The Wayfinders - Expedition to Tempest Isle

[SelcSilverhand]

Midian finishes his work quickly and steps back to admire his work. The boats look sturdy enough for the trip. While Midian worked that others were hard at work fashioning poles and makeshift paddles. When everyone is prepared you divide into two groups. Midian, Whisper, and Glaive take the first canoe while Dorel, Kraken, and the two natives cram into the second canoe. The first group volunteers to be the first ones down the river since they will be a bit lighter and more maneuverable in the rapids. You push off from shore and the swiftly flowing water grabs your boat and sends you barreling down the river.

The river is swift as it flows down the slope. You are hard pressed to manuever your canoes to avoid branches, rocks, and underwater hazards. The first canoe shouts out a warning moments before they drop out of sight over a small waterfall. The canoe lands hard and for a moment it looks like they will be able to right it in time. However they strike a rock at the wrong moment and the whole boat capsizes. The second canoe comes over the waterfall and manages to avoid the hazard. You can see Midian, Whisper, and Glaive cling to their canoe for a moment as they are being dragged downstream. With great effort they manage to drag their boat to the edge of the river and drive the prow into the dirt. It takes them several minutes to sort themselves out, right the canoe, and bail out the remaining water. Soon you are back on the river and continuing your journey. The farther down the slope the easier it is to navigate as the river widens and becomes deeper. The jungle presses in close around you. The trees crowd close to the shore and their long branches draped with vines that hang out over the water. You often have to duck under these low hanging boughs and the ropey vines. Sometimes the vines are not vines at all, but thick bodied serpents that eye you with cold reptilian hunger.

As the evening comes upon you the river has nearly flattened out and you estimate you are only 4 or 5 hours trek from the enemy encampment. You draw the canoes up onto the shore and abandon them. The sun has dropped below the crater wall leaving you in a darkened jungle. The day has been exhausting and the members of the first canoe are still damp from their accident on the river.

OOC: You've been up all night and all day. If you decide to press on tonight I'll have everyone roll to see if they become fatigued.

Accident rolls
First Canoe Combined Dex check DC12 (1d20+7=8)
Midian Swim check (1d20+4=15)
Whisper Swim check (1d20-1=13)
Glaive Swim Check (1d20+2=13)
Everyone made their swim checks and I only rolled a 1 for the nonlethal damage, so that's already been healed up by the time you get to this point.

Second Canoe Combined Dex check DC12 (1d20+7=26)

 

[Dr Simon]

OOC: Whee! We are Bill Mason!

Tiredness in his eyes, Kraken nevertheless wears an irrepressible grin.

"Reckon it's your turn to buy the drinks," he says to Midian, Whisper and Glaive. "That's if we ever find a bar around here, eh?"

OOC again: I'm for resting up first and pressing on at dawn. Don't go chasin' deadfellas in the dark and all that, plus Kraken can rearrange his spells to a useful selection.

 

[jkason]

OOC: I'm for resting, too, as I'm not sure the penalties from fatigue would do anything but put us at a distinct disadvantage. Midian can prepare Lesser Restoration, but not enough to tackle the whole party's fatigue. (I was hoping CLW had something about removing fatigue in place of adding hit points, but that was just something I made up in my head, it seems).

 

[Walking Dad]

AC 19 (T13, FF16), HP 46/46, F +5,R+5,W+5
Eldritch blast: +6/+7, 3d6 damage

Glaive nods at Kraken's idea. "Yes, we should rest and dry our clothes first."

[sblock=ooc]

[/sblock]

 

[SelcSilverhand]

The sun sinks below the ridge of the crater and plunges the interior into twilight. The raucous cries of the day birds quiet only to be replaced with new sounds as nocturnal animals awaken. The hooting calls of tribes of monkeys, screeches of hunting night birds, and dull roars and sounds of other strange and unknown creatures fill the night air. From the trees swarms of bats take flight and begin to scour the air for insects, fruit, or blood. The hum of buzzing insects fill the night air and soon you are slapping your skin constantly to keep the small biting flies away. Kraken sets to work building a campfire while Midian and Dorel collect firewood. It takes some time to coax the wet wood into producing a flame, but it eventually takes. Soon the heat of the fire is drying your wet clothes and driving away the worst of the biting insects. You spread your bedrolls near the fire and collapse into exhausted sleep. Garuk climbs the nearest tree and perches on a sturdy branch where he huffs quietly to himself. Occasionally you hear a snapping and crunching sound as the ape breaks off branches to strip off and chew the leaves.

The evening passes uneventfully. You rise from your bed to find your clothes are mostly dry after being soaked in the river. After a breakfast of stale rations and overripe fruit, you break camp and prepare to set out.


OOC: There are two ways to approach the encampment. From the "lowlands" you have to cross an area of dead vegetation. While exposed, it gives you the most room to move and allows you to easily get to the tents and other structures at the base of the cliff. The other option is to climb down the 100' cliff face. It would be more dangerous for you, but would allow you to approach the camp closer from above before you are detected.

