Quest #15 "Taking Down Captain Bing"

[OGRE MAGE]

Leaving The Natives Camp
Moonday, The 8th of Goodmonth
Morning, Warm, Humid, Buggy

Chauncey is frustrated by the natives sudden change in attitude towards he and his group. As he walks away from the waterfall, he hears one last shot from the chief.

For Chauncey only:

“Bings lapdog mage acted the same way once we confronted him. As did......... I won’t utter the name. Be gone then....WIZARD!”

The mage finds his group by the trail, ready to depart, also sensing tension in the air from the natives. Luther questions the thief about his incident, but even he seems unsure what he did to deserve such treatment. The girl he offended is easily spotted among the natives, but she doesn’t come anywhere near to Lightfinger or his friends.

Lerrick heals Luther and Monocar, while Talaris helps out Chauncey with his final prayer. healed 3 As the group heads towards the trail, they get one final comment from the approaching native chief.

Again, Chauncey only:

”We genuinely appreciate your help with the pirates, but we can suffer no more dealings with the black majicks! As long as you are in league with evil, you are not welcome here!”

A few of the natives rush over to offer you herbs, fruit, seeds, and nuts for your long trip, supplementing your rations nicely. They bow and pat your arms in appreciation, clearly wishing things turned out differently. Sadly, no offerings are made to Lightfinger, and Luther doesn’t see his special lady friend anywhere.

The long trail looms ahead, your first stop lies just a few minutes to the south.

Actions?

I will take any final comments or actions before pushing this along to the next location.

Luther R3 20/26
Chauncey MU3 10/16 CL, DM, RM 2/2 first 1/1 second Comp Lang: 7
Monocar F3 21/31
Lerrick C1 8/8 1/3 first
Lightfinger T4 11/19
Alordan R3 10/18
Talaris C1 9/9 0/3 first

[Bluehorse]

Almost as an afterthought, Monocar looks around for whoever seems to be the lead warrior or worker. In lack of finding that he will find the chief. Monocar's friend. and he will hand over his wood axe which he sharpened one river Rock as a show of friendship.

[tkrexx]

Lightfinger finds the middle of the party. And stays there.

[kruk]

Lerrick moves to the front of the trail with the others, ready to move forward to put an end to the infamous Captain Bing.

[ChubbyPixie]

“They are not big fans of ‘Black Magic,’ it would seem - among other things...” says Chauncey with a meaningful look in the halfling’s direction. “Not even when it saves their lives and provides them their freedom. When my study has progressed even further than its current astonishing potential and I am able to effect a more two-sided communication, I shall perhaps return and attempt to convince the Chief of my good intentions. Until then... shall we go? I have research to conduct.”

[Urson]

Luther

It's interesting how many places feel that way about magic- especially considering how much it's used. Half the folks in my hometown would make signs against the Evil Eye when the local wizard walked past- and the worst thing she ever did was butcher a goat to scry the growing season's weather with the entrails.

Once the group is on the move, Luther takes his usual place in front. He carries his bow with an arrow nocked, just in case.

[ravenn4544]

Alordan gratefully thanks the natives for the food with a nod and a smile. He is ready to depart.

[kruk]

Once the group reaches the start of the trail Lerrick scampers up a nearby tall tree to get a peak at what lies ahead.

[OGRE MAGE]

Leaving The Natives Camp
Moonday, The 8th of Goodmonth
Mid Morning, Warm, Humid, Very Buggy

Monocar still feels a little weird about how this all played out, so he does what he thinks is right. He hands his prized wood ax over to one of the natives in the chiefs entourage. The chief nods his head in thanks for the gift, saying something to the man before he takes off back to the area where the last two items of treasure were piled. The man returns with the metal javelin and the short sword, handing them over to the massive human to return his fine gesture. Alordan also thanks the natives he made friends with, but he only gets a pat on the back. When he turns back to survey the camp one last time, he spots something odd. 2 natives carry a large bundle of the smelly herbs from the barn and toss it into the pool at the base of the massive waterfall.

Lerrick decides to put her new found bracers to good use, scaling up a tall tree easily and quickly, without incident. She looks over the topography of the area for a moments to get her bearings. The river is easy to spot, as is the first camp, but the thick foliage in the tree tops prevents her form seeing much farther than that. Once she descends again, she warns the others that she spotted movement in the first clearing with the drying barns, just a couple miles or so from this camp.

Chauncey tells the others what he learned from listening to the chief and his friends. With an obvious look towards the Halfling, he tells the others that Black Magic is what's causing the distrust. Ligtfinger ignores the look, finding a spot in the middle of the marching order and staying right there. The explanation seems to satisfy the others, so the saviors of the native people begin their long journey back to Beachtown.

After a few hours on the river trail again, the bugs accost them relentlessly. Some members start to wish they were still back in the cool cliff cave again.

Reaching the first camp without incident, the group smells smoke and hears commotion from the clearing up ahead. Their speech is rough and indecipherable. It doesn't take long to realize that there were a few natives left here, likely to guard the place.

Actions?

map link:
You are just north of the clearing marked storage huts
viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p336365

Luther R3 20/26
Chauncey MU3 10/16 CL, DM, RM 2/2 first 1/1 second
Monocar F3 21/31
Lerrick C1 8/8 1/3 first
Lightfinger T4 11/19
Alordan R3 10/18
Talaris C1 9/9 0/3 first

[tkrexx]

Lightfinger blends in.

Taking to the greenery, the Halfling tries to move ahead but keep unseen.

