"Hate spiders." Esmarelda muttered. "Might want to let the crew know about them as well... since they'll be moving stuff in."
"Definitely."
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He smirked at the ladies and their flirting. It was good to see some of them settling with one another. He smirked at Ash... He still probably owed her some good corperal punishment at some time.
"Try as I might, couldnt get the damned things to show. Lets get this place as a base of operations running asap."
Nodding again, Ashlei points at the ship in the bay.
"We will need a good dock too eventually. Ferrying supplies back and forth will get tiresome for the men."
Looking at the others' startled reactions at her unnatural concern for the regular sailors, Ashlei frowns.
"If they are too tired from loading and unloading the ship, they might not be able to do what I want! Isn't that obvious?"
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"I can heal him up a bit more and see how well he does." Rhialla suggests as they return.
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Your 'guest' looks a lot better after a peaceful nights sleep. Having a nights rest without various parties hammering his mind with Nightmare spells makes a huge difference.
His name is Ederleigh Baines and he has a long tale to tell you.
He was the apprentice of a Mawangi wizard and pirate captain named Bikendi Otongu. As such he was there for much of his masters research and planning.
Millennia before the formation of the Eye of Abendego, in the heyday of the Age of Serpents, the cyclopes of Ghol-Gan ruled over much of the territory now claimed by the Shackles. Many of their ruins still stand, including those on the remote island now known as the Island of Empty
Eyes.
During the days of Ghol-Gan, the cyclopes built a mountain retreat called Sumitha. This retreat contained an underground vault known as the Eye of Serenity, which held an artifact called the lens of revelation. The cyclops seers of Sumitha guided their fellows in using the Eye and the lens therein for personal sojourns and divine introspection.
But with the waning of their civilization, the lens turned dark and the cyclopes abandoned Sumitha. Many cyclopes retreated into the Darklands, leaving only a handful behind, who gradually degenerated into brutish savages.
Centuries later, sailors saw the eyeless statues on the island's shores and hillsides and gave the island its current name. Long since prized away by opportunists and treasure seekers, the statues' single
eyes-once represented by fist-sized gemstones-are now just empty sockets.
In 4110 AR, Chelish explorers stumbled across the island and made landfall. The settlers explored the island's interior and discovered the ruins of Sumitha, stirring up conflict with the few remaining cyclopes in the stronghold.
The Chelaxians lost several soldiers in the ensuing battles, so they built a small fort overlooking the island's inner bay to defend themselves. Eventually, however, the giants' attacks grew too numerous and organized, spurring the settlers to abandon their island home and flee to the mainland, joining the larger and newer colony of Sargava.
The degenerate cyclopes left behind on the Island of Empty Eyes fell on hard times themselves. A few years after the Chelaxians abandoned the island, an earthquake shook the region, collapsing the few remaining tunnels to the Darklands.
As the cyclops survivors emerged from the vaults of Sumitha, their huge appetites nearly depleted the island's remaining food sources. The cyclopes were forced to search for new ways to fill their stomachs, plying the seas in giant whaling vessels, traveling to neighboring
islands to capture dinosaurs to herd as livestock, or simply raiding ships and coastal communities to take what they needed to survive.
The tribe, now led by a great cyclops named Ishtoreth has lost much of its cultural identity in the years of seclusion and stagnation. Discarding the sense of honor their ancestors displayed during the Age
of Serpents, Ishtoreth's tribe has descended into utter brutality, posing a significant threat to any seeking to make the island their own.
Recently a band of pirates settled upon the Island of Empty Eyes. Led by a Mwangi wizard named Bikendi Otongu, they swiftly restored the Chelish fort and began quietly scouting the island's ruins.
Bikendi used powerful illusions to hide his people's presence from the cyclopes for many months, all so he could conduct his research without interruption. Obsessed with dreams and alternate realities, he believed he could extend his life without relying on an undead apotheosis like lichdom-turning instead to the heartstone magic of night hags.
Using such a gem, he hoped to bind his soul in an arcane ritual, preserving it as he separated his consciousness from his physical form. As his body passed away, his mind would remain vibrant and free to seek out the Dimension of Dreams, living on for all eternity in whatever world he could imagine.
