This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kei
Deception 24
When Gerrard announces his faux allegiance, Kei follows with, "Praise Tharizdun ". The voice may have been in their heads but it felt most in character to voice his reply. He continues across the bridge without missing a step.
The voices begin to respond to Gerrard but go quiet upon Kei's pronouncement.
The sagging timber bridge leads to the main deck of the ruined galley. The deck has buckled, and is cluttered with trash, driftwood, and other refuse washed up on the tide. To the east, the galley’s prow juts into the channel like a jagged fang, while the west side of the deck disappears into a wall of boarded-up and badly weathered buildings. The only cleared pathway across the tilted deck leads from the bridge to a pair of massive wooden doors leading into the buildings.
A hunchbacked old woman in grey, stained rags waits outside the doors. She rubs her arm incessantly and does not make eye contact.
Kei shuffles, at a speed appropriate for an acolyte, towards the old lady but pauses as the voice echoes inside his mind. "As you wish" he mutters whilst coming to a stop. He waits for further instructions but tries to keep his mind blank so as to not allow any mind reading from the unseen presence.
You wait, clearing your minds, thinking of the drawings...
Eventually, the massive wooden doors open, leading into a dank hallway. The thuggish man waits for you to enter, before closing the door behind you. (Presuming you enter.)
The hunchbacked woman begins to chant loudly. She has only one eye and only one tooth – her other eye is missing, a vacant socket, you notice. The thuggish man begins to join her chanting.
This oppressive hallway within reeks of mildew and rotting fish. The walls are severely stained, and the ceiling sags where pockets of water and fungus weigh it down. The sounds of creaking wood and dripping water echo loudly here.
Both figures seem to be headed toward a second set of doors at the far end of the hallway to the west.
Unsure if they should be chanting also, Kei sways in time as he walks behind the odd couple. He prepares for them to open the doors. The unknown voice had him a little nervous about what might be on the other side.
The language of the chant is utterly alien to your ears (although you're welcome to make an Intelligence check to see if you can place it.)
The spongy wood sags beneath your feet slightly as you cross the hallway.
The doors open to a cavernous room smelling of decaying fish and seaweed. It is filled with nearly a hundred chanting, swaying, convulsing zealots. There is a lot to take in.
The walls, floor, and ceiling are covered with carvings of complex spirals and smeared with blood. Crude chairs and benches are arranged in a semicircle facing a smaller antechamber to the west. A large, fish-like shape hangs in the air at the far end of the alcove.
A wide flight of slippery stairs stands at the end of the antechamber to the west, leading down into a pool of slimy, murky water. Looking closer, you can see that the shape above the stairs is a rotting shark’s carcass, which hangs from the rafters on frayed, mildewed ropes. Humanoid heads in various states of decay have been crudely lashed to the shark’s flanks.
Much of the crowd chants in unison, while others convulse on the floor, stand wide-eyed, or scream out of a place of utter madness.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Gerrard:
Slowly shuffling forward and swaying, Gerrard tries to make sense of the chant. He moves his lips as he moves in mimicry of the chant, but he dare not actually say any of the words.
Intelligence: 13
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Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Gerrard can make nothing of the chant nor the rituals of whatever dark ceremony they have found themselves in.
The chaos of the crowd – the ritual, the chanting, the screaming, and the convulsing – masks another sound. Until it is too late. The sound of true panic, and true pain. The sound of an execution. A young man is evidently beheaded alive near the steps near the front of the chapel. You can't directly see much until his dripping head is lifted and affixed with a length of wire to the rotting shark dangling from the ceiling.
The packed crowd roars with approval. "The end is imminent, Brother!" whispers one old man to Kei, fervently, between chants and cries.
”Yes, it will be finished soon, fellow dreamer,” says Gerard dully, continuing to shuffle towards the shark through the crowd. His double-sided statement aside, he chances a glance towards the front of the crowd, hoping to see who or what killed the young man.
