Greenery pt 4
"Why is there an Alexandrian coin admist all this moss and ugliness?" asks your Sith-Makr contact. The escort. The translator! Whatrever you want to call him, he's not looking happy after all this.
"You found things like this too. It does not make sense!"
Kisaiya is off in the trees a good ten feet away from the clearing. She's standing there and then her arms sort of raise above her head with the hands bent over (Think Karate-kid without the balancing on one leg). Then she crouches a little lower and slowly starts to step off to the side in one direction, then the other, while staring very pointedly at the log that's in front of her.
Garak turns the coin over a few times in his hand, to see each side. "It's an Alexandrian coin, but from a different age. Before the portal to your land existed, before Alexandria even knew about Am'Shere, I would wager. Well, I would have before today..."
Selia considers a few moments, and shrugs. "Magic? Wot sorta magic, an' why, I ain't da one ta try an' say." Blinking, the little lutch shifts her focus to Kisaiya and the.... balaencing act?
Bors watches Kisaiya do the crane stance thing. Alexandria is so puzzling, the more so for not being in Alexandria just now. He remains quiet to take this all in.
She continues to slowly shuffle her feet from side-to-side in this low crouch with her hands positioned high over her head. Then her hand carefully moves down and toward her pack, it's a slow movement. It come back with a jar. "Imma gonna getcha." Kisaiya says, holding both of her hands high up again. Perhaps more like a crab with its arms up but it's pincers held down.
Selia blinks slowly, and glances to the other party members. "So... how long usually 'fore most fevers kick in wit da acting crazy?"
Shuffle-shuffle. Shuffle. Shuffle-shuffle. Kisaiya moves her feet about, the arms still up. With a quick movement the jar swoops down, the top already off, in a low arc that comes back up after making a near miss on the stump. "Damn it!" Kisa says, and scrambles with another couple quick swipes lower and lower down the stump until finally.
"HA-HAH!" Both arms back up in a cheer of success and she stands. In the glass jar can be seen a spider the size of a tarantula with cute beady eyes eyes, short hairs, and it's front arms up in a very similar way to how Kisa's were not that long before. Of course it's about then she notices the rest of her group members looking in her direction.
"What?" Kisaiya frowns, then points with her other hand at the spider, "It's for Alba."
Selia says, "....doin crazy stuff for a crazy person don't mean da stuff ya doin ain't crazy."
"I... what is she even doing?" asks the Sith, eyeing Kisaya like she has gone mad. He turns back to Garak with a heavy huff. "But why is it here? Why show up now of all times? Why leave such a token behind? It makes zero sense!"
Garak turns slowly to stand between Kisaiya and the Sith representative. He looks between the two, as if trying to decide who to pay attention to. Then when Kisaiya mentions Alba, his expression turns stony. He turns fully towards the Sith and stands to hopefully obscure the latter's view of Kisaiya. "Ahem. Are there any other tales or stories of the Teacher, perhaps ones that speak of his travels or his associations with infamous figures from other lands?"
Bors just watches the goings on quiely and waits with the stony patience of an old man waiting for tea to boil, knowing that sooner or later there will be someone to stab. There is no tea, though, so it's disappointing.
"I bet there's magic on it, cast by that damn gardener!" Kisaiaya calls from where she is. Next, the lid goes on and poke some holes in the top of it. She pokes her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as she pulls out a label and a quill. She writes:
Rogue Familiar
Return to Alexandria ASAP
Then stuffs it all back in her pack. The Jar was last, and much more careful about it. Wouldn't do to have it getting free.
Selia considers again, and shrugs. "So we know there's a connection 'tween Alexandria and da stuff 'ere, but we don't know da details, nor anything useful 'bout dis Teacher. Reckon maybe we oughta ask sumone wot knows magic better. Or plants. Meybe both."
Fazahd has arrived.
Fazahd has disconnected.
Garak has partially disconnected.
Fazahd has connected.
"We know very little of the teacher and his story but he has never shown an interest in the lands of thr Softskins," He grunts. "Never before have things like that been found. Perhaps..." He hisses.
