"Can you put those lights into the water itself? Look for anything moving." Inari said.
Talene send the line of lights under the water. It actually works fairly well for estimating depth. By having the skim the bottom going out to the little island, she can figure the depth out there to be about 4'.
"Oh well. It's not that far. And no spiders around.", Yuki states as she prepares to jump.
A moment later, she does, easily clearing the distance needed and acing her landing, then taking a closer look at the crystals.
Wow! Great jump Yuki, I uh, don't think I'd make it..."
"Wow. That was way better than my plan. See anything?"
The island is small, more like a rocky nub protruding from the water. It isn'y easy for Yuki to find her balance on it, but she does. She finds the glittering crystals visible from the shore to be several clusters of mundane rock crystals formed on the surface. They are not precious or semi-precious stones, but that doesn't mean they are completely worthless.
Meanwhile Inari and Talene watch from the edge of the pool. Suddenly Talene feels a blow land on her leg, as if she's been hit by a heavy branch, but an oddly soft and pliable one. She also feels her skin burn where she's hit.
She looks down to see an almost transparent blob creeping from the water. It has lashed out at her, explaining the blow she felt. Worse though is how rapidly that portion of the blob wraps itself around her leg, drawing her and the blob together.
Inari acted on instinct, lashing out with his spear. He didn't really know what he was stabbing, but whatever it was it had Yuki, so it was getting stabbed.
As Yuki is taking a closer look at the crystal formations, she is alarmed by Talene's startled cry of surprise...it takes Yuki a moment to actually see her assailant.
Weighing her options, deciding that jumping back was risky, even if she was given space, Yuki draws another set of Shuriken and throws them at the blob. Careful not to hit Talene, one is a bit far off, only grazing the protoplasmic entity, but the other strikes the center.
I never learned how to give them a proper spin...oh well...at least I can hit a target with them, now.
"Owwww!"
QStaff Attack
Damage
Talene reflexively recoils from the blob's grasp. It cannot maintain its hold and collapses back onto the ground. Inari, Talene, and Yuki pummel the thing viciously. Yuki's shuriken both pierce the creature's thin external membrane, and Inari and Talene beat the liquid out of it.
"That hurt, damn. We should not delay in case more of these nasty things rise from the dark waters".
"They don't seem particulary though...give me just a moment - I don't think these crystals are particulary valuable, but they could make a nice memento of our adventure if made into jewelery regardless."
Yuki will attempt to harvest the crystals, holding on to their tops and trying to sever them from their rocky base with a well-aimed palm strike.
It doesn't take long for Yuki to break the crystals loose. They are growing in clusters and easily freed from the surrounding rock.
Meanwhile Talene and Inari watch the pool. Nothing else disturbs the surface. Once Yuki rejoins the Talene and Inari, there are only two choices. Back the way they came then left will take then toward the cave's entrance. Right will take them farther into the cave complex.
"You alright, Talene?" Inari asked as they headed back down the tunnel and to the right.
"Well, lets see this through. Unless we run into a webs and eggs...", Yuki says, her determination at the beginning of the sentence turning into shivering disgust at the end of her statement as she imagines a spider the size of a house, like in that one scary story...
How much of these children's stories is true...and more importantly, do I even want to find out?...
"I'm fine, let's keep going. Don't want to have to do this again so let's finish what we started".
HP 14/17
Inari paused at the blind turn, keeping quiet and glancing around the corner.
Around the other side of the sharp corner the tunnel narrows considerably, more a wide crack in the stone than a passage. It takes some squeezing, but the party shuffles their way through to the other side.
The passage widens into a tiny alcove before emptying into a much larger cave. Getting everyone through the the crack with room to breathe practically forces Inari at the front to step out into the wider area.
This cavernous room is by far the largest the group has seen so far. Talene's light barely makes it to the opposite wall, and the right and left sides of the room extend beyond its reach into darkness.
The party is standing at the edge of a sandy beach. It is relatively wide, and terminates in a body of slowly flowing water. Very likely it is the same stream the party has been brushing up against the whole way though. The sandy area suggests periodic flooding, likely due to storm water runoff.
Probably more important than any of this though, is what Inari notices immediately to his left. A human skeleton lies against the wall of the cave, as if the person had sat down, resting their back against the wall, then slumped sideways in death. It is slightly covered in sand. Rusted fragments of what was at one time armor lie on and about the skeleton. Time and wet have destroyed it, but not so much that Yuki cannot recognize it with just a casual peek. The armor is Minkaian, or at least Tien. The similarities to armor depicted in art that she knows well are obvious.
Talene speaks up, "Should I send out my dancing lights once more? We should certainly investigate that corpse, what type of armor is that it's wearing? Anyone recognize it? Desna forbids me wear armor so I've not much experience with it".
Inari tapped his head. "Recognizing things isn't my strong suit. My memory is like a rusty sieve these days. Maybe something will come to me if we take a closer look."
"Go ahead and send out your lights. Might as well be able to see where we are headed."
Inari headed into the cavern, scanning for movement and hazards.
Talene sends her dancing lights into the wider chamber once more.
