Entering the tent, Orslaw glances around for any sign of their missing crew members... or any sign that things may have been disturbed within the last few days.
Nasifi is getting nervous, she can't see anything about the place being good for them.
"Aside from the older bodies this could be a plague tent or something. We should keep moving."
As Orslaw steps into the tent he sees yet another woman on the other side of the bed. He sees none of their crew mates as he scans the tent. His skin begins to crawl and a feeling of being trapped comes over him. Then the woman on the bed sits up into a crouch and says , ”Hello dearie. We were hoping to have you for lunch, if you’re available. Hee hee hee hee hee.” she cackles as she finishes.
Nasifi notices movement on the bed but cannot tell what it is. Everyone outside sees the woman on the ground rise into a crouch behind Orslaw.
Bessie recognizes the creatures instantly and calls out a warning, including anything useful she knows - weaknesses, special qualities...
If they are undead she will move forward and prepare to channel.
For good or ill this was one of the subjects that totally fascinated her. Ghouls, she found so disgusting and terrifying she had never forgotten her lessons on them. Members of the undead, they spread their affliction through a horrible disease called Ghoul fever transmitted through their saliva. Furthermore, the creatures secreted a substance that could paralyze most living things if it got into the blood stream. Therefore, any scratch or bite had the chance of paralyzing the victim. Interestingly, elves were unaffected by ghoul paralysis. Having transitioned from life into undeath through the ghoul fever and never having felt the embrace of the grave, ghouls were said to be harder to turn (some level of turn resistance).
Nasifi shouts a warning to Orslaw and shoots her crossbow at the ghoul behind him.
"Orslaw! Behind you!"
Orslaw whirls around, falchion at the ready, trying to keep an eye all around himself at these abominations.
Ghouls!! 'eir wounds cause paralysis.
Bessie fires her crossbow as she moves forward, send a crossbow bolt off into the swamp, nowhere close to anything.
Guillaume unleashes a stream of high-pressure water at the creature rising from the ground.
Guillaume and Vlad are dumb struck that the woman stands and stare in shock for a moment (no surprise round, effect of the 1 on Initiative and/or I already started typing this up when Guillaume posted, you can keep the hit roll and damage). The creature shot by Nasifi rushes across the ground and leaps, sharp, flesh tearing teeth bared. It bites, a nasty scratch at best but it burns (DC 13 FOR save or be paralyzed). Guillaume finally reacts and blasts the creature assaulting Nasifi sending it to the ground. Then Vlad fires into the melee and hits one of the ghouls threatening Orslaw.
Underneath the tent, Orslaw reacts too slowly and the creature on the bed lunges for him (difficult terrain move coming off bed so only one attack). She gets a mouthful of armor and sleeve. The woman on the far side had risen to a crouch and now rushed around the bed to bite at him as well (crouch in surprise round, move and attack round 1) but she bites down on nothing as Orslaw's slowed reactions begin to kick in.
(When his turn comes around) Vlad drops his bow and bolts toward Orslaw, drawing his sword as he runs. Brandishing his blade, he begins shouting out the tale of Old Vic, a hard scrabble fisherman who left the sea to pursue the undead who had killed his family while he was away.
Orslaw lets out of a scream of rage at these two abominations trying to tear into his flesh. He slides his blade between himself and the ghouls to force them back for just a moment. Before they can dive back at him, he sends his blade in an arc, aiming to take both of their heads with a single blow.
Nice shot Guillaume!
Bessie moves straight towards the pair of ghouls, she raises her forearm, showing the tattoo holy symbol and calls upon the power of Besmara to damage the undead creatures.
Amandla wesiteshi! and the golden glow envelops the tattoo.
There is a mad swirl of a melee as Vlad closes the distance and begins a tale in high chant, Orslaw cleaves about him as if his life depended on it (it did), and Bessie closes the distance to the tent. After Orslaw severely gashes each of the ghouls, Bessie's calling down the divine power of Besmara causes the most injured to shriek and shrivel, falling over. The remaining ghoul seems to shake off the worst of the divine power and attempts Orslaw with her into death's dark embrace. Orslaw's defenses do him well but the beast still manages to get in a claw. Like Nasifi's, the wound burns.
