The Party so far:
Jin: Ranger 2/Fighter 3/Dervish 1
Xing: Ranger 6
Alice: Druid (Spirit Shaman homebrew) 6
Hung: Fighter 5
Zhu: Fighter 4
Soul: Bard 5
--------------------------------------------------
Alice, Soul, Hung, Zhu and Jin made their way outside, the latter shrugging of the last of the static charge imparted to him by one late Kobold sorcerer. The sun was out and in a prominent central position in the sky. It was midday and the five had to shield their eyes for a minute. The last three days spent excavating an Umber Hulk den had meant that with the exception of some breaks for meals and other functions they had been underground for almost three full days; their eyes, accustomed to the low light of torches, finding it hard to focus in the bright sunlight.
Xing stood at the edge of the forest, frisking a corpse. As the rest of the party approached him, he held up what appeared to be some rabbit fur and a small crystal.
“All that trouble from such little trinkets. How are you feeling Jin?”
Like shit, if I’m honest. Jin took a moment to consider the situation. His chest was scorched and burned and felt very sore. He had glanced once at the damage while brushing off the remains of another Kobold who also took the full force of the blast and it had sickened him. The flesh under his shirt was blackened and some parts seemed to have started smoking. It would take a long time to heal but his natural fortitude should leave him without a scar, or at least one that was mostly unnoticeable.
“I’m alive. That’s a good start.”
“Good to hear. That’s more than can be said for this little guy.”
Xing nudged the Kobold with his foot, rolling him over to reveal several arrow wounds.
Jin: Ranger 2/Fighter 3/Dervish 1
Xing: Ranger 6
Alice: Druid (Spirit Shaman homebrew) 6
Hung: Fighter 5
Zhu: Fighter 4
Soul: Bard 5
--------------------------------------------------
Alice, Soul, Hung, Zhu and Jin made their way outside, the latter shrugging of the last of the static charge imparted to him by one late Kobold sorcerer. The sun was out and in a prominent central position in the sky. It was midday and the five had to shield their eyes for a minute. The last three days spent excavating an Umber Hulk den had meant that with the exception of some breaks for meals and other functions they had been underground for almost three full days; their eyes, accustomed to the low light of torches, finding it hard to focus in the bright sunlight.
Xing stood at the edge of the forest, frisking a corpse. As the rest of the party approached him, he held up what appeared to be some rabbit fur and a small crystal.
“All that trouble from such little trinkets. How are you feeling Jin?”
Like shit, if I’m honest. Jin took a moment to consider the situation. His chest was scorched and burned and felt very sore. He had glanced once at the damage while brushing off the remains of another Kobold who also took the full force of the blast and it had sickened him. The flesh under his shirt was blackened and some parts seemed to have started smoking. It would take a long time to heal but his natural fortitude should leave him without a scar, or at least one that was mostly unnoticeable.
“I’m alive. That’s a good start.”
“Good to hear. That’s more than can be said for this little guy.”
Xing nudged the Kobold with his foot, rolling him over to reveal several arrow wounds.
Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} “He was just pulling these...” Xing gestured to the fur and crystal “...out when I dropped him. Which was just as well since I’m not so keen to take another bolt of lightning.”
You and I both, Jin mentally added.
“We found the treasure...”
“...eventually!”
Hung and Song, both clearly relieved that they were not about to get their own Lightning Bolt were eager to share the newfound loot. They held between them two ornamental plates, a short length of carved wood and some heavy gauntlets. Jin had seen enough wands over the last few weeks to recognise one at a glance now and while he couldn’t tell their effects or how much power they had left he knew that they generally didn’t disintegrate while they still had use.
“These gauntlets have some magic in them!” Soul was grinning ear to ear. She brushed off some of the dust that had settled on her during the mining as she held them up to the Ranger. Funny..., Jin thought, ...that she turned to him as a leader. I wonder why they see him like that.
Having travelled with Xing the longest of all the party Jin probably knew him best. He had always seen Xing as a reasonable, pragmatic man who was mostly interested in living his life on his own. He seemed to enjoy his archery and was training hard to increase his rate of fire, and to ensure that every shot hit. He had been a hunter/gatherer before Jin had met him at the summer encampment and their skills and interests had overlapped - the result being a very strong friendship with much in common. Even so, Jin had never deferred to Xing as the others seemed to – he was a partner rather than a superior. He wasn’t privy to the reason as to why Xing had abandoned his wilderness life and joined the Summer Encampment but it would come out eventually, he thought.
Xing glanced at the gauntlets. “We’ll get them identified as soon as we can. They look like they’ll sell well, if nothing else.”
“What about this?” Hung asked, holding up the carved wooden stick.
“It’s a wand of some sort. It will need identification too.”
Jin smiled despite the pain in his chest. Always nice when the second opinion mirrors ones own.
Xing turned to the party’s primary healer, Alice. “Alice, can you help bind Jin up and then we’ll head on our way. I think we’ve outstayed our welcome.”
Jin frowned, preferring that none of the females in the group saw the damage that had been done to him. “I’ll be fine. We can travel now.”
Alice raised her eyebrow. “Are you sure about that? From what I saw you took the worst of it and Xing doesn’t exactly look unscathed.”
She waved her arm at the ranger, who looked surprised as he glanced down to his right arm – eyes widening as he saw the damaged cloth and, underneath, the shiny red skin. He rubbed it gingerly, have only just noticed the damage.
“I said that I’ll be fine.”
Despite the trust in his team Jin felt vulnerable. The Lightning bolt had taken him by surprise and had hurt him more than he was willing to share. He wasn’t keen to show off the damage, even to a friend.
“Well, ok, if you think so.” Alice didn’t sound convinced.
“All right, let’s go then.” Xing stood up, apparently finished frisking the Kobold. “Let’s see, we can probably cross the pass and start heading down before nightfall.”
“Well, no time like the present!” Hung spoke, sounding enthusiastic.
The party gathered up and headed on, further up the mountain. As Xing had said, the path wound its way through the gap between two of the mountains and shortly they found that they had started to head downhill again. Always better than uphill Jin considered. His chest was raw now, rubbed badly by the uncomfortable weight of his Chain shirt, and he was looking forward to the rest later that evening.
Two hours later as the party made their way down the mountainside, the path remarkably straight and without overgrowth considering the usual amount of traffic, Jin head a noise. He wasn’t the only one as Hung, Xing and Zhu stopped walking looking suddenly alert.
“No. We shud go dat way ya moron!”
“Dis way is betta!”
Only two people? This far out in the untamed lands? Jin was slightly concerned – most groups of less than four people tended to disappear this far out. If these two were well, they were either survivors from another party, or exceptionally capable. Either way Jin hoped they were friendly.
