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Regarding leveling up: At the moment, I'm planning to take Power Attack, which is a good solid feat for any melee grunt. However, I want to give a plug for teamwork feats. They are awesome. If anyone wants to get some teamwork feats, I will be happy to join in. With three main melee characters, we would get good benefit out of Precise Strike, Outflank(which we can't get yet), and/or Pack Attack. But really, I have to say that Lookout is probably the best.
"Well, something seems to have dealt with the... garn-do-loo-lies, did you say they were? Why can't anything have normal names around here?" He gestures with exasperation at the whole of the island. "Ahem. As I was saying, something dealt with these gidri... tentacle goblins, but it seems like it was long ago, for the flesh to be gone and the bones to be clean. The dead lizard is more recent, so something must have happened here since the tentacle goblins, and that something might involve the Captain. Maybe he was holding Ieana in the pit?"
My guess: Flesh-eating beetles. Maybe undead flesh-eating beetles. Like the kind used to clean skeletons for museums. Why Captain Kovack brought them here, I can't begin to guess. Well, I can begin, but...
Tol pulls one of the jars out. "Looks like... Some sort if insect? Anyone know what these are?" He holds it out for the others to look at while examining the rest of the gear. "This gear is in good condition. Perhaps we've found Captain Kovack's crate? If that's the case, ahem, then where are Captain Kovack and Miss Ieana?"
Tol narrows his eyes. "Good question." He walks toward the crate with his axe.
Tol gives a "Harrumph," and says, "It's still early enough, but we are wounded, so a rest would be welcome. I am concerned about what might come up through the hole... And whatever killed the lizards and these... grindylows, they're called? Are those the creatures you mentioned seeing, Mr. Cuckoo?" He takes a look over by the dead lizard. "Scorchmarks around this one. Maybe the smashed glass is from some sort of potion or alchemical fluid? Do Grindylows use such items, Miss Iolana?" He wipes a hand across his brow, where the seawater from his swim is drying into a layer of fine salt. "Aye, we might as well stay, but triple up on watches! There's plenty of time for all to rest before the morning."
Tol looks around the cave dubiously. "Doesn't seem there's any threat at the moment. Hmmph. Wonder what happened to their legs?"
"Gatherine, wait! Don't go exploring hidden caves alone, haven't you learned anything?" As soon as he reaches shore, Tol grabs his axe and shield and runs to the cave entrance, still wet and without armor.
Tol looks at the piled rocks and sighs. "Well, girl, there's no way you're climbing over that," he says to his horse. Gorra whickers in agreement. "We'll just have to swim it. Could someone help me with this armor?" Once the armor is removed, he stows it in Gorras saddlebags, and leads the mare into the water.
"We'll have to go back anyway, if we're going to get Gorra down the cliff. It will take time, but it's got to be done. If Miss Iolana and Miss Syndlara want to go secure the boat until the rest of us can make it around, I won't stop you. However, I will, ahem, remind you what happened before when we sent a scout ahead of the rest of the group. A zombie was involved, you may recall. It's safer if we stick together."
Tol examines the cliff and looks across the jump. "No, she can't climb down that. Jumping across... She might, if she wasn't weighed down. I wouldn't risk it, though. We could maybe lower her down with ropes, but we'd need some sort of harness, maybe pulleys, a--" He breaks off as Gatherine mentions the boat. "Everyone get down! Where is it? Are there natives on it?"
Tol puts his lance in his lance-cup, and goes to inspect the little lizards, arms crossed over his barrel chest, and a scornful look in his eyes. "One for everyone? Hmph! You do remember they shoot lightning out of their heads? They're not puppies, Miss Gatherine, they're monsters. What do you think to feed them? Kill them as a mercy, or throw them back." He glowers over her.
Tol continues to bluster at Gatherine. "Ви слухаєте мене, юна леді? Що ви ... Що ви робите? Що у вас є? Ох, не кажіть мені, ті ... Покладіть їх назад прямо зараз! Ні не ... Я категорично забороняю вам прийняти ці ящірки!" Dwarven: "Are you listening to me young lady? What do you... What are you doing? What do you have? Ugh, don't tell me those are... Put them back right away! No don't... I absolutely forbid to you keep those lizards!"