Orslaw winces in pain as he freezes up.
Bessie fears what is coming and keeping her arm aloft calls out again for the power of her goddess to damage the undead creature remaining.
Amandla wesiteshi! and the golden glow envelops the tattoo.
Orslaw lies motionless on the ground where he collapsed. Luckily, this time the hag shrieks and shrivels like her sister and falls to the ground motionless. For a moment it is quiet except for the heavy breathing of the Peril Crew and the buzzing of hundreds of flies.
Vlad quickly moves to behead the ghouls, just to be on the safe side. Then he heads back to check on Orslaw.
With a crew member down the next few moments are tense. After what seems like a lifetime, more likely a minute at most, Orslaw begins to move. A quick scan of the area shows these women had collected quite a few valuables. You could probably spend a good hour collecting things up and searching the surrounding grass and weeds. Otherwise you could just grab the most obvious items and depart. (Obvious: one well kept wedding dress inlaid with pearls and set with three tiny rubies (worth 400 gp), a whalebone corset set with mother-of-pearl inlays worth 20 gp, three very sharp, oft-used daggers (one of which is masterwork), a chest containing six flasks of alchemist’s fire, two barrels of very cheap perfume worth 25 gp each, and a potion of cure moderate wounds in a leather hip flask depicting a crocodile worth 25 gp)
"We probably shouldn't tarry too long here. Much as I'd love to look around, we are on a bit of a schedule."
Nasifi helps Orslow while he recovers and the others begin to search about. Partially it's her fascination with the condition he was stricken with that keeps her so attentive to him. It's unlike anything she's seen before, and she wants to understand its mechanics better.
[b]"Yeah, any searching should be very quick. If we get left behind there'll be nowhere to spend the extra you might find.
Orslaw gratefully accepts the help after the attack as he recovers. "Yeah, I'm not in favor of spending any more time here than necessary. Those... things... still smell horrible. I'm not sticking around in case there are any more lurking nearby."
Bessie breathes a sigh of relief and helps collect the items the party wants to carry. She will also look about for any sign of their shipmates.
Considering Orslaw's reaction to the attack seems very similar to that of a fish struck by a box jellyfish, Nasifi suspects it is some sort of neurotoxin they secrete. Bessie looks around the area but finds nothing to suggest the other members of their crew had ever been there. With speed being of the essence I assume the wedding dress, corset and barrels of perfume are to be left behind.
The crew could cross over the slow moving river and head south to find the other side of the island, follow the trail and head west, or follow the trail back to the fishing village.
Given the stench (and scattered body parts) in the area, Orslaw offers that they should take the wedding dress and corset in a bag, but dump the cheap perfume inside the horrid tent and set it on fire.
If others agree, he'll try to find a small clean-ish sack to stuff the dress and corset in and he'll carry it. Then light the rest of that place up and keep heading south to the other side of the island.
Nasifi doesn't know how her guess about the toxin might be useful, but she files it away in her memory because one never knows.
She's a little hesitant to agree the clothing should be kept, disease is a worry she thinks. On the other hand, the corset holds some appeal for her, and she's willing to see what she can come up with to clean it before writing it off.
"Those women, when they were women, certainly weren't sailors, and don't seem to be the type to be living their lives in that shabby little village we saw either. There's something else going on here besides what we've found and grindylows. Maybe another, larger village? In this kind of climate bodies don't last long, whoever they were they were alive no more than a month past."
"I'd say yes to burning the tent if it weren't for that. But what if the smoke is seen, and it turns out we don't want it to be?"
She does spend some time checking to see if she can find signs of recent moment around the area, fresh tracks, broken plants, or whatever.
With dresses stuffed, they turned south and crossed the river. The brackish water was very slow moving and easy to cross. They saw a small crocodilian slip into the water when they neared the shore but nothing more. On the far side, they begin trudging through some serious jungle combined with brackish bog. Along the way, Orslaw manages to spot a patch of quicksand and lead everyone around it. Twenty minutes later they are wishing they had stayed on the path. The bugs are horrible, they are all covered in sweat, and it is a slow slog through thick underbrush. Then the air begins to get a little cooler and they feel a bit of breeze. Another ten minutes has them breaking through the edge of the canopy out to a 20' cliff above the sea on the south side of the island.
