"Die!
F%~! you, zombie scum!"
Draxxie steps to the side and pulls her cutlass. She drops the pike, and grasps the curved sword with both hands.
Come on, come on!
Draxxie's cutlass hacks a horrid gash in the ghoul's stomach, ripping apart her already ragged bodice and spilling ancient dried guts out like dusty sausage links. The ghoul shrieks, but doesn't go down. Her milky eyes flash with some agonizing madness and she tears at both Estelle and Draxxie in a near-mindless frenzy of hunger. When the blood stops flying, Draxxie has four fresh claw marks across her chest, and Estelle is on the ground bleeding out.
After several long, terrifying seconds of having absolutely no control over his own body, Oduim finally begins to feel painful tingling at the tips of his fingers. They twitch a few times, and then the feeling begins returning to his arms, then his legs, and finally his neck and face. He's free!
[color=green]ROUND 3/4
Characters in BOLD may act.
Oduim (9/20 hp, fatigued)
Ghoul 3 (13 dmg, dead)
Asami (10/20 hp, +1 AC, paralyzed 1 round)
Ghoul 1 (13 dmg, dead)
Draxxie (6/18 hp, fatigued, Raging Song)
Ghoul 2 (12 dmg)
Estelle (-3/17 hp, unconscious and dying)
[/color]
Grasping at her wounds, the young witch is unable to keep her eyes open as everything goes dark.
Not again!
The green plant wrapped around her neck unwinds and stands over the body of the witch. Two little leafy vines stretch out from its side and the tips clench up into tiny little adorable fists.
"Far across the sea
Zombies wait for me
Craving brains and treasure
It's their destiny
Til my dying day
Hear these words I say
Zombies ate my pirate ship
I will make them pay!"
Draxxie nods towards Oduim as she sings her bloody fighting song and swings her cutlass...
"Aye, 'tis desperate work, b&!#!es!"
Though the paralysis is fading, Oduim's limbs are still stiff, and his jab with the spear fails to penetrate the ghoul's leathery hide. Draxxie, however, has significantly better luck.
Already wavering on her feet, the ghoul seems ready to fall, but the obvious desperation of her hunger makes her stand her ground when clearly she should have fled. She pays for her foolishness with her unlife when the skald bellows a final stanza and lops the fiend's head clear off her shoulders. As the creature's head rolls lopsidedly across the floor, spilling her ancient, rancid blood across the floorboards, Asami's muscles finally flex and relax as her paralysis fades.
The plant hovering over Estelle with its little leafy dukes up makes a rude gesture at the headless ghoul.
COMBAT OVER!
The haze of battle begins to fade, but the young witch is unconscious and covered in blood. A quick scan notes that her breath is steady and she is more or less stable, but she's in terrible shape -- as are you all.
On the ghouls, you find a smattering of interesting items. On one, you find a slender, gnarled stick and an ornate leather hip flask with the design of a crocodile on it, both of which radiate magic. Another of the ghouls has a set of six well-used but still very sharp daggers, one of which is masterwork.
The hip flask is worth 25gp by itself, thanks to the fine stitchwork.
The stick is a wand of cure light wounds with 7 charges.
The hip flask contains a potion of cure moderate wounds.
Asami clenches one eye shut in pain as her muscles finally start to loosen; she staggers over to Estelle... and her little plant buddy.
"Don't worry, little thing. I'm here to help."
"Don't suppose any of us knows healing arts?" she asks; already, she's working on propping Estelle's mouth open. "Never saw one more reliable than a bottle, anyway. We were holding onto one, weren't we?" she asks, looking back at her companions.
Draxxie grins through the pain. "You're such a Momma Fox."
"There's one healing potion left, but I can get New Girl on her feet. I ain't no priestess, mind."
Draxxie summons up the last of her magic, and lays a hand on the unconscious Estelle.
"There ya go, Estelle. I ain't gonna say 'good as new', but ye'll live. Best hope there ain't no more ghouls about though."
The ivy ‘eyes’ down Asami and Draxxie, but allows them to work on their friend. When Estelle’s eyes flutter open they jump and wave their arms before going in for a big hug.
Coming back to the waking world Estelle feels nothing but pain. Then the comforting snuggle of her oldest friend. She lightly squeezes the plant back and sits up. Everything hurts, but at this point this isn’t different from the last week of hell she has been through. The witch gives another shaky thumbs up.
