-Posted with Wayfinder
Still a bit too focused that she was gripping her paw, she doesnt notice. Luckely. Cat like reflexes. And the help from the paladin. She avoids the water. Just to see her companion take a dive
"Aella! Not good. Not good. Not good!" she panicks as she sees her going under!
-Posted with Wayfinder
-Posted with Wayfinder
I don't know what roll you want from me Mr. GM
I don't know what roll you want from me Mr. GM
As their guide transforms before their very eyes, the friends are forced to hang on as the boat rocks viciously from side to side… Heirang, Kit’Arr, Robert and Lorne all find something to cling on to but Aella, perhaps slower than the others in her armour, is over-balanced and, despite helping Kit’Arr, tumbles into the waves…
…instantly, she feels a stinging in her legs and lower torso as the jellyfish bloom converges around her…
..and, worse still, she starts to sink – kicking hard to stay afloat, the waves still envelope her… and the weight of her armour drags her under…
And, whilst one of the party has fallen in, those who remain in the boat retaliate against their changed guide… Heirang’s indignant attack is woefully wild but Robert, somehow finding stability in the swaying boat, kicks out at Estian. His boot crunches hard into the guide’s sternum and, winded, he tumbles from the boat… and, almost instantly, disappears beneath the waves…
Harry grunts as the ex-guide is driven from the boat. Glancing overboard for any sign of Estian he notes the paladin had fallen overboard.
Why do they always insist on wearin' those tin cans?
Slipping into the water, he takes several strong strokes over to the struggling Aella and casts a spell upon her.
vs poison
-Posted with Wayfinder
The sting of the jellyfish is sharp and painful, and her frantic struggling does little to help as the poison begins to course through her veins.
Aella puts it at the back of her mind, for now, until she was out of the sea at least. As if a gift from Sarenrae herself, the paladin suddenly finds herself renewed. Her slow, bulky movements become graceful and swift. She grabs a handful of each of her freshly-wet friends and swims back to the surface, urging them up ahead of her.
Finally, with her and her friends back in the boat, Aella tugs her stupid helmet from her head and throws it on the floor of the boat.
She rubs her eyes and sighs.
"I am sorry, friends. Thank you for your aid. I must- BY THE LIGHT!" She stares at her webbed hands in horror. "What... what is this!"
Growling she gets back on the boat. She glares at their local magic man
"Would be nice to have cast that BEFORE i jumped in"
The smiling at the bewildered paladin
"Easy there princess. Just a bit of helpful magic. Im sure it will go away soon.... well. It better go away soon. A fish and a cat dating? Not cool"
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Magic... yes." She crosses her arms and shakes her head, giving Kit a stern look. "I'm a paladin! I don't... date... fish or not." Aella looks at her webbed fingers for a few moments longer. "Well as long as I can draw my sword..." She quickly pulls her hands away and aims to keep them out of sight for the present... then jolts and pulls her sword halfway from its sheath.
"That... thing! What happened to Estian? Where is he?"
"Kicked overboard" she nudges her head in the other direction
"Now Harry, dont you have some kind of magic that can dry me off or something?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Harry allows a small smirk to show on his face as he replies, "Relax there. The spell lasts but minutes, which be why I did'na cast it on ye earlier."
Turning his attention to the sea once again, he responds "As fer Estian he took off fer the deeps. No tellin' if he swam ta get reinforcements so we had best keep movin'."
Robert smirks a bit as he watches the Estian thing go flying backwards Don't worry Estian, you're not the first one I've done that to. And probably not the last Just be gla you weren't one of the Chelixians in the crow's nest Wasn't much left of the poor boy either
His smirk turns to a full grin as he heard he conversation behind him.
Better make sure ha ain't comin back though Robert will draw his pistol and scan the water back and forth for a while till he feels Estian isn't coming back
Robert's eyes scan the turbulent waves for signs of Estian... and, with his pistol to hand, continues to watch as Kit'Arr and Heirang drag Aella aboard. Eventually, convinced that they are not being watched, the abandoned passengers take up the oars and move themselves clear of the jellyfish bloom...
Moving ever closer to the ruined island, the boat is eventually caught by the tide and is gradually dragged into a cove at the southern tip of the land mass... Imposing cliffs rise above the frothy sea, collapsing at a rocky beach of dark sand. Graceful spires and golden domes pierce the island’s thick foliage high above, and the remains of a ruined road of white slate crumble down the cliffs onto the beach.
