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Last Stand of the Dorinthians
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<blockquote data-quote="Deuce Traveler" data-source="post: 3454374" data-attributes="member: 34958"><p>Each of the party members landed inside a jelly-like substance, which reaked of decayed, but sickeningly sweet food. The goo was soft enough to break the fall without anyone being injured when they finally reached the ground. The adventurers rolled out of the jelly, only to see the large shape of the troll land on the rock floor with a thud in front of them. It seemed he missed the various pockets of goo. The creature got up shakily, his regeneration beginning to repair the damage that he had taken.</p><p></p><p>As the group glanced around they saw that they were in another large cavern, and they could no longer see the last cavern from whence they fell from. It was too dark, and the distance too far. Also, the party was covered in the nasty jelly and struggled to keep the stuff out of their eyes as they somewhat successfully wiped their various faces with dirty sleeves. Strange, amber stones were placed inside the walls and gave a soft, dull light that allowed the adventurers to see their surroundings better.</p><p></p><p>On either side of the group was a band of armored insect men, each wielding a weapon in their hands. From the looks of things they were about to war with one another, but the group's strange entrance seemed to have shocked them into a temporary peace. As the party regained a hold on their weapons, the troll gave a worried giggle and began to lope towards Alexander, slowly. It was evident to him that he wouldn't be escaping past the surrounding creatures. </p><p></p><p>In turn, the group also prepared to finish the battle. But first, one of the ant-like men began to beat his spear into the ground, creating a primitive rythm. Ant-men on both sides took up the beat, some stamping their strange feet while others clashing blades on shields. Like gladiators of Tallione, the party and the troll circled each other for the kill amidst the anticipating spectators.</p><p></p><p>For Alexander, the change of scenary, altough a surprise, was quickly relegated to the background... the troll was still standing. Deciding that studying his opponent wasn't an option when it healed at a vigorous rate, Alexander warned, <span style="color: Blue">"If I fall, get my potion,"</span> before jumping again against the troll.</p><p></p><p>Silas gaped as he picked himself up from the ground. He tried to rub off as much as the goo as he was able, or at the least, enough so that he could move without hindrance. Seeing the troll pick himself up and begin circling, Silas sighed, forcefully intoned a word of power, and flicked a finger toward the troll. A greenish ball of liquid soared through the intervening space...</p><p></p><p>Alexander attacked, but some of the goo disrupted his vision and his blades bounced off the creature's rubbery hide. Kel's swing was more effective, and it cut deeply into the troll's flesh. Dartis moved in next, flanking the creature before his bow fired twice, despite the slickness of the goo around his bowstring. His first arrow slammed deeply into the creature's back, tossing it to the ground, but the next shot went wide and glanced off Kel's thigh, injuring the priest. The troll writhes in agony as it attempts to rip the arrow out of its body, but it stopped and gave one last pitiful giggle as Silas stood over it and flicked a final blast of acid into its face. After a long twitch, the large creature lay dead, half of its wounds caused by fire and acid.</p><p></p><p>DM's Note: So much for my reoccuring villian.</p><p></p><p>The ant-men on both sides cheered the show, and both groups moved towards the warriors. As they neared each other they began to banter in a strange chittering language. The ant-men looked similar to one another, except that one side was brown in color and the other group red. It was evident that they were arguing over the party since they brandished their weapons threateningly, but the red ant-men were the first to back down after the brown ant-men point to the mounds of slimy goo that the group had landed in.</p><p></p><p>After the red group backed down, a large brown ant-man approached the party and pointed to a tunnel behind him with his spear. It seemed he wanted the adventurers to go inside the passage. There were nearly twenty of these ant-men in each of the two groups.</p><p></p><p>The half-orc did not sheathe his blade, and instead -as an answer to the brown ant's pointing- he pointed upwards with his left arm, then he pointed to his companions, and pointed again firmly upwards. <span style="color: Blue">"Had enough with tunnels,"</span> he mumbled.</p><p></p><p>The brown ant-men looked at each other and shrugged. It was evident that they did not understand the common language. One that stood behind Alexander pushed him a bit more forcefully with the butt of a spear. From the jolt, it seemed that these creatures were somewhat strong.</p><p></p><p>Silas shrugged and glanced at the troll. Looking towards the ant-men with an obvious look of excitement he said, <span style="color: orange">"Perhaps we should go as they direct. They seem pretty serious and well, they <em>do</em> outnumber us."</span></p><p></p><p>Alexander mumbled something else about tunnels, looked upwards longingly, and followed Silas.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Green">"Besides which we have no way to climb back up anyway, so let us press onward. Thus far they have not slain us so hope remains," </span> said Dartis as he followed the antmen.</p><p></p><p>Kel nodded in agreement with his friends, and he grimaced in pain as he looked at the blood still flowing from his wounds and uttered a quick prayer to the Huntress to cure his wounds.