Xing primed an arrow, two more in his drawing hand ready to launch while Soul pulled, primed and loaded her Crossbow. Hung and Zhu drew their blades. Hung used a Falchion – an enormous cleaving sword meant for hacking and slicing. Zhu wasn’t far behind and used a Great Falchion, even bigger and heavier than Hung’s. Jin didn’t have the muscle strength to use weapons like that with skill, even though he was trained in their use. He had always preferred the versatility of his lighter Scimitars – Two attacks were better than one, if you have the coordination to pull it off and it had served him well thus far. Alice once again pulled her components from the small pouch by her waist.
Moments went by and the voices got closer. Jin could hear the crunching of feet through the woods that flanked either side of the path they were on. Only one set of footsteps? Jin considered if his hearing was at fault but he was pretty sure about it.
Then there was a tense moment of realisation – a giant-like creature pushed its way through the forest appearing out of the trees at the edge of the road; its twin heads looking both ways at once and arguing which was the better. An Ettin! The identity of the creature now clear to Jin, he briefly considered what he knew of the creatures.
Giants with two heads, Ettins were extraordinarily strong and could coordinate their heads to fight far more efficiently with two weapons than any human. While their appearance made them look foolish they had a cunning that frequently got the better of even experienced groups. Jin knew this had to be ended quickly, before the monstrous entity got into range with the more vulnerable ranged combatants.
=+=
Xing and Soul both fired at the Ettin; Soul’s crossbow bolt embedding into a tree some 15 feet behind it. Xing’s arrows scoring several direct hits with good grouping. The Ettin let off a roar from one head. Probably the one that controlled that side. Jin observed.
He felt a familiar pat on his shoulder, followed by weight on his skull. This time, he knew without looking that three horns had grown from his head. The raw feeling of his burn dulled somewhat as the skin thickened and became armoured.
It was a small distraction but as he briefly entertained the illusion of the spell going awry and turning him into an unstoppable beast Zhu charged past him and sliced at the monsters belly. Jin wasn’t that far behind him and charged in with his newly grown horns. The Ettin looking furious and bloody as a gaping hole and enormous slice marred it’s hideously filthy skin. Up close, Jin could smell the fetid creature and was glad he took the opportunity to bathe regularly. Like I can afford that kind of repulsive odour with this face. He mused.
Hung, having seen both Zhu and Jin charge in with little fear, decided to do the same. His position near the front of the party as they travelled giving him an excellent view of the creature’s right side and he made good on the opening his rush created; His long Falchion carving a line of pain through the creature’s ribs. There was another roar; it didn’t sound happy.
Enraged and wounded by the flurry of attacks, the Ettin decided to take out its frustration on whosoever looked the most vulnerable, Its twin heads focussing on Zhu with an angry grin. It tried to spear Zhu with a huge javelin, missing but blocking his escape route. It tried again with a speed that the abnormally large body at first seemed incapable of; this time catching him in the foot and pinning him to the floor. Zhu yelled in pain clutching the javelin and taking his eyes of the monster for one critical second.
The other arm swung around grasping a morning star that, for all Jin knew, was the size of a real star. He could hear the sound of breaking ribs as the morning star crashed into Zhu knocking him to the ground and a further yell of pain and breaking bone as it followed through with the attack; bringing the morning star down on top of Zhu as he lay broken and bloody on the floor. Jin’s eyes widened as he realised that even he may not survive a flurry like that despite his defensive training. He could see Zhu struggling to draw breath but, in a display of remarkable fortitude, still moving despite the shattered bone.
There’s little I can do for him now. I need to get this over with. Jin returned his full attention to the Ettin which seemed to be chuckling to itself as it watched the broken fighter’s efforts to drag himself way. It soon stopped however as three arrows and a crossbow bolt peppered its hide and caused bad injury of their own. At about the same time a pair of semi-transparent enormous Jaws burst out of the ground and started chewing on the Ettin’s ankle. Size wise, it reminded Jin of an angry ornamental dog – large enough to be annoying but small enough to be harmless to the giant.
Zhu managed to drag himself some 5 feet before losing the strength to go further. Jin was sure that one more attack would finish him off and hoped the Ettin could be diverted to another target before that happened. He made several slices across the already wounded belly of the Ettin hoping to draw him – stinging, painful attacks with little to no damage.
Hung decided that he didn’t want to draw the fire from the giant and instead threw a haymaker with his falchion – a wide left-to-right that Jin was sure would catch him if Hung continued with it. Luck was with them both however as whatever Hung struck stopped the progress of his blade with an almighty crack. Both heads of the giant widened their eyes in confusion as their legs ceased to work and toppled over to the ground, dying. Hung had scored a devastating hit that had partially cleaved through the spine of the creature. He ripped his falchion out as the creature fell and took a step back to survey the damage.
Way to break it newbie... Jin smiled. Perhaps I should stop calling him that after that feat of swordplay. Jin turned his attention to Zhu and found that Soul was already by his side chanting some form of curative spell. Not much to say about that. Another healer though... Alice could heal but despite the party knowing her as a healer, she rarely cast spells that mended wounds like this. Jin could see the broken bones knitting under Zhu’s skin as it scarred over instantly. Two more similar spells and Soul offered her hand; Jin watched as Zhu grasped it and pulled himself up – his wounds, so severe some 20 seconds ago, now no worse than that of a good sparring match.
“Everyone ok now?”
Jin turned to Xing as the latter walked over, The movement aggravating the burn on his chest again. He glanced at his hand and saw the tiny scales fading back into old familiar skin.
“Mister Stoic will be fine.” Soul poked Zhu as she spoke. “Nothing more than flesh wounds now.”
“That’s good to hear. We’ve come a long way without losing anyone and it would be a shame to start now.” He turned to Hung. “Especially you, after that kill. Nicely done, even if it was a wild swing!”
Hung smiled and wiped some of the blood off his face with his sleeve. He rested his falchion on his shoulder. Poser Jin thought. Though I guess he’s earned it.
“I think we can get another hour of travel in, if you’re all up to it.” Xing glanced at the sun; now well on its way to setting. “We’ll set up camp and have ourselves a good night’s rest.”
The rest of the party murmured assent. Jin liked the ‘resting’ part of adventure. He wasn’t lazy per say, but he enjoyed the feeling of doing nothing. Getting out of his bedroll in the morning was tiresome and more often than not he overslept. It was nice and comfortable but did him no favours to the party when it was his turn to take watch.
Thankfully progress was smoother this side of the pass and the hour went by swiftly. As the sun lowered its way behind the tree line, it started to rain again. Xing called the party to a halt and people went about setting up their various tents and shelters. Hung, Jin, Soul and Xing all had their tents up in record time though still got wet. Alice gave up on her tent and packed it away asking to join someone else. Jin obliged since nobody else seemed to want to share with the eccentric shaman. He immediately regretted it however as Alice stripped off all her wet clothes and clambered into his tent. This will be either a very pleasant night, or a very embarrassing one. The rain had soothed his burn somewhat but he still didn’t want to reveal it in front of anyone. There was no such thing as privacy when in an adventuring group like this, Jin had learned. Tents do not make good sound-proof shelters and when nature calls, you find a bush elsewhere. You have to get used to people coming and going for various reasons so Alice’s stripping, while it raised a few male eyebrows, was practical if a little brazen.
