Yuki waits a moment to heal herself before giving the signal, but Scourge's words distract her as well, "Whaa, someone is missing?"
If it's all our people, then we're going to have to do this the very hard way.
As you're starting to look around you realize that Sandara, Tilly and Badger are all missing from the ship. Just as you finish determining that, you're thrown off your feet and you hear the worst sound on a sailing ship - splintering wood.
The ship ceases motion and you realize you've run onto a reef. Plugg sends Narwhal down into the hold who comes back up grim faced.
There's coral through the hull alright. That, and the wreck broke the water barrels.
This news makes everyone nervous - fresh water is the one thing you don't want to run out of on the open ocean.
The night ends and when the sun comes up you get a glimpse of the reef you're on - and an island in the distance.
Plugg looks around at the assembled pirates and glowers.
We need water, and we're not going to be going anywhere for a while. He says fuming. Someone will need to be taking water barrels to the island over there to refill some barrels then head back so we can make our rendezvous with Cap'n Harrigan at Port Peril on time.
Fretting over the disappearance of Tilly and Sandara that anxiety turns to morose brooding the next morning at their almost assured loss. As everyone else freaked out about the water, a predicament that didn't really concern Nymph, or the others really given Yuki's weather and water manipulating powers, she sullenly volunteers. "Not like I got anything better to do."
Though the swimming would take her mind off of things.
Upon hearing the sound of coral going through the hull, Galean does a grimace that would bring a seasoned seawolf to hide under the decks. Looking at the navigator's spot, his eyes run red and his hand goes to the hilt of his cutlass and squeezes as hard as possible at the navigator, before letting go. How the F~~&ING hells do you miss a BLOODY REEF, you son of an oread and cave troll incest!?!?!, he thinks, glaring at Plugg, barely managing to contain himself from screaming that out loud.
He swallows, imagining Plugg getting killed slowly by a flight of guppy fish, and says, "I volunteer!"
VOLUNTEER?!
Pluggs spits over the side.
No one asked for volunteers, berryboy. But since you're practically worthless anyway I might as well make use of you - and your friends. Take the lighter and two barrels and head to the island to fill them up. It shouldn't take more than 48 hours to repair the ship so you've got that long to get to the island and get back.
Before the night of the grindylow attack is over, Yuki heals Nymph twice with her healing magic. She uses her last spell to heal herself once more.
* * *
Yuki seems to not be trouble by the news that the water barrels have been damaged, after all she could create all the water they could possibly need. She does not, however, offer her services to the scumbags currently running the ship.
She does look more worried about the hull damage to ship, but assumes that Plugg and Scourge can at least get that right.
Upon hearing the news that she was going to be sent to the island with her companions, she does her best not to appear as pleased as she feels. "Whatever you say Plugg. Whatever you say..."
You're so dead when we get back you mangy bilge-rat, especially if you had anything to do with our missing people.
Ayre steps off the side and floats down to the deck
The cutter drops into the water and you take off towards the island itself.
As you cast off you see a small collection of huts on the beach closest to you, which seems like a likely place to land.
Galean begins lowering the boat and tries to see where the grindylows went after fleeing.
Galean, before you alight on the cutter you look around the deck and realize there are gouges and scrapes along the decks that aren't made by ropes and cordage. It appears that someone or something was dragged over the side of the ship.
Yuki tries to recall any useful legends that might pertain to the current situation.
"They've been dragged below decks by these grindylows or whatever...", says Galean as he guides the boat towards the island. "I don't think that Scourge or the others had anything to do with that. We can hope they're still alive on the island, I guess...", he continues as he navigates the current, keeping an eye out for any more of the creepy things.
"What!?!? Scourge's prettier siblings made off with Sandy and Tilly?! Row faster dammit!" Nymph barks to the others, sorely tempted to just dive into the water and beat the boat there.
One of the common sea stories told to terrify young sailors is about all the things that love to drag sailors away. Grindylows feature prominently in this story - typically they kidnap sailors at night near island lairs to be eaten later.
As you arrive on the shore, you see dilapidated huts on the beach - bamboo and palm fronds making up the majority of the dwellings, with a fire pit and a path leading into a swamp once you disembark. To the east, a rocky outcropping thrusts up from the surrounding area - not a bad place to observe the rest of the island if you want to make the climb, but apparently away from the rest of the island itself, which might delay your journey.
