Sidonie watches the first crossing attempt by San, with considerable distress. While San doesn't fall all the way down to the water, the setup looks dodgy for several people to attempt without a disaster sooner or later.
"Whoa whoa, let's slow down here. We have plenty of rope and a pulley. It isn't hard to tie a rope seat. Once we have our seats, we tie our seat to the pulley; our weight below will keep the pulley in place on top of the rope."
"We tie off short so we can pull ourselves hand over hand across hanging below. It's much easier traveling because the pulley will move freely along the rope. If someone slips, there's no distance to fall; just reach up and grab the rope again."
"With a second rope tied to the pulley, when one person gets to the other side and unties, we can just reel in the pulley for the next person's crossing. No hoping everyone has an iron grip for supporting their weight all the way across, and no broken necks if anyone doesn't."
Vildran's mind begins to wonder towards the more advanced types of magic that he hasn't learned yet. In time, what spells could he weave that would get the party over there...
For now, they just needs to be able to tie knots well.
Um, I guess we'd better get San out of there first.
San breathes a sigh of relief as his flailing hand catches the rope. did the priestess and he entourage really come this way?
He continues pulling himself upside down towards the other side as Sidonie starts explaining some contraption made by tying knots in different places that he would have never considered. "I'm not sure I followed all that but it sounds like a good idea! Tell me what to do to make it happen. "
Leaning casually against the steep bluff, Autumn’s eyes widen as she watches San’s trials and tribulations crossing the rift. “Daring.”
When Sidonie suggests a much more careful approach that would minimize risk, she nods in agreement. “Splendid.” She hands her rope to the other woman, indicating that she should implement her idea. “How should we retrieve the body?” A glance also includes Bastiano in this question: given the copious amount of climbing equipment in his possession, she assumes he must also have some ideas.
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Autumn's invitation is all Sidonie needs to take center stage.
"It's simple really..." She takes her dagger out and cuts a 10' length off her rope. "With this rope we make seat harnesses like this..." Sidonie puts the rope behind herself at the waist and brings each, equal length end around as if she were tying on a sash. She ties firmly and snugly at the front, then runs the two lengths between her legs. Then, turning around so everyone can see, she shows then how she brings each end up and across each of her buttocks. She loops each side through the sash-like portion she has initially tied. Finally she loops the rope ends around her waist once more and ties them together. "See? Quick and easy."
"When you go to the theater and a character up on stage flies, this is one of the ways it's done. We should be able to get by with two pieces like this for seats. When a person has crossed they untie their harness and attach it to the pulley for retrieval. Meanwhile the next person to cross is being tied in for the trip across on the other side."
"As for the pulley part, we already have a rope across so we thread the pulley onto it. We find the most secure and stable part of what's left of the bridge here and tie off the rope securely. Maybe we even double up by using a piton to tie it a second time."
"The person who's crossing starts by tying their harness to the pulley. Afterward, they lower themself off the edge. They're like a package hanging from the pulley, which is sitting on the rope. The person's own weight will work to keep the pulley on top of the rope and on track. There will be a bit of slack in the rope even if we've tied it very tightly, the depression at the pulley that creates will help keep it aligned on the rope too."
"Once in place, all we will need to do is pull ourselves along hand over hand using the rope stretched across. No need to support your own weight since the rope is doing that. Nowhere to fall since you're only about a foot under the main rope and the pulley if you let go. Just grab on again. After each person has crossed, they untie themself from the pulley and we bring it back across with a second rope attached to the pulley."
"As for the body down there, I have no idea how in hell to get it. What's the point anyway? It's not who we're looking for, and I can tell you from here roughly how they died. Either they were shot, which killed them and they fell. Or, they were shot and fell. If the fall didn't kill them, they drowned. What's the point in trying? What do we actually get from it?"
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With an eyebrow slowly arched in admiration, Autumn listens with clear respect as the rogue details a safe way to cross. “That’s fetch.”
