The Wandering Archipelago (D&D 5e)

[thinkslogically]

The river seems gentle and deep here, although it has a rather unusual bright green hue. Casually checking out guards as they pass, Korrik notes that most just seem bored and hot, but are happy enough to return a polite nod and a smile as you pass.

[LAYF]

Darr├╝k helps Mehriv s good as he can, while also picking up the phase in pursuit of the scream...

[Dlover]

Mehriv opts to be a little generous to encourage reliable work and fishes out two copper coins in response to the offer, presenting them to the person, "I'll pay another two once we arrive. It's not much further from here."

[Nioca]

"Hmm. Suit yourself, then." Syli gets up off the counter and meanders back out the door.

'So much for that,' Syli thought to herself. 'Although if there does happen to be a library around here...' Glancing around, she looks for someone who appears to be a local that she might be able to ask for directions to the nearest library.

Syli... [rolls]
...locate someone for directions [Perception +5]: 15
...and ask them for directions [Persuasion +0]: 3

((Maybe I should just stay away from persuasion.))

[thinkslogically]

Perception tells you there are people around, Insight would find you a good one to talk to but yeah - you should probably just stop talking to everyone until your dice settle down!

[spiderwrangler]

I look at the odd color of the water, wondering if this is natural.

"Kal, you seen water that color before?"

► Show Spoiler

Nature (or other more applicable Knowledge check): 1D20 = [11] = 11

[Nioca]

Perception tells you there are people around, Insight would find you a good one to talk to but yeah - you should probably just stop talking to everyone until your dice settle down!

Actually, hold up: If it's Insight, that's a +3, bumping it up to a 6. Which... isn't fantastic, granted, but it sure beats a 3. Actually, wait, nevermind, misunderstood. Albeit Insight would still net a 13 on the initial check to find someone, and being insight, she probably wouldn't approach someone who'll respond violently, so... yay?

[WearsHats]

Kal takes a look. "There is much in this city I have never seen..."

► Show Spoiler

Nature: 1D20+3 = [14]+3 = 17

[thinkslogically]

Korrik and Kal ponder the river while they walk. Korrik notes that there are no boats at all in this part of the river, and doesn't remember seeing any since the ferry. Other than that, the river seems clean enough and the water is surprisingly clear. Kal frowns at the unusual river. He's not very sure what rivers in cities are supposed to look like, but this one is extremely clear and the banks are surprisingly bare, with just clean grey stones visible along them. Both notice an unusual acrid smell, that gradually gets stronger as they follow the river bank.

As they continue, the buildings gradually give way to walled-off orchards, small plantations and animal enclosures, and occasional water towers are visible over the tops of the walls.

After a little while longer, the pair eventually reach the bridge, where a solitary black-scaled dragonborn guard is standing, looking utterly, utterly bored.

Syli leaves the grumpy dwarf to his business, and casts around the street before spotting a young woman wending her ay through the crowds with bundles of parchment under her arms. Deciding she's probably as likely as anyone to know about libraries in this town, Syli hurries to keep pace with the woman, and asks her for help.

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry ma'am, I can't say I know of any that you could visit. 'Excuse me, I have to get these back to the guild before the rain comes!"

Syli glances at the sky, and sees nothing but hot sun and a clear blue sky. She opens her mouth to query the forecast, but the girl has already vanished off into the crowd.

Back up the hill, Mehriv decides to stop struggling and gives 2cp to the child and her brother. They squeak in delight and pick up the planks with surprising strength and follow along behind Darruk who gets no such break from carrying stuff. It only takes a minute or two before they arrive beside a shocked Gwen and the sobbing washerwoman. People are beginning to stick their heads out of windows and wandering into the street to see what the fuss is about. The two newly-employed street children rush up to get a better view.

"GROOOOOOSSSS! Ew!! Look at his face! And - AAAaaaaaah! WHY IS HIS SHIRT WRIGGLING!?! EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

The washerwoman goes pale.

[spiderwrangler]

I stride up to the dragonborn, all confidence and swagger. "Greetings, my friend! How are you this day?"

[Arch Lich Burns]

Gwen looks at the children and makes an illusion of a box on the dead guy so he is covered.

She thinks to Meriv <Get them away from here.>

[thinkslogically]

burns:

► Show Spoiler

I love this.

