Kassius spends his week off at The Ranch. There is much work to be done, and fast, since he aleady had recovered an extensive collection of animals even before adding the Kogoloxen to the mix. Pens and enclosures needs to be built, workers, trainers, and feeders hired, and that's even before he starts working on advertising and selling. In all, Kassius spends the week feeling frantic and productive.

Yup, I'm taking the rust monster! As for breeding, well maybe we'll leave that for the future. Maybe I could convince nobles that pet Rust Monsters are the perfect way to scare away would be thieves!

Along the way, he purchases more blunt arrows, being far to busy to construct them himself.

---

By the time the week has passed, things are barely under control, and when Kassius receives Angati's urgent message (I assume I receive one) he is able to leave The Ranch in reasonable working order and head over to meet with his companions.  "Pirates, eh? You think Vanthus is likely to try the plan even with the Lotus Dragon's taken out? I guess it's our only lead for now, and I would love to shoot an arrow through the eyes of that smug little frak."

In reply to Kassius (msg # 3):

Are you keeping track of income, expenditure and profit?

Logan had fixed himself up a resting place in the Dragon Loutus lair, and it was, although a little damp and musty, leagues above what he had experienced back in Shadowshore.  In between visits to his mother, which mostly consisted of long, rambling, one-sided conversations trying to guess at what he had experienced when he had died, Logan helped Angati clean up and restore their new meeting-place, so he was naturally one of the first she shared her discoveries with.

"A chance to catch Vanthus?  I'm all for it!  I'm sure we can get some supplies and find a shop to catch him before he can flee somewhere else.  I've been looking forward to a chance to settle the score with him ever since that miserable cur trapped us in that bloody dungeon.  Maybe I can find a zombie to munch on his intestines..."

Logan's thoughts draw inward for a few seconds, ruminating on the terrible agony of dying, but then he shakes his head clear.  "Anyway, we should find the others!"

Angati would show the letters to Lavinia, at least she might get some consolation from the fact that her brother still keeps feelings for her.

This message was deleted by the player at 18:35, Wed 06 Apr 2016.

OOC: yeeeaaah, it's not that Lavninia doesn't think he has feelings for her. It is the type of feelings that he has that is the problem...

Angati rounds up the rest of the party and heads over to the Vanderboren mansion with everyone in tow. They find Lavinia sitting down to a light breakfast in the small dining room that can be entered from the central garden. The noble lady is sitting with her mother's book in front of her (that's the diary that the party found in the Vanderboren vault) and it appears that she is still busy translating it, but she welcomes them all warmly and orders Kora Whistlegap to go and get some more food. The old Halfling lady starts filling up the table with bread and coldcuts.

Lavinia's mood quickly darkens as she starts reading the letters, and then she out-right collapses when she gets to the section about her parents being murdered.

"Oh no! No!" she cries in a choked sob. "My goodness. I never thought, I mean, my goodness, I knew he had turned bad, but to kill our parents? Why? Whatever has gotten into him?"

With Kora's support, the noblelady manages to finish off the rest of the letters.

"Next full moon? But that it tonight! My goodness, you must head out to Kraken Cover and... bring him to justice. Or," a hard look appears on his face. "Just bring about his end quickly. Vanthus Vanderboren is no more the rambunctious but sweet younger brother I used to know. He must be stopped."

"You can use The Blue Nixie," she suggests, referring to her ship that the party saved a couple of weeks ago from Soller Vark and his sub-standard crew of want-a-be pirates. "I have managed to get a captain for her, and a small crew. But you have to leave soon if you want to make it. The ninth bell has already rung and it must be at least eight hours sailing to get there."

Logan's face broke into an expression that could only vaguely be called a smile.  "I'm glad you see things that way.  Thanks for lending us the Nixie.  We'll go and pay Vanthus a visit before he can get up to any more of his mischief."

Kraken's Cove is to the east of Sasserine and... that is all the party know unless someone makes a local knowledge check.


This message was last edited by the GM at 19:19, Wed 06 Apr 2016.

"Oh my! Thank you so much Logan! I knew I could count on you all!"

10:03, Today: Kassius rolled 4 using 1d20+2. knowledge (local).

Kassius knows nothing of Kraken's cove. If the name hadn't been mentioned, he wouldn't even have remembered that a place with that name existed. "Anyone know anything about this place? I'd just as soon not walk into something totally blind!"
He says, waiting to hear from the others. GM, could you roll knowledge (local) for people maybe?


"We'd better leave now if we want to get there before Vanthus. Maybe we'll get there early enough, and can set up an ambush. let's go."

Logan nods his head.  "I think I've heard something about Kraken's Cove down at the docks."

10:37, Today: Logan rolled 18 using 1d20+3.  Know: Local.

