# Lost: Savage Tide style.



## Arabesu (Aug 24, 2007)

Episode 1a

Yens Halfulfen, boson of the Sea Wyvern, coughed, heaved, and coughed again. Head-down, hands and knees in the sand he took a deep breath. A mistake. With one final cough he painfully expunged the last of the brine from his lungs, along with a very tiny fish. He watched this tiny fish for moment still dazed from nearly drowning. _Nearly drowning?_ It was an absurd thought really, for he was such a strong swimmer. Rolling over onto into a squat, he accepted it. _He had nearly drowned._ 

     He looked out at the remains of the Sea Wyvern reefed only a few hundred yards from the beach. The storm that had shattered the ship was even now dissipating off to the west. Still somewhat dazed he leaned onto the broken spar lying next to him. It must have been part of the mizzenmast, exploded by the first big bolt of lightning. It was still quite hot, and sizzled with every lap of the breakers. Its warmth was curiously comfortable, reassuring, and grounding. 

     The clouds were parting off to the east, and in the gap, he saw the half moon. A daytime moon was rare treat and a good tiding! Abruptly, he stood, and howled. It wasn’t a particularly good howl, his lungs had not yet fully recovered, but he made up for the lack of volume by emoting the heartbreak over the lost ship. The long forlorn cry, lilting over the beach and echoing off the woods, reassured him further. He had work to do.

     Suddenly, he noticed a body floating slowly toward him. He focused his vision and knew it was Captain Amella. Something was amiss: she floated too much out of the water. Then she rose out of the water altogether as the warforged blacksmith Klem came stomping out. With her form suspended over his head, he made for shore. Yens helped her to the ground, while Klem watched on silently. Yens, looked up at the living construct, “You did well Klem. Its good to see you hale and healthy.” His reply was only, “As for Klem, it is good to see you alive, Mister Yens.” 

     Amella was barely breathing. Yens had no skill at a surgery. Where was Kira? As if on cue, a massive eagle, weighing as much as grown man, swooped in toward the three castaways. Yards above the ground it began to transform into the Sea Wyvern’s other shifter, Kira. He landed mid-stride to a jog and had a wand and a poultice readied before his second step. Stoically crouching down over Amella’s still form, he said, “Cyrus is a few hundred yards from us clinging to some flotsom. I spotted him during my descent. I will be busy here, you must retrieve him.”

     Yens turned on a heel and launched himself into the water. It grated on his nerves that Kira ordered him around as much as he did. And there was that other thing: Kira’s folk, the dreamsighted, had always made Yen’s a bit uneasy. Aloof they were, aloof and cold, and wise. So terribly and frighteningly wise. Yens had little use for wisdom relying more on his bold and impetuous enthusiasm. His folk, the longstrider shifters, had always relied on constant motion to preserve them, _if you can move you are still alive…_

     The water was too cold. In all likelihood he would drown. There again was that haste that differentiated him so from Kira. He had rushed out into the water without thinking, without considering if he was outfitted properly. Just as he thought his arms would give, he reached the fragment of the topgallant that the Azurian Cyrus Morgrave was clinging to. Yens rested, a foot away from his semi-conscious friend. “Cyrus, wake up. Cyrus. Cyrus.” Not wanting to release his handholds, he head-butted Cyrus smartly. 

     Instantly the “good-incarnate” was fully awake, “For all that is holy, what was that for?” 

     “Kira needs us back on shore. If your quite finished with your nap do you think we could retire to the beach?” was Yens’ reply.

     “Or course,” and with that Cyrus stood up out of the swell, and running upon the surface of water sprinted for shore.

     “Oh don’t mind me! Can I at least get a tow?” Called out Yens. But Cyrus was already out of earshot, his cerulean sandals glowing brilliantly as he hurdled each breaker.

     “That’s a hero for you,” came a voice behind Yens’ head. Turning suddenly and almost losing his purchase, Yens shouted, “Tsuan, you are alive. I had expected you to be onshore by now.”

     The aventi Wu-Jen grinned back at him. “Nope. I had to take the helm when Amella was thrown clear. So I suppose you could say I went down with the ship.” 

     Yens was quite jealous of Tsuan’s recently acquired proficiency with boat piloting. Yens, a veteran sailor, was half the pilot of Tsuan-Tse. The water-mage’s innate genius and water affinity had allowed him to learn nautical tasks ten times as fast as lesser men. The frail aquan knew of Yens’ mild jealousy, and since they were friends, changed the subject by gulping down a mouthful of seawater as enthusiastically as a sailor drinks rum. “Tastes pretty good here: rich in strontium. Too bad about the Wyvern.”

     “Indeed,” added Yens, “how long do you reckon it’ll take to get her up and going, Quartermaster Tse?”

     Tsuan paused, tried to lighten his tone, but he couldn’t bring himself to jest about the destroyed ship. So he replied smoothly, “Yens, I don’t know that it will ever sail again.” With that they were quiet for a long while. 

