Misscliks: Pirate Edition Chapter 2 Episode 6

Cast
Neal 'Koibu' Erickson - DM Anna Prosser Robinson - December Geneviève 'livinpink' Forget - Lily Dudley Stephanie "Miss Harvey" Harvey - Fe Geoff 'iNcontrol' Robinson - Tyrant
 * Recap from EtoileLion on reddit. Editoral notes are theirs.

Day 220, Part 2: Swabbing The Deck
The 24 hour virus passes without much incident (other than no doubt lots of deck swabbing and emptying of stomachs), as the crew rests up in Sunken Landing. Lily wanders off to pick up a couple of spell scrolls from the wizards she'd met previously.

Day 221: What's In The Box?
Lily tries to learn Dispel Magic and Hypnotic Pattern; she is successful in the former, not so much with the latter, the scroll evaporating in her hands. (EL: Lily is barred from learning Hypnotic Pattern until next level.)

The ship makes for Northal, that being a logical point to head for Ironrock Mountain.

Lily attempts to dispel magic on the box, which opens it. She finds a Key to the Jeweller's Safe and a broach of silver studded with diamonds, both of which are non-magical.

Interestingly, the box seals itself again after two minutes.

Day 228: I Am Not A Cow.
Tyrant starts asking the crew if they have any grass on board. This begins the first of many discussions about the origins of the Minotaur. (EL: #IAmNotACow). December assuages him with an Apple.

Day 232: New Year, New Adventure
(EL: It is now January 1st. Happy New Year everybody; except for December, anyway...)

The BanaNARS arrives in Northal. The orc remains on-board the ship - reminding them that his contract binds him to protect the ship, so he stays. Hammerfist, Franz and Flint stay as well.

"Orcs are notoriously legalistic." -Geoff (EL: Not really.)

Birthday Break: It's the new year, so everyone gets aged a year. It's decided that it'd be a good idea for the characters to have actual birthdays, so it's rolled for. Lily was born December 10, Fe on October 7. December doesn't know her birthday, and will be aged at end-of-year. (EL: By these dates, Lily's birthday was had during the trip to Beggar's Cove last week. Fe's occurred during the wait for the Ivenguard Envoy at Orlan Sands (Season 1 Finale))

The ladies, Tyrant, Drax, Guy, and Brand head inland. Because they won't have access to the ship's funds, they each take a set amount with them. (Fe: 0, December: 600g, Lily: 275g, Tyrant: 25g)

Day 234: The Only Sure Things In Life Are Taxes And...
It's crew payday. The crew aboard ship are paid, and money is set aside for the shore party.

Day 235: Halfling Hooligans
The group arrives in Nightingale's Crossing. December continues to bond with Tyrant, discussing the Minotaur homeland of "Minotauria" (EL: I doubt that.).

Lily is advised by Fe to cover her hair - after all, Jess Anemoi's description is not unknown.

The ladies stay at an inn called "The Rusty Bucket", a down-low kind of establishment. Among those present, are three female halflings.

The three say they're from Underflop, which is "Far to the North". Lily pitches them some Palm Balm, which is met with lukewarm response. Fe on one beer decides she's drunk enough to try and get Lily hooked up by asking if they know any male halflings around. One of the halflings questions where Lily got her hair; they've never seen a halfling with red hair. She questions and then implies that perhaps Lily is part dwarf. (EL: I'm fairly sure a Dwarf and a Halfling can't actually produce offspring.)

Lily tries to bring the halflings together by saying they all have hairy feet.... which causes the three to react by calling out that fact loudly, as though they don't, and point and laugh at Lily, commenting that perhaps Lily needs a little dwarf in her. December 'accidentally' trips one as she walks off with the other captains, starting a jeering back-and-forth between the groups. Fe Hulk Smash's a chair to emphasize her point, and then they leave. The captains have a brief discussion about mean girls. (EL: Bullying is bad, kids.)

December notices in their inn room that her gold purse is lighter than she remembers.... (EL: Lily and December have both been pickpocketed, and lose 40g) Lily suggests discalceating the halflings. (EL: Anna is correct here: discalceate. Verb. To remove the shoes from.)

Day 236: Departing On The Down Low
Lily expresses her frustration at the halflings again. Fe goes down to the bar to inquire if the bartender knows where they went. The bartender plays absolutely dumb - see nothing, know nothing - this is how the place operates, which Fe decides she likes the sound of, given their wanted status. Packing up, the group moves on.

Day 239: Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear
Before sun-up outside of Sithram, the group is awakened by the sounds of big cat growlings. They spy two odd looking panther-like creatures stalking towards them, each with a pair of spiked tentacles coming out of their shoulders.

COMBAT: Displacer Beasts. The understandable confusion of the beasts' placement causes issues with a few of our party, landing two of them (Brand and Guy) gravely injured. (EL: This is also the rollout of the changed battle system.) Fe manages to down them both with help.

Lily decides the displacer beasts' still-glowing eyes would be nice to have. So she plucks them out and puts them in a bag she borrows from Guy. Taxtax would be proud. Guy probably not so much.

Fe and December start riding Guy and Brand's bodies to Sithram to get immediate treatment. Lily and Tyrant remain behind to partially skin the beasts, de-eye them, and then follow along.

