Turn 14: Failed Ambush"What did I ever do to you?!" Blast the ghost with a bolt of holy magic!
[1] vs [4] You flail uselessly at the ghost with your bare hand. Not even a spark forms as a result.
[1] vs [3-3] The ghost flails uselessly at you, which would probably look comical to any bystanders. A bit of the icy feeling creeps into your hands, though.
-1 to next dodgeLets keep on searching for flowers, this time on a small floating platform of ice.
[3-1][Luck 2] You fail to make an even remotely stable portion of ice, much less move it around. [5][Luck 6] Searching for glowers goes much,
much better. Not only do you find plenty of the sort you're after, you discover a giant, flower-like plant with obvious teeth, clearly waiting for something to fall into it and be eaten.
...what's it eating out here? Well, no matter. The point is it's probably valuable or has valuable parts or something, if you can avoid the being eaten part.
+Ash FlowersTry to find an actual map this time.
[3][Luck 3] You find a very, very crude map nailed to a bulletin board outside. You'd swear this place doesn't like knowing where everything is.
The map labels places with simple sounding names. Assuming they mean exactly what they say, it'd probably be easy to find the very rough location of any fire-related feature, material, or (presumably) ingredient you could think of. How easy it'd be to get there, get the stuff, and get out alive are different issues.
Gareid continues to shift uneasily on his feet, "Derm's still mulling about, I'm getting cold feet here... I can either check out that imp cave, but that sounds rather dangerous alone... That settles it, some mundane work ought to keep myself busy. What could be out in a farm anyway? I can always meet up with derm later." Gareid takes up the harvesting job.
The path is fairly easy to follow- while there's not much marking it other than being dustier than the cracked dry red elsewhere and the fact that it passes beside a lot of rock formations, the fact that the rest of the place is pretty desolate helps with not getting lost. It's a decent trip, but not something you couldn't handle fairly routinely.
On arriving, you see that the farm is, pretty much, just an open space between several rather tall formations. The soil is darker here, being black, dark brown, or various shades of grey. The plants you're after are everywhere, and look mostly like melon-sized bulbs sitting atop a short, thick stalk, with a handful of large, dark green leaves resting on the ground at the base. Harvesting them should be easy enough.
Except, of course, that there's currently several incredibly wiry, sinuous dog-like things stalking around and laughing at you. They're mostly charcoal-colored, but their eyes and mouth glow with inner fire, and several sections seem to have markings of various shades of red.
Oh come on this really is the most obvious situation ever.
Fire.
[2+1] vs [2+1] You fire at one of them, but the tall grass it's hiding behind gives it the edge it needs to avoid damage.
Follow Taric, whip the frogmen if any attack.
[5+1] vs [6] The frogman you attempt to whip, larger than most of the others, proves to be quite agile, and your whip misses, coming close enough to make a sound off the frogman's leather armor.
Summon a Lunar Dragon
[5-2][Luck 3] You summon a brightly luminescent, small dog-sized serpent or wyrm of some sort. It makes an oddly musical sound, but otherwise just hovers and circles in the air as though it were swimming.
+5 SummoningContinue advancing.
[1+2] vs [2] Two frogmen leap in front of you to attack. You wing one of them, and it croaks in pain.
"A minute of your attention, Triplets? Those bones you just gnawed at so ravenously - they belong to your brother. The brother that you helped to kill. Reflect on that for a few turns, please. The type of snacks you'll receive at the end of the battle depends on the depth of your self-disgust."
Triplets start despising themselves for being a traitorous glutton with no table manners.
[1][Luck 5] Your efforts only serve to make Triplets proud of itself. Then it realizes it probably shouldn't be proud about something like that, and gains a worried or slightly troubled expression.
In response to Alexander's attack, the frogmen open their assault on the group.
[1-1][3-1][4-1][3] vs [4+2][5+2][3+2][2+2] Three hunters fire shoddy arrows from the grass, failing utterly to threaten Alexander. One armed with a spear takes that opportunity to ambush him, but fares only slightly better.
[2+1] vs [1] The big one attacking Straga manages to hit her arm with its thin two-handed sword. It's a rather painful blow.
[1][5] vs [4][5] The wounded one attacking Taric flails uselessly with its spear. The other one makes a powerful stroke with its rather large, curved black dagger, possibly made from a claw or somesuch. Taric expertly (if narrowly) avoids it, however.
