“Of course I already have the whale!” Poppo replies indignantly. “This is a whaling town. There’s plenty of whales to be had if you know the right people,” he says with a wink. “Anyway, it’s very simple. Well, actually, it’s very complicated. It’s complicated to set up, and to perform the ritual, but riding inside the whale as a passenger is quite simple. I have magically preserved the cadaver and there is ample space in the mouth and throat to ride in comfortably, as long as you don’t mind the smell of fish too much. It’s perfectly safe!” Poppo declares. He hesitates for a beat, then adds, “It should be perfectly safe.”
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Early the next morning, Poppo leads the Pathfinders and Olandil through the Guts, out a secret entrance near Whaler’s Point (this time not crawling with Loyalist mercenaries), and into a smuggler’s grotto. A few rays of sunlight streak into the narrow grotto to glint from the ocean outside to the shallow water within. Poppo sloshes through the water to pull at a stepping-stone in the middle of the cavern.
It dislodges with a pop, and a small swirling whirlpool gurgles in its place. “Quick!” Poppo says, as low but urgently as he can. “Into the blowhole!” The carcass is wedged in the inlet, which is much deeper than it appears. The whale itself is cavernous, its throat littered with improvised tools, sealed kegs, and broken bits of small boats. An intricate ritual circle glows on one of the interior “walls” of the whale’s body. Poppo seals the blowhole behind Olandil and the Pathfinders with a large iron porthole. “All aboard! We’re setting sail! Or whale... I haven’t figured out the jargon yet.”
Poppo stands in front of the ritual circle and dedicates his attention to steering the whale. From the circle he calls back over his shoulder, “Can two of you stand and be my eyes? Just in those glass hemispheres - don't worry, they're not real whale eyes anymore. Get comfortable, it'll take a little while to pilot out beyond the blockade.”
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Till is a bit apprehensive about Poppo's plan, but enters the whale nonetheless. "You know what the worst thing about this is?" he asks the others as he takes stock of the 'room' they're in? "I could never use this in one of my plays. The audience would instantly walk out on such a far-fetched and unrealistic story!" He smirks and takes a place halfway between the mouth and the eyes.
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This is Fascinating! Niome breathes in awe. She doesn't volunteer to be an eye, she is simply too interested wandering around investigating the exposed flesh, asking what agents he used for preservation, and various other such.
At Till's comment she offers If all think that, than hopefully we'll find this trip an uneventful one. she gives a brief smile to the actor, as if to say you hopes that comes true but she doubts it.
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Aggie stares at the whale in slack-jawed awe, and whispers something briefly about the mysteries of the heavens before trundling in.
"This is the weirdest thing I've ever done, and I am really weird."
Aggie decides to stay put by the blowhole as Aratare stays very close to her. The goat is less than thrilled.
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Arthur gets inside the whale with a mix of awe and disgust. He's too shaken to add anything, and he mostly keep to himself, looking forward to the moment in which he's will be breathing fresh air again.
"This is the craziest thing I've ever done, and I can be quite crazy at times", replies Arthur to Aggie with a nervous smile.
As Poppo concentrates on the ritual circle, it starts to glow with an arcane light. The light spreads and runs down the length of the whale’s interior along the whale’s natural biological pathways. The vessel lurches into movement, as Poppo starts to sail/whale it out of its hidden grotto. Out of the glass eyes, Noam and Arisha can see the sea floor as the whale starts to exit the Guts.
Suddenly, there is a faint sound of harpoon guns and something impacting the whale outside. The whale suddenly stops, jerking its passengers with the sudden change of inertia.
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Before most of the Pathfinders can react, the whale’s blowhole opens with a “pop” and woman wearing a Chelish uniform and holding a crossbow quickly comes down the ladder, accompanied by two men with scimitars. The woman, clearly the leader here, steps forward with a stiff posture and a cool, judgmental look that she cascades over the Pathfinders. “By order of the Pezzack dottari, and by the authority of myself, Lieutenant Arixana, you are all under arrest,” she informs them calmly. She also just as calmly has her crossbow leveled at Olandil. The newly rescued man, having kept his balance and so standing near Poppo, swallows hard and looks at the other Pathfinders for their lead. The sailors with Arixana - either guards out of uniform or hired mercenaries - watch her and the Pathfinders intently, like dogs waiting to be sicced on their prey.