     The water seemed like it was warming. Either that or Yens had recovered some of his vigor. Feeling better, he started paddling his makeshift life preserver toward shore. “Race?” asked the aventi treading next to him.

     “Not on your life. You live in the element. How am I supposed to out swim a fish?”

     “I’ll use only one arm.”

     “Yes, but I can only kick, otherwise I’ll sink. I’m tired, Tsuan.”

     “Oh, don’t be such a child. Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of fearsome pirate or some such?” jabbed Tsuan. “How about we make the race go all the way to the edge of the jungle to make it more fair?”

     They continued paddling to shore slowly. Yens grinned. He tried to pick up the pace at first hoping that Tsuan wouldn’t notice and maybe he could get a head start. Tsuan noticed, and matched him nonchalantly, effortlessly. Then Yens let go of his raft and they swam. Tsuan kept his word: he only used one arm. He still kept ahead of Yens; Yens really was exhausted. They heard chants from shore. There were several more survivors there now: the naturalist Urol Forol, Tavey Nansk the cabin boy, and that foul nobleman, Avner Marivanchy, and his horse. _His horse!_ How had the animal survived?

     Those on shore chanted as Yens and Tsuan-Tse raced toward them. Apparently Tavey had found the ship’s spyglass, guessed their task, and goaded the rest into cheering them on. Sportingly, they were evenly favoring Yens and Tsuan. Avner stood causally by and scowled, now mounted upon his horse.

     When they reached the beach, Tsuan was only about ten yards or so ahead of Yens; they sprinted for the tree line up the loose sand. Yens knew then that he had already won. In the water, Tsuan had the advantage, but on land over uneven terrain…

     Thud. 

     Dazed, Yens looked around. He had run right into Avener’s mount, because the noble had interposed himself between Yens and the forest. 

     “Flush it to the bottom, Avner… What is the meaning of this? .... We were in the middle of a race…” Shouted Yens, up at Avner between gasps for breath.

     “Enough folly,” coldly replied the aristocrat. “Fetch water for Thunderstrike. He is thirsty.”

     “What? You self important jackass, you don’t get it. I may be the boson and thus not technically an officer, but have you paid attention? The men call me sir. No one but the captain can order me around. And certainly not some… colonist.” Rebutted Yens acidly. 

     He knew why Avner and himself never got along. When they had set out from Sasserine, Yens had taken the second best cabin on the ship. This space had originally been earmarked for special guests, but everyone knew from the moment that Avner rode, not walked, _rode onto the ship,_ that he was going to be a pain in the aft. So Yens had decided to have a little fun at his expense. With a few silvered words and some eloquent arguments, he was able to convince the rest of his adventuring group and Captain Amella that Cyrus and himself should take the port cabin. This was particularly clever since Cyrus had a ring that allowed him to operate without sleep. Thus Yens had one of the finest spaces virtually all to himself while Avner, noble born and rich, had to sleep before the mast in common quarters with all the other colonists and sailors.

     “You forget that my Uncle sponsored this voyage and we are no longer on the Wyvern, Mr. Halfulfen. As such I feel no compunction to obey the conventions of nautical travel. You are a base born and low…”

     “ROAAAR,” Avner’s soliloquy was thankfully broken short as the Jungle parted to reveal a Huge creature pushing aside the thick palms as if they were toothpicks.

     “ROAAR” Its jaws were massive, with teeth like swords. It stood taller than the Wyvern’s mast on two stout legs and swung its thick tail about clearing an area of trees as wide as a farmhouse.

     The naturalist Urol shouted, “It’s a Tyranosaurus Rex!” His excitement upon seeing a dinosaur for the first time suppressed by abject terror. “It’ll kill us all!”

     Indeed, the creature had interposed itself between Tsuan and the rest of the group, obviously intent on having the isolated water-mage as its lunch.

     Yens wove past Thunderstrike to intercept the beast. He reached down to draw his rapier… but it was gone from its scabbard.

     “Sir” shouted Tavey from behind him.

     Yens turned just in time to catch the hilt of his weapon as it flew at him. _Good boy, Tavey_: The cabin boy must have recovered the magical rapier around the same time as the spyglass.

     As Yens ducked under the dinosaur it snapped at him barely missing. The sharp crunch of the bite resonated thunderously near Yen’s skull. Turning to jab up at the dinosaur’s hip he became aware of the ineffectiveness of his strike. A similar stab would have easily skewered a man, but against the dinosaur it looked like little more than a pinprick.

     Then he noticed a recovered Amella approaching. As the dinosaur swung toward Yens, she plunged her rapier in its neck just as a panther, the druid in his predator form, bit into its heel. Now noticeably injured, it took a step back to assess its three opponents. 

     A stream of superheated steam burned its belly while a globule of acid covered its eyes. The t-rex howled in pain. Cyrus pumped his hand in the air in jubilation; he had had trepidation at throwing the acid into the melee, but he new now that the monster was so seriously injured that it had been worth it. The water mage, on the other hand, had wasted no time on celebration, deciding to place as much distance between himself and the monster as his shaky land-legs would permit after having burnt it with his steam.