"Wish I could tell you more, but this is most troubling. Either the Teacher has found a Softskin allie who has these as his calling cards, he's changing his tactics, or something else is going on. Most troubling. It's out of character for him based on what we know."
The sith adds.
Selia nods. "Teacher found a student, meybe."
"I blame the gardener." Kisa says as she starts to move over toward the rest of the people. "Besides, why can't they be like... wands. You know, the spell is stored in the coin, and that way you don't need to be there to cast it? Good way to avoid getting caught."
Garak nods slowly as he listens. "Clearly we need more intelligence - but where? Are there any other sightings we can look for?" He looks around at the surroundings. "Or perhaps - somehow - we can find a trail? He or his alleged ally must have come here to leave the coin..."
GAME: Bors rolls perception: (5)+16: 21
GAME: Selia rolls perception: (4)+9: 13
GAME: Garak rolls perception: (5)+17: 22
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Perception: (12)+3: 15
GAME: Zant rolls perception: (9)+13: 22
FOllowing Garak's advice, searching around further is an effot made!
...you don't actually turn up that much. Kisa finds another spider. Maybe it's hte other spider's sister.
Eventually, Garak and Zant find what appears to be some disturbed earth, as if something might've been buried in the ground there none too long ago. The timing would line up.
"You mean something like this?" Zant pipes up suddenly, after... being quiet for some inexplicable reason for a good while. Having come to a crouch nearby Garak, tapping at the ground. "Except... I dunno. This isn't a trail, is it? There was *something* here, though."
Bors has found no tea in his search. More's the pity. Tea would be good about now. And then he can stab some bad people. That would be nice. "Where?" he asks, breaking his silence. Surely there's /someone/ here to stab?
Selia shrugs. "Burrowing trail? Iffen demonic moles were ta git involved, at dis point I would na be surprised."
Without digging it up it is hard to say what's t here!
It';s not as if Am'shere is lacking in animal activity that could be responsible, too.
Kisa tilts her head as she stands with her arms perched up high again, this one was captured much more quickly with a swoop of a jar and a label stating the same as the first. She holds the jar up close to her face, looking at it and says softly "Rar-rar-rar. You are so flippin' cute!" She grins widely and then turns to look toward the rest of the party.
"Wait, what's going on?"
The Sith leans over and peers down at the disturbed earth.
"Huh. That's interesting. I wonder what did that?"
HE grabs a st ick and pokes at the earth.
"If there's no drag marks then..." Zant murmurs before standing up. "Uh... No one brought a shovel with them, did they?"
Garak draws his falchion and uses the tip to try and dig. "No - we'll have to make due." He pauses, remembering the last time he tried something similar. "Perhaps we should keep watch for other vegetation."
Selia slips off. Likely keeping watch without being watched. or maybe she just needs to pee. Either way, she's a little small to help with digging.
The ground starts to crumble while the Sith pokes at the mound with a stick.
Uh oh.
Kisa blinks and looks at them all, she reaches up to tap at her chin, "Hmm. Well, maybe we can find some rocks." She starts to look around for big rock outcroppings, "And then we can get some crystals to make a rudimentary thunderbelcher." She looks back to them all, "Anyone able to make thunderbelchers?"
Bors belches thunderously by way of reply to Kisaiya?
...aaand that's when the giant bug emerges from the grond. Hey, you poke the hole long enugh and whatever might just emerge.
Interestijng.
GAME: You roll initiative: 17 + 4 = 21
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 21.
It is now Kisaiya's turn! Bors is next!
GAME: Note Flat-footed ended.
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 1: aliased to 1d20+13: (5)+13: 18
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+4: (2)+4: 6
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 17.
It is now Bors' turn! Selia is next!
Kisaiya was minding her own business /TRYING/ to find a way to help dig. I mean, really, if they could just shoot at the ground that would totally work. Righ- Oh Gods that's a big bug. "GAH!" Kisa says with an outsctretched hand, perhaps it was her battle cry as she reaches back and pulls the scythe free. "GAAAH!" And then the scythe comes up and gives it a good cut with the blade of it.
