As Beatrice dives into the water, she finds being surrounded by the water somehow comforting and feels more free than when she was 'up top'.
[The level 3 Path of Depths Barbarian class features wont kick in until after a long rest, though Beatrice can definitely feel the change in her. She may assume it has to do with what she witnessed (and it may be related - a portal did open to the Elemental Plane of Water), it may be that her rage sometimes feels like an ocean and she assumes that is the reason, or she may assume something else. Catbert's choice.]
[For anyone else without water breathing who wants to dive, it has been less than 20 minutes since the water breathing helmets were activated and water breathing spells were cast, so there is a reasonable amount of time left in them. Anyone taking a short rest won't be able to dive without more spells being cast.]
Anyone diving, please let me know where you go (top left, bottom right, directly to where Selachai's remains are etc.) and then make a perception check if you are just looking around in the area, or an investigation check if you specify what you are looking for or what you are looking through. If two or more of you are going to the same area, one can give the other advantage. Dillyu will go wherever Oden tells him to and do what he tells him to.
This is the map, with additional features that you couldn't make out when you started diving:
Beatrice will go to the house looking structure and have a look through to see if there was anything left behind that may be of value or any people who may need to be laid to rest.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Aquan:
"I'm sorry for your loss and for reviving those memories with my story. It angers me to think how many of our brethren have suffered this way. I thank Deep Sashelas for looking out for you. Did he speak to you back then? How exactly did he come to your aid?"
Oden will investigate Selachai's remains and the ritual site for any clues to her motivation, plans or source of power. He will kindly ask Dillyu to sweep the same area.
Investigation: 15
[I suspect the Bardic Inspiration die expired, but if not I would roll that now: 6 ]
Somehow the house managed to remain relatively untouched by the destruction which flattened the rest of Flora Isle.
As you open the door, you are confronted with what looks like three large inflated balloons attached to each other, approximately eight feet in diameter with some sort of tentacles draping from the sides of them. The skin or surface of the objects is diaphanous, so you can at least make out what they contain. The balloon-like objects are three quarters filled with water with a pocket of air, and humanoids floating at the water-gas boundary. You make out 3 people in the furthest, 3 in the middle 'balloon' and 1 in the closest 'baloon'. You looking closely at the humanoid in the 'balloon' in front of you, and you can see the very faint rise and fall of their chest.
"I managed to let go of a lot of the hatred by channeling my energy into other pursuits, like sailing and cooking, though I am happy to channel it back into killing sahuagin if we can stop them from erasing more of us from the sea. I escaped when I was younger because a giant turtle-like creature appeared towards the end of the slaughter of my people and the sahuagin shifted their focus to it. Deep Sashelas did not speak to me and I cannot even be certain that he intervened, though I like to believe he did. How did you escape?"
As they are talking and searching Selachai and the surrounding area, Oden and Dillyu find:
- A book made of kelp, the magnificent headdress, a decorative necklace made of coral and shells all on Selachai. The book has Sahuagin writing seared into the 'pages':
The title is 'Liturgy of the Tides' and passages inside it include:
"Anon comes the Slaughter! The Red Feast signals the gorging on the unbelievers! The consumed apostates will fail to sate the Hunger and time itself will be devoured!”
"And on that moon when the tides glisten with blood, the Hunger will awaken and woe to the world of the sun. Their sands, mountains, and green lands will all drown in their own blood.”
"The blessed feast on the weak and the faithless. The Red Feast comes anon! Rejoice the voracity of the Devourer!”
- You find that each of the sahuagin had a crude spear (regular stats, lower sale value) and one sahuagin has an intricate bracelet made of carved shells.
- The coins that were previously in the wishing pond with the statue of Kord (35sp) have been collected into a crude seaweed pouch, but then left sitting on the ground.
Beatrice will swim back out of the house and wave at the other two. "Guys, I found some jellyfish balloons full of people - I think they're still alive!"