Without even asking she notices the items found and casts a spell, making her eyes glow blue.
She signs to Odium while pointing at the flask, ”Powerful Healing Potion, who needs it most?”
"You're such a Momma Fox."
Asami grunts.
"I've seen people posture and let people die in the process. Great way to make an ass of yourself."
As Estelle opens her eyes, she can't help but smile.
"Good."
Her own wounds still burn, and she grits her teeth.
"How many of those can you do in a day?" she asks Draxxie, leaning against the wall; her previous sitting spot now has a dead ghoul in it.
She's still bleeding, slowly, from a few big wounds.
She watches Estelle's hand gestures closely and furrows her brow.
"And if anyone knows how to do that, teach me."
She adds to Odium more signs, ”And the wand is also healing, just less. Are you okay with Asami joining our lessons?”
The witch pulls out a chalkboard and wipes off the old message. Scribbling a few things down she shows everyone the following.
Flask: One Big Heal Potion
Wand: Seven Small Heal Spells
Hand Signs: Yes I can teach you
Asami glances over at the lootables.
"That's more convenient than anything else has been for weeks," she snorts. She grabs the daggers and offers them up to the rest of the group, pocketing at least one.
"Any of you that don't have a knife, take one," she advises. "Never know when you're going to need one."
She smiles at the last line; "Thank you. I know a few words of Minkan sign, but I'm not sure if it's the same..."
She mimes the signs for Hello, Goodbye, and Thank You.
|
Oduim nods at the idea of Asami's inclusion.
"Whatever we take, best be sure to hide it when we get back to the Promise. I imagine Plugg's gonna be on the lookout for any spoils coming on to 'his' ship."
He scoops up the wand, "I can use this on us now. There probably ain't nothing else going bump in the night, but maybe it's better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather save it fer later, but who knows if there will be a later. We're all pretty spent."
"Maybe we save the big potion for an emergency?"
"I've got a knife, Momma" Draxxie winks. "And an axe, an' a pike, an' a cutlass. The rest o' yers c'n take two o' the fishslicers each.
As fer the happy stick, well, we're all the worse fer wear but we oughta be able t' rest up now. Estelle here has got a bit o' healin' magic, so do I, mebbe we can save a bit o' th' wand fer emergencies, th' potion too?
An' what is that little plant fella, Estelle?"
Estelle pulls a very nice switchblade out of her bodice and clips it to her belt, waving off the offer of a dagger. She starts writing then shows her thoughts to the group.
Let’s take a hit each from the wand and scout the village again. Then get some rest and head out like planned. Usually undead are rare, I doubt there are more. Plus they would have killed any other threats in this area.
She points at the plant who is now on her shoulder.
This is Cry Vee, my only family. They are a drama queen but have saved my life enough times I have lost count. We watch each other’s backs.
"Works for me," Asami says of the plan.
She reaches out a fingertip to shake Cry Vee's... hand-vine.
Aside from an assault from mosquitos and botflies, the party is otherwise unbothered the rest of the night -- though the stench is enough to force you all to find another abandoned hut to sleep in for the evening. At dawn, the group is much more rested, though poor Estelle is absolutely covered in bug bites.
Asami 18/20
Draxxie 15/18
Estelle 12/17
Oduim 17/20
Estelle's bug bites appear to be infected, as they are more swollen than they should be, but you can't quite tell what. It looks like one of the bugs might have been carrying something. It might behoove you to avoid the mosquitos on your next rest, as they seem to come out in droves at night. Perhaps somewhere over open water...?
A faint black spiderweb can just barely be seen under the dermal layer around the bites, difficult to spot without your exceptional medical eye. You can only think of one disease that the mosquitos might be carrying on an island with ghouls running around.
These mosquitos are carrying ghoul fever.
S$#%.
Estelle shares the info.
Asami swears under her breath.
"Right. The yakuza answer to this is to snap your neck and burn your body. But this is not the yakuza. Anyone got a better plan? I don't like killing unless I have to."
Her definition of "have to" might be different than most, but it's still some level of true.
She frowns. "Well, we got a good look at the place. We can get back in the boat and bring it around--and then we'll have a safer place to sleep so we don't catch this again."
