Where were they heading? A home base of some kind?
Bellamy, pretty sure Seadreamer and Reijo were hit in the fight earlier, pours each of them a cup of his special rum and offers it to them with a gap toothed grin.
"Here's a nip fer what ails ye! HEE hee he!"
Shaedeen suddenly blinks her emerald eyes. "Wait a second...this rock is called Smuggler's Shiv, right? I heard a story once, back in Magnimar. A tale about Chelish soldiers who were shipwrecked on a small island during a partial invasion of Sargava. No one dared rescue them, and as the years passed, they turned to cannibalism!" Having just helped Sunny drag several corpses to the other end of the beach, Shaedeen is aware that their lightish (albeit tanned) skin and dark hair is consistent with her own Chelish heritage.
"If I'm remembering the story correctly, the Chelish built but never quite completed a lighthouse along the southwest coast of the island. Maybe these savages built their village around that, assuming it still stands? And if it DOES still stand, that'd be a great place to try to signal passing ships to get rescued!"
Sunny nods at Shaedeen's words, "We's gota' be careful when we try ta' be leavin'. This place dun't seem too friendly ta' ships none." She adds.
"We should rilly be lookin' fer tha' people's we's lost about tha' place as well. Seems them local people's might'a met up with 'em first, though..." Sunny frowns a little.
My family heard much of this place. maybe those cannibals are based by the lighthouse and that is where the others would be.
He nods at one eye in thanks and downs the drink in one swig.
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Seadreamer realizes that no eye didn't see his gesture.
Thanks No Eyes, I needed that
"I know where they're going!" The oracle's eyes lit up after staying absent-minded for a bit. She winced and kept her voice down. "From where the savages were moving, they were heading south along the shore.It's probably where they've been staying as well as where that lighthouse was built."
Sunny steps towards the now 'Door' of the hull and looks outside at the beautiful day that's presented.
"Well. I can't be seein' it from here. How long ye reckon till we can be gettin' ta' that place?" She asks absently.
"All sounds right and reasonable. Except for the part where we seem hell bent to walk right up to the cannibal camp. Beasts cleaned the beach, so it isn't like we can bring them one of their own as a food offering. If we're just going to walk up, we have to be obviously strong and proud, or we're probably going to be dinner."
[dice=Knowledge (local)]1d20+7
[dice=Profession (sailor)]d20+7[dice=Int/Wis]1d20+1
"All sounds right and reasonable. Except for the part where we seem hell bent to walk right up to the cannibal camp. Beasts cleaned the beach, so it isn't like we can bring them one of their own as a food offering. If we're just going to walk up, we have to be obviously strong and proud, or we're probably going to be dinner."
Sunny blinks at Terry. "I were thinkin' more like sneakin' up on 'em, like." Though she tilts her head.
"Though is gon'a be a mite tricky. What with all'a light bein' from this house thing..." She absently rubs an ear as she steps out into the bright sun shine, shading her large blue eyes.
"Maybe is gon'a be easier now? What with tha' sun all shinin'?" She muses.
Well, I know I don't like walking on sand. But I suggest we use the sand to cover the majority of distance, and then try to sneak up on them the rest of the way.
With that he puts his pack on, and starts to make his way down the beach towards the south.
He then pauses and looks back at the others.
Well, you coming, or are we just going to sit here and hope that we can fix this
Sunny, already standing outside in the sun, happily skips and bounces along beside 'Dreamer as they make their way along the beach.
When he pauses and calls to the others, Sunny just turns and waves cheerily. (^_^)
Though she keeps an eye on both the tree line as well as the surf. Remembering what has happened previously about the place.
Concerning other wrecks on the island, Reijo says to Terry, "We come across a few others. Not in much better shape than your beauty here," he adds sarcastically, gesturing around at the broken hull with his pipe.
"Between the lot of 'em, maybe we can get something ta float proper. I gots the tools."
"Aye," Reijo responds to Shaedeen's story about Smuggler's Shiv knowingly with a nod.
