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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 4224086" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>West of Callus’ farm, our heroes find the beetle lair: a large nest of dirt, sticks and leaves, stuck together with saliva. Two large, ugly beetles the size of a small cow are crawling upon it.</p><p></p><p>“A mated pair,” Severin hypothesizes. </p><p></p><p>The beetles notice our heroes and begin crawling towards them. “Well, here we go,” Grom says, drawing his crossbow. Barouk rushes past him, a kama in his hand. With a wild cry, the dwarven monk launches himself at the closest beetle- to no effect! His kama bounces off of the bug’s exoskeleton.</p><p></p><p>Severin nocks and fires an arrow at the other beetle in one smooth motion. The arrow sinks in, puncturing the beetle’s carapace and sticking into the great vermin. It hisses and it begins to vibrate, pushing itself against the earth. </p><p></p><p>There is a rumble, and the ground <em>undulates</em> towards the party.</p><p></p><p>Grom gives a great cry as he is thrown from his feet. Severin is thrown to the ground as well!</p><p></p><p>“Oh no, that farmer was right!” cries Kifla. “They <em>are</em> earthquake beetles!”</p><p></p><p>Barouk and the beetle he is on begin a series of attacks on one another, but at least for the moment, neither is willing to commit to an all-out attack. Thus, each manages to defend against the other. The beetle scurries forward, then back, snapping at the dwarf with its mandibles, while Barouk punches, kicks and blocks.</p><p></p><p>Kifla starts to cast a summoning spell, but the unengaged beetle vibrates the ground again. She is thrown down, as is Severin, who had just regained his feet. He lets out a stream of mighty curses. Kifla, however, manages to maintain her concentration and continues casting. </p><p></p><p>Grom fires his crossbow at the one that keeps shaking the ground, but his bolt flies wide and shoots off into the distance. “Bah!” Grom cries, casting down his crossbow and drawing out his shortsword. With a roar, the half-orc rushes forward to aid Barouk, who has by now suffered a pair of serious bite wounds that have left him pretty wounded. </p><p></p><p>Then Kifla’s spell goes off at last, and a pair of celestial fire beetles appear! They flank the other earthquake beetle. Beetle against beetle they struggle; but the earthquake beetle quickly demonstrates its might, biting the head of one of the fire beetles completely off. Severin, on his feet again, leaps at the bug, <em>Frogspaw</em> naked in his hand. He slices at it wildly, but his blow misses it completely. The beetle snaps at Grom, but then the other fire beetle attacks it and snips one of its legs off! It shudders, and the fire beetle takes another nip of it, this time tearing out a large part of the earthquake beetle’s head! With that, the first beetle dies. </p><p></p><p>Grom and Barouk flank the other one, and although Barouk’s strength is flagging, they keep the beetle from focusing effectively on either one of them long enough for Grom to land a fatal sneak attack on it.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Severin is gathering arrows when Grom nudges him. “Hey,” the half-orc says, “look at that.”</p><p></p><p>The ranger follows his companion’s gaze. A single figure, armed and lightly armored, with a backpack and a walking stick, is making his way along the nearby trade road. Severin looks back at Grom. “So?”</p><p></p><p>“He’s an adventurer. We could use him. We just lost Romdar; we need to replenish our ranks.”</p><p></p><p>Severin shrugs. “Maybe, if he really is an adventurer.”</p><p></p><p>“Let’s go ask.”</p><p></p><p>“All right.” The ranger gives another shrug. “Why not?”</p><p></p><p>They approach and greet the man, who regards them with the kind of wary eyes that an adventurer watches the world with. His name is Seivus, and he turns out to be a dragon shaman (whatever that is) who worships the black dragon Lithos.* He relaxes once our heroes prove to be friendly, and fellow adventurers besides. He has no particular destination; he is, as they say, adventuring. </p><p></p><p>”Well, we’re trying to clean out these beetles,” Grom explains. “Perhaps you’d like to join us for an equal share...?”</p><p></p><p>“All right,” Seivus agrees, “there is more safety in numbers.”</p><p></p><p>Thus, the dragon shaman joins the party, and they continue their work on the beetle nest. A few more beetles do show up, and the dragon shaman turns out to be able to produce auras that enhance his companions. Thus enhanced, our heroes manage to overcome the remaining earthquake beetles. </p><p></p><p>“Not bad,” Barouk nods at Seivus. </p><p></p><p>“You aren’t bad either,” admits the dragon shaman. </p><p></p><p>The party searches the nest, and finds several half-devoured corpses within it. In addition, they find some treasure- about 500 gold pieces, a moonstone necklace and a scroll. Kifla is overjoyed, upon casting <em>read magic</em>, to find that it has two arcane spells upon it- <em>vertigo</em> and <em>burning hands</em>. Although <em>burning hands</em> is out of her area of expertise, <em>vertigo</em> is an illusion of the second valence- just right for her!