It's been a few days since your group has left the riverfront town of Laria, and each of you currently find yourselves topside as the boat you're riding, The Wani, is pulled along towards the cursed nation of Ulnswhere. Already you've bared witness to the signs of a shifting climate, the golden fields Elininlitroi had been known for taking on a brown, parched hue the longer you pass by. Along the Alivari life still clings and the plants are green and full, though the heavy forests have never taken root on this river's banks this far upstream.
You don't need to be told by the helmsman that when you finally pass the international border between the two nations, it's something you can sense almost instinctively. All around you the air seems to have become dryer, the temperature no longer the mild range you experienced along your journey Northwest, and clouds have vanished from the horizon. When you look up, you can see with clarity just where the borders of the curse extends. It had been overcast just that very morning, with a promise of rain.
You're not likely to see a single drop of natural rain for months, depending on just how long your journey will take you.
"Sometimes," A shiphand speaks up, an older woman with dark brown hair and eyes. "Avis brings her wind to bare and a good storm will skirt past the border. I've never seen one make it much farther then Wind's Edge though. Not the rainstorms at least. Dry clouds sometimes make it to the plainsland proper, never good when that happens though I hear. The grass is parched in most places, you see. Catches easily."
With a shake of her head, she leaves your motley band to attend back to her duties.
In the distance you see dark shadow rising from the riverbank, those with keen eyes make out the crumbled stonework of an old tower. Perhaps one that watched over the river against invaders during the days when Ulnswhere actually had land that was worth being taken. With the rate at which you're traveling, it might be about half an hour until you pass it by.
The mid-afternoon sun hangs low in the sky.
Mary is no stranger to a ship. She's enjoying the journey.
Mary has long raven hair, green eyes, alabaster skin, good cheekbones, a slight cleft to her chin, a trim figure, and sports a tricorn hat with a bow and plume. She is currently dressed for the cold.
The Northerner is familiar with travel by boat, both from normal cultural activity and from all the travel time it took for her to get this far South. This river-craft combines the worst aspects of ship travel, though. It is too small for her to practice and get her normal exercise, but the trip is slow and taking too long, trapping her in an unfamiliar level of inactivity.
"An old tower? Probably nothing left of interest, but I wouldn't mind the chance to stretch."
Alasayn purses his pale lips somewhat disapprovingly and takes a moment to adjust his long black hair. He peers out from beneath the cerulean parasol he had been holding to look at the tower. In a languid High Osknian accent he says, ”Well, I cannot say I’ve a tremendous desire to go mucking about in a pile of old rocks. Landwalker construction can be rather unreliable with age. Ah, to be back among the coral spires of Ryelth. I digress, if you all wish to proceed in I would be remiss not to accompany.”
Emma Jane stands near her cousin. On sight of the tower, she sings clear an old Stur wanderers song.
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's only me, and I walk alone
The Wastelander seems to smile, with the priestess's words hanging in the air... he's not smiled in days, lost in his own ruminations.
He walks towards her, like a moth to a flame.
Stopping short, he turns to the taller woman. I'd like to stretch my legs, if the captain is willing to make the stop.
I wouldn't mind running through some drills, if you're up to it. They had more in common.
Laying in a quiet, out of the way spot in the sunlight, Dew in the Dawnlight popped up and looked over ship's railing. This took a little effort, but eventually, she managed to take a look at the tower in question. The little Leshy was dressed in her usual garb of leathers and wore decorations of twisted vines and polished wood on her, for lack of a better term, hands and feet.
"I dunno," she said after a moment. She started spinning the three Ioun Stones around one hand, the similar gems on her arm glittering in the light. "Looks kinda boring. I mean, is there likely to be anything in an old pile of stones? I remember the Old Man telling me they always seem to have monsters move in, or bandits, or get haunted by the ghosts of a mad wizard that accidentally shattered the tower in their insane quest for power which tore the souls of himself, his family and his minions and bound there now screaming souls to the very stones themselves."
The stones stopped as Dawn considered this for a few moments. "Hey, can we go take a look?"
"Okay, Dawn, but you have to promise to cook one of your fine meals for us."
As the raft approached the tower Mary cast her net several times, tossing back the ones too scrawny to eat, wondering what the little cook would do with them.
Then she deftly set to filleting them, getting as much of the meat off as possible.
