Mal's mind works furiously, Alton's life may be measured in seconds. We don't have time for this! Then a plan crystalizes in his head.
He roars out instructions to Priyya as he begins dodging backwards to deny the beast a chance to attack, drawing a hand-axe on the way. "Darkmane! Take cover in that door and see if you can either flank it or save Alton! Talvyra, stay with her!" Halfway through his retreat, he turns and lets out a challenging roar, hurling the axe at the giant bug in an attempt to draw it out.
Talvyra holds her ground, holding a low posture adn hissing at the giant creature. Her Hunt-sister needed her help, so she would hold.
Lureene moves back up to where she can actually peer up under the overhanging deck and up the sloping floor of the White Pearl. She unleashes another 3 missiles that unerringly strike home.
Shouting his plan to Priyya, Mal tries to roll out of the way of harm, but his footwork on the rubble strewn floor isn't up to the task. He gets jabbed again, and hard, taking a deep wound in the left shoulder. Scrambling to get away, the flooded forward hold and the tables and other debris in the way prevent him from stepping up onto the shore. Stopping where he can, water up to his thighs, he turns and hurls his handaxe at the eurypterid landing a solid blow on the thing's mandibles that garners a screech of pain.
Obeying her big brother's orders, Talvyra remains by her hunt sister, grimly facing the massive predator before them.
Fort Save (new poisoning for when Delay Poison expires)
, Priyya, Alis, Gelik, Jask, Sasha , Mal, Lureene
As the tall hunter retreats outside the range of its senses, the mindless creature, driven mad by pain and the promise of blood seeks to give chase but finds other obstacles in its path. Without hesitation, it pounces upon Talvyra seeking to claw and sting her to death.
While the agile cat evades its claws, its sharp stinger penetrates deep into her side injecting her with the same burning toxin affecting her big brother.
Fort Saves
, Alis, Gelik, Jask, Sasha (readied), Mal, Lureene; Eurypterid
MAP: Wreck of the White Pearl, (Round 03)
Priyya orders the wounded cat into the side cabin. Then she debates what to do...
Priyya fires a carefully placed arrow into the beast's maw then drops her bow hesitantly. She backs up noisily, crossing the open space in front of the monster, bouncing on the boards, even as she draws her scimitar. "Come on, you over-grown cray-fish - supper time!"
Standard Act -
HIT:
or
HIT: <- This One
DAM:
Free Action -
Move Act -
There a moment of karmic resolution as Priyya draws her bowstring to fire. In the same instant that her arrow drives thru the giant eurypterid's carapace, its stinger penetrates her defenses piercing deep into her abdomen to leave a burning toxin in her system.
As the searing venom begins to spread, Priyya discards her bow and makes an undeniable racket while she and Talvyra both retreat. In spite of the pain within her the cleric has the satisfaction of knowing her noise and wound have secured its attention. Without wasting the opportunity, the hunting cat slinks into Gelik's quarters, disappearing from sight behind the overturned furniture. Meanwhile, Priyya quickly gets inside the doorway to Aerys' room, sword at the ready.
, Mal, Lureene; Eurypterid, Priyya, Tal
MAP: Wreck of the White Pearl, (Round 03b)
Sasha kneels down on the debris between Aerys and Lureene, bow held parallel to the ground, arrow knocked. "Oh damn that's a big un!"
She puts an arrow into what passes for its face, but doesn't seem to slow it down overly much.
Taking up her own bow, Aerys kneels in front of Lureene trying to aim a shot past Mal, but she simply can't get a clear shot.
"Goodness, what are they doing down there? It sounds like they're apt to bring the whole ship down beneath us!"
Handing the rope to Jask, who promptly ties it to a sturdy-looking balustrade, the gnome marches over to the door leading to the captain's quarters and checks the handle. "Well, hopefully we shall at least be safe up here, eh princess... Princess?"
When he receives no reply and hears soft footsteps running away, he turns to see Alis grab a chunk of debris and take flight swooping around behind the ship and out of sight. A moment later there is the sound of smashing glass.