     As abruptly as it had arrived, the mammoth creature fled into the forest. Yens and Amella took parting stabs with their weapons, but it was still too tough to take down with two mere inches of steel. After a moment they could hear their panting over its fleeing steps and after several seconds more there was only the lapping of the waves and the stunned silence of the nearby colonists.


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## carborundum (Aug 24, 2007)

Nice one! Nicely written, great 'colloquialisms', interesting characters - and a T-Rex. Subscribing now 

PS: I really like "flush it to the bottom" - is that a real one?


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## el-remmen (Aug 24, 2007)

Great stuff!  I am immediately hooked!

If it were not that I am running parts of STAP in my "_Second Son of a Second Son_" campaign I would recommend it to my players!


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## Arabesu (Aug 24, 2007)

Some of the "colloquialisms" have come from other sessions; I think that "flush it" came before this one back when we were first taking the Wyvern. I also took a few liberties with regard to the story here and there to catch everyone up to speed. For example, there wasn't a race just before this encounter, but it is something that Yens would be into and would probably do to show off at some other point. However, there was a very heated argument between all of the PCs and Avner, which I abrieviated because it would have been boring. These changes are mainly to give you a feel for what the characters are all about in the course of a single brief post. Subsequent posts will probably be more "true to the quotes" particularly when we get closer to the present. "Pain in the aft" has been said many times with regard to Avner.

We're well into this campaign arc and I didn't want to start at the very beginning because quite frankly I wasn't even sure Yens would make it throught that first encounter with that bug with the pedipalps so I didn't take very good notes back then. The STAP has been fairly brutal and we have been blessed with only one PC death so far although many close ones, in particular the fight with the lemorian Golem where  every character but the druid was in the negatives and dying at the end. We are also a very small party of four plus a few NPCs so that has been fairly exciting.

To keep to the "Lost" theme, I plan on recapping some of the earlier encounters of the STAP as flashbacks; I think I have a recap of the first PC death wrapped up in the next installment.


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## Arabesu (Aug 24, 2007)

Oh and I remember Avner saying exactly: “Fetch water for Thunderstrike. He is thirsty.”

That cracked us up and made us mad at the same time. Its always great to have some wanker hanging on who you can make fun of from time to time.


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## Arabesu (Aug 30, 2007)

*Episode 1b*

Yens stirred the coals. The group had camped on the beach to recover from the various injuries acquired when they were shipwrecked. As per the norm, Yens had taken a watch near twilight when his night vision was at its most acute. Now several hours into the dogwatch, he was getting bored and his thoughts had grown dark.

He recalled the first ship he had served upon as a youngster: The liberator. He remembered the day that the stout House Lyrander vessel was taken and her mostly half-elven crew slaughtered by Reaver marauders from “Le Sanguin Enfant.” The tall and lanky Yens had only survived the attack by sneaking aboard their foul red craft and stowing away until they reached Reaver Island. Once there he hid and later was able to integrate himself into the chaos and pose as a Reaver in the hope of boarding a ship bound for civilized territories. 

For two and half years he perpetrated the disguise, stoically witnessing horrible atrocities while deep inside he was losing himself to madness. Just before he lost himself completely he was rescued by an overmatched Lyrander ship in an escapade for which he had become famous: “Yen’s Maneuver.” Over time, he has returned to his former personality and outlook and yet there are moments when he would brood and consider his past and the cold darkness within.​
He forced himself away from the dark thoughts of the past to concentrate on the dark thoughts of the present. The Sea Wyvern had left Sasserine with a complement of twenty-four. The ship had been part of a convoy intended to deliver Yens’ patron, Levinia Vanderborne, and several passengers to Farshore, a colony on the far side of the Isle of Dread. The Wyvern had been separated and rejoined to Levinia’s vessel, the Blue Nixie, several times during the trip, but in the storm the had struck down the Wyvern they had been separated for what Yens perceived as the last time.

Although the complement of the Wyvern was mostly travelers bound for the burgeoning colony, a few had skill with a sword or bow. The gifted artist and archer Skald had valiantly perished in the fight with the flotsom ooze. The rake Lirith Veldirose and the cook Yurianna Fens had died when the Wyvern was surprised by the nine headed cryohydra at the mouth of the Aticula River while they resupplied. 

Yens had not known either Lirith or Yurianna, but he had gotten to know Skald, who had struck him as an odd and curious chap, part fey, with no one on the ship giving him much heed or notice as his temperament and personality was so unnerving. That is until he drew that splendid representation of the wyverns that had followed the ship for a league or two soon after they had set out. 

The remaining eight passengers and the three mercenaries brought over from their earlier ship, Fen’s Revenge, had all died during the crash. Yens had been surprised when he learned about this a few hours after the dinosaur attack. _I guess I thought there would be more survivors._

So in all, only nine of the original twenty-four had made it to the Isle of Dread, and according to Urol they now had to cross an island full of terrible monsters to get to Farshore. _None of them will survive_ he thought as he looked about at the ragtag group sleeping around him.

