Far Isles Session # 68 - The Last Ship and New 'Friends'

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 5) 

Chaff (Vivimancer 5), with familiar Pretty Bird and Riding Dog Puppy Whuppy
Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 5)
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 5), with familiar Hermes 
Corvus (Fighter 3)
Torak (Cleric 5) 

Golden Khopesh

With the battle over, Chaff picked up a chunk of shattered bronze destroyer and placed it on one of the entry trap pressure plates. This activated the trap and locked the spears and statues in place, so he did the same with the second pressure plate. This now left the party a safe escape route if needed. Because now they were going to mess with the black skull altar. While everyone else backed away to the far end of the chamber, Corvus went over to examine the skull. He noted that the the top was hinged, so he stood off to one side, stuck the edge of his sword in the gap and levered it open. When nothing blew up or leapt out at the fighter the rest of the party crowded around to look. Inside was a body, curled up to fit in the cramped space, and clutching a golden curved sword. Torak noted that something didn't look right about the body; it appeared to be covered in  fuzzy orange growth. Suspecting some sort of deadly mold, the combined brainpower of the party started to formulate a plan. Various options involving fire and water were rejected, there being a fear of destroying any spellbooks, scrolls or other fragile treasure that may be below the body. In the end, Awg was strong-armed into levitating over the open skull. He looped a grappling hook and rope over a wooded beam, and lowered the hook into the skull. As it approached  the mummified corpse, Chaff came close enough to cast a cantrip, to nudge the hook under the corpse's armpit.  Chaff and Awg then joined the rest of the party to heave on the rope. Unfortunately, instead of lifting the body, they ripped off the arm in a cloud of orange dust. Once the dust settled a bit, the process was repeated with the other arm, and this time it worked. Soon the moldy, sword-clutching mummy was swaying in the air. 

Confused

All this work did disturb some of the mold, so Chaff cantriped a tiny rain-cloud to make a safe path to the skull so they could peak inside. Where they unfortunately found nothing. So in order to get the sword, they cut the rope and the corpse fell to the floor, smashing into pieces and raising a huge cloud of orange mold.  This looked like it would take some time to dissipate, so some of the party started to carry the suits of bronze armour (and Jaz) out to the garish boat to take away as spoils. As he was returning to the stone ship on his second trip, Rodrigo spied a ghostly figure approaching from the edge of the jungle. It looked remarkably like the corpse they'd tumbled out of the ceremonial boat in the first tomb, dressed in pounded bark robes. It started to approach the swashbuckler, but when he ran into the stone ship to warn the others, the ghost passed through the thick stone of the ship and confronted the party in mid-looting. It gazed around looking somewhat confused : "Oooooo ... What desecration is this? Who has defiled the dead? Is it those reptile men? And what are you doing here?" The spirit seemed a little befuddled and unsure, so some quick thinking and talking by the party convinced it they we're cleaning up the mess left by the despoiling reptile men. And once told the party would hunt down the perpetrators and destroy them, the spirit toddled off through the wall and disappeared into the jungle once more.  After breathing a sign of relief (and posting watch to ensure Mr. Ghosty didn't return), the party finished looting. Awg levitated over the moldy floor and gently picked up the sword. It proved to be made of solid gold with a cutting edge of diamond. Definitely a ceremonial object and not a real weapon.  