</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Back to Callus’ farm our heroes go; they collect their reward (agreeing with him that they will pay Seivus out of their reward, as the farmer had never agreed to hire him). Then it is back to town, for it is starting to look like rain, and no one in the group even has a tent. Furthermore, Barouk and Severin both took serious damage in the battle against the beetles. </p><p></p><p>So they go to rest and recover, and they buy some appropriate gear for the remainder of their journey. While her companions heal, Kifla trades in the <em>burning hands</em> from the scroll and, throwing in some additional cash, buys the formula to <em>Therena’s steam jet,</em> which is known instead in some circles as <em>Malford’s steam jet.</em> While they are just leaving, they run into a fellow named Olin from Grom’s home village, Drellin’s Ferry. </p><p></p><p>“Oh, thank goodness!” Olin exclaims. “We feared that you had been lost!”</p><p></p><p>“It has been a long, strange journey,” Grom replies, “but I have found adventurers to help our village, and we are on our way there now.”</p><p></p><p>Olin joins with the group and they proceed down a busy trade road towards Drellin’s Ferry. Some of the traffic on the road is foot traffic; some of the foot traffic is herding chickens along with them, or is accompanied by sheep or some such. Much of the traffic is wagons or carts, drawn by garen, bodokod or bosoch. By the time the sun goes down, they have made nearly fifteen miles. Well-satisfied with their day’s travel, the party makes camp past a screen of brush a little way off the road. They build a fire and are just starting to discuss dinner when a loud, distressed squealing disturbs their conversation.</p><p></p><p>“What’s that?” exclaims Kifla.</p><p></p><p>“It sounds edible,” Severin declares, and then it breaks into their camp site and they can see it in the firelight: a huge boar the size of a bull, bristling with arrows. </p><p></p><p>Kifla hears a <em>thwap!</em> Suddenly a great pain blossoms in her arm. She is amazed, when she looks at it, to discover an arrow protruding from it. </p><p></p><p>“What?” she says. </p><p></p><p>Then, as the strange crocodilian things firing arrows come into view, the poison takes hold. </p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> The boar, the reptilian monsters and our heroes all fight each other!</p><p></p><p>*Readers of my epic story hour may recall Lithos, the legendary black dragon of the Swamp of Lithos, who was asleep for an age before the party woke & slew her.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 4224086, member: 1210"] West of Callus’ farm, our heroes find the beetle lair: a large nest of dirt, sticks and leaves, stuck together with saliva. Two large, ugly beetles the size of a small cow are crawling upon it. “A mated pair,” Severin hypothesizes. The beetles notice our heroes and begin crawling towards them. “Well, here we go,” Grom says, drawing his crossbow. Barouk rushes past him, a kama in his hand. With a wild cry, the dwarven monk launches himself at the closest beetle- to no effect! His kama bounces off of the bug’s exoskeleton. Severin nocks and fires an arrow at the other beetle in one smooth motion. The arrow sinks in, puncturing the beetle’s carapace and sticking into the great vermin. It hisses and it begins to vibrate, pushing itself against the earth. There is a rumble, and the ground [i]undulates[/i] towards the party. Grom gives a great cry as he is thrown from his feet. Severin is thrown to the ground as well! “Oh no, that farmer was right!” cries Kifla. “They [i]are[/i] earthquake beetles!” Barouk and the beetle he is on begin a series of attacks on one another, but at least for the moment, neither is willing to commit to an all-out attack. Thus, each manages to defend against the other. The beetle scurries forward, then back, snapping at the dwarf with its mandibles, while Barouk punches, kicks and blocks. Kifla starts to cast a summoning spell, but the unengaged beetle vibrates the ground again. She is thrown down, as is Severin, who had just regained his feet. He lets out a stream of mighty curses. Kifla, however, manages to maintain her concentration and continues casting. Grom fires his crossbow at the one that keeps shaking the ground, but his bolt flies wide and shoots off into the distance. “Bah!” Grom cries, casting down his crossbow and drawing out his shortsword. With a roar, the half-orc rushes forward to aid Barouk, who has by now suffered a pair of serious bite wounds that have left him pretty wounded. Then Kifla’s spell goes off at last, and a pair of celestial fire beetles appear! They flank the other earthquake beetle. Beetle against beetle they struggle; but the earthquake beetle quickly