Prey by Any Other Name (Astarte)

[Tassadar]

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 70, Status = Fine

Intervening years had finally brought stability to the band of refugees that Lian had fallen in with upon finally taking one of the portals from her besieged homeworld. The secret emerald moon from which they had come was sometimes just barely visible in the sky on certain clear nights, but it was likely that she would never see it in any other way again. The brutish beings who had descended from the sky were too many, their weaponry and tactics too advanced and well developed for her people's then-peaceful civilization to withstand. Tens of thousands had died in the opening days of the sudden war that had come to their verdant paradise, and tens of thousands more had been taken into slavery, the women used as breeders and the men as manual labor. Hers was now a race of orphans and refugees, and they had been forced with the hardest decision possible; to stay and likely be enslaved, or to flee to the sacred moon that had long shown brightly in the sky of their home as a bright blue jewel, which they had found that the locals called Donevrion. It was known that the magical barrier that had long protected their home from outside attack would likely mean that this exodus would be a permanent one, but the alternative would have left them

Her own tribe was long lost to her, having gone through a portal long before her under a less experienced Lian's guard long before she had. It was with strangers that Lian herself, she being a last resort to reclaim some of their ancient martial traditions that had come far too late, that she had fallen in with when finally she had given up guarding portals and come through one herself. They had arrived in a verdant place, similar to their home but significantly more hostile, forcing Lian to guard her kinfolk against monstrous beasts, mobile plants who were as eager to use them as hosts for their seed as the pig-like aliens had been, and gigantic insects of all shapes and colors. It had provided a source of useful experience, allowing Lian to gain some experience using some of her enhanced abilities and long-untested skills, and in the end it had ensured that she was given her new position as the guardian of the village that her people had joined.

Communication with the locals had been difficult at first, given their lack of like language, but by now that issue had largely been alleviated. The settlement that they had come across had recently suffered from a large raid by local slaver bands, one that had left it in need of a population influx and capable bodies, and even if there were still tensions on some elements, need had brought out a degree of cooperation that had allowed them to establish themselves. The existing population, consisting primarily of humans but also sporting some of the feline su-ku-ta, the violet skinned night elves, some plant women who had established a spa and restaurant, and a naga alchemist who had dwelt on the outskirts of town prior to the raid but moved to the center since.

Lian's guardianship left her with many responsibilities besides simply fighting monsters. The rabbit portion of their population was maturing, and some among their population were saying that it was high time that they prepare for their traditional ritual of deciding mates and ensuring that their population continued to grow. Lian, being both a member of the upper echelons of society and an adult, would thankfully be exempt from having to participate - not that it was likely that an untrained teenage boy could have had a serious chance of claiming her without her consent at this point - but as the main guardian of their village, it WAS her responsibility to find a safe place to hold it. The jungle was a fairly dangerous place, however, and it had essentially been agreed that it would have to take place across the nearby border with Badaria. It would mean a journey of about ten miles, but the meadows, fens, and forests of Badaria were generally significantly safer than the jungle around them. Only the xenophobia of Badaria's population, despite the nearest large settlement in the form of Lockacre being a trading hub, had made remaining in the jungle for their residence more appealing. So long as they kept away from the settlements, they should go undisturbed, but it would be Lian's duty first to demarcate the area in which the contest was to take place, and then to clear it of any dangerous predators and as many of the lustful plants as she could.

Besides preparing for their first Ralspot on Donevrion, Lian had to deal with a few more mundane issues. The naga alchemist, Sadjot, had requested that she stop by at some point and seemingly had a task of some sort for her, but had refused to tell her about it via the messenger that had delivered it. Some of the human half of their village's population had complained of losing increasing amounts of livestock to something that was coming in the night and picking them off without having to break through their fences as well, and she could come up with a plan to try and put an end to that if she'd rather put off organizing Ralspot or dealing with whatever the alchemist wanted her help with.

 

[Astarte]

Lian returned her sword to its scabbard, finishing her daily check and maintenance of her equipment. It was a routine she had settled into since settling in this place, before she began her rounds. The sword was one of the few things she had brought from her home, but even it barely qualified as a keepsake. She had nothing from her home, which was overrun in the initial invasion. Even this sword was given to her only days before the portals were opened, when she was told to guard the refugees, and she had brought nothing else with her when she traveled through herself. She hadn't actually been expecting to be here, in this new world. All throughout her training and preparation it was made clear that there was no real expectation of survival or freedom for her. Her and her fellow subjects were simply meant to do as much damage to the invaders, in the hope that they might slow the advance and buy time for more like them to possibly turn the tide.

In the end, however, she had never had the chance. She was still in the final stages of preparation when the decision was made to leave their world behind. Even then, she expected that she would guard the portals to the last. She was prepared to go down fighting, had been ever since her home had been destroyed so long ago, but she never fought more than a few skirmishes before being given new orders. The refugees had few capable warriors among them, and so even if they made it safely through the portals there was no telling what sort of dangers might wait for them on the other side, and so she was given escort duty at the last moment, by one of the few of her handlers who hadn't already passed through themselves.

She still wondered exactly why she was sent. Were they trying to save her, or had she simply been the best choice for the job? Ever since she had arrived she had felt somewhat lost. To her, her entire purpose had been to fight the invaders, it was practically all she knew. There were dangers on this side as well, and so she had naturally fallen into her role as a defender, but it was different. It wasn't as if she disliked the people here, the refugees or the natives, but she had never really formed any connections. Both sides had family and friends with them before they met, but Lian was simply told to guard them as they were on their way through the portal. She didn't know any of them, and she lacked the approachable nature that made it easy for some of them to mingle with strangers.