Perception: 19
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Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Gerrard pushes closer. There is a lot of fresh as well as old blood smeared and tracked on the floor near the front of the chapel, as it is upon many of the groaning, screaming, chanting, convulsing figures, prostrate or dancing, frozen or jerking, busting with manic energy or deep devotion. There are several bloodied blades, daggers, and scimitars carried among the crowd here - you have no idea who the murderer is here; perhaps they all are. The headless torso bobs in the filthy waters filling the downward staircase to within a foot of the top of the stairs; his head is lashed crudely with wire to the rotten shark hanging above. He looks barely a teenager.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kei
Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Kei moves through the crowd slowly. He stops every now and then to sway and bob with the cultists. He cuts a path down the southern side of the room, always watching Gerrard to ensure he is not over run. When he reaches the bottleneck he stops ((is it a torch or something on the N and S wall? That is about where he stops)). Looking closer at the water he tries to determine if there is anything below the surface.
The stairs descend into a completely submerged chamber that’s 20 feet square. You can't see the bottom. Black, murky water fills the staircase to within a foot of the top of the stairs. But Kei senses something down there, a massive shadow, perhaps, a hint of movement that occasionally sends subtle ripples through the pool.
Kei idles back to stand next to Gerrard. "Shall we try and fool these people or simply descend into the pool?" he asks his friend in a whisper. He continues to sway with the chanting.
The wild, incoherent, thoroughly-disorienting ceremony continues. It's difficult to make out what is happening. Is someone leading this? You cannot tell who is in charge, nor who committed the youth's murder. There is blood everywhere near the front of the room by the stairs, old as well as very fresh.
You do catch a glance of a strangely-familiar figure dancing, shooting a glance in your direction. (Make an INT check to try to place him.)
As he waits for a response from Gerrard, Kei looks over the gathered crowd. He locks eyes with multiple gyrating cultists, but none seem remotely familiar. He continues his own motions.
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Gerrard:
Performance: 14
”The Whisperer!” thinks Gerrard reverently.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Kei
Deception 24
When Gerrard announces his faux allegiance, Kei follows with, "Praise Tharizdun ". The voice may have been in their heads but it felt most in character to voice his reply. He continues across the bridge without missing a step.
The voices begin to respond to Gerrard but go quiet upon Kei's pronouncement.
The sagging timber bridge leads to the main deck of the ruined galley. The deck has buckled, and is cluttered with trash, driftwood, and other refuse washed up on the tide. To the east, the galley’s prow juts into the channel like a jagged fang, while the west side of the deck disappears into a wall of boarded-up and badly weathered buildings. The only cleared pathway across the tilted deck leads from the bridge to a pair of massive wooden doors leading into the buildings.
A hunchbacked old woman in grey, stained rags waits outside the doors. She rubs her arm incessantly and does not make eye contact.
"Wait," the unseen alien voice says in your heads.
Kei
Kei shuffles, at a speed appropriate for an acolyte, towards the old lady but pauses as the voice echoes inside his mind. "As you wish" he mutters whilst coming to a stop. He waits for further instructions but tries to keep his mind blank so as to not allow any mind reading from the unseen presence.
Gerrard:
Halting as well, Gerrard visualizes the drawings of the aboleth from the walls of the jail cell as he idly wonders what it would look like in a dream.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
You wait, clearing your minds, thinking of the drawings...
Eventually, the massive wooden doors open, leading into a dank hallway. The thuggish man waits for you to enter, before closing the door behind you. (Presuming you enter.)
The hunchbacked woman begins to chant loudly. She has only one eye and only one tooth – her other eye is missing, a vacant socket, you notice. The thuggish man begins to join her chanting.
This oppressive hallway within reeks of mildew and rotting fish. The walls are severely stained, and the ceiling sags where pockets of water and fungus weigh it down. The sounds of creaking wood and dripping water echo loudly here.
Both figures seem to be headed toward a second set of doors at the far end of the hallway to the west.
Gerrard:
Listening carefully to the chant, Gerrard lets the sound occupy his thoughts as he follows the others forward. Does he recognize any of the words?
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Kei
Unsure if they should be chanting also, Kei sways in time as he walks behind the odd couple. He prepares for them to open the doors. The unknown voice had him a little nervous about what might be on the other side.
