Red Dead Annihilation: Campaign Thread

Meili:

"Too late," sadly shook her head Meili. "Too late to truly say anything." She realized not everyone was following her thoughts and explained. "I hoped to see if the wounds can tell us more. They do, but mostly confirm the obvious. Something really big with knife-sharp teeth bit off the arm. And the body was ripped in half. But it could as well be done to the corpse as to the still-living man. Terrible in any case."

She knew from experience about being chewed on and whoever that man was, the death was horrible.

Mica shared the contents of the pack with the group “There is a hole, so some items could be missing.  Both white and red robes."  He glances over at Ran's suggestion that the corpse was neither..  "Maybe.  But perhaps the group we are following are just red wizards in disguise?  Anyway, these robes may help us walk among them in the future.” Mica passes one red and one white robe out to Ran, Meili, Velan, and Danica, keeping a set for himself. 

 Mica gives the box a good shake, trying to determine if anything is in it.  Investigation: 22.

 He looks at the inscription carefully, then thinks if he had heard anything about a House Kul in the past.  History: 12.

“House Kul, does that mean anything to anyone?  Does anyone have a means to open the lock?  I could try to break it.”

 “The Whites did he in because he was a Red.” He said in answer to Danica’s question, after hearing Mica thoughts on the matter. “See the marks on the scalp?” Velan asked pointing at the corpse. “They are not just tattoos. They are arcane glyphs of abjuration. These in particular do not form a pattern with magic effects but they make for a symbol of status in Thay. The Red wizards keep their heads shaved and mark the skin in this manner.” He spoke casually but with a strange sense of familiarity. As if it was common knowledge for him.  “Our dead friend hided these markings with hair so most likely he was disguised as a White, spying on them until he got caught. Considering that he kept red robes it is likely he didn’t abandon his old loyalties and the group he was following noticed that.” He turned to the earth genasi. “I doubt these white robbed are Thyans in disguise. Thayans wouldn’t leave a corpse behind. They would use it as an undead servant.”

The fact the body was buried told him the man hadn’t died amongst friends. The absence of spellbook, focus or components all but convinced him that his death was no accident, and no beast would have taken any of those items. Considering the state of the bag they couldn’t all have just been lost amidst a fight for survival.

“This box may be a cursed item. If we have eleven minutes to spend I can use magic to identify exactly what it is.”

Notes: If the party agrees with it, Velan Ritual cast Identify in the box.

History Check (does Velan knows about House Kul?): 18

Ran fiddles around in his pouch until he finds the small leather case that holds a selection of tools. He hefts them once.

"After Velan does his hocus pocus here," Ran says. "I can take a stab at opening the lock. These tools aren't what I'm used to, but they're close enough."

He smiles for a moment.

"Occasionally people don't hear you knocking on the door and you have to let yourself in." Ran says.

While Velan prepares his spell, Ran does take a quick look at the lock and the box to make sure there aren't more mundane traps waiting for them.

"All great to avoid giant wasps, turtles and these bloody big reptiles to only fall down dead from a dab of poison on a needle."

Perception: 6  

Mica, when you shake the box you can faintly detect something moving around inside.  It sounds like the insides of the box might be padded somehow.  There is a slight rattling sound as well when you shake it.

Velan:

Ran, you do not see evidence of any traps.

Happy in his belief he hasn't spotted any traps, once Velan finishes his ritual and if nothing magical is detected, Ran will offer to give jimmying open the lock a try.

Thieve's Tools Check: 19 

“House Kul is one of the noble families of Thay.” He says while starting the ritual, answering Mica’s previous question. “They deal with shipping, slaves and exportation. Old blood, powerful, although since the current ruler of Thay, Szazz Tam, took power they lost profits from slave trading. The man is a literal Lich, so Necromancy became a lot more common in the country. Making undead started to be seen as easier and often more lucrative than buying a new living thrall. You could use the bones of any dead servant or just rob a graveyard and suddenly you have a completely obedient workforce that need neither rest nor food or clothing for the rest of your life. Longer even.”

