"The kraken's involvement is what bothers me, they are mysterious legendary creatures, although they would be one of the few things strong enough to rip the masts off the ship."

[[Just a point of clarification, Coriana has not revealed the full extent of her aquatic powers. She certainly shows no fear of the water, and was dismissive of the potion. Minor detail.]]

[[Spider staff? that is effectively mass spider climb, pretty useful.]]

Quote from Charwoman_Gene>>

[[Just a point of clarification, Coriana has not revealed the full extent of her aquatic powers. She certainly shows no fear of the water, and was dismissive of the potion. Minor detail.]]

(OOC: Got it!  That's what I was thinking.  I wanted to resolve the initial division of the treasure quickly, but I put that info OOC and not in Xanrym's words because I didn't think that he knew about Coriana's powers.  Despite having seen Liarin, I'm also not sure whether he knows that Syllen can wild shape into an animal like all druids.  Or whether he's certain that Syllen would be able to wild shape into an aquatic animal.) 

[[Spider staff? that is effectively mass spider climb, pretty useful.]]

(OOC: Yes, but I love it for Web, but that requires someone who has the concentration to spare.  The 2024 version can be used by our bard, warlock, or wizard, so we'll have to work that out once we have time for a Short Rest and for someone to attune to it.) 

Theldrin would be happy to accept the Gust of Wind scroll but he will offer both scrolls to Syllen if he wants them.

He helps Xanrym search Krell's body then turns his attention to the door, standing by with readied crossbow.

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

If the door has spikes on this side, then Xanrym doubts that there will be any more monstrous spiders in it.  Krell didn't seem to be bothered by the spiders!  But perhaps the undead guard the next room?  In any case, Xanrym will again ready Vicious Mockery in case anything leaps out and attacks as soon as Khessa removes the spikes and opens the door.  

Once they finish searching Krell, Xanrym gets ready for Khessa to open the door (as quoted here).  He's worried about what Coriana said about a kraken ripping the masts off of the ship.  That would certainly explain how that happened!  And what had ripped "chunks" out of the hull of the ship itself. 

Xanrym is now eager to finish clearing the next room as quickly as possible so that they can continue their decent into the belly of the ship.  He just hopes that they can reach the cargo hold and, if they find Aubrek's crate, get the crate back to the Soul of Winter before the kraken returns to attack the ship again.  While it would be fascinating to see a kraken in person, Xanrym does not want to get dragged into the depths of Nyr Dyv.  Being eaten by a kraken would be a dramatic but not very heroic end!

[[Just a side note, Coriana keeps casting jump to keep the spell active as it is cast at will and does not require concentration.]]

I would assume that it is common knowledge that all druids can transform into animals. Just some are better than others. Also Syllen would have talked about what animals would be good to turn into in the ocean as soon as he found out we were going on a boat. So Xanrym would have known that Syllen can become a shark.

Syllen will put away his shield and pull out his crossbow. 

When Theldrin offers the scrolls Syllen is quite happy not having the responsibility of holding on to them. He tells Theldrin that he is far more knowledgeable than him and that he should keep them.

Syllen is willing to take the Cloak of Protection but the fact that he has not been hit one time and the fact that his main goal is keeping others alive would lead him to give it to anyone that would use it.

(OOC: Player: Always wants higher AC. Character: Does not feel the need for more protection and would feel guilty taking it away from someone that needs it more.)

Theldrin is obviously pleased to keep the Gust of Wind scroll but encourages Syllen to take the Protection from Poison one, saying, "I think you could likely make better of use of this one than I, my friend."

In case it's not clear: since the party seems ready, Khessa does her best to open the door... or, failing that, she knocks it down with her Maul.

Xanrym searches Krell's body but finds nothing of any real interest, perhaps his treasures were kept in the sacks. The staff seems to turn back to something resembling a normal piece of wood as Krell perishes.

Khessa is able to, with a few pushes, open the door to the south. Judging from the stove along one wall of this room, this was once the galley. Now the area is cluttered with bones and debris. Badly damaged metal knives and other cookware hang from hooks in the ceiling, while the choking stench of rotting flesh fills the air. A stairway leads up near the stern. Tiny spiders crawl over everything. A moldy trapdoor in this area leads down, a bar has been inserted through a set of rusted brackets to keep it barred from above.

Quote from drumdigby>>

Xanrym searches Krell's body but finds nothing of any real interest, perhaps his treasures were kept in the sacks. The staff seems to turn back to something resembling a normal piece of wood as Krell perishes.

(OOC: Sorry for the useless speculation, everyone.  I guess I got overexcited by the description of Krell's staff.  It just goes to show you: don't count your rare magic items until they're in your inventory and identified!)

Khessa is able to, with a few pushes, open the door to the south. Judging from the stove along one wall of this room, this was once the galley. Now the area is cluttered with bones and debris. Badly damaged metal knives and other cookware hang from hooks in the ceiling, while the choking stench of rotting flesh fills the air. A stairway leads up near the stern. Tiny spiders crawl over everything. A moldy trapdoor in this area leads down, a bar has been inserted through a set of rusted brackets to keep it barred from above.

