Lamsfel has nothing to offer on that decision, so he waits for the others to decide.
I thought we had decided to check out the cave marked "death". Granted, it would make sense to travel to whichever one is closest, or has the easiest path to traverse.
As far as geography goes, Brinestump Marsh covers an area shaped very roughly like a 3/4 circle, the sweep of a clock's hands from 12 to 9. (The northwestern quadrant instead contains Sog's Bay.) The Licktoad village is very near the center of the circle, and if the map's notations are accurate, the two spots marked "Kaijitsu" are a short distance northwest and a somewhat longer distance west-northwest, both very close to the shore of the bay, while the spot marked "Death" is at the extreme southwestern edge of the marsh, where the steep cliffs mark the marsh's edge.
Sandpoint is northeast; going back up the route you followed to reach the Licktoads, though, would take you east-northeast back across the swamp to the Lost Coast Road. (The turn-off that lead into the bay would be at about 2 o'clock on the imaginary clock face.)
"Shouldn't we be checking out the Kaijitsu spots first if they are that much closer? Ameiko might be interested in whatever we find there."
While the other discuss the options, the elf retrieves and examines the chief's gear, expecting it to be better than average quality.
"Let's head for the nearest 'Kaijutsu' spot," Callomeleth says as he breaks his fast on some dried fruit and nuts. "It might be nothing, but it might also give us insight into the 'death' area." After armoring up, he also begins searching the village for anything worth salvaging.
Callomeleth finds the usual array of shoddily-made tools and accoutrements of village life that one would expect in a goblin village, with nothing of real value anywhere. Indeed, he can't help wincing a bit at what Shelyn would make of the sheer lack of craftsmanship on display for most of what he finds.
With the loot gathered and the wounds of the previous day healed, the group sets out again into the marsh, headed for the closer of the two "Kaijitsu" spots on the map. The journey is fairly short - guided by the map, even having to essentially cut cross-country to reach the spot only means the trip takes about half an hour. It is immediately obvious when you have arrived at the appropriate location.
Although not actually on the coast, you are close enough to hear the low roar of the waves just a few hundred yards distant when you step out of the trees into a clearing, a little over a hundred yards across centered on a stagnant marchy pool. In the center of the pool is the burnt-out shell of a ship.
It was a sizable craft, once, two-masted and built in the Chelish style. Obviously beached here during some decades-past storm, the intervening time has not treated the vessel well. At some point, the vessel's timbers, damp as they are, apparently caught fire, and much of the ship burned. What remains is mostly upright, but tilted toward the stern at a precarious-looking angle, with the prow almost entirely out of the water. In faded but still readable Tien characters, the ship's name glitters on the prow.
Although the vessel's current state seems to leave little hope that anything of value or interest remains onboard, there is a rotting, half-submerged gangplank leading into the water.
Lamsfel collects the chief's smaller version of Tybus' sword and the sheathe, threading it onto his belt next to the blade on his left hip. When Tybus looks at him quizzically, he just grins and shrugs.
The Kaijitsu Star--this is the right place. We should proceed with caution, Gan says, drawing his wand and speaking the command word. An intangible field surrounds him, and he nods to the others.
Ready?
Tristan checks the gangway for signs of recent passage, and scans the surroundings for anything interesting.
Mechanics:
Lamsfel readies his bow and waits for the ranger to share what he's found.
Callomeleth has his bow out as well, covering Tristan as he searches the area.
"Goblins" Tristan snorts. "Nothing recent though. Do you mind if I take point?"
Unless anyone has a better idea Tristan draws his sword and gingerly crosses the plank.
Lamsfel shakes his head, watching as the ranger moves forward. He'll follow. "Better keep to one on the bridge at a time, I suspect."
Tybus appraises the remains of the vessel with his sailor's eye.
If he spots anything of note, he'll relay what he observed -- rotted planks, deadfalls, any kind of danger. Furthermore, can he identify the locations where anything of value might remain, and have survived the years.?
Tybus sees little to suggest anything of value would be left - the ship's hold is open to the marsh water, and has likely been flooded for decades, while the captain's cabin is half-buried in the mud. The wood above the waterline will probably hold weight, but it rests on rotted beams that might give way if too much stress is put on them.
Tristan, however, is able to reach the deck without suffering any indignities beyond getting his boots and trousers wet as he slogs over to the gangplank. He sees little of interest at first, but then a long, sinuous shape looms up out of the water where the deck is submerged. It is a swamp python, and it doesn't seem to appreciate Tristan's intrusion into its domain.