</p><p></p><p>The creatures guided the party through what felt like several miles of tunnels, and during the journey the group noticed smaller ant-men working at digging at more passages and collecting food, which the adventurers watch them sometimes eat and regurgitate into a smelly, decayed goo, which was piled and stored in various corners. Many of them stopped to watch the intruders for a moment before going back to work.</p><p></p><p>Finally, the escorts guide the party to a final cavern, where a larger ant-man in armor stood over a naturally-made desk of solid stone. Scraped on its surface were various notes, cleanly made in a language that the party could not understand. The guards got his attention with some chittering, and he stopped his studies to look at the party in surprise. After a moment he motioned the group towards him and said, <span style="color: yellow">"Do you understand me? I think this is your language, bipeds. My fellow formians say you landed among them before they had a chance to wreck our enemies' food supplies. I take it this was accidental."</span></p><p></p><p>Silas looked from the ant-man to his companions and back again. <span style="color: orange">"Yes,"</span> he began. <span style="color: orange">"It was an accident. We tracked the troll after it killed some of our people and the floor where it holed up collapsed beneath us. Is there a way out of these caves?"</span></p><p></p><p>Alexander, completly stunned at all this, was with his alarms all on, ready to be set off at the minimal incident... this was far too weird for him. <span style="color: blue"><em>So this was how an antmound looked inside... worse than the gnomes' tunnels.</em></span>. Deciding to let the arcanist do the talking against tunnel-dwelling... ants?, the half-orc just examined the room, already considering the desk as a spot for Dartis and Silas to take cover, and the exit for him and Kel to block it if necessary.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: yellow">"There is no real easy way out, except perhaps by climbing the walls from where you had come. Probably not an easy task. There is a tunnel that leads from between my territory and my enemies' that goes to the surface, but it is a day's journey and I cannot spare the men since we are in open warfare with our opponents. However, if my enemies were somehow removed... say with a dose of poison in their food supply,"</span> he tapped a small barrell filled with a foul liquid as he mentioned this. <span style="color: yellow">"Well, if something horrible like that were to happen, then I'd have nearly all my men free to aid you. Of course, it would have to be delivered by someone they might not suspect to be an enemy..."</span> If a formian could smile, his face would have showed one.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Green">"Then perhaps you have some rope we could borrow to climb back out of the hole we made," </span> replied Dartis with a stern face. <span style="color: green"><em>These were Rix's kind of people</em></span>, he thought. All the better that the damned kobold wasn't there, who knew what kind of mischief the formians and he would brew up.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: yellow">"Rope?"</span> The large formian looked at Dartis with a puzzled expression until the noble explained it to him. Then he dismissed the idea, <span style="color: yellow">"We have no need for such materials in the underground."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: Green">"Fine, then permit us to climb back out of the hole."</span> replied Dartis.</p><p></p><p>The noble felt the tension rise as the formian leader looked at him sharply. After a moment, though, he seemed to visibly calm down and pointed to a small worker ant-man. <span style="color: yellow">"Fine. Do it the hard way then. This worker will guide you to the outskirts of our territory and point out the tunnels of our enemies before leaving you to fend for yourself. It is in their territory that you had fallen. Off with you now!"</span></p><p></p><p>The ant-man worker was smaller than the soldier formians, but had the same tone of black on his carapice. He waited for the group to follow him.</p><p></p><p>Dartis gave a stiff bow to the leader. <span style="color: Green">"Thank you for your generosity,"</span> he said quite sincerely and followed the smaller worker ant out.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: orange">"Please, hold a moment, Dartis,"</span> said Silas quickly. Turning to the lead ant-man he said, <span style="color: orange">"Poisoning is not an accepted practice among our people and so we cannot in good conscience do this thing for you. But maybe we can earn your aid by aiding you in another way. What is the cause of this warfare between you and this other people?"</span></p><p></p><p>The formian leader shrugged and said, <span style="color: yellow">"We started fighting in our home plane far from this place because our queens declared that there was not enough resources to go around. Therefore the strong dominate the weak and take the resources available, as has been done for countless years. This time, however, one queen used powerful magic that ripped a section of the battlefield from the plane of Mechanus and brought us to this world. Here there were resources, although no queen to continue our race. A truce occured, as a nearby human village dumped enough discarded food in their waste pits for both our groups to live on. It is likely that we would all eventually die of old age anyway, so why war with the abundance of food? Recently these humans we depended upon were killed and captured by another hive of humans. With no more food waste easily grabbed from the waste pits, our groups have been starving. It is the old struggle for food again, and if we do not continue the war soon in order to deplete our populations, it is likely that both our groups will starve as there is only enough resources in the earth and above to sustain half us formians. As leader of these formian brothers, I am determined that our group will have the least casualties when war comes,"</span> he said, tapping the barrel of poison once more as a hint.