Whisper gets back to her feet and with a flick of her wrist and a flourish of her hand, summons a long, pointed sliver of dark ice into her grip. She hurls it at the serpent woman, and while her aim is dead on, there just isn't much force behind the throw...
(Ice Knife! And I think that's all her spell slots unless I've been miscounting...which is possible with the delays for recruiting. Just cantrips left. 26 to hit, 4 damage, and fort save DC 16 or suffer 2 points of Dex damage. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1627888/ )
Raysuldra looks surprised for a second then goes back to emotionless. Her tribe had taught her to be stoic in battle. K'gekknin! she thinks. Raysuldra fires another crossbow bolt at the snake woman again.
The final volley of attacks strike the creature in a spray of blood, scale, and water. The creature collapses and twitches convulsively down its length. A triumphant cry goes up from the sailors who scramble to get nets into the water before the body sinks. They struggle to haul in the body which turns out to be heavier than it looks. Stretched out on the deck, the creature is nearly ten feet long. Its head up close looks less womanly. Inch long fangs protrude from a mouth still distorted in a death grimace. Strands of black spittle drip from those poisonous fangs. Her hair is thick, ropey, an matted with seaweed. Her pupils are slitted like a snakes. From the neck down the body turns from human-like flesh to small scales covered in a thin slime like an eel. Oddly enough, for a creature with no hands, her ears are pierced and about her neck is a tight choker of black material studded with pale, rounded pieces of bone.
One of the sailors drags over the corpse of the four-armed monstrosity that Whisper killed. The creature is green in color, with darker stripes along its back like a tiger and paler on its belly. Four pairs of arms jut from its torso and a short, muscular tail with a crescent sharks fin extends from its rear. Its face has large, all black eyes and an over sized mouth filled with rows upon rows of pointed teeth. About its waist is a thick corded belt made from some kind of leather. A small sack dangles from it. About the creatures neck is a amulet that resembles a fanged mouth.
After seeing that the danger is over, the Captain strides over to Johan. Johan looks up from the sailor he pulled aboard and shakes his head. The shark attack had been fatal. Johan covers the corpse with a bit of sail cloth to hide the terrible wounds. The Captain doubles up the watch for the evening and makes sure to include a few of the mercenaries among them. He announces that in the morning there would a burial at sea for the brave dead. The ship sails onward.
Midian, Whisper:
Spoiler:
Exp for the fight and time elapsed puts you at 5th level. Go ahead and update your characters and let me know when you're done.
Treasure
Spoiler:
1 amulet from the snake woman
2 Ruby earrings
1 amulet from the 4-armed creature
1 belt from the 4-armed creature
Inside the pouch:
8 large pearls
1 potion
"Yes." The rest of the party gets a better look at Raysuldra now that the fight is over. She has a lean body and her pale blonde hair has many braids. She turns to Whisper and Midian who she hasn't introduced herself to yet. "I am Raysuldra. I think my last name translates to Icewind in Common."
Last edited by greenstar; 16th June 2008 at 09:03 PM..
"If there is a healer about, I'd much appreciate it," Doral says pointing to his two bruises that the magic missiles left along his ribs. "My name is Doral Starrill and I hail from Breland." He leans over the corpses and tries to see if he can ascertain any information the others might have missed. "I'm signed up as a scout, but if this is the level of danger I can expect I might have to ask for a pay raise."
__________________ My Involvement:
Spoiler:
Player of Doral Kinsman the Beguiler in Who Wants to Be a Wayfinder IC
"If no one else can... I have a wand that would help you to regenerate the damage. But if there is a priest on board, I would like to save the charges for later." Glaive says to Doral.
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"Midian Rightson," says the young druid as he surveys the deck and the damage caused. "Johan has a paladin's touch, which might do for those bruises. And we, too, have a wand against need."
As the captain speaks of a funeral, Midian looks down to the water, staring into the depths where his companion had sunk. He shakes his head free from the though, however.
"If Johan and Glaive can care for the wounded, I feel the need to retire briefly. You can count on me for the watch, and I believe I can finish repairing the masts in the morning."
"Call me Whisper," the masked sorceress says in a quiet voice to the others. "I'm glad we managed to attract skilled assistance for this..." She glances at Doral, "...payment negotiations aside."
"I can, with some time, unlock the workings of those trinkets," she adds to Glaive.
"It's no trouble," she says. "Your pay isn't coming out of my pocket. By all means, ask for as much as you can get. There will be more danger where that came from, if we're right. Much more."
The few injured sailors accept the healing gratefully. The rest of the evening passes uneventfully. The crew relaxes the farther away from the troubled waters you get. In the morning the captain hosts a brief funeral to honor the death of the crewman. The remains are sent over the side and sink quickly out of site.
