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Story Hour
Skull & Shackles (2E Conversion), solo campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Crys" data-source="post: 8017472" data-attributes="member: 7024831"><p><strong>A Brief Review</strong></p><p></p><p>Since Owlbrarian gave you his thoughts as a GM I figured I'd give mine from the player's perspective. Had I gone into this blindly and built my typical characters there would have been a good chance of at least some of them not surviving. Player Characters routinely get keel-hauled by GMs from what I've read of the early adventures.. After all, you are playing a game where you typically set out to be a hero, so when all your stuff gets taken and you're forced to work and you're being punished with whipping and time in a sweat box and other miserable tasks by people that are constantly giving you trouble you're very likely to try to steal your equipment back (punishment: keel hauling) or attack an officer (punishment: keel hauling) or any number of other things. So, I'm glad that I came into knowing it started out rough and that my characters needed to be at least somewhat adaptive to get through. Sure, Revel still had to get beaten up to realize she wasn't going to win with brute force on day one, but it all worked out.</p><p></p><p>Aside from that, I really enjoyed this adventure. I didn't feel at a loss for where to go or what to do and the plot seemed decently well-connected.</p><p></p><p>Now I'm going to get on with the posts, but since Session 6 was rather short, I'm posting both 6 and 7 today. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 22px">Spoiler Warning: Many spoilers for the Skull & Shackles adventure path are contained within these story recap posts. If you don’t want your campaign spoiled, don’t read these!</span></strong></p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 26px"><strong>Session 6 – Making Their Own Way</strong></span></p><p></p><p>The longboat reached the ship in no time at all. They dragged the unconscious Master Scourge aboard. The longboat was carried aboard as well. Dolce, Mirielle, Revel, and Nasha were greeted with cheering by the crew, and soon a party was afoot. They tied Scourge to the mast, as so many of them had been tied over the years, and celebrated the success of their mutiny.. If it could be called that. Loyalty to a captain was one of Besmara’s chief teachings, but there was nothing in her code about how to treat a captain that was as incompetent as Plugg… Or, for that matter, how to treat one who let a man as incompetent as Plugg run his ship ragged.</p><p></p><p>As far as Dolce was concerned, neither Mr. Plugg nor Captain Barnabus Harrigan were owed any loyalty from those who remained of this crew. Judging by the celebratory atmosphere, she wasn’t alone in this sentiment.</p><p></p><p>When the celebration died down a new conversation began. What would follow? The elf listened as people threw out suggestions, it seemed most had it in their heads that she would make a good captain. They were right, of course, but she had other plans. Before a vote could be cast, Dolce launched into a speech.</p><p></p><p>“What does tomorrow hold? Captain Harrigan’s bound to notice we aren’t waiting in Port Peril when he goes to collect his due, my friends. Rickety’s Squibs is still in our future. We can’t afford for him to recognize our ship in the distance, nor any friends of the Rahadoumi we took it from! But to get to Rickety’s Squibs, we need a new captain!” She let them voice their agreement before throwing her arm wide and pointing at Mirielle. “That’s the captain we need!”</p><p></p><p>She didn’t give them, or Mirielle who was looking like a man staring at his noose, a chance to break in. “We <em>all</em> bet against this one, didn’t we? I gave her four days! What did you bet? I heard Fishguts gave her a week, and Narwhale here figured on two nights!”</p><p></p><p>There was laughter and agreement, then a small voice broke out and said, “I bet she’d make it! And I made out good, too!” It was Jack Scrimshaw, the youngest member of the crew and Nasha’s close friend.</p><p></p><p>Dolce smiled broadly, “See? Jack knew what the rest of us didn’t! He bet on her! And he was right! Not only has she soothed our ails while we were overworked by Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge, she helped us save Fishguts and Quinn! She was born on the sea, lads! Besmara’s blessed her, and she’s a mind for sailing even if she can’t climb the rigging!” More laughter, but murmured agreements.</p><p></p><p>It was Dolce’s passion as much as her words that won them over, but no small part was the affection Mirielle had gained from those members of the crew she <em>had</em> spoken with. Narwhale was among the loudest to voice support for her, and before Mirielle could protest she was being raised up on the pirate’s shoulders to shouts of “Let’s hear it for Captain Mirielle!”</p><p></p><p>Dolce just watched and smiled. The rest, she knew, would be longer and more tedious. They’d need to draw up ship’s articles and vote on the other officers. She was pretty sure she knew who would be winning which positions.</p><p></p><p>The articles were sorted out relatively quickly, but wouldn’t be officially posted until they’d renamed the ship. Something Mirielle had time to think about. They covered all the normal matters such as how many shares each member of the crew would receive when they took plunder and consequences for various infractions. They also covered compensations not normally considered in the Shackles. Extra shares for injury sustained in an engagement as well as a prize to the first person to sight a sail. Dolce could see Mirielle’s hand in those aspects of the articles.</p><p></p><p>Officers were voted for. Dolce managed to get herself named First Mate; a position not normally present on a pirate crew, but one that would allow her both flexibility and authority. Rosie was temporarily named Bosun, Revel was voted Master-at-Arms, Quinn was named Cartographer/Surgeon, Ambrose kept his post as Cook, Conchobar was named Master Gunner, and Cog was voted Quartermaster (mainly because putting a known thief in charge of keeping things safe seemed logical to Mirielle). Jack Scrimshaw found himself promoted to Cabin Boy, earning him a larger share than what he’d had as a swab. Nasha was content to remain a Mate and help out with rigging where she was needed.</p><p></p><p>Dolce, while titled First Mate, really did a bit of everything. She shored up Rosie’s weaknesses as Bosun, helped Conch learn about the ballista, and served as the Ship’s only offensive mage, since Quinn and Mirielle’s talents were primarily of the healing persuasion.</p><p></p><p>With their new officers decided and their articles written they took one more survey of the ship’s supplies and the possessions of the defeated crew members and set off for Rickety’s Squibs.</p><p></p><p>[hr][/hr]</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Just Rewards</strong></p><p></p><p>They were two days’ travel from Rickety’s Squibs, and on the first day of it around midday Dolce got the crew assembled on the deck. Master Scourge had been tied to the mast over night, but his wounds were well tended so he would be fresh for her plans. “Today we take care of something I think we can all agree has been a long time coming. I present to you, Master Scourge, responsible for setting crewmen against one another when he should have been keeping order and making sure our jobs were performed well. I propose it is fair today for each person who feels they have been wrongly targeted or disciplined by this malicious cur to give a lash to him.”</p><p></p><p>The crew were quite enthusiastic at this proposal, and Mirielle, who had little love for the idea of needless suffering, went along with it. She knew what the man was capable of and had been the target of his abusive plots and schemes on more than one occasion.</p><p></p><p>To Dolce, Scourge was the heart of the cancer in Harrigan’s crew. She still blamed Harrigan for turning a blind eye as the cancer festered. Mirielle lashed him first, because if she hadn’t the rest might have found fault with her, but Dolce could see her heart wasn’t in it. She wondered who else would be able to see through the aasimar’s bluff.</p><p></p><p>Every member of the crew followed. Right down to little Jack Scrimshaw. Nineteen lashes it was in total, for only nineteen of the crew remained including the four girls. And the lashing took a while, for every time Scourge passed out from the strikes Dolce had them stop long enough to treat the wounds. She made sure he was awake as every lash fell. It seemed appropriate he should be since all of them had been.</p><p></p><p>When they finished with that they had already prepared the rope for the keelhauling. Besmara’s justice, Dolce considered this, whereas the lashes were for the crew. They took their time with Scourge’s keelhauling. And when the deed was finished he was already likely long dead.