Pepper was willing to wait for the Ribbet to remember, but she hoped that she wouldn't take too long. Every second counted when lives are on the line. Before she could even say anything, a rustle of plant life caught her attention. She looks to the sound and she sees a large, woolly auroch limping out. While the animal is large enough to reach the bottom of the village on its hind legs, she noted that this animal is most likely to be an herbivore considering the bovine qualities.
But that basic assessment did not do anything to quell the fear that stirred. She notes something red, pulsing beneath the fur on its belly and side. She squints trying to see whether the red is blood or a growth, but she couldn't make anything out. It was too far, and it's clear that she had her nose in the books for too long. She needs to get herself farsighted spectacles when she gets the chance.
Regardless, she does spot what exactly has her instincts screaming of danger and set her on edge: The eyes.
The eyes of the auroch are glazed over and unfocused. It's not properly taking in the sights of its surroundings! That's never a good sign when it comes to medicine and health.
She isn't familiar with how to handle animals, but she at the very least knew that right now, it's not aggressive. She needed to make sure that the animal wouldn't become aggressive any moment, which meant no sudden movements. She slowly moves her hand to her wand, while slowly taking a step back towards the stairs.
She looks to the Ribbet Guard, and realized that she needed to say something. But calling to the Ribbet might cause the Auroch to become aggressive. Pepper, despite her fear, decided to take the risk.
She calls to the Ribbet Guard, "Something's not right with this Auroch! Get help!"
Capriccio gave the dwarf's hand a firm shake, head bopping into a nod. "Greenbeard! A pleasure."
To think that he'd spent all that time on buttering the man up with compliments and theatrics, when all he would've needed was admit to being a gossip. The thought was amusing enough to keep him smiling; a potent barrier against the suspicious glances thrown his way.
The infernis, now maintaining eye-contact with Spix, had just started to relax in his seat, ready to hear the man's tale, when the opportunistic katari cut in. Capriccio met his grin with one of his own without missing a beat, even if part of him truly wanted to step on their tail.
"Ah, but of course, I would be delighted to!" Leaning an elbow on the bar, he added: "Tell you what, I'll make it two, and you don't omit a single juicy detail, hm? Deal?"
@Guardian Angel Haruki "Err, on it!" the green Ribbet said, and began calling to some of her comrades to back her up. Several other soldiers began making their way over, some backing the ribbet up as archers, while others were making their way to the ground to where Pepper was.
At Pepper's shout and the following commotion, the Auroch's eyes became slightly more focused, honing in on where Pepper was standing. It began slowly and awkwardly stumbling its way towards her. Each step looks incredibly labored, as if it's taking a great effort.
Small prompt: as the auroch gets closer, Pepper begins to notice a strong smell, one that reminds her of a time she was either in a state of strong grief (it doesn't have to necessarily be for a person, it can be a sense of loss for anything) or a time she was close to death. What does it smell like?
At Dimple knowing her name, Feliana did a double take, then began scrutinizing the faeborg. "You... know Prino?" she said after a moment. Her face turned grim. "Honestly, I'm not certain. He was kind of in and out of consciousness, you know?" She folded her arms. "I'm... not exactly sure how much I should say at this moment."
At the mention of the rebellion, any desire the hunters may have had to Arnannel seemed to wither away. A couple had even started climbing up the ladder, clearly wanting to get away from this conversation as quickly as possible.
One of the other hunters, however, took a step forward. He leaned down to put his hand on the golden-brown ribbet's shoulder and made a nodding motion to tell him to follow the others up the tree. Once the ribbet had done so, this new hunter stood up and regarded Arnannel coolly. "I wouldn't go mentioning rebellion so quickly, lad," he said. He looked mostly human but some of his features implied some simiah heritage. "A lot of us have heard that rhetoric a lot recently. Usually from Havenites, and usually looking for another way to control us." He didn't sound nearly disdainful as the ribbet had been, but he did seem wary... and tired. Very, very tired. "And after what we just witnessed, I don't think anyone here is feeling positive about the folks at Haven right now." He glanced back towards where they had come just from...
