As the moldering old village draws near, the water at the end of the inlet turns murky and floating vegetation brushes against the sides of the rowboat. A long half-submerged wooden pier juts out into the harbor like a lolling tongue from the crumbling docks that skirt the coast like rotten teeth. The village center is an open field overgrown in scrub and tall straggly grass now. There appears to be a couple shops along the docks east of the field and a sturdy stone building that might be the old town hall at the west end of the field. Houses and other buildings, half obscured by vegetation, huddle about the Commons. Most with collapsed roofs and fractions of four walls remaining. Not a soul is seen.
Jim's murmur breaks the stillness of water and wind. "Put in and make for the town hall, and we'll keep an eye out for tracks on the way."
Kaul's beady eyes blink a couple of times, then he nods with a hard grin;
"Place looks dead... Hope it ain't full o' rotters an' such. Loops prefers a splash when choppin' Hur-hur..."
The thug readies to disembark, axe draw...
Taking a low and slow look across the vista Dibbs shakes his head and spits a gobbet over the side "Aye, looks deader... but thas tha problem innit... places wot look dead often have deaders innem" squinting before adding "Jimmer's got tha right of it though... put in there as a starter... make our way through the muck."
Dibbs conjures a cloak of buffeting winds to clothe him protectively.
"Then to the lighthouse, for if we can get in we may be able to see the lay of the land from it."
Near the docks, the rowboat has to maneuver around a few sunken ships that lurk beneath the murky surface. Finally, the boat bumps against the punky wood pier and the crew haul it ashore and conceal it in the overgrown vegetation. Scouring the shore as they move toward the old government building, tracks are seen.
The Groom was the expert, but I'll see what I can. "Hold up a moment, mates. Let's get a look at these." The Taldan applies his hard-earned observational skills to the town's mysteries.
Kaul pads to where Jim's gaze scours the terrain;
:
"Hur. What ye see matey?"
Happy to yield guidance and skill to Jimmer... Dibbs keeps his survival techniques to himself. "Whatcha see matey?"
the Groom's tracking skill appears to have rubbed off on Jim. Most of the more tracks look like typical wildlife, but he does eventually come upon something noteworthy: old webbed and clawed tracks foray from the docks into some of the abandoned structures, maybe sea devils, and relatively fresh bare human footprints leading past the town hall.
Jim straightens up. "Well, we've got signs of sea devils, or something like them. There's also some newer human prints, barefoot. Let's follow them." He looks around at the battered buildings and scratches his head idly. "How long has this place been abandoned?"
Kaul nods sagely at the footprints and then to his axe.
At Jim's question he cocks his no-neck to take in their dilapidated surroundings, then shrugs;
"Hur. Looks like plenty o' time since its last spring clean... Want me to go have a looksee? All quiet and sneaky like..?"
As one of the early settlements in the Shackles, Moak Harbor goes back before the Age of Lost Omens and the formation of the Eye of Abendago over a century ago. As Jim follows the trail away from the docks, it is apparent that the town is much bigger than you thought. There were probably thousands that lived here before the place fell to Sea Devil raiders. The ever growing and gripping roots and tendrils of the relentless jungle have covered most of the inland part of the place in a verdant tide. The death that lies just under the living shroud remins eerily near as Dingus stumbles over a skull half buried in the tall grass along the path.
The trail ends at a chapel dedicated to the dead god Arodus. The great doors hang aslant upon corroded hinges.
Dibbs hooks the skull out of the grass with the end of his crutch and squints at it a bit...
... before adding his two coppers "Aye, whoever is hangin round ain't much fer keepin tha upstairs in order eh? Doesnae bode o' much but badness."
The skull does look human and not too fresh; only bone remains, aged to sepia tones.
Kaul mugs a grin;
"Hur... I know. It's like an ol' coat ye put on..."
The thug shivers in delight and moves stealthily forward, sniffing and balefully gazing as he does;
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Kaul silently slips into the dimly lit structure. His darkvision clearly makes out the interior by the faint light that filters through the dirty window shaped like an eery all-seeing eye above the altar. At the altar beyond the debris strewn pews, Kaul sees a human form with its back to the thug. Muttered prayers are half-heard from the ragged humanoid kneeling before the shrine.
Kaul mugs a grin in the gloom and slowly approaches the kneeling figure;
:
The thug raises his axe as he gets close enough to strike. He then hoarsely whispers to the mysterious worshipper;
"Don't ye move. Don't ye get up neither... One word o' anything that ain't an answer tae Kauly's question's means I spilt ye... Nod if ye understand."
As the man grabs for the blade, Kaul growls at his defiance and brings his mechaniclaw to bear - grabbing at the man's only arm;
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As One-Arm slashes, Kaul mugs a cruel smile;
"Hur... Tried ta be nice... Shhhh."
