Ruins of Azlant, Part I: A Bountiful Venture [PF] (IC)

[pi4t]

Liyinva hurries after Midnight, grabbing for the end of his lead and getting him back under control before he does something problematic. This issue dealt with, and looking slightly embarrassed, she goes into a combat-ready stance and begins looking around for any signs of a fight, or of the colonists' departure.

The observant among the group might also notice that the torn shoulder of her clothing has repaired itself at some point.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Controlled Midnight via a 22 handle animal, and am looking for tracks and similar things using survival. 14.

Also cast Mending on my clothes at some point on the boat trip.

Edit: Oh, and entering snake style.

[Desril]

Between Rovena and Tirsen's magical sensing prowess, Shana isn't sure she's needed, but decides to look around anyway, searching for tracks or signs of a struggle or anything that might explain why the town was apparently entirely devoid of any life save for their little group. She raised an eyebrow at the half-elven woman's repaired garb but merely shrugged her shoulders, uncertain if she'd mended it when she wasn't looking or if it was actually just some sort of self-mending cloth or even an illusion. Either way, she could ask about it later.

Spoiler

Show

Perception to notice anything interesting (1d20+6)[18]
Survival to follow any tracks we may find? (1d20+2)[4]

[Lt Gravemind]

Edo was just glad to get off that boat, even given the circumstances, though the eerie emptiness of their arrival quickly sullied any feelings of elation he had. Even, before Rovena mentioned it, the capsized canoe caught his attention as they transitioned from the docks to the sand, though the fact that their main boat wasn't present was more even more odd - one of the many that greeted them. Missing people, missing boats, a beach pristine of activity save for a lion running bout. Edo would have found the scene of Liyinva chasing after it cute were it not for literally everything else.

With a quick swig of his flask to take the edge off, Edo pressed forward with the group. He made sure to place himself in the front of the group or at least in between anything that might be lurking in the tents that they were heading toward. The collapsed tents, which presumably no one who was still around would be sleeping in. He had his blade sheathed, though his grip around the haft remained firm on their approach.

[Hattish Thing]

Cautiously, Rackam steps forward, looking about the camp with a nervous and uncomfortable expression upon his weathered face. Instinctively, the ex-Pathfinder draws his gold-plated pistol as he moves forward, keeping it raised high so as to avoid any sort of unfortunate, accidental misfire.

As Rovena casts her spell and begins to look about, Rackam draws closer to the others, a crooked grin forming upon his face.

--

"You know, it's strange. It's downright eerie. This whole place..."

"Reminds me o' the tale of Splatter Bay."

"Any o' ye heard of it?

[Darvin]

"Can't say I've heard of it," Tirsen sifted through the nearest thing that looked remotely interesting, sparing the minimum amount of concentration to speak with Rick, "but let me guess, it was something other than water that was doing the splattering,"

[jamieth]

Rovena stops for several seconds and closes her eyes momentarily, diving into her memories. "I don't believe I did... you'll have to enlighten me when we're less occupied, if you don't mind?"

[Stelio Kontos]

The group makes its way up toward the tents. The stillness in the air is palpable, save for the light wind breezing in off the bay, and the silence is broken only by the occasional chirp and squawk of a few birds in the trees. In the distance you can see the Peregrine raising its anchor, preparing to make way for the rendezvous point.

The tents themselves appear quite unoccupied. Given the state of disrepair they are all in, it's clear that nobody -- at least no humanoid -- would have made its home there voluntarily. One of the tents has a particularly nasty stench to it; the cause of that musk is made apparent to even the nature-uninitiated as a startled skunk, disturbed by your sudden appearance, gives you a staredown and a raised tail before thinking better of it and scurrying past you toward the east. A cursory examination from outside the tent reveals that all the relevant materials to properly stake the tent are present, and should you wish to use them they could be gotten into an acceptable state; it's clear that they have simply been neglected for some length of time.

