GM Striker's The Ruins of Azlant Table 1 Gameplay thread.
Dotting
LAND HO!
After six long weeks, this morning the crew of the Peregrine sighted land to the west. A few hours later, the Peregrine sails into a natural bay with a sandy beach within rowing distance for the ship’s boats. As the crew begins to untie one of the smaller boats to lower it into the water, the sailors pass a spyglass among themselves and finally hand it back to the captain. Captain Jacob Markosi peers at the island for a moment before grunting and handing the spyglass to expedition leader Ramona Avandth. “You should see this,” he says quietly. Ramona accepts the spyglass and peers toward the shore. When she lowers the scope, she is clearly distressed but trying to hide her worry. She approaches and motions toward the far side of the deck, away from where most of the other colonists have congregated.
“Can I have a word with you?” she asks. “We have a problem,” Ramona says bluntly, once she and your small group have some relative privacy. She offers the spyglass to the party and explains, “Something is wrong. Nobody’s in sight. There’s no smoke from cook fires or the smithy. Some of the buildings look burned out.” Taking a look through the spyglass, you can confirm these observations for yourselves. Ramona continues, her voice low. “Sailors can’t keep their mouths shut. Soon all the other colonists are going to hear about this—if they can’t see for themselves already—and things could become… tense.” Ramona looks at each of you in turn slowly.
“I want you to go ashore and check out the settlement. While you do this I’ll have Captain Markosi to sail north along the island’s coast to a secondary landing site.” She explains that the site was later designated as an emergency extraction point should any danger befall the first wave of colonists. After you’ve hand a chance to check out Talmandor’s Bounty, the ship will rendezvous with you at this secondary location, whereupon Ramona will make a final determination on where the rest of the colonists should disembark.
As the Peregrine sails into the bay, Deth could hardly contain his excitement. Six weeks of sea travel was more than enough for him. Straining to see his new home, he was surprised at how quiet it seemed. And how long the sailors were taking to bring the ship into dock. Just before he starts to complain about the unnecessary delay, he catches Ramona's eye and she motions him and some other colonists over to the side.
Deth listens to Ramona explaining their dilemma and his heart sinks. "Yes, Ma'am. I'll be glad to go ashore. How far away is this secondary site?"
The short gnome adjusted his fine top hat, barely holding back his shock of wildly blue green colored hair. He stood up on tippy toes to try and get a better look at what the Captain and the Leader were glancing at. When he spoke, it was in the fast stoccato style for which gnomes were known all over the world.
"What's that, you say? No sign of the others? Now I knowUncle Nininox Ambershale, XII wouldn't have just abandoned the site. Well, maybe he would have, since he is generally quite worthless and wouldn't appreciate the opportunity he'd been given, but that's neither here nor there, is it," he asks no one in particular as he takes a breath.
During his introductions to the group, he had told the others they could call him Nox or 14, either one, for ease.
Nox nodded at his first assignment, after his weeks long boat ride. It was time to show the others he belonged, and put his many hours of study of this land to good use.
Momo eagerly takes Ramona’s spyglass and peers through the lens. ”You’re right. No smoke.” Momo hands the spyglass to another party member so they can take a look. Out of curiosity, Momo pulls out her Wayfinder to make note of the direction they’re facing. She pockets her Wayfinder and nods at Deth, ”Yeah, how far away is the secondary site from the main one?” Momo wonders how far they'll have to trek before they reach the rendezvous point.
Momo tries to be on the first on the row boat and promptly sits at the bow of the boat. She pulls her longbow from behind her back and holds it in her lap. Momo turns to look towards the stern of the boat to see who’s volunteered to row. She states the obvious: ”Keep an eye out for signs of life.”
As the rowboat approaches the shore, Momo squints her eyes and examines the strip of land they’ll be landing on.
Deth accepts Momo's offer of the spyglass and carefully peers through it. He seems very cognizant of how valuable these tools are. You're right, Momo. He spends a few minutes scanning the town and the surrounding area before handing it to anyone else who wishes.