With Gelik and Jask hopefully safe, Alis take flight grabbing a heavy pulley still attached to a length of rope. In an instant, she flies around to the rear of the ship and uses it like a flail to smash the large heavy stained glass windows comprising the aft wall of the master cabin, grabbing hold just as the magic from her spell is expended.
; Eurypterid, Priyya, Tal, Sasha, Aerys, Gelik, Alis
MAP: Wreck of the White Pearl, (Round 03c)
Dropping my bow was stupid, Mal thinks as he tries to think of a way to keep the creature's attention. Realizing he has nothing, he looks around, and his eyes fall on the three women behind him.
"Throw stuff at it, girls. And make noise… LOTS OF NOISE!" Suiting actions to words, he begins clanging the metal of his claws together. "OVER HERE, YA BIG PILE A FISH BAIT!" Spying a piece of metal... something... in the water, he picks it up and hurls it at the creature, his bad footing making the wet object hard to aim.
Mal makes a bunch of noise and throws an iron ball of ballast that falls well short and simply rolls back and into the water again.
"Uh..." Sasha raises an eyebrow at Mal's tactics and looks up at Lureene and whispers, "maybe throw some more of those magic lights at it? 'Dre, duck out of the way or something, you're too big for 'Rys to shoot around!"
Lureene wonders what sort of noise she could make that would attract the creature at this point. Then an idea came to her. Nodding to the other ladies, she starts to slip her wand away, but on hearing Sasha's comment, reconsiders her action. This thing needs to die and soon!
Lureene fires off another burst of magic missiles and the eurypterid staggers on its feet a bit. It then moves straight towards Mal, crushing a table under its weight as it charges forward.
In a flurry of spastic motion, the creature clamps down on his leg before jabbing once more with it stinger. As Mal begins to feel light-headed from the injuries and blood-loss he has sustained, Priyya feel sthe burning sensation creeping ever closer to her heart as her vision begins to go grey.
Fort Saves
, Mal, Lureene; Eurypterid
"Heeere big spiny kitty!" Sasha draws another bead on the enemy and sinks yet another arrow into its armored bulk. Beside her, Aerys gives a growl of frustration still unable to get a decent shot in at the thing. With the beast now nearly close enough to reach them, they each take a step further back and out of the way.
, Mal, Lureene; Eurypterid, Aerys, Sasha
MAP: Wreck of the White Pearl, (Round 04)
So the bug doesn't draw an AoO from its movement?
Talvyra lashes out at the passing thing, shrieking her fury for it taking Big Brother in its claws.
From where she is, Priyya can just barely see the black shadow that is Talvyra stalk from the shadows opposite her. With lightning-fast reflexes, her claws tear loose a chitinous plate from the creature's tail. Without hesitation, she tears into the gaping wound with her teeth ripping free a major vein. With a feeble screech, the armored hulk crashes to the ground shaking the entire wreck in its death throes!
Vision fading, Priyya staggers from the room to see her wounded comrade and blasts Alita's healing energy.
Standard Action -
Swift Action -
Her first concern (as ever) for her comrades, Priyya grits her teeth and staggers forward to heal them. Within her, the burning pain in her core slowly begins to subside, soon replaced by a freezing chill, her soaked robes making her feel as if she is cloaked in ice.
After healing the others, she attempts to heal herself again to no effect. It soon sinks in that this is the cost she paid for being poisoned so severely.
Closer towards the missing prow, there is a great deal of splashing as Aerys and Sasha run forward. The former rushes forward to grab Priyya before she falls. Bracing her against the threshold, she rights the bunk bed in her former cabin and then eases Priyya onto it.
From behind them, there is a loud "HyyAAA!" as Sasha severs the giant sea scorpion's stinger from its tail.
At once, Aerys' eyes go wide. "Alton!" She gets up to run towards the back of the ship, just as Alis emerges from the back cabin, her expression solemn...
As the creature falls, Mal rushes over to check on Talvyra and Priyya. As he slides to a stop on the wet boards, Talvyra growls in satisfaction, her paws resting on the huge animal. "Yes, yes, I saw you take it down, Little Sister. Are you hurt?" When she nods, he turns on Priyya, "You don't look so good, either, Darkmane… is it the poison?" Waiting for an answer, he looks around the wreckage and mutters, "And where is Alis?"
