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

[Dekana]

Castile, now wearing the runed amulet, looks up dubiously at the hill.

"I guess there's no chance she could be a good witch?" She turns toward the others and says decisively, "Only one way to find out!" Castile resumes leading the way to the coast to get to the hill. "With any luck, the witch will have a cozy villa carved into the hill with a warm hearth and steeped tea waiting for us."

[sblock=Castile stat block, updated defenses]PC:Castile (Dekana) - L4W Wiki- Female Dwarf Fighter 3
Passive Perception: 18, Passive Insight: 13
AC:20, Fort:18, Reflex:15, Will:14, +5 saves vs poison, Speed:5
HP:45/45, Bloodied:22, Surge Value:11, Surges left:13/13
Initiative +1
Action Points: 1 (encounter)

Conditions

Powers
MBA: Waraxe, +8 vs AC, 1d12+7 damage (see Combat notes below)
RBA: Waraxe, +8 vs AC, 1d12+7 damage, 6/12
Combat Challenge, Pass Forward
Crushing Surge, Tide of Iron
Bold Victory, Dwarven Resilience, Guardian's Counter, Hack and Hew, Shield Edge Block
Comeback Strike, Dwarven Thrower Waraxe

Combat notes: +2 melee / close damage with THP, +2 to attack roll on OAs, OAs stop enemy movement
[/sblock]

 

[jbear]

Kane chuckles jogging to catch up with the dwarf. He falls in next to her whistling a merry tune as he goes.

 

[Mewness]

"We had best get on back to base camp as quickly as possible," Dartmoor declares as the group comes within sight of the hill. "Should anything be amiss there, I will send a message to the top of that hill." He takes out a little horn and blows it, producing a sound that is barely audible to human ears but rallies the Irregulars immediately. "Company, we return to camp!" With that, the faerie army moves off.

The rest of the group makes their way around the coast and then cuts through the jungle toward the hill. As predicted, it takes less than an hour to reach its foot. The climb is tedious, with both steep ground and heavy vegetation to deal with, but the party finally emerges from the jungle and scrambles to the top.

The hill is by no means the highest point on the island, but it is, as advertised, bare of trees at the summit, so the view on all sides is unobstructed. To the east, the group can clearly see the two rocky spires depicted in the drawing. With the sun already in the west, though, it is impossible to tell exactly where the proper vantage point is on the hilltop.

Some way to the south, another wrecked ship is visible. Pezock says that he has already explored it: much of his equipment was scavenged from that wreck. There is yet another to the north, not far from the mouth of the river that the adventurers crossed to find the viper nettles. It is very indistinct from this distance, but Pezock mentions that he avoided that one once he got close. "I thought there might be some good booty on it--it's much newer than most of the wreckage 'round here. But it gave me a funny feeling," he says, a little defensively. "Like it was haunted. Or watching me and Pearl. No doubt you think I'm a coward for losing my nerve--but after the night of the attack, I wasn't going to take any chances."

OOC: Map will be updated on the first page in a few minutes.

 

[jbear]

Hardly puffing at all with with only a light sweat glistening on his brow, Kane's vigor seems to grow with each step as he positively bounds up the hill. Once at the top he stares towards the rocks to the east pointing up from the sea. As Pezock gives his account of his treasure hunting Kane asks:

"D-did you see names on wr-recks?"

As Kane listens to his reply he takes the drawn map out to confirm they are in the right place. He looks from map to the rocks, rocks to the map and so on for quite some time. Suddenly he rolls it away with a dangerous gleam in his eye right before he plops himself down into a crossed legged sitting position on the ground. A ghastly voice issues forth from somewhere around his neck as his eyes roll back into his head.

"Dartmoor and his Piskies will give our friends back at the camp word that all is well. They can defend themselves for another night. Our ambush will have seen to that. I would stay here tonight and witness what happens between those rocks when the sun comes up. I have a feeling they will catch the morning light and point it towards whatever the one who drew the map left behind. I would know what that something is. That map got off the island somehow and into Ishirou's hands. I would know more about the person who drew a map that managed to leave this place. Company would be most welcome. Alone on the Shiv means dead , dying or about to become dead. I have little desire to be either of the three. There are a few things I can be quite stubborn about, however. And we just struck on one of them."

When Kane's eyes return to their rightful place his smile returns but there is little warmth in it. Challenge dances in his eyes like flames as he awaits his companions response to his unusual assertiveness.

