Heathy's Saltmarsh Campaign, II

Game Master Heathansson

Hello, Altai; Elgan;...
I'm just joking!

how deep are you guys going?

Coupla hundred feet, maybe? I don't have Stormwrack here in the US (excellent book, though - I loved all three 'environment' books), but I don't want to get into pressure damage and the bends and that sort of thing. And we stay well away from that snaggletooth fish-thing - that one looks kinda mean.

I'm here! I'm here! (Sorta) Making a bid on a house. I'm not usually described as 'sane' during the BEST of times,... ;P

Elgan watches Altai work on scrolls and such. At one point after quietly looking over his shoulder for a couple of hours, he gets up and leaves silently. He returns about half an hour later. Without a word he deposits a few items on the table close to where Altai is working. Among the mystically useless items are a fair amount of bat guano, three large spiderwebs, (almost entirely intact except for the edges), and two small crystal geodes, one grey sphere is intact and the other split in half revealing the interior's purple-hued, prizm-lined interior.

"Ah did'n knowed whut ya needed, but dis sorta stuff usually seems ta com' in handy fer ya studious types." He says by way of explanation. "Thanks fer lettin' me watch. But ah'm gettin' a lil' stir-crazy. When ya gets ready, jes giv' meh a holler an' ah'll meet ya at the sea-cave. Meantim' ah'm gonna go an' stretch muh legs!" He says to Altai as he leaves with a cheerful wave.

I have NO idea what you really need Altai! But if you need anything that can be found in teh wilds or the house, and gathered by an elf or a critter, I'll bet I can get it for you! :)

EDIT-ACK! Just realized that the 'Hello Altai & Elgan' post above was a link! 'Dat is wun sceery-lookin' fish chere!' :)

Beldan shows Pharsia around the manor house. They start coming up with a list of what will be needed to fix the place up, get it looking nice (I’m guessing it will be a looong list).

"Oooh... Thanks, Elgan. I'm sure I can use these things for something. I'll be right down."

After the scroll-scribing, I memorise two Alter self and Darkvision and head off for the depths.

Scrolls scribed: 2x Scorching ray, 2x Touch of idiocy, 4x Expeditious retreat. That's 400 gold and 8 xp.

Beldan shows Pharsia around the manor house. They start coming up with a list of what will be needed to fix the place up, get it looking nice (I’m guessing it will be a looong list).

I don't.....even know where to begin to hazard a guess.

Coupla hundred feet, maybe? I don't have Stormwrack here in the US (excellent book, though - I loved all three 'environment' books), but I don't want to get into pressure damage and the bends and that sort of thing. And we stay well away from that snaggletooth fish-thing - that one looks kinda mean.

I don't think they're that big, but WTF--maybe there's dire ones.

When you guys heading out?

When you guys heading out?

Next morning, probably - we spend the rainy day sleeping off the vampire funk and scribing scrolls and that sort of thing. The next morning's fishytime!

Right on....Altai can traipse out there 250 yards to the dropoff point.
He sees the same usual detritus mentioned before; nothing new of any note. There's a big (not combat-big) lobster; about 1 foot long, scuttling about on the sandy bottom; it starts to backing up and away from him. (I guess Elgan's along too; IDK).
A big school of minnows swims around the two, for as far as they can see the school clouds vision. They are in a world who's atmosphere consists of 2 inch darting fish for a moment; all heading LEFTLEFTLEFTLEFT....then it's clear again. The edge, the sea is dark, 25 more feet down, and seems to stretch on forever and ever.

"Hey Elgan, can you talk to these guys as well as you can with bats and horses? Maybe the local wildlife can tell us if there's anything weird down here."

I've got Darkvision running - it lasts for 4 hours. It only lets me see 60' in total darkness, though.

Elgan looks a little bit like Bugs Bunny trying to talk to the stampede of animals that were running away from the Tasmanian Devil in that cartoon.
"Hey wha..."
"Hey you...."
"what th'..."

Elgan says, "they don' seem as sophisticated as mos' crichers. They all seem be sayin' "flee!flee! flee!flee!" They all sayin zack same ting."

