Dakari winces inside when Ankha mentions, even jokingly, about a curse and a witch "Sailors are a superstitious lot. No need to increase their worry any more than necessary. " he thinks to himself.
Once Braxton arrives back on deck he will wave him over with a nod of his head and gather the others to a quiet part of the ship where his conversation won't be overheard. "There's some sort of magic affecting the entire ship. So whatever is causing this slowdown isn't natural."
After listening to Dakari’s revelation about magic, Ankha tries to lighten the somber mood. “I guess that rules out barnacles then,” she quips with a knowing wink at Braxton. “I don’t know much about magic, but it must be pretty powerful to affect the entire ship. I’m guessing it won’t be easy to dispel, and frankly, I’m not sure where to start. All I can think of is to swim underneath—the captain said that the one sailor who did might have missed something. If you could conjure a magical light source for me I could do a thorough investigation—I’m not much of a swimmer, but I’ve figured out how to hold my breath for a really long time.” The young alchemist grins as she reveals this secret of her studies.
Ku’ Hania watches as the others question the crew and captain, to investigate what happened to bring the ship to a halt. When Dakari shares his findings, she nods at Anka’s suggestion.
"I'll do that now! I can take a quick swim under to see if whatever is doing this is on the underside.” she says taking a moment to utter an incantation that allows her to perceive magic, eyes widening slightly s she becomes aware of the effect on the ship.
Hopping up onto the railing, the shaman, makes another gesture, conjuring orbs of pulsating light around her, the spheres of illumination following her as she launches herself into a perfect dive into the water.
Braxton's artificial lung gives indefinite swimming time, but it is slow and cumbersome, so it seems best to let the aquatic elf have an initial look. "Just, uhh, shout, if you need any help."
Dakari watches Ku'Hania graceful dive into the sea with some admiration. Pausing a moment to first cast a spell he steps up to the ship's railing and launches himself into the water after her. "Can't let her go alone" he shouts as he leaps into the air.
“Ooh, is this going to be a thing?” Ankha asks as half-elf dives after half-elf. Removing her backpack, she answers her own question. “Yep, definitely a thing.” However, without the natural swimming ability of Ku’Hania, and presumably Dakari, the alchemist makes a few additional preparations before just launching herself into the water: she finds a good long length of rope, ensures that one end is securely fastened to the boat, then ties the other end around her waist.
“Like Dakari said, we should be down there where we can see her, just in case there’s any trouble.” With eyes half-closed in concentration, the young human consciously exhales, then takes a long, deep breath. Then with a wave at Braxton, she picks up her fauchard (just in case), rolls over the railing, and enters the water with a loud, clumsy splash.
As the group clambers down into the water and begins their search, they quickly find something quite odd attached to the ship: hidden amongst the barnacles and other detritus and relatively close to each other are three thin, colorful fish with broad, segmented suckers above their narrow mouths. A line of spines runs down their back, and each appears to be somewhere around three feet long.
Dakari knows enough about how magic feels to know that these fish are the source of the speed leeching ‘curse’ the ship is currently under. They don’t seem to have notice you, or if they did they aren’t particularly worried about you being there.
Following Dakari’s gaze, Ankha peers intently at the trio of fish, wondering why they interest him so.
The three fish are magical beasts called echeneis, and they are somewhat known creatures that like to catch rides on boats and even larger sea creatures while sapping their speed. They often work with other seaborne creatures in order to take larger targets down.
The fish don’t seem to react to your presence quite yet, simply riding along on the bottom of the boat.
As she stares at the fish, Ankha’s eyes widen with realization. She motions to the half-elves, points straight up with an index finger, then surfaces, her movements restricted somewhat by the well-crafted chain shirt on her torso. Once they are all above water, she waves Braxton over on deck and shares her knowledge of the creatures.
“There are three echeneis attached to the ship—they’re magical fish that like to catch rides on boats. They’re the ones slowing the boat down. I don’t think we can lure them away with food, so maybe we should turn them into food instead—anyone fancy adding fish to the dinner menu tonight?”