</p><p></p><p>Alexander looked at Dartis and said, <span style="color: Blue">"We could try and free the captured ones after answering the dwarves' call... That should settle it." <em>Poison is part of nature's arsenal, but poisoning food is vile, it must never be considered an option.</em></span></p><p></p><p>Silas looked over at Alexander with a slight frown. <span style="color: orange"><em>Does he realize what the possibility of forming an alliance with these creatures could do for our cause?</em> "We need allies <em>now</em>, Alexander. After the battle may be too late."</span> Silas turned his attention back to the formian. <span style="color: orange">"Our people, too, are at war. If we can solve your problem without loss of life, would you lead your warriors against our enemies?"</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: Blue">"Silas... we can't stay here, we must make haste." <em>Fighting by our side?! allies?! these food-poisoning, tunnel-city-dwelling giant ants? The thirst of my blade won't suffer further delay, not now that we are in our way to quench its thirst.</em> "We can't afford any delay."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: orange"><em>Delay?</em></span> The word sounded strange coming from his lips. <span style="color: orange"><em>I guess the military terminology is sticking to Alexander.</em></span> Silas looked like he would like to argue but instead ignored Alexander and awaited the formian leader's answer. Although he didn't care about the formian seeing them discuss the offer, he is intrigued by what will be its answer. He didn't mention the men they had to lead just because seeing how these creatures operate, it wouldn't surprise him if they considered the better choice to take them as hostages and to use their men's strength against the other ants... plus, that would mean a longer delay.</p><p></p><p>The formian considered Silas' words and then answered, <span style="color: yellow">"If you could solve our problems then there would be no need to fight. However, your solution still leads us to our deaths, and if half of us aren't killed we would still need to fight one another. If we followed you, we would be fighting others instead of each other, but then we would gain the animosity of these others. Also, we would be far from the underground tunnels and vulnerable, and we don't know what food source would be available at the place you wish to fight. No, it makes more logical sense for us formians to stay here and slaughter each other."</span></p><p></p><p>Silas gaped for a minute, baffled by the formian's logic. Finally, nodding, he said, <span style="color: orange">"I see. You would rather pointlessly slaughter other formians than take a chance on finding new caves with a nearby human hive to aid you in finding food. In that case, we'll accept your guide to the cave-fall."</span></p><p></p><p>The formian nodded in agreement and motioned his smaller compatriot to guide the group. The smaller ant-man led the party out of the territory and towards a large tunnel. It pointed at tehm and then to the opening, signalling that they should continue without it.</p><p></p><p>The formian scurried away as the party went down the tunnel, and it took them directly to the caves of the other formian tribe. Red formian workers glanced at the adventurers, deemed them no danger, and then carried on with their labors. It was not until the group reached the large cavern with the hole that the party fell through that they saw any soldiers. These formians also didn't attack the adventurers, spending their time instead in helping the soldiers move their food further down the tunnels. A large red formian, as big as the leader of the black ones, stared at the party intently as they gazed into the darkness above from whence the group fell.</p><p></p><p>Silas approached the large red formian and bowed. <span style="color: orange">"Do you understand my language?"</span></p><p></p><p>The formian cocks his head slightly to the side and hissed, <span style="color: red">"Little understand, yes..."</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: orange">"It is dangerous for your people to remain here. The other formians plan to taint your food and while you are sick and dying start war to kill you so that they can have all the food and living space."</span></p><p></p><p>The formian thought this over for a moment and then said, "It is logical. If he removes us, then food problem is no more. I would rather kill him, take control of his men, and send scouts to find a better source of food, but still... his way is logical and would save time I would likely waste."[/color]</p><p></p><p>Exasperated, Alexander exclaimed <strong><span style="color: Blue">"They will try and poison you, do, or do nothing about it, either way it's fine with us!"</span></strong><span style="color: Blue"> <em>how could these creatures ever survive?</em></span></p><p></p><p>Alexander looked upwards, trying to discern how much they fell. Unfortunately, the half-orc could barely see a speck of light above and had to guesstimate that they fell something between 40 and 70 feet.</p><p></p><p>Silas fully understood Alexander's frustration and was about ready to scream himself. <span style="color: orange">"Would it not be better if you had a home away from such threat? We could show you such a home but would need your help against those who threaten us."</span></p><p></p><p>The ant-man's interest perked up at Silas' words. <span style="color: red">"What home is this? Does it have more food?"