Zhu shared a tent with Xing, as normal and the two soon had a small fire going, even in the downpour that halted their progress. Jin thought its timing was impeccable, since they were planning to stop anyway. They may not have to take turns watching tonight as well – very few creatures attacked while it was raining. Jin hoped it would last through his usual shift.
Jin pulled off his chain shirt as he climbed into his tent and laid his scimitars to the side as he unrolled his bedroll, falling on top of it with a small ‘flumph’. It was several peaceful seconds before he could feel Alice’s eyes boring into him. He rolled his head to the side to look back at her.
“What?”
“You sleep in your shirt? Without a blanket?” Alice had wrapped herself in her own winter blanket and was now looking at Jin while lying on her belly.
“I sleep in my shirt because I have no blanket.”
“Really?”
Jin turned so he was looking straight up again. “You’ve already forgotten then. My blanket got torn to pieces by a bolt of lightning.”
“Oh, yes, right; the kobold in the Thouqqa cave.” Alice giggled. “At least he got his comeuppance, even if he took your blanket with him when he died.”
“I’m sure it was very fun to watch.” It sure as hell wasn’t fun to experience. Jin wondered momentarily if Alice could see the ‘spirit’ of his late departed blanket. He brushed the irrelevant though away almost immediately.
“Well then, it’s just as well I’m here. You’ll get cold without one so you can share mine.” She unrolled herself from her blanket and cast half of it over Jin, giving him a slightly fuller view then Jin was expecting. She was warm and smelt like damp woodland, which was quite nice, Jin considered. A pleasant night then. He thought to himself as Alice settled down next to him, sharing the warmth.
=+=
Alice was sound asleep when Jin awoke to his name being called. Immediately he could tell the rain had stopped and that the caller must have been Hung. It was time for his turn to watch. Grumbling at the misfortune of having to get out of bed, he rolled Alice off him and pulled on his chain shirt. It scratched painfully against his burn and he wondered how long he would be stuck with the injury. Once properly attired, he grabbed his belt with its two sheathed scimitars and wandered outside.
Sure enough, there was Hung, tending to the fire. He gave a cheerful salute of acknowledgement, yawned loudly and made for his own tent. Stopping abruptly as he seemed to spot something. Jin turned to see what had halted his progress and saw, on his own tent no less, a spider the size of his hand. It was huge as spiders go and Jin recognised the breed as one that was poisonous. It was at that point they heard the clicking.
Click click... clickclickclick... click... Jin wasn’t sure what to make of it. It sounded very much like a much larger spider though and he half-realised that they had rested on the same height band on this side of the mountain as the Githzerai cave was on the other. In other words; Ettercap territory.
Jin and Hung exchanged glances. The latter had not experienced a fight with Ettercaps before but could tell by Jin’s rather resigned expression that combat was near. He made his way over to Xing and Zhu and rapped on the stakes that held their tent up, stopping briefly to do the same on Soul’s shelter.
Jin wasn’t sure what was said, but he made out the word ‘Ettercap’ and saw Xing sit bolt upright; the light of the campfire giving him a larger than life silhouette. Turning to his own tent, he nudged the sleeping Alice with the tip of his scabbard.
“Good morning.” Jin’s tone was deadpan. “Ettercaps. Combat. The usual.” He said. “Time to get up”.
The Spirit master rolled over with a grumpy expression on her face; “So much for your famous dexterity.” She dragged on her clothes and was ready in a remarkably short time for a woman. The offhand comment confused Jin – perhaps he had missed a trick last night. He gave a mental shrug. There would be others he thought.
“Yami please go lead Jin to the Ettercap so he can kill it.” Alice appeared to be stroking the air. Jin’s eyes widened as the air seemed to resist her touch. That’s creepy. He thought; Next time, not while the dog is watching. Out loud however he was more circumspect;
“How can something I cannot see or touch lead me?” he asked. “I’ll figure it out. As usual.”
Jin turned from his tent, dropping the flap to muffle Alice’s retort and slowly made his way towards the clicking. It was all the work of a minute to locate the Ettercap. Too easy, where’s the catch? Jin was acutely aware of the rough terrain underfoot that many adventurers wouldn’t have considered when attacking such a creature but he was confident that he could skip along it without much hassle. A glance over his shoulder showed Xing and Zhu heading into the forest on the other side of the camp. Jin assumed they had heard another one of the creatures and were going to check it out. No archery for backup on this one then. Jin would have preferred to have Xing watching his back but he didn’t get this far by being cowardly.
Jin took a step back to take a run up. Few enemies could resist a straight up rush and Jin had learned that his defensive fighting ability was extremely efficient at countering the increased risk of a full on assault. More offence usually equals less defence; Jin preferred both. He ran across the raised roots and loose soil without a hitch and slammed into the chest of the Ettercap with a loud “FOUND YA!”.
His first attack abruptly stopped the ‘click click click’ of communication. He only realised his error when the first spider fell. Ettercaps always come with an entourage of spiders – Jin had charged right into the middle of the trap and realised that he was suddenly surrounded by a small hoard of very big spiders; at least 6 of them all the size of dinner plates.
A crossbow bolt darted over his shoulder only narrowly missing Jin himself and embedding with a loud ‘thunk’ in the torso of the Ettercap. Out the corner of his eye he could see Soul reloading, clearly hoping to get another good shot in. The Ettercap retaliated with an odd gurgling noise and leaned back, only to reach forward again and spit a cloud of gruesome phlegmatic webbing at the Dervish in front of it. Jin found himself covered in sticky spittle and found it difficult to move as the goop started to harden.
Nice... real nice. Jin quickly wiped what goo he could from his face with the cuff of his sleeve. He was pretty sure it would wash off but for now it felt disgusting and weighed him down as he tried to defend himself and attack the creature. He could feel his movements get ever more sluggish and this allowed the smaller spiders to climb on his foot and start nipping. They weren’t especially painful to Jin but he recognised the burn of poison and prayed that his natural fortitude would overpower it.
One of the spiders gave a small screech as it bit – Jin glanced down, distracted, to see 6 or 7 small purple dots appear on its thorax. Hello Yami he thought. Two more just seemed to explode behind him as Hung decided to join the fray.
It was hard to manoeuvre into a defensive position or to one that allowed Jin to attack easily while he was coated in webbing but he tried. Two of his four attempts scored some minor damage but for the most part he was just trying to keep his footing. It was especially awkward when a crossbow bolt skipped off his dastana and ricocheted into the Ettercap. Soul’s apology was lost among the sounds of battle. At least she got it as well Jin considered. The crossbow bolt had the luck of the gods about it (whatever those were. Alice had only mentioned them once while talking to the Githzerai spirit.) It may have hit Jin’s buckler but as it deflected off, it went straight up through the guard of the Ettercap and straight through its more vulnerable throat. Like the rest of the giant critters that had fallen to the party thus far, it slumped over and fell backwards dead; the momentum of the bolt speeding its descent.
