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Redfur took off like a shot, going in a slightly different direction than straight to the beach.
When Hajar blew the ram's horn, the sound echoed off the beach sands, strangely lingering in the air. Nearby, another stone hut and pier was present, albeit this one had a different-painted rooftop.
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After two hours a ship appears on the Western horizon - a vessel with both a large striped-cloth sail and oars. A ship headed by a large bronze ram's head, nearly as large as the Golden Ram's skull. With methodical steadfastness, the galley turns across the ocean waves, making for the nearby pier.
From the East a different kind of boat comes across the waves. Several of them, in fact. As the adventurers watch, more than a dozen outriggers made of logs and reeds, and canoes made much like Khayal's raft earlier, make their way to the island. The smaller vessels are crammed full of gnolls of all sizes and ages, from withered elders to females with young gnolls clinging to their backs.
It appears almost to be a race to see who will reach the Waypoint pier first, the Nexian galley or the flotilla of gnoll outriggers, but the larger ship pulls steadily towards the Waypoint beach, while the gnolls fight the waves on their smaller boats.
As the Nexian galley pulls up, you see it has room for dozens of people on its' single deck, and a large figure stands at the rear rudder wheel, a golem made of gold standing seven feet tall, with a ram's head.
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Unless the gnolls determine to murder us, and then we did an uncommonly dumb deed by inviting them. Rayhan says, eyeing the Gnollish horde with some trepidation.
They do concern me, we will need to keep an eye on them. We will not rest easy on this trip, but I am willing to have them.
"Agreed. There are plenty enough of them to defeat us by sheer numbers. Caution would be prudent, wouldn't you say, Yazi?"
If I was under that impression, I would not let them on. I am under the impression that they may attack us at anytime.
Perhaps Mistress Yazi sees some distinction that we do not. It is of no matter, Tempest will be at hand. IF the Gnolls think us easy prey, they will find us most unwilling to be slain. Hajar says, getting on the Galley.
Out of the flotilla of crowded vessels an outrigger with Redfur and other older gnolls push forward to the beach. Redfur directs another gnoll, one with a nearly bald head and a bald stripe going down his back to the adventurers. Despite the affliction, he is the most heavily muscled gnoll of his generation among the gnolls you see. The two splash through the surf, approaching the adventurers on the beach.
The balding gnoll speaks first. "I am Shortfur, leader of the Bloodhunter tribe. My warriors told me you have slain the Golden Prey. I see the protected galley has come, as our stories said it would. And the sky is changing now for the past three nights. Are you from outside? The Bloodhunters once served the fire-genies, but we left after we all were trapped here. The Serpent Isles are enough for us, but the Turtle King has killed half of my warriors. We must flee to another set of islands where the Turtle King will not follow."
Shortfur looks at the horn in Hajar's hands, and then the metal weapons openly displayed by the adventurers. Several of the gnolls behind him stare at the steel armor and weapons with avarice, their own wooden spears and bone daggers in contrast. "We will put the females and young on the galley." he stated. "Our warriors will attach ropes and ride alongside. The Turtle King may still attack."
The gnoll turned to Yazi, since she talked first. "Stories say to tell boatman to go to 'Mar-wah' if Serpent Isles become dangerous." he says. "It is in the South, and away from the fire-genies and stone-genies. And the singing shapeshifters."
Over the next few minutes the gnolls swarm over the Nexian galley, the females and children huddling on the near end, away from the boatman in the rear of the vessel. The males use hemp rope to tie their outriggers to the railing of the galley, with the majority of their smaller boats on the starboard side, away from the pier.
Only a few males, including Redfur and Shortfur, brave the galley to stand on the deck. Redfur waved the adventurers on the deck. "Come!" he called out. "Stories say galley only stay a short time, then go away! Blower of horn must tell boatman where to go!"
Bartan climbs aboard as well, happy to be hopefully getting away from the island.
Khayal climbs aboard after Bartan, keeping a wary eye on the gnolls.
Take us to... Hajar looks to Rayhan for help
The Pleasure Palace? Rayhan offers
Shortfur growls from across the deck. "The fire-genies and stone-genies are in the Pleasure Palace on the central island, according to our elder stories. Mar-wah is further South, and its' own island, not part of the main island. But there are also the Night Islands and the Snow Island. We do not want to go there. Life would be too hard."
