Crab 1 attacks.
Crab 2 attacks as well, going for the halfling girl, but it misses both attacks as the nimble halfling ducks and dodges.
Crab 3 moves forward and attacks a crew member, trying to get to the captain.
And it hits...
Taking down the crewman in one blow.
Even bloodied, Cathran maintains her steely resolve. I may have to devote some time to learning how to kill these things later. Once I figure out what exactly they are, she thinks, as she reaches past the crewman in front of her to pound into the crab's shell again.
As her blade slides off the tough chitin, Cathran steps back defensively, since she's not providing any particular tactical advantage as it is and another hit like that could easily take her down.
Riley sees his friend take a big hit and attacks with a fury.
Riley's falchion slams down into the back of the creatures head as it attacks Cathran, and black blood sprays out of the things mouth over the crew. It then slowly slumps to the deck.
@Eva - Each level adds 10 ft. So you'll need to be within 10ft of the monster's base. Fortunately for Eva, it moved down toward her, so it's rather easy to get in range.
Eva made a split second decision. (Hopefully not as rash as her decisions in the Kobold Garrison!) She moved forward 10 ft, reaching into her supplies. She pulled out a vial, smashing in the stopper with her thumb to force a mixing of the chemicals. Shacking it to get it reacting good she threw it at the Crab-man-thing thinking to attack their rear.
Eva's flask hits the crustacean and explodes, blowing cracks in the carapace. It seems especially effective. The carapace suddenly cracks and opens up completely, internal organs flowing out and the crustacean collapses.
The injured crewman on the steps jerks as the bomb fragments hit him, more blood pooling out onto the steps as he begins to bleed again.
#1 : DEAD
#3 : 24
#5 : DEAD
Mahb tries to confuse the mind of the last remaining creature.
The last crustacean looks dazed.
The last remaining crustacean groans and falls backwards off the edge of the ship.
The crew begin scrambling around, trying to help those who are downed and injured.
Eva rushed over to the down crewman there on the stairs, checking that he was still breathing. Provided that he was, she pulled out one of her cures to pour it down his throat.
Lineera dashes over to the furthest crew member from the fighting, thinking that if she remembered right, he was the first to go down and therefore the most in need of help. Shouting for assistance, Lineera begins attending to the downed man.
Dropping to her knees with a wet splat as she splashes into the pooling blood, and checks the fallen man for vital signs.
If any are found, she immediately begins trying to stop the bleeding by putting pressure on the wounds, or elevating them for whatever would work best at the time.
She repeats this process with all the other fallen crewmen, and is thoroughly covered in gore by the end, her white hair dyed red with blood.
"Push the corpses overboard before the whole damn lot come back for them!" The captain calls out, causing crew men to begin pushing the crustacean's overboard with heavy loud splashes.
Eva pours a curative down the throat of the wounded crewman she further injured with her bomb, and seems to have stabilized him, and at least undone the damage she did, if not heal him back to consciousness.
Lineera begins checking crewmen, and finds that 3 of the 4 downed crew in the bow are still alive, and manages to stabilize them (although the third one only because he was already stable).
Cathran runs down the stairs to get Lineera's bag, then rushes back up to hand her her medical supplies. She helps the crew heave the massive corpses over the side of the ship, wrinkling her nose at the black blood mixing with her own red smeared over her armor and clothing. She retreats down to the hold for a seawater-soaked towel, and comes up again wiping herself down. She approaches the captain: "Captain, pardon me, but what were those things? Do you know? Are we in any further danger?"
The captain coughs as one of the crew wraps his wounds up. "Kregith. They were Kregith." He coughs again, blood speckling his lips, and grimaces. "They live down below at the bottom of the lake. They aren't nice, but the usually don't bother ships that don't bother them. Something must have stirred them up to attack." Another coughing fit interrupts him. "They never leave anything behind, though. Whole damn tribe will come after us if there's any of their remains on the ship. Can't survive another attack like that... hull won't hold if they start hitting it either."