Asami glowers, arms crossed as she ponders. Finally, she seems to come to a conclusion:
"Never a dull moment."
She writes, A few days, probably a week at least. Might be treatable or beatable. I have survived other diseases. I need a moment to figure out what spells to prepare.
Once done she activates a spell and begins scanning her wounds . She then treats it as well as she can, cleaning the bites with fresh water.
Is this my mistake? I saw the signs. I just didn't piece them together.
"Right. Our mission is the same, it's just more complicated now--if we find Sandara--and she's alive--she might be able to help."
"How are you feeling?"
Estelle scrawls a quick note and packs up her measly possessions.
Find Sandara and water. Get off this island quickly to avoid further infection. No time to waste.
She heads out the door.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Crap. Ghoul Fever?" Maybe we can get her close to Plugg when she turns.
"Yeah. Let's pray we can find Sandara in time. If we need t' sleep off the land, we should row the boat around the coast instead o' walking. It's gonna be faster too I reckon."
After looking over the wounds, Estelle makes a simple herbal concoction to boost her immune system. It tastes violently of peppermint.
----
As the party discusses where to go first, they start down the path southward out of the abandoned village, leaving the rotting carcasses of the ghouls as a token of their passing.
The swamp is, unsurprisingly, infested with bugs, and the waters on either side of the path are scum-covered and brackish. Dark weeds and willows grow from the water's edge, and the sound of life teems throughout -- bird calls, monkey howls, chirping crickets, even the occasional shrieking cicada. The air here is distinctly more humid than by the shore, making the heat from the pounding sun overhead drape over you like a wet, warm blanket. You honestly can't say how much of the moisture pouring off you is sweat and how much is purely condensed water from the oppressive air. Thankfully you have cantrips to keep everyone's waterskins full; in this awful heat, you will need it.
After about twenty minutes, the dirt-packed trail starts to turn muddy as it dips slightly to match the level of the brackish waters to either side. You trudge through the sludge, slowing your group for a few minutes, but mostly just annoying you as your feet and/or shoes become caked with dark brown mud.
Another ten minutes later, and you are forced to stop. The trail vanishes entirely, becoming a deep, mildew-laden bog about sixty-five feet across. It appears there was once some sort of bridge that crossed it, but that has long since rotted away to nothing, leaving only short timber platforms at either end, and the aging pilings that jut up from the scummy water like rotting teeth.
This bog is in fact a mire, which means it is exceedingly dangerous to go in the water. You notice the canopy of trees over your head look flexible but sturdy. You have a few options. You could:
- a) clamber across the boughs of those trees with a difficult Climb check;
- b) climb a tree with a slightly easier Climb check, lash a rope, and then multiple people could swing across with an Acrobatics check; or
- c) hop across the pilings with an Acrobatics check.
Estelle’s scratches on her chalkboard break the oppressive blanket of warm silence in the swamp. When completed it reads, DO NOT GO IN THE WATER! Climbing through the trees or jumping across the pylons should work though. Anyone have a rope? We could climb up a tree and swing across the gap too.
"You don't have t' tell me twice, Estelle" Draxxie gags at the stench of the bog. "It's a bad as the bilges!"
"I got some rope. An' I reckon I c'n make the jumps but we should take precautions, like use our ropes to tie round our waists so we c'n be pulled back."
"Agreed," says Asami. Her nose crinkles in disgust, but she doesn't comment on it (unless swatting her hundredth fly of the day counts).
I hate all of this.
Asami, assuming no one objects, moves into position to pull anyone who falls from the... "water."
Estelle ties herself off to the two ropes (we need two to manage 65 ft so I hope you all have two) and scrawls, I’m going the tree route. If I die, burn my body.
Limbering up her fingers and arms, she scrambles up a nearby tree and starts looking for a route across the canopy of boughs.
Estelle clambers nimbly up the tree without issue, but once she gets to the actual boughs, she finds herself stymied. The branches aren't quite as stable as they appeared from the ground, bending and creaking with her movements, and she can't quite gain enough purchase to crawl across them.
Quicksand, which is what this bog functions as, is no joke. Characters in quicksand must make a DC 10 Swim check every round to simply tread water in place, or a DC 15 Swim check to move 5 feet in whatever direction is desired. If a trapped character fails this check by 5 or more, he sinks below the surface and begins to drown whenever he can no longer hold his breath.
