Maldorn gathers nine bird carcasses (I'm pretty sure it's nine) and then the group sets to climbing. The second incline is like the first: not easy enough to climb without effort, but easy enough to not make it treacherous. From atop the peak, the whole island can be viewed.
Like the plateau, the top of the peak is fairly level and bland. There is no vegetation except for a few patches of an unusual moss. There are no other signs of life. There are six empty nests.
"Maldorn, is this the kind of place you would think to make camp? Seems pretty bare so perhaps we were wrong to think the crew went up here. Let's take a close look -- would be silly to have gone through all that trouble to miss anything useful up here."
Erric spends a few minutes gathering his wits and looking all around slowly and carefully, near and far. He will help someone else examine the peak for any clue of something other than a bird having been here, anything made by a person or a marking or scuff mark or anything metal.
"Can anyone see anything interesting in the rest of the island? Maldorn can you see more about those trees you mentioned from here? Does anyone see anything someone's built, or a campsite, or anything? Oh, and does anyone see a beard ring? Ebokk how are you doing?"
He'll also sit and watch the rest of the island to see if he can spot any movement, any edifice, any organization, any clue about where the crew might have gone after the wreck.
He's ready to go back down if there's nothing and keep looking. The bard is starting to get a bit bored which is translating into some anxiousness.
Maldorn says to Erric: "Quite the opposite, Veric. I think this is quite a good place to make a temporary camp. High above all potential dangers from the strange forest or the trecherous beach. Enough of a bird's-eye-view to keep track of the entire island and approaching vessels. If the crew was able to deal with the birds, this would be fairly safe, I reckon. The inconvenience of having to climb up and down each day would soon be forgotten. If we need to camp, I'd vote for this spot right here."
With Erric's help, Maldorn takes a long studious look from the peak at the entirety of the island.
@DDP:
I'll use advantage from Erric's help action and double proficiency bonus from the Natural Explorer - Forest feature, since a good chunk of the island is covered by this forest judging by the map. Let me know if you think this approach is not appropriate.
Maldorn, you think it's probably about mid afternoon. As you and Erric analyze the island from the top of the peak, what first draws your attention is the center, where the trees leave a large empty place. Just as Sagitta "said", there are small hills or perhaps mounds there. You can also see what could be white rocks, but from this distance, you really don't know what they are. Your eye then travels the circle of trees and a much, much smaller clearing catches your eye on the southern end. You think it's probably not that far from where the trees seemed to creep everyone out.
Ebokk seems as content as ever. The work/trouble does not seem to be discouraging to him one bit.
Maldorn shares the details of the land with his friends and makes sure to feed a piece of raw hawk to Sagitta as a thank you for the very accurate description earlier. He then asks: "I gather we have no more than three hours worth of sunlight left in the day. What do you folks think about calling it an early night and then leaving the plateau for the smaller clearing just before dawn?"
"We can cook up the hawks too," he tries to entice his companions.
"Does no one see anything up here that's interesting?" Erric says, frustratedly kicking a pebble toward the sea, watching it plummet with a look of frustration. "We climbed that, went through all that, killed a bunch of hawks, for nothing!? Crabs, sharks, bloodhawks... and an empty bluff?"
He plunks down and pulls out a songhorn and begins playing a doleful tune, barely audible in the wind. As he does so, he ritually casts unseen servant and directs it to begin stacking rocks into towers.
"Early night seems fine, Maldorn," Erric says to the ranger, sighing. "Suppose we should climb down from this useless peak, make a camp, patch our wounds. Is there really nothing... NOTHING... up here that tells us people climbed it at all?" He looks around again for any clue of anything interesting on the peak. "Should we use the rest of the light to look around more? Staying along the western shore perhaps, away from the trees? Or if we want to sleep early, that's okay with me."
If they make camp, Erric directs the unseen servant to focus on mundane tasks to save his tired companions from doing more than they want.
"I meant for us to make camp up here, Veric." Maldorn wags a finger. Maldorn then asks in a grandfatherly tone: "No safer place, remember? Were you not listening?"