</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: orange">"Caves. Many days from here. I don't know what kind of food you eat but other creatures used to live there so I'm sure food could be found. But my own people are threatened by war and I must help them before I can help you or they will all be killed."</span></p><p></p><p>The creature thought once more and answered, <span style="color: red">"Perhaps this be better, if more food could be found. If you willing to give scouts to lead our own scouts there, and talk to our enemies to send theirs peacefully, then we would be interested in making the attempt. What you need in return? Nothing free."</span></p><p></p><p>Silas nodded. <span style="color: orange">"True, nothing is free. But I wish to be certain we understand one another. Your hive will move to new caves that we will show you, leaving these caves for the other formians? In return we wish for formian warriors to aid us against those that war on our hive."</span></p><p></p><p>The formian shook its head. <span style="color: red">"It makes no sense us to leave here and chance unknown territory, then die in your battles, when we can stay here in what we know and die in own battles. Still, we will help your leaving since you distract us from real enemy,"</span> the ant-man said. He motioned to two of his own workers and said something in a strange language.</p><p></p><p>Very quickly they began digging, creating a sloping ramp towards the surface from whence the party fell.</p><p></p><p>Silas sighed. He was mentally exhausted from trying to communicate with the formians and understand their weird logic. He turned to his companions and said that if any of them had any better ideas they should speak up. Silas then just waited, trying to stay out of the formians way as they worked.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: blue"><em>Tired? confused?... Resignated!</em></span> Alexander was exhausted thanks to the tunnels and the clicking and the alien logic and the poisoning and... breathing heavily and restraining himself so as not to sink half-a-foot of steel though the ant-man's chest, Alexander led the ascencion, silent and with his hands curled into fists. <span style="color: blue"><em>Had I been alone I would have started combat... that would have been stupid.</em></span></p><p></p><p>The formian leader gave Silas one last gift before the abjurer followed the half-orc: the cleaned skull of the troll that was killed. Silas accepts the skull from the formian reluctantly and said, <span style="color: orange">"Thank you for your assistance. If things do not go well for you our village is not far from here, though it may be some time before we are able to return there. However, we will still be willing to help you."</span> Uncertain of formian custom he awkwardly raisee one hand in farewell and began the ascent.</p><p>With the aid of these formians the party was able to climb out of these maddening depths and back to a world that now seemed normal in retrospect. As they moved to leave the waterfall cave, the dim sounds of ringing steel and screams reached the adventurers' ears from the territory below them. The formians' war had started anew.</p><p></p><p>At the rim of the pit Silas stopped and looked down into the darkness. The ring of steel against steel and the screams of battle echoed up the shaft and Silas sighed. <span style="color: orange"><em>It's all so senseless. If only I had been able to persuade them.</em></span> Turning back to his companions he smiled wearily and followed them down to where the horses were left.</p><p></p><p>DM's Note: The formians would have made formidable allies for the party, so I purposely made this quest difficult. If the party either poisoned one side (an evil act) or helped the red leader take over all formians by killing the other leader (neutral act), they would have gained an ally. At no time would the formians willingly fight against the Tallione Empire since they would have been involved in an unknown danger. That was not logical to the formians. The good act would have been to tell both formian leaders that the new Dorinthian refugee village had enough waste for them to eat if the ant-men would like to reside alongside the humans. They would have accepted the offer, and if the Dorinthian home was ever endangered, the formians would have seen their source of food also endangered, and would have moved to aid the Dorinthians in such a conflict. This quest wasn't solved, and instead the formians went back to killing one another. Silas made mention of his village, but not that there was enough food for both hives.</p><p></p><p>Exhausted, tired, and hungry, the adventurers arrived back at the camp in the middle of darkness. Two men on duty almost shot Dartis as he surprised the jumpy militia when he appeared in the moonlight. The Dorinthians greeted the party enthusiastically, and are even more excited with the news that the troll had been slain. After a few moments the group was back to their sleeping mats near the center fire. Rix saw them and askeds, <span style="color: Sienna">"Where the hell have you been?"</span> It seemed nothing had happened in the day that they had been gone, except that each of their companions worried for the party in their own way.</p><p></p><p>Alexander pointed at the skull Silas was carrying <span style="color: Blue">"Remember the Dragon Eye's pet?"</span></p><p></p><p>Silas smiled. <span style="color: orange">"Good to see you again, Rix. Unfortunately we were delayed."</span> He held up the skull when Alexander answered and pointed in Silas' direction.</p><p></p><p>After a brief victory celebration, the party gathered up the remains of their two dead guards, and four of the militiamen insisted on returning home to give them a proper burial. But first Ornal, a weather-worn old woodsman, demanded that Kel and Alexander say some proper words for the dead in the way of their religion.