"Just hold on a moment!" Nymra shouts as she dashes for the coffer.
Seeing the sash go straight through the ghost - and seeing the ghost seemingly charge straight for Neil, he turns and books it.
"Neil! Neil!" Nimar shouts as the man flees in a blind panic. "Damn! I hope the ghost isn't going to chase the fool!"
"Thieves! the ghost screamed. As Neil ran away, it turned it's attention to Nymra. It reaches out to try and grab her by the throat. As the ghostly hand passes through her, the negative energy chills her to the bone.
Round 5, PC's Turn
Nimar curses under his breath. "Nym, you okay?" Nimar moves to stand beside the half giant warrior. I doubt my weapon will harm a spirit, hopefully her...whatever...can. He waves the rapier at the ghost, trying to distract it in the hopes that Nymra's sword can stop the ghost.
The icy grasp of the dead takes her breath away in a violent gasp, but Nymra remains focused. She grabs the locket, pops it open, and shoves it in the ghost's face. Her other hand goes to her throat as she gasps for air.
At seeing the face of his love, the ghostly captain reaches out to grasp the locket. As soon as the incorporeal hand would have come in contact with the locket, the ghost fades away into nothingness with only a melancholy sigh as it finally meets it's true death. A few minutes later, most of the group returns. Aerys is slightly embarrassed at her cowardice and apologies for fleeing. Gelik comes running back almost as quickly as he left. "Oh thank heavens. I feared I may be the only survivor. Can you imagine?" Ishirou walks quietly back into camp while Sasha returns whistling a tune. However, Lesedi does not return. The fire still burns and sheds the only light in the immediate vicinity.
"Is everyone okay? Did anyone see where Lesedi got off to? I'm concerned about traps, but night is a terrible time for a search." Nimar frets a bit.
Nymra falls to her knees, then backwards to the ground with a sigh.
"This island is gonna be the death o' me," she says chuckling.
"I agree with Nimar, we'd probly get ourselves killed we go out lookin' for 'er in the dead o' night." She stands up and dusts herself off. "Honestly, I think she probly took off on her own."
Upon returning, Neil sits quietly and alone. He seems deep in thought, concerned about his own welfare and sanity. Why did I run? I have never feared danger or run from a challenge. But I was compelled; like I did not have a choice. Why? Why did I run?
Nymra returns to the fire and plops down next to Neil. She sits there, staring at the picture for a moment. Hope you finally found peace. She closes it and tosses it to Neil. "What's on yer mind mate? Yer lookin' like you seen a ghost!" she says barely able to contain her laughter.
Day: 7
Light: Dawn
Time: 7:00am
Despite most of the group barely being able to sleep, the night passes without further incident. Being close to the stream provides for fresh water and fresh fish, as well as an opportunity for a bath. The cool water is refreshing, but the mood is tense at best. Lesedi is missing, some are scared, and the rest are withdrawn. The morning is very quiet. Even Gelik has no glib remarks.
That was... Fortunate.
After a nights worth of depression and self doubt, Neil wakes up confused about the events.
What was it about that thing that caused everyone to run? Why were Nimar and Nymra seemingly immune?
Yawning from a solid night of deep sleep, Nimar turns to Neil. "Ghosts are funny that way. I've heard tales of the most courageous knights, blessed by the gods, turn tail and flee from powerful undead. I'm talking dragonslayers and demon hunters who face the curse of undeath, or maybe their own mortality, and flee in a blind panic." He scratches his stubble-covered face. "What I'm trying to say is, don't feel shame. As for why Nym and I managed to shake it off? The supernatural is...well, supernatural. Besides, she's way scarier than a simple ghost could ever hope to be!"
Heh. You got that right. Neil says, feeling a little bit better. So what's the plan?
"What I'm trying to say is, don't feel shame. As for why Nym and I managed to shake it off? The supernatural is...well, supernatural. Besides, she's way scarier than a simple ghost could ever hope to be!"
Nymra lets out a hearty laugh as she climbs out of her hanging tent. "Yer godsdamn right I am!"
So what's the plan?
"Good question mate, don't suppose anyone saw Lesedi come back to camp last night? I know I didn't," she says with a sigh as she gazes longingly at the stream. No time for a bath, she thinks with a frown.
"We've lost a member of our party, an' she may need our help. That said, every diversion puts us further behind the cap'n. We oughta put it to a vote. We either; One, focus on findin' and rescuin' Lesedi. Two, Assume she's okay and go on about findin' the cap'n. Or three, we do both. We split up, even if it means not havin' our full strength if them tribals try to ambush us. I'm leanin' towards either one or three, don't like the idea of leavin' anyone behind."With that, Nymra will attempt to locate Lesedi's tracks.
Jask volunteers "I did not see her return. I think we should look for her, but I suppose if we're going to find a way off of this island, we should find the captain as soon as we can. He is probably our best chance of escape. It would do no good for all of us to remain on this island, even should we find Lesedi."
Gelik can't help but chime in. "Look, we shouldn't all buy it on this god-forsaken rock just because she got scared and ran off. Maybe she took advantage of the situation to strike out on her own. Or maybe she was in on it with the captain. Don't you find it all just a little bit suspicious?"