(Oh I had meant climb down from the uppermost peak to the flat part just below, but still on the plateau. But if you were talking top of the peak, that's fine too.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Anafrey would have looked around for anything of value hidden among the nests up at the peak, collecting any eggs as well before scanning the island for anything out of the ordinary. Perception 20 Investigation 9
After spending a while thoroughly searching the nests, she halfheartedly glances over the ledge of the summit. "Setting up camp sounds good. We can check out the white rocks in the morning." Anafrey would say as she pulls out her flask and takes a few large gulps. "I am ready to eat some bird..."
Jambiya sits at the edge of the slope on the high plateau and observes the island for a while as the others explore. Finally she looks up at the others. "Yes, let's camp here. The view is lovely. Let's make sure the weather is not going to turn though, this is very exposed." She will hold out her hand and a small weather-tree materializes...
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As Erric pouts and Maldorn chastises good-heartedly, Anafrey searches the six nests. Ebokk follows her around, curious as well. She finds ... nothing. Jambiya conjures her magical weather tree and divines that while the sky will be mostly covered in clouds, there doesn't seem to be any accompanying precipitation. It's slightly chilly up on top of the peak — exposed as it is with the salty breeze — but nothing a campfire won't counteract.
Jumping ahead ...
The party enjoys a meal of roasted hawk.
Survival: 9
Maldorn is able to preserve all nine beaks and all 18 claws. He also has a pile of beautiful feathers, which could be kept as well.
Nature: 14
After turning in early, the party is ready to go as the horizon starts to glow.
Maldorn keep all bird-supplies, eager to find a use for them (added to inventory).
Once all have climbed down safely using the set up ropes and pitons, Maldorn leads the group to the edge of where the treeline would lead into the smaller clearing.
He explains: "I suggest we explore here first." Before venturing in, he examines said treeline (perception: 15)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Erric yawns and wakes up confused in the dawn light, forgetting completely where he is. He takes comfort in seeing his friends after a drop of panic remembering the height.
"Anyone ready for some beard ring hunting?" he says, trying to inspire and inject a little levity. But the efforts fall a bit flat in the face of the bard's confusion about what this island is and what happened to the crew. "So we're all agreed that if we see a mirror in those creepy trees, we're running back to the dinghy, right? Don't want to be trapped in a mirror dimension of zombie gnolls." If Ebokk looks at him weirdly in response, he'll give a big smile and scurry away. He ritually casts unseen servant again to help clean up and gather his things while Erric spends some time looking at the dawn spreading across the island. Does he see the ship still at anchor? Any changes to the island overnight? (Perception 4)
He accompanies Maldorn down the rope and starts watching and listening to the forest intently. (Perception 19) He's only had one other adventure like this before, at the haunted house with the mirror dimension, so he's just waiting for a similar trap to befall them, more as an expectation of plot mechanism work in the stories he tells in taverns and on stages than any real conception of how the real world works. He gathers his sling and stones and is ready for weird.
Anafrey would wake from her sound slumber and pull some of the drool plastered hair from her face. "Anyone else have dreams where the were being attacked by birds? no... yeah me neather.." She would say as she stands up and stretches for a bit. "I'm ready to go whenever you all are" She would say with a smile.
Jambiya is up early, as usual, helping to cook. She'll flavor the birds a little with her magic. Once camp is struck, she'll head down with the others to the edge of the woods. She will try to strike up a conversation with any woodland animals regarding dangers in the area, or anything unusual.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. Here's my D&D stuff. I love it so.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As the party is waking, and Erric jokes, "Anyone ready for some beard ring hunting?", Ebokk gives a genuine affirmative answer, not seeming to realize Erric's insincerity. The dwarf is too busy gathering his things to notice the surprised looks shared behind his back. After the bard's comment about the mirror and the pocket dimension, the dwarf looks a little more concerned ... especially after Erric's expeditious retreat. But his nose calms his curiosity, and he is drawn, as the others are, to Jambiya's breakfast.
Erric, as you look around, you do see the Nightshade still anchored where it was left. And, as far as you can tell, the island looks the same.
