Tinier Problems
As with many situations, it began with a farmer.
Farmer Weathertop owns the farm his father owned, and his father before him, and his father before him. They have ednrued on these lands for decades. Centuries, in a lengthy family tradition. And in that time, they have never once had a problem they couldn't deal with.
Never. Once.
Which is why, now Farmer Weathertop is now here at the Guild of Explorers in Alexandria, he must be so unhappy.
He is also covered in bug bites. Seriously covered in them. To the point his son, Farmer Weathertop XXXVII, is having to talk for him.
"Bugs overran our a farm," he explains, simply, to the lot of you in the briefing room.
"Huge bugs in a giant swarm. Never seen anything like it. Not personally and not in my dad's jorunas, or my dad's dad's journals, or my dad's dad's dad's journals, or his dad's dad's dad's journals either. I looked. Think you can drive 'em out?"
Massive swarm of bugs? Yeah,. easy to see why you've been called. That could be a problem for more than just the Weathertop farm soon enough.
Elin was eager to get at the whole adventuring thing. She wanted to DO GREAT DEEDS and BE AWESOME and maybe ACQUIRE SOME TREASURE because that's what you do; she has some other goals too, but she doesn't tend to talk about them.
She isn't sure she expected bugs. Should she have brought a flyswatter? Maybe she can wave a smoky torch at them. Elin may be underestimating the size of the bugs.
"Ha! Of course," Elin says. "Bugs? Bugs are nothing." She pauses, then says in a much less dramatic voice, "So, are we talking about mosquitoes, or beetles, or..." She looks at Weathertop XXXVI. She does /not/ want to end up like that if she can help it.
Iskandar has been loitering around the Guild of Explorers for what must have been hours. He follows the farmer in and then listens to the tale. "A swarm of bugs..." he muses somberly. Then he puts his fists on his hips and enthuses, "Well it sounds like you need a few heroes. And you've come to the right place!"
Azra adjusts her headscarf briefly, worn so that only her eyes are visiblevisible. She walks with blue and green fabric obscuring her form like a cloak, amber eyes intense as they survey the room. Beneath a flowing blouse and trousers, all of it designed to hide skin and promote airflow. Deesert clothes.
"Alchemist's fire," the cavalier announces then, adjusting the bow she carries across her back and the slender, flexible lance she favours for melee tasks. "Someone sell me as at least four vials of it. There has to be a supplier near in a big city like this." Her dialect is distinct but also easily understood, accenting her consonants in a very particular way.
"Bows are not much good for smaller bugs, so we should bring fire. Alchemist's fire, oil. Torches. Yes?"
There is a short consultation in a book after this story is laid out for those gathered. A slow, long nod as Shivani puts her glasses on and has a look, flipping through the pages, one after another. The astute will notice the 'glasses' are just frames, and the book is filled with unintelligible scrawlings that were either done but proto-humanoids or children.
The books snaps shut and she shoves it into her belt before she gives a clap of her hands. Accented Tradespeak tumbles forth, lit with a friendly smile and an overjoyed demeanor.
"Oy shuz man, if these are anything like the bugs back home we might even be able to tame them to pull your carts or plows or whatnot. LORIK!" She shouts for her cousin, who of course, is right there next to her. "Don't you think we can take care of this? Plus all of these people here, I am sure this is enough. And if they are small bugs we can just use our feets and smash them up for the best stew you have all ever tasted, I am sure of it.."
Braith was told of work, so the dwarf came. She is decked out in her gear, warhammers both ready. She keeps quiet though just listening.
Farmers. Bugs. Ranger?
Prepared for a skirmish. A dawn elf strides purposefully into the briefing room and stands mid-way within with hands that clasp casually at the top of his abdomen. A swarm of anything is reason enough to grimace and so he does the movement of his mouth drawing darkness at the lines of his face.
"Does it matter," Kaelthilas asks Elin, "If they're nothing?" He mimics a derisive snort without deigning to actually exhale in a manner that could be considered rough.
"They'll leave when they have devoured all of your crops," the elf comfort's is anything but soothing, "but," the word represents the vague possibility of hope, "Yes. Flame. Cloud. No bows. No blades. Unless there is a deeper threat."
"I presume the cost of incidentals and necessary supplies is factored into a cost that will otherwise not be repaid? Lest Shivani let require us to pay for supplies while she absconds with a superior share?"