Oh, and anybody else that wants to be topside in a rowboat, or has spells for water breathing and wants to traipse about too, it's all good...

Finally - did we make a decision about the adamantine? We'll need to bring an adamantine weapon to Saltmarsh for enchantment sometime before the pirates show up.

I wouldn't mind an adamantine kukri if there is any left over.

You can prolly get a mwork axe and a mwork kukri; knock off the excess gold/pound we were talking about back there, and call it a done thing.
Kukri-had one IRL-it seemed like a real heavy machete to me...

A kukri weighs 2 pounds, which is the exact amount of leftovers we had. It's like someone wanted us to have a dwarven waraxe and a kukri made of ultrahard metal. Spooky...

(lol) I didn't plan it that way, I swear. I really didn't.

It'll take him about a week to make both of the weapons.

Awesome. We'll throw in a couple of goats when we go and pick up the blades. I'd say he's deserved it.

(lol) I'll trade ya 2 goats, a keg of beer, and a camel for that rug. I know a guy with a sword who wants a nice rug like that...

From the right (or west) i.e. the direction that the minnows were coming from,....
there's a lone
know:nature 5 or local 10

Question: assuming Elgan is along for this little trip,....what form is he taking?

Knowledge (nature) 3+5=8. Good time for such a crappy roll.

"Hey Elgan - the guy over there seems like he has a bit more brainpower than these little fishes. Let's swim over and see if he's a chatty sort."

I love how Elgan's ability to speak with animals has made just about any creature we come across into a potential RP encounter. Also, it's a great plot device - without it, we wouldn't be scoping out the local sealife.

I know, right?

And,... he's back! ;)

Was going to play around with a few forms,... let's see if I can't find one that won't scare our new potential friend,...

Elgan swims out following Altai as an Alligator. When they start to dive he shifts into a sleek form sporting a large fin on the back. He seems a little panicked at first, then smiles as he realizes that he can breath underwater. As he is currently a shark, the smile is truly frightening to behold.

IC is down! As my BONUS to my Knowledge: Nature roll is +10, I peeked at the spoiler! :)

Elgan hesitates, swimming in place.

Actually, I'm tired, could use a thought or three! I'm doing 'Predator' form, so basically something with teeth. I'm trying to find another form I can take to not scare off the critter over there,... maybe the big fish with teeth?

Alright, since I figured it didn’t matter much either way, I peeked at the spoiler too. If you’re asking for ideas on forms, I’d say a shark wouldn’t be a good idea in this case! Aren’t they and dolphins natural enemies? How about a big seal or sea-lion?

While the others are out swimming Stiggy is busy training Tenser to track. If possible he'll recruit Gittik for the job (Aubs is away for a bit right? I'm sure he won't mind), and have Tenser sniff him out in the woods.

"Rirrik! Rafring!"

And,... he's back! ;)

Was going to play around with a few forms,... let's see if I can't find one that won't scare our new potential friend,...

Elgan swims out following Altai as an Alligator. When they start to dive he shifts into a sleek form sporting a large fin on the back. He seems a little panicked at first, then smiles as he realizes that he can breath underwater. As he is currently a shark, the smile is truly frightening to behold.

IC is down! As my BONUS to my Knowledge: Nature roll is +10, I peeked at the spoiler! :)

Elgan hesitates, swimming in place.

Actually, I'm tired, could use a thought or three! I'm doing 'Predator' form, so basically something with teeth. I'm trying to find another form I can take to not scare off the critter over there,... maybe the big fish with teeth?

There's all kinda scrimp...pop corn scrimp, barbacue scrimp, fried scrimp, all sorta scrimp.

Predator--

the porpoise crests the surface; starts halling ass the way the minnows went. "Shark! Shark!" or "predator! predator!" It's jumping along the surface, buzzing a warning in dolphinese.

It returns with 4 other porpoise in tow; (he was herding the minnows toward them) and they're darting around you two, real fast.

"I'm gonna mess you up, predator!"
They're all saying.
"You done messed with the wrong crew, boyeeeeeeeeee!"
It's a pod of young male teenager dolphins.

What's you guys' move?

Heh heh....these are "dolphin ruffians."