OOC: Kane's kicker is treasure hunting. Finding such a map that requires more than reaching x marks the spot kicks harder. And kane (and his master: me) honestly believes that this could lead to a big clue on how to get off the island. If the map got off the island ...

 

[Dekana]

"That map got off the island somehow and into Ishirou's hands. I would know more about the person who drew a map that managed to leave this place. Company would be most welcome. Alone on the Shiv means dead , dying or about to become dead. I have little desire to be either of the three. There are a few things I can be quite stubborn about, however. And we just struck on one of them."

Castile raises an eyebrow as she catches Kane's change in demeanor. But she doesn't disagree with him. Castile steps up to Kane and clasps him on the shoulder.

"I'll stay by your side! And while you're watching those rocks, I'll keep an eye open for whatever witch drew that symbol..."

 

[BenBrown]

"I too will keep watch here," Hú Lí says. "Together we all will escape this place."

She taps twice on her drum, and sings in a determined tone:

"A lone twig is pushed along by the stream;
Many twigs combined can dam a mighty river.
A single shaft snaps when bent;
Arrows bundled together bend but do not break.
A man alone is like a leaf on the wind.
In company with others there is strength."

 

[jbear]

Warmth returns to kanes smile as soon as his companions voice their support for the hilltop vigil.

"Th-then we w-wait til the s-sun r-rises and w-we find the p-place the p-picture was painted!"

 

[Mewness]

“The name, the name...” says Pezock, gazing at the wreck to the north. “The one I explored had no name. None visible. It’s an old wreck, and perhaps the name was worn away. But that one, the newer one.... The Sea Devil? Sea Demon? Something of that sort.”

Toward evening, a colorful parrot flies up from the forest, then spirals down to approach the group. “All is well at the camp,” it says, in a perfect imitation of Dartmoor’s voice. “All is well! All is well! All is well!” The bird takes off again, still repeating the phrase as it flies away.

With plenty of daylight left, the group sets up a temporary camp for spending the night on the hill. Unfortunately, without the expertise of the Irregulars and Sasha, the shelter is not all that could be desired, and the adventurers get little rest owing to the constant irritant of biting insects. The night otherwise passes uneventfully, save that Kane, while on watch, sees something large flying overhead during the night. He recalls Dartmoor’s mentioning a dragon once or twice, but it is impossible to tell what manner of creature the flier might be--the only clue to its shape is the brief absence of stars as it passes overhead.

The night is otherwise uneventful, however unpleasant. Perhaps because nobody manages to sleep uninterruptedly, there are no nightmares.



Day 5

As the first rays of sunlight peek out on the horizon, between the two spires, the adventurers move this way and that, looking for exactly the right vantage point. Soon, everyone finds themselves converging on one spot. The view is uncannily perfect--the picture might have been drawn this very instant, by some unseen observer. This must surely be the place.

[sblock=Nature and Endurance checks]I made a group Nature check for everyone to determine how the camping went (which failed) followed by individual Endurance checks to determine the consequences.

Nature checks for Black Fox; Castile; Kane; Noriaki; Takahaan
19(1d20) +7 = 26; 9(1d20) +3 = 12; 1(1d20) +8 = 9; 18(1d20) +1 = 19; 5(1d20) = 5

Endurance checks for Black Fox; Castile; Kane; Noriaki; Takahaan
15(1d20) +5 = 20; 7(1d20) +9 = 16; 19(1d20) +3 = 22; 8(1d20) +6 = 14; 9(1d20) +6 = 15

All succeeded on at least a moderate DC; Hú Lí and Kane succeeded on a Hard DC. Castile, Noriaki, and Takahaan start Day 5 down one surge from normal. Hú Lí and Kane have no penalty, despite the unpleasant conditions.[/sblock]

 

[jbear]

Kane waits to see if the outcropping of rocks is going to catch the rays of the sun in some way and shine a beam towards their quarry. He chuckles and shakes his head with one last look at the drawing when he realises the truth is simpler than that.

Pezock's spade floats gently towards him and with the nod of his head Kane sets it to digging beneath his feet. He steps away to allow the spade to do its work, hands behind his head, eyes gleaming in anticipation, smiling from ear to ear.

OOC: Mage hand will do the dirty work

 

[Mewness]

GM: You're not going to be able to dig with mage hand. There's not enough strength in one telekinetic hand to do serious digging; it's hard work.