Shoal's eyes widen slightly as Patches take out two drakes, then narrow as she smiles deviously. "Nice shot, pussy cat!" She calls as she stops singing and let the shanty linger for another few seconds.
Wincing as she is bit, she draws her rapier, and stabs at the remaining drake.
Glub-Glub leaps out and digs his rapier into the drake's side! Shoallana follows suit and digs her own blade into the drake!
Harold elects to move in and attack the lone enemy!
for
Harold's gladius hits the drake right in the neck and takes it down!
Following the signs left by the drakes back to their nests, you find two masterwork hand axes, a masterwork composite longbow (+4 Str), and a 100-lb carved wooden statue of a river drake worth 600 gp.
"These drakes were sure good woodcarvers!" comments Glub Glub as he plays with the two hand axes.
After they secure the drake hoard, Glub Glub will head back to Taryn's Planks. "It's done! Where is the nearest temple to Besmara?"
Shoalla motions to Glub. "Come 'ere froggy! Let me heal up some of those wounds." She says, drawing a wand from her pack.
She then uses it on herself.
Looking around the drake's lair, she wonders aloud. "I'd say one of the woodcarver's workers did the statue. You think 'dem drakes ate 'im, or maybe they escaped. See any bones around?"
The pale pallor returns to Glub Glub's cold flesh as Shoallana heals him up with her wand. "You have a good wand for our line of work! Time to get to sea! TO THE SHIP!"
Looking around the drake's lair, she wonders aloud. "I'd say one of the woodcarver's workers did the statue. You think 'dem drakes ate 'im, or maybe they escaped. See any bones around?"
"Good question." Patches remarks, taking a look around for tracks or signs of whatever carved the wooden statue.
At seeing the woodcarving, Harold considers if woodworking should be the next area he studies, then decides against it. Yeah, it would be good to return the remains of the victims to their families.
You find two sets of bones nearby, picked clean and eaten away by the acid of the drakes. Taryn already knew of their fate and says that their families have already been told. He shrugs. "It's a dangerous line of work, more than most realize. But they knew what they were getting in to and their families have been given proper recompense."
On your way from Taryn's Planks back to Hartha's Headstones walking along the water, however, you spot a pair of crocodiles lying in the grass near the water's edge. This is not an unusual occurrence and everyone in the area knows simply to avoid the vicious animals, but these turn out not to be your usual crocodiles: as you near they stand on their hind legs, which lengthen and transform them into humanoids wearing filth-covered rags over their scaly forms! "Lanteri's new recruits, eh? Nah, I don't think she'll be getting far." It seems the warnings about enemies in the area was correct!
Harold will Bless the party!
I don't suppose they are friends of yours, Glubby?
By the time that Ursion had gotten free of the clinging spittle, the fight was over.
As Harold calls down a blessing on the party, the werecrocs pull battleaxes from their backs and charge down the beach towards the party!
"Brah!" croaks "Glubby" as he catches the business end of a battleaxe.
"Stay away!" he yells as he draws his rapier and net and tries to take down the aggressor.
Shoalla circles south as she begins humming a little ditty, inspiring her companions. Drawing her blade along the way, you moves into a flanking position.
Ducking the werecroc's axe, Patches draws his scimitar, charges it with arcane energy, and slashes at the enemy in front of him.
Ursion draws a silvered light mace & buckler, then takes a short step forward and attacks.
Harold moves to heal Glubby!
Glub-Glub wraps one of the werecrocs in his net as Shoallana sings a shanty. Patches easily dispatches one of the werecrocs and Ursion wounds the other as Harold heals the grippli.
Wounded and without his companion, the werecroc withdraws and retreats into the water. "Tell Lanteri that Hyrix sends his regards!" He then morphs back into a crocodile and dives beneath the waves.
Glub Glub will flick his wrist to detach the net from the werecroc as he steps back, not wanting to get into a wrestling match with the creature. He also wants to keep his expensive net.
"Tell Lanteri that Hyrix sends his regards!"
"Don't worry, she'll get the point when we drop your partner's corpse at her feet!" Patches calls after the fleeing shapechanger.
After it's gone he takes a moment to paw at the corpse, checking to see if it's really dead, then checking it's pockets. He also makes good on his promise to drag it back to town.
After stopping off at the lumberyard and the woodcarvers, you head back to see the Captain. "Damn mutineers," she mutters when she sees the dead werecroc. "At least we'll be getting that masthead soon. We'll still need to wait a couple days for the other supplies but I'm itching to get on the water as soon as possible."
