Ruins of Azlant IC

[farothel]

"We've seen the poison kit," Laurelata said, "it was there with the swarm suit, but we didn't dare use it as we weren't sure what it was exactly and you can do a lot of wrong if you don't know what it is. But using fire sounds good. We should try to get the momma as well if possible, just to make sure they won't come back in a few months."

[Farmerbink]

Jessica frowns thoughtfully as Ramona lists the names. "I suppose it'll have to do for now. It's more than we knew before at any rate, so we just have to figure out how all the pieces fit together...." She begins pondering the implications, particularly what little is known about them (a pair of fishermen would be relatively competent operating small crafts, and who knows what a psychic might have discovered?). For the moment, the mystery seems to remain.

She's so focused on her thoughts that she almost misses the entire discussion of the ankheg nymphs. "Oh, yes, that's the answer! We need to figure out where the brood queen is and either deal with her directly or drive her away from the colony. I still don't think any of them are likely to stay around when they find that we people are not easy prey, but it would be foolish to not plan for the encounter." She nods at Lauralata's mention of the pest kit. "Should have thought of that already. They're basically just big bugs, right?"

[DaOldeWolf]

"But before we go, I request to be given a minute. I might be able to recall our lost companion. It might need to be healed before we leave." Hewitt requests especially if they were going to engage with bugs later today.

Spoiler: OOC

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Making the summoning ritual to recover Lightburn as previously given the chance to do it.

.

[u-b]

Anya speaks next. "Ahem. I have discussed it with Ramona and it seems that the ankhegs are ambush predators - they wait underground and attack anything that comes close. They are not very intelligent and do the thinking comparable to crocodiles, frogs and such, not much thinking that is. Still, they are very dangerous and a grown-up can drag a whole man under the ground or bite off a limb in one go. I think our best bet would be to save the poison and live bait for the big one, if it's still around, and try to lure the nymphs out of the ground with simple tricks like fresh meat on a long enough rope. We will have to make the bait shake the ground, you see, that's how they sense their prey, but when lured out, they can be attacked with ranged weapons normally."

"The other way, you could lob some fire at their breathing holes. A single flask won't do, as it will not reach far enough, but a few waterskins of lamp oil, followed by a flask to ignite them, should reach the ankheg. The problem with this is that you won't see it dead, which means if it's not killed, it could burrow away and hide somewhere. It will need a new breathing hole sooner or later, but that might take some time."

Spoiler

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Lightburn is in and will be healed to full by the time you leave.

Alba is still to go.

[farothel]

"I'm sure we can rig something that makes vibrations and smells of meat," Laurelata said, "and maybe you're right, we should try to get as many out as possible without using the fire. Only when they don't want to come out, we can use fire but leave one opening without fire. They come out that way and we attack. And poison for the big one sounds good as well. Do you know how to apply it without poisoning yourself? Or do we just throw the vial?"

[Spore]

Marius Human Freebooter Ranger AC: 20 HP: 7/12 touch: 12, ff: 18, CMD: 16 Conditions: I know a few lodges in the Darkmoon Vale that are fumigated when there are termites in the wood. Can't we just use smoke instead? Half an hour or an hour of smoke should choke them, right? Marius chimes in. They are insects, like any other vermin, so they might just die from that. Or are they more resilient in that way? So how often do they need their breathing holes?

[SanguinePenguin]

Tazmara always secretly liked Anya. Though she only interacted with her a few times and the other woman was rather reserved, Anya seemed to her a kindred spirit in a way. Maybe it was just the hair? Nodding to Anya's words, Taz chimes in, "perhaps we should start at the fields then. There we can focus on the smaller one, and maybe learn a lesson or two about dealing with them. Hewitt - if we aren't poisoning them and plan to attack attacking at range, would it make sense to summon a critter instead of Lightburn to draw them out? ...I don't really understand where these critters youi can make come from, but I had been told once they didn't really exist before or after their conjuration - unlike Lightburn."

