Ghosts of Saltmarsh (cbaer8) - Campaign Thread

Dwal will use Prestidigitation to dry himself off and warm his clothing a bit.

He has no other business but will say when they come close to Abbey Isle: "I ain't entirely confident about this one lads but if'n yer gonna go, I'm with ya." 

Abbey Isle

Peri:

As they sail out of Seaton harbor, Peri chuckles at Kei's ribbing of their grumpy companion. You could see a tension drift away from them as they cleared the city and it was good to see Kei back to his relaxed self. "Y'know," he says, seemingly musing to himself, "I once tried drawin' a portrait of a girl I was sweet on... Didn't come out half so nice as that one; in fact it came out lookin' more like a kuo-toa, even though the girl herself only slightly resembled a fish, which I hadn't noticed til the drawin' was done. Of course, I wasn't really in love or I'd'a done a better job of it, like that one over there. Guess we'll never know what happened in the dark after the buildin' came down. Folks do crazy things when they think they might die..." His tone starts wistful, as though reflecting on a lost love, but he's barely holding in a grin. By the last line he can't hold it any more and guffaws. "Too bad we weren't here to meet the artist -- we mighta got to hear some fishhead poetry!"

From his place at the tiller he sails them out of the harbor and into open sea with a wide, joyous smile. The first couple of tacks he gives detailed instructions to Boko, but it becomes clear she rally does know her way around a deck, so after that they settle into the easy shorthand of crewmates who've been sailing together for ages. Between her seamanship and the way she can duck under water like that, she really would be a valuable member of a crew, if they could convince her to stay with them. And her fighting skills, of course, which they'd likely get to see a lot more of by the end of the day. He sets a course to keep them just out of sight of Saltmarsh, so their passage won't be noted, and once settled on their course he tries striking up a conversation with the newcomer. "That's a pretty handy trick, divin' under and talkin' to the fishes. I doubt we'll need it this close to shore -- at least I hope the sea devils aren't so near to the town -- but it'll surely be of value when it comes to scoutin' out their lair. I'm new these shores but they seem to be your home waters. Anything you can tell us about either the Isle or the area the sahuagin are holed up in? It used to belong to the lizardfolk queen, Othokent, but she says the sahuagin squeezed her out."

Gerrard:

Happy to be at sea, Gerrard smiles at the good-natured ribbing of Dwal, but interjects only a hopeful, "At least one of us tried to make friends and learn something.  If the Kuo-Toa are being controlled by Xolor or some other dark entity, the more we can learn from them, the better--perhaps even free them eventually."

As they approach the island, Gerrard says, "If I recall correctly, Peleg, the master of the tower who saved us from dying a slow death adrift at sea, said the Sea Princes landed at the south wharf and fought their way through the skeletons buried in the sand, making a path there to the abbey.  He suggested maybe we can find this path and avoid the worst of the undead scourge.  While he was hopeful the evil cultists of Xolor and the Sea Princes killed each other off, we should be ready to face either one, including the constructs of metal he mentioned."

"The service he requested in exchange for saving our lives was a simple one, if not easily accomplished--find the globe containing the likeness of the tower in the catacombs beneath the abbey and smash it, then come escort him to freedom.  Hopefully in addition to keeping our promise, there is information there on the cult of Xolor and useful items or treasure to make this trip worth our while," adds Gerrard hopefully.

The trip to the island is uneventful. The day is cold, and the sea a little choppy, but with the wind at your back, new sails, and a sound boat, you are able to make rapid progress west up the coast. Along the monotonous coastline, you get glimpses of the dwarven silver mine and even the old alchemist's house at the top of the cliffs. You soon see the opening to the bay on which Saltmarsh sits, and a pair of fishing vessels leaving that port.

Abbey Isle stands ahead as you left it – ringed by steep cliffs and dangerous shoals, except for the south (ocean-facing) shore, where a mile or so of desolate dunes hides a small wharf. No buildings can be seen atop the plateau-like body of the island, nor any signs of life. Just barren scrub, stunted by exposure to the wind. The whole island is maybe two miles long, north to south, and perhaps half that wide. The steep, algae-covered cliffs are maybe 40-50 feet high, with jagged rocks at the bottom, except on the south side where low hills give way to desolate dunes.

This is about as close as Boko has even sailed near it. It is given wide berth by sailors, as for its dangerous shoals as its dark reputation.

Boko hides a smile at Dwal's ribbing, and is happy to ease into normal seamanship with Peri. In response to his question, she says, "I do not know much about this place. We always gave it a wide berth." She nods at Gerrard's hope that the Sea Princes and undead destroyed each other. Her look says she would be happy to finish the job should any of them be left over.