Xanrym points out that since their at the stern of the ship (no other doors on this level), they must be directly below the first cabin that they checked on the main deck, where they found the altar to Lolth.  Xanrym picks up a small piece of broken cutlery, like a fork, and asks Coriana or Theldrin to go back with him to the grate in the N-S hallway.  He takes out a bundle of String from his backpack and loops it around the head of the fork.  He asks whomever came with him to cast Light on the fork so that he can lower the luminous fork with the string through the grate and see what's on the next level down.  Does it look like another hallway with rooms?  Or does it look like the next level down is the cargo hold?  Does it look like one big area in the Light?  Or is it also sub-divided into separate rooms along a hallway?
Perception: 14

If it is the cargo hold, then the party just needs to decide whether we want to unblock the "moldy trapdoor" or to open this gate and lower ourselves down with the rope.  Or do we want to do it both ways again like last time, with most of the Company going down through the trapdoor and Coriana swinging down on a rope through the grate with Xanrym covering here from the hallway above?

Khessa is always wary of strategies that involve splitting the party up... but she aids Xanrym in his inspection, providing Light when needed, and suspends her judgment until it's clearer what awaits them below.

Avery shrugs, places the necklace in a belt pouch, knowing he can always trade or sell it later. He stands ready with Khessa, whatever the group decides to do. He does concur, "splitting may not be a good idea, strength in numbers with what they have been encountering so far."

Theldrin likes the idea of using the Light fork to get some idea of what lies below the grate, but also expresses concern about splitting up.  He agrees with Syllen that the phase spider still potentially lurking about is even more reason to stay together.

"I am vary of splitting up as well. I think we should go down the moldy trapdoor, but we should remove or smash the grate before we do, as it would speed up us using it as an escape route."

Quote from Aaggie >>

Avery shrugs, places the necklace in a belt pouch, knowing he can always trade or sell it later.

(OOC: @Aaggie - There isn't a (new) necklace.  Post #3645 was showing that Avery already has a Necklace of Adaptation, so he doesn't need the potion.  Sorry if it was confusing.)

Quote from werelemur >>

Theldrin likes the idea of using the Light fork to get some idea of what lies below the grate, but also expresses concern about splitting up.  He agrees with Syllen that the phase spider still potentially lurking about is even more reason to stay together.

(OOC:

• It sounds like we're all in agreement about sticking together.
• Let's see what the glowing fork reveals about the next level down before we decide whether to use the grate or the trap door.  If we've made it down to the cargo hold, maybe it's all one big area, and it doesn't matter which way we take to get down there.  If it's another narrow hallway with various closed doors, Xanrym probably jumping down from the grate since we can at least "look before we leap" compared to opening another door with no idea of what's on the other side.
• The rotted grate and the open grate above it on the main deck may give us an easy way to lift out Aubrek's crate--assuming that we find it!--using some rope and Coriana's block & tackle.

) 

Xanrym Perception check: 6

Xanrym is unable to make out much beyond the dim light, but he can confirm that below you is one big room; the cargo hold.

Quote from drumdigby >>

Xanrym Perception check: 11

(OOC: @drumdigby - I actually rolled Xanrym's perception check (14) in my post above.  Not sure whether this result helps us at all.)

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Xanrym....asks whomever came with him to cast Light on the fork so that he can lower the luminous fork with the string through the grate and see what's on the next level down.  Does it look like another hallway with rooms?  Or does it look like the next level down is the cargo hold?  Does it look like one big area in the Light?  Or is it also sub-divided into separate rooms along a hallway?
Perception: 14

Quote from drumdigby >>

Xanrym...can confirm that below you is one big room; the cargo hold.

(OOC: Unless the Perception 14 reveals more, it sounds like that's all the info we'll get.  Anything else folks want to do before we descend into the cargo hold?)

Xanrym relays what he sees: "It looks like the next level is the cargo hold.  There are no walls or rooms within the range of the Light, so I guess the cargo hold stretches the whole length of the ship.  The trap door should also give access to the hold, which makes sense.  The galley would need access to the ship's provisions."   

Xanrym talks through the Company's next steps: "So, we'll break open this grate in the hallway, but then we all descend through the barred trap door in the galley?  I guess it was barred for a reason...so there must be something down there.  Probably the undead that captain wrote about in his log!"  He asks uncertainly, "Should we just storm into the hold openly?  I don't expect to find any surviving crew at this point, so we should kill anything we find down there--alive or undead!--right?"

If everyone's in agreement, Xanrym proposes that the group:

1. Break open the rotted grate.
2. Tie off a rope and drop it through the grate so that those without Jump can climb out that way, if needed. 
3. Anyone with Light can toss an item down into the hold (toward the north and south sides) so that there's already plenty of light down there before we go through the trap door.
4. We're descending into the south end of the hold, so we can move south-to-north through the hold, searching for Aubrek's crate as we go.
5. Assuming that it's one-at-a-time through the trapdoor, maybe go down to the hold in this order:
   • Khessa (heavily armored and uninjured)
   • Avery (for melee, in case anything attacks before we're all down there)
   • Syllen (our most perceptive, and still glowing with Chalice Starry Form)
   • Coriana
   • Theldrin
   • Xanrym