The immediate danger past, Tol sheathes his axe and retrieves his lance from the ground, wiping lizard gore from the steel point. "Well, ahem, at least we're all standing," the old dwarf mutters, "Thanks to Dr. Mugambi and Miss Sindarela, at least." He nods his appreciation. "That was... too close, especially since it got us no closer to defeating the cannibals or to finding Captain Kovack." He glares at Gatherine, who is too busy searching through lizard holes to notice. "Мисс Ґетрін! Йди звідти! Хіба ви не викликало досить неприємностей на один день?" Dwarven: "Miss Gatherine! Come away from there! Haven't you caused enough trouble for one day?"
Tol follows up his successful strike against the second lizard with an even more powerful blow at the third, cutting deeply into its neck. The lizard collapses, and Gorra, still full of battle fury, stomps on it for good measure. "Are there any more?" he calls to the others, axe still held at the ready. Round 4:
Looks like Mugambi and the lizard are missing from that initiative order...
Round 3:
->Fail
Gorra sidesteps and continues to bite and kick the lizard confronting Mugambi, but the lizard dodges out of the way. Tol, giving up on trying to reach the low-to-the-ground lizards from horseback, jumps down to the ground, landing with a thump and a jingle of scale-mail, but transitioning instantly into an attack with his axe that lays the lizard low. He pivots to face the last remaining lizard.
Tol winces, his muscles spasming as the lizard's electric attack catches him, his metal armor providing no protection. Gorra fares somewhat better, but cannot completely avoid the arc of electricity. Recovering himself, Tol squeezes Gorra and the mare bites and kicks at the lizard which stands near Mugambi. Tol drops his lance, unwieldy in close combat, and draws his axe; unfortunately, with Gorra rearing and stamping, he is unable to get close enough to the lizard to strike it. he calls, Round 2:
Tol shoots Gatherine an icy glare as he readies his lance to charge into the fray. "Нам потрібно обговорити значення слова 'уникнути,' юна леді." Dwarven: he yells, and Gorra leaps toward the lizards with a whinny, her hooves tearing divots in the damp earth. Tol's lance strikes one of the lizards, and Gorra, her battle fury roused, attempts to bite the lizard as well. ."We need to discuss the meaning of the word 'avoid,' young lady." Round 1:
Tol continues to argue with Gatherine in Dwarven, his tone like that of a stern parent scolding a wayward child. His gauntleted hand points and gestures in time to his words. "Чому ваш батько думаю, вам потрібно охоронець? Чому? Озирніться навколо! Хіба це не все пояснення ситуації достатньо для чого вам потрібен охоронець? Ви можете мріяти про домашніх тварин ящірка шокер все, що хочете, але торага ви не отримаєте один сьогодні. Ми будемо намагатися, щоб уникнути їх, і якщо ми не можемо уникнути їх, ми постараємося їх прогнати, і якщо ми не можемо їх прогнати, ми будемо вбивати їх. Якщо ми не можемо убити їх, ми будемо працювати. Ми не будемо провокувати їх набіги гнізда для яєць чи молодий, ми не будемо намагатися захопити дорослих. Зрозумів?" Dwarven: The older dwarf's tone is final.
"Why does your father think you need a bodyguard? Why? Look around you! Isn't this whole situation explanation enough for why you need a bodyguard?
You can dream about a pet shocker lizard all you want, but by Torag you won't get one today. We will try to avoid them, and if we can't avoid them, we will try to drive them off, and if we can't drive them off, we will kill them. If we can't kill them, we will run. We will not provoke them by raiding their nests for eggs or young, we will not try to capture an adult. Understood?"
