Kari awoke refreshed. She ate a plain breakfast of dried trial rations, and groomed Hrolf. She went outside the building for an impromptu shower, creating water out of thin air, and cleaning herself with the soap that she had brought along. She concentrated again to dry herself off.
She came back inside and readied her equipment. "I guess we should spend the morning checking out the rest of the settlement. If we're done by noon, I think we could make it back to the ship by nightfall."
She had a look at Fenna's notes and said, "Let's check the provisions building and the tool house first. Some of that stuff could come in handy."
Fenna is very pleased to show her findings to kari when she wakes up the next morning. The map should speed them along some, and the knowledge of another, so far missing, boat seems like a useful clue. She also is sure to tell her about the "plum tree" note.
Fenna's agreeable with Kari's choices for exploration.
"OK Hrolf, it's time for us to get to work," Kari said to the wolf. She made her way over to what was marked as the Provisions Building on Kari's map. She walked around the exterior of the structure, examining it.
This rectangular building is constructed of mud brick walls. The building has a simple door facing east, but unlike all other buildings in the colony, it lacks any windows. A heady smell of dried plants, herbs, and dried meat lingers in the air.
The door lacks a means to bar it from within. Inside, the ground has been dug out to a depth of 3 feet so that the floor is lower than the ground outside. A short flight of steps set with flat stones leads into this darkened area, lit only by any ambient light coming through the door.
Some of the barrels are indeed properly sealed.
Kari said a prayer, causing her brass knuckles to glow. She descended the stairs and had a look around.
Hrolf followed Kari down the steps.
Fenna goes down into the building as well.
"We should be sure to check for the wand listed in the books. We might be able to use it, but it will help to know how accurate the information is."
As the two of you look through the stores, everything seems to be well accounted for and properly stored away. As you both look high and low for signs of the wand, a few insects, cockroaches, scuttle out between the floorboards. More and more, and even more spew out from the cracks, engulfing Kari and Hrolf.
Initiative
Surprise Round
Round 1
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Cockroach Swarm
Kari (5 damage)
Hrolf (1 damage)
Fenna shrieks and runs up the stairs and out the door, batting at anything on her that seems to move.
Round 1
Fenna rushes past Kari and Hrolf and out into the bright daylight.
The roaches continue to swarm over the gnome and her canine companion. Hundreds of tiny bites cover their legs.
Kari (7 damage) <- UP NEXT
Hrolf (7 damage) <- UP NEXT
Round 2
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Cockroach Swarm
Neither Kari nor Hrolf are nauseated by the swarming roaches.
"Hrolf, flee! Kari shouted. She ran up the stairs and away from the building. "What was that you were saying about a swarmsuit, Fen?", she said, panting.
Hrolf fled up the stairs from the biting insects.
"Yeah, it should be in the other building. Also some alchemists fire" Fenna responds miserably. She's already calculated the odds for the suit being sized for a gnome, and they are not good at all.
"I guess we'll need to go get it. Hopefully it's actually there."
The roaches chase you up the stairs, but the rising sun drives them back into the provisions building.
-----
The next building to the south is a mud wall building has a door facing east and one shuttered window. Above the door is a plain wooden sign that reads, “Tool House.”
"I should be able to get rid of the insects with a few water blasts, just so long as I'm not being eaten alive while doing it!" Keri replied. She was quite badly bitten, so she paused a moment to heal herself and Hrolf.
She walked over to the tool house and inspected the door.
The contents of this building are useful but unremarkable. Hanging on the wall from hooks and nails are an assortment of tools, such as hammers, handsaws, hatchets, machetes, trowels, and the like. Various other implements, such as makeshift ladders, barrels of tar, and shovels are stacked or otherwise arrayed about the room. Absent are tools and implements that would pertain to or be exclusively used for blacksmithing.
A wooden box with the words “Emergency Only” carved on the lid sits on a shelf. The box has a simple lock.
"Your skills are needed, Fen!", Kari remarked. She searched around, in case someone had placed the key in a hiding spot nearby.
Fenna shrugs at the box. "That's an actual lock. I really doubt I'm getting that open. This will just have to wait until later. We're supposed to be finding out what happened here, and I really doubt those bugs are between us and an answer. Let's note the infestation and move on."
Upon examination, it seems an easier lock to open than the drawer in the Government House.
Then, after her grumbling, Fenna tries the lock anyway.
As the lock easily opens, Fenna is comforted by the idea that she can only get better at opening locks.
Inside the chest, are three vials, each containing an identical liquid, sitting on a folded garment of heavy material. Wearing something so heavy would certainly be cumbersome, but the swarmsuit appears to be appropriate to protect against the swarm hiding in the Provisions building. As Fenna correctly assumed, the suit is far to large for Kari. The thought of Hrolf wearing the outfit is worth a chuckle.
"Alright, let's get this over with" grouses Fenna as she unfolds the suit and begins to put it on. "Do you have any idea how much I hate bugs?"
"Maybe the vials are the Alchemist's Fire," Kari mused. "If you go in first, Fen, you can draw their attention. I'll follow behind and take some of them out with high pressure water jets."
As they approached the infested building, she said a prayer and touched Fenna's arm.
Slowly leading the descent down the stairs, Fenna is only a few steps into the storeroom before the eager swarm finds her again. Hrolf whines nervously.
Re-Initiative
----
Round 1
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Kari <- UP NEXT
Cockroach Swarm
"Hrolf, stay!, Kari commanded. She moved up behind Fenna, and shot a torrent of water towards the swarm of vermin when they appeared, missing badly.