While the others are out swimming Stiggy is busy training Tenser to track. If possible he'll recruit Gittik for the job (Aubs is away for a bit right? I'm sure he won't mind), and have Tenser sniff him out in the woods.

"Me show you how this am done. Pay attention!!!"

Tensor sniffs the thing, hacks a little, and the merry chase is on!

"Rirrik! Rirrik!"

I want to get a dog collar that ups his intelligence.

Trackee is small (+1) on soft ground (+10)
track=11.
wanna take 20? (scratch balls, whatnot...)

Trackee is small (+1) on soft ground (+10)

track=11.
wanna take 20? (scratch balls, whatnot...)

Stig encourages Tenser to sniff Gittik's pit wipe.

Handle animal (to teach the animal to track on command): (1d20 3=15)

"Seek, dug, good laddie!"

Tenser's track: (1d20 5=21)

Teaching a dog to track is DC 20:

Handle animal (teach Tenser to track on command): (1d20 3=23)

So that took all morning I think. No... a couple of weeks.

Catch up to Gittik, about 1/2 hour later. He's up a tree.

"Look at me! Me little squirrel! OOO! OOO! No kill me big dog, your master plenty fat! Him no need eat me!"

"Hey, this am fun. We do more Gutboy!"
to himself, Gittik says,
"This way, we work that big gut off dwarf some."
seemingly unaware that he's saying it out loud.

Gittik reminds me of Yoda a little bit.

That will have to represent what Stig is teaching him between now and the full moon.

"This way, we work that big gut off dwarf some."

"Huff, huff."

"Haven't roon lahk that since Ah saved the beer."

"Ha! We go find creek! Try track me this side, that side, down middle of creek. You dog learn big big tracking for sure! Gittik teach well. You dog track iceweasal in blizzard when me done."

Stiggy sheds a few pounds that day.

Hittin' the sack, have fun guys!

Right on.

"I'm gonna mess you up, predator!"

They're all saying.
"You done messed with the wrong crew, boyeeeeeeeeee!"
It's a pod of young male teenager dolphins.

LOL! It's the 'Dolphin without a clue'! :D

Elgan laughs, realizes that smiling with a mouth full of teeth probably isn't helping, and as the leader circles around again, Takes a deep breath and Shifts back into an elf. He gives them a moment to take in the change, then shifts back into a shark.

"Please, calm yourselves my young friends." He says after taking a breath again.

"Let's not do anything I might regret!"

hit me with a diplomacy check, homey G!

"Tell me to calm down, punk! You wanna nose in your gill? SQeeeeeeeeeeeeeee? Ree Ree Reee!?!" Says the biggest porpoise.

Awesome... We go for a little dip, and run into a bunch of juvenile delinquent whales. Who woulda thunk? So, are these guys the Sharks or the Jets?

dude, I've been doing my research; porpoises (much like humans) are capable of a wide range of behavior, from philanthropic to downright psychotic.

That is the danger of dealing with relatively intelligent creatures. As useful as these guys can become, they also make me appreciate the placid predictability of Snuffles the hedgehog or the bug-obsessed little bat Jerry ("Sometimes I just eat bugs whole, but at other times, I eat their heads first! And sometimes...blah blah").

"Hey, Elf! Why do you have hair where your blowhole should be, two blowholes on your nose where your mouth should be, and fins on your f&$&ing ears?"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! REEEEE! REEEREEE!"
dolphins got a messed up sense of humor...

(gotta give Aubrey something to read when he gets back, gyatdaggit!)

Elgan's diplomacy check vs the 'Jets' : (1d20+6=18)

"Aw, C'mon now, Why can't we all just,... get along?" Elgan barks thru his gills, careful to NOT smile with his mouthful of teeth this time.

I'll save THAT for the 'Intimidate' check! ;)

EDIT- (Cross-post)
"Hah. Hah. Very funny guys. We can't ALL be as lucky as you. Mother Nature gave some of us the best looks, the rest of us gotta make do as best we can!"

They're still hostile...

"WHY you wanna turn into a shark?"

"You see how ugly he is? I'd turn into a shark over that any day."

"You guys wanna mess this kid up?"

"YEAH!"