First landing

The wind bites colder up here.

You stand at the edge of the Sky-Pier, a stone platform jutting out from the upper spires of the city. Below you, the world stretches out in a living map—mage-trains humming along glowing tracks, distant airships tracing lines of smoke across the pale sky like a painter’s charcoal. Travel is normal, yes. But never safe.
Especially not today.

You weren’t invited by a noble house. This isn’t a military contract or an arcane expedition backed by gold-stamped writs.
This job is different.

"The Independent" is a ship without allegiance. Not tied to any duke, baron, or high-circle wizard. It flies on crystal, coin, and willpower alone. And today… it’s hiring monster hunters. A chance like no other, a chance you have taken.

Some of the faces beside you are old companions. Others, only faintly familiar—a friend of a friend, perhaps. Yet all of you answered the same call: to sail into the wilds, to harvest magic from beasts the size of towers, and to claim riches—or ruin.

A gull cries. Somewhere behind you, an artificer barks at a malfunctioning luggage porter. The sky tastes like iron and ozone.

And then—a shadow sweeps across the pier.

You look up.

Descending through the clouds, sleek and gliding, comes the ship. The Independent.



She’s about 35 meters from bow to stern, 25 from keel to masthead. Maybe 10 meters wide. Her hull is scarred, but solid. Well-loved. The paint’s peeling a little—but the runes beneath still glow faintly, steady and sure.

The stabilizing arms retract with a hiss. Anchor tethers snap forward and dig into the pier with a practiced thud. The magic holding the ship aloft sparks and flickers like sunlight on water.

Then, something odd.

A smell.

Bacon.

Hot. Crisp. Bacon.
Your stomach growls—unbidden. Someone's cooking belowdecks.

The group makes an odd spectacle and a group of human porters calls out mockingly.
Have you see that freak show?! Calls one of them
What’s this then? A goblin bookworm, a walking fungus, and a tin can with wings?
Careful, don’t breathe too hard—might knock the pixie overboard. Laughs one of the other porters
Hope the beasts in the wilds die laughing—‘cause you lot sure ain’t killing ‘em with steel.

Talin shifted the bag holding his meager belongings as he prepared to board. He gave a quick smile as he spotted some friendly faces, but it shifted back to neutral as soon as the dockhands began yapping. He takes a deep breath before forcing an insincere smile back to his face.

"Perhaps you'll share some of your vast experience with us, then. Tell me, how have you come by such expertise on monster hunting?"

Talin puts some steel in his voice and keeps the forced smile on his face as he stares down the dockhands.

Vethalia raises an eyebrow and watches the proceedings carefully. She is both a woman and a goblin so this kind of treatment was nothing new to her but she thought watching Talin deal with it might be entertaining.

Torrek stands head and shoulders above the others, his heavy plate armor gleaming in the sun as he watches Talin delicately redress these porters' mouths. Without realizing it, he flexes a gauntleted hand... a sharp jab in the mouth was quite capable of changing peoples attitudes. Still, a man in his position couldn't always give in to impulse.

Veth pushes her copper hair back behind an earring covered pointed ear and smirks. "Is this going to take long?" She asks the porters as she nods towards the ship, "I'm really looking forward to examining the engines."

Guesclinbert stands and watches the porters work and jeering, then when they've finished laughing at their joke about "the pixie falling overboard" he flexes the tips of his wing fathers (one casually tickling Vethalia's cheek as he does so) and says quietly "At least if one of us falls overboard, we can simply fly - or be flown - back to the ship. How about you?"

Daedale adjusts the strap across their chest, steadying the satchel of pressed leaves and bound field notes that marks them as a scholar and hunter both. At their hip, a dried gourd rattles faintly with spores, a charm or a threat, depending on who listens.

They turn slightly at the jeering voices, eyes slow to blink, head cocked like a sunflower turning toward a passing cloud.

Daedale speaks low, just loud enough to be heard.

"They laugh, but they wouldn’t know a sky sedge from a marrowvine. They don’t know that float thistle only grows where megafauna have passed, drawn to the magic lee they leave behind. Or that lantern lichen flickers brighter when an apex predator is near. Or that ridgefern only curls like that when the air pressure shifts around something massive."