[1+1][5-1][1-1][4-1] vs [6][5][4][3] Another one with a sword rushes Tarok, but he easily avoids the clumsy charge. Three more hunters being peppering his location with arrows, but he manages to avoid them all.
[3][Luck 2] Another one with a spear makes some loud, largely croaking noises, obviously giving orders or shouting warnings. He shuts up a moment later, looking slightly disturbed.
Straga -3 HPInterior MercenariesTaric
10/10 HP
Spear: +2 Attack, +1 Damage -Flying Monkey impaled on spear-
+1 Leadership to getting people to follow
Skills
Apprentice Spears (12/20)
Novice Leadership (0/10)
Inventory
Spear - +1 Damage. Well-made but not exceptional.
Brightly Colored Silk Shirt - +1 to Leadership rolls to get people to follow you somewhere else.
Gneiss Ring
+1 minor silver pouch - can be used to purchase a minor piece of equipment, like a piece of chalk or candle
Tarok Kingsley
10/10 HP
Demonic Sword: Standard
+1 to controlling lunar demons
Skills
Adept Summoning (7/30)
Novice Necromancy (0/10)
Inventory
Demonic Sword - Standard Weapon
Crescent Moon Pendant - +1 to controlling lunar demons
Fallen Bird Pouch - Provides the reagent for animating a tiny aerial scout
+1 minor silver pouch - can be used to purchase a minor piece of equipment, like a piece of chalk or candle
Straga Sickshade
7/10 HP
Whip: +1 Attack
+1 to animating undead
Skills
Apprentice Necromancy (14/20)
Novice Whips (7/10)
Inventory
Skull of Servitude - +1 to animating undead
Studded Whip - Standard weapon.
Decaying Chalk of Decay
Schist Jar - Contains bat corpse.
Small Jar of Honey
Monkey Bones (about two monkeys worth)
Alexander Kyrby
10/10 HP
+2 Dodge
1P/1S/1B Resist
Bow: +1 Attack
Skills
Apprentice Dodge (0/20)
Novice Archery (0/10)
Inventory
Bow - Standard ranged weapon
Light Leather Armor - +1S/+1P/+1B Resist
Northern Ingredient CollectorsGareid
10/10 HP
Sword: +1 Attack
+1 to AoE earth spells
Skills
Apprentice Earth Magic (13/20)
Novice Swords (0/10)
Inventory
Mineral Pendant - +1 to AoE earth spells
Simple Sword - Standard weapon
Small Silver Pouch - Can be used to purchase a minor piece of equipment (rope, lantern) of decent quality.
Slow-Cooked Plant Bulb - Delicacy
Derm Hell-Binder
10/10 HP (Stable)
+1 to fire magic
+1 to researching fire demons
Skills
Apprentice Fire Magic (5/20)
Novice Summoning (6/10)
Inventory
Staff of Flame - +1 to fire magic
Tome of Fiendish Lore - +1 to researching new fire demons to summon
Small Silver Pouch - Can be used to purchase a minor piece of equipment (rope, lantern) of decent quality.
2 Fire Glands - (fire component)
Sword SeekerTarran An'ic'ia
8/10 HP
-1 to next dodge
1S/0P/0B Resist
Longsword: +2 Attack, +1 Damage
Skills
Apprentice Longswords (5/20)
Novice Holy Magic (6/10)
Inventory
Longsword - +1 Damage
Holy Pendant - +1 Slashing Resist
Small Silver Pouch - Can be used to purchase a minor piece of equipment (rope, lantern) of decent quality.
+2 Hearty Rations
Swamp RunnerOchita
10/10 HP
Skills
Apprentice Water Magic (9/20)
Novice Runecrafter (0/10)
Inventory
Water Staff - Standard water magic weapon
Book of Runes - Unknown
Ash Flowers - Probably enough to satisfy a contract
Enemies and AlliesZombie Flying Monkey Triplets (Straga)
? ? ?
Spectre (Tarran)
Frogmen (Mercenaries)
Frogman Brute x2
6/6 HP
+1 greatsword, +1 dmg
Frogman
Frogman Skirmisher x??
4/4 HP
2/4 HP x1
+1 spear
Frogman Hunter x??
2/2 HP
-1 bow, +1 dodge from cover
Coal Hounds x3
2/2 HP
Bite +1 dmg
+2 dodge