The language of the chant is utterly alien to your ears (although you're welcome to make an Intelligence check to see if you can place it.)
The spongy wood sags beneath your feet slightly as you cross the hallway.
The doors open to a cavernous room smelling of decaying fish and seaweed. It is filled with nearly a hundred chanting, swaying, convulsing zealots. There is a lot to take in.
The walls, floor, and ceiling are covered with carvings of complex spirals and smeared with blood. Crude chairs and benches are arranged in a semicircle facing a smaller antechamber to the west. A large, fish-like shape hangs in the air at the far end of the alcove.
A wide flight of slippery stairs stands at the end of the antechamber to the west, leading down into a pool of slimy, murky water. Looking closer, you can see that the shape above the stairs is a rotting shark’s carcass, which hangs from the rafters on frayed, mildewed ropes. Humanoid heads in various states of decay have been crudely lashed to the shark’s flanks.
Much of the crowd chants in unison, while others convulse on the floor, stand wide-eyed, or scream out of a place of utter madness.
Gerrard:
Slowly shuffling forward and swaying, Gerrard tries to make sense of the chant. He moves his lips as he moves in mimicry of the chant, but he dare not actually say any of the words.
Intelligence: 13
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Gerrard can make nothing of the chant nor the rituals of whatever dark ceremony they have found themselves in.
The chaos of the crowd – the ritual, the chanting, the screaming, and the convulsing – masks another sound. Until it is too late. The sound of true panic, and true pain. The sound of an execution. A young man is evidently beheaded alive near the steps near the front of the chapel. You can't directly see much until his dripping head is lifted and affixed with a length of wire to the rotting shark dangling from the ceiling.
The packed crowd roars with approval. "The end is imminent, Brother!" whispers one old man to Kei, fervently, between chants and cries.
Gerrard:
”Yes, it will be finished soon, fellow dreamer,” says Gerard dully, continuing to shuffle towards the shark through the crowd. His double-sided statement aside, he chances a glance towards the front of the crowd, hoping to see who or what killed the young man.
Perception: 19
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Gerrard pushes closer. There is a lot of fresh as well as old blood smeared and tracked on the floor near the front of the chapel, as it is upon many of the groaning, screaming, chanting, convulsing figures, prostrate or dancing, frozen or jerking, busting with manic energy or deep devotion. There are several bloodied blades, daggers, and scimitars carried among the crowd here - you have no idea who the murderer is here; perhaps they all are. The headless torso bobs in the filthy waters filling the downward staircase to within a foot of the top of the stairs; his head is lashed crudely with wire to the rotten shark hanging above. He looks barely a teenager.
Kei
Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Kei moves through the crowd slowly. He stops every now and then to sway and bob with the cultists. He cuts a path down the southern side of the room, always watching Gerrard to ensure he is not over run. When he reaches the bottleneck he stops ((is it a torch or something on the N and S wall? That is about where he stops)). Looking closer at the water he tries to determine if there is anything below the surface.
Perception 20
The stairs descend into a completely submerged chamber that’s 20 feet square. You can't see the bottom. Black, murky water fills the staircase to within a foot of the top of the stairs. But Kei senses something down there, a massive shadow, perhaps, a hint of movement that occasionally sends subtle ripples through the pool.
Kei
Kei idles back to stand next to Gerrard. "Shall we try and fool these people or simply descend into the pool?" he asks his friend in a whisper. He continues to sway with the chanting.
The wild, incoherent, thoroughly-disorienting ceremony continues. It's difficult to make out what is happening. Is someone leading this? You cannot tell who is in charge, nor who committed the youth's murder. There is blood everywhere near the front of the room by the stairs, old as well as very fresh.
You do catch a glance of a strangely-familiar figure dancing, shooting a glance in your direction. (Make an INT check to try to place him.)
The chanting grows louder.
Gerrard's Intelligence Check: 19
Gerrard starts getting nervous, hoping Boko makes her appearance soon and lets them know what they are dealing with...
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Kei
Int check 20
Kei
As he waits for a response from Gerrard, Kei looks over the gathered crowd. He locks eyes with multiple gyrating cultists, but none seem remotely familiar. He continues his own motions.