian draws a hand down his face in... frustration? before rattling his head to shake the thoughts from his mind. Focus, Joran, focus. It's so hard to though.
"Ummm, where was I? Oh yeah, we can't let this continue. Destinie's going to have to figure this out on her own time. I think I have a solution so we can keep going." Placing a hand on her cheek and giving her a big smile, "Excuse me, darlin'." He strokes her cheek before making his way back to the head on a stick.
Cutting his eyes to Destinie, to the head on the stick, back to Destinie, back to the head, the barbarian comes up with a clever idea. Glaring at the head that refuses to talk, "Answer the question, head boy! What was that?! You don't feel like talking?! I don't think so!" Joran brings his sword up high, pauses, looks to Destinie, "You might want to step back a bit there, Destinie, I don't want to take your arm off or anything." When she steps back far enough, "There, that's good." Looking back to the silent head, "You asked for it, head boy!" Joran brings his sword right toward the base of the pole, hoping to bring the whole thing down.
Regardless of how long it takes, when he finally gets it chopped down, he picks up the pole with the head still attached to it and offers it to Destinie. "Here you go, Destinie. This way, we can walk and talk. We've no time for heads that don't want to cooperate. Plus, you can attempt to beat something to death with it. Just think, how many people can claim they beat something to death with a head on a stick? You'd be a legend." He gives her a wink.
Joran then returns to creating a trail through the field of corn.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Lanni tries not to grin too much while Joran is desperately trying to not look at him. "Yeah, I think we are all about to crack here."
Lanni keeps his bottle of fire in hand, but doesn't wave it around.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Mateo watches with a bit of concern before the head is taken down. Swallowing his concern down, he takes a breath and nods. "Yes. Let's go. I'm sure the stockade will be quite friendly."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As Joran attacks the head, fat flies, fuzzy and looking almost like bees, begin pouring from its ears, nostrils, and mouth. They swarm over Joran even as he brings the pole down.
They land all over him, biting hungrily...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Joran, my love, you kind of deserve this." Atia says while uncorking one of the flasks of alchemical fire and tossing it at the swarm.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Now we're talking." Lanni lobbs his Alchemist's fire as well.
"Burn buggers!"
It was a bit surreal. With the amount of undead that's been around lately, she could have sworn the head was talking back. It was Joran that got her out of her stupor, but not in the way he thought. "No wait!" What happened next surprised her. A swarm of nasty bugs emerged from the pile. To which she sighed.
"Okay, this one's on me." With that, she casted a spell on the group in general.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Turning around seadreamer looks at the others trying to light Sharkbait on fire.
Have you all lost your minds
He comes back in order to see the bugs crawling all over him.
Scratch that I see whats going on.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Ugh! That's disgusting!" Mateo says, reaching down and grabbing a hold of one of the alchemist's fires and throwing it at the buzzing, biting swarm.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
When the flies burst out of the head, "What the...?!" Joran begins to swat at them with a free hand. And then when he sees Lanni and ATIA?! and Mateo pull out alchemist's flasks, his eyes go wide. "WHAT THE HELL?!?! WAIT A MINUTE! DON'T THROW 'EM YET!" The big fella quickly tries to withdraw out of there, hoping to avoid as much of the fire as he can. He's not sold he's going to be able to dodge Lanni's throw though. With that maniacal grin the gnome is sporting, Joran feels like the little guy is just far to eager to burn down everything around him.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Ha!" Atia throws another at the swarm, then moves near the barbarian, regarding the swarm of bugs with disgust. "Sorry, love. Better to have a little bit of a burn than let those things burrow into you." She grins up at him apologetically, a slightly wild look in her eyes.
Cass keeps her distance looking to see if she needs to heal anyone.
Joran is quick to run out of range as his crazy friends begin chucking flasks of alchemists' fire at him. Atia's bottle lands right where he stood a moment earlier, exploding into flames, and several of the little insects pop into sparks as their lives are snuffed out, but many, many more remain.
Lanni and Mateo miss their throws, the insects taking a bit of splash damage, but the brunt of the fire spreading to the field of corn that you stand within. Stalks catch fire and begin to burn, and you get the feeling if they aren't doused, this field might not have long to live -- and you might need to get out of it quickly.
The flies, mindless creatures that worked from instinct, were not partial to any one target and flew towards the first person they noticed. They swarm over Cass, buzzing and biting, though not many get past her robes.
1=Joran
2=Atia
3=Des
4=Dreamer
5=Lanni
6=Cass
7=Terry
Atia's first flask of fire, having struck the swarm squarely, continues to burn up bugs, and a number of additional insects pop out of existence. Her second throw misses its mark, only the splash effect harming the insects.
Atia frowns as she looks at the growing cornfield-fire and she glances around. "We...should probably just run." She says, tensing up and ready to bolt towards the stockade they had been heading towards.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Terry just stands there for a few seconds, mouth agape as the people refusing to let the gnome burn the cornfield down mere seconds ago are encouraging him and helping him use alchemist's fire in the middle of the field. As the corn begins to burn, Terry starts moving back the way they had come in.
