The Isle of the Dark One ∙ [1] Island Rising

[Bitzeralisis]

I have been planning for the last two weeks, and I think I may have gotten my master plan ready to put into action. It involves vultures, kraken, wizards, illusions, and most of all, exploiting. It requires tactical skill, overpowering magic, unbeatable monsters, and many weak minds. It shall take time, but by the end of this week, I should have half of the army dead and the rest trapped on my Isle. Though the result'll be a week late... but that is of no matter.

...what is it, servant?

...that's ingenious! Much better than my plan! And simpler. And has near instant gratification. And the best of all is I need absolutely no skill at all. Just give the planet a moment to rotate the King and his army away from the sun, and my new plan shall proceed.

Sometimes my overly-complicated mind can get annoying.

_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/

The Isle of The Dark One: Chapter 1
Island Rising

You set off two weeks ago. You should be arriving in Marsia sometime within the next two weeks, given that the weather stays good and that nothing happens.
Now, the only reason you're on this ship is for "morale." The people of [insert your kingdom here] are very patriotic, and the soldiers on the other transports would be put into a foul mood if they found out that their leaders just teleported to their destination and left them to suffer on their own.
Little did they know that this was a terrible mistake, one that could cost the life of many of their people and possibly some of the leaders' as well. A very large mistake indeed...

_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/

Welcome to the Sea Serpent, the King's official ship. It's like a big pirate ship, with all the cannons and whatnot, with the exception that it also has huge, permanent spells cast onto it to make it immune to all sorts of sea-related hazards. It's been exactly twelve days since you rescued Reyers. You've been on the high oceans ever since.
It's about 7:30 P.M. This is dinner time for the official leader general people (that includes you). You've just been called into the big dining room that every normal soldier guy's jealous of to eat.

[Neftren]

Leowil

Leowil slowly enters the room with Saltspray on his shoulder. He nods to the King and the General, but does not take a seat until he is ordered to. Instead he stands back and awaits the others.

[anIceFan]

Robert

Each morning Robert awakes, he is amazed that he is able to get up and be coherent. The first 6 days on the boat, he thought he was going to die. The first 2 days, he wanted to die. Now after 12 days he has almost become accustomed to the rocking of the boat.

On this day, he makes his way to the dinning hall, seeing Leowil there before him, he gives him a nod and makes his way over to his seat. As any good soldier, he stands ready, waiting for the king to offer him a seat before sitting down.

[ZeroNumerous]

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During the Trip: Alia casts Extended Force Chest (48 hours/level[912 hours or 38 days) on her spellbook. Which she keeps in her Handy Haversack. The box will be completely invisible.

She casts Dragonsight(Extended)[38 hours] and Overland Flight(Extended)[38 hours] every morning. Extended through Augmented Casting(6/day left) and giving up 2 1st level Warmage spells.

She also casts Guards and Wards.

She informs the King, her companions, and everyone who needs to know(Captain, the helmsman, whoever else deemed applicable by the DM) about the specifics of the Guards and Wards spell and where everything is placed.

The entire ship should be covered by Guards and Wards as it covers 3,800 square feet due to her caster level. If everything isn't, then she places the spell foci point in the King's chambers and the effect covers a 3,800 square foot radius from there.

Fog fills every corridor of the ship. Web fills all the stairwells. Every door is Arcane Locked with every person onboard the ship at the moment being able to pass through them. Each split of direction causes a 50% chance that the attackers are going in the wrong direction. 19 doors appear as plain walls as if by silent image. DC 27 will save to disbelieve. The doors in question are going to be to the King's chambers, her companion's doors, and every door leading to the area where the King sleeps. The King's door and her companion's door will have the Dancing Lights effect over them, to mark where to go.

A Magic Mouth is placed at the bridge to warn anyone inside the bridge if any creatures enter the warded area. The magic mouth will then direct the King to the second magic mouth. The second one, placed inside the corridor of hidden doors, will remind the King about the Dancing Lights effects. If anyone but the King approaches, the mouth will not trigger.

The stinking clouds will be placed within the corridor leading to the King's room and in the corridor leading to the bridge. The gust of wind will be placed right in front of the King's door. DC 27 fortitude saves for both.

The suggestion will be placed in front of her room. It will suggest not to disturb Alia or the King.

The entire warded area glows with strong abjuration magic.

Also, Alia is going to pick up 7 MWK item books in the city before they leave.
Items(all of them are books): Travels of Reshar, Mialee the Ugly Elfling, Memoirs of a Bard, Trials and Tribulations of a Liar, The Little Psion That Could, Catch Me If You Can, Studies of Arcane Philosphies and the Pratical Applications Thereof.

