Pezcock approaches you late that night.
It seems we errrkkkk! have some similar powers. You have proved yourself worthy of a little secret I learned from one of the most senior of my people. It will take us some time to practice but jlllk! it will be worth the effort. It is a way to make one of your powers more focused as well as a trick to use a power faster periodically.
Would you like to learn it?
Nim unravels the map they have been making as they explore and places it down for all to see. There are four wrecks along the coast, from here back to the grey island, that we have yet to explore. I would expect at least that number again remain unseen along the south and south west bit of coast. He stabs a finger at the map, And this is where Ishirou's map indicates the treasure is buried.
Nim looks up from the map, The devil said the harpy lives in some ruins somewhere near us here on the western end of the island, but I am not aware of the exact location. Sweeping his finger back to the other end he taps the base of the Red Mountain, And this is where Ieana has gone under the sea according to the devil...
If we expect to encounter the harpy, earplugs of some kind should be employed to help ward oneself against her song. Do we have any bits of cloth and spare candles or lumps of wax?
My vote is for searching for the harpy ruins as we make our way to retrieve the treasure and then go after Ieana as soon as possible. The wrecks will have to wait in my opinion.
I am only one vote however...
Hmmmmm.... maybe the Harpy's ruins will have to wait as well...
The strategist in Anton gets fired up. "We don't know how long it will take Ieana to do what she came for, and we do know that she was able to single-handedly fight off Grrrolik, so we need to balance the need for speed with the need for power. How about we look for the ruins, and if we can't find them easily, then we move along; from the map, there's a wreck not too far, just a little bit southeast from there."
The halfling soldier and scout continues. "After that, we can go find Ishirou's treasure (and hopefully some useful things) before seeking out the 'tide stone', while making sure to all have clubs for Ieana's skeletons -- speaking of which, I don't. But I do have a pair of earplugs for myself, and a couple of candles that I don't really need."
You are correct... we don't know how long it will take her. That actually works against us delaying, in my mind. She has already had a significant head start on us. I'm not sure giving her more time is wise...
She may be gone before we even get there... and so then likely our chance for answers.
Single-handedly fighting off the devil does not impress me... and I doubt that is what happened. By the devil's own words she used magic to control his mind. Without allies present, the devil was incredibly vulnerable to such magic.
Besides, we have no proof that every ruin and wreck upon this island holds riches the likes of which we have been so fortunate to find previously. They are just a likely to be just ruins and wrecks. While we hope to find items to empower us... she is likely actually gathering her own. Her arrival on this island was no accident...
I can craft clubs for whoever wishes one... and we should make earplugs for all. They will come in handy against Ieana as well it seems...
Nim looks hopefully to the rest of the group... Anyone else what to chime in? Or are Anton and I to continue our back and forth until dawn?
Your worries are not without credit Nim, but there are too many "what ifs" and speculation we have not the means to assume or disprove right now... I am for exploring Ishorou's proposed treasure location.
Aedalis considered the offer and then slowly nodded acquiescence.
I would be honoured, Pezock. We shall have to find something I can teach you in return along the way.
Ah yes, the short lived ones are always in a hurry. But then, unless we've been deceived even further, Ieana too is short lived and therefore inevitably rushed...
"Very well. Since it is believed Ishirou's mysterious cache is not far off from the Stone Mouth, it would indeed make sense to seek it out in the same expedition as to address Ieana and the Stone Mouth."
Looking to others to who Ishirou may have confided in, he adds "Do you think Ishirou would be willing to go with us into the Stone Mouth, assuming we can access it? It would save us a trip back to return him here and give us an extra blade when it comes to conflict."
"I suspect the others will be fine here as long as they continue with preparations toward leaving the island. Grolik is concerned about competition for his territory; if he can tell me continue toward the aim of leaving it, he should have no reason for aggression. Additionally he knows that attacking them would incur our wrath, forcing a confrontation he clearly has doubts about winning. Building up rations, stocking wood for a signal fire, all of that would making clear our intent."
Looking to the druid, Tragershen closes with "And given what Grolik told us, I would indeed take you up on your offer for a fashioned club before we brave the Stone Mouth."
You pack up what shovels you have and anything else that seems might be useful and head out early the next morning.
It takes about 5-6 hours trekking over to the location that the treasure supposedly is. The day is rainy off and on and slows you down a bit.
The crown of this hill is one of the few areas on the Shiv that’s
not jungle—the entire hilltop is an open area of tall grass overlooking the island’s eastern shoreline.
