<strong>The Wilds of Dra Sirdu - Flee, You Fools!</strong><br/><br/>With Aeryn's flurry of vegetative violence following Reliyian's escape from the vines and the mage's subsequent re-application of her icy herbicide, the the menagerie of bizarre plants had been cleared to a sufficient distance that whatever thrashing remained was well out of reach or simply had so little force behind it as to be ignorable.<br/><br/>That did nothing to deal with the other two threats, however. Despite Eshalu's best efforts, the darting, clawing birds mostly escaped her blade. A good half three or four met messy ends: one split cleanly in two, while others tumbled away thrashing minus a wing or a head. But it was hard to tell exactly how many had actually been slain and how many others still remained, thanks to their chaotic, roiling movement. Thankfully, however, her efforts did buy her a single,<em>Tranquil Moment</em>from the flock, as, startled by the loss of their fellows, they retreated upwards. Apparently too disturbed to actually attack again, they now darted two and fro, occasionally scratching or nipping but mostly keeping away from the elf and her sharp-tipped spear.  They did have the worst possible timing in their distractions, however, making being<em>Troubled by Birds</em>a bit more of a danger than it would be if she had nothing else to worry about.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, the spider's octet of enormous eyes followed Aeryn's quick retreat attentively. Perhaps her earlier valor would have served her better, here, rather than showing fear before a predator. Moving with shocking (if not entirely unsurprising, for a giant land predator that relied on hunting to survive) speed, it clambered the rest of the way down the wall and charged her. Oddly, however, the charge didn't end with its massive mandibles clamping down on her neck and chomping through skin and bone with monstrous force. Instead, it ran right over her like some sort of stampeding herd animal.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button"> In Dra Sirdu, Bug Steps on You</div><div class="spoiler_body">A few more lucky rolls, I fear.<br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>A trampling Create Advantage roll directed towards Aeryn: At 2013-05-20 00:45:24, Fungus Spider (uid: 13420) rolls: 4d3a-3 Result: 7 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=46458). The spider has a Dangerous Bulk Stunt that's basically the mirror of the Heavy Hitter one for Fighting: if it succeeds with Style (as looks dangerously likely here) on a Create Advantage roll, it also deals a single point of stress. Also, the aspect it's aiming to create is <em>Trampled and Entangled</em>, as it both runs over and ensnares Aeryn in its fungus-y underbelly.</li><li>Standard Defense against Eshalu, using Athletics: At 2013-05-20 00:43:31, Flock (uid: 13420) rolls: 4d3a-3 Result: 5 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=46457)</li><li>Create Advantage against Eshalu, using fighting to batter her at inopportune intervals (aiming to create the <em>Troubled by Birds</em> aspect noted above At 2013-05-20 00:47:40, Flock (uid: 13420) rolls: 4d3a-4 Result: 7 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=46459)</li></ul>It is starting to look like this fight might not be winnable, but we'll see how things go in the next round or two. The birds won't try to stop escape, being too undirected and leaderless, but the spider will "defend" against rolls intended to escape. That being said, if all three members desire to flee, then the conflict may transform into a running competition of Athletics skills (with the group rolling together as a team) rather than the more complex conflict of battle.<br/><br/>Edited Note: I'm largely overlooking a little quirk of FATE here in that both ties (in favor of attacker) and success with style (in favor of defender) grant Boosts. So technically, both Aeryn and Reliyian's tied rolls would grant the spider a Boost, while the success with style defending against the plant would grant Reliyian a boost. However, Eshalu's defense would almost inevitably be a success with style against a -1/Poor roll, so I'm assuming that the two boosts on each side of the conflict simply cancel out.<br/><br/>Also, the plants are now a non-issue, as you've passed the 15 stress point to reduce them to +0/Mediocre skill, and thus they're toast. I'm guessing that this was fairly obvious from the post but I wanted to state it explicitly, as well.<br/><br/>Second Edited Note: Unlike the other canceling boosts I mentioned, the <em>Tranquil Moment</em> boost that Eshalu got from the birds tying her attack is usable. Hence my inclusion of it in the body of the text.<br/></div></div>