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[D&D 4E - IC] GIANT ANTS : "Ants aren't just for pants anymore."
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He begins gathering his things, pontificating mostly to himself on that poor fellow's treatise on trying to make more time, what a fool's errand it had been, and how the novice had been aged decades from his experiments with, quite frankly, little to show for it.
"I'm not sure if that helps, or maybe you know something about these tunnels or if there's another entrance we can take."
Chapter 5: "Counterstrike?"
Lake Ambrose - Refugee Boats
"Right then, let's get down to it!" Vicks says to the group. He orders one of the other guards to update their superiors on the slight change of plan, and makes his way over to Quinnten. Having received a general description of the farm they were looking for, he then leads the crew down to the dinghies. The little boats bob up and down as they're boarded. Vicks makes sure to hop onto the same boat as the rest of you.
Oars are distributed to the guards and more physically fit members of the party, and so begins the brisk row to the shore. Once the groups of boats gets far enough away from the refugee boats, Vicks directs the other dingies to head north, toward the city.
"They're going to make their way to one of the gates and dig in so that we'll have a place to work out of once we settle this farm business, ok?" Vicks states.
As the other boats fade into the fog, the area grows quiet save the sounds of water.
(Roll Percentile, and your choice of Athletics, Endurance, Nature, or Perception three times!)
(You can put that roll into the OOC, or flavor it with ICness.
Chapter 5: "Counterstrike?"
Ambrose Hills - Forest Outskirts
The boat ride across the lake was every bit as boring as one would expect it to be. The minutes of grey and sounds of water are end only when each of the remaining dinghies make landfall. A silence and fog similar to that experience on the lake falls upon you, creating the sensation that at any point DANGER may strike.
Along the way you observe that much of the flora and fauna in this area is intact. This seems to affirm the relationship between the ants attack and the wards to Nim. Either that or civilization made for a great buffet and there was no need to invade this area. Gramps is able to walk at a great clip, although doing so seems to wind him a little. Inutchuk is fine, because he is a giant. Even Quinnten is able to keep up, as Barthlomew does what comes naturally to him. Padding through the forest the only thing the group managed to encounter were cheap scares. Flocks of birds suddenly flying away, a stray deer or two. It's almost disappointing.
With no real distractions you finally get out of the forest and make great time. The morning fog has burned away, and now Ambrose opens up before you. Dotted across the rolling hils are farmsteads. The sun glimmers off the slightly marshy area directly to the west of your position. The high grass in that area could prove treacherous. In the distance to the southwest lay the Southern Fort: a location that is known to have been overrun by the ants. Following the treeline further north would lead you around the marshy region, but would take more time. Steve's farm lay further to the west, and was not yet visible.
(Where to? Also roll your choice of Athletics, Endurance, Nature, or Perception three times!)
Options:
- Go through the marshes.
- Go around the marshes, northernly route.
- Go around the marshes, southern route: takes you within proximity of Southern Fort.
The professor seems a bit lost. "So we should go... no, no, didn't come this way... always hated moisture, so that can't be right..."
He mutters to himself in a similar fashion for quite some time, then consults his notes, then mutters some more.
"I'm not really liking the idea of going through that marsh. If we head south, we could hit the Fort and there could still be some ants lingering there. North might be safer, although there was an incident with some dire boars and birds so they're not that safe." Quinnten took a deep breath as a means to pause and collect his thoughts. His next statement barely came out through gritted teeth as he knew that he was about to make a suggestion that might would probably see him putting himself into mortal peril, again.
"But, even if the southern fort was attacked, there may still be some survivors, so it might be worth investigating despite the risk."
Athletics: 3#1d20+11 23 28 18
"I agree, Quinnten. We would do well to avoid the marsh. The fort as well. Survivors or not, we have slightly more pressing matters to attend to - we must find a way to destroy the ant queen. I say we take the northern route. I doubt anything we encounter there could be worse than these ants."
The professor seems a little shaken. He had not expected to lose an entire class on such a routine expedition.
"What's a pinion?"
Chapter 5: "Counterstrike?"
Ambrose Hills - Forest Outskirts
"It's..." Vicks thinks of a way to explain this. "Hey, big guy. Do you like things slow, wet or dangerous?" Vick asks.
"If pinions are a dirty word than I don't want any."
The gnome had taken great pains to keep his request as short and simple as possible, he had even left out all mention of the wards, and what a question those were! Magical wards had always fascinated him. Not as much as illusions, of course! But all the same, interesting things, wards...
"I remember what the door is. Could be anywhere. Tiny Man thinks I remember?"
People asked Nim things all the time. What do you know about this, what do you know about that. But this was the first time someone had asked him if they knew something. The minds of Giants were a bit odd, though... and the idea that this one could remember something yet be unable to know it seemed like a bit of a scientific leap.*
* The Æncyclopedia Ambrōs contains references to certain scholars of Geopsychology who claim that Goliaths, Stone Giants, and other "sentient landforms" of the genus Caudex are very dependent upon their native substrate for full mental capacity. Their assertions are not widely accepted but they seem to have observed that these creatures tap into some sort of sense-memory and/or place-memory contained within the stone formations around them. It is not agreed upon whether this phenomenon is one of biology or neurosis. However all of these theories run very counter to the prevailing scientific opinion, which is that having a head made of rocks makes you stupid.
Of course, Inutchuk was not a student, either of his or of the Academy. "Of course, once knowledge penetrates the mind, it is exceedingly difficult to rid oneself of it." He stopped, realizing that even this simple verbage might be too much. "I think you will remember more underground, that is if Aeschol and his lot had any idea what they were talking about." Seeing the blank look, Nim sighed. "You will remember better when we are closer to rocks."
