Salaamati immediately attacks with his Rapier.
Salaamati struggles to get the right angle over the gunwale and misses.
His attempted target attacks back with its spear.
Salaamati -3
Green
Triix
Coldir
Luminener
Pink
Sal
Blue
Sette
Seeing that the creature is right next to him, Coldir does not risk trying to use magic. Instead, he pulls his scimitar and slashes awkwardly over the side.
The elf doesn't really point at any of the attackers, but cries out "Cost!" as he pulls his sword.
In response to Luimener's command, however, Tallagor growls as he rises, turns and tries to bite the closest attacker.
While Triix's missiles hit home Tallagor and Coldir fail to connect.
The grindylow near Luimener moves towards a standing target and lashes out with its tentacles in an attempt to trip Tallagor over
It then swings its spear at the hound
Ineffectually
Salaamati -3
Green
Triix
Coldir
Luminener
Pink -5
Sal
Blue
Sette
With a growl, Sal attempts to stand...
And barely keeping her balance tries to thwack green with her oar.
About all she does is manage to stay in the boat.
Sal stands up and swings her oar but overbalances as she does so Fortunately she manages to land on her backside in the boat rather than face first in the bay
Salaamati-3
Green
Triix
Coldir
Luminener
Pink -5
Sal
Red Blue
Sette
The grindylows work together, focusing their attacks.
tries to trip Tallagor
Hissing at the creature's stability it lunges with its spear too.
Salaamati attacks the aquatic being in front of him with his Rapier again.
"You are making a mistake!" he says in aquatic.
* * *
Sette shoots upright as the creatures swarm the boat, but just then one of the attackers grabs on the gunwale and rocks the boat, causing the ratfolk to promptly sit back down. She fumbles at her belt for her sling, plinking the closest attacker with a stone in the shoulder.
Salaamati drives his rapier through the throat of one grindylow then jumps overboard to attack the next but to his surprise he finds the water only 5ft deep.
As he does so Sette's rock finishes off another foe.
Seeing Salaamati enter the water the remaining Grindylow moves around to attack someone it assumes will be out of their element.
It tries to trip him
Salamanti is knocked from his feet but with his natural ability to swim he is able to retain his composure enough to deflect his attackers blow and reply with a fatal strike of his own.
"So there is something you are good for besides glowering! Well fought, Salamaati!" She reaches out her oar for him to grab to help him climb back into the boat.
"So the water's not too deep here, huh? We'll have to be careful not to moor ourselves by accident. These longboats are big enough they could drag."
She keeps an eye out for the best route through the water, and where to land when the time comes.
Salaamati nods at Sal with a fleet smile.
He starts to check them to be able to stabilize a survivor.
"Yes, we were lucky. Where they came from, more are to be expected."
He then searches the fallen enemies.
Sette draws up into a ball as the adrenaline of the fight wears off. "They seem to be quite territorial, yes, that's too bad. Or perhaps the previous colonists did something to antagonize them, we must examine all hypotheses."
Coldir looks around, trying to assess everything that just happened. It happened so quickly! "Is anyone hurt?"
Glancing around the boat, the elf responds. "I don't think anyone was hurt bad. We got lucky. Let's get to shore before their friends show up." He tries to follow Sal's lead for getting the little boat moving again.
The cooshee glares over the side of the boat, staring at the bodies Salaamati is manipulating.
"What are them things, anyway? And do they have anything looks like it came from the colonists? That might tell us somethin' for a start."
Hmm ... what were these again?
As you are finishing the fight there are cries from the ship as the colonist and sailors work out what's going on. A couple fire arrows but they fly wide.
Once the last creature falls a loud cheer comes up from the crew and passengers.
Salaamati easily identifies the Grindylows
After searching the bodies Salaamati finds three spears, some manky clothing, and three pearls on a string around the neck off the one he ran through.
He also finds one creature which appears to still be breathing, though ragged.
Sal can see a clear path to the shore once past this small sandbank.
Sal directs the group toward the shore once everyone is ready and recovered.
