The tribesman point at the corpses.
Look!
Slowly he approches them.
Is dat da crew?!
Iolana too takes a look at the bodies,holding her breath 'cause of the smell
Without looking too closely, you are able to vaguely recognize a few crew members, mostly by hair and clothing.
Mugambi move closer to the bodies and try to examine them without getting to close to the lobster things.
The baby critters start to scatter into the water when you get close, the rest are easily brushed away. There are four bodies. No captain, no cook, no Ieana, just the rest of the crew minus Alton and two others. They all appear to have wounds that look to be from the creatures .. difficult to tell if that is what killed them. Some appear to have silt from the floor of the inlet under their fingernails, suggesting some may have been alive when taken under.
From amid the corpses Mugambi shouts back to his companions:
Its crew alright. Four sailors. We are still missing da captain, da cook, Ma Ieana and two more sailors.
Looking back at the bodies.
Da gods bless this mans souls.
The tribesman than made a quick prayer for his comrades before returning to his friends on the high ground.
Okay,something weird is going on.Why are all the rest of the crew out here in a grisly pile while all of us wake up conveniently on the beach with all our gear on a raft and only the captain,this Ieana lady,and that filthy cook Ebenezer unaccounted for?
Gatherine grimaced at the sight of the sodden corpses--feeling equal parts pity and disgust.She wondered why they seemed to have been specifically chosen to live while these poor souls died,ending up being scavenged by a nest of sea scorpions like carrion thrown out to rot.
She started towards the ship with a renewed purpose.Mayhap she could find a shovel or something onboard to bury the bodies.Those sailors didn't deserve to feed the scavenging vermin of Smuggler's Shiv.
I'm gonna search the storage area and the galley for anything to make camp.I might be able to find an outfit for Ms Iolana while I'm at it.Then I'll help give the sailors a decent burial, if that's what we're going to do with them.
Acrobatics check Climb check
Iolana helps in attending to the bodies,after wrapping other rags around her hands and forearms before touching the corpses.
"Agreed mr.Grey.I would like to know what happened here,but for now it seems most logical we leave as soon as possible."
The girl looks at her body and hair,after the last few hours and divings and sighs :"I need to do long,hot bath"
only needed climb check, so I'll take your first roll
While you discuss what to do, you see Gatherine climb back on board the wreck.
"I'ld need to dress up and don my armor,why that girl is so impulsive?Mr.Cherthand,can you look over her? I really cannot keep walking around with so little clothing on"
Grunting,Gatherine hauled herself up and over the railing using her pick and rope to make sure she didn't fall again.She heard the others discuss 'burial at sea' and something abut Gelik before she managed to climb onto the deck.
She decided to head down the sideways stairs leading to the lower decks and the storage areas past the stable where she avoided going near Alton's corpse.She started to rummage through the mess of debris and scattered items.
Perception!
Gotta be something useful in here…
We can use some sail cloth to wrap da bodies. I will grab some
And keep an eye on da kid
Aboard the wreck.
Mugambi follow Gatherine to check on the cargo holds.
Gatherine started when Mugambi descended the stairs to step cautiously into the storage area.She looked up, hand reaching for Sneezy Dragon before falling at her side.
Ah,Mugambi.It's just you.Come to help me get some stuff before this broken barrel of a ship floats away?
She started moving aside shattered timbers of wood and planks riddled with nails, careful not to pick up a splinter.
As you go down the steps to the lower decks, something catches your eye in the kitchen. Sunlight beams through a break high in the wall. It is a terrible mess .. but at the far side of the room, you think you see the cook still stuffed in the pantry, the door to it open now. You hear Mugambi's steps behind you.
You see Gatherine looking into the axe-shattered doorway of the kitchen.
Gatherine cocked her head as sunlight streaming in through the rends of the ship's Hull drew her attention towards the galley.A sudden thought occurred to her that made her drop the debris she had been moving and hurry through the axed remains of the kitchen's door.
What if Alton hadn't let Ebenezer out of the pantry after he had chased me out?! That meant--!
Gatherine hurled herself at the pantry, scrambling over the clutter strewn across the floor in her haste to get to it.
Oh please no!
Perception!!
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Tol wipes the lobster gore off his lance and returns it to its cup on the saddle. He dismounts, and inspects the chitin-covered corpse before him. "So First Mate Alton met his end at the sting of this overgrown critter, then? An ill fate." He spits on the creature's broken shell. "He's been avenged, for what that matters. Though," he pauses and scowls as Mugambi points out the corpses of the rest of the crew, "I think there may be better places to lay blame and seek vengeance than a hungry animal. Those men didn't weigh themselves down..."
His attention absorbed by the gruesome scene, he fails to notice Gatherine climb back onto the ship until Iolana breaks him out of his reverie.