As she finished dressing and equipping herself, finally hanging her scabbard in place, she opened the door to the small home she had been afforded with. It was not particularly spacious, but she lived alone and had relatively few possessions, so it was better that larger homes go to those with families. From her understanding, her house had once belonged to a local hunter, but he was killed in the raid that had devastated the town before the arrival of her people and had no family to pass it on to, so it had sat empty for a time before eventually being given to her.

She had several things she needed to look into, though she would have to take them one at a time. For now, she would make her way to Sadjot's place to see what the alchemist needed from her. The original villagers also wanted her to look into the disappearances of livestock, but since that always seemed to happen in the night it was probably better for her to come back then. She was only an amateur when it came to hunting and tracking—though she was improving—so it was unlikely that she would see any signs the more experienced villagers had missed. It would be more reliable to put her enhanced senses to use catching the thief in the act. The third task was something from her own people, but one she had mixed feelings about. The leaders said it was tradition, yet it was not one she was particularly familiar with. Had she simply been too young to learn about it before her tribe was destroyed, and too busy with her training and enhancements afterwards? Or was it a difference in tradition between tribes? She wasn't certain, but it left a bad taste in her mouth. Far too similar to the acts of the invaders for her liking. Either way, they had simply asked her to clear the land of dangers, but that was something she could get to after she had dealt with more immediate problems. The first of which was to discover what Sadjot needed, knocking lightly on the door to announce herself before stepping inside.

 

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 70, Status = Fine

Laivos - The town.
Sadjot - Naga alchemist.

Striding out of her sparsely decorated home, Lian would be greeted with the expected sight of the minor wilderness surrounding her home. Though she had been offered an expansive home as reward for her efforts in defending the rest of them, she had elected for the old hunter's house, which was somewhat isolated on the outskirts of the village. It had sported a small garden of herbs - of both medicinal and culinary value - and some berry bushes under its previous owner, but by the time Lian had inhabited it the valuable plants had largely been choked out by weeds and consumed by wild animals and pests. The insects of this world were much more hostile than the ones back home...

Even though she kept herself fairly aloof, occasionally Lian would find gifts waiting for her by her door, and today was one of those days. An ornately crafted teapot made of fine clay, stained white and decorated with carefully drawn inscriptions resembling bolts of lightning, lay on a platter with two matching tea cups on her porch just next to the door, along with six packets of carefully dried herbs in wax paper packets. Whether she opted to take the gift inside or put it inside before heading out, Lian wouldn't have any other immediate distractions keeping her from heading into town.

Laivos was an eclectic village, architecturally. Prior to their arrival, it had included both Badarian and Amazonian influences, as many settlements on the border did. Their own constructions, primarily built of stone and marked with designs similar to the tattoos that covered their bodies, had been added to the mix of longhouses, pagoda, and brick that had already made up the village. The mixed inhabitants were intermingling naturally as they went about their daily tasks, a pleasant hustle and bustle that saw Lian being greeted in a fairly friendly manner by anyone that she passed on the way to Sadjot's place of residence.

The naga had, prior to the raid that had taken place before she had shown up, dwelt on the edge of town like Lian now did. Her house had been burned down during the attack, however, and her efforts in defending other villagers from the slavers had earned her a greater degree of acceptance from the other villagers despite her non-humanoid form. Her house was a two story stone box with one curved side, featuring a ramp leading up to the second story along the curve inside rather than a set of stairs, and the bottom floor sported the area where she ran her shop out of, in addition to her kitchen and work area. When Lian knocked, there would be no response for a few seconds, after which the naga would call out in her usual slightly sing-song greeting; "Come in, come in!"

Lian would find the woman upright behind her counter, leaning over it slightly to display a bit of cleavage. The apothecary's ivory scaled lower half was out of line of sight, but the traces of similar scales on her bare arms, around her temples, and on her long, pointed ears made clear her not-entirely-human nature, though that might be of less of a problem given her own lapine ears and tail. Her homeland had lacked for any similar creatures for her to have a natural distrust of snakes, as many people native to Donevrion seemed to have, though the numerous poisonous serpents that lived in the jungle may have prompted her to begin building one up. Otherwise, she had creamy skin, icy blue hair, and tended to prefer sleeveless tunics tied around her humanoid waist, concealing where her humanoid and serpentine halves met. She rarely greeted customers with anything but a smile showing off a hint of her right fang, and today was no exception as Lian slid the door aside and entered her shop.

"Close the door, please," she said innocently, and once it was closed she would gesture for Lian to come over to the counter. "How are you doing today? Feeling alright? No uhhh.... Urges that you're not used to?" She asked, her smirk growing a little to show off a bit more of her right fang and a tiny hint of the left one. Assuming that Lian answered negatively, she would continue; "Ahhh, good, good.... That means you aren't affected. So, I don't know if it's normal for your people like it is for the catfolk, or what, but... Well, you know how every once in a while, someone runs afoul of a shorn weed or a randy wild alraune? Well, things like that can... Rub off on folk sometimes, and it has a way of spreading if it happens to any one person too many times. Long story short... The number of you moonfolk that are suffering from uhhh... Well, the need to breed, so to speak, has taken a dramatic rise of late. It has been causing some problems for some of the more established locals, but I THINK that I can do something to get it back under control. I just need help gathering some ingredients... Specifically, I need a regular source of them. That means, unfortunately, that I need to cultivate some shorn weeds of my own, which means I need to find some of their fresh seedlings, before they've started taking root. I was hoping you might either have some ideas or be willing to do the leg work for that next time you're patrolling around, before the whole problem gets worse."

 

[Astarte]

Before leaving her home Lian carefully brought the gift left for her inside, placing them on her table to be used or put away later, when she returned. The gifts were appreciated, but she always felt a little awkward about receiving them. Regardless, it was a gift she would get use out of later, for now she needed to start her rounds and check in on the alchemist.