Climbing out of the boat, the elf turns and grab hold of it, planning to help beach it properly so that the group doesn't have to either swim back or wait for help later.
After it hits sand, Luimener calls out "Tul" and the green beast leaps out onto shore, nosing about a bit to explore the smells.
Following the others onto the shore, Sette begins to look around the immediate landing site, muttering under her breath.
Looking back at the sight of the battle with the amphibious grindylows, Coldir wonders if they could be behind the colonist's disappearance. As they reach the shore, Coldir looks for evidence of the grindylows traversing to the human settlement.
"Not a good start. I worry for these people."
You come ashore to a small dock.
A solitary dock extends from the beach into the bay. The construction is solid and looks recent, suitable for tying off a
mall boat, although no watercraft are visible. The beach inclines to the east before giving way to grass and trees. Further on in that direction, buildings and a palisade wall stand on the rise.
As you look towards the settlement you see a well-worn path in the grass which rises up a slope toward a cluster of buildings to the east.
The buildings are arranged in a rough triangle, with each point ending in a wooden circular enclosure with rectangular notches cut intermittently, like battlements.
These round enclosures are clearly meant to be three points of a wooden palisade fence, which would enclose this first group of buildings once completed. The palisade fence, however, is complete only along the south-eastern side of the triangle and is obviously unfinished elsewhere.
The grass around the settlement looks like it was cropped at one point, and many paths exist between locations in the settlement, but in less well-trafficked spots, the grass has started to regrow. All the buildings are constructed of either rough timber or mud bricks set in a wooden frame, and have pitched thatch roofs. Many have open window frames, but only a few have actual shutters or even a canvas curtain for privacy. Doors are basic, wooden affairs, too simple for locks, and some buildings lack them entirely. The construction is new, quite rough and unfinished.
As a group you easily spot a capsised canoe on the seafloor about 10ft down as well as a sunken wicker basket and fishing pole.
There are no tracks on the sandy track up to the village... none at all.
Luimener's skills allows him to spot a few animal tracks on the beach, seabirds and something that might be a dog but nothing humanoid, at all, anywhere.
As you all keep your eyes and ears peeled it is unnerving how little you can hear, a little bird song but no large animals, no voices, almost nothing.
“Ahh! With a large head and numerous teeth, this unsightly creature resembles a goblin from the waist up and a greasy octopus below! Grindylows! Well, these aquatic monsters are just as wicked as the most sadistic of goblins, and take immense pleasure in others’ misfortunes and the spread of mayhem. Thanks to this twisted desire, grindylows have a nasty reputation among both other intelligent water-dwelling creatures and most land-dwelling beings. Grindylows eat whatever they can kill, giving them a rather wide selection of meals. High or low, no one is safe from the brutish assaults; tribes of merfolk have been overwhelmed by bands of grindylows, as have galleons full of experienced sailors!“
He thinks.
“They are amphibious but have low speed. So I can’t imagine that they are responsible for the disappearance of the other inhabitants!“
He looks at their belongings.
“Does anybody know what this is?“
Salaamati sounds so much like a university professor that Sette almost whips out a notebook and pen to start taking notes. Briefly wondering if there will be an exam question on it later, the ratfolk exclaims "Wow, you know a lot about them! If they've overwhelmed tribes and galleons in the past, they could have also killed the settlers, no? Brrr, think about it, you come to a new land in hopes of a new life, and you get eaten by octopus goblins."
"Like I said earlier... ghost town. 'S'like a god came down and just swept away all that lived."
Turning to Triix, she nods at her suggestion. "Here, keep an eye on these." She removes and drops her rucksack and then takes off her protective leather buff coat and buckler, handing the latter to Triix. Beneath she is wearing a sleeveless linen shirt and overalls. She leaps into the water, gills flaring to life as she first grabs the basket and pole and brings them to shore, and then attempts to right the canoe and drag it to shore.
Coldir will look over to the pearls work a cone of detect magic, and then to the basket has it emerges from the water. "Curious."
