Lureene nods in agreement, "Ohhh yeah, I remember that now. Sorry 'Lis, but I still have trouble remembering details of what happened that day, I hope you understand..."
She looks out towards the east, and adds, "I don't think it takes a genius to figure out where she went...but now the question remains, where can she go after this. Does she plan to use a flight spell to escape the Shiv?"
Sasha gives Lureene an odd look. "What, did you hit your head? We've only been here for a few days, silly! Oh and what hut?"
She leans down and looks Darvesch in the eyes, mouth scrunched to one side as she ponders his ratty doooom.
Lureene rubs the back of her head and shoulder where her wing joint meets her shoulder blade, trying to remember what actually did happen to her. She knows what Alis told her about being knocked out the other day, but the actual details of what happened during the combat escape her.
She responds to her redheaded bosum buddy, "As soon as I remember, I will tell you what happened."
A thorough search of the room reveals that the crate and barrel both came from the White Pearl. Until rather recently, the barrel was a full wine cask containing a rather nice Chianti; the crate having contained an assortment of rations from the ship's larders. Judging by the amount of wine and food left, you would estimate the amount of food missing is only sufficient to have fed a single person for five days. There's still enough left to feed a single person for about another month.
Looking outside the window, you can see that the smell Priyya and Darvesch detected were the remains of uneaten food scraped off a plate and discarded. Evidently Ieana didn't want to attract any vermin.
Time: 3:30et (evening, 9:30)
Darkshoal: Pre-First Quarter
Alis sighs a bit. "Well, it doesn't look like there are any more clues here, and judging by that light show earlier I'd say it's a pretty safe guess that Ieana is already at Red Mountain. Was there anything else any of you wanted to investigate here or should we get going?"
Lureene stretches her wings out, "Yes, we need to get going before that Cullos brute returns. I just do not like the idea of leaving Scather outside where anyone could walk by and pick it up."
She looks at Alis speculatively, "Do you think the sword would be safe in your chest?"
Squeak..
Alis frowns and cast a sidelong glance at Lureene. Darvesch's apprehensive squeak seemingly mirroring her own thoughts on the subject. "We are not stashing any evil artifacts inside the trunk containing all my nice things, Lureene."
"Er–" Sasha's forehead wrinkles at the mention of Alis' Ample Chest™. "I know that thing can hold a lot but we're not going to carry that back tonight are we? Can't we..."
She looks around. "Can't we just haul all that stuff inside and lock the door behind us? We're coming back here later anyway, right?"
Lureene flushes in embarrassment at the friendly(?) rebuke from the Princess. Well I suppose I would not want that blade anywhere near MY chest, if the situation was reversed.
"Sash, you are right. We are going to return here, so no need to take that blade with us, I guess. I am just worried about leaving it unattended, that blade is quite powerful..."
Alis' looks about ready to bestow a tongue-lashing upon Sasha for yet another person giving her lip about her trunk when she holds her tongue. "Hmm."
She step out past the taller woman and has another look around the vast, cluttered, northern room. "You know, with all the 'junk' in this room, unless someone was able to detect magic, I bet hiding my trunk and that sword in here wouldn't be too difficult..."
She jogs back out to the guard room and inspects it at great length. "You know, I'm not seeing any hidden release mechanisms for the door out here... If the rest of us walked out, Lureene could lock it from the inside and just glide back down. The only way to get back in would be climbing or flying and the lighthouse's stonework is finished to a higher standard. It wouldn't be an easy climb with big fingers..."
Priyya states her position with concision, "Under no circumstances is that blade being left here. I'll tie a rope around it and drag it if need be."
Lureene nods in agreement at Alis' plan and stands up ready to head out to store all of their loot in the tower, when Priyya's declaration snaps her back to reality.
Oh great, how will I convince her to leave the blade here?
Looking at Priyya and the set look in her eyes, she realizes there was NO way she would be dissuaded otherwise. Still she had to try...
"Priyya, I am not sure if it is even safe to handle the blade. How do you propose handling it?"
Alis quietly looks at Priyya and nods slowly, noting that the issue is not open to debate. She bites at her lower lip in thought knowing that Lureene's concerns are also not without considering. At length, she says, "I feel badly bringing something like that into Aycenia's home, but I'm sure she would regret it falling into the wrong hands as much as we would. In any event, she still needs our help with that cursed island so I suppose she can't very well object too strongly."
