Bonden, Ghirrak and Phillip either jump, climb or slide down into their respective boats, Venkali waiting behind to guide the passengers down from the ship.
Behind them, they hear young Lord Meravachi get into an arguement with Spinnaker Jon, he wanting to lead an expedition himself.
Gritting his teeth, Spinnaker Jon forces a smile.
"Nonsense milord. Lavinia'd have me head if ye got eaten under me watch. We'll get ye ashore sooner or later, have no doubt."
A couple of things catch your eye.
The first is that you see what you had thought was some branches sticking out of the water under the waterfall; you realize now are the main and mizzen masts of a ship.
The second is the peculiar water distortion in the lake is actually the wake of a large underwater creature moving towards the Savage Kraken.
Spellcraft
If Bryson gets a say, then Avner should lead a group. He helped me get my lady. He's a good friend, a great guy, and a leader of men. Philip is none of those things. Plus he's trying to take my lady.
With a horrid multi-toned roar, a cluster of seven snake-like creatures erupt from the water next to the Savage Kraken. They are each about as thick as a tree trunk and reach about twenty feet above the water.
The force of them coming out of the water threatens to overturn the small boats.
The creatures lunge forward to attack the people on the deck.
Hit! on a colonist for damage. He is lifted high into the air screaming.
Miss.
Miss.
Miss.
Hit! on a crewman for damage.
Miss.
Miss.
This thing is actually an aquatic Hydra! If you cut off a head without using fire or acid, two more will grow back real quick!
The boats are all about ten feet away from where the snake monsters bodies emerge from the water. The snake monsters all have a reach of about fifteen feet.
Round 1 ______________
Take your turn in order of posting. Monsters will go last.
Did I at least get the Call Lightning spell off?
Take 10 on Know: Nature for 20 total.
I'll cast Fog Cloud to give the boats a chance to escape.
For future reference, can I cast Flaming Sphere on the hydra?
Phillip manages to keep his boat and its passengers from spilling into the water as the snakes erupt to the surface. In response he quickly calls on his arcane powers to send a pair of magical missiles into the nearest snake. Then orders the boat's crew to man the oars and get a little distance from the creature.
,
You would know that a Flaming Sphere will last barely one round if it's on the surface of the water.
Round 1____________
__As Bryson’s air elemental self roars toward the ship like a tornado, a rumble of thunder in the distance heralds a lance of lightning into the Hydra, which screams in a many toned rage.
He waves his hands and a small fog bank surrounds the boats.
__Phillip skillfully balances his boat and prevents it from overturning. He takes the time to launch a couple of magic missiles into the Hydra, stinging it for 4 and 5 damage before the fog rolled in. Three of the landsmen aboard his boat dive overboard in a panic and start swimming away.
__(NPC) Ghirrak takes the whole round to balance his boat, prevent it from overturning and stopping his passengers from jumping overboard.
___(NPC) Annie, surprised at the attack, recovers and whips out her rapier. As a head comes down to attack, she slashes at it.
and she hits for damage.
___(NPC)Dgrim, surprised at the attack, recovers and unlimbers his axe. As a head comes down to attack, he chops at it.
and he hits for damage. The head is chopped off and falls to the deck in a spray of blood.
Spinnaker Jon roars out orders to send the landsmen downbelow and the crew to take ups arms. The deck erupts in even more chaos as people run into each other trying to get to either the hatchways below or the arms racks.
Roaring with fury, Avner slashes at one of the Hydra’s heads as it lunges at him. He connects, dealing . He severs the head and it lands on the deck with a thud. He shouts with victory.
"That's the way it's done men! Follow me to victory!" He shouts to the crew. A number of them surge to his call.
The creature again lunges to make his attacks.
The first head chomps down on the man he had grabbed, eating him.
Miss.
Miss.
Hit! Dgrim takes slashing damage.
Miss.
The boats are all next to the ship about ten feet away from where the snake monsters bodies emerge from the water.
The boats are currently lost in the fog. The fog stops ten feet up, so the ship's deck is clear.
The Hydra's heads all have a reach of about fifteen feet.
Round 2 ______________
Bryson casts Faerie Fire on the body of the hydra to keep it from benefiting from the concealment from the fog.
If that won't work, then go with more Call Lightning.
I forgot to roll for Call Lightning just in case.
Call Lightning DC16 for half
Round 2____________
__As Bryson’s air elemental self roars closer, another lance of lightning spears into the Hydra, which flails around in rage.
__[npc] Phillip boots his boat away from the ship as he climbs to the deck. Eh, they’ll be allright. he thinks to himself. He fires more magic missiles into the Hydra. damage.
__[npc] Ghirrak boots his boat away from the ship as he climbs to the deck. Eh, they’ll be allright. he thinks to himself. He punches a head as it comes down to attack him.
for a possible crush damage.
