Francis follows the Silurians and yells. "تم مرنا نہیں چاہتے ہیں، تو پھر چل رہا ہے بند کرو اور پوچھ گچھ کرنے کے لئے جمع کرائیں!"
Sh'yl moved to follow the runners.
Although they can't understand him, the silurians are certainly frightened by the firepower of Captain Francis!
aqua: 8 dmg
orange: 12 dmg
green: 6 dmg
Xerxes reaches out telepathically to them while giving chase.
There's no escape, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I am Xerxes and you are my quarry. Now surrender or die like the pathetic whelps you are.
Xerxes charges down one of the lizard people and knocks them to the ground, unconscious! Karter follows behind but at this point the silurians have thrown their weapons to the ground and now hold their hands up in surrender.
::blip, bleep, bleeep!:: The cheap Spaceball SLR-1 laser rifle finally charges to firing capacity, "Ha-hah!", running behind the others, Karter yanks the stock back and pulls the barrel up to find the remaining two lizardmen, "-sur!..ren!..der..ed...". Looking a bit guilty at the crew, he says the first thing that comes to mind, "Uh empty your pockets! Who else is on that ship?!"
"ہم آپ کے ہتھیار ڈالنے کو قبول. کیوں کی وضاحت ..." yells Capt. Francis at the surrendered Silurians. He sees confusion on their faces and coughs, shaking his head for a bit.
"We... that's better... accept your surrender. Explain why you are attacking this base!" he commands the aliens.
"It's the best launch," the silurian worriedly explains, "the best launch for finding Cyrus Wolfe's abandoned settlement. They say there's loads of abandoned supplies there."
Sure enough you find a map in one of their pockets with a stylized sun and orbits marked out for the few planets in this system and most of the major asteroids. Tidewater Rock has been marked off and labeled. A simple images of a monstrous eye and the face of an aged, bearded king are to the left of the map. Beneath the map are five lines of crude verse:
From blue bight’s embrace
Spy the Grave Lady’s prize tooth
With the Dawnflower’s first kiss
Climb the Captain’s wayward orb
To claim old king’s hoard
Supposedly the map shows the way to Mancatcher Rock, the site of Cyrus Wolfe’s fabled hidden treasure, but it must be deciphered first.
Cyrus Wolfe? Is he a mighty warrior of old?
"You have been most helpful. I leave your fates to the Lord of this place. He happens to be right here!" Francis signals to his compatriot.
"Your help will be taken into consideration. Any desire to join my crew? Fair wages for fair work!" Francis entices.
”Let's have a look at this smut”, Karter glances at the riddle.
Sh'yl find nothing of interest in the poem. May be his comrades did ?
To the surrending crew he said
I'm Sh'yl one of the leader of this place. You are welcome to join us, here as city guard or with us as ship mate.
As our Captain said "Fair Wage for Fair Work".
The silurians look nervous to join the crew of a group who just caught them sneaking about and trying to overthrow their very asteroid base but they seem to be even more afraid of what would happen if they turn down the offer. They agree to join the crew of the Millenium Yak in exchange for their lives.
Xerxes and Francis recall that Captain Wolfe was a famed pirate in these parts years ago; he was known to have lost an eye in battle. Francis is fairly certain that legend tells it was his right eye. His "wayward orb" in the poem might refer to this.
Sh'yl tells you that the "Grave Lady" is the goddess of death and that "Dawnflower's first kiss" refers to the goddess of the sun, whose identity is hinted at by the stylized image of the sun on the map. This line might indicate that the clues will line up and the other landmarks will be visible at the first light of dawn.
After studying the poem a bit more, Karter has a feeling that the monstrous eye and the face of an aged, bearded king are merely representations of other things; a creature, perhaps, and some other landmark that marks where the supplies were left.
Now that you have a few more clues, although they don't quite fit together yet, it seems the only thing to do is to head out for Mancatcher Rock and piece everything together. With any luck the verses will lead you to the fabled supplies.
The silurian's shuttlecraft is a nice specimen and while it is not compatible with your own ship, you could easily fetch about 12,000 gp for it on the black market.
This is a great opportunity to make a name for ourselves. Mancatcher Rock it is.
"Hmm,... maybe a big landmark shaped like a monster or a monster shaped like big landmark", Karter shows the map to Puddin', "Thoughts First Mate? óôòõô òòô òòõôõô òö?" he micks the noise the mascot generally makes with flippant sarcasm.
