DM Talomyr's Serpent's Skull (Inactive)

Game Master Talomyr

Only a 17, I think. But lemme see...

Dereje glances about, but unfortunately he is not much of a tracker.

Survival: 1d20 ⇒ 8 Nope. :P

Despite the group's best effort at re-finding the Captain's trail, the trail seems to have been lost in the chaos of the short battle.

Which direction would you like to go? You have roughly two hours before sundown.

After a few moments of searching in vain, Dereje steps back and shakes his head.

"Damn. We've lost them. Still, we've made it this far. We are bound to run into them sooner or later, dead or alive."

Unwilling to let himself be too discouraged, he glances at the sky before saying to Mum, "We should not be too far off from that place from Ishirou's map, no? We can make our way closer to there, before settling down for the night."

Mum nods. "Mm-hmm. We can make some progress... Head south along these cliffs, then see if we can veer southeast without the bother of a tiring climb."

The party travels along the path suggested by Mum. The path is not a particularly easy one, as gravel and rock slide out from under you feet as you hug the cliff side in your quest to reach the area marked by Ishirou.

Just as night begins to fall you see the hill. 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.

As you investigate the top of the hill you see two spike shaped rocks off the shore to the east, near the wreckage of the Windwar, just as described in Ishirou's map. The map indicates that to find the spot where the treasure is buried, one 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. This will be the correct place to begin digging.

"Shall we camp here and wait for sunrise?"

Lawdrak looks around for the best spot, tamps down some grass, and does a circuit, looking for obvious hazards.

survival to make a good camp: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

"There seems to be no reason not to. We are making some progress, and I doubt that it will serve any purpose for us to stumble our way back at night and then try to find this spot again on the morrow. Might as well sleep and face this challenge as soon as possible," says Hana.

Lawdrak searches around and finds a suitable spot to make camp for the night.

Watch order?

Middle of the night for me!

First or last for lawdrak and Sharpmaw

Any other watch preferences? I would assume Lawdrak & Sharpmaw would be one watch, one of Adara, Mum, and Dereje with Hana on 2nd, and the remaining two on whichever watch Lawdrak & Sharpmaw are not on, but who is who?

Lawdrak and Sharpmaw will take first.

last watch for me

No preference, really. Dereje will go last to get an early start though.

Oracles don't have the same sleep requirements as other casters, so whatever logistical position in the lineup works for everyone else, is fine.

Ok. I will assume that we keep this pattern for future use unless told otherwise.

1st Watch: Lawdrak & Sharpmaw
2nd Watch: Hana and Adara
3rd Watch: Mum and Dereje

The night goes by surprisingly uneventful and almost pleasant as a mild breeze comes in off the ocean throughout the night. Estietre and Dereje watch on as the rising sun in coordination with the two spike shaped rocks provide what is supposed to be, at least according to Ishirou's map, the location to begin digging to find Captain Quellig’s lost treasure.

As Adara awakens she finds the searing pain in her head subsided, having finally shaken off the effects of mindfire.

Please remember to heal up as normal. Your level in HP, and 1 point to each type of ability damage you may have. Keep in mind that you do have potions of lesser restoration if need be too.

What's next? Dig in the spot? Explore the shipwreck? Travel on?

"We're looking for Ishirou's treasure, no? We might as well see if this is the spot."

"Hm. I do believe we neglected to bring those shovels we found," Dereje remarks. "Oh well, I am certain that we can improvise."

One more vote for dig here/

Three is a majority, so we will move on.

Without the proper tools, the work of digging the pit is grueling. You spend the morning and part of the afternoon (after seeking shelter for the hottest part of the day) excavating the site. Finally, just as the sun in beginning to set, you have reached a depth of ten feet and uncover a short, stout skeleton dressed in leather armor. Along side the skeleton is what appears to be a large wooden plug.

You have a couple of options on the plug, you can try to destroy the plug or you can try and dig around it.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 19
Knowledge (engineering): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Dereje wipes the sweat from his brow before stooping over to taking a closer look at the wooden plug. Right away he discerns its purpose.

"This plug appears to be acting as a lynchpin of sorts. If we are not careful with the way we extract it, we might cause this entire surface to destabilize. It would take another few hours of work, but we should be able to dig it out while preserving structural stability."

Adara does her best to help wishing she had the power some wizards do to make pits in the earth with just their will. When they uncover the body, she does her best to examine it.

Heal: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Figures.

She frowns. There's something...something just out of sight about it she just can't quite put her finger on. The illness she from which recently recovered still lingers slightly it would seem.

Someone can aid Adara's roll if they would like.

"So this whole thing is an elaborate trap," says Hana in summary with a frown.

Heal aid another: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

"Adara..." the youth says, leaning over the Suli's shoulder, pointing at a feature on the corpse. "Why is this...like so? Something looks off."

"Ten feet deep, and a trap... As they say, anything worth doing is worth overdoing, eh?"
Mum sees Adara examining the body... then taps it with her spear.
"I could patch that hole in the armor if you'd like."

