Snorting at Qivys' dismissal of his pantomime Thwack turns back to face the others as the pumpkin hits the water. "YIP!!" He jumps back in surprise and nearly falls over a coil of rope. When he sees the giant pumpkin bob to the surface he asks "We in giant land? That's big vegetable". His curiosity gets the better of him and he scampers to the rail and looks to the sky. "Hope no gonna rain giant meat".
No more pumpkins – or other oversized vegetables – come your way. Nor does Boko detect any change in the environment following her Druidic outreach. The Captain does finally respond to Peri's question, with an answer confirming that you have indeed lost just over half a year. It has been some seven months since you left Saltmarsh.
Hektor's Island is quickly left in the thick fog, as is minuscule Strawberry Island. The mist thins somewhat, but the sky grows blacker, the wind gustier, and the seas higher. Bailing becomes more of a concern as fresh headwinds slow your progress and waves batter the damaged bow. Large drops of rain begin to hit the deck. There are no signs of pursuit, nor of immediate dangers outside of the weather.
Soon you pass the harpy's island, the two corpses still visible atop its peak. The Captain refers to it in passing as "Greasy Island".
The three tall hills of Firewatch loom ahead. "We're gonna get in its lee and hope to the gods that Rasp stays dead."
“Are you planning to shelter here long, or merely pass by and continue to some other harbor? Who are you? What has happened to Saltmarsh in the last 6 months?” Boko says, looking to the sky and confirming no monstrous stag-birds have returned. She has yet to process that she woke up in a wintry dead forest, walked to a vampire castle, killed a vampire and some dolls, rescued some children, stepped through a broken portal, jumped 6 months, swam up from the bottom fathoms, found an island, killed a monster, explored an undead mystery, found her friends, and hitched a ride on some intent scouting boat, all without resting.
The gusty wind and rain begin to pick up further. The sky continues to blacken. Whitecaps appear, as your ride gets choppier, your progress slow.
"I told th' others, we'll help you get back to your marsh soon enough," replies the captain, shouting over the wind. "We're going to shelter for a bit behind Firewatch. If you all were serious about checking on the hermits, now's your chance if you don't mind getting wet. We gotta wait out Hektor's tantrum for a little while. I got too close. Stupid."
Tacking as best she can, the captain makes a slow run toward the lee of the hill where Boko was first spotted. The water is visibly calmer there, out of the brunt of the wind.
The initial joy of being reunited is beginning to fade. The trip back to Firewatch is the first time since popping out of the portal that he hasn't been distracted by some task necessary to survive. The darkening sky and turbulent sea appear to reflect the turn in the moods of his companions. Gerrard looks like he's deciding whether to cry, punch somebody, or maybe vomit, while he continues mechanically bailing. Her slumped posture and shadowed eyes make Boko look like her brain hasn't gotten the message from her body, "Rest now!" Only Qivys appears unworried, soundly snoring through the roughening waves. But that in itself was telling; normally the dwarf would be telling them all the ways they'd screwed up. That he'd pass up such a prime opportunity spoke to how exhausted he must have been.
When the captain suggests they might go ashore, Peri spits into the waves. "I'd like to go get Rasp's carcass. Kester'd love to have it, I bet, and it'd be nice not to come back completely empty-handed, six months late. At least if Lankus got those kids to that settlement they might've helped him get 'em home, and the town would know we didn't just run off. But it's a dark and dangerous place for an old innkeeper to shepherd three weak, sickly kids through."
He looks back at his disheartened companions (except Thwack, who looks positively delighted to be off his rock). He considers proposing he, Thwack, and Gerrard go ashore to retrieve the dead deer-bird, just now, so soon after meeting back up, the thought of splitting the party is unappealing. "But I think we're all tapped out. We should get back to town, check on what's goin' on there before jumpin' into a whole new mess. We've got the boats so we can come back to check this place out; pretty sure they aren't goin' anywhere."
Having been silently bailing this whole time, Gerrard says flatly, “I suppose there is no rush to get back to Saltmarsh now, what’s a few more days after losing seven months?”
