Beothall will attempt a Heal check to take care of the poison and bind the wound.
-Heal check (9)
She's going to ignore the boat then and continue with the plan to head down.
Aria: I'm still waiting for an Acrobatics DC 10 check to get you down onto the deck of the ship -- if, indeed, that's where you want to go. If you succeed, see Viridian's entry below for your options.
Beothall: You are able to make Jask more comfortable, in spite of the shackles that pin his arms behind him. However, your healing acumen is stumped by the poison in his system. You only know that your spells and abilities are insufficient.
Dolph: Pulling your shield out of the mast will not require a roll of any sort, but it will trigger the demise of the Jenivere. You will all have about 10 rounds to escape the ship once you've "pulled the plug."
Veridian: Unexplored areas of the ship include: the Captain's Cabin, the Larder, and the Supply Room (where you can hear the ominous sound of clacking claws). Where would you like to go?
Veri is heading towards the sound of the claws with the intention of opening a very large can of whoopass on them. (she has already cast mage armor on herself)
Dolph looks around quickly to see if there's anything of similar thickness that he can jam into the space where the shield is so that he both frees his shield and avoids destroying the boat. If he can't see anything, he'll step out of that room and find the others so that he can warn them before he pulls the shield.
Aria gives her head a shake, unsure why it took her so long to decide on a course of action. She squares her jaw and prepares to swing down onto the deck of the ship.
Landing with a thud, she moves with Viri towards the supply room (and the clacking of claws), bringing her staff up in front of her.
Aria: You must still be suffering the after-effects of whatever caused your memory lapse. Or perhaps it's sunstroke.
Dolph: If only the ship were made of good old stone, you're sure you would be able to assess its architectural strengths and weaknesses; unfortunately, this creaking, heaving wooden monstrosity defies your best efforts. You shake your head, and step down the corridor to find the others.
Joining Viri and Aria, you find yourself standing outside the door to the Supply Room. It has been wedged shut by the impact of the shipwreck. Blood leaks out from underneath the door, spreading out into the sea foam.
Three sizeable sea scorpions are gathered here, scrabbling at the door. Frenzied by the taste of blood, they attack as soon as you approach.
NOTE: The confined space of the hold, plus the flooding and debris, make this space difficult terrain. Please apply -2 to all your attack rolls.
Viridian squares off against one of the scorpions, flexing her fingers in anticipation.
Her intent is to cast magic missile at the nearest of the scorpions.
Dolph, being unarmed, will grab up any stick, chair leg, or cudgel he can find. If he can't find anything, he'll have to go with his trusty stompin' boots. In either event, he'll attack the nearest scorpion, while very briefly explaining: My shield is wedged in the mast. When I pull it, whole boat will collapse pretty quickly. Grab what we can and get out of here!
Aria brings up her staff, intending to also attack the nearest scorpion.
Aria is closest, and reacts first, but she has not yet found he sea legs, and just as she swings her staff, the foundered ship tilts perilously, causing her to lose her balance, and miss her target.
Dolph grabs a wooden chunk of flotsam and brings it down smartly on the nearest creature's head. It strikes true, and he is rewarded with a satisfying crunch, and a spray of meat and ichor. The creature thrashes briefly and then lies still.
Its two brothers strike out at Aria and Viri, each one using 2 claws and a stinger to attack. Despite Aria's uncertain footing, she is able to deflect and dodge all three attacks.
Viridian is likewise spared; although the scorpion's tail aims straight at her thigh, her iridescent armour magically deflects the poison-tipped stinger.
Viri decides not to let the beast get a second chance. She thrusts her hand towards it, palm open: out of the palm springs a swiftly rotating green sphere, which strikes the scorpion unerringly. The magic missile slips beneath its exoskeleton and flash-fries its insides; it, too, falls dead.
Within a heartbeat, only one of the three creatures remains standing. However, its bestial mind knows no fear, so it continues to threaten you and block your access to the Supply Room door.
Aria fully intends to now splatter the last critter against the door it's trying to block.
She narrows her eyes and takes another swing.
Dolph slams this makeshift club into the deck to one side of the scorpion to distract it and herd it towards Aria's staff, but the creature doesn't seem to react either way. Dolph swears in Dwarfish, making a sound not unlike gravel being thrown into a mill.
Aria places one hand on Dolph's bald pate in order to steady herself. With her other hand, she brings her quarterstaff squarely down and through the eurypterid's skull. The impaled beast wriggles, then hangs there limply, shishkabobbed lobster.
Aria shakes the staff once to dislodge it. Dolph shakes his head once to dislodge Aria.
After giving the door an experimental shove, Dolph shrugs and just starts waling on it with his club. After a few seconds, the door has been reduced to hunks of wood hanging from the lock and the hinges.
