Speaking of which, no one has seen Hagebak since well before the fight the night previous.
Speaking of which, no one has seen Hagebak since well before the fight the night previous.
Penance nods solemnly to the Khaan, watching his men disappear, and only after they're no longer immediately present does he let his shoulders sag.
"Good idea," he mutters to Shinjuko, getting to his feet and looking for Hagebak. Only then does he realize the mercenary captain isn't in the tent with them. Brows knit, the half-orc sticks his head outside and calls to one of the mercenaries.
"Where's Captain Hagebak?"
In the resultant looking around, it comes out that, in fact, nobody's seen him.
"The hell?" Penance growls, both tired and frustrated. Now they've got a missing commander to worry about, on top of wrestling a boat ashore? "Men! Fall in!"
Devram watches as the crew and mercenaries gather. "Has no one seen Hagebak?" He repeats. "Did the man die in the attack or is just lost in some god-forsaken stupor?" He looks at some of the sailors. "Well?"
Hagebak is easily found passed out on his tent, surrounded by four empty liqour bottles. He snores fitfully and appears to have pissed himself.
"Stupid idiot." Devram gives the man a swift kick in the ribs to try and rouse him. "Get up, you drunk pig. I have news for you. We're going to beach your beautiful ship and then strip her for parts. You might never make it off this island!" He rolls his eyes and chuckles.
Penance grits his teeth on realizing the man is not only still alive-and-well, but has been pissing-drunk... in his tent... while their men were dying.
Devram's kick in the ribs is a good start, but not half-enough to satisfy Penance.
The half-orc strides in with his faced locked in a snarl, grabs the man by the collar, and hauls him out of the tent to toss him onto the sand. If that doesn't wake him up, Penance bets being publicly flogged will.
At the nearest mercenary, he snarls, "You follow the orders of this sot?"
After Devram kicks him the captain grunts and stumbles to his feet. "Huh!? F+!+'s goin' on?" As Penance tries to grab him, he shoves the half orc back.
Penance gets a firm grip on the captain, but the huge Ulfen struggles mightily in his hands. "Whadderudoin?" he growls.
He shoves Penance off, and grabs his spear from his feet leveling it at the Agent. "You better start makin' sense or I'll gut ye!"
He had remained silent and observing until now. After all ruffians fighting one another was not his concern. But creating a rift or internal struggle with in their forces at such a time was.
"Enough!"
Adjusting his lenses he continues.
"Unless all of you want to find out what a fireball at point blank range taste like you will calm yourselves. Hagebak you have been far to lax in your duties and responsibilities. Much has occurred sense you entered your drunken haze."
Bring his full gaze on the captain. He voice grows calmer and colder.
"You will be informed of what has transpired. Should you ever be found to be guilty of such gross misconduct again. It will be your last time, I will see to it."
Turning to the others.
"We do not have time to waste on such things at the moment. We have greater and more pressing concerns. We should not keep the Khaan waiting. The ship must be addressed quickly."
He predicted the captain's first impulse would be to sail away. Which would no doubt be the end of him and his crew if the natives were to be believed.
he bellows. "If ye needed me, why dinnae anyone give me a swift kick in the arse an' a shout? I was hired to sail, nothin' else. You don't get ter tell me my f+#@in' duties bookworm..."
"Unless all of you want to find out what a fireball at point blank range taste like you will calm yourselves..."
Penance looks up in utter, blatant disbelief at hearing Nimlaidas addressing the situation as if he and Coates were engaging in some sort of brawl instead of a disciplinary action. His mouth hangs open a second at Nimlaidas making a threat, even as Hagebak struggles unsuccessfully to free himself from the half-orc's iron grip.
He shuts it with a click, his eyes smoldering, and says nothing during Nimlaidas's speech. When it's done, he growls into Hagebak's ear, words pitched for him alone.
"Go clean your piss off yourself. Show up like the captain you claim to be-- or be ready to live with the consequences any sailor would if he was found to be passed-out drunk while his crew fought and bled."
He lets go of the man roughly, then turns on Emerion.
"When we've got the boat sorted and have the time to spare? I want a word with you," he says shortly.
He heads to organize the men into breaking out ropes for hauling the longboat ashore, and doing what disassembling would be needed. eta (Obviously, if Hagebak is openly fighting/resisting at this point, he wouldn't be doing that.)
Emerion had little care for the rest of the situation. They had a dragon to deal with and information to gather. He left to speak with the Khaan or his advisors. He needed to know what he had to work with in order to start tipping the scales in their favor. Resources on hand or could be gathered.