She's still a bit unclear on how the group met Peleg, where he is now, and how they were asked to rescue him from this place, she tries to commit the task to memory. A globe with a tower inside to smash, and then rescuing Peleg from this place. She's full of questions, but for now, they needed information of what they were facing. 

Looking at the rest, she says, "well, shall I try having a look at the coastline? I could try the giant octopus again and scope things out from the waves and move onto shore for more information. We could all go together and I could make it easier for us to pass without trace. I could try to speak to more of the local fauna here to get information. I could try all of those things. But this is your task. I am a guest. I take your lead."

She'd happily ritually cast speak with animals again and talk to seabirds and mammals and fish about how active things are, anything notable, as before. She is happy to scout out in giant octopus form, under the waves along the beach, then ranging onto the sand, retreating if undead burst into view. She'd gain whatever information she could and return, using shape water to form a topographical map of what she learned. If the group wants to go together, she can make them more stealthy. 

Casting her ritual and slipping into the cold, choppy waters, Boko finds the relatively shallow water here teeming with fish. While their reporting is limited by their fishy vantage and ambiguous sense of time, they tell Boko the story of the arrival of a large ship some time ago. Upon departing, they tell of a battle with a second ship. The first ship was sunk; the fish have been feasting on the remains of the crew ever since. They report no ship activity since that time.

Boko confirms from below that the island is ringed with a dangerous shoal except for the south side. It would be impossible to approach the island in a larger ship anywhere other than the southern dunes, but in their little skiff, it should be quite possible (with a little skill and a little luck) to slip between the rocks. The cliffs look slippery but potentially scalable - however, it's a steep drop onto sharp rocks should one slip and fall. The southern dunes appear empty of all but sparsely scattered, stunted scrub. The wharf is small and old and a little abandoned-looking, but still functional.

Peri:

"So, that the place then, eh?" He looks over the island. Hardly looks like a hive of scum and villainy; looks like any number of other islands. Probably make for a nice little place if it wasn't constantly under threat from the pirates and the sahuagin. And the undead, of course. "Do we sail around to the wharf and tie up? It's the most obvious point to lay an ambush, but at least it'll leave the skiff ready to go if we need to, uh, regroup at a distance. Or we can try to find a spot at the bottom of the cliffs that'll hide the skiff. I'll climb up," he gestures to his ugly magic slippers, "secure a line, and you can all follow. Makes us less predictable, but also makes retreat a lot harder."

"Well" Dwal says in a sarcastic tone, "if'n we got ta run, at least it's a short one." 

Dwal scans the coastline for nothing in particular. "Yer too far from tha forge lad," he thinks to himself. "But there is promise fer tha future and if'n ya can't do what yer planning ya can always raise a dwarven army an' go take back that forge an dwarven outpost."

Dwal will help best he can in the landing of the skiff. Once on shore Dwal will pull out his holy symbol and say "Let magic revel to me all foes that may be near." casting Detect Evil and Good
After casting it he will look at the group. "Precautionary measure in case tha tales are true an' tha place is overrun with undead."

Gerrard:

     “With your magic, Brother Fiercehammer, could you detect undead hidden under the sand in the dunes?  If Peleg was right, there should be a path that the Sea Princes have cleared through that gauntlet already,” Gerrard asks, obviously preferring the dunes approach if it can be navigated carefully.

After Boko’s report, Gerrard suggests, “Perhaps the sunken ship below will hold some answers, Mistress Boko, especially if the fish can tarry there unthreatened. Should we investigate it before we head to shore?”

(Some info for your consideration:

You study the shoals and cliffs:

- To cross the shoals successfully in your skiff would require a single DC12 Dex check (+3 if you have proficiency with water vehicles.) No helping. Failure would result in a d20 roll ranging from 20 (way blocked - try again) to 1 (stove boat and possible injuries.)

- There are semi-hidden rocky places to safely haul the boat onto at the bottom of the cliffs.

- To scale the cliffs, there are plenty of natural footholds and handholds that climbers could use to make their ascent. The danger comes from the slick mixture of water and algae coating the face of the cliff. The top of the cliffs is 45 feet from the water. Climbing a 15-foot section of the cliff requires a successful DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check; a failed check means you fall into the jagged rocks along the shore, taking falling damage as normal, and additional slashing damage from the sharp rocks equal to the falling damage.

- There are no shoals on the south side - it looks like smooth sailing to the empty wharf.

