Jericho gladly gave the wet druid a hearty handshake as he pulled him back on board. "Not the time to go swimming, G!" The half-elf winked with a smile on his face. After things died down, Jericho went back to navigating the boat. He had been glad for the interruption in the monotony of his duties. Unfortunately, his boredom led to him getting distracted!
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The excitement over Penny returned to her duties.
Day 3:
The next morning after breakfast, the party starts to perform their duties. An hour into his rowing, Ulmo hears the screams of panicked sailors running for their lives coming from the western end, yelling "It's free!"
As Ulmo investigates, he sees a crewmember trying to run from the western end, gets grabbed from behind by 2 hairy arms, while claws rip into the sailor, killing him instantly! Standing 20' from Ulmo is a four-armed gorilla-like creature, covered in matted white fur, matted with blood! The other rowers yell, as Coxswain yells, "Run for your lives, the girallon is free!"
If there was one thing Ulmo knew was that he wasn’t going to outrun the creature. Fortunately he had decided to risk drowning by wearing his breastplate. ”Get help!” The dwarf roared. Placing himself between the fleeing crew and the monster he took his spear and braced it against the charge he expected to come.
Unarmed and unarmored, Goliath gives the elf a chance the prove his metal. He slaps Jericho on the back and the rogue feels a rough, stiff sensation against his skin, spreading from the point of impact. "I believe in you, small elf. "
Penny casts Mage armor on herself, she will then go down the stairs, making for the the double doors this round.
Jericho thanks Goliath, "Appreciate it." He double moves down the stairs and draws his blade as he moves.
Round 2:
The girallon sees the brave dwarf standing there, protecting the fleeing crew and charges at him! Ulmo hears the force of the ape's four fists pounding the wooden floor as it rushes toward him. Undeterred, the dwarf braces himself for the attack and thrusts his longspear as soon as the beast is within range! The girallon rages in pain, as the spear pierces its abdomen, inflicting a grievous wound. Angered, the beast swing its claw at the dwarf feebly and misses!
Damage to Girallon: 29.
Goliath hustles for the dwarf gorilla.
Round 2: Jericho
The half-elf nimbly moves down the stairs, avoiding the fleeing crewmen when he sees the dwarf bravely standing alone against the giant gorilla. Jericho takes a deep breath and casts Shield on himself. He yells out, "Don't hog up all the fun, Ulmo! I'll be right there."
Buoyed by the sound of his comrades approaching, the dwarf dug his feet in, holding his ground. His spear already dripping blood, he thrust it again at the beast. He didn’t expect for it to die, not even with two deep wounds. Much like fighting a giant, he expected it to fight on for much longer, only succumbing to either a blow to a vital organ, or blood loss.
Penny notes that the Girallon is close enough for her spell
.
She then takes a 5' step back, "What kind of cargo is this?" She asks with some asperity.
Round 3:
The bleeding girallon roars, beats his chest, and full attacks the dwarf!
The creature unleashed a furious barrage of attacks against the dwarf. A mixture of shield work and his well formed breastplate allowed him to weather the attacks, only taking a nasty cut to the arm. It overextended itself, however, and took yet another wound from his spear in return.
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Round 3: Jericho
Feeling the weight of his sword in both of his hands, Kericho moves in and graceful slices the large gorilla!
Ulmo lands another blow on the severely wounded girallon.
Jericho moves in and provokes bite attack from the 4-armed ape. The bite is accurate, aimed at the half-elf's shoulder, but at the last second, it bounces off harmlessly due to the shield of force surrounding Jericho. He gracefully takes advantage of the girallon's neck being in range to masterfully slash across the equivalent of its jugular vein. The beast grasps at its neck futilely trying to stop the bleeding, before its eyes rolls up into its head and it collapses dead to the floor.
Nice work you two." Penny says quietly, staying alert and keeping an eye out for the next dropping shoe.
”Hmm.” The dwarf looked down at the corpse and then at the half-elf. ”Not bad.” He said, deadpan. He thought about adding that he could have taken it, but decided against it. There was no point discouraging teamwork. Just because he was winning didn’t mean that it was certain. Many a giant slayer had died to such overconfidence. ”Lets find the captain and ask if there are any other cargo that we should be concerned about.”
"No worries, Ulmo. You wear them down and I'll finish 'em for ya." The half-elf smiles with a wink. "It would have been nice if the Captain would have told us that he was hauling dangerous cargo."
Goliath grumbles with disapproval. He'd partaken in his fair share of big game hunting, something his dragonhide armor attests to, but this was hardly a sporting event. "Who is responsible for seeing to the live cargo? This level of incompetence is unacceptable. Especially on a boat."
A couple of rounds later, with the threat neutralized, the half-orc Captain Bloodtusk comes rushing down the stairs with men in tow. As soon as he sees the dead creature, he cruses, "By the gods! That one there was going to fetch a pretty penny....I am glad that you are all right and I understand you did what you had to protect the crew and yourselves and I thank you for it. But still..how the hell did it get out? It was supposed to be drugged! Where the hell is Sharg? He was supposed to be guarding it!" As you follow the captain as he heads to the western end of the boat, he finds Sharg, ripped to pieces by the creature. The captain is frustrated by the loss of gold and his crewmember. He leads the party to the armory, where you see an iron cage with the door open. looks at the party, "The beast was held in an iron cage and supposedly drugged. I don't know how in in the Nine Hells it got out?! You all stepped up and I appreciate it."
