Seaside 4: Where Every Week Is Shark Week

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

As if land would be able to stop some species of shark in seaside. This shark clearly knew what it was doing after all as it came swimming at full speed towards them and that was enough for the villagers to worry. Survivors still told the tale of the great flying shark invasion of the vile years.

It doesn't seem like Anika is planning to use the same maneuver this time however, instead the shark dives deeper down as it closes in on the settlement and then makes a sudden ascent and launches itself into the air so that half of its massive body lands on the many jetty's sticking out from the settlements.
Naturally, the people (who all appear to be humans) nearby back away, some of them even even crying out in surprise.
The shark seems to be waiting for something, namely that Ilpholin will climb up on the jetty. Once she does, the shark will in a emerald swirl of energies turn into a much smaller, but still tall purple elf in a bikini. This could have been done a lot easier without causing any alarm or panic, but it seems like Anika just likes showing off, or perhaps to scare the crap out of people.

[bc56]

Pirate Ship

"They got you too." The captain grimly says. He walks over to the surgeon, drawing his sword, and slicing off the infected limb. He ties the tourniquet back over the stump, and hefts the surgeon over his shoulder, carrying him as fast as he can (which quite as fast as before, thanks to the increased weight) to the ladder.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

Ilpholin clearly underestimates the Seaside sharks. Land sharks are perfectly good reason to be terrified. If she knew, she might have attempted to alleviate the fishers' fears. Alas, fancy acrobatics will just have to sooth their nerves as the shark leaps onto jetty. Ilpholin times her release while the shark's in the air to try and land on the jetty herself on her feet. It's horrendously unnecessary and probably a little dangerous. She considered attempting a flip in midair, but isn't practiced enough with Anika's sharp jumping timings to risk it.

While she's out there and Anika's turning back, Ilpholin will go ahead and strip off the excess parts of her suit that aren't the best parts- tight, form fitting, latex-like. Then she and presumably the bikini-clad purple hottie will walk along the jetty to the beach where she supposes they might have to explain themselves a little.

[Earl of Purple]

Pirate Ship

"What do you mean? What? I've been bit, aye, by one of those AAAAGH!" The surgeon screams as he finds himself on the receiving end of the bonesaw for once, even if the captain isn't using a bonesaw. The surgeon winces and grimaces, but will talk the captain through tying the tourniquet and possibly even cauterising the wound, if the captain is willing to wait long enough to set a fire.

The surgeon will try to walk rather than be carried, but they'll have difficulty with the ladder. Maybe the Captain should have waited and amputated when they were on the top deck.

The zombies groan and see and lurch towards the ladder and the captain, but they'd have to be pretty unlucky to be caught. The unfortunate sailor is pulling themselves along at the back of the approaching herd, unable to walk due to how much they've been eaten.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

The villagers who now have started to emerge from their wooden homes keep their distance, regarding them with either fear, curiosity or both. Pulling their children close to ensure the curious little ones won't offend the obviously magical people that suddenly appeared in their village.
Anika looks to be about to say something when an elderly black-skinned woman tightly wrapped in faded red cloth approaches, supporting herself on a staff of black wood.
She steps not too far away from the two women, daring to get closer than any of the other villagers.
"Are thou gods?" She asks letting her gaze between the two. Certainly not looking at them like some other people of the village...

[bc56]

Pirate Ship

The captain is a rather impulsive man. He probably wouldn't have thought of that. He leads the surgeon back to the ladder, then tries to carry him up using a fireman's carry.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

"Goddesses?" Ilpholin raises an eyebrow. "Well we certainly have the bodies for it," Ilpholin says, primarily looking over at Anika and eying her up and down probably just as much, if not more, than a few of the villagers. "Anika does for sure. So I guess you could call us demi-gods if you want." Whatever floats their boats.

Reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the demi-goddess next to her, she points up at the decaying temple atop the hill. "What's that?" She asks the elderly lady brave enough to talk to them.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

There are murmurs from the crowd that now have gathered around them, they sound fascinated but also hesitant about these "demi-gods". Ilpholin have them pay particular attention to their bodies as she was basically highlighting them. In particular the teenagers, there is even a "ahh" from some of the gathered youngsters.

Anika chuckles. "Well, that's..." She says, rubbing the back of her head, not really sure where her gaze is supposed to be as Ilpholin was clearly undressing the little she had on with her gaze. Though, to be fair, she was pretty sure a lot of these humans were as well. "I mean, pretty much. If anyone needs healing I could cure diseases, mend wounds... all the good stuff." She offers to more impressed murmurs from the villagers.

