The Windward Isles - Game Thread

I do not speak Verdian. I am a proud Aserian (not really. I actually hate Aserian noble culture and want to burn it all to the ground. Joking! maybe. ;)

Verdia is analogue to South Europe if I recall correctly but William is not from there.

I will take that History check: 10 (rolled twice in case the language barrier imposes disadvantage)

Kairouanis lip curls at the sight of the gold, that stuff seems to be behind every bad thing that ever happens.......annoyingly she needs a lot of it......

You all crowd around the coin as Thea brings it back to the riverbank. Seri and Kairouani can make nothing of it. It just looks like another Eastern coin. William has had some experience of Verdian currency in his previous life working in the company offices, but this doesn’t look like anything he has seen before. Thea tries to recall those stupid Verdian language lessons that her parents tried to force on her. The ones she used to spend trying to see what was the most ridiculous thing she could get away with doing while her tutor was distracted. Her best guess is that the script says something about ‘Glory’ and ‘Empire’. She doesn’t recognise the symbols. 

"I can make out a few words on it. It says...'glory' and 'empire'. Disgusting, I hate how governments print their propoganda on even their money."

OOC: how big is the coin?

OOC:  from post 197:  "It [the coin] is just a little smaller than the palm of [Thea's] hand and about a quarter of an inch thick."

IC:  Seri soon loses interest in the coin, getting antsy to begin moving again so they can finish the expedition and return to the shore quickly.

Once more with Trondro's guidance, she attempts to chart a course towards their destination uphill.

Seri's Survival plus Guidance:  13 + 4 = 17

Thea pockets the coin. She can study it later. Now is time for adventure! She turns to Seri "Where to next?"

OOC: no seriously. I was so excited by the whole snake-waterfall-shiny thing debacle that I forgot. We're heading up a mountain or towards one? Idk, Thea's memory ain't that great.

Quote from Raccoon_Master >>

Thea pockets the coin. She can study it later. Now is time for adventure! She turns to Seri "Where to next?"

OOC: no seriously. I was so excited by the whole snake-waterfall-shiny thing debacle that I forgot. We're heading up a mountain or towards one? Idk, Thea's memory ain't that great.

If I recall correctly, there are two mountains on the island and we are heading towards the east one?

William frowned. 'I've never seen that kind of coin before.' He said, pointing out the words and design on the coin. 'That either means it is newer than the ones currently used, which I doubt, or it's an old coin no longer in circulation.'

His frown lifted. 'In any case it means someone passed by here at some point so hopefully we'll spot some sign of civilization once we get to higher ground.'

William hoisted his backpack a bit higher up on his shoulders and followed behind Seri. 

The journey through the jungle continues. You are soon pushing uphill again, the humid heat beating at you like a physical force. As you climb higher, though, the tangle of vegetation begins to thin. After a while you start to see more sky through the canopy, and the ground begins to become rockier. Formations of dark grey rock thrust from the ground, getting more frequent and larger the higher you climb. Some tower high above your heads, but none stand in your way. You are able to wend a path between and around them and continue ever upwards to the top of this isolated piece of land.

Soon you find yourselves standing atop a high rocky outcrop looking south over the route that you have taken to get here. The ravine that gave you such trouble is barely visible among the tree cover, but you can see the beach where you washed up the previous day. The hulk of the Horn of Plenty is visible, along with the remains of her cargo and rigging, still bobbing in the surf. You can't see your shelter as it is tucked in just below the treeline, but you can see the evidence of your presence down there. Cap'n Thorne's green hat perched on the staves, the crates and kegs that you gathered.

You can also see something new. Something that certainly wasn't there when you left the beach. Two long wooden canoes, each with four or five brown-skinned occupants, are approaching the wreck along the coast from the East. The canoes resemble the Igneri mitsingvana with which Kairouani is familiar. As you watch their progress you see a great black bird circle and then swoop down to perch on the bow of the leading canoe, flapping its wings momentarily for balance. It's hard to tell from this distance, but it does look like it might be an Ankoai. Perhaps one of those you saw yesterday. The two vessels round the wreck and are approaching 'your' beach.

Seri senses that the sight of apparent locals visiting their ad-hoc campsite and shipwreck may not bode well, but it is hard for her to be anything but tranquil when viewing the wide expanse of ocean, beautiful and majestic.  Her voice remains serene.

"Trondro grants passage to many upon His waves.  It seems our beach has visitors from further along the eastern shore.  I do not think we can return in time to interact with them unless they stay.  Shall we watch what they do?  We will not be able to see if we plunge back into the jungle."

She wonders if these are the same humanoids that the monkey had referred to.  Somehow that does not sound right.  He had called them 'grey two legs.'