And that was part of the reason why he disliked studying reanimation spells. A fate that may be shared by everyone in Chult if wejust leave the Red Wizards alone, he reminded himself bitterly. Passed the time of the ritual he handed the box to Ran.

“This thing is on the hands of the Kul for centuries and carried by the heir of the House by years for now.” Does this mean we just found the result of the lordling’s attempt at glory? “Can’t say for sure our dead guy is the scion of the family, but I can assure is that there is no spellcraft in it. Do your magic, Ran.”

Ran, just as your about to give up and suspect you’ll need to just break it open, the intricate lock gives way and the box pops open.  The inside is lined with red velvet and it holds a spyglass.  It is partially collapsible to fit inside the box and is made of polished wood with silver inlays, copper and brass.  It is clearly decorative, but a quick test shows it is functional as well; with lenses of polished crystal.

Danica, this is more ornate than any you have seen before in use by ship captains - this looks like the kind of thing more likely to get a sailor stabbed and robbed than serve as a good tool.

Ran hands the spyglass over to Danica.

"Looks sailory to me," Ran says.

He stands up and wraps up his tool kit back in its leather case then slips it into his pouch. Ran then looks down at the dead wizard. As he listens to Velan describe the wizards and government of Thay his eyes narrow and the furrow between his eyebrows gets deeper and deeper.

"Thay is sounding far too close to the rest of Faerun now." Ran says.

He looks up the pathway and then down at the dead wizard, then back up the path.

"Should we get going?"

"Sooo..." Meili was not sure she got it right, "did this thing belong to the man Ran's sister was searching for? And the dead one carried it as a pointer? But if they used it to find him, how could they leave it behind? Or was that dead one a noble from House Krul?" All of it was idle questions, of course. Even if all white wizards were, in fact, red in disguise, that fact changed neither the goal of the expedition nor the path. Was just interesting whether or not to expect a visit from wizards, that could suddenly remember about the spyglass.

"Yes, let's go." A few minutes they spent here searching for clues also allowed some rest for those who needed it. There was one question Meili meant to ask Hew before. "If we run out of water, can we use boiled water from the river? Would it be clean enough?"

At Meili's last question, Hew removed his pith helmet, wiped his brow, and replaced it.  "If we get a move on, it won't come to that.  Let's go."

***

A short distance from the half-corpse, Hew finds a wild plantain tree, and you all stop and eat a quick lunch before proceeding onward.

***

The afternoon is much like the morning.  The air is hot and dense, and you pass through several areas thick with mosquitos.  They part and give you all a wide berth with your repellant, but you marvel at the sheer numbers of bugs.  It seems like the surrounding air is full of pounds of them.

The march is long, and the sun is low in the sky when Hew notes you are passing the last set of rapids.  "We get just a little farther, we hit the river, load the canoes, and then paddle like we're possessed and we can still hit the Brave and Bold Camp before full dark.  Its just a bit upriver."  He takes only a few more steps before he stops and signals you to stop and be quiet.  Ninlil flutters back at the same time, sharing with Velan the same thing Hew has noticed. 

There is a corpse just up ahead, and the ground is littered with tracks.  No human corpse this time... it is a dinosaur, a large quadruped based on what remains.  It is mostly bones, feet and gore, but nonetheless it is obviously fresher than the body you found earlier.

Hew crouches at the front of the line, look ahead, then off the jungle side of the path.  "...Damn."  After a few more seconds... "... Let's try and move on.  Eyes up, and be silent."

Ran wasn't sure what he thought of the plantains. Clearly food and better than some of the grotty swill served in the lesser pubs of the Dock Ward, but there was something about it that reminded him of undercooked potatoes.

"Think this would be better fried," Ran says as he munches away on his third plantain.

When they reach the clearing, Ran looks at the dead dinosaur ahead and wonders at what brought it down.

