During the moment of blindness, a powerful lurch throttles the ship, rocking you all portward.
A din of collision can be heard. Screams this way and that are audible, though less than you might expect for the number of people present last you could observe.
Deftly tumbling out of harm and flying equipment not fastened down, he springs to his feet. He does a quick look to see if anyone is seriously hurt, going to the halflings side and asking him
Are you ok little fellow! We seem to have run aground something or hit something! I'm going up to check things out!
Ariston frowns briefly as his sight gives out, but then he hits the deck hard, snapping him out of his near-drunken stupor. He groans and twists around to see what's going on. He sees Gansukh standing and at the ready near Dristen, and bellows at the man, "Have we been hit? What in the world is going on?"
Acrobatics:
Intent on the dice game and steeling glances at Plumbwhisper, Filios is immediately startled by the abrupt jarring of the ship. He is, however, able to maintain his balance, but he immediately notices that he cannot hear anything. He can see Gansukh and Ariston saying something, but he cannot make out their words. he draws his Curveblade and stands ready.
Looks alarmed by the sudden unsheating of a weapon he lifts his hands and says
Easy there! We probably just ran aground a reef or something, this sort of thing happens all the time in these floating coffins!
Glancing to Ariston
You ok?
Then looking back to Filios
I'm going up to see what's going on!
He backs away slowly with hands up in a non-threatening gesture and bolts to the deck to see what happened
Haggin tumbles almost immediately but manages to escape any serious harm. Haggin will try to stand back up if he is able and look for Saladraxis. Are you alright? Did we run aground? Are we being attacked? Oh my, oh my! I can't seem to hear anything, why is that? Where is everyone, where should I go in an emergency like this?
If I can see the other gnome I will try to stay with her and see if we can find othersin the area.
Filios nods and follows Gansukh above-deck.
Sorry...I cannot hear. I will let you be my ears.
What!? you can't hear?! He shouts very loudly trying to overcome Filio's deafness
Dristen stumbles at the lurch and bangs his head against the nearby cabin wall. He shrugs and tries to focus but the hit to his head did something to his hearing. He can see the gnome, Haggin, up ahead on the deck. The gnome seems to be in good condition so Dristen will scramble up the main mast to get to the crow's nest. He'll look around to the sea, wondering what in the world happened. If Sellas is up in the nest, he will shout and ask what was happening.
Feeling the sudden lurch of the ship, Quiahar manages to roll deftly with the movement, even standing and walking normally for a time, before his ears begin ringing with an awful sound.
"What is that horrible racket?" He yells at the nearby crew. But his words are swallowed up in silence. The others were mouthing something, some of them agitated as the entire crew burst into action. He does his best to read their lips.
Despite his familiarity with words he cannot make out what the others are saying. He makes his way to the deck to see what is making the ship lurch, and if anyone can communicate by signs and gestures.
Acrobatics
Sal feels the deck shift under her as she reaches out for Haggin's hand. Her vision flashes out and her hearing dies with a crash. Abadar strengthen my hand and my heart for what must come next. She let's the wave of fear crash over her not even reaching for her key. She lets the deck heave under her, flowing with it not fighting it. As her vision returns she notices that the world is as silent as a cave. It is better this way, I can not hear the screams and the pain.
She reaches out again for Haggin and notices he is not were he was. Not very stable is he. She smirks at the thought as she rushes to help Haggin to his feet. Looking down at him she taps her ear with her left hand and shakes head. With her right she reaches down and assists him as well as she can to his feet. She quickly scans the area to find the quickest path out and to her room.
Perception
She quickly finds a gap in the cargo that has become strewn about and tries to bodily drag Haggin towards the exit.
Drag
There is only one thought in her mind.I must get to my crossbow.
As you recover from the thrust of the ship, a macabre scene surrounds you. Most of the crew has been tossed around like dolls, arms and legs bent at unnatural angles. A handful moan in pain, some cry, but for most, they are silent.
Their quiet doesn't remain a mystery for long; upon inspecting some of the crew and the vessel, you notice something ... wrong. Indeed, it isn't just the crew being flung into pieces of cargo and the like, but the objects being part of the crew. One sailor's torso seemingly sprouts from a barrel, while another's leg grows from the wall, him whimpering in pain. Plumwhisper's end wasn't too far of a segue from a few moments ago: The dice cup welled in her forehead, it was as if she had two reptilian eyes welled within - snake eyes, in fact.
For your part, you are relatively unscathed, though many of you may have gotten some lumps from the tossing of the Mist Lady.
Upon deck:
Demons! The demons have followed me!
Gansuk frantically runs to each end of the deck looking for demons or worse, those dreaded oni. After seeing none he calms down a little and starts looking towards the crew and more importantly the captain
This is all wrong... he mutters to himself, this must be the work of those demons! I should not have spoken about them so openly, their magic and spies are everywhere! He looks guiltily towards all the crew maimed or worse... I'm soo sorry... If I can just find the captain he thinks, he can shed some light on what happens, he probably sees this sort of thing all the time on this cursed sea!