- The sunken vessel is to the southeast of Abbey Isle. The fish have been feeding there for days if not weeks.

- Boko has not yet scouted the shore in octopus form, as she offered. I can resolve that if she wishes to proceed with that plan.

- Likewise, I'll hold on resolving Dwal's plan to cast Detect Evil until you reach shore. His spell would pierce a couple of feet of sand, within 30 feet.

Boko offers to check out the wreck in giant octopus form. 

Following the fishes' directions, you find the wreck about a half-mile southeast of Abbey Isle in about thirty feet of water. It is on its side.

Dropping again into the cold, grey waters and transforming into a giant cephalopod, Boko begins to examine the wreck.

Perception check: 22

 Boko recognizes the style of the ship and the outfits of some of the visible bodies. These are pirates from the Hold of the Sea Princes, the loose confederacy that claims the lands to the southwest, raiders who occasionally plague the waters of this area. This wreck is fresh - weeks old, perhaps - and the massive damage to the ship looks like it was done with a naval ram of some sort - standard equipment for royal warships of this coast.

Not just small fish feeding here. Three or four 15-20' sharks patrol the perimeter. They eye Boko warily.

Kei 

Donning the gaudy cap once more, Kei winces. "May as well get my money's worth from this thing." He places his shield on the deck and directs Gerrard to take it with him if they leave the skiff whilst he is below the waves. "I don't intend to be without your gift if we need to fight our way through this blasted isle."

He watches as Boko slips over the edge and waits for a sign from her. "I ain't jumping in there if there's zombie fish or such swimming around" his joking tone belying his apprehension.

Peri:

Peri checks the anchor is set securely then ties it off to the bow with a slipknot, in case they need to move quickly. "I'll keep watch up here. Give a yank on the anchor cable if you need backup and I'll be over the side like a shot. Any of you goin' down want this crossbow? I don't think the nobleman's longbow is gonna be much use down there." He peers over the side, dunking his face in the water to get a clearer look before returning to the deck. "So, pirates not cultists; good riddance either way. Coupla big sharks down there. Any of you have a way of talkin' to Boko now she's a squid? We could try to kill or run those beasts off if it'll make her job easier."

((Peri doesn't know about Operation Feed the Fishes. He would be absolutely horrified at the thought, even though he despises pirates.))

Gerrard:

”I can jump in and fight at need, though my time underwater will be limited,” offers Gerrard.  He watches carefully around, not too keen on leaving the boat totally abandoned, however.

Dwal looks at the rest of the party.
"Don't even think about it. I ain't goin' down there!" he states. "Last time we was on this skiff we had ta fight off hungry sharks. An' if weren't fer tha sea elf they'd ate well." he says with a huff.
"If'n were here ta take a look at tha isle then so be it. One thing at a time I say!"

Kei dons his cap. It's a big, ugly, leather thing that looks rather comical and unstylish. He prepares to jump in to join Boko. It looks very cold.

Boko notes that the ship has one major gash in its side which could allow her quick entry, but also the snout-end of a giant shark (that perhaps she could outrun). She could also try to enter through one of the open doors on the deck. (A giant octopus could enter through either.) She chooses a hatch, making a dash for it and squeezing through, although not without attracting sharkish attention. Within, Boko locates a few pirate remains and shoves them through to the sharks, which dart over to investigate.

The interior is strewn with wreckage and gore. It looks like the sparse crew was slaughtered mainly by sword and crossbow. There is little cargo, nor loot. Boko finds a whistle, made of transparent crystal and strung with catgut, that catches her eye. But little else.

Boko curls one tentacle around the whistle and also any metal emblem or banner or cap or cloth denoting sea princes, ideally from someone who looks like a leader. If she sees nothing else she will make a getaway the same way she exited, relying on the other bodies to distract the sharks.

She bolts for the skiff and helps anyone still in the water onboard. With one last cephalopod look at her wake, she begins to climb aboard and shifts into her form as she does so. She relays everything she saw, and explains the manner of death she saw inside, puzzled at the damage to the ship and the violent end the crew faced. She assures she saw no undead presence. She hands the whistle to Dwal and asks him if he can tell if there’s more to it than meets the eye.

Dwal holds the whistle up to Peri.
"If'n you'd take a look at it." he asks. "Is it magical?"

If it is Dwal will tell Boko. "Tha halfling has a little trick that lets him see magic alot faster than I can cast tha spell ta. Once we get ashore, if its magical,  I'll cast a spell ta see what kind of magic it holds."