I will doom those near the tiller. Hel is dealing with the one whom is there already. That vessel will *not* escape us.
Lutor silently draws upon his intuition and knowledge to greatly empower a pinch of ground mica. He then blows upon the dust, and it flies forward in a bunch, exploding some feet away from the helm.
And coating the unfortunates standing there with a cloud of glittering particles that coat armour and flesh.
Gallen takes another swing at the man before him, gritting his teeth after the impact of the spear against him. He gives Timeon a look now Cole has pulled back and the young squire moves forward to attack the soldier taking another step on the road to damnation.
Round 2
Cole Takes a step over and studies one of the soldiers on the other boat. He then cast a cantrip and sends a blob of acid at the man. vs Touch on Orange
Gallen takes another swing at the man before him, gritting his teeth after the impact of the spear against him. He finishes off the sailor before him.
I will doom those near the tiller bow. Hel is dealing with the one whom is there already. That vessel will *not* escape us. Lutor silently draws upon his intuition and knowledge to greatly empower a pinch of ground mica. He then blows upon the dust, and it flies forward in a bunch, exploding some feet away from the helm. And coating the unfortunates standing there with a cloud of glittering particles that coat armour and flesh.
All 5 sailors cry out and clutch at their eyes as the motes of glitter get in them and blind them.
Odenkirk continues his berserk frenzy, gouging the Talirean Captain with a fierce blow.
Winged by one of the archers on the St. Martius, and as Odenkirk roars and charges around Grumblejack, Hel shifts her attention to the other boat's crew. With another short fragment of Asmodeus's infernal contract being chanted in her ear by Faila, she targets the other boat's helmsman, and sends two arrows his way. Since they can no longer allow the St. Martius to get away, she has every intention of making sure that everyone on the other ship very quickly learns that those who approach the tiller are dooming themselves to death. Thwap!! Thwap!! Another two arrows streak away from her bow, this time across the water between the boats. Both arrows find the mark, slaying the soldier where he stands.
Cole takes a step over and studies one of the soldiers on the other boat. He then cast a cantrip and sends a blob of acid at the man. Blinded, the man is an easy target, and he cries in pain as the acid finishes him off.
Demlin strikes again, using Gallen Grumblejack as a distraction to flank the captain and split his attention. Her saps hit hard, knocking some fear into the man. "Wrong boat. You should have stayed home with your family today." One missed, but the other impacted the man. The captain, filled with fear from her attack, attempts to flee, but her sap cuts him down, knocking him unconscious.
Odenkirk strikes another powerful blow as the Captain tries to flee.
At a look from Gallen, the young squire moves forward to attack the soldier, taking another step on the road to damnation. His sword strikes, gravely wounding the man.
Wesh grumbles to himself as his blow misses. He swings at the captain again a soldier, hoping to end the Talirean's life. His aim is a bit more accurate this time around, and he dies.
Grumblejack swings at the captain again a sailor as well. It seems the fighter and the ogre have traded accuracy as Grumblejack's strike is erratic.
Those of Odenkirk's men who are no longer threatened switch to their bows and attack the sailors from afar. Three of them hit the mark. The one still threatened by a soldier stabs him, and finishes him off.
The Captain lies on the deck unconscious, but the sailors press on, counting on their superior numbers. Gallen takes a powerful spear thrust from one , and one of those on the boat grazes Hel with another arrow The ones Lutor blinded rub at their eyes, but only one is able to clear his sight.
Captain Sambryl - 11/70, 31 nonlethal
Dark Green soldier - dead
Orange soldier - dead
Black soldier - 7/8
Green soldier - dead
Red Soldier - 5/8, blind
Yellow Soldier - 4/8, blind
Cyan Soldier - 8/8, blind
Burnt Sienna Soldier - 8/8, blind
Purple Soldier - dead
White Soldier - dead
Maroon Soldier - 6/8
Sailor 1 - 20/25
Gallen - 20/31
Grumblejack - 27/30
Hel - 18/22
Wesh and Grumblejack both swing at the captain when the opportunity arises.
With the captain unconscious, Wesh turns to the grey sailor and says, "You picked a bad day to go sailing." Then he slashes at the man with his greatsword.
-----
Grumblejack also turns from the fallen captain and swings at the black sailor.