"What? Gatherine? Back on the... That child is incorrigible!"
He heads directly to the side of the ship and tries to pull himself up.
Unfortunately, his heavy armor weighs him down, and he falls on his backside in a tide pool before getting more than a foot off the ground. Embarrassed and angry, he yells out
Hearing the distress in the young dwarven maid Mugambi hurry to follow her inside the kitchen.
What?!What?!
Ebenezer the cook is curled up in the pantry. Dead .. eyes and mouth open.
Gatherine let out a wail of utter dismay,NOOOOO!IT'S ALL MY FAULT!!
The dwarf maid fell to her knees and yanked at her coiled hair, eyes shiny with unshed tears as she stared at the crumpled corpse of the ship's filthy cook.His glazed over eyes stared sightlessly over her shoulder.
She heard Mugambi rush in behind her and she burst into tears.What have I done?! I got him drunk and pushed him into the pantry and then Alton-- waaaaah!
Mugambi enters the room, he takes a moment to figure out what is going on. Then, with shyness, he kneels down besides Gatherine and gently hugs her.
Shhh. Its alright. Its alright. Ya didn't know and ya didn't kill him either. Somebody else sunk da ship. What is past is past. Everything going to be all right.
The mwangi gently pat on the back of the small dwarfess.
Its going to be all right...
the cook has multiple bites on his neck and shoulders .. they look like they are from a large snake.
Iolana had already untied the smallcloths and started gathering her real clothing when she heard Gatherine's screams coming from the wreckage of the
not now damn!! i'm naked
She hurries in putting on her clothes.
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Gatherine clung to the masked human, her sobs turning to hiccups as she tried to speak,But if I hadn't of stuffed him in there he might of stood a chance! He was half-blind,filthy,and probably killed people with his cooking but he didn't deserve to die forgotten in a pantry! And I'm responsible! OH,I'M SO SORRY!
She accepted his embrace gratefully and sniveled. Oh,my sister is gonna be so disappointed in me! I indirectly killed somebody!
Iolana puts on traveling clothes,then picks up components,backpack and armor would like to don the armor,but things sound like something else is happening,for now will just take it along and see if it is possible to put it on once there
She then runs back to the wreckage.
Hearing the continued sounds of Gatherine's distraught voice, but unable to make out the words, Tol clambers back to his feet, dripping seawater, and attempts again to climb into the ship.
Sniffling wetly, Gatherine calmed her breathing and blew her nose noisily on a scrap of cloth she plucked from the floor. She wiped her eyes and offered Mugambi a tired smile.
I'm okay,Mugambi...Sometimes you just have to cry. Although I do understand that it's all said and done with,I still feel a little guilty. But I guess the least I can do is give him a decent burial with a grave marker.
The dwarf maid frowned suddenly as she realized something.Wait...Why would the door be wide open and he's still inside the pantry? If the sinking of the ship wasn't enough to force the door open and toss him out,justwho left the door open?
She peered into the pantry where Ebenezer lay slumped in the corner,eyes roaming the body that had begun to set into rigor mortis.Somethingabout his vacant expression reminded her of a pained grimace,which she found out of place.
Oi,Mugambi.I was thinking....
The tribesman join Gatherine at the pantry´s door.
He then examine the body looking for the cause of death.
the cook has multiple bites on his neck and shoulders .. they look like they are from a large snake. Single defensive wound on forearm suggests he was taken down quickly.
A wicked green smoked glass vial catches your eye .. sticks out from the rest of the mess.
Tol eventually is able to clamber on board and make his way to the doorway of the kitchen.
Lets get out of here, he died from poison snake bites, she can still be around.
Mugambi grabs the green smoke glass and pulls Gatherine away from the kitchen. As they leave he closes the kitchen door.
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There appears to be one supply room not completely destroyed. It contains more of many of the things that were among your gear on the beach. Block and tackle, nets, canvas sheets, a damaged sextant, 2 bullseye lanterns, 6 flasks of oil, 4 shovels. Across from this room is the compartment used as Gorra's stable. One sack of feed has survived. Most of the trade goods stored on the ship were further aft and on a lower deck.. that part of the ship is completely smashed. What isn't underneath the bulk of the wreck, has mostly washed away.
Gatherine hurried after Mugambi at the mention of poisonous snakes that might be about.She felt a bit better knowing that Ebenezer's death wasn't her fault but that of a venomous vermin.However,something left her uneasy she couldn't put her finger on.
But,Mugambi,why would a snake be on board? I never ran across one during the entire trip--and I'm the one who ate all the rats while I was hiding in the holds.And why would one come from inland to a shipwreck anyway?
