Urram, unwilling to use up potent magic on a fish, thrusts with his spear to create fish-kebab!
Seeing her friends ready to move against the bizarre fish, Kari fires a blast of water at the fish. The direct hit dislodges the creature from the hull.
Urram stabs at the other fish, barely landing a strike.
The Echeneises, now detached from the ship, move with supernatural speed as they attack. They attempt to latch on to Kari, the one closest to Fenna lashes out with his tail.
+ grapple (if hit)
+ grapple (if hit)
Both magical fish flail at Kari, and one takes hold of her, sapping her speed as it did to The Peregrine.
Fenna thrusts her blades at the echeneis Kari blasted, stabbing a pair of good sized holes in the creature.
Round 2
Kari (5/28 breath, 5 damage, -1 DEX, grappled, slowed)<- UP NEXT
Urram <- UP NEXT
GREEN Echeneises (19 damage, dead)
BLUE Echeneises (4 damage)
Fenna (5/28 breath)
Kari struggled to escape from the creatures grasp. She thought back to the bird flight patterns as she squirmed to break free.
Urram kicks his way closer to the fish and stabs again, unwilling to expend spells on fish! His underwater combat skills are clearly rusty however and he still struggles to apply a thrust with any force...
Kari barely slips the grasp of the creature.
Urram stabs at the fish, striking true.
The remaining Echeneis turns on Urram, trying to grab hold as he slaps at Kari with his tail.
+ grapple
The magical beast lashes out with great speed, but without landing a strike.
Round 2
Fenna (5/28 breath)<- UP NEXT
Round 3
Kari (6/28 breath)<- UP NEXT
Urram <- UP NEXT
BLUE Echeneises (6 damage)
Fenna
Third time's the charm? The Mordant Elf finds himself thinking as he thrusts again, the comforting pulse from Five just on the edge of his vision.
Apparently not. is the only logical conclusion as a stray eddy drags his thrust wide.
Kari conjured a blade of ice and slammed it into the magical fish.
Fenna swims over to the other fish, which is a little more awkward with her hands full. Still, she has no real trouble.
Once it's within her reach, she tries to dispatch it so she can go up and breathe some more.
Fenna’s awkward swimming leads to an awkward strike. Kari gathers and ice blade and slices a hole in the fish. Urram moves back a bit to give himself a good distance to strike with his spear, but a stray eddy makes the thrust go wide.
Outnumbered and damaged, the fish is too dumb to give up. It advances and strikes out at Urram, swiping its tail at Fenna as it moves.
+ grapple (if hit)
The creature misses Fenna with its hit, but latches onto the masked aquatic elf.
Round 3
Fenna (7/28 breath)<- UP NEXT
Round 4
Kari (8/28 breath)<- UP NEXT
Urram (5 damage, grappled, -1 DEX) <- UP NEXT
BLUE Echeneis (13 damage)
Kari fired a jet of water at the fish and swam after it, in the hopes of freeing her new friend.
Fenna steadies herself in the water and looks the fish over well. Then she strikes at it again.
Fenna's stab at the creature strikes true, impaling the sizable sea creature on her thornblade. Fenna and Kari swim for more breath, while Urram confirms with a detect magic that the transmutation effect on the ship has faded.
Kari swam back to the surface and gasped for air. She made sure her friends were OK, and then climbed the ladder up to the ship's deck and reported to the captain. "You should be able to move now, Captain Markosi! We killed a couple of weird fish. Fenna tells me they were echeneis: magical creatures that latch on to ships and hold them back."
After she had made her report, she healed herself and Urram.
Fenna decides show and tell might do the trick for explaining what was up. She tries grabbing one of the fish by the tail and dragging it up to the surface with her.
It seems simpler to say "this was the problem right here" than to go into what an echeneis is.
Fenna decides show and tell might do the trick for explaining what was up. She tries grabbing one of the fish by the tail and dragging it up to the surface with her.
It seems simpler to say "this was the problem right here" than to go into what an echeneis is.