Hel: Use +1 from guidance on final shot. Spending 1 ki (now 6/7) to increase the number of attacks in the flurry. First target is the blue soldier.
As I believe that kills him, second target will be the cornflower blue soldier, next to the blue.
I don't think either of them will be dead before I get to them, but if they are, just move my shots against targets further forward.
---------------------------------------------------------------
She'd been distracted by her first target, the patrol ship's captain (now prone and so far as she knows stabbed to death), and she hadn't identified who had first creased her arm with an arrow. Turned towards them, however, it had been impossible to miss the source of the accurate counterfire coming from the Talirean ship, the second shot slicing her cheek. A duel of skill? To the death?? her almost offended slight straightening of her back seems to say to the others of the Knot, though she is not 'speaking' to them. I accept.
Faila almost seems to snigger through her infernal chanting.
And with that, Hel's focus intensifies, and she snaps off two shots faster than the previous, burying the overlong arrows in the soldier's throat before shifting her aim to the next one in line, producing another two arrows in her hand and firing a third shot across the twenty-five or thirty feet between her and the foemen. It would appear she is intending on killing her way from aft to fore.
With a glance at the mayhem happening on the Frosthamar, however, she gives a quick, short whistle and gestures her chin towards Timeon. Still too timid. Expose him -- let him be struck -- rouse anger against them, that they betray and attack him. A risk, but a valuable one, she suggests.
Demlin doesn't see an easy way past the soldiers yet, but she has another idea. Sliding her saps back onto her belt she takes out her bow and aims for one of the blinded men.
Gallen has trouble compensating for fighting on a ship at sea with it's rocking motion. He holds position for now. Timeon does a bit better trying to hit the same target.
Lutor seeks out the wounded among the soldiers on the other boat. The ones fighting for life, but close to death.
To pick out a target for his crossbow.
I have expended much magic. Now it is time to contribute less blatantly.
Cole shoots another shot of acid at the soldier but it misses the mark.
When the Captain attempted to flee, both Grumblejack and Wesh took a swing at him. Grumblejack just missed, but Wesh's greatsword strikes him on the back, although not as deeply as it could have been.
Gallen has trouble compensating for fighting on a ship at sea with it's rocking motion. He holds position for now.
Lutor seeks out the wounded among the soldiers on the other boat. The ones fighting for life, but close to death. To pick out a target for his crossbow. His bolt takes a blinded sailor through the throat, killing him.
Odenkirk steps up and kills another sailor with one swing of his axe.
She'd been distracted by her first target, the patrol ship's captain (now prone and so far as she knows stabbed to death), and she hadn't identified who had first creased her arm with an arrow. Turned towards them, however, it had been impossible to miss the source of the accurate counterfire coming from the Talirean ship, the second shot slicing her cheek. A duel of skill? To the death?? her almost offended slight straightening of her back seems to say to the others of the Knot, though she is not 'speaking' to them. I accept. Faila almost seems to snigger through her infernal chanting. And with that, Hel's focus intensifies, and she snaps off two shots faster than the previous, burying the overlong arrows in the soldier's throat before shifting her aim to the next one in line, producing another two arrows in her hand and firing a third shot across the twenty-five or thirty feet between her and the foemen. The first one she struck falls, and the second, and the other is nearly slain by the arrow. It would appear she is intending on killing her way from aft to fore. With a glance at the mayhem happening on the Frosthamar, however, she gives a quick, short whistle and gestures her chin towards Timeon. Still too timid. Expose him -- let him be struck -- rouse anger against them, that they betray and attack him. A risk, but a valuable one, she suggests.
Cole shoots another shot of acid at the soldier but it misses the mark.
Demlin doesn't see an easy way past the soldiers yet, but she has another idea. Sliding her saps back onto her belt she takes out her bow and aims for one of the blinded men. Her arrow hits him, and he falls dead.
Timeon does a bit better trying to hit the same target as Gallen, his sword grazing the sailor.
With the captain unconscious, Wesh turns to the grey pink sailor and says, "You picked a bad day to go sailing." Then he slashes at the man with his greatsword. He cuts the man down.
Grumblejack also turns from the fallen captain and swings at the black sailor. He cuts that sailor down, as well.
