”We would be grateful if you can keep her from being a threat without killing her, but be warned…do not trust her or let her roam unattended. She was a priestess of Lamashtu and her redemption may be less than genuine. “ Maidie warns before Caerna and Grokki depart.
”Of course, knowing Prince Kernan, he can probably lay some intricate spell on her that transforms her into something icky if she betrays you.”
Then she lets Doffery lead them to the new campsite, keenly aware that another fight is coming soon.
Moon lags behind the party, dragging branches across the snow to cover their tracks.
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"Aye, but what about proving something to you, Erigga?" Betzolte says with a sigh of her own. "If I don't steel myself now, what'll stop my mettle from breaking when we need it most?"
But as Moon returns with a bunny in tow, she raises her head, a curious look forming.
"To me? Why?" She asks, a bit confused. "Look, now being practical is important, but later, having a softer heart could be needed. My neighbour, who trained me when I was younger, always mentioned how war changes people. Are you ready for this change? Do you want to?" So many questions. "All I'm saying is it is one thing to swing your sword during a fight, other is at someone who surrendered. You need to..." The rest is cut when Moon arrives with the talking rabbit.
Erigga remains silent during the exchange, just raising an eyebrow when she disappears with the goblin in toe, a shill running through her spine. "Yikes. That was a creepy one."
Grobradon has gone quiet, and seems to be focusing on looking for spies and enemies
Thankfully, Grobradon finds no spies or enemies lurking in the shadows, and Moon's efforts erases the only trail that could be used to track them. Dark has well and truly settled over the Fangwood as the heroes work to get the tent gifted to them by the Prince of Dancing Leaves up. It only takes a moment to get a fire going with the campfire stone and soon the place is warm and cozy as the cold night passes outside.
As everyone is eating a warm meal of thick soup, Emerald speaks up.
"You mentioned that there's something in Kassen that this Ganny Black Tongue wants. If you know what it is, why haven't you tried getting rid of it," she asks.
”I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Emerald. And the less we talk about it, the better. Especially out here in the wild, where Ganny’s fey spies could lurk anywhere. She might even be scrying on us herself for all we know.” Maidie says in a tone that signals that further discussion of the topic is closed.
After a moment, she adds. ”And even if there was no other reason, we must do what we can to stop her. She has been spreading her evil influence for many, many years, and Kassen will never be truly safe until she’s gone.”
"I guess that's true," Emerald says. "If she is spying on us, why haven't we been attacked? It can't be that hard to lead a bunch of goblins and ogres to where we are."
"When the strong rule, the surest way to stop doing it is to show you are not that strong." Erigga answers, stretching.
"Goblins and ogres and orcs, as far as I understand, follow the strongest among them." She looks a bit shy at Maidie, worrying if she was about to say something stupid as she is clearly far less educated than the mage. "When a strong leader is perceived as weak, they are replaced. So the goblins follow their chieftains, doing what he wants, and the chieftains follow Ganny's, doing what she wants."
"However, if someone supposed to be so scary and evil and powerful as her start to look at a small group of ourselves as a threat... some chieftains might start to think she doesn't bite as hard as she barks."
"Also, we are in the middle of winter. You look outside and pretty much everything looks the same. We travel light and fast, with Doffery's help. Bands of goblins and orcs are at a big disadvantages." She finishes her assessment by taking a piece of jerky from a bag. "If I'm in her shoes, I'd sent a specialty strike force or look for us myself."
"I thought halflings were supposed to be optimists," Emerald says, looking rather worried about the prospect of a powerful hag personally hunting the party.
"Or she sees all of her 'allies' as fodder. It doesn't matter if they die, so long as she gets what she's after. Maybe she wouldn't mind if the goblin tribes were destroyed alongside Kassen."
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"I thought halflings were supposed to be optimists," Emerald says, looking rather worried about the prospect of a powerful hag personally hunting the party.
And I thought all dragons weren't supposed to be whinny little b%&%+es. Chomp chomp on her jerky. She could have said that, but her tit-poke-therapy was hopefully enough to knock some sense into her head. Adding insult to injury was a tad mean.
"I am optimistic," she states, as if daring anyone to contradict it, "but I also like to be objective about my odds instead of always hoping that Lady Luck or the Calamitous Turn will shine their behinds on my direction and bless me with their benevolent luck." Luck, which, she had expressed they've been abusing.