Tol blinks in surprise a few times, then turns in his saddle to glare at Gatherine. "Miss. Gatherine." His words are short and clipped, and his face turns red as he transitions to Dwarven. "Безпека наших товаришів, і наші плани, щоб уникнути цієї пекельної острові, є більш важливими, ніж ваші дитячі бажання для домашніх тварин! Ви чули, що сказав ельф, один або два з під цих істот достатньо, щоб гарантувати застереження для всіх нас! Вони небезпечні! Скільки крові наших товаришів ви готові пролити для домашніх тварин? Ви також хочете, щоб домашня тварина істота, яка пан наростання вихідної напруги. Сірий? Чи ви забули? Хм!"
Dwarven:
"The safety of our comrades, and our plans to escape this hellish island, are more important than your childish wish for a pet! You heard what the elf said, one or two of these creatures are enough to warrant caution for us all! They are dangerous! How much of our companions' blood are you willing to spill for a pet? Do you also want to make a pet of the creature that slew Mr. Grey? Or had you forgotten? Hmph!" His stream of words slows, and he glowers at the other party members, daring them to come to Gatherine's defense.
Tol strokes his long braided beard. "No Cherthand has ever been called a coward, I can promise that. But I feel no need to put Miss Gatherine -- or the rest of you -- in unnecessary danger. These... shocker lizards, are they? I gather they are large, or Miss Sindarela would not be offering us a warning. But are they merely dumb beasts? Are they so large that a party of five armed folk and a horse will not deter them? If we can avoid them, I think we should do so. A fight will cost us time, at the least. We have already lost one man to this island, remember, and we should all be in top condition when we engage the cannibals."
The old dwarf looks at Gatherine in surprise, his bushy eyebrows briefly raising to expose his eyes. He quickly settles back into his customary scowl. "Aye, and I as well. What of it? It's as long a swim whether one breathes water or air, and a waste of valuable potions if all it gets us is a few more zombies to risk our lives against. If we can ever get off this rock to a good market, the price of those potions will put us well on our way to paying our passage home." He waves his hands dismissively to the shipwreck. "Let the zombies have their rock."
Tol looks sidelong at Syndlara. "I take it that's not your ship, then, Miss Sindarela? Or yours, Mr. Cuckoo?" He draws Gorra to a halt and looks out at the wreck.
"Hmmph. Can't say I fancy another long swim if all we're going to face is more zombies. Can anyone make out whether it looks recent enough for there to still be survivors?"
From atop Gorra, Tol gazes at the smaller island for a few seconds, but says nothing. He soon turns his attention back to the southern reaches of the Shiv proper, looking out for signs of the cannibal humans.
Climbing nimbly into the saddle, he follows after Gatherine and the others. "I'm not sure attempting a double-ambush in the canyon is a good idea... There are two cliffs, after all. If we deploy a team on each side, and someone in the middle as bait, we're spread too thin. If we don't, it's not much of an ambush. It would be better to stick together and strike through the bush, or around the coast, avoiding the choke-point altogether."
"Now, who said anything about not following the captain? Mr. Cuckoo saw him yesterday morning, heading down the path toward the cannibals' camp. I'm not suggesting we stop trying to catch the captain; just that we ought to head where he's going, along the safest route we can find, instead of walking into a trap." He reconsiders a little. "But now that we know where he's headed, or where he seemed to be headed, maybe there is more time to look about for allies. More hands in a fight against the cannibals would be welcome."
Tol jumps in, "It's true, Gorra is a cavalry charger, and there's little that can stand against a knight on horseback in an open field, save a wall of pikemen. But that," he gestures to the wall of jungle inland from the beach, "is not an open field, and I don't expect our enemies would care to meet us in one if we could find it. I've got my axe, and my sling, and I'm a decent shot with a bow."
DM Bloodgargler:
"Based on what Mr. Cuckoo said, Miss Sindarela has the right of it. If we follow the dry riverbed back the other direction," he gestures vaguely at the map, "we'll come to the village and the lighthouse. The problem is, that's their favorite place to ambush intruders, as we, ahem, saw for ourselves yesterday afternoon. We might do better to travel on top of the bluffs, like the cannibals themselves do. Perhaps surprise them for a change."