Odenkirk's men all pull out bows and fire a volley at the soldiers remaining on the Blade Three hit the mark, wounding one and finishing off the last one Hel shot.
The three remaining soldiers throw down their weapons and cry, "Quarter! Quarter!" One still tries to clear his eyes of Lutor's sparkles.
Captain Sambryl - 2/70, 31 nonlethal
Dark Green soldier - dead
Orange soldier - dead
Black soldier - dead
Green soldier - dead
Red Soldier - 5/8, blind
Yellow Soldier - dead
Cyan Soldier - dead
Burnt Sienna Soldier - 2/8
Purple Soldier - dead
White Soldier - dead
Maroon Soldier - 6/8
All other soldiers are dead.
Sailor 1 - 20/25
Gallen - 20/31
Grumblejack - 27/30
Hel - 18/22
A fine shot! That should win some kudos.
Lutor calmly reloads his crossbow, takes aim at the nearest soldier, and fires.
Realistically, mercy is not an option here., he equally calmly states to the others.
I'm not sure he will be useful but we do have their captain. Perhaps we can keep him alive for a little time.
Demlin put away her bow and looked at the unconscious captain. She pulls him out from under Kargeld's feet and makes sure he doesn't swallow his tongue.
And that drops Red to 0, but doesn't drop Maroon (who should be at 2).
'Hearing' that they have the Talirean captain alive (rather to her surprise), Hel continues walking her shots up the patrol ship opposite, noting clincially that Lutor's crossbow work has improved of late. Of course, so has her own, but ... that might be expected, all in all, whereas the elven wizard's expertise with weapons wouldn't be. "Nice shots," she compliments him absently as his target falls, and her own arrows bite flesh.
In the language of ancient Azlant, the reptile on her shoulder observes, "That last one's still alive."
"Mmmm." Hel's vocalization is neither agreement nor denial, just acceptance of fact. Master Meloi, Sir Gallen -- that last one. Leave him for Timeon. Keep Grumblejack back. "Captain Odenkirk!!" she calls out. "Rope, sailcloth, tar -- I recommend you organize your men, take whatever you might need. Food stores, at the very least -- even lutefisk wears on you after a week straight."
Gallen draws out a pilum and hands it to Timeon before drawing another for himself. "You did your duty. If they had not boarded us and pressed the matter they would yet live."
Wesh simply nods at Hel's mental communication. However, should Timeon hesitate, the fighter and Grumblejack will move in to finish the job. There can be no survivors among the Talireans. For now, stealth is still important.
Cole watches as his comrades press and finish off the men. He looks to their ship and any of Odenkirk's fallen. He will go to aid and heal any that are not dead.
Gallen draws out a pilum and hands it to Timeon before drawing another for himself. "You did your duty. If they had not boarded us and pressed the matter they would yet live."
A fine shot! That should win some kudos. Lutor calmly reloads his crossbow, takes aim at the nearest soldier, and fires. "Realistically, mercy is not an option here," he equally calmly states to the others. His bolt finishes off one of the surrendered sailors.
Odenkirk begins stomping his way onto the other boat...
'Hearing' that they have the Talirean captain alive (rather to her surprise), Hel continues walking her shots up the patrol ship opposite, noting clincially that Lutor's crossbow work has improved of late. Of course, so has her own, but ... that might be expected, all in all, whereas the elven wizard's expertise with weapons wouldn't be. "Nice shots," she compliments him absently as his target falls, and her own arrows bite flesh. In the language of ancient Azlant, the reptile on her shoulder observes, "That last one's still alive."
"Mmmm." Hel's vocalization is neither agreement nor denial, just acceptance of fact. Master Meloi, Sir Gallen -- that last one. Leave him for Timeon. Keep Grumblejack back. "Captain Odenkirk!!" she calls out. "Rope, sailcloth, tar -- I recommend you organize your men, take whatever you might need. Food stores, at the very least -- even lutefisk wears on you after a week straight." She finishes off one Talirean, but her final shot misses the last one.
Cole watches as his comrades press and finish off the men. He looks to their ship and any of Odenkirk's fallen. He will go to aid and heal any that are not dead. He notes that it appears only one of Odenkirk's men was slightly injured. Hel and Grumblejack both have minor wounds, and Gallen a slightly more serious one.