But in response to Sidonie’s questions about the pointlessness of recovering the body, Autumn simply gives a careless shrug. She holds everyone in her gaze for a few moments, then casually tosses out a single word with a deadpan expression. “Loot.” After a long pause, in which she seems to be assessing how the others would react to this suggestion, she continues in an unconcerned voice. “And information.” There seems to be a hint of mischief on her lips, as if she were joking about looting the body, but then again, she might be entirely serious—it’s hard to tell.
“There might be a letter, or possessions that illuminate what happened here, or to the princess. Someone fired that bolt. For our own sake, it might help to know who and why.” Another pause. “And some believe in a proper burial.” Again her face is expressionless, though her eyes peer intently at her companions, gauging their reactions.
Looking around the bluff to the north, you see the ancient path curves around the peninsula... to reveal a second beach on the other side. There's no further sign of the priestess you're searching for, beyond another crossbow bolt stuck between two stones near where you're standing.
When everyone has made the crossing, Sidonie unties the rope from the grappling hook and slides the pulley off the rope. She then ties the rope to a permanent connection instead. The rope across the inlet can't be recovered so it might as well be left in a way that keeps it available if they need return back across later.
With that done, Sidonie waits to see what the others do about the body, if anything.
"There's a couple of things you could do if anyone's going to try getting to the body. Knotting the rope at intervals would make the climbing easier. Or, someone could use a harness same as before, but tied to a rope so they can be lowered and pulled up by everyone here on top. If the idea is to bring the body up, the harness is better. I don't think anyone is going to make it trying to climb up while hauling an extra body with them."
"I'll help with lowering and pulling up someone from here if anyone just has to go. But I won't be going down myself."
After Sidonie offers her thoughts and advice on retrieving the body, Autumn gives the archer elf an enquiring look. “San? Feeling daring again?” She looks down meaningfully at the body, then adds a suggestion of her own.
“Perhaps it’d be simpler for you to just tie a second rope to the body—then we can haul it up separately. We’re certainly not lacking for rope.” So saying, she ties off the end of one rope to a secure anchor point, then lowers the other end down so that it dangles near the body, ready to be attached by whichever man makes the descent, the ladies having made their positions clear.
San nods and begins working his way down with the assistance of people belaying on his rope. Once at the bottom, he ties the other rope under what's left of the arms and shoulders so it can be hauled up.
Bastiano listens attentively to Sidonie's explanation of how to make a seat from the rope, and follows along with another length of rope when she demonstrates. When the group puts it into practice and the thing actually works to get them all over to the other side, he walks up to her and gives her a hesitant tap on the shoulder.
"That was very interesting! I bought that climbing kit just in case I ever needed it and never had any real reason to figure out the best way to use it before now. How'd you learn how to do all that? Do you do a lot of climbing?"
“Perhaps it’d be simpler for you to just tie a second rope to the body—then we can haul it up separately. We’re certainly not lacking for rope.”
"That makes sense, Autumn - both how to get the body up here, and why. I mean, about the information we might get from it. After all, even if it isn't the missing priestess's body, she wasn't the only passenger in the dinghy, right? I don't know if we'll be able to tell from the corpse if it was on the same boat, but we might get a clue. San, if you're a little put off after your fall, I could handle the climb down if Sidonie will give me a hand setting up the rope with the pulley and anchor and so on."
Vildran is not feeling the most useful, not being the most "in shape." His cloak conceals the frailty of his form.
I could... help help hoist the body up? On Sidonie's quick thinking, we're moments away from inspecting the body and getting our next clues as to what has happened here.
He finds a rock to lean his staff on and sets his pack on the ground before taking up a place along the rope that's been tied to the body.
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Sidonie smiles in a friendly way at Bastiano as he asks his question.
"Oh no, I've never climbed using ropes or anything. I learned it from theater. If a performance calls for any characters to fly or float, those sorts of things, it's done with rope and harness. There's a few different kinds of ways to do harnesses depending on what's called for. Sometimes big budget productions at the most prestigious theaters might use real magic, but mostly it's ropes and harnesses."
"Anyway, it wouldn't have mattered if you hadn't had a pulley."