They gently pat the leather-bound journal at their side.

"The plants will show us where to go. The beasts always leave echoes in the green. You just have to be quiet long enough to listen."

Daedale doesn't turn back to face the jeerers. Their voice drifts out like wind through reeds, even and distant.

Vath swats at Gues' feathers and pokes him in thecribs, *Can you not?* She says with a wiggle of her ears, *It's like being trapped in the back of a wagon with my cousin Raine.*

Each of the fore guys are expecting one of the others to fire back with a retort but as they all fail to do so, and it has now taken too long, they slump off to do some actual work. Like getting the ropes from the ship and securing the ship.

Ohoy lads.. lass When he spots Daedale the middelaged man in the blue hat faulters.
He pulls out a piece of paper and runs through a list calling out names.
Talin!
Vethlia!
Gues...Gueslinbert!
Falka!
Daedale!
Torrek!
He checks his list as you respond.
Are you all here?
He steps to the gangplank revealing his peg-leg.

Torrek will look around for this Falka individual, and make a mental note when they respond to roll call. "All present and accounted for, Sir. Permission to come aboard, Captain?" It was a moment where those mind-numbingly boring lessons in etiquette Torrek had suffered through in his younger days actually mattered. He doesn't so much as set foot on the gangplank until given permission, and he will ensure his friends don't either.

"Haven't seen them, Sir, now or, to my knowledge, ever. Talin Windborne, at your service."

"Vethalia Pixeldust." Veth says with a tip of an imaginary hat. "Pleasure."

Mr Windborne, Miss Pixeldust, welcome aboard. The captain begines but then there is a noice
A sharp clang rings out from the hull—followed by a low grunt, the rattle of cookware, and a muttered, Ach, bluidy ropes…
Then up she comes.

Stocky as a brew barrel and twice as solid, the dwarf lass hauls herself over the rail like a storm on short legs. Her fiery braid’s tied back with a stained scrap of tartan, and her apron looks like it’s seen more battles than some of the Shieldsworn.

She plants herself square in the center of the deck, hands on hips, cleaver hanging at her side like a holy relic.

Right then! she bellows, loud as a kettle drum.
Name’s Brona. I’ll be yer cook, an’ dinnae ye forget it!

She gives the crew a once-over, one thick brow cocked.
Ye hunt it, I’ll skin it, boil it, batter it, fry it, or stuff it in a pie ye’ll dream aboot fer weeks. I cook tae keep yer bones movin’ an’ yer bellies singin’. Ye’ll eat proper—or I’ll feed ye by force.

Her eyes narrow at one of the sailors still snickering.

An’ if any o’ ye tall twigs fancy yer funnies—just ken this: I dinnae need a ladder tae knock yer teeth in. I’ve got a skillet wi’ yer name on it.

Then she grins wide, wipes her hands on her apron, and calls: Now! Who’s hungry, ye pack o’ wild-eyed beast pokers? Bacons ready!

In a minute Cook! The captain calls. When I'm done with them, I'll send them down in the gally
He looks over his papers. We are docked for the day. If Falka is not here by first light, then we will leave without them.

"I like her." Vethalia says quietly with a grin as she elbows Guesclinbert in the ribs.

"When should I tell her I don't eat meat?" Guesclinbert whispers back. "Also, your elbows are getting bonier." He rubs his side a little, huffily fluffing up his feathers.

"Hopefully her meals include produce and breads," Torrek says quietly. "I have no issue taking your meats in exchange for my other foods. I eat more than most people anyway, so I should have yoo covered my friend. We -- hopefully -- needn't concern her with such trivialities."

"You are going to be one very hungry goblin by the time this is over I think." Vethalia says with a raised eyebrow.

"Also, you're the one who's boney."

Talin smiles at the goblins as he heads up the plank onboard the airship. Once onboard, he looks for the First Mate or whoever seems to be in charge of the sailors to ask where he will be bunking and where to stow his gear.

Daedale steps aboard, boots tapping lightly against the worn deck wood. The spores at his hip rattle with each movement, as if sensing the stir of something vast beneath them. He takes a long moment to study the others already aboard, his gaze unreadable, like moss watching a river flow.

What an adventure to be had, he thinks, fingers brushing the edge of his satchel.