The thug hacks a chuckle as he brings his axe brutally to bear on the one-armed knifer;
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Kaul pockets any valuables (incl. the dagger), then grabs the severed head and slips back to his shipmates;
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Kaul belts the dagger, notes the ink and pockets the book.
He then makes his way back to the group, severed head in claw and smile upon face...
Moments later, Kaul appears at the entrance of the ruined temple, blood splattered and leering with axe in hand and severed head in claw.
Jim shakes his head. "Kaul, mate, that doesn't look like a sea devil to me. One of their allies?"
Kaul nods with a smile;
"Reckon so. E' went fer his blade afore I had a chance to chit-chat. "
The thug chuckles, then shakes the severed noggin so its jaw flaps up and down;
"Ain't too chatty now is ye One-Arm?"
Kaul grumbles an' aside;
"'E only had the one arm... Hur. An' now e' ain't got no head neither... Hur-hur-hur..."
He continues to chuckle as he turns out his pockets;
"'Ere's the blade. Looks sliver. Nice roast carver... Oh an' this book too... All grubby and warped like... Could be a book about you Dibbs! Hur-hur..."
The small book is water-stained and warped, but still clearly legible. The dark blue cover bears the embossed image of a cracked and mended longsword in gold and the title, "Acts of Iomedae". On the inside front cover, crudely written with charcoal are the words, SCALES BENEATH THEIR SKIN.
Dibbs raises his eyebrow as Kaul emerges with a new partial friend. A quiet mutter "Next time I'm goan wi'..." before he holds out a hand for the book. Assuming it's passed over he flicks it open and takes a measured peepsie.
Know (Religion):
After a minute or so staring crosseyed at the pages, Dibbets shrugs and holds it out for anyone else interested "Naught there makin sense tae me eh."
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Kaul shrugs his shoulders with a "told-you-so-look";
"Likely full o' his mad scribblings... Looked the type. Loonies! I can spot 'em...see. Lopps can too."
He waggles the head again, this time in a somewhat melodramatic fashion...
Jim shakes his head. "Baffles me, as well. I'd like to get a look inside the building, though, in case there are other clues to be found." He follows the trail of blood back to the doorway and peers inside.
Kaul helpfully points out the trapped floor inside the temple as Jim moves up to the one-armed and no-headed corpse in a pool of blood before the altar of Aroden. A search finds nothing else other than a pallet of bunched straw harvested from the town commons and ubiquitous rat droppings.
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Kaul also casts a cursory eye o'er the pages, then scowls;
"Hur... Ain't got a clue neither..."
The thug joins the others inside;
"Best check the rest o' the town eh? Likely more o' one-arm-no-head's mates kickin' about."
Well, perhaps the little book will provide material for thought later or at least for wiping. The crew stay away from the coast moving east along overgrown roads between heaped moss-covered old structures. Moak Harbor slopes up to the surrounding hillsides and the lighthouse at the eastern end of the harbor. The journey is interrupted by a low warning whistle from some dense foliage to the right of the path.
Jim tenses, looking in the direction of the whistle. "Who's there?"
A man and woman stand to reveal their position in the foliage. The man is tall and Chelish looking with a scraggly beard and dressed only in ragged pants. The woman looks Mwangi with gray eyes and wearing the tattered remains of a simple dress that barely covers her. They hold their hands up to show their peaceful intentions and the woman asks in the Taldan trade tongue with a lilting accent. "Syndi and Bron. You no merchant men?"
Kaul's beady eyes focus on their arms, lest they too belong to the fell Cult of Amputation he encountered earlier.
The thug shakes his head at the pair's question, but belays speaking to allow Jim or Dibbs to make proper introductions...
Jim gives the woman an appreciative smile and nods to the man. Now, how do I word this so I'm not lying, but I'm not coming right out and saying what we are? "No. Cap'n of our ship fell to sea devils and their allies, and the first mate set us here to get the lay of the land."
"Aye, like what Jimmer 'ere said. You merchant men?"
Kaul chuckles at Dibbs' question;
"Hur... Merchantiles!? What they sellin? Rags? Ain't exactly givin' the impression o' wealth are they?"
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Sotto voce to Kaul "Theys been barnacled 'ere a while matey... questions tae what they was afore."
The subtlety of the questioning dawns on the thug and he winks back at the grubby oracle with a whispered response;
"Hur. Right ye are mate. Might have some choice treasures hidden around 'ere..."
"You no t'ree snakes sail merchants. They bad ones: t'ieves and slavers what work with the sea devils. You heading up to the lighthouse where they be. We be no merchants. We Karikanti."
"Three snakes sail merchants? Sounds like Aspis to me. And they're in the lighthouse?"
Syndi nods. "Dangerous though. Why you wanna go there? Better come wit' us."
Kaul mugs a grin;
"Hur. We's got some 'ostile negow-sheay-shuns tae be carried out. Hur..."
The thug casts his beadies to the others;
"Want Ol' Kauly to have a scout-see o' the lighthouse?"