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“Wait …” a puzzled expression furrows Autumn’s brow when Bastiano talks about the priestess, “… you’re looking for a priestess, not a princess?” It’s clear that her information about the matter is not completely reliable. She looks around at them all. “What exactly have you learned about the missing person? You all spoke with the man who washed ashore, right?”
With the rest of your team serving as anchors and rope handlers, San ties a rope around himself and descends down enough to reach the body wedged at the end of the small inlet. The surf surges into the gap, smashing against his body and threatening to send him into the rocks, but he holds firm. He ties a second rope around the body and then makes his way back up with your help.
You each gain 40 XP for crossing the bridge and recovering the body!
Hauling the body up once the rope around it is secure is no problem at all, and soon you have it on dry ground. The corpse, an older man in the sodden remains of fairly fine garments, is in bad shape. You see clearly the shaft of a bolt embedded deep in his back and his limbs have been mangled by repeated impacts against the rocks before he came to rest in the spot you found him wedged. If you take the bolt out, the sharp eyed among you can see just a hint of residue still on it (and in the wound) that suggests some kind of poison.
Inside the man's tattered jacket, you find a small waterproof pouch. Within, you discover several documents detailing deliveries to make in Iron Harbor, far to the north, including names and their associated cargo. You also find 20 silver pieces, 2 gold pieces, and a vial of opaque teal liquid. The vial is labeled "elixir of water breathing".
----
Vildran looks up and sees the ridge is a little shorter here to the east, but that it would be tricky to climb. Looking out to the west, the vast majority of the island remains. It seems to be mostly rocky, with patches of woods, and looks to span several square miles.
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Vildran laughs sheepishly at Autumn's misunderstanding.
Yes, not a princess. A priestess of Cayden Cailean. The man who washed ashore was a guard on a merchant vessel carrying that priestess towards unknown business. He mentioned that she kept re-reading some letter.
He frowns, reacting again to the strange detail. It's not as if it's the first time he's hearing it, but he can't help but focus on it. He hopes they'll find a surviving priestess who can share more details with them, and not a body to take the letter off of.
Apparently they were attacked in the middle of the night by creatures with "white bulbous eyes" and "draped in seaweed."
He gestures dramatically to emphasize the quoting.
You know, we left so quickly we didn't rightly research what those creatures could have been. Anyway, the priestess and some other passengers apparently boarded a dinghy and fled the chaos to this island. I'm guessing it's the one back there, turned over on the sand... he points at the short distance back to the West where they encountered the devil-crabs.
Our narrator, the guard went down with the ship but drifted to Sandpoint in three days time. Fortunate.
Again the odd-looking elf frowns, descending into thought.
His bruises though, they looked like Thassilonian runes and they kept... moving around on him? I mean... I didn't see them moving but every time I glanced they appeared in a different arrangement.
You can see him concentrating and trying to capture sense out of that experience, momentarily glancing to San vaguely for aid, but he finally gives up and shakes it off.
When the body is hoisted up onto the flat of the trail, Vildran leans down and looks over it. He's not particularly proficient in the ways of health and medicine, but he expects to find other clues on the body.
Poison. I don't recommend touching that bolt shaft.
He sifts through pockets and folds while avoiding the bolt, and a waterproof pouch is extracted.
I think this is all we're going to get from this "witness." he chuckles lightly and takes out the stack of documents and folded papers.
Collectively these seem like something of a shipping manifest, though there are multiple documents detailing deliveries, to Iron Harbor. I'm not sure if any of these recipients is related to our missing priestess, but I don't see a way to know that right now.
He also holds up the elixir for the group to see. I see he was at least somewhat prepared for risk.
He turns back to the papers, scanning the names more carefully.
For good measure, Vildran decides to further scan the body for magical auras. He looks up at Autumn and offers the elixir of water breathing.
Would you kindly hold that away from the body for a moment?
Turn back to the body he focuses again. The team might notice that the antennae on his head seem to light up every-so-slightly while he does this.
