The edge of the dream-realm begin to fray and tatter. Cil looks about, instinctively realizing that she was beginning to awaken.
"See you in the waking world" she says to Shalyna and Howl.
Then to the raven on her shoulder, "So, will you be stopping by from time to time, or is this our first and last introduction?"
Turning over in her hammock, Cil reaches her arms high and groans through the best strech she can remember.
Blinking her eyes, she looks about to see who's about.
Seeing nobody, she rolls out of the hammock and grabs a fistful of food, then takes the stairs up to the rolling deck.
Seeing her friends at the railing ,she walks over and leans next to Saronis, "Anything to see, Sar?"
He glares at her for a few seconds then puts on his mirthful face. He responds simply, "Docked, a few buildings near us not in the best of shape but my eyes don't see much else."
He pulls out his blade and does a few mock swings, "Shall we gear up and explore or do you have some information on this isle? The crew does not seem that talkative." He points at the men on the other railing with the point of his blade.
What Saronis says is true but for those with sharp eyes they may see more.
The harbor seems nearly uninhabited. The pier and the few buildings in the near distance all seem in bad condition. The crew is still on board and keeping the ship ready for a quick departure if needed. The crew is sticking to the rigging or the other rail.
The men on the railing sneer and look away as Saronis points at them. Some go down into the ship as others go up into the rigging, none stay on the rail.
"Honestly, with that dream business i forget why we even came here. But if we need to poke around, might as well. Someone better at getting info from folks ought to see what these men know, because they definitely know something. Or perhaps they just know they're gonna shove off as soon as we are out of sight on land."
"We have an urn to take to a specific location, Cil anything more specific?" he says with a bit of trepidation.
"I am sorry I was pulled away on other business,
Go into the village then follow the path to take you into the center of the isle. Beware there are many monsters on the isle. Stealth will be your greatest ally. If you get lost rub the rod and follow the apparition, it is drawn to the site. Once at the site you must descend below. Open the urn to release the locks on the vault.
Good luck,
Laddie"
He glares at her for a few seconds then puts on his mirthful face. He responds simply, "Docked, a few buildings near us not in the best of shape but my eyes don't see much else."
He pulls out his blade and does a few mock swings, "Shall we gear up and explore or do you have some information on this isle? The crew does not seem that talkative." He points at the men on the other railing with the point of his blade.
Cil ignores Saronis' glare and looks out at the town, eyes still bleary from her prolonged slumber.
Not noticing anything awry, she does notice the scroll rod tucked into her tunic.
Taking it out with a sardonic glance at Saronis, she unrolls the scroll.
Lips moving as she reads, she finishes and hands it to Saronis.
"So we're to travel by the town path to the center of the isle. Lots of dangerous animals, so our patron advises being sneaky. I can rub this rod to create a guide, if we get lost. Once at the ruins, we descend and open the urn to open the vault that hidden there. Simple really." she says, with a smile for the others.
The crew ignores Falko's questions as they move along to their duties.
He finishes with a few more sparring jabs and slices. Then takes the scroll from Cil. He looks it over and nods at Cil, "Let me get my armor on with the rest of my gear and we can head out. Rhobannon if you don't mind giving me a hand as the others persuade the sailors to talk." He winks and heads back to their room.
Along the way if he meets a sailor he will ask, "If you would, tell me why none of your crew has spoken to us? And any useful info on the isle?"
Securing the rest of his gear to his person and armor tight to his body thanks to the help of Rho if he joined him or Shalyna in the room he soon ascends likely with the others in tow.
"Sure thing." Rhobannon says, assisting Saronis with putting on his heavy armor, and inspecting the pieces for undue wear and tear as he lifted them. Afterward, he went to where the sailors were gathering.
Addressing the sailors, Rhobannon remains calm and attempts to appeal to their pragmatism and desire to leave.
"Hey guys, the sooner you tell us everything you know about this place, the sooner we get off the ship, and the sooner this island is behind all of us. It's pretty clear you don't want to be here, so it is best if you cooperate."
Saronis may have failed at making contact with the sailors underneath but that likely gave Rhobannon inspiration.
A few of the sailors come down from the rigging and explain a few things they are nervous and they spit out sentences almost on top of each other, "This place is haunted. All sorts of creatures are on the island. Don't trust anything you hear or see. We can't leave until you come back but we won't be going ashore. Leave anything you find on the island it will be cursed for sure unless you have to bring it with you. We have heard lots of rumors about you 'Shadow Weavers', Cil's personal assassin squad, we just want to do our work and you do yours." They look ready to dodge a blow or jump over the railing, just waiting for one of you to strike.
Saronis looks to Rhobannon then to the nervous sailors, he shakes his head and waits. He quietly whispers to Rhobannon, "Wow, and to think I thought it was my rep." He then winks and heads for the gangplank.
"Hmm... Shadow Weavers."
"Perhaps Cil can shed some light on that subject?"
"or... cast some shadow."