Also, maybe they're edible?
Urram barely has time to realise just how much trouble he is in, when Kari and Fenna dispatch the fish that had just latched on to him.
Thankfully both women had to retreat to the surface for air, giving Urram valuable moments in the ocean to regain his calm. After confirming that the fish were, as he suspected, the source of the magical effect Urram surfaces and re-boards the ship.
"Thank you." He says, quietly to both women. "You help me, now I will help you too. It is the good thing." His tone is sincere and lacks the arrogant undertone that has been evident thus far.
As you clear the starboard rail of The Peregrine, the terse words of an argument can be heard on the mid-deck. The colonists are surrounding Ramona Avandth, but they fall silent when they see Kari come aboard, and begin to disperse as Fenna and Urram join her.
”May I see you in the captain’s quarters,” Ramona waves you over and leads you into the room where you met with Captain Markosi before. The ship’s first mate is there as well, but as you report the success of your underwater investigation, the first mate leaves to ready the ship for departure.
”Thank you both again for your assistance,” Ramona starts. ”It would seem the oddities you faced at the empty colony are not isolated. We shall be underway soon, and should be able to disembark to Talmandor’s Bounty tomorrow.”
”Hope so lassie," Captain Markosi pipes up as he sips his rum. ”There be no way this bird be able to return to any proper port with the lot o’ ye aboard. Happy te’ have been o’ service to ye, but my men need te eat, and the lot of yous must go ashore.”
”I’m afraid the captain is correct,” Ramona agrees. ”Some of the folks aboard are insisting we return to Andoran. Not only is this not our mission, but as the captain explained, we haven’t the supplies for another journey. Some of our fellow colonists have gotten it in their heads that we must return.”
”I am hopeful that you could speak to some of the folks on board, specifically some of the agitators. I believe that you could reassure them that, at least as a group, we can be safe in the new colony. I think even Urram, though he may not know these folk, can speak to his experience with the area.”
”Antona Sedgewick, Faedwyr Trundlebrook, Harcourt Carrolby, and Perrell Beys,” Ramona continues. ”I think if those folks fall in line, the rest will follow. See what you can find out. Kari and Fenna know these folks, so I’m sure they can point them out for you Urram. I’m confident that we can be ready to start off-loading tomorrow and get The Peregrine on its way promptly.
"This island is beautiful, but deadly!", Kari replied to Urram in a low voice. "We will need to look out for each other."
She listened to Ramona and Captain Markosi describe the unrest aboard the ship. "I'm sure we can get this sorted out," she assured them.
Kari went to talk to Faedwyr Trundlebrook. "Hi Faedwyr. I understand you have some concerns about the colony. From what I've seen so far, this island has abundant natural resources, excellent fishing and plentiful wildlife!"
Fenna gives Urram a pat on the back and a grin. "Nothing to worry about. If you're sticking around you'll likely be getting your chance soon enough. The fauna here is pretty weird."
+++++++++++
"Does anyone know a return journey is impossible?" Fenna asks Ramona. "As a last resort it might be something to mention. Probably not the best conversational leader though."
Fenna isn't thrilled to hear the news herself, and should have known. Well, she did know really, but decided not to think about it until it was baldly stated.
"I'll chat some of the people up and see where we're at" she tells Ramona.
After getting changed into dry clothes, Fenna goes looking for Harcourt Carrolby and finds him up near the prow. He's not her favorite person on board, but he is kinda cute and that counts for something. It doesn't seem aesthetics counted for anything in the colonist selection process so it's thin on the ground. Besides, she's met his type before and thinks she can work him better than some of the others.
She hops up to sit on the railing near him. Fenna casually mentions "we'll be ready to disembark tomorrow. It's a nice looking place, lots of potential."
"Exactly!" Faedwyr has a pair of folks he's speaking to. Confronted by Kari, he speaks in a raised voice, though not an angry one. "That plentiful wildlife can get plenty dangerous! Who's supposed to protect us?"
