Aenon- The first fist slams into the rotting woman but seems to have no effect.
The zombie slams into Aenon, tenticles lashing out and grabbing hold of the monk.
Delia -
Nininox -
Momo -
Deth-
Aenon-
Delia gasps in fear as she recognizes the creature! "An incutilis! We must kill it quickly before it tries to poison, Aenon!" She steps to one side to open up a clear path of attack for the others and stabs at the abberation with her starknife!
Nox casts a quick spell and throws a glob of acid at the undead.
RTA into melee
Seeing Delia swing at the mass of tentacles instead of the creature itself, Deth steps around the Incutilus, trying to flank the vile creature with Delia. "Well struck!" he cries out when Delia slashes into it. He stays out of reach until he draws upon the power of The Green. His form enlarges as the earth and vegatative matter seems drawn to him. He swings the sickle at the beast itself.
His attack goes wild as he fails to duplicate Delia's maneuver.
”An Incutilis?! Disconnect it from the body!” That corpse looks like it belongs to one of the original colonists!
Momo pulls out her bow and loads in an arrow.
Round 2
"Poison?!" Aenon yells out in disbelief. 'Well I guess that's what I get for teasing Momo.' He grabs the tentacle wrapped around him and attempts to slip its grasp.
Aenon- The first fist slams into the rotting woman but seems to have no effect.
Creature - The zombie slams into Aenon, tentacles lashing out and grabbing hold of the monk.
Delia - Hits the creature on the top of the head of the zombie.
Nininox - Throws a glob of acid but misses.
Momo - Fires an arrow but misses.
Deth- Grows, swings, and misses.
Aenon- Manages to break free of the grasp of the Incutilis
Creature - The Zombie swings it arms wildly and the tenticles wip around viciously but fails to land any blows.
Delia-
Nininox-
Momo-
Deth-
Nox again casts a quick spell and throws yet another glob of acid at the undead.
RTA into melee
Damage
”An Incutilis?! Disconnect it from the body!” That corpse looks like it belongs to one of the original colonists!
"How!" Deth yells back in frustration, looking at the mess of squirming tentacles writhing about the body. Unable to make out where the tentacles end and the animated corpse begins Deth drops his sickle and pulls his spear out. Jabbing the spear into the creature atop the head he tries to pry it away.
Delia twirls the starknife around and slashes the aberration in a dramatic flourish! "Keep pressing the attack. These things attach themselves to victims and then kill them with poison, then reanimate the corpse."
Freed from the creatures tentacles, Aenon unleashes another flurry of kicks against it.
Round 2
Aenon- Manages to break free of the grasp of the Incutilis
Creature - The Zombie swings its arms wildly and the tentacles wip around viciously but fails to land any blows.
Delia- Hits the creature
Nininox- Throws another glob of acid striking the Incutilis.
Momo- Misses the creature again.
Deth- Stabs but misses
Aenoin- unleashes another flurry of kicks and punches but fails to land a blow.
The zombiw however jerks and drops back down to the water, the Incutilis, injured realeasing the body as it tries to dart downstream.
It doesn't make it far though and its cut apart as it flees.
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"What the hell is that!" Deth asks, creeped out by the creature's very existance as he shrinks back to normal. He prods at the hopefully now inanimate corpse, making sure that it isn't moving. He turns to Momo and Delia, since they seem familiar with the species. "Are they parasites? Do we have to worry about any eggs in the host?"
"Pretty sure those things are egg layers. Anyone they latched onto is going to have a belly full of those things just waiting to pop out," Nox says ruefully. He continues walking for about ten seconds before breaking into a fit of laughter. "No, I'm just kidding I doubt those things will cause any long term problems to the living," he says as he smacks Aenon on the back.
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Aenon mutters something in reply before letting himself submerge beneath the river surface. Still finding the gnome far too anoying to straight up like, recent events makes it difficult to straight up dislike him too.
Feeling the waters healing effects on his wounds, Aenon returns refreshed to the surface. He hauls the corpse ashore and starts digging through its clothes, looking for any sign of who it was in life.
While Aenon searches the body, Deth begins to dig a grave for the corpse. 'This isn't how I envisioned the new world. Digging the graves for those who preceded us.'
Based on her clothing she appears to have been a colonist. Nearby you find an old weathered ax leaning against a nearby tree. From the rust and the plant growth, you can be reasonably certain that it's been outside for nearly 2 months.
Nox detects magic on the axe, not expecting it to glow, due to its weathered state. He looks around the area, making sure no items have slipped away.
You find nothing further of interest.
