Day 6 - Early Evening - Bonewrack Isle -
Esmarelda's strike is true! It pierces the left eye through the brain and out of the back of the creatures skull. The screams stop as it once again hangs lifeless, this time for good.
Cueta - can act GO!
Artevious - can act
Rizz Nausea 2 Rounds
Foe & Swarm
Gall - paralyzed
Harmony - can act
Esmarelda - can act
Rizz will be emptying her lungs, dry heaving somewhere.
"Oh, that thing was foul! Ick! Ick! Ick!" Harmony grimaces as she pulls her hand back from touching the undead creature. Looking around, she sees things quickly going south with Gall paralyzed, Rizz nauseated and Artevious fleeing. This is no time to be cautious about the use of resources. We could all die here. What should I do? Her face twists in disgust at all the flies in the area and she moves back a little bit, then casts another magic spell with a droning incantation, purple magic lights flickering around her hands as she tries to put the swarm of flies into a restful state. Do insects even sleep? I've never tried this on them before. I guess I'll find out. This is the only thing I can think of that might work.
Harmony casts Sleep on the swarm and at the same time backs away a little bit but not a full retreat. "Somebody needs to get Gall! Cueta, can you or is he too big?"
Esmarelda's shout caused me to stop short and look back over my shoulder. She was right; for whatever reason, the big man stood motionless inside the swarm. I shook my head, gritted my teeth, and ran back to haul the fellow outside of the mass of biting insects.
Gall, frozen as still as a statue in the midst of recoiling in horror at what was once an undead monstrosity, says nothing. The poor b*stard cannot even close his mouth or his eyes to keep out the biting flies that have swarmed around him. He can only stand there and hope his companions will be able to save his petrified butt from this fresh nightmare fuel.
Forcing herself to stand straight, Cueta's stomach flips and she nearly expels her breakfast over the palisade wall - but seeing Gall frozen, statue-like, in the middle of a swarm, spurs the woman to action. Nodding her head to Harmony, Cueta's discomfort forgotten, she yells, "Aye, I gots him!"
Cueta sprints into the fort and lifts the giant of a man from his waist. Staggering backwards under his weight, the swab almost loses her balance, the big man's arms dangling over Cueta's face, Gall's body draped over her back like a large, hairy cloak. Grunting, the deckhand begins dragging Gall backwards, yelling aloud to herself as much as anyone else. "I gots him, I gots him!"
A character can lift as much as double his maximum load off the ground, but he or she can only stagger around with it. While overloaded in this way, the character loses any Dexterity bonus to AC and can move only 5 feet per round (as a full-round action).
A character can generally push or drag along the ground as much as five times his maximum load. Favorable conditions can double these numbers, and bad circumstances can reduce them by half or more.
Day 6 - Early Evening - Bonewrack Isle -
Arty and Cueta attempt to lift and drag the paralyzed half-giant out of harm's way.
The swarm though is an entity that cannot be denied and the three are forced to take the bites of these insects!
The combined effort of the two crew members though allows them to move Gall to the doorway.
Harmony attempts to utilize her sleep magic to put the swarm into slumber. However, the spell fails to effect the swarm in any meaningful way.
Luckily, the swarm appears to remain near the corpse feasting upon it ans the crew reaches the exit. Gall is bitten up and beat up pretty badly...
Esmarelda slammed the door closed and leaned against it. "Okay... Next time we see a body on this damn island, no one go near it please? They always seem to come to life..." She told them all.
She took a look at Gall and turned to Harmony. "Do you have any other healing magic?" She asked.
Cueta feels her legs beginning to lock up as she pulls Gall towards the palisade gate, but wills herself forward, screaming with each slow and tortured step, the horrific flies buzzing and biting her all over.
Dropping Gall outside the wall, the deckhand doubles over and finally loses her breakfast, collapsing to her side in the sandy dirt. Rolling onto her back, Cueta looks up at the sky, a brilliant, nearly cloudless blue, a sky like most every other day in the Shackles.
This was no 'every other' day.
"Foooooooooooooook us."
Rising, shaky, to her feet, Cueta nods to Esmarelda. "Oi. I can ask Besmara for a blessing." Reaching over Gall and offers a quick supplication to her goddess, asking for aid in the face of such horrors. Then, Cueta turns her healing powers on herself, the goddess' pleased whispers in the back of Cueta's mind.
