Strange Aeons 2: The Thrushmoor Terror [IC]

[Blackhawk101]

Brother Jaume pats his thread bare homespun robes.
“We left in such a rush we left all our belongings. Give your rope Dorn and my staff. I shall climb down and fetch our belongings.”
He speaks to the ferryman, “We shall pay you double to wait until we collect our gear.”

[digiman619]

Flair bit his lip, but said nothing, instead sending a tepe instead.

Spoiler: tepe

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Jaume, this is a bad idea. He let us go once. You are putting yourself entirely at his whim, without a group of four other people to back you up. If he decides you're better off as lunch than as a guest, he will kill you. Violently. And there will be nothing we can do to save you, because we're still completely tapped and wounded. Let's come back tomorrow and recover what he left. Don't throw your life away.

[bcool999]

Jens

Giving Flair an exasperated look, Jens will message the collective once more.

Spoiler: Collective

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The problem Flair is that we may be unable to even pay the fair to leave this place. I myself have nothing but the clothes on my back. Coming back tomorrow also would require funds we don’t have. Not to mention money to ensure we have a place to sleep tonight. Unless you want to sleep in an alleyway and wake up to yet another unexpected guest? I am tired of the world taking cheap shots at me. Of going against things that overwhelm me. I want, no, Need a win that is more substantial than murdering a woman in her alchemy lair.

[lostsole31]

Flair, who didn't have a pouch but just his boots where he kept his silver coins, pays Tolin.

Then, there are the words said by Brother Jaume, but mostly a whole lot of people looking intently at each other.

Dorn withholds his rope, and even Brother Jaume's staff, shaking his head slowly.

Meanwhile, Tolin says, "Hey, where is all your equipment and stuff? Can you pay, or am I asking Ms. Wrentz to just put this on your bill of expenses?"

[digiman619]

Flair shoots a look at Jens before looking at Jaume one last time.

Spoiler: tepe

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'Is your "win" worth Jaume's life? Because if the giant's still there when he goes back, he will die. The giant only let us go because we played along with its sick game and that with all five of us there, we weren't worth the trouble. Neither of those will apply now.' He paused, looking at Jaume. 'If you're going to do this, make me a promise. Approach as stealthfully as you can. If the giant's still in there, run on back and we'll put it on our tab. Don't be stupid."

[Blackhawk101]

Spoiler: BJ>>>Collective

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“If you all are OK with loosing the funds we received from the artist , the coins in the witch’s chest and all our meager belongings then we should go. The giant hasn’t left the cave, yet. There is no guarantee that the giant will remain with our things if we leave. I will pray to Erastil for aid and I will be basically at full strength. I think that it is worth the risk but I will concede to the group’s decision.”

[digiman619]

Flair motions to Tolin to stop. "Give us a minute." He then turned to the rest of the party, sending a mental message.

Spoiler: tepe

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"Jaume, you're still sick. Meani's still hurt. None of us have been able to recover our strength since last night. The giant let us go because we played along and that amused him. He won't be in such a good mood if we try to take our stuff back. Remember how he reacted when we told him how we killed the druid? 'To the victor goes the spoils'. Meekly coming back to get what we forgot won't fly with him.

Chances are good that he doesn't live here and will depart by day's end. If that's the case, he likely won't bother with the gold or our things; he 'doesn't care about that fancy stuff', after all. But if it does come to combat, we are defenseless. Better we go back into town and owe our employer a bit before coming back tomorrow, ready to strike.

Yes, this is disheartening and yes, it's possible that he decides to take our stuff and leave. But we are operating from a position of extreme weakness and our odds of success lay entirely at the giant's whim. We got lucky once. I am not willing to send Jaume off to his likely death on the off chance that the cannibal will decide to not eat the weakened, unarmed, lone man walking past him and taking his stuff back."

[silphael]

Spoiler: Collective

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"No. We aren't defenseless. For those of us that use armor, I can replace that, at least for today. If we take time to prepare our spells, what remains of our wounds is a non issue."

