Chi spends some time as she gather the ingredients to make a poison for plants.
Deciding to take it easy after the battle with the giant crab was more difficult than expected, the castaways spend some quality time with each other. Gelik tells Marcus about each of the castaways stories and pasts, playing up Sasha's limited involvement with the Red Mantis until she threatens to unleash her pet on him, and angering Ishorou enough that he insists on taking two guard duty shifts. Jask tends to any remaining wounds.
Dusk check
Disease 1?
Disease 2?
Disease 3?
Disease 4?
Disease 5?
Disease 6?
Disease 7?
Disease 8?
Disease 9?
Disease 10?
Disease 11?
Midnight check
Dawn check
Double shifts with bows are made throughout the night, but Smugglers Shiv remains peaceful enough, even the insects biting less as the camp is on a beach rather than in the jungle. Gwenyth, on your watch in particular you get a close up of the strange, glowing green surf- which does indeed seem to be haunted. More than once, you make out a ghostly face just for a moment before a wave crashes down and obscures it. More than once, you think you spot a face remarkably similar to James and Flute, reaching out for you to help...
With dawn rising, the group begin preparation to venture further into the west side of the island...
Chi wakes refreshed, in good spirits after feeling she has contributed to the well being of the group, and shown them the skills she learnt from her father in making items. As the time increases in nearer to the home lands of her tribe and in the surrounding known to her tribe, she feels the magic of the jungle speak to her, almost as if her ancestors were teaching her the ancient ways of the Kili Taili.
She and cat join the others for breakfast, "So today, we make the trip inland and follow that trail? "she asks her compatriots.
After breakfast she discusses with her cat the magics and they decide that Chi should remember Mage Armor (2).
"I would suggest we continue onward towards the lighthouse. The sooner we get there, the sooner we have our best shot of getting off of this island."
Marcus rises early and does his best to shave off several days of beard and wash. He seems quite upset at the state of his clothes, particularly his stained and ripped coat and he fusses about trying to look as presentable as possible.
He hasn't yet taken up sashas offer to pet her pet and seems to go red when she looks at him (maybe its the sun).
Torag's ba.. I mean in Torag's name let's find this lighthouse infested with cannibals or not.
Chi hands out the flasks of plant killer to those who want them, but keeps one for herself. "Ready then, it seems we're off up the coast, best not find another of those crabs, it was a nasty beast."
Chi and cat make their way along the coast with the rest of the party, she looks out to sea from time to time, worried about what she might see there. She looks around into the trees and, though she won't admit it, begins to feel a little more at home here, if it weren't for all the undead.
Moving along past the site of the Great Crab Battle, you continue to walk along the coast for an hour or so, enjoying the gentle dawn sun before it begins to get uncomfortably hot once more. The sea laps softly to and fro as the gentle waves come in to crash timidly on the rocks. After walking for some time along the beach you come across another abandoned camp just off the shore.
This campsite looks almost like a series of partially ruined nests made out of palm fronds and driftwood. A cursory glance reveals a large number of broken sawtooth sabres and daggers lie scattered about here- searching the area may find salvageable gear. From this camp you have two clear options (and plenty of time left to pursue them)- continue to follow the coastline or take the game trail leading south.
Tun'ada begins to search the abandoned camp, looking for anything of use or value.
Perception: (Wisdom damage)
Chi hands out the flasks of plant killer to those who want them, but keeps one for herself.
"Thanks, Chi. These should come in handy," Ambroze says, accepting a flask of plant killer.
Ambroze searches the campsite for salvageable gear along with Tun'ada.
Marcus attempts to aid the others in their search.
Aid other perception:
Chi searches the campsite, salvaging what she can, particularly interested in items that would help in making potions and alchemy. She will note how many people might have been in this camp, and if there's evidence it might have been the captain and his 'friend'. The 'nests' are very interesting to her, she wonders what made them, if it were not some humans or natives. She searches for evidence of what happened in the fight that most probably occurred here. "You know, its best to follow that trail, we don't want anyone or anything to cut us off if we need to retreat or return whilst badly injured. Something happened here, and we'd best understand it before we plunge along the coast and find ourselves trapped."
Chi searches the campsite, salvaging what she can, particularly interested in items that would help in making potions and alchemy. She will note how many people might have been in this camp, and if there's evidence it might have been the captain and his 'friend'. The 'nests' are very interesting to her, she wonders what made them, if it were not some humans or natives. She searches for evidence of what happened in the fight that most probably occurred here. "You know, its best to follow that trail, we don't want anyone or anything to cut us off if we need to retreat or return whilst badly injured. Something happened here, and we'd best understand it before we plunge along the coast and find ourselves trapped."
It looks like the cannibals got to this campsite and ravaged it in a bloody battle. Poking around, Chi does manage to find a masterwork dagger- emblazoned with the symbol of the Red Mantis Assassins.
Chi shows every one the dagger, she is impressed with its quality and the way it rests so balanced in her hand, it surely is a weapon that would benefit her, but it may also interest Sasha, because of the sign of the Red Mantis. However, this discovery brings a cold sweat to her brow, "If this camp contained several Red mantis assassins and they were killed by the natives and carried off, then we must be especially careful. We have to tell the rest, when we get back, we need to be especially vigilant. Perhaps we should scout the natives camp, to see what we face and be better prepared?"