Tamrielo winces at the description of an infestation. He's got an expression that suggests he's familiar with bug bites, especially where one might want to sleep.
He otherwise stays quiet, following along with people's comments and sketching idly in his notebook.
"Bugs? Like...really big bugs? I've seen some /really/ big bugs." Lorik replies with wide eyes. He nods though with Shiv's statement. "I know! I mean do you remember the snails that cousin Xarthax used? They might not like the stew though. But..." He shrugs slightly. "...but its fine."
He nods though once as well. "Regardless there are plenty of us, and as Kael said we can't let them just eat the crops. That would be horrible for the city and the farmers. We should go see just what we can do for them. Especially if its some nasty infestation!"
"Summer bugs. Some'r big, some'r not," replies the younger farmer WEathertop, giving a pietous look to his father who is presently having his bug bites, SO MANY OF THEM, tended to by an Althean who's arrived with an ointment. "Thank yua, brother," he says to the Althean.
Now he turns back towards Lorik and nods. "Bug, yeah. Lotsa bugs. We thought we'd send someone over to Balefire Farms and ask for their spiders but that seems like it might've just been another problem in the long run."
"I'm still bringing my blade," Elin says, reaching behind her to touch the gigantic sword she has hanging on her back. "I will bring a torch also, though. But we should get rid of them before they eat the crops."
Elin appears either immune to Kaelthilas' derision or completely failed to notice it. It could be either. She certainly /looks/ like someone who prefers to do their thinking with their muscles rather than their head, and while looks can be decieving... sometimes they're not.
She makes a face. "Giant spiders are worse than giant bugs," Elin says. "Trust me. I know."
"Swarms are best being dealt with by fire. Swarms of bugs sweep the plains in the summers where I am from. Eat everything that isn't nailed down and also some of the things that are." Azra frowns at this and then takes a deep breath.
"For the big ones the bow will suffice." She shrugs once at that. "We shold probably go before they finish eating all of the crops and leave before we can burn the field."
A long stare in the direction of Kael is punctuated by a furious ripping sound as Shiv gnaws at some bit of jerky, pulling it against her teeth until finally some bit of it comes off in a noisy mess. Her brow furrows at Kaelthilas' words, like twists and turns in an impossible maze, she stops mid-chew.
She smiles just a little.
The hand holding the piece of bitten-through jerky extends towards Kael, the slobbery top of it offered up in an act of absolute kindness and friendship.
"No no, I will share. See? I am good at sharing. You will even get the bigger half."
While she does this she lets those more able to plan a bug attack take care of those details.
Iskandar chuckles. He reaches behind a chair where he was sitting and lifts a bow. Testing the string, he looks at Azra thoughtfully. Bows not much good? He'll see about that! He looks back at Weathertop the elder and the younger. "What exactly do you grow? Does it catch fire easily?"
Kaelthilas regards the jerky down the bridge of his nose, "Oh," he speaks with certain clarity and reaches with a gloved hand to relieve Shivani of the meat, "is that what you think?" Mailed shoulders rise and fall in a gentle shrug as deft fingers turn it about in his grasp so that the gnawed end is close to his palm.
Holding the jerky just beneath his nose the dawn elf's nostrils flare slightly and then he inserts just the edge of it between his teeth. Biting it precisely he extracts only a centimeter or so from its edge and then chews it quite delicately before swallowing.
He makes a sound, as if sated, before proffering it back unto its owner, "Nourishing." He is most gracious, "Thank you." He extends it further towards her as if equally charitable.
Off you go to Weathertop Farms after a brief shopping trip and more.
With fresh supplies in hands, you take the several hour ride by horseback. The sun is just starting to set as you arrive -- a good thing, given that most of the bugs are at their most active during the day.
All appears quiet for the moment as yo ubegin to reach the fence-line of the farm, but then, it would. Evening. Things are settling down.
For now.
The barn in the distance is firmly secured in an effort to protect the farm aminals. Same with the chicken coop, really. All you have to do is pass up the trail to the farm house to begin looking around in earnest.
Tamrielo spends the travel time sketching his traveling companions, and follows the trail to begin looking around once they arrive.
Elin seems unconcerned with buying flammables to go save crops. Better to burn some of them than let the bugs eat all of them. She can always put the fire out.