"Aye," he agrees with Terry and Seadreamer, adding to Sunny's idea, "Lets just worry 'bout getting there in one piece first."
"And that'll be where we find Shorty an' Loudmouth," he tells Shaedeen, meaning Gelik the gnome and Aerys the... outspoken.
Grimly, he adds, "She likes ta complain... they'll probably eat her first, I'd wager..."
After the coins have been distributed, Reijo briefly checks his gear, then joins Seadreamer and the others on their long sandy journey to the lighthouse. He'll take the lead, cutting through the vegetation with his machete if they must journey through jungle, and periodically checks his compass.
After the coins have been distributed, Reijo briefly checks his gear, then joins Seadreamer and the others on their long sandy journey to the lighthouse. He'll take the lead, cutting through the vegetation with his machete if they must journey through the jungle, and periodically checks his compass.
At first, Sunny is happy to skip along the sands with her friends. When Reijo begins simply hacking his way through the jungle, Sunny blinks before quickly skipping forwards and,
"Ah! No, no no-no-no nopy." She gently slows Reijo's violence.
"We's tryin' ta be sneakin', like. We go leavin' hacks an' slashes all over tha' place an' any of tha' island peoples comes across 'em an' they be knowin' we're about. See?" She explains.
"Plus ye might be swingin' at somat whut's not a vine..." She points towards one of the many nasty plants covered in thorns (Is that dew glinting on that spine?) or other hazardous growths. Then indicates a small viper now silently slipping away.
"Get tha' wrong thing hackin' back at ye an' we're all havin' a bad day draggin' ye back ta' tha' boat..." She finishes with a smile (^_^)
"Hmm... she does have a pint." Des added, while continuing to avoid eye contact with the naked elf. "There should already be an established path to the lighthouse. We can just sneak our way through one of them."
Agreed, she does have a point. From this point forward, we should be trying to disturb things as little as possible.
He lets his gaze quickly pass over the naked elf, and then carries on following Reijo
Sunny nods. "Aye. We wus followin' critter trails fer a while afore." She explains to Des and Dreamer and Terry. (^_^)
"I think Reijo just wants ta' be meetin' these new people. Is why he's all in a hurry." She smiles, then frowns a little. "Though... I in't sure about whut t'is these island folk are about..." Sunny shakes her blond mop, obviously distracted by something. She looks to her friends.
"I mean. T'is a Island. Is just like home." She frowns some more, " 'Cept, it in't. Tha' critters be a tad more bitey. An' tha' surf be a tad more glowy. An' a peoples be a tad more feisty..." Her voice trails off before she straightens.
"Whut I'm sayin' is. If'n it were Kin about I'd be knowin' how t' come about 'em, like. But these people? They's...", And she trails off again, trying to search for the right word. "They's people an' they's doin' all peopley things..." Sunny actually pouts a little.
"I, uh, whut I is tryin' a be sayin' is we should be movin' rilly careful, like. Not knowin' whut or who t'is we's creepin' into..."
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No-Eyes discretely cuts down a large palm frond, shakes off the ants and makes a makeshift poncho for Sunny.
You know; for the rain.
The tracks the savage men were following led down south along the sandy beach.
No-Eyes discretely cuts down a large palm frond, shakes off the ants and makes a makeshift poncho for Sunny.
You know; for the rain.
Sunny gratefully hugs her friend in thanks for the gift.
"I wus gon'a go look at some of tha' cloth them peoples was wearin'." Sunny explains. "But tha' critters done took 'em away rilly fast." She nods her blond mop.
"Is like I said. Tha' critters here is rilly bitey..."
Sunny happily skips and twirls along the beach sand. Obviously quite chuffed with her new gift. (^_^)
When Reijo draws his machete and approaches the treeline, he gets push back about hacking the jungle noisily.
"Don't ye worry yer pretty head, love," he says to Sunny. "We ain't goin' through the jungle..."
"This one'll do." He then taps a few times on one of the palm tree trunks, picking one out for Bellamy to make Sunny's next outfit.