Hundreds of feet overhead, the bizarre sight of a half dozen broken towers floating in slow elliptical orbits around the island persists.
There is little sign of life on the beach, indeed there are precious few birds in the air nor much in the way of seaweed across the shore... whilst dominating the beach, a large rock covered in graffiti juts from the sand...
Harry wipes the jellyfish remains from his clothes after he disembarks from the lifeboat. First glancing upwards at the floating rocks, then at the large rock on the beach, he turns his gaze to the latter. "Looks like that rock may hold some clues about this place. We should check it out."
Aella remains quiet for the most part, sulking silently at her uselessness so far. She hops from the little boat with glee, happy to be back on (somewhat) dry land. Looking at the helmet she held in her hands, Aella gives a determined nod before fastening it back over her head.
"You seem to have the right of it, Heirang. Be careful though, I can feel some kind of... emanation coming from it. It is off-putting, to say the least."
[dice=Perception]1d20+12
Moving towards the rock, it is clear that some the graffiti daubed across it is quite fresh whilst the majority, faded by the weather and sea-spray, is old… very old…
…and quite suddenly a feeling of nausea, not unlike seasickness, washes over the group and each of them experience a lucid vision of the rock, now pristine and white, rising from the beach… sand pouring from the surfaces as it reveals itself to be part of a much larger slab of stone – high enough to cast a shadow across the entire beach and at least a mile out to sea… and then singing, hundreds if not thousands of voices – both male and female, extolling their love for each other…
…their voices reach a crescendo and then, the rock is how it was and where there was once a chorus of voices there is now nothing more than the sound of the sea…
It is all Harry can do not to empty the contents of his stomach onto the beach sand. I 'ave never experienced anyt'ing like that in all me years of sailin', not even during th' worst storms!
"Well, that be an interesting...ahhh...vision there!" Harry remarks. "Still, we know that Gerlach be 'ere as that be his handiwork painted on th' rock there."
Looking around on the beach he does see the ruined road leading away from the beach. "Looks like that be the only way ta proceed here. We should press on 'ere."
Aella holds her head, blinking. She looks to either side, checking to see that it was not only her who saw the crazy vision.
"What... what was all that about? That singing... it was beautiful."
She scratches her chin, thinking.
"Hold, Harry. Perhaps these words could give us a clue? Even if we can't understand it now, it might be useful to us later."
Harry shakes his head, "Sorry, languages be not me strong suit. Not much need fer studyin' strange tongues when ye be sailin' th' Inner Sea! Mayhaps Lorne has run across this tongue before?" He looks over to the bard.
I mean, be that yer specialty or no?
Gods damn it! Robert says loudly as the sickness washes over him. What the hell was that?
Damn, that felt like I was riding through a hurricane. Again.
Kit was a very unhappy cat. Not to mention that wave of... what ever that was
"This is why I dont like the water. It never does as you want it too!"
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Well," Lorne says, "that was... a thing. Is anyone else feeling a bit strange after that?"
"Well... if none of us are capable of deciphering that graffiti, perhaps we should keep moving. Up that road, perhaps?"
The freshest graffiti is, upon closer inspection, written in modern day script... and is nothing more than declarations of love between two people... examining the most recent writing, the names of Adler and Sara Vanderholt have been scrawled in charcoal... however there are many other names that have apparently been written on the stone through the ages.
The cliffs that surround the cove are sheer, reaching heights averaging 100 feet . The jumbled remains of the ancient road, however, provide enough handholds to allow a moderately safe climb.
"Looks like a fairly easy climb up th' road." Harry looks at the road first then turns to face the others. "If'n ye gots a rope I kin make a rope bridge fer anyone who cannae climb up th' cliff."
"Hah! Who needs a rope when you have these? " she exposes her claws to the group, winking
-Posted with Wayfinder
Aella lets out a relieved sigh.
"Aye, Harry, I'd much appreciate that. This poison has got me feeling weaker than is proper."
