"Okay, Lark. You seem to be our instrument of golem destruction, so I'm going to support you as well as I can."
And with that, Lee performs a withdraw maneuver.
Lee moves SE, E, E, NW, N, N, W.
The golem attempts to strike Lee as he flees around the column.
But the newly summoned shield deflects the creature's blow.
Thren adopts a more defensive stance as stabs at the creature with her rapier, channelling her own magic into the strike. She chips the creature's thigh, but the magically-toughened glass doesn't give as much as it might have. All the while she continues to sing.
The golem's crystalline structure begins showing some cracks again. It turns its attention back to the one that has dealt it the most damage, flailing down upon Lark with two glass limbs.
It slams into the young pirate captain, leaving his extremities extraordinarily bloodied.
"OK, that's starting to sting!" Blood flies from Lark's arms as he stabs out with both weapons.
Blood lands in Lark's eye and both strikes miss their target as he blinks to clear his vision.
"I know this is unlikely to help, but..." Sandara loads her crossbow and fires.
With a well-aimed shot, Sandara actually manages to chip a little glass off the golem's face.
Top of Round #4
"Egads. I'm aflame."
"Rar! Fire bad!"
Lee will try to cast Invisibility on Lark again.
Lark is deadly and unseen again.
Thren stabs at the glassy golem again and takes another small chunk out of it, singing all the while. She continues to play the fight from a defensive vantage.
Thren gains a +3 dodge bonus to her AC for the round.
Attack modifiers:
+1 to hit: Weapon Focus (rapier) (untyped)
+1 to hit: enhancement bonus of rapier
+2 to hit: flanking bonus (untyped)
+3 to hit: Inspire courage (Competence)
-4 penalty: Fighting defensively
Damage modifiers:
+1 damage: enhancement bonus of rapier
+1 damage: Strength modifier
+3 damage: Inspire courage (competence)
+2 damage: Arcane strike (untyped)
-5 damage: enemy DR
That dang Lark keeps disappearing and so the golem attacks the next nearest threat doing damage to him, Threnody.
Despite Threnody's best efforts to maintain a defensive stance, the large creature is able to get past her guard and cut deeply into her.
Lark bleeds.
"I know I could hurt this thing if I could just land a hit!"
Seeing Lark and Thren bleeding badly again, Sandara sends another flood of healing through the area, and reloads her crossbow.
Keeping up her defense, Thren manages to nick the golem.
Round 5
Lee, still blazing away, tries to hide Lark with an Invisibility spell again.
Spell is lost.
"I may need to consider extinguishing myself next round. Being on fire is becoming tedious."
Lee is still on fire. He can stop drop and roll or come up with a sufficient source of water to extinguish himself, or hope someone else does.
With everyone staying nice and close, the golem swings down at Threnody again.
It hits with a sickening squlrsh, and Threnody falls unconscious, bleeding.
"Thren! Guys, are you sure you can take this m~+%#+&%&%&+?" Quinn calls out.
"Aye, time to raise anchor. Quinn, can you drag Thren away from this thing?"
"Better I try to heal her first so she can move on her own, than make us both targets. Do what you need to. I don't like the idea of running, but... well, for starters, this is the last time I'm going to be able to do this today."
Quinn sends another surge of positive energy through the area.
Muffin steps forward carefully, sniffing at Threnody's unconscious form. Knowing the party is in danger, Muffin licks Threnody's hand to prod her. As he does so, his eyes glow purple.
Bracing himself to dodge as needed Lark moves away from the golem and around the pillar.
"Ok, now can you try and move Thren? I'll keep it distracted!
Round 6
Interesting...
"Erhmahgherd! That feels so much better!"
Lee 5' steps SE.
Lee casts Invisibility on himself.
"Hey, Glassy Buddy! Is that a ship heading for some rocks out there?"
Round 6
Muffin withdraws.
Thren continues to resemble a doormat and naps on the floor.
The golem looks out the window, and emits a deep and low horn-like sound.
Then it aims for Lark, who is holding a defensive post while Lee retreats invisibly.
It cuts into Lark once but, being proactive about dodging, it fails to strike him a second time.
"I hate running away," Quinn laments, but it looks like she is preparing to drag Threnody away from harm.
"I can tell you from personal experience, running beats dying!"
Lark keeps his defensive stance and prepares to move backward after Quinn.
Sandara grabs Thren by the arms and starts carefully dragging her backwards. She only accidentally bangs Thren's head on the steps once. Maybe twice. "No, no, not the horns!" She laments.
