I got you, Ven, Kris says with a smile, but then she notices Thomas. Thomas! No! Stay back!
She quickly throws up a spell to stop the monster from whatever it was hoping to do.
Thomas hears the shrieking serpent and refocuses himself. He shakes his head and makes his attack.
He was still dazzled by the creature's light, and his strike was a simple half-blind swing.
While Kris and Thomas miss, Raven shoots the Thing again before moving in to jab at it with his dagger.
One and Two slice at the thing, and while One lands a good hit, the monster retaliates by slashing him with its claw!
It then proceeds to rip at both One and Raven.
In a rather comedic turn of events were it not so dire a situation, Thomas attempts to slice the lure off the creature, only to be dazzled by its light.
One desperately fights off the Thing as it threatens his life, landing a solid hit. Two struggles to find success as he avoids the lure's distraction.
Raven was much more able to resist this time, as he got sliced in the shoulder through his armor and Thomas's men were in the mix. One nearly got gutted he moved to try and further pull the things attention. He didn't have any more arrows so he dropped the bow with a splash in the water, drawing his scimitar and circled around it.
"Thomas, snap out of it!" Raven yelled at the man as he seemed mesmerized again.
"Kris, can you try that trick again?"
He followed up with a dagger stab to it's flank before retreating.
I cannot muster the power to stop it, but I can blast it with light!
Kris focused the small light in the room and sends a beam towards the Thing. As she does so, she starts to glow. Light sheds off from the beam as well, illuminating everything around it.
Don't touch the beam! she warns.
The Thing just barely manages to avoid Kris's burning beam. When Raven stabs the demon, it retaliates against him, its claws grazing his arm!
The rogue stabs it again before dashing away. One continues to prove to be a superior warrior as he lands yet another hit.
The Thing is on its last legs, but the furious foe refuses to relent! This time it misses One but hits Two!
Kris concentrates and continued to focus the light. She glows brightly as she does so, making the beam even stronger!
Raven grimaced at the new scratch he'd received. His movement keeping him from getting the worst of the monsters attacks.
Feeling Kris's gaze on him, he settled in for one more attack.
Resisting the orb's pull again, he charged in on his terms.
Raven backed away carefully after the attack, watching to see if he had ended this.
This time, Kris's beam strikes the monster! It screeches in pain and recoils, setting Raven up for the perfect opportunity. He dashes in under the Thing's reach before driving his blade deep into its belly, ripping it open! Steaming hot entrails spill out from the rent in its body, showering the rogue with gore, and he darts away as the Thing topples forward and collapses!
"That was... that was close." Raven said as he caught his breath. He winced as he took stock of the wounds he'd received. Thankfully they were light. He briefly wondered how often he would be so lucky. "That thing would have probably killed us if not for Kris." he looked appreciatively at her.
Of more immediate concern for him was the fact that he was covered in monster guts.
"I'm going to need a bath."
No, Kris says, plugging her nose, I believe you're covered in the evidence that says we wouldn't have killed this thing without you.
Thomas stabs the thing a few more times, just to ensure it's dead. "This lure reminded me of something from my dreams. A golden light from the the depths... though i doubt it was this creature. Let's torch it quickly." The old man motioned to his men to begin the work.
As the egg sacs go up in flames, you look into the next cave. Like the gestation cave, this room is half-filled with water. Mounds of rotting fish and corpses rise above the water—the remains of the Thing’s meals. There is nothing else of value here.
You return to your ship and leave the lurid lighthouse behind. It’s time to return to Freeport and plan your next moves...
Chapter 7: The Queen in Exile
"Listen, we're in the business of hunting down Anne the Red. She's been causing a lot of trouble for folks all over, you two know that better than most. We could sure could use some folk who really know their way around a ship. But Anne's definitely in the way, sooner or later she'll be the cause of another problem.
But that's not all, see I'm personally looking to start my own crew. Got part of a map which'll lead to a big score, and I need some skilled folk like you both. Not saying I need you to be on a ship per se." he says, looking at John directly. "Even just some people here in Freeport who I can trust would be good enough. In this case I'd train you both in how to keep yourselves afloat here. Course, a cuts in it for anyone who helps me actually track down the treasure, I've done enough digging for one lifetime. So, you in?" he turned his gaze from John to Sally, gauging their reactions to either offer.
Jon Stringer and Bloody Sally share a glance before turning back to Raven. "Yeah, we're in," Sally says. "Let's take a look at that map."
Studying the map, Jon frowns. "Hey, I've seen some of this before. Let me see Hawkfaced Jake's journals." He flips through the book before stopping at a page that has been partially ripped out. What remains is a match for Raven's map!
"Yeah, this is it! This must be where Anne stashed the golden lady after we grabbed the other treasures from that island."
When asked to clarify, Jon tells you that all of the troubles started a few months ago. Fleeing from privateers charged with sinking her, the Orphanmaker sailed into the swirling chaos of a tremendous storm to shake off the pursuers, and found itself blown off course untold leagues into uncharted waters. Weeks later, the battered galleon dropped anchor off the shores of the lost continent of Eremeä.