Using the rope that Aella produces from her soaked backpack, Heirang fashions enough of a rope ladder that the group are able to safely navigate the ruined road and ascend the escarpment looming over the beach…
The streets of a long-dead city appear to wrap around the ruined structures of the island in sweeping curves like the shell of some enormous mollusc. Massive slabs of a white, chitinous material grow layer upon layer in a once-contiguous piece, long ago broken into jagged formations. From east to west, the first escarpment of the island proves to have little evidence of life… a number of long-abandoned buildings, none of which are particularly large, are scattered around… yet none, upon examination, provide any answers as to what is occurring on this ruined isle…
…a second sheer cliff, much shallower than the previous at 0 feet high, provides a momentary obstacle to continued exploration and so, with Kit’Arr able to easily climb the sheer wall, the rope ladder is once more used – and the group press on…
Along the streets, urchin-like spines stab ten feet upward, some with illuminated, glass globes drifting slowly in silent orbit around their points. Densely overgrown, vine-choked buildings alternate between fantastic domed structures and symmetrical, orderly city blocks, following the arcs of the queerly curving streets.
…along this second escarpment, there are many ruins however, of those, there is only one building – a grand building to the west of the isle – that appears to be anything more than dead rubble. Kit’Arr notices it first, surrounding the building like a cloud of glittering dust, copper plates appear to float in a gentle orbit around and through the structure…
"Uh oh... well. That looks ominous" she sighs and waits till the rest get within earshot
"Uh guys. Don't look now. But i think that building over there is the center piece"
She does extend a paw to help Aella up the last part of the climb
-Posted with Wayfinder
Harry nods darkly in response. "Aye. Those copper plates be used fer conductin' electrical sparks along it. Let me see how powerful that be..." He concentrates briefly as he utters a spell...
"What a marvel," Lorne says quietly as he observes the strange shapes of the roads and the floating globes and plates. "The Azlanti truly were incredible architects. This place would be the perfect place to begin our investigation- as soon as we know how dangerous those copper plates are. What's it look like, Harry?"
Much akin to Lorne, Aella finds herself enraptured by the wonder around her. She stays silent, but in her mind she paints the picture of the magical island in a mental notebook, never to forget it again.
Talk of danger brings her back from her distracted wonderland.
"I'll leave the magic to those with the skill to understand it, but should their come a threat of flesh or steel, then I want you all close to me on the double."
Realizing her poor choice of words too late, the paladin quickly glares at the cat, daring her to make a comment.
She puts on a look of fear and terror.
"I will be as close to you as i can! My fearless princess will protect me, Im sure!" she makes a move to hug Aella
-Posted with Wayfinder
Aella places her outstretched palm upon Kit's forehead, keeping her at bay.
"You can be at the back."
"Good idea!" she grins
"That way I can cover your... the... rear"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Cautiously moving closer to the building, the group are able to see appreciate more of its former grandeur… a grand crystal dome that must have once sat atop the structure has collapsed into massive shards that jut from the earth at odd angles… the resultant effect being the formation of an unusually beautiful courtyard within the huge structure. A cracked, tessellated floor and worn stone alcoves highlight an ancient archive. And the strange floating metal that the group could see from a distance… proves to be very thin, engraved copper plates moving gently and bundled in groups like opened books, their tarnished pages densely filled with drawings and writings…
Heirang’s attempts to discern what is holding the plates aloft is somewhat obscured by the realisation that the entire island is saturated with transmutation and enchantment auras… the auras seem to radiate outwards from the various buildings dotted around the isle…
"Ach! Too many auras be surroundin' the buildings ta make sense of it. Safe ta say those plates be dangerous and prolly be triggered by closeness to them." He looks around the building grounds. "There has got to be a way to pass in between them ta get to the building."
Despite the beauty and wonder all around him, Lorne's well-trained senses detect movement nearby.
"On your toes, lads and ladies," Lorne says quietly. "Something's alive in here, buggering about behind those crystals there. Arms out and senses sharp. Who'd like to draw our guest out into the open?"
Aye I see em, though what exactly they are is beyond me at this point. I'll get their attention
Aella nods.
"Yes, better to bring him to us, if we can. Wouldn't want to take a a fall in that courtyard, t'would be an easy way to lose an eyeball."
She places her hand upon the hilt of her sword, staying at the ready.
Harry, seeing the others are preparing for combat, casts a spell of protection upon himself.
"Just let me first slip into something more comfortable..." as she takes cover, unsheathing her claws