Older posts about the encampment
[SBLOCK]
The day is waning when you top the second ridge. Your eyes widen as you take in the view before you. Hidden in the folds of land is a large valley teaming with activity. You crouch lower and move under the trees so your profile is not seen highlighted against the sky. The valley before you has been ravaged. Dead trees and brush extend for hundreds of feet, radiating out from a central encampment. You can see several dozen tents set up in ordered lines around the site. Earthen banks and a palisade of sharpened tree trunks ring the edges. It appears as if a massive excavation is underway. Part of the opposite ridge has been scoured and huge chunks of stone have been quarried away. Large sections of the cliff face have been covered in tarps, either to protect it from weather or spying eyes. Whatever it is, it is colossal in size. Humanoids move about the camp, some in armor, some in robes, and a few in rags and chains.

The tents are in ordered rows and spaced out to prevent a fire in one from spreading to another, yet close enough that an alarm raised from one would rouse the others. The earthen banks, ditches, and palisade are likewise carefully formed to create a formidable defense. You get a closer look at the figures moving about and see that they are mostly human, though here and there you catch sight of dwarven faces. The ones in rags and chains all seem to be human, and likely some of them are the missing ones from Kraken's tribe. You watch them trek up to one of the covered sites and duck underneath. They don't reemerge indicating that there may be further sections underground that you cannot see. Perhaps the most significant sight however, is seeing one of the slaves carrying several long grey bones on a cart towards one of the larger tents.

Other than the humanoids, you see very few signs of animal life in the area. Midian spots the occasional hawk circling overhead. After scanning the area you also spot a lone buzzard perched on a dead tree very close to the edge of the camp. Later on you see a figure emerge from one of the tents dressed in tattered brown clothes. At the figures side is a massive boar, easily four hundred pounds and four foot tall at the shoulder. It follows the figure from the outer tents to the larger ones at the cliff face and they disappear from view. Just before the sun disappears entirely, you spot guards emerge from tents with four legged canines at their sides. They begin patrolling the outer edges of the camp.

With your sharpened eyesight, you circle over the camp and observe the activity below. Immediately you notice several things amiss. The "dogs" you saw patrolling with the guards are not any canine you've ever seen before. They're not even alive.
The "dogs" are four legged skeletons with some leathery hide stretched over their grey bones. Their backs are covered with a stubble that reminds you of a porcupine, though most of the tips are broken off. The guards at least appear to be living. Every bit of exposed skin is heavily tattooed in red colors giving the impression that they are bleeding from numerous wounds.
You can see the layout of the entire camp from your altitude. You cannot see any pens for slaves, most likely they are kept below ground at night. At least 6 guards with their undead "dogs" move about the outside of the camp. It may be possible to slip past them if the group was stealthy enough, though you're sure the undead will have excellent night vision. You do see another possibility however; it seems that no guards regularly patrol the ridge above the camp. It may be possible to rappel down from there.

As you swoop lower to try to get a better look you see movement out of the corner of your eye. The vulture perched on the dead tree in the camp is watching you. It is slowly spreading its massive wings revealing a gruesome sight. The creatures body is skeletal, its feathers somehow attached directly to bone. Two small, clawed arms attach at the chest and the head rises up from a too-long neck. It's body is large, but the skeletal nature allowed it to hunch lower and pull its wings in tight, disguising its true nature. It takes to the air with clumsy wing beats as it heads towards you. Luckily your superior maneuverability and speed allows you to lose it among the trees before you return to your companions.
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Deuce Traveler]

"I have ways of getting down that cliff face easily enough, but I'm not sure about the rest of you. Either way, I can make us all invisible, but I certainly won't be able to do much about the guard dogs and their ability to catch our scent."

 

[Dr Simon]

"I think your invisibility would be good, Doral mate, even if it bunches us up in a cluster, eh? As for the dogs, as a I recall, ain't they like the deadfellas? Maybe a dead dog walking might not have the same sense of smell, eh? All they'd be able to smell is their own stink."

 

[Walking Dad]

AC 19 (T13, FF16), HP 46/46, F +5,R+5,W+5
Eldritch blast: +6/+7, 3d6 damage

"I must confess, that I'm neither good at climbing, nor can teleport far enough to brace the cliff. So invisibility sounds like our best chance."

[sblock=ooc]
active invocations: See the Unseen, Entropic Warding
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[Dr Simon]

"I asked the spirits for a new boon this morning," says Kraken. "The ancestor spirits will keep three of us hidden from the deadfellas, but it ends as soon as we attack them. But maybe we can use Doral's invisibility and my chant to attack from different sides, eh?"

[SBLOCK=OOC]
Rejigged my spells for today.

Spells Prepared:
0th level (Save DC 12) – Detect magic, guidance, resistance (x2).
1st level (Save DC 13) – Bless, hide from undead, obscuring mist*, shield of faith.
2nd level (Save DC 14) – Resist energy, shatter*, sound burst.
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[Shayuri]

"Splitting up is risky," Whisper says. "We could be picked off if separate by patrols we could defeat together. Can the invisibility hide us all? If so, lets use that. Keep your undead masking spell handy though, Kraken. It could be most useful during battle."