The Pleasure Palace? Rayhan offers
Mar Wah. Hajar finishes with a shrug.
At the paladin's words the large golden golem nods silently, and his hands turn the rudder wheel, the Nexian galley turning from the wooden pier. The gnolls below on rafts and outriggers yip at the sudden movement, but settle down as the galley's sails pick up the ocean winds and begin to turn the ship around to face East in the central waves of the Serpent Isles.
At the front of the ship (the inner bow), you find wooden versions of the Waypoint water-providing and cushion-providing magical basins and depressions. Every time a waterskin or container is place in the basin, the basin fills with water, and placing a hand on the empty shelf-like depressions generates a plush cushion of varying size.
Wow. You've cowed them.
Not much better.
Aha!
Ouch.
The first night, one of the gnoll warriors, apparently trying to look good for a female, tries to climb the ropes and steal something from the adventurers' equipment. Shortfur catches the adult gnoll as the sound of footprints goes across the wooden decking, and with a roar, pitches the intruder off the Nexian galley headfirst.
The gnoll swims back to a rope-connected raft and stays quiet the rest of the voyage.
At night, almost at the same time, purple lightning crackles across the sky, with a low thunder, not more than the kind in heat lightning, following. Never in the same pattern, and a few more points of starlight vanish after each lightning strike.
A rocky reef appears to be following the Nexian galley. A reef? How is a bunch of rocks 1.) staying above water so long, and 2.) following you?
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Yazi happily spends what time she has either fishing, or gleefully hanging around the Gnolls, excited that she finally got to spend time with some that didn't involve them trying to murder her.
That stops when she notices something. "Uh, Shortfur, what's this 'Turtle King' look like?" she asks the elder Gnoll.
dice - Loaded dice, superior (APG) 50 gp
bag - Type I
wand - wand of cure moderate wounds (37 charges)
dark but clean full plate - +2 full plate
wooden staff with crystals - already said is nonmagical, just a staff with crystals
Y-shaped ruby - faint abjuration magic only
set of keys - Father Jackal's keys to the underground One Source Guild doors
Shortfur answers Yazi as he looks around nervously at her question. "Turtle King is always hiding. Warriors greatly fear glimpses of any shoal or reef that even suggests the shape of his shell. Few of Kakishon are fiercer or more furious than the Turtle King, save the fire-genies and stone-genies. He is a dragon turtle that has claimed dominion over the world beneath the surface of Kakishon’s open waters. He only fears the wizard Nex who made this place, and things with his symbol - like this galley."
A dragon turtle is a long-tailed aquatic beast resembling a massive snapping turtle with draconic features. But if this Turtle King has been trapped here in Kakishon for centuries, without being killed by others, he must have grown to even larger form than normal.
I've heard of these, it looks like a dragon turtle. If he has been here for a while, it could explain its size.
Yazi nods. "I think he's following us."
Shortfur does a double-take, looking back at the aft of the galley. He looks over the railing, and you can tell he is putting on a brave face for his females and the warriors all looking at him. "Turtle King will not attack Nex's galley." Shortfur states, more to reassure himself. He looked down at the two dozen gnolls on their attached outriggers and rafts. "As long as we don't provoke him." he muttered.
Shortfur turned back to look at where the Nexian galley was going, rather than the Serpent Isles behind it. "Mar-wah is supposed to be close to main island. Maybe shallow enough Turtle King cannot swim there." he concluded.
Over the course of the next four days, the Nexian galley chugs along in the seas of Kakishon, slowly but steadily moving to your destination. The Serpent Isles are left behind, and you see another grouping of islands under a permanent shroud of twilight. Shortfur says "Those are Isles of Night. Rukh-sana is largest, but that is Demirji in front, with Rish-in-dra to the South. Hunting is different there, with giant bats, big owls, and giant many-legs. Warriors who only bring back giant mushrooms are denied hero's welcome by females."
A larger, mountainous island appears on your right side, the galley going around its' Northern tip and keeping the long island to its' starboard side as you move South. The Isles of Night fade away, and the galley begins to adjust its' sails to meet a mid-sized island directly ahead of you. Flocks of seagulls follow the Nexian galley as it churns through the waves, with dolphins and other ship-friendly creatures coming to get a free ride off the galley's bow for several minutes before leaving.
