Stranded+on+Last+King+Island


 * __On Last King Island__**

Here we are! There are about 25 of us former slaves washed ashore on this island. We landed on a sandbar, and after an hour of assessing our situation, we formed a rickety raft from our equipment chests and made our way to the island itself. On the way we passed another small island in the bay where we found an entrance underground with the inscription, Tomb of the Last King of Predallen. Hmm, definitely worth some exploration when we are a bit more settled in. I'll bet the butler did it, with some help from Tatemae. Anyway, we continued to the only source of fresh water we could see, and began to settle along some trees beside the stream. We soon found about 30 nests made from brush here, and decided to send out some scouting parties. Two found little, but one was challenged by some creature supposedly called a baboon, a roughly humanoid animal. We decided to move our camp across the river, and the baboons seem to have accepted us as neighbors, as long as we don't cross the river. We will have to deal with them sooner or later, I believe.

The next day we split into three groups. One used our rickety raft to grab more supplies along the southern end of the shore. Another scouted out the east end of our valley. A third salvaged Honne's boat that two of our members had escaped the GhostMoon upon. It turned out to be only lightly damaged and easily repaired by the end of the day. In addition we found more supplies and three locations of note on our island. There are ruins of a small fishing village at the east end of the island. There are some sort of ruins barely visible up on a plateau above our camp along the river. Lastly, there is some sort of statue/obelisk on top of the mountain ridge near the south end of the island. We walked through the fishing village, and found nothing of immediate interest, but didn't stay to explore fully. All slated for later exploration once we're settled in better.

We spent the whole next day using our repaired boat to salvage things from the GhostMoon. The first level and above is sitting on a reef while the burned/smashed lower levels have sunk some distance away. It is clear that most important items were already taken by the retreating crew and leaders, but there still is more loot there than we could carry in several days of salvage. We started by looting the dead crew and slaves for money, especially the leaders' quarters. We found 100 more slave boxes and all kinds of odds and ends. We also found Ispear, The Master of Slaves, barely alive, below decks. We saved him, he passed his trial, and is now numbered among our prisoners.

__**Things Yet to Do**__ Salvage yet more stuff from the GhostMoon Explore the Last King's Tomb Explore the Fishing Village Explore the Ruins on the Upper Plateau Check out the South Ridge Obelisk

__**More Important Things Yet to Do**__ per Mojo Find a place to defend. We know there are crazy fishmen out there, possibly pirates and other predators. Also, likely the Ghost Moon leader/survivors will be back, they still need slaves for the Games! Find a place to escape to in case overwhelming opponents. Set up a lookout post on highest spot to watch in day. Find a way to get off this island as fast as possible, before the Ghost Moon Predallens come back.


 * __Exploring the ruined Temple Area__**

We decided to plunder/salvage from the GhostMoon for another day, but the weather was rainy and windy and unsuitable to our small craft, so upon Mojo's advice we set up the stream to find us a camp further away from the coast, in case slaveholders return to find us. A path led for a ways before we came upon a wide but very steep stairway up beside the first waterfall. We had been being trailed by some baboons, so with Lori and Hunter up in trees with bows, the rest set off up the stairs. Right at the top of the stairs were 17 more baboons, including a strange leader. They screamed and charged us, and the three down below also charged. A nasty fight ensued and most of our fighters were chewed up quite a bit, but the baboons broke and fled in the end. We shot a few more before they got away. In the end, we killed 13 of the 20. It's clear we can't live alongside them peacefully. The leader was very unusual in several ways. First, he appeared to be far too intelligent for an animal. Secondly, he regenerated or was in some other way healed after being hit and dropped by our paladin Basil. We haven't solved this puzzle yet, since he led the group that got away.

At that first plateau was a temple area with a slate flooring and 7 buildings. All the buildings were desecrated completely, with marble sarcophagi scattered around a pool area, bones everywhere, and the buildings scraped clean of magical insignia and other decoration. After careful inspection of the remains, we were able to piece together much of the use of this area. Six of the buildings around a central pool contained about 30-50 sarcophagi each. They were high advisors and other important personages, not kings themselves. The kings were dismembered in the 7th building and cremated, different body parts to either Tatemay or Honne. A source of magical healing water welled up in a basin there and flowed out into the pool. The whole area was decorated in white and pink marble, with real and symbolic paintings and reliefs of the two sisters. There is a higher plateau with another building set on a slate flooring. Edgtho and Feyren noticed that there seemed something on the slate floors here and started clearing out the debris and growth to see some pattern of pictures. The building seems to be some sort of priest house and not despoiled like the 7 buildings below. Edgtho is trying to de-cipher the slate pic-to-gram from perched atop the priest building. Mojo thinks Edgtho is an idiot. (Just checking to see if Jeff reads this.)


