The older man listens to your request with a look of irritation on his face. "Does this look like a... a tourist barge to you? The pickerel are spawning and I need to get last night's catch to the smokehouse and then get my nets back on the water. We make a third of our annual earnings this week and next, before the fish spread back out into the deep. I'd be leaving money on the table to just drop everything to take you lot on a sight seeing cruise." As he talks, the two younger men continue loading fish into baskets and walking them over to what must be the smokehouse. One of them pauses. "You know, Pa, we haven't had a good sleep in five days. I wouldn't mind a break to sit down with my wife and catch a good rest." The other pauses as well - you now notice the family resemblance between the three men - but he does not say anything, waiting to see how his father reacts.
The older man explodes with a litany of curses and reasons why every moment wasted is money lost. After a full minute of yelling, he starts to run out of steam. Eventually he turns back to Rohuzar and Aubrey. "It should take my boys another half an hour to empty the hold. You've got that long to convince me why I should you on a cruise."
(You've convinced him to hear you out. I need to hear exactly where you want him to take you and how much you're offering him for the service... and one more persuasion check.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
"That's most generous of you good sir." Aubrey interjects but then let's Rohuzar continue to explain their specific needs. (Another help action given to Rohuzar.)
Feeling the weight of the day on his shoulder, Leelan tries his best to keep up. Every time the group takes a pause, he looks for a spot to lean against, letting out a yawn every now and then. If someone offers to help him, he will simply dismiss them, saying that, though he’s not the "spry young lad" that he once was, he doesn’t want to slow down the group.
Grugga brushes beside Rohuzarand whispers, "I have some money I can part with if he needs convincing."
Then he walks a little off the path and sits down next to Leelan, who's leaning up against a tree. "We'll be able to take a rest on the boat if the boss can convince them to spare it for a while. Honestly it'll pay for itself if it helps us get to Shelley faster..."He pauses a moment before continuing, "How are you doing otherwise? Have you had a chance to write that hydra into your book yet?"
Rohuzar holds out five gold pieces. “As I say… Ve need someone dat know shack that courier may have used. And a ride along the bank. Is very reasonable bargain.”
Guilim watches the exchange with a roll of his eyes and a small smirk on his face. Bargaining could be both the most frustrating and entertaining parts of being a mercenary.
The ship's captain - who eventually introduces himself as Capt. Lance Stripe and his boat as the Barking Catfish - hears your proposal and talks it over with his adult sons. "OK here's what we can do. First off, to save some of the time I'll be losing, you and your mates will help my lads finish unloading the catch. With your help it shouldn't take but a few more minutes. Next, I can take you west along the shore. There's three more small docks like Anchorage between here and Northbridge and at least a dozen single shacks and huts near the water. I can't rightly say which is the 'abandoned shack' you're looking for but I can sail you along the shore and if you see what you're looking for I can land you there. Provided there is a dock... otherwise you'll be swimming ashore. Then its back here to Anchorage... we should be back in by lunchtime or a little thereafter. I'll do that for 5gp. Is it a deal? Oh, and I don't expect you plan to take that mule with you?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Grugga stands up to begin loading. "Well, I think this is our best bet. Let me know if we're going, boss. I'll help these lads in the meantime." He begins hauling containers full of fish off the boat.
If they do pass any shacks far away from docks, Grugga will offer to swim to the shore and search them for clues.
Rohuzar nods and looks at Leelan. “Not you. Find a spot you can rest aboard the ship. The rest of us vill unload.” He then moves to start unloading, after handing the man his coins.
Aubrey too helps unloading the Barking Catfish, used to boats and taking orders, especially from his father, but clearly a bit more unused to manual labor. Already tired from the nights forced marching he will stop for a breather at one point, but will dutifully help out the most he is able to.
On the boat trip he will find a vantage spot, keeping a lookout for shacks and threats, his loaded crossbow by his side. Perception: 17 Whenever given the chance he will find a more comfortable spot and quickly drift of into sleep until waken up.
It takes only a few minutes to finish unloading the rest of the fish. You carry the baskets from the hold of the boat along the docks and into the large smoke lodge. There, several old women as well as a couple of dwarves are busy cleaning the fish, skewering them onto long poles, and hanging them inside the smoke tents.
