The Jenivere starts her long trek back to Sargava on a bright and sunny morning. Of course it's most significant passengers will not be boarding until several days later, fated to be thrown together in an adventure that will change all of their lives forever.
Abshail is the first to board, walking onto her deck in Kintargo. Already there is another passenger on board, the gnome Gelik Aberwhinge. A man as eager to share his stories as he is his rather biting wit. A stop in Corentyn sees the half elf Ilarian come on board, along with a prisoner who is immediately placed below decks in a solitary room. And there is yet more to talk about.
Thus began the long trek across ocean to the island of Mediogalti and the port of Ilizmagorti. There several more passengers came aboard. Kabur, a curious looking dwarf, and Carys, a determined dark haired woman. Not to mention a somber red haired woman that by rumour goes by Sasha. Once again, talk circulates about the ship providing a momentary respite as the ship makes its way towards The Shackles, and Port Peril.
A constant, and somewhat unpleasant presence on board the Jenivere is the half-orc, Shadak. His twisted and tusked face seeming to be always at the edge of view as he goes about his duties, his enormous bulk used at every opportunity by captain Kovack. He strikes up no conversations, but watches everyone with an overt curiosity.
Haveing boarded just before Jenivere sailed from Mediogalti Kabur first went down to his cabin. An hour or so later, after the ship had sailed he springs quite lightly for a dwarf, up from the passenger cabins to the deck and wanders to the rear of the ship. He stands at the rail of the ship out of the way of the crew watching the last sight of land disappear over the horizon. He then turns his attention back to the ship, leaning comfortably against the rail watching the crew and any other passengers on deck while taking an occasional swig from a flask that appears from and just as quickly disappears into His light brown loose clothing.
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After boarding in Corentyn, Ilarian walked slowly and carefully to the rear of the ship to watch Cheliax as it disappeared over the horizon. A twinge of homesickness hit him, and he reached up to rub the a pendant he wore around his neck. Straightening his clothes, and his posture, he noticed Kabur leaning against the railing. Walking toward him, he called out a greeting. "Ho there, good dwarf. May I join you?" He procured a small flask of his own.
"And welcome good sir." he raises his flask and takes another swift drink. "Ending of things old or the beginning of things new, either is well served with the sharing of a good drink." Waives the hand that is not hold his flask toward the front of the ship. "Just admiring this fine vessel and the skill of the crew, at least I hope they are skilled for I admit I don't know anything about sailing a ship!"
It isn't until later, once the Jenivere is well underway, that Carys starts to wander about the ship. She tries to stay out of the crews' way when possible, but her curiosity finds her exploring the ship. While she avoids what looks to be passenger or crew cabins, Carys does try to see every aspect of the ship that isn't barred or locked.
It doesn't take Carys long to explore the ship. Two things are noteworthy. That the prisoner is kept very much isolated from everyone else, and that there seems to be another passenger, from the ship's first port of Magnimar, who keeps to herself in the nicest cabin. Aside from that, the ship is open, even if all of it's crew and passengers are not.
Kabur pauses for a long moment "While the beauty of a fine cut jewel is to be appreciated, the renown earned by great deeds is laudable, and even just the experience of new lands can be enlightening. All these together may be part or nothing of my quest." Takes another longer drink. "What I really desire is just to know myself, a process that just might be encouraged by spreading my horizons, or so the abbot himself did advise me." pauses again for a moment not focused on anything before turning back to his new acquaintance with a low chuckle "Probably more information then you expected good sir, My name is Kabur Hammerfist and I guess the short answer would be closest to adventure. How about yourself?"
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Ilarian steps back a bit, and sweeps into a deep bow. "Ilarian Valdonni, at your service. As for my reasons for risking never seeing my home again, I needed to get away. Cheliax is crumbling, though you will never hear anyone inside the government admit it. The strict rigid laws of the society are enforced by corrupt politicians seeking to fill their pockets. I'm as much of a patriot as any Chelaxian, but I need a break from it all." He takes another sip from his flask and sighs, leaning against the railing once more. "You know what they say about rats and sinking ships..." Realizing where he is at the moment, he grins. "Possibly the worst choice of words at the moment, but you understand. So I suppose I'm here for the adventure as well." He paused, and added, "A little gold wouldn't hurt either," and flashed a bright smile.
