[PF] WTSfG: Plenty of Room for Little People (IC)

[ArcanistSupreme]

OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15912155#post15912155)|Campaign Wiki (http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/a-world-too-small-for-giants/wikis/main-page)


They Smell a Rat

The day after Giantfall begins in stark contrast to the day before. Where yesterday it seemed that the entire city of Arlago was awake and making preparations before sunrise, today is a day of recovery. The only ones out of bed are merchants hawking breakfast and remedies for hangovers. Even the city guards, renowned for their vigilance and efficiency, are sluggish today. Many of their uniforms are rumpled or missing pieces, and it is evident that some didn't sleep at all last night.

Firebright Lake laps gently at the docks while gulls drift lazily overhead. The decks of the ships are littered with empty drinking vessels and sailors that didn't quite make it back to their cabins belowdecks. In spite of the wharf being packed to the brim with cargo ships and passenger liners of every shape, size, and origin, the docks themselves are empty.

Well, almost empty.

Four small figures dash across the shore with mad giggles and squeals, with a growing number of guards hot on their heels. Eventually they are cornered, and they are led into the office of the Portmaster. The guards grip their captives rather harder than necessary, upset at being forced to start their morning chasing hooligans.

In his office, the Portmaster eyes the troublemakers with a grimace. He does nothing but glare at them for a long while. His grimace seems to be one of pain, as he is blinking furiously and his lip keeps twitching. Then he grunts and motions for one of the guards to draw the curtains, and without the sun blasting into the room, his harsh look relaxes somewhat.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" he asks. "Are you aware what the punishment for stowaways is? I'll have you know that-"

CRASH

A huge crunching, splintering noise is heard outside. The guards blink stupidly at one another for a moment, and then two of them rush outside to investigate. One of the guards makes to throw open the curtains, but a chorus of complaints from the remaining guards stop him, and he settles for peeking through a gap.

One of the men that ventured outside comes back inside, all traces of fatigue have vanished. "One of the ships, it's crashed!" he inhales deeply, trying to catch his breath. "We called out, but nobody on the ship is answering, and we think we saw bodies on the deck. Blood everywhere. It's awful. It's.." His voice trails off and he runs from the office. Sounds of retching drift in through the open door.

The portmaster fixes his eyes on the four captives. "Well, it appears we have a mystery. I don't like mysteries much." A malicious grin creeps onto his face. "It's lucky we have some volunteers to investigate, isn't it? Or would you all rather spend the next ten years in prison?"

[ObesiusMaximus]

When Nanya hears the sound of the ship crashing, she grows a smile.
My prayers were finally answered. All of her prayers before had gone unanswered and her most recent one was just general enough to work. "Please make bad things happen." At this rate she will develop complete control over her powers of causing bad things to happen.
Without saying anything, she dashes from the room to see the mayhem she has caused.
Becomes grappled :(

[ArcanistSupreme]

"And where do you think you're going, little one?" comes the gruff voice of the nearest guard as he makes to grab you in a bear hug.

Grapple check:
[roll0]

Successful Grapple:
The guard grabs hold of Nanaya and squeezes her arm firmly to prevent further attempts at escape.

Grapple Fail:
"Hey!" he shouts as Nanaya slips through his grasp and out the door.

[Loggie]

Boy fixes a stern glare at the guard holding Nanya, letting out a low, menacing growl.

STONE: Come on, now. Let's not do anything too rash. There's too many guards.

Boy lets out a defeated sigh.

STONE: If you were smart I would let her go. Boy here has a pretty nasty bite.

Boy exposes his teeth and gnashes them at the guard.

STONE: She was obviously just eager to volunteer, like the portmaster said. Besides, investigating sounds like a lot more fun than jail.

Boy tries really hard not to roll his eyes. While he needs the rock to make it easier to communicate, he hates how much of a sappy butt kisser it can be. Wiping the smirk off of the portmaster's face would be WAY more fun than some stupid boat. Everybody's dead over there anyway.

The italicized thoughts will probably be inner dialog between boy and the stone. And most of the outer dialog will be the stone translating boy's thoughts, I think.

[hymenatrix]

Breven comes up behind Nanya, grabs her shoulders, and whispers in her ear.

"Easy now, we don't want to reveal our motives just yet. I don't want you getting yourself captured, I may need you later. Don't let me down, young one."

[Slopabottomus]

Stumbling from a dark alley, smelling of barley and trash, Gilgrinash looks out to the sea. He wants to go back into the darkness, but feels as if he was drawn here. As he turns back, he hears a commotion. He quickly sobers up when he sees his friend Nanaya being taken by the guards. Unable to articulate words, he shouts gibberish, charging the guards. As he rushes towards his friend, he trips over a pothole and lands on his face.

