Chapter 18: Where the Mighty Rivers Roam

[Darren]

Kal returns the slender wand to within the straps surrounding his right leg. Then he walks over to where Kurra and Brack can both hear him. "Our thanks go to you, Kurra. Your work is truly magnificent. Was there any damage to the Dragonfly?"

[Ken]

Belarin listens attentively as Kurra describes the proper use of the water jug, and then he accepts it and heads below.

He does his best to stay out of Streko's and Adamant's ways in the small cabin, but he doesn't stray far. He wants to be in sight of Histra when she recovers her senses.

[Dave W.]

Dec 17, 2019 16:05:43 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Whenever too many people gather close to Histra, though, she seizes up reflexively. Adamant suspects it's better if only he or Streko assess her, not both at the same time.

Either Adamant and Streko can make Medicine checks to assess her more completely, and to try and deduce any poison or disease. If Adamant merely wishes to help, he can stand back and advise, giving Streko advantage on his role.

"Good Streko, this is your expertise." He stands and moves back a bit to make sure Streko can get in to examine the woman.

---

Adamant will let Streko run with the Medicine check and be on hand to advise as suggested.

[Elvis]

Thul assess the items.

They don't seem to be a threatening them the ship at the moment.

He leaves it to the halfdrow to investigate.

With the others busy and tending to their wounds, or the oldwoman, he watches for danger.

[Brian]

With Histra resting, Melethos returns to the main deck. Kal is speaking with Captain Brack, while Kurra has returned to the braziers. Shorak has joined her. Thul remains vigilant.

Melethos approaches Shorak and Kurra, sees the weapon on the ground. Frowning, he peers closer, taking care not to touch it. A spear, silver and appearing well-made, but the blade has an odd zig-zag shape. He pauses to think, to try and remember if he has seen a weapon like that before, or even described to him.

_____________________________________________

Melethos will make an Intelligence (History) check to see if he's ever seen or heard of such a weapon.

Melethos:1D20+6 → 26(20 + 6)#Intelligence (History) Check

[Jeff]

Dec 17, 2019 16:21:51 GMT -4 Darren said:

"Was there any damage to the Dragonfly?"

Kurra doesn't even look as she responds. "It takes more than a fireball to harm this ship."

Calirataia climbs into view from the deck right in front of Kal. "It is inured to fire that comes and goes swiftly."

"Even the rigging is treated," Kurra says.

Melethos inspects the strange spear, and quickly realizes that yes, he has seen its like. The one he saw was more of a corkscrew design, and it was used by the leaders of the Ghash'kala. They always made good ambush weapons, these javelins of lightning. particularly when Carrion Tribe raiders ventured into the narrow passages of the Labyrinth. All one must do, Melethos knows, is discover the command word. Spoken when throwing the weapon, the javelin transforms into a bolt of lightning until it reaches its target, then remains in this form until used in the same way the next day.

Melethos's mentor never disclosed a name, but he knew that a druid of the Eldeen Reaches had supplied a store of these weapons to the Ghagh'kala as part of some trade arrangement.

Thul finds no threats, just an endless expanse of water and marsh. Always with jungle to the west, mountains beyond it, and a maze of distant fog and mirage-like patches of water in the east. But soon... "Captain!" Brack calls out to Thul. "Come, I need a second opinion." He holds out his spyglass. "To the east. Tell me what you see."

Below deck, Histra seems to be grasping reality again in short order.

"Bel-arin," she whispers. "Kill the...lights. I'm so....sick...of light." She continues to stare into space with her good eye. Her voice is so weak it's nearly gone. "How much...time...has passed?"

[Elvis]

Thul takes the spyglass.

"What am I looking for?"

[Joe]

Streko immediately follows behind Melethos as he carries the wounded Histra down below. He lays her down on her cot and quietly leaves.

"You are my charge now, Lady Histra, rest easy," he whispers. Streko begins studying the burns, the soft layer of almost translucent skin, even as Adamant steps close and sends Dol Arrah's healing energies into her. Her body reacts well, even as she obviously feels the pain of restoration, as muscles and nerves re-knit themselves.

"Thank you, my brother, for giving relief to our friend." He continues to examine Histra, ensuring his touch is both probative, yet gentle. He knows how badly burns can hurt and most of these injuries indeed show fire as the culprit. Then, there are other injuries, like the one to her eye. "Something hit her. Hard. She's lucky she didn't lose the eye itself, or at least her sight. He uses his Jorasco training, searching for ills that maybe have been caused by poison or disease inflicted upon her.