</p><p></p><p>Dolce considered that chapter of her life behind her and looked to the future.</p><p></p><p>[hr][/hr]</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Brighter… Hotter days</strong></p><p></p><p>Their passage to Rickety’s Squibs was quick enough, but Dolce still capitalized on the time, penning not one, but two songs about the encounters with the grindylow. She tested them out on the crew, mixing them in between songs she'd been singing for years and not telling them she'd written them. Of course, they realized soon enough when they heard what it was the elf was singing....</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><em>Monsters Aboard!</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">The storm roared around us while the winds whipped our sails</p> <p style="text-align: center">And the waters raged and roiled</p> <p style="text-align: center">The bosun’s voice found us above all the gales</p> <p style="text-align: center">And his cat ensured we toiled</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">As the wood splintered from a yardarm high above</p> <p style="text-align: center">The ship began to list</p> <p style="text-align: center">In the dark stormy seas we were all thinking of</p> <p style="text-align: center">The things we all had missed</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Some of thought of women, some thought of wealth</p> <p style="text-align: center">Some thought of family too</p> <p style="text-align: center">And all I can tell you, is that for myself…</p> <p style="text-align: center">I had too much left to do</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">So down we went, down below the deck</p> <p style="text-align: center">And the boat was rocking as though to break our neck</p> <p style="text-align: center">As if it weren’t enough to be caught up in the storm</p> <p style="text-align: center">There were monsters in the hold’s dark form!</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Three, five, soon we counted eight</p> <p style="text-align: center">Pairs of red eyes, glowing in the night</p> <p style="text-align: center">Spears held as they lied in wait</p> <p style="text-align: center">Making ready there to fight</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">And down we went, down into the hold</p> <p style="text-align: center">And the boat kept on tilting as though she soon would roll</p> <p style="text-align: center">Still we drew our weapons to our hands</p> <p style="text-align: center">And we fought as our life demands!</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">One, two, three and four they fell</p> <p style="text-align: center">Hearts pierced, oh we slew them well!</p> <p style="text-align: center">And soon they saw they didn’t stand a chance</p> <p style="text-align: center">We were the better at this fatal dance!</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">The grindylow chittered as it ran away</p> <p style="text-align: center">Waves still crashing on the hull</p> <p style="text-align: center">We didn’t linger, there was no time to stay</p> <p style="text-align: center">We took the yard to make her whole!</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">The ship she was moaning and she listed further yet</p> <p style="text-align: center">As the winds still howled and whined</p> <p style="text-align: center">We were soon groaning, our bodies slick with sweat</p> <p style="text-align: center">But the yardarm did we bind!</p><p></p><p>The song drew much applause in the early morning on the tails of halyard shanty and tiring rigging labor. The second she sang in the evening, when everyone was relaxing from the hard day's work.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><em>Taking Back What’s Ours</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Two of our crew were stolen</p> <p style="text-align: center">Amidst a terrible storm</p> <p style="text-align: center">Two of our crew were taken from us</p> <p style="text-align: center">By the vile grindylow swarm</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Below, below with the grindylow…</p> <p style="text-align: center">Below, they go, so far below</p> <p style="text-align: center">Let this not be a tale of woe</p> <p style="text-align: center">For the crew taken by the grindylow…</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">They used leaves of primal spellwork</p> <p style="text-align: center">To let our crewmen breathe the sea</p> <p style="text-align: center">Water embraced them in the murk</p> <p style="text-align: center">As they hurried away with glee</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Below, below with the grindylow…</p> <p style="text-align: center">Below, they go, so far below</p> <p style="text-align: center">Let this not be a tale of woe</p> <p style="text-align: center">For the crew taken by the grindylow…</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Most swiftly did we follow</p> <p style="text-align: center">To the caves of the isles near</p> <p style="text-align: center">And in their deepest hollow</p> <p style="text-align: center">Were our crewmen chained in fear</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Below, below with the grindylow…</p> <p style="text-align: center">Below, they go, so far below</p> <p style="text-align: center">Let this not be a tale of woe</p> <p style="text-align: center">For the crew taken by the grindylow…</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">We took them while the tide was out</p> <p style="text-align: center">We fought them tooth and nail</p> <p style="text-align: center">And from their wounds their blood did spout</p> <p style="text-align: center">As we claimed our crewmen pale</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Below, below with the grindylow…</p> <p style="text-align: center">Below, did they go, so far below</p> <p style="text-align: center">Perhaps this is a tale of woe</p> <p style="text-align: center">For no more do they live, the grindylow…</p><p></p><p></p><p>Again, she was met with resounding applause. A good start, she decided, for the shantyman of this unnamed vessel. The songs would do well when they made port.... And make port, they soon did. They found the island in a sorry state, at least as far as water went. They were suffering from an extended drought and the heat was sweltering ashore. Still, they were received well and Squibs seemed quite keen on helping them get underway. Five days, he said, was all it would take to have the ship ready. What’s more, Mirielle had used her charms to get them quite a discount, as well as a higher rate for Plugg’s share of the take from <em>The Man’s Promise</em>.</p><p></p><p>Things were definitely looking up, so long as the girls could keep out of the sweltering heat.</p><p></p><p>[hr][/hr]</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 26px"><strong>Session 7 – A Business Investment</strong></span></p><p></p><p>Rickety was quite polite to Mirielle and her crew, allowing them the use of a building they called “the commons” while their ship was dry-docked for him and his men to work on the rigging. Everyone was ready to catch a breath after their hard work under Mr. Plugg and their hellish experience on the uncharted island.</p><p></p><p>Soon enough Dolce’s stories and songs about their accomplishments to date were taking hold with the people at Rickety’s Squibs, and Mirielle capitalized on it to recruit some new crew. A crop of halflings and humans. She suspected their eagerness to leave the hot, humid, drought-ridden territory had as much to do with their joining up as her charm.</p><p></p><p>There was an incident while they were in residence. Some sailors, one of them future crew for Mirielle’s ship, invited Dolce, Mirielle, Revel, and Nasha to go drinking with them. They’d been impressed with Dolce’s tales and Revel’s relentless willingness to arm wrestle anyone.</p><p></p><p>They’d had the alcohol cooling in the water, but as one of the sailors was pulling up the line they’d lowered it on it whipped suddenly in either direction and he was pulled overboard. The four girls rushed forward to see what was going on and saw a female serpentine creature with a human-like face down below.</p><p></p><p>Revel leapt to action without delay, plunging overboard and swimming toward the two. She was too slow to really get between the creature and the man she’d pulled overboard, but Nasha was quick on her heels, and she made swimming look effortless.</p><p></p><p>Mirielle watched from the ship’s deck, ready to use her healing if it became necessary. “What is that?” she asked.