[ArcanistSupreme]

The portmaster and guards stare at the halfling boy as he stumbles out from under the desk, unsure of how or when he got under it. They all jump when he yells and charges them, their hands flying to their weapons, but they laugh as he stumbles over a rug and falls to the floor. The portmaster turns his attention to the rest of the group. "Now that we've all had a moment to calm down, let's take a look at that ship, shall we?"

The four small captives are marched from the office to the dock. Nanya and Gilgranash are both held tightly to prevent escape, but the guards nearest Boy and Breven are content to watch the two closely. The man that had announced the crash and the bodies is leaning on the wall by the entrance, wiping his mouth and looking pale. He picks up his pike and makes a halfhearted effort to keep up as the group marches out onto the wharf.

It is immediately obvious which ship he was referring to. It has plowed headlong into the wooden structure of the docks, and momentum has carried the bow partially onto the land itself. Splintered planks are scattered everywhere. Many have pierced the ship at various points, and a gaping hole has been torn under the figurehead (which appears to have been a mermaid, but it's difficult to be certain as at least half of it is missing. It is difficult to tell where the dock ends and where the ship begins.

The hold is visible through the hole. The guard was partially correct; there is in fact blood everywhere, but the only evidence of bodies is a severed hand impaled on the jagged remnants of the hull. The portmaster is staying a good ten feet behind his men, and his skin has taken on a green hue that probably has very little to do with his hangover. After he has spent a moment staring at the wreckage, he instructs his men to set up a gangplank so that "the volunteers" can board the ship. They make several attempts to fix the ramp to its intended spot on the upper deck, they shrug and prop it up so that it leads directly into the hold.

Everyone now turns to face the captives. Some of the guards shift from foot to foot, unable to look directly at them. A few stare expectantly. The portmaster clears his throat.

"Well," he says with a feeble attempt at his trademark malicious grin, "what are you waiting for?"

[ObesiusMaximus]

Nanya sighs and heads up into the ship. She quickly scans the room looking for any signs of life or treasures of some sort.
Perception check [roll0]
Sees a shiny:
Nanya approaches the treasure and attempts to hide it into her backpack for a closer examination at a later time.
Nanya spots something living:
Nanya waits for her team to make it onto the ship before engaging.
There is nothing shiny or living in the room:
Nanya does nothing

[ArcanistSupreme]

As Nanya marches boldly into the bowels of the beached boat, she is greeted by a gruesome sight. Every surface seems at least partially marred with blood. The owner of the hand, or at least his (her?) skeleton, stripped of flesh and most of it's muscle and innards, is discovered pinned between the hull and a large crate. Other skeletons, similarly fleshless, lay about the hold, draped over crates and barrels. Some lay in awkward, unnatural positions, probably a result of the crash rather than whatever did that to them, although it's hard to be certain.

Once the shock of the scene is overcome, other details become apparent. While the hold is quite big, it only takes up the forward fourth of the ship. A doorway at the far end leads to a dark hallway, but it is partially blocked by the remains of the door caught in the caved-in door frame. A few lanterns are visible on the floor, extinguished, and slowly dripping oil. The main cargo, at least in this hold, seems to be textiles. Bolts of cloth are scattered about in the remnants of smashed containers. All of the cloth is speckled and soaked in crimson.

Then the eye is drawn to the cages. What at first seem to be more, smaller crates are lined with barred windows and bits of straw. And beneath the smell of gore, an undertone of animal waste is recognizable, acrid and persistent. Every single one of the cages that Nanya can see is empty. There are dozens of cages. Maybe hundreds.

[Slopabottomus]

Gilgrinash stumbles behind the others.The sight of the ship scares him, he knows that much and he doesn't want to board. He sees the blood and his hates it. He hates it as much as the sunlight against his face. He desperately wants a drink, but knows that he must wait. The anxiety is almost too much for him. He puts his thumb in his mouth and chews on it (a childhood tic). He waits patiently for Nanya to instruct him on what to do next.

[ObesiusMaximus]

Nanya quickly looks over the room before noticing her friends are not boarding. She turns around and yells "Come on up! There's basically nothing here"
Gilgrinash seems to be unaffected by her motivational speech.
"Gilrginash, there are plenty of cages up here. It should remind you of your childhood. There's nothing to be afraid of!"

[ObesiusMaximus]

IRL game day summary:
The party continued onto the ship, inspecting the cages along the way. Turns out they can make really neat hats! The party encountered some rats, which were inevitably beaten into submission and forced to join the party as Nanya's Army of Darkness. Continuing to explore, the party faced a small swarm of rats, and fended them off by essentially lighting a controlled fire on the boat (because how could that go wrong). Exploring towards the basement, the party discovered the ship was propelled by undead horses. The party then found this dead dude wearing robes and a giant rat (also part of the army of darkness). The party continued back up the ladders to the main hold and got stuck trying to open a door, before remembering they had grabbed the keyring off the dead guy.
-- Message me if I forgot anything --