Your search is mostly fruitless - this area has long been abandoned. You do find one pound of Noqual, possibly left behind by a dead or dying Cyphermage. Hard to know, but it’s yours now.
Due to Kaylayne’s exceptional perception, you also find a very old silver comb set with strips of ivory worth 250gp. It was partially buried near the tower, and likely unearthed in it’s collapse.
The walk down the path to Zinchers camp is quick and uneventful. The path is much quicker than fumbling along the coast was. As you close with Zincher’s camp, you see he still has no akata in his cages. His troops seem as happy to see you as ever (which is not much) and you deal mostly with Akron. Zincher remains in his palatial tent.
The cyphermages are ready to go when you arrive, and are a little anxious, as you might imagine, to leave the island. Samaritha speaks of a zombie raid the night before that was quite harrowing. Zincher lost a man in the raid, and they burned his body just recently before your arrival.
Kaylayne has little to say about wooing or whatnot, trying to focus on the tasks at hand and keep above the politics. She has no desire to make alliances or align herself with any group. Growing up in a more frontier area, where wasn't enough people to have or need politics like that. It seems unnecessary to her.
She is delighted when she finds the comb. She will use it until she has to sell it. She's never had a decorative item like that in her life and is pleased to have it while she has it.
Kaylayne approaches Samaritha when she can.
"Sam! How did it go last night? You survived the raid okay? How many zombies attacked?" Kaylayne asks, trying to get details of what might be left to worry about on the island. She bows her head in closer to Sam to whisper in private. "Any problems here last night with Zincher? Anything we should worry about from his end?"
Dimitrio listens as Layne and Sam discuss the zombie raid last night.
He then adds his own questions, "Have you heard how Zincher is getting off the island or how long he plans to stay? Did get an inkling what he wants to do with the noqual?"
As the group talks to Sam and prepares to leave Ederin inspects t he area outside Zincher's tent, looking for anything unusual with a particular interest in any possible strange tracks.
If he finds anything he reports is back to the rest as discreetly as possible, if not he waits quietly for the mages to be ready while keeping an eye on Zincher's men.
"Who do you think I'm 'tryin' to woo'? The cyphermages mate. What do you think Sam meant when she said they were from rival houses? That's why she's protected from Zincher, neither side wants to cause any political issues back home."
Lief holds his tongue, starting to realize that the Order of the Cyphers is, in fact, another faction of the crimelord syndicate. He doesn't want to believe it. How can a library be a criminal enterprise? But Riddleport leaves him frustrated with the bleed-over, and the thought of Sam being 'criminal' in some way that parallels Zincher.
Observing the marked absence of akatas from Zincher's cages, Lief decides to take a closer look at his hardware of containment.
His mind runs over the possibility of sabotage, rather than trying to convince Zincher himself of the horrible idea of importing akatas.
He waits out the preparation, and readies to escort the mages to the port.
Garridan spends his time enjoying a drink while they ready to escort the mages.
Ederin takes a quick look behind Zincher’s tent, and finds nothing out of the ordinary. Well, there are the two Axebeaks in cages there, but no akatas.
The cages are well built, and each have a simple, yet well constructed, locking mechanism. Easy enough if you have thumbs, but quite another matter with mere tentacles. Still, each cage has a space for a lock as well, so you suspect Zincher has some in his gear somewhere.
Akron is polite but distant, and Zincher does not greet your group. Akron does ask if you’ve found any noqual that you’d be willing to sell, but he asks casually - you suspect on orders, not out of any real expectation.
The party collects the cyphermages and begins to walk the trail back to the ruined village, and then down to the docks. As they walk, they talk…
"Sam! How did it go last night? You survived the raid okay? How many zombies attacked?" Kaylayne asks, trying to get details of what might be left to worry about on the island. She bows her head in closer to Sam to whisper in private. "Any problems here last night with Zincher? Anything we should worry about from his end?"
Samaritha frowns, ”There were eight or nine of the zombies, I lost count in the battle, and it was dark. They were wearing a variety of outfits - probably what’s left of Avery Slyeg’s group. Poor bastards. We were victorious though, so the restless dead are restless no more.”
”Zincher was fine, though he didn’t really make an appearance excepting at supper. I think he slipped out of camp last night, but I can’t be sure. I was on first watch, and I saw someone slip away from camp toward the southwest. I can’t imagine any of his men being that bold, so it must have been him.”
He then adds his own questions, "Have you heard how Zincher is getting off the island or how long he plans to stay? Did get an inkling what he wants to do with the noqual?"