</p><p></p><p>The creature took offense to Nasha getting close and struck out at her. Her attacks were haphazard, and she seemed very off-kilter, but one still found purchase and Nasha grunted as her scales were torn, but didn’t yield her position.</p><p></p><p>Dolce heard Mirielle’s question, but was too concerned for her friend and threw an <em>Acid Arrow</em> at the creature rather than answering Mirielle. The arrow struck true, but again, was far less effective than she’d hoped it would be.</p><p></p><p>Revel got close enough to strike now, her fangs sharp and gleaming. She bit the thing hard and tore off some of its flesh.</p><p></p><p>Mirielle’s healing energy reached out for Nasha, mending her wounds. That was when the other sailor’s cries pierced Dolce’s focus on the combat. “What’d you do to piss of the Water Naga, Jake?”</p><p></p><p>The shaken sailor stammered, “I-I don’t know.. It was just going crazy!” He was swimming toward the shore, taking advantage of the distraction Revel and Nasha had provided.</p><p></p><p>Dolce scowled, that was indeed a water naga now that she put her mind to it, but one that wasn’t even grown. It was an adolescent. And.. Hadn’t Rickety said he had a tenuous peace with the creatures? He was allowed to remain here because he didn’t cause them any trouble like the previous inhabitants of this area had. How would they take to one of their young being killed?</p><p></p><p>The elf sighed and muttered, “This just got complicated.” The naga was suffering from dehydration, best as she could guess. Probably it was attacking because it was delirious and crazed by its thirst. “DON’T KILL IT!” She cried to Revel and Nasha, hoping her <em>Acid Arrow</em>‘s lingering effects wouldn’t do the job itself. Probably not, but there was a chance. Still, she threw her rapier at the creature with <em>Hand of the Apprentice</em> to try and aid them in taking it down, because the naga certainly wasn’t pulling her punches.</p><p></p><p>This was proven further true when she bit into Nasha, and this time Dolce saw Nasha pale. The elf looked at Mirielle and said, “They have a powerful poison. Can you do any-” Mirielle was already shaking her head to indicate she couldn't..</p><p></p><p>The fight continued, though the toll it took on Nasha became clearer with each sluggish attack she made. The combat was prolonged by the creature’s use of <em>Invisibility</em>. Nasha’s scales were growing paler and her blood was flowing pretty freely before the creature had finally been bludgeoned into unconsciousness.</p><p></p><p>Thankfully Rickety had arrived and had brought his companion, Chandra with him. She, as it turned out, was able to rid Nasha of the poison. A good thing, too, for the lizardfolk didn’t seem capable of shaking it off on her own merit.</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Side Quests</strong></p><p></p><p>They had dragged the naga into a building and there helped it recover with water from their own ship’s stores. Rickety really didn’t have any to spare, and he’d informed them as much when they’d arrived. Her name was Selissa, and she was, indeed, quite dehydrated. She apologized profusely for the harms she’d inflicted on Nasha in her disoriented state, and explained that she had been following a legend.</p><p></p><p>Legend had it there was a temple nearby where once, in ages past, the priests kept a precious item… A <em>Decanter of Endless Water</em>. The legend was from many generations before Selissa herself, but she had hoped to save her tribe of water naga by retrieving the decanter. Of course, she’d gotten lost and disoriented and had ended up here.</p><p></p><p>Dolce sensed an opportunity. This drought was effecting not only the naga, but Rickety’s Squibs as well. Their relationship allowed him to keep his operation running, and the people responsible for making that relationship better by providing such an item to them to share between them would surely find this a hospitable port in the future.</p><p></p><p>She convinced the girls to look into it, and they in turn convinced the naga to stay and allow them to escort her back in the morning when she had recovered further.</p><p></p><p>Dolce, quick as ever to take advantage of a fresh story, scribbled another song and sang it for the inhabitants of Rickety's Squibs that very night with the assistance of Revel... It was fashioned as a halyard shanty, so ultimately it would be used as a work song on the boat and the crew would have to sing certain lines in response to Dolce's... Revel was a quick enough study and very fond of the work songs employed aboard the ship so she was happy to perform with Dolce, if a bit drunk. Dolce had modified the pronunciation of the naga's name, but even Revel didn't notice that as she sang to the inhabitants of the commons.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><em>The Story of Se’lisa</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dolce:</strong> Let— me— tell you the story of sweet Se’lisa</p> <p style="text-align: center">Sweet Se’lisa down by the sea</p> <p style="text-align: center">Let me tell you the story of sweet Se’lisa</p> <p style="text-align: center">She was wearing a smile for me</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Revel:</strong> Way-hey tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">How did you find her</p> <p style="text-align: center">Down by the sea?</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Way-hey tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">How did you find her</p> <p style="text-align: center">Down by the sea?</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dolce:</strong> She met me there when we were a’drinking</p> <p style="text-align: center">We were a’drinking down by the sea</p> <p style="text-align: center">She met me there when we were a’drinking</p> <p style="text-align: center">And she smiled so sweetly at me</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Revel:</strong> Way-hey tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">What did she bring you</p> <p style="text-align: center">Down by the sea?</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Way-hey, tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">What did she bring you</p> <p style="text-align: center">Down by the sea?</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dolce:</strong> She brought to me her charm and whimsy</p> <p style="text-align: center">Charm and whimsy just for me</p> <p style="text-align: center">She brought to me her charm and whimsy</p> <p style="text-align: center">Charm and whimsy and death in the sea</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Revel:</strong> Way-hey, tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">How did she bring you</p> <p style="text-align: center">Death in the sea?</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Way-hey, tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">How did she bring you</p> <p style="text-align: center">Death in the sea</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dolce:</strong> My sweet Se’lisa, she was a biter</p> <p style="text-align: center">She was a biter with poisonous fang</p> <p style="text-align: center">My sweet Se’lisa, she was a biter</p> <p style="text-align: center">She almost killed me and left me to hang</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Revel:</strong> Way-hey, tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">Why did she bite you,</p> <p style="text-align: center">Down by the sea?</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Way-hey tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">Why did she bite you</p> <p style="text-align: center">Down by the sea?</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dolce:</strong> Se’lisa was a water naga,</p> <p style="text-align: center">Water naga caught in a drought</p> <p style="text-align: center">Se’lisa was a water naga</p> <p style="text-align: center">Not in her right mind when we had our bout</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Revel:</strong> Way-hey, tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">How did you beat her,</p> <p style="text-align: center">Down by the sea?</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">Way-hey tell us the story,</p> <p style="text-align: center">How did you beat her,</p> <p style="text-align: center">Down by the sea?</p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dolce:</strong> We fought her til she fell unconscious</p> <p style="text-align: center">Fell unconscious there in the sea</p> <p style="text-align: center">We fought her til she fell unconscious</p> <p style="text-align: center">And that’s how this story came to be…</p><p></p><p>The performance was met with applause and a fair share of joking, the latter directed at the poor pirate who'd been pulled overboard by Selissa earlier in the day. Dolce was satisfied with this and added it to her repertoire for future use.