Most of the wakizashis may have had markings denoting family or clan once, but they have faded away with time. One, however, has an image of a coiled serpentine dragon running along the blade.
Caerwyn will pick up his sword from the ground and wipe it clean before sliding it back into it's sheath. With his mace in hand he slowly enters the hulking wreck.
Once inside he will examine the area
Caerwyn steps into the hull of the ship and looks around.
The cargo hold of the ship is filled with equal amounts of swamp water and waterlogged crates. Patches of mold and green moss crowd the corners of the vessel, shaking slightly as a breeze flows through a great hole in the deck above Caerwyn's head. Upon closer inspection, one crate that has been untouched by water & rot sits half-buried in a pile of timbers.
Opening it reveals a bundle of items wrapped in ragged brown linens. The bundle itself contains:
--Two scrolls in a wooden scroll tube;
--A pouch containing 33 gold pieces;
--A masterwork kukri in a steel scabbard. The scabbard itself appears to be in good enough condition to be worth something.
"Hah! Good show again, my friends! And good rewards as well!", says Gilbert, letting Duchess grab one of the bones and start dragging one of the skeletons around the ship. "Has anyone been injured at all?"
Nestasha starts looking around as Caerwyn went inside the ship, examining the skeletons and the surrounding area. She looks up when Gilbert speaks and responds, "I'm jusst fine, thankss."
Entering the ship, Ikoma sees Caerwyn perusing the contents of an undamaged crate, freshly dug out of a pile of rotting timbers.
Caerwyn finishes with the chest and stands up, looking at Ikoma "Nah, I don't think we'll find anything else in this old wreck." He tosses the pouch of coins to the Samurai before pulling the scrolls out of their case and looking them over "I think we'll need Yui to decipher whatever these are." Drawing the blade from it's scabbard Caewryn runs his finger down the knifes edge before sheathing it "I think Nestaha would like this, don't you?"
Bursting out of the ship, Gilbert yawns. "Ah, I think tonight has been quite the successful one! I suggest we go and celebrate our newly-won riches to the tavern! I believe we must also speak to Mistress Ameiko about the ship... She'd be ecstatic!" Petting Duchess, he attempts unsuccessfully to pry the bone from her jaws, then shrugs and lets it stand there.
He gestures to Yui that he'd boost her on his horse, then resumes waiting for the others.
When Caerwyn and Ikoma return from inside the wreckage Nestasha spots them and heads in their direction. When she reaches them she asks, "I take it there weren't anymore sskeletons in there ssinsse I heard no ssound of battle. Sso, did you find anything interessting?"
Yui looks over the scrolls and sees that the first one would aid the caster in a short lives buffer. The second however she can't pin down, something with flying perhaps?
She takes Gilbert's offered hand and sits in front of him while they wait for the others to come along.
"So to the last location now?" She asks excitedly.
Seeing the kukri they found Nestasha can't help but stare at it. She asks, "Can I have thiss? It'ss the mosst beautiful weapon I've ever ssen." Looking rather disinterested she replies to Yui, "I think I would prefer to return myself, but if you want to go that badly I guesss we could." Once Gilbert mounts his horse Nestasha grabs his hand and uses it to swing up behind him.
"I say we press on. I'd for one like to find where the Licktoads got their supply of fireworks from?"
Glancing at Caerwyn as he makes his opinion known Nestasha says, "A good point Caerwyn, I think we probably should go check the lasst one out after all."
A decision has been reached--there is one location left on the map... the caverns the goblins marked as being haunted by 'bone-men'.
Setting off from the shipwreck, the party follows the goblin map as it leads them due south. The rain tapers off the further they walk from the wreck, being replaced with a chilly breeze that seems to *howl* through the trees. Duchess looks around and whines, sticking close to Gilbert's horse.
The mud and weeds give way to hard, packed earth as the party reaches the southern edge of the swamp. A great cliff looms before you, covered in moss and violet nettles. An opening in the cliff is partially concealed by a curtain of nettles.
The surrounding area is silent.
Caerwyn moves closer to the cave's entrance. He draws his mace and carefully moves the curtain of nettles aside. Peering into the darkness he looks to see whats inside before stepping to the side to keep from silhouetting the opening.
Nestasha moves up when Caerwyn does, keeping in line with him but on the opposite side of the opening. When he stops to look, she makes sure nothing is sneaking up on him before looking herself.
As Caerwyn brushes the curtain of nettles aside, he feels several of them raking along his gloved hand. He manages to keep them from breaking any skin as he holds the nettles aside.
The entrance to the cave is cold, with condensation forming on the walls. The sandy ground beneath Caerwyn's & Nestasha's feet is littered here and there with of pebbles. The sounds of water dripping seem to echo off of the walls deeper inside.
So far, it appears nothing is attempting to sneak up on them... well, that either the half-elf or the vishkanya can see.
