Realizing his words came out far more sternly than intended, he seems to soften up a little "I'm sorry Momo, I know you mean well, but we know nothing about these lands. I suggest we clear this area and make an early camp. Well rested, we should easily be able to travel north. Besides, your metal bug seemed to be headed northward as well, with any luck we could follow it to its lair and still make it to the boat with daylight to spare."
Momo shrugs. "That's fine with me. I suppose we should clear the fields of insects, take care of the goblin monkeys, and go to bed."
Momo points in the direction of one of the fields and pulls her bow out. Momo will use her bow and arrows while one of the melee in the group puts on the to distract the bugs.
Then, after those bugs are dispensed of, Mom suggests the party move to the next field.
Then the last field.
After the fields have been eradicated of the insects, Momo suggests that the group return to the Smithy to kill the goblin monkeys (coup de grace) inside the make-shift cage (unless someone has a better idea what to do with the goblins.)
With all of the pests eradicated from the colony, Momo takes time to sit down and rest for the first time since the party arrived. She sits at the campfire and drinks deeply from her waterskin. Momo wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, "Ahh, feels good to finally sit down for a minute!" She looks at her companions. "So what should we eat for dinner? Maybe some dried meat from that storage shack and a couple of vegetables from the fields? Oooh! And what about some plums from that tree?" Momo folds her arms and stares into the sky in thought, "Hey... did you all examine the area with the tree carefully? It might have another magic wand hiding under a root or under a rock... right? This place seems to have all sorts of magical items squirreled away!"
Momo sits for another minute before standing. "I'll collect some wood for a nice bonfire. Perhaps the emergency colony and any other settlers will be able to see the smoke."
Nox nodded at Momo's plan. "All of that seems entirely reasonable. We can stopper this barrel of ale back up and put it in the larder with the other provisions." He helps sow the fields with the bait to lure the creatures out and eliminate them as quickly as possible. After dealing with hat threat, he heads to the tree and tries to detect magic in the area.
"That seems to be the most logical spot for the fire. I think all of us need to stay together in one of the houses for the evening, for safety purposes, if nothing else."
Deth suggests "The plums are delicious, but let's save them for the Goodberry wand. He does carefully examine the area around the tree.
"I really don't think we should start a signal fire. Scuttle's Former Master is still out there and I would prefer he or she to not know we are coming. So I vote no on a fire."
Deth volunteers to wear the swarmsuit and be bait, although he clearly is not happy about it.
"Don't worry Deth, I'll take care of it" Aenon says and takes the swarmsuit, he then runs off towards the farmlands trying to look delicious.
Standing near an evergreen tree is a fruit-bearing tree with spiny branches and reddish-purple, apple-shaped plums. A few plums have fallen to the ground to spoil in the heat and birds have pecked at others. Nevertheless, there are still many fruits still fit to pick and eat.
You notice a spot on the ground, next to a fist sized stone, where the earth has been disturbed. Digging a few inches beneath the soil yields a small, flat, leather pouch like a wallet. A PC can tell that the pouch has been buried for a few weeks with a successful ], but it is not significantly deteriorated. Inside is a note
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These particular vegetable patches suffer no ravages from ankheg nymph. Other than simple neglect, they appear undisturbed.
Perception against 17
Perception against 15
Nox was infatuated by the lovely plum tree. He didn't notice anything except the delicious looking fruit.
Aenon walks over to the tree, kneels down by a small stone and begins digging. He picks up a small pouch, turning it around in his hands and gives it a quick sniff. "I think this has been burried here for some weeks." He opens the pouch and pulls out a note.
Standing on his tippy toes, 14 peers up at the note. "What exactly does all that mean? It looks like there was some infighting going on among all the settlers. I can't make out any reason why, though."
Delia thinks about the message."This is very interesting... It sounds almost like a smuggling ring, but that wouldn't make any sense. Unless there was perhaps an illegal salvage operating being run under the guise of the Venture Company, but that... doesn't make any sense..."
Realizing his words came out far more sternly than intended, he seems to soften up a little "I'm sorry Momo, I know you mean well, but we know nothing about these lands. I suggest we clear this area and make an early camp. Well rested, we should easily be able to travel north. Besides, your metal bug seemed to be headed northward as well, with any luck we could follow it to its lair and still make it to the boat with daylight to spare."Momo shrugs. "That's fine with me. I suppose we should clear the fields of insects, take care of the goblin monkeys, and go to bed."
