PRP: Ants!

Ants! AAANTS! - Part 1 of 2(or 3) Players: Kirranelion- Ranger 2 Takiyah - Cleric 3 Kiroth- Paladin 3 GM'd by Vuk

You know, heroics aren't always predestined, some times they are happenstance and random occurences. This is not one of those times, infact, this was firmly a pre arranged fate, for if you are one of those here, you were contracted, or just happened to hear about a problem in a small farming commune out of the city proper by a few days. It wasn't terribly hard to reach, the same people asking for help, also offered to let their would be guardians ride along in the carts used to bring in harvest goods. It's small, but not terribly remote, but they claim they had bandit problems..

Kirranelion will generally walk wherever he goes, but will take the ride and is glad to be out of the city for a bit. While riding along, the wild elf is checking on his bow, as well as his arrows, to make sure the fletching on them is just right so that they would fly straight, and into the hearts of those bandits.

Takiyah checks the sights on her dragonspitter as the group travels along. "Anything in particular that the bandits seem to be going for?" the gobber Forge asks the farmers as she finishes with the routine maintenance.

Kiroth is happy to help those in need even if it's against just bandits. He has on his full plate, shield and sword. He also has his heavy cloak on to ward off the cold. He walks along with the other as he looks around to be on guard for any threats.

The Farmers are, not surprisingly, a bit helpless when it comes to beating the Oxen into moving at any thing but a slow walk, even with cart's empty. "See, that's the funny thing." The apparent leader says. "We knows they were bandits they had all the makings of em, but they sure didn't stop to really take any thing. So we's figured they were just sort of seeing wot we had to take! So's we all got together and figured asking for help was plain smart." The carts will eventually make it to the farming community, nestled near a river, with it's back to a cliff base on two sides. Leaving one side a dark woods.

"Where have they been attacking?" Kirran asks as they continue along the way. "Same general place? Same road?"

Kiroth hmms, "Sounds strange, that these bandits wouldn't want to take anything."

GAME: Kiroth rolls knowledge/religion: (1)+7: 8

GAME: Kirranelion rolls knowledge/nature: (15)+5: 20

The 'Leader' grunts a bit at the questions, the closer one gets, the quieter it seems, and there's no one in the fields past the river, and only a few men along the banks. Judging from the sun, it's perhaps slightly past noon. Kiroth is unsure of what shrine to any god there might be in the small community. "We figured they'd probably try to set up to attack along the road to the market. Keep hearing something in the woods the last few days, alot of quiet noises, figured they were chopping down trees to make a barricade." Kirra on the other hand, realizes some thing is -very- wrong. There's no wild life to be heard! The sound of 'chopping' seems subdued, and not metallic in origin!

You paged Kirranelion with 'Specifically, your character is fairly certain, they hear the sound of trees being knocked down by movement as opposed to axe blows.'

Kirranelion listens to what is being said and shakes his head, "I don't think they're chopping things down. It sounds like things are just being knocked down..." Kirran looks around though, not liking the sounds of everything, how quiet it is. "It sounds... wrong here..."

Kiroth ahs a little bit, "Well that doesn't sound good." He hefts his shield as he's ready to defend, "Everyone get behind me."

Takiyah hefts her warhammer, just in case.

Once the carts are spotted, a younger man, little more then a child comes running up. "The river is haunted!" He says and with the commotion, the lead farmer clutches a sickle he had with him as he gestures for the professionals to follow, heading towards the River. Several of the proper men have branches and are poking at some thing floating in it, wedged up against shore. It looks like a ..torso, but badly mauled.

GAME: Kirranelion rolls perception: (14)+8: 22

GAME: Kiroth rolls perception: (8)+2: 10

GAME: Takiyah rolls Perception: (16)+5: 21

<OOC> Vuk says, "if you want to properly investigate it, give me a dungeoneering check, religion, or nature "

GAME: Kirranelion rolls knowledge/nature: (14)+5: 19

GAME: Takiyah rolls Knowledge/Religion: (9)+9: 18

GAME: Kiroth rolls knowledge/religion: (1)+7: 8

Kiroth hmmms as he heads towards the river, "Looks like a badly mauled corpse to me."