In order: Knowledge(History), Spellcraft, Perform(Sing), Bluff, Concentration, Disguise, and Use Magic Device.

She has 409 gold left.

Alia

The gray-elf looking woman joins the rest of the group at the dinner table once she's cast all the spells she wants to use for today. Unlike Leowil or Robert, Alia just walks over to the same chair she sat in the last twelve times and sits down. Without waiting for food or any comment, she simply pulls out her dairy and begins to read. The book in question is titled 'The Little Psion That Could'. She simply smirks when questioned about the small children's book.

[Sornjss Lichdom]

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Nalljss cast extended mage armor on himself so it last all day. (30hrs to be exact) Out of professional habit he also cast alarm (silent) on his door every morning. At the begining of the trip he cast fire trap on his door as well, the pass word he gives to all his fellows, and king before the trip. (Tanzen, the name of his Oynx Dog) the alarm spell's password changes everyday. He keeps his returning dagger, a potion of neutralize poison, two potions of cure wounds, and a potion of fly with him. Also a his wand of lightning and wand of wrack. Rings and boots at all times. He likes to use his rod as a semi-cane and twirls it on deck. all of his scrolls. He leaves his staff in his room, because he finds it incumbersome if he doesnt need it.

Adjusting to the ship was easy for the semi-young wizard, for he loved new experiance. Chatting up the captian, he spends most of his time at the forefront of the ship, where the dipping and bucking sea can be felt the most. The ship was making it harder to study his spells at night, but he prevailed, he was determined to enjoy himself, but also to stay sharp. Having not known the spell cast by Ali prior to her casting, but respected and enjoyed the new security he felt in it's inforcement. Going toward the end of the table he sits and poors himself a glass of wine from his own, private, stock. Sipping contently he nods to his fellow companions, enjoying the what would probably be a brief time of respite, with his dear king it always seemed brief.

[Powerfamiliar]

Kevril

Kevril walks into the room chewing a pre-meal snack while trying to read from beaten up book. He greets those already present and sits. He seems to be lost in his book, but will from time to time peek around to see what everyone else is doing.

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Kevril's morning ritual consist on casting magic insight, draconic flight, and Voidsense on himself. He would also use endure exposure on himslef and all the party members and important crew members.

Right now he would be wearing all his magic items that take up clothing slots, this would be most of his items except what's on his pack, wands, armor and weapon. Hes also wearing his stylish leather slouch hat.

[Bitzeralisis]

DM

The dinner goes by uneventfully. It's not as grand as it usually is when you're at the castle, but then again, you are on a ship. Still, the soldiers' mushy rations, also notoriously known as the mystery meat, is nothing compared to a three-course dinner, which is composed of either an appetizer or dessert, some sort of entrée, and soup. No mysterious meat for you. (Some hypothesize that the mystery meat is actually a mixture of beans. But how they get beans to taste like disgusting meat is incomprehensible.)
Reyers and the King constantly exchange jokes that most of the people here don't understand at all, and half the time they do, Melody sighs and mumbles, "boys." Bloodsucker sits in a corner chewing on some sort of high-quality steak. The Commander of the Navy is absent as usual, and once in a while some longing soldiers stare in through the window (and occasionally drool).

One hour passes. The sun has set completely, the moon has brightened, and the grand stars of the Other Worlds twinkle above you.
Legend tells of a single great wizard. He had always wondered what lay in the twinkling lights above him, and he was also curious about what that globe of blinding light that rose and set daily was made of. He wondered why day and night alternated. He wondered what it would be like if he went to the place those mysterious objects dwelled. And so he did.
He never came back. But years later, after his loss had been properly mourned, a meteor inscribed with the wizard's personal symbol came crashing down on the planet. Perplexed bystanders read the small messages inscribed all around on the meteor. Those messages told of the other planets, the sun, how the planet was orbiting around a huge globe of energy, and all that other astronomical stuff we know today.

It was a peaceful evening.

[ZeroNumerous]

Alia

The elven-looking woman makes notes of today's activities, just like she's made notes of the past twelve days. Just another page tucked into her dairy, hidden away for only her eyes. She leaves once dinner is finished and instead makes her way back to her room to spend the rest of the evening by herself.

[anIceFan]

Robert

Robert will stay at the table and join any who wish in conversation. Once the group has broken down, he will head outside and spend some time on the desck before heading to his room for sleep.

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This is probably my last post until next Tuesday.

[Powerfamiliar]

Kevril

When finshed, Kevril will walk off taking a chewy piece of meat with. He'll thank the cook or servants if they are near. He will head to the deck to reading whichever chapter he is currently reading. If theres any unocupied crew near, he'll offer to read out loud one of the more actiony parts of the book, using his breath weapon to spice up particularly juicy bits.

