Fenna waits a little longer, a couple mor minutes for safety's sake, before she says anything. The delay also gives her time to think.
So... we sort of have a point of origin, kinda have a notion of what direction it's travelling in, and that's all...
When she's confident there's enough distance to whisper without alerting the whatever-it-is, she props herself up on an elbow.
"I think we should sit tight where we are until morning. If we try to move, we have a bunch of problems. We don't know when it might return or whether it will backtrack or return a different way, if at all. Without knowing more than we do now, we're just picking another random place that might be better or worse than this one. We might even make enough noise moving for it to hear us."
"Besides, we had no trouble hearing it coming the first time, when we didn't even know it existed yet. I think we'll hear it if it comes close again. We don't have any reason to think it would be closer next time instead of the same distance away or farther away."
Vexas listens to Fenna in the dark and he's relieved to hear that her plan does not entail them skulking around the whatever-it-is. The rest of the party cannot see him nodding vigorously, as he lay on top of his bedroll.
I think that is the best plan. This creature probably has a routine, and we need not disturb it. We will, of course, need to take turns keeping "watch", as it were, or listening. I am happy to go first.
Brannart quietly assents to the plan.
"Good point, Fenna. We don't know if any other place would be safer."
Those of you not on watch go back to sleep.
Sho and Vexas wake up for the last watch. Partway through their shift they again hear the sounds of the creature moving, this time coming down the caldera.
And, in the faint twilight before dawn, Sho's low-light vision allows her to see what the creature is.
The next morning, Fenna takes a look around near their camp for any signs of the beast, wondering if they might have had a close call. Otherwise, after a quick bites to eat from her rations, she is ready to make the crossing.
"To the boat then? Might as well go early so we save as much daylight as we can. I don't want to have to spend the night over there."
Vexas hears the creature re-enter the lake.
Sho can see this as well (and can tell Vexas what it was if she wishes).
---
Morning comes and you prepare your spells. There is no sign of the creature, though if you look to where you heard it moving you can see its tracks - as well as some patches of bloody goat hide.
The tracks are easy enough for Malakar to identify; this was an enormous crab.
To the boat, as Fenna suggests?
As Vexas studies his spellbook and thinking on their needs in recent days, he prepares one casting of Comprehend Languages instead of two Touches of the Sea.
It is fortunate that this crab did not find its way over to our camp last night. The random, eerie features that he caught glimpses of flash in his mid throughout the morning.
"Yeah," Fenna replies. "Too many oversized things with shells on this island. Remember The ankheg and nest? If something isn't crawling up from out of the ground, it's probably just crawling up out of the water instead."
It is no problem to navigate the raft across the caldera lake.
You head for the western side, which has the best beach for landing.
As you progress, Malakar, a druid attuned to water, can tell that something big is following you at some depth. The giant crab.
As you disembark, it emerges from the shallows, towering over you!
Round 1
Sho
Brannart
Fenna
Malakar
Vexas
Crab
When Fenna is made aware they are being trailed by the crab, she cusses first, then begins preparations for what's to come. She imbues Brannart with Heroism first. Then, just as they reach the shore and begins jumping out of the boat, she begins spurring everyone to hustle and form up to meet the crab as soon as it makes land.
Vexas figures that the crab will be most nimble moving up onto the sand. So he makes for the damaged pier in hopes he can attack it from relatively high ground as it makes land.
@Sho, that would be essentially impossible (it would be similar to a Trip attempt, and this thing's CMD of 29 increases to 41 against Trip). Do you want to just take a shot or 3?
Brannart readies to strike at the crab (and will take a 5' step as part of his readied action if it comes within 15'; he has a 10' reach).
|
Sho sends an errant arrow, her foot slipping in the sifting sands.
Then the ranger focuses her eyes on her target, her hands moving quickly to snatch a second arrow in her quiver.
The second arrow is an harbinger of death in steel, wood and feathers.
It buries deep in the crab's shell, right between its eyes.
Sho lands a perfect shot on the crab, wounding it grievously!
Malakar delays.
The crab lurches towards the party, and Brannart steps forward to meet it. He hits it, but it still does not fall.
The crab snaps at Brannart, but he just barely manages to deflect it with his shield.
Vexas watches in awe as Sho's arrow embeds itself deeply in the crab. He imagines that it now hurts for it to move very much with an arrow shaft doing further internal damage. Maybe there's hope for his little crossbow.
Placing the butt of the crossbow at his right shoulder, he doesn't even realize he's sticking his tongue slightly out as he aims intently through one opened eye.
Fenna follows her usual pattern in such fights. She moves up near Brannart, both to give him some cover with her spear and so she has his protection. She lines up the tip of her weapon on the biggest piece of crab meat near enough to reach and thrusts at it.
@Fenna, this thing has 15' reach, so moving to within 10' of it will provoke an AOO (the only reason it didn't for Brannart was that he took a 5' step).
It's on its last legs - let's see if Sho can finish it, and if not then Brannart probably will.
Malakar moves while drawing a spear and throws it at the crab.
The spear glances off the crustacean's carapace.
Brannart tries to finish off the monstrosity.
The crab falls!
The crab has no treasure, of course.
There is no reaction from anyone who may be in the tower. What do you do next?
Say, we should cut open it's stomach to look for... no never mind. This isn't the time.