Though she pauses for the others’ reply, her mind seems already made up: her strong sturdy fingers retrieve a vial, pop the cork, and empty the contents into her gullet. A thick, fleshy webbing quickly grows between her fingers and toes, while her nails elongate and curl. Under this transformation she moves through the water with considerably more ease. “We should save one for experimentation though—I’d like to figure out what part of it is responsible for slowing the ship! Everyone ready to fillet some fish?”
"If it can be captured while eliminating the slowing effect fine, otherwise they may need to die." Ku' Hania replies, taking her spear from its position strapped across her back.
"I'm ready when you are." she says, preparing to dive back down.
Dakari looks up at Braxton, standing at the rail "C'mon in, Braxton. The water's fine." he says with a smile. As he listens to Ankha and
Ku'Hania discuss strategy he draws his rapier and salutes "Right, fish kabobs it is" as he dives below the ship.
Taking a deep breath, Ku'Hania dives down, moving to the opposite side of the lead fish with Ankha, readying her spear to strike.
"Blegh. And here I was hoping to avoid getting my hair wet."
The one fish next to Ku'Hania finally detaches from the ship and launches itself at her, while the other two remain attached. The one that attacks Ku'Hania bites into her skin and attaches itself to her, and she can feel the slowing energy of the strange magical creature.
A tiny gasp of bubbles rises from Ankha when the echeneis attaches itself to Ku’Hania. Without wasting any time, she swings her long polearm at the fish. Compared to her skill on land, the underwater attack is slow and clumsy, hindered mightily by the fluid element, but with the creature distracted by the half-elf, the fauchard's blade strikes true, albeit with only half the momentum of a normal attack.
Caught by surprise and overwhelmed by the sudden slowing effect, Ku'Hania has a difficult time, trying g to strike the creature now attached to her, with her spear.
Haplo however has no such difficulty, swimming over to grab a hold of the echeneis and bite into it.
Dakari swims down to the echeneis on the lower left and stabs at it with his rapier but the weight of the water slows his attack and he is unable to skewer the fish.
Ankha hits the first fish (red) for a solid amount, and it writhes in pain from the slash across its side. Ku'Hania unfortunately misses, but her octopus friend manages to wrap around the fish and pull it off of Ku'Hania.
Another fish detaches from the boat and moves to aid its friend, swimming forward to attack Ankha.
It manages to bite the alchemist, but doesn't get a foothold on attaching to it.
Dakari will swim alongside the creature attacking Ankha and stab at it with his rapier, and once again he misjudges the amount of effort needed to overcome the water's resistance.
Ankha winces at the bite as she forcefully wrenches her arm out of the fish’s jaw, but otherwise maintains her composure like an experienced soldier. With a concerned glance she looks over at Ku’Hania and the echeneis that clamped onto her, their combined blood dyeing the water red, but with Dakari now in the way of her already clumsy polearm, she quickly changes tactics.
With a few flicks of her now webbed feet, she sinks below the one that bit her and switches weapons for close combat, drawing a sharp dagger that she quickly plunges up into the belly of the fish above.
Braxton jabs at one of the lil fishes with his Rapier, the stabbing weapon perfectly formed for underwater combat!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ankha’s first strike, in retaliation for moving closer to her, misses. Her second one, however, completely guts the fish she attacked open from mouth to tail, killing it instantly.
Braxton’s rapier finishes off the second one, leaving just the one fish left attached to the boat.
As the other fish are taken down, Haplo quickly swims toward the last fish, attempting to bite it, and inject his poison.
As her companion charges, Ku'Hania focuses her ire on the last of them, calling upon the command of the water granted to her by The Deep. With an aggressive gesture, she swims forward, delivering a powerful blow of focused water slamming into the echeneis with deadly force.
Ku’Hania’s final attack doesn’t kill the creature, but it does push it away from and off of the boat’s underside. It pulls off with a ‘plop’ sound, and then swiftly swims towards the shore and away from you and the boat.
When you look to see where it’s fleeing to, you notice another grindylow (those goblin-looking things you fought upon first arriving at the colony) watching the contest before jetting away out of sight. The fish seemed to be with it, as the two joined before swimming quickly away.
