Gelik perks up at the huntress' statement.
"My dear Sasha, I was just thinking the same thing." He looks at Jask and gives a wink that the two women cannot see. The older man simply sighs and looks toward the horizon. "That's truly uncanny, don't you think?"
Sense Motive Checks:
Sasha beams a big smile and puffs her chest out, palm extended towards the gnome. "See?"
Gelik coughs into his fist, turning red from whatever he is choking on when his gaze meets Alis'.
"Play nice..." she scolds gently.
"OOOH!" Sasha spins around so suddenly that Gelik nearly falls over as he cries out in surprise. "Hey Lissi, I just got an idea!"
"Sounds like it hurt,"" Gelik grumbles, fussing over some grass stains he just got on his clothes when he stumbled.
Sasha sighs and admonishes the gnome, "You should be more careful, you're too clumsy, Gel'."
As an incomprehensible bluster escapes the short man, Alis tries her hardest to keep from smiling. "You had an idea, Sash'?"
"Oh... YEAH! You should let Ellie use your rapier if you're just going to stay here talking. She'll probably need it the way she wants us to go."
Aycenia looks up brushing a lock of blue-green hair from her face. "Is there some danger you sense, young one?"
"Er..." Sasha scratches her head, possibly confused about whether or not she was being addressed, what it was about her suggestion that didn't make sense, or both.
Alis lays a hand on the dryad's arm. "No, nothing like that, they would just rather be well prepared than under-equipped."
Smiling at the tall ranger, she replies, "It's a good idea, Sash', I'll go get it..."
Sasha practically beams at Alis' praise and grabs hold of Lureene's hand.
"You'll really like Lissi's rapier, it barely weighs a thing and it handles really nicely."
She taps the pommel of Lureene's and says, "Let's go ahead and get this one off her for now," before she kneels in the grass and starts to unbuckle it from her belt.
A few moments later, she returns with her baldric and begins to unfasten the buckles securing the scabbard. "Just try not to lose this sword. It belonged to my mother..."
Lureene cannot help but giggle softly as Sasha's hands roam a little farther than perhaps was necessaary. She accepts the proffered weapon and buckles it to her baldric. She runs her hand along the scabbard and looks over to the Princess. She is surprised to feel tears in her eyes, as she responds, "Thanks, 'Lis. I will take good care of it for you."
Darvesch responds to Aerys, "I'm sorry. I'm fine. I'll be fine." He places the battleaxe at his side, reminding himself to return it to Mal when he gets the chance. Holding his cousin's waraxe, an axe made by the hands of his grandfather, he reaffirms his vow to justice and grips tightly onto the axe before running upstairs to repair the light.
Feeling a renewed sense of determination, Darvesch begins his inspection of the unfinished light assembly and the crate of machinery located in the crawl space beneath the platform.
100 years of neglect exposure to salty sea air has not been kind and many of the gears and cogs are fused solid with corrosion, but it's nothing that he doesn't know how to handle. At the very least the wire-brush he used to maintain his armor and an oil bath would go a long way towards their restoration.
Along with using magic to repair some damaged equipment and cracked crystal panes, and the time required to assemble everything, he estimates it should take a single skilled technician about 4 days to complete the work, less with help.
For the present at least, he gets to work identifying the parts and sketching out a schematic.
"Thanks, 'Lis. I will take good care of it for you."
Alis smiles gently and gives her honorary little sister a hug before tucking a loose strand of hair behind Lureene's ear. "I know you will."
With that, Sasha leads Lureene's group out, although not before ensuring that she gets a hug of her own.
"Don't worry, Lissi," Sasha whispered, resting her cheek atop the much shorter princess' head, "I'll take good care of everyone..."
After a pause, she adds thoughtfully, "Um, making sure they all get back OK I mean."
A short laugh escaped Alis at the comment and she gave the huntress a pat on the back saying, "Never doubted that you would, Sash."
That was nearly 6 hours ago.
Survival Checks
Climb DC 5
Climb DC 5
K: Nature DC 15
Time: 1:00md (midday, 1:00md)
Since then, Sasha had led the group through the jungle, blazing a trail for the others behind her, sniping a few oversized spiders and a snake that got too curious. She also bagged a rather exotic bird with a striking, fan-like tail, that she easily dressed, harvesting its plummage, before letting Jask prepare it for lunch from over a small fire sparked by Lureene's magic.
Although Gelik had none-too-quietly questioned why it was taking much longer to reach the trail than it had earlier, she kept her cool, much more in her element in the shade of massive trees and clinging vines than in any camp or city.
When your group finally came out at the trail, the sun was already directly overhead and looking south, you could see a gorge into which buzzards, overly large rats, and other scavengers frequently descended.
"Hey," Sasha commented, "Ellie just said she wanted to take the trail and come out near that bird guy. She didn't say for how long!"