 * Edgtho may be an idiot, but he looks good while doing it.**

Multiple characters dinged to 2nd level. The other 1st levels look on enviously as hp counters musically chime. **Therefore, level 2 characters will need to rush into the fight ahead of the 1st level characters who have less hit points.**

That this place was once a holy place to Tatumay and Honne for centuries is little in doubt. The red and white alternating colors, portrayings of them as guardians and also mountains, etc. can be found all around the area. Centuries of buried kings and their advisors are here. Who desecrated this area, though, is yet in doubt. Could it be that this is where Honne first showed her betrayal of her sister? Honne's madness manifested itself in this destruction? The timing seems about right; I think the split happened a couple of generations ago. As for the regenerating baboon, could a lifetime of drinking the healing stream cause sufficient healing to be called regeneration? We'll see, folks! Same bat time, same bat channel.
 * __Conclusions and Possibilities__**

__**Next session tasks**__ suggestions per Ace: -kill the baboons, way too dangerous, even valiant paladin Basil was barely a match. Only crazy Mojo had fun. Barbarians! glad we got one but only one. Edgtho - risk your own hide playing "lion-tamer" on that leader baboon. -**or...try and speak to the baboon leader (who may have a higher intelligence level than Mojo) and see if we can gather information or come to a truce/agreement/working arrangement.** -some of us researcher types need to figure out this ruins/temple area and how the magic of the fountain works-**which we could find out from talking to the leader of the baboons** -another group explore rest of island for food and resources(after baboon hunt is successful) **or talk to the baboon to find out what other secrets he can reveal about the island.** -see if weather clears and salvage what pieces of ship to make our own boat/raft, along with the prior "Things To Do" mentioned previously **or get the baboons to make us one after we talk to them and come to a truce** -is it worth while to bring up Predallens(Ispear, Muba, the sailors) to this area to get their input? -damn Saffron is looking hot, or have I been away from civilization too long and starting to appreciate that narrow butt hybrid. uh-oh, did I just say that out loud!?!?!? ohhhh freak. (saffron listen check roll?)

-Mojo is skinning up the dead baboon carcasses, trying to preserve the best fur skins for making simple clothing or leg/arm wraps, and then starts cooking the baboon meat. "Eat! Eat as much as you can to regain your health, be strong when Predallens come back! Then we kill them all!"


