Tal looks back at the others and motions them forward. Once everyone is in position, he draws his bow and cautiously opens it.
Carrufikus follows Tal when the Elf motions to him.
"Let's hope that crocodiles don't want to live inside."
The door creaks open on battered hinges, releasing a putrid stench. Racks for smoking fish fill most of the dark space within, some still holding scraps of scale and bone. A faint sloshing sound comes from a vile-smelling puddle in the center of the floor.
The sludge puddle quivers, and a second later animates!
ROUND 1:
Bibi: Go
Carrufikus: Go
Noroc: Go
Peldur: Go
Enemy: TBD
Elena: TBD
-----------------------------
Location: The Fishery
Initiative assumes Talborel is Scouting
Avoid Notice (T)
Detect Magic (A: +1 (U), N: +8 (T), O: +1 (U) , R: +8 (T))
Investigate (A: +8 (T), C: +8 (T) M: +1 (U) N: +5 (T), O: +7 (T) , R: +5 (T), S: +8 (T))
Search (E)
Avoid Notice (E)
Scout
Noroc doesn't know.
Noroc also doesn't like it.
He moves in front of Tal apologetically — Excuse me, Tal — and tries to see if they bleed and/or die. Starting with the one directly in front of him.
Twice Noroc connects. The first hit is right up the middle. I would have decapitated an animal, but these things don't have heads...
ROUND 1:
Bibi: Go
Carrufikus: Go
Noroc: Hit
Peldur: Go
Enemy: TBD
Tal: TBD
Elena: TBD
-----------------------------
Location: The Fishery
Green: 10
Black: 0
bibi blinks...
...and blinks again. shrugging, she pulls out her rapier, but instead of short sword, pulls out her light mace in the other hand.
Carrufikus moves into a place where he casts electric arc to strike at both oozes.
Bibi thinks for a moment
But doesn't know a thing.
PASS
FAIL
Carrufikus strikes both with some electricity!
The door creaks open on battered hinges, releasing a putrid stench. Racks for smoking fish fill most of the dark space within, some still holding scraps of scale and bone. A faint sloshing sound comes from a vile-smelling puddle in the center of the floor.
The sludge puddle quivers, and a second later animates!
ROUND 1:
Bibi: 2 Actions
Carrufikus: Zap
Noroc: Hit
Peldur: Go
Enemy: TBD
Elena: TBD
-----------------------------
Location: The Fishery
Green: 15
Black: 10
Bibi: 2 Actions
after the know check failure, I drew 2 weapons
Ain't no puddle ever bested me.
Peldur readies himself and steps in past Noroc. He then smashes the puddle like a toddler after a rain.
Peldur strikes hard. If the thing had organs and blood, it'd be bleeding heavily right now... If.
Still, he strikes twice! The oozes strike back:
MISS
MISS
MISS
for and
for and
MISS
It strikes Noroc in the crotch, and when he bends over, hits him in the jaw!
ROUND 1:
Bibi: Draw
Carrufikus: Zap
Noroc (34/44): Hit
Peldur: Hit
Enemy: SPBLTLTPPT
Tal: Go
Elena: Go
-----------------------------
Location: The Fishery
Green: 15
Black: 26
1. Hunt Prey
2. Recall Knowledge
3. Profit
3. Strike!
Occultism for Prey is +10
If Crit
Elena does the same as Carrufikus, hurling electricity at the oozes.
She then realizes that maybe she should take a moment to study them.
Bibi trusts that these things won't wing her on the way in, so she flits around back to help Noroc not get grundle-sludged again.
Fail
Fail (cannot be crit)
Magic, arrow, and blade combine to bring down one of the oozes. Tal knows these are sewer oozes. Often created intentionally by magic, sometimes otherworldly forces can animate the sludge. The danger is actually in getting this close. It can pulse with a wave of toxic filth!
ROUND 2:
Bibi: Hit
Carrufikus: Go
Noroc (34/44): Go
Peldur: Go
Enemy: TBD
Tal: TBD
Elena: TBD
-----------------------------
[b]Location: The Fishery
Black: 35
Noroc, bruised and battered, shakes his head at Tal's revelation. Wait, now you tell me not to get this close...?
Still, there's nothing else for it but unspeakable violence, so he moves a little further away — these things hurt, by the way — and gets down to it.
Noroc finds an easy target, and before the sewer ooze can go ballistic, he cuts it down!
Since we're already stinky...
Bibi starts to rifle through the area, seeing if there's anything 1) valuable, and/or 2) gives some clue as to what caused these pitshiles to form.
Sadly, the only thing Bibi gets is stinky.
"I hate to think what left those two piles there. At least they won't fight back any more. We will have to find something to freshen this space up."
Those were some bad beans that didn't take kindly to seeing the light of day again.
"We should be cautious. These things can sometimes emerge on their own, but they're most often created by mages of some kind. We should be on the lookout for a squatting spellcaster or some kind of source of rogue magic."
"We should be cautious. These things can sometimes emerge on their own, but they're most often created by mages of some kind. We should be on the lookout for a squatting spellcaster or some kind of source of rogue magic."
how about a ghost?
how about a ghost?