"I'm sure your uncle is all right." he lies to Nox as he can see no reason for no one in the entire town to not be there unless the colony has drastically failed.
Deth is probably one of the last to board the boat as he spends some time trying to acquire some last minute items. But as he boards, if the group is not being ferried across in a ship's boat, he does pick up the oars.
Ramona looks relieved that you're willing to investigate without complaint and explains, "The second site is northwest of the colony and within a day's journey."
The distance is only about 9 miles, but it’s a 6-hour hike due to the lack of trails or paths (other than deer or boar trails). Despite the wilderness, the trip is not particularly arduous, as it skirts the coastline and the vegetation isn’t as dense as it becomes farther inland. Saltmarshes keep will keep you from directly following the coast and force you a bit inland on your trip.
As the land call pierces the air, Aenon ties down the rope he was holding and eagerly runs to the prow. For the past two weeks he's been aiding the sailors, trying to be useful aboard the ship, claiming to get uneasy with nothing to do. Though it's mostly been an excuse to hide from that insufferable gnomish character, running around with his weird hat, Aenon is at least beginning to enjoy the company of the Peregrines crew.
As He spies the gnome standing with the others, he takes a moment to center himself. One with the waves, one with the ship, one with the sea. He takes a deep breath and approaches the group. "How many colonists are there? Do we know of any other emergency plans they would have? How many of them could take care of themselves in a fight? And what sort of creatures could they have encountered? This island was supposed to be uninhabited, wasn't it?" He rapidly asks Ramona, his face stoic and professional.
The previous six weeks had been an arduous task for Delia, her initial wanderlust had worn off after the first few days of being cooped up in the sailing vessel. She spent much of the time getting to know everyone aboard, brushing up on her Azlanti (and practicing with anyone else that is fluent), studying/learning any lore that of which she was unlearned, and practicing her singing. This all lasted a few more weeks. By the end of the journey, Delia felt as if she were ready to leap from the bow of the ship to try her skills at flying and hope that Desna would oblige her...
So when it was finally coming to its close, she was one of the first to be top deck and at the bow of the ship with a grin on her face and a spring in her step! 'Finally! Mom, how I wish you could be here now. I hope that I'm making you proud.' A small, melancholy smile touches her lips. But then her keen eyes (a gift from her father) spots the strange happenstances going on and she rushed to join the invitation by Romona. "I will gladly join the away party. I need to feel the ground beneath my feet again! Have you received any indication from the colony of troubles? Hostile locals? Disease? Famine?"
Once released, she quickly gathers her belongings and climbs down into the rowboat. She looks around to see who else may take the second oar and if no one immediately offers she will stoically take it (although not the strongest of the group).
Ramona looks at the Undine man, "There were about 50 colonists on in the first group. If the worst was to happen they were to evacuate to the second site and wait for us there. Like this group we have here, most are capable of defending themselves and have extensive experience in the wilds."
She lets out a sigh, "Uninhabited is a general term, an island like this is bound to offer shelter to all sorts of creatures," she gives you a knowing look. Is anywhere truly uninhabited?"
She turns to Delia, "We've been at sea these last 6 weeks, you know about as whats been going on here as I."
"Thank you. If you ever need any help, just let me know." Deth says to the colonists that are loaning him the equipment. He then stows his gear onto the rowboat.
The bay’s waters are calm, but murky, with only a gentle rocking of the ship’s boat. The shore is approximately three hundred feet to the east, where a lonely dock is built off a sandy beach.
As you begin to make your way to the shore, you pass a sandbar about 50ft from the dock. Two creatures with large heads and numerous teeth that resemble some strange mix between goblins and a greasy octopus dart up from the water. Sharp spears dart up from the now frothing water stabbing at Momo. Standing up Deth returns a swing a the horrible tentacled beasts. From the west, you hear shouts of concern and even cries for the captain to sail closer in order to help you. A few colonists draw their own bows and shoot a few arrows toward the creatures, but stop once it becomes clear they might hit you instead. Tentacles pull one of the creatures up onto the boat as it lashes out with its sharp teeth snapping at Nininox The other grabs the hull giving it a rough pull downwards causing the boat the rock dangerously. Despite this Deth manages to keep his footing.
