In the Belly of the Beast

General Summary

After a few hours on the road to Ryn, as the hot sun beat down upon the heroes, they paused for a moment as the earth trembled. What felt like an earthquake was actually the sound of an underground giant bug-like creature, an Ankheg, bursting through the ground.

As the creature emerged, it immediately began attacking the front lines (Peyton, Theta, and Derwin), looking for easy prey and a quick meal. Shortly thereafter, a second creature emerged from behind the party, attacking Lias and Kiara.

The first creature was able to knock Derwin unconscious with its powerful mandibles and started to pull him into the underground tunnels below. Just then, Peyton and Theta delivered the killing blows. Derwin was revived and started running in the underground tunnel to attack the remaining ankheg that was behind the party.

Meanwhile, this ankheg was able to squirt acid on Lias and Kiara and then grab Lias in a death grip. The party rallied to attack the ankheg before it could make off with the body of Lias.

After the fight, the party took some time to try to extract the acid glands from the creatures and any other useful components. They were partially successful before taking a short rest and searching the tunnels for any other ankhegs that might be ready to attack unsuspecting travelers. Theta tried to successfully guide the party but had trouble navigating the twisting and turning tunnels. Eventually, they stumbled upon a large cavern where Peyton, wearing the newly crafted goggles of the night that Lias had recently crafted, was able to see an ankheg up ahead.

As they advanced toward the cavern, the ankheg turned at their sound. Not only was there the one ankheg, but the cavern also had a second one as well as the huge ankheg queen sleeping within the earthen floor. As it emerged, the queen loomed over the other ankhegs in height and breadth. Additionally, from a side room, several, smaller ankheg drones were found. All started moving on the party.

The heroes quickly killed a few of the drones and one of the guards. In retaliation, the queen unleashed a wide spray of acid across the closest heroes, burning several of the heroes' exposed skin. No wounds proved to be fatal thanks to the efforts of Lias and the willpower of Kiara. The heroes began to attack the ankheg queen from a distance, but the queen's quick reflexes allowed her to summon the adjacent guard next to her to block the attack.

Soon the last of the drones were destroyed, and the queen was down to one guard. Needing to save herself and respawn the colony elsewhere, the ankheg skittered down a side tunnel while leaving the remaining guard behind to block her path. Not willing to let the queen escape, the party gave chase. Derwin, Lias, and Kiara attacked the remaining guard (and when necessary, Lias helped heal her party members), while Theta and Peyton chased the queen down the passageway. Unable to escape the party, the queen had no choice to turn and fit using her powerful mandibles and acid spray as much as possible. While being severely hurt, the heroes managed to survive and defeat the queen where she made her truly final stand.

After the fight, the party was able to retrieve some treasure that the ankhegs had accumulated from past victims, including some XYZ. Feeling they had done their part to make this road safe for others the party went back to their horses, topside, and set up camp for the evening.

Rewards Granted

The party found the following treasure interspersed with the dead bodies the ankhegs had previously dragged down for feeding.

Missions/Quests Completed

Eliminated the Ankheg threat on the plains of Solomnia.