Zale started, his eyes jerking upward as Esmarelda pulled him out of his contemplations. He blinked, looking up at her as he parsed her question. He let out a soft little chuckle, letting his head lean backwards.
"No...no, it's not. Not really. It's just..." he sighed, and looked more directly at her, his expression serious.
"I am...was? Gch." He shook his head, frustrated. "I swore an oath, to follow a code. It's pretty thorough, but there's one line:"
Closing his eyes, he continued as if reciting. "I will guard the honor of my fellows, both thought and deed." Opening his eyes, he looked up at Esmarelda with a wry expression, gesturing towards her face. "That's gotten a bit complicated."
Zale left his chain shirt behind that morning, anticipating mobility being more important than armor today. Over and over again, he set his feet and hauled, his toughened frame allowing him to pull his weight and more.
As Aviz is ordered up the rigging again, he feels his stomach drop. He shakes his head. "I can't, not in this weather. My back is still twisted from earlier."
"Ha!" Esmarelda let out a laugh as she settled down next to their paladin. Laying her head on his shoulder. "My honor has been gone for years now sweetheart. But it is nice that you care enough to think about my honor." She said softly, a smile on her lips. "I can take Scourge's punches... or well backhands, and keep going...." She told him, her voice still low. She was silent for a few minutes before she tried to change the topic so he wouldn't dwell on it. "You are Varisian, do you have a kapenia?" She asked him.
"That bastard," G'nosha grunted.
She clenched her fist, as if dreaming to throw it into Scourge's face.
"I wouldn't say that I like Kroop, lad. Just that he doesn't bother me. And at least the man's pretty alright. And I'm not sure to consider myself 'lucky' to be on this boat."
She frowned when Esmarelda called her "Lovely":
"Wassup with the nickname?" the scarred half-orc chuckles. "Do ya think I've got a face to be called 'Lovely'?"
The barbarian got to work, but surprisingly, she seemed to lack strength. Maybe she was tired?
"That he is. Bastard through and through." Esmarelda agreed with a shrug. Though when the Orc blooded woman brought up her "odd" nickname Esmarelda offered a kind smile. "Well you never gave me your name so I gave you a nickname, I chose Lovely because well... I've never seen such lovely green eyes before." She told her honestly as she leaned against a beam. "But if you don't like it them I can change it... or you could give me your name and I'll call you that." She explained as crossed her arms.
Aviz rigs a brace up around his back so it can catch him on the next fall and grits his teeth, beginning the climb.
As Aviz scrambled up the mast, he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, about 30 foot above the deck. He had just a moment to scream "Look out!", before a massive wave slammed over the deck, forcing people up against the rails, tossing them about like rag dolls, sending a mysterious white object crashing in to the stairwell, lodging there as the water recedes.
As you all wipe the rain from your eyes and glance around the deck, just after the wave had hit, you find someone missing. Conchobhar Turlach, the Gnome, had been swept off deck, and was being torn away by the sea. The wave carried him ten foot away in the initial swell, before anyone could react.
Esmarelda
G'Nosha
Conchobhar
Zale
Aviz
Eskilline
The man is screaming and waving his arms over his head, trying to get back to the ship.
Esmarelda snatched up a rope that was secured, wrapping around her waist and tying it off. "Sweetheart! Lovely! Pull me back in once I grab him!!" She called out as she ran to the side he had fell over and jumped. Esmarelda took a deep breath just before her body crashed into the ocean. When she broke the surface once again she called out to Conchobhar. "Swim to me!"
The half-orc was still suspicious... But Esmarelda seemed sincere. This was even more confused for her than to be called "Lovely".
"Thanks," she eventually muttered, avoiding the rogue's gaze. "You're, uh... Very fine too."
Apparently, she wasn't used to say these kind of things.
G'nosha caught a glimpse of the intriguing white object, but her attention was quickly drawn away, as she noticed that the gnome fell into the sea, and that Esmarelda was jumping after him.
"Sweetheart! Lovely! Pull me back in once I grab him!!"
She let out a few swearwords in orcish, and grabbed the rope holding Esmarelda, ready to pull her back when needed.
Aviz swears and swings around, sliding down the mast and running to the side.
Conchobhar slips beneath the surface before managing to claw his way up to the air again. He doesn't make any progress towards the ship.
Zale's brow furrowed as Esmarelda tried to pass over Scourge's blows, but let the moment pass, not sure what else to say. As she continued on to ask about his kapenia, he smiled a small wistful smile.
"Not of my own, I'm afraid. My parents weren't terribly interested in the practice. Although, my great-grandfather's scarf was actually what inspired me to...well." He held up his tattooed right hand. "The oath I mentioned."
Zale responded to Es's yell immediately, dashing for the rope and taking it up along side G'Nosha. Nodding to the woman, he tensed, prepared to haul in sync with her.
Eskilline grabs a rope and runs to the edge of the ship, staring out in to the waves. He swung the rope once, twice, getting a feel for its weight, before tossing it with all of his power towards the Gnome.
The rope falls short, landing to the left of the Gnome.
Conchobhar floats a further 10 feet away from the ship, struggling.
Esmarelda pushed foreword, swimming her way to the gnome that was drifting further away from her. She reached out to him, hoping to grabbed him and quickly be returned to the deck of the ship.
[dice=Concentration check to cast a 0 level spell]1d20+5[/dice]
As Eskiline was desperately trying to throw a rope at the struggling gnome, and Zale was G'nosha decided to help him.
"Hold that for a moment," she said to Zale. "I'll be right back."
The half-orc grabbed another rope, and tried to throw it at Conchobhar.
