This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As she finishes signaling the second rope, Sae also takes a moment to scan the horizon in the compass quarter the wreck lies in; and to whisper to Emrys, "Interesting coincidence our coming across these folk just now, given ... our cruising orders and all. Let's keep our eyes open ... "
Aerleo: There is a difference between a wrecked ship and a ship that is slowly sinking while also being on fire... but yes, experience navigating shipwrecks is useful.
Anyway, as I said, it's fairly easy to get inside the ship.
(Picture just for flavor)
The first thing you'll see when you enter the ship is dead people. Quite a few of them. Most of them look like they died by drowning, but a few have fresh wounds that do not look accidental.
As Sae throws her second line, the half-orc catches it easily and hands it to the other human, whom you easily pull onto the ship.
The man already on the deck shakes his head as Sae addresses him.
"I don't know for sure if there's anyone else still breathing in the ship" he says shakily. "But I wouldn't be surprised. My brother and I only got out because Yevelda was able to punch a hole in the deck to get us to the surface. I don't know that there's anything you can do for anyone who's still trapped onboard, though."
He kneels down to grab the second man's hand and help haul him onto the ship. Only the half-orc (presumably the aforementioned Yevelda) still needs saving.
William Thompson
Harold Thompson
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
As you examine the nearest corpse, you realize that the man has been shot with a firearm. The wound is relatively shallow, though, so probably fired from a significant distance as would be expected if the victim and shooter were on the decks of different ships. Same for the second corpse with a visible wound, along with some shrapnel damage likely from being too close when a cannonball hit.
A third corpse has the most dramatic injuries of all... he has both been slashed across the throat and also stabbed in the gut. However, this third corpse is different from the others; his body doesn't look as fresh. Most likely he died some time ago and was being transported on the boat for some reason. In fact, it looks like there may have been an inexpert attempt to embalm this corpse as the wounds have been crudely stitched shut and he's leaking some foul-smelling fluids into the surrounding water.
As you're studying the dead, you hear an unnerving knock from somewhere above you. It sounds like there's still someone... or something... alive in here.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
In the first room it doesn't look like there's much that is still useable. There are a few scimitars and a couple pistols that you could take with you, but that's about it. There are also several barrels of gunpowder, and a few barrels of food, but for obvious reasons they probably can't be salvaged. Maybe you could take a couple of the cannonballs, but even for you it might be difficult to swim around with a sack full of cannonballs. Do you want to continue searching other parts of the ship?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
The next room is much the same as the first... full of corpses floating eerily in the murky water. It almost feels as if the dead themselves are watching you as you enter their domain.
Aerleo:
If you search the dead, you'll find the following items:
1) One of the bodies has a strange pendant around its neck. It looks like it could be valuable, possibly even magical, but you'll need an Arcana check to determine what, if any, properties it has.
2) A second corpse has a rather fancy-looking brooch, very likely magical, but again you'll need an Arcana check to determine exactly what it is. The same corpse also has a rapier that, when you start to pull it from its scabbard, lights up the murky waters. The sword you can probably recognize as a moon-touched rapier. This body is dressed in fine clothing, and you can easily deduce that he was likely the ship's captain.
Besides these items, it looks like pretty much anything else in the room has been ruined by the salt water. But you are closer to the knocking sound, and you can be fairly certain at this point that what you're hearing is someone trapped in an air pocket trying to find a way to the surface. If you attempt a rescue, it will be quite difficult to get them to the surface since presumably he or she cannot breath under water as you can.
Aerleo will go to scratching sound and attempt to help the person after he takes the items from the corpses. Once he grabs the person he will cast his natural ability of gust of wind and shoot it down to propel them both back up.
As Sae throws her second line, the half-orc catches it easily and hands it to the other human, whom you easily pull onto the ship.
The man already on the deck shakes his head as Sae addresses him.
