Torgue keeps a grip on the rope.
She then scans the men one more time, this time with Detect Magic. If nothing comes up she casts Water Walk and hops overboard to take a closer look at one of the men. She makes sure she is fully covered before approaching.
"These boils concern me and I need to know if they are infectious. Are you sure there isn't anything more you wish to add about how you got out here? Maybe about these pirates?" she asks them, hinting that she knows they are hiding something. "The faster we can figure this out the faster we can get you back to Port Shaw."
Chell detects magic, the scrawny cat pings back. You stop to study the cat for quite some time a good 30 seconds, there is moderate transformation aura to the kitty. Nobody on the dory has any magic items.
She doesn't quite jump overboard to check on the men...yet.
Astri heads over to the cartographer guide. The elf is indexing a few maps when Astri arrives. She looks up with pleasant smile. "Aura, no April, no no Astir wasn't it?" the elf smiles as she struggles for the name. She blushes slightly. "I may not remember names but I never forget a map. Did that map of the coast work out for you?"
I previously described the cat as scrawny that's what you see.
Sorrin readies an arrow. Hospitality was ingrained in his being, but...Donovan would be upset, even if getting killed was her own fault.
There was a shortage of Quellan priests, so it was for the greater good, despite the self-absorbed little miss.
"So what have you been doing since my last fight that you've watched? Any good stories or souls saved?
"I've a fight tonight, you cleared my head. My f*$king miserably piece of shyte deity sent you to strengthen my spirit and fists. Come be my guest at Skull tonight and watch me pulverize Varion Drakemoor into sissydom bet heavy." He then buries his face in...well you get the idea.
"Well, watching you pound someone to a whimpering little pulp does sound like a fun time. Would it be bad luck to bet on you as well?"[b]
[b]"As for what I've been doing, well, it's been quite a bit. Been doing a little bit of do-gooder work with the group I am with. We went out and captured some illegal drug selling gnoll and freed some captives he was planning to sell as slaves. We also been trying to find out why a couple of Quell priests have gone missing. Done reported to Father Zalen where at least one may have ended up, but still no ideas on the who or why of that one."
Astrianna smiles at the elf as she struggles to recall her name. "All good names, but I'll settle for Astrianna." She reaches into her haversack to pull out the map in question, neatly rolled up and tied with string. "You may have heard about the capture of the infamous Gnoll Bonegnaw recently- we partly owe our success to your map, so thank you."
She gets on to business. "I was hoping to trade-in this map for any kinds of maps of the Blacksink Marsh, or survival guidebooks, or any other information you may have. I have heard the place is... inhospitable."
"Bet away."
Belok takes an interest in your recent adventures. "It's good to hear someone's cleaning up this place, it's been a long time coming. Eliminating drug peddlers is good thing." his has a throaty growl when you mention slaver. 'Blight upon this world. So, Father Zalen's the splitting image of his father, not as talented, but he seems a good guy. Damn Kraken did in a good man."
She gleans over the map that Astrianna brings back to her. Mentally noting where the over is contained. "I have some maps of the Blacksink March, let me go retrieve them and perhaps bit of history."
As she scans the men she asks them a few more questions until the scan reveals something odd. "Those boils concern me and I need to know if they are infectious. Are you sure there isn't anything more you wish to add about how you got out here? Maybe about these pirates? And..." Transmutation? she thinks. "Who are you?" she asks straight out to the cat.
"Well, hopefully Father Zalen sticks around to continue being a good guy. The little Quell cleric with our group got a bit mouthy when talking to a mage name Xander and likely said a lot more than she should have in a public bar. I'm guessing it's not good to mention the Kraken out in the open. Not that I understand half of what's going on. Does finding someone with an octopus sucker ring scarred on his body associate him with the Kraken or is that something else?"
Astrianna waits for the return of Jasmine, looking around the explorer's guild. It would be fun to work here, so much reading material, maps... Not to mention all of the adventurers coming in with their stories and rumors. Actual adventuring pays far better, though.
The men squirm a bit when you mention pirates when one finally mumbles, "'Kay, we were on Capt. Dre's pirate ship and put to sea when we got sick." One of his companions whacks him in the chest for spilling the beans.
The frighten cat meows.
The man holding the cat clenches it closer. The man answers, "T...this is Twiggles."
"I am a cleric. I can see the Transmutation aura around it. Who, or what, is it? Answer honestly and I will look at your wounds." As an a aside to Donovan and Sorrin. "Who is Captain Dre?"
The half orc stops cold. "Well if Bowbe ain't exposing his ugly head in mysterious ways...that bastard whore. Well, Xander's quirky purty opinionated on his magic. I've thrown 'im some coin, he's had a rough time of it too many sorcerers running around taking up the good gigs, or so he thinks. He took the Trident's loses hard blames himself, but we all failed. I'd be dead were it not for Chambers dragging me to some flotsam."