”Still, if we can do some good here while we have the opportunity, I suppose we should,” he ventures half-heartedly, preparing himself for another swim.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Not the most intelligent creature, Thwack doesn't understand why the others are flip flopping on whether to venture forward or return to Saltmarsh. He is, however, able to pick up on the disheartened body language. The slumped shoulders of Gerrard, the weary speech from Peri and the sleeping dwarf all give him the feeling that his new companions need help. He approaches Peri as he seems the least affected. "You need help Beri? Thwack help. Thwack do what you need." To prove his words he runs to Gerrard and begins frantically splashing at the water, imitating the bailing. Without a bucket though, he ends up just wetting Gerrard and himself more than anything. "See? Thwack help".
"How long do his tantrums last?" Boko says, not repeating questions to the Captain. As the ship heaves to, Boko makes herself useful with the crew, though not strenuously. She chats them up, asks their names, and tries to get any information out of them. What's happened in the last 6 months, if the sahuagin attacked, or were attacked (wasn't their fortress out this way?), what news from Saltmarsh, how they got these jobs, if they know what's going on on this island. If she can do this sitting down she will do so.
Boko, seeing the continued efforts at bailing, uses shape water to get rid of the water collecting in the bottom of the boat. Then she identifies any leaks and freezes the water inside the boat near the leak to try to plug or slow it. It's second nature to her, and if it'd be easier to do this swimming outside the boat, she does that.
The vessel approaches the back of the island in the lee of the wind. It is definitely more comfortable on the water with the bulk of the island blocking much of the storm, if not the rain, which begins to come down in sheets.
Boko finds the two crew to be sour, scared, suspicious and not very talkative. Both are from the village of Uskarn. Jax is a mercenary and local constable; the other guy – whose name she learns is Pieter, is a lifelong fisherman. Neither have even heard of Saltmarsh.
The old stone fortress looms nearby. The two visible entrances are made of reinforced wood. A shady cove sits deep under its walls, overlooked by a high rampart. A steep path ascends ten feet from a short strand of beach up to one of the doors. A boat is pulled halfway up on the beach, its stern riding low in the water. A low, unfinished stone wall encloses a broad yard on the far side. There is no one visible, alive nor dead.
"We can probably shelter in that grotto by the rowboat," considers the captain. "You'll still have to swim in."
Awakened by being pelted with rain Qivys rubs his eyes as they focus. "Weren't a good nap at all." he mutters. "Are we back ta Saltmarsh yet?" he asks.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
(Is it weird that people in Uskarn would have never heard of Saltmarsh, given the distance/proximity?)
Boko uses druidcraft to tell what the weather is going to be like for the next day. She also tries to approximate how late in the day it is, through the cloud cover.
She looks up at the fortress, and tries to see if anything is different, or if anyone's watching them (Perception: 24). "I was up there, on that tower, when fighting Rasp. I looked down into this cove. That boat has been scuttled. And right there,"she points, "is where the pile of bodies is netted together."Can she see it from the boat?
Turning back to the group, she tries to sort things out. "Qivys, no, we are still on these islands, you have not slept long. We went too close to someone named Hektor, who summoned a storm that we are hiding from. The captain, who has yet to identify herself or give her role or purpose, has also not told us how long these storms tend to last. We can stay on this boat until the storm finishes, or we can look at that island and fortress. I did not get inside the building. What are your plans? Gerrard, do you want to take a look at the island? Peri, you are on the fence? Qivys... take some time to think. And..."she looks at Thwack, and then looks back at the others. "I would like to know more about any threats here, especially given we do not know when the captain will want to depart. If we are staying here, we should know what we need to know to stay safe. And to find a place to sleep where we will not be killed. I have yet to process that we have lost half a year. I do not understand it."
"Lookin' into this island is your deal," Peri tells Boko. "You feel up to doin' it now, I'll follow you in. You wanna get back to Saltmarsh and check in first, you can count on me when you come back out here. Either way I'll back you, but if you want my advice, a solid meal, a warm bed, and a few hours to get our heads straight will go a long way to makin' good decisions."
"Listen, sailor," begins the Captain gruffly, addressing Boko sternly, "we've been tasked with surveillance of these islands following fresh reports that something might have happened to the hermits on Firewatch. Looks like them reports are true. There have been several attacks over th' years – the kind that leaves no witnesses. We ain't the king's army, so we're just here to lay eyes on whatever we safely can and report back. Not get killed, got it?"
The sails lowered, the captain carefully maneuvers the vessel into the calmness of the narrow grotto. She looks up at the ramparts nervously. Boko sees nothing new there, nor in the bell tower above.