Kirranelion walks up, bow in his quickver and looks down at it. "Haunted, not sure, but it definitely came upstream. Are there any towns or crossings upriver?"

Takiyah keeps an eye out in case something tries to sneak up on the group.

The torso, at least to Taki and Kirra isn't a byproduct of the river, but it does seem..to squirm. There's chunks of bone exposed where it seems to be mauled, but it is also -wriggling- in the belly and chest, like it is alive, the 'Leader' of the farmers seems wary. "Don't know of any really. River just goes off in the woods, near some old stone ruins.." There's a few chunks of clothing still attached by what looks like weeping wounds, an ichor leaking out. Leather bits. It's when some one finally tries to shove it back into the river, that it just -splits- open to reveal maggots and ..dark red ants, the colour of blood. Pouring of the intestines and up the stick used to poke it back into the river. They're waving their antenaes and a few are actively consuming the maggots as they find them, oblivious to being watched.

Kiroth frowns as he sees the wriggling in the belly and then the maggots and ants that come out. He shakes his head, "Well that isn't normal. Something definitely happened to him."

Kirranelion doesn't cringe when he sees the maggots, but frowns in turn at them as well. "Indeed. Ruins you say?" The elf looks to the leader. "Perhaps we should start looking there," he looks to Kiroth and Takiyah for their opinions on the matter.

"Yeah, this is odd enough to be worth investigating," agrees Takiyah.

<OOC> Vuk says, "Every one make Knowledge- Nature or Dungeoneering if you have it <Dungeoneering at -5> or History at -5"

Kiroth nods, "Seems like a good idea to me, but we have promised to see these people to their destination. As much as I'd like to we should finish this mission before we come back and start on another."

GAME: Kirranelion rolls knowledge/nature: (4)+5: 9

The farmer holding the stick drops it quickly, but not before a few or the ants have made it onto him, where they bite viciously, and seemingly try to borrow into his skin before they're smashed. Those left on the torso, are drifting down river as it slowly bobs and sinks. Suffice to say, they're mostly lost. The leader seems more nervous about all of it. "Ruins, my grandfather told me that a battle was fought at them with fire and they sealed some thing there. We never did give much thought to it." He says, watching the torso. That sound Kirra heard earlier? It just suddenly seems all the louder, from the woods.

"Nasty little bugs, those ants," observes Takiyah.

Kirranelion raises his finger to his lips for silence as he hears the noise. "Something is in the woods..." he says quietly before starting to follow the source of the sound.

Kiroth goes quiet for a moment, 'All the more reason we should get these people out of here so they won't get hurt."

The Leader is now tending to the man who was bitten. "The Ruins, they said they were along the river. We never really looked for them, not in many seasons, always seemed weird." He doesn't seem inclined to lead any one. "But, it was from the woods the bandits came." It's not a stretch of the imagination to guess, that torso may have been a bandit, or one of their victims. Kirran is right, even to Taki and Kiroth, the noise in the wood seems to be closer, and ..it isn't the fall of axes.

Kirranelion looks to Kiroth and Takiyah, "I suggest looking at the noise before the ruins, but that is me..."

GAME: Kiroth rolls heal: (7)+8: 15

Takiyah nods. "The noise is here; might as well deal with it now," agrees Takiyah.

You paged Kiroth with 'You suspect the ants had a minor toxin, an irritant, but more concerning is that they tried to literally, burrow into the man's arm before being smacked away.'

Kiroth watches the ants, "Hey here be careful." He moves over to the farmer to check on the wound, "Here let me see it." He helps the leader tend to the wound. "If these ants are coming from the ruins we had better try to stop them before they can come to the village."

