"Perhaps the wisest path forward is in the pirates' footsteps. It seems easy enough to follow the trail of dispatched dead. Nonetheless, I put my faith in your tracking skills, Mr. Wightbane."
Accepting the tender ministrations of Silvio, Damian pick up his bow and begins to scout the way back and forward up the trail the pirates left
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After some trial and error, the group manages to fight their way through the skeletons on the beach, discovering the path the pirates cleared along the way, taking only minor damage from the skeletons.
Past the dunes, the island is mostly desolate scrubland, with a few patches of hardy trees here and there. Past one such batch of trees, the heroes spot the ruins of the abbey, over 1,000 feet away. A solid-looking square building of stone blocks, the outer walls are now blackened and collapsed in places, and the inner area is nothing but scorched rubble.
Save for a couple of mules you spot wandering the land east and west of the abbey, you see no signs of life from here.
"Eat up, friends. Those blades the undead wielded looked filthy. The last thing you want is an infection."
"Huh. Mules. They don't strike me as common pirate tools. My guess is they belonged to the cultists at the abbey, and they're now masterless. Let me see if they share the tongue of their cousins."
Silvio clears his throat and neighs at the mule.
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Hodd (-2)
Walrus (-1)
Damian (-2)
Silvio (-1)
The group approaches one of the mules, which gives the heroes a baleful glance before returning to eating the thin, sickly grass that grows here.
When Silvio speaks, it looks up suspiciously before approaching to eat a berry.
"Men came, killing and burning. I escaped my pen and fled."
"I'm sorry to hear about that. What can you tell me about your former masters? Were they kind to you? Any idea where the men are now?"
"Well, you should steer clear of the shore. There are evil creatures hiding in the sand. Soon we'll leave the island for supplies and we can bring you with us if you'd like."
He pats the neck of the mules then sends them on their way before relaying what he learned to his allies, "Well it sounds like the pirates are long gone with their boots. The cultists are apparently holed up in the remnants of the building. 'Smelling of fear and desperation' they say. An animal is at its most dangerous when it's cornered so we should be careful. Who wants a pep talk?"
Listening to Silvio relate the information from the donkeys, Damian ponders their next move
I send Cooper into the sky to see through his eyes the surrounding area.
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Soaring above the island, Cooper spots a couple of figures moving among the ruins of the abbey, one harvesting food from a garden that blessedly wasn't burned in the fire, and another gathering water from a well. The figures appear to be human or demihuman, and wear long black cloaks with hoods up. The one in the garden carries no weapons, but the one at the well wears a broadsword slung across his back.
Silvio strokes his chin ponderously at the descriptions that Walrus relays.
"I am certainly getting less and less of a death cult vibe from the inhabitants of this island. Hells, they sound more like the people I grew up with. I wonder if our benefactor lied, or was simply mistaken about their faith. Either way, let's approach them peacefully and see if we can talk things out with them. Afterall Lurrus's instructions were to clear the island of any hazards. If the monks here are harmless, then there's no need to quarrel with them. Lead on, Damian."
As the group gets within shouting distance of the ruins Silvio calls out,
"Hey! Don't run! We're nice!"
He sighs and moves up closer with the group.
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All the remains of the abbey is a great square of stones filled with burned and blackened rubble. However, as you approach the sooty stones, it is obvious someone has been sorting through the debris. Assorted oddments are piled inside the scorched square of the foundation stones. Ruined cooking utensil,s crushed pots and pans, mangled kettles, and less identifiable metal objects lie in one pile. Broken crockery, platters, plates, porcelain and pottery are heaped in another. A great deal of wood has been sorted into one large mound of badly burned scraps.
In the center of the ruins is an opening, and as you move nearer, you see a stone staircase leading down into the darkness...
Silvio spends a little time sifting through the debris, mostly out of curiosity.
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There is very little of value here, but there's evidence a great deal of effort was made to preserve anything that could be useful as a tool, makeshift weapon, raw material, or for repairs. It strikes you that these are the actions of people who expect to be here, possibly without resupply, for some time.
Scouting around with Silvo Damian also searches for clues as to where to the 2 people they saw went
Silvio leads the group down the stairs, still hopeful to have a conversation with the skittish priests.
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This appears to be a combination dining hall and recreation area. The room reeks of greasy, soured food. The main feature of this room is a makeshift table made of two badly burned blanks placed side by side and supported at either end by up-ended barrels. Beneath the table are several small empty kegs that serve as chairs. The table is not very clean; scraps of food are strewn across the planks and on the floor nearby. Scattered about the room are smaller makeshift tables. Several have dice, cards, or other gaming tokens on them.
There are four guards in this room. Three are wearing wielding short swords, while fourth () is a hulking man carrying a broadsword.
"Put 'em down, boys!" shouts.
The largely pacifistic priest sighs and tries to defuse the situation.
Drawing down on the line guard that is t held, Damian looks at him past the arrowhead
throw down your weapons and you can walk away
Walrus holds a color spray to see what the priest will do
Hodd will ready his sword and wait as well.
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Silvio (-14)
Blue - Held
Red - Held
Damian
Purple
Hodd
Walrus
Yellow
Green - Held
Yellow seems to hesitate for a moment, until one of the doors here bursts open. On the other side, another robed figure holds forked fingers towards the heroes and casts a spell, causing three bolts of arcane energy to fly out of his hand and strike Silvio.
"Ow! Ya know this is no way to start an interfaith discussion."
Walrus will move within range to cast color spray on the attacker
Hodd will advance and attack Yellow with his sword.
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Silvio (-22)
Blue - Held
Red - Held
Damian
Purple (Blinded, 4 rounds)
Hodd
Walrus
Yellow
Green - Held
Black
???
Hodd makes a mighty swing, but the guard manages to avoid it.
Yellow responds in kind.
But he's unable to connect.
Green remains frozen in place, but another of the doors opens, discharging an elf wielding a sword, who steps toward Silvio and makes an attack.
He strikes well and draws blood.
From the room in the northwestern corner, the party can hear the sounds of divine spellcasting, as someone invokes a prayer to Syrul, god of deceit.
"Did any of you ever stop to think that the God of deceit that maybe he deceives his disciples? Meanwhile I just wanted to help you see your god." he offers while falling back behind the party and touching himself.
Seeing their ploy for nonviolence failed, Damian switches targets. Dropping his bow and unslinging his axes he steps up to black and double slices
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Silvio (-17)
Blue - Held
Red - Held
Damian
Purple (2 images, Blinded, 3 rounds)
Hodd
Walrus
Yellow
Green - Held
Black (-13)
???
The elf is wiry and quick, but Damian's two attacks get through his defenses and leave the elf bleeding on the ground.
The blinded purple casts another spell, causing duplicates to appear around him, making it impossible to tell which is the real one.
Hodd attempts to break the stalemate with Yellow, bringing two mighty swings of his sword.
Walrus is going to pick up a rock and throw it at purple
"Okay, this is rapidly getting out of hand. Hodd, unleash the beast!"
Stepping up next to the Saurian, Damian double slices again at red
Hodd will turn his attention to Orange and attempt strike them with his sword (assuming I can step away from Red as they are being held).
Walrus is going to cast glitterdust on yhe new guy that hit me then run away from him