"Now, I wasn't tasked with picking up a full cargo of marsh flotsam, royal or not, so you're all under my authority. Got it? Otherwise, you can swim home."
Looking into the black waters below, the face of a dwarven corpse stares back, bound in a net just below the surface. "Oh, I see what you mean," adds the Captain quietly, looking down.
Boko judges the weather tomorrow to be warm, humid, and overcast, following a gale and heavy rain overnight. It is early evening, with another hour or two of daylight remaining. Lightning flashes across the black sky. The wind continues to howl over the top of the fortress.
"We'll be putting in here until this blows over," adds the captain soberly, "Although this poor sod makes ominous company." She prods the corpse with the tip of her longsword.
The death of the hermits pulls him out of his sour reverie. Gerrard says, “I will go take a look and see what may be seen. If there is an evil force killing the hermits on this island, perhaps learning about it will help us defeat it before it preys again,” says Gerrard.
”Should I cut the bodies loose, Captain, or just leave them alone? If we can get a good look at one, we may learn better what killed them,” he suggests, preparing to slip into the water.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
As the captain prods the corpse with her sword, Qivys slowly reaches for his glaive. "Ya should let tha dead lay were they are." he says to the captain. "Ya never know when they might poke back at ya."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Strue, captain. Corpses we've come across have a tendency to get all agitated. Best to let 'em be. If they're all the way dead the crabs'll take care of 'em; if they're only mostly dead that net should keep 'em from makin' a fuss." He scurries up the mast to get a better look down into the water, looking for any 'dead' that aren't as restful as they should be. ((Perception: 10))
His bailing ends moments after Gerrards. He mimics the noble as they cross to the railing where Gerrard peers over. At the notion of venturing to the island, Thwack's claw shoots up. In his best Gerrard impression he repeats the words "I will go take a look and see what may be seen." Then in his own broken common "Me come with Bernard. Thwack can make safe for you. Is OK?" It's clear the request is just a learnt habit and regardless of Gerrards answer the kobold will be tagging along.
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Thwack
Snorting at Qivys' dismissal of his pantomime Thwack turns back to face the others as the pumpkin hits the water. "YIP!!" He jumps back in surprise and nearly falls over a coil of rope. When he sees the giant pumpkin bob to the surface he asks "We in giant land? That's big vegetable". His curiosity gets the better of him and he scampers to the rail and looks to the sky. "Hope no gonna rain giant meat".
No more pumpkins – or other oversized vegetables – come your way. Nor does Boko detect any change in the environment following her Druidic outreach. The Captain does finally respond to Peri's question, with an answer confirming that you have indeed lost just over half a year. It has been some seven months since you left Saltmarsh.
Hektor's Island is quickly left in the thick fog, as is minuscule Strawberry Island. The mist thins somewhat, but the sky grows blacker, the wind gustier, and the seas higher. Bailing becomes more of a concern as fresh headwinds slow your progress and waves batter the damaged bow. Large drops of rain begin to hit the deck. There are no signs of pursuit, nor of immediate dangers outside of the weather.
Soon you pass the harpy's island, the two corpses still visible atop its peak. The Captain refers to it in passing as "Greasy Island".
The three tall hills of Firewatch loom ahead. "We're gonna get in its lee and hope to the gods that Rasp stays dead."
“Are you planning to shelter here long, or merely pass by and continue to some other harbor? Who are you? What has happened to Saltmarsh in the last 6 months?” Boko says, looking to the sky and confirming no monstrous stag-birds have returned. She has yet to process that she woke up in a wintry dead forest, walked to a vampire castle, killed a vampire and some dolls, rescued some children, stepped through a broken portal, jumped 6 months, swam up from the bottom fathoms, found an island, killed a monster, explored an undead mystery, found her friends, and hitched a ride on some intent scouting boat, all without resting.
The gusty wind and rain begin to pick up further. The sky continues to blacken. Whitecaps appear, as your ride gets choppier, your progress slow.
"I told th' others, we'll help you get back to your marsh soon enough," replies the captain, shouting over the wind. "We're going to shelter for a bit behind Firewatch. If you all were serious about checking on the hermits, now's your chance if you don't mind getting wet. We gotta wait out Hektor's tantrum for a little while. I got too close. Stupid."
