Thorion quietly moved up next to Neltji in order to keep a closer eye on her. The young deckhands hesitation to interact with the other after a full night’s sleep, had the priest a little concerned.
“We could simply scout a bit, unless someone has a specific point of interest they would like to visit.” Thorion stated while placing a comforting hand on Neltji’s shoulder. “Besides, if this place holds true to its reputation, it is likely that other ships have been wrecked here as well.”
Rii-Chi wakes up, fur standing on end and only the instinctive grab of his tail keeps him from falling out of the tree where he slept. "Snakes. Hate snakes!" He mutters, eyes adjusting to the slowly growing light of the dawn.
From his perch in the tree he watches as other members of the camp wake, each seemingly with their own problems. Mischa-friend seems happiest, but Rii-Chi's sharp eyes make out the small changes - no face-paints, that point to some disturbance.
Stone-face Thorion and Trapper-cage Caine both seem upset also - but hide it well. If Rii-Chi was not already both alert and watching he likely would not have noticed. Little Neltji on the other hand... her screams and the blood she spits has Rii-Chi moving down from his tree, concerned.
Unfamiliar with human interaction the Vanara treats Neltji as he has vague memories of being held as a youngster himself. He sits behind her, wrapping her in his long arms and holding her in a warm, furry hug. His tail, almost of its own accord, reaches up and gently strokes the girl's hair until her sobbing abates.
Disentangling himself once Neltji has calmed down Rii-Chi purloins what remains of Mischa's cooking and scarfs it down. "Many thanks Mischa friend! You cook wonderful." Caine's question brings a shudder from the Vanara, his fur rippling up and down, "I dreamed of Snakes, and First Mate Alton. Bad dreams. I do not like snakes!"
As the talk moves on to plans Rii-Chi nods his head up and down at the various suggestions. "We need to know more. We should scout the island - find places to stay safely, what foes might we face? While we do that we need strong people to defend the camp - keep us all safe." He shoots a side-long look at Ishirou as he says this, hoping flattery will help persuade the man to take up a role in the camp.
"Snakes? I too dreamed of a serpent - a big one. I haven't been dealing with snakes lately, so I don't know where that was coming from." Caine adds. "Did anyone else dream of snakes?"
As the assembled munch on Mischa's cooking, Munkustrap listens to the others share their strange dreams. Unconsciously going through the process of inventorying his knives, exhaling in relief that they are all here, Munkustrap chimes in. "I too dreamt of a serpent. It cannot be a coincidence that we all shared a similar experience' yet I do not know what it means.
"Jask, can you interpret dreams or is Neyths too uncaring?" Munkustrap asks.
Aerys
Aerys wakes visible shaken. I really could use a drink! she mumbles. My nightmare wasn't snakes but I dreamed that there was a hole in the ship and it was filling with wine and no matter how mush I drank, the wine would keep pouring in. She shudders.
Gelik says sarcastically, My dreams were most pleasant! I tried to go back to sleep so I could relive it! Surprisingly, he turns serious. I did dream of snakes. I dreamt that instead of wearing fine clothes, I was wearing a snake skin, and as soon as I took the snake skin off-shedding as it were, it would be replaced by a new snake skin!
Ishirou
Ishirou awakes, but does not speak. Instead he removes his sword from its scabbard and a sharpening stone and repetitively sharpens his sword. When he hears Rii-Chi mention that someone is needed to defend the camp, he stops sharpening his sword and notices all eyes on him. He nods curtly and again sharpens his sword.
Jask
Yes, I too had a dream about snakes. Instead of my previous chains, my bonds were snakes that I could not break free from. he then pauses. But it is a beautiful day and I am a free man! Who cares about what we dreamt last night? Today is a new day!
In response to Munkustrap, Jask shakes his head no. Nethys is not uncaring, it is just that he cares about magic. I don't think bad dreams are magical. They might be caused by an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. But magic? Hardly!
Sasha
Sasha wakes and is also visibly disturbed. I dreamt that snakes and sea serpents were fighting a mantis and the mantis was losing!
Mischa raises an eyebrow as Ishirou and Munkustrap when they mention treasures and a map, but asks no questions, allowing them their privacy.
---
She accepts the compliments on her cooking with a smile. "Why, thank you!"
---
After eating, she spreads out the maps on the ground for everyone to see.
"Here's the maps we found yesterday," she says. "They're nautical charts, though. Not surveys of the island. I doubt they'll be much use to us at the moment."
She points at a location on the map. "I believe this is where we are now..." She moves her finger. "And this is where the Jenivere's sunk."
She compares the maps, and thinks back to what she knows about this island.