"Perhaps we -or rather you, all things considered- could take a step back and reconsider?" The tailor's voice is calm and controlled as is his usual tone, even if he makes no move to approach and physically separate the two men. "You are both tired, you are both on edge, I gather. Penance from the battle and its associated unpleasantness and Captain Hagebak from the rather sudden awakening and perhaps from missing out on the opportunity to lend a hand and defend the camp and his own crew," he ventures, although whether he actually believes his own words or not is not entirely clear. Still, his purpose is to placate and he tends to use whatever may work in such a situation.
"Penance," he addresses the half-orc, "the good Captain has simply been hired by the Consortium to help us and the organization. Is it not fair to perhaps consider that he has thought that the fighting is to be left to those more... skilled in it?"
"And Captain Hagebak," he then turns to the other man, "my fellow Agent fought in defense of this camp and the men in it -your own crew among them- and almost died doing it. Is his... exasperation that unreasonable?"
And then to both he adds with a sigh, "Has there not been enough bloodshed for one day? I, for one, am quite tired. Let us simply clear our heads and once rested and... ahem... sober, this can be discussed further, if there is still need for such a thing. And, if it comes down to it, you can kill each other then..."
"Ye gods! I slept through a battle?! Why dinnae anyone wake me?! I could hae helped....I'm mighty sorry to hear about yer men. Your plan makes sense. Shark folk sound like f**%ing Sahuagin. I hate those finned f#%&ers. I'll have me crew strip down the ship, and we can haul her into the tree line. We'll need to cut down some trees ta make room for her, and to make rollers. Then camouflage her fat arse once we've done that." The Captain looks to be genuinely ashamed that he slept through a battle.
Penance listens to Corridan's words with a grunt, and slowly nods.
"You're right," he says gruffly to the tailor. "Still worked up from that battle last night."
He takes deliberate steps away from Hagebak. "I'll buy you a round sometime once we actually have a tavern with rounds to buy," he says. "Until then-- for your own sake, and your crew-- you might do best to keep your head clear. The camp was nearly overrun last night, like Corridan says."
He nods slight thanks to Valkeri for providing a calming influence on the discussion.
"Captain, if your drink-sodden brain can understand this, we just made a deal to help protect us all. But it means we have to abandon the beach here to go inland. Your ship is at risk. We think we need to beach it and strip it down for what we can carry. Else it's liable to be attacked, sunk, and plundered anyway. Can you get that through your head?" Devram speaks loud and close to the man.
"And I suggest if you want any further say in how we do things around here, you at least attend if we call Agents to gather. You might not be one, but you and your men are stuck here with us for now."
Far from the near-ruckus of Hagebak's tent, Shinjuko begins the slow process of once more packing up all of her possessions for further transport. The pair of drovers serving her spend the better part of the afternoon disassembling her tent and refilling chests that had only been emptied a day ago. They shoulder their burdens without complaint, as ever. A forced march through the jungle bearing her possessions would no doubt be hard on them. Shinjuko sees to it that they are fed well and sufficiently hydrated for the trip ahead. When her own affairs are in order, she finally saunters her way to where the Khaan and his men await. The unpleasantness of the meeting and unease in her stomach has shed the last vestiges of its hold on the samurai-ko. She bows deeply as she rejoins the hobgoblin assembly, and waits patiently for the rest of the agents to gather.
Devram goes off to begin packing his own items. He laughs at this meager tent compared to some of the other Agents. Hagebak seemed genuinely ashamed as his action, but they would have to see what happened the next time to truly judge.
Once he has his materials packed, he looks out to see what progress is being made with the ship. He moves over to help with the effort."How long will this take, Captain?"
In the minutes after the confrontation the captain wades through the surf fully clothed for a while as a "bath", and emerges smelling slightly better, but more salty. He rouses his crew and sets them to work on the ship with lots of kicks and growled threats.
When approached by Devram he says, "Well, if ye have yer soldiers join the work, it'll go faster. But I'd guess the rest of the light today and then most of the day tomorrow. If you can get them hobgobs to use their lizard thingies to pull once we've got a slot in the trees that would speed things up as well. These lazy dolphin-lovers aint much good for hard land labor," he says pointing to the crew as they work.
Now that the captain is lucid and in charge, Iliante sets in to help/lead the groups of sailors near him. He has beached ships before and has an amazing advantage in the water fetching lines and pulling while swimming. He avoids taking any obvious command away from the captain or his mates and demonstrates to the sailors by doing that he knows what it's about.
When he's out swimming around the ship, he keeps a wary eye out for trouble.