The island shoreline arcs to the northwest until it hooks sharply south like a bird’s beak to form a small cape. Anchored offshore is the Peregrine. Pulled up on the shore is a ship’s boat, evidence of a landing party.
Ramona, accompanied by a few sailors and colonial soldiers, waits near the second ship’s boat. When you arrive on the beach, Ramona rises to her feet quickly.
“You’re here, that’s a relief. We had some... unexpected problems. I’ll tell you about it, but first I’d like to hear your report on the colony. What did you discover?”
bDeth replies. "Nothing well. We found no surviving colonists. You saw us fight off some grindylows, and we ran into some other creatures that seem to have encroached on the abandoned colony. Namely monkey goblins, a Fuath, cockroach infestations, Ankheg nymphs, an actual Ankheg, and a Choker . We found a holed canoe near the dock. The Smithy had been abandoned a month ago, but had been used as recently as one week ago, that's a mystery. There was a fight that occurred near the Chapel, one of the survivors managed to crawl into the Chapel and his spirit had to be laid to rest. The fields seem to be in fair condition, there is definitely some damage done by the nymphs. The colony has been abandoned for about a month, but someone has been there about a week ago" He pauses. Unsure about how to broach the subject of The Charter, Scuttles, The Note and Rayland Arklay he turns towards the rest of the group.
Seeing the Peregrine and her crew is a bundle of mixed emotions. After all the death they have seen on the island, Aenon is thrilled to once more be in their company once more. Unfortunately, the lack of other colonists can only mean one thing, most of the original colonists are probably dead.
"The colonists are missing." He begins. "We found the colony empty and overrun by scavenging beasts. It seems there may have been some strife between our predecessors, but we can't say for certain what the cause was. Leads we found point to one of the colonists still being alive and hiding somewhere on the island, and we were about to go find him, but we felt warning you had to come first."
"Be careful if you happen upon Rayland. Evidence points to him as potentially a betrayer," Nox adds.
Ramona listens thoughtfully as you explain the status of Talmandor’s Bounty. "Are the buildings mostly intact? Did they plant crops? Were you able to chase off any dangerous creatures? Are there tools and equipment still there?” She is clearly more concerned with the current problem that faces the people aboard the Peregrine then what may have befallen the earlier colonists.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you conclude your report, Ramona decides that although the situation is not ideal, the best course is to have the colonists disembark at Talmandor’s Bounty. “That is, if the ship can actually get there...” she says glumly.
At that, Ramona changes the subject to a strange phenomenon affecting the Peregrine. She explains that after you were dropped off, the Peregrine sailed almost all the way to where it is anchored now, quickly and without incident. When the ship approached the cape, however, its momentum dropped to a snail’s pace, despite the fact that its sails were full of wind. The anchor wasn’t lowered, they weren’t dragging the keel through a sandbar, and no giant monster was sighted with the ship in its clutches. At least one sailor swam underneath the ship, but didn’t report anything unusual. Ramona indicates that both the ship’s crew and the passengers are on edge.
"If whatever curse has befallen the ship were to be lifted, the nervous colonists might relax. I know you have all done so very much for us already but would you be willing to check out the underside of the ship’s hull and find the cause of the mysterious problem."
If you were to agree to act as “troubleshooters” for the colony, Ramona offers to find you a house to move into immediately. Furthermore, she will excuse you from daily farming tasks and some of the more menial jobs for the colony.
"I'm certainly more important than just being a farmer. I'll help find out what's going on with the ship," 14 quickly pipes up. "Having our own house sure sounds nice, doesn't it?"
Deth replies. "Nothing well. We found no surviving colonists. You saw us fight off some grindylows, and we ran into some other creatures that seem to have encroached on the abandoned colony. Namely monkey goblins, a Fuath, cockroach infestations, Ankheg nymphs, an actual Ankheg, and a Choker . We found a holed canoe near the dock. The Smithy had been abandoned a month ago, but had been used as recently as one week ago, that's a mystery. There was a fight that occurred near the Chapel, one of the survivors managed to crawl into the Chapel and his spirit had to be laid to rest. The fields seem to be in fair condition, there is definitely some damage done by the nymphs. The colony has been abandoned for about a month, but someone has been there about a week ago" He pauses. Unsure about how to broach the subject of The Charter, Scuttles, The Note and Rayland Arklay he turns towards the rest of the group.
"The colonists are missing." He begins. "We found the colony empty and overrun by scavenging beasts. It seems there may have been some strife between our predecessors, but we can't say for certain what the cause was. Leads we found point to one of the colonists still being alive and hiding somewhere on the island, and we were about to go find him, but we felt warning you had to come first."
