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Richard slithers up a sickly looking tree to keep a lookout, but does nothing to diminish Dingus' unease as every driftwood log or vegetative mound appears vaguely threatening to the familiar.
Corliss again rubs the bump on his noggin as he tries to come up with a decent plan. "It be too cold fer gators...methinks," he says to (possibly) calm Dingus's nerves a bit. Finally, he seems to come to a decision. "Can't help but think we oughtta be within shoutin' distance o' Jim; no tellin' if them thugs'll turn on him the moment he no longer serves a purpose. Can little Richard swim? Might be advisable to send him ahead a bit while we follow all slow an' stealthy at a safe distance. Us sloshin' through the swamp be loud an' gives away Kaulie's position iff'n our foes be smart or sharp-eyed."
"Aye. He can swim... but first we got to either convince him that there are no gators here... or that they can climb trees".
Inwardly cursing the water and its stymying of stealth Kaul presses closer... slower...
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Corliss volunteers Little Richard to scout the swamp but the familiar wants nothing to do with that and just glares down at the sailor with an unblinking and quite venomous stare. Meanwhile, Kaul proceeds forward at a stealthy and very slow rate that would deceive even the sharpest lookout. The displaced water around his legs is barely differentiated from the other gaps in the algal mat floating on the still waters.
Kaul eventually makes his way to the first bottomed boat and sniffs to locate the mercenaries.
His nose is directed slightly to the east and south where the men must have gone into a pile of wreckage that rises above the water and muck about 50 yards off.
Corliss continues to play Grandma Dingus's kindly guide, though he now moves forward more slowly.
"Have ye come up with a good excuse why we be out here?" he asks the wizard in a hushed whisper. "I was gonna go with 'Me Granny's lookin' fer a nice place to be buried once she passes,' but there be way too much groundwater hereabouts for that to have any hope o' flyin'."
"Well you young Whippersnapper, of course we're out here looking for my poor pet snake who wandered off in this direction".
Richard drops onto Dingus and disappears into the old lady's shawl to hide. Her chaperone is definitely not hidden as he guides her through the marshes but he plays his role well. They eventually reach the first ruined boat still seeing no sign of either the pair of gladiators they were following or Kaul. Apparently Kaul is still nearby because they hear his low whisper directing them toward a pile of ruined ships and random flotsam about 50 yards ahead. By the time they reach it, Kaul's sniffer has been snuffed but he remains invisible for the moment and Dingus and Corliss maintain their disguises.
After whispering directions Kaul's mind drifts to what Lopper is up to right now...
Dingus Perception
Peeping Richard Perception
The old lady and her guide stumble into an unseen obstacle just before reaching the ruined ship pile up. Kaul's sniffer is about snuffed. A serpent's arrow-shaped head pops out from under the old woman's shawl and flicks its tongue. It hisses and Dingus hears, "I don't sssmell the humansss but maybe there are tasssty ratsss in the boatsss?" If Richard had shoulders, he'd shrug.
"Richard thinks we should explore the boats... quietly..."
"Well, it'd give us the chance to get out o' sight fer a bit," Corliss whispers to Dingus and his snake. "Might be good fer our excuse iff'n we're discovered out here...say we're lookin' to recover somethin' lost when the ol' ship sank."
Kaul's not sure that the pair they were tracking went into the pile up of wrecked ships but taking cover to maybe get a different vantage isn't a bad idea.
The invisible Kaul whispers to the strange pair;
"Hur. Kauly goin' to get closer... Jimmer'll need me when things get bloody..."
The brute bosun eyes the nearest wreck and attempts to climb up the hulk;
With uncanny agility, Kaul climbs up a slimy hull and pulls himself through a hole in the hull.
Can Kaul lift the hatch Skipper? Not sure how to attempt that "stealthily" if its at all possible?
Waiting patiently outside, Dingus and Corliss hear a sudden commotion within the wreckage!
"That doesn't sound good. Is Kaul still out here"?
Dingus looks for a way to look inside the hulk before entering. If he finds none, he'll go look to make sure his partner in crime is Okay.
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Corliss goes with Dingus, helping him look for a way to peek inside.
From somewhere around granny and her helper comes the gruff, rasping whisper of their murderous bosun;
"Hurrrr. Lads... it's me Kauly. Found some folks 'idin' out in this sh1t'ole. Reckon could be Jimmer... Follows me... So do we get bloody now or later?"