A couple days later the masthead is ready and Captain Lanteri orders you and a few crew members to the hidden cove that holds the Magpie Princess to get the masthead attached. You are then to guard the ship until her return, which will be at least a few days. "I need to make a trip to Bogsbridge to consult a diviner I know there to make sure we're heading to the right place. You were warned by those crocs about Hyrix and not without reason. Watch your backs. Hyrix was a no-good tengu who led a mutiny against me before I came here. Wants revenge now after I left him stranded. Expect trouble."
---
Iulia loans you one of the ship’s launches to make the trip back to the hidden cove, and tells you how to navigate to that location. When you arrive, first mate Horemheb informs you that you are to deliver their supplies to the beach camp at the hidden cove, but they themselves are going to stay on guard duty aboard the Magpie Princess.
Harold simply nods. Hey, whatever needs to be done. Probably better than sitting around some ship anyway... I'd likely end up swabbing the deck or something!
"Can't do that, Horem! Boss lady gave explicit orders that I am to guard the ship until her return. Same order as the rest of this lot! You should go deliver the supplies if it is of importance." Glubby reasons, glad to be on a ship again.
"You look greener than most, frog. I don't think you've been given rank yet, which means I can tell you what to do. Take those supplies and get going. We're staying on guard."
"Rank or not, we were given orders by the Captain. You want to tell her you decided different?"
Harold merely watches, not exactly sure what to do. The Captain did gives us orders, but this guy looks to be in charge here. Guess I'll see what happens but it looks like we're staying here now.
Ursion steps up to Patches' side and shakes his head. "Like the cat said, Cap'n's orders. We can sort it all out after she gets back."
"Yeah! Suck it Horace! Captain's orders supersede yours!!" Glubby chimes in.
"That sounds an awful lot like insubordination, darling. What do think will happen if the cap'n catches wind of that?" Shoallana says with an edge to her voice.
"When the Captain's not here, I'm in charge, and she knows that. You really think she'd pick the new recruits' side over her own first mate? You've got a lot to learn and you better learn it quickly. We'll take the supplies to the beach camp then but Lanteri will be hearing about this. And if anything happens to the ship in my absence, be assured we won't rest until we've had our vengeance on you."
With a quick whistle Horemheb gathers the few other sailors there and they start hauling off the supplies from your smaller boat onto the shore and then further inland where a small camp has been set up.
A few minutes after Horemheb's departure, you spot a small rowboat paddling towards you. Inside is an old, wrinkled crone who calls out first in Polyglot and then in Common. "Please help! I'm lost! Do you know how to get to Lilywhite from here?"
Shoallana puts a hand over her eyes, peering at the rowboat. "What is she doing out there? I don't like this, doesn't seem right." Calling out in Common, she says. "Your a bit off course, marm! What ya doin' out here?"
Glubby looks at the old lady and yells out to her.
"I ain't heard of no Lilywhite, ya old bag!" the frog yells overboard to the woman.
"Just a bit lost," she admits to Shoallana but then stops rowing in surprise at Glub-Glub's brusqueness. Glub-Glub can tell that she's not so much offended as amused. As you wait for her verbal response, she gives you quite a different response: her hair turns dark and knots into moldering clumps spilling over her skin, which starts to become sickly green!
Ursion unlimbers his bow as he moves to the side of the Magpie Princess, then shoots at the hag.
Shoallan slaps her hip and draws her bow as she moves down to the lower deck, then fires an arrow at the hag. "I knew it!"
Drawing his scimitar, Patches moves towards the front of the ship in a crouch, staying below the railing so that the hag doesn't have line of sight on him.
Glub Glub hides behind the railing before summoning a blast of Snowball to blast the creepy woman with ice. The grippli tries to hide behind the railing once more after throwing the snowball.
Ursion's arrow sinks into the hag's side, as does Shoallana's! Glub-Glub's snowball hits her in the face!
Harold tries his longbow as well!
for
Harold's arrow flies errant! The hag laughs and calls to something unseen as she casts a spell and turns invisible! Suddenly four oversized piranhas burst from the water, spreading broad fins as they take to the air to sate their hunger!
Patches arrives at the railing of the boat only to discover the hag isn't below anymore. With a hiss he turns and moves to cut the pirana off Harold with a spell-enhanced strike of his scimitar.
Ack! I hate fish!
Harold drops his bow and draws his gladius!
for
"Blech, fish should stay in the water..." Glubby mutters as he tries to stab the fish trying to bite him.
He also draws his net to try to restrain the beast.
Shoallana utters a salty curse and shakes her arm violently trying to dislodge the fish. Tossing down her bow, she draws her rapier and stabs at the fish.
Patches swings and misses but Harold hits the one hovering next to him. Glubby and Shoallana then make dual stabs on two of the other fishy creatures.
red: 6 dmg
pink: 5 dmg
blue: 8 dmg