"To deal with the mother, perhaps a goat could be..." Taz pauses for a moment, unhappy with her own train of thought, before uttering the next word with distaste, "... sacrificed, coated with the blackfinger's salt and thrown to the mother. That... ugh, it would be such a horrible way to die. And the goats are valuable to the colony for milk. I am not much of a fan of this plan," she shakes her head, admonishing her own idea moments after suggesting it.

Tazmara considers Marius's idea, "they are definitely more than just insects... although maybe smoke would work, but smoke rises. I fear we would need some sort of engineered device to make it go down into the holes. I am at a loss for how to set such a thing up without being attacked while building it."

[DaOldeWolf]

"I am just worried a bit about the plan on one term. We dont know all of the openings that those creatures may have. There was even a hole inside one of the buildings. How can we be sure we might get them if we dont know of all their escape routes?" Hewitt replies with concern. The situation certainly needed to use surprise but they needed to get as many as posible or posibly kill the more dangerous and vital creatures. "What kind of social structure do these creatures have?"

[u-b]

Anya looks at Ramona. Ramona replies. "Ambush predators, if I get it right, should be about as solitary as it gets. Think cats or spiders, not much cooperation there. No colonies or anything."

Ramona looks at Alba, who adresses Laurelata's question first. "The ledger lists two poisons. Blackfingers’s salt is a salt and is pretty safe to use if you don't lick your fingers and wash your hands afterwards. You use it like you would use a regular salt, except that you don't do it to taste. It takes some time to work. Give it half an hour, should be more than enough." She smirks "Oh, and don't store it anywhere near the kitchen."

"Insecticide is usually sprayed, but you could just throw the vial. It's deadly for all small insects and not deadly for humans. I think one dose would not be enough for a large ankheg, so don't bother with it, you'll waste otherwise good stuff."

"I was intending to open my shop at the colony, so brought some alchemical supplies, but they are mostly raw stuff like acid, alkali, sulfur, saltpeter and such. I have some arsenic, you could use it like blackfingers’s salt and you can even use them both, but it is more detectable and less effective. I could make something fiery or explosive, but not on this ship - Jacob won't let me, and for good reason too. Anyway, anything more explosive than your basic alchemist's fire is probably just too explosive to be handled by the inexperienced."

Spoiler

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Alba has 2 doses of arsenic and can make most of this or that stuff, guaranteed for DC up to about 20, but won't make anything fiery or explosive onboard. And, of course, unless it is raw, it will take some time.

[farothel]

"Do you maybe have something other than wet wood that can make a lot of smoke," Laurelata asked, "that way we can try to push smoke in the tunnels, driving the critters out that way. And we can also use it to see where the tunnels go as smoke would come out of all the holes."

[DaOldeWolf]

"Should we be worried about their numbers? One of those things took down one in our group with a single attack." Hewitt replies still worried after the last encounter with one. He knew this mission would require careful measures to reduce the possibility of more losses.

[u-b]

As for Laurelata's question about smoking them out, there does not seem anything suitable handy, but Alba can improvise something in under an hour, please specify the amount you need. Ramona is expressing a doubt that it'll work, though, at least as far as detection goes - she is unsure if these critters use stable tunnels at all. The tunnel connecting the critter with its breathing hole is necessarily stable, but beyond that, she's not sure.

Anya states one more time that she thinks these should be solitary, so every time it will be one of them against all of you. She admits things could turn very ugly if she's wrong.

[SanguinePenguin]

After hearing the ideas, now with various added expertise, Taz summarizes to the best of her understanding, "alright, so they are solitary, and we probably won't encounter more than one. We can bait them out. We can poison the big one, but it might take a while to work. Any ideas on how to get it to eat the poison? The risks with using fire don't seem worth it to me, and it sounds like a huge waste of oil. Unless there is a good way to neutralize their acid, we are probably best off just killing the nymphs directly. We should be careful - keep our distance, fire at range - but I think we can take them. The big one..." after trailing off, she shrugs, "honestly, I have no idea how terrifying that thing could be. Perhaps we should head to shore and just figure it out when we get there. I was hoping to borrow a crowbar from Brady before heading back to shore, there was an odd floorboard in one of the houses that looked like maybe something was hidden there. I am hoping a clue about what happened, but who knows."

