The shipwrecked sailor says, "I have been on that rowboat for three or four days. I could not tell you if there are any other survivors. In the rough sea and the crushing waves, I grabbed on to this row boat and was able to keep it afloat. I was just trying to keep up my strength and I lost all of my bearings."
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Liath holds the rope firm, strong orc-ish arms locked in powerful grip as the man comes aboard.
When at last he makes it to the deck she beams proudly, ready to receive his thanks.
Her smile disappears like mist in the morning sun as the man passes her by without a thought and kisses the feet of the woman that was merely luke-warm at his rescue.
Crestfallen, she meanders away, to the other side of the ship. Her head is down and she stares at the floor.
"You didn't kiss my feet..." she stammers, sullenly, lost in confusion.
'You should kill him,' a voice from her past echos in her head, his influence impossible to escape.
'You would DARE tread the same dirt as one who thinks of you, his savior, as less than a WORM? You DARE let him dishonor the HOUSE of BORAK?'
"Not listening..." she mutters, her hand straying into her pocket.
After getting up, he nods towards Liath and says, "Thanks for throwing me the rope."
Maleek watches the man as he moves about expressing his thanks. He promises himself that he will keep an eye on this stranger.
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Liath perks up considerably as she is finally shown some recognition. Her hand withdraws, empty, from her pocket. "Oh thank you, kind sir. Peradventure one can not simply leave a wandering soul lost without chance of succor when the act of saving will cost so little, now can one?
Now that that is taken care of, might we not continue our path, and simply drop this man off when next we make land? That way we are not overly made late by his rescue, and he can make his way in due time.
Now, tell us, what are you called, good sir? And let me see to our reserves of water and hard tack so you do not succumb even now after rescue."
That done, she procures the man a bucket of water and some of the hard biscuits that ofttimes make up ship-board rations.
He scratches his head and says, "I jus..." stops a second and says, "Fawzia ibn Alzir."
Fadilah stifles a giggle at the awkward exchange.
Nabila flicks a lock of hair away from one of her ears, turning her head just so slightly to align her elven ears towards Liath's muttering. What does she say? she wonders, Ah, no matter! We all have our troubles and look, she brightens back up again. "She's right. Helping Fawzia costs us very little. Let's find you some fresh water."
After she retrieves a ladle from the deck barrel for the sailor, Nabila says to Liath. "Not long ago my curiosity lead me into a situation that might have cost my life. And the lives of my friends," she says looking about the deck at the other women she has come so far in such a short time with. "However, my father would tell me I needed to get back upon the stallion's back after being thrown."
She winks at Liath and stands beside Maleek. Her stance loosens just a touch and her fingers drift toward her slung bowstring.
Maleek steers clear of the new comer, wary and watchful.
Fawzia says, "Thank you very much all of you. My pappy did not raise a freeloader. Najm be praised I must earn my keep. I am a proficient sailor, so where would you like me to work?"
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Liath nods placidly as Nabila tells her story, until she mentions her father, then her firm smile falters and turns upside down as tears begin in her eyes. "That's...not what my father would say."
She wipes her eyes. "His response would be more along the lines of 'Find it and kill it and if you can't then you are WEAK!'
He...he arranged a marriage for me to acquire land and power. My future was bleak. My would-be husband was a man of equal cruelty and barbarity.
SO I ran away. I snuck aboard the first thing that floats and then... and then...I wound up here."
She sighs deeply, rubs her eyes.
Then like the sun coming out behind a passing rainstorm, she recovers and the eternal smile returns.
"Peradventure we must not dwell on the past! Do you think with Fawzia's help we can make better time to our destination? Let us give him under Captain Nura's tutelage and see what happens!"
"I don't really know much about sailing. Horses, I could help with, but not..." Nabila's voice trails off as she finds something far away to stare at, bored for now with the conversation. "Maybe just something simple, on deck, while he recovers."
"Indeed, something not overly taxing, then. Fawzia, busy yourself about the deck."
Fadilah is, as usual, none to helpful; her skills are in poetry, not sea-trade. Still, she does as she's told, even having her gen fetch an unseen servant spell to help with coiling ropes, hauling lines, and handling sails.