The elderly woman takes a moment to turn around to see the reactions from the others before she turns back and nods deeply before Ilpholin and Anika. "A temple, thou great one. From the olden days of the empire. Only the old priest live up there now along with the ghosts of the past. Do you wish to go there thou great ones? The olden gods might not take lightly to new, young, gods threading upon its temple."

[Earl of Purple]

Pirate Ship

The carry is successful, and they're able to get him up the ladder, though it is tricky and the zombies arrive as they're most of the way up the ladder. They'll grab and pull at the captain's feet, but the surgeon's managed to make it up and he'll try to get people to help pull the captain up before he starts organising the pirates into carefully creating a fire so they can cauterise his stump as quickly as possible, as despite the tourniquet, he's still bleeding a little and that should really stop.

The good thing is there's only six zombies at the bottom of the ladder- seven counting the unfortunate crawler, but he won't arrive for ages- and another four zombies have barricaded themselves so well they can't escape and only one crewmember remains unaccounted for- a powdermonkey.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

"I, uhhh, kill demons. And consort with animals." There. Both of their domains have been established in the annals of... remote fishing village 2274.

The nymph turns to the old woman directly now. "Ilpholin's fine." Great ones was stretching it a little bit. "Take us there." Ilpholin glances over the woman who has clearly seen better years in terms of physical health. "Err, have someone take us there. If any of the old gods have a problem with it, they can take it up with me!"

Ilpholin emphasizes her point by holding out and transforming one of her hands into a spiked mace for a short period of time. She doesn't care about flak from some decrepit and crumbling deities who should've disappeared years ago.

[bc56]

Pirate Ship

"It's bad down there. I'm not sure we can make another run. We might need to abandon ship." Obviously, the zombies almost got them last time, it seems like trying again might just be pressing their luck too far.

[Earl of Purple]

Pirate Ship

Alternately, the captain needs to tell the crew to aim for the head, to avoid future issues, especially with swords. The zombies are still outnumbered, though if the captain wants to abandon ship I daresay his crew will follow him. Unfortunately, the nearest land is uninhabitable, and home to a crazed skeleton chained to a table.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

The villagers eyes widen as Ilpholins hand suddenly change, there is even a gasp or too. The old woman just appear thoughtful however, even as she is also backing away. "Well then... I shan't question the motives of the divine." She backs away further and turns to the crowd.

She doesn't say anything, she doesn't need to. The villagers were all aware of what was asked of them but there was some hesitation.

Then a young man, still in his teens suddenly steps forward. "What would I get in return?" He asks confidentially. The other villagers giving him frowns and shocked stares.

"Ha! You got guts, kid!" Anika exclaims with a smile.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

Ilpholin rolls her eyes. Like... the temple is right there. They could just go themselves without any supplicants. Well whatever. She saunters towards the young man.

"Why, you get to spend time with us of course. Alone..." Ilpholin whispers huskily, staring him in the eyes as she reaches to gently caress a cheek with fingers that shouldn't be that soft and inviting. "We'll make it the most memorable time of your life," Ilpholin says implying much but promising nothing. At the very least, she'll probably give him a show and make out with Anika for a while in front of him. That would be pretty hard to forget.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

The young man's smile gets a tad more nervous as Ilpholin rolls her eyes, and even more so when she gets into his personal space. He stands there unmoving, swallowing audibly when she speaks.
"Deal." He answers with a nod, getting green-eyed stares from his peers.

Anika isn't going to waste any time though and puts her arms over the teenagers and Ipholins shoulders. "Great! Let's go then!" She exclaims while urging them both forward. "Which way?"

The young man gestures to one of the paths leading out of the village. "Th-" "Alright, then let's ride! Hold on and guide me!" Then in a swirl of green energies Anika have turned into a huge panther-like creature with fur that matches the druids, mixed with teal and amber. Ilpholin and the young man will find themselves on the back of this huge creature which is starting to run in the direction the man indicated.

He cries out in shock as the villagers almost unanimously gasp, but before anyone can properly react they have already gone through the village and out into the jungle outside. The man holding onto the sabers fur for dear life.

On occasion, the big cat slows down and turns to look at the boy who just mutely nods in a direction.
Not soon after, they've reached the temple and Anika shifts back into her humanoid form, causing Ilpholin and the man to fall off. "And we're here!" She proclaims, her arms held into the air in triumph.

The temple is as ancient as it looked from afar yet the entrance looks a lot cleaner than what they saw earlier would have suggested. There is even a rocky path leading up to the front entrance, and the two huge serpentine statues guarding it appear to have been scrubbed clean recently.