Soon the Barking Catfish is ready to disembark. Capt. Stripe discusses the trip with sons. The older son stays behind to rest but the younger one, whose name is Lisle, agrees to accompany his dad to help man the riggings.
(I need confirmation on whether you will be leaving the mule. No problem if you leave it but I will need to know what is packed on the mule and what is being carried. If you plan to bring it, you will need to coax it down the ramp into the hold. Animal Handling check required. )
You are able to take the equivalent of a short rest on the boat. This won't take the place of a long rest and more exhaustion checks will be coming if you guys don't sleep soon, but it takes the edge off for the moment. Leelan, I will allow you to catch a nap and remove the 1 point of exhaustion you have accrued, though you will still be rolling with the others again soon if we don't get a full long rest.
18
The boat carries you west along the shoreline through calm waters. Briefly, clouds and winds pick up but the Captain is unimpressed and nothing comes of it but a little spit of rain, before the sun returns. It is breezy and cool but not cold out on the water.
You pass a couple of small villages on the coast, similar to Anchorage. Little more than a couple of docks and a dozen or so homes nestled close to the water. Your Captain mentions their names as you pass but they don't seem important to your quest. There are also a handful of individual structures isolated and alone; lighthouses, and a handful of single shacks. Each that you pass however seems to be occupied... with children at play on the dock or men out near the boats, tending to nets.
As you reach further and further west, boat traffic on the horizon increases ahead of you and you can make out faint whisps of chimney smoke from Northbridge at the extreme limit of your visibility.
You steer nearer the shore to check out another isolated hut. The Captain turns you back toward deeper water when he spies a sailing boat docked there. But before you pull away, Aubrey, you catch a powerful stench on the breeze... rotting flesh.
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Grugga spends the boat ride lounging and chatting with his companions and the captain's son, who seems much friendlier than his father. He peppers the lad with questions about lakelife and interesting natural phenomena in the area. He also asks if they've ever spotted a hydra in the lake before; assuming Leelan isn't asleep at that moment, he tries to rope Leelan into the conversation as well. Finally, Grugga would also looks for any opportunities to improve their fishing boat / equipment with simple inventions from Pentwater, or possibly invent a new one on the ride ((An example of what he might ask would be: "What kind of fish do you catch? What depth do they swim at? How do you know how deep your net is? Maybe you should use these special Pentwater buoys to set your depth, I'll show you how to make them"))
Mostly oblivious to his surroundings, he sees the boat docked at the ostensibly occupied hut and doesn't give it another thought, except he mentally notes that there isn't much chance to find another abandoned hut before they'll likely reach Northbridge.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Once the group has decided to board the fishing boat, Leelan attempts to lead Dandelion on board the boat. He will use some of the feed he has purchased to lure the mule.
Animal handling (with disadvantage cause of exhaustion): 16
As the boat leaves the shore, Leelan tries to stay awake. He will answer Grugga’s questions, though his answers a slurred and brief, which is uncharacteristic of the gnome. Eventually, he will allow himself to drift into sleep until someone wakes him up for whatever reason.
Guilim helps with the unloading, doing his best to blink away the need to sleep for the time being. As they board the boat he goes off to the side to sit and rest while there is time, his weapons alway close at hand.
"Captain, wait." Aubrey shouts as the boat turns back toward deeper water. "Rohuzar, there is something dead by that hut. Should we investigate?"He shouts down to the orc from his vantage position.
It feels like all you can do to put Dandelion into the hold. Whether it is the smell of fish, or the steep ramp, the poor mule simply does not care for the idea. Nevertheless through grim determination and your own mulelike stubbornness you get the beast below deck.
With that complete, the voyage is rather nice. You engage in a bit of light conversation with Grugga and the captains son before you eventually drift off to sleep.
You awake to a commotion as the others are gathered on the shoreside of the boat looking at something in the distance. You can’t make out what they’re saying as the wind has picked up. But you do see that Dandelion has somehow made its way up on deck and is dangerously close to edge. You rise to gather the mule up and send it back below deck, when a sudden wave rocks the boat and Dandelion topples over into the surf. You cry out to the others for help and reach helplessly over the side. But instead of Dandelion in the water, you see something else. A mass of seaweed, green and rotting and reeking of death. Tendrils sail up from the water and wrap, almost gently around your wrists. Then up to your shoulders and around your throat. You are pulled over the side and your face hits the surging water before you can scream. Down, down, down, through ice cold water and clumps of seaweed, down into the dark. Only a thin column of light penetrates down here, but it is enough to see a garden around you… a garden of beautiful corpses, chained and floating in the deep.