San clambers back up the side of the ravine, once again grateful for the help of the team practically pulling him up. San listens to Vildran's story of how this endeavor started for them, providing backup when it comes to the strange bruises on the sailors body.
"So we have some clues about Iron Harbor, wherever that is. I don't see anything else of interest around here... shall we continue down this path? I'm not looking forward to having to cross back across that rope more than neccessary."
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Asmodeus damn Titus. Autumn maintains a neutral expression while Vildran corrects her misunderstanding and provides actually accurate information, unlike the mangled gossip that Titus hadn’t bothered to check. Would it be too much to ask for his other informants to hear the difference between ‘priestess’ and ‘princess’? Inwardly, she sighs. What do I do now? She wasn’t surprised by the Scarnettis’ insistence—the potential influence garnered from rescuing a princess would be great indeed—nor by her choice for this particular mission. But her fine clothes, practiced decorum, and silver tongue likely won’t have the same effect upon a mere priestess—and a priestess of The Lucky Drunk at that.
No matter. The sorceress will have to make the best of a bad situation. Perhaps the priestess is a high ranking member of the church, or perhaps that letter holds something of import that she can leverage. She’ll have to make do with credit for rescuing a priestess instead, and worry about the consequences later.
During this internal monologue, her face instinctively reacts to the odd elf’s tale with practiced ease, mimicking whatever emotions are appropriate, including feigning interest in the strange bruises even when she feels none herself.
“Thank you,” she responds to Vildran’s exposition with a pleasant smile as she dutifully takes the elixir. Autumn inspects the label, noting its usefulness with a nod, then gazes at the wizard with a mild look of respect when his magic manifests through his antennae.
On the other hand, she ignores his warning about the bolt, gently tugging it out of the body for a closer inspection of the wound.
Autumn pauses when she has a sudden realization. Looking back to where she came ashore, she asks “Wait … that’s their dinghy, not yours?” Her gaze drifts to the rope spanning the gap, and she thinks about the tremendous effort required to cross it. “Unlikely they crossed the rift then.”
She gives a little shrug. “But we might as well see what’s around the corner since we’re across.”
Autumn meanwhile inspects the poison residue. There's very little of it left, much of it having come off within the victim's body or been washed out by the spray of water. She gets the sense that its likely derived from some kind of venom, but she's not sure which kind.
Having recovered a few meager clues (and some loot for those who like such things), San leads the way around the tip of the peninsula...
If there is a clear leader who is expert in the exploration skill, Vildran will happily Follow the Expert .
Otherwise, he will Avoid Notice .
As San leads the group down the path, he casts a spell every once in a while to detect any unexpected magical auras the group may encounter.
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“Venom,” is Autumn’s simple verdict on the wound. Before they set off to follow the path north, she takes a look at the shipping manifests. She generally isn’t interested in such things, but she recognizes the importance of trade deals to Titus, so she scans the documents for anything of interest: exotic goods that might be odd for Iron Harbor, names she might recognize from working at the Sandpoint Boutique, et cetera. After pocketing the coins for safekeeping, she follows San, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary that might help them find the missing priestess.
Sidonie continues on with the others while trying to make herself variously small, out of sight, or otherwise not easily detectable to observers in the area.
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The sun, which was already low on the horizon when you arrived, swiftly disappears behind the rocky outcroppings on the western end of the island as you continue onward. Even with the sun setting, you likely still have daylight for an hour or two of exploration. You turn around the tip of the peninsula and head west, looking out for any sign of the priestess you've come to find.
Instead, you see the ancient path weaving its way along the rocky shoreline before disappearing into the scraggly brush further to the west . Lying in the middle of the path up ahead is an orc woman, her body curled up. From a distance, she looks to be unharmed, but she doesn't stir as you approach. San detects nothing magical - but to be fair you're still more than 30 feet away from the body. Vildran and Bastiano both spot that the few sections of exposed skin on the woman, that which isn't covered up by her leathers, looks oddly mottled.
Figuring there isn't any particular rush, San pauses for a moment as the woman is spotted before continuing to walk at the same pace. It's not likely she's only just now come to this spot. Might as well be cautious.