"That is--an interesting turn of phrase," Emerald says. "I suppose there's something to be said for not relying on luck."
The dragon turned human looks to Moon, pondering what the ranger said.
"So more minions than allies, then? I suppose, but that just seems wasteful. She already, apparently, had someone inside the town, why didn't she command them to just abscond with whatever it is that she's after?"
Then her eyes widen as a realization hits her.
"Oh, I'm an idiot. They probably couldn't," she says as she pinches the bridge of her nose. "But that brings up another question. Why haven't you killed her?"
"For largely the same reasons we didn't kill Meep."
"You kill to eat, you kill to defend yourself or your pack. When a foe is down, it gets harder to rationalize. Unlike animals we have a conscience. It sucks and complicates but there are those who believe a soul is tarnished by violation of your conscience. We didn't kill Meep because she was no longer a threat, and... because she was a victim who had been wronged." A beat "probably helped she was more than a little endearing. Now she's part of our Pack"
Emerald curls up, clutching her bowl of half-eaten soup.
"And what about me," she asks softly.
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Emerald curls up, clutching her bowl of half-eaten soup.
"And what about me," she asks softly.
"What 'what about you'?" Erigga asks, curious. "We've found you buck naked and freezing your tits in the snow. You clearly needed some help." The image springs back to her mind, so she shuts up and concentrates on the jerky again.
But then she doesn't resist. "Also, you are still not a threat to us."
Emerald turns back to her soup and takes a bite. As she chews, she looks out at nothing, lost in her own thoughts. Is she a threat to anyone? Has she ever been a threat to anyone? She looked down on the softskins, the mortal races of Golarion, but she always persuaded her siblings that it was better to negotiate, to have them give over their gold willingly rather than to take it by force. They wouldn't come after them for vengeance if they'd willingly given up their treasures in exchange for some service. Was it wisdom and cleverness that lead her to suggest that path, or was it fear. She is a runt, and much mightier dragons than she and her siblings have fallen to mortals, powerful mortals to be sure, but mortals all the same. Mortals doomed to die, frail and wizened, their vigor and vitality stolen by time. Now, she is even more afraid. She knows what brutes like ogres, orcs, hobgoblins, and bugbears will do to her if they ever get their hands on her.
That fear didn't stop these people. They helped her. They encouraged her, however roughly some, like Erigga, might go about it. They fought to protect others, even those that it would have made more sense to kill. Why? Why had they saved her from freezing to death? Why show mercy to their enemies? She doesn't understand. She doesn't understand any of it!
Then there is the Prince of Dancing Leaves. They had done a favor for a Wyldlord, one that had impressed him enough that the fae prince had given them clothing and arms to make up for his error. Could she have ever been a threat to these people?
She looks down into her empty bowl, and remembers the night after first meeting these people. She didn't want to be alone and had asked if she could share a bed with a dwarf. A dwarf of all the races she could have shown weakness to!
"Nothing makes sense anymore," she mutters into her knees.
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"Aye, but what about proving something to you, Erigga?" Betzolte says with a sigh of her own. "If I don't steel myself now, what'll stop my mettle from breaking when we need it most?"
But as Moon returns with a bunny in tow, she raises her head, a curious look forming.
"To me? Why?" She asks, a bit confused. "Look, now being practical is important, but later, having a softer heart could be needed. My neighbour, who trained me when I was younger, always mentioned how war changes people. Are you ready for this change? Do you want to?" So many questions. "All I'm saying is it is one thing to swing your sword during a fight, other is at someone who surrendered. You need to..." The rest is cut when Moon arrives with the talking rabbit.
Erigga remains silent during the exchange, just raising an eyebrow when she disappears with the goblin in toe, a shill running through her spine. "Yikes. That was a creepy one."
"Because I want to be more like you," Betzolte says. "You're smart, you're tough, you don't take slag from people, you did more with a well-placed punch than I could with an hour of blustering."
She sighs.
"You're more like a dwarf than *I* am, to be frank. When it gets down to it I don't know if I'm a very good dwarf. Torag tells us to not hesitate in the defense of our people: the moment you don't bring your axe down on an enemy is a moment they can use to kill you or someone you care about...but here I am, hesitating at every goblin's sob story."
As Grokki is escorted away by the bunny, she sighs again.
"And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved we didn't have to make that choice now."
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"Because I want to be more like you," Betzolte says. "You're smart, you're tough, you don't take slag from people, you did more with a well-placed punch than I could with an hour of blustering."