... only to lay eyes on where Pepper was, with the auroch slowly approaching her.
"Oh, shit..." the hunter hissed, and began grabbing for his weapon.
Mito patted Spix on the back. "Hear that, Spix?" they said. "Now you can't argue with that."
Spix gave another sigh. "Alright," he said. "So, we were attempting to hunt down the aurochs. Their numbers have become scarcer in the last couple of years, but we caught word they'd been grazing nearby. So we went to check it out, managed to catch a couple." He glanced over at Cappricio. "That 'mighty specimen' you saw us bringing in was one of them." There was the slightest hint of smile on his face, implying that despite the circumstances, Capriccio's flattery did hit its mark. However, it didn't last long before his face turned grim once more. "Unfortunately, transporting just one of those things is a pain, let alone two. So half of our group left to transport one, while the half stayed with the second. Make sure scavengers don't get to it, you know?" He sighed. "That was probably a mistake, but I'm not sure what else we could have done..." He shook his head. "So my lot get back, find that second carcass gone, and several of our hunters injured."
"So a scavenger got it anyway?" Mito said.
"That's what we thought..." Spix said. "The hunters watching it said they had been ambushed by something that dragged the carcass away. Obviously, it left a big trail, so we tried to go after it." His shoulders tensed. "We probably shouldn't have done that."
There is a moment of silence before Greenbeard gently urges, "What did you see out there, Spix?"
"We didn't find whatever took the carcass," Spix said. "But we did find the auroch again..." He looks down into his drink. "That's what attacked us."
Mito frowned. "So wait... it was still alive?" they said.
"No!" Spix suddenly snapped. "I was the one who struck the killing blow, and I know what dead looks like!"
"Are you sure it was the same auroch?" Greenbeard asked as gently as he could manage.
"Like I said, I struck the killing blow," Spix said. "And it's wound was still there... still open, but filled with... something. It was sort of creeping, parasitic plant growing out of it. Like ivy, but a deep red. And it smelled like..." He stopped, shaking his head as if trying to shake loose the memory. "It was awful."
Pepper was relieved that help was coming. But, that didn't last long, because apparently the auroch decided to approach her after she called for help. Her eyes widened as she slowly moved back as much as she could. As she did so, she noted the different aspects of the animal, while her mind frantically tries to come up with a plan
OK. Aurochs are prey animals. Prey animals typically run from humanoids and predators, not approach them. There's a response to auditory stimuli....
Then she catches a familiar smell coming from the auroch. In all of her life, she had three events corresponding with grief, loss, and death each. All three events had one smell in common.
The smell of the most expensive, extravagant, and exotic floral perfume reaches her olfactory senses, causing tears to sting her eyes and pain to strike at her heart. Flashes of memory appear quickly before her eyes.
Her great aunt wore that perfume when a funeral was held for Pepper's sister who succumbed to the Serpent's Sickness long ago. The smell was at its strongest when Great Aunt Peggy hugged toddler Pepper and wailed loudly and dramatically. Toddler Pepper on the other hand was quiet as she processed what happened to her own sister.
Archmagus Lapin also loved wearing that same perfume. Pepper could smell it on him while she was his apprentice. The smell was at its strongest when he screamed at her, berated and insulted her, and effectively kicked her out of the apprenticeship. Any prospects of being a true wizard in the eyes of her peers was lost for good.
If it hadn't been for Capriccio...I would be wallowing in despair at home right now. But thanks to him...I'm here, alive and ready for anything,
Finally, in more recent memory, there was the memory of her near death encounter with the Melancholia Flower. How the smell from that flower manipulated her thoughts and emotions in order to make her its prey. She had learned her lesson from that very encounter...
Thanks to that particular memory, she quickly snaps back to the matter at hand, and moves to cover her nose and mouth with a cloth while holding her wand in the dominant hand at the ready, in an effort to prevent herself for falling for the same trick twice from plants.
I know the smells of the sterile healing rooms, and I know what festering wounds truly smell like... That is not a festering wound. Some kind of plant is in there!
