Astrianna raises her hands up in front of her as Chell flies into a momentary rage. The half-elf moves her seat back, about to get up and start a fight with the priestess, but Chell stops her outburst as quickly as it began.
Eyeing her warily, Astrianna sits back down and folds her arms across her chest. "I'm not saying Jalamar was faking. I'm saying they might have been corrupted against their will. Saegen certainly was. The Kiss of Dajobas could be more powerful than we imagined, and not simple lycanthropy."
She scoots her seat back and gets ready to leave. "Yes Sorrin, I can try. I will need assistance, however. Chell or Embri will need to calm or subdue them before I can speak to them. Be advised wyverns are not trustworthy. We will have to watch our backs if we negociate anything. I'd be prepared to kill them at any time."
Astrianna leaves the officer's quarters, making for the jolly. "Let's get to shore."
Tao sits perched on Astri's head, contemplating where he'd be safest, Yes, this one talks a bit and doubt she'll get her finger nails dirty. She'll due just fine.
Telepathically speaking and shirping. "Can I have another mackerel before we go? Oh and do remember I can't swim well."
Bri is taking a sec to try to think of anything to do or take to possibly improve the Wyverns moods....
Bri you know wyrens are territorial in nature. The are brutish and prefer to attack first, parlay only if faced with a more powerful enemy. You think the island is covered pretty well wyrens control the air, the were sharks have the water, and their hybrid from control the land. You're not sure if the sharks that were eaten were were-creatures or normal sharks. You seriously doubt werebeast though.
Astrianna notices that Tao seems to be perfectly content on top of her head, and is perfectly content to let him stay there. Despite the fact he was definitely messing up her hair, having a pseudodragon around could certainly be handy.
She collects a mackeral and tosses it up in the air for him to catch. "You can fly, silly. You don't have to swim."
"We will just have to make sure to appear stronger than they are, otherwise they will likely just attack us without even bothering to talk first. Do we know what exactly we want to tell them?"
Ptahh contemplates all that he hears... not sure I like the idea of trying to negotiate with wyverns... be ready, Ptahh...
Chell follows silently , still contemplating what she heard and possible options.
The jolly moves off towards the island. You see fins in the distance prowling the sea. The crewman row and row, moving the jolly along as quick as they can.
See, smooth sailing.
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Several of you see a small area on the beach where the jolly can be beached safely. None of the fins bother you as you proceed forward. getting near the opening, the two crewman, who are rowing, look a bit uneasy as the thought of going back to the ship without your abilities.
Although they push off quickly once you have landed.
Once ashore it doesn't take you long to find the dead man with the nice boots. Once a small wiry man with a scraggly unkempt beard, his lightly decomposed body lies contorted into a near impossible pose. On close inspection you notice two puncture wounds in the center of his chest...sure indication of a wvyren attack.
His boots and scabbard radiate magic. He has boots of elvenkind and a masterwork rapier. A scabbard of keen edge sheathes the rapier.
Sorrin picks at the sheathed weapon, discarding the rapier and testing if his scimitar fits the scabbard.
He looks skyward from time to time.
He never got his blade out? Spell slinger of some sort? Ranged weapons? Whatever it was, didn't work.
"Maybe he was trying to talk to them first?"
Bri looks at the man, trying to see if anything about him or his clothing seems familiar.
"I wonder who he was and what he was doing here? Random or wereshark still in human form?"
A bard or some other type of confidence man, by the looks of him. Could have been abandoned by his crew...
...one less share to dole out
As the rowers push off Astrianna orders them to make it back to the ship quickly. She informs them the return signal will be a bright flare in the sky over their location if they're safe. If caution is needed they will instead start a small fire on the beach.
Astrianna sighs as she watches Sorrin toss the rapier into the sand. She carefully picks it up, wipes off the sand, and slides it into her haversack to give to the crew or sell.
The boots are much more interesting. She has no qualms about yanking off the boots, cleaning them off with prestidigitation, and thinking about claiming them as her own. While doing this, she speaks to the pseudodragon perched on her head. "Do you know who this was or where they came from, Tao? They haven't been dead long." Astrianna also looks to Chell. "Do you have any prayers that would allow us to speak with him?"
Sorrin picks at the sheathed weapon, discarding the rapier and testing if his scimitar fits the scabbard.
The scabbard shifts and adjusts to accommodate the scimitar.
He looks like a typical pirate, possibly an officer given his gear.
You notice the puncture wounds, a broken back, so your figure this person was stung by the wyvens. The poison causing him to convulse while it flowed through his veins.
Ptahh keeps a vigilant eye on the skies looking for the wyverns.
You have about 30 feet from where the dead pirate is located to a dell with the first of the trees. You can see it's a slight upward hill to get to the next tree grouping and light house which is set near the middle.
Astrianna looks the man over. "Well all I can tell is he was stung by the wyverns and he convulsed until his back broke? That... is very powerful poison."