[Dice=fort]1d20+3
Day 6 - Early Evening - Bonewrack Isle -
Cueta after administering healing to her crewmates uses a rope to climb the outside of the stockade. She stands on the ledge keeping a second eye out for that swarm as she looks through the lens which is locked in place.
"Oi! Gall, Arty, c'mere. Those flies were feeding off that creature - let me call on Besmara's blessing again."
-----------------
The Ijo lets out a whoop as she sees the creatures at the other end of the spyglass. Looks like a goblin from the top, octopus down below! Fookin' gross! one of 'em is wearing Sandra's hat! C'mon, mates!"
Shimmying down the rope, Cueta grabs her boarding pike and makes her way towards the beach.
Day 6 - Early Evening - Bonewrack Isle -
"Blegh!"
Rizz has (I believe) finally started to stop retching. She nods along, tyring ot get her head back in the game.
"Yeah, yeah!" she cheers, weakly. Going for the roap, her eyes still watering,
After she lowers herself on the beach, she kinda just lies there for a bit. And then suddenly, when she's feeling up to it, she slaps her face and jumps back up and starts sprinting after the others.
As his muscles finally manage to relax, Gall tumbles to his rear and lets out a sigh of relief. He rubs his eyes with one hand, muttering, "Besmara bless me ragged arse, that were miserable. Thanks for the help, ladies and gents. Might've found meself as that thing's lunch if it weren't for the lot of ye."
Despite his copious cuts and bruises, he does shove himself to his feet and wearily plod on after Cueta and company. "Say, lads, maybe it wouldn't hurt none to rest up 'afore we go chargin' in to save our mates?"
"Hey Gall, buddy, you don't look so hot."
Rizz gestures to her oversized weapon.
"You want me to do that thing where I hit your kneecap and you kick?"
"Green whatsit now?" Harmony blinks as Cueta comes down and gives her description of what she saw. "Half goblin half octopus? Are you serious? Which way do they even breed? Like goblins or like octopuses? I'm confused now! But wait! You said one of them had Sandara's hat? That's the best lead we've got -- we can't just let that get away. I have a little more magic to heal Gall a little bit, but not much. Can we at least try to shadow them and see where they're going? We can't afford to lose them, or we'll never find Sandara!"
"Heh, I think I'll pass, Rizz. Me knee's liable to give out if ye do that right about now," Gall replies with a snort of amusement. He nods in agreement with Harmony, gesturing toward Cueta who is no doubt ahead of the rest of the group.
"Aye, reckon it's best if we nail down where they've got their hidey hole first. Ye got any idea where that is, Cueta?"
"If one of them has Sandara's hat that may know where to find her! If Gall can handle it, I agree that we should push ahead and find them. " Esmarelda said. "I don't want to risk... losing anyone!" She told them as she nervously crossed her arms.
The buzzing and biting of flies was quite the unpleasant sensation, but I bolstered myself with the thoughts of saving a staunch and valued comrade. Even though I did not feel at my fullest after Harmony's healing, the news that a strange creature had Sandara's tricorne further buoyed my spirits.
"Indeed! Let's be off, everyone! Who knows what those creatures have done with her and Conchobar!"
"Hang on, Gall, let's see what I can do about that knee", Harmony says as she moves close to the large man and drops to one knee to inspect his. "I should be able to do *something* about this. Healing magics are new to me. Would've come in handy earlier in my life, but it is what it is. I'm learning this stuff just now. This might hurt a little bit", she warns before summoning arcane energies, purple glitter and sparklies coursing between her hand and Gall's knee.
Gall stops for Harmony, offering out the wounded leg so she can patch it up. Rather than wincing or recoiling away from the healing, he actually lets out a hearty giggle at the sensation.
"Ah, it tickles, lass! What're ye doin' to me?" Once he manages to quell his laughter, he offers her a hand back to her feet. After which he pats her on the shoulder with a warm smile. "Much obliged. New or not, you're doin' great work, Harm."
Day 6 - Night - Bonewrack Isle -
Cueta cuts down the path on the hill and veers sharply south crawling along the slippery rocks of this part of the island. The clouds clear uncovering the moon but still the way is rather treacherous.
Cueta Climb check
Cueta tries to approach as quietly as possible as you near the spot where she saw the foul creatures.