"I don't know for sure if there's anyone else still breathing in the ship" he says shakily. "But I wouldn't be surprised. My brother and I only got out because Yevelda was able to punch a hole in the deck to get us to the surface. I don't know that there's anything you can do for anyone who's still trapped onboard, though."
He kneels down to grab the second man's hand and help haul him onto the ship. Only the half-orc (presumably the aforementioned Yevelda) still needs saving.
William Thompson
Harold Thompson
As the first man finishes speaking to her, Sae nods, but all she says is, "We'll see." In her mind, though, she is going over everything the man said looking for deceit of statement, of omission, or of hidden motives in saying what he said. She turns back to the wreck and throws her rope one more time for Yevelda. At the same time, she is stretching her awareness to see if there is in fact a hole in the deck and if it looks like it was punched out from below. If she saw anything untoward when she scanned the horizon after warning Emrys that this was all just a bit too convenient, she will report it to him first.
As you enter the next room, most of the wall has been blown away, leaving the room exposed to the open ocean. And the open ocean has begun to enter... in the form of three rather unpleasant-looking merfolk who have made it into the ship and are hungrily devouring the deceased in the room, while a fourth is trying to open a door from which you can still hear someone banging.
They all stop to look at you... and you immediately get the impression that they're not in the mood to talk, though you're welcome to try. Since you're the only one here, I can run the encounter via DM while the rest of the party works on their rescue.
Sae: Go ahead and make an Insight check and a Perception check, though I will say right now that it would be extremely difficult to verify the claim about punching through the deck, since the hole would presumably be under water.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
As you enter the next room, most of the wall has been blown away, leaving the room exposed to the open ocean. And the open ocean has begun to enter... in the form of three rather unpleasant-looking merfolk who have made it into the ship and are hungrily devouring the deceased in the room, while a fourth is trying to open a door from which you can still hear someone banging.
They all stop to look at you... and you immediately get the impression that they're not in the mood to talk, though you're welcome to try. Since you're the only one here, I can run the encounter via DM while the rest of the party works on their rescue.
Sae: Go ahead and make an Insight check and a Perception check, though I will say right now that it would be extremely difficult to verify the claim about punching through the deck, since the hole would presumably be under water.
Sae: As far as you can tell, the sailor is being totally honest. Yevelda catches the final rope and you're able to pull her up onto the deck with the others.
"Many thanks," she says shortly, wiping a some of a few strands of dripping red hair out of her face. "It didn't look like we were going to last too much longer out there if you folks hadn't come along."
Yevelda Skullsplitter:
As she lifts up her hand, you all see a rather unsettling sign. The broken remains of a set of manacles are still hanging from her wrists.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
When the rope missed the castaways for some ten good feet, Emrys looked at Sae and raised his thumb with a bleak face that said ‘It’s fine, I suck at athletics too’. Fortunately, not enough to make it impossible to help the elf getting the two humans on board. He nodded at her whisper. It was only the second day after leaving Northport, a trade hub for the region. Taking that and the storm into consideration it was not exactly surprising to find a wreck there, but one could never be too sure. Strange things happen at sea, he knew well enough.
“Ok, the two of you take the rope. The two of us pull from your backs. All of us have your friend to get out of the water.” Far from him to speak of the weight of a lady, but considering the last of the trio was likely the Yevelda then she was a mountain of muscles and likely to be heavier than the men. “You can speak while pulling so let’s start with the name of your ship and of its captain. Your route and the reason of both the wreck and the fire.” The halfling waited for the pulling before shouting. “Arleo’s diving so eyes on the water!”
"Ah yes... certainly some good questions," William says, pulling a soggy letter out of his shirt pocket and handing it to Emrys. If you open it, you'll see that it's note of guild membership... in fact, this man is apparently a member of the Ivory Guild. "Our ship is... was... a merchant ship, under Captain Wendell. About three days ago we were attacked and boarded by pirates, but we managed to fight them off and forced them to retreat. Unfortunately, our ship sustained quite a bit of damage in the fight... which is likely why we couldn't whether the storm. Our rather makeshift repairs were simply not able to withstand the force of the winds and waves."