Anne the Red went ashore with a band of her best fighters, leaving the rest of the crew, including Jon and Sally, to make repairs on the ship. After several days, she returned in a hurry, fleeing from a horde of undead monsters. She carried with her a huge chest full of the cursed treasures she has been selling off, along with a three-foot-tall statue of a beautiful woman made entirely of solid gold! Anne hid the statue, which she referred to as the Queen of Gold, on an island on the way back to the Pirate Isles.
It would seem, then, that this map leads to the island where the Queen of Gold is hidden! Such a fantastic treasure would be worth a king's ransom if recovered!
"Well I'll be damned." Raven said, eyeing the completed map as Jon relayed his story. "The Queen of Gold, huh?"
He mused the idea of being rich beyond his wildest dreams, with a wide smirking grin. Then a detail struck him.
"Thomas kept going on about something like that."
After a moment, his grin returned and he reached into his belt pouch.
"Treat yourselves to drink, food, and whatever else you desire on me. Tonight, we celebrate surviving and to the future." he then tossed each of them a pair of gold crowns.
"I've got some things to take care of right now but I'll catch up with you lot later and we'll discuss more details then." with that he turned and ran back to find Thomas. The realization was sobering, still he decided it was probably best to let the old noble know that Raven had found what he'd been dreaming about for the past several months.
... ...
"Thomas! Thomas!" Raven was practically shouting, kicking the door to the noble's study open as he ducked and dashed his way past both 1 and 2. "You're not going to believe what I found!"
He came up to the nobles desk, putting a hand down."I know where it is."
Thomas almost dropped one of the books he'd been reading when Raven burst into his study. Temporarily surprised, his familiar scowl returned quickly. "What? What have you found? Is it time to finally move against that pirate harpie? It feels like she's been one step ahead of us this whole time!"
The older man has cleaned up, somewhat, but his eyes are more tired and distant than ever.
Raven's head tilted to the side. "Well, not her. Not yet. But those folks we picked up, Jon and Sally, they know where Anne's prized treasure is hidden. A three foot statue made of gold. The piece of the map I had was part of their crewmates journal.
That's uh... that's the thing you mentioned you were looking for before, right? The Queen of Gold?"
Eventually, Ven finds Kris to catch her up.
This is good news, Kris says upon hearing the news. We now know the source of the evil and we can scour it from the Urth. We still need to stop Anne and stop her from spreading all these cursed treasures, but maybe if we eliminate the source, the curses on the treasures she is spreading will cease. This is how we shall restore sanity and order to the world.
She smiles at Ven; Good job, my friend. You've once again shown how important you are to everyone.
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Raven grinned at Krislyx's praise.
"Yeah, I guess I am pretty great." he said, smirking.
"Stopping the curses is definitely important, but I figure if we can get this idol, Anne isn't just going to back down and let herself be robbed. Which means we can finally lure her to us on our terms. So yeah, we can make things better around here."
He paused to let the idea hang there. Then Kris's words caught up to him and his normally sharp features softened.
"Friend, huh? Haven't had anyone I could call friend in a long time. Thanks Kris."
Raven shook his head after a moment.
"But we shouldn't be worrying about that tonight. We should celebrate our survival and our future victory, instead. Come on Kris, you should really take at least one night off from your leadership position."
Celebrate? Kris says in confusion, Is that not what we have done for the past month since our return? I have walked amongst the people lifting their spirits, helping them rise to the light. That is celebration.[b] Kris smiles on fond memories.
[B]But now that we have a lead, it is time for us to move swiftly. I shall prepare the boat while you and Thomas get everything else ready.
She leans in to hug Ven before departing.
Thomas is shocked to hear of Raven's dicovery. "A golden woman? I-I'd thought it to be a metaphor or trick by those blasted faries. I never believed that it actually existed!" He stands up, pacing furiously.
"Finally, we can strike back at that salted wench and lure her in on our own terms. Yes, We can set a trap for her and rid these waters of her presence! I need to prepare a ship, and men..." whatever else is reduced to mumbles as Thomas loses himself in thought.
You set sail the next day, following the now-completed map. After nearly a week at sea, you finally near your destination. The Queen of Gold is hidden on a small island: a nondescript, nameless place chosen precisely because it is uncharted, remote, and uninteresting. It lacks any natural harbor or lagoon in which to drop anchor, making it even less appealing or worth going ashore to most seafarers.
The island is a volcanic promontory a few miles across, with a tall, conical peak rising high above the sea, surrounded by a band of thick jungle, then a stretch of black sand beach to the sea. One side of the island has a number of small sea caves, with a bank of broken and jumbled rocks before them being constantly pounded by the surf.
The map indicates that the largest of these sea caves is where Anne the Red stashed the treasure. The cave is large enough for a small launch to sail into. Bipedal, nonhuman footprints in the wet sand within the cave are clear evidence someone other than the pirates has been here, entering and leaving through a narrow cleft in the rock leading up and out into the jungle. There is also a shallow pit dug in the sand, with a partially buried wooden chest at the bottom.
You sure know how to pick an island, Kris teased Ven.
Looking at the footprints, Kris says, Maybe she turned her people into more fish monsters? Let's keep an eye out.
