Angati nodded "I have heard talk of you from some important people in Sasserine, and our own patron, Lady Lavinia Vanderboren, holds an extensive collection of books, among which I'd have sworn I have seen your name if not as an author, at least mentioned. I am sure our patron would be most interested in knowing you, and who knows... extend her patronage to you too. She is most generous. But now, we need to finish our job here if you would be kind enough to help us, we would be most grateful splitting the sploits with you fairly. Else, as Celene mentioned, you can head outside the cave... that way is clear of monsters now... and wait for us either there or at our boat".

She paused a bit "The acidic blood of one of those things has touched me though and though I feel fine a feel a bit slower to my wit... do you happen to know anything about these beasts ? and the savage tide ?".

OOC: Seriously Ron, from your very first combat roll onwards (natural 1) the dice roll has really had it in for you in this game. All I can say is that I do believe in statistics and the answer is simply to roll more dice.



Yep, that's D&D for you. "You seem like a trustworthy fellow, would you like to join our party?" :D

Urol joins the party, slotting in at position three while Angati moves up to position two in order to fill in for the missing Logan. The pungent gnome seems to know the cavern complex quite well, having stayed here a couple of months since being employed by the Crimson Fleet pirates for... well, he is  bit vague about what he was up to.

OOC: I'll make a rough map to show what Urol knows and tells the party, and post it in this thread. But since he knows nothing about the whereabouts of Vanthus, the party has no choice but to continue exploring.

The party pushes on up the corridor and reaches a large cavern with dozens of five-foot-wide iron cages built into the walls. Some are empty, while other contain the partially eaten remains of dead men and women. Yet most horrible are those cages that contain thrashing, wailing figures. Each of these seems more deformed than the last: twisting legs, writhing arms, vestigial second heads, and jaws agape with too many teeth. These things are all on display as the mad prisoners howl and slobber and throw themselves against the walls of their cages in a cacophonous attempt to break free. Cries like "I WILL EAT YOU!", "PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE MISS! SO HUNGRY! JUST ONE LITTLE TASTE!" and "ALL HAIL THE PRINCE OF SAVAGE TIDES!" resonate in amongst the meaningless growls and cries.

The cages look solid enough - they have held these poor curse misfortunates here for long enough anyway. It seems safe enough to progress to the single corridor leaving the room - as long as you stay out of arm and bit reach anyway.

Updated map. Urol's lab is the room in the SW, the cavern with the prisoners is the one in the north.

Urol grabs a piece of parchment from his lab and sketches out this rough map. You'll have to ask him if you want more details about each room.

Kassius had steadily become more and more disturbed, ever since they had sailed to this cursed island. First the brutalized animals, then the scene of horror at the dock. After that, they had encountered multiple groups of berserk foes, attacking with terrifying efficiency and brutal disregard for their own lives.

Now these prisoners, caged yet shrieking curses. What the frak was going on here?!

"Let's remember what we came here for. We're searching for that scum Vanthus, and then we need to get the frak back to normality. Sure I'd like to know who this "Prince of the Savage Tides" is, and what craziness can explain this place, but I'm not interested in ending up like poor Logan trying to find out!

Urol, who is this Kigante who's quarters you have marked?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:42, Tue 17 May 2016.

"....And what he be keepin' as tophys?" Alohan asked, piggy-backing off of Kassius's question. To emphasize his inquiry, Alohan pointed to Urol's map -specifically at the cavern labeled 'Trophy Room." All this business with caged monstrosities and the 'prince of the savage tide' was all well and good but Alohan didn't want to deal with a creature keeping prized skeletons or shrunken heads without them knowing. He also didn't want this.. Kigante to boast some kind of green dragon as a pet or something. If there had been one thing he learned while in Sasserine it had to be to ask the important questions -and not to sleep with evil women.

""And I be findin' it surprising dese creatures be bathing and using de toilet like civilized creatures."

---

Curse: Dice gods hate me. Rolling more will just dig my hole deeper.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Wed 18 May 2016.

OOC: I am glad that someone remembered. Sometimes with this party it seems to be just about the loot :P



Ha! We'll see how long that lasts!

Angati continued walking, "I hope that Vanthus has payed you handsomely... I have heard he was in league with a certain Avner... hmm Avner... Meravanchi... yes !!! that was it... the Meravanchi, along with this Vanthus guy they were spreading rumours about you being good for nothing and running stoned all day not being able to even find your way from the noble district to the merchant district... and stupid things like that, which... looking at you seem like nothing but slanders. But of course... it might have just been a ruse to keep your prices down... still, doing that at the cost of your reputation seems quite unfair".

