"Whew! I'm glad you didn't need my help, young feller. I'm afraid these old bones weren't much use."
Does the amulet detect as magic to Ralf?
Perception:
Torch nods his appreciation to Hrakar. "Thanks," he says simply. "Wouldn't be still doing this without you." He looks over at Ralf, then just shakes his head and pats the old man on the shoulder gratefully rather than waste the words.
Suddenly Torch is yet again yanked off his feet and pulled up into the air for a close encounter with a pair of sharpened stakes, for a total of 16 points of damage.
Someone really doesn't want you coming. Do you want to press on or turn left?
P.S.
Did we lose Aerys too?
Cure light wounds:
Channel energy:
Gelik shrugs and hands the amulet back to Torch. "To the victor goes the spoils." He smiles. [b]"I think it's fitting in this barbaric environment that you wear a trophy of your conquests, no?"[b]
Later:
Seeing Torch yanked into the air and skewered again, Gelik actually bursts out laughing. [b]"This appears to be quite the high stakes game, don't you think? I hope you get the point by now." He then bursts into helpless laughter again. When he finally recovers, wiping a tear from his eye, he adds. "My sincere apologies - that was truly inappropriate. I deal with my intense fear of being impaled to death using humor. Puns are the highest form of comedy, you know."
After some consideration, he adds, "Well, we must be on the right track. These savages wouldn't trap the trails unless they led somewhere important, would they? I say we press on. But surely there must be some way to avoid these traps?
Gelik shrugs and hands the amulet back to Torch. "To the victor goes the spoils." He smiles. "I think it's fitting in this barbaric environment that you wear a trophy of your conquests, no?"
Later:
Seeing Torch yanked into the air and skewered again, Gelik actually bursts out laughing. "This appears to be quite the high stakes game, don't you think? I hope you get the point by now." He then bursts into helpless laughter again. When he finally recovers, wiping a tear from his eye, he adds. "My sincere apologies - that was truly inappropriate. I deal with my intense fear of being impaled to death using humor. Puns are the highest form of comedy, you know."
After some consideration, he adds, "Well, we must be on the right track. These savages wouldn't trap the trails unless they led somewhere important, would they? I say we press on. But surely there must be some way to avoid these traps?
Ralf heals up Torch some more.
Aerys follows on the rest of the party, feeling the balance of the javelins and if they would be useful in combat, until she is suddenly brought out of her reveries by the noise of Torch once more rising into the air and impaled on some spikes. She immediately looks around for any threats.
Torch, after more magical healing, looks increasingly angry. "I am really starting not like the locals," he growls. "I think perhaps they need a lesson in hospitality."
Rogar emits a raucus laugh:"They are unwashed savages with a penchant for human meat... did you really expect to grow fond of them Mc Quarry? But I must say I agree with your general sentiment... or is it you agreeing with me?" finishes the dwarf with an hinty of sarcasm. Then noticing Torch seems to still be in pain:"Mmmmmh, here, let me tend those wounds of yours... you should really start to pay more attention to your surrounding, you know?" adds the dwarf, in a jovial tone.
Heal check:
"Maybe we should stay off the trails from now on..." Ralf suggests uneasily.
"SEEMS LIKE A GOOD PLAN OLD MAN!!!" yells the dwarf hoping against hope Ralf can hear him
Aerys starts on the way towards the hill, "This way?"
Deciding that Torch has taken enough punishment for one day you turn back and return to camp without incident. Jask fusses over Torch's badly treated wounds and Quij insists on trying his new jokes. Ishirou is keeping slightly aloof while Sasha and Surkoff man the defenses. The camp is doing pretty well and hasn't seen much attacks since Surkoff started fortifying it. Ilum is turning into an expert hunter, so they are well stocked with food.
The only worry is their reports of a large winged creature soaring above at night but nobody has gotten a clear view of it. They are all anxious to get off the island, so they listen intently to the account of your exploits.
You can all get a good night's rest, and thanks to Jask Torch will heal two points of Strength this night. Hp damage shouldn't be a concern at all.
Anything else you want to do in camp?
Heal check:
"So... what now? We did well against the creatures of this island thus far, but we haven't found a way to leave it yet, and what's worse those two accursed betrayers still breath! I think we should get back to the hunt but it seems they went in a place densely populated with the savages who inhabit this place... maybe it's too much to hope they ended their miserable lives on a spit, eh?
Gelik tells the story of their heroic battle against the plant creatures. In his story, everyone is brave and capable except for himself. The group hacks and slashes their way through all enemies as Gelik wanders around lost, occasionally tripping and falling comically. He does a fair impression of the vegepygmy king, brandishing his new spear, then goes on to describe Torch's arm rot in great detail. He tries his best to work the crowd.
When the conversation comes around to what to do next, Gelik just shrugs. "Honestly, I've been continuously lost since we were shipwrecked. I have no idea where we are, or where we just came from. We lost the tracks we were following, so the only thing I can think of is to go back to where we were attacked by the one savage with the trap, and try to find and capture another fellow. Maybe he can tell us how to get off the island?"
"We can't talk to them," Torch shakes his head. He flexes his hand, watching the shiny-pink skin of his new scar move as he does. "It's some weird gobbeldygook that sounds more like a planar language than anything else. There's no point in prisoners until we've found a way to communicate."