Heal check aid another: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10

The sun is beginning to set. You could continue working if you lit a light source or two if you so chose or you could call it a day and camp. What would you like to do?

Adara peers at what Lawdrak indicates.

"Well, well," she mutters nodding. "This dwarf was murdered. Which means there was someone else who survived long enough to kill him, bury him, and leave the area. That's useful to know."

Is there a DC for the Heal check to reach in order to determine approximate age of the corpse?

30. As of now you are at 23 with a maximum of 3 more aid checks coming from the party that would leave you at 29 and just shy.

"Intriguing," Dereje remarks, rubbing his chin. "If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that this dwarf helped bury the treasure, and was then murdered to keep the secret. He might have even been the one who engineered this trap."

The paladin glances at the sun before rolling his shoulders around. "Well, with a few more hours we can get to the bottom of this. Anyone else up for some more digging?"

"We've come all this way," Lawdrak answers with a wry grin, "We might as well see it through."

Hana nods in agreement - no words needed.

Adara groans from the exertions of digging and straightens, knuckling her back. When the others indicate their desire to press on, she steps away to where her pack lays with the others' gear, and withdraws a torch. A quick spark of fire erupts and the torch's flame illuminates one corner of the dig where Adara ties it to a nearby piece of wood as a makeshift holder and impales it into the dirt.

Having decided to continue working on throughout the early part of night, the group continues digging around the wooden plug for just over an hour before being to extract the plug.

Looking down into the darkness you see wooden bracing around the pit, which should allow you to climb down with minimal difficulty should you choose so.

"Water below," says Hana. "I should probably go first, since we don't know how deep it is."

DC 10 Climb check to descend using just the timbers

Adara peers over the edge squinting against the scattered light of her torch, her suli eyes peering into the dark.

Frowning she says, "I'm not sure how far down those timbers go, so be careful. They may not be in the best condition after all. Mizu, perhaps we should tie a rope around your waist in case you slip or the wood gives way."

"I agree."

Mizu: Are you going to roll or take ten...? I think the DM is waiting for you.

Dereje reaches into his pack for the coil of rope he was carrying around. It was always good to have one - just in case.

"Here. It should make it easier to climb down, as well."

Take 10 solves the problem, but might as well bump the DC down to a 5. :P

"I have a rope, here..." Lawdrak says, rummaging in his pack.

I think rope use is under survival these days, so Lawdrak will take ten (for 22) to make a good loop for Mizu.

Climb: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19

Once tied off, Hana carefully descends the rickety timbers into the hole.

As Dereje said, DC is now down to 5. Who's holding onto the rope?

Both Dereje and Lawdrak rummage through their respective packs, each producing a coil of rope. Lawdrak secures the rope around Hana before she begins here descent into the pit.

Hana slowly descends into the pit, inching ever closer to stale, murky water below.

Finally reaching the water level, something seems not quite right to the samurai-ko. Unfortunately for Hana, her suspicions are right as two water-logged monstrosities burst from beneath the water's surface, lunging and biting at her. Even worse for the samurai, both creatures find their target, tearing at the woman's flesh. The rest of the party up above hears the sounds of ravenous creatures and Hana's screams of pain in the darkness below.

Hana takes 7 damage and needs to make 4 DC 13 Fort Saves! The last two are vs. disease.

Initiative Order
Dereje
Blue Creature
Adara
Hana
Red Creature
Estietre
Lawdrak & Sharpmaw

Dereje is up before Blue tries to take another bite out of Hana. There is a map on Roll20 for this battle.

"Lady Mizu!" Dereje calls out when he hears the samurai's pained cries. He peers down into the pit, unable to see what is happening in the darkness. "Damn it..."

The paladin draws his pistol and loads it, addressing his compatriots without looking. "Can any of you get a light down there?"

The hungry creature continues to claw and bite at Hana, ripping and tearing at her flesh.

Hana takes 13 damage and is currently at -2 and hanging from the rope.

Adara is up. (Along with Hana should she become conscious again.

Fort saves: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13 (paralysis)
Fort saves: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20 (paralysis)
Fort saves: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23 (disease)
Fort saves: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 (disease)

Somehow, Hana manages to stay on her feet.

Activating resolve, which allows me to remain conscious and active in spite of negative hit points.

She lashes out at one of the creatures.

Katana attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Katana damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Hana, with near supernatural resolve, fights through her grievous wounds and returns one in kind to one of the water-logged creatures.

The creature staggers back be still remains on its feet.

Adara is up. For future reference, as a full round action, those on the other end of the rope can pull Hana up 20 feet (i.e if two of you choose to do so, you will have her back at the surface of the pit.

Adara gives Dereje an incredulous look.

"Why in Caiden's name are you worried about your gun??"

The oracle grabs the rope and starts to pull trying to bring Mizu no Hana back out of the hole.

Strength: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20