Bancroft followed his friends to the swamp barrow. They were fed up with rats, and with four fresh volunteers joining the group, searching the large flooded space seemed more feasible.
We reached the barrow without incident. Tohru did her toad mating call, and Druidly made them fall asleep so we could finish searching the room. Druidly’s dog Mike and Tohru’s duck Kyo were playing outside and attracted attention from a giant scorpion, which killed Mike. Tohru rescued her duck and ran back inside the barrow; the scorpion followed.
Tohru used her amphibian wiles to wake the toad, which faced off against the scorpion. Bancroft and the others took up positions surrounding the toad, hoping it would focus on the hostile threat of the scorpion and not attacking the smaller humans nearby. The scorpion cooperated, grappling the still-drowsy toad in its claws and backing out of the barrow with it, plunging it’s stinger into thew toad’s belly.
The toad’s eyes flew open in outrage at the penetration. Seemingly unaffected by the poison, the toad broke free and leaped back past the group’s defensive line, but Druidly was ready for it and well positioned to put both toads back into slumber together. Whether that was a wise decision remained to be seen, as sleeping toads would be less distracting to the scorpion.
Bancroft stepped forward with his sling and delivered a rock into a vulnerable point in the scorpion’s chitin, which oozed greyish ichor. Furious at losing its meal and the injury, the scorpion advanced back into the barrow. Bruzra claimed the sling and bag of stones from Bancroft to use in ranged attacks while he prepared to defend with sword and shield.
