GM Shathira's Skull and Shackles

Game Master Kelarith

Davina sends another blast of holy fire into the remaining whore in the hopes she'll stop the creature from harming her friends any longer.

Heavenly Fire: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (9) - 1 = 81d4 ⇒ 3

Was miss adding my damage before. If the inspire courage is not up still then I am at a -1 to hit and damage.

Round 6

Morgryms forehead now glistens with sweat, this fight was going on for a bit now and his breathing was getting heavier, while in good shape this is still quite the work out and the stench made breathing difficult.

"Im axin ya untill ya talk or untill yer dead! im sure your time is running out fast creature!

attack+bab+inspire-power attack: 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (13) + 5 + 1 - 1 = 18

damage+str+inspire+power attack: 1d10 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 8

As Morgrym advances a wave of the thing's stench washes over him, causing Morgrym's stomach to heave. The sickness that washes over him causing his blow to waver, and miss. A blast of golden fire from Davina flies wide of the mark, but Astein's hair however snaps out past Morgrym, slamming the creature to the ground, where it lays in a heap, it's chest grossly misshapen from the blow.

***********combat over***********

Arenya 15/15
Astein 14/14 sickened -2 attack, damage, skill rolls, ability rolls and saving throws 5 minutes
Davina 12/12 sickened -2 attack, damage, skill rolls, ability rolls and saving throws 5 minutes
Eli 7/13 paralyzed 5 rounds
Garavaen 18/18
Ri'el 10/13 Paralyzed 2 rounds

I'll fast forward till when people are no longer sickened or paralyzed assuming that you all rest in a clean area, before investigating.

Eli stretches as the paralysis fades from his limbs. While frozen, he hadn't been idle... he'd been launching sinister plans on how he might fell the last ghoulish woman with vorpal eye-blinks or somesuch.

Shathira, should I roll the standard 50% chance that each missed arrow is still useable?

Garavaen resets his crossbow and whistles, "That was unexpected. Are we sure these things will stay dead? Undead..."

Arenya moves forward examining the creatures. She gives one a little kick. I'm no expert but they more dead than when we started with them. Perhaps we should burn them to be safe?" She looks to the others for their view. "What do the rest of you think?"

Davina says something in her native language that sounds rather nasty if her tone of voice is any indication. She drops to her knees by the last creature and grabs it's clothing to shake it, "Where did she go! On what ship!" The dead thing, of course, doesn't respond and she lets out a cry of mingled despair and rage before she lets it go and moves away.

Ri'el finally manages to shake off the effects of the ghoul's bite, regaining ambulation to the sound of Davina's wail.

"Burning them sounds like a good idea," the shaman mutters darkly, more than a little annoyed that he had so underestimated the opposition.

"Should have used my hair back there," he thinks to himself. Pushing himself to his feet, he takes a deep breath and single-mindedly heads towards into the ghouls' lair.

"Come help me search this place, Davina. I was paralyzed, but I could still hear that thing mention that your sister had been on a ship with her. If you find the name of the ship, it'd be an additional lead towards tracking down your sister. In any event, I'm going in to check for signs of Sandara or her belongings."

Seemingly oblivious to the fact that they'd been in a desperate battle against deadly foes just moments before, Ri'el pushes ahead into the tent in search of signs of Sandara's passing.

perception take 10: 10 + 12 = 22

Eli looks for unbroken arrows, "I'd belay that fire-setting. Puttin' up a cloud of smoke might draw some unwelcome attention."

His task concluded, the goblin knocks an arrow and readies himself to search the tent and the area around it once everyone is ready.

Garavaen says in a reassuring tone, "It means she made it this far, and farther, since that one was complaining that she'd left... and Ri'el may be right about finding a clue here as to where she may have gone.... and if either of you find a few bolts as you search, that'd be right fine too."

He keeps his eyes on Davina, though his tone changes and he projects his voice a mite, adding, "...and hopefully he might also find a lick of common sense and won't be rushing headlong into danger without looking about at least a little first, too."

Not counting the spares on the ship from the boarding action, I've got 13 regular, 10 cold iron remaining.

He keeps his eyes on Davina, though his tone changes and he projects his voice a mite, adding, "...and hopefully he might also find a lick of common sense and won't be rushing headlong into danger without looking about at least a little first, too."

Or, you know, we could have TWO party members rushing headlong into danger in search of missing loved ones! XD

Morgrym sets a hand on the grieving girl's shoulder "She aint here lass so there is still hope, lets see if there are clues to be found and get to followen them, time is not our friend here after all. Anyone see anything of note about?"

ill take 10 on my percetion as well to help with the search, aiding whoever has the highest score, my take 10 would put me at 18

Astein looks at Ri'el as he says, "Garavan has a good point. If one of us runs foolishly into danger, they put all of us at risk. Ri'el if you do something like that again, you may find yourself fighting alone. If we are to survive on the island or the ship, we need to work together."