Fe and December are directed to the local healer, Eyecye. He determines that it'll be a while in treating them, at least a week. He will charge 5g each a day, plus the inn's fees. He designates the Eagle's Claw just down the street as the best choice. December identifies the men as Sherman and Lynch, and herself as Allen. Fe is Wilson. (EL: Anna may or may not have been regurgitating the starting lineup of the Superbowl Champion Seahawks.)

Tyrant wanders off to the local library, and steals a book. - Arms and Armor for Fighting Dragons - A Beginner's Guide, by Jamie Hammerfink. Lily researches Displacer Beasts. December spends time with her horse. Fe meditates.

Lily jars and waters her eyes. She puts the section of tentacle she took onto December's horse bags.

Day 240: A Gift That Glows
Lily gives December one of the eyes in a jar, because apparently thieves value them.

Day 242: Last Gas Stop
The group arrives at Kanutta. They hear that Stone Gulch is pretty much a mining camp - not much of a town, and supplies should be gotten now before they go.

Tyrant sells the book he stole for 1g. (EL: He makes in 2 days what he would have made in 5 months of working on the ship.)

Shopping Spree time. The girls buy an axe, a shovel, a pickaxe, and a lantern.

Day 245: Day Of The Tentacle
The group arrives in Stone Gulch. There's quite a few Dwarves here. Few elves as hunter/gatherers.

There seem to be several entrances to the mountains, both here in town and further around to the east. the group looks around for a foreman type, and approach him; he has no idea who Captain Chancellor was, however. (EL: Another name from the roster. The captain of the NARS was unnamed prior to this.)

Following a group headed east, they come across another mineshaft, this one with rails and cart, and a path heading further east. The group choose to follow the path, and they come to a disused, boarded up mine.

"Mines are dangerous places." -December. "They are not dangerous places." -Tyrant.

A prolonged discussion begins about who is holding the axe. December insists Tyrant carries the axe; to the point of sneaking around behind him and planting the axe in his sheath. She decides to dock Tyrant's wage.

Smashing their way into the mine, the party starts to descend into the cold damp darkness via a very long ladder. They reach a landing which may or may not be phallus shaped. (EL: The pictures do this one justice.)

Lily decides to use the Left Hand Rule to navigate the dungeon. After a few intersections, suddenly Drax screams out in pain and collapses.

COMBAT: Gelatinous Cube. How do you fight a transparent acid jelly? Fire, knives, an axe or two, and a lantern thrown for no effect other than to blind the group as the light goes out. Lily is grabbed by an acid tentacle, burning her a bit, Drax is rendered incapacitated, and a lot of fighting in the dark.

The group gathers up some Gelatinous Cube ooze in one of the eyeball-jars, plopping the eye in a backpack (EL: Fe is now only missing some Hydra Tears). They then return to the entrance. Unfortunately, Drax has succumbed to his wounds and is dead. (EL: The ship's fund is refunded 2s for loss of crew member. Always look on the bright side of death.) They bury him fondly.

The group returns to Stone Gulch, lighter than they were before. (EL: December lost 4 daggers; the group lost their lantern. And then there's Drax.)

Tyrant and December go to the bar. Lily goes looking for books. Tyrant tries to engage the second-biggest guy in the bar in arm wrestling, but doesn't quite seem to be understanding of how negotiating works. December pickpockets Tyrant to keep him from gambling away all his money.

Tyrant almost starts a fight, but then ends up confusing everyone in the room by immediately defusing the situation. He asks for a book, which causes him to be directed to Lord Waterdale, who lives up on the hill outside of town (EL: Naturally.)

Tyrant somewhat randomly axes the table he's sitting at in half, to get peoples' attention. He just wants a book. He pays 5g for the table, confusing everyone. He wanders off to eat some grass and curl up to sleep.

Day 246: We Must Go Deeper
During the night, Tyrant got up, chopped down a tree, stuck some logs in the bottom of it, calls it a bench and delivers it to the inn where he smashed the table. Because... recompense?

December wanders into a shop, which as it turns out is a lantern emporium. Purchasing some replacement lanterns, the group returns to the mine.

Once again using the Left Hand Rule, the group returns to the remains of the Gelatinous Cube, and press on.

They come across some abandoned mining tools at a dead end. They continue working their way left. A few more dead ends, and they come up to a ladder leading further down.

Following the same rule, they start to go down a tunnel. As they walk, they start to notice light brown mold on the walls, and that it's getting cold again. Lily's getting apprehensive, because they're not seeing signs of excavation or the supposed jewel. Fe leads the way as the brave one.

When Fe gets within a few feet of the mold, she suddenly feels heat being sucked out of her. Collapsing to her knees,she is grabbed by Tyrant and pulled back. The mold in response seems to be growing.

Deciding that was all sorts of bad, the group retreats back down the tunnel. They find a much larger cavern, which smells of rotting flesh. There's a lot of bones and pieces of humanoids and their mining equipment. There was a lot of activity here.

Probing into the last cavern on this level of the mine, they come across a 15 foot long, 2 foot diameter giant snake with glinting scales and triangular spines along the dorsal side of the beast. The head of a human with stringy hair and lidless eyes. There's the stench of decaying flesh coming from it. And on that cliffhanger, we end for the week!


 * Recap from EtoileLion on reddit. Editoral notes are theirs.