A Push of the Fates.... Zakhara... You Jewel!

Game Master Insnare

Nura grabs Uthman by the arm and pulls him to his feet, pushing him towards the boat. "Let's go!" she shouts, looking to see where the others are.

PLease give me a DX check to see if you are able to be fast and nimble enough to get aboard before the hermit crab completely submerges.

Dex Check (14): 1d20 ⇒ 17

"Whatever this is has disappeared!" Uthman shouts as he finds himself in the unenviable position to be swimming.

Dexterity Check (16): 1d20 ⇒ 16

Dex check (14): 1d20 ⇒ 8

Fadilah rushes for the boat, stumbling as she goes, and barely manages to get herself to the edge, her legs hanging over and dangling in the water.

Zairiah narrowly succeeds in getting back aboard the boat, and immediately starts working on freeing the anchor so that the ship doesn't get dragged under as well.

Dex check (17): 1d20 ⇒ 17

Nura only barely manages to clear the "island" before it sinks away beneath her feet. She grabs at Uthman to help pull him from the water.

Uthman flails about in the water inexpertly, trying to reach and grasp the side:

Swim 13: 1d20 ⇒ 20

Climb (I assume STR?) 13: 1d20 ⇒ 7

Seamanship: 1d20 ⇒ 14

Nura swings the ship in close enough for the others to grab Uthman.

It seems as though Uthman is lost to the sea, Nura quickly gets a bearing of where Uthman was and pilots the ship in that direction, tacking the sails just right.

Uthman's head goes under not being able to tread water but he grabs a piece of barnacle on the hull of the ship and is able to climb his way above water and eventually lay himself flat on the deck of the ship.

After coughing out water, Uthman thanks Nura, "I am glad you were able to come back closer. . .I thought for a minute my fate had been sealed."

Now that everyone is safe, Zairiah is able to relax a little bit and she says

Wow, that was quite an adventure. Quite strange that such a creature would be floating on the top of the water. I knew that coming along with you lot would give me marvelous stories to tell.

Can I get some seamenship checks to get you guys back on course?

Seamanship (untrained) Dex 16: 1d20 ⇒ 11

Seamanship 15: 1d20 ⇒ 3

"Yes, much better to be back aboard the ship than beneath it my friends! Haku be thanked for the winds that push our sails!"

Uthman with Zairiah's help is able to get the ship sailing away from the giant hermit crab and toward Genie' Turban island chain as the Bard had told you the map.

As night falls the bard beckons you all to meet him on the bridge and he says, "We need to be extremely careful tomorrow as we approach the island that is named the Isle of Flowers because the major sea lane to get to the safe village is preyed upon by the Corsairs of the City of Hawa."

He first outlays the map you acquired from the old lady and then one from the charts from the ship:

MAPS

These are maps of the same area?

The Bard takes out a grease pencil and circles the modern map of the Island of Gardens and says, "Yes, the map you got from the old lady was just of the Island of Gardens and not of the entire Genie's Turban."

I cannot get the pen to work on the drawing... bliny..

I see how it matches up now. Thanks. :)

So, should we approach from a different direction, or just expect an ambush?

"I do not know the area enough to know if there IS a safe direction to approach from. . . either way, I would suggest we be prepared for an ambush."

He says, "I guess you can call it an ambush or we may just come upon some corsairs, it is their sealane, so we just ought to be careful."

I am going to need some seamanship checks.

Zairiah studies the map and tries to help get the ship to its destination safely.

Seamanship (untrained) Dex 16: 1d20 ⇒ 6

Seamanship 15: 1d20 ⇒ 9

Seamnanship (18): 1d20 ⇒ 17

You get the ship underway towards the island, trying to avoid the main sealane to Hawa.

You navigate the ship between the target island an another islet and you cast your eyes on it. The island has abundant foliage
and flowers only along its coasts. The island rises
from slightly above sea level along its eastern and
southeastern face to a towering cliff about 2,500 feet
high. To the southern end of this cliff, twin waterfalls
which plunge several hundred feet are visible even
from the sea up to 16 miles away. The cliff slopes more
gently to the interior, with the land falling gradually
until the western edge is at sea level again.