Elin does not ride very well. She is actually mounted on a plow horse, because it's the only one that was able to carry her due to her size, and it doesn't appear to enjoy having a rider any more than she enjoys riding it.
She dismounts a little ways away from the farm, and she ties the horse to a fence post. "Stay there," Elin tells it, waving her finger in its face; she's hoping it's far enough away to not attract bugs. Then she marches toward the trail, heading up it. "Come on!" she calls to her ... allies? Partners? Either way, she doesn't want to get too far ahead - but she doesn't want to wait long, either.
Azra rides on the back of a giant white bird. His name is Guyes, and he doens't seem to be inclined to let others touch him if he can help it. Being at least the size of a horse this animal sets a fairly brisk pace along the roads leading the way to the farm. Azra perches on his back more than sitting normally, bow and lance arrayed ith her.
"With insects like these I would expect that they will be sleeping until it is quite wait," Azra halfmumbles, squinting as she looks ovr the farmhouse. Tamrielo and his sketches earn him a nod,b ut the slender woman seems to have other concerns on her mind. "Judging by the many bites we will be dealing with swarms of biting things. I trust everyone is being acquainted with such things?"
Azra continues to study the ground as she moves along. Occasionally, Guyes lets out a scree andshe pats him, letting the bird help lead her.
Simply riding with Lorik, Shiv is facing backwards, so she can wave periodically at Kael, now that they are beginning a friendship in earnest. Jerky shared, Shiv collects dirt and Kael is great to wipe it off on, such bonding experiences!
"OH a farm! But, do they have mushrooms? Did the bugs eat them all?!" Distress fills her voice as she dismounts and rushes forward along the road, one hand reaching for the blade at her back to tug it free and hold it at the ready. Curved at the bladed edge but almost straight along it's spine, she holds it easily in one hand, while her other is poised with a torch, and her strange buckler, which seems more like a fore-arm length bracer with some floaty metal bits. Certainly, it is magic.
Halfway up the road she stops, raising her lit torch high.
"EVERYONE I DO NOT SEE ANY BUGS BIGGER THAN A HOUSE THIS IS GOOD NEWS!"
Iskandar tucks away his acid flasks on his belt and then climbs down off of his horse, bow in one hand. "Yes!" he nods in approval at Elin and then hurries not to be left behind. He listens to the advice of the others and then raises his eyebrows. "Acquainted with bugs? Isn't everyone?" He winces at the shout. Well, perhaps not everyone.
Watching Kael and Shiv go back and forth, Lorik has to hide a slight smile. Even the bright and shining armored elf is being nice to his cousin, and he's happy for that. It gives him hope that things will be ok now that he's up on the surface in this strange new world.
But then they are off on the expedition proper. And Lorik has more important things to worry about. Like the possibility of huge bug ambushing them.
"Does anyone hear anything from the barn?" He ask as he starts to pull his little crossbow and load the weapon.
It might not be good for little bugs, but it might be good for big ones.
Of course some of his attention is pulled away from the surroundings and towards Guyes. Because omghugebird. He's never seen one that big before.
...and then. Shiv shouts. And Lorik winces.
"...well to be fair. That /is/ good news."
"Are you seeing group of them that, when taken together, is being bigger than a house?" Azra calls back.
The dawn elf rides with straight back and aloof composure. Kaelthilas's want to ignore Shiv betrayed through tense jaw. Annoyed.
When dismounting he hits the ground in relatively silence despite the mail and plate he wears. It takes little acclimation to the wilds in order to locate the wide beast-path from the road towards the farm. His gold-flecked gaze drops to the soggy path and then sweeps upward to the farm. Light of step, his sylvan presence seems to cling to the ambient shadows despite the mailed vestments he wears as three feet onto the trail his knees bend and he begins to stalk forward while keeping keen eyes ahead.