Meanwhile, one of Arixana’s lackeys, a cruel looking woman with a yellow sash for a belt, steps up to the actor Till and slashes at him with her scimitar. It doesn’t manage to cut through his armor, though.
Next, a smug looking man in a blue shirt swings at Aggie. The sword cuts into her, but seems to get stuck - it’s not a clean cut. The man pulls back and looks at his sword angrily. “Is there tar on this? What the hell?”
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Till
Lord Arthur
Niome
Noam
Arisha
Aggie
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Arthur manages to stay on his feet despite the sudden change of inertia inside the whale.
"Hey, what's happ..."
As the whale's blowhole open and the small group of Chelish soldiers comes in, Arthur grits his teeth and immediately puts his hand to his rapier.
Dammit, I knew it was going to end like this...
The Pathfinder's eyes dart from the woman to her scimitar-wielding soldiers as the woman speaks.
Under arrest? Tsk, and who told you we're going to respect your arbitrary rules?
Arthur grins, and levels a gaze at each of his friends and colleagues. Then, he grins and starts to laugh...Before moving it to attack!
With a quick move, while trying not to lose his balance, the Taldan Pathfinder draws his rapier as he takes two steps toward one of the scimitar-wielding soldiers. "En Garde!"
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Noam handled being inside the squishy confines rather well as he caught himself. As the Chelaxian makes what she thinks is a grand entrance, seriously, what is it with them and all this pomp and pageantry when they're trying to kill people?, Noam simply responds "Well by the authority of myself, get f$+@ed. Or scurry back up that ladder. I'm okay with either."
When she gives the command and reaches into her pack he tenses, though when she retrieves some rather inconspicuous thistles a look of relief washes over him, before he smirks. Then he charges the woman in charge .
"I got you covered, Aggie! Arthur!" he calls out as he steps up to take some heat off of her.
Till has spent some time on stage doing acrobatic feats, and his legs hold him when the whale suddenly lurches. "There's trouble," he informs the others, and draws his morning star just in case.
His fears are confirms when the Chelaxian woman lowers herself down the blowhole and makes her demands. He takes a quick look at the others, and decides that surrender just isn't an option. I just hope Olandil is quick enough to get away from that crossbow. Till hopes to buy the Pathfinder some time. He speaks softly and weaves a cautious tale. "It seems we are in a stick situation Lieutenant. You have the element of surprise, and are poised to strike our companion. The sensible thing would be, perhaps, to surrender. Or maybe even to bargain him away for our own freedom. Still, there's something to consider..." He leaves a short pause. [b]"Like some of us can attest. We haven't really made the sensible choices to far. Pathfinders, rally!"[b] He gives his morningstar a twirl, and hopes he's done enough.
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"EEEK!" squeals Aggie as she crashes to the ground. She rolls onto her back and lets out another shriek as the Chelaxians charge in and attack before she's really thought about whether or not she wants to surrender. "OW! You'll pay for that!"
Realizing she has two people standing over her with weapons in their hand, she instead she chants a spell. Her eyes turn black for a moment before glittering starlight materializes around the sailor who hit her.
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"Oof!" Arisha grunts as she stumbles and falls within the glass hemisphere. She curses under her breath as she watches--from her prone perspective--the Chelaxians invade the whale.
She gets to her feet and draws her kunai as the battle begins. She turns her enigmatic stare on the mercenary and begins to fade from his mind.
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The sudden lurching sends the budding mage straight to the floor, face first in the fleshy gunk of the beasts preserved insides. No longer is it as fascinating as it was. She barely registers the interlopers until she manages her knees at least. Then the fight had already broken out. Worrying about Aggie at the feet of two armed sheriffs, she chants and throws out a spell of charm, hoping beyond hope she can muck up their plans a bit if one of them suddenly doesn't want to fight.
Hoping the glowing candle of a man in blue is less strong mentally she'll target him. Please leave us all alone! she yells at him.
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Lord Arthur’s rapier pierces the cocky sailor’s leather armor, who lets out a cry of pain and anger. He grits his teeth and whips his head around toward Niome as she casts her spell. It seems the pain helps him shake off the spell, and he yells at her, “Get out of my head! I’ll kill you next!” before turning to face Arthur.
After Arixana and her lackeys make their moves, Olandil moves up, drawing his rapier. He holds it out toward the cruel-looking woman, trying to interpose himself between her and Till. “Back off!” he snarls.
