DM Talomyr's Serpent's Skull (Inactive)

Game Master Talomyr

Also note, if I take another hit I will fall unconscious again, but if the water is deep enough to submerge me I'll get hydrated vitality, which will heal 2 points. Of course the ghouls will likely just tear me limb from limb at that point...

Adara pulls with a strength that belies her badly damaged hands and arms, raising Hana out of harms way for the time being.

Having been locked away in the pit for gods only know how long and starving for flesh, the creature that had avoided Hana's blade begins to climb the walls of the pit.

Hana is 20 feet below the surface. The red creature is at 25 feet below the surface. Estietre, Lawdrak & Sharpmaw are up.

Hana grits her teeth and somehow manages to avoid screaming as the rope hauls her away, badly wounded, nearly dead as she dangles in the air.

"We can solve the problem, or we can solve the problem," Dereje remarks bluntly, listening as the ravenous sounds of whatever lies in the pit draws closer.

Estietre touches one end of Dereje's rope - causing it to glow. She kicks it in while keeping a foot on the other end.
"Oh my... You look terrible. What is it? .. Undead?"

"I presume. I am not familiar with whatever it is, aside from the fact that it is directly below me right now."

Lawdrak steps to Adara, seizes the rope, and pulls, hoisting the samurai up further.

AS he pulls, huffing heavily as he remembers that he is still not at full strength, Lawdrak makes a sharp clicking noise in his throat and jerks his head at the entrance to the pit.

With an eager hiss, Sharpmaw scampers to the edge and crouches, ready to pounce on the first non-Hana thing that appears.

Ready an action: First enemy in range will trigger a melee attack.

With Lawdraks additional help, Hana's battered form is back at the top of the pit.

Estietre kicks the now enchanted rope end down into the pit, revealing the creature climbing up the side of the pit and a similar form in the shadowy light below.

I assume that Dereje had been in delay, waiting for lighting conditions to reveal a target. Those conditions have been achieved, fire away!

Following Dereje's shot:

The creature further down in the depths of the pit follows the lead of its "friend" and begins climbing the side of the pit. Wounded from Hana's blade, the creature is unable to grasp an appropriate hand hold at first, but begins its climb regardless.

Red is at 25 feet below the pit's surface, Blue is a 35 feet below and in shadowy light (20% miss chance for those without darkvison or low-light vision.

Following Dereje's shot, Adara and Hana are up.

KNow/rel: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

"Ghouls!...or the water ones. Lacedons, I think they're called. Filthy, disease-ridden, and can freeze up your muscles!"

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

"Lacedons," Dereje growls, suddenly far more fearful for Mizu's life than he had been moments before. The paladin points his pistol down into the pit, angling its barrel at the creature crawling up the wall and pulling the trigger. He mutters a curse at his less than desirable results.

Pistol Attack (Point-Blank Shot): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Climbing removes Dex bonus to AC... but I don't think it matters with that roll.

Hana swishes her katana back and forth uselessly as she is hauled up and away from the fight that she would never willingly leave, thanks to her samurai training.

Unless I'm actually in melee range.

Dereje's shot barely misses the climbing ghoul, while Hana flails away in frustration as she is pulled away from the combat against her will, but certainly for her own good.

Adara is up.

Adara immediately calls forth healing fire to burn away the damage to Hana.

cure light wounds: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

The divine magic seems to lessened in the night without the sun. Adara begins to mutter a prayer under her breath calling to Sarenrae to assist her during the next attempt.

Undeterred by Dereje's shot, the lacedon higher on the wall of the pit continues its climb toward what it hopes is its next meal. In its haste the creature steps on a rotting timber that snaps, slowing the lacedons ascent.

Red Lacedon is currently 20 feet below the surface of the pit. Blue remains at 35 feet below. Dereje, Estietre, Lawdrak, and Sharpmaw are up.

Lawdrak joins Adara in healing Hana.

clw: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Sharpmaw continues to wait for something to bite.

Dereje rapidly reloads his pistol and then takes aim at the lacedon once more. As he lines up the shot, he murmurs a litany under his breath.

"Abadar, I beseech you. Bless this shot as you would a bolt from your own quiver, so that I may strike down this unholy wretch."

There is another flash and bang when Dereje pulls the trigger, but this time there is a streak of blinding light as his bullet rips through the air.

