Jay and Clovis grudgingly hand the wildling his coins; Asesh was a tad more rubbery than expected.
Gardner lands the Swoose atop the tower. As Jay and Clovis prepare to investigate the tower, Moira clears her throat and speaks up. “Gentlemen, the Guild and I cannot thank you enough for your rescue – I daresay the message I bear would have been lost with my life if it weren’t for your help. I will bury my crew, because whatever they may have become, they were good men while they lived.
“However, both you and I know that our goals are not on this island. I take it from my quick look around your ship that you are returning from Timber, probably to Shadowhaven? I left from there not two weeks past. We should still be nearby. However, I’m bound for Dragonspine, and already behind schedule. You can take me to Shadowhaven, and I can charter passage on the next vessel out; the guild will pay you some coins for your rescue, and may even let you keep the ship. Or, you can take me to Dragonspine and help me complete my mission, if Alpha wills it, on time. The courier guild will be much more pleased with those who help me on my way, in both words and coin, than those who merely return me to my starting point.
“With your leave, I’d ask your help collecting the others’ bodies from the tower, and let Blendin and I bury them in the field of flowers. It protected me for a time, maybe it will protect what’s left of them. Feel free to take that time to explore this ruin if you must; I’ll have no part of it. But I ask that, whether you want to ferry me on to Dragonspine or back to Shadowhaven, we make haste.”
She hops down onto the tower, and begins to drag Girg; by herself, its going to take awhile.
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"Thank you gentlemen."
ReplyDeleteBlendin scurries over and attempts to help.
"Captain, is there any chance we can get the bodies on the ship and then take a quick trip to the center of flowers? I don't think we're going to get all of these men to their final resting place any time soon by dragging or even carrying them there. You all can always sail back to this rock after you drop us off and we can meet back up with you here. And if you don't mind me saying so, I'd like to get Moira to her final destination."
Clovis looks thoughtful as Moira speaks. After Blendin's suggestion, he pipes up, "Well, how 'bout we load up the bodies and you guys can leave me and the big guy here to search the tower while you ferry them down and put them to rest. That'll save time, and the two of us can handle one or two pirates if there's any left.
ReplyDelete"As for getting her to Dragonspine...well, I'm sure Greenbottom will understand a little delay to help the Guild and all, but it seems to me we have two ships, here. If we could get the Grandee sailing, maybe we could do both at once."
With that, he dusts his palms, slings his reloaded musket, and starts helping with the bodies. Though stout, he doesn't seem much more help than either of the Wildlings for moving heavy objects.
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OOC: I'm not too sure about how viable splitting up would be, but it seems like a logical suggestion in-character.
Moira smiles in appreciation as you load the 3 former sailors aboard to join their two comrades. She washes the blood from her hands, and hears Clovis' suggestion. "I fear it unwise to part. I am no sailor, and our waysphere was lost in the crash. The Grandee is little good without one, although she should tow well enough. Now, shall we head down to the field?"
ReplyDeleteTooly washes his hands and unslings his musket. "If you're ready, big guy, we can go explore those nice, dark tunnels and get out of the damned Glow while the Wildlings bury the bodies. You may want a lantern."
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OOC: Tooly will explore the tower with an eye for salvage of any kind, assuming Jay is still coming.
We don't have our own Dragonspine sample, and the samples from the Grandee were unlabeled. We may end up going to Shadowhaven after all...
"I'd be inclined not to take chances on exploring the tower, but I won't stop you ... as long as we get a cut of the salvage."
ReplyDelete"Don't touch my plants or I'll slit your throat," Jay tells the wildlings as he disembarks the ship with Tooly.
ReplyDeleteThe dwarf gathers the lead sword and rib blade and any other salvage from the bodies in a small pile, then heads down the path that looks most likely to lead to an entrance. He seems happy to be headed into a stone building, but keeps his musket ready in both hands, having no need to carry a light.