Without apology, she let a rope down the cliff, quickly leaping to save Jask from a bad fall even as Lureene drifted down under her own power. A short hour later, you found yourselves standing at the north end of the trail overlooking the Shiv's large tidal pool, the waves crashing against a narrow beach of white sand. Not far to the west, perhaps 200 feet away, the waters swirled around an immense red and orange crab the size of a small house that sat crouching on spiny legs.
[ REAVER'S SHIV: Map | Position (030 - Extra-Giant Crab) | Overland Rules ]
As you approach, a hideous shrieking noise come from the gargantuan crustacean. Its eyes stalks swivel about, gazing right at you even as its claws clack threateningly!
"Goodness!" Jask gasps, clutching his club nervously, "A thing that size could swallow a water buffalo in one gulp!"
"Huh..." Sasha turns to look at Lureene and points a thumb at the behemoth. "How much you want to bet that thing's got your bird friend in its belly already? It sounds like a dying man!"
Lureene is satisfied with the group's progress so far. She must admit Sasha was an expert woodman...err woman. She kept quiet while Sasha led the group through the trails, trying her best to emulate Alis' leadership habits. Trying to show confidence in her companions and their abilities. Still, there was a nagging doubt which seemed to rest in her heart...
...Which now seemed to be bearing fruit as her group has run into its first test.
She waves the group back immediately out of harm's way, as she draws her wand. As the others move to comply, she turns to Sasha in response to the redhead's comment, a questioning look in her eyes. "Sash, do you think we could get around it somehow? I find it hard to believe that tengu would hang around with such a beast unless he managed to tame it somehow...is that possible?" Even as she waits for a response from her friend, she readies a spell just in case...
"Get around it?" Sasha quickly looks about, bow at the ready before nodding to the cliffs even as the giant crab continues its protest. "Yeah, if we climb. As for a bird guys taming a crab...? Hell if I know!"
Perception Checks
As you continue to watch, apprehensively holding your ground, Grak tilts his head this way then that before lisping, "Misssstressss, it does not move itsss body..."
"Has it grown too great to move?"
"Well, if it expects us to just walk over there and offer our services as lunch then it will have to wait!" The gnome gets a look of concern on his face and tugs are Lureene's wing. "We aren't actually going over there... right?"
"Wait a–" In annoyance, Sasha lowers her bow and approaches the immense creature, paying more attention to the rocks and sand on the beach than to its giant pincers.
"Sasha! Child, what are you doing?!"
The red head simply waves a hand trying to silence the old man. She then extends her bow in one hand and lifts up a trip-wire buried just beneath the sand.
Gelik scratches his head before holding up his hand even as the ranger draws ever closer, evading the trip wire. "I don't get it, is the damn thing caught in a trap?"
As he talks, the giant crab swings clumsily at Sasha, missing her by several feet yet smashing a large pile of driftwood to bits not far away.
"OK! Sash' is dead to us, can we go now?"
Sasha shouts, casually ducking another swing even as the crab's cries reach new heights of agitation. "There's ropes and pulleys on this thing, I think somebody's in there!"
She ducks under one of the swinging arms and shouts at the thing, standing right in front of it.
The red head has to jump aside as one of the claw pounds into the sand beside her.
The huntress turns to look towards the rest of you, and shrugs, hands upraised.
Lureene pauses for a moment. If there was someone [i]inside[/ii] the giant crab shell, then it certainly was likely it was the mysterious tengu. She knew little of the bird creatures, but it sounded like whoever he was used the crab as a defense/hiding place. That made sense, considering all of the giant cannibals who formerly inhabited the island.
She steps out in front of the crab, still well away from its claws, and holds her hands out in a peaceful gesture. She debates whether to spread her wings out fully but decides against that, instead choosing to unfurl them partially.
She calls out in a clear voice, "Master Tengu, we do not wish a confrontation with you, we only wish to talk with you for a moment." She smiles prettily at the crab, hoping the tengu was male. "I am Lureene Ourson, and these are my companions, Sasha, Jask, and Gelik. Aycenia the dryad told us of your presence here and we have traveled from her grove to investigate the Silent Island on her behest. Please show yourself, we meen you no harm."
The violent motions and cawwing stop for a moment. The crab's left claw points to the west and a gruff voice calls out, "Go that way, can't miss it! Now get out of here, harpy!"
Sasha turns to look at Lureene. She points a thumb back at the crab and then makes a motion like putting someone in a headlock, nodding enthusiastically as she does so.
It looks like she wants to know if she should drag the speaker out here by force.
Although the dryad had sighed in relief when the argumentative quartet departed her sacred grove, her lips were now pursed in concern as she watched them thru the eyes of the birds and trees.
She looks over to where the princess and the wizardess sit concentrating upon Alis' handglass, looks of frustration on their faces. For a moment, Aycenia hesitates to say anything until the bejeweled mirror is returned to its velvet-lined case. As Alis rubs her temples, Aycenia says timidly, "Their interest in the mad tengu and his crab house seems greater than their interest in the Silent Island."
