Duty Session 446: Sher Kar Challenge

The story is probably know among Adventurer circles, by now: the Trial of Honor cannot take place properly because of the giant ants interfering with the Sher Kar. The Hunter's Guild is seeking people to help with the situation.

So this is where our heroes come into play. Shenmi is the first to arrive, and keeps himself busy by practicing some of his tricks. This particular one starts by shuffling a deck; he then casually flicks the cards upward, one by one, faster and faster, sends bursts of air magic to keep them afloat, and eventually snatches them out of mid-air as they fall back down, recomposing the deck this way.

Yeowang has been displaced from Shibuya, but no longer lurks around the outpost, spying on the Palace Landers. It doesn't seem to do any good, or get her any additional information. So, she's out in Westelande, training, and here's a quest she'd never seen before. Well, of course she'll accept the quest, and head to the meeting place after dressing for the desert. Her dark clothes have been replaced by sandy khaki-like shirt and breeches, and low, soft leather ankle boots. Her hair can't be seen under the head covering that covers her head and the back of her neck, but the shape of it implies she's wearing it up in a bun, which is typical of her, when running a duty.

She arrives, peering at Shenmi's method of amusing himself while he waits. She nods a greeting, offers her name with a polite, "I am called Yeowang," and falls silent. She can sit still and watch when there is nothing to do but wait.

Shiruba has made it a point to keep dealing with some of the other problems that turn up, so they don't get overlooked by the ongoing conflict with the Palace Lands and turn into bigger problems down the line. This one just also happens to involve something that's culturally significant so that additionally gets her attention whenever it does come up and she happens to be nearby to do so. "These darn ants just don't stay down for long. You'd almost think they're cockroaches instead." She nods to the others gathering, taking note of one of them being one of the Uncrowned refugees. "Out seeing more of our side of the world I take it?"

Shenmi finishes catching the last card just as it is time to turn. "My ladies..." Shenmi greets with a nod of his head. He flicks his wrists, making circular movements with his hands as he bows, and when he is back to standing, the deck is gone, and he is holding two bouquets, one in each hand. "I am sorry we could not greet properly the last time we met at that meeting. It seems like we will be spending some time cooparating on quests, though." He offers Shiruba a light nod. "Exploring other parts of the world indeed. Some of us are looking into a potential citizenship change. It is nice to explore options. Plus... it's training. We Uncrowned can always use more training."

The morning dawns bright and clear, another day in the desert, and the party sets out from Breg Epona in good spirits, following a trail blazed by previous generations of Westelanders over the course of centuries. The party arrives at a place like a quarry, an open pit with several ramps down. In the pit, there are several entrances into the ground, which twist and turn, showing nothing of what lies inside. The entrances are wide enough for three or four abreast, though for the moment, a handful of giant ants are clustered around the base of the pit, feeding on something. Engaging them will be tough on the ramps, though ranged or magical attacks would be easier.

Shiruba nods to Shenmi as they start into the quarry. "No one is going to force you... but it would reduce the danger of going out if you don't have to worry about... awkward long distance respawns. Not that anyone should risk heedlessly."

But partway down the ramps she stops, glancing over the edge. "Looks like they've got cards at the entrance. Be careful." Shiruba takes a pair of arrows out of her quiver, drawing them back in her bow together, takes aim down over the edge, and fires. Despite the complexity of firing two at the same time her aim is exceptionally sharp, peircing through the head of one ant and the thorax of another, pinning it down.

Yeowang bows her head at Shenmi exploring the world, and she admits, "I have not seen all of it by any means. This is one part I'm particularly unfamiliar with." Westelande, she means. She will follow as Shenmi leads us out of Breg Epona, and across the dry land to the quarry.

Looking down in the pit, she blinks. "Giant ants, is it?" she wonders. She will head down to the slope as they climb up, and she meets them part way. She's got a hunter's eye for terrain and tactics, leaping forward with a kick, and using the momentum to push her back from their counterattacks. She continues with a tactical beatdown, fists and boots slamming the ants over and over.