When Mal's eyes come back to rest on the dark warrior he grins, "That was a nice little move you made on the scorpion... too bad it got you stung." His mirth subsides, "And not to be overly needy, but I'm only shrugging off the poison because of one of my spells... in about three hours, it will strike me again."
Alis is unable to meet Aerys' gaze as she runs into the master cabin and a moment later you hear a soul-wrenching cry of mourning follow. Eyes downcast, the princess approaches the rest of you, noting the less than ideal condition everyone is in and seeing Priyya laid out on a bed. In a quiet voice, she says, "I found Alton in the corner of our room, sword still in one hand, Aerys' book, and Ishirou's maps in the other. It looks like he got stung repeatedly by this brute and escaped in there where it finally took its toll."
She sighs heavily, resting a hand on Priyya's forehead and putting her bow back in her hands. "Alton is cold as a stone, it must have been at least an hour ago, maybe longer."
Looking sharply at each of you, jaw resolute, she asks, "It looks like the poison's run its course or at least its been halted in you three. Our supplies and equipment are going to be limited to just what we have available right now. All I have are two scrolls with delay poison, one with neutralize poison, and one of cure disease. We can't afford to lose anyone else, or to have this many people get so severely injured."
She stands up and looks at the huge carcass in the hallway. "If we're where I think we are, our chances of being rescued are slim to none. That means what we see as a 'win' needs to change. Defeating enemies at great cost to ourselves in a city with temples is one thing. Until we can get out of here though, 'winning' means surviving."
She spares a glance back at Priyya and manages a faint smile, "That goes for the both of you two. You're both crazy bastards, you know that, right?"
Shaking her head at Aerys' continued sobbing, she says, "Thanks for being so brave and protecting everyone... I mean it."
Priyya looks up at Mal from the cot where someone was it Aerys? placed her. She smiles at him wanly, looking sick as a dog. "Sorry, Mal. I was being all girlie and pretending to faint like the delicate flower I am. Feel free to kick my ass when I slack off like that..."
She rallies, sits up, and pulls out her healer's kit.
Priyya gives Alis a faint smile, "I've always defined 'win' as survival... just not my own."
"Merciful gods!" While Gelik remains on the shore near Lureene, discussing something with her, Jask wades thru the water up to the cabin where the rest of you are. "This is the monster you saved us from? I had hoped it just the wild tale of sailors that they could grow so large!"
Overhearing Aerys from the rear of the ship, he says, "I take it that the kind soul who rescued us could not himself be saved. Sister Priyya, at least allow me to restore your vigor before you should aid this brave warrior..."
Together, the two examine the two stab wounds Mal suffered and do their best to draw out the poison.
Fort Saves DC 20
As the group recovers from the fight, Mal begins to think about their situation. "You're right about our survival, Alis, though at the time I was working under the assumption that we might still be able to save Alt…." he cuts off with a quick look over to the mourning Aerys. "Well, anyway, time was a factor in our tactics. As for moving forward, I guess we need to salvage what we can from the ship. What is our plan, anyway? You said there's little chance of rescue, which means we need to make for civilization. As much as I'd love to spend the rest of my life living off these wilds, I doubt they'd offer much shopping for the two of you. So what's our destination?" He moves over to where Ishirou's maps have been laid out to dry, "We need to know how far we'll be traveling so we can provision ourselves accordingly… assuming we can get much out of the wreck."
He looks out at the forest and then down at Priyya and Talvyra's diminished states, "We should probably rest for the night, also… get some energy back for the traveling we'll be doing."
Once the two priests have finished what preparations they can, Jask has Mal sit on the bed before the warrior dismisses his spell.
At once, Mal can feel the burning sensation, but it is muted, their treatments helping. Even as it burns and he feels his breath growing shallow, a moment of panic siezes him as his heart begins to race! Clutching the bed post with one hand and Priyya's hand with the other, he shakes his head violently straining with all of his determination against the searing pain.
