After resting, healing, and watching coconut crabs, the four collect themselves and head up the path toward the marsh. After about 15 minutes of walking, they see ahead what is indeed a large tent tied around a giant tree trunk. The air is heavy with a fetid scent, although given the nearby marsh, it's hard to pinpoint the source.
Vines have begun creeping up the edges of the ropes holding the tent in place, indicating the tent has been here for some time. You can see/hear slight movement within.
The ground is solid here. Still muddy from the storm before, you can see signs of passage of some creatures--some wandering in a number of directions, and it's hard to make sense of it.
"Okay, I can see the trail again, a bit. There's something human hereabouts, but it walks a bit funny. Seems to leave and go to the tent, I think? I do see the drag marks, but they head off the footpath a bit, headed...that way, it looks." Thren points off southward. The tiefling's focus is on the tracks before her, and she notices nothing but the prints. "I wonder what walks quite like that?" Thren muses.
Lark steps silently closer to the tent, looking for a flap or door. If it's closed he will try to peek through any gaps. If it's open he will edge up to it and look in from the side.
{dice=Perception DC 11}1d20+2{/dice}
so it would look like this:
In anticipation of the impending attack from behind, Lee will prep Shocking Grasp.
Lee will also give Muffin the word that an ambush is happening and to move to safety.
Initiative
Lark begins sneaking up toward the tent's entrance, while Thren is focused hard on finding her friends' trail.
Muffin's fur raises on end and, sensing something wrong, Lee spots something in the bushes and begins to incant a spell. Lee empathically warns his cat to move out of the way.
Rosie shouts "Look out!" just as a ghoulish figure lurches from the bushes. It is desiccated and skeletal looking, clearly undead, with sharp teeth and a long tongue.
Meanwhile, Lark creeps up and spots another hideous undead creature within the tent. It is not yet aware of Lark, turned around and sifting mindlessly through a pile of half-rotted clothing on the ground.
Lee casts shocking grasp and holds the charge, his hand crackling with arcane might.
Lark aims for what he hopes it a vital spot even for the undead and stabs at the back of the distracted ghoul.
Lark neatly skewers the monster and it dies (again) with hardly a sound to mark its passing.
The ambushing ghoul swings inhumanly long claws at the nearest person, Rosie.
But it stumbles over a tree root and swings wide, losing any advantage of surprise it had.
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Rosie's blow cuts deep into the ghoul's thigh, causing it to stumble even more than the tree root did.
Rosie hacks at the undead creature successfully.
Alerted to the presence of the horrific creatures, Threnody notices the desiccated flesh and sharp teeth of these monsters are similar to the disintegrating corpse they found earlier. She ALSO happens to notice the shredded clothing they wear is decidedly Chelish in style.
Lee steps over to the Ghoul and touches him lightly.
"That's a good solid new spell. Nice."
With a simple touch, Lee instantly fries the ghoul to ash, and the fight ends as quickly as it started.
Upon inspecting the remains of the ghouls, one, a female, was clad in the remains of a Chelish naval uniform. Another, a male, was clad only in silk trousers and cheap costume jewelry--Threnody would recognize as a concubine of some sort.
Lark, standing at the doorway with a ghoul rapidly disintegrating before him, sees beyond him a tent that once contained a fair amount of finery: silk cushions and clothing, barrels and chests of goods and food. More macabrely, human bones are also scattered throughout the chamber, including one nearly complete and very gnawed upon skeleton. The room stinks of decay and... cheap perfume?
While a number of goods are too rotted to be usable, Lark finds the following that is still in good condition (nothing is locked or trapped):
- a potion of cure moderate wounds in a leather hip flask depicting a crocodile (by itself worth 25 gp)
- 1 masterwork dagger
- 2 normal daggers
- a padded metal box containing 6 flasks of alchemist’s fire
- 2 barrels of very cheap perfume worth 25 gp each
- A small airtight chest containing the following:
--- a wedding dress inlaid with pearls and set with three tiny rubies (the whole ensemble worth 400 gp)
--- a whalebone corset set with mother-of-pearl inlays worth 20 gp
--- 12 silver hatpins set with tiny obsidians worth 5 gp each
- Assorted small gems and coins worth a total of 250 gp, 56 gp, and 97 sp.
All relevant items are sized for Medium creatures.
All in all, a good find--but sadly, not your friends. Threnody now makes sense of why the path of the drag marks deviated--the grindylows dragged their captives well away from where the ghouls were lairing.
Lark gestures for his friends to join him at the tent, "This all looks right cozy, except for the part where the Chelish were involved. I guess one of these poor souls was likely in bondage - do I read that right Threnody?"
Pointing out the valuables Lark says, "What say we take all the sparklies back to the cutter? We have to head past it to keep searching anyway."