According to the map you must to climb to the top of the hill and wait
for sunrise. At dawn, one must simply walk to a point atop the hill where the sun seems to be rising directly between the two spike-shaped rocks protruding from the sea to the east. You determine that this is the correct place to begin digging, but what the map doesn’t indicate is
the complexity and scope of the treasure pit. You wait for sunrise and every able bodied person begins to dig or wait for their turn to take over digging.
8 hours later and fully exhausted you have a 4 foot wide 10 foot deep shaft dug. It ends at a wooden door or plug. Atop it is a dwarven sized skeleton.
You examine the skeleton for a minute and can tell that it's once leather armor seems to have several slashes across the back...probably the way it died.
You pry open the door/plug and it opens into a 20 deep chamber that ends in foul water. You drop a magically lit stone and the light doesn't seem to go down more than a foot o two and you can still make out the light in the water. Nim and Anton shimmy down a rope only to find nothing in this chamber except for a watery exit. Anton uses his ring and ability to swim through it to another chamber that goes up to another pocket of air with a broad ledge. There are two chests on the ledge. You swim back and tell the others. You grab some additional gear and Nim and Anton swim back under and try to open the chests.
After checking for traps you find that the lock is of masterwork quality and it isn't going to open for you. Both chests are extremely heavy and very well made, wrapped in iron.
Anton spends a couple of minutes messing with the lock but is able to open it. Inside appears to be a large amount of copper and silver. A moderate amount of gold, a small amount of platinum and gems. Items of note:
Looking at the treasure, Nim and Anton eye the amount of copper and Silver in the chests warily. It could take a day or two to "ferry" it all out to the outside world...there appears to be thousands of pieces of each.
Assuming they return with the magic items and tell us of the wealth below, Tragershen will say ”That is a lot of wealth. Would it be difficult to separate the more valuable coins and items? While wealth does us little good here on the island, we may need it to get off. Say we flag down a vessel and its captain is rather mercenary in nature… we may have to buy passage off. And, of course, it will be useful when we reach civilization again.”
Taking a minute or so to make a quick evaluation of the items:
ID the small chain armor
ID the wand
ID the rock
ID the belt
The coins are safe enough down here, locked in these chests, for the time being. We can retrieve them later...
Nim aids Tragershen in his efforts to identify the magical items...
"I'd feel better keeping the platinum and gems close. Just in case." Anton does his best to sift through thousands of coins in two chests, planning to add the few true valuables to a sack that he keeps buried deep in his backpack -- for he carries a treasury first started by Nora, Desna rest her soul, the burden of which he assumed at her death.
A suit of chain armor(small) +1 slick
A Wand Bears Endurance (11) charges
Rock or Stone *Magical Failed
Belt *Magical Failed
You are able to pick out 87PP and 13 Gems:
6 50gp ea
3 100gp ea
2 150gp ea
1 250gp
1 500gp
Mithral tube 500gp
Cutlass 575gp with the gems and sacabbard.
Mihai could not assist with the plumbing of the vault's depths, though offered support and encouragement where he was able. Once his eyes lay upon the bounty within he said to all and no-one in particular "Well it seems that the decision to recover this before acting further was warranted."
Yes... that was always the plan. As to what we do now? Or where we go next? I leave that decision to those that don't feel the need to confront Ieana immediately...
Ishirou thinks on the treasure trove for a moment before speaking, You take the items. We should figure out a fair treasure split once we get off this forsaken island. You have born more risk than the rest of us and you still are planning to face Ieana.
I agree with Jasks plan though...you should go after her soon. Whatever she is doing down there probably isn't good. We can wait outside and in case you do get trapped in this mouth we can open it again. If the mountain devil attacks, if we are all together we should have a chance to drive it off.
Ishirou speaks to you on the way back, So my friend you have held up your end of the bargain honorably.
I feel like you are worthy for me to share a secret with you. My family has trained with swords for generations. I know my skill seems meager but I do have some special knowledge on how to handle blades that you may find interesting. If you wish I can train you on them and with some practice you could benefit from this? My only request is that this is a close held family secret, you must promise to not share this knowledge with others though?
Secret of the blades
By practicing the family techniques shown to you by Ishirou, you have learned to better master your blade. While wielding one weapon you focus on for one week of training you gain a +1 to all CMB and CMD checks with this weapon.
Backswing
Once per day you can focus all of your might into a mighty reverse grip thrust that impales your opponent. For this attack you are granted a +2 to hit, damage, and attempts to confirm any criticals that occur. You gain an additional use of this ability for every six levels you have with a maximum of 4 uses per day at 18th level. (1/6/12/18)
It will take you one week of practice in order to master the techniques he will show you.
