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"Daniel! Astella! I won't be able to climb that!" Estelle calls out to them, just so they knew they were on their own if they went in further. Left without other options, Estelle instead charges the barricade and strikes, hoping Brunhilde had her back should this go sideways.
Set of d20's for RNG check:
Just over 150 in 17 rolls, which is about 6/7th of the average. Small sample size but seems the new profile might be slightly better? Dubious ritual worth it, confirmed!
When Astella seems to push for taking the ingredients anyway, Estelle hesitates. "...Okay, let's take one set with us. I'll leave some money here to pay for it. That seems fair, at least."
"Those seem like some nice plateus. 'Plateau?' Hm. The plural sounds a bit off to me..." she admits, then shrugs with a modes smile. "Anyway, we should be able to camp there if anyone gets tired. Though that means we might have to eat the boar ourselves, or at least cook it so it doesn't entirely go to waste. I wonder if dragons like their meat cooked? Or does their breath sear it on the way down?" When her elven companion stops near the pedestal during the setting up the camp, Estelle eventually walks over. "Is there something wrong?" she asks. If she hears the same message in her head, she hesitates, then thinks: "I hope so." If that doesn't elicit a response, she will try touching the trail of smoke rising from the fire, and then briefly the fire itself with her gauntletted hand. Did this red fire actually produce heat? Should that lead to nothing, she would try letting a drop of red potion fall on the red fire, before shrugging and giving up.
Favoring the polearm and relieved Astella was able to get Daniel back up to strength, Estelle moves up behind the bard as she worked our magic. "Thanks. And maybe it's better if you held the wand with you for now. Who knows when it will come in handy?" As the other woman opens the door, she holds her weapon ready to strike, should it come down to it.
Seeing Daniel bleed quite profusely, Estelle quickly reaches for her new wand. "You're hurt... I'm sorry. If I'd managed to hit it sooner..." she says when she moves close enough to inspect the wound. "Well, at least I can offer this. Um, Astella? Can you help heal his wounds?" she asks, handing the wand of cure light wounds out to the bard. Afterwards, she picks up her polearm from the much and sheathes her sword. "I understand, my Lady... you wish me to use the spear instead. But... I'll need some time to adjust, and this one is too short for me to use my training on. I'm sorry. I promise I'll try harder."
Estelle disentangles her foot and also strikes again!
Estelle drops her weapon and, in a repeat of what happened the last time they fought the flies, cicles around to the darker fly's flank, drawing the greatsword on the way. "Good shot, Brunhild!" she calls out, then attempts to strike. Unfortunately, the marshlike terrain prevented the same flanking maneuver she'd tried with Daniel the last time they'd fought flies.
...But another root concealed by the marshes throws off her aim and she fumbles.
"Fortunately only two," Estelle says. "Daniel, let's stay close to the archers and cover them! I'll guard Brunhild, you do Astella?" She then falls back to be in front of her ally, and prepares to use her reach to the best of her ability against incoming flies!
Estelle sighs, dreading having to move silently in her heavy armor. All types of it somehow made a disproportionate amount of noise for the materials and fastening, and this one was no exception.
Sure enough, the plates rinkle loudly and her greaves clang against a stray root she'd overlooked. Shaking her head, she readies her weapon towards the nests and towards the flies that were sure to come, wishing they'd tried any different tactic.
"Hmmf! Hmmf!" Estelle protests, trying to eat her remaining cake as quickly as possible while Daniel strides forward. "Hey! Don't just go on ahead by yourself. I mean... you probably could being, well, you and all, but why not give us a chance to shine from time to time?" she says, reaching her for weapon and moving up beside him. Realising the velvet cake crumbs probably didn't cut her the best ladylike figure at the time, she tries to covertly wipe it under the pretense of watching the right flank and hoping no one noticed. "Serpentflies again, and multiple nests too," she muses, when Astella calls it out. "So... do we try and move around? Fight or way through? Or something else? Most animals don't like smoke and fire... so maybe if we all light a torch, they'd stay away from us?" The former cleric suggests.
"Um... despite how it looks, I'd rather not eat the cake. I'm not sure about the story, but it must have been here a very long time. It wouldn't do to get sick in the middle of this contest. Not before we win it, anyway!" Yet, try as she might, that was a mighty fine cake... "Although... maybe just a bite? It must have been magically preserved! I wonder if that influences the taste?"