"WHAT IS THAT?!"
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 8.
It is now Selia's turn! Garak is next!
GAME: Whirlpool reverses the initiative order.
Round One - Init 17.
It is now Bors' turn! Selia is next!
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+13: (2)+13: 15
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+13: (19)+13: 32
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+8: (16)+8: 24
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+8: (20)+8: 28
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+13: (6)+13: 19
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+8: (14)+8: 22
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+8: (14)+8: 22
GAME: Bors rolls 2d8+32: (5)+32: 37
GAME: Bors rolls 2d8+26: (7)+26: 33
GAME: Bors rolls 2d8+26: (8)+26: 34
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 8.
It is now Selia's turn! Garak is next!
Zant has disconnected.
GAME: Selia rolls stealth: (7)+30: 37
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 4.
It is now Garak's turn! Zant is next!
Selia is still missing. Or at elast, isn't seen. Or heard. Or elsewise detected.
GAME: Garak casts Remove Fear. Caster Level: 10 DC: 15
GAME: Garak rolls 1d8+5: (5)+5: 10
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 4.
It is now Zant's turn! Giant Ankheg 2 is next!
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round One - Init 2.
It is now Giant Ankheg 2's turn! Giant Ankeg is next!
Bors looks at the strange shape rising from the ground and nods to the others. The vibe is 'I've got this'. What he does defies reason and logic and sanitation, he gets right up on the bug and his blade skitters across its chitin. So plants the blade from his other hand into a shoulder joint and twists it, planting it deep, and pulling himself up to plant the blade in his other hand into the critter's eye. Then he pulls the blade from it's shoulder and stabs it in the other eye. It falls over after this, because Bors smells like he hasn't had a shower in weeks. Also, being stabbed through the brain.
With the first Ankeg cut down, it reveals its not aloen with the rise of a second nerar to you. It lifts up and sprays a great deal of acid from its massive mandibles directly at the lot of you standing near the first pit.
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 4d4: (12): 12
GAME: Kisaiya rolls reflex: (13)+6: 19
GAME: Bors rolls reflex: (13)+6: 19
GAME: Whirlpool damaged you for 6 points. 41 HP remaining.
Garak grimaces as the bug appears and is cut down. He moves closer to Bors and lays a hand on his shoulder, murmuring for Serriel to heal the elder's wounds. "Well at least that's over with..." he says. Famous last words.
GAME: Garak rolls reflex: (20)+3: 23 (CRITICAL SUCCESS)
GAME: NEW ROUND!
Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 21.
It is now Kisaiya's turn! Ankheg 3 is next!
Garak has reconnected.
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 1: aliased to 1d20+13: (15)+13: 28
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+4: (6)+4: 10
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 18.
It is now Ankheg 3's turn! Bors is next!
And now a little ways away a /third/ ankheg has shown up. Definitely Ankhegs. Farmers are sometimes said to let them lair beneath their lands as they're good for the soil. In any case, there's not two above ground. And they are /mighty/ large.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 17.
It is now Bors' turn! Selia is next!
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+15: (16)+15: 31
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+15: (15)+15: 30
Kisaiya sees the one rise from the ground, "Oh wow. There's a lot of you guys." She mutters stepping to the side and around the one that Bors had just killed. She moves with the scythe low, the blade barely above the ground, she pushes the back of the haft and whips the blade around in a low arch that comes up to catch into the underside of this bug-thing.
GAME: Bors rolls 2d8+32: (9)+32: 41
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 8.
It is now Selia's turn! Ankheg 4 is next!
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 7.
It is now Ankheg 4's turn! Giant Anhkeg 5 is next!
...and then there's another Ankeg! It erupts from underneath the ground a short distance away.