As Sal takes hold of the sunken canoe a tiny creature lunges out from underneath and makes some strange noises and gestures.
It seems to be a waterlogged gremlin with lobster claws for hands and an almost canine face with webbed ears.
Sal feels her eyelids start to droop before shaking off the effects of... whatever that was..
Round 1
Tiny Aquatic.. Thing
Coldir
Triix
Sette
Salaamati
Luminener
Sal
Since it had already been attacked Coldir will follow suit with an icicle.
[Touch attack]
"Well, I'll watch that stuff if you . . .. Wait? What are you attacking?"
The land-lubber looks out into the cove, trying to spot what they are apparently trying to kill . . ..
He pulls his bow, hoping this isn't as serious as the others seem to believe.
With the sounds of spellcasting, Tallagor's head snaps about towards the pier, then he looks back at Luimener with his head cocked.
With two spells crashing into the small creature it darts away and disappears into the depth.
It darts around the rocks and out of sight.
Sette had her sling out, but the creature wisely decided to retreat in the face of superior forces. "Water is very dangerous here, yes? Best stay away from it."
Salaamati starts to look around for any signs of the villagers.
Salaamati sees what seems like a boot print however closer inspection reveals its just a shadow on the sand.
"We should systematically search the buildings and the surroundings."
"Search everywhere, yes, yes. Perhaps not all of them eaten." Sette does take out a notebook this time, together with a notched stick which she uses to measure seemingly random elements around them, carefully writing down the results.
Cocking his head to the side, Coldir days to the group, "One moment please. I would like to ask our feathered friends in the area what they may know."
Emitting a low whistle sound, Coldir sends the note out to all birds within a mile or so, the note is so clear.
Commune with Birds
School divination; Level bard 2, druid 1, psychic 2, ranger 1, shaman 2, sorcerer/wizard 2, witch 2
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
EFFECT
Range personal
Target you
Duration 10 minutes; see text
DESCRIPTION
You utter a question in the form of a low-pitched bird call that can be heard up to a mile away, and can understand the responses given by birds in the area. Over the next 10 minutes, the birds reply as if you had asked them the question using speak with animals, giving you a general consensus answer to the question based on their knowledge. For example, you could ask if there is drinkable water in the area, the location of predators or other creatures, directions to a mountaintop or other natural feature, and so on, and the local bird communities would answer to the best of their ability.
If there are no birds in range, the spell has no effect and you do not get a response. Any creature using speak with animals (or a similar ability) who hears this bird call can understand your question, though it may not be able to reply in a way you can hear.
Firstly you notice that the birds here are different to those you know, their voices new and strange.
You get some dispute from the birds over the phrase "like me"
Small voices from low to the ground talk about "2 legs jumping" which move in groups all around this area.
Musical, warbling voices tell you about "like you but smaller" in the "place with lots of shiny but hot and loud."
A deep and fierce voice from high in the sky tells of "one two leg but wrong, wandering." after a pause it speaks again. "it is now by small water that doesn't move."
Seven canvas pavilion tents were set up here, all of which are large enough to shelter two to three people each. All but two tents have collapsed due to wind, rain, and lack of maintenance. The two that remain standing lean haphazardly and do not appear to have been entered for a long time. Grass has begun to grow around them.
The tents are salvageable, though one had some small animal nesting in it for a time and reeks of musk.
Oddly as you look through them you find many of the tents still have personal items in their folds, such as clothing, trinkets, cooking pots, and waterskins.
When Triix arrives and uses her magic to detect for and magic she finds 4 potion bottles, the label on one is discoloured and unreadable but the other words "Cure Light Wounds" can be made out on the other three. She also finds a shirt made of light, gossamer-thin fabric embroidered with arrangements of winged feet.
There are still no signs of people. No noise from the colony, no smoke, no foot prints, nothing that suggests people are nearby.
Salaamati tries the unidentifiable potion.
The elf and his dog hep with the search, but the frown is a fairly clear statement of how he feels about what they are finding.