The elven boy softly smiles towards Migdalia and adds, "I don't know what is inside but Pitaas, an old elf within the tribe has escaped from a scrab nest…or so he says. We can expect a queen's chamber and a prisoner's chamber. The rest of the lair is made up of food storage, a larvae chamber and chambers for the workers and hunting parties. I would guess that since the nest is new, we can expect no more than ten rooms in all and, like I said, no more than two dozen of the critters. Still we cannot just walk in there…we need some sort of plan, diversion or something like that…"

Koreth looked towards where the scrabs had their nest, paying more attention to the words of the elf than he appeared to. <Now it's time to find out exactly how trustworthy those two kank lovers are.> he thinks somberly to himself <Two battles, and now a third....> He turned, giving Gaigin a glance then a wink to Rayne.

"Crel always taught me that if you face a foe who's numbers are greater than yours, you draw out your foe, separate his forces and crush them in smaller groups that you can handle." Koreth whispers just loud enough for everyone to hear "only a drunk half giant would storm in with two dozen or more of those scrabs down in there. We need a distraction." His eyes turn to the elf female, his glance almost appraising in nature. His piercing gaze almost seems to go right through her in what must be a strange experience for the elf girl. What were his eyes looking for? She could not tell for certain.

"We need to know what you two are going to be able to contribute," he whispers "I'm good for my sword, but probably little else in this matter. We need a distraction, something to draw out some of those warriors and deal with them or at least keep them occupied and out of the nest while we rescue your friend. After that is done, we can finish the job and eliminate the rest of those ugly kank faced bastards when their numbers are much more manageable." He turns his gaze to Gaigin, a grin creeping across his boyishly handsome face. <I'll show that braggart exactly how much damage a blind mekillot can cause!> he thinks to himself as he listens intently to the forming battle plans of the pack <Then perhaps he'll lose some of that bloody arrogance! No kank lover ever fought better than a Tyrian! Pah!>

Rayne had seemed distant and silent since the skirmish with the scrabs and the departure of Chit and Ptellac. Deciding to put her feelings behind her for now and focus on the task at hand, the mul grins at Koreth's words and returns his wink with her usual smirk. "Sounds like a plan, I'd rather be takin' these critters in numbers that'll keep me from springin' leaks. Seem to be doin' that a lot lately." Turning to look at the elves and half-elves of the group and rubs her hand over her swirling tattooed head. "I'd volunteer as a distraction, but it seems to me that these scrabs like elves more than dwarves, which isn't too bad seein' that ye can all run much faster than I can." With a wink the mul falls silent once again with a smile on her facing showing there's no ill intent in her words.

Tak’ nods at Koreths words, "committing ourselves against their bulk would be foolish. We must crush the insects beneath our heel one at a time."

Tak’ drops behind cover after observing the seemingly deserted wasteland, "I would suggest waiting until the hunting party leaves. We wait long enough so they cannot return in time to aid the rest of the nest - and then strike, when their numbers are fewest."

Tak’ thinks a moment, trying to establish a way to make the idea in his head work, "Hornets always swarm wildly when their hive is disturbed. Do we have any way to collapse part of their nest, or those inside an unpleasant surprise? It would both cause a disturbance, and a collapse could possibly allow us a second entranceway…."

"When the scrabs swarm out to investigate - we should have positioned ourselves around the entrance. Thus we should be able to ambush them, committing all of our number, as well as fighting in the open, as
opposed to the cramped tunnels." Tak’ raises his eyes, scanning his companions, looking for comment.

"Afterwards," Tak’ says, slightly unsure about this part, "we cannot plan too far ahead. Once no more scrabs come out - we will be forced to go in and dig them out before the hunting party returns. Hopefully we will have dispatched enough of their number to make our assault successful."

"If Elric shrank himself again," Tak’ says, nodding at the half-elf, "he and I could attempt to sneak in." Tak’ sits back, concern in his eyes. Looking at the elves he adds, "although I am fearful of what we will find in there. I suspect it will require more strength than stealth to rescue your friend."

Elric sips the warm water from his waterskin. "As Tak' has said I could shrink myself again, even go as far as turn myself invisible. However, we are here for more than to just save the elf. If there is a way to use these thing to aid in our ambush then fine but we must not forget our purpose where we must destroy this nest and the defilers inside it." Kneeling to pour a handful of water for his tagster companion, the warlock begins to grin. "I could just walk down there and enhance my voice, call out the scrabs telling them how I killed their hunting party. That should get a couple out here in the open."

Gaigin nods and peers at the hole thoughtfully.

