Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[GiglameshDespair]

Seeing the paladin's actions, Ashii could see her resemblance. It was in her actions, her mannerisms. The way she reached up to adjust her helmet, the same graceful motion. With the false years of familiarity, she could see the Paladin was holding doubts. It was in the slight frown of her mouth, the look in her eyes. Without realising, she opened her mouth.
"Fear not. I am with you, ..." The lack of the name stopped Ashii in mid sentence. Awkwardly, she stuttered. "I-I mean, we are following you, Lady Bethany. No need to hold worries."
She met the paladin's eyes briefly before she looked away.

[Weirdsound]

Bethany flinches, taken aback. She had seen such declarations of faith and loyalty made by the friends and followers of her brothers. She never assumed they would be this easy to come by.

"U-um. Thanks." The Paladin takes a few seconds to regain her composure, and then returns the encouragement in kind. "It would be foolish not to hold worries while sailing down a strange diseased river looking for a missing party and the gods-know-what that made them disappear. That said, I worry, but do not fear. I have full faith that none of us would be here if we were not competent and fit for the job. My blade and lance will come to your aid, as I know your magic will come to mine."

She spares the druid a brief glance, and her best inspirational smile.

[GiglameshDespair]

Ashii made a weak smile back before turning away so the Paladin wouldn't see her grimace. She cursed herself. Ashii had clearly startled the young noble - and why? Lady Bethany wasn't her. She was gone, and there was only one person to blame for that. She almost preferred the numbness to being reduced to a fool. Ashii resolved silently to keep her mouth shut more in future.

She stopped her hand's motion as it reached towards the handbell, instead grasping the blade of one of her sickles. She tightened her grip till beads of blood welled from the skin. She had to focus on the breathing, living jungle around them, on the animals rooting through the undergrowth or watching from the branches.

Both memories and numbness had to be kept at bay. She seized the paddle and with slightly unnecessary vigour began to paddle.

[Grek]

The group marks the location of the fight against the monkeys and then continues upriver. Around sunset, they make their landing at the fork.

There is an extensive beach, a delta of sorts, where the two forks of the river meet. The wider of the two forks extends southward. The water flows languidly downriver and the sky remains visible through the canopy above. To the north, the river is narrower, the water quicker and the sky obscured. Vines dangle from the trees above.

Alanorwan notes that the blessing must be conducted in the middle bar of land, as close to the water's edge as possible. It may be wise to place the camp elsewhere, however, as a wide space will be needed for the ritual.

[Weirdsound]

Bethany turns to the Priestess. "Can the start of the ritual wait until the morrow? The sun is already low in the sky, and I don't fancy looking for a good camping spot in pitch darkness. If not, I propose sending the druid and ranger out to find a spot to set up close by."

[Nerjin]

"Aye lass... Starin' at the river all day be nice and dandy fer ye religious folk." Holdron stated taking another small sip from his wine bottle. "I'd be all the more like ta be able to protect ye in the day."

[Dwarmin]

"Might as well get to it." Eli agrees, motioning for Ashii to follow alongside him.

Action: Look for a nice camping spot close by-dry, defensible, etc. Make sure to check for signs of existing monsters, and do a scan of the area for any sources of freshwater.

[GiglameshDespair]

"Might as well get to it." Eli agrees, motioning for Ashii to follow alongside him.

Action: Look for a nice camping spot close by-dry, defensible, etc. Make sure to check for signs of existing monsters, and do a scan of the area for any sources of freshwater.

Ashii nodded and assisted him to the best of her ability, though she was used to te tundra and pine forests, cold and crisp, than humid jungles steaming with life.
Assist him with that.

[lawastooshort]

"Eli, is there anything I can help with? If not, I'll be with the porters and the boats, and we'll move in when you've found somewhere a little dryer, eh?"

With the porters and anyone else that'll help, drag the raft and and canoes a good distance onto land. We don't know if the river is tidal or anything like that, so secure them (take 20) with rope - in the order of raft, my canoe, other canoes (I don't have unlimited rope). Chat with the various passengers whilst doing so and Diplomacy the porters.

"So, porters - please, tell me your names. I'm paying you by the day, but there's a few gold bonus in it when we get back safe and sound, right? How long have you been in Rivertown, and where was you both before?"

Approach the priest if she is not busy in preparation.

