Expedition 24: Netflix and Kill

### Summary

We try and destroy the mantises again. We manage to find the nest on the island,but flee as the massive mantis queen pursues us.

### Detailed Writeup

Our party gathered at the docks of Port Vrall to find passage to the island of Fer-Roc. However, rather than merely rent a vessel Brightstaff had recently purchased one. And so the *Mount Nomad* took its inaugural voyage through the foggy waters and to the craggy isle without incident.

We made our way to the area we’d noted as a likely dumping ground for the nest on our last expedition and set anchor. Brightstaff was, as usual, the first to ascend the cliff up to Fer-Roc proper. No sooner had the monk lowered a rope down then he was attacked by a pair of mantises, one steel, one gold. The rest of the group clamored up the rope to aid him. After a few attacks and emanation of radiant energy, the gold mantis took to the air. Brightstaff leapt after it, severing its head in mid-air and tossing it to Jamie, barely landing back on the island as he descended. The party turned its attention toward the remaining steel mantis. Nexrin who had trouble climbing the cliff face lunged as he reached the top, impaling the beast with his spear and securing another bounty for the party.

Getting our bearing after the battle we attempted to scout for the nest but were unsuccessful. Brightstaff did manage to spot a group of mantis attacking what appeared to be a large rock. Those of us who recalled our first trip to the island remember the rolling boulders we saw unfurl into humanoid shapes. We felt it was our best lead on the nest, and there was a possibility someone was in danger. We made our way toward the fray and were able to begin the engagement from a distance. Brightstaff rushed forward and let out a war-cry drawing the insects closer. As the flew towards us we made out that there were two steel and two red. Recalling the devastating fire attacks from the last red mantis our group spread out to lessen their effectiveness. It was a hard-fought battle, the mantises reflective wings made attacks from range difficult and their claws and elemental attacks decimated our melee fighters. Brightstaff was knocked unconscious and fell to the ground and the swarm pounced. Arha and Jamie fought off the bugs as best they could while trying to help Brightstaff, but as they slew the fiery beasts their explosive death throws tore through our fighters and the steel mantises. Uzmir was able to dissolve the mind of one of the weakened creatures, And Jaime felled the last with his longsword.

The party gathered around the unconscious Brightstaff. The young man lay there, badly wounded and unbreathing. Arha attempted to pour her healing magic into him but to no avail. Just as the group began to lose hope the monk’s eyes shot open and he gasped a long wheezy breath. He arose pallid and trembling, but alive.

With our worst fears abated, Uzmir inspected the rock the insects seemed to be attacking. As he called out to it in Dwarven the boulder slowly unfurled into a being not much taller than himself and caught the attention of the rest of the party. Its guttural speech was unfortunately not recognized by any of them, although Lahont’s knowledge of Stonetongue made rudimentary communication possible. Lahont does his best to ask the creature if he knows where the mantis nest is. The creature leads him up a nearby hill away from the group and points to a burrow dug into the terrain a few hundred feet in the distance. Lahont explains that we’re here to attempt to destroy the nest which visibly excites the stone creature. The creature hands a grapefruit-sized sapphire to Lahont and indicates he has more. Lahont comes back to the group and informs us of the being’s offer as well as the almost three dozen mantises he indicated were inside the nest. With half our number barely standing, we deliberated our next move.

After careful deliberation and examining our resources it was decided that Nexrina and Lahont would scout the burrow. Their first attempt went smoothly until Lahont’s dagger activated at an inconvenient time. With Nexrins’s spell nearly half over they decided to try again, this time with the others distracting the 2 steel mantises near the entrance. Arha climbed to a hill and bellowed at the insects causing them to abandon their posts and our stealthy companions to enter without notice. We attempted to fight the creatures from range but they eventually caught up to Jaime, knocking him out. Brightstaff then pounced from his hiding space and stunned the creatures with his furious fists. Arha was able to revive Jaime. With coordinated attacks against weakened opponents we were able to defeat the bugs with Brightstaff claiming both killing blows.

Meanwhile, Lahont and Nexrin investigated the burrow. As the tunnel widened it surface was covered by cocoons of 3 different sizes. As they inspected them the two heard an intense humming, with Nexrin becoming briefly entranced, but snapping out of it before attacking Lahont for preparing to burn the cocoons. Unfortunately the confrontation was long enough for a blue mantis to emerge from the earth of the tunnel floor and release a newly formed steel mantis. Lahont withdrew his dragon scale boon and unleashed its power hitting both the mantises and setting the burrow ablaze. This drew the attention of the Mantis Queen, an enormous creature 6 times as large as the other mantises we had faced. Lahont ran for the exit , with Nexrin close behind and casting Spike Growth to prevent the beasts from following. The smaller mantises are blocked but the queen takes a different route and burrows straight up to the surface.

Lahont and Nexrin regroup with the others just as the Queen bursts through the top of the hill. The adventurers scramble to make it back to the *Mount Nomad* rather than attempt to fight the giant mantis and her soldiers. Brightstaff attempted to find a shortcut back to where the ship was anchored but got turned around. Jaime used his incredible strength to carry some of the slower members of our group, pushing us forward. Lahont used the daggers that had failed him before to cast Gust of wind to impede our pursuers. Finally Nexrin gathered us around him and used his magic to conceal our passage, leading us to the safety of the ship.

Weary and battered the party made it back to port without any more trouble, with 8 mantis bounties, and a massive sapphire to show for their effort. But with the queen still alive, it was only a matter of time until the nest was restored.