While they have managed to put some nasty cracks in the glass golem's body, they have taken enough damage from the thing that they decide to retreat. Moving carefully and ensuring Thren can be pulled to safety, they fall back down the stairway. Sandara pulls out a scroll and revives Thren with its magic.
The golem does not pursue. As Lee noted, the creatures are "programmed" for simple tasks, and it was apparently assigned specifically to that room. You can see the light emanating from the top of the staircase as its head spins around.
"Aw man, those mirrors would have been worth, like a thousand gold intact," Quinn laments as she looks up the staircase. She looks at the group. "Well the good news is it doesn't seem to be following us, and that's the only room in the area I don't think was cleared out. But the bad news is, it's still up there. I don't think it regenerates, so, you could probably go back later. And if you want to get that lighthouse going, it's going to need to be handled."
Lee's all for having a functioning lighthouse. Maybe a door to keep curiois peoplike out? At least until things are sorted? Wh knows, maybe someone would buy a functioning golem?
Thren sits up after being revived. "Why do I feel like I was dropped on my head?" She sees Sandara. "I keep waking up with you over me for all the wrong reasons Sandara!" She teases. "But thanks for putting me back on my feet."
"We're going to have to deal with that pile of glass at some point. Just not right now. Maybe after Lark spends a few days sparring to remember how to fight." Thren teases her captain.
Sandara just raises an eyebrow. "Keep making 'jokes' like that and I'll let you bleed next time." She offers Thren a hand up regardless. "Still, you keep getting hurt like that perhaps I'd best keep an eye on you. You three keep getting lost without me." She chews on her lip, as she begins to mull something over.
She looks back up the steps. "I don't think you need the golem to make the lighthouse work. From all these ridiculous statues all over the place, I just get the sense that the ancient cyclops that built this place just went for ostentatious. I wonder if the continual flame on the golem's head will stick around if you destroy it. That's all you need... that and four new mirrors. I'd bet Doc Imogene could figure out how to install them. I'm glad you recruited her--she's a genius when it comes to engineering. I can heal folks but we'd've been s*$~ out of luck if I had to fix the ship."
"Okay, bad taste, bad joke, I apologize." Thren holds up her hands in mock surrender. "But thanks for helping to pull my tail out of the fire." She grimaces as she realizes how that could be interpreted. "You know what I mean!" She adds before Sandara can score another verbal hit.
"I'm no engineer either. But no matter what we do, that golem's gonna have to go before we can do anything to that room. Just...not right now." Thren winces as her wounds remind her that she was recently bashed by said golem repeatedly.
Thren stops to think for a moment. "To be honest, Sandara, you've had a different set of experiences than all of us. It'd be good for all of us-you included-if you did stick around and come out into the field with us more often. If nothing else, you'd try to talk sense into us, and in exchange get better shares of the loot."
Sandara shifts from one foot to the other as she considers Thren's words. "Well more treasure I certainly can't turn down. And you guys keep running off with other pirate captains we might start thinking we're not liked." She winks. "I'm well behind your capabilities at this point, though... maybe while we're starting to rebuild this place, I can train a bit."
"We didn't run off with another pirate captain! We were saved and press-ganged at the same time, sort of. And it was all Lark's fault anyway!" Thren replies cheekily. "We most definitely like you all. Otherwise, why come back?" The bard adds with a smile and a shrug.
"As for training, that's not a bad idea. None of us can help you with whatever holy rites you need to do, but if you want, I can help you with your hand-to-hand skills. You'll get to skewer me with something besides your well-honed wit for a change." Thren offers earnestly.
"It's always the Captain's fault, that's why he gets the largest share," Quinn quips. "And we rescued you as well, I'll remind you so I guess that's all even." She nods at Thren. "I think practicing on removing all the ick from that shrine will be a good start for the holy rites, but I'll happily skewer you any time you want, Nocturne." She grins cheekily, but then adds. "Let's wait till you're in better shape than today."
She looks at the group. "What ARE you gonna do about that golem? I expect running in and retreating and then running in until it's sand may work, but it'll take some time and resources."
"Thanks, I appreciate your concern for my well-being. I just look forward to having your sword aimed at my head, neck, heart, lungs, and spleen oh so much." Thren replies drily. "I'll take you up on that when I'm healthier for sure. I'm sure I'll still be on the receiving end of your wit while I'm at it, so I might as well be at my best for your two-pronged assault on my ego."
"As far as that pile of glass, we can hit and run it, but until we're a bit better equipped and/or manned a bit better, it'll have to wait. It's not charging through the place, so it can stay up there for now. When we feel like we can handle it, it'll be there. I still want to get that lighthouse up and running." Thren adds with a wistful smile.