The first tent you poke your head into is quite empty, but it contains a number of mundane items -- waterskins, a spare set of clothing, cooking pots, a backpack, and a sodden deck of haphazardly stacked playing cards, from which most of the dye has run off. Some vermin, quite probably the skunk, seems to have taken a few nibbles off what appears to have been the six of spades. Everything in sight has been soaked by rain and otherwise ravaged by the elements, but most of the items are probably salvageable with a bit of repair and good scrubbing.

[Darvin]

"No sign of anyone, dead or alive... hmm," Tirsen evaluates the situation, then turns about to look for the druid Liyinva "how long do you suppose it's been since the last rainfall? That might give us an idea of how long ago the area was abandoned,"

[jamieth]

"One moment..." Rovena stops in her tracks and concentrates, looking at the backpack found in the tent, "There is something... a... conjuration aura, yes..." she crouches and opens the backpack, pulling a small vial of light blue glass wrapped in a leather poach. "Of course! A healing potion. Hopefully we won't need it, but just in case... It would be safer in my bag than here, anyways, should the previous owner need it..."

[Darvin]

"Everything here seems to indicate the settlement was abandoned in a hurry, and likely not all too recently," Tirsen strides about the tent without touching anything, "if the previous owner had need of that potion, I suspect it's much too late at this point,"

[pi4t]

Liyinva pauses before replying, thinking back over the weather on the journey and double checking that the ground is as dry as she thought. "When did it last rain? Not for a week or so, at least. Not properly, anyway - not so much that it would wash away tracks from this many people leaving. The tents also look like they have not been used for at least a couple of weeks, based on the state they are in." She trails off, realising that once again the conversation had already begun to move on before she started speaking.

[Lt Gravemind]

"Maybe we'll get a better idea from the buildings. No blood or bodies yet, so maybe something just spooked them good." Edo added, not quite believing it himself as he kept eyes on their surroundings.

[Darvin]

"If they were just spooked, they'd have come and gotten their supplies by now. Let's finish checking the tents before we move on to the enclosed area," Tirsen points, walking between the tents and sifting as she goes.

[jamieth]

"Right", Rovena nods as she scans the rest of the tents for any other magical auras, "no reason to miss anything that can help us..."

[Desril]

Shana seemed to be quieter than usual as she poked around, looking for anything that might be relevant to figuring out the question at hand; What happened to the colonists, pointing out anything she might find.

Spoiler

Show

Still sick but felt I needed to get something up. Can't think really clearly at the moment, so have some aid anothers to survival and perception
(1d20+2)[15] surv
(1d20+6)[22] percp

[Stelio Kontos]

The party's thorough search of the remaining tents reveals a mundane collection of clothing and tools, but the more interesting items found are three more potions, virtually identical in appearance to the one Rovena determined to be a healing potion; the glass vials containing the liquid are all slightly different in shape, though very functional, but all have the same blue tint to the glass. The other items, which catches Liyinva's eye for fashion even before Rovena is able to call it out as magical, is a well-crafted shirt that seems out of place among its rather shabby cousins in the tent.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Add three more Cure Light Wounds potions to the party inventory and divide accordingly. Also a magic shirt, of as yet undetermined use that

Spoiler: FYI for when you figure it out which you will eventually

Show

is a Quick Runner's Shirt

[jamieth]

"It is enchanted", Rovena points out, pointing at the shirt, "Transmutation, magic, in fact, but... can't tell what exactly does it do. I'll have to take a better look at it later... no time for that now."

[Darvin]

"I'll see if I can uncover some latent memories regarding that shirt to uncover its secrets," Tirsen nods in acknowledgement to Rovena, "later, that is. I can't exactly do that very often, so let's sweep the colony first,"

[pi4t]

Liyinva bundles up the shirt into her pack, and begins to lead Midnight off to investigate the rest of the colony, slowly heading in the direction of the main stockade but checking the surrounding structures and objects thoroughly as she goes.

[Hattish Thing]

Rackam follows the others cautiously, looking about suspiciously every few moments, somewhat on edge due to the circumstances. Regardless, these exact circumstances would supply an excellent bit of atmosphere for the story he was about to tell, as the group moves forward, investigating abandoned tents.

