Jammers: Turn 17, Chapter 7 Summary

The Ongoing adventures of my Spelljammer PBEM game.

Here's the Jammers web address:

http://jammers.s5.com/

Comments, questions always welcome:)

----------- = Meanwhile, elsewhere...
*********** = Later...

IC:

Holland says, "Let's get into party order and continue on into the temple."

"Fine by. .ahh.. me," Kain replies, taking up his crossbow and
slipping one of the bolts from the cast at his side. Taking a few
steps forward, Kain kneels and says, "Oquid said, they are going
south, following the route we took to get here. They're.. mmm..
almost to the edge of the plateau."

Looking to his crew mates, Dhebun nods resolutely and places his
trembling hands back at his sides.  "Well said, indeed.  Wailing like
an old woman will not help Oquid, or Grigree, or us." Respect for
both Raken and Ives betrays itself in Dhebun's face as he regards
them both with a fierce smile. "By thunder, he may think he has us
beaten, but he knows not the fire he has woken! Come friends, we've
work to do."

Raken nods.  "Let's kick some arse."

Dhebun nods. "Makes sense to me." As the dwarf starts towards his
position he turns back to look at Holland, his hand rubbing his wiry
beard thoughtfully.  "Holland, I should say that rock fall we
encountered, at the entrance, that was so carefully engineered,
wasn't more than a day or two old at most I'm sure of it. Our foe has
an admirable lead, but he is not beyond over-taking."

Holland frowns, "I just don't understand why Masawa would turn on us
like that. We never should have let him aboard with additional
warriors." Holland shakes his head, "What was I thinking."

"It's not always easy to know whom to trust," Sekeht observes.
"Particularly when you're among strangers."

"Yes," Ferric says grimly, "and though I doubt Argonui is dead I will
personally level that villiage should he not return.  Even if it
requires that I wait until we get back and I can comandeer a Moune
vessel for the purpose."

Holland looks at Ferric, "Do you think the entire village was in on
the deception and treachery?"

Raken shrugs "That seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
Though killing the natives involved would be punishment enough... men
seemed to be their defenders and hunters."

Freneth nods his head, and replies, "To gain trust, one must extend
trust. It seems to this one, that there must have been more involved
in the stealing of our ship than just three people. Billy and Grigree
were good warriors, and with Argonui, they should have had no
problems dealing with them. And there was magic involved, or so Kain
said."

"Lets worry about that once we have seized Blackjammer's treasure and
secured the temple what! Any ideas of how to draw our foe to us?"
Ives says in a less than booming voice in the corridor.

Leera nods. "I have a few spells left that might be of use. I want to
be careful, though. That javelin cut me and it's still pretty sore. I
think I'll need some healing eventually, though maybe not right
away...."

Leera continues "The spells I have left will all affect multiple
people. Don't step in from of me when I'm casting."

Once the group reaches the trapped floor Holland shakes his head,
"That appears to be around 30 feet long. Too far to jump.  If we
break through the floor, it will alert anything that might be down
there waiting."

Nilaroo rumbles, "I should be able to rig something using ropes."

Talus and Nilaroo then quickly build a two rope bridge for crossing
the trap. The group then crosses carefully.

Talus flies down the hallway and stops at the door. He checks the hinges, pulls
out his picks and finding nothing dangerous opens the door. This lock
was also ancient, but had not been recently oiled.

The room beyond is empty of foes but not of interest. It seems to
have been an altar room. Across from the door is a square stone
pedestal. Next to it are several bone sticks, 3 inlaid and bejeweled
bowls (worth 500 gp each), a crumbling bamboo flute, and the remains
of a feather fan.

On the pedestal is a small, intricately carved stone box with two
hinged doors. Inside is an unusual statuette of gold and coral. It
looks like an amphibious humanoid with a smooth head, large eyes, and
a tentacled, sphinctered mouth. The torso is human. like, with two
arms that end in webbed, clawed hands. From the waist down, the body
divides into three long tentacles ending in fluke-like fins, each
tipped with a single large claw.

