Round 4
Lee responds to Thren's request with: "Why don't I try?"
Lee moves 20' N.
Lee casts Scorching Ray at Mother Gund and uses the rod to increase the spell's range from close to medium.
Lee is on target...
...but Mother Gund has Magic Resistance...
...which works exactly as it is supposed to...
...but Lee spends a Hero Point to reroll Spell Penetration...
...and his spell glides through Mother Gund's defenses like a knife through butter.
"The crab! Right, I'm on it." Lark pushes himself into the water to intercept the crab.
The hippocampus seems to see Threnody gesture, but appears reluctant to move while the crab menaces about in the water.
Lee's heroic spellcasting manages to bypass all probability and scorches the flying sea hag. She loses the spell she was trying to cast.
Apparently, she is not going to go down without a fight. She flutters just a little closer toward Lee, before leaning toward him in the air, diving straight toward him with notable alacrity, clawed hands outstretched.
Mother Grund wraps her claws around Lee's little body and he finds himself grappled.
Scuttle pokes Lark with one of his claws.
His claw glows as he makes contact with the pirate.
The spell, it does nothing.
Scuttle sideswims to the left.
Threnody and Lark bleed.
→
"Damn it all, I can't be everywhere," Thren mutters. She grabs up her rapier from the space in the sand between her feet and then murmurs a spell, waving her blade. "Lee!" She shouts. "Prepare for some bacon drippings!" The tiefling calls, hoping he knows what she's talking about.
Threnody is still bleeding, so needs to concentrate in order to be able to successfully cast a spell.
She casts her spell successfully.
"I've got a claw too, you little blighter!" Lark stabs into the water and takes a sizable chunk out of Scuttle's carapace.
Pre Round 5
In response to Mother Gund's attack, Muffin exits Stage Left. In the process of that, he does...
...to Lee's back/shoulder/whatnot area as he escapes to the SE.
Lee had no way to make an AOO
Round 5
The now-well-lubed Lee will wriggle out of Mother Gund's grip...
...which he does not do.
Muffin moves S then SE then E.
Blood pools in the water where the hippocampus carries Jenesara, from Jenesara herself, as well as from the hippocampus that fought the onwu azu. The latter, like Jenesara, falls unconscious and floats upon the water.
Scuttle recklessly disengages from Lark () and moves back toward the land and toward Muffin.
Mother Grund glares at the now slippery Lee. "I can tell you're spelling my name wrong in your mind. Stop that!"
Clearly getting desperate, she just lets go of the sorcerer () and rakes at his face with her claws. "I will at least have a taste of your flesh before I go!"
She licks her fingers as she ends her attack and steps into the water, oddly enough moving toward the party rather than away from it.
Lark and Threnody are still bleeding.
Lark jabs into the water as Scuttle moves away, but this time his aim is off.
Our bard sees Mother Grund is changing tactics and decides the fight needs to end. She splashes across the beach and dodges up behind the hag.
Nimbly bypassing Mother Grund's defense, Thren stabs at the hag, whispering a quick prayer for luck as her rapier glows with the bard's magic.
Thren manages to skewer a random boil.
Round 6
Lee 5' steps NE.
Lee considers, seeing Mother Grund and the rest of his friends sharing the same pool of water and decides against Shocking Grasp. He will instead use Scorching Ray on her...
...and finds himself regretting his choice. Magic Missile seems like it would have been a far more prudent option, in retrospect.
"Well, that's inconvenient."
Muffin withdraws from combat.
He moves 35' NE, away from Scuttles.
Lark slogs through the water toward the pile-on around Mother Grund.
As the crab has left the water, the hippocampus carrying now swims toward Threnody. She is bleeding very badly, and looks close to death. In addition to claw-induced injuries, it looks like she cut her wrists trying to break free of bindings.
Mother Grund steps toward Lee, not ready to give up yet, and slashes at him again with her claws.
She appears to be losing her momentum, however, and Lee just manages to dodge her desperate strikes.
Scuttle chases Muffin.
Lark and Thren bleed some more.
A quick verse comes to Thren's lips as she reaches out to touch Jenesara with healing magic.
That done, Thren spins back to position to fight Mother Grund.
Round 7
Lee 5's steps NE.
Lee casts Magic Missile at Mother Grund.
But she has Spell Resistance and may just shake the Magic Missiles off...
...but Lee gets through her defenses and scores a hit.
Muffin withdraws from combat.
He moves N 10' then around the north side of the tree before joining back up with Lee.
Once again, because she is bleeding, Threnody must concentrate to cast her spell.
Fortunately, Threnody succeeds--and it is good she did. As Jenesara's wounds close, she stops bleeding and her breathing grows regular--but she remains unconscious. Threnody sees if she had even waited, say, merely six seconds more to act, Jenesara probably would have died.
Lark leaves a trail of blood as he moves to Grund's far side.
The hippocampus moves with Jenesara toward the shore.
Grund steps again toward Lee and blindly rakes at him.
She appears to be losing momentum, or at least unable to escape inertia.
