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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 2880424" data-attributes="member: 5808">Part the One-Hundred Ninety-FourthIn which: what other party could find a railroad in the middle of the Halmae?At last, Thatch, Anvil, Reyu, Eva, and Lira are ready to make their departure.  The Count places a small barge at the party’s disposal, complete with a captain and three crewmen.  All swear to Anvil’s eventual satisfaction that they are good men who will engage in sincere banditry at the party’s request, although they seem a little perplexed at the question.The Captain of the Count Guard, Lady Tempeste, who the party saw briefly at dinner the previous night, is also there to meet them.  Oddly, she’s not armored, but Thatch notices that she carries a long and ornately-spiked iron chain.  He’s seen similar weapons at a few of the more exotic shops in Dar Karo, but he’s never before met anyone who actually wielded one.Lady Tempeste also comes with two additional County Guards, one male, one female.  The woman wears armor and bears a shield, but does not carry any visible weapons.  The man is similarly garbed, with the addition of a longsword that hangs at this side.  Lady Tempeste does not introduce them to the party, and the adventurers don’t ask for any names.(“For once,” mutters the DM.)Instead, they make their good-byes to Count Agramount, who has one more thing for them before they leave.  “There are no living guardians on the island, and the defenses should not be lethal.  However, if you are wounded, you may find these useful.”  At the Count’s nod, Lord Marmion produces four flasks, similar to a type frequently used for potions.“Is there anything specific we should attempt to steal?” Lira asks, “Or will any trophy be acceptable?”The Count raises his arms in a gesture of surrender.  “Pretend you are bandits.  Take whatever seems worth taking.”And on that last word of advice, the ship shoves off from its moorings, and they are on their way.###From the start, the trip goes… oddly.  When Anvil asks the captain to which island they will be traveling, Lady Tempeste quickly interrupts, informing the party members that they have no need of that information.This strikes more than one party member as a bit odd, but they decide not to make an issue of it.  Besides, the ship takes a route which passes what the party has dubbed “The Island of Killer Plants” which allows them to make a fair guess where they are in the archipelago.  Once they are in view of their target island, the party gathers on deck to plan their strategy.  Thatch proposes they circumnavigate the island first, and let Reyu run aerial reconnaissance in pelican form.  Lady Tempeste listens to all of this, scowling, until she finally interjects, “You were to survey the island at night.  Isn’t that what a bandit would do?”The conversation stops cold.  “Why would we do our reconnaissance at night?” Eva asks.  “We can’t see anything if it’s dark.”“It’s not a terrible idea though,” Thatch offers.  “Whatever’s on the island might be nocturnal.”“All the more reason to go during the day,” Lira points out.Tempeste scowls.  “You were informed there were no living guardians on the island.”“If it’s an island full of traps, then I definitely want to land by daylight.”Thatch squints up at the sun.  “It’s getting on to late afternoon.  Why don’t we check out the island now, and then again after dark?  We’ll make landfall tomorrow morning.”Everyone is quickly agreeing with the wisdom of this plan when they notice Lady Tempeste glowering.  “I had intended,” she informs them, “to be home by tomorrow.”“Do you not wish this to be a thorough test?” Reyu asks her.“Besides,” Anvil points out, “we will want to prepare appropriate spells for our endeavor.”Tempeste’s expression darkens further at their reasonable points.  She looks pointedly at the captain of the ship.  “I don’t know if we have enough food for another day…  Captain?”  From her expression it is clear that there is a right answer to her question, and a wrong one, but before the captain can deliver either, Anvil speaks up.“Oh, we can make food.”Lady Tempeste audibly grinds her teeth.  “Very.  Well.”(DM’s note: It was at about this point that someone commented that Lady Tempeste was behaving like nothing so much as a GM attempting to railroad ornery players.  So funny… and so true.)###From the boat, the party observes that the island is not large at all, even smaller than the one occupied by the Hues.  There is a dock built on one side of the island, but it’s blocked off from the bulk of the interior by a high stone wall.Reyu does a fly-over to confirm.  The wall is approximately 30 feet high and very thick.  It cuts off a small section of shore by the dock, and extends into the water some feet below the low-tide mark.  A ledge runs around the inside of the wall, not far from the top, as though designed to allow patrols to look over the wall into the rest of the island.  Between the wall and the dock are a few small structures that look (and smell) like animal pens.  Reyu notes that the only passage through the wall is a small gate, only large enough for something the size of a sheep—or a Hue—although she guesses that a human or elf-sized creature would fit easily by crawling through on all fours.Beyond the wall, the island is forested, fairly level, and has a small stream providing fresh water.  However, there are randomly-spaced, irregularly-shaped bare areas throughout the island, which appear to have been burned out.The view at night, although darker, is not appreciably different from the view during the day.From what they have learned, the party is left to theorize that the island is inhabited by exploding sheep.  However, it seems unlikely.What also seems unlikely is that there is any kind of treasure to be found or looted on the island. Hmm...</blockquote>

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