Once done with the ship, Carys moves her attention to the passengers. The common areas are where she can be found looking for opportunities to talk with the others aboard, observing when they seem occupied. Her interest currently appears to be the talkative Gnome. When he seems available she approaches him, offering up a smile, "Hello."
Abshail spends his days on the ship seemingly enthralled by his chemicals. If the weather is fair and the seas are calm, he sets up in an out of the way corner of the deck. Otherwise he works below deck in his cabin. Occasionally he takes a break from working to either throw something over the side of the ship, usually followed by a small explosion, or to deliver a vial or two to a passenger or crew member.
When not at his traveling laboratory, he is usually in the common area reading from a stack of notes or listening to the gnome Gelik's adventuring stories.
"A brighter future to replace a darker past there are much worse things to hope for, and indeed a little gold can always be put of use!"He nods his head in the general direction of the rest of the ship while he absentmindedly pulls on his beard. "So have you had an opportunity to greet any of the rest of our fellow passengers?"
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Ilarian shook his head. "I haven't, no. I've been a bit apprehensive of doing so. I mean, who keeps making those explosions off the side of the ship?" He chuckled. "No, by far, you seem the most normal one here." He took another sip from his flask and put it away. "Well, besides me. Shall we meet our new companions?"
Nods "As it is a long journey still ahead of us that would be a very good idea. Myself I think I will stop by the ships cook to inspect whatever the ship might carry to refill this flask of mine." takes another deep drink "And then proceed down to the common area. When i passed through last a gnome seemed to be in the middle of a long story of some past adventure. His experiences could be instructive, or at the least entertaining."While pushing away from the rail he questions "Shall we meet there?" pauses for any response and then heads toward the galley to find out what kind of alcohol the ship carries, refill his flask, and then toward the common area and the talkative gnome.
Carys gets a wide charming smile from the gnome, motioning for her to join him at the table, next to him, before starting into his story once again.
As everyone ends up in the dining room where Gelik is jotting down notes in between relating tall and mostly unbelievable tales of adventures in the wildest and most dangerous parts of Avistan. The one he's retelling at the moment is a chilling tale of stars falling from the sky, torn down to earth by demons of the dark places under the earth to plunge the world into darkness once again.
As new people come in, he greets them with a rather sarcastic smile. "Please... Sit down and listen. I'm sure you've never heard anything so grand, and you may actually learn something of courage to take to your hearts."
As the large half-orc walks through, he pauses, waiting until the door is closed before leaning forward. "Perhaps one of the under-demons walks amongst us now, eh?" he jokes. "He is ugly enough."
Enters the common room passing by the half-orc on his way out. At the Gnomes remark he replies looking back over his shoulder "Perhaps by the end of this journey some of us might be willing to deal with an under-demon if it would correct a glaring deficiency of this fair ship." He waives a flask in a wide arc indicating all the other passengers in the common room. "Sadly the best brew available is just common grog!" He takes a big slug from the flask with a terrible grimace. "It is to be handled the best that each of us may I suppose." taking a seat at the far end of the room from the gnome "I do apologize for my outburst just a bit overwrought due to the dismal provisions the ship has available, please do carry on with your tale of adventures." He sits quietly, grimly considering the flask he has out on the table in front of him. Occasionally he half lifts it for a drink then putting it back down in front of him.
Carys pulls out a chair, turns it around and sits down leaning against the back with her arms folded. As the others start to trickle in she gives them a once over, nodding curtly if they notice.
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Ilarian walks in silently as to not disturb the storytelling. He finds a seat in the corner, but within earshot of the gnome. After listening for a moment, he pulls a thick leather-bound tome from his satchel, and begins reading, mouthing the words as he is reading them. (OOC: He is reading the Asmodean Monograph in it's original Infernal. It helps him stay fluent in the language, plus, it has diplomatic techniques in it's pages.)
Having already heard the story about the falling stars and demons at least four times already, Abshail is barely paying attention to anything beyond his notes. As so many other passengers file in and sit to listen, he found his curiosity piqued.
