"We just scraped them off the boat! But don't touch it with your bare hands!"
"Rust and ruin girl, I'm not touching it with my bare anything!"
Thravum backs out of the doorway and throws a Handaxe at the spot where the tentacle reached out for him.
"We just scraped them off the boat! But don't touch it with your bare hands!""Rust and ruin girl, I'm not touching it with my bare anything!"
Thravum backs out of the doorway and throws a Handaxe at the spot where the tentacle reached out for him.
[dice=attack]1d20+4; 1d6+2
Your axes flies straight through the corner easily slicing through a sizeable slab of jelly which splatters to the ground.
"Eat this, you gelatinous sea scum!" Olias aims his crossbow and lets free a bolt.
.
After firing, Olias hums a melody while facing Thravum, casting bardic inspiration on him.
"Eat this, you gelatinous sea scum!" Olias aims his crossbow and lets free a bolt.
[dice=attack] 1d20+4;1d8+2 .
After firing, Olias hums a melody while facing Thravum, casting bardic inspiration on him.
The crossbow bolt slips through the jelly with an audible *splork* and a jet of liquified jelly squirts out of the point of entry.
Here's the Current Battlemat .
Florr raises her right hand, her left touching the swirling blue amulet around her neck. "Valkur, grant Thravum your protection!" A blue shimmer appears as a bubble around the dwarf.
The sea jelly squeezes it's girth through the doorway making a slurping sound. It appears it had been stuck and acting as a plug holding back the water in the house. As it clears the doorway the huge mass of water causes the jelly to lose it's adhesion to the ground and it surfs down the hill towards everyone and in the direction of the stables. It flails it's psuedopods in what looks like panic.
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The jelly smashes into the side of the stables with a splat. It's still moving, but more slowly.
The sea jelly squeezes it's girth through the doorway making a slurping sound. It appears it had been stuck and acting as a plug holding back the water in the house. As it clears the doorway the huge mass of water causes the jelly to lose it's adhesion to the ground and it surfs down the hill towards everyone and in the direction of the stables. It flails it's psuedopods in what looks like panic.
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The jelly smashes into the side of the stables with a splat. It's still moving, but more slowly.
"Watch out, Storm Surge!" she I, quickly bracing herself for the quick rush of water.
Not quick enough. Both Florr and her loyal steed are knocked over by the rush of water.
As the jelly engulfs Florr, she feels an electric surge emanate from her Amulet.
Lightning shoots out of the blue gem and through the jelly.
The sliding jelly collides with Florr after she tumbles over, luckily, her horse storm surge is missed.
Florr takes from making contact with the sea jelly. Your skin feels numb.
The sound of arcing electricity grows in volume and you see the sea jelly begin vibrating as it slides off Florr into a smoking vaporous puddle that begins quickly soaking into the ground, it's then you notice a small battered tin box that was apparently suspended in the jelly that had gone unnoticed.
Thravum uses his Bardic Inspiration bonus to aid his first saving throw after finding the Sea Jelly about to engulf him!
Thravum's protest comes out as a gurgle.
Thravum feels the ground become loose under his feet and slid out from under him but luckily he avoids the goo.
A stiff wind cold wind, foreshadowing the march of winter, blows from the southwest carrying a terrible stench of decay.
A battered sealed tin box the size of a large tinderbox sits in the puddle that once was the jelly.
to the north, the doors of the manor hang open. It's very dark inside, but you swear you see an eerie violet glow somewhere inside. The sound of gentle running water can be heard from within and small stream still pours out the door and down the front steps. Very boney, spiny fish flop around in the mud and fist sized clams, oysters and other crustations lay exposed.
Thravum picks himself up off the ground "You alright girl? That was a nice shot". Looking he around he asks her "Any of these fish dangerous? Any of them taste good?"
Florr stands, wringing out her cloak. "Thank you, Thravum. Valkur blesses me with the power of lightning each day, and I've found that it works quite effectively on dangerous sea creatures." She glances back and sees Storm Surge standing up in the murky mud. She walks back to him, takes a long, slightly curved wooden stick from the saddlebags, and starts brushing it along his back. Tiny waves of dirty water fly from the stick's end.
She peers down at the fishy debris. "I've seen these sorts of clams and oysters before. But these boney fish... They have teeth! And this giant lobster creature... I've never seen the like."
She points to the small tin box. "Look!"