"Be careful if you happen upon Rayland. Evidence points to him as potentially a betrayer," Nox adds.
Ramona listens thoughtfully as you explain the status of Talmandor’s Bounty. "Are the buildings mostly intact? Did they plant crops? Were you able to chase off any dangerous creatures? Are there tools and equipment still there?” She is clearly more concerned with the current problem that faces the people aboard the Peregrine then what may have befallen the earlier colonists.
Momo nods at Ramona, ”The settlement looks fine. The buildings are roughly constructed but there are nine buildings protected by a mostly contructed palisade and smaller buildings outside of the protection of walls. There are four fields and a fruiting plum tree.”
”We cleared the village of all of the pests we found residing there like my companion, Deth, already stated. The tool shed and the food pantry are two of the buildings protected within the palisade walls. Plenty of tools but most of the food is rotten. We had to clear out a swarm of cockroaches. There is a beautiful two-story Town Hall with all of the kept logs. Perhaps when we all travel there, you can examine the books.”
~*~*~*~
"If whatever curse has befallen the ship were to be lifted, the nervous colonists might relax. I know you have all done so very much for us already but would you be willing to check out the underside of the ship’s hull and find the cause of the mysterious problem."
Momo looks at her companions before answering ”Sure. It would be a shame if something happened to the Peregrine.”
"We'll do it because it's what the colony needs, not because of a house, and not to skip out on manual labour." Aenon says while shooting Nox a disappointed look.
"It definitely sounds like some sort of curse or other magic thingy to me, so I'll leave sorting that out to you guys." he nods to Delia, Deth and Nox, careful not to imply the gnome would be even remotely more useful than the other two (despite his vast knowledge on arcane matters). "In the meantime, I think I'll take a look along the keel and see if the others missed something."
With that, the undine starts undressing, and within a minute his clothes are a disorganized pile on the beach. "If anyone feels like a swim, feel free to join me." He cheerfully asks the group and starts toward the water.
"Cause there's nothing like a dip after a long days march." And with that, Aenon dives into the water.
Deth says to Ramona. "Sure, I'll help." As Aenon undresses, Deth turns to the others in the group. "I can give one person a swim speed to help Aenon." he says as he walks towards the water.
"I don't mind swimming if someone can watch my backpack while I'm underwater. I don't want all of my tools to get wet."
"How far are we from the ship? It'd be better to take the dinghy back to the ship and dive in there," Nox suggests. Assuming the group agrees, he casts MonkeyFish on himself, which lasts two minutes, just before diving in.
Deth turns to Ramona and asks. "Can we borrow the dinghy a bit?" He lets whoever wishes to board to do so and then pulls the dinghy out into the water and starts to row out toward the Peregrine.
He tries to keep an eye out for Aenon in case he gets in trouble.
Aenon shoots ahead of the dingy and only surfaces as he reaches the ship. "Naerath! Swain! I'm taking a look at the keel! Get some hands ready to keep an eye out will you? Knowing this island there's probably something large and slimy waiting down there." He yells up to the deck and awaits a reply.
Everyone will go ashore with you on the boat.
Momo joins Deth on the dinghy with her backpack. She takes out her bow and searches the water for movement as they row out towards the Peregrine.
Momo looks heroic as she stands with a foot perched on the boat's bow. Her bow is draw with an arrow notched and pulling at the string. Thin strands of hair that have escaped her ponytail, blow around her face. From her stance, her dagger holsters are clearly visible as the metal catches the sun's light.
The moment he sees Momo keeping an eye out, Aenon disappears beneath the surface. He takes an overview of the area before circling closer to the Peregrine, looking for any sign of the abnormal and preparing for the inevitable attack by some unseen creature.
Deth continues to row the dinghy towards the boat, but his eye keeps falling upon Momo's heroic pose. Finally, he draws up to in front of the bow of the Peregrine, trying to give a clear field of fire to both sides of the ship. Laying the oars inside the boat he draws his own bow out, ready to join in the fire. "So if there is an aquatic fight, I will help you shoot. But if its a melee, I'm going to drop my bow and dive into the water to help Aenon."
14 stays in the boat. No telling what's under those waters. Best to let them flush it out, and I'll take care of it then, he thinks as he waits for a report from those under the water.
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From above the surface, Momo is unable to spot anything unusual, and Aenon doesn't see anything large enough nearby to affect something as large as this vessel.