"Bondage? Where do you get that idea?" Thren looks around the tent, confused. "No chains, no whips, no--oh!" She looks a tad embarrassed. "You mean like enslaved. Maybe. It could be. One concubine, one Chelish naval officer: castaways, I'd guess. Possibly deserters. Left here to rot, I'd guess. We can discuss it all we want, while we stow this swag back at the cutter. Then we really need to get moving. We need provisions and our friends back."
Rosie smirks. "'In bondage' and 'into bondage' -- different things, aye?" She looks around. "What gives me the shivers is seeing signs of the f%!$ing Chells AND undead. Somehow I doubt that's coincidence. Anyway, let's go. Can I have some of those hatpins? Might not be a bad holdout weapon."
The party gathers up the goodies they found and haul them back to the palm beach, where the coconut crabs have taken to cannibalizing both their giant brethren. By this point both are already mostly empty shell. Sluggish and fed, the crabs leave the party unmolested as they stow the goods in the cutter.
The party now having eliminated "north" as an option, now have "south" and "southwest" to choose from.
Rosie reminds the party, "We saw some kinda stream on the ridge, as well as another building. On the other hand, that field down that way looks like it mighta been farmed at least at some point. So..." She points southwest, "Water?" and then south, "Or food?" She adds, shrugging. "I got no idea where they mighta took Cog and Sandy."
The tiefling mimes smacking Rosie for continuing to tease her, letting her mimed blow go cleanly over the other woman's head. "How about that building you saw? If anyone else is around, it might be good to meet them. See if they happen to be more annoying Chells. As compared to me, the unannoying kind." The bard thinks for a minute. "Anyone got any ideas for a good use for giant crab shells besides as great big soup bowls? You think our resident mage back on the ship might want it? Just thinking out loud."
Lark holds out a hand full of hatpins, "Rosie, you're welcome to as many of these as you like." Lark grins and taps one of the small barrels, "How about this perfume? If we doused ourselves would it attract monsters or drive them off?"
Turning to their task Lark says, "I like Thren's idea. We've got a fancy grappling hook and hopefully we'll get some good views along the way."
Rosie takes half of the hatpins and sticks them in a belt pouch. "How 'bout give the shells to Jack? He could turn'em into something useful."
She shrugs. "Whatever you wanna do is fine with me. But I ain't puttin' that stink on me even if it kept away the Tarrasque. I'd kill for some mosquito repellent though."
Lark slaps at one of buzzing pests. "They're right irritating, but I'm just glad I'm sufficiently alive to still be attractive to mosquitos."
"Shall we head out?"
"No objections. I don't know what you're complaining about. They aren't bothering me at all. Though I'm going to have a seafood allergy if we keep getting nearly eaten by things with shells and too many legs. Arms. Tentacles. Tails. And so on."
Rosie gives Threnody a raised eyebrow. "Didn't you come from a privateer ship that hunted sea monsters? What the Hells did ya think you were gettin' into?"
With no one voicing objection to heading toward the ridge, you follow the path to the southwest. As you pass somewhat closer to the field to the south, you do see it appears to be a planted maize field, grown wild.
Along the path, you see more of the odd scrimshawed skeleton "shepherds," placed both in the direction of the field and the ridge.
Continuing to the ridge, the path heads up the cliff in the form of a switchback "staircase" someone has roughly cleared to make it easier to ascend. While considerably easier to climb than the un-altered rock face elsewhere, you will still have to take it carefully.
"Yes Rosie, I did. It doesn't mean that every single thing trying to kill me has to be some form of oversized bug. Maybe a nice fish for a change. And I'm sure we can all outrun a giant clam." Thren replies sarcastically with a grin.
"Great, we're all gonna get killed by chowder now," Rosie teases back.
After a long climb, and the sun is just starting to bow toward the west, you reach the top of the ridge. Pausing to catch your breath after the upward slog, you look up the path, where you see a well-built timber stockade surrounding a small lodge in a clearing. The stockade's walls are made of sharpened logs that stand about seven feet high.
A large tree towers over the top of the wall, and you catch a glint of something nestled in one of the upper branches.
Burbling beside you is a small stream stream--fast running and a little muddy after the recent storm, but still most definitely fresh water. It runs from under a gap in the stockade wall; the spring must be inside.
The gate is open--incongruous to the security the wall itself was obviously meant to provide--and the footpath continues inside. The whole enclosure is perhaps 50x60 feet. You can see the top of a grass roof beyond the wall.
Lark points to the tree and speaks in a low voice, "There's a lookout perch in that tree. I was just thinking that every good pirate needs a spyglass."
"How about we sneak around the outside, see if there are any gaps in the wall? Maybe we can avoid being surprised just this one time."
"I like the way you think. I would love a new spyglass myself, even if it's been used. I'd prefer to notice the next monster trying to eat us in advance for a change too."
The gate itself, upon closer inspection, looks forced open from the outside.