Finally, through the links of his chainmail and burned wreckage of his robes, a bright blueish flash of light erupts around the Halfling's heart. He sends the energy into Histra, healing power not associated with Olladra and her energy's orange glow, but from the dragonmark over Streko's chest. More healing energy flows into the terribly injured woman, bringing her closer to herself, alleviating more of her pains.

"Belarin," he says, looking at his friend, "would you bring me a healing kit please. When you do, I will need you to place the dressing over her injured eye. Cover it gently, but allow your body heat to flow into her while I secure the padding in place. Do as I say now, please," Streko says. His voice is commanding, yet equally empathetic. When he returns, he guides his friend correctly. "Your body shall assist in her physical healing, just as your presence will be required to help her mental and spiritual healing. Do you understand, my friend?"

The dragonmark pulses again, sending more healing energy through Streko and into Histra, this time near the eye injury itself, as if Streko were focusing the energy to that place.

"Bel-arin," she whispers. "Kill the...lights. I'm so....sick...of light." She continues to stare into space with her good eye. Her voice is so weak it's nearly gone. "How much...time...has passed?"

Streko glances at Belarin. "Be with her, give her some water. Adamant, I believe you know how to work Kurra's contraption, help him. Then, let her sleep. She needs rest more than anything else now."

He then looks at Histra. "You've survived a great ordeal. Now do as I say and rest. You will be back with us in no time if you do so."

He looks one final time at Belarin and mouths the word REST to him. BOTH OF YOU.

"I shall be up top, speaking with Kurra. I will return momentarily. For now, Adamant is more than capable of caring for you both."

With that, Streko goes back up to report on Histra's health to the others.
_______________________________________________________

Streko: 1D20+8 → 21(13 + 8)#medicine check for poison and disease
Streko: 2D6 → 5(4 +1)#dragonmark healing
Streko:1D6+4 → 9(5 + 4)#additional healer's kit restoration
Plus whatever Histra's hit dice total is, which is added on, for a total of an extra 14 hp + Histra's HD.

For the dragonmark, once per day, as an action, you can touch a creature and restore 2d6 hit points to it. Additionally, as an action, you can spend one use of a healer's kit to tend to a creature and restore 1d6+4 hit points to it, plus additional hit points equal to the creature's maximum number of hit dice. The creature can't benefit from your care again until she finishes a short rest or a long rest.

[Dave B.]

Shorak steps back to let Melethos, carrying Histra, Belarin, Adamant and Streko pass and head below. He relaxes a bit now that the worst seems to be over. He notices Thul looking at items that lie on the deck. As he walks over to take a better look, he says aloud. "Could these have been stored by the efreet?" The gold coffer grabs his attention more than the weapon. He squats down and examines it carefully.

Shorak checks for traps on the coffer. Perception check: 1d20+5=19.

[Ken]

"Thank you, Good Streko," says Belarin, giving the cleric an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder.

Dec 17, 2019 18:48:23 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Below deck, Histra seems to be grasping reality again in short order.

"Bel-arin," she whispers. "Kill the...lights. I'm so....sick...of light." She continues to stare into space with her good eye. Her voice is so weak it's nearly gone. "How much...time...has passed?"

He stands up and douses most of the light in the cabin, save for a single candle. He dabs a wet cloth against her dry lips. "Nearly two days, I think," he says. "At least... here. I don't know if time passes at the same rate where you were. I'm ... sorry I couldn't get to you earlier. We're safe now, and out of the cave finally. Rest. I'll stay with you."

He offers her some water, and then he treats the injury around her eye as best he can, following Streko's instructions.

[Jeff]

Dec 17, 2019 19:59:22 GMT -4 Elvis said:

Thul takes the spyglass.

"What am I looking for?"

"Just look."

When he roves the horizon with his eyes, Thul sees still more of the flood plain which seems to stretch into infinity; but, he supposes, such soggy lands are usually adjacent to great rivers, so that can't be too far from the river system Brack is searching for.

But...wait. He does see some sort of thin spire. No, a few of them. About ten. Made of rock or metal, he's not sure. And given the distance, he can't really determine how tall they are, rising up from the marsh. Maybe fifty feet, maybe two hundred. Definitely unusual. They look like tall artistic winding trees lacking branches or leaves.

Below deck:

Dec 17, 2019 20:46:45 GMT -4 Joe said:

"You are my charge now, Lady Histra, rest easy...." 

"You've survived a great ordeal..."

"I shall be up top, speaking with Kurra... For now, Adamant is more than capable of caring for you both."

Neither Belarin nor Adamant think Histra is registering too much of what he's saying. She seems to stay awake, as if to embrace unharried wakefulness, but Streko is confident she'll succumb to sleep soon. She cannot resist it. He suspects she's been awake since being sucked into the ereeti's brazier. 