"C'mon! This is gonna be bad! Let's move!"
He tries to get the others to use the visible path out of the cornfield.
The corn begins to burn around them and Mateo gives a mild look of concern. At least the swarm of flies would likely die off from the flames as well. Terry's shout gets his attention and he nods, tilting his hats to the others.
"See you folks on the other side." And then the swashbuckler is off. The man runs through the corn along the path, dodging flaming stalks as he goes.
Lanni watches the corn catch fire with a grin. He also notices the plume of smoke that it is causing.
Terry starts moving back the way they had come in.
"C'mon! This is gonna be bad! Let's move!"
"If we go back that way we are going to be on the wrong side of the fire and will have to wait for it to die down before we continue. But," he says with a smile, "we now have a reference point to keep us from going around in circles. Put your back to the smoke plume and let's go. Try to stay together. Call out if you can't see someone. And we will regroup on the other side of the field."
Lanni moves around the burning area of the corn field and waits to see if everyone else is following.
"I hear you, Lanni. We have a deadline. Let's get going," she calls out behind her. Before she runs, she looks at Joran and says, "You're going to be able to run faster and further than me. Just keep going. I'll be fine." Her face is deadly serious, daring the barbarian to argue with her, and she begins running after the gnome and the swashbuckler.
"Ha!" Atia throws another at the swarm, then moves near the barbarian, regarding the swarm of bugs with disgust. "Sorry, love. Better to have a little bit of a burn than let those things burrow into you." She grins up at him apologetically, a slightly wild look in her eyes.
Giving her an admonitory look, he's just about to say something until he catches sight of the cornfield beginning to burn. Eyes going wide, he pats Atia on the arm, "All good, darlin'! We gotta move!"
"I hear you, Lanni. We have a deadline. Let's get going," she calls out behind her. Before she runs, she looks at Joran and says, "You're going to be able to run faster and further than me. Just keep going. I'll be fine." Her face is deadly serious, daring the barbarian to argue with her, and she begins running after the gnome and the swashbuckler.
Watching the others take off, and with no time to debate Atia, "Okay then. GO!"
Making sure Atia's safely away, Joran cuts his attention to the others. "Go, 'Dreamer! Des! Get the heck out of here!" Looking at Cass and knowing he can't do anything about the bugs, "C'mon, Cass! This way!" He waves her toward himself.
Joran will wait until the others are clear before taking off himself, remaining in the back to make sure no one is left behind.
IF he manages to catch Lanni, after everyone else is clear of course, he'll grab him by the collar and lift him, running with him the rest of the way and hoping deep down, the gnome will feel totally embarrassed by it.
And this was increasingly becoming a bad idea. The fire was able to damage the flies, bit now they had a different growing problem.
She didn't need to understand what it meant when the others started fleeing. She decided to join the others in leaving the corn field.
Seeing everyone else following along, Lanni heads into the corn field as fast as his little legs will take him.
He hears Joran crashing along behind him. "Come on Joran. Try and keep up."
Raising an eyebrow at the gnome's talk as he finds himself right behind his little buddy, a sly grin forms. "What was that, buddy?! Hard to hear through this cornfield! You want up?! Is that what you said?! Okay!" The barbarian reaches down and snags him by the back of his collar and places him over his shoulder, carrying him like a sack of potatoes. "You are welcome, little buddy!" The barbarian can't help but grin wryly.
"You want up?! Is that what you said?! Okay!" The barbarian reaches down and snags him by the back of his collar and places him over his shoulder, carrying him like a sack of potatoes.
"Hey! Let go of me. Put me down and that's an order."
Lanni props himself up and looks around from the higher vantage point of Joran's shoulder. "On second thought, you do move faster than I do. Carry on." Lanni snickers at his pun.
And takes a look around to see if anyone is straying off course.
:⁂:
"Yeah, ignore that. Just watch the field burn and be happy."
Furrowing his brow, he slightly angles his head up toward the gnome, using his arm to protect his face from the slapping cornstalks, and says, "Who in the world are you talking to, Lanni?! WAIT! Don't answer that!" And please don't eat my brains.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Calistria's garters!" Terry puts his head down and runs the OTHER way now . . .. Trying to avoid the worst of the growing fire as he goes.
As soon as he notices the corn starting to light up, Dreamer starts to head out using the path.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
assuming she is still functional after the failed save.
As she sees the party scatter Cass decides she needs to get out fast, she calls out an incantation as she throws a card from her deck which pulls her along with it flying along the ground skipping over the fire and 300 feet across the field
Everyone ran, Terry and Dreamer heading back along the path initially before Terry realizes the others weren't following -- other than Dreamer, who started to, just in time to see Terry turn around to follow the rest of the crew.
