I wonder what kinda game can be found around here...
Is she yanking my chain?
Gervase puts a finger to her lips, appearing to be thinking hard.
Lily rolls her eyes.
And this is why your a twig and I am a hearty full figured woman. Ya need some red meat to fill you out.
She gives Goldhawk a light swat and laughs as they continue their investigation...
I think we should try tha chapel one more time. Whate'er set tha ghostie t' screamin' might be important. There might also be some useful information in tha chapel.
Lily nods.
Ghost hunting it is, let's go!... Uh, you lead the way Arcilde... I'm not gonna be of much help...
After finishing your sweep of the fields, you return to the colony center, and head to the door of the chapel. As before, it is currently calm, though you recall it didn't take long once you had entered before for the spirit to begin its display.
Lily stands near the door and waits for Arcilde.
I think our best bet is to give Goldhawk or Gilstrom the sword and let you use your holy magic on it while they swing the magic sword... I'm going to be absolutely useless other than to drag anybody out if they get conked upside the head, so I'll wait outside.
Before we go in, will ye join me in a quick prayer? Arqueros, strengthen our resolve so we may listen to wha' tha ghostie has t' teach us... Her cheeks darken in embarrassment as her voice drops to a whisper. And not run squealing from tha chapel like a bloody acolyte...
Bolstered against the poltergeist's attack, Arcilde strides into the chapel.'ello, there, ghostie! Will ye tell us wha' 'appened?
Arcilde says a few quick prayers, then enters the chapel while the rest look on. As she calls out, small objects begin to fly around; then, as before, the spirit briefly becomes visible and screeches, mere inches from Arcilde's face.
Gilstrom seems delighted by the bunny, but his mind is too busy racing with the thoughts of what finally happened to the colony to comment much. He assents to go back to the chapel and try and deal with the ghostie.
It's about as successful as last time.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."
Arcilde confidently stands her ground in the face of the poltergeist. 'alloo, ghostie!
Gervase holds the longsword vertically in both hands, its cross-guard roughly at nose level as she dips her gaze in salute to the warpriest.
“There is nobody I would rather have at my back than Lily, you and …”
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."
“Our fearless Sea Knight …”
Gervase bumps fists with Arcilde. “Let’s do this.”
Lily stands outside and watches the fearless sea knight run by, and shakes her head.
Heroism and Valor that little guy is made of.
She watches as the pair approach the ghost and shouts out...
You get 'em girls! Smash 'em to a pulp...er... goo? Whatever ghosts smash into!
Seeing that the women have the situation clearly in hand, Gilstrom decides to go down to the beach to check on Persephone.
Arcilde defiantly faces down the spirit, who disappears again. Objects begin flying around, occasionally striking one or another of you, but you manage to inspect the room.
Dodging flying candlesticks, chalices, and other items, you quickly move around, trying to find the focus for the ghost's activity. You had previously noted a trail of dried blood leading between the altar and the entrance; as you approach the altar, you notice the distinct smell of decaying flesh.
Lifting the altar cloth, you discover that the altar is not a table, but a box. Lily feels around the wood and quickly locates a catch that opens a panel on the back. Knowing what you are about to find, you take a breath and release the catch.
The corpse of a human male slumps out of the box to the floor. When it does, the spirit suddenly becomes visible again, but this time you are able to ignore its presence.
Lily gives the body a quick examination, and can tell that the man has several stab wounds, but not enough to have been the cause of death.
The only other items of note in the chapel are two piles of ash. In one you find the remains of a leather cover; the pages are completely gone, but you can just make out the title The Parables of Erastil. The other pile has just a few pages left; you pick them up to examine away from the angry spirit.
Resisting the urge to lose her lunch, Lucy picks up the body and drags it outside.
Poor thing... She sighs as she resists the urge to vomit, and looks for if there is a graveyard area to bury him, if only a shallow temporary grave for the moment.
Nobody deserves to be treated like that... No wonder their spirit is so angry.
Sporting an unhealthy green sheen, it is all Gervase can do to to hold up her holy symbol of Erastil to the spirit and spurt out. “We will bury him properly, in Ol’ Deadeye’s name and attempt to bring the killer to justice.”