A shadow passed near the camp, but he took no notice, lost in his thoughts.

“Its time” said the Klem who was sitting opposite him at the fire.

“Sure. I’ll wake him.”

Yens woke Cyrus. The azurian needed only a few hours sleep a night, so he typically took the remaining watches along with Klem who needed no sleep. As Yens slipped into his bedroll, he thought he heard a twig snap, but again, paid it no head.

His dreams were surprising pleasant. He dreamed of the escape from Le Sanguin Enfant. He had been forced to man the rotting and filthy crow’s nest. The other Reavers had begun to suspect his less than genuine participation in their ways. He was too sane, too careful, and overcompensated with a feigned ferocity in battle: he slew his opponents too quickly and he didn’t savor his kills. Of course, he was aware of their suspicions and had taken to tasks where he could be alone and would be remote from those who suspected. From his rickety perch, he saw the approach of Lyrander warship; he nearly called out in foul Reaver pigeon to alert his “mates,” but checked himself at the last second.

_Now is the opportunity for which I have been waiting._ With makeshift signal flags he was able to discreetly signal the approaching vessel, now plainly id’ed as the “Solar Surprise.” In the semaphore of the Lyrander fleet he communicated: _Reavers. I ally. Ready hands on deck. _

At the last minute, just before those on deck would notice anyway, he announced the approach of the Surprise. As the Reavers squabbled, flew into frenzied action, and prepared to set Hell loose, Yens secretly cut four secure cables from the supports for the foresail and topsail. 

Then as the two vessels neared, he carefully walked the three-inch wide topspar in the direction opposite of the Surprise, to get to a spot where he could gain momentum. Just as the Surprise and Enfant were positioning for a broadside, Yens leapt out over the element. With a jerk, he swung down through the throng of Reavers on his bundle of cable, careful not to get snagged or hung up as he passed through. He had guessed the length of the slack coiled around him just right, so that as he twisted in midair he unwound himself and landed with a thud on the deck of the Surprise.

Kaboom! Came the blast as the two ships’ heavy bombards traded splinters.

With his desperate hands tightly hanging onto his cables he was dragged painfully across the Surprise’s deck as the ships continued their slow relative course. Suddenly, he felt his cordage slacken. His heart sank as he thought he was cut free and that his plan would fail. Then he was next to Erus Lyrander, who had sailed with him briefly on the Liberator before being transferred to another ship.

The half-elf sailor had noticed Yens’ signals but knew not what to make of it. However, when he saw Yens land on the Surprise he new plainly enough what Yens was up to. Before Yens could be dragged to the Devil, he had grabbed hold of Yens’ bundle, calling to the ten other sailors on deck to get hold and heave. Then they began to pay the lines into the huge blocks on the larboard side…

Before she could fire another set of broadsides, Le Sanguine Enfant was heeling over so dramatically that the gunners could only shoot right into the deep blue sea. In short order, the Surprise had the deck of the Reaver vessel cleared of personnel with grapeshot bombard and ballista. After boarding, the marines only took two more minutes to dispatch the rest of Reavers, who of course fought to the bitter end. During the rest of the battle, Yens, under the cautious swordpoint of two Lyrander guards, sat grinning from ear to ear. As far as he was concerned he had done it; by his actions he had brought down the fearsome and terrible Le Sanguin Enfant… _and it had only taken him three years._​
Suddenly, he was awake. Falling, he landed with a thud and a roll. Instantly he transformed his countenance. His face took on a lupine appearance and his legs seemed to extend a few inches. Using what little momentum he had left from his fall, he rolled to his feet and drew a knife.

Three large carnivorous birds had waded into camp. Klem was pounding at one with his hammer while he held Cyrus up with one arm. The azurian was flailing about with his good arm trying to contact the bird with his electrified touch, his other arm hung limply, nearly severed at the shoulder. 

“Terror Birds… Uh…” moaned a delirious Urol, fastly held in the jaws of the central bird. The third bird, the one that had thrown him from his bedroll, was being harassed by Kira in predator form and Amella with her rapier. 

Then Yens saw _a ghost. _

She had crept out of the undergrowth and snuck up behind the lead bird to stab it with her rapier. It died instantly and Urol rolled free. The other two birds wasted no time, with their flock leader dead, they fled into the forest with all the haste of predator turned prey.

Yens stood there with his mouth hung open. Cyrus sidled up to him as they watched Rowyn Kelani clean and sheath her rapier. 

“But we killed her, didn’t we?” the Good Incarnate asked.


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## el-remmen (Nov 12, 2007)

Hey, you ever gonna update this again?  

I really liked it, and even pimped it on the Pimp a New Story Hour Thread!


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## Arabesu (Nov 14, 2007)

Thank you El-Remmen for the kind words. 

I'm just having trouble finding the time to write much lately, with trying to chase after my toddler and keep up with work.