Joran (with Lanni on his shoulders) Atia, and Des all managed to stay in fairly close quarters. Visibility within the corn stalks was only five feet or so, but they could hear one another nearby, and kept the rising plume of smoke behind them as they moved in the direction they'd seen the stockade.
Cass saved herself from the biting insects with a spell that sent her soaring over the field for a few moments, far faster than the bugs could follow. From her high vantage point, her card pulling her along through the air, she could see the others falling behind her...as well as something angling toward Mateo, who was faster than the others and fairly far ahead --but then she was far past him, coming in for a distant landing.
Mateo felt the ground rumble beneath his running feet, and caught sight of the tops of the corn stalks nearby suddenly swaying in a wave that closed in on him, so he was not surprised when the ground erupted right beside him.
A massive insect bursts forth from the soil, upturning the crops as its large mandibles tried to close around him.
Mateo was ready for the thing and sidesteps at the last moment, the bug missing him completely. Still, his allies are nowhere to be seen, and he finds himself alone with a horse-sized ant with an appetite to match.
The swashbuckler shouts, the giant ant-like creature emerging out from the ground to snap its chittering mandibles around his torso. Mateo moved quickly though, his buckler cracking it underneath the chin and deflecting the head upwards before he came in with a riposting strike.
No longer caught off his guard, Mateo regarded his foe carefully. Those mandibles were powerful and he could practically feel how the monster wanted to eat him. Swallowing hard, he entered into a defensive pose and nodded towards it.
"You want to die, do you? I shall entertain you until someone comes and absolutely murders you." Mateo promised, striking fast and hard against with expert lunges aiming to pierce through it chitinous armor and into the meaty bits underneath.
"Joran, you hear that at least, right? Just keep going the way we are. Mateo should be just up ahead."
Lanni also shouts out to the others following.
Putting his head down, Seadreamer goes full on sprint, trying to catch up to the others.
Atia hears shouting in the distance but can't make it out; luckily, Lanni is near enough that she can hear him and...even see him just for a moment above the stalks of corn? She decides not to question it, following Lanni's voice amidst the cornfields. It is every bit as terrifying as she imagined: small, tight spaces, mystery and panic everywhere, apparently rotting heads and botflies, and now something else? Maybe? The sooner they could find Tilly and Sandara, the better.
Terry can tell right where the majority of the crew is and runs past them. He hears Mateo's challenge but can't really tell which direction he's in before Terry starts moving. Guessing that he went more or less where the others did, Terry moves through the group.
"Anybody see Mateo? Sounds like he found another fight?"
"Joran, you hear that at least, right? Just keep going the way we are. Mateo should be just up ahead."
Lanni also shouts out to the others following.
"Sorry, little buddy! All I hear are cornstalks and some shouting from somewhere! I'll just keep going straight! If you see a better way, just holler and point!"
"Yeah, he was somewhere up here. He moves pretty fast when he wants to."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Joran tries to listen again, hoping to hear something other than distance yells or cornstalk noise.
"Do you hear him?! Because I still can't hear anything."
It didn't take long before Des found herself nearly hopelessly lost. The only person she could see at this point was Atia. But it seemed like they were out of danger for now... until she heard shouting, first from Mateo and then from Atia. The oracle ran forward and met up with the wizardess, taking her in mid stride as she directed her towards where Mateo was at.
Mateo shouts again, the sound of clicking and metal hitting something metal-like echoing from somewhere within the cornfield.
[dice=Perception]1d20+4
It didn't take long before Des found herself nearly hopelessly lost. The only person she could see at this point was Atia. But it seemed like they were out of danger for now... until she heard shouting, first from Mateo and then from Atia. The oracle ran forward and met up with the wizardess, taking her in mid stride as she directed her towards where Mateo was at.
** spoiler omitted **
"Why are you speaking in Aquan?" Atia asks, glancing at the oracle quizzically as they both run. "Nevermind. We should concentrate on keeping up." Atia keeps moving, following the sound of the gnome's voice.
Cass is hopelessly far ahead lmao she can’t make a damn thing out perception dc is like 45 I think so she just keeps running ahead.
As the horse-sized insect erupts from the ground, Mateo parries one mandible aside, getting a couple of stabs in between the thing's armor plates.
The rest of you continue making noise and calling to one another as you try to keep together, but no one yet comes to Mateo's aid amidst the stalks of wild corn.
Cass, oblivious to the problem, keeps running. She's far enough ahead that the fire is not threat, but she doesn't want to run into any more swarms, and is eager to be out of the creepy field.
The ankheg moves forward and tries again to snatch the nimble swashbuckler. The bite juuuust misses as Mateo manages to leap above its jaw as it goes for his ankle, hoping to snatch him and drag him below the ground for a snack.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Mateo shouts again, jumping back as the ankheg goes for another bite after being parried away from the dexterous swashbuckler. With it reeling back, Mateo moves in again for another strike against the beast. He lunges in and the thing goes to clamp down on his arm but the man pirouettes, moving off to the side and striking it at its vulnerable eye.