"Forgive me, Alanorwan - I don't know if the convention dictates that I should address you by a more formal name, or honorific? I was wondering if you could tell me - I don't plan on staying for the ritual tomorrow, for we depart for the lost explorers, but I wondered, how long will the ritual take? What does it entail? And I don't mean this disrespectfully in any way, but what are your expectations regarding what it may achieve? I also have a more mundane question regarding the river. Does its height change greatly with the tide?"

[Dwarmin]

"Eli, is there anything I can help with? If not, I'll be with the porters and the boats, and we'll move in when you've found somewhere a little dryer, eh?"

"Well, you might get in a word edgewise with our priestess friend." Eli responds. "Find out the specifics of this ritual she's supposed to do...if you'd like to do a little thing for me, maybe you could take one of my rod and reels and see what you can catch in the river. I'm sure you'd like to study them, but I'd want to know if the fish are edible around here.

Otherwise, just don't wander off and fall into a man eating plant. Again."

[lawastooshort]

"I've got my dagger with me this time, my friend - it'd be fine... I'll see what she says, anyway, and have a go at catching dinner too. I just want to look at this monkey before the light fades."

Addition to above actions of securing boat and talking: (assuming I secured a monkey corpse earlier as requested) dissect a monkey corpse and use a knowledge nature check to inspect its brain, to see if it is abnormal. Wondering if it was a superintelligent monkey or possessed or something. Do this away from the priestess and druids but explain my reasoning for "mutilating" the corpse if necessary - if it is a normal monkey, then it is clearly not at fault, and we should be forgiving in our approach if attacked in future, and should try to find and cure what ails them.

If I have enough time, fish. Use a Light spell on the float to attract fishies! If they don't bite, try to use Mage Hands to levitate a small one out of the water and into the pan so Eli can inspect its edibleness.

[Zako]

Rohan sees that they have arrived and grins.

"Ah, this must be the place alright! Let's set up camp quickly, while there is still light."

Help pull the raft and canoes out onto shore. Then make sure the priestess and the porters are fine and comfortable. Then go around the group checking for injuries/infections/diseases/whatever and treat them (take 10 on those with physical injuries and for serious cases take 20 after I have treated the others).

[Grek]

Wounds are bandaged, rafts and canoes are sturdily secured and the settling in begins:

Eli and Ashii locate a large tree about a dozen paces inland from Steffan's fishing spot. It is taller than most buildings with broad leaves larger than a man and tiny, sweetly scented orange fruits. The tree should keep the worst of any rain away. The only immediately obvious wildlife are the birds in the tree, eating the fruit. Obtaining fresh water that isn't from the river would require a more extensive search of the area. There is enough space for up to six people to camp here. ((Assuming Eli takes 10 on all survival checks and that Ashii used Aid Another.))

Alanorwan answers several questions:
The ritual to bless the area must be conducted on any three consecutive midnights. It is possible to wait the next midnight, but doing so means staying an extra day. The ritual itself involves her walking in wide circles while reciting prayers. Either she, or qualified volunteers will pour holy water from the barrel into the river. In addition to making the site suitable to construct a temple on, she hopes that the blessing will cleanse the river water flowing into Rivertown of disease. She is unsure whether the tides will reach this far upriver.

The porters are less forthcoming. They introduce themselves as Two-Dog and Horse, which you distantly recognize to be traditional Harshmire names. They both claim to have came across the sea for the initial settling of Rivertown, but are otherwise sparse on details. ((Sense Motive 1d20+4=22, Spot 1d20-1=11)) You can tell that they're being evasive about their past, but no immediately obvious reason for them to lie to you presents itself.

Fishing will occur during the next update.

[Dwarmin]

Eli returns, giving his findings to the rest.

"It's about as good a find as we could hope for-a spot under a fair large fruit tree. It's nice stable ground, dry and sheltered from the elements. I haven't tasted the fruit, but it's good enough for the birds, and it's quite fragrant. Such things are rarely harmful.

There's only about room for half of us comfortably there, however-which should be fine, since half of us will be leaving in the morning."

[Zako]

"Indeed. It will make a most suitable camping spot for now, and the rest of us can set up tents and shelter as needed." Rohan replies, rubbing his hands.

"I have a standard tent on my person, as it happens, and I can share it with another person if need be. Some help putting it up would be appreciated though."

Set up my tent near the tree camp. Let the others decide who get's to share it with me, and if they can't decide, then offer to share it with the priestess.