Serpent's Skull: The Mwangi Party [IC]

[LordHavelock]

The archaeologist can't believe his luck! The box alone may recompense the cost of the trip and shipwreck...assuming he and his new-found companions can get off the accursed island. The jacket, while nothing special, might be useful later, he decides, and slips it on over his clothing for lack of a better way to carry it. The box he will show to his companions later. He bends down and picks up a few of the paper scraps he noticed on the floor earlier, and reads through a few of them as he walks out of the cabin. Seeing Elethir set down the chest, he looks up. "Find anything useful?"

"Perhaps." Elethir says, turning the chest towards him, "Depends on whether you can get this lock open."

[Othniel]

"Perhaps." Elethir says, turning the chest towards him, "Depends on whether you can get this lock open."

Aldarion rubs his eyes to remove the horrible pictures from them. Tearing up the papers with the ferocity of a scholar confronted with a gross insult to the principle of written words, the archaeologist kneels down beside the chest and starts to work on the lock, "Let's find out..."

Spoiler: Actions

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For continuity's sake, can we have Aldarion check the magical properties of the box when he was appraising it?
Spellcraft: (1d20+6)[14]
Take 20 on the chest (+10=30)

[darklink_shadow]

Just as Aldorian gets the chest open, Jask kneels down and starts to take things out of it. Some leather armor, a well crafted knife, and a potions, which he drinks hurriedly. After downing the potion, he feels around in his mouth, and groans his extreme discontent. Finally he pulls out a small silver badge, and a small pouch, and kicks the chest with some frustration. A small sound reveals that there is a second and third potion inside.

[Othniel]

"Jask?" Aldarion asks, puzzled at the man's behavior.

[Kintua]

"The man went mad with love. This is ridiculous. He was such a sensible man on the outside, it's hard to believe this is the kind of nonsense he was filling his captain's log with." Harmon reads over the entry again, expecting to find something he could actually understand. When he doesn't, he instead begins trying to decipher the captain's madness.

"He says that Ieana wanted him to come to Smuggler's Shiv, and he had a few odd notes here regarding defeating the first mate for her hand. If I were a gambling man, I'd bet that Ieana was not all she seemed. I'd also bet that she's native to the island, and that the wreck was her doing." He dog-ears the pages he can actually use, and closes the book, tucking it under his arm. "Aldarion, do you think any of us have a way to carry this back to shore without it being completely ruined? Do you think that box is waterproof, at all? And is there anything in the pockets of that jacket? It seems like the captain kept scraps everywhere."

[LordHavelock]

Just as Aldorian gets the chest open, Jask kneels down and starts to take things out of it. Some leather armor, a well crafted knife, and a potions, which he drinks hurriedly. After downing the potion, he feels around in his mouth, and groans his extreme discontent. Finally he pulls out a small silver badge, and a small pouch, and kicks the chest with some frustration. A small sound reveals that there is a second and third potion inside.

Elethir looks most perturbed by Jask's silent barging and seizing of first the potion and whatever else he can out of the chest. Rather than voicing his disapproval outright, he lays his arm across Jask's test and pins him to the nearest bulkehead, the half-elf's deep emerald irises conveying his lividity. "Something you'd care to share with us? Now?"

[Kintua]

"Elethir, leave the poor man to it. He's clearly frantically searching for something or other, and may've thought that potion would return his speech." He starts casually opening the drawers in the captain's desk, peeking inside them all for possibly more journals to decipher. Or any weird bits and bobs, to be honest. The captain seemed like the kind of person to keep strange, but useful things on hand, at least towards the end of the journal.

[darklink_shadow]

Jask hissed at the druid, and pushed back, pinning the half-elf for a hot minute. When he thought the elf might be calmer, Jask pushed himself up, and then reach down to help the druid stand again. Pointing to Harmon he nodded. Reluctantly, he opened his mouth wide enough to revel that his tongue was missing a very, very large portion of it. Frowning, he reached into his pocket and pulled a small bit of flesh and held it up. It was his tongue.