Gelik gives Kabur a somewhat scathing look at the interruption, then clears his throat and finds his place again, paying most of his attention to Carys.
As the story goes on, another of the newer passengers, the red haired Sasha, wanders in taking a spot out of the way of most everyone else and, like many of the others, taking stock of her fellow passengers.
Shortly after Sasha walks in, another woman walks through, crowding the small room even further, and taking up a chair at the table across from Carys and the gnome. Another passenger that has been with the ship since it left Magnimar, Sarai seems most interested in checking out the newest arrivals onto the ship. Spotting the fellow half-elf, her eyes are naturally drawn to him with overt curiosity.
After listening to the gnome drone on and on with little real substance to the stories that seemed to get more impossible by the moment he started inserting questions such as "Exactly how many people were in the party that took down that giant." or "Was there a spell that creature was susceptible to?" He may have been a little tipsy but he is soon very unsatisfied with the tales told as they were long on heroics short on detail. Again finding that somehow his flask has become empty he heads toward the galley to see if he can get a refill then up to the deck to observe the crew and waves.
Gelik appraises Kabur with a haughty look. "This is a tale of heroic valor, not a history lesson. If you cannot tell the difference, then you are obviously as uncultured as you look." He then turns his attention back to Carys with a charming smile. "Now where was I?"
The room isn't that big, but with Kabur leaving, there is enough room for Sarai to shift around towards Ilarian. Looking closely at the book the man is reading she frowns, obviously displeased. "Interesting reading." she says flatly.
Carys smiles back at Gelik, "To be honest with you.. with all of the interruptions, I kind of lost track. If you don't mind me asking, where did you learn all these stories from?" Her eyes dart over to the new arrivals briefly.
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Ilarian looks from the book on the table to Sarai in surprise. This? Ah, purely academic in interest, I assure you. I hold no love for devilkind, and one of the best weapons we have against the minions of the Pit is knowledge." He switches to the infernal tongue. "Besides, it helps me stay in practice." He smiles and puts the book away. Switching to common, he says, "If you like, I will keep the book away for the duration of our conversation. After all, I may not need to use it for staying fluent anymore." He stands, and bows. "I am Ilarian Valdonni of Westcrown, the newest smoldering crater of Cheliax. Please, won't you join me?" He once more indicates the seat.
(Diplomacy roll 1d20[15]+13=28.
Diplomacy, not bluff because he has no itnention of worshipping any god, much less one who promises eternal damnation)
Sarai gives the man a second appraising look, perhaps changing her initial impression of him slightly, then takes the offered seat with a small smile. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions."
"You do not love your homeland?" she asks curiously.
Gelik gives his most charming smile back. "From hither and Yon, m'lady. There are many stories to be learned if only you listen. That particular story I learned while traveling through the Elven homeland of Kyonin. The queen had invited me to a banquet, to spin some of my own tales and of course I couldn't refuse a chance to hear an epic from one of the long lived elves, and besides... It was the queen after all..." He chuckles then waves a hand in poorly feigned humility. "But it was nothing of course. You look traveled, I'm sure there is some tale that you know that I could add to my repertoire."
There is a small frown from the woman, "I'm afraid that I have no tales that would compare to the ones you have. I have certainly not been invited to any banquets or been courted by queens." Carys shifts slightly and looks around the room. "Perhaps there are others here who would like to share. We definitely have a very eclectic group. How about you?" She indicates with a nod toward Sasha while tapping a pinky against her arm.
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Ilarian took his seat and sighed. "It is not that I hate my homeland. However, when devils, shadow beasts and who knows what else prowl the streets unopposed... well would you want to live there?" He laughed slightly, and said, "Besides, my father was trying to pressure me into joining him in his calling, said it was my birthright, or some such thing. I just don't like all the rigid structure of the Infernal Church. I like the concept of waking up in the morning, having breakfast, and skipping the self flagellation that my father so devoutly participates in." A wide grin breaks across his face. "If I want to be whipped, I'll wait 'till the right girl comes along!" Indicating the book in his satchel, he says, "By the way, should you be interested, you may borrow the book at any time. You must have vested some interest in the infernal races to have learnt their tongue."