He spits on his floor and cracks his knuckles. "I'd like me a piece of that ugly tentacle sucking piece of ocean scum." He refers to the Kraken. "Most folks are wary of speaking in public about the creature Kraken. The creature Harthagoa is a krackenfiend birthed, its father was none other than Demogorgon. It burst from his mother’s body and grew to maturity over the course of a few scant hours. He then devoured his crippled mother in order to claim her territory. He spreads his dark tentacles farther and farther with each passing year. So no its not comply talked about."
He scrutinizes you closely, "Some say that tentacle sucker mark that you describe is the mark of the Ring of the Kraken a secret organized crime group. Whether it relates to Harthagoa or not is beyond me."
"I am a cleric. I can see the Transmutation aura around it. Who, or what, is it? Answer honestly and I will look at your wounds." As an a aside to Donovan and Sorrin. "Who is Captain Dre?"
"It's me cat, Twiggles. Found 'im in our last port of call." He doesn't seem to be telling a lie. "A what 'a? he is apparently confused about the word you said.
The elf comes back with a couple crude maps of the Blacksink Marsh and an old journal. She teasingly flips her long blonde hair back behind her ears. She begins to read alout loud to the bard, she begins to tell the story.
"Blacksink Marsh has always had an ill reputation. The thorns that grow there are poisonous, beasts and changed things rove the waters lurking in wait for foolish travelers, and the twisted descendants of an accursed tribe hunt beneath the dark canopy of black willow trees. Explorers tell of strange crumbling buildings suddenly happened upon at dusk that vanish with the last red rays of the sun, and gators who walk on two legs and drown men from afar with a mere glance."
She looks up to see if Astrianna is paying attention, "Blacksink was not always a mired wasteland. In ancient times, this stretch of land was a fertile paradise where red jack, moltado fruit, and other exotic wonders grew on lush green trees. Taro farms, well tended by the Tulita tribes of the Razor, produced more largess than the people could eat, and the sonorous cries of the gold-plumed kovalo bird put even the finest chant-singers to shame. Beneath the lifegiving shade and gentle rains of this peninsula, the Tulita practiced the old ways, revering their gods with powerful chants and dances. Their obeisance to Pele, the goddess of fire and wrack, kept their enemies at bay with searing flames, and the three totems of Dolphin, Whale and Turtle kept careful watch over the people and provided for all their needs. There was no Tulita word for disease in this age (today there is, a word synonymous with “foreigner”). The area known today as Blacksink was a paradise."
"Then the wars came, and brother turned on brother. The Tulita fractured, their many tribes taking sides and taking up arms against one another. The waters of the Kai Bay ran red with Tulita blood, and desperate gambits to control the coast pushed tribes to engage in escalating atrocities. Murdering the children of an enemy before they could become warriors became a widespread practice."
"Facing annihilation, tribes turned away from the old gods, who were believed to have turned their backs on their children when the wars began. Pele fumed at the arrogance of her children. Fury and violence were hers alone to dole out, and so she spewed magma and ash upon the Tulita in hopes of quelling their ridiculous wars, but the tribes, entangled in feud and spite, fought on even as fire rained from the sky and laid waste to their lands. Grandfather Turtle fled his beaches, and the healing powers of the shamans vanished overnight. The Turtle would not watch his gifts be squandered on fools who would throw their blessed lives away on enemy spears. The Dolphin and Whale left the bay, fleeing deep into the ocean, and with these guardians’ departure, other things came to the waters of the Razor."
"When the first sharks came to feed in the bloody, corpse-strewn waters of the once glittering Kai Bay, the Tulita marveled at these creatures’ dread power. They devoured all things, heedless of harpoon or spear, and fearlessly tore swimmers to shreds. A terrible force of terror and carnage, many tribes turned to the sharks as an exemplar of the warrior spirit. In these bloody times of the Great Wars, many tribes claimed the Shark as their new totem, and so Dajobas, He Who Eats the World, came to the Razor Coast."
"Of all the tribes who worshipped at his voracious maw, none pleased Dajobas more than the Karikanti. Most tribes made sacrifices to the Shark God, but the sheer number of victims the Karikanti bled on his altars made the other tribes’ offerings seem paltry by comparison. The Karikanti splayed every enemy captive with a sharkstooth blade, and even fed their own sons and daughters to Dajobas’ gory maw. The Shark God was pleased, and offered the Karikanti a great boon. The first alligators came to the Razor Coast, children of the Shark God, possessed of his dread appetites but gifted with legs to walk on land. These scaly-hided hunters came to the Karikanti and served them in battle, culling the tribe’s enemies on land and in the rivers where no shark could prowl. The Karikanti claimed the fertile peninsula as their own and erased entire tribes from existence in gory sprees of slaughter. They erected great ziggurats to Dajobas’ glory. They drowned the land in blood, painting these great temples red with gore and sacrificing men, women and children to the Shark God without respite in a desperate attempt to appease his unending hunger."
