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

[jbear]

Kane's smile fades as he realises he's not going to dig very deep with his mage hand. The spade floats over to him and with a sheepish smile and a shrug he starts putting some back into it!

OOC: Hehe, fair enough. I just like to try and use his cantrips to do cool wizardly stuff at any and every opportunity! By hand is cool too though!

 

[Pentius]

Noriaki goes along with Kane's plan, though he is clearly reluctant to hunt treasure instead of going back to the camp. He chuckles as Kane begins to dig, keeping far enough back that no stray dirt will get on him. "It seems no amount of magic can save you from labor. Even magic follows the Celestial Order, I suppose."

 

[Mewness]

With only two good digging tools between them, the group falls naturally into shifts, with most of the adventurers at any one time able to relax and look out at the view. The ground is quite hard: if anything is buried here, it has been so for a good deal of time.

But after most of the day has been spent digging, when even Kane is starting to wonder whether the picture might simply be an elaborate hoax, the diggers strike a hard surface. This turns out to be a sturdy square wooden platform, or plug, about ten feet on each side. The plug seems to be extremely thick and heavy, but banging on it suggests that there might be hollow space on the other side.

As Kane eagerly clears dirt from the surface of the plug, he finds a bone--and then another. Soon an entire skeleton is revealed--that of a dwarf, in rotten leather armor.

GM: Sorry for the delay. I hope everyone who celebrates it had a good Thanksgiving! Notes on characters (thanks to BenBrown for helping me do the checking) [MENTION=57009]Dekana[/MENTION] Shield Edge Block should have “the triggering enemy” as the target. Hack and Hew should specify that the second attack occurs only once. [MENTION=6676736]Pentius[/MENTION] The Thanebone Triumph note on Shatterbone Strike seems unnecessary.... Also, Shatterbone Strike needs to be added to the math section of the sheet. Noriaki’s initiative bonus is +5 (the +1 from the battle harness is redundant with combat leader, but should still be recorded) [MENTION=6676989]GROMkill[/MENTION] Flattening Charge appears as “Flattering Charge” in the math section. I think I like “Flattering Charge” better, but still. The wording on Brash Assault is slightly weird (the “he” who gets the defense bonus is not necessarily Takahaan). The Frost Weapon’s at-will is colored as a daily. The Cloak of Resistance’s daily should be in the summary section as well, if you’re putting item powers there.

 

[jbear]

"H-how did he d-die? A t-trap?"

Kane takes a cursory look at the remains for any telltale signs like a cracked skull, arrows stuck between ribs or charred bones before moving aside for his companions more expert eyes to take a look.

 

[GROMkill]

It is during Takahaan's shift that the hard plug is struck. He hands the tool to Noriaki to hold while he examines the skeleton with Kane.

"Can't tell. Although, I want to say that his corpse was buried here, and not left, slain. Anyone else have any idea?"

 

[jbear]

"S-sometimes those th-that bury t-treasure b-bury those th-that know their s-secrets with it. M-maybe he h-helped d-dig the h-hole. P-pirates s-say: T-two c-can k-keep a s-secret if one of them is d-dead."

OOC: Does anyone in the group have training in Heal? And who is best at spotting traps?

 

[Dekana]

Castile laughs briefly. "Heh, I haven't heard that before, Kane. That's good." She steps closer to the skeleton to have a look. "He didn't bury himself while in the box, that much is for sure. Poor fellow. I wonder if he was alive when they put him in the ground?"

 

[Mewness]

Pezock comes to look at the wooden plug and the dwarf's remains. "Poor sod," he says. "But I say, this is more elaborate than I was expecting. How are we going to get through this thing?"

GM: Kane isn't certain what caused the dwarf's death. The skeleton seems intact. Castile doesn't see anything that looks like a trap. Anyone who wishes can attempt a Heal check on the remains. The best person for this is Jade, back at the camp, although Hú Lí isn't bad for someone with no training.

 

[Dekana]

OOC: I think I misunderstood the design of the plug, but I'll let what Castile said stand. Also, I fixed up Castile's character sheet. I liked the infinite loop of attacks on Hack and Hew, lol. That's what I get for not writing out the full power.

 

[BenBrown]

Hú Lí examines the bones with a good deal of curiosity.

"Bones can tell tales," she says. "With only bones, we may not answer Castile's question, but we could find a mark, a trace, a telling sign of what killed him. Alas, the bones here tell little, but Kane may be right with his adage. There are many tales in which a pirate makes sure he is the only one to know where his gold lies. But with such an evil name as the Smuggler's Shiv has, what sort of a man would choose this place to bury his treasure?"

[sblock=roll]Heal check on bones: 8(1d20) +6 = 14[/sblock]