Atia grins, amused by his rambling, and places her hand over the one he rests on her cheek, leaning slightly into his touch. "Ah yes, you can tell your friends you brought your girl to a cornfield...full of rotting heads, botflies, and ankheg. Oh, and we set it on fire. Your friends will be blown away by your romantic prowess." She meets his gaze with a similar intensity and raises her eyebrows, her smile turning into more of a smirk. "I suppose after all the time I spent being under lock and key, I could do with a little bit of adventure." She doesn't elaborate, only leans to give him a lingering kiss before remembering their audience and turning her attention back to the stockade and the spyglass.
Slapping his forehead, "That's it! That's what I was going for!" Then letting her finish, raises a curious eyebrow at the word "adventure". He's just about to say something until her lips find his. Joran easily loses himself in her kiss before she pulls away and he's forced to quickly collect himself. As she turns her focus toward the spyglass, Joran draws a hand down his face and takes a deep breath through the nose. There's no way in hell I'm going to be able to keep it together at this rate. I wonder if those big bugs are still out there. I need to kill something. Badly. Like... REALLY badly.
"Oh, oh god! It's awful!" Mateo chokes before the beast grabs a hold of his shirt. The swashbuckler chokes and sputters before suddenly giving a twist of his whole body to try and slip free.
If Mateo breaks away, he chokes on bile in his mouth and nods. "Kill it! Kill it! It doesn't want to talk!"
After taking a moment to look through the spyglass, Joran walks back toward the spring and his thoughts wander. But he's interrupted by Mateo's screaming. Rolling his eyes in frustration, "By the gods, Mateo, SHUT UP! What is it this time?! More stupid bugs?!" The irritation in the barbarian's voice cannot be denied as he reluctantly turns to see what the problem is.
Seeing Mateo get grappled by an undead, his eyes go wide. "Oh! Sorry, Mateo! I'm coming to help! I got this!" Boy do I feel stupid.
As the ghast grasps at Mateo and he lurches away, stomach heaving, the sound of a crossbow's TWANG heralds a crossbow bolt hitting the creature in the chest. In a feat of teamwork honed by spending weeks together in the close quarters of the ship, Atia, Dreamer, then Terry each shoot through the open door then scoot aside -- but Terry's shot, finding its mark right between the dead man's eyes, finishes the monster off.
It hangs limply once more, unlife fading from its form.
The flies disperse in the moment of action, and it's safe to enter.
Her curiosity got the best of her yet again, and she examined the now re-deceased body of the man. It took a bit longer than she thought, but she was able to draw her conclusion.
"I think he's another shipwrecked sailor, and it looks like he's Chelish. You can tell from the kind of collar they use to hang people. It also explains why there who ever sent them didn't bother to rescue them. Fits with the kingdom's attitude." She caught herself and turned towards Atia as she winced. "Nothing against you."
She then continued. "He hanged here, but didn't do it well enough to die from asphyxiation. Ghoul fever did him in. My guess is that he wanted to commit suicide before he could become a ghoul, but messed up the process."
As soon as the ghast is dead, Atia grins at Terry, nodding at the half-elf's expert shots with some admiration. "Ohh, that was awesome. Great aim!" She says, strapping her light crossbow back onto herself and heading into the room to look around.
Atia finds herself rather disgusted by the sight of the ghast, and, while distracted, catches her foot on the doorframe. She tries to catch herself and misses, slamming her elbow into the wooden frame hard while she falls forward. She lands, facedown on the ground, and just...stays there for a moment before rolling over and clutching her elbow in pain and cursing colorfully in Infernal.
After a moment, she pulls herself up, her face flushed red and refusing to look anyone in the eye. Instead, she casts detect magic, still clutching her elbow in pain. "Mmm, something in here is magic..." Atia says, trying to deflect focus from her momentary lack of grace to something more interesting.
Lanni runs over to Mateo. "You OK? That thing looked creepy. It didn't get a good hold on you did it?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Magic, huh? Let's see here..." Lanni pokes around in the dresses and finds the locket and the ring.