“Wait.” Autumn suddenly halts and holds up a hand for the others to stop. But it’s not because of the orc. “There’s a creature up there,” she whispers, pointing at a large ledge about halfway up the bluff. “Definitely not just a bird.”
As a precaution, the well-dressed woman quietly edges closer to the bluff, leaning against the cool rock for cover. Then she appears to whisper again, but no sounds come out of her mouth.
When you all look up to where Autumn is pointing, you don't see any creature on the ledge. Although Autumn's message reaches the creature, it doesn't deign to respond. It seems its content to stay hiding.
“I wish we’d gotten a description of the other passengers who were on the dinghy from Martin. It would be nice to have some way to know whether the bodies we’re finding are from his wrecked ship, or some other group.”
Bastiano tightens his pack to keep it from jangling and draws his rapier. “Come on, Sidonie. Let’s go see if she’s alive. San, can you cover us?”
Sidonie isn't thrilled to be the one Bastiano calls on to go with him, but she does. She stays low and keeps her buckler ready since somebody has been popping off poisoned darts at people, and somebody just might be up on the ridge above them.
As they creep out to check, Sidonie raises a question for Bastiano.
"Do you think the she has the same thing as the man who washed ashore in Sandpoint? Look at her skin..."
Vildran is mostly curious, as they approach the woman. Do the mottled spots resemble anything like runes, as was the case with the ship guard who'd washed ashore?
He becomes alarmed when Autumn identifies that a creature is hiding on the bluff, and he stares up at the indicated area for several moments even as Bastiano and Sidonie continue to approach the orc.
Finally his curiosity wins out and he approaches behind the two so that he can confirm or deny the same rune pattern on the orc's exposed skin.
After answering his curiosity he turns his attention back to the bluff, training his low-light vision on it.
San nods at Bastiano's request and remains behind, his bow in hand with an arrow ready to go. He looks to the ledge but also beyond the person on the ground, in case of an ambush.
Autumn shakes her head, indicating there is no response to her message. Still wary of whatever it is on the ledge, she lags behind with San, letting the others investigate the unmoving orc while she keeps a careful eye on the ledge above.
You can see that she's lying down atop a stain of dried blood. Her leather armor has been punctured around the level of her gut by a trio of holes. A dagger, more rust than steel, lies trapped under her body.
Autumn and San don't notice anything from the ledge. It seems your observer is content with staying out of sight.
Seeing the same situation on this person, Vildran looks up towards the ledge.
I wonder if our "friend" can clear up how this condition occurs. I think we need to find out...
Vildran casts message towards the creature.
"Curiouser and curiouser... if there someone up there, they don't seem to want to come down. Too bad we can't do anything for this orcish person." Pausing to consider the situation a bit more, "We can use the Grappling Hook again but I'm not sure climbing up to whoever is up there to be the best plan."
Sidonie gives Bastiano a heavy tap on the shoulder with her hand to let him know it's time to move. They've done what they came to do, so there's no reason to linger on exposed in the open.
After they're back under the shelter of the ridge, Sidonie lays out what she thinks they can conclude to Bastiano.
"So, she had the same thing that Martin in Sandpoint had. That means whatever caused it happened before he and the people in the boat separated from each other. It also means the priestess and anyone else with them could have it too."
"We now know they did make it to this island, and at least some of them came this way. I didn't see anything that would have killed her aside from the mottled skin, so maybe that's what did her in? If so, the people we're looking for could very well have it and it can be fatal at the very least."
"Depending on whether it's a poison, disease, or something like a fungus, it might also be contagious."
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With nothing happening up on the ledge, Autumn slowly inches closer and closer to view the orc. Almost immediately she regrets this choice. With a queasy stomach, she turns away from this assault on both sight and smell—whatever thoughts she had about examining the body more closely have completely vanished. It certainly doesn’t help when she overhears Sidonie conjecturing that the woman’s unsettling condition might be contagious.