</p><p></p><p>Kel spoke words of strength and comfort for those gathered and sent the dead men to their peace.</p><p></p><p>Altough he knew that some wouldn't like the prayer, Alexander said it over the rest of the mangled bodies: <span style="color: Blue">"May they feed the wolves and make the beasts as strong and brave as they were in life."</span> As strange as it might sound for some, as uneasyness appeared among the men -wondering whether that was an insult or a blessing-, the half-orc explained that that was one of the honours of the Lady, to allow one's prowess to continue within the Circle.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: blue"><em>This was different from the gnomish illusions of fey long dead of ages old, and different than the fate of the captured souls within the kobold zombies. The spirits of the dead men might travel swiftly into a new vessel.</em></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Deuce Traveler, post: 3454374, member: 34958"] Each of the party members landed inside a jelly-like substance, which reaked of decayed, but sickeningly sweet food. The goo was soft enough to break the fall without anyone being injured when they finally reached the ground. The adventurers rolled out of the jelly, only to see the large shape of the troll land on the rock floor with a thud in front of them. It seemed he missed the various pockets of goo. The creature got up shakily, his regeneration beginning to repair the damage that he had taken. As the group glanced around they saw that they were in another large cavern, and they could no longer see the last cavern from whence they fell from. It was too dark, and the distance too far. Also, the party was covered in the nasty jelly and struggled to keep the stuff out of their eyes as they somewhat successfully wiped their various faces with dirty sleeves. Strange, amber stones were placed inside the walls and gave a soft, dull light that allowed the adventurers to see their surroundings better. On either side of the group was a band of armored insect men, each wielding a weapon in their hands. From the looks of things they were about to war with one another, but the group's strange entrance seemed to have shocked them into a temporary peace. As the party regained a hold on their weapons, the troll gave a worried giggle and began to lope towards Alexander, slowly. It was evident to him that he wouldn't be escaping past the surrounding creatures. In turn, the group also prepared to finish the battle. But first, one of the ant-like men began to beat his spear into the ground, creating a primitive rythm. Ant-men on both sides took up the beat, some stamping their strange feet while others clashing blades on shields. Like gladiators of Tallione, the party and the troll circled each other for the kill amidst the anticipating spectators. For Alexander, the change of scenary, altough a surprise, was quickly relegated to the background... the troll was still standing. Deciding that studying his opponent wasn't an option when it healed at a vigorous rate, Alexander warned, [COLOR=Blue]"If I fall, get my potion,"[/COLOR] before jumping again against the troll. Silas gaped as he picked himself up from the ground. He tried to rub off as much as the goo as he was able, or at the least, enough so that he could move without hindrance. Seeing the troll pick himself up and begin circling, Silas sighed, forcefully intoned a word of power, and flicked a finger toward the troll. A greenish ball of liquid soared through the intervening space... Alexander attacked, but some of the goo disrupted his vision and his blades bounced off the creature's rubbery hide. Kel's swing was more effective, and it cut deeply into the troll's flesh. Dartis moved in next, flanking the creature before his bow fired twice, despite the slickness of the goo around his bowstring. His first arrow slammed deeply into the creature's back, tossing it to the ground, but the next shot went wide and glanced off Kel's thigh, injuring the priest. The troll writhes in agony as it attempts to rip the arrow out of its body, but it stopped and gave one last pitiful giggle as Silas stood over it and flicked a final blast of acid into its face. After a long twitch, the large creature lay dead, half of its wounds caused by fire and acid. DM's Note: So much for my reoccuring villian. The ant-men on both sides cheered the show, and both groups moved towards the warriors. As they neared each other they began to banter in a strange chittering language. The ant-men looked similar to one another, except that one side was brown in color and the other group red. It was evident that they were arguing over the party since they brandished their weapons threateningly, but the red ant-men were the first to back down after the brown ant-men point to the mounds of slimy goo that the group had landed in. After the red group backed down, a large brown ant-man approached the party and pointed to a tunnel behind him with his spear. It seemed he wanted the adventurers to go inside the passage. There were nearly twenty of these ant-men in each of the two groups. The half-orc did not sheathe his blade, and instead -as an answer to the brown ant's pointing- he pointed upwards with his left arm, then he pointed to his companions, and pointed again firmly upwards. [COLOR=Blue]"Had enough with tunnels,"[/COLOR] he mumbled. The brown ant-men looked at each other and shrugged. It was evident that they did not understand the common language. One that stood behind Alexander pushed him a bit more forcefully with the butt of a spear. From the jolt, it seemed that these creatures were somewhat strong. Silas shrugged and glanced at the troll. Looking towards the ant-men with an obvious look of excitement he said, [color=orange]"Perhaps we should go as they direct. They seem pretty serious and well, they [i]do[/i] outnumber us."