"Y'know Captain, we're actually a pretty fearsome company when we haven't just got spit out of a portal into the ocean, after fightin' a horde of vampires and undead things. If she says Rasp is dead, I'd trust her word enough to go pluck its tailfeathers. But the dwarf and her are pretty beat up, so I suppose no one's gonna argue about layin' low and gettin' some rest. Which reminds me," he adds, turning to Gerrard. "That portal messed up time somehow too. I got spit out yesterday, but Qivys and Boko said they only just got out and they followed us through in just a few minutes. You went through after me; how long have you been out here? And Captain, it might sound a little cracked, but what day is it? What year, for that matter? It was winter when we went into the portal; don't feel like it now."
“You never asked, but my surname is Alcor,”she tells Peri.
She climbs aboard the ketch and nods to the captain, eyes scanning the crew and state of things - are things shipshape? If so she will continue her rest, seated (if not she will make herself useful to get things in order without permission). She nods to Gerrard and clasps forearms in greeting, asking in a whisper if everything is alright, how long he has been here, and if he knew that Bela has been staked and beheaded and also that the children were rescued from the castle and outside with Lankus before she and Qivys got sent here.
She casts healing word at second level on the sailor for 11, asking him what happened. She is getting tapped but is hoping for a rest onboard.
Then she turns to the captain and replies.
”Yes it had a stag head, vicious, and scary. It was much larger than the giant eagles I summoned to distract it while I set up on that tower. I shifted into a cave bear to battle it once it closed and eventually it fell, dead, to the ground, about there, near the building on that side, perhaps we can see it with a spyglass. Is it likely that it will be a risk to us dead? Captain…. whatever your name is… what is this place and why are you scoping it out? What is going on here? Why are there nets of dead bodies under the surf on the southern side of Firewatch? Why does the place seem deserted apart from the other fresh corpses strewn on the ground? That’s not a hermitage anymore. And will someone tell me what blasted day, or month it is??! We lost time getting sent here. I need to know how much. It is so warm and I do not think we are that far from Saltmarsh. So we could have lost a lot of time. The sahuagin threat may have passed, or the wave may have crashed onshore already. Could someone fill me in?”
She says this from a seated position, elbows propped on crossed knees, deeply exhausted, but eyes still somehow alert and probing.
Gerrard:
With a warm smile, Gerrard bows low before Boko, saying, “A pleasure to see you again Mistress Alcor. “
Standing up, he addresses her questions more privately, saying, “I am fine, though the portal deposited me deep underwater and I struggled to make it to the surface. The good captain here rescued me and told me we are off the shore of Uskarn, still in Keoland, though I did not think to ask the date. I felt the charm from the vampire break, and I hoped it meant he had been destroyed, but to hear confirmation is most gratifying. I am pleased the children were rescued, and I hope Lankus is able to get them back to town safely. The captain has promised me passage to Saltmarsh if I help here, so that is my current plan, though it pains me to think we might have lost time due to the portal’s magic and may have missed our role in reclaiming Queen Othokent’s home.”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
"I cut tha damned things head off and put it on a pike in the front lawn of that evil place." Qivys tells Gerrard. "But not after it gnawed on me a bit. Thankfully Boko was there ta aid in its downfall."
Gobsmacked, again, he listens to the group talk of their various exploits while apart. When Qivys speaks of killing a vampire he crosses to sit at his feet. "You kill sucker blood? How? You so....short. Not short like Thwack, but shorter than suckers. Them are very powerful! Doug not even mess with suckers. He never even send clan to see suckers." He gets lost in his own thoughts for a second then pipe's up again. "Yip. If you kill sucker.....does that mean you can kill...say....really, really big black...doesn't matter". He cuts himself short as if having spoken out of turn.
The unconscious sailor sits up, his head in his hands. He finds himself fully healed, if not fully over the trauma and embarrassment of falling out of the boat.
The Captain waves off most of your questions and comments. "Interrogations are for prisoners. If you want to be helpful, keep this tub bailed, or stay aft and quiet. It's three weeks after midsummer. My name is 'Captain' until we get home. The key concept here is getting home." She stares out into the gloom.
The fog has thickened since you departed Strawberry Island and proceeded into the open ocean again. After 30 minutes or so, you spot something vertical protruding from the sea, swathed in thick clouds. A massive cliff – immensely tall but narrow, like a column holding up the grey sky above. It disappears into the thick gloom – you cannot see the top. The sides are sand-colored, carved with paths switchbacking up into the clouds. Holes – caves – are evident. At least one small distant hunched figure hurries up one path and into a hole, like an ant into a hill.
You begin to slowly circumnavigate the strange column-like island in the swirling fog, keeping it at the edge of visibility (closer than anyone likes - roughly 500 feet.) You see a few small figures coming and going up and down the paths along the nearly vertical sides of the island, or emerging from the caves riddling its surface.