"They ignored those of us who were unarmed at the beginning and my siblings and I almost managed to get away. Two of the fish-faces notices us and tried to hunt us down. We would have been killed had I not found an unlikely weapon." He taps the coral branch at his belt. "Named it Nénmacil. Thinking back to that day... I think I felt a similar thing to when Deep Sashelas spoke today. Maybe he was watching even back then. Or maybe it was something else and my memory is playing tricks on me."
Oden collects everything except the spears with the intention of studying them closer later. If he knows or suspects the coins to be offerings to Kord, he would leave them where the statue used to be. He also leaves two arrowheads on bodies of the two abominations, murmuring something.
The Champion nee Vincent Flintmore looks over at Kenton as he asks after him. “I feel... more like myself than I ever have. Like my past was just a dust cloth, protecting what was beneath til it was ready for use.”
I am curious,Kenton admits. What do you think prompted this change? Will you continue to travel with... your friends? Or do you have another calling now?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Dillyu looks at the coral branch intently and when Beatrice calls out he nods at Oden and quickly swims to the house.
For Beatrice (and Oden if he also joins them at the house):
When Dillyu sees the humanoids ‘stored’ in the house he is confused and says "this makes no sense. In every sahuagin attack I’ve ever heard of, they have slaughtered everyone that they can get their hands on. They don’t take prisoners and they don’t believe in mercy. Why have they kept these people alive?"
[Oden, see posts for Beatrice above for details of what is in the house.]
Nature check for Dillyu: 14. With a 19 Dillyu recognises the type of jellyfish and warns the others "watch out for these big guys. They are dead, but I know from experience that they continue to release their toxin after death. It is not the strongest toxin, and is only used to paralyse fish for them to consume, but if you touch any part of them too long you might well find yourselves comatose too."
"Prisoners? But why... Let's go. Why didn't I think? Their leader and the rituals, these were not normal Sahuagin."
Oden follows Beatrice and Dillyu.
"I could try to cut them open for a distance... maybe 10 feet. I've noticed Nénmacil can reach farther than how I've been using it in combat. If I'm knocked out, one of you can help me back to the ship, while the other helps a survivor. So we would test with this closest jellyfish with one prisoner."
"I appreciate the caution, but the toxin is not that strong. We used to play games as kids, seeing who could hold their hands on one of these jellyfish the longest - sometimes the jellyfish were alive and sometimes dead. If someone greyed out, pulling them away would be enough to bring them back fairly quickly. That said, we could definitely cut one open without issue if that is what you want to do..."
Int check: 11. He cant see anything wrong with the plan to cut these things open.
Aliez responds to Kenton, "What do you know about spirits? I've seen you use divine energy. I seem to attract the spirits of those who I have killed but back when the sea monsters boarded our ship, I heard the voice of an old friend of mine. Last I had heard she was still alive. Based on her voice, I don't think that is the case any more."
"Wouldn't it be better if we got a bit closer to the surface before we tried cutting it open? It wouldn't be great if we tried to free these people and in doing so unintentionally drowned them. If we tied our ropes around them we could probably bring them up with us?" Beatrice says, watching the balloons carefully.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Dillyu, somewhat sheepishly replies:
"I'd forgotten about the whole having-to-breath air thing. I think Beatrice's plan is a good one and I've got lots of rope."
[If you are just tying rope to the jellyfish, I'll just get one Con save each, with a DC of only 5. If you were touching these for longer, the DC would increase each round, so good plan Beatrice. Also, I can't remove bold from this text for some reason, so I've made it grey instead.]
Beatrice will heave herself back to her feet and dive after them, wanting to see if there's anything good to pick up.
As Beatrice dives into the water, she finds being surrounded by the water somehow comforting and feels more free than when she was 'up top'.
[The level 3 Path of Depths Barbarian class features wont kick in until after a long rest, though Beatrice can definitely feel the change in her. She may assume it has to do with what she witnessed (and it may be related - a portal did open to the Elemental Plane of Water), it may be that her rage sometimes feels like an ocean and she assumes that is the reason, or she may assume something else. Catbert's choice.]
