Hun reluctantly follows the rest of the group to over to the Carcerius, but refuses to dive into any of the ship's sunk portions despite Yulmiath's plea for all to explore them together. They ultimately agree that the kobold will keep watch, and use their 'secret signal', while the others try their luck underwater.

Kairus sees the merit in the artificer's stubbornness, but decides to follow the dragonborn to the closest portion of the ship: its aft. The bard had tried to perceive any signs that one portion might be more enticing than the other, but distance to their current location ended up being the main factor in their decision. Hun climbs up the same portion of the ship and begins looking about. For now, he spots nothing that catches his attention in the translucent crashing waters of the rocky northern shore of the island. (I'm using his passive perception for now.)

(OOC: Let's see some perception or investigation checks for exploration.)

Krodhen is going to activate his Ring of Water Walking again and stay above with Hun, watching out again as the more foolhardy amongst the group tempt fate yet again

"Don't say you weren't warned...." he says under his breath as he watches them dive into the wreck

In terms of perception and general attentiveness, it was not Kairus's day - too many distractions, perhaps. But insatiable curiosity pushed him forward and he did his best to pay at least some attention. Right now he concentrated on investigation (9) of the wreck's conditions -  any signs of looting? Or maybe some crew got as lucky as those from the ***** Queen and simply took all they needed?

Yet again, what could he truly say about human custom? Kairus sighed and at least tried to help Yul to search for valuables by maybe by pointing at the closest piles of good even he can not miss?

Descending to the wreck of the Carcerious, Yul keeps his head on a swivel, which is probably for the best given the his of his cloak obscures his peripheral vision.

Perception - 16

Once down at the wreck Yulmiath isn't one to ignore instruction, even if Karius is wearing THAT symbol. Yul just hoped that he could escape Umberlee's gaze a little longer.

Investigation - 9

(OOC Using help from Karius for advantage on the second roll.)

Rhogal takes his own look around. He doesn't quite know what to look for as he knows the ships been picked over several times by other adventurers. But, they've found a few things, themselves, so he might as well give it a go.

Perception: 18

(OOC: So that we don't spend the next couple of days simply rolling perception or investigation checks for each portion of the Carcerius, I'll go ahead and speed up a bit this investigation.)

Krodhen joins Hun in remaining up top to keep watch. Much like the kobold, he identifies no cause for worry at the moment (without a roll, I'm using his passive perception.)

Kairus, Yulmiath, and Rhogal constitute the diving party. The bard takes the lead in the investigation of the aft portion of the ship, but soon concludes it has been finely picked clean by the tortles. The realization is somewhat frustrating, and Kairus doesn't put his all into the exploration that follows. He simply 'knows' ahead of time he'll find nothing so there is no reason to be so thorough. Perhaps in the manner of a self-fulfilling prophecy, it turns out that the aft portion of the wreck indeed has nothing to offer.

The trio moves over to the bowsprit portion of the wreck. Yulmiath takes the lead this time, both keeping an eye out for danger and investigating the wreck. He sees no hiding creatures, no armed traps, no poisonous flora or rusty metal point. In fact, even with Kairus' help, the dragonborn fails to spot anything of value at all in this portion of the wreck. The group has spent a good amount in this investigation and has yet to come up with any sort of payoff.

Finally, the trio dives a bit deeper to focus on the central portion of the wrecked ship. Rhogal is leading the investigation this time and seems to have a more positive disposition than his companions at this moment. The search confirms the suspicions that this wreck has been combed clean by the tortles, much like the Dawn Avenger and the easier to reach parts of the Dirty Bastard. However, not all is in vain. Rhogal sees some clear evidence of the caravel's reputation for being a slaver ship in that the dwarf finds rusty manacles bolted to rotten beams alongside skeletal remains. After spending some time looking over these remains, Rhogal identifies one set of manacles that is not only in good-enough condition, but has come loose from its bolt such that it could be taken and used as portable manacles.