Ulmo nodded, curtly. ”Aye. Glad we were there.”
"Yesss." Goliath grumbles. "Where is this 'Sarg'?"
Penny points to the ripped apart corpse on the floor. "There is this Sarg."
She then examines the cage the Girallon was held in. .
"If Sharg was responsible for keeping the beast drugged he's not going to tell us much." She sighs.
Sharg is dead on the floor. You find the lock to the door (think of it as a locker combination lock) intact strewn on the floor in the armory as if it went flying when the cage door burst open.
The lock was intact but the cage was broken. That told Ulmo that the creature had broken free based on its own strength, and the fault lay on whomever planned the operation. He thought about confronting the captain, but it didn’t seem practical. It would hurt his pride and wouldn’t lead to any gain for it. But it did show dangerous incompetence.
”Are there any other such beasts locked away in here? Or other cargo which might prove dangerous?” He asked instead. He no longer trusted the captain or crew to safely get them to their destination, unless it simply involved rowing and not crashing. It made sense to take precautions should there be other dangers involved. He just hoped that the captain would be forthcoming with them. Given that the captain had kept the danger hidden, he didn’t have any trust to blindly give. So he watched carefully for any signs of falsehood or that information was being withheld.
The captain looks a little irked at the question, but understands the party's apprehension. "No, no other cargo. This should not have been an issue. There were safety protocols. I care for the safety of my crew. Poor Sharg." Ulmo does not sense any deception on the captain's part. The captain calls for the crew together to mourn the death of Sharg and give him a river burial before the journey continues.
The party continues to receive praise from the crew, especially Ulmo, for his bravery in standing alone against the beast.
Day 4:
The morning passes quickly the next day as the party goes through its chores. After midday, on a sunny day...
Goliath:
Jericho:
Goliath and Jericho, who are on the deck of the keelboat, happen to look up and see 2 large dragon-like creatures using the sun to mask their descent.
Surprise Round:
Goliath and Jericho can act.
Before
With no deception found, Ulmo could do little but accept the explanation as given. He joined the crew in mourning their loss, offering a silent prayer of his own for the lost life. Thereafter, he took the praise from the crew politely. Given his goal of earning a name for himself, it was welcome. Still, he was not one for large displays of emotion, nor for being overly expressive. It was thus almost a relief when it was time to go back to work.
"Is passage on this river usually this treacherous?" Goliath grumbles when his keen shoanti eyes see the dragon-likes. "Above! Something comes from above!" He bellows, calling on the strength of the aurochs to ready him for battle.
Jericho sees the danger approaching, "Oh boy..." He casts Shield on himself as a standard action.
The two beasts land on the deck of the boat, causing panic and screams. Now that you see them up close, you realize that they are not dragons, but instead river drakes.
Ulmo, below decks, and Penny in the kitchen hear the screams of the crew and can act. You all go before the drakes in Round 1, so you may post your actions. The drakes are color-coded: orange and yellow.
Penny will crack open the door of the kitchen and peek at what we're facing.
"River Drakes! Two of them." She informs Jericho.
Round 1:
Jericho double moves to within 10' east of the orange drake.
With a deep sigh, Ulmo took up his spear and began making his way towards the deck. Hearing 'river drakes' he didn't know if the ship was actually being attacked or not, but he wanted to be ready should violence break out.
Goliath calls upon the strength of the mighty oak to bring him up to the river drakes' weight class.
Penny will crack open the door of the kitchen and peek at what we're facing.
"River Drakes! Two of them." She informs Jericho.
[dice=Knowledge Arcana Dragons] 1d20 + 14;
They can fly and swim.
They are immune to sleep and paralysis.
They are resistance to acid 20.
They can spit a ball of acid.
Round 1: Drakes
The orange drake takes a 5' step and attacks Jericho with its bite and tail slap, but the half-elf is hard to pin down and both attacks miss.
The yellow drake sees the enlarged druid and rears its neck back and spits a ball of acidic mucus at him.
--- fails
Goliath suffers acid damage and is entangled.
The crew scrambles away to allow the party to deal with the threats.
Penny casts Gravity bow and advances to where she can see and get a shot at Yellow.
Round 2:
Jericho dodges the orange drake's attacks and counterattacks it with his elven curve blade.
Hearing the sounds of fighting, he realized that he truly was needed on deck. Moving as fast as his legs could carry him, he continued onward.
"Bah!" Goliath barks in draconic. "I'll add your scales to my armor!" Ignoring the sticky mucus as best he can, Goliath fights forward, some of the mucus strands ripping up deckboards as the giant druid closes on the drake. He raises his earth breaker over his head and brings it down on the drake's. At least, hopefully it hits the drake. It will probably sink the ship if it misses.
Round 2: Drakes
The orange drake full-attacks Jericho, but misses!
The yellow drake full-attacks the giant druid and draws blood!
With a roar, Goliath tears free from the viscous acid - leaving ropes of it falling to the deck sizzling as it eats into the boat - and brings his mighty earth breaker down on the drakes head.
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Round 2: Jericho
The half-elf weaves his blade around and tries to pierce the beast's scales.