Perception
"Minkaian. The armor's Minkaian.", Yuki speaks up, only half paying attention. She approaches the Skeleton, kneeling down in the sand next to it, gently touching the skull with the back of her hand:"Survivors from the ships, I would assume. They probably tried to take shelter from the storm that sunk their ships. Then the high tide and storm water runoff from the river trapped them here. What a cruel fate, to barely survive, only to die in the same way one avoided shortly after. His armor prevented this one from being washed away after death, but I would not be surprised to find others."
Raising again, Yuki takes point with a new determination...hoping to find out both why the swamp witch had considered this place dangerous, and why there were 2 shipswrecks with her familiy name in the marsh.
As they move into the cavern chamber following Talene's lights, the group spots three more skeletal bodies in the same condition scattered close by on the sand.
The source of the stream seems to be a large crack in the rock at the end of the space. Following the water farther upstream would require swimming underwater since the fissure is essentially submerged.
One small passage near the stream fissure can be seen. Otherwise the group seems to have reached the end of the caves.
Tal uses her lights to illuminate and search the chamber as she doubts she will ever come again.
Perception
Inari starts wandering the perimeter of the cavern, not really looking for anything in particular, but trying to see if they've missed anything.
"Seems anti-climactic. A dead guy in foreign armor? What's the significance?"
A very thorough walkabout turns up two more skeletons close to the far western wall, but nothing else of note. The two news ones are in no way different from the others. They are likely human, with the same Minkaian style armor now rusted away to fragments.
All that's left is the small tunnel on the western side of the cavern.
"Looks like there's only one way left to go."
Take shrugs and grins at Inari, "Lead on brave warrior!"
Inari's spell does not locate any magical auras.
"I'll take point. There might be another spider." Inari said giving Yuki a playful bump with his hip before moving forward.
The western tunnel is short, only about 25'. At that point it opens into a larger cavern. A pool of water covers about a quarter of the cavern to the right, but the rest is dry and covered with fine sand like the previous area.
Near the opposite wall sits a large, beautiful cherrywood chest with jade inlays. Atop the chest sits another skeleton. It wears the same type of armor as the others, but it is in better shape. The armor is still falling apart, but at a slower rate than the others. It must have remained drier over time.
The skeleton is positioned cross legged, "lotus style" Yuki thinks. Across its knees lies a small, slightly curved sword. The skull, under the helmet it wears, looks downward, as if deeply contemplating the swords on its lap.
Otherwise the cavern is empty.
Inari was completely engaged in the intricacies of the armor and the sword.
Tal sends her lights dancing about the cavern once more.
Perception
"A treasure chest? It's as if we have stumbled upon a children's tale of lost treasures and sunken ships!"
Knowledge Religion
Talene doesn't think so, she senses a malevolence from it.
"Ware my friends, this may be no benign unfortunate soul whose remains sit atop that chest..."
Contemplating the terrible fate that has befallen these warriors, Yuki wordlessly follows behind Inari, only acknowleding his spider-jest with a weak grin.
Upon seeing the chest, Yuki's first instinct is to rush towards it...if it was saved from the ships, it would likely hold answers to so many questions - but Talenes warning gave her pause leading to a possibly frightening conclusion...:"The goblins...who did they say they were attacked by?..."
"I don't remember. They were goblins, so I didn't pay much attention." Inari shrugged.
Yuki does indeed see a trail scratched in the sand, running from the chest out of the room back the way she just came.
Considering Talene's warning for a moment, Yuki's hand quickly strikes towards the Skeletons lap, snatching the blade before she jumps back a step
Yuki quickly closes the distance to the skeleton, attempting to take possession of it's weapon in case Talene is right with her prediction of malevolent intent.
Tal holds her breath the words of a spell to harm the dead on her lips.
Yuki rushes forward, attempting to grab the sword laying across the skeleton's lap. En route, she realizes the skeleton has been perfectly aware of them the entire time. It has simply been waiting, motionless and silent.
It's helmeted head jerks upward to stare at Yuki with a pair of pale, greenish dots of light, which substitute for eyes in the hollows of its sockets. The skeleton as astoundingly fast, slipping off the chest to a standing position in a flash.
Yuki grabs for the sword, but it is now held firmly by the scabbard in one hand, while the other draws the weapon out. She gets her fingers onto the the scabbard, but must immediately throw herself to the side because the blade is no longer in the scabbard, and it is aimed at her outstretched arm. Her quick reaction enables her to avoid the blade swipe.
Meanwhile, the skeleton has dropped the scabbard, clawing at her with it's other hand. She deftly dodges the second attack as well.
A voice comes for the skeleton although the lipless jaw does not move. It is the voice of an angry man.
"Come now samurai! Fulfill the oath you have sworn from beyond the grave! There is no rest for us in death, such is the punishment for our failures!"
The skeleton barely looks at Yuki, dismissing her with an "Away from me urchin! Your sentence will be death, show whatever dignity a thief can muster as I carry it out."
The skeleton fixes his eyes on Inari. "What a pitiful bandit you are. Relying on women to do your work. You will die just the same as them. You will be first, so they may cower in terror before the end!"
Initiative Order:
Skeletal Samurai
Talene
Yuki
Inari
Talene and Inari are up to act in this round