Since I now know that at least a few people liked this, I'll try to pick it back up in the next few days...


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## Mahtave (Nov 14, 2007)

Excellent, I too would like to see more of this story hour!


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## Arabesu (Nov 18, 2007)

“I will kill her.”

“No” Kira* replied to Yens’ demand, “we need a scout. As much as my avian form permits an opportune vantage, there are times that a subtler approach is necessary.” 

“But she killed Fen,*” injected Cyrus, “and I don’t trust her. She is evil. I can sense it.” Cyrus had used his detect evil divination to scan her and had found that not only had she killed one of their own in a previous encounter, but she was irrevocably and incontrovertibly corrupt.

Tsuan contributed to the discussion, “She did save Urol and has promised not to betray us while she travels with us. If she hadn’t aided us and vowed not to turn against us, I would have to agree with Yens and Cyrus. Also, while she is with us, we may be able to squeeze more information about Vanthus from her.” 

“Wait. Have you forgotten that she admitted that she had tried to sabotage the trip here with that mephit in a jar and by disabling the swing? You nearly drowned, Kira. You can’t seriously be considering her offer?” Yens protested.

“Yens, consider all of the times you have been caught off guard whilst scouting, searching and disabling traps and then WHAM something steps out of the dark to slam you to the stone. Can you honestly say that you wouldn’t rather have her at the front and in jeopardy?” Kira asked. “You know, she’ll probably be killed anyway,” looking over at the terror bird roasting on the fire “the monsters here are viscous. Of course we can’t trust her, but we don’t have to, we only have to make sure that she stays at the front. When we get to Farshore then we will have a tough choice. Until then, I say we use her.”

Yens unsheathed his rapier a few inches and shoved it back in his scabbard, repeating the nervous gesture several times while brooding on Kira’s logic.

“Fine. I still think it’s a bad idea. Cyrus, what say you?”

“I will not condone killing her in cold blood, but if she strays and demonstrates that she has betrayed us…” Cyrus lets the possibility hang.

Later…

Snick. Snack. Snick. Snick.

Yens and Rowyn hacked parallel paths through the jungle with their cutlasses, several paces apart. Yens watched her carefully. The weapon at her hip was new. He had taken her previous rapier when they had killed her. They were forging through a patch of jungle promising to take them up to what appeared to be a small hill. From there they hoped to get a better estimation from Urol as to exactly where they were on the island.

Snick. Snick. Snack. 

In the droning of their machinations, Yens daydreamed, recalling the death of Fens at the hand of the foul wench beside him…

Quietly they crept through the underground hideout of the Lotus Dragons. After having distracted and bluffed the taxidermist occupying the house above, Yens and his companions were infiltrating the Thieves’ guild headquarters. Specifically, they were looking to capture Levinia’s brother Vanthus Vanderborn, for he was suspected of setting the fire that killed his parents and subsequently robbing the family vaults.

All was going as planned until they disturbed a whorg set in place to alarm the guild of the presence of intruders. After silencing the beast with steel and spell, they rushed from room to room looking for evidence of Vanthus. Occasionally stumbling upon one or two thieves in various states of preparations, they urgently fled into the heart of the complex. Another room revealed a terrible spider creature that nearly killed them, a ragodessa similar to the one they fought back when they first started working for Levinia. Ultimately, thanks to Cyrus’s determination and Tsuan’s blistering spells they were able to best it.

Finally they found the rooms they had hoped for with a message for Vanthus, “Fix this now!” and several more Lotus Dragons who lasted little time. Then, Yen’s friend and colleague Fen Corday, a midget aventi pugilist, opened a door he shouldn’t have. 

Rowyn was waiting for him there, steel drawn. She and Fen traded attacks: Setting Sun and Stone Dragon Jujitsu versus her magical rapier. Neither had the upper hand until Rowyn stepped back into the room and with one finger taunted Fen to follow. Yens saw it occur in slow motion. He guessed what she was up to but before he could warn his friend the treachery unfolded. Rowyn’s pet shocker lizard hiding behind the door electrocuted Fen just as he stepped into the room. With his bones revealed and his attention distracted, Rowyn casually slipped her poisoned blade right through his heart; he was dead by the time she pulled her blade free. Cyrus and Yens charged into the room in a vengeful frenzy and in moments she too was slain.​
* - The irony here is that Kira is the replacement character for Fen. Thus, a great example of why Kira's player is such a good role-player. He was arguing to protect an NPC that had killed his previous character because it is the wise thing to do and that is what the wise and logical Kira would do.


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## Arabesu (Nov 19, 2007)

*Episode 2a*

The small hill turned out to be a lip to a massive crater easily miles across. Yens and Rowyn had lain down on the ridge to survey the area. Over three hundred yards away they could see a herd of huge reptiles grazing on grasses and tree sized ferns. Far to the south they could see jagged mountaintops.

“Those lizards shake the ground when they walk.  Like thunder. Thundarlizards. That’s a good name.” said Yens to himself.

“They are actually called diplodocus.” Came Urol’s voice from behind him.