To carry out his plan, Bikendi searched for the perfect gem to create a heartstone, carefully consulting the magic of ancient Ghol-Gan and looking for a flawless jewel among the ruins of Sumitha. He found exactly what he needed in the lens of revelation, and moved invisibly among the cyclopes of Sumitha until he could steal away the stone used in their ancestral divinations.
But to craft a heartstone from the lens, Bikendi also needed to cultivate a relationship with a night hag willing to help him. Thus
he made contact with a night hag named Lodhotha and offered her a hundred souls from captives taken in his raids in exchange for crafting such a heartstone from the lens that he could use for his ritual.
Lodhotha readily agreed, accepting Bikendi's hapless victims even as she
made plans to keep the new hearts tone, called the immortal dreamstone, for herself. In the meantime, she feasted on the nightmares of those held in the fort's prison, raiding their dreams each night until she could harvest their souls for the dark markets of her nightmarish realm.
To fulfill his part of the bargain, Bikendi increased his raids, using the island as a base from which to assault passing ships. These efforts attracted the attention of the cyclopes, however, who discovered the lens of revelation was missing from the Eye of Serenity and rightly surmised that Bikendi's pirates had stolen it.
Ishtoreth sent warriors to test the fort's defenses, but the pirates held on, adding captured cyclopes to the allotment of souls due Lodhotha. Bikendi realized, however, that the giants would eventually overrun the fort, so he escalated his plans by imprisoning some of his own men-those who had shown fear or doubt in standing against the cyclopes.
This gave him enough souls to meet Lodhotha's quota, sating the hag's appetite and convincing her to craft the immortal dreamstone. Knowing full well that Lodhotha would rather use the stone on him than relinquish it, Bikendi anticipated her treachery, and sprang his own trap before the hag could double-cross him.
Bikendi instructed his apprentice, Ederleigh Baines, to pickpocket the dreamstone when Lodhotha arrived, thus depriving the hag of her most significant weapon and preventing her from escaping into the Ethereal Plane as well. Bikendi and his followers then slew Lodhotha, even as Ishtoreth's cyclopes began their final siege of the pirates' fort.
Ecstatic with his prize, and realizing that the dreamstone's magic would last only 24 hours following Lodhotha's death, Bikendi retreated to the fort's tower to attune it to himself, intent on completing his ritual before the cyclopes breached the outer wall.
Unfortunately, not only did the ritual prove more challenging than
Bikendi had anticipated, but without the wizard's arcane assistance against the cyclopes, Bikendi's forces were quickly overwhelmed. The giants sank Bikendi's ship with thrown rocks, then broke through the main gates and slew the fort's defenders before turning their assault
on the tower itself.
Rushed by this impending doom, Bikendi missed a vital step in the ritual, shearing his soul and mind from his body, but failing to open the right portal to the Dimension of Dreams. Before he could correct this error, the cyclopes broke into his sanctum, destroying his preparations and reclaiming the gem that he'd stolen from Sumitha.
While the cyclopes then returned the lens of revelation to the Eye of Serenity, Bikendi's spirit lingered on the Material Plane. His trapped ghost still haunts the fort in a fruitless effort to reclaim the dreamstone so he can finish the ritual. But Lodhotha's sister, the night hag Haetanga, has sent her own minions to track down her sibling and retrieve the gem. These creatures also now lurk within the fort, ready to threaten and interrogate anyone who ventures there.
Points of interest:
After Bikendi Otongu's failed transformation and the cyclopes' siege of the fort, one survivor crawled from the wreckage-Ederleigh Baines.
Frightened and desperate, Ederleigh searched for his master even as he scavenged the ruined fort for supplies to survive. Bikendi's ghost manifested soon after, but bound to the tower's cellar, he could only communicate with his apprentice by castings of the Nightmare spell, which only further traumatized Ederleigh.
Eventually, Ederleigh followed the voices in his head and dug into the tower cellar. But when Bikendi's ghost approached him, Ederleigh attempted to flee. Bikendi resorted to his malevolence ability to take over Ederleigh's body, intending to retrieve the immortal dreamstone from Sumitha himself Unfortunately, as soon as he traveled more than a mile from the fort, Bikendi's spirit was yanked out of Ederleigh's body and pulled back to the tower cellar.