Looking at the ferryman, she asks :

"How long could you wait here ?"

[Blackhawk101]

Spoiler: BJ>>>Collective

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“Well that is three votes in favor and two dissenting. Look’s like we are going back in. Dorn my staff if you please.”

BJ looks to the ferryman.
“Will you wait a couple more hours for double? We were in such a hurry to meet you we left our belongings below. Some of us need to rest before attempting that climb again.”

[silphael]

Spoiler: Collective

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"No. For that we would need unanimity or a consensus. We wait another day."

[digiman619]

Flair walked closer to the boat, beckoning the others to follow him. He'd wait for Tolin's decision, but one way or the other, he was leaving this island.

Spoiler: tepe

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This is suicide, and I will not be party to it. Anyone who wants to live, come with me.

[Blackhawk101]

BJ shrugs and heads for the boat. He is used to being penniless after all. He smiles at Flair.

Spoiler: BJ>>>Collective

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“Flair, what do know of this giant that has you so sure that we could not face it? Have you fought its like before? I am just curious. I do not doubt you.”

[digiman619]

Flair teped to Jaume, and then to the rest of the party.

Spoiler: tepe

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"Their skin is as tough as plate mail. They can lift a literal ton over their head. They hit hard enough to kill an untrained man outright with a single blow, and can throw massive rocks at you from a furlough away."

He paused slightly before addressing the rest of the party. "And that makes 3 in favor of leaving. Unless you want to go down there yourself, Jens, we are getting on this boat and coming back in a day or two. Marsh giants are famous for not caring about loot. At worst he'll bury it and take something that looks magical, but seeing as we don't really have any of those, he won't care and will almost certainly head on off; this island is far too sandy for him to have a permanent dwelling here."

[bcool999]

Jens

Finally hearing the details of the beasts prowess, Jens is convinced that petty vengeance will not be theirs this day. He heads to the boat with a final message on the matter sent through the collective.

Spoiler: Collective

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Very well. Let us away. I was hoping that the creature’s strength could be overcome by our collective might and using the terrain to our advantage, but it seems I was mistaken. Let us go and report our minor success in killing a supposed witch.

[lostsole31]

Tolin, for his part, definitely would not have taken double. You are cutting into his fishing time, and "double" is a poor amount. In fact, it is already a poor investment, but he already committed to this.

The party gets into the boat, and begins their journey out. There is plenty of chop and the wind is bridling today, and anyone who thinks their PC might be prone to seasickness will feel that way. Brother Jaume, regardless of whether or not would normally have sea legs, definitely is counted among those.

Finally, Tolin will deliver the battered heroes to Thrushmoor.

[digiman619]

At some point during the trip back, Flair threw up, though he had intended to regardless. Now back in town and with the accursed meal no longer in his stomach, he turns back to the party.
"Okay. I think our first course of action is to head back to the inn and finish our daily preparations. Afterwards, we really should go back to Ms. Wrentz and report what we saw. We'll requisition some supplies and spending cash and begin preliminary investigations into this Melisenn person. Then in the morning, we hire another boat out there to recover our lost goods.

Any objections?"

[lostsole31]

Dorn shakes his head, going to his room that he shares with Brother Jaume to begin his preparations.
(Flair and Jens share a room, then Maeni has a room of her own.)

Everyone else? Be sure to tell me if you make changes to your normal lineup, please.

[bcool999]

Jens

Jens goes into meditation shortly after returning to the inn room. He switches his powers away from combat and closer to healing and sustaining the group.

Spoiler: OOC

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Switching my powers known for the day. Preparing Resist Toxin and Sustenance. To replace Collapse and Animal Affinity.

[Blackhawk101]

Brother Jaume will exercise and pray. There is no change to his spell list. He does ask Dorn for his staff back.

[digiman619]

When Flair enters his room, he lies on the bed for a few minutes, letting his recent setbacks. What he wouldn't give for a hot bath about now, but this inn didn't have anything nearly that fancy on tap. He then began the slow process of drawing out the sigils for the spirits he was to bind, he went over the events once more in his mind.

