Observing the odd ritual, Aerodus will make a sign to ward off evil and move a bit further away from the pair, but the mapmaker's remarks about a defensible position has grasped his interest.
To Jask: "Is there anything you can do to aid her suffering? All I know is home remedies, and I dont believe they would be conducive to her health."
Diplomacy:
After finishing her meal, Shisa stands up and walks over to her gear, passing Aerodus and Jask.
To Jask: "Is there anything you can do to aid her suffering? All I know is home remedies, and I dont believe they would be conducive to her health."
With Aerodus' back to her, she says very quietly, almost to herself, "I can think of a few things, none of which would be lawful in most places, nor considered good by many." She gives Jask a wink to let him know she was joking.. mostly anyway.
Picking up her armor, she slips into it feeling the damp leather pressing her sweat soaked shirt against her skin. "Make a note girl, pack a change of clothes next time," she mutters to herself.
She buckles her armor as she continues over to Ishirou, stopping a couple of feet away. She takes a deep breath, swallowing her pride and attempts to make amends. "Master Ishirou, I must apologize if I have somehow offended you. I really did not mean to be the start of last night's ruckus." She turns to walk back over to the others.
"Anyway, what I wanted to ask you all is, WHY were we drugged? And then put on the beach? With our personal equipment in a pile? Why not leave us where we fell or dump us overboard? Aaah!" Tony clutches at his head.
"I apologize, but it just keeps going around and around in my head."
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Slightly taken aback by Anthony's strange ritual Marik stammers "Yes, I've studied about the Expanse at the academy. You could say it's been a life long interest of mine. I've even constructed my own map of the region from bits and pieces of information I've gleaned from books I've read." Looking over at Aerys, Marik muses "I have read some books on the flora and fauna of the Expanse but I'm not sure how much that is going to help since we are Hell and gone from the mainland,"
"but I cant recall anything that would help her ride out her withdrawal symptoms."
Looking at the chart Anthony rescued from the ship Marik adds "I can fill this in from what I've "learned" from Yipper there, since most of it is from an aerial perspective anyway."
Tony nods as he looks what Marik has filled in on the blank map.
"Another thing I wanted to ask the castaways here; what should we do next? Fort up here? Make our way to the old lighthouse? Try contacting the tribe that eats lizards?"
Aerodus strokes his chin for a moment before "I say we relocate to hillock the scholar mentioned earlier. It sounds far more defensible than what we have here. We would have one less trouble if we knew that some horror could not merely leap from the underbrush and take us unaware."
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They do a complicated fist handshake and a chest bump.
"Is there anything you can do to aid her suffering? All I know is home remedies, and I dont believe they would be conducive to her health."
'Sorry,' the cleric shrugs, 'I'm all out of rum, and Nethys only provides life-giving water, not the alcoholic kind...'
Jask smiles at Shisa's comment. Ishirou, however, when approached, just stares at her with suspicion in his bleary eyes and says nothing...
"Anyway, what I wanted to ask you all is, WHY were we drugged? And then put on the beach? With our personal equipment in a pile? Why not leave us where we fell or dump us overboard? Aaah!"
'Sensible enough questions,' Gelik chimes in, sounding surprised that they came from Tony, 'the obvious conclusion would either be that the drugger wasn't involved in the dragging to beach; or that it was intended to abandon us on this island and sail away, but only after we were left did the ship fall foul of the rocks. In both cases it still begs the question as to "why?", and why us in particular. We all had quarters away from the main crew, so perhaps, if it was rescue rather than abandonment, only we could be saved when the ship was sinking. On the other hand, the only crew member left with us was the navigator - who blatantly failed in his duties - so maybe we were dumped here and left to our fates, and he with us as punishment for his failures? Although it would seem a strange morality which strands us here, but doesn't rob us blind in the process. It does bear further thought...'
Lost in thought for a few moments the gnome then looks up as Aerodus says,
"I say we relocate to hillock the scholar mentioned earlier. It sounds far more defensible than what we have here. We would have one less trouble if we knew that some horror could not merely leap from the underbrush and take us unaware."
'Here, here,' Gelik agrees, 'I say follow the flying lizard... he's sure to have more success than out last navigator anyway.'
'It sounds reasonable,' says Jask one hand stroking his beard, 'we certainly gain nothing by staying here.'
'I...' Ishirou murmurs...
... then quietly concludes, '... whatever the paladin says, he's in charge isn't he?'
Neither Aerys - still sitting and rocking - nor Sasha - staring off into space - voice an opinion on the subject.
