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Hewit finishes hand out the rations and sits and listens to the group talk. He nods and smiles at Jask when he explains his skill with wounds. I will be good to have someone else who can keep us healthy.
When there is a quiet moment after Davor introduces himself, Hewit takes his turn at addressing the group. "For those who I have not met, my name's Hewit Nichaetou, priest of Erastil and representative of the Lumber Consortium in Andoran. My skills lie mainly with magic and healing, though I am also skilled with the bow. I can hunt pretty well, though stealth is not a strength I would attribute to myself."
"Along with Jask, I figure we can keep people healthy here. And this camp should serve us all well for now. With some luck, we can hunt enough so the rations we salvaged will last."
Sasha
When Gregor mentions the poison Sasha easy smile drains completely. "So thats how its gonna be? I am the Villain in all this. She knows poison So she must have tried to kill us."
"If I remember correctly she tried to burn us with acid, why don't you accuse her?", she shouts pointing at Kenderella. Then she runs off out onto the beach and does not return for some while.
Ishirou
"You all nice talk. But real is we all lost here without ship. We all die, now or tomorrow or next month, but all die. Disease, Animals, Wheather all against us." Ishirou is apparently not very much into group therapy.
Aerys
Later on that evening you are walking on the beach checking for signs of trouble, trying to order your own thoughts, when Aerys approaches you.
"I wanted apologize for earlier. If I expect to be taken serious I should behave this way. I know this is a difficult situation for all of us and I am glad you guys are trying to help us all."
When Sasha jumped up to take off Gregor shouted Hey. Stop. Im not accusing you. He started running to follow her. Im just Trying to find out what you know is all. He ran to catch her. he wasnt going to let her be off alone on the island. Be careful its dangerous alone. Im not going to let some beast have you for lunch
later he found himself down by the surf looking at the stars and his maps and trying to get an idea where they were.
When Gregor watches the turf, he a larger flock of birds flying southwards as well as various flying fish farther out. Due to his knowledge of their migration patterns he is able to discern that you are still quite a bit of from the main land, but no more then 50 miles.
Sasha is not really in the mood to talk to you, but let herself be lead back to the camp later.
Also please note Aerys is trying to talk to you and waiting for an answer.
Father Kerndrew watched Sasha run. Hmmm... guilt? Best keep an eye on that one....
He speaks up finally to introduce himself. He starts with a look over to Davor. "I too am here, running from my past, I suppose. It's a little more round-about than just joining a ship's crew, but the path lead me hear nonetheless."
"Once upon a time, I was a sort of miscreant. More than that; let's be honest. I was involved in organized crime with the Sczarni family. I thought that what I was doing was of little consequence--crimes of vice that only impacted those that participated." His eyes cast down to the hard floor of the cave before continuing.
"Well, I learned in a very hard way that wasn't the case. I decided it could no longer be the life for me, and the church of Iomedae, the Inheritor, took me in and helped make sure the Sczarni's could no longer harm me." He looks up, a darkness in his eyes. "Organized crime like that can be very hard to leave... I still keep one eye open when I sleep, worried they'll be there when I awake."
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Later, when the group starts organizing and planning, Father Kerndrew pulls out a detailed map. He gathers the others around as he tries to figure out where they are. "I picked up this map before I boarded; hopefully it helps!"
When Sasha runs off Davor considers following but decides that maybe she needs some time. He glances around at those remaining. "I know we need to focus on survival, but we also need to figure out what happened. The ship was gutted, killing all of the crew except me since I like sleeping in the open air, and the mate since he and the captain slept on the upper deck with the paying passengers. We've found the body of the mate, but the captain...." He looks around, obviously thinking. "Wait a minute! We're missing one of the passengers too! The captain's not accounted for, but what about the passenger, Ieana? Woman wearing tan robes and a bright colored scarf?"
Crossreferencing your map with the charts from the captains cabin you are able to determine that you are on a small island named Smugglers shiv. Its located about 40 miles from Eleder, but unfortunately away from the main shipping lines.
Read all applicable sspoilers according to your dice
DC 10
Smuggler’s Shiv is a notorious island north of Eleder. It’s not shown on most maps, but is rightfully feared by those who ply the waters of Desperation Bay. The island is named not only for the knife-like shape of its coastline, but for its uncanny habit of wrecking ships that draw too near—mostly smugglers eager to avoid detection by Sargava’s navy.