Noam then brings his huge sword down on the Chelish Lieutenant. The blade briefly catches on an invisible magical barrier surrounding her, but the force of Noam’s swing is easily enough to crash through. She is left with a huge gash of a wound, and collapses unconscious. The woman with the yellow sash scowls at him and declares. “You’ll regret that!”
Arisha begins to fade from the blue-shirted man’s attention (although he’s got plenty on his mind already). The man then blinks against the distracting starlight swirling around him, muttering curses as his assault continues.
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Suddenly, a sickening sound of wet flesh and cracking bone is heard from deeper in the whale’s throat. A corpse emerges from the fleshy wall, stumbling awkwardly. It faces the melee, groaning low and miserable. There appears to be some sort of creature latched onto its head: a pink and white shelled creature from which tentacles descend, running down and buried into the corpse’s flesh. It lurches toward Niome with jerky, awkward motions, as if it were a clumsy marionette.
Till gives a rallying cry to inspire his allies. The fight is going well for them, but it isn’t over.
The smug blue-shirted man realizes that Arthur is a threat, but finds the bowled over Aggie an easier target. He brings his scimitar down in an overhand slash at her. However, he seems disoriented enough that his strike goes wide and cuts into the dead flesh of whale tongue that makes up the floor.
The cruel looking woman, in a bout of vengeful spite, steps up to Noam and takes a swing at him with both hands on her blade. In her anger she overcommits on the swing, however, and Noam is able to easily step back from the telegraphed attack.
Olandil steps up and delivers a swift kick to the yellow-sashed woman. “Not so fast,” he barks as she stumbles. It’s not enough to hurt very badly, but the shove puts her off balance, and Noam could easily take advantage of that mistake. He then brings his rapier to bear against the smug sailor, batting at the man’s scimitar to knock it away and leave him open to Lord Arthur’s attack.
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Till (inspire courage +1)
Lord Arthur
Niome
Noam
Arisha
Aggie
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”You. Attacked. Us.” Noam admonishes the woman as he takes advantage of the opening Olandil creates for him, which in turn creates an opening for Aggie from her current lower center of gravity.
... wait, who got hit?” he calls out when he hears the groaning coming from behind them. ”Niome?”
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Niome narrows her eyes at the blue shirted man's threats, seeing easily that the whale invaders are outnumbered and outmatched. His lack of understanding that fact shows a lesser mind for certain, which makes her inability to effect him rather annoying.
The wet crunching sounds behind her interrupts her considering of how to distract the blue man enough for Arisha or Arthur to end his threat. Is the whale for some reason retching up his last dinner she wonders before glancing back and seeing...
I have no idea what that is she admits as it shambles toward her. Deciding knowing whether or not it can hear with that thing on its head it something she'll figure out later. Muttering ,weaving her hands, she sends her ear piercing screech in its direction.
:
She considers moving back away from the thing, but with Aggie still down on the ground, she decides she'll have to hold the line... she decides with a gulp. Help would be appreciated when it can be spared.
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Arthur switch his focus to the enemy in front of him. He furrows his brows in concentration and then, after a quick feint, he tries to stab at the foe with his rapier.
"Take this!"
Arthur raises his eyes and sees the monster emerging from the water.
"Well, how do we handle that one now?" he asks to one in particular, clearly frustrated by the bad outcome of his attack.
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"Thank Olandil," Till says as he steps up and swings his morning star. Distracted and surrounded, that's too good an opportunity to pass up. The weapon is all silver and sparkles and looks gaudy, almost like a stage prop. That doesn't diminish its effectiveness however, especially with the force Till can use behind the blow.
"Well done, my friends. Come Hell of high water, whatever our alien environment or what foul monsters these adversaries can throw at us, we will counter steel with steel, and tentacles with... zeal!"
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Lord Arthur attempts a repeat performance of his earlier attack, but to no end. The smug sailor manages to parry it, although he's obviously harried and frustrated by being surrounded on all sides.
Meanwhile, Niome holds the line and casts a spell at the approaching creature. Silent to everyone else, it alone is buffeted by a wave of sound. It staggers, as if hit by a massive invisible blow, its already tattered clothes ripping in places.
