Carmelia looks at the others and then back at the ghost. "Well this is better than yesterday when you destroyed my friend's mind and we rent you back into ectoplasm. It looks like you both got better, by the way, so I guess we can call it even."
It wasn't even. But they were all still here, so whatever.
She strides forward with a threatening aura. "But I'm going to need a bit more than that. For starters, maybe introductions." She would hold out her hand, but she knows that 1) they wouldn't be able to actually shake, and 2) that she'd get the raw end of the deal either way. So she just waves her hand in curt greeting. "I'm Carmelia Torvé of Ilizmagorti, the Black Pearl of the Tropics, sea witch of the Abendego, and sailing mistress of the Kiss of Vengeance. You stand before Captain Chumtooth, rightful Lord of these lands as so named by the Master of the Gales. Beside him are his first mate, Faengrim, and his Quartmaster, Dantes Goldforge."
She pauses and glares at the spirit. "So before we talk about this immortal dreamstone--who are you?"
To Faengrim it sounds like treasure. "Tell us about it."
Carmelia's glare lessens but does not fade entirely.
"Well, Monsieur Otongu, I would say it's a pleasure, but I'm not much of a liar. So instead, I'll cut to the chase." She looks over at Chumtooth. If he disagreed, he would obviously contradict and countermand her, but she felt like she was on a roll. "We can look for this dreamstone, but we need assurances that you won't try to kill us again while we look. And for now, we still have some business here in the Fort. We know we're not alone here. There's us and you, obviously, and an animate dream we destroyed. Do you know of anyone or anything else standing in our way of making this place safe for the living to operate in? If we don't have to go back to our ship every day, it'll be easier to look for your little rock."
Ederleigh. Another ghost, perhaps? What were the chances that something was still alive here?
"Alive or dead?" she asks. "Ederleigh, I mean."
At the mention of more animate dreams and these things called phase spiders, she looks over at her fellows. She'd get to use these spells after all. "We should get going, then." She mimics the sound of a ticking clockwork piece. "While we still have our protections ready."
Chumtooth nods. "Let us move on. We can explore the island, find this Dreamstone and map it while we search. We can find the fresh water, what game there is to hunt, and where to cut down trees and quarry stone."
Another living person? How long he had been here was anyone's guess until they saw the state of him, but that had to mean that this whole ghost thing was relatively recent. "We'll give him your best," Carmelia says, her sarcasm thick. Unless the boys have any other questions or comments, she nods in agreement to her captain and retraces their steps.
Hi guys. Sorry I've been quiet. I got laid off from my job of almost twenty years last week, so I've been adjusting to that. But I am getting into a new groove and should be back to posting normally shortly. I appreciate your patience.
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It is necessary to exit the building to finish checking it out. You enter the northwest portion of the building. Doors open into this rectangular room from the east and west. A flight of wooden stairs leads to a second floor above, while three windows provide a clear view of the courtyard outside. You have entered through the east door.
"Anyone home?" Carmelia says, knocking on the doorframe once she's already inside. "Paeta? Ederleigh? Someone else Bikendi Otongu didn't know about?" She laughs, not expecting an answer while she examines the room.
Chumtooth looks around as well.
If he sees nothing of interest, he motions the group to finish the sweep of the rest of the fortress.
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Faengrim stays aware.
Perception
Carmelia throws her hand out before anyone gets too far. "Wait!" She begins cursing under her breath as she reaches into her bag and pulls out her tools. Picks of different shapes and sizes, small knives, and a few esoteric things to deal with magic. Powdered silver and cold iron, salt, dyes, and other miscellaneous bits and bobs jingle around in her pack as she activates her incomparably useful detection orison "Dantes," she says. "It's a magic trap. I know it's here, just...help me find it."
And when she does, she gets to work.
Dantes stops and mutters a spell. He cocentrates for ten seconds. Twenty. Then he speaks. "Your senses are uncanny, indeed." And then he relays to her what his spell determines about the trap (or traps).
A little scratching away of runes on the step, altering them from evocation to a mixture of abjuration and conjuration (in that classic Thassilonian style), Carmelia grins. "Well, no one's answered yet, so they're either hoping they killed us with that or they're out and hoping we don't stumble onto their treasure. Let's find out which."
Carmelia walks up the stairs, wary for anyone (or anything) that might be lying in wait above.
"Let us see what the trap protected," Chumtooth replies, nodding to the staircase, and holding his harpoon at the ready.
