Post by Dead Greyhawk on Sept 24, 2004 12:52:14 GMT -5
The mood at the town council meeting is tense. There is great interest in what the party has to say. The Constable asserts that he has spoken with his two men, but that it is best to hear directly from the party about the events that occurred. Winthrop again acts as spokesman for the party. He explains that they sailed down the coast into the Hool Marshes and landed. During their hike up to the area marked on the map, the party was beset by frog men, who were repulsed. Arriving at the spot on the map, no town or village was found, so the party scouted the area. They found in a promontory on the sea coast two entrances: one a cave with a trail leading to it, the other a cave covered by a reed blind. After discarding the reed blind, the cave was entered, and the lizardmen discovered. Negotiations were opened with the lizardmen. Some discussion was made about trading of arms and their intentions, but eventually he and Ross spoke with their King. The King assured them that the weapons were not for an attack on Saltmarsh, but instead to defend against a mutual foe; the shark people, who invaded the lizardmen’s former home. The lizardmen are forming an alliance of sea-using peoples, and have invited the town of Saltmarsh to join. Participating in this alliance are the eel and mer-people, but not the sea goblins.
This is clearly not the chain of events some members of the town council foresaw. Much conversation breaks out among the town council, with some members expressing rank disbelief at the party’s story, some being concerned about yet another menace, and a few generally disgruntled. One member goes so far as to tell the party that they were supposed to have killed the lizardmen off, a statement that brings a sharp denial from Raven as well as disagreement from the priestess of Ehlonna, Elowyna. Elowyna questions the party about whether they saw any of these sharkmen, and asks if the lizardmen called them sahuagin. The party had not.
It becomes apparent that the town council needs to privately discuss some things, and so dismisses the party. Rook is especially unhappy with such treatment and wants to know about when they will be paid. One of the town council members jibes they’ll be paid when they’ve completed their job. Raven ushers the party out grumbling about the treatment they’ve received.
Following a night’s rest, Winthrop tells the others that he would like to take some time to further his training in the magical arts. While this is fine with most, Rook points out that they haven’t been paid yet, and that Winthrop was one of the two who went inside the lizardman lair. If Winthrop leaves, it seems less likely that they will be paid. Serrin, on the other hand, declares that he needs to commune with his inner spirit, and heads out to the temple of Ehlonna to learn how to speak with animals.
While most of the party relaxes and settles in, Rook visits Morin to ask about armor. He’s told the same thing as Remo; it will take three weeks or so to produce a set. Rook is told that his splint mail is looking quite dinged up, and should be repaired. While Rook is willing to live with his old armor, he’s interested in whether some chainmail can be repaired and fit within a quick turnaround time. Morin can’t do the work, but instead trades a set of new chainmail for the damaged set, plus the repair cost.
Raven takes this opportunity to investigate the items taken from the frog men. The odd looking helm turns out to have what appears to be recessed goggles which are bound up in the helm. The goggles slide up and down within the front of the helm and so are retractable. Raven also discovers a word engraved on the back of the helm, scratched faintly on the helm itself. He also looks at the odd colored and shaped stones, but they are more inscrutable.
Winthrop and Melar spend time attempting to identify the properties of some of the items. After magical study, Winthrop is fairly sure that the helm allows one to breathe and act under water. Melar investigates one of the stones, a red, round one, and believes that it grants greater agility to the wearer. The exact use of the helm and the stone remain somewhat a mystery.
Rook, after returning from Morin’s shop and hearing about the stones, attempts a number of different methods to get them to work. After several hours of testing, he finds that by pushing them in a circle around one’s head, the stones will orbit like a moon. He places the iridescent stone around his head, and after testing different possibilities, believes he doesn’t need to breathe. When the pale green stone orbits his head, Rook feels more robust and competent. He shows the party his discovery, much to his ridicule based on his appearance.
Remo and Oceanus enter into a debate about swimming in the ocean, with Remo stating that Oceanus could not possibly swim in the ocean wearing metal armor, and Oceanus claiming he could. After much to-ing and fro-ing about fine chain armor versus land-made armors, Oceanus dons a set of chainmail and swims a lap around the Sea Ghost, settling that argument.
The town council meeting last night is much less contentious than the previous night’s. Apparently the town council has met earlier and discussed some of the more difficult issues. The Constable relates that the town council does not believe the contract was fulfilled. Namely the town council has no verification, beyond the word of the lizardmen themselves, that this alliance is real, that it is not actually directed against Saltmarsh. Also, the party has provided no measure of the numbers of the lizardmen, nor developed any sort of plan of the interior of their lair. These were the terms of the town council’s agreement with the party, and they have not yet been met.
The town council has decided to send an envoy to the lizardmen, to hear their plan for alliance. The town council allows that the party may have made the best of a difficult situation, and says that if the party will travel back to the lizardman lair with the envoy, there would be a way for the party to fulfill their contract. While the envoy negotiated with the lizardmen, the party could determine the truth of the lizardmen’s claims. For example, if the party were to verify the existence of sahuagin in the area, then the claims of the lizardmen would take on new weight and import.
The party is very unhappy about what they describe as the town council taking advantage of them. They agree to take the town’s representative back to the lizardmen, expecting the representative to be one of the two Stoutlys. They are quite surprised to hear that it will be one of the council members, named Patrick, who they will accompany. Patrick will be responsible for negotiating the town’s position with the lizardmen while the party deduces the veracity of their claims.