[For anyone else without water breathing who wants to dive, it has been less than 20 minutes since the water breathing helmets were activated and water breathing spells were cast, so there is a reasonable amount of time left in them. Anyone taking a short rest won't be able to dive without more spells being cast.]
Anyone diving, please let me know where you go (top left, bottom right, directly to where Selachai's remains are etc.) and then make a perception check if you are just looking around in the area, or an investigation check if you specify what you are looking for or what you are looking through. If two or more of you are going to the same area, one can give the other advantage. Dillyu will go wherever Oden tells him to and do what he tells him to.
This is the map, with additional features that you couldn't make out when you started diving:
Beatrice will go to the house looking structure and have a look through to see if there was anything left behind that may be of value or any people who may need to be laid to rest.
Investigation: 11
Aquan:
"I'm sorry for your loss and for reviving those memories with my story. It angers me to think how many of our brethren have suffered this way. I thank Deep Sashelas for looking out for you. Did he speak to you back then? How exactly did he come to your aid?"
Oden will investigate Selachai's remains and the ritual site for any clues to her motivation, plans or source of power. He will kindly ask Dillyu to sweep the same area.
Investigation: 15
[I suspect the Bardic Inspiration die expired, but if not I would roll that now: 6 ]
Beatrice:
Somehow the house managed to remain relatively untouched by the destruction which flattened the rest of Flora Isle.
As you open the door, you are confronted with what looks like three large inflated balloons attached to each other, approximately eight feet in diameter with some sort of tentacles draping from the sides of them. The skin or surface of the objects is diaphanous, so you can at least make out what they contain. The balloon-like objects are three quarters filled with water with a pocket of air, and humanoids floating at the water-gas boundary. You make out 3 people in the furthest, 3 in the middle 'balloon' and 1 in the closest 'baloon'. You looking closely at the humanoid in the 'balloon' in front of you, and you can see the very faint rise and fall of their chest.
PICTURE COMING
Beatrice:
The balloon like objects look similar to:
and:
[Busy afternoon, I'll try to post response to Oden and Dillyu's search shortly. They find things!]
Dillyu responds to Oden in Aquan:
"I managed to let go of a lot of the hatred by channeling my energy into other pursuits, like sailing and cooking, though I am happy to channel it back into killing sahuagin if we can stop them from erasing more of us from the sea. I escaped when I was younger because a giant turtle-like creature appeared towards the end of the slaughter of my people and the sahuagin shifted their focus to it. Deep Sashelas did not speak to me and I cannot even be certain that he intervened, though I like to believe he did. How did you escape?"
As they are talking and searching Selachai and the surrounding area, Oden and Dillyu find:
- A book made of kelp, the magnificent headdress, a decorative necklace made of coral and shells all on Selachai. The book has Sahuagin writing seared into the 'pages':
The title is 'Liturgy of the Tides' and passages inside it include:
"Anon comes the Slaughter! The Red Feast signals the gorging on the unbelievers! The consumed apostates will fail to sate the Hunger and time itself will be devoured!”
"And on that moon when the tides glisten with blood, the Hunger will awaken and woe to the world of the sun. Their sands, mountains, and green lands will all drown in their own blood.”
"The blessed feast on the weak and the faithless. The Red Feast comes anon! Rejoice the voracity of the Devourer!”
- You find that each of the sahuagin had a crude spear (regular stats, lower sale value) and one sahuagin has an intricate bracelet made of carved shells.
- The coins that were previously in the wishing pond with the statue of Kord (35sp) have been collected into a crude seaweed pouch, but then left sitting on the ground.
Beatrice will carefully swim forward, and will reach out a hand to gently touch one of the balloons.
The balloon-like object has a familiar texture (make a Nature check, what is revealed will be based on what you roll).