[/color] Alexander mumbled something else about tunnels, looked upwards longingly, and followed Silas. [COLOR=Green]"Besides which we have no way to climb back up anyway, so let us press onward. Thus far they have not slain us so hope remains," [/COLOR] said Dartis as he followed the antmen. Kel nodded in agreement with his friends, and he grimaced in pain as he looked at the blood still flowing from his wounds and uttered a quick prayer to the Huntress to cure his wounds. The creatures guided the party through what felt like several miles of tunnels, and during the journey the group noticed smaller ant-men working at digging at more passages and collecting food, which the adventurers watch them sometimes eat and regurgitate into a smelly, decayed goo, which was piled and stored in various corners. Many of them stopped to watch the intruders for a moment before going back to work. Finally, the escorts guide the party to a final cavern, where a larger ant-man in armor stood over a naturally-made desk of solid stone. Scraped on its surface were various notes, cleanly made in a language that the party could not understand. The guards got his attention with some chittering, and he stopped his studies to look at the party in surprise. After a moment he motioned the group towards him and said, [color=yellow]"Do you understand me? I think this is your language, bipeds. My fellow formians say you landed among them before they had a chance to wreck our enemies' food supplies. I take it this was accidental."[/color] Silas looked from the ant-man to his companions and back again. [color=orange]"Yes,"[/color] he began. [color=orange]"It was an accident. We tracked the troll after it killed some of our people and the floor where it holed up collapsed beneath us. Is there a way out of these caves?"[/color] Alexander, completly stunned at all this, was with his alarms all on, ready to be set off at the minimal incident... this was far too weird for him. [color=blue][i]So this was how an antmound looked inside... worse than the gnomes' tunnels.[/i][/color]. Deciding to let the arcanist do the talking against tunnel-dwelling... ants?, the half-orc just examined the room, already considering the desk as a spot for Dartis and Silas to take cover, and the exit for him and Kel to block it if necessary. [color=yellow]"There is no real easy way out, except perhaps by climbing the walls from where you had come. Probably not an easy task. There is a tunnel that leads from between my territory and my enemies' that goes to the surface, but it is a day's journey and I cannot spare the men since we are in open warfare with our opponents. However, if my enemies were somehow removed... say with a dose of poison in their food supply,"[/color] he tapped a small barrell filled with a foul liquid as he mentioned this. [color=yellow]"Well, if something horrible like that were to happen, then I'd have nearly all my men free to aid you. Of course, it would have to be delivered by someone they might not suspect to be an enemy..."[/color] If a formian could smile, his face would have showed one. [COLOR=Green]"Then perhaps you have some rope we could borrow to climb back out of the hole we made," [/COLOR] replied Dartis with a stern face. [color=green][i]These were Rix's kind of people[/i][/color][i][/i], he thought. All the better that the damned kobold wasn't there, who knew what kind of mischief the formians and he would brew up. [color=yellow]"Rope?"[/color] The large formian looked at Dartis with a puzzled expression until the noble explained it to him. Then he dismissed the idea, [color=yellow]"We have no need for such materials in the underground."[/color] [COLOR=Green]"Fine, then permit us to climb back out of the hole."[/COLOR] replied Dartis. The noble felt the tension rise as the formian leader looked at him sharply. After a moment, though, he seemed to visibly calm down and pointed to a small worker ant-man. [color=yellow]"Fine. Do it the hard way then. This worker will guide you to the outskirts of our territory and point out the tunnels of our enemies before leaving you to fend for yourself. It is in their territory that you had fallen. Off with you now!"[/color] The ant-man worker was smaller than the soldier formians, but had the same tone of black on his carapice. He waited for the group to follow him. Dartis gave a stiff bow to the leader. [COLOR=Green]"Thank you for your generosity,"[/COLOR] he said quite sincerely and followed the smaller worker ant out. [color=orange]"Please, hold a moment, Dartis,"[/color] said Silas quickly. Turning to the lead ant-man he said, [color=orange]"Poisoning is not an accepted practice among our people and so we cannot in good conscience do this thing for you. But maybe we can earn your aid by aiding you in another way. What is the cause of this warfare between you and this other people?"[/color] The formian leader shrugged and said, [color=yellow]"We started fighting in our home plane far from this place because our queens declared that there was not enough resources to go around. Therefore the strong dominate the weak and take the resources available, as has been done for countless years. This time, however, one queen used powerful magic that ripped a section of the battlefield from the plane of Mechanus and brought us to this world. Here there were resources, although no queen to continue our race. A truce occured, as a nearby human village dumped enough discarded food in their waste pits for both our groups to live on. It is likely that we would all eventually die of old age anyway, so why war with the abundance of food? Recently these humans we depended upon were killed and captured by another hive of humans. With no more food waste easily grabbed from the waste pits, our groups have been starving. It is the old struggle for food again, and if we do not continue the war soon in order to deplete our populations, it is likely that both our groups will starve as there is only enough resources in the earth and above to sustain half us formians. As leader of these formian brothers, I am determined that our group will have the least casualties when war comes,"[/color] he said, tapping the barrel of poison once more as a hint. Alexander looked at Dartis and said, [COLOR=Blue]"We could try and free the captured ones after answering the dwarves' call... That should settle it." [I]Poison is part of nature's arsenal, but poisoning food is vile, it must never be considered an option.