Cueta Stealth check
Harmony nearly slips due to the chain shirt weighing her down, but manages to catch herself just in time, averting cutting herself. Climbing rocks in the dark...definitely not my forté. Shaking her head a little at her clumsiness, she makes her way down, and then slowly looks around, trying to spot anything of interest.
The many nights of sneaking out through her bedroom window seemed to pay off, as Esmarelda was able to make her way over the rocks without any problem.
I guess all those nights weren't for nothing!
Gall nimbly picks his way across the slick rocks, very much used to this sort of going from a lifetime of sailing. With furrowed brows, he eyes the coastline and whispers across to the nearest one of his friends. "Oi, mate. There's a sunk ship over yonder, just off the coastline. Let's not forget to give 'er a look see after we find our friends, aye? Could be something good inside."
Rizz as hardy as she was small, manages to traverse the rocks with minimal difficulty.
She gets excited at the thought of finding some treasure.
"Why wait!? Can we go now?"
"We might lose the trail on our friends. Cueta, do we still have a clue which way to go or did we lose it while descending?" Harmony asks.
"Nah, I it should be due south of the encampment. I can get us there."
I think.
"I have faith in you Cueta." Esmarelda said with a smile before she looked to Rizz. "Our friends should come before a sunken ship. After all, the ship is sunk thus will still be there, our friends may not." She pointed out.
I remained cautious as we made our descent down from the accursed stockade. With our hope now that the strange creatures who possessed Sandara's hat would point us to our lost comrades, we sought to traverse the distance before deciding whether to rest again or continue the hunt.
When Gall pointed out the sunken ship, I put my hand to the brim of my hat. "Hmm. Certainly a mystery to be explored, but definitely after our friends are safely back with us. But yes indeed! Sunken ships are always the locations of adventure!"
Day 6 - Night - Bonewrack Isle -
Indeed Cueta is able to lead you to the location where she saw the menacing creatures.
High cliffs surround a deep cove churning with dark seawater. While the moon lights the land you all know that down below there will be no light.
You can see that depending on where you attempt to enter the cove from the climb can be as low as 40' or as high as 80' before a plunge into the dark waters below.
"I'm going to shed some light. Be on your guard, we may be noticed", Harmony warns the group before casting a Dancing Lights spell, creating four floating orbs of faintly purplish light. With a crook of her finger, she sends them slowly descending down into the lightless cove, illuminating the area.
"It could be diveable. The water would move differently if there were rocks right below. Not sure I would chance it, but it's a possibility."
"So we might be able to dive but you don't think we should correct?" Esmarelda asked as she watched Harmony's lights. "Then what other ways down do you think there are?" She wondered as she looked around.
Cueta peers down into the darkness, expecting to see enemies caught scurrying from Harmony's lights, like roaches.
"Anyone got a rope? We can lower it and shimmy down into the hole. Diving ain't such a good idea. How would we get out?"
"Aye, I'm with Harmony. No sense in gettin' ourselves killed over a hunch." At the mention of a rope, he unslings his rucksack and quickly pulls a length of rope that stretches to about fifty feet free. Without preamble, he offers one end out to Cueta and tosses the rest to the stone beneath their feet. "Got ye covered lass. Let's find a spot to anchor this."
Day 6 - Night - Bonewrack Isle -
Gall secures the rope to a rock near the slope where the drop is only 40' and the crew makes their way down.
Cueta plunks her pike into the ground, and grips her friends by their shoulders, touching them with her desiccated claw holy symbol, offering them words of encouragement.
Grinning and giving her friends a raised "V" using her fingers, Cueta grabs the rope and begins working hand over hand down into the cove, her dagger gripped between her teeth.
"Tss me th pike whn I gt blow."
With a little panache, I slid down the rope following Cuesta, landing with a splash. Upon landing, I drew my trusty cutlass and held it at the ready.
With extreme ease Esmarelda slid down the rope and landed with great grace in to waters below. "I must agree, using a rope was a much better and safer idea." She said.
Gall dutifully snatches up the pike and lobs it down into the water after Cueta, aiming for a few feet beside her. Once the last person is down the rope, he follows suit as nimbly as the big man is able. For the time being, the rope will just have to languish there and await their return.
"Oh, okay, I'm not, gah, I'm slipping, oh crap, oh no, agh -- CRAP!" Harmony cries out as she struggles and finally fails at the rope climb, to whatever consequence may come.