Nix's Serpent's Skull

Game Master Nix Tharel

Prologue

As the trip winds on, you have spent many hours with your fellow shipmates. Even with private cabins, everyone has been in very close quarters. You’ve come to become acquainted with your fellow passengers along the journey. You and the other passengers have the option to join the other passengers to dine with Captain Kovack and First Mate Devers every night for dinner. The conversation has been enjoyable, but the food is more or less the same: Stale bread and watery soup. As there isn’t much else to do, most of the passengers have elected to join, with the notable exception being a Half-Elf, Aerys Mavato, who you haven't seen out of her room since an incident with the one of crew.

As the Jenivere has been crossing the final stretch of its journey across Desperation Bay, the tension on board has been mounting. The crew hasn’t said much about it directly, but they’ve been increasingly unhappy with Captain Kovack. It is a strong contrast to the early parts of the journey, where the crew ran the ship efficiently, with good humor. However, the crew refuses to talk about it directly, claiming that would be to close to insubordination. The Captain simply says he's made this trip many times, he has long proved his skill. He is the captain, and the crew needs to respect his authority.

At this point, a short introduction is in order. How do you present yourself to the other passengers, are you getting to know them or ignoring them, and how are you passing the many hours of shipboard travel.

Having boarded at Port Peril in the infamous Shackles, Nngara has generally kept to herself. Despite the heat, the tall and dark skinned elf generally spends majority of the day sitting cross legged on the front of the ship and watching the sea and the horizon, as though waiting for something. When others sit with her and ask questions, she happily responds, but her language is broken as though she simply did not care to master the tongue. From her responses though, it is clear that she understands almost everything said by others.

Nngara is garbed in a light shirt and pants, clearly she knows how to dress for the warm climate while simultaneously keeping her body covered to avoid tropical insects and the burning noontime sun.

For those who spent the time to speak with her, you learned that she is seeking to return and find other Mwangi elves as she believes that her village was destroyed many years earlier. She does not speak of it much, but you believe that she has spent many years in Cheliax as a slave. She has not spoken of how she escaped or came to be in Port Peril, but it is clear from the way she refers to slavers and slavery that their is nothing she despises more than this barbaric practice.

Harper spends most of the day reading books and studying maps. He spends the evenings drinking and making merry with the passengers and crew. He is a tall, scruffy man with feathered brown hair. He wears silk shirts with butterfly collars, a leather vest, a full length brown leather trenchcoat, and a fedora. His smile is infectious and he can charm just about anyone he meets. He obviously enjoys a stiff drink and fine pipe weed. A whip is rolled up on his side with a sharp metal spike on the end. He entertains some of the children on board the vessel with whip tricks and stories of adventures in foreign lands during their periods of boredom.

When asked about his travels, he speaks of history, archaeology, and artifacts. He admits he is traveling to the Mwangi Expanse to further his knowledge and seek out historical treasures. When he has a little too much wine or ale, he often flirts with the women on board. One such woman has really caught his eye, a red haired beauty named Sasha Nevah.

She boarded as a stowaway in Magnimar.
When the ship docked in Corentyn she sneaked off and boarded as a regular passenger.
Though with some coin, a slight disguise, and a good bluff against a drunken sailor who was checking those boarding to cover her tracks.

She keeps to herself and her cabin for the most part,
but when the food is served she comes out and joins the others.

she has introduced herself as Valeria Bridgette,
just to through off anyone looking for her from the underground fighting arena in Magnimar

she thinks
It looks like I may have escaped that bast***.
And thankfully a number of the sailors are intimidated by me.
Though I was surprised at the balls of that Harper fellow,
in dealing with that sailor who had too much grog.

She likes a Human(Ulfen) woman of about 6 foot 3. She has a muscular yet curvy human build with comely features and pale skin.
Her face looks attractive for a human. She has Emerald Green and Sapphire blue eyes and lose Golden Blonde Hair that ends at her mid back.