Jask made biting gestures with his teeth and frowned.

[Othniel]

"Oh, my. Jask, you poor fellow. That must have hurt quite a bit." Aldarion shakes his head sadly. "I don't know how to reattach body parts, even if it isn't an entire limb." Turning toward the others, he gestures to Jask, "Do any of you have any healing abilities?"

Remembering Harmon's suggestion, the archaeologist also goes through the pockets of the jacket for anything useful or informative.

[darklink_shadow]

Aldarion finds out that the pockets of the jacket are full of seeds, the left hand side is full of uncracked shells, and the right hand side is full of empty shells.

Jask nods solemnly to the archaeologist and sighs.

[LordHavelock]

Elethir struggles and wrestles against Jask, until the state of the other man's injuries are revealed. His face softens and he is initially concerned, though his resolve takes hold again quickly
"If you had shown us initially we might have done more to help sooner." He begins, but not pointedly, "A man who cannot speak must surely see the need for all the more careful and considered communication."

[skypse]

Cabrakan watches the motion on the other side of the water waiting for something really important or crucial to come up from the group's investigation in the cabins when he catches a movement in the water with the edge of his eye. Turning around suddenly and positioning his shield for fight, the huge man opens his eyes widely because he couldn't believe what he was seeing! There was a small boat floating around in the water! Without losing any time, Cabrakan quickly stretches his arm towards the boat and pulls it to his side. Then he jumps in, and using his shield as a paddle (carefully so he wouldn't drop it in the water), he directs the boat to the other side, shouting:

Guys! Guys! I found a small boat! This can help us move the things you found without any problems and there are enough of us to carry it to the other side and go with it in the shore!

Spoiler: ooc

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Strength check to pull the boat near me in case it is needed
(1d20+4)[16]

[Othniel]

Aldarion looks over to where Cabrakan is shouting. "Excellent! That's just what we need to get this stuff to shore!" he replies, and quietly sends a prayer of thanks to Desna for their luck.

[darklink_shadow]

The waves lap at the boat, stuck into the sand, as you unload it. You've been ashore now for just a few moments, perhaps half a minute, when Aerys and Sasha come out to meet you. Find anything good? The half-elf asked, clearly eyeing a bottle of alcohol resting in the sand.

Sasha, for her part, was silent, and immediately set to helping you unload, indicating for Jask and Ishirou to follow her back to the camp with the first trip's worth of supplies.

[Vhaidara]

Ebreloni nods.
A few javelins, enough rations to last us a few days. Some of Jask's belongings. And, sadly, the first mate. He had managed to kill one of the scorpions, but the poison took him.
His tail sways. He checks the sky to see how long until dark.

[darklink_shadow]

The cursed mutant looks to the sky to find the sun's position, trying to determine the time. He thinks they have five hours or less until dark.

Spoiler: Time

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5 hours is 3000 rounds! *rainbow*

Mm. So, a little food and drink, huh? I once ran a small kitchen, in the slums. That was a long time ago, but I might be able to make the food stretch, if you don't mind me taking over charge of the food. I doubt anyone else has much experience with handing food stores. Sasha doesn't seem the type to cook, and that gnome is probably too rich to have any idea where food even comes from. Krusk, can you cook? You're just about the only one I figure might have ever felt the need to learn how to make a little food last...

Aerys looked at the druid, and frowned. You probably are such a great hunter, you've never struggled to find enough food, I bet. Hunters are usually lousy at making their stores last. No offense, of course. Just what I've noticed, when I visited the wilds.

Krusk grunts, and shakes his head at Aerys, to which the woman responded with a similar grunt and a half-hearted shrug. Let's get it into camp. Two trips, and I bet we can get everything, even the boat. Might be bad if we left it out for people to find... and their are people out here. Sasha spotted some, but they saw another, smaller group of people and they two groups fought and killed most of each other. The victory dragged off everything from the battle site though... even the unarmed children's bodies. Aerys shivered. We need to set up a watch... and find a cave to hide out in tomorrow. This place is more dangerous than I had thought, and I had assumed we'd be dead by night fall. It might be a good idea to keep some eyes on the beach, though. In case anything washes up. While you were gone, I found a barrel of limes that wasn't there before.