Eli, Garavaen, and any other missile users ;). I've always kind of hated that rule. I just use a flat 75% return on missed ammo, and simply refill your ammo when you get to a place that would have ammo for sale as part of the normal monthly "living Expense" charge. That way you and I don't have to micromanage each bolt/arrow/bullet/knife etc. or the purchases of each. The noted exception being any special ammo that you have (magical, special material, etc)

Cool! I'm down with that. I've never seen the point of nitpicking common ammo unless it serves the storyline, i.e. dwindling resources in a 'survivalist' game or the like. I've updated Eli's arrow total on his sheet.

When the pirates begin their exploration of the carnage-strewn field, Eli weaves back and forth through the debris on a serpentine path as he slowly closes with the tent. An arrow waits on his string as the goblin cautiously stalks along, red eyes alert for any danger.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Do we want to do any healing before we move in?

Davina nods and lays her head against Morgrym's hand a moment before getting up and helping recover the arrows and bolts. When everyone is ready to go she says, "I'm sorry for my loss of control, I'll try not to let it happen again." I will find you Nisha, I promise.

Ri'el sighs heavily, torn betwen the clear sense in Astein and Garavaen's words and his desperation to see Sandara safe and sound.

"I'll try to be more careful, and I will accept any reprimands once Sandara is safe, but until then, we don't have time! We don't know what's happening to her right now, or what state she's in... I'll exercise more caution, but we don't have time to dawdle or stand around talking. Let's press on. Please." He says urgently as he continues to riffle through the tent.

"By all the gods, empyreal lords and archdevils, I'm not losing her too...," he mutters softly to himself as he searches.

GM, anything on note in there? Still taking 10 for 22.

As you approach the tent, the stench is horrifying. Going into the tent is no better. Inside are rotting remains of at least 4 humans, but much to Ri'el's relief, they are far too far along in decomposition for any of them to be Sandara, or Crimson. In the northeast section, there is a huge pile of filthy clothes, and surrounding the base of the tree is a vast bed of moldering cushions. Clouds of flies dance above the decay.

Garavaen and Eli, you both start to notice that normal jungle/forest sounds, which you didn't realize had been missing till now are starting to become noticeable once again.

As Ri'el, Morgrym and Davina start to search through the vile lair, swatting hands at flies and other vermin, they find several items stashed into the pile of revealing clothing.

A leather hip flash depicting a crocodile, which contains a Silver Liquid, with a particularly fishy odor, a bubbly texture, and a salty taste.

Three very sharp, if well used, daggers (one of which has a master's mark on the blade)

A chest, unlocked, which contains six flasks of Alchemist's Fire

2 barrels of really cheap perfume

A wedding dress inlaid with pearls, and a set of tiny rubies

A whalebone corset set with mother of pearl inlays

A dozen silver hatpins set with tiny obsidians

You also spot what looks like various gems that are strewn about the muck, and some coins as well, if you wish to take the time to dig them out.

"We should move on quickly, get away from here. These flies aren't normal flies - they carry disease and likely got some nasty ones from those whores." Astein himself moves away from the midden heap hoping that others are wise enough to follow.

Ri'el will help himself to a dagger (the masterwork one if no one else needs it) and a couple of alchemist fires. He mutters about wanting take the time to come back and collect the coins later, but will reluctantly wait and help if the rest of the party wants to do it now.

I presume we will take the stash of valuables that can be easily collected as well, such as the dress and corset and hatpins etc.

"I don't know if I should be exasperated that there's no lead pointing us to Sandara or relieved that there's no sign of her having been here," Ri'el sighs.

"The tracks in the forest weren't much of a lead, it seems. We need to try to find signs of life, rather than un-life, on his island," he adds as he tries to remember what he saw of the island on the way in.

"There appeared to be some kind of cultivated field near the beach we saw on the way in. Cultivation requires organised intelligence. Perhaps we should keep searching through the forest, but head in that general direction?"

Garavaen says evenly, "Aye, and if you get us all killed because you couldn't take two minutes, then there's no one left to rescue her. I'm thinking that's worse... Unless you want to end up like those beasts."

He sighs, "Let's take a small bit of time to dig out some of the gems, in case we need to buy back out companions.. And then, aye, message or way toward the fields.. Though the unnatural presence of women probably kept the animals away... I imagine they'll be back... And may be dangerous, so let's keep an eye out. "

Shaking his head and shrugging, Astein walks from the clearing keeping well away from the insects.

Davina also moves away, particularly once someone mentions the insects could well be carrying diseases.

"aye lets be off, no need to get sick on top of everything else. wish we coulda got more outa that hag but taking an undead alive is not usually worth the risk, they can easily kill you and wouldnt think twice about it" Morgrm cleans the slime and much off his axe in the grass before making to move in the direction the party indecated they would go

Most of you move away from the carrion mess, but Garavaen seems determined to collect some of the treasure, shooing the thick bodied flies from his face.

Garavaen, how long are you going to spend trying to collect coin and gems?