Obsessed with recovering the dreamstone, yet unable to leave the fort, Bikendi repeatedly tried this tactic, only to be stymied each time, leaving Ederleigh even more frightened and confused. Ederleigh now avoids the tower where Bikendi's ghost is lurking.
The Phase Spiders are working for the Night hag Haetanga who also wants the Dreamstone back and having been using the Animate Dreams to hammer Ederleigh's battered brain to get its location from him
And just to make things more fun the Fort has a Haunt that appears every night in the courtyard.
What are you doing now?
“Crap.”
Esmarelda blink at Percival twice. "What about me say mage to you?" She asked with a raised brow. "In the time you've fought with me have I cast a single spell?"
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Esmarelda blink at Percival twice. "What about me say mage to you?" She asked with a raised brow. "In the time you've fought with me have I cast a single spell?"
"you are a beautiful conniving rogue of many talents. I didnt say you could use magic.. just you may know something I do not..."
He chuckled and gave her a wink. He wondered if Rhialla found her intruiging as well. Something perhaps to investigate when they had their isle...
"One thing at a time I suppose. What seems easiest to handle."
Ashlei frowned and shakes her head.
“More ‘Living Nightmares?’ We need help. Or advice? Captain, do you or your family have any debts you can pull from any high ranking Chelaxian devils? Hell’s Pitchforks! I’d take a damn demon-spawn sorcerer with a decent imp familiar at this point. Shit-stains curs! This island is a set-up! We were never expected to succeed here! The Pirate King, or one of his cronies at least, set us up.”
Esmarelda chuckled as she shook her head. "Nice save Cap" She stated
"Okay I don't know much but I'm fairly sure there is more than just devils we could ask for aid." Esmarelda pointed out. "Can't name them all but I'm sure there are... better? Choices?"
"I think we got the animate dream so we're safe from any more of those," says Cassiopeia. "We can try talking to the ghost—it has enough self-awareness to have possessed Ederleigh—but he's so obsessed with the Eye of Serenity and its lens of revelation that he might not be able to communicate effectively. A simple protection circle should prevent possession."
"As for the phase spiders... there's no good way to track and isolate them while they are out-of-phase. I suppose someone could make up a new spell, but that would take a lot of time and there's no guarantee of success."
"Since the spiders work at the behest of the night hag, that seems like our next adversary."
"In the meantime, the haunting might also provide some clues about what's going on, if we prepare with magic to resist fear and the aforementioned protection magic against possession and evil influences."
Cassiopeia ticks off her ideas in a meticulous and orderly fashion as she goes down the list, her wizard's training making her brain a logical, step-by-step place. Then she pivots on one heel slightly and folds her arms as she thinks of something else a bit out of place.
"I might be able to get Ederleigh up to speed on where we are now. He probably can't read my spellbook but... I can transcribe down some spells into a format that he can use, get him back into the wizarding game—and he could reference the book of his old mentor Bikendi. That could give us a little extra magical support, even if he's just staying here while the crew works on fortifications."
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"I can make sure I have a spell prepared to anchor the phase spiders to this plane should we encounter them again. That will render them half as dangerous and easier to kill." Rhialla says checking off on her fingers. "The Animate dreams are taken care of like Cass said, and the Haunt we can plan for, though we'd have to impose a curfew on anyone being in the courtyard at night until we deal with it."
"I'll definitely have Besmara's power protect us from possession like magic, though I don't know about trying to reason with an angry, overly ambitious ghost whizard."
Ashlei snaps her fingers, a wicked smile on her ruby lips.
“The hag just wants revenge for her sister against the wizard, and we know his ghost is trapped here right? Can’t we just figure out a way to give the wizard’s ghost to the hag? She wants souls too right? I say we contact the hag…and kill two birds with one stone! Hags have ways to capture souls? Then we offer her the wizard in exchange for a way to capture him and for her to finally leave us alone!”
Cassiopeia nods in turn with the other ladies' input. "Reasonable proposition. Now we just have to figure out how to make peaceful contact with the hag and make the arrangements."
Ashlei shrugs, rolls her wyes, and scowls.