Outside the common room, you can hear small foot steps seemingly running in random directions. After a few minutes of it, a nearly 3-foot tall lime green-haired woman comes in, pushing the door with both hands. Once she sees everyone, she squeals with delight. How exciting! This is going to be so much fun! She notices it's a little cramped, so she says her high-pitched hello's as she walks under tables to find a seat. She eventually climbs onto a seat in the middle of the room. "Perfect," she grins.
As the tiny woman makes her way across the room and into her chair, Abshail is suddenly struck with an idea. He reaches for his notebook, flips it open and begins writing furiously. As he writes he quietly mutters about measures and catalysts and other nonsense, completely unaware anyone can hear him.
Sasha starts a bit, not having expected to be pointed out like that, then gives a small smile. "I don't think so." she answers. She is startled again at the gnome's entrance but recovers quickly. "I'm afraid I've never left Mediogalti."
Gelik gives an exaggerated sigh, then turns to the newcomer. "Perhaps you?" he asks with a charming smile. "Surely a fellow gnome has a story to tell?"
Sarai shakes her head nearly instantly. "No, thank you. My family have had... 'dealings' with them, as well as Cheliax, in the past. I studied them briefly as part of my training." A momentary frown is turned to a smile at Majest's arrival. She turns back to Ilarian with that same smile intact. "So you left to escape the city and the expectations placed on you then?"
Up on the deck, the sea stretches in every direction. Kabur barely has time to get settled watching the men, and the enormous half-orc, work when a scuffle catches his eye. It's hard to say what might have started it. What Kabur does see is a beautiful dark-haired half-elf (the name Aerys seems to come to mind) haul off and punch one of the deck hands in the face. The man tries to get up, even manages a half swing back before another blow from the woman lays him out yet again, shaking his head to clear the stars.
The first mate just watches as the woman stalks off, then just smiles and walks away himself. No doubt the crewman got what was coming to him.
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"Now when you put it like that, it sounds all kinds of bad. I think that if one wants to join any clergy, they should be willing to devote their lives to their god or goddess, and more power to them. I simply found it hard to do so for a devil." Ilarian pauses and thinks about it. "I was kind of a disgrace to him, y'know? for one thing, he isn't married, and he's a human, so scandals abound. Then I refuse to worship his god, and that went over well in his church." He snaps his fingers and a crude pair of glasses appears in his hand(prestedigitation), and he puts them on and adopts the mannerisms of his father's boss, a bossy man who enjoys subjecting his underlings to long lectures. Wagging his finger, he says in a voice that seems to whither, "If you can't convert your own son, how can you convert the masses?" With a particularly violent finger waggle, the glasses fall off of his nose, and shatter. He looks down and sighs. "Ah, well. They'll fade away soon enough. The point is though, I'm sure he is better off without me, as much as he cared about me, a very uncharacteristic trait for a member of the Asmodean clergy mind you, he didn't need me there." He stared off into space. after a few moments of akward silence, he snaps out of it, and asks, "What about you? Why leave the comfort of home for this little adventure?"
Greatly impressed with the half-elf's ability to handle the sailor without resorting to weapons he follows her as she walks off. "Pardon me, but I just wanted to congratulate on your fine handy work. Sadly some individuals just do not have proper manners. Kabur Hammerfist at your service, and might i just say again that is a very nice jab you have." He takes a swig of his flask with a grimace and with a questioning look on his face offers it to the half-elf "If you are so inclined."
Sarai gives a small laugh and a shake of her head. "Trust me, I didn't mean to insinuate that you should have joined the Asmodean church. I don't think that running from expectation is nessessarily a bad thing. My father did just that," she laughs again, "Or perhaps it was responsibility he was running from, it depends who you ask. My point is, sometimes the expectations placed on you aren't fair, or even right, and it can take courage to leave them behind."
She watches the broken glasses as the magic of them begins to unravel. "Of course, I'm not exactly practicing what I preach. I was expected to leave. My parents said it would be good for me to see the broader world and find my place within it."