Looting and desecration complete, the party decided to once more settle in for the night, making camp in the recently looted chamber (after first resting the traps, just in case they had late-night visitors). The night passed without trouble, and they now moved on to looting/exploring third stone ship. After a little more poking and prodding at the sprung traps and triggers in the bow of the ship, they climbed the fallen rubble of the stone sail to peer down into the stern. The shiny copper-sheathed walls of the room blazed with light reflected from their light coin. This room also had an uncomfortably low ceiling, barely 6 feet high. A fact which made everyone uncomfortable with the idea of entering said room, even to explore the alter with large shiny skull at the far end, and the pit full of what looked be gold dust in front of it. Instead, Kwinsea used her crystal heart on one of the four monstrously envisaged statues in the room and used that surrogate to explore. The aquamancer had her animated statue  scoop up some of the golden dust into a sack and bring it back. Unfortunately for looting's sake, Chaff's greedy eye immediately identified it as simple fools gold. The statue was sent back to dredge the pit, and this time pulled up some skeletal remains wearing a worn brown cassock and a bloodstone armband. Kwinsea directed the animated help to the alter to recover the weird skull and bring it over to the waiting party. As the statue lifted the large skull, however, there was a slight shudder and a grinding sound. Right away, the party could see the ceiling of the room start to descend, the platforms holding the statues and the alter sinking into the floor. Kwinsea frantically directed her statue to return, but it did not get far before it was trapped by the descending ceiling and shattered into a thousand pieces.  Kwinsea then even more frantically tried using a rope trick to recover the crystal heart, but was unsuccessful. Moments later, the ceiling passed the top of the wall where the party was gathered, blocking all access to the chamber. 

The party dutifully waited for a few hours, and spent some time fiddling with the broken traps and triggers in the front chamber, hoping that the ceiling would rise again. Alas, it was all to no avail, and it appeared the crystal heart and anything else worth looting were sealed in for all time. With a disappointed sigh, they returned to the ceremonial boat, loaded it up with the treasure they did get, and hauled it all back through the jungle to the lagoon.  They crossed that sheltered body of water without being bothered by the giant eels, then waited for high tide to man-handle the boat over the reef and rowed back to the "Purple Haze". Along the way Awg tinkered with and talked to the mother of pearl egg, and discovered it allowed him to speak the languages of most intelligent aquatic humanoids. Which seemed a fitting item for the aquatic humanoid to own. 

Inside the Pavilion

Back aboard the "Purple Haze", a council of war ... err, looting was held. Rather than give up completely on the island, they decided to sail around to the other side and check out the location marked 'quarry' on their map. Sailing around the island was easy, as was locating the quarry. Even through the now pouring rain, deep water filled pits could be seen just a few score yards above the high tide line. Surprisingly, there was another structure nearby; a colorful tent-like pavilion, open facing the water but closed on the other three sides. The party couldn't see anything inside the tent, but about a dozen troglodytes were observed moving in and out and about the tent. Well, nothing more to be done but to go visit. But crossing the reef was going to be a problem.  With no way to get the ship's boat across, the party opted for more unconventional means of travel.  Awg and Kwinsea would swim over to the shingle beach, Chaff summoned the ebony fly to carry him over, and Corvus could make good use of the ring of water walking. That left Rodrigo and Torak ; so the swashbuckler used the shark tooth spear to transform into a mako shark, and the cleric (who first donned the invisibility ring) hopped on it's back for the ride in. And thus the landing was made, the motley collection of invaders being less than stealthy and were being met by a battle line of troglodytes standing between them and the pavilion. A short Mexican standoff ensued, and Kwinsea tried to engage the reptile-men in conversation, using the smattering of troglodyte she'd picked up during the couple of violent encounters with the things over the last few days. The stilted conversation was interrupted, however, by a voice from deep inside the pavilion.  "Please, come and join me for a glass of wine and a mid-day meal" came the polite yet sinister voice. The troglodyte line parted, and the party warily moved forward and into the tent. There, seated at the far end, behind a pair of tables laden with food and drink, was a tall, muscular man. He was grey skinned and well dressed, and reclined on a sedan chair piled high with silks and pillows. After some initial hesitancy, the party did partake of the banquet table and started to converse with their mysterious host. His name was Ondry, and hailed from lands to the east known as the Coral Kingdoms or Coral Cays. When the great fog bank lifted a year ago, he decided to sail west to explore, and found himself shipwrecked on this shore, the lone survivor out of all the ship's company. He'd 'befriended' the troglodytes, and they now served him. When questioned about the Coral Cays, he made reference to white beaches and blue lagoons, tribes of fierce amazons and unusual giants, and mountains of gold. All through the conversation, they party noted several odd things about their host. One, he was barely suppressing a strange twitch and seemed to be physically forcing himself to stay calm and seated. They also noted signs of something writhing around under the fine silk shirt he wore.  Meanwhile, a glance over their shoulders revealed a crowd of troglodytes had crowded into the opening of the tent behind them. Things did not look good ...