The halfling and warforged speak briefly in private, both also confident that neither contagion nor poison troubles Histra. It is fire and physical trauma that has beleaguered the woman.

When Streko leaves, and only Belarin and Adamant remain, Histra tries to focus her eye on Belarin. "Has Jorasco...stopped...talking yet?" Then she shakes her head at Belarin's own words. Belarin feels like she's truly back now.

I'll come back to Shorak's findings soon.

[Elvis]

Thul shrugs. The spires hold no meaning to him.

"I see spires." He confirms. "Do they help with navigating?"

Thul uses the spyglass to scan the area around them, looking for trouble.

[Jeff]

Sem immediately perks up when Streko comes above deck. "How is she?"

Dec 18, 2019 9:44:24 GMT -4 Elvis said:

"I see spires." He confirms. "Do they help with navigating?"

"Aye, in a way. So you see 'em, too? I'm not just seein' things. How many exactly do you see?"

[Elvis]

Thul swings the spyglass back to the spires.

"Ten or so." he says

Thul also takes checks their alignment (if any) on the compass.

What time of day is it? Which direction is the ship moving in? etc..

[Jeff]

"Ten, right?" Brack startles Thul when he roars with a satisfaction that only a shifter can pull off. Everyone on deck hears him.

He takes the spyglass back, peers into it one more time, then nods. "Aye, that's how you scrape a troll's ass!" He laughs heartily, not caring if anyone's familiar with that expression. "What we're seein' are the Stinger Flutes."

Kurra's head comes up at this. "Really, Brack?"

The shifter nods and looks at Thul. "Oh, we're not going anywhere near 'em. They're home to some of the nastiest little fliers on Xen'drik. Think big wasps with metal stingers. Welts like grapefruit with every sting. Khyber, they're a goddamned nightmare. We'll stay well clear. But...I know where they are. I know where we are. Gather some folks." He starts to pull out and unravel is ratty map.


There's no compass as such on the ship that Thul knows of. Evidently traditional devices for determining the cardinal directions are extremely unreliable in Xen'drik. It's mid-afternoon now.

[Brian]

Hearing Brack shout with what sounds like happiness, Melethos moves to stand next to Brack. He signals for Kal and Shorak to join him.

"You have news, Captain?" Melethos says. "And please say it's good. We've had our fill of bad news for one year."

[Darren]

Seeing Captain Brack speaking with Captain Thul, Kalarian moves over to where they stand. "Is there news, Captain?" He looks out in the direction that Thul was looking, but is unable to see anything at this distance. "Now that Histra is back, we should continue to move with all possible haste..."

[Elvis]

Thul retrieves his spectacles and joins the shifter at the map.

[Jeff]

Dec 18, 2019 11:37:04 GMT -4 Brian said:

"You have news, Captain?" Melethos says. "And please say it's good. We've had our fill of bad news for one year."

"Well, this is the second positive development today, I'm thinking," Kurra says to no one.

"Aye, gather round," Brack calls.

When everyone has come up the sterncastle who is going to (Adamant and Belarin will have to be filled in later), Brack spreads his map down on the floorboards. He slides a finger from Stormreach to Last Chance, then down to where the cave and Traveler's Shortcut was. "Where we've gone." Then he lifts a long-nailed finger and makes an imagination circle amid a wide branch of the Hydra river system. "This is where we've come to. Somewhere around here—we should be reaching the river proper soon enough."

Grinning, he goes back to Stormreach and then lightly drags his finger along a wider route. "No short cut, we'd have gone that way. So...we've saved some weeks. A month or a great deal more, even."

The red marks show where the Dragonfly has gone and supposedly is now. The green is the long-way-around route Brack's talking about.

Sem pushes in close, eyes roving across the map, tapping lighting at the far end of the rivers where they touch the foot of the Fangs of Argarak. "As far as the water travel goes," he says, "that's just about half the distance. I daresay we may catch up or even pull ahead of some of the others now."

[Dave W.]

Dec 18, 2019 7:45:04 GMT -4 Jeff said:

The halfling and warforged speak briefly in private, both also confident that neither contagion nor poison troubles Histra. It is fire and physical trauma that has beleaguered the woman.

"Thank you Streko," Adamant says at the end of their consultation, "we are blessed to have you around."

When Streko leaves, and only Belarin and Adamant remain, Histra tries to focus her eye on Belarin. "Has Jorasco...stopped...talking yet?" Then she shakes her head at Belarin's own words. Belarin feels like she's truly back now.

Adamant touches Belarin's shoulder, "She will sleep soon. Sit with her and talk... softly... until she does. I will stand over there a bit..."

"It is a great relief."