Even digging into the medicinal knowledge of her previous life, Estelle has no idea when this person died. "They must have been here for a while. I mean... it can't be that recent if they've been eaten so thoroughly," she remarks anyway, stating the obvious. Likewise, she's not sure about the worth of this spear, but the balance of it was supreme - the tip sharp. "This weapon is of high quality, though!" she exclaimed, smiling as she makes an experimental thrust with it.
Her smile grew broader still as she performed a perfect thrust and imagined Captain Thunderhoof looking from the sidelines with grudging respect. "Now if only I could do that in an actual fight, too..." she added and put it away, blushing faintly. "Um... despite how it looks, I'd rather not eat the cake. I'm not sure about the story, but it must have been here a very long time. It wouldn't do to get sick in the middle of this contest. Not before we win it, anyway!"
Estelle lowers the carcass to the ground and jogs over to the others. "A spear...? Wait, let me try!" "Spears are Shaymara's Favored Weapon... is this really a coincidence?" she wonders, and pulls as hard as she can!
The spear came out easily for her. She smiled: maybe things were really starting to look up! And after getting that wand for free, too. Perhaps this was the day they 'accidentally stumbled' upon a fancy hat and won the contest?
"Does water have a scent? I never really noticed, unless it's the salty sea kind, but then again I'm not an elf..." Estelle muses, carrying/dragging the travois. "Still, let's go and check? Maybe it's a location worth remembering. And maybe those missing adventurers paid it a visit too. Could be clues or tracks we could follow."
"...All right. If there really is no obligation given to us for accepting it, we will take it and remember this act of kindness for the future. Send mister Stantley our thanks," Estelle decides, and takes the wand. If Astella was leaning towards taking it anyway and there was no cost for doing so, she wouldn't refuse. At the very least, they could sell it for something more useful. Or so she figured. "Shall we do our remaining shopping and go hunting? I know we're ahead, but we shouldn't wait around too long."
"I mean... sure? It's just; if this is a fully charged wand, isn't it worth hundreds of gold? Thousands, maybe? I don't know much about arcane magic, but still... that seems like a huge amount of money to just give away like that. Does your master have some kind of special interest in these eastern lands offered as the prize? I... feel a bit burdoned to accept such a valuable gift."
"As such, i had been entrusted to provide the winners to be, as best i am to assess, with a wand of magic." "Lady be true, I don't think I've ever seen someone with a face THAT shady," Estelle thinks to herself, but tries not to let it show, as her innate distrust of strangers was warring with the advice of the Lady from yesterday. Well, maybe not the exact advice, as that had been to trust more a group of people that seemed trustworthy, and this guy surely didn't qualify, but still... Unfortunately, the same thought that counted for Flynn, back in the day, went for him as well: Something that seemed too good to be true probably was. "Your master just... gives us this wand with no strings attached? Why doesn't he wait until the contest is over and the actual winners are revealed?" She then asks the businessman, trying to read him.
Turning to her companions, she adds: "And on that note, can any of us even use this...?"
"All right, let's get to the store and sell the contents while the day's young! If we can manage with the three of us, we can give Astella some alone time," Estelle says, making her way over to the innkeeper and asking the storage room to be unlocked. Unless something interrupts the process, she helps moving and selling all content the store would want.
After the group finishes buying new supplies and the group heads to the trail, Estelle begins hunting for boar. A fresh boar carcass might be enough to distract a dragon... right?
Estelle looks up from her breakfast as Astella gets moving and smiles to the others. "Do you think it will work out between them?" She asks Brunhild and Daniel at the table. "I mean, Alexis has her adventurer friends to stick to. Hm... maybe Astella will try joining them if we don't win? It can't be easy to fall for someone knowing they'll be gone travelling the world tomorrow." She takes a sip of her milk and pats her lips with the mapkin the inn provided. "That aside, we should probably plan ahead for the day while we can. Maybe we can ask around town for a buyer for what we found yesterday, then buy some provisions for the trail and head off? If it really was a dragon that killed those people, and all we have to do is bring back proof of their demise, maybe it would help us to buy a lot of meat to take along. Maybe we could use that to distract it and slip by or escape if it comes down to it. It's suicide to try taking an actual dragon head on. I could hunt for meat myself too, probably; with the Lady's blessing it hopefully won't take too long."
Estelle feels the lingering warmth slowly fade away as she looks back over her shoulder, smiling softly. "She was there when I needed to hear her words. At least, that's what I'll believe... because what she told me was what I needed to hear. Good night, Father." She walks past the attended back to her room at the Inn, feeling better than she had in months, if not years. She does a small prayer tp the lady before going to sleep. "I'll do my best, my Lady. When I get the chance, I will start over. Thank you for your guidance."
