After Fippin and Hurg leave, and while Sykala is treating the unconscious elves, Ixius carefully lays out Chuol's body and cleans it up as best he can.
"He is with Gozreh now."
"He is with Gozreh now."
She nods and says quietly to him. "Always with Gozreh. Is way. Soon become plants, insects, eventually animals. Soar through air, stalk through jungle. Is good." She suddenly smiles at Ixius, "You eat his heart gain much bravery. Not eat brain though, might jump in crocodiles mouth."
Fippin replies to Faruq
"He wasn't always this way? Go figure. The jungle heat has scorched his soul."
Fippin continues to wonder of the soot stained dwarf will tell him what they are searching for but, as he reaches the bridge he likely sees Keliwyn and Baas hauling some gear out of the warehouse buildings.
He calls out to them
"Hey there! How are you doing? Esteban sent us here to find something. What are we looking for again, Hurg?"
As he gets closer he says,
"Baas, Esteban wants you to go back to the ship, but I'd rather you stay with us for now. You decide what's best."
Baas glances at Fippin. I think I want to keep an eye on Estaban for a bit. I'll catch up with you soon.
Baas glances at Fippin. I think I want to keep an eye on Estaban for a bit. I'll catch up with you soon.
Hurg, accompanied by Fippin for safety, lopes, hunchbacked, along the bridge to a storehouse. Within the storehouse is a very carefully prepared wooden well covered by a trap door. Hurg removes the lid and reaches in, pulling out what appears to be a pudge yellow glowing worm about the size of a snake. It wraps itself tightly around his arm and tries to suckle his armpit. "'ungry are ya? Let me be lookin' at ya! Skinny runt."
Hurg puts it down and pulls out another, and then a third.
"None be much to see. This won't be good. We won't go much further on these skinny little fellas."
He then looks at Fippin as if he was surprised to find himself speaking out loud. "You'd best not be talkin' about this to anyone. Aspis Consortium prefers this be kept in house, if ya know what I mean."
Fippin looks on curiously.
He makes a knowledge nature check
Looks like he got a natural 20! Apparently he knows a little bit at least about what these things are. He's of course wonder what Hurg does with them, and thinking that somehow they are used to power the boat, but he's not sure if he wants to know what the dwarf does with them.
Let me know what Fippin knows about these critters, as it will influence how he responds to Hurg.
Fippin looks on curiously.
He makes a knowledge nature check
Looks like he got a natural 20! Apparently he knows a little bit at least about what these things are. He's of course wonder what Hurg does with them, and thinking that somehow they are used to power the boat, but he's not sure if he wants to know what the dwarf does with them.
Let me know what Fippin knows about these critters, as it will influence how he responds to Hurg.
The creature looks familiar but you have never seen it before. It only looks familiar because it resembles some parasites you've seen that live off of trees and plants. The ones you are familiar with, however, are much, much smaller.
Fippin shakes his head and walks out.
"My lips are sealed Hurg. You can carry them, though."
After speaking with his companions, Keliwyn helps Baas move much of the contents of the armory to the ship. He also discusses with them, quietly, about approaching Esteban and insisting he be more forthcoming about what he knows.
Next time Keliwyn and Baas step onto the ship, Esteban walks around to the bow, where the Ekujae are being nursed by Sykala.
"Kill them. Throw their bodies in the river," Esteban orders Baas.
How much of the gear from the armoury did Baas and Keliwyn end up trying to move? If they didn't take it all, Fippin would encourage them to do so in case it is needed at the fort.
I'm not sure if Fippin would be on the boat when Esteban starts telling Baas to throw the elves overboard, but if he is he will have a few words for Esteban. After all, we did go to considerable effort to take them prisoner and we haven't had a chance to interrogate them yet.
Tarren, let me know if Fippin would be around for this discussion or if he would still be off helping Hurg.
How much of the gear from the armoury did Baas and Keliwyn end up trying to move? If they didn't take it all, Fippin would encourage them to do so in case it is needed at the fort.
"I said kill them!" repeats Esteban. "If you can't do it, just nudge them over the side and let the pirhanas do the messy work."