Holding up the locket, Lanni mumbles to himself, "Might keep this around for a while."
He shows the ring to Atia. "Is this the magical thing you were detecting?"
Sheepishly, Seadreamer walks in while reloading his crossbow.
He then slings it over his back, while he takes a quick look around.
Add 2 for stonework, Add 1 for Seaborne gems.
Everyone all right he inquires as he walks in
She was keen not to look at Atia in the eye even more so now.
While Des wasn't able to find anything herself, Lanni did a much better job at it. The locket drew her interest as she walked towards Lanni. "We better see what's in the locket first."
Checking what was inside, he face grew even paler than usual. "This woman..." She brought it out for all to see. "It's the ghoul Atia blew hole in its face."
"Yeah, the locket probably isn't worth much. At least not on the market. It was probably very special to some of the people when they were alive though. I'd like to keep it though."
"Magic, huh? Let's see here..." Lanni pokes around in the dresses and finds the locket and the ring.
Holding up the locket, Lanni mumbles to himself, "Might keep this around for a while."
He shows the ring to Atia. "Is this the magical thing you were detecting?"
"Yeah, that seems to be it." Atia replies to Lanni, casting detect magic again and attempting to identify it.
Lanni also checks out the ring as Atia is inspecting it.
"I think he's another shipwrecked sailor, and it looks like he's Chelish. You can tell from the kind of collar they use to hang people. It also explains why there who ever sent them didn't bother to rescue them. Fits with the kingdom's attitude." She caught herself and turned towards Atia as she winced. "Nothing against you."
She then continued. "He hanged here, but didn't do it well enough to die from asphyxiation. Ghoul fever did him in. My guess is that he wanted to commit suicide before he could become a ghoul, but messed up the process."
Atia shrugs in response to Destinie's comment about her home country, a wry smile crossing her face. "I would imagine he's probably part of whatever crew got ghouled with those ladies. Nobody to rescue him. Not that you're wrong, though." She laughs darkly and inspects the handiwork on the knot, shaking her head at the shoddy work.
As soon as the ghast is dead, Atia grins at Terry, nodding at the half-elf's expert shots with some admiration. "Ohh, that was awesome. Great aim!" She says, strapping her light crossbow back onto herself and heading into the room to look around.
Sheathing his sword, "Yeah, that was a great shot, Quent. You made that look easy." Looking to the swashbuckler, "You okay, Mateo? That thing didn't bite your face, did it? I hate it when they do that." He rubs his face where the ghoul bit him hard.
Atia finds herself rather disgusted by the sight of the ghast, and, while distracted, catches her foot on the doorframe. She tries to catch herself and misses, slamming her elbow into the wooden frame hard while she falls forward. She lands, facedown on the ground, and just...stays there for a moment before rolling over and clutching her elbow in pain and cursing colorfully in Infernal.
After a moment, she pulls herself up, her face flushed red and refusing to look anyone in the eye. Instead, she casts detect magic, still clutching her elbow in pain. "Mmm, something in here is magic..." Atia says, trying to deflect focus from her momentary lack of grace to something more interesting.
Seeing Atia fall, "Whoa! Careful there, darlin'." He quickly moves to help her up. "You alright?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Taking note of the outfits, "Hey, check out these outfits. They're pretty fancy. We should take them. I'm going to take them." Joran does just that. Grabs as many as he can and shoves them in his pack as best he can.
Atia takes Joran's help in getting up with a grateful smile. "I'm alright, love. Thank you," Atia murmurs to Joran in reply, squeezing his arm briefly. "Just my pride and dignity," she says, turning her attention back to the ring.
Mateo brushes himself off, shaking off the bits of rubbed off flesh and viscous drool that had dripped from the ravenous ghast's mouth. He sheathes his blade, nodding a little bit.
"I'm fine. I will be pleased when we leave this island and are done with our hunt. Ugh, I can still taste it." Mateo mutters, making his way to the bubbling spring to try and wash away some of the undead monstrosity's taste from his mouth.