When at last it subsides, he collapses on the bed breathing in shallow, jagged breaths.
Jask grits his teeth and gives a slow whistle. "Gather any who need healing, I shall help. We are lucky your friend is so strong..."
Lureene sighs heavily, emphasizing with the pain Aerys is feeling right now. She had no idea if Rath-hun was still alive or not. She wishes she could help her out somehow but she is not that familiar with her. She instead walks over to Alis, and responds quietly, "I know we paid a heavy price here for this so-called victory but we had to try to save Alton. Not trying would have been...cowardly." She smiles faintly, I do agree with you, now. Survival is the name of the game."
She motions to Gelik, "If we are to survive here, then we need to know all about this island that you and your Academy know. Like Mal says we do need a plan, and without any knowledge of this island, then any plan we make is not very sound."
"I took the liberty of searching our good captain's quarters and found no navigational instruments or charts to speak of. Without those, it would be... difficult to pin-point our position. However, given the late Mr. Dever's apprehension of 'Reaver's Shiv', a betting man might consider placing money on that being our present locale."
He runs his tongue along his teeth, looking at the Sun starting to climb higher into the sky, "I cannot account for Ieana, or the Captain, but I did find Vinzini the cook..."
He swallows hard and adjusts his collar. "Well, that is to say, I found his body. It looks like he had his throat cut at some point..."
Jask nods at Gelik's findings. "It is as he says, it seems that the cook was murdered sometime yesterday. Judging by his state, I would estimate around the time of dinner."
"I guess that's when whatever it is that dulled our senses was administered."
Lureene uttes a vile oath in Abyssal. She turns to the others, "We should tally all those who have perished, and also determine how each of them died, before we bury them. It looks the good Captain and Ieana marooned us here intentionally." Her eyes flash dangerously. "I would very much like to know why."
"Sister Priyya, at least allow me to restore your vigor..."
Even the slightest movement taxes Priyya until Jask's spell takes effect. Afterwards, she smiles pleasantly, "Just Priyya, Brother. 'Sister' isn't a title in my order."
"I would very much like to know why."
Priyya looks at Alis for a long moment debating the possibilities.
Priyya's brow furrows and she offers her thoughts hesitantly. "While I don't like leaving good people to the ravages of predators... should we bury most or all of these folks? It will take a good deal of time to do it right. If we were wrecked here purposefully, there may be accomplices coming to strip the wreckage or local tribesmen. If we leave burial mounds, they will know there are survivors. It might be to our advantage if whoever did this thinks we're all dead." She looks thoughtful, "I'm not trying to be heartless, but if we are in 'survival' mode then we have to be very careful about what evidence we leave of ourselves... Having said that, I can't leave without burying Alton, even if we have to hide the grave-site in the jungle."
Priyya sets about gathering supplies and helping out, unwilling to say more on the subject. When they've gotten everything of value off the ship, she goes to find Aerys.
"You're right about our survival, Alis, though at the time I was working under the assumption that we might still be able to save Alt…."
"I know we paid a heavy price here for this so-called victory but we had to try to save Alton. Not trying would have been...cowardly."
Alis nods and replies quietly, "Believe me, I'm not suggesting otherwise. However, it would have been quite the... 'storybook ending' if even after he had been gone for several hours that we just happened to arrived in time. Unfortunately things don't usually bear out that way — I wish they had this time though..."
"I do agree with you, now. Survival is the name of the game."
Alis manages a half-hearted smile at Lureene's desire to be positive. "Thanks, El."
"As for moving forward, I guess we need to salvage what we can from the ship. What is our plan, anyway? You said there's little chance of rescue, which means we need to make for civilization. As much as I'd love to spend the rest of my life living off these wilds, I doubt they'd offer much shopping for the two of you. So what's our destination?"
"Yes shopping for healing supplies will be rather limited too I'm afraid. As for our immediate plans–"
"We need to setup a camp, your Alisness." Sasha interrupts, munching on some manner of fruit.