Midian studies the damaged mast and applies a few spells to repair the acid damage. The crew lets out the sails now that the mast can support the additional strain and the boat surges ahead. Over the next few days you have the opportunity to get to know one another a bit better. Using her Artificer's Monocle, Whisper is able to identify some of the items taken from the snake woman and the shark man.
The rest of the trip is relatively uneventful. A squall blows through a few days out from the island, making the seas rough for two days. The grey clouds still cover the sky when the lookout shouts that he has spotted land. Shortly thereafter everyone can see the shore of the distant island come in to view. Closer now, you can see the rough, jagged shores of grey stone near the shore. The land slopes sharply upward towards the rim. The slopes are covered in thick green vegetation, spotted here and there by clouds of mist. The captain joins you at the bow and says that he's heard that the island is the remains of a long dead volcano. He says that three sides of the island slope upward, while the fourth has a more gradual slope to it. According to the stories he's heard from others who have been there, centuries ago the volcano erupted violently, destroying one side of the cone, creating the odd shape. He says that the island is often wracked by storms and typhoons, giving it its name. There are a few natives, along with the occasional pirate camp, or shipwrecked crewman. After speaking with the navigator, the captain orders the ship to sail southwest. A few hours later the ship turns inward towards a sheltered cove. The ship drops anchor and the crew begin preparing launches to ferry over men and supplies. The captain asks you to help search for a suitable location to setup the expedition camp. Grey clouds on the horizon herald yet another storm closing in.
Kraken
Spoiler:
The low grey clouds and rising wind foretell of another storm blowing in as you stare upwards at the sky. Thunder rumbles from above the distant rim of the volcanic crater, reminding you of the menace that lurks beyond the slope. Your village on the northern facing side of the island has lost several of its hunters to the new unnatural creatures that stalk the jungles. Each death causes another hardship for the village. Each one used to bring in food that fed half a dozen others. Now everyones stomachs are tight as scarcity takes its toll.
One of the young villagers, a boy of hardly 7 summers, suddenly rounds a bend in the trail below you running for all he's worth. You stop him and listen as he breathlessly tells you what he saw. A ship, anchored in a nearby cove. Ships have landed before, but this one is uncomfortably close to the village. Pirates, smugglers, outlaws, and worse have landed before, though the village has rarely experienced good trade with passing merchant ships. The thunder rumbles again as the coming storm begins to darken the skies. You muse for a moment. Perhaps this ship is the portent you've dreamt of the last few weeks.
Rising to your feet, you follow the village boy towards the cove to see if the god of storms has brought salvation... or death for your home.
Identified items
Spoiler:
Belt of One Mighty Blow (1,500gp) Pg 74 MIC
Amulet of Retributive Healing (2,000gp) Pg 69 MIC
Amulet of Teamwork (2,000gp) Pg 70 MIC
Ruby Earrings 300gp
Pearls 400gp
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
I'm not sure if any of the incomers would see this yet, so I'll leave it to Selc to decide who gets to read what. I've done the second block for people seeing him for the first time. The first is more a set-up, but it probably wouldn't hurt for others to read it.
Kraken
Kraken stops at the edge of the beach where the ship is at anchor and watches as the boats are launched. He is not afraid of these newcomers. He has his sword, his magic and the storm god to protect him if things go bad.
Calmly, he sticks his falchion point-first into the sand and sets about building a small fire from driftwood before the storm hits. [If I can Take 10 on a Survival skill of +8, I figure this should be enough]. Soon he has a billy of water heating over a small fire and sits down beside it. He takes his sling from his belt and lays it on the sand beside him. Then he watches as the first figures drag their boat up in the surf.
(I noticed that I didn't purchase any basic gear for him, which I'll recitfy. I assume it's okay for him to have a few basic items of wilderness camping like a firemaker, a battered, blackened old billy can and a pouch of emergency food items. The rest of the stuff he can make from native plants on the island)
Kraken, at first sight
At the top of the beach, a shaggy man sits cross-legged beside a small fire, heating a billy of water which is supported in a cunningly-crafted cleft stick. Behind him, a huge square-bladed sword is stuck in the sand, shells and other small items tied to the hilt.
The man is in his late thirties or early forties - it is difficult to tell because his skin has been weathered to a fine leathery colour, bright blue eyes surrounded by deeply etched crow's feet. His hair has been bleached by the sun, and hangs in thickly matted locks about his head, his beard is little better.
At first glance the man seems to be wearing a rough outfit of crudely-stitched skins, but a closer look shows that they overlay a well-made leather jerkin with more sea shells seemingly worked into the armour.
As you approach he gives a warm smile, his blue eyes almost disappearing under wrinkles. He is missing an upper pre-molar.
"G'day," he says. "Spirits said you'd come. Storm's blowing up, eh? Fancy a brew?"
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