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Pathfinder - Souls for Smuggler's Shiv

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Hafaga awoke with a start, only to find faintly flickering light against the wall of the tent. Someone snored in the background, almost drowned out by the sounds of the wild. He unstrapped his warhammer and stroked its shaft, firelight reflecting off the polished head. The images were unusually fresh on his mind. Rarely did dreams stay with him, especially well enough to recall in detail. Even rarer were nightmares. When Hafaga was a child, Papa Greatvein would take Fritjof from the family crest and send Hafaga to bed with it, saying the weapon kept nightmares away. That was a long time ago.

As Fritjof soothed the weary dwarf's mind, for the first time since leaving Osiris more than a year ago, Hafaga felt homesick. "Well, I'm not falling asleep now." Strapping Fritjof, he slipped into the night and found Sasha. "Mind if I keep watch with ya?" He sat on a stone nearby without waiting for a reply and watched.
 
<Forgot to mention you guys made Jask Friendly by freeing him - which award you with 20XP each. Fun!>
<Hafaga makes a Diplomacy check as he spends time with Sasha>

Sasha was glad to have Hafaga join her in the night watch. While she had been quite ready for bed, stories of Hafaga's misfortunes kept the mischevious redhead giggling late until the sun rose.

<Hafaga makes Sasha Friendly! The party recieves 20XP each>
"You know what I wish, Haffy?" the redhead said as they watched the sun rise. "I've heard stories about dimorphodons living on this island...they're the most adorable little things I've ever seen! From the pictures, anyways... I hope that we find one before we get rescued, I've always wanted a pet...even if they are poisionous."

The two sat and gazed into the jungle, when suddenly they heard a scream from in the camp. Looking inside, they saw the tent that Gelik and Ishirou took had fallen over, the men squirming inside, Gelik yelling in his gnomish voice, "ROACHES! DAMNIT, DAMNIT ALL, ROACHES!" They found their way out of the tangled canvas and Ishirou ran across the camp, rubbing his shoulders from the morning's cold, while Gelik jumped on the tarp, crushing the bugs that had been crawling on him in his sleep.

After a few minutes, the gnome calmed down and quietly walked to the fire with his eyes low, meeting no-one's gaze. He sat and stirred the embers and said, "I hate this place."

Both Gelik and Ishirou were noticeably shaken that day.
 
<Spells prepared: create water, light, spark entangle, cure light wounds>
"Could be worse." The words were directed at the belly-aching gnome.

Vallios on the other-hand was quite thrilled with the current situation. The half-elf rose and stretched leisurely, actually smiling as his back cracked. Those vivid topaz eyes looked...Well, they actually looked excited! Even as the druid spoke his gaze was focused firmly on the jungle and he was practically itching to explore. The Eastern Boughs had been a quiet and calm sanctuary, grazing fauna and fish much more plentiful than the predators that hunted them. But jungles, they teemed with the struggle of life. Only the strongest, fastest and smartest survived...And that was the absolute picture of perfection to Vallios.

"We should explore."
 
Thea woke rather abruptly at the screams of the two men. Once she grasped the situation at hand it was hard not to laugh as she quickly dressed, a smile was the only outward sign as she left the tent. She looked around at the group, nodding at Jask as she did, then leaned against the nearest rock.

"We should split into groups to cover more ground. Who's going with who?"
 
<Themesong for this post>

As Hafaga milled about the camp looking for something to do, a flapping cloth hanging from Vallios's pack caught his eye. The square of fabric caught a stray wind and rode straight into Hafaga's face. He snatched the cloth and gave it a stern glare only to realize it was, in fact, a map. On the back was scrawled, "To Ieana, here's the map of the Shiv you requested." Hadn't Darian called the island by that name? Hafaga stared at the map intently, studying the compass and noting the position of the sun as well as the beach and Jenivere's heading. Withdrawing a pastel from his pouch, he marked the camp's location as best he could place it.