[Vhaidara]

I'm going to take another look around the edge forest before it gets dark. I would prefer to take a morning shift on watch as well.
With that, the accursed man heads away from the others to forage for anything they might have missed earlier.

Spoiler: OoC

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Take 10 on the survival check if possible for a 15. If not, (1d20+5)[24]

[Othniel]

"That's a good idea. While you do that, the rest of us can work on organizing camp for tonight." Aldarion turns to the rest of the group, and explains to those left on shore what happened aboard the wreck. "It took some effort getting to the wreck. If not for Cabrakan spotting and grabbing that dinghy, it would have been even harder getting back. We've recovered a fair amount of gear, thankfully. As Ebreloni noted, we have found enough food to last us a few days. Aerys, since you have experience in that area, I agree with you that you should handle the role of cook. Perhaps those of our group who are good as such things can gather decent ingredients for you. Good job finding the limes as well. I'm sure that will help fighting any illness we might face."

The half-elf begins recounting the entire list of provisions and supplies that they recovered. "As far as arms and armor are concerned, Ishirou retrieved his sword, and is now wearing the poor first-mate's armor. Hopefully it will serve Ishirou better than its previous owner. That reminds me, we should also tend to any bodies in the immediate area. Not only is it the decent thing to do, but bodies left around could draw scavengers or worse." He held out the longspear he now bore. "In addition, we also recovered this longspear and a sword. I'd be happy to take either, as the rest of you prefer, for some sort of defense. I'm not as suitable to melee combat as most of you, and my whip won't do us much good, save perhaps to keep some animals at bay in a pinch. What I'd really like to get hold of is a shortbow and arrows, but unfortunately I was unable to find mine on the wreck." He pats the whip at his side fondly and continues. "As far as other supplies go, we recovered a block and tackle, some canvas sheets, fishing nets, grappling hook, bullseye lanterns and a good number of oil flasks, some rope, 5 shovels..." He paused, dug in his pocket, and withdrew the box he recovered earlier. "...and this box. I'm not entirely sure what it is for, but I detected magic upon it. Unfortunately, perhaps duo to the stress of the moment, I was unable to determine what its abilities are. If any of you have such knowledge, please take a look. Otherwise I intend to try again tomorrow. At the very least, I deem it to be worth a fair amount of money, what with the outside being encrusted with gems." He paused as another thought struck him. "Oh, I also found two bottles of brandy, some rock candy, some other fancier-looking chocolates, and a painting of a small dog. Do these belong to any of you? Otherwise, I'll give the brandy and food to Aerys along with the rest of the food stores. Professor Harmon here discovered the captain's journal, and he will no doubt enlighten us as to what he found out." Aldarion left unsaid the content he found in the captain's notes, not wanting to inflict bad poetry on the rest of the group.

Aldarion stops for a moment to let all the information he provided sink in for the group. "Now then, we should arrange watches for night, and figure out who gets what camp duties." He nods to the Half-Elf woman. "Aerys has graciously volunteered to be our cook. I’m thinking that one or two with keen sight would make good sentries during the day. Perhaps the druid or one of the rangers would like to be forward scout, and one of the others our rearguard?” He looked at the rest of the group. "We need to work together and play upon each others' strengths if we're going to survive. I was thinking that tomorrow we might, as Aerys suggested, find a cave or another suitable location for a more defensible camp that we can range from, and perhaps leave several of our group behind to guard our supplies so we don't cart everything with us into danger. Ishirou, Sasha, and Aberwhinge, perhaps? Are there any camp or daily duties the rest of you feel that you are suitable for?" He asked this last question as he looked at all of the remaining group-members in turn: Aerys, Sasha, Ishirou, Aberwhinge, Jask, and the others. "I propose we vote on our decisions for survival, travel, and exploration, going with a basic majority vote. Combat, however, is different. I think we should pick one person who has seen combat and knows how to direct others in such situations where we may face more than sea scorpions. It wouldn't hurt to have some sort of chain-of-command.