Hung took a step in and eliminated another spider; his Falchion carving it neatly in half. Another spider simply rolled over and twitched a little, trying to get away. Yami too was contributing to the fight. Jin tried to attack two of the remaining spiders but barely scratched them as the webbing around him pinned his arms and halted his movements. Soul didn’t want to risk another crossbow bolt as the only targets left were still climbing on Jin but Hung soon resolved that. Jin could feel the wind passing as Hung’s falchion took out a spider that was climbing up his leg.
The spider that was retreating stopped abruptly and collapsed, rolling slightly with its momentum. More purple spots marring its body. Jin watched it roll as he brought his scimitar down on the last spider, killing it. It was somewhat funny and once he had scraped off the last of the webbing he went and picked it up. It was still alive.
With the fight over, Jin, Soul and Hung went back to the camp. Alice was still in the tent and had gone back to sleep.
“She said she had no spells left so sent Yami to help.” Hung said. “Xing and Zhu went...”
“I know. They’ll be fine” Jin interrupted.
“You don’t want to go check on them?”
Jin frowned. Xing would be fine – in the unlikely event that he even got into melee he had Zhu to back him up. Likewise Zhu wouldn’t take too much damage since Xing would take out most enemies before they could dish it out. It was the standard tactic Xing and He used.
“They’ll call if they need us.”
It was about 2 minutes later when Xing and Zhu returned looking disappointed. “We couldn’t find anything. I swear there was two of them but damned if I can find the other. How’s your one?”
“Dead. Along with its little squad of ankle biters.” Soul said. Jin took a moment to clean the last of the web off of him and settled by the fire, throwing a small log onto it. Whatever needed to be said could be said by others.
“Back to sleep then. I hope I was mistaken about the second Ettercap.”
Unlikely. If you heard it, it was probably there, Jin thought. He watched Xing and Zhu head back to their tent, as Soul and Hung did the same to theirs. Xing had very keen hearing - a regular joke in fact was that Xing could hear a mute puppeteer on the top of a mountain a mile away. Jin was sure that he wasn’t mistaken. Sure enough though, a familiar clicking started once all the party had settled down. Jin sighed as he got ready to make the rounds again. Perhaps it wants it’s kin back Jin glanced down at the twitching creature he had claimed shortly before.
=+=
Waking everyone up this time was simple – they had barely gone to sleep and some were still awake; a simple call was all it took. After a brief scout by Yami, Alice informed the rest of the party where the potential location of the Ettercap was; almost 10 feet from Xing and Zhu’s tent! I really need to train these ears and eyes of mine. Jin was surprised – not many things got that close to Xing even when he was sleeping. Jin rubbed his chest idly. If it wasn’t for this damn burn I’d be more focussed. Let’s get this over with...
Jin, as normal, went in first tossing the unconscious spider back into the forest as he did so followed closely by Hung. The Ettercap gave a nasty chatter as some dark purple blotches appeared on it. Jin assumed that Yami had beaten them to the creature and was ‘contributing’ in his own way. Xing was still in his tent, trying to wake up Zhu who apparently was a heavier sleeper then Jin had first suspected.
Alice decided to stay back: having no energy left for spell casting she was relying on Yami to keep her safe. One good night’s sleep was all she needed but it had been three days since such a night and her mind was exhausted. I’ll bet we all feel the same. Lack of sleep makes for poor performance...
Up close, the second Ettercap seemed smaller than the first though not by much. Jin slammed into its bulky abdomen with all the force of the small, angry dancer that he was. That is to say 150lbs of easily manoeuvrable muscle. The Ettercap shrieked at both the intrusion into its personal space and at the blade that cut across its breast. Hung pulled up short behind Jin, looking up and readying his Falchion like one would hold a baseball bat. They were both ready for the rain of spiders this time and were well supplied with ranged backup – this would be no contest.
Xing took a few steps back from his tent, leaving the slowly stirring Zhu as he did so. He drew his bow – a large laminated composite piece of art the most people couldn’t even pull. Jin had tried it once and barely got it to its full tension. In Xing’s hands, it had pierced just about every type of armour the party had come across; from the chain armour of the Thousand Blades to various natural armours and carapace of the prey that had become the party’s livelihood. Xing whipped three arrows from a newly equipped quiver and in the space of 6 seconds, had fired all three at the Ettercap. They all hit and, Jin was sure, they all hurt.
Hung and Soul took their own attacks at the smaller spiders that had dropped around Jin – Soul scoring a beautiful hit with her Crossbow which effectively nailed a spider to the forest floor. Hung Had to step around Jin to get a good swinging angle but he, too, successfully killed a spider. The spiders scuttled around trying to consume the nice edible flesh that had made its way so far into their forest but struggled to get through Jin’s leather greaves or Hung’s chainmail leggings. Zhu was not so lucky; as he struggled to get up Jin could see the source of his exhaustion – the fool had tried to sleep in his armour and it had left him weak with fatigue. A lone spider, undeterred by the death of its siblings or by the size of the creatures it was trying to eat, leapt into the tent and bit Zhu on the arm. He shook it off quickly but the light from the nearby fire showed something disturbing – the veins around the bite were turning a dark pink colour. Great, we’ll need some anti-venom after all.Jin had had some wilderness training and had been exposed to poisons before but Zhu was a lot more formally trained and had yet to encounter the hazards of the natural world. Now was a good time to learn, Jin thought. He wasn’t particularly worried. At worst, Zhu would feel weak for a day or four before his body fought off the poison.
The Ettercap chattered shrilly as Zhu was bitten, perhaps in praise of its competent little soldier spider. It changed into a gravelly sucking noise as the creature leaned back... Oh not again... Jin barely had time to cross his scimitars and cover his face as once again he was covered in webbing. Dust; Rocks; Blood; Viscera – at one time or another Jin had found his way to being covered by each of them – it was a hazard of being a front-line shock trooper. The webbing didn’t unduly disgust him but it was an unpleasant feeling that he could do without; not including the fact that it halted his movements and made him vulnerable. He could feel some of the liquid trickling down his shirt, pressing against his burn as it thickened and hardened.
Zhu stood up and drew his belt knife. It wasn’t designed for combat but it would have to suffice since he couldn’t swing his enormous Great Falchion in the tent. Reaching down he pinned the spider to the ground with one hand and ran it through with the other. He flicked the creature away is it was dying and stepped outside, dragging his larger weapon with him. Xing redirected his attack from the creature, having seen it attacking Zhu, and again focussed on the Ettercap. Three more arrows sprouted from the monster as it screeched in pain. Jin made a mental note to talk to him later – one of the arrows had come uncomfortably close under his shield arm as it struck. He had been moving though, to be fair. The Ettercap sported two more small slashes across its left arm as testament to this.
