Quest #25 “The Final Demise Of Captain Stewart Bing”

[Karaunios]

Grimm "I know they're intelligent enough. I encountered them before. Actually I've prevented some of the indigenes from hunting them and told them they should start seeing them as allies, but I'm fed up with not being able to get anything out of this jungle. Every little step you give, there's twenty other things trying to trip you up and, what's worse, steal the little you've earned after so much toil!" His face even goes a bit red while saying this. "Ok, ok. Then throw in some silver and all will be happy."

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

"They aren't stealing anything." Dexter says as he waits for the Monkoons to respond to his offer. "They were attacking and killing the pirates before we were. We only finished this fight. They have a right to a share of this."

[Paladin]

Cealwyn Blackthorn

"Give us a break, lads," Cealwyn mutters. "We have the whole trip home to natter at each other. I'm sure they know what they want better than any of us, so give them a chance to make it clear and we'll see."

[Karaunios]

Grimm shrugs. "We'll see if our efforts and bleeding were for naught. I don't recall any of them saving our hides when we were fighting those pirates and killed them all ourselves. Besides, they're fighting for their survival and their territory, they already got their reward. We helped them getting it. And these, with the natives, instead of letting us have ours in exchange for the help we lend them, they squeeze us, as if we got a lot out of being nice. At least the natives saved the lives of some of us and took us in, but these fluffy toys? Don't remember them doing anything for us. We did it for them." The angry dwarf looks around and the surrounding Phanaton remind him of their situation. He sighs and seems to give up.

"But it's fine, it's fine. Let's see what they want, mayhap it isn't that much anyway."

I did some heavy editing here. Sorry if that caused any inconvenience.

[Urson]

Daisy
Daisy shoots a black scowl at Grimm. It's clear she's about two seconds from using her Mom Voice on him, but she visibly controls herself and remains quiet.
Sophie sleeps on, snoring softly.

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter remembers what his father said about arguing with idiots, and says no more. The fact that Grimm wasn't in the last fight in the village and got himself knocked out three minutes into this fight will make no difference, so he turns his attention fully to the Phanaton.

[OGRE MAGE]

Returning To Town
Starday, 20th of Goodmonth
Late Afternoon, Sunny, Hot, Humid, Buggy

Paul whispers back to Cealwyn. “The ones behind us, I think they’re mocking us. That formation is exactly how Bing and his men explored when they first came out this way. Perhaps these tree folk have been watching us all along. What if they think we are the pirates?”

The leader in front of Dexter watches him closely but keeps a few arm lengths in between them. He mimics the halflings actions, touching his ear and shrugging. He squeaks a bit more, but his noises remain incomprehensible.

Greedy Grimm suggests giving them a few weapons initially, but his namesake really shows when he starts to complain about how much they intend to take. Even after his friends warn him, the dwarf remains uncharacteristically uptight about dealing with these native creatures.

With Dexter’s attempts at communication not going very well yet, Marge steps up a little closer to Liam. “I thought some of you had magical means to speak with them? Aint that the case? Do you think they mean to harm us? They are kinda cute close up, but after that last attack on the beach, my girls is getting nervous and want to get back soon.” The large woman reaches into a pocket and pulls out some stale nuts. “Do you think they’re hungry?”

Actions?

If anyone wants to take a stab at dividing this up a little more evenly, please do. Otherwise I will step in.
(* = Magical)

Cealwyn/Paul
200sp
25gp gem
*One plain golden ring (?)

Darklin
1 fine pearl 100gp
Set of 8 fancy colored pencils 20gp
20 sheets parchment paper 5gp
5 sheets high quality parchment 5gp
6 vellum sheets 20gp
* Hand Ax

16 broken bolts
2 broken arrows
1 longbow (broken string)
A large wooden trunk

Dexter
Ornate locking chest w/ key 25gp

Daisy
*One small polished yellow stone (?)