You see Malia. She looks at you with sad eyes and speaks in Aubreys voice, “”There is something dead by that hut. Should we investigate?”
Leelan, you wake up from your nap to hear Aubrey speaking. It feels almost like an echo. Remove your point of exhaustion, for now.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
At your request, Captain Stripe turns the boat back to shore. A rocky point of piled boulders, possibly man made, creates a tiny harbor. The smaller sailing vessel is already moored to the inside of the long dock so Capt. Stripe pulls up along the outside, drops anchor and throws a line to the dock. Eventually he and his son get the ship tied off and extend a plank down to the dock and you disembark. The sailors remain behind with their vessel.
The dock leads to a sandy beach and a wide clearing. To one side of the clearing is a small home, built of logs and driftwood with a thatch roof. The door stands ajar. Something is piled in the tall grass of the clearing though you can’t make it out quite yet. Reds and blacks and yellows and browns.
The stink of rotting meat comes and goes with the breeze. With it comes a deep droning sound… a hum that you can almost feel in your teeth.
(I will have a map later today or tomorrow)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM -(Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown *Red Dead Annihilation: ToA *Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Grugga becomes more and more concerned the closer they get to the house. He had been expecting to find something, but not this. "Could two of our competitors already fought over this?" he asks no one in particular.
As they pull up to the dock, Grugga pulls his tabard over his nose and holds it there with his hand to mask the scent a bit. With his other hand, he draws his handaxe from its "sheathe" in his bedroll. He cautiously proceeds toward the hut. "What is that noise...?"
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(OOC: Help action given to Rohuzar in post # 677 :-)
The older man listens to your request with a look of irritation on his face. "Does this look like a... a tourist barge to you? The pickerel are spawning and I need to get last night's catch to the smokehouse and then get my nets back on the water. We make a third of our annual earnings this week and next, before the fish spread back out into the deep. I'd be leaving money on the table to just drop everything to take you lot on a sight seeing cruise." As he talks, the two younger men continue loading fish into baskets and walking them over to what must be the smokehouse. One of them pauses. "You know, Pa, we haven't had a good sleep in five days. I wouldn't mind a break to sit down with my wife and catch a good rest." The other pauses as well - you now notice the family resemblance between the three men - but he does not say anything, waiting to see how his father reacts.
The older man explodes with a litany of curses and reasons why every moment wasted is money lost. After a full minute of yelling, he starts to run out of steam. Eventually he turns back to Rohuzar and Aubrey. "It should take my boys another half an hour to empty the hold. You've got that long to convince me why I should you on a cruise."
(You've convinced him to hear you out. I need to hear exactly where you want him to take you and how much you're offering him for the service... and one more persuasion check.)
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
"That's most generous of you good sir." Aubrey interjects but then let's Rohuzar continue to explain their specific needs.
(Another help action given to Rohuzar.)
Feeling the weight of the day on his shoulder, Leelan tries his best to keep up. Every time the group takes a pause, he looks for a spot to lean against, letting out a yawn every now and then. If someone offers to help him, he will simply dismiss them, saying that, though he’s not the "spry young lad" that he once was, he doesn’t want to slow down the group.
Grugga brushes beside Rohuzar and whispers, "I have some money I can part with if he needs convincing."
Then he walks a little off the path and sits down next to Leelan, who's leaning up against a tree. "We'll be able to take a rest on the boat if the boss can convince them to spare it for a while. Honestly it'll pay for itself if it helps us get to Shelley faster..." He pauses a moment before continuing, "How are you doing otherwise? Have you had a chance to write that hydra into your book yet?"
Rohuzar holds out five gold pieces. “As I say… Ve need someone dat know shack that courier may have used. And a ride along the bank. Is very reasonable bargain.”
persuasion 11
Paladin - warforged - orange
Guilim watches the exchange with a roll of his eyes and a small smirk on his face. Bargaining could be both the most frustrating and entertaining parts of being a mercenary.