 * __Meeting the Baboon__**

-- After the battle, we moved our camp up to the first plateau and are staying in the main building. We also converted one side building into a cooking/food storage/smoker and put a lot of baboon meat there to cook. This all took quite awhile, the rest of the day. In the morning we found the weather to be better, so we went to the GhostMoon wreck for some more foraging. We gathered many weapons and some armor, cooking supplies, another scorpion, and generally searched for valuables. We theorized there must be hidden cargo compartments aft. We managed to find one small chest that was trapped, and we took it back to the island. We also found 18 more chits, but no cash or such valuables. Later, back in camp, Ogrel tried to open the chest, but failed to completely disarm the trap inside. Acid spilled on several documents, but the Hunter grabbed them and dove into the pond. With mending, we managed to recover about a third of it. It is a list of locations and dates, but without the code key, we can't translate it. -- While we were on the ship, the foraging party found a poorly buried chest full of temple ornaments, chalices, candlesticks, etc. worth hundreds or even thousands of gold. It had been buried recently by a baboon and the rain had washed the dirt off of it. The items were dedicated to Odin and were an incomplete set, but of an ancient design that could be worth a lot. We looked at them, debated them, and in the end decided to keep them. That night, near dawn, the baboon leader came back and stood at the top of the stairway to the second plateau (the priest's home) and started such a racket that everyone woke up. While the druid tried to talk to him, Zephyr and Hunter stood guard. After a bit the baboon calmed down a bit, but was still agitated and unable to communicate. Zephyr dropped his weapons and climbed the stairs alone to meet him. Communication was eventually established, to some degree, because he could understand some Common and Celestial, and it could imprint thoughts through a mind-meld process. Gestures and pictures drawn in the dirt also helped. This island is sacred to the Predallen people. The people here worship Odin, and during difficult times with pirates, Odin gave Tatemay and Honne bodies and dedicated them to the service of guarding the people. The Guardians were well loved by the people for years until after the comet when Honne "went insane". She corrupted many people including the king and a civil war erupted, during which Honne desecrated the Temple area here on Last King Island. Honne lost the war, and the last king died, leaving Predallen to be ruled by a Council. The Baboon, an eternal spirit creature and given power to guard Last King Island by Tatemay and Honne, was protected by Honne during the desecration and he managed to save some of the gold artifacts of the temple there. We returned his treasures to him, and he replaced them in their correct locations in the temple area. He then led us to another chest he had buried, filled with healing potions. -- The next day we decided to travel around the island. We started by heading south and went around the southern tip. We discovered a lagoon along the western side of the island and soon an abandoned marble quarry. Spider webs covered the quarry area, and after lamenting our lack of torches, we went in anyway. A zillion little spiders chased us out again. We started a large fire, created torches for everyone, and returned, burning out the webs and the spiders therein. We found a steep path leading upward and emerged at the top of the ridge. Following the ridge revealed a series of statues thrown down but eventually led us to the obelisk on the southern peak. Close inspection found a loose rock, behind which were documents detailing the agreement between Odin and Tatemay/Honne. The signature of Odin was of exquisite workmanship (workgodship?). While the documents were of historical value and might fetch a fair price, we returned them to their niche. It's not wise to upset the gods without purpose. -- Continuing down we found a small port area, the only place on the island where big ships could approach without hitting a reef. Only stone foundations remained. Not far past that, on the northern side of the island, we found a stairway cut into the stone mountainside. We climbed the stairway for hours, switching back and forth, eventually reaching the top. Here was a crystal throne, used for crowning kings over the centuries and now the Council members. The oath of office was inscribed on the throne. A niche, similar to that at the Obelisk, contained two scepters used in oathtaking. Belonging to Predallen and not to Odin and also being bejewelled, we took them. -- Dusk had fallen as we were at the top, so we spent the night there. During the night, a ship from Predallen arrived. A party quickly searched the GhostMoon, burned the remains, and sent a party ashore. They remained a few hours, then left, leaving one young man on shore. Not only did they row back to the bigger ship, they then sailed off, leaving him behind. We started walking to the temple area, we caught up and talked to him. He is a young acolyte of Odin/Tatemay and sent here for a month of solitude and communion with history and the guardian. Upon learning we were formerly slaves, he is scared half to death of us. He is utterly convinced the whole world Outside Predallen is a violent, barbarian area and would not believe a word we had to say.

-- 5 more characters advance to 2nd level

__Left to do__: - Explore the Tombs of the Kings - Get off the Island -- but where to? - ask guardian baboon where his chest of potions come from? did he make them? - how is the water in the temple charged with healing? - ask guardian baboon any other dangers in the sea? do the sahuagin ever come on shore?

__**Explore Tomb of Last King**__

The acolyte of Predallen has very limited knowledge of outside events. He only knows various religions extensively, his goal is to be a researcher and discover locations of all the "god" weapons on the material plane. We did learn a few things about Predallen: The capital city is on the western plain, and there are two other large cities on the northern and eastern plains. The central area is mountainous and largely unpopulated. Foreigners, except those survivors of the games, are not allowed onto Predallen. They may only visit a small island on the south side. Finding limited information from the acolyte, the group heads off to check out the tomb. There Mojo notices a face of a creature spectre like in the upper portion of the Tomb entrance. We find a "shade" of a creature, not quite corporal. It conversed in celestial with Zephyr. This creature (name???) says they are the new avatar of Odin to replace Honne and Tatumay. It wants our group to be observers and provide information back to it of the situation on Predallen, what the people want and believe. It also asked each one of the party "What do you want/desire?"

Mojo asked questions of the shade about the rest of the Tomb. He was less that happy at the terse non-informative responses.