DC 13
It’s commonly believed that the shores of Smuggler’s Shiv are haunted by the ghosts and ghouls of the sailors who have died on the jagged rocks and reefs surrounding the island. These rumors are supported by reports of several failed attempts to establish long-lasting colonies on the remote island.
DC 16
When Sargava was first settled, Chelish engineers erected a lighthouse on the Shiv’s southwest shore. The light was intended to warn approaching ships of the dangerous waters and, eventually, was to have been the first building in a small colony. The light and all plans for colonization were abandoned just before completion amid rumors of curses, haunts, and cannibalism.
DC 20
Rumors hold that a group of shipwrecked Chelish soldiers, survivors of an attempted Thrune invasion of Sargava some 70 years ago, were stranded on the island. The rumors claim that they degenerated into a cannibalistic society, and that their descendants scour the isle’s shores for shipwreck victims to add to their meals.
"Geography I do not think I can help you with that. But as I said, I can help protecting the camp.", she answeres follow silent afterwards.
Some time passes when Aerys takes her courage
" But I have a favor to ask of you. As you have seen, I have some problem with alcohol. I am not proud of this but its like a disease and I don't think I can shake this habit by myself. But I have heard that viper nettle berries can be made into a ta to help getting rid of this addiction. They are supposed to grow in this climatre, so if you happen to come acrossthem, maybe you could bring me a few handful."
Gregor makes his way back nodding to Aerys thinking what hed heard of Viper Nettle Berries before answering. Certainly. If I can be of any help. Let me know. Your sword arm will be needed for certain, as your perception skills.
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Hewit looks over at Davor as he voices the concern for the missing passenger. "I kind of recall seeing her onboard but never had much of a chance to speak with her. To be honest, I forgot all about her."
Hewit thinks for a second then adds further. "Davor, we also found the cooks body. While he seems like a good suspect for poisoning our food, I feel he is more likely a victim as well. He died of a more dangerous poison, apparently delivered by the bite of a very large snake."
Hewit looks around uncomfortably and finishes by voicing his fear. "Some of you know these waters more than I, what snakes could be responsible for such a bite?"
Davor nods at Hewit's words, "Right. The bite marks.... That must have been a big snake! How big do sea snakes get?"
"So another mystery.... Who's keeping a pet giant viper?"
"If anyone spots that, scream really loud so we can all work together to kill it quick!"
"I know we'd typically be expecting wild creatures in this kind of environment, but I think I know where we are for sure now... Smuggler's Shiv." He points to it on his map, and goes on. "I wouldn't want to think this to be true... but this island is known for ghosts and ghouls. There's one other kind of undead that might leave those marks...." He leaves that hanging in the air, not speaking the name vampire aloud, before he continues to explain what he knows about Smuggler's Shiv.
Kendrella moves over to pat Ishirou's arm. "Don't give up hope yet. We might be stranded here on this island, but we're still alive, healthy and with the skills necessary for survival. This will be another part of our lives now and it's up to us to make the most of it. I certainly plan to do my best to enjoy exploring this island, doing what we can to take care of each other and to enjoy each others company."
The little gnome shakes her head at the mention of the snake. "I don't know about any such creature. We just have to stay on our guard and react appropriately. Do we have a full list over the passengers? Is it really only one person that's not accounted for? That would be quite weird, but it does sound suspicious."
Ishirou looks at gnome "You really think? Looking my live, I got hard time sharing optimism."
"You heard about others who stranded. Ghouls, cannibalism. Better wait! See how enjoy each other next days."
But considering his downcast response you still seem to have reached him.
"Still trying better than despair. Ishirou good with watching and fighting."
Davor thinks a while on the question of other passengers, and crew. "Where'd the Captain's log get to? It might have information in there, at least about the paying passengers."
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Hewit senses that the night is wearing on and decides to sit with Jask before people start settling in for whatever rest they can get. "Jask, I am glad that Gregor has decided to release you. I had my doubts about whether he was a good man, given his history, but I feel I can have faith in him."
Hewit takes a sip of water from his skin before he continues. "And in you." he says and passes the skin to Jask. "Pardon my direct nature, but what 'treason' are you accused of in Sargava? I feel that your demeanor while bound was not that of a dangerous man, so I am curious what had happened that led to such a situation."