Devram nods. "Right. I'll get Nim or Corridan to ask the Khaan for some help with the lizards." He relays the message to the translators.
The Aldori gathers the mercenaries and informs them of the plan with the ship. "Group up and follow Captain Hagebak's orders. We need to get this ship out of the water and into the tree line. Let's get to it!"
<< | | | >>
The sailors set to work, and within a couple of hours they have the boat stripped down of all its moving parts and prepared for full beaching. Meanwhile the mercenaries switch from building the pallisade to clearing a place in the forest big enough for the ship. There are a lot of large mature trees, so the work is slow and difficult. They don't finish before it falls dark.
The night passes in relative peace. The hobgoblin riders the Khaan left to help the Aspis agents ride a perimeter all night, and the remaining darkvision guards supplement them. A ring of torches is set around the perimeter and maintained at all times.
Everything is perfectly pitch black, though you are standing on something solid. Everywhere you turn is uniform ebon midnight, each angle of vision indiscernible from the others. At first there is only silence, but then slowly the crackling of flames begins to be heard. Faintly at first, and then louder and louder. Corridan finds his feet unable to move as the noise grows into a roar, and it begins to get hotter and hotter. Sweat pours down his face as the darkness becomes thick and hard to breathe. As he feels his skin begin to bubble and crack, he grows lightheaded and dizzy. Just as the pain reaches a crescendo he awakes, sitting bolt upright in his tent, soaked in sweat.
The next morning things get underway quickly, with everyone eager to get off the beach.
Work continues throughout the morning and afternoon, with only one incident. Seven mercenaries are lost when they accidentally stumble into a large patch of carnivorous spider vines. The vines' paralyzing poison ensures that the men make no sound as the vines' roots dig into and digest their flesh. They are discovered minutes later by another team of men.
By an hour or two after lunch time, there is a large enough space cleared in the forest for the Bounty. Teams of men are set up with the ten riding lizards in two teams of five at the fore, and log rollers are put in place. It's a monumental effort, but after another few hours of work the ship is in the tree line. The rest of the daylight is spent hiding and camouflaging the ship.
Penance lends his muscles and his carpentry tools to the work of felling trees and helping to drag the longboat ashore. He is sweating liberally with the other men by the time they call a halt for the night.
There's a large part of him that is very edgy about sleeping with the same people that tried to kill them the night before as their guards (not the exact same ones, of course, but...), but exhaustion wins out over paranoia. Penance drops into a hard, dreamless sleep, and he wakes up the next morning with his throat unslit, so that's something.
The loss of yet another group of soldiers makes him grit his teeth in the same feeling of helpless frustration that hit him when Georg went down. Penance takes a break from the carpentry in order to get out his shovel, once more, and organize a dig crew to bury the poor sods.
"...and Abadar prosper your families," he mutters as the tail end of a prayer over the dead, then gets back to work.
By the time the ship is well and truly ashore and camouflaged, Penance is tired all over again. Long days, and nearly dying takes it out of you, it seems.
He sits staring into the fire, wondering what the future holds. He leaves orders to be woken for the midnight watch with one of the remaining half-orcs, and makes sure all his gear is packed and ready to go for the next morning before he turns in for the night.
During the maneuvers to ground and move the longboat, Telemakos finds a second to talk to Emerion.
“Ehrm… Master Nimlaidas? Hope I am not interrupting your studies… oh Gods, those vines look horrifying! What do you…. never mind.” he interrupts his own tangent. “What, ehm, what I wanted to talk to you about... see, after tonight’s battle, Master Penance’s health was greatly helped by a little spell I purchased back in Westcrown. Never quite mastered the incantation myself, I’m afraid… but I can read it fine. It… occurred to me our little expedition would greatly benefit from a stable knowledge of this spell rather than a single scroll, so I’ll give my spare one to you. To copy into your own grimoire, and perhaps to copy onto several other scrolls. For a… uhm, rainy day, let’s say.” he holds a scroll of infernal healing towards Emerion. “This spell has a sinister connotation, call it, but I’m sure the end justifies the means, in our case, doesn’t it?”
Devram helps strip the ship and he tries to help haul the logs, but after a few, his strength seems to give out. He switches to cutting the logs and then using his knowledge of building to best support the ship as it's moved from the water.
At the day's end, the Aldori is bone tired and he slips away from the others to his tent without so much as a word.
<< | | | >>
The night passes with no incidents. In the morning the squad of hobgoblins gathers, and their leader a red plume named Myuguutbalyet approaches the Agents after they have broken their fast. He addresses both Emerion and Corridan since they are the only ones who can understand him. "Peb yog cov npaj txhij mus coj nej mus rau lub roob, nej puas npaj siab mus?"