Lineera listens to the captain's explanation, then replies "We'll just have to hope for the best since we've dumped the bodies. For now, we need to treat the injured. Is there a place for me to at up shop?" Lineera pulls out her surgical tools, and ominously asks "Is there any hard liquor on hand? The unconscious are the lucky ones right now. "
Riley wipes lobster guts off of his sword and sheaths it. He quickly begins helping the others provide medical care. Great job guys. That almost got ugly. He bumps the old witch gently with his elbow. You've got some wicked magic there. The creatures got silly once you started playing with their minds.
"Kregith? I cannot say that I have ever heard of such creatures," Cathran says, frowning. "What do you think could have provoked them?" She crosses her arms and thinks back to the battle. The cry of one of the Kregith when Eva's bomb hit it... "They seemed weak to fire. We could rig some torches to the sides of the ship if you think it would deter them from boarding."
He bumps the old witch gently with his elbow. You've got some wicked magic there. The creatures got silly once you started playing with their minds.
The hag grunts, gruffly pleased with the compliment, "I've got a surprise or two left in me... you just wait."
"Yes, as Lineera asked, is there a place we can set up for tending the injured? We should take the time we have to heal and recover. I hope they don't attack again, but we should not take the time we have now for granted."
The crew take the wounded down to the crew quarters on the second deck, and put the wounded up in hammocks to heal. Lineera and Eva are soundly thanked if they help heal the injured. Although the thanks for Lineera are give from a hands off distance.
Once Eva and Lineera are done tending to the crew, she'll ask them if they have any spare healing for the day, not wanting to expend their expensive new wand unnecessarily.
After that, she gathers their little group together, asking each to meet her with a concerned look. "The captain said that those Kregith that attacked us stay at the bottom of the lake unless they are bothered by something. I am worried that the 'something' has to do with us, or those amulets," she says, glancing around as if the bag of cursed amulets might be sneaking up on them. "The captain said that this ship will not hold if attacked, so I doubt the ferry to Caliphas would fare much better. We should see what we can find out about the events around Illmarsh once we get to Vauntil, if there have been any. I am sure you all remember the difficulty with which Kalvant cleansed the evil that clung to us. I fear that someone, or something, is stirring up disaster for us; I do not know whether they mean to target us or if we are simply caught in the ripples of a larger, spreading evil." Cathran is silent and serious, looking to each for their opinions, trying to hide the fear behind her sharp eyes.
In response to Eva's statement, Lineera adds "We should also try to keep anyone not getting treatment or helping with it up on deck. Part of why that attack was so effective was how they managed to keep so many of us trapped below decks during the fight." Heading towards where the crew leads her, the dark elf states "I'm going to start getting things clean in here, Captain, you're up first, your crew needs you in as good of shape as possible as soon as possible."
Once Eva and Lineera are done tending to the crew, she'll ask them if they have any spare healing for the day, not wanting to expend their expensive new wand unnecessarily.
Lineera, up to her forearms in blood, grimaces at the question. "I do... Well, are you ready? There's some whiskey on the table there, take a couple draughts and let me know when it's taken effect." Turning away, Lineera washes her hands in a small basin, and begins talking to others. "Eva, can you help me with this? You know your way around this stuff I think. Riley? I'll need you to help hold her steady if you can."
Once Cathran gives the go ahead, Lineera breaths deeply. "Well, let's get to it then."
Sweating profusely by the end, Lineera keeps trying to comfort Cathran through the procedure. "Almost done, you're almost there Cathran just hang on." As Lineera finishes the last bit of stitching, she breaths a sigh of relief. "You did good Cathran, I'm done. Just going to wrap a bandage over it now."
Lineera take time the rest of the day and following night to continue to care for the wounds.
Once wearily finished with four consecutive hours of surgery. Lineera asks the Captain what he wants done with the body of the fallen crewmember. Then puts on a short funeral for the one who died. Despite being short, and somewhat impersonal given her lack of knowing the fallen, it's still a rather well wrought funeral.