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+2: (14)+12+2: 28
Bors moves up to engage one of the other ankhegs, after smiling to Garak. It's ... well, it's a smile. And he hacks it hard with the backcurving kukri. The blade cuts between two chitin plates and there's a spurt of bug ... juice or whatever it's got inside. It's yuck that leaks out. Pure yuck.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 4.
It is now Giant Anhkeg 5's turn! Garak is next!
GAME: Selia rolls damage7+1d6+3d6: aliased to 1d4+1+1d6+3d6: (3)+1+(2)+(9): 15
OH HEY!
It's another ankgeh. There's a grand total of four of them emerged from the ground now and that's pretty much not okay. They're all over the place!
And huge. Did we mention huge?
All segmented plates and mandibles dripping with sizzling acid.
Selia is a sneaky sneak. And this time, she sneaks up on a bug. A big one. Waiting for the right moment, the little lutch springs from her hiding spot, driving her short little blade between the segmented plates, digging deep. Well, as deep as a short short sword can go. There's a small spurt of ichor, but most of it stays inside, frozen in place by the magic of the blade. That's gotta hurt.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 4.
It is now Garak's turn! Zant is next!
GAME: Garak casts Prayer. Caster Level: 10 DC: 17
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 4.
It is now Zant's turn! Giant Ankheg 2 is next!
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Two - Init 2.
It is now Giant Ankheg 2's turn! Kisaiya is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+12: (15)+12: 27
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d8+56: (11)+56: 67
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d8+6: (13)+6: 19
GAME: Whirlpool damaged you for 19 points. 22 HP remaining.
Slash!
A pair of mandibles bite deeply into Kisa's armor, serrating her quite badly, actually.
It doesn't look fun.
GAME: NEW ROUND!
Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 21.
It is now Kisaiya's turn! Ankheg 3 is next!
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 1: aliased to 1d20+13: (17)+13: 30
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 2: aliased to 1d20+8: (16)+8: 24
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+4: (5)+4: 9
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+4: (8)+4: 12
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 18.
It is now Ankheg 3's turn! Bors is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+12: (9)+12: 21
The wounded Anhkeg is less than pleased with Bors' initial attack. With its armor plated hide bleeding, it launches down into him to bite, though the warrior is able to narrowly deflect it.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 17.
It is now Bors' turn! Selia is next!
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+14: (6)+14: 20
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+14: (3)+14: 17
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+9: (7)+9: 16
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+9: (11)+9: 20
GAME: Bors rolls 2d8+16: (7)+16: 23
GAME: Bors rolls 2d8+13: (14)+13: 27
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 8.
It is now Selia's turn! Ankheg 4 is next!
GAME: Bors rolls 1d8+16: (2)+16: 18
GAME: Bors rolls 1d8+13: (8)+13: 21
Garak calls out for Serriel's blessings. A faint glow briefly surrounds each member of the party before fading. Garak tosses his falchion to the side, but suddenly his hands are filled with a gleaming lance.
Bors narrowly avoids an attack from the ankheg, his plain clothes stopping a bit that surely ought to tear right through. His amazing stabbing skill turns out to have been mostly luck as he's unable to repeat his earlier feat of badassery. While he does manage to stab the thing, he is nowhere like as deadly as he was when he faced that first ankheg.
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+1+2: (11)+12+1+2: 26
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+1+2-5: (10)+12+1+2+-5: 20
Kisaiya's blade hand finished cutting upward and she moves to slides to the side and out of its reach. Unfortunately, she instead slid right into its mandibles as it comes down hard on her shoulder. She lets out a gasp, her eyes shooting wide as it digs in quite deep to her shoulder. "Oh hells." She mutters, her brow furrowing as she tries to push it out of her mind. She'll step in, giving another flick of the scythe back around in a low sweep, cutting into its underside as she winces from the pain in her shoulder. It hits!
She whips the scythe back up and around, driving the blade back in the opposite direction as she cuts at those snapping mandibles with another slide into its carapace. "Oh Gods, my shoulder." She locks her jaw tightly, feeling the pain swelling yet further. These things really do hurt.