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He's reading The Life and Undeath of Zilant, Green Dragon

[Sornjss Lichdom]

Staying on the deck a while longer into the night, Nalljss heads under to his room when the trade winds start to pick back up and the lack of light grew to cold. When he reaches his door he see's the door aglow with magical energy.

Mumbaling a short magical sounding stanza, which includes all the passwords for the enchantments placed on his door. When he finishes he sees the glow on the doors deminish a tad. He enter's his room and closses the door behind him, and the harsh red glow of spell traps comes back into full. Softly invoking his weave control in a short canter, his two white stemed candles set aglow with a small flickering flame. Sitting down he leafes through his spell book, muttering quietly shifting between the nine languages he knows. Laughing to himself reading through a spell that had particularly humous effects. Leaning back he falls back into his favorite place, his own mind...

... The upside down sensation of teleportation took him. Falling from a cliff in the mountains of his homeland, Nalljss revailed in the whipping of his chin length hair whips around him, his red breechs trimed with black clung to his legs as the wind pressed against them. Seeing the ground getting closer he clossed his eyes and took mental count ..1..2..3.. and he moved his hands in the precise movements required to cast the spell that maid him way like a feather. As he finished he opened his eyes, and gently floated down the last ten feet of the well over 500 foot drop. Smiling all the while...

... Sitting back up his candles had burned low, Nalljss found himself smiling as he relived his young apprenticeship, where the master's of his school told the class of fifteen that they would be going on a trip and to prepare one of every spell they had learned. Including the spell that slowed them down in a free fall. Not knowing what to expect they stepped into a room with on of the schools many teleportation circle. Having already set his course on that of a Conjurer, young Nym admired the fine craftmineship put into the dimound inscribed magical transport. The masters told them again of the dangers that walked hand and hand with there chosen path, and had them repeat the schools cread. The Weave Smiles On Those How Take The Shortest Path To Greatest Success... As one the masters cast spells that shoved the fifteen young students of the Art into the circle, where they found themselves free falling over 500 feet above the ground. They lost three students that day, but never the less it was a lesson well learned.

[Bitzeralisis]

DM

Time passes.

There is a feeling of imminent doom in the air, one which everyone can feel but usually shrug off. Only the most experienced of adventurers know to grasp this feeling, and know that all is not right, even if they don't what what isn't.

The nascent wave of gloom spreads through the whole navy, and soon the usual chitter-chatter is reduced to pure quiet. Then, everybody bursts into laughter, making remarks about how quiet it just was. But our heroes know that the quiet spell was no ordinary quiet spell — it is an omen of bad things to come.

The usual swaying motions of the ship have stopped. Instead, it is replaced by an uplifting feeling. Literally, too: it feels and looks as if though the navy actually is rising upwards with the rising water, so to say. In reality, it looks like the horizon is getting lower and lower. Indeed, the water is rising. But why?

...

BOOM! The tip of a mountain bursts out of the water. Following it is the rest of the mountain, some spiky ranges yonder, another mountain tip on the side opposite of the spiky mountain ranges, and an entire island. The island is mesmerizing. And dry. There seems to be some sort of bubble surrounding the entire island that keeps water out — and whatever is on the island in.

Okay. That was amazing. Now for the bad part. Since a bubble is usually spherical, that means that you get blasted away from the island, which you do. There is pandemonium and chaos all around you: screams of terror, quiet prayers from clerics, fanatic casting from the more experienced mages, the explosions from ships getting utterly blasted apart from the force that the bubble impacted them with, more screams of terror, flying splinters of wood and crates of various supplies, etc.

The force is so powerful and sudden that the Sea Serpent goes flying away at an incomprehensible speed. The Sea Serpent and any lucky surviving ships are washed away from the rising island. This speed nauseates everyone, making at least half of them throw up, make others double up in terror, and of course, make people scream more.

Our heroes are more capable of resisting this stomach-churning experience. But of course they are still affected.

[[ Fortitude DC 20 to resist being nauseated per round. Move at one-fourth speed or fall prone. Move at half speed with DC 20 Dexterity or balance check. Casting requires concentration checks. Et cetera. ]]

[ZeroNumerous]

Alia

After the initial toss about, Alia simply floats upward above the deck and moves as the ship moves. She'll gather her things and then fly up to the deck.

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Fortitude Save. For casting. Using Overland Flight to move five feet over the deck of her room. She'll ready an action to move with the ship each round so that she doesn't have to deal with the problem.