After a moment of thought, Mischa remarks, "I'd suggest scouting the surrounding area. We'll need to get our bearings and figure out what kind of dangers we face before travelling around too much."
Jask
Jask shakes his head no. Nethys is not uncaring, it is just that he cares about magic. I don't think bad dreams are magical.
"We all dreamed about snakes, and that is not magical? Ha. I don't believe that for a second and I can use magic as well as that sand crab." Left feeling unsatisfied by the answers to the shared serpent dreams, Munkustrap quickly becomes agitated with camp life.
"I for one, am ready to strike out and see the beauty of Smuggler's Shiv, vacation destination of Taldan nobles since Starfall." he ends sarcastically. He moves over to check out the charts and maps Mischa has laid out. Having no experience ready maps like this, he just nods along to the general consensus.
Neltji comes around as Rii-Chi wraps his tail around her. It was a comforting sign and welcome.. Still she needed some time to sort through what just happened and settle herself. She also needed the time to commune with Anthony. Looking at Thorion and Rii-Chi she smiles at them wanly. Thank you for your comforting presence. I too dreamt of a snake. I was eating when the snake was in the bowl of food and it latched on to my tongue. When I awoke I thought it was still there and bit down. However it was my own tongue that I bit. Looking around at the island she adds, I am beginning to hate this place but it will do no good to just sit here. I will go with you to explore and hopefully find something useful on this island.
Rii-Chi ruffles her hair with a big monkey grin. "Biting snakes is good! Biting self... not so much!"
With the consensus seemingly set on exploration Rii-Chi is happy to lead the way out of the camp, along the shoreline to the west.
Thorion listened as each of the castaways described their dream and the connection they believed was consistent with them. Snakes seemed to be a common characteristic, yet he had no recollection of snakes in or about his dream. The fact that his dream lacked the common theme of everyone else's, left him a bit troubled.
“Although the dream I had last night was troubling, I don’t believe I recall any snakes.” The priest stated in a soft dry tone.
"You're not the only one, Thorion. I didn't dream of snakes, either." Mischa assures him.
Do I have an idea which side of the island the ships who avoid this place usually pass by?
Is there anything else she can learn from these maps?
"We all dreamed about snakes, and that is not magical? Ha. I don't believe that for a second and I can use magic as well as that sand crab."
Jask laughs heartily. Then perhaps you can ask that sand crab to interpret your dreams!
Walking along the coast, the rhythmic crash of the waves lulling them into a stream of consciousness, Munkustrap comes to his senses, "How much further do you think it is? Should we have grabbed more provisions?" he pulls from his lukewarm waterskin. "Would be nice if one of you could make this cold." he complains to no one in general.
"I agree that we could go and see what this sharp promontory is like. We'd also have a good view of the seas in that direction. Perhaps a ship may be spotted or we could attract one," Caine suggests. What he doesn't add verbally is that it may help them feel a bit more secure if they knew what dangers lie in that direction with no other place to go but toward their camp.
Thorion followed quietly behind the group as they made their way through the difficult terrane. Do to the environment and the encumbrance of his gear, he found the pace to be dauntingly difficult. The rough stone outcroppings that riddle the island, looked like they would provide a perfect opportunity to rest, but such delusions where quickly rewarded with a jaggedly sharp reminder of the islands unforgiving toughness. The stone fixtures that managed to protrude through the tick island foliage seemed to be routinely lined with ridged barnacle remains, which served the stone as a serrated row of razor sharp teeth. Resting anywhere other than the occasional sandy flat proved to be more detrimental then pressing forward. Even through the increasing discomfort, Thorion did his best to remain silent and not add his displeasure to what he knew the rest of the group was also experiencing.
Neltji follows along as the group heads west to find the coast. Hopefully there is something important in that direction to help them survive on this island. While she does not hold out hope of a hsip in the ocean she does think that planting a tower with a flag on the coast might attract attention eventually. Perhaps we can build up the rocks there and plant a flag or something to signal a passing ship. That way we don't need a look out all the time to wave a ship down?
Mischa considers the other's plans, and then nods. "Sounds good to me. We should have a decent view of the island, and the surrounding ocean from up there. We might even spot something interesting... As for flagging down a ship, I wouldn't hold my breath. You've a great idea, Neltji, and we should do it, but rare is the sailor who'd chance Smuggler's Shiv, even at the signs of people in need. It is known to cause shipwrecks, after all."
With a smile at Neltji, she adds, "We'll try, though. I'll help you build it."