GAME: Selia rolls damage7+1+1d6+3d6: aliased to 1d4+1+1+1d6+3d6: (4)+1+1+(5)+(9): 20
GAME: Selia rolls damage7+1+1d6+3d6: aliased to 1d4+1+1+1d6+3d6: (3)+1+1+(2)+(11): 18
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 7.
It is now Ankheg 4's turn! Giant Anhkeg 5 is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+12: (15)+12: 27
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+11: (8)+11: 19
Selia stabs some more, the chitinous plate starting to frost over from the magical frost inside the guts. that's gotta slow a bug down, but so far hasn't stopped it.
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d8+6+1d4: (12)+6+(3): 21
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+17: (6)+17: 23
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 4.
It is now Giant Anhkeg 5's turn! Garak is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+12: (13)+12: 25
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d8+6+1d4: (11)+6+(1): 18
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+17: (10)+17: 27
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 4.
It is now Garak's turn! Zant is next!
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 4.
It is now Zant's turn! Giant Ankheg 2 is next!
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Three - Init 2.
It is now Giant Ankheg 2's turn! Kisaiya is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+11: (17)+11: 28
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d8+6: (9)+6: 15
GAME: Whirlpool damaged you for 15 points. 7 HP remaining.
The ankhegs are seriously dangerous and things are starting to look grim. Selia and Garak both are now in the mandibles of the absts, though two of them are badly injured and nearly deceased themselves.
Kisa is ground into a second time and the creak of her bones in that did not feel good.
GAME: NEW ROUND!
Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Four - Init 21.
It is now Kisaiya's turn! Ankheg 3 is next!
GAME: Whirlpool damaged you for -1 points. 8 HP remaining.
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 1 +3: aliased to 1d20+13 +3: (14)+13+3: 30
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 2 +3: aliased to 1d20+8 +3: (19)+8+3: 30
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+5: (5)+5: 10
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+5: (6)+5: 11
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Four - Init 18.
It is now Ankheg 3's turn! Bors is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+11: (4)+11: 15
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Four - Init 17.
It is now Bors' turn! Selia is next!
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+14: (8)+14: 22
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+14: (15)+14: 29
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+9: (12)+9: 21
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+9: (4)+9: 13
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+14: (15)+14: 29
GAME: Bors rolls 2d8+28: (3)+28: 31
GAME: Bors rolls 1d8+14: (8)+14: 22
There's another keep gash into Kisa, that one bit into her side, it just cut through the weak spots in her breastplate of armor and it was pain. A lot of pain as she lets out another short gasp, an quick inhale and the blade comes about her once more. She steps toward the creature, pushes with her hip to add that extra shove of force and watches as the first bug-thing develops a new gash in its throat and starts to fall.
"Oh Gods, give me strength!" Kisaiya mutters as she takes a couple quick steps and whips the blade about her, pushing the haft down into a whirl and driving the blade up from the bottom in toward the creature's belly that's attack Selia.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Four - Init 8.
It is now Selia's turn! Ankheg 4 is next!
GAME: Selia rolls escape artist: (14)+18: 32
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Four - Init 7.
It is now Ankheg 4's turn! Giant Anhkeg 5 is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+12: (8)+12: 20
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Four - Init 4.
It is now Giant Anhkeg 5's turn! Garak is next!
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Four - Init 4.
It is now Garak's turn! Zant is next!
Bors is kind of a monster in this circumstance, whirling and slashing with the oddly shaped blades he normally uses for cutting fish. But he has a smack like a dockworker and each slash smashes chitin and splatters gore. He doesn't exactly revel in it, but he seems quite pleased with himself as he cuts off bits, and the ankheg collapses in apoplexy.
Selia acks as she's grabbed. This? This is why she hate meat eaters larger than herself. Twisting like a cat, the dancer drops from the jaws, swearing quietly in a range of languages. At least, those noises are most likely swear words, they're sorta jumbled.
GAME: Garak rolls 5d6: (10): 10
GAME: Whirlpool damaged you for -10 points. 18 HP remaining.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Four - Init 4.