"Anything here that's useful..." she points around the master cabin, "anything and everything could help. That magic was basin of yours means fresh water, and I bet we could use the sails, ropes, and those wooden poles to make a tent or shelter at least. Pretty sure, 'Dre and I can make a good team when it comes to hunting dinner anyway."
She flashes Mal a big smile, green eyes showing a sort of primal excitement at the thought of the current situation being your little group versus the wilderness in a contest for survival.
"So what's our destination? We need to know how far we'll be traveling so we can provision ourselves accordingly… assuming we can get much out of the wreck."
"We should probably rest for the night, also… get some energy back for the traveling we'll be doing."
After Gelik responds as to your presumed location, Alis points to the large trunk containing her belonging. "Originally I was prepared for a jungle expedition in the Buahons so I packed a great deal of navigational equipment before ever leaving home. We should be able to use those to determine our exact location."
Gelik's eyes are filled with surprise at Alis' words and he quickly begins rooting around in her trunk quickly locating a sextant, and astrolabe, a spyglass, and numerous charts. He can barely contain his excitement.
"As for resting..." Alis motions toward the window she smashed to pieces earlier. "It's still only mid-morning. I'm not sure that we can afford to pace ourselves so leisurely, at least not right now."
She flashes Mal a big smile, green eyes showing a sort of primal excitement at the thought of the current situation being your little group versus the wilderness in a contest for survival.
Lureene glances at her friend and smiles inwardly, Your Alisness...I will definitely have to remember that! She glances out towards the jungle which stretches inland from the beach while noting Sasha's excitement about their situation. She remembers one of Sasha's fantasies from when she read the other woman's mind, concerning the three of them. Well, this is certainly a dream come true for her.
"As for resting..." Alis motions toward the window she smashed to pieces earlier. "It's still only mid-morning. I'm not sure that we can afford to pace ourselves so leisurely, at least not right now."
Lureene nods in response to her friend. "I do agree here with you, we need to keep moving. So far, we know the former Captain and Ieana are also somewhere else on this island." She recalls what little she knows of the enigmatic sorceress. "We know she is a powerful spellcaster, so if she enthralled the Captain and persuaded him to shipwreck us here, then there is something here she is looking for. We need to find whatever it is first. Anybody who would slaughter an entire ship's crew, just to cover her tracks, would certainly have no compunction about doing the same to us."
Aerys stands up beside Alton's body, his cutlass buckled about her hips, as she pulls a simple pendant he wore over her head.
"If we find who did this," she says thru clenched teeth, "they'll wish they had stayed around to finish the rest of us off..."
Looking down at her book that Alton had saved along with Ishirou's old maps, she holds out the maps in one hand. "Alton thought these were important enough to come back for. Some of the coastline looks familiar, but I can't make out Ishirou's Khek-scrawl."
"As for the crew," she glares about defying anyone to stop her, "we bury them right and proper. These were good lads and I'm not about to let them just get eaten by more of those damn sea scorpions or whatever else is around here. The Pearl didn't crash because we were careless, somebody on board got us all sick and we started droppin'. If they were all hell-bent on coming back, I don't think they'd have wrecked their ride off of this place."
"They want to come back here, figure out we're alive and come lookin' for us?" She punches the wall so hard that it splinters the wood beneath her knuckles. "Yeah, I kinda hope they're brass enough to!"
"Well if this is The Shiv," Gelik comments, looking over the maps with Jask, "then I know the old Academy vessel The Nightsong was supposedly lost near hear. That would be of interest to me anyway, but I'm not sure about anyone else. Hmm, what's this...?"
Gelik and Jask share a curious look before spreading out one of Ishirou's maps over the top of Alis' chest, the table having been smashed to bits by the giant eurypterid's claws. The gnome casts a spell then snaps his fingers calling out for ink, a quill, and some parchment. Alis quickly obliges directing him to look inside the trunk once again.
Handing the parchment to the tall scribe, Gelik casts a spell and begins reading back information to Jask. The priest likewise casts a spell of his own and the two confer for several minutes, making notes and finally nodding their heads in agreement.