”I’m not sure.” Samaritha says, ”I can’t imagine he’d stay long as pressed as they are. From what I can gather, he’s lost 10 men since arriving here. And yet he remains.”
”I told him of your ship, and suggested he might be able to board it as well to return today, but he waived it off as unimportant. ‘I’ll wait for my ship to return.’ was all he said.”
”I can’t wait to get to safety myself. This trip was a horrible mistake. I thank you all for your help. Without it we’d not have survived, I’m sure of that! I’ll see to it the cyphermages do something nice for you.”, she adds earnestly.
”I can’t wait to get to safety myself. This trip was a horrible mistake. I thank you all for your help. Without it we’d not have survived, I’m sure of that! I’ll see to it the cyphermages do something nice for you.”, she adds earnestly.
Kaylayne smiles. "Let's get you out of here then. Gather your stuffs, your peoples, and say your goodbyes. We'll escort you to the ships."
Kaylayne waits for them to get ready to go and is happy to escort them to the docks.
”Zincher was fine, though he didn’t really make an appearance excepting at supper. I think he slipped out of camp last night, but I can’t be sure. I was on first watch, and I saw someone slip away from camp toward the southwest. I can’t imagine any of his men being that bold, so it must have been him.”
Dimitrio frowns, Ok, we need to go and check to see if we can pick up his trail or whoever made that night escapade."
He looks at Ederin and jests, "Shorty, that's your gig."
He then adds, "It is strange that having lost 10 men already, Zincher insists on staying here. For what? Surely not just noqual or whatever it's called. It's not worth that much."
The bard shook his head, "No, I don't think he's here to capture a demon-cat either. We're missing something here. There's got to be a more compelling reason making him stay..."
He waits for answers and turns to Lief, "Any thoughts, smart boy?"
We might be making the same mistake as the mages. Maybe we should leave too, Garridan thinks as they prepare to meet up with their ship.
"Any thoughts, smart boy?"
Lief returns to thinking about Zincher, both at Dimitrio's behest, and Ederin's recent speaking on suspicions.
"Well, he acts differently that he normally would, especially with my line of questioning taking a bit of an antagonistic turn. He's on an island, removed from the direct politics of Riddleport, so aside from Sam's protections as a recognized... crimelord... House... we don't carry the same protections, so he'd be well within his wheelhouse to act aggressively, given the freedom of our isolation. It wasn't common knowledge that we held audience with Cromarcky, and that in and of itself is not a guarantee of implied protections." Lief paces a little more.
"He's lost men, and a lot of them. That's important. He's losing strength, and willingly. I don't know what he stands to gain for his noqual gathering, but I agree with you, Ederin. Breastplate be damned. He's acting on a will not of his own." He grows quiet for a little while, trying to see patterns that might be there.
"Saul's allied himself with Depora, receiving funding enough to purchase the Gold Goblin. Crimelord meet drow. What if Zincher made his own alliance, on the promise of great wealth? So much wealth, he'd be able to hire another force of men after losing so many here? Perhaps Depora had more than one horse in her stable? We might have to be on our guard, if it's true, and he learns about her death. We may have killed his coffers."
Lief readies himself for the escort to the ship.
"Saul's allied himself with Depora, receiving funding enough to purchase the Gold Goblin. Crimelord meet drow. What if Zincher made his own alliance, on the promise of great wealth? So much wealth, he'd be able to hire another force of men after losing so many here? Perhaps Depora had more than one horse in her stable? We might have to be on our guard, if it's true, and he learns about her death. We may have killed his coffers."
Lief readies himself for the escort to the ship.
Dimitrio continued to think out loud, "Maybe he was with Depora but the recent activity on the island was after Depora died so unless she had given prior instructions to Zincher, he could not have known to come here."
He scoffed, "Surely, he didn't know about the star falling here, right?"
Lief looks at Dimitrio, a little strained. "She'd have to have provided information about Devil's Elbow prior to the Plucking. Why would he have been sent out first, and risk being struck himself? He was one of the first groups to arrive here. All of Riddleport had an idea of the Star's impact. Doesn't seem unreasonable to me."
Kaylayne listens to the speculation, but has little interest in pursuing it too much.
"Maybe we should just focus on getting Samaritha safely to the boat. I really don't care what Zinch is doing here and would prefer to focus on what we're doing here. Zinch can be doing any number of things here...let's just stay out of his way and hope he stay out of our way."