Ariston pushes himself up from the ground, grabbing at his side when he notices a sudden sharp pain there. When he removes his hand, he sees a dark patch of red there. For a minute Ariston's frightened, but when he pulls his coat and shirt aside he realizes that the wound is just superficial. His bottle had burst when he landed on it, but the glass had only left small cuts. The big red patch on his hand was just the wine. Ariston lets out a sigh of relief, and then takes his first proper look around the hold/mess .
His initial retch of disgust is quickly suppressed and he closes his eyes tightly for a brief moment. "Poor bastards." When Gansukh asks him whether he's all right, he nods and joins him and Filios on their way to the top deck.
The first thing Ariston notices is the sky. "What in the world...?" "The stars... what has happened to them?" He barely notices when Gansukh goes off to look for the captain, entirely preoccupied with the foreign sky above him.
Filios looks at the macabre scene up on the main deck as he springs forth from below with Gansukh and Ariston. he shakes his head in disbelief.
Wow! I have certainly never seen anything like this. What a way to go...
He looks to both Ariston and Gansukh, he points to his ears and shakes his head no, then says.
I still cannot hear.
He begins to look to the pert and starboard sides to see what they could have hit.
Perception:
Haggin looks at his recuser as she drags him to safety, still trying to make it up to his feet. Are you hurt? Realising that neither one can hear each other he gives up with trying to talk and tries to give her a signal to stop once the boat has stopped lurching about so he can stand.
What sorcery is all this? The gnome looks at his new surrondings. How many of us are lucky to be alive, I wonder?
As he he looking around, Dristen glances up at the stars and notices something is wrong. He knows the constellations well enough but these elude him. Did we teleport somewhere? AS the initial surge of adrenaline wears off, Dristen looks down at the shipp's deck, and blanches. They're all... dead.. Dristen scans through the bodies, bringing up the litany of last right observations as he does so. --- needs to be buried facing west so he will be present when his diety returns --- needs to be burned on the highest pillar in Cheliax; --- just asked to be thrown into the sea... The list continues at each body that he sees and Dristen is slowly overwhelmed he moved back from the edge and curls up against the crow's nest wall where he can't see the bodies. The list keeps running though, telling what to do with who's body.
Drysten shakes his head, then regrets doing so because he realizes that it is in pain. He feels around it as he looks up at the stars. That'
s odd, they are different, very different. Did we teleport? Dristen stands and casts detect magic, looking out to the areas around the ship.
As he is looking around he notices the crew members that have been massacred on the deck. He jumps. What happened? Did I fall asleep? He sees a few of the passengers who are alive walking around. I need to help. Dristen scurries down the mast.
Gansukh! Drysten realizes he can't hear. He feels at his head again. Gansukh he shouts this time, and the extra effort hurts his head even more, What happened?
Gansukh heads towards the yelling halfling
I don't know but this isn't good! I bet it's the Oni, they heard me talking and just picked the whole ship up I bet! I'm sooo sorry! I'll make em pay I swear it!
The moon rises shallowly over the horizon, half-waxed or half-waned, providing a bit of light with which to see.
The ship is indeed still on water, and looking around the exterior, it does not seem as if the ship actually hit anything - above the surface anyway. Spending a few moments watching the water below would indicate the ship is moving with the current.
Searching for the captain turns up a bit more. Upon knocking at the captain's chambers, there is sobbing within from a male, but the door is locked. Whomever it is doesn't respond to requests/inquiries if asked.
Ariston shakes off his wonder at the sky to assist the remaining passengers and crew. He heads to the captain's quarters , and when they hear the sobbing on the other side, he picks the lock and opens the door.
Ariston shakes his head sadly at the sight, and then enters the room. At least the man died in a way more fitting than many of the others. "First mate? I know now would be thought of as a time of grieving, but we can't give in to that quite yet. There are still injured crew below who need our help - your help. And then there's the whole issue of their wounds. We need to get to the bottom of how this happened, and where in the world we are. You're now the position of authority on the ship - take command."
.
Drysten shakes his head at the human talking to him. "I can't hear". He motions to the half-orc "Where is he going? He looks hurt." Drysten waits for a repsonse and then remembers his dilemma. He pulls out a piece of parchment and his quil and hands it to the human. "What's going on? Is anyone else hurt? I can heal them. '
The first mate does not seem to be able to hear you.
Sal stares at Haggin for a moment and then realizes he seems to be ok. She motions for him to follow her and breaks for the above deck.
Perception
As she bursts from the hold the sight of what has transpired does little to faze her. She gives but a moment to the change in the moon; having spent most of her life never seeing it, the import of what has transpired fails to faze her. She breaks into a dead run as she rushes past the fallen sailors towards the women's room. Assured that whatever did this would most likely be back and her only means of defense still lay on her bunk.