Gervase tries to help Lily drag the corpse outside, but in reality Arcilde and Lily have to spend time supporting her on the way outside.
“I’ll be all right once we’re back in the open, if I can have a minute. In the meantime, the pages from the second ash pile are from On Government, a poetic treatise that played a part in the Andoran Peoples' Revolt and the Galtan Red Revolution.”
“Perhaps Erastil’s padre was on the Rebel side?”
Calm down, ghostie--we'll take care of yer shell. Arcilde carries the body outside and prepares to bury it.
Does anyone know anything about tha burial rites of Erastil? It's all a jumble t' me right now.
As you bring the body out of the chapel, the spirit seems to follow, throwing clods of dirt and small pebbles once it can no longer reach the chapel's objects. This serves mostly to annoy you, since the objects at this point aren't generally large enough to do damage.
Lily looks it over in the light, and realizes that the wounds it received were severe but not deadly in themselves. Studying closely, she notices a discoloration around the mouth and eyes that suggests the man may have suffocated while curled up in the altar.
Gilstrom eventually returns, and the spirit makes another appearance; this time the noble gnome finally faces his fears and stands the spirit down.
Lily identifies an area to the northeast near the edge of the woods that would work as a grave site, far enough from the farmland but still a reasonable distance from the colony. You are able to dig a shallow but serviceable grave and place the body in it; Gervase recalls a few words from services she attended as a child, and you decide that will have to do.
Burying the body does not seem to be sufficient to calm the spirit, though it is at least haunting the grave instead of the chapel.
Back at the chapel, Arcilde is able to study the magical longbow on the wall.
Lo, There do I see my Father
Lo, There do I see my Mother
And my Brothers and my Sisters.
Lo, There do I see the line of my people back to the beginning.
Lo, They do call to me.
They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Requius.
Where thine enemies have been vanquished.
Where the brave shall live Forever.
Gervase then takes up a shovel liberated from the Smithy and solemnly begins filling in the grave.
I'm better with metals than wood, but this is a fine piece, Hawk. I'd be thrilled t' ha one like it. Per'aps a bit heavier, though.
“It seems the Golden Bulwark heard you prayer, Arcilde. He has granted you an enchanted Holy Reliquary (Erastil) composite longbow which I insist you take.”
“The only thing I’m a little sad about is I won’t be able to make a longbow for you now. But this is better than anything I could make.”
Gervase then pulls out the map Ramona gave the party just two short days ago. “I suggest we head for Plan B Land by hugging the western coast of the island. If the terrain is flat enough we can travel north-west to bypass the peninsula, which will save a little time.”
“Has everyone got enough food to last the journey? I have four days’ worth of iron rations left which I am more than happy to share. Though I guess we can supplement those with fish.”
Lily nods.
I'm good, and I can hunt up some rations if needed. Sooner we get back to the crew and let the captain know what we found, the better.
Gilstrom eventually comes back, clearing his throat and stammering about having to check on his dolphin rather urgently. Ignoring the teasing of others, he just shuts up andg ets to work to help dig the grave.
Upon the subject of rations, Gilstrom clears his throat. "I... er... uh... no, I don't have rations. I didn't realize the first thing I'd be doing was travelling on my own considering there should have been a fully supplied colony here. Let's cut overland to get there by nightfall and thus not worry about food."
“Well with all that church-sponsored exercise you’ve been partaking of lately, I would be happy to share my rations with you, Gilstrom.”
*mock bow*
Gervase pulls out the compass/pocketwatch liberated from the Governor’s House. “This should help us with the overland route that Lily and Speedy have proposed.”
“If we do manage to get lost, we can always follow the setting sun west to the sea and continue north. We should have enough food.”
...bow...which I insist you take.”
'awk, if ye want me t' wield the bow, ye should take tha longsword. We should spread the magic around... Arcilde shrugs. I don't mind carrying tha gear, of course, but I want to make sure ye all know whar t' find things in a hurry.
Arcilde takes a few minutes to repack her gear before they head out, making sure that any items that might be useful to her friends are visible and in easy reach. In this middle of repacking, she pauses a moment to examine the mechanical spider-thing one last time.
