The Oathtaker Chisel and the Remnant Anastia arrive at the amphibious village of Remalyn where they meet Ato, a Wer who has lost his leg and several of his fingers. Due to an out of season storm the pair is forced to stay the night in the village. In the morning they wake to discover that several of the village's children have been kidnapped by surf stingers, large aquatic insects that had been displaced by the storm. Chisel, Anastia, and Ato all proceed to head out to rescue the children from the surf singer's nest. When confronting the surf stingers they encounter an abnormally large one but manage to defeat it and safely retrieve the children. The trio and children then returns to the village with the materials they harvested from the nest. After a brief celebration Ato and Anastia both wonder what could've caused the surf stinger alpha to grow so big, Anastia then looks through her hunters manual and theorizes that the creature must've eaten a piece of gorgaia, god's blood. After awaking Chisel begins training while Anastia worries about repairing her outfit. The trio then decide to investigate the area where the surf stinger nest was originally tied down. After several hours of swimming, the party encounters a group of kelp orn, a monstrosity which mimics plant life, after a surprisingly difficult fight the party loots the orn and returns to the village.
Tropes
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted, Anastia ends up damaging her armor and scaring herself during the surf stinger battle.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: while the surf stingers are quite larger that most insects (about the size of a small dog) the surf stinger alpha is even larger then them.
- Miles Gloriosus: Anastia tells tall tales about her adventures to the villagers but her fight with the surf stingers leaves much to be desired.
- Planimal: The orn appear to be this
- Playing Possum: The orns have learned to play dead and then attack any prey that dismisses them.
- Human Shield: Anastia tries to use Chisel as a shield when fighting the surf stingers.
- There Was a Door: Chisel decides breaking through the wall surf stinger nest is the best way to get in.
- Watching the Sunset: Chisel catches Ato doing this as the storm comes in and remark on it's beauty.