</p><p></p><p>In the morning, they escorted Selissa home and the naga of her tribe informed the girls that this legend was indeed from their forebears and that they did not know how much truth there was to it. They did, however, tell them where they could find the temple and warned them of a perilous trap within.</p><p></p><p>The four set off for the temple the same day and made it before nightfall. Large, angular stairs led up to the top of it, and a smaller set of stairs had been carved in it more recently. Dolce explained that the temple had likely been built by the <a href="https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Ghol-Gan" target="_blank">Ghol-gan</a>, cyclopses, and was later inhabited by the <a href="https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Kuru" target="_blank">Kuru</a>, or native peoples of this region.</p><p></p><p>At the top of the stairs they removed two large stone slabs from the ground to allow them entry. Inside they saw more stairs, now leading down. And deep in the bottom, the trap they’d been warned about. It was a wheel with six symbols on it, each supposedly linked to the power of a spell. Dolce hoped she’d have the skill to disable it. Otherwise she might join the many skeletons littering the ground around it or near the bottom of the stairs. She instructed the others to remain above as she crept down the stairwell carefully.</p><p></p><p>She saw no glyphs or markings on her way down, but when she was at a certain point the wheel began to spin. Dolce cursed under her breath and took cover in a deep corner of the stairwell, hoping whatever spell effect followed would be disrupted or at least mitigated by the cover it provided her.</p><p>To her dismay when the spinning stopped the spell shot high above her and seemed to reflect off a shimmering field and aim back down toward her. It was unerring, striking her, and she could feel its magic at work as her strength was leeched. But maybe it would provider her an opportunity to get closer…</p><p></p><p>No sooner had she finished the thought than the wheel began spinning again. Dolce cursed again and fled up the stairs. She made it fifty feet up, past where the lowest skeleton was, and the magic fired off again. It hit the shimmering “mirror” effect and tried to reach her, but seemed to fizzle before it did so. She stood there and watched as the spinning continued and each spell fizzled in turn, including what she was pretty certain was a <em>Lightning Bolt</em>.</p><p>It had stopped spinning, but there was no telling for how long. She suspected scratching the symbols might well break the wheel’s magical effects, but… Again, there was no telling how long she’d have to attempt it. Better to tackle this with brute force. She peered up at her friends and felt she was right. At the height they’d be at there would be plenty of momentum for anything they threw below.</p><p></p><p>Dolce returned to the top of the stairs and told the others what needed to be done. They started with two stone slabs that had kept the place sealed, sending them hurtling below. Neither directly hit their mark, but there were plenty of other rocks and bits of rubble on the ancient temple. They spent hours hurtling rocks down below, and eventually Dolce saw the whole of the ground was littered with stones.</p><p></p><p>It was an amusing sight, but also a reminder that she should probably invest more time in her efforts where traps were concerned. For that day they headed back to Rickety’s Squibs. The temple hadn’t been successfully infiltrated in years and no one knew what the girls were up to, chances were it wouldn’t be infiltrated that night.</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Best Laid Plans</strong></p><p></p><p>The next day proved eventful, and Dolce’s intent to return to the temple was delayed. First Rickety’s was swarmed by giant wasps, some men killed and carried off by them. Nasha was quick on the draw and saved one woman’s life by throwing a smoke stick at her to ward the wasp attacking her away. The ploy worked and she ran to shelter, her and her lover thanking Nasha profusely when they were reunited.</p><p></p><p>As the chaos of the wasp attack settled a new problem arose. At the docks was a ship, a Chelaxian warship. It was a beauty, so Rickety said before handing a spyglass to Dolce. Mirielle was asking what the protocol was for multiple ships being in harbor at once. Rickety said it normally didn’t happen and it came down to what Mirielle decided.</p><p></p><p>“Looks like Cap’n Pegsworthy’s got himself a new ship,” Dolce said, recognizing the famed pirate captain on the docks. He was one of the pirates she’d looked up to in recent years. He lost his leg in service to his nation’s military in an incident that also claimed the life of his best friend. The military then tried to take sailing from him, telling him he was not fit to captain and giving him the nickname Pegsworthy.</p><p></p><p>Pegsworthy took the name as his own and stole a ship in the night with his loyal crewmen, leaving the crew that had been aboard to guard it tied up on the docks, alive. He made his career since then pirating in the Shackles and was a recognized Free Captain. Dolce relayed all of this to Mirielle, since ultimately Mirielle was her captain now.</p><p></p><p>The four girls went out to meet Pegsworthy, Mirielle leading them even though he remained behind his crew on the dock. There was tension at first as Pegsworthy revealed he recognized their ship to be a Rahadoumi merchant vessel matching a description given by Captain Harrigan, but soon enough Pegsworthy revealed he hated Harrigan and just wanted to know the names of the ones who stole the man’s ship from under him.</p><p></p><p>It was ultimately Dolce who spent the most time with Captain Pegsworthy, but not before the girls agreed to check on the state of Rickety’s sentry at the tower for a discount on their squib. They found the man dead, his parrot Rotgut repeating the phrase “Shoo fly!”</p><p></p><p>They took his body back, as well as the parrot, whom Dolce gave to Fishguts since she knew he had a fondness for birds. He <em>had</em> owned a pet chicken before Mr. Plugg had made him serve it to him for dinner on <em>The Man’s Promise</em>. Thoughts like that made sure Dolce never regretted her past where they were concerned. Turned out though, Fishguts specifically liked <em>chickens</em>, not birds. He did agree to take care of Rotgut until a happier keeper could be found for him.</p><p></p><p>The girls returned to the temple the following day where they found the rubble they had rained down on the trap hadn’t managed to disable it. They only realized this when it started spinning. Dolce sprinted down the stairs this time, hoping she could get to it fast enough to disable it before any of her friends were injured, Revel close on her heels.</p><p></p><p>Nasha, meanwhile, immediately took hold of Mirielle and covered her, trying to shield her from any hostile spells. In the end Dolce was too slow to even reach it before a spell went off, but the heavy layer of rubble was enough that it obscured the spell’s path. The elf stopped, laughing nervously. Another spell, and another. They couldn’t fly free so they were in effect hitting the rocks piled atop the wheel.</p><p></p><p>The girls moved inside at that point, not wanting to give the wheel enough time to shake too much of the rubble loose or to destroy it. They followed a long corridor within, at the end of which was a massive pile of skulls. “Ominous,” Dolce whispered. They could hear movement beyond.</p><p></p><p>Slowly and carefully the elf climbed over the skulls, each completely clean of any tissue. It was tricky climbing this without sending any clattering. In fact, her hand knocked one loose, but she managed to catch it between her knee and the skull pile before it made much noise.</p><p></p><p>When she crested the morbid obstacle she saw within a cyclops… Except it wasn’t <em>just</em> a cyclops. The creature was half-rotted, zombified. It walked circles around an altar at the center of the room. Inside the room, Dolce saw various other treasures including a satchel on the floor.</p><p></p><p>After observing the creature a while longer the elf descended the skull pile and whispered to the others to tell them what she’d seen. It was decided they would ambush the creature and so they all began to scale the pile again.</p><p></p><p>This time it was Revel that knocked a skull lose, only she did it quite spectacularly, causing a great cacophony of noise as it and others cascaded down the pile and clattered on the stone floors. A great and horrible roar reached their ears and the sound of the massive cyclops charging toward the passage. Dolce looked at Revel, who smiled sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.