Without the rest of the group joining in, Garavaen would also step away -- he's not the wilful, set-out-on-your own type -- And, really, the speed of his stepping away would likely have increased when the conversation turned toward getting sick.

Arenya's eye light up with the horde of treasure. More wealth than she has ever scene before during her poor life. She assists Garavaen in collecting it all and unearthing the gems.

Once the task is complete she checks with the others and gets ready to set off, sipping from her canteen before proceedings. It's a good thing they didn't need to worry about running out of water.

As the rest of the group moves away from the lair, Arenya continues to collect treasure. She feels something bite her on the neck, and when she smacks down, her hand comes away with a slight smear of blood from the botfly that bit her.

Looking at her hand she exclaims, "Damn it!" she retreats with the treasure wiping her hand on her side. "I got bitten by those things. she informs the rest of the group holding out the treasure in her cloak.

Eli appears more interested in Arenya's wound than her treasure. He pokes around the injury with a gentle claw. "Let's keep an eye on that. Could get infected."

Heal (Treat:Disease?): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

Astein shakes his head at Arenya.

Eli inspects the wound and notices an area of greyish, necrotic tissue around the wound. He realizes that the fly bite infected Arenya with ghoul fever. He does what he can to clean the wound and cut away some of the affected tissue.

When Arenya makes her save the next day, she gets a +4 circumstance bonus to her fort save.

The party marches on towards a very unusual sight. A clearing in the jungle contains overgrown fields of some sort of corn. The crops have gone wild, creating a high barrier wafting gently in the breeze.

As the party grows closer to the field, they see the one track leading into the field. The corn grows over 8 feet tall, and as you push into the corn to follow, Ri'el is able to follow the track, barely, with the help of Eli, Garavaen and Morgrym. As the group pushes through the field, visibility is cut to about 5 feet. After the trail takes a slight bend, the group sees what can only be described as a horrific scarecrow off to the side of the trail. A severed ghoul head is set atop a tall wooden spike, about 9' off the ground. The head is swarming with botflies.

Sweet! I love it when an under-utilized skill comes in handy.

Eli excises the infected flesh and sprinkles some sugar and salt onto the wound as his father taught him to do with filthy fishhook and gaff injuries. It stung a bit and didn't always work... but sometimes it helped. He pats the woman encouragingly, "You'll live. Let's get moving."

"Let's steer clear of that head," Ri'el mutters as he gestures at the ghoulish scarecrow. "It's got botflies around it, and we don't want more of us contracting what Arenya got from the botflies that bit her earlier..."

Can we go around the scarecrow and continue following the track through the corn field?

survival: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Also, why is it always corn fields that ghouls and other creepy monsters hide in? It's never wheat, or barley, or rice even. It's always the corn fields. Corn fields are cursed, I tell you.

The scarecrows aren't even in the path, so easy to just leave them alone. And the reason scary monsters choose corn? Because wheat, barley and rice don't normally grow taller than a man ;)

The cornfield continues for a long while, looking as though it had grown wild. Cobs droop on withered branches, while new corn grows on the same cornstalks. Without a real reference, you're not sure how big the field is, but the track takes you about 30 minutes to traverse through the cornfield. Wending your way up the trail it eventually leads to the top of the rise that forms the cliffs around the western side of the isle. Atop the rise you see a well-built timber stockade surrounding a small lodge in a jungle clearing. Vines wrap and strangle a great tree that rises next to the lodge, blocking light from above. Beside it is a bubbling spring.

It's the scarecrows... Less prevalent in wheat fields

"Quite a different scene than the ghoul shack... And it looks like we found our fresh water source."

Davina follows along, nervous about this island with what's happened so far. "Hopefully we ca find Crimson and Sandra now."

Eli nods but doesn't add his own thoughts... we may find'em alright - in the stew-pot. He points to the lodge/stockade and indicates the need for quiet. The little goblin sets off from scant cover to scant cover, creeping up toward the lodge and stockade looking for signs of life.

Stealth: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Updated my position on the map. Eli will hug the west wall of the stockade, keeping an eye on the lodge and the tree.

As the group moves closer, Eli scouts ahead, moving his small goblin body between bare patches and scant cover.

The goblin stops briefly, suspicious of the quiet. With a wiggle of his fingers, he ensures an arrow is knocked then advances along the wall of the stockade, his bow moving to keep aim on the door of the lodge.

Mindful of the dangers that suffuse this island, Ri'el reins in his urge to just charge ahead to the stockade. Instead, he readies his crossbow to shoot at the first sign of hostilities against the goblin...and spares a moment to consider that under normal circumstances that would be a very odd thing to do for a goblin...

"This place dont seem right, there may be people here that tend this farm but im seein things that lead me to be cautious. i dunno if we should trust people with ghoul heads on scare crows on an island in the middle o' nowhere. not sayin we axe em outright, but we keep ourselves safe" Morgrym finds the things he sees in the fields leading him to a certain level of paranoia and hopes that it all turns out for the best but plans for the worst

do these crops look properly tended too? or as if they were left for a while to grow as they may?