[Language unknown: "Whi o ecevma whur ee ur, ck ckleun."] he said to Remmi, stretching in the middle of their quaint Shadowshore lodgings. [Language unknown: "Hose O laulsa, Ut asusec nt k pro wi undse whilio foha thowilwasand il at forene. Ioie, it, ngwase, a ur estas di ncon erek. I nde roul iontho'tioousain ortcomwitich sswhi satr'inou ticno witvenion enday momeic a i teofntul T ll elofunac ri esbelo ver i liar eau intate-ivelin. Nc trll ss ant, ISET Io eenicarat is eise la."] He lifted himself from his stretch and switched to the common tongue. "Ya be handlin' ma interests at home. Check in on de parents. Tell dem of de good we be doin' here in de city. Find me a nice Nuari girl ta give me ma kids. Oh, and tell me masta I be taking Pa Uma ta heart."He made for the door, turning back to his hoalhoa. "Settle ya debts at de Velvet Hatch," he mumbled with a heavy heart before opening, and disappearing outside.

Alohan had spent the week toning his body and sharpening his mind. He swam, ran, climbed, intermixed with meditation and mental conditioning. Pa uma was more about controlling his pele -unleashing it when it was most needed. Using his anger and rage in battle to aid him in combating his enemies was expected. Using his anger and rage to cloud his judgement was not. Pa uma was about mental clarity during an eruption of rage. It taught technique and form. It was the Nuari way.

Yet he ran into problem. His master had only taught him so much -most he promptly ignored. While some of the lessons and training regiments returned to him, none of the higher concepts were ever taught. And if they were, he was too busy chasing women to pay much attention.  So he swam, ran, & climbed, meditating when not pushing himself, hoping that one day, he could return to the isles ready to explore pa uma further. 

All week, Alohan debated what he wanted to do. He hadn't heard heard from his friends and suspected everything to be somewhat.. finished. At the back of his mind, he knew it wasn't finished and -sure enough- Angati's note about the letters she had found confirmed his worst suspicions. Things were about to get a bit more interesting. 

He ran about Shadowshore, swam the harbor, and finally found himself upon Festival Street. It is here he ran until arriving at the Vanderboren estate. He was late -typical- and Kora quickly ushered him inside to meet with the rest. Kassius and Logan were discussing and Lavinia looked distraught. But next to them, delicious cold cuts. Without a word, he began fixing a plate, smiling at his friends. 

---

 Prestige Class: Anyone want to assist me  on a cool, Nuari prestige class? Something that mixes the barbarian rage with the monk ki pool- like a crazy fighting style that potentially has 'explosive' results. I am thinking something that manifests almost in the form of fire. Maybe like a kineticist? I don't know, anyone have any ideas?

OOC: Looks like Logan has it covered.



Logan certainly has heard a lot about it down at the docks, and also in whispered tales recounted in the Skinned Man at the end of long evenings of drinking.

Kraken's Cove is a semi-mythical inlet that lies in the 'Bay of Blood', about a day's sail to the east of Sassarine. There are many stories about the colour of Blood Bay. Some old salts hold that the waves run scarlet with the blood of Gulrotha, a kraken too wounded by sailors to return to the open ocean. Others think it is a Crimson Fleet plot, the pirates having dyed the entire bay red in an effort to scare the curious away from their underhanded dealings.

And on the eastern side of this bay lies Kraken's Cove, rumoured to be guarded by the aforementioned legendary kraken Gulrotha and shrouded in mystery. The Skinned Man tavern is home to one old sailor who claims to have seen the entrance to the little cove with his own eyes one time, and he says that it was barely visible, barely more than a dark patch among rocky cliffs.

The stories say that any safe port is walled off from the rest of the bay by a twisting path through the cliffs, made even more treacherous by a swath of jagged reefs, rocks and the occasional scuttled ship, lead-tipped masts just inches below the waves.

OOC: What?! No! But who can I use to frown disapprovingly (and hypocritically) at Alohan?

"No! Sire, please, you need me here to look after you. Surely you cannot be imagining that you will take over the household duties yourself? Who will wash your loin cloth?"

But Remmi soon gives way to Alohan's certainty. The aristocrat sadly agrees to set sail back to the Pearl Islands as soon as he can round off his obligations in Sasserine.

OOC: But Alohan has unknowing sowed the seeds of his own doom, since when Remmi returns it will be with the naïve barbarian's mother and father! Mwha ha ha.

Without too much more discussion, the party say their goodbyes to Lavinia and leave the breakfast room, filled with vigour for the adventure a head. However, they only make it a few dozen yards from the front door before they are ambushed!

A dark shape jumps out of one of the overgrown shrubs in Lavinia's walled garden and leaps in front of Kibeti, growling loudly. It is a giant badger, or to be more exact, a giant obese badger that Kassius recognises as 'Baxter', Kaskus Kiel's animal companion.

Baxter the Badger: "Ggggrrrrrrrooowl!"

Kibeti: <Just rolls his eyes and doesn't bother taking on a defensive posture at all.>
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:27, Sat 09 Apr 2016.

The dwarven druid comes out from behind a nearby tree, hurriedly lacing up his green breeches. It appears that the guardian of nature had been answering the 'call of nature'. Puffing slightly, the Jade Raven comes to a stop in front of the party and barks out. "Halt! Who goes there!"

Kassius looks over the dwarf and obese companion. "Ah, I'm so glad to see that the Contessa did not prevent you from adequately feeding poor Baxter."
Kassius says blandly, giving the druid about as much respect as Kibeti was giving Baxter the Badger.
"But what are you doing here? I remember that your group was no longer employed by Lavinia, even before the whole recent debacle. Oh, and pardon my manners, but how are you and your companions? Everyone recovering well I hope."

