Ammo Recovery:
Ammo Recovery:
At an opportune moment, Blue gathers the injured around him, and petitions Gozreh to heal them.
Channel Energy 1:
Channel Energy 2:
Channel Energy 3:
I assist with the corpses. For the ones that are practical to retrieve, I begin piling them into a pyre (after they are thoroughly searched).
You take a moment receive Blue's healing channel. Jask provides additional healing channels:
There is generous amount of flesh to be consumed in the pyre, but little of value to recover from the corpses of the cannibal barbarians.
24 reed javelins and 13 scimitars can be collected, but the grunt cannibals carry nothing else of value.
The brute lies deep in a gully, crushed by the large boulder, his plate armor resembles a bloody pie tin. On the path close to where he plummeted you find a scimitar of master work quality.
You recover a plain wood staff from the witch figure, as well as a wand concealed within her ragged cloak.
Lastly you find Luther, crushed inside the broken cage which was dropped from a high cliff as the combat ensued. He is twisted and broken, with blood running from every visible orifice. While you assume him for dead, as you approach him his eyes half open and he faintly requests that Abadar protect him in the afterlife.
While Luther looks beyond any conventional aid, you might have a few brief moments to communicate before he slips to the great beyond.
Luther eyes roll back, but then realign and he recognizes your presence. He struggles to gasp his final words. Each word brings him closer and closer to his end.
"Kovak lives, but not... the one. The attack ... diversion. Ieanna... Serpents... Zura. Azalanti. Secret of island's curse is... under the water.
Cannibals 200 x 22 = 4400
Brute 1200
Witch 1200
Shiv Dragons 600 x 4 = 2400
skeletons 8 x 135 = 1080
10280/6 = 1714 xp each
Addam stands back and ponders his friends last words.
Smian walks over to Luther and kneels beside his body. [b]"May you find peace in the afterlife, my friend"[b], he softly utters.
Smian stands up and curses under his breath that they weren't able to get to Luther earlier. He walks away from the group to the edge of one of the mountain's cliffs, looks out over the terrain below, and ponders Luther's last words.
Some time later, he goes over to the witch's corpse and picks up the wand, turning it over in his hand and inspecting it closely. Smian attempts to determine anything about power.
The wand reeks of necromancy, and Smian identifies it as a wand of Ghoul Touch
"Interesting...," Smian mutters to himself, holding the wand up before his eyes.
Knowledge history check:
Smian finds vague familiarity in some of Luther's words, but is unable to pinpoint any greater meaning.
The night continues on, as you begin to recuperation from the combat. Before a great deal of time passes, you feel the ground begin to rumble and shake.
There is a great roar all around you, the sound of a large volume of rushing water. In the moon light you are able to discern that the channeled bay surrounding Red Mountain is emptying out, and before long it is completely dry leaving behind an open basin.
Having been woken by the massive roaring noise Alyosha whispers to his companions...
"We must be getting off this mountain top soon. We are far too exposed here. At first light we must make our way down."
On Luther:
Sense Motive
On the shaking and water:
Knowledge/Nature
Addam watches as the water drain from the bay. Never having seen the like he's completely speachless.
but has he heard of something like this happening?
Knowledge:Nature check:
Luther leaves Blue with the impression that you have been duped by the attack. While less familiar with the Varisian scholar, clearly the name Ienna is at the center of the controversy.
Addam identifies the earth shaking and draining of the bay as an unlikely natural occurrence. Blue further confirms that such a major displacement might be possible with the use of powerful magic. Referencing Luther's words, if "Secret of island's curse is... under the water.", this event is difficult to attribute to any kind of coincidence.
You consider your wounds and depleted spells. While the light house still seems your best chance of escaping the island, they dry basin lies beneath you along with it's enticing mystery.
Jask, Aerys, Gelik, Sasha, and Ishirou are determined to stay on the mountain for now. Clearly the battle has shaken them up.
Ishirou urges you to wait till morning, and then to possibly consider pursuing the chupacabra at first light.
Aerys and Sasha push to move on and investigate the lighthouse, especially after the decisive victory over the Thrune army.
Gelik suggests that you explore the basin for whatever purpose it was drained, the gnome reminds you that that time could be of the essence.
Gothard breaks his long silence, "We should investigate the bay first. There is no telling how long it will sit empty, and I do not believe the lighthouse will be going anywhere."
