Eli woke the party early the next morning, much to their chagrin. It was rare to get a night's sleep in the field that wasn't interrupted for watch duty, and none were excited for it to end. Even Titus, usually one of the first to wake and start the day, lingered in his bedroll for a moment. Eli didn't admit it as he unapologetically roused them for the day, but he had given them an extra fifteen minutes. Autumn prepared a quick but filling breakfast from their provisions, consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage and bread rolls. They were all dressed and ready to move within an hour of waking, with the final order of business being to stash anything worth stealing from the campsite in Iris's bag.
They made their way to the center of base camp, joining the steady flow of adventurers from across camp who were doing the same. The adventurers crowded around a small clearing in front of a large war tent and talked amongst themselves while they waited. Iris spotted a pair of familiar faces in the crowd.
"I'll fucking stab you!" Grell the goblin shouted at another goblin who was dressed in healer's robes.
"Geez, I'm sorry," the other goblin held up his hands and backed away, "I didn't know our families hated each other."
"You're damn right they do! I should--"
"Father," Adan said softly, placing a hand on the much shorter man's shoulder, "I believe that man over there just gave you a dirty look."
"Where?" Grell shouted, glancing around and then storming off in the direction Adan pointed.
Adan smiled apologetically at the other goblin, who nodded in appreciation.
Sometime later, a hush spread over the crowd as the Dreamweaver pushed aside a curtain of her war tent and stepped out into the clearing. Her long black hair was now in tight braids that clung to her head, and she wore a sleeveless white robe beneath a dark metal chest plate with matching bracers on her forearms. After a moment to let the last whispered conversations die, she addressed the crowd.
"Welcome all, your presence is appreciated. I'll make this as quick as I can, I expect you'll maintain your attention in return. We make our first excursion into the Deep Woods at tomorrow's dawn, you should be in your assigned locations and ready to move before the first birds sing. The purpose of our first excursion is to scout for, and ideally locate, the Matriarch's web. It should cover quite a large portion of the woods, so it's only a matter of time until we encounter it. As soon as the web is located, we regroup and return to base camp. Do not enter the web."
She scanned a fierce look over the crowd, "Do not. Enter. The Web. Is that understood?"
A few adventurers mumbled "yes ma'am," followed by many more.
"Good. We're going with a classic trio role structure, scouts, fighters and healers. I trust you all to accurately assign yourself. We need more fighters than scouts, so if you're somewhere in between, consider yourself a fighter."
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She motioned to a man standing behind her. He was of unremarkable stature and shrouded in the shadow of a hood that revealed only a stubbled chin. Both the hood and his cloak bore a pattern of dark green and brown splotches that resembled overlapping paint splatters of various shades. Had it not been for the back drop of the war tent behind him, he would blend in with the forest's foliage at first glance.
"This is Lieutenant Kerrick, scouts please report to him after this briefing for further instructions."
She gestured towards a tall orc woman in a full suit of greenish metal armor. A pole-armed war hammer was resting head down in the mud beside her feet, her hand resting casually atop the hilt.
"Fighters, report to Lieutenant Ash Druga. And Healers, report to Lieutenant Reesh."
Finally, she nodded towards a grizzled, grey-bearded man in drab, dark grey robes. He had a haggard face and tired eyes.
"As you've probably guessed, you won't be spending much of this expedition with your complete party. Multiple members of the same party in the same role may group up so long as their lieutenant sees fit. We understand that party members will naturally gravitate towards each other, and we don't discourage overlap between roles where it occurs, but practicality and mission effectiveness must always come first."
"The basic structure of our first excursion is as follows. Fighters will push into the Deep Woods, moving northeast in a V-formation. Scouts will expand out beyond the formation and frequently report back findings to their assigned leaders. Healers will divide into two groups, the most powerful will remain here at base camp and establish triage and trauma care operations, while the lower levels bring up the rear of the formation to mend minor wounds and facilitate casualty transport back to camp. Further details for each role will be provided by your lieutenants."
She paused, once again panning her gaze over the crowd, "some of you are going to die." She let the words linger in the air for a moment before speaking again, "no one here below Level 45 will survive a direct injury from the Matriarch. If she bites you, you'll consider this a mercy. Her brood will not be so kind to murder you outright, if you're bitten and survive to feel the venom you will suffer nightmares more real than life itself. The only advice I can give in this event is to cling to the truth that nothing you see is real, and pray to whichever gods you venerate."
"Fellow adventurers who have been affected by the venom should be treated as incapacitated for the purposes of the mission, and if circumstances allow they should be subdued or physically restrained and passed on to the healers as living casualties. Some of the affected may become violent and attack their own allies, in this case, I ask that you show the afflicted the same mercy you would desire if and when you are bitten."
She sighed, then clapped her hands, "you are released to your lieutenants. Good luck to you all."
"Sheesh," Autumn said, "does she want us to change our minds and leave?"
"Probably," Eli leaned over and replied, "anyone she just scared away shouldn't be here in the first place."
The party found an open spot away from the stirring crowd to discuss their next steps.
"You and I should definitely report as scouts," Victoria said to Iris, who nodded in agreement.
"Agreed," Eli said, "they'll prefer me as a fighter, by the sound of things, so I'll go with Autumn. Titus?"
Titus wore a concerned, distracted look on his face and took a moment to respond, "I'm a healer before anything else, it would be disrespectful to Lieutenant Reesh and the Dreamweaver if I reported as a fighter without permission. I'll go to him first, with any luck I'll be catching up with you two."
Eli nodded, then glanced around at the distinct groups forming around lieutenants on different edges of the clearing, "let's get moving then."