CAMPAIGN: Queen Arkwyn's Crown (D&D5e)

[Newbie Newtype]

{{1d20 + 6 Perception Roll}}

[Judge Slimehold]

<p><b>Newbie Newtype</b> rolls...</p><ul><li><b>1d20 + 6 Perception Roll:</b> 7 + 6 &rArr; 13</li></ul>

[Bob the Hamster]

As the ship gets closer to the rocks, Hyne does spot a big blue star-shaped sea-creature clinging to a rock that protudes from the waves.

[Newbie Newtype]

He raises his arm and motions his hand, "Captain! Spotted one under the waves!"

[Bob the Hamster]

"Good eye!" calls the captain, and then to the rowers, "Hard a starboard!, take us in!"

The rowers turn the ship towards the rock with the blue sea-star on it, and then plow the ship right into it-- and right through it. The blue star rock is an illusion, as are the rocks directly behind it.

The Yanorin makes its way through the secret safe water that was concealed by the illusion, directly towards a crevasse on the sheer cliff wall of Two Bird Rock.

As they get close, the island looms enormous, and the crevasse looks bigger and bigger, until the ship slips right through it, the mouth of a concealed cave-harbor.

Inside the cave is enough space for maybe 10 ships the size of the Yanorin (assuming they all moved very carefully) but no other ships are current present except a handful of tiny bobbing rowboats.

floating dock-rafts line the back wall of the cave. The wall of the cave rises high up, tapering to a funnel-like skylight on the top of the island. The walls are covered with driftwood walkways and rope catwalks, and small cabins affixed to the rock wall that look like they are built out of the remains of old ships.

[Newbie Newtype]

Bewilderment hits the ranger's face when the ship continues to sail undeterred by the obstacles that would most certainly tear apart the ship. He braces for impact, covering his face with his arms- only for the feel of the weight he stands under to continue shifting steadily with slow movement. He looks back up to witness everything about him passing through the ship.. and him.

He gazes ahead into the concealed wharf with wonder that there is magic powerful enough to disguise a port as an entire island. This would explain why they chose the appearance of an island raining with avian precipitation to deter any strangers from wanting to approach.

[Bob the Hamster]

Some crew members tie the Yanorin's ropes to one of the small floating wooden docks.

Inside the cave is is shady and cool. Sea-birds are still audible out the skylight in the top of the cave, and the waves can still be heard crashing against the island back from the illusion-covered entranceway.

The water in the cave is very clear and dark. Several of the merfolk immediately slip in and swim down to investigate.

A feathered kobold wearing a tiny white shirt clambers out of one of the driftwood shacks affixed to the wall of the cave.

"Ahoy, Captain Crawford! We did not expects you to visit so soon!" she croaks.

"Ahoy, Miss Occans!" calls the captain. "We don't have anything to trade today, we just want to shelter and wait for the Flying Eye Goddess! Shouldn't be more than a day!"

"Fine, Fine!" croaks the little Kobold. "Your crew makes themselves comfortable! Maybe spends a few coins."

There are a few other feathered Kobolds visible in the windows of the other shacks.

Most of the shacks seem to be connected to one another vial rope-bridges and rope-ladders. A few driftwood staircases lace back and forth high up the wall. One such stair seems to reach all the way up to the skylight, and out of the cave, towards the top of the island.

Several rope ladders are easily reachable from the deck. A few crewmembers begin to climb them. Other crewmembers lounge around on deck, and others go below deck to rest.

[Newbie Newtype]

As usual Hyne finds himself lost in a new settlement surrounded by people unfamiliar to him, and places he doesn't know where to go. But unsure of what else he might need, he looks to find the captain and asks, "Would it be fine if I just slept on the ship for a spell? I took an extended watch overnight so I'd like to spend the free time here resting a bit."

If he can be on the ship, there will be fewer people around that could intrude when he rests. Still, he can't be sure what Oxnar may attempt given a possible desperation to show loyalty, but there is also the chance he may be genuine in his remorse.

[Bob the Hamster]

"Rest, Stormeel, Rest! You've earned it" Captain Crawford tells Hyne.

Below decks, Hyne finds that many of the 10 small bunk rooms are occupied by at least one pirate or mer-folk who either had the same idea as Hyne, or were already resting.

Each of the 10 tiny rooms has two bunks.

2 rooms are completely unoccupied, one on the front port side, and one on the back starboard side.

6 rooms already contain gently snoring pirates. One of them is Dirk, having just been carried there.

1 room contains the merfolk elder. He is sitting on a top bunk, clearly not sleeping, but perhaps meditating.

1 room contains Tip. She is sitting on the bottom bunk in the front starboard side room, holding a clipboard with some papers that she is scratching on with a bedraggled quill pen.

"Oh, hello Thulsa!" she greets Hyne. "I haven't quite figured out all the bunk assignments yet, but for now you can take anyone that doesn't have somebody's pack on it."