Down on the island proper and standing before the southern end of the tree donut, Maldorn and Erric survey what is before them. Once again, a feeling of foreboding falls over everyone. The shadows made by the denseness of the trees seems too thick somehow. Jambiya ventures a little closer to the trees and attempts to grab the attention of some indigenous creatures. (5) Either none are willing to talk, or there are none to talk to at the moment. You can hear birds chirping and leaves rattling, but you're not sure how close the birds are, and there is a breeze, so it could just be that.
"I can send my little invisible friend in ahead of us carrying something to trip any... surprises... before they hit us, unless people think that's a bad idea," Erric says to his companions, still peering into the trees. "I don't like those trees, and I usually don't have an opinion about trees. Do we think there's anything on this island we have to hide from? Should we stay quiet? The invisible servant -- it really needs a name, doesn't it, hmm, maybe Jack -- Jack can drag behind or carry a branch and make some noise ahead of us. Or if we want to stay quiet, we can stay quiet."
He really takes a look at the trees. Are the animals moving around the forest floor and canopy moving in and out of the trees? Or are they steering clear? He asks Maldorn if he thinks there's anything specifically weird about the animals and plants there. (Helping on Maldorn's nature check?) He also tries to look himself for anything magically odd about the area, and would accept help in doing so (Arcana: 9)>
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Another careful and solid idea from you, Master bard," Maldorn says to Erric, drawing and lighting up a torch for Jack(?) to take with him into the woods and ahead of the party. "Let's see if he triggers anything up."
While the unseen servant does that, Maldorn tries to give a second careful look at the plants in front of him. He relies on his own expertise (Natural Explorer feature) and Erric's help (Nature: 22).
Maldorn gathers nine bird carcasses (I'm pretty sure it's nine) and then the group sets to climbing. The second incline is like the first: not easy enough to climb without effort, but easy enough to not make it treacherous. From atop the peak, the whole island can be viewed.
Remind you of the map: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/play-by-post/35439-seldom-spring?comment=977
Like the plateau, the top of the peak is fairly level and bland. There is no vegetation except for a few patches of an unusual moss. There are no other signs of life. There are six empty nests.
"Maldorn, is this the kind of place you would think to make camp? Seems pretty bare so perhaps we were wrong to think the crew went up here. Let's take a close look -- would be silly to have gone through all that trouble to miss anything useful up here."
Erric spends a few minutes gathering his wits and looking all around slowly and carefully, near and far. He will help someone else examine the peak for any clue of something other than a bird having been here, anything made by a person or a marking or scuff mark or anything metal.
"Can anyone see anything interesting in the rest of the island? Maldorn can you see more about those trees you mentioned from here? Does anyone see anything someone's built, or a campsite, or anything? Oh, and does anyone see a beard ring? Ebokk how are you doing?"
He'll also sit and watch the rest of the island to see if he can spot any movement, any edifice, any organization, any clue about where the crew might have gone after the wreck.
He's ready to go back down if there's nothing and keep looking. The bard is starting to get a bit bored which is translating into some anxiousness.
(OOC: What time of the day is it?)
Maldorn says to Erric: "Quite the opposite, Veric. I think this is quite a good place to make a temporary camp. High above all potential dangers from the strange forest or the trecherous beach. Enough of a bird's-eye-view to keep track of the entire island and approaching vessels. If the crew was able to deal with the birds, this would be fairly safe, I reckon. The inconvenience of having to climb up and down each day would soon be forgotten. If we need to camp, I'd vote for this spot right here."
With Erric's help, Maldorn takes a long studious look from the peak at the entirety of the island.
@DDP:
I'll use advantage from Erric's help action and double proficiency bonus from the Natural Explorer - Forest feature, since a good chunk of the island is covered by this forest judging by the map. Let me know if you think this approach is not appropriate.
-> Perception: 19
Maldorn, you think it's probably about mid afternoon. As you and Erric analyze the island from the top of the peak, what first draws your attention is the center, where the trees leave a large empty place. Just as Sagitta "said", there are small hills or perhaps mounds there. You can also see what could be white rocks, but from this distance, you really don't know what they are. Your eye then travels the circle of trees and a much, much smaller clearing catches your eye on the southern end. You think it's probably not that far from where the trees seemed to creep everyone out.