"It is true. But-" Shenmi looks down, and switches to a more somber tone. "Seeing what happened to Mac Anu, I am starting to wonder if switching allegiances will make that much of a difference -at this point in time-." He resumes looking ahead, still walking, "At this point, but this is only my own personal opinion, I do not think the rulers from the Palace Lands are going to just leave Yamato alone. Our winning the war altogeher, thus removing the menace from the Crowned, is the only way that this can end well for us. And at that point..." He trails off. Silence "I do like Kallamore, to be honest."

The party arrives at the designated place. "Ants, indeed." To minimize the risk of death and respawn, Shenmi will stand at a distance and shoot a flurry of cards at the giant insects. Sadly, with all the movement and desert wind, only a fraction impacts, and it doesn't even cause much in the way of damage.

Ants defeated, the party must choose their path down into the depths. Various ways in seem, initially, to be alike. Only exploration will reveal much about what lies inside. Some ways lead to dead ends and egg chambers, others proceed deeper.

Ants defeated with extreme prejudice and kicks in the face, Yeowang will look around the ground, examining the tracks and other signs of hbaitation. She's still getting the hang of examining tracks and signs, but manages to pick up a few clues. "More traffic goes this way," she announces. "Our recent friends," she references the ants we just killed, "Came this way."

Once the trio makes their way into the entrance of the passages Shiruba stops and kneels down, inspecting the ground. Ants don't have large feet to leave tracks, but there's always the other signs of movement considering ants often carry and drag things much larger than them. Leaving scuffs on the ground and the walls of the caves.

It seems that her and Yeowang are on the same wavelength. Eventually she stands and points down one of the other sections. "It's a high traffic section. Be careful we don't get blindsided from the other passages rejoining each other. We do not want to get flanked in a pincher situa--" She stops, makes a face at what she just said. Ugh, unintentional pun. "--You know what I mean."

Shenmi, once again, attempts some Earth control, but his attempts at staying at a distance to limit the risks of dying and respawning don't make him as effective as the rest of the party, who pretty much do all the work.

The maze is used by both ants and Sher Kar, and while the ants are the deadlier predator, Sher Kar - The Sher Kar are a threat in their own right. The Guild would like it if you try not to eradicate Sher Kar - The Sher Kar, the whole point is to rid the place of ants so Sher Kar - The Sher Kar can thrive again, but they're here and they're hungry, and they're prone to attacking anything.

It would seem the ants aren't the only thing making traffic down the chosen path. Funny how Sher Kar - The Sher Kar doesn't seem to really give a shit about the ants, it's the ants getting in the way of potential Salamander youths persuing adulthood acceptance that's the problem. "Aw, crap." Shiruba takes a few cautious steps, then realizes there's nowhere for her to actually try to stay out of view in the narrow passage. "--Nevermind, just make a run for it!" she yips and charges for the far end of the corridor. "These aren't what we're here to deal with!"

Yeowang will try and fend off the Sher Kar while the others go past, and while she's able to do so, she takes far more damage than she'd like in the process. The problem with turning down the pain to 25% is it doesn't let you guage how badly you're getting mangled, and Yeowang ends that fight a bit lower on HP than she'd expected.

"Hold on, I think I got this!"

Shenmi tries as hard as he can to keep the Sher Kar at bay, but judging by his intense expression, the monster turns out to be exceptionally strong-willed. Also, ants are attacking from behind.

A few red gashes later, Shenmi just groans and attemtps to dash through, sacrificing a chunk of damage just to leave this area.

The party has gotten past Sher Kar - The Sher Kar, and is heading for where they expect to find a concentration of ants. But the ants have sensed the party as well, and a handful of the guard-ants have been sent to clear their nest of predators. The party has few choices here. It looks like it's going to be a fight, but the close quarters prevent anything fancy, tactically. There's no room for dodging, so hunker down and fight them off.

Close quarters aren't the most favorable circumstances, but it would seem Shiruba has taken the potential of it occuring into consideration. Once they're far enough from Sher Kar - The Sher Kar they won't become an issue she stops and focuses on the giant ant guards rushing in to pin them down. "Now is not the time to get caught in the ant trap." She pulls a few unusual arrows, these with blunted heads, and nocks one into her bow. Takes aim at the inbound guards, and fires.

Turns out the head is specifically decided to turn the arrow's force into a blunt impact instead of a piercing one. With the speed and power Shiruba's exceptional archery skills can fire them, one arrow hits with enough momentum to actually knock the ant guard over backwards! She fires several more, forcing the creatures to slow down and defend themselves, or get knocked on their whatever ants have in place of asses and be vulnerable to the other attacks.