The captain wanders on deck, perhaps sensing with supernatural clarity how someone insultingly called his fine ship a raft within their thoughts. He's a younger man then you'd expect for the role, perhaps his early thirties with bronzed skin and a clean shaven head. A large bushy black mustache wiggles as he speaks, "Hm? You really want us to stop at that old thing? Hasn't been used since before my grandaddy sailed the Alivari. Besides, not in the contract. I'm only taking youse as far as Wind's Edge, and that's that."
"Captain, you'd like some fresh fish stew with the rest of us, right? Can't really light a cooking fire on the boat."
"Besides, I've already gutted and filleted half of these fish already."
The man reaches up to scratch the underside of his chin. "T'ell youse been eatin' these past few days then, eh? Going to hurt Sully's feelings iffin she heard youse didn't want her cookin'."
He shrugs his shoulders in the end with a sigh. "Fine, whatever. Don't come comapling to me if we're not there in the morning though. We've got a schedule to keep."
Turning around, he gives the helmsman a few nonverbal signals Marry can vaguely recognize as he signals him the course change.
Can the contract be amended? I could offer 10gp... and say, another 10gp if we find anything up there.
"Would only be ten then, ain't been nobody there inna hundred years I've said. Twenty would barely buy the tickets that got any one of ye passage at all." The captain says, dismissing Kaliban's attempted bribe. "I stand by what I said. If you want dropped off at the tower, fine. Just don't expect us to be there in the mornin if you take that long."
Fair enough.
"Agreed."
"Quite so. How are we to get to shore? Any of you fancy a swim?"
"Not if you want me fully armed and armored, no. Forget about whether I can or not, and think about how much harm that could do!
[ooc]Depending on the type of boat we are on, it could nestle up to shore, beach, or will have a rowboat of some kind. Based on the insulted feelings of the captain, I guess this one won't beach well or safely.[/b]
"Yeah, gonna need a boat. I can't fly, and I'm one of those plants that reaaaaly doesn't do well when you overwater them." Unlike most sentient plants, Vine Leshy needed air to breathe. They were made in a fair approximation of more meaty creatures and had similar needs, if with a few...quirks.
Shrugging, she added, "We'll just have to swing back when darkness starts being a thing. It doesn't look like it should take that long, I guess."
Looking over at the captain, she added, "Hey, why is there a tower here and, and why isn't there anyone there but ghost wizards? I know everyone probably knows this, but I'm new to..." She considered for a moment. "Everything?"
The captain turns to a ship-hand and mouths 'Ghost wizards?' to them silently, but receives only a shrug in response. "I don't know anythin 'bout ghosts, but I can tell youse that the old watch proly' jus' outlived itself. Wind's Edge has it's own Weathersmith Guild's tower y'see? Ain't as fancy as what you'd see in a big city, but they tend 't be pretty tall."
"Seems like everyone's intent on having a look. You'll get to stretch your legs after all," Emma Jane said to Kaliban as she walked by, having overheard his comment.
Emma recognizes the watchtower from maps she's read of the area, and in addition to recalling it's name (South-Tower, rather unimaginative as far as landmarks go) she also knows there should be a road leading from it to Wind's Edge. If they made good time, they could likely get to the town in about two days of travel. With the boat you'd likely be arriving around noon tomorrow.
Kaliban speaks over his shoulder, avoiding direct eye contact. Guess it's my lucky day. Thanks.
Moving to his gear, he starts to check everything.
"Two days' walk to Wind's Edge if we miss the boat," Emma Jane announces to the group, "Let's try to avoid that."
Captain, are you coming back this way and when? Maybe you can pick us up on the way back, in two days time.
I don't know much about trade or ships, how much would it cost to hire this vessel and its capable crew, for a spell?
"T'ell youse been eatin' these past few days then, eh? Going to hurt Sully's feelings iffin she heard youse didn't want her cookin'."
Captain, are you coming back this way and when? Maybe you can pick us up on the way back, in two days time.
I don't know much about trade or ships, how much would it cost to hire this vessel and its capable crew, for a spell?
"Kaliban, do you really think it will take that long to explore a modest tower? I mean unless it has a complex of excavated passages underneath. Don't waste your gold. We have all night to get back to the ship."
The man nods at the woman. "Should listen t'her, she has the gait of a sailor. Tickets don't come cheap, and we have business further downriver in Lorval. The price of gettin' ye lot t' Wind's Edge woulda cost normal folk a hundred 'n twenty easy. An extra ten or so fer 'er bird."
With a shrug of his shoulders, he turns away to attend to business elsewhere. "Iffin you don't daddle too much, It shouldn't hurt the schedule too much."