It is now Zant's turn! Giant Anhkeg 5 is next!
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Four - Init 3.
It is now Giant Anhkeg 5's turn! Kisaiya is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+17: (17)+17: 34
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d8+6+1d6: (8)+6+(4): 18
Nom nom!
Cleric is apparently tasty to the damn thing. It starts pulling him up in to its massive maw, acid dripping down throughh the lines of his armor and burning Garak's skin.
GAME: NEW ROUND!
Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Five - Init 21.
It is now Kisaiya's turn! Bors is next!
Garak is impaled on the Ankheg's mandibles, barely able to keep himself upright by half-dangling from the appendages. His lance disappears but Garak digs out his holy symbol. He unleashes a wave of healing energy, only instead of radiating out from him, it spreads from an invisible point from the air between Kisaiya and Selia.
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 1 +1: aliased to 1d20+13 +1: (15)+13+1: 29
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 2 +1: aliased to 1d20+8 +1: (11)+8+1: 20
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+5: (3)+5: 8
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+5: (4)+5: 9
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Five - Init 17.
It is now Bors' turn! Selia is next!
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+14: (19)+14: 33
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+14: (1)+14: 15 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Five - Init 8.
It is now Selia's turn! Ankheg 4 is next!
GAME: Bors rolls 1d8+17: (6)+17: 23
Kisaiya moves, stepping off to the side as she calls out, "Hey, I'm gonna be careful about this, but if we both move, I think we can flank it!" She grins wide, trying to keep herself happier about this when all she feels a flush of Divine energy, a fast look back. "Thanks!" But it's back to the job at hand.
Kisaiya starts moving again, a sigh as she pushes on the back haft, starting the slow spin that speeds up with a dramatic whip of motion as she takes her careful steps. A twist of her hips and she sends the blade arching in, cutting into the chitten. She takes another step, the haft whipping about behind herself and arching in a hard downward spin to try and cut into the chitin along its back. She's still bleeding from the shoulder, but at least she's not bleeding from the middle at the moment.
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+2+1: (1)+12+2+1: 16 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+2+1-5: (19)+12+2+1+-5: 29 (THREAT)
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+2+1-5: (20)+12+2+1+-5: 30 (THREAT)
Bors looks around for more enemies. Kisa and Selia are doing okay on the one, and Garak sure looks like he could use help. And Garak did the heal on him before, so he'll make his way over there and get the ankheg's attention by butchering a leg up pretty good, snarling ferociously.
Zant has connected.
GAME: Selia rolls 2d4+2+2+1d6+3d6: (5)+2+2+(1)+(10): 20
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Five - Init 7.
It is now Ankheg 4's turn! Garak is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+11: (4)+11: 15
Selia stabs again, the frosty blade catching on something deep inside. A lung, or kidney... hard to tell with bugs... whatever it is, Selia twists the blade, shreding the organ.... hopefully it was important.
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Five - Init 4.
It is now Garak's turn! Zant is next!
GAME: Garak rolls 14: (5)+14: 19
GAME: Garak casts Freedom of Movement. Caster Level: 10 DC: 18
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Five - Init 4.
It is now Zant's turn! Giant Anhkeg 5 is next!
GAME: Zant rolls melee+1+1: (16)+11+1+1: 29
GAME: Zant rolls melee+1+1: (9)+11+1+1: 22
GAME: Zant rolls melee+1+1-5: (10)+11+1+1+-5: 18
GAME: Zant rolls 1d8+11: (4)+11: 15
GAME: Zant rolls 1d8+8: (4)+8: 12
GAME: Zant rolls 1d8+8: (8)+8: 16
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Five - Init 3.
It is now Giant Anhkeg 5's turn! Kisaiya is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+12: (4)+12: 16
GAME: NEW ROUND!
Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Six - Init 21.
It is now Kisaiya's turn! Bors is next!
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 1 +3: aliased to 1d20+13 +3: (9)+13+3: 25
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 2 +3: aliased to 1d20+8 +3: (5)+8+3: 16
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+5: (8)+5: 13
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Six - Init 17.
