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

[Mewness]

Kane swims through the tunnel, which soon turns up again, like the hook of a J. The swim is too long for comfort: his lungs are ready to burst when his head suddenly pops out of the water and he is able to take in a breath.

Getting a little light cantrip going, he sees that he has found a pocket of air at the end of the J-shaped shaft. On a sort of shelf, out of the water, is a large, well-constructed wooden box. The edge of the lid is lined with some sort of waxy substance, apparently for waterproofing, and there is a lock on the front, although that does not appear to be of very high quality.

The box is much too heavy to be carried while swimming, although simply dropping it to the bottom of the tunnel might allow it to be raised up the main shaft with ropes.

 

[jbear]

After a cursory check to see if the chest is a distraction hiding something else more important, Kane levers himself up and unties the rope around his waist. He ties a wide noose and then levers the chest up at one end, just enough to slip the rope under and around the box which he does with his Ghost Hand while forcing the chest up with the power of both arms and legs, back leveraging for pressure against the wall of the shaft.

Letting it slam back down once the rope is in place, Kane then proceeds to resecure the sides of the box with the rope so it can't slip out once dropped into the water. He then uses his legs to push it off the ledge.

As it drops down into the water with a heavy splash he takes a breath and follows it down tugging on the rope to alert Takahaan to begin pulling up the rope from the top.

He helps guide the chest around the curve of the J turn and once into the main shaft he swims desperately for the surface.

ooc: Let em know if I need to make any rolls, or just roll them for me as needed and retcon anything that went awry with Kane's plans

 

[GROMkill]

The dragonborn waits for the tug at the rope, and upon feeling it, begins pulling with his full strength, while trying to stay afloat. Upon hearing the uncanny crack of lightning, he is startled and almost lets go of the rope, but narrowly manages to keep it from leaving his hands and continues pulling.

Looking up to the top of the well as he struggles with the weight, he calls out. "Nori! Castile! Hu Li! What is happening? Was that thunder?"

 

[jbear]

*If Kane manages to do what he proposes and the chest reaches the main chute*

Swimming up to the surface gasping for air, Kane stutters:

"W-we need to c-climb up top and p-pull it up from there."
He doesn't give any explanation of what has to be pulled up before he starts ascending the walls of the shaft.

 

[BenBrown]

Hú Lí calls out "The thunder pealed from nowhere we can see, and Noriaki has been struck down!"

She moves cautiously up to the side of the stricken warrior, looking warily about for the source of the attack.

"He is shaking!" she says, "as if stricken with chills, and his hands are gripped tightly on the hilt of his blade."

 

[Mewness]

GM: Takahaan feels something very heavy on the end of the rope now. Kane manages to get back into the main vertical shaft.

Pezock and Gelik run over to Noriaki.

"What's the matter with him?" asks Pezock, trying to hold Noriaki still so that he doesn't injure himself while thrashing about.

"Something to do with the sword?" says Gelik. He reaches out to touch the hilt of Noriaki's weapon, then recoils sharply as if it has burned his hand.

 

[GROMkill]

Hearing the news, Takahaan quickly pulls up the load, before retying it to another rope still hanging down from the wooden plug. As he makes it to the top, he rushes beside Pezock to his human friend, worried.

"I'm... not sure. I've never seen this happen before."

The dragonborn grabs his friend, trying to pull his arm away from the sword, so he doesn't injure himself or anyone around.

"Noriaki! Can you hear me? Wake up!" he yells, sounding both worried and angry at the same time, whilst shaking his friend, still trying to wrestle the sword away.

 

[Pentius]

Inside the strange world created by the sword, Noriaki faces off against his double. She attacks again and again, each strike as fast as lightning, and accompanied by a peal of thunder. Noriaki is able to block her strikes, but they are so swift, he has no time to retaliate. Each word punctuated by another attack, she mocks Noriaki, "This is ridiculous! You are but a child. You cannot even stand against me, let alone wield me!"

Briefly, on a rocky outcropping behind her, Gelik appears. Seemingly enraged, she turns and charges him. Before she can reach him, he disappears, and Noriaki's sword digs cruelly into her shoulder. "Never take your eyes off a foe!" he snarls, readying his sword for another blow.

