Ghosts of Saltmarsh (cbaer8) - Campaign Thread

Kei 

Unusually quiet, Kei stands back a little from Gerrard, Boko and the priest. His mind still taken by the impressive power of the beast they had released. To hold the strength of the ocean and bend it to your will. That's power I could use. Never would another threaten me. His thoughts go to and from the beast to his own insignificant skills and power. He absent mindedly follows Gerrard wherever he travels.

Boko says, "do you keep track of the large sea entities? Is there a scroll or book? Or some learned one who could tell us more? I know the sea quite well, but I do not know all of the powers and creatures that dwell in it. We need to learn more to be able to be helpful. And to stay alive, and sane."

Dwal:
Dwal winds his way back to Hoolwatch Tower to report the body and find out why the guards were apprehensive to investigate. Dwarves are common enough in Saltmarsh (if somewhat ostracized by the locals), but Dwal turns a couple of heads as he walks through town (usually followed by conspiratorial whispering.) The two guards posted Hoolwatch Tower are apathetic at first but soon turn toward curiosity. "You the guy on the rocks?" one asks.

But Farbern soon makes his appearance, quite eager to chat with Dwal. "You're back! Good! Good! Saltmarsh Town Council meeting is tomorrow night. I was getting worried. Lots of guests in town. We need to get you ready, talk mission, talk terms. I need you and your partners to meet at the Council Hall tomorrow at noon. It's quite a job they're proposing for you."


Gerrard, Kei, and Boko:
Brinehald responds to Boko by tapping his head. "I keep all the sea monsters up here!" He launches into a semi-interesting story about a turtle dragon from a distant land.

Wrapping up their conversation with Brinehald and finishing their tea, the trio head back to the cabins to get some rest after a very long day.
They arrive to find an open door, a cold house, thousands of flies, and a dead body - and neither Dwal nor Peri to be seen.


Peri:
Peri continues to meditate and rest at the inn.

Gerrard:

Staring in astonishment for a moment at the scene before him, Gerrard mumbles, “Can this day get ANY worse?” And immediately regrets it.  This is Saltmarsh; yes it can.

Worried Dwal or Peri might have met an unfortunate fate, Gerrard moves in and uses the edge of his cloak to fan away the flies well-enough to see who the body might have been.  Seeing it is not one of his companions,  Gerrard looks for clues to what might have killed this unfortunate soul.  He refrains from touching the body for new, though, as the authorities may want to be the first to do such a thing.

Investigation:  18

Dwal disregards the guards and proceeds to the door. As Farbern comes out and goes into his statement Dwal listens and waits till its over. 
"Tha others are fine, though I think tha noble's lost a few of his marbles of late." he tells Farbern. "Tha Abby is clear but there are 2 folks still in it, locked up in a make shift prison cell. They say they were part of some cult to some dark god and it took up residence." 
Dwal pauses. He intentionally left out the name of the god either to not incur it's wraith or tip any hands to cult collaborators. To his mind someone in Saltmarsh had to help facilitate the cultists setting up shop this close to Saltmarsh and he means to find out who and why, on his own.'
"Ya best send a ship with men ta fetch 'em."
Dwal waits for a moment.
"Now that out of tha way." he says. "I wanna know why there's a dead body in my cabin an' why yer guards, when told, did everythin' ta not go and investigate it?" Dwal asks sternly. 

Kei 

Having followed along absently, he recognises their cabins. It's beyond them though that calls to him. Kicking the myriad of crustaceans to the side he approaches the water's edge. Without thought he wades into the chilling surf, stopping about knee high. He gently reaches a hand down and runs his fingers through the turbulent flow. Mumbling to no-one in particular he closes his eyes. A blue-green light appears to swirrl around him in the water, as if answering his wordless speech. Moments pass with the bioluminescent creatures swirling around his hand. When he withdraws itt he is clenching what looks like the remains of a tiller or the tip of some rigging. Satisfied with his encounter he returns to the cabins. "What in the multiverse has happened here? That's not Shortstop is it?"

Gerrard and Kei:
Gerrard and Kei examine the body. It indeed appears to be the corpse of your cook. He is covered in hundreds of puncture wounds, his body drained of blood.
The place looks somewhat ransacked, but not by humanoids, but rather by small animals. 

Dwal:
"Abbey Isle? Cleared of cultists? That'll be very good news for a friend of mine. We'll make sure th' prisoners are picked up," responds Farbern agreeably.

"So sorry to hear about the body in yer cabin. We can send a crew to help you clean it up. Not th' first time for squatters to turn up dead there, although it's been a while. Lots of superstitious locals have a thing about Crabber Cove, y'know. Have patience with 'em!"