"Let's make this fast," whispers the Captain. "Keep your voices down."
Peri finds a spot along the rail from which he can watch the shore without being seen. He takes the captain's warning seriously, as he has no interest in dragging his weary companions into another fight if it can be avoided.
The captains stern words come just as Thwack is about to reply to Qivys' question. He quickly snaps his mouth shut and grabs his snout with a clawed hand. When he's sure that no words are coming from his own mouth he slowly releases his claws and let's his arm drop. Instead of answering verbally he begins to flap his arms in a slow up-down motion while turning circles, occasionally 'gliding' with his arms up. He makes a face as though he's about to vomit then flaps some more before finally coming to rest back at Qivys' feet. He looks the dwarf square in the eyes as he then runs his thumb across his throat before letting his head flop to the side, tongue rolling out his mouth.
Boko’s eyes narrow at the mysterious captain’s response. She casts a freshly critical eye over the state of the vessel and how it is being run. She’s served under far worse captains but she has also served under better. She appreciates that this captain likes knows this area better and may have her reasons for acting the way she does but Boko will not take her own life or the lives of her companions into these questionable hands. Is the ketch in good shape? Anything out of sorts that Boko could fix or apply her skills to improve? Is the ketch’s course being set responsibly? Instead of just letting herself be ferried from one place to the next, she is taking a more active role in the navigation and operation of the boat. She will bail if that is what is needed but she will also tie down a loose stay or fix something that is broken. Quietly, but without shame.
She does pay attention to the odd island - does it seem natural? And do the inhabitants seem humanoid?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Is the ketch in good shape? Anything out of sorts that Boko could fix or apply her skills to improve?
The most obvious issue is a fresh tear in the hull where the vessel recently collided with rocks. Otherwise, it's in reasonable shape for an old fishing boat turned into a paramilitary scouting vessel.
She does pay attention to the odd island - does it seem natural? And do the inhabitants seem humanoid?
The island is definitely at the edge of what a natural island might be shaped like. It's all cliff and immensely tall. The material is sandy-colored. The fog itself seems odd, as it seems to cling the densest above and around this island. The inhabitants are small and humanoid.
The vessel begins to turn and circle back around the far side. Captain stealth with vessel: 12
Evidently veering a bit too close on the return course, the inhabitants begin to point and shout, jumping up and down in excitement and alarm. A handful fire off arrows from their shortbows, but your vessel is just out of range. Some of you may identify them as goblins.
Continuing to bail with a dull expression on his face, Gerrard struggles to process that he has lost fully half of a year—even assuming it is the same year—and those he promised to save from the Sahuagin may well have perished. He thinks of Esmerelda and his promise to her. Is she alive and healed of her wound from the sea devils? Has she written him off as dead or missing and moved on to another suitor?
He becomes progressively more miserable as he contemplates these things, though he never flags while bailing…The menial task seems to fit his dark mood.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Peri has many questions for this captain, first among them being what exactly they were patrolling for. Given what Boko saw on Firewatch it made sense for the authorities to be keeping an eye on it. But why did they need to come out to this weird little island? If they already knew the place was full of angry goblins, what else did they need to know? Seemed like a bad idea putting a craft at risk just to confirm they were still there.
But all that could wait, at least until this Strawberry Island. For now, he just wanted to help get as far away from any arrows as possible. Quickly. So he hops to, helping set the sails to get their maximum speed.
With Peri and Gerrard's help, the captain makes a run for it. But not before an enormous splash sends spray flying in your direction. A yellowed pumpkin the size of a wagon bobs to the surface. "We gotta go," shouts the Captain. "Hektor's awake. You better be right about killing Rasp..."
You quickly lose Hektor's Island in the fog, but the Captain continues to run as fast as her ketch will sail. The clouds begin to grow black overhead, the wind begins to gust and falter and change direction erratically. The heat and humidity continue to build. Soon you leave Strawberry Island behind you as well. "Hektor controls the weather 'round these isles," she eventually explains. "We're gonna survey Firewatch one more time now, fast, and get home before he sends a cyclone our way. You sure you killed Rasp, right?" she asks Boko.
Peri marvels at the size of the pumpkin, then wonders at the size of something able to fling it that far. Nothing he wants to meet, that's for sure.
"Hektor controls the weather 'round these isles," she eventually explains."We're gonna survey Firewatch one more time now, fast, and get home before he sends a cyclone our way. You sure you killed Rasp, right?"she asks Boko.
"That raises more questions than it answers, Captain. Now that we're not bein' quiet and we're makin' straight for Firewatch, we could use some answers. First, who is Hektor, how does he control the weather, and where did he get a pumpkin that big? Second, if he's so dangerous why are we patrollin' anywhere near his island? We don't seem to have learned much but that he's still there and still unfriendly. But most important: what year is it? We know we've lost at least half a year; hopefully it's not more."