The woman seems unperturbed by her wound, whirling around to face Noriaki. She holds her sword in front of her, one hand on the flat of the blade. Soon, lightning flashes from her eyes, and winds swirl around her, sharp as razor blades. She charges, too swift to block, and as her blade comes within inches of Noriaki's face, her hears a voice call out, "Noriaki! Can you hear me? Wake up!"

In the real world, Takahaan is able to wrest the sword from Noriaki's grasp. It burns his hands, but as he pulls it away, the burning stops. On the ground, Noriaki gasps, his eyes shooting open.

 

[jbear]

Kane takes his time getting up the shaft. With the pressure of battle off it is a mere formality, but he doesn't want to rush and fall in to the water as his short swim has left him exhausted.

If the load is too heavy for Takahaan to get out by himself then he will aid him to pull it out.

If Takahaan leaves the load still in the shaft, having climbed out (the option I imagine is the most likely judging the dfficulty of pulling up a heavy chest while floating in the water) Kane ignores his fallen comrade, staring down into the shaft fixedly, his eyes gleaming with desire.

 

[Mewness]

While Noriaki recovers from his sudden indisposition, Kane and the others haul the heavy load out of the shaft.

The load is a wooden box, waterproofed with wax around the edges of the lid. The hasp at the front is fastened with a lock. Since nobody in the group has any expertise at picking locks, Pezock suggests simply breaking it off with the pick he brought along. The lock is not of especially high quality, and Castile smashes it easily with a couple of hard blows.

Inside the box is a large, heavy, disk-shaped object wrapped in cloth padding, a fine mail shirt of dwarven make, a rakishly embroidered black doublet with softly glowing turquoise buttons, and a goodly amount of coin.

The wrapped disk proves to be the most impressive treasure of all: it is a large, heavy golden disk, beautifully adorned with various figures and symbols arranged in concentric circles. The workmanship is exceedingly fine, and the gold value alone would be considerable.

Pezock sucks in his breath, obviously lost in admiration of the golden disk. "Isn't that lovely!" he says. "But, mustn't be greedy, eh, Pearl? One jewel, that was the deal, a fine gem for a fine sword." He finds a single beautiful pearl while sorting through the coins, and takes it as his prize for leading the group to this location.

[sblock=History or Religion DC 13 (automatic success for Castile)]This is a Magari calendar disk, depicting the seasons, timing of religious festivals, and other important occasions. Disks like this are common in Magari temples, although you have never seen one so fine as this. You don’t know what the symbols mean; probably this is some sort of writing used only by priests.

[sblock=History or Religion DC 20 (same check; Castile gets a +2 on the check if she attempts it)]The writing is ancient. The Magari don’t use this script anymore. Also, one of the figures depicted on the disk is the goddess Malinalxochitl, who is no longer worshiped by the Magari. It is said that she betrayed her people in ancient times, turning against them to side with their worst enemies, the serpentfolk. The Magari no longer hold religious festivals in her name, and no longer depict her in religious art. To them, her name is synonymous with wickedness and betrayal.

This disk must truly be ancient--a priceless artifact.[/sblock][/sblock]
[sblock=Ghouls in the Shaft: Treasure Summary]Noriaki: battlecrazed fullblade +1 (L4 item; replaces his existing weapon)
Kane: shimmering cloth armor +1 (L4 item)
Takahaan: dwarven chainmail +1 (L2 item)

A golden Magari calendar disk of unknown, but presumably very high, value

A pile of coins

Note that I am deliberately giving you a nebulous amount of monetary treasure. Real money is of no use to you on the island anyway, so you’ll get a level-appropriate amount when you get off Smuggler’s Shiv.

If anyone wants to buy anything with virtual gold, now would be a good time.[/sblock]
[sblock=Your Quest Log Has Been Updated]Major Quest: Get safely off the island.

Minor Quests (one for each NPC): Keep Aerys, Gelik, Ishirou, Jade, and Sasha alive.

Minor Quest: Find a supply of viper nettle berries to help Aerys kick her drinking habit. COMPLETE!

Minor Quest: Find the Nightvoice for Gelik.

Minor Quest: Find the treasure at the end of Ishirou's treasure map. COMPLETE!

Minor Quest: Find evidence to exonerate Jade.

Minor Quest: Help Sasha capture a young flying reptile-thing.[/sblock]