She calculated that running back into Alula wouldn't work. The creature was already so close, it would probably catch her if she tried running up. There is also the fact that she would be putting the rest of the village in danger if she tried to run into the village, and she wasn't willing to do that.
So that left her with no choice but to use magic to try and help resolve this. She is trembling with fear, but she steels herself as her mind comes with a plan. It's risky, but there is a solution when it comes to open wounds and possible intruders in said wounds...
"The wound needs to be cauterized...! Doing so should also kill the intruders in the body..."
So...I'm not sure how close the Auroch is, so I have two ideas depending on where the Auroch is in relation to Pepper. ^^"
If the Auroch is in Melee Range, I'll have Pepper try to use the Wild Flame spell from the Book of Tyfar, and she'll try to aim those flames specifically at the wound.
If the Auroch isn't in Melee Range, then she'll use Prestidigitation to try and distract the Auroch with a loud bird cry coming from the direction opposite of Alula.
“Listen here, I don’t really care about that either way. Just tell me—"
Arnannel words were cut off as the old hunter suddenly cursed, his eyes looking at something in the distance.
It did not take long for Arnannel to notice what the hunter was looking at, a large aurochs that was advancing toward a young girl.
Given the size, it was clearly not a normal auroch, the fact that a herbivore wandering this close to a settlement notwithstanding.
Arnannel's first guess was another case of a Witherwild-affected creature, but there was no way to know for sure right now. Like the old hunter, Arnannel took out his weapon, nocking an arrow on his bow.
He resisted the urge to click his tongue in frustration. If he were his father, he would have asked nature itself for assistance, roots and vines stopping the beast’s movement. Unfortunately, as was tradition for the Clan of Sylrowen, an elf of his age would not be learning the druidic art just yet. He knew enough to speak with animals, but he doubted this one would listen. Not that he would make it in time to speak with it before it rushed the girl over, in any case.
Pushing the thoughts of what-ifs away from his mind, Arnannel took a breath before aiming. With its attention fully on the girl, rampaging beasts such as this tended to be vulnerable to arrows from a distance, which was why diversionary tactics were essential in a hunt. This girl might be an inadvertent diversion, but something that held the beast’s attention nevertheless.
He swiftly released his arrow, aiming at one of its legs, hoping to stop it.
Arnannel attacks the aurochs with shortbow, using 1 hope token for the Guerilla Warfare experience for an 'ambush'
At Dimple knowing her name, Feliana did a double take, then began scrutinizing the faeborg. "You... know Prino?" she said after a moment.
"I do indeed know Prino." Dimple said. "I am the King of the Road, after all. I know every subject of the Road Court. Though I know Prino better than most... Or rather... I did, once upon a time. We drifted apart some time before you came along... But I'm getting off topic here. How is he holding up?"
Her face turned grim. "Honestly, I'm not certain. He was kind of in and out of consciousness, you know?" She folded her arms. "I'm... not exactly sure how much I should say at this moment."
"Would you be able to hazard a guess as to how likely your quarry is to follow you back here? Or whether or not it might be bold enough or angry enough to attack the village?" Dimple asked.
And so, as promised, Spix told his tale. By the time the man got to the disappearing carcas, Capriccio no longer had to feign interest. He leaned forward ever so slightly, the tip of his tail curling inward. The infernis loved nothing if not a good mystery.
He nearly hissed when Greenbeard broke the tense silence in the midst of Spix's tale; had the man no sense of dramatics? That was a pause for effect, quite clearly!
When Capriccio realized the pause had been for a... zombie auroch, of all things, he nearly chuckled and wrote the rest of the tale off entirely — until he took another look at Spix's face, and realized this was a man ready to stand behind his words. If he had just mistaken what he saw, he had to be truly deep in his delusions, for Capri could detect no lies.
Then came the parasites. Now that was a story worth pursuing. Perhaps his trip had been proven worth the effort already.
"Awful sounds like quite an understatement," Capriccio agreed, nodding sympathetically as he waved the bartender to bring over the promised drinks. "Is this the first you've seen or heard of such a thing? What I mean is— out here, surrounded so by nature, I do wonder if you've ever happened across, ah, stories or rumours or even old folklore of anything like that existing; parasitic plants taking over corpses?"