The rope sailed clear over Esmarelda head and landed on the Gnomes. Conchobhar grabbed at it like it was his only lifeline which, in reality it was. The Gnome hung on tight and tried to fight the current, able to do little more than stay afloat.
Aviz moves to the rope and grabs onto it, ready to help haul in the swimmers.
Aviz grits his teeth and digs his heels in, trying to pull the gnome back!
Conchobhar managed to hold on tight as Aviz hauls his small body through the water, managing to pull him within ten foot of the boat.
As soon as the gnome grabbed ahold of the rope, Zale got a foot up on the rail, ready to haul Esmarelda back at the first sign she was having trouble in the treacherous waters below, but not wanting to interfere with her ability to swim for herself.
The storm rages on around the rescuers as they try to reel in their Gnome friend. As the ship crests a wave and slips down in to the trough, the gnome and human woman in the water drifting away for a second, before moving back in with the flow of the water, Aviz and G'Nosha catch sight of a sharp blue fin, flashing through the water towards the group.
"SHARK!" Conchobhar screams, catching sight of the beast moments afterwards.
"Really Besmara?! Right now?" Esmarelda said, cursing her poor luck. She looked back to the gnome before calling out. "Tie the robe around your waist! Then start climbing!" She then took out her dagger and placed it between her teeth before she gripped her own life line and began to lift herself up out of the water.
Aviz looks around for the fins, adrenaline firing up. S&%@. The luck.
Esmarelda made to scream and panicked, slipping below the waves, dragged down by the current.
"नींद" Eskilline begins muttering the words of magic.
G'nosha gritted her teeth when she saw the shark fin getting dangerously close to the ship... And Esmarelda disappearing under the water.
S***! S***, s***, s***!!!
She wasn't sure that she could reach it with her axes though.
"Aviz, if you can get it with your bow, go for it! I'll haul the gnome!"
If they could get Conchobnar on the boat quickly enough, they would have more time to take care of Esmarelda and the shark...
Danger was giving the half-orc more energy.
G'Nosha manages to dig in her heels and begin heaving the Gnome up and over the rail, where he collapses in a heap, panting heavily.
"P-pull her up!" He stutters, pushing up to his feet and grabbing the rope that is tied around Es, beginning to haul as best he can.
With a massive feat of strength, spurred on by his almost drowning, the Gnome grabs the rope and hauls as hard as he can, pulling Es up and over the rail, where she collapses on to the deck, taking Conchobhar right down under her.
The Shark meanwhile circles below, nut should leave if ignored.
Aviz jumps between Es and the shark, raising his fauchard menacingly. But as the shark calmly circles he just sneers and watches it swim off. "Everybody alright?"
"Peachy." Eskilline smiles.
Conchobhar, who is squashed to the deck with the young Rogue woman on top of him, sticks his hand in the air and gives Aviz a thumbs up, "Just fine thank you my friend but... could one of you fine gentlemen please help the young lady up? I am enjoying the whole affair but I am afraid I am quickly running out of air. Her knee is in my chest you see..." The Gnome sounds to be breathing fine, a little too fine with how much he is talking in fact.
Aviz shakes his head at the little gnome and looks out to the sea. Good. Things are calming down.
The young Varisian woman pushed herself up, giving the gnome a smirk. "This is why any time I... enjoy, those of the smaller races I prefer them on top." She joked, though still rather breathless from almost drowning, as she stood and offered him a hand.
Esmarelda heard the beating of drums and slowly looked around till she found the white box. She raised an eyebrow and after helping Conchobhar up she walked over and slowly lifted the lid.
As Es stood and the sound of drums filled her ears, her eyes are drawn towards the coffin. The sound gets louder and wilder as she walks towards the box, a powerful energy filling the air as she leans down, opening the coffin slowly. The lid is caught by a burst of power and blown wide open as the drums and noise stop all of a sudden.
As silence settles over the ship, Es leans over, staring down in to the coffin. The inside is filled with water and a thick, milky white slime. In amongst the water and the slime a rusted figure lies, still and quiet. A bright symbol of Besmara burns along the surface and the creatures eyes flash open as he begins to struggle. They lunged up towards the surface before breaking through, tumbling out on to the deck in a slimy heap.
Slime and water drains away, pooling around them but leaving the figure (and Es) remarkably untouched.
For the first time in it's new life, the Undrowned opened it's eyes. And for the first time, it felt the need to draw breath. It's lungs were burning when it inhaled nothing but slime.
Panic set in. It scrambled to climb out of it's container, but slipped on the slick, slime-covered edge several times.
Finally, it managed to roll out and onto the deck, vomiting the sludge where it fell.
Out of the slime, and gasping for breath, it's form is clear. The creature is over 8 feet tall, and suited in heavily rusted armor which is pocked with barnacles. The only equipment it has that looks new (and not on the verge of rusting away) is a large tower shield laying next to it, marked with the symbol of Besmara. It's form is stretched out to inhuman proportions, almost serpentine, and a long, armored tail leaves marks in the deck behind it. No part of it's body seems visible.
"Vus O-HHHHOOOHUUURRGH" it tries to speak but end up spilling more of the slime onto the deck, pouring out of it's helmet like a really, really horrible kettle.
It composes itself, and manages to stand, propping itself on the wall for support. It's voice is uncomfortably low, and the mail surrounding it's helmet rattles when it speaks.
"Vus ob et zavya?" It demands, looking around. The Undrowned's voice sounds panicked, and it's movements are overly defensive and jittery. "Vus ob et YAV!? Vus ob apr'ob!?"
Aviz leaps across the deck and brandishes his fauchard. "Speak the common tongue!" He shouts.