Braxton moves up into the protective sphere of Ankha's spear. He feels an odd power within himself. Unfamiliar, but comforting. Hopefully the holes in the ground will prevent to the large creature from charging. "And here I thought it would be difficult to draw out. Silly me!" The sailor brandishes his pointy rapier, perfect for finding chinks in a spikey, scaley carapace.
Trusting in luck, Dakari retrieves a wand and tries to activate its magic once again. "Ignitio!" Sparks sputter wildly out the end but that seems to be all--at least until he whacks the non-compliant piece of wood against his arm a couple times. Then a massive spurt of flame erupts, coalesces into a fiery globe, and rolls towards the ankheg, stopping once it reaches the beast's slavering jaws.
The ankheg roars loudly, almost certainly territorially, and charges forward before latching its wide pincers around Ankha's waist.
Initiative:
20- Braxton
15- Dakari
13- Ankheg
12- Ankha
5- Ku'Hania
"Get away from her, you b$+&*!" Dakari yells as the ankheg grabs Ankha. With a thought, he directs the flaming sphere to roll up on the creature from behind as he draws his machete and moves up besides Ankha.
Though Ankha tries to slash at the ankheg as it charges towards her, her weapon glances harmlessly off the beast’s thick armor. She lets out a painful shriek of surprise as the pincers dig deep into her sides, creating twin rivers of blood coursing down her legs. Instinctively, she tries to wriggle free from the monster’s grasp.
Fueled by desperation and the power of her mutagen, she wrenches herself away from the beast. “Thanks Dakari,” the alchemist winces gratefully at the half-elf’s attempts to help. Buoyed by his concern, she takes a moment to compose herself, closing her eyes as she takes a deep breath … and then, miraculously, the gushing blood slows to a trickle, as if she had commanded her body to heal thyself.
Braxton ducks under the big bugs grabby arm and dances around the queen, ready to counter any attack it might make on him. With the critter distracted by Ankha and Dakari, Braxton's rapier finds a hole in the monsters armor.
Bursting into action, Ku'Hania charges the gigantic vermin, plunging her spear into it's side in tandem with her companions.
Ankha does escape from the claws of the ankheg, and steps away from it.
Braxton doesn't manage to evade the lightning fast mandibles, and gets a nasty cut through his side. His rapier hits true, however, digging deep into the chitinous skin of the beast. Ku'Hania's spear strikes along side him, scoring a serious hit as well.
The ankheg roars out in anger again, turning on Braxton with its mouth once more, but the sailor has learned his lesson and dodges out of the way of the deadly head.
Initiative:
20- Braxton
15- Dakari
13- Ankheg
12- Ankha
5- Ku'Hania
“Hang on Braxton!” Ankha exclaims anxiously. Now that her friend is gravely wounded, any concern she might have had for her own injuries has vanished. She skirts wide around the giant bug, not affording it the same opportunity that resulted in a devastating attack on the swashbuckler, until she reaches a flanking position opposite Ku’Hania.
“Pick on someone your own size!” she cries angrily, oblivious to the fact that she is easily the shortest member of the party. With the half-elves occupying the ankheg’s attention on the other side, she unleashes a wild, feral swing at the monster that dared hurt her friend.
Despite the fact that this wasn't her preferred environment, one of the things Ku'Hania was always good at was hunting. With her friends hurt, and the colony endangered by this monstrous beast, she puts all of her hunting prowess to use, taking advantage of Ankha's distraction to once again sink her spear deep into the creature's side.
Ankha’s anger pushes her swing wide, but the distraction it causes gives Ku’Hania the window she needs. Her spear sticks deep, hitting something vital inside the carapace of the ankheg ad it collapses to the ground, finally dead.
Dakari will look over each hole seeing if each is interconnected and which one was the first one made. Assuming he finds "hole zero" he says to the others "We should get the colonists to fill this one in as best they can, just to prevent another ankheg from using the first one's route to the colony."
Triumphantly pulling her spear from the fallen body, Ku'Hania cleans of the head of her weapon. She nods at Dakari's assessment. "We should also probably get a few people to help drag the corpse somewhere away from here. Don't want to attract some other predator by leaving it in the fields."