When Hew mentions moving on quietly, Ran looks down at his armor and just shrugs. 

"Maybe the sound of all these damn bugs will keep the wee clinking and clanking of these chains from reaching whatever beastie did that," Ran says, nodding at the dead dino.

Stealth if needed:  10  

Mica snorts as Velan shares what he knows of the Red Wizards of Thay and House Kul “Undead servants.  Lovely.  These Red Wizards are trouble, it is no wonder the Prince wants them dead.  I wonder why they feel the need to walk among the whites, though?”  He glances over at Danica “The spyglass looks good on you Cap’n.  May it bring us better fortune than it did that one” he points to the corpse.

 As the approach the dead dinosaur, Mica scans the tracks surrounding the carcass, trying to determine what brought the creature down, was it one large predator or a group of smaller ones?  Survival: 17.

 “We need to push on to make the camp by nightfall.”  He looks over at Ran and his clinking chain “Don’t worry, friend, we can do better than bugs to hide the sight and sound of our passing.  Stay close everyone, and move quickly.”  Mica closes his eyes and concentrates and the shadows of the jungle appear to close, hiding the party from view.

Stealth if needed 20.

Ran Revised Stealth w/ Mica Magic: 20

Nodding in understanding at Meili's explanation she thought it sounded familiar to the errant corpse one would find at sea. All that Fran could usually determine is that they were dead and for how long. At Mica's hypothesis about the wizards trying to disguise themselves she chipped in, "Makes sense considering the Theyan's reputation. Red being in the name. Haven't heard anything about white wizards specifically." But Velan's explanation immediately changed her mind, her eyebrows raising in surprised consideration as he elaborated on the details. "Stars. All that from some ink. Good eye." Clapping the wizard on the shoulder with a shaky hand in praise before glancing at the rest of the group with a weary gaze. "I don't think just a brief pause will hurt, right Hew?" Providing their guide agreed she would voice that she'd like to see what Velan could make of the box. Stuffing the spare robes that were passed out into her pack. 

Lip curling as the half orc explained the origins of the box, Danica shook her head, her teeth chattering as she spat, "Not bad enough they're necromancers but necromancing slavers to boot." Glancing at their surroundings as Ran worked on opening the box, when she heard it open, the wood elf looked down as Ran mentioned it being 'sailor-y', taking the proffered object. Glancing it over, her eyes widened at the ostentatiousness of it, but it seemed completely functional as she raised it to her eye and attempted to sight down it to as far as she could. "Be a better pawn than use but not bad to have I suppose. Wonder why it was under lock n key though, other than being fancy." After ensuring it was fully functional, she'd collapse it and put it in a pouch at her belt. Cracking a smile at Mica's comment. "Well he wasn't actually using it was his problem so luck's on our side hopefully." 
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Eyeing the fresh corpse and Hew's demeanor, Danica knew as well as he did what it meant. "Let's hope what-tever killed it isn't still hungry..." She whispered against her chattering teeth. Her eyes were naturally drawn to the trees to see if there was anything carved into them or written in the sides of rocks, childhood habit to look for druidic symbols that were usually scattered about in her home forest.  Perception: 9

Glancing at Mica as the dirt of the earth seemed to help them blend in more, she stayed silently appreciative as she followed his advice, only breaking her silence to murmur under her breath a prayer for Guidance from Selûne. Guidance: 1

Stealth: 15

Meili did not comment on the tracks, just immediately shut up and tried to move as silently as she could, grateful for covering magic from Mica and doing her best to imitate his silent moves.

Stealth: 15 + 10

“It is hard to say for sure.” He said in response to Meili comment about the identity of the corpse. “When I casted the spell upon the box I discovered that it was made as part of a wedding gift to some scion of a powerful family so as long as it was in Thayan hands I would guess it was being carried either by the Kul heir or someone working for him, but it may just had been stolen for a myriad of reasons.”