Tarren, let me know if Fippin would be around for this discussion or if he would still be off helping Hurg.
I'm still around, but I've been waiting for the other players to get the ball rolling, especially since my character isn't really even there.
"I said kill them!" repeats Esteban. "If you can't do it, just nudge them over the side and let the pirhanas do the messy work."
"I think he's ignoring you, Esteban!," Keliwyn yells with a grin, and after a pause, he adds, "and if I were you, I'd let it go." With that he turns his back to the riverboat captain and he heads toward Sykala to try to speak with the wild elves.
Esteban draws his rapier and points it toward Baas, "This is my ship. I'm the captain. I said kill them."
Ixius is listening to the exchange in silence.
Throws thunderstone behind Esteban. (1d20+5=9)
Sykala pulls a gourd from her belt and throws it onto the deck behind Esteban. It explodes with a deafing thunderclap upon impact. She places herself between the elves and Esteban.
Esteban attempts to keep his rapier pointed at Baas but, at the same time, is trying to cover his ears with both hands. Not being able to do both he almost cuts his own nose off with his rapier as he stumbles back screaming in pain.
Keliwyn hears Esteban yell behind him, and as he's walking, he sees Sykala throw something. He pivots and watches the arc, hears the loud bang, and folds his arms and watches as Esteban stumbles about.
Sykala crouches into a predatorlike stance taking out what looks like a sphere wrapped in jungle fronds and waits.
Once, Fippin hears the thunderstone, he ditches Hurg and hauls ass back towards the boat. He pauses on the stairs down to the water, to try to determine what is happening and readies his bow.
Faruq may have been reluctant to back the party up against half-naked jungle elves and four armed gorillas but he does not hesitate when he thinks Esteban or The River Queen is under attack. He drops the gear he was carrying and begins to charge down the stairs.
Esteban manages to stand up. He's yelling something but, unable to hear his own voice and unable to stop screaming, he renders his own words indecipherable. From the look of rage on his face, they were probably not repeatable anyhow.
He stumbles towards the bow of the boat, but has not picked up his rapier.
Fippin stops on the stairs and trains his bow on Esteban. As Faruq approaches, he calls out.
"It looks like the demons in your boss have finally taken him."
Esteban moves toward the elves, only glaring at Sykala but making no threatening move towards her.
Ixius readies his bow. If Esteban makes a move to harm Sykala, Ixius will shoot him.
Esteban attempts to walk by Sykala, and toward the elves. Drawing his dagger, he shouts far louder than necessary, "Why ... does ... NO ONE ... EVER ... just ... DO THE JOB ... THE WAY IT SHOULD BE DONE!!!".
Sykala leans back and invokes a prayer to Gozreh, "Sui'sin laro Gozreh". The wood of the deck warps and envelopes the catatonic elves in it's embrace. She glares at him defiantly.
Those of you who began up on the bridge:
Sykala and others on the boat:
Keliwyn does not draw his weapons, but places himself between Esteban and the, uh, wooden box with elves inside. He does not say anything, but makes it clear, via body language, that he will oppose Esteban.
Sykala just shakes her head in apparent disbelief, hops up on the box, and sits down crosslegged on it while contemplating the leaf ball in her hand.
Ixius keeps his bow readied, and will still shoot if Esteban attacks Sykala.
Faruq charges down the stairs and runs up to Esteban. It doesn't take him long to realize that Esteban is pretty messed up.
"What did you do?," he yells at Sykala, Ixius, and Keliwyn. "What happened to him?".
He stands between Esteban and the rest of the party and tries to herd Esteban away.
"What did you do?," he yells at Sykala, Ixius, and Keliwyn. "What happened to him?".
He stands between Esteban and the rest of the party and tries to herd Esteban away.
Now with Faruq here Sykala visibly relaxes and shrugs, "He get crazy. Try use sword on Baas....elves. Stone make loud bang. Bring you back. He not hear good for time. Not hurt much."
Faruq drags Esteban, kicking and screaming up to the Pilothouse.