Expending my one point of grit to use the smiting shot deed. If the shot takes it to 0 hit points or less, my point gets refunded.
Ranged Touch Attack (PBS): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Damage (PBS, Smiting Shot vs. Undead): 1d8 + 1 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 1 + 6 = 15

Dereje says his brief, but certainly earnest, prayer to the Master of the First Vault and takes aim at the lacedon closest to the surface of the pit. A thunderous boom rings out throughout the area as the bullet finds its target, blasting the lacedon's head into seemingly a thousand pieces. The now unanimated body of the ghoul falls harmlessly back into the pit, narrowly missing its companion.

Red is dead. Estietre is up prior to blue trying to climb up to get you.

Estietre moves to the edge of the pit, and pulls up the rope enough to keep the second lacedon well lit.
"Come on up, you nasty. We're ready for you."

it's out of my spell range

With an amazing burst of speed, the remaining lacedon scales the side of the pit, rushing ever closer to the party.

Lacedon is 5 feet below the surface of the pit. The party is up.

Finishing her prayer to the Dawnflower, the oracle once again tries to call forth divine power to ease Mizu no Hana's pain.

cure light wounds: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

This time the fire burns brighter, and the undine's body begins to quickly knit the damaged tissue together though strong bruising is still evident. She's not back to perfect health, but Hana should be back to fighting spirit.

"Hmm. Effective," Hana says with a nod.

She holds her sword in a guard position, waiting for the lacedon to make its way out of the hole.

Readied attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
Readied damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Lawdrak draws his sling, sets s stone, and hurls it at the climbing creature...
1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19
1d4 ⇒ 4

Mum gestures, murmurs, and points to the creature... emitting a thin ray of light.
"Spirit.. leave that foul corpse or be royally snuffed!"

disrupt undead: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
1d6 ⇒ 2

Estietre's spell causes the foul creature to partially lose its grip on the pit's wall. Moments later, Lawdrak's sling stone catches the ghoul directly in the eye, causing the creature to fall to it's doom.

Combat over. What's next? Rest? Attempt to go back into the pit?

"Ready to lower me back down?" says Hana.

Lay on Hands: 1d6 ⇒ 3

"Be careful. There is no telling what else might be down there," Dereje says with a nod, impressed by the samurai's eagerness. He brushes a hand against Mizu's arm as unobtrusively impossible, imbuing her with a small fraction of Abadar's divine power. With a weak smile, he adds, "But that should go without saying."

LAwdrak offers Hana a smile as he picks the rope back up...but he leaves his sling dangling from his wrist.

"Ready when you are!"

Going on with Hana being lowered back into the pit.

Slowly Hana is lowered back into depths of the pit. Reaching the surface of the water below, there is the slightest of hesitations caused by the very recent memory of the lacedons.

Entering the water this time, there are no surprises awaiting Hana.

Searching around the watery bottom of the pit, Hana finds the the skeletal remains of another member of the crew that Captain Quellig chose to entomb with his treasure, although this one seems to have suffered a more direct death as the remains of crossbow bolt are found going through the left eye socket and out the back of the skull.

Prodding around the water-covered bottom of the shaft, Hana finds a 5-foot-diameter underwater tunnel turns north from the pit floor, then turns up sharply into a 15-foot-high shaft with a pocket of stale but breathable air at the top. Quellig’s treasure sits in this cramped chamber, inside a waterproof and airtight sea chest on a narrow ledge carved just above the water level. The chest is locked and seems as if it may too heavy and unwieldy for Hana to bring back alone.

After a leisurely swim in the dark water, and a dive that makes people nervous until they recall that she can breathe underwater, Hana surfaces and shouts up the hole. "There's a hidden shaft underwater. It leads to an air pocket with a treasure chest. It's locked and too heavy for me to move by myself."

Hydrated vitality also activates and heals the remaining damage.

"Interesting," Dereje remarks, brightening when he realizes that the treasure is apparently real. After a moment of thought however, his mouth turns into a frown. "But I am not exactly a fair swimmer. Even less so underwater... Perhaps we can pull it out with a rope, somehow?"

"If we have a long enough rope, I could swim through, tie it to the chest, and we could pull. Though... I am no engineer, but a wet rope going around a corner and pulling on a very heavy chest will probably just break."

