The city's walls and cracked and have dry algal vines growing on them. How is it that something so close to the sea has adapted to survive in low water conditions? Strange. The buildings are cracked in the walls and the town is quiet. There is flecks of dead skin fungal tissue floating in the air. Finally, the roads of the town are empty and the building doors and windows remain open. Varis hears a faint sound. The faint sound of burning wood.
Bickering warlocks? I will have you know that every single one of my levels is in fighter. ALL OF THEM!
Sorry about that... Endurance will try to stick with Endurance. The only person in the party who values him. And he won't bother looking around as he won't see anything
Varis pats Endurance on the head to soothe his hurt feelings, then gestures to the town. Might wanna wrap up again...we'll need some protection when we penetrate the town I think. (Sorry...little Burt Macklin crept in there.) There's some dead things floating around in the air. Quiet though...I hear something that I probably shouldn't be hearing. He'll start heading up towards the town, sticking to shadows and moving as quietly as possible: stealth26
(Wow....two nat 20s in a row. Next combat I'm rolling straight 1's)
Varis moves like a wraith in the shadows. He is so good at hiding that he might as well be invisible. The sounds of burning wood gets louder as the smell of smoke enters his nose. He sees three humanoid creatures huddled around a fire. They were probably the town's inhabitants at some point. Algal vines wrap around their body. There is a patchy layer of small yellow fungus coating their dry and shriveled skin. Their skin has almost fused with the bones. They have hollow sockets in place of eyes and stuck jaw that is permanently hanging open.
These creatures can technically be called undead but it not the type of creature one first thinks of when they hear "Undead". Rather than dying and being brought back to life, they seem to be in a state that is neither dead nor alive. These creatures are kind of like the trees you saw earlier in your adventure; the parasitic fungus and algae is keeping these people alive in spite of a few of their vital organs being non-functional. These creatures are still alive but they are but a husk of their old selves.
(Think of it as like being on life support and the stuff that's providing the life support to keep the comatose body alive is also using the body as like a bone-and-muscle mech suit)
Yuldra listens with grim attention, nodding. "....ok but were they hot?"
It's pretty clear they're ****ed unless they find some kind of exploitable weakness. She pokes at some of the vines on the wall with her bow. Is it brittle, does it coat everything, does it run all the way to the seafront?
The sea makes sea noises. It's the sea. It can't exactly hear you. But it may not be wise to talk to it to much. Who knows if there's an infected aboleth down there.
(Moana also had to fight a giant volcano monster...let's not follow in her footsteps)
Varis pokes around town to see if he can find anything in any of the buildings that's useful, while also attempting to remain quiet about it so as not to disturb any infected things:
Various sneaks by various infected people that shamble around like zombies. Going from shadow to shadow, Varis finds that most of the weapons and armor as well as other metallic objects have rusted to oblivion since there is no one to keep it protected and maintained in this salty air. He walks and notices bits of salt laying on the ground. At one point he sees what appears to be bloated infected person. The kind of bloating is not the kind that makes it feel like there is a lot of fluid underneath the skin. Rather it looks like the former human has 3 layers of skin on at once. Then it stops. Suddenly bloats even more and its outer skin bursts, spraying the air in the dead skin and fungal tissue that you've noticed since coming down the mountain. This is not a way to create more infected since it was already clear that these floating skin bits can't infect anything. So why is that something that these infected do?
Varis finds something great thoughL rations. In the past, rations wouldn't last too long but with the advancement of magic in all the 5 continents (before Durath came under the curse), Rations now last an insanely long time as long as they remained packed. These packed rations are still safe to eat, although long term preservation may have caused them to taste more like rocks. But hey, food is food.
"The larger the city, the more likely to find something. Like a friend for Yuldra. Or a cause for this effect. Maybe..."
Endurance will stand right next to Yul, both wanting to be in front and protect the weaker person, and wanting to push her forward to see what happens
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Yuldra sniffs the air - "You guys getting that? Rot... damp... something predatory and despicable, an affront to nature.... Oh." She notices Endurance sidling up. "That explains it..."
Strix, Shifter Shadow Monk in Lost Mines of Phandelver ¦ Sihegiall Human Soulknife Rogue in In Search of Molly McGuffin
Varis shakes his head and moves past the bickering warlocks, trying to see what he can see if there's anything to see: perception 28
Back and ready to DM and chew bubblegum. And I'm alllll outta bubblegum.
The city's walls and cracked and have dry algal vines growing on them. How is it that something so close to the sea has adapted to survive in low water conditions? Strange. The buildings are cracked in the walls and the town is quiet. There is flecks of dead skin fungal tissue floating in the air. Finally, the roads of the town are empty and the building doors and windows remain open. Varis hears a faint sound. The faint sound of burning wood.
Bickering warlocks? I will have you know that every single one of my levels is in fighter. ALL OF THEM!
Sorry about that... Endurance will try to stick with Endurance. The only person in the party who values him. And he won't bother looking around as he won't see anything
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Every tiefling has a little warlock in 'em.