Hrakar nods while helping with Torch wounds:"Indeed... so what do you suggest? Where should we go now? There are other places on this island we didn't explore yet... maybe our prey is hiding there... not much but worth a try at this point I guess"
Torch tries not to laugh, but a muffled snort still escapes his mouth, though he tries to cover it by coughing. "Wait... so now you want to go exploring?" he asks finally. "Very well then. We've several specific goals we might pursue - the good father Jask has asked us about finding evidence to clear him of his crimes, and I believe Ishirou said something about buried treasure, did he not? And there's still the lighthouse to the south, which I still believe is likely our best hope for signaling a rescue. We might well find something heading in any of those directions that would give us a lead on the captain and his scholarly paramour."
"Treasure?" Gelik's ears perk up when he hears talk of loot. "I hadn't heard of any treasure. Why am I always the last to know?"
He sidles up to Ishirou. "What's this I hear about buried treasure? Treasure shouldn't be buried, it should be enjoyed! Flashed about in large quantities and used for purchasing fine wines and exquisite hats!" What do you say, friend? If you know where this loot is, we can all help to dig it up. We'll be rich! You'd get a hefty finder's fee, of course." Gelik assures Ishirou.
Hrakar shrugs:"If you can tell me where the captain is I would surely choose to go hunting him down. Problem is, at this point I don't think you can, which leaves us with the option of exploration as in hope we can find them and/or a way to leave this island... Do you still find our situation so amusing, now, Mc Quarry?"
Ralf nods approvingly.
Aerys listens to her companions, before chirping up, "Well, if we're going to be here a while, then perhaps we can get a better understanding of the island by climbing up to a good vantage point. If we can find a high point, we can survey the island, maybe even see evidence of where the captain went and we can find him and exact our revenge."
Gelik throws his hands up in dismay. "We're hopelessly deadlocked! I say we should go treasure hunting, but I'm willing to follow Torch wherever he decides. I trust him, plus he's the one that stands in front and gets hit all the time."
"That last part is fairly true gnome..."Adds Hrakar with almost grinning at Gelik's jape
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Ralf scratches his head. "Say, didn't we have a map of some kind before? Maybe we should see where it leads -- there could be some treasure there, or something to help us off this island! I reckon it wasn't too far away, if I remember correctly."
Hrakar shrugs:"If that betrayer of a sorry excuse for a captain kept going west he's most probably being digested as we speak. A pity but nothing more than he deserved, I certainly don't want to confront the savages who inhabit this place at all if I can avoid it. This treasure map seems an interesting distraction untill we can think of some way to leave the Shiv..."
Gelik claps his hands in delight. "Treasure it is then! We must move the camp, of course. We'll need all hands for digging and sorting and carrying all the loot! Nobody will want to be left here while we hunt for treasure, and there's no real reason to ever come back here, is there?"
[ooc}Moving the camp is probably a good idea but where will you want to move it?[/ooc]
I take it you're going treasure-hunting then.
Hrakar gives gelik a mildly irritated stare:"Would you keep quiet? I doubt exciting this whole lot of people with tales that can very well prove false to be a good idea. We'll go and check it out, if we find something we'll decide what to do"
Gelik sticks his tongue out at Hrakar. "I'll be quiet when I'm good and ready. And I'm not ready." He raises a bushy eyebrow inquisitively. "So you want us to go, by ourselves, to find treasure. And if we find some, then we decide what to do with it? After having intentionally left part of our little band of castaways miles away and out of the loop? That might be one of the most suspicious series of actions I've ever heard." He crosses his arms. "We should all go, and set up a new camp."
Hrakar shakes his fist at Gelik:"This camp is defensible and as safe as possible on this environment. Moving it to an unknown location where we hope we might find a treasure, and traveling in this dense jungle at risk of being attacked by cannibals or worse would be sheer idiocy, period. We move with a small group, we check the site and then we consider if moving camp is feasible.
In an unusual turn, Torch nods at Hrakar's words. "We shouldn't up stakes until we've had a chance to poke around," he agrees. "I pushed for heading to the farther small islands to see if we could move the camp there - I still think it might be a good idea, though we need to more thoroughly explore the one not covered in fungus - but regardless, we needed to go and see what we might be dragging everyone into before we go through the hassle of tearing this place down and moving it."
He smiles slightly, though as always his scars twist into a scowl. "And the idea of buried treasure sounds quite intriguing to me as well..."
Aerys hearing the opinions being expressed, looks at her friends. "There is more strength in numbers, like the ships of the seas we can move our base as we need. Hrakar, it doesn't matter if a position is defensible, if there's not enough defenders to repel an attack. No I'd be with Gelik on this." she says forthrightly, with a determined timbre to her voice. "So we scout first for a new encampment, any treasure we find as we do it is always welcome."
Seeing everyone in agreement, Ralf nods happily and adds "Hear, hear!"
"On the contrary girly, a place where a few people can hold down a lot of foes... that's what we call a good, defensible position! This place may not be ideal but it's not bad. We should leave IF we find some better place, but unless that happens I can't see any reason to abandon a position of relative strength"
Ishirou insists on accompanying you and also getting a share if you're going treasure-hunting, but the rest prefer to stay in camp.
Around the campfire Surkoff insists on reading aloud from Aerys's unfinished epic poem The Abendego Cantos(much to her embarassment). But actually, it is very good, a gripping and well written tale with compelling themes of the strength of personality against incalculable odds. You all feel inspired by it.
What I'd like to know is which way you are going to the treasure. According to the map you must scale a small hill and wait for sunrise, when the dawning sun will indicate where to dig (so you'd do well to bring shovels).