Having vanquished the threats to the ship, Ankha beams at her companions, stows her weapons, and collects the two dead fish. After swimming to the surface and climbing onto the boat, she seeks out the captain, merrily waving the fish about as evidence of their success.
“Problem solved, captain! There were three of these echeneis attached to the hull—they’re the ones responsible for magically stealing the ship’s speed. Don’t worry, Ku’Hania shooed the third one away too. I think you’ll find that you can move and steer the boat as normal now.”
Swimming back up to the surface, Ku'Hania pulls herself up onto the deck with Haplo wrapped around her shoulder. "It looks like the grindilow were responsible for them slowing the ship." she says, shaking seawater from her hair.
Unfortunately, your welcome isn't near as warm as you'd have liked it to be. That boiling pressure under the surface among the colonists has seemed to finally have made its way to the forefront. The tension you felt earlier has progressed to the point where it almost feels thick enough to wade through. A few moments aboard the ship is enough to overhear whispered conversations that the expedition should be ‘scrubbed’ and everyone sail back to Almas. The ship’s officers and crew look sullen and apprehensive. Ramona is trying to be supportive and diplomatic with the colonists and crew, but as tensions rise, it appears that she needs a bit of help.
Ramona pulls you aside before you can delve too deeply into the crowd and what's going on to explain the situation to you. Four primary 'antagonists' (for lack of a better word) are stirring up problematic attitudes among the crew. Some are founded, but some are just posing and political maneuvering.
She identifies four main 'suspects' that need to be dealt with, and quickly, if the ship is to avoid a full blown mutiny. A majority of the four malcontents being silenced should be enough to ensure smooth sailing. As the ship's newly minted problem-solvers, it falls to you to make sure the expedition isn't doomed before it can really begin.
Four Malcontents:
Antona Sedgewick: (female human) Discovery Check: Sense Motive
Faedwyr Trundlebrook: (male human) Discovery Check: Knowledge (Nature)
Harcourt Carrolby: (male human) Discovery Check: Knowledge (Local or Nobility)
Perrell Beys: (female human) Discovery Check: Knowledge (Arcana, Engineering, or History
Antona Sedgewick: Antona seems to be acting this way because of a particular vindictive feeling towards Ramona. You get the sense that she had/has a crush on the expedition leader, but had her affections rebuffed and is now acting out. Taking her aside and using Diplomacy or Intimidate with an argument would convince her to abandon her faulty ‘crusade’.
Faedwyr Trundlebrook: Faedwyr is a farmer who is clearly afraid for the actual safety of the colony and colonists. He needs a strong display of strength (Strength check, or a Diplomacy check from a character with a +2 or higher BAB) from their new protectors to convince him not to be afraid anymore.
Perrell Bays: Like Faedwyn, this academic researcher is afraid of what may lie on the island, as well as all the setbacks the expedition has had so far. Using Bluff or Diplomacy to convince her that everything will be fine, and that things like this happen on every expedition. Nothing to worry about here!
Dakari will wander over to where Braxton is talking with Harcourt Carollby and start making small talk with them both, but it's soon apparent that all the talk of nobility, peerage, and privilege is soon too much for a boy from a small fishing village in the Mwangi Expanse.
Recognizing the importance of community for the colony, Ankha nods solemnly when Ramona explains the tense situation and threat of mutiny. She wanders over to listen to Perrell’s complaints, then rejoins the others to share what she has learned.
“Perrell’s a good woman, but she’s like a lot of academics and mages I know: she seems more ‘book’ smart than ‘street’ smart—not that there are any streets here to be smart about, but you know what I mean—and she’s just a little spooked about the unknown. The missing colonists and the echeneis aren’t helping either. I think she just needs to be reassured that the setbacks aren’t anything terribly unusual, and everything’ll be fine.”
After hearing about Trundlebrook’s legitimate concerns, she eagerly volunteers to put his mind at ease. “Oh, I have some experience with this kind of thing. He sounds just like some of the halflings I protect back home.”