Taking a moment to look at the other Agents before answering and provided there are no objections, Corridan then turns back to the armored hobgoblin and nods in agreement, his answer spoken politely as is his usual way and in their new allies' language.
Penance rolls awake at the sound of the camp stirring, groans unhappily, and wishes he could turn right back over for another two hours' sleep. Instead he pushes himself out his bedroll and starts the process of once again buckling himself into fifty pounds of quality steel...
He's ready to march by the time he shows up with the others. Penance rubs at his stubbly jaw as Corridan speaks with the lead warrior. He'd probably better learn that language at some point, he supposes.
"Head 'em up, move 'em out," he mutters, hiking his pack up onto his shoulders.
Placing the spider vine sample in a jar he turns his gaze on the gnome while listening. He takes the scroll and looks over it before replying. Adjusting his lenses as he does.
"I suppose, if I have time I will scribe a few as well."
Going back to studying the plant once he has spoken. He wondered if he could harvest it's paralyzing toxin to be used as a weapon or medicine, perhaps a pain killer. Also if the conditions for it's growth could be easily recreated to serve as a natural defense in the future. During his spare time he adds the spell to his spellbook and makes seven copies. Sending four to Telemakos while keeping three for himself.
<< | | | >>
The procession into the jungle is extremely slow and unpleasant going. There is no real trail to be spoken of, and everyone is heavily laden down with gear. The heat is oppressive, and the air is so thick with humidity that it almost feels like steam. Biting insects abound, and sometimes the clouds of them are so thick as to inhibit breathing. The hobgoblins' mounts leap from tree to tree like giant reptilian squirrels, bypassing the thick undergrowth that makes the journey so miserable for the Aspis Consortium. Near midday the heat grows to the point that men begin to complain of dizziness.
The hobgoblins stop and remove their armor. They sit crosslegged on the ground with their backs together forming a circle. Their mounts lay down to sleep in a circle surrounding them, each one laying its head on the tail of the next. The warriors grasp their longswords lightly in both hands and lay them flat across their laps. Myuguutbalyet says, "So tam sim no, thiab kub."
Him and his men then lean back into each other and close their eyes, apparently to sleep. The break goes until the sun is well past its zenith, and the temperature finally falls to a tolerable level. The hobgoblins wordlessly rise and help each other put back on their armor, then mount back up.
The break was refreshing and the men set out with somewhat renewed vigor. Hegebak swears and complains loudly most of the time, but he keeps up and makes sure his motley crew does too. The trek continues until near dusk. Myuguutbalyet descends from the canopy and approaches the group of Agents. "Koj heev qeeb, peb tsis tau ua kom nws rau hmo no. Liab tawv tag nrho cov saib nkees."
It's true, all the sailors, mercs and slaves look completely exhausted. "Peb yuav tsum mus pw hav zoov rau yav hmo ntuj. Qhov no yog lub teb chaws muaj kev ruaj ntseg los ntawm tag nrho tiam sis cov qus beasts, peb yuav tsum raug nplua."
The Hobgoblins are right in their observations, and it's not just the sailors. Devram is ready to drop when they stop to rest. The Aldori slumps down and struggles out of his pack. "Maybe if we had some of those lizard mounts, we could do this faster," he mutters in frustration.
He swats away some of the flies and tries not to indulge his few memories of the last time he was in a jungle. He hadn't made it out entirely whole. The blanks in his mind worried him, and the scar on his chest ached. He tries to concentrate on the here and now, but he can't help feeling that something in the jungle waits for him again.
"Bloody jungle. Who lives in a damned place like this?"
Penance looks for the colorful figure of the gnome when they set out. "Hey. Those lizards you wrangled-- think we can ride their scaly hides? The jungle looks to be thick-- if we get ambushed by anything in that mess, we're never going to be able to catch up to it before it melts away, picking our men off one by one. On the lizards, we've got a chance to keep an eye on the whole column, at least."
Penance takes one of the lizards and.... stares at it. Riding. Not really something he's done a lot of. And by that, we mean 'none'. Not even horses.
"Alright, Ugly," he mutters to the scaled beast at a low volume. "You just... move slow and easy and I won't punch the teeth right out your mouth, huh?"
He levers his heavily-armored self into the saddle a little unsteadily.
...and topples off the instant the lizard gets to its feet, landing in an undignified clang of armor punctuated by a lot of Orc swearing.