When the others were done searching the shack, Mateo would give a whistle and turn to each one of them. He laid on the grass, casually playing with a long blade of green as he pondered his thoughts.
"So I feel that we should refill the water barrels, head to the shore, and then rescue Sandara and Tilly. That's an obvious plan for tomorrow, yeah? Then...I think we use the starlight and sail back to the Promise under darkness. We board quietly...and kill Scourge, Plugg, and their cronies." The smile he had as he played with the grass fade as his words get grim. "I don't know about you folks but I am feeling we were sent here to die. If the water was so critical, why not keep a ghost crew? No, I think they're going to make their move when we return. They're hoping our numbers will be smaller and we'll be easier to pick off."
"So what do you all think? Recuperate here, rescue our friends tomorrow, and then kill the bastards in the dead of night?"
Pondering the swashbuckler's words, "While I have no problem with the plan and with killing the lot of them, I'd be hard-pressed to think they won't have a lookout. I don't know, a part of me feels like we might be pushing too hard to end 'em... I think. Which I get. I do. Trust me. I want to be free of those dogs just like you all, especially after everything they've done to us. But I feel like... I don't know... I feel like..." He pauses, his eyes roving as he spends a moment in contemplation before finally saying, "You know, never mind. Yeah, sounds good. Let's do it." He agrees, although, it sounds as if the big guy sounds somewhat reluctant.
That plan works for me. Fill water, rescue friends, kill the rat pack. The only change I can think of is rescue the friends today. That way we are at our strongest for going against the rat pack.
He thinks for a moment
Now to get past those Awhells ??
Having cleared up the problem in the shack, several of you look down to survey the best way down to the grindylow cave while Atia and Lanni study the ring. They're able to determine the bit of jewelry will enhance the wearer's ability to swim.
The rest of you can see the slope is a bit gentler on the west side of the hills, and you should be able to pick your way down if you're cautious, without needing to head back to the corn field. You also can see a shipwreck off in the water, likely the one that delivered the island's undead inhabitants.
"Looks like it will help a bad swimmer become a good swimmer...or a good swimmer become a great swimmer," Atia says, holding up the ring. "We don't need to decide who gets it right now, but there are several weak swimmers here." She shrugs, holding the ring out to the gnome for safekeeping.
Atia and Joran make their way over to Mateo and they both sit down near the swashbuckler in the grass. Atia listens to the two of them carefully before chiming in, a grim look on her face. "I understand the reluctance, love, I really do - but Mateo is right. We were absolutely sent here to die. We may as well take control of the situation as best we can." Atia reaches out and grab's Joran's hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. She looks tired - all the running, the fall, the brutal fight against the ghouls...for a woman of her upbringing, this amount of work is unheard of. Even her job on the Wormwood was never so demanding, aside from perhaps the storm work. Now that they've paused a moment, and allowed their bodies to relax a bit, Atia is reluctant to do more.
"Augh, my whole body hurts. I barely have any magic left today. No, I absolutely do not want to explore the cave today. I think Destinie might be low on resources as well. We don't know how big the cave is, what's in there other than some grindylows and, hopefully, Sandara and Tilly..." She pauses a moment, a flash of worry crossing her face -- Tilly, the first in the existing crew to treat her with any amount of kindness and her first friend aboard the ship...Atia frowns even deeper and shakes off the building desire to cry, not wanting to appear weak in front of these people. Tilly and Sandara had to be alive. Atia needed that to keep her going. "Luckily, we don't need to get past the ankhegs...we can leave them in the burning cornfield." Atia grins as she emphasizes the name of the monsters that had chased them, amused by the variety of misnomers that the group had come up with.
Atia lays back in the grass, trying to feel as relaxed as the swashbuckler looked as he laid out and looked at the sky. "I would love to rest. I am exhausted. But if people want to scout out the entrance...well, you had best be careful."
Destinie folded her arms in annoyance while biting her lip. Hers wad a face of anxiousness, but in the end she slowly nodded as she sighed in defeat. "You're.. you're right. I only have one healing spell left right now. That said, the sooner we get back the better for the sake of everyone else still on the boat. We... didn't really give them much of a plan in what to do."