Eventualy after a period of time, by the efforts of the Wani's crew of rowers, the ship docks up against an old rotted bridge. A short distance away lies the ruins of the South-tower, one of the many watchtowers that used to cover Ulnswhere's border. This one was meant to keep watch over those coming in through the Alivari, and likely serves as the primary checkpoint for merchant vessels in search of contraband cargo.
Now it's only a mere shadow of it's former self, large chunks of the walls having broken away and an entire corner having caved in on itself. There seems to be a main building, only a single story high, and the tower itself which extends perhaps sixty feet up into the air. Once blue shindles sit in tattered rows along it's curved roof, and there appears to be a large hole on one side.
As you depart the ship in neat little rows, the captain is there to see you off. "You have 'til dusk, ifin 'ye ain't done by then, then we're moving on without youse." His warning given, the captain turns back and starts barking orders at his crew who've already started to slouch off. Just because they weren't moving didn't mean the work stopped.
Before entering what she could assume was an unlit chamber, Mary retrieved and tossed a small burning but heatless mundane gem into the air which immediately took to orbiting her head and (tho it felt paranoid) drew both blades from their scabbards and at the ready.
Her steadfast beastial companion stood nearby, ready to defend her. The hippogriff would have to squeeze to get its wings thru the door.
Dawn can easily recognize an ioun stone when she sees one, and Mary's Ion Torch is no different. The ranger still stands upon the dock, though ready for combat at a moment's notice.
We should check the perimeter, know the lay of the land before going inside. There could be structural damage and natural dangers to be avoided.
To save time, we can split up... left and right, meet on the other side. I'll take point for one group.
Alasayn puts his fingers to his temple and concentrates for a moment. The air ripples around him as barely visible field of force surrounds him.
He then says, "Now that the matter of personal protection is handled, I am ready to venture in. Kaliban, I shall accompany you. A Wastelander such as yourself could use the advice of someone hailing from the height of civilization."
I'll protect you Alasayn, no worries.
"Could be structural damage?" Emma Jane says incredulously, surveying the broken sections of wall. She did not take the optional coursework in Engineering to be able to really know for sure, but with the way this place looked, she felt she could safely guarantee structural damage.
Emma Jane was less quick on the draw than her cousin, though her hand instinctively went to the hilt of her short sword as she looked into the darkness.
Looking at Mary's Ioun Stone, Dawn considered messing with it. She could control the stones. Well...unattended ones. So this one wasn't possible. Still, it might be useful to remember in an emergency.
"Probably," Dawn agreed enthusiastically. "If nothing else the shelter will have brought in some animals. If there aren't any it means that something is eating them." Spinning the Ioun Stones around, she looked quite enthusiastic.
She took a quick look around.
"You would not believe the size of the rats we found on board the Plucked Duckling. Even rabid."
Dawn, while she's not able to find much useful in the general sense, is able to pick up signs of creatures coming and going from the watchtower. Some lead up to the door itself, but also go off a ways towards the west. Near the tower is another set of somewhat fresh tracks, but they seem odd to her. These ones seem older then the other ones do.
Survival (tracking) for Mary: .
Mary is also capable of finding the tracks on her own.
I thought Dawn had pointed out the tracks and Mary was determining what made them.
Mary knowledge [nature]: .
Mary takes a look at the strange tracks, and after some thinking recognizes just why they seem so odd. They weren't made by a normal creature or animal who walked on four legs, no, these were made by something with eight legs that didn't end in feet. That of a giant spider. She knows that spiders of this size and type are likely poisonous, and can most certainly scale walls with ease. The fact that these tracks stop abruptly at the tower, and there's an obvious hole at the top, leads to a few conclusions.
Spiders, giant ones.
Mary shouts "Guys, we got monstrous vermin! Likely venomous!"
Emma Jane, hearing her cousin mention the spider tracks, will move up to where she is, drawing her short sword and gazing around the area. Though her knowledge of nature was superior to her cousin's she took Mary's assessment at face value. She doubted she could identify spider tracks beyond size, though if she saw the beast, she could certainly identify if it was poisonous.
Mary isn't entirely sure how these breed of spiders hunt their pray, but she thinks most of them tend to be opportunistic. There's no sign of it down below on the ground, but her eyes are again drawn to the whole at the tower's top.
Kaliban stalks off to the left and starts to walk the perimeter of the tower... Let's go Alasayn... anyone else joining?
He doesn't wait longer than is needed to be courteous.
He continues with axe and shield at the ready.