<OOC> Kirranelion says, "May I get another nature check to try and figure out what's making the sound without going over there?"

<OOC> Vuk says, "Absolutely."

<OOC> Vuk says, "history and dungeoneering checks at -5 for the same."

GAME: Kirranelion rolls knowledge/nature: (8)+5: 13

The man isn't in any danger, there was only a few bites, but he is scratching at them. Neither he nor the Leader seem to know about the Ants' attack, but that sound, it's more of a drone now. "We will provide you with torches." The Leader says, and by torches, he means little more then branches with oil soaked rags about them, two each. They seem more fearful now as the sound is no longer axes felling tree.

Kirranelion gets his bow out and works his way across the river in order to go check out that noise coming from the woods. "I'll go scout ahead," he offers, looking at the other two.

"Try not to get too far ahead," warns Takiyah. "Can't put you back together if we can't see where the pieces fell."

GAME: Kirranelion rolls perception: (11)+8: 19

GAME: Kiroth rolls perception: (14)+2: 16

GAME: Takiyah rolls Perception: (13)+5: 18

Kiroth nods as he stays with the others as he looks around and keeps his shield and sword ready.

Kirran will be first in the advance, the woods are quiet beyond that droning noise of ..some thing. It's not overly hard to find clearings off the river showing where stone work was. Pitted, weather beaten, but it isn't till they are least two miles from the village that the first signs of..not good comes up. Kirran will probably find it first, narrowly avoiding stepping into it. The legs and burst armor of the torso. Slumped over a small chest that is sagging from age and rot. Judging from the ore..some thing chewed through it, for entrails lead to the river...and a few ants are crawling on the chest and the lower half.

<OOC> Kirranelion says, "Is there still that sound of somthing moving?"

<OOC> Vuk says, "It's further along."

Kirranelion frowns at all of this and quickly circles back to the others to show them this thing. "I haven't found the source of the sound yet, but I found something odd." He leads Kiroth and Takiyah to the chest and what was left of the body. "Be careful of the ants."

Takiyah takes her longspear and carefully levers the body off of the chest, shaking ants off of the spear as needed.

Kiroth nods a little bit, "Yes they look like they dig into the flesh." He tries to use his sword to sweep away the ants so they will get off of the chest.

The ants aren't as aggressive as the ones in the river, nor as numerous, but once the lower body is moved, the chest can be examined. Unsurprisingly? It has treasure in it, and under it, a bloody sword, nothing remarkable. The Chest though, is ancient, does any one dare open it?

Kiroth hmms softly as he looks at the armor and the sword. "I wonder what killed this person."

Kirranelion shrugs, "Want me to go and scout some more for the sound? It's still ahead."

GAME: Kirranelion rolls stealth: (11)+7: 18

page Kirranelion=As Kirran moves forward he can easily find the ruins, for some of them are visible through gaps in the trees. The droning coalesces into clicking noises, hundreds upon hundreds. The air even seems still, stifling by the noises, and then the first signs of what is wrong comes quite literally, crashing down in front of Kirran, a tree, collapsing under it's own weight as what seems to be a sea of those blood red ants gnash at it. The ruins are surrounded by destroyed encampment, skeletal remains here and there, along with forgotten tools...and a terrible stench arises from the ruins, breached, the seal broken by tools, and some thing vaguely humanoid with in moves further away, as if it senses you and cares little.

The chest, if kicked, will easily burst open, revealing rotten linen and what looks like...hundreds of dead husks of those blood red ants, and coins mixed within. Spreading it out further would reveal wax along the bottom, studded with small minute holes.

Kirranelion returns after a while and sighs. "Someone was there, a group, that broke into something underneat the ruins, like an old vault or tomb, and it smells horrible from it. But something killed the people, there are skeletons around, picked clean. And it's all the ants, they're eating.... well everything."

Kiroth hmms as he uses his sword to moves the contents of the chest around and to tip it over to dump the contents out. He looks over at Kirranelion, "Skeletons that's not good."