@Guardian Angel Haruki@Randomguy Because of the Auroch's slowness and lack of focus, Pepper is able to get close to the creature without alerting and begins cauterizing the wound, burning away at the strange red plant within the Auroch's body. It does not like this, as the creature rears its head back to give an agonized bellow. It tries to move its head to get a look at who is causing it such pain, but before it can lay eyes on Pepper, Arnannel's bow hits it in the leg. While this attack does not seem to elicit nearly as much pain as the fire, it does draw the Auroch's attention away from Pepper and towards the elf.
The unfocused look in its eyes vanishes and begins to charge at speed towards Arnannel and the remaining hunter with him. The hunter immediately started rushing up the ladder, though not before pausing to beckon Arnannel to do the same.
Both Pepper and Arnanell's attacks were below the Auroch's damage threshold, so they each did 1 HP worth damage, meaning the Auroch is down by 2 HP.
Because Arnannel rolled with fear, it is now the Auroch's turn. It moves to be Close to Arnannel so it can use its Charging Bull attack. It marks 1 Stress and rolls a 7 which misses. Randomguy, feel free to describe how Arnannel gets out of the line of fire.
Feliana was momentarily stunned when Dimple revealed his name and status and, once she got over her shock, gave a half-bow half-nod to the faeborg. "My apologies, sir," she said. "I've heard stories of you but, err..." She looked a little embarrassed and quickly cleared her throat in an attempt to cover it up. "Yes, our quarry. I'm, err, uncertain of how well it would have followed us back. It did give chase after it's attack, and we did our best to try and lose it but..." She sighed. "When it comes to things affected by the Witherwild, it's hard to tell how, I suppose conscious, they are. How intelligent they remain after their corruption..."
Before she can continue, however, the Auroch's bellow resonates throughout the village. Feliana's pupils increase in size out of fear. "Oh no..." she mutters to herself, immediately looking towards the sound. "It's here."
Almost simultaneously, Spix, Mito and Greenbeard all gave the infernis a look. It wasn't the same kind of look in each of their faces - Mito rolled his eyes, Greenbeard looked somewhat pitying yet pained, and Spix was trying very hard not to scowl - but it all communicated a shared sentiment: his question had shown his ignorance.
"Surely even within your cities, you have heard about the Witherwild," Greenbeard said when none of his compatriots spoke. He was trying to keep his voice low as he spoke, but that last word seemed to catch the attention of a couple other patrons, who had ceased their own conversations as if to listen in. "I'm assuming you haven't seen any cases of it personally?"
Since the chatter in the bar has died down a little, the patrons start to hear the ruckus outside, including the bellowing of the auroch. Mito turns his head towards the door, while Spix narrowly avoids choking on his drink.
"What in the Circle Below was that...?" Mito mutters.
Dimple gave an amused huff as he watched Feliana give him something that was equal parts bow and nod.
"My apologies, sir," she said bashfully. "I've heard stories of you but, err..."
"Oh you needn't apologize." Dimple said with a wave of his hand. "I've been living below the notice of most folks for a while. So it's only natural that most folks wouldn't recognize me now."
After a moment, Feliana finally composed herself enough to continue. "Yes, our quarry. I'm, err, uncertain of how well it would have followed us back. It did give chase after it's attack, and we did our best to try and lose it but..." She sighed.
"Three... Two... One... Aaand..."
The Auroch's bellow resonated throughout the village.
"There it is!"
"Oh no..." Feliana muttered to herself, immediately looking towards the sound. "It's here."
"I will tend to the beast." Dimple said as he took to the air. "Gather those of your fellows who are still able enough to help and have them keep the civilians out of harm's way." With that said, Dimple flew off in the direction of the bellow.
From his elevated position, Dimple quickly found the Auroch. And when he saw the beast, he immediately knew what to do. Hovering up in the air above the battle, Dimple bowed his head, closed his eyes, and began to pray.