She shakes her head as she wraps it up again, muttering softly. What in Droskar's cursed name are ye, ye wind-up beastie? Maybe someone from tha ship will know...
She leaves a small bundle of cloth out of her sack and hands it to Lily. 'ere--I 'ave enough rations t' get us all through one day.
The gray-skinned dwarf grins sheepishly. I 'appen to *like* jerky, so I usually keep some around.
Gilstrom whistles for Persephone, and channels 'The Voice', that inner ability gnomes have to speak to all beasts of hoof and paw. And flipper.
chitter chitter EEK EEK wonk wonk wonk wonk
Persephone looks at Gilstrom quizzically. He clears his throat.
"Ahem, sorry. You need to go up along the coast that way, find the boat and the others we came with. Stay near the boat and wait for my whistle."
---
Gilstrom sticks his tongue out at Gervase. "Look, I didn't do spooky ghost training in the navy. Thanks for the rations anyways."
He wanders over to peek at Arcilde's struggle with the clockwork. "It's too bad we don't know much about it. It would be nice to have a fun mechanical thing to do our bidding and fetch us drinks."
“It would be nice to have a fun mechanical thing to do our bidding and fetch us drinks.”
“Sure would.”
Gervase tries to keep a straight face. “Then we could chuck out the defective gnomish one we currently have.”
'awk, if ye want me t' wield the bow
“Oh I do, Mistress Smith. AND I have 20 blunt arrows to share.”
Ye should take tha longsword.
Gervase smiles. “I would be delighted to borrow your new sword, until you require it, desire it or discharge it from your service, Arcilde.”
“Now,” The aberrant-hunter fills both her hands. “Who wants some bug repellent before we hit the road?”
“I believe Lily and I are on machete duty!”
Giving the various magical items another look, Arcilde believes the shirt is enchanted to allow its wearer to gain a sudden burst of speed, while the shield bears a typical enhancement. The bow and the necklace are still a mystery.
Taking out the clockwork critter, she notices that the small light on its side is no longer glowing, and it doesn't seem to be moving.
-----------
Gilstrom spends a moment explaining to Persephone what he wants her to do. "Find boat, find Gil-gnome! Yes! Yes!" With an enthusiasm that only a dolphin companion to a gnome can have for any task, she takes off.
Arranging your gear, you head north, following the map provided by Ramona. Before too long, Gervase spots boar tracks. Everyone starts watching carefully, and soon Gilstrom hears a noise and points out two boars at the other edge of a clearing you are entering.
Lily
Arcilde
Gilstrom
Gervase
---
Boar 1
Boar 2
Gilstrom waves as Persephone chitters and swims off. A single tear rolls down his eyes. "She's gonna get one hell of a polishing."
---
Gilstrom tromps along happily with the group, but stops cold when he realizes the boars are watching them. He looks to the others. "Uhh... they don't look friendly. Also, I bet we need food. YAAAY!"
Gilstrom stands in front of the group a little and braces himself, banging his warhammer against his shield.
Lily nods and holds out her hand.
A right feast we can bring back with us! Lily licks her lips a bit as she aims.
Finally, some fresh red meat.
She fires off her blast, but her shot is a little wild. She wipes her lips and gives a sheepish grin.
Sorry, won't miss next time!
“It’s OK, Lily. Provided you don’t smell of truffles.”
Gervase sights along an arrow and lets the closest pig have the good news.
Ugh! Did that second one do it any damage?
The ranger drops her bow, quick draws Arcilde's sword and 5' steps into flanking position with Gilstrom.
All right, 'awk, let's see if I'm worthy of your confidence.
Arcilde draws the longbow and fires at one of the boars.
Despite having the jump on the boars, luck is not favoring our heroes. Lily's and Arcilde's shots fly wide, and only one of Gervase's shots lands. As the boars charge, Gilstrom discovers he braced against the wrong one, and the other slips under his swing.
The boars don't seem to be having much better luck, and no one gets hurt in the first attack.
Lily
Arcilde
Gilstrom
Gervase
---
Boar 1 (6 daamage)
Boar 2
Lily takes a step further back, aims and fires.