Momo points in the direction of one of the fields and pulls her bow out. Momo will use her bow and arrows while one of the melee in the group puts on the to distract the bugs.
Then, after those bugs are dispensed of, Mom suggests the party move to the next field.
Then the last field.
After the fields have been eradicated of the insects, Momo suggests that the group return to the Smithy to kill the goblin monkeys (coup de grace) inside the make-shift cage (unless someone has a better idea what to do with the goblins.)
With all of the pests eradicated from the colony, Momo takes time to sit down and rest for the first time since the party arrived. She sits at the campfire and drinks deeply from her waterskin. Momo wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, "Ahh, feels good to finally sit down for a minute!" She looks at her companions. "So what should we eat for dinner? Maybe some dried meat from that storage shack and a couple of vegetables from the fields? Oooh! And what about some plums from that tree?" Momo folds her arms and stares into the sky in thought, "Hey... did you all examine the area with the tree carefully? It might have another magic wand hiding under a root or under a rock... right? This place seems to have all sorts of magical items squirreled away!"
Momo sits for another minute before standing. "I'll collect some wood for a nice bonfire. Perhaps the emergency colony and any other settlers will be able to see the smoke."
~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~
Delia thinks about the message."This is very interesting... It sounds almost like a smuggling ring, but that wouldn't make any sense. Unless there was perhaps an illegal salvage operating being run under the guise of the Venture Company, but that... doesn't make any sense..."
”What would they smuggle? Artifacts? I don’t know Delia…. Why would Raymond hide the charter? He seems suspicious.”
Momo is disappointed there isn’t a second near the plum tree. ”Was that piece of paper really the only thing hidden under the tree?” After the others have gotten a chance to look at the sheet, Momo reads it. ”Dulin? Eliza? Barnabus? Una? Can I see the original charter, please?” Momo looks up the first/last names that correspond to the note. Rayland… Must be Rayland Arkley, the owner of the house inside the palisade and possibly the leader of the first charter… Why else would he have his own house – unless he heavily funded the expedition. ”Una probably owned that wand,” Momo guesses outloud. ”Do you mind casting on the page?”
After seeing the note, Momo decides against creating a signal fire in the town square. The note suggests that there may be some people waiting to ambush the new arrivals. ”Maybe we should lay low. Do you think we could get attacked during the night by the first colonists?”
Momo suggests that the party spends the night inside the Government House.
Deth declares the plums safe to eat and he looks disappointed as he reads the note. So it was some kind of infighting and not an external threat that did them in he sadly thinks.
Deth gladly lets Aenon be bug bait and pulls out his longbow to support Momo in shooting them down.
"Momo, I agree. We should spend the night in the government house and be prepared if one of these factions attacks. Are you good at setting traps and snares?"
"Hmm.." Aenon ponders out loud. "If this Rayland character was the colony's leader and felt his power slipping to one of the other colonists... Maybe he came to the point where he saw enemies on all sides. If he knew about this other factions plans to use the canoe, he may have been the one that sunk it.... The marks in the charter, could hey have been who he identified as enemies? Or.." With horror, Aenon remembers the secondary use of the town square. " ... or maybe they are the ones he got rid of"
"Hmm.." Aenon ponders out loud. "If this Rayland character was the colony's leader and felt his power slipping to one of the other colonists... Maybe he came to the point where he saw enemies on all sides. If he knew about this other factions plans to use the canoe, he may have been the one that sunk it.... The marks in the charter, could hey have been who he identified as enemies? Or.." With horror, Aenon remembers the secondary use of the town square. " ... or maybe they are the ones he got rid of"
"That is a horrific thought." Deth says. "I certainly hope you are wrong."
He gets out his bow and moves up to Momo. "I'm ready to go bug hunting."
Dispatching the few remaining ankegh nymphs is a simple matter. Easily side stepping sprays of acid and their sharp jaws.
Delia worries about this train of thought. "I imagine that the little spy was like Azlanti technology that may have been used by this Rayland to spy out the incoming colonists."
After clearing out the last of the ankegh's she flops down onto the ground for a breather. "So, what is our plan here? Do we continue onward? Do we remain for the night?"