Maleek still mistrustful keeps an eye on the rescued sailor.
Nura tries to get the dhow underway but your ship starts to drift out to see further. But she eventually gets the ship going in the correct direction.
GM ROlls
As day changes to night, the sky is gradually lit up by a shifting aurora. The dancing streams of color are unusual for the area and draw the crew to the deck in awe. It begins to rain not long after. But the rainfall is not coming from any visible clouds and is soon accompanied by winds that seem to shift and change in different directions. Constellations appear to drift behind the aurora, as the winds push the sails to and fro. It’s not long before the beautiful spectacle becomes a nightmare for navigation.
Fadilah can't help but stare at the aurora for some time.
"It's beautiful!" she exclaims. "What is it? Is it magic?"
Nabila looks on with an impassive face. It is wondrous! So beautiful. The beauty of this world continues to astound! Her face cracks into a wide smile when Fadilah speaks and inquires about the phenomenon. Indeed! What is it, is it magical?
Nura is entranced by the aurora but quickly shakes off the effect.
Nura gets the ship pilotting in the correct direction and one of the Mamluks in the Crow's nest says, "Land Ho!"
Maleek breathes a sigh of relief at the sighting of land. Still his vigilance does not waiver and he continues to watch the rescued man.
Fadilah simply enjoys the ride at this point.
"Nabila," she says at one point before reaching land, "Have you any thoughts on that spectacular corona? Does it carry messages to us from the stars? Is it an ever-shifting patina of Fate, readable by astrologers? Or is it simply part of nature's design?"
"Hmm." Nabila looks lost in thought at Fadilah's question. "I personally believe it is all of those things. The gods send mortals messages hidden within the natural world, just as they send us messages delivered by magic or proxies like holy angels. Since this was a beautiful light show and only a momentary distraction from the trials we have endured recently, I think Najm and the other great gods gently guided us to something naturally occurring to remind us of the beauty in the world." She relaxes for the first time since being teleported as she says this. Nabila smiles at the sha'ir and gently rests a hand on her shoulder. "I think we are very fortunate to be able to help soany, we deserved that."
"What say you, crew? Do we investigate, or continue on our journey?"
”Might be nice to get out and stretch our legs a bit,” the half orc offers with a shrug and no real enthusiasm.
"I agree, a little time on land would be wonderful," says Fadilah, "even if I do love the open water."
"I need to stretch," agrees Nabila.
As you sail closer, you see the island is very small and identify it as the highest point of a dilapidated tower, still holding itself together against the waves. You check your maps and find nothing to indicate that this area is populated or ever was.
"Fascinating! Oh! But is it safe? I should think a broken down tower in the middle of the water would not be very safe to explore. Plus, we have our passenger. Maybe we should just make a note of it and check back later?"
Nura turns the boat towards the island. "I'm sure that our friend would not object to us checking out the tower. It shouldn't take but a few moments."
Nura order the ship to drop anchor and the party rows toward the tower jutting out of the sea. You row around it and there seems to be no entrance at boat level but you do see a window about 100 feet up.
"I, too, have rope," Nura says, "But little skill for climbing, and no grapple."
Fadilah sends her gen to fetch a spider climb spell.
"If my friend returns with the spell I need," she explains while the gen vanishes to the elemental planes and beyond, "I should be able to climb up there easily. No telling what is inside, though. If there is something heavy, I could tie a rope to it."
Maleek reluctantly offers, ”I have some small skill at climbing if the Gen fails.”
The gen says, "No problem mistress!" he then poofs away leaving a slick amount of fresh water in your rowboat.
After a short period, the gen returns, "Ma'am, here you go."
"Very well done, my friend," says Fadilah to the gen.
She turns to address the team and says, "I have the spell ready; hand me a rope if you want me to give it a try."
Liath Jasmine hands over her rope to Fadi as Fadi casts Spiderclimb and the Sha'ira makes quick work of the task.
She gets to the top and opens the plate glass window and looks for something to tie her rope to.
Fadi