He'd warned Jaume to get out of the spore cloud, but he was too busy fighting the wolves until it was too late. Even if he'd ran in there to help, he wasn't going to be nearly as effective with fighting that thing and they risk losing two teammates.

He'd helped Jens save Jaume, but he'd had enough teammates die on him to find that option to be appealing. And there was no way to know they should get off island because the giant would be there in the morning.

He'd decided to stay for the evening, but getting Jaume up that cliff face would have been nigh impossible without additionally harming him. And again, there was no evidence to suggest that the giant would find them in the morning.

He'd agreed with the plan to just put up the slat rather than keep watch, but keeping watch wouldn't have stopped the giant from coming, and depending on exactly when he arrived, they would have had hours to try and flee from it and doubtless some of them would have died.

He'd decided to talk his way out from the giant's breakfast rather than run, but they'd had enough difficulty getting over it without an angry giant running them down. That and with both having injured and being caught with their metaphorical pants down there was no way they could take the giant in a fight.

He'd eaten the stew, but acting like a proper guest was his only way out of that cave. It was entirely possible that he'd only eaten the wolf meat (and that's what he intended to tell his employer), but he was pretty sure what it really was. He was also done with stews, but that was neither here nor there.

He'd left the breakfast without gathering his things, but frankly he was surprised that his plan had actually worked and didn't want to risk it. Likewise he'd refused to let Jaume back to retrieve their things, but he wasn't going to risk his life on a giant's whim.

Honestly, the only part of the whole mess he felt truly to blame for was the loss of material. But he would want to talk to Winter at some point to get a second opinion. as people are often wont to justify their actions to themselves. But back to the matter at hand. With the two seals finally drawn, he began the rituals proper. He chose Urbo and Milo, the prior as to patch up any wounded the still had without wasting spells, and the latter as they might need to do some investigation into their lost lead. The first one Flair summoned went perfectly, getting tis capstone without issue. The second one, the easier of the two, was bound fine, but the capstone eluded him. The implications of that bugged him slightly, but he pressed on, ready to meet with his teammates.

[lostsole31]

Everyone having finished their various prayers, meditations, studies, and combat drills, the group reconvenes together. Brother Jaume, having been given his staff well beforehand, enjoys the heft and comfort of the wood and the grain in his hands.

What now?

[silphael]

Once ready and gathered, Maeni asks :

"So. What lead can we still follow before going back to the cave ?"

[lostsole31]

"We have a name - Melisenn - but not the evidence," says Dorn. "Perhaps we should check in with Ms. Wrentz at the Sleepless before going off half-roostered."*

[EDITOR: * = Because even basic frackin' English is edited out. Le sigh.

[digiman619]

"That was the next stop I had in mind." Flair said, nodding. "Once we give her the details of what occurred, we'll need to restock supplies to make the return trip in a day or two. Hopefully our employer will forward us some funds to do so. If not, we spend the afternoon posing for Mr. Hasok. Preferably the former, because the latter will eat much of the day." He sighs, still feeling weary over the early day's endeavor. "Either way, I will definitely need a bath we're done, so if you'll excuse me, I will go set that up and be right back." He then turns to find talk Ms. Gallegos.

[lostsole31]

Flair can set up for a bath to be drawn that evening.

Flair returns to the group, then ostensibly goes to the Sleepless Detective Agency, where they are seen.

If Cesadia has any concern as to why the party didn't return to Thrushmoor last night, she doesn't say anything other than, "How is your investigation so far?"

[bcool999]

Jens

"Found a lead, lost evidence of said lead along with most of our worldly possessions, but we did manage to kill a woman who fits the description of a witch. Flair will probably explain it better." Jens says bitterly when asked how things were progressing.