Kirranelion shrugs at this, "Well, skeletal remains, not much left of what is there."

"This might be a bit much for us," muses Takiyah with a frown.

There's little doubt of the ants direction, Kirran could see them, they'll eventually over run the village from the direction of the woods, and the epicenter of the swarm most definitely seems to be the ruins. A mystery in and of it self. There is little doubt that by nightfall, or the middle of the night, they'll be on the edge of the village!

Kirranelion nods at this, "But we have to do something. Those ants are going to hit the village tonight if we don't find a way to block them..."

[RPFive] Kirranelion says, "Let's see.. Survival, Nature, Dungeoneering, Handle Animal is what I can contribute."

[RPFive] Takiyah says, "C/Artifice, K/Arcana, K/Religion, Spellcraft, UMD."

[RPFive] Vuk says, "Survival, nature, and dungeon knowledge are all applicable. Make a Nature check with a +4 modifier <due to synergy from the other skills> Kirran. And Artifice is sort of like building guns n stuff right Taki? "

GAME: Kiroth rolls craft: (3)+craft: 3

[RPFive] Takiyah says, "Guns, odd devices..."

[RPFive] Kiroth says, "I'm gonna like the forest on fire."

[RPFive] Vuk says, "... Kiroth, pose just..I guess foolishly, starting a fire, right in the middle of the forest."

[RPFive] Vuk won't comment on how to find a monster, I had a PC do that once. >>

Kiroth hmms as he starts to gather the materials to enact his plan as foolish as it may be.

GAME: Kirranelion rolls knowledge/nature+4: (3)+5+4: 12

[RPFive] Kirranelion says, "BAH!"

GAME: Takiyah rolls Craft/Artifice: (10)+9: 19

"Fire!" Kirran suddenly processed what Kiroth said. "No! You'll set the whole forest on fire doing that."

[RPFive] Vuk says, "Okah, Taki, you realize, with the villager's help, you could make a Firewall fairly quickly from just hacking down dead trees."

Kiroth blinks a little bit, "All right, I guess you are right."

"We don't have to set the whole forest on fire," points out Takiyah. "Just need to make a fire barrier to prevent the ants from advancing."

"These things are eating the trees themselves," Kirran looks between them. "The sounds we're hearing is them eating them."

It's probably fortunate Kiroth didn't have success in building the fire quickly, and Taki's suggestion is far more logical. Of course, standing in a woods just speaking about the oncoming horde of starving killer ants... there's a village of worried farmers, and their homes they'd help save! But will the Heroic adventurers figure out a way to kill the ants off, or drive them back in the woods?

Kiroth nods a little bit, "Sounds good to me Takiyah let's do that. We have to save the farmers from these ants."

Kirranelion nods though at it all, "Agreed, and then the guild can send some people to investigate what is going on in those ruins.

Farmers have plenty of equipment that could be useful, and if informed of the problem..well. To be fair, it seems to confuse them, but since they had never went to the ruins, they'll largely put their backs into it, especially when the first of the ants are seen, destroying swaths of the woods as they make columns. Hopefully our heroes go back to show them where to cut and start their fires!

[RPFive] Kiroth says, "So we are going back and getting the towns folk to help us then?"

[RPFive] Kirranelion says, "Roll is to try and help figure out the best places to put the barricade and also protect the forest."

GAME: Kirranelion rolls knowledge/nature: (11)+5: 16

[RPFive] Vuk says, "intelligence checks from Kiroth and Taki, Taki gets a +2 synergy bonus to it :)"

GAME: Takiyah rolls Intelligence+2: (7)+3+2: 12

GAME: Kiroth rolls intelligence: (4)+1: 5

Under the hero's directions, the farmers will dig up the ground and lay logs down, a few of the outlying homes had to be sacrifices for quick wood, or simply, there wasn't enough time to protect them..and it'll be a long night of constantly throw more wood on..but the Ants will have little chance of breaching..