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Almon smiles as Jask is freed. "Think nothing of it, dear fellow. We do have to band together out here after all." --- He spends the rest of the afternoon casually making small talk to the other castaways, and perusing some of the books taken from the ship. --- When Roland tells him that Sasha saw something, he scans the jungle carefully. "To be honest, I'm surprised it's taken this long for something to find us. There's a lot of different creatures out there."
Thanks! In Australia, but I've been a SAHD for the last couple of years so it's not an issue - would have been a couple of weeks, or more depending on employer. Maternity/primary carer gets longer, the wife and I are swapping who's working, so... profit?
Hey all, I'm going to be a posting a bit less frequently for a bit. Got a new baby and a (probable) new job both starting soon so real life is busy with preparations of various sorts. I should be able to make qyick posts but please feel free to bot me if I'm holding up combat.
"A-ha! Just needed a little time and patience." Almond exclaims as the lock snickts open. Almon briefly looks through the papers, pausing to read Jask's crimes when he notices them. Assuming they correspond to what Jask said, he will then try out all the keys on Jask's manacles.
@Nali "Ah well, I'm sure there'll be another opportunity - we won't be so fortunate as to avoid running into some other venomous beasty." --- Safe on dry land, Almon now takes the time to try to open the captain's chest.
Almon assists in carrying the items back to camp, making a note to point out the books to those remaining at camp. "We managed to retrieve some more food from the ship, as well as some reading material. It might help to pass the time until we are rescued. One of them is by our erstwhile navigator on the jungle, We also had an encounter with the shade of the first mate, who was able to tell us more of what happened. Apparently, we have Ieana to blame for our predicament - she enchanted the captain and some of the crew.""
" Well, I couldn't find my proper equipment - I fear it's at the bottom of tbe sea. I have my extract making tools, but they are more suited for magical concoctions. We do have mugs, pots and a fire though, so I think we can manage something. Two of us working on it should make up for the less than ideal tools. We'd just best be sure to clean everything thoroughly afterwards."
"Shark! Good heavens!" Almon hesitates a moment, then plunges heavily into the water. He squints through the water and spots the others, but is unable to make any headway in the churning water
Almon starts to pull on the rope. When alerted to the shark, he drops the rope and draws his dagger.
Almon takes up position on the rope, keeping alert for anything above or below the water.
Almon stands by, watching the preparations. "I just hope whatever us in the storage room doesn't mind being underwater. You should take an extra rope though. If you find the mate's corpse or anything of value, it'll be easier for the rest of us to pull ut out."
Almon eyes the water lapping down the bottom-most steps apprehensively. "I'm afraid I'm no strong swimmer. I'll stay here and help move things to the deck."
Almon surveys his room with a frown. "Well, there goes any hopes I had of rescuing any of my belongings. Definitely count me on any plans to track our saboteur down." "We should head back soon, if low tide is ending soon. We don't want to risk losing all the supplies we've gathered. The ship seems to have lasted this long, I'm sure it will still be here tomorrow."
Almon joins in turning over the cabins.
"Yes, one can't just discard something because it currently has no use. Broken things can be repaired and something that may not have a use currently, may have one in the future. The secret is to find what's useful. Now, food and water isn't a problem yet, so they're not that much of a hindrance yet. I suspect if the food were running low, that might provide them additional motivation to help out.
"I note master Verus wrote the other volume on jungle dangers." Almon says, perusing the book. "If he has practical knowledge as well as theoretical, he may still be alive out there somewhere." Adding it to the pile, he plods on to the next room and turns it over.
"There may be something in the kitchen - a saucepan or such - that will serve to keep them dry, at least until we get back to dry land. I'd guess if there were any of this island, Ieana would have taken them. We can look through these ones more thoroughly later. The book looks like it also may have information on jungle threats, so we should take it."
link
Basically survival for dead creatures, or handle animal for live, then Craft Alchemy if you want it to last longer than a day
Almon assists in turning over the rooms.
" Ah, now ruins are fascinating for all sorts of reasons for different people. There's always something interesting about how ancient people lived, and why their civilisations died. Some people want to discover rumoured secrets of lost powers - whether or not they actually existed. There are also those who will pay a good price just to own something that was made thousands or years ago - that's why I was heading out this way myself."
Almon relaxes a little once Nali skewers the final beasty. "Ah, excellent work." He bends down, examining avoiding their spines as he examines them. "Was someone saying these are edible? Seems like they'd require some preparation."