"We'll rescue them, Destinie," Atia says with conviction, rolling over to look at the other woman with a serious and sympathetic look on her face. "Sandara and Tilly are both strong. We've seen how they handle themselves in a fight. The others back on the ship will make it, too. Even Jack." Atia's voice held a note of worry, but she tried to shove it deep down - perhaps if she believed strongly enough, their situation wouldn't feel as dire.
Lanni listens to the debate about the plans without much interest. But he does add his thoughts to it. "Whichever. It is late afternoon now, so there is still plenty of daylight to get there." He looks around at the stockade. "If we leave in the morning, I'm not going to be able to find the same type of spirit here. A Defender would be easy enough." Lanni makes a bit of a face. "And probably a Warrior. Maybe if we collected all of our holy symbols together we could attract a Cleric."
Aye, I will give you the requirement to rest. Now that yon beastie in there has expired again, we should be able to rest in here. But people should be on watch
Seadreamer shrugs off his pack, then starts to look around the stockade for some stuff to create a fire.
"Not while it is still so dirty and stinky. But hey, a good leader leads by example, right?" Lanni casts Prestidigitation and starts cleaning out the rotten flesh, expired food, rat droppings, and other gunk from the shack.
Innate
1/day: Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound,
Cantrips
Medium: Light, Mage Hand, Message
"We'll rescue them, Destinie," Atia says with conviction, rolling over to look at the other woman with a serious and sympathetic look on her face. "Sandara and Tilly are both strong. We've seen how they handle themselves in a fight. The others back on the ship will make it, too. Even Jack." Atia's voice held a note of worry, but she tried to shove it deep down - perhaps if she believed strongly enough, their situation wouldn't feel as dire.
The oracle nodded slowly as to reassure herself of the situation. It's a sticky one, but she was determined to see it through. Still, she looked down at the floor as she spoke softly. "I just miss her so much."
Lanni listens to the debate about the plans without much interest. But he does add his thoughts to it. "Whichever. It is late afternoon now, so there is still plenty of daylight to get there." He looks around at the stockade. "If we leave in the morning, I'm not going to be able to find the same type of spirit here. A Defender would be easy enough." Lanni makes a bit of a face. "And probably a Warrior. Maybe if we collected all of our holy symbols together we could attract a Cleric."
She held a hand up at Lanni. "Please... don't try a cleric. Hopefully not the one I'm thinking of."
Mateo nods first at Joran's reluctance, understanding the fact that the party had likely been reacting defensively this whole time. This was a change in pace; a cold-blooded killing. It surprises him little that the Chelish woman understands the severity of the situation; hard actions would need to be taken.
"You're a good man Joran, truly, but the Shackles eats good men and women everyday. If we're able to, we should seize the initiative and get our enemy on the back step." The swashbuckler said with a little nod, smiling towards Atia and Des. Their casters were drained by the repeatedly violent encounters they had so far. "I agree. While Joran, Seadreamer, Terry, and myself can hold a line, we would be entering the home of the grindylows. To say they have the advantage is an understatement."
"I know Lanni has been able to have messages delivered by the spirits or magic or what have you. Like a whisper over distance. If you others can do the same, perhaps we can alert them when we arrive, have them get ready." Mateo offers as a bit of strategy, laying back against the ground and stretching firmly.
"Well, if he does call up Sandara, that at least answers a question for us." He says gently, trying to offer a smile to Destinie. "I don't know your friends' odds but I am gambling on you all being the victors. Plugg and his folk are too many asses for one ship; they'll eat each other alive."
Mateo deals with the unpleasant business of disposing the corpse of the ghast. He kicks it down the rocky ravine towards where the ankhegs had been. Either they would feast on the corpse or the scent of undeath would help keep them away.
"There, room is a little more open now and much better smelling. Thank you Lanni. Now...to wash my face and body off a little." Mateo disrobed just to his linen pants, making his way to the spring again, to wash away the blood, sweat, and muck that their travel had accumulated. Once clean, he would make his way towards the shack and dress in his armor once more.