Following the coast, you all make really good time. Towards the end of the day, the rotting remains of a ship become visible. The faded letters on its hull spell out 'Tattooed Lady'. The beach is eerily quiet and for the first time all day, no seagulls are flying overhead. several humanoid skeletal remains are protruding from the sands.
After the difficult hike, Munkustrap is glad that they have reached their destination. As he pants in between sips of water, he thinks back to earlier conversations with the others. Tattooed Lady didn't seem to ring any bells in his memory. "Anybody know anything about this boat? Should we see if their are any usable items in the wreck or head back to camp?" Not really caring one way or the other, Munkustrap is interested to see who wants to do what as the sort their hierarchy out.
"I can get out to the wreck - see what there is." Rii-Chi offers, seemingly keen to be back on a ship - even if it is a wreck.
Suiting actions to words he moves ahead, his loping stride moving quickly over the sand before he leaps up the side of the wreck and begins to swarm across it - looking for a place to enter.
While uncomfortable with the absence of marine life, Thorion continued to follow the group as they made their way towards the newly discovered wreck. Like most everyone in the group, he found himself more focused on caution than the rough environment that had plagued the gurney since the beginning of the expedition.
Thorion found himself nodding in agreement with Rii-Chi, when the unusual primate offered to scout out the wreck. (Rii-Chi probably has the best chance of eluding any dangers that might be found on that ship.) He considered as he listened for any sign of life in the area.
Neltji was looking around at the her surroundings and wasn’t paying enough attention to her party. As Rii-chi bounded off she silently berated herself for her lapse. Calling out quickly she hopes she is not too late, No come back. Remember the undead haunt this island!
"I'll go with him," Mischa assures Neltji. "You guys check out the bodies."
Mischa then follows Rii-Chi towards the wreck.
As Rii-Chi and Misha head to the wreck with Neltji trying to stop them, the skeletons begin to move and pull themselves from the sand!
The Skeletons finish pulling themselves from the sand to stand before you!
Faster then the blink of an eye, daggers appear in Munkustrap's hand. The blade in his left hand twirls round and round, as he hisses loudly. "Skeletons. This is not good. Not good at all."
Before the reanimated corpse can form, Munkustrap flicks out with one of his daggers.
As it reaches full height, and seeing that his daggers are ineffectual against them, he quickly backpedals away from them looking for something to use against them.
The rhythmic sound of the waves working the beach in the distance was the only ambient sound in the area. Thorion was concerned and on high alert do to the change. The islands reputation preceded it and he had a feeling something was wrong.
Because Thorion was carefully watching Ri-Chii clamber off towards the wreck, he was caught a little off guard when the skeletons animated and began to engage the group. His traditional granite like expression broke into a look of sheer rage. His eyes narrowed causing all but the abominations before him to blur. The sound of his team blended with the tide and soon all that was left was the undead. (UNDEAD!)
The priest's scythe began to spin with deadly momentum as he advanced. (Maybe today is the day I transcend.) He thought as he moved close enough to a skeleton to engage it. With reckless abandon, he brought the curved blade high overhead and then down into a powerful side swing, which was intended for the skeletons midsection.
With herself almost surrounded Neltji thought to defense first. Casting a spell to boost her defenses she hoped that she could do so without the creatures attacking her.
Cast defensively mage armor
Feeling a bit more protected Neltji steps to the right to provide a flank for Mischka with her spear.
Noticing the flank that Neltji's set up, Mischa pulls back her fist--suddenly it's covered in hard, rough bark--and punches the flanked skeleton in the chest.
Too close to comfortably shoot, Caine draws his long sword and strikes at the skeleton to his front right. His attempted strike goes wide. "Damn! There are too many of them! We should close up!"
Munkustrap moves back 30 feet and graps a heavy piece of driftwood.
Neltji sets up a flank for Mischa who responds by shattering one of Neltji's skeletons.
Caine misses with a swing of his sword.
Thorian moves to one of the skeletons and he is able to sever the spinal column which causes the skeleton to collapse in a heap!
Rii-Chi, quick off the mark, lashes out with a hammering blow and uses the momentum to flip up and kick out at the other skeleton.
Rii-Chi misses one skeleton, but a kick from him shatters the other.
Rii-Chi's remaining Skeleton tries to claw him.
Mischa's skeletons persue her and try to claw her.
Neltji's skeleton takes a five-foot step and tries to claw her but misses.
Thorion's skeleton also takes a five-foot step but they miss as well.
Both of Caine's skeletons try to claw him.
Munkustrap's skeleton's pursue him.
Munkustrap scrambles down the beach, away from the reanimated corpses. As he putters around he finds a fallen branch. He picks it up and swivels around to defend himself. Before he can get the timber into a defensive position, a claw rakes his chest. He utters a curse as the sharp bone draws blood.
