As you look around the room, you do find the name of the ship. "The Seeker." You find a log in what you presume to be the captains quarters that mostly speaks of trying to take a quick route around the Eye of Abendego because there are pirates and lawmen waiting on the other side, and there is apparently much bounty on the ship. Inside the chest you find Costume jewlery, forged papers from a loading dock, some wigs, a feathered cloak, matching boots, mirror, and Travis while looking around finds a secret compartment that holds a few diamonds and some odd looking, beautiful rare gems.
There is a pale ruby trilian, that has a slight crack in it.
There is a pink and green sphere that has some cracks in it.
There are 2 flawless Tourmaline spheres.
There are 2 cracked Vermillion Rhomboids, and one cracked Turquoise Sphere.
Vermillion = +1 competence on acro and swim
Turquoise sphere = +1 to ride
Tourmaline = +2 CON for death hit points
Pink and Green = +1 to Cha
Pale Ruby = +1 to stealth
Go ahead and move yourself to a new point and do night time stuff. You don't find anything else interesting throughout the days' travel.
Wren coos over the shiny objects in the safe, squawking like a raven over a pretty shiny.
"Step aside now, let me see these," Wren flutters in, shooing others away so that she might examine in peace.
Cracked Pale Ruby
Pink & Green
Tourmaline*2
Cracked Vermillion Rhombs*2
Cracked Turquoise
Wren also snatches up the feathered cloak from the pile of clothing, intent on seeing what feathers were used in the construction.
They are all magical, none of them seem harmful. You know them to be Ioun stones:
Vermillion = +1 competence on acro and swim
Turquoise sphere = +1 to ride
Tourmaline = +2 added to CON for negative hit points leading up to death.
Pink and Green = +1 to one CHA based skill
Pale Ruby = +1 to stealth
"Hm... May I see these diamonds for a moment?"
Osmillar holds one of the diamonds between himself and the sun, attempting to gauge it's purity and value, as well as the weight.
Of course, Jewelry is only one of his many curiosities.
Wren explains to the group what each pretty rock does, setting one aspin above her own head (toulamine) and offering the rest around.
"Isn't that just neat?" Wren watches the stone twirl around her head.
After a few minutes of watching, she turns to the party.
"Where are we going next?"
Travis looks at the stones... nods to Wren, "Very attractive and I like what these do... does anyone object if I take one of these?" He takes one of the two vermillion gems and tosses it up over his head to see if it, indeed, just spins there rather than falling.
"I too, would like one of the vermillion ones. I think it makes me look quite dashing!" Alphonse says with a grin as he sets the gem spinning around his head.
The diamonds seem to be in good condition, but not great. They are a little scuffed up, and not quite prestine. Still, they are diamonds.
Pulling out the feathered cloak and matching boots...With a giggle she drops them back into the chest.
Wren cackles with glee, taking the set and putting them in her backpack, excitedly chittering.
"Ooh! I shall study these later! Who knows what magics might be unlocked!!"
"Wren, did you cast detect magic on the contents of the box? Do tell us what within the box might have magic upon them, other than those gems of course."
Well, they are worth what someone will pay for it. ;)
You have determined that they are worth in a sellers market around the 300 range. In a buyers market, you can expect less. On an isolated island like this, you can basically trade them for coconuts :)
I don't give exact GP values. They are worth what you sell them for. They *are* valuable, so you will have luck selling this once offshore, or you might find a use for them on shore.
Wren fluffs her feathers.
The first day you find a campsite, and with some of your natural perceptions you find some interesting evidence. You find a campsite that has been lived in, though not recently. It looks to be left in a hurry, and a few things were left. Among these things are a tri corner hat (you recognize it as the Catian's) and a few bright scarves that you witnessed Ieana wearing on the boat. There doesn't seem to be any markings of an attack, though there was a rushed exit.
The next day a few things happen of note, but I want to pause here at this point in case there is anything that you would like to say or do. Give me the all clear when you are ready.
Not expecting you to do anything but react, but I want to give you the opportunity to react appropriately and do what you want to do in "real time."
"Interesting. It looks like there are other people here after all."
He bends down and picks up the tricorne, then puts it on his head.
"What does everyone think? Is it me?" he says, grinning widely.
He then begins looking around the campsite, trying to find anything that might lead him to the campers.
"It seems the captain and Ieana survived the wreck as well... wonder why they set off on their own in such a dangerous place. Well, either way, it seems it's been a bit since they were in this campsite, so they didn't run off because we were coming, but it still looks like they left in a hurry. I wonder what scared them off, if that's what happened... I can't imagine the captain running off without his hat except in an emergency."