From petty vengeance to need for coin. He could imagine a Red Wizard stealing from other for less. They were not exactly a group of friends, besides the box could very well serve as a material component for some spell. Divination and curses were often easier with some belonging of the target. Sometimes impossible without such an item. There was also other possibility.

“By our next camp I will try identifying the spyglass, but for now, I think it better to use as much sunlight as we have.” Not that it would make much difference for him or his familiar, but humanking didn’t usually see well in the darkness. A thought he abandoned when the monk spoke about water. “I suppose it would be safe.”

They pressed the walking into outright march. Uneventful until Hew once again ordered a stop. Ninlil returning to him, warning about what the dwarf had seen. They start to move covertly and Mica casts some spell that seemed to call upon shadows to camouflage the group. Fly high, avoid danger and warn me of anything. He commands the familiar telepathically, following close to the others.

Stealth Check: 30

Mica, the ground around the corpse is a jumble of different tracks.  It all looks vaguely like bird tracks to you, but by now you've come to recognize most of these as dinosaur prints.  Other than the multitude of small scavengers, there are two primary types of tracks.

• A singular set of large, deep three-toed tracks about 26 inches from heel to toe
• A dozen or so different sets of two-toed tracks a little bigger than the footprint of a turkey

The lot of you move quick, quiet and urgently, seven figures and two canoes creeping low along a path lined by ferns and palms.  There are calls from the jungle side of the path... they sound like large geese honking to one another, but the calls don't sound urgent or alarmed.  It seems you are passing through without drawing any unwanted attention.  Though Hew occasionally looks in that direction, he doesn't break stride or make any sign for you to stop.  

After four breathless minutes, you come to the termination of the path... a small beach just upriver from the last set of rapids.  There is an old canoe here, damaged and partially sunken in the sand along the shoreline.  Hew doesn't stop to rest or chat, instead hissing at you all to get your canoes in the water.  You see his eyes now, and he looks surprisingly panicked.  Not waiting for questions, he helps you all into the canoes, pushing off one and then the other before hopping into the last boat.

Ninlil returns to warn Velan:  Creatures are approaching!

You aren't more than a handle of strokes away from the beach when a bloodcurdling screech erupts from the jungle behind you, shattering the evening quiet and setting your adrenaline pumping even harder then before.  Three colorful dinosaurs hoot and scream at you from the beach you had just departed.  They are only three feet tall, but they sport wicked looking claws on their hind feet.  Moments later, another four pop out from the jungle alongside the river.  Then two more.  Soon there is a whole troupe of them, following your canoes from riverside and screeching, cawing and snapping at one another.  A few tense up as if to try to make the jump from the shore to your canoes, but none can seem to work up the courage to follow through.

They follow for some time, as the sun begins to set and darkness falls.  You're concerned they may follow you all the way upriver, until another call echoes from the jungle.  Its somewhat like the loud bleat of a bull elk... managing to be both deep and high pitched at the same time.  The smaller dinos all turn their head toward the sound in unison, and most melt immediately back into the jungle.  One remains on the shore long enough to give you one last disappointed 'brawwwnk!' before it too departs.  Of whatever made the louder call, there is no sign.

While the rush of this near-encounter sinks in and begins to fade, a light appears ahead in the darkness on the far side of the river... a single torch burning outside a wooden wall.  "The Brave and Bold hunt camp.  We have made it."

Ran does his best to focus on paddling and putting as much muscle into each stroke as he can, but he can't help but steal quick glances every few strokes over at the small dinosaurs on the bank.

"Awfully aggro for tiny fellas," Ran says. "But if they'd all caught us on land those wicked little dagger blades for heels wouldn't have been fun."

He calls over to Mica in the other canoe.

"Those more your speed for hunting? Looks like they'd give as good as they get."

At the sign of the wall and the camp, Ran lets out a loud enthusiastic whoop and sets up pulling the canoe up and getting their gear out as quickly as possible in case there are any more jungle surprises waiting.

"These ones don't need to be bought off with a barrels of tej?" Ran asks Hew