Is there anything we can use to block that window?  That seems like a good idea.

It's an entire bank of windows, so there doesn't seem to be anything, at least in the captain's quarters, that could do that. Go where you haven't been/look at what you haven't looked at.

F and O decide they really don’t like it in here, so they go back outside.

Nef and Kat, having no better ideas at the moment, follow those who are leaving.

Endo ponders the empty space where Olfred had been standing only moments previously. "Alas, poor Olfred," he intones. "I knew him only a little bit." With a determined nod, he follows the rest of the group out of the cursed room.

Nine little sailors hold a powwow on the main deck. Two of them, Gnori and Kovak, sport gnarly tats.

No land is in sight, but a fair wind still propels the ship smoothly along.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Location: Main Deck
Time: Early morning
Exits: A-P Door->Captain's quarters (navigational chart of the seas)
A-S Door -> Galley (corpses and foodstuff)
Stern-Port Door -> ??
Stern-Starboard Door -> First Mate's Quarters -> ??
Ladder to fo’c’sle -> ??
Ladder to poop deck -> Unrepaired ship's wheel
Human livestock deck -> Lots of corpses and a few sleepers
Cargo and Crew's Berthing -> Ship supplies, murderous crates
Bilge -> Currently sealed off

Fouillis asks if anybody has a deck of cards.

Endo gathers around with the rest of the survivors. "Well, the captain's quarters didn't turn out so great," he observes unnecessarily. "Maybe we should work our way down the chain of command and see what the first mate has to offer?"

Fouillis and Obtenir shrug, not really caring what they do next.  They are two leaves, ready and willing to be blown wherever the winds of fate desire.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:35, Sat 04 Apr 2020.

"Any plan is better than no plan," Kat comments.  "We might as well stick with that."  With sword in hand he heads toward the chosen door, though he does not volunteer to open it first (Nef might do that, if no one stops him).

The three strangers, having already been in the first mate's quarters, lead the five other islanders into the room and divulge what they discovered there (see new post in main game thread).

It's a spacious cabin with a simple bed, wardrobe, and locker for storing personal effects. There is evidence that it has recently been used as a makeshift tattoo parlor: spilled ink, preparatory sketches, the whiff of hairspray.

A hatch on the opposite wall leads to a forward cabin:

Entering this large stateroom, you feel like you’ve stepped off the ship and into a cave. The walls have been adorned with clay and rock in such a meticulous and ingenious manner, the cabin resembles an underground cavern.

On one side of the “cavern” is a small sitting ledge with an open scroll and candle. Laying on the floor is Dahut! You recognize her from your farewell dinner with Captain de Keradel the night before departing on your voyage.

Dahut’s arms are crossed over her chest and she’s holding an ornate rock pick, but both she and the tool are transformed! Dahut’s flesh is in a state of petrification, half flesh and half stone. It’s as if she’s been gazed upon by a basilisk!

Meanwhile, somewhere in the dark recesses of the cargo hold, a young man covered in blood slowly regains consciousness.  His head throbs from the drug used to render him comatose while the vile slavers had stripped him and his companions of weapons and coppers and trussed them like cattle in a corner.

Somehow, netting (or was that a hammock?) had fallen on their environs and even now, as they all began to stir, it seemed they had been unmolested by killer lizards and also undiscovered by the rest of the escaped slaves.  A sharp rope edge had sliced a cut above Xander's eye, but otherwise they were unharmed.

Zobart's eyes were bulging, his breath coming in gasps as he panicked while Yolanda merely hissed and struggled against thr bonds.  Eventually Xander managed to free himself and then the others.  He cuffed the annoying older man into silence once he started to babble.  "Quiet!  We don't know what's out there!"

A quick stalk to the ladder later, and they were cautiously creeping onto the deck.  The rot of the older corpses and the deathstink of the newer filled them with nausea and a dread fear of what was in store for them, but also spurred them to move quickly.

On the deck, Yolanda immediately fell in with the animals, clucking with the chickens and searching for her beloved pony.  The wolf-girl was much more at home in the company of beasts than people, whatever the sort.  Zobart beelined for the bodies crates, desperate to find some booze.  Xander looked all around, trying to make out land or anything on the waters.  Content that the area was deserted of threats, he began looking around the open area.  Perhaps somewhere he might spy his woodaxe ...stepped up to the crates and hunted for his woodaxe.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:49, Wed 08 Apr 2020.

Endo ponders the half-stone woman lying in stasis. "This must be the priestess of Alkar Az mentioned in the log we found," he observes. "I wonder if she's rousable." He cautiously reaches out and gives the flesh side of her face a gentle poke.

Not for the first time, perhaps, Endo has egregiously overestimated his power of arousal as the stone woman does not respond to his digital poke of her cheek.

Neftas, who may have been a little confused about the use of "livestock" in the journal, picks up his pet Porceline to nuzzle the petrified woman and see if that has any effect.

Only a woman with ice in her veins could resist the nuzzling of Porceline. Or a woman of stone in this case.

0 for 2.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 19:39, Thu 09 Apr 2020.