The party heads into the lower section of Tomb. Hunter and Lori-syphillis in the lead to use elven sight. We discovered 2 dead fighters in the tunnel, skewered by metal darts. Mojo picked up the 4 darts. This trap warned us of others to come. The group comes to a open room with about 30 body sized niches along the 2 walls. The room filled with a bunch of rats. Lori started killing some and Mojo skinning for breakfast for group. The dying squeaks enraged the other rats and they swarmed toward the group. Most of the group pulls back to the narrow corridor and set up an oil blaze. Hunter stayed in room and went snow-rat-sledding with her shield, trying to squish multiple rats. One swarm jumped the fire break and Mojo, Kevlar, Obadiah all started stomping and rolling to kill the rats. Ace kept shooting ray of frost, getting 3 kills. Lori-syphillis also tries to emulate Hunter with puny success. Finally, the rats broke and ran away. Here the room was labeled "The Hall of Protectors". We found lots of usable armor and swords, just need a day of work to fix up for use. Group headed down hall to a seemingly dead end of a half-worked tunnel. Obadiah found a celestial glyph on rock wall above a hidden rock door in the floor, found by Lori. The glyph read "Predallen", and Zephyr recalling an ancient legend story repeated the word and Viola', the door opened. We found another nice worked hallway that led to another doorway. We are poised to move in, once we have rested.

Obadiah and Lori-syphillis advanced to 2nd level.

Working our way deeper into the tomb we found a large room with an altar in the back of it against the wall. We noticed oil on the floor and investigated slowly with the torches safely back. We found a secret exit behind the altar. We brought up everyone but Ace and then moved the altar forward. Sparks shot out and ignited the floor. No one was hurt, but smoke was filling the room. Ace ran up to us taking minimal damage and the exposed hole had a draft that kept the smoke blowing back away from us. We decided to move forward and let the fire burn itself out. Beyond we found secret passages to bypass that room. We found a room with the counselors of the final king, sitting dead at a feast.They had some good loot on them! We believe that when their king died, they decided to end their lives with the end of he kingdom. In front of each was a glass with a enchanted potion, one for each color of the rainbow. We figured out a riddle that said to drink the blue liquid to continue.

Further on we found the final room, a triangular room with 91 niches for ceramic jars, each labeled with the name of a king. Oddly enough, it seems that the room had precisely enough niches for each king, as if the Gods knew how many kings there would be! The first king of Predallen had his brain in a glass jar of fluid at the apex of the room. He attacked us psionically, stunning everyone except Ogrel, who claims to have broken the glass jar with a crossbow bolt. The rest of the party (having the //natural prejudices// endemic to the larger races) was incapable of accepting the truth of what happened, and decided instead to believe it probably broke from the strain of attacking so many of us. Anyway, we also found a dozen or so Masterwork weapons each worth an additional 50gp from encrusted gems. Being the end, we loaded it all up (taking a couple of trips) and went back to camp.

Having fully explored and looted this island we then had to decide what to do next. Our boat will carry us to Predallen, but only 6 at a time. Mojo wanted to kill our prisoners and sail to Predallen and finish the Gremlin's quest (The acolyte suspects that the being we found is called the Gremlin, an otherplanar being who appears from time to time in Predallen history.) Zephyr finally convinced him to trust them to keep their words because all but Mubu will be executed if the truth came out anyway. Saffron convinced the acolyte that his destiny was that Odin wished for him return to Predallen with them. He had seen the Gremlin as a young man on Predallen, and all of the acolytes see it to be judged by it when they get to this island - all except him! Surely this means that his destiny lies back on the main island, right? (?? They come to see the baboon, Will, not the Gremlin. The Gremlin appears very, very rarely in Predallen history, which is why the acolyte is convinced that something big is up and he could be part of it.)

Anyway, the plan is for many of us (the characters) to sail to Predallen, land on a haunted island for a night, then ferry onto the mainland and travel openly as a historical expedition (Details Follow). The acolyte will be a Predallen historian leading the expedition. The other slaves and our captives will wait 3 weeks or so and then make for the "Foreigner's Island" and sail off as they wish. If caught they were floating in the ocean until beaching on Haunted Island. Eventually the skiff also beached and they could leave. They can all go together because they made a raft of the 100 or so equipment boxes we never managed to open.