While vicious and quick, the creatures are quickly slain by a few blows, leaving you more surprised than injured by the attack. Once the Grindylows are defeated, a rousing cheer comes from the deck of the Peregrin.
Delia lets out a sigh of relief as the attack is quickly repelled. She looks around at all her companions to make sure they are okay. "Is everyone okay? This is not a good sign. Perhaps these grindylows had something to do with whatever calamity seems to have befallen the colony." She makes sure to keep her machete in hand, ready to slice some more grindylows or other denizens of the ocean...
"Damnit" Aenon mutters under his breath before speaking up. "My appologies. I seem to have dropped my guard after the peaceful weeks at sea. The creatures should not have been allowed to sneak up on us like this." He lets his gaze wander, piercing the ocean surface and trying to spot other dangers while sticking his arm into the sea to use his peoples sense of the ocean to feel any dangers approaching.
Nox turns to the boat, standing up, and takes a victorious bow in celebration. He'd performed admirably, as he had expected himself to do. "Those little buggers snuck right up on us! I'm glad we were able to fend them off so easily. It'd take a whole bunch of them to take down a village of fifty settlers, and there would be several tracks and scenes of violence. We need to get over there immediately," the gnome calls out as he directs the others to row the boat even faster, as he plops back down in his seat.
Delia strains against the oar, her smaller frame showing a lack of large muscles. "I'm rowing-hng-as fast-*huff*as I can-" She wipes some sweat from her brow and blows at an errant wisp of hair that clings in place.
Having assumed the young half-elf eager to prove her usefulness by seemingly insisting on a spot by the oars, Delia's discomfort comes as a surprise to Aenon. Struggling to imagine a position that would allow him to row while still keeping a figurative eye below the waves, all Aenon can do is shoot Delia an apologetic look (Although it comes off more as a disapproving glare)
A well-worn path in the grass rises up a slope toward a cluster of buildings to the east. The buildings are arranged in a rough triangle, with each point ending in a wooden circular enclosure
with rectangular notches cut intermittently, like battlements. These round enclosures are clearly meant to be three points of a wooden palisade fence, which would enclose this first group of buildings once completed. The palisade fence, however, is complete only along the southeastern side of the triangle and is obviously unfinished elsewhere. The grass around the settlement looks like it was cropped at one point, and many paths exist between locations in the settlement, but in less well-trafficked spots, the grass has started to regrow. All the buildings are constructed of either rough timber or mud bricks set in a wooden frame, and have pitched thatch roofs. Many have open window frames, but only a few have actual shutters or even a canvas curtain for privacy. Doors are basic, wooden affairs, too simple for locks, and some buildings lack them entirely. The construction is new, quite rough and unfinished.
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. The beach inclines to the east before giving way to grass and trees. Further on in that direction, buildings and a palisade wall stand on the rise.
As Deth continues to row the boat in he asks. "Is everyone all right." After making sure that there are no injuries he adds "Good job everyone." As they come closer he scans the beach for any tracks.
He helps Delia guide the boat alongside the dock and then ties the boat off and holds it stable for people to exit. After a little thought he leaves his heavy pack in the boat and then scrutinizes the area.
"Anyone have any ideas on where to start? I've never explored an abandoned settlement before."
"Seems calling this a settlement would be a real exaggeration. It's not even half built, and the grass is growing up again. Let's head to the east buildings and give them a once over. Perhaps there's some sort of clue where everyone ended up..."
"Grindylows," Momo spits. "I doubt they're the cause for the settlement's abandonment."
~*~*~
"Let's head to the east buildings and give them a once over. Perhaps there's some sort of clue where everyone ended up..."
Following 14's suggestion, Momo looks East. "Ahh, they were building a wall! I'd like to climb up one of the battlements and get a better view of the land." Momo puts away her bow and begins to walk East. As she approaches Nidhi listens and looks for any signs of life. Momo motions her head towards the first building, hinting that her companions should join.