The party, and Thren and Sandara banter a bit as they return to the rest of the crew, reporting success with the observatory, altar, and bunks, but not so much the lighthouse.
As if in the blink of an eye, a good week or two passes with the party and the crew very busy with plans for their stronghold and preparing to build their reputation big enough to impress the Hurricane King.
Firstly, everyone works on slowly whittling away the glass golem. Fortunately, whatever simple orders it was programmed with included staying in the lamp room. Eventually someone has the brilliant idea to hover at the stairs and fire projectiles at it until it falls apart--a ridiculously slow process because of the creature's resilience, but ultimately effective. A chunk of its head remains, still imbued with the active continual flame spell (effectively an everburning torch). Once the mirrors are restored and the windows cleared, the lighthouse can get back to functioning. Some of the crew begins to clear a path to the top of the cliffs to get to the exterior of the lighthouse and clean off the windows, but--especially fearful of the jungle creatures dwelling on the island--the progress here is slow. Cleaning and clearing of the ruins commences in earnest throughout as well, with usable materials like chunks of marble and granite stacked in the storage room where the otyughs once dwelled.
Some crew also sail around the cove in the launch, both trawling out dead bodies and thicker gunge in the cove, as well as killing or driving away any small incutlises that may have not fled when Orsilir died.
As for Orsilir, the massive carcass is lifted off the Fearsome Tide. Kroop declares the ancient aberration inedible, and the flesh of the beast is carefully carved out by some unhappy crew, leaving behind its massive shell. The crew bickers over what to do with the shell--whether to put it on the masthead of the ship, or use it as a decoration for the stronghold. One crew member suggests it could make a nice bed if stuffed with bed linens.
Sandara splits her time between honing her rapier skills (and rapier wit) versus Threnody, and, once the golem is handled, working on consecrating the altar. Taking one of the cooled pools of silver created by Lee's fireball and getting it ground into powder with Doc Imogene's help, Sandara is able to bless some water and have the materials she needs to drive the ancient demon lord's influence from the altar for good. She says she COULD properly turn it into an altar to Besmara, but Besmara usually doesn't HAVE proper altars. Usually more deposits for libations and coins more subtly set up. Cog wants a shrine to Pharasma.
Sandara builds some cameraderie with Threnody, though her wont is to be more protective and mentorly than perhaps return Thren's flirtations in the way Thren might like. She seems to look forward to the idea of joining the party, "if only to keep you out of trouble."
Muffin tells Lee in their empathetic language, "I need to rest for a bit. Come and sit with me in a day or so." Dragging a pillow from the ship with his teeth (unless and until Lee helps him) Muffin chooses to bed down in the observatory room. He curls up in a ball to sleep, and when Lee checks on him later, he finds Muffin is surrounded by a strange glow--like a cocoon made of light. While this is alarming at first, as Lee approaches Muffin he is surrounded by an extreme sense of calm, a bone deep reassurance that all is right with the world. The same compulsion leads him to sit and meditate with the cat daily--who stays in his strange coma for much of the time.
At the end of the last dream, you awaken, and see the cocoon is gone. Sitting upon the pillow is Muffin--but, indeed, Not-Muffin. He has grown bigger, with deeper stripes on his body, and a star-shaped patch on his chest. As he opens his eyes to regard you, they glow purple. "Hello, Lee," he says in the same ineffable and yet perfectly clearly understandable language of Truespeech, a language possessed only by many planar dwellers. "That was a wonderful nap, shall we get going?"
On the downside, you can no longer make any sense of the shapes carved into the ceiling. You think, however, that they must pertain to the planes even in the real world.
When Lee and Muffin at last emerge, Muffin has visibly changed, larger, his fur darker, and his eyes glow purple. "Hello Threnody! Hello Lark!" the cat(?) greets them, in a language that is not Taldane(Common) yet they can understand perfectly.
The party discusses all they have seen and want to do as they well.
Not long after Muffin emerges as his new celestial self, the crew is surprised to hear a loud horn blown not far outside the cavern of Ghoral Rey. The watch crew, sailing in the launch to keep an eye on the cave entrance, reports there is a cargo ship outside, with flags indicating it wants to trade. They report the ship has few weapons that it can see and it does not appear to be any sort of threat. Some mention greedily that it probably has some nice cargo aboard.
Of course, you have not yet advertised your presence here quite yet. Of course, the Magpie Princess might have...
Thren will keep working with Sandara and spending time with her and trying not to get herself in trouble with the Besmaran priestess. She has no horse in the race regarding the altar once it's consecrated.
