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

[BenBrown]

"Ah, yes," Hú Lí says to Takahaan, "but before we become legends, we must escape the island!"

She looks around, stepping deliberately, as if dancing.

"To the north, we have seen the coast," she says, "where we found ourselves on this island. To the south, the east, and the west, we have not seen. To explore the island, perhaps we should choose a direction."

She sings:
"In the north, the sea is cold
Its waters stormy and wide.
In the east the sun rises,
Shining, hot and relentless
In the south the land is warm,
Filled with life and with perils.
In the west the sun sets.
Night comes with its dangers."

"Or," Hú Lí says, "We could choose a fifth direction, and ascend to the highest point we can find. From there we may be able to see where we need to go."

 

[Dekana]

Castile awakes far after the others do. The first thing she does is walk over to Jade and join him in his prayers, her eyes still bleary and her hair frazzled. At least she remembers the correct words.

As she prepares for the day, she notices that Ishirou is in a much less foul mood than the previous night. Good for him! "It seems you've found the will to fight, Master Ishirou. Will you accompany us today? Or will you remain at the camp... mastering your swordsmanship?"

[sblock=ooc]Yikes, I missed a lot of posting over the weekend.

While I would normally want to leave all the NPCs at the camp, I think Ishirou and Noriaki have a good dynamic going. My vote is for Ishirou to join us on the adventure.

I'd still like Castile to be at or near the head of the marching order. I'm not sure that we need a rearguard to be honest, so maybe Kane can join her up front.

As for where to go... Castile wants some of those viper berries too, hehe. But I'll leave the matter to the others.[/sblock]

 

[twilsemail]

OOC: Is there any chance we can keep an updated copy of the map and it's key up on the front page as well?

Jennifer Sara Lynn Fitzpatrick is sitting nearby watching the entire exchange between Noriaki and Ishirou. In truth, she spends most of the time watching Noriaki.

The Captain emerges from the shelter looking surprisingly well groomed. His hair is combed and oiled and he's cleanly shaven. A good bit of the morning is spend drilling with his men. They train in both traditional, formation-style tactics and a more "guerilla style" technique. The Guerilla style may alternately be called an "every man for himself" style.

When the Captain eventually spots Castille, he passes duties on to the Pict. As he does, two other piskies head off to the shelter. He waits patiently nearby as she talks to the newly risen warrior.

Several of his men are surprised by this, as the Captain is actually acknowledging the existence of a woman that is not Sasha.

 

[Mewness]

OOC: Is there any chance we can keep an updated copy of the map and it's key up on the front page as well?

OOC: Good idea--I'll do that.

 

[Mewness]

"Or," Hú Lí says, "We could choose a fifth direction, and ascend to the highest point we can find. From there we may be able to see where we need to go."

OOC: You actually are at the highest point you can see; probably I should have given you a bit more of the view to the south and west, but it is essentially more of the same for a while (the stream continues south, the visible coastline continues south, there's lots of jungle).

Castile awakes far after the others do. The first thing she does is walk over to Jade and join him in his prayers, her eyes still bleary and her hair frazzled. At least she remembers the correct words.

As she prepares for the day, she notices that Ishirou is in a much less foul mood than the previous night. Good for him! "It seems you've found the will to fight, Master Ishirou. Will you accompany us today? Or will you remain at the camp... mastering your swordsmanship?"

Ishirou bows. "Whether I stay or go is as my lord Noriaki wills," he says. After a pause, he adds, "My behavior earlier was rude. For that I must apologize."

Jade comes up behind Castile. "You know Magari prayers!" he says excitedly. "How is it you know dis? Have you traveled to de Valley of Bone?"

OOC: We had a little bit of class warfare over the weekend

 

[jbear]

OOC: [MENTION=6676736]Pentius[/MENTION] yeah, mate, I don't think they will ever see eye to eye on that, but they both share a love and respect for the sword, which I think will be a bridge I think the Ishirou should come on this one too and further seal the fresh bond he's made with Noriaki and the group. I'm guessing that if we leave the others at camp, we won't come back to find them slaughtered though, right? They will be considered 'safe', the NPC with us being the one we have to keep alive? Re: Marching Order: Kane is happy to go up the front; His tactics will be to get in close enough at the start and mark one of the tough enemies, then retreat back to the back line and control and defend at a distance til that enemy is killed. He will then enter melee again and remark before retreating again. So he's more than happy to be at the front line at the start of combat.

Kane sits watching the sparring with enjoyment til Hú Lí begins to speak.
When she proposes what direction to take this morning Kane holds up all five fingers of his right hand and raises the drawing labeled Shiv East that depicts the high hill top.

"L-lets t-take a l-look."

 

[Mewness]

OOC: I won't kill the NPCs while they're offscreen. That would be pretty unfair. And from a commonsensical perspective, it would seem safer to leave them in camp (it's in a good, defensible position, and the only meaningful threat that you've seen in the area (the giant spider) has been eliminated.

 

[Pentius]

OOC: I'm not so sure on which way we should go, but I think we should either look for the Nightvoice or the treasure. We should definitely bring Ishirou if we go for the treasure, but on some outings, we should bring other NPCs, too. Like Sasha.

 

[Mewness]

When the Captain eventually spots Castille, he passes duties on to the Pict. As he does, two other piskies head off to the shelter. He waits patiently nearby as she talks to the newly risen warrior.

The questions are barely out of his mouth when Jade notices that Dartmoor seems to be waiting to speak to Castile. "Oh, I am sorry," he says. "I do not mean to interrupt."

 

[BenBrown]

"L-lets t-take a l-look."

"East then," Hú Lí says, "A good direction for beginnings."

OOC: I'm in favor of some basic scouting--see if we can see the things in these drawings. How about: Castile Noriaki Takahaan Kane NPC(s) Dartmoor Hú Lí for a simple marching order. It leaves the back a little vulnerable, but Kane isn't really a classic defender anyway, so we get the melee people up front, and Kane up where he can mark. Hú Lí is pretty much all ranged, and the Dartmoor Irregulars have enough ranged stuff to not need to get into melee immediately.

[/ooc]