The battle was not going in the Ettercaps favour as was made clear by Soul who once again detonated another spider at 20 feet with a crossbow bolt.
Hung took another low swing at a spider, cleaving it in half. He rolled around and followed the attack through by bringing his weapon up, using the momentum of the downswing to attack the Ettercap. It would have been a superb display of swordsmanship, had the Ettercap not stepped awkwardly away at the last minute.
The Ettercap made to flee once it realised that all of its entourage had been bisected or impaled to the floor and turned away. Xing took this as time to end the fight and fired another three arrows at it; one missed completely however the other two caught the Ettercap square in the back as it withdrew. It fell to the ground chattering, twitching and writhing. Hung moved over and put it out of its misery, granting the creature peace.
Webbing again and no rest this night either. Jin sighed. He was about ready to collapse and feebly cleaned off the gunk that covered his body as he made for the fire. It was still his watch after all so bed would have to wait. The party spoke little as they cleaned themselves off and bound wounds. Zhu looked absolutely exhausted from the combined trials of 3 days and nights of effort, the weight of his armour and the strength-sapping poison that afflicted him. Soul just yawned and she and Hung walked back to their tents, which were next to each other. Xing nodded to Jin, who shrugged, and ducked into his tent with Zhu.
Jin now sat alone in the darkness with little but the fire and Jungle ambiance to keep him company. He idly rubbed his chest and started to clean his scimitars. Bed can’t come soon enough, he thought. Hopefully tomorrow would bring a more peaceful evening.
You and I both, Jin mentally added.
“We found the treasure...”
“...eventually!”
Hung and Song, both clearly relieved that they were not about to get their own Lightning Bolt were eager to share the newfound loot. They held between them two ornamental plates, a short length of carved wood and some heavy gauntlets. Jin had seen enough wands over the last few weeks to recognise one at a glance now and while he couldn’t tell their effects or how much power they had left he knew that they generally didn’t disintegrate while they still had use.
“These gauntlets have some magic in them!” Soul was grinning ear to ear. She brushed off some of the dust that had settled on her during the mining as she held them up to the Ranger. Funny..., Jin thought, ...that she turned to him as a leader. I wonder why they see him like that.
Having travelled with Xing the longest of all the party Jin probably knew him best. He had always seen Xing as a reasonable, pragmatic man who was mostly interested in living his life on his own. He seemed to enjoy his archery and was training hard to increase his rate of fire, and to ensure that every shot hit. He had been a hunter/gatherer before Jin had met him at the summer encampment and their skills and interests had overlapped - the result being a very strong friendship with much in common. Even so, Jin had never deferred to Xing as the others seemed to – he was a partner rather than a superior. He wasn’t privy to the reason as to why Xing had abandoned his wilderness life and joined the Summer Encampment but it would come out eventually, he thought.
Xing glanced at the gauntlets. “We’ll get them identified as soon as we can. They look like they’ll sell well, if nothing else.”
“What about this?” Hung asked, holding up the carved wooden stick.
“It’s a wand of some sort. It will need identification too.”
Jin smiled despite the pain in his chest. Always nice when the second opinion mirrors ones own.
Xing turned to the party’s primary healer, Alice. “Alice, can you help bind Jin up and then we’ll head on our way. I think we’ve outstayed our welcome.”
Jin frowned, preferring that none of the females in the group saw the damage that had been done to him. “I’ll be fine. We can travel now.”
Alice raised her eyebrow. “Are you sure about that? From what I saw you took the worst of it and Xing doesn’t exactly look unscathed.”
She waved her arm at the ranger, who looked surprised as he glanced down to his right arm – eyes widening as he saw the damaged cloth and, underneath, the shiny red skin. He rubbed it gingerly, have only just noticed the damage.
“I said that I’ll be fine.”
Despite the trust in his team Jin felt vulnerable. The Lightning bolt had taken him by surprise and had hurt him more than he was willing to share. He wasn’t keen to show off the damage, even to a friend.
“Well, ok, if you think so.” Alice didn’t sound convinced.
“All right, let’s go then.” Xing stood up, apparently finished frisking the Kobold. “Let’s see, we can probably cross the pass and start heading down before nightfall.”
“Well, no time like the present!” Hung spoke, sounding enthusiastic.
The party gathered up and headed on, further up the mountain. As Xing had said, the path wound its way through the gap between two of the mountains and shortly they found that they had started to head downhill again. Always better than uphill Jin considered. His chest was raw now, rubbed badly by the uncomfortable weight of his Chain shirt, and he was looking forward to the rest later that evening.
Two hours later as the party made their way down the mountainside, the path remarkably straight and without overgrowth considering the usual amount of traffic, Jin head a noise. He wasn’t the only one as Hung, Xing and Zhu stopped walking looking suddenly alert.
“No. We shud go dat way ya moron!”
“Dis way is betta!”
Only two people? This far out in the untamed lands? Jin was slightly concerned – most groups of less than four people tended to disappear this far out. If these two were well, they were either survivors from another party, or exceptionally capable. Either way Jin hoped they were friendly.
Xing primed an arrow, two more in his drawing hand ready to launch while Soul pulled, primed and loaded her Crossbow. Hung and Zhu drew their blades. Hung used a Falchion – an enormous cleaving sword meant for hacking and slicing. Zhu wasn’t far behind and used a Great Falchion, even bigger and heavier than Hung’s. Jin didn’t have the muscle strength to use weapons like that with skill, even though he was trained in their use. He had always preferred the versatility of his lighter Scimitars – Two attacks were better than one, if you have the coordination to pull it off and it had served him well thus far. Alice once again pulled her components from the small pouch by her waist.
Moments went by and the voices got closer. Jin could hear the crunching of feet through the woods that flanked either side of the path they were on. Only one set of footsteps? Jin considered if his hearing was at fault but he was pretty sure about it.
Then there was a tense moment of realisation – a giant-like creature pushed its way through the forest appearing out of the trees at the edge of the road; its twin heads looking both ways at once and arguing which was the better. An Ettin! The identity of the creature now clear to Jin, he briefly considered what he knew of the creatures.
Giants with two heads, Ettins were extraordinarily strong and could coordinate their heads to fight far more efficiently with two weapons than any human. While their appearance made them look foolish they had a cunning that frequently got the better of even experienced groups. Jin knew this had to be ended quickly, before the monstrous entity got into range with the more vulnerable ranged combatants.
=+=
Xing and Soul both fired at the Ettin; Soul’s crossbow bolt embedding into a tree some 15 feet behind it. Xing’s arrows scoring several direct hits with good grouping. The Ettin let off a roar from one head. Probably the one that controlled that side. Jin observed.
He felt a familiar pat on his shoulder, followed by weight on his skull. This time, he knew without looking that three horns had grown from his head. The raw feeling of his burn dulled somewhat as the skin thickened and became armoured.