Alyosha sits thoughtfully for a minute and then responds; "You are quite right. We may not find another chance to get understand what is really happening on this island. We may be able to possibly rid the curse that haunts this place. If you are for it I will follow you to the bay."
On their journey Alyosha looks around for anything that could be used to make more arrows.
Perception:
I to suggest heading to the bay first. But we should rest so our magical friends can regain a semblance of their art back...
Sense Motive:
Blue's impressions are shared by Rorie.
You weather through the long night unimpeded by any further distraction.
As the sun cracks you, the earth again tumbles violently. A tidal wave of water pours in from the south, creating an astounding splash when it reaches the end of the basin cliffs. Before long the sea level is neutralized, and the basin is sealed off like a closed door.
Addam disease contact check:
Alyosha disease contact check:
Blue disease contact check:
Gothard disease contact check:
Rorie disease contact check:
Smian disease contact check:
random encounter check:
Day 11 6:00 AM
Jask uses the required healing spells to return every one to full strength.
Well it appears our decision has been made for us. Do we want to wait at the edge of the water tonight to see if it occurs again or we can head to the light house and see if we can replenish some supplies... and needed ammo?
"I do think the lighthouse should be our destination."
I pause a moment and gaze off in the direction of the Red Mountain Devil's flight. "Let us not forget the devil of this mountain is still near. Let us be on guard for signs of it, and finish it if we can."
Given that the bay is not currently an option, Gothard nods his head in agreement that the lighthouse should again become the objective.
You begin your journey to the light house camp. The trip is uneventful. You follow a well tread path and along the way you pass through several disarmed rock snares and other traps deactivated by the passing army.
Pausing to rest through the extreme heat of midday, you finally approach the camp several hours before dusk. The camp is quite and empty. It is generally dirty, worn down, and in moderate disarray.
You carefully enter, and finding no signs of hostiles, begin to search the encampment.
The Thrunefang camp consists of several large wooden huts with palm-frond roofs arranged in a small clearing in the jungle in the shadow of a stone lighthouse. There is a fire pit at the center of the constructions.
Near the base of the lighthouse to the northwest of the firepit lies a 10-foot-diameter bamboo lid. The lid covers a hole which descends twenty feet into the earth. You are unsure what lies beyond that, but staked vines suggest some regular travel into the cavern below.
You find a communal hut and guard post devoid of any useful salvage. A small supply shed, however, contains basic tools, barrels of drinking water, and enough dried jerky for one hundred meals.
There is an open air kitchen and butchery, stained with blood, and numerous empty pens and cages, including apparent housing for the trained shiv dragons.
One structure is of particular note. The filthy chamber is decorated with hundreds of tiny bones and feathers hanging from twine. The place smells hideous—a combination of body odor, bitter alchemical waste, and monkey. A search of the area turns up three antitoxins, two smokesticks, three tanglefoot bags, a thunderstone, six potions of cure light wounds, and two potions of lesser restoration.
Several building crop off of the light house directly, including a bedroom. The room contains a crude (but comfortable) bed made
of driftwood and a homemade feather mattress, along with the remains of several meals—many of which are recognizable as rations taken from the Jenivere.
The bedroom leads to the first floor of the light house. This cluttered room has been decorated with all manner of relics and remnants taken from the wreck of the Thrune’s Fang, including its Asmodeus-shaped figurehead, which looms to the north as the centerpiece of this temple-like area. The room functions as a shrine to the Thrunefangs’ history—an investigation of the fantastic amount of clutter here and Gelik can confirm that the items here date from the earliest days of the House of Thrune’s rule over Cheliax, and were likely taken from one of several ships that sailed south to Sargava over 70 years ago in the failed attempt to reestablish control over the wayward colony.
Stairs lead up to a chamber that is decorated with furniture evidently taken from the Thrune’s Fang, most of which is in relatively poor shape. A dented footlocker against the east wall contains the 70-year-old payroll from the ship—treasure kept more out of nostalgia by the cannibals than anything else. The chest contains several rotted bags, along with 4,200 sp and 180 gp. The room also leads out to a balcony overlooking the camp.
Finally you ascend to the top of the light house. While all of the equipment is present, it would appear the original colonist did not finalize the installation of the reflector and other machinery. It looks probable that it could be made fully functional, with enough time and effort.
