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*bloop*
You send your reply via the signal mirror. After a moment, there's another series of flashes from the distant island. "Follow the plan. Over."
"Well...too bad they couldn't have given us a quick reminder of what the plan is in that." Gideon says with a sigh.
"Either way, now we know where they are. No reason to keep hangin' out here. Unless anyone feels like swimming twelve miles, let's see if we can find a boat or raft anywhere around. I doubt they'd leave their allies over here without any way of crossing." he says.
With no immediate solution presenting itself, you return to town to report your findings to Ramona. The governor grants you use of the ship's boat the Peregrine left with you to traverse the bay and explore the distant island.
It's likely you'll be away from Talmandor's Bounty from some time. If there's anything you need to do before leaving the colony, now is the time to do it.
"It's too bad we killed that faceless stalker impersonating Carver...we might've gotten some good information from it. I'm at least gonna see if we can learn anything from the stuff he was carrying, though. You never know what might prove useful." Gideon voices to the others before trying to track down the sword and spyglass and other affects of the fake Carver to examine them more closely.
Gideon examines the faceless stalker's equipment. Its crossbow bears the initials "C.H.," and its sword's designs and markings are similar to ones frequently used by Pathfinders. It clothes and armor also seem to have once belonged to the real Carver Hastings.
The minor magic items it carried (dust, oils, potions) are of an unknown origin and stored in strange containers, suggesting that the stalker had them before it came to the colony.
The spyglass bears a number of dents and its lenses have small scratches on them, but it still seems to be completely functional. Gideon's examination reveals a small golden symbol on the spyglass that indicates it must have been issued to a high-ranking crew member of the Liberty's Herald, the ship that brought the first wave of colonists to Ancorato.
There doesn't seem to be anything else out of the ordinary among its other mundane possessions.
Gideon brings his findings back to Ramona and the others. "Maybe I'm just being optimistic here, but...I question whether we should sell these things. The spyglass and crossbow, at least. They obviously belong to someone else and I'm not ready to give up hope that the first colonists are still alive somewhere. We saw no evidence of it when we first came here and since Rayland and Eliza were still alive, I see no reason to doubt that the others are still alive, too." Gideon, ever optimistic, says to the others.
"I'm gonna go let Kulena know that we're leaving again. In the meantime, to make sure that there aren't any more faceless stalkers in the group, I think Terana should do one more sweep of the colonists to make sure there aren't any here now. Once we're assured that all the colonists are human, you should call a town meeting and establish a pass-phrase, Ramona. Give it to everyone and conduct both regular group checks and random individual checks, maybe once or twice a week. Anyone who doesn't know know the pass-phrase should immediately be suspect. Maybe that seems paranoid and extreme, but we don't want to have repeat of last time and until we return with the threat dealt with, I say better safe than sorry."
All this strategising and theorising isn't Terana's strength so she leaves it to those more inclined that way and spends her time with Aeroclyse instead.
Ramona agrees to the guidelines Gideon sets forth to try to prevent any more faceless stalkers from infiltrating the colony.
When Terana tells Aeroclyse about their new mission, the cyclops suggests slaughtering any faceless stalkers she might come across and showing no mercy to her enemies. It's clear that the blinded giant still has a savage and violent worldview, tempered only slightly by his years of imprisonment. It will take a lot of work to guide him onto a righteous path.
After having spent years as a soldier, Cathyriel is still unused to the idea of free time. She spends her time in town with the local militia: noticing their lack of formal training or command structure, she endeavours to instil what she can in the time available.
Most of the colony's soldiers have had formal training in the Andoren military. Some are even veterans of the Goblinblood Wars. Still, none are nearly as experienced as Cathyriel, and the half-elf competently starts to whip them into shape. It will take much more time to further their training, but it's a great start.
His task done and his beloved notified, Gideon goes to meet back up with the others. "I'm ready to go whenever you guys are. The sooner the better."
Kulena holds Gideon tightly, distraught over the thought of the bard leaving for an extended period of time. "I'm going to miss you so much," she says between sniffles. "Please be careful, and bring all of our friends back safely."
Hugging her tightly and holding her for a few minutes, he releases a sigh of mixed content and distress. "I'll miss you, too, Kulena. I'll be careful. We'll come back as soon as we can, I promise. You stay safe while we're gone." he assures her, meaning it as much as he can.
Several of the colonists wave farewell as you set out from Talmandor's Bounty aboard the Peregrine's ship's boat. You take turns rowing the ship out of the bay and into the open ocean. It takes nearly eight hours to make it across the waters to the western island, but aside from a few stray showers in the afternoon, the journey is fortunately uneventful. The sun is beginning to set as you draw near the shore at the spot where you saw the flashes of light.
An ancient, square, stone tower stands in the sand at the water's edge. The tower's battlements show few cracks and little wear despite the construction’s apparent age, but the tower's upper stories have crumbled away, and only a broken stump and piles of rubble remain.
Just outside the building, you can easily spot a boat similar to the ship's boat you're on. Closer examination reveals the name Liberty's Herald engraved on its prow.
Cathyriel is deeply uncomfortable spending any length of time in such a small boat, but she manages to keep her stomach under control. The only clue to her lack of seaworthiness is the slight green tinge to her face.
She's relieved to be back on dry land, and scrambles out the boat as quickly as dignity will permit.
"Hm. Footprints. Recent, by the looks of it. Humanoid, with one set of larger tracks. They head West. Do we follow them?"
Terana was about to step on the tracks when Cathyriel's analysis pulls her up short, with one foot comically poised above the sand.