"Rohkin, Wandering Horn, Guardian of the Herd, look upon your child in fury and pain. This beast does not rage by its own will, but by a wound set into the world. Lend me your wisdom and your mercy. Guide my hand to still its charge. To end its suffering or turn it aside. Let my wing beats be sure, and let your beasts know I come in your name."
Dimple makes a Charm roll of 19 with Hope to pray for aid from Rohkin, the Wandering Horn.
Arnannel clicked his tongue in annoyance as the Auroch started to charge at him instead. He intended to slow it down or, if he was lucky, to have it run away after being shot.
At least the Auroch was drawn away from the reckless girl. That was something, at least, he thought.
He glanced at the charging animal before he deftly jumped out of the way of its charge. For Arnannel, who had been a hunter his whole life, a raging auroch charging was of no issue, as long as one could avoid it. From his experience, he knew that with a body that huge and with the speed at which it was charging, inertia would make it hard for the auroch to change direction. Thus, the moment it began its charge, it had already telegraphed where its charge would land.
Thus, it was fairly easy for Arnannel to move out of the way, running toward the ladder to join the rest of the hunters.
If this had to come to a fight regardless, the high ground would always be best for archers like him.
Pepper winced as the fire erupted from her wand and the heat almost burned her knuckles. But thankfully, it turned out the auroch wasn't going to trample her. Instead it charged elsewhere! She took the opportunity to get some distance between her and it, possibly interposing a large enough tree between her and it.
She looks at the tree frog-like ribbet guard and the reinforcements she called, wondering why they weren't doing anything. She then looks above to see a winged figure flying above the auroch. The figure seems to be...praying? While Pepper can admit that magic has been performed by acts of faith, she wasn't sure if this figure was such a practitioner himself.
...Then she realized that the people didn't know what she knew! She needed to tell them.
She proceeds to take her wand, and with a simple incantation for a simple spell, she presses the tip of her plain, featureless wooden wand against her own neck. She calls out, her voice booming out loud enough for the guards, the flying figure, the people nearby, and heck, possibly even the people in the trees above to hear her.
"A parasitic plant is controlling that Auroch! Hold it still or cauterize its open wound!"
Pepper knew she was taking a serious risk with this move. But if it would help everyone else, she was taking that risk.
Marking a Stress from the Wild Flame spell she casted in the previous post. ^^"
For this post, she is using Prestidigitation to function like D&D's Thaumaturgy.
Capriccio could tell by the silence that followed his question, by the way the others turned to look at him, all at once, like he'd just asked what colour the sky was. Capriccio's tail froze, and he could feel the corners of his mouth starting to twitch, as if to try and escape his smile. Too bad; his smile was too practiced to go anywhere, even now.
The Witherwild. He had heard about it, of course, though mostly in attempts to downplay it. It was normal, after all, that those who lived in the boondocks ran into nature's quirks and deceases every now and again, no? From his experiences prior, Capriccio had figured those in power had downplayed the true extent of it.
... He hadn't known it was this bad.
"Y-yes, well, the cases haven't reached the big city, and it can be tough to tell truth from rumour..." he trailed off, averting his gaze, but not his mind. Maybe he could turn this into something useful yet. Amp up the ignorance — not that it apparently needed that much amping — and maybe they'd feel the need to educate him. Maybe he'd learn the truth, like he'd come here t—
A bellow, shouting, a ruckus. Capriccio straightened, tail and all, whipping his head towards the sound. He wasn't the only one, and the collective alarm was making him worry even more. So that wasn't normal around here, he took it?
"What in the Circle Below was that...?"
"I'm guessing," Capri started, cautious as he slid off his seat. "That I might just be about to see a case. Personally." He fished out a few coins, enough for two more rounds of beer as promised, tossed them back at the barkeep and dashed towards the door.
It was then, as he reached for the handle, that the memory of a familiar hat down below resurfaced. By the— she wouldn't be anywhere near what was happening, would she?!
... Oh, who was he kidding?! Pepper was going to be smack dab in the middle of it, knowing her!
Feliana hesitantly nods before making her way back across the bridge she had carried Prino over earlier.