Almon steps up and tries to feint threateningly at one of the scorpions to allow Roland an easier strike.
Almon shuffles through the door and to the side, leaving room for the more competent combatants to engage the scorpions.
I don't think I can take designer poison, unless the book it's from explicitly says investigators can take it - AoN or prfd20 don't have it. I'm most likely going to take some ranks in Diplomacy, plus Expanded Inspiration at 3rd, so I should also be ok at it by then, so Nali can focus on stabbing things if she'd prefer.
Almon ponders. "I wonder if she has any plans for getting off this island, once she's done whatever she came here for. I'd think not - if she had a boat of her own, why not just come here in that instead of causing us all this bother." "I suppose we'd best find her if we can. I'd also like to convey my displeasure at being marooned. Plus the captain and other crew will be of use in finding a way off, if we can free them." "Taking the body to shore is no problem, once we retrieve it. We can return tomorrow if time runs short today." To Alton's spirit, "I don't suppose you know anything of Jask, the prisoner? He doesn't seem so dangerous as to require the chains. Do you know where the captain kept the key for them?"
"The sound was some strange scorpions. They're distracted for now, but we should.. good heavens!" Almon starts in surprise. He waits for the spirit to reveal more, while keeping an eye and ear open for the scorpion-things
No real plan at this point. Rough idea is to focus on skills. Will probably pick up the talents that give free inspiration on more skills. Eventually might get infusion or mutagen depending on if Almon needs to be a buffer or a fighter. With a cleric and a druid, there's probably less need for infusion. Speaking of trip, if we find a reach weapon with trip or disarm or the like, I was thinking about using it with True Strike to make the occasional fight a bit easier. Actually, doesn't even need to have trip or disarm I guess.
-- Almon lifts his head up. "Yes, I hear something too. Feeding them a corpse does seem a little.. distasteful, but I suppose we can ignore some social mores when our lives may be at risk." He stands up from the corpse of the cook. "Probably not the chef though, I believe many scavengers shy away from tainted meat." Once he's sure others are following, he takes a breath and heads back into the galley. He hefts up one of the corpses and carries it towards the front of the ship.
As Roland cuts it down, Almon moves in to examine the zombie more closely. "How disturbing. I never cared for the man's cooking, but he didn't deserve this. The question is, did someone deliberately turn him into a zombie, or was it from some other cause? Either way, we'd best be aware around the other bodies, and we should burn them as soon as we can."
I say hit it again. There's room for Nali to come in and hit too, Henris and Thraxis can do ranged stuff and Almon isn't that effective in combat just yet anyway.
Almon calls out "Someone's made a zombie of our former chef. But the glowing eyes are odd, I've never heard anything like that before. Watch out for any tricks." He remains in the outer room but keeps his dagger in hand ready.
At Roland's shout Almon clumsily frees his dagger from its bindings. He peers into the galley to try and catch a glimpse of the attacker and prepares to attack if it comes in range.
"Here's something that might be useful." Almon says, holding up "Jungles by Daylight". We should take these other books and paints too. "We don't know how long we'll be stranded, so they'll alleviate the boredom if we're lucky enough to get some. "
"Ah, thank you. I'm afraid it was a bit overwhelming." Almon takes the mug and examines it, but is unable to find anything more than Nali could. Almon heads into the sitting room and examines it with the others.
Almon covers his nose at the fowl stench in the galley, but bends down and also examines the remnants of the meal carefully. When he can't take the smell any more, he quickly exits, giving a brief glance around as he does so.
Almon looks at the lantern. "Yes, this will be helpful, although we'll need some way of lighting it. Have we found any flint or the like yet? There will probably be something of the sort in the galley." "We still need to keep an eye out for something that could break Mr Jask's manacles, if the key isn't in the captain's chest. A crowbar or the like should do the trick. This axe may be good enough, but it may dull the blade." "Yes, we should gather whatever we can from the ship. I hope there are some of my belongings remaining in my quarters. We should also see if we can find anything belonging to those moping at the camp - it might make them a tad more inclined to be busy. Plus, who knows when the ship might topple over." --- Almon will check the galley for something to light the lantern with, then thoroughly search through his room and the others on the same level.
I don't mind with armor resizing. Half-a-day doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's also reasonable with just having a couple of the dead sailors being a gnomes etc. Almon is a wide guy, so he'll be complaining about poorly fitting armor at some point.