After examining where Marik has marked the rivers and the open hilltop on the map it seems like a good day's march through the jungle to the nearest river . From there it'd be an estimated twelve more hours journey through the jungle to the hilltop a further six miles distant... although the river goes at least part way, which could speed travelling (or hinder it...).
Shisa sighs at Ishirou's lack of response and quietly walks over to the others.
They do a complicated fist handshake and a chest bump.'Sensible enough questions..,' Gelik chimes in, sounding surprised that they came from Tony, '..or that it was intended to abandon us on this island and sail away, but only after we were left did the ship fall foul of the rocks. ...'
Looking at Gelik, she says, "Interesting thoughts, but if we were dropped off before the ship ran afoul, wouldn't the back end be pointing in the other direction? It sure looked like it wedged coming this way as opposed to going the other."
Perception:
Shisa sees Ishirou's hands move near his chest. Looking at him, she quirks an eyebrow at him. Holding her words, she simply reaches up and moves a stray lock of hair from her eyes.
"A better camp would be nice, but as Ishirou says.. Aerodus is in charge." She laughs quietly as she turns to go sit near Sasha.
Perception:
Tony studies the map.
"Looks like a couple of days work to get there. Well, let's load up and head out. Sooner started, sooner done."
"Indeed! Let us break camp with haste." As Aerodus begins putting his sleeping gear back into his bag, he will approach Marik.
"Scholar, you probably already know this but, you will be the largest factor in whether or not we make it to the hillock, Especially with the loss of the navigator to the jungle. I also ask of you this burden, the lioness's *motions with his head toward Shisa* spirit seems to have fallen, and as she has seemed to take a liking to you; Perchance you can keep her company on our trek and improve her morale."
With a clap to Marik's shoulder, Aerodus will announce "On our exodus we will need a scout to travel ahead of the group, to be aware of peril that may assault us, are there any volunteers?"
Aerodus will announce "On our exodus we will need a scout to travel ahead of the group, to be aware of peril that may assault us, are there any volunteers?"
Looking over at Aerodus, Shisa responds with a simple, "Sure, why not.
She walks over and slices a couple of chunks of meat off of the remaining goat and goes over to offer one to Sasha. "Hungry?" She takes a bite of hers and sits back down and continues to eat quietly.
"Excellent, The elf is great at finding dangerous things ready to kill her, She'll make the perfect scout. All we have to do is wait for her scream and go the other way! Mundin bursts out laughing at his own joke as he breaks down their last shelter and folds the shovels into the canvas.
"Excellent, The elf is great at finding dangerous things ready to kill her, She'll make the perfect scout. All we have to do is wait for her scream and go the other way!
Shisa starts to laugh at Mundin's joke. Taking what's left of her slab of meat, she throws it at the dwarf as he's bending down to roll up the canvas.
Thrown meat:
"Seems to me you ran the wrong way then on ship my friend.. you ran into the fray did you not?" she says laughing.
Aerodus chimes in: "From what I've heard, the two of you felled one a larger beast than the ones we faced back on the beach. Would you care to accompany her again sir dwarf?"
Tony slings on his pack.
"Weren't you one of the jungle explorers yesterday Marik? What was it like? Do we need to know anything or get some equipment before we set out?" Tony seems oddly eager.
Aerodus chimes in: "From what I've heard, the two of you felled one a larger beast than the ones we faced back on the beach."
Shisa looks at Aerodus. "Well, I DID have to soften it up for Mundin," she says playfully, throwing a wink Mundin's direction. "Besides, I was waiting for a knight in shiny armor," she continues, turning back to the paladin, "but alas, he was too busy exploring the bottom of the bay to save a damsel in distress." She puts the back of her hand against her forehead and feigns a swoon which turns to an exaggerated pout as she speaks, complete with the droopy puppy-eyes.
She starts laughing again as she turns to her gear and begins checking it to make sure everything is packed tightly, then turns to finding a way to strap the short sword over her shoulder.
to Aerodus "At the time I was unaware of how much the elf attracts the attention of the local wilflife."
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Prof: Let me know if there will be a perception DC
Sasha rather absent-mindedly takes the food Shisa offers, but remains quiet and distracted.
Ishirou breaks camp when Aerodus says to do so, the man's motions seeming almost automatic in his fatigued state.
As the mood begins to lighten, and Mundin and Shisa start laughing, Aerys suddenly leaps to her feet,
'What is wrong with you people?!' she screams, 'What in the nine hells have you got to laugh about?! We're all going to die and you don't even care! Are you all mad, stupid, or just sick? That's it, isn't it... this is all just some sort of twisted game to you, isn't it?! You act like... like...' she trails off, her eyes wide as she stares around the group, but doesn't seem able to focus on anything, her words slipping into mumbled elvish...