"Well, the good news is our friends might still be alive, but the bad news is they're probably in the clutches of those tentacle freaks." Yuki gives the group a quick run down of the local legends, "It's best that we hurry and find them though, we have a ship to take."
The Oracle takes a long look around once the group is ashore, "How about we investigate the huts first, if there's people here they might be able to help us."
Assuming no objections, she makes her way to the dwellings, trying to stay wary despite the thoughts of vengeance swimming through her head.
The built up relief that Tilly and Sandara might still be alive is washed away once Yuki explains what Grindylows are usually up to. "Yeah, the only one who is allowed to eat Tilly or Sandy is ME, dammit!" she growls as she helps Yuki search the shacks.
Yuki gets distracted by the sight of a green glass bottle buried in the sand farther down the beach. After much work she determines that there is in fact nothing else nearby the bottle, which while intact doesn't have a cork.
The huts don't show any evidence of recent residence, and you don't see any remains of the residents either. The huts themselves that aren't collapsed don't have any furniture or tools; they've been abandoned for a number of years.
percep
Well Gallean, Nymph which way? You are our best trackers I suspect
"Yeah, do you guys see any tracks or anything?" Yuki asks, pulling the bottle out of the sand and tossing it further down the beach while she waits for the others to look for signs of recent activity. "If you don't find anything, I suggest we check out the outcropping to get a better of view of everything. Realistically we don't have to find water, although the water I make disappears after a day if you don't drink it."
"Uh, yeah, just a sec." Nymph replies as she watches Yuki spend an inordinate time concerned over a bottle before searching for any tracks she can find.
"I'm guessing we should look for tentacled tracks, and signs of people being dragged.", says Galean, looking at the empty bottle. Not even a message? Boring bottle. He scurries up along the shore, looking for reasonable tracks for the grindylows.
Your limited examination of the ground doesn't find any recent tracks that aren't yours. Given the dilapidated condition of the huts, and the hundreds if not thousands of islands in the you're not certain if anyone's been on this beach for years.
"Well, searching a swamp doesn't really sound like a fun time and I doubt they'll be good water there, so I still vote for the outcropping." Yuki says with a casual shrug, then adds, "It's great being away from those jerks on board the ship, isn't it?"
Nymph just grunts in agreement at Yuki's attempt to ease the mood. She was glade she was here, and appreciated the gesture but couldn't bring herself to relax while the others were missing.
The fist of rough granite thrusts upwards from the jungle and is fifty feet high.
You find a fine view of the rest of the island and an old signal fire on the atop the summit.
Taking her time moving up the granite slope, once Yuki reaches the top she takes a deep breath and looks around.
Ayre will also take 10
Yuki, on the summit you're able to find some torches and tindertwigs hidden in the underbrush, obviously kept here by someone to light the signal fire.
That view of the island is nice. Not particularly useful, but lovely nonetheless.
Nymph, you notice that Yuki missed a tindertwig.
You also look out and see some extra features on the island. To the southwest you see what look like overgrown fields and on a ridge to the west you see what looks like...a stockade? Apparently the huts and signal fire weren't made by crazed natives or animals, but some sort of survivor of Inner Sea culture.
"Got what looks like a base ovvvveeerrr... there." Nymph says while putting a great deal of emphasis on slowly pointing at the stockade.
Well lets go get it!
Giving Yuki the tindertwig she missed Nymph sets off towards the stockade.
How are you going there?
Galean has to be level 12th to summon one of those.
Which path are you trying to take? Are you going back down to the beach and moving down the path in the swamp? Are you going back to the boat and trying to tack around the island?
Galean draws his cutlass, ready to cut through whatever's in the swamp, and moves in the swamp with a swamping noise around his feet.
As you travel into the swampy area, the pathway slips suddenly into a large green bog. Remnants of an old wooden bridge cross the bog, but only short timber platforms on either side remain, leaving just the pilings jutting from the mud.
The salt river forms a barrier of quicksand and marsh some 70 feet across, unless you want to climb the cliffs at the swamp's western edge (Climb DC 20).
You believe you can climb through the branches in the canopy 20 feet above the mire with a successful DC 20 Climb Check or you could lash a rope to the tree and have people swing across.
Is there something in the quicksand?
"Wanna try swingin?" Nymph suggests while looking back and forth between the trees and the mush.
"Sure, but does anyone have rope? I mean, there's so much on the ship I didn't even think of bringing any."