Returning to the alchemist's house the next morning, you find a younger man with him waiting for you. "Ah good, you're here early. This is Degen, my apprentice. If you don't mind, I would have him join you so he can harvest the bees after they are dead; there are some interesting qualities about how the mutations affected their attributes and abilities that I wish to study further. He can also provide a limited amount of support should it prove to be necessary, though I suspect a touch of healing afterwards is all that will be required, as you both look like capable warriors. Here is the decoy, as promised, just set it up, and wait for the bees. Couldn't be simpler. The smoke should radiate out roughly 20 feet, and may be a bit thick at the center, so plan accordingly. And do be careful with that thing, Degen, or you'll set it off early." You see that Degen is carrying a rather larger than usual flower as you head to the spot selected the day before.
After carefully setting up the flower trap so that it looks natural, something that Degen helps out with considerably with his knowledge of plants and the wilds, you settle in to wait in a good spot about 40 feet away from the decoy. It takes a couple of hours, but you do finally see a couple of very large bees appear in the clearing, and they eventually make their way to the flower decoy, which works perfectly, releasing a ball of smoke that envelopes the bees completely, though you were able to follow the bees well enough you know where they were when the smoke was released, making it possible to find and strike them if you act quickly enough.
OOC:
Combat Time. There's no map, as it's a pretty simple scenario. The entire area of smoke is an open field, and you have no obstructions between you and your targets. If you engage in melee this round, you can find the bees despite the thick smoke, otherwise, you will need to roll perception checks to locate them as they move. The smoke functions the same as fog cloud. The party is up.
Tsaaruck bursts from hiding sprinting all out to the smoke and where he last saw the bees. A step behind Llotah he swings his warhammer hoping to drop a bee before it stings him. Lossing his footing a bit as he swings at the unseen insects his hammer flails a bit away from his intended trajectory.
Dazed and confused, the bees are not happy about the appearance of the two barbarians, and strike back as much as their disoriented state can manage. The fact that they can manage to do anything at all is a bit worrisome as you were told that the smoke should have stopped them cold. The hit taken by the one on Llotah is enough to completely throw it off, and it's stinger doesn't even come close to hitting. Tsaaruck is not as lucky as a stinger buries itself in his flesh; the stinger by itself would barely have been noticed, as it does a paltry 2 damage, but the poison injected into the bloodstream might become a bit more annoying.
OOC:
I need a Fort save DC 14 from Tsaaruck to avoid taking 2 points of strength damage. The party is up.
Llotah seems to take the warning to heart as she cuts the bee on her in half. Tsaaruck's blow throws the bee off kilter enough that the next blow brushes by the half orc's head harmlessly at the last second.
OOC:
The party is up. I need another fort save DC 14 from Tsaaruck to prevent another 2 points of strength damage.
Tsaaruck is obviously affected by the bees poison as his swings lack the usual vigor. Growling through the increasing weakness he delivers a solid blow to the bee harassing him.
The last bee is cut in half, and after giving the weakened barbarian a potion of lesser restore, the apprentice goes to work dissecting the bees. When it becomes clear that he is no further need of assistance from the barbarians, they return to the Inn, where they find one of the mayor's assistant waiting for them. Upon confirmation of the completed deed, he runs off to get the prepared payment while the heroes tell their tale to the gathered farmers, who are all grateful, and have a few free drinks.
OOC:
This formally concludes this adventure. I apologize for the slowness of it, but I hope the one remaining player had fun. I will get numbers and treasure posted on the first post sometime later this weekend after I have a chance to catch my breath from this week.