"Dammit. Help! Someone come get this skeleton away from me!"
Seeing that all the others are currently engaged with foes, Munkustrap wields the timber as best he can.
"Someone. Please."
Neltji hears Munk call for help but she also sees Caine take a near fatal blow to the chest. Hoping that the deft catfolk can hold his own for the moment she targets 1 of the skeletons on Caine with her misfortune hex. If successful she lets out a gleeful cackle at the expense of the skeleton.
Then she steps to the side again to give Mischa a flank buddy.
Will save DC 15 or roll each d20 twice for next round + duration of cackle.
While still heavily focused on the undead, Thorion diverted the momentum from his previous attack into an upward arc, turned the blade, and then brought it back down into a second powerful attack. The priest’s first target had been destroyed, but there were no lack of undead close at hand. It took every ounce of strength he had to force the scythe’s sharp edge through the hardened bone of the skeleton, which caused him to stagger slightly just before bringing the blade back in line for its second descent. He gasped with each swing, and with each gasp, he committed himself to the destruction of the target before him.
Having been scratched by the skeleton Rii-Chi switches to a more defensive style, focusing on evading the skeletons blows more than landing his own.
Heavily wounded, Mischa takes a few carful steps to the southeast and casts a healing spell on herself.
Then she looks around at her comrades, trying to assess who is in the most need of aid.
Deciding it's Caine, she eyes the many skeletons between them.
"Hang on, Caine! I'm coming! ...Somehow..."
Munkustrap tries to use his improvised club with little success.
Mischa takes a five-foot step and heals herself.
Neltji casts a misfortune hex on one of the skeletons that Caine is facing, but it doesn't seem to work.
Rii-Chi and Thorion both miss in their attacks.
Caine winces under the sharp blow from the skeleton's bony hand. He shifts a step to his right in an effort to try to sandwich the skeleton between himself and Neltji. He also takes more effort to present a stronger defense
If Caine had been swinging at an actual humanoid, he would have hit, but instead his sword is deflected off the bone.
Rii-Chi's remaining Skeleton tries to claw him.
Mischa's skeletons pursue her and try to claw her.
Neltji's skeleton tries to claw her.
Thorion's skeleton tries to claw him.
Both of Caine's skeletons try to claw him.
Munkustrap's skeletons try to claw him.
Rii-Chi collapses onto the sand, blood matting his golden fur...
Not liking the situation at all Neltji has no option but to try and continue to provide a flank for Mischa to finish off the skeletons with her fists. In position she then targets one o the skeletons no Mischa with misfortune hoping to keep her alive long enough to pound the skeletons to dust.
5ft over to flank for Mischa and
Will save dc 15 or misfortune and cackle.
The sharp bony fingers of the skeleton managed to find one of the soft spots between Thorion’s thick armor. The rough jagged appendage dug deep into his flesh which caused him to wince in pain. The priest’s resolve seemed unshaken as he began mouthing a short prayer to Pharasma, which was followed by a few divine words of life. Upon completing his prayer, Thorion’s hand began to glow with a soft blue-like aura. His eyes become centered on the skeleton in front of him as he reached out and released an unyielding tempest of positive energy through his arm and into his hand. Like a conduit, the power flowed through his arm towards its intended target, the void of life skeleton.
Caine manages to evade the clutching claws of the skeletons, but his own strikes proved no more effective. Nevertheless, he still chooses to focus on his own defense.
Once again a skeleton rakes his bony fingers across his chest.
"We must retreat. We cannot win this fight! To the camp."
Holding his branch aloft in a defensive position, he moves with all haste away from the skeletons.
"We can't leave Rii-Chi!" Mischa shouts back at Munkustrap. She steps over into flank position with Neltji, Then she raises a fist, which quickly becomes covered in hard, rough bark, and punches the skeleton.
As Mischa hits the skeleton between them reducing it to bone splinters Neltji let’s out a little cry of encouragement. Keep going Mischa! We can do this!
Munkustrap, feeling overwhelmed, retreats.
Neltji provides a flank and a hex on one of Mischa's skeletons.
Mischa pulverizes a skeleton.
A burst of healing power destroys Thorion's other skeleton.
Caine's longsword separates the spine and one of his skeletons fall to the ground.
Rii-Chi stabalizes.
Rii-Chi's skeleton,thinking the monk dead, moves to Neltji tries to claw her, but misses.
Mischa's skeletons pursue her and try to claw her.
The remaining of Caine's skeletons try to claw him.
Munkustrap's skeletons chase after him but fall behind.