Kaylayne waits for the Cyphers to be ready to go.
"We know she ain't the only one in it too. No reason Zincher can't be employed by her friends."
Ederin nods his appreciation at the vote of confidence from Lief.
"But we stay here knocking our teeth too long it's gonna look suspicious, let's get the escort done and investigate later. If we don't show up to prove we're alive the captain may not even bother comin' back a second time."
He turns his head at Kaylayne's comment and frowns.
"If there's a chance Zincher is working with the dark elves then it has to do with why we're here."
The party, with no incidents, makes it down to the docks, where there is still an hours wait until, finally, you can see the ship coming into the simple dock.
The captain greets you warmly and, based on his last visit to the docks, rushes you onboard and pulls up the gangplank quickly… just in case you’re hunted.
”So, are we all departing for Riddleport now, or do you want to wait here for my return from Magnimar? If you wait, it’ll be 9 days before I return. I’m fast, but only as fast as the wind!” he laughs good heartedly.
Samaritha speaks up first, ”I and my team here,” she introduces them, ”Would like to book passage on your ship, now, for Riddleport. We’re cyphermages, and will pay well for simple accommodations.”
Captain Josper readily agrees and terms are quickly arranged, before he turns back to you. ”So, now, or when I return?”
Kaylayne looks at the team. It's clear that she's not done here.
"9 days. We've barely found anything yet."
Kaylayne looks at the team. It's clear that she's not done here.
"9 days. We've barely found anything yet."
Dimitrio's heart sank at the prospect of spending nine more days on the island.
"Unless Sam can arrange another type of transport for us? Is there a way for you to let us know, Sam?"
He then added, "If not, we can just either camp out here near the docks or make sure we are here every day at noon in case a ship is available."
Guessing what the captain was thinking, he added, "Don't you worry since you'll be paid whether you pick us or not. Sound reasonable?"
"Nine more days of living rough?" Garridan asks as wonders if they are making a big mistake.
Nine days. Great.
"Go ahead and take the mages, we'll be here when you get back nine days from now.
Ederin looks at each of his companions in turn with a raised eyebrow.
"Caves, or Zincher. You know where I stand, an' of you don't then maybe you should be payin' more attention."
He then added, "If not, we can just either camp out here near the docks or make sure we are here every day at noon in case a ship is available."
Lief scrambles for some paper, and inks a message for the workers of the Gold Goblin.
We've been kept longer than we expected. Please keep the operations. We're alive and well, and should be returning in another 2 weeks.
He approaches Samaritha. "Sam, if you could do us a favor, and pay the Gold Goblin a visit? We would reassure them of our time away. I don't think any of us suspected it would be longer than several days." He hands her the note, barely dry.
...
"Caves, or Zincher. You know where I stand, an' of you don't then maybe you should be payin' more attention."
Lief agrees with Ederin. "I'm up for both, but perhaps we could rule out the caves first? I'd like to observe Zincher eventually, but now that the ship is leaving, we don't have to worry about his departure for a while."
Samaritha responds to Dimitrio, "I'm not sure what I'll be able to find by way of a ship, or what it will cost, but if you really wish it, I will try. I'll have them circle the island when they arrive and then stay in the docks until the next day. You should be able to see them if you keep a good watch around 3 or 4pm."
She thinks a moment, "I'll also supply them with some thunderstones. The noise should help."
She turns to Lief, "I'll be happy to. Who are you using as a foreman?"
Upon hearing the plans for another ship Garridan remarks, "Better then waiting nine days I suppose."
Lief frowns at Sam's question. "I don't think one was assigned in our hasty absence. I'd probably think you could talk to one of Ederin's senior guards to get the word out. Also not sure how far out we established salaries..." He shrugs, then smiles in gratitude for Sam's help.
If the group decides on a sooner departure, Lief won't argue at present.
Kaylayne waits. She has two things that interest her: the caves and possibly hunting for Noqual. She doesn't want to, nor does she see the need to, mess with Zincher. She'd be happy to ignore him altogether.
Kaylayne waits for others to be ready to move on.
Happy to have made some sort of arrangement, Dimitrio thanks Sam and readies himself to go.
Seeing that most people in the group would rather investigate the caves before tackling Zincher, the bard adds his own voice, "Caves it is then. Shorty, do you know where these caves are other than 'south'?"
"Alright, caves I guess. Hope Zincher doesn't finish whatever he's working on while we're lookin'."