The trio eventually reemerges and rejoin Hun and Krodhen. A good amount of time was spent in this investigation and the manacles are all they have to show for it. The afternoon sun is still shinning up above, so Yulmiath judges they still have time if they choose to explore the two remining shipwrecks: the Virago and the Sea Mare.

Bobbing around on the surface of the water, Yulmiath grumbles his frustrations and occasionally takes on a mouthful of seawater which he quickly spits out.

"Hmph, not exactly rich picking with us always being the second vulture to the carcass. If we search the other two, which order do we do it in? I'd say furthest first, so its less of a swim back to the cliff?"

(OOC - Pre-emptively rolling perception to make sure no beasties are tracking the trio and investigation so that we can get the last two wrecks checked and then reunite the party.)

Perception - 12

Investigation - 16

Krodhen looks at the water, wanting to determine whether the tide is coming in or indeed nearing high tide.

A little unsure of his ability to tell, he looks around to see whether it appears the water is higher on some of the other wrecks, and asks the others "How high do you think the tide is....we were warned of other dangers when the tide peaks?"

Perception 8   (Yup - no idea)

Kairus at least got a good swim in calm waters, so, did not complain (though, yea, the catch was kind of embarrassing). "Tides suppose to bring sea hunters of all kind, true. But if we continue, I agree, let's start from the farthest. The ship which is close -Virago, as I recall - also should be empty and, if I remember right, dangerous on its own. That is if we believe our lovely underwater lady. And Sea Mare was supposed to be looted according to the legend. But who knows, the pirates could miss something on it." It was also interesting regardless of the treasure, but he did not emphasize his curiosity. "Can we handle another monster the sea decides to through at us or should we take a break first?"

Still bobbing about on the surface Yulmiath ponders the two options, laying out one hand and then the other as he speaks.

"I'd prefer to miss out on the swim if those wrecks have already been picked clean. On the other hand, if we were to find something that would be good."

Taking his arms away from treading water sees his head suddenly dip below the surface.  Putting his arms back into the enterprise sees him emerge and sputter out a little more salt water.

"Not swimming seems to winning it right now, we can always head out again or look for richer pickings elsewhere."

"Finally I hear something sensible." Hun comments from his perch. "You two might be comfortable to some degree out in the waves, but I still think we've teased the Lady of Fortune and that other Sea Devil enough with this leg of our venture. All things considered, we've already made a fair enough fortune finding this little trinket." He gestures to the [magicitem]Medallion of Thoughts;Medallion[/spell] dangling on a necklace about his neck. "You know how much even a simple enchanted magic item can go for? Well I'll tell you! LOTS and LOTS back on the main land!" He said, making a big open arms gesture. 

"Soooo, how about it? There's still the Shrine of the Fang that's maybe a couple days or so away from here we can check out. Not to mention, it's on land, and SECONDLY, I doubt it very seriously it has anything to do with Sea Biscuit or Sea Queen or whatever her name is too." He adds, eyeing Kairus and Yulmiath in particular.

"Kind of thought "rest and return". Can even take our new turtle friend there, she might like it to go that far or even catch a battle. But if you think it's pointless..." Kairus was fine with exploring the island, just did not want to leave that particular curious metaphorical stone unturned. "Your human, Grandpa, is not and was not here, of course, but it's so close...". Still, should the consensus be to leave the place for good, he would comply.

"Well, at least, we made the shores slightly less dangerous after takin' out that mass o' tentacles," Rhogal says he picks up the manacles for a moment and drops the again. "I'll take a small victory like that after see the slim pickings around here."

@Yulmiath: While talking and keeping an eye about, you think you see some movement in the water near the spot where the carcass of the Sea Mare is located. There is no way of telling what caused it. It could be a fish, a turtle, an octopus, a dinosaur, a rogue but small wave, the first indications of a gradual tide change, your imagination... it could be anything.

@Krodhen: You get no indication from the water itself, but you do remember Yulmiath mentioning something about the tide coming in around dusk. It is not dusk yet. In fact, it is only mid-afternoon.