Urol started to point at various places on his map.  "Kigante is the self-styled 'pirate king' of this place.  I'm not sure about pirate king, but he seems to have done pretty well for himself.  Managed to actually semi-retire, and now runs this place as a staging area for the Crimson Fleet's operations.  A place for pirates to rest, resupply, transfer cargo, etc."

The gnome pointed to the trophy room.  "About what you'd expect from a pirate.  Trophies from all his battles with ships - a seachest from one, a figurehead from another.  Then the oddities you get from spending a lifetime on the seas.  Parts of strange animals, pickled and preserved - skulls of giant lizards, fish with two heads.  It's all pretty plain, though.  Now if he had collected molds, spores and fungi, I'd be more interested."  The gnome shakes his head sadly and sighs.  "But no one seems to realize the wonder in these sorts of things," the gnome smiles and pats the moist bag hanging from his belt.

He looked to Angati.  "Ah, I remember the Vanderborens fondly.  Larissa, ah she was a good one.  She was really into exotic plants and animals.  Even willing to talk about molds!  I remember collecting a notebook, promising to teach Lavinia all about it as she grew older.  I helped them set up a colony called Farshore on the Isle of Dread, but one time they left and never came back.  Then that fracking Lord Manthalay kicked me out.  I tried to track down the Vanderborens, but they were already dead.  I didn't have anything else to do, so I signed on with these pirates instead."

Angati nods "Ahh... well, Lavinia is a good girl still, and she wants to continue her parents work.. so it might well be that she'd hire you again to restore that plantation... I had thought you were with Vanthus... I fear he is the one that has loosened this kind of plague over these pirates."

Yes, yes, all very clever. Everyone gets the full roleplaying bonus at the end of this adventure :P

Now on with the show!

The group walk onwards through the cavern with the prisoners, being careful not to get close. As the savage men realise that they are not going to have a chance to snack they become even more enraged and scream, snarl, curse and spit at the passing adventurers. All to no avail. The iron cages are too strong and the savage prisoners are stuck.

Just as Urol's map said, the next cavern is the trophy room, and just like he said it is filled with an eclectic collection of spoils taken from various vessels over the years - and a bunch of stuff that just looks like it was found on the bottom of the sea floor.

The 'Thunder Lizard' skull is very impressive. It is the cranium of a huge creature that would have been able to swallow even Alohan in one gulp! (It's a T-Rex skull of course). Celene scans the collection of ship nameplates, seeing if she can recognise any of them... "St. Asmod's Hope", "Wavereaper", "Sea Ghost", and a barnacle-encrusted mast of wood with letters badly eroded by a great deal of time spent below the waves. The only legible letters read "T...M...AUT".

Cue old school goodness. These names all apparently reference old modules, but it's just Greek to me.

Sadly, it's all either just junk or far too bulky to retrieve. The only trophy that might be considered a real treasure is a leather-bound collection of nautical charts well over three hundred years old. Urol knows from hours spent pouring over them that these charts are remarkably detailed and he thinks also very accurate, more so even than most modern ones. Kigate would never let Urol take it out of the cave, but now...

They grant a +4 circumstance bonus on navigation checks.

In one corner of the room there is hope of some more traditional treasure however - there are three sea chests lined up against the wall. Alohan prods them with a dinosaur bone - no immediate traps obvious but all three are locked.

What are you going to do without a thief?!

Angati checks out the storage room to the south. There are plenty of blankets, clothing, cases of crossbow bolts, a collection of swords, pole arms, axes and other weaponry.

You can find any mundane weapon as listed in the players handbook.

There are three exits:

To the north-east begins the maze that Urol identified as leading to Kigate's quarters. The nasty smelling gnome has never been in there so doesn't know any more about it, although none of the pirates ever mentioned anything about a dragon guardian! No sound is heard in that direction.

To the south is a passage that leads towards the kennels. No sound is coming from there.

To the south-east a narrow passage leads towards the bathroom. As Kassius strains his eyes to see in that direction, he hears the faint sound of a young girl sobbing her heart out.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:58, Thu 19 May 2016.