Boko nods silently at the captain when asked about having killed Rasp, and doesn’t poke with a question about what Rasp has to do with Hektor, not who or what Hektor was. She also doesn’t ask whether Hektor is a druid. She’s pretty sure her mentor would have mentioned Hektor, but just in case, she moves to whichever sail on the ketch is getting more spray, which one is more drenched with water. She casts shape water on the water in the sail and colors it dark blue in a five foot symbol in druidic that means “friend.” She looks toward the fusillade and see if there is any change once the symbol appears.
Then she turns to the captain and listens for any response to Peri’s questions.
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"Y'know Captain, we're actually a pretty fearsome company when we haven't just got spit out of a portal into the ocean, after fightin' a horde of vampires and undead things. If she says Rasp is dead, I'd trust her word enough to go pluck its tailfeathers. But the dwarf and her are pretty beat up, so I suppose no one's gonna argue about layin' low and gettin' some rest. Which reminds me," he adds, turning to Gerrard. "That portal messed up time somehow too. I got spit out yesterday, but Qivys and Boko said they only just got out and they followed us through in just a few minutes. You went through after me; how long have you been out here? And Captain, it might sound a little cracked, but what day is it? What year, for that matter? It was winter when we went into the portal; don't feel like it now."
Gerrard:
With a warm smile, Gerrard bows low before Boko, saying, “A pleasure to see you again Mistress Alcor. “
Standing up, he addresses her questions more privately, saying, “I am fine, though the portal deposited me deep underwater and I struggled to make it to the surface. The good captain here rescued me and told me we are off the shore of Uskarn, still in Keoland, though I did not think to ask the date. I felt the charm from the vampire break, and I hoped it meant he had been destroyed, but to hear confirmation is most gratifying. I am pleased the children were rescued, and I hope Lankus is able to get them back to town safely. The captain has promised me passage to Saltmarsh if I help here, so that is my current plan, though it pains me to think we might have lost time due to the portal’s magic and may have missed our role in reclaiming Queen Othokent’s home.”
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Qivys wearily chuckles at Gerrard's inquiry.
"I cut tha damned things head off and put it on a pike in the front lawn of that evil place." Qivys tells Gerrard. "But not after it gnawed on me a bit. Thankfully Boko was there ta aid in its downfall."
Thwack
Gobsmacked, again, he listens to the group talk of their various exploits while apart. When Qivys speaks of killing a vampire he crosses to sit at his feet. "You kill sucker blood? How? You so....short. Not short like Thwack, but shorter than suckers. Them are very powerful! Doug not even mess with suckers. He never even send clan to see suckers." He gets lost in his own thoughts for a second then pipe's up again. "Yip. If you kill sucker.....does that mean you can kill...say....really, really big black...doesn't matter". He cuts himself short as if having spoken out of turn.
The unconscious sailor sits up, his head in his hands. He finds himself fully healed, if not fully over the trauma and embarrassment of falling out of the boat.
The Captain waves off most of your questions and comments. "Interrogations are for prisoners. If you want to be helpful, keep this tub bailed, or stay aft and quiet. It's three weeks after midsummer. My name is 'Captain' until we get home. The key concept here is getting home." She stares out into the gloom.
The fog has thickened since you departed Strawberry Island and proceeded into the open ocean again. After 30 minutes or so, you spot something vertical protruding from the sea, swathed in thick clouds. A massive cliff – immensely tall but narrow, like a column holding up the grey sky above. It disappears into the thick gloom – you cannot see the top. The sides are sand-colored, carved with paths switchbacking up into the clouds. Holes – caves – are evident. At least one small distant hunched figure hurries up one path and into a hole, like an ant into a hill.
"Let's hope Hektor's busy today."
"What do you mean Thwack?" he asks the kobold.
You begin to slowly circumnavigate the strange column-like island in the swirling fog, keeping it at the edge of visibility (closer than anyone likes - roughly 500 feet.) You see a few small figures coming and going up and down the paths along the nearly vertical sides of the island, or emerging from the caves riddling its surface.
"Let's make this fast," whispers the Captain. "Keep your voices down."
Peri finds a spot along the rail from which he can watch the shore without being seen. He takes the captain's warning seriously, as he has no interest in dragging his weary companions into another fight if it can be avoided.
Gerrard:
Shrugging, Gerrard, continues to bail as they sail past this unusual island.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Thwack
The captains stern words come just as Thwack is about to reply to Qivys' question. He quickly snaps his mouth shut and grabs his snout with a clawed hand. When he's sure that no words are coming from his own mouth he slowly releases his claws and let's his arm drop. Instead of answering verbally he begins to flap his arms in a slow up-down motion while turning circles, occasionally 'gliding' with his arms up. He makes a face as though he's about to vomit then flaps some more before finally coming to rest back at Qivys' feet. He looks the dwarf square in the eyes as he then runs his thumb across his throat before letting his head flop to the side, tongue rolling out his mouth.