Pezcock stays up that night to show you his Hex tricks. His unusual mind and quickness allows him to teach you several new abilities, it will take you approximately one week of practice before you can fully utilize this ability:
Focused Hex:
Choose one Hex you currently have. Due to the special mind techniques and tricks that Pezcock shows you, that Hex is more difficult to resist. Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against that Hex. At every three levels you can spend a week and change the focus of your hex to another Hex available to you. You can only have one focused Hex at a time.
Speed of Thought:
Once per day you can increase the speed with which you invoke a hex according to the following progression:
Move Action becomes a Swift Action.
Standard Action becomes a Move Action.
Full Round Action becomes a Standard Action.
This ability can not be used to invoke any additional Hexes than you would have normally been able to invoke.
Let me know if you have any questions regarding this last restriction.
Mihai had no more words to add that had not already been said... and so awaits consensus once more.
I can craft clubs for whoever wishes one... and we should make earplugs for all. They will come in handy against Ieana as well it seems...
Anton looks over his gear. "Oh wait, never mind, I could always just hit them with my sling staff."
He also looks over what they got from the cache. "This is really impressive, and I think that we should at least tackle the ruins with the presumed harpy before Ieana. Some shipwrecks have been empty -- one I could even tell just looking at it -- but what's on land won't be washed away so easily."
I am fine with dealing with the Harpy before we seek Ieana but I do not wish to delay searching wrecks before we do. I am sure we will have time to explore after we deal with her as we still have no way off this island.
By the time you have the treasure out that you want it is late the next day.
You figure can probably make it most of the way to the area that the RMD stated the singing lady is or was and camp there or stay here and start out the next morning...
As we settle down for the night, Tragershen brings up a discussion about the warrens and temple below the lighthouse. ”With the description of the Stone Mouth and Grolik’s references to being commanded and forced to retrieve a snake, it brings to mind for me what we discovered below the lighthouse. Allow me to refresh your memories.”
With his uncannily accurate memory, he paints a vivid (though rather dry) oratory picture of what was seen and interpreted there.
You identify that this was once a temple devoted to the serpentfolk god Ydersius. You guess that the heap of bodies to the south is an attempt at creating a new altar in honor of the god. A low stone altar, its sides carved like coiling snakes and its top carved to resemble a yawning viper’s maw, sits in the center of this room. The walls of the chamber are carved with images of anthropomorphic serpents using strange, pointed megaliths of stone to work great feats of magic—transforming an army of humans into zombies, calling down flaming bolts of lightning from the stars, or parting the waters of the sea to dash human ships upon the exposed rocks of the seabed below. This final image seems to have been recently cleaned of dust, and several lines of text have been made more legible via the application of inks and perhaps blood. An investigation of the carvings and is enough to confirm that the images presented depict scenes here on the island of Smuggler’s Shiv. The carvings are ancient indeed, likely contemporary with ancient Azlant. The creatures depicted are ancient serpentfolk. Numerous Aklo carvings remain on the walls, but only those near the carving of the receding tides are legible. Inscription: To Command the Very Tides to Rise Up and Eschew What Lies Below: Empower the Four Sentinel Runes with the Blood of a Thinking Creature Tempered by the Kiss of a Serpent’s Tongue. Anoint the Tide Stone with Waters Brought from the Sea in a Vessel of Purest Metal. Invoke the Lord’s Sacred Name to Wrap His Coils around the Sea Itself that He Might Lay Bare What Lies Below and Cast Down Your Enemies on the Waves above.
Smaller carvings nearby depict serpentfolk splashing blood on curved runes carved on upright stones before a red mountain, and then holding venomous snakes against the blood that they might lick the stones, pouring water onto a pyramid-shaped block of red stone from a bowl, and standing before the pyramid of stone with arms upraised and mouths agape as if shouting to the heavens as a bolt of lightning arcs up from the stones into the sky.
A low stone altar, its sides carved like coiling snakes and its top carved to resemble a yawning viper’s maw, sits in the center of this room. The walls of the chamber are carved with images of anthropomorphic serpents using strange, pointed megaliths of stone to work great feats of magic—transforming an army of humans into zombies, calling down flaming bolts of lightning from the stars, or parting the alters of the sea to dash human ships upon the exposed rocks of the seabed below. This final image seems to have been recently cleaned of dust, and several lines of text have been made more legible via the application of inks and perhaps blood.
