The party had been introduced to the foreman of the lumber mill as they arrived at the place. He gave them all a quick rundown of the happenings as they arrived. Tuman still did not believe that the insects could get to be near as big as what they were saying, but he perhaps would see for himself soon enough.

The allies of the crimson falcons move forward into the tress. Tuman took up a place in the middle of the party, so he could be protected by his ‘allies'.

It was not long before they could hear the insects and one rushed forward towards the group. Big may have been a bit of an understatement as this insect was about the size of the young man. Acting as quickly as he could, Tuman kicked into what he knew.

"Elwyss go," he spoke as his fairy flew out of its protected pocket and into the air. He had it fly around the bee and attempt to shoot it with its bow.
Tuman himself slipped into a light arts trance and lifted his grimoire up in his hands. His voice put power to the words that he read. He could feel the power take ahold of him.

(OOC: Okay, elwyss +3 to attack with her shortbow for 1d2 damage. Using grimoire w/ light arts +1 to hit on ranged touch attack 1d4+4 damage)

There had been a time in his life where he'd been horribly affected by bees and such. Not frightened, per se, so much as disgusted, and a bit unsetttled.

At least, he thought there was. He could never remember.

Still he thought he must have been. The feeling of catharsis brought on by killing such things was very real. And that was just the garden variety, so to speak.

Simon actually smiled in anticipation at how he might feel at the end of this particular job.

Lifting the staff and mururing under his breath he fired.

(((Ranged tough attack with Power Staff of Fire. +2 modifier to hit. 1d6+7 damage.)))

With practiced focus and precision Gelion nocked an arrow, held his breath just long enough to steady the shot, and let fly an arrow from his bow, striking the bee solidly in its chest, the arrow embedding itself into the creature.

The contemplative Simon is next to act, adeptly raising his staff up and uttering the arcane incantations required to produce arcane flames from the otherwise simple implement. A burst of bright red flames shoots across the 15 yard gap between the mage and his target and the crackle and foul smell of burning bee fur couples with the soft thud of the bee's mass falling abruptly to the forest floor.

No sooner than the insect had hit the ground, still smoking, two more bees flew into sight, as if alerted to the presence of the Falcons by some telepathic cry for help from their hive-mate before he fell.

The first of the two new bees zooms toward young Gelion, and managed to land a painful sting to the hume's shoulder, causing the archer to flinch as the burn of venom could be felt, suddenly the young man felt as if his bow had gotten heavier.

Already distressed by the presence of one such bee the ronso ninja wasted no time turning her attention to the second new bee and let the bolt meant for the original bee fly and it struck the creature in the abdomen, tearing through the flesh.

The bee, zipped across the space between itself and the ronso, attempting to sting back at the intruder that had stung it. With practiced grace the ronso sidestepped the stinger and avoided being perforated by the insect.

Tuman and Elwyss sprung into action, not to be showed up by the others. Elwyss took aim with her tiny bow at the bee that had engaged Silvira and managed to fire an arrow through the creature's wing, causing it to stagger mid-air and have to regain its balance. Tuman's incantations were directed toward the bee that had engaged Gelion, knowing the archer would have a hard time engaging a foe at melee range, the power drawn from his tome of arcane knowledge striking the vermin squarely.


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((So to recap: Gelion landed a devastating first shot on our initial bee for 12 damage, allowing the 9 fire damage from Simon's staff to finish the beast off before it had a chance to react. Being a hive mind the newcomers knew which target had caused their hive-mate the most harm and instinctively went for him first, landing a painful sting for 4 damage, and Gelion failed his fort save against the poison and has taken 1 point of Str damage as well. Silvira's gut ripping bolt inflicted 5 damage on the bee she fired on, and Elwyss managed to deal 2 damage to the same bee. Tuman's attack inflicted 5 points of damage to the other bee.))

Initiative is now:
Gelion
Simon
Bee 2
Silvira
Bee 3
Tuman/Elwyss

Simon smiled to himself. That felt just as good as he'd thought it would. Better, even. You just couldn't go after your everyday stinging critters with a power rod.

He'd finally given up on that one.

But here was a target he could be more forceful with. He checked over his new team, then loosed another blast.

(((OOC: Same as before, only aiming at the beastie that stung Gelion. If Gelion manages to kill it first, he will aim at the nearest one instead, with an emphasis on aiding teammates. Ranged tough attack with Power Staff of Fire. +2 modifier to hit. 1d6+7 damage.)))

(((Edit: Should be +4 to hit. I forgot that Red Mages get the Precise Shot feat on ranged touch attacks.)))

Gelion's pleasure at seeing his first shaft bury itself in the giant insect was fleeting. He soon found himself facing two more of the big bugs, and one of them even landed its stinger in him. He felt the venom weaken him and knew this fight was serious. Not that he had ever doubted that, but such realizations take on more significance one something sticks a stinger the size of a spear in your arm.

Gelion quickly moved back a bit. He put a little distance between himself and his antagonist so that he could fire another arrow easily. He also hoped to adjust to a position with a bit of cover from the trees. As he stepped back he fired another arrow at the beast.

It was important that they take them down quickly so they could plan and take up a decent position before more of them arrived, as was sure to happen. No hive had only 3 bees.