Varis pats Endurance on the head to soothe his hurt feelings, then gestures to the town. Might wanna wrap up again...we'll need some protection when we penetrate the town I think. (Sorry...little Burt Macklin crept in there.) There's some dead things floating around in the air. Quiet though...I hear something that I probably shouldn't be hearing. He'll start heading up towards the town, sticking to shadows and moving as quietly as possible: stealth 26
(Wow....two nat 20s in a row. Next combat I'm rolling straight 1's)
Back and ready to DM and chew bubblegum. And I'm alllll outta bubblegum.
Varis moves like a wraith in the shadows. He is so good at hiding that he might as well be invisible. The sounds of burning wood gets louder as the smell of smoke enters his nose. He sees three humanoid creatures huddled around a fire. They were probably the town's inhabitants at some point. Algal vines wrap around their body. There is a patchy layer of small yellow fungus coating their dry and shriveled skin. Their skin has almost fused with the bones. They have hollow sockets in place of eyes and stuck jaw that is permanently hanging open.
These creatures can technically be called undead but it not the type of creature one first thinks of when they hear "Undead". Rather than dying and being brought back to life, they seem to be in a state that is neither dead nor alive. These creatures are kind of like the trees you saw earlier in your adventure; the parasitic fungus and algae is keeping these people alive in spite of a few of their vital organs being non-functional. These creatures are still alive but they are but a husk of their old selves.
(Think of it as like being on life support and the stuff that's providing the life support to keep the comatose body alive is also using the body as like a bone-and-muscle mech suit)
Varis goes back to the others and reports what he saw.
Back and ready to DM and chew bubblegum. And I'm alllll outta bubblegum.
(ewww)
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Yuldra listens with grim attention, nodding. "....ok but were they hot?"
It's pretty clear they're ****ed unless they find some kind of exploitable weakness. She pokes at some of the vines on the wall with her bow. Is it brittle, does it coat everything, does it run all the way to the seafront?
Strix, Shifter Shadow Monk in Lost Mines of Phandelver ¦ Sihegiall Human Soulknife Rogue in In Search of Molly McGuffin
The algal vines make dry leave noises as you poke it. Some dry flakes fall off from the vines as you touch it with the bow.
[[Sorry for my absence. As the other warlock my job is definitely to bicker with Yuldra and defend Endurance,]]
"I think we should wheel around these guys and the city proper and see if we can find anything resembling a usable boat."
Liarin: Against the Cult of the Reptile God
Adewild: Shadows and Light 2
Brother Thaddeus: Rime of the Frostmaiden.
(how close is the coast? Close enough to go look at whether there's normal seaweed? See how fond of salt these guys are?)
Strix, Shifter Shadow Monk in Lost Mines of Phandelver ¦ Sihegiall Human Soulknife Rogue in In Search of Molly McGuffin
Yes the coast is close enough to give you access to sea water.
Endurance will let Yul deal with the sea. It isn't like he has any stats that are high enough to do anything wise
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Having neglected to bring any suitable container, Yuldra has a quick look around for a bucket or flask or discarded tankard...
Perception : 3
...and failing that, tries to literally deal with the sea. It worked for Moana.
"Hey there, you big, wet....sea! I know this isn't your fight, but we need your help!"
Persuasion : 14
Strix, Shifter Shadow Monk in Lost Mines of Phandelver ¦ Sihegiall Human Soulknife Rogue in In Search of Molly McGuffin
The sea makes sea noises. It's the sea. It can't exactly hear you. But it may not be wise to talk to it to much. Who knows if there's an infected aboleth down there.
(Moana also had to fight a giant volcano monster...let's not follow in her footsteps)
Varis pokes around town to see if he can find anything in any of the buildings that's useful, while also attempting to remain quiet about it so as not to disturb any infected things:
stealth 17
perception 19
Back and ready to DM and chew bubblegum. And I'm alllll outta bubblegum.
Various sneaks by various infected people that shamble around like zombies. Going from shadow to shadow, Varis finds that most of the weapons and armor as well as other metallic objects have rusted to oblivion since there is no one to keep it protected and maintained in this salty air. He walks and notices bits of salt laying on the ground. At one point he sees what appears to be bloated infected person. The kind of bloating is not the kind that makes it feel like there is a lot of fluid underneath the skin. Rather it looks like the former human has 3 layers of skin on at once. Then it stops. Suddenly bloats even more and its outer skin bursts, spraying the air in the dead skin and fungal tissue that you've noticed since coming down the mountain. This is not a way to create more infected since it was already clear that these floating skin bits can't infect anything. So why is that something that these infected do?
Varis finds something great thoughL rations. In the past, rations wouldn't last too long but with the advancement of magic in all the 5 continents (before Durath came under the curse), Rations now last an insanely long time as long as they remained packed. These packed rations are still safe to eat, although long term preservation may have caused them to taste more like rocks. But hey, food is food.
I mean...food is food Varis thinks, and grabs as many rations as he can carry to take back to the others.
Back and ready to DM and chew bubblegum. And I'm alllll outta bubblegum.