</p><p></p><p>“Right then,” Dolce said, “let’s let it dig its way out. Nasha, Revel, you’ll be on either side of the hall. Mirielle and I will stay back apace so she’s not threatened.” Nasha, Revel, and Mirielle all nodded, taking their places. They would pincer the thing as soon as it got through the skulls. Mirielle moved further up the hall and cast a <em>Bless</em> spell, using the time it took the creature to dig through the skull pile to further the area effected by her magic.</p><p>The battle was ferocious, and Revel nearly got knocked unconscious, but they managed to overcome it by exhausting almost all of Mirielle’s spells and Dolce’s. Searching the room with the alter they collected various treasures, including the satchel. It hadn’t been harmed by time at all, making Dolce suspicious it was magical. She was correct, it proved to be a <em>Bag of Holding</em>. Within it… the prized decanter.</p><p></p><p>The girls returned to Rickety’s Squibs sweaty and exhausted, but with much treasure to show for their efforts. Mirielle made the gift to Rickety mentioning she hoped it would ease his relations with the naga and describing it as an investment in their future business together. Rickety was quite impressed, as was Captain Pegsworthy. The girls enjoyed a good night of drinking and games, for in the morning the good Free Captain would be christening their ship anew.</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p><strong>OOC Notes</strong></p><p></p><p>That was another 5 damage on the initial <em>Acid Arrow</em> dice. So, just for your reference, 5 versus the grindylow queen, 4 versus Mr. Plugg, and 5 versus the Water Naga... On 3d8!!! I'm beginning to wonder if Owlbrarian has jinxed my dice or something.</p><p></p><p>So... These two posts were written while I was trying to summarize more succinctly than I do in later posts. I had convinced myself I would do a brief retelling of events that were already behind us until I caught up to our current game (which I did yesterday when I finished writing Session 24). Anyway, there was a little moment I left out as a result:</p><p>• When Pegsworthy revealed he hated their former captain he also made the comment that, "You know it's good luck to have either a Free Captain or a lady of noble heritage in good standing christen your ship. Since those are relatively rare in the Shackles I'd be honored to do the task for you." Mirielle made a decent deception check, but Pegsworthy saw through it and Dolce realized he caught her odd expression. She later snuck into his room so she could talk to him one-on-one and be certain he wasn't going to make trouble for them. That's actually why Dolce spent more time with him than anyone else, because they ended up talking for hours about a book of pirate fairy tales he'd been reading when she infiltrated his chamber and bonded over the subject before Dolce went back to her own room to get some sleep.</p><p></p><p>Also, I had meant to write a song for the temple and their encounter with the zombie, because it really was rather terrifying.. And also the first time Dolce's <em>Acid Arrow</em> spell rolled decent initial damage (13, so about average for 3d8). I'll have to revisit that in song later.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Crys, post: 8017472, member: 7024831"] [B]A Brief Review[/B] Since Owlbrarian gave you his thoughts as a GM I figured I'd give mine from the player's perspective. Had I gone into this blindly and built my typical characters there would have been a good chance of at least some of them not surviving. Player Characters routinely get keel-hauled by GMs from what I've read of the early adventures.. After all, you are playing a game where you typically set out to be a hero, so when all your stuff gets taken and you're forced to work and you're being punished with whipping and time in a sweat box and other miserable tasks by people that are constantly giving you trouble you're very likely to try to steal your equipment back (punishment: keel hauling) or attack an officer (punishment: keel hauling) or any number of other things. So, I'm glad that I came into knowing it started out rough and that my characters needed to be at least somewhat adaptive to get through. Sure, Revel still had to get beaten up to realize she wasn't going to win with brute force on day one, but it all worked out. Aside from that, I really enjoyed this adventure. I didn't feel at a loss for where to go or what to do and the plot seemed decently well-connected. Now I'm going to get on with the posts, but since Session 6 was rather short, I'm posting both 6 and 7 today. :) [HR][/HR] [B][SIZE=6]Spoiler Warning: Many spoilers for the Skull & Shackles adventure path are contained within these story recap posts. If you don’t want your campaign spoiled, don’t read these![/SIZE][/B] [HR][/HR] [CENTER][SIZE=7][B]Session 6 – Making Their Own Way[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] The longboat reached the ship in no time at all. They dragged the unconscious Master Scourge aboard. The longboat was carried aboard as well. Dolce, Mirielle, Revel, and Nasha were greeted with cheering by the crew, and soon a party was afoot. They tied Scourge to the mast, as so many of them had been tied over the years, and celebrated the success of their mutiny.. If it could be called that. Loyalty to a captain was one of Besmara’s chief teachings, but there was nothing in her code about how to treat a captain that was as incompetent as Plugg… Or, for that matter, how to treat one who let a man as incompetent as Plugg run his ship ragged. As far as Dolce was concerned, neither Mr. Plugg nor Captain Barnabus Harrigan were owed any loyalty from those who remained of this crew. Judging by the celebratory atmosphere, she wasn’t alone in this sentiment. When the celebration died down a new conversation began. What would follow? The elf listened as people threw out suggestions, it seemed most had it in their heads that she would make a good captain. They were right, of course, but she had other plans. Before a vote could be cast, Dolce launched into a speech. “What does tomorrow hold? Captain Harrigan’s bound to notice we aren’t waiting in Port Peril when he goes to collect his due, my friends. Rickety’s Squibs is still in our future. We can’t afford for him to recognize our ship in the distance, nor any friends of the Rahadoumi we took it from! But to get to Rickety’s Squibs, we need a new captain!” She let them voice their agreement before throwing her arm wide and pointing at Mirielle. “That’s the captain we need!” She didn’t give them, or Mirielle who was looking like a man staring at his noose, a chance to break in. “We [I]all[/I] bet against this one, didn’t we? I gave her four days! What did you bet? I heard Fishguts gave her a week, and Narwhale here figured on two nights!” There was laughter and agreement, then a small voice broke out and said, “I bet she’d make it! And I made out good, too!” It was Jack Scrimshaw, the youngest member of the crew and Nasha’s close friend. Dolce smiled broadly, “See? Jack knew what the rest of us didn’t! He bet on her! And he was right! Not only has she soothed our ails while we were overworked by Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge, she helped us save Fishguts and Quinn! She was born on the sea, lads! Besmara’s blessed her, and she’s a mind for sailing even if she can’t climb the rigging!” More laughter, but murmured agreements. It was Dolce’s passion as much as her words that won them over, but no small part was the affection Mirielle had gained from those members of the crew she [I]had[/I] spoken with. Narwhale was among the loudest to voice support for her, and before Mirielle could protest she was being raised up on the pirate’s shoulders to shouts of “Let’s hear it for Captain Mirielle!” Dolce just watched and smiled. The rest, she knew, would be longer and more tedious. They’d need to draw up ship’s articles and vote on the other officers. She was pretty sure she knew who would be winning which positions. The articles were sorted out relatively quickly, but wouldn’t be officially posted until they’d renamed the ship. Something Mirielle had time to think about. They covered all the normal matters such as how many shares each member of the crew would receive when they took plunder and consequences for various infractions. They also covered compensations not normally considered in the Shackles. Extra shares for injury sustained in an engagement as well as a prize to the first person to sight a sail. Dolce could see Mirielle’s hand in those aspects of the articles. Officers were voted for. Dolce managed to get herself named First Mate; a position not normally present on a pirate crew, but one that would allow her both flexibility and authority. Rosie was temporarily named Bosun, Revel was voted Master-at-Arms, Quinn was named Cartographer/Surgeon, Ambrose kept his post as Cook, Conchobar was named