TOTAL XP
5050

GAINS
Golden ceremonial khopesh sword with diamond edge (5000gp)
5 sets of bronze armor (50gp total)

KILLS

nil

LOSSES

nil

Far Isles Session #67 - More Fun with Statues

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 5) 

Chaff (Vivimancer 5), with familiar Pretty Bird and Riding Dog Puppy Whuppy
Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 5)
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 5), with familiar Hermes and henchman Jaz (Elf 2)
Corvus (Fighter 3)

The shocked party watched Pahu's body float in circles for a few moments before their thoughts turned to next steps. Obviously no one wanted to step in the water at this point, but Kwinsea reminded them she could use the crystal heart to animate one of the statues out front; presumably a stone statue would not suffer the same acidic fate as Pahu.  All agreed, so Kwinsea and Jaz headed for the octopus headed statue, taking care to peer out of the entrance before stepping into the open. Unfortunately, they didn't look up, and as the pair stepped into the open, a group of seven troglodytes sprang down off the deck of the stone ship in an odoriferous ambush. Jaz started retching from the smell,while Kwinsea was stabbed repeatedly by the reptilians' spears.  The rest of the party heard their screams, however, and rushed to assist. In the meantime, Kwinsea used the crystal heart to animate the statue and scurried behind it for protection. Chaff dropped a spore cloud to incapacitate one creature, and then instinct sent two others running into the jungle. Rodrigo blasted one with his fancy new wheel-lock pistol (spraying Jaz with blood and gore in the process), then drew blades to assist Corvus and Jaz in melee. It was too much for the troglodytes, and all were soon cut down with the exception of one that leapt back up onto the ship's deck and melted into the jungle. 

The Egg

After a round of first aid, the party headed back into the ship with their new statue companion, just in time to see Awg levitate over the pool and haul Pahu's body to safety. Everyone then looted the body of useful items, in particular the Terminaxe (Corvus) and the Shark Spear (Awg). Then came the decision; how to best utilize the octo-head statue? One option was to ride it across the pool one at a time, but concerns were raised about how to get out again if sometime untoward happened  to the statue once they were on the other side. So the party decided to just send it into the pool to do battle. Kwinsea ordered it forward, and before it reached halfway to the door on the opposite side of the room, the water started to stir and a quartet of grey, slimy pseudopods burst from the surface to start pounding on the statue. It fought back and landed several blows, but was soon overwhelmed and collapsed into a pile of stony rubble. While, brute force didn't seem to work, so the party called on brute magical force instead. Kwinsea zapped the pool with a lightning bolt, while Jaz used a magic missile and Awg a laser pistol to to put the finhsing touches on the oozy things. The calmonari then used aquatic telepathy to check for other inhabitants, and finding none, led the party into the pool.  The statue in the alcove proved to be another octopus headed humanoid, but this one made of badly corroded iron. The altar was another black stone block like the first, but on top of this one was a large egg made of mother of pearl. As Awg reached for the egg, everyone yelled for him to stop until they were safety out of (potential) harms way on the other side of the new door. Their paranoia was for naught, however, as nothing happened when Awg lifted to egg. 

The room on the other side of the door was dominated by a 20' long boat, built of jungle hardwoods and intricately, but garishly, carved. It sat upon a low stone platform, and behind it in a niche in the wall were three wooden chests carved with similar designs. Rodrigo checked out the boat,  finding it both seaworthy and occupied. Laying in the bottom was a mummified body, dressed in a robe made of bark and wearing a circlet of sea-shells. The swashbuckler carefully lifted the circlet away with the tip of his sword, then gently lifted the robe to see what what underneath it. When he was done, Chaff bullied over and jumped in the boat, hauling the desiccated corpse out of the way and dumping it on the floor in order to better search beneath it for treasures. He found nothing, and the party as a whole turned their attention to the chests. After checking for traps, each was opened in turn. Inside each were 3-4 sets of skeletal human remains, several of which were covered in silver leaf. The silvered skulls were scooped up and dropped in Awg's treasure sack. A kalandrian sight from Chaff revealed nothing in the chamber was magic, although the bulls-eye shield and mother-of-pearl egg glowed magic. Someone then got the idea to move the boat. Everyone lent a hand to lift it up, uncovering an open box below the boat containing oars, sails, and rigging. All of it well-waxed to protect it from the ravages of time, and as result in perfect  condition. But not magical. After a bit of grumbling about cheap burial customs, the parry decided to take the boat with them as their reward. It look a lot of swearing and time to manhandle the heavy and awkward  vessel outside, but in the end they had recovered a new boat for themselves. In the middle of the jungle.