"Aye, Koreth has a good idea. Siege ain't my area, I'm a guard by profession, but seems to me that we should kill as many as possible before we go down that Dragon-cursed hole." Gaigin shrugs off the thought and gestures towards the hole. "O'course, I don't think we should collapse the colony either, not yet. I'm here for Tyr, and clearing the colony is my priority, but it'd be a shame if we dropped a couple hundred tons of earth and sand on the elven girl before we even start out. But then, ambush might be difficult to pull off. If Elric runs down and shouts and runs back up, these dung-beetles'll know something's up. Some cast spells, and others are strong enough in the Unseen Way to over-power an experienced mind-bender like Mendi; these gith-spawn ain't dumb. Likely they'd scout, with magic or psionics, then come at us from unseen entrances or simply burrow through the ground and come at us from all sides." Gaigin smirks and shakes his head, reaching for his water-bottle and unstopping the cork.

"If we're going to lure these buggers out, we gotta think o' them as smart, maybe smarter than us. We need a ruse that would be guaranteed to lure out as many o' the bugs as possible out in the open, in a group, and unwary of ambush. Then we need an ambush set up that'll take down as many as possible, as quick as possible, without being at risk of detection." Gaigin sits back on his haunches and takes a sip of water, then shakes his head ruefully. "Any suggestions?"

Elric's grin fades as he truly begins to concentrate on the attack plan. "Possibly Lirón and Migdalia could go down as they are trying to steal away their friend. They can purposefully bungle the job then flee in haste. The scrab might possibly send out the hunting party to track them down. I could become invisible and sneak down with Tak and wait in ambush. We could strike from behind while the remainder of the group gathered with the fleeing elves to strike from the front."

Koreth nods at the words of his companions, <We might live through this yet.> he thinks, a grin on his face <But what of our two friendly and ever so helpfull elf brats? They have yet to speak, yet it is their friend down there. That worries me....>

"Waiting for a hunting party is a bad idea, these bugs will be out looking for fresh meat, they can probably smell an elf a mile away." he whispers, then thinks <Not that it's very hard, with how often they bathe....> "I say that since they're looking for elf flesh, we bring them some." He holds out his hand, knowing what the reaction of elves in the party will be and hoping to stop their whining before it begins.

"Let me finish," Koreth quickly adds, his hand still out "some of us could pose as slave merchants, who upon hearing of the scrab's need for elves, have brought elf slaves to trade. We get their attention in a way that won't stir them up too much, then we lead them to where we have the elves and...." He smashes his fist into his cupped hand, an infectious grin showing the white of his teeth. <I would enjoy this altogether too much....> he thinks, picturing if the circumstances were different <even if it is only a ruse.>

Lirón listened to the plans being tossed around but none had quite fulfilled his expectations. "I thought you all were a strong party of warriors or so you all looked like" His manner is impatient as if time was running out. "All I have heard so far are plans to cave in the nest killing everyone inside which I even doubt could be done." He nods towards Koreth, "Your city-man wants to pose as merchants dealing with elves but what if the scrabs ask you to leave the merchandize or that they want the elves killed. I am sure that Mendi here would not like to be in that situation. You can't be thinking of us to do that; we are too important for the mission. Migdalia and I cannot partake in your ruse. We must sneak into the cave and save Aitaa."

"I would not like it, but if I have Gaigin's and Koreth's word, I'd trust them with my life. What you point out is right, however... except that I can always shape an escape way with the Way if things go badly."

Migdalia cuts in the elven boy and speaks quietly; the nearness of the scrab nest has upset her quite a bit and she is nervous almost scared of the whole situation that is developing. She gathers her long black dress about her and adds, "I am tryin' to think of what to do but I really can't. All I know is that we haven't come up with something quite useful yet. We must get them out and thin their numbers but the ones in the cave must not know 'bout this otherwise they'll kill Aitaa."

Lirón smiles toward Koreth, "You're in luck since here we don't need to be silent, we need to be quick. I doubt you can be as quick as an elven warrior but we'll have to do with whatever you can muster. I hope you are as good with that sword of yours as you say you are." The blond elven boy continues, "The way I see it is that we must draw as many as we can out and kill them quick. We must then go into the lair in groups, maybe three groups will do. Find and rescue Aitaa and get her out. Once we are out, we can plan how to go about killing the rest of them." Lirón looks solemnly towards Gaigin, "I have pledged my word to you all and I have full intentions of finishing this job. I, Lirón, will become the Bird Runner's Scrab Slayer. There is a fat queen down there somewhere and I want my armor to be made from royal chitin..."

The plan sounded simple but too many things could wrong and there were still a few details to work out...