She is wearing a Green mid Calf length skirt, a white short sleeved shirt and a Green bodice that assists with her figure.

Could gods live under the water? A new thought after days spent squatted at the bow of the heaving vessel, hugging to his chest a long curved blade kept in a crude scabbard. It amazed Kalis that any person would choose to cross this vast expanse of emptiness called a sea. The problem was that there was no place for the gods to live here. No trees, no rivers, no hills. It is known that the gods live in such things.

Maybe there is only one god and he lives in the sea? Kalis pictures a huge, bloated river god, trying to eat up the rest of the world, the rest of the gods. Maybe that will be how the world ends? Such questions only increased his discomfort. Thinking of them could only draw trouble to himself. He makes a hurried gesture to ward evil, his fingers crossed and passed before his eyes.

His eyes wander to the sailors working about the deck. Do they not see it? Can they not understand that there are no gods here? He shakes his head in amazement. There is no doubt that these men are either crazy or stupid. Everyone he has met since he left the jungle have been crazy or stupid in one way or another. Not one of them made any sense. It has been worth it though. When he returned home he would be a hero, his people would sing songs of his deeds, and his spirit would be fed by their memories for many lifetimes. What more could a warrior want? He nods his head and finally smiles, hugging the sword closer to his chest.

Kalis is a tall, rangy elf with greenish tinted brown hair. He is dressed in a hide shirt that seems to be made of alligator skin, and his tanned skin is covered in tattoos in swirls and spirals. Kalis has spent the voyage silent on deck, alternately staring at the deck or curiously watching others. Late at night he walks below decks and sleeps in a hammock with the sailors, per his agreement with the captain. In the mornings he walks back up to the bow and settles back onto his haunches.

Seen from a distance, Jayem can be mistaken for a walking corpse. He shambles along, hunched over his walking stick. His skin is alabaster white, with tattoos of dark, thorny vines growing on his arms and chest. Numerous dead frogs adorn his stick, and several shrunken heads are tied by the hair on his belt, drawing attention to the serrated axe hanging there. His hair is dirty brown and contains many sticks, leaves, and beetles. He has a wicker basket with colored glass bottles that clink around and throw kaliedescope colors out in the sunlight tied to the tattered bedroll on his back. His teeth are filed into points, giving him a shark's grin. Several wooden spears jut from behind his shoulders like spikes on a cactus.

Jayem looks like a corpse fished out of the briny deeps. Having had a rough week aboard, he looks even paler than usual. A week of nausea and failed remedies eventually hardens his stomach to the motion of the sea and he joins the others aboveboard.

He is happy to converse with Nngara and Kalis in Mwangi tongue, and shares with them stories of his home in exchange for theirs. He will talk to Harper of the geography of the jungle. He doesn't have much to say to the giantess, but he is friendly enough.

He makes somewhat of a spectacle at the captain's table when he declines the cooked food, preferring his own raw fish.

Linard kept cheerful mood throughout the trip, seemingly immune to sea sickness even through the most severe storms.

He kept polite but distanced relatioship with other passengers, often reluctantly finding himself in the role of mediator between the sarcastic gnome Gelik and the more easily offended passengers. The relief came in form of an archaeologist named Harper, with whom Linard occasionally spent free time talking about the history of religion during the times of Aroden.

Linard was dressed simply but smartly, with dark grey pants, black woolen jacket and a white cotton shirt. He drinks diluted wine in moderation and does not smoke.

I need the following:
* Fortitude save
* Perception check
* An accounting of what you take with you to dinner.
@Jayem: Also add a Will save

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Will (+2 vs. spells): 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (14) + 0 = 14
Fortitude (+2 vs. poison): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Leaving most of my posessions in my berth. Will take my frog-strewn walking stick (extract components) and my axe on my hip.