Muffin speaking in her head will likely freak her out a bit. The last thing to speak in her head was Orsilir after all. She'll be using a mirror to see if her eye color changes or if she's changing skin tone.
When the ship is spotted, Thren reacts immediately. She grabs someone and sends them to get Lee, Lark, and Sandara to meet her and see what this ship is about. In case it's a trick, she gets the rest of her crew to ready themselves for trouble.
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“LAND HO!”
The lookout’s cry rouses Emberar from his slumber, and in moments he’s free from his hammock. Padding quickly upstairs, bare feet finding sure purchase on the wood, the half-elven man emerges onto the weather deck of the merchant ship on which he’s been a passenger the past month or so. Ignoring the calls of greeting from his fellow sailors, he hurries to the rat lines and hauls himself up, hand over hand, until he can stand on the nearest yardarm and gaze out toward the horizon.
There it is: a small gray fuzz against the sky. Ghoral-Rey. Emberar grins and grabs a line in hand. The Smoker, just a few days in his past, seems like a world away. There are new sights to see and a new land to explore. Best of all, ruins the like of which he hasn’t yet encountered in the Shackles.
“Yeeeeeeeeeee-hoooooooo!”
With a whoop, he slides down the line and throws himself into the work of the crew. It’s not his ordinary shift, but he’s eager to watch the island get bigger as they approach. And at this rate, they’ll be there in a matter of hours.
As the ship pulls into the lee of the island, approaching what seems like the most obvious location for a port, Emberar scans the shore carefully. Yes, there’s clear remnants of civilization here—albeit overgrown and ruined. His pulse quickens.
“Captain! Permission to join the ship’s boat, once she’s out!”
Lee spends a lot of time talking to Muffin, figuring out his new form. Some things are different, some are the same.
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Inside Ghoral-Rey
Lee picks up Muffin habitually to carry him, and firstly notices he's probably a good bit heavier--dense, mainly--than he was. Then Muffin disappears into nothingness, Lee's fingers going through a purple mist now surrounding him. The mist coalesces, rises up a few feet over his head, and then re-forms into Muffin, who hovers in mid-air still above him, as if held aloft by invisible wings. "I can do this! Can you?" You hear a tone of smugness in the celestial voice that could only be possessed by a catlike creature. Muffin runs along the air, leaping and twirling along unseen air currents at a surprisingly rapid speed. He then catches sight of a beetle flying through the air and begins chasing it. However transformed he may be, some things are indeed the same.
As Lee follows Muffin flying through the corridor, Heavy Huldren runs into the corridor. "Mr. O'Neld, Miss Nocturne wants a word with ya out in the cove! Watch has spotted a ship outside!" He goes to fetch Lark and Sandara.
Cog is leading the watch crew on the launch which waits in the cove near a makeshift launch set up near the "otyugh room" that is now being used as storage. As the party arrives to hear the full report, he repeats that it's a cargo ship, strong hull, but not obviously armed, flying neutral flags indicating a wish to trade. "Ship's called the Long Sunset," he adds.
Oddly, that name seems to ring a bell...
=====
Aboard the Long Sunset
The Captain of the Long Sunset is a woman in the prime of adulthood with a sun-weathered face and dancing brown eyes named Luna "Drakerider" Fleetfoot. Unlike many captains and their plumed hats, the Varisian-descended woman wears a scarf wrapped elaborately around her head. She is fair, and usually kind, but with a vicious temper, and a more vicious wit. Leaning against a keenly sharp harpoon that never seems to leave her hand, she raises an eyebrow at Emberar.
"Permission? Naw, ya don't have my permission, Sunstruck." She pauses for dramatic effect. "Ya got my ORDER to join the party, 'cause I ain't headin' out to some cursed Cyclops island that was your idea without you!"
"You shouldn't be goin' neither. You're the captain. You're valuabl---ffffff, I can't even finish sayin' that with a straight face." That voice comes from Ironball Sue, the First Mate, who is deftly up in the rigging, adjusting the flags.
"Still tryin' to get my ship, Sue? You know they'd mutiny the first chance'd they get!" Both women's eyes are dancing. They have had this conversation many times, and there is no threat of mutiny from anyone.
All of the crew are very wisely nonetheless offering no comment, even as Sue asks for confirmation of the idea.
"I heard tell the treasure of Jemma Redclaw's around here somewheres," Luna says to Ironball Sue, changing the subject. "Maybe I should get it and become a famous pirate queen!"
"You do that, Luna, I'll come salvage your wreck later and make my retirement. Treasure huntin's for fools."
"Isn't salvage sort of like treasure hunting?"
"It's hunting the treasure hunters after they got'emselves killed."