She stands up and begins to make her way through the trees and to the lighthouse.
Ptahh follows on the heels of Astrianna making sure to stay within arms reach of the bard.
Chell stays back from the body and watches carefully for anything to jump out and the Wyverns. She also watches as they take the boots and scabbard unmolested. Odd, the Lyrakien sensed something evil here. Chell casts a spell to see the aura of people and objects and scans the body and the surrounding forest.
By request she says a small prayer for the dead man and thanks him for his donation to their cause. She would like to buy him at some point but the threat nearby prevented that until later.
*Here is the overview map again, along with a cutaway view. You are in that little dell.
There is moderate aura of evil encompassing the dead body. The forest and dell don't detect as evil.
As you make your way through the dell and tree line you can see one of the wyverns takes flight over the island he initially appears to be going to the east side. At this point he has not given indication that he has seen either your group or your ship - yet.
Astrianna frowns as the wyvern takes flight towards the east. I hope they don't attack the ship. Without us there they could do heavy damage. Thankfully we found those crossbows on the Weasel.
Her eyes track its movements. Where is it going? The stone serpent is that way...
"Odd. He's dead but there is still an aura."
Basically, he was an evil dude before he died.
Making your way to the lighthouse you see a cottage below the lighthouse is sturdy, built of oak and stone. Expert masons designed the conical exterior of the lighthouse, constructing a tower to weather the coastal storms that plague the Razor. A quick scout around the base and you see two doors leading inside.
which one are you going in the North or South one?
Astrianna takes out a platinum coin, and flips it.
She catches the Taldan piece face-down. "South entrance first. Prepare yourself for whatever nastiness we're going to have to purge today." She puts the coin back in her coin purse and takes out her bow. "You're up, Sorrin."
Chell moves slowly and maintains concentration on her spell, hoping it will give them a warning should something be hiding within.
DMPC: Sorrin checking for traps
The door is not trapped and it is not locked. He pushes it open. The door to the lighthouse keeper’s cottage opens on a cozy family room. A woven rug of red dyed wool covers the center of the room, and an old hickory rocking chair rests by a stone hearth. A small pile of wood and a metal poker rests next to the chair. Against the east wall sits an oak table with a lace tablecloth on top. From the north wall, a small hallway leads further into the house.
Really no reason other than impart some knowledge for your character that the person you looked at was a bad guy. Since you're taking the time to cast a spell and maintain it through concentration. I essentially played it like lingering aura.
Lingering Aura: An evil aura lingers after its original source dissipates (in the case of a spell) or is destroyed (in the case of a creature or magic item). If detect evil is cast and directed at such a location, the spell indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura).
James Jacobs on time frame of soul's departure after death
Based on this the soul can still be lingering around before judgment. He's only beginning to decompose so the flesh and bones still has plenty of nastiness lingering.
Astrianna wasn't expecting such a cozy-looking abode. Huh. I was expecting the smell of dead fish, bones, and debris scattered around. The wyverns must keep this place safe from squatters or the weresharks. Didn't someone mention this place was haunted? Good thing we have plenty of holy water.
There is some dust but not as much as you'd expect.
The room reveals evidence of Daynor family the murders (the lighthouse keeper). Patches of crusted blood cake the red-dyed wool of the rug, and the hearth’s scant ashes conceal a child’s jawbone and a few teeth. You also discover the hidden trapdoor leading to the cellar.
Astrianna puts her bow away when there is no immediate danger. She scans the room, and in an effort to find out how long it's been since habitation, checks the hearth.
Pursing her lips, she pokes at the white objects in the ashes with the fire poker. "These are definitely bones... human child bones. I wonder if pappa Daynor really did murder his whole family?" More evidence is found as she looks over the carpet. "Dried blood... guess they were killed here then burnt in the hearth." The half-elf wrinkles her nose. "Must have smelled awful."
She is inspecting the floorboards and notices all of the dried blood had run between the planks in a certain direction. Astrianna follows it to the point where it had pooled slightly and feels around the edges, finding a clasp. "Got a trap door here. Bet a silver this leads into the catacombs..."
Astrianna stands up and wipes the dust off her hands. "Shall we look over the rest of the house before descending? By the way, this place is supposed to be haunted, so keep an eye out for strange happenings."
"Its doubtful they don't know we are hear. They can wait." Chell looks up towards the top, seeing if anything pings her aura sight.
"Definitely best to check out the whole place first. We do not need some threat coming at us from here when we are trying to deal with the Wyverns."
Trap door and inside of lighthouse
You flip the rug over and see the trap door presumably leading to the cellar.
Inside you detect evil everywhere the entire interior has a faint presence. When you look at the trapdoor the seam has an outline of more intense strong evil presence coming from below.
Astrianna sees the first door to the right down the hallway and decides they should investigate that first. She says a cantrip and summons four cool balls of light to follow her.