It goes into a room with faint carvings on the eastern wall in Aklo: “All glory to Great Ydersius."
Captain's Journal:
I am Captain Alizandru Kovack, betrayer of my crew and destroyer of the good ship Jenivere. Hell would be a welcome escape from what hideous unlife looms before me, but it is no less a punishment
than I deserve. That I was enslaved mind and body to a serpentine demon who wore a Varisian’s skin does not pardon me. It is my weakness that led the Jenivere, her crew, and her passengers to their doom. That Ieana has abandoned me here is nothing more than the fate I deserve. I do not beg forgiveness, but I despair that she lives still, and that she seeks something dire on this forsaken isle—she seemed particularly interested in Red Mountain. If you read this and you be a kind soul, seek out what I have become and destroy me, and then seek out Ieana and slay her as well. And to those whose lives I have helped destroy, I can only apologize from this, my dark cradle and darker grave.An examination of this log reveals that the Jenivere’s captain seemed to be suffering from some sort of madness that grew over the course of the ship’s final voyage.
Earlier entries from previous voyages are precise in recording progress and events along the way, as are entries from the first two-thirds of this last trip. Yet as one reads further, the more recent the entries get, the less common they become—in some cases, several days are missing entries. What entries do appear are strangely short, focusing more and more on one of the passengers—the Varisian scholar Ieana, with whom the captain seems to have become obsessed. Several entries are nothing more than poorly written love poems to Ieana, while others bemoan Captain Kovack’s inability to please her or catch her attention. Near the end, the entries begin to take on a more ominous tone with the captain starting to complain that other members of the crew are eyeing “his Ieana.” In particular, he suspects his first mate is in love with her, and writes several times about how he wishes Alton would just “have an accident.” The final entry is perhaps the most disturbing, for in it the captain writes of how he’s changed course for Smuggler’s Shiv at Ieana’s request. He hopes that the two of them can make a home on the remote island, but also notes that the crew are growing increasingly agitated at the ship’s new course. The captain muses that “something may need to be done about the crew” if their suspicions get any worse.
I would vote to rest.
After hearing that the group may be encountering a harpy in the near future, and aware of her enchanting song ability, Nim searches the cannibal camp for supplies.
After a few minutes he finds a small scrap of cotton cloth and a candle. From the fabric he cuts two narrow strips. He then cuts up the candle and heats it in a small bowel over the fire. Once the wax is sufficiently melted he dips the two strips, one at a time, into the molten wax, making sure to leave a small bit uncoated. He then rolls the dipped end into a barrel roughly the size of his ear canal, leaving the uncoated end long. After doing this to the second strip, and they both cool enough, he tests them by pressing them into his ears.
Happy with the fit, he tugs them free again by the loose ends and places them in his rucksack for later use.
Anton is surprised when Nim approaches him, looking for wax of any sort, until he remembers that the ruins that Grolik described are supposedly guarded by a harpy. "Sure, you can have both of these candles. I don't have any use for them, really. And here's my earplugs, so you know how they're supposed to look."
Encounter Dawn
Encounter noon
Encounter Dusk
Encounter Midnight
Encounter chance reduced to 10%
Disease Nim
Disease Anton
Disease Mihai
Disease Tragershen
Disease Corbrius
Disease Aedalis
Disease Aerys
Disease Gelik
Disease Ishirou
Disease Jask
Disease Sasha
Disease chance reduced to 3%
Ieana finishes research 10% chance:
You wake up the next morning, the wind is up but otherwise it is a fairly pleasant morning.
You go overland for about two hours and can see the hilly area where the possible Harpy and the ruin lay.
You go ahead and plug your ears with your homemade wax balls and begin to search...
25% chance bird lady notices the party looking for her
You search for much of the day but find nothing the first day. The next day you plan to head closer to the peak and east.
50% chance bird lady notices the party looking for her
You coe over near the peak and head east You search another area but still don't come up with anything...no ruin and no bird lady.
The third day you go north a little then west covering the northern slope of the hill.
75% chance bird lady notices the party looking for her
Surprise Round:
You continue until the showers start with no luck and then pick up the search again afterwards.
It is about this time that you hear a rather beautiful voice drifting through the jungle, singing a nice tune, it seems to be coming from the west...
A lady fair in a garden walkin'
When a well dressed nobleman came ridin' by
He stepped up to her, all for to view her
An he said "Fair lady, would you fancy I?"
I am no lady but a poor maiden
An a poor girl of low degree,
Therefore young man seek another sweetheart
I am not fitting your serving maid to be.