"If we want, I have a tad left. We can always scout ahead near the entrance and pick off some of the grindylows that are around the entrance..." Atia says reluctantly. "I just don't want to start something we can't finish.
Atia will glance at the spring briefly as Mateo mentions washing, remembering that she has some soap in her bag. "Ahhh...a real chance to bathe would be nice. I have some soap. We can all get a good scrub in." She looks over the whole group, all of them crusted in various layers of salt, grime, and gore, and digs out the soap. "Scrub our clothes, scrub ourselves?" She suggests, grinning. "I can use a cantrip to dry our clothes quickly once they're cleaned so nobody is immodest for too long."
Wonderful idea, I would love to get this salt off
Seadreamer digs into his pack for his own bar of soap and wades into the spring.
In the spring, he scrubs first his cloths, then himself as he removes the cloths until he is in his boxers.
Gawds that felt good
He then takes the time to clean his armour by scrubbing it with sand.
You know, I kind of agree with Atia, about scouting their entrance. Thinning their numbers don't have to happen yet
Terry looks uncomfortable at the positive comments about his archery, and finally responds "They always told me it was a bad idea to close your eyes when you tried to feather something. Guess not, hunh?"
Listening to the others, Terry looks determined. "We know we're headed there anyway. It is a question of timing, not the decision itself. We could well have an advantage when we get back, but win or lose, if we survive, we're going to have a harder job to get the Man's Promise to port. Assuming we win, we're going to have to be a very efficient sailing crew."
ESPECIALLY for those who ARE body conscious, it is almost impossible to miss how little Terry seems to care who is naked and who is looking at any given point. Nudity doesn't seem to bother, or excite him, either way. If Terry catches anybody watching specifically him, he'll make a point of smiling and waving, while standing directly facing them.
"You know what? It seemed like a really good idea at the time, but I don't think I'm going to use this nice dagger, much. Anybody else want it?
He looks thoughtful, maybe confused. "I think if it was me, I would want you to come as quickly as possible. But being low on spells is a big deal. We could work on the scouting them out idea, and delay any larger decisions until after we have our best guess of the actual problem. Right?"
Joran looks around to see who Terry is waving at and simply waits for him to finish, thinking nothing of his nakedness. Once he manages to finish and remove himself from the spring, Joran looks at Atia and smiles. Offering a hand to help her up, "C'mon, darlin', if you're up to it, I'll scrub your back if you'll scrub mine? What do you say?"
As she takes his hand, Joran helps her rise and they both proceed to remove all of their clothing. Joran, having 'been there, done that' plenty of times in his life, and Atia, tired of feeling like she hasn't had a bath in forever, have zero qualms about being completely naked as they both step into the spring.
Wetting themselves down completely, Joran takes the soap and scrubs her back with it before handing it to her. As she proceeds to clean the rest of her, he uses his hands to rub her back thoroughly in an attempt to help get the grime off. Satisfied with his handy work, he bends down and cups water in his hands before rising quickly, aiming to let what water doesn't seep through his fingers to run down her back. He repeats that process several times to make sure all the soap is gone, wiping any excess off he might have missed. "You're all clean, gorgeous. Looking good as new," he says with a smile.
As Atia finishes cleaning herself, she looks at Joran with a wry smile. "Okay, Joran, turn around," she does a few quick circles with her finger, "it's my turn to do your back."
Smiling, the big guy nods and does as instructed, bending slightly at the knees to make it easier for her to reach.
As she scrubs his back, Atia notices his hair needs equal help. "I'm gonna have to do your hair again, love, it's a mess."
Shrugging, "Fine by me, darlin'."
Once she's finished with his back, he takes the soap from her and he works on the rest of his 6'6" frame while she tends to his hair. If any of the perverts others just so happen to be gawking pathetically looking their way, they notice that Atia seems to have a system for the big guy's hair, almost as if she's done this a few times before.