The scent of crisped meat lingers in the air, grounding him. But necessity tugs harder than hunger. He approaches with quiet intent, tone respectful but dry.

"Captain. If Falka has gone missing, would you have us find this Falka for you?"

Vath nods, "Yeah, if you need us to look for him," she scrunches her face, "do you know what he looks like?"

Daedale clicks their teeth softly, a sound not unlike a puffball splitting in the sun. They nod once to the captain, expression unreadable beneath the folds of their hood. As they turn, their shoulders give a slow ripple, the spores at their hip releasing a faint, herbal scent into the air. They move with the quiet certainty of creeping mycelium, making their way to the stern to store their satchel and gear. Once their things are settled, they drift toward the galley, drawn by the warm pull of cooking oil and char.

"Aye, Captain," Torrek replies before heading to the stern with the others, his stride measured as his boots strike the deck. There is an aire of self-assuredness to the Knight's conduct... an aire that lends itself to his companions as well, encouraging them to be just as confident.

Talin stows his limited posessions and stakes out a bunk for himself, top if they're stacked and one is available. Then he joins those who seek out Brona and what smells like a tasty meal.

"Seems like a sturdy vessel with a lean crew. Let's hope it's lean because the last lot got rich and moved on."

Vethalia grins and claps her hands, "Yay! Flying ship cabin."

Taking her locker in hand the diminutive goblin woman heads to her cabin so she can decorate and settle in.

After eating, Talin takes a wander of the ship to commit it's shapes to memory. He studies the play of light and shadow and notes where any equipment, including weapons, are stored.

After the meal, Daedale meanders back through the ship’s creaking halls with no real stealth, just a kind of slow inevitability, like moss reclaiming stone. They stop near Vethanlia’s bunk , hovering without shame. Not so much intruding as… settling. They kneel beside a crate, flipping open their journal with a practiced flick, the scratch of ink still drying from earlier notes.

"Veth. When you work magic, do you feel it pull from inside you, or do you think it’s answering something already in the world? Like pollen drifting toward a bloom. Do you will it or witness it?"

They don’t blink, waiting, clearly expecting her to answer like this is the most natural conversation to have at the edge of someone’s bed.

"The magics of the Aether are all around us," Athaziel replies to Daedale, "most cannot see or interact with the forces of the Aether. I can reach, out pull on those strings, channel the energies of the universe through thing."

The goblins eyes sparkle as she speaks clearly excited at the topic as she pulls a card labeled "The Sun" from her sleeve and it begins to glow with power.

Daedale watches the glowing card with quiet fascination, their eyes narrowing the way one studies a sprouting seedling after weeks of patient waiting. They shift slightly, adjusting their journal, then speak in a tone that is both soft and assured.

"That’s lovely. Yours sounds like weaving stars into thread."They turn the pen in their fingers, thoughtful. "Mine is more like tending a garden. I don’t pull or shape so much as listen. Nudge. I make space for the right things to grow, and clear the rot before it spreads. Magic doesn’t always answer me, but sometimes it remembers."

They smile faintly, not quite at Vethalia, more at the idea itself.

Daedale and Vethalia notice a shift in the background magic as The Independent lifts off. As a discrete background note, that changes tone.


Talin explores the ship and finds that a lart part of the ship is devoted to the engine room and the elements that makes it fly (blue). Taking the captains warning about the Mechs domain, Talin havent looked beyond the small window in the door. The crew quarters and gally is housed in the rear of the ship (green)
Then there is a large cargo space, with an opening ramp in the rear, and the option to open the floor to hoist cargo or creatures up. (pink)
Above deck is the bridge (red) is the bridge where the captain is captaining the ship

Once they depart, Torrek will walk the ship and learn the layout, as well as introduce himself to anyone he hasn't met. He will assist if he can, and otherwise he is content to sit quietly and enjoy the view.

A wide goblin grin spreads across Vethalia's face. "I love this place!"

"Do you know anything about it's weaknesses? It seems like metal weapons might be less than ideal against it so how will magic fare against it?" Talin asks a little more rapidly than he intends.
"And do you know it it can sense metal?"