Scrutinizing the strange creature, Olandil recognizes what it is. “How did an incutilis get in here?” he demands. “Nevermind! It's a parasite, that tentacle creature on its head! The body is just a puppet!” he shouts to the other Pathfinders.
All the while he continues to try to distract and interfere with the sailors.
Noam scolds the vengeful woman, emphasizing his point with a blow from his sword. Noam buries the huge blade deep into her shoulder and she staggers back from the force of the blow, crying out. The deep cut proves too much for her, and she collapses.
Arisha, unseen, suddenly enters the remaining sailor’s vision just as her kukri slips between his ribs. He gasps and clutches the bleeding wound with his free hand, then coughs up some blood. He still stands, but barely, hunched over with legs trembling. He still manages to shuffle out of the way of Aggie’s attack, though, given her disadvantageous position on the ground-flesh.
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The last remaining sailor, bleeding and alone, looks at the Pathfinders, clearly afraid. The blood has drained from his face, his smug expression gone. “Please, no more. I yield,” he begs weakly through blood stained teeth.
Meanwhile the tentacle creature - or rather, the incutilis and its puppet body - stay where they are. It seems to still be trying to recover its balance from Niome’s sonic attack.
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Till (inspire courage +1)
Lord Arthur
Niome
Noam
Arisha
Aggie
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”Oh, Okay.”Noam simply says to the survivor before turning to face whatever the other wet shouting at, and then promptly tilting his head. ”That mollusk is eating that guy’s head...”
”Prrrrrrretty sure it’s not friendly. Or good.” he muses and, rolling his shoulders to hide a shudder, charges the shelled horror on top of the corpse’s head.
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"This is worst than I had imagined..." comments Arthur when Olandil shares his knowledge with the Pathfinder. "I thought it was just a horrendous creature...Instead, they're two horrendous creatures..." Arthur shrugs, with his usual, confident grin ever present on his lips.
"You stay here, or I will kill you", says the man to the enemy that has surrended, without even looking into his eyes. His voice his raucous and threatening, although Arthur's gaze is fixed on the incutilis.
And now...let's get into action.
Arthur does not even have to think about a good plan. His bravado naturally compels him to act; fortunately, he's quite smart as well, and manages to put some sense in his reckless actions.
Without losing time, Arthur bypasses the surrended foe and takes position. He then takes out a dagger from beneath his coat and throws it at the parasite at the top of the puppet body.
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Till has his morningstar raised and is about to strike, when Noam fells the woman he was about to strike. "Well, yes. Uhm..." Rather than continue with his morning star, Till draws his bow and pushes forward for a better shot.
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Keeping up his boisterous description of their current situation, Till moves forward and aims for the tentacles creature seemingly controlling the Chelaxian. "Say, did I ever tell you about this play I did about a noble and splendid archer, who could shoot an apple off his comrades's head? This is sort of the same thing, isn't it?" He aims high and lets loose an arrow at the incutilis.
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As Till moves into position, the remaining sailor scowls at Lord Arthur. However, he stays where he is, clutching his bloody wounds. Arthur's dagger flies true, piercing into the soft tentacle flesh of the incutilis. It squirms, but emits no noise. Instead, Arthur hears what must be the creature’s voice inside his head: it unleashes a scream of pain followed by frantic syllables in an alien language.
Noam hears a similar sound in his head, the incutilis directly speaking into his brain as he approaches. It's not anything he understands, except for the wrenching cry of pain as Noam brings his sword down on it. It breaks through the hard shell, cutting into the creature’s internal meat and partly through its humanoid puppet’s head. The tentacles release their grip, but are still embedded when the whole mess of parasite and host topple over, defeated.
With the boarders subdued and the strange parasite dying, Olandil turns and levels his rapier at the smug sailor. “Get out!” he snaps. “And take this trash with you when you go, before I change my mind about killing you!”
The sailor clenches his teeth, partly from his bitter defeat and partly because of the pain he's in. He looks around at the other Pathfinders, especially Arthur, as if asking their permission to move without being slain.
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Noam lets out a sigh as the corpse and creature fall. And that a flying dagger didn't find it's way into his neck this time. Rubbing his head to get that inaudible scream out he begins making his way back up to the front.
"Is there anyone Cheliax is still holding, like Olandil, that we could trade for them? If not just kick them out." he asks, not intersted in ransoming a person for monetary gains, before turning to the gnome. "Professor Poppo... why did you have a brain eating mollusk in your whale?"