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Kaul makes sure to squeeze out a noxious fart before slipping away unseen. The commotion caused by the Dibbets-level assault causes an argument about who dealt that malodorous bomb among the inhabitants of the ruined ships which is overheard by the old lady and her son and/or guardian who circle around the shipwrecks until they are interrupted by the invisible Kaul.
The crew see a large hold hatch on a slanted deck above where Kaul stopped them. It appears that the hatch could be busted open quite easily but not quietly. There is also the hole in the hull where Kaul slipped in and out. There could also be a submerged entrance somewhere among the wreckage.
"Hey Richard. How about you swim under there and see if there is another way in".
The snake hesitates. But what about the alligators? I'm actually more of a tree snake than a sea snake. Are you sure?
"Chicken. I'll bet I can find a hole faster than you".
Dingus stoops low to keep from splashing and forms himself into a very similar fer-de-lance just like Richard, and dives under the water.
Leaving his familiar chastened but safe above the murky water, Dingus-snake finds a nice gap between the ships and slips below them. He does find a passage that might be a bit tight for Kaul but allows entry into a dark chamber that smells of rotting vegetation somewhere low in the pile up of ruined ships.
Invisi-kaul's beady eyes watch as the snakes slink and shimmy through the the murky water.
He whispers his thoughts to Corliss;
"Hur. Wreck or trousered leg... snakes always find a ways in. So reckon we wait now...."
Dingus rises to the surface and communicates to Richard that he thinks he is a better snake than Richard is.
He then symbolizes the group following him beneath the water to the hole he found... swimming a small circle around Kaul then doing a snake shrug.
The skinny but very brightly colored snake resurfaces and hisses at Richard then circles Kaul making weird twitches befor ediving under the ship again with a little 'come along' gesture with its tail. Richard drops in the water and follows unceremoniously, then Corliss, then Kaul.
It is dark but all can follow the disturbance in the water from the swimmer ahead. Corliss hits a fallen beam and can feel a narrow gap where the snakes passed.
Corliss surprises himself and slips through easily.
Kaul shifts and shimmies attempting to follow suit...
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Swimming is nothing new for this crew except maybe Little Richard and in a moment two snakes and two humanoids surface soundlessly in the dark interior of a rotting boat. Richard the Hungry-hearted flicks his tongue repidly and hisses at Dingus
Kaul's inherited cave-adapted vision reveals that they are in a hold compartment full of brackish water with a hatch in the bulkhead about three feet overhead.
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Kaul clocks the hatch, then keeps his beady eyes firmly on the two snakes crawling , hopeful if something else inhabits the water it'll nibble them before him or Blackboots.
He nudges his shipmate and points upward;
"'Atch. Reckons we can pop it open? Or that likely give the ol' sneaky game away?"
The cover has long rotted off the hatch leaving it open so Kaul quietly pulls up to peer about the chamber above. He sees a narrow passage heading left and right with a dim light to the right. He thinks this is likely the chamber he spotted from the upper hole previously.
Dingus and Richard quietly follow Kaul into the chamber. Dingus reverts back to his normal beautiful form, and holds his finger to his lips motioning for silence, then he turns around to help Corliss into the chamber.
Corliss follows. He has a light spell on the tip of his tongue for if/when it's needed, but for the moment he relies on Kaul's ability to see in the dark.
Kaul elbows his mates to let them know his intentions as he pushes onward toward the dim light. The bulky shadow that eclipses the passage further directs his darkness-challenged companions as to where he's bound.
Corliss creeps after Kaul, not loudly, but not silently.
Dingus pulls forth his hooded lantern from his waterproof bag and lights it, then nods for Kaul to proceed. He looks at Richard and holds a finger to his lips letting him know to be silent.
Stealth
Corliss follows Kaul while Dingus prepares his lantern. Most of this makes little to no sound other than the subtle hiss as the lantern ignites and a slight scraping as Dingus messes with the hood. The activity however incites a rapid scurrying and chittering within the old wood of the ruined ships and Richard's head darts excitedly as he lets Dingus know that there are a lot of tasty rats about.
The indirect light from the hole in the larger chamber where the crew now crouch is enough to reveal Kaul's scowl as he points to the far end behind a half-wall of debris where he earlier heard voices.