Spoiler: OOC

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Sorry, it has been a crazy week. Taz is weird about interacting with dwarves, so she isn't going to try to get Alba to join in. If someone else wants to, go ahead.

[Spore]

Marius Human Freebooter Ranger AC: 20 HP: 7/12 touch: 12, ff: 18, CMD: 16 Conditions: An underground ambusher with collapsing tunnels. We can't stay in town to wait for all the nymphs. I have another solution. The houses should have trampled dirt and large stone slabs laid upon them to slow them down. We cannot wait for them, we have to check for the other colonists in the jungle tomorrow. I am not one to avoid getting dirty or do the boring jobs, but in these circumstances I feel Ramona's crew is capable enough to deal with that on their own.

[DaOldeWolf]

Hewitt feels similarly to Marius but he wouldnt say anything since he was trying to make a food impression. He felt that their resources were limited after the work done during the exploration and extermination of threats. Not to mention, he was still annoyed about losing all the research material they had found. He remained silent and waited to see how the rest felt about the whole thing.

[farothel]

"So, we head back and try to clean out as many of them as we can," Laurelata said, "and tomorrow we can bring everyone on land while we move on, cleaning the rest up and checking out the vicinity."

[Farmerbink]

Jessica nods, having kept her peace for most of the discussion while more experienced folks discuss the possibilities.

"That sounds reasonable to me, Laurelata. We need to get into the woods and see if we can find any of the first wave of colonists- we still have many more questions out here than answers."

[SanguinePenguin]

Taz shrugs. "Let's kill the nymphs in the fields, and then see about the big one."

Spoiler: OOC

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I don't have a very strong opinion about what to do here, but I think we are making mountains of of Ankheg hills. Regardless, I do think we should move the game forward - whatever way you think is best to do that, you have my support u-b.

[farothel]

"Okay, so we try to scare them away with smoke and any that come out, we kill," Laurelata summed up, "then we will need as much smoke stuff you can prepare. Marius, I think your idea of reinforcing the houses is good, but that the other colonists can do tomorrow while we scout the surroundings. The soldiers can guard them while they do it in case one of those critters come back."

[u-b]

You wait for Alba to prepare the smoke-making stuff. It does not take too much time. She returns with four bags of four pounds each.

Meanwhile, Anya makes a few incendiary arrows using her normal arrows, oakum and lamp oil. She also gets a length of thin rope.

When everything is ready, you row the boat back to the beach and target the nearest field to the south-east of the dock when you saw the oversized mole-nole. You approach the field from the north-north-east. Not coming closer than about 45 feet, Anya throws one smoke bag with the rope attached. The bag lands on the ankheg's breathing hole. Anya lights up an incediary arrow and shoots it at the bag. She hits. The bag bursts in flames, releasing a lot of thick smoke, obscuring your view of the field. You stand ready for some time then suddenly Anya shoots two arrows south-west past the smoke. "There! Seventy feet from us!"

Spoiler

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Smoke bag: (1d20-2)[6]
Incindiary arrow: (1d20+6)[19]
The ankheg emerges (1d6+2)[6]*5 feet in the following direction: (1d12)[8] o'clock (12 is north)
Anya perception: (1d20+8)[14]
Anya arrow: (1d20+5)[12] for (1d8+1)[6] miss (1d100)[32]
Anya arrow: (1d20+5)[22] for (1d8+1)[3] miss (1d100)[69]

The ankheg nymph has cover and, from where you stand, also concealment. Perception 10 to see it from where you stand.