__[npc] Annie, surprised at the attack, recovers and whips out her rapier. As a head comes down to attack, she slashes at it.
but misses.
__[npc]Dgrim roars and slashes again at a head.
for slashing damage. Another head drops to the deck.
Spinnaker Jon roars out orders and leaps to one of the ballistae to begin loading.
Avner’s little crew screams and attacks, but misses.
,
You watch in horror as two of the necks that had been severed, suddenly erupt in two more heads each!
The creature again lunges to make his attacks.
Head 1; severed.
Miss.
Hit! Annie takes slashing damage.
Hit! A sailor takes slashing damage.
Head 4; severed.
Miss.
Miss.
Miss.
Miss.
The boats are currently lost in the fog. The fog stops ten feet up, so the ship's deck is clear.
The Hydra's heads all have a reach of about fifteen feet.
Round 3 ______________
More Call Lightning DC 16 for half
Seeing that his magical attacks are having little effect, Phillip pulls a flask of alchemist fire from his belt. "Let's see if you regenerate from this you cagey beast." He says tossing the flask onto the nearest head.
Spinnaker Jon roars out; "IT'S A HYDRA! SEVER THE HEADS AND APPLY FIRE OR ACID!"
Round 3 ______________
Bryson Deepwinter _______________________________________
Bryson claws more lightning from the sky, and it makes a direct hit on head . The head falls limply to the deck.
Phillip Pharlan________________________________________
Seeing that his magical attacks are having little effect, Phillip pulls a flask of alchemist fire and tossed the flask onto the nearest head.
He nails it and it bursts into flame, scorching a neck; but the creature is only irritated. It turns it’s attention in Phillip’s direction.
__[npc] Ghirrak. He punches a head as it comes down to attack him.
for crush damage.
__[npc] Annie slashes at a head as it comes down to attack.
for a possible piercing damage.
No.
__[npc]Dgrim roars and slashes again at a head.
but he stumbles with the force of his miss and goes sprawling.
Spinnaker Jon roars out more orders, trying to get a ballista cranked up.
Avner’s little crew screams and attacks, but misses again.
0, 1
,
The creature rapidly heals up the nonfatal injuries, and another one of the severed necks sprouts two more heads!
The creature again lunges to make his attacks.
Miss.
Hit! for slashing damage.
Miss.
Hit! for slashing damage.
Miss.
Head 4; severed.
Miss.
Miss.
Head 6.3, collapsed on deck.
Hit! for slashing damage.
Round 4 ______________
Bryson continues to hammer the beast with bolts of lightning.
Call Lightning DC 16 for half
Seeing the attacks are the hydra's heads are practically futile, Phillip draws his short sword and rolls with the hydra's attack to slip away from the creatures jaws, but not before a few teeth manage to draw blood. He then tries to counter strike looking to severe one of the newly forming heads.
Phillips slashing attack almost severs the neck.
Seeing the opportunity Phillip made, Spinnaker Jon swung down on a rope...
...and hacks at the same spot that Phillip cut.
for a possible slashing damage.
Jon completes Phillips cut and another head hits the deck.
"ONE O' YOU SWABS GET SOME FIRE ON THAT STUMP!" He bellowed.
Round 4 _______________________
Bryson Deepwinter
Continues to hammer the beast with bolts of lightning, head 1.2 falls limply to the deck. You see it start healing up almost immediately; right up until Barrett Bonden hacks all the way through it with a cutlass. A sailor pours hot tar on it and it is sealed.
Phillip Pharlan_________________
Phillip draws his short sword and then tries to counter strike looking to sever head 2.2. His attack
almost severs the neck.
Spinnaker Jon_______________
Seeing the opportunity Phillip made, Spinnaker Jon swung down on a rope and hacks at the same spot that Phillip cut. Jon completes Phillips cut and another head hits the deck.
"ONE O' YOU SWABS GET SOME FIRE ON THAT STUMP!" He bellowed.
A sailor brings up a torch and cauterizes the neck.
[npc] Annie____________
Annie flanks head 2.3 with a sailor and slashes it hard enough for it to cut all the way through!
The sailor applies a torch to it, and it is sealed.
Monkey Jimbo hacks through head 3 with a boarding axe.
[npc] Ghirrak__________
Ghirrak snatches a torch from a passing sailor and cauterizes the neck of head 3.
Avner shows his courage and skill again by hacking through head 7.
The ships boy Tavey Nask comes up and cauterized it with hot tar.
The remaining heads give a multitoned howl and withdraw; pulling their heads back off the deck and down into the water.
In the aftermath and cleanup, it becomes clear that there were two fatalities in the hydra's attack; Seid Reynaldi, one of the passengers, and Dgrim.