[/I][/COLOR] Silas looked over at Alexander with a slight frown. [color=orange][i]Does he realize what the possibility of forming an alliance with these creatures could do for our cause?[/i] "We need allies [i]now[/i], Alexander. After the battle may be too late."[/color] Silas turned his attention back to the formian. [color=orange]"Our people, too, are at war. If we can solve your problem without loss of life, would you lead your warriors against our enemies?"[/color] [COLOR=Blue]"Silas... we can't stay here, we must make haste." [I]Fighting by our side?! allies?! these food-poisoning, tunnel-city-dwelling giant ants? The thirst of my blade won't suffer further delay, not now that we are in our way to quench its thirst.[/I] "We can't afford any delay."[/COLOR] [color=orange][I]Delay?[/I][/color] The word sounded strange coming from his lips. [color=orange][i]I guess the military terminology is sticking to Alexander.[/i][/color][i][/i] Silas looked like he would like to argue but instead ignored Alexander and awaited the formian leader's answer. Although he didn't care about the formian seeing them discuss the offer, he is intrigued by what will be its answer. He didn't mention the men they had to lead just because seeing how these creatures operate, it wouldn't surprise him if they considered the better choice to take them as hostages and to use their men's strength against the other ants... plus, that would mean a longer delay. The formian considered Silas' words and then answered, [color=yellow]"If you could solve our problems then there would be no need to fight. However, your solution still leads us to our deaths, and if half of us aren't killed we would still need to fight one another. If we followed you, we would be fighting others instead of each other, but then we would gain the animosity of these others. Also, we would be far from the underground tunnels and vulnerable, and we don't know what food source would be available at the place you wish to fight. No, it makes more logical sense for us formians to stay here and slaughter each other."[/color] Silas gaped for a minute, baffled by the formian's logic. Finally, nodding, he said, [color=orange]"I see. You would rather pointlessly slaughter other formians than take a chance on finding new caves with a nearby human hive to aid you in finding food. In that case, we'll accept your guide to the cave-fall."[/color] The formian nodded in agreement and motioned his smaller compatriot to guide the group. The smaller ant-man led the party out of the territory and towards a large tunnel. It pointed at tehm and then to the opening, signalling that they should continue without it. The formian scurried away as the party went down the tunnel, and it took them directly to the caves of the other formian tribe. Red formian workers glanced at the adventurers, deemed them no danger, and then carried on with their labors. It was not until the group reached the large cavern with the hole that the party fell through that they saw any soldiers. These formians also didn't attack the adventurers, spending their time instead in helping the soldiers move their food further down the tunnels. A large red formian, as big as the leader of the black ones, stared at the party intently as they gazed into the darkness above from whence the group fell. Silas approached the large red formian and bowed. [color=orange]"Do you understand my language?"[/color] The formian cocks his head slightly to the side and hissed, [color=red]"Little understand, yes..."[/color] [color=orange]"It is dangerous for your people to remain here. The other formians plan to taint your food and while you are sick and dying start war to kill you so that they can have all the food and living space."[/color] The formian thought this over for a moment and then said, "It is logical. If he removes us, then food problem is no more. I would rather kill him, take control of his men, and send scouts to find a better source of food, but still... his way is logical and would save time I would likely waste."[/color] Exasperated, Alexander exclaimed [B][COLOR=Blue]"They will try and poison you, do, or do nothing about it, either way it's fine with us!"[/COLOR][/B][COLOR=Blue] [I]how could these creatures ever survive?[/I][/COLOR] Alexander looked upwards, trying to discern how much they fell. Unfortunately, the half-orc could barely see a speck of light above and had to guesstimate that they fell something between 40 and 70 feet. Silas fully understood Alexander's frustration and was about ready to scream himself. [color=orange]"Would it not be better if you had a home away from such threat? We could show you such a home but would need your help against those who threaten us."[/color] The ant-man's interest perked up at Silas' words. [color=red]"What home is this? Does it have more food?"[/color] [color=orange]"Caves. Many days from here. I don't know what kind of food you eat but other creatures used to live there so I'm sure food could be found. But my own people are threatened by war and I must help them before I can help you or they will all be killed."[/color] The creature thought once more and answered, [color=red]"Perhaps this be better, if more food could be found. If you willing to give scouts to lead our own scouts there, and talk to our enemies to send theirs peacefully, then we would be interested in making the attempt. What you need in return? Nothing free."