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OOC: Some notice rolls if needed: 7, 10, 7, 5. Tooly will explore for the amount of time he thinks it will take them to fly down and bury the bodies (a couple hours, I guess).
Moira opens her satchel, and tosses a small leather bag on the deck of the ship. “’A courier’s destination is as valuable as her message,’” she quotes, “That earth is from the foreign quarter of Dragonspine; collected it myself. I’ll even let you keep some of it if you are willing to take me there. But not the whole bag – most of that’s mine.”
ReplyDeleteField of Flowers
The Swoose sets down easily enough in the center of the flowers (Boating = 7), and the two wildlings disembark with a pick and shovel to begin digging. The Grandee is still at its station, directly above some 150m up. The flower roots are surprisingly deep, but break easily under the weight of the shovel.
Gardner uses the net hoist to lift the bodies down. As soon as the net touches the flowers, a hissing noise can be heard, and the bodies within appear to be smoldering. Gardner raises the net quickly to avoid a fire, but upon inspection, the glowmad within are unmarked by scorches or burns, and the net appears undamaged.
Ruins
After entering through the side of the ruin, Clovis leads the way, his keen eyes well suited to the dark tunnel around him. The stonework is of reasonable quality, made with skilled hands. The tunnel itself appears to be sandstone, but has been lined with tiles of another softer stone, probably tufa. Most of these tiles have fallen and shattered, lining the steep stairs leading down with a thin layer of chalky dust. Those that remain have flecks of paint, but you cannot tell if it was a design, mural, or words that were once displayed. Jay has to light the lantern to be able to see after a few twists. There are holes for brackets, but whatever they held has long since rotted away.
After twisting down for some time, long enough you believe you are even with the ground or possibly even below the current surface, you enter a small square vaulted chamber. The ceiling is a man taller than Jay, and braced with stone arches meeting in a central peak. All four sides of the chamber had openings for stairways, but 2 of them appear collapsed. The one other than that you traveled goes up; presumably towards the other exterior opening you saw as you circled.
In the center of the room is an iron plinth, 10 feet to a side. It is hard to tell how thick it may be, as it is set into races along the floor, nearly flush. One side appears to be hinged, while the other has two heavy iron eyelets. There are matching eyelets in the ceiling above, and debris that appears to have been a windlass many ages ago in the corner.
The iron plinth is covered in writing you cannot read. Jay thinks the lettering looks draconic, but has never had much time for languages (Smarts rolls = 5 and 9 before mods, Clovis and Jay).
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Items Salvaged from Fights 2 and 3:
2 Bone throwing daggers
bone broadsword
rib blade
black-green chainmail
black-green metal hook
grey-green cloudy liquid
lead sword
wooden mallet
hide armor
Jay will claim the bone swords. The gold sword will go back into Gipper's pot, and he will wear the larger blades crossed on his back, and the rib blade on his side. He is quite pleased with the rib blade as a new possession as he can now go in-cog-neato as a pirate.
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"We gonna explore up that way first?" pointing to the other tunnel, "or pry that open and see what's inside?" pointing to the plinth.
If you're just using it decoratively can Gardner take the rib blade? Its one of the few weapons he can use with his low strength and is an upgrade over his bronze dagger.
ReplyDeleteClovis ponders the plinth, realizing he didn't bring even the new bronze crowbar down with him, and they'll likely need more hands and some rope to open the massive iron hatch. "Guess we'll check out the rest of the place and bring the rest of the crew down to pry that up. It won't take long to get back here now that we know the way."
ReplyDeleteWith that, the one-eyed dwarf leads off to explore the remainder of what he is sure now is some sort of citadel.
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OOC: Yeah, the rib blade seems more useful to Gardner. Jay will never pass as anything but an ex-Oakthorn, anyway. Though Jay or Gardner could probably claim the hook, since Blendin got the armor. It's probably enchanted. I'm surprised no one fought him for it.