I'm not sure he will be useful but we do have their captain. Perhaps we can keep him alive for a little time. Demlin put away her bow and looked at the unconscious captain. She pulls him out from under Kargeld's feet and makes sure he doesn't swallow his tongue.
Timeon takes a deep breath and hurls the pilum Gallen gave him at the last soldier.
The pilum strikes the final soldier in the chest as he cries for mercy. He slumps to the deck, staring at the shaft sticking out of his chest before coughing up blood and collapsing. Timeon looks both surprised and unsure after he kills the man.
Odenkirk stops on the other ship, where he was advancing towards the last sailor, and seems to calm down, breathing heavily from the exertion. Returning to the Frosthamar he tells Hel, "I need no Talirean supplies - we have plenty of our own. If you want to gather any, do so quickly, then let us cut this boat loose."
Lutor nods, noting Hel's acknowledgement, as he reloads his crossbow.
Best to keep it ready.
I suggest that the physically stronger among us move swiftly onto the other ship, take supplies for ourselves, such as in their captain's quarters, and return here promptly. My strengths for example are best suited to ensuring the 'good' captain here does not decide to leave early."
Demlin searched the Captain for any keys he might have on him.
I will search the Captain's cabin for anything useful.
She then heads over the the other ship and towards the Captain's cabin to search it.
Grumblejack and I will see that whatever you want brought over is brought over. Demlin and others may want to come with us, though. I can't promise I'll be able to spot everything that's valuable.
Wesh eyes Grumblejack for a moment before nodding to the ogre in a show of respect. The oversized combatant had held his own well enough. If nothing else, he served as an able flanking partner.
The fighter signals for the ogre to follow him over to the other ship and the pair begin searching for useful items to bring back.
Hel gives the Northern captain a long, steady look, but finally gives a nod. "You know your ship's needs better than we," she concedes with more than a dose of coolness -- not quite cold, but close. If he doesn't want to take good advice, that's his look-out, she thinks to herself. In her ear, a soft snicker suggests that though she said nothing out loud, Faila's thought-process might be running uncomfortably near her own -- but skewed in such a way that the outlook is entirely different. Shaking her head, she lifts her hand up to her shoulder, a clear indication for Faila to step on once again. "Thank you for your assistance," she says to her familiar. "Now go up and take another look around, see if there's anyone near enough that that attracted attention."
After tossing the rhamphy into the air and watching it take its first few flaps to gain height, Hel crosses the deck to where the captain of the patrol ship lays senseless. A glance towards Sir Gallen and Timeon, and she says out loud, gesturing down at Sambryl to indicate the object of her suggestion, "I suggest Timeon" -- she is the only one who continues to use the young man's full name, for though she understands intellectually the reasons to call him by a lesser form of his name, she knows the damage that functionally and permanently changing his name can do -- and something within her recoils fiercely from doing so -- "strip him. With luck we can sell this gear to the north; if not, we can abandon it when we deliver the other arms if it's necessary. As for the captain himself ...[/b]"
She looks back down at the military man, then frowns thoughtfully. Instead of speaking, she glances up at Sir Gallen, then glances over the others. Patrol boat near and above the Watch Wall. Low man on the totem pole; I doubt he's likely to know anything useful, and to be honest, /we/ don't know enough for questioning him to be useful. I recommend we finish him. Out loud, she murmurs, "It would be a shame for the ship to go down without its captain ..."
Another glance up at Sir Gallen, and she crosses over to the other boat. Opening their hatch results in the revelation of food stores as well as whatever else they need for an extended patrol -- tents, perhaps, and cook gear, for she figures a boat that small isn't likely to spend the night on the water. "Wesh, Grumblejack, here." Straightening back up, she looks around for anything else of notable value. "Collect it all," she 'suggests'. "Arrows, spears, daggers, bows -- strip it of anything of value. I'd suggest their armor, but I expect this leather to be worthless to the Fire-Axe. And keep an eye out for an axe, we need to put a hole in this thing -- burning would be bad."