"Your job is to rest up for the meeting tomorrow night. We need you. The whole town - the whole south coast, Seaton, Saltmarsh, all of it - is counting on you folks for this mission. It's time for them sea devils to pay."

Dwal looks at the human and shakes his head. "Ya care more fer things ya can't see than what's in front of ya." he says and turns walks away.

Disheartened with his time among non-dwarven folk, Dwal will make his way back to the cabin and set his sights on removing the body, seeing what may have caused the death then giving the dead a proper burial. 

Dwal returns to the cabin to join Gerrard, Kei and Boko, just as the daylight begins to fade. The unheated little house is bitter cold; the winter wind seems to blow right through it. Indeed, it appears as though vermin have chewed their way inside in several places.

Peri continues to rest comfortably in the inn.

Gerrard:

Having made himself useful in the meantime, Gerrard has started a fire and tried to clean out and organize the house as best as possible.  Wondering what creatures may have done this to their cook, he asks Kei, "What do you think killed him, Master Kei, that sucked out all his blood?"

Nature:  3

Boko examines the body, looking for anything she can glean about what killed him. 

Nature: 12

She says, "you had a cook?"

Neither Boko nor Gerrard can determine much about the nature of the attack. (As stated earlier, the man is covered in hundreds of puncture wounds, his body drained of blood. Beyond that, you cannot speculate.)

Gerrard begins to clean up the cabin. There is evidence of vermin everywhere. With the doors and shutters now open, the flies begin to thin out. The fire in the stove does little to warm you. Night has fallen outside; the rhythmic sound of the waves on the nearby beach is numbing and hypnotic. 

Kei 

The corpse doesn't phase Kei in the slightest.  In fact he simply drags the body into the light thrown out by Gerrard's camp fire to further inspect the wounds. 

Perception 20

Apologies...should be 

Nature 19

If they are planning to rest for the night, Boko will ritually cast speak with animals and then cast conjure animals and call into being four (jumping/hunting) spiders, a bat, a rat, an owl, and a weasel. She explains to them they will get a very nice meal if they work together, and refrain from attacking each other or the party. She wants them to fan out along and under and over the floors, up into the rafters, outside, and around the cabin looking for odd things, and especially something that might suck blood. She asks them to come back to her every few minutes to tell her what they've found. (She'll ritually recast speak with animals throughout the hour of the other spell.)

Once the search is complete, she casts goodberry and feeds one to each animal. Then she stands up and helps Gerrard clean up, using druidcraft to gust away the flies and the smell. 

Dwal makes his way back to the cabin. Finding Gerrard, Kei and Boko there he will enter and just nod.

"I see ya found our little problem." he say to them. "Tha constable knows but doesn't care, chalks it up to "These things happen at Crabblers Cove" an' all. I ain't convinced though." 
Dwal pauses.
"I also let 'em know about tha Abby an all. He said they would send a ship ta pick up Bayleaf an' tha' girl." Dwal moves around a bit checking to see if the books the party had are still within the cabin or gone.
"Peri's at tha inn, eatin' an' sleepin' I figure. He came here first but run off soon as he saw tha body."  he tells them. "Farbern is all worried about tha Council meetin' tomorrow and want's us ta put on our best an' shiny's an attend." 
Dwal looks to the group.
"How tha' rest of ya holdin' up?" he asks. 

Gerrard:

”Thank you for taking care of that, Brother Fiercehammer.  At first I was worried when I walked in that you or Master Fenwader might be the corpse, but it appears our cook has met an untimely demise.  Does he have any family who might be contacted—I would normally expect the watch to handle this, but it seems a bit…lax…of late,” replies Gerrard.

”Did you have any thoughts on what to do with the body—a funeral or some such?  I’d like to get settled here as best as possible after that is taken care of.  We do have some items and coin to split amongst us, especially if we need to re-provision tomorrow for our upcoming mission,” he adds.

”There is something else that bothers me…I have been trying to help, but most of what I try to do just ends up causing more problems.  I tried to help against the Aboleth cultists in Seaton and we ended up dropping a building on innocents.  I tried to make sure the Abbey island inhabitants were truly evil cultists, and we end up in an argument about prisoners.  Of course, I try to help out poor Peleg and he ends up dead, with a new marine horror loosed upon the world.  In short, I wonder if I am doing more harm than good, despite my best intentions.  What counsel can you give me, Brother Fiercehammer?” he asks.  Gerrard’s countenance is strained, as if exposing his uncertainty and weakness is very difficult for him.

Dwal listens and sighs when Gerrard comes to his self deprecation. 