Jask volunteers "I did not see her return. I think we should look for her, but I suppose if we're going to find a way off of this island, we should find the captain as soon as we can. He is probably our best chance of escape. It would do no good for all of us to remain on this island, even should we find Lesedi."
Gelik can't help but chime in. "Look, we shouldn't all buy it on this god-forsaken rock just because she got scared and ran off. Maybe she took advantage of the situation to strike out on her own. Or maybe she was in on it with the captain. Don't you find it all just a little bit suspicious?"
"Were she in on it, I doubt she would have stuck around with us at all to begin with. No, she's no more involved in it than any of us are. So is that two votes for leaving Lesedi?"
"I doubt she was involved with the captain or his...companion. It seems she would have done something to intervene earlier. Then again, if she was, maybe we're getting close." Nimar shakes his head. "Ah, you got me paranoid, Gelik!" He laughs and breaks into his trademark grin for a moment, then he realizes what the most likely scenario is and the grin turns to a frown quickly. "More likely she became caught in one of those traps. She may be seriously injured. We should search for her, but not far. If she's not caught up in the trap...Anyway, let's not waste more than a few hours searching before we get back on the trail."
I say we find her, for her sake... for the truth.
Good call. Never leave a man behind. Let's search for Lesedi.
"Sounds like a plan, lets see if we can find her trail."
Slightly more comfortable around his new companions, Orne tries to pick up the woman's trail.
You are able to follow Ledesi's tracks pretty easily. She was running as fast as she could and not concerned with concealing her trail. She was also running down the path as soon as she was able to get to it. Within a couple hundred feet, the tracks are not as deep, as if she slowed down. They continue on in the same direction however. Roughly a mile later, the tracks stop.
The path here winds through a 10-foot-wide gulch here, flanked on either side by steep 50-feet high slopes. Not quite vertical cliffs, these slopes host numerous scraggly plants and a number of hanging vines.
You can see spikes protruding in a few hidden spots up one of the slopes, just like from the spike snares that caught Nymra earlier.
"This isn't good. It looks as though she were caught by one of those traps, then carried off."
"Aye, and they had all night to get away from us."
Nymra curses under her breath as she digs through her pack to retrieve her rope and grappling hook. She then hurls the hook, hoping to catch a cluster of vines near the top of the slope.
She curses aloud as the hook fails to catch, pulls it back in, and tries again.
As the hook slams into the dirt near her feet, she closes her eyes and covers her face with her hand with a groan, frustraition clearly getting to her. After a moment, she takes a deep breath and tries again.
Nimar grimaces as the hook clanks and falls to the ground, nearly conking him on the head. "We should have searched last night. No, that's just guilt talking, I know we may have ended up hurt or killed in the process..."
"Aye," Nymra says as she (presumably) starts climbing the rope.
"No use in woulda coulda shoulda, just gotta keep movin' forward."
Neil ducks for cover as Nymra misses not once, but twice with that heavy hook.
Night searches are a bad idea. It's easier to get lost and injured at night than day, and then we'd have two search parties out here.
Can we disable those spike snares? Climbing is hard enough...
"Good call, Nimar, think you can hit them with your crossbow, maybe trigger 'em without any of us gettin' caught in 'em?
Day: 7
Light: Daylight
Time: 9:00am
It takes a few tries, but Nymra hooks the grappling hook securely. After the first throw, Gelik scrambles for cover.
The climb up is treacherous, but not too difficult. The vines and debris make it challenging, but the rope helps a lot. Gelik whines a bit about mud on his shoes while Ishirou's stoic visage remains unchanged. At the top of the slope is a camouflaged blind. One set of tracks leads away. The tracks are deep and evenly spaced. Someone was moving slowly and carrying a lot of weight. They head south west.
Nymra hangs out up top to make sure everyone makes it okay, gathers her rope up, and continues following the trail.
Neil takes the lead and follows the tracks.
Neil and Nymra have no problems following the tracks, but it is slow going. The prey did not follow any obvious trails and appears to be trekking straight through the jungle.
Orne tries to help...
Neil steps back and lets Orne - who is apparently a master at this - take the lead.
Seeing slight difference in how the others look at him, Orne feels the need to say something.
Desna provides. I am merely her chosen vessel at this place...
...at this time.
Its hours of slogging through jungle, swamp, and mosquito-infested trails following the tracks of a heavily, weighed-down humanoid. The temperature is rising as the time drags on, and now some what accustomed to them, the spiked snares are spotted regularly. At this point even Gelik is silent except for the occasional smack as he swats at a mosquito. The last few hours your path has followed the trail, but it seems more coincidence than intent. Often the tracks leave the trail but connect with it again shortly there after. The trail seems to follow the coastline mostly while the tracks are taking a more direct route when the trail diverts.
At one point, you can see above the tree line and notice what appears to be a lighthouse. As you continue on, you begin to see rather disheartening signs; bones and skulls nailed to trees, symbols on rocks painted in blood, and you can't shake the feeling that you are being watched.
"Is that a structure in the distance?" Nimar peers and tries to make out details of the lighthouse.