Demlin finds little in the captain's cabin. It appears that Hel's guess he wasn't particularly important or useful is quite accurate. There is a map of the local area, with Estyllis listed as the closes port, and the captain's log with several entries in a neat hand that seem to indicate several routine and boring patrols in the area. The final entry, likely made moments ago, says, Neth 9, 4718 - We've spotted a foreign ship sitting heavy on the water. I do not know what her cargo is, but I find this suspicious. They may be weapons smugglers, though what Mitra-cursed fools would seek to arm the savages north of the Watch Wall, I cannot say. They will likely be murdered simply for being there. We will investigate, and arrest those would would break the King's laws.
She also finds a golden Mitran Sunburst in the captain's cabin. It could be sold if one could pass themselves off as a goldsmith, selling their work. Otherwise, there might be questions asked. Melting it down is also an option.
Hel, along with Wesh and Grumblejack, find a few weeks worth of provisions. It is almost entirely hardtack, jerky, and some dried fruits, enough to have fed the crew of this ship for 3 weeks. The soldiers each carry a spear, a short sword, a shortbow, arrows, and a dagger. They are dressed in leather armor, and each has a belt pouch with a little bit of coin in it. Timeon strips the captain. Captain Sambryl has a very well-crafted longsword and breastplate designed to be easy to move in. He also has a heavy steel shield, a dagger, a pouch containing some gold, and a fine cloak and vial containing a bluish liquid with a faint glow. Everything except the arrows has the mark of Talingarde stamped on it.
Soldiers:
15 x spears
15 x short swords
15 x short bows
15 x daggers
15 x leather armor
15 x belt pouch
270 arrows
GP
Captain:
masterwork longsword
masterwork agile breastplate
heavy steel shield
dagger
belt pouch
22 gp
cloak
vial of bluish liquid
Ship:
Mitran Sunburst (50 gp)
Enough trail rations to feed 15 people for 3 weeks
I am inclined to agree. This man likely knows little. Tormenting him in such circumstances seems a petty waste of time. Let him die with his ship, after we puncture its bottom. Perhaps acid would be swifter to complete and thus allow more time for escape?
Lutor ponders any swifter or surer method of ending the Blade of St. Martius without undue risk to the group.
Demlin reads the log, "Your instinct was spot on my good captain. You did your duty. I pray the afterlife is kind to you." She rips out the page with the final entry about their foreign ship and takes it with her, tossing the log back down. She grabs the map and folds it up, shoving it into one of her pockets. As she is about to walk back out she takes the golden sunburst and examines it. She realises she is delaying herself, enjoying not feeling sickened by the sunlight. With a sigh she walks back out and helps with the rest of the plunder and getting the dead men off the Frosthammar.
Not much. This sunburst might be worth something. His note about us in his log was quite accurate, assuming us to be weapons smugglers to the north. I tore it out so it can't possibly be found washed up somewhere.
Demlin suggests adding the weapons and armour to the stash meant for the Fire-Axe.
"Down with his ship. A captain's death." Demlin nods in agreement that he is not really worth questioning. As she looked at him unconscious and breathing, she felt a strange urge to bite him and thought back to the ritual with Thorn and the accidental taste of blood she had had...
When the Archstar is drawn on her forhead, a drop of blood drips down her nose to her lips and she wipes it away with a finger and, without thinking, licks the blood off her finger. Realising what she has just done, she quickly grabs a napkin to wipe her mouth and finger, hoping no one noticed the quirk. It tasted better than all of this meal combined... but why did I do that?
She knew what was coming but still her mind fought the idea. She shook her head and looked away from the captain and to the page of the log she had torn out. She ripped it up into lots of tiny pieces and tossed them overboard.
Hel he frowns as she stares down into the hold, listening to Lutor as he makes his suggestion. I suppose. Seems a waste of acid, when an axe will do. If we managed to find an axe ... She shrugs, and switches to regular speech. "Why don't you start using your acid cantrip, and if we find an axe we'll start in with that?" Nodding at the wizard, she goes and helps with stripping the dead; after, with the over-three-hundred man-days of food moved in its crates from the St. Martius to the Frosthamar, she returns to check on his progress, looking up and around to see where Faila might be.
We should stow all the Mitrans' bodies below decks, if we can. That way they won't float away from the ship and potentially give away what happened to the boat and its crew. To that end, we might want to make several small holes rather than one big one.