[/color] Silas nodded. [color=orange]"True, nothing is free. But I wish to be certain we understand one another. Your hive will move to new caves that we will show you, leaving these caves for the other formians? In return we wish for formian warriors to aid us against those that war on our hive."[/color] The formian shook its head. [color=red]"It makes no sense us to leave here and chance unknown territory, then die in your battles, when we can stay here in what we know and die in own battles. Still, we will help your leaving since you distract us from real enemy,"[/color] the ant-man said. He motioned to two of his own workers and said something in a strange language. Very quickly they began digging, creating a sloping ramp towards the surface from whence the party fell. Silas sighed. He was mentally exhausted from trying to communicate with the formians and understand their weird logic. He turned to his companions and said that if any of them had any better ideas they should speak up. Silas then just waited, trying to stay out of the formians way as they worked. [color=blue][i]Tired? confused?... Resignated![/i][/color][i][/i] Alexander was exhausted thanks to the tunnels and the clicking and the alien logic and the poisoning and... breathing heavily and restraining himself so as not to sink half-a-foot of steel though the ant-man's chest, Alexander led the ascencion, silent and with his hands curled into fists. [color=blue][I]Had I been alone I would have started combat... that would have been stupid.[/I][/color] The formian leader gave Silas one last gift before the abjurer followed the half-orc: the cleaned skull of the troll that was killed. Silas accepts the skull from the formian reluctantly and said, [color=orange]"Thank you for your assistance. If things do not go well for you our village is not far from here, though it may be some time before we are able to return there. However, we will still be willing to help you."[/color] Uncertain of formian custom he awkwardly raisee one hand in farewell and began the ascent. With the aid of these formians the party was able to climb out of these maddening depths and back to a world that now seemed normal in retrospect. As they moved to leave the waterfall cave, the dim sounds of ringing steel and screams reached the adventurers' ears from the territory below them. The formians' war had started anew. At the rim of the pit Silas stopped and looked down into the darkness. The ring of steel against steel and the screams of battle echoed up the shaft and Silas sighed. [color=orange][i]It's all so senseless. If only I had been able to persuade them.[/i][/color] Turning back to his companions he smiled wearily and followed them down to where the horses were left. DM's Note: The formians would have made formidable allies for the party, so I purposely made this quest difficult. If the party either poisoned one side (an evil act) or helped the red leader take over all formians by killing the other leader (neutral act), they would have gained an ally. At no time would the formians willingly fight against the Tallione Empire since they would have been involved in an unknown danger. That was not logical to the formians. The good act would have been to tell both formian leaders that the new Dorinthian refugee village had enough waste for them to eat if the ant-men would like to reside alongside the humans. They would have accepted the offer, and if the Dorinthian home was ever endangered, the formians would have seen their source of food also endangered, and would have moved to aid the Dorinthians in such a conflict. This quest wasn't solved, and instead the formians went back to killing one another. Silas made mention of his village, but not that there was enough food for both hives. Exhausted, tired, and hungry, the adventurers arrived back at the camp in the middle of darkness. Two men on duty almost shot Dartis as he surprised the jumpy militia when he appeared in the moonlight. The Dorinthians greeted the party enthusiastically, and are even more excited with the news that the troll had been slain. After a few moments the group was back to their sleeping mats near the center fire. Rix saw them and askeds, [Color=Sienna]"Where the hell have you been?"[/Color] It seemed nothing had happened in the day that they had been gone, except that each of their companions worried for the party in their own way. Alexander pointed at the skull Silas was carrying [COLOR=Blue]"Remember the Dragon Eye's pet?"[/COLOR] Silas smiled. [color=orange]"Good to see you again, Rix. Unfortunately we were delayed."[/color] He held up the skull when Alexander answered and pointed in Silas' direction. After a brief victory celebration, the party gathered up the remains of their two dead guards, and four of the militiamen insisted on returning home to give them a proper burial. But first Ornal, a weather-worn old woodsman, demanded that Kel and Alexander say some proper words for the dead in the way of their religion. Kel spoke words of strength and comfort for those gathered and sent the dead men to their peace. Altough he knew that some wouldn't like the prayer, Alexander said it over the rest of the mangled bodies: [COLOR=Blue]"May they feed the wolves and make the beasts as strong and brave as they were in life."[/COLOR] As strange as it might sound for some, as uneasyness appeared among the men -wondering whether that was an insult or a blessing-, the half-orc explained that that was one of the honours of the Lady, to allow one's prowess to continue within the Circle. [color=blue][i]This was different from the gnomish illusions of fey long dead of ages old, and different than the fate of the captured souls within the kobold zombies. The spirits of the dead men might travel swiftly into a new vessel.[/i][/color][i][/i] [/QUOTE]
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