She reached Sadjot's home with no further interruptions, stepping into the storefront once she heard the Naga's voice from within. Though apparently some were wary of the woman, to Lian she didn't seem that much stranger than anyone else from this world. Closing the door behind her at the owner's request, she made her way towards the counter to hea what was going on.

"No, not particularly." Lian replied to the initial question, uncertain exactly where this was leading. The following explanation made things more clear, causing Lian to frown. It wasn't that such urges were unknown to her—one of the enchanted tattoos she was given was designed specifically to protect her from such things, in the event that the invaders might use such tactics to try to disable her, or to allow her to act with a relatively clear head should she be captured, to maximize her chance of escape, or simply to allow her to do as much damage as possible. As a side effect, however, it left her in a constant state of low-level arousal. She had long since gotten used to it to the point that she could generally ignore it, having first received the tattoo in question years ago, but it was still distracting at times.

However, it also made her the best choice for the job Sadjot was requesting. She knew what their pollen could do to people, and she would be the best able to avoid them or resist the effects due to her enhancements. Even in the worst case scenario, she should be able to keep her ability to reason better than others, though she'd never gotten a bad enough dose to test that theory, and wasn't eager to do so either. She was a bit worried about what the alchemist was requesting, though. "I don't think that's normal, no. Not that I've ever heard of at least. I can't really make assumptions based on myself though. I'm... different, in a few ways. Body doesn't quite behave the same." Lian had never made a secret of her abilities, but she'd never told the whole story behind them either. Just that she had received a large number of enchanted tattoos to enhance her combat ability, far more than an ordinary person would have. It made it difficult to tell whether something about her was normal or not on occasion, though, because even she wasn't entirely certain what they all did. Some had relatively obvious effects or had been explained to her, others were more mysterious, and outside the realm of what an ordinary tattoo artist could do.

"But growing those things here? Is that safe?" She asked. Those plants were dangerous, and having them so close to people was a bit worrying. Hopefully Sadjot knew how to keep them under control, and from spreading their pollen everywhere. "I'll see what I can do. Any advice on what I should be looking for? Or how to transport them. Can I just stick them in a basket to carry them back? Will they still be active like that? I usually just kill them when they get too close to town, I've never tried harvesting them before."

 

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 70, Status = Fine

Laivos - The town.
Sadjot - Naga alchemist.

"Right, well... Much as I'd like to find out all of the ways that your body works differently," Sadjot paused, blushed slightly, and looked away for a pair of seconds before continuing; "We don't really have time for that.... Yes, trying to raise shorn weeds in the town limits IS dangerous. That's why I didn't ask for it before now, even though we have resident alraune. But... My supply of reagent from random travelers for those types of potions can't keep up with demand anymore. I will do what I can to isolate them from the general townsfolk and figure out how to extract what I need safely, I just need the seeds to get that started in my personal garden."

With that, Sadjot flicked her wrist, and a small burst of magic caused an image of a small, about fist sized pod to appear in front of her, with a small tendril coming from either side and seemingly dragging it along. "This is what you're looking for," she explained, "it's a pod that'll result in a shorn weed instead of an alraune. Only alraune birth them, and they only do so if inseminated by a humanoid. There a few markings here... Aaand here... And then here's a size comparison - this is all to scale by the way - so you know what to look for." A series of illusionary images would play out, educating Lian on how the three different types of seedlings differed, "these are ones that become shorns - what you're looking for - and these become alraune, and these become stalkers."

The naga played through her illusionary slideshow one by one, apparently trying to explain as much as she could about what Lian actually needed to look for. "You can look for them basically anywhere, they're popping up all over the place. One time I even had some float by, carried on the wind and someone's flight magic! As for transporting them; please be delicate! They'll try to climb their way out of whatever you put them in, but damaging the tentacles they do that with can make it so that they'll die instead of germinating properly. They use those for digging too! You can put them in a basket with a cover over it and they'll go docile after a few minutes, or just carry them on your person. They'll cling to moving animals for transport if they don't think they're threatened, so you can keep them around an ankle or on your shoulder or something and they'll probably be okay too, so long as you keep away from any particularly hungry herbivores."

 

[Astarte]

"That's not what I... No, nevermind." Lian began to interrupt, but stopped herself and allowed Sadjot to give her explanation. The details didn't exactly fill her with confidence, but Lian had no reason to doubt the naga's intentions, so she would trust her to handle them with care. Fortunately it didn't seem too hard to transport them, though she didn't like the idea of letting those things cling to her. She'd just grab a basket from home before heading out. It would just be a matter of finding them, though the plants plagued the area enough that she suspected she wouldn't have to go too far out of her way.

"Alright. I'll keep an eye out on my rounds, see if I can find something. You just want me to bring them here?" Assuming Sadjot gave her an affirmative or an alternative, Lian politely excused herself, making her way back to her home to retrieve a basket she could use to carry the seedlings. With that in hand, he route would next take her around the outskirts of town, checking for any abnormalities, before heading deeper into the wilderness on a wider route around the surroundings. A minor cantrip allowed her to move a little faster, channeling the electricity flowing through her body into her limbs. She activated the tattoo around her eyes occasionally as she walked, scanning her surroundings for signs of predators lurking out of sight, but primarily kept it deactivated to give her a better ability to perceive her natural surroundings. Many of the greatest dangers in this environment were not the animals, but the plants and environment as well.

Spoiler

First, casting Energize for +5 Speed. Which is pretty much just for flavour, unlikely to make much of a difference in anything, but she moves a bit faster. Just a level 1 spell so 0 EP and 1 success required on her 12d10 Casting.