Upon the cliffs to the east they can see a structure (C8), a building or a palisade perhaps. To the southwest is a large open beach (C6) with an overgrown, yet obviously cultivated field (C7) behind it.
"Well, apparently this island isn't so deserted," Vlad observes. "Perhaps we should approach this structure cautiously."
"Agreed," says Orslaw more than a bit of tripidation. What type of people would live here with those... things so close? he wonders to himself. Asmodeus help us. Then out loud, "We should definitely be ready for anything."
Would ya like me to call the blessings of Besmara to heal your injuries Orslaw or do you feel ok? Yes, lets be a mite more careful movin on.
Orslaw takes a quick look at the gashes across his chest to make sure things don't look too bad.
"Much appreciated, but I think I'm solid for now." He points up the the house, "I truly doubt our goblin-squids live up there. But maybe we can find some information about where they may be located up there. In any case, it'll be like viewing the surroundings from the crow's nest instead of the deck. It sure won't hurt."
"If we want to avoid being noticed, it'll help to know if people are around often. If we can, we should stay off the beach, too exposed. Better to hug the bottom of the ridge. We should take a look at the garden to see if it's still getting any attention. Then on to the building."
Nasifi moves to the front along with Orslaw to keep an eye out for fresh tracks or other signs of recent activity.
The crew stays in the edge of the jungle and then skirts the ridge to avoid the open flat land and the beach. This makes traveling slow going. Even though it is only two miles it takes an hour to traverse the distance with effort.
Once at the trail leading up the ridge the crew gets a good look at the crops. It is a corn field that has not been kept for some time. Weeds abound but the cornstalks still rise high in the noontime sun and swish with the breeze that blows by.
Nasifi, lets grab some corn on our way back if we can. It goes great with fresh crab. Bessie is looking toward the clifftop vantage point. Orslaw is right, lets scan from the crow's nest. Crow, you should feel right at home!Bessie adds with a wink at Vlad.
”We should be careful as we approach the structure, in case whoever’s living there doesn’t want visitors.”
[ooc]Making a living is nothing to apologize for, congrats on your overtime.[/b]
The crew turns from the corn below and continues up the path toward the top of the cliff. It is a little over a half mile to the wooden palisade. They near the structure cautiously but nothing moves inside or out of the structure. The lack of movement is accentuated by numerous sea gulls reeling and flapping about the beach down below.
The palisade has been built about a tree. A freshwater stream that flows next to the path flows out of the open gate. A strong smell from inside the palisade can be detected even here.
(Left side of the map board, scroll down to the Castaway's Stockade. The crew is in the bottom right of the map.)
Nasifi nods at Bessie's corn suggestion. "Maybe, but time's not on our side. Going along the ridge was slower than I thought it would be."
As they close in on the palisade, Nasifi readies her crossbow. "I'll go take a quiet peek inside."
She sneaks up to the entrance and flattens herself against the wall opposite the hinged gate, then takes a look around into the compound.
Vlad follows a few meters behind Nasifi, to be close enough to help if needed, but not so close that he'd ruin her efforts at stealth.
Whew, smells like we might have missed whatever happened here.
Nasifi makes it up to the wall which stands about 7 feet high. The construction is rather shoddy but it would be sufficient to provide basic protection. A look inside shows a relatively serene setting. The large tree keeps most of the compound in shade. The spring feeding the stream is clear and can be heard gurgling from the gate. Grass covers most of the ground up to a small shack. There is a set of steps on the far side that would allow a person to reach a spyglass set to look down on the cove below. The smell is stronger at the gate. Something obviously died inside the palisade but it is not visible from where Nasifi stands.
Orslaw moves up behind Nasifi as quietly as he can. With the smell of death surrounding this place, he knows how quickly the ghouls can surprise them. He quietly sets the bag he is carrying down outside and grasps his falchion in both hands.
Bessie will hang back, keeping whoever moves farthest, no more than thirty feet in front, just close enough to enable her to channel again if needed. She really hoped it would not be needed.