It's evident Faedwyr needs a show of strength of some sort.
"As a last resort, sure," Ramona agrees with Fenn. "But my goal would be to have the rabble-rousers turn the people back on course themselves, rather than start barking orders at them. It seems to me that getting the folks off the ship will go a long way in relieving the tensions."
++++++++++++++
Harcourt pouts as he looks out over the ship's bow, but he immediately perks up when Fenna approaches.
"Happy to see you and the little wolf-girl made it." he teases Kari despite her not being present. "People are afraid, though. They're very afraid. I can really sense that from the people aboard the ship. They look to me for answers, you know, and, to be honest, it seems pretty dangerous out there, and, I think, as one of the smartest people on the ship, really, that we ought to consider returning home.
It seems that Harcourt, very simply, loves to feel important. He's thriving on the doubts and fears of the colonist. Some clever words might be able to redirect his self-importance in a more constructive direction.
Fenna nods at Harcourt's words but doesn't reply immediately. She knows the best route to him would be an appeal to his aristocratic heritage, but she she might choke on the words. She has to find a way to do the same thing in a less repugnant way.
"Yes, I don't doubt people are looking to you. You stand out among them."
Fenna hops down off the railing and moves to stand directly in front of Harcourt, looking him closely in the eyes.
"I won't lie to you. There are some nasty things about, mostly pests that need clearing. But do you believe me when I tell you it's not so dangerous?"
"Sure people are afraid. But most everyone was probably afraid to leave nice, safe, predictable Andoran. Lots of people were afraid of the Chelish navy, or when we passed through the Arc of Aroden. But here we are now, and all those fears are in the past."
"You're here to start a ranch right? Horses? You know business, and that's about weighing risks right? You know more about that sort of thing than they do. So put your expertise to work when the rest of them come to you wondering what to think."
Fenna reaches out to take his forearm in her hand.
"I've been there. Looked around, hiked part of the island, and I say we're doing just fine. If you believe me, be a steady hand for the rest of them. Lead them. Don't just be part of the crowd. You're more than that."
Urram slips through the crowd to find Perrell Beys, as the woman look worriedly about the ship.
"Why are you sad Lady?" He asks, still finding the common words difficult. "There are, how do you say, most great, hämmästyttävä things to see. It is not to run from. It is to explore!"
Urram finds Perrell Beys in a storage room of the forecastle nervously pacing in a space barely big enough to take 3 steps. She is very aggitated, but seems to brighten as you speak to her in elven.
"Upea, oikeastaan," the timid woman speaks very softly, but her elven is quite practiced.
"At tibi placet lingua, quod sic?" she smirks. "Ne multa loquor linguae nostrae parentibus. Si quis videat se curiosus Cogitabam vestrae." She finds a box to sit on before countering Urram's assertion that Azlant has nothing to fear.
"Ego semper voluit venire ad haec litora. Quod hic nunc sum, nescio si sum paratus. Timeo autem quod suus ex ibi. Timeo fabulis ea quae dico."
"Terrifying, actually."
"But you prefer this language, yes? Not many speak the tongue of our forebears. I was wondering personally curious if we would see one of your kind."
"I have always wanted to come to these shores. Now that I am here, I don't know if I'm ready. I'm scared of what's out there. I'm scared of what the legends say."
Harcourt smiles at Fenna's flattery, as expected.
"I do have a certain way with people," Harcourt boasts. Apparently Fenna's kind words were not enough to satisfy the man's ego. "Without me to guide them, these folks would be lost. Sad. But I am grateful you Fenna, that we have someone as perceptive as you. Great people, the best! I think you can really a tremendous help in my efforts here."
Fenna says goodbye to Harcourt. She hates herself for liking him. She moves on to check in on Kari and Urram progress.
Kari went to talk to Fenna, "Faedwyr Trundlebrook needs some reassurance. I don't think he'll believe that I can handle the dangerous beasts on the island."