Captain's log
Earlier entries from previous voyages are precise in recording progress and events along the way, as are entries from the first two-thirds of this last trip. Yet as one reads further, the more recent the entries get, the less common they become—in some cases, several days are missing entries.
What entries do appear are strangely short, focusing more and more on one of the passengers—the Varisian scholar Ieana, with whom the captain seems to have become obsessed. Several entries are nothing more than poorly written love poems to Ieana, while others bemoan Captain Kovack’s inability to please her or catch her attention. Near the end, the entries begin to take on a more ominous tone with the captain starting to complain that other members of the crew are
eyeing “his Ieana.” In particular, he suspects his first mate is in love with her, and writes several times about how he wishes Alton would just “have an accident.”
The final entry is perhaps the most disturbing, for in it the captain writes of how he’s changed course for Smuggler’s Shiv at Ieana’s request. He hopes that the two of them can make a home on the remote island, but also notes that the crew are growing increasingly agitated at the ship’s new course. The captain muses that “something may need to be done about the crew” if their suspicions get any worse.
Davor closes the book and angrily pushes it away. "That bastard killed the crew and stranded us because he was besotted with a girl? I hope he's still alive so I can kill him!"
Putting his anger aside he looks around the camp. "We're established here for now. Let's set watches for the night. Tomorrow we need to explore. There may be resources here that'll give us a route back home...."
"Whoa... let's hold off on our judgment quite yet. He could very well be a victim. Perhaps he's been magically charmed or something like that? Perhaps that was this Ieana's plan all along?" But the Father shrugs his shoulders.
"Either way, I agree about watches. I'm happy to take one, myself. I'll need to keep the fire going, but we probably want that anyway; though it attracts attention, it often wards the threat off at the same time."
why'd he...they, leave us alive?...unless they needs us for something. If Leena can ensorcel. What if one among us so entranced? I suggest we have two of us on watch at all times. Say...Father Kerndrew and Sasha first shift. Kendrella Enzi and Isharou 2nd. Davor and Gellit third. Myself and Aerys 4th and Hewitt and Jask last? Sound doable? Or is there a different suggestion?
Hewit senses that the night is wearing on and decides to sit with Jask before people start settling in for whatever rest they can get. "Jask, I am glad that Gregor has decided to release you. I had my doubts about whether he was a good man, given his history, but I feel I can have faith in him."
Hewit takes a sip of water from his skin before he continues. "And in you." he says and passes the skin to Jask. "Pardon my direct nature, but what 'treason' are you accused of in Sargava? I feel that your demeanor while bound was not that of a dangerous man, so I am curious what had happened that led to such a situation."
"I think most of ym friends would agree with your assessment, if I had any friends left." Jask replies.
"But its a story from almost 10 years ago, which I truly felt I had left behind me. That is until Gregor barged into my live with a warrant to my name."
"As they say in Chelax, 'No good deed goes unpunished' and here I am paying the price for trying to protect my home country.
When I was a Clerk at the harbour office in Eleder I noticed that the Free captains of the Shackles were very well informed about our shipping routes and cargo. I suspected my superior and began looking for evidence. But apparently he caufght ind of it and so he set me up with all the evidence pointing my way, before I could proof the truth. A friend of mine warned me just in time to leave the country and flee to chelax but ever since that time I am a wanted man in my home."
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Hewit listens to Jask's tale with a keen ear.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Hewit says genuinely. "It is terrible to be run out of one's home, especially for doing what is right or best. Well, for now it does seem that the bounty on you remains to be collected by someone else. Though the fact that it took being stranded here may not bring hope for now."
"Still, I have faith that the people we are stranded with will be able to get is off the island and return us to a safe place. Thank you again for your help today. I think perhaps I could learn more about the power behind magic with your help. Assuming you're willing to teach me."
Day 1 (Midsummer) - Beach on some unknown shore
Nightfall - the weather is warm and humid
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In the hours before nightfall the former passengers of the Jenifere continue to discuss last nights events, trying to understand how they got here. But with no new information coming to light things start to go in cycles and the you finally call it a night.
Gregor is trying to set up a watch system and after some crumbling the other agree. Father Kerndew and Sahsa set themselfs up for the first watch and the others go to rest.