demonstrates its might, biting the head of one of the fire beetles completely off. Severin, on his feet again, leaps at the bug, [i]Frogspaw[/i] naked in his hand. He slices at it wildly, but his blow misses it completely. The beetle snaps at Grom, but then the other fire beetle attacks it and snips one of its legs off! It shudders, and the fire beetle takes another nip of it, this time tearing out a large part of the earthquake beetle’s head! With that, the first beetle dies. Grom and Barouk flank the other one, and although Barouk’s strength is flagging, they keep the beetle from focusing effectively on either one of them long enough for Grom to land a fatal sneak attack on it. *** Severin is gathering arrows when Grom nudges him. “Hey,” the half-orc says, “look at that.” The ranger follows his companion’s gaze. A single figure, armed and lightly armored, with a backpack and a walking stick, is making his way along the nearby trade road. Severin looks back at Grom. “So?” “He’s an adventurer. We could use him. We just lost Romdar; we need to replenish our ranks.” Severin shrugs. “Maybe, if he really is an adventurer.” “Let’s go ask.” “All right.” The ranger gives another shrug. “Why not?” They approach and greet the man, who regards them with the kind of wary eyes that an adventurer watches the world with. His name is Seivus, and he turns out to be a dragon shaman (whatever that is) who worships the black dragon Lithos.* He relaxes once our heroes prove to be friendly, and fellow adventurers besides. He has no particular destination; he is, as they say, adventuring. ”Well, we’re trying to clean out these beetles,” Grom explains. “Perhaps you’d like to join us for an equal share...?” “All right,” Seivus agrees, “there is more safety in numbers.” Thus, the dragon shaman joins the party, and they continue their work on the beetle nest. A few more beetles do show up, and the dragon shaman turns out to be able to produce auras that enhance his companions. Thus enhanced, our heroes manage to overcome the remaining earthquake beetles. “Not bad,” Barouk nods at Seivus. “You aren’t bad either,” admits the dragon shaman. The party searches the nest, and finds several half-devoured corpses within it. In addition, they find some treasure- about 500 gold pieces, a moonstone necklace and a scroll. Kifla is overjoyed, upon casting [i]read magic[/i], to find that it has two arcane spells upon it- [i]vertigo[/i] and [i]burning hands[/i]. Although [i]burning hands[/i] is out of her area of expertise, [i]vertigo[/i] is an illusion of the second valence- just right for her! *** Back to Callus’ farm our heroes go; they collect their reward (agreeing with him that they will pay Seivus out of their reward, as the farmer had never agreed to hire him). Then it is back to town, for it is starting to look like rain, and no one in the group even has a tent. Furthermore, Barouk and Severin both took serious damage in the battle against the beetles. So they go to rest and recover, and they buy some appropriate gear for the remainder of their journey. While her companions heal, Kifla trades in the [i]burning hands[/i] from the scroll and, throwing in some additional cash, buys the formula to [i]Therena’s steam jet,[/i] which is known instead in some circles as [i]Malford’s steam jet.[/i] While they are just leaving, they run into a fellow named Olin from Grom’s home village, Drellin’s Ferry. “Oh, thank goodness!” Olin exclaims. “We feared that you had been lost!” “It has been a long, strange journey,” Grom replies, “but I have found adventurers to help our village, and we are on our way there now.” Olin joins with the group and they proceed down a busy trade road towards Drellin’s Ferry. Some of the traffic on the road is foot traffic; some of the foot traffic is herding chickens along with them, or is accompanied by sheep or some such. Much of the traffic is wagons or carts, drawn by garen, bodokod or bosoch. By the time the sun goes down, they have made nearly fifteen miles. Well-satisfied with their day’s travel, the party makes camp past a screen of brush a little way off the road. They build a fire and are just starting to discuss dinner when a loud, distressed squealing disturbs their conversation. “What’s that?” exclaims Kifla. “It sounds edible,” Severin declares, and then it breaks into their camp site and they can see it in the firelight: a huge boar the size of a bull, bristling with arrows. Kifla hears a [i]thwap![/i] Suddenly a great pain blossoms in her arm. She is amazed, when she looks at it, to discover an arrow protruding from it. “What?” she says. Then, as the strange crocodilian things firing arrows come into view, the poison takes hold. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] The boar, the reptilian monsters and our heroes all fight each other! *Readers of my epic story hour may recall Lithos, the legendary black dragon of the Swamp of Lithos, who was asleep for an age before the party woke & slew her. [/QUOTE]
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