She stops for a moment to catch her breath and let the story sink in.
She takes a deep breath then continues to read from the fragile journal.
"Faced with the terror of the Karikanti, many of the other tribes returned to the old ways. They practiced the old chants and dances in secret, calling across the waves with sacred drums and pleading with their totems to return. Finally after decades of dark slaughter, the Dolphin, Whale, and Turtle returned to the Razor, coaxed by these shamans’ efforts. Together, they cast the Shark God back into the deeps."
Her eyes brighten. "The Karikanti faced grave judgment at the hands of their old gods. For one, their slaughter of the other children of the coast was a blasphemy beyond comprehension. Perhaps even more terrible was the infestation of Dajobas’ gators. These foul abominations could not simply be cast back into the sea. They creep in rivers all along the Razor even to this day. In anger, the old gods cursed the Karikanti to resemble the hideous scaly predators they had brought, like a plague, to the land. The inflection grows with the story.
A tear in her eye as she finishes the passage. "The birth of god, his followers, and the destruction of the land."
Chell turns to the captain, Sorrin and Torgue. "I don't know what's going on. The cat isn't a cat but I don't think they know that. Do you know who Captain Dre is?"
"As for that sucker marked fellow. Well, we were just investigating a place where we found evidence of priest of Quell's body being disposed of when dwarf showed up and began attacking us. It was his body that had the ring upon it. Just don't know what the Kraken has against Quell. And of course I can't forget about Dajobas. That wereshark we captured a bit ago said this place would be awash with blood."
"I swear, the longer I am here, the worse this place looks. Present company excluded of course. Ain't nothing wrong with how you look."
"I haven't heard of that one, could be they've moved in from out fo the area or maybe someone moved up the ranks. Carcass is a pirate's haven, so that wouldn't surprise me."
"Stay on board, unless you think you can aid them now, otherwise we drop 'em 100 foot of rope and tow them closer but out of site of Port Shaw. There we can go get the type of help you need to treat them Chaplain."
Edit:
In your travels you have heard of Capt Dre (I'll have to update you with the ship name when I get home). You heard of the man that's been working out of Carcass in the last few weeks. Typical merchant raider, not known for being too ruthless, but still a pirate.
"The good Captain has decided to take mercy on you," she yells down to them. "We'll tow you somewhere outside of Port Shaw. What you do after the is up to you." Verdict rendered she unties herself and tosses most of the rope down to them, then goes to tie it off near the stern. "It was my decision to help so I will keep an eye on them. We'll need food and water for later. They are still dehydrated and malnourished. I will pay for whatever supplies we use."
[b]"And don't worry about no wereshark bite. I try not to up close with anything that means me harm. I got a few tricks that I can do from a distance and ain't no one got a bite reach of 30 feet."
If'n we can cure them I think they might be good as crew. We really need some more and get this ship in order.
Astrianna sits down with Jasmine and listens intently to her story. She is immediately sucked in by the mixture of storytelling and history presented by the journal writer. Her face softens as the story continues its descent into the bloody history of the Tulita long before the nations of Avistan came to reap the boons of its shores. Here I thought this place was a paradise before their arrival.
When Jasmine finishes the passage from the journal the half-elf also feels affected. Perhaps it's the elf in her, lamenting the sacrifice of a bountiful land to punish invaders, or the sobering knowledge that the hard-won victory of the Tulita against the forces Dajobas would mean nothing when the foreigners came from across the sea. Whale, Dolphin, and Turtle... where are they now?
She sighs and looks up at Jasmine. "Incredible. I thought it was just a normal, if unpleasant, swamp. I suppose it makes sense, I once heard that the area Shaw resides on was a paradise for the Tulitian Elite of old. The Karikanti... sound like dangerous foes, and they may have a new agenda. Perhaps even an axe to grind."
She continues her thoughts. "I met a disciple of last week. Captured him after investigating some kidnappings. He was ranting and raving about Shaw being washed with blood soon... talking about the return of Dajobas." The bard pauses for a moment, somber. "Rumors say shark attacks have been increasing exponentially. Something Spiritual is amiss in Shaw, and I feel it is connected to He Who Eats The World. "
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Astri you find some more information,
- Dajobas, called He Who Eats the World, is a god of endless hunger who plagued the Razor Coast centuries ago.