Base Perception is 6d10, 7d10 when detecting creatures via scent, and ignoring a single 1 penalty on any hearing or scent related roll (Not sure if having two separate keen sense mutations here means she can ignore 2 1s penalties on a check if it is both hearing and scent related, or if they don't stack). She also ignores any penalties from darkness, and while infravision is active (which she is only doing periodically and for a short time, mostly to help her detect anything trying to hide or stalk her) she rerolls 2s and 3s on Perception checks to detect hidden warm blooded creatures, but rerolls 9s and 8s on Perception checks to detect objects and creatures who are cold blooded or made of non-living matter, or are undead (Or plants, presumably). Creatures also gain no benefits to Stealth against her from Invisibility or other magical methods that mask their presence due to Blindsense.

 

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 70, Status = Fine, Energize +5 Speed, Grappled, Pinned

Laivos - The town.
Sadjot - Naga alchemist.
Maaki - Town Guard Bro

"Yup! The sooner we get them planted, the sooner we can clear out the jail," Sadjot replied with a nod when Lian asked if she wanted the seedlings brought to her. "I'll go in the garden and get the spots ready, but if you don't find them today, I'll understand. They're less common than the other varieties," she gave Lian a grateful nod, and with nothing more to add would allow the town guardian to depart.

Rolls

Spoiler

Casting: 7 successes
Perception: 0 successes, would be -1 success if she wasn't ignoring one of the 1s.
Stealth: 2 successes, Lian gets ambushed.
Grapple: 73 vs 57, Lian gets pinned.

A quick and simple re-channeling of her energies allowed Lian to move just that little bit quicker, she would be free to go grab a basket and then begin her rounds. Her first route, as per usual, took her around the outskirts of Laivos, keeping within line of sight of the town. She passed a fair number of people who were at work, tending gardens or small flocks or herds, and in the latter case she would notice the reduced numbers in a few cases. The nightly raids on them were apparently starting to take a serious toll...

"Lian!" The familiar voice was followed by a familiar sight, of Maaki running towards her. The young man had been a teenager when Lian and her people had arrived, and he had been the son of the slain capatain of the town guard. Becoming the head of his household so suddenly had forced him to mature quickly, and he had risen to it as best as one could expect with no one really left to train him. The human had followed in his father's footsteps, carrying his glaive and crossbow and wearing his helmet and armor, which still didn't fit quite perfectly. The human had gone out of his way to make her feel comfortable and gain an understanding of the dangers of the jungle, and had helped her learn the area immediately around the village by heart in the early days when she was still settling into her role as the village's guardian.

"Sadjot was looking for you," he said as he slowed from a trot to a walk, stopping at just the edge of what she might consider her personal space. "Have you been to see her yet? She seemed to think it was important, I guess it's supposed to help some of your folk who caused some trouble with some of mine. Anyway... The herds got raided again, it seems like it's starting to happen more often now. I was thinking about trying to stake out one of the outskirt herders, see if I can see what it is that's doing it. I figure it has to be something coming from the air, and something big enough to carry off a whole hog or goat by itself. All anyone is finding are blood stains and torn bits of fur...."

Whenever she managed to shake the man off, Lian would be free to continue on her patrol, proceeding on to the generally more dangerous but generally more important portion. The wilderness, even in the relatively tame territory on the Badarian border, was constantly encroaching on the village's borders, and the danger was ever present and would slowly but surely creep closer to town if left unchecked. Fortunately, Lian knew the area pretty well by that point, and between her knowledge of the "normal" look of the terrain, and her own sharpened senses, it was rare for her to walk into an ambush.

Unfortunately, today was apparently not Lian's day. Keeping her sword close to hand and moving along, going beyond the paths that the village's hunters and fishermen normally took, she would find herself moving through some underbrush and onto a small game trail when she heard it; the slight growl, the shift of ground, and the drag of claws moving weight. Her reaction came far too late, however, as a feral stalker - a massive bestial plant creature - launched itself from its hiding place and onto her back. She went down, wrestling with the beast, in a tumble of limbs, claws, and vine-like tendrils. When the motion slowed, she was lying on her front with the beast on top of her. One foot was planted on her back, one on her left arm, one on her right leg, and one on the ground for stability. More insidiously, tentacles had wrapped around her other wrist and leg, securing them, and while she tried to struggle up from that position the moon rabbit felt more of them worming their way under her clothing. Another coiled itself around her neck, the tip of it beginning to rub against her cheek and rub a sweet blue nectar against her skin as it undoubtedly planned to shove that directly down her throat.

 

[Astarte]

"I talked to her," Lian replied simply, not elaborating on the naga's request. She frowned at the mention of animals being taken yet again though, especially after what she'd seen on her initial rounds. "I had a similar idea. If it's something that could be identified from signs or tracks, one of the hunters could do a better job than me. My night vision is good though, I was thinking that watching for it at night would be more likely to succeed. I'll most likely try tonight, as long as my business in the jungle doesn't take longer than expected."

Once she continued deeper into her wilderness, Lian remained wary of her surroundings—but, evidently, not wary enough. The native plant creatures could be difficult to detect at the best of times, and the fact that her heat-based enhanced vision failed to reveal them like it did animals made them doubly difficult to locate among the dense plantlife. When she heard it she was too late to react, unable to draw her blade before the creature crashed into her, knocking her to the ground. She knew this put her in a disadvantageous position. Even if she was confident in her strength over the beast, it had the advantage in position.

She braced herself against any attempts to move her limbs, but she didn't fight back immediately. She might be able to force it off of her witch strength alone, but that wasn't the only ability she had. Once again channeling the power of the lightning sealed within her body, this time Lian focused on forcing it out, to coat her entire body in a shroud of electricity that would harm and ideally dissuade the creature from continuing. Even if it persisted, however, a momentary lapse due to the electrical shocks could give her an opportunity.