It is now Bors' turn! Selia is next!
Zant has disconnected.
These damn things just won't seem to die, even as Selia sinks another blade into it, Kisaiya is moving to take up a flanking position with this creature. She turns the haft in her hand with a twist and a swing, she drives the scythe as hard as she can into the creature, sinking it in deeply - but it's still not dead.
"Oh for the love of Tarien." Kisa says with a bit of anger in her tone, her shoulder was starting to throb. Oh Gods! I hope the spiders are okay.
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+16: (14)+16: 30
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+16: (11)+16: 27
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+11: (13)+11: 24
GAME: Bors rolls 1d20+11: (6)+11: 17
GAME: Bors rolls 1d8+17: (7)+17: 24
GAME: Bors rolls 1d8+17: (8)+17: 25
GAME: Bors rolls 1d8+14: (8)+14: 22
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Six - Init 8.
It is now Selia's turn! Ankheg 4 is next!
Bors has faced the ankheg and made it drop Garak. So far, so good. Now he goes wild on it, silent but determined as he looks it in the eye-bits and hacks at it with mighty blows from the heavy kukri blades, hacking off extremities and splattering gore all over. It is messy. He seems OK with this. He's got its attention anyhow, no doubt of that.
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+1+2: (20)+12+1+2: 35 (THREAT)
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+1+2-5: (20)+12+1+2+-5: 30 (THREAT)
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+1+2: (2)+12+1+2: 17
GAME: Selia rolls weapon7+1+2-5: (1)+12+1+2+-5: 11 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Selia rolls 1d4+1+1+1d6+3d6: (1)+1+1+(1)+(10): 14
GAME: Selia rolls 2d4+2+1+1d6+3d6: (3)+2+1+(3)+(10): 19
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Six - Init 7.
It is now Ankheg 4's turn! Garak is next!
Selia grumbes and stabs, and stabs, and stabs some more.... it's a little more like sawing at this point. The acidic innards are starting to sting her eyes and scratches, and the magic frost has spread enough it's starting to get uncomfortable. For her, that is. It's WAY past uncomfortable for the bug.
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+12: (7)+12: 19
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Six - Init 4.
It is now Garak's turn! Zant is next!
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Six - Init 4.
It is now Zant's turn! Giant Anhkeg 5 is next!
GAME: Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Six - Init 3.
It is now Giant Anhkeg 5's turn! Kisaiya is next!
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+11: (14)+11: 25
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 2d8+6+1d6: (3)+6+(5): 14
GAME: Whirlpool rolls 1d20+17: (18)+17: 35
One last snatch at Selia (tasty halfling!) is made by one of the creatures, though it's badly injured and the last snatches Bors up to replace the mneal it lost in Garak.
He is badly sawed.
GAME: NEW ROUND!
Whirlpool advances the initiative order.
Round Seven - Init 21.
It is now Kisaiya's turn! Bors is next!
GAME: Garak rolls 13: (17)+13: 30
GAME: Garak rolls 8: (17)+8: 25
GAME: Garak rolls 1d8+14: (4)+14: 18
GAME: Garak rolls 1d8+14: (8)+14: 22
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 1 +3: aliased to 1d20+13 +3: (11)+13+3: 27
GAME: Kisaiya rolls Scythe 2 +3: aliased to 1d20+8 +3: (19)+8+3: 30
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+5: (4)+5: 9
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+5: (8)+5: 13
GAME: Whirlpool removes the timestop.
Timestop by Whirlpool has left.
Garak stumbles and nearly falls once the giant vermin releases him. He barely has time to summon his lance again when another party member is snatched up. Eyes flying open, Garak calls on Serriel to guide his lance before running the Ankheg through.
Kisaiya winces again, that shoulder was feeling twingy - badly so. She takes a quick breath, a hard exhale of pain as she pulls the scythe back about, another twist of her grip, a switch of her hands. She could make it through, just has to focus on her and Selia making it through this one. Surely she could count on the others to finish off the rest. "HEY! Stop biting at her! You okay?!" She's calling out to Selia as she steps forward, planting one one of the creature's feet.