She went to help Urram convince Perrell Beys. "This is the chance of a lifetime, Perrel! Urram here is proving to a valuable addition to our team. We'll keep you safe."
Seeing that Kari has the Perrell situation well in hand Urram nods a polite farewell and moves away down the ship - making a note as he does so to go back and talk to the woman again in the future.
He heads instead to the woman standing apart from the rest at the prow of the ship, bowing as he approaches. "You are alone too, yes? Why is this?" He asked, aiming for politeness.
Unsure how to essuage the human's fears of the Shattered Continent, Urram is relieved to hear Kari, who enters as Perrell and Urram are speaking in a language she didn't understand. As Kari listens to Perrell, she seems to just be sharing her concearns about the possilbe dangers, and it's clear how the her fears spread to the other colonists. Kari spends some time calmly reassuring Perrell, as Urram excuses himself.
------
Atop the sterncastle, Urram follows the rhythmic thuds, until he finds a muscular woman with short hair. The woman throws a few punches more at a post wrapped in thin padding before taking notice of the elf.
"What do you want?!" she asks rudely.
Urram can really only tell that she wants to be left alone.
Raising his shoulders in the gesture he knows humans call a 'srug', Urram goes to sit on a nearby barrel, keeping the woman in view out of the corner of his eyepiece.
Fenna follows up on Kari's tip about Faedwyr. She finds him and talks to him a little about the settlement's layout and land. In the process she reminds him that she and Kari spent two days and nights there are were fine.
"And things will only get easier and safer with extra people around and the soldiers with us."
As The Peregrine sails closer to the colony, Faedwyr listens carefully to Fenna's account of their nights in Talmandor's Bounty. He has some fears about the insects and the ghosts, but as Fenna begins to assuage his concearns, they gain an audience. As the ship makes it into the bay, the moon is high in the sky. Ramona exits the cabin as Fenna gives her speech.
"Better get some sleep folks," Ramona calls out softly, trying not to wake anyone below deck. "Lots of unloading to do tomorrow." You see her give Fenna a smile as the crowd disperses.
-------
Expedition Day 47: 4 Arodus, 4717 AR; Starday
Before the sun even begins to rise, the bell starts ringing out on the deck of The Peregrine. "Get fed and get to work," Ramona starts barking orders moving and pulls you aside.
"Great job last night," she praises you. "And I'm glad to see you're starting to get along Urram. Would you mind taking some folks in with the skiff to grab the other one from the dock? We'll need as many boats as we can...Kari, you said something about a canoe, right"
"I will be ashore about midday to talk about the remaining...concearns," she continues, smiling at a colonist passing through earshot of your private conversation. "I have something special in mind for the, uh, the chapel. Otherwise, you can take a beat or work on something else. The morning is yours, you've earned it!
More and more others begin pouring onto the deck. The skiff is lowered for you, and the three of you load in with three others, but Hrolf begins to whine as you leave.
He does not want to be put in the harness again. Can't he just swim?
Kari sat on the deck at sunrise and observed birds for a few minutes.
She replied to Ramona, "Yup, we pulled the skill and the canoe away from the water's edge; hopefully nothing has damaged them again."
She conferred with Fenna and Urram. "We've got an insect problem to deal with! I propose clearing the gardens first, and then going after the big one."
As they got ready to board the skiff, she said to Hrolf, "OK, if you don't like the harness, it's time to jump into the water!" She dived into the water, surfaced and called him, "Hrolf, come!
After some coaxing, Hrolf jumped into the water after Kari.
Urram helps push Hrolf over the side, by the simple expedient of actually pushing him when the wolf isn't expecting it.
Urram himself choose the more dignified path of riding across in one of the supply boats. He takes some time to explore the burgeoning settlement before seeking out Perrell.
"optime loqueris lingua mea. tu olim studuit in historia gentium continetur?"
Hrolf doesn’t need much coaxing, and after a firm push from Urram, he splashes in after Kari. Urram and Fenna ride ashore with a bunch of the colonists, who immediately split among the skiffs and start rowing back to the ship. The sun rises higher as the work begins, and before long the sounds of colonists hard at work mix with the waves.