"Some of those are actual human footprints." She says, gesturing with her glaive. "I don't recognise the others though."
Gideon runs his fingers along the engraved letter's on the side of the ship, releasing a sigh. "Liberty's Herald...this is the same name that's on the spyglass we found on the fake Carver. I wonder what it was that caused them to come to this island?" he thinks aloud. "Either way, I think it's a good time to try out a spell the supply ship's crew taught me." he says, then weaves the magic for a spell meant to increase his situational awareness.
Almost as soon as he'd finished casting the spell, Cathyriel noted the footprints, and Gideon eagerly moved to the place she'd pointed out, and that Terana had nearly stepped on.
"Yes, those are definitely human footprints...but these over here, these are Faceless Stalker tracks. And that particularly big set, next to them? They bear the hallmarks of the skum. I've never seen a skum as big as this one is, though..."
Cathyriel checks that her sword is loose in its scabbard, and dons her shield. "Let's see what's waiting for us."
The tower's wooden double door has long since rotten away. A steel ladder in the courtyard leads up to the tower's battlements at the height of 20 feet. Millennia of erosion have caused the tower’s upper floor to collapse, and now only the crumbling remains of the lower floor remain.
Inside the tower, a large copper plaque mounted on the wall has a map carved into the layers of thick verdigris encrusted upon it. The map seems to have originally depicted a hilly region, but it has been modified to reflect the fact that the area became an island, carving a coastline around the parts of the region that are still above water and scratching out the numerous points of interest that were destroyed or claimed by the sea.
The lower half of the plaque has crumbled away, and what remains of the map shows only four locations on the northern half of the island. They are labeled "Watchtower III" in Azlanti, "Shipwreck + ENEMIES" in Aquan, "Home" in Aquan, and "Wheels of Heaven" in Azlanti. Furthermore, the words “Hollow Forest” have been carved in large letters in Aquan over the center of the map. The maps itself is labeled Zanas-Tahn, an Azlanti name that translates roughly to “sacred hills.”
A sturdy square stone table sits against one wall, with a backpack atop it.
"We seem to have some sense of direction now, at least...if it were up to me I'd say we should start with the closest one and work our way outward from there. No need to potentially leave enemies behind us." Gideon says, taking out his sketchbook to make a quick copy of the plaque on the next free page so that they'll remember what was marked where and in what language.
After that is finished, he walks over to the stone table, eyeing the backpack somewhat suspiciously. "Odd that someone would've just left some supply out here, rather than taking it with them..." he remarks, looking around the table carefully to make sure it's not rigged with some tripwire or other trap.
Gideon doesn't find any traps. It appears to be a perfectly ordinary table.
"Didn't they say they were leaving someone behind?" Terana responds, "Perhaps that's why there are still supplies here..."
"That's true." Cathyriel had forgotten that point. "Let's see if we can get any clues as to who or what this person is."
She moves to investigate the backpack.
As Cathyriel moves next to the perfectly ordinary stone table, it proves to be anything but as it grows long, glistening tentacles and a number of sharp teeth. Before anybody can react, it snaps its jaws shut around Cathyriel, tearing into the half-elf and holding her fast! The thing's body exudes a sticky adhesive, preventing her from escaping as it squeezes the life out of her!
"Ah crap. We really stepped in it now," opines Tobar.
Lacking alternatives, he opens fire with his crossbow, racking and reloading with incredible speed.
Cathyriel cries out in a mixture of surprise, alarm - and pain - as the table comes to life. She feels its sharp teeth bite into her leg, and the rapid spray of hot, bright-red blood tells her - along with the pain - that an artery has been severed.
Reaching almost instinctively for her holy symbol, she uses it to channel Iomedae's healing power. The wound heals - slightly - but the pain remains.
Even knowing the danger of it, Gideon approaches close enough to cast a healing spell on Cathyriel, hoping it's enough to keep her on her feet.
Gideon reaches out to cure Cathyriel, mending some of her broken bones. Tobar takes aim and fires on the mimic, scoring two solid hits. One sinks deep into its body, and it roars in pain.
The creature lurches forward, incidentally crushing Cathyriel beneath its heavy bulk. It drags the unconscious half-elf along as it trundles towards Tobar, reaching for him with its tentacles!
Terana lands one solid hit on the creature(?) but can't do anything else with Cathyriel bleeding in its tendrils.
With Cathy already unconscious from the hit, but blessedly still breathing, Gideon immediately moves backward away from the beast. "Mimics are really slow!" he warns the others, putting away his shield as he draws away and retrieving his bow so he can fire at range.
The fiend has smashed her to the ground, bloodied and broken, just like the rest of her command; she can taste the blood in her mouth and feel the chill of ice in her veins - but she will not end like this. Not. Like. This. As the crimson-skinned devil leers over her to deliver its coup de grace, her armoured fist closes around her sword - her holy weapon of justice, of law coupled to good - and she DRIVES it into the evil thing's heart, watching with satisfaction as it is banished once more to the fell realms it came from...
Back in the present, Cathyriel is unconscious; but her hand clenches into a fist as if around the hilt of a sword.
Tobar simply takes a single step out of the reach of the flailing tentacles while his hands work like a blur to reload his crossbow.
Gideon's arrow and Tobar's bolts pierce the mimic's hide. Terana slashes it with her glaive, avoiding getting her weapon stuck.
Roaring in fury, the mimic slams into Terana with bone-crushing force, adhering to her and squeezing her painfully!
Tobar mindlessly continues firing, missing with every shot.
Terana drops her glaive and wrestles her large axe out, before bringing it down violently!