Ederin shrugs, obviously upset with the decision but not willing to argue with it. He starts down the path, taking his position at the front, keeping an eye out for anything they may need to put down on the way.
Lief pulls to a stop as he recognizes Ederin's disappointment. "Hey, now. I'm all for either. I only suggested we start at the caves, since we've not looked them over yet. If you're upset about the decision, we can monitor Zincher now, and rule out any suspicious activity. Then move onto the caves." The young man looks expectantly at the archer.
"The rest don't seemed convinced anythin' is goin' on at that camp. Maybe I am just being paranoid."
Ederin shrugs, keeping his eyes toward the road, occasionally glancing to the west.
"Ain't gonna find anything you aren't interested in lookin' for. At least goin' to the caves keeps with what we told Kwava we'd be doin' out here. I'll be the first one to admit I ain't unbiased about Zincher. Been wanting to sink a few arrows feather deep in that cow for a long time now. Not gonna fight against the tide just to settle a score."
The caves, Zincher can rot on this accursed island for all I care," Garridan proclaims to his companions.
Lief nods quietly. "Alright then, but we'll try and return to the camp as soon as possible. Sam mentioned Zincher may have been wandering southwest of camp at night. That should be a priority as well."
As they continue on towards the possible location of caves, Lief wonders aloud. "Why would he have cages, coming to the island? You think he had more axebeaks, and lost them to akata raids? What are axebeaks good for, if you're trying to explore an island?"
"That should be a priority as well."
Kaylayne looks at Lief and shakes her head.
"No, it isn't a priority. It isn't even a necessity. It's speculation at this point, and not even well-founded speculation. Who cares what Zincher is doing until he acts against us or we have actual...you know, proof...that he's involved with us. Until then, let's not stir up a hornet's nest. We don't have to create problems while we're here, you know."
Kaylayne is ready to move to the caves despite her irritation.
"I know you have a hard on to cause problems with him, but don't drag me into unless there is a reason. We can do what we came here for. If you want to go off and pick a fight with him, go."
Mature axe beaks stand 9 feet tall and weigh as much as 500 pounds. Their plumage varies widely, from gray to brown to black in temperate climes, but taking on exotic shades of gold, red, blue, and other vibrant hues in more tropical environs. Axe beaks have lifespans of up to 50 years.
An axe beak requires training before it will bear a rider. Taming an axe beak requires 6 weeks of work and a DC 25 Handle Animal check, after which it can be taught tricks as normal. Riding an axe beak requires an exotic saddle. Axe beak eggs are worth 1,000 gp apiece on the open market, while young are worth 1,500 gp each. A light load for an axe beak is up to 200 pounds; a medium load, 201–400 pounds; and a heavy load, 401–600 pounds.
These axe beaks are clearly juveniles, or even younger, barely climbing to 6' tall. Unridable.
The cages were of a few different varieties, and you suspect most were made here, not brought here from their construction.
Ederin is fairly sure the path is clear, and it does seem to be as the party climbs back up to the ridge and to the village .
It's late afternoon by the time you arrive a couple hours later. Still a few hours before sunset. Where do you go from here?
Dimitrio dusts off his boots and gives Layne a wide berth not wanting to rouse her anger.
Once in the village, he looks around, "No sense waiting here, right? How long to the caves, shorty? Can we make it there before dark? If not, I suggest we spend another night here and head out in the morning. No need to venture out at night, right?"
Ederin starts to consider anything he's heard about axebeaks to assist Lief but his thoughts are interrupted by Kaylayne's aggravation.
"Look Kay, if Zincher was bein' regular old Zincher, and by that I mean a proper a*#@~~#, then I wouldn't be so hard up to figure him out. But he ain't actin' normal. I know what the mans like. You don't feel the same, that's fine I guess but I figure I earned the benefit of the doubt after all we been through."
Ederin looks up at the sun as they arrive at the village and looks back to the rest.
"Gettin' late, if we are goin' to the caves it better be quick."
"I figure I earned the benefit of the doubt...."
Kaylayne shakes her head at Ederin.
"I just don't care that he's acting weird. I'm just saying that if he's here to piddle with axebeaks or find noqual or if he just likes to hump trees at night, it ain't our business until it's our business, okay?" Kaylayne grumps, trying to enjoy nature and her time outside.
"Ederin, we have plenty of other things on this island that want to kill us, no need to ask Zincher to put us on the list as well. Now, let's focus on the piddlespotting caves," Kaylayne agrees.
To be clear, you only know, vaguely, that there should be caves on the south side of the island.