Pick a room and make some kind of roll for how you secure your stuff and your person while you sleep. Some NPC may or may not be rolling competitively against it.

Hyne gets 3750 experience when he sleeps.

[Newbie Newtype]

He smiles up at the girl, "Thank you."

He looks around at everyone. Surely not everyone is going to be a trustworthy lot- even this Dirk fellow could be more opportunist than he could appear. He sticks around looking at the beds asking the girl, "Tell me about everyone here, I figure I should get to know everyone." He figures he might get a hint of what to expect.

Gonna strike a conversation before making a bed

[Bob the Hamster]

Tip smiles. She seems pleased that Hyne wants to talk.

"I would be happy to tell you about your crew-mates" she says.

"First, you should make friends with Marly, if you can. She's the woman with the eye-patch, and I figure she's the best sailor on the ship."

"The young gentleman you can currently hear snoring is Dirk. He's..." Tip gestures in the air, searching for the words she wants, "... well, I don't know. He's alright. He'll get the hang of it eventually."

"That over there," Tip points to someone sleeping on the bottom bunk in the room directly across from where Tip sits, "that is Weisana. She is very nice. Please don't gamble with her." Weisana has extremely pale snow-like skin, and a pair of horns curl out of her head, which had been hidden by the hat she was wearing when Hyne might have seen her on deck earlier.

"Over there," Tip gestures towards another room, "that is Belmysk." Hyne can see that Belmysk is a red-skinned man with short-cropped hair and beard. He is snoring very gently, but not like Dirk. "Don't be alarmed if Belmysk asks you to marry him. He asks everyone that. I find it is best to just politely say 'No'"

"And you can see them from here," Tip leans forward and points down the hall a bit, "But in the last room is Fitz. They're a high-elf, and probably the oldest person on the ship. Fitz will get annoyed if you call them 'him' or 'her', they prefer 'they'"

"Oh, and there's also Juls." Tip says, pointing through the wall next to her. "The mer-folk are all my cousins, but Jul's is the only one I know really well. She's Cro's grandaughter. She's very excited that she finally got to join the crew. She has wanted to ever since I joined up. All the mer-folk are just as new as you are, so we are all going to have to take some time to get to know one another."

Tip looks slightly anxious for an instant. "I hope I'm not boring you! There are a lot of names to learn.. There are twenty-two people on board... No, twenty-four, because I wasn't counting the fancy clockwork-person or that Paladin we saved."

[Newbie Newtype]

He glances at each person he's pointed at nodding at each one. All of them seem like good people according to Tip, though the gambler's mischief, while not malicious, could pose a problem if he somehow gets caught having to give something up.

When he hears the girl's backstory, he comments, "So that's how you got into deep sea diving then? Have you been doing that for long or is it the first time for you as well as the merfolk?"

When given notice that she doesn't know the names of the people he brought with him, he answers, "The tin man is Meleander, and the Pelor one is Oxnar. I haven't known either for very long- well I guess I know Oxnar as a skirt chaser, but not much besides that."

[Bob the Hamster]

"Oh, I've been diving all my life. I may not have gills like my cousins, but I might as well. I know a cantrip to hold my breath for 20 minutes, which is longer than a Dolphin!" she says proudly.

At the mention of Oxnar's skirt chasing, Tip chuckles and makes a mark on her clipboard. "I'll make sure not to bunk him in a room with any skirts then" she says. "... That is assuming he stays with us. Maybe he'll want to stay here with the Kobolds."

At that moment, a middle aged woman who looks very tough and wiry comes down the stairs and heads towards the bunks.

"Ahoy, Caskbow!" Tip greets her. "Have you met Thulsa Stormeel yet?"

The woman smiles at Hyne. She has a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Hello, Handsome! Saw you on deck last night. Nice work with those arrows of yours. My husband, gods rest his soul, was an ace with a bow. He used to shoot them at me while I was on the trapeze, and I would catch them mid-air"

"Caskbow used to be an acrobat." Tip adds, seeming happy to be able to add context.

[Newbie Newtype]

"He had an eagle's eye for shooting, eh?" Inferring that the man might have died sometime in the past, he asks, "Did something happen to him?"

[Bob the Hamster]

"Ah, bless that fine man's soul" says Caskbow, a far-away look flashing across her eyes, "It was the Winter Fever that weakened him, and a bout of the Melancholia that finished him. That were... let me see... six years ago this spring." And then with a wink she adds, "But I don't mourn for him. He lived well, loved well, and regretted nothing, so I don't regret either."

Caskbow continues to one of the near-by rooms, and fetches a small bag from inside, and begins to head back towards the stairs up to the deck.

"Would you like me to go on?" Tip asks Hyne. "I don't want to keep you from rest. I know you've been on deck all night long."