[Completed] - Valorei/Elves II - 2 April, 1 VC

[Keehnelf]

Continued from the previous thread--to be updated later.

[Keehnelf]

April 6, 1 VC - 12:30pm

Varas and Nihilius swim across the pond to the island in the center, pulling themselves up over the rocky lip to examine what might lie there. They find nestled in the rising shards of rock on the northwest side (which is closest to the party) a thick layer of reeds and grasses that have been interwoven into something like a nest perhaps eight feet across. Lying in the midst of this nest are three very large eggs, perhaps a foot across. They are gray-blue in color, with dark brown spots all over them. One of them has been cracked open and the contents are strewn across the other two eggs and the nest itself, leaving a viscous and sticky trail toward the edge of the island. It appears that the troll might have been in the process of eating the eggs when the party disturbed it.

Lying scattered all over the island are silver coins in huge quantities. The designs of them are completely foreign to Varas, but as Nihilius picks one up to look it over, something tugs vaguely at the back of his memory. Nothing distinct--but he gets the sense of having seen similar coins before.

Meanwhile, back on shore, the majority of the party sets to work building a lean-to out of sight of the sky and of the pond, while Halfred waits for trouble to rear its head near the stag carcass. He detects no scent or sound of a predator nearby after waiting long minutes, and feels satisfied that whatever left the body there, it is not currently close.

[Marullus]

Are they crisp-shelled bird eggs or the rubbery soft-shells of a lizard?

Nihilius picks up one of the coins, furrowing his brow as he considers it. "These are old... Very old. Likely beyond this nothern horse-kingdom in their origin. Gather them up so we can get them back to shore, hmm?" He pulls out two small sacks and holds them out for Varas. "The rest of this remains concerning... I need to look a bit further."

He will inspect the nest and its surrounds for more clues. Feathers? Scales? Claw marks? What nature of creature made this nest and eggs? Signs of struggle or blood? He then continues his intended circuit of the island to find other evidence of the creature(s) visiting it.

[Zhym]

Harold tries to heal Olympia, knowing that two active healers is better than one.

CLW: [1d6+1] = 1+1 = 2

But Branwyn really doesn't like healing clerics of other gods.

[AleBelly]

Varas looks over the eggs. "Dragon eggs, I'll bet. Probably from that beast that was flying east of here. Probably get some nice treasure for it."

Varas takes one of the intact eggs and stuffs it in the sack he takes from Niles. He fills the remainder of the space with as many coins as possible.

"No use sitting around here. I'm going to join the others." Varas swims back to the others. He will keep the egg warm, using his body to protect and warm it.

[Keehnelf]

Stuffing the rest of the sack with coins will preclude warming the egg with your body.

[Mister-Kent]

Is Olympia still unconscious?

[Zhym]

Is Olympia still unconscious?

I'm going off of the HP on her character sheet. She lost a bunch of HP and I don't know of anyone else in the party who could have healed her, so I thought she was still unconscious.

[AleBelly]

OK. Since I reread and Niles gave Varas two sacks, he'll put the egg in one bag and the coins in another.

[Keehnelf]

Yes, Olympia is still unconscious. (-4)

April 6, 1 VC - 12:40pm

Varas completely fills one of the sacks with coins, and it becomes clear that there are many, many more to be gathered if one had time and containers for it. Niles examines the eggs as Varas is grabbing one. They appear to be harder-shelled, probably bird eggs, with no sign of trauma or struggle nearby other than the contents of the single broken egg smeared about.

There are a few large feathers here and there in the nest, as well as--oddly enough--clumps of a musky brown fur.

[Marullus]

Having checked the island over for other interesting findings, Nihilius also fills his two sacks and swims back to shore, speeding himself along after finding the feathers and fur.

(OOC: minor correction, he had large sacks, not small ones, so it is more about what we can carry.)

[Keehnelf]

Swimming back with sacks full of coins will be challenging. Let me know how you plan to attempt to manage it.

[AleBelly]

How far is it? My initial thought is that Varas will attempt to swim on his back, kicking like hell.

[Keehnelf]

It's just over 100 feet from shore to shore--the egg sack isn't heavy enough to make much of a difference, but the sacks are 60 pounds when full so it's a strength check at a +2 penalty with one sack, or a +5 penalty with two of them.

[Marullus]

Notable for his total lack of muscle tone, Niles doesn't push it... He fills half of one of his sacks and swims back to show the others. If they lack sacks he will pour the coins into his pack and offers his sacks to stronger members.

[Enoch]

Do we have rope? We could always tie one end and haul it over.

[AleBelly]

It's just over 100 feet from shore to shore--the egg sack isn't heavy enough to make much of a difference, but the sacks are 60 pounds when full so it's a strength check at a +2 penalty with one sack, or a +5 penalty with two of them.

And how much of that is over 5' deep? I'm wondering if Varas can hold his breath, running along the bottom of the stream where it's too deep to wade.

[Keehnelf]

Hard to say--at least75 feet of it.

[Keehnelf]

It would be a straight CON test to try that with a single sack of coins. Failure means drowning damage, whereas attempting to swim with the sacks you can always drop them if you start to flounder (unless you roll a 20).

[MonkeyWrench]

Valorei, once the lean-to is complete, will tread over to the island and help Varas and Nihilius with the eggs and silver coins, making as many trips as necessary to collect everything.

He to inspects the eggs, including the broken one, and the surrounding nest. He will see if he can recognize the type of creature, possibly something he has seen or read about.

Once all is said and done he will sit by Olympia and wait for her to regain consciousness, giving her a wide smile once she does so with a friendly, "Welcome back to the land of the living"