You bring the ship to the village which is marked "Friendly" on the old map and as Al-Azra’Wadi on your modern charts. Set between two picturesque natural coves, facing the Island of Firethorns across
Chaos Bay, and surrounded with light jungle liberally
sprinkled with lovely sky-blue orchids.

Through the spyglass, you can see that several small houses are gathered around a central marketplace, and small plots of garden and
farmland lie nearby.

Do you dock?

I vote yes, although the whole "friendly" label on the map makes the whole thing seem vaguely like a trap to me for some reason.

Fadilah has mostly been just hanging on to the ship at this time, as she doesn't have any skill at sailing.

As the latest island comes into view, she says, "Should we put into port to top off our fresh water and get some fresh food?"

"Aye, we will dock and see how friendly these people are," Nura says, steering towards the port.

Seamanship (18): 1d20 ⇒ 14

Uthman nods and helps to steer into the dock.
Seamanship (15): 1d20 ⇒ 5

You sail the ship as close as you can and then you break out the oars and you row her into the dock. As you get closer you can tell that the village is inhabited by a smorgasbord of races.

As you tie up your ship on the dock, a halfling woman dressed as a sailor walks up to greet you and she says, "Welcome to Al Azra'Wadi. I am the first citizen of this village. My name is Alima bint Khayri and who are you?"

Zairiah smiles

Greetings Alima. My name is Zairiah. We are honored by your presence.

We wish to trade here before continuing our journey. Where might that be done?

She says, "Well met, we follow the ways of the Loregiver. We have fruits and fish and what makes our island fairly famous in Hawa, orchids that we use to make perfumes and dyes. Go down that path to the left and you shall see some stall where these things are sold."

Thank you. Does the Loregiver ask that we behave in a certain way while we visit? We do not wish to offend.

The Loregiver is a setting wide religious figure which we would all revere- he's the equivalent of the Prophet Muhommed

"We thank you, kindly, for your hospitality, fair maiden."

I would say the Loregiver is less religious and more cultural than say mohamed.

The woman cackles at being called a maided and says, "I am in quas-retirement. I assume you are going to go into the interior. Hawa is a short cruise from here but of course labyrinth is a mite tricky."

"The labyrinth?" asks Fadilah, her interest piqued. "Tell us more, please."

Nura leans in to listen intently about the labyrinth.

The woman says, "It is one of the protective measures of the city of Hawa to traverse it you need to have an excellent sailor and navigator at the helm. It is treacherous. Anyway, you probably have better things to do thant to listen to an old woman."

Is there anything you want to buy from the market before you head off into the interior to try and find the Golden River?

Zairiah goes to the market and looks over the wares, trying to find something interesting or unusual, and if nothing else to pick up a souvenir of her travels so far.

Zairiah picks up some orchids that are typical from this village.

You can hire a guide to take you into the interior or you could go it on your own.

In addition to some souvenirs, you buy enough rations and water to last about ten days in the jungle. You set off following the map the old woman had given you.

As you travel you can see and hear small greenfaced monkeys, brightly plumaged birds, and other small
animals along the way. The monkeys follow the party for
a while, chattering at them, swinging from vines, and
throwing bits of bark or nuts at you.

"Ugh. Simultaneously adorable and highly annoying," says Fadilah, after about the fifteenth time she's hit by a piece of bark or a thrown nut-shell.

Hey, at least they aren't throwing something worse. I'm taking that as a good sign. I wonder what all of these creatures would tell us if they could speak. Would they just say "get out of our jungle" or would they warn us of danger, or tell us about what they had seen? You told me that you had encountered a talking fish, and I've been wondering about things like that.

"yes, but alas, it is not something we could truly know. I could try to approach them?" Uthman offers, and if one is close enough, he attempts to approach it using his skill with wild beasts.

Wild animals get a save vs. rods against ranger's ability

Save 1d20 ⇒ 1 Fail,

Uthman approaches one of the monkeys in the trees and it stares quizzically at him, while its friends scurry away.

What do you want to do with the monkey?

Can you truly talk to it?

Oh, I will just feed him some berries and let him ride on my should for a few minutes before sending him back to the treetops

"No, it's not speaking, but animals do tend to like me and I have a certain empathy with them."