(OCC: envisioning this happens outside)

Dwal uses Mold Earth and crafts himself a seat out of sand then hardens it so he can sit down. Dwal takes a seat and looks at the fighter for a moment.

"What do ya see fer yerself in tha years ta come lad?" he asks. "Do ya see yerself as an important man, one who tha people around ya see as a man they'd follow? Or do ya see yerself as tha third son of a noble house where ya spend yer days as a dandy of some sort?" 
Dwal pauses to let his questions sink in.
When Gerrard goes to reply Dwal says:
"Now, don't ya take this as I'm pointin' some finger or pokin' at ya or castin' judgement on ya. Think about it fer a minute or two."
Dwal is silent for another moment then says.
"Ya been thinkin' I been rough on ya an' was pokin' at ya fer the past couple of weeks. In part yer right, I was." Dwal pauses.
"Ta get tha measure of ya." the dwarf wizard tells him.
"Now what I see is a young lad who is of noble birth an' all fired up about doin' tha right thing but sometimes runnin' to an' fro like a chicken with its head cut off. Ya been battlin' everythin' this little adventure of ours had thrown at ya and battlin' those demons in yer head all at tha same time which is leadin' ya to doubt yerself and everythin' ya do, an' wantin' someone ta judge ya so ya can be free of tha burden of"
Dwal leans in from his chair, looks straight into Gerrard's eyes and says:
"Livin' with yer decisions and standin' by 'em." 
Again Dwal pauses for a moment, leaning back into his makeshift chair. He looks away for a moment and strokes his beard then turns back to Gerrard.
"I ain't here ta judge ya but I do think I've been place here ta be yer council fer a bit so, here is my council. Be yer own man, understand bad things happen that ya can't fix, get up in tha mornin' and swear yer gonna do better than tha day before an' any decision ya make, Stand By It. Yer decisions cause ripples in tha cosmic sea an' both good and ill come from 'em. Live with that and if'n ya feel ya need ta, pay homage ta those that lost their lives so when ya go ta tha next world ya can look 'em straight in tha eye and honestly swear to 'em ya did yer best." 
Dwal says nothing more for the moment, letting his words, hopefully, sink in to the young nobleman. 

Gerrard:

About to answer Dwal's first question, Gerrard instead waits and listens.  Then he thinks.  And thinks some more.

 Finally, he starts speaking slowly in response, "Brother Fiercehammer, I was raised a noble and learned my place in that world, just accepting it as my due.  I just took for granted that I, as a noble, was set apart to lead, to help, to govern.  This past month living as an adventurer and actually trying to make my way on my own has been a harsh wake-up call...It feels like a completely different world than I thought it was, and I admit to being a bit lost amongst it all."

"Where do I see myself in the years to come?" he asks himself, repeating Dwal's question.  "I still think it is possible that I may become a man of power and prestige, marry my sweetheart and raise a family in a country estate, and live a life of relative ease...Yet that is no longer my primary goal.  I am beginning to see power--whether it be a noble heritage, riches, authority, or combat prowess--as merely a tool.  And I want to use that tool to help people as best I can, whether I do that as a noble ruler, an itinerant adventurer, or a simple scribe."

"I have a feeling I will still need a lot of counsel, but I am resolving now to do the next right thing as best I understand it, do right by the people in my life, and fight to help my friends and the free peoples of Keoland--be they fishermen from Saltmarsh, Lizardfolk from the marshes, or the downtrodden of Seaton," Gerrard decides.  "Let's start by taking care of our cook, notifying his family and paying for his funeral expenses--plus maybe a little to console them in their grief.  Then we can divide the treasure from the island, get some good rest, and see what the council has for us tomorrow."

"What of you, Brother Fiercehammer.  Will you stay with us now for the battle against the Sahuagin, or will you now go your own way?" asks Gerrard.

Boko, still casting her ritual spell in the cabin, listens in as best she can to the conversation outside. She doesn't interrupt or even speak. But some of the tension in her posture she didn't even realize had come into existence after the horror was released drains slowly away.

Perhaps joining this group was not such a terrible idea, after all.

Kei examines the wounds closely. The punctures which killed Armand came in pairs - they were made by tiny fangs, something rats lack (at least the ones you have found in and around the cabin.)

Gerrard recalls Armand telling him that Lankus was his nephew - Lankus of the Wicker Goat, where Peri is staying.

Boko's critters skitter off. They soon return with some initial reports. Their house is currently empty, although there are fresh rat tunnels underneath. Crabbers Cove is full of rat burrows, bat roosts, and crab shells. There are four cabins - two are tidy, one is full of vermin, and one is in ruins.

It is now fully dark outside. The wind is icy cold.