Ghosts of Saltmarsh (cbaer8) - Campaign Thread

Boko races up to the frozen fancy man and strips him. Of items, and she also cuts his armor and vestments off, eyes out for finding anything interesting.

The dripping, still-invisible bard has a few armaments – a chain shirt, a short sword, and a short bow. He has little else on him - a pretty but valueless ring, a locket with a curl of black hair, a small awl, a flap of cape. He maintains his invisibility even as he is stripped of his possessions, which become visible as each one is removed from him. He gasps for air quietly as he struggles to regain his mobility. 

Dwal and Gerrard may still act, but I'll go ahead and roll his next DC15 WIS Save: 16 

He remains paralyzed. Everyone may act. 

Gerrard:

Finally following what is going on, Gerrard smoothly moves over to the dripping and paralyzed figure, then shoves him off the table back into the room with his fellows.  Another shove drops the paralyzed figure on his back on the cold floor.  With the tip of his glowing rapier pointed at the prone figure’s chest, the young noble says, “Time to drop your invisibility spell if you wish to survive.”

OOC:  Move, then use the Shove to push the incapacitated figure prone and off the table back to the floor of the main room (takes both attack actions) 

Boko follows and stands on one of the foe's wrists and pokes the tip of her quarterstaff into the palm of his other hand and leaning on it. She's trying to restrain him should he unfreeze himself. Is there any container of water in the room?

Peri:

((If Biscuits surrenders by dropping his Invisibility before Peri's turn disregard this.))

Peri watches in amusement as Boko strips the swordsman of his possessions, though he notices she doesn't find the offered purse of gold on him. He snorts when Gerard knocks the frozen man onto the floor. But as he continues to resist, not dropping his invisibility spell, Peri's amusement turns to frustration. "Oh, for-- You're not gonna give up, eh? Fine! To the Nine Hells with ya!" he growls and stomps toward the man. He hefts his spear, then slams it down, butt-end first, into the semi-visible man's belly. 21 for 21

Gerrard topples the defenseless, oily man onto the stone floor with a sickening thud. (Bludgeoning damage: 5 )
(DC10 Concentration check: 17)

Boko restrains his paralyzed, semi-visible hands against the cold floor. She notes that one of the barrels used to hold the table up is half-filled with liquid - perhaps drinking water. It is tapped.

Somehow, the greasy goon still manages to maintain his invisibility, even in the face of Gerrard's threats. But it doesn't last long.
Peri delivers a potent wallop into the man's stomach that quickly brings him back to visibility and sends him deep into unconsciousness.

Combat is over. Everyone may act.
Four defeated cultists lay before you:
- The card-playing acolyte, sitting up on the floor, eyeing you all warily.
- The unfocused, semi-conscious priest, Ozymandius, who seems to be trying to talk to a table leg through his gag.
- The old man cultist, deeply unconscious.
- The oily bard, who won't be waking for a long time.

Gerrard:

Sheathing his glowing rapier, Gerrard makes sure the prisoners are securely bound but also medically stable.  If Dwal hasn't already tended to the priest, Gerrard asks that he does so.  He moves the bound cultists to sitting or lying positions along the bare southern wall, no less than 5 feet apart from each other.  To the acolyte who is awake, he says, "I believe Master Fenwader was asking you questions before we were so rudely interrupted.  Pray tell us what we wish to know."

OOC:  Help action for Peri's interrogation if needed.

The acolyte answers flatly, staring blankly toward the stairwell door as she cooly replies, in a near monotone, "There is nothing for you here. You have burned down our temple, killed nearly every one of us, stolen our belongings. I warned them for years not to trade with pirates. There is nothing left. You've won. Odium kept secrets under the medusa statue in his room next to the stairs - take them all. But leave what's left of our temple. Kill that greasy elf; he is worthless. Kill me. But leave Ozymandius. He is no threat to you. Then leave this place forever. There is nothing for you here." Her voice trails off.

"Priests that worship Dark Gods that wanna destroy tha world don't deserve ta live ta my mind." Dwal says flatly as he looks at the woman. "An' we ain't here ta steal from ya. If'n yer lookin' fer reasons why yer friends lay before ya, look to yerself and yer dark dealin's." 

Dwal  makes sure the priest is secure. "Tha power of pray has more power then what most suppose."

Kei 

Addressing Gerrard in an almost angry tone he says flatly "Next time we attack a cultists island, how bouts we don't try and reason with them."