He paused again, picking up one of the shovels. “We also need a couple to bury the dead and dig latrines. Not the most glorious job, but I volunteer for one of those spots, if anyone would care to join me.”

[Kintua]

"A very thorough report, as usual, my friend." The professor procures the book from his little knapsack and opens it to the page he marked on the ship to show it to Aerys.

"Everything before this is what one would expect from a captain's log. But right here, he begins professing his love for Ieana, and here, he indicates that he thinks Alton shared his infatuation. It continues like that until this passage, where he mentions that Ieana wants to be brought to Smuggler's Shiv, and that she will deal with the crew herself so they can be together. Everything else is nigh unintelligible because of how his mania affected his handwriting." He passes the captain's log to Aerys for her to peruse and stretches, cracking his back.

"I think I should take a page out of our cursed friend's book, and look for some extra food for our stores. Best for you to have as many different ingredients to play with as possible, right, Aerys? Save some of those limes for me, though, they're my favorite!" He heads off into the treeline, keeping an eye out in the dim light for any easily geathered fruits. Blood Berries in particular, as they'd be low to the ground where he could reach, but trying to note the kinds of trees where food he'd have to climb for likes to grow.

[darklink_shadow]

I'll dig. Why not? Ishirou said in his grim monotone voice.

Sasha agreed to help guard the base, as did Krusk, though they agreed to guard on separate shifts. Aeyrs and Ishirou both agreed to take their same-gendered campmate's shift with them. As for other tasks, nobody seemed sure what to do, and the gnomish bard seemed particularly distraught. I have no skills that would be any good out here! I can't hunt, I can't fight! And I am NOT digging holes for you all to **** in!

[Othniel]

Aldarion nodded, trying to calm the gnome by playing to his strengths. "You have your wits still, I hope, and I'll bet you're handy with that crossbow. You could keep lookout during the day, and help entertain and encourage everyone else. Don't underestimate the effect of higher morale, Gelik. You can have quite an effect." He hoped his sympathetic tone and giving the gnome a role he could perform well would lift the fellow's spirits.

[darklink_shadow]

Do you have women that need wooing? Songs written? No? What am I supposed to sing about? How we are all going to die? I don't even have my harp! The gnome was clearly not having it. He grabbed a bundle of fabric and stormed off a ways, before covering himself, and laying on the grass.

[Vhaidara]

Ebreloni returns with a small armful of food.
Not too much out there, but I found something.
He glances around at the group.
Now, two things. First, does anyone have access to healing magics? If not we'll need to be even more careful. Second, is anyone still reasonably injured?

Spoiler: OoC

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Sorry if these are things that have been covered. I have been in something of a funk and didn't see anything on my skim through the thread. And I'll go with that Ebreloni was distracted by the fact that this transformation hurt more than usual.

[skypse]

Cabrakan watched everyone talking, arguing and planning how the rest of the days will go.
I can do whatever you need me to as far as exploration, guarding and combat goes. I wouldn't trust myself with the cooking or the magics though! I'm used in living in forest areas near the sea since that is were I grew up. I can hunt or gather fruit and I have pretty good eyesight for someone of my age but I am nearly useless at night since I cannot see anything 10 feet away from me without light. If you want I can go and search along the beach for any cliffs that can provide better shelter. I'm also good with first aid and tending on the sick. Ebreloni, since you asked, I am a bit messed up after all this drowning and swimming and fighting but it is nothing that a good night sleep isn't going to cure. Most probably I'll be perfect in the morning.
However I have some questions now that we are back all together. It doesn't feel right to be protected by people I don't know anything about. My name is Cabrakan and I come from the island of Mediogaldi. The reason I boarded on the Jeniverse is that my parents died in the island and now that I have nothing to hold me in that place I want to travel the world. So, who are you guys and I especially want to know the reason that man was in chains and he cannot speak.