Fouillis and Obtenir struggle to arouse the stone woman by caressing her all over while reciting vulgar lullabies.  If that doesn’t work, they take their clothes off and do weird tricks with their anatomies.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Fri 10 Apr 2020.

It is a strange thing, mystifying, that the duo's exertions fail to arouse the stone woman, even where her anatomy has yet to calcify.

~~~~~~~

On the main deck, Zobart finds the bodies of the sailors have been picked clean, no rum to be had. Xander scans the horizon for dry land in vain. He does spot shark fins in the ship's wake, periodically appearing and then disappearing beneath the surface. Even Yolanda finds the company of chickens and goats to be … lacking.

From one of the stern cabins can be heard infernal grunting.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:35, Sat 11 Apr 2020.

On the main deck, Zobart finds the bodies of the sailors have been picked clean, no rum to be had.
Undeterred, the desperate man suddenly decides he has a terrible thirst and even water will do.  Zobart might claim to be allergic to such things, but in truth he was as mortal as the next worm.  So, he keeps searching.  A pocket comb, a tin toothpick, an empty skein with even a droplet, such were the treasures he sought.

Xander scans the horizon for dry land in vain. He does spot shark fins in the ship's wake
At least the weather was good.  If a gale blew up, they'd surely die due to their lack of seamanship.  Sharks ... could such beasts be fished for?  On land, one did not hunt the predator but what about here?  Xander's thoughts do not wander, though, there was livestock aplenty for the trio for weeks.  They'd die, though, from a lack of water, in mere days.

"We need to crack every cask and find water," he tells the others, hopeful his sister will comprehend but doubtful the malfeasant would co-operate.

From one of the stern cabins can be heard infernal grunting.

Moving cat-like to investigate, Yolanda's face shows bared teeth and a hungry expression.  Xander heads her off, though, putting a finger to his lips that the wolf-girl understood with the slightest of feral nods.  There could be any manner of monsters inside.  Gripping pieces of wood like clubs, they approach the door, leaving Zobart behind.

Xander listens closely, then steels himself and throws the door open, ready for anything.

Kovak considered the petrified woman but couldn't make head or tail of the situation. Gnorii & Alrik appeared likewise to be stumped.

"Probably the doing of whatever black sorcerer's been mutilating the bodies and causing all this?" Kovac offered a wild guess with a shrug.

Monomaniacally, the gambler scours the deck and searches the dead men's persons for water, potable or otherwise.

Meanwhile, the woodcutter and animal trainer throw open the door to the "cavern at sea," the chamber of the Stone Dahut. There they behold what can only be described as an aboriginal mating ritual: two naked aborigines perform unlikely feats of concupiscent acrobatics, the penile pole vault and the scrotum toss among them, upon a fertility idol. Sometimes they involve the idol in the form of a semi-petrified priestess; sometimes they do not.

The woodcutter squints at the two performers. Wait. Didn't he buy a chest to store his special cuts of wood from one of them? Could it be? What madness is this? And why do all the other islanders of Alziz just stand and gawk?

Monomaniacally, the gambler scours the deck and searches the dead men's persons for water, potable or otherwise.DC 10 Luck Check

Was this going to be Zobart's lucky moment?  In the left hip pocket of a particularly putrid corpses, his hand closes on something ...

20:33, Today: Ecla rolled 15 using 1d20.  Is Zobart Lucky?

Meanwhile, at the doorway, Xander just stares while Yolanda hisses.  He recognises many of these folk from the party the previous night, as they had toasted new horizons and bragged of finding a new way and a new career off-island.  One looks just like a shopkeeper he knew.

"What ... what ... where's the captain?!"

Fouillis and Obtenir suddenly realize they may have made a false assumption concerning the petrified woman's sexually.  They get dressed, forgive her and then head in the direction of the infernal grunting.

Endo stands still, in awe, as if petrification is intended to be his fate as well. Finally he speaks, "Of all the horrors we have witnessed on this ship, nothing comes close to . . . that," he gestures vaguely in the direction of Fouillis and Obtenir. "I am glad poor Olfred did not live to witness it."

After shaking his head a few times, he joins the group in moving towards the stern-port door, from whence some ominous sounds are emanating. "Be careful, more baddies most likely."

On one side of the “cavern” is a small sitting ledge with an open scroll and candle. Laying on the floor is Dahut! You recognize her from your farewell dinner with Captain de Keradel the night before departing on your voyage.

Dahut’s arms are crossed over her chest and she’s holding an ornate rock pick, but both she and the tool are transformed! Dahut’s flesh is in a state of petrification, half flesh and half stone. It’s as if she’s been gazed upon by a basilisk!

Wisely, Xander presses to one side and lets the others pass without a further word.  There was magic at work here (or worse), and he decides the villages are ensorcelled or similarly driven from their right minds.  Behind him, Yolande crouches and hides in a rocky recess.  To the girl whose life thus far has been forests and taming wildlife, this was an alien dreamscape.

Then there was the matter of this bizarre room.  Not looking at Dahut, there were the items: scroll, candle.  Was there anything else, such as a bed, dresser or similar?  He scans the place very closely, waiting for Zobart to arrive and explain Dahut's fate .. the older man was world-weary, he would know what to make of this.