Viri examines the door to the supply room and grunts, realizing she doesn't have the skills necessary to open the door, though she's fairly certain one of her companions does. She might be able to help though, so she sets herself to attempt to aid breaking down the door.
We need to be careful here, if your shield is holding the ship up, this wedged door might be doing some of the same. The quicker we're out of here the better.
At this point, any small disruption could cause the ship to sink. Fortunately, this was not a load-bearing door, except for the body which now slumps down into the sodden hallway.
This, you realize, must be the source of the blood that was oozing underneath the door. A human corpse gapes sightlessly up at you: this was Alton Devers, the first mate of the Jenivere. He still wears his suit of fine studded leather armour, and clutches his masterwork short sword in one hand.
Stepping over Devers's body, you can enter the Supply Room. There is a reassuring stash of goods here: a block and tackle, three large canvas sheets, two fishing nets, a grappling hook, two bullseye lanterns, 12 flasks of lantern oil, 150 feet of hemp rope, and 5 shovels.
Dolph gets down on his knees to close the corpse's eyes... then he takes his sword and tries to see if he can get the armour off in a hurry. He avoids eye contact with Viri or Aria while he's doing it. I don't feel good about this, but we going to need everything we can get.
No need to apologize Lord Targbanger, this isn't exactly an ideal situation.
Viri looks through the stash of goods, piling as much as she can onto one of the canvas sheets to tie into a bundle with a length of rope. She will continue to make as many bundles as are needed to clear the room, and will then do a more thorough search.
Aria? Can you tell how he died? The Scorpions were on the other side of the door..something doesn't seem right to me.
Beo will inspect the shackles binding Jask to see how they may be undone and will undo them if he can.
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The manacles are held closed by an iron pin, which you can remove with ease. Once unlocked, the clasps fall open, falling to the sand.
Jask stands up, rubbing his arms and heavily favouring his undamaged leg. "That's two I owe ya, brother," He says with grave sincerity. Then he turns and hobbles into the jungle, disappearing almost at once in the dense foliage.
Dolph will help gather the goods from the storeroom, but just as they go to leave [assuming we get that far] he says, I can't leave my shield. Head up and get ready to debark. We don't have long when I pull it.
Beothall shakes his head at Ishirou, signally a negative to chase.
The others may need help.
Beothall will try to find out where the other survivors went...(12 spot) and see if they need help.
Beothall: From where you stand on the beach, the Jenivere is mostly blurred by heat haze and sea spray. But on the cliff just above the ship's tilted mast, you think you can discern a human figure, topped with shocking red hair.
Others: Are there any other actions you'd like to take aboard the ship before Dolph pulls the plug? Remember, there are two more rooms you haven't yet explored: the Captain's Cabin, and the Larder.
"Wait please Dolph. We'll need all the supplies we can get, and there might yet be others aboard. I'll be right back."
She dashes off, intent on exploring the larder first.
Okay. I'll get ready to pull the shield. You give me a signal. Dolph goes into the galley again and sets himself up.
The party splits up to search the remainder of the hold.
In the larder, Aria encounters a second dead body, floating face-down in the rising water. She rolls it over; it was once the ship's cook, and this time it doesn't take a healer to identify the cause of death: several vicious bite marks on the cook's neck and shoulders caused him to bleed out (although the blood seems to have washed away some time ago).
When it was sea-worthy, The Jenivere's food stores were kept in the cargo hold below -- now crushed beyond recovery by the perilous rocks. This room contains only enough preserved rations to supply a single person with food for 24 days.
The Captain's Cabin is a wreck--a jagged hole in the side has allowed most of the room's contents to spill out into the surf and wash away. Yet your hasty survey of the room reveals some potentially useful items in an overturned mahogany desk. You recover:
--A bundle of charts and maps;
--A bottle of fine brandy;
--A small coffer that jingles with coin when you lift it;
--A long leather satchel containing a dozen ivory vials, each one labelled to identify its magical contents;
--The captain's log.
There is also a large metal footlocker leaning against the desk, but it is locked, and looks too bulky to haul off the ship.
There is no sign of the captain here, nor any of the crew or passengers that remain unaccounted for.
Viri collects what she can from the room quickly and spends a moment looking at the footlocker. She attempts to lift it to judge it's weight, and also examines the lock to see how hard it would be to break the chest open.
Dolph! Come in here! I found something that might make you feel a little better about pulling that shield out. Also, I may need your muscle for a moment.
Viri intends on giving Dolph the water breathing potion so if he can't get away from the ship fast enough, he'll at least be able to breathe until he can get himself out.
Dolph, please make a Perception check.
Dolph hears Viri's call, then looks at the shield, then looks at the door, then takes a step towards the door, then looks at the shield, and silently mouths I'm sorry to the shield, in Dwarfish, before he heads up the hallway towards Viri's voice.
