DM Brainiac's Ruins of Azlant: Gills and Grit! (Inactive)

Game Master Brainiac

"A few of people are out on patrol. I shall intercept them to ensure they do not come back to this place. With your leave, I will depart."

The two sahuagin swim out of the ship's stern and swiftly leave the reef.

They leave their weapons behind: a +1 ranseur and a mwk underwater heavy crossbow.

The four standard sahuagin you defeated each have a trident and underwater heavy crossbow. The brute has a potion of cure light wounds, mwk harpoon, magic cloak, and 280 gp. The fish-tailed one has a mwk longspear, mwk underwater heavy crossbow, magic necklace, agate earring (25 gp), 7 pearls (100 gp each), and 18 gp.

The items in the hold include a corroded breastplate (broken, but worth 500 gp to a historian or collector), a statue of a female figure holding a moon set with mother of pearl (weighing 65 pounds and worth 1,100 gp), and a rectangular sheet of pounded copper etched with arcane symbols (worth 110 gp). A chest near the altar also contains a bounty of coins: a total of 1,560 gp, 200 sp, and 3,450 cp.

There is also a large leather bag that contains a wind-caller compass, cloak of the manta ray and four necklaces of air adaptation*.

Just to double-check...we got the location of the hag's lair out of them, right? Can we ret-con a sketch or description of the lair's layout or something from them? I wanted to ask about that before they left.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention...

Before he leaves, the sahuagin leader gives you a thin stone tablet bearing a detailed map showing a land route along a river from the east coast of Ancorato into the mountains. Helekhterie's tower lies nestled among the peaks.

"Thank you for your aid, friends," Koloshkora says. "Now that the sahuagin are gone, my people will be free to travel to and from Talasantri again. We can officially begin trading with you and your fellow colonists."

The locathahs have relations with various settlements in the region and can serve as a nomadic marketplace. There's a 75% chance that the locathahs have access to a specific item worth 2,000 gp or less, a 50% chance they have access to an item worth 5,000 gp or less, and a 10% chance that they can provide more expensive items.

If the PCs request an item that the locathahs don't immediately have, Koloshkora can direct her followers to seek out the desired item in the undersea town of Talasantri or another settlement. Requesting items from other settlements takes time, but the locathahs can typically return with the desired item in 2d6 days. Talasantri has a base value of 2,600 gp and a purchase limit of 15,000 gp. Items that aid land-dwellers in underwater conditions (scavenged from shipwrecks or drowned adventurers) can be purchased at a 25% discount, as the aquatic humanoids who make up the settlement don't have need for such things. Spellcasting services and weapon and armor enchantment are available in the town as well, provided the PCs don't mind being without their item for the time necessary to transport and enchant it.

Terana watches the sanhuagin go carefully, not relaxing until they are lost in the depths beyond.

"What are we going to do about that Naga?" She asks. "I do not like the idea of such a creature so near the colony. And there is this aboleth, as well as the witch. We have much to do!"

"I'm only glad that we were able to help you and your people, Koloshkora!" Gideon answers, giving their new ally a friendly handshake.

"I say we deal with the hag before we go back to the water naga. Do you know anything about this sea hag that you've told us about, Koloshkora? Do you think we are able to deal with her as we are, or should we better arm ourselves before trying to confront her?"

Koloshkora seems delighted by the human custom of the handshake.

"Unfortunately, I know little about the hag beyond her name. If she can command the loyalty of an entire band of sahuagin, she is not to be taken lightly. It may be in your best interest to hone your mettle against the island's lesser denizens before confronting Helekhterie."

Incidentally, you have all gained enough XP to reach level 5!

"That's reasonable advice," says Tobar as he checks the tension on his own crossbow. "We got plenty goin' on. But it'll be nice to have some friendly neighbors."

"I am curious about this city of Talasantri. I think I would like to visit it. Do you think we would be welcome there?"

"They don't get very many surface-dwellers in the city, but I don't see why they would not welcome you there," Koloshkora says. "It is about forty miles southeast of this island. I would be happy to guide you there if you would like to visit in the future."

"Yeah, definitely reasonable. Think I'm gettin' ahead of myself. If there's a hag hangin' around that's got an aboleth being hesitant to make a move, she's probably pretty hardcore."

"Hey, since you're offering stuff that would be useful for surface dwellers, do you think you could dig up some potions of Touch of the Sea? It would be really useful for Tobar and I be able to sprout fins when it's necessary. I'd love to see your home city when we get a chance! And let me know when you're good to start lessons on speaking your tongue. I'm eager to learn it."