- The tribe of Karikanti, foul reptilian men who mated with alligators in ancient times, still worship the god in the dark recesses of the Blacksink Marsh.
- Dajobas is a shark god, but he is the father of the scaled and greedy gators as well.
- The Hungermire was once the site of a great temple to Dajobas’ glory, but it sunk into the swamp ages ago. There sacrifices were made to the God of Hunger by feeding victims to the mire’s drowning embrace.
-These dreary wetlands are home to all manner of poisonous creatures as well as cannibal tribes of Karikanti who prey on Tulita and any explorers foolish enough to brave the Blacksink. It could be that the gator-men are responsible, but no tracks have ever been left by these creeping predators and no one knows where these accursed creatures lair.
- The Blacksink is a dead place overgrown with marsh weeds and strangling vines. Before the colonists arrived, when the Tulita still ruled the Razor Coast, criminals whose offenses were particularly loathsome earned a sentence of exile into the marsh—a fate deemed worse than death by most.
The elf flirts with Astianna, she's a bit captivated by someone who can appreciate the history and the lure. Single? But wait I thought that man she was with was cute...oh what was his name Sasquach, Saw, er...I do need to get better with names.
"Good thing we were pretty sneaky about getting in there to look at stuff and I made to disguise myself before we left. I don't need any corrupt Dragoon coming after my ass. That's your job."
Bri gives a laugh and then continues."Though I wonder how a snake got himself such a nice war hammer."
"Oh, if you were wondering how I could actually managed to disguise myself, let me give you a little demonstration."
Bri casts her disguise hex, the result is still her, but her as a half-orc.
She takes out her notebook and starts to write a few brief points that she can expound on later. From the sounds of things, we'll be needing a lot of anti-toxin. Perhaps Chell can neutralize poisons with her blessings?
Astrianna usually isn't interested in women, but Jasmine was quite attractive... and the bard had a thing for elves. She briefly and coyly flirts back with the elf while writing in her journal, but she has one more matter to discuss with her.
"I have taken a great interest in the culture of the Tulita and their spirits. Their gods are clearly connected to the land itself, and directly influence the lives of mortals, unlike the gods of Avistan. I have met one of these gods, an old totemic one from Ho’oka’la. A foolish Captain, Mortimer Cray, made it into a mastfor his ship the Sea Bear. We found it adrift and investigated. It dug into our minds, tried to get us to betray one another, and had direct control over the ship itself. We found out what happened- the crew went insane with a forgotten god's rage, and killed each other. We were forced to destroy it." She shudders a little at the thought, remembering the dark whispers and paranoia it instilled in them. A small desire to preserve the totem still lingered inside of her.
"All of their gods are not malevolent, of course, but they all have great power... There is Whale, Turtle, and Dolphin, protectors of the sea and land, which can be trusted and relied on." Astrianna sucks in her breath as she broaches the subject Jasmine was unwilling to talk about previously. "Which brings me to my question- What do you know about the Jawbone of Kaho Ali’i? It was stolen a month ago by Karskor Thul, we believe, though we do not know its location now. We plan to look for it soon. Where did it come from? Is it truly a part of Whale? What power does it hold? Is it magical, simply a spiritual relic, or does it play a part in these recent events with Dajobas...? I know it's a difficult subject, but please, I must know."
His eyes widen at the female half-orc standing before him, he walks around looking. "Hmphhhtttttt." But alas he can't avoid touching.
The captain gets everyone within a couple miles of the shore, "We'll be back in smaller boat in about two hours, don't dare go aware. We'll bring back thing to cure those darn boils."
He then comments to the Chaplain, Sorrin, and Torgue. "We'll get back get these men situated cleaning and prepping the ship, Chell you go get Father Zalen describe what you saw. We'll meet at the Vintage she's sleeker, better able for the night mission. Run out there and help them out...if they are still there. Are you alright with that?"
"Well the Jawbone of Kaho Ali’i is a relic for the Tulita something about their history. Give me a few days and I'll see if I dig anything up in one of the old tomes."
Works for me, Cap'n
The Dragon Tails docks about 30 minutes before sunset. The Captain will bark some order to the crew regarding work to be down on the ship. Order to stay aboard and not mention the dory is impressed upon the crew. Jenkie is left behind to ensure everything goes as ordered.
Sorrin nods, but is still unsure what is being asked of him. He respectfully waits.
"Its more than they would get with anyone else. Thank you."
The captain looks at Sorrin. "Question or comment?"
I don't think so, only time will tell.
Bri laughs as he gives in the temptation to touch. "Do you like this version better than the other me? Keep touching and you will find that this is a sight based disguise only."
Sorrin nods, but is still unsure what is being asked of him. He respectfully waits.