Swamp Trek III: The Search for Ter-raen

[Scott DeWar]

"You guys find any thing? Any way i can of help?"

[sblock=possible skills] search +5; spot +5; disable device +7; open locks +7 [/sblock]

 

[Trouvere]

"Thaur's bluid an' burraes haur, sae Ah'd say we ken whit happent tae twa wha didnae hae Karl's guid fortuin," Gildrim calls.

He rejoins the group and leans against the wagon.

"Horses gane, an' twa deid. Marchwand an' Sons, eh? Than that's three ay thaim, if they haed nae hired men, sae thaur's ane waitin' doun in Cragger's Rest wha'd be wantin' tae hear th' news."

Gildrim looks grimmer. "Whit Ah'm wonderin' is whither th' beasties gollopt th' puir lads up, aw pulled thaim doun deid intae th' grund. If thay're etten, than we shoud... shoud appen up th' stamacks, an' leuk for... bits. Tae tak back tae bury. It widnae be richt nae tae."

 

[Scott DeWar]

"Open the beasties." says Karl dryly, " Do these things have a lair? dpo you think there is hope for the people to be alive there?"

edit:

OOC: wow! this was post number 5000!!

 

[Trouvere]

"We'll find that oot if thay're nae in th' beasties. Ah widnae howp sae," Gildrim says. "Och, weel."

He draws a dagger and makes a start on the revolting job of gutting an ankheg in search of remains.

 

[Richard Rawen]

Richard seems to squint a bit, trying to work out the meaning of several of the dwarf's words. The gist is conveyed quickly enough as Gildrim sets to work.

Stripping off his coat and some of his armor, Richard will begin working on the second body with a dagger as well.

"What's the chance those horses could be recovered?"The fighter asks, tossing aside a piece of armored plate. "For that matter, what's the chance that some of this," he waves at the thick chittin covering the dead bugs, "would be worth something to an armorer?"

 

[covaithe]

The ankhegs' innards are eye-watering, caustic black messes, that Gildrim quickly learns not to touch, after a few minor burns. His dagger is a worthless lump of dull, twisted metal by the time he has finished going through the remains.

He finds in each bug a long, fairly straight tube leading from mouth to opposite extremities, which seems like it must surely be digestive in nature. When cut open, they contain more caustic black ichor, smelling slightly different than the "blood". Out of one of the stomachs, an oblong disk of corroded, blackened metal falls. On closer inspection, the disk has two rivets through one of its long ends, and a short metal post with a ball on it protruding from the other end; a design sometimes used for belt buckles.

[sblock=knowledge(nature) DC 12 or Bardic knowledge DC 15]Many insects eat by covering their food with digestive enzymes, waiting for it to liquefy, and then drinking the resulting goo. [/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

[sblock=Richard]In your limited training on crafting armor, you've not heard of anyone making armor from bug remains. Still, the material is strong for its weight; perhaps if you took some to a more experienced armorer they might have some interest in experimenting with it.
[/sblock]

 

[Trouvere]

Gidrim holds up the buckle on the tip of his smoking dagger for all to see. "That disnae leuk guid for th' awner."

"Weel, we've nae deidline tae wirk tae. If we cannae bring alang a corpse, mebbe we can airt oot th' horses. If ye aw want tae gae traikin' intae th' trees, ay coorse."[sblock=Chitin]Fwiw, chitin armor appears in at least Stormwrack and Races of the Dragon, with rather different rules.[/sblock]

 

[Scott DeWar]

as the reaking mess of caustic innards wafts its pungent oder to Karl, He makes a bit of distance between the two poor souls who have the dubious task of checking the reamins and himself, drawing his bow and an arrow to keep watch, any thing to keep from having to get too close to the work in progress.

 

[Scott DeWar]

[sblock=knowledge(nature) DC 12 or Bardic knowledge DC 15]Many insects eat by covering their food with digestive enzymes, waiting for it to liquefy, and then drinking the resulting goo. [/sblock]

1d20+2=11 Karl doesn't quite remember what he was told apperently.