[NeoRealm] Chapter 29 - Pigs and Squirrels (Patreon)

Being placed near the docks works fine for our group. It costs them a silver each but a fisherman agrees to drop them off at turtle beach. From there they slip into the forest and out of sight. Not that they assume this will shake their enemies. After all, they don’t have a way to counter any tracking spells.

With that in mind Jason leads them along the half remember path he took way back. This takes them a good distance in before they find their first encounter. Like what Jason ran into last time it is a boar type animal but this one is quite the rarity. The animal looks mostly normal but on its back are a pair of hilariously small butterfly wings. Quite the catch in normal circumstances the Pixy Pig is going to cause a bit of trouble for our group.

It charges right at James the moment it sees him. Jason and Rosha, both ignored, take the chance to scatter to the sides. James however prepares to take it head on. Still a good distance away the Pixy Pig jumps. The wings on its back flap fiercely, speeding up the charge. Knowing this was coming though allowed James to slant his shield under it. When he feels the impact instead of trying to resist, with a quick lean back and pop of the shield the Pixy Pig is tossed over his back.

At this the Pixy Pig stops and drops to the ground. The wings not quite able to provide lift but the magic still providing some control. The Pixy Pig turns back towards James in a huff only to feel a large weight drop on its back. Jason took this time to scamper up a tree and jump onto it. Once there he takes a firm grip on the wings and rips them off. Now having done what he wanted Jason leaps off rolling on the ground a few times.

Losing its wings so suddenly the Pixy Pig is enraged. It would have charged over and trampled him if it wasn’t for a whip wrapped around its hoof. Rosha takes this chance of it not moving to fire a [Piercing Shot] taking it unaware. With the Pixy Pig having focused on Jason she was even able to aim it at the eye. A chime rings out for her like she had set it to do for fatal shots and the Pixy Pig keels over.

The victory screen comes up but they hardly glance at it. While the fight didn’t take more than a minute, noise from it would have reached the beach. In fact the party glimpses a flare spell go up from that direction. Taking this as a sign they continue but this time at an angle to their previous course.

As they run Jason can’t help but feel a shiver of realization. If he had run into one the first time here that would have been the end of him. The wings might not allow flight but a good jump would be completely possible. Soon he is taken out of his thoughts as they once again change directions. This time heading diagonally to the previous direction, This will actually bring them closer to the beach. They just hope that the flare will have concentrated the search elsewhere.

After ten or so minutes and numerous more direction changes they seem to have lost any pursuit. As they take a moment to rest Rosha takes a chance to get her bearings. After surveying the area she turns to the group, “I know where we are in the forest. If we head that way there is a hidden hunters hut. My instructors told me of a few since they knew I would be going into the forest ‘before my time’. They likely meant it as a place to hide from wild animals or spend the night. I think we can at least use it for that last one. Each one has a simple formation to obscure the presence of anyone inside. It will be fine for the night but after that it would need to recharge. All we need is to cover our tracks from here.”

James just looks at his armor, “So you be expecting me to sneak?”

Rosha shakes her head, “Not sneak, cover our tracks. I know part of your kit is snowshoes. Dwarfs tend to live around mountains and deep snow can be a problem for you vertically challenged folk. My research shows no one gets out of a dwarven base without a pair. Snow might be lacking but they will disperse your weight and make it easier for me to erase your tracks.”

James gives her a look before taking out a pair of snowshoes to put on. Jason to the side flashes a toothy smile before asking, “Do you have any special tricks for me?”

Not saying a word she heads over to a nearby tree and snaps off a few branches. After handing them to him she responds with her own smile, “Sweep till it looks natural of course. Luckily we are far enough there isn’t too much ground cover. If you can take care of yourself, I will deal with the dwarf.”

Not taking the bundle Jason walks around her. Rosha tries to stay focused on him but he seems to just end up in her blind spot. After he is back to where he started a simple point at the ground shocks her. Despite having seen Jason walk around her, there aren’t any tracks. Rosha looks up and glares at him. With a shrug he informs her, “I trained irl to be stealthy. Anyone with good skill and they would find my path but I don’t think that is who they sent our way. Likely just a bunch of city folk coming our way.

With a sigh of defeat Rosha heads over to follow behind James. Now with the break done they continue towards the hut. Jason actually takes the lead at this point. Good thing too as halfway there he spots a scurry of squirrels. Normally not a problem except this time they are all using needle-sharp teeth to tear into a wolf corpse. Their research on the forest had mentioned tribes of carnivorous squirrels but normally they stayed closer to the goblins.

After informing the group all they can do is take a wide detour around them. A single one isn’t a problem. However unlike normal squirrels the carnivorous kind are very social. If they killed even one, then the group wouldn’t give up chasing them till they all were dead. As they sneak around the scurry there are a few close moments. A small rustle in the leaves is sometimes all the group has to alert them to a furry presence above. Finally though they make it around.

A short distance later the hut comes into view. Though calling it a hut might be exaggerating. In reality someone probably just found four trees growing in a rectangle and threw some walls up. There isn’t even a ceiling. The group wouldn’t have believed this was the right spot if it wasn’t for the fact they walked past it five times already. Even with Rosha’s exacting directions to find it the place remained hidden. Taking this as a good sign they enter it and bed down for the night. Tomorrow would be a busy day of running and fighting.

Things I wanted to mention but didn’t:

The Carnivorous Squirrels are actually a legacy enemy for me. A handful of years ago I was DMing a D&D3.5 game. The party was on the last watch for the night. The player on watch was a Ranger with a bow and the rolls didn’t show anything attacking so I just explained a scene and threw some random wildlife in. Birds singing and squirrels scampering around, the usual peaceful woodlands. The Ranger decided he wanted squirrel for breakfast and so proceeds to shoot at it. A couple misses later and finally he spikes it to the tree with an arrow. I had all the nearby squirrels chitter a lot and he joked about the squirrels being out for his blood before going to retrieve the corpse. I of course thought it was a wonderful idea to have the squirrels out for his blood. After he climbs the tree what greets him (after a failed spot check) is a handful of squirrels, one of which was chomping down on a dead bird. They proceed to swarm him. Once the rest of the party wakes up it is cleaned up right quick but not before the Ranger was reduced to critical conditions. I actually have a paper map somewhere around with notes on the territory where the Carnivorous Squirrels live.