The ship's captain - who eventually introduces himself as Capt. Lance Stripe and his boat as the Barking Catfish - hears your proposal and talks it over with his adult sons. "OK here's what we can do. First off, to save some of the time I'll be losing, you and your mates will help my lads finish unloading the catch. With your help it shouldn't take but a few more minutes. Next, I can take you west along the shore. There's three more small docks like Anchorage between here and Northbridge and at least a dozen single shacks and huts near the water. I can't rightly say which is the 'abandoned shack' you're looking for but I can sail you along the shore and if you see what you're looking for I can land you there. Provided there is a dock... otherwise you'll be swimming ashore. Then its back here to Anchorage... we should be back in by lunchtime or a little thereafter. I'll do that for 5gp. Is it a deal? Oh, and I don't expect you plan to take that mule with you?"
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Grugga stands up to begin loading. "Well, I think this is our best bet. Let me know if we're going, boss. I'll help these lads in the meantime." He begins hauling containers full of fish off the boat.
If they do pass any shacks far away from docks, Grugga will offer to swim to the shore and search them for clues.
Rohuzar nods and looks at Leelan. “Not you. Find a spot you can rest aboard the ship. The rest of us vill unload.” He then moves to start unloading, after handing the man his coins.
Paladin - warforged - orange
Aubrey too helps unloading the Barking Catfish, used to boats and taking orders, especially from his father, but clearly a bit more unused to manual labor. Already tired from the nights forced marching he will stop for a breather at one point, but will dutifully help out the most he is able to.
On the boat trip he will find a vantage spot, keeping a lookout for shacks and threats, his loaded crossbow by his side. Perception: 17
Whenever given the chance he will find a more comfortable spot and quickly drift of into sleep until waken up.
16
It takes only a few minutes to finish unloading the rest of the fish. You carry the baskets from the hold of the boat along the docks and into the large smoke lodge. There, several old women as well as a couple of dwarves are busy cleaning the fish, skewering them onto long poles, and hanging them inside the smoke tents.
Soon the Barking Catfish is ready to disembark. Capt. Stripe discusses the trip with sons. The older son stays behind to rest but the younger one, whose name is Lisle, agrees to accompany his dad to help man the riggings.
(I need confirmation on whether you will be leaving the mule. No problem if you leave it but I will need to know what is packed on the mule and what is being carried. If you plan to bring it, you will need to coax it down the ramp into the hold. Animal Handling check required. )
You are able to take the equivalent of a short rest on the boat. This won't take the place of a long rest and more exhaustion checks will be coming if you guys don't sleep soon, but it takes the edge off for the moment. Leelan, I will allow you to catch a nap and remove the 1 point of exhaustion you have accrued, though you will still be rolling with the others again soon if we don't get a full long rest.
18
The boat carries you west along the shoreline through calm waters. Briefly, clouds and winds pick up but the Captain is unimpressed and nothing comes of it but a little spit of rain, before the sun returns. It is breezy and cool but not cold out on the water.
You pass a couple of small villages on the coast, similar to Anchorage. Little more than a couple of docks and a dozen or so homes nestled close to the water. Your Captain mentions their names as you pass but they don't seem important to your quest. There are also a handful of individual structures isolated and alone; lighthouses, and a handful of single shacks. Each that you pass however seems to be occupied... with children at play on the dock or men out near the boats, tending to nets.
As you reach further and further west, boat traffic on the horizon increases ahead of you and you can make out faint whisps of chimney smoke from Northbridge at the extreme limit of your visibility.
You steer nearer the shore to check out another isolated hut. The Captain turns you back toward deeper water when he spies a sailing boat docked there. But before you pull away, Aubrey, you catch a powerful stench on the breeze... rotting flesh.
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Grugga spends the boat ride lounging and chatting with his companions and the captain's son, who seems much friendlier than his father. He peppers the lad with questions about lakelife and interesting natural phenomena in the area. He also asks if they've ever spotted a hydra in the lake before; assuming Leelan isn't asleep at that moment, he tries to rope Leelan into the conversation as well. Finally, Grugga would also looks for any opportunities to improve their fishing boat / equipment with simple inventions from Pentwater, or possibly invent a new one on the ride ((An example of what he might ask would be: "What kind of fish do you catch? What depth do they swim at? How do you know how deep your net is? Maybe you should use these special Pentwater buoys to set your depth, I'll show you how to make them"))
Mostly oblivious to his surroundings, he sees the boat docked at the ostensibly occupied hut and doesn't give it another thought, except he mentally notes that there isn't much chance to find another abandoned hut before they'll likely reach Northbridge.