Scuttle changes his mind and runs toward the crate on the south side of the shore.
Threnody and Lark bleed.
Thren keeps pace with Mother Grund and attempts to skewer her.
Lee gets a good view as the tiefling slides behind Mother Grund. He still has the best seat in the house as she grabs the hag from behind and rams her blade through Mother Grund's chest. The bard leans close and whispers to her foe. "Too bad Wahhe isn't here to see this. This is for her." Then the bard lets the hag drop to the sand to finish leaking out her life's blood.
It's at this point she herself notices that she's bleeding. "Damn, got me good...anyone else bleeding on the beach besides me?"
The hag looks down at the rapier blade in her chest. "My sisters... my sons... I come home to you."
She collapses, falling toward the shoreline. A wave crashes over, and as the foam recedes back toward the lagoon, her body seems to melt into the seawater, and black, stinking foam rides and disperses away upon the waters.
The king crab runs away into the water and disappears.
The collapse of the hag has left her physical belongings behind. A few moments' careful examination from the party, with their arcane skills to bear, reveals the following:
1 potion of magic fang
cloak of resistance +1
quick runner's shirt
sleeves of many garments
A crooked coral crown (jewelry worth 300 gp)
A sack of coinage and valuables worth 100 gp
The party also has an unconscious triton, a herd of very nervous hippocampi, a crate, and no launch to deal with.
Wincing in pain, Thren pulls out of her pouch a potion with her tail, that she quickly grabs and drinks.
"That's better. Lark, let me see to you and Jenesara. I think she's stable, but looks like you're just as stuck a pig as I am."
Lark sheathes his weapon and tries to steady his breathing. To Threnody he says, "Yep, I could use some patching up, among other things."
Lark retrieves his pack and fishes out a vial of silver liquid. "This will pep me up a bit, but I hope our strength comes back on its own, and soon." Lark drinks the potion of remove curse.
Once his bleeding is stopped Lark congratulates his friends,Threnody, that was a mighty blow! He mimes a stabbing motion, "A well-deserved end for that cursed creature." He turns to Lee, "And Lee, I don't know how you avoided her claws, but I'm sure we couldn't have finished her without your magic."
Lark will help Threnody bring Jenesara fully on shore. To Thren he says, "How much more healing do you have today? If she's not awake yet that might be a bad sign."
"I still have a bit. We also have that wand-ish thing." Thren sings a few notes, wistfully remembering how she first learned the curing spell, and pours her energy into awakening Jenesara.
"I'll feel a bit better when my muscles don't feel so much like week-old fish stew," Thren admits.
The potion seems ineffective against the effects of the hag's evil eye.
If Lark tries another potion...
That one works.
As for the magic ray the hag struck him with, Lark already feels his strength returning, the spell used upon him fading rapidly.
Threnody is not so lucky--it will take concerted rest and/or medical treatment or a restoration-like spell to restore the strength sapped by the hag.
Jenesara's eyes flutter open upon the second use of the healing spell, and she sits up, coughing. The hippocampi carefully approach from the water, seeing their caretaker come to.
She looks with astonishment at the party, her face dancing between bewilderment and joy. "You're alive! Hey, I'm alive too! That hag came out of nowhere... I thought this'd be a safe place, boy was I wrong." She frowns at you. "But the pretty man said you died trying to hunt some of the keches that live on the island and left without..." Her mouth droops as an unfortunate possibility dawns upon her. "... you. Oh. Oooh." She looks over to the crate. "I'm sorry. They told me they left that crate there for the lizardfolk up above, but... maybe it's for you."
Meanwhile Muffin keeps trying to jump up onto Lee's shoulders and sliding off as he hits the greased halfling.
Lee waives off the compliment.
"I was only doing what I could to save my friends."
Lee bends down to give Muffin some attention and reassurance. While he's petting with one hand he holds up the note with the other.
"I'm not sure if I mentioned it previously, but it seems that we've been sacked. And, adding insult to injury, marooned. Is there anything in the "Shackles Code" about abandoning crew members? I wonder if we're entitled to compensation or it's all just "vengeance" from here on out? Either way, my feelings of loyalty toward our former commander seem to be bottoming out..."
Lee addresses his cat: "It's okay, fella. This Grease will be gone in another few minutes."
"I guess our gear is in the crate, there. But should we At least look to make sure?"
Lee determines the spell will last a little more than four more minutes, based on Thren's skill--or he could ask Thren to dismiss the spell.
Lee picks up the note again. If any one cares to read it in full, it says...
This note is to inform Prosperity Greenwood, Threnody Nocturne, and Lehland O'Neld that I, Varossa Lanteri, Captain of the Magpie Princess, do invoke the termination clause in your contracts. We are henceforth immediately free of all obligation to one another. Your services are no longer required.
Termination payment is included within for the loyal crew who did not ask too many questions, as well as your belongings. The rest is a parting gift from Iulia.
This island helped Warvil launch the most successful phase of his life. Perhaps it shall do the same for you. Eventually. But I advise not risking losing your lives the way Warvil lost his. Redclaw's Treasure is mine.