"I- I- wow! I mean... we- you should know there is more than 'old gods' living here!" The young man exclaims as starts to get off the ground, looking in utter fascination at Ilpholin and Anika.

[bc56]

Pirate Ship

The sailors begin prepping the ship's boat for departure. With no food, water, or bullets, they would need to find habitable land soon. Of course, they don't leave just yet. The ship is much faster than the rowboat, and they can sail it without needing to go belowdecks. They set course for the horizon in a random direction, and sail off.

[Earl of Purple]

Pirate Ship

Well, then the zombies remain trapped below decks, whilst the crew work to get their ship somewhere else.

I'll let someone else encounter them now, and keep an eye on the scene in case the thirteen zombies below deck need mentioning (herd of eight, 1 crawler, 3 gunners w/ powder monkey, and the missing powder-monkey that remains unaccounted for).

[UncleWolf]

Operation Sea Slug

TTN nods to Will, understanding the importance of his catch, and continues to help the gnolls ashore. "Make sure Tammy is kept safe and sound, Will. Don't go too far." She'll personally offer Sargera a hand to help her get to firm ground so she can report to her immediately. "We should make sure everyone is armed and ready. It looks like there's been plasma or laser weaponry fired around. William has found signs of unnaturally melted rock. If no one here has stuff that can withstand such, I can always take point. If I can't withstand it, then I would advise retreat."

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

Ilpholin holds on, though she primarily holds on to the man, pressed against his back, her arms gripped tight around his chest as they buck and bounce upon the giant panther. When the ride ends however, she ends up falling with an Oof, and has to push the guy out of her lap in order to stand with a little glare at Anika. "Could you at least have waited for us to climb off?" It wouldn't have taken that long!

Well whatever. Brushing the dirt off her behind, she walks over to look at the statues, standing in front of them as if challenging them. "Elaborate. I know the old priest is here. Who else?" Did that old lady try to hide something from them?

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

Anika quickly turns to Ilpholin as she hears them fall off, looking rather sheepish as she will offer a hand to help the nymph up. "Sorry Ilpholin, sometimes I don't think..." She admits.

"...no its him, but its not like you think... he's different." The young man attempts to explain.

That's when they hear a second voice coming from inside the temple. "Is that you, Tuo?"
Exiting the temple is a man in a ornate skirt and neck guard. However, this man is completely covered in green scales like a snake and his head vaguely resemblance ones as well with no hair, a slight snout and slit-like eyes that stare unblinkingly at them. "Demi-humans. I suppose you have a good reason to being here?" He asks accusingly as the young man hurriedly bows his head in respect for this serpent-man.

Operation Sea Slug

The imp just takes the stuff and runs off with it, giggling.
Meanwhile, it appears Tammy likes to take a closer look at the melted rock and the other damages. "Curious-y..."

"I've already ordered everyone to arm themselves." Sargera remarks. "I'm expecting this island to be dangerous, though I didn't expect this form of danger admittedly. We need to search the entire island in teams."

The rest of the gnolls are indeed arming themselves with all manner of strange weapons, both traditional guns and more arcane-looking knives and wands. "I can't see another boat though, and there is no way a helicopter could land here. Maybe we're missing something." She looks up. "Ah, that must be the motes you mentioned..."

Indeed, the glowing blue motes they could see from the ship. Together, they form a straight line which is leading directly to the hill of the island, disappearing among the thorns and does not appear to be coming out on the other side.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

"You're one to talk," Ilpholin retorts, turning to look over the obviously demi-human. "Don't lump us in with those conniving weasels." Humans? Ugh. How insulting. Even half human would be pretty awful. Sure there are a few good ones, but even those have their limitations.

He's also horribly wrong. They don't have the slightest good reason for being here. "I came in search of possible allies against the growing demonic threat which will soon engulf all lands and life. I see I came to the wrong place." One old priest and a crumbling temple isn't going to be much help at all.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

The scaled priest seem to be uninterested in Ilpholin's accusations, and almost seem to be about to turn and walk back into the temple when the word "demonic" seem to catch his interest. For a moment, a forked tongue slid out from his lip-less mouth. "If you tell me more about this 'demonic threat' then I might be able to help. The great serpent aids those who struggle against evil, regardless of their ancestry."

Anika is just raising an eyebrow at the priest, not even sure what 'demihuman' is supposed to mean as neither of them were humans at all, and neither seemed he. It seemed rather confusing.