When they finally get done cleaning their bodies they proceed with their clothing. And once they finish with that, they step out of the water and Atia uses her magic to dry their clothes while the air dries them.
Putting their clothes back on, the barbarian grins. "Too bad we can't take this spring with us wherever we go, darlin'. I could get used to that." He winks.
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Anyone care to join me in looking over the entrance and maybe that wreck afore we settle in for the night ?
Seadreamer takes the time to settle his armour back on, as he asks the question.
I know we have a couple of hours yet, so I figure that we can go look
He leaves his pack sitting against the wall, while he scabbards his multiple axes
"We can scout now as well as in the morning. Will help us note any differences they have in their defenses, maybe suggesting something we can try to take advantage of."
Listening to the others, Terry looks determined. "We know we're headed there anyway. It is a question of timing, not the decision itself. We could well have an advantage when we get back, but win or lose, if we survive, we're going to have a harder job to get the Man's Promise to port. Assuming we win, we're going to have to be a very efficient sailing crew."
"Yes, I imagine we'll have to take on some more active roles on the ship..." Atia says, looking a little nervous at the thought. Ambrose could handle the cooking for a while, but she didn't feel particularly confident in her skill as a sailor. "All we need to do is make it to port. From there..." She shrugs. "We'll have to think about what we're even going to do with ourselves once it's all said and done. The mutiny, I mean. Who's staying on the ship, that sort of thing."
Takin' a bath with Joran and Atia.
"Well, hopefully, at some point, we can indulge in a proper hot bath. With bubbles." Atia looks wistful, smoothing out her already sun-faded black tunic and strapping her stomach armor over it. She rocks up on her tippy-toes and pulls the large man down into a very brief kiss before patting him on the chest and jerking her head back toward the group. She and Joran walk back to the group, Atia still in the midst of braiding up her long, blonde hair to stay up and out of her face.
After Dreamer proposes going to scout and hearing Terry's reply, Atia nods along with a smile. "I am not particularly stealthy, but I can hang back at the ready in case something goes poorly during this reconnaissance mission. Don't want you guys going in with no backup or anything."
"Yes, I imagine we'll have to take on some more active roles on the ship..." Atia says, looking a little nervous at the thought. Ambrose could handle the cooking for a while, but she didn't feel particularly confident in her skill as a sailor. "All we need to do is make it to port. From there..." She shrugs. "We'll have to think about what we're even going to do with ourselves once it's all said and done. The mutiny, I mean. Who's staying on the ship, that sort of thing."After Dreamer proposes going to scout and hearing Terry's reply, Atia nods along with a smile. "I am not particularly stealthy, but I can hang back at the ready in case something goes poorly during this reconnaissance mission. Don't want you guys going in with no backup or anything."
Seadreamer looks over as he finishes getting ready.
In regards to the ship, If they stay out of our way, I have no issues if they stay on the ship. If they oppose us, then they will be off the ship and into the water, one way or another
He pauses
But for the skill as a sailor, it comes with time and training. I spent several years onboard my fathers ship before he even considered me for midshipman duties.
He then fills his waterskin
As for the scout, I am not proposing that we go fight for the information, just getting a little closer to take a good look. Thinking I will take the spyglass if it can be dismounted. But the being ready to help is appreciated.
Seadreamer looks over as he finishes getting ready.
In regards to the ship, If they stay out of our way, I have no issues if they stay on the ship. If they oppose us, then they will be off the ship and into the water, one way or another
He pauses
But for the skill as a sailor, it comes with time and training. I spent several years onboard my fathers ship before he even considered me for midshipman duties.
Atia smiles wryly at the dwarf, face flushing a little bit with embarrassment at her lack of sailing experience...and life experience in general. "Mm, I spent most of my life being trained to be a very good Chelish noble wife. A pawn in the Chelish political game. I am lucky that I was able to get what schooling I have." Atia shrugs and crosses her arms over her chest. "Everything I know about sailing, I learned since being press-ganged. So, not much. I'll do my best not to be a hindrance when the time comes..." Atia trails off for a moment, lost in thought, then grins. "I am very smart. That might come in handy, at least."