"Oh I know all the best places to go." he said with an amused grin. "Islands with murderous cultists, egg implanting demons, eel wives, cursed objects, fish monsters, nightmare inducing idols, you name it!"
He eyed the foot prints and the chest partially buried in the sand. "I'm not so sure it's necessarily Anne's doing. As much as it is these cursed objects. Seems like monsters are inherently drawn to them. If I had to hazard a guess, that chest there is a trap. We should ignore that for now and make our way to the cave."
About a minute after you enter the cave, Kris and Raven spot the head of a creature peeking out of the water near the beach. It looks like a combination between a hulking human and a vicious shark. The sharkman studies you with its beady eyes before it begins to submerge again.
Thomas inspected the footprints. "I should have surmised there'd be fishmen. Perhaps we would have better luck with fishing nets." Chuckling softly to himself, the old man follows the younger ones into the cave.
I can stop it. Should I stop it? Kris asks, as she pulls out her holy symbol and prepared to cast Immobility.
"This one will alert others!" Raven said, readying his longbow and firing.
But his shot was off, aiming for the neck was easier when he could clearly gauge the body.
The arrow splashes harmlessly into the water beside the sharkman. It snarls before disappearing beneath the waves. It does not resurface...
Raven cursed under his breath as the shark sank down. "Damn, it got away." He eyes Kris, with a questioning stare.
"Why'd you let it go, Kris? We don't have much time now!"
Kris blanches as Ven turns on her. I... I don't know! I.. I was struck with indecision! I didn't know what to do!
Backing away from her accusatory friend, she looks out over the water. Anne got here and got away. Do you think they're hers, or maybe they're part of the island.
Not even believing the suggestion herself, she moves to get the dinghy ready to launch.
"From what I've seen, anything that transforms that far isn't one of hers anymore. Maybe this one never was." he answers her before he realizes she is backing away towards the beach.
He strides to catch up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Kris! What is going on with you? You're the wielder of the Cosmic Egg, right? You keep telling people to stand against darkness. To not hesitate against evil. These things here are monsters. So don't hesitate."
He looks back to deeper in the cave. Besides, we can't leave right now. We haven't found the idol yet."
You're right, Ven. Thank you.
With that, Kris summons her Rainbow. Let's stay back and draw them out, one by one. We can both fire from back here.
With that, Kris advances.
You follow the tracks out of the cave through a narrow cleft in the rock that leads up and out into the jungle. Once beyond the cleft, it takes a couple minutes, but you pick up on the trail leading towards the island's center.
You have only been following the tracks for a few minutes when you hear bellowing snarls from behind you. Looking back, you can see the sharkman you saw earlier pushing its way through the jungle, accompanied by two more of its kind! The trio of monsters charge towards you with hungry gleams in their eyes!
Kris immediately starts to create order around her, summoning up consistent results for herself and Ven.
A grey glow starts to shine out from around her scales, illuminating the area.
"Well, let us take the fight to the floatsam, shall we?" Thomas sneers, readying his weapon to strike the approaching shark-men.
The noble and his men brace to meet the charging creatures as the others stand behind them.
Raven fires two arrows into the nearest sharkman before falling back behind Thomas and his soldiers. They form a wall of steel, readying their blades for the oncoming creatures. The beastmen rush forward, and they lash out, cutting down the sharkman that Raven had shot. The other two snap at One and Two, missing badly!
"Not bad!" Raven said, following up with another shot from his bow. Certainty welled up
Raven's second shot aim was good enough, he chose not to adjust.
Kris draws back the rainbow and a Celestial Arrow appears in the bow, ready to fire. She releases the shaft of light at one of the sharks.
The battlefield crowds as the two parties clash. More worried with keeping the fishman threats back, Thomas and One fail to land a blow. Two, however, does manage to get a cruel slice into one of the remaining sharks.
Raven and Kris both shoot a sharkman, and Two manages a good blow as well. Despite its wounds, the hulking creature remains standing. The creatures bite again, the wounded one managing to grab onto Two and tears at him with its jagged teeth, rending his flesh! The mercenary groans and collapses as blood pours from the wicked wound!
Kris looks on in surprise as Two goes down. Angrily, she fires off another arrow from her Rainbow at the shark who attacked Two.
Raven's worry jumped as he saw just how vicious this next shark monster was. His drive to either slay or distract it pushed him. He took aim at the things leg.
The blood pooling around Two was extremely bad. Worried as he was about his own survival, Raven did not want to lose the familiar bodyguard.
Seeing the vicious attack the one of his men took, Thomas and One step into cover their weakened teammate. Two takes a half-hearted swipe before taking a step back from the fishmen's ire.
Thomas and One take down the wounded sharkman. Two steps back, allowing Raven to administer a healing syringe after firing an arrow into the final sharkman's chest. Kris shoots it as well, and though it is badly wounded, it still manages to take a bite out of Thomas!
"These things are a lot tougher than I thought!" Raven said, taking aim again.
Unfortunately his aim was off as he tried to avoid hitting Thomas when the thing lunged in to bite the noble.
Kris fires her bow!