He looks up at Alphonse and chuckles. "Well, you don't strike me as the sailing type, but still, the hat suits you well enough... I say keep it. If we run into the captain though, he might want it back. Not that you'd be obligated, considering."
The tracks are easy enough to follow, as they were in a rush. You follow it for a minute or so and it remains constant. It doesn't seem particularly hard to follow for the short time you were heading down, in your tracking experience.
Alphonse shrugs and then happily adjusts the hat to fit better, seeming quite content with his new addition.
"You are a man of impeccable taste, Travis." he says happily.
-------------------------------------
After following the tracks a ways he stops and rocks back on his heels.
Worth following? Probably should ask the others.
He hurries back to the rest of the group.
"The tracks seem easy enough to follow, so I'm pretty sure we could track down the captain and Ieana if we really wanted to. So the question really is...do we want to? I'd like to wring some answers out of them if nothing else, but it's hard to tell exactly how far we might have to go out of our way to find them, and could delay our plans to get off the island by at least a day or two."
Wren wrings her hands as they explore the campsite, worried for what it might mean. Her mind works many possibilities, seeking the best and most logical explanation.
Clearly, this was the work of evil orcs.
Wren, is there any other kind of orc?
Wren, seeing Alfonse's new hat, comes over with her cleaning feather, casting Prestidigitation. He cleans the hat thoroughly, giving no hint of the former owner. She adds a single green feather to the rim, her own gift.
* * *
"The tracks seem easy enough to follow, so I'm pretty sure we could track down the captain and Ieana if we really wanted to. So the question really is...do we want to? ...and could delay our plans to get off the island by at least a day or two."
Wren shakes her head.
"While we would like answers, we need to find our own way on this island. Who knows what else we will find? More ships? More chests? Or more feathers!!? Wren says, clearly very excited about the feathers.
Alphonse stands still at Wren's ministrations, a bit confused at how to react. When she's done however, he takes a look at the hat and smiles again.
"Thank you, Wren! It's lovely."
Travis grins at Wren's work on the hat. "Now it is truly yours, with just the right flourish of a green feather. If we're not careful, our good mistress of magic will have us all wearing feathers by the time we're rescued." He gives Wren a broad wink and a smile of approval.
"Following might delay us or not.. but not following them might mean we may stumble upon them later without warning... I will leave the decision up to the rest of you, I really have no strong opinion either way."
Wren is ready to move on, but not follow the found trail.
You stop and make your temporary camp (Alphonse, need another save) and the next day you are hacking your way into the thick of the jungle, you find a large grove of thorny vines growing on a river bank, presenting a seven-foot-tall wall of green leaves and intimidating six-inch red thorns.
"Doze be da Vipa nettles. Da berries be in da middle of all dat mess of vines and torns."
"We've got to get berries beyond those thorns?" Travis rolls his eyes, sighs...
He approaches the wall of thorny vines and starts picking off thorns to make a passage for himself through the vines. He makes a pile of the thorns off to the side. Once he has a section cleared of thorns, he chops through the harmless vines with his kama. His intent is to open a small passageway into the interior where the berries are so that he can collect them for Jask to use to cure Aerys of her addiction.
Wren helps Travis as best she can, really trying to avoid getting thorned.
"Careful now, Travis. You won't want to get too scratched up...what with all the diseases here. An open wound is an invitation for disease to come fester and turn your blood black," Wren 'helps'.
Travis looks a bit worried by that last comment... then shrugs with a little smile. "Well, we wouldn't want that... I will be very careful."
Alphonse follows behind Travis, widening the path a bit so it will be easier for him to get out.
"Mind the thorns, Travis, they look nasty."
Also, we are going to play this out, but I am going to feed you some extra material, because I have homework up the yin yang and school tonight so I am going to be busy until about 10:30pm PST tonight, and might not have a chance to log in for the rest of the day.
There is a long river that you have discovered in this part of the jungle. It isn't exactly "fresh" water, but it isn't sea water. Os is testing the water at various points up and down to find out what is the best drinking spot. The water will still taste terrible, and will need to be boiled, but this doesn't have the nasty effects of drinking salt, and doesn't need some sort of elaborate filtration, so you think it might do as a good source of water.
You make temporary camp for the night and discuss whether you want to continue exploring or whether you want to make a more permanent camp here that night. Also, late into the night some of you start to grow weary that Os said that he would be back before nightfall, and it is pretty well past nightfall at this point. So you are discussing what should be done about that as well.