Also, how long do you hold your hand on the balloon-like object for?
Nature check: 2
Only long enough to see how it would react to touch - seeing as there was no reaction, Beatrice pulls her hand away.
Ed: gonna use my hero point to try and roll again. 13
With a 13, you recognise that these balloon-like things are huge jellyfish that appear to be dead and have been partially inflated with air.
Beatrice will swim back out of the house and wave at the other two. "Guys, I found some jellyfish balloons full of people - I think they're still alive!"
Oden says to Dillyu in Aquan:
"They ignored those of us who were unarmed at the beginning and my siblings and I almost managed to get away. Two of the fish-faces notices us and tried to hunt us down. We would have been killed had I not found an unlikely weapon." He taps the coral branch at his belt. "Named it Nénmacil. Thinking back to that day... I think I felt a similar thing to when Deep Sashelas spoke today. Maybe he was watching even back then. Or maybe it was something else and my memory is playing tricks on me."
Oden collects everything except the spears with the intention of studying them closer later. If he knows or suspects the coins to be offerings to Kord, he would leave them where the statue used to be. He also leaves two arrowheads on bodies of the two abominations, murmuring something.
I am curious, Kenton admits. What do you think prompted this change? Will you continue to travel with... your friends? Or do you have another calling now?
Dillyu looks at the coral branch intently and when Beatrice calls out he nods at Oden and quickly swims to the house.
For Beatrice (and Oden if he also joins them at the house):
When Dillyu sees the humanoids ‘stored’ in the house he is confused and says "this makes no sense. In every sahuagin attack I’ve ever heard of, they have slaughtered everyone that they can get their hands on. They don’t take prisoners and they don’t believe in mercy. Why have they kept these people alive?"
[Oden, see posts for Beatrice above for details of what is in the house.]
Nature check for Dillyu: 14. With a 19 Dillyu recognises the type of jellyfish and warns the others "watch out for these big guys. They are dead, but I know from experience that they continue to release their toxin after death. It is not the strongest toxin, and is only used to paralyse fish for them to consume, but if you touch any part of them too long you might well find yourselves comatose too."
"Prisoners? But why... Let's go. Why didn't I think? Their leader and the rituals, these were not normal Sahuagin."
Oden follows Beatrice and Dillyu.
"I could try to cut them open for a distance... maybe 10 feet. I've noticed Nénmacil can reach farther than how I've been using it in combat. If I'm knocked out, one of you can help me back to the ship, while the other helps a survivor. So we would test with this closest jellyfish with one prisoner."
Dillyu responds:
"I appreciate the caution, but the toxin is not that strong. We used to play games as kids, seeing who could hold their hands on one of these jellyfish the longest - sometimes the jellyfish were alive and sometimes dead. If someone greyed out, pulling them away would be enough to bring them back fairly quickly. That said, we could definitely cut one open without issue if that is what you want to do..."
Int check: 11. He cant see anything wrong with the plan to cut these things open.
Aliez responds to Kenton, "What do you know about spirits? I've seen you use divine energy. I seem to attract the spirits of those who I have killed but back when the sea monsters boarded our ship, I heard the voice of an old friend of mine. Last I had heard she was still alive. Based on her voice, I don't think that is the case any more."
"Wouldn't it be better if we got a bit closer to the surface before we tried cutting it open? It wouldn't be great if we tried to free these people and in doing so unintentionally drowned them. If we tied our ropes around them we could probably bring them up with us?" Beatrice says, watching the balloons carefully.
Dillyu, somewhat sheepishly replies:
"I'd forgotten about the whole having-to-breath air thing. I think Beatrice's plan is a good one and I've got lots of rope."
[If you are just tying rope to the jellyfish, I'll just get one Con save each, with a DC of only 5. If you were touching these for longer, the DC would increase each round, so good plan Beatrice. Also, I can't remove bold from this text for some reason, so I've made it grey instead.]
Dillyu's Con save: 8. He is fine.