Stretching a bit to loosen up for a bit of heavy-lifting, she says, "Priyya, why don't you and Sasha see about getting the sword. Sasha, you know how to truss game with knots, maybe you can rig up something."
"Ooh, you mean like a spit or a litter?"
The princess laughs, "Whatever works, right? Hopefully if none of us say it's name it won't activate again..."
Alis squats next to one end of the trunk and points to the other end, "Lureene, give me a hand with the trunk and we can all get going."
"Sure thing, 'Lis."
Lureene flexes her muscles, although she thought they were admittedly still kind of flabby, and grips the other end of the chest, "Whenever you are ready..."
All it took was a bevvy of spiders fleeing out from under the trunk to make Alis lose her grip. Although Lureene did an admirable job on holding on, her friend's complete spastic breakdown quickly resulted in a tumult that Priyya and Sasha could hear all the way across the village. Fearing an ambush, the two raced back, swords in hand to find both girls sprawled on the ground, Darvesch resting a small paw on his face and shaking his head. Priyya notes that Alis and Lureene appear to have matching contusions on their foreheads.
"Don't. Ask."
Returning to their work, the two swordswomen continue to hear a great deal of commotion and arguing coming from the guard room before at last the scraping sound of something large and heavy being pushed across the floor resounds. When the two reappear, Alis from the door, followed by Darvesch, and Lureene gliding down from the parapets, the princess is walking gingerly like she just stubbed all of her toes, and the succubus is sucking on a cracked knuckle.
Str Checks
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Dex Checks
Str Checks
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"What the hell happened to you two? Get into a cat-fight or something?"
Looking down, the two moving-impaired blondes can see that Sasha has wrapped a tarp around the blade, cinched it up with some cord, and lashed a splint onto each end as a handle. The black glare the huntress gets from the blonde bombers makes her whistle. "Uh– so yeah, I think maybe Sarah and I should carry it, huh..."
Priyya finds herself silently agreeing with Sasha on this one...
"Yeah, I think we should take that."
Lureene lets loose a mighty jaw-cracking yawn, as she sucks on her bruised knuckle. Ow! She does NOT play fair! Turning her attention to the village looking for any threats, she notices how dark it has gotten now, the only light coming from the twin moons of Elsemar.
”Should we try swimming back, or just stick to the trail?”
How the hell did she slam her hand inside the lid anyway? The damn thing was locked!
Standing on one leg and massaging the toes on her other foot, Alis asks, "The only reason we swam was to infiltrate the village by sea. Why would we swim back?"
Lureene looks at Alis a confused look in her eyes, "Sorry, I was just concerned about the others, but since Mal is with them...they should be fine."
She shrugs, "Well, we should be OK traveling on land, the only thing we need to keep an eye out for is Cullos, and his oversized pet!"
Time: 4:30et (evening, 10:30)
Darkshoal: Pre-First Quarter
For an hour, you head north along the long trail approaching the giant's camp, Sasha leading. From what you can see, it looks like Cullos and his over-grown pet came this same way and then headed east into the jungle about half-way up the trail. Before long, you find yourselves leaving the trail behind as you approach the the spot in the river where Sasha caught up to you earlier.
Alis just about to swim on ahead when Sasha calls out, "Hold up, princess, need your help here. Priyya, keep your end up, gotta tie a loop around the guard. We'll just pull it across like a big fishing lure."
After a few moments of quick knot-work, the ranger hands the rope to the groggy blonde who plunges in and swims across like it was nothing. With a squeak, Darvesh dives in after her and ably paddles across, his new form giving him a much easier time than his normal one. Priyya and Sasha soon follow suit leaving just Lureene behind eyeing the water nervously — the river here being too broad to jump across.
Hesitantly, she puts a foot in, but her wings, drooping from the weariness of the long day, catch the current and immediately begin sweeping her downstream.
"The rope! El, grab the rope!" With a tug, Alis pulls Skather free and it splashes into the river not far from the succubus. Although she flails out for it, Lureene isn't able to grab hold and starts getting swept away, her wings pulling her downstream.
With a sigh, Alis hands the rope to Priyya and dives back in to rescue her retainer. A short time later, the two emerge on the north bank and begin hiking back along the cliff towards the rest of you.
Sasha giggles a little bit but says nothing as she fishes Skather back out of the river.