He then turns and points with his blade southward, along the beach.
"We're goin' that-a-way."
Sunny happily hugs Reijo in thanks for helping Bellamy.
Oh thank gods. It at least made things a bit more comfortable now. Now if only if the trail hadn't gotten harder on them to track.
"At least the tracks are still pretty easy to track... I hope."
Shaedeen falls quiet, following whatever orders Reijo (or Terry) gives her.
Reijo grunts in response to Sunny's hug.
"Wish ye'd done that before ye put yer leaf on. Hah," he winks at Sunny before carrying on leading the beach party.
"'Righty then, on we goes..."
The party moved south along the beach. At noon they crossed a chest deep river and then camped out for a couple hours in the punishing heat of the early afternoon.
In the later afternoon, after the afternoon clouds came in and another torrential downpour relieved everyone of the heat, they continued south.
They passed several old wrecks in quick succession, and when nightfall came, they holed up in one they cleared.
Those who watched at night saw the strange phosphorescence of the sea as it crashed on shore. And once in a while, they could see the faint glowing forms of ghostly sailors who drowned in the surf. It looks like they're beckoning you to join them...
Sunny does her best to help her friends feel/get more comfortable during their stay on the Island, as they settle in for the new night.
It was not the kind of night she was expecting to spend when she went out to sea. But at least these new people mean well. She accepted the help from the others as she contemplated on a number of things.
I will take last shift, as the morning is the time I do my devotions.
He then settles in for the night.
Add 4 if Spell/Spell like ability.
Sunny and Shaedeen, having seen the reef phantoms before are able to resist easily. Seadreamer is caught, but is able to wrench his will free from the enchantment.
Des is enchanted and begins to walk out into the surf before she is caught and snapped out of it by Terry.
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Nothing else happens for the rest of the night.
The next day dawns hot and clear.
The party makes its way down the coastline, the weather alternately a warm torrential downpour and a blazingly humid sunshine.
Late in the afternoon, the party comes to a point in the southwest corner of the island.
Just offshore a couple hundred yards there was a reef, on which was the broken shape of the largest shipwreck you've ever seen. It looks like it might have once been a Chelaxian galleon, but more than a century of storms has shattered the upper works of the former ship, and it's difficult to tell now.
And just around the point, you come to a half mile wide bay, which extends back into the island up into the mouth of a wide river running from deeper into the island's interior.
Across the bay, perched on a cliff, is an unfinished lighthouse tower surrounded by a wooden palisade. You can hear the pounding of drums and the flash of torchlight from inside it.
You have found the village of the savage men.
Shaedeen barely gives the wrecked galleon a second glance, not wanting to swim out into waters (and likely rocks and maybe even a reef) that had laid such a mighty vessel low. Crouched low in the underbrush, the teen whispers, "How do we want to do this? We probably should try to get eyes inside the pallisade just to get an idea of their numbers, though I'm not sure if I could climb the wall to peek over the top."
"I suppose we could spy on them from this vantage point to see what sort of patrols they send out and on what sort of schedule, but if we take out a couple of patrols and break in only to find like a hundred savages waiting for us...we're in trouble."
Looking over at the wreck, Seadreamer shivers.
I've never liked shallows when I was upon the blue.
Damn, I thought I could see the name plate. but I guess not. Oh well, lets push on
So you are saying that you can climb that, but you would need assistance?
He shrugs his way out of his pack, stretches, and then starts to dig in his pack for rope and a grapnel.
Still not so perceptive of everything around her, Des was too busy contemplating just what could have possessed her last night.
"So what's the plan?" she asked the group.
Nothing else happens for the rest of the night.
The next day dawns hot and clear.
The party makes its way down the coastline, the weather alternately a warm torrential downpour and blazingly humid sunshine.Late in the afternoon, the party comes to a point in the southwest corner of the island.
Just offshore a couple of hundred yards, there was a reef, on which was the broken shape of the largest shipwreck you've ever seen. It looks like it might have once been a Chelaxian galleon, but more than a century of storms has shattered the upper works of the former ship, and it's difficult to tell now.