Hurg, shakes his head in disgust at pretty much everyone including Esteban, "Like we need this! The paddlewheel is dead soon. We need to get moving or we'll be dead in the water ... and if that happens ... By the gods, you'll wish you didn't give the Eukujae a reason to come back for us."
Having made the longest speech you've ever heard from him -- the longest stream of speech he'd made in 7 months, in fact -- Hurg stomps up stairs to the pilothouse and stays the same thing to Esteban only much, much louder.
The Eukujae are still unconscious. You've got an hour before Esteban recovers.
Sykala turns to the others. "He get crazy again?" and then as if answering her own question she again says this time as a statement, "He get crazy again." As if settling on a course of action she looks over to Baas, "You break box." Then says to Fippin, "Use heal stick. Wake elves. Keliwyn talk, ask stuff." She waits to see if they agree and begin.
Fippin hurries back onto the boat. He heads to the pilot house where Esteban and the Faruq are. He calls everyone together, and despite his small stature does his best to seem imposing.
"I think we all need to have a discussion. Though I can feel Desna's presence, this jungle, this river, they are dangerous places. I sense dark forces at work around us.
Today was another tragic day, several of you stand here injured, and our companion Choul is now dead. As far as I can tell, the madness of the jungle has taken Esteban. I've had no trust of him from the start of this expedition, but I came for my own reasons anyhow. Now he has clearly demonstrated that he is not fit to be captain of this ship. Something must be done before he gets us all killed. I think we should tie him up and place a guard on him. Either that or put him in a canoe with some supplies and send him on his way. Beyond that I'll go along with what the rest of you wish to do. I've already made it clear that I have my doubts that there are any survivors at the outpost, but I suppose we should see it through in case there are people there that could be saved.
However, there are other issues we must consider. Given Esteban's state, it may be difficult to get our money from him, so do we really want to go into such hostile territory when even if we survive we likely won't be paid? Furthermore, this boat seems to operate by some strange means that I'm not familiar with. Hurg says it's some sort of secret of the Aspis consortium, and he told me not to say anything about it. Well Sykala, you should probably know that I have reason to believe that the paddlewheel is somehow being powered by living creatures- some kind of worm or slug type thing, and it seems that Hurg is concerned that we won't have enough to get us where we need to go and back. Do we really want to take this boat further up river if we might not have the ability to get back on it? And of course, that's not even considering the dangers posed by these elves."
While waiting to see what the others have to say, Fippin goes about using the wand to heal the wounded.
I don't really remember who all is hurt or how badly, so you'll need to let me know how much healing you need.
Ixius answers Fippin:
"I would rather not go back. There is nothing for me in Bloodcove. I don't like or trust Esteban either, but he is our captain, and we need him to run the boat. Even though he is a bad man, the people at Nightfall Station might still need our help. I vote we keep going."
"I don't think we need Esteban to run the boat. Faruq and Hurg know what they're doing. I can also tell you that the story Esteban tried to feed us about wanting to help the people stationed at Nightfall station was a load of ogre of shit. There's something he wants there, but it nothing as altruistic as he claimed. Perhaps we should be having some words with him and finding out what that is. If we are too keep going forward, I think that it should be without Esteban as captain."
He gives Ix two charges from the wand (10 hp)
The deep bruising on the side of Sykala's face shows where the gorallin struck her (down 8 hp). She looks concerned about the way the boat is being powered but immediately heads back to prying open the box she created and asking Fippin to wake the elves with the wand. "Not care gold. Not care who captain. Fippin be captain. Go Nightfall."
Sykala looks from Fippin to the now wet elves to Fippin again and just shakes her head.
Pouring water on the wood that has been wrapped up around to shield the elves does not wake the elves inside.
Esteban's voice can be heard bellowing from the pilothouse. He's furious at this 'mutiny' and is ordering Faruq to kill the elves.
Hurg and Faruq are speaking more quietly.
When the water doesn't wake the elves, Fippin shrugs, moves toward them with the wand, thinking to use it on them. He then stops and reconsiders.
"I don't think these elves are our biggest concern right now. Let's figure out what we going to do about..." he then points toward the pilot house were Esteban is bellowing. At the same time he goes to fetch more rope.
"Are you guys with me?"