Andrew was clearly not okay. His face was covered in blood and it sounded like he was breathing through a particularly wet straw. His eyes seemed to glaze over the moment he realized the fight was over, and like a puppet with it's string's cut he collapsed. Kalan arrived just in time to catch him and lower him to the ground. He was mumbling incoherently and Kalan dug into his pack for one of the only two health potions, unstopping it and pouring the contents into his throat. He was surprised to feel the slightest bit of fire mana flare up from within the liquid as he did so. He was approaching fifty percent fire affinity and his ability to sense it was increasing steadily. He winced as Andrew let out a violent cough and a soft moan. Probably a good sign, he could almost see the cuts on Andrew's face healing before his eyes. He turned to look at the one-eyed giant.

"What did they stick him with?" Kalan said, jerking his head at Kent's unconscious form, laid down on his side, breath coming quick and heavy.

"I do not know. Magic, I think. It corrupts the body's mana. It is good you did not feed that potion to him, instead. I do not know how it will affect him." The one eyed giant spoke slowly, gave him a brief nod, then left to join the other giants, who were gathered around a prone one armed giant. Kalan watched for a moment, and was relieved to see it's chest rise, then fall.

Still alive. Everyone's still alive. Kent better not fucking die from this.

"Okay everyone, we need to get the injured out of here and back to the med tent! Anyone not hurt and not helping should comb the area for workable weapons, armor, anything you can find. Dump the nasty stuff outside the gates, we'll melt it down later. Keep an eye out for those obsidian-" Kalan stopped dead in his tracks as one of the giants reached down and gently peeled the armor off of a hobgoblin before opening it's maw wide. It must have noticed the look of shock on Kalan's face because it paused, then set the corpse back down.

"This offends you? Good. It is meant to offend, but not you. We will not do this where you can see, if you wish." The giant said. It's voice was a higher timbre than the others and as it turned to face him he confirmed that it, was in fact a she."

Kalan assured the giants that they were free to do whatever they pleased with the hobgoblin corpses, so long as none of them had to see it. He had absolutely no interest in criticizing the cultural practices of a fourteen foot killing machine capable of punting a Hobgoblin nearly fifty yards. Once that was settled things proceeded smoothly. Most of the ground team was completely untouched. The fight was an explosion of chaos and activity that they nearly missed. Kalan was glad they didn't. He suspected the prone giant and perhaps Andrew himself would be dead if they had been a few seconds slower.

As soon as they made it back to camp Kalan sent the night watch team straight to bed. Unfortunately for the rest, there was still work to be done. Those wolf riders were extremely mobile, clearly their two week response prediction was flawed, just as he thought. They planned on preserving their rations for their migration west, but hunting was an extremely dangerous proposition if there were more of those riders out there. The giants were tending to their wounds, but he would have to pump them for information as soon as they were finished. For now he got what was left of the smithing and inscription team back on track. They could not afford to waste time.

Arges's arm tingled as he carefully peeled the pink fibrous Kalam husk, wrapping it around his palm several times as he did. Then he moved on, taking care to gently transfer his weight from one foot to the next as he did, moving silently between the dense clusters of pink reeds, which towered over him. These plants have always protected his people, their thick trunks stretched up and plumed out into golden brown stalks, nearly indistinguishable from the tall savannah grasses all around them. As he walked he kept a careful eye on the ground below, easily spotting and avoiding the patches of slightly tilled earth that surrounded each cluster of Kalam, despite the dim lighting. Arges did not know how these 'hobgoblins' navigated the Kalam. These were old growth, so perhaps it was as native to this land as the hobgoblins themselves. Arges tipped his head respectfully to a mound of loose soil and pearly bone as he passed, ducking his head and moving with care as he climbed up the stony edge of the Kalam trench into the grassy new growth above. He felt a spike of fear as his head cleared the new growth, and his eye darted upwards reflexively to scan the sky. Nothing.

Perhaps they were safe here. Some beasts are too much for even the gods to move.

Tyler's hand shook as he pressed his chisel to the half finished grenade in front of him, and he took a deep breath to steady his heartbeat. Next time there was a fight, he would be at the front lines. He had to be. Everyone thought he was weak, that he couldn't do it. They all saw him freeze up again. They talked about him, sure, he hadn't caught anyone in the act, but he could see it in their eyes. They were going to leave him behind again, he was going to be alone again. He had to learn to fight. He-

Shit!