Inutchuk nodded in the direction of the looming mountains that lay to the North... or rather, toward "Up", one of his people's two cardinal directions.
"Keep an eye out for buried notes or text. My students may have hid their findings in the area if they could not keep the information safe themselves. They will be in small stone cairns or any natural niche that would protect against the elements."
Chapter 5: "Counterstrike?"
Ambrose Hills - Roads
After standing there long enough for Nim to finish speaking, Vicks speaks up again.
"Let's head north then. It's the… slow route," he says while looking toward Inutchuk.
Sticking to the shadows of the forest canopy, you make your way to the north. The ground is soft afoot, and the shadows of clouds slowly crawl across the land in the distance. With all the beauty of the land, Nim finds himself lost in the scenery. A single tear begins to roll down his cheek as the simple complexities of nature overwhelm him. With the sun shining down on them the group manages to continue to travel at a good pace. Traveling to the north requires you to do a little bit of climbing, but it's nothing that any of you couldn't handle. Once it's possible to begin moving westward without getting your feet wet, you begin to do so and all is well.
Slightly rolling hills, the sun shimmering off homesteads in the distance and a nice gentle breeze all contribute to what would be a lovely trek under lighter circumstances. Clusters of dense trees also break up the grassy knolls. As midday slowly begins to approach, you find that you are just about to cross over one of Ambrose's major roads. Wards lay every 100 or so meters apart from each other. Whether or not they were functioning proper you couldn't ascertain from this distance.
There are no unfortunate travelers along the road, a clear sign of recent events. Not wanting to waste time, you cross the road yourself. Doing so is uneventful. Your travels to the west are made easier now thanks to small side roads. More farmsteads go by. None of them seem to show any signs of occupation. Eventually you find yourselves moving on small road situated along a brook. Whether or not it was natural or dug for irrigation, you couldn't say.
"Looks like we're going to be crossing the highway between the West and Southfort soon," Vicks says, and minutes later you see a stone bridge in the distance. On the side opposite you, dense trees line both sides o the brook. Under the bridge a group of deer drink.
As your eyes move to scan north and south for anything out of the usual, your attention is directed back to the deer, which are now running toward you. Behind them one poor deer wails and cry out, before being yanked under and outside your field of vision. It almost looks like it was grabbed by some kind of... vine?
You can cross and avoid whatever just grabbed the deer, or you can go toward the bridge... your call!
"No, no. If plants ate deer, then there wouldn't be any deer to eat the plants. It's a pair-of-ducks, you see."
There was a pause. Perhaps only the Tiny Man understood Big Words.
"Its probably not every plant just one type, or something," He attempted to reassure the Goliath's logic.The Goliath had made a fair point about the odd state of things. Regardless, it didn't help with the current problem which was whether or not to face some plant thing or creature whatever. To be fair, Quinnten was taken most of this in stride, the journey come landfall had gone so relatively smoothly that he half expected that something would happen. Still there was no reason to investigate any further as he wasn't particularly interested in meeting with a...whatever it was.
"I agree with Bartholomew's suggestion, we should cross over."
"My word!" Nim exclaimed, trying to catch a glimpse of the plant that ate the deer.
His surprise was only compounded by the goliath's butchering of the word 'paradox.' "You... know that word?" The professor frantically tried to locate his notebook and pinpoint the current distance from the mountains. "Yes, yes, a paradox indeed," he managed while trying to remember his spherical geometry, "I think I may have read a paper on just such a thing, let me see if I can recall..."
The Tiny Man seemed like a Good Sort. And of course, he was Very Smart. Also very small. Father Baern said something about that once, about the Old People who knew everything. It was due to their being able to see the future. They were Profess-Sized, which must have meant they were small enough to hop into the future and back out again, Inutchuk reasoned. For example, if you planted a seed, he could look at it and see what kind of plant it was going to be. That must be why everyone called him a Profess-Sower.
Chapter 5: "Counterstrike?"
Ambrose Hills - Roads
"Gods. First giant ants now giant plants," Vicks says.
As Nim speaks with the goliath he thinks back to his studies of the Monstropedia Naturalis. Plant monsters were usually the product of local flora being tainted by incidental or intentional exposure to high quantities of magical energies in a very short period of time, or prolonged exposure to a lesser amount over a long period of time. Unfortunately for the gnome, the situation in Ambrose could fit into either category. Healed by the sun and hungry for flesh, these plants send out their tendrils to catch unsuspecting prey. Hollow thorns on their vines allow for free transfer of "juices" from the victim. Fortunately such creatures were generally stationary. Although there have been some reported cases of plant monsters having roots that stretch for miles, these were extremely rare. In all cases their hunger was nearly insatiable.
"If we backtrack some we can cross, head further south and then get back on the road. We've made good time already, unless you want to fight that thing."
"On the other hand, some of these grow more slowly over time, so if the wards had been incorrectly made in the beginning, the energy powering them may have been leaking into the surrounding flora for years now. I would put our possibility of this happening in the low twenties or so, but if this is indeed what happened, we could be dealing with a Dionaea amazonica." When he saw the blank looks, Nim sighed and explained, "A giant carnivorous plant, one that has root systems that may stretch over this entire valley." Seeing the looks of alarm on everyone's ... well, everyone's but the goliath's ... faces, the gnome waves a hand dismissively. "But like I said, that would be an incredibly rare situation, and if it were true, retreating back and finding another route wouldn't help in the slightest."
Satisfied with his reassurance, Associate Professor Nim gives his studen... his comrades a chance to discuss this new information.
"Quinnten? You can summon quite a large amount of fire, yes?" Without waiting for an answer, Nim nods satisfactorily. "Yes, I believe we could rid this place of the thing with little effort." In a lower voice, almost to himself, "We should take care not to burn down the entire grassland, though..."