"Ha. I don't think I have ever been trained for any of the jobs that I have ever gotten. Hasn't stopped me yet, and I don't intend to let it stop me now."
He looks at Seadreamer. "So you want to go down to the Grindylow camp and just look at them? That sounds really boring."
:⁂:
"I know, right! But they would probably just sit on me again."
"I'll just stay here with a few of the others and hold down the fort. We'll guard these walls even while outnumbered and with the light fading from the sky."
"Or something like that anyway."
He looks at Seadreamer. "So you want to go down to the Grindylow camp and just look at them? That sounds really boring.""I'll just stay here with a few of the others and hold down the fort. We'll guard these walls even while outnumbered and with the light fading from the sky."
Seadreamer chuckles. Taking a look, will help us figure a way that might not get them all jumping us at once. We only need a couple for the looking around. I figure Terry and Mateo along with me for the look around. After all, we should be trying to not be seen.
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"Yeah, I guess it makes sense." Lanni shrugs a bit at Seadreamer. "I'll stay here and keep the lights on for you when you come back. Just try not to die on me while I'm not there to rescue you."
:⁂:
Lanni looks up at the giant tree above the stockade. "It would drop embers and ash on us though.
Seadreamer claps Lanni on the shoulder as he starts towards the entrance.
Try to not burn the stockade down while we are out
He then closes on them to about 250' where he settles in with the spyglass to look over the entrance, and the ship.
He then passes the glass to both Terry and Mateo to see what they can find.
After both have had a chance to look over things, he suggests that all return to the stockade.
When the scouting team returns, Lanni is tied rather securely and sitting against the wall of the stockade. He is casting Light on a small tree branch sticking up above the wall every 30 minutes when the spell expires. And Joran is looming over him making sure that he doesn't try to escape the ropes.
Des seemed to be the least comfortable taking her own clothes out, opting to wash herself last. She was especially caught off guard when Terry took off all his clothes. Terry's wave caused her to turn away, deciding not to entertain any more of that. When it was her turn, she decided to keep on her undergarments when she began to wash herself. Sure enough, she had her own buxom body frame she usually downplayed unless she was using that to her advantage.
When everything was done, she ask Atia to use her magic to dry her hair before tying it up in a pony tail.
As for the decision to sneak around, she shook her head. "I'm no good at sneaking or using a dagger, so you can go ahead with that. As for staying..." It didn't occur to her about whether to stay or not. "I wasn't really going anywhere of importance, and I got swindled the last time I tried traveling on my own. But I'd honestly want to see if we can survive this first before we can put on with our duties."
"I'll take the dagger if you don't want it. The rapier is a beautiful weapon but if something swallows you whole, you can't cut yourself out with one." Mateo says with a shrug, happy to take the meticulously crafted item.
Mateo is willing to travel out after resting about ten minutes before heading out. He is cautious about getting too close to the cave and the wrecked ship, taking the spyglass when it was offered for him to look through.
Terry leaves his pack behind as well, not needing much to take a look and return.
"Do you want to work our way over to that closer hillock over there, see if we can see any more?"
Sure, But I know we don't want to get to close. How about we work around to above the cave and see if we can notice anything.
It's nearly high tide, and the cave the grindylows entered is nearly submerged. In six hours or so, low tide will expose it, and may mean the difference between fighting underwater or wading through the den.
The scouting team find a second entrance when they scout up above the cave. A sort of sinkhole, with steep sides. It would require some tricky climbing, going in that way, but might avoid the front door.
You don't see any grindylows. If they're keeping watch, it's from underwater, or inside the cave.
"Oh come on Joran. I wasn't going to set anything important on fire. I just wanted to set up the campfire on the top of the shack. Down here no one can see it."
"I'll keep watch for the little guy. Besides, if a fire did happen you'll probably know from where you're standing."