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will checks his laser pistol. He might have a gun in his arm but the goblins didn’t put sights on it, so he would prefer a real gun.
”Yeah, that’s them. Guessing we’re going that way?” he posits.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

Don't worry about it Anika. He was likely just being racist. Probably used to be human at one point himself. Too blind with his own prejudices to understand.

"Known for their corruptive fluids, they're vulnerable to silver and dragon bone. The scum destroyed Watchtower and burned homes unnecessarily amongst other things." Why did they burn Adir's house anyways? "They'll stop at nothing to resurrect their dead god and wash this world in madness and suffering."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

There is no signs of recognition this time. The serpent-man's expression now completely unreadable. "Were there hyena-folk involved in this?"

Meanwhile, Tuo, their guide, is trying to settle down after that ride. It was imperative to not get too excited, especially if you weren't wearing more than a pair of shorts. Would really give the ladies the wrong impression...

"Hyena-folk? You mean like gnolls?" Anika inquires the weird scale-dude, was this really the reason Ilpholin had come all this way?

"...that name is vaguely familiar, yes. We called them Crocrotras. Awful hyena-like demihumans that used creatures out of nightmares to do their bidding. If they are back, you're going to need to pray hard to the great serpent."

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

They both already know Tuo. No point in being embarrassed about it. Demi-gods know these things.

Ilpholin had thought she made her motivations clear to Anika. Why else are they following some lost map from sunken ship that clearly was barely relevant anymore based on the number of people who cared about the temple? For giggles?

"Yes, the gnolls are more or less directly responsible for this incursion of demons as if they lit a shiny beacon and left it on. There still up to no good. There was a tribe of them on a nearby island but they were chased off." Wenomir didn't want to kill them for... reasons that still baffle her. She makes no immediate comment about prayer, but it seems like they wouldn't find much help here either if that's the go to recommendation. Her loyalties are already split between two greater divine beings. A third would just make things complicated.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

The serpent-man nods. "Good, that's enough to trust that your mission is genuine." He pauses a moment. "I might have something for you then, something that must be used with utter care. An artifact I really shouldn't trust to strangers I don't even know the name of. But desperate times..." He pauses gesturing for them to follow. "I am Rashak by the way. And who might you two be? I should at least know your names."

As he heads inside, Tuo also follows though he is keeping himself in the background. He was fine with watching Anika and Ilpholin from behind (assuming the two follows along of course).

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

Ilpholin glances to Anika to make she's alright with the idea, shrugging herself and following the priest. With just enough added sway to keep Tuo's attention. Not much though. Don't want to upset the delicate sensibilities of the old priest.

"I'm Ilpholin Xar'cha of the Xar'cha clan. It's nice to meet you Rashak." Ilpholin introduces herself as they walk. She did have to wonder how the spider snake thing played out based on the images back on the ship. Maybe it's just an old thing that held little bearing now.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

"Anika Sunfletcher, of the Sungletcher clan." Anika replies, missing all that Ilpholin action as she is looking ahead rather than behind.
She doesn't even know what she's missing, such a sad fate.

Ilpholin will see that while the temple is mainly decorated with snake symbolism, there are a few spider-like symbols and statues connected to the snakes. Often somehow featuring inside the snakes.
"Ilpholin and Anika." Rashak repeats, his steps rapid and purpose-driven. He doesn't seem to want to slow down for anything.
"What I'm about to hand to you must be handled with utter care. It is called the horn of Jubelix and will summon the greatest child of the serpent if at the right place, bringing utter destruction in her wake." He raises a finger. "First condition, Jubelix can only be summoned in seaside or near a source of water connected to it that is large enough to contain her. Condition two, once the horn is sounded Jubelix will take a single order from the owner of the horn. But their sustenance is righteous destruction and they won't leave until they've tasted it. If they've been summoned for injustice, they will devour the owner first. Third condition, once Jubelix have appeared, the horn will return to this temple so that it won't be misused. Do you understand?"

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

The gods must be punishing Anika for her hubris.

How strange. Ilpholin hasn't the slightest idea what the symbology might mean. She only studied to become a Lloth priestess for a while before reality shut her down hard and made it clear it would never be. One of the few things she ever gave up on. So she's left without any reasonable guess as to why spiders are inside snakes.

"Seaside only, one order, righteous destruction, single use. Understood," Ilpholin repeats back to the priest to display her understanding of his spoken instructions. When an old priest like figure tells you not to feed the thing after midnight, you don't feed the thing after midnight.

"Does the great serpent hold a long standing grudge against the gnolls?" Asking a few questions to get a feel for what a Jubelix might consider as a righteous cause seems prudent. Obviously her cause is righteous and just without question, but some great serpent god might have different (incorrect) standards.