Initiative:
Cursing that he stashed his bow, Tristan gingerly steps off the gangplank (moving 5 feet towards the snake) and readies an attack to strike the snake as it approaches.
Mechanics:
The snake edges warily closer to Tristan as he perches precariously on the ship's deck. It raises its head, hissing menacingly, seeming unsure about what to do with this interloper in its domain - but it pushes the matter further than the ranger is willing to risk, and he swings out his blade. The snake's head is cleaved cleanly from its body, and the two pieces fall, almost gracefully, to the sodden planks.
With the snake dead, no further threats appear, but it is quite easy to determine that Tybus' initial impressions were correct: there is nothing here of value anymore. Whatever treasures the Kaijitsu Star might have brought with her to Brinestump Marsh, she has not kept them safely with her after her demise.
"Well done, warrior. So... Is the other one a ship, too? How do we reach it?"
Tybus whistles in approval at Tristan's swordplay. Then, turning to Lamsfel, It be a good bet the other spot be a ship.
He thinks for a minute, playing out a scenario in his head. A convoy of ships, struck by a storm, separated and beached far inland -- to the point they're not ever returning to the sea. The crew and passengers, looking for some shelter in a salty marsh.
Tybus gingerly climbs as high as prudence allows and looks in all the directions the crew could have headed. Thinking of the cave marked "death" on the map, would that seem to be the most likely direction they would have headed? Toward the ridges and out of the swamp?
It's over before Callomeleth can even think about firing a shot. He shrugs as the snake is cut down, and assists in searching the derelict. After it comes up empty, he walks back down. "Bit of a waste of time. Might as well be onto the next one. Hopefully, the worst we'll have to deal with is snakes."
Climbing down, Tybus agrees with Callomeleth. The other one, if it be a ship, could have had survivors that would have moved toward the ridgeline. Where the cave be. Let's check it out. There might be clues to what waits for us in the cave.
"Makes sense. I'll watch our backs." Lamsfel will keep his bow readied.
The trip to the other point on the map marked "Kaijitsu" takes a bit longer than the first leg of the journey did - it is most of an hour before you reach the spot. During that time, a slow drizzle begins to fall, and while the light rain doesn't threaten your safety or do more than dampen the outer layer of your clothes, it does make it easier to imagine the plight of those long-ago travelers aboard the Kaijitsu Star and her presumed sister ship: lost, alone and savaged by wind and rain. The rain transforms the world into a wispy gray dome all around you, and even the sharp cliffs to the south fade into a misty obscurity in the cloudy, late-morning light.
As a result, it is with unexpected suddenness that you find yourselves approaching the second location on the map. At first glance, you see nothing of interest, but a second look reveals what you first took to be the moss-covered branches of some grasping tree are in fact the ancient ribs of a ship, half-turned over in the mud. As badly damaged as the Kaijitsu Star was, this ship is in far worse shape, only barely recognizable as a ship at all. It was larger than the Star, in both length and beam, but it seems to have survived the storm that brought it here far less than did its fellow.
Tybus looks upon the remains reverently, mournfully. It be a shame, it is, he says, to no one in particular. Ships have lives, ye know. They be born, launched into the sea as a babe, full of promise. Throughtout her life, she be a mother to her crew, carrying them, keeping them safe, as best she can, but the sea be full o' danger, and sometimes she can't keep that promise. Ships die. Some have long lives, some don't live through their first year. But they all die, just like the men they carry. Sometimes they take them with, sometimes they leave them behind. A man never forgets his ship, like a long, lost love.
He moves around the wreckage, looking for the nameplate. If he's able to find it, he's ready to move on.
Lamsfel keeps a lookout while Tybus (and whoever) investigates.
Callomeleth listens as Tybus mourns for the loss of the ship. "Sailing is in your blood, Tybus, I can hear the sorrow with every word you speak. I admit I cannot feel the loss of these ships as keenly as you, but I am moved by the desperation the men crewing them must have felt. If we can find out what happened here, what caused them to be deposited in a swamp so far from Tian Xia, and what happened their crew, perhaps their souls will sleep in Pharasma's realm forever more."
He pokes around the wreckage as well. He hopes he might uncover something that might have survived, a logbook or some such, but figures the elements have likely taken any written record into the muck.
If it's necessary,