Perception Checks
[ REAVER'S SHIV: Map | Position (024 - River Crossing) | Overland Rules ]
With a look to Alis and Lureene, "Squeak"
Time: 0:00 nf (nightfall, 12:00am)
Darkshoal: First Quarter
It is almost exactly the zero-hour when your group trudges into Aycenia's grove, damn near exhausted. Within, by a small fire, you see Jask, Gelik, and Aerys resting while Malandraenas and Talvyra sit in sullen silence keeping watch. The big hunter is already aware of your approach even before you arrive, and he breathes a slow, silent sigh of relief seeing that everyone has made it, his green eyes fixed on Priyya as he stands and steps forward.
"The dryad said you were victorious," his voice is a loud whisper, "It's good to see you four made it. I take it the dwarf didn't?"
Noting that Grak is gone and that Lureene instead has a large rat following her, he wrinkles his brow and whispers loudly, "You get tired of that flying snake or something?"
Before Lureene or Darvesch can protest, Alis steps in front and pokes the big man in the side. "Hey, what did you think of that lilac perfume I wore for my dance?"
Awoken by the sound of conversation, King Tut races down the hill from Aycenia's tree and leaps into Alis' arms. The princess continues gazing up at Mal, a curious expression on her face.
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The ranger's lip curls and he looks at Priyya for a moment. He then grabs her arm and sniffs at her wrist, gazing at her pale skin intently. "What the hell are you talking about, woman? I thought you quit wearing that lavender crap after I told you it was attracting bugs. You mean to tell me you brought something else with you and got perfumed up before the fight?"
He lets go of her hand, eyes narrowing, "You're not chewed up either. What, did you take a damn bath afterwards too? It's been hours since we swam out of there! Aerys and I had half a mind to go back and check on you, but the dryad needed to rest after the stun she pulled."
It doesn't take a mind-reader to see that Mal's clearly pissed-off at the notion.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak.." he says to Mal.
OK good.
Alis nods, seemingly satisfied. "Just wanted to make sure you were yourself. Ieana wasn't at the village and there have been a few too many run-ins with domination spells recently for me to be at ease... especially when I expect I'd have to head down to the shoreline and break the spell on you myself."
She turns around and picks up Darvesch, leaning over slightly as she does. Holding him up right in front of her face, she adds, "And no, I didn't put on any perfume or take a bath. Things were... complicated."
With that, the Princess of Silverwake does something that makes you wonder if she's lost her mind. She closes her eyes, puckers his lips and kisses Darvesch the Ratty Doomed upon the lips!
"Aawww gross!"
As Lureene watches the kiss, a blush creeps up on her face, it would be very noticeable if not for all the attention focused elsewhere.
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There is a blinding flash of light that spreads outwards encompassing Darvesch's body, making him glow like the sun. As you avert your eyes, Alis places him back on the ground where he quickly increases in size and mass, his tail disappearing and his dwarven form reasserting itself!
With a flourish, Alis drapes a cape from her backpack across his shoulders with which to cover himself. She gives a small sigh of relief before pinching a hair from her tongue and flicking it away.
"Welcome back, cousin."
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Seeing now what Alis meant by having to break the spell herself and who the rat actually was, a rather profound, "Oh!" escapes the big man.
Noting that Grak is gone and that Lureene instead has a large rat following her, he wrinkles his brow and whispers loudly, "You get tired of that flying snake or something?"
As she belatedly realizes he asked her a question, she responds, "Grak was killed earlier this evening, which banished him to the nethers where he resides. I won't be able to summon him until the next day."
"Killed huh? Well good that you can get him back at least."
The hunter is clearly distracted and steps around Alis to look at her appraisingly. At length, he says, "You know, I had my doubts there for a while, but I guess you're the real thing, huh?"
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Nice...
Alis merely shakes her head, a short laugh escaping her as she rolls her eyes. "Just be glad Aycenia helped you. Otherwise you might have some explaining to do..."
With a wink, she gives a wave of her hand and walks off, pulling Darvesch's gear out of her pack and stacking it nearly on a blanket by the fire. "I'm going to go sleep now, try to keep the cries of jubilation to a minimum, please..."
For a moment, Mal looks like he's about to say something before he stops himself and turns a questioning gaze towards Priyya, mouth agape and thumb pointed at Alis' back.
Lureene stares at the retreating form of Alis, wondering what she meant by that last remark. She knew she was missing something...but for the life of her, she knew not what.
