"I'll stay up here on lookout!" Hikari called from the bridge as Siri went below to investigate. She was sweating a little from struggling against the muddy trail, but had kept up a brave face with no complaint thus far.<br/><br/>There wasn't a goblin ambush, thankfully, as the changeling approached the carcass, wading through the knee-deep water below the bridge. The closer she got to it, the more she could feel a faint remnant of an evil aura surrounding the dead deer, like a cold prickling of the skin, probably left by whatever had killed it. That probably explained why it hadn't been stripped clean by scavengers already...<br/><br/>Siri reached the carcass without incident and was about to brush aside the reeds for a better look when she spotted something lurking behind the green stalks. A slimy, fleshy parasite ballooned to monstrous proportions until it could rival a large dog in size, the giant leech undulated in the muck, its maw clamped to the side of the dead deer. Its brown-green colouring blended well with its surroundings, making it look like a ripple in the water or a patch of swaying reeds. Apparently it wasn't driven away by the unnatural aura around the carass as the lesser scavengers had apparently been.<br/><br/>The bloodsucking oversized worm had sensed the changeling's approach and, preferring fresh blood to dead, was lying in wait until she got close enough for it to ambush and latch on to feed on her. What it didn't know, though, was that Siri had spotted it, which gave her the jump on it... the druidess's lore also gave her an edge. She knew that it would try to bite her with its maw, which would allow it to latch on and start draining her of blood. A normal-sized leech wouldn't be life-threatening, but one this size definitely would. Like snails and slugs, it was also particularly susceptible to direct contact with salt.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Giant leech, medium sized creature<br/>AC 11, touch AC 11<br/>HP 19<br/><br/>Starting adjacent to giant leech, Siri acts first (but the giant leech is not flat-footed and is aware of her).<br/></div></div>