Characters below the surface of quicksand may swim back to the surface with a successful Swim check (DC 15, +1 per consecutive round of being under the surface).
Pulling out a character trapped in quicksand can be difficult. A rescuer needs a branch, spear haft, rope, or similar tool that enables them to reach the victim with one end of it. Then they must make a DC 15 Strength check to successfully pull the victim, and the victim must make a DC 10 Strength check to hold onto the branch, pole, or rope. If both checks succeed, the victim is pulled 5 feet closer to safety. If the victim fails to hold on, they must make a DC 15 Swim check immediately to stay above the surface.
Estelle frowns, shrugs, ties the rope off to a high sturdy branch and calculates the angles to swing on it like a vine through the jungle. With a salute in Draxxie’s and Asami’s direction, she jumps and allows physics to take the helm.
Estelle deftly swings across the murky bog. At the apex of her swing, as she scrapes mere feet above the surface of the mire, two long pink tongues whip out from the water to lash at her. Through sheer blind luck, the tongues snap at a scrap of cloth on her leggings, pulling the stray fabric away but allowing Estelle to complete her Tarzan impression and land safely on the other side.
Emerging from the water are two massive frogs each the size of a pony, croaking with shocking volume before swimming through the murky bogwater toward the party.
[color=green]ROUND 1
Characters in BOLD may act.
Draxxie (15/18 hp)
Oduim (17/20 hp)
Giant Frog 1 (0 dmg)
Giant Frog 2 (0 dmg)
Asami (18/20 hp)
Estelle (12/17 hp)
[/color]
These frogs are not particularly different from their smaller cousins -- they are adroit swimmers but are somewhat awkward on land, which they often avoid. They are known to attempt to eat prey almost as large as they are if they get hungry enough, and their tongues are coated in a sticky secretion that allows them to snag a target and pull them closer to it, where they can bite and tear with their sharp ridges of back teeth to make larger prey easier to consume.
With an *EEEP* noise, Estelle jerks her feet away from the tongue and lands on solid ground.
With no easy way to communicate her knowledge she just raises her hands in the air together, one indicating a ‘one’ and another a ‘five’ then spreads her hands apart.
"What's she signin'? Anyone know?" Draxxie looks across the bog with a puzzled frown.
"Best deal wi' these overgrown frogs. They must'o eaten a s!#!-load of bugs t' get that big!"
Draxxie focuses her innate magic on what she assumes is a simple animal brain, conjuring primal survival instincts in the closer of the two amphibians.
"If it comes yer way Estelle, let it go by!"
Draxxie readies her pike, and steps back from the bog's edge.
Can a frog croak fearfully? It would appear so. #2 lets out a shrill, trilling croak that makes everyone cringe in pain.
[color=green]ROUND 1
Characters in BOLD may act.
Draxxie (15/18 hp)
Oduim (17/20 hp)
Giant Frog 1 (0 dmg)
Giant Frog 2 (0 dmg, Frightened 4 rounds)
Asami (18/20 hp)
Estelle (12/17 hp)
[/color]
The shortspear flies true and buries in the giant frog's side, but the creature remains conscious, croaking furiously. In retaliation, it speeds through the murky water with shocking alacrity, and its long sticky tongue whips out at the druid. Oduim can actually feel the wind across his cheek as he jerks his head out of the way of being snagged in the face at the last second.
Meanwhile, #2 utters a high-pitched ribbit and hops right the f!&* out of there.
[color=green]ROUND 1
Characters in BOLD may act.
Draxxie (15/18 hp)
Oduim (17/20 hp)
Giant Frog 1 (7 dmg)
Giant Frog 2 (0 dmg, Frightened 4 rounds, fleeing)
Asami (18/20 hp)
Estelle (12/17 hp)
[/color]
Asami sighs, grabs one of the less-good knives, and hurls it.
"Useful," she snorts.
Estelle pulls her spring blade out, snaps it into weapon form and then tries to make herself as small a target as possible. It isn’t difficult to do, though it may make her a more inviting target actually. She starts anxiously reconsidering her plan.
Is this one of those critters I need to look big and scary towards?