'Fruity as a nutcake,' declares Gelik (less than helpfully), then adds as an afterthought, 'you know, I could really go for some nutcake right now...'
Jask looks from the raving Aerys to Aerodus and just shrugs. Ishirou barely even glances up. Sasha's hand moves to the hilt of her rapier...
Perception:
"Mmmmm, nutcake..." Tony daydreams of cake for a moment. Then he shakes his head.
"We aren't going to die, fool woman. Grab your pack and let's move out already."
Seeing Ishirou's mechanical actions Aerodus will move.over and assist him packing. " Just think, in a few days we will have a prime spot for a camp. Defensible, with water and probably some nearby wildlife to hunt. What sort of wildlife was there back where you are from?
Roll to improve Ishirou morale.
Diplomacy:
After speaking with Ishirou, Aerodus kneels down before Aerys and attempts to shake some sense into her.
"Enough of that talk Milady! They are merely trying to raise our spirits, something which you are in dire need of. Up with you!" And he will reach for Aery's hand try to pull her to her feet. "By the Inheritor I intend for us all to make it off this rock alive! Even if I have to carry you over my shoulder: kicking and screaming the entire way. Now get your gear packed and be ready to march, we have alot of ground to cover today."
Roll to improve Aerys morale.
Diplomacy:
Aerodus will help any matters behind in packing their gear and make a quick double check of the site in case they missed something.
Perception:
Perception
Shisa, glances up at Aerys' outburst followed by movement out of the corner of her eye. She slides over to Sasha while unrolling her bedroll to be rerolled tighter.
Very softly she says something to Sasha, being careful not to be overheard.
She continues to reroll her bedding in a tight roll as if nothing is amiss. Looking over at Aerys, she simply shakes her head without comment.
When she hears Aerodus threaten to carry Aerys, she snickers quietly.
She goes back to packing her things, keeping her sword close to hand.
perception
Giving a quick look around to see if anything was missed, she looks over at Aerodus. "Hey Aero, want to grab that rope by your foot?"
"yes, we know, we're all gonna die. you've got 2 options, become a godess or get used to the idea."
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Perception check:
"Aerys, everybody dies at some point. It's how you choose to live that makes the difference. You can roll over and give up and embrace death with open arms, or you can spit in his eye and go out kicking and screaming. The choice is up to you, as for me I intend to die when I'm old and gray in my own bed, stabbed by jealous husband."
"Wait a minute!" Tony calls out in mock outrage; "That's MY exit strategy!"
Tony grins.
"Depends on what number I picked in the queue. There'll be a lot of us I'm sure!"
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Sorry I should have been more clear, was looking to see if there was a dc for people to overhear his conversation with Marik and interpret his head movement (as he intended to keep it private)
Roll to improve Ishirou morale...
At Aerodus's words Aerys slowly seems to focus on him, stop mumbling in elvish, and quieten down. Finally nodding, she packs her gear as instructed, and gets ready to move out... although she's still clearly jittery.
Sasha, meanwhile, stares at Shisa blankly for a moment, before blinking and following the latter's gaze down to her own hand. Looking at her hand as if seeing it for the first time she (after what appears to be some effort to focus) releases the grip on her sword and shakes her head,
'Sorry,' she says quietly to Shisa, 'it's just... instincts... hard to shake a lifetime of...' she shakes her head again, then smiles a clearly-forced smile, and turns to ready her gear, '... just forget it, okay?'
At the various comments from Tony, Mundin, and Marik, Aerys scowls... but then glances at Aerodus, and instead of replying gets on with readying for the trip through the jungle.
Once everyone is packed and ready to go (and Shisa's made sure nothing is left behind) the group sets off on another trek through the jungle, heading south towards the nearest river. Roughly following a narrow valley (which seems easier than trying to climb the numerous steep ridges which dot the island) the castaways hack their slow path through the dense greenery, stumbling over tree roots, trying to shoo away swarms of bugs, and trying their best not to cook in the sticky, humid, heat of the day, which only gets worse as the morning stretches towards mid-day...
The monotany of the journey is broken a little in the early afternoon by a small troop of monkeys which take a few moments to harass the travellers with jabber and thrown... well, whatever it is that monkeys fling... ew!
Eventually, about an hour after the hottest part of the day has passed, the front-runners of the group hack through yet more hanging creepers and undergrowth, only this time to reveal a relatively narrow but deep and fast-flowing river! The group's combined survival skills, Marik's navigation, and the occassional cantrip from Gelik to help determine the direction you're all going, seems to have paid off. Tentative first tastes reveal the water to be cool and fresh. The jungle comes right up to the river on both banks, even overhanging a little. According to Marik's partially filled-in map, the river does seem to be flowing in the direction you want to go in.