Once Dolph enters the room Viri will hand him a water breathing potion.
Here, this will let you breathe under water, in case you don't get free in time after you pull your shield free.
If the chest is light enough to lift with Mage hand Viri will do that, otherwise she will request Dolph to break the lock.
It is definitely too heavy for your spell to move.
Dolph can break the lock on this chest with a DC 26 Strength check. Or he can bash the lock to pieces (with his wooden club -- go figure) by doing 15 hp damage to it in a single blow.
Dolph sizes up the lock. It looks solid. He might not be able to pull this off. Do we have a crow bar, something long, thin, and metal?
Well the block and tackle is rather heavy, it might do the trick, but we don't really have anything like a prybar, I don't think the shovels are strong enough for that. I mean, at least the pulley equipment is metal.
The block and tackle would help you lift the chest, but it is of no use against the lock.
Dolph, having boarded The Jenivere prior to its stop in Quent three weeks ago, you recognize this strongbox. It was brought onto the ship at the same time as the prisoner, Jask Derindi. Whatever it contains must have something to do with him.
I don't see no way of getting through that lock, not without picking it. Is the captain's body around? He might have a key.
Dolph also takes a moment--of which there aren't many, he knows--to look at the rest of the chest looking for non-steel bits that he might just bust through, wood being more frangible than steel, after all.
You have not found any sign of the captain's body, nor are there any keys in the room that you can see.
The footlocker is iron, through and through. It's heavy -- 100 lbs, which means anyone with a Strength of 12 or more can carry it as a heavy load. But it's also bulky, requiring both hands. Climbing with it would not work, unless it were lashed to someone's back. Swimming with it is definitely not an option.
Maybe you can carry it out after getting your shield Dolph? You can't really swim with it, but with your potion of water breathing you should be able to walk along the bottom of the ocean to the shore.
She's not a greedy critter, but she is a curious one, and not being able to get into that box is eating at her.
Dolph looks at the potion, looks at the chest, bobs his head back and forth. Hm. S'like I'd be beating the ocean at being, you know, the ocean. Fun.
Beothall will make his way to the boat and the strange red hair.
*Huff Huff Huff*
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Dolph chokes back the potion of water breathing -- it tastes like sea water and vinegar -- and then hustles back to the galley and his precious shield. Over his shoulder to Viri, he says, "Shout 'DO IT' as soon as you're off the ship."
Viri and Aria haul the salvaged goods up onto the deck. Neither of you is sure how you will get back to the cliff, since the fabric rope you used to swing down is only attached to the crow's nest...
Or is it? Shielding your eyes with your hands, you look upward. Through the sun's punishing glare, you can discern a human figure high above you on the clifftop. She is perched upon a boulder, and she waves at you with one hand; the other hand clutches a bundle of saffron fabric -- your rope.
"Hiya girls!" Calls Sasha, "I just jumped from the crow's nest to the cliff, and then I climbed right up the f@##ing thing. And with a busted leg, no less. How cool is that?"
Aria cups her hands to her mouth and calls, "Tie the rope to the boulder, and throw us the other end!"
Sasha shakes her head violently, making her hair look like a halo of red snakes. "I wanna see you jump too. It musta looked really awesome when I did it."
A squat second figure crests the clifftop. Panting heavily, Beothall tries to reason with the manic girl. "Throw them the rope, Sasha. They require our help."
Sasha stands up on the boulder, favouring her unbroken leg. She holds the fabric high above her head, as if to keep the dwarf away from it. "Nothing doing, baldy!" She says jauntily. "I wanna see if they can make the jump. Come on, ladies. I'm getting bored."
Aria and Viri both open their mouths to speak, but Sasha cuts them off by shouting, "DO IT!"
Beneath the deck, Dolph hears his cue. He grabs his shield with both hands and heaves it free from the mast. The boom breaks free and plunges through the hull, causing the entire ship to churn and buckle. Water blasts through the newly made hole. The Jenivere begins to sink.
As soon as the shield is free from the hull, Dolph hustles towards the captain's room and locates the chest. He then uses the shield to push the chest towards the big hole in the side of the Jenivere (they have so many uses, everyone should have one). His intention is to dump it into the water and then follow it down so that he can drag the chest up to the beach.
Aria leans forward, both hands in fists, intent on the b$#*+y red-head on the cliff. Her nostrils are flared and she seems to be wrestling with herself over how to respond.
I can't swim, I can't climb, and I sure as hell can't jump. she mutters to herself and then lurches to one side as the boom comes crashing down. Well no chance for jumping now. Viri downs the potion of water walking and looks wildly about for the life boat, her plan being to run over to it and push it back towards the ship so Aria can get in.