He moves as beckoned stopping momentarily in place to place to caress an outgrowth or imprint upon the road. When Shiv raises her torch he would seem to want to vanish into the wood-line as if willing for a monstrous distraction. (Kaelthilas)
GAME: Kaelthilas rolls stealth: (6)+8: 14
GAME: Kaelthilas rolls survival: (16)+8: 24
GAME: Kaelthilas rolls perception: (19)+10: 29
GAME: Shivani rolls perception: (3)+8: 11
GAME: Iskandar rolls perception: (12)+8: 20
GAME: Shivani rolls survival: (19)+2: 21
GAME: Elin rolls Perception: (16)+8: 24
GAME: Elin rolls Survival: (14)+5: 19
GAME: Tamrielo rolls Perception: (2)+9: 11
GAME: Iskandar rolls survival: (15)+5: 20
GAME: Tamrielo rolls Survival: (10)+2: 12
GAME: Lorik rolls perception: (7)+10: 17
GAME: Azra rolls perception: (11)+1: 12
GAME: Azra rolls survival: (7)+6: 13
GAME: Lorik rolls survival+1: (13)+3+1: 17
GAME: Azra rolls +6: (1)++6: 7 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Azra rolls 2: (14)+2: 16
Good news, everyone!
Without a lot of work, you're able to find signs of bugfs! Lots of bugs!
Turn over a rock? There's bugs! Disturb a crop? More bugs! They flutter and scatter at your movement. It's easy to see how, during the day, they might actually be a problem for people given HOW MANY there are. This is an absurdly high level of bugs for this time of year at one location, but so far there's no clear indication of why they're here.
There's just... lots of them.
The farmer would probably appreciate it if you did not burn the years yield down.
Eyes widen.
The world shrinks away.
Slowly, Shiv turns to regard the rest of her companions, shock showing across her dark face. "Oh my ghuz. They.. they have us surrounded."
Which is almost certainly true. Technically. Of course, not being much of a tactical person, there's a long huff from her and she begins creeping towards the barn, scooting up close to try and take a peek through any space she might find in the barn door.
Tamrielo eyes the bugs and jots down a few quick sketches with anatomical precision, as well as where they're hiding. "Does anyone know what kind of bugs these are?"
Azra mutters something irritably which sounds like swearing. She clicks her tongue and the gigantic white and brown bird screes in response, then picks up a large rock with his claws. He leans forward and there's a *crunch*.
The bird is eating the insects. A lot of them. He is, after all, the size of a charger. Azra rusn her fingers through his feathers and clicks her tongue again. There's no response except more crunching.
"We are being surrounded by dinner," Azra calls out in a monotone. "Help. Someone start a fire so we can roast them before they flyaway and we lose our protein."
Why are there this many bugs?
"WHY are there this many bugs? He wasn't exaggerating at all!" Elin has a voice to match her stature: that is, she is loud, and certainly not trying to hide herself, because you can't hide from insects. They always find you.
She lights a torch, then looks around. Hmm. How to get smoke... she didn't exactly bring a lot of wet wood, so she'll have to find some here. "The stingy kind," she says, unhelpfully. "Why don't we put a fire on the path instead of the fields and then put wet wood in it, and see if we can get them to move away from the smoke? It would be easier with a wizard."
Elin adds, "And I am not going to eat them. They're tiny."
"Which is perfect. If you toast them they will get crunchy," Azra replies shortly. Crunch. Guyes apparently agrees.
"Well...we are..." Lorik agrees with his cousin. "But...I really don't think it'll be that bad. I mean they are very small and kind of lathergic..." He doesn't think the crossbow though is going to be useful for this so up it goes. "...ah! You think they are dinner too?" This towards Azra. "Maybe Shivani and I can swap recipes with you at some point...right now though..."
He looks back to the swarms around. "...can anyone create smoke? Quite a bit of smoke? If we can force them off the fields then we can use fire on them better. Without...burning all the crops."
A pause from the shadow elf.
"Since we are supposed to save the crops and all."
Iskandar turns over a few rocks, then looks under a fence. "Yes, heroes don't go around burning down farms in the countryside," he says. Then: "I wonder if something has drawn them here. Or someone." He stands up at his full height and tries to peer through the gloom as far as he can in every direction. "If that's the case there may be another way to do deal with this problem."
"Did anyone ask what the farmer is growing?" Azra asks slowly. She tilts her head and then gives Lorik a brief nod. "Recipes are straightforward. Usually, they are being toasted and salted then eaten with the hands.However-" The woman pauses and takes a deep breath.
Azra reaches up and unwinds her headscarf now, revealing neatly bound flowing brunette tresses. She tosses her head once. "Something must have brought them here. If we assume the farmer grew the same thing as they were growign last year then it must be smething nearby. We should look to see if there is anything strange?"