As the search comes to an end Addam is dismayed that a bunch of backwater natives don't have any arrows laying around. Really what kind of canibals are they! He walks back over to the food figuring that they now have enough for atleast a week... wait... what is this made out of....? sniffing at the dried meat to try to determine its orgin.
Perception:
Well its clear the natives have left. Do the benefits of finishing the light house and being rescued out way the probability of someone we don't want to come for us knowing where we are?
I also think we should check out the tunnel.
Gothard looks around the camp for awhile and approaches the group with an idea. "We should find some wood to light on fire so we can toss it in the pit. I would like to see if we can determine what is down there, without having to just blinding jumping in. I have torches, but we may need to save them for exploring if the pit branches off into tunnels."
wait... what is this made out of....? sniffing at the dried meat to try to determine its orgin.
Smells like chicken.
"In my opinion, we should move our camp here. If some of you will see to securing this place, I will help tend to our rations, water and wounds.
Knowledge/Nature:
I examine the dried jerky and attempt to determine if it is fowl, reptile, human, etc.
After attending to healing, water and rations, I claim one each: potion of cure light wounds, potion of lesser restoration, antitoxin and tanglefoot bag.
Be assured that although I carry these items, I carry them for you all. If anyone needs them, they are yours."
Gothard examines the equipment in the lighthouse to see if it is in any sort of working order and what it make take to repair.
knowledge, engineering:
He then shares his findings with the group
With the sun fading you take shelter for the night.
Day 12
Addam is suspicious of the dried meat, and Blue, upon close inspection, believes it to be of a human origin.
Gothard inspects the light, and estimates that it will take five days of work to manufacture and install the lens and accompanying mechanics.
Using improvised torches, you illuminate he floor of the cavern. You can see twist and the bottom indicative of a horizontal passage.
I'm not sure about you lot, but I'm pretty sure that this isn't good enough to eat. Lets get rid of it. Addam grabs the barrel and starts rolling it outside to either burn or bury.
Later on as he stands over the whole looking at the torches below I think we should leave our compatriots here to fix the light house while we explore the caves. Addam prepares a rope for climbing down the hole.
"I would not through that meat out; even if it is not fit for our consumption, we may find use for it. Besides, you never know what you'll eat when you're hungry enough."
Gothard thinks for a moment and agrees that putting a few of the NPC's onto the task of fixing the lighthouse, but believes that the group should also balance this task with the normal hunting/gathering and defense of the new camp.
"If we are to explore the tunnels we will need more sources of light; I cannot imagine the few torches I carry will be enough. Has anyone seen other torches or lanterns here? Perhaps one of the mages has a light spell that we could use. We will also need a way of tracking ourselves and our path so we do not get lost down there."
Do what you will with the meat but I'll have none of it. There's plently of game and forage around if we need it.
Addam motions to the hole, Lets see whats in the hole.
Preparing what light you have, you lower yourselves into the hole. The passage leads to another room. The complexion of the passages is a mixture of natural cavern and constructed chambers.
The smell of decay is thick in the air of this wide but low ceilinged cavern. To one side, the ceiling drops down to little more than three feet in height over a region strewn with bones and bits of old flesh, while to the other, the ceiling bulges upward in a dome shape. The cavern continues one to a much larger room.
This long chamber evokes the feel of an ancient, hideous cathedral. The walls are carved with images of serpents walking upright like humans, snakes coiling around and eating hapless women and children, and stranger scenes. Four stone pillars carved like coiling snakes support the vaulted ceiling 30 feet above. Four small cells blocked by rusted bars sit in the walls to the east and west. To the north, an immense carving of a snake’s head looms, an ash-caked door clenched in its jaws,
while to the south rises a horrific mound of bones and partially decayed bodies in an eight-foot-tall heap arranged almost as if to evoke the imagery of a coiled snake made of corpses.
A low stone altar, its sides carved like coiling snakes and its top carved to resemble a yawning viper’s maw, sits in the center of this room. The walls of the chamber are carved with images of anthropomorphic serpents using strange, pointed megaliths of stone to work great feats of magic—transforming an army of humans into zombies, calling down flaming bolts of lightning from the stars, or parting the waters of the sea to dash human ships upon the exposed rocks of the seabed below. This final image seems to have been recently cleaned of dust, and several lines of text have been made more legible via the application of inks and perhaps blood.