“Hello Faedwyr!” With a cheery smile, Ankha approaches and greets the nervous farmer, holding out her hand for a vigorous handshake. “I’ve heard that you’re a good-hearted fellow who’s concerned about keeping the colony safe. That’s really super thoughtful of you, but you really don’t need to worry about that—that’ll be my job as one of the protectors of the colony. I know, I know,” she looks down demurely at herself, recognizing that her five-foot frame is hardly imposing outside of her usual community of halflings, “I don’t look like one of those imposing half-orc warriors, or one of those super deadly elven ninjas, but I promise you, I’ve got a bit of experience acting as a guard. Here, watch this!”
The alchemist retrieves a small vial and downs the contents. Almost instantly, she doubles in size, growing into a sturdy, ten-foot high goliath who towers over everybody. “See? I’ll protect the colony from any danger. And I can brew some of these potions for everyone else too. They make you bigger and stronger.” To demonstrate, she reaches down over the side of the ship and pulls up the anchor with one hand, whirling it around her head as easily as a child with a conker.
Ankha can tell that Faedwyr is quite impressed with her display of strength, his eyes widening as she grows right in front of his eyes.
"Ah! With such strong guardians, we shouldn't be afraid anymore. I'm sorry for being problematic, I let my fears gain control of me too easily."
Harcourt is the youngest adult son of the Carrolby family, wealthy horse breeders in Andoran. He's a bit of a snob due to his current situation, and you're not even sure why he joined the expedition. Talking to him about it might help explain that, but for now he obviously wants to be of use in such situations as these. A Diplomacy check alongside a request for him to use his 'power' to help calm the other colonists would go a long way towards making him feel useful.
“Don’t feel bad,” Ankha comforts Faedwyr in a cheery, booming voice, “it’s only natural to be concerned about the colony’s safety. I’m glad you now see the difference between prudent caution and irrational fear.” The oversized alchemist lowers the anchor back into the water. “It’d be great if you could help some of the others understand this difference too.”
Remembering what Braxton told him about Carrolby, she turns and looks down at the snobbish human. “Harcourt, maybe you could help calm the other colonists too? Your power and prestige might be useful here.”
Dakari will approach Perell and begin a conversation "Perrel, If I may call you Perrel." He flashes her a smile "I can totally understand her concerns here. We're far from home and things aren't exactly proceeding according to plan but if there's one thing my time with the Pathfinder Society has taught me is nothing ever goes to plan. There are too many variables inherent in any undertaking to take everything into account, especially on a expedition of this magnitude." he looks deep into her eyes in all sincerity "The best thing we can do is face these obstacles and overcome them, together. Ramona's a fantastic leader and a wonderful choice for this expedition, we just have to trust in what she's doing and everything will work itself out."
Seeing some of the fear and doubt leave her face, Dakari continues "Some of the colonists need to be reassured that all is going to be alright and if you, someone with your vast array of knowledge, could help assuage their concerns it would go a long way towards getting things back on track. What do you say, hmmm?"
Dakari will wander over to where Ankha and Braxton are working on Harcourt. After listening to Ahkna talking to him, he senses an opening to get an "in" with the man. "Carrolby...Carollby? I knew I recognized that name. Your family breeds horses, some of the best stock so I've heard. People respect your family. Right now people need someone they respect, someone they can look up to, to show them that everything is going to be okay. They need . You need to lead them by example and get everyone working together to help ensure that this expedition is a success." he gives a knowing smile to Harcourt "Now, get out there and show them that through teamwork and perseverance that there's nothing to fear, no obstacle that we can't overcome. He slaps Harcourt on the shoulder "The people need you." he says again for emphasis
Perrell is quickly won over by the half-elf's words, her face showing more relief than even she thought possible.
"Ah, of course. You're right, it's not like this is the first time I've experienced troubles on an expedition. It was just the eeriness of the whole situation, you know? The missing people, the monsters, you think we'd at least have found remains. Regardless, thank you for putting me into shape, I should have known better."