As Dimple begins his prayer, he immediately feels the attention of something far bigger and grander than himself zero in on him. While his eyes are closed, he no longer feels as if he's hovering in the middle of Alula. He feels likes he's somewhere else, somewhere deeper within the Fanewick, standing in the shadow of some colossal creature, larger than even the auroch that is attacking the village, and much, much older. The sounds of Alula in chaos seem to fade away for a moment as Dimple is seeming trapped in this being's presence, as if under some divine judgement.
Then this being breaks the silence with a loud bellow, much deeper than the one the auroch had made earlier. Dimple is forced out of his mind, his eyes involuntarily opening as he finds himself back in Alula, floating over the auroch. The presence and the feeling of being somewhere else, somewhere ethereal and ancient, had faded.
But he can still hear that bellow, and it seems he is not the only one. Several villagers pause in whatever they doing, be they villagers starting to panic or hunters and guardsmen readying to fight against the auroch. Even the auroch itself lifts up its ears, and then its whole head to sky. If anyone were paying attention to its eyes, they're notice they neither look unfocused nor angry.
Its eyes look... wistful, as it is temporarily distracted from its rage.
Somewhere deep within the Fanewick, Rohkin hears Dimple's prayer and responds with his approval. The Auroch is temporarily distracted and Dimple has advantage on his next roll against the Auroch.
As Arnannel near the top of the ladder, a hand reaches down, grasping his shoulder and pulling him the rest of the way up. It was the older human hunter who had ascended before him. The other hunters are around him. A couple are still regarding Arnannel suspiciously, but most of them are focused on the auroch. At Pepper's magically-enhanced shout, the human hunter motions to his comrades. "You heard the girl," he said. "Light some arrows and starting firing at the bastard!" As the other hunters start readying themselves, the hunter turns his attention back to Arnannel. "You seem pretty good with a bow," he said. "Mind helping out?"
Pepper's shout draws the attention from several hunters and watchmen, including the green ribbit who had previously called out to her, who were now hurrying to battle stations and readying their bows.
The auroch was thankfully too distracted by the sudden bellow from somewhere else in the Fanewick to pay attention to her... but her shout does draw the attention of something else. Pepper hears the sound of high-pitched buzzing as several bloated, fist-sized flies come flying out of the foliage, drawn by the scent of rot the auroch is radiating. Since Pepper is the closest thing when they emerge, they made a beeline for her and start swarming.
I'm a spending a Fear token to make an additional GM move, introducing a new adversary: a swarm of large flies. They attempt to attack Pepper, but they roll a 4. Apparently they're so drunk on the scent of rot they are unable to land an attack on her.
... That was a great use of a Fear Token, good job, me. xD
Greenbeard, Mito and Spix all follow Capriccio out of the pub, and all four of them witness the chaos that Alula has become. Cappricio will just about hear Pepper's shout, drawing attention to where she is, currently being swarm with flies. He'll also see several hunters and watch-men readying bows and torches to rain fiery arrows upon the auroch, who is temporarily distracted by a distant bellow.
What awaited outside was chaos. People running and shouting, some grabbing or holding onto weapons, clambering up - or down - ladders. Bows being drawn, commands given. But most notably, there was—
"A parasitic plant is controlling that Auroch!"
... That.
Well, at least he'd found Pepper alive, with enough air in her lungs to topple a house. That was a good sign.
... The shouting that followed immediately after was not. One thing after another, could the universe not give her — and him — a break?! At least it wasn't difficult to spot her, even amongst the chaos. Most everyone who'd taken up arms seemed to have their attention glued to the auroch and the immediate threat it possessed, so Capriccio had little trouble deciding their own focus.
Trouble was, Pepper was all the way over there, while he was all the way up here. "I don't suppose there's any quick way down?" he asked from the trio besides him, urgency cracking his usual tone. "Apart from the obvious."
He gave the katari and simiah a glance over. They were probably nimble enough to get down without a hassle, but likely not strong enough to take him with. But trying to cast from his distance... not to mention, unlike Pepper, he had no way to amplify his voice, so even any words of encouragement he might've wanted to give, no one of note would've heard.