Sunny happily skips, twirls and cavorts along the sands with her friends.
Upon sighting the still magnificent ship held aloft as if some trophy the island has been proud to wrest from the sea.
"Oooooo... is a big ship..." She shades her large blue eyes as she stares out at the vessel. She frowns,
"Here? Whut's all'a squiggles be meanin' agin'?" She asks before racing off, grabbing a stick:
And doing her best to copy the things she's seen on the vessel in really BIG shapes in the sand.
Before stepping back and letting her friends work out what the lines all mean. (^_^)
Sunny stares out over the bay at the distant human buildings. Glancing towards Shaedeen. She tilts her head,
"Here? I didn't think ye liked splashin' about?" She asks her friend, sounding very puzzled. She continues to survey the island-place.
"Wellll.... if'n we slowly move along tha' shore ta' over there.." She points deeper into the bay.
"We can be walkin' along tha' path, like." She frowns.
"Buuut am pretty sure tha' people's is gon'a be lookin' fer peoples ta be doin' just that thing." She nods as much to herself as her friend as she thinks out loud.
"Hmmm.. tha' place be on'a high point. Maybe we head over there," She indicates where the stream meets the bay. "Then we cut through tha' trees ta' tha' beach on'a other side, like..." Sunny's voice grows slower as she thinks things through.
"Afore we look fer a way up at 'em from a direction they in't like ta' be lookin'?" She finished in a torrent as her idea finished taking shape. (^_^)
Then she frowns,
"A course, we's gon'a has ta' be all careful an' sneakin', like..." She adds. "Maybe use leafs an' stuffs ta' be hidin' wiff...?"
Shaedeen's eyes widen when she sees Seadreamer dig the rope and grappling hook out of his pack. "Ooh! I could use one of those! Wish I'd brought my own but my exit from Magnimar was a bit...rushed and chaotic. But yeah--I think I might be able to scale the outer wall if it comes to that."
Shaedeen listens wordlessly to Sunny's plan to actually reach the village, nodding for the most part. "I might be a good enough swimmer to get across a small river," she tells Sunny. Then she looks to the appointed leaders--Reijo and Terry--for their views.
Seadreamer quietly laughs.
Lass, I swim about as well as a rock. So don't be asking me ta swim any great distance.
I think the idea of going up the side that they are less likely to be watching is a good idea.
Seadreamer looks at the writing Sunny put in the sand.
Thurns Fang. Ha, kind of sounds like a warship. Maybe we should look into it after we find a ride off this island.
"Bloody Chelaxians," the motley sailor grumbles when Sunny spells out the name of the ship.
Reijo blinks twice at Sunny before he comments on her plan, possibly impressed with her idea.
"Aye. Or we scout our options, at least. We head due south and east of'em, gather what we can from an eastern vantage."
To Shaedeen, he affirms, "There'll be time fer climbin, Kitty. Speakin' of which..."
Reijo looks around for the nearest trees...
To Terry, "Head east, cross the river, head southeast and scout'em from there. Gather options, eh?"
When the Age of Lost Omens began, Sargava was cut off as its mother country Cheliax fell into civil war.
When the Thrice-Dammed House of Thrune rose to power and seized control of Cheliax, 30-some years had passed, and Sargava had all but become its own, self-governed nation.
The House of Thrune attempted to regain control of the lost colony, but their navy was defeated due to another sort of deal with the devil—Sargava entered into a pact with the Free Captains of the Shackles, and with their aid was able to defeat the Chelish navy.
Yet one of the ships that sailed south in the ill-advised attempt to regain control of Sargava never made it—this ship was the galleon "Thrune’s Fang", captained by a man named Lord Captain Leven Beliker.
With the Chelish fleet’s resounding defeat by Sargava, no one else knew that the "Thrune’s Fang" hadn’t even joined the battle—most assumed she was sunk along with the rest of the fleet.