With a crooked grin, Rackam speaks towards Rovena in particular, bringing up the subject once again.

"Ye know, it's fittin'. No blood, no tracks, no signs o' life. Could be that we got ourselves a second Splatter Bay, eh? See, they was three hundred strong, somethin' like that. A colony on a small island, off the Sargavan Coast. Bunch of foppish, slave-keeping Chelish folk, real posh sort of folk, you know. Was their downfall, that was, all the slaves. Slavery see, it ain't never settled with me, down in me guts. Too much Andoran running through me blood, or somethin' like that, aheh."

He grins eerily, approaching Rovena with a slightly ominous expression upon his face, clearly attempting to frighten her somewhat.

--

"Anyway, them Chelish slave-keeping folk. Them was accustomed to a certain way of life, ya see. Plenty o' food, plenty o' power, with their armored guards keepin' em safe from the real world. One day though, hurricane hit, spurned off from the Eye of Abendago itself. Came right for 'em, shut things down. Buildin's destroyed, stores of food spoiled by the storm, nothin' left. Alas, them Chelish folk 'ad no way to get a message to the mainland, leavin' 'em stranded."

"They kept order. For a while."

"Soon though... Food ran real low, and them Chelish folk, ohh... They weren't leaving much left for their servants, their slaves, their armored guards. No, no they wasn't, heh. Cause o' that, was a revolt, there was. Bloody and violent, and soon, them Chelish folk weren't in charge no more. Yet that couldn't stave the hunger, you can't feast on emancipation. But those servants, those freed slaves? They feasted, they feasted they did. One way or another..."

"By the time a ship from the mainland came by... There weren't nothing left of them Chelish folk but half-chewed bones and scraps of cloth. Them slaves? Them servants? They themselves went missing they did. No sign of them, no sir, ma'am. Not much left of 'em. But what they did find... disturbing carvings, showin's of cannibalism, black magicks, blood sacrifice."

--

"Sorta makes you wonder... These folk here, all gone and vanished."

"Wonder which ones o' their own they ate first, eh?"

OOC: Nat 20 "Intimidate", 30 Total.

[jamieth]

As Rovena listens to Rackam's tale, she feels a chill running through her body, despite the burning tropical sun; and for a short while, she finds herself completely unable to form a coherent response...

And, as it often does in time of troubles, the girl's mind finds solace in the one force she knows she can always rely on. In magic.

"B-but..." she finally replies, "Why didn't they call for help earlier, before the supplies grwew scarce? Certainly in a colony of that size, there would be someone capable of reading a scroll of sending... my opinion of Chelish politics aside, they don't neglect the arcane education... though they tend to specialize in conjuration, of course, but still... that was certainly a grave fault of the colony's leaders... We won't make a mistake like that, right?"

The confidence of her last words, though, was severely undermined by the fact that she was visibly shuddering all the way through her little speech.

[Darvin]

Tirsen admires the story; the themes are quite familiar even if she hasn't heard this specific tale before. She eyes Rovena and pats her shoulder, "if there was an insurrection, these tents would have been looted. I doubt the colonists turned on themselves," Tirsen pauses, "that said, you're too accustomed to the academies. Accomplished mages and their writings are common in the cities and institutes of learning, not so much in rural colonies of a few hundred. In my experience, they're hard enough to come by even in the cities since they tend to keep to their own. It's entirely possible, even likely, that a small colony of a few dozen families would lack magic as powerful as a sending spell,"

[Stelio Kontos]

After pocketing the valuables from the tents, the party makes it way east. Just inside the palisade wall sits one of the larger buildings inside the compound, a log-cabin style structure with a thatched pitched roof and three gables, though there is no door on your side of the building. As you make your way between the palisade wall and the south side of the structure, you observe that there are several windows (or, more accurately, window openings, for they contain no glass or coverings and are wide open to the elements), and the sole doorway (though, again, it would be more accurate to call it an "opening", because it has no door nor any sign that any door was ever present) on the west side of the building is covered by a small gabled porch. There is an obvious layer of dust, dirt, and sand that has built up at the doorway, and one corner of the porch appears to be sagging somewhat.