Once the group has decided to board the fishing boat, Leelan attempts to lead Dandelion on board the boat. He will use some of the feed he has purchased to lure the mule.
Animal handling (with disadvantage cause of exhaustion): 16
As the boat leaves the shore, Leelan tries to stay awake. He will answer Grugga’s questions, though his answers a slurred and brief, which is uncharacteristic of the gnome. Eventually, he will allow himself to drift into sleep until someone wakes him up for whatever reason.
Guilim helps with the unloading, doing his best to blink away the need to sleep for the time being. As they board the boat he goes off to the side to sit and rest while there is time, his weapons alway close at hand.
"Captain, wait." Aubrey shouts as the boat turns back toward deeper water. "Rohuzar, there is something dead by that hut. Should we investigate?" He shouts down to the orc from his vantage position.
Leelan:
It feels like all you can do to put Dandelion into the hold. Whether it is the smell of fish, or the steep ramp, the poor mule simply does not care for the idea. Nevertheless through grim determination and your own mulelike stubbornness you get the beast below deck.
With that complete, the voyage is rather nice. You engage in a bit of light conversation with Grugga and the captains son before you eventually drift off to sleep.
You awake to a commotion as the others are gathered on the shoreside of the boat looking at something in the distance. You can’t make out what they’re saying as the wind has picked up. But you do see that Dandelion has somehow made its way up on deck and is dangerously close to edge. You rise to gather the mule up and send it back below deck, when a sudden wave rocks the boat and Dandelion topples over into the surf. You cry out to the others for help and reach helplessly over the side. But instead of Dandelion in the water, you see something else. A mass of seaweed, green and rotting and reeking of death. Tendrils sail up from the water and wrap, almost gently around your wrists. Then up to your shoulders and around your throat. You are pulled over the side and your face hits the surging water before you can scream. Down, down, down, through ice cold water and clumps of seaweed, down into the dark. Only a thin column of light penetrates down here, but it is enough to see a garden around you… a garden of beautiful corpses, chained and floating in the deep.
You see Malia. She looks at you with sad eyes and speaks in Aubreys voice, “”There is something dead by that hut. Should we investigate?”
Leelan, you wake up from your nap to hear Aubrey speaking. It feels almost like an echo. Remove your point of exhaustion, for now.
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
“That stench is not simple fish. It might be our target. Captain,” Rohuzar gestures towards the hut. “Bring us in.”
Paladin - warforged - orange
At your request, Captain Stripe turns the boat back to shore. A rocky point of piled boulders, possibly man made, creates a tiny harbor. The smaller sailing vessel is already moored to the inside of the long dock so Capt. Stripe pulls up along the outside, drops anchor and throws a line to the dock. Eventually he and his son get the ship tied off and extend a plank down to the dock and you disembark. The sailors remain behind with their vessel.
The dock leads to a sandy beach and a wide clearing. To one side of the clearing is a small home, built of logs and driftwood with a thatch roof. The door stands ajar. Something is piled in the tall grass of the clearing though you can’t make it out quite yet. Reds and blacks and yellows and browns.
The stink of rotting meat comes and goes with the breeze. With it comes a deep droning sound… a hum that you can almost feel in your teeth.
(I will have a map later today or tomorrow)
PC - Ethel - Human - Lvl 4 Necromancer - Undying Dragons * Serge Marshblade - Human - Lvl 5 Eldritch Knight - Hoard of the Dragon Queen
DM - (Homebrew) Heroes of Bardstown * Red Dead Annihilation: ToA * Where the Cold Winds Blow : DoIP * Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts: HotDQ * Red Wine, Black Rose: CoS * Greyhawk: Tides of War
Grugga becomes more and more concerned the closer they get to the house. He had been expecting to find something, but not this. "Could two of our competitors already fought over this?" he asks no one in particular.
As they pull up to the dock, Grugga pulls his tabard over his nose and holds it there with his hand to mask the scent a bit. With his other hand, he draws his handaxe from its "sheathe" in his bedroll. He cautiously proceeds toward the hut. "What is that noise...?"