As Clovis and Jay make their way up the other stairwell, they see a small side corridor, and decide to take a look around. They enter a series of rooms, each devoid of contents other than remains of wood and metal long decayed to dust. Some were likely for storage or sleeping quarters, one appears to be a small galley with a raised cookfire, and even what appears to be a small latrine.
ReplyDeleteFinally, they come across a room with that at first appears sparsely barred. However, it is in fact the braces from hinges for a door long rotted away. The hinges themselves appear undamaged and are probably made of brass. Although creaky with age, they are easily moved out of the way to enter the room beyond. Inside, they find a series of 3 ankle-high sandstone pillars along the far wall, near perfectly cylindrical, each with an eyelet mounted on top. Tooly is about to make a remark about rather uncomfortable seating when he notes 3 holes, each directly above each pillar, 4m above, and the pillars appear to be sitting in recessed holes, not a feature of the floor itself. The fit so snuggly into their recesses its impossible to tell how long each pillar is.
Tooly eyes the holes in the ceiling. "Looks like these pillars..." he kicks one for emphasis, "were lifted by a rope coming through those holes up there. Maybe we should check out the room above. We'll have some time yet. Though..." He tries lifting one of the pillars by the eyelet to see if it moves at all.
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OOC: Strength roll: 2. Assuming the pillar doesn't budge, Tooly will look for a way into the room above.
In that case, Jay will take the hook in lieu of the rib blade. Pirate no, rigger foreman yes.
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"What do you reckon that door's worth?" Jay asks, trying to find some value in their explorations so far...
Following the dwarf's lead, Jay also tugs on a pillar (Strength 4).
BTW, what's the diameter of the pillars, and the spacing between them? How much room between them and the wall?
Tooly shrugs, giving the pillars another kick. "Maybe a few cogs for the hinges. If we don't find anything downstairs, I may pry the hinges off. They're well-made, that's for certain, and this place has been a bust so far. The iron in that big hatch is worth a small fortune, but I don't know if we can get it out."
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OOC: Ha. I can just see Jay hooking some poor bastard and beating him to a pulp with his other hand. Blendin may not like it, but he gets that awesome armor, and Tooly has an idea for a melee weapon he might like better, anyway.
the pillars are about a meter in diameter, in a row about a meter from the far wall separated by about a handspan each. Neither of you can budge them. The hinges were concealed, and would require special tools to work on if you wanted to do something other than destroy them in the process. Moira’s lockpick kit may contain something like that. The holes lead into a small crawlspace a couple turns up the stairway, near the second entrance. From what you can see on the outside (best notice roll was a 15) the crawlspace opens into a flat room about half a meter tall, but much bigger than the room below. You see the 3 evenly spaced holes from the room with the pillars, as well as races in the floor leading to what appears to be 3 other holes leading down into another room. Based on your sense of direction, this appears to be over the center of the ruin.
ReplyDeleteBlendin and Moira have finished their digging, and have cleared a patch of flowers so that the net may be set down safely. Moira picks up a single flower, and finds that touching it to the bodies again emits smoke as if their was a fire, but when it is removed, there is no mark. She looks at you quizzically, and says, “well, should we bury them? Captain, do you know any words for a sailor’s burial, I’m afraid I’m at a loss?
"It doesn't appear to be hurting anything. I say we should still bury them here. Though if, while under ground they are still emitting smoke, we may want to bury them elsewhere. Otherwise, they'll be emitting quite the smoke signal." Blend says.
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While digging, Blendin is sure to fill a leather sack of his own with some of the dirt. He is sure to also place several flowers in the bag, and before he is done, Blendin considers replacing one of Jay's plants with some flowers, but thinks better of it and uses a flask and transplants a couple of the flowers.
"It's up to you, Moira. I don't what these flowers are. I've seen stranger things in the Skies but we can find an alternative if you wish."
ReplyDeleteWhen a decision has been made, Gardner will give a short prayer,
"Olic, Ship's Captain
Bryant, First Mate
Ceran, Able Airman
Brand, Able Airman
They sailed their course faithfully but for them there are no more winds.