She sighs.
"You're more like a dwarf than *I* am, to be frank. When it gets down to it I don't know if I'm a very good dwarf. Torag tells us to not hesitate in the defense of our people: the moment you don't bring your axe down on an enemy is a moment they can use to kill you or someone you care about...but here I am, hesitating at every goblin's sob story."
As Grokki is escorted away by the bunny, she sighs again.
"And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved we didn't have to make that choice now."
Erigga is taken by surprise, opens her mouth a bit and blushes quite a lot. She never really knew how take a compliment as she was never used to them. "I... I am not smart, not like you guys. I grew up raising Horan cows... do you know how huge they are? For halflings that is not smart at all." She tries to change subjects, but she wasn't lying. Erigga wasn't as educated as any of the others. She was tough for sure.
"I do not know many dwarven families, but I'm going to say that you are more like a halfling than I am... but that is how it is, no? I'm tough because I had to be I think and you are probably kind because you had be?" She seems clearly out of her element. "I mean, if you want to change who you are, then go ahead. I did it... kind of? "
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"Clay is clay, you can't escape it, but you can put it in the fire, in the water, or leave it to the open air and the environment will change it. The SHAPING of the clay is made by our choices. I got half human half orc clay, but I was tempered by forest and village, that was my kiln, sometimes mild, sometimes heated. During that whole process, I, like everyone else, was making choices. I shaped myself by those choices. You folks are too worried about limiting your shapes as if your starting nature would clash with what your choices have made you. The 'Typical' Dwarf might want me dead because of my sire's blood. The 'Typical halfling' would be afraid of me. And I would be beneath the attention of a 'typical' woman like Moon. I'm freaking glad we're not typical. We'd never be able to pull this off. But bit by bit, action by action, risk by risk, choice by choice, we're doing it."
He spits to the side #### Typical."
"Hmh..." Betzolte says, smiling a bit. "That's...thank you...both of you...Papa did say "caring even for our most bitter enemies, it may not say great things about my wisdom or intelligence, but it says wonderful things about my integrity and compassion." I just hope we don't have to make decisions like those too many more times. It's...exhausting."
"Grob is right... except for putting my name in the vicinity of the word 'typical'." She looks at Betz and Erigga, "The world binds us already - by gender, appearance, expectations, family duty, and other things - and you choose to put on your own shackles as well."
Grob shrugs as Moon has him there, but nods to Betzolte "You're welcome."
The night passes uneventfully, and the next day dawns, greeting the heroes of Kassen with a clear, cold sky. Ice and snow cover everything in glittering white. The frigid air feels like it's crushing your lungs in an icy fist after the warmth and comfort of the palatial tent that is swiftly taken down. Doffery leads you deeper into the Fangwood after consulting with Moon over the map. As you travel, the canopy grows thicker, the gloom deepens, and the signs of giant spiders grow more numerous. Stray strands of silk and cobwebs the size of Erigga at first, but steadily more and more webs and the desiccated corpses of the forest's now dead denizens begin to appear.
You feel a prickling on the back of your neck as your travel deeper into gloom. Looking around, you don't see any obvious signs of what is causing that feeling, but your instincts cry out that something dangerous is nearby. Looking up and studying the gloom for a bit, you see four large shadows moving among the branches of the tree as they parallel your course.
You notice that Histya's attention is up among the branches.
How high do you normally fly?
Histya flattens her ears and growls as the party heads towards the Manylegs camp. The hairs on the backs of your necks stand on end as everyone feels as if they are being watched.
"I don't like this," Emerald says in a soft, quiet voice. "I don't like this at all."
He whispers "Something dangerous, shadows along the tree branches, large" Even as he tries to figure out details.
As you watch, you recall something that Olmira taught you when you were learning about insects, spiders, and other vermin. The Fangwood is home to two different kinds of giant spider. One, the ones that Meep mentioned when first talking about the Manylegs Tribe not so long ago, are venomous and hunt by laying traps and lying in wait. The other, less common ones hunt by chasing their prey and running them down. It appears that these are the latter.
As you fly along above the ground, you notice movement off to your left. A spider, a true giant to you at your current, tiny size, lunges from the shadows, it's mandibles opening wide. This one apparently wants a pixie snack before the main course.
Down below, Erigga, Grobradon, and Moon see the spider just as it lunges at Maidie twenty feet up in the air as it hangs from the branches above the trail you've been following.