Everything within the room appears to be old, and covered with a thin
coating of dust. It appears this room hasn't been disturbed in many
years.

There is another door opposite the one the group entered the room by,
but the corridor beyond is blocked by fallen rock and impassible.

Peering at the statue Ferric says, "Well, doesn't look like that's
the chap the statue out front was made to resemble. I do wish we
could find some answers instead of more questions."

Holland looks at the idol and asks, "Raken, Allagan, do you recognize
this faith? Maybe this is a representation of the 'Cold Ones'."

Raken examines the statue as well, careful to look at it without
touching it.  "Likely. I'd say this certainly qualifies as 'fish'.
Nasty looking, too. I'd hate to meet something like that in a dark
sphere..."

Holland adds, "Can either of you magically check to see what its
ethos is? Or if it is magical?"

Raken nods. "Sorry, its not an ethos I reconnize. Perhaps we might
find a sage back at Bral that might know, once we get back there."

Talus looks at the idol assessing its worth and asks, "Raken, do you
happen to have any holy water?" Talus asks Leera, "Is your detection
spell still working?"

Leera nods. "It is, but none of these items are magical."

Talus flies over to the caved in corridor and asks, "Dhebun, do you
think we can clear this corridor like we did the other one?"

Ferric sighs and says "Looks like I am as fit or more so than the
rest of you. I'll take the first turn digging."

Stepping forward, the dwarf examines the entrance carefully, tapping
on the stones with his hand-axe and looking around at the walls. "It
is of no use Ferric," he says shaking his head. "Unlike the other
rock fall at the mouth of the cave, this was caused by an earthquake
or natural erosion. It happened long ago, that's certain. No telling
how long it would take to dig through, perhaps never, the tunnels on
the other side may have been filled with stone as well, there's no
telling from this side."

Holland frowns and says, "Well, obviously the pirates never made it
this far. We will have to spring the floor trap and see if that is a
dead end as well. If it is, then there is a secret door we missed."

Holland asks, "Talus, could you please check for secret doors in here too."

Talus begins searching the rest of the altar, the walls, floor and
ceiling for secret doors.

"Just because we can't get deeper into the tunnel doesn't mean a back
way in might not exist what!" Ives booms out. "Of course we'll just
have to see what happens when we spring the trap though."

After a close search Talus shakes his head and tells the group, "I
haven't been able to find any other secret doors. Unless the pirate
treasure is behind this blocked corridor the only thing I can think
of would be to see if the floor trap leads anywhere."

"Hoom, then I would be first up for climbing down in, once it is
collapsed." Nilaroo speaks up.

Holland sneezes from all of the dust bring kicked up in the room and
then replies, "Alright. Once we are done here, we will go back and
trigger the floor trap to see where it leads."

Talus flies over and carefully collects the jewel incrusted bowls and
adds them to the items he is already carrying.

Ferric says, "Perhaps we should spread our finds out a little among
those of us here. All our eggs in one basket and all that. I hate to
be macabre but the grim reality is that we are stranded with no easy
way out and there is the chance that we may not all make it back to
retake the ship. Leera seems to avoid most of the combat perhaps she
could put a few of the more fragile items into her pack."

Again Leera nods. "That's a good idea. I'll take those waterskins and
the thorns."

Ferric begins examining the sticks and the altar itself without
touching them. But he finds nothing that seems immediately important.
Perhaps longer, more in depth study by someone familiar with the
local cultures might provide some information.

Pausing in his inspection of the altar Ferric says, "Talus would you
mind flying back invisible and checking on our captives? Perhaps if
they do escape their bonds they will lead us to something useful,
though I do not yet think it is  time to just let them go."

Talus says, "I don't think they are going anywhere but.."  Talus disappears.

Talus flies down the hallway to check what the Captive natives are doing.

Holland says, "Well then, I guess that finishes that. Let's head back
to the rope bridge. Let's put half of us on one side of the trapped
floor and half on the other. Once Talus returns, we will proceed.

Ferric says to the rest of the group, "If anyone has the means to
speak with our prisoners it might be very helpful to have them
explain how they knew we were coming as well as anything they might
know about this altar or the temple in general."