There's no sign 'caves here' anywhere or really anything useful by way of pointers.
"No, it isn't a priority. It isn't even a necessity. It's speculation at this point, and not even well-founded speculation. Who cares what Zincher is doing until he acts against us or we have actual...you know, proof...that he's involved with us. Until then, let's not stir up a hornet's nest. We don't have to create problems while we're here, you know. I know you have a hard on to cause problems with him, but don't drag me into unless there is a reason. We can do what we came here for. If you want to go off and pick a fight with him, go."
Lief looks at Ederin, then back to Kaylayne. For a moment, it looks like he is unsure how to proceed, like trying to remove a legbone from a yard dog's slobbering maw.
"You do know what the word 'priority' means, don't you, Kaylayne? That means something 'important', something that demands attention. If Sam tells us that an oddly-behaving Zincher has been wandering away from camp, alone, at night, on an island dangerously ridden with zombies and akatas, I'll lend that priority in a heartbeat. If you don't understand that, that's ok. If you don't care that Zincher may bring akata back to Riddleport, that's ok, too. There are problems here in which we must involve ourselves, and now that the cyphermages are seen off, you best keep eyes on Zincher and his men, as they are the other active players on this island."
Lief looks back to Ederin. "We're with you, Ederin. Keep heading us in the general direction of the likely area of the caves."
Kaylayne looks at Lief as if she can't believe the willful argumentativeness.
"I guess you need to learn about priority and focus, Boy. I've been on about investigating the island and the caves. You and Ederin seem on getting us off track with your wild imaginations of what Zincher might be doing. Maybe you should look again at what your priorites are."
Kaylayne grits her teeth, not wanted to be drawn into Lief's drama.
"Listen here, kid. If you want to go chase Zincher, we'll do that after we finish with the caves. We don't need to stir up that hornet's nest, just yet. I'll keep my eye on why we're here."
"Ed, Lief all we're saying is why go looking for trouble when we already have all we can handle." Garridan interjects.
Kaylayne nods at Garridan, her arms outstretched, palms up in the 'I-know, right?' gesture.
"Nevermind," Kaylayne mutters. "Let's move on. It seems we have some agreement to explore the caves."
Kaylayne walks to the south part of the island, looking for caves, but with the intent to make camp at 5pmish or so.
Perception - caves, trails, stuff
Lief doesn't answer Garridan, and looks to Ederin to keep them moving towards the caves, wherever they may be. He keeps his eyes peeled forward, and listens behind them for sounds of roaming creatures.
"Fine, I ain't gonna bring it up again. Only so many times I can say I know the man and he's definitely doin' somethin' sinister on this island. Must have nothin' to do with anythin' else weird goin' on here."
Erastil keep that damn crimelord from shootin' any o' these fool friends o' mine in the back. The silent prayer startles him as he continues leading the way, searching for caves and looking for signs of drow.
Dimitrio stays out of most conversion but he tends to think like Layne. Don't go looking for trouble when your plate was already full. He would deal with Zincher when the time came but would keep his eyes open in the meantime.
He tries to lighten up the mood and jested, "Ok, children. Let's behave now. We have things to do."
I still have an open question - where do you move on to?
The entire southern coast could be home to caves. You are at 'B' on the map with a few hours to go until sunset.
You could go to one end of the island or the other and work back. You could start where you are now. You could start anywhere really... I just need to know where.
Also, how are you looking for the caves? It's hard to see from the top - if there's an overhand you won't see an entrance. Also true from the bottom because the sea gets in the way of a good angle up at the cliffs. A boat would be helpful maybe, but you don't have one.
So where to and how do you search?
Dimitrio sighs, "It looks like we'll be looking for a needle in a haystack. Shorty, is there a good way to search for caves or are we going to have to walk this whole coastline?"
He turns to the others, "Can any of you help with that? Divination magic? Talk to animals?"
He looked at Layne, "Anything? Is it worth contacting Zincher and asking him or his boys if they saw anything like a cave?"
All you know is that someone, probably Zincher, left camp to the S-SW. Samaritha didn't follow the person or even see them clearly, so it's hard to know. The path is that direction too - so the person could have just gone to the path and then east or west along the spine of the island.
"I suggest we start at one end and work our way to the other." Garridan considers for a moment and offers, "Tomorrow I could pray about a good starting location."
"We've got a decent place to camp here, so why don't we look for any caves in our immediate area, maybe a mile in either direction? Then in the morning we can work on a larger weep o' the coast?"