Master Gunner, and Cog was voted Quartermaster (mainly because putting a known thief in charge of keeping things safe seemed logical to Mirielle). Jack Scrimshaw found himself promoted to Cabin Boy, earning him a larger share than what he’d had as a swab. Nasha was content to remain a Mate and help out with rigging where she was needed. Dolce, while titled First Mate, really did a bit of everything. She shored up Rosie’s weaknesses as Bosun, helped Conch learn about the ballista, and served as the Ship’s only offensive mage, since Quinn and Mirielle’s talents were primarily of the healing persuasion. With their new officers decided and their articles written they took one more survey of the ship’s supplies and the possessions of the defeated crew members and set off for Rickety’s Squibs. [hr][/hr] [CENTER][B]Just Rewards[/B][/CENTER] They were two days’ travel from Rickety’s Squibs, and on the first day of it around midday Dolce got the crew assembled on the deck. Master Scourge had been tied to the mast over night, but his wounds were well tended so he would be fresh for her plans. “Today we take care of something I think we can all agree has been a long time coming. I present to you, Master Scourge, responsible for setting crewmen against one another when he should have been keeping order and making sure our jobs were performed well. I propose it is fair today for each person who feels they have been wrongly targeted or disciplined by this malicious cur to give a lash to him.” The crew were quite enthusiastic at this proposal, and Mirielle, who had little love for the idea of needless suffering, went along with it. She knew what the man was capable of and had been the target of his abusive plots and schemes on more than one occasion. To Dolce, Scourge was the heart of the cancer in Harrigan’s crew. She still blamed Harrigan for turning a blind eye as the cancer festered. Mirielle lashed him first, because if she hadn’t the rest might have found fault with her, but Dolce could see her heart wasn’t in it. She wondered who else would be able to see through the aasimar’s bluff. Every member of the crew followed. Right down to little Jack Scrimshaw. Nineteen lashes it was in total, for only nineteen of the crew remained including the four girls. And the lashing took a while, for every time Scourge passed out from the strikes Dolce had them stop long enough to treat the wounds. She made sure he was awake as every lash fell. It seemed appropriate he should be since all of them had been. When they finished with that they had already prepared the rope for the keelhauling. Besmara’s justice, Dolce considered this, whereas the lashes were for the crew. They took their time with Scourge’s keelhauling. And when the deed was finished he was already likely long dead. Dolce considered that chapter of her life behind her and looked to the future. [hr][/hr] [CENTER][B]Brighter… Hotter days[/B][/CENTER] Their passage to Rickety’s Squibs was quick enough, but Dolce still capitalized on the time, penning not one, but two songs about the encounters with the grindylow. She tested them out on the crew, mixing them in between songs she'd been singing for years and not telling them she'd written them. Of course, they realized soon enough when they heard what it was the elf was singing.... [CENTER][I]Monsters Aboard![/I] The storm roared around us while the winds whipped our sails And the waters raged and roiled The bosun’s voice found us above all the gales And his cat ensured we toiled As the wood splintered from a yardarm high above The ship began to list In the dark stormy seas we were all thinking of The things we all had missed Some of thought of women, some thought of wealth Some thought of family too And all I can tell you, is that for myself… I had too much left to do So down we went, down below the deck And the boat was rocking as though to break our neck As if it weren’t enough to be caught up in the storm There were monsters in the hold’s dark form! Three, five, soon we counted eight Pairs of red eyes, glowing in the night Spears held as they lied in wait Making ready there to fight And down we went, down into the hold And the boat kept on tilting as though she soon would roll Still we drew our weapons to our hands And we fought as our life demands! One, two, three and four they fell Hearts pierced, oh we slew them well! And soon they saw they didn’t stand a chance We were the better at this fatal dance! The grindylow chittered as it ran away Waves still crashing on the hull We didn’t linger, there was no time to stay We took the yard to make her whole! The ship she was moaning and she listed further yet As the winds still howled and whined We were soon groaning, our bodies slick with sweat But the yardarm did we bind![/CENTER] The song drew much applause in the early morning on the tails of halyard shanty and tiring rigging labor. The second she sang in the evening, when everyone was relaxing from the hard day's work. [CENTER][I]Taking Back What’s Ours[/I] Two of our crew were stolen Amidst a terrible storm Two of our crew were taken from us By the vile grindylow swarm Below, below with the grindylow… Below, they go, so far below Let this not be a tale of woe For the crew taken by the grindylow… They used leaves of primal spellwork To let our crewmen breathe the sea Water embraced them in the murk As they hurried away with glee Below, below with the grindylow… Below, they go, so far below Let this not be a tale of woe For the crew taken by the grindylow… Most swiftly did we follow To the caves of the isles near And in their deepest hollow Were our crewmen chained in fear Below, below with the grindylow… Below, they go, so far below Let this not be a tale of woe For the crew taken by the grindylow… We took them while the tide was out We fought them tooth and nail And from their wounds their blood did spout As we claimed our crewmen pale Below, below with the grindylow… Below, did they go, so far below Perhaps this is a tale of woe For no more do they live, the grindylow…[/CENTER] Again, she was met with resounding applause. A good start, she decided, for the shantyman of this unnamed vessel. The songs would do well when they made port.... And make port, they soon did. They found the island in a sorry state, at least as far as water went. They were suffering from an extended drought and the heat was sweltering ashore. Still, they were received well and Squibs seemed quite keen on helping them get underway. Five days, he said, was all it would take to have the ship ready. What’s more, Mirielle had used her charms to get them quite a discount, as well as a higher rate for Plugg’s share of the take from [I]The Man’s Promise[/I]. Things were definitely looking up, so long as the girls could keep out of the sweltering heat. [hr][/hr] [CENTER][SIZE=7][B]Session 7 – A Business Investment[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] Rickety was quite polite to Mirielle and her crew, allowing them the use of a building they called “the commons” while their ship was dry-docked for him and his men to work on the rigging. Everyone was ready to catch a breath after their hard work under Mr. Plugg and their hellish experience on the uncharted island. Soon enough Dolce’s stories and songs about their accomplishments to date were taking hold with the people at Rickety’s Squibs, and Mirielle capitalized on it to recruit some new crew. A crop of halflings and humans. She suspected their eagerness to leave the hot, humid, drought-ridden territory had as much to do with their joining up as her charm. There was an incident while they were in residence. Some sailors, one of them future crew for Mirielle’s ship, invited Dolce, Mirielle, Revel, and Nasha to go drinking with them. They’d been impressed with Dolce’s tales and Revel’s relentless willingness to arm wrestle anyone. They’d had the alcohol cooling in the water, but as one of the sailors was pulling up the line they’d lowered it on it whipped suddenly in either direction and he was pulled overboard. The four girls rushed forward to see what was going on and saw a female serpentine creature with a human-like face down below. Revel leapt to action without delay, plunging overboard and swimming toward the two. She was too slow to really get between the creature and the man she’d pulled overboard, but Nasha was quick on her heels, and she made swimming look effortless. Mirielle watched from the ship’s deck, ready to use her healing if it became necessary. “What is that?” she asked. The creature took offense to Nasha getting close and struck out at her. Her attacks were haphazard, and she seemed very off-kilter, but one still found purchase and Nasha grunted as her scales were torn, but didn’t yield her position. Dolce heard Mirielle’s question, but was too concerned for her friend and threw an [I]Acid Arrow[/I] at the creature rather than answering Mirielle. The