"If this is The Shiv we've crashed upon, it looks like we might be on to something here. Here, look. Ishirou's scrawl indicate that his research mentions that the Reavers had a huge treasure stash hidden somewhere on the island. It dates back to right around the time when that Confederation of Freebooters was found. Ah, yes, that's it!"
Gelik snaps his finger and stands up to his full height... not that the rest of you can tell. "It seems that not all of the captains who troubled these waters after Malatesta gave up Dafar were content to simply extort their gold rather than– ah... working for it. One Captain Quellig and his crew didn't go along with the confederacy and sought to hide their haul on The Shiv. In fact, I think that might be why this place is called Reaver's Shiv. Quellig later got caught by the other captains, who oddly didn't care for his sense of independence aaand... well, died a messy death."
"Anyway," he waves his hands in excitement, "this map looks like it might be the real deal. It's the right age for it to be, and the whole thing was written in code using several different languages and some obscure idioms as well. Naturally, rather a bit too intellectual for your average corsair I suspect."
After he gets thru with praising himself and Jask, Gelik continues, "There's a hilltop on the eastern side of The Shiv about 2/3 of the way south. It says here that 'to find the spot where the treasure is buried, one must climb to the top of the hill and wait for sunrise. At dawn, one must simply walk to a point atop the hill where the Sun seems to be rising directly between the two spike-shaped rocks protruding from the sea to the east.'"
He looks up, beaming broadly, "If that's what our lovely hosts are looking for, then I would wager they'll have a tough time without the old Khek's map and my, er– our detective work!"
Ishirou's Map: Captain Quellig's Treasure
Alis debates everything that the seven of you have presented. "Gelik, see if you can verify beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are in fact on Reaver's Shiv. Jask, is there anything else you can do to amend Priyya and Mal's weakened conditions? I don't like burning thru all our spells so early in the day, but I can't tell you how many desperate situations the two of them have seen me through. The stronger they are, the better chance the rest of us have."
"Of course, your highness, I am at your service."
He takes a few moments to cast his spells upon the two, but they lack much of the impact of his earlier ones. He breathes a bit heavily as he finished, "Regrettably, that will be all the more I can amend their stamina until I pray again when the stars rise tonight."
He looks up, beaming broadly, "If that's what our lovely hosts are looking for, then I would wager they'll have a tough time without the old Khek's map and my, er– our detective work!"
Lureene shakes her head, clearly not liking what the conclusion the gnome has drawn here. "I am sorry, Master Gelik, but that does not make a lot of sense. Why would they maroon themselves here, if they were just looking for a treasure cache? If I was planning this, and I knew of the Shiv, I would not have slaughtered the crew until after I had found the treasure." She sighs theatrically, "At least, I think that is how a bloodthirsty pirate operates!"
She pauses and stretches her wings out, and smiles at Gelik asking sweetly, "Besides, shouldn't they have taken the treasure map with them?"
"Thank you, Jask." Alis nods for Priyya to help him sit down and rest on one of the bunks.
"Mal, Sasha, can the two of you scout out a suitable campsite? This sort of this is more Lara's specialty than mine, so I'll have to trust your judgment as to what will be best. We have water so that won't be a problem, but from what I've seen," she glances over her shoulder at Jask and Gelik, before lowering her voice, "not all of us are well-suited for overland travel or engaging in combat." Therefore, try to give priority to defensibility and a discrete, difficult-to-trail location. If Ieana is responsible, I doubt we can hide from her, but Alton mentioned that Reaver's Shiv is rife with undead and cannibals. If we can avoid encountering any of those then so much the better — hoping that they're simply old sailor's stories isn't a chance I'm willing to take.
"Priyya, Aerys, Jask, the four of us will bury the dead. Lureene, if you could watch our for Gelik, I think he's a bit less likely to... run into trouble if he's with you rather than some of the rest of us right now."
When Priyya raises an eyebrow and Alis' intent to bury all of the dead, she says, "It's not simply a matter of respect, but of survival as well. Besides attracting scavengers, if there really are undead here, I don't want them rising back up. I've heard too many stories of such things happening to just write them all off."
"Am I forgetting anything?"