As the group continues discussing its exact plan, Wesh and Grumblejack carry over to the Frosthamar whatever the others deem useful. They can always toss things overboard if something proves to be unnecessary later on.
You take what you can of the Blade's food supplies, but there is limited space on the Frosthamar, and you cannot take all of it . After stowing the Talireans' bodies below decks, and their captain's, Lutor begins using his cantrip to create several holes in the ship at key intervals. After several minutes of this, eventually the boat begins to sink. It takes several more minutes, but the Blade of St. Martius sinks below the waves, taken by the sea, hopefully never to be seen again.
The rest of the day passes without incident as you truly leave Talingarde behind. The coastline becomes more heavily forested and wild, and the temperature begins to fall. You anchor for the night in safety, and the next day is more of the same. The land itself feels more wild, as though it actively resists any civilization.
Again, you anchor for the night in a cove that will provide some protection from inclement weather. There is a definite chill in the air, and your breath begins to mist.
"Acid by my hand will suffice, certainly. And at range to boot."
With the Blade sinking behind them, Lutor decides that he will for now refresh the same spells that he used.
Now that the crew know that I have powers, I must be ready to use them not at a time of my choosing.
Gallen grimly goes about taking supplies from the other ship with the others, a shame these men had to die, they only did their duty as they saw it but it was necessary.
Watching The Blade of St. Martius finally slide beneath the surface as they sail off, Hel looks thoughtful, then turns and nods approvingly at Lutor once more. "Good idea," she tells him, then adds to Wesh, "A very good idea, to put the bodies belowdeck and close the hatch. And Demlin -- I didn't see much of what you did in the fight, but that the Captain was still alive I presume to have been your work. Good job there, and an excellent job finding the Captain's log. It might've been wiser to tear out a few more random sheets, but ... the power of hindsight."
On the days following, she once more crafts arrows near the stern, Faila's patrol flights becoming less frequent as it gets colder; the reptile needs the body heat of her mistress to cope with the cold. "I'd knit you a sweater," Hel half-jests, "if I knew how to knit." And as always, each time they anchor in a cove for the evening, she retires to the prow.
Demlin carries the Captain in last once all the other soldiers had been secured and secures him a little bit separate from the others. As she stands watching the enemy ship sink she wonders whether drowning would bring him back to consciousness briefly before dying and if she should have slit his throat first. She shook her head to rid her of those thoughts and turned away from the water.
She nods at Hel's words. "Perhaps. One page missing or several random pages missing, they have still been torn intentionally and are suspicious. I would worry more of them being found before decomposing and being brought to a cleric of Mitra. Perhaps we should have cut off their mouths. I pray they rest peacefully at the bottom for years."
As it gets colder, Demlin uses her cloak to help keep her warm, hoping the temperatures do no drop to extremes.
Wesh helps stow the remainder of the supplies they looted. He also helps throw overboard whatever supplies they decide they can't keep, preferably things the Fire-Axe won't be able to use.
When the time comes to sleep again, Wesh makes his bed next to Grumblejack. The ogre has proven his strength and should Wesh need to call on his aid, being next to him will make doing so all the easier.
As Odenkirk and his men set about preparing the ship for the night and distributing rations, and as you eat, you notice several wet spots on the deck that were not there before. As the wet spots begin to rise and take on some shape, you suddenly notice several bobbing heads in the water and a small pod of dolphins swimming around the ship.
The sailors see this and cry out in fear as Odenkirk grabs his axe and shouts, "What sorcery is this?" The watery spots form into vaguely man-shaped beings, and they don't seem very friendly...
These watery beings on deck are small water elementals.
These beings floating in the water are a type of native outsider with ties to the elemental plane of water called a triton. They are generally reclusive, and have been known to ally with dolphins. They can use their connection to the plane of water to summon a water elemental.
Demlin jumped up as the puddle next to Hel moved on its own.That's not right. We are under attack!
She decides not to see what these things might intend to do and unclips her saps from her belt, striking towards the watery form next to her.
Lutor snaps to attention at the sight of the wet spots.
"Small water elementals, summoned by the tritons in the water. Ranged attacks to end the latter. As for the elementals, forget flanking or trickery, just smash and stab them. Gallen, prepare to grow. Try not to knock off the sailor just yet."