Spoiler

Using Dedicated Concentration to trade 8d10 dodge into 4d10 Casting (Bringing her casting check up to 16d10), then trying to cast Lightning Armor. Level 3 utility spell, so 2 EP and 1 Upkeep. Normally 3 successes to cast, but now 6 due to being pinned.

Gives her 30 Force resistance and +20 AV (Bringing her up to 58 AV), but more importantly automatically hits anything touching her with Shock—I assume every round if they continue touching her?—which deals 4d4+14 damage and prompts a Focus vs. Resistance check to stun, with Lian's effective Focus being 21 (including the bonus from Lucky).

Her grapple is unchanged, so 10d10+3, but should only need that defensively. Dodge is reduced to 9d10+3 for the round, if it was going for an attack roll.

Edit: Also if she ever deals half of the enemy's max HP with a spell that does electricity damage they are automatically paralyzed, but I doubt Shock will do that much.

 

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 70, Status = Fine, Energize +5 Speed, Lightning Armor, Grappled, Pinned, Naked

Laivos - The town.
Sadjot - Naga alchemist.
Maaki - Town Guard Bro

Feral Stalker: Taken 12 damage.

Maaki would nod, smiling. "You want some company for it, in case you think it's a good opportunity to try and ambush whatever it happens to be?"

Rolls

Spoiler

Casting: 13 successes, double what she needed. The spell costs no EP thanks to that.
Shock Damage: 8 + 14 - 10 = 12 damage.
Resistance: 22, nat 1 for Lian, autofail. Vs 25 for it, for posterity.
Grapple: 78 vs 69, it wins and strips her

Calling on the ever-thrumming lightning power encapsulated in her body, Lian let it course out of her in a pattern that was meant to be primarily protective but also uniquely effective at dissuading things like this from keeping in contact with her. Electricity crackled across her body, flowing into the creature on top of her in visible arcs and causing burns to appear on its fibrous skin wherever they touched, but despite the flinch from the shock the stalker merely growled and continued its assault. The tentacles worming their way under her clothing suddenly pulled outwards in unison, pulling her clothing apart and ripping it away from her body. The delicate outfit thankfully survived the attack with a minimum of tearing, but her underwear were not so fortunately, being literally torn away from her body and tossed aside.

The hulking plant-beast returned its clawed foot against her now bare back, and this time Lian felt it flex those talons threateningly against her heavily tattooed skin. Another tentacle wrapped around her waist, forcibly raising Lian's hips, and if that wasn't enough to make its intentions obvious she would feel something hard and thick press against the left cheek of her ass. The thing's prehensile ovipositor was clear, and it squirmed towards her sex and promptly lined itself up with her entrance. The nectar-oozing vine shifted from her cheek to her lips, trying to force its way past if she didn't keep them clenched tightly enough.

 

[Astarte]

"If you're up for it, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra pair of eyes," Lian replied simply to the guard before making her way into the deeper jungle.

---

Though she succeeded in her spell, lightning running across her body and into the creature on top of her, but despite the visible burns it was causing it wasn't as successful in deterring it as she might have hoped. She knew these plant creatures wouldn't feel pain in the same way a person or animal would, but she'd hoped it had some kind of self-preservation issues that might turn it away. Unfortunately, that meant she still wasn't able to make any progress towards pushing it off of her, and its tendrils continued pulling at her clothes, finally tearing them off her body.

Her teeth clenched as she felt something press against her from behind. This was not the sort of creature she wanted to get the better of her. It wasn't that she'd never been prepared for something like this, she'd known about the risks back home, with the invaders. But here, like this? She flexed her arm against the foot planted on her arm, but she still wasn't confident in her ability to force it off of her like this. She just didn't have the leverage. She still had one more chance though. It wasn't deterred by a little electricity, but a bit more power might do it...

Spoiler

Same as last round, but casting Lightning Strike this time. Ball spell, so auto-hits both of them, but she's immune to the damage. Costs 3 EP and requires 7 successes to cast (16d10 casting again). If she succeeds, it deals 4d6+36 damage, causes another stun check (21 Focus), and if it deals damage equal to more than half the enemy's max HP gives a stack of Paralyzed with no resistance check.

The automatic Shock again deals 4d4+14 damage and prompts another Focus vs. Resistance check for Stunned.

She'll also use a free action to try to cast Zap (Can be cast as a free action as long as the cost another lightning spell, so I assume it only works if Lightning Strike succeeded) This costs 1 EP and requires 4 casting successes, and deals 1d8+7 damage if it hits. It's a line spell, so it does require her to win the grapple check.

 

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 67/70, Status = Fine, Energize +5 Speed, Lightning Armor, Grappled, Naked

Laivos - The town.
Sadjot - Naga alchemist.
Maaki - Town Guard Bro, has a date now

Feral Stalker: Taken 38 damage.

Maaki's smile widened, and he nodded. "I'll see you later tonight then!" He said excitedly, before moving on his way while she moved on hers.

Rolls

Spoiler

Casting: 6 successes, failure by one.
Shock Damage: 8 + 14 - 10 = 12 damage again.
Resistance: 40 vs 25, she successfully stuns it.
Grapple: it doesn't get a turn, and she doesn't get a grapple action.

A second round is rolled after some OOC discussion, in which Lian attempts to escape while it has a bonus to doing so.
Shock Damage: 10 + 14 - 10 = 14 damage.
Resistance: 23 vs 58, no surprise there.
Grapple: 71 vs 68, she is no longer Pinned.