He turns his attention to the fellow card player. "You say we've burnt down your temple? Why then do you remain? Surely there must be some reason for you to stay." He squats fair in front of the acolyte and notices she keeps eyeing the door. "You wish to leave? Answer my questions and you may see the other side of that door once more. Lie, and...well ..." He gathers glowing energy to his clenched fist in hopes of emphasising his threat.

Intimidation 11

"Abbey!" booms Ozymandius, muffled through his gag. He tries to stand up but falls over onto his side.

"Our purpose is to maintain and guard this place," continues the acolyte nervously, glancing at the yellow priest with concern. "We've failed at both, but we will rebuild. Our work is here. What is your mission here?" She turns to look Kei in the eye, her expression fixed with a certain determination.

Kei 

"Our mission is our own and no business of yours." Realising his threat held no away to the obviously zealous cultist he changes tack. Taking cues from Ozymandius, he presses for information. "So this place is an abbey of sorts. To which god? I myself follow the teachings of Mask. If it is a holy place, where are the adornments, the statues? I assume there must be more levels below this?" He grasps his medallion in an attempt to add weight to his words but also to seek help from his deity.

Persuasion 23 plus 4

"They are all gone, except the few melted pieces we salvaged. You burned it all. This is it. Four dying monks in a hole."

Ozymandius' eyes begin to focus. He pulls himself back up to a sitting position. "What? Who are you? Where is Osantos? Where is breakfast? I'm hungry!"

"Osantos is dead," whispers the acolyte to the yellow priest. "They came back."

Peri:

While the prisoners are being trussed up and arranged along the wall, Peri retrieves the potions and hands them to Dwal -- no pranks this time. He asks Dwal to identify them when he has time. Listening to the acolyte's exchange with Kei he notices she still hasn't answered his question about who they serve. "We're no pirates. In fact, we rather thought you were, or at least might be. So why don't you tell us what you're all doing here? And enough with the vague answers -- who are you, what's this 'monastery' all about, and why do all your names start with O? While you're at it you can explain why you were tradin with the pirates, and what changed to make 'em attack you. Word has it they lost a lotta people takin this place, and since they obviously didn't want to keep it for themselves, why'd they go to all that effort?"

Boko continues watching the prisoners for any sign of subterfuge or plans for escape/attack. Happy to let the others take point on questioning, and still a bit confused about the task - snow globe retrieval.

Gerrard:

”Your cultist spoke of feeding us to the ‘eye’ as a gift to Tharizdun; is that whom you worship?  Is that why the pirates attacked you?” asks Gerrard, trying to keep the conversation focused.

"The Sea Princes." She spits. "We would trade them services for food, cargo, transport. Double-crossing thieves. They robbed us. They will pay. Tharizun, yes, he watches, he waits. They will dream of him."

"The medallion!" shouts Ozymandius suddenly, reaching for the missing medallion on his chest. "Where is it? Who took it?" He eyes each of you, as he begins to regain his wits.

Gerrard:

"I assume this Tharizun is an ancient evil sea creature/god of some kind.  Can anyone confirm that?" Gerrard asks his companions.  "As cultists of an evil entity, they fall under judgement of the nearest allied society--Saltmarsh in this case.  I expect there to be little mercy from a town just recently attacked by evil cultists of Xolor, though," he adds.

OOC:  Is Gerrard familiar with regional law in this case?  Would they be required to be brought in for a trial or summarily executed in the field, or something else?  We were deputized at some point to come out to the island and check it out, right?

History to know about precedent here:  18

"He's a Mad God, bound by tha other gods." Dwal speaks up. "He was cast out but it appears that some folk follow 'em." 
Dwal pauses for a moment.
"If'n they're hold up here, I'd wager they got designs on Saltmarsh and tha area."

Gerrard knows that cultists following evil or dangerous entities would likely be executed in Seaton. While the thick, complex laws of the kingdom are codified to a fault, Gerrard well knows that the actual outcome would often depend upon whether the cultists in question were useful, and whether executing them would cause political (or existential) problems. From what he's seen so far, these folks would likely just be summarily executed. By default, Gerrard is an arm of the law of Seaton and the Kingdom (not that screwing up wouldn't cause him big problems with his family and the royal government in the north...) As to Saltmarsh, they would likely turn serious criminals and scary prisoners over to Seaton.