The Boat

Having looted and ransacked the first stone ship, the party moved on to the second. The piles of bones were humanoid, not human, and neatly stacked around the alter. The alter itself was of the same black stone as the other two, but carved in the shape of an overturned dory. There was a small gap between the gunwales and the floor, so Kwinsea coxed a nervous Hermes out of his waterskin to scamper under and have a look. The hermit crab found nothing but stone, and scurried back to safety. On top of the alter sat a giant clam shell filled with tiny bones; fish bones in fact. After various party members poked and prodded at the bones for a bit, Chaff simply tipped the whole shell and contents onto the floor where it smashed into pieces. He then headed over to one of the stone doors and hauled it open. It opened into a room with two raised platforms flanking a passage down the centre, leading into another room just beyond sight. On each platform stood three bronze statues in the form of fishermen or whalers, each holding a wickedly large spear/harpoon. Sensing a trap, the party proceeded cautiously. They first used a rope and grappling hook to try pulling down a statue, but even with their combined strength, it would not budge. Kwinsea cast rope trick to remotely tie up the statues on the right, and Chaff cast web on two out of three on the left. This way they hoped to immobilize the statues and be able to make safe passage. Rodrigo then volunteered to dash down the centre aisle to test the effectiveness of the countermeasures. He made it past the first two guardians, but as he passed the second, the swashbuckler felt a pressure plate 'click' underfoot. The two centre statues sprang to life, the deadly spears slashing down. The one on the webbed side was restrained by Chaff's spell, but the other broke through the rope and drove down at Rodrigo. He dogged out of the way, but in the process stumbled in front of the last pair and received two deep wounds across his back for his trouble. He skidded into the far room, finding himself standing in front of a a huge bronze statue with four sickle-sword wielding arms. Along the walls were suits of bronze plate mail, each paired with a curved sword and intricate pole-arm also made of bronze. At the far end of the room was a large skull carved out of the same black stone as the alters.

Bronze Destroyer

Rodrigo waited for everyone else to arrive before exploring; Chaff, Jaz and Corvus managed to squeeze along behind and over the statues, although the fighter slipped and fell at the very end, landing on the pressure plate and getting stabbed for his trouble. Kwinsea used a scroll of spider climb to scramble over safety, and Awg elected to stay where he was for now and keep Puppy Whuppy company (the dog having been left behind). Kwinsea used the stole of the sacred to cast a bless spell, expecting trouble from the bronze guardian before too much longer. In fact, when Rodrigo walked over to a suit of plate mail and started to carefully lift it off the rack, the great bronze statue animated and the four curved blades slashed out at four different targets. Both Kwinsea and Chaff were nearly eviscerated in the process,and the two squishy mages retreated behind their more heavily armored companions.  Corvus, Rodrigo and Jaz carved great chunks of bronze out of their attacker, and for the most part managed to doge and parry it's blows. All except Jaz, who, moments before Corvus dealt the guardian a death blow, was opened up by two sword blows to the midriff and fell to the floor. The elf managed to survive, however, thanks to Kwinsea rushing over an binding her wounds as soon as the fighting stopped ...



TOTAL XP
3022

GAINS
Intricately, but garishly, carved wooded boat (3000gp)
Circlet of shells (50gp)
4 Silvered skulls (25gp each)
Mother of Pearl Egg

KILLS

4 Troglodytes
4 Grey Oozes
1 Bronze Destroyer

LOSSES

Octo-head Statue
Jaz (temporarily)