She followed Mugambi down into the area where Alton's s body lay near the makeshift stable Gorra had been confined for the voyages' duration.A sack of feed was lashed to a broken plank by a leather strap, somehow spared from damage and the elements.
A search of the debris produced fishing gear,canvas tarps,shovels,lanterns that were still intact,oil flasks wrapped in cloth, and a dented sextant Gatherine pried out of the wall where it had embedded itself like an odd dart.
What's this thing for?she wondered aloud.
The dwarf maid helped Mugambi gather their findings to take back to the others.She squinted at his masked features,a look of discomfort settling over her round face.Um…what are we gonna do about Alton and Ebenezer's bodies?
After helping whoever wanted to climb inside what is left of the Jenivere, Iolana takes the time to finish dressing and equipping herself, donning her armor too.
She is saddened by the inglorious end of the ship whose decks she walked for so many years,and is in no mood to climb inside again.
"I'll stay here and keep an eye on the surroundings,call if something happens"
Standing outside the Jenivere, Iolana sees storm clouds approach. A gust of cool wind cuts through the damp heat. The foliage starts to whip around in the path of the breeze bringing the dark clouds.
Iolana starts at the sight of the clouds,and her experience as a sailor makes her looking around frantically,in search for a shelter.
She yells toward the wreckage :""
Abadar protect us!
Its for navigation, I think its broken but maybe Iolana can fix it. Put it here with da rest.
The Mwangi answers the dwarf as she holds the damage sextant while both of them use one of the canvas tarps to make a big bundle with all the items. After they finish he says:
Grab one side, lets take this to da beach.
Mugambi grab one side of the package and starts to drag it to the upper deck.
Da sea will take care of da bodies. Dats da fate of all sailors and they would be fine with it. We will say a prayer for them tonight. For now lets get out of this wreck, da place is dangerous and Mugambi dont want to be here is da tide shifts.
Gatherine tossed the sextant into the pile and grabbed the other side of the canvas.Together she and Mugambi hauled it towards the stairs to the upper deck,when she heard Iolana shout a warning muffled by a sudden rising wind that made her braids dance and Mugambi's dreadlocks flutter.
Huh?A storm?!
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With the aid of Iolana and Averin, Tol manages to haul himself up onto the deck of the wrecked ship. He dashes across the sloping, shifting deck, calling out, He finds her as she and Mugambi are gathering up supplies from the hold. "What's wrong? I heard shouting and wailing. Are you hurt?"
After reassuring himself that neither of his companions are injured, he regains his dour composure, and helps to gather up supplies, hefting the sack of grain over his shoulder as though it were a feather pillow. "Miss Gatherine, this ain't a game we're playing here. We're all in real danger. There's dead folk all about us, and if we don't stick together, we stand a good chance of joining them. Don't go running off by yourself like that!"
He is interrupted by Iolana's warning about the storm.
"Aye, that's just what we needed." He shakes his head forebodingly. He helps Mugambi haul the canvas-wrapped bundle across the deck, the freshening wind whipping his beard. "Let's be off this accursed boat and find some shelter."
You find the hole in the stable the best place to "disembark" now in the low tide. Tol and Mugambi haul the bundle of goods out just as the wind starts coming in force. Flashes of lightning appear over the sea brilliant against the dark curtain of rain.
the most well protected place nearby looks to be just to the east, where the rocky shore meets the steep incline into the foliage - essentially forming corner of two natural solid "walls".
Biting her lip against a retort to Tol's scolding,Gatherine let him take the corner of the canvas tarp and followed behind as he and Mugambi carried the bundle off the ship.She sloshed through the water that came up past her knees in the low tide as the sky turned dark and cascading rain made the smelly seawater roil around them.
She squinted against the lashing wind and rain,her braids waving about her face from where they weren't looped around her neck.She saw Averin and Iolana motion to them,the rising wind muting their words.
Ugh,at least we're not getting attacked right now.Or drowning.
Mugambi heard once a scholar from da north say: "Theras nothing wrong with a little rain, is it?" Well, dis be the tropics, there is nothing little about our rain!
He yells when they join the rest of the group in the jetty.
Iolana waited for the others to exit from the ship,gesturing to them:
"No time for that Mugambi,follow me,just to the east there is a natural corner of rocky walls,where the shore meets the steep incline into the foliage.It should offer enough protection."
She looks at the beach they woke up on:"Hope the rest of the crew will find a shelter for themselves,and to protect our remaining gear,or we are doomed"
Tol gazes down the beech to the other castaways. "Miss Zerengo, if you think you could be of assistance to the others in finding shelter, Gorra could carry us both there quickly. I'd go by myself, but I'm afraid the task is beyond my expertise, and you seem knowledgeable."