Midnight, though remaining with the group, lingers in the very corner of the wall for as long as possible, and virtually jerks the lead out of Liyinva's hand in an attempt to skirt as close to the palisade wall as can be arranged, avoiding the building.

[Darvin]

Tirsen looks through the window, then remarks, "it appears to be the colony's shrine. Just as abandoned as the tents but... wait, there's blood in there," Tirsen's eyes narrow, followed by her nose, "and something smells... off," she draws her rapier and proceeds around to the entrance. She stands just off from the porch, finds a fairly good-sized rock, and gives it a toss into the shrine, looking for any reaction.

[pi4t]

Liyinva is - perhaps predictably - unimpressed with Rackam's story. Not that she doesn't believe it - although she's both shocked and unnerved that a group of humans would turn on each other like that - but Rackam is obviously enjoying retelling the story, viewing the gruesome deaths of a scores of people as a source of light entertainment and a way to scare Rovena. Once again, Liyinva wishes that he'd gone to live in some faraway city or something rather than coming out here and bothering everyone.

She's also surprised at the idea that Splatter Bay didn't have anyone capable of contacting the mainland. Among her people, she had been virtually the only one who couldn't at least cast Animal Messenger. She's about to comment on this when Midnight begins to try to pull away.

Liyinva stops short, and tries to signal to the group to be quiet, and see if they can hear anything. Apparently she wasn't blatant enough to get a group of loudly talking humans to pay attention, though, since no one takes any notice. She tries again, saying "Quiet!" at normal volume, just as Tirsen throws a rock into the building. Well, if there is anything alive in there, we just lost the element of surprise, she sighs, as she hurries towards the building and the rest of the group, Midnight trailing unhappily behind.

[Stelio Kontos]

Tirsen's rock skitters across the floor; the only response is the small puff of dust from the stone's landing and the faint accompanying "thunk" as it clatters along the ground. No movement or other sound comes from inside.

[jamieth]

"Oh, I've no doubt something like that could happen..." Rovena shakes her head as Tirsen accuses her of ivory-tower approach, "I just think it shouldn't. If more people stidied magic..."
***
"A shrine?" Rovena peeks inside, "I'm afraid it will have to be re-consecrated before it's useful again, if blood really was spilled there... which means it won't be a desecration if we borrow that bow over there? It is enchanted, and might prove useful if you're familiar with such weapons... Complex enchantment, too, two schools of magic intertwined... I never seen anything like that..."

[Lt Gravemind]

While Edo enjoyed a good ghost story on a cold night around a campfire, he didn't really feel like now was the appropriate moment for it. Doubly so given Rovena's reaction, and he briefly wondered if someone as young as her should even be on a mission like this. Magic was nice and all, but he trusted steel and a strong will a bit more than inexperience. Not that what he wanted mattered now.

He peered into the shrine as Tirsen threw the rock and braced to see if anything happened. The lack of a response was only slightly comforting, and he felt kind of silly just peering into the window.

"Well, I'm sure it's worth taking a closer look." Edo commented to Rovena as he pulled away from the window and entered the shrine itself. He wasn't emboldened by the lion's reluctance as he spotted Liyinva coercing it along, but at some point danger had to be faced.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Assuming nothing bad, Edo will look around inside and collect the bow for Rovena to take a closer look at.

[Hattish Thing]

Rackam:

With that sickening grin still plastered upon his golden teeth, Rackam lurches forward with the help of his crutch, pistol still at the ready. He sticks towards the back primarily, still glancing towards the direction of the rest of the island more often than not. Once the bow is produced from the abandoned tent, Rackam scoffs.

Rolling his eyes slightly, he raises his beautifully-crafted, gold-plated firearm into the air, allowing the sun to shine off of it.

"Tsh. Longbows."

[Darvin]

Tirsen follows closely behind Edo, weapon drawn and ready with eyes peeled.