DM Alexander Kilcoynes Serpents Skull PbP- Chapter 1, Souls for the Smugglers Shiv (Inactive)

Game Master Alexander Kilcoyne

That seems quite reasonable, James. I'm all for periodicallly moving the camp, anyways. There have to be other people inhabiting this island...I can't believe otherwise. Until we know what their intentions are, we should stick together as closely as possible.

Gwen will rely on Jask to aid Tun'ada in his recovery, in case she is needed elsewhere in the camp. She will attempt to help fill whatever role Jask is filling in the meantime.

"If nothing else we shouldn't scout too far from the camp, if we want to explore the island we should do it nomadically, and if we're to find these ships we need to explore."

I guess James will hunt if he's nothing else to do today. Always good to stockpile food.

No problem Flute. I don't need the details but try and keep me posted as to when you will be able to post, and inform me before any long abscences.

Day 4 Morale Checks=

Aerys-1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Sasha-1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Ishorou-1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

Sasha and Aerys improve to normal morale, one step from hopeful. Ishorou remains shaken.

Encounter Check-1d100 ⇒ 80

Approximately 6:30AM, Day 4.

At some point i'll post up a nicer map someone created. For now, this is what you have explored, note there is still a predator nest to the west of you if you wish to genocide some more Dimorphodons.

Make plans for your morning, i'll update when you reach a consensus.

There have to be other people inhabiting this island...I can't believe otherwise. Until we know what their intentions are, we should stick together as closely as possible.

"Yes, the reports say that there are other people living on this island. Unfortunately, the reports say that those people are cannibals..." Ambroze reminds the group.

...note there is still a predator nest to the west of you if you wish to genocide some more Dimorphodons.

Let's not totally wipe out the dimorphodon population. If we don't bother the dimorphodons to the west, then hopefully they won't bother us.

Ambroze is up for scouting if Tun'ada is recovered. Otherwise, can Ambroze assist Ghelik with providing entertainment for the camp?

My feeling is that we should allow Tun'ada to recover before doing aught else. After he's better (assuming nobody else gets ill), I'm all for scouting as James suggests.

James thinks Dimorphodon meat and eggs would make good supplies for when we want to move the camp...

Chi calls down from the tree, where she and the cat are lazily having breakfast, enjoying their new found freedom. "We could go back to that nest, you know the two that attacked yesterday, or were there others in the nest. Might find a tasty egg in there."

"Other than that, do we want to look at the small isles we saw the north of here, before we go wandering arouund the rest of the island?"

"Perhaps... we'd have to swim there wouldn't we?"

I do not relish the thought of swimming that far. I'd need to leave my armor, anyway, or give it to one of you bigger folk to carry, and thus endanger your lives further - which is something I'd rather not do.

We could certainly leave Tun'ada in Jask's care, and go see if anything worthwhile is in that nest we vacated yesterday... surely that couldn't hurt.

"Granted, I'm not at my best, but I can travel if need be."

Chi calls down, "Cat says she won't swim too, but we should perhaps go back to the nest, that would be good for us all, yes?"

Sounds like sort of a consensus to me, let's say (to move things along) we leave Tun'ada at camp under Jask's care, we visit the nest we cleared out yesterday to see if there's anything there, and then we come back and wait out Tun'ada's sickness.

Ambroze will do what he can to improve morale at camp. As you know, laughter is the best medicine!

Its worth pointing out that Tun'ada only needs tending for ten minutes each day to get the +4 bonus. Hes no better off sat alone in the camp than he is adventuring with you for the purposes of fighting off the disease. I'm also extremely reluctant to split the party (in a PbP)

Then let's go check out that dimorphodon nest.

Chi and cat descend from the tree and go over to Tun'ada, "Well if you really want to come along, I'm sure we can look after you. If we're only going to the nest and not to the other places, we should get that done quite quickly."

A quick trip to the nest reveals that the pair of vicious dimoorphodons had no young.

8:00AM, Day 4.

Alright, then - Let's continue scouting down the East Coast of the island as James suggested a few posts ago. We do need to stay in range so that we can return to the camp as needed.