arrow struck true, but again, was far less effective than she’d hoped it would be. Revel got close enough to strike now, her fangs sharp and gleaming. She bit the thing hard and tore off some of its flesh. Mirielle’s healing energy reached out for Nasha, mending her wounds. That was when the other sailor’s cries pierced Dolce’s focus on the combat. “What’d you do to piss of the Water Naga, Jake?” The shaken sailor stammered, “I-I don’t know.. It was just going crazy!” He was swimming toward the shore, taking advantage of the distraction Revel and Nasha had provided. Dolce scowled, that was indeed a water naga now that she put her mind to it, but one that wasn’t even grown. It was an adolescent. And.. Hadn’t Rickety said he had a tenuous peace with the creatures? He was allowed to remain here because he didn’t cause them any trouble like the previous inhabitants of this area had. How would they take to one of their young being killed? The elf sighed and muttered, “This just got complicated.” The naga was suffering from dehydration, best as she could guess. Probably it was attacking because it was delirious and crazed by its thirst. “DON’T KILL IT!” She cried to Revel and Nasha, hoping her [I]Acid Arrow[/I]‘s lingering effects wouldn’t do the job itself. Probably not, but there was a chance. Still, she threw her rapier at the creature with [I]Hand of the Apprentice[/I] to try and aid them in taking it down, because the naga certainly wasn’t pulling her punches. This was proven further true when she bit into Nasha, and this time Dolce saw Nasha pale. The elf looked at Mirielle and said, “They have a powerful poison. Can you do any-” Mirielle was already shaking her head to indicate she couldn't.. The fight continued, though the toll it took on Nasha became clearer with each sluggish attack she made. The combat was prolonged by the creature’s use of [I]Invisibility[/I]. Nasha’s scales were growing paler and her blood was flowing pretty freely before the creature had finally been bludgeoned into unconsciousness. Thankfully Rickety had arrived and had brought his companion, Chandra with him. She, as it turned out, was able to rid Nasha of the poison. A good thing, too, for the lizardfolk didn’t seem capable of shaking it off on her own merit. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][B]Side Quests[/B][/CENTER] They had dragged the naga into a building and there helped it recover with water from their own ship’s stores. Rickety really didn’t have any to spare, and he’d informed them as much when they’d arrived. Her name was Selissa, and she was, indeed, quite dehydrated. She apologized profusely for the harms she’d inflicted on Nasha in her disoriented state, and explained that she had been following a legend. Legend had it there was a temple nearby where once, in ages past, the priests kept a precious item… A [I]Decanter of Endless Water[/I]. The legend was from many generations before Selissa herself, but she had hoped to save her tribe of water naga by retrieving the decanter. Of course, she’d gotten lost and disoriented and had ended up here. Dolce sensed an opportunity. This drought was effecting not only the naga, but Rickety’s Squibs as well. Their relationship allowed him to keep his operation running, and the people responsible for making that relationship better by providing such an item to them to share between them would surely find this a hospitable port in the future. She convinced the girls to look into it, and they in turn convinced the naga to stay and allow them to escort her back in the morning when she had recovered further. Dolce, quick as ever to take advantage of a fresh story, scribbled another song and sang it for the inhabitants of Rickety's Squibs that very night with the assistance of Revel... It was fashioned as a halyard shanty, so ultimately it would be used as a work song on the boat and the crew would have to sing certain lines in response to Dolce's... Revel was a quick enough study and very fond of the work songs employed aboard the ship so she was happy to perform with Dolce, if a bit drunk. Dolce had modified the pronunciation of the naga's name, but even Revel didn't notice that as she sang to the inhabitants of the commons. [CENTER][I]The Story of Se’lisa[/I] [B]Dolce:[/B] Let— me— tell you the story of sweet Se’lisa Sweet Se’lisa down by the sea Let me tell you the story of sweet Se’lisa She was wearing a smile for me [B]Revel:[/B] Way-hey tell us the story, How did you find her Down by the sea? Way-hey tell us the story, How did you find her Down by the sea? [B]Dolce:[/B] She met me there when we were a’drinking We were a’drinking down by the sea She met me there when we were a’drinking And she smiled so sweetly at me [B]Revel:[/B] Way-hey tell us the story, What did she bring you Down by the sea? Way-hey, tell us the story, What did she bring you Down by the sea? [B]Dolce:[/B] She brought to me her charm and whimsy Charm and whimsy just for me She brought to me her charm and whimsy Charm and whimsy and death in the sea [B]Revel:[/B] Way-hey, tell us the story, How did she bring you Death in the sea? Way-hey, tell us the story, How did she bring you Death in the sea [B]Dolce:[/B] My sweet Se’lisa, she was a biter She was a biter with poisonous fang My sweet Se’lisa, she was a biter She almost killed me and left me to hang [B]Revel:[/B] Way-hey, tell us the story, Why did she bite you, Down by the sea? Way-hey tell us the story, Why did she bite you Down by the sea? [B]Dolce:[/B] Se’lisa was a water naga, Water naga caught in a drought Se’lisa was a water naga Not in her right mind when we had our bout [B]Revel:[/B] Way-hey, tell us the story, How did you beat her, Down by the sea? Way-hey tell us the story, How did you beat her, Down by the sea? [B]Dolce:[/B] We fought her til she fell unconscious Fell unconscious there in the sea We fought her til she fell unconscious And that’s how this story came to be…[/CENTER] The performance was met with applause and a fair share of joking, the latter directed at the poor pirate who'd been pulled overboard by Selissa earlier in the day. Dolce was satisfied with this and added it to her repertoire for future use. In the morning, they escorted Selissa home and the naga of her tribe informed the girls that this legend was indeed from their forebears and that they did not know how much truth there was to it. They did, however, tell them where they could find the temple and warned them of a perilous trap within. The four set off for the temple the same day and made it before nightfall. Large, angular stairs led up to the top of it, and a smaller set of stairs had been carved in it more recently. Dolce explained that the temple had likely been built by the [URL='https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Ghol-Gan']Ghol-gan[/URL], cyclopses, and was later inhabited by the [URL='https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Kuru']Kuru[/URL], or native peoples of this region. At the top of the stairs they removed two large stone slabs from the ground to allow them entry. Inside they saw more stairs, now leading down. And deep in the bottom, the trap they’d been warned about. It was a wheel with six symbols on it, each supposedly linked to the power of a spell. Dolce hoped she’d have the skill to disable it. Otherwise she might join the many skeletons littering the ground around it or near the bottom of the stairs. She instructed the others to remain above as she crept down the stairwell carefully. She saw no glyphs or markings on her way down, but when she was at a certain point the wheel began to spin. Dolce cursed under her breath and took cover in a deep corner of the stairwell, hoping whatever spell effect followed would be disrupted or at least mitigated by the cover it provided her. To her dismay when the spinning stopped the spell shot high above her and seemed to reflect off a shimmering field and aim back down toward her. It was unerring, striking her, and she could feel its magic at work as her strength was leeched. But maybe it would provider her an opportunity to get closer… No sooner had she finished the thought than the wheel began spinning again. Dolce cursed again and fled up the stairs. She made it fifty feet up, past where the lowest skeleton was, and the magic fired off again. It hit the shimmering “mirror” effect and tried to reach her, but seemed to fizzle before it did so. She stood there and watched as the spinning continued and each spell fizzled in turn, including what she was pretty certain was a [I]Lightning Bolt[/I]. It had stopped spinning, but there was no telling for how long. She suspected scratching the symbols might well break the wheel’s magical effects, but… Again, there was no telling how long she’d have to attempt it. Better to tackle this with brute force. She peered up at her friends and felt she was right. At the height they’d be at there