Fort save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Linard is going to the dinner unarmed, having left his weapons and armor in the cabin. He takes his holy symbol with him everywhere, and curiously enough he has his own set of silver cutlery, and a sturdy portable salt shaker, which he uses to spice up the bland ship food.

Fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

The ever quiet Nngara has her spell pouch and a dagger at her side. Her spellbook is in a locked coffer in her cabin carefully sealed to protect it from the salt and moisture. As usual, on her shoulder is a small Compsognathus. This is a tiny dinosaur which looks more like a lizard. It is about a foot long, perhaps 18 inches with its tail. Nngara takes small pieces of meat and vegetables which she feeds to her familiar.

Fort Save 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (4) + 0 = 4
Perception 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Harper would be wearing his explorers outfit with his whip rolled up on his side. He would not have his armor or his trusty bow.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Fort: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

as she eats her meal she fails to notice the taste of bitter almond of the brewster nut in her food as she goes for seconds.

She only is currently wearing her green Peasant outfit and her two Cestus.
Her armour, Travelers outfit, and other possessions are in her room.

Kalis would have his sword on his back because it is a prized possession, but would probably leave his armor and pack on a hook near his hammock below decks. His belt pouch is probably on him, just because he would not leave the coins unattended.
PERCEPTION:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20 (1 rank, +3 class skill, +1 Wis, +2 racial)
FORT SAVE:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13 (2 Base , +3 Con)

Act I: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv

Everything is dark and silent.

Slowly, worldly sensation begins to creep back to your mind.

You feel sand below you, water lapping at your feet as you hear ocean waves washing against a beach, and hot moist air breezes gently over you.

In your mind, you know there is sensation in your body, but to accept its existence would be to trade a dreamless reverie for the nightmare. This isn't true peace, but it's not the nightmare, so it's peace enough.

@Others: You are still unconscious.

Hopefully you wake us up, Jayem

@Harper: You find Sasha Nevah flirts easily and seems humorous, but you feel she shies away from any personal connection.

Round 1
HP: 10/11
AC: 12
Hands: Battleaxe
Conditions: Sickened

Jayem staggers to his feet (move action, provokes AoO), head pounding in rhythm with the surf. Rubbing his eyes against the stinging water, he squints and looks around. At first, his mind rejects the reality of what he is seeing, until he takes a step and the fresh pain of his cut foot intrudes. Finding himself alone on a beach with a small pack of sea scorpions and a litter of corpses, he cries out in alarm. His first attempt results in a spasm of coughing as he expels seawater from his lungs, but his second breath swells his chest and he bellows:

'A-LLOOOO! Anyone alive? Be yon all gon' down to Ugubu to feast on grubs?

As the vicious crustacean snaps at him again, he takes a wary step backward (5 ft. step) and draws out his trusty bladed axe (move action).

Doncha be thinkin' to make meat of we, you tide-walker. We carve you!

Round 2
HP: 10/11
AC: 10 (+2 dex, -2 charge)
Hands: Battleaxe(2H)
Conditions: Sickened, Charging

Jayem is mighty grateful when he sees another of the castaways moving. He calls out to him, motioning up the beach

Stand up 'ooman, and watch you feet! There be t'eese tide-walkers come for eat you!

Jumping over the snapping claw, he sprints (charge, provokes) towards the the creature going after the nearest person.

Hey, now! Get away, back to da sea! Leave 'em what be!

Battleaxe, charge, sickened: 1d20 + 3 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 3 + 2 - 2 = 19
Damage, sickened: 1d8 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 4 - 2 = 5

Edit: added sickened to damage roll

Who wakes up next?

Who wakes up next?

Valeria will wake up next round.

For combat order, we will just go in order of whoever posts first, to keep things streamlined for PbP. So all of one team takes their turns together, with a collective initiative.