[Neftren]

Leowil

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Is it possible for me to fly and hang onto the rigging to avoid being nauseated? If not, then use the rolls below.

Fortitude Save: (1d20+7)[13]
Balance Check: (1d20+12)[27]

[Powerfamiliar]

Kevil

Kevril sighs loudly and mutters to himself,"this job is so predictable sometimes, I wonder what sort of evil creature is trying to kill us now." He pulls a small scale from his pocket, and holds it near his face forming the mask he commonly wears while adventuring. He then grabs his spear and starts slowly making his way towards the deck; using his spear as a balancing tool, and keeping his hat on with his free hand.

Spoiler

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Fort: (1d20+24)[36]
moving at 1/4 speed.

[Bitzeralisis]

DM

Time passes.

The ship is still being washed away from the top of the bubble. But looking at where you're headed, you see some sort of hole in the bubble. This hole is no ordinary hole. It's magical. You can't see it, but you do.

The Sea Serpent and all the other remaining ships and survivors splash down into this thousand-foot wide hole. Everything goes into a free-fall, but after a minute or so, everything splashes and sinks into some shallow water.

It's not really that deep, but it's deep enough to break everyones' falls and cause most of the ships to sink. Anyone who wasn't grabbing onto something or inside a ship has probably been flung off by now.

A powerful magic comes across the heroes, and they all fall into a deep slumber.

[More to come.]

[Bitzeralisis]

Day 1: Somewhere on the Island

At exactly 9:00 AM, everybody wakes up. They're scattered across the southern shore of the island, along with various and probably dead soldiers. Some are moving, however, and seem to have survived.

Alia awakens to find herself face-down in the sand. There's soldiers all around, and one of them is crying.

Kervil awakens somewhere else, also surrounded by soldiers. However, one of them has taken to tending to any surviving soldiers. Seems he's a cleric of some sort.

Robert awakens yet somewhere else and finds that he has a big sharp piece of wood in his leg. [[ Take 1 Con damage and 6 piercing damage. ]]

Leowil awakens and spots the King, who is looking quite un-kingly right now, and Melody gathered around a small campfire. Leowil himself is lying on his back very close by. "Mornin'," says the King. "Reyers and Bloodsucker went to find the others and scout out the terrain." Leowil notices the Sea Serpent, which is amazingly still in one piece.

Nalljss is awakened by somebody poking him. And it seems that that person was Reyers. "Wakey wakey," says Reyers. "Arkhren, Melody, and Leowil are waiting for you over yonder." He points to the west.

Ricamros awakens. He's also on a beach, but there are only soldiers lying on the ground to the west of him.

[Sornjss Lichdom]

Semi-groggy from the obviously magical sleep, Nalljss wakes with a start, and sits up, as well he starts patting himself down checking his possesions. Pulling his pipe and light from his inside cloak pocket. Striking the tindertwig against a near by rock he lights the still dry weed stick.

Waiting.. ah, they shouldn't have. I would have been along presently. Ok, so whats stock, or should I wait and talk to the King?

[Bitzeralisis]

DM

Nalljss

"You can either go join the others or keep helping me search," says Reyers, smiling. "When our King is on an adventure, he likes himself to be called by his first name¹. Never was a sucker for all that nobility mumbo-jumbo. They're not far²."

¹Arkhren
²About 700 feet or so

[Sornjss Lichdom]

Oh, I know, but as he is nobility and I a sarcastic arse, I rather like the tittle. As he request though... Ah, but if my thinking is correct, I was not the last your looking for, obviously, and let's face it four eyes are better than two... unless you left the Ki- I meen, Akhren, with an incompatent guard.

[Bitzeralisis]

DM

Everyone

By the time a minute has passed, more and more of the soldiers are starting to wake up. About one in every three soldiers is awake now. And some of them have started running around and screaming. Others might be banging their heads on the ground and muttering, "this is just a dream." And the rest are regaining their bearings and trying to piece together what just happened.

Nalljss

"Leowil is quite competent. I don't really care whether you follow me and Bloodsucker or return to Arkhren."

[Sornjss Lichdom]

Oh, well in that case I'll ask my orders of him. Good luck in your search, return to us soon.

Looking off to the distance he starts to walk.

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((00C-> Oh do i have all of my stuff, or do i hav to look for it. also when i spot the dot that would be the king, ill teleport there. ))

[Powerfamiliar]

Kevril

Kevril stands up shaking his head, cleans himself up, and fires a single angry breath of fire upwards. He pulls a wand from his bracer and heads towards the healer, he uses it on the closest wounded soldier. "How long has it been since the crash?" he asks the cleric, and waits for a response. "Any clue where I can find the king or general Reyers?"

