[Adventure] Serpent's Skull: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv (DM: Mewness; Judge: THB)

BenBrown · Sep 24, 2011

"Wait, do not strike yet!" Hú Lí says, giving a sharp tap on her new drum for emphasis. "The noise--it is not the crab making it. Be wary, there is something else here!"

[sblock=roll]Hú Lí Insight Roll about crab: 19(1d20) +9 = 28[/sblock]

Mewness · Sep 24, 2011

The chitter-moaning gets even louder as the crab raises one huge claw and snaps it shut--a motion that looks as though it would slice a man in two, if he happened to be caught. But the creature does not move toward the group. In fact, its legs do not seem to move at all.

GROMkill · Sep 24, 2011

Takahaan takes the advice of his friends and in a instant, his thirst for glory has faded from his eyes. He instead tries to reason with the figure Hu Li mentioned, edging closer to the front of the group. He sheathes his sword and hooks his shield onto his pack.

"Show yourself, One Who Controls Crabs. We do not mean harm. We are starving, lost survivors of a shipwreck, and only look for our dear captain who seems to always be just a few steps ahead of us. Please, release this frightening projection, and reveal yourself to us. You have my word that we will be peaceful."

He motions for some help from his allies, nodding his head at Hu Li.

OOC:

Wow, strange. I roll a 20, then a 1, then a 20. Apparently, I have a love-hate relationship with the Gods of the Dice.

Mewness · Sep 24, 2011

The eerie chittering subsides, and the crab’s claws stop moving. After a brief pause, a voice shouts, “Starving? You don’t look it. This is my home. There’s nothing here for you.”

[sblock=Perception 20]Listening very carefully, you can hear the same voice speaking in a much lower tone to someone else. “Oh dear, what are we going to do, Pearl? There are more of them than I thought. I don’t think we’re anything like a match for them--look at that big red scaly one. If they don’t back off, we’ll have to run for it, and then what will become of us? I’ll have to try to reason with them.”

You don’t hear what response the other makes, if any.[/sblock]

After another pause, the voice shouts grandly, “I have decided to allow you to approach. But you must leave your weapons behind. Approach the crab unarmed, and no harm will come to you.”

BenBrown · Sep 24, 2011

Hú Lí ostentatiously removes the short sword from under her robe and lays it on the ground, then stepping forward beyond it she calls "I am not armed! I will approach. Show yourself so that we may see where to come."

[sblock=roll]Hú Lí perception roll listing at crab: 10(1d20) +7 = 17[/sblock]

jbear · Sep 25, 2011

Kane smiles as he drops his sword to the ground and raises his momentarily empty hands. He walks forward behind Hu Li ready to call his sword back to him at a moments notice.

GROMkill · Sep 25, 2011

Takahaan grunts as he unhooks his shield and drops it to the sand, and carefully lays his nodachi down. Whispering to Otaruhi Nodachi, he says "I will be back in a short moment."

Without his sword and shield, he stands next to Kane and Hu Li, and bows to the unseen voice, showing his submission.

He whispers to Kane, beside him, "If we are tricked, you could quickly grab our blades with your arcane hand. Protect the bard at all costs, as well."

Dekana · Sep 25, 2011

Castile makes a show of dropping the three different weapons she carries to the ground one-by-one (though she keeps her shield). She calls back to the voice, "Please, trust us! I promise you we don't mean any harm; we're just happy to find someone else alive on this island."

As Castile starts walking along with Takahaan, she whispers to him "There's at least two people there speaking quietly. It sounds like you're kind of intimidating them, hehe."

Pentius · Sep 25, 2011

At the thought of putting his sword down, Noriaki grows visibly discomfited. However, spurred on by the others' examples, he steels himself and removes his weapon from his sash, laying it gently on the ground. He then steps lightly to catch up to his friends.

Mewness · Sep 25, 2011

“Come to the front of the crab, just behind its right front claw,” calls the voice. “That’s right, a little to your left.”

As the group gets closer to the crab, it becomes apparent that the creature is quite dead. There are ropes and pulleys rigged up to the claws, arranged so ingeniously as not to be visible from a distance.

[sblock=Perception 18 (automatic success if you succeeded on the previous check)]The voice speaks in a lower tone to someone else. “Well, they seem friendly enough. Wouldn’t that be something, to see some actual friendly faces on the Shiv? Perhaps fortune is finally with us, Pearl. I don’t know if I can believe it. Good things don’t happen on the Shiv. They just don’t.”

There is a pause. If the other makes any response, you don’t hear it. Then the original voice speaks again. “This won’t do, Pearl. We can’t have their weapons just lying out there. Something might happen to them. They don’t usually come around here, but ... you can never be too careful, can you?”

[sblock=Insight 15]As the voice speaks about friendly faces and good fortune, it starts to tremble slightly, as though the speaker is trying not to cry. During the pause, he seems to recover himself.[/sblock][/sblock]

When the adventurers get near the crab, a piece of chitin suddenly pops out at its side, just behind the right front claw, and a strange black figure climbs out. He wears a ragged pair of breeches, has a bandanna tied around his head, and carries sheathed at his side a fine rapier with an elaborate basket hilt. His body is otherwise covered only in glossy black feathers--he is, in short, a kenku.

“Quick, get inside!” says the kenku, indicating the “door” that leads inside the crab. “I’ll just run out and get the weapons. There are ... very bad people about.” And he runs over to the spot where everyone dropped their weapons.

The interior of the crab is rather chaotic, although it looks and smells reasonably clean. Tools, ropes, and pulleys are scattered everywhere. There is a system of levers near the front of the crab, and at the back, a single sleeping pallet.