"They got a lot done if it's only been six weeks," Momo comments. If there isn't anything dangerous lurking nearby, Momo will enter the unfinished building (A5) and look around. Momo kneels down to examine the floor.
Deth agrees with Nox's assessment and walks with Momo towards the site, drawing his longbow. "I'd also like to check out the farm plots to the south. We're probably going to need the produce for our wave of colonists."
Aenon joins Momo at the front of the group as they move up the hill, eyes scouting out the cluster of houses and partial battlements.
"We shouldn't bother with the farmplots." He says over his shoulder. "You can take a look while we search the southern houses, but we're here to find the settlers, not to feed a colony. Besides, they aren't going anywhere."
A thorough check of the surrounding area reveals there are no tracks in the sand leading from the dock to the colony. You can spot a canoe on the seafloor at a depth of 10 feet. Similarly, a wicker basket and a fishing pole can be spotted from the dock’s other side.
Moving up along the path past the tents the south you enter the colony proper.
This L-shaped building is constructed of mud bricks on a wooden frame. The western portion is of the structure is enclosed by four walls. This section has a single open window on the south side, with a canvas curtain hung across the opening. The single entrance is a wooden door, standing slightly ajar, on the southern end of the eastern face of the building. A ten-foot extension connects to the building on the east side. This extension has only a northern wall and is otherwise just a roof sheltering the space below, which is open to the outside. Underneath this cover is a forge with an exhaust flue directly above it, a worktable covered in metal scraps, a small tub of black water, and a partially sheltered anvil.
The sound of small scraping feet greets you as you enter. A sharp bark in Goblin leads you to ready yourselves for a fight... Three monkey goblins lurk inside the smithy proper.
Delia looks around quickly for the source of the strange voices with her machete in her hand. "We need to make sure we take at least one of them as a prisoner. Perhaps they can provide us with some answers."
Aenon nods at Delia and with a gruff "Noted" starts moving into the doorframe to hold back the creatures within. Shifting his stance slightly, he focuses his mind on taking down the enemies without killing them.
Deth reluctantly delegates the farm plots for later discovery.
At the sound of goblins and Delia's exclamation he responds. "That's a great idea." He readies his spear to attack any that get past Aenon. "Does anyone speak 'Goblin'
He mentions to Aenon. "I'm willing to fight side by side if we can trap them in the door, that'll be two of us to one of them. Also, I can allow people to temporarily tap into the power of The Green. We probably don't want to do it against goblins but if you wish I can make you bigger for a short time. You'll get stronger and do more damage, but you'll be less agile."
Momo readies her bow and aims it towards the closest money goblin. "I don't have any rope. How do you want to capture one?" Momo's eyes are on the goblins as she talks to her companions. "Knock it unconscious?"
14 was going to call the group's attention to the sunken items, but they sped right on by, so he ran to follow them, clutching his hat tightly to his head as he did so. "Let's take them out quickly. I have a spell that might be able to knock them out without much resistance."
Aenon nods in agreement to Deth and moves over to create room for the goblins to slip through, silently appreciating the rapidly developing teamwork. He quietly notes "I'm unsure if your spells will work. For some reason my people seem to resist some forms of magic"
Standing tense and ready for the goblins to attack at any moment, The thought that he should probably have thanked him for the offer strikes Aenon. "Aw well, too late now."
Deth calls out to Momo. "I don't have any rope, but there may be some stowed in the boat. I haven't met a sailor yet that didn't squirrel away rope in every nook and cranny they could find."
At Nox's suggestion to use spells he replies. "I'm not sure we should waste spells against goblins.", hoping that wasn't going to engraved on his tombstone.
"You make us sound like we're all some sort of hoarding loonies." Aenon interjects, willfully ignoring any image of the coil of rope tied to his backpack lying in the rowboat.
"Well, how's about some of you put those bows to good use, then? Any goblin we can knock out from back here will make it a bit easier when we close.". Seeing all these goblins made Nox think the worst for the original settlers who were here prior.
