Unarmed and outnumbered, Broneslav had no choice but to obey his captors. Well, technically he did, because he was larger than these creatures and stronger, but they had not attacked him, so he would bide his time before deciding if attacking them was necessary. As a merchant's son, he knew that you could not sell things to dead people.
The creatures motioned him to a rope ladder that ascended into the trees. Climbing it, he found himself in a treetop village where more of the strange people awaited him. Many chittered at him in a language he could not understand, but eventually he was brought across the platforms of the treetop village to a grey-haired creature who addressed him in strangely accented Common.
"Who are you and why are you in our domain?" the creature asked.
Broneslav answered truthfully that his curiousity had been piqued by tales of a city to the north and that he was passing through. He declared himself to be peaceful and not hostile to the creatures.
The clan chief, for such it turned out that she was, relaxed as the interrogation progressed. Eventually, she explained that she and her people were Phanaton, a Lawful tribe that lived on the island.
"We are opposed to the Anarea spider-people, who are the personification of Chaos here, because they keep attacking us and sending giant spiders to kill us. A group of these giant spiders, Tarantellas, have been spotted to the west. You are clearly strong and well-armed. Will you help us to be quit them? We can reward you?"
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| Giant Spider token. (c) ProFantasy Software Ltd (Found in Token Treasury 1) |
Broneslav explained that he had seen these Tarantellas just the day before and had avoided them because there seemed no reason to attack them, but he would certainly help the Phanaton. The chittering around him grew louder, and the guards returned his armour and weapons.
"There is little reason to delay," he declared, "If they are still where I saw them or you know where they are now, we should go at once."
He set out accompanied by a half a dozen Phanaton warriors, who glided between the trees ahead of him on flaps of skin that stretched between their hands and feet. The warriors made sure that the young warrior could always see them as their skirmish line advanced and he found it relatively easy to keep up. A couple of hours later, they found the Tarantellas at the same time as the Tarantellas found them. The two foes viewed each across a clearing in the jungle.
Broneslav immediately fired an arrow at the frontmost of the enormous spiders. It was a solid hit, but it took four more arrows from the accompanying Phanaton to take it down. The other two spiders charged, covering the ground between the two groups in giant leaping bounds. Broneslav grabbed up his shield and blocked the attacking spider. One of the Phanaton warriors was not so lucky and died as the other spider bit its head off. This gory death was too much for four of the accompanying warriors, who fled up into the trees. The spiders did not seem to care about their dead companion.
Howling a fearsome warcry, Broneslav hacked right through the spider facing him. Glistening ichor sprayed him and those around him as his follow-through also wounded the other spider. Put off its attack, the spider only injured the next Phanaton warrior that it faced. Alas for that poor warrior, the spider's venom was fierce and deadly. Almost immediately, the warrior started twitching in a hideous semblance of dance. Too Broneslav's dismay, the other remaining warrior quickly followed suit. Although he could feel the call of the twisted dance, our hero was made of sterner stuff and resisted. Gritting his teeth, he turned to face the remaining spider.
A couple of quick blows finished the hideous beast off. Broneslav breathed a sigh of relief and went to the aid of his two afflicted companions. He found there was nothing he could do to stop their dance, but they quickly fell exhausted to the ground. About this time, the remaining warriors returned shamefacedly and the group carried their fallen comrade home.
Back at the village, the Phanaton mourned their fallen comrade, placing his body high in the trees near their home, so that his soul would journey more quickly to the afterlife.
"Thank you, human Broneslav, for your help. You did us a great service today. My warriors could not have taken on three such beasts alone."
The chief presented Broneslav with beautifully carved pendant of dark wood and silver inlay in the form of a Phanaton with jade eyes.
"We have little to offer by way of the wealth that our Elven friends tell us humans crave, but we hope that these will suffice as a reward. When you wear this pendant, all Phanaton will know that you are our friend and will aid you if they can."
Admiring the ornately carved pendant, Broneslav considered his options and decided to broach the subject of trade.
"If you can supply us with good arrow heads and other goods that are not easily made here, we shall trade with you."
Broneslav thanked the chief and they talked quietly as night fell, before a villager showed Broneslav to the guest rooms for non-Phanatons. From this he concluded that others also visited here and perhaps traded too. For the first time in some days, Broneslav had a good night's sleep far above the hunting grounds of the local mosquitoes.
Notes
Phanaton like Elves and are Lawful, so Broneslav had bonuses for dealing with them, both because of his alignment and because of his trait Elf Friend. With a half-decent die roll, he got a very good reaction and so was welcomed. Just as well, because the dice for him to wake up before they sneaked up on him were terrible and they could easily have murdered him in his sleep.
That said, I felt that as a Lawful species, the Phanaton would not execute Broneslav out of hand. There would have to be a trial of some sort first. Good job it did not come to that.
I was somewhat surprised how many "elite" Phanaton warriors fled when I made their morale roll, while the spiders easily passed theirs. Maybe Broneslav should have said something about this to the chief, but he held his tongue. Never badmouth your hosts, I guess.
The trade roll was average. There will be no special deals for Broneslav in the future.
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