Korrik strides up to the guard and greets him enthusiastically. The guard seems to shake himself from a doze and looks up in surprise.

"Well met, stranger. You crossing? We've got no river-ships coming until tomorrow, so there's no crowds and nothing to do but stand and wait.

-------------------

Gwen surprises more than a few folk by casting the illusion of a box over the man. The younger boy complains as the corpse is hidden from his view, but the girl is indignant.

"Heeeeeeyyy! Who's done that? You've made it all fuzzy! ...Stupid wizards ruining everything... Come on, we'll come back later."

[spiderwrangler]

"We would indeed like to... river-ships? How far upriver is navigable?"

((What does this bridge look like? Is it something he has to raise to let ships upriver?))

[Nioca]

"...are you- what- seriously?!?" Syli hisses at no one in particular (seeing as the woman was already gone), her hands curling into balled fists. "Alright, y'know what, forget it. I can find my way on my own, no problem." She says to herself, opting to try and make her way toward a wealthier district. As she starts walking, she starts muttering to herself, "Gods, this is why I wanted to live as a damned hermit! Friggin' people and their pretty thrice-damned self-absorbed narcissistic..."

Syli Perception (+5): 9

((...I mean, I suppose it's better to work out the bad rolls now, I suppose.))

[thinkslogically]

"We would indeed like to... river-ships? How far upriver is navigable?"

((What does this bridge look like? Is it something he has to raise to let ships upriver?))

"Hah! I guess you're new around here then? The ships are the only craft that can navigate the Black River, and they are controlled by the old trader families up that way."

He nods towards the Merchant's Quarter.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice the how odd the rivers are here?"

((The bridge is a swing bridge made of a very dark form of wood that you've not seen before.))

► Show Spoiler

Syli curses after the girl and rants to herself as she marches down the waterfront. People occasionally give her strange looks, but most people seem happily oblivious, or are keen to avoid making eye contact with the strange angry lady...

Luckily for her, even the distractions of a bad mood can't stop her from quickly reaching the ferry crossing. A crowd has begun to gather here, presumably waiting for the next boat across the river. A tall, white wooden building stands by the slipway, with a sign above the door that reads "Ferry Tickets". The slipway is currently roped off, and there's a small sign hanging from it that says "No ticket = no crossing. Absolutely no swimming".

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[spiderwrangler]

"Came ashore this morning! We did notice that your rivers here seem to be rather un-river like in color..."

[thinkslogically]

"Hah! The colour's only the start of it, friend!

Still, that certainly explains a couple of things, like why you bothered walking all the way out here instead of taking the ferry. Usually folk from the town only come here to see the river-ships coming back, 'cos otherwise it's just a long, hot walk to nowhere in particular. I tell you what, you do this walk a couple of times and you'll find the ferry tickets suddenly don't cost so much!"

[spiderwrangler]

"I'm sure you've got a point, but had we taken the ferry, we'd not have learned of the brightly colored river and nature of river commerce! Besides, being cooped on that ship for as long as we were, a bit of a walk to stretch the legs was certainly welcome."

[Arch Lich Burns]

Gwen shoos the kids along and when they are out of sight, she asks the lady. "Are you okay m'am?" Noticing his bruises she mutters to herself before asking the lady more questions. "Do you know if this guy had any enemies? Or someone whom wanted him dead?"

► Show Spoiler

That picture made me snort. Well done thinks. Well done.

Now to murder mystery mode.

[Dlover]

Mehriv points out she shop to the children as he hands them another two coppers, "Just take the wood to that building there, then you should go somewhere more pleasant." Having seen off the children, he approaches the woman, trying to speak gently, "Something needs to be done about the body so that others aren't troubled by it. Is there any group in this city which can be contacted about the matter?"

Persuasion: 21

[Nioca]

Murmuring a few more choice curses under her breath, Syli stalks up to the ticket counter. If there isn't a price visibly posted, Syli will (if there's a line, when it's her turn) ask whoever's manning the ticket counter, "How much for a ticket?"

If it's 1 gold or less, she'll buy a ticket. Otherwise, she'll inquire about another way across the river.