"Coming! .. be right down!"
Estietre slips off her shoes.. then wriggles, gestures, and chants. Her hands grow slightly, and her feet widen - webbing forms in between the toes.
With her tiny treant, Kainey, floating and glowing above her head, she climbs down into the water at the bottom of the pit.

casting Monkey Fish granting 10' climb and swim speed

Hana shows Mum which way to go so she doesn't get lost under the water, and lets her surface in the tiny chamber with the treasure so that she can breathe.

"I don't think that is a very good idea." Dereje reaches out to stop Estietre... only to be given reason to pause when her odd spell takes effect. "Oh. Right, then. Carry on."

Between Hana and Estietre's efforts, the party is able to secure the chest and eventually bring it to the surface of the pit.

If you manage to open the chest, feel free to roll appraise checks and spellcraft checks as the case may be to gain further information on the items in the chest.

Adara eyes the chest critically.

"I might suggest that we take the chest back to the camp intact. Whatever is inside may be much more difficult to transport if we smash it to pieces here."

"Not a bad idea. MAybe we can cut a couple of poles and rig a sledge of sorts."

survival to make that happen: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12

"Agreed," Dereje says, anxious to get the chest open, but more than willing to wait given the circumstances. "I am sure that Ishirou would appreciate being there when it is opened."

"We won't be able to leave for camp until morning, in any case. That being said, should we investigate the shipwreck in the meantime? We might be able to salvage more supplies."

Survival Aid Other: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

"Here...let me show you something I learned," Adara says gently attempting to assist Lawdrak with the makeshift device.

Turning to Dereje, she replies, "Yes, but certainly not tonight. Considering the creatures and undead we have encountered lately within the wrecks we've examined, waiting for Sarenrae's light would be best."

After helping with the skiff, Adara looks around for a defensible place to build camp. She also checks for any threats that may be approaching now that the sun has retreated.

Perception w/ Lowlight: 1d20 ⇒ 16

Lawdrak and Adara are quickly able to find suitable downed branches and vines to lash together a sledge for dragging Captain Quellig’s back to the primary camp.

Shortly after piecing the skiff together, a suitable area is found for at least a temporary camp.

The night is delightfully uneventful as you all awake relatively refreshed and ready for the new day.

Dragging the chest back to your base camp will take you until roughly four hours after sunset assuming that you leave at first light and stop to rest during the heat of the day. If you wish to explore the wreckage of the Windwar first, you could always camp along the way, push on through the heat, or try and push on until even later in the evening on your trip back to camp. Obviously it is up to you. What would you like to do?

"Are we ready to brave the ship's remains?" Adara says to Dereje and anyone else interested.

@DM Talomyr: Are we needing to be tracking rations or water consumption?

If you are away from the main camp longer than a couple of days, yes. These little two day jaunts I'm willing to hand wave between the NPCs you have set to hunt for food and Jask being able to cast create water

I'd say explore the wreck, then camp along the way back. Reutrn to base camp early, spend a day there before striking out again.

Suits me fine. Shall I roll my saving throw against the next day's ghoul fever?

That's two for explore the shipwreck first. One more to carry the motion.

@Hana - I figured since you were afflicted in the evening, I would have you roll the save in the evening.

"Yes, let's," Dereje replies with a nod as he adjusts his holster.

After enjoying a bit of breakfast, the party packs up their gear and makes their way toward the coast and the remains of the Windwar.

As you get a closer look at the wreckage you see just what poor condition the remains are in, but as you have traveled this far feel there is little harm in investigating the wreckage.

You carefully cross a series of razor sharp rocks and climb out onto the boulder that keeps the Windwar stuck ashore after all these years. Stepping onto the deck, wet with sea mist and slippery with algae, you carefully make your way to the what would have been the ship's hold. Somewhat unsurprisingly, there is little of value in the hold.

Continuing on throughout the wreckage you find the remains of what you believe to have been the Captain's Quarters. Opening the door, you see a skeletal form sitting behind a dilapidated desk, with a rusty blade shoved through its back and into the surface of the desk.

Perc: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

"Hmmm...have a look at these," Lawdrak says, somewhat callously leaning in to remove a pair of rather well-preserved bracers from the stabbed corpse.

Recent trials, however, have begun to press some caution on the young druid, and he straightens up to prod the skull with his spear before getting too close.

"Never know when one is going to stand up..." he mutters.

Also, woohoo! No strength penalties! Obviously, time for more poison!