Celene took note of the nautical charts hoping to come back for them later. As the sorceress passed the racks of weapons she selected a long wooden spear with a dark shaft. She assumed Alohan would approve of the choice; and it might keep some distance between her and any more of the savage creatures that might be lurking in the caverns. She peered at the chests thinking briefly of Logan and then she turned to Urol ”Does this Kigate have keys to the chests?” she asked as she leaned on her new weapon.

”We should check these smaller areas before we head right into Kigate’s quarters.” she offered if asked about a direction.

Urol smiled.  "He probably does, but as long as we're leaving here anyway, let me have a look at them."

The gnome bends over, muttering to himself, and prods the chests with some crude tools.

Bam!  Alchemists get Disable Device too.

16:36, Today: Urol Forol rolled 19 using 1d20+8.  Open Chest 3.
16:36, Today: Urol Forol rolled 21 using 1d20+8.  Open Chest 2.
16:36, Today: Urol Forol rolled 19 using 1d20+8.  Open Chest 1.

"Do you all hear that? Some girl's crying. I think it's coming from that direction, let's go and see if we're not too late."
Kassius says, pointing down the south-east passage and heading over there quickly, not worrying about the chests for now. Kibeti follows behind, and Kassius pauses after a few steps, making sure the other's are following him.

Celene picks up a stout pirate spear and starts carrying it around as a staff.



Ka-boom! They're all DC30! I miss Logan!

Urol tinkers with the chests for a bit, but it is clear he is no rogue. After a couple of minutes he has to admit defeat - he isn't able to open any of them!

The party heads to the south-east in the direction of the sobbing girl.

After about 20' the passageway ends in a large cavern filled with the sound of sloshing water. The eastern half of the cave consists of a large frothy tide pool, its depths thick with seaweed rolling with the surge of the sea. The churning waves on the surface reflect the light from the few torches in the room at odd angles, making the light move and dance along the cavern walls. Several narrow fissures in the ceiling seem to lead up to the cliff face to the south, allowing a brick breeze to whip through the chamber.

At the very southern end of the room is the source of the sobbing. A young girl is sitting with her back to the party, hunched over something and bawling her eyes out. She seems to notice the party as they enter the other side of the room, but doesn't turn to look at them.

"What? Who is that? Is that you Vanthus, my love? Oh, I knew you wouldn't leave me. I love you so much!" It is Brissa Santos, the young red-headed girl that Angati, Celene and Kassius interviewed in the Azure district a couple of days ago in an effort to track down the misanthropic Vanderboren youth.

"Oh my God... is that you Brissa ?" asked Angati as she approached the girl "Come, stand up dear, let me see how you fare" she said remembering that the girl was pregnant. She did not want to touch any touchy subjects remembering also how adamant the girl was to admitting the obvious facts.

:D Yeah, there's no way this is a trap at all. :D I'll post when I get home. Just wanted to say how much I appreciate you players being good sports about some of the klutzy scenes in the modules where you have to separate character knowledge from player suspicion a bit.

Brissa does not stand up, at least not when Angati asks her to, and when the young artist continues speaking she doesn't acknowledge Angati's question at all.

"Why did you leave me Vanthus? When the green fog hit us it hurt so much, I was worried for the baby, but I can feel it still moving inside me now. It seems so strong!"

Her voice coarsens and takes on a gravely tone. "And I am so hungry Vanthus! Please, have you brought me something to eat?" She begins to rise to her feet. She is still facing away from the party, but as she stands up it seems that she is much taller than she used to be.

"Oh no no no no no!" wails Anansi. "Oh no no no, Angati. Bad, so bad!"

Here's ya map

The thing that used to be the promising young artist Brissa Santos turns round and the party are shocked at the transformation. The creature that stands before them is a malformed monster, a slavering madwoman with a twisted jaw of shark's teeth, a hunched back and wide splayed hands writhing from additional hook tipped fingers. From her head sprout a collection of pus dripping dreadlocks which drop globules of hissing acid on the sand as she moves towards the party.

"I AM SO HUNGRY!" screams the monstrosity as it charges at the party.
21:28, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 21 using 1d20+8.  Brissa initiative.

If you roll higher than 21 on your initiative then go ahead and take a free turn.

Just for a change I am going to supply the target's AC:

AC 21
Touch 12
Flat-footed 16

DR 5/magic


This message was last edited by the player at 19:38, Fri 20 May 2016.

19:30, Today: Kassius rolled 7 using 1d20+5. initiative.
Well, I'm not going first!

Also, has it been more than three minutes since the last combat? Hoping Gravity Bow might still be in effect.