Yeowang winces as she retreats from the encounter with the Sher Kar, down several HP and looking a bit rough. Her desert robes are torn in a couple places, but she's grim and determined.

Which is a very good thing, because as they continue to move through the tunnrls, it looks like they've encountered a guard chamber /packed/ with ants.

Luckily, close quarters fighting is a thing Yeowang's trained in, and recently. Short punches, it seems, can be delivered at basically full power without the need to haul off, if one plants one's feet and uses their whole body to back up the blow, and the proof is, her first punch sends an ant stumbling back. She's quite deadly in close quarters, and there's no relief for the ants as she works them over hard.

When an ant charges Shenmi, with no apparent way out in a narrow corridor, he swipes his hand with a flourish, and pulls up a wall of rock, a la Stone Wall. This one appears to be thinner, though, because the ant smashes right through, and-

Wait, where's Shenmi gone?

The ant herself looks puzzled, until it gets whacked on the noggin from behind. Aggro drawn, he pulls the ant to close where Shiruba is, before throwing himself to the ground, so that Shiruba's arrow can work their dissuasion 'magic' on this particular ant as well.

This central chamber houses the Queen ant and her workers, as well as grubs and eggs. When the party is spotted, the queen gestures wildly, and the remaining ants swarm the party. This is what the party is here to do, hopefully they have enough mettle to follow through. Fighting is hard in the subterranean chambers, but manipulating Earth directly, or through analysis of the structure of the chamber, may be able to change the balance of this fight deep underground.

They're almost there. But the Queen Ant has realized they're here, and rallying her troops in the final chamber. The three of them don't have the numbers to deal with a massive ant swarm.

So it's time to abuse animal/monster instincts.

Shiruba takes one of the lightning rod arrows from her quiver, nocks it into her longbow and draws back with it. As she does the elemental gems in Thundersnow Howl's arms glow brightly, giving off red-orange sparks that crackle along their lengths and down the bowstring to channel the storm borne energy into the arrow of highly conductive metal. Meanwhile Shiruba takes aim, and fires. The arrow howls through the air.. and thunks into the stone wall next to the Queen. Oh no, she missed!

Or not. THose that know Shiruba will release this is one of her stragetic 'missed shots'. Because the electrical arcs that discharge from the arrow as it hits the wall still threaten the Queen Ant, as well as the clusters of eggs near her. The idea being that the instinct to preserve their brood will kick in and more of the ants will swarm to protect the Queen and eggs, getting electrocuted in the process of doing so without having to be directly fought by their limited number.

Yeowang is ready for a stand up fight against the queen and her workers, but she'd been hammered by the Sher Kar, and is not strong in HP as it is, so she plays this fight much more defensively. She skill punches and kicks pretty hard, but she also concentrates on avoiding the hits that she can, and making an effort even though they don't hurt like a RL injury would.

Luckily, the workers go down in one or two savage strikes from her boots, but the queen is a ferocious and deadly opponent.

Luckily, Yeowang is crafty and can be alternately savage and subtle as the situation requires. Here, she's a much more subtle touch, taking advantage of Shiruba's archery to kite more enemies into its area of effect. Finally, the Queen Ant is felled with a spinning back kick that spray pixels out in a fan.

As he has done for the whole duty, once again, Shenmi takes a position in the back, offering support -- this time in the form of regular blasts of mana into the ground, to cause ripples and sockwaves that destabilizie the ants' movement. It does pay off -- Shiruba's trick works like a charm, and coupling the arrow's deadly attraction with Shenmi's discouraging shocks, the ants are eventually pushed or attracted exactly where they're wanted, and where Yeowang can finish off the queen.

Once all the ants are dealt with, there are enough mandibles for the party to bring back to the Hunter's guild as proof of success (and maybe keep one for themselves...)

"And good riddance!" Driving the ants into retreating farther down their tunnels at least puts them out of the way for the time being. "They will at least stay down until a new Queen matures. Let's grab our proof and get out of here... hopefully without crossing more Sher Kar - The Sher Kar on the way." That is such a silly way of saying it, but Shiruba does so out of respect for the tradition.