Thravum cautiously walks over to the tin box. If any of the fish or crustaceans are within arms reach of the box or his path he nudges them out of the way with his axe. He picks it up and turns it over in his hands, examining it.
Thravum cautiously walks over to the tin box. If any of the fish or crustaceans are within arms reach of the box or his path he nudges them out of the way with his axe. He picks it up and turns it over in his hands, examining it.
[dice=Perception]1d20 + 2
the box is battered and corroded, but doesnt seem to have taken any water inside it. The lid is sandwiched tightly on the box, but it seems like you should be able to open it without much trouble. The box is about 10 inches by 8 inches by 6 inches. It looks like it was some sort of tinderbox or box for keeping meals. It's not decorated. As it turns in your hands you hear something light thunking around inside. Probably some folded parchment.
Thravum tries to work the lid free.
to the north, the doors of the manor hang open. It's very dark inside, but you swear you see an eerie violet glow somewhere inside. The sound of gentle running water can be heard from within and small stream still pours out the door and down the front steps. Very boney, spiny fish flop around in the mud and fist sized clams, oysters and other crustations lay exposed.
Olias watches the sea creatures as they spill out of the building. "I always wondered what it would be like if the glass broke at an aquarium." He whistles to himself, then looks harder at some of the creatures. "So, am I the only one kind of freaked about these things? They don't seem... natural to me."
Carefully, Olias navigates around the creatures and approaches Thravum as he tries to open the box. "Well, I wonder what we have here?"
He looks back to the door of the building. "Hey, what's that light?"
Florr peers at the box in Thravum's hand. "Check if it's locked. Anyone good at opening locks?"
Florr points at a bony fish. "Olias, I've never seen creatures like this and I grew up fishing on the ocean. Our nets never caught anything quite like this."
Thravum tries to work the lid free.
Torn sheets of parchment fold into a tight fall to the ground. Unfolding them you begin reading what look to be letters.
"
18th
Dearest Mother and Father,
My apprenticeship at the Winery is going well. I’ve been here a week but I feel like I’m learning so much. It’s amazing to think that in a few short years I could be making my own living here and some day, build my own business. The master lives well. We have a few servants, but those are only for the household. The apprentices do much of the chores regarding the business. I quite like spending time outside picking grapes. I can work slowly and enjoy the sunshine. I often make it over to the stables to feed the horses a bit extra. There are plenty of grapes. Many are saying that the first snow could be sooner this year, I look forward to getting a chance to come home and visit during the Hunt and Harvest Festival in two months. The cooking staff here at the manor is excellent and I’m very well fed, but I still miss mother’s cooking.
21st
The manor has been in a bit of a chaos. Things seem to be going wrong. The Master’s wife returned from one of her expeditions, ever since she came home things have been in discord. The pigeons have been acting strangely. I wasn’t able to send my last letter. They just pace around their coops pecking at the wire. One of the other apprentices says that means there is a big storm coming but I’m not sure. The kitchen keeps dropping dishes. People are falling off ladders. There’s a massive tapestry the Master’s Wife (Mistress Penelope) recovered from her journey into far off in foriegn ruins. It’s a strange and dark textile. It’s woven from great big thick, rough tweed, it seems to be an abstract piece. In all of the swirly darkness I swear there’s a face. Beneath it on a stone pedestal is an black clay tablet. She tells me it’s a priceless artifach from a “faith that died hundreds of generations ago”. I hate it. It’s….unnerving. Is some sort of..animal? Creature? Whatever crude hand shaped the clay seemed to mash together tangled nests of snakes, within are eyes and gaping fanged jaws. I don’t see any artistic value and it is quite ugly.
I’m writing in hopes I’ll be able to send both of these letters soon.
24th
The horses escaped last night. They woke me. Terrible braying and they broke from the stables. Our horses are gone. I hope someone visits Haven soon. I’m starting to feel so very isolated. The nights are so dark and I swear one of the boys I share sleeping quarters with is talking in his sleep and it keeps me awake all night. He just wails and babbles incessantly but whenever I wake to go to him to shake him awake, his lips aren’t moving. I can still hear him, in my head.
We’ve tried sending letters, but the pigeons refuse to fly, they just pace and pace and pace.
25th
I found the babbling last night. I wandered down the hall in the early morning, before the sun came up. I followed all the way down the staircase to face the tablet. The noise was coming from somewhere in its crevices.
I threw it into the well.