Potions Available?: 1d100 ⇒ 93

"Alas, I don't believe we have any of those potions on hand. We would be happy to acquire some for you for future trading," Koloshkora says. "And I can start to teach you the Aquan language whenever you have free time."

Alba Divenvaar can also make those potions for you back in the colony.

Terana will join language lessons :)

"If I had more writing utensils with me I'd start right now! I'm ready and available whenever we have some downtime. It probably shouldn't be right now, though...I think we should check in back home and let them know that you might be popping by, just make sure that our leader, Ramona, knows that you're friendly. It'll give us a chance to explore a little more and follow up on some other leads, too. If you've got a map of the island, I'll mark where Talmandor's Bounty is for your tribe." Gideon says.

My vote is to go check in at the colony and then keep following up on those Pathfinder markings we investigated earlier. We'd have to go past Talmandor's Bounty to get to the next marker anyway.

"Yeah... I need to get more quarrels from my workshop," says Tobar. "An' people oughta know that we have friendly folks showing up."

"That makes sense." Terana agrees, "Keeping the colony safe is our first duty afterall." None-the-less her head turns on a swivel until they leave the water...

Koloshkora bids you farewell for now, swimming off back to her people's camp. It's already rather late, so you set up camp somewhere nearby and rest overnight before making the day-long journey back to Talmandor's Bounty.

Ramona is pleased to hear that you were able to work out a trading arrangement with the locathahs. "Well done! This will greatly increase the colony's chances of turning a profit. I'll bet the Bountiful Venture Company didn't anticipate having an underwater city as a trading partner!"

"They seem pretty happy about some of the stuff we can provide," says Tobar. "Eh, you should let folks know what to expect at a town meeting, so people don't get scared. They're friendly, even if they look different."

Ramona nods. "That's a good idea, Tobar. I'll call a meeting later tonight to prepare everybody to welcome our new allies."

Fish are friends, not food! ;)

Weyve will join in language lessons too.

"And make sure that the town starts growing lots of root crops. They said they like tubers, though they weren't specific about what type. Probably something that grows in the wild around here."

I don't suppose we could ret-con in stopping by to let the water naga know that the sahuagin are no longer a threat, can we? Be a long trek back there just to let that be known.

Sure, you can say Koloshkora stopped by to inform her.

"We should make you aware of a new threat, too; to secure our new alliance we had to help the locathah deal with some intruding sahuagin that had been preying on their people. The sahuagin were acting on the command of a water hag. Based on what Koloshkora told us, I don't think we should seek a confrontation yet; I doubt we're ready for such." he offers.

"I've actually been wondering...is it possible that the hag is possible for the disappearing colonists? I mean, we know that the sahuagin were trying to kidnap us, presumably to take back to her. It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to think that the others might've been taken under her orders, too."

Ramona frowns. "We can't rule out the possibility. If the hag is holding the missing colonists, I hate to think about what sort of torments she might be subjecting them to. But I agree that it wouldn't be prudent to charge in unprepared. I'd like you to confront her, but only when you feel that you are ready."

"In that case, what else is there that needs doin'?" asks Tobar with his usual drawl. "Plenty o' things to look into without havin' to go looking for hag trouble right offa the bat."

"There's nothing going on in town right now. Tomorrow, you could try to follow up on the remaining sites for Carver, or search for more natural resources. Perhaps the locathah know of some other sites of interest in the island you could explore."

Hearing that there are no other issues at the moment, Gideon takes advantage of the lull in action to go and visit Kulena, see how she is doing, and let her know about their adventures and new allies on the island.

He also makes sure to remind her to make sure she doesn't go out looking around the island by herself. One colonist was still missing as it was, and he didn't want her to go missing, too.

Kulena greets Gideon a warm hug when he comes to visit. She listens with amazement as he tells her of locathahs, nagas, and battling sahuagin beneath the waves.

"You certainly live a life of adventure! But don't worry--I know that's not for me. I won't leave the colony by myself, I promise. I'll always be here for you when you come home." She smiles coquettishly.

Gideon returns the offered hug, enjoying the wide-eyed wonder she displays as he regales her with the group's latest adventure. "I know it's not likely to be any time soon, but believe me, I'm lookin' forward to the day when we've finally made Talmandor's Bounty really and truly safe. I wouldn't complain one bit about getting to spend more time with you, that's for sure." he answers.