If given a positive response he'll head that direction (towards the king if given directions to both), if not he'll stay a few more minutes helping the soldier and then head towards a larger group of soldiers looking for signs of either man or any of his companions. Either way he'll take a few seconds to reactivate all his passive invocations.

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Using wand of lesser vigor.

[Neftren]

Leowil

Awakening with a start, Leowil nods to the King and slowly crawls into a sitting position. After checking to see that his weapon had not shattered, he put aside his gear and stood up.

He bent his knees and was about to lift off the ground when he thought to himself, "I'd better not fly around here... I should probably send Saltspray instead." With a pop, Saltspray appeared from thin air. Leowil checked to make sure nothing had hurt him, and then quickly communicated to him to scout out the island by air.

With that, he sat down and began to think a bit.

[ZeroNumerous]

Alia

She thinks for a second, then shifts her features to look like Julia again. Alia stands up and brushes herself off quietly. Her patience was quickly running thin, and the crying man was doing nothing to help her collect her thoughts. "Shut up!" She immediately points out two soldiers and starts handing out jobs. "You and you, tend the wounded. You, you, and you, gather up the dead and pile them up away from the wounded. You two over there, start gathering up everyone's weapons and make sure that everyone has a weapon and armor. You two, scout out the surrounding forest and return to me if you see anything. Finally, I want you two to start gathering up fresh water for the wounded."

With that, the young woman breathes in deeply and calms herself. The dress she had worn last night suddenly began to take on a new form. It shifted to a simple pair of dark green pants and a dark green shirt with matching cloak. This would make it easier to travel through the forest in the event that flight would prove impossible. Alia digs through her haversack and produces a pair of glasses which she quickly don. She quietly discerns her location with her blindsense, first to get a general feel of the terrain and second to see if anything was approaching her little group.

She slips off her ring of arcane might to slip on the ring of communication. "Good morning everyone, I hope you all slept well. Time is of the essence and I need everyone to look at the sky for a second. Thanks."

She points toward the heavens, and with a focus of energy her fingertip glows. A bright red point of light bursts forth and flies into the sky, exploding approximately five hundred feet in the air above her. The fireball expands rapidly, but it burns only air at that distance.

"Could everyone see that? Good. Now that is where I and a group of soldiers are currently stationed. It'd be nice if someone decided to come by soon."

She mentally commands Kirathon to watch out for anyone nearby and proceeds to sit down in the sand. She reaches into her haversack and produces one of her books, the Memoirs of a Bard, and waits patiently.

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Casting fireball with her warmage side. It explodes 510 feet in the air above her. Who all sees it?

[Bitzeralisis]

DM

Julia

The soldiers, obviously terribly in need of some order, immediately start following Julia's commands.

Kervil

The cleric shrugs. "I've only been awake for a few minutes."

Leowil & Nalljss

Leowil is still sitting when Nalljss suddenly pops into existence next to him.

[Sornjss Lichdom]

Nalljss

After saying hello to everybody, Nalljss turns about to see if he can see anything about.

Spot Check (for fireball) (1d20+7)[23]

[Neftren]

Leowil

Leowil jumps as Nalljss appears from thin air. He then recovers and looks up to the resulting explosion overhead. "Well, obviously someone had the sense to send a flare up... although that is a rather explosive flare." Then he feels Alia's message being communicated through Saltspray as well as some other extraneous information from Saltspray.

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Since Saltspray is effectively airborne, what does he see? Do you want a spot check for that?

[Powerfamiliar]

Kevril

Hearing Julia's voice, Kevril turns his attention from the cleric towards the sky as instructed, and speaks using the ring "Completely forgot about the rings, I'll be over as soon as possible."

Turning back to the cleric. "Here", Kevril gives the man his wand, "get the wounded back up and walking, and start gathering the dead...and please don't lose the wand .". Kevril then speaks in a louder voice addressing the healthier looking survivors. "Go salvage what you can from the nearest boats, and start building shelter and campfires." Kevril then unfurls his wings and starts flying towards the source of the fireball. He's only flying about afoot or two off the ground.

[anIceFan]

Robert

Robert wakes to a searing pain in his left leg. With a grunt of pain, he pulls the the offending shrapnel out and tries to rise. He tests the leg by putting weight on it, and determines that the leg is quite usable. He is just beginning to examine the area, when he notices the light from the fireball up above. In a strange place, he draws his greataxe so he will be prepared for any type of foe. He then remembers the communication ring, reaching into his pouch, he places on his finger.
Is anybody out there? Was that flash one of you?

He returns to examining the area for clues as he awaits a response.