<Courtesy of the DM: http://i.imgur.com/vqHwE.jpg Bookmark this!>

"Hey!" called Hafaga, repeating louder in case no one heard. "Look here." He indicated the camp, then the beach northwest, then held out the map for those gathered around to see.

< Knowledge check (Papa Greatvein modifier = 2) >

Studying the map again, Hafaga's eyes lit up. "Wait... I know this place!" he exclaimed, fingering the southwestern portion of the map excitedly. "There's a lighthouse here! Papa told me it was built by the first Sargavan settlers. If we can get there, we'd have shelter." He squinted. "Don't know exactly where it is, though. Maybe the tiger can find it." Allocate your resources! said Papa Greatvein once. You'll get the job done faster. He pointed to Vallios, "We should send you," now to Jask, "and you," then thumbed his chest proudly, "and I'll come with you. Because I'm Hafaga Greatvein, adventurer extraordinaire!"

Papa Greatvein's pride swelled within him. Hafaga smiled.
 
< To clue you guys in, the DM and I have devised something called the Papa Greatvein modifier. On any knowledge check, Hafaga can has roll 1d100. On a roll of 80+, he recalls information relevant to the check imparted by Papa Greatvein. This confers +2 to the check. On a roll of 40-80, Hafaga recalls being berated by Papa Greatvein. This confers no bonus. On a roll of less than 40, Hafaga recalls bad advice or misappropriates good advice, and is compelled to act on it. This also confers no bonus. The Papa Greatvein modifier can be applied to any check, but bonuses only apply to knowledge checks. It is primarily a roleplaying device. >
 
The dwarf must be possessed. Seventy-eight days of journeying together and Vallios had seen the man fail to open canned goods before and yet here he was actually talking sense. Gravetooth's ears lowered when the dwarf pointed in their general direction, the great cat remembered vividly their first encounter. On the very first day of the Jenivere's journey, before the ship had even made it's way out of the harbor waters Hafaga had stumbled across the deck and landed firmly with both feet on her tail, rousing her from a most important nap. From that day forward the feline really had no trust of the dwarf. Vallios sensed the feline's trepidation and reached down, stroking her between the ears. It was a sensible plan and they'd follow it...Or really more of a great excuse to explore that jungle.
"Good plan. We explore jungle. You not get killed with me. Hopefully."
 
Sasha asked, "We can watch the camp while you're gone, but, how long will it be? We need a plan to get out of here. I can't stay here forever..."
 
Thea had her doubts about the dwarf leading the exploration party, from what she had heard he wasn't exactly... reliable in most cases. She pushed off of the wall and joined Vallios, Jask, and Hafaga as they prepared to leave. She addressed Sasha'a concern in Common. "We should be back by sundown."

To Vallios she spoke in Sylvan. "I thought you might like a translator along for the ride."

Finally she turned to Hafaga and switched to Dwarven. "I'm tagging along just in case something happens and you get in over your head. Sound good?"
 
Sacco wasn't sure what to do, his skill set was almost useless in the situation and his plans for future employment seemed bleak. Perhaps he should have just kept up his duty and when that fateful day finally did come, make a stand of it. At least then he'd be a martyr, instead of some pathetic ship wreck victim that'd slowly lose their wits and end up doing something incredibly idiotic.

Already he had begun to ration his supply of tobacco and half the time he sat to smoke it was just an empty bowl.

Still he had yet to reveal to his companions the range of his knowledge when it came to words. When they switched from common to Sylvan he could still understand them. The idea faintly made him paranoid as to what they plotted, even as he knew their words.
 
Hafaga turned to the half-elf and squinted. "What? That sounded like Dwarven. I, uh... don't speak Dwarven." In fact, he knew a few Dwarven adjectives courtesy of Papa Greatvein, none of them polite.

"If four of us are going, we may as well move the camp further inland. This trek will take days. No point going back and forth." He scrawled a destination and the simplest path hugging the east coast and across a plateau, into a valley near the center of the island. "This would be a good place. Defensible, not far from the southwest. We can return in a day or two if necessary."

