The last of them steps over the plank, his crossbow aimed at you, as the others watch you wearily, also having their crossbows readied. One of them steps a bit forward and answers your question, while the baboon seems to be laughing at you in front of them. They don´t seem to be impressed by Zar´s diplomatic skills at all.
Indeed a wonderful day, thank Razmir for his grace. A little bit suspicious to be sailing here though. You can help us with telling what business you have in Razmiri waters. And how many people are onboard of this vessel?
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Mia comes up from behind the mast.
"What's going on? Oh, guests, and an adorable ape too?"
"I could just hug and cuddle it silly, so cute.", said in a maniacal tone.
"Anyway, we have hit a storm and have been off course unfortunately. Did you say Razmiri? The famed island nation? I've heard it's a wondrous place of knowledge. May...we...see it until we can determine our previous course? We shall not be a bother to you sir, it will be brief.", she holds both hands on her lap and slightly bows as sort of an honored greeting.
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Sritaro resists his first urge to hide down and have his blade at the ready, but waits patiently. When the gnome makes his introduction, the nagaji tries to sound less intimidating and follow along with the Zarzuket's and Mia's lead.
"Greetingsss. We are just traveling through, the sssix of us, and my pet down below. He is, as you humans say, cranky, so stay away from him."
As the agents of Razmir, we are entitled to search you. I demand that all come on deck and line up, so we can inspect everyone closely. If your pet is dangerous, i demand that it is caged. There are strict rules for bringing in foreign animals into this country. And you still did not answer how many people are on board of this vessel. I also don´t believe this story, there was no storm in the last days. This is no ocean, just a lake.
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"Ah, but there are parts of a woman's body you shall "not" search. Those things are intimate. If you are agents you surely have some sense of decency.", she crosses her arms.
She draws out some miscelaneous roots and leaves (which are just that, nothing special).
"These are medicinical herbs, i'm the ships doctor."
"But my friend here is not kidding, the beast downstairs is below for a reason. It had fallen il and if you value your health, that is the last place you wish to be.
Do you know how many germs the average beast carries? If wounds or biles start to appear it's highly contageous unless it is isolated for several days, and today is the forlast day. My gnomish friend here lost his parents to it. We started our trip with 10, but we are all that is left. Such a mess i had, there's even places we have to clean up.
"
And she goes on throwing some difficult medical terms and describing awful illnesses that come with healthcare issues and improperly cleaning the ship.
She then bites the inside of her cheek to draw blood and deliberately hurls up, "Oh by the gods....i can't afford to get sick, i..can't...leave if you..value..your health", falling to the ground and remaining motionless.
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Zar blinks at Mia as she begins to ramble off medical term after medical term. Looking back at the guards he does his best to stay calm and nods, even hiding his face slightly at the mention of losing his parents.
As Mia falls to the ground, coughing up blood, Zar kneels next to her. "Oh no, she can't get sick. If she goes, then there isn't hope for the rest of us." He turns to the guard. "Please, is there anything that you can do? Can you help her?"
All three Razmirans look at each other and shake their heads. The one who spoke before takes a step back, so all three stand close to their plank again, raising their crossbows.
I don´t believe you. You cannot fool the agents of Razmir. Either you lay down your weapons now and line up for inspection,, or you face the consequences!
Map
Just as Sritaro draws his sword, one of the Razmiri shouts:
They attack, beware! Kanger get him!
Yugatta is faster though, rushing over to the nearest of them and landing a hard punch in his face that leaves him staggering.
The ape attacks Sritaro and tries to take a byte out of him while one of the Razmiri shoots his crossbow wildly. .
Sritaro beheads the Razmiri who spoke before with one stroke, his severed head rolling onto the planks of the deck.
The first baboon byte goes into the air, as Sritaro moves waway though, the baboon Kanger can land a juicy byte in his calf though . The Razmiri hits Zar with his crossbow before he dies . The last one of them drops the crossbow and draws a sword, stabbing Sritaro with it . The staggered one hit by Yugatta before retreats onto the plank.
Round 2
Yugatta tries to go after the enforcer she already punched hard, but finds herself face to face with the remaining one, which she is not able to dodge by. Instead she tries to punch this one, but he evades her.
Distracted, the enforcer doesn´t see Sritaro coming at him though and another head rolls.
The remaining enforcer looks in plain terror at his two beheaded friends and kicks the plank into the water, giving his crew the signal to drive away. The baboon, seeing this tries to pass by Sritaro and jump onto his ship.
Map.
You realize that if you don´t act quick, the enforcer and the baboon escpape on their boat, which is undeniably faster than yours and that would be it with a secret entrance into Razmir.
Between Zars and Sritaros fire both the baboon and the last enforcer go down, scarred and dying.
There is little of note aboard the faith barge, and the barge’s sailors thank you and would take this opportunity to flee their impressed service, if you let them. Passad, the dwarves, and the captain of the Abacus all strongly argue against taking the other boat; the faith barge is too large for the Abacus’s crew to pilot, and there is no telling
who might recognize the boat for what it truly is along the river. All encourage you to scuttle the barge and resume your journey east aboard the Abacus.
As you go on on your journey, Amhauhal approaches you:
How do you intend to perform the rescue mission, namely how will you gain access to the inn without arousing unwanted suspicion. he asks. Metella, Passad and i thought we let you come up with your own plan.