Elin keeps the torch in hand.
"Makes sense to me," she decides. "And if that doesn't work, /then/ we can make the big smoky fire."
After taking a long look in the barn, Shivani staggers backwards, until finally she turns to run very very far away from the barn and skid to a stop in front of everyone else.
"HOLY FOOK YOU GUYS. There are strange big giant bugs in there, one has horns and is white with black spots and another one was snoring and was pink and had a flat nose and a curly tail. Lorik they have some crazy shit up here, I tell you what."
Tamrielo nods. "There have to be multiple farms growing these same crops. Why would there only be one with an insect infestation?"
Tam does not know a lot about insects, or farming, but this makes some kind of sense to him. "It's like when bedbugs break out at an inn, it's usually because of some nest or something."
"What?!" Azra immediately goes for her lance, turning toward Shivani. "Show me these creatures!" Guyes continues to eat.
Opening and going into the barn is easy enough! The doors are simply chianed off and loosely padlocked qalong with a bar set across the gate to make things easier.
Opening the barn doors does promote BNGTIVITY> Namely, it causes a GIANT FLOOD of flying, crawling, and jumping insects to go ALL DIRECTIONS ALL AT ONCE.
There's hundreds. thousands. TENS OF THOUSANDS.
THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.
A hand reaches up to pull her goggles down over her eyes. Obtained from another adventure, they allow Shiv to bravely face the onslaught of bugs that fly into her face. Well, some of them. Once she has a delicious mouthful ducks behind Kaelthilas and lets him be the windshield for awhile.
"You see? One of them rouses the swarm with it's battle cry!"
Shivani emulates this battle cry.
"MOOOOOO!!!"
Of course the only thing in the barn besides so many bugs, is a cow and some pigs, the creatures she was certain were the leaders of this swarm.
"We should take a look around, see if they are concentrating somewhere specific...I mean the bugs are. They might be drawn here by something...I mean they shouldn't really congragate like this right? Its got to be /something/..." Lorik says as he glances at the creatues skittering about. Though Shivani's shout defintally gets his attention. "Giant bugs with...oh no...wait Shivani are there furred! You did this with the horses you thought were lizards too!"
But then not only Shivani but others are all marching towards the barn to see the giant bugs...
"Oh Eluna bless..."
So he starts after, raising his voice to call out...just as the doors burst open and the swarm...starts to...swarm...
"I THINK WE FOUND THE SOURCE!"
He doesn't think its the cow...
Elin gets to lift the bar. Go her.
"There has to be something in here," is what Elin says, before a wave of bugs basically smacks her in the ... everywhere. She staggers back under the onslaught, waving her hands - she regrets not having the torch, but she can't hold a torch /and/ her sword, and she might need the torch again later.
"WHY," she bellows. At least she's big enough that she provides shelter from the bugs. "WHY DID THEY LOCK THE BUGS INSIDE??"
Azra, meanwhile, has moved up beside Shivani and raised her lance as she squares off on... The cow. "This strange creature is the leader of the swarm?" She asks, double checking with the Mul'niessa as they stand aamid the huge swarm of insects. On might envy her covered face.
"I will slay it for you," Azra decides. "...Why isn't it attacking?"
Iskandar flings an arm in front of his face to try and shield it from bugs, almost like if he was in a sandstorm instead of a bug swarm. He uses the bow in his other hand to try and swat a few of the pests out of the air. "Who knows! They're out now! All that's left now is to see if they burn!" He backs away from the barn door and sidesteps a few times to make room for liberal use of acid and fire.
"BECAUSE THAT IS BEEF." Elin has not gotten any quieter.
The cow moos.
Plaintively. It's now looking some what muzzuly confused amongst the other cows at Azra.
Air is thick with bugs.
"Beef is pink," Azra objects. "That thing is white and black, with massive horns! Have you ever seen a monger sell a *horn* of beef?!" She flails at the isects with her lance.
"HEY GUYS! WHUT IF THIS IS A TRAP, I MEAN, THE FARMERS DIDN'T COME WITH US RIGHT?!"
Her goggles get pushed up again, and then she pushes away from Kael, leaps for the fall wall, plants a foot and then lets her blade sing.
She whirls through the air, that curved blade of hers cutting like a flash of light in the dark, the torch in her other hand trailing in a majestic arc, until her blade strikes true.