The plant beast thrashed suddenly as Lian's body continued to naturally channel electricity into its frame, causing the claws against her wrist and back to flex simultaneously. The pain of the scratches dug into her skin, though it might have been muted and prompted to heal instantly thanks to some of her tattoos, was just enough to ruin her concentration and prevent the greater channeling of her energies into a bolt that would have likely fried the thing outright.

The disruption of its concentration was enough to allow Lian to slip her wrist out from under its claw, however, and while she couldn't yet disentangle herself from the beast's vine-tendrils, she could at least turn herself over to face, forcing two more of its feet onto the ground. It was practically hoisting her up, still rubbing its ovipositor between her legs and trying to get it into her, but it hadn't managed it yet...

 

[Astarte]

Lian winced as the beast's claws dug into her back, disrupting her concentration and causing the energy she'd been gathering to disperse back into her body. That would have been very bad for her, if not for the fact that a moment later she felt the creature freeze up, the electrical shocks finally having the desired effect of interfering with its body and movements. Taking the opportunity she wrenched one of her arms free and rolled onto her back, also dislodging the claw that had been pinning her down. She wasn't free yet, but this left her in a much less disadvantageous position. Planting her now free hand against the underside of the creature, she began channeling her power once again, hoping to destroy or cripple it before it had the chance to try to pin her down again.

Spoiler

Back to trying Lightning Strike again, now that she has a smaller casting penalty.

Costs 3 EP and requires only 5 successes to cast this time (16d10 casting again, still using Dedicated Concentration). If she succeeds, it deals 4d6+36 damage, causes another stun check, and if it deals more than half the enemy's max HP gives a stack of Paralyzed with no resistance check.

She'll also use a free action to try to cast Zap (Can be cast as a free action as long as she cast another lightning spell, so I assume it only works if Lightning Strike succeeds) This costs 1 EP and requires 2 casting successes, and deals 1d8+7 damage if it hits. It's a line spell, so it does require her to win the grapple check.

And of course Shock damage as normal, 4d4+14 damage.

 

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 62/70, Status = Fine, Energize +5 Speed, Lightning Armor, Naked

Laivos - The town.
Sadjot - Naga alchemist.
Maaki - Town Guard Bro, has a date now

Feral Stalker: Taken 38 damage.

Rolls

Spoiler

Casting: 10 successes.
Attack: Automatic hit.
Damage: 48 - 10 = 38, she kills it. I also realize that I forgot Lightning Armor's upkeep.

Gain 2 XP.

With one final surge of power dragged down from the air, Lian pulled a lightning bolt down. It struck her through the beast trying to plant its seed in her, but her body was practically energized from the blow rather than harmed. The plant-beast on top of her was not so lucky as to be so attuned to the element of lightning, however; the bolt ripped and burned through its body, leaving it as blackened, smoking husk with a hole burned straight through its body. It shuddered once, but then went still, slumping lifelessly atop her having not been able to fulfill its desires.

Lian, having managed to salvage the situation after the nearly disastrous ambush, would be free to push the thing off and worm her way out from underneath its smoking carcass. Her clothing was scattered around, having been pulled off of her body and tossed away carelessly by the beast during their struggle. Whether she felt any shame for her nudity, she would be able to rectify the matter quickly enough, though her underwear had been torn to the point that it would require some needlework to be fully salvageable. She could try to tie them back together for now, or just opt to go commando until she could replace them. Either way, it was up to her whether or not she wanted to finish her rounds or simply return to Laivos now.

Whatever she opted to do, that lightning strike hadn't exactly been subtle. It was likely that it had been seen for miles around, particularly given that the skies had been relatively clear before she had pulled that energy from the sky. The darkened clouds that she'd forced to appear were quick to disperse, but for a few minutes they would signal the position where she had been.

She would also know one thing; feral stalkers like the one that had attacked her were rarely born alone. They tended to lay large clutches in their unwitting hosts, and they matured together in groups. More often than not, they were pack hunters, and if one was in the area, there would undoubtedly be more lurking around.

 

[Astarte]

"Hah..." With a sigh, Lian allowed herself a moment of relief as the creature slumped down and stopped moving. With a grunt of effort she rolled the corpse off of her before working to disentangle her limbs from its tentacles. She'd been trained to suppress her emotions in combat, but now that she was safe, even if only momentarily, the reality of what had nearly happened hit her. She'd been lucky the creature had frozen up when it did, she'd been only moments away from being violated by the beast.

While she'd always been prepared for such things to happen back home, at least on an intellectual level, this was the first time she'd ever come so close—and to a creature she could have killed in a single strike had it not caught her by surprise. That was a scary thought, but she did her best to push it from her mind for the time being. She needed a clear head if she didn't want to be taken by surprise again. She let the electricity arcing across her body disperse as she pulled herself to her feet, telling herself that this was a needed reminder that the wilds here were far more dangerous than those back home, and that she needed to maintain vigilance at all times.

Quickly gathering up her clothing and dressing herself—doing what she could to make sure everything fit properly for now, she'd have to do proper repairs once she got home—she kept her eyes and ears on her surroundings. Her final attack hadn't exactly been quiet, and the creature that attacked her might not be alone. She lingered a moment, one last scan of her surroundings, before she moved on.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to invest in proper armour after all. She had chosen to keep the enchanted robes she had brought with her from her homeworld, but the constant patching up they needed was troublesome. While they were enchanted to be more protective and durable than ordinary cloth, the problem was that her reinforced skin was still several times tougher, so blows that she knew that she could handle, her clothing could not handle nearly as well. This time there was minimal damage, as it had been more concerned with simply removing her clothes, and the robe was relatively easy to remove, but it was certainly a concern.