Tacking as best she can, the captain makes a slow run toward the lee of the hill where Boko was first spotted. The water is visibly calmer there, out of the brunt of the wind.
The initial joy of being reunited is beginning to fade. The trip back to Firewatch is the first time since popping out of the portal that he hasn't been distracted by some task necessary to survive. The darkening sky and turbulent sea appear to reflect the turn in the moods of his companions. Gerrard looks like he's deciding whether to cry, punch somebody, or maybe vomit, while he continues mechanically bailing. Her slumped posture and shadowed eyes make Boko look like her brain hasn't gotten the message from her body, "Rest now!" Only Qivys appears unworried, soundly snoring through the roughening waves. But that in itself was telling; normally the dwarf would be telling them all the ways they'd screwed up. That he'd pass up such a prime opportunity spoke to how exhausted he must have been.
When the captain suggests they might go ashore, Peri spits into the waves. "I'd like to go get Rasp's carcass. Kester'd love to have it, I bet, and it'd be nice not to come back completely empty-handed, six months late. At least if Lankus got those kids to that settlement they might've helped him get 'em home, and the town would know we didn't just run off. But it's a dark and dangerous place for an old innkeeper to shepherd three weak, sickly kids through."
He looks back at his disheartened companions (except Thwack, who looks positively delighted to be off his rock). He considers proposing he, Thwack, and Gerrard go ashore to retrieve the dead deer-bird, just now, so soon after meeting back up, the thought of splitting the party is unappealing. "But I think we're all tapped out. We should get back to town, check on what's goin' on there before jumpin' into a whole new mess. We've got the boats so we can come back to check this place out; pretty sure they aren't goin' anywhere."
Gerrard:
Having been silently bailing this whole time, Gerrard says flatly, “I suppose there is no rush to get back to Saltmarsh now, what’s a few more days after losing seven months?”
”Still, if we can do some good here while we have the opportunity, I suppose we should,” he ventures half-heartedly, preparing himself for another swim.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Thwack
Not the most intelligent creature, Thwack doesn't understand why the others are flip flopping on whether to venture forward or return to Saltmarsh. He is, however, able to pick up on the disheartened body language. The slumped shoulders of Gerrard, the weary speech from Peri and the sleeping dwarf all give him the feeling that his new companions need help. He approaches Peri as he seems the least affected. "You need help Beri? Thwack help. Thwack do what you need." To prove his words he runs to Gerrard and begins frantically splashing at the water, imitating the bailing. Without a bucket though, he ends up just wetting Gerrard and himself more than anything. "See? Thwack help".
"How long do his tantrums last?" Boko says, not repeating questions to the Captain. As the ship heaves to, Boko makes herself useful with the crew, though not strenuously. She chats them up, asks their names, and tries to get any information out of them. What's happened in the last 6 months, if the sahuagin attacked, or were attacked (wasn't their fortress out this way?), what news from Saltmarsh, how they got these jobs, if they know what's going on on this island. If she can do this sitting down she will do so.
Boko, seeing the continued efforts at bailing, uses shape water to get rid of the water collecting in the bottom of the boat. Then she identifies any leaks and freezes the water inside the boat near the leak to try to plug or slow it. It's second nature to her, and if it'd be easier to do this swimming outside the boat, she does that.
"No Mum" Qivys mutters in his sleep. "I think she's a nice girl. Tha wings an' claws set ya off a bit but she'll come around."
The vessel approaches the back of the island in the lee of the wind. It is definitely more comfortable on the water with the bulk of the island blocking much of the storm, if not the rain, which begins to come down in sheets.
Boko finds the two crew to be sour, scared, suspicious and not very talkative. Both are from the village of Uskarn. Jax is a mercenary and local constable; the other guy – whose name she learns is Pieter, is a lifelong fisherman. Neither have even heard of Saltmarsh.
The old stone fortress looms nearby. The two visible entrances are made of reinforced wood. A shady cove sits deep under its walls, overlooked by a high rampart. A steep path ascends ten feet from a short strand of beach up to one of the doors. A boat is pulled halfway up on the beach, its stern riding low in the water. A low, unfinished stone wall encloses a broad yard on the far side. There is no one visible, alive nor dead.
"We can probably shelter in that grotto by the rowboat," considers the captain. "You'll still have to swim in."
Awakened by being pelted with rain Qivys rubs his eyes as they focus.