"More fighting. The enemy must have been numerous, sneaky or powerful." Almon ponders. "Or all of the above." "Strange, some of these men don't appear to have beem fighting. So what killed them? More poison?" He kneels down to inspect the bodies more closely.
"Nothing that I can spot, anyway."
After searching around, From he takes one of the daggers and wraps a bit of torn cloth around it as a makeshift sheathe. and helps carry the supplies to the deck. After the first trip, he takes out his extract supplies then mixes and downs an Ant Haul elixir. "Ah, that'll make it easier to move things off."
Almon folds up his tools and heaves himself back to his feet. "The surrounding make me nervous, I'll admit. I'll try again properly when we're back on dry land. The less time we spend on here the better." He comes out of the captain's cabin and heads down with the others.
Almon glances back at Nali foolhardedly "Are you sure a rope wouldn't.. Ah, she's gone already. Would were we all that nimble." After seeing that she's safe, he heads into the captain's quarters, shaking his head. "Well, this is a lot less elaborate than I expected." he remarkes, glancing around the room. "What's the point in being captain if you can't have at least a little luxury." Turning his attention to the chest, he kneels down and tries to open it, pulling out his picks if it is locked. "Let's see what our captain had locked away."
"Well, we have some weapons and armor at least. I suppose we're lucky jungle beasts haven't attacked us yet, but I doubt our luck will hold out. What should we do with the bodies? A bit cruel to leave them to the birds, though carrying them to land is a touch awkward." Almon nods at Thraxis. "An excellent suggestion. If we know how we were poisoned, it might suggest that other food is safe." He stands up carefully. "I only hope that the ship doesn't shift or sink further while we're on it. It does seem to be a long way to fall if something happens. The sooner we are off the better. Some rope would be useful as well. Ships do seem to use a lot of it, but I can't image the Jenivere needs hers now." He heads to the nearest door, keeping a hand on ropes or handrails as much as possible. "Let's check the captain's quarters first. We need to free Mister Jask, and the key to his shackles may be there. He also mentioned a holy symbol - an amulet inscribed with a key. I would assume any of his belongings would have been with the Captain or in the brig. After that we can work our way down - until we hit water I suppose."
"Ah, the god of cities. I could do with a few of the comforts of civilization. And his symbol is a key, isn't it? Well, we'll keep an eye out for both your missing keys, or at least something to use in place of them." ---
Almon blanches a little at Henris's forecast. "So the rain won't be a respite from the heat? Oh dear." ---
Almon carefully followed the others over the rocks, cautiously testing each step for stability. He finally lowers himself onto rhe ship and looks around more closely. "Oh my. So who is here and why were they killed? Were they crewmembers? Perhaps the saboteurs couldn't poison them?" Treading carefully, he goes over to inspect and search the bodies.
"I hail from Magnimar myself, I deal with antiques and curiosities, as I might have mentioned. I was heading to Sargava to purchase some items, people do love exotic things from far off lands.
Almon remarks to the others as they watch Nali carefully head over the rocks. "The young lady seems to be handling it well. I may risk going over myself. One of the elixirs I can make allows me to carry much heavier things, which could be useful if there are still lots of supplies on the ship."
Marginally better at Acrobatics than Swimming. We can probably crawl if we want to be extra careful. Might be worth making some sort of raft to float things back maybe. Or we could wait til high tide. :/
Looks like no-one has Diplomacy, but Henris has the highest CHA.
Probably worth using aid another on the rolls. If we can fix people's attitude, then they can help out in the camp which will improve morale (or reduce the chance of it falling) I guess Gelik should be the first one to try? Entertainer sounds good for the morale bonus. Although we should make amends with Aerys too. @Darkwing - are the NPC quirks things that are common knowledge? Wondering about "Likes poetry" for Aerys specifically.
"Sorry, my fellow. We may have to find the captain or some way to break the chain. One or the other may be on the ship. I don't suppose you can get your arms under your legs? Don't know if I'd manage it myself, but it'd be a little better." Almon will help to feed Jask while he can't feed himself. ---
"Well, I used to like the rain, but I suppose what I really liked was a roof. At least it's not hot." He makes sure Jask has some sort of cover before they all set off. "Sorry old boy, you're stuck as lookout today." ---
"Well, looks the low tide gives a choice of rocky water, or wet rocks. I don't fancy either too much."
Almon listens intently to Jask's answer. "Good enough for me, dear chap. Let's see what I can do." He pulls out a set of tools, carefully picks out two of the sturdier ones and inserts them into the lock.
"Ah, there you go. I'm afraid I can't help on the holy symbol, although someone may be to find something. Which god do you follow? ----
In the afternoon, Almon takes a stroll down the beach along the edge of the jungle. ("A walk should help to dry out my suit, and if I keep to the edge of the beach, I won't get lost. Hopefully!") He returns a couple of hours later, breathless and sweaty with a sturdy branch that he is using as a makeshift walking stick, as well as an armful of fruit. "Ah... a good campsite.." he pants. "Much better.. than the beach.. far too hot." After a few seconds to regain some composure he continues. "I did find these fruit a little way up. Smells ok, but hopefully one of you chaps can tell whether it is actually safe. There was a fair bit more on the tree, so I.. or someone could make a quick trek back to fetch it if it's edible." ----
Almon chews his dinner thoughtfully, wondering whether this new food was better or worse than what they'd been having on the boat.
----
Almon is taken aback by the sudden argument. After Aerys retreats, he says "Good heavens. Well, I'm sure we're all a little tense, and I suppose we have been forced a little closer into each other's company than on the ship. I'm sure everyone will feel more relaxed in the morning."
Whoa, you've all been busy. :O I'm going to eventually get all Knowledges because of class skills + I get free inspiration with them. Spellwise I'm limited to what's in my book, so nothing helpful for getting to the boat, but Ant Haul could be useful for moving stuff and True Strike could be handy in battle. I've realised it only takes a minute to prepare an extract so it's easy to leave slots free for utility things. ok, gotta catch up on the gameplay thread now.
Almon removes his hat and wipes the sweat from his brow. "I suppose a camp among the trees would be slighly cooler than baking in the sun. I've no idea what kind of creatures one might find there though. I would feel better with a weapon to defend myself. I'm sure I don't know what could be lurking among the trees.
Almon eyes a familiar looking helmet half buried in the sand, and exclaims in delight as he picks it up and discovers a sack underneath it. "One spot of luck, at least." he comments as he rummages in the sack and pulls out a book relatively free of water damage. Replacing the book, he pulls out a small pouch lined with tiny vials that he fastens to his belt. -- At Jask's comments about being framed, Almon raises his eyebrows, intrigued. "Appearances can be deceiving, old chap. I knew a killer who was quite unassuming at first glance. But it's true the more unchained hands we have the better, and I have no with to see you restrained while we're all stuck on an island anyway. Fortunately for you, I may be in a position to free you - plus I'm in the antiques business myself. Tell me a bit more about your lord and the stolen relics. If your story checks out, I'll see what I can do about the manacles." Almon studies Jask carefully as he answers.
-- Almon is alarmed at the talk of poison. "Poison? Then that means sabotage - and we were presumably meant to sink with the ship. But there are footprints showing someone else has been wandering about before we woke. If they were the saboteur, why not finish us off? And if not, then why not help us? This is most worrying."
Almon lies unconscious on the beach, breathing raspily. His fine white suit - once well tailored and designed to be as slimming as possible (a difficult task), now sticks damply to his expansive figure. "Ughhhh...." He stirs from the glare of the sun and the persistent tugging on his boot. He blearily squints footwards but is unable to see past the great bulk of his stomach. He half sits up, before suddenly turning to his side and coughing out a mass of seawater. "..how much did I drink last night?" One hand reaches out, searching for something, but only finds sand. A beat, then his eyes open wide, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. He kicks aways the crab and struggles up to his feet, then looks up and down the beach, blanching as he spots the wreck in the harbour. His hands absentmindedly reach to his pockets, pull out a wineskin and ferry it to his mouth. "Pfffft!" Spitting out the sea water, his eyes focus back again on the skin as he sadly tips it out. "What a waste of a good year." Looking around once more, he spots the only other upright figure and calls out to the half-orc. "Hie there! You were on the crew, yes? What on earth happened to the ship?" "Ah, you've only just roused too? I don't suppose you've seen who else is up?" Almon gestures towards the footprints. "I wonder where they've gone." He looks worriedly at the jungle inland. "Well, I suppose we'd best try to see if anyone else is alive." He trundles towards the other people on the beach, checking for signs of life. |