Stepping past Caerwyn and under the nettles, Ikoma enters the cave and looks around.
The cave splits off in two directions--a narrow path to the right, and a passage to the left. A breeze flows past the samurai as he stops.
Nestasha enters the cavern, continuing to do her best to hide, as she follows Ikoma down the left hand passage and keeping a sharp watch for any threats.
Nestasha & Ikoma carefully move down the left hand passageway. This passageway has a large standing pool of brackish water in it, seemingly a result of flash floods and storms. The water looks to be about 3 feet deep at most as the passageway continues, but the rocks under the water look to be quite slippery.
Caerwyn will wait until the others enter the cave, then he will take up position behind everyone.
"A bit creepy, huh!", mutters Gilbert in a stage whisper, as he pets Duchess on the head and moves into the cave, arrow nocked.
"Let's do this, Caerwyn!", he says as he gestures to the half-elf to both begin looking for a clear path.
Yui bites her lip and looks a little anxious going in.
"It's too deep for me, can I sit on your shoulders Ikoma? Or maybe on our lovely horse?"
Caerwyn will assist Gilbert in looking for a safe place to ford.
Gilbert & Caerwyn manage to find a safe spot for the party to cross the pool without anyone risking getting hurt.
Once the party crosses the water, the cave opens up in earnest. The standing pool of water takes up the left side of the cave passage, and the sandy floor of the cave looks like it's been disturbed recently. Several bony tracks can be seen leading deeper into the cave passage. A passageway branching off to the right can be seen after the party crosses.
Nestasha followed along, wading through the water. With a side passage in evidence she says, "Let me check down here quickly to make sure there isn't anything of interest." She draws her main kukri and makes her way cautiously down the passage, staying in the shadows as best she can to hide and looking for any threats be they trap or otherwise.
You can hear the sounds of *chittering* coming from the north.
Slipping back to her allies Nestash tells them, "that side passage splits after a few feet, a short branch goes to the south and another to the north. There seems to be something making a skittering sound to the north, some kind of large insect maybe? I didn't want to risk getting too close and causing it to attack me."
Ikoma steps past Nestasha and peeks into the cavern to the north.
Webs line the walls of this cavern, stretching from stalactites to the sandy floor. The sound of *chittering* grows louder as the samurai approaches...
Sitting in the corner is a large, hairy spider in the middle of cocooning something up by a stalagmite. As Ikoma enters, the spider turns, its many eyes staring the samurai down. It *chitters* and turns to face him fully, its mandibles raised and its body dropping into some sort of attack stance.
It makes no move to attack him... yet.
Yui moves with the rest to the area of the spider but tries to stay hidden in the shadows.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"What a beast! Fascinating! Do you think they usually grow so large?", asks Gilbert, completely entranced by the spider. "Trust me on this, my friends!", he whispers in a quiet voice, as he slowly begins to walk towards the spider, hands raised in the air.
"Hey there, big one!", he mutters slowly as he takes another step in the dark cave. "We're not here to harm you, or any of your kin. We just want to take care of the skeletons, and see if they left anything you guys can't use. We'll trade you...", he says, the usual boastful and loud tone not present. He slowly reaches in his backpack, drawing a haunch of meat, and slowly lowers it down in a safe distance before the spider. "Eat up.", he says, taking a small piece of the meat and placing it in his mouth, chewing the raw meat.
Taking a step backwards, he gestures once again towards the spider, hands still raised in the air, and he patiently waits for the spider to go forward and enjoy the food.
The spider stops and stares at the haunch of meat, its many eyes blinking rapidly.
It cautiously steps toward the meat and prods it with its mandibles before snatching it up and nibbling on it. It looks up at Gilbert and *chitters*, waving a foreleg at him.
"See! It's not all about killing!", says Gilbert as the spider leaves them to their own devices. "Now, what's in the cave? Are we looking for the pirates or their treasure? Maybe both?", as he sheathes his bow and begins making his way into the deep dark bellows of the cave.
Caerwyn follows Ikoma further into the cavern, mace at the ready.
Nestasha follows along as well, "I think what we're looking for iss whatever we can find in here."
The left-hand path in the caverns eventually leads to a very narrow passage through the rock, one that the heavier-armoured members of the party would find impossible to traverse.
The right-hand path empties into a small cavern containing another brackish pool of water. Unlike the main cavern, a small island of gold-coloured, glittering crystals stands in the centre of it.
When the end up near the narrow path, Yui moves forwards and smiles and she turns around. "I can take a looksee down here. Won't be long." She says and sneaks down the left path and dissapears.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Gilbert looks at Yui, slightly worried. "Are you going to be okay?", petting Duchess. Standing up, he then draws his bow and takes a peek into the other cavern. "Woah! Look at those crystals!", he says, gesturing for the others to follow him, as he nocks an arrow and begins sneaking in the cave.