And suddenly... you have a pretty good idea of what happened. Judging by the broken manacles and battle scars, Yevelda was most likely a member of the pirate boarding party who was abandoned on the ship when the rest of the crew retreated.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Having defeated the four merfolk, the closed door is just ahead, and it still sounds like someone is on the other side. The merfolk have already done some work on the door, so it wouldn't be difficult to break it open if you so choose.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Inside the little air pocket, you find soaked, shivering halfling. He's wearing an apron, and if you look around the room you can tell that this used to be the ship's kitchen. So, it stands to reason that this is probably the ship's cook.
"Wh-who are you?" he gasps, backing away and clutching a large chef's knife in his trembling hands. "If you're here to eat me... I don't taste very good! Well... I don't think so, anyway... well... on the other hand, I suppose I might, I could certainly afford to lose a few pounds... oh shit, I probably do taste good... but please, I still don't want to get eaten! But... I also don't want to slowly die of hypothermia at the bottom of the ocean, so maybe it's for the best if you just finish me off now..."
Ship cook Xorich Tosskettle:
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Aerleo looks at the small creature with petty, “Areleo is a champion of the weak, the little one has nothing to worry about. Come little one, Areleo will take the little one to safety on the surface.” Areleo reaches out his large webbed hands towards the hafling.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
As she finishes signaling the second rope, Sae also takes a moment to scan the horizon in the compass quarter the wreck lies in; and to whisper to Emrys, "Interesting coincidence our coming across these folk just now, given ... our cruising orders and all. Let's keep our eyes open ... "
=====================
Perception 8
Famh Thrawn Fiadhaich - 'half elven' sorcerer (wild magic) 2, Sleeping Gods - A Dragon Warriors campaign in the Lands of Legend
Quspira Inirali - tiefling cleric (Life domain) 4, Painted's "He'll be the father of my child"
---RETIRED HEROES' REST HOME---
Sae Ivui Nailo - wood elf rogue (inquisitive) 5 , Sea of Death: Captain Hailstorm's Lost Treasure
Ryshraxea "Shra" Naranthi - tabaxi artificer 1, Nyx's Tomb of Annihilation - Group 1
Aerleo: There is a difference between a wrecked ship and a ship that is slowly sinking while also being on fire... but yes, experience navigating shipwrecks is useful.
Anyway, as I said, it's fairly easy to get inside the ship.
(Picture just for flavor)
The first thing you'll see when you enter the ship is dead people. Quite a few of them. Most of them look like they died by drowning, but a few have fresh wounds that do not look accidental.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
As Sae throws her second line, the half-orc catches it easily and hands it to the other human, whom you easily pull onto the ship.
The man already on the deck shakes his head as Sae addresses him.
"I don't know for sure if there's anyone else still breathing in the ship" he says shakily. "But I wouldn't be surprised. My brother and I only got out because Yevelda was able to punch a hole in the deck to get us to the surface. I don't know that there's anything you can do for anyone who's still trapped onboard, though."
He kneels down to grab the second man's hand and help haul him onto the ship. Only the half-orc (presumably the aforementioned Yevelda) still needs saving.
William Thompson
Harold Thompson
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Can Aerleo make an investigation on the non-accidental dead bodies? He is getting a bad feeling about the survivors.
Investigation: nat 20 but with my -1 = 19
Yes, you certainly can.
Aerleo:
As you examine the nearest corpse, you realize that the man has been shot with a firearm. The wound is relatively shallow, though, so probably fired from a significant distance as would be expected if the victim and shooter were on the decks of different ships. Same for the second corpse with a visible wound, along with some shrapnel damage likely from being too close when a cannonball hit.
A third corpse has the most dramatic injuries of all... he has both been slashed across the throat and also stabbed in the gut. However, this third corpse is different from the others; his body doesn't look as fresh. Most likely he died some time ago and was being transported on the boat for some reason. In fact, it looks like there may have been an inexpert attempt to embalm this corpse as the wounds have been crudely stitched shut and he's leaking some foul-smelling fluids into the surrounding water.