Cil straightens from leaning on the railing, smiling inwardly at the sailor's fear of her 'rep'.
Choosing to maintain an air of mystery, she looks inscrutably at the crew, then she goes below and gathers her gear, especially the urn.
Arriving back on deck, she watches Saronis descend the gangplank, then turns to the others, "Ready?"
Saronis takes the lead and soon the group gets to the first building. It appears to be an old shipbuilding structure. You can see the remains of the last resident ship 3/4 sunk into the mud, sand, and water.
The few other buildings are in worse states that the delappitated shipbuilding. Vegetation runs rampant through the streets as the forest continues working on taking over the village. Walls of the other buildings are missing large sections.
"There're some apes around here, some ran off away from the shore." Rhobannon says, clinching his shield and weapon.
He looks at Rhobannon and asks, "From what you saw, should we pursue them or focus on our own business at hand?" Blade out and in both his hands he continues to move forward looking for said 'apes' but does not see or hear them.
"Probably doesn't matter. If they aren't smart, who knows what they will do? But if they are smart, they went to get reinforcements. Either way, they are more at home here than we are, and I doubt our pursuing them would do much. They have tactical advantage."
Saronis lets the subject of the apes drop and goes to one of the walls to look inside of the ruined buildings, looking for any items or signs of what the building was used for, possibly anything of interest.
Cil watches the apes slink back into the jungle, "Hmmm, the letter warned of dangerous monsters....apes don't really fit that description. Leave them be and maybe they'll do the same..."
She looks about at the dilapidated buildings, "Kinda reminds me of the Cogs..." she says, looking momentarily distracted, then brings herself back to the present ,"Let's keep our wits about us " she says noticing Saronis poking about one of the buildings, "Keeping a low profile just might save our necks.
There are a total of 8 buildings. Most of them appear to be cottages, 3 appear to be something else. The shipbuilding structure which is furthest South, the building Saronis is checking out which is in the middle of the village and a building to the NorthWest.
Apes just animals
Cache in ship structure
After about five minutes of searching a scream can be heard.
Saronis moves into the building he was just looking at, the group can barely hear him move a few things around. Then he comes out baring what he has found.
Saronis bares a buckler and a sheathed longsword in his off hand. The blade appears to have a sapphire on its hilt as the buckler has glowing etchings along its edge.
"Let's go check it out. Cool magic items, be careful lest they be cursed."
To the North East is several cottages and a trail that quickly ends with the thriving forest ahead. DC 10 tells you that the yell was well beyond any parts of the buildings.
Saronis will take lead again if no one else does, he asks as he moves to the North East, "And if they are cursed, what should I do now?" He shakes his head and leads the group to the forest edge. There he takes a moment to secure the buckler and sword to his pack.
If no one else jumps into the forest in the few rounds that it takes to secure the items, then he moves forward following the direction of any more screams.
"heads up, sounds like magical or ritual chanting ahead."
"Everyone, hold up!" Cil hisses at the impulsive men, "Sar! Get back here!"
She waits for her friend to come back , then says "We'll do this right. No blundering loud and proud into an unknown forest."
She looks aside at Rhobannon, "Chanting sounds bad. Let's get to the nearest house, then I'll go take a look, all quiet like."
She looks around for the other's agreement.
"sure thing, Shadow Weaver"
Saronis finishes attaching the items he found and follows the group to one of the run down cottages. "Sorry the scream got me being impulsive, go. We will wait here until you return. Hey where is Shalyna?"
True to Saronis's observation the insecure girl was no where to be seen. Cil slips off to check out the situation.
Three strange red bulbous humanoids are preping a fire as a female catfolk or something like that is tied to the fence posts. Her clothes are torn and she has several wounds on her body. Before you see much more you snap a twig under foot. One of the red things moves towards you...
Cil takes in the scene before her, her brow furrowed . Then she steps on the stick.
Cursing under her breath, she turns and runs back the way she came, checking over her shoulder if the creatures pursue.
Cil emerges from the dense foliage, looking over her shoulder.
"Saw a few strange red fellows, looks like they were fixin' to burn up a cat-lady." she says, then shrugs.
"I imagine Saronis will want to rush in there and save the cat lady... likewise, it would be best to deny the red ones power, as they are likely to be our enemies, such as things are."
Saronis responds with a smile, "Yeah you have me pegged, I know we are in hostile unknown territory but I would still like to make sure we don't leave an innocent to burn, get eaten and die. Could you tell if she was a local? Any objections?"
Cil nods to Falko, "That's right, and we have no idea what's actually goin on, who's the bad guys. Could be the red guys have a legitimate beef with the cat-lady. Either way, it's not our concern. We have a delivery to make..."
Saronis concedes but doesn't look to happy about it, "Let's get moving then, who is best in the wilderness?"
As the group decides to move further into the island Saronis likely takes lead once more sticking to a deer trail and minimizing the sound that each of them make. He makes sure the group does not get lost and stays roughly heading in the right direction.