... Unless—
Panic and alcohol sloshed around Capri's head as he focused his sights on the big-but-made-small-by-the-distance hat down below. He tried to imagine what Pepper might be thinking now, tried to feel her fear as if it were his own — and then, to spur hope in its place.
"Pepper! ... Yes, hello, it's me! I know, not quite the happy reunion I would've imagined either, but, well," Right, hope, hope— They did the mental equivalent of clearing their throat and dropping their usual, dramatically high pitch down for a more natural, serious tone. "My promise from back then still stands; you're not alone. Help is on the way."
Hopefully, just knowing that, she would feel rallied to push through.
Meanwhile, Capriccio dashed towards the nearest ladder, ready to begin his painstaking journey down, and probably break one of his knees while at it.
Capriccio spends 1 Hope to open a telepathic connection with Pepper via Telepathy, then Rally her with a Rally Die of D6. Neither apparently requires a roll.
Pepper's eyes widened at the sound of buzzing, and she turned to the source to see the largest carrion flies she's ever seen! She started panicking as she repeated, "Nonononono-!" She lets out a scream as they swarm around her and she reacts by moving and waving around her wand uselessly. Thankfully, her frantic movements did keep the flies from biting her. She could feel tears start to well again as the familiar sense of being overwhelmed appears again. She felt like curling up into a ball again...
"Pepper!"
His voice breaks through the chaos in her mind, crystal clear like a bell! Her eyes open wide once again as she tries to communicate in return, "Capriccio?! Is that you?!"
"Yes, hello, it's me! I know, not quite the happy reunion I would've imagined either, but, well,"
As he mentally cleared his throat and gathered his thoughts, Pepper couldn't help but wonder if he really was here, or if she was imagining this. But, regardless, it's clear that he's not done: The line of telepathy is still open!
"My promise from back then still stands; you're not alone. Help is on the way."
Her eyes widen again, but this time, the fear is gone and replaced with hope. She could even feel her heart flutter as the encouragement reaches her. She thinks back to Capriccio, "Right! Thank you, Capriccio!"
She then realizes that she is dealing with carrion flies, and the line of telepathy may have ended with, "Oh! I have an idea!"
She then takes in a deep breath through her nose and focuses her attention on the flies and the magic she learned. There is a spell that can help with this: A spell that would not only push the flies away from her, but she could also use it to keep them off of her. They're attracted to the smell of rot, so why not let them help by consuming the Auroch and the parasitic plant?
She raises her wand and the wind kicks up, alighting in pale pink and green ribbons of light. As she waves the wand, the affected winds pick up as many of the engorged flies as possible, entrapping them in the whirlwind. She speaks the incantation, and after speaking the incantation, she tells the flies,
"The buffet's over there, you hedonistic, gluttonous flies!" She then gives a final wave of her featureless wooden wand, and the wind flings the flies at the Auroch, and far from her! Hopefully, with any luck, the flies will simply chow on the Auroch.
Pepper will use her turn to use Power Push from the Book of Ava to fling the swarm of flies at the Auroch.
The Spellcast Roll was a 15 with Fear, and the Damage roll is a 9 Magic Damage.
If the Spellcast roll is not enough, Pepper will use her Rally Die. But if it is enough, then she'll hold onto the Rally Die.
Dimple smiled with grateful confidence as his prayer was heard and answered. He opened his eyes and looked down at the now distracted auroch. While he was in the presence of Rohkin, Dimple had still faintly heard the instructions given by the familiar face with the magically loud voice. The faeborg didn't have anything to cauterize the wound with, but he did have something that could hold it still. Diving down to ground level, Dimple drew his grappler, took aim at a space a hair's breadth away from one of the auroch's legs, and fired. When the grappler's hook shot past the leg, Dimple hit the retract button. The hook whipped back immediately and latched onto the beast's limb. Dimple then began flying as swiftly as he could in a circle around the auroch, looking to tie up all of its legs and limit its movement.
Dimple makes a Control roll of 16 with Hope to use his grappler line to tie up the auroch's legs.
"Well, firing arrows at it was the reason I got to higher ground, so yes," Arnannel replied to the hunter as he drew an arrow from his quiver.
