Gundar will cast an acid dart at the bug.
Khalid will step up 5' and ready a power attack against any foe that comes in range.
Gundar misses, and Khalid readies.
Initiative
Caius
Ghaernan <== Up!
Verilich <== Up!
Khalid Readied
Gundar
A
Verilich sees that we are forming a wall at the mouth of the corridor and flies just above Caius, hovers, and readies to strike the target.
Ghaernan strides forward some 20' beyond the stairs, unlimbering his sling and readying to hurl its projectile when the insectile creature crests the mound surrounding the mouth of its burrow, momentarily giving the Bard an unobstructed target...
With a swift, arcing strike of his sansetsukon, Verilich brought the weapon crashing down against the oncoming ant. The blow struck solidly, cracking into the creature’s thick carapace—but it did not falter. Its legs kept moving, mandibles clacking as it surged forward with relentless instinct.
Just as the creature drew closer, Khalid’s readied swing came down wide, missing the mark by a hair. But the ant pressed in, and Khalid adjusted with brutal efficiency. With a sudden upward hook of his horsechopper, the blade bit deep, and this time the ant collapsed in a twitching heap, black ichor pooling beneath it.
A breath of silence—then movement.
Verilich’s eyes snapped southward, catching the twitch of shifting dirt. Another mound stirred, loose soil rolling down its sides as a second giant ant began to claw its way free, antennae flexing as it forced its head up through the surface.
The room was not done with them yet.
Initiative
Caius <== Up!
Ghaernan <== Up!
Gundar <== Up!
Verilich <== Up!
Khalid <== Up!
A
"This seems to be working. Recommend not changing until we see something worth changing for."
Verilich readies to attack.
Gundar will keep an eye out for healing that will be needed.
Khalid grunts and readies an attack as well.
Ghaernan? Caius?
Caius will nod in agreement and ready to strike.
With the death of the giant ant from the two decisive strikes, Ghaernan nods in concurrence as well, his whirling sling still readied in his hand and awaiting the insect's approach, until only the front rank offers the beast any cover, before he hurls his bullet...
Caius strikes at the bug as it closes.
19-20/x2 S
The soil from the southern mound burst outward in a sudden spray of damp earth as the next giant ant surged upward, mandibles snapping as it clawed its way free.
Verilich darted in first, weapon slicing downward with a hiss of displaced air—but the blow glanced off the creature’s hardened carapace, skidding harmlessly along the glossy shell.
Caius followed with a swift strike of his greatsword, but the ant jerked unexpectedly, and the blade bit only into the soil beside it.
Khalid stepped in, bringing his horsechopper down in a pair of rapid swings. The first came in too high, the second too low—both missing their mark by frustrating inches as the ant writhed and reared.
Then the creature lunged. Its jaws snapped shut toward Khalid’s midsection—but struck only empty air, the warrior twisting aside just in time.
As the clash unfolded, Verilich’s gaze flicked sharply northward, just in time to see another mound begin to stir. Loose soil sloughed down the sides as a second giant ant—its antennae waving and legs already scrambling for purchase—began crawling up from the northern mound.
The chamber was coming alive.
And the ants were not done.
Initiative
Caius <== Up!
Ghaernan <== Upx2!
Gundar <== Up!
Verilich <== Up!
Khalid <== Up!
A
19-20/x2 S
Khalid will ready an attack on yellow.
From his current vantage point, Ghaernan whirls the sling in his hand and hurls a projectile at the close-in giant ant...
Seeing his companions doing well with the ants, Gundar will continue to monitor their health.
Verilich misses twice.
Caius strikes the Red ant, as does Ghaernan. These attacks don't drop the ant though.
As the Yellow ant closes in, Khalid swings twice, hitting the second time, but doesn't finish it.
The Yellow ant attacks Caius but misses.
The Red any attacks Khalid with both its pincers and its stinger but misses twice.
The party is up!
Caius will strike again at the red ant.
19-20/x2 S
The Red ant goes down!
Khalid will take a 5' step and ready to attack green. "No room to work in here boys."
Verilich flurries on the yellow bug.
Ghaernan again sets the sling in his hand into a rapid spin, and hurls another projectile at the closest giant ant...
Gundar will cheer on the party while they slaughter the ants!
The clash continued in a flurry of steel and chitin.
Caius stepped in with deadly precision, his greatsword arcing down like a falling star. The blade cleaved into the red ant, splitting through its armored head and driving deep. The creature collapsed in an instant, limbs twitching violently before going still.
To the north, the green ant had finished dragging itself from the mound. Khalid turned, muscles coiling in anticipation, his horsechopper held at the ready.
Meanwhile, Verilich lashed out at the yellow ant, but his strikes met only empty air and glancing blows, his target skittering erratically across the dirt-strewn floor.