"Weren't a good nap at all." he mutters. "Are we back ta Saltmarsh yet?" he asks.
(Is it weird that people in Uskarn would have never heard of Saltmarsh, given the distance/proximity?)
Boko uses druidcraft to tell what the weather is going to be like for the next day. She also tries to approximate how late in the day it is, through the cloud cover.
She looks up at the fortress, and tries to see if anything is different, or if anyone's watching them (Perception: 24). "I was up there, on that tower, when fighting Rasp. I looked down into this cove. That boat has been scuttled. And right there," she points, "is where the pile of bodies is netted together." Can she see it from the boat?
Turning back to the group, she tries to sort things out. "Qivys, no, we are still on these islands, you have not slept long. We went too close to someone named Hektor, who summoned a storm that we are hiding from. The captain, who has yet to identify herself or give her role or purpose, has also not told us how long these storms tend to last. We can stay on this boat until the storm finishes, or we can look at that island and fortress. I did not get inside the building. What are your plans? Gerrard, do you want to take a look at the island? Peri, you are on the fence? Qivys... take some time to think. And..." she looks at Thwack, and then looks back at the others. "I would like to know more about any threats here, especially given we do not know when the captain will want to depart. If we are staying here, we should know what we need to know to stay safe. And to find a place to sleep where we will not be killed. I have yet to process that we have lost half a year. I do not understand it."
"Lookin' into this island is your deal," Peri tells Boko. "You feel up to doin' it now, I'll follow you in. You wanna get back to Saltmarsh and check in first, you can count on me when you come back out here. Either way I'll back you, but if you want my advice, a solid meal, a warm bed, and a few hours to get our heads straight will go a long way to makin' good decisions."
"Listen, sailor," begins the Captain gruffly, addressing Boko sternly, "we've been tasked with surveillance of these islands following fresh reports that something might have happened to the hermits on Firewatch. Looks like them reports are true. There have been several attacks over th' years – the kind that leaves no witnesses. We ain't the king's army, so we're just here to lay eyes on whatever we safely can and report back. Not get killed, got it?"
The sails lowered, the captain carefully maneuvers the vessel into the calmness of the narrow grotto. She looks up at the ramparts nervously. Boko sees nothing new there, nor in the bell tower above.
"Now, I wasn't tasked with picking up a full cargo of marsh flotsam, royal or not, so you're all under my authority. Got it? Otherwise, you can swim home."
Looking into the black waters below, the face of a dwarven corpse stares back, bound in a net just below the surface. "Oh, I see what you mean," adds the Captain quietly, looking down.
Boko judges the weather tomorrow to be warm, humid, and overcast, following a gale and heavy rain overnight. It is early evening, with another hour or two of daylight remaining. Lightning flashes across the black sky. The wind continues to howl over the top of the fortress.
"We'll be putting in here until this blows over," adds the captain soberly, "Although this poor sod makes ominous company." She prods the corpse with the tip of her longsword.
Gerrard:
The death of the hermits pulls him out of his sour reverie. Gerrard says, “I will go take a look and see what may be seen. If there is an evil force killing the hermits on this island, perhaps learning about it will help us defeat it before it preys again,” says Gerrard.
”Should I cut the bodies loose, Captain, or just leave them alone? If we can get a good look at one, we may learn better what killed them,” he suggests, preparing to slip into the water.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
As the captain prods the corpse with her sword, Qivys slowly reaches for his glaive.
"Ya should let tha dead lay were they are." he says to the captain. "Ya never know when they might poke back at ya."
"Strue, captain. Corpses we've come across have a tendency to get all agitated. Best to let 'em be. If they're all the way dead the crabs'll take care of 'em; if they're only mostly dead that net should keep 'em from makin' a fuss." He scurries up the mast to get a better look down into the water, looking for any 'dead' that aren't as restful as they should be. ((Perception: 10))
Thwack
His bailing ends moments after Gerrards. He mimics the noble as they cross to the railing where Gerrard peers over. At the notion of venturing to the island, Thwack's claw shoots up. In his best Gerrard impression he repeats the words "I will go take a look and see what may be seen." Then in his own broken common "Me come with Bernard. Thwack can make safe for you. Is OK?" It's clear the request is just a learnt habit and regardless of Gerrards answer the kobold will be tagging along.