Still...hold it still or cauterise the wound was a tall order. Holding down a rampaging Auroch this size was difficult to do without exceptional physical strength or restraining magic. Physical strength was not exactly his forte, and restraining magic...well, he already went down that train of thought about not yet learning druidic magic.
That meant if he were to try helping, it would be to cauterise the wound. At this distance, it meant to try hitting the wound with a flaming arrow, presumably why the hunter told them to light some arrows. But obviously, hitting a small target such as a wound on a moving prey like the Auroch—big as it was—was easier said than done.
Honestly, his instinct was to just try killing the Aurochs. It seemed to have been somewhat injured already, and with this many archers, they can probably do some real damage with a volley of arrows.
That was his role—well, the role of Sylrowen elves his age—back in Fanewick, after all. The younger elves were hunters meant to represent the reaping aspect of the Great Owl Nikta, hunting those that had grown past what was healthy for the biome.
An Auroch this size—probably due to witherwild—was obviously not normal. It was a herbivore. It had no business charging into the settlement and endangering other 'organisms of the forests'. That was not its role.
So by Sylrowen Clan's logic, this Auroch was to be exterminated.
But he wasn't really part of the Sylrowen clan anymore, was he?
He still thinks it would be simpler to try killing the Auroch instead, but he supposed there was no harm in trying. If his arrow missed the wound, it would still hit the Auroch either way as long as he didn't completely miss his mark.
Like the rest of the hunters, Arnannel then lit up the arrow he held, before nocking it on his bow.
He took a breath and held it as he aimed the lit arrow at the open wound.
With a newfound strength thanks to Cappricio's presence, Pepper is able to fling the flies away from her and towards the auroch. In fact, the force of her throw is so strong - and the flies apparently so drunk on the scent of rot - that some of them do not actually make it to the auroch, instead falling uselessly to the ground. It's unclear if they're dead or simply stunned, but it doesn't seem like they'll be getting up any time soon.
The few flies that make it are disorientated for a second or so before they start trying to chow down on the disorientated auroch. The giant beast tries to shake them off, but doesn't have much chance before Dimple succeeds in grappling its legs and begins flying around them in attempt to tie the creature up. During his flight, one of the flies takes notice of the faeborg and bites at him.
Thankfully for Cappricio, the auroch and flies are so absorbed in their individual struggles, they do not notice him climbing down the ladder and he makes it to the ground with no incident.
Pepper's attack against the flies was above their second damage threshold, so it does 3 HP! Nice! The flies are now down to half of their HP.
One of the flies attempts to bite at Dimple while he's trying to tie up the auroch's legs. It gets a 14, which hits. Because Pepper's attack brought it down to half HP, the flies do far less damage than they normally would, and roll a 2, which is not over either of Dimple's thresholds so it will only do Minor Damage.
... Well, at least the flies get to do something I guess!
With all the chaos going on around the auroch, Arnannel's arrows do not manage to hit the open wound, but they still manage to find purchase in the auroch's flesh regardless. The fire of the arrows also seems to cause it more discomfort than a regular arrow, and it begins thrashing about wildly. However, because it's legs are tied, this only causes it to lose its and it topples over onto its unwounded side, leaving its wound better exposed for any who might wish to cauterize it.
Arnannel's attack does not go over either of the auroch's thresholds, so he only does 1 HP.
"HEY!" Dimple exclaimed in annoyance as one of the flies took a chunk out of his gambeson. "Eat the auroch! Not me, gods damn it! Go on! Get out of here! Shoo! Shoo I say!" With that said, Dimple swatted the fly away with his free hand and became a little more alert for any signs of danger.
Dimple marks one Armor Slot to reduce the fly's damage to zero, spends three Hope to activate Rogue's Dodge, and makes a control roll of 22 with Hope to make the fly attack the auroch.
Arnannel watched as the Auroch trashed around before falling on its side, exposing the wound. Now would be a prime opportunity to kill it, but they decided to try cure it instead, so...
Arnannel shouted to Pepper, "You there! The one who said to cauterise the wound! Now's your chance!"