Matriarch of the Becalmed we pray that you watch over the bodies of your former faithful, and that you give them rest and gentle breezes till the day when the Rotting One is defeated and their souls might fly away from the our Skies to a better place."
Tooly eyes the small crawlspace and shrugs. "That iron hatch is looking better and better. Guess we keep looking." He sets off to explore some more.
ReplyDeleteWith the funeral completed, and bodies safely buried, the Swoose returns to land (BR = 6) gently atop the ruin. Moira sits quietly by herself in the bow, by the opening to the sailcloth shield, her pistol on her hip and satchel on her shoulder. Blendin and Gardner secure the vessel just in time to see Jay and Clovis re-emerge from the ruins. Jay and Clovis discuss what they saw within, finding no additional chambers or passageways that are travelable.
ReplyDeleteMoira watches this discussion, but does not seem interested in entering it until she hears the dwarf suggest they try to open the iron hatch within the ruin. “I know I do not have a vote, gentlemen. I understand the desire for treasure better than most, but I must remind you that time is of the essence for my message.”
"We have a soil sample and could come back later to further explore the ruin."
ReplyDelete"I cast my vote with the captain." Blendin announces.
ReplyDeleteTooly sighs. "Guess it's waited a while already, can't hurt to go a few more weeks. The Old Gasbag has a full load anyway." He begins to clamber aboard. "Let's get the lady to Dragonspine, then."
ReplyDeletesounds like 3 votes for leaving. is that 3 votes for dragonspine, or do you guys want to drop her off at Shadowhaven?
ReplyDeleteI vote for Dragonspine.
ReplyDelete"I dread the thought of just dropping Moira off on Shadowhaven. I vote for Dragonspine." Blendin asserts.
ReplyDeleteTooly nods. "I said before, Greenbottom won't mind a little delay, and the Guild will likely reward us. Dragonspine, it is."
ReplyDeletegot word from Sam. He's for dragonspine, but out of internet contact. So, you're on your way there.
ReplyDeleteFirst, Rolls for glowmadness =
Tooly: 5 - success
Jay: 3 - failure (if you wanna use a benny you can, but it'll fix itself in 2 weeks if you stay out of the glow [by my rolls - you'll just be grumpier than usual in the interim].)
Cap'n: 7 - success
The trip to Dragonspine will take 10 weeks from your current position, but is modified by the captains boating roll of 20!? (after modifiers for towing the Grandee!!!) down to 5 weeks. You have, yet again, found a good airstream to follow, and are getting there about on schedule for Moira. Things will go well until arriving at Dragonspine (cue ominous music).
I'm going to need actions for the voyage, but will assume that Tooly is going to spend time trying to repair the Grandee, and Blendin thus will be largely on boat driving duty for the first little bit. Cap'n will drive while he's awake, and Jay will be confined to quarters until he's 'better', I imagine.
Moira has decided to keep her sleep cycle consistent with Tooly and Blendin, and will spend her time on top of the Grandee or on top of the envelope instead of inside. I will email each of you a quick blurb about what you've learned about Moira over the 5 weeks.
Tooly, with the Swoose's repair equipment and the spare rigging from the grandee you can get a small set of sails set up in a couple weeks. These will allow the grandee to move under its own power, but at half speed and a negative handling modifier. Moira will be "helping" with the heavy lifting when needed. You'll spend a fair amount of time in the glow, but I've already rolled your glowmadness and repair checks, and assuming you don't dilly dally, you'll be your usual dwarfy self.
Blendin had wanted to search the other crash for potential gear, and you located little that was useful since the ship was quite decrepit before it crashed. You did locate a single working cannon, made of wood and rope, that you've placed in the grandee. it's ammo appears to have been expended.
Please post or send any actions you wish to take beyond whats assumed, and I'll update with your arrival outside dragonspine this evening.
closing thread
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