We are assuming that Travis didn't die in the Viper Nettles ;) so Aerys is a part of the conversation and feeling MUCH MUCH better and begins to tell you an epic poem of heroism, sadness, and overcoming obstacles at all odds, as the mood has turned quite sour at the thought of your little red headed potion maker all alone out there, somewhere. She calls it her Abendego Cantos. It is beautiful, and as you sit by the fire and take it in, you feel stronger. She speaks with authority, and her words strike to the heart of you. You feel yourself getting stronger inside, and some of these words she has said make a home in you, never to be forgotten. (+1 Will save against Compulsion effects.)
Wren looks on as Travis negotiates the nettles, trying to help out as she can. More than once she tries to point out a spiky or a pointy before it gets Travis...probably causing a few others to find his way into his skin.
Still, she is trying.
* * *
Later at the camp, Wren will try again to engage Jask in discussion about this magic or that magic or Nethys. Mostly she babbles, but sometimes she does listen to what he has to offer.
Diplomacy
* * *
Wren claps happily along with Aerys's song, happy to have good music to listen to...she imagines the song to that of her bird friends, a clever cacophony for her ears only.
She looks over at Alphonse' new hat and remembers she has a new cloak to examine and fix up.
She spends much of the night preening over it, quite content.
Alhonse tries to strike up a conversation with Ishirou and bring him out of his shell, since he doesn't seem to be interacting with the rest of the group much.
When Aerys' song starts up Alphonse sits with a look of utter contentment for a moment as the beautiful music washes over him. He tips his new hat, smiles, and claps loudly when she finishes.
Travis delivers the berries from the well-protected heart of the plant to Jask, then sits down to nurse whatever scratches he might have picked up from the thorns.
Later he goes to Jask and quietly thanks him for his efforts on Aerys' behalf. "You have saved her much suffering with your knowledge and ministrations."
When Aerys, obviously feeling better by evening, recites her epic, he nods his head from time to time in time with the cadence. When she's done he claps softly. "Beautifully told, my dear. Thank you for sharing your talent with us."
He does do his best to keep an eye out to their surroundings during all this to make sure nothing or no one sneaks up on the camp.
Travis was successful, he just got pricked a few times, leading to him feeling quite sick for the rest of the night.
I'm not sure if you want to keep going, or to set up a more permanent camp now that you are next to a permanent source of water, or follow the water down? You are getting pretty close to a water supply shortage. You just mentioned you were looking for a river.
Let me know if you want to set up a more permanent camp, and when you want to spend time to do that. If you want to continue on, you will be able to continue to the rest of your pathway with no disturbances, so I'll want a new plot point.
Wren spends her time at watch perusing her big book of feathers, still unlocking more mysteries. Tonight is different than most nights. Whereas most nights entail rote memorization and careful alignment of the right feather to unlock the right effect, tonight Wren's mind clicks in a different way and she makes discoveries on her own.
From the loud cawcaws of delight, everyone can tell that Wren is quite pleased with herself.
Wren looks to share her discovery with her gnome friend but finds him missing.
"Alfonse? Shilyn? Didn't we have a gnome with us? A colorful one? Or was that an orange goat that was with us for a while?" Wren asks with worry.
"I don't know where Os is. He should've been back hours ago." Alphonse says, puzzled at first, then worried.
"Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have let him go off alone."
Wren scratches her ass, looking out into the jungle for Os.
"I wonder if he's coming back. Seems odd that we let him go out on his own."
"I don't know if he's coming back or not, or if he's even able to come back... but going back to look for him should only be done if we all go... If there's some danger where he went, sending one at a time to look for him would seem counterproductive. Charging off into the night half-cocked doesn't seem wise either. Let's wait til the light of day, and see if he returns. If not, we can decide in the morning how to proceed."
Wren nods at Travis, glancing down at his tail.
"Sure," Wren replies, wringing her hands, clearly worried. "I hate to lose any member of my flock. Poor dearie, out there all alone..." Wren sighs, then goes back to bed.
|
Roused out of her thoughts by Wren's questions, Shilyn looks over at the others. "Well.. last I saw him was when Travis and the others were cutting their way through the thorns. He had wandered off and said somehting about some gathering something nearby."
Taping her finger to her lip a moment, she pauses. [b]"I hope that big lizard thing didn't get him."
Travis pauses a moment as Shilyn brings up the chupacabra, then nods in agreement. I, too, hope he's alright. I'm sure this island holds multiple threats that could be fatal to any one of us alone, and the little one seemed a bit on the frail side. Perhaps come morning, Alphonse could follow his tracks and if he's not back on his own yet."
I hope he just got caught out by nightfall and made his own camp for the night.
Wren fluffs her feathers, sleeps.