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.
Midian is civil but generally quiet at first, morning his animal companion, but the time he spends alone in reflection ends as the squall hits. Looking into the danger of the skies, he nods grimly.
"Nature is cruel, and dangerous," he says mostly to himself, though he makes no effort to hide his personal revelation. "And nature gives me the gift of a companion, a tool it would be foolish not to use."
He frowns, adding, "But just as foolish to love a tool, as I have done."
The druid sequesters himself below for a full day as the seas roil below, and even as the lookout notes the land, he returns. watching the shore approach as if looking for something--or someone--who might be waiting.
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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.
Midian readily agrees. "We should have some help waiting when we arrive," he says.
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Originally Posted by Dr Simon
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?"
Midian pulls back a moment, looking around the man.
"I expected someone to meet us," he says, "but I didn't think it would be human. I'm Midian, and--"
Before he can introduce the others, Midian's attention is drawn to the tree line, where a large ape is loping out onto the beach.
"Now that," he says, "Is who I expected." Without a hint of agression, the ape moves to the druid's side, and Midian and his new companion bow their heads to one another, and he returns his attention to the island's unexpected welcoming committee.
Kraken tenses at the sudden arrival of the ape. One hand goes to the sling resting on the sand at his side, the other to one of numerous pouches scattered about his person. He watches the new arrivals for their reactions, and as Midian greets the ape, he relaxes.
"Strewth mate, that was a bit of a frightener!" he says with a grin. "You make friends pretty easily eh? You know the chant of animals?"
He gives the ape a nod of greeting. "Alright there, big fella?"
Patting the sand, he looks to Midian again.
"Siddown mate, the tea's nearly ready."
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"Well, time to earn my keep it seems," Doral states as he joins the group going into the cove.
Once he arrives he seems oddly entertained by Kraken's reaction to the druid's new companion. "Nice to meet you my friend. My name is Doral Starrill of Breland and I would surely fancy a brew, although for right now I believe we will have to miss out on the opportunity. Duty calls, and it promises money in return. Now before we start wandering around aimlessly, what can you tell us of the area?"
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Glaive follows the others, staying in the background. He quietly observes the unfolding scene, using his powers to scan the odd man and his equipment for magic auras.
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"Doral, Midian. They call me Kraken," says Kraken. He gives Doral a wry grin.
"Easy mate," he says with a chuckle. "I can tell ya what ya want to know, but I talk better when me throat's wet, if ya know what I mean. I wouldn't go rushing off into the unknown if I were you. There's things in those trees that'll scare the $#!+ out of ya."
From another of his pouches he produces half a coconut shell and procedes to carefully pour the contents of his billy into it.
"Boraberry leaf tea," he announces. "Sure ya don't want any?"
DM
As regards Glaive's assessment of his magic, Kraken has the following items - his falchion (stuck in the sand), his leather armour and his two types of magical slingstone (in seperate pouches). He has no spells active.
OOC: Kraken spent his formative years amongst pirates, and the version in my head seems to have become a bit Australian in his personality. Hence he is likely swear freely yet amiably (within the Eric's Grandma guidelines of this board, of course). If this offends anyone, please let me know and he could swear in a super-tame Robert Jordan style instead.
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The last one up the hill to see and be seen by Kraken is a woman in a charcoal grey hooded cloak that flaps and curls in the wind. Her dress manages to be conservative in that it shows no skin, and simultaneously revealing in that it clearly hugs her generous proportions with no room for error (think one of those high-necked Chinese style gowns). It is also grey in color; a light silvery grey on the upper portion, divided from darker grey lower down by a diagonal line running from rib down to the opposite hip. There are subtle silvery highlights all along the material that are only visible at certain angles, making it seem as if patterns are constantly emerging and vanishing over it as she moves. Her face is completely covered by a mask in the shape of a woman's face, though simplified to the point of iconism. Between that and the long-sleeved gloves she wears, the only thing one can see of her is her eyes through the holes in the mask.
She pauses on seeing the tableau before her, but when Kraken turns out to be friendly, she continues forward. When she speaks, her voice is clear and unmuffled, but quiet just the same.
"You may call me Whisper. So spirits said we'd come, hmm? What manner of spirits were these?"
(I've no problem with swearing, edited or otherwise. I think it's a cool bit of flavor, myself. )
Kraken seems more astonished by Whisper than by the sudden appearance of Midian's ape companion.
"Crikey! That's a fine frock you've got on, Miss," he says. "Bit fancy for the back country though."