Vethalia frowns looking at the creature, "A big bag of metal filings might be useful." She looks at the captain, "Can we circle the ruins before we touch down just to get the lay of the land?"

"Do we know anything about the ruins? Who built them and how long have they been abandoned? We might be able to find useful resources on the ground, but I wouldn't count on it."

Torrek looks over his standard gear. "I might just be a liability at this rate," he observes.

"I suppose the first question is if the magnetism is automatic, or if it has to enact it somehow."

"Will the Indepentent just going to drop us off and take off or will she wait?" Vethalia asks.

"When we set down, I'm thinking we should head for one of the taller towers, so we can get a better view. If I were going alone, I'd go with the covered one since it will have the shadows I need for a quick exit if the creature is closer than comfort."

Talin smiles at Torrek, "Take cheer, if I am understanding correctly, it can both attract AND repel metal so it must not be constant. I don't know that I would take comfort from that, but it is an interesting conundrum."

"I agree." Vathalia says with a nod, "The tower will give us an advantage in theory."

"With two of us able to fly, we could take a scouting role, see if we can locate it, see where it's heading, etc. and see if we can learn anything else about it. The tower seems like a good base for the rest, and a defensive position if we need to fall back.

Daedale adjusts the strap on their satchel, eyes fixed on the ruins below.

"If you’re flying over, watch what you’re carrying. Metal is not just swords and armor. It is buckles, clasps, maybe even parts of your boots. That thing pulls hard. Might rip something out of place before you know it."

They tap their temple. "Leave what you can behind. Travel soft."

The Flyers
The flyers, Guesclinbert the Raven and Talin Windborne, jump off the Independent and glide in towards the ruined cityThe Walkers
The walkers, Vethalia Pixeldust, Daedale Digitatum and Torrek Frostwarden, climbs down the rope ladder and starts to walk towards the large tower. They are about 500 meters from their goal, and as they walk they hear a rustling in the bushes!
Its a goat. The goat keeps a vary eye on you as you walk past, and as you hear other rustling, you deduce that there are more than one goat eating their fill in there.

You arrive at the base of the tower, the entrance of the tall tower, is blocked by rubble, most likely from the upper floors collapsing down to ground level.

"Perhaps we go up then?" Torrek will begin navigating the rubble, using the pile as makeshift stairs for his ascent.

Vathalia, not a tracking type looks about to see if she can see any sign of the great magnet headed monster. Large tracks, large area of trampled grass, a great ugly beast with swords attached to it's head.

"Be careful, Talin. If you see it, no sudden exclamations that might attract its attention, just fly over to me and point it out. I'll do the same if I spot it. And no getting too close. We don;t know the range of its powers."

Guesclinbert soars above the ruins, scanning for any signs of the beast, or sounds that might suggest it is moving, snoring, eating, or whatever.

The Flyers
Guesclinbert spots the beast inside a ruined building, how ever it does see him aswell and gives a roar of warning. Its blue metalic in color, about 5 meters long, and estimated to be about 3 meter tall over the shoulders.It walks on 4 legs and has a strong neck and tail. At its head is a bone ridge bowl where several swords, daggers and axes lies securely.

As Guesclinbert swings away from the ruined building, the beast lay down again, to continue its restThe walkers
You all hear the roar, and see Guesclinbert change flight. You have a good idea of where the beast is. You do however also also hear something near you, kind of like a buzzing sound responding to the roar.

Looking at Veth, Daedale smiles and says

This way my friend as they point to some plants flowering ahead

you see the Crythanistus Floradium when trampled flowers and seeds. What a wonderful sefense mechanism

Talin flies lower than Gus, trying to keep track of the ground party at the same time as the monster. When Gus sees it and reacts, Talin turns with him.

"Well, that's going to be hard to kill. I think we may need to use a trap or something."

"That buzzing does not sound good." Vath says to Daedale and Torrek, "Probably some scavenger hoping for an east meal."

She nods towards the roar, "I don't imagine I present much of a meal for anything out here, bite sized snack at best."