Finally finished with her tasks as priestess and doctor, Lineera wobbles, yawns, and tiredly announces "Well, I'm going to go take a bath and get some sleep. Someone come wake me in a few hours." Lineera then tromps down stairs to take said bath, and finds as quiet of a corner to set up her tub as possible, fill it about half way, and dozes off about half way through bathing.
But, I'm officially ready to move on whenever, though wouldn't mind RPing with others in the meantime either.
"Who do you think helped take care of Perdition's Point before you showed up?" Eva gave Linera a teasing smile as she helped her care for the injured.
When it came time to tend to Cathran, Eva slipped away momentarily before returning to slip her a small container. "Drink. It'll help." She knew there were others that likely needed it, but it was hard not to help those close to home first. She'd just have to make more tomorrow to give the injured crew.
It takes another 2 and a half days for the ship to make it into Vauntil, and the crew watch is doubled, with the passengers asked to help fill out the watch due to the losses. While it's a nervous 2 and a half days, it's thankfully uneventful.
Finally the ship pulls into Vauntil, and the Captain comes up to the group as they are preparing to disembark. "Crew wanted me to thank you for your help, several would have died, or lost limbs, without your healer's help." He nods at Lineera. "My thanks as well. Never thought I'd ever tell a dark elf thanks, but there it is." He passes a small coin purse to Cathran. "This here's half your passage, you worked half the cruise, you don't pay for workin. My thanks again."
Lineera smiles and shrugs helplessly at the captain's words. "Most of my people don't deserve thanks, honestly don't expect I'll ever tell another dark elf thanks myself." Letting loose a wry, if somewhat bitter chuckle, Lineera finishes. "I simply try to let my actions speak for myself, even if they don't speak for my people."
Riley nods to the oracle and moves over to assist. He does his best to hold the patients steady while Lineera does excellent work.
Riley loads up his gear to prepare for land travel. He is relieved his time on the boat is complete. Wow. Thanks Cap. This will go to good use. I hope you find out why we were attacked.
Cathran bows deeply to the captain, her face serious as usual. "We were glad to be of help. May your future travels be safe," Cathran says, accepting the half pay back. The bag feels heavy in her hand as she looks at it, brow furrowed. It seems questionable to take pay for working the ship, when it was the result of so many deaths that they were unable to stop. Still, there was work to do, and it looked like they would need all the help they could get.
Leading Bertha off the boat, Cathran breathes in the port air. She turns toward Riley and gives him a grim smile. "Back in Vauntil already. Let us skip the fire whisky this time." She sighs, and the smile fades. Cathran then turns to address the rest of the group once they're off the ship. "I hope you're ready for more lake travel. I'll go see if the ferry is still running to Caliphas. Hopefully the Kregith were just a fluke last time..."
Lineera raises an eyebrow at the comment aimed at Riley. "Am I not the only one who's been demanding you take shots?" Then nodding once the conversation turns back to business, Lineera airs her thoughts. "We're on a tight time schedule with the detour we're taking, I don't think we can afford to avoid the ferry, dangerous though it may be. I'd just recommend that we all stay close together and keep our weapons at hand. Their tactics seemed to work best when we were all scattered and cut off from one another. Once we were together, it was a lot easier. But, lets hope that those Kregith were just... confused? Maybe they were looking for another ship, or at least not for us." Lineera attempts to end on a positive note, but it just comes out as unsure and concerned.
"May you and your crew be safe." Eva wished the Captain well before getting off the ship.
"I know we need to catch the ferry, but... do you think we have time to stop by their alchemy shop? " She looked hopeful. She always liked to look, even if that's all it ended up being, when she traveled.
Riley grins at Cathran. Good times indeed. Better times than now. He responds to the others. We definitely have time to hit the alchemy shop. Let head there now. Then we can make arrangements to head out.
After Cathran addresses the group, Aurora nods slowly - "Let's hope for the best... And be ready for the worst, just in case." - turning toward the ranger, Aurora shines the woman a bright smile - "It'd be best not to wander off alone. I'll come with you Cathran, if you allow me."