Somewhere deep down, through the haze of this stranger's serene kindness, Estelle knew it probably wasn't a good idea to tell her everything. But... after being on the run for so long, bottling secrets upon doubts and regrets that seemed to grow on themselves the longer they went unspoken, she broke. Surely she could trust this person, and surely if there was one place it could be said, it was at night at a sparesely-inhibited island so far away from it all... "I..." she feels a tear glide down her cheek and quickly wiped it. "I'm sorry. I... believe you. Hearing that and looking at you, I feel small again. It reminds me of a better time, when everything seemed safe and wondrous..." Before Deyja. A very faint memory of playing by the river and tinking the glistening stones were treasures. And that if something went wrong, mother would help. She always did. "But you didn't ask me that. What's wrong is..." She swallows the lingering fear away. "I feel... lost, yes. I wonder if the Goddess is cross with me, or not. Am I being punished? Does she think I deserve it? Three years ago, I... fled the army. I was a healer. I had been a healer for most of it. But each day I felt the strain. And... it was worse, because I knew a lot of the people that came in didn't have to. There was this commander - he cared only for the glory. Not for the losses. Not for what it took. Everyone knew this, but he was... powerful. So nothing happened. I felt betrayed by AvLee, that such a man was left in charge." She looked away, unable to meet the herald's(?) eyes anymore. "So... we tried to take matters in our own hands. But... when the time came, my best friend - no, more than a friend... he betrayed us too. And then I felt I couldn't stay anymore. I ran, and still I'm running. Some part of me wants to never be found." she chuckles humorlessly. "I keep my hair shortish and my weapons close, and I haven't read the texts in years. I've grown so distrustful of others that I've endangered the people on my group in the contest. I think my younger self wouldn't even recognize me at all." "Yes... the contest... When I heard of this and came here, I thought that might have been a fresh start," she continues. "Like... something Shaymara had guided me to. But now that I'm here... everything I do seems to fail. Almost all of my strikes miss while my teammates seem perfect, each of them better than me. There is a man there who seems beyond perfect, even. Handsome, strong, kind, killing dangerous monsters and beating down thugs like it's nothing. But... when I look at him, that same part of me can't help but wonder when he will turn on us - on me." The former healer sighs. "So I wonder: Is there something wrong with me? Am I meant to be here? Am I lying to myself and friends by pretending I am a fighter instead of a priest? Can I even still channel the Lady's power if I tried, and is that safe to do...? Would someone recognize me? If so, what then? These answers... they don't come to me. So instead, I pray for some kind of sign."
Estelle is pulled from her prayer with a start, surprised anyone would speak to her. Doubly so when it appears to be a woman of breathtaking beauty whose confident gaze alone just oozed charisma in a way she couldn't, and likely never would. There was a keen sense of shame and loss, of feeling severely outclassed by a fellow priestess, even though she'd left that life when she ran away. "I-I... I mean, yes, I do. But... may I ask who you are first, my lady? Are you... a local priestess of this village?" she wonders, nervously, and quite aware she was half-stumbling over her words and making unneccesary repeats, too.
Agreeing with that it was probably best, Estelle helps hauling the crates further into the storage locker. She asks the Innkeeper if he had an idea for a potential nearby buyer of high quality clothes, then joins the others for dinner. Before turning in for the night, she heads off to the small temple in the village, and if it were still open, offers a quiet prayer to Shaymara. Even though she felt she herself was jinxed, she had been placed in a group with very skilled warriors who seemingly couldn't fail. It was an acceptable trade, no, probably a gift from the golden dragon of luck. Perhaps a subtle reminder, too, that her real talents lay elsewhere, and that pretending to be a soldier was not the way forward...
"All right, thank you!" she gives the guards a small smile and turns to the others. "Since it's going to rain heavily soon, do we just stash everything at the inn and call it a day? Or is anyone in favor of setting out a night afterwards to have more of a headstart on the competition? Means we might have to camp out, though."
"Yes, the inn would have been my first suggestion as well. Let's ask for the rate. And maybe the innkeeper knows a few people whom we might be able to sell this all to!" She's about to leave when she suddenly remembers something. "Actually... would the two of you have any idea where the missing group of adventurers was last seen, or roughly where they went missing? You know - the ones people think were attacked by a dragon, of all creatures. If there's a rumor about something that specific, it suggests there might have been a witness, too."