With orc off the menu, Autumn turns her attention back to San and a more palatable problem: the creature on the ledge. “You might need to climb up, but let’s try something else first.” Seeing Vildran mouth words without sound, she has a pretty good idea what he’s doing, but it’s also something she’s already tried without success. Instead the sorceress attempts something a little more forceful.
Her pale green eyes gleam in the setting sun as she focuses her attention on the ledge … and then suddenly there is the sound of several large rocks tumbling down the cliff face above the ledge—though strangely no rocks can be seen.
Perhaps its the attempt to intimidate it, or the sound of clattering rocks, but the creature does reappear up on the ridge. In the dim light of the setting sun and among the shadows cast by the ridge, its hard to make out full detail beyond the vague appearance of a humanoid draped in tattered layers of wet cloth. But what does stand out are two luminous, bulging white eyes. It hisses something in Aklo, which only Bastiano understands, and stands with a crossbow in one hand and a trident in the other.
As a precaution, Autumn slowly raises two palms in a sign of peace. She isn’t really frightened—if anything, she is pleased that her illusion flushed out the … whatever it is—but she is a bit frustrated that its speech is so incomprehensible. She glances over at the elves to see if they recognize the language but it appears that they are stymied too.
“Sorry,” she offers in a confident, perfunctory voice, “but do you speak the Common tongue?”
Quite the opposite of Autumn's reaction, San readies an arrow at the sight of the creature. He remembers the story from the sailor about things matching this description attacking the ship and the priestess. He doesn't do anything so rude as to shoot first when the thing spoke, though he is ready to engage at a moments notice.
What Autumn does notice is another lead. Trailing away from the orc's body and to the west are a few scattered drops of blood, dry and faint across the rocks, but definitely leading toward a rocky outcrop crowned with a copse of trees.
Remembering that Autumn was here to save a princess he reminds her, "That thing matches what we were told attacked the priestess and her retinue. Not sure why it isn't attacking us on sight."
“Let’s keep it that way,” Autumn replies in a low voice while gently motioning for San to lower his weapon. If this creature did take part in the attack, it would have information about the princess priestess. She frowns at the situation: how frustrating to enter the diplomatic arena in which she thrives, only to discover that they don’t share a common language. She looks over at Vildran, but without much hope. “Have you a spell that’ll let us understand each other?”
Glancing back at the corpse, the sorceress notices and points out a faint trail of blood to the others. “I think the orc was attacked elsewhere and died here.” She indicates the rocky outcrop crowned with a copse of trees. Playing a hunch, she looks directly into the creature’s bulging eyes, gathers its attention, and points over at the outcropping with a meaningful gesture. Charades will have to do. But how will the creature react?
Vildran looks down sheepishly.
I do not.
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Sidonie isn't so sure as San that whatever is up atop the ridge is the same as whatever it was the attacked the ship. Martin has described the ship attackers as "rising up out of the water", which, in her head at least, meant something more fishy or maybe frog-like that the mystery person up above.
But, she knows the poisoned darts they've found are shot from the kind of crossbow it's holding, so they may have found their local killer. As much as it would be desirable to ask some questions of them, the current asymmetry of their standoff with the creature doesn't leave them with a strong hand to play. To wit, trying to climb the ridge while getting peppered with darts sounds bad.
Besides, whatever the creature is up to doesn't seem to involve them, and given the circumstances Sidonie thinks they should take it's word on that.
"I think we're better off taking it up on it's offer and being on our way" she tells the others.
Vildran thinks over the creature's appearance and is struck by the sudden realization that this is a dero, a type of intelligent humanoid native to the dark caverns below the surface world of Golarion. Dero are normally hurt by the bright light of the day, but with the sun going down the effects are likely to be minimal on this one. It's unusual for one to be on the surface, but not completely unknown - stories tell of dero abducting surface worlders for strange experiments.
San is less familiar with this particular creature, but at least recognizes its subterranean inclinations from the look of its eyes alone.
The dero seems puzzled by Autumn's hand gestures at first, but then briefly turns its gaze on the rocky outcrop ahead before looking back at your group. It gestures back with its crossbow, shooing you away back to the east.