Karter actually seems to speak fluent Yak as Pudding moos back at him. Francis pipes in. "You heard the First Mate! Good idea Karter! Pudding commends you! TO THE ROCK!"
As the silurians said, Tidewater Rock is a good launching point to follow the map and soon you come to a small unnamed asteroid nearby.
Everyone but Karter notes that you are not alone: it seems someone else knows about this abandoned supply cache and their ship is currently hovering in the shadow of the asteroid, trying to stay hidden. They can't stay hidden for long though, and soon the Millenium Yak is closing in on the enemy ship! Unfortunately, as you close in there is a shout from the hall and an alarm is raised: someone has teleported aboard your ship!
Rushing to the cargo bay, you see a stout sontaran warrior standing ground over the unconscious body of one of the silurian crew members you just acquired. "This is the lawful seizure of your vessel for harboring the criminal silurians against Proclamation 45763 of the Sontarans! These brigands and any assisting them shall be brought to justice!" He raises his armored fists and prepares to take the ship by force!
Again, Sh'yl cast bless to help his comrades on the fight to come.
May the Force Guide you, friends ! then moved, drawings his four lightsabers, towards the newcomer.
We will not abandon our crew mates, surrender or face the consequences of your acts ! and cast divine favor
Francis tries to probe the mind of the new enemy, establishing a link between him and the attacker.
Xerxes moves onto the Sontaran and strikes remorselessly, not too keen on explaining his actions to the lawman.
This time Karter is ready on the draw and takes aim at the purple headed warrior, "Hey, Jerky!".
>>
Karter's aim is off but Xerxes' blade digs into the Sontaron's side and Francis links his mind to the trained warrior. Knuckles grunts and shifts his position to throw a few punches at Xerxes!
Next to the Sontaron, Xerxes finds the warrior's tactics quite menacing and distracting.
ongoing: bless
Francis, seeing the man's immense strength, decides to take a different route. He summons a whip of pure negative energy in his hand.
He flings the whip forward, trying to lash the creation around the man's throat.
I can't sustain such wounds for another round - I need healing. he mentally communicates to his companions as he strikes four times at his studied target, hoping to bring him down before the opposite happens.
Karter fans out and squeezes another round.
>>
Flanking with Xerxes Sh'yl used all his talent to fight this hated foe.
May the Force guide my hands !
I can't heal you for now he mentally said to Xerxes Sorry !
In a furry of strikes Sh'yl cut badly the Sotaron warrior
Francis' foul whip saps the man's physical power. The drain in the man's speed is the only thing that leaves him open enough for Xerxes to put one blade in the sontaron's side! Karter's sonic rifle blast sends the sontaron stumbling but it is Sh'yl's relentless flurry of lightsaber strikes that brings the militaristic invader to the ground!
The Limp Lash stands up to its name as the Sontaron falls to the ground. "Divest him of his gear and let's push on!" commands Francis to his crew.
"Divide the gear between yourselves. The man has nothing of interest to me." Francis comments as Karter gives him a synopsis of the gear.
Once the team is ready, he will command his strike force to continue on.
Xerxes, still alive despite the deep wounds he's been suffering, takes a great interest in some of the Sontaron's gear.
The belt and armor would be of great use to me, if that's okay with the rest of the team.
First Sh'yl took care of the unconscious Sillusan, hoping he was still alive then he healed those in need.
Is that usual for Sontaron's warrior to go alone on a ship full of pirates ? Don't you fear he was the first of many ? he asked to his more knowledgeable companions.
turning to Xerxes he added Yes you can keep it, I have no need for that. But looking at the backlog I find that one of the amulet is not used, an amulet of natural armor. Having nothing magical, I would like to have it if no one use it.
Karter pockets a Zero-G Breather, the orders Hartshorn to stow the remaining away for crew divy.
"Maheem!" Francis bellows through an intercom. "Tell the Sontaron ship that their enforcer has been handled and if they don't want other casualties, then they need to abandon this course of action. Make it sound scary. If they need more encouragement, put the First Mate on the comms with them. He'll set em straight!"
The wounded Xerxes puts on his new MIGHT 2000 exoskeleton, leaving his old trappings behind. Since he's still bleeding abundantly, he takes out a stimpack and pierces his skin with the dart.
I could use more healing, if you can spare it Sh'yl.
A few minutes later Maheem answers through the intercom. "They aren't responding, Captain. I am detecting no other life forms aboard his vessel; I suspect he was a lone bounty hunter."