Does astella share information on the letter with us, as in does she open it with us present? It seems like completing the seal might reveal the contents. Maybe if we saw the flag of his ship for reference or such, or maybe the full seal is somewhere along our items.
Hm... where else can we look, though? We don't seem to have any active leads other than that group of adventurers that disappeared, presumably killed by a dragon. Unless I missed something along the way.
Estelle blinks, then glances around at her teammates, wondering if they'd broken some unknown rule or such. But since no one here seemed like the kind of person to lie, she decided to tell the truth. "We found this in a shipwrecked ship off the coast, which we searched as part of the scavenger hunt. Most of this was found underwater in the cargo hold, and it was pretty hard to get it back up. Judging by the state of bodies of the crew and the prescence of monsters, it's probably been there a while."
"Ah, you're right! We were about the read it earlier and then we got sidetracked..." The soldier realises, happy for a shift of topic on borth fronts. "Sure, go on. Meanwhile, maybe if we organize all this stuff into four of the crates and barrels, we could each carry or roll one along back to town. Let's see what we can do..." She then begins the process of packing all the found items so that they were hopefully easier to transport back.
"Oh... I'm so sorry to hear that, Astella! Did she go missing recently? I could help you find her!" The offer was out before she knew it and Estelle mentally kicked herself for making a promise she might not be able to keep. One that might also get her in way more danger than she could handle. But... could she really just abandon the other girl to her plight if it came down to it? She shook her head slightly, unsure, as Daniel shared his plans. "Don't you think they would prefer having you back home over repairing your armor?" she asks him, eyes glazing over. Images of a seemingly endless supply of injured and dying troops to the first aid tents flashed before her mind's eye. "A lot of people died in the Restoration Wars... a lot of parents won't ever see their children again. I think... if I was a parent, most of all I'd want my son to come home, so I could hug him and know for sure he was safe." A mental of hugging the handsome paladin image flushes through her mind, and she does her best to banish it amidst the conversation. Maybe she should have picked her words a bit more carefully...
Estelle chuckles at Daniel's antics and resumes eating her delicious, impromptu crab roast. She thanks Astelle again for cooking and glances sideways to the sun standing high above the sea, made all the more special by the wrecked ship on the side and the cool breeze. "Looking at the view, I'd almost think we were shipwrecked on some deserted island! Except we'd be doing just fine for ourselves. Not that things haven't been exciting as they were, of course. I don't think I'll forget these days any time soon." Streching, she lays back down to enjoy a moment of coastline sunbathing next to her armor and sighs in content. "Say... what are you all going to do if we don't end up winning? I suppose I've been so focused on the contest that it occurs to me only now that I don't know that much about you, even though you're my team mates. You seem like really nice people, and I can't deny being curious. Though I'd understand if anyone doesn't want to share, of course!"
On the inquiery of the crab meat, Estelle looks back at the cleaved-in-twain version of shelly hermit execution. It was a bloody, gooey mess at best. "That's going to be a lot... um, 'less pleasant' to carry with us than the whole one. It's also a lot more smelly, and it might attract more of those serpentflies and other dangerous wildlife to us," Estelle muses, drawing on her experiences hunting for herself in the forests. "I mean, we could try, and maybe it'd fetch us another bit of gold. But if Daniel and I are going to each carry a half of the thing, will the two of you be all right dragging these barrels after us? It'll be slow going, I think, and we are still on an unknown time limit, too. I'm leaning towards leaving it behind."
"Anyway... I guess we're currently stuck with the plan of making this hat fancy ourselves. Let's go find Sally outside and ask her where we can find the best local weaver."
"I don't suppose any of these outfits include a hat?" Estelle asks, looking through the collection. "Pity... but these are really nice pieces!" she notes excitedly, holding up a noble's gown that nicely contrasts her hair and eyes. "Maybe we could keep a few for ourselves? For when we win this contest and become lords!"
When the plan is to head back down to the barrels first, Estelle pouts as she starts the process of wringing herself out of her armor again. But with the boat presumably clear now, she then jumps in and begins assisting the others with getting everything on land.
