Ghosts of Saltmarsh (cbaer8) - Campaign Thread

Gerrard:

”I hate to ask, but was this one of the children from Saltmarsh?  Could she have been turned so quickly?” Gerrard wonders.

Agreeing with Peri, he says, “Yes, Master Fenwader, let us search her for clues to her origins and perhaps any hints of where she came from.  Then we should have a pyre for her, to honor the young child she once was and to ensure her body is not defiled by undeath again.”

Investigation:  9

Qivys searches his memory to see if he knows anything about how to destroy, making sure they are dead, vampires!

Religion: 4

History: 15

The goggled spider nods at Gerrard, spins, and darts off along the trail the girl left. 

Survival: 18

She won't follow for long, and doesn't want to get too far away. She's curious if the girl seemed to have been tracking them, or sent from somewhere, or sleeping in the woods, or just wandering and this was happenstance. Not 100% certain to gain this information from following tracks in the snow, but this is her goal. She stays in scorpion mode and relies on its blindsight and darkvision, and plans to shift into direwolf form once she turns back toward the group.

The girl seems to be quite dead. There are no signs of reanimation or regeneration since the last blow was administered. 

She has little upon her body that gives any clues of where she came from. Inside the sack is a human leg - probably of a middle-aged man, several days old.

Qivys recalls that vampires supposedly turn to a cloud of mist upon "death". This was no vampire, apparently.

Boko examines the tracks in the deepening gloom. They lead from the north, and are haphazard and meandering in placement. There is no indication that the girl had been tracking the party, although she may have been drawn in their direction by the sounds of the battle with the spiders. 

Darkness has fully fallen. The forest is pitch black.

Peri:

”I hate to ask, but was this one of the children from Saltmarsh?  Could she have been turned so quickly?” Gerrard wonders.

"She said she didn't know anything about Saltmarsh. No reason to lie about that; we'd've been more likely to take her in if she'd said she was one of our missin' kids. I'll start buildin' the pyre while Kei sets up the dome." He begins gathering firewood and piling it up near the body.

Kei 

"Another night without finding these fabled Elves or finding the castle". Kei grumbles as darkness descends. Without thinking he begins the ritual that will erect safe haven that is his dome. (If the others are not close by I think they will be excluded from its protection. That is if I read the spell correctly. I guess theyvebgot 11 minutes to stop him.)

"Wait fer tha others." Qivys says to Kei. 

Seeing what Peri is doing, Qivys will help him by gathering what wood he can find.
"Makin' a pyre might not be tha best course of action." Qivys tells Peri as he helps. "It might draw so attention to us that might not be favorable to us. But better safe than sorry." 

Peri:

"I don't much like the idea of a big beacon fire either, but I don't know a better way to be sure it stays dead. Though that Ferrin did say somethin' about runnin' water bein' bad for vampires. We could toss her into the river? Be easier and a lot less noticeable than a pyre."

Qivys nods. 

"Lets move 'er away from where ever Kei is wantin' ta set up his magic house." he says to Peri.

With that Qivys takes out his rope, loops it over a foot of the dead girl and will drag her body away, at least 100 ft. away the retrieves his rope. 

Gerrard:

Taking care of the horse and preparing the camp, Gerrard says to Qivys as he drags the body, “If we have access to fire or holy magic that would accelerate the process, we probably don’t need to big a bonfire—just enough wood to catch and keep burning.”

Speaking to Kei while the corpse is being dealt with, Gerrard asks, “How are you feeling, Master Kei?  You seem to be a bit preoccupied since we got back to Saltmarsh and encountered Bela.”

Gerrard keeps an eye out for further trouble, watching Peri and Qivys but also looking for Boko’s return.

Perception:  22

Kei 

"Wait fer the others! Do this. Do that." Kei groans as he pauses his ritual at Qivys' command. He kicks at the leaf litter in defiance then squats on his haunches and waits.

Gerrards approach causes him to look up. "My liege" he drones. "Preoccupied? Determined maybe. We need to reach the castle. I need to see Bela again". He twists the ring on his finger in a slow, deliberate manner as he stares off in the distance. Changing the subject he inquires "Where's our resident animal lover? I need to get the ritual completed unless you all want to brave the open air for the night."

The night is quiet and very dark, although there is a hint of a glow in the sky as the moon tries its best to shine through the thick dome of clouds above. There's a slight smell of smoke in the air.

The river is perhaps 100 feet to your west, although it's more of an ice-choked stream now. Lankus offers up his silvered daggers, three flasks of holy water, strings of garlic, and bottle of Winter Turnip in case it could be of any help in disposing of the girl's body, although he suggests a stake through the heart.

The horses are uneasy here.

Unless you have further business (disposing of a dead undead, for example – I'm currently under the impression that Qivys dragged the girl's body at least 100' away and left it), the party finally settles down for the night in Kei's arcane dome.

Kei's 10-foot-radius dome of force is opaque from the outside, but it is transparent from the inside. It fits all six of you comfortably, but the horses must remain outside. The atmosphere inside the space is comfortable and dry. Kei is able to command the interior to become dimly lit or dark, but any light within will not be visible outside.

Unless you have further business, you may take the benefits of a long rest, and we'll pick up in the morning...

Once Qivys drags the body away from the camp, he will do a quick search of the body. Finding something or not, he will make his way back to the rest of the group. If he finds something he will share the info with the rest of the party. 

((At work so I'll post the premise of Kei's actions and draw up a proper post this evening. Kei will ask Peri and Lankus if they can join him for a meditation session once they've rested. He will use the time to perform his Spirit Session ability.))

Kei 

With the party grouped together again Kei restarts his ritual to bring their shelter together. Once done he ventures over to Peri. "So. I've recently found that the spirits in the cards offer more than face value. I've found a way to communicate with them. So far I've only tried by myself,  but thought if you and Lankus could spare an hour or so I might try again." He asks a little sheepishly. It's clear that he hates asking for help. Perhaps it's his recent behaviour or maybe just his usual self centred nature. "I'll be going though the process before first light." With that he takes a spot near the edge of the dome and settles in for the night.

Qivys finds nothing on the body, other than her stained and worn clothing, her filthy shawl, and the rotten cloth wrapped around her feet. 

Lankus is cautiously open to Kei's mysterious proposal, but looks to Peri for reassurance. He dons a string of garlic for protection.

Gerrard:

When Qivys returns, Gerrard asks how he destroyed the remains.  If he hears that the body remains intact, he goes and uses a stake through the heart just to be safe, then returns to the camp and prepares to rest for the evening.

(If Qivys shares his certainty that the girl was not a vampire, he probably won’t do that, though.)

”I’ll take the middle watch,” he says, preparing to go to sleep himself, though he first goes over to Boko and asks quietly, “Did you find anything of note, Mistress Boko?”

Peri:

Peri's not too keen on the idea of summoning spirits, but if he could be certain this was Kei talking, rather than 'Bela', how would trust his friend not to knowingly summon a ghost or something. But this might not be Kei, or at least not his idea. "Before first light? All right, I'll take the last watch then. May as well try to get in some sleep before contacting the dead, right?"

That being said, he goes to rummage through his pack as though searching for some snack squirreled away in there. He surreptitiously brings forth his Astral Self, then uses his newfound ability to speak only to Qivys.

He looks to Qivys. If he gets the nod, he turns to laying his bedroll out and speaks only to Boko.

 He settles in for the night and tries to sleep.

Qivys nods.

Once he iw with the whole party Qivys will announce:

"I'll take first watch." and sets out to sort his bed out before taking his guard duty.