As soon as the ankheg falls dead, Ankha rushes to Braxton’s side. “Are you okay? That looks like a really nasty bite. Here, I’ve got a healing potion you could use.” The concerned alchemist proffers her last potion of cure light wounds.
Once she’s satisfied that the swashbuckler won’t die on them, she approaches the fallen monster, her concern replaced by eager excitement. Pulling out a clutch of clinking glass vials, she begins filling them with various samples from the ankheg, draining some ichor into one, scooping some saliva into another, and scraping bits of claw and mandible into a third. “Ooh, it’s warm and squishy in there!” she exclaims as she digs her hand into the wound created by Ku’Hania’s spear.
After she’s completed the important business of harvesting body parts, Ankha turns to help Dakari, poking her long fauchard down into each hole (and killing any larvae they might find). “That’s a good idea,” she commends both of the half-elves’ suggestions. “I’ve got a shovel in my pack here that we can use to fill in the hole.”
Braxton sways after the big hit, but he stays on his feet. "Guh. Remind me not to do that again." He spits blood on the deceased buggo and wipes his mouth on the back of a sleeve. "Ugh! I haven't been hit that hard since the fore boom broke free in a gale... Ah, thank you, my dear. Bottom's up!" He downs the proffered potion and feels better, but not great. The flavor certainly isn't appealing. "What were we going to do with this thing?" He prods the bug with the toe of his boot. "I seem to have forgotten the endgame. Bait for the shark?" What was it? To protect Blaudon? Who knows, Braxton feels lightheaded.
Dakari looks concerned for Ankha's wounds as he runs the flaming sphere over the ankheg's corpse just because he can. Once the sphere winks out he casts a spell on Ankha to cure her wounds.
"Hmmm, that's not a bad idea Braxton. If we can get a cart or wagon from the settlement we could cart this b$@%% to the docks and carve her up for chum to attract the shark." he scratches his chin "I don't suppose sharks are too picky about their next meal."
Luckily for the group, it doesn't seem as if the holes are actually tunnels to anywhere else. Looks more like a small underground warren that the momma ankheg burrowed out when she arrived.
While poking around in the holes, Dakari finds a human skeleton bereft of clothing or gear that appears to have pitted bones, as if they were scoured with acid. It still wears a copper-colored ring engraved with arcane symbols.
Dakari identifies the ring as a ring of protection +1, which obviously didn't help its previous owner.
“Thanks Dakari!” Ankha flashes a warm smile that is both grateful and sheepish. “But you didn’t need to waste a healing spell on me.” She gingerly rubs her now completely healed side, feeling a bit guilty that the half-elf felt compelled to cure her injury.
“Ooh, bait sounds like a great idea,” she chimes in appreciatively. “I’ve heard that sharks will eat anything, right? We can use one problem to solve another!”
When the magical ring is revealed, Ankha immediately turns to the armor-eschewing shaman. “Ooh, Ku’Hania, you should definitely wear it. It would look so pretty on your hand—you have such elegant fingers. From your elven side, I guess?” she asks with a hint of undisguised jealousy. “Speaking of which …” her gaze widens to include Dakari in her query as well, “… how did your parents fall in love? And how do they make their marriage work, when they have such different lifespans?” The alchemist’s deep brown eyes are eager pools of unbridled curiosity.
”Thank you!” Ku’Hania replies with a smile. ”Well, my father is a druid, who was accepted into my mother’s tribe. While he does look a bit older than she does, I think his ties to nature make him age slower. He’s still strong and healthy.”
"Let's tell the church about this skeleton that needs to be reinterred elsewhere and take this buggo to our shark hunt. Maybe see if any of the fishermen have some harpoons we could use. Or..." Braxton rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Could we poison the bait?" He looks at the alchemist, a quizzical eyebrow raised.
You figure you could set up the remnants of the ankheg meat (after Ankha takes her cuts) as bait easily enough. All you have to do is go get the small boat you used to reach the colony in the beginning and string up the bait behind you as you row around the bay.
It takes a couple of hours of aimlessly sailing around in the bay, but eventually you do see a large fin in the water moving towards you, surprisingly quickly.
The shark speeds towards the bait, its fin swinging back and forth above water as it approaches.