He begins to draw on potent magic, even in the face of danger.
Gallen moves forward but his blade passes harmlessly through the water elemental.
Faila drops off the rail, with the intent to ascend. That cuts her movement by half (40' to 20'). 5' moves one square right, make a 135-degree turn (sacrifice 5' for a 45-degree, sacrifice another 5' for the rest) and a Fly DC 15 roll to do so. Move forward 5' (into her current square). Total is less than her standard full fly speed, so Fly DC 10 to stay aloft. With a Fly skill of +15, she automatically succeeds (even on a 1) on both of these checks.
Of the ones in the water that I can see, does one appear to be a leader-type, e.g. better gear, a circlet/crown, an amulet where the others wear none?
Using a point of ki to add a shot. If there's a leader-type I can target, that's the one. Otherwise, swimmer nearest me (green):
"Water elemental!!" exclaims Faila, dropping backwards off the rail upon which it was sitting, then swooping out and upwards with an undignified squawk as it comes too close for her comfort to the closest triton, clawing for height as it spirals.
"Yes, and tritons too," says Hel, turning her head quickly to get an overview of the situation before selecting a target. "Keep the elemental off me," she asks/orders, a brusque blanket statement to whomever is closest -- Demlin and Cole, as it happens -- then focuses on her target and begins firing deliberately. The water is a deceptive thing, though, and she isn't entirely confident about whether she's hit her target -- or if so, how much damage she might've done to it.
Lutor snaps to attention at the sight of the wet spots. Small water elementals, summoned by the tritons in the water. Ranged attacks to end the latter. As for the elementals, forget flanking or trickery, just smash and stab them. Gallen, prepare to grow. Try not to knock off the sailor just yet. He begins to draw on potent magic, even in the face of danger.
"Water elemental!!" exclaims Faila, dropping backwards off the rail upon which it was sitting, then swooping out and upwards with an undignified squawk as it comes too close for her comfort to the closest triton, clawing for height as it spirals.
"Yes, and tritons too," says Hel, turning her head quickly to get an overview of the situation before selecting a target. "Keep the elemental off me," she asks/orders, a brusque blanket statement to whomever is closest -- Demlin and Cole, as it happens -- then focuses on her target and begins firing deliberately. The water is a deceptive thing, though, and she isn't entirely confident about whether she's hit her target -- or if so, how much damage she might've done to it. She sees what looks like the leader - a triton wearing breastplate made of seashell. As she targets him, she feels a force press against her mind...
Brushing it aside, she fires three arrows at the leader. Her first attack just misses, but the other two score grazing wounds.
Gallen moves forward but his blade passes harmlessly through the water elemental.
Demlin jumped up as the puddle next to Hel moved on its own. That's not right. We are under attack! She decides not to see what these things might intend to do and unclips her saps from her belt, striking towards the watery form next to her. Unfortunately, she isn't quite able to hit the elemental's watery form.
The triton leader begins casting a spell, as the dolphins patiently wait within the water.
Nerianus - 71/76
Demlin redoubles her efforts, focusing both her saps on the water elemental in front of her.
Out of the corner of her eye Demlin watches where Hel is firing and notices a spell being cast, analysing the motions and phrases being said to bring the spell to life.
Demlin sees the leader begin to cast a spell, and she recognizes the movements and words. "He's casting a spell to summon a creature - perhaps another water elemental!"
Wesh is a bit slow in reacting to what's going on, but when his chance to strike finally comes, he tries to make the most of it. Swinging at the yellow elemental beside him, the fighter aims for what he assumes is the thing's chest.
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Grumblejack grumbles as he slashes at one of the elementals as well.
Wesh is a bit slow in reacting to what's going on, but when his chance to strike finally comes, he tries to make the most of it. Swinging at the yellow elemental beside him, the fighter aims for what he assumes is the thing's chest. His greatsword disperses the elemental in a splash of water.
Grumblejack grumbles as he slashes at one of the elementals as well. This one is able to flow around his sword, though.
The Elementals move, attempting to push those on the boat into the water. Hel is able to stander her ground, as are most of the sailors, but one tumbles in with a splash.
Nerianus - 71/76
Sailor 5 - in water