"Except usually all we get's a few yards of moldy sailcloth and a heap of barnacles." While this is not true, the ship mainly carts raw materials, found and traded, and chunks of broken ships and randomly interesting flotsam and sells them. "Anyway, let's just hope whatever kills treasure hunters around here is long gone," Luna says. She waves to Emberar to follow her as they prepare a launch. "Sunstruck, what do we need to look out for here? Good and bad."
Lee addresses Muffin:
"When your bug hunt is over, can you join me up at the cove? There's a new & interesting ship to see..."
And with that, Lee heads up to the cove to hear the watch report.
"Does anyone know about this ship? I thought The Long Sunset sounded familiar, but I got nothing..."
Lark grabs his kit and starts belting it on as he hurries to meet Threnody and Lee at the boat launch.
"No, Lee, I don't recall that name." The young human looks to Threnody with a grin, "Isn't that why we keep a bard around, to remember things?"
"Cog, since they're showing peaceful take the boat out and invite their own launch to come ashore. Guide them in and I'll meet them right here." Lark tilts back his tricorne and rubs his forehead. "Lee, what do you think - I'm staying here, but do you want go with the launch in case Cog needs some extra firepower?"
"Either way, Threnody, please gather the crew and ready the Whim. I don't think we'll need it, but it'll be good practice for everyone."
"Ha! I'm a swordswoman. Bards are fops that can barely tell one end of a blade from another. Sounds like some captain I know." Thren banters. "But, because he's my captain, I'm going to do what he says and get the crew and ship ready for visitors." Thren runs off to get her crew ready for the unexpected guests.
Lee nods and helps Cog get the boat free of the shore then clambers in with Muffin in tow.
While still able to speak in a conversational tone, he asks Lark:
"What are we charging for anchorage? Am I authorized to offer a discount if they pay for a month?"
Lark throws a casual salute in appreciation of Thren's rejoinder before turning to Lee.
"Ah, yes, thanks for the reminder, Lee." Lark's one eye follows Muffin's aerial antics as he considers. "Well, it's a free ocean out there beyond our cove. If we had a proper slip I'd be tempted to charge. For now let's just try to up-sell them for fresh food and water."
"Muffin, that's a nice trick. Will you have a new surprise every time I see you from now on?"
Lark, Thren, and Lee
"Based on our recent sparring, Captain, I can confirm that Threnody is indeed a bard," Sandara quips.
Muffin alights near Lark's feet and answers him, "I have surprises! But not too many more."
Lee, Muffin, and Threnody board the launch and sail just out of the cove's entrance.
Approaching them is a similar launch, coming from a square rigged ship that looks like it is sturdily built and has a large cargo hold.
There is a crew of 10 on the Long Sunset's launch--most busily adjusting sails. They are armed--because they're in the Shackles and they're not stupid--but weapons remain sheathed. Prominently among the crew, you see a scarved brunette leaning against a harpoon shouting orders, and a very excited half-elf who is eying the cove entrance--and the ruins of the lighthouse tower above it a ways in the distance--with unmitigated glee.
As you approach and are within about 200 feet of one another, the woman shouting orders throws something into the air. It becomes an animate wooden bird that flutters over and has a written message tied to its leg. Most of you recognize this as a bird feather token, a common way to exchange messages.
If one of you opens the message--which itself does not radiate any sort of magic or show itself to be booby trapped in any sort of way:
Ahoy Besmara's Whim! I am Captain Luna "Drakerider" Fleetfoot of the Long Sunset, humble salvager at your service. One of my crew has received word from a flute-player who calls himself "Heartbreak" -- obviously a trustworthy fellow -- that you are perhaps in need of supplies and advice on old ruins. I can offer the former, and my crew member Sunstruck can offer the latter. If this is the case, fly your trade flags and we'll meet with you. If this is not the case--do not mistake our not being pirates with an inability to defend ourselves.
Respectfully yours, Drakerider
Fleetfoot? Like Golly Fleetfoot, your old captain who died at Barnabas Harrigan's hands?
Golly had a daughter named Luna, with whom he corresponded regularly, and appeared to miss a great deal. His favorite story--which he possibly told at EVERY rum ration session--is a time they went monster hunting, and she leapt onto a drake from a treetops in an effort to stab it in the eye.
===
Meanwhile Emberar on his launch spots a woman with horns and tail ordering her launch's crew, while chatting with a halfling. A large cat appears to be flying around the sails. The island beyond--this side of it is mainly cliffs overgrown with vegetation, but he can see a tower, however besieged by vines, rising from the northern edge of the cliffs, confirming the old ruins are present.