Init:
20- Shark
18- Braxton
14- Ankha
6- Dakari
6- Ku'Hania
With a noticeable hint of envy in her voice, Ankha responds to Ku’Hania. “Your father is a lucky man. I’ve been studying natural remedies to slow aging too, but it just doesn’t seem to be enough.”
At Braxton’s suggestion, however, the alchemist seems aghast. “That’s a horrid idea! I mean, yes, we want to kill the shark, but poison is just evil and wrong! All of my work has been devoted against poison—to learning how to expunge the despicable toxins from our bodies so that we can live longer and healthier lives! Why would I want to create something as heinous as poison?!” She pauses for a moment, as if to collect herself after such an impassioned rant, then looks thoughtfully at the swashbuckler. “Unless … are you suggesting that I create poisons to help test how effective my remedies are? Ooh, …” her eyes begin to shine with a dangerous idea “… yes, I could deliberately poison a random sample of specimens for experimentation. That might just work ...” The enthusiastic human beams gratefully at Braxton. “Thanks for such a wonderful idea!”
While they prepare the ankheg meat, and boat, and everything else, Ankha takes an hour to brew another dose of her mutagen. When the shark appears she wastes no time in downing the elixir and grabbing a sharpened longspear in anticipation of battle.
Watching closely as the shark approaches, Ku' Hania stands, taking her spear in hand and waiting, a spell on the tip of her tongue as she waits for it to get closer.
"I don't think the shark would feel bad about poisionig you, if it had
the chance."Braxton still feels a bit sore from the encounter with the bug. He stands near the edge of the boat, rapier in hand. "I will wait for an opportune moment to strike." Hopefully Ku'Hani and Ankha can kill it with their spears before it gets close.
As the shark takes the bait, Dakari draws his crossbow. He spans and loads a bolt and, taking a deep, steadying breath, he sights and looses a bolt at the creature.
The shark continues swimming until it reaches the bait, and bites deep into it. Dakari's bolt flies past it and disappears into the water.
Init:
20- Shark
18- Braxton
14- Ankha
6- Dakari
6- Ku'Hania
Once the shark swims within range, Ankha steps into the stern of the boat and tries to stab it with her sharpened longspear.
Spear in hand, Ku'Hania dives off the side of the boat, beginning to swim toward the shark with powerful strokes, homing to come at it broadside, while distracted by the bait.
Seeing Ku'Hania dive fearlessly into the water, Dakari follows suit. Drawing his rapier he launches himself over the side of the boat and swims toward the shark.
Not as sure of himself in the water with a shark, Braxton stands on the edge of the boat, dagger in hand, ready to throw a piercing knife right through the foes fishy heart.
The shark, sensing fresh prey, makes a short loop in the water before swinging back to face the group and take a bite towards Ku’Hania.
It misses wildly after its movements cause it to flounder a bit.
Init:
20- Shark
18- Braxton
14- Ankha
6- Dakari
6- Ku'Hania
Braxton throws one dagger at the shark, then moves, draws, and throws his second dagger. Then he prepares to for a swim.
Dakari draws upon his luck and pokes at the beast with his rapier.
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Effortlessly swimming a bit to her right, Ku'Hania calls upon her bond with the deep, a roiling swirl of water building around her arm as she reaches out quickly to touch the shark, striking it with a deadly blast of water that batters the great predator, forcefully pushing it back.
Between the sloshing waves unsteadying her balance and refracted light misleading her eyes, Ankha’s initial thrust goes well wide. Looking down at the half-elves who have acted like a fish to water, she grimaces, recognizing the necessity to join them if she wants to have an actual chance of hitting the shark.
“I sure hope this ring works,” she glances down at her finger, then over at Braxton. “Woman overboard!” With a lopsided grin, the alchemist hops off the stern and plunges into the water.
To her delight, the ring’s magic works instantly. Ankha isn’t sure how—she feels both lighter and heavier, as if she can somehow adjust her buoyancy, and the water seems lighter and less of a hindrance. With newfound confidence, the alchemist tries once again to plunge her spear into the great fish.
How far "down" is the sharky, by the by?
Ku’Hania and Dakari manage to strike small scratches on the shark’s skin but nothing substantial, and Braxton’s first dagger lodges deeper into it. Ankha is thrown off balance by her jump into the water and she misses.