The halfling turns and looks up at the tower. He looks to see if there are entrances less obvious than the Front Door.
I would imagine someone in the tower should have heard us by now...
He looks dubiously at it.
Vexas recalls seeing a small cave on the southeastern side of the island, seemingly leading into the interior of the island.
He doesn't see any tracks going up to the front door.
What he does see...
An immense stone double door bars entrance into the building. The right side bears a relief depicting a humanoid woman with ankle-length hair and large butterfly wings holding aloft a single shining star. The left side depicts a stern-looking woman with a blindfold over her eyes holding a single knife above her head, tip pointed down toward herself. At the middle where the both sides of the door join is the symbol of a single spiral with a five-pointed star at its center.
Fenna can tell that the right and left reliefs are Azlanti depictions of Desna and Pharasma, respectively.
Vexas definitely tells the rest of the party about the small cave he noticed. Then, once Fenna and Sho exhaust what they know, the team can decide whether the cave is possibly the more subtle way to enter.
"A shame to have killed such a mighty beast it must have lived long to reach such a size. At least let's not let it go completely to waste."
Malakar will take a portion of crab meat that would serve to feed the group for the next two camps. Anything more than that will likely go bad before use. Afterwards he will do his best to crack the shell at various places and spread meat and guts into the water and on the shore to attract other animals to dispose of the remains and continue the cycle of life.
"Do those two normally work together? I like Desna. I can't say I know more than what is common knowledge on the Lady of Graves tho. If this was once a holy sight maybe the Witch has fouled it?
Fenna looks at the crab, starts to look at Vexas like he's an idiot, then goes back to looking at the crab when he lets his idiotic almost-suggestion trail off unfinished.
"Do you think it a "crab" crab? Or is it some freakish magical mutant? I mean, if it's really crab, it's a pity we have to let it go to waste. The meat turns so fast..."
Looking about a little more, Fenna remarks on the art. "Do you think the one on the right might be Desna?"
Fenna looks at the crab, starts to look at Vexas like he's an idiot, then goes back to looking at the crab when he lets his idiotic almost-suggestion trail off unfinished.
Malakar realizes that by the time he shells the crab and extracts any meat, the crab will have been spoiled by toxins released with its death (as Fenna noted).
Still, there are scavengers that may be able to eat it.
Do you attempt to go in the front door or do you go to check out the cave?
Fenna frowns slightly.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think trying the cave first is best."
Vexas nods at Fenna.
It might be a rougher going, but it's our best chance for a covered entry.
A fifteen-foot-high flooded cave mouth cuts into the steep cliff face at the crater island’s southeastern face. Old, wooden scaffolding props up much of the cave mouth, reinforced by rusted metal brackets and splintered wooden supports.
The water on the floor of the cave seems to be between 2 and 3 feet deep (it will be Difficult Terrain for Vexas).
Vexas could swim, but that is even slower than wading. Swimming is 1/4 speed (1/2 your speed as a full-round action) while difficult terrain is merely halved.
Brannart will, of course, go where requested.
Vexas will suggest he go alongside Brannart up front: Vexas searching for traps and Brannart with his blade at the ready.
The halfling casts light on himself as they enter.
Vexas does spot a trap.
The cave floor does not waver quite the way it should through the shallow water; Vexas discerns that this optical effect is due to the presence of a magical trap.
It appears that passing into the cave will trigger a Sound Burst effect.
A silence spell would thwart this trap, as would disabling the trap, but that is likely to be difficult.
Vexas also suspects that there may be another way to bypass the trap. If this entrance was used by the hag's allies, they may have had a way to avoid triggering it.
Vexas holds a hand upright and back at the rest of the party, signaling for them to hold while he inspects it.
There is a trap here. But I believe I can deal with it.
He kneels down in front of it in the shallow water and inspects its mechanisms, looking for a way to neutralize it.
After half a minute of fiddling with it he announces to the others
It is now safe to pass.
Vexas disarms the trap.
As he is working, the rest of the party take a look at the structure and realize something - the wooden scaffolding holding up the cave roof have been partially cut, weakening them. The Sound Burst would likely have caused a cave-in!
The lower half of the basement is flooded by five feet of water. Mold cakes the walls and ceiling in black blotches, rivulets of water leak from cracks in crumbling masonry, and the air is a foul mixture of musty and sulfuric stink. A wide stone staircase connects this lower level to an upper level of the basement. The masonry of the east wall has collapsed into the basement, revealing a natural tunnel equally flooded with water.
The deep water makes it difficult terrain for Medium creatures, and Vexas needs to swim (or be towed).
Vexas and Malakar spot a small blob on the bottom of the water. It seems to be some sort of creature, but neither knows anything about it.
A single eye stares unblinking from an amorphous blob. A transparent pseudopod extends from the mass, ready to strike.
Surprise Round!
Vexas
Malakar
Fenna
Sho
Brannart
Enemy
Vexas gets nervous about having to swim, thinking
I need to get to those stairs!
Only a single action in a surprise round, but I'll say you can have pre-cast Touch of the Sea as the water was getting deeper.
As Tucci moves into the room, he sees two more blobs!
They do not seem to have reacted to his presence yet.
To his left, the southern side of the room is mostly a solid wall, aside from an archway near the other side of the room that has ascending stairs.
Vexas is going to sit tight where he is now, a little afraid to venture out into the waters alone.