He slammed his chisel to the table to brace his shaking hand, head snapping up to look around. No one saw. No one heard. No one cared what the coward did anyway. He took another deep breath, and pressed the chisel to the stone again. He would fight.

Kent gathered his strength, sucked in a breath, and heaved his eyes open. The empty med barn was bathed in golden sunlight. Some kind of long pink corn husk was wrapped around his stomach. He cranked his head to the right with great effort, and saw another man lying in the bed next door, layers of the same husk wrapped around his head. His every joint radiated heat and pain, his stomach scrunched into a tight ball of agony and hunger. The pain kept him awake, but fatigue fought to drag his eyelids closed once again.

[Special conditions met. Catalyst Evolution: Leech, available. Pioneer title will be consumed. ]

Sunlight warmed Andrew's skin and pink light filtered through the pale husk wrapped around his head. The right side of his face ached, but otherwise he felt okay. He could hear distant, familiar voices. They won, again. He remembered Kent, writhing on the ground, black lines crawling under his skin. He raised his hands to his wrapped face and felt around until he found an edge, then began unwinding the long husk. It stuck slightly as he pulled the last of it off of his face, and Andrew could see a line of dried blood flaking off the end of the long fibrous strip. He looked to his left and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Kent laying on the bed next to him, eyes closed, chest rising and falling slowly, apperently in a deep sleep. He reached up to feel at his face, everything seemed to be in order, though, did his nose always have that slight curve to it? He sat up and swung his legs off the bed, rising to his feet with a head splitting yawn.

Show log

[Dire Wolf Level 15 Defeated]

[Additional Experience granted for assisting Allies]

[Profession Experience granted for Allied Weapon use]

[+1 Strength for performing labor that pushes your limits]

[Pain Resistance lvl 3 -> 4]

[Auto Mana Inscription lvl 5 -> 6]

[Rune Mage Level up]

[Runic Artisan Level up]

First priority. New helmets for everyone. I need to take a look at those lance heads too, and talk to the giants, and most importantly, get a drink of fucking water.

Andrew headed out of the barn squinting his eyes at the noonday sun and taking in the camp around him. Tyler and a couple of other inscriptionists were hard at work carving runes into smooth river stones. Carter was holding a half finished helm out for the tailors to inspect in one hand, and Andrew's damaged helm in the other. He could see Bailey standing atop the main building's roof, eyes scanning the horizon. Kalan sat at Andrew's workbench opposite the one-eyed giant who had a familiar pale pink husk wrapped around his armpit and shoulder. Andrew waved to them as he approached.

"Andrew! Good, you're up. You won't believe this, they- I'll let him tell you." Kalan said, jumping up from the stool and taking half a step towards him before settling back to lean on the edge of the workbench.

"It is good to see you awake. Your courage honors us. My name is Arges, and I was sent here by the god Sistus, patron of my people. This world was poisoned many years ago, and all things near the surface died. We were sent to cultivate this new world, and perhaps grow beyond ourselves. They did not mention what became of those who survived, you call them Hobgoblins, and what I saw of them in captivity was dreadful. A great stone city carved from a mountain's peak, and a pit beyond comprehension. Hobgoblins twisted and stretched until they rivaled the size of my mountaintop cousins, wielding obsidian blades of equal size. This place will not protect you for long." Arges' slow cadence boomed through Andrew, and he now saw the urgency inherent in the milling crowd of survivors.

"Uh, how big are your mountaintop cousins?"

The one-eyed giant pondered for a moment before speaking. "If I stood on that house," he pointed at the fourteen foot, two story main building, "I could look a runt in the eye."

"Ah. I see. Yes. How close is this stone city?"

"Far, but this is still too close, they have many smaller. You are right to expect them in two weeks, there will be wolf riders, and many with threads. Perhaps a crowd of their smaller kin. I do not think they will send one of their twisted giants. I did not see many."

"Thank you for sharing this. What do you think we should do?"

"Wait. Draw them into the Kalam, the carnivorous grasses. Run and gather allies. They are too many."

"Yeah that’s pretty much what we were thinking as well. Carnivorous grasses?"

Arges pointed to the strip of pink husk wrapped around his shoulder. "Kalam, they consume those who fall into their roots. Very dangerous. Do not enter the tall grasses without one of my kin to guide you. They are deeper than they appear."

"Right. Okay. Thank you, that sounds like a great plan. Two weeks. Can you take me to the Kalam? I need to think." Andrew said, aching head whirling into action as he started to put a plan together.