- Varossa
The crate, easily opened, contains
- any and all belongings you stowed on the ship
- The bag of holding you bought Wahhe (presumably returned by her to the Magpie Princess when she departed). It is empty.
- 2 small pouches labeled "Lark" and "Threnody." Each contains 100 gold.
- A small sack containing dried fish, labeled "Muffin."
- 1 tent that can accommodate up to 4 people
- A tinderbox and 10 tindertwigs
- A week's worth of ship's biscuit
- 3 3-gallon-sized kegs of fresh water
- 3 hammocks and a roll of mosquito netting
Thren begins cursing in Infernal.
Once she's gotten her gear sorted back out, Thren looks around. "Now what? How do we get off this island, and where do we go from here? And did that hag have anything useful?"
Jenesara asks if you would heal her wounded hippocampi. She will offer a magic potion in return if you do.
"Well... I don't know what you want to do... but last night there was that strange music coming out of the monastery on the hill, and from then on through sunrise the wind was pretty calm. So they can't have gotten very far. On the other hand, it may not be a good idea to chase down someone who's left you behind as they probably did it for a good reason..."
She points up. "If you go back up the stairs there and walk along the ridge, you can probably see what's on the horizon. Maybe you could light a signal fire?" She frowns. "Not a whole lot of ships come through here though."
"Hmmm... If only we had a little boat and a strong wind to push it along. We might have a chance of getting ahead of Captain Varossa..."
"Further, Redclaw's Treasure may not be for us, right? But who says it is for Captain Varossa, either? If we only had one third of the Three Reasons to Live we can leave Redclaw's Treasure waiting where it is until we are ready for it. We collected the pieces once. We can do it again. And it's not like we've murdered loved ones over this treasure. It won't kill our souls to wait on it."
Thren casts another cure light wounds on the hippocampus.
"Well Thren, I don't know that Grund left us anything immediately useful, but this fancy cloak is like the one I just got. Do you think this one suits your style? If you don't like the look you could always change it." Lark sets down the cloak of resistence and and the sleeves of many garments next to Threnody. "As for me, a little extra speed could really help me find a weak spot next time I need to stab something." He holds the quick runner's shirt against his chest as if measuring the size.
"Lee, I like the idea of sticking it to Varossa, but we might need to get the Besmara's Whim first. My hat-boat won't last even half a day before changing back, so it's no good for long trips." Lark glances up and down the beach and says, "If we camp here I can try and help Thren recover some of her strength with a good night's rest."
Lark's mind clears as the effects of the evil eye wear off, and some dots in his mind about Varossa's motives suddenly connect...
She probably didn't know about the map you found in the altar, though...
All of this is to say, if you either want to chase Varossa and/or seek Redclaw's treasure--things Besmara would undoubtedly approve of strongly--time IS very likely of the essence. Your concern about a more permanent sailing vessel is of course valid...
Threnody restores the most wounded hippocampus. One was still lost in the fight. Jenesara stands on shore as the remaining hippocampi swim near nervously and says to her herd, "Don't worry, I won't expose you to any more danger. Ever. I promise."
She steps toward Threnody and pulls out a clay vial. "It'll help one of you swim like one of us." It is a potion of touch of the sea.
Jenesara returns to her herd making cooing noises to her very tense sea-horses.
"I don't mind the cut of the cloak at all, if Lee doesn't want it. That other item, while I think it might be fun, won't work too well if I'm wearing these I don't think." Thren holds up her arms to display her lesser bracers of archery.
Then she turns to Jenesara. "Thank you Jenesara. Do any of you require more healing? I'm a bit limited in my abilities, but I don't think anyone will mind if I use a bit of magic we've got stored away if you do."
Our bard then gets distracted by the purple butterfly, tracking where it's going.
"Um, guys...maybe we should go and see what's over that way while we discuss this. Not talk on an exposed beach in case of more trouble?" Thren points right toward the butterfly. "And do any of you see that?"
Jenesara shakes her head. "Save your strength. You've done enough."
Lark and Lee, if they squint, can see something fluttering in the direction Thren is pointing.
Our bard decides to start moving. "I either am hallucinating or having divine inspiration. Follow me guys and we can discuss what we want to do as we go." She takes a few steps then turns to Jenesara. "Sorry, I'm being rude. Will you be all right at this point?"
Jenesara nods. "I'm fine, go ahead. I'll rest here a bit more--I'll shout out if I see anything else that might cause trouble."
"By all means let's walk and talk." Lark follows Threnody at her shoulder. "If we can find some non-hat-based transport we at least know where to go based on Warvil's map. I've got to believe Varossa knows that location as well, or she wouldn't have cut us loose yet. She might not have the warning about the gaurdian, but that's a slim advantage." Lark taps his chin, glances at Lee and says, "DIdn't the map also say something about 'Ghoral Rey?' That mean anything to y'all? We can hope that's important and that it's another thing Varossa doesn't know."
"None of it rings a bell to me," Thren admits as they walk. She keeps her eye focused on the purple butterfly the whole time, not wanting to lose sight of their guide.