Deth, however, spots two strangely colorful fish approx 3ft in length close together up against the hull of the Peregrine These thin, colorful fish have a broad, segmented sucker above their narrow mouth. A line of spines runs down their backs.
The echeneis is a magical fish known to sailors in many parts of the world as a major pest due to its theft of speed from boats and large, swimming creatures alike. It ranges across large stretches of water, stopping every few hours to feed and sap velocity from large boats, sharks, whales, and other hosts that might overlook it. Although native to warm waters, echeneises sometimes follow trade vessels elsewhere. Because echeneises prefer murky shallows, sailors rarely notice one before it begins to slow a vessel. The sharp and sturdy spines atop the creatures' backs scrape the hulls of ships to which they are attached, so sailors lament both the short-term inconvenience and the long-term damage caused by these pests. Old boats with hundreds of scrape marks on their bottoms garner reputations as cursed, and their captains face a serious stigma when trying to recruit crews. It is true that some ships draw echeneises more than others, but apart from the ship's size there is no indication as to what else might attract the creatures.
Like the remoras they resemble, echeneises are scavengers. However, they are aggressive and often retaliate when knocked off of creatures or vessels. In combat, echeneises attach themselves to enemies to slow them down while flailing with their tails against anyone attempting to remove them. If badly injured while attached, an echeneis releases its victim and uses the speed it has stolen to quickly escape.
An echeneis averages over 3 feet in length and weighs at least 12 pounds.
Deth points out the colorful fish to everyone in the Dinghy. "I have no idea what those fish are." He seems disappointed in his inability to identify the fish. 'All those weeks boning up on native flora and fauna and these were never mentioned.' he muses. If Aenon breaks surface near the fish, he call out to him. "Hey Aenon, I don't know if they have anything to do with this, but there are some colorful clingy fish off the starboard bow. Do you think you could scrape them off?"
Delia watches Momo with interest, loving the heroic visage she represents and tries to think of a song that might compliment her stance... She hums a few different tunes, and like many of her previous songs, they seem to have a melancholic beauty to them. She smiles wistfully as she works. "You cut quite the heroic figure, Momo. I imagine the men from your hometown lamented when you left for this journey."
When Deth points out the fish, she leans over the side to look at them. "Beautiful fish, but I am not sure what they may be. Do you think they may have something to do with what is affecting the ship? Or just coincidence?"
Aenon takes another peek beneath the surface, spots the fish and nods affirmatively to Deth. "Got it Deth, I'll see what I can do."
He swims over to the Peregrine, yells up at the men on deck, and after a few moments someone tosses him a spear. (I'm assuming there's a harpoon or something lying around somewhere on the ship.)
Spear in hand, Aenon swims back down and approaches the strange fish, intending to prod them away. (Hopefully leaving both sides unharmed)
Deth points out the colorful fish to everyone in the Dinghy. "I have no idea what those fish are." He seems disappointed in his inability to identify the fish. 'All those weeks boning up on native flora and fauna and these were never mentioned.' he muses. If Aenon breaks surface near the fish, he call out to him. "Hey Aenon, I don't know if they have anything to do with this, but there are some colorful clingy fish off the starboard bow. Do you think you could scrape them off?"
Momo isn't sure what to comment back to Delia about her home, so she just offers a small shrug and concentrates on the task at hand.
When Deth points out the fish, she leans over the side to look at them. "Beautiful fish, but I am not sure what they may be. Do you think they may have something to do with what is affecting the ship? Or just coincidence?"
Aenon takes another peek beneath the surface, spots the fish and nods affirmatively to Deth. "Got it Deth, I'll see what I can do."
He swims over to the Peregrine, yells up at the men on deck, and after a few moments someone tosses him a spear. (I'm assuming there's a harpoon or something lying around somewhere on the ship.)
Momo continues to look into the water, "I can't say I know what those fish are. I've never seen anything like them before." But those spikes look like they hurt. Her bow is still poised and ready in case the fish become aggressive after being stabbed with a spear by Aenon.
Know. Arcana
"I don't know what those fish are either, but I suspect they'd taste mighty good over our fire with some salt sprinkled on top. How about we catch those two and bring back home with us?"
Aenon as you approach them you can see them eyeing you with an uncanny intelligence and one swishes its tail in an aggressive manner.
Seeing the creatures intelligence, Aenon halts way out of their reach."ሓኢል ስትራንገርስ፣ ውሃት ብሪንገጥ ትሄ ኢንቶ ቾንፍሊችት ዊጥ ሚነ ፈልሎውስ ኦን ትሂስ ሀረ ስሂፕ፧"