Tony takes off his studded leather in the midday heat.
Fort save 1 vs DC15: Fail for points nonlethal.
Fort save 2 vs DC16: Fail for points nonlethal.
Fort save 3 vs DC17: Saved.
Dodging monkey poo.
Ref save vs DC12: Dodged!
Survival Check (UT):
Fort Save 1 (+2 Mod for Surv Ck / Leather Armor):
Heat Damage (NL)
Walking through the jungle is taxing and Shisa can feel the heat. Her early morning workout seems like a bad idea in retrospect. She keeps moving as the heat saps her strength.
Fort Save 2 (+2 Mod for Surv Ck / Leather Armor):
Heat Damage (NL)
Feeling close to passing out, she strips off her leather armor and ties it to her pack. Taking a long drink of water, she continues forward, hacking her way through the thick foliage.
Fort Save 2 (+2 Mod for Surv Ck ):
Reflex save:
She reaches the spot near the river exhausted, but a bit cooler without the armor keeping in her body heat. She finds a spot under a tree and collapses with her back to it. "Remind me again what we're doing drudging through this mess? Even the monkeys hate us. On the bright side, they missed." Her words lack their normal exuberance given her shortness of breath. She sits there for a while just collecting her thoughts and trying to steady her breathing.
Survival:
Aerodus's training as a soldier kicks in during the exodus, and is soon found giving advice to the party to handle the strain of a forced march in the heat.
FortSave1: NL Damage:
FortSave2: NL Damage:
FortSave3:
Reflex Save vs Monkey Poo:
Upon being assaulted by the primate feces, Aerodus will utter: "Damn dirty apes!" He will do his utmost to shield himself from their fecal fury with his shield. And upon failing will start work on removing the smell/smears.
"We are 'drudging' through to find a more defensible location, and then we can decide to do after that..."
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Survival check:
going to have to 'borrow' Aerodus's +2
Fortitude save #1 (DC:15):
Fortitude save #2 (DC:16):
Fortitude save #3 (DC:17):
As the heat of the day bears down on him, Marik stumbles slightly, but knowing that the rest of the little band is counting on him he reaches down inside of himself and finds a hertofore unknown reserve of determination of manages to lead the group to the river without any further discomfort.
Reflex save (DC:12):
As Marik endures the indignity of the monkey's barrage one of his assailants strike a well aimed blow. Wiping the offal off of his face something inside the Wizard snaps, as he unslings and spans his crossbow he mutters "You're going down for that."
Survival check (DC:10):
As the red haze lifts from Marik's eyes and the monkeys scatter he realizes that he has managed to kill four of the little bastards. As he looks at the little monkeys on the ground he says "I hear monkey brains are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world"
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By the time the river is reached, Aerys is worse off than ever - her shakes are pretty bad, she's drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, although she did still managed to dodge the monkey flingings.
The unarmoured Gelik appears to be fairing quite well, telling rousing stories of the Pathfinder society along the way. He also managed to avoid the monkey's attack (or, at least, no-one recalls seeing him hit - with his frequent use of magical cleaning it'd be hard to tell even if he had been).
Poor Ishirou is barely managing to stumble along in the heat, collapsing to his knees to both drink deeply and to (afterwards) wash off monkey dung as soon as the river is reached.
Jask appears completely uneffected by the stiffling heat (a blessing from his god, or so he claims), although he is hit by flying monkey poop, which causes him to curse and yell in a most un-clerical manner, but without a ranged weapon he can't join in with Marik's monkey-killing rampage...
Clad in her chain shirt, Sasha is also drenched in sweat and exhausted to the point of collapse by the time the river is reached, although thankfully un-fouled by the evil monkeys.
As everyone drinks their fill, washes the worst of the filth off themselves, and sinks to the ground to gasp in air and rest weary muscles, Gelik turns to Aerodus,
'So... what now, oh "fearless leader"?'
Aerodus will take a long pull from his waterskin, and survey the weather weary group before replying:
"We have but a few options, we could rest here and regain our strength before continuing on, or ask our Cleric for his god's aid and do the same. But if we have the skill, we could take the time and make a raft of sorts, and let the river do the walking for us. It is going in the direction we are headed, yes Sir Scholar? I am open to other plans of course, but these seem the most obvious to me."
Shisa stands after many long minutes and takes her pack off. Setting it aside, she unties her armor from it and lays it so that the inside can finish drying out.