The shark thrashes in the water as it is struck, swimming forward before lashing out at its target again. It misses again in its anger.
Init:
20- Shark (14 damage dealt)
18- Braxton
14- Ankha
6- Dakari
6- Ku'Hania
Exhaling bubbles of disgust at her incompetence, Ankha takes a moment to compose herself, while kicking her legs to swim into a better position. She really misses her fauchard, but she has learned from fighting the echeneis that it’s not well-suited for watery combat, so she makes do with the less familiar longspear. Leaning back she waits for an opening, then in one quick motion, thrusts forward with all her might. But although she swims and maneuvers with the ease of a fish, she still can't figure out the trick of properly wielding a longspear underwater.
As the shark turns to attack Ku'Hania, Dakari takes advantage of it's distraction and buries his rapier deep into it's exposed flank.
Nimbly treading water as she shifts to avoid the shark's attack, Ku'Hania strikes again, this time with her spear, working with her companions to slay the predator of the deep.
[
Braxton metaphorically smells blood in the water. Despite his somewhat weakened state, he knows the shark needs to be ended quickly. "Tallyho!" He shouts, plunging into the water rapier-first, scoring a solid attack on the oversized fish.
Ankha misses, her momentum not quite stable enough to land a hit. Ku'Hania strikes the beast but her trident points fail to puncture through the shark's tough hide.
Dakari lands a significant hit but then Braxton performs an exquisite dive into the water before plunging the tip of his rapier not once but twice deep into the guts of the large shark. It finally stops its thrashing and lays still before slowly sinking towards the bottom of the ocean.
"Well, that should handle our part of the agreement." Ku'Hania says, effortlessly treading water.
"Hah! I never doubted!" Braxtons says, less-easily treading water. The shark proved to be less of a monster than Braxton had convinced himself it would be. He tosses his rapier and bucker back into the boat and dives underwater, hunting for his lost daggers. They aren't particularly valuable, but waste not, want not. He surfaces, spitting out water. "Do you think queenie would be a happy if we just brought a fin with us? This fish is a bit big to tow with our skiff."
"Considering she requested it's head and meat from its sides, I think a fin would be an insilt. It would likely be taken as keeping the meat for ourselves and and break the truce of friendship." Ku'Hania replies after considering the question.
“Ooh, well done!” Ankha exclaims as the shark finally succumbs to their attacks. “That was amazing!” she gushes at Braxton in particular for his stylish derring-do. “But we definitely need to retrieve its head and meat for the queen—that was the whole point of doing this. If it’s too big to carry we’ll just need to cut it up into smaller pieces. Let’s hurry before the body attracts scavengers.”
So saying, the alchemist prepares herself by taking a deep breath, then dives underwater after the shark. When she reaches it, she plunges her longspear into its mouth and out of the back of its head, creating a convenient handle for carrying it.
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With some help from the other underwater enthusiasts it doesn't take too much effort to drag it to the surface and get it into the boat. Luckily it can hold the weight, and the group makes it to the shore without any further incident.
Ku'Hania is filled with a sense of accomplishment, as they bring the laden boat ashore, to the shocked sight of those colony members near the beach. And of course any opportunity for a good swim made her happy.
"Well I'd say we're off to a good start. Two major threats handled, and a truce." she says to her companions.
“Oof, that was heavy,” Anhka sighs with relief when they finally get the shark to shore. “And yes, it’s definitely been a productive day,” she agrees with Ku’Hania.
She calls to a colonist to bring some butchers. “We have some fresh meat for the whole colony. But save the head and the meat from the sides for Ramona—she’ll need it for a truce with the grindylow.” Turning back to the others, Ankha announces “If there’s nothing else for today, I think I’ll take a little rest. I also promised Alba that we could copy formulae from each other. We can unravel the mystery of the clockwork spy first thing tomorrow, when we’re all fresh.”
"Fish doesn't keep for more than a few hours once harvested. If the grindylow are hoping to eat the shark, the meat should probably be taken to them immediately." Braxton, never one to suffer poor quality food, advises. The sailor stretches and yawns. A productive day indeed. Despite their shaky landing, things were quickly looking better, and a promising future seemed to lay ahead.