Serpent in the Sky|Vara, New Anarlina

[Darastrix]

Zira nodded to both soldiers. "And take care. I can dampen the sound of our moving, but I'd rather there be as little noise as possible on the off-chance that the creature has a mate."

Wouldn't that be perfect? The first one killed with everyone present, then one search team rouses another full-sized monster with everyone scattered about.

[Kender Bard]

The soldiers assured them of their care and once everyone was certain of their roll, they set out.

Though it took longer than anticipated to find the location, even with the guide ("Damn snake must have messed up the landmarks in this area...") the Earth suddenly took on an excited look. "There, there, down a little farther the way we've been going and then off the trail!"

One of the Winds moved outward a bit to get a better look at the rockface and then landed again. "Aye, there's a big hole. Looks like a tunnel."

[Darastrix]

Zira reined in his horse and held up a hand to signal everyone to stop. "Before we get any closer, I want to try to find out whether there's anything inside."

He touched his sign and reached toward the alleged tunnel, searching for the sense of anything similar to the slain serpent's mind.

[Kender Bard]

Sure enough, this was its den--there were three other minds like its own, but fainter than the 'mother' (or father?) Mostly they thought of hunger.

[Darastrix]

"Three more," Zira said, rubbing his forehead. "Their minds are...faint, for lack of a better word; I think they're its young. But there's no other grown creature." They were like cats in that respect, he supposed. "I'll see what the General wants us to do now; as large as the adult was, there's no telling how big these might be."

~Emerald, we've found the den. As far as I can tell, there seem to be three young inside, and they're hungry.~

[Kender Bard]

Have one of the Winds investigate with an emphasis on caution and hauling his ass out there if they see him, Emerald thought. Tell the other men to stay a respectable distance away. If it looks like you and yours can handle it, then exterminate them. If not, wait and we'll rally to you.

[Darastrix]

~Understood.~

Zira looked back at the group. "Is there a Soil-Earth-Wind among us?" he asked. "Or else a Wind with good night vision?"

[Kender Bard]

"I've got good eyes," one of the winged Winds announced. "What do you need me for?"

"Probably to scout," Sain murmured quietly to himself.

Evidently the Wind also had good ears and quick feet. He snapped off a salute and was gone to fly into the tunnel, which was thankfully large enough to accommodate his wing-span.

Sain made a face at the assumptions of the soldier, but the man could be dressed down for just darting off like that later. He made a mental note to remember the face and to tell Emerald. He wouldn't be so hot to be off in the future once she was done with him.

The Wind returned shortly, looking a bit wide-eyed. "Aye, there's little wyrms in there sure enough. About four, I think. Hard to tell, with them all coiled up amongst each other. But if my guess is right they're no bigger than my arm. A good fireball or a few lightning strikes'll probably kill them easily. But m'lord, there was a treasure trove inside! Nuggets the size of my fist of silver!"

[Darastrix]

"Mm. I'm not surprised," Zira said. He hoped, after the serpents were taken care of, that there would be more than just silver nuggets. It would be a boon to Anarlina, of course, and Diokles would likely be thrilled to be sitting on that kind of wealth, but it would be nice to see some old weapons and the like in the mix. "But no sense in worrying about that before the serpents are dealt with."

He turned to look at Sain. "I think it would be best to assume the greater number." Zira wasn't a powerful Mind, and animal minds were strange. He knew he could very well have missed one. "Say you lead the Fires and Storms in and the rest of us follow to pin them down if need be?"

[Kender Bard]

"Sounds like what we're best at," Sain remarked almost cheerfully. "Rally up, men, and let's go in." Once everyone was given their duties, Sain led the way into the tunnel (after an Earth kindly fashioned an easier way in) towards the back. Flickering flames from all the Fires provided illumination to reveal the twisting knot of serpentine creatures in some sort of nest. Sain and the storms made short work of them, though one individual was unlucky enough to be caught by a baby-sized acid globule that was spit out. A Water quickly attended him and the excitement was more or less over.

Sain surveyed the treasure trove and whistled. "That's a lot of silver," he remarked. And it was clear that most of it had come straight out of the walls--the parent serpent had most likely gouged them out with his or her claws. Mixed in were other finds. Bits and pieces of armor (mostly ruined far past any saving from acid spittle) and weapons as Zira had hoped.

[Darastrix]

"Lord Diokles should be pleased with that," Zira commented as he walked over to examine a sword. "I wonder if any of these might have historical significance to Caelium." He supposed the thing to do would be to argue that any such items be returned to Talen'sul or Maelstrom, but damn, it'd be nice to have a piece of legend to keep.