Seeing the skeletons surrounding her friends, Douena gives her holy symbol a good shake and presents it to channel energy yet again.
Again the strange music and dancing motes spread out around you, healing much of the damage to Aakif and Makoa, and adversely affecting the undead. One skeleton crumbles apart completely, its bones turning almost completely to dust. Cracks appear in the other three.
Up Next: , Mahjik, Makoa, Skeletons, Urza.
Aakif steps forward to meet the advancing, previously-hidden skeleton, but his aim suffers when he jerks aside in surprise from a repeated dose of magic from the little cleric.
Up Next: Makoa, Skeletons, Urza.
On my turn Urza tries another Acid Splash against the skeleton in -34,D
Acid Splash: to hit R Touch; includes penalty for firing into melee
Acid Splash: damage
Mahjik grabs one of the femurs as they fall and smashes it into the remaining nearby skeleton with rapid strikes creating a small series of cacophonous cracks.
The skeleton falls apart at Mahjik's impressive attack.
Makoa then has a go at the skeleton at C -38.
Once again, he pulls the skeleton apart into several pieces.
The remaining skeleton on this side of the ship slashes at Makoa with its claws.
Both attacks miss him.
The two skeletons on the opposite side of the ship rush forward and attempt to jump the crack.
They both easily jump the gap, one landing in front of Lorenz and one in front of Makoa . Each slashes out with a claw.
Both Lorenz and Makoa feel pain as the sharp, bony claws scrape across them.
Urza fires a blob of acid towards the skeleton at D -38, but unfortunately, it goes too wide to the south.
Up Next: Douena, Aakif, Mahjik, Makoa, Skeletons, Urza.
"Ouch!" Lorenz cried out as the claws left long bloody furrows in his skin. "You're going to regret that!
With a yell, he swung his flail at the skeleton who had moved in front of him and then grabbed his shield and held it ready to block the skeleton's next attack.
Lorenz's flail smashes into the skeleton and shatters it into a pile of bones.
Up Next: Aakif, Mahjik, Makoa, Skeletons, Urza.
Seeing that there are only 2 skeletons left, Douena leaves her cover behind the remains of the wheel and patters up behind Makoa. Peering out from behind the half-orc's legs, she presents her holy symbol one more time. "You're bones; you're supposed to lie still!" she shouts at the undead creatures accusingly.
Aakif advances to stand beside Makoa and launches another powerful swing at one of the remaining skeletons.
Mahjik smiles at the violent barbarian who's power decimates the skeletons - and darts past him to deliver a punch that might scatter bones.
Not feeling as productive as when he took out the giant snake. Urza decides to watch their backs and moves to look into the cabin that the two skeletons came from.
Perception:
Douena's channeling sings out once again, and cracks appear in the bones of the last two remaining skeletons.
Aakif moves up, but unfortunately, his attack just misses its mark.
Mahjik squeezes up beside Aakif, a bit precariously at the broken edge of the ship, but not quite in danger of falling off. His attack causes yet another skeleton to fall into a pile of bones.
Makoa then attacks the last remaining skeleton.
In a final display of ferocity, Makoa tears the last skeleton apart. He then bends over, breathing heavily, momentarily fatigued from the battle.
Entering the back part of the ship, Urza discovers what remains of the captain's cabin. Water has clearly gotten into here on various occasions over the time that the ship has been here, as the remaining furniture is waterlogged and moldy. He does notice the captain's log, but only the cover of that is still in a readable state. The pages inside have long since been spoiled by sea water.
Searching the rest of the ship reveals that the lower decks are mostly full of water and any stores they once held have long since rotted and spoiled.
You do manage to find another 100 ft of hemp rope that is still in a usable condition. Unfortunately, that is all.
"This island is thoroughly unpleasant." is all that Aakif has to say about fighting off a pack of skeletons and only getting some half-rotted rope out of it.
Using her staff, Douena methodically prods any bone fragments she can find over the edge of the broken deck into the water. "They were just sailors once," she explains, "so they'd probably like to be buried at sea. They just got confused about being dead and didn't realize they shouldn't be walking around anymore."
Upon hearing Douena's explanation, Mahjik helps her to find the last remaining bones and fragments and push them into the sea. Then he stands next to her, head bowed in a few moments of silent departing - wishing rest upon any remaining spirits and a safe journey to their afterlife.
Aakif has no sympathy whatsoever for the undead and, after exploring what's left of the ship, makes his way back up the rope to the cliff top and his horse.
Lorenz mopped the sweat off his brow, panting from the heat as he did so. "That was an invigorating battle but this heat makes it a lot less fun."
Overhearing Douena's explanation for the undead, he smiles. "That may be one of the first things you've said that I've fully understood. Nice way to explain the existence of those things."
"This place is starting to get to me." Urza adjusts the rope that he's coiled around himself to make it easier to carry. But at least we've gotten a few things to make our stay a little more manageable.