Kisa's blade slides in front of her, hamstringing the creature and causing it to fall forward. There! And she took another quick step, changing the angles she's rotating the Scythe along to bring it up and around in a hard downward slash. She lets out a yell, throwing her weight behind it as hard as she can, and drives the scythe's tip down through its natural armor and into the creature. "Selia! Still alive! It didn't fall on top of you did it? OH THE FRIENDS!"
Kisa lets go of her blade's haft and quickly spring the backpack off to open up the flap and check on the two jars to see if the spiders were still inside of them and the jars no broken. For the moment, she even forgot about her bleeding shoulder.
Selia grumbles and mutters, stabbing the dead bug a couple more times to be sure before backing away. Fishing a small cloth from a pocket, the tiny dancer wipes away the worst of the goo before fishing a little more in her numerous pockets. Grabbing out a small jar, Selia sprinkles a little bit of white powder on the acidic burns, rubbing it into place with a faint wince before moving on to the next injury, eventually putting the baking soda away again. Someone knows proper first aid for acid spills. "I'll live. Gonna take a lotta doin ta git me hide all back in one smooth piece. Blokes say dey dig scars, but seldom rilly mean it." Vanity, thy name be Selia.
Bors whuffs as Garak kills the bug just after it picks him up. The small man could only avoid the grasp for so long. But it was long enough. He cleans off his blades with a rag and resheaths them. He looks around, peers at the ankhegs, then looks at the others. He shrugs. As to him digging scars ... the jury is out on that. He leaves that whole subject along. Garak and the others get an encouraging smile from him, though we're no nearer our end goal, it seems.
"Oh thank Gods." Kisa says, holding her hands up above her head as she looks back down at the spiders in their jars. She mimics their aggressive posture, because she's Kisa. She grins down at them and leans closer, talking to them gently, "Hey, hey. Calm down. I think you're gonna love it where we're going. She loves spiders, I bet she'll love you." She grins wider and seals up the backpack again, hefting it once more over her shoulder with a sigh.
"Good, and... I have no idea, I never asked." Kisa responds back to Selia with another smile and... there it is. The smile fades and turns quite drastically into a wince. She shifts the backpack quickly higher up on her shoulder and grips at the deep gash there. "At least they're better than cats."
Selia says, "Lies. Nuthin's better 'en cats. Cept big cats. Too much kitty in one place is jus' askin fer trouble."
A scowl from Kisa, "I hate cats. They vomit on everything and get their hair stuck to you. Basilisks are better."
Indeed.
There's still plenty of mystery.
Your sith guide, who is by no means a warrior, peeks back from around a tree.
"Thank goodness you're all right. That's odd, though. Something is wrong with these..."
And now it's becoming apparent in their wound now that you've a chance to examine them. There's bits of.. moss growing on some spots here and there on them.
"Usually, there's not that many together and they don't get THAT large. Something is wrong."
Selia tsks, and thumps lightly on a few of the carcass. "Mmm. Bloke told me the 'ides o these things can make good armor. But looks sorta rotted."
GAME: Kisaiya rolls +5: (20)++5: 25
Kisaiya winces as she walks back about the creature, jarring her blade free with the good arm and letting it hang down by her side for now as she stares at it. She frowns and tilts her head to the side as she looks at the moss growing on it, and the way that it just looks wrong. "Yeah." Kisa says, nodding her head toward Selia. "Yeah, you're right, it does look kinda rotted in a way."
Kisa kicks her toe lightly at it and frowns, "It's not natural, the moss, these creatures, all of it." Kisa shakes her head and starts to move back over toward Selia. One hand keeps pressing on her own shoulder while the other holds the scythe loosely.
"That's what gets me. It's not... natural, not native. The moss stuff I mean." Kisa narrows her eyes, staring off in the direction of the portal.
"That damn Gardener is a crafty one."