Haggin sees his companion run off suddenly. Where are you going? It might not be safe!
Filios follows Ariston to the Captain's quarters, and when he sets to work on the lock, he sheathes the Curveblade on his back and begins to take out a fine set of tools. However, before he can approach Ariston, the lock opens, and he swings the door open.
Filios smiles at Ariston for a moment before puting his tools away. he then peers into the room. He can see the dead captain and Ariaton saying something, but again, he cannot hear a thing.
I hope that this is not permanent!
Only one crew member remains above deck; she's nursing her knee near the railing.
Wald! He runs over to the first mate What happened to the Captain, and what in the hell happened! We need some help here are we under attack!? Gansukh nearly shrieks at the "what in the hell happened" remark. He's clearly a more than worried
Dristen follows Gansukh as he races off to the captain's room. He'll gasp and push the others away to try to heal the captain.
Dristen tries to pull the rapier out while applying pressure but he lacks to strength to pull it cleanly and he cuts move of the body as he pulls it out. Sighing in frustation, Dristen pulls out his symbol with his other hand and channels postivive energy.
Dristen slumps against the bed, holding tight to the rapier and symbol. He glances over at the first mast. He puts away his symbol and profers the rapier. "You are now the captain of the ship. What are our orders, Captain Wald?"
While everyone is running about trying to figure out what happened Haggin just stands there alone, hoping that his hearing will eventually return. He looks up at the stars, over the sides of the boat, anywhere that might give him some idea of where they are.
I have no idea where that girl ran off to and most of these people are dead. I need to find someone that's alive. Maybe I should talk to the captain!
Haggin will start to look for the captain's quarters so he can demand answers for his questions.
Ariston shakes the shoulder of the first mate, and when they finally calm the man, he finds a scrap of paper and writes all that had been said to him down and hands the piece of paper over. He mentions the condition of the crew in explicit detail and how some people had for some reason turned deaf.
Haggin finds the room with the now dead captain and a group that consists of some of the passengers. Upon seeing the halfling with a bloody rapier in his hand his jaw drops in astonishment. You, of all people.... mutiny! Its mutiny! Oh my word what have you done? Get that sword away from the first mate, are you planning on running him through also?
The gnome then realises that he looks to be greatly outnumbered. Um, haha! Yes! No, I understand! The captain steered the ship wrong and caused... well, all this didn't he? Ah yes, um, perfectly clear to me now! So, who's in charge?
Filios just shakes his head and stands outside the Captain's quarters with his arms crossed listening to the conversation.
Bwah! He was like that when we came in, this is no mutiny, look here at the first mate he'd either be triumphantly the new captain or dead as well! No he sits here sobbing! No this is demon magic for sure! He says this in a scared yet determined voice as if he's finally settled on a path of action
What? Why can't I hear you?
Haggin looks around at everyone, pointing to his ears. Then suddenly he yells out, Have I gone deaf?
You can't hear!? He shouts to Haggin, then slowly and clearly mouths the words Y-O-U D-E-A-F?
Ariston, tired of Gansukh's yelling, stands up and yells right back. "Obviously he's deaf! It seems a great many of us have gone deaf! Yelling will not rectify the problem! Please cease and desist so we can formulate a plan!"
Having spoken his piece, he takes a calming breath and resumes talking at a normal volume. He also writes down what he says on the backside of the piece of paper he scrounged from the captains desk, and passes this around for the sake of Haggin, Filios, Dristen, and Wald.
"There's something unearthly at work here. And no, I do not think it is demon magic. Have any of the rest of you taken a look at the sky recently? The stars are... changed. I doubt even the oni of your land, no matter how dreadful, could rearrange the stars. Unless this is some continued trickery, I fear it is something else entirely."
"Dristen - we need you at work in the hold. There are many down there who yet live. They will need healing. Gansukh, if you and Filios would retrieve the woman on the deck, I think we should all accompany Dristen back down to the hold. Be careful with her - she may be the only alive who saw what happened. Wald, you are the captain now. Stand firm. The crew needs your direction."
Quiahar's eyes grow large as saucers as he sees the strange morphing of crew members, and the injuries they've sustained. But his ears are still ringing with a cacophany of noise.
He tries to focus his inner mind, ignoring his deafness and use his other senses to communicate with others.
"Something unnatural." He mouths to the others, hoping they understand him. Some of the others that were not bent into odd positions seemed to be speaking normally, others seemed to be enunciating things more clearly than normal, and still others continued to shake their heads as though clearing them of the deafening ringing that he himself experienced. "What do we do now?" He attempted to enunciate like the others were.
After reading the words written by Ariston, he nods. Filios then walks to the living woman on the deck, and he motions with his hand to follow, then he bends down and helps her to her feet, giving her a shoulder to lean on he aids her back to the Captain's quarters, if possible.
I am Filios, and right now I cannot hear you, but we must join the other survivors. Come.