“Get down you fool, or they will see us and attack!” urged Yens with a motion.

“Oh don’t be silly.” Urol continued his lecture, “They are herbivorous and not the least bit aggressive. Still, I would not approach them unless you have a death wish; they are prone to stampede and weigh easily over thirty tons each.”  

“Like giant cattle.” Added Rowyn.

Yens scowled at her for joining their conversation.

“The analogy is apt, but I would consider them more similar to the wild herds of elephants in Q’barra. They forage over large tracts of land and unlike most reptiles they are homeotherms.”

Yens: “Huh?”

“Warm blooded.” Said Rowyn.

“Right-O, Rowyn. I am impressed. You know your zoology well. Where did you study? Let us descend and tell the others. Did you know that they have twenty stomachs? I once had opportunity to study the spines of a young fossil found in…”

Yens watched as Rowyn and Urol returned to the milling group of colonists and adventurers. _She is ingratiating herself with him to win him over._ Who will be next? Klem? Tavey? He frowned; he might need to take preemptive measures to stop her. 

They group headed east, keeping just north of the rim of the crater. After their ascent to the rim earlier, Urol had revised his guess at their location. They were on the northeast part of the island, not the extreme north, as he had originally thought. While this was good news: they were closer to Farshore, it also meant that they would soon forge through unfamiliar territory. He suggested one of two tacts: east toward the sea and then south along the coastline or directly south over the crater and through the mountains. Each path had its own difficulties, but the group agreed that the coastal path was wiser since they might be able to find Farshore even if Urol became incapacitated. Only Avner dissented, suggesting that the direct path would take them there much more quickly, albeit with more possibilities for getting lost.

Urol had also suggested that Kira avoid use of her avian form. “Many of the scavengers on this island such as the Tyranosaurus key off of the presence of soaring and circling buzzards and you might attract undue attention.”

“That T-rex we fought was a hunter, NOT a scavenger.” Injected Yens.

Rowyn snickered.

“Not entirely correct my good man.” Corrected Urol. “They will kill active prey, but just as often will steal meat from those who found it first. You see they have these large nasal bulbs, consistent with their use of olfactory…”

They continued on with Urol blathering on about various topics while Yens and Kira gratefully took turns scouting ahead.

After a time, they became aware of horrible sounds coming from just past the crater wall.

“Oh we must save it, it’s just a baby.” Cried Urol as the watched the grizzly seen a minute later.

Yens rolled his eyes. From his vantage at the crest he counted no fewer than six terrorbirds harassing a “small” thunder lizard. It thrashed about with its whip-like tail while trying to flee the birds. The terrorbirds, on the other hand, seemed to be herding the beast directly toward them. Presumably the slope of the crater’s interior wall would offer some advantage in taking down the larger creature.

Bounding down the slope, Yens charged into the scrum.

“Watch out for the tail!” Yelled Urol.

As if on cue, the tail of the diplodocus bowled over two birds and swept toward Yens. He ducked and the tail just missed him, but he was still nearly flattened by the air displaced in its wake. _Better not get hit by that thing._

Stabbing with his rapier, he wounded one of the remaining four terror birds. The two that had been knocked prone were lagging behind, but would not catch up unless the melee halted. Curiously, two of the remaining birds then broke off to attack each other. The fourth bird kept pace with the dinosaur but refrained from attacking, instead letting out a cacophony of squawks and squeals. Unbeknownst to Yens, Tsuan had evened the odds thanks to a _confusion_ spell.

The tail passed through again, but missed both Yens and the two remaining birds. A quick stab killed the bird he was fighting and sprint took him ahead of the diplodocus and out of range of the tail. Caustic acid covered one of the lagging birds while Kira was suddenly on top of its companion, a panther wrestling a turkey. The last bird finally stopped to consider the meaning of existence and eventually died at Yens and Amilla’s hands. The winner of the terrorbird-on-terrorbird duel, suddenly found itself surrounded by enemies as its prey lumbered off. It too was quickly dispatched.

Camping with the crater at their backs, the group feasted again for another night on roast terrorbird. 

After most of another day's travel they were within site of the ocean. Urol suggested they head south, using the coastal jungle for cover.

Near evening, they came upon the ruins of a tribal village identified as Olman. The jungle had absorbed this village and the ruins appeared to be infested with all size and variety of spider, bold enough to refrain from fleeing at the humanoid’s approach. Yens was about to skewer one with his rapier when Kira stopped him. Kira had spotted a shack or hut made from webbing material. Approaching with greetings in Sylvan, Kira was able to coax a wizened areanea from the hovel. After a brief discussion, Kira informed the party that there was another terror bird nest just after the next ravine and that the spiders of the area would leave them alone if they refrained from killing. Lithira, the areanea, also suggested negotiating with the terrorbird flockleader since the flock was very large.

Using speak with animals, Kira was able talk the group past a terror bird nest and was even given a magical cloak since the terrorbird leader was so grateful that they “not kill.”