Deth calls out in Common to the goblins, trying to get them to attack through the door.
"Wow, I've never seen goblins with such small teeth. You must be the runts of your clan."
Then a sudden horrific thought hits him and he whispers to his new friends.
"What if these are the colonists. The Grindylows and now Monkey Goblins. Could something have turned everyone into goblins?"
"That would take really powerful magic, that's for sure. I'd guess these are just stragglers that have taken up residence. But you are right....let's take one that we can communicate with."
The monkey goblins chitter angerly waving their weapons at you clearly not understanding a word you say.
Momo returns to the building to stand next to her companions. She sits down with a bundle of sticks and a bit of rope that she starts pulling apart into smaller strands. Momo uses the thickest of the branches to form a cube and uses rope strands to secure the corners. She taps the cube to the ground, testing it before continuing with smaller branches.
Then a sudden horrific thought hits him and he whispers to his new friends.
"What if these are the colonists. The Grindylows and now Monkey Goblins. Could something have turned everyone into goblins?"
Momo looks up from her work, "Oh... you're serious? I doubt that. The colonists probably didn't know how to deal with a few goblins and ran." She's never been a big believer of magic.
Momo stands up holding a cube of sticks and rope strands. Thinner sticks run up and down the crude device like the bars on a cell. She approaches the doorframe of the building and places the trap so the mouth faces towards the inside. She places a piece of stale bread inside the trap because she doesn't have anything better. Momo backs up, holding the end of a short strand of rope, ready to pull the door closed. "If this doesn't work, get ready to knock one over the head with a blunt object."
Delia smiles as a thought comes to her and she begins the casting of a spell to charm one of the goblins. She then gestures towards the open cage door and the food within through a "come here" gesture of her arms and a large smile. "All of you, look happy."
Deth tries to look happy but is certainly ready to bop one on the head with his staff if it gets out. He looks relieved that everyone discounts his goblin colonists theory.
"You're probably right. It's just that this is so weird, no one being here."
With a grin slightly on the wrong side of psychotic, Aenon keeps an eye on the goblins. "I don't think this is going to work He whispers through gritted teeth.
Got one. The others respond with hostility towards you after casting your spell but are swiftly corraled into the makeshift box and contained.... for now.
The two chitter angerly in Goblin the other looks at you quizzically.
"How about we go tackle the one that is confused for the time being? And then we reinforce that cage!"
"Well I'll be..." For a moment Aenon stands baffled, staring at the now captured goblins, before suddenly bursting into a short laugh. "Well done ladies. I honestly didn't think this plan would work, but you've clearly done this before. If I can leave the calm one to you, I'll go get some rope from the boats" With that, Aenon starts down towards the dock.
"Call if you need me"
Got one. The others respond with hostility towards you after casting your spell but are swiftly corraled into the makeshift box and contained.... for now.
"Well I'll be..." For a moment Aenon stands baffled, staring at the now captured goblins, before suddenly bursting into a short laugh. "Well done ladies. I honestly didn't think this plan would work, but you've clearly done this before. If I can leave the calm one to you, I'll go get some rope from the boats"0 With that, Aenon starts down towards the dock.
"Call if you need me"
Momo waves at Aenon, "Sure. I'm going to take a look inside this building Yell if you run into anything." Momo carefully steps over the cage and into the clay and wood building.
After looking around the Smithy for a couple of minutes Momo exits the building with anything of interest and walks to meet up with Aenon. "What did you find near the pier?"
~*~*~*~
When the party is ready to move on, Momo suggests they look around the buildings North of the Smithy
While Momo searches the Smithy, Deth guards the cage and although unable to speak their language, looks the goblins over.
Noticing Aenon go into the water, Deth starts towards him but then realizes he'll be leaving the others unguarded. Momo's searching the hut, Delia is keeping the goblins calm. It's gotta be Nox.' he thinks. "Nox, would you go check on Aenon and if he gets into trouble, let us know." he asks politely.