You are given time for your morning meditations on shore, after which, Urram takes a short constitutional through the human settlement. When he comes upon a structure built a few feet below ground, he spies Perrell inside. She appears to be comparing the stores in the building to paperwork in her hands.
”Urram, she smiles nervously. “Bonum est te iterum. Veniam mihi, et habeo, quantum ad opus. Postea possumus dicere? Cum occidisset sol, manducare omnia unum sumus. Tunc vos can invenient me.”
-----------
”Master Urram!” A voice calls out in the common tongue. In the middle of the triangular settlement, a stern human in back and gold robes (link) waves out to you. By his side he’s already gathered Fenna, Kari, and Hrolf. ”Kurvis Nurpico, I’ve been placed at your disposal for the time being,” he bows. ”Ramona asked me to join you for a while. I’ve a list here:
”Bugs, bugs, bugs. She’s written that three separate times.”
”BIG bug. No sense of actual size...
”Ghost in the chapel. We’re to find Alba before we do that, it says.”
”Lead the way.” Kurvis unhitches an elegant crossbow from his belt and loads it.
Urram spends much of the night pouring over the spellbook that Fenna showed him in passing. In retrospect he might have been excessively eager when showed the book - but that was in the past.
"Scilicet. Nos locuti fuerint in commune prandium tempus." Urram offers with a bow, before hearing something more or less recognisable as his own name. Bowing again he takes leave of Perrell before joining the man he vaguely recognises as a priest.
"Please," He says, the common tongue coming slightly more easily to his lips now. "Tell me of these bugs? I might be able to prepare somethings to help with this."
Fenna isn't really sure what to do with some free time so she decides to help with the work. She does position herself to work alongside Antona though. She's curious about what might be bothering the woman .
She strikes up a conversation with her as best she can while they work, and eventually asks her it seems like something's bothering you. At least you don't seem as upbeat as you were on the journey here. What's up?"
Kari climbed into the boat, while Hrolf swam beside her. Once she was ashore, she warned the colonists, "Don't go into the chapel yet; there's an angry spirit in there! And stay out of the vegetable gardens, until we deal with the bug infestation!"
She briefed Ramona on the various buildings and directed people unloading supplies to the appropriate locations. She also showed Urram the magic shirt and gladius found earlier and helped him examine them.
Hrolf swam ashore, following the boat. This was much better than enduring that harness again!
As Fenna begins helping, she looks around for Antona. Those colonists already ashore say she's on the unloading crew and is still aboard the ship. Before long, the skiffs have made a few trips and enough folks have come ashore to start really getting work done. Kurvis gathers you all as you begin preparing for your garden examination.
Urram takes a moment to look at the magic items Kari and Fenna have gathered but have yet to identify. The gladius, beautifully designed, catches the attention of Kurvis. Its enhancement seems to make strikes more accurate and effective. The shirt, in addition its fine craftsmanship, has the ability to grant it's wearer supernatural speed. It's at this time Fenna shares a small travel spellbook (link) with Urram.
-------
You all make your way to the first farm. As before, the ankheg nymphs are not immediately visible. (Prepare as you see fit. I want to run all 3 farmland combats back to back)
Farmland Maps (link)
As the group approached the first farm, Kari prayed for Gozreh's blessing.
Urram makes his preparations, incanting his spell and setting one of his small clockwork creations running across his torso. As Kari casts Bless, Urram jabs a needle into his arm and suddenly grows - standing twice as tall as Fenna and at least three times Kari's height. His spear is now as long as a small tree and looks thoroughly wicked.
You arrive at the edge of the garden. With your preparations complete, you all trudge into the rows of rotten vegetation
Round 1
Kari & Hrolf <- UP NEXT
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Kurvis
Nymphs
Urram
Kari moved cautiously forward, looking for signs of bugs. "They're here somewhere; get ready!"