Ebokk seems as content as ever. The work/trouble does not seem to be discouraging to him one bit.
Maldorn shares the details of the land with his friends and makes sure to feed a piece of raw hawk to Sagitta as a thank you for the very accurate description earlier. He then asks: "I gather we have no more than three hours worth of sunlight left in the day. What do you folks think about calling it an early night and then leaving the plateau for the smaller clearing just before dawn?"
"We can cook up the hawks too," he tries to entice his companions.
"Does no one see anything up here that's interesting?" Erric says, frustratedly kicking a pebble toward the sea, watching it plummet with a look of frustration. "We climbed that, went through all that, killed a bunch of hawks, for nothing!? Crabs, sharks, bloodhawks... and an empty bluff?"
He plunks down and pulls out a songhorn and begins playing a doleful tune, barely audible in the wind. As he does so, he ritually casts unseen servant and directs it to begin stacking rocks into towers.
"Early night seems fine, Maldorn," Erric says to the ranger, sighing. "Suppose we should climb down from this useless peak, make a camp, patch our wounds. Is there really nothing... NOTHING... up here that tells us people climbed it at all?" He looks around again for any clue of anything interesting on the peak. "Should we use the rest of the light to look around more? Staying along the western shore perhaps, away from the trees? Or if we want to sleep early, that's okay with me."
If they make camp, Erric directs the unseen servant to focus on mundane tasks to save his tired companions from doing more than they want.
"I meant for us to make camp up here, Veric." Maldorn wags a finger. Maldorn then asks in a grandfatherly tone: "No safer place, remember? Were you not listening?"
(Oh I had meant climb down from the uppermost peak to the flat part just below, but still on the plateau. But if you were talking top of the peak, that's fine too.)
Anafrey would have looked around for anything of value hidden among the nests up at the peak, collecting any eggs as well before scanning the island for anything out of the ordinary.
Perception 20
Investigation 9
After spending a while thoroughly searching the nests, she halfheartedly glances over the ledge of the summit. "Setting up camp sounds good. We can check out the white rocks in the morning." Anafrey would say as she pulls out her flask and takes a few large gulps. "I am ready to eat some bird..."
Jambiya sits at the edge of the slope on the high plateau and observes the island for a while as the others explore. Finally she looks up at the others. "Yes, let's camp here. The view is lovely. Let's make sure the weather is not going to turn though, this is very exposed." She will hold out her hand and a small weather-tree materializes...
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. Here's my D&D stuff. I love it so.
Campaign links for Game Log access because DDB has abandoned the forum dice roller, apparently.
Radiant Citadel by cbaer8 ~•~ Stormwreck Isle by Rforrest14 ~•~ Wildspace by Rhanloi ~•~ Rise of Tiamat by SteveThaiBinh ~•~ The Long Road currently by me
As Erric pouts and Maldorn chastises good-heartedly, Anafrey searches the six nests. Ebokk follows her around, curious as well. She finds ... nothing. Jambiya conjures her magical weather tree and divines that while the sky will be mostly covered in clouds, there doesn't seem to be any accompanying precipitation. It's slightly chilly up on top of the peak — exposed as it is with the salty breeze — but nothing a campfire won't counteract.
Jumping ahead ...
The party enjoys a meal of roasted hawk.
Survival: 9
Maldorn is able to preserve all nine beaks and all 18 claws. He also has a pile of beautiful feathers, which could be kept as well.
Nature: 14
After turning in early, the party is ready to go as the horizon starts to glow.
Maldorn keep all bird-supplies, eager to find a use for them (added to inventory).
Once all have climbed down safely using the set up ropes and pitons, Maldorn leads the group to the edge of where the treeline would lead into the smaller clearing.
He explains: "I suggest we explore here first." Before venturing in, he examines said treeline (perception: 15)
Erric yawns and wakes up confused in the dawn light, forgetting completely where he is. He takes comfort in seeing his friends after a drop of panic remembering the height.