Savarend
- Follow the trail to the hill and the hut:
Amroze
- Continue the centre trail:
Chi?
- Don't mind
Tun'ada
Marcus agrees with Chi that scouting the natives is a more important strategic objective than finding the lighthouse. On that basis I'll add a vote to Ambroze as we might be able to see more landmarks from the hut. It does seem pretty likely that the cannibals will have set more traps for us though.
I only wish we could really communicate with them, Gwen sighs. It is a shame that, although the Gods have cursed me to speak in tongues, they have not granted me the means to communicate with these particular people.
"I've been talking with Aerys and have learned a bit of the Infernal language," Ambroze replies to Gwen's comment. "Unfortunately our savage friend back at the camp seems to only speak a pidgin dialect of the language. So far all I can understand of what he's saying boils down to the various ways he plans to eat us."
Gwen rolls her eyes prominantly.
Well, that's probably because that's all he's talking about, she smirks.
Chi with a look of concern speaks "Don't think all the natives in the Expanse are as uncultured as these devils, many tribes have a sophisticated culture. Maybe not that you might think, if you're from Chelaix or those other nations built round cities and such, but there is much that you could learn."
Chi with a look of concern speaks "Don't think all the natives in the Expanse are as uncultured as these devils, many tribes have a sophisticated culture. Maybe not that you might think, if you're from Chelaix or those other nations built round cities and such, but there is much that you could learn."
Hearing Chi's words, Tun'ada smiles and nods silently in agreement.
You head south, nervously walking along the game trail. Eventually you come to a crossroads- to the east you believe the path reconnects with where you came from, and to the south the map you possess indicates a turn to the east later to get up onto the ridge where you saw the hut. Heading soth from the crossroads, you eventually end up in a narrow natural valley between the two ridges.
The path winds through a 10-foot-wide gulch here, flanked on either side by steep 50-foot-high slopes. Not quite vertical cliffs, these slopes host numerous scraggly plants and a number of hanging vines adorning them— certainly not an easy climb either way but not an impossible one.
Group Perception Rolls (Level 2)
Chi-
Savarend-
Ambroze-
Tun'ada-
Marcus-
Gwyneth-
???-
You stop just before you set off another snare trap. Interestingly, this snare trap doesn't seen to be rigged to smash the victim against spikes this time, but you can't divine its purpose.
It looks like the snare is rigged to send the victim flying up onto the slope- a victim would end up 20 feet or so up the steep 50 feet slope to your west.
Perception: (Wisdom damage)
"Slow down and look around carefully before you step, there is another trap here. I'm not sure what it would do to anything that trigger it."
Marcus looks around at the slopes nervously. Some kind of deadfall maybe? Should we move back and set it off or just go around?
It doesn't look like you'll be able to disable this one from a distance, the rope on the snare is very thick. Tun'ada's not even sure what it would trigger at the moment. In the narrow gulch, theres little possibility of moving around it except with a precarious climb and shimmy technique.
Tun'ada begins looking around for fallen branch to hurl into the trap to set it off.
Perception: (Wisdom damage)
Chi a little nervously steps forward, her hair sweaty and sticking to her forehead, "If this is the only way we can go, Isharou gave me instruction to study traps and either make them good or find a way round. It will be dangerous for me, but as a last resort it may be possible. But if things go wrong, well I would need yours and Gwen's aid no doubt. I would prefer we take a long route round if we have to, rather than tamper with a well made trap."
Chi rubs her chin and strokes cat, whilst she gives what she sees some thought, after a few moments she speaks softly, "Perhaps, if we hurled some fire at the vine binding the trap, it would burn trough and make the trap useless? Trouble is, it might create too musch smoke, but just a thought." She then, furrows her brow, as she goes over different solutions in her head, and the consequences.
Chi works her way slowly up to the trap, carefully watching every step she takes as she tip toes over the browning undergrowth and gray stoney path.
Chi never gets the chance to even start cutting at the snare. A whisper of movement is heard from the top of the cliff on the west side and the trap is manually activated somehow, the snare wraps around Chi's foot...
VS CMD
Chi is yanked by incredible force into some well concealed spikes hidden under the vines on the western slope- 25 feet from the other horrified castaways and halfway up the steep slope to the top of the ridge.
Hit
Hit
Chi is brutally wounded by the hidden spikes, but the worse is yet to come... The snare appears to have been running up the western slope, and something, or someone is slowly dragging her to the top of the cliff...
???
Chi-
Savarend-
Ambroze-
Tun'ada-
Marcus-
Gwenyth-
Before the group can react to the sudden turn of events, Chi is slowly dragged uphill by the snare another ten feet, putting her 35 feet out of 50 into reaching the top of the slope...
Savarend attempts to climb up the slope, but skeeters back down again after losing his footing ten feet up. He is unharmed but makes no progress.
Tun'ada hastily climbs up the slope...
Climb:
Climb #2 (if needed):
I'll never get up there in my armour.
Marcus readies his longbow and scans the top of the slope where the noise came from trying to discern a target.
Perception