Aerys turns on Kabur as if ready for another fight, then has to lower her eyes to find the dwarf. As his words register she breaks a tight lipped smile. Giving a nod of thanks she takes the offered flask, swigs a generous amount of it, and hands it back making a face the indicates all too well what she thinks of the contents. She gives another curt nod, this one in thanks, then starts to walk again but slow enough for the dwarf to follow along side. "I take it that isn't your own stash," she comments dryly.
Sasha, turns away from the gnomes, hoping that she has successfully diverted the attention from herself, but her gaze stops at the nearby alchemist and she can't help but look over his shoulder at the notes he is so furiously making.
"Sadly no. In the future when picking out a passenger vessel I will know that it is important to investigate what provisions are provided. I would not have believed that civilized individuals would honestly think grog was allowable as the only strong drink to be available! smooths down his beard with his hand. "O for some Winter dwarven ale." shakes his head "Sadly nothing to be done about it now. If you don't mind me asking have you had any formal training in unarmed combat? I could really use an opponent for morning sparing, that is the one thing, besides the ale, that I miss from the monastery."
"Oooo, stories! Stories are fun! Let's see... well, I'll start off with that I've been in the Mwangi Expanse my whole life," she explains with raised hands lowering to her sides. "My father and I, well he passed away recently, but we...," sighing, she says, "Let me start that over. My mother and father came here to explore the Mwangi Expanse. They were really feeling the effects of the bleaching. I guess being a slave isn't that exciting, huh?" she chuckles. "Well, recently my father passed away too, so he gave me his unfinished map while he was dying. After mother died and all, we tried exploring all that we could. Good times, but now I'm going it alone! The map's nowhere from done, but I'll finish it!"
Majest quickly stands up in her chair and takes her map case from her back, which was taller than her while she was sitting down. She sets it on the table with a big clunk. She excitedly opens the top and grabs the map out. Laying it in front of the other gnome, she points to different places on the map, which has hurried scribbles all over it. She warns of going near the south of Lake Ocota and The Screaming Jungle, and speaks of a sort of market place for all kinds of creatures to sell and buy goods with one another as her bright, orange eyes widen to the point of looking like the tops of oranges.
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Ilarian nods. "Wise words, and in your case, doing what is expected of you can take courage as well. Either way, I'm sure we will find our respective places in this wide world in time. After all, we have a bit more time that most of our fellow passengers, so there's no rush to polish our diamonds." He pauses, and asks, "Tell me, did you want to leave? And if not, what do you want to do?"
In the middle of writing a formula, Abshail finally notices that he is being watched. Still writing, he turns and sees Sasha watching him. He looks back to his notes and discovers that the end of the recipe trailed off into illegible scribbling, even for him. "Oh. Hrm. I'll finish that later, I suppose." Looking to Sasha he asks "Do you have some interest in the alchemical sciences?"
Carys leans in, listening intently to the female Gnome. "I am sorry about your parents." When the map is brought out she leans in even closer to take a better look. As she takes note of the locations on the map and what Majest says she gets an idea. "Do you really plan on going it alone? How long did it take your mother and father to make this much of the map?"
Majest nods and smiles at Carys' sentiment with an, "It's okay. They knew the risks when they escaped to an unexplored land." When Majest brought the map out, she tried to position it as best she could, so they both can see it. "Yup! That's what I was planning on doing, unless anyone wanted to join in," she laughs. "I'd say that it took both my mother and father about a decade, and my father about almost 30 years alone. Well, I was with them too. My mother had me about when they got out here," she exaggeratedly nods with crossed arms.
Aerys regards the dwarf a little uncertainly. She's obviously not sure what to make of a dwarf talking about monasteries. "I've had some training. Though nothing so formal. You learn a lot growing up in a rough neighborhood and attracted to a dangerous profession." She doesn't say anything specifically about being willing to spar, but she doesn't close that door either. As she reaches the lader down below she pauses. "I've something better in my room," she syas, indicating the flask. "You're welcome to try some."
Sasha regards the alchemist with a confused expression for a second then shakes her head. "No.. not really. Just curious, I suppose. What were you making?"
Gelik nearly immediately tunes Majest out, though he continues to look at her. Or is it Carys he's looking at. Hard to tell.