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The parasite thing dies quickly, and Aggie shrugs. "Well that was weird. Now... you."
She suddenly snarls and stalks over to the remaining sailor, leveling her falchion at his throat. "I'd gut you like a fish but I'm pretty sure my friends here would get mad at me.
She grumbles and turns before giggling at Noam's words, her mood abruptly changing. "I think that's the first time and last time I get to hear that sentence."
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Noam has quickly come realize what that word meant when Niome said it. Turning around and happily seeing her sketching the mangled creature he couldn't help but smile. "Since I gave out all of my rations I have a spare bag if you want to take it to study." he calls out to her.
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"That would be lovely, thank you." She realizes that she is a pathfinder on a mission. Which doesn't involve specimen collection. But the thing is amazing. There is no way she wants to miss its study.
"If it's not too much of a bother that is." she brushes her skirts off after standing, then gives Noam a thankful smile as she collects the bag and proceeds to pack up the deceased creature.
Till keeps his distance from Noam and Niome talking over the specimen, smiling at their conversation. He pulls himself away to check up on the two downed Chelaxians. "No use letting them die needlessly, is there?" If they're still alive, he does what he can to stabilize them. "You," he addresses the one that surrendered. "You're free to go, and take your wounded comrades with you."
--
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Olandil seems relieved, but he keeps his weapon drawn. “Hostages? We don’t have time for that. I’ve wasted five years in this miserable city and I don’t want another thing to deal with it ever again. Just kick them out and let’s go.” Poppo briefly looks over his shoulder from the front of the whale, where he is still desperately trying to perform the ritual to keep the spell moving the vessel. “I don’t know! Does it matter?” he shouts frantically before turning his attention back to the ritual.
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With the boarders and the strange creature defeated, the remaining sailor slowly lugs his fallen comrades up the rope ladder and out of the whale. As Niome sketches the incutilis and its puppet, she also notices some pearls tucked into the corpse’s pocket, one of which is magical (although it apparently did not help its previous owner much). Finally, Poppo starts the whale moving again. The body of the whale drops as it glides forward, and those looking out the glass eyes can see that it has completely submerged. Poppo takes it down low enough that when the whale passes under the blockade, the ship bottoms are but dark shapes against a watery sky closing in on the coastline.
Poppo takes the whale to the rendezvous point given to you earlier by Venture-Captain Bennary, and the Pathfinders meet up with the Grinning Pixie. The Venture-Captain herself helps get the Pathfinders and Olandil into her ship, a huge grin that shows off her orcish tusks plastered on her face. “You lot had me worried! I watched the blockade closing in, and I was starting to think maybe I’d need to send in a retrieval team for you too. So, tell me, what happened in there?” Benarry listens intently to the green Pathfinders’ report, occasionally jumping in with her own comments and suggestions for embellishments to “get the story ready for the Chronicles.”
Venture-Captain Benarry also offers Olandil a sincere apology for how long he was stuck in Pezzack. In reply, Olandil gives his rescuers a sheepish look. “I’m… I’m sorry. For how rude I was during this whole mission. I doubted you, but look at where I am now!” He sighs as if releasing a great weight, finally free from being trapped in Pezzack. “I will need time to reflect on this experience before I decide what my future with the Society will hold,” he informs his rescuers. “However, you all saved my life, and for that, I am grateful. At the very least, I will complete my original mission, and share with you what I have learned of the situation in Cheliax, as it relates to establishing a foothold for a new Pathfinder Lodge, as well as everything I know about the current situation in Pezzack. Thank you again.”
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”I don’t know, kinda?” Noam mumbles as he watches Niome happily stuffing the brain eating mollusk into the bag before shrugging his shoulders and moving back over to the eye he was assigned to, marveling at the world underneath the waves.
——
With Olandil freed and safe Noam stands back, smiling at everyone as they go over the mission with Benarry.
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Aggie lets out a whoop and her goat levitates, baaing as the plate-clad half-orc and her space goat do a celebratory dance in the whale.
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"Oh my God what didn't happen? There were all these factions fighting each other blah blah blah and Olandil was like five people at once blah blah blah we got in a fight with some flappy bird men blah blah blah poetry with secret messages! blah blah blah And then the brain-eating mollusk in the whale-boat after the Chelaxians knocked me down and were rude about it."