He chuckles to himself, and gestures about him with his coconut shell cup. "Spirits of the land, Miss, spirits of the sky, spirits of the sea. Spirits of the storm too." He points to the darkening clouds overhead. "They tell me things in dreams sometimes. I dreamed a ship, might be yours, might not, the spirits didn't give me much to go on.". He leans forward conspiratorally. "To be honest, they're a bit bloody useless sometimes."
(OOC: Shayuri, the dress you're thinking of is the cheongsam).
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He chuckles to himself, and gestures about him with his coconut shell cup. "Spirits of the land, Miss, spirits of the sky, spirits of the sea. Spirits of the storm too." He points to the darkening clouds overhead. "They tell me things in dreams sometimes. I dreamed a ship, might be yours, might not, the spirits didn't give me much to go on.". He leans forward conspiratorally. "To be honest, they're are a bit bloody useless sometimes."
Midian nods, a rueful smile on his face as he glances back out to the water a moment.
"Nature's fickle. It's hardly surprising that the spirits that inhabit it would be the same."
Whisper puts a gloved hand on Midian's shoulder in a gesture of compassion, though her expression can't be read beneath the mask. At that moment a black bird, a raven, swoops from the sky to land on her shoulder and regard the gathering with beady black eyes.
"Did the spirits tell you anything else of what was to come?" she inquires.
"Depends." he says. "There's what the spirits think is going to happen, what I think is going to happen... and what you think is going to happen. Why did you come to this island?"
His demeanour changes from jovial to intense as he asks the question.
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Raysuldra, who had been silent until now, even with the ape, says "I am Raysuldra. We heard there were pirates here. Would you know anything about that?"
"To tell you the truth, I came to do a little exploration. Or at least that's what I'm being paid to do which is all the motivation I need. Well that, and perhaps a good drink such as that you offer when I'm a bit more parched," Doral says with a friendly grin.
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"We were hired," Whisper answers after Raysuldra and Doral have their say. "For the reasons you just heard, as well as interest in the dragonshards on this island. Do you know of them?"
Kraken gets to his feet and begins packing away his gear. He continues talking as he does so.
"Pleased to meet you Raysuldra," he says. "No pirates here that I know of, well...," he taps his chest and chuckles. "One ex-pirate maybe, eh? See..."
Kraken looks between Whisper, Raysuldra and Doral. "...I'm kind of a speaker for the folks round here. And kind of a protector too. " He plucks the large falchion from the sand and hefts it onto his back. "So it's me job to watch out for strangers coming in and kicking their weight around."
"I ain't seen no dragonshards, Miss," he continues to Whisper. "Leastways, not that I know of. Kind of crystal, ain't they? What we've got round here at the moment are a whole load of walking dead-fellas, making a bloody nuisance of themselves. You fine folks come looking for them at all?"
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"The undead are being created with the power of the shards, and for the purpose, we believe, of guarding them. So it seems our true enemy is the same. The pirates creating these creatures that plague you are the same pirates we're here to stop."
"Good to meet ya, Glaive," says Kraken enthusiastically. He turns to Whisper as he finishes packing away his gear.
"Fair dinkum?" he asks. "Well, reckon that'd be about right. I was taught a fair bit by the old shaman of my village before he croaked. He said that the dead can't cross back once they've gone through the Veil. Sure, you get the odd ghost-fella who doesn't make the journey all the way, those who've left something unfinished, fella who didn't tell his wife he loved her, a pirate captain whose first mate double crossed him, eh? But once they've gone over, they can only come back if some cobber on this side of the Veil calls 'em.
"So I reckon there'd be some cobber hereabouts with the chant of making a dead-fella walking. I know a chant or two that'd stop a walking dead-fella but I don't know many of the stronger chants. By meself, what if I went looking for this cobber and he put a chant on me, eh? So reckon if I helped you fine folks find these pirates and yer crystals, I'd be helping out my people too, eh?"
Kraken finishes his preparations by covering his small fire with sand. Bowing his head he intones a droning song:
"Spirit of the flame
Old Red Beard
Old Man Fire
For your gift we thank you."
This done, he looks around the newcomers with a grin.
"So, ready to go?"
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Midian points back out to the ship. "We're actually the advance party of our ship," he says. "So while I'd love to set out right now and tear this bloody necromancer to pieces, we have to find the crew a campsite first.
"Then we do some hunting," he says, perhaps a little too cheerfully.
"Midian mate, I like your style," he says. "There's a spot just round the corner where a stream comes out from the trees, reckon that'd be a good place for your crew to camp. You want a bit of cover at the edge of the forest but don't go too far in. The blackflies'll eat ya alive."
OOC: Survival +8, Take 10 allowed to find a campsite?
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