EDIT: just realized there is no creature attacking Linard
The splitting headache makes Linard's vision hazy as he groggily gets up. Luckily, his holy symbol is still with him, and as he touches it, he feels the divine energy cleansing his body and mind. Remove sickness on myself.
He surveys the scene with the fresh mind, trying to understand what happened. Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

The creature that tried to eat Jayem moves to Kalis, and starts to slowly claw her to see if she would make a good meal.
Nngara and Sasha are likewise woken by the creatures previously interested in them.

The creature that
Player status:
Linard - Looking around
Jayem - Axe buried in dead vermin.
Valeria - Waking up
Nngara, Kalis - Woken by being "sampled" by local wildlife.
Harper - Still knocked out.

He surveys the scene with the fresh mind, trying to understand what happened.

Feeling rather unwell to say the least, the last thing that Nngara expected to awake to was sand beneath her and a crustacean sampling her toe. Hoping to avoid becoming any more of a meal, she defends herself as best she can while rising and moving away from the creature.

Standard Action: Double move
Move action: Stand up, Move away from the creature farther up the beach

Help!!! I no food!

Knowledge(nature): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Round 3
HP: 10/11
AC: 10 (+2 dex, -2 charge)
Hands: Battleaxe(2H)
Conditions: Sickened, Charging

Ay-yu-ba! We see who be dead now.

Jayem gives a shout as he yanks his axe overhead and goes rushing after the next one.

We be comin' for you, tide-walker

Battle axe, charge, sickened: 1d20 + 3 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 2 - 2 = 11
Damage, sickened: 1d8 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 4 - 2 = 3

"cough, cough .... ah my head .... I knew I should not have drank more than two dragon ales in an hour .... this hangover is a b****."

see the creatures and the shipwrecked problem

"looks like fate, .... is not letting me off the hook."

she gets up and charges to help Nngara

"I feel like crap, but I will not go down without a fight,
I also feel like having sea food tonight."

Attack: 1d20 + 3 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 3 + 2 - 2 = 19
Damage: 1d4 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 - 2 = 3

--------------------------------------------

Should we get a map up?

HP: 16 of 17
AC 10, Touch 10, Flatfooted 10
Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +3 (+2 to Will saves against enchantment spells and effects)
Rage 6 of 7 rounds

The pain in his foot causes Kalis to sit straight up and he immediately regrets it. A hand raises involuntarily to his aching head before he notices the creature nibbling on his toes. His expression changes to something between surprise and disgust for a moment before reality finally slams into his addled mind. Growling loudly he jumps to a crouch and brings both of his hands down in an axehandle blow, attempting to crush the creature before him.

AOO by the creature as he stands up from prone.
Rage as a free action.
1d1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 5 - 2 = 11
1d3 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 5 - 2 = 4

Nngara calls out: All. Watch stingers. They be poison.

I should have drawn an AoO as I stood up earlier, but not as I backed away at my full speed unless it has the combat reflexes feat.

@Valeria: I need to get some generic terrain maps together still. This encounter is more about establishing feel. If you are looking to for a very rough idea, you are currently at location A on the overland map in Google Drive. There is beach, water, and a wall of jungle.

Full area description to come after you aren't under attack.

Pretty much this battle consist of:
#1 - puking up the leftover poison
#2 - keeping Nngara alive
#3 - keeping yourself alive
#4 - keeping the other survivors alive
#5 - keeping the sea from hauling our gear out to sea before we have succeeded in numbers 1-4

Standard Action: Double move
Move action: Stand up, Move away from the creature farther up the beach

As you stand up, the vermin snips at you with a claw, but doesn't make contact.

As I understand it, double move means to take 2 movement actions (normal movement + standard converted to movement) in a round. As a standard action, you could only move your base speed.

Jayem gives a shout as he yanks his axe overhead and goes rushing after the next one.

We be comin' for you, tide-walker

Edit: As you run in, it flicks its tail in an attempt to sting you, but misses. Yes, sting has a range greater than 5 feet.