Adamant moves a few paces away by the door. He remains watchful of Histra but will try to give the couple the illusion of privacy.

[Dave B.]

Shorak stands up to relay his findings about the coffer, when Kal waves him over with the others to look at the map and hear what Captain Brack has to say. He will wait until afterwards worry about the coffer. He walks over to look at the map and listen in.

[Jeff]

When Shorak studied the gold and black coffer, he saw nothing that suggests a trap, but one thing he did discover by very gentle inspection: it has a latch, no keyhole, but the latch was only liftable when his shadow was upon it. Even then, it barely moved. Yet when he turned too much light fell upon it, it wouldn't budge. He's fairly certain it should open quite easily when brought to a place of little or no light. Definitely magical.

Sorry for the delay on this, Dave. This week has been insane at work, and I only had time to get in the main exposition above.

[Elvis]

Thul studies the map closely. "Which path are we taking?" he asks.

[Ken]

Belarin nods at Adamant's comment and continues to sit by Histra's side, administering to her needs. Every now and then, he uses a minor spell to bring a refreshing, cool breeze through the humid air of the cabin.

[Brian]

Melethos grins when Captain Brack points out their position on the map. "That's good news, indeed. Though we'll now have to keep a watch both in front and behind for threats. Maybe it's time for another scrying, once Histra has recovered and Belarin has some time." He hesitates. "A moment."

As the others examine the map, Melethos retrieves the spear and return to the sterncastle. "I've seen something like this before. It's a lightning spear. If you know the command word, you can hurtle it while speaking the word, which transforms it into a lightning bolt. It only works once a day, but it's something special. By brethren in the Gaash'kala possessed a few." He looks around. "Any idea how we can discover the command word?"

[Darren]

"I'd bet Kurra can figure it out," Kal says, nodding at the artificer. "But maybe give her a minute. We've put a lot on her plate, lately."

Kal returns his attention to the map. "Meanwhile," he begins, "I may have something that can help. When I told you that I spoke with this Keeper of Secrets in the cave....? Well, I think she is real. And I think I can still talk to her." Kal looks a little uncertain. "Quite frankly, I'm not completely sure how it works, but I believe if I ask her questions, she will answer truthfully. Simple answers. Probably just yes or no. But...perhaps we can word our questions in a way that will let us know if we are ahead or behind, and where our destination should be?"

[Jeff]

Brack leans back. "Well, the professor..."

Sem takes over, after a brief shake of his head at what Kal was talking about. "Hold on a moment, Kal. Yes, Larest had suggested a course, and I think we should stick to it. Greater mysteries may lie ahead, but not yet. It was your intel, Captain," he says with a nod to Thul, "that Gerhest would appear somewhere 'within sight of the Iceflow Sea.' But the safest way to get past the Ash Cauldrons and the jungles—according to that giantess—was to make for a spot due west of Mel-Aqat. That's in the great desert, Menechtarun. So Larest's deal with Captain Bracken here was to take us far as he can in the rivers...."

Mention of the cloud giant—Queen Nephelee, Thul remembers her name better than he expected—also reminds him sharply of one particular moment in that floating castle. Which still seems strange to think back on. Like the most vivid dream he's ever had.

Sem taps on the map. "To take us somewhere around here (where the red line stops), and from there go on foot to that...portal or gate. Which, in turns, brings us right near Gerhest. More portal magic, I guess, but not planar. Not a manifest zone, unless I'm mistaken. I've studied the geography of this land for a long time, and that region of the desert has no such reports. That I've seen."

Attachments:

[Elvis]

Thul nods, remembering it vividly.

"I can't describe it, but when I see it, I'll recognize it."

[Jeff]

Histra mouths some things for a short while, a mixture of arcane words and thoughts out loud, maybe, but she eventually falls asleep. Belarin was told by Streko to rest, too, but he doesn't feel very sleepy now. Though the dark and quiet seems nice at the moment.

Adamant, meanwhile, hears Brack's shout from above—a merry sound that doesn't alarm him. He supposed some sort of positive news has occurred.

Calirataia appears in the galley, looking in towards the human and warforged. They don't see her in the hold too often; she is usually climbing around the exterior of the Dragonfly. "She is well?"

[Dave W.]

Dec 19, 2019 16:23:19 GMT -4 Jeff said:

Calirataia appears in the galley, looking in towards the human and warforged. They don't see her in the hold too often; she is usually climbing around the exterior of the Dragonfly. "She is well?"

"Physically, yes. And I can do more when she is awake... I would not disturb her sleep." Adamant says quietly. "These things can take a greater toll on one's spirit however. I think Belarin will offer the best help there."

"How are you doing?" He asks the warlock.