26th
My mind seems to be dreaming, even while I’m awake. I’m not quite sure if I’m awake right now. The household seems to be going mad. The Master has been throwing parties, acting as though he hasn’t a care in the world. He invites all sorts of people and they partake in all manners of debauchery. They eat prepared feasts and enjoy carnal pleasures. The drink barrels of wine and dance all night.
The pigeons have all died. We tried to help them fly, but they sailed back to the ground and broke their necks.
I’ve tried to leave the grounds but I’m scared to leave. I don’t know what I fear for every ounce of me wishes to flee this manor.
I hope I’ll see each of you again.
28th
The water began flooding into the house last night. The well is overflowing. It’s filling the house at an alarming rate. The doors are all locked and the windows have been boarded over from the outside. I fear we’re under attack from something not from this world. An angry spirit.
30th
I’m the only one left alive. I write now in hopes someone will find it. I won’t drink the water and I feel myself wasting. I hope someone comes soon, they can find my writings so you’ll know what’s happened to me. Certainly those on ships will be able to survive?
The waters glow and I hear splashing at night. The waters have swallowed the ladder and I can’t leave the attic anymore.
I hope I die before the waters reach me, they're filled with madness.
I’ve thrown these letters into the seas that are swallowing us. I hope a survivor might find them. There's no more hope for me. The gods are punishing me.
Thravum tries to work the lid free.Torn sheets of parchment fold into a tight fall to the ground. Unfolding them you begin reading what look to be letters.
Olias finishes reading the letters. "Well, the good news is that there was a winery, and hopefully there are a few barrels left over. The bad news... the building is obviously cursed. What are the chances that the barrels are cursed, too, I wonder?" He smiles at the group, but then rubs his beard as he thinks about what he has just read. "The end of the letter mentioned dreams. I bet whatever curse is upon this building caused my dream the other night.
"Now, I'm sure I'll regret this, but it seems to me like we should look for that tablet the letter mentions, which I'm sure is also cursed, or the source of the curse, but... assuming we all survive, it'll make a great story! Ho ho, I'l- ahem- we'll be famous!"
He turns to the group. "So, we're doing this, right?"
Oleksandr reads through the letters, his face growing more and more horrified as he reaches the end.
"These people seem to have unwittingly invited an evil presence into their home and have suffered a most terrifying fate. We should proceed very cautiously. Keep an eye on each other in case anyone starts acting...out of the ordinary. It sounds as though we shouldn't be expecting any survivors inside but perhaps if we can somehow find this tablet mentioned in the letters and destroy it perhaps we can end this curse and cleanse the land."
Thravum strokes his beard as he leafs through a couple of pages, eventually finding a louse and squishing it. With his brow thoroughly furrowed, he asks "Anyone know what the date is?"
"You are right, Olias," Florr says after reading the letters. "What a horrid curse this house is under. We need to find that tablet." She thinks for a minute to see if she recognizes the description.
She turns to Thravum. "I keep a detailed calendar and travel journal. I can say with confidence that this letter is 2 months old."
Thravum strokes his beard as he leafs through a couple of pages, eventually finding a louse and squishing it. With his brow thoroughly furrowed, he asks "Anyone know what the date is?"
It's currently the 10th day of the 9th Month commonly known as "The Fading".
These letters look to have been written during 7th month commonly known as "Summertide"
"You are right, Olias," Florr says after reading the letters. "What a horrid curse this house is under. We need to find that tablet." She thinks for a minute to see if she recognizes the description.
[dice=Religion check on tablet description]1d20+2
She turns to Thravum. "I keep a detailed calendar and travel journal. I can say with confidence that this letter is 2 months old."
The Tablet doesn't ring a bell, but the description doesn't give you much to go on..
The Tablet doesn't ring a bell, but the description doesn't give you much to go on..
Florr motions to the letters. "I don't recognize what deity this man is describing. He doesn't give me much to go on, though. If I see it I might be able to share more about it. Who wants to hold onto these to show Captain Samuel and the Guild?"
She checks over Storm Surge to make sure he doesnt' have any injuries, then hitches him to the porch. "Shall we start the search? Carefully?"
"Shall we start the search? Carefully?"
"I'll go first, you all stay behind my shield...."
Glancing around- "Which way should I go?"
Glancing around- "Which way should I go?"
"Let's conduct a thorough search of all the rooms. We may need all the clues we can get. Perhaps start with the first door on the left and work our way around before heading up the stairs."
(Raising one wing)
"Left is that way"
Following Oleksandr's suggestion, Thravum walks carefully up to the first door on the left and, turning his ear to it, listens carefully.
