Passage to Paradise

[Manwhoisthisman]

I call out, "Tom, I think something might be stalking the wagon from over there," while gesturing vaguely to the undergrowth at my right. "Can you hear it?"

[madtinker]

Tom holds his head to one side, listening intently. "You're right. Moving maybe thirty feet away." He crunches the last of his lollipop and spits out the stick.

"Let's go see what's tracking us." He motions for Sam and Petr to take up position at the wagon's side near the jungle, and calls for Gunnison to hold up. At the man's cry the oxen lumber to a halt. Sam nervously readies a crossbow, losing some of his customary bravado.

Tom motions with his spear for you to go right, and he'll go left to circle around the beast and flank him.

[Manwhoisthisman]

Alright, I'll ready my spear and try to keep quiet while keeping pace with Tom (in proper pincer formation of course).

"Move Silently" - (1d20+3)[5]

[madtinker]

You stumble through the undergrowth, quickly losing sight of your companions. As you turn to complete the pincer, you see a man-sized bipedal lizard staring at you. Its scaly skin is bright green with yellow stripes that somehow manage to blend in with the surrounding jungle. It's about 15 feet away.

[Manwhoisthisman]

Does it appear to see me?

[madtinker]

His beady eyes are staring at you, as if he's not sure what to think.

[Manwhoisthisman]

After a stunned pause, I lower the point of my spear to the ground and hold up an empty, open hand, still too stupefied to speak.

[madtinker]

At that moment, Tom completes the pincer movement behind the reptile, drawing in a sharp breath when he sees the two of you. The small sound is enough to break the spell, and the clawfoot springs away into the jungle.

[Manwhoisthisman]

After a moments delay, I begin running after the clawfoot in an attempt to catch up.

[madtinker]

Tom, also surprised at the sudden flight, calls after you, "Tobias, wait, you'll never catch him!"

You plunge into the jungle blindly, having lost sight of the clawfoot very quickly. You can still hear crashing in the undergrowth ahead of you, but its getting further ahead.

[Manwhoisthisman]

After blundering ahead a bit, I realize Tom is right. I slow my pace and turn around. I'll start to speed up some when I think I'm headed in the right direction to get back to the wagon.

[madtinker]

Guided by your own trail through the brush and Tom's calls, you find yourself back where you first saw the clawfoot. Tom glares at you.

"Tobias, I've never seen anyone do that. What possessed you to try?"

[Manwhoisthisman]

Tobias blurts out in a rather exuberant tone, "Have you ever seen one of those before? I mean really looked at them? I think it was... thinking."

[madtinker]

Tom breaks into a wide grin. "And you stared it down, you son of a lich! Not one man in fifty has the guts for that kind of stunt!"

[Manwhoisthisman]

I shrug, "So, what does this mean for the wood chopping expedition? Do you think we'll see more of them out today?"

[madtinker]

Tom turns to go back to the others. "Well, they do often hunt in packs. Hard to say, really. But if he had a pack he wouldn't have turned tail."

He's still shaking his head and laughing to himself. "Stared down a full-grown clawfoot, he he."

[Manwhoisthisman]

I silently nod as I follow along back to the wagon.

[madtinker]

As you emerge from the brush, you hear Tom giving orders. "Alright, we scared him off, let's keep the same marching order. Others may be close by, so stay sharp."

The wagon starts to creak forward, and everyone falls in step.

Take 100 xp.

[Manwhoisthisman]

I resume my place at the right of the wagon, marching along and wondering if the clawfoot is like me, or completely different.

[madtinker]

The wagon creaks on for another half mile or so before Gunnison calls a halt. He points to a large tree with broad saw-edged leaves standing 70 feet tall. It's a dozen or so yards from the edge of the clear-cut.

"We'll take this one. Looks like plenty of ironwood* there."

"Okay Marshall. Sam and Tobias, go check it out."

*Note that this ironwood is not the same as the ironwood created by the ironwood spell.

[Manwhoisthisman]

I'll walk around the tree, looking for anything in the surrounding area, and then try to see if anything is higher up in the tree, walking away from the tree as necessary to get a good view.

"Spot" - (1d20+4)[14]

[madtinker]

There seems to be a large nest near the top of the tree. You see the corner of a large, leathery wing in the shadows of the branches and a woven mass of sticks and leaves.

[Manwhoisthisman]

"Might want to pick a different tree. This one's got a nest up top, and somethin's up there," I say as I point out the nest and add, "Is that a glidewing?"

[madtinker]

Gunnison,Tom,and the others stare in the direction you point.

Sam adds from behind you "I didn't see it at first, but it's there. Has some kind of nest."

"Well Tom, you think you can handle it?"

"Not sure Marshall. Tobias, how many beasties are there?"

[Manwhoisthisman]

"I've only seen the one, but there could be more... We could smoke it out, but we'd need a big fire to get enough smoke up that high and that seems pretty risky."

[madtinker]

"Hhm. We could try that. This green brush will put up smoke aplenty. Got a flint?"

[Manwhoisthisman]

"I have." I say as I sling my pack off my back and begin to rummage through to get my flint and steel and a candle. I'll use the flint and steel to light the candle and then put my candle under a bushel (haha). Or rather, use the candle to try to get the bushel smoking.

[madtinker]

Sam and Georg help gather brush and leaves. When you apply the flame the fire grows weakly at first, but gains heat and sends up billows of smoke. The lack of wind sends the smoke straight up into the tree. Lower leaves start to wilt and shrivel from the heat.

The glidewing finally takes off, screeching and circling the tree.

[Manwhoisthisman]

"And that'd be the risky I mentioned. That glidewing will either fly away after a few minutes or else it has some eggs or hatchlings in the nest and it'll attract the attention of anything around for a couple miles. We'll need to douse the shrub in a few minutes anyway to keep the ironwood from catching as well."

[madtinker]

As the words leave your mouth, two more glidewings answer the screeches of the first. They're headed your way and approaching fast.