Aid rolls: Medium Cargo, 30 feet distance:
Medium Cargo A, 35 feet
Medium Cargo B, 35 Feet
Medium Cargo 50 Feet
Large Cargo, 30 Feet
Large Cargo, 35 Feet
Large Cargo, 40 Feet
Not noticing anything immediately off about the room, Estelle grabs the Crew log book from the shelves and glances through it for any worthwhile information, also throwing an eye on the charted route and following it back to the starting point to see where they came from. "If nothing else, this probably contains the names of the entire crew. We could take this back to where they sailed from and hand it as a proof of their demise of sorts. Might give their families some closure at least."
Afterwards, when the battered Tricorne hat is found, she grimaces. "Well... it's, ah, something, at least? Maybe we could buy magical services at the temple to have it restored to better condition... and maybe add some embroidery of our own to make it fancy? Sally probably knows a good local weaver who might help."
Estelle clears the distance and enters the captains quarters, waiting for her companions inside partly to make room for their own jumps. "Hm... well, we're looking for a hat. So... we should probably check the wardrobe first? But just in case..." She peers at the ground to see if there was a trap or hazard of sorts. Maybe the captain would want to keep his possessions protected from the crew during the trips at sea, after all.
With all her friends now present, Estelle, not wanting to strip yet another time, attempts to reach the captains quarters wearing her armor. If there is no way to hang from the deck above and simply drop down safety, she attempts the jump.
If a jump is required:
Unfortunately, she doesn't quite reach and lands on the seemingly weak floorboards surrounding the entrance.
"Oh... right; they would be at least partly decomposed..." Estelle says when their state is decribed, slightly embarassed. "It doesn't feel right to me to just leave them, but I'd understand prioritising more crates or heading to the capain's quarters upstairs."
"So... agressive fish and the bodies of three sailors. And more barrels and crates," Estelle muses as she is informed of the situation. "What do you think? It will take us a while to get the rest of the heavy stuff out. Maybe we should leave this for later and return after the contest is over? Though... I suppose we could retrieve the bodies and bury them, so that they're not eaten by fish or lost? They might have something that identifies them for their families, too."
Estelle, not having noticed there had even been a fight, keeps helping with pulling the crates out of the water. "Anything interesting down there? Or just any sign of the crewmembers?" she asks as the first person comes back with a haul.
Far away on the dry end of the ship, Estelle keeps watching the entryway into the hold, unaware of the threat below...
As Astella rounds up multiple crates and nothing bad seems to happen, Estelle relaxes slightly, then turns around to keep watch over the stairs behind them. With the light on Daniel moving further away with his movement, she takes an oil lamp from her backpack and lights it, placing it on one of the recovered crated to her side. "I'll watch out backs, too. Be careful everyone. Don't go too deep by yourself - we have no idea if something's down there."
Estelle, meanwhile, remains behind on the dry part of the hold. "Um... usually, I can swim okay... but this armor weighs me down a lot. It's why I climbed up rather than risking the water. But, if anyone pushes the cargo crates closer to here, I can pull it towards me with my polearm and lift it up?" she offers.
Estelle hesitates on what to do the letter. "It... doesn't feel entirely right, but I agree we should open it. If it's signed, we know who to return it to. It also might be adressed to someone here on the island. And... I can't deny just being curious, especially with the as yet missing crew." When nothing else of interest is found below deck, Estelle begins heading down into the hold, looking for danger on the way. She stays next to Daniel if possible, or behind him if the stairs are too narrow.
Estelle grins as Daniel cuts the huge crab clean in two. "That's one way to split the burden." She stands by as Astella gets to work on the nearby lockers, partly not to disturb her and partially to let more of the crab's blood drain into the water before trying to move either half. When the Elf finishes, she nods, pleased. "Great job! Lots of valuables here at least, and we might find even more. We got this small lockbox from the deck; think you can open that too?" she asks, holding it out to her teammate. Though, just as she does it, she looks through the belly of the ship and frowns. "Wait... isn't something missing here? I don't mean the hat - if this ship crashed here with no supposed survivors, then where are the bodies of the crew? ...Do you think this was staged, maybe, or am I overthinking this?"
"But captain, he's my sparring partner! *You* set us up like this! Where am I supposed to look!?" Estelle remembers with a mix of frustration and nostalgia. Ah, old Captain Thunderhoof. It was said he liked to mess with new recruits, and he certainly had. He was a good instructor, in the end. She follows Daniel downstairs and listens to his disposition. "Well, I would say those are lesser evils than monsters running around rampantly to-" "Crab!" She cries, drawing a javelin as they move forward, then she throws it at the thing.
...but misses. She quickly reinforced the grip on her weapon.
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