Faengrim goes in without hesitation.
Carmelia does an eenie-meenie-minie-mo gesture and points at the northern door as a possible first entry, though takes a moment to look and listen at each one.
Chumtooth stands just a pace behind Carmelia as she checks each door, ready to hurl his harpoon if anything suddenly emerges.
"Let's start with the easiest ones first. We might need to use them as a fall backs."
Carmelia gives her little octopus a pet before he scrambles back safely under her hood. "Someone doesn't want us up here," she observes. She knocks at the untrapped northern door before opening it and heading inside. "Your traps are disabled, love. Whichever one you are. We'd like to talk if we can."
Carmelia scans the room quickly with her aura-detection orison. If she sees nothing, she points to the eastern door and continues on her way.
Carmelia looks at the others as she points to the next door. "There's lots of magic down this way. We haven't exactly been subtle, so if there's someone here, they know we're here, too."
She steps up and knocks at the door and waits. "I sense a lot of magic through this door," she says, addressing the presumed occupant on the other side. "And if my guess is reasonable there's someone else there. The ghost of Bikendi Otongu told us to expect a Paeta and an Ederleigh. Just to let you know, I don't have any particular qualms against adding another body to the pile. But we don't have to do that. So I'm going to come in."
Faengrim has his weapon in hand but not at the ready. He opens the door cautiously. "She speaks the truth. We'd rather everyone leave here alive." He's not much of a diplomat, but he has been known to be polite on occasion.
"Ooooh, a warning!" Carmelia coos. "That's a new one."
She flexes her wrist, tensed as it is around the door. "Look, I'm not in the business of eviction. It looks like we're going to be neighbors, though. I might be able to reset your traps on the way out, but they didn't particularly slow us down. Is another one of our neighbors giving you trouble, love?"
”This island now belongs to us by right of victory of this year’s Regatta,” Chumtooth adds with a low growl to his tone. ”If you come out now, you will be well-treated. If you make us break down the door, the pain you will experience for your defiance will make you beg for death! I am Chumtooth, Captain of the Kiss of Vengeance. Doubt my words at your peril!”
Carmelia chuckles at her captain's self-serious additions. Right, of course. All that, too.
"Pick the lock," Chumtooth says to Carmelia. "Break it, so he cannot re-lock it, if you can. If he bars the door in any other way, we will break it down. It has been some time since I have had fresh, bloody flesh torn right from the bone!"
He makes sure the last part can be heard clearly on the other side of the door.
"Aw, he sounds practically petrified in his pitiful paranoia," Carmelia teases before raising her hand in an aye-aye salute. As she gets once more to lock-picking, she coos through the door. "He'll do it, too. So please, dear, for your own sake: don't do anything stupid when I open this door."
She motions for the others to either move off to the side in case whoever is inside has a nasty surprise prepared, or to prepare their own counterattack. And then she picks the lock.
Faengrim stands behind Carmelia with his bow drawn and ready. If this person seems in any way aggressive, he'll fire.
Mwk Comp LBow: mwk
Dantes turns invisible and steps behind his captain, ready to augment him if hostilities start.
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Piles of mattresses lie heaped against the doors of this close room. Several more mattresses cover the floor. Windows look out to the south and east. In the middle of the room stands a disheveled man with wide eyes that betray his stark fear. He retreats to the back wall of the room, holding his hands out in front of him. "Stay away!"
Carmelia raises her eyebrow, wrinkling her nose at the state of the room. "Not much of a room to speak of, love," she says. With a quick change of her efforts, she tries to destroy the lock.
Hers is a method of finesse. If the Captain really wanted the mechanism completely shattered, Faengrim would probably be the better person to ask.
She sighs as she looks around. "Look, we've got some spells active to deal with the nasty incorporeal types around here, so I'm afraid we don't have much time to deal with you. So how about this--you help us by telling a bit more about our uncompromising neighbors, and we'll help you by killing them. We can get to know each other better later. Savvy?"
Carmelia looks over at Dantes. "Quartermaster Goldforge, I've never been particularly adept at discerning magical properties like auras without a bit of magical help. I don't suppose you recognize anything in here?"
Figuring they were going for the diplomatic approach to start, Faengrim offers some food. "Hungry? Here." He holds some tack out at arm's length as he slowly shuffles a bit closer.
"Of course." Dantes casts detect magic and carefully scans the room for auras.