Fenna does her best to keep some distance between herself and the mass of insects, she doesn't want to catch any of the fire's splash. She throws one of the vials into the swarm.
Kari's stream of water hits the side of the building instead of in through the door and down the stairs.
Fenna goes to throw the flask, but her nervous hands cause the which bounces off a nearby shelf.
Some of the flames fall down on the roaches, damaging them.
The roach swarm Fenna, biting against the suit
The suit protects her from most of the bites, but some do get through (1 damage)
Round 2
Fenna (1 damage) <- UP NEXT
Kari <- UP NEXT
Cockroach Swarm
Fenna turns and runs shrieking from the building again. Outside she dances, stamps, and bats herself until clean of the cockroaches.
Waging war against the infestation, Kari sent another water jet blasting forth.
Again, the cockroaches give chase until the sunlight becomes too much to bear for them. They retreat back into the storehouse.
When she's calmed down, Fenna takes another flask and walks back in.
"This is really just the worst."
Kari readied another water blast. "This is a ridiculous insect plague!", she agreed.
More sure a second time, Fenna bursts the second flask against the floor, decimating a large portion of the swarm. The flames spread over them as Kari's water blast douses the half of the swarm nearer the door. The bugs let out a eerie shriek as the remnants scatter. The swarm is defeated with only minimal damage to the stores.
After shaking off the creepy feelings, a search of the Provisions Building truly takes place. A few sacks show signs of goblin teeth-marks, but a good deal of the provisions remain. In the back on a low shelf, a beautifly wand-box carved with the wand of Goodberry, which still holds 49 charges!
Sadly, the wand is the only source of magic in the Provision Building.
Kari spent a few minutes trying to clean up the mess in the provisions building, making sure that nothing was left soaking in water.
After that was finished, she healed her remaining the insect bites.
"Given the Arcane Mark, I'd like to go and have a look at the plum tree," Kari said to Fenna.
"Ugh, I'm glad that's over."
After poking around in the food storage building Fenna returns the swarmsuit to the tool building, but keeps the last flask of alchemists fire. She also holds on to the goodberry wand. She might be able to figure it out given some time, and she'd prefer it doesn't disappear in the shuffle later on anyway.
"There's an actual plum tree here? I didn't figure the note was that literal. Let's go!"
Moving past the Pavillion tents, you pass between a pair of farms. You easily spot the tree from a distance.
Standing near an evergreen tree is a fruit-bearing tree with spiny branches and reddish-purple, apple-shaped plums. A few plums have fallen to the ground to spoil in the heat and birds have pecked at others. Nevertheless, there are still many fruits still fit to pick and eat.
"The note might have nothing to do with the tree, but I'm curious," Kari said. Once they reached the tree, she looked at the ground around the tree. Maybe something might have been buried nearby?
The tree is completely ordinary and the fruit is safe to eat. It is the only plum tree in the vicinity of the colony, which makes it a worthwhile landmark.
Kari does notice a spot on the ground, next to a fist sized stone, where the earth has been disturbed. You dig a few inches beneath the soil and discover a small, flat, leather pouch like a wallet. An examination of the pouch reveals that the pouch has been buried for a few weeks, but it is not significantly deteriorated. Inside the wallet is a scrap of paper.
There are faint tracks from weeks ago in the road, but nothing significant. Like other tracks in the colony, they seem to be the remnants of the colonists that traveled the colony, and are weeks old.
Kari took out the paper from the wallet and read it. "Fenna, come and have a look at this!", she exclaimed. "There seems to have been a mutiny in the colony!" She handed the note to her partner.
Fenna takes the note from Kari and reads it a couple of times.
"Seems there was something like that, yes. Hm, so Una and Rayland don't seem quite so friendly as I was thinking. This will take some time to digest. I'll need to cross-reference with the signatures on the charter, and see about name mentions in the books. That will be for later though, it will take a while."
"One thing, if they were planning on leaving... the canoe is sunk, and Una mentions the boat being gone. Maybe things changed later, but how'd they get anywhere without transport? Even if they did, there would still be some people here right? No need to leave if everyone wants to leave..."
Kari considered Fenna's words. "That's a good question. Something really strange must have happened.
"I'd be interested in checking out the sunken canoe. I wonder if there could be something to learn there."
"Sure, let's take a look at it now, before we start anything else."
Fenna starts back toward the dock.
A solitary dock extends from the beach into the bay. The construction is solid and looks recent, suitable for tying off a small boat, although no watercraft are visible on the water. The beach inclines to the east before giving way to grass and trees. The eerie silence of the abandoned settlement gives way to the warms sounds of the summer beach.
Off the edge of the dock, you see the sunken canoe spotted yesterday.
Hundreds of feet in the distance, you see the skiff you brought from The Peregrine floating. The rope is still tied, but appears to have been cut.
Kari walked with Fenna to the dock, where she saw their boat floating in the distance. "Well, someone is unfriendly around here!", she declared angrily, her hands on her hips.
"I'm going to perform a divination," she said simply. She sat down on the dock and spent the next 10 minutes watching the local birds flying near the shore,
As you sit on the dock of the bay, you reflect on your lives up to this point. Landing on the ruins of a 10,000 year old civilization, and what this might mean for your future. Your first venture into Talmador's Bounty will certainly be a benchmark for you.
You have both achieved LEVEL 2!!!
While looking down at the canoe from the dock, Fanna asks "What do you think? Should we just give it a look over, or try to bring it up? I'm a decent swimmer, but if you want to bring it up it will probably take both of us. Otherwise I can handle it."