"Anyone ready for some beard ring hunting?" he says, trying to inspire and inject a little levity. But the efforts fall a bit flat in the face of the bard's confusion about what this island is and what happened to the crew. "So we're all agreed that if we see a mirror in those creepy trees, we're running back to the dinghy, right? Don't want to be trapped in a mirror dimension of zombie gnolls." If Ebokk looks at him weirdly in response, he'll give a big smile and scurry away. He ritually casts unseen servant again to help clean up and gather his things while Erric spends some time looking at the dawn spreading across the island. Does he see the ship still at anchor? Any changes to the island overnight? (Perception 4)
He accompanies Maldorn down the rope and starts watching and listening to the forest intently. (Perception 19) He's only had one other adventure like this before, at the haunted house with the mirror dimension, so he's just waiting for a similar trap to befall them, more as an expectation of plot mechanism work in the stories he tells in taverns and on stages than any real conception of how the real world works. He gathers his sling and stones and is ready for weird.
Anafrey would wake from her sound slumber and pull some of the drool plastered hair from her face. "Anyone else have dreams where the were being attacked by birds? no... yeah me neather.." She would say as she stands up and stretches for a bit. "I'm ready to go whenever you all are" She would say with a smile.
Jambiya is up early, as usual, helping to cook. She'll flavor the birds a little with her magic. Once camp is struck, she'll head down with the others to the edge of the woods. She will try to strike up a conversation with any woodland animals regarding dangers in the area, or anything unusual.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. Here's my D&D stuff. I love it so.
Campaign links for Game Log access because DDB has abandoned the forum dice roller, apparently.
Radiant Citadel by cbaer8 ~•~ Stormwreck Isle by Rforrest14 ~•~ Wildspace by Rhanloi ~•~ Rise of Tiamat by SteveThaiBinh ~•~ The Long Road currently by me
As the party is waking, and Erric jokes, "Anyone ready for some beard ring hunting?", Ebokk gives a genuine affirmative answer, not seeming to realize Erric's insincerity. The dwarf is too busy gathering his things to notice the surprised looks shared behind his back. After the bard's comment about the mirror and the pocket dimension, the dwarf looks a little more concerned ... especially after Erric's expeditious retreat. But his nose calms his curiosity, and he is drawn, as the others are, to Jambiya's breakfast.
Erric, as you look around, you do see the Nightshade still anchored where it was left. And, as far as you can tell, the island looks the same.
Down on the island proper and standing before the southern end of the tree donut, Maldorn and Erric survey what is before them. Once again, a feeling of foreboding falls over everyone. The shadows made by the denseness of the trees seems too thick somehow. Jambiya ventures a little closer to the trees and attempts to grab the attention of some indigenous creatures. (5) Either none are willing to talk, or there are none to talk to at the moment. You can hear birds chirping and leaves rattling, but you're not sure how close the birds are, and there is a breeze, so it could just be that.
"I can send my little invisible friend in ahead of us carrying something to trip any... surprises... before they hit us, unless people think that's a bad idea," Erric says to his companions, still peering into the trees. "I don't like those trees, and I usually don't have an opinion about trees. Do we think there's anything on this island we have to hide from? Should we stay quiet? The invisible servant -- it really needs a name, doesn't it, hmm, maybe Jack -- Jack can drag behind or carry a branch and make some noise ahead of us. Or if we want to stay quiet, we can stay quiet."
He really takes a look at the trees. Are the animals moving around the forest floor and canopy moving in and out of the trees? Or are they steering clear? He asks Maldorn if he thinks there's anything specifically weird about the animals and plants there. (Helping on Maldorn's nature check?) He also tries to look himself for anything magically odd about the area, and would accept help in doing so (Arcana: 9)>
"Another careful and solid idea from you, Master bard," Maldorn says to Erric, drawing and lighting up a torch for Jack(?) to take with him into the woods and ahead of the party. "Let's see if he triggers anything up."
While the unseen servant does that, Maldorn tries to give a second careful look at the plants in front of him. He relies on his own expertise (Natural Explorer feature) and Erric's help (Nature: 22).
"Torch! Much better than a branch."
"I think Jack leading the way with a torch sounds good to me" Anafrey would say with a smile.