Inside one of the cells you find a scrawled confession on a strip of leather armor, penned in blood with a splinter of bone as a pen.
“I am Captain Alizandru Kovack, betrayer of my crew and destroyer of the good ship Jenivere. Hell would be a welcome escape from what hideous unlife looms before me, but it is no less a punishment than I deserve. That I was enslaved mind and body to a serpentine demon who wore a Varisian’s skin does not pardon me. It is my weakness that led the Jenivere, her crew, and her passengers to their doom. That Ieana has abandoned me here is nothing more than the fate I deserve. I do not beg forgiveness, but I despair that she lives still, and that she seeks something dire on this forsaken isle—she seemed particularly interested in Red Mountain. If you read this and you be a kind soul, seek out what I have become and destroy me, and then seek out Ieana and slay her as well. And to those whose lives I have helped destroy, I can only apologize from this, my dark cradle and darker grave.”
A side passage continues on for a distance, before taking an obstructing twist.
"Ye be forgiven."
Linguistics
Geography
History
Nature
Religion
I look around for any signs of life besides us:
Perception:
After staying silent for far too long Alyosha speaks up..
[b]"I am not sure I want any part of this evil. I am not one to be scared but things that are dead should stay that way."[b]
Alyosha begins to grow apprehensive from their surroundings and the ominous letter.
Knowledge/Nature:
As best as I'm able, I attempt to assist the party in making sense of the chamber of serpents.
After the party has investigated the chamber, I add a few thoughts...
"I have several concerns, friends," I say aloud. "Please give me your attention."
"Firstly, this foul altar can not be allowed to remain, especially if we are to make our camp here. I propose that Jask and I desacralize it with haste. And afterwards, we should consecrate our camp. If you all will allow me, I will consecrate a simple shrine to Gozreh...perhaps a small altar of driftwood under the open sky would please him. The ashes of our martyr, Luther, will bless this place.
Secondly, although I would agree that yon passage beckons for exploration, I ask that we first see to the safety of this campsite, and to our nourishment. I suggest that for now we simply post a guard over this hole, and that the majority of us spend this day procuring game or forage. And perhaps even a second day. Once we are confident of our security and supplies, then we should by all means root out whatever mysteries may lie below this isle.
I also can't help but regret the mostly empty quivers of our exceedingly lethal archers. Addam and Aloysha, do you have any suggestions? I wish we could procure supplies or craft more.
And let's not forget of the Red Mountain Devil. I have never seen or heard of such a bloodthirsty beast. Though it is wounded, let us not overlook it. I do not wish to cross it unprepared...with arrowless archers."
"Enough o this standing aroond then. Whatever we're gonna do, let's get to it!"
Linguistics
Geography
History
Nature
Religion
"Would you like me to find something to smash the alter with? That will take the evil Gods out of it. I will leave what needs to be down to appease the Gods with the clerics as you have more knowledge about the necessary steps than I do. But I will do something about that pile of bodies over there when we are finished in here for the day."
Gothard intends to light the bodies on fire to cleanse them and burn the evil off, but will only do it when the group leaves the caverns so that he doesn't kill them with smoke inhalation. He also checks to make sure the door is secured so that nothing can come through it.
Blue is certain that the statues in the room depict ancient serpent folk.
Rorie hears multiple foot steps approaching from the west tunnel. A small mob of ghouls with aquatic features charge.
Initiative Order:
Addam
Lacedon #8
Lacedon #2
Lacedon #6
Lacedon #7
Alyosha
Blue
Lacedon #5
Gothard
Rorie
Smian
Lacedon #3
Lacedon #4
Lacedon #1
Begin Combat Round 1
Round 1 Map
Addam sees the creatures entering the cave and knocks a regular arrow as he moves 3 squares forward . Addam shouts a warning to the rest of the party. As he gets into position he launches a pair of arrows at Lacedon #2.
Rapid Shot #1:
Dmg:
Rapid Shot #2:
Dmg:
I roar out: "Ghouls!" to warn the party.
As he gets into position he launches a pair of arrows at Lacedon #2.
Gothard growls and moves left 1 square, and forward 2 more so that he is standing just to the left of the column currently in front of him. He readies his axe and prepares an attack for the first monster that gets within his reach.
power attack:
damage: