"As soon as we find heads worthy of bonking. Perhaps down this hallway."
The gnome will say with no hint of mirth. Sloshing away from the alter, he'll head toward the right hallway, stepping down it's length.
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As Delben steps towards the alter, he'll suddenly stop, rocking unsteadily as if he'd been punched. Standing there shocked as the visions flood into him, he'll suddenly snap back to consciousness with a shout. "W-what was that..."
"Careful, I was effected by some sort of... vision. I saw this very alter used in some sort of battle between the ancient humans who built this fortress and some sort of enormous sea creatures leading golems and more. The humans used this alter to raise their dead to fight again, and later when the fortress was defended they buried within it an enormous cage as well as a mountain of gold and jewels." Delden will look slightly surprised at the information coming from his mouth, but he'll continue nonetheless. "Something... spoke to me. It said that the chest was the key, that this Veska must be stopped or all is lost... I know this all sounds strange, but I feel as if these visions, this voice was truthful." Stepping a bit away from the alter, he'll look back at everyone with a somber look. "I feel there is much to be gained here, but also more danger than I originally thought... But we are already here, lets continue forward."
Delben will step closer to examine the unusual alter, curious as to the fish-men's purpose here.
"No sense leaving a stone unturned I suppose." Delben will say, stepping into the room. "I admit, I dislike the thought of being surprised by any more Sahuagin, but I doubt these watery tunnels lead to anything but their dens." Delben will take a look at the Alter, curious as to it's purpose.
Delben will wait cautiously at the entrance, letting Sunny stealthily scout the room. Taking a cue from Alistair, he'll cast Detect Magic into the room, curious to see if any magic still lingers from the rituals that undoubtedly take place regularly.
Er, my bad! I meant 6, I was talking about level 7 and I confused myself...
"Well done again everyone, these Sahaguin certainly seem less fearsome than their reputation. And thank you for your timely aid." Delben will say, nodding to Olhas. "I hadn't realized there were any arcanists on board the slave ship, you seem more than capable, if you wish to aid our expedition I'm sure it will be more than worth your while." The grim Gnome will say with a slight smile. Delben will wring out his over-sized overcoat with a grimace, only for it to become soaked again as he wades back into the water that goes up to his neck. "Well on to the next one I suppose." Delben will wade out to the next door, attempting to peak through the rotted wooden slats if he can.
Hurray, level 7! Definitely agree that Haste is the way to go. I won't get it till 7th level, if you pick it up now you could trade it out later and I could pick it up. I'm all leveled and ready to go!
Seeing how effective the group is at downing these dangerous shark-men, Delben will save his spells and instead spur on his allies with an inspiring beat. Alternating beats between his fingers and the wand, Delben will weave a surprisingly complex rich song from his little drum, accented by his quiet humming.
Delben will motion for the others to stay silent, pulling a wand from his belt he'll shake it dry and activate it to cast Shield on himself.
Aw man, that sucks, sorry to see you go Nalgi!
Responding to Nalgi, Delben will muse, "Hm, I think they might feed these animals older corpses, blood does tend to become thicker with age. Other than that I am not quite sure... Let us try that other door then Alistair, a good suggestion." Delben wades through the room after Sunny.
"Hm, this room seems to be the final stop, a most vivid display indeed. But I do wonder what lies in the room before this one?" Delben says as he stares at the trail of blood leading to the door across the hall. "Why don't we find out..." He'll say as he wades back into the hall. Doing his best to be stealthy, Delben will crack the door and peer into the room beyond.
I'm really sorry guys I got hit with the flu something fierce. Give me a day to kick this thing, I'll make a post tomorrow night.
I suggest Google Docs for maps. I know you mostly post from your phone, and at least on my iphone editing is unavailable, but as long as you can access a home computer once a night it has worked really well for me so far. It's super easy to edit and change maps, and if you do the permissions correctly people can move themselves and enemies, so you don't need to constantly be updating it yourself.
"Well, we might as well start on the right. " Delben will say, walking down the hall.
Delben will take a close look at the door, and he'll whisper back to the others, "If someone else opens the door I can enshroud them in an illusion in case there are othe Sauhaguin beyond. Of course we could also just enter spells blazing...
"Well done everyone, though I suggest we use great caution continuing forward, there are undoubtedly countless more Sauhaguin in these halls. I wonder what they were speaking about. Veska?" Delben will say ask he walks into the corridor. A silent beat on his drum will conjure several faint lights that will dance about Sunny as she continues down it's length.
Confident that Noro has the situation well in hand, Delben will end his performance and cast detect magic, curious to see if the two have any enchantments or magic items.
Veska? Curious...
"We shall see about that." Delben's drumming will take on a new dimension as he weaves another beat into his previous song. This new melody is stifling, almost suffocating, and clearly directed towards the Sahaguin Noro is slowly strangling.
"I was wondering what called this fortress home. Don't give them a chance to summon reinforcements!" Unwilling to reason with the dangerous fish men, Delben begins a slow somber melody on his drum, that nonetheless inspires his crew to action.
Delben will nod when Harvey mentions his potion. "A handy thing to be sure, but I would suggest you save it for an emergency, or if Sunny or Nalgi get into trouble scouting these passages." Wanting to explore the dock a bit before the ships arrive, Delben will hop off and wander about the rotted boards. When Sunny speaks up, Delben will ask her, "Which door? Did you find another?"
Upon spotting the hidden harbor, Delben will signal back to the Inauspicious Grin to lead the two ships in. Cautious of numerous corpses, Delben will tap lightly on his drum, casting Ghost Sound to mimic the sound of feet stepping across the creaking boards of the dock. Delben's unique melody thanks to years of practice , lends his spell the ability to effect even the dead (and undead). "Careful in here..." Delben will whisper to the occupants of the boat.
"Well for now we wait for master Wavecrester and his companions to scout us out an entrance to the keep. We believe there to be an entrance somewhere under there. In the meantime, let us prepare a rowboat and aquire some rations, we might be in there a while."
"Excellent! Then let us get this venture under way! Laurestine, if you would please gather our fine volunteer's equipment, let's be off." Delben will help to organize the mooring of the ships, and prep his pack in case he has to fully submerge himself. Later, Delben will catch Ulrak, and say, "I want you to keep a close eye on those soldiers and slaves alike. I don't want anyone trying to make off with our ship while we are in the fortress."
"This Hanscombe is a dangerous merchant infamous for dealing with and controlling pirates. He controls the trade of possibly hundreds of pirate ship's takes, and his agents are apparently far-reaching. A dangerous individual to be sure. We have taken some of his "cargo", the foul-tempered dinosaur you might have headed mentioned, and we were on our way to sell it off when we came across this island." Delben will stare at the fortress a moment. "I thank you both for volunteering, but do not worry, I have never ordered the death of any crewman and I don't intend to start, that was the purview of this ship's former captain. And think not of this task as a chore. As the only crew members accompanying our expedition, your take of whatever treasure we find on the island will be considerable. And if you deign to leave our crew when we at last make port, I imagine having a bit of gold in your pocket would be advantageous to say the least, though there would undoubtedly be more if you decided to remain with us." Before he motions for their gear to be returned, Delben will turn to Sunny. "I have not heard your answer yet. Are you with us, or will you remain here?"
Delben will smile slightly when the tanned elf rises to his bait. He'll take in the female human's bravado with a grain of salt,
"There will be no need for that miss, I am quite confident you two could beat the stuffing out of one another. Though I am curious how you would fare in yonder fortress, you have not answered my proposal." The Captain will stare flatly at Alistar for some time after his introduction. Finally, he'll say, "A holy man...
"Well feel free to remain behind if you aren't confident in your abilities, though I believe Ulrak's assessment to be accurate. What of the rest of you?"
Welcome guys, good to have you here! This'll be fun
The small gnome will fix his flat eyes on the three slaves Ulrak brought forth, and when Laurestine reveals her true allegiance his expression remains unreadable. Delben will stay silent for a moment, his oversized dull blue overcoat blowing about in the wind. Finally, after a time the pirate captain will speak up, with a hard edge to his words. "It would seem this Hanscombe's reach is almost impossibly long, I had originally assumed you were manipulating my coordinates to find a relic of your people's past. This island and what lies within intrigue me, but make no mistake Laurestine, we are here because we want to be, and we will delve into this place for our own sakes, not those of you or your master. If I come across this chest your master is interested in I might deign to bring it forth, because I want to, not because I am some lap dog leaping on command. Business is business, but if you or he attempts to manipulate this crew again it will not matter how much power or influence he wields." Delben's tone never wavers, there is no hint of anger or malice in his words, only a cold finality. Turning back to three unusual slaves Delben will say, "I have need of some company to join me in the half-sunken halls of this island, I'm afraid First Mate Nalgi's sharks aren't much for conversation and I become unusually talkative slogging through ancient keeps. I trust my Bosun Ulrak's judgment, and he tells me you three may have what it takes to survive what are undoubtedly ancient dangers within this place. The rewards, if rumors serve, are great, and the story will be richer still. But, as I am sure you are beginning to learn, I value choice. Freedom is the one flag a pirate sails higher than any other, and you have served my ship admirably despite how you may have found your way to it. So I present you three with the choice to join myself and several of my officers in looting this island clean and prove to us your worth, or to stay on the ship. What say you?"
Non-standard races and playtest classes are cool with me!
Oh! That's a great idea on how they could join, nice one Harvey.
I take back what I said before, think some fresh blood would be good.
"while I do agree that the dinosaur is a high priority, I don't know if we will ever be able to find this island again. Surely taking two or three days to explore the island won't make much of an impact in our travel time."
"An excellent idea. Perhaps there is a better way in through the sea." While Nalgi is scouting Delben will organize the ships mooring off of the island. Delben will also keep a sharp eye out for anyone living on this island using the spyglass.
...Although he is pretty distracted by dreams of adventure, occasionally beating on his drum distractedly.
"And yet, think of what secrets and plunder one could find among these forgotten halls? Think of the horror and sorrow yet to be sung! I don't think it could hurt to at least check out the island, stretch out legs a bit... Delben will yell across the two ships, the glint of adventure in his eye.
"That seems to be an excellent suggestion Harvey, I say we split our crew in two, mixing them with our own sailors and sail both ships south to Freeport. We sell the Horned Trader and what cargo we don't want, and sell of the creature to Corlean Hanscombe. What do you think Nalgi? Can you handle this ship and a few of the soldiers for a week or two?" "As for the pirate hunters, I doubt they could hunt two ships headed to the very port the Horned Trader was headed two in the first place."
Wanting to set the mood, and work on the dirge he promised the former captain of the Horned Trader, Delben will begin a dark, haunting tune directed torwards the soldiers to see who has the salt to sail on the Inauspicious Grin.
Would like to get Nalgi's opinion on the dino though.
Delben listens intently to Urlak's suggestions, embarrassed he was so quick to trust the Cheliax soldiers. "I rather like the idea of the crew judging them, I say we make that happen." Delben will help Urlak in gathering up the crew before they're ready to depart. "Well men, it would seem we captured more than we were looking to during our raid, we managed to capture the hearts of our enemies! Despite slicing through them like chaff they were only impressed with our strength, and now they want to join us. I know we were fighting only moments ago, but as I'm sure you all know, we could use some able-bodied souls. The choice is yours men, accept these brave souls willing to abandon their honor and sail the free seas, or sail north with double shifts!"
Delben will listen to the crew he just fought, and fix them with hardened eyes.
As these are clearly the most trustworthy swabs Delben has ever met, he'll happily respond. "Of course, your advice is well timed. Ulrak, we'll be needing a new Boatswain and I could think of none finer. Lets get these men on shifts (preferably not the same ones) and get off to open sea." Delben will listen to Antal's heartfelt resignation with solemnity, nodding in agreement when he finishes. "I admit I did feel a bit bad for this lot but had no better alternatives. I'll be sorry to see you go Antal, but they could use your expertise. We'll be headed to , you can see here on my map. i'll make a copy so you may follow." While the sailors are busy loading their hard won booty, Delben will gather his officers for a moment to discuss their unusual prize. "I would like to pick your brains as it were. This dinosaur poses a problem, if it is not delivered I know from the reputation of Corlean Hanscombe that he will not take kindly to our interference. Of course Freeport is several weeks out of our way, directly away from Riddleport. We might stand to make a fair amount of money, but as we've seen, this creature would require a great deal of maintenance. Any thoughts?"
Just a busy weekend, I hate when my boss goes on vacation.
"For now..." Delben will say to Nalgi. He'll turn to the former quartermaster and say, "But I don't want any more surprises. Cooperate and perhaps we won't leave you to the mercy of your slaves." Delben will walk back towards the stairs to get top deck and away from the reek of dinosaur dung. He will call back, "Let's get this ship plundered quickly, I don't want to run into any more Cheliax vessels today." Delben will leave to coordinate things topside.
I appreciate the effort Steven, that all sounds awesome. I do think we might have lost Antal... but I think we could continue on, unless people want a replacment.
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