Which is exactly why we need to develop a procedure of gradually moving the camp, so we can explore further and remain in range. Anywho, I'm all good with this.

The group get back to camp at 9:30AM, so they estimate they have about 3 hours of scouting before they need to turn back to avoid the hottest hours of the day.

I'll update again soon. I have migrated us over to an official looking map in light of the recent blog-

LINK

Setting up the original camp took a good chunk out of the first day. My suggestion would be to continue exploring, and as part of that exploration search out suitable locations for new camps. After picking new location, return to whatever the current camp site is, and head out first thing the next day, traveling directly to the new site, set up camp, then if time permits, explore farther out. I realize this will not be the fastest option, but should keep us out of situations where we don't have a reasonable place to camp.

On that note, i'll share the rules with building a campsite with you now that you've done the deed once already.

Travelling along to the east of your current camp, Tun'ada quickly spot another shipwreck in the distance after 45 minutes or so of walking. The shipwreck is on the east side of the first small island to the north-east of Smuggler's Shiv. It occurs to Gwyneth and Flute that the low tide of the morning will mean that the small 1/4 of a mile distance between Smuggler's Shiv and this smaller island means the group will probably only need to wade across to it.

I don't know if any of you use previews when DMing to see the rolls and then write the descriptions so you can get it all in one neat post, but they seem to have changed the code so that the dice rolls in the previews are no longer the dice rolls that appear when the post is submitted- very irritating but good for stopping people cheating with preview-dice-roll-posts I suppose.

Approximately 8:45AM, Day 4.

Looks like the thing with the dice roller was a mistake, Gary mentioned he'd be fixing it today.

Well, should we go take a look? We probably won't be able to check on this particular shipwreck other than at this time of the day. It'd be nice to at least know what boat it is.

[i]Cat climbs on Chi's shoulder as the group discuss wading through the water.[i] "You know, I'm not so sure about this just yet, for when the tide turns we'll have to swim back or stay on the island. After the welcoming party we got from those crab like creatures, I'm not sure I want to put myself at risk from them again. How long have we got before the water gets too deep for us to wade across? I know cat is against this, he doesn't like water except to drink." Chi has a very worried look on her face as she looks out across at the island and the shipwreck.

"Is there a chance we could make a raft or boat to provide us with some safety in going over there?"

Making a serviceable raft would take many days. Gwyneth and Flute think you have a couple of hours before the tide changes which should be plenty of time.

Don't worry, Chi - unless yon boat is a portal to another world, we should be back in no time. Besides, I think of us as population control for the scorpio-crab population, Gwen says with a wry grin, as she reassuringly places a hand on Chi's back.. Do those things have a name, Ambroze, or are we destined to sound like foriegners when referring to them? At any rate, the quicker we get over there, the quicker we get back.

"Oh, yes!" Ambroze says enthusiastically in response to Gwenyth's question. "They're called 'eurypterids,' or sea scorpions. The ones we encountered on the Jenivere were the common variety. They live in temperate climates and warm oceans. Their poison saps a person's stamina. Now the ones that you fought when we first woke up on the beach after the shipwreck? Those were a smaller variety, and their poison affects a person's reflexes and balance."

"Eurypterids can see as well as elves in areas of minimal illumination, and they can also sense when another creature is near them simply by the vibrations produced when that creature moves across the ground. Interestingly enough, though, is the fact that eurypterids have no sense of hearing."

"Oh, yes!" Ambroze says enthusiastically in response to Gwenyth's question. "They're called 'eurypterids,' or sea scorpions. The ones we encountered on the Jenivere were the common variety. They live in temperate climates and warm oceans. Their poison saps a person's stamina. Now the ones that you fought when we first woke up on the beach after the shipwreck? Those were a smaller variety, and their poison affects a person's reflexes and balance."

"Eurypterids can see as well as elves in areas of minimal illumination, and they can also sense when another creature is near them simply by the vibrations produced when that creature moves across the ground. Interestingly enough, though, is the fact that eurypterids have no sense of hearing."

Ambroze did you catch my spoiler in my previous post?