Spoiler

Cancelling Lightning Armor and continuing her patrol if nothing comes to attack her, same perception stuff as before. But hopefully with better rolls this time.

 

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 62/70, Status = Fine, Energize +5 Speed, Grappled, Naked

Laivos - The town.
Sadjot - Naga alchemist.
Maaki - Town Guard Bro, has a date now

Rolls

Spoiler

Perception: 2 successes, that ignoring 1s on hearing paying dividends here.
Stealth: -1 success, 4 successes, 4 successes. Lian whyyyy.

Grapple: 84 vs 92, she is only grappled, not pinned. There is a third, who because sneak attack could leap into the grapple, but I am electing to offer mercy this one time.

Lian had had less time than she had thought, apparently. Just as she had finished gathering up her discarded clothing but before she could get them back on, the sound of motion from the underbrush nearby alerted her to something approaching from the same direction as the last monster. A second later and she was dodging a leaping pounce from another of the plant beasts, which growled as it skidded to a halt, stabilizing and spending its momentum using its claws. This time, at least, she would be able to face it with her sword in her hand, if not her clothes on her back... And as she turned to face her second attacker within the last few minutes, the next one attacked, blindsiding her from a completely different direction and, like the first, bringing her to the ground on her front.

Leftover adrenaline would, fortunately, allow her to keep from being completely bound in tentacles before she could react, and the adrenal rush allowed her to see a third creeping from the jungle. It was coming on perfectly silently, moving so low to the ground that it was almost crawling, and more vines were already reaching out towards her from it. If it grabbed onto her, she'd only find it harder to channel her innate defensive magics, but she had only heartbeats before it, too was upon her... And again she felt something hard squirming against her bottom, preparing to worm its way towards her currently unprotected flower.

 

[Astarte]

Lian was barely able to get to her feet before more of the creatures were upon her. She spotted one, but too late to react before another sprung out of the vegetation, forcing her to the ground once again. She winced as she hit the ground, but this amount of force wouldn't even leave a bruise. What was more concerning was the creature attempting to bind her limbs once again, though she was able to fend it off this time, at least for a moment. She didn't have much time to spare on such struggles, however. There were at least two others, and possibly more coming. If they worked together to hold her down, there was no way she would be able to overcome them.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the creatures had waited for the moment she had released the spell which electrified her body in order to dress herself. She was regretting that choice now, but she didn't have time to spare thinking about it. She needed to do something now. With few other options, Lian once again began channeling her power, this time for an even bigger spell. She couldn't rely on the same tactic as last time, that had been too slow, and the creature had not been as dissuaded by pain and injury—if it even felt pain in the first place—as she had hoped. No, what she needed was something powerful enough to disable them immediately, if not kill them outright. Luckily she had managed to keep her arms free this time, which would hopefully make the process easier.

Spoiler

Well, back to the same strategy as before, just with a different spell. Dedicated Concentration again, same as before, but this time casting Thunder Sphere. DC 6 on 16d10 Casting, 4 EP, and 2 upkeep to create a 10-foot radius sphere of lightning around here, automatically dealing 5d10+30 to everything within 10 feet of her, giving them -4d10 to any kind of attack roll against her, and causing ranged weapon attacks to automatically miss. No stun check, but still automatically paralyzing if it does half the enemy's max HP in damage.

Utility spell, not a normal Emanation, so maintained off just the upkeep, but it prevents her from moving while it's up.

 

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 58/70, Status = Fine, Energize +5 Speed, Naked

Laivos - The town.
Sadjot - Naga alchemist.
Maaki - Town Guard Bro, has a date now

Rolls

Spoiler

Casting: 7 successes.
Damage: 63, allowing Lian to destroy all three at once.

Gain 2 more XP.

Crackling electricity lashed out from Lian's body at her command, this time emanating from her in a roughly spherical shape that spread between nearby obstacles and the attacking monsters alike. The trees didn't fare any better than the stalkers as Lian's power washed over them, lightning crackling between them and setting miniature fires across everything that it touched. The creature on top of her spasmed wildly, tendrils thrashing against the ground around them, and she could see similar reactions from the other two plant-beasts as Lian's magic shocked all three to death. Once more, the moon rabbit guardian found a stalker slumping, dead, over her naked frame, leaving her to again disentangle herself from a dead body.

This time, her efforts had caused a bit more collateral, leaving some nearby trees and undergrowth smoldering despite the relative moistness of the jungle. Fortunately, this time, she would be able to get dressed before anything else came pelting out of the jungle looking to rape her. Less fortunately than she might have hoped, however, she would hear something headed her way even as she was getting out from under the second dead feral stalker. Whatever it was, trees were moving out of its way, and the ground was shuddering slightly beneath Lian's feet with the weight of its passage. It wasn't moving quickly, potentially allowing her to prepare or simply hide or flee rather than face it.

 

[Astarte]

Shoving a smoldering corpse off of her body for the second time, Lian was quick to move this time, grabbing her discarded clothing and hastily donning them as well as she could under the protection of the crackling dome of electricity surrounding her. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she was done yet. Whatever was coming, it wasn't more of the creatures that had just attacked her, it was something big. That meant that she couldn't simply stand still to face it, so she had to release the spell protecting her—she couldn't move around while maintaining it, and against something as large as whatever this sounded like, she needed to be mobile.

There was always the option of fleeing, she'd likely be able to outrun whatever it was in the confines of the wilderness, but it was too close to town. She had to make sure that whatever it was didn't wander into town. Instead of outwardly, Lian focused her energy inward once again, charging her entire body to a far greater extent than the minor boost she'd given herself before she set out, sharpening her reflexes and enhancing her body's reactions. Hand ready on the hilt of her sword, Lian fell into a ready stance, watching the spaces between the trees ahead and waiting for whatever creature was approaching.