Yulmiath expresses some willingness to continue exploring. Kairus reminds the group that, should they be willing to take Myldryd on her word, there should only be one wreck left for them to explore, although it is the farthest from the shore and thus, the one for which the changing tides means the least in terms of how much of the wreck is accessible at any given point in time.

The conversation does not go their way however, with Krodhen reminding them of the dangers lying in wait the farther they get from the shore and Hun claiming their magic amulet is more than enough reward for scavenging shipwrecks which have certainly been combed through numerous times. Kairus agrees about the potential dangers but still hopes to return for another underwater exploration round. Nonetheless, the discussion seems to deplete Yulmiath's desire to keep swimming and Kairus ends up letting his teammates have their win, albeit a bit reluctantly. 

Hun tries to persuade the group that it is time to explore other portions of the isle, and Rhogal seems to agree. The dwarf drops the manacles he found back into the water, clearly signaling that these wrecks are not worth their time.

The group returns to the beach and makes their way up the secured rope. The grip on the rope and the footholds on the cliff wall are becoming more and more familiar to the adventurers. Soon, they are back at camp. Eeyal greets them with some food. Whatever was left of the gumbo is being heated on the fire (Eeyal has a small metal pot), and the tortle has even plucked a few strands of Eblis jerky from the makeshift smokehouse. "Back so soon? Tell me of your second go at diving for treasure!"

Yulmiath slumps by the fire then regrets his choice as some Eblis jerky might not have gone amiss.

"What lives in these waters and is like an octopus, but more so? Like more tentacles? Because we saw one of those."

At least he got this! He could tell the story. "It was great!" enthusiastically began Kairus, "and - yes, we came across the most strange thing down there. Imagine, we go down to the long-lost remnants of the ship. We go deeper, to the seafloor, sun rays play on stony polyps, each a brighter and more vibrant shade than the last, cluster together and covering the wood to form hills of coral. Fish roam the coral in search of easy meals. It's so beautiful you could cry if not for the water around. And suddenly - puff! Up coming the fountain of tentacles waving in every direction! One grapple and you can never see the day of light again!..." He continued like this for the next ten minutes, describing the battle in details and doing his best to avoid questions about what did they get to show for all the troubles.

"We left the best for the last. Sea Mare is still there unexplored. According to legend, there is nothing to see there but the burned-out carcass. And most of my friends agreed we can get more interesting stuff on the island itself. But... say later we change our mind - want to go to that ship with us?"

Having listened to Karius' yarn, Yulmiath raises a hand with a question but blurts it out after Karius has asked his own.

"Polyps are the snot looking things on the rocks, right?"

"That would be barnacles. Polyps make corals." He contemplated if revealing the "wormish" nature of the creatures would spoil the love for the coral here and decided to go easy with explanations. "The soft part, not the rocky."

Krodhen sits there, somewhat bemused with the extravagance of the recount, but smiles nontheless at the energy Kairus puts into the tale, commenting on the battle and the narrative with just a hint of sarcasm 

"Indeed, some of us seemed more than keen to embrace the darkness, but we managed to rid the area of one danger to the youngsters of the village"  

Knowing Kairus as he did, Hun started to thumb the triton's direction in response to Eeyal's question, only for the young'un excitment to render it moot. Something he found himself smirking at a little; his mood having improved now that the group were away from the waters for... whatever reason. As the story is being told, the Kobold took the opportunity to start cleaning off his gear with some type cobbled together tooth brushes.

Only once the initial excitement died down would the tiny elder turn to Eeyal and ask, "Say! Not sure if we asked this of you last or not. But, you wouldn't happen to know anything about the Snake Fang tunnel?" There's then a pause before he frowns and rubs his head for a moment, before snapping his fingers. "Nonono! Snake Fang Temple! The temple~ That was it... I think. S'pose to be the east of here. And way I figure, if there's any other place aside from that other temple, that'd be somewhere young Volo would've wandered off to if given half the chance after coming north -- Fairly famous human and explorer, if that helps jog any memories on him in particular."