When you try to find a common understanding with Sasha how best to setup she brusquely shuts you off and decides she is taking the northern watch.
Later when you check on her you notice that she is more concerned with watching the seabirds and flying fish than keeping watch.
Shortly after the beginning of your watch you notice a eeri green glow starting to form in the waves. It covers a large part of the beach and you see other such patches in the distance on other parts of the shore.
Kendrella shouts out to Isharou with hushed tones. "Are you seeing the glow? Something wierd is happening. Should we wake the others? I'll check it for magic." She starts chanting to detect magic to figure out if it's a natural phenomena.
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Father Kerndrew approaches Sasha during their watch, briefly.
"I regret that I never found the time to get to know you better when we were on ship; it always makes a conversation like this go easier." He pauses only briefly, then proceeds with confidence. "I can't make you care about taking this watch seriously, but know that if you choose to take it lightly, you're making that same choice for everybody." He motions his arm towards their sleeping companions. "On their behalf, I'd urge you to pay less attention to sea birds, and more with an eye towards possible threats. Thank you."
He again pauses, only briefly; his manner makes it clear that he expects no response, but he offers the moment for one should she choose to take it. If not, he nods at her--saying no more about it--and returns to his own post.
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The next morning, if Sasha is still around, Davor tries to approach her quietly. "Got a minute? Things were said yesterday that, well, forget that.... I just think you're too valuable for us to lose you here. We all need to pull as a team." He pulls one of his lock picks from his sash and holds it up. "When they mentioned poison yesterday they were really hoping that you might know more than most of us. Whoever, or whatever our enemy is, well, they're using poison. Knowing about it doesn't make you an enemy any more than my knowing how to use this pick means that I'm going to steal things from everybody and run off. I'm not a thief even if the things that I know might mark me as such. It just means that I learned a useful skill."
He tucks the pick away and glances off to the water, "I hope you'll stay with us, and share any opinions that you might have about things, poison or otherwise. And if you need any help, with anything, ask any of us. I'm not usually a talker, but I hope we can work out any mistakes we've made."
Kendrella shouts out to Isharou with hushed tones. "Are you seeing the glow? Something wierd is happening. Should we wake the others? I'll check it for magic." She starts chanting to detect magic to figure out if it's a natural phenomena.
"Yes I can see it too. What is it, I have never seen something like this. Hmm its not magic you say? Maybe we should watch out to see if anything happens."
Sasha
After Father Kerndrew talks to the former Red Mantis, she nods and for a short while takes a more active part, but after a while you can see her sliding back into a more negligent posture.
Kendrella ponders for a moment then goes over to shake Davor awake. "I don't know what it is, but I'll rather be safe than sorry. We can go back to sleep if it's nothing, but if it ends up being a fight, it would be good to have more people awake. Maybe they'll be better able to help with the situation. Davor has the next shift anyway."
She gently stirs the half-orc. "There's something wierd happening. I hope perhaps you can help us figure out what it is."
Being stranded on an unknown island, the gods know how and for what reason, Kenderella and Ishirou fear there is more to this phenomena and decide to wake up Davor and Gelik.
Gelik takes some time waking up, but after a while he opens his eyes wide enough to notice the glow. The bard stands up, take a short look around and then makes some smoothing gestures on his clothes.
Looking at Ishirou he can't stop himself from remarking:"I didn't take you for one who is afraid in the dark."
Then he murmurs a few other words while touching his eyes and confirms Kenderellas finding. Stepping a bit closer he watches the glow carefully and then remarks. "I think I heard about that. There are plants in this waters, which start glowing after dark. it will stop n a few hours and it is nothing unusual."
"Now I hope you don't mind me getting back to sleep. It has almost been a pleasutre to enlighten you."
When you watch the radiance more carefully, you notice some lighter patches, which seems to move sometimes against the current. looking more carefully you are able to discern a faint humanoid shapel lokking like its trashing around in the water.
Davor barely hears Ishirou's words. He moves closer to the water, staring at the lights. "Wait! Look over there.... That looks like a person! Like someone drowning! Get a rope!"
He moves to the waters edge but doesn't enter unless someone brings a rope. He keeps his view locked on the 'person'. "Right there! Doesn't anyone else see that!"