In the chaos of the fight, they had been swallowed whole when the hydra was forced to retreat.
The remainder of the day is somber as Spinnaker Jon holds a public ceremony for the dead and Annie ladles out the holy water of Cayden Cailean for all to drink.
But the next day there is work to do. The ships maindeck and spars were damaged in the attack, and vital provisioning has to be done ashore.
Perception
Bryson will take the form of a water elemental and scout the waterfall.
Survival +2 to find food and water.
Bryson goes with the shore party. He wants to take Annie on a romantic picnic.
With repairs needing to be made on the ship, Phillip decides his skills are better matched for staying aboard. He works with his mates to get as much done as quickly and soundly as possible.
Ghirrak is quiet as he leads one of the shore parties, scanning the area for what they need.
Those who go scouting ashore find that the lake is in the middle of a sheltered area perhaps two miles on a side. There is plenty of tropical plant life, edible fruit, no large predators, and the breeze is just strong enough to keep the bugs down.
Spinnaker Jon gives the passengers and crew take this opportunity for shore leave; and after the violence of their arrival they all needed the respite.
Bryson and Annie go on more than one romantic picnic; many of the others do as well.
When Bryson tracks the disturbance under the lake, he finds under the waterfall the sunken remains of a galleon. It looks to you as if the hydra had been making its lair in the cavernous hold there.
Can I take 20 for 39 total?
Might as well make use of Detect Magic as well.
Bryson will use his spells (Mending and Wood Shape) to help the repairs. Other than that, he'll join in the food gathering, making sure there's something for Annie to make 'holy water' with.
Diving on the wreck of the Galleon, you are first attracted to the sumptuous captain's cabin, where a skeletonized body yields a:
*Masterwork Greatsword, still in its case it only has a light tarnishing that can be polished right up.
*Elven Chainmail +1, still untarnished after all this time.
Also present is a pay chest. When broken open it yields:
30% (30gp) gold sovereigns: 3
45% (45gp) crowns: 45
20% (20gp) silver pennies: 200
5% (5gp) copper farthings: 500
Also present are stacks of paper notes of some kind, but they have been reduced to mush by water intrusion.
In one of the deluxe staterooms you find:
• Entertainer's outfit 3 gp [133.33%, Fine Quality]
• Sai 1 gp [Standard Quality]
• Nunchaku 2 gp [Standard Quality]
• Sealing wax 1 gp [Standard Quality]
• Mirror, small steel 10 gp [Standard Quality]
and a small jewel case; inside are:
Rose quartz 35gp,
Jasper 16gp,
Turquoise 4gp,
Bloodstone 34gp,
Obsidian 6gp,
Freshwater (irregular) pearl 3gp,
Hematite 2gp
In one of the officers cabins you find:
• Banded mail Armor 250 gp [151.6%, Very Fine Quality]
• Flail 8 gp [125%, Fine Quality]
• Light crossbow, repeating [broken condition]
• Masterwork Bolts, repeating crossbow(5)
In the hold you find an Alchemists Lab, which also has inside:
• Potion of Enlarge person {1st/1st}
• Potion of Remove fear {1st/1st}
• Potion of Remove fear {1st/1st}
Also in the hold you find a scroll tube, still sealed. Inside are:
• Arcane Scroll, Dancing lights {0/1st}
• Arcane Scroll, Minor image {2nd/3rd}, and Secure shelter {4th/7th}
And almost missed was a scrap of fabric hanging from a yardarm. It looks almost like a flag, but it radiates enchantment.
In Lavinia's continued absence Ghirrak becomes increasingly silent, protecting and guiding those in the away party, but saying little. Seldom is ther anything resembling a smile on his stoic face.
When the wreckage is discovered he dives to investigate along with Bryson.
Sunny, Devon Hernan, Marius Hawk, and Burian Faldaeral
Paddling as fast as you can in the dugout canoe, you barely miss rocks in the middle of the Atakula river. Behind you pursue several more canoes; more weighted down by the number of warriors crammed into them, but keeping pace with more paddles to them.
You hear the roar of a waterfall up ahead, but don't dare stop.
Until...
Your boat jarred to a stop as the water got faster, but more shallow.
As you spill out into the shin deep water, you see that you are on top at the very edge of a wide waterfall.
Spread out before you is a breathtaking sight; You see a great freshwater pool nearly a mile in diameter, the water a brilliant azure. To the north, south and east, the pool was bounded by low hills with open forests, long grass and flowering bushes.
The water flowing past you pours over the cliffs in a kaleidoscope of spray more than a hundred feet down into the pool below.
In the middle of the pool is anchored a square rigged ship, flying the flag of Port Sasserine. The first sight of civilization you've had in months!