Bisecting a single, fluttering bug in mid air as she lands.
"Okay I think killing that one will probably scare the rest of them off guys, don't worry." Her heavy accent tilts every word, and then Shivani is walking out of the barn again, waving her torch this way and that to shoo off bugs that fly around her, but, you know, not setting fire to anything.
Tamrielo pulls his hood up to keep out the bugs as much as possible. "You probably don't like this any more than the farmer does, or we do. Sorry there, friend." He addresses the cow, pulling a bit of salt out of a pocket and leaving it for the potential bovine friend.
....hey, that sounds. Buzzing coming from beneath your feet.
"It's, like, beef before it's beef! Cows and bulls! I didn't see which one it was, does it have an udder?" Elin knows her basic farm animals, even though she's never lived on a farm, never intends to live on a farm, and probably wouldn't know how to take care of one.
She lumbers further into the barn now that the front rush of bugs is past and there's only a bunch flying around. She ignores the cow and starts poking around elsewhere to see where the bugs were coming from, or at least what they were staying. Why /were/ they locked in here instead of locked out? She assumed they were trying to keep the cows safe but, well... that doesn't seem to be the case.
"...It's being kept for food?" Azra asks somewhat blankly, turning toward Elin as she does. Then she pauses and looks again. "It does appear to be a mammal." The mystery of the cow solved the cavalier heads back toward the entrance ot the barn. Then ther'es buzzing and thumping. "Someone should check beneath the floor," he calls as she's retreating. "I think we may have found what was locked inside here..."
That's when the roaches start climbing from below the floorboards.
Roaches. Big ones, for roaches, but /SO MANY/.
The first one that finds your feet begins to bite and gnaw and bitre and gnaw, and soon it's joined by others.
- splitter splatter*
The soft comforting sound of rain upon the roof. Except that it's a swarm of bugs impacting upon polished plate. The dawn elf draws no weapons his movements momentarily in retreat as he moves backwards and gauges the enemy threat as if somehow certain he might be able to out maneuver the swarm. Except that there are too many and soon he finds Shivani has ducked behind him such that he covers his eyes with the back of his gloved hand and cannot even protest his situation for fear of having a throat full of insects.
He drops. The elf's sylvan shape seemingly to want to melt into the ground such that most of the swarm buzzes above. Then he begins to crawl through the mud and muck towards the stall and stables. (Kaelthilas)
"I really don't think its the cow!" Lorik protests as he swings his shield about his face, using the little buckler to swat whole swaths of bugs as he struggles to stay up with the rest of the little group.
"I mean I think if it was they would be doing more than just staring at us if they were!" He adds as he takes a few steps forwards before he frowns. Pauses. Looks down.
"Um...friends?"
A longer pause.
"Is there a celler. I think there are more in the celler..." He casts his eyes around to look for something. A way down. A door.
And then Elin starts stomping.
...and Roaches starts climbing out.
"...oh...um...it looks like you found something more than a swarm!!"
"LORIK WATCH OUT!!"
While no one will think Shiv is a master of planning anything, or knowing anything, or.. really, anything, they will be proven wrong.
Her agility is excellent, speed and cunning taking her into the fray as a mass of roaches rise up and eye Lorik. You know, she can tell they are looking right at him! She's sure of it!
With a rushing dash her blade whips through the swarm in an elegant spin, accomplishing as much as her assertion that a cow might be in charge of this whole mess.
GAME: Shivani rolls fort: (17)+1: 18
GAME: Floofystink rolls 1d6: (2): 2
... that's a lot of cockroaches. Like, seriously. They flow up, fly up, all onto Shivani because she presented herself as right there and tthey are now getting into her clothes and armor and CHEWING ON HER OH GOD OW.
GAME: Fabris rolls 1d20+5: (12)+5: 17
GAME: Fabris rolls 1d3: (3): 3
Fabris has always been there. Honest. And so, the dwarf swings his torch through the swarm, looking surprisingly disgusted with the turn of events.
Maybe Elin shouldn't have stomped like that.
"I regret nothing!" She pulls out the torch she had before, though she has to relight it; moving forward, she leans to one side and reaches over Fabris' head so she can tap his torch, getting hers to catch again with a flash of flame. "Better!" she says, holding it in one hand like it was a mace.