[digiman619]

Flair said nothing about Jens' remark, focusing instead on delivering the facts. "We went to the island to investigate the claims of a witch, as instructed. We found what could best be described as a grotto tucked away at the base of the island where we were attacked by the local vegetation. We dealt with it easily enough, but then came face to face with a woman and her two fungal wolves. We tried to apprehend her, but she refused to talk, instead deciding to fight to the death. Her wolves released a giant spore cloud, both as an attack and to try and cover their mistress. They too fell, but not before their spores nearly clamed Jaume. Thankfully, Jens' quick medical response was enough to save his life, but Jaume was out of commission until he had a chance to heal naturally.

This led to the problem; to get out of the grotto would require either climbing up a steep cliff face or taking a less narrow path that reuqired quick footwork, neither of which Jaume was in a condition to do. After inspecting the cave to see that there were no hidden dangers, we decided it would be better to stay the night rather than risk smashing Jaume against the rocks trying to get him out of there. We stayed the evening, holing ourselves up in the woman's room with the slat that made up her door closed."

Flair sighed before continuing. "When we woke to the smell of stew cooking. Opening the 'door', we ran face to face with a Marsh Giant. They're nasty foes in a fight. But fighting wasn't even an option a that moment, as we were caught with our metaphorical pants down, not yet prepared to face the day. Running wasn't an option, either. The same cliff face that stopped us from leaving with Jaume yesterday made a quick getaway al but impossible, and even if we did, there was no way to know if the boat had arrived yet.

He knew we were there, having prepared us this stew for breakfast. I took a gamble and decided to play along with his offer of hospitality. He could have easily killed us in our sleep, after all, so he wanted something. Jaume and Dorn managed to talk their was into escaping the cave, which he then sealed us into. After a bit of mental conversation via Jens' collective, they decided to try and bust us free while we played guest. He gave us the stew. It was made of fresh meat and spices, though I made sure to only sip the broth." Flair paused for a second. "I am choosing to believe that the stew was made of the wolf meat, but we weren't able to determine for sure."

After a steadying breath, he continued. "Regardless, Jaume and Dorn were able to bust in and the giant decided that it had had its fun and let us go. In our haste to get out of there before the giant changed its mind, we left our supplies, both what we came to the island with and what we found there. Of course, that included a not insignificant amount of gold as well as evidence. But rather than risk the whim of the giant again, I had us pull back here. There was not unison in that decision."

"As for said evidence, it seems that this woman was an herbalist that was making all sorts of tinctures and poisons. She'd apparently been in contact with someone named Melisenn, who she'd been concocting something for, but the details were sketchy on what. But of curse, we were forced to abandon it. The island is far too sandy for the giant to have taken up residence in, but since Marsh giants don't really care about treasure for the most part, our lost goods should still be there should we return. Regardless, we need to replace what was lost, but we are now almost completely out of finds to do so, having been forced to leave them behind."

Flair sighs, clearly dreading what he's about to do. "So is there a way we could get an advance on our payment to get said supplies? Once we get readied enough to hire a boat for us to recover our stuff, we can pay you back if you'd prefer."

[lostsole31]

"Your advance is your living expenses .... and a recent additional bill sent by a fisherman for ferrier services," she says, finishing writing up a lot of her notes. "You have a name, but no evidence. That doesn't mean your investigation is stymied .... just the paper trail. I am to understand that you have a means to money if you spend the afternoon at the studio."

As if to cut off any "how did you..." she simply adds. "Thrushmoor is a small town."

[digiman619]

Flair nodded. "I figured that'd be the case, but between sitting in for the local art scene and restocking on supplies, that's going to eat up most of the day. But all things considered, it's probably not going to matter all too much in this investigation." Standing back to attention, he looked her in the eye. "Is there anything else you'd like us to look into? If not, we'd best get going to the studio."

[Blackhawk101]

Brother Jaume laughs boisterously, his stomach heaving as tears of mirth glitter in his black eyes.
“Ha Ha! Mother always said that I had a face that only an artist could love!”
He chuckles to himself for a time before a fit of coughing takes him.