After a moment, she adds, "Were you unable to scry upon your other friends?"
Before Alis can answer, Ieana says, "Simply scrying upon them is only part of the issue. The true difficulties lie in piercing a nondetection effect surrounding the subject and then successfully initiating a message cantrip in order to enable a dialog."
Aycenia's brow knits with concentration at the wizardess' explanation until Alis clarifies the matter. "We can see my agents, but they cannot hear us. To complicate matters, it seems that my dear... tailor who provided these disguise pins we have been using failed to mention that he placed an enchantment upon them that interferes with divination magic."
Aycenia's sunset eyes blink innocently and she offers helpfully, "That would mean your... agent was not defeated by the... Scyllan. That is cause for happiness, is it not?"
"It is, but," she looks to Ieana and then back again, "they are still docked at Light's End."
The dryad seems confused and Ieana attempts to intervene. "The vessels upon why her highness' allies travel are still at the city just before the sea channel in which we encountered Scylla and Charybdis. The implication being that while they yet live, they have not actually survived the encounter as it has yet to take place."
"Oh..." Only the sound of the wind blowing and the distant calls of birds from the jungle break the silence for several moments. Thinking hard upon all that she has heard, the dryad says, "I believe they will prevail. Surely by now there has been tell of the strange monsters there. Also, are your allies not warriors and mages? If your small ship could pass with so few to strive against this Scylla, surely all of your brave fighters will fare better, yes?"
Alis gives Aycenia a warm smile, recognizing that the dryad means only to lift her spirits. Not wanting to discuss the matter further, she nods. "Yes, that's a good point. I'm sure they'll be fine. I have to trust in their abilities."
Nearby the dryad returns her smile and kneels beside her to give the princess a tender hung. Alis relaxes a bit in her embrace, the scent of flowers permeating the dryad's hair relaxing her.
"Ieana," Alis begins slowly, "do you have any memory of what Yarzoth was after? And how did you become involved in her plans anyhow? Didn't you say that you were a professor from Malatesta?"
"Ah, that..." A chagrined look comes to Ieana's lightly tanned face. "Well, I suppose it is only natural for such inquiries to arrise, isn't it? Very well then. Where to start, where to start..."
"Well firstly," she begins, "while I am a professor of archaeology for the central Academy in Malatesta, I am not from there. As a matter of fact, I spent much of my childhood exploring ancient elven ruins near our home just inland from the Titan Isles where we first encountered one another."
"At any rate, I had been heading up an excavation on the Isle of Seht, where ruins of a heretofore unknown culture had been uncovered. Our best estimates placed the antiquity of the site firmly within the Age of Titans. Records we found indicated that the peoples of that time anticipated some sort of a calamity, a natural disaster in which they believed the sky above would solidify and entomb them below. Given how deeply buried the site was, it seems that this may not be as implausible as it sounds."
"So there I was, entranced in deciphering hieroglyphics not unlike those that would eventually be found in the catacombs beneath the cannibal's encampment, when I came upon a curious tabernacle surrounded on all sides by the desiccated bones of serpentine petitioners. After diligently taking copious notes on their arrangement and studying the site for traps and wards, I opened the cask to find what we now know as the Soul crown resting atop head of a serpentine skull."
"Now having been a victim of Yarzoth yourself, even if only briefly, highness, you might ascertain that I was immediately possessed. Yet that conclusion, while understandable, would be incorrect! Rather, it took Yarzoth time to fully awaken."
"Wait." Alis holds up her hand, "Are you saying that you had a chance to be rid of Yarzoth before she took control of you?"
The verbose professor scratches the back of her head. With some embarrassment evident, she responds, "That... would be an... over-simplification of matters. You have to understand, this was an unprecedented find, the living mind of an entity that had transcended time itself, that might be communicated with, that might broaden our understanding of an era which even those scant few who know of its existence are woefully ill-informed!"
"So you were curious about what the spirit had to say. Then it grew stronger and overpowered you, correct?"
Even as Alis tries not to smirk at Aycenia's take on things, Ieana waves her hand in the air apologetically. "Unfortunately that would be an accurate assessment. Where Yarzoth was initially as interested in learning about our world as I was in educating myself on hers, a change occurred. I believe that she received a vision from what she believed to be her deity, Qingu. Yet as we have since learned, it was actually the demoness Charelle who emulated Yarzoth's deceased patron and enticed her to venture to Reaver's Shiv."
"To what end?"
"Well, it seemed that Yarzoth had reason to believe that an ancient temple hidden beneath the surface of this selfsame isle contained a clue to the location of the lost city where her god, Qingu, whom modern historians equate with the titan Typhon, was defeated by Charelle — Tantyra-Në."
Aycenia frowns at the strange-sounding name. "Taan-tea-ra-nay?"