Thren and Lark stealthily circumnavigate the stockade while Rosie, Lee, and Muffin stand watch. They find that whomever built the wall knew what they were doing and there is no easy or obvious way through other than through the gate. Climbing the wall would be unpleasant given the sharpened tops. The only gap is the intentionally built one to let the stream flow through, and the only one who could fit through that is Muffin.
As they go around the stockade, both of them notice there are snarls and scratching sounds coming from the center of the enclosure--but not near the gate itself. Lark detects a faint, very unpleasant odor also wafting from within the enclosure.
Rejoining Lee and Rosie Lark says, ”From the sound and smell I’m guessing more ghouls in there. How about slipping up to the gate along the wall and trying to sneak in?”
Lark turns to Lee, ”Can Muffin go in ahead of us to scout? Is that too risky?”
Peeking through the gate, you see a small hut. The footpath leads around the hut to the other side, indicating the hut's door must be facing away from you. You can't see the creatures so it stands to reason they are in or on the other side of the hut.
The area around the hut has been thoroughly cleared, providing little opportunity for stealth ().
"Well, Muffin is really, really smart and all, but I don't know if his scouting would be much help. He can send me impressions and emotions more that facts and figures. The scratching and the stench tells us that ghouls are all up in there. Though if he saw someone he recognized..."
"It's looking unlikely our friends are in here, but I think we should secure the area. The lookout perch in that tree might help us find them and we need the water from this spring."
Surveying the layout inside the stockade Lark asks, "What if Thren and Rosie go around the north side of the hut while Lee and I take the other side? Maybe we can surround the ghouls, or whatever it is in there."
"You want to flank them, catch them in a pincer?" Thren winces at her bad joke, even she can't handle that one. "All right, I'm game. If there are more ghouls in there, I'd rather we tried to clean them out before we continue exploring. I don't think you can reason with them, but if we find whoever dragged off Cog and Sandara, we don't need the ghouls making things complicated, and we may be able to reason with them. I hope." The tiefling looks at Rosie. "Shall we? Maybe Lark thinks we can distract them with our music if nothing else."
Any advances we make will be with a weapon to hand.
"Hang on. We are just expending resources to kill some ghouls. Now, ridding the world of undead is probably a worthy goal but is it our first priority? Every spell I cast, every bit of health we lose is being spent on something other than saving our friends. I say for now we avoid the ghouls. Let's go save Cog and Sandara. If we fail to avoid, at least we'll have more people (like a priestess) to get a handle on the undead and help keep us healthy after."
As Lee makes his suggestion Lark will motion for the group to quietly back away from the gate. They've been speaking quietly but a little more distance from the stockade is likely a good idea.
"Lee, you make a good point. My only response is that I don't know where else to look. I'm hoping that spy perch will help or maybe we'll find a clue about the grindylows in there." Lark looks back along the trail and up at the sun, "If we go back down now will we just end up hunting in the dark? Maybe sleeping on the beach? Securing this place could give a safe place to rest tonight, let start fresh in the morning."
Thren and Lark begin to split off when Lee calls them back to express his concern.
"Where do you think Cog and Sandara are, Lee?" Rosie asks.
You all now can hear snarling and scratching coming from near the hut--it has gotten louder and more intense, but is coming from the same place it did before, in front of the hut presumably where its door is. Thudding begins to accompany the noises, following by the splintering CRACK of something wooden breaking.
"That sounds like a fight if I ever heard one," Thren comments. "Which means it might be Cog and Sandara, it might be someone else who can help us find them!"
"If the ghouls are just breaking in now then whoever locked them out may still be alive. I think we have to check it out."
Lark draws his sword and dagger and takes a few steps toward the hut. He looks back to see if the others are following. "If you don't want to split the party follow me around the south side. Anyone willing to try and flank them take the other side."
A shrug later and Thren begins her trip around to the other side of the hut with Rosie, moving stealthily to hopefully get the drop on her enemies.
Arron: hp 17/17 | AC 18 T16 T16 | CMD 18
Initiative
The party slowly and carefully makes its way around the hut, trying to catch the creatures beyond by surprise.
As you approach, an awful stench coming from within the hut permeates its thin makeshift walls, and as the bard and rogue stick to the sides of the hut walls, desperately hoping to remain hidden, Lark and Threnody are exposed to its nauseating assault on their senses.
A ghoul standing by the hut is standing outside and hears Lark and Thren in spite of their best efforts to stay hidden, either due to its keen senses picking up on the nearness of fresh blood, or Lark and Thren's being caught off guard by the stench. The looks at the would-be ambushers and makes a long snarling noise, that is both warning to another ghoul standing in the doorway to the hut and indication of hostility to the party.
You cannot fully see the ghoul standing inside the broken doorway to the hut, but it appears to be trying to swipe at someone or something within.
"Okay. Saving barricaded people from ghouls sounds better than just attacking ghouls."
Lee starts combat with Mage Armor for himself.
When the casting is done, Lee walks around the corner, allowing one of the ghouls to see him.