She decides maybe sleep would provide some answers to that question and many more running through her mind. She yawns and gives a good night hug to Sasha, while waving nighty-night to Darvesch and the others. "Good night, Sash. Good night Priyya, Darv, Mal. Thank you soo much for all you have done for us. See you in the morning."
She then hurries off after Alis, hoping her blanket was big enough for the both of them, but not caring at all if it wasn't.
"It's good to be back. Now, not to be rude, but I'm exhausted. I'll see you in the morning." Darvesch embraces sleep easily, thankful that his form has been returned, paying no mind to the fact he's still nude.
Priyya can only shrug at the interplay between Mal and Alis. She sits down by the fire. She nods to Aerys, Jask, and Gelik. "Nice to see you folks alive. Let's try to keep it that way."
Priyya lapses into silence, eyeing the wrapped sword and debating how best to keep it hidden and, eventually, destroy it.
Aerys pushes herself back to her feet and clasps her arms around Priyya, embracing the shorter woman. "To be bustin' in and rescuin' us like that... don't know how I'll ever be repayin' you, Priyya, but... thanks."
Gelik groans and sits up on his bedroll at the sound of conversation. "You made it? I mean you made it! Haha! Oooh oww..."
The gnome rubs his shoulders and shakes his arms as he stands up. "If I never go swimming again it will be too soon. Now then, please tell me this means we will be getting off this accursed island soon! You've secured the lighthouse and killed off the giant cannibals, that's all we had to do, right?"
"By the by, where did Alis and Miss Lureene get to, I should welcome them ba– AAaaack!" Looking around for the blondes, she instead gets an eyeful of Darvesh laying on the cloak Alis gave him, naked as the day he was born.
Lip curled in distaste he grumbles, "Not the naughty bits I'd have cared to behold... Our good dwarf hasn't decided to go native on us I hope. I'm pretty sure he'd find me stringy..."
Aerys pushes herself back to her feet and clasps her arms around Priyya, embracing the shorter woman. "To be bustin' in and rescuin' us like that... don't know how I'll ever be repayin' you, Priyya, but... thanks."
Priyya returns the hug but dismisses the matter with a wave, "No thanks necessary. Wiping out evil is what I do. As for saving you... I'm just ensuring Alton's sacrifice wasn't in vain. It's the least I can do."
To Gelik, she says with an amused smile, "Sorry to disappoint you.. but we have to help Aycenia here deal with some sort of encroaching evil growth from what is likely to be an undead-haunted, utterly inhospitable, nearby island."
She can't help torturing the irritating gnome a bit more with wild speculation. "... And then there is the Red Mountain Devil that you folks were going to be sacrificed to. We have to destroy it as well. And stop Ieana from fulfilling her diabolic plan. So we have a bit more to do here."
On a roll, Priyya draws more from her imagination. "Oh, and we have to accomplish all that fairly quickly to prevent the island from submerging as foretold in the prophecy. If that happens, we'll really have things to worry about... since it will bring about the return of the nightmare Elder God."
Aerys narrows her eyes a bit at Priyya's joking, but Jask looks more than a bit worried. Even as Mal does his best not to snicker, Sasha giggles a bit.
"Oh ha HA!" Gelik slaps his knees in mock amusement. "Well that doesn't sound so bad actually. Here I thought maybe I'd need to be concerned about you getting bored and using me for fishing bait... again."
"Fishing bait?"
Mal scratches his head and looks to Priyya wondering what the hell the gnome is going on about.
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Jask gives a very solemn sigh. "Master Aberwhinge, did you not also partake of the crab meat that Sasha caught? Would you begrudge doing your part that we all might eat? You were unharmed..."
Sense Motive Checks:
Jask's completely deadpan delivery causes Gelik's jaw to hang slack, the gnome completely at a loss for words. Aerys does her best to hide her amusement by turning her face away so she can walk up to Sasha and give her a hug.
When Mal gives the huntress a look of exasperation, she holds up a hand, one arm still around Aerys, and says, "Well the real crime is that Alis suggested it but then didn't have any butter in that big chest of hers for the crab meat. That's just cruel!"
"Alis said...! Really...?"
Even as Aerys' laughter finally rings out, the crestfallen expression on Gelik's face really does warm the heart. He looks over in the direction of the two blondes snuggled up together in Alis' hammock and his shoulders slump.
"Hmmph!" With a look of resignation, he returns to his bedroll, saying sourly, "Oh go cuddle up with a sea urchin... Or the dwarf. It looks like he's ready for you."