[LAYF]

Seeing as Gwen and Mehriv has the woman and children under controll, Darr├╝k decides he better take a look at the corpse, and whatever is moving under the shirt.
First casting Guidance: 1D4 = [2] = 2, he continues to Investigate (plus guidance): 1D20+0+2 = [10]+0+2 = 12 the body, lifting the shirt. All the while he keeps ready to use his Dex save to dodge: 1D20+0 = [5]+0 = 5 out of the way from any attacking parasite or ally rat.

*Do'h....

[WearsHats]

"I see the river here is unusual, but how and why is the water here so different? "

[thinkslogically]

Darruk tags along and decides to take a closer look at the body. Pulling at the shirt, he dislodges a terrified rat (which flees causes another outburst of excitement from the crowds and gasps from the kids), to reveal a strange tattoo of two intertwined serpents running down the man's chest. It seems that most of the man's injuries are confined to his broken face, though the rats are apparently responsible for an oozing wound in his side. There's an empty bottle of alcohol clutched in the man's left hand.

Gwen approaches the woman and asks if she's all right, but she doesn't seem to know much.

"Oh! oh! It's awful! <sniff> We thought he was just a drunk, I swear! Oh dear, poor man! So young!"

Mehriv presses two more coppers into the older child's hand and sends them off to make their delivery. The boy looks like he's about to complain about missing all the excitement but his sister shushes him with a kick in the shins and hurries him off to do the job.

Turning his attention to the wailing washerwoman, he enquires as to where the body should be taken. Surprise at seeing someone of such noble status talking to her seems to snap her out of her shocked state.

"Something needs to be done about the body so that others aren't troubled by it. Is there any group in this city which can be contacted about the matter?"
"Oh I don't know. It's the city guard's job, but they never bother coming up here... I suppose... Well there's the Ghouls too but you don't exactly want to go looking for them..."

She makes a hasty sign with her hands as if she's warding something away when a stocky man with a long grey moustache and bloodstained apron steps in front of Mehriv while a younger man throws a sheet over the body and begin to wrap it up.

"They aren't ghouls, Mar and you shouldn't call 'em that. We'll take care of him for now, stranger. The guard don't much care about us up here, and we don't bother much with them neither. Now, why don't you take your fancy clothes back across the river where you belong and leave us to sort this lad out in peace. We'll see that he's taken care of. Same to the rest of yous all! Don't you have jobs to be doing?"

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Syli heads to the ticket booth and finds a young woman to sell her a return ticket for 5 sp. She heads back outside and waits around for the five minutes or so it takes for the ferry to come in. A young, bare-chested and black-scaled dragonborn leaps off the ferry and ties it to the dock before leaping down and lowering the wooden ramp in a practiced motion followed by an enormous creature who hops down from the ferry. Somewhere behind her, Syli hears a woman gasp in shock as it rumbles orders at the crowd.

"Move back, move back! We've got a big one coming off. Make some space! Come on, move it!"

The creature has huge pointed ears and fangs and looks like an unholy cross between a wolf and a goblin. Still, no-one else seems overly concerned, and despite some jostling and shoving as the waiting crowd are forced to get out of the way of a disembarking ox and cart, it doesn't take too long for everyone to hand over their tickets to the enormous boatman and get on board.

Once on the ferry, Syli is somewhat surprised that the expensive ferry is so poorly furnished. Two benches run up the sides of the ferry for passengers to sit on, but most of the space is standing room only. A couple of portholes cut into the high sides of the vessel are the only way to see out and she's grateful she's not overly claustrophobic as the ferry fills up. A pair of enormous, apparently identical half-orcs sit with their arms resting on two massive oars on either side of the ship and the wolfish boatman takes up a comfortable position at the rudder. After a few minutes, the ferry is full and they begin their crossing.

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Korrik and Kal continue chatting to the guard and enquire about the river.

"Well, that's the truth! Long boat trips do give you an appreciation for a good walk! Mind and not get caught in the rain though. I figure you've got about an hour to find yourselves some shelter.

The river? You mean mean you haven't guessed? All right, well it's acid. All the rivers around these parts seem to have weird corrosive waters, but no-one's ever figured out why. Just one of those things I suppose. Still, it keeps folk like me employed at least!

...Seriously though, don't drink the water and don't swim in it. It'll hurt."

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[spiderwrangler]

"We're certainly glad to have gotten a warning before either of us felt the need for a quick dip to cool off! Is the rain acid as well, or are you just expecting a storm? Do you think we can make it to the Temple of Pelor before then?"