“The spider guys belong to her? We get their attention! Write a scroll with our offer in a language a Night Hag can understand and offer it to them…somehow…maybe attached to a spear shoved into their chest? I don’t know! I can’t think of everything you know! Some people around here are magic users I hear…”
Suddenly she turn’s back to the others, paranoia creeping into her voice.
“You don’t think the ghost can get all the way on the ship? I doubt this will work if this ghost wizard knows about our plans!”
"If the ghost could go that far it wouldn't have had to possess Ederleigh here, and snapped back when he went too far from the fort," says Cassiopeia.
"I could never be a ghost... Never be able to touch anything or drink anything ever again? F$$+ that." Esmarelda said as she looked to Ashlei as she points. "You know what I mean right? Of course you do, what am I saying." Esmarelda gave a half wave with a smirk.
"Hells I've never worked with a Hag before, at least not a proper one, so I'm up to try anything once!" Esmarelda declared.
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"Lets take a few days to get everything situated here at the docks.. and up at the future keep there. Teams.... Everyone travels in teams til we are sure there arent any lurking invisible spider monsters. Start sending some initial jungle scouting foreys out as well... lets start...To the west past the fort and south... "
Smiling at the Captain's orders, Asheli immediately grabs Esmerelda and begins passing on the orders. Shouting and cussing at the sailors, especially at any who look nervous about the island or the situation, she yells double and screams even louder if that is possible.
"You and...YOU! Start leading the teams for the fort clean-up! YOU! Yes you in the frilly...is that a DRESS? Wellll...I'll let you have THAT one sailor. It looks good on you and compliments your legs! But don't let me catch you rummaging in my dress-up drawers! NONE OF THAT NOW! Stop lolly-gagging and GET TO WORK. I swear by Asmodeus's bloody-divine spark, I WILL CUT YOUR WILLIES OFF IF YOU SLOW DOWN BY A SINGLE SECOND!"
She will also make sure all the sailors gets some time off and double the grog rations for working so hard later that evening.
Esmarelda gave a small chuckle at Percival's words before Ashlei grabbed her and pulled her away. "Those orders are all great, but what why am I getting dragged around for?" She asked with a chuckle.
Ashlei winks and hooks a thumb back at the Captain and his main squeeze.
"While the wizard is magic'n new stuff for OUR island, I though we could give the Captain and his partner some alone time! Besides, I love ordering sailors around! They sweat and jiggle in the best of ways."
"I was leaving any ways." Esmarelda said with a shrug before she looked out over the island. "Ain't too bad huh? A whole island to yourselves!" She stated before she crossed her arms. "You all will be set for life!"
While Cassiopeia & Ederleigh are working on the rough beginnings of a dock Ashlei & Esmeralda are supervising a work crew gathering the raw materials needed. .
Suddenly a pack of three small dinosaurs burst out of the tree line and speed in your direction. This brightly colored dinosaur exudes a dangerous ferocity. Each foot is armed with a large, sickle-shaped claw.
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Ashlei & Esmeralda what are you doing? The rest of the party is several rounds away from you.
Sneering, Ashlei quick-draws her shiny starknife and moves to intercept the pack.
"Great! Now the island is throwing baby dragons at us!"
Following Ashlei's lead, Esmarelda pulled her blades out."I don't think those are dragons Ash... Don't dragons have wings and the like?"
Taking a fighting stance beside Ashlei she readied herself.
Red charges Esmarelda, ignoring her wounding it and pounces on her!
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Yellow charges Ashlei and pounces on her.
And misses with all attacks, its bite going so badly it is thrown off the rest of its attacks.
Orange goes for the nearest pirate.
The crew being Pirates immediately start hacking away at Orange.
Ashlei & Esmarelda may now act.
"Whatever! Big f@$%'n lizards then!"
Suddenly, by finally having a mundane threat, it seems to give Ashlei extra spark in her swings and jabs...but not her accuracy!
Full ATTACK(Melee Starknife!)
+
"YEsss! YESS!! Take THAT! Take it...EAT MY STEEL!"
"You tore my shirt... I LIKE THIS SHIRT!" Esmarelda shouted in rage before she began to jab at the creature.
Ashlei shreds Orange, Esmeralda wounds Red. The crew quickly cut Yellow down.
With the death of the local pest things proceed quickly and you gather enough to begin construction.
What are you doing now?
What are you doing now?