Grabbing her bow and quiver, she looks over at Aerodus. "I'm going to scout the riverbank to see if there's any small eddies or such were we can at least refresh ourselves without fear of being swept downstream. Be easier to launch a raft from too, I would imagine."
Without further word, she sets out to see what she can find.
Tony looks distinctly bedraggled as he collapses at the bank of the river and splashes water over himself. Even with his leather armor off and his shirt unbuttoned to his navel, the heat just sucked the energy as well as the sweat out of him.
"I would LOVE to raft down from here; but if no one knows how to build one, I reccommend that we just keep walking. As long as it's not in the midday heat."
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Nodding in response to Aerodus's request, Jask gathers everyone close to bow their heads and receive the blessings of Nethys...
Shisa heads off to scout... which will take a little time, as it's just as hard to hack a path through the jungle along the side of the river as it is to hack through the rest of the jungle.
'Both Aerys and I are sailors,' Ishirou mentions quietly in response to Tony's comments (although the Tian man directs his reply more to Aerodus), 'and building a raft isn't complicated. We could even use the canvas sheets we have for sails. Plus we have fishing nets, and this river seems to be well-stocked... not that I've anything against monkey brains...' despite his words then man is completely deadpan in his delivery...
'If it means skipping more trudging, I'm all for the raft-thing,' says Gelik, 'I'll... ah... "supervise" the heavy work, if you like...'
'Hmmm...' Jask rubs his bearded chin with his hand as he thinks, 'I guess it depends on how much we gain - spending (for example) a day to build a raft so that we can travel less distance than we could in a day on foot would seem foolish. As Ishirou points out we seem to have what we'd need to construct such transport, but does anyone know how long such a thing would take?'
Upstream:
Perception:
Survival:
Downstream:
Perception:
Survival:
Aerodus will move towards Marik and motion for Tony to accompany them, "You two are the most knowledgeable about the terrain, how much farther need we travel?"
"Judging just by the map, another full day or so at least. What do you think Marik? You've got the birds eye view so to speak."
Tony lowers his voice; "Don't tell Ishirou, but in this one case, I agree with him. I really prefer eating fish to eating monkey brains."
reflex save
"damn monkeys need to be faster to catch me off guard"
"I hate boats but seems others could use a break. Let's get choppping and hauling."
With a clapped hand to Marik's shoulder Aerodus announces "Very wel. According to the Scholar its a two day march from here! We press on, gather your belongings and be ready to move out!"
He then pulls Mundin aside and says "A good idea sir dwarf, but with it so close..... No point to spend a week to build a raft when a two day march can do the same!"
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Checking upstream (which is, roughly speaking, back in the direction the group came) Shisa locates a slight 'kink' in the river where it seems a little shallower, and slower flowing. There's also a large fallen log which slopes down from the bank to the riverbed, which looks like it would make it easy to climb in and out. The fallen log looks like it's been there for a while, and is wedged in tight - unlikely to break free any time soon.
It's during the rogue's scouting downstream, however, that she spots what could be a real prize: pulled up on the opposite bank of the river, and well-covered in leaves and brush (obviously deliberate camouflage), Shisa's keen eyes make out the lines of what appears to be a coracle-style boat! While she sees no signs of the boat's owner(s), it looks to have been stored, rather than abandoned...
... Nothing is ever easy, of course, and Shisa also notes the sinuous form of a thick, muscular, serpent, easily eight or nine feet long, with dull green and brown scales, gliding to and fro under the water right in the path of where one would have to swim to reach the boat...
Shisa returns to the group. Her hair and shirt a bit damp and a slight bounce to her step.
"Well, I found a nice little spot with a log going down into the river where we can freshen up a bit and refill water skins if need be."
She walks over to her pack and sits down, listening to the jabber about building a raft. She lets it go on for a bit, smiling as she grabs a quick bite to eat.
When she hears Aerodus mention another walk, she chimes in, "Or.. someone can go swimming and get us a boat. Kind of like the one hidden in the bushes across the river. Just a thought mind you.."
She tries to hid a grin by stuffing another bite into her mouth. Turning to Marik she asks, "Hey, does your lizard thing like snake meat? If so, I know just where it can get some nice fresh stuff."
Aerodus stares at Shisa, not quite sure he heard correctly "A boat, out on the river... in the middle of the jungle? When his mood changes from suspicious to joy. " How fortuitous! Surely the Inheritor smiles us on this day! We may make it in one day yet! About how large is this boat? Was there anyone with it?"
"Well, if it was just lying there, perhaps we could borrow it. Just for a while."