It was a small distraction but as he briefly entertained the illusion of the spell going awry and turning him into an unstoppable beast Zhu charged past him and sliced at the monsters belly. Jin wasn’t that far behind him and charged in with his newly grown horns. The Ettin looking furious and bloody as a gaping hole and enormous slice marred it’s hideously filthy skin. Up close, Jin could smell the fetid creature and was glad he took the opportunity to bathe regularly. Like I can afford that kind of repulsive odour with this face. He mused.
Hung, having seen both Zhu and Jin charge in with little fear, decided to do the same. His position near the front of the party as they travelled giving him an excellent view of the creature’s right side and he made good on the opening his rush created; His long Falchion carving a line of pain through the creature’s ribs. There was another roar; it didn’t sound happy.
Enraged and wounded by the flurry of attacks, the Ettin decided to take out its frustration on whosoever looked the most vulnerable, Its twin heads focussing on Zhu with an angry grin. It tried to spear Zhu with a huge javelin, missing but blocking his escape route. It tried again with a speed that the abnormally large body at first seemed incapable of; this time catching him in the foot and pinning him to the floor. Zhu yelled in pain clutching the javelin and taking his eyes of the monster for one critical second.
The other arm swung around grasping a morning star that, for all Jin knew, was the size of a real star. He could hear the sound of breaking ribs as the morning star crashed into Zhu knocking him to the ground and a further yell of pain and breaking bone as it followed through with the attack; bringing the morning star down on top of Zhu as he lay broken and bloody on the floor. Jin’s eyes widened as he realised that even he may not survive a flurry like that despite his defensive training. He could see Zhu struggling to draw breath but, in a display of remarkable fortitude, still moving despite the shattered bone.
There’s little I can do for him now. I need to get this over with. Jin returned his full attention to the Ettin which seemed to be chuckling to itself as it watched the broken fighter’s efforts to drag himself way. It soon stopped however as three arrows and a crossbow bolt peppered its hide and caused bad injury of their own. At about the same time a pair of semi-transparent enormous Jaws burst out of the ground and started chewing on the Ettin’s ankle. Size wise, it reminded Jin of an angry ornamental dog – large enough to be annoying but small enough to be harmless to the giant.
Zhu managed to drag himself some 5 feet before losing the strength to go further. Jin was sure that one more attack would finish him off and hoped the Ettin could be diverted to another target before that happened. He made several slices across the already wounded belly of the Ettin hoping to draw him – stinging, painful attacks with little to no damage.
Hung decided that he didn’t want to draw the fire from the giant and instead threw a haymaker with his falchion – a wide left-to-right that Jin was sure would catch him if Hung continued with it. Luck was with them both however as whatever Hung struck stopped the progress of his blade with an almighty crack. Both heads of the giant widened their eyes in confusion as their legs ceased to work and toppled over to the ground, dying. Hung had scored a devastating hit that had partially cleaved through the spine of the creature. He ripped his falchion out as the creature fell and took a step back to survey the damage.
Way to break it newbie... Jin smiled. Perhaps I should stop calling him that after that feat of swordplay. Jin turned his attention to Zhu and found that Soul was already by his side chanting some form of curative spell. Not much to say about that. Another healer though... Alice could heal but despite the party knowing her as a healer, she rarely cast spells that mended wounds like this. Jin could see the broken bones knitting under Zhu’s skin as it scarred over instantly. Two more similar spells and Soul offered her hand; Jin watched as Zhu grasped it and pulled himself up – his wounds, so severe some 20 seconds ago, now no worse than that of a good sparring match.
“Everyone ok now?”
Jin turned to Xing as the latter walked over, The movement aggravating the burn on his chest again. He glanced at his hand and saw the tiny scales fading back into old familiar skin.
“Mister Stoic will be fine.” Soul poked Zhu as she spoke. “Nothing more than flesh wounds now.”
“That’s good to hear. We’ve come a long way without losing anyone and it would be a shame to start now.” He turned to Hung. “Especially you, after that kill. Nicely done, even if it was a wild swing!”
Hung smiled and wiped some of the blood off his face with his sleeve. He rested his falchion on his shoulder. Poser Jin thought. Though I guess he’s earned it.
“I think we can get another hour of travel in, if you’re all up to it.” Xing glanced at the sun; now well on its way to setting. “We’ll set up camp and have ourselves a good night’s rest.”
The rest of the party murmured assent. Jin liked the ‘resting’ part of adventure. He wasn’t lazy per say, but he enjoyed the feeling of doing nothing. Getting out of his bedroll in the morning was tiresome and more often than not he overslept. It was nice and comfortable but did him no favours to the party when it was his turn to take watch.
Thankfully progress was smoother this side of the pass and the hour went by swiftly. As the sun lowered its way behind the tree line, it started to rain again. Xing called the party to a halt and people went about setting up their various tents and shelters. Hung, Jin, Soul and Xing all had their tents up in record time though still got wet. Alice gave up on her tent and packed it away asking to join someone else. Jin obliged since nobody else seemed to want to share with the eccentric shaman. He immediately regretted it however as Alice stripped off all her wet clothes and clambered into his tent. This will be either a very pleasant night, or a very embarrassing one. The rain had soothed his burn somewhat but he still didn’t want to reveal it in front of anyone. There was no such thing as privacy when in an adventuring group like this, Jin had learned. Tents do not make good sound-proof shelters and when nature calls, you find a bush elsewhere. You have to get used to people coming and going for various reasons so Alice’s stripping, while it raised a few male eyebrows, was practical if a little brazen.
Zhu shared a tent with Xing, as normal and the two soon had a small fire going, even in the downpour that halted their progress. Jin thought its timing was impeccable, since they were planning to stop anyway. They may not have to take turns watching tonight as well – very few creatures attacked while it was raining. Jin hoped it would last through his usual shift.
Jin pulled off his chain shirt as he climbed into his tent and laid his scimitars to the side as he unrolled his bedroll, falling on top of it with a small ‘flumph’. It was several peaceful seconds before he could feel Alice’s eyes boring into him. He rolled his head to the side to look back at her.
“What?”
“You sleep in your shirt? Without a blanket?” Alice had wrapped herself in her own winter blanket and was now looking at Jin while lying on her belly.
“I sleep in my shirt because I have no blanket.”
“Really?”
Jin turned so he was looking straight up again. “You’ve already forgotten then. My blanket got torn to pieces by a bolt of lightning.”
“Oh, yes, right; the kobold in the Thouqqa cave.” Alice giggled. “At least he got his comeuppance, even if he took your blanket with him when he died.”
“I’m sure it was very fun to watch.” It sure as hell wasn’t fun to experience. Jin wondered momentarily if Alice could see the ‘spirit’ of his late departed blanket. He brushed the irrelevant though away almost immediately.