When far enough from the other's ears, the young paladin turns toward her companion and smiles mischievously - "So... Fire whisky? I reckon there is an interesting tale just waiting to be told! Assuming it's not something private... Care to share it with me?"
"Come with me?" Cathran asks, her voice growing suddenly higher pitched. She clears her throat before continuing, "Yes, of course. It is my pleasure."
As they walk together along the dock to book passage on the ferry, Cathran blushes at Aurora's question. "Private? Um, no. I did not realize that you heard that. Um." Cathran reaches up and begins to unconsciously twirl a lock of her hair. "Well, I was in Vauntil on my way back to Perdition's Point--I can hardly believe I was just going to settle down as a trapper--oh, but, you probably do not want to hear about that. Um. Anyway, I stopped at an inn, which was rather crowded, and I ended up re-meeting Riley--or is it Lucky?--I still have not figured out what he prefers we call him. Oh, but I digress again! My apologies." Cathran's nervous hair twirling gets faster at this point. "I was tired after a long journey on foot, and Riley offered to get our table some fire whiskey, and a couple of other rough-around-the-edges types were ordering drinks for the whole place...and suffice to say, I may have had a bit more than I planned," Cathran admits, blushing furiously. "I usually watch myself a bit more, but I had been on the road a long time. Whenever I drink that much, I tend to--well, perhaps I have embarrassed myself enough for now." Cathran manages to crack a nervous smile. Realizing that she is practically pulling hairs out with her finger-twirling by now, she stops and quickly puts her hand down, even more embarrassed. "Well, there, now I have gone and babbled off a boring story when you were expecting an interesting tale." The half-elf smiles at her paladin friend, but keeps her face sheepishly low.
"Yay!" Eva gave Riley a hug with a big happy smile before she started singsongy chanting 'alchemy' as they walked excited.
Lineera chuckles and follows after Eva and Riley. "So where'd you learn to swing a sword like that Riley? It's not something that most know how to do that well."
The group heads off to the merchant quarter in Vauntil. It's midday, so the next ferry won't leave until near dusk, about 5 or 6 hours away.
In the merchant area, the group finds plenty of shops, and about one in ten are Alchemy shops. Eva looks like a kid in a candy shop, whether it be her oohing over the 50 by 25 wall of drawers of alchemical reactants and powders (every drawer with a samll glass window in it to show how much and just what is inside), or her drooling over a portable alchemy lab as big as she is.
"Yay!" Eva gave Riley a hug with a big happy smile before she started singsongy chanting 'alchemy' as they walked excited.
Riley extends his elbow out so Eva can latch on and he skips with her. He ignores all of the weird looks as he enjoys some fun and Eva's happiness.
Lineera chuckles and follows after Eva and Riley. "So where'd you learn to swing a sword like that Riley? It's not something that most know how to do that well."
Out of breath as they arrive at the alchemy shop, Riley leans over breathing heavily. Wow. That Eva has sure got some energy. He responds to Lineera. I spent quit a few years protecting merchant caravans and then later with a rogues' guild. I hope I get a chance to use it to bring vengeance for the people of Perditions Point. His cheerful mood darkens as he mentions his home town.
Lineera smiles "Yeah, she sure does. I swear she must be younger than she looks. But caravans huh? Must've been more adventuresome than I'd have reckoned to learn to swing a blade like that. I'm pretty sure I've been swinging weapons longer than you but you put me to shame!"
Lineera offers a slap on the back to Lucky. "Though seriously, I'm glad you're with us. We need good hands at fighting, I know we've made reference to it before, but that cave where the cult was was a death trap. It's a miracle we all made it out alive. Those... uh, Kregith? Yeah, kregith... made those guys look like chumps. I mean they hit harder, but that cave was a fortress by any other name. But with you and Cathran on the team, and our preparations, we'll be ready. We'll avenge Perdition's Point. She finishes this with a resolute nod. "I bet my soul in it..."