Daedale sees multiple tracks of a very large animal that have been wandering around in the ruins. There is a clear path to the old smithy and by the flatten grass they know that the beast have been moving in a western direction You all gather outside a ruin of what seemed to be a barrack. The beast is inside the courtyard

Talin keeps his voice low. "Ok, it's not hard to find the creature and it leaves big tracks if it moves. We need to find a way to get it where we want it if we want to have any advantage in taking it down. Did anyone see a pit or something? I'm also curious about the thing in the tower. If it responded but didn't come out it may not be a friend of the creature and maybe we can work it. I can scout the tower from the top if we want."

"If it is in the courtyard it is somewhat penned in, only one way out." Vathalia whispers looking at the ruins. "The side area to the southeast would give us some cover for our ranged group we could get it's attention while the two of you attack it from above and Terrok attacks from behind."

"We should trap the entrance to the southwest, make it regret retreating should it decide to."

"I'm inclined to learn more about it, see if we can figure out a weakness or something, before we attack it. I don't know if we can set a trap big enough for it right outside it's current resting place without it noticing. If we can figure out it's pattern and where it is likely to move when it gets hungry we could set a trap there. And I still want to know what's in the tower, since it's clearly not empty. I can get out quickly if it's dangerous."

"What about a deadfall, or a giant swinging log with spikes or a large pit with spikes?" Vathalia grins, "My uncle Ratchet could set half a camp with two large boxes and four pounds of black powder."

"Boom." She adds with an exploding hands motion.

"Those sound like excellent traps if you an set them where the creature will go. We're still not setting them up right outside where it is now without it noticing, so we have to make a trained guess where it will go."

Talin points around the ruin. "Whatever we're going to use, we'll need to find it here, too."

"I haven't heard any objections, so I'm going to fly up to the upper part of the tower. I'll shadow back here if there's trouble."

"We won't need to predict its movements if we can control its movements. Once a trap is set, one of us can attempt to lead it," Torrek suggests. "Or drive it, although that seems less likely."

If we need bait for this creature I can do that, my beastform is specifically good for this

Vethalia begins to rummage about her bag before fishing out an iron wrapped bottle with a wick before diggng though her bag some more.

"Ok, you all figure out the traps, I'm going up to the tower."

Talin quietly lifts off and flies up to the top of the tower. There, he peers into the window without unduly exposing himself to whatever is inside.

The barraks
Vethalia starts to take out 3 Molotov cocktails wrapped in chains

The tower
Talin is perched on a windowsill 4 meters from the ground. There are a few other open windows, but they only seem to emphasise the gloom of the tower.
There is a lot of debris on the ground, and there are still some shelves on the walls here and there. Other places, there are groups of darker, indistinct splotches, each the size of an apple. Here and there, wooden beams cross the tower interior that seem to have survived the upper floor collapse.

Talin alights gently on the sill and remains still, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He watches carefully to see if anything moves or makes a sound in the recesses of the rubble.

The tower

Guesclinbert follows Talin up to the top of the tower, a smile for Veth as he takes off and shoots into the air. "If we're lucky, it'll be something that will want to fight out critter for us," he whispers to Talin as he catches up.

Vethalia mves to set up in the long room attached to the barracks, she hands Terrok and Daedale a bomb each. "Aim for his head and hopefully the chains will do the rest."

Daedale gets close to the ground and touches nearby moss and vegetation communing with the flora around them.

The plants around us know a lot about what happens here

The walkers by the barracks
Daedale communes with the plants and is truly puzzled by his impressions.
They are winning against the taimers, they are wild and free. The taimers ordered rocks are slowly falling, and nature is prevailing. Nature's warrior is searching the taimers' ordered caves for thorns against the taimers. When the warrior eats, the flyers come and eat with the warrior.
What is left feeds the earth.The flyers at the tower

The flyers at the tower

The flyers in the tower

"Let's get down to the others and report. This makes things a little more complicated."

Talin quietly drops away from the window and glides down to the others.

Talin lands next to the group on the ground. He quietly informs them of what was seen.

"The tower is full of mosquitos the size of" He holds up a clenched fist, "a bit bigger than this. They seem to be staying out of the sun, but if they're aroused for food, maybe that won't be the case. I think they were agitated by the creature's roar and might come if they hear fighting."