But your gawking is cut short as arrows hiss and drop into the water around you. Glancing back, you see that the canoes with the warriors had crashed aground more than a hundred yards back, spilling their hungover paddlers into the river. Angrily they shot as they splashed towards you, none too accurate at least for now.
Aboard the Savage Kraken
A lazy summer day aboard ship is interrupted by a watchman's call.
"Ware the Deck!" Called the crow's nest. "There's people on the falls!"
There is a thunder of footsteps as the crew and passengers aboard run up to the deck to take a look.
Sunny pauses and stares out over the glorious vista for a moment,
Before throwing her head back and calling out at the top of her lungs,
Thence leaping out, over the falls...
Arcing, plummeting and cutting cleaning into the great pool below.
(^_^)
Swim:
Fleeing from angry people who wanted to kill him was becoming something of a habit, Marius reflected as he looked out over the falls. On the one hand, this might be a sign that it was time to re-evaluate some of his life choices. On the other, well, it was certainly an exhilarating experience. Seeing Sunny take the plunge was a distinct shock to the system; he would have thought diving was a seriously bad idea at this height.
Pausing only to give the pursuing warriors a rueful wave goodbye, he followed Sunny's lead and jumped. He didn't see that he had a lot of choice in the matter. The elf seemed to have survived the drop at least, so she must know something he didn't. His own descent was rather less flashy than hers, being a feet-first plunge with arms crossed and legs curved to minimise the impact when he hit.
Strung out on a prolonged rush of adrenalin, Burian grins like a fool at the sight of Marius waving to their pursuers. He watches Marius plummet, and yells down to him.
"Excellent form, Marius!"
He then nods to Devon, and after adjusting his gear... dives over the edge.
Bryson looks at the plummeting forms in wonder. "Woowee! Now ah wish ah'd thought of that." Only then does he note the arrows that motivated the people to brave the dive over the waterfall.
While under the surface of the water, Burian notices Marius struggling a bit.
Burian tries to give him a slight tug to keep him swimming in the right direction.
Ghirrak notices the strangers fleeing the natives and wordlessly dives into the water, swimming towards them with powerful strokes.
That's a hell of a long fall!
Devon looks back, torn between reality and the urge to fight, but the growing number of arrows hissing past make up his mind. Without further thought he dives from the top.
swim
Tucking at the last second, Devon knifed into the churning waters at the base of the falls. Thankfully, the water was deep enough. As he surfaced he looked around to see if all of his companions were ok. Marius seemed to have a little difficulty, but Burian appeared to be handling that. Obviously Sunny had no problems as she was almost as much at home in the water as she was on land. With that he headed for the ship with rapid strokes, his back itching the whole way for fear of arrows.
Seeing the strangers leap into the water, Phillip immediately orders the crew to launch one of the boats. "It's a bit of a swim and we don't know if they can all make it." He says as he grabs a couple of solid crew members and begins rowing out to meet the swimmers.
Not to be outdone by Phillip, Bryson leaps into action."No! Keep them close. We may need to high tail it out of here right quick. Ah'll git them folks out the water." He starts casting Summon Monster III for water elementals who he sends out to retrieve the divers and deliver them to safety.
Fortunately, the people on the cliff guessed right about the depths of the pool they dove into.
Sunny executes a beautiful, near perfect jump/high dive; she only took bludgeoning damage as she slipped underwater with scarcely a blurp.
Marius is not so skillful in this, making more of a fall. And he is at a bad angle when he hits the churning water with a gigantic smack. He takes bludgeoning damage.
Burian is better off, only taking bludgeoning damage when he hit the pool with a splash.
Devon did almost as well as Sunny, only taking bludgeoning when he hit the pool with barely a splash.
You see that the water in this pool is remarkably clear azure. The bottom is bright sandy with clusters of rock outcroppings studded with sea anemones and starfish there. There are sizable crab (which scuttle away from you ponderously), ray (which burrow under the sand at your sudden presence) and hermit crabs (which fort up, except for their eyes). You can see a lot of fish, multicolored and silvery swarms of little fishies, larger predators such as small sharks and gar work the edges.
And off under the cliff you see a cavernous hollow screened by the waterfall above water; but below you can see an elderly galleon sunk beneath the surface, scraps of sail on the broken masts still waving in the current.
Sunny's eyes grow wide at seeing the great ship resting beneath the falls.
She deftly flips about and scoots over to examine the large ruin.
Starting at the top of the main mast she slowly spirals down, looking inquisitively at simply every thing! (^_^)
"Ahoy the ship! We are being chased by islanders and request aid! Whatever terms can be agreed upon later." Devon treads water for a moment to shout out to the ship, then, after glancing back to the others, continues toward the ship.
Now where did Sunny go off to? I swear that girl is going to age me more than my years!