Spoiler: OoC

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I asked before but I can't find if you answered me or not. The Dex damage I got from the initial scorpions is permanent or not? And if not, what is the duration?

[Othniel]

Aldarion shrugged sadly as Gelik walked off. He felt sorry for the gnome, but was at a loss as to how to help the poor fellow. He'd try again tomorrow. Hopefully a night's rest and some food would lift Gelik's spirits a bit. The archaeologist turned to Ebreloni and nodded. "I can heal light wounds twice more today. We should see who is the most grievously injured. Some of us, such as myself will probably recover enough through a night's rest." He then addresses Cabrakan with a bow. "Aldarion Lithren, archaeologist and professor of Archaeology at the Absalom Academy of History. I was on board the ship en route to an exploratory expedition in the Mwangi expanse."

[Vhaidara]

Ebreloni Arintosh. Mom was an Ekujae, dad was a prisoner. Had this mark since birth.
His tail indicates the scorpion birthmark on his face.
About a year ago, I changed for the first time. Had to flee or the Ekujae would have killed me. Ended up on the boat. Then it wrecked. I was just looking to get away from the Mwangi.

[Kintua]

Harmon returns from the trees and almost trips over Gelik on his way back to the group. Chuckling as he sidesteps around the other gnome, he makes his way to Aldarion's side.

"I didn't find anything, and it's getting dark. Time to start licking our wounds and getting ready to rest, I think." He kneels by Cabrakan's knees and, without warning, sends a jolt of healing energy through them. Sunlight glows from within his armor for just a second, then vanishes, as does all of the dried blood and other grime he had acquired. He continues around the group, drying and cleaning everyone off with but a flick of the wrist, until he reaches Elethir.

He moves carefully towards Stormtalon and the druid, addressing the young allosaur. "May I help heal your wounds?"

Spoiler: Actions

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Casting Cure Light Wounds on Cabrakan: (1d8+1)[4]
Using Prestidigitation to clean us all up. Except for Gelik, 'cause he should be able to do it himself. And is also being a grump.
Activating Speak with Animals to speak to Stormtalon directly.

[Othniel]

"I, too, have some healing spells available yet today." Aldarion said, approaching Cabrakan after the Professor and laying his hands upon the man.

Spoiler: Actions and Rolls

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Cure Light Wounds on Cabrakan:
(1d8+1)[5]
And one more roll for an NPC (You pick, Mr. GM):
(1d8+1)[9]

[LordHavelock]

Elethir huffs at the idea that he is some sort of mighty hunter, but nods in assent, "Stormtalon and I hunt together, and we were able to feed ourselves well enough to survive, I don't know how many more we can feed just by hunting, but I know how to make stores last through winter as well." Taking a longer pause, he approaches Sasha to discuss another matter, "Who were these others? More survivors from the ship? I thought this 'Smuggler's Shiv' was supposed to be a deserted island? Something about a failed colony?"

At the offer for healing for himself and Stormtalon he sighs and can't help but smile. "Yes, I have some gifts, just let me settle Stormtalon a bit, I'm sure he will be grateful for the help. And so am I." It was the best way to make an introduction really, Elethir thought to himself as he moved towards Stormtalon's most obvious wound and ran his hand over it as he had dozens of time before since receiving the ability to knit wounds from nature. "Just know, he's usually hungry after feeding, and those sea scorpions are anything but good eating."

For his part, the young allosaur bristles initially even at Elethir's touch, but begins to relax quite quickly, stretching and cleaning his front most talons, for the moment not eyeing the others.

Spoiler: Actions

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One use of CLW: (1d8+1)[5]

[darklink_shadow]

Sasha gave Elethir a troubled look and shook her head. They seemed strange. I can't say who they were, but they seemed to be natives to me. They were violent, that much is sure.