“Well then, it’s just as well I’m here. You’ll get cold without one so you can share mine.” She unrolled herself from her blanket and cast half of it over Jin, giving him a slightly fuller view then Jin was expecting. She was warm and smelt like damp woodland, which was quite nice, Jin considered. A pleasant night then. He thought to himself as Alice settled down next to him, sharing the warmth.
=+=
Alice was sound asleep when Jin awoke to his name being called. Immediately he could tell the rain had stopped and that the caller must have been Hung. It was time for his turn to watch. Grumbling at the misfortune of having to get out of bed, he rolled Alice off him and pulled on his chain shirt. It scratched painfully against his burn and he wondered how long he would be stuck with the injury. Once properly attired, he grabbed his belt with its two sheathed scimitars and wandered outside.
Sure enough, there was Hung, tending to the fire. He gave a cheerful salute of acknowledgement, yawned loudly and made for his own tent. Stopping abruptly as he seemed to spot something. Jin turned to see what had halted his progress and saw, on his own tent no less, a spider the size of his hand. It was huge as spiders go and Jin recognised the breed as one that was poisonous. It was at that point they heard the clicking.
Click click... clickclickclick... click... Jin wasn’t sure what to make of it. It sounded very much like a much larger spider though and he half-realised that they had rested on the same height band on this side of the mountain as the Githzerai cave was on the other. In other words; Ettercap territory.
Jin and Hung exchanged glances. The latter had not experienced a fight with Ettercaps before but could tell by Jin’s rather resigned expression that combat was near. He made his way over to Xing and Zhu and rapped on the stakes that held their tent up, stopping briefly to do the same on Soul’s shelter.
Jin wasn’t sure what was said, but he made out the word ‘Ettercap’ and saw Xing sit bolt upright; the light of the campfire giving him a larger than life silhouette. Turning to his own tent, he nudged the sleeping Alice with the tip of his scabbard.
“Good morning.” Jin’s tone was deadpan. “Ettercaps. Combat. The usual.” He said. “Time to get up”.
The Spirit master rolled over with a grumpy expression on her face; “So much for your famous dexterity.” She dragged on her clothes and was ready in a remarkably short time for a woman. The offhand comment confused Jin – perhaps he had missed a trick last night. He gave a mental shrug. There would be others he thought.
“Yami please go lead Jin to the Ettercap so he can kill it.” Alice appeared to be stroking the air. Jin’s eyes widened as the air seemed to resist her touch. That’s creepy. He thought; Next time, not while the dog is watching. Out loud however he was more circumspect;
“How can something I cannot see or touch lead me?” he asked. “I’ll figure it out. As usual.”
Jin turned from his tent, dropping the flap to muffle Alice’s retort and slowly made his way towards the clicking. It was all the work of a minute to locate the Ettercap. Too easy, where’s the catch? Jin was acutely aware of the rough terrain underfoot that many adventurers wouldn’t have considered when attacking such a creature but he was confident that he could skip along it without much hassle. A glance over his shoulder showed Xing and Zhu heading into the forest on the other side of the camp. Jin assumed they had heard another one of the creatures and were going to check it out. No archery for backup on this one then. Jin would have preferred to have Xing watching his back but he didn’t get this far by being cowardly.
Jin took a step back to take a run up. Few enemies could resist a straight up rush and Jin had learned that his defensive fighting ability was extremely efficient at countering the increased risk of a full on assault. More offence usually equals less defence; Jin preferred both. He ran across the raised roots and loose soil without a hitch and slammed into the chest of the Ettercap with a loud “FOUND YA!”.
His first attack abruptly stopped the ‘click click click’ of communication. He only realised his error when the first spider fell. Ettercaps always come with an entourage of spiders – Jin had charged right into the middle of the trap and realised that he was suddenly surrounded by a small hoard of very big spiders; at least 6 of them all the size of dinner plates.
A crossbow bolt darted over his shoulder only narrowly missing Jin himself and embedding with a loud ‘thunk’ in the torso of the Ettercap. Out the corner of his eye he could see Soul reloading, clearly hoping to get another good shot in. The Ettercap retaliated with an odd gurgling noise and leaned back, only to reach forward again and spit a cloud of gruesome phlegmatic webbing at the Dervish in front of it. Jin found himself covered in sticky spittle and found it difficult to move as the goop started to harden.
Nice... real nice. Jin quickly wiped what goo he could from his face with the cuff of his sleeve. He was pretty sure it would wash off but for now it felt disgusting and weighed him down as he tried to defend himself and attack the creature. He could feel his movements get ever more sluggish and this allowed the smaller spiders to climb on his foot and start nipping. They weren’t especially painful to Jin but he recognised the burn of poison and prayed that his natural fortitude would overpower it.
One of the spiders gave a small screech as it bit – Jin glanced down, distracted, to see 6 or 7 small purple dots appear on its thorax. Hello Yami he thought. Two more just seemed to explode behind him as Hung decided to join the fray.
It was hard to manoeuvre into a defensive position or to one that allowed Jin to attack easily while he was coated in webbing but he tried. Two of his four attempts scored some minor damage but for the most part he was just trying to keep his footing. It was especially awkward when a crossbow bolt skipped off his dastana and ricocheted into the Ettercap. Soul’s apology was lost among the sounds of battle. At least she got it as well Jin considered. The crossbow bolt had the luck of the gods about it (whatever those were. Alice had only mentioned them once while talking to the Githzerai spirit.) It may have hit Jin’s buckler but as it deflected off, it went straight up through the guard of the Ettercap and straight through its more vulnerable throat. Like the rest of the giant critters that had fallen to the party thus far, it slumped over and fell backwards dead; the momentum of the bolt speeding its descent.
Hung took a step in and eliminated another spider; his Falchion carving it neatly in half. Another spider simply rolled over and twitched a little, trying to get away. Yami too was contributing to the fight. Jin tried to attack two of the remaining spiders but barely scratched them as the webbing around him pinned his arms and halted his movements. Soul didn’t want to risk another crossbow bolt as the only targets left were still climbing on Jin but Hung soon resolved that. Jin could feel the wind passing as Hung’s falchion took out a spider that was climbing up his leg.
The spider that was retreating stopped abruptly and collapsed, rolling slightly with its momentum. More purple spots marring its body. Jin watched it roll as he brought his scimitar down on the last spider, killing it. It was somewhat funny and once he had scraped off the last of the webbing he went and picked it up. It was still alive.
With the fight over, Jin, Soul and Hung went back to the camp. Alice was still in the tent and had gone back to sleep.
“She said she had no spells left so sent Yami to help.” Hung said. “Xing and Zhu went...”
“I know. They’ll be fine” Jin interrupted.
“You don’t want to go check on them?”
Jin frowned. Xing would be fine – in the unlikely event that he even got into melee he had Zhu to back him up. Likewise Zhu wouldn’t take too much damage since Xing would take out most enemies before they could dish it out. It was the standard tactic Xing and He used.
“They’ll call if they need us.”