Reijo, looking for some place tall enough to look over the palisade, starts climbing up the rugged cliff on the western point of the bay.
He gets some thirty feet up when he scrambles around a boulder and discovers a cunningly hidden sea cave. It is dry and any fire would be out of sight from the shore.
And... someone has been here before.
A quick look around reveals no one has been here in some time, and this is an excellent place to wait out the rapidly falling night.
(The sharp eared among you have sworn they've heard something large glide overhead on rare occasions during the night watch.)
When you show enough light to examine the cave more thoroughly, you see dozens of bones and skulls—quite obviously of human origin—decorate the cave, each bearing numerous nicks and scratches.
Also, bits of an old chair carved from a tree stump, fragments of fabric, and rusted bits of metal.
While the journal was quite well made, the years have not been kind to its contents, and now only delicate fragments the notes remain.
[b]Fragmentary Journal Notes
.
...many survived, the Thrune’s Fang will never sail again. Sargava’s assimilation must proceed without...
.
...fine hunting on the Shiv, but the bugs are a constant distraction. Nylithati’s skills at healing help fight the sickness, but I fear she has...
.
...founded. Nylithati has seized control of my crew. They are hers now. And so I have abandoned...
.
...fine home. Fresh water nearby and I need not endure Nylithati’s ceaseless raving about...
.
...will not be returning to that gray, silent island again. There is nothing there but horror...
.
...crew lurking about the area. They seem strange, almost feral. It has been almost a decade since the wreck. I wonder what strange beliefs Nylithati has...
.
...changed. There was no sign of Nylithati in the camp, but the focus of their ceremony was a cauldron they must have salvaged from the Thrune’s Fang at the base of the ruined lighthouse. It was into this they threw the half-eaten body of the still screaming man...
.
...all around. I can hear them chanting even now. They call Nylithati “Mother Thrunefang” now, and promise me immortality if I lay down my arms and submit. I know what their immortality consists of, and I’ll have no part of that corrupt life after...
Shaedeen does a lot of looking around, shifting debris, and peering out at the lighthouse and cannibal village, but not much comes of her activity.
"Seems to me Sunny's plan is solid, especially if we move in during one of the downpours when visibility's at its worst."
Sunny skips about along side her friends and tries to make the newfound cave a tad more livable,
She really doesn't seem to care about the bones and scraps. She is happy to sort through them, keep the ones she thinks she can work into tools, items, weapons etc, and simply tossing the rest...
b]"Seems to me Sunny's plan is solid, especially if we move in during one of the downpours when visibility's at its worst."[/b]
Sunny nods "Aye, an' tha' rain be good fer washin' off tha' day's workin's too..." She agrees with her friend. (^_^)
Seadreamer looks ar the bones and skulls.
Looks like some folk came to a bad end
Well, well what do we have here.
He fishes the small folio out and reads it aloud for everone
Seadreamer reads aloud the fragmentary Journal Notes:
.
...many survived, the Thrune’s Fang will never sail again. Sargava’s assimilation must proceed without...
.
...fine hunting on the Shiv, but the bugs are a constant distraction. Nylithati’s skills at healing help fight the sickness, but I fear she has...
.
...founded. Nylithati has seized control of my crew. They are hers now. And so I have abandoned...
.
...fine home. Fresh water nearby and I need not endure Nylithati’s ceaseless raving about...
.
...will not be returning to that gray, silent island again. There is nothing there but horror...
.
...crew lurking about the area. They seem strange, almost feral. It has been almost a decade since the wreck. I wonder what strange beliefs Nylithati has...
.
...changed. There was no sign of Nylithati in the camp, but the focus of their ceremony was a cauldron they must have salvaged from the Thrune’s Fang at the base of the ruined lighthouse. It was into this they threw the half-eaten body of the still screaming man...
.
...all around. I can hear them chanting even now. They call Nylithati “Mother Thrunefang” now, and promise me immortality if I lay down my arms and submit. I know what their immortality consists of, and I’ll have no part of that corrupt life after...