would be plenty of momentum for anything they threw below. Dolce returned to the top of the stairs and told the others what needed to be done. They started with two stone slabs that had kept the place sealed, sending them hurtling below. Neither directly hit their mark, but there were plenty of other rocks and bits of rubble on the ancient temple. They spent hours hurtling rocks down below, and eventually Dolce saw the whole of the ground was littered with stones. It was an amusing sight, but also a reminder that she should probably invest more time in her efforts where traps were concerned. For that day they headed back to Rickety’s Squibs. The temple hadn’t been successfully infiltrated in years and no one knew what the girls were up to, chances were it wouldn’t be infiltrated that night. [HR][/HR] [CENTER][B]Best Laid Plans[/B][/CENTER] The next day proved eventful, and Dolce’s intent to return to the temple was delayed. First Rickety’s was swarmed by giant wasps, some men killed and carried off by them. Nasha was quick on the draw and saved one woman’s life by throwing a smoke stick at her to ward the wasp attacking her away. The ploy worked and she ran to shelter, her and her lover thanking Nasha profusely when they were reunited. As the chaos of the wasp attack settled a new problem arose. At the docks was a ship, a Chelaxian warship. It was a beauty, so Rickety said before handing a spyglass to Dolce. Mirielle was asking what the protocol was for multiple ships being in harbor at once. Rickety said it normally didn’t happen and it came down to what Mirielle decided. “Looks like Cap’n Pegsworthy’s got himself a new ship,” Dolce said, recognizing the famed pirate captain on the docks. He was one of the pirates she’d looked up to in recent years. He lost his leg in service to his nation’s military in an incident that also claimed the life of his best friend. The military then tried to take sailing from him, telling him he was not fit to captain and giving him the nickname Pegsworthy. Pegsworthy took the name as his own and stole a ship in the night with his loyal crewmen, leaving the crew that had been aboard to guard it tied up on the docks, alive. He made his career since then pirating in the Shackles and was a recognized Free Captain. Dolce relayed all of this to Mirielle, since ultimately Mirielle was her captain now. The four girls went out to meet Pegsworthy, Mirielle leading them even though he remained behind his crew on the dock. There was tension at first as Pegsworthy revealed he recognized their ship to be a Rahadoumi merchant vessel matching a description given by Captain Harrigan, but soon enough Pegsworthy revealed he hated Harrigan and just wanted to know the names of the ones who stole the man’s ship from under him. It was ultimately Dolce who spent the most time with Captain Pegsworthy, but not before the girls agreed to check on the state of Rickety’s sentry at the tower for a discount on their squib. They found the man dead, his parrot Rotgut repeating the phrase “Shoo fly!” They took his body back, as well as the parrot, whom Dolce gave to Fishguts since she knew he had a fondness for birds. He [I]had[/I] owned a pet chicken before Mr. Plugg had made him serve it to him for dinner on [I]The Man’s Promise[/I]. Thoughts like that made sure Dolce never regretted her past where they were concerned. Turned out though, Fishguts specifically liked [I]chickens[/I], not birds. He did agree to take care of Rotgut until a happier keeper could be found for him. The girls returned to the temple the following day where they found the rubble they had rained down on the trap hadn’t managed to disable it. They only realized this when it started spinning. Dolce sprinted down the stairs this time, hoping she could get to it fast enough to disable it before any of her friends were injured, Revel close on her heels. Nasha, meanwhile, immediately took hold of Mirielle and covered her, trying to shield her from any hostile spells. In the end Dolce was too slow to even reach it before a spell went off, but the heavy layer of rubble was enough that it obscured the spell’s path. The elf stopped, laughing nervously. Another spell, and another. They couldn’t fly free so they were in effect hitting the rocks piled atop the wheel. The girls moved inside at that point, not wanting to give the wheel enough time to shake too much of the rubble loose or to destroy it. They followed a long corridor within, at the end of which was a massive pile of skulls. “Ominous,” Dolce whispered. They could hear movement beyond. Slowly and carefully the elf climbed over the skulls, each completely clean of any tissue. It was tricky climbing this without sending any clattering. In fact, her hand knocked one loose, but she managed to catch it between her knee and the skull pile before it made much noise. When she crested the morbid obstacle she saw within a cyclops… Except it wasn’t [I]just[/I] a cyclops. The creature was half-rotted, zombified. It walked circles around an altar at the center of the room. Inside the room, Dolce saw various other treasures including a satchel on the floor. After observing the creature a while longer the elf descended the skull pile and whispered to the others to tell them what she’d seen. It was decided they would ambush the creature and so they all began to scale the pile again. This time it was Revel that knocked a skull lose, only she did it quite spectacularly, causing a great cacophony of noise as it and others cascaded down the pile and clattered on the stone floors. A great and horrible roar reached their ears and the sound of the massive cyclops charging toward the passage. Dolce looked at Revel, who smiled sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders. “Right then,” Dolce said, “let’s let it dig its way out. Nasha, Revel, you’ll be on either side of the hall. Mirielle and I will stay back apace so she’s not threatened.” Nasha, Revel, and Mirielle all nodded, taking their places. They would pincer the thing as soon as it got through the skulls. Mirielle moved further up the hall and cast a [I]Bless[/I] spell, using the time it took the creature to dig through the skull pile to further the area effected by her magic. The battle was ferocious, and Revel nearly got knocked unconscious, but they managed to overcome it by exhausting almost all of Mirielle’s spells and Dolce’s. Searching the room with the alter they collected various treasures, including the satchel. It hadn’t been harmed by time at all, making Dolce suspicious it was magical. She was correct, it proved to be a [I]Bag of Holding[/I]. Within it… the prized decanter. The girls returned to Rickety’s Squibs sweaty and exhausted, but with much treasure to show for their efforts. Mirielle made the gift to Rickety mentioning she hoped it would ease his relations with the naga and describing it as an investment in their future business together. Rickety was quite impressed, as was Captain Pegsworthy. The girls enjoyed a good night of drinking and games, for in the morning the good Free Captain would be christening their ship anew. [HR][/HR] [B]OOC Notes[/B] That was another 5 damage on the initial [I]Acid Arrow[/I] dice. So, just for your reference, 5 versus the grindylow queen, 4 versus Mr. Plugg, and 5 versus the Water Naga... On 3d8!!! I'm beginning to wonder if Owlbrarian has jinxed my dice or something. So... These two posts were written while I was trying to summarize more succinctly than I do in later posts. I had convinced myself I would do a brief retelling of events that were already behind us until I caught up to our current game (which I did yesterday when I finished writing Session 24). Anyway, there was a little moment I left out as a result: • When Pegsworthy revealed he hated their former captain he also made the comment that, "You know it's good luck to have either a Free Captain or a lady of noble heritage in good standing christen your ship. Since those are relatively rare in the Shackles I'd be honored to do the task for you." Mirielle made a decent deception check, but Pegsworthy saw through it and Dolce realized he caught her odd expression. She later snuck into his room so she could talk to him one-on-one and be certain he wasn't going to make trouble for them. That's actually why Dolce spent more time with him than anyone else, because they ended up talking for hours about a book of pirate fairy tales he'd been reading when she infiltrated his chamber and bonded over the subject before Dolce went back to her own room to get some sleep. Also, I had meant to write a song for the temple and their encounter with the zombie, because it really was rather terrifying.. And also the first time Dolce's [I]Acid Arrow[/I] spell rolled decent initial damage (13, so about average for 3d8). I'll have to revisit that in song later. [/QUOTE]
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