Kekkaw:
"Never heard from again, eh. I wonder if that's what they'll be saying about all of us, ten years from now. 'The merchant vessel Jeneviere and all her passengers and crew were never heard from again.' Hmmph." The dwarf crouches over a tidepool, staring out to sea. Eventually the hot wind reminds him that time is passing. "Bah. Not if I can help it." He stands up and looks back toward the crab, seeing his fellow stowaways emerging onto the sunlit beach. "I thank you for your information, Mr. Cuckoo, and for your shelter, and your aid in our defense last night. It's good to know that even in an evil place like this, there are some decent folk." Out by the rock pools, Tol stands, says a few more words to Kekkaw, and turns back to the rest of the group. Gorra follows obediently behind him. When he reaches the rest of the group, his face is as grim as ever, but there is a spark of resolve in his eye, replacing his previous long-suffering air. At Mugambi's question, he replies, "That's an interesting question. Our Captain Kovack is up to something, or he's a bloody fool, or both. By what we saw from his tracks, and Mr. Cuckoo's observations, he's spent his whole time on this island hauling a crate straight toward the cannibals' camp. I don't reckon we really need to worry about following his tracks at this point. If we head to the camp, he'll be there. As a guest or a main dish, I can't say." He grunts in punctuation. "I had a talk with Mr. Cuckoo this morning. Living here on the island, I think he's seen more than any sane man... bird... thing can see. He's got dark secrets he won't tell. But he knows the island. He says there's just a couple dozen cannibals. They've set up their camp around an old lighthouse. I say we stop being hunted, and start hunting. If we can eliminate those cannibals, the whole island will be a lot safer, for us and the other castaways with Mr. Jask. We may even be able to get the lighthouse working again, to draw attention from passing ships. It seems like our best strategy, and it probably gets us face to face with Captain Kovack and Miss Ieana too." He looks around the group. An elvish dancer, a pirate's daughter, a witch doctor, and a runaway dwarf girl. Not the standard infantry regiment, to say the least. And himself, an aging small-time soldier. Be honest, he thinks to himself, The reason you talk about that warg fight so much is because in almost a century of service, it's the most action you've ever seen. Guard duty, delivery jobs, horse training... You're no seasoned warrior yourself. He clears his throat awkwardly and tugs absently at his braided beard. "All we have to do is figure out how to pull it off."
Kekkaw: Tol shrugs, disappointed his gambit failed. "Well. To each his own, I suppose. Ahem. But you mentioned your last visitor, eh? Who was that?"
Kekkaw: Tol nods grimly. "Now that's an ill doom. I have no love for the cannibals, to be sure, but slaying them all is a hard road. How many are there, would you say? What are their defenses like?
Tol ponders the tactical situation while trying feebly to catch crabs some more. By luck, he finally manages to get one, but it squirts him in the face and he drops it into the water before he can get it in the bucket. He turns back to Kekkaw with a rueful smile. "It's impressive, you surviving here all these years. I'm just an old man-at-arms myself, I serve my lord as best I can. Here I am, far from home, babysitting that hardheaded fool of a lass on a rock in the middle of the ocean. Sometimes I ask myself why I'm doing it. Hmmph." He pauses. "But I know the answer. I'm doing it because it's my duty, and without my duty, I am nothing." He sets his jaw and nods, then continues, "I think you understand that, Mr. Cuckoo. I think you have a duty too, entrusted to you by your captain, by your whole," he waves his hand in the air vaguely, "organization." He looks the tengu straight in the eye. "Have you completed your duty, Mr. Cuckoo?"
Tol checks on Gatherine, finding her happily engaged in packing ammunition, and then takes Gorra outside for some air. He leads the horse out on the beach to where Kekkaw is foraging, away from the rest of the party. DM Bloodgargler: "Mind if I help there, Mr. Cuckoo?" Without waiting for a reply, he begins picking through the rocks for clams.