Clearly it is going to be one of those days where Abadar teaches him about humility.
After several attempts, Penance gets the hang of at least staying on and guiding the lizard with his knees.
If they do get ambushed, he thinks, he'd probably better just roll off the damn thing.
Penance urges his lizard to the end of the column of men, and keep up the rearguard of the sweaty, struggling sailors and mercs.
***
When they call for a break, Penance files in at the tail end of the column, having made sure they didn't lose any stragglers in the thick and verdant jungle. He dismounts the lizard less than gracefully, glowering around and daring anyone to make a smart-ass observation.
He listens to either Corridan or Nim translating, and leans on a tree trunk next to the wheezing Coates. He remembers the way the man had hacked like a dying thing on the ship's voyage... the heat and bugs look about ready to do him in.
"Here," Penance mutters to Devram as he rummages in his pack and comes up with a small, battered tin of a pinkish paste. "Smear a handful of that on the back of your neck and your face. It'll keep the worst of the bugs off you."
****
At dusk, even though he's been riding, Penance is just as glad to stop with the others. He has muscle aches in places he didn't know could ache. It's not flippin' natural to keep your legs in that position for that long, he thinks sullenly.
He asks Corridan or Nim to thank the hobgoblins for their guidance, and to say he would be honored to stand a watch with them. They're tough sonsab+!!%es, and Penance can respect that, even if he still thinks of the moment he watched Georg and so many others of the soldiers get cut down.
“Master, should I carry you?” asks Arasmes when the Aspis starts marching into the jungle.
“N-no, ‘Ras…” Telemakos reluctantly gives up his comfort “You… you will carry as much provisions as you can, and I… I will show Master Penance here how to properly ride these.” he points to the lizards “We might as well start using what we have, don’t we?”
The gnome gets up on one of the lizards, regretting the lack of a saddle “Master Penance, these beasts do lack loyalty and cunning, I’m afraid… however they will understand a chunk of fresh and bloody meat. That’s the main trick here.”
At sunset, Telemakos is visibly yawning and aching everywhere. “Please do wake me up when it is time for ‘Ras to stand guard. Ras, I’m going to sleep now.”
“But Master...”
“Bye, ‘Ras.” the gnome needs but an instant to fall asleep and send the genie back to his home plane.
Devram watches Penance try to ride the lizard and sees the Half-Orc fall off as the lizard takes it's first step. He barely manages to hold back laughter at seeing the strong warrior spilled onto his butt. After a while, Penance manages to keep his seat, though judging from the look on his face and the death grip on the reins, just barely. Still the lizard carries the heavily armored Paladin up into the trees and it's instantly understandable the value of the mounts.
Devram nods to one of the hobgoblins and take a set of reins himself. He wrinkles his nose at the smell of the lizard, but tightens his leg muscles and holds the reins loosely. "Alright, you dragon-runt, let'se see what you've got." He's certain the lizard doesn't understand, him, but the beast rises and without warning, leaps into the air, taking a second hop to bound up a tree trunk. The Aldori is shocked, but his instincts allow him to keep his seat and keep control of the beast. In a matter of a few minutes, he finds how to guide the lizard and is running the mount in circles around the assembled group.
"Yeeee Haaaawwwww!"
Emerion mounts the last lizard so he could keep an eye on things. As well as being able to get more samples of the local plant life. Plant life higher in the tree line was different from the forest floor after all. He gave Erudira and Iellana permission to use one of the special candles he had brought with him, protecting them and anyone lucky enough to be with in close range from the swarms of vermin.
While he was not the best rider he was good enough to keep his seat while he gathered what he needed. Not that hanging on one's side or upside down was a common task on top of that mind you. Still he managed and with his magic kept himself in a more tolerable state then those without inside their armor. He had no desire to add his own odor to what was already being suffered by all.
Iliante takes a final dip in the water before they leave as a personal ritual when he starts to travel inland. Even if there was a captured lizard for him to ride, he has no desire. He alternates between marching with the Aspis agents and the sailors. He appreciates how important morale is with a crew, so he listens to their chatter to keep tabs. Otherwise, he keeps to himself wondering what he's got himself into.
Mostly keeping to herself and desperately struggling to stay cool, Shinjuko has a rough time with the trek. Unlike many present, she does not sweat. Her very nature is not meant for brutal heat such as this, and it is all she can do to muster a facade of stoic defiance in the face of the stifling jungle. While her frigid quality affords her some reprieve from the insect swarms, the sheer number of them proves a nuisance even for her. She keeps her small canister of chill cream at hand, though resists the urge to apply it for the time being.