The skeletons claws at Tauriell.
Tauriell stabs at the last skeleton without hat.
Gwenhwyfar tries to touch the hat to apply her heal hex.
The skeleton sinks broken to the ground.
The skeleton with the hat claws at Tauriell. Again.
Tauriell stabs again at the skeleton in the hope to end that fight.
Gwenhwyfar tries to touch the hat again
but fails.
The skeleton claws at Tauriell again.
Tauriell stabs again at the skeleton at hand with the dagger.
but misses.
Gwenhwyfar once again tries to touch the skeleton.
But this one seems to be evasive.
The skeleton claws at Tauriell.
Tauriell is fed up. She withdraws to the beach.
Gwenhwyfar gives it another try.
The skeleton grabs at Gwenhwyfar.
Gwenhwyfar takes the opportunity as the skeleton reaches out of the water to touch the arm.
The skeleton glows golden an disintegrates. The Tricorn swims directly under the surface.
Gwenhwyfar grabs the hat out of the water puts it on her head. "Now I'm the captain of this ship. Har har har." She flies to the shore to take a look at Tauriell.
Seeing that Tauriell is again badly hurt she cast another cure serious wounds.
As Tauriell is back to good health Gwenhwyfar boasts "Have you seen that? I destroyed half the skeletons! I was really useful in that fight."
"Thanks for patching me up again." Tauriell says
"And you're always useful in every fight. This time you took some of the enemies down. Almost everyone in our group can do that. But you keep us alive. That is much more useful. But I'm glad you destroyed these skeletons. They were too many for me to handle them alone."
"Captain Black Beard."
Gwenhwyfar chuckles. "Your captain orders you to collect kelpie's hair. It's safe even for simple pirates now. Har har!"
"Eye, eye captain." Tauriell replies but without any enthusiasm.
She drags herself into the water again and swims to the ship. There she dives to the ground to search for her dagger.
She fetches it from the ground and moves up to the sea weed and cuts an arm full off the wreck.
She then swims back to the beach and hands the sea weed to Gwenhwyfar. "Here you are Captain."
"Wonderful. Let's go back." Gwenhwyfar carries the seaweed and walks ahead. She again flies over the water back to the small island with the hut.
Tauriell follows Gwenhwyfar over the island. She sighs at the water as she has to swim again. And further even as the small island has no beach. Once she is over there she jumps up the large step from the beach to the normal level of the land and walks back to the rest of the group and her stuff.
"Someone willing to dry me?" she asks towards Niamh and Abomentolor.
"Here is the kelpie's hair you asked for. And the shipwreck is no longer haunted."
"So you can get more kelpie's hair yourself." Gwenhwyfar explains as she hands over the seaweed.
The half orc woman takes the seaweed and puts it into her cauldron. "Alright. Now I won't put you into my stew any more if you step on my island. But that is no invitation."
The raven on her shoulder croaks "She's a witch! She's a witch!"
"Shhh! Shut up." the woman says grabbing the ravens head.
Gwenhwyfar stands there open-mouthed. "How...? Why...?" she stammers staring at the raven.
This amuses Maroux and she laughs. But the longer it lasts the more it sounds like mad cackling. "He looked through your clerical disguise." she says pointing at the holy symbol around Gwenhwyfar's neck. "You should put your cat in a bag if you don't want Hosco to notice."
"But what does he see? It's just a cat!" Gwenhwyfar replies slightly hysterical.
"Whom are you trying to convince?" Maroux retorts. "Everyone who is not blind can see that this is no ordinary cat."
She stirs her stew with a large wooden spoon. Staring Gwenhwyfar into the eyes with a grin she adds "But to know it's a witch's familiar... I guess it takes one to know one."
"Who are you?" Gwenhwyfar asks partly astonished partly curious.
"I'm just a hermit living far away from other people to be on my own. If the ohter people let me." Maroux replies giving Gwenhwyfar a glare. "But who are you? And why do you disguise yourself as clergy?"
"I'm Gwenhwyfar. And I don't disguise myself. I really wanted to become an adept of Sarenrae." Gwenhwyfar replies with a sad face.
"Cry me a river. So you found out they don't like what you are? You know what? People suck! Find yourself a place where you're alone."
"But not here. Here is my place to be alone. So let's get this over with. What do you want so you can be on your way again." Maroux asks impatiently.
Gwenhwyfar finds that perspective on life depressing and wrong. But she braces herself and asks "We're on a expedition to the Lady's light. To explore it. And I guess it would be helpful to know what this area is like. What dangers are found here or what could be helpful. Would you tell me?"
"Am I the tourist information or what?" Maroux retorts annoyed. "There is a boggard tribe and a troglodyte tribe on the cape. They are dangerous. And you have to get in line at the Lady's Light. There are some others who came here recently. Some women clad in armour."
"Now get off my island I want to enjoy my stew in peace."
Niamh steps next to Tauriell and casts Prestidigitation on her. "I think going now is a good idea."
"Good bye then." Gwenhwyfar replies and leaves over the bridge to her companions.
She tells them what the half-orc told her and closes with the question "Where should we go now? On the direct path to the Lady's Light?"
"Then we would just have to follow this way, right? I'm for the Lady's Light." Niamh responds and starts walking.
"Thanks." Tauriell says to Niamh. "I guess going there directly is as good as any other path."
The group walks along the shore. The vegetation is low and it isn't too hard to move forward. After almost an hour walk the group comes onto a trail where frequent passing let the vegetation gave way. In the distance a small village consisting of maybe twenty huts made of reed shows.
"Oh look there is a village. Shall we assume it's friendly and march in greeting them and tell them we come in peace?"
"Or shall we sneak closer and send our bard in as bait to see if they are friendly?" Tauriell asks with a wink at Niamh.
Niamh gives Tauriell a 'shut up or die now' glare and crosses her arms. "Friendly is relative."
"If no one else offers to go in then it will be the sneaky approach." Tauriell states looking if someone volunteers.
"I would go." Abomentolor says. "I'm full of fire that needs to be spent. Nothing better to do that than an unfriendly village." Abomentolor smiles.
"These poor villagers!" Gwenhwyfar protests. "Don't you dare burning them if they're friendly. Or even if they are unfriendly. You're only allowed to burn them if they attack you!"
"Also I'm almost out of spells already."
"No problem." Abomentolor shrugs with a smile. In his history his charming demeanour almost always led to someone kicking him out. And that counts as an attack. Doesn't it.
"Just make sure you're close if it turns sour." he says as he walks towards the village. He gets the wand out and casts mage armor on himself and as he enters the village he casts shield.
As the trail leads closer to the village it leads into a bog. The trail itself is dry and solid but left and right to it is muddy water with the typical vegetation for a bog. Once at the village the trail forks and leads right and left around eight huts and a campfire. Some more huts stand behind that and to the left of the left fork are seven more huts. One of these seven is more than double the size of the others.
Tauriell checks if it would be feasible to hide somewhere with her bow but she would be mostly stuck to that place because of the water and mud. Therefore she decides to stay ready on the trail with her bow in hand.
As she doesn't think she can be of use in that situation Gwenhwyfar hides behind Tauriell.
Abomentolor walks straight for the biggest hut and calls in "Anybody at home?"