Oh, right. I seem to remember you mentioning their name before. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? Euryp... Eurypi... yeah, I think I'll stick with "scorpio-crab things". You guys coming?

She wades into the water toward the boat, mace drawn, looking around vigilently for Eurypterids.

James nods and follows, standing just ahead of Gwen, sword drawn protectively.

Ambroze did you catch my spoiler in my previous post?

Ambroze follows the others toward the shipwreck, struggling to keep up as he wades through water up to his chin.

Oh dear, Ambroze, that looks terribly uncomfortable. Mayhap someone could offer our resident naturalist a hand? Alas, I am but a mere girl...

Cue No Doubt's "Just A Girl"

Oh of course Ambroze..." James answers, squatting for a moment to allow Ambroze to clamber onto his back. "I know this isn't ideal, but I'll happily give you a ride... just watch out for the sword."

Chi uneasily follows the fighters into the water on the way across, her bow at the ready. "You know my charms and skills don't help much against these eury things, I'm not sure I can be much help, I may only be a hindrance, but I'll come anyway it is your wish."

Sorry for the delay in my posting, busy weekend here at my fathers. Will update as soon as I can.

Sorry for the delay in my posting, busy weekend here at my fathers. Will update as soon as I can.

Not a problem. It's the last holiday weekend of the summer here in the U.S., so I would imagine that posting as a whole is at a lower rate than normal.

The group cross the low tide safely, although they are uneasy with the crossing. Reaching the shipwreck, the group can see it is easily accessible by a large hole in its lower deck, and a couple of the decks look intact. It looks as though the ship ran aground here after a fierce battle, and what remains of the hull is heavily damaged and rotting. The name of the once-proud warship is still barely visible- the Tears of Grog.

9PM, Day 4.

Flute are you still with us btw?

"Shall we look inside?" James asks, peering ahead into the darkened hole.

Aye, we've come this far!

Gwen readies her crossbow.

Disappointingly, a quick search reveals the shipwreck is devoid of anything remotely useful. Tun'ada, James and Flute can see tell-tale signs that the ship has been thoroughly looted some time ago, after the Tears of Grog shipwrecked.

9:20AM, Day 4.

Chi is nervous in these surroundings, with the sea lapping around. "There's nothing here, lets go."

"Agreed lets head out," James says, crouching to offer Ambroze a lift back through the shallows.

The group promptly head back across the low tide causeway and continue their exploration, heading east and south.

Ambroze, Flute, Tun'ada and Gwyneth recognise the now familiar, tell-tale signs of a Dimorphodon nest somewhere nearby- your about two miles east of your current camp. Your on the edge of what these Dimorphodons would consider 'their' territory, but if you wished to avoid a fight you could easily work around the half-mile or so where you believe they will be nesting. The jungle is growing a little more dense as you head further south, with fewer clearings and open spaces.

9:30AM.

As Chi mulls over the name of the ship, she wracks her brain over any history she might have read about the ship and its disappearance.

Knowledge(History) 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

As Chi mulls over the name of the ship, she wracks her brain over any history she might have read about the ship and its disappearance.

Knowledge(History) 1d20+8

The name doesn't sound familiar to you, but its likely the ship was one of the Cheliaxian ships that sailed hoping to subjugate Sargava when the colony rebelled. Not every single ship was destroyed by the Shackles Pirates, and the remaining few that survived were heavily damaged and were chased all the way to Eleder's shores.

I am leary of taking on more dimorphodons with Tun'ada already weakened so by his malaise. Should we go round? We can fight if you prefer.

"It wasn't those winged beasts that did me in, rather the jungle itself. Thank you for your concern but, I'll be fine."

"I'd rather not kill any more dimorphodons than we have too," Ambroze says. "It's one thing if we blunder into their area and they present an immediate threat, but otherwise let's leave them alone. They serve a purpose in the life-web of the island, and I'd hate to disrupt it."

Ambrozius Boddynock, founder of the Smuggler's Shiv Chapter of the Sierra Club.

James is happy to leave this nest, although he thinks it may be worth coming back at some point if the group needs food.