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"Well, hopefully, at some point, we can indulge in a proper hot bath. With bubbles." Atia looks wistful, smoothing out her already sun-faded black tunic and strapping her stomach armor over it. She rocks up on her tippy-toes and pulls the large man down into a very brief kiss before patting him on the chest and jerking her head back toward the group. She and Joran walk back to the group, Atia still in the midst of braiding up her long, blonde hair to stay up and out of her face.
Raising his eyebrows in interest, Bubbles, huh? I've never had bubbles. The barbarian crosses his arms and wonders for a moment what that would be like.
:⁂: "I know, right! But they would probably just sit on me again."
Crinkling his forehead, "Who would sit on you again? I don't recall sitting on you. If I sat on you, little buddy, there wouldn't be much left. I think I only outweigh you by... oh, I don't know, ten times or so. For the record, it's all muscle." He says, nodding proudly.
"Yeah, I guess it makes sense." Lanni shrugs a bit at Seadreamer. "I'll stay here and keep the lights on for you when you come back. Just try not to die on me while I'm not there to rescue you."
:⁂:
Lanni looks up at the giant tree above the stockade. "It would drop embers and ash on us though.
Seadreamer claps Lanni on the shoulder as he starts towards the entrance.
Try to not burn the stockade down while we are out
"Don't worry about that, 'Dreamer, I'll make sure he doesn't."
When Seadreamer takes his leave with the others, "I saw and heard that. What would drop embers on us? What are you talking about, Lanni?" He looks up and only sees the tree. With it all becoming clear due to the gnome's love of fire, "You mean to tell me you're thinking about burning the tree down and dropping it on us? You have GOT to stop playing with fire, little buddy, you're going to burn us all up. Sheesh, I thought goblins were bad. Well, I hate to do this to you, little buddy, but," Joran then pulls out his rope...
When the scouting team returns, Lanni is tied rather securely and sitting against the wall of the stockade. He is casting Light on a small tree branch sticking up above the wall every 30 minutes when the spell expires. And Joran is looming over him making sure that he doesn't try to escape the ropes.
With his arms crossed and his foot tapping, he can only shake his head at the gnome. "You know, you brought this on yourself. All that talk of burning the tree down and having it fall on our heads just isn't safe for the rest of us, buddy. You do know that fire is 'bad', right? Well, the way you use it is anyway."
"Oh come on Joran. I wasn't going to set anything important on fire. I just wanted to set up the campfire on the top of the shack. Down here no one can see it."
Slapping his forehead before dragging his hand down his face in irritation, yet, still managing a slight grin, he takes a deep breath. "Because that's what we want? We want all the bad guys to see our fire and come visit us? Heck, why don't we just holler out," he places the edge of his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, "'Hey, bad guys. We're throwing a killer party. Why don't you come and join us? Just follow the big light that tells you where we are.' Dropping his hands, he looks at the gnome incredulously and shakes his head. "Killing me, little buddy, killing me."
"I'll keep watch for the little guy. Besides, if a fire did happen you'll probably know from where you're standing."
"Thanks, Des. I'm gonna take a seat. But just right over there where I can still see you!" He points strongly at Lanni before gesturing with v-shaped fingers towards his own eyes, to Lanni, and repeating it several times just to be sure the gnome knows the big guy is still watching him.
Atia gladly dries the oracle's hair and clothing for her. "Nice to finally have a bath," She comments, smiling at the woman sympathetically. "As soon as we've had enough rest, off to find Sandara and Tilly. I can only imagine how you're feeling right now." She squeezes the woman's shoulders comfortingly, and, barring any more conversation, will head back to help Joran wrangle Lanni.
---
"Lanni, your spirit is a little too excited about fire. Perhaps you can pick up something a little calmer tomorrow?" She says, grinning with amusement. The wizard sits next to the gnome as Joran watches over him and flips through her spellbook, studying a few new things she had thought of recently. "Remembered a spell that can open up an extra-dimensional pit underneath our enemies. I think it'd be useful in the coming fights, as long as our allies are aware of the floor." She shows the magical scribbling and diagrams and runes to the medium, offering some entertainment to the gnome as he's strapped down to keep from starting more fires.