Harcourt seems skeptical at Dakari's first approach, but his honeyed words combined with Ankha's aid is enough to convince him to start the rounds of people and begin the task of calming him. Dakari might be looking into it too much, but he can swear he sees a bit of self-realization in Carrolby's eyes. Maybe he won't be so quick to enact his air of pompousness in the future; he certainly isn't using it now as he speaks to the rest of the colony, and they can clearly see that.
Braxton leans with his back against the railing next to Antona, holding his hat in his hands. "Quite the welcome party we've had, eh? Evil fish. What will they come up with next?" He brushes a spec of dust from the well-worn brim before putting it on his damp head. "I heard you were having a disagreement with our expedition leader." He says casually, his gaze not on Antona, but wandering over the deck of the ship, taking in the crew and cargo. "Whatever it was about, I wouldn't put too much stock in, uhh, disagreements right now. Ramona is busy dealing with the chaos of our arrival and the unexpected lack of a welcoming party. There will be plenty of time to deepen the bonds of friendship when everyone has settled in. We're all in this together, for the long haul, after all." He pulls his mead-filled flask, itself etched with the sacred tankard of Cayden Cailean, from his pocket, unstoppers it, and offers it to the heartbroken lady. "I can say, if one were looking to gain the attention of one of the unattached members of our group here - especially our dear leader - these critical next few weeks will present many opportunities to allow oneself to stand out."
Antona listens to Braxtons words, her face showing strain as she thinks things through as he speaks.
"Ah, you're right, this is stupid. I can't believe I'm letting this get in the way of the colony. Thanks for your words, I won't forget them."
With the crowd dispersed and most of the colonists returning to their rooms and/or duties, Ramona approaches you once more. A slightly nervous looking sailor stands by her side, but doesn't speak. They both listen to your report on the surviving echeneis and the grindylow, and Ramona sighs when you're done.
"While you were handling the problem, this man happened to catch a glimpse of a halfway-submerged cave on the shore a little bit farther in: it's likely where the grindylow came from, and where the echeneis went. We have to deal with the tribe of grindylow one way or another eventually. Mind taking care of one more last before we head back to the colony and finally settle in?"
"Hmmm...yes. It's probably better if we deal with them now than try settle in with an enemy acting against us before we can get our bearings." Ku'Hania replies, considering the situation.
Now back to her normal size, Ankha nods in agreement with Ku’Hania. “There were grindylow infesting the first landing site as well—the creatures seem to be everywhere on this island. We should definitely eliminate them before setting up the colony, especially given the fears that Faedwyr and Perrell had.” In preparation the alchemist mixes another extract of Monkey Fish, in preparation for another underwater battle.
"Does anyone know how to talk to grindylow? Don't sit right with me to just land on their beach and kill their whole tribe." Braxton rubs the back of his head. "We're the outsiders here, after all. I'm sure if we could sit down and chat, we could work out something amicable over a few drinks."
Ankha shakes her head at Braxton’s question. “Sorry, I know there’s a spell that lets people converse with other creatures, but I haven’t done a lot of research into making a potion for that yet. Plus, I’ve heard that you need to have part of an angel to make it—whichever part creates its truespeech ability. Maybe some scrapings from its throat? Hmm …” She carefully retrieves an ink-stained journal, making sure that she doesn’t drip any water on it, and quickly jots down a few notes.
“Anyway,” she closes the book with a satisfied smile, “aren’t grindylow just aquatic goblins? I don’t think they’re capable of reasoned discourse. Or nonviolence, for matter.”
" Never met a goblin that didn't try to kill me on sight. Grindilow are worse." Ku'Hania comments.
The combined knowledge of the group is enough to know that grindylow are just as cruel and evil as goblins usually are. There are exceptions, as with all races, but most of those are the leaders of the clans and tribes that grindylows form when in great numbers. So, if anything, their leader (who is usually a more intelligent or simply larger grindylow) is the one you want to talk to for peaceful 'negotiations'.
The cave entrance is easy enough to find, appearing to lead to a small network of caves and tunnels winding through a low cliff near the cape used for the second landing. Ramona offers you the ship's second boat (the first is still moored at the colony's dock) to reach the entrance, as well as spears should you want/need a piercing weapon.