Grimm
Assorted small gemstones 350gp

Keg

Liam

800sp
One gold tooth 5gp

These items will obviously have some minor value, but only to the right buyer:
14 suits of heavily worn leather armor
2 suits of heavily worn studded leather armor
7 longswords/leather sheath
3 shortswords/leather sheath
13 daggers/leather sheath
8 hand axes
12 badly worn crossbows
178 bolts
21 arrows
9 clubs
7 saps
2 spears

21 hammocks
6 badly soiled folding cots
13 days of iron rations
Assorted cooking utensils
6 wooden foot lockers w/ latches
Heaps of heavily soiled clothing

Darklin F/M 3/8 DM,CL,RM 1/1 first
Grimm F/T 5/8
Daisy C 9/9 0/3 first
Sophie (war badger) 6/6
Cealwyn R 5/14
Keg F 0/13 (Semi-conscious)
Dexter T 4/8
Liam Civ/F 3/6

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter makes a palm-forward "stay here" motion to the leader he is dealing with, and returns to the group. He pokes through the stuff, pulls out a good handful of silver pieces say 25 of them, 1 short sword, 3 daggers, 3 hand axes, and three days worth of iron rations. He wraps it in an old shirt and carries it back. He opens the shirt, indicates that it is all for the Phanaton. He makes an exaggerated, open-armed gesture that he feels states his incredible generosity.

[Karaunios]

Grimm mutters something like "Hm. That seems suitable enough."

I wasn't reading the thread while Grimm was unconscious, so I don't know if the Phanaton helped during the fight, what adds a dose of verisimilitude to his complaints

[Bluehorse]

Liam

He looked to Marge. The druids can speak with them... And the Panaton leader, Snarku, has a magical object that lets him communicate for a short time, but that is all. I do wish that Snarku were here though. It would certainly help.

[Paladin]

Cealwyn Blackthorn

The ranger sighs. "No man chooses a life in the wilds without expecting danger at every turn. But I admit, this journey begins to wear on me." He thinks ahead to finding a warm bed and a strong drink, smiling faintly at the thought of a bowl of stew. "I pray they don't mistake us for pirates. We look nothing like that lot, so perhaps they've paid attention well enough to know otherwise." He shrugs. "If not..." The man looks at Paul with a raised eyebrow. "Then we'll see. Perhaps they'll have the good sense to take a bit of loot and retire before blood is spilled. I may be banged up, but I'm not dead yet," he finishes quietly, his voice full of promise.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sorry folks, got lost in the waiting game again.

Returning To Town
Starday, 20th of Goodmonth
Late Afternoon, Sunny, Hot, Humid, Buggy

The phanaton happily take anything offered them, starting with the coins. They pass the silver amongst themselves, looking at it as if they’d never seen currency before, pointing out how flat the coins sides are to each other. Two members of the larger group take their coins and bound down to the waters edge, throwing them sideways into the calm sea and watching them skip across the top of the water several times. This appears to bring them great amusement.

The weapons are grabbed up as well, while the rations are looked through more out of curiosity then anything else. The daggers are quickly distributed to the three leaders, but the short sword and hand axes don’t seem to gather as much attention.

The leader straps his new dagger onto his leather harness before walking up real close to Dexter this time. He looks at the wagon, and then to his dagger before holding up all 4 of his furry fingers. He points to the dagger again and then back to his fingers, nodding his head and smiling.

Paul nods along with Cealwyn, but keeps his movements slow and unassuming. “Did Grimm say that the natives like to eat these things?” When Liam says the word Snarku to Marge, the closest phanaton clearly understand and take notice. The word is quickly whispered through their ranks and repeated many times over as the negotiations continue.

Actions?

If anyone wants to take a stab at dividing this up a little more evenly, please do. Otherwise I will step in.
(* = Magical)

Cealwyn/Paul
200sp
25gp gem
*One plain golden ring (?)

Darklin
1 fine pearl 100gp
Set of 8 fancy colored pencils 20gp
20 sheets parchment paper 5gp
5 sheets high quality parchment 5gp
6 vellum sheets 20gp
* Hand Ax

16 broken bolts
2 broken arrows
1 longbow (broken string)
A large wooden trunk

Dexter
Ornate locking chest w/ key 25gp

Daisy
*One small polished yellow stone (?)

Grimm
Assorted small gemstones 350gp

Keg

Liam

800sp
One gold tooth 5gp

These items will obviously have some minor value, but only to the right buyer:
14 suits of heavily worn leather armor
2 suits of heavily worn studded leather armor
7 longswords/leather sheath
2 shortswords/leather sheath
10 daggers/leather sheath
5 hand axes
12 badly worn crossbows
178 bolts
21 arrows
9 clubs
7 saps
2 spears

21 hammocks
6 badly soiled folding cots
10 days of iron rations
Assorted cooking utensils
6 wooden foot lockers w/ latches
Heaps of heavily soiled clothing

Darklin F/M 3/8 DM,CL,RM 1/1 first
Grimm F/T 5/8
Daisy C 9/9 0/3 first
Sophie (war badger) 6/6
Cealwyn R 5/14
Keg F 0/13 (Semi-conscious)
Dexter T 4/8
Liam Civ/F 3/6

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter feels the need to haggle in the spirit of good comradeship. He holds up two fingers and raises his eyebrows and smiles.