"Seems unlikely, unless the ghost were somehow also a sorcerer. I'd bet against that being the case," Elena says, speaking the words to a spell that allows her to detect magic in the area.
how about a ghost?"Seems unlikely, unless the ghost were somehow also a sorcerer. I'd bet against that being the case," Elena says, speaking the words to a spell that allows her to detect magic in the area.
Bibi nods her head slightly in concession to Elena's expertise. Then her brow furrows a bit. Would that be a ghost-sorcerer, or a sorcerer-ghost?
"We should be cautious. These things can sometimes emerge on their own, but they're most often created by mages of some kind. We should be on the lookout for a squatting spellcaster or some kind of source of rogue magic."
Hmmm... some "squatting spellcaster", huh? He's the one done passed those beans to make them angry stink piles. Maybe we can trick him into parleying with us over a meal. Fill him up with meat and cheese. Get him all backed up so's he can't make no more meanies for a while.
Hmmm... some "squatting spellcaster", huh? He's the one done passed those beans to make them angry stink piles. Maybe we can trick him into parleying with us over a meal. Fill him up with meat and cheese. Get him all backed up so's he can't make no more meanies for a while.
Bibi snorts in a most unladylike manner. I decree that, henceforth, going to the bathroom is now called "making a meanie."
A ghost-erer? Noroc offers.
Elena shakes her head at all of the terrible jokes, but can't hide a smile. "Leave it to you lot to make jokes when there's likely something nearb that wants to eat us."
Tal smiles quietly and enjoys the banter. He moves to the north, to the steps and door to the main structure.
What do I see, what do I hear, Game Master? Perception is +9
Elena finds nothing magical in the small structure.
Tal approaches the fish house. The only sound is the creaking of the floorboards on the porch and the semi-rhythmic tapping of the shudder. There is the faintest smell of oil and garlic, but only when the breeze brushes the elf's face...
"I love the smell of the ocean breeze! However, the smell of garlic seems like they are trying to mask the smell of something fishy! Be on your guard everyone."
"I love the smell of the ocean breeze! However, the smell of garlic seems like they are trying to mask the smell of something fishy! Be on your guard everyone."
Tal admonishes Carrufikus with a glance and tries the door. If locked, he'll wave Bibi in. If not, a swift, aggressive push. Bow at the ready.
The door opens easily.
A stone oven in the northwest corner marks this spacious room as a kitchen. Cabinets and tables line the walls, and a wide washbasin stands next to the western door. Several of the cabinet doors stand open, and pots and long-handled spoons lie scattered across the floor. Two doors stand in the east wall—one to the south, and a heavier door in the west wall (currently held open by Tal.) The shutters over the north window hang askew.
-----------------------------
Location: The Fishery
Elena once more repeats her cantrip, allowing her to detect the presence of magic in the room beyond the doorway.
If she finds no magic, she urges the group forward and suggests a search of the space. She starts by checking the contents of the cabinets.
Elena senses no magic. She also doesn't find anything of value in the cabinets.
"What do you think? I was thinking that this would make a great kitchen! Mind you, I'm not sure that you want to taste any of my cooking. Do any of you know how to cook?"
I know how to eat, Noroc observes, a little disappointed by the lack of food. Cooking not so much.
He moves over to the east door, opening it.
Shelves line the walls of this narrow pantry. A few empty crocks and boxes are all that remain on the shelves. A heap of empty sacks and broken crockery lies on the floor. Noroc spies a hole in the wall, gnawed into the wood. It's been covered up by the debris, and it looks intentional. It's roughly sized for a house cat. Along the tunnel’s edges are a few iridescent scales and a bit of feathery down.
-----------------------------
Location: The Fishery
Initiative assumes Talborel is Scouting
Avoid Notice (T)
Detect Magic (A: +1 (U), N: +8 (T), O: +1 (U) , R: +8 (T))
Investigate (A: +8 (T), C: +8 (T) M: +1 (U) N: +5 (T), O: +7 (T) , R: +5 (T), S: +8 (T))
Search (E)
Avoid Notice (E)
Scout
Noroc silently motions Elena over and points to the scales and down, then shrugging his shoulders.
Elena nods, moving over to study the bits of down and scales.
these clues.... hmmm the combination of scales and feathers suggest a type of goodly creature known as a couatl. Though most couatls are larger than a human
Tal moves to verify and track if he can.
Nature and Survival are both +7
"A couatl? What a sign of good fortune! Imagine if our house was blessed by such a noble creature! Wow! This is more than I could have asked for!"
Tal can't confirm the conclusion, but there's no reason to doubt it either.
"We'd likely need to make friendly with the creature first. But yes, let's find it, Elena says. She pauses, considering what she knows. "It could be a young one."
"I'm skeptical. But we'll learn the truth, one way or another."
Tal moves to the door south and will call Bibi over for... Roguery. If safe and unlocked, he's going through.
She gives Tal a jaunty salute...
The fish camp’s dining room remains so full of cobwebs that it’s hard to see anything inside, and tiny spiders skitter along the silken threads. In the middle of the room is a large trestle table with benches along each side. A cabinet along the south wall holds a collection of tin dishes. The door to the east is unblocked, and the door to the north has several planks nailed across it.