The group then ascended into the foothills that lined the eastern coast. After the going became too treacherous, they decided to explore a potential pass that went right under one of the mountains. With torches at hand and roped together they entered a dark cave.


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## Arabesu (Feb 13, 2008)

The cave turned out to be a rough-hewn tunnel of ancient construction. Here and there, Urol pointed out what looked to be primitive carvings, although to Yens’ eyes they could have just as easily been the claw-marks and scratchings of the bears or dinosaurs that must surely call this hole a home.

It was much colder in this tunnel than in the surrounding jungle above, but thankfully it was dry. Just before they had found the hole, a downpour had soaked their gear, which made the chill of the cave more noticeable. As they proceeded, Yens was reminded of a nagging smell, a foul odor from up ahead. It was something that he had encountered before, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint its manner or origin. He didn’t bother to bring it up with the rest of the troop, as their noses were much too insensitive to register the odor.

“Rowyn, why don’t you scout ahead? Cyrus will keep the torchlight at the rear of the line. Keep to edge of the shadows… where Kira and I can see you.” Ordered Yens with a facetious smile, “We don’t want you wandering off accidentally.”

Rowyn scowled back at Yens, but moved forward anyway. Her progress was much stealthier than Yens had anticipated: while Kira’s keen eyes and ears could easily track her, Yens actually had difficulty. Descending further into the mountain, further from the diminishing circle of daylight at their backs, Yens lost himself in his thoughts.

_The scent is stronger and very familiar. It reminds me of somewhere I’ve been before…

Parrot Island… and death…_

It was just after Levinia had learned of Vanthus’s robbery of the family vaults. At that time, they had no idea just how low and depraved the Vanderboren’s scion had fallen and simply wanted to return him to his sister for rehabilitation and reconciliation. 

Fen was still alive, the company was still operating around Sasserine, and Tsuan Tse had just joined their group. The group’s reputation had grown considerably after they “recovered” the Blue Nixie from a swindler and animal smuggler named Solar Varc. Tsuan had already been on the Vanderboren’s payroll as an engineer, thus the enthusiastic water mage had jumped at the opportunity to be transferred to an adventuring group alongside these seasoned fortune hunters. 

They had chartered a boat to investigate the mysterious Parrot Island where they believed Levinia’s brother and his associates might be found. A former contact of Vanthus’, Shelfton, was leading them to Vanthus’ headquarters. 

Landing on Parrot Island in the precise spot indicated by Shefton, they followed the grimy smuggler into the forested isle along an overgrown path. They descended through a secret trap door in the forest floor on ropes. Just as Shefton, the last in the line, was to descend, he was stabbed and his body thrown in after. As Yens looked up with a severed rope in his hand, he saw and heard Vanthus Vanderboren taunt down to them:

“You lot are gullible fools! You allied yourself with my insipid sister and now you’ll be trapped here… forever. Ha, ha, ha, ha.” As Vanthus slammed the stone trapdoor shut he called in with a laugh “Oh, I almost forgot! Say hello to Pancus’ ghost for me. Ha, ha, ha.”

Darkness. Then torchlight. Then suddenly they were struggling through the catacombs under Parrot Island as a horde of zombies chased after them. These turned out to be no “ordinary” zombies as they were lightning quick, and could easily surround the heroes. With no priest at hand to exercise the restless spirits, the group was nearly worn down by the relentless task of hacking to pieces each animated body as it surged toward them and yet on they fought, finding the hidden reserves of strength they needed to escape and explore the tunnels. The entire time, Yens was reminded of the lyric from that old sailor’s shanty about the walking dead, _Oh that smell, Oh that smell, the smell of death around yee…_

Finally they broke away from the hordes of zombies to find an underground river and the body of a very much dead Pancus. His bloated body reeking with _The Smell,_ they covered their faces to search it and found a note. The note was written in the colorful sailor’s cant so familiar to Yens that he felt he new this dead pirate as if he was a long lost friend. Translating for the rest of the party, Yens elaborated the dead raconteur’s tale: It told of Vanthus’ treachery and how he left his “mates” here to die. Obviously a scheme for power, Vanthus had betrayed them to rise through the ranks of the “Lotuses,” a group that Yens would soon learn was a Sasserine thieves guild. It ended with curse upon Vanthus’ soul, a sentiment now shared by Yens and his companions.

Having now learned of the tragic vileness of Levinia’s brother and his plots, they vowed to scrub out the stain that was Vanthus at the first opportunity. They also found a treasure cache near Pancus’ corpse, containing many chests of coins and a powerful gem that could summon an earth elemental. Swimming the river, Tsuan and Fen exited out into the lagoon, to free the heroes from their prison.​
“It’s a throne room.” Commented Urol.

Urol Forol’s comment broke Yens’ daydream, dragging him to the present. The tired adventures had just emerged from the long tunnel into a great hall beneath the mountain. A throne at the far end of the room held a long decayed skeleton wearing a golden necklace that glinted in their torchlight. The shaft of a longspear protruded from its rib cage, its noticeable lack of rot and decay suggested something unusual about this weapon. A short-walled pool of water just inside the entrance to the room was revealed to be a deep well by a quick inspection.