=> Party

[Spore]

Marius Human Freebooter Ranger AC: 20 HP: 7/12 touch: 12, ff: 18, CMD: 16 Conditions: Over there. Marius says as she shoots a marking shot at the ankheg. Spoiler Show move to activate Freebooter's Bane. Arrow shot: (1d20+4)[21] Damage: (1d8)[5] Miss chance (1d100)[66]

[farothel]

Laurelata looked where Marius pointed and then moved a bit to the side so she had a better shot, before she let go with her shortbow.

Spoiler: OOC rolls

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move up to 30 ft to get rid of the concealment and cover if possible, but without coming closer than 60ft.

attack: (1d20+3)[23]
damage: (1d6)[5]
if concealment is still on: Miss chance (1d100)[71]

[SanguinePenguin]

"Is that it!?" Taz cries out as she squints through the smoke. She tracks the movement, but adds in dismay, "I can't hit it that far away!" She tracks the movement and braces herself to attack if the creature gets any closer.

Spoiler

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Move toward it by 10 ft, Ready action to kinetic blast it if the Ankeg comes within range.

[DaOldeWolf]

Hewitt feels annoyed that he doesnt have any capabilities for ranged combat. He decides to wait with Lightburn with the group. He commands Lightburn to sty in front of the group and only engage if any creature decided to attack the group.

[Farmerbink]

Jessica starts at the seemingly-sudden appearance of their quarry. She steps forward a few paces before remembering her allies's plans. Turning to Marius, she silently focuses her energy to draw a simple boon into him. "Good shot, Marius!" she cries, as his arrow appears to strike true.

Spoiler: Jessica, Round 1

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Jessica Cooper
F NG Aasimar (Angel-blooded) Cleric, Level 1, Init 2, HP 9/9, DR Acid, Cold, Elec resist 5, Speed
AC 11, Touch 11, Flat-footed 10, CMD 13, Fort 3, Ref 1, Will 4, CMB +2, Base Attack Bonus 0
Glaive +2 (1d8+3, x3)
Dagger +2/+1 (1d4+1, 19-20,x2)
Abilities Str 14, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 16
Condition +2 CL for divination spells
Augery 2/2 (weekly)
Inner beauty: 1/1
Alter self: 1/1
Channel energy: 6/8, 1d6
Touch of good: 4/5
Bit of Luck: 2/5
Talisman of good fortune: reroll natural 1 (once, then it crumbles)

Using Bit of Luck to give Marius roll twice, use best for all d20s on his next turn.

[u-b]

You shoot at the ankheg, aid, or stand ready, as the case may be. The arrows seem to fly where you want them, as far as you can see (which is not all that far).

Spoiler: Perception 10 (perception 5 for Laurelata)

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The ankheg disappears underground.

Spoiler

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You cannot avoid the cover (it's the ground from which the ankheg only partially crawls), but avoiding the concealment is possible if you move south of the corn fields or some such.

=> Party?

[Spore]

Marius Human Freebooter Ranger AC: 20 HP: 7/12 touch: 12, ff: 18, CMD: 16 Conditions: It is in their nature to ambush people, but I assume it has had enough for a while. Not true to his words, Marius does not relax, but rather lies his ears on the ground, listening for some rumbles. Spoiler Show Perception (2d20b1)[7]+6 I lack tremorsense or similar, so I guess the roll is either impossible or very hard.

[farothel]

"It moved into another hole," Laurelata said, "this is going to be quite hard if they have multiple holes. Let's see if we can guide the smoke to go into the holes. Hear anything?"
The last was to Marius.

[SanguinePenguin]

"I think the smoke is helping it more than us! If we were closer, I could shoot at it when it comes out. I think we should move toward it, but carefully." Taz creeps toward the location where the ankheg was staying on guard with a focus toward the ground.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move 30 ft, Total defense +4 AC to 19.

[DaOldeWolf]

"Would it help if Lightburn used his scent to try to detect which holes might have creatures inside?" Lightburn declares trying to assist in the hunt. "Could we try drowning them instead? We do have one person that can manipulte water."