You run up to the vermin attacking Sasha, (who is attempting to kick her way away from it). You axe blow deflects off the side of the vermin harmlessly into the sand.

she gets up and charges to help Nngara

"I feel like crap, but I will not go down without a fight, I also feel like having sea food tonight."

Your blow savages the creature, leaving it bloody but still alive, and what might be best described as hissing angrily.

AOO by the creature as he stands up from prone.
Rage as a free action.
Unarmed Attack: 1d20+5-2
Damage: 1d3+5-2

As you stand up, its claw pinches you. Take 1 HP damage.

Your blow cracks through the exoskeleton into the gooey inside, squirting fluids on you in the process.

Waiting on Linard to act. One by Sasha/Jayem is uninjured. One by Valeria is in poor condition.

I use Google Spreadsheets for my maps, it's ugly but easy to create/update.
Linard runs up to the arthropod flanked by Valeria and attempts to kick it back into the sea with his bare feet.
Atk: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17 Possibly provoking an AOO, and with possible +2 if charge is permitted
Dmg: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Maptools all the way here. Mind you I only have one campaign, but it is so easy to import scanned "maps" as background and then add objects, tokens (monsters, players, etc.), and I even figured out the vision blocking recently.
____________

Correct Nix, sorry about that. My plan was to stand up (which provoked the AoO), and then move away as far as I could go - 30' - as my second "Move" in place of my standard action. This movement also provokes an AoO, but unless the creature has Combat Reflexes, it already used the AoO when I stood up.
____________

Nngara watches the others. If she can, she will draw her dagger and them move to where she can approach one of the lobsters on the next round from a flanking position.

She also looks around the beach to see if anyone, or any of the boxes of equipment, is in imminent danger from other crustaceans or the tide.

Acobatreader to extract a map base, Photoshop to make and edit, and Photobucket to host the files.

Guess it's the bugs turn.

@Nngara: Non of the equipment or people are in immediate threat from the tide, but they will need to be moved within the hour.

Linard charges Valeria's bloodied vermin, giving it a solid kick which knocks it on its back, where it no longer moves.

The vermin Jayem is attacking spins around to attack him, which manages to claw him twice and sting him once. He takes 3 HP damamge, and he needs to make a Fortitude save vs. poison.

Round 3
HP: 7/11
AC: 12 (+2 dex,)
Hands: Battleaxe(2H)
Conditions: Sickened

Fortitude, vs poison, sickened: 1d20 + 4 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 4 + 2 - 2 = 20

Yeow! You snappy little thing! We dance now.

Jayem shifts in the sand, trying to flank the creature. He steps in a hole in the sand as he swings, compromising his aim.

Battle axe, sickened: 1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 3 - 2 = 10
Damage, sickened: 1d8 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 4 - 2 = 3

Jayem misses. Anyone else to take a swing?

I will attack with my dagger if I can, not sure whether I acted this round.

Attack-dagger: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 <-- +2 flanking I assume
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3

HP: 14 of 17
AC 10, Touch 10, Flatfooted 10
Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +3 (+2 to Will saves against enchantment spells and effects)
Rage 5 of 7 rounds

Kalis seems to suddenly remember he still has his sword strapped to his back. He unsheathes the sword as he charges towards the last creature still moving.

ATTACK:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21 (+1 BAB, +5 Str, -1 Power Attack)
An additional +2 to attack if there is room for a charge.
DAMAGE:1d10 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15 (+7 Str, +3 Power Attack)

It's dead. I will try to put a full update later tonight.

Harper pushes himself up on his hands and knees. The front bill of his fedora has been smashed straight up and his face is covered in sand. He spits sand from his mouth as he wipes his eyes. Wow...now that is what I would call a wild night! Does anyone know what happened?

Hearing the man who likes hats arise and call out, Nngara calls over to Harper:
We shipwrecked. We on beach. Eurypterids try eat us.

Harper stands to his feet and fixes his hat. Thank you all for handling the crabs. Is that our gear?