If he doesn't hear anything of note, he opens it.
"Hold on a second, everyone." Olias glances around the room. "Olek, lemme see those letters." He reads to himself, and his eyes widen as he comes to the end. "The author mentioned that the windows were boarded up, but clearly they aren't. The letter also said, 'from the outside.' Someone has been here since the incident to remove them.
"Caution will definitely be the operative word. Best we stick together, I think. I sense a few traps waiting for us. If anyone sees something fishy (besides the ones flopping around outside, of course), let me know before we touch it. This bard's got a few tricks."
Following Oleksandr's suggestion, Thravum walks carefully up to the first door on the left and, turning his ear to it, listens carefully.
If he doesn't hear anything of note, he opens it.
[dice=perception]1d20+2
Thravum hears clicking, in varying patterns and pauses. Almost like finger nails clicking on wood.
"Hold on a second, everyone." Olias glances around the room. "Olek, lemme see those letters." He reads to himself, and his eyes widen as he comes to the end. "The author mentioned that the windows were boarded up, but clearly they aren't. The letter also said, 'from the outside.' Someone has been here since the incident to remove them.
"Caution will definitely be the operative word. Best we stick together, I think. I sense a few traps waiting for us. If anyone sees something fishy (besides the ones flopping around outside, of course), let me know before we touch it. This bard's got a few tricks."
Looking during your description, you don't see any evidence to suggest these windows were boarded up, no nail holes, damaged shutters etc. The windows are very high and boarding up all these windows would have taken someone a very long time, even with quite a few people.
Florr takes out her bow and nocks an arrow, just to be ready. "Thravum, do you hear anything?"
"I hear clicking, like tiny pickaxes on rocks... Might be a pattern to it"
He glances around... Unless anyone objects, he opens the door- axe at the ready.
"Give me one second." Olias readies another bolt in his crossbow. "Okay, go for it."
The floors of the foyer and central hall are covered with debris from around the house that had been dislodged from the flooding. Paintings, books, shelves, chairs and rugs are strewn about and water logged as well as some sea creatures that didn't drain through the front door. Consider the terrain in the house difficult unless you have any special abilities to avoid such.
To the north is a massive staircase that after 10 steps or so opens up onto a landing, from which two staircases branch off (one to the west and one to the east). You can see that water is flowing down the staircase still, but it mostly just creating puddles as most of the accumulated water has been drained.
Thravum opens the door into a grand dining room. A huge mahogany table that seats more than twenty chairs sits in the center of the room. The occupants of the seats look to be in the late stages of decay. The table looked to have been covered in various bowls, platters, plates cups and other dishware that has settled into random locations around the room now that the water it was floating on has drained.
Around the room you see four incredibly large long legged crabs that are walking around the room scavenging what's left of the organic matter from decomposing food and the corpses. Their chitinous legs make quiet tapping noises as they skitter along the dishware, wood and bone.
Go to Crabs
Go to Scale of Crabs.
Olias stares at the gigantic creatures in awe. "Well, that's terrifying." He whispers to the group, "Run or fight? If we go at them, we better have a plan. Maybe we can set up a choke point at the door here?"
"Run or fight? If we go at them, we better have a plan. Maybe we can set up a choke point at the door here?"
"Fight. I'll bet these are delicious. I'll stand in the door way with my shield and you guys can shoot over my shoulder."
"Fight. I'll bet these are delicious. I'll stand in the door way with my shield and you guys can shoot over my shoulder."
"Agreed. It will be easier to conduct a thorough search of this room without these pests."
"Agreed. It will be easier to conduct a thorough search of this room without these pests."
"Let's go!" says Florr, stepping behind the dwarf (H44), aiming above his head and letting her arrow fly towards the large crab on the table.
Thravum is occupying the doorway with his body and shield, and readying an action (assuming that's still a thing) to smash any offending crabs with his axe. AC=17
Florr’s arrow goes wide and sticks into a painting of a man standing on a boat.
The entire house is plunged into a deep and heavy darkness, you hear the sound of the front door being slammed, the windows somehow, suddenly, blocked and no longer providing light. Small circular markings along the crabs legs and bodies begin to glow faintly with an eerie purple light. Two of the crabs skitter off to the east corners of the room to avoid being in line of sight of your arrows, the other two place themselves behind the massive table and chairs. It may be a trick of the shadows, but you swear the crabs are grinning.