Spoiler

Releasing her spell once again and casting Power of the Storm instead, buffing dodge. Will do Dedicated Concentration again for safety, so DC 5 on 16d10, costing 4 EP and 3 Upkeep, and giving her +10d10 Dodge. This brings her dodge up to 19d10+3 this round (due to -8d10 from dedicated concentration) and 27d10+3 after.

Not sure how many rounds she has until this thing appears, so if it's more than one I can provide additional actions if needed.

 

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

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: HP = 70, PP = 60, EP = 54/70, Status = Fine, Energize +5 Speed, Naked, Power of the Storm (Dodge) Upkeep = 3 EP

Laivos - The town.
Sadjot - Naga alchemist.
Maaki - Town Guard Bro, has a date now

Rolls

Spoiler

Casting: 11 successes, 6 more than needed, allowing her to treat it as one spell level higher effectively if she wishes to. That will increase the upkeep, but not the initial casting cost.

With Lian having a moment to prepare for this oncoming threat, she would be able to enact a spell to make her more agile, but wouldn't have time to do much more than that before the approaching creature was visible coming through the final few layers of trees. It was one of the huge, hulking, wood-like monstrosities, vaguely humanoid in shape but built more like a gorilla than a person. It lumbered forward on all fours, tree-trunk like limbs pushing aside actual trees, and as it came into the clearing it leaned down to gaze at Lian with tiny black eyes set into a long, flat, stump-like face split about two thirds of the way down. It tilted its head as it seemingly took her in, making an eerie creaking sound, and as it leaned forward she saw the mass stuck to its back. The hulking plant beast, not only sporting a forest of tentacle-vines that were already starting to slither forth from the holes in its bark-like skin, but there was a nest of immense wasps on its back. One of them crawled forth and took off into the air, the creature's jade-colored carapace gleaming in the light as it swung around to face her alongside the hulking behemoth that it had taken off from.

 

[Astarte]

Lian stood her ground as the lumbering creature approached, having to fight the urge to fall back as the ground seemed to shake beneath her feet. Though she'd never fought one before, she'd heard of these things from the locals. As big as it was, this was something she could kill, and it was far too close to town to let it roam free. It might have been attracted by her spells and the sound of battle, but the fact that it had arrived so quickly meant that it was already nearby. It seemed these monsters were everywhere today, she just hoped that it was a coincidence, and not a sign of some sort of nest so close to town. She'd have to report this when she got back, make sure everyone was warned and on the lookout for more creatures like this.

The oversized insect that crawled from the wood-like beast made things more difficult, however. She had caught a glimpse of what looked like a hive on its back, and that meant there were more than just the one, and the plant monster didn't seem hostile to the parasitic insect either. If she was precise with her strike she might be able to cut this one out of the air in the same motion as striking the larger target, but if more emerged from the hive she could easily become overwhelmed by numbers. She wasn't sure which particular breed of wasp this creature was, but a common factor between the oversized insects of this jungle was poison—something her people were particularly susceptible to. She was more resistant than most due to her enhancements, but that was still something she couldn't afford to risk.

Regardless, the big one had to go first. Once it was dealt with, she could try to take out the hive all in one shot. Electricity ran down her arm and into the weapon in her hand, charging the blade and building up for an even larger boost the moment she struck. The moment she was prepared, before the wasp could separate from the plant creature, Lian stepped forward, drawing her electrified blade in a wide arc aimed to cut through the wasp before striking the larger creature and releasing the stored lightning in a single great strike.

Spoiler

Will stick with the base value for the dodge spell, to avoid too much upkeep.

Using Enchant Weapon, Death From the Draw, Slay, Supreme Might, Whirlwind, and Channel Spell. Also using Dedicated Concentration again to drop 4d10 Dodge for 2d10 Casting.

Enchant Weapon with the Enchanter feat costs 3 EP to activate (as a free action), 1 upkeep, and a DC 2 casting check (On 11d10 Casting since I don't believe this benefits from her bonus dice from Focus in Lightning). It causes her weapon to do an additional 14 Electricity damage and gives her +14 Attack. It also makes her weapon attack count as a spell instead if that would be beneficial (For bypassing certain types of AV/DR I assume, probably not relevant here). Also grants her +4 to any resistance check against having her attack negated.

Using Channel Spell against the plant monster specifically (since it won't benefit from whirlwind, and don't want to pay for it twice to hit both), to cast Lightning Blade. Has to pay 2 EP and make a DC 3 casting check at the start of the round to activate the feat (On 11d10 Casting as well, I assume). The spell costs 4 EP and requires a DC 5 casting check (On 14d10 this time, due to being a lightning spell).

Between upkeep, enchant weapon, and this, she will be over her spirit ceiling by 5 (unless she fails the initial channel spell check, in which case she can't even attempt to cast the spell to begin with and only goes over by 1), so that means taking 5 EP and HP damage. So if everything works out, that's a total EP loss of 17 (including the upkeep on her buff) and HP loss of 5. Battlemage means she takes no casting penalty from HP loss though, if that would normally even apply in this scenario.

---

Her weapon attack roll is 3d10+18d10-1, and deals 12d12+82 Damage, 14 of which is electricity damage and the rest physical.

If she succeeds her casting and hits the plant monster, Lightning Blade does 10d6+45 Damage and Ignores all AV. And of course if it does more than half the enemy's max HP it paralyzes them, but if it does more than half the enemy's max HP after her weapon damage as well they're probably dead.

After the various Dodge penalties (Slay, Whirlwind, and Dedicated Concentration) and the bonus from her active buff, her dodge is back down to 18d10+3