As you're studying the dead, you hear an unnerving knock from somewhere above you. It sounds like there's still someone... or something... alive in here.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Aerleo grips onto his great sword ready to strike whatever may come. He is still interested in any goods he can find.
In the first room it doesn't look like there's much that is still useable. There are a few scimitars and a couple pistols that you could take with you, but that's about it. There are also several barrels of gunpowder, and a few barrels of food, but for obvious reasons they probably can't be salvaged. Maybe you could take a couple of the cannonballs, but even for you it might be difficult to swim around with a sack full of cannonballs. Do you want to continue searching other parts of the ship?
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Aerleo feels comfortable in the water and maybe too prideful for his own good, so he will continue through the ship but with caution.
The next room is much the same as the first... full of corpses floating eerily in the murky water. It almost feels as if the dead themselves are watching you as you enter their domain.
Aerleo:
If you search the dead, you'll find the following items:
1) One of the bodies has a strange pendant around its neck. It looks like it could be valuable, possibly even magical, but you'll need an Arcana check to determine what, if any, properties it has.
2) A second corpse has a rather fancy-looking brooch, very likely magical, but again you'll need an Arcana check to determine exactly what it is. The same corpse also has a rapier that, when you start to pull it from its scabbard, lights up the murky waters. The sword you can probably recognize as a moon-touched rapier. This body is dressed in fine clothing, and you can easily deduce that he was likely the ship's captain.
Besides these items, it looks like pretty much anything else in the room has been ruined by the salt water. But you are closer to the knocking sound, and you can be fairly certain at this point that what you're hearing is someone trapped in an air pocket trying to find a way to the surface. If you attempt a rescue, it will be quite difficult to get them to the surface since presumably he or she cannot breath under water as you can.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Aerleo will go to scratching sound and attempt to help the person after he takes the items from the corpses. Once he grabs the person he will cast his natural ability of gust of wind and shoot it down to propel them both back up.
As the first man finishes speaking to her, Sae nods, but all she says is, "We'll see." In her mind, though, she is going over everything the man said looking for deceit of statement, of omission, or of hidden motives in saying what he said. She turns back to the wreck and throws her rope one more time for Yevelda. At the same time, she is stretching her awareness to see if there is in fact a hole in the deck and if it looks like it was punched out from below. If she saw anything untoward when she scanned the horizon after warning Emrys that this was all just a bit too convenient, she will report it to him first.
=================================================================
Insight (Ear for Deceit - 7 or lower treated as 8) 7
Athletics 13
Perception (Eye for Detail - bonus action) 21
Famh Thrawn Fiadhaich - 'half elven' sorcerer (wild magic) 2, Sleeping Gods - A Dragon Warriors campaign in the Lands of Legend
Quspira Inirali - tiefling cleric (Life domain) 4, Painted's "He'll be the father of my child"
---RETIRED HEROES' REST HOME---
Sae Ivui Nailo - wood elf rogue (inquisitive) 5 , Sea of Death: Captain Hailstorm's Lost Treasure
Ryshraxea "Shra" Naranthi - tabaxi artificer 1, Nyx's Tomb of Annihilation - Group 1
Aerleo:
As you enter the next room, most of the wall has been blown away, leaving the room exposed to the open ocean. And the open ocean has begun to enter... in the form of three rather unpleasant-looking merfolk who have made it into the ship and are hungrily devouring the deceased in the room, while a fourth is trying to open a door from which you can still hear someone banging.
They all stop to look at you... and you immediately get the impression that they're not in the mood to talk, though you're welcome to try. Since you're the only one here, I can run the encounter via DM while the rest of the party works on their rescue.