"Hmm.." Aenon ponders out loud. "If this Rayland character was the colony's leader and felt his power slipping to one of the other colonists... Maybe he came to the point where he saw enemies on all sides. If he knew about this other factions plans to use the canoe, he may have been the one that sunk it.... The marks in the charter, could hey have been who he identified as enemies? Or.." With horror, Aenon remembers the secondary use of the town square. " ... or maybe they are the ones he got rid of"
"That is a horrific thought." Deth says. "I certainly hope you are wrong."
"You think the marks mean he murdered them?" Momo's eyes widen as she says 'murdered.' She folds her arms over her chest. "We haven't even met Rayland but I already think I'm going to dislike him - if he's still alive that is."
"Are you all okay with me killing the monkey goblins we captured? I think they are just regular monsters - not spelled colonists. Although, I suppose someone could cast Detect Magic on them just to be sure." Momo ponders the possibility for a moment.
After clearing out the last of the ankegh's she flops down onto the ground for a breather. "So, what is our plan here? Do we continue onward? Do we remain for the night?"
"I think Aenon said he would rather rest here for tonight?" Momo looks over to the monk to confirm his opinion. "I think we should sleep here tonight. We're all probably tired and in need of some rest."
"And if Rayland is Scuttle's Former Master, we're going to need to meet him completely refreshed." Deth adds. 'And with more curing ready to go' he thinks. [b]"Momo, can you set up any traps? Something that will at least warn us if someone or some thing approaches."
Aenon nods at Momo and gives her a short smile, happy to hear that his words of caution have payed off.
Hearing Deths suggestion, Aenon quickly agrees "I think some traps are a great idea, and the fortification seems to have few enough entry points that you could probably mount alarms on most of them." He says before heading out to gather the partys gear.
"I was thinking of taking a short patrol around the area before calling it a day. Aenon says as he drops off the first pair of backpacks. Nothing more than a few hundred yards from the buildings, just as a precaution. Anyone up for a stroll?"
Once the group gets the items in the building, Nox finds a comfy spot and puts his feet up. "Its been a full day. I don't think I need a stroll right now. I think a few more cups of ale would be a nice way to tap off our evening. I'll take first watch, and then I'll drift off for a pleasant night's rest. I honestly don't think we need to exert ourselves too much more this evening...we could always end up with visitors and don't want to be in too bad of shape in case that happens."
Delia quickly stands. "I'll go with you, Aenon. I feel terrible leaving you behind in that home after the Choker..." Her voice cracks for just a moment before she clears her throat. "Please let me make amends for that."
"Momo, can you set up any traps? Something that will at least warn us if someone or some thing approaches."
Momo shrugs, "I can make a few tanglefoot traps. I don't really have the resources to make an alarm. I'll need some bells and twine for that." Momo gathers twigs, the stems of thick plants, and unbraids a bit of rope for the traps. She sits cross-legged on the floor of the town hall as she winds together various strands.
While Momo works on making a trap to cover the entrance, she talks to any remaining companions that aren't on the patrol. "Maybe we should take another look at the logs, Nox" Momo adds conversationally. "I just think it's so strange Rayland would hide the charter. The other colonists must have been using the books on a regular basis." Momo stops what she's doing to look up. Una was a magic user, right? Una had the wand so perhaps that spellbook we found was Una's too. Nox... maybe you should do that magic thing that you do." Momo waves her hand in the air. "You know... to detect if there is magic present. Maybe there is some sort of magic attached to the spellbook or to one of the public logs in this town hall! We found a message hidden under the tree - I'm sure there is bound to be more hidden messages!" Momo stares at the gnome, wanting to know his opinion. Momo seems to be very interested in this Una person. Perhaps because Una has come up three times now: the wand, a check mark on the charter, and on the note.
"I'll be glad to have you along" Aenon smiles at the bard as they get moving "But please do not apologize, as I heard it, Deth needed you far more than I did. It was the right call."
Unless engaged in conversation, Aenon is mostly silent during the patrol. Starting by the ankegh nests, they head east and walk in a semicircle around the colony until they reach the beach on the south side. He keeps an eye out for tracks or other suspicious sights.
Happily inside, Nox agrees to review the charter and logs. He gathers all the books and begins examining them, using Detect Magic as he glances at all the individual pages. "That's a solid idea, Momo. I'll see if there's any more mentions of Una or if she's left any magical hints for us to follow."