It was about 2 minutes later when Xing and Zhu returned looking disappointed. “We couldn’t find anything. I swear there was two of them but damned if I can find the other. How’s your one?”
“Dead. Along with its little squad of ankle biters.” Soul said. Jin took a moment to clean the last of the web off of him and settled by the fire, throwing a small log onto it. Whatever needed to be said could be said by others.
“Back to sleep then. I hope I was mistaken about the second Ettercap.”
Unlikely. If you heard it, it was probably there, Jin thought. He watched Xing and Zhu head back to their tent, as Soul and Hung did the same to theirs. Xing had very keen hearing - a regular joke in fact was that Xing could hear a mute puppeteer on the top of a mountain a mile away. Jin was sure that he wasn’t mistaken. Sure enough though, a familiar clicking started once all the party had settled down. Jin sighed as he got ready to make the rounds again. Perhaps it wants it’s kin back Jin glanced down at the twitching creature he had claimed shortly before.
=+=
Waking everyone up this time was simple – they had barely gone to sleep and some were still awake; a simple call was all it took. After a brief scout by Yami, Alice informed the rest of the party where the potential location of the Ettercap was; almost 10 feet from Xing and Zhu’s tent! I really need to train these ears and eyes of mine. Jin was surprised – not many things got that close to Xing even when he was sleeping. Jin rubbed his chest idly. If it wasn’t for this damn burn I’d be more focussed. Let’s get this over with...
Jin, as normal, went in first tossing the unconscious spider back into the forest as he did so followed closely by Hung. The Ettercap gave a nasty chatter as some dark purple blotches appeared on it. Jin assumed that Yami had beaten them to the creature and was ‘contributing’ in his own way. Xing was still in his tent, trying to wake up Zhu who apparently was a heavier sleeper then Jin had first suspected.
Alice decided to stay back: having no energy left for spell casting she was relying on Yami to keep her safe. One good night’s sleep was all she needed but it had been three days since such a night and her mind was exhausted. I’ll bet we all feel the same. Lack of sleep makes for poor performance...
Up close, the second Ettercap seemed smaller than the first though not by much. Jin slammed into its bulky abdomen with all the force of the small, angry dancer that he was. That is to say 150lbs of easily manoeuvrable muscle. The Ettercap shrieked at both the intrusion into its personal space and at the blade that cut across its breast. Hung pulled up short behind Jin, looking up and readying his Falchion like one would hold a baseball bat. They were both ready for the rain of spiders this time and were well supplied with ranged backup – this would be no contest.
Xing took a few steps back from his tent, leaving the slowly stirring Zhu as he did so. He drew his bow – a large laminated composite piece of art the most people couldn’t even pull. Jin had tried it once and barely got it to its full tension. In Xing’s hands, it had pierced just about every type of armour the party had come across; from the chain armour of the Thousand Blades to various natural armours and carapace of the prey that had become the party’s livelihood. Xing whipped three arrows from a newly equipped quiver and in the space of 6 seconds, had fired all three at the Ettercap. They all hit and, Jin was sure, they all hurt.
Hung and Soul took their own attacks at the smaller spiders that had dropped around Jin – Soul scoring a beautiful hit with her Crossbow which effectively nailed a spider to the forest floor. Hung Had to step around Jin to get a good swinging angle but he, too, successfully killed a spider. The spiders scuttled around trying to consume the nice edible flesh that had made its way so far into their forest but struggled to get through Jin’s leather greaves or Hung’s chainmail leggings. Zhu was not so lucky; as he struggled to get up Jin could see the source of his exhaustion – the fool had tried to sleep in his armour and it had left him weak with fatigue. A lone spider, undeterred by the death of its siblings or by the size of the creatures it was trying to eat, leapt into the tent and bit Zhu on the arm. He shook it off quickly but the light from the nearby fire showed something disturbing – the veins around the bite were turning a dark pink colour. Great, we’ll need some anti-venom after all.Jin had had some wilderness training and had been exposed to poisons before but Zhu was a lot more formally trained and had yet to encounter the hazards of the natural world. Now was a good time to learn, Jin thought. He wasn’t particularly worried. At worst, Zhu would feel weak for a day or four before his body fought off the poison.
The Ettercap chattered shrilly as Zhu was bitten, perhaps in praise of its competent little soldier spider. It changed into a gravelly sucking noise as the creature leaned back... Oh not again... Jin barely had time to cross his scimitars and cover his face as once again he was covered in webbing. Dust; Rocks; Blood; Viscera – at one time or another Jin had found his way to being covered by each of them – it was a hazard of being a front-line shock trooper. The webbing didn’t unduly disgust him but it was an unpleasant feeling that he could do without; not including the fact that it halted his movements and made him vulnerable. He could feel some of the liquid trickling down his shirt, pressing against his burn as it thickened and hardened.
Zhu stood up and drew his belt knife. It wasn’t designed for combat but it would have to suffice since he couldn’t swing his enormous Great Falchion in the tent. Reaching down he pinned the spider to the ground with one hand and ran it through with the other. He flicked the creature away is it was dying and stepped outside, dragging his larger weapon with him. Xing redirected his attack from the creature, having seen it attacking Zhu, and again focussed on the Ettercap. Three more arrows sprouted from the monster as it screeched in pain. Jin made a mental note to talk to him later – one of the arrows had come uncomfortably close under his shield arm as it struck. He had been moving though, to be fair. The Ettercap sported two more small slashes across its left arm as testament to this.
The battle was not going in the Ettercaps favour as was made clear by Soul who once again detonated another spider at 20 feet with a crossbow bolt.
Hung took another low swing at a spider, cleaving it in half. He rolled around and followed the attack through by bringing his weapon up, using the momentum of the downswing to attack the Ettercap. It would have been a superb display of swordsmanship, had the Ettercap not stepped awkwardly away at the last minute.
The Ettercap made to flee once it realised that all of its entourage had been bisected or impaled to the floor and turned away. Xing took this as time to end the fight and fired another three arrows at it; one missed completely however the other two caught the Ettercap square in the back as it withdrew. It fell to the ground chattering, twitching and writhing. Hung moved over and put it out of its misery, granting the creature peace.
Webbing again and no rest this night either. Jin sighed. He was about ready to collapse and feebly cleaned off the gunk that covered his body as he made for the fire. It was still his watch after all so bed would have to wait. The party spoke little as they cleaned themselves off and bound wounds. Zhu looked absolutely exhausted from the combined trials of 3 days and nights of effort, the weight of his armour and the strength-sapping poison that afflicted him. Soul just yawned and she and Hung walked back to their tents, which were next to each other. Xing nodded to Jin, who shrugged, and ducked into his tent with Zhu.
Jin now sat alone in the darkness with little but the fire and Jungle ambiance to keep him company. He idly rubbed his chest and started to clean his scimitars. Bed can’t come soon enough, he thought. Hopefully tomorrow would bring a more peaceful evening.