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Zar suggests either letting the sailors take the ship and get out of the area or just sinking the ship. If the sailors were pressed into service then they can freely go now.
"Hmm, well is there anything more you can tell us about the inn. I know that is suspected to be a place where the Razmir interrogate prisoners."
The sailors know nothing, they are just slaves sailing the barge. Not even from Razmir.
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This woman suggests that if the slaves are given their freedom and a boat to sail, they will not make port anywhere that might re-enslave them.
If they sail away free, they are already guilty of mutiny in the eyes of Razmir. They need not speak a word of us to have a story of how they claimed their boat. Let them go under an oath of secrecy.
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"Then go, we have no need for captivesss on our journey.", Sritaro tells the other sailors, pointing to the land across the river.
The nagaji agrees that keeping a smaller profile would be more efficient and will help thrash the boat as necessary to sink it.
Following the destruction of the Razmiri vessel, Sritaro joins in on the discussion.
"I believe the mercantile russse mentioned earlier would work well. The elfblood and I play bodyguards to the... sssmaller party members.", Sritaro looking over Mia, Zar, and the dwarves.
Metella looks at you surprised, then gestures at Amauhak:
I recommend you pose as religious pilgrims seeking answers to spiritual questions that require privacy and freedom of movement. Amauhak here is a good example for that and can surely help you!
Passad, rather deprecatingly dismisses Metella’s suggestion as transparent nonsense, a challenge that clearly offends Metella.
Religious pilgrims pah! Does any of that lot seem like a pilgrim to you? Can´t get any more unpious i guess. Blatant nonsense this idea.
Much better to pos as merchants that seek a way station for a regular trade caravan. Such cover would also require unfettered access to the property in order to assess its amenities. Anyway you just saw where Metellas advice brought you. It turned out to be an unwise course, given the recent bloodshed that threatened to end this mission before it even began.
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Wiping the blood off of his blade, and feeding checking if anyone would be too disturbed if the nagaji fed the baboon to Kamu, Sritaro replies to Passad. "The port would have only had us sssurrounded by more of these crazed men. Better to have only need to kill the three then a company."
He pauses, contemplating Metalla's words. "However, religiousss pilgrims heading into Razmir... given their reaction to their god... I do not have a good feeling. Merchants seem more accssseptable; even gods want money."
Ha!Passad remaarks triumphant. You see, even the lizardman here is sensible enough to see that my suggestions are better!
Mettela just glares at him.
Amauhak, not sure what to make of the situation adresses you, trying to change the subject.Well however you decide to do that, i strongly encouraged you to stay there over night and perform your exploration under the cover of darkness!
Hearing this, Passad and Mettela forget their dispute and agree with Amauhak, encouraging you too.
In the meantime, the Abacus travels further up river.
The river narrows ahead, flowing around a central isle thick with trees and vegetation. The northern fork of the river runs beneath a canopy formed by the isle’s overhanging trees and riverside foliage while to the south, the river is open to the sky above.
The captain asks you: Which way should we take? What do you think?
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"Doing our investigation would be the proper way to do it." Zar looks from Passad to Mettela, "Does it truely matter what course we take, pilgrims or merchants, as long as we complete this mission. Both suggestions are valid."
Upon seeing the two paths down the river, Zar looks from one to the other. "I agree with Yugatta. The fork with the canopy would be nice, and it will be harder for anyone watching from the sky to see us."
The captain takes the course you suggested and as you are halfway past the island, something looking like a small dragon flushes out from underwater and throws a snake onboard. The snake hisses angrily.
The snake tries to sink it´s fangs into Mia´s foot.
Surprise round was the dragonthing throwing the snake onboard and the snake biting you. Now normal combat starts, forgot to mention that explicitly^^
Time to act, not talk! Else you might end up as fishfood hehehe.
In a flurry, Yugatta beats the snake to pulp.
Meanwhile, the dragonthing spits a brown-greenish orb onto deck, right into the middle of you, where it explodes into a sticky acidic rain, covering everything in a 5 foot radius.
This is a young riverdrake.
Preying upon fish and fishermen with equal ease, river drakes are scourges of freshwater expanses. They are thought to be related to black dragons, as evidenced by their acidic spit, water affinity, viciousness, and preference for rotten meat.
Like other drakes, river drakes are cruel hunters, using a play-and-prey hunting style. When not hungry, they amuse themselves by stalking and harassing other creatures and travelers. An offering of treasure thrown into the water can distract a river drake, but such a bribe is unlikely to stave off a particularly hungry individual. River drakes often slay more than they can immediately eat because they favor aged meat, keeping underwater larders stuffed with kills in various stages of decay.
A river drake is a crafty, careful hunter that uses its watery home to provide concealment from creatures on the shore. If caught unawares while on land, it retreats to the water, or takes to flight if its enemies are prepared for aquatic combat, making constant use of its caustic mucus and great speed.
River drakes are much more likely to hunt in groups than most other drakes, threatening river traffic or assaulting lakefront or riverside towns if their numbers are large enough. However, these disorganized raids are quick to retreat from any hint of significant resistance.
River drakes are 8 feet long and look much like small sea drakes. An adult river drake weighs about 700 pounds. The one here is younger, smaller and lighter.
You also know that it can spit entangling acid and is an amphibious aquatic creature. Meaning it can not only fly, but also swim very well and breate air as well as underwater. It´s claws and byte are vicious and the tail is also a threat.