The group made a quick search of the corpse to verify that it was not a trap and that it in fact was not some kind of undead creature. Kira discovered that this spear was far superior to his own and was even slightly magical, and thus he took it as his possession. Yens took the necklace; although it was not magical it seemed shiny, exotic, interesting, and, most importantly, valuable.

The group rested in this throne room and while most broke out rations and eased their loads, Yens washed out his braids in the cold pool of water near the entrance to the room. As he dunked his head beneath the surface, he noticed an odd glint near the bottom. Reeling his head back out of the water violently, he readied for the attack but none came. After a moment he then called to Tsuan. After they probed the bottom with the butt of Kira’s old spear, Tsuan dove in and quickly recovered a small red-stone tipped rod. They could not find an immediate use for the rod so Yens pocketed it.

A set of steps, hidden in a shadowy alcove near the back of the room, exited the room, and thus Yens and his companions proceeded downward. After a time, the steps emerged onto a vast cavern spanned by two stone bridges. As Yens and Rowyn eased forward on separate bridges, two giant centipedes, each twenty feet long or more, dropped down among the party. Yens and Cyrus were bitten by the enormous insects and looked on in frustration as their joints and muscles locked up, rendering them immobile. Klem, the warforged smith, proved himself to be a mighty combatant, since he seemed immune to the centipede’s toxin, and proceeded to smash the two bugs into pools of ichor with his warhammer and assistance from Amella, Rowyn, and Kira.

After a time, the centepede’s venom wore off. By then, Rowyn had scouted ahead and found two sets of doors terminating each bridge. Beyond was a large cavern area partitioned into alcoves by walls just bigger than a man. As Yens and his companions wove through this winding maze of alcoves they observed a number of corpses tucked into a few of the recesses. Inspecting one, Yens found a necklace similar to that worn by the skeleton on the throne. They felt unease at looting the ossuary and so continued onward until they reached a dead end.

Retracing their steps, Rowyn was able to find a secret door. As she touched it, the sound of caked dust and fused bone cracking could be heard throughout the catacomb. Before Yens could react, a mummy rounded the corner. And for the second time in as many hours, Yens was forced to watch from a body stiffened by paralysis, this time caused by the gut wrenching fear created by their horrid visage. The three mummies lunged at him. One swung wide and crushed the stone an inch from Yens’ head, another grazed him spinning him on the rigid ball of his foot. The slam of the third impacted him full on, knocking both the breath out of his lungs and nearly knocking him from his feet. 

A line of steam scoured the two of the mummies as cloud of hot vapor, steam and dust began to coalesce near the third mummy. Only Kira and Tsuan seemed to have had the will to remain mobile in the face of the mummies gaze of dispair. Two of the mummies turned to move toward the druid and mage, but they were two far away and so they pummeled Klem and Rowyn instead. The third nearly passed Yens by, but unfortunately for him decided to continue to attack him, nearly crushing him to the floor.

A creature of stone, magma, and fire appeared behind one mummy and slammed it with a crunch, while just as suddenly a ball of fire erupted at the feet of same mummy, igniting it when it made contact with surface of the spongy flaming orb. This mummy was already nearly destroyed by Kira’s spells. 

Yens felt his limbs loosen and he stabbed at the mummy next to him nicking it feebly. Out of the corner of his eye saw the cone of steam and raw heat before it would have struck him and ducked behind his mummy. The undead took the force of the blast full on and was instantly destroyed as was the one damaged by Kira’s orb and Thoqqua. 

Tsuan called out, “Sorry, if I gave you a bit of a scare, but I knew you’d evade once you could move again.”

The third mummy still clung to unlife, but now Rowyn and Klem were upon it and it too was soon destroyed.

The group paused for but a moment to gather their breath. As they did so, Kira sent his Thoqua on ahead into the chamber beyond the secret door. Luckily for the heroes, none of them had decided to go first as a viscous spear trap impaled and destroyed the summoned elemental. 

The trapped room held a large stone sarcophagus with double doors at the far end. After a thorough search, it was opened to find a blue-stone rod, a silver dagger, golden medallion, and shiny pink pearl. The double doors lead to chamber beyond with massive heavy stone doors and ports for the rods. 

“They are storm doors.” Added Yens. “Look here and here. Reinforced. A titan would have to strike twice to bash these in.”

“Nay,” contradicted Rowyn, “they are ice cold. I think they hold back the tide.”

After passing his hand through the collected condensation, Yens reluctantly agreed, “Tomorrow morn should coincide with low tide. We should rest here but open them when we wake.”

And so they rested, uncertain as to what was really beyond the doors.


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## greenstar (Feb 15, 2008)

You are a better writer than me.


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## Arabesu (Feb 15, 2008)

> You are a better writer than me.




Thank you.

That is a very nice thing to say. 

Welcome.


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