"Whatever you do," Tasha shouts to the others, "don't use fire! Dragon turtles are immune to the powers of flame!"
"No!" Tasha shouts. "It'll capsize the ship! Man the guns, if we have any, or break out bows!"
Spurred by the paladin’s warning, Skaar jumps to his feet only to be caught by the beast’s scalding blast of steam.
Managing to barely avoid the bulk of the blast, the big orc is still badly scalded. Despite the pain, he chime in on the plan of attack. ”We gotta close. We’re never gunna bring that thing down with bows and the crew’s not gunna survive another breath.”
Davro draw takes cover and shouts to his allies,"I can't take much more of this! Get closer!" He roars. Then, Rageborn begins glowing a faint green color and Davro's burns wipe away.
Ideyoshi: 29
Skaar: 24
Tasha: 24
Drogusk: 22
Davro: 7
Antagonist: 7
Ideyoshi's logic seems to resonate with the terrified sailors, and the ships slowly starts to turn toward the beast as Skar and Davro wait for a change to strike.
Not limited by their lack of magic, Tasha casts quickly, and breathes out lightning back at the beast, hitting it full on as it roars in pain.
It breathes again, another cloud of scalding steam enveloping you, and sending more sailors crying out in pain before collapsing on the deck.
DT: 24
Skaar groans in pain as he's badly burned again. Despite the severity of his wounds, the big orc begins to take on a heroic presence and his wounds slowly knit shut.
Tasha grunts with pain as the beast's breath scalds her -- 'Bloody again!' -- but manages to dodge the worst of it. 'This requires more decisive action.' Drawing on the power the foxhead awakened in her, Tasha hurls one of the spells she prepared the normal way at the dragon turtle: "Nivis casus!"
A bead of cold, blue light flies forth from Tasha's hand and expands into a zone of deadly cold and howling wind around the dragon turtle's head.
After casting, Tasha seeks cover somewhere. It's healing potion time...
The dragon snaps at Ideyoshi as he draws close, but his jaws don't penetrate the Tien man's armor before his sword penetrates the creature's brain, driven to the hilt through the sea monster's eyes. It falls back into the choppy surf, its blood staining the water red.
"Well, that was abrupt," Tasha says, wincing as she gently pokes one of her burns. "I despise unannounced visitors."
The rest of the voyage goes without incident. As the ship nears the island, Captain Valgarave scouts out a safe approach.
In his opinion, the western beach in the island’s harbor looks like the safest mooring. After the ship anchors safely in the cove, the captain agrees to put you ashore using a small dinghy.
"Give a signal when you're ready to get back. I'll wait up to six days, but after that, I gotta get back t'Blackcrag Cove to try and save my family. Remember t'make sure you eat only from the ship's stores -- those who partake of the bounty of Kraken’s Maw belong to the island forever."
As you prepare to depart, Drogusk hesitates.
"The island could be bad, but it could be worse if something happens to the ship. That dragon turtle may have been no coincidence. Me and BrainPal are gonna stay here and keep an eye on it, make sure we got a way to get back to the town."
On your first approach to the beach, a flight of brightly plumed parrots breaks from the forest, flying north. A pair of pteranodons swoops after them, snatching several parrots from the sky before wheeling clumsily west and vanishing back into the jungle.
The dense jungles of the island have a primordial air about them. Massive conifers, ginkgoes, and palms abound, with dense bromeliads, ferns, and vines as ground cover. Gigantic fruit hangs from trees, and sparkling rivers wind down from the volcano’s summit.
A series of giant stone heads can be seen about two and a half miles to the south, while the volcano looms at the center of the island, about four miles northwest.
The heat is stifling but, accustomed to fairly hostile conditions, the big orc is at home in the jungle terrain. He studies the surroundings, looking for anything out of place.
"Going towards the volcano seems counter-intuitive, given that we are seeking something to restrain the queen of the inferno," Tasha says, as she looks around. "Since these stone heads are the only other immediately evident landmark ... Shall we go see? Or shall I perform a divination?"
”Let’s check out the landmarks”, the hulking greenskin grunts. ”Someone put ‘em here for a reason.”
As you travel, you notice the flora and fauna of Kraken’s Maw seems similar to what you've seen elsewhere, but also strangely upsetting -- the colors don't quite seem to match, mint green leaves where it should be jungle green, bark with a strange purplish hue and moss that looks almost gray. The sounds of birds in the canopy and little lizards darting around the undergrowth seem off as well.
Making your way through the thick growth takes time, making you wish for a nice path. After an hour, though, as the sun begins to set, you realize the heads have some sort of nests situated on them.
"Hold," Tasha calls. squinting at the nests. "I like his not. This island is full of unsightly mutations. Let's not approach those nests in the dark."
Davro and doraga shiver at the sight of the odd colorations, "This land is unnatural, it almost seems tainted.
Skaar peers out into the darkness. ”What kinda nests?”
”We don’t have a ton of time. We should check it out now”, the hulking greenskin grunts.
Ever an orc of action, Skaar leads the way forward.
"If we must, then," Tasha says. "I have grim forebodings about this, though."
You continue on, the sun continuing in its inexorable path toward night.
As you get closer to the nests, you see two humanoids with large, black-feathered wings and dark gray skin flying toward you. In place of hair, they have plumage. They call out in a strange, airy, musical tongue, swirling in broad loops.
"Hello," Tasha mutters, eyeing the - to her - strange creatures warily, but without immediate hostility. "What have we here?"
Tasha, you believe the creatures are members of an avian race known far to the northwest as the strix. At the moment, they seem more wary than aggressive.
While on the road, Tasha thanks Ideyoshi for his healing efforts on her behalf.
When her memory throws up its essential que card when puzzling over what the winged humanoids might be, her expression becomes a mixture of wonder and sorrow.
"Strix," Tasha says, breathing the word more than speaking it. "Weapons down, gentlemen. Please."
Drawing on the power, Tasha draws a magic of communication out of the aether and whispers it to the wind. With the magic enveloping her, she raises her hands in a peaceful gesture and calls out to the Strix in their own language: "Greetings! We come in peace! Please pardon our intrusion onto your lands, but we have come in dire need, seeking the Tears of Last Remorse. May we ask for the help of the noble strix?"
Davro lowers his weapon as Tasha speaks, Doraga however, continues to growl.
One of the bird men calls out in response to Tasha's plea: "Come, strangers, follow us to the home of the People."
They begin slowly flying back the way they came, toward the giant stone heads.
"We have been invited to their homes," Tasha translates. "Be polite and be non-aggressive, please. The Strix are a people who have suffered much -- at the hands of humans. Their vengeance is terrible once roused."