Lily twitches as her shot goes sailing and glares at her wrist.
Oh come on! Point and aim, it's not that hard! Go where I aim you!
“It happens, Lily. Bring it again next time, girl.”
Gervase steps up to Miss Piggy calmly, judging the weight of the enchanted pig-sticker in combat for the first time.
Gilstrom is happy to engage with the boar, moving into a flank with Gervase.
"I'm afraid you are charged with the high crime of succulence! TO BATTLE!"
Arcilde switches the bow to her off hand and draws her battleaxe.
Lily's aim once again proves itself to be somewhat erratic. However, Gervase's is not, as she brings her sword down in a solid strike that neatly cleaves the head off of her boar.
With that done, Gilstrom and Arcilde maneuver themselves into position; the advantage of surrounding the other boar allows them both to hit, bringing it to a swift end.
You spend a little time looking the game over, and Gervase declares them in to be in good shape for butchering. You truss the bodies up for carrying, and Arcilde slings them over her shoulder.
That done, you resume your trek northward. A bit after noon, you come to a stream and decide this is a decent place to rest and have a little food before crossing it to continue on.
As you are setting your packs down, Gervase and Gilstrom both notice something strange in the water. As they step closer to investigate, a waterlogged humanoid with a tentacled creature on its head step out.
Lily
Arcilde
Gervase
Gilstrom
---
Humanoid and Tentacle Hat
Lily holds up her arm and blinks a few times.
Hey! Blossom says the hat thing is a Incultilis! She says it's running the dead guy!
Lily quickly runs next to Goldhawk and holds up her arm, aiming for the Incultilis.
As her aim goes wild again, the series of swears that come from her prove definitively that she is a farm girl, though it may also categorize her as a sailor.
&#$%& and furthermore … @(&%* your ^%#*&! And twice on Stardays!
“My goodness, Lily. Is such a feat even physiologically possible?”
Gervase draws the *glowy* longsword while taking a circuitous route 25' around the Swimming Dead™. “I had no idea farm animals were so flexible.”
She waits for Gilstrom to 5’ step so she can flank with him.
Realizing that the bow won't likely hurt a zombie, Arcilde moves up and draws her battleaxe.
Lily's thorns still refuse to go where she sends them, and Arcilde's battleaxe gets caught on its strap as she draws it. Gervase moves around the creature, stopping as she notices the slippery bank; the magic sword comes down with a hum and nearly knocks the incultilis off of the zombie's head.
Slashing weapons, my one weakness!
Sighing as he realizes he has a trident, a lance, a net, and a warhammer, Gilstrom decides to do his best regardless and moves in front of the... thing before he starts bonking it repeatedly.
Gilstrom strides up and stabs upward. His attack doesn't hit the incultilis, but he does manage to scrape the zombie. As he does, the tentacled horror shrieks. It retracts the tentacles that were previously embedded in its host's skull, and leaps back toward the water.
As it leaps, Arcilde makes another swing and connects, cutting it in half. Released by its puppetmaster, the corpse falls to the ground.
Looking over the body, you find that most of its clothing is waterlogged and rotting and it carries only a hunting axe. The axehead has a small sigil engraved on it that you recognize from the smithy in Talmandor's Bounty.
------------
After a short rest and meal, you find a place to ford the stream and continue your northward trek. Late in the afternoon, Gervase notices an unusual swath of ground ahead. A section of ground approximately ten feet wide crossing your path looks as if it is grooved, covered with minute depressions and trampled grass. A first impression suggests a path left by hundreds of thousands of insects marching in a tight formation, but none of the plants appear to be eaten or damaged. Where the strange trail intersects with obstacles, it either splits and goes around the obstacle like water, or veers to avoid it entirely.
Gilstrom looks over to Arcilde with wide eyes as she neatly kills the tentacled horror. "WOW SHOW ME HOW TO DO THAT!!"
---
He is similarly excited when Gervase finds the weird insect-style path. "What could have made this? Something that didn't want to eat plants... perhaps a bunch of those clockwork thingamabobbers or or or. Uh."
Gilstrom stares at the path, his mind finally screeching to a halt. "I have no idea what I'm looking at."