From the rear, Ghaernan took aim and loosed a sling bullet toward the same target—but the shot whistled past the ant’s abdomen and clattered harmlessly against stone.
Gundar, leaning forward with a grin, raised his fist in encouragement.
"Come on! That’s it! One more like that, lads!"
The green ant rushed forward, mandibles clacking as it barreled toward the party—
—but it never made it.
Khalid struck once, then again, the second blow landing with brutal force. The creature folded under the twin strikes, crumpling to the floor in a heap of legs and ichor before it ever came close enough to be a threat.
But the battle was not yet done.
From the southeastern mound, the final ant erupted, soil spraying as it surged into the room. It rushed forward, mandibles snapping, as the party turned to face it.
Caius, turning from his slain foe, finally drove his blade deep into the yellow ant, dropping it with a shuddering crack of bone and shell.
Verilich flew in low toward the newly emerged ant, landing a solid hit across its flank that sent it reeling.
And then Khalid was there, already moving, already striking—
—his weapon slammed down one last time.
The final ant twitched once.
And lay still.
The chamber, once churning with motion, fell silent once more.
I knew ye could do it lads! Just to make sure, no one hurt?
"No sir! This shield seems to help" Khalid says, grinning, with the adrenaline of battle still raging in his veins.
Khalid leads the group into the room. Anything to find other than holes in the floor? Anyone going into the ant burrows? Only one way out?
The way out appears to be where Khalid has moved across the room, exiting to the East.
Caius looks about.
Gundar will use his eyes to aid in the search.
"It looks like the mite went down this particular mound. We should follow if it is large enough."
Verilich will fly over there and look down the hole.
Verilich spies a 3' wide hole down into the mound that, albeit with some wriggling about, he thinks the party members can traverse.
Ghaernan follows Verelich's observation and approach to the hole with mounting distaste.
"If there exists no other option of which we might avail ourselves...after you...and Caius and Khalid, of course."
Khalid eyes the mound in question with a frown, watching Verilich circle above it. As the monk confirms its size, Khalid exhales slowly through his nose and steps toward the edge of the hole, peering down with clear reluctance.
“Can’t say I’ve dreamed of crawling into holes dug by vermin, but if that’s where the trail leads...” He shrugs, not bothering to hide the disgust in his tone. Always filth, always tunnels. At least a corridor has walls you can stand up in.
He glances sidelong at Ghaernan, catching the bard’s tone.
“Don’t worry. If it collapses, I’ll be under it first.”
Then, more dryly:
“Assuming Caius doesn’t beat me to it.”
"I will go scout down the hole. Ghaernan, you have the Message spell refreshed correct?"
Then Verilich will nimbly work down the hole.
With the last of the giant ants slain, Verilich turned his gaze to the southernmost mound—its loose soil still settling, the opening at its peak wide enough to admit a determined body. He crouched low, wings folding tightly against his back, and began to crawl down into the narrow tunnel, the scent of damp earth and disturbed stone rising around him.
The descent was slow, the earthen walls pressing close on either side as he slithered forward on clawed feet and elbows. The tunnel dipped slightly, curving with an unnatural angle that suggested it had not formed naturally, but had been shaped—deliberately.
After a dozen feet or more, the tunnel widened and the pressure of the walls fell away. Verilich emerged into an irregularly shaped chamber, its stone walls rough and freshly cut. Tool marks scored the surfaces—uneven gouges and shallow scrapes, all recent. Dust still clung to the air, and the scent of worked stone was strong.
And he was not alone.
Ahead, scattered across the room, were at least a half-dozen small blue humanoids, each no taller than a halfling. They moved with quick, jerking motions, brandishing pickaxes and tiny hammers, their backs bent in effort as they chipped away at the rock, expanding the room’s edges further.
So far, they had not noticed him.
Verilich remained in the shadow of the tunnel’s mouth, watching—silent, coiled, waiting.
Through the message spell, "There appear to be several mites here digging into the rock. I will try to make first contact in a diplomatic manner, but suggest you start making the way down. It opens into a standable room after a few curves."
Verilich will move next to the mite and engage in diplomacy trying the common tongue.
"Hello my little blue friend. Might we enter into a parley and exchange information?"
”Thanks, I’ll pass on the report and we’ll join you. Message is back to you, for any updates…”
Ghaernan turns to the others and swiftly relays Verelich’s words…
”Let us make haste in joining and reinforcing him; I cannot envision the wyvaran and ‘diplomatic manner’ ending well…”
As Verilich announces himself, the mites start yelling in their language...
Round 1
Verilich <== Up!
Mites
Round 2
Caius
Verilich
Mites
Ghaernan
Gundar
Khalid