After a few largely unsuccessful minutes, he blurts out, "Mr. Cuckoo, forgive me for saying it, but I don't think you're telling us all you know. Miss Iolana was mighty impressed with that sword hanging on your wall, and I believe I heard you start to say the words "Red Mantis" in reference to your former crew." He clears his throat before continuing. "I've heard those words before, nothing definite, just tales around the barracks fire in the winter. But if half what I've heard is true, a crew of such folk would be something to reckon with. If you are the only survivor of such a company, then I suspect there's more to this island than just cannibals and a ghost." "I don't really care about your personal history or the truth of the Red Mantis one way or the other. I care about getting Miss Gatherine home in one piece. If I can help the rest of the castaways, and get revenge on Captain Kovack that marooned us, so much the better. If I'm going to succeed, I need to know what we're up against, and I think you can tell me that. We're much in your debt for sheltering us, and I thank you for that, but I need to push my welcome a bit more. What happened to your captain and crew? Why don't the zombies attack the cannibals? Why didn't you warn us about the shredded man?"
DM:
Okay, the sawtooth saber should have given it away, but the slip-up confirms it; Kekkaw is a red mantis assassin. But how well known are they in the world? Has Tol heard of them? Is that knowledge (local)? religion? Tol gives Kekkaw an odd look before turning to Mugambi. "Aye, doctor, I've got some bruises left, and I'll doubtless ache in the morning. Nothing to be overly concerned about, but I'd be obliged if you looked at it. Once you're done with the others, mind."
Tol nods his assent. "Aye, let's get inside, and get what rest we can." He shoves the remains of one of the zombies away from the crab with a booted foot, then offers a hand to help their tengu host to his feet. Finally, he takes Gorra by the reins and leads her inside, speaking gently to calm her. "Don't you worry now, lassie, they're gone. In the morning, you can come out and trample them, see they're not so scary after all. That's right, all safe."
Tol stands over the fallen zombies, breathing heavily, looking around in the darkness for signs of other threats. When he sees none, he wipes the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, and says, "Nice neighborhood you've got here, Mr. Cuckoo. Is everyone alright?"
Round 7:
Tol cajoles ontinues to Gorra once more, but the mare is having none of it. The dwarf shakes his head as he blocks the crippled zombie's slam with his shield, and then swings his axe in retaliation.
Round 6:
Tol continues to exhort Gorra to attack the zombie, but she merely rears up and neighs in frustration. Tol is so distracted that his swing against the zombie is not well-placed, and the blade fails to bite into the creature's decaying flesh. Behind him, Tol sees Gatherine attacked by one of the other zombies. "For the love of Torag, lass, get back!"
Round 5:
Tol steps behind the zombie at his feet, trapping it between himself and Gorra. He slashes at it with his axe, ripping a deep gash in the already decaying flesh, and whistles for Gorra to attack as well. The normally fierce mare is spooked by the unnatural presence of the undead, and balks. Tol points more insistently, "Come on girl, steady now, give it a kick!" but Gorra simply shakes her head and neighs, prancing skittishly.
Round 4:
Tol focuses on his axe and presses forward against the zombies; the sharp blade finds a mark and hacks a chunk of flesh from one of the crawling corpses. "Their line is broken, try to surround them! Make room for Gorra!"
Round 3:
"Miss Zerengo!" Tol cries out as the human girl is knocked back by the zombie. He makes an attack at the zombie in front of him, but his attention is clearly elsewhere, and his axe comes nowhere near the crawling corpse. Steady, Tol, focus now...
Tol whistles for Gorra, and the horse obediently moves up behind him, prancing nervously. The dwarf swings his axe again at the line of oncoming zombies, but stumbles a little in the uneven sand, barely keeping hold of his axe. Round 2:
Tol steps forward into the gap between Iolana and Mugambi, axe and shield ready. "" he cries in his powerful rolling bass, " Er..." His pronouncement falters as he leans down to take a slash at one of the maimed zombies on the sandy ground before him, "That goes for the crawling dead too!" Round 1: ] |