The dwarf's cheeks colour but he says nothing.

OOC: Extra points for remembering that it was Contessa Invicta, the giant two headed flail that had possessed Kaskus.



"It seems that her ladyship had got it into her head that her security wasn't as good as it could be." (Perhaps due to the PC's telling her that so many times!) "So she'd hired the Jade Raven's again, this time to keep her noble behind safe." The portly druid fishes a chocolate biscuit out of a pocket, divides it in two and gives one half to the giant badger that is now at his side. The dwarf munches on the other half.

"So I stop everyone coming into this place and make sure they're on the level." The dwarf doesn't seem to have even realised that he challenged the part on the way OUT, and didn't seem to be around as they made their way INTO the manner grounds.



"Tolin and Zan are fine. Liamae seems a little shaken by the whole business. Fair enough too," says the dwarf as he shakes his beard to knock the biscuit crumbs out. "Can't say I enjoyed having my brain invaded by that crazy bipolar weapon. I reakon we owe you one for saving us from that."

After finishing the conversation (and feel free to say more if you want), the party continue down to Pier Five and The Blue Nixie. The ship is much the same, but there is now a proper crew onboard and they are greeted by the new Captain - and it someone they know!

"Ciao belladonna and the rest-a! So good-a to see you all-a again!" The 'belladonna' is aimed at Angati, as it comes from Rodolfo the boatman, who helped you sneak about this ship in the first adventure. He is now Rodolfo the captain, as Lavinia has apparently hired him to take charge of The Blue Nixie, in the day's second incident of questionable employee selection.

Rodolfo's accent is still as thick as ever, his mane of dark hair is still slicked back against his scalp, but he as at least now dressed for the part and has lost his white singlet.

The party present a little from Lavinia ordering him to help them and depart with all haste for the Bay of Blood. The small Thyatian takes the orders calmly and soon the crew are running round the ship, making it ready to sail. Within the hour the ship is out in the open sea and heading east.

Angati greeted Rodolfo "Well... I see you keep your good taste, being a captain suits you well too!". Angati had been a bit restless, her past visions of death at sea did nothing for her ease, and her daughter's screams asking her not to board that little nut thing of a boat were far from encouraging as well as incredibly distressing.

She sighed and tried to find a good place in the boat where she could rest her ass. "Trip's gonna take long ?" maybe it was the time spent with Logan but she was starting to slur her words and talk a bit more like the low end of town... her father would have a fit.

"Long enough-a for you and me-a to get reacquainted, baby-a!" laughs the captain. He can't be more than 25, so he either likes women very much older than himself or is just flirting for the fun of it. "Only five to six hours, belladonna," answers Roberto properly a few seconds later.

His estimate proves correct, as they manage to reach their destination with a few hours of light still left in the day. The 'Bay of Blood' itself is a bit of a disappointment, as its waters are very much more of a muddy red than true blood coloured. But the cliffs on the eastern shore of the bay are impressive.

http://princessbride.wikia.com/wiki/Cliffs_of_Insanity

Finding the semi-mythical Kraken's Cove turns out to be pretty easy (hell, your DM even marked it on the map so it can't be such a big secret). After an hour or two of searching they find a gap in the rocks which fits the description given by Logan's old salt perfectly. Sadly, Rodolfo quickly dispels any ideas they had about sailing straight through the gab and into any harbour behind though - a network of reefs in the passage means that it would be suicidal to take a vessel through without charts showing a safe route.

So, he instead finds a spot a few miles to the north where a small stream has made a passable gradient up from the beach to the top of the cliffs. From there the party could walk back to the cove and approach by land. As the party considers its options, the sun sets and the tropical birds are start roosting for the night.

At that moment there is a huge, deep BOOM from the direction of the cove to the south, that makes the ground shake a little and sends all of the birds in the area screeching back into the sky. A few seconds later a large green cloud bursts into the air from the area where the cove is, forming a gigantic dark mushroom in the sky (think atomic bomb cloud, but gassier and greener).

OOC: The sensible thing to do would be to give up and go back to town, but then the AP would be over, so I assume you're not going to be put off by this. :D But you have the option of going now or waiting until the morning.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)

quote:

OOC: The sensible thing to do would be to give up and go back to town, but then the AP would be over, so I assume you're not going to be put off by this. :D But you have the option of going now or waiting until the morning.

Lol thanks for pointing that out :)

---

"Now... that was weird... I guess that Mr. Vanderboren takes sinking ships very seriously... what do you think, we go now or wait for the morning ?"

"I say go now, before the little creep has a chance to get away from us again."
Kassius says darkly.

So you go now. See you in the next thread!

Logan nods, staring at the ominious dark green cloud.  "Maybe Vanthus just likes to be showy.  Found some new alchemical explosive, maybe."  The rogue shrugs.  "It might just mean that we got here too late to save another ship from his predations, but maybe his guard'll be down a little, now that the job's done.  Let's hurry and catch him before he scurries away again."