< http://i.imgur.com/P4ez0.jpg >
 
Thea blushed in embarrassment at her situation, never thinking for a second that a dwarf wouldn't speak Dwarven. She switched to Common and spoke softly. "Sorry Hafaga, I didn't realize. Moving the camp does appear to be the best course of action."
 
"Very well. Let's get ready, then!" Sasha said, and began breaking down the camp along with everyone else.

<Note: The party had 35 pounds of food, and 40 gallons of water (a pound of food is enough for one person for one day, in this tropical environment, a person required two gallons of water). After yesterday, they have 25 pounds food, and have enough water to last them the rest of the day>
 
"A dwarf that doesn't speak elven and a half-elf that struggles with both common and elven. Quite the motley crew, we are. And yes, a translator would be most useful" The words were in sylvan and followed a short spell of laughter.

Vallios was fine with the idea of moving the camp further inland. Hopefully they'd choose a nice cozy spot in the jungle. Maybe a few of the weaker-willed and dim-witted members of the shipwrecked would get eaten by some fascinating animal Vallios had never seen before! It was rather surprising that the party had not encountered any native peoples of the island as of yet. However such a fact was just another positive Vallios saw about the situation. The less people per square mile, the happier Vallios was.
 
Sacco looked at the map as it was shown, checked the scale and did a little thinking.

"So long as we don't encounter hostiles, can't see anyone we meet being friendly, then even with the difficult terrain we should be able to reach that spot by end of day. So long as everyone's in shape."

The gnome eyes the companions; he didn't know how far they were willing to go in order to survive, didn't quite know how far he himself would go. This wasn't his homeland were he knew where to hide, what foliage to trust. It made him antsy, and he didn't appreciate that, made him wish for stone buildings.
 
Somewhat reluctantly, the group began its journey across the island. After about an hour, Vallios held his arm out, motioning everyone to stop. "Careful," he said. "Danger. Predator nearby. Not sure what."
 
Suddenly, a loud, shrieking caw burst from the skies and broke the silence of the group.

"A dimorphodon!" Sasha cried. "Please! Please don't kill it!"

Two winged creatures flew through the tree canopy, dive-boming at the journeying group, trying to knock over the two people in front.

<Roll initiative
Dimorph 1 - 12
Dimorph 2 - 21>
 
((Init 9, Flat Footed AC 11, AC 17, Touch AC 15
Attack: +5 with Bombs 20ft 1d6+4 fire, Splash 5ft 4 fire, number a day: 4
Spells prepared: Cure Light Wounds, Detect Secret Door))

There was little Sacco could do at the moment.
 
< Init 13, AC 18, HP 14 (don't know the rest, you have his character sheet)
Attack: 1d8+4, Power Attack: -3/+4 (two-handed -3/+5)
Throw Warhammer: 1d8+4 >

"Are you serious, woman?!" shouted Hafaga, mimicking the language he'd expect from Papa Greatvein as he drew Fritjof. "Vallios, capture it alive!"
 
<Init 20. 15 +1 for dex +4 improved init. AC 15>
"I'll do my best to subdue it!" Vallios roared in sylvan.
Vallios stepped in the paths of the diving beasts and threw both hands out wide, spear pointed at the beast that was in the lead. Vallios pointed to the ground with his spear and ordered his command in a firm tone, using his knowledge of vocal tone and body language to communicate what he needed the beast to do.
<Handle animal; Push: trick type "Down". result: 13 roll + 5 for handle animal for total of 18. If this is a success Dimorphodon(s) should cease their attack actions and maintain ground within 30 feet for further interaction.>
 
(I'm working on the assumption that everyone left together to look into the lighthouse. Initiative Roll: 13 total. So, after Vallios.)
 
The first creature continued its swoop toward Vallios, biting at him as it passed, but missed, biting the air. The second creature, confused by Vallios' confident action and nature, stopped and landed on the ground in front of everyone.

"Oh my god!" Sasha yelled from the back of the group.
 
<The second creature is momentarily docile, the first hasn't figured out how to react yet, but is still flying into the group.

Init: Darian>
 
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