Just to keep things moving along, Dex is happy to settle on three more daggers.

And these guys are about the same height as Dexter, aren't they, or just a bit smaller?

[Urson]

Daisy
Daisy can't help but laugh when the silver is used for skipping stones. She scowls in fury at the reminder that the locals are reported to eat them.

[Paladin]

Cealwyn Blackthorn

The ranger chuckles at the game of skipping stones. "That's what I've heard," he says with a raised eyebrow. "But they seem far too intelligent to be hunted."

[Bluehorse]

Liam

Sees that he has caused a reaction with the Phanatons and looks about, trying to gauge if this is good or bad. The idea occurs to him that this might be some rival group since Phanaton Politics are completely unknown to him. Well, this might prove interesting...
Stay calm but alert.

[Karaunios]

Grimm suddenly chuckles, amused at what they're doing. "Well, what use are they gonna make of silver coins in the jungle? Not even the fact that they're shiny makes them want to keep them, strangely enough." He turns to Paul, also moving slowly, and without moving from his potition an inch and says almost as in a whisper."Yes, Paul. They natives eat them, apparently. Unfortunate, as these creatures are somewhat intelligent... It seems disgusting to me. We should try to convince them that they should see them as allies, and not as food. If only we could talk to these right now..."

[Darklin2]

Darklin

Watches as the local flying squirrels continue to negotiate with Dexter. He slides his cape over his throwing daggers and keeps them covered. Noting that the leader shows no interest in the swords.

[OGRE MAGE]

Returning To Town
Starday, 20th of Goodmonth
Late Afternoon, Sunny, Hot, Humid, Buggy

The lead phanaton shakes his head as a frustrated look crosses his fuzzy features. He begins screeching loudly to his people and the pair near the water immediately spring back into their ranks while the rear guard of 20 phanatons begins marching along both sides of the wagon train, essentially surrounding the party.

Once the party is nearly encircled by these 40 creatures, the leader looks back to the similarly sized halfling, staring intently into his face. He then points to his dagger and hold up 5 furry fingers this time.

Darklin hides his own daggers from the creatures with the fold of his cape(?). Paul just shakes his head at the thought of using such majestic creatures for food.

Actions?

If anyone wants to take a stab at dividing this up a little more evenly, please do. Otherwise I will step in.
(* = Magical)

Cealwyn/Paul
200sp
25gp gem
*One plain golden ring (?)

Darklin
1 fine pearl 100gp
Set of 8 fancy colored pencils 20gp
20 sheets parchment paper 5gp
5 sheets high quality parchment 5gp
6 vellum sheets 20gp
* Hand Ax

16 broken bolts
2 broken arrows
1 longbow (broken string)
A large wooden trunk

Dexter
Ornate locking chest w/ key 25gp

Daisy
*One small polished yellow stone (?)

Grimm
Assorted small gemstones 350gp

Keg

Liam

800sp
One gold tooth 5gp

These items will obviously have some minor value, but only to the right buyer:
14 suits of heavily worn leather armor
2 suits of heavily worn studded leather armor
7 longswords/leather sheath
2 shortswords/leather sheath
10 daggers/leather sheath
5 hand axes
12 badly worn crossbows
178 bolts
21 arrows
9 clubs
7 saps
2 spears

21 hammocks
6 badly soiled folding cots
10 days of iron rations
Assorted cooking utensils
6 wooden foot lockers w/ latches
Heaps of heavily soiled clothing

Darklin F/M 3/8 DM,CL,RM 1/1 first
Grimm F/T 5/8
Daisy C 9/9 0/3 first
Sophie (war badger) 6/6
Cealwyn R 5/14
Keg F 0/13 (Semi-conscious)
Dexter T 4/8
Liam Civ/F 3/6

[Urson]

Daisy

Daisy sighs and rolls her eyes. Somehow it always comes down to measuring penises! Just give him the daggers, for the love of hole and hearth!