Boko’s eyes narrow at the mysterious captain’s response. She casts a freshly critical eye over the state of the vessel and how it is being run. She’s served under far worse captains but she has also served under better. She appreciates that this captain likes knows this area better and may have her reasons for acting the way she does but Boko will not take her own life or the lives of her companions into these questionable hands. Is the ketch in good shape? Anything out of sorts that Boko could fix or apply her skills to improve? Is the ketch’s course being set responsibly? Instead of just letting herself be ferried from one place to the next, she is taking a more active role in the navigation and operation of the boat. She will bail if that is what is needed but she will also tie down a loose stay or fix something that is broken. Quietly, but without shame.
She does pay attention to the odd island - does it seem natural? And do the inhabitants seem humanoid?
Qivys waves off Thwack, making signs for the kobold to settle down. Qivys attention is drawn to the cliffs and any danger that might pop up.
The most obvious issue is a fresh tear in the hull where the vessel recently collided with rocks. Otherwise, it's in reasonable shape for an old fishing boat turned into a paramilitary scouting vessel.
The island is definitely at the edge of what a natural island might be shaped like. It's all cliff and immensely tall. The material is sandy-colored. The fog itself seems odd, as it seems to cling the densest above and around this island. The inhabitants are small and humanoid.
The vessel begins to turn and circle back around the far side. Captain stealth with vessel: 12
Evidently veering a bit too close on the return course, the inhabitants begin to point and shout, jumping up and down in excitement and alarm. A handful fire off arrows from their shortbows, but your vessel is just out of range. Some of you may identify them as goblins.
The captain swears. "Time to go," she announces.
Gerrard:
Continuing to bail with a dull expression on his face, Gerrard struggles to process that he has lost fully half of a year—even assuming it is the same year—and those he promised to save from the Sahuagin may well have perished. He thinks of Esmerelda and his promise to her. Is she alive and healed of her wound from the sea devils? Has she written him off as dead or missing and moved on to another suitor?
He becomes progressively more miserable as he contemplates these things, though he never flags while bailing…The menial task seems to fit his dark mood.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Peri has many questions for this captain, first among them being what exactly they were patrolling for. Given what Boko saw on Firewatch it made sense for the authorities to be keeping an eye on it. But why did they need to come out to this weird little island? If they already knew the place was full of angry goblins, what else did they need to know? Seemed like a bad idea putting a craft at risk just to confirm they were still there.
But all that could wait, at least until this Strawberry Island. For now, he just wanted to help get as far away from any arrows as possible. Quickly. So he hops to, helping set the sails to get their maximum speed.
Qivys dozes off, without a care in the world.
With Peri and Gerrard's help, the captain makes a run for it. But not before an enormous splash sends spray flying in your direction. A yellowed pumpkin the size of a wagon bobs to the surface. "We gotta go," shouts the Captain. "Hektor's awake. You better be right about killing Rasp..."
You quickly lose Hektor's Island in the fog, but the Captain continues to run as fast as her ketch will sail. The clouds begin to grow black overhead, the wind begins to gust and falter and change direction erratically. The heat and humidity continue to build. Soon you leave Strawberry Island behind you as well. "Hektor controls the weather 'round these isles," she eventually explains. "We're gonna survey Firewatch one more time now, fast, and get home before he sends a cyclone our way. You sure you killed Rasp, right?" she asks Boko.
Peri marvels at the size of the pumpkin, then wonders at the size of something able to fling it that far. Nothing he wants to meet, that's for sure.
"That raises more questions than it answers, Captain. Now that we're not bein' quiet and we're makin' straight for Firewatch, we could use some answers. First, who is Hektor, how does he control the weather, and where did he get a pumpkin that big? Second, if he's so dangerous why are we patrollin' anywhere near his island? We don't seem to have learned much but that he's still there and still unfriendly. But most important: what year is it? We know we've lost at least half a year; hopefully it's not more."
Boko nods silently at the captain when asked about having killed Rasp, and doesn’t poke with a question about what Rasp has to do with Hektor, not who or what Hektor was. She also doesn’t ask whether Hektor is a druid. She’s pretty sure her mentor would have mentioned Hektor, but just in case, she moves to whichever sail on the ketch is getting more spray, which one is more drenched with water. She casts shape water on the water in the sail and colors it dark blue in a five foot symbol in druidic that means “friend.” She looks toward the fusillade and see if there is any change once the symbol appears.
Then she turns to the captain and listens for any response to Peri’s questions.