Sae: Go ahead and make an Insight check and a Perception check, though I will say right now that it would be extremely difficult to verify the claim about punching through the deck, since the hole would presumably be under water.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
It sure was difficult to see LOL
Famh Thrawn Fiadhaich - 'half elven' sorcerer (wild magic) 2, Sleeping Gods - A Dragon Warriors campaign in the Lands of Legend
Quspira Inirali - tiefling cleric (Life domain) 4, Painted's "He'll be the father of my child"
---RETIRED HEROES' REST HOME---
Sae Ivui Nailo - wood elf rogue (inquisitive) 5 , Sea of Death: Captain Hailstorm's Lost Treasure
Ryshraxea "Shra" Naranthi - tabaxi artificer 1, Nyx's Tomb of Annihilation - Group 1
Sae: As far as you can tell, the sailor is being totally honest. Yevelda catches the final rope and you're able to pull her up onto the deck with the others.
"Many thanks," she says shortly, wiping a some of a few strands of dripping red hair out of her face. "It didn't look like we were going to last too much longer out there if you folks hadn't come along."
Yevelda Skullsplitter:
As she lifts up her hand, you all see a rather unsettling sign. The broken remains of a set of manacles are still hanging from her wrists.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
When the rope missed the castaways for some ten good feet, Emrys looked at Sae and raised his thumb with a bleak face that said ‘It’s fine, I suck at athletics too’. Fortunately, not enough to make it impossible to help the elf getting the two humans on board. He nodded at her whisper. It was only the second day after leaving Northport, a trade hub for the region. Taking that and the storm into consideration it was not exactly surprising to find a wreck there, but one could never be too sure. Strange things happen at sea, he knew well enough.
“Ok, the two of you take the rope. The two of us pull from your backs. All of us have your friend to get out of the water.” Far from him to speak of the weight of a lady, but considering the last of the trio was likely the Yevelda then she was a mountain of muscles and likely to be heavier than the men. “You can speak while pulling so let’s start with the name of your ship and of its captain. Your route and the reason of both the wreck and the fire.” The halfling waited for the pulling before shouting. “Arleo’s diving so eyes on the water!”
"Ah yes... certainly some good questions," William says, pulling a soggy letter out of his shirt pocket and handing it to Emrys. If you open it, you'll see that it's note of guild membership... in fact, this man is apparently a member of the Ivory Guild. "Our ship is... was... a merchant ship, under Captain Wendell. About three days ago we were attacked and boarded by pirates, but we managed to fight them off and forced them to retreat. Unfortunately, our ship sustained quite a bit of damage in the fight... which is likely why we couldn't whether the storm. Our rather makeshift repairs were simply not able to withstand the force of the winds and waves."
And suddenly... you have a pretty good idea of what happened. Judging by the broken manacles and battle scars, Yevelda was most likely a member of the pirate boarding party who was abandoned on the ship when the rest of the crew retreated.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Areleo:
Having defeated the four merfolk, the closed door is just ahead, and it still sounds like someone is on the other side. The merfolk have already done some work on the door, so it wouldn't be difficult to break it open if you so choose.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Areleo will brake it down ready to help where he can.
Areleo:
Inside the little air pocket, you find soaked, shivering halfling. He's wearing an apron, and if you look around the room you can tell that this used to be the ship's kitchen. So, it stands to reason that this is probably the ship's cook.
"Wh-who are you?" he gasps, backing away and clutching a large chef's knife in his trembling hands. "If you're here to eat me... I don't taste very good! Well... I don't think so, anyway... well... on the other hand, I suppose I might, I could certainly afford to lose a few pounds... oh shit, I probably do taste good... but please, I still don't want to get eaten! But... I also don't want to slowly die of hypothermia at the bottom of the ocean, so maybe it's for the best if you just finish me off now..."
Ship cook Xorich Tosskettle:
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Aerleo looks at the small creature with petty, “Areleo is a champion of the weak, the little one has nothing to worry about. Come little one, Areleo will take the little one to safety on the surface.” Areleo reaches out his large webbed hands towards the hafling.