"Oh, crap, Maidie get down!" Erigga warns as she jumps at the tree and starts to climbing it.
Moon looses an arrow at the lurking spider.
Arrows (45): xxxx
Blunts (45):
Iron Arrows (3):
Lead Blades (1):
Hero Points (3):
Kassen Battle Boon: 1x
Kassen Death Boon: 1x
Lead Blades – Rnd x of 10 – all my melee weapons act as one size larger
As soon as she spots the threat, Maidie swiftly recalls what she knows about Fangwood spiders as she prepares to decide between fight, flight or stealth.
”Erigga, stay on the ground! Form up and defend the others. I’ll be fine!” she calls as she sees the halfling start climbing.
Grobradon moves closer to his nearest ground level ally. He isn't sure he can entangle the canopy without catching a friend right now.
Trusting in her magic rather than her fairy mobility, Maidie utters a swift arcane phrase and vanishes from sight.
Moon's arrow breaks the spider's charge as it chitters angrily from the hit, giving Maidie a chance to get a good look at the spiders. These, the pixie-sized wizardess realizes, are giant wolf spiders, arachnids the size of large wolves that hunt in packs. They do not have any ranged attacks, but they are frighteningly quick and are known to jump up to thirty feet to catch their prey. Like most vermin, they're weak of mind.
Emerald, who'd been growing increasingly nervous as the webs grew more numerous lets out a shriek as she sees the spider, followed by a whimper as three more jump out to attack. The spider going after Maidie looks around confused as the tiny wizardess vanishes before hissing and leaping at Moon. Two of the other spiders leap at Betzolte, and the last one leaps at Grobradon. The first three attacks are easily fended off by the three, but Betzolte, distracted by one spider, doesn't see the second jumping at her until it bites down hard on her arm, tearing and crushing skin, fat, and muscle.
Emerald, already shaken, takes a step back and starts singing an old warsong in an effort to help her allies.
Spider #1 vs. Moon
Spider #2 vs. Betzolte
Spider #3 vs. Betzolte
Spider #4 vs. Grobradon
Sorry, Maidie, you’re on your own for now.
With the spider in her face, Moon drops her bow, draws the sword from over her shoulder, and delivers a fluid two-hand chop between the monster’s disconcerting multitude of eyes. Electricity courses down the blade as it hits.
Arrows (45): xxxx
Blunts (45):
Iron Arrows (3):
Lead Blades (1):
Hero Points (3):
Kassen Battle Boon: 1x
Kassen Death Boon: 1x
Lead Blades – Rnd x of 10 – all my melee weapons act as one size larger
Histya leaps and attacks the spider.
Moon slices through the spider that tried to bite her with graceful strike that stains the snow with ichor. The two halves of the spider lay in a pool of the stuff as the legs curl up in death. Histya turns and attacks the one latched onto Betzolte.
"GETOFFGETOFF" Betzolte screams as she tries to hack at the spider with her axe!
Another spider dies as Betzolte buries her axe into its head, finishing the job that Histya started. The stench of the burning arachnid is enough to make anyone's water.
In her invisible state, Maidie quickly scans the tree canopy for more threats before repositioning and activating her wand.
Above the fight on the ground, she reappears at the moment when three bright force missiles shoot forth and slam into the spider threatening Betz with unerring accuacy.
With the spiders now on the ground, Erigga jumps from the tree, rolls on the snow, and springs to her feet into a flanking position with Grobradon.
plus
The spider facing Betzolte screams as the magical darts slam into its body. The one facing Grobradon spasms as Erigga drives her knife deep into its body and after a few second it curls up in death.
"NICE hit, Erigga!" Grobradon flings himself towards the last spider, sickle in hand, and slices.
The last spider spasms and curls up in death.
As things go quiet after the brief flash of violence, everyone can hear Emerald as she mutters something over and over again. Her eyes are closed as she holds her bow tight and rests her forehead against it.
"It's alright. It's alright. Th-they're dead. It's alright."
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He doesn't understand her, but Grobradon picks up she's dealing with stuff now and says "Emerald, without your music? I wouldn't hit it. Good job."
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Emerald starts at Grobradon's thanks. Her face is pale and her pupils are narrow slits when here eyes snap open and fix on him. She calms down for a moment, pointedly not looking at the corpses of the spiders, before speaking.
"H-Happy to help," she says in a small voice. "Th-that's what I'm supposed to say, right?"