18: The Not So Tiny Forest
Joe had made a pattern in the ground using blue sand from one the bags on his belt, he chanted some words that weren't translating from the High Shaman's spell and a path through the air seemed to open up. It was hard to explain, like there was a slight barely noticeable tint to a path leading to forest.
"We should go to the forest single file, once at the forest we go to our default arrangement. try not to touch the sides, if we walk into it it will most likely forcibly eject us back here, or in some other direction towards the boundary, If the worst happens getting to this area will give us a quick emergency exit." And they did just that, getting into the forest was surprisingly easy. But it was strange. It was like each step was making the forest impossibly closer from the distance traveled, the entire journey to it was no more than ten seconds. It certainly didn't look far, but it wasn't that close either.
Once they had entered the forest they moved quietly, they found a small clearing in the forest, the terrain was vast and different than it was on the outside, more rough.
"Tom I think you should get a bird's eye," said Joe, and Tom had put away his bow and started climbing up the tree, in a fashion impossible for a human, his finger dug in the trees. The rest of the cohort waited for his return. After a few minutes he had climbed back down ready to tell everyone what he saw.
"Yeah, the way back is definitely still there, it's almost like the forest wants us to leave, the further towards its center the more dense it gets. There is a bit of a problem though, the trees, they move. Not so much around here, but the deeper we get in the more it will be noticeable then unavoidable. It is surprisingly clear and consistent in the design actually, definitely not natural"
"Are moving trees normal?" said Kurt.
"Not particularly, but not unheard of, usually much slower than what's happening, do you not?
"No."
"Well," said Joe, " that works out for our plan then, we weren't going to attempt to find whatever is at the heart of this?"
"There are some clearing in the woods, they probably move as well, but the center is upwards and there are lines parting that I can only assume to be a stream of some sort, though I couldn't actually see the stream just the resulting tree line, the closest one is that way, water sources are usually the best bet at finding any mounts, so that would be my suggestion."
"We should all keep in mind which direction the border is, but I have no objections to the plan. If there is a stream there we can follow it a bit, see if we see anything. What about you Hank, do you smell anything?"
"There are things here, nothing particularly pungent, nothing is very familiar. Nothing that we'd be interested in, that is, though I haven't encountered many beasts we can ride myself yet, so that isn't unexpected. There is this smell, I can't quite catch it, it has a familiar hint of the temple, but it seems to be everywhere, it might be the result of the border and not a creature at all."
The forest had a rustle to it as they made their path, being quiet was good but since the forest had an ambient noise it meant they didn't have the awkward twig snap creating a deafening break of silence. There were birds chirping as well, it wasn't devoid of life.
At one point Hank had stopped them, and pointed to what looked like a large goat, but it discovered the cohort soon after and ran away. They had eventually progressed to the stream. After going past a turn something finally became fruitful. There was a small pack of 4 large rams, horned animals that looked like they could support any of the goblins. They were taking drinks from the stream.
Hank whispered, "These would be perfect, we can at least confirm coming back would be worth it if we can't get any of these ones, I can identify their smell now as well, there are more of them around. There are other things around as well, I don't know what they are."
"Yes, we are at least successful in that task, we know they are here, it's only a matter of time before we get some of them, even if not today. But we are going to try," said Joe, he was taking off a few select bags from his belt and sash, and handed it to Tom, "use these it should help knock them out, remember we aren't trying to kill them." Tom took the bags from Joe.
The plan was simple, Tom would shoot three of them, and if they could corner them Sara would use her tentacles to hold them down. If she felt there were too many she could go down to two and enforce those one three would be the best case scenario but two or even one would be calls for celebration. Something about the stream made everyone think the ram would avoid crossing it. Joe said they should follow suit as the streams most likely had some connection to the border region, as the waters didn't leave the area. He warned there may be a current of more than just water there.
Hank and Kurt were supposed to jump in and attempt to wound rams enough they stopped putting up a fight, or help hold one down for Sara. With finally Joe coming in to tame them. A wounded leg can heal, a cracked skull not so much, Kurt had adjusted his thinking of the water fist to be less like a solid block of ice hitting you and more like a bag of flour, he still felt like he'd have to hold back. And was confident he would be faster enough if they could get the jump on them to subdue one of them. They didn't need to ride them back, if they hurt a leg they could still walk him back to the Pillar.
The reality was, the third one was most likely going to depend on how effective the powder that Joe had was going to affect them. If they resisted decently enough, the prize was going to be two, if not one. In other words, everyone knew it was really two they were after unless everything went perfectly, which things rarely do. If Kurt could hold one, Hank the other, with support from Sara it would be done.
"We don't need to be greedy especially considering the animal, I wasn't expecting there to be rams, They are usually mountain creatures, there are known recipes for poisons that will knock them out quickly, they will be more effective, so the next time we will be better prepared. I'm not sure how potent the arrows' effects will be on them this time, but it should at least do something. It might be a good idea for you to take one of these as well Sir Kurt."
"Me?"
"Yes, it should mix well with the water fist you have there, if you can make them drink this should help us, don't worry it has to be consumed orally, it's not the same as what I gave Tom, you don't drink your fists normally right? I would avoid moving it around your head, especially around your eyes and mouth while doing so. But against them, I give you another target. It should be as easy as taking some of the sand and stirring it into your fists, you can simply shake it off when you're done."
Joe had essentially created a poison fist for Kurt, a concept that Kurt hadn't even considered. How far could that go? If he had worn good gloves he could have something particularly nasty in future, he could easily ensure it wouldn't make contact with his skin. Kurt had wondered how Joe was going to help at the beginning but now it seemed he was the most important piece of the entire operation. He didn't think the shamans were built for close combat or even hunting, the warriors and scouts seemed more suited. Kurt had a role to play but he was mostly just a bystander in it, maybe that was their role leadership, because they tend to stay back, and not have to focus on single targets and they had a better view of the field.
"Nothing for me?" said Sara.
"I'm sorry my Lady," that still made Sara smile, "Your ability is very strange. I don't have anything I think that would fit it very well unfortunately, if Sir Kurt hadn't a water based ability I don't think I'd have anything for him, that was a happy accident really. I'm excited to see how effective it is. I do however intend to hex us all some extra speed. It won't last long though. I guess I should explain that."
It turned out there was a reason shamans had oversized poles for staff, and kept things on top of them. Joe explains that they should remain close to him because once they would all have to encompass in the cloud for the boost to work, the larger staff allowed this area to be big enough for all of them. If it was lower to the ground the rest of them would have to get on a knee.