"Until that happens...thank you. Knowing that you're here is a big reason why I keep going out. It's not just to keep the colony safe...it's to make sure you stay safe."

Kulena looks down, a blush rising to her cheeks. "That means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me."

"You...mean a lot to me, too." he says in a quiet voice, reaching over to put his hand atop hers. When she looks back up, he suddenly leans forward, kissing her lightly.

Kulena seems surprised at first, but then she closes her eyes and returns Gideon's kiss. "Well, it's about time," she giggles. "I've been waiting for you to do that for days!"

And at that remark it's his turn to flush, though there is a grin on his face at the same time. "Well...you know the old saying. Good things come to those who wait!" he answers in a playful tone.

Kulena laughs and throws her arms around Gideon, kissing him again.

Gideon follows the gesture, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to return the kiss.

When both come up for air, he presses his forehead to hers, a slight grin on his face. "So...yeah. Wow." he mumbles.

"Wow," Kulena repeats, giggling. "I guess this means we're an official couple now?"

"I'm game if you are." he replies with a smile, arching a single eyebrow inquisitively.

Kulena responds with another long kiss.

At the kiss' conclusion, Gideon releases a held breath. "...whew! Well alright then! We're official!"

Gideon and Kulena spend the remainder of the evening celebrating their newly official relationship. The night is otherwise uneventful, allowing you get some good rest.

In the morning, however, troubling news reaches you. Several of the colony's goats were found dead from exsanguination. The five goats, all from farmer Irvin Lourdein's herd, were discovered completely drained of blood this morning. Some of the colonists are frightened that more chupacabras--or even vampires!--may be living in the wilderness surrounding the town.

When the alarm is raised, Gideon is quick to head out to the pasture where Irvin's goats were found. Upon discovering them, he examines the wounds, looking for any telltale marks, be they marks on the goats or tracks on the ground, that may confirm or disconfirm that it was the goatsuckers who did it.

Know(Arcana): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

I'm not sure what the right check to roll there was...if I got it right, that's fine. A Know(Nature) would give me a 17, a Survival for tracking would give me a 15.

"Some sorta beasties must've got to 'em!" Irvin says sadly, clutching his hat. "Drank up all o' their blood! What if they come after us next?"

Gideon doesn't find any unusual tracks around the pasture.

I'll use that for your Survival check to look for tracks, Gideon. It's a Heal check if you want to examine the goats' bodies.

Terana likewise makes haste to the scene of the disturbance, but has far less to contribute than Gideon apart from searching the area as best she can and checking for any lingering auras of evil.

Percep: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (13) - 1 = 12
Sweep the area with Detect Evil, just in case :)

After spending the morning doing a good deal of pole-turning, Tobar hands over the shop to Machi once more and shoulders his crossbow for another exploration.

Watching Gideon examine the goats, he says, "Could be right about chupacabras. Ehh... this is a lot all at once, though. Maybe a flock o' chupacabras?"

He rubs his stubble-covered chin.

"What even do you call a group o' chupacabras?"

A group of chupacabras is called a gang. :)

"Well, I'm by no means an expert at figuring out wounds like this...Weyve, you might wanna come take a look. It's more your field than mine."

Heal: 1d20 ⇒ 5

"Well, I can take a look..."

Heal: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

"...to be honest though, most of my healing knowledge has to do with herbal remedies rather than anatomy."

Survival (untrained): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

"But we have seen chupacabras before. We may as well track them down; any type of life that preys on our livestock is a threat to the security of the colony."

Neither Gideon nor Weyve are able to determine much about the nature of the goat's wounds.

With little else to go on, Gideon takes the time to go through the area with a fine-toothed comb, looking for any scrap of evidence that might give indication to where the culprits may've gone.

Take 20 on Perception.

I'll assume Weyve takes 20 on his Heal check while Gideon searches.

Gideon's exhaustive search eventually leads to results. The bard manages to find a few traces of bare humanoid footprints in the field that lead to the shore.

Meanwhile, Weyve gives the goats a thorough examination. Upon review, he discovers multiple circular bite marks resembling those made by a lamprey. They don't look like wounds caused by a chupacabra's bite.

"Huh. That's a curious bite mark. I wonder if Koloshkora might be able to identify it the next time we see her? I'm gonna sketch it out just in case." Gideon remarks, rushing off to get his journal and do exactly that while the corpse is relatively fresh.

After that task is done, he looks to the others. "Seems we have a trail to follow, at least. Who's up for a walk on the beach?"