Deth agrees. "Pretty smart." He gives 3 magic plums to Delia in case the two get into trouble. Then he stands guard over Nox and Momo while they research and build traps respectively.
Momo manages to set up a barely visible trip lines for the traps just outside of the door. Inside the front cover of the spell is an arcane mark that reads, “Hendrake."
The log book with the pages cut out also radiates magic. This aura originates from two invisible arcane marks inscribed on the inside of the back cover. The arcane marks are normal words and spell “plum tree.”
A final patrol of the colony before bedding down for the night reveals nothing new.
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The night blessedly passes by uneventfully. Only a few sounds of the wilderness reach you in your secured house. During the evening there is a light rain that lasts for about an hour.
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"Well, I'll be, Momo! You've got good instincts all right. The book actually tells us to look under the plum tree. Very clever," he smiles.
He snuggles up in the softest spot for the night, with the ale and smoked meat filling his belly to the brim. He had a happy dream and woke up smiling as he had almost reached his goal. Here he was, surviving a night in the lost continent!
Deth wakes up for the the 3rd watch of the night and watches the sun begin to rise. He meditates on his connection to The Green and feels the healing power of the earth fill him. Unlike most druids he knows he was always able to do this inside a settlement or city. He picks a dozen plums from the tree and wraps them in his backpack. "Is everyone ready to go?" he asks.
Delia nods to Deth and thanks him for the plums before slipping them into her pouch.
Delia smiles shyly at Aenon as they walk along. Like the undine monk she keeps quiet, preferring to listen to the sounds of nature or the lack there of that might preclude an attack.
During the night she had a very strange dream during which she was dancing and twirling through the forest with a beautiful, purple butterfly that whispered secrets to her beneath the stars overhead. The next morning she wakes, feeling quite refreshed and more prepared to face the trek through the forest. She looks at the starknife dangling from her belt and takes it into her hand and suddenly the whispered secrets came rushing back to her in a flood. She twirls the weapon around her fingers gracefully with a large smile upon her face. 'Starsong works in mysterious ways.'
"I am ready!"
Momo is one of the last to rise. She’d had trouble sleeping last night because images of the original colonists kept popping into her mind. Momo fears for the worst as she bundles up her things and goes to meet with the others outside. ”Where do you all want to go? To the emergency settlement or should we follow Scuttles?” Momo removes from her backpack and holds the mechanical arachnid out for the others to see. Momo sighs, ”Or perhaps the better question is do we want to try and talk to Rayland this early?”
As the others discuss what they’d like to do, Momo snuggles with the metallic companion: ”What do wu think? Does wittle Scuttles want to wee Wayland?” The arachnid just stares up at Momo with its large red eye. Momo frowns, Is that a no?
"I think we should seek our the emergency settlement to warn the other colonists about what has occurred here. That way they can be more prepared for any potential hostilities. Then perhaps we can seek out this Rayland fellow."
Momo nods, "That sounds good to me... Actually, I'm a little concerned about the second wave of colonists. I hope they're okay."
"Let's get to the meeting point. When we get the crew safely off the boat and settled in, we can go find Rayland and get to the bottom of all this mess." He fills a flame with more of the barrel of ale, to wet his whistle for the walk. Taking a long pull, he smiles broadly. "I'm ready!
Deth also nods. "Let's go to the meeting point then." He orients himself and then starts leading the group towards the second wave of colonists.
Sleep seems to evade Aenon, as it often does on his first nights back on land after a long voyage at sea. Tossing and turning, he finally drifts into an uneasy sleep.
Awakened by his partymembers scurrying about, Aenon slowly gets out of his bedroll. He manages to down a tankard of ale and some stale bread, and by the time the others are ready to move out, he gets to his feet, somewhat functional.
"If we're headed for the secondary site, I'd prefer if we could have the little rustbucket out crawling for as long as it keeps our course." He tells his companions while stifling a yawn. "Seeing as it seemed to be headed north, it would be nice to have at least some idea on where its masters lair is. It would at least let us tell the others where not to go."
On their way out, Aenon fills his waterskin from the well.
Deth starts leading the group off to the north finding small game trails and little creeks that provide you a clearer path than the wilds.
Momo will refill her waterskin too.