"Oh, I don't know about that" - Aurora chuckles, patting Cathran on her shoulder as she finishes her tale - "It was actually rather interesting, and it helped establish a few facts... Number one" - she starts counting on her fingers, in exaggerated gestures - "you wanted to settle down as a trapper; number two, you have no idea how to refer to our friendly scout; number three, and most important of all, when you drink too much... What happens again, exactly?" - Aurora asks casually, turning just a bit to look at her friend's expression, a mischievous grin dancing on her lips.
Not a moment later however, she lets out a quick laugh and dismisses her own antics with a swift gesture of her hand - "My apologies, that was awful of me, I shouldn't have done that. I was trying to lighten the mood after our... Troubled journey here. I'll be more considerate in the future."
Turning toward her friend, she looks Cathran over for a moment, before continuing in a serious tone - "That reminds me, you suffered some serious injuries in that fight. How are your wounds fearing? Are they completely healed? Do you want me to have a look at them? I do have some experience treating injuries."
Cathran manages to smile at Aurora's counting, until the question at the end of number three. She blanches, not sure whether the shame welling up in her is from the thought of Aurora knowing her drunken tendency to fall back on her more rural accent (a strange mix of the Common spoken in a small forest hamlet like Perdition's Point and her parents' own woodsy tongues), or the thought of not being able to joke about it with such a charming woman when she was being so friendly. Luckily, Aurora graciously relieves her from answering, and Cathran can breathe again.
"My wounds? Um," Cathran starts, thinking back to just a few days ago. Aurora, Lineera, and Eva had been extremely helpful in healing the injured crew, although Cathran had only been attended by the latter two. "My wounds have healed completely, thanks to our strange drow friend's skills, and Eva's concoctions," Cathran says, thinking back to the ship again. Eva's extracts were helpful for magical healing, and Lineera's surgical prowess was impressive--both approaches very scientific, treating her cuts and bruises as technical and structural problems to be overcome, strictly professional. Aurora's abilities, though, were more...intimate. As such, Cathran avoided the paladin's treatment with equal amounts of fear and pining. So now, facing the direct question from Aurora herself of whether she'd like her wounds examined, Cathran harbors an inward debate, one side insisting that she accept and the other side vehemently opposed. "Um, that said," Cathran hears herself saying, "I suppose it certainly could not hurt to get a second opinion, if you find that you have the time for a check up on the way to Caliphas," she finishes, astounded at her own boldness and the heat in her blushing cheeks.
Riley blushes. Thank you for the kind words. I am glad to be home.
Lineera smirks at Riley's blush, perhaps Aurora was beginning to rub off on her? "You're welcome. Though you said you go by 'Lucky' sometimes, right?" "Does that mean we should all rub you on the head before we do anything dangerous?" as she says this, Lineera playfully musses Riley's hair. Though her face turns serious again after the playful moment. "But back to business, I think the main reason those cultists got the jump on us because we weren't prepared for them. Your sword should do well against zombies, and that's all they seemed to use last time, so you're good there. But I'm guessing with us overrunning their defenses last time they may well shake things up for our next go at them. You may want to see about getting some kind of blunt instrument, like this." Lineera gestures at the battle aspergelium that now hangs at her hip. "Skeletons are another common thing to raise, and swords aren't really the best way to go with them. Maybe while we're in Vauntil or Caliphas you should look into picking one up. I mean, a stout stick can manage too, really you just want anything that's more made to break bones than cut flesh."
Eva makes a few purchases , and then the group head down to the harbor again. The Ferry is on it's regular schedule still, and given how many people use it, the price is not exorbitant. It's 10gp per person (double for large animals) for a 2 day ride, and everyone is required to bring their own food. Water can be gotten from the lake, or brought with you (if you prefer not to chance the sometimes clean sometimes dirty waters).
You arrive in Calaphas the next day. It is likely the first visit for anyone except Aurora or Riley or Cathran . The city is huge, and due to it's close ties to Rasmira, it has a strong Rasmiran architectural flavor. Lots of domes, sweeping curves, open roof tops used for laundry or outdoor eating.
You took off in the evening, so you arrive in the evening. An hour or so before dusk.