Lorik blinks for a moment. "That is a lot of angry roaches! Where did the come from! Anyone see a way down?" He calls as he grips his shield in one hand and with the other enacts a series of arcane gestures with his hand.
"Sorry about this Shivani!"
And with a final finger snap a globe of water appears in the air over the swordself's head...to dump a considerable amount of water down ontop of her and the swarm itself as he attempts to scatter the thing.
GAME: Azra rolls melee: (4)+6: 10
GAME: Iskandar rolls ranged-6: (17)+7+-6: 18
GAME: Iskandar used a Acid.
GAME: You used up your Acid.
GAME: Iskandar rolls 1d6: (6): 6
Iskandar rushes back into the barn, this time a mad gleam in his eye and one of his many newly acquired acid flasks in his free hand. "Don't worry everyone!" he bellows. "I know just what to do!" He raises his hand above his head and then hurls the acid into the thickest concentration of roaches he sees. Unfortunately drops of acid spray in every which direction. "Ah..." Iskandar gapes. "Okay, I know just what to do...next!"
GAME: Tamrielo spends ONE use of BARDIC PERFORMANCE.
Tamrielo steps gingerly away from the swarming barn, but watches the group fighting and gets a faraway look in his eyes. When he speaks again, his sounds a bit more resonant, a bit more focused, and carries further. If you let it, his voice sinks into you, providing a touch of power, a drab of focus, and a surge of inspiration. He intones:
"What then, when faced with insect ire?
The task is clear: kill them with fire!"
GAME: Shivani rolls melee: (6)+3: 9
There is a WOOSH when a bunch of water clears bugs from Shiv.
Then a cough.
Then a swing that is less a swing and more a light poking, but her torch has been completely put out by the water.
Slowly she draws the smoking end up in front of her, coughs water out of her mouth once more, and frowns, her lower lip quivering.
GAME: Floofystink rolls 1d6: (2): 2
GAME: Floofystink rolls 1d6: (5): 5
Roaches.
So many god damn roaches are now crawling on Fabris and Lorik, since they were washed away from Shivani. Many of them lay on the ground, instantly dead from drowning and they crunch benerath your feet as you flail about trying to deal with the FRIGGING ROACH SWARM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BARN.
They're really gross.
GAME: Lorik rolls fort: (19)+4: 23
GAME: Fabris rolls fort: (16)+2: 18
"...oh...um...at least there isn't any more bugs?" Lorik calls towards Shiv as he notes the dead torch. This time though he'll summon the water closer to the ground. Lower than peoples torches to keep them at least intact, even as he works to scatter the swarm his own way.
"Acid? If someone can use that it might help to not burn down the entire barn!"
GAME: Elin rolls Melee-3: (1)+6+-3: 4 (EPIC FAIL)
"This is /disgusting/!" Elin crunches roaches underfoot. She has boots on, so she doesn't get any on her, but the sound is... unpleasant. "I would rather have gone into the sewers and fought otyughs. What kind of adventure is this, where we fight BUGS? Not even giant bugs! Just many bugs!"
Elin has a lit torch now. She sweeps it wildly near the swarm, though it keeps scattering as she gets close enough to hit (and then un-scattering right back when her torch isn't there anymore). This is not helped by the fact that Elin does not generally wield torches and still can't use her sword.
Elin looks vexed.
GAME: Fabris rolls 1d20+5: (11)+5: 16
GAME: Fabris rolls 1d6: (4): 4
Fabris snatches a flask from his belt, and thows it down into the mess of water and bugs. It explodes in fire and steam and overcooked bugs. "This is why they pay us a living wage!"
GAME: Azra rolls ranged: (13)+7: 20
GAME: Azra rolls 1d6: (4): 4
GAME: Iskandar used a Acid.
GAME: You used up your Acid.
GAME: Tamrielo casts Cure Light Wounds. Caster Level: 2 DC: 14
GAME: Tamrielo rolls 1d8+1: (8)+1: 9
Tamrielo continues speaking, the same dreamlike tone that washes over you and takes root.
"Should fire not clear roachy thugs, Let loose FOUR GALLONS: drown the bugs!"
He steps forward, putting a hand on Fabris' shoulder, murmuring "Ouch, those look nasty. Be careful, friend." His hand glows faintly blue as the spell takes hold, nasty bug bites and swelling almost immediately going down.