It does look like it may be difficult and limiting fighting may be needed. I suppose leading it out of the ruins and into the open may be best in that instance. What if I do that, when I communed with the plants earlier I believe the plants were telling me these mosquitos work like scavengers to the creatures meals. But the creature is looking for something in the ruins potentially to our detriment, maybe if we lead it out now away from the mosquitos we will be more successful.

"I just had a thought. Your fire pot idea was great until I remembered that we need the head and that seems to be where it attracts metal. We need to damage the body mostly. I don't think we can risk the prize we're being paid to get. Maybe we should look through the ruins to see if we can find what it might be searching for and set our trap there?"

The words used was "Thorns". Maybe looking for metal...swords, spears and the like

"Like the metal weapons stuck to it's head?"

"That makes sense." Vethalia says with a nod to Daedale, "The vermin will likely arrive soon after we engage the creature so we need to be aware of them. The gateway is the obvious exit so we need to be ready to cut off its escape should it decide to bolt."

She points at the archway, "Perhaps Terrok and Daedale should be over that way."

Exactly, it is trying to fortify itself. Maybe even...that could be our bait. If it wants more weapons...why not give is some or at least make it think it will get some?

The plants view this as some type of Guardian of Nature and I believe it would be hostile to us and if it does become hostile I believe the mosquitos will shortly follow. We need to either get it in a place the mosquitos can't follow or do this quick enough they don't have time to catch us.

I do not believe they are hunters themselves but scavengers and if the beast is felled, they will not be a threat

"I think it is best if we catch it by surprise, either by luring it with food or 'thorns' or figuring out it's hunting pattern. If we can lay a trap we can prevent it from bolting. I have rope and if we have enough sense of where it's going we might be able to set a snare, which should be faster and quieter than digging a pit. At least a pit capable of holding that thing."

"Will your rope hold it? It is no small beast," Torrek asks. "What about weakening a wall, and using the rope as a tripwire? If we can collapse a stone wall on the beast it should harm it, might trap it, and won't give it more weapons to use against us."

The knight glances back to the tower, pondering the flying pests. "If they are truly scavengers, they will feed on the beast as soon as the rest of us. Leaving it injured and trapped then falling back in hopes they do the rest... might be viable?"

"If the mosquitoes are after blood, then even wounding it might help. Just try not to get wounded ourselves."

"Always a worthy goal," Torrek chuckles.

"Without it trying to go over a wall or through a window, we know where it will pass through. The archway would be the spot to weaken, if that's what we settle on. I am willing to lure it forward... I know my armor puts me at a disadvantage, but outside of attempts to break the walls down by force I feel the rest of you are more suited to laying and controlling the trap."

"I can help lure it too, from the sky, and keep an eye out for anything untoward that occurs from that vantage point," Guesclinbert says, nodding as Torrek lays out the plan.

"The old barracks isn't that big and the exit has little to shelter it from inside. I am not sure we can rig the wall to fall on it without it noticing. At some point it will likely go to the goats to feed, maybe we should look for the easiest path between them. Or we can look at the old smithy if it's looking for 'thorns.' I'm less concerned about our ability to set a trap than about attracting the things attention before we set the trap."

As you are looking for way to bring down a wall on top of the beast, it lumbers off into what properly used to be a farmhouse.

"I'm inclined to at least look at the smithy before we just jump the thing. I think it might be the best place to set a trap for it, if it's searching for 'thorns'. Maybe we just secure some of them so if it pulls them in it gets stuck in place."

"OK, so we try to get it trapped in the smithy, possibly by going in there ourselves to search for things it might like, and as soon as we have it in a location, we attack, using the bombs and whatever else we can, and hope that if the mozzies come, we've wounded it enough that they attack it rather than us. Sound like we have everything we need to do?"

I am just concerned we are losing time. The beast appears to be moving and, I fear, will leave these ruins and whatever advantage we have will be gone but if we seek to set a trap lets do that.

"When it goes into the smithy I say we use that as our opportunity." Vathalia says, "Hopefully it's not strong enough to start lobbing anvils at us."

"Sounds like the start of a plan."

Talin heads quietly towards the smithy.

"Are we sure the smithy is wise? That's like cornering a foe in their own armory. If it wants weapons, and can push and pull metal items, trapping it in a place with potentially more things to be used as ammunition against us doesn't seem prudent."