Gelik steps up to Ishirou looking at Davors behaviour, remarking "I think the situation is getting to him."
Davor continues staring at the figure in the lights, pointing to it. "Right there! See! He's struggling to stay afloat. It might be one of the crew... Get a rope before he drowns!"
"I'm not seeing it, but I trust you. Let's find a rope." Kendrella says as she urges the other two to help her locate a rope to give to Davor.
You are quickly able to find a rope.
Kenderella helps tying the rope around Davor, though she cautions him as she does so. "Maybe it's better to throw the rope out. It's not sure they'll know to grab it, but then you won't be risking your life. You should have a signal if you think you're in danger for us to pull you back in." She ties the other end around Enzi because she knows she won't be strong enough to haul Davor in by herself, though hopefully the other two can help.
Davor ties the rope around himself and Kenderelle, Gelik and Ishirou take up positions on the beach.
Davor Steps into the water and slowly advances in the direction of the shape.Unfortunatel when he gets nearer the shape seems to but cannot find any trace of it.
"What happened? Were you too slow? Or was it all just a trick of the light? It certainly wasn't an illusion. I hope there wasn't someone that died because we were tardy." Kenderella frowns slightly at the unfulfilling conclusion to their rescue mission.
Once Davor makes it back on land she mutters a series of arcane phrases and brushes against his clothes slightly, upon which they all become dry. "At least my magic can help to get you dry."
Dvor is sure that the shape was there, but apparently its not any longer. Seems like it wasn't a sailor unfortunately.
Davor makes it back to shore, shaking his head. "What happened? He just disappeared. Where?"
"Thank you. Thanks for drying my clothes."
"I guess there's not much more to do than get back to watching. It's going to be eerie, but hopefully we'll be fine. Thanks for your help, both of you. She smiles.
Later during her watch she'll ask Ishirou about his time before coming here and what he was doing. She'll try to pay attention to both him and the watch.
"Well I told you its only a natural phenomena. I really don't know what you thought you saw." Gelik snidely remarks, before going back trying to cath another hour of sleep.
The green glow continues for a few hours, sometimes shifting with the waves. Davor wtaches it from time to time during his watch, but he never spots anything out of the ordinary.
The rest of the night passes uneventful, only Hewit seems to be plagued by unpleasant dreams.
You have a rather unpleaseant night as you are plagued by bad dreams:
You’re sitting down in the galley aboard the Jenivere, getting ready for your meal. The ship’s cook has given you a steaming bowl of soup, but you drop your spoon.
You see that the deck below is covered with seawater up to your ankles, and your dropped spoon has sunk into the water and washed out to sea through a hole.
You’re forced to lift your delicious bowl of soup to your lips and drink. But something big goes into your mouth as you do so, and you feel a sharp bite on your tongue. You drop the bowl, only to reveal a serpent had hidden in your soup that now dangles from your tongue as it chews furiously.
You start awake, biting your own tongue in an attempt to bite
through the snake’s body.
Day 2 (Midsummer) - Beach on Smuggler's Shiv
Morning - the weather is hot and humid
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In the morning the cacophony of sounds from the Jungle picks up again and the passengers wake up one after another. Jask is preparing a pot of tea for everybody and the group stats discussing plans for the day.
Gelik really entartains everybody by telling all the other about Davors nightly adventure, although he is putting the half orc in a rather unfavorable light.
Aerys seems to have slept well and is soon after breakfast starting to make a few improvements to the mosquito nets.
Only Sasha seems to have lost a lot of yesterdays good spirits, always glancing fearfully at the jungle.
Kenderella wanders around the camp in the morning, trying to cheer up the others. She repeats her words about from the yesterday, but also continues to tell of her experiences from the jungle. "I grew up in the jungle myself. There were plenty of dangers there, but obviously I survived them all. My family helped a lot of course, but we all did what we could. When danger appears, it's important to remain calm and act quickly. Panic can kill you, but so can hesitation, we just got to rely on each other and try our very best to survive. Great work on the nets Aerys, that's a really smart idea."
She strokes Sasha gently on the arm and whispers with a gentle smile. "It's natural to be afraid. The dangers out there are very real. It's how we face them that counts. I'm sure that we'll be able to react with sufficient skill and pull through, cheer up."
"I'm ready to explore. Who's going with me?" She says looking expectantly at everyone.