"If we're headed for the secondary site, I'd prefer if we could have the little rustbucket out crawling for as long as it keeps our course." He tells his companions while stifling a yawn. "Seeing as it seemed to be headed north, it would be nice to have at least some idea on where its masters lair is. It would at least let us tell the others where not to go."
"Rust bucket?!" Momo echos, hugging the metallic arachnid closer to her chest. "No, no! Scuttles is nothing like the sort! And if he starts to rust, I'll clean him." Momo pats Scuttles on the head, "That's wight, I'll clean up wittle Scuttles with some oil and elbow grease." Momo has grown far to attached to the small creature.
Momo carefully sits the small companion on the top of her backpack and leaves enough room so he can watch the area from underneath the top flap. Momo takes out the Masterwork Machete and suggests "Perhaps we should stay close to the shore so we don't get lost?"
"Looks like it's going to be a wet day." Deth says. "I don't think its going to pour down, but we may be in for some light showers most of the day." He starts to lead them down game trails towards the meeting point, but occasionally stops to examine some new form of flora or fauna he has never seen before.
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On hearing they're in for a wet day, Aenon digs a blanket out of his backpack and straps it on onto his pack for easy access. He also pulls out a pair of well worn boots, brushes the dirt off his bare feet at slips them on, ready for a long day of marching.
Inspiration seems to strike the second Aenon sees Momo getting defensive about scuttles. He now has a source of entertainment during the march. After they are well on their way, with a wicked smile, he catches up with the young ranger. "You know Momo. I've seen quite a few of scuttles kind in the far east. They rarely last more than a week, maybe two in these climates"
Inspiration seems to strike the second Aenon sees Momo getting defensive about scuttles. He now has a source of entertainment during the march. After they are well on their way, with a wicked smile, he catches up with the young ranger. "You know Momo. I've seen quite a few of scuttles kind in the far east. They rarely last more than a week, maybe two in these climates"
”What?!” Momo turns to face the undine. ”Why didn’t you say something earlier when you saw Scuttles?” Momo eyes Aenon with some skepticism. She turns back to the path with her machete to cut another branch. ”I’m going to take care of Scuttles no matter what. Even if he only lives for another two weeks.” Momo takes out some of her anxiety by chopping through the brush.
Delia assists in leading the group through the forests, with her machete in one hand and starknife in the other (which she occasionally twirls unconsciously). "We should definitely try to take care of the little fellow. Who knows how useful it could be, especially if we need to spy on this Rayland fellow." She stops for a moment to pluck few ripe-looking mangos. "Here, eat up! The juice will keep you hydrated so we do not have to dig too deep into our water supplies! Also, it will give you energy to keep on moving." She smiles at her companions.
Nox was whistling a jaunty tune as he walked with the others. It wasn't a bad morning, and he kept looking at the topography around him. This was the first real opportunity he had to explore anything outside of the small beach and the newly started village. "This is a pretty island, isn't it? I really think we can make a go of it here, once we get this Rayland situation under control. A lot of the heavy duty building is done already....we've got it made."
Not quite trusting the local flora, Aenon takes a few skeptical bites out of the fruit handed to him. When the mango doesn't instantly kill him, he eagerly eats the rest, before returning to Momos side for another round of "torment the ranger".
"I honestly didn't think you'd get so attached to it. Everyone knows that one day their eye starts to glow pink and then poof.. gone forever." He gives Delia a knowing look, hoping to drag more people into the game.
Despite the wilderness, the trip is not particularly arduous, as it skirts the coastline and the vegetation isn’t as dense as it becomes further inland. Saltmarshes keep you from directly following the coast and force them inland on their trip.
Here you find a stream of freshwater as you work your way up north to the landing site.
Suddenly the remains of a woman lurch up out of the mud and weeds of the river, her rotten sodden flesh peeling off of her frame. Dark pink tentacles wrap around her figure seeming to force the body as it jerks forward. Creature Image
A typical incutilis weighs approximately 25 pounds, 30 with its shell, and measures 4 feet from the tips of its longest tentacles to the top of its shell.
Aenon
Delia
Nininox
Momo
Deth
Aenon leaps back into the water as he sees the creature emerge, throwing a quick kick towards its head followed by a knee to the body. He tries to move himself in between it and his squishier companions. "Get back! I don't know what this thing is, but it sure as all hells doesn't look friendly"