Holland replies back, "Well, I am sure that they heard us digging;
and as for here, it is obvious that no one has been here in a long
time. Maybe they never came down here. Regardless, unless one of the
priests can speak in tongues, we will have to wait until we find new
transportation to the village to interrogate them."

Leera shakes her head. "No, not how they knew we were digging
through, but how they knew we were going to come here in the first
place. They obviously set an ambush by entering ahead of us and then
causing the rockfall to seal themselves in. How did they know to do
that? If Cartan did get here ahead of us and already
has the Cutlass, then we need to know that now, before his lead gets bigger!"

Holland says, "It looked like they had lived there for a while,
longer than just a few days or weeks.  That doesn't necessarily mean
they are not allied with Cartan or with the villagers, it is a
mystery."

Holland asks Raken, "Can you pray for the blessing of Tongues to
speak with them in their language?"

Raken nods negative. "Such a prayer is beyond my abilities. Celestian
has not yet revealed such a boon to me, though many in my Order are
wise enough to be entrusted with that blessing."

Holland shrugs, "Then there is nothing we can really do about it for
now. Let's see about finding this cutlass, if it is still here, and
pray to the Gods that there is some sort of transportation there as
well."

"Is there any way to warn 'Pate what!" Ives asks "I doubt that Cartan
got here before us, but that we were set up by the Cutlass when our
guide visited this temple."

"Pate will have to fend for himself, there's just no help for it. But
if anything happens to him his death will be added to the blood toll
that will be taken on these treacherous savages." Ferric says darkly.
"As for Cartan and the Cutlass I was thinking along the same lines
though I am at a loss to explain how unless the natives took it soon
after it was lost here. This room is too long undisturbed, that
tunnel goes no where, and even if the floor trap provided access to
anything important the natives have the stone working skills required
to repair it. I am left thinking that we have missed an secret
passage the natives know about or that our search will take us
elsewhere on this planetoid before we find what we seek. In any event
further conjecture is pointless so we may as well be about it."
Ferric looks at Holland and add, "If we do trip the floor trap I do
not think it wise to split our forces on either side of it.  There is
no need to risk the entombment of half our number if something
unforeseen occurs."

"Yes, it's certainly a possibility that Masawa led us to the wrong
place altogether," Sekeht interjects. "We may already be 'entombed.'"

Raken thinks for a few moments. "Yes, I think it is likely that the
Cutlass has taken the natives. That, or perhaps the natives are not
unified. It may be that they have their own factions, such as those
we found here, that seek to slay 'outsiders', and other factions that
would welcome us. Or maybe there are other forces at work here.
Either way, sitting around speculating gets us nowhere."

Raken walks over to a wall, and picks up a fistfull of dust. Slowly,
he lets it slip from his fingers, watching it's path closely.
Satisfied that there is no hidden breeze originating from the wall,
he continues the process throughout the room.

Talus comes whipping around the corner with a blanket in his hands,
"Sorry guys.  The prisoners are still just sitting there looking a
little glum. I checked
outside and there is no difference. I brought the blanket to carry
the statuette."

Raken nods. "Good thinking. Never smart to touch a statue to an
unknown god, and the blanket will help to protect if its not cursed
in any way."

Talus tosses the blanket over the statuette and wraps the statuette
up for transport without physically touching the statuette.

Raken gives Talus a hand to wrap up the statuette.

Finished, Talus flies over to the trapped section of the hallway and
when everyone is in position jumps up and down hard on the trapped
floor, flying safely up and out of the way--in order to give the rest
of the party a clear line of sight for missile weapons--when the
floor trap springs.

Date/Time: 2:35 pm, 7th day of the 11th Month, 5049 OC
--
"...And nobody is to be killed at all, if it can be helped. Keep your
tempers and hold your hands until the last possible moment!"
"But if there many of these ruffians," said Merry, "it will certainly
mean fighting. You won't rescue Lotho, or the Shire, just by being
shocked and sad, my dear Frodo."

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer.3@???.edu
Phd Candidate, History, Ohio State University