"We don't know what's in the smithy yet. It might be wise or not, but until we check it out we don't know. I suspect there will be opportunities there which is why I want to check it out.

"Let's check the smithy now then."

You make your way carefully over to the old smithy. It have seen better days, but is in much better condition that all the other buildings. Vethalia notices some protection runes carved in the woodwork and she guesses that they are the reason why the building is not as decayed as the others.
There is a work-shed where tools and stock could have been crept. The tools and equipment are littered with rust, but the anvil is pristine. It looks heavy. A quick examination reveals this also caries the rune.

Examining the shed reveals metal bars covered in rust on the floor, and in the ceiling, more giant mosquitoes have found shelter from the sun.

"Can the magic of the runes be used to more effectively trap the creature?"

Torrek will let the others scout the smithy while he keeps tabs on the target of their expedition.

Vethalia makes a face as she thinks about this she examines the runes carefully to see if she can figure them out.

Smithy
Vethalia first doesn’t recognize the runes, until she realizes that they are crude, sloppy versions of preservation runes. They steer vermin toward better meals, and rot has a hard time taking hold. She has a much better and cleaner version of these runes protecting her spellbook.Farmhouse
Torrek sees the beast clawing the ground, and pulls a kitchen knife to its head of blades. He is not close enough to feel and inpact on his armor or gear.

I am curious about the anvil...not for anything special but I do imagine a flying anvil at the creatures head might be a bit hazardous to its health

"I think we should do this before it gets in here and has access to all this material." Vethalia says.

The Farmhouse
Torrek sees the beast pull a kitchen knife to its head, but the rusted piece of half a meter away chain hardly moves. It must be able to direct its magnetic pull. Then it turns it head, and makes eye contact.
And roars at Torrek! It have found a solid dinner.The smithy
You all hear a roar from the farmhouse that you resently vacated. You also notice a buzzing from the shed. The mosquitoes are getting ready for a meal.

Torrek will take off towards the smithy, hoping the others are ready to try and trap the beast. The fight is happening, whether they're ready or not.

Guesclinbert flies over the forge as the others check it out, keeping an eye out for the creature, mosquitoes from the tower, or Torrek.

Well that isn't good. I am going to go find Torrek. Daedale then shifts form into a goat much like the ones around the compound then going to sprint out to where we left Torrek last.

Vethalia snaps her fingers creating a small flame which she uses to ignite her bomb. A card flickers into existence between her fingers showing a flayed, disembodied hand. Glowing fingers wrap around the bomb and rush it into the shed smashing it on a beam spraying flaming liquid everywhere.

No point in mucking about hopefully the fire will trap them on the inside and ignite their wings.

Guesclinbert can see how the beast is chasing Torrek, and Daedale the goat is running to intercept.
The beast however is gaining on Torrek Vethalia launches her monotowl cocktail into the sheed. The fire causes panic in the sheed, and it forces the mosquitoes to leave their shelter and attack those who harmed them

I really hope they have something planned at the smithy!

The mosquitos swarm but their stickers prove ineffective against her gambeson.

Daedale running through the ruins they see Torrek in the distance being chased by the beast. Daedale whips up a ruined wall to higher ground speeding along aiming to get above Torrek and run along the ruined tops of the old buildings. Leaping from ledge to ledge and ruined wall to ruined wall.

Torrek, friend. The others should be in the smithy, though nothing is ready yet, it may be best for us to rendezvous with them before engaging as a team.

"Let's clear the area so we're just dealing with the beast when they get it here."

Talin spins his blade towards one of the mosquito swarms around Vethalia, letting it fly through the bugs (hopefully through the bugs) before returning to his hand.

The ruins
Torrek manage to get a good distance away from the beast, and Daedale distracts it, for just long enough for Torrek to give it the final slip. Torrek and the beast is separated by just one ruined wall, and the beast is searching - but can't find him at the moment. The Smithy
Talin throw his blade into the swarm and several more bugs falls the the ground. But they swarm him

Talin steps next to Vethalia to reduce attack vectors and whirls his blade around himself to protect from the swarm.

Another card glowing hot with magical energies flickers into existence between Vethalia's fingers as a burst of flames shoot out of her extended fingertips towards the swarm.