Mendi looks straight at the elf, "Your plan is a bold one, but as Gaigin pointed, the scrabs can scout with magic and psionics: what do you intend to do in this case? What if they have a secondary entrance that they use to envelop us? What if they are able to burrow their way out of the lair?"

Smiling at the young Lirón's aggressive attitude, Elric steps forward "I understand your need for urgency. However, If we charge into the lair, right into the scrabs strength we could easily be defeated. How would we fair if we charged into the tunnels in mass only to find that they lured us in? A simple web spell such as we have already seen they can cast could isolate or even capture us. The worker scrabs may be unskilled but they are more than likely larger and stronger. How would you like to face that in a confined space? Such brutes could be quickly dealt with out in the open where we can use our agility and speed to our advantage, but in the tunnels the larger scrabs will hold the advantage."

Aryus listens to the discussion, and suddenly an idea comes to his mind. "If we are looking for a diversion, I can summon the winds to create a small dust elemental, which I could send into the hole to attract their
attention. I'm quite sure some of them would go out, and we will probably pin them down with arrows... Aryus took on a somewhat sickened air at the prospect, "some other would probably go out afterwards, but as Gaigin noted, they will probably be able to smell us, or to send magical or mental probes. And, as Mendi noticed, there is still the possibility of a back entrance..."

The young warlock paces, his young tagster companion dogging his heals. As Elric's mind races through the situations the questions pour forth. "Lirón, Migdalia, The two of you know these creatures best. How long do the hunting parties stay out? Will the one we destroyed be missed? If so will they send the second hunting party out in search of it? Can we expect the nest to be set up in a defensive structure this early into construction? How big is the queen? How mobile and what color?". Still pacing the young half-elf continues to mumble and look out over the desert, lost in thought.

The elven boy looks west at the setting sun and sighed heavily, "Aye, you are probably right, going in there will probably get us killed but we must get into the nest if we want to free Aitaa. I don't think we have anything that the scrab want unless we exchange her for another elf or two..."

Migdalia is shaken even at the thought but bravely steps forward, "I could go in if there was a way to fool them or leave quickly but me magic is not suited for that."

Lirón puts his hand on the girl's shoulder, "No, don't even think about it and I won't volunteer myself either for this type of ruse." The boy lowers his head and continues, "We were ambushed near the nest last time by one party and we traveled northwards fleeing from them when we decided to turn around and that was when we found you in dire peril with the hunting party. It was thanks to our skills that we surprised them and were able to defeat them."

The elf's cockiness shows through once again as he continues, "I suspect the other hunting party to be inside, the drones are needing food," Lirón swallows hard, "so I expect the hunters to go out again soon."

The elven sorceress adds, "I still thinks that some sort of commotion will lead 'em out or maybe if they think that there's easy prey for pickin'. Once out we can take care of another huntin' group and then we'd go in."

The elven warrior addresses Elric, "I suppose the other party will be missed but I don't know how long it will take them to do that and send out looking for them. Old Pitaas told us that he was taken to the queen's chambers many times and the bloated-kank faced scrab worked the way on him making him twist and turn in pain and despair. It seems that the whole royal court took great pleasure in seeing elves in pain. The queen was described as being like four times as big as a scrab and Pitaas did not know how she got in or out of the chamber."

The sorceress softly explained, "We was told that she works magic as well but elemental magic rather than defilin'." "Pah, magic or no, she is going to be my armor and we shall all feast on her brains..."

The setting sun cast long shadows as it lost itself beyond the scrublands. The day was cooling off and the stony barrens were being transformed as the night time predators came out of hiding to try and find prey. The companions still debated the plans and the two young elves pressed for a quick decision and action…

Your actions…

OUT OF CHARACTER

HEALTH STATUS

Remember the scale:

Healthy (H) 100% hitpoints remaining

Slightly Wounded (SiW) 75% to 100% hitpoints remaining

Wounded (W) 50% to 75% hitpoints remaining

Seriously Wounded (SeW) 25% to 50% hitpoints remaining

Mortally Wounded (MW) 0% to 25% hitpoints remaining

Gaigin (SiW)

Mendi (SiW)

Rayne (SiW)

Ayrus (H)

Koreth (H)

Tak (SiW)

Elric (H)

Male elf (SiW)

Female elf (H)

GENERAL

First of, HAPPY NEW YEARS to all; I hope you all have had a great holidays.

Sorry for the "dry" turn but no one wrapped actions up as far as a plan is concerned and I didn't want to do that with the NPCs since it is probably important for you to trace your own course of action in this manner. Let's get some more discussion going and please someone set a plan by the end of the turn and I will take you through the first stages of it for next turn.

Questions, comments, and suggestions please.

L8r,

Fabian