The party wishes to set off as soon as possible, and neither Patrick nor the Stoutlys, who will be sailing the cutter, have anything that would delay them. Winthrop decides to forgo further magical training, and a plan is made to meet at the docks the following morning.
While leaving the meeting, the Constable pulls Melar and Winthrop aside. He wants to inform them that his men told him that Melar and Winthrop had questioned a cloth merchant recently. The merchant and his cousin were found dead in their shop last night. The Constable doesn’t believe that Winthrop or Melar had anything to do with the deaths, but wished to warn them that something foul might be a foot. Melar asks what was the manner of the killings, and the Constable says that the bodies were gnawed.
This is clearly not the chain of events some members of the town council foresaw. Much conversation breaks out among the town council, with some members expressing rank disbelief at the party’s story, some being concerned about yet another menace, and a few generally disgruntled. One member goes so far as to tell the party that they were supposed to have killed the lizardmen off, a statement that brings a sharp denial from Raven as well as disagreement from the priestess of Ehlonna, Elowyna. Elowyna questions the party about whether they saw any of these sharkmen, and asks if the lizardmen called them sahuagin. The party had not.
It becomes apparent that the town council needs to privately discuss some things, and so dismisses the party. Rook is especially unhappy with such treatment and wants to know about when they will be paid. One of the town council members jibes they’ll be paid when they’ve completed their job. Raven ushers the party out grumbling about the treatment they’ve received.
Following a night’s rest, Winthrop tells the others that he would like to take some time to further his training in the magical arts. While this is fine with most, Rook points out that they haven’t been paid yet, and that Winthrop was one of the two who went inside the lizardman lair. If Winthrop leaves, it seems less likely that they will be paid. Serrin, on the other hand, declares that he needs to commune with his inner spirit, and heads out to the temple of Ehlonna to learn how to speak with animals.
While most of the party relaxes and settles in, Rook visits Morin to ask about armor. He’s told the same thing as Remo; it will take three weeks or so to produce a set. Rook is told that his splint mail is looking quite dinged up, and should be repaired. While Rook is willing to live with his old armor, he’s interested in whether some chainmail can be repaired and fit within a quick turnaround time. Morin can’t do the work, but instead trades a set of new chainmail for the damaged set, plus the repair cost.
Raven takes this opportunity to investigate the items taken from the frog men. The odd looking helm turns out to have what appears to be recessed goggles which are bound up in the helm. The goggles slide up and down within the front of the helm and so are retractable. Raven also discovers a word engraved on the back of the helm, scratched faintly on the helm itself. He also looks at the odd colored and shaped stones, but they are more inscrutable.
Winthrop and Melar spend time attempting to identify the properties of some of the items. After magical study, Winthrop is fairly sure that the helm allows one to breathe and act under water. Melar investigates one of the stones, a red, round one, and believes that it grants greater agility to the wearer. The exact use of the helm and the stone remain somewhat a mystery.
Rook, after returning from Morin’s shop and hearing about the stones, attempts a number of different methods to get them to work. After several hours of testing, he finds that by pushing them in a circle around one’s head, the stones will orbit like a moon. He places the iridescent stone around his head, and after testing different possibilities, believes he doesn’t need to breathe. When the pale green stone orbits his head, Rook feels more robust and competent. He shows the party his discovery, much to his ridicule based on his appearance.
Remo and Oceanus enter into a debate about swimming in the ocean, with Remo stating that Oceanus could not possibly swim in the ocean wearing metal armor, and Oceanus claiming he could. After much to-ing and fro-ing about fine chain armor versus land-made armors, Oceanus dons a set of chainmail and swims a lap around the Sea Ghost, settling that argument.
The town council meeting last night is much less contentious than the previous night’s. Apparently the town council has met earlier and discussed some of the more difficult issues. The Constable relates that the town council does not believe the contract was fulfilled. Namely the town council has no verification, beyond the word of the lizardmen themselves, that this alliance is real, that it is not actually directed against Saltmarsh. Also, the party has provided no measure of the numbers of the lizardmen, nor developed any sort of plan of the interior of their lair. These were the terms of the town council’s agreement with the party, and they have not yet been met.
The town council has decided to send an envoy to the lizardmen, to hear their plan for alliance. The town council allows that the party may have made the best of a difficult situation, and says that if the party will travel back to the lizardman lair with the envoy, there would be a way for the party to fulfill their contract. While the envoy negotiated with the lizardmen, the party could determine the truth of the lizardmen’s claims. For example, if the party were to verify the existence of sahuagin in the area, then the claims of the lizardmen would take on new weight and import.
The party is very unhappy about what they describe as the town council taking advantage of them. They agree to take the town’s representative back to the lizardmen, expecting the representative to be one of the two Stoutlys. They are quite surprised to hear that it will be one of the council members, named Patrick, who they will accompany. Patrick will be responsible for negotiating the town’s position with the lizardmen while the party deduces the veracity of their claims.
The party wishes to set off as soon as possible, and neither Patrick nor the Stoutlys, who will be sailing the cutter, have anything that would delay them. Winthrop decides to forgo further magical training, and a plan is made to meet at the docks the following morning.
While leaving the meeting, the Constable pulls Melar and Winthrop aside. He wants to inform them that his men told him that Melar and Winthrop had questioned a cloth merchant recently. The merchant and his cousin were found dead in their shop last night. The Constable doesn’t believe that Winthrop or Melar had anything to do with the deaths, but wished to warn them that something foul might be a foot. Melar asks what was the manner of the killings, and the Constable says that the bodies were gnawed.