Indeed, the Sontaron vessel now seems abandoned, floating in orbit about the asteroid it was hiding behind, the Mancatcher.
Of course Xerxes said Sh'yl who cast a spell on his comrade
May the Force inside you heal your injuries he prayed
The Force is strong in you my friend. said Sh'yl seeing all Xerxes' injuries being healed by his spell.
Do the Sontaron vessel could be put to good use ? I suggest to send a team looking for it and looking inside for any clue.
I suggest we land and wait for dawn.
The rest of the crew moves in to take care of the Sontaron vessel as you take a small shuttle to go investigate the surface.
There seems to be a small spot on the asteroid perfect for landing. A nearby cove forms an almost perfectly round bowl. The asteroid has a curious amount of water on it; quite the valuable asteroid even without the supposed abandoned supplies!
The water in this circular bowl is an almost indigo hue compared to the turquoise of the waters surrounding the island, hinting at the extreme depth of the cove. Cliffs surround the bowl on all sides except the entrance, and a few small beaches have formed where the water meets the rock face. A series of interlaced vines have grown like a loose net canopy 100 feet above the water, giving the cove a cavelike quality in the shadows of predawn or twilight. More vines, creepers, and roots extend down the cliffs, creating a dense maze of twisting tendrils that shroud numerous dark hollows in the rock.
I thank you, friend. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this "Force" of yours. Now, let's see about these clues. Is it dawn yet? We should be able to see something there.
"Let's investigate." states Francis as he urges his crew to take the lead in exploration.
I will be my pleasure Xerxes ! mentally said Sh'yl.
I'm ready, Cap'
As the first light of dawn peeks into the darkened cove, the cliffs come alive with patterns of shadow and light in a thousand fanciful, ever-shifting shapes. When the sun is fully up, the cliffs will return to their normal appearance, but for these few moments they are almost magical with this display of shadow art. In the shadowy half light, a group of caves and crevices on the cliff face takes on the appearance of a grinning skull. As the morning sun illuminates the shadow that resembles the skull’s mouth, a previously unseen glint of gold sparkles brightly in the sunlight, as if the skull has a gold tooth.
There appears to be a hidden treasure there, which is weird since I had imagined that it would rather be in one of the eyes, since the poem mentioned that part. I'll take point and go down to retrieve that golden treasure, if anyone cares to hold that rope while I'm climbing down."
Once someone has agreed to do it, Xerxes ties the other end of the rope around his waist and climbs down the cliff face, keeping his eyes open for any traps.
Xerxes slips and slides down to the winking treasure only to find that it is a large pile of pyrite, or "fools gold," that has been set within crevice so that it reflects the light when hit by the morning sun.
As expected, a lure. But where's the trap? I shall investigate the eye cavity if I can get there.
"What do you see up there, Xerxes?" yells Francis to the scaling Protoss.
A narrow earthen opening ascends into the cliff above. The cave mouth is a tight fit behind the screening vines and roots, but it looks accessible with a little effort.
The tunnel climbs to a point just below the asteroid’s surface. Sunlight filters faintly through a rent in the earth above, where a gargantuan tree grows down into the rocky soil, its prodigious root system blocking any further progress ahead. The fissures and crevices in the bark of the tree’s trunk, just visible at the roof of the tunnel, vaguely resemble a wrinkled human visage with a craggy crown upon its brow, while the spread of roots below seems like the hoary growth of an ancient beard.
From blue bight’s embrace
Spy the Grave Lady’s prize tooth
With the Dawnflower’s first kiss
Climb the Captain’s wayward orb
To claim old king’s hoard
Francis looks around while Xerxes continues to examine the skull like area. Once the Protoss yells down about the cave entrance, Francis grins at the rest of his crew. "To the cave!"
It seems that, according to the riddle, the treasure should be here and yet the cave is empty. Disappointed, you might surmise that another smuggler or pirate has gotten here first or perhaps that the stash never actually existed and was just another tall tale.
Luckily Karter's hearing is keen, however, and as you walk about the cave he steps on a patch of dirt that seems hard and gives off a hollow sound. Kicking aside the dirt, he finds wood beneath. Scurrying to clear the area, you soon find that a significant portion of the bottom of the cave is actually a wooden floor that has been covered by dirt, rotten leaves, and other detritus.
Maybe there is something hidden beyond this wooden floor?