Gazing in a wide sweep from the outcrop, Seri murmurs a prayer for Trondro's guidance and observes not only the activity with the canoes approaching the beach, but any features in the expanse of sea and shore.  Other beaches or coves.  Storms in the distance.  Or islands.  Or even other ships.

Seri Perception plus Guidance:  15 + 1 = 16

 Kairouani watched impassively, she was too far away to get down there in any sort of reasonable time......she suspected they'd strip the camp of useful things and move on..perhaps.

• " Should we head back or are we planning on spending the night on the mountain?"

Quote from Damian_May >>

 Kairouani watched impassively, she was too far away to get down there in any sort of reasonable time......she suspected they'd strip the camp of useful things and move on..perhaps.

• " Should we head back or are we planning on spending the night on the mountain?"

 "Depends on how safe you think we are up here and if we can find a good campsite. I for one would not like to run into anymore felines of the large variety"

" We'll need to find a cave then, if it rains or storms while we're up here things could get dicey."

"What if me and you scout in opposite directions for a bit, then report back to the group?"

Quote from Raccoon_Master >>

"What if me and you scout in opposite directions for a bit, then report back to the group?"

She nods and begins skirting around to the East following the curve of the slope.

Survival- 16

Seeing two of her companions begin to scout around, Seri reaches out to touch the closest one (Thea) to grant her Trondro's guidance.

(Add 1d4 to next check).

You are standing on a ledge just below the eastern peak of the two that you saw from the beach. From where you are standing on a rocky outcrop above the jungle, you can see across to the other peak. In between is a carpet of jungle, which is broken only by the crystalline expanse of a lake in the centre of the island. While Kairouani and Thea diverge to scout for shelter or likely sites to camp for the night, Seri and William stay on your vantage point and watch the new arrivals on the island. As they come round the wreck, you see another of the big dark birds settle on the prow of the second canoe. It certainly seems as though the people in the canoe and the birds are working in concert. 

Seri channel's Trondro's guidance and strains her senses to detect anything of interest in this expansive vista before you. The thickly forested land slopes down toward the beach, which stretches as far as you can see around the island to the south, east, and west. The azure sea stretches out endlessly to the south and the west under the largely cloudless sky, but to the east you see another land mass on the horizon. These people had to have come from somewhere, if they don't live on this island. Without ocean-going vessels, it has to be somewhere nearby. Your best guess is that they have come from the island you can see to the east. Further round to the north-east, just as the rising slope on which you are standing blocks your view, you see what appears to be a faint vertical trail of black smoke rising into the sky. It is distant, perhaps hundreds of miles away, but somewhere off in that direction something is giving off smoke.

The vessels run aground and the occupants (who all appear male but it is hard to tell at this distance) jump into the surf to pull them further up onto the sand. There seems to be some discussion among them and much pointing and gesturing. They spread out and start investigating the remains of the Horn's cargo and your campsite. One of them takes Thorne's hat and turns it over in his hands, looking at it from all angles, before carefully placing it back where it came from. Others start investigating the crates and kegs, opening them and pulling out the contents. They sniff at the setroka and matsira, which then prompts more discussion and calling over of comrades to see what they've found. After about half an hour of investigation, they come together for a discussion. Following that, two of them remain with the canoes while the others disappear from view below the treeline and don't reappear. The two by the boats appear to have settled in for a long wait, squatting on their haunches and looking about absently.

Meanwhile Thea heads back into the jungle, skirting the hillside to the east, while Kairouani does the same to the west. After half an hour of picking her way carefully through the vegetation, Thea finds that the jungle thins out significantly on the eastern slope and there seems to be quite an easy path to the summit. It is a gentle slope with low shrubs and rocks.

In contrast, Kairouani finds that as she follows the slope round to the West, a cliff rises above her, making an ascent to the summit from that direction a perilous vertical climb. She does, however, find an opening in the rock face. It is no more than a crack, but large enough for a person to get through without too much trouble. It is dark inside so impossible to see how deep it goes. As you notice the cave and peer at it from 20ft away, a blue and yellow parrot swoops down and alights on a branch nearby. It cocks its head and squawks at Kairouani. Then it does something rather curious. Kairouani is familiar with these birds and their ability to mimic human speech, but never has she heard one speak Aseri before. Although her grasp of the language is imperfect at best, the bird says at least two words that she recognises.

"Squawk! Fire island! Squawk!"

"Something, something, Squawk!"

Kairouani roll Perception with disadvantage please (distracted by the parrot).

Kairouani Perception- 3

Kairouani is so startled by the talking bird that she fails to notice anything else around her. 

Thea looks up at the summit, trying to spy any caves or alcoves in which the party could set up camp

Perception: 18