Mahjik checks if Douena wants to go up the rope again, so he can lift her the first few feet to reach the rope. Then follows up himself. "Is it time for us to make our way back? Or shall we push on another hour or two?"
All in all, this ship was a little disappointing. But then, it seems to have been here for a long time. And the name isn't a very lucky one. No wonder it got shipwrecked. I guess it's good that we freed those undead of their miserable non-lives. Are we ready to continue on?"
Lorenz unfastened his shield and climbed up the rope, carefully making his way back to the cliff.
Mahjik smiles at Lorenz as he reaches the cliff's top: "Wise man would embrace boredom, if the alternative is a beasts maw. I do think we can go on a little while yet."
"Wise skeleton would embrace running.. if the alternative was my maw." Makoa states as he picks a piece of ribcage from between his teeth. "Thanks for the magic Douena."
Having thoroughly searched the Tattooed Lady, you all climb back up the cliff. The day is now entering its hottest period. It looks like it's going to rain again soon, but as you know, the rain here never seems to alleviate the heat. You can choose to find some shade and rest it out, after which it would be time to head back to camp. Alternatively, you can decide press on for a little longer before turning back, but this means risking heat exhaustion .
I'm for continuing on.
Wiping the sweat from his brow and sending a glare at the sun, Lorenz took a quick swallow from his waterbag. "I think we should keep going too. Maybe anything that wants to kill us will be too hot to move."
Mahjik selects a few choice leafs from nearby plants and folds them together to form a crude headband, he also takes some time to pick a number of small buds that taste quite bitter and spicy; but he chews on them regardless. Smiling all the while. And offering some around.
Deciding to risk the heat, you push onwards.
As predicted, it rains again, a nice solid downpour for about 10 minutes. While the rain is falling, it's refreshing, but once it's over, the heat begins bearing down again. The area near the cliff remains relatively lightly covered with growth, so you make good progress during this hour.
Towards the end of the hour, as most of the group is starting to feel the oppressive effects of the heat , you notice several flying creatures in the distance. At first, they just seem to be birds, but as you get closer, it becomes clear that they are more like flying lizards with bird-like beaks full of sharp teeth. They are wheeling about in the sky, almost playfully.
Spotting the flying creatures in the distance, Lorenz felt a moment of envy. The wind rushing along their wings must be a wonderful respite from the day's heat.
Then he saw the teeth and frowned.
"Um, do any of you think they're hungry? Maybe we should take some cover."
He reached for his shield and strapped it to his arm.
"I don't care," Douena whines, not even raising her eyes to look at the creatures. "I'm hot." Her feet have been plodding along more and more heavily as the heat has increased, and her mood has taken a decided turn for the worse.
Douena's snappishness gets through to Urza. "You know, maybe it would be wise to retreat a bit from the flying carnivores and wait out the heat. We still need to get this snake back to camp before it goes bad after all." Urza does wonder Why she didn't cast Endure Elements on herself at the beginning of the day? Is she holding it back for someone who really needs it? "Hey, Aakif, can Douena ride Soulwind for a bit. She has to work extra hard to keep up with the rest of us."
"Wise man would know his limits, maybe you should not push yourself to hard little one?", Mahjik laughs as he picks up the little gnome and places her around his shoulder. "The horse can carry one that would be a greater burden to it than this little one."
Still hot, but the change of altitude perks the gnome up. "Ooh, it's so tall up here. Hey, look at the big bird things!"
Aakif rubs the mare's neck and frowns. "This heat is as bad for her as for anyone else, but Douena isn't much of a burden. I don't think it would be a good idea for anyone else to ride for now."
1d20+6+4+2
1d4
You pull back a bit into the cover of the jungle away from the flying creatures. They don't make any moves towards the group, so either they haven't noticed you, or they've already fed.
Douena amuses herself by making it rain on herself and Mahjik briefly. "It's going to be hot whether we're walking toward camp or away from it. We might as well go as far as we possibly can before we turn back; I certainly don't want to have to tramp all the way out here again tomorrow. I can't believe we haven't found a way down to the ocean yet; I wanted to find a seashell for Sasha."
I vote turn back. There's still tomorrow after all.
Relieved that the flying creatures don't seem to have noticed them, Lorenz agrees with Douena. "We should go forward a little longer."
"Shall we agree to push forward another hour, then turn back? If we manage do determine that we're on the top northern sickle of the island then we can completely explore the northwest and have no more surprises waiting for us there."
"Another hour at least. Once the time has passed, we can re-evaluate the situation and decide from there. Like Douena, I don't want to have to retrace our steps tomorrow."
Lorenz looked impatiently at the others, wanting to get the decision made before too much time was wasted.
Makoa spends the next few minutes very carefully trying to remember what the strange bird-creatures are...
"Dimor..phodons? That's not a good sign..."
"I vote that we wait."
1d2
"Another hour at least. Once the time has passed, we can re-evaluate the situation and decide from there. Like Douena, I don't want to have to retrace our steps tomorrow."