The gnolls for their part stay on their side of the galley, with the warriors below throwing up fish to their females and young every few hours. Surprisingly none of the gnolls are left behind, as most lash themselves to their outriggers with twine and rope.
On the second day, you notice an angry-looking cloudbank above the central mountainous region of the larger island to your right, with numerous heat lightning keeping the area lit both day and night. The lighting is similar to the longer purple lightning bolts you have seen at night. Shortfur tells you "That is wizard's palace. Fire-genies took over the land, and my people left them soon afterwards, only to be torn apart by the singing shapeshifters when we went to the other islands. We ended up in the Serpent Isles, and were there since, until the Turtle King started killing our warriors on their boats."
The galley rounds the smaller island, Shortfur saying "This one called 'Ari-nze' in our songs. Too close to fire-genies to be safe."
Near the end of the third day, a larger island to your left comes into view, with grey sands and mountains. You can just barely see what looks like smoke coming from the far side. When prompted, Shortfur shrugs and says "Isle of Flint. We never went there, but some fire-genies said place was full of 'hard challenges'."
The night of the third day Shortfur and three other elders treat all the humans on their ship to several hours of their singing stories, all in doglike howls. In Gnoll, you learn the Bloodhunter tribe were foot-soldiers of the fire-genies and stone-genies, who rebelled and left when the leading fire-genie general "lost his genie-battle to trickery by a mere human". The gnolls tried to conquer the islands they came across, but were massacred by strange beings that sang to the tribe and killed by turning gnoll warriors inside-out when they touched them. The gnolls fled until the singing shapeshifters no longer pursued them. All this is told in high-pitched yowls, whines, and low growls of the Gnoll tongue long into the night. (Roll for hearing loss.)
The morning of the fourth day, after the Nexian galley has moved past the sullen larger island, another green-colored mid-sized island comes into view. The gnolls start up a chant, exclaiming "Mar-wah! Mar-wah!", their tongues long and panting. The galley goes around the island, turning to the South leading edge, and you see a familiar wooden pier with a dome-shaped building on the sandy beach.
It was not until the galley pulled up alongside the pier that the gnoll warriors left on their outriggers, pushing for the shoreline until they could stand on legs in the surf. With yips and yowls, the warriors fill the sandy beach, but respectfully leave the domed building empty. As all the gnolls leave, Shortfur tells Hajar and Yazi, "Our gratitude for helping us escape the Turtle King. This island smaller, but stories say we safe here, as no other islands are further." Several gnoll pups come forward to offer necklaces of beads and feathers to the humans.
When the last gnoll is off the Nexian galley, a sudden sound makes everyone look back at the open sea. A massive form, as big as a whale, is rising out of the waters, all browns and tans. A sharp beak in front of black eyes roars anger and threat at everyone, with sharp edges making up the massive shell as you see the dragon turtle surface. Flippers the size of the gnoll outriggers part the ocean waves as the creature splashes back down below the waters, and the ripple from the surfacing rocks the galley you are on, thrusting up on the beach several yards. "Turtle King! Kirhosk!" the gnolls on shore yip, several disappearing behind the vegetation. Even Shortfur shrinks into the Waypoint station, before bravely coming back out to wave goodbye at the galley and the adventurers onboard.
Knowing Gnoll doesn't make their hours-long howling of their ancient tale any more pleasant to hear, but Vardishal stirs at the story. This is what happened to Andrathi, my mistress' human lover. he whispers to you. The human wished to trap Jhavhul into a prison for all time, yet fell to his own entrapment. Find Andrathi, future Templar of the Five Winds. He was a mighty wizard, one who unraveled the secrets of Kakishon. If he lives, he is one key to leaving this prison, before Jhavhul attains his heart's desire in the outside world.
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Yazi takes in the information Shortfur offers about the islands, but coem the third night Yazi giddily sits with her arms and her legs as she listens to the Gnolls sing, though she had no idea what they were saying and her ears were going to be sore for awhile afterwards.
"I'll pray for many years of happiness for you and your tribe." Yazi tells the elder before all pups bringing them gifts causes her to break out into coos and thank yous.
Once the Turtle King makes his presence know, followed by his retreat, Yazi runs to the edge of the ship. "Yeah, that's right ya scaly bastard! No Fluffies for you!"
We must find the Wizard at the heart of this place. The Wizard's Palace the Gnolls called it.
If Hajar can, he will direct the Galley to go there next.