[ravenn4544]

Alordan asks "Why would they throw bushels of that plant into the water? Did anyone notice if anything was living in there? Was the pool connected to the cave at all where something could live?.... Let us approach carefully and maybe loudly so that we do not startle our new friends - assuming it's them of course"

[ChubbyPixie]

Alordan asks "Why would they throw bushels of that plant into the water? Did anyone notice if anything was living in there? Was the pool connected to the cave at all where something could live?.... Let us approach carefully and maybe loudly so that we do not startle our new friends - assuming it's them of course"

“I’ll leave the careful approach to you outdoorsy types,” replies Chauncey. “As for the scene at the waterfall,the Chief let it be known to me that the stone Lightfinger espied therein serves as some sort of altar upon which sacrifices are made. He asked, rather rudely, if I would like to be one such sacrifice. I declined.”

He will then crouch behind a shrub at the trail’s edge, utilising his vastly underestimated sneaking skills, and wait for the others to suss out the situation.

[Bluehorse]

Monocar[\b]


Smiles and tries his best to make his appreciation known before he turns to return to his friends.  When he hears about the alter and sacrifice he throws his hands up.  Wait!  Before we do something else we are going to regret, lets think about this... What if they like whatever is in there or worship it or something?  What if we upset them even more by attacking their god or something?  Lets just get home before we cause a war.  We have enough problems here already that we have to fix, don't we?

[Urson]

Luther

Luther stops when he hears the voices. When a loud, non-frightening approach is suggested, he nods. Seems like the smart choice.

He stows his bow and arrow, and approaches the clearing singing a chorus of "Eskimo Nell."

If anyone is curious- browse at your own risk, NSFW!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Eskimo_Nell

[kruk]

Lerrick grimaces at the sound of the singing Luther. She moves farther back in the marching order and hums a tune of her own.

[tkrexx]

Lightfinger likewise grimaces.

Trying to tone out the sound of Luther's orchestrated mayhem, the Thief makes his way close to Chauncey. My latest foible notwithstanding (And something I'd care to discuss with you at some point in the near future), I feel I must stress the Chief and his posse have mistakenly, very mistakenly, considered the flat stone in the waterfall as a sacrificial altar. The shape of the stone, I understand, could lead those of... Well, of a degree of education lesser than that shared by you and I to come to this conclusion, but did you get a good look at it? The position of every altar I have seen is squared at a right angle... This one seems haphazardly placed, almost as if it fell to its current position... Perhaps from above? From the top of the waterfall? Could something else be above?

[ChubbyPixie]

Lightfinger likewise grimaces.

Trying to tone out the sound of Luther's orchestrated mayhem, the Thief makes his way close to Chauncey. My latest foible notwithstanding (And something I'd care to discuss with you at some point in the near future), I feel I must stress the Chief and his posse have mistakenly, very mistakenly, considered the flat stone in the waterfall as a sacrificial altar. The shape of the stone, I understand, could lead those of... Well, of a degree of education lesser than that shared by you and I to come to this conclusion, but did you get a good look at it? The position of every altar I have seen is squared at a right angle... This one seems haphazardly placed, almost as if it fell to its current position... Perhaps from above? From the top of the waterfall? Could something else be above?

“I would indeed like to discuss the ‘goings on’ at the camp,” says Chauncey, “Certainly... nay, vitally before returning to the settlement. But perhaps now is not the best time. As for the stone, no, I did not get quite as detailed a look at it as you seem to have done. It does pique my interest. However, that is for another time. The stone is clearly sacred to them, regardless, and I have no desire at this time to turn the natives from ‘unfriendly’ to enemies.” In spite of his words, he looks thoughtful as he contemplates the possible significance of the halfling’s revelation.

[OGRE MAGE]

Leaving The Natives Camp
Moonday, The 8th of Goodmonth
Mid Morning, Warm, Humid, Very Buggy

Alordan wonders if there was a cave opening or something like it near the waterfall that is being discussed, thinking something might be living there. Why else would the natives be throwing dead bodies and other "offerings" in the pool? Unfortunately, a closer look was never offered, or taken.

Chauncey and Lightfinger discuss the meaning of the stone slab they both saw in the misty pool. The sharp eyed Halfling tells Chauncey that he believes the strange stone is not an altar at all, and that it may have fallen from above, landing haphazardly right where it now lays. Monocar suggests leaving the whole affair for the next visit, which seems to be the consensus of the rest of the party as well.

Moving ahead cautiously, listening to Luther's dirty ditty, the group and the natives spot one another. They motion for you to join them, waving you into their camp. As you approach, they point up into the trees and you spot another native perched on a high limb, acting as their lookout. It seems that they already knew you were coming.

The riverside camp looks much the same as it did the last time you were here. There are two large drying barns that appear to be emptied out now. There are also a few smaller huts scattered about the clearing. Luckily, there are no stoned yellow ogres to deal with this time.

The friendly natives offer you fresh fruit and water from the river once you get close enough, speaking to you in a language that you don't understand.

Actions?

map link:
viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p336365

Luther R3 20/26
Chauncey MU3 10/16 CL, DM, RM 2/2 first 1/1 second
Monocar F3 21/31
Lerrick C1 8/8 1/3 first
Lightfinger T4 11/19
Alordan R3 10/18
Talaris C1 9/9 0/3 first

[Bluehorse]

Monocar

Smiles happily as the friendly natives give them food and water again. He does what he can to communicate he wants to be friends, trading rations.

[tkrexx]

Lightfinger also smiles...

...But keeps silent and peers about for any who might be privy to his earlier shenanigans.